bradhindsight

I think the awkward flyer thing worked though because you have to remember Pillman's background. He was a special teams player for the Bengals, literally flying around on kickoffs and his energy and effort (despite being undersized) were well lauded. I always thought his aerial moves were very realistic. Rather than being a graceful balancing act, he was a kamikaze up there - just like his persona.

Is there any Portland footage of him facing Flair?

Sheamus is an interesting study. A great five year resume of ring work (this is a guy that will get you to watch and care about an 8-minute Curtis Axel match), and that's with discounting everything he did in England. He's 36 though, so while he may not be in the main event scene any longer, I could see him very much having a Goldust-like career from here, and a guy still working into his early 40s.

I'll also nominate the Bret/Backlund match from 7/30/94 when Backlund started his heel run. There's an excellent match discussion thread on it already for reference.

I think it's the actual Rumble match that's the draw - it has big implications on WrestleMania, has historical importance (and nostalgia) and features surprise entrants/returns. I really believe people seek out going so they can watch a Rumble match in-person. So pretty big draw - second to Mania IMO.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the WWE has been talking to him about the Hall of Fame - or at least he really alluded to that. The question about Bruno finally accepting and paving the way was a really apt one. I think it would be a fantastic honor to let him in and you could tell how much it would mean to him.

Wanted to follow up on this - first, fantastic interview, great questions, good pacing and you guys were all pros. The Kickstarter was funded so the project is a go.

^ I certainly think that meaning is fine, and I didn't intend to call out yours per se. It wasn't the first response and a couple days had passed. I think it's a fair question if the nominator hasn't added their piece. I think in other times it can read as "Surely there must be a clerical error that this name would appear in this forum", which can be off-putting.

I'm with BillT. The "Who nominated him?" and other incredulous comments that wrestler X could even be in this conversation are opposed to the very spirit of the project and just derail the conversation.

Making more money so they can add more resources (and in turn more programming) is a step in the right direction. They should have done this from day 1. It also offsets any price increase (at the moment). No one is cancelling their $9.99 a month because of commercials. As KrisZ pointed out on twitter, they run commercials during PPVs and special events. Nothing groundbreaking here.

Just catching up on this one (which is not like me for a stellar series like WTBBP) - I never knew the origin of the Foley scorn there Chad. While I remember being disappointed he wrestled at Mania 2000, the fact that he didn't come back for quite some time after retconned it as being ok for me. Plus we thought maybe he'd win it as a going away gift (and I thought he was very good in that match - outside missing the elbow badly - going quasi-heel mid match).

Underrated Daniels: his 2011 heel work was fantastic (pre-teaming with Kazarian).

Big episode dropped this morning with Steve talking to Adam Cole. Previous guests also include Greg Valentine, Cedric Alexander, Kevin Kelly, and more! http://placetobenation.com/stevecorino/

Btw - there better be Kal Rudman and Russ Davis fan fiction in future episodes Johnny.

Rey really had a GREAT 2009-2010. He goes from Jericho to putting over Ziggler and Morrison with great matches. Then the Batista stuff (I'm glad that 1/15 cage match made your list), right into the Rumble match with Taker and then into the feud with Punk. I thought his stuff with Swagger was very good and he transitioned right into feuding with Del Rio after.

One of the things DDP has talked about with his WWE run is that they hated that all the WCW guys bumped on their sides so that reconditioning took a bit. I believe minor injuries cropped up then also which hurt his run (not to mention the booking, although I thought he and Kanyon did the best they could to be squashed by the Undertaker).

We really need a Titans Star Wars picture with Pete and Johnny's faces on Luke and Han with Parv as Threepio and Kelly as R2-D2.

I saw from our numbers that this made the Observer's daily email. Definitely the most popular GWW traffic-wise in the series history. Nice work boys.

Why don't you amend it to be vs. Blackwell. I had overlooked the thread for Henry so I can ask my questions there.

Grimmas - maybe this is best for a separate microscope thread but I'd love to unpack the Mark Henry vs. Bam Bam talking point. I'd like to read your thoughts on Henry having a better career and being a better performer than Bam Bam. Is this putting a heavy emphasis on Henry from 2010-2014 (which I enjoy as well) or am I missing stuff from '96-'09 that are underrated?

And up on PTBN as well: http://placetobenation.com/wrestling-culture-podcast-59-2014-wrestling-observer-hall-of-fame-ballot/

I'll second OJ's recommendation of the Tony Charles match (from '72). They work a face vs. face respect (lots of nice handshakes after stringing together sequences) match that is really, really good. An absolute must watch after you've seen Veidor's work against bigger guys like Davies and Hayes.

Before watching the Gwyn Davies match, I just happened to click on Lord Al (or Judo Al) so ended up being topical given the earlier remarks. Veidor has the scrappy, undersized underdog shtick down pat. Really emotes well, crowd just eats out of his hands. I'm not big on the floaty (parv's word) cartwheels against Lord Al, but against Davies he used them to spring off the ropes, which was very good. The crowd is so disgusted by Lord Al making a stop back in the UK (first time in four years) that when he tries to bail on the match, an old lady confronts him and he heads back to the ring. Al was just awesome here, sporadically cheating, egging on the crowd and really getting them behind Veidor. Al controls most of the match, using the ropes to work the neck and back, and that is paid off in a big way when Veidor finally levels him with a punch. Bodyslam-> sitting dropkick by Veidor is a big high spot here (he does the same sequence against Davies). A sunset flip from the outside into the ring finishes for Veidor as Lord Al claims his trunks were pulled. The Davies match is very good. 30 minutes or so and it is worked at an excellent pace to play off the storytelling but also not be bogged down by matwork. Veidor gets in a considerable amount of offense too - I loved the SHINING WIZARD (!) he pulls off to surprise Davies. Davis is great at being a bully and really pounds Veidor down in the later rounds, but the comebacks are timed superbly and the crowd goes nuts. Really good nearfalls and then Veidor gets his head stuck in the ropes and the ref calls off the match. Great finish with Veidor coming so close. Love how biased the ring announcer was too.

Not sure if Phil was on a cell phone or not for this one.

Join Will, Scott, Kris, Johnny and Phil as they break down Night of Champions! http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-network-night-of-champions-2014-reaction