NintendoLogic

I noticed you described Inoki/Fujinami vs. Choshu/Saito on 5/24/84 as "a good 20 minute match that would have been a great 15 minutes." As it turns out, such a match exists. It's easy to find on Dailymotion if you can bring yourself to step outside the NJPW World cocoon. It even has a clean finish.

Truth be told, I always found Piper annoying, like Robin Williams at his most coked-up. I'd take Orton/Cena at Summerslam 2007 over Piper's entire career. Regardless, it's pretty ridiculous that Orton's been a top guy for nearly two decades without interruption except for injuries and Wellness suspensions. And it's not like he had a slow ascent to the top. He was an undercard guy for a few months after joining the main roster, got injured, and immediately joined Evolution after returning. I can't think of any other wrestler who had as long a run as a main eventer in one company without ever working anywhere else.

I think the opposite is closer to the truth. To reiterate what I said earlier, wrestling-is-art advocates seem to be driven by status anxiety over being interested in something widely seen as sleazy and lowbrow. They're trying to link it with high culture in an attempt to imbue it with intellectual prestige. Wrestling may fall under a broad technical definition of art, but "art" in ordinary usage refers to high art, and nobody can credibly claim that pro wrestling meets that definition. Linking wrestling with art won't elevate the perception of wrestling, it'll degrade the perception of art.

Did she address "each and every one of you"?

https://www.thewrap.com/sasha-banks-return-wwe-raw-vs-natalya-exclusive-video/ Both an official WWE Twitter account and the wwe.com Raw preview are promoting an article from a dirtsheet about how the fictional character portrayed by Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado is being scripted to explain her motivations. Gee, I hope Mercedes doesn't refuse to follow the script. Also, how is Natalya cleared to wrestle? Wasn't her arm in a sling last week?

That looks kind of like CMLL's En Busca de un Idolo.

The recent kerfuffle over Jordynne Grace's tweet that pro wrestling should be considered a performance art and not a sport reminded me of the conversation in this thread. Discussions about whether pro wrestling is art tend to go around in circles, so I'll just say I think El-P hit the nail on the head when he said that attempts to classify it as such are status anxiety-driven attempts to imbue wrestling with the prestige of high culture rather than value-neutral intellectual judgments. But I want to address the other half of the equation. Why shouldn't pro wrestling be considered a sport? Because the outcomes are fixed? Does boxers taking dives make boxing not a sport? To put it another way, which is more of a sport, pro wrestling or chess? To me at least, physical exertion is more of an essential element than lack of predetermined outcomes. If pressed, I'd say that pro wrestling is neither sport nor performance art, but it's far closer to the former than the latter.

I don't know if this match has been in wide circulation before, but it got uploaded to Dailymotion earlier this month, and it's off-the-charts great. If it's not the best New Japan tag of the 80s, it's absolutely in the conversation. The rough uncooperative grappling in the opening minutes sets the tone, as they maintain the intensity throughout and never work like they're going through the motions. I liked how whenever Choshu or Saito got in trouble, they'd bullrush the opponent into their corner to set up their double-teams and cheap shots. It wasn't Southern-style cutting the ring in half, more like 90s All Japan style in embryonic form. Saito's stomps were incredibly vicious, particularly toward the end when it seemed like he was trying to sever Inoki's spine. Fujinami's selling was unfortunately rather spotty, but Inoki's selling down the stretch made up for it. Fantastic finish, as Inoki was clearly on his last legs and his desperation enzuigiris were his only hope.

https://www.dailymotion.com/classicsrevival This channel is a treasure trove of dope 80s Japanese matches, most of which are in glorious 60fps. In particular, there's an Inoki/Fujinami vs. Choshu/Saito match that's an unequivocal must-see.

https://www.f4wonline.com/aew-news/fenix-suffers-leg-injury-big-time-wrestling-show-290811 Man, AEW just can't catch a break (no pun intended). I have to think they're going to start seriously curtailing outside work by wrestlers they have under contract once the show on TNT is up and running.

People are getting hung up on semantics. Popping doesn't mean standing up and cheering. It means any kind of audible reaction. I haven't been to the movies in years, but when I saw X-Men: First Class, the audience popped when Kevin Bacon appeared on the screen for the first time.

Kimber Lee was Abbey Laith in NXT and the Mae Young Classic.

For those who are completely lost, start here. I have no clue what any of this has to do with Matt LeBlanc.

That was quick.

There's always been an inherent tension with the heel authority figure. If he comes out on top, he get his hand-picked corporate champion. If he doesn't, the rebellious babyface he's opposing makes him a lot of money. When you get right down to it, he wins either way. The concept should have been retired a long time ago before the weight of those tensions caused it to collapse upon itself.

A pretty big step down from the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Memphis Maniax, IMO.

I read up on what happened on Smackdown. Did Kevin Owens seriously apologize to Shane?

So it looks like Ronda was dangerously close to coming back as Mocho Rousey. https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/27428063/rousey-nearly-loses-finger-filming-tv-show

Brand spanking new #1 for 2009. What do you know, another hidden gem Suzuki tag. Also updated my top three for 2010.

One thing I've learned from scouring 2000s puro is that Minoru Suzuki consistently delivers the goods in tag matches. Suzuki and Kea come in with a clear game plan: neutralize the heavy hitter Suwama and isolate the junior Kondo. The opening minutes are centered around Suzuki goading Suwama into blowing his stack, resulting in him eating a spike piledriver on the floor. When Suwama is the legal man, Suzuki and Kea go crazy with blind tags, even catching him off-guard with a fake blind tag. Suwama and Kondo string together a nice run of offense near the end, but Suwama's exuberance once again leads to him being taken out and Kondo is overwhelmed by the numbers game. Lots of hard-hitting action as well as quite a few nifty details that aren't easily picked up on initial viewing, making rewatching a rewarding experience. One of the few highlights of the Pro Wrestling Love era.

I downloaded this on a whim from Ditch's website and almost immediately had buyer's remorse when I saw that the file was 387 MB. I certainly wasn't expecting a bona fide classic, but that's what this ended up being. For those who approach long Tanahashi matches with trepidation, rest assured that this is nothing like his usual fare. The veteran outsiders control probably 90% of the match, and they put the young guns through the wringer with a combination of technique, brute force, and underhanded tactics. It was like watching Jumbo and Fuchi torture Kobashi and Kikuchi. It's easy to forget that Nakamura used to do moonsaults and corkscrew planchas. The combination triangle choke/Shining Wizard was a pretty kickass spot. The lack of crowd heat for most of the match hurt it somewhat, but the work in the ring was excellent. Bonus points for Tanahashi continuing to sell the leg after the match.

Wasn't Flair a babyface in the Carolinas in 1984?

New post-G1 top three for 2019 as well as an updated top three for 2017 and 2018. In addition, I decided to select a MOTY for every year going back to 1970 but only do a top 3 from 1980 on.

Tired: Sports entertainment Wired: Performance fighting

According to the latest Observer, visa issues are preventing AAA from announcing an MSG card. The current administration has made the process harder for everyone but especially workers coming from Mexico. Approval used to take about a month, but there are some that still have yet to be approved after eight months. So an AAA show being a disorganized mess might not actually be their fault this time. Well, not entirely.