Yo-Yo's Roomie

I thought it was right in line with Shawn's usual shitty selling. Nothing exceptional. I was more annoyed that they spent 25 minutes on that angle.

I think they have another match a couple of nights later or something where Savage doesn't sell the leg at all. I could be remembering wrong though.

When I did my big ranking of all the Summerslam matches, I had Kane Vs Matt Hardy from Summerslam 2004 as the 9th best Summerslam match ever. It's short and explosive, with Matt busting out some big offence to put Kane away quickly, and Kane doing a great job playing the monster taken by surprise by his spunky opponent. I then had Kane Vs Finlay from Summerslam 2007 as the 21st best Summerslam match ever. These two always worked well together, I think, and this was a strong brawl with Kane doing a really good job working vulnerable with taped up ribs.

Bret was a wrestler though. A technician. It never felt like a fluke win to me. Just Bret outwrestling the guy.

Bret was really good at this. It seems like more of his high profile wins were by alternative means to the Sharpshooter, whereas the Sharpshooter was the move he'd use to put away opponents in more routine matches. There's the push off the turnbuckle finish he used against Piper and Austin which was always one of my favourites, he beat Diesel with a small package for his third world championship, and I also liked the finish against Hakushi where he countered a back suplex into a victory roll. I liked how Fujinami had a plethora of roll ups he used to win matches, to the point that every time he tried one in a match you brought it as a nearfall. What I don't like about current wrestling (WWE at least), which kinda ties in, is that there is no hierarchy in place in terms of what punishment a wrestler can take. It's like, all moves have just about the same effect on every opponent, and it shouldn't be that way. If Sheamus hit Tyson Kidd with the White Noise, Kidd would probably kick out at 2, just because the match has to end with the Brogue Kick (I know Sheamus doesn't go for covers off the White Noise- just an example). I suppose Undertaker is someone who used his signature moves well, in that there was a certain level of guy that he'd put away with a chokeslam, a certain level who you knew wasn't going to kick out of a Last Ride, and then in the really big matches against the toughest opponents, only the Tombstone would suffice.

He was laughing it up all through the segment, and then when Piper and Lauper got emotional (over Captain Lou) he started the whole "I'm gonna be sick" routine. Then, after it was done, he makes this big apology on behalf of everyone involved in the show for "one of the worst segments in the history of Raw".

Serious question for Matt D, who I think watches wrestling a lot differently to many people, and because of which I always enjoy reading his thoughts: Would you rather watch a guy challenge for the title who you think is pretty worthless as a wrestler, but has been booked as a credible challenger (I know Kane doesn't fit this criteria for you, or for me either, for the record), or a guy who you think is great, but hasn't really been booked credibly at all? I wish I had examples, but I don't really know who you think is good (or rather, who you think is not good, since you generally seem to be positive in your comments).

I still think, all things being equal, the fans are more likely to get behind a big guy than a smaller guy. Not necessarily a bodybuilder, but someone who looks big and powerful. Rey is an anomoly, because he's so spectacular and charismatic, but take, say, Jamie Noble, who's a good wrestler and good performer, but works a much more conservative style. You'll have a hard job convincing me that he could get over beyond a certain level, in relation to a similarly (or even lesser) skilled bigger guy.

I find myself enjoying Hogan more and more as the years go on. I wouldn't want to watch his matches all the time, and if he was currently in his prime and all over Raw and Smackdown, I have no doubt that I would hate him. But going back and watching his matches when the occassion presents itself (like when I did my big rewatch of all the Wrestlemania/Summerslam shows, or more recently, watching the NJ set), I found myself digging Hogan more often than not. To answer the question, I like the Inoki match from the NJ set, and I'm a big fan of the Slaughter match from Mania 7, featuring the best Hulk-Up ever.

This is absolutely true, and always shocks me. I happened to be watching a video of ICP-related wrestling the other day (don't ask), and the Headbangers were getting heat for beating up ICP that Dolph, Swagger, Barrett, Cody, and on and on, would kill for nowadays.