Loss

My understanding is that it was more of a rib on Pillman than Badd. Lots of people in the company loved Mero, but it was known that he was a limited performer, and Pillman was almost always in the doghouse with the front office for being so outspoken. It was a case of the bookers trying to embarrass Pillman by making him carry someone limited in such a long match, but Brian made it work. It's possible that it was intended that way, but that the match impressed the right people and led to both guys getting bigger pushes.

This is officially now the greatest thing I've heard all year. Excellent!

I knew better, but I was in denial about wrestling being fake until I was about 17 years old and started coming online. At that point, it was impossible to deny. I remember going into a chat room and saying, "Hey, I think Luger is going to beat Hogan at Road Wild since he's been on a roll lately" and people responding with stuff like "No way Bollea jobs to Pfohl." That line makes me roll my eyes more than anything, actually. I don't wish I could go back. My appreciation for the art form that is pro wrestling has grown immeasurably since learning the secrets behind the curtain, and I can still suspend my disbelief easily in the right situation. That seems to be the opposite line of thinking from a lot of people, but I'm very grateful for the effect the Internet has had on my fandom.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget Barry Windham, although a guy his size probably could have had a much longer career had he not taken some of the huge bumps he did. He was only 37 in his last WCW run and seemed much, much older.

Just seeing the title of this thread made me think instantly of Ted DiBiase. I think you said everything about him that I would have said. I also think Bobby Eaton deserves a mention here. He's a case where the body language added so much to the bump because he made it look far less controlled than most wrestlers do, without looking sloppy.

Yeah, I've read some stuff about it, but I haven't seen too much specific. I want the original cheesy theme music back (at least the first original music they used after "Obsession") and I want Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura dressing up like they're in the safari. Otherwise, I'll boycott.

The tag team tournament has had very little participation, and I wanted to gauge response and see what would be the next tournament to actually get the majority of you voting. Speak up here.

Midnight Express Both teams were together roughly the same amount of time in most of the same time period, and I'm a big fan of both, but if you're looking at the biggest feud of the time period, the Fantastics feud with the MX smokes the ass of the Rockers feud with the Brainbusters, even though I'm a fan of that series as well. MX also had better matches with the Rock & Roll Express (Wrestle War '90) and Southern Boys (Great American Bash '90) than the Horsemen had at any point.

Midnight Express Very close call, actually, but I don't think Eaton and Lane ever had a match as a team that wasn't at the very least fun, and the Birds were great when they were on, but they had lots of stinkers as well.

Of all the places to explain yourself, I think this one is the most necessary. Midnight Express (Eaton & Condrey) Eaton and Lane were the better team and I honestly believe that. They had better matches in the time they were together than Eaton and Condrey had in the time they were together. However, the second version of the MX can't compare to the original version in getting heat, drawing money or making an impact. Eaton and Lane could have been big draws on top, but the fact is that they weren't. Lane version was better for doubleteams, but Condrey version was almost as good at that aspect and was far better at most other aspects. Close call, and the opposite of the way I would have gone even six months ago.

Midnight Express Matches hold up over time more and they worked the same era, largely, as the Steiners.

Midnight Express I honestly don't see how anyone could vote for the Rock & Roll Express here.

The JBL "Great American" ad, Eddy/Benoit getting 20 minutes, and Rey/Crazy getting 15-20 minutes is enough for me to check out this show. Benoit/Guerrero is a crap shoot anymore, but you never know when they might surprise you.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Maybe I would have appreciated some of the holds that were worked pretty smartly in the Mid South I watched tonight if Monday Night RAW didn't have abdominal stretches and reverse chinlocks out the ass. I'm not normally a mark for highspots, but I think right now I need to see a totally insane spotfest with no rhyme or reason to it but just a bunch of huge, dangerous and sloppy moves to pull me back to earth and slap me back into reality. What should it be? Thanks.

HATE! This match has it in abundance. The look on Duggan's face when he's ready to make his comeback is awe-inspiring, as is Duggan cutting off DiBiase's attempt to bushwhack him. This is his match to finally get his nemesis alone, and he's sure to make the most of the opportunity. Duggan's punches are beautiful, and both guys look like they've been in a total war -- torn shirts covered in the splashes of blood do a lot to get over a match's brutality. This match is just as basic as the no DQ that set this one up, but the intensity is off the charts here, to a point where it doesn't matter nearly as much that they're not really pulling off any huge offense, aside from DiBiase's wicked piledriver. This was a really smart, really well put together match that I'd probably love even more if I saw all the 83-85 TV that built to it. As it is, I'd probably go ***1/2 or so on it.

I thought this was a really good match and loved the Morton/Doc interplay. Best part of that is when Doc tags in for the first time and a person in the crowd loudly says, "Ohhhhh boy!" Great stuff! I remember you saying that you didn't think Gino was all that impressive, but I loved him in this match, mainly because he actually did some wrestling moves outside of the basics, which no one else in Mid South thus far, with the exception of the Fantastics and the Guerreros, seem to even be trying. Every company has their style and there are certain spots you're going to see in some territories more than others, but in Mid South, I'm finding way too many atomic drops, reverse rollups, reverse rollups, reverse rollups and front facelocks. Anyway, I liked Gino's flying elbowdrop and vertical suplex, along with his TASKMASTER STOMP~! My favorite part of the match has to be the opening few minutes, with Doc showboating and Morton doing a *reverse rollup* and Doc getting armdragged twice in very quick fashion after manhandling Ricky just moments earlier. I also think Morton is a great babyface here for never backing down. The size difference between he and Doc is baffling, and they play it off well. I actually wouldn't mind seeing these two in a singles match, if they ever had one. All in all, this still felt like a Rock & Roll Express v Randy Orton & Batista tag match in what each team actually brought to the table, with the heels just having slightly more offense than their Evolution counterparts. There were a couple of good matches among everything tonight, but overall, I was been underwhelmed by Volume 2, Disc 1.

Oddly enough, I have never, not even once, been able to catch a wrestler blading on camera. Anyway ... I watched this match tonight and was sort of impressed, but this wasn't something I'd really want to watch again. Don't get me wrong -- it was fun and had awesome heat -- but it seemed to be missing something, and it's something that I don't think the rematch had either, which I'll get to momentarily. The main thing that bugged me was that Duggan had both shoulders up in the air when the ref counted three to finish the match. Besides that, I just didn't feel like I was watching anything remarkable. DiBiase controlled the match, which was cool, but he didn't really do any wrestling moves outside of his (admittedly great) punches and fistdrops. As you know, I don't place nearly as much emphasis on offense as some, but the offense here was so pedestrian. What they did looked great, but they didn't do much. I realize that the nature of this match was that it was a brawl, so it's going to mostly be punching and kicking, but the match honestly bored me because there seemed to be nothing going on. This just came across as an eight-minute slugfest with some cool facial expressions from Duggan and a nice blade job.

You know, I can't help but think that with better career guidance working around people who had a better head on their shoulders, Bagwell couldn't have been a superstar. He was coming along nicely in the ring early on before totally falling apart, and his career never came back after that neck injury. He also has the distinction of severely altering the course of the inVasion because his match was so bad. Too bad his life has taken the turns it has, but he's pretty much to blame for all of it.

Knowing that Pillman was put against Badd for 30 minutes as a total rib by the bookers makes this all the more satisfying. He got Badd's career match out of him - by a longshot - and possibly his own as well (although I'm not sure about that).

Is there a match from their series that you think you could point to as definitive, or the best of the series? One criticism I've often heard leveled against DiBiase is that he doesn't have that great, career-defining match that's head and shoulders above the rest. Would one of his matches with Savage be that match? I've seen a lot of them and love them all, but they all sort of run together for me.