Loss

I don't really agree with Rob's ultimate point there that if someone can't articulate their thoughts well, then that means they're just parroting opinions. I very strongly agree with the sentiment that I'd really like to move past the idea of criticizing someone's motives behind praising or criticizing something. I thought El-P's silence was a bit deafening, because he started the whole thing and then ducked out, but I'm sure we're all guilty of that at some point.

Can you link to the thread? I'd love to read the responses.

I've watched this plenty of times before, and my opinion is pretty much the same after watching it again. Do I still think it's the best match I've ever seen? Possibly, I don't know. My opinions change all the time. But it's still near the top.

You've got one life to live, who's right, who's wrong?

What a great match! I'm glad to finally see the full version, because I really think all the matwork in the first half of the match was the best part of the match. Jumbo is flawless here. Flair? Mostly, but there are a few awkward things, like the way he sells certain moves like the atomic drop and enzuigiri, and also his very visibly calling spots several times in the match, which is not something that's usually obvious in a Flair match. Those things considered, he still gives an excellent performance, specifically in putting Jumbo over strong early on and himself at the end. Jumbo's post match sell of the damage of the figure four is pretty awesome, and there are some really dramatic near falls. Flair's cut was also pretty nasty. Jumbo has this great knack for knowing exactly how long is the right amount of time to stay in a hold before changing things up. His rope-reach attempts are all awesome, because he's so good at waiting for the right moment, which in truth, should probably be attributed to Flair also, since Flair was very obviously (way too obviously at times) the one calling this match. Lots of good stuff in the opening matwork from both guys, I especially liked Flair's figure four armbar and Jumbo getting the abdominal stretch into a pinning combination and keeping the hold locked in on the ground. A definite MOTYC for 1983, and a match that if I was ranking the best matches of the 80s would fare very well.

Pretty sure there's only one Flair/Race match in Japan.

Pro wrestling is based in two out of three falls matches. This is not a lucha thing. I don't really watch much modern stuff, so I have no idea if title matches are still 2/3 falls or not, but I like that. A win is a win, and the first two falls definitely have consequences. This is such a brilliantly put together match. I really think if I was doing a list of the top 100 matches of the 90s, this would fall somewhere in the top 25. I love the way the big spots are built up -- particularly Mascarita Sagrada trying the dive on Espectro at ringside, only for Espectro to catch him and hold him for an Espectrito die, only for Sagrada to come to the rescue and Espectrito to end up diving on Espectro instead. It's similar to the standard 1980s WWF house show Jimmy Hart spot, but it's much better here. A minis match feeling like a main event is such a major accomplishment. Without having seen that AJW tag at Queendom, this was in my mind the match of the month in a loaded month that featured the two WM X matches and some really good Candido/Smothers matches on house shows in SMW.

There's also the point Dave keeps making that so many people forget: Rock didn't cut ties with WWE. WWE cut ties with Rock.

MYTH: Larry Zbyszko enjoys stalling. I'm not debunking this. There is some truth in it. But it's way, way overblown. Just in late 1991-1992, Zbyszko takes part in plenty of well-paced matches with plenty of action.

Well, that is kinda like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife.

The only exception to this I can think of is one of my favorite wrestling moments ever. On RAW in 1999, Jericho had just interrupted The Rock (not the debut promo, but the one two months later). Jericho: "The Jerichoholics are mad, Rock, and they aren't gonna take it anymore" (paraphrased) A guy dressed like Jericho comes out of the crowd to attack the Rock and has to be restrained by security ... Jericho: "Case in point!"

This is probably going to end up with some hilarious stories, and deserves its own thread: http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9337/124/

Wow, I: Never Noticed That Okay, I'll stop, but I'm wondering if this feature was sneaked in when no one was looking, or if it was always there.

Bullet points! I have to learn how to do that.

There would definitely be interest. I will continue doing the '88s at some point, and go into '89, but they take SO LONG to type up.

I don't know that most people think about why they react the way they do when they do. My grandpa would constantly go on about how wrestling was fake while at the same time getting really mad and animated quite a few times when seeing live wrestling shows with him. There is also the dynamic of people who think it's mostly fake, except for such-and-such angle, which this survey doesn't take into consideration.

1969 #1 - The Destroyer vs Giant Baba (JWA 03/05/69) ****1/2 #2 - Antonio Inoki vs Chris Markoff (JWA 05/16/69) ****1/4 1975 #1 - The Destroyer vs Hiro Matsuda (AJPW 12/15/75) ****1/4 #2 - Jerry Lawler vs Jack Brisco (Mid South Coliseum 09/16/75) ***1/2 1977 #1 - Harley Race vs Jerry Lawler (Mid South Coliseum 12/10/77) ***** #2 - Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (Mid South Coliseum 08/29/77, Hair vs Hair) ****1/4 1978 #1 - Harley Race vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW TV 01/20/78) **** #2 - Bob Backlund vs Ivan Koloff (WWWF Madison Square Garden 08/28/78) ***1/2 1979 #1 - Roddy Piper & Ron Bass & Red Bastien vs Buddy Rose & Luke Williams & Butch Miller (PNW 10/27/79) ***3/4 #2 - Roddy Piper vs Buddy Rose (PNW 05/12/79) ***1/2 #3 - Roddy Piper & Buddy Rose & Killer Brooks & Ed Wiskowski vs Adrian Adonis & Ron Starr & George Wells & Hector Guerrero (PNW 04/07/79, Elimination Match) ***1/2 #4 - Antonio Inoki vs Dusty Rhodes (NJPW 11/08/79) ***1/4 #5 - Roddy Piper vs Buddy Rose (PNW 05/19/79, Lumberjack Match) ***1/4 #6 - Antonio Inoki vs Dusty Rhodes (NJPW 11/01/79) *** 1980 #1 - Ricky Morton vs Sonny King (Memphis Wrestling TV 04/26/80) ***1/2 #2 - Ricky Steamboat & Dick Slater vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/05/80) ***1/2 1981 #1 - Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 10/09/81) ****1/4 1982 #1 - Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich (WCCW Star Wars 08/15/82) ****1/4 #2 - Harley Race vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW 12/07/82) ***3/4 #3 - Ricky Steamboat & Atsushi Onita vs Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne (AJPW 06/08/82) ***1/2 #4 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW 06/04/82) ***1/4 1983 #1 - MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana (EMLL 09/23/83, Hair vs Hair) ***** #2 - Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 06/08/83) ****1/2 #3 - Butch Reed & Jim Neidhart vs Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II (Mid South Wrestling 12/25/83, Cage Match) ****1/2 #4 - Michael Hayes & Kamala & The Mongol vs David Von Erich & Chris Adams & Iceman Parsons (WCCW Fort Worth 10/10/83) ***1/2 #5 - Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin vs Kerry Von Erich & Chris Adams (WCCW Fort Worth 10/31/83) ***1/4 1984 #1 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84) ****3/4 #2 - Ricky Steamboat vs Tully Blanchard (NWA Starrcade 11/22/84) ****1/2 #3 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (Night of Champions 05/29/84) ****1/2 #4 - Ricky Steamboat vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 02/23/84) ****1/4 #5 - Tito Santana vs Greg Valentine (WWF Madison Square Garden 11/26/84) **** #6 - Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey & Ernie Ladd vs Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson & Hacksaw Duggan (Houston Wrestling 06/08/84) **** #7 - Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey & Ernie Ladd vs Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson & Hacksaw Duggan (Mid South Wrestling 07/02/84) **** 1985 #1 - Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami (AJW 08/22/85) ****3/4 #2 - Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich (Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling 10/12/85) ****3/4 #3 - Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed (Mid South Wrestling 09/22/85) ****3/4 #4 - Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (Mid South Coliseum 12/30/85, Loser Leaves Town) ****1/2 #5 - Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor (Mid South Wrestling 06/01/85) ****1/2 #6 - Ric Flair vs Butch Reed (Mid South Wrestling 08/10/85) ****1/4 #7 - Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor (Mid South Wrestling 04/28/85) ****1/4 #8 - Ted DiBiase vs Brad Armstrong (Mid South Wrestling 02/16/85) ****1/4 #9 - Randy Savage vs Jerry Oski (Louisville Gardens 05/07/85) **** #10 - Ric Flair vs Koko Ware (Mid South Coliseum 11/18/85) **** #11 - Ted DiBiase vs Terry Taylor (Mid South Wrestling TV 07/03/85) **** #12 - Rick Martel vs Jerry Lawler (Jarrett Promotions 10/12/85) ***3/4 #13 - Ric Flair vs Jake Roberts (Mid South Wrestling 11/24/85) ***3/4 #14 - Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana vs Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (WWF Mapleleaf Gardens 04/21/85) ***3/4 #15 - Randy Savage vs Jerry Lawler (Mid South Coliseum 06/03/85) ***1/2 #16 - Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase (Mid South Wrestling TV 11/06/85) ***1/2 #17 - Barry Windham vs Dick Murdoch (WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 02/16/85) ***1/2 1986 #1 - Akira Maeda vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 06/12/86) ****1/4 #2 - Curt Hennig vs Nick Bockwinkel (AWA New Years Eve Special on ESPN 12/31/86) ****1/4 #3 - Steve Williams vs Buzz Sawyer (Mid South Wrestling 01/28/86) ****1/4 #4 - Jerry Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow (Mid South Coliseum 09/07/86, Texas Death Match) **** #5 - Steve Williams vs Terry Gordy (UWF TV 09/15/86) **** #6 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton (NWA Pro Wrestling 05/10/86) **** #7 - Ricky Steamboat vs Jake Roberts (WWF Boston Gardens 08/09/86) ***1/2 #8 - Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat (WWF Mapleleaf Gardens 07/27/86) ***1/4 1987 #1 - El Hjio del Santo vs Negro Casas (WWA 07/18/87 Los Angeles, CA Hair vs Hair) ***** #2 - Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat (WWF Wrestlemania III 03/29/87) ****1/4 #3 - Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat (WWF Mapleleaf Gardens 02/15/87) **** #4 - One Man Gang vs Big Bubba Rogers (UWF Power Pro 04/19/87) **** #5 - Barry Windham vs Dick Murdoch (UWF Power Pro 07/11/87) ***3/4 1988 #1 - Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane vs Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton (NWA Clash of the Champions I 03/27/88) ****1/4 #2 - Barry Windham vs Tully Blanchard (NWA World Championship Wrestling 01/23/88) **** #3 - Big Van Vader vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 06/26/88) ***3/4 #4 - Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (NWA Clash of the Champions I 03/27/88) ***3/4 #5 - Big Van Vader vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 04/27/88) ***3/4 #6 - Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (Houston Wrestling 06/10/88, 2/3 falls) ***1/2 #7 - Jerry Lawler vs Dutch Mantell (CWA 05/29/88) ***1/2 #8 - Barry Windham vs Sting (NWA Clash of the Champions III 09/07/88) ***1/4 #9 - Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden & Tommy Rich vs Bill Dundee & Jeff Jarrett & Jimmy Valiant (CWA 09/17/88) ***1/4 1989 #1 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Clash of the Champions VI 04/02/89) ***** #2 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Chi-Town Rumble 02/20/89) ****3/4 #3 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Capital Centre 03/18/89) ****3/4 #4 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Wrestle War 05/07/89) ****1/2 #5 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Philadelphia Civic Center 03/18/89) ****1/2 #6 - Lex Luger vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA Great American Bash 07/23/89) **** #7 - Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat & Eddie Gilbert (NWA World Championship Wrestling 01/21/89) **** #8 - Sting vs Mike Rotunda (NWA World Championship Wrestling 03/31/89) ***3/4 #9 - Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (NWA World Championship Wrestling 11/18/89) ***1/2 #10 - Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane vs Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose (NWA Main Event 01/22/89) ***1/2 #11 - Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty vs Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau (WWF London 10/10/89) ***1/2 #12 - Arn Anderson vs Mike Rotunda (NWA Power Hour 12/22/89) *** 1990 #1 - Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano (NJPW 01/31/90) ****1/2 #2 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/07/90) **** #3 - Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs Joe Malenko & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW 09/01/90) ***3/4 #4 - Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman (NWA World Championship Wrestling 02/17/90) ***3/4 #5 - Jerry Lawler vs Steve Keirn (IWA Florida 1990) ***1/4 1991 #1 - Ric Flair & Barry Windham & Larry Zbyszko & Sid Vicious vs Sting & Brian Pillman & Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner (WCW Wrestle War 02/24/91) ****3/4 #2 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 04/20/91) ****1/2 #3 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJPW 01/15/91) ****1/4 #4 - Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty vs Pat Tanaka & Kato (WWF Royal Rumble 01/19/91) ****1/4 #5 - Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior (WWF Wrestlemania VII 03/24/91) ****1/4 #6 - Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman (WCW Saturday Night 04/06/91) **** #7 - Barry Windham vs Brian Pillman (WCW Pro 04/06/91) **** #8 - Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII 11/17/91) ***3/4 #9 - Steve Austin vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/26/91) ***1/2 #10 - Sting vs Cactus Jack (WCW Power Hour 11/23/91, Submit or Surrender) ***1/2 #11 - Sting vs Rick Rude (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII 11/17/91) *** 1992 #1 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW Dream Rush 11/26/92, 2/3 falls) ***** #2 - Jushin Liger vs El Samurai (NJPW Top of the Super Juniors Tournament Final 04/30/92) ****3/4 #3 - Rick Rude & Steve Austin & Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko vs Sting & Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) ****1/2 #4 - Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat (AJPW 05/25/92) ****1/2 #5 - Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Beach Blast 06/20/92, 30-minute Ironman Challenge Match) ****1/2 #6 - Big Van Vader vs Sting (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) ****1/2 #7 - Rick Rude vs Masa Chono (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/92) ****1/2 #8 - Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (WCW Clash of the Champions XIX 06/16/92) ****1/2 #9 - Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) ****1/4 #10 - Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF Summerslam 08/29/92) ****1/4 #11 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Misterioso & Volador vs Rocco Valente & Tony Arce & Vulcano (AAA 10/02/92) ****1/4 #12 - Fuerza Guerrera vs Octagon (CMLL TV 02/02/92) ****1/4 #13 - Arn Anderson vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92) **** #14 - Rick Rude & Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko vs Sting & Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 02/22/92) **** #15 - Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko vs Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (WCW Saturday Night 05/23/92, 2/3 falls) **** #16 - Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara (WAR 12/11/92) **** #17 - Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Steve Williams (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/25/92) **** #18 - Brian Pillman vs Jushin Liger (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) ***3/4 #19 - Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff vs Brian Pillman & Jushin Liger (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) ***3/4 #20 - Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW 01/26/92) ***1/2 #21 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Masa Fuchi & Rusher Kimura & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW Fan Appreciation Night 04/18/92) **** 1993 #1 - Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW Dreamslam I 04/02/93) ***** #2 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Super Calo & Winners vs Heavy Metal & Picudo & Psicosis (AAA 01/29/93) ***** #3 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Eddy Guerrero & Lizmark vs Heavy Metal & La Parka & Psicosis (AAA 02/21/93) ****1/2 #4 - Steve Austin & Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII 01/13/93) ***3/4 #5 - Vader & Barry Windham vs Sting & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 01/30/93) ***3/4 #6 - Barry Windham vs Steven Regal (WCW Power Hour 04/24/93) ***1/2 #7 - Vader vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Worldwide 05/29/93) ***1/2 1994 #1 - Espectrito vs Mascarita Sagrada (AAA 03/12/94) ****1/2 #2 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 05/14/94) ****1/4 #3 - Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 07/11/94) **** #4 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94) **** #5 - Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Action Zone 10/30/94) **** #6 - Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/17/94) **** #7 - Vader vs Sting (WCW Fall Brawl 09/18/94) **** #8 - Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 03/12/94) ***3/4 #9 - Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (WWF Monday Night RAW 08/01/94) ***1/2 #10 - Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan (WCW Clash of the Champions XXVIII 08/24/94) ***1/4 1995 #1 - Rey Misterio Jr. & El Hijo del Santo & La Parka & Octagon vs Psicosis & Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera & Pentagon (AAA 06/18/95) ****3/4 #2 - Rey Misterio Jr. & El Hijo del Santo & La Parka & Octagon vs Psicosis & Jerry Estrada & Fuerza Guerrera & Pentagon (AAA 07/08/95) ****1/4 #3 - Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko (ECW Hostile City Showdown 04/15/95) **** #4 - Rey Misterio Jr. & El Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs Psicosis & Heavy Metal & Pentagon (AAA 07/16/95) **** #5 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Octagon & La Parka & Latino Lover vs Fuerza Guerrera & Psicosis & Pentagon & Blue Panther (AAA 07/28/95) ***3/4 #6 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 06/16/95) ***3/4 #7 - Jeff Jarrett vs Razor Ramon (WWF Royal Rumble 01/22/95) ***1/4 1996 #1 - Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Shiryu vs Gran Hamada & Super Delphin & Tiger Mask IV & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji (Michinoku Pro 10/10/96) ****1/2 #2 - Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Survivor Series 11/17/96) ****1/4 #3 - Jushin Liger vs Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96) ****1/4 #4 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Dean Malenko (WCW Monday Nitro 07/08/96) ***3/4 #5 - Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Benoit (WCW Monday Nitro 11/18/96) ***1/2 #6 - Ric Flair vs Eddy Guerrero (WCW Monday Nitro 05/20/96) ***1/2 #7 - Steven Regal vs Dean Malenko (WCW Monday Nitro 08/19/96) ***1/4 #8 - Chris Benoit vs Hector Guerrero (WCW Monday Nitro 11/11/96) *** 1997 #1 - Bret Hart vs Undertaker (WWF One Night Only 09/20/97) ****1/4 #2 - Owen Hart vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF Monday Night RAW 03/03/97) **** #3 - JC Ice & Wolfie D vs Spike Dudley & Mikey Whipwreck (ECW TV 07/12/97) **** #4 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis & La Parka (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97) ***3/4 #5 - Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko (WCW Saturday Night 02/08/97) *** 1998 #1 - Steve Austin vs Dude Love (WWF Over The Edge 05/31/98) ****1/4 #2 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Thunder 01/15/98) ***3/4 #3 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Thunder 11/12/98) ***3/4 #4 - Mariko Yoshida vs Candy Okutsu (ARSION 12/18/98) ***1/2 #5 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Chris Jericho (WCW Monday Nitro 08/03/98) ***1/2 2000 #1 - HHH vs Chris Jericho (WWF Fully Loaded 07/23/00, Last Man Standing Match) **** #2 - Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (WWF Backlash 04/30/00) ***3/4 #3 - Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (WWF Judgment Day 05/21/00, Submission Match) ***3/4 #4 - HHH & Chris Benoit vs The Rock & Chris Jericho (WWF Monday Night RAW 04/24/00) ***1/2 #5 - Yoshihiro Taijiri vs Psicosis (ECW 08/19/00) ***1/4 #6 - HHH vs Chris Jericho (WWF Monday Night RAW 06/14/00) ***1/4 2001 #1 - The Rock vs Chris Jericho (WWF No Mercy 10/21/01) **** #2 - Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (WWF Royal Rumble 01/21/01, Ladder Match) **** #3 - Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs Edge & Christian vs Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley (WWF SmackDown! 05/24/01) **** #4 - Steve Austin & HHH vs Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho (WWF Monday Night RAW 05/21/01) ***1/2 #5 - The Rock vs Chris Jericho (WWF Vengeance 12/09/01) ***1/2 #6 - Steve Austin & Kurt Angle vs The Rock & Chris Jericho (WWF SmackDown! 11/15/01) ***1/2 #7 - Steve Austin vs Chris Jericho (WWF SmackDown! 08/19/01) ***1/2 #8 - Chris Jericho vs Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Benoit vs X-Pac (WWF No Way Out 02/25/01 ***1/2 #9 - The Rock vs Chris Jericho (WWF Monday Night RAW 11/05/01) ***1/2 #10 - Booker T vs Chris Jericho (WWF Monday Night RAW 07/16/01) ***1/4 #11 - Rob Van Dam vs Chris Jericho (WWF Unforgiven 09/23/01) ***1/4 #12 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Billy Kidman & Shane Helms vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo (WCW Thunder 03/21/01) ***1/4 #13 - The Rock & Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit & Big Show (WWF Monday Night RAW 01/22/01) *** 2002 #1 - The Rock vs Chris Jericho (WWF Royal Rumble 01/20/02) **** #2 - Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar (WWE No Mercy 10/20/02, Hell in a Cell) ***3/4 #3 - HHH vs Chris Jericho (WWE Judgment Day 05/19/02, Hell in a Cell) ***3/4 #4 - Bryan Danielson vs AJ Styles (ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/09/02) ***3/4 #5 - Chris Jericho vs Kane (WWE Monday Night RAW 09/30/02) ***1/2 #6 - Eddy Guerrero & Chris Benoit vs The Rock & Edge (WWE SmackDown! 08/01/02) ***1/2 #7 - Chris Jericho & Christian vs Booker T & Goldust (WWE Monday Night RAW 12/23/02) ***1/4 #8 - Chris Jericho & Christian vs Booker T & Goldust (WWE No Mercy 10/20/02) *** 2003 #1 - Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH Kobe World Hall 01/26/03) ****1/2 #2 - KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Makoto Hashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH Budokan Hall 09/12/03) ****1/4 #3 - Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle (WWE Royal Rumble 01/19/03) ****1/4 #4 - Homicide vs Steve Corino (ROH Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies 08/16/03) **** #5 - Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata (NOAH Budokan Hall 06/06/03) ***1/2 #6 - Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels (WWE Wrestlemania XIX 03/30/03) ***1/2 #7 - Chris Jericho vs Bill Goldberg (WWE Bad Blood 06/15/03) ***1/4 2004 #1 - Jushin Liger vs Makoto Hashi (NOAH Budokan Hall 03/06/04) ****1/2 #2 - Eddy Guerrero vs John Bradshaw Layfield (WWE Judgment Day 05/16/04) ****1/4 #3 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH Budokan Hall 04/25/04) **** #4 - Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho & Edge vs Randy Orton & Ric Flair & Batista (WWE Monday Night RAW 06/14/04, Elimination Match) **** #5 - Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE SmackDown! 03/16/04) **** #6 - Chris Jericho vs Christian (WWE Unforgiven 09/12/04, Ladder Match) **** #7 - Chris Jericho vs Edge (WWE Monday Night RAW 08/09/04) **** #8 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Jamie Noble (WWE Velocity 04/27/04) **** #9 - Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit (WWE Monday Night RAW 05/03/04) ***3/4 #10 - Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho & Edge vs Randy Orton & Ric Flair & Batista (WWE Monday Night RAW 08/02/04) ***3/4 #11 - Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs HHH & Batista (WWE Monday Night RAW 12/06/04) ***1/2 #12 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. (WWE No Way Out 02/16/04) ***1/4 #13 - Chris Jericho vs Christian (WWE Monday Night RAW 05/10/04, Cage Match) *** 2005 #1 - Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (NOAH 01/08/05) ****1/2 #2 - Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs Homicide & Low Ki (ROH Punk: The Final Chapter 08/13/05) ****1/4 #3 - Edge vs Matt Hardy (WWE Unforgiven 09/18/05, Cage Match) ****1/4 #4 - Mistico vs Averno (CMLL 01/30/05) ****1/4 #5 - Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Summerslam 08/21/05, Ladder Match) ****1/4 #6 - Samoa Joe vs Necro Butcher (IWA Mid South 06/11/05) ****1/4 #7 - KENTA vs SUWA (NOAH 09/18/05) **** #8 - CM Punk vs Roderick Strong (ROH Escape From New York 07/09/05) **** #9 - John Cena vs Chris Jericho (WWE Monday Night RAW 08/22/05) **** #10 - Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (WWE Monday Night RAW 02/07/05) ***1/2 2006 #1 - Mistico & Negro Casas vs Mephisto & Averno (CMLL TV 04/15/06) ****3/4 #2 - Samoa Joe & BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce vs Necro Butcher & Chris Hero & Super Dragon (ROH 100th Show 04/22/06) ****3/4 #3 - Samoa Joe vs Bryan Danielson (ROH Fight of the Century 08/05/06) ****1/2 #4 - KENTA vs Matt Sydal (ROH The Bitter End 11/04/06) ***1/2 #5 - Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker (WWE No Way Out 02/19/06) ***1/2 2008 #1 - Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH 6th Anniversary Show 02/23/08) ****3/4 #2 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Greco (BattlARTS 06/01/08) ****1/2 #3 - Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho (WWE No Mercy 10/05/08, Ladder Match) ****1/2 #4 - Bryan Danielson vs Low Ki (PWG All Star Weekend 6 01/02/08) ****1/2 #5 - Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho (WWE Judgment Day 05/18/08) ****1/4 #6 - Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe (TNA Lockdown 04/13/08, Cage Match) **** #7 - Randy Orton vs John Cena (WWE No Way Out 02/17/08) **** #8 - KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (NOAH 05/24/08) **** #9 - Shawn Michaels vs Batista (WWE One Night Stand 06/01/08, Stretcher Match) ***3/4 #10 - Chris Jericho vs Batista (WWE Monday Night RAW 05/19/08) ***1/2 2009 #1 - Edge vs John Morrison (WWE Friday Night SmackDown! 06/19/09) **** #2 - C.M. Punk vs John Morrison (WWE Friday Night SmackDown! 06/26/09) **** #3 - Edge vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Friday Night SmackDown! 06/05/09) ***3/4 #4 - Chris Jericho vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Friday Night SmackDown! 07/10/09) ***3/4 #5 - Evan Bourne & Carlito Colon & Primo Colon vs John Morrison & The Miz & Tyson Kidd (ECW on Syfy 04/07/09) ***1/2 #6 - C.M. Punk & John Morrison vs Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (WWE Friday Night SmackDown! 05/15/09) ***1/4

This match gets me every time. Aside from the Steamboat/Youngblood vs Slaughter/Kernodle match, this may be my favorite tag match ever in the U.S. Since Steve Austin changed his style so much after his neck injury, and that's when he had his biggest years, it's easy to forget that before that, he was definitely a willing bumper and kept a pretty fast pace. People have said Austin had a learning curve early on in WCW, and that's probably true, but this match didn't show one at all. Part of that may have been because Zbyszko was so good. Larry Zbyszko doing endless stalling isn't a myth, but it's not really an all-the-time thing with him either. There are matches like this and the November '91 Clash match against Steamboat and Dustin that proves he was able to keep a good pace when he felt like it. I really think for anyone who wants to look more into this era, Goodhelmet's Dangerous Alliance comp is a good pick, and there's lots of good Zbyszko included. Dustin's sells of those Austin clotheslines is pretty awesome stuff. This is one of those matches that I really point to as what I think great tag team wrestling should be: strong faces and heels, lots of good standard sequences and spots executed extremely well, good building of heat, good storyline, good mix of veterans and younger guys. Maybe there are better tag matches, but this is one that doesn't feel like it's missing a thing. This reminds me in some ways of the dynamic you'd get when Rock would team with Jericho or HHH would team with Benoit during the boom years, although it didn't happen too often. Madusa's also excellent as a second, shaking the ropes at ringside on cue when Austin is using them for leverage, so there's an excuse when the ref wants answers. I also like Jim Ross noticeably taking offense to Jesse Ventura saying the Sooners were the only team in college football whose players took a pay cut when they went to the NFL. Forget Pillman/Liger, this was the best match at SuperBrawl II, what I consider the best PPV ever.

Maybe the title switch should go on the next PWO DVD Club disc so we can watch it and see if there's anything to what he's talking about. I'm actually a little surprised, because I remember really liking this match.

I'd like to see some stuff that isn't necessary an "impact" finisher come back, like the flying bodypress. Not every finisher has to hurt, as long as it gets a pin. More pinning combination finishers would be nice. I wouldn't even mind something like La Magistral being booked as an inescapable pin, with someone using it as a finisher for several months before someone finally figure out how to kick out of it. Even a victory roll as a finisher would be fine with me.

Absolutely. A new disc will be released on a monthly basis, but all DVDs will be available all the time.

I like comedy that isn't so calculated. Jim Cornette trying to bribe a referee out of getting put in a cage above the ring before a Fantastics match is funny, but also fits his character and plays into the storyline perfectly. It's funny, but it's not a "comedy segment", if that makes sense.

I doubt he will, just because he doesn't seem like the type to hang around, but I think booking in WWE and doing color commentary would be a good gig for Jericho when he stops wrestling. While it started off shaky, what I love about Jericho's comeback is more than half the time, the writers haven't even really had anything special for him, if anything at all, and then he's created something himself which takes off and gets over huge, then they're forced to start giving it time. Happened with the Michaels feud, happened with the Legends feud, and probably will happen with the upcoming Rey feud.

For the most part yes, yes, not really, not at all, possibly, in a way, and yes to the first sentence and no to the last sentence, in that order.

Of course there's a place for comedy, it's just that there's a difference between Fuerza Guerrera-type buffoonery or Michinoku Pro-type comedy, and 15 minute skits about poop. The latter, I would be fine without.