gordi

I have met up with Internet friends and gone to shows in Osaka a few times over the years. It has ALWAYS been enjoyable at the very least. More often than not we ended up having a few drinks and hanging out all day having an absolute blast. I absolutely recommend it. If you get along on the internet odds are very good you'd enjoy hanging out in real life.

So much going on in that show, but I wanna focus on the way you built up that match between Orndorff and Sammartino. So simple yet so effective. The match immediately has real stakes, and a touch of hatred. Nicely done.

Your tag division is absolutely stacked. I can see why the Bees might be afraid to get lost in the shuffle.

The top four matches on that Amarillo card look great, and the res of the card ain't exactly chopped liver. I'm particularly looking forward to the Loser Leaves Texas match. "...million dollar bodies and ten cent brains" is classic Funk-style line. Embry misunderstanding the core concept of the scaffold match is comedy gold.

I love all of the slow-building character stuff with Owen, Gama, Chicky & Barrabas... Of course I really like the idea of Kobayashi as the wild card in the tournament. Bam Bam vs Hercules Ayala and Colon vs Abdullah will be huge matches.

From Pillman's development through the feud between Piper's Pit and the Snakepit, through Rose and Somers finding ways to hold on to the tag straps, you keep putting on shows that are entertaining top to bottom.

Are we going to get a tag match between Martel & Magnum and The Russians? I hope so. I was a little surprised that Devastation Inc lost that match clean,given that the idea is to get Doc & Barbie over as threats to the Road Warriors.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when the Pringles come up North. Like spaldoni and kevin, I was surprised to see Benoit beat Tonga, and I'm intrigued by the developing story between Adonis and Borne.

Nice. That's a perfect quote for the story that match was telling. The tag matches that really stood out for me when Grimmas was doing his Bret Hart project (and I was following along) were the Islanders matches. Face Islanders vs heel Hart Foundation was good stuff. WMIII was probably the peak of my pure WWF fandom. I was at University, and I had a girlfriend who actually liked wrestling and she had two brothers who also like wrestling and we got a whole group together to go to the Pacific Colosseum and watch the show on closed circuit. What an atmosphere! Oh boy did we ever mark out for Piper v Adonis and Savage vs Steamboat. Enjoyed that write-up a lot. Brought back some good memories.

World Plus opened a new 24-hour gym, walking distance from my apartment, on the 1st of his month. I'm member #124, out of 500. I love my new gym. Today, I wore my AJPW ring jacket because it was a beautiful and sunny day. There is a young competitive bodybuilder who trains at the gym. He's been quietly friendly from day 1, and when he saw my jacket he came over to talk to me. Turns out, he just finished his studies at Senshu University. I was all, like, " Oh! Riki Choshu and Hiroshi Hase trained there." Then he busted out a picture of himself with Choshu, Hase, and recent Young Lions Cup winner Katsuya Kitamura. My new friend was trained directly by Kitamura Hide is not a pro wrestler, but he is an amateur wrestler and bodybuilder so he got to know quite a few of the boys while studying in Tokyo and working out at the Gold's Gym there... including my friends Zeus and Bodyguard. It's amazing to me... Before moving here I used to joke about how I'd have so much fun as a wrestling fan in Japan... but I honestly never dreamed that it would actually be such a big part of my daily life over here.

Thanks for the link. I love that kind of nostalgic story.

Format's fine. Very readable. I always used to read the Apter mags back in the mid-80s. Your tag team division is on fire right now, with the Roadies vs Andersons in full swing, RnR vs MX coming up, and now Doc and Barbie forming a truly terrifying team.

Steamboat is looking great as a fighting champ... and now he has a rematch with Adams and a showdown with Bock on the horizon. And on the undercard we get matches like Can-Ams vs Pillman & Furnas, Sarge vs Blackwell and Dusty vs Patera. I keep saying it but this version of the AWA is SO MUCH better that what we got in the mid-80s.

I like the idea of a fake Funk vs fake Von Erich feud. That cage match should be awesome. I'll be coming back to Billy Bob's for that.

Holy shit that is a dark, dark joke. Backlund vs Angle and Austin vs Savage were matches I considered, too. I'd love to see either of those.

JWA TV Taping – March 14th Asahi TV World Pro Wrestling (ワールド・プロレスリング) Commentary Team: Ichiro Furutachi and Takashi Yamada Misawa & Hase vs Mutoh & Chono It’s fair to say that, in about six years, this will be a dream match that could sell out any building in Japan. Right now, it’s an all-action crowd-pleasing opening match. Mutoh and Hase show flashes of some amazing chemistry. A Frog Splash from Misawa on Chono is the finisher. Jumbo & Yatsu vs Mighty Animals Jumbo & Yatsu come out of the gate on fire, and basically demolish Inoue & Hamaguchi. The Mighty Animals get a few brief hope spots, but otherwise this is a glorified squash match. After putting Hamaguchi away with a Powerbomb, Jumbo gets on the mic and calls out the JWA Tag Team Champions, Power Rush. Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura come down to ringside and make a similar challenge. Giant Baba books the teams to face each other in a number one contender’s match on the 24th. Ron Simmons & Black Irish vs Ueda, Goto, & Kensuke A crazy violent encounter, highlighted by: Tatsutoshi Goto and Finlay going toe to toe in the middle of the ring exchanging incredibly stiff strikes; Kensuke and Lethal Larry Cameron trading power moves; and Ron Simmons knocking the Japanese heels off their feet with Flying Shoulder Blocks, and putting Kensuke down for the count with a Spinning Side Slam. Ueda and Goto then issue a challenge for the teams to meet again on the 24th, but with a mystery partner replacing Kensuke. Simmons, Cameron, and Finlay don’t hesitate for a moment. It’s on! Baba, Teranishi, Koshinaka & Hamada vs Fujiwara, Takada, Funaki, & Yamada A fast-paced, cleanly-fought, scientific bout highlighted by some very nice high flying from Yamada and Hamada, and some slick mat work out of Baba and Fujiwara. Eventually, Yamada gets caught in the wrong corner and eats a Waterwheel Drop from Teranishi followed by a Samurai Driver '84 from Koshinaka that earns Baba’s Family the victory. Dos Caras & El Canek vs Atisanoe & Afi El Canek and Atisanoe match power with power, and Dos Caras and Siva Afi trade some flashy (if a bit sloppy) offense; and the two teams go back and forth for several minutes, seemingly evenly matched. Then, JWA Tag Team Champions Power Rush make their way to ringside. They don’t directly interfere in the match, but they are clearly hoping to serve as a distraction. However, their tactics backfire. Dos Caras tags in El Canek then flies outside of the ring, knocking Choshu and Rusher over with a huge Pescado. Atisanoe leaves his corner to attend to his stable-mates, leaving Afi alone in the ring to eat a Military Press Drop from El Canek. The victorious Mexican team then challenges Power Rush to a title match on the 24th. Tenryu & Footloose vs Bigelow, Hickerson, & Shaw This match starts out hard-hitting and nasty, and quickly grows out of control. Tenryu and Bigelow exchange strikes in the middle of the ring as Kawada, Fuyuki, Hickerson, and Shaw brawl around the ringside area. Kawada gets tossed into the crowd, and then Hickerson and Shaw go to work on Fuyuki. They drape his leg over the ringside barrier and batter his knee with folding chairs. Tenryu charges out of the ring to protect Fuyuki, as the referee struggles to restore order. With the ref distracted, Shaw tosses his chair to Bigelow, who comes off the top rope to the floor and drives the edge of the chair into the back of Tenryu’s neck. Bigelow rolls back into the ring, and Tenryu is unable to beat the 20-count, giving the big Americans a cheap count-out victory. JWA Trios Champions The Machines vs Fujinami, Kimura, & Hoshino Another cleanly-contested bout, featuring a lengthy comedy spot as the 5’3” Hoshino runs circles around the 6’7” Very Tall Machine. Eventually, however, Hoshino gets caught. A Double Underhook Suplex puts him down, and then a very impressive looking Missile Dropkick from Very Tall Machine earns The Machines their first Trios Title defense. Card for the March 24th Tour-Ending Show, in Tokyo JWA Heavyweight Champion Tenryu vs Bam Bam Bigelow JWA Tag Team Champions Power Rush vs Dos Caras & El Canek JWA Trios Champions The Machines vs Patera, Blackwell, & Spivey ***BREAK*** Tag Team #1 Contenders Match: Tsuruta & Yatsu vs Fujinami & Kimura Mystery Partner Match: Baba, Teranishi, & Koshinaka vs Atisanoe, Afi, & “X” Mystery Partner Match: Simmons, Cameron, & Finlay vs Ueda, Goto, & “X” Footloose (Kawada & Fuyuki) vs Danger Zone (Hickerson & Shaw) Tiger Mask, Mutoh, & Yamada vs Misawa, Hamada, & Hase

Absolutely a good point about E&C drawing in Toronto... For me it's just a matter of personal taste. You'll notice I also don't have the Dudleys or the Hardys on my card. Fairly or not, I primarily associate those teams with the TLC matches and that's a thing I used to enjoy but pretty much can't bear to watch any more. There's another famous Canadian WWE wrestler who isn't on the card, either. Same deal, only more so. If I was booking purely for business, though, I agree I'd be better off with E&C on the card.

Inspired by the GWWE project: Imagine you have a time machine and can cherry-pick WWF/E wrestlers at their peak to put on one magnificent card. Who would you choose and how would you book them? Self-imposed limits: Ten matches. Only choose from the GWWE Top 100, and try not to reprise classic matches we have already seen (like Bret vs Austin or Savage vs Steamboat). It's tough! I am cheating by booking Survivor Series matches, and I'm still leaving worthy wrestlers like Shinsuke, Show and Punk off of the card. All Time Dream Survivor Series - Toronto, Canada - SkyDome - November 2018 Main Event - Heavyweight Title: Bret Hart vs Bryan Danielson - My two favourite WWF/E guys of all time, and you have to think they'd be able to burn the house down together. Also, it's in Canada, so Bret makes sense in the Main Event. Survivor Series Special Co-Main Event: ​Hogan, Andre, Rusev, Big E, & Bruno vs Undertaker, Quake, Bossman, Mark Henry, & Braun - Younger versions of Hogan, Andre, and Bruno. More recent, more work-ratey version of Taker. Maybe Andre gets slammed a couple of times in this one. Hogan pose-down gets the pop of the night. IC Title Match: Savage vs HBK - They worked some House Show matches in '92 and '93, but I don't think they ever had a major showcase match on TV or PPV. I'd like to see what they could do together, particularly in this scenario where both are at their peak. Women's Title Match: Trish vs Asuka - If the Toronto crowd gets behind Trish, she ends Asuka's streak here. (Then Asuka gets the strap back on TV). If the crowd is behind Asuka, or split: Asuka Kick, Buzzsaw Kick, Asuka Lock. Survivor Series Match: Rock, Dusty, Backlund, Steamboat, & Tito vs Flair, Perfect, Butch Reed, Rude, & Razor Ramon - Classic good vs evil. Backlund from his first title run. Vintage "if ya smell" Rock. Tag Title Match: Warrior & Cena vs LOD - Let's take a break from work-rate and enjoy some larger-than-life characters. Cena eats a Domsday Device. MITB Ladder Match: Eddie, Y2J, Angle, RVD, Tajiri, Foley - Who wants spots? Get your spots here! Latino Heat gets the case, has to decide whether to go after Bret or Savage. Either way, we all win. Texas Death Match: Stone Cold vs Sarge - I like a good brawl. You? Survivor Series Match: Owen, Pillman, Bulldog, Dyno, & Neidhardt vs Piper, Jake, DiBiase, Bad News & Martel - It's in Canada. We are blatantly trying to get IYH Candian Stampede heat in the SkyDome here. Bad News vs Owen is the highlight. Cruiser-weight Title Match: Rey vs Styles - I'm assuming they can get the crowd heated up. What you got??

Worst thing is: They made him do a clean job ON RUSEV DAY. That's just cruel.

Nakamura vs Rusev, the Women's Title match, and the Main Event were all enjoyable. Not a bad show. Looking forward to Nakamuraya vs Styles and Flair vs Asuka.

Piper, Orton, and Sawyer vs The Snake Pit British Steel, British Bullies, and Black Irish Larry Z, Bock, and Saito... Those are some compelling combinations. Great booking here. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Oh yeah!

Fujiwara vs Funaki is also a classic student vs teacher match-up.

A great beginning to Cobra's story. You established him as an exciting wrestler, and also a total bastard. I like how you used the freelancers here. Mascaras and Brody need to look strong everywhere they go, no matter who they are facing. Some good story-telling in the 10-man tag, and Funk's heel turn fits right in with what's going on in Texas. The title match was exciting. It must have been hard to hold the crowd's attention with a long match after all that had gone before, but Martel and Race pulled it off.

Come get some!!