Ricky Jackson

And apparently they originally wanted "Jane" by Jefferson Starship for OC (was this his theme on the indies?) which is a great song, but the Pixies seems like a much better fit

1984 WWF is one of my favorite years for any promotion ever, honestly. Great talent. Great angles. Great feuds. Great matches. Absolutely no idea how much credit Scott gets for it all though The evidence from his 89 run suggests someone not suitable for the changing times, with all the examples already mentioned. Would we have got Flair vs Funk without him? (one of my all-time favorite feuds). Muta's ascension? Probably for the best how things panned out

In an alternate universe you started one in 2018

I've struggled with post-kayfabe wrestling for 20 years or so. When I was a kid/teenager in the 80s and 90s I cared about my favorite wrestlers. I got a high out of them winning just like I did from rooting for my favorite sports teams. My entering adulthood basically coincided with kayfabe being discarded-Montreal, ECW, shoot videos, Mankind's book, etc-and for a while I found that fascinating. But eventually I lost interest in everything. When I look back on it, I'm not sure if I just became too old to care like I did or if wrestling had changed so much that it was hard to care anymore. Anyway, I've returned to wrestling time and again when I found something to care about (besides returning to watch old footage and study history). In 2005 it was actually TNA and Samoa Joe and something that felt fresh. We all know that didnt last. CM Punk and Bryan made me care at times, but it wasn't the same as Bret Hart and, yes, Benoit (pre-WWF, really). NXT and the women made me care again. Okada. Time and again I lost interest. But at some point in the last 5 years I made my peace with it. Wrestling has changed, it changed a long time ago, and I'm not going to complain about how things were so much better in the old days. The wrestling I grew up loving in the 80s and 90s was hated by a lot of fans who grew up loving wrestling in the 60s and 70s. That's just how it goes. I'm old now. Whatever wrestling has become is mostly fine, it's just evolved, like everything does. Except WWE. WWE is shit

I've been considering that for the future. For the Infantino art if nothing else

Could it be with fans for the first time in a year, they want to ensure a positive response/memorable moment they can replay for years and years, which Bryan winning would guarantee. Assuming Bryan is going to win

Well, at least Andre and, I think, Patterson decided to rib Piper for Mania and changed the paint so it wouldn't come off right away, so Piper was stuck looking like that for several days afterward. Or so the story goes

Yeah, I think you would want to save Taker for a Mania when things are "back to normal" or whatever post-pandemic will be

Honestly, Piper vs Bad News should've probably been erased from history ages ago

At this rate I'll get to 2021 in probably two years or so and I'm fine with that

Done and done

Yeah, I was considering trying to sell my collection a few months ago, it's been mostly collecting dust for the last 20 years, but when I started going through it for inventory I fell in love with it again. It's not a huge collection or anything, at least by hardcore standards, maybe at most 1200 books. There are some going for decent money on ebay. If I do sell I'd like to do it in the least amount of transactions possible. We'll see, part of me wants to take advantage of the boom, but another is still too attached to the damn things

Also, attn folks out there with Marvel comic collections from, mostly, the 60s-80s, the back issue market is booming for the first time in forever. The success of the Marvel movies, but really accelerated by WandaVision and Falcon and Winter Soldier, is causing first appearance books to skyrocket. If anyone has any key Captain America issues associated with characters from Falcon and Winter Soldier, and you're not attached to them, now is the time sell

Ok, now it makes sense. I thought it was airing at the same time

Yeah, weird they decided to go head to head with WWE first night back Hope for the best but I'm not going to be along for this ride (I dont watch anything these days, but even if I was, I don't think I would've been throwing $ at this based on the lineup)

Updates... Monster of Frankenstein by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog from 1973 sure looks great but the story is nothing special. And yes I know the first four issues adapt Shelly's novel. The main problem for me is the Monster is a tough character to like. Kinda hard to sympathize with your plight when you keep brutally murdering innocent people! The supporting cast is mediocre. The best issue was #5, with a werewolf story. Ploog is done after #6 and so am I for now. John Buschema takes over the art (briefly) and a 3-part Dracula story is coming up, so I'll probably resume at some point. Englehart's JLA run (139-150, minus issues 147-148) was good but nothing must read. I haven't read much old school JLA ever, although I'm relatively knowledgeable with a general overview of the 60s/70s history of the book. The consensus seems to be this run was a return to form after a very up and down previous dozen or so years. The extra pages afforded Englehart (about 10-12, per his request when he took over) the room to develop the characters in a way for the most part not attempted previously, basically imbuing the book with the spirit of the Avengers. The early issues in the run, dealing with the Manhunters (later adapted into a Justice League animated series multi-parter), a story featuring a cheeky appearance by a "character" from his Avengers run, and a secret origin of the JLA that definitely inspired New Frontier from 2004, were my favorites. Featuring a lot of Marvel-style arguing amongst team members, art by longtime JLA mainstay Dick Dillin that will not be everyone's cup of tea (I'm not a hater, but I'm also not a big fan), plus the return of Red Tornado and random appearances by the Phantom Stranger

Personally, I think if you have a comfortable level of knowledge/viewing of wrestling outside of WWF/WWE from, say, 1987 to present, then I wouldn't worry about feeling like you "haven't watched enough" or have "too many blindspots". Once you start feeling like you need to be a lucha expert, as well as a joshi expert and a shoot-style expert, and be able to go toe to toe with the most knowledgeable folks on this board, then it's no fun and the vote may as well be capped at 10 or so people with the most all-encompassing and eclectic wrestling knowledge

Wow, the remastered footage looks great. And yes, despite the appeal of Raymond screaming his way through the footage, often accompanied by random records playing in the background, sans commentary would be an improvement

Well, as someone on Twitter mentioned, Vince's choices for babyfaces around 86-87 weren't always sound, like Outback Jack, Ken Patera, Dick Slater...

Yep

You would almost think Vince planned on the rejection, considering the Honky Tonk gimmick was a heel everywhere else Ferris worked it, and the way it played out was great, but I guess he thought it screamed babyface for some reason

This match from MLG in particular is hilarious to watch for the pure crowd rejection of baby HTM

Could be it fell in between the Super Bowl and the NBA/NHL playoffs/start of the MLB season, and back in 1985 Vince wanted as much attention from the media as possible for something he was trying to take national. Over the years it became established at that time and there was no point to change it

Not sure, but based on his age in the pic, perhaps Fred Atkins, who helped train Baba https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=2645&bild=1 Edit: Although looking at pics of Atkins, I dont think so. Looks like Baba and Tenryu were in the US in early 1977, Forida, St Louis, KC, Carolina's, etc, so probably somebody associated with those places

My prediction about halfway through (I should've posted it then) was 13-14, with me giving L's to Lesnar and Reigns. I understand why you were more forgiving on those. The Reigns match, with all the spectacle and post-match, is probably better than remembered, but it was at the end of an epic 7 hour slog that had me barely engaged by the main event. I doubt I'll ever rewatch to see if my opinion changes