NintendoLogic

So it looks like they decided to do the exact opposite of what I predicted. Guess they figured no one would be watching no matter what they did so why not mail it in.

The debate is from 9 until 10:30. I'm curious to see if they'll throw a bunch of stuff against the wall to try to keep people from switching over. At the very least, I expect them to announce a killer main event to entice people to switch back.

Are Finn Balor and Neville going to be put in the cruiserweight division? If not, it looks like Perkins, Kendrick, and the like aren't good enough to hang with the real stars. If so, it'll seem like a demotion, especially considering that Neville has been basically enhancement talent for a while now.

Insomuch that I do honestly believe, there can be no place in the world, where such intolerable abortions, begotten of the sculptor’s chisel, are to be found in such profusion, as in Rome. -Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy Of all the things to get worked up over, this is among the dumbest. It's up there with being offended by the world niggardly. In fact, Julian Bond put it best in response to the latter controversy: "You hate to think you have to censor your language to meet other people's lack of understanding."

What's ignorant is not knowing that abortion has been used in a non-medical context to describe artistic atrocities for centuries.

Dave on the F4W board: I asked if Mistico would be considered a great draw, and here's how he replied: I think it's safe to say that if Mistico isn't a slam dunk based on drawing power, Big Daddy and JYD don't have much of a shot.

It's nice to see that people bending over backwards to find things to be triggered by isn't just a recent phenomenon.

The thing is, Dave has bent over backwards in the past trying to insist that guys using the n-word as a "business term" were just trying to fit in to their environment and had no idea that people had a problem with it until well after the fact. I quoted what he wrote in the Observer a while back: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/9754-dave-meltzer-stuff/page-259&do=findComment&comment=5639453

Note that the Santo doodle is region-specific. The UK domain is observing the 358th anniversary of tea in the UK.

I doubt that's it, since he knows basically nothing about American football. Just today, he admitted to having no familiarity with Kevin Greene outside of WCW.

Eh, I remember Kevin's punches looking good in a match I saw a month or so ago. I can't remember if it was Raw or a PPV. What struck me was the fact that he throws them at a downward angle, which I think is the key to a good worked punch.

Wouldn't Curt Hennig be the layman's pick for top babyface in mid-80s AWA?

Work is quantifiable in the form of Wrestler of the Year/Most Outstanding Wrestler awards and the like. For that reason, I find statements like "the perception of being a good worker is more important than actually being a good worker" nonsensical. Working ability isn't some free-floating abstraction that exists independent of critical opinion. If lots of people think you're a great worker, you are, at least on a certain level. I'm not saying that people shouldn't have their own opinions about who's a great worker and who isn't. But I think that for Hall of Fame purposes, overall consensus should override personal views. To me, disregarding critical consensus on a wrestler's work because you're not a fan is kind of like disregarding a wrestler's drawing ability because you wouldn't buy a ticket to see them. Also, I'd like to see an affirmative argument for Big Daddy and JYD as HOF-level draws rather than simply assuming it to be the case. On the last list I saw of top draws of the 80s, JYD wasn't even as big a draw as Sgt. Slaughter and Paul Orndorff.

Gary Hart and Jerry Jarrett both wrestled for a good length of time, but that's not why they're on the ballot. I get what you're saying, but it seems a bit nitpicky to me. Actually, that gets me thinking. Who had HOF-worthy careers as both a wrestler and a promoter? Baba, Inoki, Verne Gagne for sure. Eddie Graham? Bill Watts? Fritz Von Erich? Who else?

Kevin Owens.

I don't know that pre-WWE body of work is necessarily lopsided in Bryan's favor. AJ certainly has more absolute dreck to his name, but his very best work compares favorably to Bryan's. And I would argue that AJ's run in New Japan was better than any run of equivalent length Bryan had in ROH.

I think it's a mistake to say that Dragon Gate or whoever else don't value psychology. Every wrestling match has psychology by definition. It may not be the kind of psychology you prefer or are accustomed to, but it exists.

You could fill a list like this with just Dangerous Alliance-era WCW TV matches. In particular, I'd include the following: Sting/Steamboat/Windham/Rhodes vs. Rude/Arn/Eaton/Zbyszko (2/22/92) Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes (5/30/92) Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham (6/6/92)

Bret Hart vs. Ricky Steamboat (Boston Garden) Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero (King of the Ring) Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Superbrawl) Big Bossman's matches in the 1993 RWTL Burning vs. No Fear (10/30/99)

The text of the Wellness Policy is available on WWE's corporate website. Here's what it says about prescriptions: In other words, prescriptions have to be pre-approved. You can't just get a prescription from a mark doctor and pull it out if you pop hot. The issue isn't having the paperwork in your physical possession at all times. It's submitting the paperwork to the front office in a timely manner.

Ambrose getting booed for laying out Cena? In Philly? Are my ears deceiving me?

After going over my list of 100 favorite matches and putting some more thought into it, I've decided to update and expand my list. Here are my picks: ***** Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (3/23/81) Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (6/6/83) MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83) Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (1/28/86) Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers (8/30/86) Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada (12/16/88) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (2/20/89) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (7/23/89) Stan Hansen/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/6/89) Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi (10/19/90) Vader vs. Sting (7/12/92) Vader vs. Sting (12/28/92) Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (2/28/93) Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (4/2/93) Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (6/13/93) Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (7/29/93) Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (12/3/93) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (6/3/94) Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (6/9/95) Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (11/17/96) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (1/20/97) Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (3/23/97) Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (10/26/97) Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (2/15/04) ****3/4 Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera (5/19/80) Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik (6/16/84) Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (12/30/85) Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/9/87) Tatsumi Fujinami/Riki Choshu/Akira Maeda/Kengo Kimura/Super Strong Machine vs. Antonio Inoki/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Seiji Sakaguchi/Kantaro Hoshino/Keiji Mutoh (8/19/87) Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (8/10/89) El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (1/13/91) Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat vs. Enforcers (11/19/91) Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin/Larry Zbyszko (2/29/92) Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (5/25/92) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (6/20/92) Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (3/20/94) Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (4/17/94) Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (11/20/94) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (4/15/95) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (7/24/95) Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (9/22/96) El Hijo del Santo/Scorpio Jr./Bestia Salvaje vs. Negro Casas/El Dandy/Hector Garza (11/29/96) Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (7/24/98) Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (8/2/98) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (2/27/00) Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (8/19/01) Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (11/1/03) Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (4/25/04) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (6/23/05) John Cena vs. Umaga (1/28/07) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (4/7/13) CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (8/18/13)

I don't think anyone would dispute that women's wrestling in WWE overall is leagues better now than it was pre-2005. But when you essentially say that there were no great women's matches at all before then, you're opening yourself up.

I liked the six-pack match, but JBA/Glamour Girls at MSG blows it out of the water.

AJ Styles is now the second man to be IWGP champion and WWE champion. What a time to be alive.