JerryvonKramer

Side point, but I do think this talking point is generally over played. Abby, Sheik and the Funks were all over huge and those "dry 70s crowds" were borderline hysterical. They might have all been exceptional cases, but it's exactly the same crowd.

We should probably stop with this track, it's derailing my review thread (which has already been derailed many times, ha ha). But I am still in contact with an old lecturer of mine. I might ask him about some of this stuff and if he's noticed any tangible change from his perspective in the time since I was a student. If he comes back and says that his sense has always been that students had no clue about stuff from the past, I will concede the argument to OJ and jdw once and for all and accept the fact that it's just me getting old

Also Mick, I did exactly the same thing when I was 17. Devoured the 1970s films. I have a lot of friends who did that. The current lot don't do it. I'd know, they should be in my class.

You know I disagree with you (and jdw) on that. Yes, it's part of it, but the technology and method of delivery is more of it. You are absolutely right on one count: yes, we remember the stuff the TV station chooses to show and the stuff that the culture decides to remember. This is especially true of the 1960s, where they stuff we typically know is only a fraction of the stuff that would have been going on. We don't remember the 60s but a construction of it. I agree with that. But we do remember the 1960s all the same. I am saying that the current generation don't really "remember" anything. That is a change. We're not talking Peyton Place here, we're talking things that are culturally central. I do get what you are saying, and that happens every generation. I'm saying something additional has happened on top of that.

There is still a shared cultural cache, but it's all stuff from the past ten years. And mostly American. Students' eyes light up if I ever mention Harry Potter, or Game of Thrones. They know Toy Story. Stuff like Frozen. Lord of the Rings. Just not good with anything older. And I do think that's a big big difference between us and them, because we knew the older stuff, from 60s and 70s and 80s. Whereas I'm not sure if the students would even know who Oasis or Blur are and that was 1995. There was a big deal made recently about The Beatles finally going on Spotify. To a certain set of kids, if you aren't on Spotify you aren't anyone. That's the reality.

It's a combination of near unlimited choice and the fact that the method of delivery has mostly changed from TV (you watch whatever is on) to "on demand". I'm pretty sure you have mostly the same TV as us in Northern Ireland, right? And being 37 I'd imagine you'd know, for example Only Fools and Horses. Just be dint of being alive and living in the UK, you know that show. I knew a group of guys, not that much younger than me -- seven or eight years younger -- and not only did they not really know it, but as a result they had no great fondness for it either. They were also pretty unconcerned about filling that gap. Happy to say "yeah that's old and outdated, I'm just gonna watch this American show instead." It's a different mindset. Different way of thinking about the world. This is not your typical generational thing, stuff like Only Fools is a national treasure. It comes from the fact that when they were in their formative years, they were on the computer not watching tv. Only Fools and Horses is also not exactly the sort of thing you are going to go out of your way to seek out or download. It's the sort of thing where you catch an episode one night. You can't "catch an episode" if you basically don't watch TV, or watch everything through BBC iPlayer. We've discussed all this before somewhere on the board. I remain convinced that this goes way beyond the standard things that are lost from one generation to the next. For the person who cares, of course, there's a million and one ways to explore anything you want now. But most of them aren't going to care. And when back before something like Only Fools and Horses could get 10 million viewers without even "trying", just on a random repeat at 6pm on BBC1, now you are never ever going to get 10 million people to all sit down and watch that at the same time. Yes, they'll all watch Game of Thrones, but that's new and happening now. But they aren't going to go back to anything that isn't happening now. Not en masse. So with diversity of choice you lose the notion of a shared cultural cache.

I don't plan for this to be a particularly deep dive on Owen, just a little refresher to remind me of why I like him, and if I still do. Blue Blazer vs. Akeem (1/13/89) From Boston Gardens. I have a soft spot for Akeem, spent so many hours laughing at his dancing and faces. We have a weird commentary team here: Superstar Graham, Lord Alfred Hayes and Rod Tronguard. I like the way Graham says "Lord" like it is Lord Al's first name. Thought I'd sneak in some more OMG here too, for Matt. Laughing my ass off currently as he stands like a teapot. Akeem was just so ridiculous! He comedy antics are particularly funny during this match. I think he had a whale of a time doing that gimmick. This was an extended squash really, Blazer was quite jobberific here. Jive Soul Bro baby. *1/2 Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect (5/8/89) I wonder who is going over here. Ha ha. Meadowlands. Tony Schiavone on commentary with Lord Al. Poor old Lord Al, I wonder how many of these cards he had to sit through. Owen surprises Perfect early with a European uppercut and a move off the top. Perfect retaliates. You know, Mr. Perfect's offense really was shit. I hate that flying mare and that weird knee lift he does. It's so light as offense. It's like none of his moveset has impact. Apart from the one reverse knife edge he does. Abdominal stretch by Perfect. Light kicks to the face. He's like a fencer in a way, all finesse. Blazer gets another little bunch of hope spots now with some drop kicks. Another uppercut. Sends Perfect down. Fist from the top and ... 1, 2, 3. Three! What the fuck! No, surely not. No the ref made a mistake. Foot was on the ropes. Is that old Woerhle there? Nah. Great backbreaker by Blazer. Missile drop kick. Runs into Perfect's boot. Hot shot by Perfect. Perfectplex. And that's all she wrote. Well this was really effectively worked in the end. Match was poor when Perfect was on top because he just.has.no.offense. But when Blazer took over and Perfect started his insane bumping, the match was a lot better for it. Like an advanced Sam Houston narrative for this one. Enjoyable. *** High Energy vs. Money Inc. (7/20/92) Let's see how he locks up with my boy Ted. This is from Prime Time, Gorilla and Lord Al on commentary. Weirdly, Ted comes out without the suit here, he's already in his tights. I wonder what the story was there. I reckon he forgot the suit or something. Don't think I've ever seen him come out without the suit before. Jimmy Hart in their corner at this point, and they are tag champs. Gorilla and Lord Al note that IRS doesn't cut his pre-match promo either. Money Inc all business tonight clearly. Ted and Owen to start. Arm drag and a beauty by Ted. Excellent character work by him too. Another arm drag. Weird for him to be doing them, babyface move as far as I'm concerned. A third and Ted is jawing the crowd. Consummate heel, the best. DiBiase jaws the crowd more, he's very pleased with himself for dominating the young Owen. Dropkick by Owen. Hiplock on IRS. Money Inc. bail. Such total heels. Crowd bust out the "Irwin" chant. Why did IRS always look like he hadn't slept? Him in and Koko in now. Koko shakes his ample rear. Classic cheating from Money Inc now. So cheap. Ted in. Elbow smash. IRS in, backbreaker. Oh yes, the classic IRS front facelock now. Ted in with a double ax-handle from the second rope. Wow, he doesn't hit that often. IRS goes for a suplex on Koko but it gets reversed. Hot tag to Owen. Big back drop. Clothesline by Owen. 360 bump over the top by Ted. Briefcase shot by IRS to the back of Owen's head. Ted rolls in for the very cheapest of count out wins. Ha ha. Everything DiBiase did in this match was really good. Been a while since I'd watched him. Owen was also good. Irwin wasn't allowed to sit in any of his holds for long, which was a good thing. Very enjoyable Money Inc title defence. A bit baffled by 1. Ted coming out with no suit, 2. Him doing arm drags at the start, 3. Why High Energy weren't eating a pinfall here. **1/2 Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (11/20/95) I want to see more of Owen on offense, which I'm not going to see from his JTTS days. Can't think of a better person to let me see a showcase of his offense than Shawn. I might hate him, but HBK is one of the best sellers of all time. God do I hate him though. In full playboy babyface mode here with Vince virtually jizzing in his pants on commentary. This is the night after a Survivor Series. Mr. Fuji is on the outside. That's a late appearance for him. Fast pace sequence to start. Owen bails after losing out and Shawn struts. Booooooo! Booooooo! Ha ha. Full arm drag and twist by Shawn. Vince has already said "whattamanoeuvre" about fifteen times. Got to laugh. I've always maintained that Vince was a slightly different commentator in 1995 than he was in the mid-late 80s. Generally just throatier. Beautiful backbreaker by Owen. Top five backbreaker in the business, can only think of Eaton and Billy Robinson who do it better. Nice suplex. I really do like Owen, classic wrestler. Of the sort I have always gravitated towards. "Devastating manoeuvre" by Owen. Neckbreaker. Clothesline. Loving this. Playing out as I'd hoped and Owen is an excellent offensive worker. Shawn is a bump machine of course. Ha ha. There was a bit of dead air when no one said anything and Vince filled it by saying "unbelievable" apropos of nothing. Very funny. I've just spotted that Corny is there too. Shawn starts his comeback now. Slam. Elbow from the top. Owen kicks out at two. Lawler is pretty annoying on commentary. He's in his chirpy mode here. I'd still probably take this version over the current dead behind the eyes one though. Shawn appears to have collapsed in the ring. Owen isn't sure what to do. Ref checks him. Vince comes off commentary and goes to check on him. Dude with a respirator comes out. What happened? Seemingly nothing, he just got up and was dazed and collapsed. This is a full stretcher job. JJ Dillon is there. Lawler comes out from commentary. Pat Patterson comes down and tries to talk to him. A girl in the crowd is crying. This is one of the all-time well worked angles of this type. In fact, I'd only really put Dibiase's stretcher job and trip to the hospital after taking the piledrivers from Gordy in GCW in the same conversation with it (with Solie putting in some terrific work that night). As for the match before it, really very solid. Owen looked fantastic on offense and that plays to Shawn's strengths. His acting in the angle is tremendous too. As was Pat Patterson's. Very very well worked stuff *** Owen Hart vs. Hiroshi Hase (1/4/88) Let's see him against another of my boys, Hase. This is my first look at Hase in the 80s too. I still have the 80s NJ set to finish. I'm glad to see Hase still has his cheesy tache even in 1988. Obligatory matwork to start. Slam by Hase. Elbow from the top rope. Amateur takedown by Owen. Back to the mat. A lot of parity in this match so far. Hase works the arm. I've just noticed that he appears to be wearing socks and trainers and not boots. Sort it out Hase. Wrestlers should wear boots not socks. This is going to be distracting as I try to get a closer look to see if they are just weird boots or socks. It's the small things that matter. Ha ha. Kick by Hase. Kip up by Owen. Series of counters. This is all a bit amateur mat-based for my tastes. Hase continues to work the same arm. He never has anything less than 100% laser focus. He might have the most consistent psychology of any worker. They start with the strikes now. Awesome. Uppercuts by Owen. Hase gets vocal. Belly to belly by him now. Gut buster by Owen. Kick to the chest. Hase tries a cheeky inside cradle. Reverse chinlock by Owen. European uppercut. Savate kick by Hase. Belly to back suplex. Owen counters a second. Belly to belly by him now. That sweet sweet backbreaker now. But he loses his footing on the top rope. Hase capitalises. Flapjack. Bridge up. Backslide. German by Owen. Two only. Lariat by Hase. Northern lights suplex gets the three. Pretty hot little match up. Probably a bit too much parity and "your turn, my turn", but both guys are great offensive workers and both guys were great bumpers, so it's a very easy watch. *** Owen Hart vs. 123 Kid (8/15/94) I want to see more of Owen dominating on offense, and this match I expect will help out. This is around the time of the Luger / Tatanka / DiBiase deal and there's a bit of that on the footage as Vince gives us his throatiest possible "Monday night RAWwwwwww". Savage is there too. Late appearance for him. This is in Lowell, Mass. God, 1994 WWF TV was noisy. Owen comes out Jim Neidhart. What's that music? Awful. He's still rocking the King of Harts gimmick. 123 Kid is so skinny. Spin kick by him to start. Owen misses a splash in the corner. We settle into a headlock by Kid. Owen reverses into a headscissors. Backslide. That entire sequence could have been Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. Reverse chinlock by Owen. A lot more counters and things in this than one might expect. Double kip up. Kid dropkicks Owen into Neidhart. Action has gone outside. Series of back shots to the post by Owen. He's targeting the back. That patented backbreaker now. Man that backbreaker is good. Uppercut. Kid is fantastic at hitting the turnbuckle and collapsing, that's a difficult spot to get right. Owen continues to dominate now. Sunset flip by Kid. Just a hope spot. Neckbreaker and a beauty by Owen. Misses a move from the top. He's hurt his knees on the landing. Absolutely stupendous selling of the hurt knee by Owen. Very believable. Misses an inzaguri. Half crab by Kid. Neidhart has seen enough. Clotheslines Kid. Blatant DQ. Earl Hebner gets in his face. The New Foundation kick the shit out of Kid now. Sharpshooter by Owewn. Vince is calling for fines and suspensions. Several refs in the ring. Won't release the hold. Owen is still selling that leg. Tremendously executed match up and post-match angle. More or less perfectly worked by both guys. Very weird booking though if Owen was just about to face Bret at Summerslam. Common sense says put him over clean here. ***3/4 Owen Hart vs. Flash Funk (2/17/97) Flash Funk was a pretty offensive gimmick. But I've only just realised it was a prototype for The Godfather. I just want to take time out to say how much I loved 2 Cold's WCW theme. Much funkier than this lame ass theme. Scorpio looks very chunky in the Flash Funk gear. Two hip tosses blocked. Double dropkicks. A representative of ECW is on the phone for King. It's Paul Heyman. It's amazing to watch Lawler morph from shitty annoying commentator Lawler to Memphis Lawler as he works this angle with Paul E. "The Manhattan centre is an arena not a bingo hall like you're used to working in!" Good line. British Bulldog has come down. I've missed most of this match with the Heyman stuff. That's crash TV for you. German by Owen gets two. Leg drop. Oh god, interview from Austin now. Are you going to let me watch this match Russo or what? Elbow drop from Owen. Great little promo from Austin, if a bit catchphrase heavy. This is really TV for someone with ADHD. Flying crossbody by Flash Funk. Splash in the corner. Moonsault. Owen kicks out. Bulldog hits Flash coming in for an Irish whip and holds his leg down as Owen pins him. I can't really rate this because I didn't get to see it. That'll do for now.

Greg Valentine vs. The Berzerker (7/15/91) This is from Prime Time. Mooney and Lord Al on commentary. Valentine's music is laughably generic. Fuji still in the suit here. A series of Terry Funk style headbutts by Berzerker. Standing powerslam, of sorts. Misses a leg drop from the top. Valentine targets the leg. Which Berzerker sells hilariously. Big bump over the top rope. Forearms by the Hammer. Fuji grabs the leg, which allows Berzerker another in. Dropkick sends Valentine down like a tree. Lol at Mooney and Lord Al speculating on what's going through Berzerker's mind. We've been in a little rest hold for a while now. Valentine comes back with some Mid-Atlantic chops. Berzerker with a flying tackle and gets two. Back to this reverse chinlock thing. Valentine comes back. Execution not very good through that bit, both the way the hold was applied by Berzerker and Valentine powering out. Another fun comedy bump from Berzerker now and he gets crotched on the top rope. Fuji loses his hat as Greg goes after him with the cane. You know it's just occurred to me: Fuji was visibly balding in 1982 and here in 1991 he has a full head of hair. Do you think he was slyly wearing a piece? Anyway, Valentine gets counted out. Fun little competitive squash with some good comedy work by Berzerker. **

I was thinking about Benoit doing the Dynamite Kid spots. And that seems pretty firmly "tradition" to me. It might be as simple as, "is this something they learned on the road / in a dojo" or "is this them copying their favourite tapes"? It's my issue with a lot of 00s stuff. I see them busting out the Flair vs. Steamboat chop exchanges (complete with the crowd shouting "woooo"), but it often feels like they haven't "earned" the chop exchange. This was very much my issue with Low Ki.

To me it felt like it was being worked in an actual vacuum. And that's been my impression every time I've dipped my toe in. Styles was trying to be a heel in that match, but his jawing just seemed to echo in a chasm. But I meant post-modern also in a different sense, which is that I can see the guys echoing previous guys. Styles seems to be like that. Although there's a interesting question about tradition vs. homage. If I watch DiBiase throw a Texas punch and I can recognise he's got that from the Funks, it's tradition. If I watch AJ Styles do an elbow like Misawa and a kick like Kawada, it looks like homage. Perhaps that's me being outrageously biased towards "my guys" and unfair to the modern guys, but I do think there's something to that distinction.

I am definitely an outlier on that 05 match. I want to like Styles, so maybe give me one or two more to look at, and I'll try my best to look past the thick fog of TNA presentation.

I teach a lot of 18-21 year olds. I am in contact with them a good bit. And I've come actually to like my students quite a lot. However, it is clear to me that they have no basic cutlural knowledge. You'd think growing up in the Internet age means they'd know more, but in fact it means they know less. None of them have seen The Godfather. It's like the guy who knows things mainly from The Simpsons, not from the thing itself. A culture of memes and references can't really work if no one actually knows the original works. Our generation -- guys now in their 30s and 40s -- are uniquely cine- and pop-literate. We watched old stuff on TV, we watched old movies (again a lot on TV or home video or DVD), we bought old records, we listened to bands from the 60s even though we weren't alive in the 60s. We are the generation of High Fidelity. Of MTV. We make lists of our top 100 films or whatever. We are the post-moderns. Us. The kids aren't like that. They grew up in an on demand culture and on social media. They engage with the world in a different way. I have no idea what it looks like to them, but I imagine it's like one big in-joke that they aren't in on.

I realise all of that funk doc, but as the true postmodern man, like a disappointed Romanitc, I search in vain for authenticity. I won't find it in current era stuff, I will find it in the smoky halls. This is my truth, tell me yours.

Another thing I noticed about GOTNW's list: Owen Hart is there, but Bret isn't. How come?

Terry Funk vs. Sabu (2/28/94) Not exactly a full house for this one, Heyman is there. This is from the World Wrestling Network. When people talk about Bret dogging it at house shows in front of 10,000 people, and then you consider the level of effort and commitment that Funk -- a former NWA champion and already a legend in the business -- gave to a match like this. It does put it into perspective. Sabu takes some pretty big spots in this match. Superplex, slam onto a table, atomic drop on a chair, piledriver on the outside, misses a plancha onto a table. Funk does a fucking moonsault!! Puts Sabu in a skip. This is a Sabu match from 1994, it's not going to win any awards for psychology. Might as well enjoy the ride. Kinda fizzles out you've got to admire the level of effort from these guys in an almost empty building. Post-match Sabu smashes a bottle and goes after Funk who bails. Sabu then goes and gets a table and moonsaults into it for no reason at all. Crazy bastadrd! In a way, it's kind of sad to see Terry literally doing whatever it takes to get over. But at the same time this is the stuff of legend. I imagine anyone who was there live that night would never forget it. It's hard not to just love Funk, cut his arm and he'd bleed the heart and soul of wrestling. ***1/2 Terry Funk vs. Sabu (4/9/94) This is from Midwest Territorial Wrestling. Looks like a few more people in tonight. I remember reading about this feud, or at least seeing pictures from it in PWI. This is a grittier and less spot orientated affair than the last one. Funk takes a back bump into a table. Action goes outside, some chairs thrown into the ring. This completely degenerate as Funk gives the ref a backbreaker! Pretty funny, just backbreakers the ref! This seemed to drift a bit, but still some wild stuff. **1/2 Terry Funk Backstage Interview (4/9/94) Funk says he no great fondness for either WWF or WCW and is sick of being given one-liners to speak. He's always had a love for the hardcore fans and this is where real wrestling is. He also says that he doesn't want to overstay his welcome, he's getting up there in age and doesn't know how much longer he wants to go. He ants to help guys like Sabu and Shane Douglas develop. But he's physically hurt right now, he's sure Sabu is too, but he did it for the fans. Terry Funk vs. Sabu (4/15/94) Same promotion. Texas Death Match. Sabu has a manager and he's cutting a promo here about "some homosexual's blood". I think they are in an ice rink. Not the biggest crowd. Funk throws some cones into the ring. Sabu with the chair spring elbow early and a fast three count, but this is a true Texas Death Match and Funk has a ten count to get up. Some guys in the crowd are shouting "break his neck!" There's a security guy there who looks not unlike the rapper Ice Cube. This is the genuine article isn't it, gritty stuff. Funk gets a fall outside. Grabs the manager and gives him a piledriver out there. Clip, I think to a neckbreaker by Funk back in the ring. Piledriver. Another three. Some guys in the crowd are Funk fans and others are Sabu fans. Seems like the men are for Funk and the kids are for Sabu. Maybe kids shouldn't be watching this! Atomic drop by Funk onto the railings. Leglock out there. Funk is demented here. DDT back in the ring. Another three. Sabu gets the next three after a dive over the top rope. Table shot across the back. Some pretty good long-term selling by both guys. Sabu goes over the top again with a dive and takes Funk out, who is now convulsing. One kid says "oh well, stay down". I like to think it was Bix. He doesn't now and gets the next three. Chair shot by Funk. Can in the face. Piledriver from the top rope onto a chair. Funk's ass took most of that, to be honest. Sabu over the top rope now onto a table. Funk evaded last minute. He snaps that table in two now and throws it into the ring. Pushes the ref out of the way. Piledriver onto the table now. Smashes this breaking table, all splintering, over Sabu's head. Sabu just gets up before Funk to win, and post-match we get some madness. Including Funk beating the shit out of the ref. Sabu also tries to do his moonsault through the table for no reason after the match and fails, it doesn't break, then he tries again, a guy in the crowd says "my god he's psychotic", fails again, then he tries a third time. Mad mad man! This is a wild wild brawl and on par, I think, with a lot of the Abby brawls from 1980. Extremely gritty. Generally though, while these matches have had more high spots, the Abby matches had a lot more blood. ***1/2 Terry Funk vs. Sabu (4/19/94) This is on ECW TV. Paul E is there. Paul suggests that Funk has a match with Sabu. Paul E nails Funk with the phone. Funk puts a plastic bag on Heyman's head. Not sure who is on commentary here, sounds like Tazz (or Don West, lol), but doesn't seem like it should be either of them. Where's Joey Styles tonight? Oh apparently it is Joey Styles ... So what, his voice got more high pitched as he got older?! I'm having a lot of trouble with guys from the North East recently it seems. Why does everyone sound like Tazz to me at the moment? Ha ha. It's interesting to see these two work a more regular studio bout after their wildness on the road. Funk goes through some of his gears. Neckbreaker. Piledriver on the chair. Some aerial stuff now, including a dive from the apron by Funk which Styles marks for. Funk goes and grabs the ring announcer and uses him as a human shield, ha ha. Funk has legitimately done something I've never seen before in each and every one of these matches so far tonight. Piledriver from the top onto a chair by Funk, didn't quite connect. Looked better than the one from last match though. Some broken table action now. Funk breaks the a bit of table over his own head. Spinning toe hold! Spinning toe hold! Some masked goon tries to attack Funk. More spinning toehold. Another masked goon now and a neckbreaker from him! Leg drop from the top by him gives Sabu the pinfall. It's Bobby Eaton! Crowd goes nuts. Arn Anderson is here! What the flying fuck! Arn! DDT on Sabu! DDT on Eaton. Crowd is mental now. I am marking out myself. Holy shit! I think this match suffers when watched back to back with those grungy indie shows. It is fabulous Tv but I think the run-in hurts the match. Still supremely entertaining stuff though, and I did like Funk's spell on top. *** Terry Funk vs. Chris Benoit (4/23/94) This is an NWA show. I think promoted by Dennis Carluzzo. No commentary. The backdrop to this place is extremely green, almost like George Lucas is directing it and they are going to put in a CGI crowd later. The crowd that is there bust out a brief Sabu chant. After a spell outside, they go back in. Neckbreaker by Funk. Back outside and piledriver outside. I tell you what, the piledriver on the outside hit a lot more in 1994 than it did in the late 70s. Benoit has a spell on top now. Snap suplex. Dynamite Kid headbutt. Suplex outside back in. A bridging suplex from the belly-to-belly position. And we get a double count out. Some post match stuff too. Pretty disappointing match this, not helped by the finish. I know Funk was doing a hardcore thing at the time, but I wish this could have been worked a little more technically and inside the ring, they were outside for too much of it. ** A little backstage bit where Funk says he loves the hardcore fans, and he's not ECW's man, or Dennis Carluzzo's man Terry Funk & Arn Anderson Promo (4/26/94) Funk tells Arn that this is a different type of fan than what he's used to, the hardcore fans of Philadelphia are in his view the greatest fans in the world. He also thinks that there's a rotten apple here somewhere and with Bobby Eaton showing up, they are "trying to pull something from WCW". So where does Arn fit into all this? Why is he here? Arn explains. He didn't come to save him, but instead came to keep an eye on Bobby Eaton. They make a deal to watch each other's backs. There's no ECW in this situation, there's no WCW, this is Funk and Anderson. Pretty cool to see. Also, you know I've been watching wrestling a long time, and whenever anyone makes a deal with Arn like this, he usually suckers them later. Just saying, just saying. I called it here. Terry Funk vs. The Sheik (5/5/94) My god. Two things. First, Funk was legitimately in front of less than 100 people just three months before this in some of those matches against Sabu and there must be 1000s in this one, looks like a HUGE crowd, must have been so surreal for him to go from one situation to the other like that. And he did it his whole career. Second, The Sheik was old in 1979, so ... it boggles my mind that he's having a match here. He was 69 years old! We talk about how some wrestlers' lives would make compelling movies, I think the Sheik is right up there for that. Funk climbs up the lighting rig at the start. He's shouting for the Sheik. Here he is, with Sabu by his side. Like The Emperor and Vader, ha ha. Sheik is still wearing his Detroit US title. Bless him. He has a lit torch with him. We might see some fire breathing here. To be honest, he is looking a LOT better than I was expecting a guy who is almost 70 to look. Funk ambushes him before we see him blow any fire. He's bleeding already, ha ha ha. The foreign object is out. Funk has colour already. Double juice brawl within 60 seconds. More stabbings with the object. Wire now. Sheik is chocking Funk with wire. Brutality. Christ, he's bleeding buckets. I guess choking a guy when he's already bleeding will do that. This is basically Funk working his ass off to try to get the Sheik over a legit threat. Sheik gets the torch from Sabu and they burn Terry's tights. They have to dose him with water to stop the flames. His tights are cut. Funk is a bloody mess. He's shouting after Sheik. You know, after see so many of their battles in the 1970s, this is really really compelling stuff for me. Funk had a hand full of something and suckers Sheik with it for the ten count and the win. Wow! Something approaching a clean job from the Sheik! You don't see that every day. Funk insanely climbs up the guarded railings and then makes all sorts of faces at the Japanese crowd. Holy shit, what fucking mentalist! Talk about health and safety. I honestly enjoyed this. Wrestling has always been one third sport, one third entertainment, one third circus freak show. Funk could do all three of those, and this is the third. He's working against a guy who should probably be in an old people's home, and literally does everything and anything he can to give the 1000s of people who made money to be there something memorable. As far as the Sheik goes, I mean what can anyone expect of him here? He looked suitably grizzled, and this was better than any of those awful sandpit matches I saw of his vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. I enjoyed this moe than the Benoit match and honestly more than Styles vs. Joe from the other night. Funk is just so damn great at ensuring that things are kept interesting. *** Terry Funk & Arn Anderson vs. Sabu & Bobby Eaton (5/14/94) This is just surreal world right here. Arn in ECW Arena. Three all time greats in one match up. And Sabu, who is kind of legendary in his own way. Funk gets slammed over the top into a table by Sabu. Chair shot by Eaton, getting into the ECW spirit there. Chair shot by Sabu. And again. Chair Spring elbow. Eaton in. Some nice punches from him. Essentially, this has been a face in peril sequence by Funk so far. That makes Arn the hot tag? Weird. Arn in. He wants Eaton. Him and Sabu together looks like two guys from different times and different places. Styles: "Of course, Bobby Eaton held the NWA tag titles on two occasions. One time with Arn Anderson, as part of the Dangerous Alliance. And the other time as one half of the Midnight Express with Stan Lane. Stan Lane is ... Well, I don't know where, but he wherever he is, he shouldn't be doing it." Ha ha, good line. Figure four by Arn on Eaton. Funk with a piledriver on Eaton onto a piece of table. Scoop slam by Arm on Sabu. Dropkicks off the top to the outside. Slam by Funk on Sabu. Misses a moonsault! Middle aged and crazy! You know, if that was Ric Flair, people would give him stick for it. Leg drop by Sabu. Moonsault. Hits. Powerbomb by Funk. I don't recall seeing Funk do a powerbomb before. Neckbreaker. Cover two only. DDT by Funk. Talks some smack to Eaton. Brawl on the apron. Arn in with a choke on Sabu. Sabu hits a moonsault on Arn but doesn't cover. Hmmmmm. Eaton with the Alabama Jam on Arn. Funk with the save on the cover. Slam by Sabu on Arn. Slingshot backflip by Sabu. Arn kicks out at 2.75. One fan has a sign which reads "The Three Stooges: Bischoff, Shaw and Dhue" DDT by Arn on Sabu. Second DDT. Meanwhile, Terry Funk and Bobby Eaton have some how found their way up on like a ledge up by some venting. How the hell did they get up there? Third DDT by Arn in the ring. Funk piledrives Eaton up in the "eagle's nest". Spinebuster by Arn on Sabu. Meanwhile Public Enemy are here and they've jumped Funk. Arn over with a chair to beat them off. Surely Sabu isn't getting up from three DDTs and a spinebuster? Well he is up. And Funk is injured from the PE attack. Spinning toe holds by Sabu. Reversal by Funk for two. Arn seems to be mashing Public Enenmy with chairs as this is happening. Sabu with a chair. Arn grabs Sabu though and holds him for Funk, but Sabu ducks and he nails Arn. Clearly accidental. Paul E. On the apron. Where is Eaton? Still knocked out on the ledge? Arn grabs the chair. And he's nailed Funk! On the one hand it was clearly an accident by Funk, on the other, I called this! Also, good psychology on Arn's chair shots, ha ha. Funk submits to Sabu's half crab. But he's not releasing the hold. This was a bit overbooked and suffered from the environment. Ideally you'd want this four in a WCW ring, not an ECW ring, and just give them a straight match and fifteen minutes. As it is, it's just a lot of stuff happening all over the place. Fun to see though. ** Post-match, Paul E cuts a promo while he gives money to Public Enemy. He wants Funk to retire. Gets very passionate and is spitting all over the place. Seems to be suggesting that Dory, at the age of 55, is going to be coming in to face Public Enemy with his brother. "Who in the Funk is this man?" Short cut to Funk, "who are we?", he says, "we're the Funk brothers" Oh hell yeah, Dory in EC-dub baby! Let's hope he brings his brawling boots with him. ------- All of this stuff with with Sabu should be part of Terry's GWE case. Very very entertaining two hours of wrestling.

Are you ranking The Bezerker Matt?

Williams has a weird trajectory in that he was pretty good in Mid-South (and we've seen some highlights on NWA classics,magics boost his case in my view), but then really isn't very good in WCW. I don't like him much in Japan either until his highlights in 1994. I find him an interesting person to think about. There are still some months left till the deadline and I'd recommend dropping basically everything else and making 80s Crockett / NWA your absolute priority. I mean even if you don't like Flair there a ton of other guys missing from your list, which seems like it is due to a lack of exposure. Pretty high ranking for AJ Styles.

Is it okay to ask on what planet Steve Williams is considered a better wrestler than Ric Flair? I mean we could go through each and every guy and say "why him over Flair", but Williams stands out to me as being a guy who was actively bad for portions of his career. And even considering his highlights, it's pretty staggering to find him on the list when a lot of guys aren't there.

Curious. I've been searching and searching and can't find the tape that would have been on. I have learned something though: Dino Bravo actually left the WWF after the Texas Tornado match at Wrestlemania VII and then CAME BACK -- with the dark hair -- apparently to do a babyface run at Canadian House shows. And it looks like he was roped in to the European tour too, because he crops up a few times. One time tagging with Col. Mustafa vs. the Road Warriors. Also, this has kinda jogged my memory a bit. Bret was ALL OVER those early 90s tapes and is arguably the MVP of them. He has decent matches sprinkled all over the place which go 10-20 mins. Definitely the "CHV worker" of that era.

Oh ye of little faith. God knows which of my tapes it was on though. One from 92.

I recall him having a match with Dino Bravo on ... maybe one of the Supertapes. This is when Bravo had dark hair late 91 or early 92, and not long before he left. I think it took place in Germany. I remember that one going quite long. That's one to look at. What can Bret do against a complete stiff? My memory is that it wasn't very good. Also, and again this is going on something I watched maybe 15 years ago, I'm pretty sure that match was a random "fan request". Who the hell requested Bret Hart vs. Dino Bravo? Was it you Kelly? Grimmas?

Just thought I'd comment here. This is an amazing project. And I'm glad you are doing it. One thing that stood out to me: On that two-part Mr. Fuji show we did before, I counted how many in-ring appearances made after becoming a manager. And the number of tag and handicap tag appearances he has is really quite a lot. He is even having matches as late as 1991. We speculated that kayfabe-wise, no one had told Fuji to hang them up and he was delusional. Gorilla would always talk him up as a wrestler too. And we also speculated that in real life, perhaps this was because either 1. Vince had it written into his contract that he had to make a certain number of dates in the ring (see also, number of Bobby Heenan's in-ring appearances), or 2. Fuji got a bigger pay day if he wrestled as well as managed, and wanted the extra money. Christ, I'm a sad person! Ha ha.

Pumped!

I don't think it's any great revelation that I'm primarily an old-school fan. But if the suggestion is that I think wrestling was "more authentic" then than it is now, then absolutely it is and absolutely I do. Wrestling has been in a post-modern phase for some time now, at least a decade. I keep hoping it will come out of it. From what I've seen of NXT, there are glimmers of it. Although aspects of that show still seems like "wrestling for hipsters" to me. Current New Japan at times reminds me of visiting a place like Dubai. They might have all the shops you'd expect to see. They might even have a Shake Shack! But it doesn't feel like a living breathing city. There's something missing. My charge is that it has no soul. And that all these matches that get talked up are basically emphemeral., that today's five star match will be forgotten in 10 years. It's cool that you like it. Like I said I'm really happy for it to be someone else's thing. I need to prioritise what I watch in the next couple of months, and when I have stacks of dics to get through, I've decided that watching AJ Styles pretend to be his favourite wrestlers is basically a waste of that time.

AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada (7/21/14) I find modern NJPW a curiosity sterile environment. Something feels souless about it for some reason. Okada looks like he's walked straight out of a video game, let us say Tekken. His jacket would make Jimmy Hart proud. The sterility of this atmosphere does much to make Styles's rather forced and inorganic heel character work seem like it is taking place in a vacuum. Although I did enjoy him mocking the Japanese fans' chants. Anyway, I think I've seen enough. Styles is not going to get a set of ratings from me. I'm perfectly happy for modern New Japan to be someone else's favourite. This did nothing for me. Video game wrestling for an inauthentic age. If it's your deal, great. It's of zero interest to me. **1/2