WingedEagle

Damn, that's a shame. I loved this one and thought it built perfectly despite having the expectation of a draw working against them, a bugaboo they not only overcame but completely removed from the back of my mind while watching. Tough to say just where I'd put this in their series. Definitely ahead of the Dome and Tanahashi winning the title back in their first rematch. Solid ****1/2 snowflakes in these eyes. If strikes that you see as shoot-like are necessary for your enjoyment, then your mileage here and on their matches will definitely not go very far.

The closest I've come to watching computer material on the TV is putting together a playlist of Best of Japan 2000s stuff that I found on youtube and loading that up through the PS3. Otherwise, its just not worth the trouble. More on point, the goals for NJPW World are clearly lower, and from my incredibly limited understanding of the culture over there they may be more open to an over the top service at this point than the bulk of the US population. Hope it succeeds but very interested to see at what rate subs develop.

Maybe its just me, but that's the most disturbing thing I've heard since this all broke. We're only lucky to find so many passions in this world outside of friends and family, it really sucks to lose one.

He gave Punk a forum for thrashing the company. Doesn't seem like someone they'd be keen on supporting going forward.

In some discussions Vince probably does get a bad rap because he's compared to his best years rather than the competition in many cases. Competition he either eliminated or outlasted. Can't argue he's far and away the best ever in his line of work. But, doesn't mean you can't find flaws there and perhaps sometimes those are not placed in context. The network / TV rights era going forward may have a pretty big impact on his legacy and while its easy to draw conclusions at this point roughly 9 months in, we're a ways away from being able to say much conclusive about the transformation and its impact on the business.

Count on it, about to give it a whirl.

At first I thought the notion of Goldberg on someone's list was ridiculous given the length and depth of his career. But he probably has more matches on tape than someone like Volk Han and very likely more than certain stars from the 70s that people will consider. Not quite the stretch when you go at it that way, even if I don't think I could make room for him.

Okay that's great. Major points for having fun.

Is the fact this sounds so simple why they haven't tried it or something similar? You'd think with no one who sells any merch wanting to go heel that they'd look for a way to otherwise incentivize them.

Not feedback, but Happy Thanksgiving to everybody at PWO. I spend more time reading this site than any other wrestling site, and I'm afraid to even think about where it weighs with the non-wrestling sites. Love a ton of the discussion here, like almost all of it, can't stand a small touch of it but couldn't imagine being a wrestling fan without it. Hope you all have a great holiday season and new year.

I haven't listened to a minute of this yet because I just got back from being with the family all day so I'm still relying on recaps I've read, but this touches on most of my thoughts. None of this reads all that surprising but to have it laid out in this fashion makes it a lot more colorful and visual while placing it in context with specific examples and situations people can relate to. I don't know Punk. From what I've read over the years he doesn't sound like the nicest guy unless you're part of his inner circle or a model employee in that he makes things difficult. And that's okay. Its his job to maximize his time and talents as he sees fit. If he wants to run and try to eclipse Cena and have his Mania main event that's awesome. If he wants to take his ball and go home that's his prerogative as well. Similarly, Vince and HHH don't necessarily sound like people I'd want to work for. And that's also all well and good. They don't owe Punk anything beyond what is specifically provided for in his contract, and if they try to hold back on that he'll plenty of basis to enforce it. They don't have to like him or push him if they don't want to whether its for legitimate business or personal reasons. He's not owed a damn thing in that regard. My only complaint there is if I were a stockholder who was concerned that their use of that asset was not in the company's best interests. My opinion on this may change -- drastically -- once I listen, but my initial thoughts were that the wedding day termination was overblown a bit. Was the relationship between Punk & WWE at that point such that either side was looking towards turning a new page and rebuilding things? It sounded like this was more expediting a known conclusion. It happened, and then the lawyers got involved to make sure the dollars and cents matched what was provided for had the relationship terminated naturally. Again, if after listening it comes off as a whole lot more bitter and vindictive than I'll gladly acknowledge that. Its light years away from the potential medical issues raised on the podcast, which if they become a bigger story would likely force WWE's hand in ways little or large, TBD. The only caveat to how WWE handled this is its impact on current and future talent. Perhaps this will color how other wrestlers view the company and their choices while negotiating and performing. That could result in enough talent leaving to provide some other promotion a couple marketable stars to build upon. It could result in a dearth of talent within WWE. It could result in talent obtaining greater autonomy over how and when they perform, how they handle outside business interests, their health and a host of other issues. It could also result in absolutely nothing. Those are the issues WWE needs to consider as part of the big picture when managing their business. Just as CM Punk needs to consider the business of CM Punk. I absolutely get how this gets personal given the relationships involved and the context in how it plays out. But its business. Sometimes it sucks and we've all probably got stories to that effect, either personally or from someone we know.

You are the best. Petulant, hypocritical, surly, not a team player, maybe drop a c bomb if you're feeling rich? No, he's a *sociopath*! Talk about a bubble and giving wrestling fans a bad name. That's the type of remark that gives credence to what my inlaws think of wrestling. What I find most sociopathic about it is that it comes from someone who holds himself out as a "writer" rather than the anonymous, over the top, bomb throwing message board member. Go write another book I've already read elsewhere.

Listening to him on Austin's lastest podcast reminded me that Bill Apter belongs on this list. When I was in middle school and couldn't get enough wrestling but didn't really know where to look for more, I called up the number in PWI and said I was writing a report for school about wrestling and wanted to speak to someone. Turns out it was Apter who answered the phone and spent 45 minutes talking to a kid about comparing WWF vs. WCW and talking about territories I'd never seen outside of the magazine's pages. These weren't yes/no responses to a bunch of silly questions (which was all I could manage until I was too floored to say much at all), but him going out of his way to talk about the game. What a passion. This belongs in the podcast thread, but I'm talking Apter so screw it -- loved his line about being asked if he knew wrestling was fixed by incredulously responding he didn't know it was broken.

I had the opportunity recently to spend a few minutes with Dusty Rhodes. Couldn't have been more gracious with his time, polite to my wife or happy to tell us a couple old stories. He also seemed genuinely happy to have someone appreciate what he did for us years back. It was something I'll never forget.

I loved both Hansen/Funk singles and actually had '82 ahead of '83 in my rankings on the set. I'll need to rewatch to remind myself exactly why, but think it had to do with appreciating the complete package of '82 as opposed to the frenetic, balls to the wall insanity of '83. The retirement tag was a spectacular presentation and scene with great emotion, but one that didn't register on quite that great a level with as watching nearly 30 years later out of the moment. As a match it simply didn't measure up to the action elsewhere on the set.

I had no problem with the Wyatt/Ambrose finish. I just can't stand Bray's act at all. Needs to be buried with his cousin True Blood.

I've had issues with the feed tonight, but my wireless has been spotty all day so I can't put it on the network. Time Warner Cable can suck it.

I love having Vince on TV. Its been way too long.

Are those tags available online?

That's what I thought, but it seemed like Muertes was also presented as a heel.

Looks that way, but it raises the one question I can't quite answer about many in LU. Who's the heel there?

Meltzer was reading an email from someone asking about Edge. He wasn't making the case for him based on ratings during those few weeks.

Its 60 minutes and it flies by. The wrestling is different from what's on USA or SciFy, the production is a complete 180 and its fun. Sometimes I think its so enjoyable just because it feels like a breeze and is a completely different production. Whatever it is, its definitely enjoyable.

If someone checks out a few shoot style and says its not for them and finds it completely boring and unwatchable, that's cool. I'd hope they wouldn't avoid it solely because they don't think there's any relevance to it in the course of wrestling history around the world, but if you check out a few and absolutely nothing resonates there's no reason to search for some connection there.

Would cable execs really even differentiate between the two though? To them, they're both just a non-WWF rasslin show. I don't think TNA's reputation would grant them much over a Jarrett start-up. Let's say they both walk in to pitch. Dixie: "We've been losing millions despite being on national TV for years". Jarrett: "I used to be a big star in the WWF and this is my friend Toby Keith". I disagree. TNA can point to nine years of drawing a 1.0 rating for Spike TV and having much bigger ex-WWE stars than Jeff Jarrett under contract. That track record counts for something. That will certainly count for something. On the other hand, so will Spike walking away from that track record and the shenanigans that brought things to that point. Its up to each team of execs to determine how to weigh those factors.