Childs

I really dug the tournament--well booked and presented with an excellent main event between the two guys you'd most want to see.

It seems you're overthinking this. By the standards you're suggesting, only a handful of matches are important. If a match sets up and/or symbolizes a memorable period in a successful territory, I think it fits what Elliott and Steven are looking for. My sense is they're casting a wide net to set up a voting list for their HOF project, not looking for the seven elemental matches in wrestling history (though that's an interesting side discussion).

I don't even know what this means. The Christmas match pulls together both the Flair-Kerry story and the dawn of the Freebirds feud. Seems pretty obvious.

I don't know that there's a single one. But I'd include the 4/3/83 Choshu-Fujinami, the Hogan-Inoki and something to represent the kickoff of the UWF invasion--maybe the 3/26/86 elimination match? Also, probably one of the Dynamite-Tiger Mask matches for the same reason someone recommended Savage-Steamboat. From All-Japan, the Funk "retirement" match, Jumbo-Tenryu 6/5/89 and maybe one of the Choshu-Jumbo tags would all be candidates.

Flair-Kerry 12/25/82, Final Conflict, Starcade I main event, Wrestlemania I main event, Jumbo-Misawa 6/8/90, Hogan joins NWO Bash at the Beach '96, Bret-Austin at Mania, Hogan-Sting at Starcade '97, Montreal screwjob.

Loved this show. Incredible detail on promotions we don't discuss often enough.

Most companies were never going to find more than a niche audience under any model. I don't see that as a product of VOD at all. Broadly speaking, a hardcore fan can get more wrestling bang for his buck than at any time in history, and companies reach that fan more easily than ever before. The streaming boom is still in its early days, and I imagine we'll see plenty of sorting and consolidation. But I see it as a pretty large net positive for the industry.

Took me awhile to catch Omega-Okada, but with it appearing on AXS TV, I finally ran out of excuses. The first half of the match was fine in terms of passing the time, but it really didn't set up much of anything that paid off in the stretch run. I guess if there was any overarching story, it was the cumulative effect of Omega's insane effort. And I'll buy that as something noteworthy. You take his 20 best spots in the match--the missile dropkick to the back of Okada's neck, the dive into the stands, the table spot, all the knees--and they amounted to a pretty great 20 spots. The finishing stretch was exactly what it needed to be to mark the match as a memorable Dome main event. I actually didn't think it was excessive. I liked all the teases of Omega's finisher and the fact he never hit it. I liked Okada's struggle to hold Omega in position for the rainmaker. Loved all the knee strikes. So yeah, that's the good. The bad? Couldn't agree more with Phil, Parv, etc. that both guys suck at a lot of basic stuff. How you get to be a top guy in New Japan without learning to throw a decent fucking forearm I will never understand. And to extend that point, I find Okada's offense incredibly lame in general, to the point I struggle to buy him as an ace. Dropkicks aside, I don't get what greatness people see in the guy. I guess you could argue that because of his timing, his charisma and his willingness to sell, he's the perfect canvass on which other guys create these big-time matches. But I don't know. In 47 minutes of wrestling, there was plenty of time to be underwhelmed by the weak connective tissue. I didn't think it was a classic, but it was a worthy big-show main event. If I had to throw a star rating at it, **** feels about right.

That match was hugely disappointing. I took it as a sign that guys don't know how to brawl anymore.

I had never seen this, so I'm glad it's on a revival tour inspired by the new project. It was an excellent match. I always like it when an outgunned wrestler comes in with a specific plan, and the crowd really took the ride with Hase, popping whenever he went back to the arm after a big move by Misawa. Hase picked the right moment to throw all his cards on the table with that run of four suplexes. And then Misawa's finishing run of elbows, from the undamaged left to the final right, looked badass. The match wasn't as stirring as the best All-Japan, but it worked well as a smart counterpoint.

This was a great recommendation. Has significantly enhanced my enjoyment of the service.

Yeah, but aside from the facts he wears black and throws stiff kicks, his matches don't bear much resemblance to shoot style.

I don't understand why people apply these kinds of tags to Omega. He's a gifted athlete with an intense commitment to his craft and a specific charisma that really lands with some people. But I don't see him altering the form in any radical ways. I'm interested to read more detailed arguments along those lines.

I haven't watched this version of Goto-Shibata yet, but I do think their matches lose impact once you've seen more than one of them. I find Shibata frustrating in general, because he's 70 percent of an all-time great wrestler, and the other 30 percent consists of wrestling cliches that drive me up the fucking wall.

Here are some others I really liked that haven't been mentioned: Hash-Takada 4/29/96 Kawada-Sasaki 10/9/00 Nagata-Takayama 5/2/02 My favorites from recent years were Nak-Ibushi and Nak-Sakuraba. Edit: Just saw Tim mentioned Hash-Takada.

I know it's easy to make fun of the six-star thing, but Dave's trying to convey that he thought the match hit a whole new level. And I don't begrudge him that, even if I'm unlikely to agree once I've seen it. I understand that by changing the scale, he's going against his own dogma of saying the ratings are relative to era and setting. But he's never been intellectually rigorous as a match critic, so why would we expect him to start now?

I've always liked Norton in New Japan. He and Hash matched up well. I don't think his legacy was helped by his stint as the 13th guy in the NWO (give or take), but that's not his fault.

That's been the biggest disappointment for me.

This is nonsense. The best version of Ric was the one who fought his ass off when legitimately challenged. And you see that in his best feuds and matches. I'm not sure how you could watch him against Steamboat, Garvin, etc. and not see that athletic pride. Not in the same way that Charlotte has it. The Ric Flair character is not that of a super great athlete who wants to physically be the best. The Ric Flair character wanted to be the best but because that afforded him more money to spend. The only times the title and challenging himself seemed important to him was as a face or when he was past his prime and wanted to prove he still had it. The fame and fortune was almost always more important than the COMPETITION with Ric Flair. It feels the opposite when Charlotte is in a big match. I think that's a real misread of the character, and I'll leave it at that.

This is nonsense. The best version of Ric was the one who fought his ass off when legitimately challenged. And you see that in his best feuds and matches. I'm not sure how you could watch him against Steamboat, Garvin, etc. and not see that athletic pride.

I love Big Mouth Loud as a concept. Love the roster of guys they used. Love the wolf logo. But unfortunately, they might have peaked with their first show. I look forward to your reviews, however, as I haven't revisited these shows in a few years.

I've been doing the Loss 500 challenge, though I haven't commented as much as intended. One thing he did a particularly nice job of was including matches that represented whole species. So even though I probably wouldn't have this on my own top 500, I appreciate that he brought attention to it, because it's perhaps the best of its type.

Orton has heard nothing but people calling him a great worker for the last 12 years. So I'm sure he truly believes he has a lot to offer, no matter how deluded that is.

The thing I liked best about Kawada's selling here was that he really put over the idea Albright could end the match at any moment. I never got the sense any of the other AJPW guys understood that was the way to make Gary feel special. So this match existed in its own bubble, in a good way.