WingedEagle

Have to imagine he is not in fact the sole owner now.

LA Park vs. El Dandy (ENESMA 10/15/2004) So I'm finally making headway on a playlist for GWE purposes. Park is one of my favorite luchadors and brawlers, and I'm also a big fan of Dandy. But they didn't brawl and neither could deliver a mat classic at this point. Park pulled out a couple decent dives but this felt like they were trying to stretch about 12 minutes worth of action into a 25 minute match. I don't love the 2 quick fall start to many lucha matches, but sometimes the action is interesting or spectacular enough to overcome that trope. Just not the case here. Thought/hoped they were saving the fireworks down the stretch but it just wasn't there. Far from either man's finest hour. Dandy showed more intensity in his post-match promo. Bring on the brawls.

Really a shame. I enjoy MSL on the show and Konnan is best when others are reeling him in. Seems incredibly petty and must put Bauer in an awkward spot as MSL's been his guy for years.

Do we know what caused this Konnan/MSL rift?

Wasn't Guerrero's accident the result of him falling asleep at the wheel? I thought that was when he had his problem with pills.

So I'm now about an hour in and still loving it. Chad, absolutely loved what you had to say about a certain Nitro match+angle that made your list. It would never make mine, and probably not most folks, but this is your damn list and its great to hear what people love and why. Parv, I know you'll have a few Liger recs to check out from doing this podcast, but would highly, highly recommend you check him out in the New Japan vs. NOAH junior tag series from circa 2002. To be specific: Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue (NOAH 2/17/2002) Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH 4/7/2002) Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW 8/29/2002) The heat is off the charts, and Liger as a super heel is something totally different. You're already familiar with Kikuchi from your trek through '90s All Japan and will love him just as much here. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Hokuto/Kandori and the Toyota/Yamada vs. Kansai/Ozaki tags are probably the tops of most lists, but you don't want to start at the pinnacle. I'd check out an Ozaki or Bull singles match that's not too long or epic as I feel they're both immediately accessible to new eyes. One possibility is Oz & Kansai vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta (JWP - 1/15/93). Not a sprint, but if you can't get into that right away maybe its not something you'll love?

I just finished Part 1 yesterday and now you drop this bomb on me. The commute for the next few days will undoubtedly be much improved. I find the matches you're close on just as interesting as those where you're on completely different wavelengths and look forward to seeing thoughts on matches ranked that either of you hasn't come across yet / recently. You'll have to make sure to post the full list shortly!

Just watched the Hansen & Khan matches from NJPW. Hansen is obviously a MOTYC and Khan is a legit *** affair as well. Meanwhile, mobile/athletic Andre is something straight out of a movie or video game. Just a legit gaijin Godzilla. What other matches from this era are available and must see?

No youtube playlist available of the contents?

Cannot wait to listen to this. It'll be at least a few round trips in the car to/from work but should be a blast. Love these lists. What's the plan for 100?

Konnan was always good for a laugh.

Put down a vote for light tubes, broken glass, or any of the other madness found in death matches. Sledgehammers are definitely dumb, but that stuff literally looks like a snuff film to me.

Bruce, I haven't signed up yet solely my watch list, spanning an ungodly stack of dvds and online playlists, is absurdly long, but am going to try to force myself to make the jump in the next couple weeks after the holidays quiet down. Your involvement and dedication to the project and truly catering to the audience should make every serious wrestling fan give this a try. Looking forward to it!

But seriously -- any good wrestling twitter feeds out there that may be under the radar? Always curious what I'm missing out on.

@HulkHogan

Actually looking it over, much of '03 is pretty forgettable. Nash-HHH in a Cell did a buyrate with the Cell + Foley, then you have Goldberg's wasted push, the bad Taker/Brock match, just a really, really down year.

Easily the wrestler who surprised me the most when watching the 80s AJ set. You know what you're getting from Jumbo, Tenryu, Hansen, Choshu, even Baba. But I had no idea Yatsu would more than hold his own in tags with all of those bigger names basically through the end of the decade.

Wow, a Caro biography on Vince or any territory, anything wrestling related would be mind blowing.

I definitely agree if the plan to rehab him is a long term one, especially if it includes a heel run. Where I'd raise an eyebrow is if that plan is to heat him up again in time for Mania 32 as he's not going to get over with a Bryan type of charisma but would rather need a bump to reestablish him at a higher level. Something more than a video package about his travails since Mania and assuming the underdog mantle at Rumble.

That is such an awful, terrible buzzkill. And likely.

The thing is: every single thing you're listing, from the lack of legally-available tapes to the lack of foreign wrestling on television to the language barrier to being in a bubble: all that stuff applies just as well to American wrestlers watching Japanese stuff. Yet clearly they managed to do exactly that, a lot. "Watching Japanese tapes" was the most popular thing for young wrestlers in the late 90s to do together. Why would it work so differently in the other direction? Because Japan didn't have dirt sheets. Instead, there were weekly magazines and coverage in the sports tabloids. And there wasn't a taping trading culture. People were wary of the legal aspects of it, and it was really only collectors who participated in it. And as I said, young wrestlers typically dormed together and followed a fairly rigorous regime. In the tape trading era, Japanese workers were always surprised that foreigners had seen their matches because tape trading wasn't a thing in Japan, and Japanese people in general always assume nobody knows a thing about Japanese entertainment outside of Japan. I always had the impression that Weekly Pro and Gong were MUCH bigger deals in Japan than PWI or any similar publications here. Is that correct? They definitely featured American wrestling at a level not even remotely comparable to how puro is/was covered stateside.

Both of these, please & thanks. It is absolutely criminal that Howard Finkel is only 65, still employed by WWE, still has the voice, and doesn't announce matches at least once a year. I absolutely agree with this. Somehow, although it doesn't make it any better, the fact that Vince keeps himself off of TV at this point for the same reason almost makes it a bit easier to stomach.

I think this is the answer for a lot of wrestlers. Its also not like a sport where they actually have to worry about winning the next day and thus no coaches or need to scout film. When they punch out they want to go home, hit the bars, do whatever. They're just not all fans seeking out more than what else is on the monitor backstage, if that. No wrong or right to it but many of us are probably bigger fans than a lot of wrestlers.