Dylan Waco

I don't think his going to the WWE has much of anything to do with people feeling more slam dunkish on him. I suspect for most people the issue was that he was widely viewed as one of the top few wrestlers on Earth for the last few years. He was more unifying than any of the top NJPW guys or WWE guys in this regard in that he didn't seem to meet the wrath of critics of either of those scenes. For me there are three things that took him from maybe, to an easy yes. The first is what I just mentioned. The second is the fact that as I've become increasingly more interested in indie wrestling, and Southern indie wrestling in particular, I've gone back and watched Wildside era AJ, as well as watching some of his better indie matches over the last few years and love the stuff. The third is that for reasons I can't fully explain I have watched a lot of old TNA during this process and I've been amazed at how good Styles work was there. I don't think he's done anything in WWE that would substantially help or hurt his case.

Bagwell as the painfully unhip white frat guy friend of 2 Cold Scorpio made for a really fun dynamic. I think he had potential in the early years. I also have to concede that he was (and is) very charismatic. That said I don't think he was great at any single facet of wrestling. Also, for a guy who worked a big chunk of his career as a singles star, he may be unique among the competent wrestlers I can think of in that I can't recall a single good match.

I loved Tanaka as a kid, and still love him any time I see him pop up on something I'm watching. Smooth and flashy worker, who was a good heel while also having cool offense for the era. That said he comes across as a guy who's aesthetic and wrestling style serve to obscure the fact that he really didn't do that much of note. For a guy with his talents and ability I'd regard him as a clear underachiever. An underachiever can my ballot, but not without a strong body of work. Tanaka doesn't really have that.

I actually watched two of the Iraq matches before but was so interested in the spectacle of them, that I didn't really pay much attention to the match quality.

I absolutely love his run teaming with Buddy, which also includes some really fun trios, a good Doug v. Shawn Michaels match, and an inexplicably great Somers v. Mike Rotundo match which is the best Rotundo match ever and a match where Somers seemingly shit his pants. He is excellent in his role as the fugly, would be stud, who rakes, and punches and cheats non-stop while sauntering around like he's not a disastrously sleazy looking motherfucker. Somers as the Pretty Boy inspiring a late era Montreal rip off in Chuck Simms is one of my absolute favorite things in wrestling ever, and he might have the best standard back body drop bump of all time. The Rockers series is an all time great tag feud, and in at least two of their matches Somers is the best guy in the match (including one that very few people have seen). I honestly have zero doubts that Somers is one of the best 100 wrestlers I've ever seen judging by peak alone, and I also have zero doubts that if he was given chances he would easily make my list. The problem is he really didn't get them. He did some jobs for WCW and WWF. During the fanless era of the AWA he had at least one or two fun t.v. matches, but Doug not being able to antagonize a crowd takes a lot of the act. He was actually a staple of the Georgia/Bama indie scene for a while a few years back, and had a few matches and performances I absolutely loved including this one and this one where he takes a lunatic bump off the top of a cage if memory serves He's a guy I'd love to include, but I just don't think there is enough.

The last of the IWRG glory years guys who I felt the need to nominate it. Like Chico Che I'm not sure I can come up with a concrete case for him, but god damn what a great flyer. He had the ability to go completely bonkers in a trio and just take the match over with smooth as silk, impressive as fuck, highspots. I remember thinking he was really great from like 2008-2012 when he would show up, but god knows it was spotty as hell in that period. This is really more of a nomination about my missing that era of IWRG, but god damn at his peak he was a guy that seemed destined for this list.

The last of the Brit guys who I will nominate. He was someone I stumbled onto because he worked a lot of the other guys I was watching. The first time I saw him was against Pat Roach I think and I thought "man this guy looks good, I wonder if Roach is just dragging him to something good." Then I saw him against Rudge and he was just as good, having what I think was one of Rudge's four or five best matches. Then I saw him against Ray Steele and I'll be damned if he was good there too. The guy does not necessarily have the look of someone you expect to be a crafty and capable grappler, but he actual is. I'm not sure if he would hold up to more scrutiny, but against the best big men he came across as someone on their level. There may not be a ton more on YouTube to help him or hurt him (I haven't checked), but I wanted to leave the window open for him on my list because I've been so impressed with him so far.

As a manager I love him and think he's criminally underrated. I'll have more to say about that in podcast form soon. As an in ring worker I like him. He's about as basic as it gets, but in a good way where he doesn't try to overshadow his teammates or opponents who were almost always positioned as more skilled than him. He was an underrated brawler in the AWA, where he had some really strong performances bumping, bleeding, and adhering to that old time psychology religion when working on top as a dastardly heel. He actually had 3 different matches that finished in the AWA best of the 80s top 20, all Cage matches where he was central to the storyline that made them so epic. He was also in the actual main event tag match of Super Sunday, and the wild taped fist brawl that set that match up and nearly triggered a riot at the St. Paul Civic Center. He did have some fun singles matches that didn't make the 150 either because they were JIP, or because they just weren't quite up to the standard we were looking for (I did love the Adnan v. Raschke match, but not enough to go to the wall for it). That said he was clearly limited, and not a guy you would want to put on a big stage without the benefit of a partner or a gimmick. In a weird sense I think he's kind of comparable to JBL in that he had a heat garnering heel gimmick that he played very well, had some really great gimmick matches where he was critical to the matches success from a storyline perspective even if he was clearly not the best guy in the match, and not a ton else that jumps out at you. I haven't watched more than a bit of Billy White Wolf stuff but I always thought it was funny as fuck that Adnan was ever a sympathetic babyface. I will say that if he had some really good performances there, I think you could probably cobble together a case for him as a bottom two or three guy.

Factually I can't argue with Phil, but instinctively I want to rate him because he's probably my favorite luchador ever. This butterball dude in a jumper, doing the most beautiful flying spots you've seen, with one of the better fired up freakshow babyface comebacks ever, who can also brawl with best with them. Absolutely love him in trios, especially when he would play the "doesn't know his strength/aw shucks he's really a nice guy until..." enforcer role. Think 89 Rick Steiner but without the obvious insensitivity and way better. Also love his singles matches with Black Terry, where he was every bit as good as Terry which is really saying something. Just an absolute joy to watch, and a guy I strongly associate with the period when I fell head over heels in love with lucha libre. Felt wrong for him not to have a thread, even if Phil is probably right about rating him.

I've been toying with the idea of him at my 100 for a few weeks. Still not sure whether I'll pull the trigger on it, but the nature of the system is no surprises, so I figured I'd nominate him late if he was still on my mind and here we are. I live in Charleston, South Carolina. Here in town the wrestling shows for years (from the immediate post-war period through until 1985) were held in a place on King Street called County Hall. That area of town has always been predominantly black, and among the people in this area - especially the Gullah - Rufus is a legend. I used to hear about him all the time as a kid from classmates parents and occasionally classmates themselves who had things passed down to them. Where older white fans acknowledge Rufus as a star and loved him in their own way, it really is incredible to see the connection he had to African descended people in the lowcountry. I've always been fascinated with him for that reason, but for years I heard he was terrible and pretty well avoided him. And the truth is that he's not a classically good wrestler. At all. Having said that if you told me "you can watch Rufus R Jones matches all day on a loop for the next 24 hours or those of Wrestler X" I'd take Rufus over nearly every wrestler you could put in that X slot. His charisma really does come through the sceen. His goofy facial expressions really do resonate with me, perhaps in part because I actually live among people who they spoke to directly. I love his fired up come back, I love his ridiculous over the top selling, and by god I love the double punch! I've seen many Rufus matches I've enjoyed. None that I would ever call great, other than maybe the street fight battle royal match I used to nominate him where he was just one of many guys. That said he's a guy who's flaws do not matter to me at all. As a South Carolinian I feel connected to him both through the people he influenced that I know in daily life, the research I've done on his career for academic projects, and yes his performances as a wrestler. We all have Dusty Rhodes (who admittedly was a better pure worker). Tim Evans has Konan Big. Some other people might feel a connection with Billy Graham or even Jay Strongbow. But I've got Rufus R. Jones.

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Nominating Rufus R. Jones Rufus R Jones/Super Medico v. The Batten Twins Chicky Starr, Hugo and Carlos Colon are wearing tuxes and introduce this match from what looked like another part of the arena which is something I wasn't expecting. Awesome moment early as Rufus is in a headlock and goes into his jive dance, slips out and the Batten face plants to a huge pop. The Battens are actually really good heels as they do a great job taking solid bumps and playing the fool for the babyface team. Gotta love the faces doing the heel tactics behind the refs back as the Battens freak the fuck out and plead with the fans to tell the ref what is going on. The Battens finally get in a cheap shot to the back of Rufus when he hits the ropes to take over. I loved the way Rufus sold that shot as he sold it like an old man who's back went out while taking out the trash. The Battens end up doing the switcharoo behind the refs back that the faces had been utilizing against them, but Rufus is able to fight out shortly thereafter and we get an epic hot tag with the Batten leaping to stop it and Medico going fucking nuts with fists of furry to a massive pop. Rufus knocks one of the Battens out with a headbutt and then Medico rolls through on the reverse crossbody for the pin, as The Battens claim their tights were held. Well, this was fucking awesome and it's going on the set. Kris can veto it now but it doesn't matter, because it's going to be a personal pick. Bronca Boricua Match One of my sole regrets with the AWA Set was not putting on this one really fun battle royal from the Showboat Era, that was admittedly not a great match, but was a hell of a lot of fun. Well this match was a hell of a lot better than that and I won't make the same mistake twice. I agree that the first part of this is pretty cluttered and not a lot of note happens, but you still have to take inventory of the situation. You've got Boogie Woogie Man coming to the ring looking like he just stumbled out of a mandatory stint in a post-prison/rehab halfway house, homeless with nowhere to go but a fist fight, carrying what very well may be a rusty hypodermic needle. Then Carlos saunters out in a Scarfaceesque track suit with no weapon in hand. A few minutes later we discover that Carlos has what appears to be some sort of spike/knife but we only know it because he stabs a guy in the head from behind in a total dick move while he's getting into the ring. You look around and there are guys with carelessly broken boards, vastly more dangerous than barbed wire, as you can practically see the splinters flying off of them. Rufus Jones and JYD are just milling around being RufusJones and JYD. Eric Embry looks even more street hustler like than Rip Rogers. So yeah there isn't a ton going on, but watching these flurry of boards being waved about but his motley crew is like a scene out of the Warriors or something. Then shit gets real when TNT has enough of Kendo's shit and just runs at him and starts clubbing him wildly with a board. Pretty much everything after that point was awesome, including the crazy train of eliminations with Colon and Rip and especially the final four. I swear to god the last five minutes of this with those four guys is among the best non-Hansen v. Colon stuff I've seen from PR. Perez going batshit with the stick was great and his elimination spot was really awesome. Then when it gets down to Ivan and Invader it turns into this totally dramatic, PR classic, with Colon and TNT leading the crowd in wild cheers for Invader. It's really back and fourth but completely awesome and you get little touches like Ivan Kollof of all people working in shots from his guard. Finish was completely satisfying and we get our post-match, fans mob the ring, Puerto Rico "moment." This ruled Rufus R Jones v. The White Angel Rufus R. Jones vs. White Angel Man I kinda loved this. This is all about Rufus either dancing and firing up, or selling for clubbing forearms and nerveholds. There is absolutely no reason for me to like this as much as I did but there is something about watching him do his thing that brings great joy to me. Maybe it's a South Carolina thing? In any case I loved his headbutt to the gut counter and I don't give a shit what anyone says, his double punch is a good looking spot. He even took a couple of decent bumps in this. The finish withRufus trying to escape the full nelson by walking over the top rope and Angel not breaking it huts it enough for me not to nominate it.

I commend you for being willing to do this.

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Nominating Freelance Traumas/Official 911 v. Freelance/Ultraman Jr./Jack - IWRG 3/7/10? I liked this a lot actually. I wasn't totally enamored with all of the Trauma II v. Jack matwork as it seemed to drift back and fourth from really swank to overtly cooperative, but man was Freelance fucking great in this. To be fair Trauma II looked like a bad ass throwing fist of fury and Official 911 had some great moments, as well but Freelance was just on a whole nother level. Ultraman's dive here was pretty awesome and you hate to see a guy hit the bricks like that but I actually think the reaction of Freelance to that moment really makes the match. He immediately gets in the ring and almost seems to say "fuck it I'll have to do it myself" before rattling off a string of awesome offense on all the rudos. Obviously he gets cut off early, but he continues to rattle off explosions for the rest of the match and some of it is unreal. It's almost amazing how late he locks his legs on the final headscissors setting up the insane moonsault that wipes out 911. Just an incredibly smooth offensive wrestler who is super charismatic and really underrated when it comes to selling and structuring comebacks (I say underrated because he's still an unknown to much of the smark universe). I really liked the finishing comedy shit with Jack too, but man this was the Freelance show. Best match he's been in all year and a home run performance from him in general. from Tim Evans: Freelance, Golden Magic, Turbo vs Carta Brava Jr., El Pollo Asesino, Epidemia 3/24/11 This was a tecnicos showcase done right. Freelance was great like he usually his with his dives and armdrags. It's great to see Turbo in IWRG as he was the best part about PERROS and he really got to shine here. Haven't seen Golden Magic before but he had some nice flying move and did a nice moonsalt at the end of the 3rd Caida. On the Rudo side, Pollo Asesino was good in his role while the other guys were ok. Good match and it's great to see Freelance on TV. Now if only Chico Che would come back. From Phil: Centvrión & Freelance v Alan Extreme & Comando Negro 6/14/12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpYus68sukU&feature=g-u-u Great to see Freelance show up and be Freelance. There is a great moment where Freelance was backdrop and went so high that he was able to rotate and land on his feet. We also got a great pair of dives from the faces and some nifty rudo work. Chico Che Avisman/Gringo Loco/Trauma II v. Brazo Metalico/Chico Che/Hijo del Fishman - IWRG 2/18/10 The first part of the first fall is missing, but what is there I liked a lot more than I would have thought. Trauma II is absolutely incredible in this just beating the shit out of people. I know that is becoming a staple talking point, but here he was on a whole nother level, dropping people with rights, peppering bodyshots and sharp knees from the clinch. Loco wasn't as good here as he was last week but he was still entertaining as well. Best part of the technico team was Chico Che who had a run at the beginning of the second caida that was fun as fuck, hitting an explosion of fat man headscissors, roll throughs and diving headbutts with the heels bumping fast and hard for him. I also really enjoyed the chase scene with him and Trauma II and the finishing showdown being over almost immediately when Che gets caught in a cross armbreaker by II. Post match II continues his mauling and it's fucking great. Man he was awesome here. Gringo Loco/El Hijo Del Diablo/Avisman v. Chico Che/Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro Awesome match, definitely top ten, possibly top five for the year. Opening fall is rudo domination fall and features some serious blood loss from Terry, Cerebro and Chico Che. BTJR does an awesome job catching the gore here as there are some really wonderful shots of all of those guys throughout that really make this one feel like a war. I really love Diablo's nut kick as a defensive move any time someone tries to get the upper hand in a strike battle. Gringo Loco is a great prick as well and Avisman's headbutts look surprisingly vicious at times in this. There is a really great moment at the beginning of the second fall where Avisman comes over to cheap shot Terry and Terry gives him a "you have got to be kidding me boy" look and starts beating his ass before the rest of the rudos run over and stomp him down. The transition to offense for the "good guys" is really awesome here as Loco flies to the floor on a corner charge and they proceed to whip up on Avisman and Diablo with the inside out Cerebro dropkick and the Chico Che fat man senton. Chico Che by the way is fucking awesome in this. I'm a big mark for good big men in general, but Chico Che is one of the single most "fun" guys in wrestling and is super underrated. There is a moment in this that really feels like something out of a teen movie where the fat homely kid from the country is finally fed up of getting picked on a just snaps and starts beating the shit out of people. Seriously Chico Che is just punching people in the face and screaming and the crowd is going batshit like it's that scene in Can't Buy Me Love where Ronald Miller makes the save before the jocks beatdown Kenneth for hanging out with the cheerleaders and everyone in the school gives him a standing O. Actually I think nice fat kid getting picked on by douchebag jocks only to snap and start fucking people up is a really under explored way to structure a match in wrestling despite having real life relevance for a lot of people (and I say this as an emaciated vegetarian with a bit of a mean streak). Anyway Chico Che is awesome here and hits a couple of fat man splashes to take the second fall. Third fall is as awesome as the rest of the match with some crazy brawling, some great Terry hulk up moments, a run of awesome Chico Che shit with him gliding through exchanges, sprinting around the ring and hitting a super sweet tope during the dive segment that actually looked more impressive than the really great Loco dive that proceeded it. The moments in this when it is just Diablo and Cerebro in the ring are ultra hot and the crowd really goes nuts as Cerebro looks like he's about to put a run together and Diablo cuts him off and finishes him clean with a submission for the finish. Actually Diablo was fucking awesome in this too, begging off, picking his shots, et. Avisman was probably the least of the people in this and he was really fucking solid. This was just a great fucking match. Aside from one awkward spot with Diablo on Cerebro's shoulders that seemed to last forever until Chico Che hit the ring, this was prety much a flawless brawl. Black Terry, Chico Che, Jack vs Eterno, Fishman Jr., Hijo del Signo - IWRG 4/11/10 This was really fun. Eterno's shit talking was awesome and made even better by the fact that Terry toyed with him so brilliantly. Jack is a guy I like more than most as his "comedy" has a douchy quality to it. Che was fucking great doing full rotation rides on the mat, hitting all his awesome fat man highspots, hitting the top rope splash on all of the heels to take a fall, and providing an awesome moment that BTJ only partially captured as you see him clinging to Signo on the floor and rushing forward violently as if he was trying to kill him. He also provided the funniest moment of the match when Eterno almost kills himself on a tope con hilo and Che just casually punts him in the ribs while the ref comes over to check and see if he's dead. There are definitely some sloppy and awkward moments in this and Fishman and Signo are guys I really could live without ever seeing again. But it was still a fun match. Tiger Dalibar Singh via Ohtani's Jacket thread http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/15983-the-beginners-guide-to-british-wrestling/page-6

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Matches for Arkangel de la Muerte http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2014/07/2014-ongoing-match-of-year-list.html http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2014/09/mlj-hijo-del-santo-vs-blue-panther-11.html http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2014/11/mlj-barbaro-cavernario-spotlight-2-leo.html

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I'll find them later and post the thread then. Edit: been very liberal about the 3 match rule which is fine. That said I really hope these last push guys get talked up at least a bit by the people nominating them.