NintendoLogic

Whats with all the nasty comments about Moolah? I don't mean you particulary but there are alot of message boards that just constantly slag her off which is a bit tasteless when she's dead. She always seemed regulary respected by WWE after all the years she gave. Jesus Christ, dude...

It can't be named after someone who's still alive. I guess they figure picking someone who's died is the safest route since they can't do anything further to embarrass themselves or the company.

Finally, someone who realizes that Negro Casas was actually the least talented of the Casas brothers.

In fairness, what other dead woman can they memorialize? They try to avoid drawing too much attention to people in the business who died of drug overdoses, so Elizabeth, Sherri, Luna, and Chyna are out. Who else is there? Vivian Vachon? Bertha Faye? Those names mean absolutely nothing to the vast majority of fans, and they're pretty sad stories themselves.

Going by past classes, the headliner is always someone with either a good deal of mainstream name recognition or an extended run as a main eventer, preferably both. Looking at prospective future inductees, Rock, HHH, Undertaker, Jericho, Cena, Lesnar, Bryan, and Orton fit the bill for sure. Possibly CM Punk as well since WWE loves to push whenever a prodigal son returns to the fold. I don't think Vince will headline (although if any non-wrestler deserves it, it's him) because he probably won't be inducted until after he dies and they don't like featuring deceased individuals as headliners.

@concrete1992 I saw that you didn't much care for Killer Khan's match against Bob Backlund, so here's a match that I hope presents him in a better light. Khan had an incredibly fascinating career. His overall output isn't that great, but he seemed to produce at least one all-time great match everywhere he went except the WWF.

I believe Memphis was the only territory that actually got paid for TV, although the station did cover production costs in Portland. The arrangement in most territories was that the station would give the promotion TV time for free in exchange for a cut of the house show revenue. The WWF coming in and paying for TV time completely changed the game.

All the big bumps he took gave him brain damage to the point where he couldn't remember spots and finishes. It's the reason he was shunted into old man comedy matches at a relatively young age.

This match was pretty interesting, although mainly of value to All Japan completists. The highlight, of course, was Kawada and Fujiwara squaring off. I was taken aback at how little respect Fujiwara showed to Kawada. He ate him up on the mat and treated his kicks and chops as little more than minor annoyances. Between this and their 2001 match (which I haven't seen, only read Phil's review), I kind of wonder if the two had legit heat. Other than a few minutes of grapplefuck with Fujiwara and Fuchi, there's not much more to this match. It should be noted that Kawada beat Kikuchi with a cross armbreaker. I guess they didn't want to risk him taking a powerbomb in the condition he was in.

Barr was in fact juiced, so it works on a number of levels.

I don't care much about individual use, but I do have a problem with it if enough guys are doing it that it becomes a de facto requirement because not using puts you at a serious disadvantage.

Okada/Ospreay was pretty fantastic, though. It's not a Michael Bay wrestling match at all. It felt more like the Roman Reigns/AJ Styles matches than a typical New Japan main event. In fact, if Reigns and Styles had the exact same match move-for-move (or using equivalent moves like spear instead of Rainmaker), there'd probably be people on this board declaring it the greatest match in WWE history. Unfortunately, Ospreay continues to have the worst vocalizations in the history of wrestling. Is anyone else having trouble with the F4W board? It says I entered an invalid username or password when I try to log in, but I have no trouble logging into the main website.

Interesting note in the latest Observer. It seems that Dave and Cody have a Trading Places-style bet over whether this show will hit their target.

Seconded. What a treat that was to watch. Whenever I get to see Ladd footage I hadn't before, I never cease to be entertained. What makes him great in the WWWF was how just about every other heel had a manager (he had the Grand Wizard, but...) that spoke for them. Meanwhile, Ladd talked, and did it far differently and probably better than a manager could for him. Heck, in this promo, the way he put other heels over as legit (in his own mind, of course) did that job too. He really stood out amongst the heels in the Northeast, IMO. I don't know if I'd say he was ahead of his time with that (although he could be, being among the first African American heels), but he went against the grain in many ways...and excelled doing so. One of the greatest all-time greats. I haven't looked into this in detail, but it could be the case that since every WWWF heel had to have a manager, the ones who were strong talkers tended to be paired with the Grand Wizard. In addition to Ladd, he also managed Superstar Billy Graham, Blackjack Mulligan, and Sgt. Slaughter.

That seemed to be his preferred term of address for whoever was interviewing him. I know he did it to Gordon Solie in Georgia and Bob Caudle in Mid-Atlantic as well.

Also, Bundy is part of the concussion lawsuit.

Paul Heyman Paul Ellering Paul Boesch Paul Bearer Paul Burchill Paul Orndorff Triple H (Paul Levesque) Big Show (Paul Wight) Buddy Rose (Paul Perschmann) PN News (Paul Neu) Paul London Justin Gabriel (Paul Lloyd) Paul Roma

Does it put heat on Brock or the company? I think most fans are smart enough to realize WWE is doing everything it can to manipulate them into accepting Reigns as The Guy come hell or high water. It's more likely that they'll cheer him beating Brock and go back to booing him the next week.

Honestly, the Owen situation was far worse. Taking years off a guy's career, never apologizing even in private, and using his catchphrase to try to get yourself over is really shitty.

Well regarded by like three guys on WKO is not the same as well regarded in general.

I watched this on a whim. As far as I know, this match doesn't have much of a reputation (good or bad), so I wasn't sure what to expect going in. We begin with the obligatory Muta stall-o-rama. On the plus side, he makes a little kid in the front row cry. Things pick up when Hash loses his patience and chases Muta to the outside. In an impressive spot, Muta uses one of Hash's seconds as a springboard to hit a Shining Wizard. He then rams Hash into the post, busting him open. A bloodied Hash's selling once they get back in the ring is out of this world. It makes Muta's beatdown a million times more compelling than it would be otherwise. His punch-drunk comeback was also nicely done. They do lose me a bit in the closing stretch with all the Shining Wizard spam, although Hash hitting one of his own was pretty cool. Hash gets the pin with a brainbuster and wins the Triple Crown. They probably should have trimmed off a few minutes, but I really enjoyed this overall. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a hidden gem, but it was a very pleasant surprise. For those who enjoyed the Muta/Tenryu match in WAR, this was in the same vein.

Also, Han never worked pro-style matches. For all we know, he could've been another Tadao Yasuda in that setting.

What's wrong with Baszler? She's a hell of a worker for her level of experience, and she has the kind of badass aura that can't be manufactured.

For what it's worth, more people voted for the men's Chamber as the best match of the night in the Observer poll.

Richeyedwards, here's something that, based on what I know about your viewing habits, I hope is pretty far outside your wheelhouse. Kung Fu Fighters (Kung Fu/Pete Roberts) vs. Caribbean Sunshine Boys (Johnny Kincaid/Dave Bond), 10/8/77