WingedEagle

I love a good facial. I think its often one of the more effective ways, either on its own, or often in combination with other mechanisms to sell. But its not at all something I insist upon. I may point to someone's lack of facials as a catch-all for their failure to effectively sell any damage as its occurring. Its a fantastic communication device and can certainly enhance a match but isn't necessary to get it over the hump. Last night I watched a PG-13 match from the '93 yearbook and absolutely loved their facials and basically every heel antic and stooge spot they put on throughout the match. But on the whole the match really didn't do much for me because the action was pretty dry and seemed designed simply to lead to Wolfie & Ice's heel performances rather than the heel performances being part of the action. On the other hand, look at a guy like Misawa who will very often have the same facial expression for much of a match. The man's been part of more classics than most, partly because of how he stood out in contrast to his peers and the character he played, *and* because of when he would drop some other worldly selling or aggression facials.

That's the impression I have and I personally hope to check out many of them. I was speaking to the suggestion that he could be someone's #1 after only a few matches.

The Wagner Jr. and Mesias brawls are some of my favorites from this decade. I haven't seen anything approaching that stuff from earlier in his career so definitely keen on finding some others. Ultimo Guerrero match from '04 just didn't resonate

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I hope it takes more than a few matches for anyone to earn a #1 or similarly high ranking. I could see myself dropping in a couple names lower on my list who I haven't seen a ton of, but not sure its fair to do that high up.

How much quality is there after leaving WCW in '92?

I didn't think the match was bad as the stretch run and finish were exciting, but man was it ever long and I can understand why you might have been down on it on the whole. There was just no reason at all for going to long. I just can't dislike something that wraps up so well.

I'd like to think even a heel can promote a charitable cause while wearing a t-shirt without slipping into a moving promo about the charity. I also wouldn't want a heel doing something overtly offensive to wear the shirt. Basically I'd look at it like a watermark on the screen.

Vader also didn't flop and take wild, exaggerated bumps. He'd stagger, eat some big offense and eventually go down, always making his opponent earn everything. Definitely not a cheap date. He insisted on flowers, a nice dinner, dessert and provocative conversation before even considering going home with you.

Totally agree on Ricochet over PAC. Could not agree more. Ricochet has been fun and looked like a star when I've seen him this year. Wasn't familiar with Pac before NXT but outside of delivering a few high spots in isolation I haven't been remotely impressed. Just doesn't make any kind of connection.

I enjoyed this show a ton. I think it'd be great to do these monthly, quarterly or whenever time permits to have some folks discussing what they've been watching in connection with the project.

Does it count if you went from loving AJ heavies and NJ juniors to loving AJ and NJ heavies?

I'm going to try to watch a lot of guys I'm interested in and not familiar with as well as rewatch many near the top so that I'm hopefully comfortable with that part of the ballot. But I don't think its remotely possible that I'll see nearly enough to have a "fair" ballot. Maybe that means WoS, indys, or 80s lucha get shorted. Maybe something else. We'll all have to draw lines somewhere because this will be happening around the rest of our lives and at least personally, I wouldn't be comfortable ranking someone I've seen 5 or 10 times ahead of someone I've seen dozens or more. There needs to be a deadline. But Mania 2016? I'd hope the deadline is somewhat flexible and imagine it'll have to be unless a substantial number of people are comfortable with how much they've watched. Could always consider a 6 or 12 month extension early in '16 and go from there, but we probably want a goal in mind, even if its written in pencil rather than pen.

I thought Brie went out of her way to start the chant and assumed those were marching orders for the post-match. Perhaps that's wildly optimistic but it looked like a designed spot to remind people about Bryan.

Just want to echo the appreciation for stomper putting together such a comprehensive overview of Bryan's career. Between this, Loss's work for Flair and others on Billy Robinson, etc. we'll have tremendous references when looking to examine certain wrestlers and look back at with regret in a couple years when realizing just how much great stuff we didn't get to!

I loved this show. I love this era of All Japan. Make it happen more. I can always listen to people talking enthusiastically about classics. It made me want to go rewatch all of these which makes it a victory.

He has moments and spots that are impressive and especially unique, but more than anyone else his antics and character scream "I play a pro wrestler at work." Unfortunately this takes me out of his matches much too often. Definitely someone who would benefit in my eyes from a time machine.

I'm already backloaded on pods but definitely interested to check this out. Would love to hear someone go through this period for the first time. Just my absolute favorite and wish I could go back and watch it all from scratch not knowing anything about it.

I know this isn't the point of this discussion, but if we're looking at negative impacts I always thought Foley's was a lot more pronounced with the unprotected head shots and psychotic bumps rather than unnecessary gore, which I'll fully acknowledge is personally beyond unwatchable.

vs. Misawa/Kobashi 5/21/94 is a personal favorite as it extended the 12/3/93 formula (debate the merits if you must), but this was the first AJPW classic I saw and absolutely hooked me. I think its a must watch before checking out 6/3/94, 6/9/95 of 12/6/96.

Back from dinner and enjoying the suggestions. Funks vs. Sheik & Abby is great and highly recommended. I watched Abby vs. Billy Robinson earlier on a rec from Childs and it was both different and very good. Would love any further Abby recs. I've queued Ozaki vs. Yagi and am looking forward to that in the morning. Based solely on '90s joshi I can't see Oz coming in lower than my #2 or #3 in that genre but we'll see how things hold up. Kawada & Fuchi vs. Nagata & Iizuka is also great and a legit MOTYC in the mold of an AJPW classic but with a different cast that adds a very different dynamic.

Abby was definitely the surprise of the Funks' matches. I can't imagine he has any kind of run that gets him in consideration here but I'd love to know what else is worth seeking out. But man did everyone look great in those matches. Can't go wrong with any of them.

I don't think it was a joke. That was a great 'stache and that's a shoot. But outside of a quick sprint or when in with a Tully or Flair, he's not someone who otherwise left much of an impression for me. I Quit also never clicked here the way it did for others, so he really was just a guy who felt like the Horsemen flavor of the month for a bit and not a whole lot more.

I haven't watched Kawada/Kobashi in forever but am curious to compare it with Kobashi/Akiyama when I get there. Seeming as how I'm in mid-October 1993 and trying to go chronologically there while also hoping to watch some selections from Best in Japan 2000s and countless others items for the GOAT project, we'll see when we get there. Seeing you bang through '98 in almost under 2 months is either motivating or completely deflating -- haven't decided which! Looking over your thoughts throughout the year, it felt like this year more than any other thus far wasn't all that well represented by the MOTY list. The results and distribution here were no surprise, but it seemed like WWF was far and away the most enjoyable promotion to keep up with on a segment to segment basis even if there were only so many truly elite level matches. It was definitely nice to see that as I remember a lot of the angles and promos from '98 more vividly than other years. I know there are reasons why the consistency and quality of the output varied at later times, even as business peaked in subsequent years, but '98 had the rise of arguably an all time hot babyface, heel and feud at the same time. Just a perfect storm of episodic television.

I enjoy listening to Meltzer so I downloaded this one for the gym this morning. If you fast forward through Ross's rants its not bad.

How great can someone be if their talent didn't translate to great matches? I'm not asking facetiously, actually curious how you're resolving that kind of discrepancy.