JerryvonKramer

Kamala vs. Chief Jay Strongbow (8/25/84) I'm going to finish up my mini-review of Strongbow shite with his match with another of my favourite workers, Kamala. This is from MSG. Hayes and Monsoon on commentary. Alfred calls Gorilla "Gino" throughout. Blassie is managing Kamala and is in a snazzy gold number tonight. Alfred postulates that Friday and Kamala speak Swahili. Monsoon thinks that Blassie has zero control over Kamala. Strongbow is getting impatient. I've noticed that Strongbow is disrespectful to other cultures, yet another in a long litany of black marks against him. Strongbow is just ancient at this point. He still does his four ropes diagonal crossing routine. "Look at the quickness of Strongbow as he comes off those ropes at a 100 miles a minute", says Monsoon. Who said that he doesn't get people over? Kamala is unphased by Strongbow's offense. But Kamala misses a turnbuckle charge which allows Strongbow to try to apply a sleeper, but he can't get it on. Kamala with chops now. Strongbow takes a bump to the outside, badly. Chops now by Kamala. Dancing from Strongbow now. He nosells some chops. And two chops of his own and a knee lift. But it's all for naught, Kamala hits the big splash for 3. "You could have counted to fifty." DUD Strongbow, unlike Wahoo, had nothing at all left in the tank by this stage in his career. Completely terrible. Kamala was almost as bad.

Johnny Rodz vs. Chief Jay Strongbow (some time in 1979) By my calcualtions this was from Allentown, some time in 1979. Joe McHugh the ring announcer. Strongbow has his knee in the brace which means this is most Valentine leg breakage. Rodz ever unpredictable goes straight in with an attack and catches Strongbow off guard, who then bails. Strongbow comes back with his weird shuffle dance thing. He know works an armbar. During this armbar Rodz clenches his fist and the ref tells him off for it. That's very strict enforcement of the no punching rule, not even allowed to FORM a fist! Rodz gets back on top and attacks the injured knee. But Strongbow comes back with tomohawk chops for the win. DUD, Rodz did his best but Strongbow is worthless.

You lost me at the mythical 1968 smart fan part. How do you know there weren't smart fans in 1968? Just because you imagine there weren't doesn't mean it's true. I could just as easily convince myself that there were smart fans in 1968 simply by stating so. Find me the evidence. There is quite a lot of evidence of fans not being smart -- riots, death threats, and so on. 20,000 people at MSG who'd throw a fit if Pedro lost, etc. etc. You find me the evidence to suggest that a significent proportion of them were "smart". The onus is not on me. I'm peddling the line of what is known. The onus is on those people claiming that there were smart fans discussing wrestling like the IWC in 1998 back in the 60s or even the fucking 1930s. They are the one making the claim, it is up to them to prove it. Newspaper articles such as? Let's see them. I've been reading plenty of newspaper articles from the 60s and 70s recently, and none of them are "analytic". Not in the way that is being suggested, not in the slightest.

Don Leo Jonathan and Otto Van Heller vs. Andre the Giant and Chief Jay Strongbow (4/29/74) Strongbow is billed and announced as "Indian Jay Strongbow". Von Heller has the German Cross on his cape, as in the Iron Cross that Hitler used to give out. Von Heller keeping those Nazi gimmicks going into 74. Don Leo is big but not as big as Andre and he jaws at him. Since we last saw him in 1973, Strongbow looks like he's aged about 15 years. His moobs are that bit saggier, his face a bit more haggered, his hair a bit more thin and greasy and straggly. And he looked like shit in 1973. Don Leo is pissed off. He wants a French ref to come because Andre doesn't speak English. He thinks that Andre doesn't even understand the rules. Seems like an excellent heel to me. Character work is superb. Nobody moves. Very tentative, but it's the prancing idiot Strongbow against Von Heller to start. Strongbow basically tags out immediately and Andre gives him a side slam. He tags out and Don Leo Jonathan comes in. He struts around the ring a bit. This is exciting. The two big men lock up. Elbow and collar tieup. Strongbow and Andre keep doing double high-fives. Strongbow comes in the ring to do it again. And he's off on one now, spazzing out and generally acting like an over-sized turkey. I couldn't hate the guy more. He's actually disrupted what was looking to be a great encounter between Andre and Jonathan. Why don't you just fuck off Strongbow and let the match happen? Fans loved it though, as you can imagine. Andre applies a big headlock. Don Leo reverses it into a arm lock. Andre powers out. Crowd is going nuts. Big headbutt to the top of Jonathan's back. Strongbow in. Dancing again. Twat. Jonathan gets him into a bearhug. As this goes on Andre starts stomping the ring to get the crowd going. Andre is actually out-working Strongbow here from the apron. Eventually Strongbow hits a kneelift but it's just a hope sport and Jonathan goes back to the bearhug. EXCELLENT moustache on the referee. Eventually Strongbow sneaks under Jonathan's legs and tags Andre who now bearhugs Jonathan. Roof comes off. This crowd is really hot for Andre. Sleeper now by Strongbow on Jonathan, sloppily applied. Von Heller comes in to break it up. The bell rings. That's the first fall. Faces get it. Vince: "there's no explaination given as to why the fall is awarded to Strongbow and Andre ... probably it was because of the interference by Von Heller". That is an exceptionally harsh DQ ref. Strongbow vs. Jonathan to start the second fall. Strongbow literally never stops his weird dancing shit does he. Vince calls him a "fiesty Indian". Under the legs by Strongbow again -- this is like the one spot he can do seemingly. Jonathan gives Strongbow a forearm and Von Heller chokes him with the tag rope. Heel doubleteaming now. Go on Von Heller, potato that fucker! Under the legs and Andre tags in. Crowd is wild. Big slap. Big chop to Jonathan. Bearhug on von Heller. Jonathan breaks it. DQ again? No. Inconsistent ref! Another bearhug. Jonathan breaks it again. Big boot by Andre, big splash. And that's the three count. ** Andre's interactions with Don Leo Jonathan were worked very well. Von Heller didn't do a lot and didn't look particularly good. Strongbow's performance really brought the match down. He sucked badly here.

Mr. Fuji vs. Chief Jay Strongbow (6/30/73) Depending on the date of the first Sheik match, this is likely the earliest Strongbow match I could find. Vince calls Strongbow "one of the most popular wrestlers to ever put on a pair of tights". Yes, but WHY? Vince calls him a "real credit to his race". This is before The Fink was the ring announcer at MSG, and I don't know who the ring announcer is. Even in 1973, Strongbow's body doesn't look good. Fuji throws the salt over his back and a cleaner woman, apparently a fan who would often do this, comes over to clean the ring of the salt. She is not happy with Fuji. The cleaner woman doing much better character work there than Strongbow would manage in his entire career. During Fuji's ritual, Strongbow stands looking impatient with his arms folded. What a total hypocrite. And now he starts he's stupid dancing. WOW!!! Headscissors. Flying headscissors by Chief Jay Strongbow. Holy shit! And again! Moob shake. Arm drag. Nice one too. And again. Maybe Strongbow was the Ricky Steamboat of his day after all. This is the best I've ever seen him so far. Some schtick now, as Strongbow goes to the ropes but then grabs it and Fuji points to his head knowingly. The Devious One knows. Crab-like motion now as both men are super tentative. Strongbow goes to all four ropes cutting in diagonally each time to avoid an attack by Fuji, Vince says he's "as quick as lightning". More tentative stalling now. Fuji thinks about using the salt. Fuji with some chops now. He doesn't look like a particularly great worker either. He misses a knee drop from the top rope. Strongbow with the bodyslam. Backdrop. Shitty dancing. Eye rake! And again. Strongbow using the heel tactics, and now he blinds him with his own salt. We're ten minutes in now and after a promising start, this match has started to falter badly. Just so much schtick and stalling. Fuji, because he's blinded with the salt starts doing some very erratic things, such as going for blind flying forearms. Now why would he do that? Almost midget-match levels of comedy. Fuji gets back on top with the double nipple clamp. I have to say, it's pretty got psychology to target Strongbow's moobs. This is a very very poor heat segment, but it's been very effective in generating heat, so shows what I know. I'm going to say it again: the fans are idiots. Strongbow has a hope spot now where he runs the ropes and goes through Fuji's legs, but Fuji gets the nipple clamps back on. This is bad, but the fans are loving every moment. The ref is actually checking Strongbow's arm to see if he's been knocked out from the pain of the nipple clamps. He starts his spaz out, but again just a hope spot and Fuji goes back to the clamps. I look at the clock and to my horror it's only 13 minutes in. Only three minutes have passed in what seems like 10. Chop by Strongbow, but Fuji goes back to the clamps. Strongbow with several more chops, but Fuji is relentless and holds on some more. It's almost like he's determied. *This.Match.Must.Suck*. Eventually, finally, he breaks the hold, Strongbow hits the ropes and Fuji hits a chop for 2. And again, cover gets two but Strongbow's leg is in the ropes. More weak chops and things now from Fuji. Awkwardly gets onto the top rope. Now Strongbow starts his comeback. Fans are going crazy. Tomohawk chop gets the three. *1/2 This is the only match of Strongbow's I've seen that has suggested that once, in the distant past, in a galaxy far far away, he was something resembling a good worker. His head scissors was good, his arm drags pretty crisp, and he showed some genuine agility at the start. Fuji was very poor here though and the nipple clamp segment of the match went on forever. I guess it was getting over though, so who can blame them if that's all it took? Still, pretty bad match.

The case remains, Lee, if it's as easy as all that, where are the pre-Meltzer newsletters of the 1960s and 70s discussing matches in those terms? Show me and I will believe. The more interesting thing is how and when did the break come? Who was the first to really use insider terminolgy if it's wasn't Meltzer? That's something that I'd like to know about.

None of this stuff matters to the argument. What matters is how fans engaged with and talked about wrestling. Were they talking about booking decisions? Were they recognising who was a good wrestler and who was a shitty one based on non-kayfabe criteria such as selling? Did the mythical 1968 smart fan know that Chief Jay Strongbow pretty much sucked? The pre- and post- Meltzer newsletters seem worlds apart to me, worlds apart.

Still not really any evidence that there were fans discussing wrestling in the way that we think of hardcore fans (or "the IWC") discussing wrestling. Show me that evidence, and I'll happily concede. I've seen none at all. And I have been looking. I would be interested to know how exactly Meltzer started and who the real pre-cursors to Meltzer were.

I've searched hight and low for pre-70s Strongbow, but it simply doesn't exist. Certainly the grainest match of his I could find was this one: The Sheik vs. Chief Jay Strongbow (??/??/7?) This was obviously from Detroit but when is anyone's guess. Results for Detroit seem to be very incomplete, despite the fact that there's relatively speaking quite a lot of 1960s footage out there. That footage looks of interest in general to me, The Funks show up a few times, The Kangeroos can be seen; I wanted to take Titans to Detroit but Pete vetoed it. That 1960s stuff still looks of general interest I think. Anyway, Strongbow with his shitty war dance to start. This is incredible grainy, no sound, and bit "jumpy". And even through all that, I can tell that Strongbow's dancing is woeful. A few lame-looking chops on Sheik's head. Turnbuckle shot. Sheik knows the ref out. And goes to work with the foreign object. Strongbow manages to get the object, Sheik juices, Strongbow bites the cut. This is all extremely clipped. Eventually Strongbow grabs a chair and lays in a feather-light shot with it. Follows it up with more chair shots. Sheik comes back but Strongbow gives him the dancing knees. But Sheik wins anyway. Could only really get the gist of what was going on, but it looked shoddy nonetheless. The Sheik vs. Chief Jay Strongbow (??/??/77[?]) The US belt has been held up and this is going to be a no DQ match with two refs for it. Shithead Strongbow is very over and wearing the feathers. He prancing around the ring looking like a complete idiot as he is introduced. I'm assuming this is mid-70s by the look of the clothes, Sheik's hair and Strongbow's gut. Eddie Creatchman is also Sheik's manager, so Grand Wizard is already in WWF, which puts this after 1972. I'd guess at around 1977, that's when he had the shark cage match. Strongbow's dancing is flat-out ridiculous. He's fucking awful. He looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy wearing a wig. He's jogging around with his moobs going all over the place. Fucking start wrestling already you dick. I hate the fans cheering this. Sheik has already cheapshotted him with the foreign object. I don't know why he's trying to conceal it, they said it's a no DQ match. Strongbow grabs the foreign object but instead of laying any shots with it, instead decides to celebrate the gaining of the object by hopping up and down like a bunny rabbit. You're a grown man, Strongbow, stop doing this shit already. Also, terrible psychology, Ventura would have been all over him for failing to capitalise. He lays in a shot. Then dances some more. Then lays in a show, and dances some more. Worst fucking wrestler ever. This is atrocious. He's giving Sheik an awfully long-time to recuperate between these shots. Now Strongbow goes and grabs the ring bell, but taps Sheik with it so lightly that he couldn't possibly have felt it. Now some chops before some more fucking dancing. Seriously, he looks like a spastic penguin. He needs to be stopped. He needs to be shot. Sheik has colour. Strongbow with the worst fistdrop of all time now. Turnbuckle shot. Strongbow moobs up now some more. As if he hasn't done enough already. Forearm and a knee. Face into the mat. Weak chop. Jab to the throat. Creatchman hits the ring and Strongbow chokes him out, but Sheik gets the object and lays Strongbow out. Woeful match. DUD.

For what it's worth, I think Dory is the least boring he's ever been in the 10/81 match, and Brody seemed to be the one making that happen. I think the problem with Brody is the extent to which he was overhyped Dory and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen (4/20/83) - that was given five stars by Meltzer. It finished 65th in the All Japan voting, and didn't stand out at all in the context of the set. The best Brody match for me was when he tagged with Snuka against Dory and Terry Funk on 12/13/81, and I think the DVDR voters agreed, it finished top 20. Interestingly, on Harrington's points scale, Brody finished above Misawa (as Tiger Mask) for the set.

A more succinct way of putting all that is that you know when you see a magic show that it's an illusion, but you don't know how they are pulling off the tricks. This is what I was trying to articulate before. The difference between your 1930s fan knowing that the game is rigged and your 1998 dude on the internet, is that the 1998 dude has had many of the tricks of the trade revealed to him. 1930s guy knows that it is a trick, 1998 guy knows how the trick works. I am still exceptionally skeptical about the extent to which fans back in the day knew "how the trick works" outside of a tiny, tiny handful which does not at all compare to the number post-internet.

I wonder if the same people who rag on Brody for his lack of selling are as critical of the sacred cows from mid-90s All Japan (who I sometimes see being given a pass for no-selling bombs because "it's the syle") or of people like Vader or even, on occasion, Stan Hansen who we recently on Titans saw basically no-sell a Bob Backlund piledriver. The hate for Brody seems to be extreme, and it is worth asking if everyone is held to the same standard.

But eventually the fans will want to see Jolly McHappy vs Happy GoodGuy. It can draw once, but what then? How do you book the 5th time the NWA champ comes to town? Or the 10th? But here's the problem with your examples Will. What sort of worker is Happy GoodGuy? This sounds ridiculous, but it matters. If Happy Goodguy is a worker like JYD, then it's going to be difficult to keep coming up with scenarios like you've just outlined while keeping it interesting. Why? Because unless Dastardly Von Evil is a super worker in each and every territory, your main event is going to blow. And then, if you do get to the Jolly McHappy vs Happy GoodGuy, face vs. face blowoff, unless Jolly McHappy is a very very capable worker, your big marquee match for the year is going to suck. JYD worked in Mid-South because Watts was a master at promoting around him, at protecting him, at putting him in spots where his limitations were well hidden and where guys like DiBiase or The Midnight Express could bounce around the ring for him literally working the proverbial broomstick, If, in your scenario, Happy Goodguy is a worker like JYD, then you need to count on EVERY promoter not only booking him as smart as Watts did, but also having the workers of the calibre of those Watts had at his disposal. Even if you assume the NWA President is booking the finish of the match, a lot of the time the details were left up to the night. If it's Ric Flair, he can work 60 minutes in his sleep with no plan. If it's JYD and his opponent is ... Bulldog Bob Brown, then ... oh. What if his opponent is Dusty? Oh. Suddenly the main events across the country are looking truly terrible from an in-ring point of view and you don't have a Bill Watts protecting him.

I did get the vague suspicion that Stu was getting a lot of credit for guys he didn't train. However, conflicting reports on the board now (e.g. Hase). Can anyone explain? Why do people think these guys were Stu's guys?

Thanks for help and suggestions all. Denucci's guys are too late really. Added to trainer list. Added, I'll add Rheingans as a trainer for Verne's school. And Billy Robinson. Added. Excellent call. I knew I was forgetting at least one big one. Brad R is being added to Verne's school.

On the Sting point, could anyone point me to good stuff he did outside of 1992? I've honestly thought he's been pretty shitty 87-91, not awful, but not good at all. Beyond the triangle match I mentioned earlier, I can't think of any really good Sting matches that have stayed in my memory. NB. I'm on record by the way, as saying that I don't like the Sting vs. Flair matches at all, and Sting is probably my least favourite regular Flair opponent.

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-30-wwf-at-madison-square-garden-februrary-16th-1981/ After their stop off in Atlanta, Parv, Pete, Johnny and Kelly are back in New York for the highlights of this MSG card. On the docket tonight: Pedro Morales vs Sgt Slaughter IC Title Hulk Hogan vs Rick McGraw Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen WWF Title On this show: - The relationship between Vince Sr. and the NWA - The referees at MSG and the New York State Athletic Commission - Thoughts on Stan Hansen as a promo - Blood stoppage finishes - Plus: the relationship between Vince Jr. and the Apter Mags! Giant Baba’s headlocks! The definition of “gimpy”! And much, much more! The PWO-PTBN Podcast Network features great shows you can find right here at Place to Be Nation. By subscribing on iTunes or SoundCloud, you’ll have access to new episodes, bonus content, as well as a complete archive of: Where the Big Boys Play, Titans of Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling Super-Show, Good Will Wrestling, and Wrestling With the Past.

I would like to map out who came out of which dojos in the 70s and 80s. More recent stars are not the focus of this thread, so if you want to discuss their training, make another one for it. If the worker was not active until after the 1980s, he doesn't count for the purposes of this topic. Sean Waltman counts (pre-1990 pro debut), but Perry Saturn (1990 pro debut) does not. This is just a starting point, in time I want to make this as complete as possible. Where wrestlers completed their training in more than one school, I've listed them as graduates of both. Stu Hart (The Dungeon) Abdullah the Butcher Archie Gouldie Bad News Allen Billy Graham Billy Jack Haynes Bret Hart Brian Pillman Chris Benoit Dan Kroffat Davey Boy Smith Greg Valentine Hiroshi Hase Jim Neidhart Jos LeDuc Jushin Thunder Liger Owen Hart NJPW Dojo (Karl Gotch / Antonio Inoki / Tatsumi Fujinami / Kotetsu Yamamoto/ Yoshiaki Fujiwara) Akira Maeda Black Cat Chris Benoit Fumihiro Niikura George Takano (The Cobra) Gran Hamada Hiro Saito Hirokazu Hata Junji Hirata Jushin Thunder Liger Kazuo Yamazaki Killer Khan Kuniaki Kobayashi Naoki Sano Nobuhiko Takada Norio Honaga Riki Choshu Ryuma Go Shinichi Nakano Shinji Sasazaki Shinya Hashimoto Shunji Kosugi Shunji Nakano Tatsutoshi Goto Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) Yoshiaki Fujiwara Yoshiaki Yatsu Dory and Terry Funk (Double Cross Ranch) Genichiro Tenryu Jumbo Tsuruta Mitsuharu Misawa Stan Hansen Steve Keirn Ted DiBiase Hiro Matsuda (& Eddie Graham, Florida) B. Brian Blair Bob Orton Jr. Fidel Sierra Hercules Hernández Hulk Hogan Joe Malenko Keiji Muto (The Great Muta) Lex Luger Man Mountain Kong Mighty Inoue Mike George Mike Graham Osamu Nishimura Paul Orndorff Ron Simmons Scott Casey Scott Hall Steve Keirn Boris Malenko ("The Professor") Al Pérez Barry Horowitz Bill Eadie (Masked Superstar / Demolition Ax) Bob Orton Jr. Buddy Landel Chris Champion Dean Malenko Fred Ottman (Tugboat) Joe Malenko Johnny B. Badd Man Mountain Kong Mark Starr Mike Graham Norman Smiley Paul Diamond Rusty Brooks Sean Waltman Verne Gange's Wrestling School (Verne Gagne / Brad Rheingans / Billy Robinson) Baron Von Raschke Bill Irwin Blackjack Mulligan Bob Backlund Bob Brown Brad Rheingans Brian Knobbs Buddy Rose Butch Malone Chris Taylor Curt Hennig Dennis Stamp Dick the Bruiser Gene Anderson, George Eakin Greg Gagne Iron Sheik Jerry Saggs Jim Brunzell Jimmy Valiant Ken Patera Lars Anderson Ole Anderson Ric Flair Ricky Steamboat Scott Norton Sgt Slaughter Tony Halme Vader Larry Sharpe 911 Balls Mahoney Bam Bam Bigelow Chris Candido Kevin Von Erich King Kong Bundy Raven Tony Atlas Virgil Giant Baba (AJPW Dojo) Arashi Atsushi Onita Hiroshi Wajima John Tenta Jun Akiyama Masanobu Fuchi Motoshi Okuma Samson Kutsuwada Satoru Asako Takashi Ishikawa Toshiaki Kawada Yoshihiro Takayama Eddie Sharkey Barry Darsow Bob Backlund Jesse Ventura John Nord Madusa Road Warrior Hawk Road Warrior Animal Rick Rude Rick Steiner Tom Zenk This is a start. Much more to come.

As if I'd ever wear the braces you have in your teeth. In this country "braces" are what IRS wears, "suspenders" are what women wear as part of their kinky lingerie. I've just had to look it up but apparently you guys call women's suspenders "garter belts". Silly Americans Honestly, the difference in usage has never occured to me unitl just now. I've been thinking about the JYD thing and I don't see how it could have worked. Who would he have faced in each town, the local villain? What if the territory didn't really have a top heel? That was the versatility of Jack Brisco, he could go in as the firey babyface or could play the subtle heel, depending on the context. Are you going to ask JYD to play the subtle heel? The only way a babyface champ can work is through a national promotion a la Hogan in WWF. One champion for one roster. The NWA champ was one champion for multiple rosters. The reason that Dusty never had the belt for long was for all of the above, and for the fact that he was better in the chase than being chased. AND for the more practical reason, of course, namely that he was a booker connected with either the Florida or the Crockett office and so couldn't take off on those trips because there was TV to write. You can have a babyface travelling NWA champ, but it has to be one who can go "tweener" when the circumstance dictates it. If Lawler is your top face in Memphis, do you really want the NWA champ taking on whoever was being managed by Jimmy Hart at the time or do you want him taking on Lawler? "Yeah but why not just go face vs. face?" Because how many times can you run JYD vs. babyface Lawler before the novelty of seeing two heroes wears off? At the end of the day, the crowd wants to cheer someone. More to the point, you risk JYD being booed, and then your babyface champ is getting the wrong sort of heat. When it's Jack Brisco it doesn't matter so much, when it's JYD, the pop is all he has. Agree?

Here is the bowtie and braces pic I mention. Thanks again to Steven for indulging me. I'm told he has had to go on holiday to recover from 4 hours of DiBiase chat.

I don't bother with Jericho because he's from a slightly later era than what I'm mainly interested in (i.e. 70s, 80s, early 90s), and his guests tend to come from that era. My vague plan is to watch all the stuff I possibly can before getting back into stuff that happened after about 1994.

Can you go into specifics here? I think -- especially on this board -- it's underrated if anything. He has some good matches in 1991 against people like Lex Luger, Bobby Eaton and Brian Pillman that just seem to be taken for granted because "it's Flair". He has some great matches with Randy Savage in 92 and a very good performance in the Royal Rumble, which again, are taken for granted because "it's Flair". He has a very good performance against Vader in 93 for one of the all-time great Starrcade moments, and some non-too-shabby matches against Barry Windgam. In 94, he has the match with Steamboat, which while not 89 standard, is still a good match for the time and place, and he has some great performances against a very selfish Hulk Hogan. Then in 95-6, he has the match with Arn, the often overlooked triangle match with Luger and Sting at Fall Brawl, and then after that some terrific character work -- the most over-looked of his career -- in the feud with Randy Savage, which produced some pretty good matches. Certainly they aren't matches that are a knock on either guy at that point in their careers. After the NWO come in, I can't think of too many other Flair performances I'd cite, but I don't think Flair is "overrated" for the period of his career from 90-96 at all. If anything, people are overly harsh to him because he's no longer at the "obviously best worker in the world" levels he was in the 1980s.

I will third Terry Gordy. I think he's cool and pretty good as a young Freebird from what I've seen, but haven't enjoyed him tagging with Hansen in All Japan and really don't like his WCW run in 92 with Doc. What great matches of his in Japan would people point to?

Of the three podcasts made by guys in the business that I listen to at all (Austin, Cornette, Ross), Ross is by far the worst. Here are the reasons why: - The 30-minute preamble is monotonous, boring and dated. Ross harping on about things most of us have been hearing for years is not compelling audio. - Focus on current product despite talking to old-school wrestlers. This just seems pointless and a wasted opportunity a lot of the time. Look, we get it okay, heels need to get heat, but what's the point of asking your guest to confirm what you've said every week since this show started? - Terrible interviewer. As above, he mostly comes across as having a particular axe to grind and mostly uses interviews as a means of getting that point across further. - Goes off-topic into dreadfully dull areas. When Austin does this, it stays enjoyable because Austin's character keeps things entertaining, so much so that I could listen to Austin talk to Eric Biscoff about flying airplanes or going fishing. When it's Ross, he sucks the life out of it, so you're left with dry sports-related chat that I have zero interest in. I pretty much hate The Ross Report but will listen to episodes of particular interest dictated by the guest. So far, no matter who the guest, the show has remained dreadful. Corny, who can be guilty of some of the same shit, and is saddled with a brutally awful co-host (Alison), has nonetheless turned in some STELLAR interviews recently, and Austin gets the best out of whoever is on there. Ross is really bad.