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jdw

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Everything posted by jdw

  1. I would. Pretty clear from my comments that I would. Jesus christ... my facebook feed was filled up with a host of people doing the #prayforLawler (or something like it). No one gave a shit about the *show* at that point. Pretty clear that the fans didn't either. Do you seriously think the #prayforLawler folks would have cared if they stopped the show, filled the time with content that they *always* should be prepared to run (think of a hurricane causing an entire show to be cancelled the day of an event), and simply break into that content from time to time when/if they had an update on Jerry. Would *you* have been offended / pissed of they did that? John
  2. My points were: * the WWE has had plenty of time/years to prepare for an event worth of stopping the live broadcast * the methods for filling the time aren't complicated * this was an event worthy of stopping the broadcast I don't think the first two are arguably, in any fashion. The third? I don't think so, but others can offer up why having a performer on the show having a near death heart attack live on TV isn't worthy of stopping the show (let alone stopping the match for fucks sake). Go ahead, have at it. Lawler isn't a member of the "crew". He's a fucking member of the Cast. A member who gets more air time a year than everyone in the promotion other than Cole. The proper analogy would be if Little Steven had a heart attack during Springsteen's 9/8 concert at Wrigley Field during "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" (the 17th song of the show)... should Bruce and the rest of the E-Street Band have kept playing "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" while folks were tending to Little Steven on the stage? Cause that's what the fuck the WWE did. Lawler/Little Steven keeled over, and for all they knew at the time was dead (stopped breathing for 20 minutes according to earlier reports). These fucks thought so much of Jerry that they couldn't even go to a quick commercial, send out the EMTs, clear the ring, and get Jerry to the back before even bothering to show the ring shot again. That's basic human decency shit that anyone would do... other than Vince and folks who want to apologize for Vince. But going further with the analogy, what the WWE did was if after Steven was pulled to the back and quite possibly fucking dead, Bruce then decided to play "Who'll Stop the Rain". Then played "The Ghost of Tom Joad" Then played "Badlands" Then played "Thunder Road". Then take a short break before the encores. Then come back out to play "Rocky Ground". Then played "Born to Run". Then played "Rosalita". Then played "Dancing in the Dark". Then played "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out". Then played "American Land". That would be kind of... fucked up to the max. Pretty much everyone would point out that Bruce was a cold, heartless bastard. Bruce fans in the building who would have understood the show being stopped because they love Van Zant would have wonder what in the hell was going through Bruce that he kept singing while Steven was over there having a heart attack, and paused in the show only long enough for Steve to be stretched off before Bruce pulled out the acoustic guitar to play... "Heard the singers playin', how we cheered for more. The crowd had rushed together tryin' to keep warm. Still the rain kept pourin', fallin' on my ears And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain." -John Fogerty It's good that "the WWE saved Jerry's life". That is a different thing from whether they handled the broadcast right. John
  3. I have some sympathy for UFC with all the injuries. The number of events doesn't help, nor does fighters bowing out of potential fights (though I'm not sure I'd want to take a major fight on super short notice). But injuries... they screw up the booking. John
  4. Nice to see the pic. I'll be critical of the WWE not stopping the show. I tossed this up on tOA on Tuesday: With perhaps the exception of the morbid last paragraph, I stand by the rest. This isn't complicated, and the WWE is talented enough to be prepared for these things. There are also people like Steph or Trip that need to have the balls to stand up to Vince if something like this happens. John
  5. Pancrase wasn't that successful while Ken was in it. PWG wasn't that successful, and it's success didn't have a lot to do with Ken. In the WWF, Ken did nothing that was HOF level. Nothing in his TNA run was HOF level. Basically Ken is a joke as a Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame Candidate. I didn't vote for Brock, but he did more in pro wrestling than Ken.
  6. I think my point is: he wouldn't have gotten out of the first year if he bombed everywhere but MSG. Did he start declining at some point in 1973 other than in MSG? I could see that, though I'd like to see the data. But I'm just not buying that he didn't draw anywhere else in 1971 and 1972. Three years of drawing well in MSG and 2 years of drawing well in the balance of the biggest population territory in the country at the time... that's very impressive. On the notion from somewhere in the thread that he was a mid-carder and prelim guy everywhere other than the WWWF, that's not entirely true. He main evented in the second largest city in the country, anchoring the local world title for about a year and a half. He wasn't as hot as Blassie or Destroyer or Bearcat Wright, but did work on top here. John
  7. I tend to think that's another old WWWF/WWF myth, along with the old saw of "Backlund never worked in Boston" and "Backlund was dead in the WWF after crying over Superstar breaking the belt". Put it this way, as simple as possible: * the WWWF Title was a prime belt to nearly anyone at the time i.e. the WWWF could practically pick their champ * Pedro held the belt for 34 months * you don't hold the WWWF title for 68 days short of 3 full years if you *only* draw in MSG Vince Sr. and his local promoters would have bounced Pedro if he didn't draw well enough in other cities. 3 years. It's way past the laugh test. It's possible that Pedro fell off in the last year. Possible, but it's kind of a "prove it" thing for people making the claim. The circumstantial evidence is rather strong that Pedro drew well enough to hold the belt that long.
  8. jdw

    Top 100 List

    vs. Kobashi: Misawa I would generally agree with this, but the Misawa-Kobashi match up after 1/97 annoyed the fuck out of me, and before 1/97 was spotty. The match up kind of boils down to one great match. In contrast, there are some annoying Kawada-Kobashi matches, but across singles, tags and six mans, it overall really quite good. To me the depth blows away the one-great-match aspect of Misawa-Kobashi. vs. Taue: Misawa In terms of one to two matches (i.e. 4/95 & 9/95 depending on how one rates them), I could see the argument that Misawa-Taue was better. Not sure if I fully agree with that as the best Kawada-Taue is awfully good without having the added bonus of the double big setting (Budokan + Carny Final / Triple Crown)... but I'd agree there is a reasonable argument. In terms of a feud / series of matches? Not even close. Kawada-Taue smokes the shit out of Misawa-Taue across singles matches, tags and six mans. That's not to say that Misawa-Taue in tags / six-mans isn't "good", but Kawada-Taue was a freaking hate filled feud. vs. Hansen: Kawada Misawa-Hansen at their best were quite good. Kawada-Hansen at their best were terrific, right down to the tags. vs. Jumbo: Misawa I would tend to agree with this. Kawada's last two singles matches against Jumbo were really good, but there is something magical about 6/90, while 9/90 is quite good with a great finish... the same could be said of 4/91. Their final match wasn't so hot, and largely because Misawa wasn't very good in it. In tags the Jumbo-Misawa dynamic had a certain magic as well, a big part of it due to Misawa being the one who Jumbo was putting over among the young guns. That said, in the tags and six-mans, the Jumbo-Kawada, Jumbo-Kobashi and Jumbo-Kikuchi pairings were all fucking great and off the charts. Jumbo was that great, new exactly how to work with each based on their level on the pecking order and what they brought to the table. In certain ways, they were more impressive pairings because Misawa got their easier role to shine in while Jumbo & the others had to find a trickier balance to they dynamic. vs. Doc: Push To me this Kawada. I've always preferred 4/94 over 7/94, and beyond that think the other Kawada-Doc singles are better than the next cut of Misawa-Doc singles. Misawa does have the image of having the better tags against Doc in the Doc & Ace era in match ups paired with Kobashi and Jun. Misawa is good to excellent in a lot of those, but his partners are also excellent and Misawa gets a bit more of the high profile tag matches in there to have them stand out in one's mind: four major Budokan tags against Doc & Ace. I think if one looks deeper at the whole of 1990-96, there are a lot of great tags where Kawada was opposite of Doc. An example would be the high profile 1996 Misawa & Jun vs Doc & Ace matches at Budokan, while Kawada & Taue's pairing with them got buried off major TV in the tag league (showed up on Sammy). When Loss watched them: #27 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 06/07/96) #25 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 09/05/96) #22 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 11/22/96) And went batshit over Kawada's performance selling the knee. I just prefer the Kawada-Doc dynamic over the period because it seemed like Kawada was the first young native to be really comfortable going toe-to-toe in physicality / stiffness with Doc, pushing Doc to be just as stiff with him whereas it seemed for a long time that everyone else (including Doc) was holding back against each other. I think the only of these match-ups that's a clear Misawa "win" would be Jumbo, where in turn we shouldn't diminish just how great Kawada was opposite Jumbo in that same period in a trickier role. That's not even getting into Kawada's performances opposite Jumbo during the Revolution era, where Misawa's work opposite Jumbo was extremely limited.
  9. Agree with others: Austin-Taker from SummerSlam needs to be on it. In fact... pretty much *all* Austin PPV matches need to be on it. This is the year where he became the Man on top of the WWE. John
  10. Three will have come since 2005. The first was back in the 80s: divorced her and married Beth.
  11. Early polling after (i) she locked up the nomination to draw the entire GOP to her, and (ii) has spent a boatload to rehab her image. Murphy has only recently put much effort into the General, instead also focusing on getting the nomination. There are diminishing returns on Linda's money (and outside money for her) in the state simply because he's a small state, and relatively cheap (to larger states) to get your message out. It's not terribly bad to see her close: it focuses the Dems on knowing a reasonable amount will need to be spent to have Murphy win. John
  12. Not like this one couldn't be seen coming. Lots of public issues have popped up in this thread.
  13. jdw

    Tonight's RAW

    Kind of interesting useless trivia. Since the Hogan II reign (Mania IV to Mania IV), the longest WWE & World Title reigns: 380 Cena III 358 Diesel 293 Warrior He's going to pass Warrior. Survivor Series would take him past Diesel. If he makes it to Rumble and The Rock without dropping it, that's 434 days. Longest since Hogan I... longest in 25 years. Gotta think they'll do a quick turn around someplace between now and the Rumble.
  14. The first Carnival Final at Budokan was Kawada-Doc in 1994. Progression of adding Budokan shows in series: 1985-91: * Mar * Jun * Aug/Sep * Dec (Tag League Final Night) The exception was Oct 1987 getting a Budokan for the second Jumbo-Tenryu "feud" match. Then they expanded: October: 1992 (Misawa vs Kawada) Jul: 1993 (Misawa vs Kawada) Apr/Carnival Final: 1994 (Kawada vs Doc) Jan: never added There was a reasonable expectation that Misawa would be in the Final in 1994 when the tickets sold out (usually instantly in that period). The Ace almost always had been in the Final, with the exception of 1992 (Misawa instead of Jumbo) and 1979 & 1980 (Jumbo rather than Baba). Anyway, it does give an idea for the place of Misawa-Kawada in big picture: it was the match used to open up two of the three new major shows, then headline their first Dome show (long after the freshness date on the feud passed). John
  15. There's your problem right there. John
  16. Considering the word "historian" was used, this is aimed at folks like Yohe and me. I'm not sure how much he even pays attention to DVDVR or here. It's an old argument Bruce made that's stuck in his head, bubbling up again. John
  17. The funniest thing about the Sharpes are that they aren't in the US Region despite, you know, being based in the US their entire career sans an impactful trip to Japan. It would be like Thesz being in a region other than the US. John
  18. I don't have a problem with the "Beauty Pair" going in as well as Sato already being in. I actually am supportive of people who warrant going in both solo and as a "group", such as Choshu as a solo and as a member of Ishingundan. John
  19. When I ask people what Bill did in putting together the Apter Mags, generally speaking the pro-Apter folks "don't know". Just that he was the figure head, and since they loved the mags when they were kids, let's voted Bill in. That's the "don't know" part. John
  20. I'm going to go back to my point: Jerry Jarrett vs Eddie Marlin To amplify: Vince McMahon vs Frank Tunney Verne Gagne vs Stanley Blackburn If we didn't know better, Tunny and Blackburn would be in the HOF and every Memphis Fanboy would be talking about getting Marlin in because Memphis kicked ass. Except... We know better. My problem with Apter is that (i) we don't fully know better, but (ii) we know enough. He didn't write the shit. He didn't edit the shit as much as people. He wasn't one of the forces in the office cranking out the product. He also wasn't Weston backing the whole enterprise, launching all those magazine to the point that one was coming out nearly every week and employing a whole bunch of folks (including being able to cover Bill's expense account). So we know enough: for a front man, he wasn't the anchor in getting the product launched or out the door. But we don't fully know: no one have a great series of interviews of Weston. Peter King seems to have vanished. Stu is active, his interview is enlightening... but (i) the interviewer doesn't really get overly into the nuts and bolts of London Publishing, and (ii) Stu is a nice guy who doesn't really want to throw anyone under the bus. So the people pushing for Apter are pushing for symbolism. Well... fuck it, let's push Tunney into the HOF. He was President of the WWF during Wrestlemania 3, the biggest most important show in the history of pro wrestling. He was President during that entire period. President's run companies, so all of that success was due to him. In addition, he rolled Toronto into the WWF, giving the company an opening into the massive Canadian market which turned into a hotbed for the company. Slam dunk HOFer. Except... We know better. Voting for something that you don't know, or don't fully know, it just silly. Look at the worst folks in the HOF, the ones people talk about tossing out. Those are almost all people that people generally think they know more about now than when they got inducted. The problem is that once they're in, they aren't getting out. John
  21. But a poorly done one. We've talked about this in the past: it should have been The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette back in 1996 (or later) rather than Jim on his own. And I accept blame for that... I should have thought more about it at the time. Jim's HOF candidacy in 1996 revolved around what he did as a part of that "group". John
  22. I think Dave wouldn't have a problem putting in London Publishing or "Stanley Weston & London Publishing" if someone got across to him that's a better way of honoring the history of Pro Wrestling Magazines than putting in Apter. Do I care to make the argument to him? Perhaps... not invested in doing it before this ballot gets done. It's something I might suggest to him to do next year: replace Bill with that. And it will likely get more support. Of course if Bill goes in this year, then it's moot. John
  23. WTF? Eventually I'll have to open the e-mail and look at the list. John
  24. He wasn't the top guy. That was Peter King and later Stu Saks. They were the top guys in the office who were essentially the Editor-in-Chief / Managing Editor types. Saks did an interview here: http://www.kayfabememories.com/Interviews/stusaks.htm http://www.kayfabememories.com/Interviews/stusaks-2.htm That's about as strong and read-between-the-lines as you'll get any one of them to make the point on Bill. From the first part, it looks like King was EoC back into the 70s. I know he was still there into the well into the 80s until he moved on and Stu moved up. I don't have a problem with the HOF entry being this: Stanley Weston & London Publishing That would be fine. I actually don't know if we have a good overview of *all* the mags going back to the 50s, and beyond just the London banner. Should we put Theodore Axeman in first, then Weston? John
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