Graham Crackers

I think may know what you're getting at. If not, I guess i have my own point about WWE of the last several years and my own investment in it. WWE from 2006 to 2009 had great TV matches with great performances every week but the booking and promos did pretty much nothing for me. The only thing I really cared about was seeing my favorite guys have great matches. In 2011 with Mark Henry's push, Jerry Lawler's "WWE comeback," and the Summer of Punk II the creative direction of the company changed. A lot of programs started and stopped at weird times or were ruined by bad left turns but they no longer seemed like they were sticking to the holding pattern either. The overall creative direction has been steadily improving since then. I wouldn't say WWE's booking was good at any point during that timeframe and I don't think it's good now but they have shown enough improvement that now I find myself caring a bit more about the results than I did before. Unfortunately we aren't getting the same number of great weekly TV matches we were getting back in 2007 or so. Now with all that said, I do think I've enjoyed the absolute best WWE matches of the last few years as much as those from 2006-2009. We may no longer have the same quantity of great matches we did when Finlay, Rey, Henry, Matt Hardy, Christian, Chavo, etc were wrestling every week but I think Brock/Cena, Bryan/Cena, Punk/Cena, Bryan/Sheamus, Punk/Bryan, Bryan/Henry, and the Shield/Rhodes matches could have totally been on MOTY lists from 2006-2009.

This is more of a general 80s set question: I understand why lucha is a 100 match set due to lack of footage. I don't know a ton about Portland, Puerto Rico, and the other upcoming territories but from what people have said it makes sense that some of those would be smaller sets. I've loved watching the sprawling 150 match 80s sets so I'm wondering what other big sets like that are in store. Crockett has to be a big set, right? I'd imagine WWF will be a big set too. Anything else?

I'm listening to this right now and I want to comment on Flair vs Bockwinkel because I had it at 14. Being clipped was annoying but I have a weird sweet spot where clipping doesn't bother me quite as much and combining that with how much I loved what we did get to see kept it really high on my ballot. Flair and Bockwinkel are both wrestlers who have had many matches where they stooge for an opponent and whether it's fair or not that creates a certain amount of expectations when you see them. That's probably because being long term top stars and traveling champions they've been in charge of making other wrestlers look like stars. This ended up being pretty violent and in some ways I thought it resembled a Japanese interpromotional match. Obviously it wasn't as uncooperative as a New Japan vs War match. Their lack of cooperation manifested as both wrestlers being more cautious about giving up their position than usual. The violence though, oh man. The spots I remember off the top of my head are some really nasty Ishikawa-esque mounted punches and Flair going for the double foot stomp. My favorite matches from both of those wrestlers are their more violent matches so this was like peanut butter and jelly for me.

An emotional connection is important to any work of art. I would even argue that a work of art that is especially engaging on a cerebral level creates an emotional connection with the reader/viewer. That's not to say that every work that you enjoy connects with you on a profound emotional level. I don't cry at the end of every movie but I think if any narrative can make you care about the characters and their fates it is creating an emotional connection. As for wrestling: It isn't always a deep connection but I think if I care about who wins, how they win, who makes a comeback, or even a great character based moment ranging from a dramatic turning point like a heel turn to something simple like a great comedy spot then I must have connected to it on some level. That touches upon what happens in a single match but I think this can also factor into the overall narrative of wrestling history. I don't think context is always important to enjoying wrestling but it can definitely enrich the experience, particularly on an emotional level. If a match isn't any good context won't save it but a great match can feel a little more special when you've cared about those characters for a while. Just to give an example of something I watched recently I'll talk about the AWA set. While watching them throughout the 80s I became a fan of Bockwinkel and Hennig. By 1986 Bockwinkel is pretty established as the top guy in the territory. At the same time we got to see Hennig go from promising rookie to gaining more confidence after his feud with Stan Hansen. When Hennig and Bockwinkel eventually started feuding I had an investment in their characters and wanted to see how their personal arcs turned out. The 60 minute draw and Hennig's heel turn match were great matches on their own but that added investment helped to grab my attention just as much as what they did in the ring.

Americo Rocca vs. El Talisman (3/29/85) This was fun but other than the pop for the finish it lacked something spectacular that could have made it more memorable. It had a nice layout, simple and effective transitions, and some good looking offense. The only weak moment was one of Rocca's bumps over the top rope where it really just looked like he was jumping over the rope. Tim hit the nail on the head, this is towards the bottom of the list so far but is far from bad. El Hijo del Santo y Black Shadow Jr. vs. Espanto Jr. y Eskeletor (12/1/85) I thought this was mostly good but had a really bad finish. I can't get enough Santo vs Espanto and their exchanges here were pretty good though not as great as they would be in the near future. They mixed up matwork, brawling, and cool flying in some fun ways and thankfully that was the focus. Black Shadow Jr. was alright. He threw some decent punches and I liked his slingshot spinebuster but unfortunately he spent most of this matching up with Eskeletor who wasn't really any good. That said, I am a sucker for bootleg lucha gimmicks and his Skeletor costume was pretty endearingly bad. Bottom half, but I feel like that's the case for most of this 1985 stuff so far (with one major exception). Lizmark, Mil Mascaras y Valente Fernandez vs. Sangre Chicana, Angel Blanco y Angel Blanco Jr. (12/1/85) I never realized Sangre Chicana vs Mil Mascaras was a match I wanted to see but now it is. The clipping here was a bit distracting for me but we did get to see lots of cool stuff. Outside of some great brawling by all parties this also had Sangre Chicana goading everyone, but especially Mil Mascaras into coming after him and Lizmark's fluid athleticism. That old lady dancing was pretty weird/funny. This is fun but probably not going to be very high.

Raul Reyes Jr. y Climax vs. Mocho Cota y Loco Zavala (1985) This was a nice way to get back into watching this set after a little break. Something that I find alternately alluring and frustrating about lucha is how little of it's history we really know about and all of the classic matches we don't have on tape. What better way to hint at that forgotten history than a dateless match from 1985 in some arena in Sonora featuring three workers I've never heard of before. Much like this match, those mystery workers aren't revelations but they are pretty good. They're good enough to suggest that they may have had many other good matches and maybe even some great ones that we'll never see. Climax and Loco Zavala have some interesting exchanges and I can easily imagine that they have matched up before. Climax has some nice high flying and Zavala is a good chubby base. They match up well and even do a few spots I don't remember seeing before. The one wrestler in this one I do know is Mocho Cota and unsurprisingly he shows off all the qualities that have made him so impressive in other matches on this set. He has some nice mat exchanges with Raul Reyes Jr (who looks like a solid hand himself) but Cota's even better when he is just pouring on the rudisimo. I am loving him sneaking around the ring in tags and trios matches. He seems like someone who will stoop as low as he can just to win a match. I think this is somewhere in the middle of the pack at this point. Atlantis vs. El Faraón (3/22/85) I was a bit lukewarm to El Faraón at first but he's grown on me after the last few brawls. I didn't know what to expect when this turned out to be a title match but I definitely didn't expect El Faraón to turn in such a great performance. He was great on the mat. I liked that rather than carefully set things up on the mat he would just grab Atlantis and take him down hard. There was a roughness to much of his offense that was fitting for a rudo in this setting. When Faraón was on defense in this he was even better. He took really took the time to effectively sell the pain of each hold before trying to escape. Atlantis was a bit of a disappointment here. He wasn't awkwardly playing to the crowd after every bit of offense this time around but his selling was definitely a bit too hammy. I thought it was appropriate for selling Faraón's axe bombers but he was already writhing around in agony during the first fall. This escalated nicely and settled into a fun final stretch run. This is better than some of the weaker title matches early in the set but doesn't reach the heights of the Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca series or Satanico vs Gran Cochisse. La Fiera, El Faraón y El Egipico vs. MS-1, Satanico y Pirata Morgan (3/29/85) We've already seen a couple of brawling tags and trios so far but none of them have been as violent or as epic as this one. In this match it's the stiff striking instead of the gore that really makes it so harrowing. I think part of that is due to Los Infernales upgrading when they added Pirata Morgan. Morgan adds a lot as he feels like a serious ass kicker but is also a wild bumper when he has to be. This lineup of Los Infernales turns double and triple teams into thuggish onslaughts. They don't do fancy triple teams, they just all drop b's on an opponent. It can be as simple and brutal as Satanico muscling an opponent around in a clinch while MS-1 throws nasty punches to their kidneys. La Fiera and Faraón already made great opponents for Los Infernales in their last scrap but they both manage to top those performances here. Faraón is a tremendous brawler and Fiera outdoes the suicidal missed tope from that match when he manages to fly off the top rope and land headfirst outside the ring. Egipcio is pushed into the foreground in this match as he spends most of it brawling with Pirata Morgan and they both make you want to see them in an apuestas match. By the end I was marking out for Egipcio's punch combos during his comeback despite not really having strong feelings about him going in. Good finish too with Egipcio and Pirata Morgan have their final showdown in the ring after everyone else has been taken out by dives on the outside.

I think something people need to understand when watching lucha is that tecnico and rudo don't mean face and heel in the same way we use it when talking about US wrestling. You need to think about them being styles of wrestling. Tecnicos use clean, athletic, scientific grappling ans sometimes high flying while rudos brawl and cheat. Typically tecnicos are babyfaces and rudos are heels but they don't have to be. Sangre Chicana may be a major babyface star in Arena Mexico in the 80s but he still wrestlers like a rudo. That's part of why rudo vs rudo matches in Mexico work so much better than heel vs heel matches in the states.

Bryan vs Orton was good up until the finish. The worst part is that the show just sort of ended without an announcement of what the finish was. Is that supposed to be like a cliffhanger on a TV drama? I already sort of hate the way WWE shows end by just fading out but without an actual finish is egregious. That's all okay though because Shield vs the Rhodes family was awesome. It might have been the best Shield match so far. The Shield are a great team but they haven't had the chance to work an opponent who is as great in tag matches as Dustin. The stuff with Dusty and Ambrose on the outside was great too. It was executed perfectly and it was just the right amount of extracurricular bullshit.

I thought El Toreo brought a great atmosphere for the Space Cadets vs Exoticos trios match. I loved the whistling at the exoticos plus they made great use of the ringside area.

1984 Rankings: 1.) Gran Cochise vs. Satanico (9/14/84) 2.) Solar, Ultraman y Super Astro vs. Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco y Rudy Reyna (2/26/84) 3.) Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (1/27/84) 4.) Tony Salazar vs. Herodes (3/2/84) 5.) Satanico vs. Shiro Koshinaka (Hair vs. Hair) (7/30/84) 6.) Hijo del Santo, Ringo Mendoza y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Jerry Estrada, Fuerza Guerrera y Talisman (3/9/84) 7.) Gran Cochise, Villano III y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs. Fishman, Mocho Cota y Tony Bennetto (11/30/84) 8.) Perro Aguayo vs. Sangre Chicana vs. El Faraón vs. Villano III (Elimination Match) (10/84) 9.) El Satanico y Espectro Jr. v. El Faraón y La Fiera (8/12/84) 10.) Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984) 11.) Satanico vs. Super Astro (10/26/84) 12.) Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (2/3/84) 13.) Sangre Chicana vs. MS-1 (Hair vs. Hair) (9/21/84) 14.) Atlantis, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, MS-1 y Espectro Jr. (9/28/84) 15.) Lizmark vs. El Satanico (April 1984) 16.) Enrique Vera vs. Dos Caras (2/26/84) 17.) Atlantis y Lizmark vs. El Egipcio y El Faraón (2/17/84) 18.) Sangre Chicana vs. Villano III (12/7/84) 19.) Javier Cruz, Impacto y Solar II vs. El Dandy, Franco Colombo y Panico (10/84) 20.) El Faraón, Herodes y Mocho Cota vs. Lizmark, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar (2/24/84) 21.) Villano III vs. Perro Aguayo (10/7/84) 22.) Javier Cruz vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair) (10/26/84) 23.) Jerry Estrada vs. Ultraman (3/2/84) These may change, especially after I watch some of these matches again but the top 3 are pretty much locked. I did watch match number 9 again and while it wasn't easy to follow every moment the crazy finish and truly wild violence really make it stand out. This seems like a pretty good year for lucha going by what we have and Satanico has a pretty good case for WOTY.

2011 was a very good year. It's all about Virus.

I was a wrestling fan as a kid throughout the 90s but I didn't become truly obsessed until the late 90s boom. When I reminisce about that era I often talk about wrestlers I loved back then and I still do now. Mick Foley was my favorite and because I was just a big fan of masked wrestlers back then I loved La Parka, Rey Misterio, Psicosis, and Juvy. I still love those guys now. Of course, I also loved the Higher Power and Corporate Ministry storylines. Last time I tried to watch those segments I kept alternating between laughing and cringing. I loved matches with lots of run ins as a kid but nowadays unless it's a really great angle and it's used sparingly it can be so fucking annoying. Plus, when I was a kid I hated every guy in WCW who didn't wear a mask or have face paint. I don't remember being aware of William Regal or Finlay until their WWF runs but I'm sure if I saw them back then I would not have liked them. Now Finlay is one of my all time favorites and Regal isn't too far behind. It's okay to be nostalgic because there has been great wrestling in every era. You just need to be honest and keep an open mind.

jdw vs JerryVonKramer is the kind of feud that could kill a territory.

Pibb Xtra is totally better than Dr. Pepper. It's smoother and has a subtle note of cinnamon that's really nice.

Disc 1 rankings 1.) MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83) 2.) Espectro Jr., Satanico y MS-1 vs. Mocho Cota, Sangre Chicana y La Fiera (9/30/83) 3.) Atlantis y El Hijo del Santo vs. Fuerza Guerrera y Lobo Rubio (11/25/83) 4.) Satoru Sayama y Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo y Baby Face (4/13/80) 5.) Sangre Chicana vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83) 6.) Centurion Negro vs. Gran Hamada (2/14/82) 7.) Kevin von Erich, Mascara Ano 2000 y Halcon Ortiz v. Coloso Colosetti, Pirata Morgan y Herodes (9/23/83) 8.) El Canek vs. Don Corleone (2/14/82) 9.) Andre the Giant & Cien Caras vs. Alfonso Dantes, Herodes y Sangre Chicana (1981) 10.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Canek (6/12/83) Pretty damn good disc. I don't hate the bottom 3 matches and they each had moments I thought were fun but they didn't really add up to compelling wholes. I could easily see them close to the bottom of my ballot in the end. If those end up being the three worst matches on the set then this set is looking pretty good. Other than MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana which probably won't have more than a few matches I rank above it, if any, it's pretty hard to guess where these matches would end up in a top 100. That Santo match from his retirement tour at El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos looked awesome in highlight form.

I watched this a few years ago and I also felt like it was better than the 1991 match. I'd like to watch both again sometime soon to make sure I still feel that way. This is also one of the best two fall matches I've ever seen in wrestling along with that awesome Angel Blanco Jr./Hijo Del Solitario vs Santito/Villano IV match from last year. I might like this more because lucha title match matwork is one of my favorite things in wrestling.

I feel like most guys these days have gear that is way too busy. It's like they're wearing affliction t shirts for pants. I prefer simple old wrestling gear. I love El Cobarde's simple black and white gear: http://luchawiki.org/index.php?title=Cobarde Solar's a good example as well. I like that he wears similar gear to other top lucha stars from his era but with the little detail of the knee patches matching his mask: http://luchawiki.org/index.php?title=Solar I'm also a big fan or Rayo de Jalisco's mask and his mariachi entrance attire. So much so that I did this drawing of it a while back: http://favoritenudnik.blogspot.com/2011/02...jalisoc-jr.html There aren't many current stars who have gear that really stands out to me. The only one that pops into my head is Kenou: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r83/Sha...zps2fe5c0eb.jpg

That is strange to me too but I'm not surprised. Mistico also won a number of big matches with a double underhook piledriver a few years back but it was never considered a martinete. When was the last time CMLL did an angle built around a martinete anyway?

I thought it was a pretty entertaining spotfest though I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to watch it if I didn't already have the show on. I do really hope CMLL keeps doing these streams.

I thought this was a fun show but not spectacular. Main event was pretty wild and though it's not usually the kind of thing I want when watching lucha I was definitely entertained. Blue Panther vs Averno was the match of the night for me though it didn't really reach the level I hoped it would. It's funny that Dave was reporting how old Panther looked when he was the one really busting his ass in that one. I like Averno but he really didn't bring much to the table in that one. Rush vs Casas trios match was violent as hell but I don't think it was as good as some of their other matches this year. As for the "Fraude" chants, they made for an interesting atmosphere. With Atlantis and Ultimo Guerrero announcing their mask match months before the relevos suicidas match was announced I thought there was a chance we wouldn't get it tonight. At the same time I figured that both Volador and Sombra were more valuable with their masks on.

I can't say I'm super excited by Sombra vs Volador Jr. but I'm sticking around for the possibility that they really step it up for a wager match and to see just how hostile this crowd is for the rest of the show.

So the only DVDVR sets I contributed to while they were happening were the NJPW, AJPW, and AWA sets but I have caught up on the other sets as well. I decided to make some top matches lists for those sets because I love making lists. Here's what my Watts top 20 looked like: 1.) Hacksaw Duggan vs Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85) 2.) Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed (9/22/85) 3.) Barry Windham vs Dick Murdoch (7/11/87) 4.) Buddy Landel, Chavo, & Hector Guerrero vs Brickhouse Brown, Bill Dundee, & Jose Lothario (11/16/84) 5.) Rock N Roll Express & Jim Duggan vs Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (6/8/84) 6.) Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs Butch Reed & Jim Neidhart (Cage Match, 12/25/83) 7.) Dirty White Boys vs Terry Daniels & Bill Dundee (5/11/85) 8.) Chavo Guerrero vs Mr. Olympia (6/24/83) 9.) Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed (10/14/85) 10.) Ted DiBiase vs Dick Murdoch (No DQ, 12/31/85) 11.) Ted DiBiase vs Bob Sweetan (10/13/85) 12.) Ted Dibiase vs Jim Duggan (No DQ, cage match in tuxedos, loser leaves town, coal miners glove on a poll, 3/22/85) 13.) Midnight Express vs Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum TA (2/10/84) 14.) Ric Flair vs Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85) 15.) Ted DiBiase vs Bob Sweetan (Taped Fist, 10/11/85) 16.) Dick Murdoch vs The Nightmare (7/14/85) 17.) Dick Slater vs Jake Roberts (2/14/86) 18.) Ric Flair vs Butch Reed (8/10/85) 19.) Ric Flair vs Jake Roberts (11/24/85) 20.) Midnight Express vs Bill Dundee & Porkchop Cash (4/6/84) That probably gives a good picture of how Jerry and I differ in terms of taste as a few of the matches I have in my top 20 are ones that did not do much for him. I am glad he liked Midnight Express vs Watts & Stagger Lee though. That was an awesome match and would have been my number 21.

Which might put the Andy Kaufman vs Jerry Lawler stuff that was promoted on his show into even greater context.

That match happened on 4/7/2000 and is an awesome spectacle.