WingedEagle

Thought this was one hell of a debut for the Holy Demon Army. We get an awesome Kawada/Kobashi chop exchange early that sees of Kawada's coming awfully close to Kobashi's throat and chests beat red. Those chops were just brutal throughout. Kikuchi is in for a spell to get destroyed as this was all about establishing Kawada & Taue at the tag title level. Kawada with his awesome back spin kick that crushes Kobashi for a near fall. Kawada back after some Kobashi chops with his KO punch, settling into the All Japan version of a heel / tweener role. We get Taue's awesome vertical bodyslam, which sets up Kobashi kicking out of a Nodowa & powerbomb sequence before Kikuchi falls to a pair of Nodowas. I enjoyed the hell out of this as you get fiery performances from Kobashi & KIkuchi while firmly establishing Kawada & Taue as a force to be reckoned with heading into Gordy & Williams and subsequently Misawa & Kobashi for the start of the big feud. ****

Funk at the Doublecross Ranch. You might find varmin or perverts there, and in fact a pervert does show up, and its Eddie Gilbert's brother from Tennessee. His name is Real Hot Stuff. Funk punches him and throws a dummy into the tractor and drives over it. Great selling of chain match. Even though the match itself didn't really do much for me, the build and Funk's promos added to ECW's early, distinct flavor.

HBK promo outside of Raw, Perfect jumps him and they brawl outside the building. Perfect throws him into a car door as they fight along 34th Street. Nothing so special here, but taking advantage of the city and these opportunities certainly made Raw feel different from the standard TV tapings of yesteryear.

Absolutely. Not in any way bad, as it was a a very fun read. Just different from what I was expecting and hoping for. But tough not to have great stories from someone with that kind of career.

Is he in fact earning a paycheck from anything wrestling related? You and I both know some morons are paying for access to his website. I know no such thing, never been to his site or that it charges for membership/access. If he can generate a few bucks through advertising that's one thing, but can't imagine he's paying the mortgage from it.

Is he in fact earning a paycheck from anything wrestling related?

I ordered this when autographed copies were available because that was too good to pass on. Thoroughly enjoyed it, but wished there was more focus on the 90s All Japan scene. But a nice look back at his early career.

I don't think its too difficult to make a case for Waltman based solely on singles matches. But when you add in tags, multimans, War Games, promos, angles and every other aspect of the job, I think Arn picks up the victory here.

This was fantastic. At least I've got the '91 linked to look forward to.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDAQtwIwBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBvTNyKIGXiI&ei=Js3YVK3aAYaoNpKIg6AB&usg=AFQjCNGu_0YnwmC9nElgbWshOdPsJYWSfA&sig2=ky3aqbDqSfq99epcK5tgQw&bvm=bv.85464276,d.eXY

Is it available online?

Bruno wasn't someone I planned on looking at but the Baba match is on deck at some point as I feel like he deserves a spot based on the Destroyer match, Hansen feud and his role in many great tags and six mans. Pretty amazing what he did late career given his limitations. Parv, I hope Kobashi makes his way up your list but am optimistic as only being through '92 you haven't yet touched his peak runs, let alone anything from last decade. Pretty soon you'll be shedding tears and pumping your fist before missing moonsaults.

If the product is good I'm not really concerned with the ethnic, religious, economic or other social backgrounds of the performers. Ditto if it sucks. Entertain me.

2013 is the gut reaction because you're going to have TV's that feature Bryan and the Shield on a weekly basis. The quantity there is pretty great.

Agree, and agree. Sometimes its best when you do know what will happen -- see last year's Mania as an example -- but still have to wait for and watch it. It works similarly if you're watching something from years ago you've never seen and managed to avoid reading about. That's been the case for me watching a lot of the Japan 2000s matches. Familiar with some and what follows, but blind to others. Going in live or absent spoilers can provide a big edge. It won't make an inferior match better, but you can get more invested in it when you don't know what's coming.

Its been a few months since this idea and project were launched. If you've watched a decent amount of wrestling in that time you might have some new thoughts about your rankings or confirmed some initial ones. Any surprises as you've been watching? Who's moving up or falling down your list? Who's solidified their position? Who are you on the fence about? I'd love to hear some general thoughts as your list develops. On my end: Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi -- Pretty confident these three have solidified themselves as #1-3. Right now the order is Kobashi, MIsawa, Kawada. There's a lot of Flair I want to watch but am not sure if he or anyone can break into this club. Takayama -- Might have been best in the world during first half of the aughts . Not sure where that puts him on an all timers list, but he's going higher than he would've a few months ago. Daniel Bryan Danielson -- Lock for top 15. Joshi -- I thought Toyota would be among the select few who place for me and do fairly well. Its not going to happen. Between wanting to mute most of her matches and seeming to have only only one speed and style (albeit one that can really stand out) she won't be there. Mayumi Ozaki absolutely will. Not sure I have seen or even can see enough to put her there, but Shinobu Kandori wants in as well. Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart-- penciled HBK in as a top 10er early on and Hart as top 20. Thinking that could fall to top 30-40 for Michaels and lower for Hart, at best. Enjoying them as I go through yearbooks and network footage, but there's a difference between good or standing out in WWF versus standing out all time. Tommy Rich -- if I remember to watch enough of him he'll make it. If not he'll be a casualty due to lack of exposure. This is the type of sleazeball I like from the territories. Hopefully can come up with more.

I could very well see Arn ranking higher than anyone who doesn't have a singles MOTY candidate. No clue where he'll place for me, but what's not to love?

Shame on all of us for "hard times" not appearing until now. I actually had the opportunity to meet Dusty a few months back and asked him about this one. He said he went out there without a script and nothing planned other than to talk about Flair and build Starrcade. He went backstage and said something to the effect of "let me know if there are any tickets left." That Bockwinkel/Heenan promo was also great. Looked like something straight out of SNL with Bockwinkel having trouble trying not to laugh.

Probably also important to go with something quick rather than anything epic or that features a long build. Try some of the countdown shows on WWE Network. The production is great, there's not much downtime and enough action that its tough to lose much attention. Maybe see where that takes things?

Really enjoyed listening to this. I'm a sucker for anything that captures great moments like this. I've also been meaning to watch the full Final Conflict package on youtube and this was a great reminder to try and get to it this weekend. One thing that occurred to me listening to this is that unlike sports where your teams may be mired in terrible or mediocre seasons for years on end, we're all on team wrestling and will have a number of moments every year where we can feel a part of the home crowd during something awesome.

I can't imagine there's any reason for it other than trying to capitalize on a hot news story to grab a little attention. Its also a great use of the network. Highlighting things like this (and not replaying every one of them on tv) will hopefully make it seem like a must for fans.

Lots of interesting things here. Akiyama calling back to his neck work against Misawa from earlier in the year. Great suplexes all over the place. Awesome teasing of big moves that this crew pulls off better than anybody because of their history executing and defending them. If you were to write out all of the awesome spots and variety of offense here it would read like one hell of a classic. But the whole here was not as great as the sum of its parts. They'd focus on a body part for a bit and then abandon it. The biggest drag for me was that this went so incredibly long, and there was really no reason for it. Eventually Akiyama keys in on the lariat arm and this is actually sold for a while as the bout picked up some focus. Even the sleeper suplex felt like they hit it perfectly in stride and at a great point for a Kobashi comeback. The finishing stretch was money, with things spilling to the floor, the big moves you expect and those you were trained to watch for from the early NOAH shows like the guillotine. Then we get a Burning Hammer to finally give someone a big win over Akiyama after his early run through the top of the card. I really enjoyed this, but thought if they took out maybe 8-10 minutes and tightened up the strategy you would likely have a MOTYC. That said, we're picking warts on Miss America candidates. Or Miss Japan. ****

About halfway through and really enjoying this. Conversation just breezes by. This was the first I heard that Garvin was scheduled for Flair at Starrcade '86 until the Magnum injury. Has that been widely reported or written about elsewhere?

Basically my thoughts on this as well. The bulk is right in that **** range but beginning with the extended Nagata/Kawada sequence through the finish this all out glory with hate, heeling from Fuchi and great work of submissions without ever devolving into stalling. Definitely one I'll want to rewatch at the end to confirm its overall ranking. ****1/2

Right, I don't think it would matter if they had Sam Muchnick rise from the grave and run Raw from the Chase with the audience all classed up. Its rasslin. The end.