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Tag team wrestling is a bit of a different animal over in Japan as opposed to North America. Very few long-term tag teams going to different promotions and having matches with various other teams but still puro has produced some incredible tag teams and matches. My top 5 goes something like this - 1) Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 2) Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (yeah I count them as a Japanese tag team since most of their work was done in All Japan) 3) Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa 4) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama 5) Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

Growing up in Canada my only exposure to the NWA was through various wrestling mags but outside of the Road Warriors the team that captured my interest was the Midnight Express. Something about Bobby Eaton was cool to me but I wasn't impressed with Dennis Condrey's look. Later when Condrey left and Stan Lane joined the team I thought this combo looks much better and I thought it was cool that here's this guy I know from being in another tag team, The Fabulous Ones, joining the MX with Eaton. Later on when I finally got to watch some NWA/WCW I was happy to find that the MX were indeed a great team. I also got to watch Dennis Condrey teaming with Randy Rose as the Original Midnight Express and they were good too but I preferred the "real" team. Anyways cut to now and through the magic of tape trading I've been watching some Condrey/Eaton MX matches and I now think that Loverboy Dennis formed a more entertaining duo with Beautiful Bobby than Sweet Stan did. On a side note someone *cough* goodhelmet *cough* should make a comprehensive Midnights comp with a bonus disc of the Originals in the AWA and NWA.

My top 5 1) Bryan Danielson 2) John Cena 3) Finlay 4) Umaga 5) Jay Briscoe

The best thing about Jim Ross to me is when he does the Skittles ad, just amazing to hear him say the tagline.

I can't stand Jim Ross now either. To me it's apparent he doesn't give a shit about the product anymore either and can't be bothered to even know the names of moves either which used to be one of the elements that made him a really good announcer. JBL is hands down the best announcer on North American television. Of all the other people doing commentary for wrestling I also like the ROH team of Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard. Get the story of the match over, get the wrestlers over, know what the fuck you are talking about, etc. these two know how to be an announce team.

His recent matches with HBK and surprisingly, RVD doing the concussion angle have been really good. Maybe it's because he knew that if HBK hadn't gotten injured and Edge was going to Smackdown that he would have been fucked as far as his position on the roster goes. Sure he'll still be fed to HHH when he comes back but it's what management decide to do with him after that which will determine the rest of young Randall K. Orton's WWE career.

I hated him in WCW too. That whole "I know more about pro wrestling than you marks out there" attitude just oozed out of him everytime he spoke.

RE: Brody - I've always been disappointed at how disappointing I've found Brody's work. Many of my friends would go on how amazing he was and what a great wrestler and brawler he was but I've gotten a couple of comps and he's ok but nothing to write home about IMO. Stan Hansen was someone who lived up to the hype that I had heard and read about and he was a far surperior worker than Brody on many different levels. He never came across as a cartoon character and was able to hold his own against Misawa and Co. (including Doc and Gordy) during the AJPW glory days of the 90s. As well off the top of my head these are some of the wrestlers whose work I'm really enjoying - American Dragon Minoru Suzuki John Cena Fit Finlay Nigel McGuinness Takeshi Rikio Shuji Kondo Koji Kanemoto Daisuke Sekimoto Alex Shelley Go Shiosaki

Those 3 brothers alone, in their primes, would have been an awesome stable/six-man tag combo.

I've always really liked Windham's boots.

Sorry when has Takayama ever been in shape? From the matches I've seen he looks as good as he was before he got injured. His ring rust is pretty much gone and he's always had that spare tire. Kensuke is a great choice to be champion of any fed right now but it's more likely he's going to take the Triple Crown than the GHC title. I meant cardio wise. I don't expect him to drop his gut, but he doesn't seem to have the stamina necessary to work big singles matches yet. Ah I see, point taken.

Sorry when has Takayama ever been in shape? From the matches I've seen he looks as good as he was before he got injured. His ring rust is pretty much gone and he's always had that spare tire. Kensuke is a great choice to be champion of any fed right now but it's more likely he's going to take the Triple Crown than the GHC title.

Personally I'd like to see Yoshihiro Takyama win the belt again and actually hold it for a decent amount of time. He's got the credibility with the fans and would really do a good job as champion IMO. Having him win it from Misawa plays off the history between the two (Misawa beat Takayama for the belt before) and you can build one of the young guys up to where he can challenge Takayama for it and if he wins you get a credible new main eventer. Of course I don't see him winning the belt and certainly he wouldn't hold it for very long. Taking into account his freelance status and he obviously loves working in as many different promotions that can afford him and if there is one thing NOAH is very good at it's protecting their titles. So who does everyone else think would do a good job in the sense of having good matches and drawing money?

Even though I'm pretty down on all WWE brands there are still wrestlers whose work I really enjoy. RAW John Cena - like others have pointed out he has improved dramatically over the last year or so thanks to his feud with Edge. One of the best promos as well when he's not hindered by the "writers" giving him shit to say on TV. Umaga - old school monster heel and a great carrier of the wild/savage samoan tradition Edge - the future of the WWE, especially if Hunter isn't able to come back from his latest injury (unlikely but you never know) Cade/Murdoch - such wasted potential but whenever they are on TV they are always entertaining, I hope they get sent to Smackdown soon Smackdown Fit Finlay - just an outstanding wrestler even at his age and someone who shows that less is more, he doesn't do any flying nor does he cut any super-intense promos. He just goes out there and beats the shit out of people. And anyone who can take a midget and make him a positive instead of a negative is a genius Regal/Taylor - what needs to be said that hasn't already been mentioned before Gregory Helms - JBL nails it on the head when he calls Helms SD's best kept secret. If the old ECW was still around Heyman would have pushed him to the moon and he would taken the ball and ran with it. Helms is a complete package, he knows how to work, cut promos, everything Kendrick & London - WWE's best tag team in the last 5 years JBL - wrestling's finest commentator, he knows what and how to get things over. Sure he sometimes buries guys he doesn't like but usually the guys he buries I don't give a shit about anyways ECW/TNA - stopped watching both ROH American Dragon Nigel McGuinness The Briscoes New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi Koji Kanemoto Naofumi Yamamoto Manabu Nakanishi NOAH KENTA Yoshihrio Takayama Takeshi Morishima Akira Taue SUWA All Japan Minoru Suzuki Voodoo Murders Kensuke Sasaki Dragon Gate Masaaki Mochizuki Tozawa-juku Zero-ONE Max Ryouji Sai Kohei Sato Daisuke Sekimoto