WingedEagle

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.

I have no idea what kind of reach PWI has these days or at any point over the last 15 years or so, but if its anything like when I was younger, hopefully some kids see this and then take to the computer to look up some unfamiliar names. Beyond that its a kayfabe mag (still is, right?) and should serve that market as best it can.

That would be great.

Parv, thanks for saving me the trouble of listening to this. Flair's podcast has been gold so far (well maybe a silver or bronze on Pritchard) but happy to allocate those minutes elsewhere.

That's a prett deep and interestinf lineup. Looking forward to it.

The other thing I'd add that I like about people expounding in such detail about what they like is eventually you figure out who likes the same things you do and can use them as great resources for matches and wrestlers to check out. The opposite also holds true and can help keep you an efficient viewer.

It may not be he answer you're lookong for, but if you're enkoyong what you watch and keep coming back or trying out new stuff Ben after seeing something you don't enjoy then you're doing it right.

Color commentator Kevin Steen. Bordering on go mute heat.

I'm not enjoying these review b/c this mf'er has now given me motivation to rewatch a few matches when I'm supposed to be on a PWG & 80s Japan kick

Now...if he could figure out how to actually draw, he'd be the complete package. Environmental.