Ship Canal

Hey guys, I know I'm over a month out with this but I'm working through BOLA 2015 at the moment and have just finished night one so figured I'd share my thoughts. I don't usually use star ratings for matches but as a tribute to the Reseda crowd, I'm going to give these a "Pitchers Of Warm Lager" (PWL) out of five rating. I'm quite a fan of Cage usually, especially when he's going full rudo with his massive roidabused guns on plucky high flyers, but man this was all over the place. Two big botches from Aero Star took me right out the match and this degenerated into a sloppy mess. No real chemistry here at all, so lets all move on. 1 PWL / 5

A sad day indeed. This magnificent youtube playlist collects a ton of Bock's finest promo's, I've been watching them all night. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-kTxIPnril2t3C6x6AyNxeu-g9uS8G2h

Hung out briefly the other night watching stuff online with these guys, an absolute blast. How was the Satanico fest? Hope you had a good one!

http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2015/11/ric-flair-british-jihadi-trial/

I'll throw in WCW's tour of the UK in 2000. I don't think for a second its the greatest pro wrestling debacle of all time, but it may be the greatest debacle I've ever witnessed in the flesh. The advertizing indicated it would TV tapings featuring big names - many of them with their images on the tickets itself. Considering how hot the UK crowd was in that year, even given WCW's descent into complete dogshit, these shows could have been the equivalent of when TNA manages to at least present the illusion of relevancy by rocking up in the UK a few times a year and at least just lapping up being able to draw a half decent crowd... hell, even if not just for morale purposes for the staff and the rest of the workers. What happened instead was a selection of shows which to this day are spoke of amongst UK fans as some of the most underwhelming, awful of all time on these shores. We thought we'd get a touch of stardust from a declining company with enough people of name value to justify the ticket price. What we got was a Harris Brothers vs Mamalukes main event and a bunch of matches that might have been pretty good in another time and another place completely when the people involved were working for a company they had some kind of pride in, or were about 15 years younger. This review is worth reading, from someone else unlucky enough to be there. http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling3/ukmania/7thShow.html

I love Jim Breaks, especially for in-ring reasons, but also because I always think you can walk into any pub in Yorkshire (or Lancashire, for that matter) and still find a jumped up hard as fuck little bastard with a massive chip on his shoulder about being passed over or belittled somehow... spill his pint or interrupt him mid anecdote at your peril, but he'll scarper as soon as an onlooker sees him bashing your face off a table and calls the police and he'll run home screaming about the terrible injustice done to him when its his own fault for being a repressed little hardnut with anger management issues. See also Mark Rocco. As someone from Northern England and someone who drinks in pubs a lot, I love that. I see a Jim Breaks every weekend.

I've been wondering for a while now about the status of title belts in CMLL... I've only got into Lucha properly in the last year or so and still watch less of it than I'd like to be honest. The presence of lucha de apuesta matches obviously means that often a title isn't at stake in some of the most hyped matches because the "bet" takes precedence... what is the standing in terms of prestige of each CMLL title with Mexican fans and/or wrestlers? Is there a belt most commonly associated with workhorses, for example? I know I could google this shit, but hey, this is more fun.

So I should preface this by stating that - largely thanks to this board - I've been diving into one of my massive blindspots this year: American territories. I've been watching a ton of great stuff I've seen recommended on here, just finished the Idol/Rich Lawler Memphis feud, a ton of The Fabs stuff and have been firing into as much of the pimped Mid South stuff as possible recently via detours through the Hansen vs Colon Puerto Rico stuff! So yeah, all sorts of stuff really, I can never seem to focus. Anyway, I came across this video on youtube and its the first stuff I've ever seen from Florida, I was just drawn to it because of the Malenko's.... the video seems to cut off at a weird, inconclusive point that doesn't really deliver a satisfying blow off... so it left me with a load of questions: Firstly, I felt unsure at first about the face/heel dynamic... Boris Malenko seemed to be presented as the paternal authority figure opposite Ox Baker whose presence seemed a bit confusing... I know little about him and he seems a classic heel but the crowd reactions seemed mixed a lot of the team for anyone involved on either side. Secondly, is this a fondly remembered feud? I only ask because usually full feud compilations turn up on youtube of stuff that' basically "canon". Finally, what happened after the footage on this video... was that it? Thanks in advance, sorry for the long winded nature of the post. https://youtu.be/Vbi7eDBGn0c

Just thought I'd say that I've learned a shitload from this thread. Thanks especially to Ohtanis Jacket, good stuff mate.

In a funny way I see Erick Rowan as a wrestler out of time. It strikes me that, limited as he might be, he's gradually grasping some fundamental mechanics that, was he say around in a more creatively vibrant territory back in the day (I'm weakest on U.S territory stuff, so people by all means correct me, its the impression I get) could have been harnessed into quite an effective feral heel. You could argue Don Fuji in Dragon Gate is marvelously, perfectly out of time, but that's more intentional.

I have great memories of the European title, chiefly because my second headlong descent into wrestling came during the Attitude Era and even if it was a nothing belt that didn't seem to matter much, I was in that glorious 14-16 period where you think you are a massive smark because you have bought a ton of ECW bootlegs down the Market and thought I was the smartest fan out but looking back I was the biggest mark imaginable... all you had to do was give someone a great theme tune and a preposterous finisher and I was DOWN. So the European title seemed to matter a lot because I didn't know any better, and by the time Angle got it I was proper into it. Pure nostalgia though, I hate a lot of that eras stuff when I rewatch.

They are very closely tied to OSW Review if you have seen that before? http://oswreview.com/

"You calm down you perverted Darth Vader"

So from what I can see this seems to be a very popular show and has links with P2B: http://www.piledriverwrestling.net/index.php/audiomain/piledriver-wrestling-audio-show-weekly I've been listening to this show for a few years now but I honestly can't remember ever having heard either host refer to the background of Luke, who is positioned as speaking with a great deal of authority on the show... I saw someone ask them on Facebook to explain what his background was once, just so as people would be able to understand why his opinion is meant to hold so much weight... he's made allusions to having trained as a wrestler himself, I think possibly promoted some shows too... I think its also been mentioned that he's based in Portland although from his accent he sounds like he's probably from the British isles somewhere originally... I just find it really odd that this is such an established show but they never make a point of actually mentioning what his position is in relation to the industry... is he a writer for a sheet or.... Anyone know? If you are on here yourself Luke and can answer then even better!

Exactly. This is the promotion that haven't yet matched up their Irish cash cow (hey, I love Conor Mcg, but its true) against a decent wrestler. They'll probably put Punk in there with someone who at least in theory might not be too much of an over the top mismatch. If he wins, he's gained some legitimacy. If he doesn't, as has been pointed out, whoever he is fighting gets a bigger name for themselves. How the UFC responds to the first fight, whether its a loss or a win, in who they choose for Punk to face next, is the more interesting future development for me.

Looks like he'll be going in at middleweight or maybe welterweight. I see middleweight as the better fit for him in terms of it being more natural, I can see him losing a lot of speed if he cuts down to welterweight and in that division with guys with such a low centre of gravity and core strength it might put him at a disadvantage. Even if he stays at Middleweight its not like they are gonna throw him in right away with, I dunno, Yoel Romero say. According to Dana White, who obviously is a paragon of virtue and would never, ever lie, he'll debut against someone with something like a 1-0 or 1-1 record. He's not gonna be hot shotted to a title challenge like when Lesnar, who had more of a legit background and was fighting in a weight class much more devoid of competition at the time than maybe MW and certainly WW is at the minute. I'd have been watching anyway so Punks signing doesn't sway me, but you stick him in as the headliner on a Fight Pass prelim and its the difference between me finding time for the prelims in my schedule and me not.

That's why I thought they wasted Nakamura vs Okada as the G1 Final. I honestly think that could have drawn big at the Dome show with the right booking.

Yeah I had similar thoughts r.e Shibata, although I know some people feel they should have pulled the trigger on him as a main eventer already. Where would Nakamura figure into this for you then? He's clearly the number three guy in the company... can they do more to elevate him?

Posted Today, 10:59 PM Hi all, Apologies, I'm new to posting on the board and I accidentally posted this over in the Greatest Wrestler Ever section but couldn't work out how to delete my own posts. I'm guessing mods have to do it? If so, sorry for giving you extra work! Anyway, sorry to crosspost this from the Definitive Puroresu Facebook group but I'm guessing not everyone here is on that and I wanted to get the take of those more knowledgeable than me on this. So in discussing a recent piece in the Observer about NJPW World, their new network type thing, the point was made that they can't hope to expand business until they create their next generation of talent. I've seen a few people on this board mention that too, or that they think the roster is a little stale. While I think there is some truth to the stale thing, I'm not sure I understand why they need to make the new generation of stars right now in particular. I'm no expert on how the schedule of a New Japan worker might affect the need to create new stars, but I'm guessing that could be one thing? I'm also useless with understanding the significance of drawing in relation to Japan a lot of the time so I'd be interested to hear others thoughts. This was my input on the Facebook post: "I was gonna say, I've heard a few people say stuff like the New Japan roster is stale or that they need to bring up younger guys and make new stars... but I'd say they are set pretty well for a good while, obviously injuries aside - and that's being quite presumptuous, considering the style some of them work - but aren't guys like Omega and Kushida in the juniors a fair few years away from their potential primes? Someone like Shibata is hardly a rookie but he could play a major role in heavyweight main event programs and storylines for a while yet. Same with Ibushi. They've got the two young lions, is it Sho Tanaka and Yohei Kamatsu? They've looked great for their age whenever I've seen them. I'm not making value judgements on how much I like or dislike those guys as workers, but maybe add in a few more young lions and those guys with some of the older guys could probably last you another decade."

OK, so somehow as someone that has always really liked both joshi and various different shoot styles, I've somehow never managed to watch a Mariko Yoshida match... thank you so much El-P for mentioning her, she's always been on my list of people I need to watch and I'm just watching some of her stuff with Fukawa and this is so up my street its not even funny.

Hey everyone, seems as good a time as any to make my first post here after a few years of lurking. Current Favorite Wrestler to Watch Kazuchika Okada - Sort of a personal thing as I got back into wrestling after a LONG break (we are talking years) just as he was getting pushed to the moon and beginning his series of matches with Tanahashi. They aren't to everyone on this boards tastes, but those matches made me feel in love with pro wrestling again and Okada feels like "my" guy. Watching him evolve into for my money, on his day, the best main event wrestler in the world, has been a pleasure. Honourable mentions for Sami Zayn, Jack Gallagher, Negro Casas, Cavernerio (although my knowledge of what constitutes "good" lucha isn't hugely strong), Noam Dar and Akira Tozawa Last Fun Match You Saw Another vote for Prince Puma vs Johnny Mundo. Again, I wasn't really massively into some of the in ring work but the breath of fresh air that is Lucha Underground, plus knowing its Ricochet under the hood, who I think might be one of the most improved guys I've seen in the last few years, made it great fun. Wrestler You Want to See More of Too many to list. The Destroyer would be one. I've only ever seen one of his matches with Mascaras and Baba and I loved them both. I was surprised by how three dimensional he was as a worker, I'd expected him to be a rough house badass and little else. Not sure where I got that idea from but there you go. Last Live Show Attended Revolution Pro Wrestlings Uprising 2014 at York Hall, London: Okada vs Joel Redmond Matt Sydal vs Will Ospreay Martin Stone vs Marty Scurll Too Cool and Rikishi vs The Revolutionists 2 Unlimited vs Rich Swann and Austin Aries It always feels special going down to London (I live in Newcastle in the North East of England) for the Rev Pro shows at York Hall. Its a beautiful old building that usually hosts boxing and has that real Victorian kind of hall feel. In the last year RPW have booked Tanahashi, Nakamura and Okada and I've seen them all. The atmosphere is always great and I've made some friends at those shows. They do have an absolutely absurd rule that means you can't take a drink to your seat though, which means I end up completely hammered due to tanning as much booze as possible before I get in. What? I'm English? Match You Are Looking Forward to Watching Soon the Most Outside of the next NXT special, I'm really looking forward to finally getting round to watching this Tito vs Valentine feud everyone has been harping on about for years... if you'd told 15 year old ECW mark me that I'd be enjoying stuff like that 15 years later, I'd have laughed at you. Last Fun Interview/Promo You Saw I really liked Eddie Dennis's comedy ungainly Welsh luchador shtick on the free Progress Wrestling show they posted up to youtube... Last Interesting Thing You Read about Wrestling Keeping Kayfabe by Ben Gabriel in The New Inquiry. Its a piece on the tension between cooperation and competition in wrestling. http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/keeping-kayfabe/ Last Worthwhile Wrestling Podcast You Heard Outside of Punk on AOW and Vince on Austins podcast, probably finally listening to Shamrock on Austins podcast and being really, really intrigued by what he did and what he didn't say about Minoru Suzuki. Most Fun You've Had Watching Wrestling Lately Travelling down south again to see the Dragon Gate UK show with one of my best friends in the whole world. AND BEING ABLE TO TAKE BEERS TO OUR SEATS THIS TIME!