Loss

My biggest problem with it is that they are really overthinking it. They managed to co-opt the Daniel Bryan thing and make it work for them, but creating something like that from scratch seems difficult. And that type of fan rebellion leading to a new star being created is the type of thing that I don't think can be copied.

The Cesaro stuff in the WON is interesting and I thought I'd share it here so it can get more play. They are trying to artificially create another Daniel Bryan-type movement with him. The whole idea behind him not having entrance music is that the turn was "unplanned" and happened due to fan demand, so they had nothing ready. He will have music soon, but that's why he doesn't now. Also, they have been handing out the Cesaro Section signs at shows in an attempt to get over the idea that fans are lobbying for this guy to turn babyface.

Funk and Piper have faced each other in recent years. The match got some praise. Piper and Savage faced each other a few times.

Their match on NBC later in 1990 was a good match -- between the match and the Savage angle, probably the best Warrior looked as champion.

The NOD didn't feud with DX until '98. They did a feud with the Hart Foundation with DX antagonizing the NOD on the sidelines, which made both groups look really stupid.

Not in that gimmick, but he faced Curt Hennig in WCW.

Bob Holly said recently that WWE has decided the Ultimate Warrior's life meant more than Viscera's since he was a bigger star. That's a harsh statement, but it's hard to fault him for saying it.

This all comes across as protecting the Ultimate Warrior brand now, since they have money to make off of it.

It really isn't. Pro wrestling is an American form of entertainment that spread to other countries, and many of the same people have been stars in both places.

I don't know if these are career years in each cases, but the standouts from 1990-1997 are probably these: 1990 - El Dandy, El Satanico, Yoshiaki Fujiwara 1991 - Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Hase 1992 - Negro Casas, Vader, Rick Rude 1993 - Akira Hokuto, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Stan Hansen, Vader, Genichiro Tenryu, Shinya Hashimoto 1994 - Toshiaki Kawada, Vader, Shinya Hashimoto 1995 - Akira Taue, Aja Kong 1996 - Toshiaki Kawada, El Hijo del Santo, Negro Casas, Shinya Hashimoto 1997 - Kiyoshi Tamura, El Hijo del Santo To me, Vader is the only guy from the 90s that has a case for any years where part of it was made in the U.S., as the quality of American wrestling slipped in the 90s comparative to wrestling everywhere else in the world. There is no Flair/Steamboat-level rivalry in 90s American wrestling. The best guys out there were Bret and Shawn, and they weren't knocking on the door of Jushin Liger, much less Misawa or Kawada. And Jerry, I think 90s All Japan will change your perception a little on Flair - not that you'll knock him down a peg or anything necessarily, but you'll see Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi hanging with him in terms of volume, year after year, even surpassing him in some cases. Eddy Guerrero's wrestling career is terribly overrated prior to the 2000s.

I hope they are both drunk and harboring some ill will from years past.

I would probably say El Dandy in 1990 is the best in-ring year I have ever seen a wrestler have. Ric Flair in 1989 is up there too obviously. Kind of a left field sleeper pick for me would be Akira Taue in 1995. The big three all had better years than that, but Taue's '95 compares to just about any other year I can think of that a wrestler has ever had.

I don't even think it was an impressive spotfest compared to other Steiners matches of the time.

Of course it is. I think everyone should more aggressively point it out and criticize/shame them for it.

There's something unsettling about WWE building his reputation, destroying his reputation and rebuilding his reputation, only to profit from every single one of those things.

HHH and Stephanie got major heat going into Wrestlemania. It's still possible with heels who know what they are doing. It's just that the new work is a meta work.

The treatment of fans was even something Vince mentioned in court if I'm not mistaken. There was also the time he was rude to a kid who it turned out had a dad who was a station manager in an important market, and Vince made Warrior record an apology.

Has anyone seen the DVD yet? I'm curious if he addresses the reputation of being hateful to children and other fans who asked for his autograph.

So am I. November 1988 - March 2001 is 12 years, 5 months.

I think people - both fans and performers - who talk about how they choose to remember Chris Benoit The Wrestler don't help matters much at all. As if murdering your wife and child and being a great worker are somehow of equal importance and it's just a matter of personal choice which is more meaningful. People who reject the idea that Benoit's entire life led to that weekend confuse me. He should be remembered as the man who murdered his family first and foremost. Wrestling is small potatoes compared to that. As for David Benoit, I don't want to say too much. It's his dad and he has to reconcile things in a way that works for him. I just hope he's had professional help, just as practically anyone would need to get through something like that.

The Godwinns style was the WWF house style, hitting their spots without messing them up, not taking any risks and finishing on time. Furnas hated working in that company because he felt that they cared more about matches finishing on time than matches being any good. At the time, that was sort of the mindset.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.