puropotsy

On Episode 29 of the Wrestling Culture podcast, Dylan Hales and I are joined by one of my favorite indy wrestlers in Sebastian Suave. We discuss his career in Ontario and elsewhere to this point, his recent trip to Mexico and his plans in the new SMASH wrestling promotion. Wrestling Culture Episode 29

Thanks Soup, really glad you enjoyed it

I think it's accurate that he exercised to that match, just not that it was before he started wrestling.

Indeed, this link warranted repeat viewing.

Please listen to Wrestling Culture Episode 28 as Dylan and I are joined by our buddy Tim Livingston to discuss our favorite wrestling matches that we could watch repeatedly. It was a great time as always and Tim was an awesome guest. Wrestling Culture Episode 28

Smash Wrestling Inception This is a link where new matches are being announced for SMASH.

Our scheduled guest ended up being indisposed so we had a free-form show talking about a little bit of everything in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the show. Wrestliing Culure Episode 27

I don't think anything has ever better illustrated why Dave's "15 years in the business/35 years or older" threshold is far too soon to properly judge HOF candidates. Time and perspective are very important to evaluating the career of a Hall of Famer, and trying to make calls on guys who are still in the prime of their career is asinine. When Funaki and Sakuraba were elected, the MMA fad was still very prominent in Japan, and without any distance from it, Funaki and Sakuraba made the HOF when they probably wouldn't if on the ballot with more perspective. It's a shame, because I do think the WON Hall of Fame is the closest thing there is to an actual Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, which is why silly things like this drive me up a wall, because I want to expect more out of it, but know that I shouldn't. All of this is to say, I'm going to be very upset when Brock makes the HOF next month. Just wanted to throw out the flip side is that the argument shows the importance of the keeping in mind the context of the time. One guy in the HOF that might not seem like as good as a candidate now is Paco Alonso who went in 2008, after which business fell off in Mexico. Perhaps a comparison is that Big Daddy should be voted for because I'm pretty sure most people who were fans of wrestling in the UK at the time couldn't imagine a HOF without him and it is looking back that he seems like a terd.

So many of these could be a three-way tie for me. Curt Hennig Ted DiBiase Rick Rude Terry Funk Ric Flair Jerry Lawler Stan Hansen Terry Gordy Steve Williams Ricky Steamboat Randy Savage Tully Blanchard Bret Hart Steve Austin Shawn Michaels Kenta Kobashi Mitsuharu Misawa Toshiaki Kawada

Neither here nor there, but I don't think Dave feels this way at all. We had a long discussion about it once at a UFC event and I think Cornette's role as a WWE booker would make him an even better c andidate in Dave's mind. Not sure who to vote for. Want to think about it a little more before I turn it in. Anybody in particular you are on the fence with? Schmidt, the Andersons, and the Rock and Roll Express are three I'm considering. I'd really like to find a way to justify Volk Han. Jonathan, I'm just curious about your thoughts on Masahiko Kimura as a candidate. Also, a list of territories that Pedro worked include WWWF, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mid-Atlantic, Portland, Hawaii, Florida, St. Louis, Central States, Houston, AWA, Toronto, Puerto Rico, All Japan (70s), New Japan (80s), Vancouver and Amarillo. I think that California is generally regarded as the other area he had his most success outside of WWWF. In his book, Flair spoke positively about Morales over Sammartino, saying that he was a better worker and that is why he got over in St. Louis more tan Bruno did. I don`t give credence to his critique of Bruno but would be open-minded to whether Pedro did well in St. Louis. I did find some record of him travelling as WWWF champion including to Hawaii, Los Angeles and AWA. I`m not sure of full results of his work in Japan but he did at least face Baba for the PWF title so he had some degree of positioning on the cards. There is a match between them available on youtube as well. He does appear to have had some success in Pureto Rico in 1983 and 1984 holding the North American title. He did some teaming with Colon and had title matches with opponents such as Flair and Savage as well as Buddy Landell and Sweet Daddy Siki. I`d be interested to hear opinions on his success as I-C champ. I`m not sure if he had the chance to headline many shows in that capacity..

And here is my ballot: HISTORICAL PERFORMERS Hans Schmidt- An absolute must for me and a man who I refer to as the Gorgeous George of foreign heels. MODERN PERFORMERS John Cena- Top money-maker of his generation and in my mind a solid performer. If he wasn't always compared to Rock and Austin coming before him people's opinions of him would be higher. Edge- A good heel in an era without them, a great performer who helped to get Cena over. Ivan Koloff- A top draw as a heel in the 1970's and a great worker. Pedro Morales- Major draw at Madison Square Gardens and a long-term component of WWE. Like Cena, if he wasn't always compared to Bruno people would have a higher opinion on him. And honestly a lot of people don't stack up well as a draw against Bruno. Dick Murdoch- Consistent main eventer in North America and a great performer throughout North America and Japan. An influence on a lot of different wrestlers, continuing to today when Kevin Steen has been compared to him on ROH tv. Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)- The ying to the Midnight Express's yang. A big draw as a team in numerous territories and companies in the 80s and 90s and even the 00s. A major influence on a number of teams. Buddy Rose- See any poast done by Dylan on this topic. Sting- When he was good he wasn't a draw. When he was a draw he wasn't good. But at times he was good and at times he was a draw and I can't imagine wrestling in the past 25 years without him. JAPAN Mike & Ben Sharpe I have posted the write-up I did on them to my blog for any interested: Ben and Mike Sharpe- The First Gaijin Superstars n Japan NON-WRESTLERS Bill Apter-You can argue if Apter was the influence or if it was others at the maagzines but for my money he was a major part of my life as a wrestling fan. Jim Crockett Jr.- A long run as a promoter with one of hte hottest territories there's been. Jerry Jarrett- Influential and successful booker who really should be in.

Dylan knows more about wrestling than any friend I've ever had, he would be awesome to have a ballot, he has just not been connected to the observer community by his choice.

Yes, he was the first World Champion to come into that territory and the build-up was pretty big. Here is the excerpt from the write-up I have done on that era World Heavyweight Champion Henri Deglane was brought in for a title match against Charlie Stack in a feature of the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition on October 22, 1932. Deglane had previously won the title from Ed “Strangler” Lewis in Montreal and Stack was touted as an amateur star and former member of the American Olympic team. The attendance was reported as 3,000 people, noted to be one of the largest wrestling crowds in the area’s history. The match last over an hour and saw Deglane win the first fall with a bodyslam in 32:05. Stack used a reverse waist hold to pin Deglane after another 13:17. The match ended after another 20:11 when Deglane fell on top of stack for a pinfall when Stack was attempting to throw him over the ropes. Irslinger defeated Al Beveridge in the other match on the card.

Here are some interesting finds

For what it's worth, I do have a ballot now and did vote for Apter. I know that at least personally PWI was a big influence on my fandom and I learned a lot from reading them. Kayfabe articles aside, I learned about NWA title history and really anything that WWF didn't present as the truth as that was the only regular tv I got. It was the top press coverage of wrestling of its era and influenced the direction of wrestling with exposure and promotion of different wrestling. Apter has had a career that has lasted over 40 years and continues to this day. And although this would not be my reason for voting for him, he was an extremely nice man when I met him in April.

I actually don't know much about that but am going to make it a goal to get around to putting it on itunes officially.

I also tracked down this video that will give you a comprehensive view of the nature of french wrestling culture.

I found this just now http://www.myspace.com/karaoui/blog/463212097 Pro Wrestling & Catch Wrestling are FRENCH Professional wrestling began in France around 1830. Wrestlers who had no access to the wrestling elite, formed troupes that travelled around France showing their talent. Wrestlers thus frequented wild animals’ exhibitors, tightrope walkers and bearded women. Showmen presented wrestlers under names such as “Edward, the steel eater”, “Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker”, or “Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps” and challenged the public to knock them down for 500 francs. In 1848, French showman Jean Exbroyat created the first modern wrestlers’ circus troupe and established as a rule not to execute holds below the waist. He named this new style « flat hand wrestling ». Upon Mr. Exbroyat’s death in 1872, Mr. Rossignol-Rollin attorney from Lyon assumed the direction of this troupe and was soon noticed for his ability to advertise, to « arrange » matches and to reward wrestlers in the name of the audience.The French influence extended to the Austrian Hungarian Empire, to Italy, to Denmark and to Russia and the new style circulated under the name of Greco-Roman wrestling, classic wrestling or French wrestling. Professional wrestling matches were thus organized everywhere in Europe with variable programs and competition rules according to the taste of wrestlers, of managers and of the audience. In 1898, the Frenchman Paul Pons, also named “the Colossus”, was the first Professional World Champion just before the Polish Ladislaus Pytlasinski. Some other great champions succeeded him, like the Turkish Kara Ahmed (the eastern Monster), the Bulgarian Nikola Petrov (the lion of the Balkans) or the Russian Ivan Poddoubni (the Champion of Champions).At the end of the 19th century, professional wrestling was the most in vogue sport in Europe, but it started to degrade from 1900 because of the pre-arranged matches, the announcement of forgery, false victories and false nationalities of the competitors. The rediscovery of Olympic amateurism encouraged the creation of numerous clubs and schools that finished professional wrestling off. However, from a historical point of view, professional wrestling has its indisputable merits. Competitions contributed to making wrestling more popular, the physical aspect of wrestlers served as a model to young men and the training system allowed amateur wrestling clubs to rapidly become more structured. Extract taken from the International Olympic Wrestling Federation

Speaking of Barthes' writing on wrestling, I found a link for it, both the specific chapter itself as well as a pdf of the full Mythologies book. Barthes The World of Wrestling Barthes Mythologies pdf

I would probably put Bryan just slightly ahead of Punk as a candidate based on his body of work, reflected in the WON community by his outstanding wrestler awards. The point of Punk being the most successful indy darling and being like Jericho is a good one. I would vote for both and think both will go in.

On Episode 24 of the Wrestling Culture podcast, Dylan and I speak about one of the biggest wrestling stars ever in Hulk Hogan. Whatcha gonna do, indeed Wrestling Culture Episode 24

Connected to this, I would think the inclusion of the match with Brian Christopher vs Chris Candido on RAW from 6/16/1997 would be a good inclusion. This was promoted on RAW as an interpromotional match with Christopher from USWA vs Candido from ECW in a WWF ring. Sunny was there to announce both guys and Heyman was on commentary with Vince and Lawler when he confronted Lawler and said that Christopher was Lawler's son. Brian Christopher vs Chris Candido

Man, if that Rip Rogers maritimes match makes it on that's awesome

Thanks so much for listening Will and Pat is my hero and yes, and incredibly nice guy