DMJ

Watching the RNC...not because I'm a fan, but because it's in my city (Cleveland). A few thoughts so far... I liked Scott Baio in his Chachi and Charles gimmicks, loved Bob Loblaw run, but this aging Hollywood Republican schtick is not nearly as interesting as it could be. Maybe a diva on his arm would've helped? The Lone Survivor got huge pops. Makes me wonder how long it is before one of the GOP bookers thinks about giving him his own push in a small local territory to see if he could ever be a national star...based on the current nominee, a lack of political experience does not seem to be an issue. Like most RAWs, I feel myself getting bored and turning this off before the main event.

I'm a bit surprised to see so much hate on this match. I thought it was actually pretty good. I don't really understand the "This match buried the Horsemen" argument. Yes, they lost on their home turf...but they were outnumbered and outsmarted. Should they have been outsmarted? No...but wrestling has its tropes and babyfaces getting turned on, whether its the numerous times Sting teamed with Flair or Dustin Rhodes making Arn Anderson his tag partner in 94', is a common one. I understand hating the swerve for its repetitiveness, but as someone else said, at least we didn't see Curt Hennig clean house and then turn - he turned the first second he got in the ring - and if they had played their cards right, Flair vs. Hennig should've been a money feud. It just fizzled out, though. Positives: - Benoit is outstanding here. He comes out of this match looking like he too could've been poised to be a bigger factor in the destruction of the nWo. I would've liked to have seen him in almost a "B-team Killer" mode, working his way through the nWo's lesser guys until maybe getting a shot at Syxx. - People hate on Bagwell so much, but I thought he was more than serviceable, bumping into the cage, eating chest chops, and in the rare moments he was on offense, delivering acceptable, standard heel fare (chokes and taunts). Some reviews seem offended by his mere presence in this match when, if you ask me, its Konnan who is the obvious weak link, doing nothing to draw heat and not selling much. - Some reviewers have implied that this match was "heatless" or that the "We Want Sting" chants showed how little the crowd really cared about the participants. My interpretation was different, but maybe I need to get my ears checked. I felt like they popped pretty well for Mongo and Flair's entrance (not to mention Hennig's). I think I heard sizable cheers when Benoit fought back from being in a 2-on-1 position. The crowd loved Syxx getting cut off and beaten down the second he came in. The "We Want Sting" chants, to me, were totally reasonable as, for the majority of the match, it did seem that Hennig was not going to participate, meaning that the crowd may have been thinking, "Who will the Horsemen's mystery partner be?" The Stinger coming into this match as WCW's fourth member would've been awesome and not out of left field at all. Can you blame fans for being conditioned to believe Sting would show up in the last 3 minutes of the show to save the day in the fall of 97'? When you factor in his history with the Nature Boy, I actually think that would've been the better finish from a crowd-pleasing standpoint, but its obvious that the bookers felt, right or wrong, that the nWo needed to win this match in order to maintain their dominance leading into the storyline's climax at Starrcade. I guess you can hate the booking so much that it spoils the match, but watching it in full today, I thought it was a solid match with enough cool moments, crowd interest, and even brutality (Flair getting his head slammed is just nasty) that it worked for me.

Just watched this in full for the first time in many years, maybe even since it happened. Wow, such a sad, sad match to watch because, before the accident, this match was definitely headed to 4-star territory and maybe even higher because you can really tell that audience was going to friggin' explode when they saw the Stunner. As others wrote, Owen is fantastic here and their chemistry is remarkable. I like how, with Bret, in his feud with Austin, you still had a guy that wanted to win cleanly because he was all about personal pride over anything - it was generally Austin who made Bret "go vicious." Owen, on the other hand, is "naturally" a cheating, despicable heel so he actually seems to enjoy trying to break Austin's hand and has no qualms about, at one point, trying to walk away from the match when the going gets rough. It's a dynamic that, frankly, Austin really hadn't worked with much on PPV that year (or ever beforehand?) as, if you look at his 97', he was generally feuding with babyfaces and tweeners and none of whom were willingly to play a cowardly role like Owen did (Bret, Shawn, And Taker being his singles PPV opponents that year, plus the Final Four and Stampede match). Obviously, Austin's health was the biggest victim of the accident, but one also has to feel a bit bad for Owen too and how this match and, based on what I've heard, an inability for him and Austin to ever really talk it out and discuss it must have affected his career. Owen was never going to be a longterm main eventer, but there was no doubt a natural, organic rematch that could've happened between the two. In fact, as a house show opponent for Austin post-WM14, he may have even been the ideal. I don't think there was enough trust for that to happen and Owen was relegated to not just midcard duty, but almost lower midcard duty for quite awhile afterwards, first being used to put over HHH and then eventually in the tag scene with another guy that was rumored to not be someone Austin liked, Jeff Jarrett.

I get that and give credit to the company for being poetic...but if a tree falls in the woods and 30 million people don't see it because they were watching the Finals instead, it's not a "moment" to anyone but the most insular fans.

But isn't the point of the briefcase that Ambrose could've cashed in at anytime? Like the big Draft show coming up? Or even the very next night on Raw? It just seems like they picked the very worst option. Again, I haven't watched it or read detailed results so I could be dead wrong, but even if you argue that the WWE wanted to have the "crowd leave happy" and needed to immediately take the title off Reigns due to the Wellness Violation, it still seems like they made an extra unnecessary and counterproductive step because, unless Vegas was vehemently against Rollins and pro-Reigns, I doubt the crowd would've shat on Rollins leaving with the title. The Ambrose switch was a good idea, but it just seems so narrow-minded to do it on a night when you know you haven't maximized the amount of eyeballs you've got on your show. Ambroses victory will be as remembered as that time Dolph Ziggler became a World Champion on a random episode of SD.

Still haven't finished watching the MITB show, but obviously couldn't avoid reading about the title change. Has anyone talked about how ridiculously poor the WWE handled this happening on the same night as the biggest sports story of the year, if not the decade? I mean, they basically guaranteed themselves absolutely zero coverage from any mainstream sports sites when I think one could argue that Ambrose's first title win might've actually gotten at least a little play on a slower news week. I'm a Clevelander, so I'm obviously bias, but of the dozens of texts, Facebook messages, etc. that I've received since Sunday night, not a single one has even mentioned Ambrose, someone who is actually pretty popular among my circle of wrestling fans (and, honestly, among my friends, any World Title change would usually lead to a series of phone calls and texting from across the country as a way to keep in touch). I did read that the Raw rating went up a bit, so I could be wrong...but it still feels like a lost opportunity to elevate Ambrose in an important way. I mean, to Clevelanders at least, it's like having Hogan slam Andre on the night John Lennon was shot.

I predict we won't see many, if any, "big" returns. I haven't watched in close to two months (aside from the Network specials) but aren't they keeping Kane, Show, and Henry on ice? All three seem like surefire returns to Smackdown to me. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Boogeyman show back up either as he seems to have maintained a decent relationship with the company (he appeared on Swerved at one point) and has the kind of gimmick that could consistently answer the question "What do you wanna fill segment 4 with this week?"

Rumour has it that Brock Lesnar may be fighting at UFC 200. My gut reaction is that it's a fine idea, especially if it means he gets to beat up a tomato can because it will only help his WWE aura, which is lacking a bit now that he's run out of credible opponents. I don't see how a one-sided mauling would help UFC but I also don't see why Lesnar would want to risk his longterm WWE drawing power by competing in a real contest and potentially getting beaten decisively. Curious what people with more knowledge of UFC think. If all goes according to plan, is the longterm plan Reigns/Lesnar at WM33? What happens if Lesnar loses in his UFC comeback? Does this mean more crossovers could be possible? Rousey?

I love the video, posted it on Facebook and got a ton of likes for it. It is as if Tommy Wiseau of "The Room" got to direct one angle and this is what we got. Absolutely breathtaking stuff. But will the gloriousness of this bizarre performance art masterpiece sell a single Slammiversary PPV buy? I know I'm not interested...and yet I've been telling everyone I know, fan and non fan, that it's the best video I've seen in years and have probably watched it 7 or 8 times by now.

Jake Roberts doc is now in Netflix, btw

Akeem - Stupid gimmick? Yeah...but time has actually been pretty kind to it. Amazing theme song, more entertaining than most things we get today or in the past decade, I'm not going to defend the arguably racist elements, but again, if you call this the WWE's most shameful character ever, you simply haven't been watching. The Model - Smart wrestling fans know the greatness of Rick Martel...but when I was 8 years old in 1992, I wasn't a "smart wrestling fan." Martel, to me, was The Model and he was so easy to hate. I didn't know about Strike Force. I didn't know about AWA. I knew that the Model was an asshole who blinded Jake Roberts, fought with another jerk named Shawn Michaels over Sherri, and had a knack for doing pretty well in Royal Rumbles. A very solid midcard heel run, even if it might pale in comparison to career peaks that happened elsewhere and earlier. Johnny B. Badd - How else are you going to get Marc Mero over in the early 90s (without the aid of parading his bombshell wife around)? I'm not going to argue that Badd was a "good" gimmick, but if it was so horrendous, it would've been DOA. Instead, it supported a multi-year run as a constant babyface in the TV Title picture and actually produced some good-to-great matches against Regal and DDP. In a recent interview, Mero stated that it was his most well-known role - which tells you something when you consider that Mero was an inescapable TV personality during Sable's rise to stardom. I'd put the Badd gimmick just a few small notches below Doink as Mero took a one-note gimmick and managed to stretch it well beyond its expiration date.

Could be dead wrong, but I always assumed the blue house shows did okay when Taker was still active too.

I'm hoping this is just a reference to this being The End of the "Takeover" name - I mean, its fine, but its not fantastic and I think NXT could stand to use something a bit more creative for every Network special. I, personally, always liked some of the one-off names that Heyman would come up with for his bigger ECW shows or some of the nicknames WCW attached to their Clash of the Champion specials (you know a show is gonna be good when its subtitled "Knocksville USA" or "Season's Beatings"). I also think NXT being put on cable would ultimately kill the brand. Take everything unique and great about NXT and being an NXT fan - from the show being a compact, concise episode to not having to feature countless RAW recaps to not being needlessly promoted as "appointment viewing" as much as something that viewers can explore and enjoy on their own time to purposefully being designed to promote wholly new talent for the short-term and letting the main roster be the place where the "glass ceiling" and "lifers" reside - and watch it evaporate as the company is forced to deal with network notes, sponsors, and Vince actually watching the thing. I can not thing of one positive, from a fan perspective or a business perspective, to turning NXT into SmackDown.

I think Cody was pretty underrated. He carried the Legacy team with DiBiase and, when Legacy was involved in six-mans, was probably the most dynamic guy on his team based on the matches I recall. I liked the feud and matches with Rey. Their WM23 is one of the few matches from that card I remember liking. The Rhodes Scholars was a fine team, not great but not horrid, and led to a pretty good feud with Sandow that I liked more than any of the Stardust storylines save one (more on that below). Then there was the TV feud with the Authority that I just loved and I think really showcased Cody's range and potential. Great sympathetic babyface work out of the Rhodes family there and it just felt "realer" than most other storylines going at that time or today. I wasn't a huge fan of the tag team with Goldust because it was never clear, as it went on into 2014 and 2015 if they were heels or faces. I'm a huge Dustin fan, but the "tween" position was such a waste of a guy so good at getting crowd reactions one way or the other. Their teaming did lead to a Goldust/Stardust match last year that most people hated but I thought was one of the top 20 (maybe even 10) WWE matches of the year (I think it was on Fastlane).

I gotta go with No. I'm racking my brain trying to think of a black wrestler who, at some point in his career, didn't have their "blackness" as a key part of their role. Jay Lethal was pretty much a plain, hard-working babyface, then he became a guy who did impressions, and was dubbed "Black Machismo." Shelton Benjamin was a college standout amateur wrestler...but the WWE ended up pairing him with a stereotypical "big mama" character straight out of a Martin Lawrence movie. Booker T had the opposite trajectory - beginning as a caricature and eventually becoming an undefinable, unique character that was plugged into roles that had less to do with his race. The Rock is an interesting figure in this because I think his blackness is too often ignored or "under-played" if that makes sense, not only in his WWE run, but even today as a Hollywood megastar. I mean, the WWE certainly didn't hide his heritage, from the very beginning making a big deal of his father and grandfather, but I wouldn't say they ever went out of their way to truly highlight him as proof of the company's diversity, more often doing subtle associations to use him as their more "urban" star (for example, having Wyclef Jean perform his entrance theme while hip hop was rarely used for any male white wrestler at the time).

"Lady Balls" as the title of Steph's book? Was "Nepotitties" taken?

Not sure if I'm recalling my facts wrong (don't have time to look it up), but I could swear that Dutch (or "Zeb")'s health has made travel hard. I'm also not sure what his contract was like but would've guessed that it was always a short-term deal. At least by getting on TV a bit over the past few years, he can ask more at autograph signings and whatnot. I'm not saying it doesn't suck to get released, but it does suck worse for guys that are in their prime. I wouldn't even be surprised to see the Zeb character show up in the future sporadically for big shows or Network shows or whatever - like Backlund and Okerlund and whoever else.

I have to agree with a lot of what you wrote and I couldn't name half the moves or callbacks or Japan references you did. My issue with this match wasn't that it wasn't good - it was definitely good - I just felt like it wasn't great. And, unfortunately, when you have a match being pushed and pushed as being great *before* the bell even rings, by the announcers, by the IWC, even by the reputations of their previous bouts, when it's not great, it's disappointing. Is that absolutely fair for what was their first match on PPV on the main roster? Maybe not...but it doesn't change the fact that this match wasn't the MOTY candidate that I wanted and was at least half-expecting. At the end of the day, if I were to list the best matches/segments these two have had with eachother since joining the WWE, this match would probably rank towards the bottom of the list. Again, that's not to say it was a below average match, but I found myself much more intrigued with Zayn and Owens' brawling during the Miz/Cesaro match than really anything except for a few stretches (the apron spot, Zayn's through-the-ropes tornado DDT) in their actual match.

So surprised to hear Steve Austin call this a "masterpeice" on his podcast this week. I'd like to think I've just seen *more* of these two than he has, so I'm maybe more bored of both of them than he is...but that's not it. He reviews every Network show and, since getting the Network, I pretty much only watch the Network shows, so, our viewing is pretty much identical. I think this is the perfect example of a match that really relies on the viewer being a fan of the performers - if you're sick of both, this was a tedious drag of a match that offered nothing fresh or exciting. If you're a fan of both guys, it was everything you wanted it to be, a back-and-forth "greatest hits" bout. Lastly, I just want to say - I'm not an anti-Jericho guy. I thought that last year (I think it was), his series with Bray Wyatt was actually better than most critics said. I didn't out-and-out hate the AJ Styles match at WrestleMania (aside from the booking of the finish). I just thought that this Ambrose bout was really nothing special, a painful reminder of just how much both guys' stocks have fallen due to overexposure. I wouldn't be surprised if, 10 years from now, I saw this same match and liked it better. Right now, though, I'm so sick of both guys that they came into it with me not interested and they never won me to the other side.

Gonna post my full review tomorrow (I think), but my biggest takeaway is that the signing of AJ and decision to catapult him into the main event within 6 months of his WWE debut was one of the smartest moves the company's made in a long while. I don't think Owens or Zayn or Balor could've worked in that position and immediately delivered a match that was more "capital M" Main Event than what AJ and Reigns did here. That match just felt BIG and I don't think you can really give too much credit to the Chicago crowd, who was certainly hot, but not necessarily invested 1000% from the first second. AJ and Reigns got them there and kept them there *despite* booking shenanigans that made it very apparent that AJ was not leaving with the strap. Lots of great spots throughout, Reigns' selling has always been one of my favorite parts of his game, and while I'm not one of those guys that says Reigns can't wrestle, I'm willing to say this - that match was, to me, easily one of the top 3-4 singles matches he's had in his entire career and, while he carried his end, AJ did more as Reign's foil than Reign's did as AJ's. In other words, like a Daniel Bryan, I think AJ brings elements (high-flying, speed, varied offense, ability to link together maneuevers and submissions) that Roman Reigns can't and when you put them together, you get magic in a way that Reigns just will never get from an Ambrose. So, yeah, Reigns had a great match - but AJ had more to prove here and he absolutely did, delivering the kind of performance that makes it very clear why he was successful in Japan and why he's worth every penny the WWE paid for him.

So, here it is in all of its shamefulness. I know I've posted this same message a dozen times, but I'll do it again - I humbly bow to the many people who actually participated in this marvelous process as it was intended and branched out and viewed all sorts of footage from a variety of promotions and eras. I did not. Instead, I relied solely on the Network and my, at this point, inexcusable and borderline xenophobic/ageist tunnel vision for only WWE and WCW. Hence, John Cena ranking higher than Terry Funk. I'm not going to defend this list beyond just admitting how limited my viewing of pre-91' pro-wrestling is. Steve Austin Ric Flair Rey Mysterio Jr. Bret Hart Eddie Guerrero Brock Lesnar John Cena Terry Funk The Rock Ricky Steamboat Daniel Bryan Chris Benoit Vader William Regal Randy Savage Dustin Rhodes Arn Anderson Kurt Angle Mick Foley Shawn Michaels Christian Chris Jericho Rick Rude Sting Sean Waltman Diamond Dallas Page Bobby Eaton Brian Pillman CM Punk LA Park Tully Blanchard Curt Hennig Jushin Liger Dean Malenko Fit Finlay Cesaro Edge Hulk Hogan Roddy Piper Jerry Lawler Lex Luger The Undertaker Big Show Big Boss Man Owen Hart Psicosis Seth Rollins Kevin Steen Samoa Joe Scott Hall Triple H Rob Van Dam Davey Boy Smith Matt Hardy Jeff Hardy Too Cold Scorpio Dusty Rhodes Booker T Dean Ambrose Randy Orton Rick Martel Ted DiBiase AJ Styles John Tenta Ultimo Dragon Sabu Haku Jake Roberts Yoshihiro Tajiri Sheamus Batista Ron Simmons Terry Taylor Jimmy Golden Paul Orndorff Raven Greg Valentine Dolph Ziggler Sami Zayn Sasha Banks Prince Devitt Christopher Daniels Jack Brisco Ultimate Warrior Marc Mero Marcus Alexander Bagwell JBL Luke Harper Kevin Sullivan Matt Borne Chavo Guerrero Jr. Larry Zybysko Tracy Smothers Abdullah the Butcher Jeff Jarrett Tom Zenk Brad Armstrong Bam Bam Bigelow Jim Duggan

At their respective peaks, I'd take Bryan Clarke. To me, Crush was pretty awful in every setting/situation, excluding maybe the Doink feud because, well, it was fun to see Doink outsmart him and make him look like a total joke. Clarke, though, has the Blood Runs Cold feud, which, as I've rewatched it recently, was actually a pretty cool, unique midcard storyline for a little while there. Now, Clarke is certainly being carried in those tag matches against Glacier and Ernest Miller by Mortis (Kanyon), who fills nearly every match I've seen with at least two or three nifty, innovative spots, but that's two or three more nifty spots than I've ever seen Crush be in the ring for. I'd also say, based on pure look, Clarke had the more impressive physique, though, I'm just as ready to admit that, move for move, Crush was probably the better worker based on what I assume was having better training and more experience. Still, that almost makes Crush work because he's a guy who had multiple chances to work with all-time greats and seemed to get less interesting as time went on. Clarke may have sucked his whole career, but it's not like he ever had extended opportunities to learn the craft beneath Bill Eadie, Barry Darsow, and Randy Savage among others. In other words, Crush was a prospect who became a bust, while Clarke was just a career lower card guy that didn't exceed expectations because expectations were low from the start.

It took about 3 and a half weeks for the post-Mania narrative on most boards, news sites, etc. to switch back to talking about RAW's declining ratings. I know I haven't watched it since the night after Mania. While I'm sure I've missed some good matches and segments, I'm willing to say that, while I wasn't hugely negative on Mania the day after it (I was more lukewarm on it), I think it's longterm effect on me was worse than the initial disappointment. Just reading the results, I catch myself thinking, "New Day is still around? I could've sworn they were Stone Cold Stunnered out of existence," or "Shane McMahon is still around? Why?" and "Where's Lesnar? Oh, yeah, he's not around most of the time." Ambrose is irrelevant. Jericho could be giving great promos day and night, but he's staler than year-old rye, this being easily his worst return because, while it initially seemed it was leading to something new or interesting (as he basically promised on his podcast and Twitter for months now), it actually has led to nothing. The self-proclaimed "master" of longterm storytelling and character re-invention has been anything but. Still no Cena or Rollins or Orton, but even if they were around, I'm not sure RAW would be appointment viewing anyway. I like Zayn/Owens. I'm a big Miz fan. I like Cesaro. I like Kalisto in singles matches. I like tweener Reigns. I like Apollo Crews. I'm invested in the new Women's Championship division in a major way. I heard Finn Balor was coming up to the main roster soon and I like him too. What "guilty pleasure" fandom I had for New Day has now become (what will likely be equally temporary) support for Enzo and Cass. Right now, based on the results and reactions I've read, RAW is literally being designed for fans like me.....and yet the episodes are stacking up, unwatched, in my DVR. I place the blame on WrestleMania. It was a show that made it so abundantly clear how inconsequential wins, losses, and titles were that I just couldn't care less about the week-to-week, day-to-day stuff. Granted, I'll keep watching the Network specials because I'm still a WWE fan in general, but, like the local indy here in Cleveland (AIW), I'm totally content with getting my fix of it one night a month.

I noticed that too and found it funny. Appeared on over 100 ballots, average in the 30s, I know I've got huge blind spots in my viewing, but I was a bit surprised he didn't crack the top 20 (especially as there's been some talk about the process favoring the major US stars). Proud to be the high voter on him.

What do you recommend we do about it? Expose the voter. I'd just like to hear an argument for why someone ranked Brock Lesnar the #2 greatest wrestler of all-time. I'm curious. I didn't have him at #2, but I had him very high (I believe in my top 5 or 6). Here's my explanation - I voted based on the wrestling I've seen and know. I can imagine the person who had him at 2 is, like me, someone who really only knows WWE and WCW with maybe a smattering of ECW and US indies. When you limit yourself to only those promotions, Lesnar shines pretty brightly. Several great-to-awesome matches in his first run and since his return, including some hidden gems I'd only seen for the first time recently (for example, vs. Test @ KOTR 02'). Really fun to watch and considerably more "legit" than anyone else on the roster even before going to UFC. While I don't see anyone calling him the best wrestler on the planet in 2014 or 2015, I think even with a ridiculously limited schedule he was in the running for best in the US somewhere in that timespan thanks to his work at SummerSlam 2014, the 2015 Rumble title match, and WM31.