Superstar Sleeze

Jushin Liger & Koji Kamemoto vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - NOAH 1/26/03 The key for me regarding this match was to throw out any preconceived notions about the match and just take the match for what it is. You would expect Liger & Kanemoto to be the working heels in the match, but they wrestle as the working faces with Kanemoto taking a beatdown only for Liger to clean house and win the match with an exciting finish run. I modify with the term "working" because while the match is worked that way there is no doubt that the crowd is behind Kikuchi and Kanemaru. even they are dastardly and Liger & Kanemoto are mounting a comeback. This is a pretty easy switch in my head because I am a way bigger fan of the New Japan guys so it is easy to make the switch for me to get behind my man, Liger. This match also has me second-guessing how I ranked the previous 2002 matches in the series because I liked this a lot and I feel those were in a similar vein. So more rewatching is necessary. The one consistent thread through all the New Japan vs. NOAH matches is that they are red-hot with hatred and anger. I am always a sucker for a blood feud and Liger vs. Kikuchi was definitely one of the best of the 00s in Japan. Kikuchi running at Liger and eating palm strike after palm strike was a great opening. Kanemoto is too emotionally compromised though as he is attacked from behind while jawing with Kikuchi, Kanemaru dropping a leg on him while he hanging over the guardrail gets a big pop of the crowd as they beating down Kanemoto. Kanemoto tries to rally, but a nasty, nasty Kikuchi headbutt fucks him up. The selling from this headbutt is just amazing and should be watch to be fully appreciated. During a series of rolling suplexes, Liger says enough of this shit. He sets Kikuchi up in the Tree of Woe, but Kikuchi avoids a dropkick by doing a sit up leaving Liger probe to be crotched on the ringpost. The other consistent thread has been the excellent testicular psychology! After this, they do lose me for a bit as Kanemoto remains in the ring rather than tagging out and it just does not have as much heat. I would contribute a lot of that to Kanemaru being in the ring instead of Kikuchi. Kanemaru whiffs on his moonsault and Kanemoto goes after the knee. Kanemoto and Kikuchi have this weird exchange where Kanemoto wants to throws Kikuchi out the ring, but Kikuchi takes it like his head is slammed into the ropes and then just stands there. Kanemoto sends him out the other side. I found it amusing. Now Kanemoto whiffs on his moonsault. It is not matter because Kanemoto applies his famous heel hook with Liger detaining Kikuchi. Sometimes these detainments come off as perfunctory in Japan, but I thought this one was especially dramatic. Kanemoto and Kanemaru trade some suplexes and finally Liger and Kikuchi are tagged in and KATIE BAR THE DOOR! Kikuchi hits Protobomb that won him the match in August of 2002, but cant get the job done. Here comes Liger BABY!!! Palm strikes and sweet Ligerbombs abound! I thought the youtube video made Kikuchi's defiant stand hilarious. So the youtube video is not the best quality and sometime it can be a little shaky and tilted. Of course, there is Japanese symbols on the screen. So all this makes for hilarity because when Kikuchi gets angry it looks straight out of 90s Japanese video game you have the close up of him enraged with Japanese symbols and a shaking camera. Liger puts him down with a super Brainbuster and palm strike to win and I guess finish off the series with Kikuchi at least, as I know he competed against KENTAFuji. Like I said, I enjoyed this match the stretch in between the Kanemoto in Peril and the finish run did lose me because they sort of went into generic 00s puroresu mode, but still overall fun. Given that, in my memory, the '02 matches were better yet about give this the same rating as I did two of those because I was still figuring out my scale. So rewatching that series soon, but this was some good stuff. ***1/2

In PWO's constant search for the GOAT, the GOAT Limerick was born here.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto vs AKIRA - NJPW 03/23/03 Watch the first ten minutes and you won't understand why it is nominated, but the last 8 minutes are fantastic. So many 00s Japanese matches start off great and but misfire on the finish. Give me a tepid, aimless start with a hot finish over the inverse any day of the week. They jockey for position early with Kanemoto using knees to head and kicks to establish himself early. AKIRA uses dropkicks as cutoffs is able to hit a big dive to the outside, but belly flops on his top rope splash. OUCH! Kanemoto avoids it again, but this time AKIRA just comes down. It really puts over the Splash. The match picks up once AKIRA calls for the STF. HEY! Bryan Danielson, ringside, pretty cool! Kanemoto sells the STF really well with good vocal selling, but kinda ruins it with a quick kip up so AKIRA blasts his knee with a dropkick. Kanemoto takes a knee for a knee with a heel hook that has AKIRA clawing at the ref to avoid submission, which he does, but ref doesnt see it. AKIRA suplexes Kanemoto, the selling is a bit uneven here. Kanemoto back to the heel hook and AKIRA bites Kanemoto's knee, now that's badass. Kanemoto stays on him with kicks to knee and goes for the kill with a moonsault, but his knees come down on AKIRA's knee. O CALAMITY! AKIRA comes up the better with a Big Splash, but no 3 count love. So he flips Kanemoto over and a Big Splash to the knees and right into the ankle lock while smashing knee into the mat, great stuff. Kanemoto makes the ropes and a kick combo has them both laying. Kanemoto applies a cool figure-4 on the knee to secure the victory. The last 8 minutes make it worth with it given the great knee selling, but with so much disjointed selling I don't have this in the top tier. Kanemoto also gives a kind of flat performance with his heel hook calling card being the only thing that adds heat while AKIRA's splash and his selling of the heel hook (grabbing ref and biting knee) and his work on Kanemoto's knee are the real highlights of the match. The best AKIRA match in my opinion is the 2001 Minoru Tanaka match, but this is still worth a watch. ***1/2

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Ryusuke Taguchi - NJPW 07/06/07 Five years later and at least the cross armbreaker is still over. I still contend that Minoru Tanaka should have been the biggest junior heavyweight star of the 2000s. I don't think this match is comparable in quality to his incredible 2000-2002 run, but we get to see an entirely different side to him. He was excellent at the cocky heel gimmick. He really gave off that aura that he thinks he is better than you in every shape and way. He was showboating, stalling and cheating better than pretty much every heel in the WWE in the last decade. The best part of this entire match was how red hot the crowd was for bell-bottom-wearing "Funky Weapon" Rysuke Taguchi. Japanese wrestling crowds in native vs. native matches tend to be very similar to tennis crowd insomuch they root for ever is losing to pull them through and continue the match. I don't want to take away anything from Taguchi because my sample size is limited, but to me it was all about Minoru Tanaka. You wanted to see that smug bastard get his ass kicked. People wonder why nobody gets booed nowadays. To me it is because nobody actually tries to get booed when they are wrestling. Sure on the mic they do, but in a match pretty much everybody wrestles it straight down the middle. Minoru Tanaka, once again, proves why he had huge star potential in the way he carried himself in this match and maintaining that heat throughout the match. Unfortunately, I was not in the Korakuen Hall on July 6, 2007, but instead was in my living room in United States of America, BABY! on August 26, 2014 so crowd heat alone was not make this match an elite level match it was going to take work. The match started off great like I said with Minoru Tanaka showboating like a champion and getting shown up early. He is able to take control with an eye-rake and then out on the floor targets the arm and a pretty girl to impress. This is a clinic on heel wrestling. Of course, everyone knows that Minoru has the cross armbreaker in his back pocket so targeting the arm increases the crowd tension. There is a really nice exchange where Minoru avoids a dropkick and makes a point to let everyone know how smart he is only to eat a dropkick. This is just classic shit. Taguchi goes the "arm for an arm" route, but unlike the Minoru/AKIRA matches I didn't think they really focused enough time on each other's arm to really build the same drama. Unfortunately, the match goes off the rails at this point as they both pretty much drop the arm selling to suplex each other a lot. It was exciting, but not a lot of glue. Minoru, occasionally reminds you of the beginning of the match, by applying a flash cross armbreaker out of a human capture suplex. The crowd heat and Taguchi's selling were really on point making this a very dramatic spot, but before you knew it they were back suplexing each other. The best spot of the whole match was Minoru goes for the flash cross armbreaker and Taguchi converts into La Magistral cradle. The crowd goes wild! That should have been the finish, no doubt! NOOOOOOOOOO! An elbow exchange??? Et tu, Minoru? Taguchi hits what I believe to be The Funky Weapon twice to finally pick up the victory for his first and only IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The hook of the match was twofold: Minoru is an arrogant asshole and the credibility of his flash cross-armbreaker. They did not build the double arm psychology and they just sort of dropped it, with each touching on it here and there. Taguchi, for all his "funkiness", was a pretty bland Japanese, 00-style babyface. I hate to base that off one match, but given he only has one title reign to his name, it looks like New Japan feels similarly. At the day, the crowd was hot for Taguchi so he was doing something right even if he didn't set my world afire. The match started off promising and ended pretty well, but the body was a mess. I recommend this match based solely on seeing Minoru Tanaka work as a heel and how he was badass at doing that too. ***1/4

NO. FUCKIN. WAY. Skipping all shows and going right to this!

I knew as soon as finished this match I would be in the minority regarding this one. The match was built around selling, which I love, but they were still trading moves with little rhyme or reason towards the end and there a lack of struggle after the early part of the match. I honestly thought Honda was overselling. Besides the cross armbreaker, Ikeda really did not get much in the way of offense and yet Honda was selling like it was an even match. It disguised the match as competitive when Honda was actually crushing him. I thought it was quite good and very different than the usual main event NOAH fare, but nothing as special as others have mentioned. Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda - NOAH 09/01/01 NOAH was running in a small building with stained glass, a very interesting setting for a very interesting match. There was nothing about this bout that said NOAH. It would have felt more at home in New Japan or even in BattlArts. This is not surprising as Ikeda cut his teeth at Fujiwara's Gym and the original BattlArts. Ikeda likes to kick people hard. Honda is an Olympic wrestler and looks to neutralize Ikeda with takedowns. Honda does not have his facial hair so he does not look like the world's ugliest pro wrestler. It feels like early UFC where the wrestler takes down a striker, but does not how to finish him off down there and just smothers him. Ikeda proves why Honda has taken this strategy with flurries of kicks, but finally evens the match with a cross armbreaker. If you respect the cross armbreaker, I respect you. Honda definitely respected the cross armbreaker with his selling. This match is totally built around selling, which is a great contrast the big bomb nature of most NOAH matches. However, there was still a distinct lack of struggle and not much in the way of a story once the wrestler vs. grappler story ended. Good example was Honda powerbomb -> Ikeda triangle -> Honda leg lace with not signs of struggle. I loved Ikeda using the ropes to counterweight a Honda throw, but soon they just throwing each other around. It makes sense for Honda to go for throws, but I would have liked to seen Ikeda use his striking ability to counteract Honda. Honda is eventually able to pick up a submission victory over Ikeda. I see why a lot people like this match. It is minimalist match centered around selling. Personally, I thought Honda was overselling. I understood selling the arm, but he was selling general fatigue and pain like Ikeda was having a competitive match with him. Ikeda did not get much in the way of offense. Even before Ikeda's back drop driver, Honda was selling like he had been through a war and all Ikeda had done was a cross armbreaker. Honda's selling effectively disguised this as more competitive as it was. I enjoyed it as something very different than the NOAH's main event scene. They could have used this diversity more as the decade progressed. ***1/2

Minoru Tanaka vs AKIRA - NJPW BOSJ 05/28/01 Minoru Tanaka, King of Flash Submissions, is neck and neck with Yoshinari Ogawa as my favorite thing about 00s puroresu. This is not quite at the level of his other elite performances, but it is just a notch below. I am so glad we get this match in almost complete form (missing a minute or so of 23 minute match) given as it is basically the extended, more deliberate version of the 2000 match I loved. We still get the double leg psychology that made the first match so interesting, but we also get the complete build. Also, it is less of a sprint so there is less blowing off selling. Minoru is so incredible in holds with his selling really drawing you when AKIRA has him in leg holds. In this match, Minoru does not destroy AKIRA's leg as much and thus when AKIRA does go for his big dives it is not as irksome. I love AKIRA's psychology to whenever Minoru gets one up on him. It is always to retaliate immediately with something big. Like when Minoru first goes after his knees, he goes for a palm strike to the head, but whiffs this opens him up to a dropkick sending him to the outside and a Minoru plancha. They spend a bit too much time in the rolling heel hook, without much selling, which is the worst part of the match. For the rest of the match, AKIRA's retaliation policy is to go after the knee to cut off Minoru, which reaps great benefits being to hit a huge dive to outside or his preferred finish sequence of German suplex and top rope splash. Minoru switches gears to an arm based attack after catching AKIRA off the top coming to the floor with an armbar. AKIRA tries to bring a chair into the ring, but ref is having none of it. AKIRA hits a wicked low blow, but it is not enough. His big splash hurts his arm and Minoru looks to win with a flash cross armbreaker, but AKIRA gets the ropes. I would be remiss not to mention that AKIRA was rover like over and not even in the underdog permission. They work a similar submission reversal sequence, but ending with AKIRA winning with an STF to cap off a great match. It is nice I left these junior matches to mix in with the later decade stuff because I just appreciate this style so much. AKIRA is a bit offense heavy, but still lets his spots breathe. Minoru is so amazing with his selling and his ability to work underneath, but always has a puncher's chance with his flash submissions. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs AKIRA - NJPW 12/10/00 AKIRA in full regalia coming out to The Doors is why Japan is so friggin' bitchin'. Unfortunately, this match is joined in progress (using the final match time we lost about 6 minutes of 17 minute match) so I will not be ranking it even though I enjoyed it. It is a great high-octane, energetic spectacle. Unlike 2007 juniors matches, they are actually bothered to sell during this match. Yes, it is often selling after the fact especially AKIRA, but at least it felt like the moves had consequence, there was a flow and they were trying to win the match. We open with AKIRA taking out Minoru's leg and Minoru trying to escape by powdering, but AKIRA follows him out with a wicked dive. AKIRA is relentless on the knee with everything including ring bell and applying a figure-4. Minoru in 2000-2001 was just so fucking locked in. He sells so well in this hold. Minoru wipes AKIRA out with a basement dropkick and applies a heel hook so the playing field is levelled. The simultaneous dropkicks and strikes on knees were the lamest part of the match. AKIRA blows off selling to hit a bridging German and a pair of big splashes. They struggle over a German and AKIRA hits the mother of all back kick nutshots, sweeps the leg and applies Figure-4. Minoru makes the ropes and FLASH TRIANGLE! I am such a Minoru Tanaka mark. They do some quick submission reversals before Minoru fights through elbows to the knee to apply a heel hook for the win. Minoru Tanaka was just on fire in this match making AKIRA look great and then scoring big with flash submissions. AKIRA blew off selling, but did have some great offense. I recommend watching the match at 11 minutes of airtime this is super fun. If we got the full thing, I would say it is probably ***3/4-****.

Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00 Stay Calm and Keep It On The Mat is Ishikawa's mantra as Murkami tried to unsettle him with his relentless fury of strikes. Murakami and his WHAM! Eyebrows look to knock Ishikawa out early with strikes, but Ishikawa keeps his head down and before you know it he has Murakami on his back. I loved how heated this was and how Ishikawa was able to counter Murakami's uptempo style by constantly picking for mistakes. Murakami gets a flurry of kicks in and Ishikawa powders. Then we get absolutely awesome crowd brawling with them wiping out a bunch of chairs. I would say the only disappointing element was that the finish was so quick. Murakami bringing Ishikawa back in hardway with a rear naked choke was fantastic, but just as he was looking in command is when Ishikawa caught his foot and punched him in the face. An enziguiri into a rear choke was enough to force the submission. The finish suited the match well enough, but this left me wanting more. ****

Slowly making my way through RAW and I have to say I was quite saddened that they finally phased out the Big Gold Belt. The last vestige of my beloved WCW is finally expunged from live TV. Sad day for WCW fans.

I think you misinterpreted my last sentence. Your last sentence was how I intended my last sentence to sound. Alls well that ends well.

I think we agree regardless of the fact that agent told Rusev to sell throughout the match versus the old school think where Rusev would have had to contributed that on his own that this was good shit and we can't credit or fault Rusev for the current operating environment. So I don't want to belabor the talking point I had in the past with friends on the overemphasis on praising singer-songwriters versus those who just sing. Everybody has their role that maximizes their value. Some great artists like Elvis are best suited for singers and don't make them any less worthy of praise than a singer-songwriter. It is great that wrestlers used to call it in the ring, but now it is time for those who can execute. At the end of the day, even if Rusev was told to do it, it is up to him to execute. How many times have we seen wrestlers blow off selling or forget about it. It could have been very simple for Rusev to get caught up in his offense and neglect to sell. Where we disagree is that if you insert another member of the roster into a similar match that same praise would be given. What made this so impactful was that Rusev has been this unstoppable force, but last month Swagger was able to wound him with the Patriot Lock and almost get a countout. Rusev sold that through his finish and the next night on RAW. From there Rusev tried to jumpstart the match, but it backfired and Swagger slaps on the Patriot Lock again to great effect. It was the perfect confluence of how Rusev had been built up, previous match storytelling and Rusev's excellent execution. If they did something similar in Miz/Ziggler or Paige/AJ I don't think would be as effective because those feuds don't have the same heat and build. To me it does not matter who the brains because you could tell two wrestlers the greatest layout in the world, but as a fan I ain't going to see that. i am going to see the match that those wrestlers put out. Rusev executed the vision of the agent to great effect and deserves all the credit for doing just that.

Finally got a round to listening to this. Lo and behold, I am the subject of the first two minutes or so. Awwwwwww shucks, you sure know how to make a guy feel like a million bucks. I am sorry to disappoint, Johnny, but Katie Bar The Door is not coming back. I just say because it is a cool wrestling phrase and yes I will use it in normal conversation with non-fans to great effect. I don't know how to take the Rocky thing. It was funny on the Boston Garden episode (which I listened to a couple days ago) that Parv thought my people who couldn't pronounce their "r's" were cute. Well, now I don't feel so bad for ragging on DiBiase. Calling us Bostonians cute!?!?! I'll knock your block off, I tells ya! For those who have watched Hansen/Backlund from NJPW 9/80 how do you think the matches compared? I really like the NJPW match, but have not seen the WWF matches yet.

FINALLY, I get to start one of these threads! So a lot of people do not think Roman Reigns will be ready in time for Wrestlemania. If this was the WWF of the 90s, I would say seven months that's plenty of time for Vince to work his magic. However, the WWE of the 00s, seven months does tend to mean that's plenty of time to truly fuck someone up. That is a sad state of affairs, but it is ultimately true. So lets talk solutions! The question at hand is who will dethrone Brock Lesnar not who the next face of the WWE will be. Thus John Cena is eligible for discussion. John Cena - With that lead in, lets talk up the obvious candidate. Cena took two hellacious beatings from Lesnar. At Extreme Rules, Lesnar got cocky and went for a big bomb and missed. He then shook it off went for the same bomb and ate chain, which was his demise. This time Lesnar was laser focused. Can Cena beat a laser focused Lesnar? How is Cena's mental psyche? Personally, I would love to see Cena take a more veteran mentorship role with somebody like his weightlifting buddy, Cesaro. In his mind, he thinks he is done, but he still can give back by mentoring. His protege urges him on to take on the beast. You could even go Achilles/Patroclaus with the protege getting mauled by Lesnar and now Cena has to stand up and fight. I would love to see him do MMA training or Rocky training vignettes kind of like Tito learning the figure-4 to break Valentine's leg so he could taste his own medicine. It is a great story but ultimately it leads us back to the same place Cena on top. Dean Ambrose - He was red hot when I went to Money In The Back live and in vivid color. He has since been cooled off by slow burn booking, but he is still smoldering could be stoked into a raging fire. I see Ambrose wrestling a more wild version of Punk/Lensar and pulling it off quite well. Ultimately, I see Ambrose more in the vein of a Piper or Savage. He could be a strong number two, but he is not your Hogan. I would like to see Lesnar/Ambrose, but as a Lesnar victory. Seth Rollins - I see Rollins as a good shot to fill their desperate need for a strong working heel that can bump around for babyface and shine them up. So many heels are bruisers that there is no one to shine up faces like a Flair would. Rollins could be that guy and no reason to turn him face or put him in the ring with Lesnar. Bray Wyatt - I think Lesnar opens up the possibility of heel vs heel matches because pretty much every challenger will be cheered for. I thought Wyatt should have won at Money In The Bank to resuscitate his career. He needs to get out of this heatless Jericho feud. Another loss to a main event player seems counterproductive, but I think Wyatt standing toe to toe with Lesnar would help. There is no reason why if Wyatt were to win that he would go right back to being top heel. Why not use Lesnar to set up a top heel instead of a top face? Sheamus - Sheamus is my favorite wrestler and one of the most underutilized talents on the roster. He needs to be turned heel and kept away from Lesnar. Cesaro - Cesaro is my second favorite wrestler and one of the most underutilized talents on the roster. He needs to be turned face and paired with Cena. Rusev - See Wyatt. It is Fedor vs. Brock, but in WWE, BABY!!! Dana, eat your heart out! Ok, so maybe not, but I think this is intriguing. Jack Swagger - He is my dark horse. He has the size and amateur credentials to compete with Lesnar. Unlike Ambrose and Reigns, he is on the upswing rather than coming down from a previous high. We all know the big knock on Swagger is that he is utter dogshit on the mic. If you don't go with Cena, then the man who beats Lesnar should probably be the top face. I just don't see Swagger as the top face even if I would love to see a big face Swagger push. Daniel Bryan - Keep him away from Lesnar. I talked myself into Cena after initially thinking I would double push Reigns and Swagger. It is a great story and it gives time for Cesaro, Reigns, Ambrose or Swagger to separate from the pack to be the next face. Who is your pick?

I asked a question in my long Summerslam post, but I have a feeling it may have gotten lost so I thought best to ask here. I feel like the RKO is one of the most protected finishes in the WWE. This is not the FU, which takes a minimum of three on a big PPV to win a match. The RKO seems like one and done to me. Not only that, it is very rarely kicked out of. Now, until I got the Network, I barely watched any of the PPVs so is my feelings true? Is the RKO one of the most protected finishes? Is Reigns kicking out getting underplayed? It was a very big moment for me, but no one seems to care on the web.

Finally finished Summerslam 2014, I don't think anybody on this board declared this the best Summerslam of All Time, but on my twitter feed there was definitely that hyperbole, but I don't even see how this was better than last year, which had two MOTYCs (Punk/Lesnar was my WWE MOTY). This year had one match that really knocked it out of the park (Cena/Lesnar), a fun, fun Rusev/Swagger match and a collection of good, but not great matches. It was basically a barrage of *** matches. It was probably one of the most consistent PPVs of all time, but it lacked the highs that other PPVs have, which probably have lower lows. Ziggler/Miz - I am a sucker for matches with simple character hooks like "Dont punch my beautiful face". It is an easy way to either create two payoffs or make the finish extra sweet. It also allows for a good story at the outset. Ziggler is much better as a face. He has a lot of standard babyface offense and has made his big bumps into a great sympathy device. Miz would be so better off as a manager, but we have to suck it up that he is a wrestler. How come heels dont cheat anymore? Why doesn't Miz eyerake or choke? Superkick made me pop, but should have been the finish because the rest of the match was forgettable. The secondary titles are so meaningless. They should be on Rollins, Ambrose or Reigns. Paige/AJ - It is so WWE to discover a pop culture term years late, totally misuse it and shove it down out throats. Hogan/Savage are frenemies. Paige/AJ are just enemies. The match was better than last month. It was short and sweet. I actually liked the finish. Swagger/Rusev- U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! For me this has overtaken Ambrose/Rollins as the second best feud in the company. I would say besides Cena/Lesnar, the only match that worked in a way that was actually befitting of the storyline. From the opening Pearl Harbor of Swagger backfiring and leading to seriously wounding the Russian Juggernaut, Rusev (sounds better than Bulgarian Brute) with the Patriot Lock, which fits in perfectly with last month's countout finish. Rusev's selling was bitchin' and Swagger is a great power wrestler. Then we get dueling body part psychology with Rusev targeting the injured ribs and the Swaggerbomb slowing Swagger down. The Patriot Lock was a false finish that a lot of people bit on. Rusev winning makes sense, but they have another smoldering babyface on their hands, which they should stoke rather than smother. I would put this right under MOTYC, but I would not argue against someone who has it higher. Rollins/Ambrose - This was so disappointing for me. Pete, my man, I usually agree with you when wrestlers work a match contrary to the stipulations, but this was not Attitude Era wrestling where the stipulation was just randomly ignored. They actively fought through the stipulation. It showcased how out of control this feud was that all these wrestlers could not contain The Lunatic Fringe (Does anybody else always mistake that song for Pink Floyd's Young Lust?). They established that lumberjacks would actively contain the wrestlers until Ambrose lost it. Then when Rollins tries to escape they all carried him back. This part of the story was the highlight of the match. It was everything less I didn't like. The match started off oddly tepid. I never care for crowd brawling. Then the finish just seemed rush. It had a good hook, but not enough meat around it. Wyatt/Y2J - They basically wrestled the same match as last month except with a couple bigger spots (DDT on apron and Top Rope Frankensteiner) and a different finish. It was still Wyatt dominated, Y2J flurry, Wyatt cutoff, rinse lather repeat. I am totally ok with this formula it just lacks heat because there is no real hook. Jericho would be better off in a workrate feud with the likes of Cesaro than a "violent" feud with Wyatt. What bugged me the most was that they did same flash knockout finish with the Codebreaker, but this time Wyatt was able to kick out (yes, he was supposed to get a rope break, but still it was lame). This leads to the big Wyatt finish. Again another fine match, but lame finish. Stephanie/Brie - First, since it came up the Four Horsemen signal was because the Four Horsewomen (Rousey's crew) were at ringside. This match was so weird. It was a complete departure from the storyline, It was wrestled as if Brie was trying to prove herself to Stephanie. It was wrestled more like a heel championship title defense or a strong veteran taking on an underdog rookie. I acknowledge Stephanie is a giant compared to Brie. I would remiss not to mention that Stephanie looked damn fine in that outfit. The match we were given was actually very good match. Stephanie is the best heel (Lesnar is close) on the roster. Everybody else just sort of wrestles their match without trying to cheat, be a coward or be an asshole. I would have liked Stephanie to show a little more ass (no not that ass!) in terms of bumping and stooging, but here comes HHH to sell for Brie! LOL! Best moment of the night. I am disappointed by the turn because I just don't give a flying fuck about Nikki and really didn't want this to continue. I wanted Brie to get her payoff and everybody to go home happy. Brie vs. Nikki sounds like yuck! Orton/Reigns - Another tepid match. I probably like Orton more than most. I think his offense looks good and violent like his headbutts, the Garvin stomp, but damn those chinlocks could kill off the hottest crowd nevermind this LA crowd. I think Reigns is fine at selling, but he needs to open these matches up hotter. He needs some offense at the outset to rouse the crowd. His finishing sequence takes too much time to set up. The Superman Punch and Spear should out of nowhere moves to set up his Powerbomb or something of the such. In my opinion, maybe somebody else can answer this better, but isnt the RKO one of the most protected finishes. It is usually one and done. So for Reigns to kick out clean was a pretty big deal for me. Yet seems totally underplayed on the web. The out of nowhere Spear was a great use as I mentioned above. I am not as down on Reigns chances as many since there is plenty of time to get him ready (and also fuck him, I realize) for the Lesnar match. I would actually argue that putting him in with Lesnar and doing a Hansen/Kobashi '93 match at Night of Champions is the way to go. Then build from there with Reigns getting closer and closer to beating Lesnar until Wrestlemania doing a strong sports build. Lesnar/Cena - Shocking and awesome. The balliest move this company's made since 2011 CM Punk. I love they really shook things up Not as good as the Extreme Rules matches, but few are. I am sure this may sound pretentious and perhaps irritating, but I thought of this more like an angle than a match. It was awesome, awesome angle. I loved the Seahawks/Broncos vibe they went for. As a match, it falls short of MOTYC status for me and I would rate right around the Swagger/Rusev match. The closest two matches I could compare this to are Vader/Sting GAB '92 and Lesnar/Rock '02. In both though, while the monster heel came in on his first crack and mauled the top babyface star, it was still much more competitive than Lesnar/Cena. In both those matches too, each roster had much more depth in terms of talent to combat the new monster heel without stretching the bounds of credibility. This is one of the most shallow rosters since the mid-90s in terms of main event talent. Outside of Cena, they really have no true, bonafide main event stars. Bryan was on his way until he was derailed. In addition, to how you work around this new monster is how Cena reacts to this. Cena should not only be broken psychically, but mentally too. I would love to see Cena build himself back up from the ground up for the rubber Cena/Lesnar rubber match. How great would it be if they started showing Cena training in MMA to try to combat Lesnar ala Tito learning the figure-4 to break Valentine's leg? VINCE BOOK THIS SHIT!!! I agree with everybody that outside a Cena rematch there nobody seems to Lesnar's league. Reigns needs more work in firing up a crowd in the ring. Ambrose is great as a frentic, wild man, but he seems like a Piper to me, not a Hogan. Rollins is their best chance to fill the void of a traditional working heel complete with cowardice. So many heels are bruisers it would be nice to have one to be a bumping machine with big offense ala Flair mold. I love Sheamus and Cesaro to death, but they are so dead in the water. If they double turned those two, I think they could resuscitate them, which rules out Sheamus. My dark horse is Jack Swagger. He has the size and amateur credentials to compete with Lesnar. He is the hottest he is ever been. Of course, the big problem is that he is totally utter dogshit on the mic. If I was running the show, I think you at the very least double push Riegns and Swagger and by December you got to choose. I would go so far to have a Swagger vs. Reigns match on a PPV to really see who the crowd is behind. Like I said this was before, this was a really, really ballsy move. They is much bigger chance they fuck this up, but it really could be a big boon. It was a really consistently good show. There was one great match on the undercard with Rusev/Swagger. Steph/Brie was very good, but inconsistent with the story and finish I am apathetic too. There was a lot of good matches, but they are ultimately forgettable or disappointing. Cena/Lesnar was a big time match that gave Summerslam that big angle they love. As always coming off Summerslam, there is a lot of cool possibilities. In 2011 and 2013, they fucked it up. Third times a charm, right? Right? RIGHT?

I must be out of the loop. Do you the approximate timeframe she was the head of writing?

Watched the 2002 RAW where the brand extension was established on the Network with my brother last night. There are minor production differences, but it is amazing how little difference there is in presentation in 12 years or so. I enjoyed the Angle/Vince backstage interactions a lot. I do wish there was a bit more fun in wrestling now. For the most part, so many things come off as dry, that a lot of the midcard could use some levity. The big difference was the match times. I forgot about the compressed 5 minute match. That was fuckin brutal. HHH vs Jericho vs Steph for World title intrigued me, but was a bit lackluster except for two brutal Stephanie bumps. My brother at the start was like "Do you think she will take anything serious?' By the end, HHH crushed her with a clothesline and squashed with a spinebuster. It was pretty crazy. I guess she was forced to leave and she did a great job hamming it up, holding onto the ropes and then the post while they sang "Hey Hey Goodbye". It is amazing to me that someone who is such an entertaining onscreen character is in charge of a creative team that consistently either botches storylines or present such a dry and bland product.

They went for the Broncos/Seahawks match. Not a great match per se, but an incredibly gripping story for the long term. I love the commitment to Lesnar and think this opens up some real interesting possibilities for Cena.

So hyped for this Cena/Lesnar match! I am going to say Brock does not win the title here to set up the rematch at NOC. That's my crazy prediction. Regardless should be badass.

I forgot my favorite part was when Parv or Chad ever commented on a match almost immediately Will would say but yeah missed the part that was actually was good and it was always a fun hidden gem. I actually looked up DDP's outfit just based on this podcast and it was indeed bitchin' as all hell.

I think the females could wait three months to see their beloved Flyin Brian. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder. My timeline would have the blowoff be in September or October anyways, so that long after the loser leaves town. The music I am fine with it is the same as having the same moveset to Flyin Brian. It is an homage. The hometown, I agree, is stupid. I actually knew nothing about the original Yellow Dog angle and that actually sounds really cool. Pillman perhaps was throwing that back in the face of Windham. I agree that poor booking sort of made seem like it was shoehorned in there. He would have been better off with a different name. I think the strongest point and a problem I failed to mention was the Loser Leaves Town match being so poorly set up and presented that does take some of the starch out of the angle. The fact it was 4 minutes and JR barely bats an idea would seemingly kill it. I thought the bounty and the way the matches were worked salvaged the angle enough that an actual conclusion would have still been meaningful. WCW booking in 1991 was the shits. I still feel this was Pillman's best shot at the main event. He was working a strong program with the Horsemen and this could have been a great extension of it, but they botched from the get go. It still felt like the hottest thing they had in the summer of '91, which does not say much. If Pillman goes over the Horsemen/Enforcers, it could have led to matches against Luger, but Watts was coming in anyways so it was probably moot. Regardless, the Yellow Dog was a fun angle, but had more potential than it did in the way of execution.

Fuck you all for not liking the Yellow Dog! Seriously though, Yellow Dog is one of those things that it is easy on the surface to shit on, but could have been a huge boon to Brian Pillman. Pillman is coming off his hot feud with Windham, which is the best thing about WCW 1991, but curiously loses a loser leaves town match. Only for the Yellow Dog to arrive on the scene shortly afterwards. The crux of the gimmick is that everyone knows it is Pillman. The fans, the faces, the heels and the announcers, but everyone plays along except the heels, who are infuriated he is back. So the Horsemen put a bounty on his head. Instantly, this gives the midcard direction. Now all these middling heels like Badd, Studd et al. have something to do. They explain away the same moveset by stating Yellow Dog is Pillman's biggest fan and wants to carry on his legacy. What drives me bonkers is that the angle was never properly finished. If they finished this angle, I would contend nobody would remember this as Wrestlecrap. External forces killed this angle though. Windham was hastily turned face to fill the void of Luger turning heel and served as a mentor to Dustin and Simmons. But still they could have salvaged this with Arn and Larry Z, but in the most boneheaded move Pillman was chosen to be the centerpiece of the DOA Light Heayweight Division. I originally envisioned the climax of the angle being a hair vs mask reinstatement match between Yellow Dog and Barry Windham with Pillman going over. Then on the next episode of Saturday Night, Pillman thanks the Yellow Dog for all the help while the Horsemen just seethe with rage. If you have to turn Windham face, then Yellow Dog & Partner (Simmons, perhaps) going over Enforcers. Just bridge off Parv's excellent idea for Sting/Luger that allows you to do Rick Steiner/Yellow Dog/Missy vs Arn/Windham/Paul E, which with time could have been really good and further the angle towards a blowoff. Anyone who is interested about the 1991 Yellow Dog matches here is my blog on it: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/wargames-taped-fists-yellow-dogs-brian.html Here is my review of the Flair/Studd match mentioned (I say ***1/2 is generous, I would probably go closer to ***) WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair & Diamond Studd w/DDP vs. Yellow Dog/Bobby Eaton - WCW 6/91 I believe this Flair's last televised performance with WCW until his '93 return as GAB starts that week according to JR and I know he is gone before the Meadowlands show. I actually liked this match even more than the Flair/AA vs Eaton/Pillman as this match seemed more heated and had more of a focus. The focus was getting the Yellow Dog over like rover. JR aggravates Paul E. with obtuse references to Pillman while the Yellow Dog does moves and Paul E. flips his shit each time. Studd is a little clunky, but hell if he does not sell and bump for Pillman. Pillman does not give an all-time great offensive performance but they way Flair and Studd treat him makes you feel like Pillman is a star. I love the ending where the heels just jump Pillman and try to remove his mask. It puts over the mask and the angle over so much before Eaton makes the save. I would be remiss not to mention that Flair/Eaton segments are so fucking good even better than the last tag. Those strike exchanges are everything you would want out of Flair/Eaton. I would not say a must see match as Flair/Eaton had a better match in 01/90 and Pillman has had better performances. However, it did a really good job getting the bounty angle and making me a believer in the angle even if they ended up botching the end game.

Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01 Vader is DA MAN~! If NOAH could milk Vader for a couple more years even if just hidden in tags, he would have been a huge boon to NOAH. My biggest criticism of NOAH is the lack of gaijin talent. Stan Hansen and Dr. Death were so critical to the All Japan Golden Years. I know 2001 Vader is not 1994 Dr. Death especially evident in the couple mishaps and the extremely blown finish. However, holy shit did he look great as the monstrous heel who just mauls Kobashi. I also thought this was one of the most Southern style tag matches in Japan with great double heat. Kobashi and Taue have an absolutely great shine segment. Vader and Akiyama look to double team Kobashi at the outset, but Kobashi and Taue have other plans in mind. Kobashi destroys Vader with back fists and Taue hits NODOWA~! on Akiyama on ramp. Kobashi continues the beat down on Akiyama. Akiyama high knee and tags in Vader. Vader is fantastic. After all the flippy shit in the 2007 juniors, this is just mama's home cooking as Vader is just blasting Kobashi in the face. In a weird moment, Vader takes Kobashi out into the crowd and puts him in a chinlock. Alright then, snuggle time in the crowd it is. Back in the ring, Vader gets nearfalls off a bitchin lariat (this is one of those lariats JBL would have an orgasm for) and a Vaderbomb. Taue saves and this gives time for Kobashi to tag out. Taue hits the Mother of All NODOWA~! on Vader. Jesus, the elevation he gets on Vader of all people makes up for Vader's shitty finish. Akiyama hits an Exploder on Taue and now Taue is in peril. Vader and Akiyama kick his ass on the outside with Akiyama hitting a piledriver. Taue hits a nasty big boot on Vader. This match is stiff as all hell. Vader chucks Kobashi across the ring on two Germans. Vader hits a massive powerbomb only for two triggering "Ko-Bash-I". Vader hits a Vaderbomb and then nearly kills himself on a Vadersault attempt, which Akiyama covers and then he actually does it and almost kills Kobashi. All I could think was when Vader nearly fell to off the top rope was if I was Kobashi I would be shitting my pants because he you have no idea where the hell Vader would land. I would have called audible and switched the finish, just for my livelihood. That is why Kobashi is Kobashi. He has Balls of Steel! Incredibly fun match marred by a blown finish. It was entertaining from the excellent Kobashi/Taue shine to the double heat through the finish run with Vader throwing people around. Vader looked like a monster in this match, but I would imagine the finish killed any chance of him getting further chances up the card or perhaps he just didn't have it in him. This match epitomizes what I like in my wrestling. ****

Bryan Danielson vs Go Shiozaki - ROH In Tokyo 7/16/07 The poll is Best In Japan in the 00s, thus any match that took place in Japan qualifies not necessarily taking place in a puroresu card. That being said, Ring Of Honor had a very similar style to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Occasionally this happens to me, I acknowledge I am watching an interesting, well-worked match and it just does not hold my attention. Unfortunately for this bout, I felt that way. I loved Danielson's pacing in this match. He was not flying around and blowing off selling. The beginning of the match showcases Danielson at his best making submission holds look innovative and like they hurt. It is something that is bereft in both WWE and Japan in the 00s. They establish they are equal babyfaces even ending a dropkick simultaneously. Shiozaki takes over with chops and general power, but Danielson catches a break when Shiozaki goes flying into the railing. Again, I loved Danielson's arm work, which effectively used strikes and holds to destroy the arm. When Shiozaki starts to mount his comeback and is still selling might be when I realize what is wrong. Shiozaki is just really bland. He is just a generic, cookie-cutter NOAH wrestler. He is not bringing anything to the table. He is doing the right things, but is nothing special and unique. Danielson goes flying into the crowd on top of Shiozaki and this triggers Danielson's big spots ending with a crossface chickenwing that ends up in the ropes. Shiozaki was able to crotch Danielson on the top rope and hits a weird slam. Here comes the BOOM! Bombs galore. Shiozaki goes for the kill with a moonsault misses and Danielson immediately applies Cattle Mutilation. Shiozaki is able to fight out, but then end is nigh and Shiozaki succumbs to a second Cattle Mutilation. Danielson was really demonstrating why he was one of the best in the world at the time. He paced himself well. He is an amazing offensive wrestler (ground, working body part, bombs) and this really showcased his talents. Shiozaki just feels so mediocre in this match and I just could not bring myself to care. Thus I felt like I was watching a Danielson exhibition. ***1/2