bradhindsight

Great show guys - not just for Bockwinkel but for a reminder of how thw AWA is often overlooked due to previous preceptions (esp the Hogan one that was fleshed out). Kevin was great - he sounded like if Johnny P was from Minnesota. Really the same kind of cadence (one I enjoy).

Thanks guys! http://placetobenation.com/tag-teams-back-again-episode-12-strike-force-vs-the-islanders-part-1/

Really stacked show - enjoyed the Nick opening. This type of weekly recap is so different because it ISN'T WWE-centric the entire time and the topics aren't "let's be really boring and recap Raw" and instead is "let's debate about the presentation of the Undertaker angle".

Loaded episode - all three falls look great Pete.

Agreed

Active wrestlers having Colon #2 and Historians having Colon #14 seems so counter intuitive to me.

That fancam channel rules, love stuff like that.

I was refraining from spoiling anything, but yes, the fireball spot. Did he get legit hurt by it? The spot was unique enough that it was a good trick for two old guys to work in. I thought it was a good pro-wrestling match given the guys involved are 71 and 65 years old.

This is an easy watch. I enjoyed them locking up before getting into their bread and butter: throwing punches at each other. Funk is up pretty fast after his bump also. As far as matches with 71 year-olds go, this is damn good. Funk acts crazy, often going after Jerry Calhoun while they get the different plunder ready. He even takes that large plastic trash can off his head (!). I popped for the ending. Good stuff.

The Atlanta strip club breakdown was as good as advertised. Good show boys.

I really enjoy Andre's work in tags. I've seen a couple from the 70s and he just carries them - even if he's not in the match for the majority of the time. The Atlantic City match is a good example and there's also 6/27/77 where he's against Patera and Volkoff that is excellent.

For the IWA World Title; crowd (ok one guy who is really loud) chants NEW CHAMP, which sounds a lot like NEW JACK, which was confounding at first. This contest is paced really well, escalating as it goes along with everything for the most part meaning something. Early headlock and arm work segues into Punk countering AJ trying to roll out of the armbar by rolling along with him in a neat spot. We get a "55 minutes remaining" to tease a draw, which elicits a semi-groan from the crowd. Both guys miss on their dives to the outside, splashing the plastic seats and spilling across the gym floor. The outside stuff works into the main story as AJ goes to suplex Punk onto another section of chairs but after being rebuffed goes for a big discus clothesline which he lands full-on into the steel of the turnbuckle. Punk will come back to this damaged limb in most of his transitions for the rest of the match and AJ, for the most part, sells the restrictions. AJ goes for his own submission with working Punk's neck. Big brainbuster gets 1. Good back and forth, where there isn't really a long control segment, but the action is intense (including a pretty stiff short DDT) between submission holds (which includes the Vice, which AJ knees out of and plays into the finish). AJ goes to powerbomb Punk to the outside but its reversed into a rana and both are out. We don't get a Pepsi Plunge and Punk is thrown off trying to DDT AJ out of the corner. AJ explodes out of the corner with a discus clothesline with the bad arm, which Punk blocks and AJ sells, before spinning around and laying him out with the good arm, which gets a good two count. This match benefits from not being nearfall heavy at all. The covers they do go for make sense, even if the crowd is pretty non-plussed. Could be because they expected this to go a lot longer than the 23 minutes it did. Punk rolls out of the way of AJ's somersault splash off the ropes and hits his shining wizard before locking on the Vice. AJ knees him again but Punk rolls him over with the hold locked in and bridges up to really crank on the pressure. Styles taps and Punk is your new IWA World Champ. Great match.

This is one of my favorite "gems" (using Parv's word) from that set because it's so different from MSG and the other footage from that time. The fans at the Steel Pier are out of their seat practically at the ring screaming and jumping for Andre to get a hot tag. Everything clicks - Baron's hidden object (and I actually think this piece of the match dragging it down is over-embellished back on Titans #2 or #3; he doesn't over do it imo) has them pissed. Worhle misses tags and they are frantic. It's a fun atmosphere to get lost in. The team-up spots with Andre and Ted are fun, and it's a shame we only get that stuff early on from them (Andre feeding guys for DiBiase to dropkick for example). There's a scrappiness to the match where guys will just leave their corner to fight, although the Baron and Jerry are very fickle about when they'll bump or even sell. At times it almost seems like play wrestling - DiBiase will just club away and be completely ignored. That's probably the worst part of the match - the heels being physically limited so they can't even make Andre look particularly good. I enjoy Andre in this type of match. He even legit sells for those goofs (late in the match too - a surprisingly heat sequence on him like 20+ minutes in) and it works. Gorilla is incredible calling this - he keeps the viewer engaged and I was hooked as well. I'm not at ****, more so in the *** +, maybe ***1/2 .

That KENTA / Ricky Marvin match is even sub THREE minutes from the dive before the bell to the finish. Enjoyed plucking that one out from the playlist Allan put together.

This is a great sub-five minute match that actually feels longer because of how tense and real everyone comes across as. I didn't think anything felt worked, even the takedowns, and when there was a headlock on the ropes I winced in hopes they wouldn't shoot someone off and instead it led to the best Snowman punching sequence of the match. Just awesome.

^ agree with concrete1992. Bell to bell it just qualifies. Great one.

Watched this one a couple times as it's an interesting look at Corino post ECW (he is actually pretty scrawny here compared to even two years later). Interesting aesthetic here, you'd think the NWA could have afforded a better mat for the ring. Deliberate start and Hasimoto gets his first kick in after a ref break to a round of boos. Corino breaks off a couple regular vertical suplexes, which stuck out to me givne their size difference. Some fierce kicks set up a DDT on Corino before we go into the final round of shots in and around Corino's head. Hasimoto is actually pretty soft to the ones that just graze the top (I am not rooting for anyone to be concussed, just noting) and maybe that's on the camera angle. Corino blades off another and then Hashimoto kicks and punches him down in the corner, before the ref surprisingly calls for the bell. Corino gets up and the ref actually restarts (?) the match before he gets kicked down again and the locker room comes out. Pretty abrupt match that feels like they cut out 8 minutes or so from the middle portion.

I love any project that builds out the robust Match Discussion Archive here. It's great to have a designated place to provide your instant analysis and read others' thoughts as well.

It auto downloaded for me last night when released. That's weird.

Wanted to throw my support behind the Super Extreme Vault. If you're getting into ECW, it's a great (and always entertaining) supplement to your watching. Really good show.

NXT 24 and the Daniel Bryan doc from Mania XXX are probably the two best things they've produced for the Network. They are on par with anything ESPN produces documentary-wise.

Awesome. Thanks Allan.

The secret surprise is well worth listening for. Really funny stuff.

Thanks for the time stamps Bix!

Disagree. None of the dissenting opinions were brushed off; in fact, each was laid out and addressed succinctly. Part 1 was essentially a research paper with a thesis and the evidence to back it up.