Loss

One day I will learn to stop going on memory.

Dave never elaborated on this to my knowledge, but I remember him saying once that the standing ovation was worked/started by plants.

I liked that the early matwork was actually paid off later in the match. Benoit was doing sharpshooter teases right off the bat, and when he finally locked in the move, it got a much bigger pop than it probably would have otherwise. That match has more substance than I think it's getting credit for. It is athletically impressive, but I also think it's a smartly worked wrestling match.

It's times like this that the board needs a like feature.

Michael Cole reading off quotes from everyone during their matches drives me bonkers. Why don't they do inserts with the wrestlers themselves saying whatever it is that they said earlier in the day?

Those sources are wrong. That's a really common inaccuracy. It also got ****3/4 in the WON.

Of course. It sometimes comes across as someone not fighting back.

Jerry Lawler vs Crusher Blackwell (Memphis 05/04/81) Blackwell's agility is really impressive, but I'm not a fan of the way Lawler often starts matches as a babyface where he takes absolutely no offense for himself. Get past that and this turns into a good match, especially when Lawler starts mixing in some of his own stuff to keep the people in this while Blackwell dominates. Lawler starting the comeback and missing the fistdrop was cool and unexpected. Kind of a weak finish, but there is some excellent work in this.

Bill Dundee & Dream Machine vs Kevin Sullivan & Wayne Farris (Memphis 05/02/81) These Memphis tags have been a real treat, especially for fans of Bill Dundee, who based solely on the footage I'm watching looks like the best worker in the business at this point. I know that's likely not quite true, but he looks great in these matches. Also give Farris credit for being far more fundamentally sound than he ever appeared to be as Honky Tonk Man. He's not great or anything, but he's a perfectly fine working heel with a nice bag of tricks and some decent bumps. I love the amateur looking throw he does. This is also a different Kevin Sullivan than we all know and love, one of the many guys in wrestling at this point ripping off Billy Graham. Dundee makes a really fired up comeback in the last few minutes of this in the build to the elusive hot tag. Cool to see the heels get a relative clean pinfall win in Memphis too!

Precisely what I was thinking. There is nowhere good that this can go.

I don't expect a happy ending tonight. They are setting up Vince to return as the white knight.

Copying Lita? Hopefully, she at least knows George Bush isn't on the one dollar bill.

It's still funny. So what if she was? It's up to Punk to shut it down if it goes there. If he doesn't, then take it up with him. Of the two of them, he's the only one who owes her anything.

So many weird gender dynamics at play in that whole story. I'll never quite understand straight people. :/

AJ sort of deserves to be in hot water, as that's pretty childish behavior. Also, when will the women learn not to date the men? They usually end up dumped, made fun of on TV and then fired.

I thought Punk was with Lita? When did that end?

Under what weird wrestling logic is talking to CM Punk not allowed? Just trying to understand the story.

I don't think either year is entirely complete, but most episodes are available. With regards to TBS, the key thing to remember is that most wrestling promoters did business under the assumption that the majority of the fanbase didn't have cable. So until the early 90s, most of the big stuff happened in syndication.

Can someone confirm the dates of the Misawa vs Akiyama and Misawa vs Kawada matches in the Championship Carnival? I'm showing both 3/29, which I'm guessing is incorrect.

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Maybe it's running on too little sleep lately. :/

Not quite sure where I want this to go yet, but: @prowresonly Follow us and we shall follow you.

Interesting. I suppose you could argue that Thanksgiving's Wrestlemania is Christmas's Extreme Rules, as it's pretty much the same holiday, but loaded with gimmicks like trees, presents and music.

I'm just curious if anyone has seen a trend with Thanksgiving attendance in your households going down in recent years because your family members see it as the B-show and it's so close to Christmasmania anyway. Do out-of-town family members who you only see on major holidays boost attendance, or is it usually related more to the quality of the creative (e.g. available food and presents)?