WingedEagle

This is like the Camp David Accord of PWO.

If you put prime Tenta in All Japan in 93-96 would that still be the same? If you take any average or better worker in their prime and put them in 93-96 AJPW with main event opportunities they will almost assuredly have a few great matches or classics under their belt. If not, they're pretty awful. Not sure traveling time to All Japan does anyone any favors. This was really the talking point on the show. I asked "Who could you replace Williams with in that match with Kobashi and still have a similar result?" We ran through some alternatives. And then Steven randomly brought up Tenta. For the record, I don't think Tenta could have had a ****1/2 match with Kobashi. I can't imagine Kobashi pulling out 4.5 stars from Tenta, because I can't see Quake in any way delivering the type of performance Dr. Death did. But do I think Kobashi, Kawada, Misawa & co. could put together the best match we'd have ever seen from Tenta? Absolutely. They were that good.

If you put prime Tenta in All Japan in 93-96 would that still be the same? If you take any average or better worker in their prime and put them in 93-96 AJPW with main event opportunities they will almost assuredly have a few great matches or classics under their belt. If not, they're pretty awful. Not sure traveling time to All Japan does anyone any favors.

Dusty is an absolute conundrum. He's not one of the best wrestlers I've seen when watching his matches. But he's one of the very best examples of being the total package whereby his promos and angles make the matches that much meatier and more enjoyable. No clue how to rank him but he will rank. Just too special to be ignored.

I'm with soup here on just about everything, but OJ, glad you dug Tenryu/Kosh as things do pick up once some bigger NJ reps get going. That being said, perhaps I fell hard for the heat and atmosphere as I was all in on the early multi man tags in the feud. Crazy heat, felt like huge, special deals 20+ years later and I thought the NJ mid carders held up their end of the bargain a lot better than would be expected. Plus Tenryu's lieutenants are no slouches either and more than capable of keeping things stiff and hot. The best is still yet to come.

Come on, people! Top 5/10 matches / moments from each spot!

I may not go with exactly the same picks but my gut was that every year is a nod to AJPW. Not as varied a field as the 80s then? You can certainly make cases for non-AJPW guys, especially if you prefer a Liger, Vader, Hashimoto to this style. I think there's a stronger argument for someone outside of Baba's group post-96 when the hits were fewer and further between than earlier in the decade. But you don't have Flair putting together the kind of years he did in the 80s where he's clearly on top of his game, while this crew just felt so far ahead of everything else going on in the ring.

Let's play Monopoly. Budokan, Korakuen, Tokyo Dome, MSG and Greensboro are all in the discussion. What other buildings have seen the best matches, most historic matches/angles?

Cena's the only one who would get any consideration from my wife. Not a fan of ink, which rules out many, and the others are too freakishly big for her taste.

I may not go with exactly the same picks but my gut was that every year is a nod to AJPW.

Also interested in any singles recs for Mark as I can't imagine there'd be different recs for tags.

Can we get a list of must see matches for Jay? Singles or tag.

LA ParV would've been INCREDIBLE. Nonetheless, sorry to hear you didn't dig those. The Wagner Jr. bout is one of my favorites from recent years with the Mesias ones not terribly far behind. Violence!

Delonte West. Never forget. One of the greatest, most fun urban legends of our time.

I also wouldn't worry about the Cavs future without Love whatsoever. Salary cap will be taking a big jump shortly and they'll have plenty of space with LBJ's contract coming due at the same time allowing them flexibility that summer. Put that around an LBJ/Irving/Thompson/Mozgov core -- forgetting about Love for a minute -- and they'll at worst be prohibitive conference favorites for a few years.

Sting is a pretty good call. The Vader matches are all great, I still enjoy a number of the Flair matches and there are other goodies to be found, but 100 GOAT list is tough even if he's a childhood favorite.

Let me hear some all time favorite matches or MOTYCs through the years where you don't think one or any participant will rank on your GWE ballot. Personally, I could very easily see myself putting together a hundred names that don't include Dibiase or Duggan despite loving their gimmick classic. Roman Reigns definitely won't be making my list even though I've got him vs. Brock as a top 2 MOTYC at this point. Will try to come up with some others but interested to see what others have. Maybe we won't find anything like Mo Williams or Corey Brewer dropping 50, but hopefully find a few classics from not quite HOFers here.

What about Bryan losing in a flash at Mania to Sheamus? He'd been picking up steam for months but that slap in the face seemed to really bring people behind him starting the next night.

Rock at Summerslam '98, though he was on his way without it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ClassicPuro '90s AJPW -- pretty easy to get lost here for 72 hours if you want.

Agree with this 100%, but if somehow someway Austin says he wants to work with Brock they'll figure out a way to get there. But no chance it was expected or planned for when they turned him.

Next couple days will confirm, but last night felt like Sting tearing up his knee climbing the cage at the Clash, pushing the inevitable crowning (LBJ winning in Cleveland ) to the Bash (date TBD) while Luger steps in. Not that Cavs winning this one was any kind of luck, but you could make a credible case for them. Its not happening if LBJ is going at it alone.

I love Kikuchi as Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Not sure its fair to anyone to compare him to the others given his role as tag/six-man underdog or jr. tag captain. He's great for what he is. Some guys are HOFers and others are elite role players.

Thanks! Really enjoying checking this out. Were Crusher & Bruiser that revolutionary on the mic for their time, or just so far ahead of the pack in the AWA/WWA?

I've been going back through my old WON's and just finished the obituary of The Crusher. No idea where my head was at that time, but I didn't remember anything about it and was fascinated the whole way through. I know there really isn't much/any footage from his prime with Bruiser, but what other footage or info is out there about this era? Hoping for some more stories if we ever get part 2 of the Verne obit but not holding my breath.