Dylan Waco

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses. I agree that it wasn't an all time "holy fuck" classic on first viewing, but I have zero problem calling it a great cage match. That said the real revelation was Ole and Ellering which was every bit as good and in some ways better. Easily the best Ole Anderson match I've ever seen and the finish shoot punch flurry from Ole was as great a fired up sequence as I've ever seen. The whole thing kind of reminded me of Blackwell v. Superstar from the AWA Set where you have a real fun war between two stars, but then Blackwell wins and gets his five minutes with Adnan and that just takes it to the next level.

Ar this point I just assume that anyone who thinks Reigns is less than top 3 in the WWE in ring either isn't paying attention, is trolling, is trying to confirm to perceived "smart norms," or hates WWE main event wrestling

What's your criticism of him?It's not that, really. It's more that he hasn't sparked for me and I'm curious what I'm missing. I should add that I haven't watched the match Shoe reviewed here, which I'll do at some point. To me the CWF stuff is the key piece of the puzzle

What's your criticism of him?

I really hope they continue to subordinate all talent to him and put the belt on him because it is probably the push I need to go from "guy who watches Raw most weeks, but generally dislikes it" to "guy who doesn't watch Raw and pirates WWE content when it looks appealing to him."

CWF and PWX are no worse than top 5 indies in the U.S. right now in my opinion. Great companies for different reasons. CWF was mentioned above and I think if you factor in everything - production, announcing, quality short term and long term storylines, talent and guys filling their respective roles, venue/environment - they might be the best promotion in the World right now. I just think they do a better job executing their vision better than anyone else. PWX is awesome in a different way but well worth checking out. Where are you moving to in NC?

I don't know who the last entrant is, or who any of the remaining entrants are. My feeling is that there will probably be at least a couple more local guys and that the only major name left in the field will be the 16th entrant, but really anything is possible at this point. I don't think very many people would have seen them getting Riddle for this thing and the way they are talking and have positioned the announcements he is actually the second biggest name in the tournament after number 16. The only real hint I have about the 16th guy - and I got this from one of the promoters who is a friend and knows a lot about my tastes and specific guys who I do and don't enjoy - is that it's someone he is positive I will be happy to see in the tournament. Of the ten guys announced so far none is worse than good in my opinion, and most of them are guys who I legitimately think are in the very good to great territory.

Scenic City Invitational just announced Matt Riddle as the ninth entrant. Field is INSANELY awesome so far - Jimmy Rave, Lio Rush, Kyle Matthews, Ray Fury, Gunner Miller, Corey Hollis, John Skyler, Anthony Henry, and Riddle. If the final 7 are half as good I'd say the tourney is on pace to fairly easily top last year and I loved last years shows. Tickets are available here. If you are on the fence the promoters are pushing the 16th entrant as another "game changer." Would love to see some people from PWO make it out to these shows. http://www.empirewrestling.net/store/c2/Scenic_City_Invitational_Event_Tickets.html

I disagree with the statements regarding Kamaitachi, Castle, Dijak and Cheeseburger. Kamaitachi has been with the promotion all of two weeks. While he had a fabulous series with Dragon Lee, ROH does have guys they will already see in that junior role such as ACH and LIo Rush. If he sticks around and pulls a Watanabe run, then yes it is open to critique, but it feels premature now. Also, I haven't seen/heard of Kamaitachi been booked elsewhere so I do find it odd that ROH is being criticized for misusing him as a person that has a ton of buzz when no one else has used him period. Castle took a while to get going but he is solidly presented now as one of the 7-8 biggest people in the company. I don't think that is anything to sneeze at and actually ROH correcting itself in not realizing the potential he had when they first brought him in. The TV title match vs. Fish should be very good. I am not going to pretend I have been watching Dijak work in Beyond, but I have seen all of ROH this year with the exception of the San Antonio and Rhode Island house shows. Dijak is in a weird angle with Nana, but he hasn't looked like the most polished performed either. I compare it to Moose in 2014. In the SCOH Night 2 match with Will Ferrera, he botched and was out of position multiple times. I agree the stuff with Nana could better present his personality, but as far as his current standing on the overall roster, that feels fine. Cheeseburger has gotten tv title shots in competitive matches, teamed with his idol to defeat the now tag team champions (awful booking having Addiction win btw), and been used to help advance the world title angle. That feels like good placement to me for someone that will always be a niche performer to a degree. I'm weary about coming off as an ROH apologist and there is certain problems that are there, but I was relieved to see the Toronto results and do think ROH was presented at least on paper as being equal to NJ in most regards with sharing wins. I also want to compare to EVOLVE as that is what I think most people that follow independents would point to as the best promotion currently going. Here are the current EVOLVE booking issues I have: 1. Their championship is probably the third most important thing going on. I think this is being corrected on the next set of shows so it isn't a huge issue but Thatcher was someone that had a ton of buzz with the Supershow match vs. Hero and his rise to the title. I hope once he does drop the strap, they can get him back on track. 2. Zack Sabre Jr. did a "best in the world" series but has now gone 3-4 on that journey and lost to three different guys. I think Hero having his number is great storytelling but I didn't like Scrull beating him at all. 3. The TNA/EVOLVE Stuff just doesn't excite me. I am willing to give EC3 a chance in these upcoming shows but he was not someone that made me say "wow" when he debuted. I see this as a lot more lateral to what ROH is doing with Bullet Club than what most people do, but I still haven't heard a great argument as to why the EVOLVE stuff is fresher. 4. Catchpoint having Stokley around. Catchpoint is in the odd position of having 5 of the legit best 15 wrestlers in the world within one stable. More than that, they excel against each other and can present a beautiful contrast to most inter stable feuds in having uber competitive matches with each other but staying together as a unit. I thought there was potential for tons of interesting things down the future with them running the belt for a while and having matches within their grouping with only random challengers from the likes of Hero and Sabre who can break through the gatekeeper system set up below the champion to challenge. Instead, it looks like Stokley has TJP in his dream team and he is going after Riddle as well. Splintering those two away from Catch Point really loses the dynamic for me in a lot of ways. This is honestly the biggest issue overall I have as Catch Point has produced so many matches within my current MOTY list but the eavesdropping in on the dojo quality to them is a reason why. 5. This one is purely subjective and I can see arguments for the contrast but I would rather see Addiction and MCMG compared to the Bravados and Team Treemendous. I know the former are fossils but they have went out in the ROH shows I have watched and at least had competent performances. In certain times like Daniels at SCOH Night 1, they had a great one. The Bravados and Treemendous consistently make the EVOLVE shows drag a bit for me. They aren't horrible, but I still haven't thought of an EVOLVE show as good as SCOH Night 1 or the PHilly Conquest show for this year based on that middle ground. Anthony Nese can be thrown in here too. I think if you look at the cases of guys like Castle or Dijak or Moose or whoever in isolation you can find justifiable reasons for why ROH might have misfired, intentionally didn't fire, pulled back, et. The problem is when you pull back and look at the whole. The reality is that there is a pattern with ROH of guys getting hot to one degree or another and the company cooling them off to the point where they barely matter at all. They are every bit as bad as the WWE at this, and in many respects worse because the WWE is in a position where they can coast on status, legends, and multiple revenue streams if need be. ROH needs new stars and fresh stuff at the top of the card and resist both things so much that I have to believe it's intentional. This is why when I really think about it the Evolve comparison falls so flat to me. Yes I agree with you about some things you list and disagree about others (most notably I think the Bravados are WAY better than The Addiction). But Evolve has guys like Tracy Williams and Matt Riddle who feel like they have made this year alone. The booking of Yehi to lose every match has been frustrating as hell, but at the very least it's been consistent and he has gained more from losing competitive matches than anyone I can think of in ROH this year off the top of my head. That's a disgrace. The most puzzling thing in your post was that you were relieved by the Toronto results. Maybe you weren't a fan of the Dearborn ones, but I look at those two shows together, and from my perspective the results are nightmarish on numerous fronts, and illustrate everything that is wrong with the company. Adam Page as a heel in the Bullet Club because NJPW wants it. The Addiction winning the tag belts the night after they lost clean to the Cheeseburger and Liger and the night after War Machine finally got their big wins other the Briscoes. Lio Rush losing in five minutes to ACH. The Dijak stuff with Lethal seemingly ending on t.v. and some reports indicating Dijak worked as the heel. It's just one big pile of trash. I loved Super Card of Honor Night 1 and really wanted to believe that it would rekindle my interest in ROH. But it's just not possible. They are the worst booked promotion on Earth.

Yehi is four years in and was good from day one. There are random Southern indie matches I was watching from him v. Jimmy Rave and Kyle Matthews that few other people paid attention to that were very good to great years ago. He's probably my pick for best in the World right now. If he stays at this level for another couple of years he'll make my ballot in 2026 easily. Riddle is also a good call and so is Rush.

From my perspective the Global Wars main event was unforgivable and the kind of thing that kills my interest in the promotion. In fact I was supposed to go to an ROH show later this Summer and actually cancelled plans as a result of the finish of the show. I said this on Twitter, but to me the Young Bucks are basically Brock Lesnar-lite but so much less believable that I can't even laugh at it. By this I'm not only talking about their on screen depiction (serious question - does ANYONE buy them as asskickers?), but also the fact that much of ROH booking seems built around the idea that the Bucks are bigger stars than they actually are. As with Brock I say this with the full knowledge that they are insanely over and to a degree are the biggest stars in their respective company. The problem is neither company seems to get all that much of a return on their investment, and I think storytelling and developing other acts is often subordinated to the big contracts and personas that the Bucks/Brock are. I hate Colt Cabana, and I'm not in love with Jay Lethal as a worker, but the angle that set that up was excellent and better than any main event angle ROH has put together in ages. It deserved some kind of payoff in the ring. No matter what the reason for that (there are rumors that Cabana refused to job and I see no reason why we should ignore them), it leaves an incredibly sour taste in my mouth to see no delivery on that angle so that we can get The Young Bucks running through their tired schtick for what seemed like half an hour to close a ppv.

I need to rewatch Williams v. Gulak. In real time I loved it, but the feed was wonky so it was very stop/start. As a result I thought it was kind of co-MOTY with Yehi v. TJP, but on replay I might end up liking it more. I will defend the Riddle v. Rush match. I thought it was very similar to the great Yehi v. Riddle sprint from Evolve 54, in that the smaller upstart took a bunch of a short match making him look credible, but then was convincingly put away. I would have been fine with a longer match but only if it had been a complete mauling by Riddle with Rush working underneath on the front end. I actually think you can make the argument that Rush looks better losing a quick match he had in control on a flash (but definitive) finish, than getting his ass kicked for a ten or fifteen minutes, working a couple of comebacks, and then getting beat down. I completely reject any argument that the match should have been worked even as it undermines Riddle, and Rush isn't even a full time Evolve guy.

That Peachstate tourney has gotten pretty good reviews too Soup. I wish they would release it as one single DVD, but I'm sure they won't. I was hoping they were building to Rave v. Sal, but Rave v. Dean is hard to complain about given how great their series of matches last year was. If I remember correctly you were at the 30 minute draw right? Great match and probably my favorite of the series in some ways, though the Iron Man is almost shockingly good all things considered. Really want to make it out to a Why We Wrestle show Troy. Heard really good things about Hardcore Hell by a few people who went, and I'm cheering for WWW to succeed in the Church (for those who don't know, WWW is running in the same building that Wildside and Anarchy ran in). For those who went a glimpse of that show I believe the Anthony Henry v. David Young match is still up on YouTube, and it's a match I enjoyed quite a bit. Glad you are hitting the SCI Troy. Hoping a few people from the board will be making it out.

In here I will write a LOT about Southern Indie wrestling. Would love for others to chime in. First order of business is to note that this years Scenic City Invitational has been set for the first weekend in August and the slow release of names has begun. Though not officially announced a "hint" last week revealed that Lio Rush will be in the tournament, and Jimmy Rave is returning again to see if he can be a repeat winner. More names will be released in the coming weeks, but the promoters have promised to announce the next entrant when the Facebook match gets 730 likes. As of this writing that means it needs 9 likes to get over the hump and make it happen. https://www.facebook.com/ScenicCityInvitational/ I'll be back with a massive post or two in the next couple of days covering AWE or Empire or PWX or Peachstate or something.

Soup, Exposer went to the TPI last year and largely had positive things to say about it. What I've seen of IWA-MS in the last two years has generally ranged from interestingly bad to really great, so I think it's probably worth the risk to buy one of their shows. I am biased because of friendships, regional loyalties, and stylistic preferences and will always prefer Southern Indies at least in the abstract. That said I actually think the Midwest has the most vibrant and interesting scene top to bottom right now. Feds of note include: Proving Ground Pro - Based out of a Illinois. Not as "name heavy" as most of the other Illinois feds of note, but they stream a lot of their stuff on Periscope, and they have booked people from all over the place in the last few months including Jeff Cobb from out west, Tyson Dux from Canada, and Adrian Armour from down South, on top of their local stars like Craig Mitchell (good big man), Jake Dirden (who is awesome, and probably one of the best guys no one talks about though I might say that a lot in this post), Kenny Sutra, Devin Thomas, and others. IPW - Iowa promotion, called by my buddies Midnight Guthrie and occasionally Hollinger. Lots of stuff up on YouTube. What I love about this fed is that the crowd seems really invested in the face/heel dynamics on each show, and when they are behind someone they are really behind them. Really good workers like Christian Rose and Matt Cage work there at least some of the time, but my favorite thing about the promotion is getting to watch younger guys develop by working vets in front of rabid hometown crowds. One of my fav. lesser known promotions in the country. Metro Pro - Rarely run anymore if I'm not mistaken, but for a time was arguably the best indie in the country if you are factoring in announcing, production, and quality. Still release shows occasionally on their YouTube, and they usually feature a Jeremy Wyatt match so they are always worth watching (Wyatt is probably the best wrestler of the last ten years that is unknown outside of his region other than maybe Shaun Tempers or Kyle Matthews). St. Louis Anarchy - Technically another Illinois company. I don't think I've ever watched a full show from them from beginning to end, but almost all of their shows get rave reviews in real time from live attendees. They book guys from all over including Texas guys like Andy Dalton and Ricky Starks, Southern guys like Team IOU, and regional stalwarts (Hooligans, Cage, Trik Davis, et). One to watch for going forward. AIW - Run out of Cleveland. For a time they felt like they were the hottest indie promotion on Earth, but the consensus seems to be that they've gone too far down the comedy road for the last six months or so. That said I actually think they have done something pretty novel for themselves as they are the only place where you can see Bunkhouse Buck work on the same show as Flip Kendrick. At best a fun amalgamation of highspot heavy stuff, comedy, and Johnny Gargano matches (this is not an insult). The lineup for their annual JLIT Tournament this year will give you a good look at how fun, absurd, and entertaining this company can be. IWA-MS - Touched on them earlier. They have kind of been launching pads for people like Tripp Cassidy, Kongo Kong, and Heidi Lovelace over the last few years so for that reason alone I consider the relaunch a big success. Last year's TPI was said to be really good, the Kong title reign led to a lot of fun matches, they will bring in a guy like Chris Hero to tear the place down when they need, but they will also build quality guys like a John Wayne Murdoch. I should probably start buying random full shows. Dreamwave - Kind of the below the radar indie of note from the Midwest in that they book a lot of "name" indie guys but don't seem to get talked about as much as AAW or AIW for whatever reason. I actually think they do a great job being a place where the top regional guys feel like the absolute equals of the top names they bring in. In that sense if you want a feel for what a Heidi Lovelace, or Matt Cage, or Christian Rose, or Arik Canon can do I MIGHT point you to DW first. Also they just put their belt on Prince Mustafa Ali who is one of the most underrated legitimately great wrestlers on Earth. Watch them. Freelance - Chicago fed. One of my five favorite promotions on Earth. They stream all of their shows live on YouTube, though they do have late start times which makes it tough for East Coast folks to get through them. Still, a couple of those shows have been absolutely excellent, and the presentation of their product (bar atmosphere, hot crowd, over the top enthusiasm from announcers and workers) makes what they do extremely exciting to the point where I planned a trip around seeing them live in June. They have some of the best and most underrated wrestlers on Earth working for them including their douchebag heel champ Isaias Velazquez, Prince Mustafa Ali, Robert Anthony, Suger Dunkerton (yes he's actually REALLY good now), and Matt Knicks. Their Feb. show "The Scene Is Dead, Long Live The Scene" is one of the best shows of 2016. They also have brought in a bunch of people from other places this year and used them in very effective and interesting ways (Jimmy Rave, Chip Day, Ethan Page, B Boy), and on top of that Sally Stitches (who looks curiously like Heidi Lovelace in a mask) is pretty much the only consistently great intergender worker on Earth. They have another live YouTube stream tomorrow night. Everyone should check it out. AAW - Another Chicago fed. Aside from PWG maybe THE indie of note at this point. While I am not sure I think they have had a show as good as the Feb. Freelance show this year, they have gotten to the point where their shows are must buy for me when they hit Smart Mark because I know I am guaranteed a quality top-to-bottom card, with a wide variety of styles and wrestlers. Things like the slow building push of Kongo Kong, the way they have played Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett off of each other people to their tag win, and the use of The Hooligans, among other things has really rewarded people who have invested in watching the shows month-to-month. They seem to pretty much have their pick of top indie names to bring in and have used Lucha Underground guys, Trevor Lee, Chris Hero, Timothy Thatcher, Tommaso Ciampa (who is a regular to be fair), Drew Gulak and others a bunch recently. Probably the most improved wrestling promotion in the World from my perspective over the last five years or so, which isn't to say I ever hated them, but they went from being okay to can't miss in my eyes. Like Freelance they would be a top 5 promotion on Earth for me at this point. I may do a similar post on my favorite Midwest Indie workers later.

Gotta bump Kushida v Liger to the top of the pile. Really hope Chip Day v Sami Callihan from AWE shows up on Smart Mark sooner than later. If you know the story I think it's a contender.

It's May 1, 2016, this is my 10,000th post here at PWO, and our long national nightmare is over. After over a year and half of sharing and watching footage, nominating candidates, discussing and debating their relative merits, and being amused and annoyed by the results the Pro Wrestling Only Greatest Wrestler Ever Project has concluded. To me the end of the project is both satisfying and sad. More than that, these feelings of satisfaction and sadness have manifested themselves on both the macro and micro levels. On the one hand I am very happy with my list. Looking over it today I was shocked by how little of it I would amend if I were to stick with the same sort of criteria I used to make it. I am also generally very pleased with the way the process worked, the efficiency of the countdown, the fact that people were exposed to a ton of different wrestlers and wrestling, and the overall placement of many different wrestlers who's final rank exceeded my expectations. On the other hand the end of the GWE does feel like the end of an era to me, and more specifically the GWE has revealed to me that where I am in my fandom - both in terms of what I enjoy and what I want to discuss - may not be a good fit for Pro Wrestling Only. As I write this I have just concluded recording a podcast with Dave Musgrave that is likely to get me into a ton of hot water with certain folks here. It is likely that some of my remarks will be seen as whining, others will be seen as trolling, and still others will be seen as me just being an asshole. With that in mind I wanted to write a bit about some of the things I touched on in that discussion here, as well as other takeaways I have from the Greatest Wrestler Ever Project. Takeaway #1 - Relativism is relative I did not really get deeply into this on the podcast, but one thing that I've found is that the subjective v. objective discussion, and the broader critique of relativism coming from some quarters during the process is something that wasn't as deeply examined as one might think. People generally took sides in that debate, and I think some real opportunities for counter-critique were missed. For example output advocates were probably not challenged enough on what sort of output was being counted (i.e. do all good matches count or just great matches? And if only great why not good?). Peakists were not seriously challenged on including years with major footage gaps in the category of a workers peak, and no real discussion took place that I'm aware of on why certain peak years with limited footage should seemingly have more value than strong post-peak years with far more footage that may have been qualitatively and quantitatively more impressive. Perhaps this speaks to my own biases, but I think in a sense the output/peak advocates were let off the hook easy by not having to more explicitly define their terms. Put another way, there may have been a critique available to the "subjectivists" about the deeply subjective value assignments involved in the creation of these categories (output/peak). Takeaway #2 - Flair was always going to win, and it doesn't bother me, but I don't seriously consider him a top contender anymore This is actually a sad takeaway for me, not because Flair won, but because I want to see him as a number one contender but I just can't. While I think there is something to the argument of the uniqueness of Flair's career, I think that can be applied to a litany of other performers, and in many cases I think it's more impressive (Rey Jr. to take one example). In watching and thinking about Flair I came away believing that he unquestionably holds up as an all time great, but I could not find a single playing field where I felt comfortable rating him number one. In part this speaks to my criteria (Variety/Adaptation, Duration of Quality, Consistency, and to a degree Uniqueness), but even thought experiments that I tried to run based on their core values (Output primacy, Peak primacy) left him on the outside looking in. Having said that the sheer volume of ballots, and the lack of a unifying counter-contender made Flair a rather obvious number one right out of the gate. Despite the fact that I can't seriously see an argument for him in that absolute top spot at this point I am okay with this. Takeaway #3 - Narrative creation and popular narratives of many workers played a major role in the process I have mentioned this before in regards to Akiyama and I think that is an excellent example, but I also believe you see something of this in the over all placement of a Bret Hart, or even Ric Flair. Pro wrestling is a business about working fans, and part of that work is the creation of narratives about the career trajectories and relative values of people in different promotions. As hardcore fans these narratives are also shaped by coverage and reporting, and a broader fan culture. I think one of the more easily identifiable schisms in this project was between those who bought into those narratives and in many cases added to them, and those who were more resistant to them, or at least willing to challenge them. Believe it or not, I am unsure which of these approaches is "right," but I do think that the idea of Bret Hart is more powerful than the idea of Christian and at least part of that explains where they ended up in the final results. Takeaway #4 - The end results do not speak to a mainstream American bias, but rather a bias toward Americanized wrestling This is the big one to me, and it has led to me exiting this process feeling extremely alienated from the broader community. I have discussed the specific problem I have with no luchador finishing in the top quadrant of the final list and won't repeat it here in the interest of time (it's after 4AM and I'm exhausted), but even extending beyond that the styles/promotions who's top workers failed to place in the upper portion of the top 100 were all those which were distinctive, unique, and at least to one degree or another operated outside of the established American wrestling context. American wrestling and it's closely related cousin (and product of American cultural imperialism) Japanese wrestling completely dominated the upper reaches of the list. As a champion of the "not all styles are created equal" talking point, and someone who gets that many people merely never got around to watching these things, my issue here is more personal than critically detached. While I do think the rejection of lucha in the upper tier is effectively a rejection of history, what is far more concerning to me is the taste of the final product which I was a co-organizer of. Rather than a final product that would reflect the vision I had hoped inclusiveness would lead to, the final product comes across to me as something with the an explicitly American supremacist flavor. Though this could be challenged by pointing to improvements from 2006, or rejected with a "so what?," the end result is me feeling as though I occupy a much different universe at this point in my fandom than at minimum a third of the voting base. As a guy known for list making, and project driven wrestling habits, at this point the logical question to ask is "now that the GWE is over, what next?" My immediate response is to say that despite the negative tone of the takeaways I discuss above, I do feel that there are many interesting discussions to be had coming out of the GWE. Discussions on the aforementioned Americanized wrestling bias (whether it exists, whether it matters, et), the late arriving talking point about Ric Flair being the "standard" for what great workers were since the advent of smart fan culture and how that effects the way we view him and discuss other wrestlers, and a more detailed look at the role feminism and other social justice movements may play in how we think about older, current and future wrestling, are all topics that feel fresh, interest me greatly, and are deserving of attention. Unfortunately the nature of this board (pro wrestling ONLY), and the over saturation of Flair, leave me doubtful that PWO is likely to be a productive place for any of these conversations to occur. On top of that, the post-GWE landscape seems to be a world where the shift is toward a discussion of matches rather than workers. While I am genuinely happy for many friends here who seem to greatly prefer this, I must confess that I have less and less interest in this sort of thing as time goes on. Literally the only reason I would involve myself in a Greatest Matches poll at this point would be out of a sense of obligation, which is probably the absolute worst reason to contribute to a project like that. More specific match related projects (80s projects, other promotional based projects) also fail to interest me at this point in my fandom. The exception to this is modern wrestling - particularly modern independent wrestling - but I see little evidence that there is deep interest for that sort of discussion here. None of this is meant as a long goodbye note. PWO is by far the best wrestling board on the net, I am proud to have been a part of it from day one, and I'm not going anywhere. But where Parv and others worry about the "corrosive" effects GWE may have had on the discourse here, I worry that the post-GWE PWO will be one that trends away from my interests. Here's hoping I'm wrong.

He did not

I'm at work, and will write more later. But I think the watchability/failure to disappoint/always entertaining aspect of Funk's career that Loss spoke to is a huge positive for him. However I don't think it's his biggest positive. I would argue that Funk's single biggest positive is that if you held a gun to my head and said "who is the greatest babyface of all time?" I would say Terry Funk. And if you held a gun to my head and said "who is the greatest heel of all time?" I would say Terry Funk. The only other two wrestlers who I think you could conceivably say that about are Flair and Lawler, but there are reasons that I would rate Funk above them both in each respective category. I also think the uniqueness of Funk as a babyface in All Japan (which came about largely as a result of his effectiveness selling), and the fact that he is probably as responsible for the existence of what is now indie wrestling as any single person in history are positives that rival the significance of what Loss mentioned.

I've said this before but without the Flair v. Funk feud from 89 I would never have become a hardcore/life long fan. It was that feud that took me from the level of being a fan, to being obsessed. It was that feud that pushed me into a collectors mentality, and even started me down the early road to tape trading. It was that feud that revealed to me the best about pro wrestling's dramatic storytelling elements and arguably it's worst as well (I got into more than one fight at school over that feud). One thing I've never really talked about in regards to the feud is that it provided a wonderful distraction, and a great escape for me as a child during a period of great devastation. While the feud kickstarted at the GAB 89 in July, it reached a fever pitch to me at Clash VIII in mid-Sept. in Columbia, SC when Funk came out of the crowd and tied a bag over Flair's head. I witnessed this live and remember the fallout from it, but what probably isn't remembered for those outside of the area is that less than two weeks later the South Carolina lowcountry was devastated by Hurricane Hugo. We were without water or power for two months. With no school, I spent most of my days walking around my neighborhood which had been completely destroyed (our house was actually the only house on the block that did not have a tree go straight through it) and fantasy booking the Flair v. Funk feud. My dad would hook the t.v. up to the car battery and we would watch two blocks of television a week - wrestling on Saturday morning and TGIF (hey, I was eight!). But there was no TBS, and that killed me. I remember watching a scrambled version of Halloween Havoc at a friends house who lived 4 blocks away, but we didn't have any power until early Nov., and no cable until 11/14/89. I remember this date well because the very next day I got to watch the Funk v. Flair I Quit Match live. It was the first wrestling show I'd watched inside my home in close to two months. I have always been partial to their match from GAB, but in many respects the New York Knockout match is the most important match to me as a fan because it was the anticipation of it, the build that I was largely creating in my own mind for it, and the circumstances surrounding it, that made me a fan forever. People know that Terry Funk is my favorite wrestler ever. There are many reasons for that, some familial (he was and is my dad's favorite as well and I was reared on him), and some more personal (he's maybe the only wrestler I can think of who has never disappointed me in a wrestling performance). But Flair is also one of my five favorite wrestlers ever. As a Carolina kid he was pro wrestling in many respects to me, and I probably saw him live as much as anyone who rated in this poll. While Terry Funk was my families wrestler, Ric Flair was my regions wrestler. In 1989 both my family and my region suffered great loss, and it was Funk and Flair's feud that helped me through it as much as anything else.

I believe Funk is better, but I also think Flair will win. The winner won easily as Steven revealed early on. I just can't see Terry winning easily.

I have to say I'm semi-shocked by the way the top five has broken down. As things kept moving forward I thought for sure that Bryan would finish no lower than three, and he seemed to be the most likely by far to have a shot at beating Flair and winning the whole thing. Misawa fishes this high I also find surprising, though in hindsight I shouldn't have. Hansen finishing third isn't a major shock, but the fact that he's behind Funk is. I really thought there was a chance Terry wouldn't even make the top ten. I would never have guessed he'd finish two. I'm off tomorrow so I'll probably have a lot to say about it, but Flair is going to win.

I don't think Hansen and Brody team sucks at all. On other hand, Tiger Mask era Misawa is sub-Jumbo when it comes to me giving a fuck.

Very much product dependent. I will say with "classic" wrestling I have virtually zero interest in watching full shows at this point for a variety of reasons. With modern stuff it's a bit more complicated. Certain promotions do a pretty good job of keeping me interested throughout shows and as a result they have built up goodwill with me. Examples of this would be Evolve, Freelance, AAW, and PWX. Other promotions are more hit and miss, or have really bad records when it comes to card layout, setting expectations they can't possibly meet, et. With these promotions I will watch the full show if I'm catching it live, but otherwise I'm far more likely to cherry pick. Examples here would be CZW, New Japan, CMLL, and ROH.

Maybe I'm slightly ahead of the countdown in asking this, but I'm curious. On the podcast Kris and I did I talked about how it's my view that Stan Hansen was the greatest worker in the history of All Japan. I would guess that many people would argue for Jumbo, but I am interestedwhere people would rate the big All Japan names if we were looking SOLELY at their work in All Japan.