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Much of the praise I've read of Kamala was his ability to work "safe," for what it's worth. Kamala was a terribly racist gimmick. But it was also a brilliant gimmick for being one of the greatest examples of a gimmick hiding a worker's weaknesses and emphasizing his strengths.

Hogan/Andre vs Sheik/Abdullah, in Detroit. Wouldn't be a great match, but I can only imagine the numbers it would draw.

There were quite a few one-shot appearances in MSG. The Von Erichs separately, Steamboat/Youngblood, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Tiger Mask, etc. It's kind of what gave MSG its prominent place in wrestling. They weren't part of any angle, just wrestling.

I gotta say, I'm surprised at the reaction over this news. People I've never seen have any comment about pro wrestling tweeting RIP.

I assume if Sheik shoots on Hogan, it's during the title match. So Hogan doesn't get the title, at least not then. The problem though is that fans aren't going to flock to the AWA to watch the Iron Sheik. And if Verne couldn't take advantage of having Hulkamania first, I doubt he sustains business here either. All it accomplishes is blackballing Sheik from wrestling. As far as the legitimacy of the story, the only people in position to know for certain are Sheik and Gagne. Any person who has told the story (I know Bobby Heenan mentioned it in his book) would've had to have heard it from the Sheik himself.

I personally believe the concussions contributed to Benoit's demise more than any other factor. So to watch all the diving headbutts and stunts, that gets hard to watch in retrospect.

WWE would've found themselves in an equally dire PR nightmare if Benoit lived, of course. But I think the extent of Benoit's mental illness would become more apparent 15-20 years down the road.

I thought the same thing, and I wonder if some enterprising promoter would build a similar type building for wrestling/boxing/MMA events. As far as Arthur Ashe stadium, it's hard to justify that venue when Madison Square Garden is right there and possibly the most insanely accessible building in the NYC region.

Re: Kawada. I have this image in my head of a Japanese Blues Brothers. Kenta Kobashi putting the band back together by tracking down Toshiaki Kawada at his noodle shop, Akira Taue as a maitre d and others in completely menial jobs.

"Big Daddy" is probably Stephen DeBlasio.

It's been ten years since the Molinaro book came out. I thought it would be worthwhile to compare the lists a bit. Take out the Japanese/Mexican wrestlers and see where they vary. Molinaro had Flair/Thesz 1-2 and Matysik has Thesz/Flair 1-2. They're in the same ballpark. But where are there wide disagreements? Stan Hansen (-39) Vader (Off) George Hackenschmidt (Off) Gorgeous George (-24) Dusty Rhodes (-24) Joe Stecher (Not in other top 100) Bill Longson (+29) Gene Kiniski (+23) Killer Kowalski (+20) Ray Steele (Not in other top 100) Andre the Giant and Fred Blassie dropped 20 spots apiece from Molinaro's list. Bruiser Brody actually lost 18 spots which surprised me considering Matysik seems as big a Brody mark as anyone. Seems like a lot of the guys Matysik ranks lower have big accomplishments in Japan. That's probably the toughest guideline to gauge when you're just focusing on North America. George and Dusty seem a result of Matysik focusing on in-ring ability over showmanship. On the other side, Matysik ranks a few pre-television wrestlers like Steele, Longson and Stecher higher, while at the same time knocking down Hackenschmidt and perhaps Stanislaus Zbyszko. I think Matysik did a much better job than Molinaro in balancing eras. Matysik's choices seem reasonably placed while Molinaro's were often bunched together. Kiniski in the top ten is the kind of thing where I'd defer to Matysik. There's little footage of Kiniski in his prime. Kiniski's contemporaries usually praise him. Matysik would've actually seen him in action. So if Matysik says he was great, there's little one can say to disprove him.

I noticed Swagger had nothing to say at all.

One of the problems with reviews of a book like this is that it feels like the reviewer wants to reinvent the wheel. Essentially producing his/her own version of the book rather than the version that is in front of them. The most prominant review of Molinaro's Top 100 book (viewing through Google searcg) has 10% content about that book, and 90% the reviewer's own top 25 list. A fair review has to separate the list from the rest of the product. Two people are never going to agree on a top 50 list, and that's the fun of the project. But if the list is well researched and well written, even a list that you may vehimately disagree with can still be enjoyable to read. As a product, I would recommend this book without hesitation. I'll add one criticism though. Matysik worked backwards. Guys he didn't put on his list, and then the list from 50-1. I don't think those prior chapters are as effective until you digest the list itself.

I can understand Matysik making that distinction, and I think the product would've been inferior if he hadn't. It's easy to slot Baba, Santo, etc. among the greats. But then you have to start comparing guys like Fujinami/Choshu/Chono against your Millers and Grahams, and it becomes very difficult to make those calls. I wonder if PWO would be interested in an informal top 50 poll, using the same criteria Matysik used. Not so much a definitive list as much as a snapshot. I'm curious what it would look like.

The trick is do you count things like Rock 'n' Wrestling cartoons? Or experiences on mainstream talk shows?

I'm just glad to see I'm not an idiot who can't format his Kindle properly. I wonder if this is a common problem with e-books.

1. Lou Thesz 2. Ric Flair 3. Strangler Lewis 4. Hulk Hogan 5. Bruno Sammartino 6. Steve Austin 7. Jim Londos 8. Buddy Rogers 9. Gene Kiniski 10. Frank Gotch 11. Verne Gagne 12. Harley Race t-13. Dory Funk Jr. t-13. Terry Funk 15. Shawn Michaels 16. Johnny Valentine 17. Bill Longson 18. Nick Bockwinkel 19. Jack Brisco 20. The Rock 21. Bret Hart 22. Dick the Bruiser 23. Edouard Carpentier 24. Andre the Giant 25. Randy Savage 26. Triple H 27. Killer Kowalski 28. Fritz Von Erich 29. Whipper Billy Watson 30. Joe Stecher 31. John Cena 32. Bruiser Brody 33. Kurt Angle 34. Danny Hodge 35. Bob Backlund 36. The Undertaker 37. Gorgeous George 38. Pat O'Connor 39. Ted Dibiase 40. Roddy Piper 41. Ray Stevens 42. Fred Blassie 43. Ray Steele 44. Dusty Rhodes 45. Ricky Steamboat 46. Bill Miller 47. Superstar Billy Graham 48. Brock Lesnar 49. Stan Hansen 50. Randy Orton

Apologies if this was discussed, I wasn't able to find a thread. Picked up a kindle copy of Matysik's new book for $10. Obviously an interesting read, and Matysik has a good sense of history. I think he's too far anti-WWE in his opinions as far as taking an undue amount of copy to take apart WWE's own top 50 list. (Especially not when he puts Randy Orton on his own list.) More maddening though is his insistence on legitimacy as a criteria. With all due respect, there's no way in hell Brock Lesnar is a top 50 wrestler. I'm about a quarter of the way through. Not to suggest it's not worth buying. It is. But a list like this definitely generates discussion and I think Matysik is a bit off.

I've been making this regular viewing. As someone who almost never watches Raw or Smackdown, I love this. A good 15 minute match every week and recaps of everything else in a quick hour.

I bought the Kindle version. One complaint, sometimes the text overlaps the pictures a bit and I don't know if it's fixable. But this is a really solid book. It has a very positive spin. The section on Dino Bravo doesn't seek to push into the background of his death at all. It obviously wants to showcase the best of Montreal wrestling. So if you're looking for dirt you'll be disappointed. But it's quite fun and easily readable, and very informative. I honestly wish every territory had a book like this.

I would assume Foley was the backup plan as the HOF "main event" if Bruno hadn't agreed, but now with the group they have now (and they aren't done for this year yet) they've kind of shot their load for a while with top level entries. The only top level guy left it seems would be Edge since Rock's going to probably be around to some extent for another year or so probably. *edit* lol, brain cramp on my part forgetting Edge was already inducted. Who else do they have left who would qualify for a big name? The Undertaker

I remember seeing Colon as a youngster in the 1993 Royal Rumble. Seemed to have a lot of potential.

Bleacher Report has ruined the internet. You can't run a search for best anything without hitting their poorly researched lists, and their use of the one item per page advertising model has been copied ad nauseum. It contributes nothing of substance and buries anything else worthwhile.

Will say this though. I can't help but wonder if Bossman's hard bumps ended up contributing to his premature death.

I have, it was on an NWA Saturday Night show that aired on WWE Classics. Tully was using the slingshot suplex as a finish, and he got Ray Traylor up and over with it. I think it was obvious that though he was just a kid out of wrestling school, he had real potential and wasn't just a fat guy. The Rogers gimmick seems perfect for someone with his level of experience. Someone mentioned the Cornette bump, Realistically, he never should've been asked to do that spot.