NintendoLogic

I just received the following email: Hi, This is to inform you that your subscription with National Wrestling Alliance has ended. Your recurring payment has stopped because National Wrestling Alliance no longer offers this specific subscription. Check out their website on National Wrestling Alliance in order to understand how to get access to their premium content. -- Thanks, The Cleeng Team I can still watch videos for the time being, so we'll see.

If I'm not mistaken, DiBiase started with the WWF at the end of May. How about scrapping the Million Dollar Man gimmick, bringing him in as a babyface, and pushing him to the top right away? Having a long-term heel champion would have been a bad idea. One of the WWF's key advantages was that its world champion was booked much stronger than the NWA champion. Having a champ who constantly retained in screwjob fashion would have undercut that.

Glad I'm not the only one who loved this match. Maybe it's because I went in with subterranean expectations, but it overdelivered in a big way. It would've been a MOTYC if Jinder's arm work had been more interesting.

I don't think it's that big a problem in this case. Smackdown is loaded with babyface challengers, so Mahal can spend some time running through them while they figure things out. You can make the comparison to JBL, but there's a big difference in that I don't see a Cena waiting in the wings. The closest would probably be Nakamura.

Sooo....that match was actually pretty fucking awesome. Is Jinder really that good or is Bray Wyatt that bad?

The funny thing is that the biggest draw on the indies right now is Cody Rhodes.

People have been saying this about indy wrestling for more than a decade. By that definition, current WWE is more indy than most actual indies.

Trump called James Comey a "showboat" and a "grandstander" as part of his rationale for firing him. We've reached the point where the President of the United States is explaining his actions by quoting Randy Savage promos.

Troy Aikman sustained a concussion in the NFC championship game in 1994 and started in the Super Bowl the next week.

To me at least, there's a distinction between stipulation matches and gimmick matches. Cage matches in general feel like more violent versions of a standard wrestling match. It's not a theory I've rigorously developed, though.

Depending on how loosely one defines gimmick match, the cage match with Matt Hardy at Unforgiven is really good. And I haven't seen the Del Rio match at WM27 since it happened, but I remember thinking at the time that it was the best match on the show.

I've decided to up the ante and pick the top three for each year. As always, my selections are tentative and subject to change. 1980 1. Dynamite Kid vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, 2/5 2. Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera, 5/19 3. Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel, 12/11 1981 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk, 3/23 2. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson, 5/4 3. The Funks vs. Bruiser Brody/Jimmy Snuka, 12/13 1982 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell, 3/22 2. Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer, 10/2 3. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich, 8/15 1983 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee, 6/6 2. MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana, 9/23 3. Marty Jones vs. Dynamite Kid, 2/5 1984 1. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Shiek, 6/16 2. Terry Gordy vs. Killer Khan, 11/22 3. Tony Salazar vs. Herodes, 3/2 1985 1. Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase, 3/22 2. Ted DiBiase vs. Dick Murdoch, 12/31 3. Ricky Steamboat/Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine/Brutus Beefcake, 4/21 1986 1. Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu, 1/28 2. Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers, 8/30 3. Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees, 2/17 1987 1. Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, 6/9 2. Tatsumi Fujinami/Riki Choshu/Akira Maeda/Kengo Kimura/Super Strong Machine vs. Antonio Inoki/Yoshiaki Fuijwara/Seiji Sakaguchi/Kantaro Hoshino/Keiji Mutoh, 8/19 3. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, 2/15 1988 1. Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada, 12/16 2. Lex Luger/Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard, 3/27 3. Tatsumi Fujinami/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/Keiichi Yamada vs. Riki Choshu/Masa Saito/Hiro Saito/Super Strong Machine/Kuniaki Kobayashi, 9/12 1989 1. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano, 8/10 2. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk, 7/23 3. Stan Hansen/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu, 12/6 1990 1. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi, 10/19 2. Rock & Roll Express vs. Midnight Express, 2/25 3. Steiner Brothers vs. Nasty Boys, 10/27 1991 1. Vader vs. Keiji Mutoh, 8/10 2. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue, 11/29 3. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi, 10/15 1992 1. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat, 6/20 2. Genichiro Tenryu/Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura, 10/23 3. Vader vs. Sting, 12/28 1993 1. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori, 4/2 2. Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue, 12/3 3. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada, 2/28 1994 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada, 6/3 2. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, 3/20 3. Shawn Michaels/Diesel vs. Razor Ramon/123 Kid, 10/30 1995 1. Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue, 6/9 2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue, 4/15 3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada, 7/24 1996 1. Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue, 5/23 2. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, 11/17 3. Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind, 9/22 1997 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi, 1/20 2. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, 3/23 3. Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr., 10/26 1998 1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama, 7/24 2. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki, 8/2 3. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen/Vader, 12/5 1999 1. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen/Akira Taue, 12/3 2. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama/Takao Omori, 10/30 3. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Alexander Otsuka, 4/26 2000 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama, 2/27 2. Toshiaki Kawada/Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata/Takashi Iizuka, 12/14 3. Vader vs. Jun Akiyama, 1/23 2001 1. Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle, 8/19 2. Steve Austin vs. The Rock, 4/1 3. Chris Jericho/Chris Benoit vs. Steve Austin/HHH, 5/21 2002 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, 9/23 2. Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, 10/20 3. Jushin Liger/Wataru Inoue vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru, 2/17 2003 1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa, 11/1 2. Eddie Guerrero/Tajiri vs. Team Angle, 5/22 3. Yuji Nagata vs. Akira Taue, 6/6 2004 1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, 4/25 2. Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar, 2/15 3. Mitsuharu Misawa/Yoshinari Ogawa vs. KENTA/Naomichi Marufuji, 4/25 2005 1. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles, 12/11 2. Genichiro Tenryu/Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi/Go Shiozaki, 4/24 3. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio, 6/23 2006 1. Yoshihiro Takayama/Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata/Naofumi Yamamoto, 10/9 2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima, 3/5 3. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels, 1/15 2007 1. John Cena vs. Umaga, 1/28 2. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima, 8/25 3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata, 4/13 2008 1. Kensuke Sasaki vs. KENTA, 7/18 2. Blue Panther vs. Villano V, 9/19 3. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness, 2/23 2009 1. Minoru Suzuki/Taiyo Kea vs. Suwama/Shuji Kondo, 3/14 2. Christian vs. Jack Swagger, 2/24 3. Bryan Danielson/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw, 9/13 2010 1. LA Park vs. El Mesias, 12/5 2. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Original Tiger Mask, 3/18 3. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Takeshi Ono, 9/26 2011 1. Dick Togo vs. Antonio Honda, 1/30 2. Yoshihiro Takayama vs. KENTA, 1/15 3. William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose, 11/6 2012 1. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus, 4/29 2. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, 4/29 3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki, 10/8 2013 1. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar, 8/18 2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, 4/7 3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe, 6/22 2014 1. AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki, 8/1 2. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma, 8/3 3. Hirooki Goto/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata/Tomoaki Honma, 6/21 2015 1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, 3/29 2. AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi, 4/5 3. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns, 2/22 2016 1. The Revival vs. #DIY, 11/19 2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii, 8/6 3. Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles, 5/1 2017 1. Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles, 11/19 2. Kento Miyahara vs. Shuji Ishikawa, 8/27 3. Kazuchika Okada/Gedo vs. Taka Michinoku/Kota Ibushi, 9/4 2018 1. Katsuhiko Nakajima/Masa Kitamiya vs. Go Shiozaki/Kaito Kiyomiya, 5/29 2. Aja Kong vs. Hikaru Shida, 9/17 2. AJ Styles vs. Rusev, 7/15 2019 1. LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu, 11/2 2. Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes, 5/25 3. Minoru Suzuki/Taiyo Kea vs. Suwama/Shuji Kondo, 11/15 2020 1. WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, 10/29 2. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan, 6/12 3. Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak, 3/8 2021 1. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston, 11/13 2. Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage, 1/13 3. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa, 4/7 2022 1. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson, 1/5 2. Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair, 4/2 3. CM Punk vs. Dustin Rhodes, 4/20 2023 1. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. The Usos, 4/1 2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya, 2/21 3. Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe, 3/31 2024 1. Iyo Sky vs. Utami Hayashishita, 7/13 2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson, 1/4 3. Gunther vs. Sheamus, 5/6

Do in-laws count? If so, Verne Gagne and Larry Zbyszko are worthy of consideration.

There's an inherent conflict between wrestling as simulated combat sport and wrestling as narrative entertainment. A wrestler shrugging off an injury to a body part or working over a limb for a few minutes before forgetting about it might be less compelling from a storytelling standpoint, but it's arguably more realistic. It's up to the viewer to decide which is more enjoyable. Personally, while I would never say that there's only one correct way to sell a limb injury, I do expect some kind of acknowledgment of a lengthy sustained assault on a body part. Part of the problem is the increasingly finisher-centric nature of wrestling. A lot of the time, it feels like anything that isn't a direct attempt to set up a finisher is just done to kill time.

I think that's more because Wyatt has no discernible goals or motivation, so it's hard to say what getting comeuppance would even consist of.

The Rock isn't an actual member of the Anoa'i family. He's presented as one because Peter Maivia and Afa and Sika's father were blood brothers, but that's not how biology works. EDIT: By "he," I meant Peter Maivia.

The F4W board appears to have completely turned on Seth Rollins. I checked the Payback thread over there, and there's a ton of posts saying in essence that he's a spot machine with no interest in selling or psychology. Apparently, having his injured leg worked over for an eternity at Wrestlemania and then showing up on Raw the next night with no apparent ill effects was the last straw.

Has there ever been another Catch-as-Catch-Can Match like the one between Malenko and Kidman at Souled Out?

I don't think it's so much that as the fact that the things he's great at, like timing and positioning, are a big deal to other wrestlers but aren't necessarily noticed by fans. Those things aren't going to make a match great by themselves, but their absence can cause a match to fall apart. That's why even if he doesn't have that many matches that are transcendently great, he has even fewer matches that are absolutely wretched.

I actually have Okada/Suzuki as the New Japan MOTY by a pretty good margin, but I agree it's not as good as Okada's matches with Tanahashi/Ishii/Marufuji the previous year. In fact, I kind of feel like the New Japan style as a whole has degenerated since Tanahashi was demoted as a tippy top guy in favor of the likes of Omega and Naito. There seems to be more emphasis on big spots for the sake of big spots and going long for the sake of going long.

Dave threw some vintage shade at Jinder "Traps Don't Lie" Mahal in the latest issue.

I hope it won't break your heart that I changed my pick for 2008.

I just found out what "seconds away, round X" means. I thought the ring announcer was letting the audience know that the beginning of the round was only seconds away, but he was actually instructing the ringside seconds to leave the ring. That's from boxing, right?

Except his dad is part of the WWE concussion lawsuit.

Added top two for every year going back to 1972.