Loss

I know Goodhelmet hasn't seen it, so I understand in his case, but I don't know why everyone else isn't freaking out over the Rockers/Rougeaus match from England. That comedy stuff in the opening minutes is just fantastic.

Now I'm wondering if this is a work ...

I said it was possible before and I'm starting to mean it now -- Adrian Adonis is becoming my favorite wrestler ever, slowly but surely.

I think TNA can count on Spike to be patient if their relationship with WWE was any type of indication. RAW plummeted in their time on Spike and lost nearly 50% of their viewing audience and Spike took absolutely no action and asked no questions.

Only cage match I've liked on the entire set thus far is Rude/Piper from 12/28/89. Generally, escape rules make for pretty shitty cage matches.

Did anyone else think that entire show reeked of not just bad wrestling and bad storytelling, but really creepy undertones? Do they think about how things sound? John Cena wants two wrestlers to perform oral sex on him. Vince doesn't mind it when his daughter kisses him because he loves that shade of lipstick. Strange, strange company that is getting increasingly hard to watch, to a point where I just don't feel like I should be supporting the promotion anymore period. There's also a lot of typical veteran BS going on with Michaels trying his hardest to upstage John Cena anytime he's around him and HHH saying that he's been out "with some time off", instead of the original stated reason that he was suffering major injuries from Hell in a Cell. I'll continue to TiVo it and keep whatever might be good, but I have a feeling that over the long haul, that's going to be less and less.

Then we will. I want to do this right the first time, and we're in no hurry.

My thing is I don't want to do a category and realize afterward that we're missing qualified matches from that category. With that in mind, should we postpone this 6-12 months?

We've learned that people don't always recommend all the good stuff because they thought AJPW and NJPW were the only promotions in existence for the 90s. USWA had Lawler, Dundee, Gilbert and Jarrett around (Jarrett in Memphis >>> Jarrett anywhere else), so I'm expecting some really great matches to be hidden in there.

Hogan/Backlund is fun, but more as a showcase of Backlund's best spots than a good match. One thing you'll notice in other Backlund matches is that the way he works nearfalls here is almost a norm for him. He'll get a two and then his opponent will immediately roll over and get another nearfall. He did it in his match with Hansen on 09/30/80 and I'm sure others (that match is not on the discs since it was in NJPW). As far as Hogan/Backlund, I think the strength spots from Backlund were the best parts, and it is a credit that someone as green as Hogan was at the time (less than a year of actual wrestling when this match took place) can be carried for 27 minutes to something watchable, but I agree that this won't be a high end choice. The VQ was a distraction for me as well. I need to find out where he got those old MSG and Spectrum shows so I know where *not* to track them down.

*bump* This seems to be coming together quite well, but I think we still more of the following: * ECW & indy nominations * WCW TV nominations * WWF TV nominations * Coliseum Video nominations * Handheld nominations At this point, it looks like we have 80% of the PPV must-haves, but I'll get all those, so for now, worry more about the less obvious choices. USWA and SMW nominations would also be GREATLY appreciated, moreso USWA than SMW.

Yeah, Steamboat. My bad. Edited to fix that. Still need to watch Reed/Murdoch, but need to get in the right frame of mind for a long match.

I guess they're thinking that after four straight PPV losses with Rey having four straight PPV wins, they needed to give JBL a boost.

Eddy is a heel. They had a horrid storyline going into this with Eddy pretending to be Batista's friend and them saving each other from various heel beatdowns. Batista doesn't believe Eddy, but is letting him befriend him anyway. Worst main event angle of the year, probably.

Eddy/Batista is a match I think that has potential to be a sleeper great match, so I'm still wanting to see it, considering how good Eddy has gotten at wrestling big guys. Meltzer is making too much of the casket being on fire. They've already done that angle once, and they're obviously creatively bankrupt if they're repeating it.

Rock & Roll Express v Dirty White Boys - Mid South 04/15/85 This is a really uninspiring tag match. I was expecting much more from this, based on the awesome TV match between the Fantastics and the Dirty White Boys, but this is the Steamboat/Santana v Dream Team of Mid South matches -- not much horribly offensive about it, but nothing AT ALL to get excited about, despite looking like a terrific match on paper. Morton is FIP five minutes into this and a lot of the showmanship spots that usually take place early on in RRX matches aren't on display here at all; the heat seems more obligatory than genuine. Some of the DWB's double team moves are just silly (a double atomic drop??) and the way they move from story arc to story arc is really lacking. Gibson makes the hot tag and goes for an abdominal stretch as his big move?? Silly finish too. I'd say this was by-the-numbers, but that would have been a major improvement over what this match actually was. DWB's don't look too great here either. Jake Roberts v Brad Armstrong - Mid South 04/16/85; New Orleans, LA Jake is really something else, and I've only grown to appreciate him in the past month or so since seeing more of his work. There are few guys I've ever seen who are better at timing, facial expressions, body language and conveying a story. He really knows how to structure a match and get under the skin of the crowd and does it exceptionally well here just by being himself and turning up the volume a little. He finds all sorts of cruel ways to torture the virtuous Armstrong, who as usual, owns your fucking face. Jake keeps yelling at the ref, pulling Brad's hair and twisting his body into a pretzel while laughing about it and Armstrong keeps attempting to fight back without compromising his character. When he finally snaps, it's glorious, but it's also what Jake wanted, as he quickly gets an opening and makes the most of it. It's as basic a story as you'll find in wrestling, but it's also as effective as just about anything. The heat starting out here isn't really all that great, but they build big and have the crowd chanting for Brad just a few minutes in. I think part of that is Armstrong's great selling, as he's not afraid to put over Jake's psychological game. I love how the fans rush to check on Brad and make sure he's okay when he goes outside, and Jake manages to do something in the ring to keep the story moving along while Brad is still down selling damage -- he threatens to climb the top rope and doesn't come down, almost gets DQd for trying and then does the Ric Flair beg off from the ref when he gets warned. This is 15 minutes into the match, and by this time, they're only really starting with the meat and potatoes of the match, as Jake has attempted his first cover and has Armstrong in a camel clutch. The only black mark I can make here is that Jake is still getting a certain amount of cheers, as the males in the crowd are chanting big for him to do the DDT. It's amazing how over Jake got that move, and how others who use the move either use it as a transition or have gotten nowhere the heat Jake has gotten for doing it. Armstrong's comeback to set things up for the final stretch is really cool too, as he nearly takes Jake's head off with an awesome lariat out of the corner and struggles just to stand up straight. This is Jake at his best with Armstrong doing a really good job wrestling his match. This would make a terrific companion to Jake/DiBiase 4/24/89 on the WWF DVDs, to see Jake work a very similar match where he takes almost no bumps but still manages to sell and structure things well, only this time as a heel. 20+ minutes of awesomeness. ****

Why job Christian in that match? If you're pushing a losing streak for Booker, have Benoit beat Booker. Protect the guy who's over and marketable on top, since he's the hottest act of anyone in that match. They also jobbed Christian going into this PPV in the SD main event. Ridiculous.

Ric Flair Booker T

In that context, I might include the SurSer match over the Mania one, just because that way you're comparing three non-gimmicked matches that are roughly the same length.

You know, as strange as it sounds, I think 1989 was the best year of the 80s for the WWF, at least if these discs are any indication. I would say the '89 matches are all going to do fairly well on my list. That was also the NWA's banner year, and while they definitely had better main events, I do think the WWF may have had a better undercard between Jake, DiBiase, the Brainbusters, Bret, Perfect, Piper, Rude and the Rockers. I have to rethink what I previously said about the Rougeaus, because their 10/10 match from London with the Rockers is one of the best comedy matches I've ever seen, and it will do quite well on the list. If that match happened on RAW or pay-per-view today, people would be raving about it and calling it MOTY. I don't think there are four guys in WWE who have the timing, experience or ability to pull that match off so well.

I agree with US 90s, for the exact same reasons you said. I don't want any of the territories to get shortchanged, which is why I think we should hold off on US 80s until we have a fairly complete look at Mid South and Memphis (which we're on the verge of having), in addition to the AWA, Portland, St Louis, Florida, Georgia and WCCW. For US 90s, we pretty much know all the nominees and where to find them, with the US indies possibly getting overlooked, but most likely not, since most of the better stuff is pretty heavily pimped anyway.

I left off the 00's categories because we haven't completed the decade yet, and as far as the rest, I'll just say I'll go along with what the majority wants, but if you love me, you won't want us to do Mexico, Europe or MMA first.