Dylan Waco

Best part about this is we get Johnny Nitro..world champion.

To be fair, that was one line from Bix, and he was at least trying to address your other comments.

The Briscoes have gotten alot better but really "getting the appropriate response from crowds" isn't very hard when the desired response is a "HOLY SHIT!" chants, and your whole schtick is that you are psychos who will do anything.

Oh, I almost never watch TNA, because West is virtually the only thing on the show I like. I will never ever try and push someone to watch a TNA show.

Gordi, while it probably won't change your opinion on West, it is important to remember that dude probably reallybelieves that Scott Steiners top rope frankensteiner was the greatest thing ever. That is the appeal of West. He's an insane person in a good way. He's like that redneck everyone knows who insist that parts of the matches are "real" and spends all of his time talking about how someone like Chris Benoit or Bill Goldberg could win a shoot with Matt Hughes or Randy Couture, cept he has a live mic in front of him for his musings.

Tenay is fucking terrible for all the reasons SLL listed and the fact that his transparent phoniness really drags down the awesomeness that is Don West who marks out for pretty much everything. I mean Fucking Don West is really the best announcer on tv when given a chance, as the David Crockett analogy works really well, cept he's arguably even nuttier as Crockett was working in a family business that he knew was a work, whereas I'm not entirely sure West has been clued in half the time. Come on, West freaking out for Joe v. Steiner is pretty much the best thing the companyhas ever done.

Pop for the dive was solid, but you wouldn't know because Crockett is so awesome on commentary, about to have a stroke because the evil Slaughter is trying to kill Steamboat that he literally drowns out everything else with his hysterical shrieking. Awesome.

God damnit I forgot to DVR this fuck everything when does it reair?

I will seek out any Super Calo match

I will chime in with more later, but one thing I really want to comment on while I'm thinking about it..if Hornbackers NWA book does not win book of the year there really is no need for the category. This is exactly the sort of book that fans have been calling for for years and it is really sad that it has gotten so little coverage on the message board circuit or even in the WON from what I can tell through second hand info. Sure the writing style is jumpy and all over the place, but the book is the most accurate non-bullshit history of the business we are ever going to get. It is funny that wrestling fans that constantly try and pretend they aren't being conned, seem to prefer obvious cons even in there choices of "factual histories" of the business.

I've been extolling the virtues of Funk for years, as I think he was always good. That Rotundo match is one that I have cited in the past as a great example of Funk excelling and putting a young guy over, even though it is obvious that the kid he's working with is really green and really isn't a "wrestler" in the full sense of the term yet. Funk in WWF run was really underrated. Lots of fun tags. I watched a match with him an Morales a few weeks ago and was amazed at how unbeliveably insane Funk was, willing to do just ridiculous shit to get the match over and the crowd hyped. I have said before that I think Flair and Funk are the two best pro wrestlers of all time. Really I think the gap after those two is pretty big as to me they are on their own plane.

Delerious is awesome. Also Zybysko was awesome, and I direct you to any Dangerous Alliance era WCW for evidence. On the first wrestling club DVD, Zybysko is CLEARLY the best person in a multi-man tag that includes guys like Windham, Eaton, Arn, Rude and Steamboat. Think about that for a second.

Not surprising as Mike Enos and Larry Z are better than uninspired Samoa Joe and "love me cuz my wife died" face Jeff Jarrett.

Pretty sure he did..I know for a fact he popped up for the WWF light heavyweight division.

Okay, I really apperciate this being included on the set, because it adds to the diversity which is what makes this project so damn fun, but no bullshit all this really makes me want to do is watch Tommy Rogers in ECW even more. I could be wrong, but I suspect if we go back and watch Rogers in ECW we are going to discover the guy was way better than virtually everyone in the States at that point, and this was years after his prime and long after anyone gave a shit. Match is a fun tv match, Fulton takes a couple of nasty bumps which is more than you usually get from him, Denton is nasty stiff and Rogers offense is insanely crisp. God damn he moves around really good in the ring. Anyhow, I really want to see a bunch of ECW fancams with Rogers now and if I wasn't so lazy my next review project that no one will give a shit about would be trying to rediscover Rogers as the best worker in the U.S. during that last ECW run.

Backlund is booked to look stronger, but Kid was booked to look stronger in the Bret match and yet you don't get the feeling afterword that it was the Kid show..after the Backlund match you get the feeling he was running a clinic and Bret was just the other carbon based lifeform required to make the gears turn.

Okay, where the fuck is all the Chris Markoff footage? I mean the idea that this guy existed, is never ever talked about online and his one known appearance of signficance is this really heated match with upstart Inoki is really fucking annoying, espcially because the guys is really, really good. Honestly I can't even believe the notion of him having pedestrian offense is being entered into the discussion here as the guy is really not going to gain anything by doing butterfly suplexes and his punches, kicks and top rope knee are all really good (plus dude has a really realistic looking eyerake). He also manages to take a wonderfully awesome and theatrical over the top bump off of a Inoki comeback dropkick to the back, where he essentially eats the kick, flips over the ropes and then stumbles/runs a legit twenty yards or so, knocking over people in the process. Then he gets back in the ring and breaks up the Octopus with a fucking knucks shot. How more awesome does someone have to get? I'm generally high on Inoki. In this match his timing is really, really good and that has really allways been his strong suit, as the guy is really good at working a realistic enough style, and timing his comebacks in really appropriate fashions. But this is not really Inokis show. No, the crowd woudn't give a shit if Markoff were just beating on some guy, but really this is all Markoff as he really excels at all the things heels should excel at plus things that you don't really expect them to excel at (his timing is nearly as good as Inokis in this match). Anyhow, the match is really good up until the nearfall stretch Cooke talked about. It wasn't that the nearfalls weren't credible from a MOVES perspective. It was that the nearfalls really looked robotic and just way too choreographed. I mean if you are going to run that kind of sequence, at least waste time inbetween spots, throw an extra strike in before moves, show frustration, something. Other than that match was very good. Given the parties involved, and the time fame it's hard to imagine much more. But god damn where is the Markoff footage?

Holy shit the taunting in this match is awesome, from Rude holding open the ropes for Sting to Anderson bowing and "blowing" at Steamboat on the outside. Who would have thought that a match involving Larry Z would feature surperior stalling and tactial non-wrestlig from pretty mucheveryone else on his team. Interestingly enough, Larry is fucking incredibly fast whipping around the ring and taking these awesome bumps off of chops that he sells with his entire body ala Pat Paterson or Buddy Landel. I also vividly remember Zybsyco being hated immensely by Southern crowds during this period, as I once saw hiim provoke a near riot at the Mcallister fieldhouse so he was really doing a great job during this period all around. I've also got to disagree. Dustin was the right choice for FIP here. Dustin was the young guy on a team full of highly credible vets all of whom had been or were upper echelon guys. Rhodes was the logical choice to be "overwhelmed". This is the second multi-man, pre-ppv, superstar loaded tv match I watched tonight. The first was the famous Raw Ten Man tag from 00 with the Radicalz/DX v. Foley/Rock/Too Cool. Really these two matches are interesting to watch back to back as you really see the similarities and differences between the periods working within roughly the same formula match. I'm not going to lie. I think I like the Raw match a bit better, but this WCW match was literally one of many like it. Very good stuff, from a great period of wrestling, and if the same match made tv today people would be talking about it as a MOTYC.

Don't want to highjack this and Loss can move this if he wants, but here is my review of Backlund v. Bret which is from the same rough time period and has alot of similarities in that it is Bret v. a clear underdog opponent, but a guy that still has some crediblity because of his past. Also similar in a sense, as Backlund works alot of crazy rollup falls as a big base of this match, which is something Kid toyed with in the Bret match, before bringing out the big time offense. Interesting match and really hard to rate opposite Kid v. Bret, though Kid v. Bret is generally regarded as better. Bret v. Backlund This match might actually be better than I remembered. For years I have talked about this match as one that has slipped through the cracks of history and is a reasonable rival to the Waltman match I talked about earlier. After rewatching it I feel the same way. The big story here is that Backlund is finally getting his shot after ten years. He never really lost the title himself, but he's past his prime and not really a serious threat. He's also cranky as shit, coming out of the gates by refusing a cleanbreak and then pushing the action with various rollups and takedown attempts trying to get a quick win. One thing I like about the match, that would make it a dismal failure in the eyes of many modern fans, is that it is an incredibly simple match. The match is roughly fifteen minutes long, and there is really nothing in the match that is a true highspot. Backlund has always had a really simple offense, but what he has he delivers really well here, getting nice nearfalls out of everything from a piledriver to even a simple bodyslam (that is really impactful and unlike anything you'd see today from anyone not named Finlay). There is also a great spot in the match where Bret is working offense, controlling Bob with armbars and hammerlocks and Bob picks him up hitting this really deep wastelock takedown that looks and feels like a true deadlift. I watched Hansen v. Bob in the cage last night. It's a good match, but the match is almost entirely good because of Hansen. Bob is really a prop for Hansen to stiff and bump around for. In this match Bret is just the guy applying holds, while Backlund does all the work in making the match go. Finishing stretch is a great example of this, as Bob is awesome fighting his way out of the sharpshooter, awesome with the double bridgeout reversal spot (which Ross does a great job of putting over), awesome with the celebration after the close nearfall on he inside cradle, and awesome after he loses to the Bret cradle. In all of this Bret is there and Bob is the star. I'm not a Backlund fan at all. There are plenty of Bob matches that I like, but most of the time I feel like he's the weaker guy in the match and often times it just feels like he's there for the ride. This was not the case here as Backlund really steals the show

Just watched the DVD version, and wow the match is much better with the restart, although it is odd that subtle heel Bret would call for restart and then the clearcut face would try and score a cheapshot rollup win when the champs back is turned. Still Ross is unbelievable getting this over and so is Savage to be honest. Post match when Savage and Ross stand up and clap along with the crowd and Ross calls it one of the best matches he's ever seen it really feels like it means something, even if it was just carny bullshit. Also, man alive Kids flip plancha spot was fucking insane early in his career. I know for a fact he rolled it out a few times in Global and opposite Lynn and it is just a ridiculously crazy spot from anytime period, let alone that point when there siimply was no precedent on the national scale for shit like that. Just a crazy spot, that requires an unbelievable degree of trust in your opponent or a total lack of concern for your own well being or both.

Hayes was the frontman though..I mean the Birds were basically the vehicle for his debauchary in alot of ways. Anyhow, is it wrong that I instantly remembered every word to the song as soon as it came on? That's probably a sign that it was really, really good at what it was supposed to be good at. Also that footage of Gordy pushing the fan and Hayes rabid fire punching in the cage was awesome

I am not sure if Flair in Charleston where I live would be on the level of Lawler in Memphis..that said...a few years back I was at a public park for the fourth of July. There were literally thousands of people there..for some reason some drunk redneck screamed right inbetween displays "RIC FUCKIN FLAIR!" and I shit you not, probably 80-90 percent of the people there let out a gigantic WHOOOOOO! Mike Mooneyham has had a column in our newspaper for twenty years covering wrestling exclusively in large part because he is associated with Flair. My buddy and local radio figure The Southern Avenger uses Flair intros for his explicitly political commentaries because he's a massive wrestling fan, but also because Flair is a tested marketing success in the area. At work a few weeks ago a girl asked me who "Ric Flair" was in reference to a conversation I was having with her boyfriend earlier in the day and two different customers, one of whom was a fifty something house wife responded "You don't know who Ric Flair is? You must not be from here." She isn't..she's from California. When I was growing up as a kid I went to pretty much any NWA house show or tv taping in Charleston or Columbia. It would not be an exagerration to say that the NWA was a huge, huge part of youth culture and "redneck" culture a term I personally find endearing. Also the NWA was hugely, hugely popular with the local black community. As a kid I went to schools that were roughly fifty-fifty black/white from elemantary to high school and while people had differing allegencies with sports, all throughout elementary school the heros were Ric Flair and to a lesser degree the Steiner Brothers and in high school, even at the height of the attitude stuff, most guys publicly admitted that they grew up on NWA/WCW and preferred it. Since there were no major sporting events in Charleston, college or pro, fan loyality was mostly centered around pro wrestlling. I knew alot of fanatical Atlanta Brave fans growing up, but aside from love for South Carolina or Clemson college teams, nothing rivaled love for wrestling, espcially the NWA and espcially Ric Flair and the Horseman. This changed a bit when minor league hockey rolled in, which was hugely popular for a few years, drawing consistent ten thousand plus sellouts to the North Charleston Coliseum, but that was after the heydey of the NWA in the area, which had previously run high school gyms and the Citadels McAllister Fieldhous usually to sellout crowds (capacity was 6400 for wrestling).

Most of the repeated spots were based on the broader concepts..namely the early part where the faces were grinding it out and the heels going for nasty shots into the cage and what not. Also Kiniski sucked horribly in the Flair/Race match, but Sandy Scott, while not quite as bad, is less forgiveable. Scott's bread and butter was Mid-Atlantic tag wrestling. He should have had a much better clue of how to work that match as a ref.

FWIW, Mike Mooneyham, who is very close with Flair personally (Flair thanks him and refers to him as his closest confident at the end of his bio) told me flat out that this is it for Flair no questions asked. He's started some sort of mortage/finanace business and is still sort of considering entering politics, though the scandals of the last few years may have hurt him irreparably in that regard. Personally I think there are alot more oppurtunities for Flair to have one last great run on SD than there were on RAW. He seems to be being treated as a major part of the mix already, and though I know there are alot of people who won't like the idea I really, really think they ought to give Flair one more run with the belt, even if it is a month long thing. Just seems wrong for Hogan to get a last go around and not Flair. At Mania I don't know..I have a feeling he's going to lobby to work opposite Trip, but I really, really don't want to see Flair go out flat on his back underneath HHH. I like the Steamboat idea, but don't see it happening. Honestly I would prefer to see Flair team with Arn (that one match for Arn has been tossed around some allegedly) opposite some disrespectful punk team in a co-main event slot.

Holy shit this match is great. I think it was Loss who said this is the best tag match he's ever seen from the States, and while I would definately have to think about that long and hard to be sure, it definately has a strong, strong case. Everyone knows by now, that I am a huge fan of Slaughter, but really Kernodle is the guy that really stands out to me in this as the guy who is going above and beyond the call. The first fifteen minutes of this match is Kernodle working Heel In Peril, primarily around the faces keeping him down in headlocks, but he is so so good in that role. They establish very early that the heels are going for the homerun, as Kernodle almost immediately tries to bash Steamers head into the steel, and goes for a high cross body off of a criss cross that he airballs. The way this is setup is really interesting because you know when someone finally taste the steel it is going to be big, and it is also neat to see the faces content to grind it out. Not sure of the exact time on this match, but Slaughter doesn't even make his way in, until nearly half way through the bout and immediately gets brought in for the big Sarge bumps that he does so well. He also runs a great spot where he is using all his energy to get Youngbloods face into the cage and Jay just has enough to break loose. Once again this match does a better job putting over the brutality of the cage then pretty much any other cage match you'll ever see. When Slaughter finally gets Youngblood into the steel off of another criss cross spot it looks and feels like the most dangerous thing you've ever seen. The run of comebacks and mini-comebacks at the end of the bout is really awesome also. I was a big fan of the "Sarge sneaking in for the Cobra Clutch, only to get met with two feet to the face" spot. There is also really good false finish spot that is kinda screwed up by Sandy Scott, but other than that it is great. So yeah, the match is great, but I don't think this project is entirely about guys doing straight reviews of stuff, so I do want to mention really quick that a big facet in this match being so awesome is David Crockett. People shit on him as being this aloof mark and they may be right but I don't really care. The reason I like guys like him and Piper and Don West on commentary is that they really seem to care about what is going on in the ring to the point where it is the most important thing in their lives at that very moment. Piper during the Virgil/Dibase feud and buildup is really the apex of WWE announcing to me and Crockett in this match might be the apex of non-Jim Ross NWA/territorial announcing. He does a great job putting over the nastiness of Kernodles cut ("oh god that is bad"), a great sell off of the initial Youngblood bump into the steel, and when Slaughter goes to the top of the cage and comes off, barely missing Steamboat, Crocketts setup and reaction to that are just awesome (NOOOOOO Really this is a great match and would have been no matter who was commentating, but I thank god David Crockett was in the booth for this match.