Ricky Jackson

I really wish I didn't read that.

Loved the musical tribute for Tully at the end.

Brody was already being mythologized by the Apter mags well before his death and the Meltzer bio as a special type of performer. Brody pictures were all over the mags and he was the favorite wrestler of heel columnist Eddie Ellner (who I thought was a worked writer like Matt Brock for some reason, but then there is this http://www.layogamagazine.com/issue43/depa...ddie_ellner.htm). The wrestling mags had a lot of influence back then.

I agree with a lot of the choices already discussed, so I'll throw out some names that haven't been mentioned. A lot of this is wishful thinking, since the footage is sparse: The Destroyer Really love what I've seen of his work. Dictionary definition perfect heel and mat wrestler. I love guys like this who wrestle a style that is all but extinct, on a mainstream North American level anyway. Also love the old school masked guys. Kendo Nagasaki That BBC doc on British wrestling really got me excited about this guy. I'm just a big fan of the whole mystery and living the gimmick side of him and need to track down some of his work. Johnny Valentine Similar to the Destroyer, as I'm intrigued by the old school style of work. I'm sure some of his legend has been exaggerated, but whatever. I love the idea of a guy working a match that at first bores the shit out of the crowd with lengthy holds and such, but by the end he has basically willed them to believe he is legit and the toughest motherfucker around. Dutch Savage Not sure what exists of his prime years, but that PBS Portland doc from the 70s made him look like a Clint Eastwood-type tough as nails, badass man's man defending the wilds of the Northwest from scum like Bull Ramos and the Iron Sheik. And I love how his specialty was the Coal Miner's Glove Match. Damien Sandow I'll throw out some love for a new WWE guy who captures the spirit of the old days. I've been almost totally off WWE for months now, but I've decided to keep my eye on a few of the new guys they're pushing lately, and Sandow is my fave of the bunch. Just a great breath of fresh air from what I've seen of him, and I need to see more.

Oh, and I'm also on board with Johnny's dislike of post Mania III Roddy Piper. As much as I love the guy for his 70s-1987 work (as in top ten all-time for me), I can't stand his later stuff, especially his babyface commentary.

For the longest time WWF/WCW era Jim Duggan was the wrestler I disliked--hated actually--more than any other. Probably still do. Does anyone here find him appealing? I'm not sure if this should technically count, but I generally hate the McMahon family as performers, even Vince. Their takeover of WWF TV in the late-90s played a big part in my losing interest in wrestling for a long time.

I had no idea Nagasaki's career story was so interesting until I watched the doc.

AJ might actually get over as a heel if they remake her as the shrieking bitch who stomps and kicks her man's opponent while they're down (but then hides behind Big E if anyone comes back at her because if she's willing to fight men like Sherri did the fans will cheer her). If their plan is for her to just to make sexy faces and skip around Dolph after he wins this heel turn will be a dud. I guess AJ is a notch or two above the average Diva as an overall performer, but to me she is mostly just a cute chick who looks good in a pair of skimpy jean shorts.

I guess that means Matt D has become the resident Demolition and Kane champion by default.

Thanks for sharing man. It was a really enjoyable look at an area of wrestling I knew next to nothing about. I especially liked the parts on Street and Nagasaki.

I will say this about current WWE: they seem much more committed to getting new guys over than they were a few years ago.

At this point I would be kind of surprised if anyone other than Ryback wins the Rumble.

Cena-Rock seems set in stone. Brock-HHH seems set in stone. Ryback-Show makes sense. Taker-Punk is weird to me. Does Punk go into Mania as champ? If so, and assuming there is no chance of the Streak ending, does Taker coming out of Mania as WWE champ make sense? But if Punk loses the strap to Rock at the Rumble, doesn't that water down a potential match with Taker at Mania? Maybe you could have Taker win the strap from Punk at Mania, get jumped and beaten down by the Shield on Raw the next day, and have Ziggler run in and cash in the briefcase?

I think you may be forgetting Ziggler won it at the MITB ppv, which was in July (I think), and not Mania. Anyway, I'm really not the one to give a definitive answer because I've hardly watched any WWE in months. Definitely going to track down the TLC match, though.

That'd actually be a cool concept if it was better organized & not on facebook Yeah, it's not perfect. Maybe we could adapt the idea for a thread here or something.

Here's something you guys might enjoy The Great 1,024 Wrestler Tournament

Wrestling isn't a sport, so it's actually completely different. There were no pennants or World Series for Sting to win, and the championships he did win were all props. Packing houses is not the fake wrestling equivalent of winning titles unless you're a promoter. Glad I could help. Well, there was a ? at the end of my statement for a reason. Anyway, I'm not the knucklehead who compared Sting to Banks in the first place, so don't shoot the messenger.

So not winning a pennant or World Series but being a great player and nice guy in baseball = Not drawing on top* and being an at times good but usually average and sometimes worse worker and nice guy in wrestling? The Sting HoF debate and cockroaches are the only things that will survive a nuclear holocaust. *yes I know, except for 97.

I've linked to this channel before http://www.youtube.com/user/CLASSiC1PW A lot of stuff from here gets taken down, but right now it's pretty loaded with tons of old stuff and Japanese matches.

"The AWA was lame" seems to have been a default opinion by many wrestling fans for years and years, based on wrestlers bad mouthing Verne in shoots as being out of touch by the late-80s (the Rockers/rocking-chair story from Michaels), the ESPN show often coming off as looking minor league compared to WWF and Crockett/WCW TV, and a lot of poor booking choices during the last few years. Meltzer seemed to bash the AWA with every chance he got in the 80s, and even the Apter mags regularly ripped the AWA at the same time. I would guess that outside of pockets of revisionism here and there, "the AWA was lame" is still a pretty standard opinion by many fans, unfortunately.

The history geek in me loves this quote. I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate, but fuck it, it sounds good.

I don't think I had ever seen this before stumbling upon it online a few months ago (please don't shun me for being too cheap to buy the yearbook ). Say what you will about wrestling, Vince and all the tasteless angles over the years, there was something about this segment I found touching, even beautiful. Even if I'm looking through rose coloured glasses, it really made me miss the days of the WWF presenting little morality plays like this where the line between good and bad was clearly drawn. Vince on commentary is at his best, punctuating the angle with his "You can't buy the Bossman's dignity" line. A great example of why I love pro wrestling.

The Heels is very good. I skimmed Andre's bio once and it didn't seem very interesting. A friend gave me his copy of Larry's book, which he disliked, and it has sat on my shelf ever since. I just bought Shooters and have only skimmed through a few parts, but it looks like a top notch wrestling history book and everybody is raving about it. Also skimmed through Legends of Pro Wrestling and it looked skippable. If you haven't read Hornbaker's National Wrestling Alliance book I recommend it.

I'm glad somebody got it, because I don't even understand what point blueminister was trying to make with that sentence.

Billy Graham's book, while good, probably didn't make much of a sales dent either and it won the award. BTW, I bought your book a couple days ago and plan on getting into it as soon as a gap in my reading schedule opens (I'm stupidly trying to read like 4-5 books at the same time right now).