Zoo Enthusiast

He's hit or miss for me most of the time, but when pieces of his chest are literally falling off because he's taken such a beating while continuing to fight on, he's convinced me that he's an underdog with fighting spirit. This is sort of my feeling. I am not as high on that match as some, but I find the brutality of that one hard to not get on board with.The wrestling that I love most hits me on a visceral level. This match did that. WALTER kicking ass in general does that for me. It’d definitely make my top 10 for the year (note to self: I need to start a spreadsheet for 2018).

Perfectly stated.

Keith Lee vs Dijak at BOLA.

Because Twitter is pretty much evil and does nothing but amplify and promote the worst aspects of humanity.

Sinclair seems like the perfect landing spot for an alt-right football league.

That episode of NXT was just awesome, IMO. Loved Roddy vs Sullivan and Dunne vs Bate. And the best thing of all: Heavy. Fucking. Machinery.

I was going to mention that one to go with Phils recs. They really do have some killer highs for a team that generally doesnt interest me. I guess if theres any frustration, its that they could be really great if they cut back on the wink-wink shit. But theyre doing great without my approval so more power to them. They just have so much terrific stuff in PWG that I will forever be a fan. I feel the same re: the meta stuff (really just since they joined Bullet Club), but I hope it ends up just being a temporary thing and they can get back to more serious stuff in PWG eventually.

Have been working through your list of WALTER matches you posted a while ago, so thanks for that. I have watched enough of him now from this year to say he is definitely in the top few wrestlers of the year. He’s just been spectacular. I totally agree re: the general quality of 2017. I have loved so much stuff this year from so many different promotions and different styles.

https://twitter.com/briantheguppie/status/942054673451835392 Thanks. I was expecting something worse. I mean, it's not my preferred form of wrestling, but Japanese indy sleaze feds have been doing stuff like this for a long time. I don't see how people like things like grocery store death matches, Minoru Suzuki vs MECHA Mummy, and Saitama Pro, but don't like this. It's not too far of a reach. Is it really that different than a criss-cross sequence where the babyface simply steps out of it and the heel runs without realizing the babyface is no longer there? Or the back-turned arm wringer spot? Also, this was not some hot blood feud. It was a match built from their YouTube show where they continuously kick Flip Gordon’s ass and make him look like an idiot. It was just a match on the card.

Yeah, that Dragon/Steen one is just fucking epic.

Ah, the genuine reaction of pumping your arms up and down in the air and chanting "Yes!" TMZ man strikes again with another scoop.

Conrad says the download numbers suffer when they split them.

Has definite potential. I saw MLW was soliciting questions for fhe first episode the other night.

I'm not sure he's quite in top five discussion but I love Keith Lee almost always. He also had a terrific match with Ishii a month or so ago on one of the Rev Pro/NJPW shows in the UK (available on NJPW World) and last weekend had what I thought was a fantastic match with WALTER in EVOLVE.I have been thinking about this more and catching up on more shows since this post. And damn, I fucking love Keith Lee. Bask in his glory. He is smackdab in the discussion for me.

Big picture, I love them. I first got really exposed to them in PWG several years ago and became a big fan of them at that point because I think they are funny and ridiculous and they fit in that setting perfectly. That is their home territory. They seem like good dudes, especially after I had watched the Kevin Steen Show interviews back at the time they came out. I love how they know how to work Twitter and were the first indy guys to really do that, too. Twitter isn’t real life and they grasp that. They have also helped create the blueprint for how to make a living in This Business That We Love and if you watch Being The Elite, you can see that they grind their asses off to do so. They are in work mode 24/7. Do i particularly enjoy their matches outside of PWG? Not very often, especially these days. Not even as often when they are in Reseda anymore, either. It just goes with the territory for them now since they have gotten so big. They just do their match now. If I am binging on PWG, by the third show I have seen enough Bucks for a while. I absolutely get why people don’t like their matches. I don’t like shoot style. Different strokes.

I hope Dolph’s quitting promo was a shoot. Smackdown has been really skippable post-Survivor Series.

The worst part was that it wrecked a perfectly good Elias segment.

Hopefully it’s him vs Cena next week.

Yeah they are pretty pointless in ROH. They mostly just do Being The Elite stuff in the matches lately (like with Flip Gordon).

Hey, Bryan sort of took a bump. Thats the story of this show.

Would also think it makes a turn less likely in this match.

Wait, so the special ref match is now?

I generally agree with that. I might take it a step further than ROH and say minus Bullet Club, but on the other hand that has been what has made them such huge merch movers so I dont fault them. I miss when they could have a more serious match/feud in PWG (with superkicks and plenty of spots), but those days seem to be gone. I love their hustle, though. I love The Revival, too.

This women’s match was pretty poor, as expected. I just can’t fathom caring about a Natalya match.

He's had PWG matches against Keith Lee and Janela that I liked. But his case relies heavily on CWF, where, as you say, he's tremendous. I’m a big fan of the non-CWF stuff because I love the “Impact wrestling superstar” gimmick. It’s especially good in PWG. I did see him have a pretty mediocre match in person in AAW against Fenix during the Jim Lynam tourney, though.