SomethingSavage

I understand why people feel like the AJ matches could be carry jobs, but Bully's also had some fun brawls with Ken Anderson of all people - whose only other notable match at all is a cage match that was worked in a similar style against Kurt Angle. Oh. And I don't think any single one of the Styles matches would be Bully's best anyway. I'd go to the first PPV outing against Austin Aries for that. I don't even think Bully belongs on a list like this, to be honest. But, as far as modern workers go, I think he's incredibly smart about the little things. He's not going to blow you away with many of his performances, so no. The sheer quantity of super quality matches aren't there to justify him getting high up on anybody's list. But the appreciation for Bully is more as an overall character that understands the finer details between the big stuff. Bully sort of reminds me of Adam Pearce actually. Pearce smokes Bully on the mic to be fair, but both guys are vastly underrated in a lot of the same ways. Bully's got a knack for knowing the whens, whys, and hows of doing things. Vastly underrated as a guy that "gets it" and could easily have a job as a coach or producer someday. I kind of thought the breakout singles run had turned a lot of folks around on him. But I guess enough time has passed now that people have soured on it and are searching for ways to dismiss it or say it wasn't initially as impressive or surprising as it actually was. I can't help but shake my head at revisionist stuff like that. But yeah. For a good stretch there, Bully was one of the few things TNA was doing right - along with Styles in-ring matches, Aries in-ring matches, and the Roode/Storm feud.

https://youtu.be/MqtS1BVUsIQ My memory had TOTALLY swept that one under the rug, but yeah. You're right. https://youtu.be/DiuWOvusSUs

Awesome. Appreciate the updates, Dylan. I was wondering about AML, as I stumbled across their YouTube channel for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I went searching for some recent Vordell Walker work. I definitely wanted to see what some of their other matches looked like, and an AJ Styles match in 2015 is as good a place as any I suppose.

Damn shame, too. A neon-wearing D-list actor called "Hollywood" Bob with a thick hick accent could have been all kinds of awesome. Everything about that gimmick was glorious cheese. It's just too bad he didn't transition right over into the WWF with that. We didn't get to see a glimpse of that personality again until the Big Shot stuff and Crash. All the Backlund talk on the board recently reminded me that Bob returned to "manage" Kurt Angle for about two weeks back in 2001. So there's that. Plus they were trying to have Kurt adopt the Chicken Wing as his submission finisher at that time, which THEN reminded me... Of that time when they were trying to push the ankle lock as Batista's new submission finisher. I want to say it was around 2009 or so. It was definitely before the big heel turn against Rey, when it was just kind of dropped.

I'm still SLOWLY trying to make my way through the podcast. Really dug the Superfly/Sabu comparison from Graham, although it's kind of sad that Sabu is the most modern or "recent" occurrence of that character type. Lesnar is a special attraction in his own right, but the wrestling world needs another savage with that "must see" aura. I was blown away by the huge gate that Hansen pulled in with Backlund, too. Didn't realize they were doing that kind of business. The matches left me a little underwhelmed by the end, but it kicked off to a hot start. Makes me wish they would have used Hansen towards the end to set up Bob's injured neck. Instead of bringing in Masked Superstar's swinging neckbreaker and establishing it with stretcher jobs, they could have easily returned to the Lariat, which had a built-in legacy via Bruno's broken neck. Imagine the heat of Hansen doing to Backlund what he did to Sammartino years before. Then, once Hogan got the gold, Stan would have been a ready-made contender to go around the horn with Hulk. As far as pulling the rug out from beneath Backlund before '83... I just don't know. I love the suggestion of Robinson, especially as it was explained in this thread. The concept of Backlund's own sense of sportsmanship and naive innocence costing him the belt seems brilliant. But something I think people are dismissing too easily is the big "foreign menace" factor. It was such a large component of setting things in place for Hogan to come in. Hulk loses a little of that impact without the "Real American / Made in the USA" aspect of his act. Of course, I think Hulk-A-Mania would have taken off without any of that. But he still needed an absolutely irredeemable heel to defeat. The Iron Sheik was that sort of heel. I don't know if you get that same reaction with Slaughter, Hansen, or even a newly-turned-heel Robinson in that scenario. And you CERTAINLY don't get to Hogan from Snuka. So yeah. I still have the last half of the podcast to get through, so I may be swayed or come to a separate conclusion altogether. But there are definitely a lot of interesting facets to consider when trying to choose a how & when to move the belt off Backlund. Hell yeah. Highly recommended, man. The episode about the Shea Stadium Larry/Bruno blowoff is must listen material. Put it high on your priority list. Pretty much every episode from 3 or 4 on is great listening though. It's more about the gang getting together & just shooting the shit. Tons of fun in-jokes and stuff that will hook you in. It's among my favorite podcasts, for sure. And Snuka's on the horizon!

I didn't even know a Valiant/Jones feud discussion was on the table. I'd be all over that. Stipulations, mystery partners, and guest stars A'PLENTY in that thing.

I've seen some of his stuff, but he's honestly always been on the lower-end of my American gaijin priority watch list. That being said, would anyone be willing to compile a short list of any "must see" matches from him, if there were any? I'm willing to keep an open mind and would really like to see what Albright looks like at top form. Apologies if anything's been posted elsewhere. I tried a quick search over in the Microscope forum but came up empty. And since I've got a crazy hectic week at work, I figured this would be the quickest route to take.

I'm only about an hour in so far, as I'll have to listen in separate sessions around my hectic work schedule this week. But I will say that I'm digging the show, and I love that Parv already touched on the Dory/Brisco aspect. Also loved the talk about them switching up TV to cater to each specific market & the feuds taking place therein. Some good discussion about Hogan and Sarge already. So here's hoping there's at least a LITTLE gushing over two of my other faves - Snuka and Eadie. I'm a huge mark for Masked Superstar on the mic, and I'm extra curious to see what Parv's opinions are of him - especially after hearing how much he dug the Assassin in Georgia and just general "masked guys in suits" types. Eadie fits that bill, being an intelligent plotter & thinker. I'll try and remember to come back and give my thoughts on with who & when exactly a title change would have worked best - but I want to digest the rest of the podcast and see what thoughts you guys provide first.

I'm a HUGE fan of Aries, but I thought it was mostly underwhelming. It's probably the best thing going in the promotion, other than EC3 as an overall character, but that's not exactly high praise when you consider what little else they're offering. I think I personally prefer the Hardys, Dudleys, and Wolves series from last year over this one. Both are solid and have their moments, but I remember enjoying the one from last year a lot more. Could just be my initial impression, and I admittedly might have a different take on things after letting it settle for six months or so & revisiting them both. But, as far as your garbage matches & high spots go, the multi-mans from last year packed a lot of excitement, near-falls, and all the stuff you'd theoretically WANT from those matches.

You're thinking Austin from '02. Austin in '01 was delivering on the weekly shows, sometimes on Raw and SmackDown in the same week.

The line about scummy '97 Eddie resembling a Hispanic Jimmy Del Ray had me cracking up. And any gushing over Puerto Rico will always get a pop out of me. "Brock Lesnar vs. Butch Reed." "Villano III vs. John Cena." For fuck's sake. Will has me stoked for these impossible will-absolutely-never-happen fantasy dream matches. This was a fun and engaging listen. Lots of names tossed out and batted around. Good stuff.

Hansen could come away from this feud with a better rep, for sure. But I think he holds up strong enough even without the PR run. But Colon is the guy I'd hate for people to sleep on, and that's completely possible if they aren't seeking out this sort of footage.

Awesome possum. Thanks a TRUCKLOAD for this, man. I've seen everything from the Colon/Hansen feud except the tag with Chicky & Castillo. Every time I've had to seek out the matches - which is usually around once a year or so - I have to sort through the dates and try to organize everything in order, because it's easy to forget which came first - which brawl was the kickoff, the No DQ, the Bull Rope stipulation, the Cage, etc. So this helps out a ton. Would legit LOVE to see this done for more WWC rivalries, as they all sort of suffer from that setback. It's great, because it's so easy to just dive into the violence and soak it in. But it can be a chore that eats up a good chunk of time just trying to find dates, figure things out, and discover the chronological order of things. I definitely appreciate this though.

I guess I'm just struggling to see the reason behind running these shows separate from TNA anyhow. If Jarrett's just going to do business with TNA, then it might as well be TNA. The cards themselves aren't all that different from what you get with TNA. I guess you could say they've got a little more local indie flavor to them, but really - the better local indies offer more of that, usually with better settings, more vocal & loyal crowds, and no six-sided ring that's set out in the middle of a baseball field. I was really hoping that Global Force would present something different, especially back when it was getting some buzz and even offering alternatives like the English commentary for Kingdom 9. But it's already looking bush league. For my money, there's better indie wrestling in the area. If TNA or Global Force comes to town, I'm still more inclined to see something like Booker's local promotion than any of this stuff. Sure. They aren't going to have the well-known names and faces from TV, but the action is almost always better, the stories are fun and easy to follow, the characters are clearly defined, and there's none of this "shooty invasion" horse shit to suffer through. Maybe they'll get things on track. Maybe there's some ace in the hole with all this "merger" talk. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

Steven, you guys need to adopt the Tenta Match Live Watch segment and apply it here - only with Pete forced to watch and call one Elgin or Makabe match every week. That's award-winning audio just waiting to be exploited. I really dug the first episode. I'm gonna try to get to this one before the weekend's over. Looking forward to some more LU discussion, Sorrow's take on the Cadillac RAW segment, and an update on the NWA Classics footage.

Whoa. I wasn't even aware of it until now. Not sure if I was just working too many hours at the time, or not clued into things when that went down, or WHAT. Christ. And now I've also gone & heard the 911 phone call from Dusty's wife on the night of his passing. Fuck TMZ.

For those of you that are only familiar with Roderick Strong from the early ROH days or just the '05-'09 period, you really should give his recent stuff a chance. He might surprise you. The guy has been killing it in practically every performance since some point in 2013. And he's worked with a WIDE range of guys all across the country. He's essentially been doing the AJ Styles redemption tour, without the benefit of having as big a stage or as much notoriety attached. If Styles' profile is elevated by way of his 2013-2015... and CERTAINLY if Roman Reigns is even being batted around as a candidate for his 2012-2015 alone... then Strong's stock will surely rise from his 2013-2015 contributions as well. Again, if what you know of Roddy is only that earlier run, I'd wager that it's pretty much a guarantee that you'd value him higher after you've seen his recent work.

Came across this promotion & channel while trying to find some more recent Vordell Walker work... AML Wrestling from North Carolina - https://www.youtube.com/user/AMLWrestling Their "shows" are just one-off main events, but they look to have some quality talent booked. I haven't watched anything just yet, but they've got Vordell, Gunner and Magnus from TNA, Matt Hardy, and a Waltman appearance. There's also a fairly recent Bunkhouse Buck vs. George South match up on there. There's bound to be a gem or two worth checking out, and I'll definitely be revisiting the channel to see what else they put up going forward.

It was cool to have one of my questions unleashed from the mailbag. And it was made even sweeter when it led to the first F bomb. Will's reaction to the mere mentioning of Demolition as a draft pick was classic. A slightly subtle, "Ughck!" in the background had me cracking up. The whole shebang came dangerously close to falling off the rails when we were getting Linda McMahon kinky talk in the final segment there for a minute, but luckily Justin pulled a last-minute comeback with the Stephanie sleaze story. Really fun show as always, guys.

Get in line, buddy. I'm calling for a Puerto Rico project first! For what it's worth, there's a couple of podcasts that were put out by the Titans of Wrestling in the last year or two, covering some of the late 70's & early 80's Portland. Really good stuff if you haven't heard it - with looks at Rose/Martel, Rose/Piper, Rose/Adonis, and even a bit of the Sheeps if I recall correctly.

Seems like it could be related to a blood pressure/cardiac issue for sure, but the bloated look likely had a lot to do with steroids or HGH or some sort. A lot of guys were still juicing up until the Eddie incident at least. You can even look back at guys like Orton and see the puffy moon face and the distended muscle gut that comes with water retention and 'roid use. It was still a pretty common practice at that point.

The 2002 Hogan run is tricky. The Hulk-A-Mania nostalgia act wasn't going to have a long lifespan, but man. It was hot for a moment, and so I kind of can't fault them for wanting to strike while the iron was hot & people were buzzing. At the same time, it may have been a smarter move to stretch things out and have Hogan embark on this quest to regain the crown that he once held as WWF/E Champion. It could have made for really "epic" storytelling, and the payoff could have felt HUGE by the time he got around to dropping the leg o' doom and getting the win. By way of that, Brock's annihilation of Hulk would have meant even more. So yeah. It could have been a domino effect that would have worked out better in the long haul. But I don't know if that would have been enough to keep interest up & keep fans invested in the narrative. It's just as likely that people would have tuned out before the payoff came anyway. I do think part of the problem was in the way the whole thing was handled though. Hulk lost to Rock at Mania (right move, not arguing that), but then he turns around and automatically receives the title shot. He dons the red & yellow again with about an hour of buildup, which felt like a major missed opportunity to make a memorable moment out of the whole ordeal. And then he beats Hunter - of all people, AND a fellow babyface - for the belt. It was just the wrong way & LIKELY the wrong time to move the belt onto Hogan. They didn't exactly follow it up with anything spectacular either. The entire build to Hulk/Taker was like a backstage rib you'd see pulled at one of the WCW Road Wild shows or something, and then Hulk was quickly booked into the mid-card "Even Steven" booking mix, where he won as much as he lost and traded wins with everyone in sight.

Meh. It's not like it's exclusive to Flair's show or anything though. Austin has run into the same situation a couple of times. You can't have such a wide range of guests without coming across a few burnt bridges or guys who still hold onto some old grudges or whatever. I get that Bret's a case where the bitterness is a little stronger than most though. But yeah. There have been plenty of people on Austin's show where he lets them say their piece, doesn't disagree, and just moves on. Shane Douglas sure didn't have many nice things to say on the topic of Shawn or Flair PERSONALLY, but he's mature enough to recognize their place among elite workers in the eyes of the boys and all that. But Austin's a smart host, and he's not about to blast someone over a personal opinion or bad experience. I'm actually glad to hear Flair took the high road. I'm backtracking through all the episodes and haven't come across the Bret one yet, but it's good to know he's taken the hosting gig seriously. And yeah. I realize the ridiculousness of saying that on the week that he drops a podcast all liquored up. But hey. It's Naitch. It was bound to happen.

Well I was originally going to ask what happened to the Harper & Rowan team, but I just saw that Rowan's out with an injury. Well hell. I really wish they'd let the Rhodes Bros. reunite for one last run and reheat the tag division with them for a bit. I know some people would probably shit on the idea of "capitalizing" on Dusty's death, but come on. I'm not calling for them to outright reference the passing of the Dream as the REASON they're suddenly a team again, but it's one of those things that just makes sense & doesn't necessarily require any actual explanation. Plus it's a built-in device to get them back, get some great matches out there, and take one last stab at doing SOMETHING with Cody Rhodes. Say what you will about the Stardust shit-show, but Cody felt like a solid mid-card babyface out there alongside his brother for that six month stretch or more. Rhodes Bros. vs. New Day... babyface clashes vs. PTP, and maybe even a throwaway novelty match vs. J&J Security. I'd be all over that stuff. It'd rinse a little of the Stardust stink away from Cody, and it could help reset the tag division before the Usos bounce back on the scene. ... And I just remembered they were trying to do something with Stephen Amell for SummerSlam. Guessing that's gone the way of the Jackass deal now though.

Dylan slagging that shit-show stretch of three matches was nice, but Pete pulling down the straps & getting FARRED UP about the Makabe punches was fucking phenomenal. Now I need them to book a one-off between Makabe and Elgin, just so we can hear Pete's reaction to that masterpiece. Pronto.