Jimmy Redman

So as it happens, the From the Vault for this week's Smackdown is the Rockers vs Powers of Pain, MSG 15/1/90. Really freaking great tag. The Rockers' double team offense rules. Marty is the FIP and takes ABSURDLY GREAT bumps all over the shop. Barb's powerslam catching him off the top was awesome. The build to the hot tag is great and the finish is really well done. Everyone looked great here.

I actually brought up this comparison as an aside on my board a few days ago. It went about exactly as you'd expect which is why I never pursued it, although I'm still thinking about writing something on the subject because I think the contrast is interesting.

On the flipside, my thinking is that for such an immobile guy, he has had an astonishing number of good matches. An advantage of the over-saturation of wrestling on WWE TV, I guess. But once you add up all of the guys who have dragged something out of him over the years - Taker, Cena, Umaga, Hunter, Jeff, Shawn, Sheamus, Dolph, Henry, Finlay, just off the top of my head, and I think it adds up to more than a handful.

Left field answer - vs Sheamus 2/3 Falls, Extreme Rules 2012.

Second for Necro vs Joe from IWA-MS 11/6/05.

Mark Henry vs Booker T feud, 2003 This is the Raw matches on 17/11 and 24/11 (Street Fight) and Armageddon '03. Just watched them all together, and to steal a phrase, this was a blast. First two were just ridiculously fun TV sprints. The PPV match is twice as long and even better. In all the matches they work the 'Try To Knock Down Mark Henry' story really well, and that shit never fails. Booker shows a lot of energy in these; he comes in fired up with punches, flies around throwing dives and dropkicks and stuff, and takes AWESOME spin bumps for Henry's lariats. Also, the way he hid on the ramp before the Street Fight ruled and I've never seen that spot done in quite that way before. Henry is Henry. His selling in particular is off the charts good. The moment during Armageddon where he stumbles and collapses into a pin is INCREDIBLE. God damn this guy was great in '03. I've never been much for Booker T as a singles guy in the ring, but these might honestly be my favourite singles matches of his.

CM Punk vs Mark Henry, ECW 6th Dec 2007 WOAH. So as it turns out, Punk and Henry have always had chemistry. This was like a proto-version of their 2012 match. It's all there - the trash talk, Henry's offense, Punk's selling, the comebacks, the cutoffs, the screwy finish. This one ended just when it was starting to peak, which was a shame, but man, as six minutes of TV, this rocked.

I haven't reread the thread to see if it was already laid out, but what are the specific criteria? From Babinsack's review so I assume this is accurate although cant be sure; * Working Ability * Charisma * Mic Work * Drawing Ability * Legacy * Believability (as in shoot ability)

I'm not saying he'd get the rocket, at all, but I do think he has more of a shot than Yoshi Tatsu.

Something that sets Okada apart from Tajiri and other juniors is that he is over 6ft and, what, 230-240lbs.? He isn't a cruiserweight. Neither is Alberto Del Rio, and I don't think that is an insignificant factor in why he was pushed either.

Sin Cara was signed with huge fanfare and given a 'special attraction' push numerous times. He failed because of other reasons, not because WWE didnt want to push him hard enough. You think he would have had these opportunities, the special billing, the unique lighting, etc. if he wasnt a draw in Mexico and was just a random lucha guy with a developmental contract? And Kenzo Suzuki...was terrible. Tensai got to pin Cena and Punk on TV before they gave up on him. He was given a goofy gimmick, for sure, but they didnt not want to push him. If anything he was pushed too hard when he first came back since he was in main events before he had a chance to get the new gimmick over. Its not a guarantee that Okada gets a big push, but comparing him to Tatsu doesnt work when Okada is a star in Japan and Tatsu never was. As someone already said above, Okada is in a position to demand a lot more money than Naofumi Yamamoto could have, and bringing in a guy at a big price is an extra incentive to push them and get your money's worth. I think that more than anything else would help Okada.

Yeah I dont blame Larry for doing it particularly. Thats just the way the world works. It was more Babinsack trying to proclaim otherwise that was questionable. Orton is a strange choice though, any way you look at it. As has been said, Rey is a blatantly obvious choice for a modern name who is an exponentially better candidate. Even someone like Edge, I'm not a huge fan of his but I think there's an argument that he outranks Orton on all the metrics listed, aside from the irrelevant "believability" category - in-ring, promos, charisma, drawing, legacy. Edge at least has the TLC tag team era for a legacy, and he drew ratings and carried the Smackdown brand far more successfully than Orton, who has never drawn at all as far as I'm aware. And I'm far more a fan of Orton than Edge. I rate Shawn a lot as a worker and yes, he is too high for an all-time list.

Particularly hilarious since Larry himself admitted that he did exactly that.

I like to think no, because for the past year when I fantasy book Mania in my head I always had Brock vs Sheamus in mind. Plus, f*ck a Hunter at this point. Hunter is hugely over to the general fanbase, it has to be said, but in terms of actually moving PPV numbers, he hasnt been a factor on his own in years and I doubt the difference between him and Sheamus is that much really. Brock is the key. And Rock/Cena is selling the show regardless. In any case, if Brock has indeed re-signed I am begging for the match at some point.

Henry did eliminate both of the tag champs That is actually what gave me the idea, then the post-match added more fuel to my imaginary fire. For Punk/Rock, I think above all else they all did a really poor job selling the stipulation. I never at any point thought Rock was in any danger of being DQ'd. When he went outside and rammed Punk into the table numerous times the referee visibly did not give a shit, and never really even threatened Rock with a DQ at any point. Add that to the announcers going on and on about Rock being "too scared" to do anything remotely illegal at the same time he was throwing Punk wildly into furniture, not to mention Rock taking Punk's bait at the beginning far too easily and looking foolish (well, he would have if there were any consequences), and it was all round a really poor attempt at using the story given to them. As far as matches with that stupid ass stip go, Orton/Christian at MITB did a far better job. Here it was just a lazy way to get some nearfalls on Rock by being able to do a countout tease and by bumping refs and getting visual pins all over the place.

I was thinking it was possible for Henry and Show to now team up as the Giant Fat Men Who Hate Booker T.

This a thousand times. The way the Shield works in the ring is just amazing, it is so perfect and a perfect extension of their out of the ring angle. They use numbers, isolate one guy, take him out. Rinse, repeat. They do it in their run ins, they did it in their TLC match. Here the question was whether they could STILL implement their strategy in a normal match with tag rules. And the answer is yes, yes they can. They did it using 'cut off the ring' tactics, they did it by luring guys outside the ring, and they managed to beat the Superfriends because Sheamus was taken out and they were 3 vs 2 at the crucial moment. Genius.

Clash WrestleWar Chi Town Clash I love the best, for an hour it flies by and is just an incredible 'epic' title match. I actually dig the judges gimmick from WrestleWar quite a bit, watching it from that angle puts it over the first match for me, although of course that is nothing against the first match.

I don't think it has as much to do with the Rumble finish or Punk's booking as much as it is an indictment on the roster. Cena is #1, and now Punk is in this weird 1A place where he looks at home in the main event with Cena or Rock, but he still isn't a big enough star to bring anyone else up to that level. The idea of Punk vs anyone else on the full time roster - Sheamus, Orton, Jericho, Ryback, etc. - still sounds far too midcard for Mania, compared to what he's been doing the last few months. Because nobody else on the roster is a real main eventer. They're just...Smackdown main eventers. There is nobody they can feasibly put against Punk in that Mania semi-main spot except once-a-year guys who now don't seem to be available. I like the end game of Brock vs Punk, but Mania is absurdly soon for that match and I too don't see the appeal of any kind of tag team match with them.

That is the other thing, what to do with Brock? Hunter coming back now for another match seems as weird and unnecessary as ever.

It really feels like anything they do with Punk from here except the three way will be a huge, huge step down. There isn't even anything else remotely set up or logical with anyone else on the roster.

Nobody was supposed to be the heel, it was a babyface match. Bryan is a face who's deal is that he gets angry at the crowd and yells "NO!", but in a very loveable way. And there are probably a surprising number of clean pins on TV if you're not used to it. Everybody jobs to everybody on TV these days.

Good Lord. He says, as Punk works underneath as champion, turns away viewers and is the lowest-rated champion in Raw history. The parallel between him and Bruno's run on top drawing out the ass as a babyface is plain as day. Because wrestling is real and Punk really feels disrespected. Vomit at this garbage.

To add to the "better on defense" theory, the match where he dropped the ECW Title to Big Show is a hell of a lot of fun. Show is back to being a monster heel and RVD bumps his ass off.

Terry Funk vs Ric Flair, GAB 1989, and we have a winner. I shall throw up Stan Hansen, and Hansen vs Andre, NJ 23/9/81.