Timbo Slice

Yeah, they were trying to come up with ways to keep the crowd guessing as opposed to just having a confined match with your usual lumberjack shenanigans. They should be applauded for changing things up like that instead of them not confining themselves to the match. It made things fresh.

Ryback also has a built in story with him once being a Paul Heyman Guy. If they really feed Rusev to him, it's a big mistake. Ambrose is the guy because he's the only one crazy enough to take him on and win. With Cena getting his rematch, you have to think the smart money is on Cena getting a little bit more offense or trying to sneak attack a way in, but Lesnar making it quick. No reason for them to do a longish match. Bryan coming back and being able to work Brock would be superb. Brock knows how to work smaller wrestlers like that. It would be Brock/Eddy all over again.

The superplex wasn't a credible finish due to interference. Had Rollins just kicked out, I would have been pissed. But Ambrose crawling over like he did to try and get there at least sold that it was hurt. I'm more pissed that somebody thought cinder blocks were a good idea for that finish. Logic's right. When you lose things like blood and head shots, you have to overcompensate somehow. So upping the risky highspots is the next step in the evolution.

God, really? Layout and execution are two different things. Ambrose and Rollins had a LUMBERJACK MATCH and did what they did tonight. That wasn't booked that way. They had ideas and did them.

People don't connect with Reigns that much. Not as much as they do Ambrose. Reigns had his strengths highlighted in The Shield. Now? He's having to work a different style altogether. Not something you do in a couple months. Pulling the trigger now would kill him dead.

That's the thing, Matt. With Brock having limited dates, it allows for easier booking. Can't fuck it up. With a demolition like that, Reigns doesn't seem like he can step up to the plate. It would just look weird. Bryan's comeback, where they could work the Morishima-style match that Danielson mastered a few years back, would be the best from a work standpoint. But booking? There's nobody on the roster, even with six months build, that would be seen as a realistic threat to Lesnar. Not even close.

Bonzo gonzo? Looks like Scott Keith finally made it to the big time.

I'm really wavering on whether or not I renew. There's some neat stuff from time to time and NXT is alright, but I'm not sure I'd miss anything until stuff like Mid-South, JCP and other WCW stuff start getting put on there. And I'm not sure that's gonna happen anytime soon.

Nak/Okada has been building for years. They really haven't faced each other that much. It's a good matchup. Nak should go over.

A lot of people jumping on the G1 bandwagon as far as this being the best tournament ever lack the perspective to call it that. I don't like the sweeping generalizations that come with it basically boiling down to, "We don't like what WWE is doing, so because this is the best alternative we have, this is the best thing ever." And while that statement does look to be a bit ironic, that's why people are praising this more than any other reason right now. No comparisons, no substance, no baseline of what makes something great. Just that it's great. And continues to be great. I haven't been able to watch that much due to work, but nothing's jumping out at me as something where it's obviously better than some of the stuff I've seen WWE do this year. I'm not sure I've even seen a match on here better than Hero/Styles from ROH in March. Instead, the praise is boiling down to what I said above.

I don't even think it's a different taste for different times. This idea that wrestling has to "evolve" (Ha.) to be all about highspots doesn't work if the highspots don't mean anything. As has been repeated ad nauseum, a fucking fireman's carry has been the most over finisher for more than a decade in the WWE. In Japan, a clothesline is considered a move of death. In Mexico, a tombstone is basically outlawed. It's never, ever solely been about physicality. It's about getting the crowd to buy into whatever you do. That was Dylan's point. It can be both, sure, but the idea of hard-hitting wrestling got fetishized with the idea of "American Strong Style" in the last decade as indy guys aped stuff from Japan and started stiffing each other in small arenas to get over. That's not conducive to the success of a product over the long-term.

God, I really want to call Dory "Dr. Strangelove" now because of the title to this thread.

Really need to see that cage match. Heard great things about it. Hokuto and a cage just seem like a natural fit, and Nakano is great, too. Still remember the 11/90 cage match she had with Aja which was top notch.

Shoutouts to everyone in this thread who made me able to spend more time with my family tonight instead of watching this PPV. Looks like they're going all in for a big SS to make people want to renew.

It's stemming from the number of surgeries he'll require. One exploratory already, but maybe two more needed. That's a lot for anyone, especially a pro wrestler.

Kobashi to me is really overrated. One of those "active" wrestlers that doesn't work as smart as people think he does. Tanahashi is the same way. If this board were more into joshi, Toyota would be right there. Vader as overrated is ridiculous. He might be talked about too much, but that doesn't make him overrated. Misawa is the same way. Taue is forever underrated. Also, after watching the Warrior DVD, I'm not about to call him underrated because that would make him out to be way better than he actually is, but I actually enjoyed a lot of what was on there, even if it was hit or miss. He's a good big match wrestler at the very least.

Actually, I saw Matt in a pretty bad match a few weeks ago at an APW show here in Daly City. Really paint by the numbers type stuff except for a couple of spots where he tried to get the crowd to count along and it didn't go well. That, plus the horrible Chris Hero/Jeckels match hadn't really left my mind at that point.

Did Kawada ever go to Stu when he was in Canada?

I think there's just a wide inability to figure out how to distribute content amongst the Network people. Like they didn't audit what they had and figure out a schedule.

Yeah, that's the other big thing against Trips: He had the undying approval of Vince behind him and still did crappy. The idea of really getting behind someone who doesn't get the support he thinks he deserves is the ultimate egotistical move when they don't want to admit they're wrong. Because when nobody can tell you that, who are you going to believe?

Strong Style makes me want to punch a wall whenever I hear it. Especially when you hear "American Strong Style."

Manami/Kyoko 5/7/95. Still don't know why that match length happened to this day.

The AJW announcer from the 80's and 90's always had a weird tone to how he announced the names. Very understated, very slow...it was funny to hear. GMC was always great, and Finkel gets better every year goes by with Chimmel, Lillian and especially Justin Roberts doing the intros. It's as if WWE doesn't really care that none of those three can actually give a match a big time feel.

Aja as monster heel might be the greatest ever. From a work standpoint, Bull might have the higher volume, though, thanks to her run from 1990-1994.

I was just coming in here to type Funk because if you think "great" angles, I'm not sure you have anyone with more high-end angles than him. Randy Savage is a big one thanks to his Memphis stuff, the manager angle that produced Miss Elizabeth, the Steamboat angle, the Mega-Powers stuff, Jake Roberts, the Warrior retirement feud, Flair...just a lot of top notch stuff. The Freebirds come to mind, as well, thanks to them traveling all over, and why they probably don't have anything as memorable as other wrestlers great angles, they sure do have the quantity to be a part of the discussion.