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I made a slight mistake. It's not Wrestler of the year. It's actually the RicFlair/Lou Thesz award which is The Wrestler of the year.

I was reading Meltzer's breakdown of the wrestler of the year. It was pretty interesting, but I don't think it's right to compare MMA to pro-wrestling. Athletic commissions don't allow worked and shoot fights on the same bill so really MMA fighters should be not allowed on the Obsever award ballots. I mean Dave should should have seperate categories for the 2. They should have Pro Wrestler of the year, MMA fighter of the year etc.

I would like to be able to get to both forums. PM'd you. -- Loss, 01/17

I really liked this a lot when I watched this about 6 months ago. They really work well especially when incorporating Muta's strengths into the match. I thought Flair was great here as well. I don't remener the specifics of the match but I rated it as 3 3/4* as well. This was argubaly Flair's greatest year as a worker, and this is another notch on his belt.

I enjoyed the Brisco-Lawler match. It seems you either love or hate Lawler. For the most part I have enjoyed his work. Sometimes when he worked heel he would stall too much in an attempt to get heat. For the most part his selling was great, took big bumps, timing was excellent, and had great heat in his matches. Just another really good match for both guys.

That Destroyer-Hansen match was really fun. Hansen looks like an extra for Land of the Lost. They work a good snug bout. My main complaint was I wasn't expecing the finish. It seemed they were building for a longer match. They do a great job of protecting Beyer's finisher as death.

Now Loss I got a question for you or for anybody. You said that the Beyer-Baba match was tied at one fall a piece and the bell rang early. I thought the bell rang early to save Baba from the figure 4, and then going to a 3rd fall. The ref put Destroyers hand down when the bell sounded and raised Baba's indicating he won the match 1-0. I thought the screwjob was to protect Baba from the figure 4 and from the few minutes left for the 3rd fall. At the time Destroyer's Fig4 caused submissions in seconds, thus the quick bell. Correct me if I'm misreading the scenario.

Baba really gets shit on a lot. For a guy with so much negative stigma about his work he really has been in a boatload of good matches. He's similar to Backlund in that regard.

Loss I'm really glad your doing this. Reading and/or responding about matches are my favorite part of wrestling boards. Actually finding match discussion from 69-94 is really hard to find. So I wanted to say thanks.

The Funk-Tsruta is a thing of beauty. The chain wrestling and counter wrestling you make reference to was amazing. This match was a classic, and a match that should be discussed when discussing all-time great matches. I think your 5* assesment is very fair, and the same rating I have it. Now the Brisco-Tsruta match is really had a lot of great things in that match also. Both guys work hold with each other on the mat. The Suplexes in the match were awesome. The overhead belly to belly that Tsruta gave Jack was awesome and had impact. Contrast that to an Angle-Lesnar match where there are like 30 suplexes in a match they lose their impact and become a transition. I also rated it 4 1/4*

I always thought the 12-2-74 was far superior to the 12-5 match. I'll need to look at my notes.

Now I loved this match. Baba brought the goods, and Brisco was his typical stud self. I thought the psychology of the each move meaning something was great. I have it in the 4 1/2* range. Just really awesome stuff.

I really enjoyed this match also. I didn't like it quite as much as you. I'd have it in the 4 1/2-4 3/4 * range. What kept it out of the 5* range was some of Baba's weak strikes. For some reason I can handle blown spots, or timing of spots being off, but weak strikes bother me.

I feel people who haven't given Tully a look really should. Like Loss said earlier Randy Orton should watch a lot of tapes of Tully. They both have a similar character in that you just want them to get the crap kicked outta them. What I thought Tully was incredible at was getting himself,his opponent, and getting the match over all at the same time. Only a few workers can say they were better than Tully at that. Flair being on the short list at that. Tully is closer to Ric as a worker than people realize. Tully had tremendous ring savvy that made his matches fun to watch. To me Tully was what you want as a ring general. He was able to get his and his opponents character over in a match, and get the match itself over. Tully exhibited the traits that I enjoy when watching wrestling.

In this weeks Observer Dave mentions he just got out, but doesn't like his chances as a solo act.

I totally agree with you. Each comp has a different feel. With the Rude comp I've said it before and I'll say it again it's really cool beause you get to see the evolution of Rude as a worker. To me the Rude comp is actually the coolest of the bunch for that reason. Their would be a different ranking for each comp. based on the qualifications each one represents. Each comp is so different that is what makes them cool. With Rude you see an evolution of a worker,with Garvin's you have his best matches,with Murdock's you see how diverse of a worker he is, with Windham's you get a career perspective with incredible matches and see he was a natural, with Dibiase you see how important he is to a promotion, with Lawler you see a master at work. Each of the comps are neat because of how different they are.

NO doubt you are my #1 customer although you have some guys coming in real close Sawyer will be completed this week. I'll send it to you free with the Steamboat comp. You will also be happy to know that Discs 1-5 of Steamboat are complete... and we haven't even left Mid Atlantic yet! I actually liked the Flair-Windham dynamic more than Race-Windham even for such short TV matches. To each his own I guess . That will be awesome thanks a lot. I'm really looking forward to that Steamboat comp. He is my favorite guy to watch. I'm not saying he's the best, but I enjoy watching him the most. Sawyer really was just a fun worker to watch. I'm going to agree with Loss, I enjoyed the Windham/Race match the best. I'd rate it 4*, followed by Bass at 3 1/2*, with Windham and Flair bringing up the rear at 3*. The thing with your comps is I constantly change my mind which is my favorite. First I thought it was Tully's. Then I got your Lawler one and thought you wouldn't be able to top it. But you did with Dibiase in Mid-South. Then you follow and top that with that killer Windham comp. Only to trump it with Gordy's comp. Then you also have an incredible Murdock comp that is amazing. So my official ranking is 1.Gordy 2.Windham 3.Dibiase 4. Lawler 5. Murdock 6. Rude 7.Tully 8. Arn. 9.Garvin 10.TA 11.Armstrong This of course could all change depending on my mood. The comps are that entertaining.

I will state this on the record. I mark out for Will's comps. I enjoy Loss match ratings.

It was a pretty interesting Doc. That visual with all the names of the dead on the screen until you couldn't make out the names was a really sad fact, but a cool visual.

ECW is pretty much a developemental territory. AS a territory it works. You can have young talent working with experienced hands.

Maybe they can drag out the Batista title change to Wrestlemaina in some form of gimmick match like a street fight, or a Lumberjack match beause Booker keeps the title by countout, DQ or an occasional screwjob pinfall on Batista. The promos between the 2 could be pretty good, especially if they would bring the hate. Booker could be the Ric Flair that calls Batista a punk with a million dollar body who has no respect. Batista needs to pay his dues and he's here to collect.

Loss, I'm so glad you updated your list. I got a question about one of the matches. Was the Sting/Rotunda match the T.V Title change?

I think a C brand is a good idea, not just named ECW. They need to expose their young talent to veteran workers. They should have veteran workers working with the Punks, Mike Knoxs, and the Lashleys of developemental. They should have a crew of experianced hands working with the developemental guys like Dreamer,Richards,Venis,Jannetty,Snow types. Young guys can't learn as well working with other young guys.