World's Worst Man

Bob Backlund vs. Adrian Adonis (1/18/82) is my new #1, and I doubt anything will knock it off. Backlund's arm work was great. Unlike the Hogan match, he was actually working the holds and stretching the arm all sorts of ways. Great sequence of counters that moved the match out of the build phase, then it was just back and forth warfare for 15-20 minutes. The only problems I had with the match was that Backlund's arm work never went anywhere, Backlund essentially no-sold the piledriver when he caught Adonis on the top rope and the finish was awful. Still, the positives were enough to make this match an easy #1.

Most of the Slaughter matches I've seen, he was bumping around and getting his ass kicked like he was in this match, so I figured it was natural for him I've only watched 5 volumes so far, and it looks like there's a lot of good stuff on the last 3, so I dunno where this match will end up when it's all said and done.

It was believable and had some neat spots to get over that point.Slaughter immediately trying to escape over the top was a nice touch, since the cage was low enough to where he could easily escape if Backlund wasn't paying attention. Pretty much all of the cage escape attempts looked convincing, as Sarge would try to kick Backlund off and clutch and grab everything he could to pull himself out of the door. I liked the one attempt where he was being pulled back, but still had his fingers on the door frame. One hand lost grip, so then Backlund just got up and kicked the other. And probably the best escape attempt came right in the middle of Sarge getting thrashed. Backlund was laying into him, and Sarge kind of staggered away dazed. Except he was right near the door so he jumped though, and Backlund caught him at the last minute. It was just a brilliant spot. The spot before the ending was also extremely well done, when both guys were up top slugging it out. You kind of knew that was going to decide the match, and it pretty much did. They basically worked a match where the heel was taking a beating, but was actually closer to winning throughout the match than the face was. Smart way to keep the crowd hot while also keeping the outcome in serious doubt.

I thought the first Backlund-Slaughter (1/10/81) match was merely average, but I was really high on the rematch in the cage. It's actually my #5 through 70 matches. The 1980 Backlund-Slaughter match I thought was rather below average. Haven't seen the Backlund-Adonis matches yet, although I'm really liking Adonis, so those matches should be good. Although Backlund seems really hit or miss so far. He's solid in some matches, but others it seems like he's not interested in working.

Greg Valentine vs. Ron Garvin (9/30/89) - This was getting pimped pretty hard, and while I kind of know why, it really doesn't legitimize the match at all. It was a stiff contest yes. But that was all. The work never went anywhere, and it was pretty much a big snoozefest when they weren't stiffing each other. Directionless and pointless. Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bossman (3/18/89) - Another heavily pimped match, which leaves me scratching my head. Maybe I'm being too picky, but this was the most business exposing match I've ever seen. The stalling that BBM had to do when he was waiting for Hogan to grab him off the cage was unbelievable. This was a good 8-10 seconds of doing NOTHING just so Hogan could get up and they could do the suplex spot. And for the record, Hogan is to blame here, not BBM. Then the finish, where BBM was clearly able to escape through the door, but simply didn't because he wasn't going over. Again, BBM wasn't to blame, it's whoever came up with such a moronic finish. Other than that it was a decent-good match. But I fail to see how one could come to that conclusion overall, considering how gigantc the flaws were. Glamour Girls vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (11/24/87) - I'm not big on giving props to average-decent matches, just because they're wrestled in a unique or fresh style. Obviously, the JBA's style was unheard of in WWF at the time, but that really has nothing to do with how well the match was wrestled. Their opponents were terrible, so there was only so far the match could go. Even so, it was just a spotty Joshi match, not unlike what you'd see on an AJW undercard. Actually, if this had happened on an AJW undercard, I'd probably rate it a bit lower than I had here. Maybe that's the disadvantage of watching the match through the eyes of a joshi fan, but the match was what it was.

Well to be fair, I'd call most of those matches decent, with a few being just average (or mediocre if you will). But the point I wanted to make was that I simply think the project should be kept to the absolute elite matches, or those that are close enough to where they might be reasonably argued. If for nothing else than because it limits the size of the compilation, which makes it easier on the people compiling the project, as well as those who are voting. Edit - Although I guess the depth of each promotion comes into play. The so-called "decent" 1980's WWF matches actually have a good chance to finish highish, just due to the fact that there's not a ton of great stuff in that category. I guess the quality spectrum should be dependent on the category, but the number of matches should stay fairly small I think (like 50 maybe).

They're totally different, and just because someone is a fan of one, doesn't mean they somehow have to be tied to the other. MMA just provides a totally different product. Even most of the worked-shoot style pro-wrestling matches don't look like convincing MMA matches. Pro-wrestling is for people who can either lose their disbelief while watching, or if they appreciate the work that goes into producing good pro-wrestling matches. MMA is just a sporting event, while wrestling is entertainment. I actually got into MMA after I "grew up" and stopped being able to get emotionally involved with wrestling angles. I even stopped watching wrestling all together at one point, and became a really big MMA fan. Ironically, after I started watching wrestling again, my MMA interest fell off. I couldn't ever tell you why, it just happened.

Even Kobashi/Misawa/Kawada/Taue is easy, and there's a ton of possibilities as well. Toshiaki Kawada vs Mitsuharu Misawa (6/3/94) Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue (9/10/04) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (1/20/97) Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (4/12/93) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (4/15/95) Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshaiki Kawada (6/12/98) Throw in Akiyama instead of Taue, and there's even more possibilities. Tiger Mask I/Bret Hart/Dynamite Kid would work too. Hell, so would Misawa/Bret Hart/Dynamite for that matter. Don't have the match dates off hand though. Liger/Otani/Benoit/Guerrero would be good, but I wonder if you could do Liger/Otani/Benoit/Guerrero/Samurai/Sasuke. I think I had trouble finding an Otani-Sasuke match, and a Guerrero-Samurai match (although I'm sure it would exist). Jumbo/Brody/Hansen/Tenryu might be another fun one. Or Jumbo/Hansen/Baba/Brody/Tenryu. Chono/Hashimoto/Muto/Sasaki would be neat. For later wrestling, Kojima/Tenzan/Kawada/Muto.

Will you be requesting all of the footage you need at some point, or will you only request the footage you need for the current category we're on? I'm sure there's some people who'd like to donate, but only have footage for certain categories, in which case they'd have to send b&p for any categories that come before those. (*coughmecough*) That is assuming only the footage for the active category will be requested of course.

I'm going to cry if these are included. Seriously though, these aren't bad matches (other than the Muraco/Fuji vs. JYD/Steamer match which was quite frankly, terrible), but they're all middling matches that I'd have trouble calling ***, much less nominating them for a best of the 80's list. It's my personal opinion that the matches should be kept to those that could be debated as ****+ or "excellent+" if you will. Even if it limits the number of matches, it would seem to be better than having to sit through a good number of mediocre or in some cases, god awful matches (as has been the case with the 1980's WWF project). At the very least, I think we should keep out the horrible matches (like the Muraco/Fuji tag), just because they're a waste of time and effort on both the person compiling the footage and the people watching. Editted out the Briscoes vs. Adonis/Murdoch match, as that was one that was really very good.

Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams (4/19/90) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (4/11/94) Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (4/1/94) Toshiaki Kawada vs Steve Williams (10/22/94) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (4/6/95) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (4/12/95, This isn't the finals) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (7/24/95) Mitsuharu Misawa & Hiroshi Hase & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama (9/26/97) Hiroshi Hase vs Kenta Kobashi (Summer Action Series II 1997) Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (1/25/98) Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (6/5/98) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama (October Giant Series 1999) Kyoko Inoue vs Akira Hokuto (1/4/92) Bull Nakano & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Toshiyo Yamada (8/15/92) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (1/24/94) Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta (1/24/94) Norio Honaga & Ultimo Dragon vs El Samurai & Jushin Thunder Liger (4/6/93) El Samurai vs. Great Sasuke (J-Cup 94) Great Sasuke vs Jushin Liger (J-Cup 94) Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke (J-Cup 94) Lionheart vs. Wild Pegasus (J-Cup 95) Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Otani (J-Cup 95) Jushin Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon (J-Cup 95) Jushin Liger vs. Gedo (J-Cup 95) Jushin Liger vs Shinjiro Otani (3/30/96) Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus (6/22/96) Black Tiger vs Jushin Liger (7/1/96) Jushin Liger vs Shinjiro Otani (2/22/97) Hopefully we use the NJ Classics versions of the junior stuff, as it's mostly all clipped when aired on lousy, 90's NJ TV Hiroshi Hase vs Great Muta (12/14/92) Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu (8/8/93) Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto (12/10/93)

Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita (5/8/05)

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Vernon White (PRIDE 2) Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Carlos Newton (PRIDE 3) Joachim Hansen vs. Caol Uno (HERO'S 1) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko CroCop (PRIDE Final Conflict 2003) Vanderlei Silva vs. Guy Mezger (PRIDE 10)

Jushin Liger vs. Minoru Tanaka (6/4/01) Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (6/06/03) Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Jun Akiyama (8/17/03) Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Kenta Kobashi (4/25/04) Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi (9/10/04) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8/15/04)

That's the one.

Certainly, by all means, let me know what you thought about it.

I originally posted this at my TSM blog, so I just c/p'ed it over here. Oh and hi, I'm new here. Kobashi vs. Akiyama (12/23/00) The Good - Akiyama plays his role as an asshole well, Kobashi plays the role of his angered opponent well. Akiyama doesn't give clean breaks, so Kobashi brutalizes him when he gets Jun in the corner. - The strikes and execution was stiff and believable. No surprise here and nothing out of the oridnary for these guys. - They fought for the moves really well, particular the dangerous moves. The fight for the ring side suplex, the fight/tease of the ramp to floor exploder was particular good. Jun did a good job trying to get out of the headlocks/chinlocks too, considering this next point... - Kobashi's neck attack was focused and well executed, leaving no doubt as to what he was attempting. Made his low-end offense seem important. - Smart counters to moves that had already been used earlier in the match. Kobashi countering Jun's knee and Jun countering Kobashi's suplex in particular. - Akiyama's long-term selling was great at all points. He was really putting over the damage that he had taken from each Kobashi control segment, as well as the match overall. - Akiyama's arm work was well done and makes sense in the context of lessening the effect of Kobashi's lariat. A great sequence in particular was Jun trying to get the armbar, but Kobashi blocking it, so Jun went to a short-arm scissors instead. Kobashi eventually tried to flash pin Jun while Jun still had the hold, so Jun easily kicked out and then got the full armbar. Smart work. - Both guys were selling their injuries well. Kobashi with his arm, Jun with his neck. Jun's selling was fantastic. - Great transition. Jun goes for one too many armbreakers, so Kobashi counters with a sleeper suplex. It was just a perfect position to use it. Another great transition is mentioned later. - They fought for the ramp half-nelson really well. It seemed like Jun was safe, but Kobashi pulled him off the ropes and quickly hit it. Jun sells it like death. - The concrete floor exploder was a great way for Jun to get back on fairly equal footing with Kobashi, after Jun was being killed for a lot of the match. This also lead to Jun switching his attack to Kobashi's neck, to setup for the front necklock. Great time and reason to switch attacks. - Great stretch run. They fought for the front necklock, with Jun getting it on but Kobashi getting the ropes right at the same time. Wrist clutch exploder was setup nicely. Jun attempts a normal exploder, Kobashi reaches out for the ropes, so Jun simply grabs the hand and hits the wrist-clutch exploder. Jun attempts a super exploder, Kobashi counters with a lariat, leading to a great double-sell sequence which really throws the match into doubt. - Burning hammer finish works. Kobashi can't screw around because if Jun gets the front necklock, it's probably over. Forgoes the moonsault and just goes for the burning hammer, which is setup excellently. Rolling kesagiri to the back of the neck sends Jun stomach first into the corner, and that was the beginning of the end. The Bad - The no-selling/delayed selling of the half-nelson suplex and exploder was just superfluous. - Akiyama's counter to Kobashi's moonsault didn't make sense, as Akiyama was hurting at the time. Would have been better if Kobashi had simply missed the moonsault. You know, I originally had this at ***1/2, and I don't know what the hell I was smoking, because this was Kobashi and Akiyama's best match together. I think I was in my "no-selling is the end of the world" phase when I originally watched it, and I unfairly judged the match after that. This was easily a MOTDC, ****1/2. If not for the couple flaws, this was probably ****3/4.