Coffey

I'm saying YES to both Shibata/Okada & Suzuki/Okada. That being said, I definitely have some gripes: Firstly, it's hard for me to get into Okada. Mostly because he keeps working matches & going over wrestlers that I think are a lot better than him. Tanahashi, Suzuki, Naito, Shibata I would all easily have above him still, even if he's only 29-years-old. A lot of his offense, especially his strikes, are really weak looking. And he completely blows off a lot of required selling to get his shit in. Case in point, his match with Minoru. Minoru kills Okada's leg... forever. Like, for so long it was overkill. And it didn't lead to a submission or even play into the finish. Okada still just hits his dropkicks and top rope bullshit and the Rainmaker. It kills the psychology of the match for me. It's one of the same criticisms that I always had about Shawn Michaels. Call it "fighting spirit" or adrenaline or whatever but it still makes a lot of the work of the match feel like it's pointless. I feel like both matches (Shibata & Suzuki) were trying to get over the toughness of Okada but I don't necessarily know if either did that because it felt unbelievable when watching it. How long was Okada in the kneebar trying to get to the ropes in the Suzuki match? Or when he tried to go toe-to-toe with Shibata in striking exchanges, throwing out some bad forearms like a Rob Van Dam or Trish Stratus. He won both matches but I think Okada himself was the worst part in those matches. Like it made me want to see Shibata/Suzuki more than Okada have another match with someone else. They're still both good matches and worthy of a yes but I'm giving the credit to Shibata and Minoru Suzuki, not to Okada. Regardless of how much Dave Meltzer tries to pimp Okada as the next coming of Ric Flair, I'm not seeing it. I see a lanky, awkward dude whose style is somewhat confusing. I guess his deal is the dude that won't quit because the title means everything to him. Minoru is 48, we know he can't be a top guy or around too much longer. Shibata is 37 & probably going to have a ton of brain trauma if he keeps doing those headbutts and shit. But I'm questioning why Okada was the new horse to back for them. But he keeps having good matches (where he's the weak link in the matches) so whatever. I think many of his matches would benefit from being 5-10 minutes shorter, for sure. At the end of the year, despite giving both a Yes, I know they won't be at the top for me already. I like Tanahashi/Naito better than both, in example. Shibata & Suzuki themselves are both amazing in those matches by the way. The way Shibata took & didn't drop from the first Rainmaker was fucking gross!

Losing Dean Ambrose is just a net positive for Smackdown anyway you slice it, in my book. Although I really don't want to see The New Day Show up on Smackdown and clog that show up with their tired, unfunny shtick. Alexa Bliss moving will be cancelled out by Smackdown getting another women in return. I think losing Mickie is a positive for Smackdown as well. Plus, of course, Smackdown kept Styles. So this all seems like good stuff to me.

That's called assault and people tend to get arrested for such things, particularly people who are trained fighters and intentionally try to injure someone. What if Bas beat up JBL backstage at a WWE show then said he was just playing a heel?

Junkyard Dog was the shits. Drizzling fucking lazy-ass unworking shits. One of the worst wrestlers I have ever personally tried to watch. Stand by that. Firm. Also, it's fucking hilarious to me when goc tries to act like he's a more knowledgeable or better fan than others. Fuckin' lol. Suck my dick, you prick,

That kinda went out the door when you saw everyone was sitting in a steel chair like it was a $15 Indy show.

Angle actin' a fool up there.

Beth has been great.

Rick Rude's son is a giant!

So far, DDP was really good. Bischoff wasn't bad. Cornette was long but good. Rock 'n Roll were kinda boring and Steamboat is still not a great talker. But it's not been bad so far but I do think it's a better show when it's cut down/edited.

Was it HBK during his power nap?

Nowadays, I think a manager can get over as a babyface if they have a big spiel like Alejando Estrada, Enzo, Road Dogg or even Ricardo Rodriguez. The crowd seems to really get into sing along entrances. I still think Enzo would be a better manager than a wrestler but that's beside the point. After that, just have them look vulnerable (like Enzo always does) and take a beating from heels. It shouldn't be that hard. Then you can have their wrestler want to get revenge for them. It's too bad those entrances always feel like old & tired acts to me by the third time I hear it. Because it usually lasts for years.

I look forward to when more people look back on 2017 and realize that Naito/Tanahashi was better than Omega/Okada.

I've never been a big fan of Mauro. Like KawadaSmile said, too many pop culture references. Plus, his constant referral to Japanese wrestling to me, comes off as him trying to sound "smart" like Matt Striker used to do. Drives me bonkers. That being said, it's terrible that he's going through this stuff. I, personally, can not sympathize with him because I'm ignorant to it all. Of course, I grew up as poor white trash in Indiana where if you had a problem you got told to "suck it the fuck up" - and no one should live like that. A lot of times the pro-wrestling industry, especially in WWE (even if they want to act like they're P.C. now) still seems to live in that dated mindset.

I tweeted that if Cody Rhodes Vs. Jay Lethal in the Texas Bullrope Match at Glory for Honor is boring, I'm totally done with Cody Rhodes as a performer. Cody Rhodes favorited it... and it made me feel like shit. lol. Even if it is an automated thing that just favorites any mention of his name. Dude is boring/bland though. When he left WWE, I remember reading all over Wreddit about how he was going to tear up the Indies and I was like "really?" Then he went to NJPW and was boring/bland there too. I dunno, man. Dude is whack. But his brother & dad set the bar pretty damn high. His brother in the work department and his dad in the charisma/drawing department. Really excited for all of the festivities this weekend though. If you're a professional wrestling fan, this is the time of the year that you're waiting on for the rest of the year. Did y'all see that Bryan Alverez tried to say that Wrestlemania is "just a bunch of matches thrown together at the last minute." I thought that was humorous as most of the matches have been building for quite some time. Especially Goldberg/Lesnar, Owens/Jericho, Orton/Wyatt. I do feel bad for Braun though. Ever since the brand split and going to RAW he's been money. Now he's just going to be in the Battle Royal, which kinda sucks. Same for Big Show. Went from having a marquee match-up with Shaquille O'Neal, that he got into great shape for, to just being in the Battle Royal when Shaq pulled out. Sucks. I hope they both make the best of it though. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm excited for this weekend.

Haystacks Calhoun? HE WAS A MOUNTAIN OF A MAN!

Pre-debut internet hype, basically. Before he came out as a fat dancing dinosaur. Sheer ignorance. I was hoping for a John Tenta worker and instead got Junkyard Dog.

An issue that I would argue has been around since the WCW Power Plant days. Remember how boring, bland and generic the Natural Born Thrillers were? For awhile in WWE, everyone they cranked out felt like they were interchangeable with the Shawn Stasiaks and Mark Jindraks of the world. Randy Orton has gotten himself over - mainly I believe still solely because he uses the damn Diamond Cutter. But still, he's a helluva lot better off than guys like Lance Cade, Matt Morgan or Tyson Tomko were ever going to be. I've been wrong several times before too, of course. Like I never would have predicted that Batista would turn out to be so good or that Brodus Clay would be so bad. Maybe I'm not the best judge of character but WWE for awhile definitely felt like they had the cookie-cutter factory thing going for a good while. Clean cut white dudes that looked like Ambercrombie models with bad (usually tribal) tattoos. Everyday frat house douchebag look.

Booker T doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that should ever "chime in" on anything, really. Reminds me of the Dave Chappelle comedy segment where he was talking about how TRL on MTV after 9-11 was asking Ja Rule about his opinion. Like, who the fuck cares what Ja Rule has to say?

Well, it hasn't mattered for The Big Show, Cesaro or Baron Corbin, so I suppose not. I figured it was just a way to get people onto the Wrestlemania card. Which if you're one of the people they've been building TV off of would feel terrible to be included in.

Yeah, to me the worst part about all of this is that it will give more fuel to the nut-jobs that say "welp, guess she'll be doing porn in a year!" every time any woman ever leaves WWE. As if all they have to provide to people is their bodies. It was pretty bad after Kelly Kelly left. I heard it a lot after Paige's second suspension. It even came out when AJ Lee left, despite being with Punk.

Man, someone his size should not be able to bump the way that he does. He feels like he's coke-fueled and running about 100mph. He's definitely a lot of fun & a helluva lot more entertaining than I remember him being! The first bump he takes into the turnbuckle in the Valentine match is nuts! The video quality isn't great but it looks like Valentine even cracks a smile like "wtf are you doing, you nut?" Good stuff.

I remember really liking the blood feud match when Beer Money broke up. James Storm Vs. Bobby Roode. That was a good match too. I don't remember the date but I remember it involved a beer bottle being broken over Storm's head & I think Roode won even though I think everyone wanted Storm to win. Loved that feud. Roode broke the bottle over Storm's head to turn heel and win the title in what was initially a face vs face match which kicked off the feud (Nov 2011), then they had the cage match at Lockdown 2012 where most everyone expected Storm to win (build up to this was awesome), but Roode won by Storm superkicking him out the door. Eventually having the blowoff in the bloody street fight at BFG 2012 where Storm finally won, breaking the bottle over Roode's head I still have these pictures uploaded too from where James Storm won the title, I believe, for the first time: I really liked James Storm at one time. I think he brought out the best in Bobby Roode both in tags & singles. I was pretty excited when Storm showed up in NXT. Shame that he didn't stay as I thought WWE could genuinely make him a star to a bigger audience. He's a decent worker, a decent promo & we know that Vince McMahon loves him some cowboy gimmicks.

I still have the ROH weekend DVDs from when Kenta Kobashi was there, including the Kenta Kobashi Vs. Samoa Joe match. In fact, I believe those are the only wrestling DVDs I still have at all. I unloaded all of the rest. WWE Network made owning old WWF or WCW shows kinda obsolete. The ECW DVDs never had the music anyway and that was half the fun of the show.

I think the belief is that Dave's influence is so massive among hardcore wrestling fans that his star ratings will either turn them on or turn them off to watching or caring about lucha libre, and I don't disagree. And if you are like me, when you see something great and appreciate it, you want others to see it and appreciate it, because at your core, you like seeing other people experience joy and happiness, especially when it's for the same reason you experienced joy and happiness. And when you see something awesome that no one has talked about, after you get past the initial reaction of, "Wow, it's awesome that we discovered this", there is a little disappointment that the performers were not celebrated for the greatness of the match when it actually happened, a process that Dave has more or less controlled for nearly 40 years. This was how I felt after Wrestle Kingdom this year. When Tanahashi/Naito was over, I was like "wow, that was great! People are going to love that match!" Then when the show was over, I went online and all I saw/read was people praising Omega/Okada and the "6-stars" crap just made it so much worse. So, in that regard, I totally understand how Lucha Libre fans would feel. Because it would be like how I felt there only on a much larger scale - never feeling like what you're into is getting the recognition that it deserves. Regardless of how I personally feel about it, a lot of people do put a lot of weight into what Meltzer says, writes or the ratings that he gives matches. If he ignores a promotion or match entirely, it makes it feel like it's not important to some fans.

I think he peaked when he was teaming with Hardcore Holly. Legacy and Stardust were both pretty terrible. His Smackdown stuff when he thought he was Dr. Doom wearing the mask was alright but I think his tag stuff with Holly was his pinnacle.