WingedEagle

I loved Bret growing up and bought into his catchphrase hook, line and sinker. Rewatching him over the last few years -- whether through yearbooks, WWE dvds, youtube, wherever I came across it -- he was very good. But by no means anything GOAT. Will place a whole lot lower on my list than I ever would've thought even 5 or 10 years ago.

How many average matches did Ogawa have against people who aren't top 10 GOAT candidates?

Here we go, the end of the road as far as it goes with Ditch's hosting. I kicked back and enjoyed this with a beer. Why don't people talk about this more? Everyone talks about the 8/93 bout, but you never hear anything about this. I'm with you. 8/93 is good, but not in the same league as 2/94.

Color me beyond shocked if Cena has any financial need to wrestle. He loves it. But he sounded there like someone with an endpoint in mind. He may never retire like a Flair or HBK, but perhaps that day is sooner than we would've otherwise imagined. Hopefully not.

Immediate reaction from the gut without ANY thinking whatsoever is that Casas is more dependable, could make for a longer highlight reel and is much more versatile -- but Santo wins because of higher highs. But I'd want to think more on it before putting pen to paper.

Curious where people put him. Some terrific stuff in the first run. Cena match. Then some solid stuff on the next go round leading into the Cena series last year followed by a couple classics at Rumble and Mania this year. Arguably not much more greatness here than a Volk Han, but on the other hand probably a lot more than some people touted recently like Gino Hernandez, Pat O'Connor or others with limited assets on tape. I could sell myself very highly on him and probably just as easily make a case against him, which means we'll likely go top 50 but it remains to be seen.

Seconding Savage. Roddy in 2015 is top 2 on my Most Outstanding ballot with AJ, order TBD. Crushed it in ROH with Tanahashi & Nak as well as in multi-mans, in Evolve, as well as Europe and PWG. This is not the Roddy I remember from years back who was fine but didn't particularly stand out.

Good stuff. Looking forward to downloading when I get home after the weekend.

That photo makes me want to hear about KILLAH KHAN

Arguably Liger's best opponent. This definitely matters.

Pure speculation, and I wouldn't attempt to put some kind of timetable on it, but Cena here sounds like someone speaking with a finish line in sight.

The world title would mean so much more if only guys at that level held it. It would also be pretty boring and stale. How many guys in WWE are at that level? Cena, Lesnar and who? Orton? I think the idea is then they'd be forced to book and push guys so that they're cemented at that level with a title win, rather than hoping the title establishes someone you've had driving along a road with staggered lights in the run to the belt. Not everyone can be Cena or Lesnar. They're generational talents in different ways. But look at Ryback. There is nothing about him that ever screamed money except an unbeaten streak where he looked like a boss for a few months. That's it. You apply that formula to almost anyone and you'll have done a better job setting someone up to at least credibly fill one half of a main event than anything that's been done with Rollins, Ambrose, Wyatt, etc.

My wife probably wouldn't let Rusev in the house. She wouldn't be happy about Trips but would take him if he were the only alternative. Then again she puts up with me so perhaps all bets are off.

You are not the top guy in the business if you main event WrestleMania. You are the person who won the Royal Rumble. Anyone can win the Royal Rumble and there is a huge pick of luck that goes into it (random entry). If you win the title than you are the best person in the business. Sure, winning the title at Mania is better than at any other show, but main eventing Mania and losing is not better than being the champion. At least it shouldn't be. That's all well and good in a vacuum, but not so much happens there. Situations matter. Look at Mania 27. Miz closed the show and left with the title. But you could easily argue that he was only marginally more relevant to that main event than the referee. Putting a name or title on someone doesn't make it so.

Except it doesn't. Taking out TV rights fees, when was the last time a month of business did more than Mania in a single night? A hot show like Summerslam '98, Rumble '02 or the Invasion PPV (and 2 of those 3 didn't draw because of the title) did better business than some weaker manias in the mid-90s. Other than that the Super Bowl is still the Super Bowl.

He's not wrong about that. How many title matches on other shows have drawn bigger than Manias?

Not a ton of talk about it so I don't know where consensus is, but my initial reaction was that I preferred their shorter match from last week. This was a lot of fun, but at times it felt like they were throwing stuff out there just to fill the time.

Some of the most interesting things Austin says are about protecting his position, whether it's with Jarrett or with other people. Also, how much he regrets walking out and at the very least losing the years of income. I do think you occasionally see hints of insecurity with him. That's the thing about these podcasts. You just see a LOT of the person as a human being in what they say, in what's not said. Austin can be more guarded since he's not shitfaced, mind you. Oh absolutely. He's protective of his position and isn't much for self-reflection outside of some jokes unless its talking about a match that may have been awful for whatever reason. But you never even seem to see anonymous whispers about how he was difficult to work with or a jerk.

Who exactly is this Conrad fella? Just a long-time friend of Flair's? The show is pure gold and world's better than I would've imagined.

I feel a little sad for Piper as its sounded like he's never been able to get his life together and always looked a bit frazzled even when on top. On the other hand, outside of Austin's domestic issues you really don't hear much criticism of him -- that may be somewhat due to his status -- but where there are stories to be found they trickle out about names big and small. Probably too late at this stage of his life but it would do Piper a bit of good to disappear for a while.

Yeah, not sure how I left Montreal all out. This is everything. Not as impactful as LBJ in '10 because neither team has more than 2nd round upside barring injuries, but today may have been more fun than that day.

So this Deandre Jordan story has entered a whole new realm. Some combination the Radicalz leaving WCW (factoring in the Konnans/Douglases/etc who tried but weren't welcomed), the Tod Gordon poaching ECW story and god knows what else. Pure madness. NBA 4 life.

Vince does not go online much.

I haven't finished the Sullivan podcast yet, but damn near had to pull the car over I was laughing so hard at the candle story.

These were picked with the express purpose of showing Flair's range, but they're all tremendous matches IMO. The most accessible Flair/Steamboat, for novitiates, is Chi-Town Rumble (2/20/89). Thanks for the reminder. I haven't watched the long matches with Steamboat from '89 in a while, but feel like the Jumbo match is more accessible at that length for a rookie. Good call, Parv.