Loss

And also because fans place a premium on size. I've been guilty of it in the past. We all have. Let's kill the mindset before someone else dies.

Not to be harsh, but fans like yourself are a large part of the reason guys like Eddy Guerrero felt pressured to do things to get bigger.

I think they're wanting to be definitive. I understand it; it's why I'm holding off the current Best Match stuff at this board. At the same time, there will probably come a point when you just have to go for it, and come back later and do an addendum. There's just too much great wrestling that has happened in the past and is still going on today.

As Bryan Alvarez pointed out last night, too much time off is bad for some guys as well because they get in even more trouble. Sean Waltman and Scott Hall are great examples of this. Answers aren't easy, and this needs to be openly debated in and out of wrestling for a long time.

I understood why they changed categories, but why did they push back the WWF voting?

Lucha is MORE matwork than anything else. We've seen luchadores in the US, but the lucha style is really nothing like anything ever done in the US. If the fans accepted Eddy as a mat worker after years as a flyer, they would do the same for Rey.

It helps that Rey is also really awesome on the mat, but spends most of his time in the air because that's a large part of what got him over. So he knows how to work that style quite well.

I said Eddy came close to getting **** out of the Big Show, so I think Rey could as well.

Eddy/Show came very close, if it didn't hit that level, so I think Rey/Show could as well.

A meticulously planned Rey/Show match could hit the **** mark and not look back.

Bill Dundee & Frank Boyles v Wayne Farris & Larry Latham - Memphis, early 80s This is on the Memphis TV Masters Vol 3 disc for anyone following along. It's always weird seeing Honky Tonk Man in his early days, where he resembles Brian Lee or a Beverly Brother far more than he does his more famous gimmick. Anyway, this match reminds me greatly of Slaughter/Daniels v Adonis/Murdoch from 07/23/84 in MSG, with Dundee doing all the great spots for his team and his partner sticking to the basics. It worked there and it works here, but I think this match is slightly better only for having a legit FIP segment where the MSG match really didn't. Dundee is awesome on the apron as well, and there are some really terrific teases before the big babyface comeback finally happens. Post-match brawl is pretty spirited too. I miss quality heel beatdowns. ***1/2

Rewatched Yoshida/Akino. It's amazing (but not really) how much difference there is in watching wrestling when you're in the mood to watch something versus not being in the mood but trying to get into the mood to watch something. I wrote this off because of the heat initially, but considering the direction of the company, in some ways, it's appropriate because getting over the style in ARSION was the top priority, even if it sacrificed the short-term pop. So, in that case, I like that the workers were thinking five matches ahead instead of just working a different style match in the hopes that something would draw the crowd in. It's a patience lacking in practically every wrestling promotion ever, but it's not lacking here, and taking that into consideration when watching this makes a major difference. There are also things I picked up on that I'm not sure I picked up on yesterday at all. Akino is a much better opponent for Yoshida than Okutsu was, although both were the perfect opponents at that stage of the company. Yoshida is not just trying to get herself over, which is the usual task a wrestler has, or even her match, but rather an entire company's style. She makes the right decisions and drives the right points home. Highspots like the somersault pescado outside from Akino and the top-rope superplex aren't going to be enough to get the job done; and in fact, they only briefly take the wind out of Yoshida's sails. The first time I watched this, I saw that as really bad selling, but rewatching, and taking the above into consideration, it comes across much better. Yoshida is great at torturing Akino, to a point where Akino starts becoming sympathetic. I said, regarding the Okutsu match, that what it made me want more than anything was to see Yoshida matched with a true peer, which is exactly the feeling I suspect they were going for, so the match was a success. Akino is just as ovaries-out as Okutsu, but she's smarter and presents a tougher challenge because she knows herself well enough to know when to reign in her attack and when to strike big. As a result, she gets closer to victory than Okutsu did because she has the wherewithal to attempt pinfalls every time she performs a big move, a sixth sense Okutsu didn't have. Those pinfall attempts are in some ways my favorite part of the match because they create so much doubt over the outcome. It seems natural that Yoshida would win, but Yoshida is the master here of getting the most out of a close fall, writhing and clawing to kick out and finally coming through at the very last second. I prefer that style much more than laying unconscious only to randomly throw a shoulder up at the last second, which is what we usually see in big US matches. All of this doesn't even really go into the torturous matwork Yoshida employs and the vicious combo moves she does. It's one thing to grab a headscissors, and it's another to arch it at an angle so Akino's poor neck has to be bent backwards. It's yet another thing to perform the same move again, this time locking the arm in as well. What I like at this point about Yoshida is that she doesn't just lock in a hold, she grabs the rest of her opponent's body that might be used to counter the move. I haven't really scratched the surface here on examples of that type of work within the match, but needless to say, this is worth going out of your way to see. ****1/4

Agreed with Marty on JBL. If there's any justice in the WON readership, which there often isn't, Samoa Joe will be Most Outstanding Wrestler, JBL will be Most Improved Wrestler and Eddy/Rey will be Feud of the Year in the year-end awards.

Bumping this, because I thought it was cool that Bradshaw pointed out on WWE.com that his feud with Eddy sold out the Staples Center in LA and that the feud got so over that he had to have police escorts in many cities. So much for the talk of it not being a good feud, considering that it produced three of the best matches of the year for the company, drew well comparatively and got mad heat.

Would'ves and could'ves don't really matter. The fact is that he didn't jump to WCW with the belt. I can say that if I was told to blatantly screw my friend over at work, even if it cost me my job, I wouldn't. Many would. Many wouldn't. Arguing that anyone would do the same thing in the same situation is speculation at best and shows an unhealthy lack of trust in other people at worst.

Rey is the type that would get over *because* of his size, not in spite of it. He's the easiest guy to book in the company, and creating doubt about every single title defense is a given.

Eh, I blame myself in this instance. I should know better than to watch wrestling when I'm distracted. I'll give it another try later tonight.

Tried to watch Yoshida/Akino from 01/17/99, but couldn't get into it at all. I'll give it another try later.

Also, I think JBL would be a *MUCH* better choice for champ than Orton if they're looking for a heel to keep the belt warm for a while. He's also shown he can work well with Rey if they ever did decide that's who they wanted to win the title in the long run. At this point, JBL is a better worker and a better interview, by a pretty considerable margin, than Orton. I'd even say he has more upside.

Of course, the same things were said about Eddy and Benoit. And who knows what's going through anyone's head whose in power at the moment when an under-40 main eventer dropped dead this week, partially because he was trying to become a heavyweight when his body just wasn't meant for it. I can see sek's point about Vince's head and I reluctantly agree with it, but anyone who says they wouldn't buy Rey as champ because of his size just proves that they haven't learned anything from the tragedy we've had in the past week, and shows that they're just as much to blame for the problems of steroids in wrestling as anyone.

Meltzer says the bar fight rumor is NOT true. According to him, Dinsmore passed out backstage after the show and was suspended and sent home. The blanks can sort of be filled in. Of all the weeks to do something really stupid ...

While I do think that they need to be keeping close tabs on Angle and pretty much insisting that he take 6-12 months off, if not retiring all together, I don't think this was good journalism from Keller at all. The fact is, however, that Angle has a heart condition, suffers from angina, has nerve damage in his neck, looks and sounds like a completely person than he did even five years ago, and has freely admitted to taking loads of painkillers just to be able to wrestle. That doesn't even include what he may be taking to get the body he has. It's scary, and the firestorm that would hit the media if a guy went from being an Olympic gold medalist to dropping dead of drug problems in less than 10 years would be enormous.

I would say Tito Santana occupied that spot more than Hogan. Jake tended to feud with guys who had already feuded with Hogan and were on their way down the card instead of up -- DiBiase, Earthquake, Bad News Brown, etc.

I do agree that it's too soon for that feud. I would have thought ahead and made Christian/Brown a feud that's built all year long in 2006, and billed as Brown's toughest challenge as a champion after he defeats Jarrett. The match shouldn't even happen until summer at the earliest. Problem with TNA is that almost everyone is a babyface, though.

What amazes me is how few former WWE champions have died. Buddy Rogers, Stan Stasiak, Yokozuna, Andre the Giant, and now Eddie Guerrero. That's it. If you factor in NWA and AWA world champions, along with Triple Crown and IWGP titleholders and world champs in Mexico and Europe, that number is going to become staggering, even if you only consider 1963-present to be consistent with Titan.