Loss

https://twitter.com/briantheguppie/status/942054673451835392 Thanks. I was expecting something worse. I mean, it's not my preferred form of wrestling, but Japanese indy sleaze feds have been doing stuff like this for a long time. I don't see how people like things like grocery store death matches, Minoru Suzuki vs MECHA Mummy, and Saitama Pro, but don't like this. It's not too far of a reach. Is it really that different than a criss-cross sequence where the babyface simply steps out of it and the heel runs without realizing the babyface is no longer there? Or the back-turned arm wringer spot?

What is the spot that has gotten so much talk lately? I've seen all of this referring to "the spot" on Twitter ... what was it?

House shows had a brief resurgence around this time. Because they'd been in the down period for more than a year at this point, Vince felt like they should ride it out and wait until business was cold again to do the title change, which would possibly create another shot in the arm. Luger had been negotiating with WCW for months in '95 and I don't know that it would have mattered. Most big WCW names who jumped -- Luger, Flair, Steiners -- you'll notice ended up wanting to go back. WCW had a more manageable schedule and guaranteed contracts. Luger on a contract with no downside had to be odd, considering that he'd had that since 1987.

What is FREEDOMS and why does it have an S on the end?

I think, at least in theory, it would go beyond football and become a part of identity politics. If someone sees you in an XFL shirt, for example, they'll be able to make certain assumptions. Think MAGA hat 2.0.

This seems like a pretty naked attempt to profit from political divisions to me. Trump, who hates the NFL, will be more than happy to help his good friend by talking about his football league on Twitter, and it'll become alt-right football and take a front seat in the culture wars, or at least that's the idea. Sylvester McMonkey McMahon.

Even then, I'd like people to have more freedom than even that, but yes, that's a good start. Wrestler, gimmick, title on the line, title change, city ... you name it. A filterable database I guess, but more of a platform for posting than just a database. I can't really visualize it, but I can imagine it.

Dylan made a thought-provoking tweet that I'd like to share. It raises interesting points, and I wanted to get some feedback from anyone who has it. https://twitter.com/DylanWaco/status/941656568705290240 In short, is there a way to use the Match Discussion Archive to make it easier to look at the big picture? So if you want to compare Portland in 1980 and 1985, for example, or two Intercontinental champions, or how various guys have worked cage matches, how can we make that easier? I don't want to overhaul the folder, nor do I think that's what Dylan is advocating. But I would like to find ways to better integrate it with everything else that happens here instead of it being a silo. I have some ideas, but a lot of it is limited by board technology, so I'm not sure where to go with it. So I thought I'd open the question up to everyone. Tags are good and I'm a fan of tags, but they only work if we use the exact same naming conventions across the board. And even then, simply producing a list of threads isn't what I had in mind. I'd like something a little more intuitive if that's even possible.

I agree with that. Also, I think what Dave wants to say, which he can't quite say the way he wants, is that it's hard for him to get upset about guys with less power doing the same things guys with more power do freely and get away with. He doesn't want to apply a double standard. So he's not going to call for disciplinary action against a wrestler if it's something Vince McMahon has also done. He's trying to side with labor, basically. Of course, the answer isn't to make both wrongs acceptable, it's to make both wrongs unacceptable.

All of Brock's feuds this year being one and done still baffles me. I understanding keeping him from Braun in a singles just so neither guy has to lose, but Styles and Joe still have plenty of fuel in the tank as Brock opponents.

The comparison to Vince reads like someone who's completely out of the loop on modern news. Vince might have to resign if that happened now. He might not have to resign, but the possibility would be there and would be real, especially if there was hard evidence. A lot has changed since 1992. The price of tea in China.

He rated Savage-Steamboat (****1/2) higher than Undertaker-Bray too, so he'd agree with you. He also neither rated Hogan-Andre -**** nor gave any match with Shelton Benjamin flipping off a ladder *****. He was there live for one and not the other. We all know that sometimes matches can come across much better live. I think anything he says is worth questioning, but I also think it's okay to cut him a little slack.

Also, Ric Flair in 1991 was a bit damaged compared to the Flair they would have gotten had they signed him three years earlier or five years earlier. Flair was more believable playing the role in his 30s than he was in his 40s, and while he was still a great performer, he was not quite at the same level he was in the late 80s. Crockett was the smaller group, but I don't think they were ever seen as the loser group. WCW was seen as the loser group, and Flair was the face of it for a few years.

He quit before, yes. In fact, the Debra incident happened the same night the Confidential hit piece on Austin aired.

Which is funny because in the end, Matt Hardy ended up being Rey's Wrestlemania opponent. In 2003, they were doing strong enough quarter hours against each other in their feud that they let them headline a Smackdown over summer, which did a strong rating.

Dave needs someone to filter his professional life so that he's only spending his time on the stuff that matters. Answering good questions in audio, replying to worthwhile tweets, participating in good discussions at his own message board, etc.

I also don't remember details, but there was an upper-card angle in late 2002 that was designed for Matt Hardy that ended up going to Albert/A-Train/Matt Hyson/Giant Bernard/Tensai/all of those names that caused a big uproar, but that might have been more related to John Laurinitis than Heyman. Then again, John Laurinitis might have been the one who took the heat for a Vince decision, as was his job.

Probably a good place for me to say that Run The Gauntlet is one of my favorite TV booking ideas ever.

I've enjoyed a lot of what I've seen lately in WWE, but I don't think I've seen anything that captures the aspects of current wrestling that I hate more than Elias calling Kurt Angle's son a bastard and Kurt's response including the phrase "WWE Universe".

I wish they would do more pairing of power guys with high flyers. I realize you can't have too many teams like that or they aren't unique but I could see actually see a Chad Gable tag team with Titus O'Neill being far better than one with Shelton Benjamin, if only because there would be a sharper contrast in size and they could do the spots that people usually enjoy, like when you press slam your partner on to your opponents and that sort of thing.

Yes! The night after WM30 really put a lot of new things on the table in a way that I thought they were moving forward. It seemed like they had taken some risks in a bold effort to finally create some new stars, with Bryan, Lesnar, Cesaro, and The Shield all positioned well.

2004 was a really strong year for RAW in terms of match quality. Too much HHH, but still very good overall. The first half of 2007 stands out as pretty good, too. I also really liked 2005 before the draft, after which everything was built around guys who didn't seem quite there yet like Carlito and Masters.

You must have not been paying attention at all in 2013 then because as part of the Prime Time Players he looked like he was ready to break out as a big time singles babyface. The crowd was always into his hot tags and doing his pose and HURRAH HURRAHS along with him. I wasn't paying attention during that time, so fair enough. I have happened to pay attention during heatless feuds with Darren Young or when he's been a manager for Akira Tozawa.