DMJ

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.

Swagger tweeted about tonight being his last night. Young enough, talented enough to get a job in Japan? To me, an admittedly unknowledgable US-only fan, I hear people say that Prince Albert and Festus were awesome in Japan and revitalized their careers, etc. and I look at Swagger and say, if you compared Swagger's WWE work to what Albert did in WWE before he left, Swagger going to Japan should turn him into an absolute mega-star. Again, haven't seen a lick of Albert's work overseas, but in WWE, he was generally unwatchable to me, the kind of guy I turned the TV off to avoid. Swagger, on the other hand, has had moments (albeit brief and inconsistently) when he's been really good and fun to watch (initial ECW run, that one RAW match against Cena, tags with Cesaro, feud with Rusev). I won't talk Festus/Luke Gallows cuz I didn't watch much of his first WWE run, but still, Swagger could be a good get for Japan, right? Also, anyone theorizing that maybe there's some roster trading going on? Maybe a gentlemen's agreement between NJPW and WWE? Again, incredibly unknowledgable here, but just thought I'd pose the question as someone who really doesn't know (is NJPW even the organization in question?).

Don't know if there's a rule against it, but I'll plug my blog here. I review everything I watch on Network. If you go to August 2015, you'll find my database (I plan to update again and repost at the end of the summer with everything I've reviewed since). At that time, the best stuff I watched/rewatched, in terms of whole cards being generally entertaining (this might even include segments that are "so bad-they're great"), were: SuperBrawl II, Spring Stampede 94', Slamboree 94', Bash at the Beach 94', Fall Brawl 95', WrestleManias 17 and 19, Great American Bash 96'... To be sure, I'm not calling my list anything close to definitive as it only includes stuff I've reviewed on the site. For example, I'm a mega-mark for the 92' Rumble and SummerSlam 91', but I've seen them a dozen times each and I went into my blog-making with the goal of kinda watching stuff that I hadn't seen before (and that includes the big NXT/WWE shows from 2014 on, if you're curious about that stuff).

https://twitter.com/HulkHogan/status/723112349817663488 It's not on the shortlist of most shameless/despicable Hogan quotes or acts ever, but I do think it's worth noting that Hogan made the bolded statement apropos of absolutely nothing. Like, why even mention that? To show that you "knew her when"? When what? She dated your friend who, last I checked, has kind of been a scumbag recently? It just seems like a silly "add on." Like, is he going to tweet about Prince's death and make a note about a huge gate he drew in Minneapolis?

I guess, by default, I'd go with Stephanie...but I actually think they've both probably done more positive than negative. Without Dixie Carter, TNA doesn't exist, even in the sorry state it exists in now. The company needed a "money mark" to survive and, in Dixie, TNA has that. This led to more wrestlers being employed and, when the checks did come, getting paid. Having places to work and getting TV exposure are pretty important to pro-wrestlers, so, even if it is a shitshow of a company, TNA did (and, to a lesser degree, still does) provide that to a bunch of talent. Stephanie inherited her power, so I can't give her the same credit as Dixie. Also, as a key figure in the company's Creative department, she's probably had her hand in more bad storylines than good. Still, I don't necessarily think she's been any "worse for business" than Vince himself, who is still really the top guy in charge.

I don't mind my new avatar too bad. (Yeah, I had DDP at #27.)

Shane/Taker at WM should definitely be on the list. I gave that slap-in-the-face 0 stars on my review site. Others from my database that I would never want to watch again... Todd Champion vs. Super Invader (WrestleWar 92') Big Sky vs. Charlie Norris (Fall Brawl 93') The Equalizer vs. "Jungle" Jim Steele (SuperBrawl 4) Kevin Sullivan vs. Dave "Evad" Sullivan (Halloween Havoc 94') Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T (Starrcade 94') The Giant vs. Loch Ness (UnCensored 96') Shock master, Charlie Norris, and Ice Train vs. Harlem Heat and the Equalizer (Halloween Havoc 93') You can find most of these on the "Kill Me Now, God: Worst of WCW Midcard 92-96" DVD collection I just came up with. I purposely left off a bunch of matches from the BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery shows. There are some really awful bouts from those one-night tourneys.

I nominate Nidia. She really had nothing to contribute - almost no experience, no "born into the business" pedigree, not particular attractive or charismatic. In baseball, there are 5-tool players. In wrestling, Nidia would be considered a no-tool player. ...or maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I've ever seen one of her actual matches and I don't want to change that.

Anyone else's feed just cut off?

So...Rock just wears his wrestling trunks under his pants all the time?

This would've been a cool segment if Bray Wyatt had any sort of momentum coming into this show. It's no different than if Rock would've been interrupted by a returning The Boogeyman.

I would've been happier with Shaq, Mark Henry (being a Texan), or even Goldust as a nod to Dusty. No problem with Corbin, though, just thought it was kind of odd to have him win as the token NXT guy knowing that he would get face cheers for winning.

I didn't enjoy that battle royal very much, but I still liked it more than the Taker/Shane match.

Shane doing the "Super Dave" thumbs up just makes it worse. Somebody called the ladder match a Dud. What does that make that match? A Dud-Minus? You could triple the height of the jump. You can light the table on fire. You can surround it with tanks of sharks...But if the build to it sucks and there's no logical reason for it to happen, it's just a stunt. In Shane's rush to recreate Mick Foley's famous fall, he neglected to take it account any of the reasons why that particular spot is so legendary and awesome.