Mando

Face it Johnny, you were just a mark for the white bowties!

Here's a couple TAKA discoveries I've had last few years: Champion of STRONGEST-K Title: TAKA Michinoku © vs Great Sasuke - K-DOJO "CLUB-K SUPER take", 09.06.2009 - My review Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Taka Michinoku vs. Dean Malenko - WWF Sunday Night Heat 4/23/00 - My review I'd say he'll make the bottom 25 of my 100 at this point.

Halfway through the reboot episode and digging it. I like the idea of including the NWA Classics stuff. Kudos to Steve for calling out the ridiculous of Pentagon threatening to burn Vampire alive "next week". Keep up the fresh takes!

Huge, huge fan of a lot of the PWO podcasts. Routinely my companions on my commutes. Would definitely be honored to be a guest sometime if ever looking for a different voice. Mass Comm major so lots of background in audio inc. on-air radio stuff so comfortable talking publicly and in groups.

He'll find his way onto my list -- just not sure where yet. I always loved his punches. Was live for the ROH barbed wire match with BJ Whitmer. But that extra thing that Necro has that bumps him up is presence. I saw him at one of the most low-rent indy shows imaginable last year. It was in the inside of a former Ponderosa Steakhouse that had been gutted. Like 9 ft. ceiling. It was in the middle of a snowy, freezing cold Ohio winter and there was no heat in the building. Was torture sitting through most of the show but then Necro came out for the main event (teaming with 2 Tuff Tony) and suddenly sh*t got real! He started literally tearing the place apart, grunting, cursing, everything he threw landed with sickening thuds, and he took spine-crunching bumps on the cold concrete floor in-front of 25 people. We know (and love) the Low KI and Joe matches but his low-rent indy stuff is worthy of consideration and as a boost to his stature.

A lock for my top ten. Agreed with everything Dylan said above about his consistency and ability to perform well in a variety of different settings.

He was in one of my favorite indy matches of the last decade vs. Erick Stevens - Last Man Standing match from FIP Dangerous Intentions '08 and I was there live for the bloodbath versus Jerry Lynn in ROH. He may slip into the last quarter of my ballot as I could see myself having him over some other indy mainstays like Styles and possibly Samoa Joe. He's been pretty damn consistent and one of the hardest working guys on the independents for a decade.

I could definitely see having the Bucks in my Top 25. RE: them versus Hardyz, I almost think of Matt and Jeff more as singles guys now, with Matt having a chance of making it onto my singles GWE ballot.

Hayabusa had a mystique and allure that even pulled in non-fans like my brother. We were at Heatwave '98 live and it felt like a major moment especially to those of us who swapped FMW and other Japan tapes back-and-forth at my high school. I've never been able to figure out the date but I remember seeing a match vs. Masato Tanaka that was worked more like Flair vs. Steamboat than anything else and went 20+ and post-match all the fans in the tiny building rushed ringside and were slapping the mat in praise. He'd probably make the tail-end of 200 but fall comfortably outside of my 100 ballot.

I really dug Doom. They simultaneously feel overlooked while also not having a super strong resume to support them. When I watched the complete run of WCW/NWA Power Hour '90 they had 3 matches in my top ten #1 vs. Road Warriors 2/23, #4 vs. Steiner Bros. 3/30, and #6 vs. Zenk & Pillman 6/16. I've been planning on revisiting Capital Combat '90 for the first time since watching it live as an 8 year old and recall their match with the Steiners receiving some praise.

Low Ki is one of a handful of primarily indy guys that'd definitely stand a chance of appearing on my ballot. He has a uniqueness that regardless of his opponent I'm always interested in seeing his matches strictly on the strength of his performances alone (for example: he'd be one of few guys who'd make me interested in a match versus Abyss).

Dustin Rhodes and Terry Funk vs. Ric Flair and Total Package - WCW Thunder 2/16/00 The star's of the '80's (and Dustin Rhodes, gallant in leather pants that see him continually adjusting his junk) invade the 2000's in this "star-studded" main event. The 5,500+ in attendance at the Spectrum were in for a "teat" as they suckled from the mammary gland of Russo and company. Flair looked surprisingly spry and fit especially in contrast to his TNA run where he looked like 200 pounds of sand poured into a trash bag. Funk on the other hand moves with the stealth and speed of a zombie or roadside possum after an encounter with a semi-truck. Terry dishes out some left hands that make me yearn for the combat stylings of The Miz. With black bandana and in need of a decent shave Rhodes is clearly on the tail-end of a three-day cocaine bender. I'll never tire of the way Luger sells basic back bumps by flailing backward like someone's grandma seeing the specter of her lost love the war took from her. Elizabeth sliding a bat into Lex's hands eerily calls to mind him sliding pills into hers as he assisted in her death. Total Package clobbers Dustin in the head with the bat (likely permanently erasing the memory of the past night's prostitute and diner dinner of corned beef hash) and even though Rhodes is unconscious Flair adds insult to injury by applying the FIgure Four while Rhodes' shoulders are counted to the mat.

Justin Gabriel pinned Cena in that multi-man match. Would that be considered clean?

Observer reporting Biff Busick, Drew Gulak, Chuck Taylor, and former UFC fighter Matt Riddle announced to attend next tryouts. I could see them liking Taylor for his height and comfortability on the mic.

Brie Bella and Tamina Snuka got a couple minutes. Wonder if the Bryan announcement weighed heavy on Brie as she seemed more lost than usual. And there was a cringeworthy line by Booker T "Tamina's definitely gained 5-6lbs. ... of muscle" that felt like one of those cruel digs McMahon pumps through the headsets and makes his announce team espouse like the line last week about Sami being injury prone.

Atlantis, Blue Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Negro Casas, Shocker - CMLL 4/21/15 Spring is in the air, the neighborhood has come alive with trees radiantly green, and lucha is cued up. Past versus present gets things underway as Panther's face has more crags in it than Edward James Olmos' and the caveman Bárbaro is game to test his mettle against the legend. Nicely done short segment has Panther get dominant position on the mat but young Cavernario was too spry to be held down and would pop right back up. I wonder if McMahon paid for Shocker's breast job. Stuka wrestles in a cut-off t-shirt with his own visage on it. Atlantis schools the opposition making all three members of the opposing team look foolhardy. Stuka gets decent air on a splash off the top on Cavernario to take the first fall. I nominate Atlantis for the next Avengers movie. Back to Bárbaro and Panther to get us underway on the segunda caida. Bárbaro utilizing his speed and unhinged wildness. Shocker takes down Stuka and starts karate posing and thrusting like he's vintage Ricky Steamboat. Stuka goes to dive out to the floor but Shocker and Cavernario race out of harm's way. Finally Casas enters the action and goes right after Atlantis' mid-section and then his leg. Negro wastes zero movement then tags in Shocker to capitalize on the wounded prey. Oddly placed commercial disorients me but it appears Atlantis tapped to Shocker to tie things up. Apparently my video drops audio during the last fall. Casas is great taunting Atlantis then we pan over to Bárbaro wildly stomping Panther like some sort of mugging. Cavernario is so good -- definitely in my Top 20 WotY list. Things breaking down as Casas tries to get distance from Atlantis, there's brawling on the floor, and general chaos. Stuka hits a big tope on Shocker on the floor. Atlantis and Casas exchange strikes. I really liked the slick, quick ending, as while grappling Negro lifts his leg up behind him directly into Atlantis' gonads, then Casas spins around rapidly hitting a lariat to end thing suddenly. Really good trios action and what has been a real fun first third of lucha in 2015.

Leatherface vs. Freddy Krueger - IWA Japan '97 60 minute time-limit? Oh, the horror. Leather busts out a damn Japanese leg whip that Freddy sells like an old man tripping over a antique radio and splitting his pantaloons. Match spills outside quickly and Leatherface bumps off the stage at Kōrakuen Hall. They brawl up through the bleachers as Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper smoke a joint and watch together in a palatial suite somewhere. Leather back to working the leg in a plot twist. Wish this was in 3-D. I was really waiting for a run-in by Leather's supercentenarian Grandpa. Freddy uses some dominatrix's whip as a noose to strangle Leather into unconsciousness for a cold and flat denouement. I'm much more interested in the post-match hijinks as Freddy holds the prone Leatherface's head allowing the dominatrix to pour some green liquid down his gullet leading to him to vomit profusely resembling an imposed turd muching in the vein of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.

Man, Raw was a giant All You Can Suck buffet . .

Total Package vs. Buff Bagwell - WCW Thunder 10/21/99 I figured the masochist in me needed to spend my Sunday morning watching a match between two of the guys I've always considered two of the least talented in-ring performers of their era. This is when Luger was simply going by "The Total Package". He should have got a spokesperson gig for USPS. Lex surprisingly leans into a back elbow then takes a powder outside allowing for Elizabeth to akwardly take a cheapshot at Bagwell. Wonder if any of these three ever attended any of Bischoff's swinger parties. Outside the ring Luger shows his interpretation of a vicious streak with some torpid stomps and such. I always assumed Bagwell was protogynous. Buff fights his way out of a headlock, rebounds off the ropes, and marvels with a flying crossbody that Lex forgot to sell. Wonder if I can find the GPS coordinates of the pawn shop where that gold necklace Buff was wearing sits today. Really didn't like Package's powerslam where he does like a half-turn then takes a knee like a varsity lacrosse player in lieu of another pep talk by coach. Luger locks in the Torture Rack and Buff taps faster than Elizabeth when she forgot Luger's safeword that night at the Marriot. Spoiler alert: it was "USS Intrepid".

The Hardys vs. MVP and Kenny King - TNA Xplosion (February 2015) - Rated ** Just went up today on TNA's YouTube. I can't go higher on my score because there was some horrendous looking shit in here, stuff that made the business look more exposed than those leaked nude pictures of Seth Rollins, but being on Xplosion this got 13+ minutes and as such felt more fleshed out and had real ebbs and flows like a match should unlike what you'll typically see in truncated form on iMPACT! Back to those ugly spots, so Jeff tried to slide under MVP's legs but tripped him up in a great gaffe, then King at one point had Matt by his hair and I guess Hardy thought he was getting hit with a neckbreaker so basically did the move to himself while Kenny stood there with the look of someone who just dropped something in an antique mall on his face. Jeff got carried out early after getting tossed into the steel ring steps (which we didn't even see) and minutes later Willow runs out brandishing an umbrella that looked like some kind of Final Fantasy sword. Willow took off (after hitting a Twist of Fate on King which he instead took like a Stone Cold Stunner never flattening out) to the back which later lead for Jeff to wearily stumble back down to ringside and into the match. This isn't going to make you run out and buy the new PeroxWhy?Gen album but will satiate you desire for flubs and by way of Matt chubs.

They had a rematch two nights later on Superstars but I liked this one a touch better.

I just watched and reviewed my first House of Hardcore show (their latest an iPPV). I enjoyed what Dreamer did with it. For all the "reunion" shows capitalizing on ECW nostalgia this show in the old ECW Arena actually captured a bit of the spark. Nice mixture of talent, styles, old faces and new, etc. Highlights for me were the Austin Aries vs. Drew Galloway (McIntyre) bout and the main of Young Bucks vs. Hardyz (step behind one of 2014's MotY candidates Hardyz vs. Briscoes but still awesome). Some heartfelt sentimental stuff from guys like Stevie Richards, Dreamer and Beulah, etc. and a whole slew of unadvertised cameos. Good stuff.

Hey! NHO Podcast co-host Brian here. I just wanted to add that I've listened through almost the entire archives of Wrestling With the Past, Goodwill Wrestling, & Wrestling Culture. All of these great podcasts have really played a big part in renewing my interest in wrestling after I took my first-ever sabbatical from it in 30 years for about six months in 2014. Now that I've caught up on those shows I'll have to start checking out some of the other Place 2 Be podcasts etc.

Really entertaining show, guys. I don't know that I've ever actually laughed out loud during a wrestling podcast before but that happened a few times.