peachchaos

Yeah, that Bullrope Match isn't far behind the Bunkhouse Match really. Even get a little color in the post-match, if that was the concern.

Not quite sure of the timeline here, but if Hogan drops the title to Tyson at WMVI and wins it back a year later...$$$ If we're talking about a one-off smooze-fest...$

^great idea for a team

The Horsemen should have remained heel until the nWo-era. 1993 Heel Horsemen is a no brainer: Flair, Arn & The Hollywood Blondes.

I totally agree with this. Not sure what it is at all. It's like they're both giving great individual performances in complete isolation from each other without bringing any chemistry to the mix.

All the WWE-centric jargon they've fabricated, like "the WWE Universe" or "Sports Entertainment" is just the pits. IWC, smark, wrestling nerds, etc.are all pretty out-dated terms. I identify myself as a wrestling fan, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread. I generally don't mind any of the "work" terminology as they help define the format of a match for means of critical analysis.

Until WWE sees the value in a wrestling match (and the accompanying promos and angles), we'll never get what we want and they'll never find the audience they need.

Steve Austin

The Fight Without Honor between Danielson and Morishima is listed, but their first match, 8/5/07 Manhattan Mayhem II, was actually brutal as hell, with Danielson's eye getting all jacked up Vader-style. Should be on the list for sure.

Austin in 2001 is worth mentioning. El Generico had a pretty incredible run there somewhere in the past few years, maybe 2011? Bret in 1994 is criminally underrated around these parts. Steiners, Quebecers, Owen x3, Yoko, Diesel, The Kid, Backlund x2

I'd actually really like to see one final, No-DQ blowout to the Orton-Bryan feud. Their works is always A+, despite the over-exposure. Bryan/Lesnar has been something of a dream match for years, it's sort of incredible that we're actually going to see it. Lesnar should absolutely dominate, win the title at SummerSlam and then win the rematch at Survivor Series, forcing Bryan to win the Rumble in order to get another shot at WM31.

^another one I slept on all these years, mainly due to the participants I'll check that one out as well.

Watched Great American Bash 1997 last night, mainly to see if Savage-DDP II held up. It was pretty good, at least better than their first match. The opener between Psicosis and Ultimo [sic] Dragon held up except for the goofy ending. I tend to think Benoit-Meng is a very overlooked match. Had never seen it and was nearly blown away. Dream match realized. I didn't mind the Return Death Match stipulation since the work was solid. But what I was really impressed with was how much I dug the Outsiders-Flair/Piper match. Sure, it was mostly a bullshit angle to build to a nothing feud between Flair and Piper, but holy crap was Roddy awesome in this. And the Outsiders were fun to watch as long as they were killing people. Once this became a squash with Piper being the turd that just wouldn't flush, I was all-in.

I'm a fan. He sorta got lost in the shuffle once ECW got on PPV. He became champion almost as an afterthought and then held the belt way too long for anyone's good. As good as the in-ring work was in '96, I always felt like him getting the TV Title was a major regression, even as they did a great job explaining this in the story.

Since the thread starter included 1996 & 1997 in his "Attitude Era", I'd say there was a bunch of good stuff from those years that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. Most of it involving the Harts, Austin, DX & Mankind.

Hansen vs. Andre NJPW '81

The general public probably doesn't know who either of those guys are. Flair is well-known among aging sports fans. Foley appeals more to nerd culture.

Meadowlands, Set 2, boot My comment was more of a wink and a nod, as I'm a big fan myself.

A perfect metaphor for the entire deadhead experience, I would guess.

The novelty wore off pretty quickly. Still, I would have paid $60 for WM. They basically have 5 months to convince me this is worth a damn.

I'll be reading this for sure.

4/13/98 was the first head-to-head win for RAW.

WWECW or ECW on TNN would be nice Sunday Night HEAT Velocity oh god, I really wonder how much will be made available

NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW Hardcore TV) Episode 26 - Funk's Last Stand 10/4/1993 This is an important episode of the series, and a great place to start watching Eastern Championship Wrestling, as this was a few months after Heyman took over the book from Eddie Gilbert and joined the National Wrestling Alliance. The first successful booking decision Heyman made was to revamp local talent with new gimmicks in hopes of creating in-house stars. The Public Enemy became his pet-project, with a simple-but-brilliant gimmick that seemed streets ahead of 1993 mainstream wrestling. Also added to the roster was Sabu, who although somewhat of an indy wrestling sensation, was given the Memphis treatment as a complete madman who destroyed anything in sight needed to be restrained by a handler until his wrestling match. The gimmick only cemented Sabu as a lunatic to the audience and helped frame him as a dangerous competitor on television. Also slowly making a name for himself and eventually landing on a goldmine is The Sandman, who wears a wetsuit and portrays himself as a beach bum surfer. Amazing. Shane Douglas had been pushed strongly as the top heel act for some time, with Sherri Martel in his corner and the ECW Championship in tow. Of course the top prize for this promotion at this point, being an NWA-affiliate, is the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which has been abused and misused as a result of the NWA/WCW split. Terry Funk has been a major presence on nearly every episode of this show to date, and it's safe to say we would not be watching this program in 2014 if not for his efforts. Prior to this episode, he has been in a feud with Jimmy Snuka for the ECW TV Title and under the constant annoyance of longtime rival, Paul E. Dangerously. Tonight has been billed as "Funk's Last Stand" against Snuka, as the two battle inside of a Steel Cage. 1. Public Enemy vs. Silver Jet and Gino Caruso - standard, boring squash to get TPE over, on par with the lesser squash matches on RAW at the time. DUD 2. Sabu vs. Tazmanic - Their first meeting. The debut of The Tazmaniac. A wild match, actually, probably more along the lines of what fans expected at Barely Legal. Trouble is, by the time we get to 1997, Taz has been billed as an unstoppable submission suplex machine and it wasn't believable for him to stand there and absorb Sabu's high flying routine. 1993 is a bit different, and once Sabu gets unleashed, the fight is ON. There are a few sloppy moments here and there, but underneath everything is this riot of carnage happening. At one point, Sabu is just throwing chairs around ringside and the fans look legitimately frightened. Everything here is unique and you can tell they're breaking new ground, making up the hardcore style as they go. The way they bump on the table, even after it breaks prematurely, for instance. Eventually, the table breaks just became a side-headlock. I can't speak on the actual flow of the match or the psychology involved, and there are a few awkward moments, but for the most part, this is a crazy brawl that needs to be seen. Sabu wins with a moonsault. **3/4 Post-match, Sabu puts himself through a table multiple times until the whole thing is in pieces. 3. Sandman vs. Metal Maniac - competitive squash, which is worthwhile only to see Sandman actually work some holds. 1/2* 4. Funk's Last Stand, Steel Cage Match for the ECW TV Title: Superfly Jimmy Snuka vs. Terry Funk - Escape the cage rules. Snuka was never a great worker or even a good hand, but he had some career highlights, for sure. Seeing Superfly enter a cage just brings back great pro wrestling nostalgia. Sadly, at this point in his career, ain't no way in hell Jimmy Snuka is doing a splash off the top of the cage. So, almost a bit of false advertising based on nostalgia there. However, Terry Funk can turn a shit-stain into gold bullion. The punches, the selling, the hate. It's all here in prime Funk form and he does his absolute best to put this whole thing over, and entertains in the process of winning the TV title. Post-match, Funk starts throwing chairs around the building, as he's pissed he didn't actually pin Snuka to win the belt. *** Joey Styles interviews Terry Funk backstage, and Funk cuts one of those heart-on-sleeve promos only he can cut. They're going to bring wrestling back. This is one of those moments that makes you feel excited to be a wrestling fan. Great promo to end the show. Thoughts: This was probably my second time viewing this episode and I ended up liking the two feature matches more than I remembered. I can honestly say that the Funk's performance was worth the price of admission alone, but honestly Sabu and Taz(maniac) put on one hell of a show that felt like a total spectacle. I'd put this up there with the best episodes of Monday Night RAW from 1993. A very promising introduction.

the flip side, however, is that this network concept really pushes the WWE-centric narrative of professional wrestling even more to the forefront not that casual fans were going to bother much with Japan, Memphis, Portland, WWC...even though one can view almost the entirety of those promotions on YouTube for free