WingedEagle

That's wild. I always think of that as about 10-12 minutes, but apparently not. Always LOVED this one. Just a blazing brawl and great enough that I'm comfortable calling it my favorite sub 10. Almost great enough that it'd force me to rethink just how long a great match must be. I always ballparked 12-15 as a prereq for great, on the idea that anything less and you're basically a sprint without the ability to build much drama or tension to a finish, which I generally think of as necessary for great. But damn was this brawl GREAT.

Do they have even a single great match?

Just wanted to provide another rec for the director's cut podcast of Austin/Rock at Mania 17, or whatever you may call it. Insightful, fun and a completely refreshing take on a match that I imagine most folks here have already seen, if not multiple times. I listened to it on the elliptical and tried to also read the paper as I normally do. The paper had to wait until I got back upstairs. Definitely worth checking out.

I don't have a problem with criticizing his lack of effort or the decision to go easy at a house show. Though I think we can agree there's a difference between Tanahashi taking it easy on an ROH show or a show in Europe as opposed to a NJPW show at Korakuen, much as the same is true for Hart or Michaels crapping the bed on a small show in Europe or Mexico as opposed to a big house domestically. I just don't see the basis for extrapolating from what's clearly a strategic decision to prioritize one's base or big performances at the expense of something small or insignificant in the picture. if he and Okada put on one of their long matches at a smaller show and it didn't get over at all and they failed to adapt, that'd be one thing. That distinction seems important to me.

How is it a failure to actively choose and put expend less effort in front of a smaller audience that bears no relation to your core/base? if you have a job and claim to put forth the exact same effort in every single task you do relating to it, you are likely lying. We all need to save ourselves and put forth a little more on some occasions as opposed to others. Its called prioritizing and allows someone to deliver when it counts. Not all situations / tasks / clients / matters / wrestling matches are equals.

The biggest problem I'd see with this is that it would explicitly tell people which shows and parts of the year they can freely ignore until the playoffs start.

Wrestlemania always feels like the climax of a season followed by a reboot. You can debate whether a new season begins the next night, in the fall or some other time as that part of the "schedule" is obviously very fluid, but at some point everything builds to the one big finale.

Its better to promote Rollins/Ambrose as headliners in a featured match standing on their own. If they're going to be established as headliners they need to be pushed as stars rather than pieces in an episodic storyline that for better or worse would revolve around Cena.

I don't know that AJ is booked in what you'd call dominant fashion where she's mowing people down, but she never looks inept. She stands up to any adversary rather than backing down, she's never shown up on the mic and comes out on top in feuds. Its pretty simple and would be more effective on a champion/division that's meant to draw, but she's not portrayed as a joke at any point. Its a refreshing contrast to the way most champions are presented.

Looking forward to that match list if you get the chance to post it. I think I've seen most of the highly touted NJ matches, but haven't seen much of his AJ and definitely want to see what else is out there.

I was going to add the same thought -- my recollection was Sheamus was HHH's training partner and was always a personal project.

Completely agree about Pillman as an awkward flyer. The difference I find with a guy like Samurai, who I agree looked reckless at times, was that he would FLY. Pillman didn't get much air or lift compared with true flyers and seemed to be squeezing that stuff into his arsenal because he was booked that way rather than because he was particularly adept at it.

Thanks, definitely interesting.

Not exactly current NJ, but a general Japan question. How come English is so prevalent? Certain wrestlers like Yosshi-Hashi, KENTA and others will have their names spelled out in English as opposed to Japanese. Going back further, young boys would often wear gym jackets with their names written in English on the back. Is English that common over there? You never see the same here so I'm curious if this is found throughout the culture over there or something relating to wrestling.

That's what I recall reading as well. Was Steiner ever the "plan" or anything more than a hotshot option to punish Flair?

I used to be able to list off the IC / World Title histories from memory because changes were so rare. My ability to do so with the IC title definitely ended in the 98/99 era where it became a regular prop in 3/4 way matches with the hardcore title and seemingly changed hands regularly.

Really well said Beat me to it. I love what Tanahashi has done the past few years. Maybe unrealistically so, maybe not. But this is the fairest criticism I've seen of him.

Subscriber since day 1. Will continue to be so through at least a $14.95 price point. I'd previously be good for at least 1 PPV a year and could talk myself into 2, so this is beyond an easy buy.

I want to say 04-06 or so, basically the years I was in law school as most of that time was a blur but I was all about ROH at that time. Hopped aboard the Joe bandwagon as soon as I found about it, went crazy for Joe/Kobashi and then petered out a bit as he slowly became a TNA exclusive. Punk was interesting for a bit on his way out, but Danielson was the glue that kept me staying current and going to shows after Joe's run. I lost a lot of interest when he took a long break after dropping the title to Homicide -- even though that night was awesome -- and then fell off pretty heavily as things moved into Age of the Fall, Tyler Black and that new era. Just didn't click for me.

Sometimes bulls charge into each other. They are bulls. That is perfectly rational and beautifully rhythmic. Not that these are by any stretch high end choices, but still.

I won't ever turn down Tanahashi/Okada, and didn't think they'd trust AJ to main event the Dome, but was still hoping for something a little fresher on top there. In hindsight it makes even less sense to hotshot Okada/Nakamura at the Seibu Dome rather than save it for WK with a longer build.

With asbestos. Lots of it.

I love that this thread is inching towards a Raw audience reaction to Cena.

I don't think there is a #2 promotion. There's WWE and there are indys. Some may be profitable and some may not.

Cena's someone who will likely end up deceptively good under this evaluation. If breaking down wrestlers, I don't know what you would say he excels at. Other than having a long, long, long list of great matches. No getting around that.