Bix

Hell, every big money contract was under THE after a certain point, notably everyone in the company that wasn't picked up by WWE in the sale.

I hear he was a mongoloid or an autist.

LOL Of all people to chime in- and with the stupidest analogy. My apologies, Ben. You're black so it's an OK term for you, right? Sir, do you know what an analogy is? Because I'm not sure what I used right there was an analogy. LOL! You're 30 years old and so socially stunted you vacation with Mommy and Daddy- and post on the Net while you're doing it. You have no business criticizing others on anything. Shut up. Stop chiming in every time I post here and elsewhere- it's fucking creepy. I'll make it easier and leave you here with your really close e-friends to use racial slurs to attempt to be hip. I'm 30 years old? Really? For somebody who is doing such a great job at internet stalking, you'd think you'd know how old I am. It's pretty amusing that the guy who is reading up on the vacation plans of a total stranger, in the same post, calls replying to another person's dumb message board posts "fucking creepy." There's something creepy going on in this thread, Jim Brambilla, oh yes there is. *big assed laugh*

Wow, usually it takes a lot more for than that for me to get "FUCK YOU" PMs from Gabe.

The first set didn't have a proper documentary, just some stuff around the matches.

The match that Meltzer's referring to was for the held-up belt on WCW Saturday Night in May '94. It's a much better match than the PPV.

I'm with Dylan here. This isn't Hall & Nash finding ways to amuse themselves while "putting people over" or any other jokes at the expense of the opponents/match. It was done to make the heels look like goofs and make the babyfaces look smart, and the crowd got into it. How is that masturbatory? Top 10 WWF, which isn't exactly top 10 overall aside from 2 matches. If we made a better go of the WWF set with bunch of Tito-Valentine matches and whatnot, would it probably get pushed back? Sure, and I bet that the errata set with help do that awesome, awesome feud (rediscovered by many a 24/7 viewer as they seem to show at least one match between them each month) justice. But on this set, with the comedy stalling being unique for the sample (much of the better regarded stuff was anti-WWF like the Memphisy stalling here, the more "southern" brawling in Sheik-Slaughter and Windham-Murdoch, a very Mid-Atlantic tag in North/South-Briscos, the snugness Bret-Dynamite, the unique pacing of Jake-Steamboat from Boston, the fast pace of Islanders-Strike Force) it stood out and carried the match higher for me. As far as John's post goes... When I used the word "epic," I meant strictly that it was epic as far as bullshit sections of matches go, not that it's an "epic" match. I'd consider Landel-Freddy, Tracy Smothers vs Jamie Dundee from IWA Mid-South, the Lawler-Mantell (which has an extended referee frisk segment at Mantell's urging where Lawler comes close to getting naked to show that he's not carrying objects) AWA title match that's been nominated, and the Lawler-Idol cage match as having epic bullshit, even if the former 2 matches aren't necessarily "epic matches" in the way that the latter 2 are. As far as it "not being good work," well, pretty much by definition, it is. Working, at least the original wrestler definition of it (as opposed to the newsletter reading fan version that's taken more of a "overall match quality" meaning) is what the wrestlers do to get the proper crowd reaction. This isn't a case of the Von Erichs getting rock star pops that lasted throughout the match or Hogan-Andre to an extent (the match would've had super heat regardless of what they did though Andre's facial expressions were super and Hogan was Hogan in working the crowd), it's 4 wrestlers building more and more heat through what they did in the ring. You've used the crowd reaction as part of boosting Backlund (who I certainly appreciate, I mean the Hogan match from Philly is an elite performance for starters) in the past (though moreso as part of disputing the claims that he was booed heavily in the latter parts of his title reign, it was still showing how he was effective as part of your argument). Why can't you just admit this this was effective at the very least and not be disgusted that someone liked it? I may not like ROH nowadays but they're working the right style for their audience's enjoyment, the improvement that I've begged for at times is stuff that they've done in the past that the fans ate up but got abandoned (the booking & wrestling style of the ROH vs CZW feud). Complaints about ROH fans are geared towards attitude and behavior, not their taste in wrestling (Rob Naylor loves ROH. People love Rob Naylor because he's not a blithering idiot). God forbid that somebody be drawn to a flawed favorite and become a Flair Fan. Oh, and if I've ever said anything contradicting this, don't bother looking for it, as my opinions have morphed over time. I'm allowed to do that.

(I apologize if some of this is kinda rambling...) I never said that Backlund sucked. I said that I was in the middle of the "he sucked" and "he ruled" camps. I can see why people enjoy his matches and also why people think he was irredeemably bad. He was certainly effective (which really goes without saying). The stalling in the Rockers-Rougeaus was effective at the very least, with the crowd stomping in unison at the end and incredibly heated once the "actual wrestling" starts. Bullshit comedy stalling has been a major part of American wrestling forever, especially in house show matches. It's a bit narrow to see dismiss it completely, when it was not only effective in this case, but also makes a lot of sense in the context of the first American tag match (a sub-genre which often relies heavily on intangible bullshit) on British soil. As far as the stalling segment bringing up the quality of the match substantially, what can I say? I'm a huge fan of Tennessee wrestling, both for the action it brings and the bullshit used to spice it up. This match featured such an epic, effective, and funny (IMO) bullshit segment that I loved it, even if the "action" after the bullshit wasn't as great as, say, Islanders vs Strike Force or North/South vs Briscos. The heat of the crowd in a new big market seeing this variety of wrestling live for the first time helped, too. While Sheik-Slaughter is an incredibly well put together match, it wouldn't be what it was without the insane level of heat that it had, an incredibly loud sustained roar that sounded like a 20 minute entrance pop for Hogan or whoever. Back to bullshit: The '80s Memphis set looks like it will have a studio match between Buddy Landel and Freddy. Freddie is Tommy Gilbert in full Freddy Krueger gear as a ridiculously animated kids babyface (As I said in my nomination post, you know Lawler's booking when there are movie monsters and one of them is a babyface based on a child molesting character). The match features 6 minutes of bullshit before they lock up and there are 2 bumps, both of which are in the last minute of a 9 minute match. The crowd goes progressively more and more nuts as the match goes on, and it was thoroughly enjoyable for me and Phil at least. It isn't going to be for everyone, but it was incredibly effective bullshit that deserves to make a set based on how it really embodies that aspect of Memphis wrestling. As far as effectiveness: I personally didn't like the Kobashi-Sasaki dome match very much, but I couldn't really find fault with it, as was exactly the right match for that show in front of that crowd. I really didn't enjoy it much outside of the crowd, but I had no complaints.

Rockers-Rougeaus? Keep in mind, I'm an Austin Idol fan but I love the London match. It's not remarkable after the stalling, but the stallng is so well-done, funny and heating up the crowd, that it really brings the whole match up a few notches past where it would be if it was just the work contained in the last two thirds. Plus, keep in mind that it was the 2nd match (1st televised) of the WWF's live debut in England. I can't think of a better way to introduce the crowd to American house show wrestling than a formula tag match with lots of bullshit comedy that's different from the breed of comedy wrestling that they were used to. I know that you really disliked the match but it seemed like a case of your version of "good wrestling" being narrow. You wrote at TOA: It was effective bullshit comedy stalling that got the crowd going and entertained a lot of people who revisited it as part of a stupid internet poll. You may have disliked it but I was surprised how you completely dismissed it, as you usually acknowledge when something's effective even if you didn't enjoy it.

They also ran Islanders-Strike Force in '87. Graham's site doesn't have any results for them but they ran at least one that I've seen local promos for. I wish both were taped but I'm guessing they weren't unless the WWF decided to tape them since they were new experimental matches. The Rockers & Rougeaus were able to fill about half an hour well with some really hilariously awesome stalling in their London match so I'm intrigued by what they'd do for an hour and I'm curious how The Islanders and Strike Force would work it since their regular house show matches were super fast paced.

DietSoda's usually a ridiculous troll but he's 100% right about how Frank comes off in that thread.

I like when Dave's criticisms get into almost "Bob was retarded" territory. Also, Iron Sheik vs Butch Reed was a lot of fun.

Well, that became obvious later in the day after I posted it

Oh, and she's saying on her MySpace that it's false and she's contacting her lawyer. What, is she gonna sue the FBI?

ProWrestling.net summarizing info from Rolling Stone I'm unsure whether or not I should be surprised. This could end up being gigantic. For Ashley's sake, she should probably take a leave of absence, because the ribbing could get ugly and, well, on top of her drug problem, it could get dangerous.

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=22708

God help me, but in watching a little bit of TNA last night, I found the whole "Super Eric protects his secret identity and sacrifices the tag titles" angle kind of awesome.