W2BTD

Probably because not everyone is so sensitive like you. And because someday you'll probably have antiquated views that young people find humorous, just like always. I'm not sensitive. I'm just sick of complete bullshit sexist/racist/homophobia etc.. behaviour. Just because its passive or passed as a joke, does not mean it is not detrimental to society. What views will I have that will be humourous to young people when mine change base on knowledge/reason and being kind to others? There was a time I made gay jokes. I don't anymore. There was a time I would laugh at transgender people, I don't anymore. Things change as you educate yourself on the facts and those views never become laughable. If kids of the future will accept new things that I don't currently and there is reason for it, I will accept them too. I'm not stuck in some box based on my age and nor should anyone else be. This whole attitude that it is ok to put yourself above others is fine is complete and utter bullshit. Racism isn't funny, because it hurts people. Anti-women jokes aren't funny, because they are harassed like crazy and only make 70% of what men make. Homophobia isn't funny, because in most States there is no marriage equality. Joking around about this stuff only allows it to continue. If someone says an old person made some weird comment about a girl not having boobs and somebody thinks that is a great/hilarious story. It is bullshit. End of story. If that wasn't the story. then present the story properly and not in some sexist manner. If somebody said the story was at stated later, then not one person would think anything of it. Nearly choked to death at "women only make 70% of what men make". Utter nonsense. Exaggerated sensationalism like this ends up ruining valid social concerns. Anyway, you sound like you're a real blast at parties or while shooting the shit at the water cooler. Jokes are jokes. Anything can be funny. Context always matters. Some people can handle edgy humor and aren't hyper cynical or black/white regarding intent. You obviously are the extreme opposite. But beware. It's a long fall from that pedestal of yours.

No shot of making my list, but two things: -When I think of Necro, the first thing I think of is that great straight right hand, and keep in mind i'm as far from a "good punch" fetishist as you can find. -I actually like Necro, and he's one of those guys who comes across much much better live than on tape. He projects a great aura of danger & unpredictability live that never quite comes across as well on tape. Completely different wrestlers and for completely different reasons, but ACH is the same way.

Unlike Gedo, the latter portion of his career has been lazy & uninspired (partially due to injury, to be fair), and the first half doesn't have enough juice to crack a list like this. No chance, and not really worth discussing honestly.

The lack of super high end MOTY contenders is a problem. But if you value guys who really understand nuance, facials, mannerisms, and working crowds in subtle ways, then you would really dig "second career" Gedo, who really has had two very distinct and different careers. He'd never sniff something like this with just his "first" career, but his late career sleazy heel work is some of the most under appreciated work in modern puro. I would STRONGLY rec his Korakuen Hall main event vs Prince Devitt from 2012 (which Devitt calls his best career match, and it is a Gedo match all the way), and his BOSJ bout this year vs Liger (all of his Korakuen BOSJ bouts this year, actually). I'd also look up some of the under the radar tag matches with Okada, particularly when Bad Luck Fale is on the opposite team. There is a Gedo/Okada vs Fale/Omega match from the last full tour that is one of the best tag matches I've seen this year.

I am one of the biggest Kojima fans you will ever find. What hurts him is that his physical peak came during the worst possible time in puro history. What helps him is that he is 45 years old and has yet to appreciably decline, to the point he is arguably having better matches in his 40's than he did in his 30's. He'd likely make the bottom quarter of my list, maybe a little higher if I rewatched some early stuff and it was better than I remember it being.

Another guy that instantly came to mind when I read the head scratching Roman Reigns thread. To me, Morishima's peak blows away Roman to the point it isn't even comparable, but the drop off was so sharp and steep that there is no way he can seriously be considered for something like this. I think it would probably be wise to think about guys like Morishima before getting too excited about a four month stretch of (very arguable) great work from Roman.

There are people making serious arguments for Roman Reigns. Reading that thread immediately made me think about Cavernario. If Reigns is somehow a contender for Top 100 of all time with his shallow resume, then this guy would have to be a mortal lock on any list that ultimately included Roman.

Felt like this deserved a bump since Ibushi, who was probably a lock for more than a few lists already, was probably the best wrestler in the world over the first quarter of 2015 and will be a strong wrestler of the year candidate if he finishes the year as strong as he started it. Add the Nakamura WK9 match, the Honma bout, the AJ title challenge, and the two HARASHIMA matches from DDT to the list of high level bouts he's had since the last time anybody posted here.

I take it you haven't seen Hoyt since about late 2011. He's really found himself as a worker, in particular the placement of his big spots and how he projects himself as a monster. He's become a real tape hound, studying his matches and seeking out critical feedback from people he trusts. Long gone is the 6'8" dude in TNA who thought he belonged in the X Division.

Depends on what era of FIP you're talking about. When gabe was booking both, FIP was sort of a pseudo developmental for ROH where they would try different ideas and let guys loose creatively. It was also where they would give guys a shot to get over or prove themselves before booking them in ROH.

To answer a question earlier in the thread, Russo's first attempt at a pay site (the one that involved Chris Cash which fell apart) had roughly 300 subscribers at something like $4.99 per month.

Your voices are never what I expect them to sound like, no matter how many times I hear them.

Top wrestling scribe Brandon Stroud bringing the fresh Dandy jokes to the table here: http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2014/10/happy-52nd-birthday-to-wrestling-legend-el-dandy-here-are-his-52-most-memorable-moments/

Not only that, but I love how Dynamite throws angry temper tantrums every time TM beats him. His post match whining/cheap shots fit his persona to a tee, and it's those little things that enhance character work. Dynamite comes across just like that little shit in high school who came from a bad background and had an eternal chip on his shoulder, but who everybody knew not to fuck with because he was crazy and could really handle himself. Probably because that really was Dynamite. He came across like he was genuinely befuddled and frustrated that he couldn't best this weirdo in the mask. That kind of intense character work will always get over with me. You'd really like Jim Breaks then. I've seen probably a half dozen matches of Breaks, I like him just fine, the problem is most of the time WoS bores me to tears. I just can't get into that style.

Not only that, but I love how Dynamite throws angry temper tantrums every time TM beats him. His post match whining/cheap shots fit his persona to a tee, and it's those little things that enhance character work. Dynamite comes across just like that little shit in high school who came from a bad background and had an eternal chip on his shoulder, but who everybody knew not to fuck with because he was crazy and could really handle himself. Probably because that really was Dynamite. He came across like he was genuinely befuddled and frustrated that he couldn't best this weirdo in the mask. That kind of intense character work will always get over with me.

Woof. Conway still coming to Japan to defend the title ? Yeah, the stuff for New Beginning is set in stone. Beyond that, I would put the current odds 50/50 at best that the relationship continues. Keep a close eye on how those matches are booked, and remember, KES holding the tag titles means nothing because Archer works several NWA groups regularly anyway and KES has worked several different NWA territories in the past. If Liger retains vs Owens, they cold always book a quickie change when he's in the U.S., but according to Tharpe himself they were told Liger is booked solid and as of right now NWA can't get a date. Obviously Tenzan winning would be a good sign.

If you needed more evidence as to who was really pulling the NWA/NJPW strings, Jushin Liger currently has one date scheduled in the U.S. next month, and it's for PWS. The NWA/NJPW relationship is tenuous at best right now.

Interesting read. When talking year end awards with people like RobViper or cubs and bringing up CMLL as promotion of the year, I was met with polite reactions akin to "Well, i'm glad you dig them, but...no." I voted them #2 anyway, based on the Anniversary number and the aesthetic success of En Busca (plus the fresh young stars). I am by no means a hardcore fan, and i'm not going to pretend I follow them week to week. I watch the major events and the hyped matches. But you definitely get the sense the hardcore inside fan has a much lower opinion of CMLL than the rest of us do. In my case, it's probably because I skip all of the nose to the grind week to week stuff and just watch the best stuff they're pumping out. I stopped watching the TV because it was months behind, plus it was a B-show from what I was told and it was mostly trash aside from the main event.

That entire talking point exist only to those who are being dragged kicking & screaming into accepting that NJPW is doing well. The main event drew the biggest paid house in the company in 14 years, and the show grew for the fourth year straight. In 2011 there were 18,000 people in the building. I'd say they're picking the right main events, but then again I also have a feel for context and I don't compare what's happening today to what happened 20+ years ago. I don't know what "so hot" means. They just hit a 14 year high in attendance, and the complaint is that it only grew 1000 tickets. In August, they drew the fourth biggest house in the world, a house that would have qualified as the biggest house WWE drew all year with the exception of WrestleMania, and there are people (you among them) who considered that a failure. I don't think anybody is comparing this run to the glory days of Japan or to the Attitude Era...except for the people who are constantly holding it to those standards as the comparison point and downplaying how well they're doing. They are "hot" when you look at where they were four years ago. To deny that seems strange. The fact that the in ring has been so widely praised contributes to this, too. On a much, much smaller scale, a promotion like PWS would be getting incredible amounts of hype if the shows weren't terrible. They're arguably the most successful indie in the U.S., and get very little credit for it because the shows stink. Hot shows help perception.

On VOW too, they were going on and on about it blowing away last year's and being a potential sell out on the preview show. We were going off of the same exact assumptions that the rest of the planet was. Everybody thought "sellout" meant something different than it actually did. Even if they had sold the remaining seats, the total would have been 42 or 43k, which would have still been deflating based on what everybody took from dave's initial report (which to be fair, had no numbers attached, but i'm not letting him off the hook, I believe he got wrapped up in the massive assumed number like the rest of us did, and that;s what his report implied).

Nobody is claiming 36,000 is a sellout, even adjusting for setup, not even New Japan. They self reported 36,000 a full day after other Japanese outlets had the same number, and are not claiming it to be a sellout. Promoters are promoters, I don't trust any of them, but one thing Kidani has been insistent on is reporting legit attendance. He hasn't been caught with his pants down yet. I don't believe dave got worked, but I do think dave got wrapped up in the same hysteria everybody else did and assumed sellout meant 50k or more. Where dave may have been irresponsible was not investigating exactly what a sellout entailed in this case, which as we have all learned now is a number way closer to 45,000 (max) rather than the mythical numbers we all thought were possible but in reality probably are not. Matt Farmer was pretty insistent in his Twitter feed all week leading up to the show that there is no way you are getting more than 42, 43k in that place without extreme standing room only or eliminating the stage. A lot of people gave him a hard time, but it turns out he was right. The seating charts showed roughly 6,000 nosebleeds available before the show, and 36 + 6 = 42k, or roughly what Farmer feels they can fit. There were a couple of corner upper deck sections tarped off near the stage area. It seems like under the current setup 44 or 45k max is 100% capacity before STO.

AJ is said to be the hottest guy in the company right now, with his merch (his, meaning not BC, stuff with his name on it) being the current #1 seller. The turning point with AJ was the G1. He got over with his work, and there was no BC shenanigans. He beat Naito clean as a whistle, in a match where he basically dominated, again with no BC nonsense. I took plenty of heat from the hardcore New Japan fans for saying early on that using the BC shortcuts with AJ was a mistake, but he failed to get over due to that stuff, and now he's over like crazy without it. He's been a "clean" heel since G1. If Styles beats Tanahashi, Okada can then beat Styles, avenging the original Styles title win. Then Okada can defend against Tanahashi and win, maybe at Dome again. Okada already has two title wins over Tanahashi, getting his title win back vs Styles is a decent idea if that's the plan. I'd like to see one more long Nakamura run, but hes in a unique position where he doesn't really need it and the company doesn't need him to have it. He was the go to draw all of 2014 anyway without the title.

Nobody knows what happened because neither side will say anything other than non answers like "philosophical differences". Ronquillo was always pulling the key strings, Tharpe was the "president" but that was sort of like a figurehead thing because he was the lawyer and obviously has the charisma. There are a bunch of promoters who have very little confidence in Tharpe calling all of the shots. I would expect several affiliates to drop before the end of the year. Tharpe is calling for ringside mats, barricades, and some other expenditures in order to remain affiliated, and I've had one promoter tell me directly "I am not spending the money on any of that shit until Bruce produces a TV deal". I like Bruce, but I like Chris too. I'm 100% neutral. The feeling I get, at least among the Texas promoters, is most of the key ones are Ronquillo guys. And fwiw, the Ronquillo/Tharpe team really did clean up the NWA and do some great things. People not paying attention still stick to the same narratives, but the days of buying title reigns, low rent champions, sleazy affiliates, and other assorted junk ended under Ronquillo/Tharpe. Not to mention the New Japan connection. The champions under this regime have been people like Rob Conway, KES, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Liger, Ricky Morton, etc unlike a few years ago when guys like The Sheik were buying title runs and low level indie guys were holding the other key titles.

dave's rating for the 1/4/13 match is mental. That was easily the worst of the series for me, I had that at ****, and most of the hardcore NJPW fans agree that it was the least interesting of all seven matches.

Read it virtually cover to cover tonight. It's great. Download it now.