WingedEagle

Many thanks. On queue for tomorrow!

Will have more thoughts later that likely echo Parv's as I'm at the same point as him in the NJ set. Its a minor point, but there is no wrestler in history who runs the ropes better and with more fury than Tatsumi Fujinami. I could watch him do that without an opponent anywhere near the ring and it would be glorious.

Can't be better than the vegetarian picnic burger at Fresh in Toronto. Haha its all coming together now.

Is the Brisco Florida match online?

A random late 80s date for New Japan sounds right. If we're being loose with defining the NWA, that's also a strong contender in the 85-86 period as you could use some non-GAAP accounting to rope in Crockett, Midsouth and perhaps other. Heh, even All Japan if you want to get tricky right?

He's not holding back in the singles matches; he's wrestling incredibly hard. He's just building the match in a different way. Matwork is not a shackle for chrissakes. It is a major shackle when its not compelling or interesting and leads nowhere. I'm not looking for an amateur exchange out there. In most of the Fujinami series it felt like a crutch to pass time. Admittedly much of that time they'd look to put over the Scorpion, but there was nothing unique in how he built towards it, worked to soften up Fujinami or otherwise do much more than tease it. I say most of the series because there were some exceptions, notably the 8/4/83 match where the exchanges were much more active and there felt like a real struggle with every attempt rather than standing or lying around with a grip on your opponent.

As much as I love Yatsu, it almost feels like something about a singles match holds Choshu back. Does he lack the cardio? Odd sense of pacing? I'm right about where Jerry is on the NJ set with the '84 Gauntlet up next (hopefully later today), and as was the case on the All Japan set, I absolutely always prefer Chosu in tags as opposed to singles. Its as though the shackles come off and he's no longer married to the mat. Just night & day in his approach and performance.

Playlist created. Should get to it by 2018.

This is indeed the the highlight. Forced myself to check out a lot of matches and wrestlers I'd queued up in playlists or elsewhere but never pushed to the top of the list.

Bret's legacy seems just as big, if not more, a beneficiary of the WWE hype machine as Michaels. He led the league in numbers during a dead ball era.

You're ranking 5 guys because you like them regardless of whether there may be better wrestlers out there. if someone else finds a wrestler's historical context adds to their matches then that's very relevant.

For sure. They weren't as determined to stand their ground killing time.

At least you took it for a spin. Thought it was a remarkably unique affair with both doing a phenomenal job working and selling a limb, as well as the absence of any near falls. Somehow thought it'd be throwback enough to be your cup of tea, but different strokes and such.

Just tried that but looks like it still has the every other row / line problem.

Is there anything that can be done about the formatting in the index thread? When pasting into excel it pastes a name on every other row which is quite annoying.

Is that pure cash compensation or total including stock, options, etc?

I think they feel like they already did when he was in The Shield. Yeah? Rock was a lot more over in The Nation than Reigns ever was in The Shield, and they gave him more than a courtesy heel singles run. Not comparing the 2 for many reasons, but relying on the group run to that extent seems like one hell of a shortcut in thinking on their part.

I know they don't want to go there because of the Cena model and digging in their heels, but it seems like a no brainer to give Reigns a heel run before positioning him as ace babyface. Will grow as a performer, recondition the audience and is a path that many have followed to success.

Its over 20 minutes but take this for a spin if you can. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26n828_hiroshi-tanahashi-vs-minoru-suzuki-njpw-king-of-pro-wrestling-10-08-2012_sport

Definitely solid matches but nothing I'd remember the next day.

NXT Sasha Banks was pretty good in 2015. Yet to see anything special in WWE rings.

One could, and I've made the case myself. However, remember that this isn't designed to be a "fair" system, it's designed to be a system that measures the six things that *I* think the GWE should have. It started with the case I made for Flair, taking into account the arguments put forward by Will for Lawler and by Dylan for Funk, and worked backwards. My argument against Misawa and co is *specifically* that the scope of their careers is narrow, so it is not entirely innocent that they are getting fucked in the A category. (lol "fucked in the A", ha ha). Chad also knows this, of course. And I'd expect him to make the counters he is. But it's also the case that he does not value that A category as much as other people. Its a fair point and while I obviously don't value Funk's runs relative to the AJ crew quite so highly, its your system and subject to your opinions and evaluations. It just so happens you've peeled back the curtain on your process so you're getting more pointed questioning than other folks.

Playing devil's advocate, couldn't one make a case penalizing Funk for not lasting as long in place as top stars in All Japan or elsewhere? Undoubtedly kept himself and things fresh by moving around, but on the other hand where did he stick it out every week and month through ups and downs?

I'd think Akiyama would earn a heel point for his work as a blonde in New Japan G1 alone. Great stuff there.