Smack2k

Kind of goes with their motif of being behind the times - "The fans were really mad about this match being soo fast at Mania 29, they will LOVE us for giving it them now..."

Not consistent with his character? He was a heel in WCW that NEVER ran in on his own and attacked a babyface, just stood on the ramp or in the ring with the typical angry heel look of "Oh I am gonna get you for that, but not now!)....what a crock of shit excuse that was..

I get the worry about Bryan, and Bryan vs. Brock built right for Summerslam could have been AMAZING, but will Brock be there then? Unless they know that for SURE, Bryan needs to be at Mania vs Brock (it has an all-time Mania match look to it)...shit, have him win the title at Mania and then lose it to Rollins via MITB (if they are worried about Bryan's health)....then insert Reigns into the three way feud (the Shield hate is still there) and see how thigns go...If Bryan looks to be really healthy, let him have a run and get the belt back (he had that taste at Mania and now healthy is pissed and looking to kill Rollins) and see how it goes.and give Reigns time to get more seasoned....if he cant, insert Reigns and continue forward, replacing Bryan with Ambrose / Ziggler / Wyatt as another contender Yes, this part HAS to be done, I agree completely Johnny...they need to have Bryan get his revenge on Kane putting him out of action...and a PPV Casket Match for revenge doenst sound like a bad idea seeing their kayfabe past..but after that, they need to get him into that main event somehow...if Brock is leaving for UFC, they have one shot at Bryan vs. Brock (which I think has MOTY written all over it) and it could at Wrestlemania...it writes itself...

I dont know, with it being at the Dome, having that rematch that night would have been a great idea....HUGE crowd, getting the ratings win with the match and get your storylines ready to go for the next 4-5 months...I dont know where Goldberg gets the belt back by beating Nash, as WCW PPV's during the spring and summer dont have that "THIS IS THE PPV" type show to put it on (Bash at the Beach maybe to coincide with 3 years of the NWO would work I guess) So the Dome thing I think would have been great with the match and the follow up, and maybe the ratings go from there..... Ahhh,but egos and pride and worrying about one's "spot" and not wanting to "loss" in a predetermined sport stopped that...thanks 1999 WCW!!

I do find it VERY odd that the night after they get AWFUL reviews and mainstream media is talking about how bad things are, and the #1 Twitter trend is #CANCELWWENETWORK that they announce 1 million... As for 1 million US or Worldwide, no clue...but I thought it was always 1 million was the magic number.... I am just hoping that it doesnt affirm their current plans...

What is everyone opinion? Once I saw all the backlash last night and today about the Rumble and the fans and the #CANCELWWENETWORK, I thought that "Hey, WWE will see this and make a change of direction (like last year with Bryan) and put things right for their fans and start moving back in a positive direction (as good as it looked post Mania last year).. But then this WWE 1 million subscribers comes out and now I think WWE will stay the course as they will see its working, the stock is going back up and money is being made...they start thinking, "We know what the fans want more than they do…just look at the stock and network…" "They dont know anything....they get mad, but they'll come around to the way we want it.." I am happy the company is doing better (for the employees and others), but not happy for the effects it may have on booking and decisions... Thoughts?

I am worried now with the 1 million subscribers on the Network that if WWE had ANY reservations after Sunday night's booing, that statistic and a rising stock will have them "See, we are good…they don't know want they want (Fans), we do…and it shows!!!" Bryan will become Benoit post Summerslam 2004 in terms of place on the roster... Before that stat I thought maybe they'd do another 2014 fix and put things right (remember, coming out of Mania last year, things looked GOOD and a BRIGHT FUTURE)….but now….who knows.

Damn bro, I wasted my entire lunch today reading through these…phenomenal shit..cant wait for more... As for Rodz / Ruuk, any chance he went South to Amarillo or another SW promotion for more "Seasoning" on his way out to LA? I'd imaging if he was in Mid-Atlantic or Fla, it would be more known…. A quick look only shows 1 match in 72 and one in late 1973 in NY…I wonder if he took time off?

"What are they gonna do now ? Improvise ?" http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/19237-wcws-highway-to-hell/?p=5561658 At this point, I was trying SO HARD to stay into WCW as the guys they had COULD have had a great run into the Summer of 2000 but man, this one was REALLY hard to get by…this match….no words….I can't even imagine what someone who wasn't on newsgroups / message boards / IWC / Smarts / etc was thinking during that clusterfuck... I just let it slide the next night and kept waiting and the main event did get better after that (I know no one agrees, and that is cool, but I still LOVE the Late Summer 2000 - 2001 Main Event scene in WCW)…but this one match could be the WORST BOOKING DECISION EVER! Its another example of why ANYONE looking back at history would look to Russo today in 2014 / 2015 (TNA, lookin at you) and think, IN ANY WAY.."Yeah, that guy will be great to get us moving…" Why did he get so many chances after ROYAL fuck-ups like that?

Bret/Yoko is redeemed by WWE suprising the fans by having Hogan walk out with the title. Worst booking has to be the Rumble Orton won. How would you go about booking this? Dont forget you had the Georgia Dome in January and the fans would have been pissed had Goldberg not won the belt back. Mind you they were pissed anyway by the end of the night. What I am saying is that Nash beating Goldberg for the title isn't the BAD booking decision, its what they did afterward. The post said the worst booking decision was Nash going over... If they did things right afterward (almost Austin like) where Goldberg chases through the NWO (you can even reform it, just keep the belt on Nash) on his way to getting back to Nash and winning the title back.. Their ratings after Starrcade, including 1/4 were still really big (12/28 - 4.6 and 1/4 - 4.9, so people wanted to see what was coming next)…have the 1/4 rematch at the Georgia Dome with Goldberg getting screwed somehow and Nash winning by the skin of his teeth (shit, have Hogan come back to the NWO and fuck Goldberg, just don't give him the title (I know, not very likely)…its on TV (World Title Changes don't happen all the time on TV and the belt JUST CHANGED HANDS TO NASH)..I know its at the dome, but giving them the rematch and a good match with that ending wouldn't hurt….fans can be pissed, but not the pissed that makes them run away... If it sounds stupid and "wouldn't work" as some would / may say, its not that different than what they did with Austin after he lost the title at Survivor Series 98 as he got screwed the next night in his match vs. Rock and then had to come back from there and people ate that shit up….same thing with Goldberg….you can do it different as well (Austin had Taker to get Rumble, then Vince after Rumble) as the NWO has WAY more guys to go through and you can draw it out longer…. So the actual Nash vs. Goldberg Starrcade booking wasn't bad at all…….it was the disaster after disaster that followed for booking decisions...

Holy shit yes to Dusty / Flair .....these were storyline payoffs at Crockett's BIGGEST shows of each year and they ended in a bullshit way. Dusty / Flair was worse as the match was getting going at that point and Frazier stops it....in the MAIN EVENT of your BIGGEST show...what a fuck up...even if they wanted Frazier / Dusty (*why I dont know) as a possible feud, have Joe screw him in the end...fuck, I hated this... Flair / Nikita was also really really bad, but thinking about it, I dont know how else you would have done that finish....neither guy could take the pin with what they needed for 87 with Magnum gone...Nikita isnt gonna be world champ and you cant have Flair beat him and end the mystique...so I dont know how you'd do that one honeslty. Couple others... Booking The entire Starrcade 87 in Chicago ...that helped kill Crockett quickly (Keep that shit in Greensboro or Hotlanta) along with the WWF doing their part.. Warriors getting screwed out of the titles at the same show...as mentioned above Flair vs Luger at WCW Bash 88 Luger vs Windham - WCW Bash 91 Hogan vs. Bockwinkel - AWA Super Sunday '83 This one I am not so sure about...WCW's ratings were HUGE the next two weeks after this (including 1/4)..it was the follow up that happened starting on 1/11 that started things downhill in a hurry. I'd say the follow-up booking was the issue...Nash gets a big pop when he wins...and honeslty, Goldberg's streak was gonna end at some point..Having him start his chase back for it by running through the new NWO one by one (lower guys on Nitro / Thunder, Tags, etc.. and then the bigger guys on PPV's leading to getting the belt back) and then winning the title back could have made things really really good....damn..Fuck you WCW.

No shit...that is really great info...I had no idea.... Thanks, you cleared up another meaningless mystery I have in my head!!

Quick, not very important question I have wondered about: 1. Why were the mags in the 80's and 90's so far ahead in terms issue dates if they came out monthly? For example, Sting winning the NWA title (July of 1990) is in the Nov 1990 issue, which I assume came out in August timeframe? Always been curious why they didnt keep the dates closer. maybe a month ahead (Sting win for the Aug or Sept issue)...

Thanks Tim / Dan / others for all this so far... That Verne / Jumbo match looks really good as I am also a HUGE AWA fan... The rest looks good so far as well...gettin started Friday night...First Up - Flair vs. Tsuruta (6/83)

42:37 is right there...added to my list!! Keep em coming as I am gonna start in this weekend...

Not exactly, more along the lines of matches that are generally thought of as really really good and 45 min or more,,

Just listened this...fantastic show... Please tell me you are going to do 1996 / 1997 just like this...I would LOVE to hear the Observer info as well as your thoughts on the War / Buyrates / etc.. as time went on.. I didnt realize how bad late 1995 had gotten for both companies in terms of buyrates...I always thought by Fall things for at least WCW had started to grow... It is a huge feather in their cap taking the chance they did on Monday night with so many telling them it was a death curse and not only doing OK, but actually winning so far. Finally, another amazing stat to know Vince and the WWF had actually considered moving RAW to another night due to WCW.. A question I'd like to know the answer to is, although WCW turned a profit for the first time in 95 (small or not, a profit), how much more were they spending than WWF to get there? Just curious HOW important Turner's money was to their growth or if their budget stayed where it was when things started in Sept as you mentioned... Again, this is your best show to date...keep these coming!

Looking for a list of 45 min or longer AJPW / NJPW matches from 70's - 2000's to make a list as I am getting some free time coming up and want to watch some longer matches (one or two a night) from these era's... Anything rated 4 Stars or higher and 45 min or longer!!! Thanks ahead of time!!

Another GREAT review….great to have a full year of this ahead…. LOVING the non US stuff especially….good shit.. Keep up the great work…hope everyone else is enjoying these my HDD is getting full with the backlog of matches recommended!!

AJ airs 1 show per month on GAORA, and 1 show per month on Samurai TV. Niconico airs a AJ show once every couple months. Thanks Dan…. Anyone do write-ups on the matches / shows or in-depth coverage in English?

Updated my inital post with Akiyama for NOAH in 2005

How much of the 2014 AJPW Carnival is available on video? Does AJPW even have TV?

Dylan, Where is a good place to see AJPW in depth these days? I would LOVE to start watching the Champions Carnival again.. I have a sneaky feeling with NJPW getting soo much international pub, that AJPW is gonna start sneaking up toward respectable and getting bigger again...not to their 80's and 90's levels (and not to NJPW), but much bigger than now...what I have seen from 2014's Carnival was good, trying to find more...