SomethingSavage

Heard something about a KENTA tribute spot during the Nakamura match... Any truth to that, or any word on what it's even about? Haven't gotten around to watching Day 1 just yet, obviously. But I'm stoked for this year's tourney on so many levels. Probably just gonna hold back for a week or more and do some binge catch-up later though. What'd you think about the Ishii match? How about Tanahashi? And yeah. I expect Styles to turn in more than his fair share of standout performances. He and Okada have had darn fine chemistry thus far, but I'm itching to see AJ matched up with some fresh opposition soon.

Hmm. Well there ya go. To hear a lot of people talk about it now, they talk like it was the never-ending story that couldn't end soon enough. I dig it a lot now, looking back. And you're right. There were plenty of twists & turns to keep things fresh. Especially enjoyed how Valiant would bring in various partners and characters to help him out at first, with Jones scouring the earth for any and all lowlife assailants he could find to aid him against the Boogie Woogie Man. It had so much other stuff intertwined and weaved into the story as things went along. Valiant's promo to bring in Baron Von Raschke, of all people, was excellent. Offering the Baron ANY AMOUNT of money to lend his dirty deeds - "NAME YOUR PRICE" - and the Baron turning around & saying, "I'll do it. But I'll do it for ONE SINGLE DOLLAH." Tremendous.

I love JCP in '84. Slater aiming to "tayke it all. I'ma GIT IT AHLLLL" is great. The Flair face run feels fresh. Wahoo's stuff is all tremendous. And, say what you will about the feud dragging on like a dying dog that just won't be put down, but the beginning phase of the Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones grudge is amazing. The Assassins are outstanding in their roles, but the Boogie Woogie Man takes his interviews to a whole other level. Jimmy can be entertaining & humorous here and there, but Valiant's early promos in the program are full of piss & vinegar. Guy's spewing venom. It's southern fried FIYAHHH, and it's a shining example of how to suck people into a situation. It's a template that SHOULD be taken and applied to a lot of today's stuff. In fact, Dean Ambrose is educating people on precisely the same thing right now. And he's reaping the benefits of it by getting more over than (I believe) he was ever expected to, initially. Everything about the kickoff of that rivalry is what I love about southern 'rasslin from the time. It's a professional issue - inside the squared circle - that heats up and QUICKLY becomes a personal issue. Valiant puts over the importance of something as silly as HIS FREAKING FACIAL HAIR, of all things - with a touching little story about his son. And from there, they're off to the races. It's a race that people were begging to end by the finish, unfortunately. But yeah. Still EXTREMELY neat in the beginning. ANYWAY... Just watched the Extreme Rules 8-Man Tornado Tag Match that pit the New Breed versus the ECW Originals is a crazy kind of fun. It's nonstop weapon shots & daring dives from bell to bell. Dreamer busts out a couple of neat spots, including the slick simultaneous DDT/Neck Breaker combo. He also bursts Matt Striker's "kidneys like water balloons" with a crunching Spine Buster onto a trash can. Some cool stuff with Kevin Thorne, Sabu, and RVD as well. The big goth lug kisses the seat of a steel chair that Sabu HURLS through the air, which is nifty. Plus it gives Joey Styles the chance to cry out, "Pucker up, vampire." So there's that. Monty Brown (yes) shines a bit brighter than the rest for me though. We get good stuff GALORE from the guy here. Alpha Bomb snapped off out of a Cross Body position. Spinning high angle Back Suplex onto an unfolded chair in the center of the ring. And, of course, the POOOOOUUUUUNNNCCCE-uhhh. Period. Finish is fun, too. Elijah Burke just MOWS DOWN poor Sabu from behind with a murderous set of Shotgun Knees between the shoulder blades, and Sheiky Nephew takes a face-first plunge through a table in the corner. Particularly enjoyable as an unheralded gem that doesn't get much love. Just a series of spots strung together really, but it's absolute fun in under ten minutes if you're in the mood for that sort of stuff.

Kylan is a constant. As sure as the sun will rise...

The Extreme Rules 8-Man Tornado Tag Match that pit the New Breed versus the ECW Originals is a crazy kind of fun. It's nonstop weapon shots & daring dives from bell to bell. Dreamer busts out a couple of neat spots, including the slick simultaneous DDT/Neck Breaker combo. He also bursts Matt Striker's "kidneys like water balloons" with a crunching Spine Buster onto a trash can. Some cool stuff with Kevin Thorne, Sabu, and RVD as well. The big goth lug kisses the seat of a steel chair that Sabu HURLS through the air, which is nifty. Plus it gives Joey Styles the chance to cry out, "Pucker up, vampire." So there's that. Monty Brown (yes) shines a bit brighter than the rest for me though. We get good stuff GALORE from the guy here. Alpha Bomb snapped off out of a Cross Body position. Spinning high angle Back Suplex onto an unfolded chair in the center of the ring. And, of course, the POOOOOUUUUUNNNCCCE-uhhh. Period. Finish is fun, too. Elijah Burke just MOWS DOWN poor Sabu from behind with a murderous set of Shotgun Knees between the shoulder blades, and Sheiky Nephew takes a face-first plunge through a table in the corner. Particularly enjoyable as an unheralded gem that doesn't get much love. Just a series of spots strung together really, but it's absolute fun in under ten minutes if you're in the mood for that sort of stuff.

Charles and Dylan are so on point with their insults in this one. Glorious stuff galore. And the early talking points about the pre-show panel (most especially Booker) are TREMENDOUS. Although now I'm going to have to dig up details for that lucha show. Actually dig the Reality of Wrestling stuff Booker has going on locally, to be honest.

Nah. Every promotion had good things going on in '98. I'd definitely agree that '99 was a far worse year on PPV. ECW had the dominance of Taz, at the very least. WCW had Jericho at his most glorious peak, ruling over the cruiserweight landscape. The Slamboree battle royal, THAT pop for Malenko, the matches with Rey and Juvy... all good stuff. Plus there's the rise of Goldberg on PPV that year. There's a decent sprint of a brawl between Savage & Sting. And the mid-card, littered with the likes of Booker, Finlay, Raven, Martel, Benoit, and Page was still in pretty damn decent shape for much of the year. WWF was still exciting up top. All their "major" programs were awesome. Even their under-card stuff was fun. It hadn't QUITE tipped the scale into totally obnoxious or grossly obscene for me just yet. I mean, sure. There's a TRUCKLOAD of stuff to roll your eyes at, but even things that tend to grate people's nerves the worst - like Snow with Head, Venis' early work, etc. - don't phase me too terribly much. And hey. I'll say it. I dig Tennessee Lee with Double J. So there. But yes. I think every single stateside promotion ABSOLUTELY took a nosedive, at least for awhile, in '99. A lot of '98 felt like a thrill ride, and a bunch of the pay-per-views felt like SUCH a bigger deal than they really were - simply because business was so white hot.

Went back and watched the "Stunning" Steve Austin vs. "Gentleman" Chris Adams feud in its entirety. Tons of fun stuff to absorb there, and I'd honestly forgotten about a lot of it - so it came across fresh enough to feel new again. Good stuff galore in terms of in-ring action. Austin is green, but he NEVER appears sloppy. There's a sense of inexperience to some of his movements & mannerisms, but the guy clearly grasped what it took to get something over & what it meant to put something over. Both men bring the physicality. There's a rough, rugged feel to things. The entire series of matches is hinged on intensity & tension. There's a real "grudge fight" feel to almost everything in their program, even at a time when a lot of pro wrestling had gone REALLY hokey. But nah. This feud is fueled with the right kind of stuff. It just screams SOUTHERN FRIED FIYAHHH. I dig the little details in most things. And, in terms of the smaller scale stuff, I absolutely enjoy some of the stuff Adams does on offense. The European forearms in the corner, rather than the traditional ten punch at the turnbuckle, is just a neat spin on a crowd-pleasing routine. The Superkicks he busts out to various areas of the body is another favorite. Oh, and the leg-sweep via swift kick behind the knee. Always liked that. The ferocity isn't limited to the men though. The real motivation for the rivalry BEGAN with the women, so it's only fitting that they feel totally involved at every level throughout. And that they are. Toni Adams is one mad minx - ripping, clawing, and tearing at "Mean" Jeannie at every available twist & turn. These ladies aren't just wielding perfume, loaded purses, or high-heeled boots either. They're cracking kendo sticks on flesh & bone, folks. It's vixen violence cranked up to a new notch for the time. The Barbed Wire Match between Austin & Adams is especially awesome. There's no insane bump. There's no extraordinary, historic moment. But it's a shining example of what CAN and mostly SHOULD be done to sell this kind of stipulation as significant. They put over the dangerous aspect of the barbed wire and SERIOUSLY drive home the severity of the damage that CAN be done. Doesn't necessarily HAVE to be all gore and bloodshed. Just Austin getting nicked and sliced as he tries to escape with his hide intact is incredibly entertaining. There are a few teaser spots, with the rivals trying desperately to maim and scar one another, and that's enough. Not that I'm knocking the niche market of death matches or anything, because they certainly have a time & place where they fit in and are found to be genuinely fun. But for this match & this feud, the execution of THIS particular Barbed Wire Match worked extremely well for me.

I have been revisiting a truckload of the shows from the SmackDown! Six era, just to see HOW good those matches were in the context of that specific time. I've done a little jumping around here & there, and I came across a random six-man tag that I don't remember happening at all. So I scoped it out. Nothing extraordinary, but it wasn't bad. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, & Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge, Rey Mysterio, & John Cena is the match. It's just a six-man tag that was booked on SmackDown, a week or so prior to that year's SummerSlam event. Benoit was holding the IC Title at the time. Eddie was just starting to venture into a vendetta with Edge. Rey and Kurt were gearing up for their show-stealing opener. And Cena's the green guy on the block, still donning the bright neon spandex as his ring gear. The action itself is about what you'd expect, and I'm honestly only mentioning the match for the finish. Kurt clears the rings with slams and suplexes and other assorted bombs. Whenever Cena or Edge (I can't recall which) rolls out to the floor in anguish, Kurt drops to his knees for his always awesome, over-the-top exaggerated Olympic-sized celebration. Kurt waddles over near the ropes - still on his knees - and shouts insults at his fallen foes. And then... As soon as Kurt reaches the ropes, Rey springs into action with incredible speed and BLASTS Angle in the chompers with the 619. It's swift. It's unexpected. And it legitimately looks like it could catch a guy off-guard. THAT is the right way to pull off the 619, without insulting anyone's intelligence. Without telegraphing a spot. Without making someone look like a total goof. Without stretching disbelief a tad too far. So yeah. In this case, at least IN THIS MATCH, it was done right. It makes me wonder how long this went on far with Rey's WWE booking, and if it lasted more than a month. I'm interested in finding out, since even the Chavo debut match saw Rey hit the 619 from the corner - with Chavito slumped face-down against a turnbuckle pad. In this light at least, it's easy to make a case for the maneuver feeling fresh & seeming innovative at first.

Henry started putting the pieces together on how to REALLY, effectively work as a big man in '04, like Grimmas said. But the run was cut short. By the time he came back and got the monster push versus Batista, he picked up where he left off & broke through a bit. Good matches with Rey, Angle, Benoit, and even Paul Burchill that year. The buildup for the feud with Batista felt like modernized Mid-South treatment of two bulls set on a collision course. In just recent years, he's had a stellar series with Show, Sheamus, Orton, etc. There's MITB with Cena. There's the two-match deal on RAW with Punk for the title. Probably a lot more I'm forgetting, too. So yeah. Think it's safe to say he's no longer I guy to classify under the "crowbar" category, by any means.

For a fresh change of pace, I got to squeeze in some late night lucha & puro viewing before the end of the week. Hey. Granted. It ain't exactly skydiving with strippers. But it's free, enjoyable entertainment nonetheless. Among this week's re-watch list? LA Park vs. El Mesias vs. Canek - Rey de Reyes 2013 Finals. I liked this one a little less on re-watch, but I think that's simply due to the nature of the crazy cool bumping towards the end. The whole finishing stretch is this series of NASTY looking spills & falls, which come across as HIGHLY exciting upon first glance. But when you're watching it again & again, you fully expect 'em. You know they're coming. And so the anticipation is there, but the enjoyment is naturally dialed down a bit. Ahh well. It's still fun as hell as a match. Starts off pretty slow, aside from LA Park hitting his awesome Snap Powerslam. Man oh man, I tell ya... that Snap Powerslam of LA Park is slicker than owl shit and cooler than penguin piss. To this day, I still pop for the suddenness of the way he DRILLS a guy into the canvas and INSTANTLY winds up with the arms seized and trapped for the pin. It's just a case of a guy mastering ONE specific piece of offense and really making it his own. Things pick up though after Canek's elimination. Not a whole lot to say leading up to that point. I always enjoy the story behind a guy sacrificing a loss for the sake of preserving his identity & the way it puts over the mask. But yeah. Just poor execution with the way it came about on THIS particular occasion. From there, LA Park and Mesias rev it up into another gear. They SLAM into each other off a dual Flying Cross Body Block spot. There's a MANIACAL dive to the outside from Mesias, slightly mirroring Taker's dive onto Shawn from Mania a few years back - in which Mesias nearly lands DIRECTLY on his bean. Christ. Much as I love the guy, Park sort of botches a Back Stabber attempt on Mesias, but it's ALMOST more effective with the ugly landing. Just seems like an authentic ambush in this capacity, and Mesias' neck is cranked a little more on the whiplash. Park makes up for it in short order though - busting out a bad ass Spinning Wheel Kick from the top rope. Once things reach that go-home stretch, we hit overdrive with some crazy cool stuff crammed in for good measure. Mesias doles out a Lung Blower from the top, but Park is pulled STRAIGHT DOWN to the point where it's more like a Piledriver bump. Guy goes vertical like an exclamation point. Later, Mesias tries for something else off the top, Park does the usual routine of sticking his feet straight up to counter, and Mesias goes above & beyond the call of duty by CHOMPING DOWN on the leather. I'm telling you. Both of Park's boots end up BURIED in Mesias' ugly kisser on that one. It's deja vu, as they're back up top AGAIN eventually... and Mesias yanks Park down for a Flat Liner. Park goes for the oversell and flips into it, much like the Flux Capacitor thing Kazarian used in TNA. In the end, it makes for a sensational crash landing & gives Park reason to sell his knee and leg, of all things. So yeah. Park cringes and clenches like he's got a blown knee. The best part is - WHILE he's selling and sloooowly crawling from the center of the ring in agony, Mesias heads up top and comes CRASHING down with a Superfly Splash. And that's all she wrote, folks. Just a tremendous train-wreck towards the end, with big bombs giving way to bigger bombs, until we reach the grand finale. It's hardly the best Park OR Mesias from recent years, but it's a lot of fun anyhow. Kota Ibushi vs. Low-Ki from King of Pro Wrestling 2012. It's for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and it's a damn good one. There's a sick kick exchange to open things up, but that barely scratches the surface of the whippin' these two put on each other. Piston-like palm strikes. Vicious uppercuts. And yeah. A whirlwind of kicks that leave both guys laced with whelps and broken blood vessels. Insanity ensues when Ibushi sprints across the entire ring and busts out this INCREDIBLE twisting dive, literally leaping and launching himself over the corner ring post. It's a visual that never gets old to me, no matter how many times I see it done. Kota's got springs in his feet, which he further displays with stuff like the Standing Shooting Star Press straight off the mat. For all the criticism and controversy, Ki is goes total FedEx in the ring. Dude DELIVERS. I still lose my shit when he can create new ways to just spontaneously mash his opponents with a Mushroom Stomp. Good stuff, for sure. Ibushi gets caught up in the corner, but he tries to stay in the fight with some snug, rapid-fire jackrabbit kicks. Ki corners his prey anyhow and sets up for the finish. Unfortunately, slippery ropes means the top rope spot is botched a good three or four times. Takes WAY longer than it should to get into position, and so the momentum is kind of SWEPT right out from under 'em. The action itself was still intense as hell preceding it, and the actual Cradle Buster finisher from the top is tremendous. Just took far too long to arrive there with the screwy finish. Doesn't cripple the overall match by any means though. Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Hirooki Goto from the same show. I remember REALLY digging this match, so yeah. I went ahead and scoped it out while I was looking back at the Ibushi bout. And wow. It still holds up just fine by me. These two guys bring it with a heightened sense of urgency, enthusiasm, and energy in all their actions. Every ounce of effort seems to pack a little extra aggression in it. The match itself is just a story of both guys basically trying their damn best to SAW EACH OTHER APART with knees, rib breakers, back breakers, lariats, and stomach crushers. But ya don't need much more than that. It's physical. It's fluid. And it's a nonstop, back-and-forth, beat-em-up battle to the finish. Nakamura is as captivating and engaging as ever, but I specifically love his selling in this one. He lets his limbs go limp and just lets himself get thrown around like a friggin' ragdoll at times. It's reckless bumping without crossing the line into sloppy or careless bumping. Just tremendous.

Phenomenal freaking episode, guys. Just a good time with the gang, packed with plenty of interesting discussion and a couple truckloads of laughs. Johnny's impersonations are always on the mark, but mygoddamngod. His Gordy is EPIC. Instant win with that one. Really dug the praise for Hayes, too. We don't hear about him and some of the great stuff he did in his "prime" often enough. Guy had a legitimate aura and presence about him that just told you he was born to be a performer. He had charisma to spare and enough showmanship to share with half the state of Georgia. The ball-busting felt right - all in good fun and partially overdue. Teddy was far from his finest hour here, and everyone should 'preciate ripping and roasting Uncle Elmer. That being said? I fully expect Parv to carb up and come back with guns a blazing the next time he sits through a bad Backlund match or something.

Oh. Ya know. Randomly watching matches, as usual. Most recently? Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff from Survivor Series 2003. With it getting some talk in certain circles recently, I wanted to go back and give it another watch. I've been really high on it for a long time, but yeah. This match still holds up STRONG. The story is nearly flawless. Austin and Bischoff as coaches to their teams on the outside is a great touch that adds to the atmosphere in a big way, too. Each and every one of the players are allowed to make an impact of sorts. Everyone brought their working boots for this bout. And, to their credit, everybody plays their part perfectly. Steiner is the bullying braggart. Booker is a bundle of sporadic energy. Christian is squirmy and devious. Orton is as arrogant as ever. And Shawn is ALL heart in this performance. Simply put, the pieces of this puzzle fit together masterfully in the end. I'm a sucker for powerhouse, feat of strength spots. So when we get things like Mark Henry reversing a dual Irish Whip and casually just SLINGING the two Dudley Boys into each other? I eat that stuff up. Then there's the elimination for Big Mark. It's handled extremely well, with it taking a one-two punch combination of finishers AND a pile-up pin to put him down for the count. Nice method to keep Henry looking impressive in defeat. The booking is clever enough to give each individual the opportunity to... well, get all their shit in before they're carted off. I dig that, especially since nothing feels unnecessarily rushed or crammed in too soon. It's a fine balance, but they find it well enough here. Shawn steals the show and really shines here. Say what you will about the guy on occasion, but Shawn's sensational in this role on this night. He dials up the sympathy selling, and that aspect alone is enough to draw me in. Combine that with the commentary though, and I'm looking at a match that has every right to be called a classic. Seriously, JR and Lawler have rarely been any better together than they are here. I sincerely mean that. Jerry isn't harping. Ross is as engaged as ever. King has a great moment where he comes around to thinking that maybe - just maybe - Shawn has a real shot at winning against the odds of a 3-on-1 handicap. So Jerry, in all the usual zeal and exuberance you'd expect from King, cries out a passionate, "I BEEEELIEVE! I believe!" It's something that is appreciated so much more in the moment, but it really adds to the viewing experience in my eyes (and ears). But yeah. The chemistry between JR and King here is right on target, and everything is aimed towards making this one something special. There's a sense of emotion and drama packed into the finishing sequence that we rarely see anymore, and it's truly a shame that this match isn't held in higher regards when we look back on it. It certainly deserves to be. I think this match just suffers a lot from the fact that it took place during such a shitty time of the company's history, as well as the way the fallout was so badly handled and poorly mismanaged from a continuity standpoint. The comeback section from Shawn is fantastic. The closing stretch is great. It's just a phenomenal, fun, overbooked mess. But it's awesome in being every bit of just that. Bischoff interferes. Austin responds accordingly, violently hurling Sleazy E to the outside like a Hefty bag of wet garbage. Stone Cold then dishes out a Stunner, which Randy Orton feasts on like a FREAKING CHAMP. The sell job is an incredible image of Orton doing the Rocky back-flip and landing with his lower half just draped across the ropes. It's tremendous. The chaos is furthered by a Batista cameo, allowing Orton to take the win. Once the heels bail, there's a nice tease of tension before the big touching moment of Austin acknowledging Shawn's hard work. Shawn says he's sorry, in something that'd become a bit of a regular gig for him over the next several years. It's still one of those "movie scene" moments, where it can work VERY effectively in wrestling if done correctly. I think that applies here, as it didn't feel too corny or overly cheesy to me. Maybe that's more of a testament to Austin's involvement, but I don't know. Everything that preceded it just made you FEEL bad for Shawn coming up short right at the finish line like that. Austin gets his farewell Beer Bash with the fans and all that, but yeah. I can't help but feel like this match SHOULD be such a memorable one that people immediately recall, but it's not. It's viewed more as a lost gem are often-forgotten classic, if anything. And that's a real shame. So much more could have come from this though. It could have given a lot more fuel to the fire of Orton's "Legend Killer" shtick. It could have opened the door for them to actually do something fresh and creative with Austin, instead of the Sheriff on the ATV thing. Shawn's guilt could have been a much bigger story line component moving forward - although we DID get a lot of that much later with the Flair retirement. Enough complaining about the aftermath though. Everything that occurred exclusively from bell to bell & between the ropes? Excellent stuff. Highly recommend anyone out there to re-watch it if bored or just curious, especially for fans of team elimination matches.

Yup. Ditto, Parv. If it helps any, I've got it narrowed down to the 12 to 15 minute range of most Corny's Experiences. Takes 'em a good chunk of time to get the bullshit out of the way. Alice has a great voice for radio, but yeah. That's about it. Offers next to nothing for me otherwise. She's plugged her own Raw Review podcast a few times, and holy hell. I can only imagine how "in-depth" and engaging that joker can get. Truth be told, I can partially understand the novelty of having someone from "outside" the bubble there for the purpose of a different perception or outside opinion on things. But she's not the answer. I hate to get TOO critical about her though, since I don't think they've really found the right combination for Corny in any other capacity just yet either. Court brought nothing to the table in terms of chemistry. Bolin's overbearing and only barely tolerable in very short, very minor doses. So I don't know.

I can't remember if it was Greenfield or Court Bauer that talked about WWE wanting to push Cena to the top in time for WrestleMania XX. The whole "Where It Begins Again" tagline and all was going to be about crowning the new face as champ for the first time there. If you look back at the buildup, you can see that they were positioning BOTH Cena and Benoit as the two top faces over on SmackDown. Both guys were pursuing Lesnar, and both were being primed to win the Rumble and make the jump over to Raw, in order to challenge Triple H at Mania. I wanna say it was Court who spoke about it, but I could be wrong. Anyway, they went on to say that the nod eventually went to Benoit when they realized Cena wasn't ready yet, and they didn't want to risk pushing him too soon and have him be overly exposed in the upper mix. So the idea was that they'd put the strap on Benoit with the mindset being that, "at least the matches will be great", while allowing Cena to grow and develop for another year. Of course, guys like Orton and Batista would then become top priorities for them in that time frame as well, which led us to what we actually got at Mania 21 - Cena and Batista both being crowned, and Big Dave actually looking to be launched as the next actual ace for the company. Whether it's true or not, I actually think it's a believable enough theory. They certainly seemed comfortable in doing big things with Cena - hot off his face turn with the rapper gimmick. He was getting strong reactions, and he was getting a lot of interaction & TV time in the "feud" with SD-GM Paul Heyman at the time. It was actually Cena/Heyman before it was Benoit/Heyman, which is what led to the enduring Rumble win from the #1 spot in the first place. So yeah. I figure people will shit all over the idea as being totally false and completely conjured up in hindsight, but I don't know. At the very least, I think it's worth an interesting discussion. Was Benoit just given a near-year run for the sake of filling time? Were they really THAT high on Cena so early on? I could buy it. But, with ALL THAT being said, we still arrive at WM21 with Batista. I think Big Dave winds up in the same position, regardless. He probably would have stuck it out on Raw with no Cena. That would leave the other brand (whichever Batista doesn't work) without a top babyface champ. Ultimately, I think we just would have had ONE breakout star that year - rather than two Superman babyface types existing simultaneously, which is precisely what we ACTUALLY got in Cena and Batista around the time. Cases could be made (and have) for plenty of guys, but it's all going to be guesswork. Each one has their pros & cons. Personally, I like the idea of Christian filling the void for awhile. He was witty & clever enough on the mic. Hell, he actually won the people over in his interactions with Cena in '05 anyhow. Beyond the stick work though, the guy could always go in the ring. I think he works well as a sympathetic, overachieving babyface. In fact, I seriously dug his stuff in TNA's main event scene once he made landfall there. Christian could easily have worked a steady big match, "main event" style on consecutive PPV cards for most of the year or more. Rey Mysterio was beloved, but he never had the support of Vince as THE guy. I don't see that changing in our alternate universe. With no Cena, they likely would have just piled MORE focus and luster onto Batista instead of attempting to split the spotlight between two top babyfaces. Rey likely would've still received a shot, but no way do I see him getting a lengthy reign like Cena at ANY point. Jeff Hardy wasn't ready in '05. Hell, I don't think I really even LIKED Jeff's singles matches in the slightest until his '06 return. All his stuff prior to his '03 exile was good by proxy of Matt or just awful to look at. He was popular, but I don't see them putting that much faith in him until... well, until they actually DID around '08 and '09. Eddie had his shot. As much as it sucks, he cracked under the pressure. And I don't see them rewarding him with another chance to run the same play just one short year later. That's not to say he wouldn't have gotten another date with the belt, since I absolutely think he was headed there eventually. But it wasn't going to be anything substantial enough to coin him the "besides Cena" guy. Edge bombed as a face. And badly. He never would have reached the levels of success he did without the sleazy, sneaky character he cooked up with the Rated R stuff. Without the Lita relationship? Without the total attitude change? Without the Matt controversy? Make no mistake about it, so much stuff converged to form the perfect storm and catapult Edge. The guy had the character work down long before then, but it wasn't enough. Benjamin? Christ. No thank you. For Smurf's sake, I hope to hell not. Kennedy? MVP? Carlito? All range from passable and decent to pretty darn good at times, but nah. I don't see it. Carly had the flashiest "babyface" move-set of them, but it screamed mid-carder. MVP had the right REAL LIFE story to connect on a broader plane and really resonate with people as a guy that had turned his life around, but I think the travel issues and restrictions of his criminal past kept him from going certain places or doing certain things. In that sense, I can see why the company would be hesitant to push him beyond a certain level. Kennedy had a charisma and charm to his "loud, large" personality. But I still think he would have wound up being a bust when put through the meat grinder of main event after main event on the big stage. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but we'll never know. I know I'm probably in the minority, but Booker T is a guy that I think COULD have carried the workload. He could work face. He could work heel. He could cover any & all talking points, handle extensive interviews, TV segments, adapt to all angles, etc. He was a very versatile character and well-rounded performer. But he suffered the same fate as Jericho, in that he had been buried on their TV for so long that he'd never truly feel like THE guy for them. Again though, if they're running full throttle with Batista as their lone ace, then that's not as big of an issue. No. There's not another Cena to be found for a few years. But guys like Rey, Christian, and even Booker could have gotten them through the trenches with shorter, multiple reigns interspersed among them until that next guy is ready.

Oh. And ANOTHER awesome episode here, by the way. Don't wanna give away too much in terms of the teams on your lists, but I will say that I think you guys sold the Rock 'N' Gold Express a bit short. Come on. That there's a goldmine of potential, waiting to be picked & plucked. The skits and the angles practically write themselves. Just imagine it. Ricky getting the girls left, right, front, and center. But Goldie being there, flashing his freak colors & letting the eccentric flag fly, sending the young chicks fleeing in horror. Then Goldie later trying to make up for it, going above & beyond with gifts of gratitude to cement their partnership. Maybe that's when he dons the denim jacket, the tassles, and the bandana to strengthen their bond and show true unity. I just think there's a ton of value in the team that you wouldn't have the option of exploring with Dustin. And, depending on what era of Goldust you choose, there's really no drop-off in terms of in-ring quality either. So it's win/win. Plenty of tremendous teams mentioned here though. I won't ramble on anymore about 'em, but this is a great listen that really gets the mind going about a lot of possibilities. Good stuff.

Ask Will & Parv to confess to how many DiBiase Posse tailgate parties they attended prior to any SmackDown tapings. ... Wait. WHICH DiBiase?

More random stuff, piled on top of other random stuff... Shawn Michaels vs. Edge in a Street Fight from RAW '05. This is in the beginning stages of Edge's heel run, in which he's still fine tuning the character that would later become known as the Rated R Soooopahstar. Honestly, the match starts off a little slow. But it quickly kicks into another gear and goes from being flat to FAN-freaking-TASTIC rather fast. The early brawling is your standard stuff. We get a throwback to the full-on Attitude Era days when they take the action through the crowd for a couple of minutes. The whole atmosphere changes once Edge dishes out the Impaler DDT onto a seated steel chair in the center of the ring though. The spot itself looks weak and screwy, but Shawn's noggin is nicked open and... well, the floodgate opens. The Heartbreak Kid bleeds and is eventually left wearing what's pretty much a PAINTED ON, caked up crimson mask for the duration of the entire match after that. It's a stunningly cool visual, really. Shawn goes for a dive through the ropes at one point, but he falls short - and man, JR is quick on the draw at commentary. The BBQ man cleverly covers, referencing the severe blood-loss and putting Shawn's weakened, drained state to blame. Niiiice. They bust out the ladder for some of the typical spots, but my favorite is the most unorthodox of the bunch - when Shawn just HURLS the ladder at Edge, who's posted up on the top turnbuckle. No lull in the action or fancy setup required. Edge retaliates and later scores with a Superfly Splash off the ladder... but man, it's ugly. Honestly, it looks like it'd do more damage to Edge's knees than any part of Shawn's body there. But the finishing stretch is AWESOME. They go gritty and dirty, which I just love. Edge hits the most BLATANT low blow, directly in the front of the referee. He gathers his plunder for the one-man Con-Chair-To spot... but Shawn reaches up and literally cuts him off WITH A PUNCH TO THE DICK. It's a cock-fight to the death, folks. And Shawn has the upper hand in this moment. Final moments has Edge rushing at Shawn for the Spear or something, but Shawn explodes with a superkick outta nowhere. Edge EATS the boot like a champ and even gives us a tremendous Cro Cop drop on the sell. Puts it over like a HYOOOJ knockout blow. Loved it. The Briscoes vs. Matt Hardy & Mike Bennett from this year's Best In The World. Just had to give this one yet another watch recently. And man, it's one heck of a fun brawl. Starts off slow with the standard tag, but once Nigel steps in and deems it No DQ? All bets are off. Dem boys pull off a whole collage of cool spots. High on impact and heavy on energy throughout the rest of the fight. It's a beat-em-up, smash-mouth, fast-paced approach - and it all clicks. We see a Froggie 'Bow through a table, a Doomsday Device on the floor, some typical ladder work, Matt getting slammed through a makeshift bench built out of chairs, a Superplex off the ladder down through a table, a fire extinguisher spot, involvement from Maria, and even Nick Searcy getting thrashed around like a frog in a blender. It's great stuff. And sure. It sort of benefits from the idea that it just kind of sprang up out of nowhere. But I don't care. I dug it. The Shield vs. Los Matadores & Sin Cara from Main Event this past February. This was the go-home episode before Elimination Chamber, where the Shield would wage war with the Wyatts. I remember this getting a bit of praise at the time it went down, but I missed it. This came right around the time they started to polish up & pimp the Main Event show pretty hard again - for the Network launch - but I just never took the time to dig back and watch this one. I'm glad I finally took a moment to scope it out though. It's purely a fun match, from start to finish. It's a prime example of how to work a group of rising stars against a group of low-carders, without the fall guys coming across as TOTAL jobbers or bush league. The luchadores NEVER appear completely outclassed here. While naturally, they absorb a ton of offense and pretty much hit all their flashy pins & aerial attack sequences from defensive positions, they're never really made to look like fodder. It's a fine balance, but they found it for this one. The match is mostly a case of everyone getting their shit in, but my god... It's good stuff. The action is fast-paced and fluid. The Shield work like a swarm of hornets, simply engulfing whatever masked man happens to be in front of them at that particular point in time. It's all fast tags and quick, dynamic bursts. It works very well in creating a match that is just incredibly fun to watch. The finishing stretch is the real highlight. There's a bunch of dives. There's Torito involvement. There's Roman Reigns SLICING through two men with one sensational Spear. There's a cool variation of the old Hart Attack with Reigns using the Superman Punch instead. And there's the crowd-pleasing, cavity-crunching Curb Stomp for good measure. Just an awesome, energetic sequence to wrap this one up with a bow on top. Definitely gonna add this one to my re-watch list now.

Just ducking in and out of eras where I wasn't watching as much wrestling or as often as usual. Some of the stuff I've seen. Some I haven't. But I'm really enjoying giving second chances to some of this stuff. The Big Show © vs. Ric Flair for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Lots of fun. I remembered really enjoying it at the time it happened, but there was a lot of people that soured INSTANTLY on Show's involvement with the ECW brand as champion. Looking back on it, I think it holds up as a tremendously worthwhile train-wreck. There's bloodshed & brutality. There's Big Show behaving like a big mean bastard. There's Flair eating an ENORMOUS amount of nasty violence at the meaty paws of the champ. Just lots of neat stuff crammed into this one. I guess it's technically a "championship challenge", with the story being that the Nature Boy seeks out Show and vies to attain the one "World" belt in the company that he hadn't yet captured at the time. But, even so, it quickly breaks down into an all-out brawl. Flair fights for his life and resorts to desperate measures, strictly to survive. And Show brings the heat, like a territorial carnivore that's out to keep anything & everything all to himself. There are plenty of fun spots sprinkled throughout. Almost right away, Show bludgeons Flair with a barrage of headbutts that cracks the Nature Boy's noggin WIDE OPEN. Taz notes that Show's walking around with a massive friggin' "HEAD LIKE'UH POLICE HORSE", so yeah. Fitting description. Naitch goes straight into peril mode. There's a nice visual of Show towering over Flair, who's kneeling and just absorbing the punishment that's being poured down onto him. But then (!) Ric goes into his toolbox of tried & true maneuvers - it's a low blow! Vicious uppercut DIRECTLY to the uprights! And it's followed up with a second. Then a third! Christ. Crotch shots & nut crackers. The crowd comes alive for that, as Dirty Trick Ric kicks things into a higher gear. And Ric Flair goes EXTREME, reaching for the barbed wire bat and introducing various weaponry into the match. It doesn't take long, and Show is soon wearing his own crimson mask. And, if the image of Ric Flair wielding a barbed wire baseball bat and a trash can wasn't enough, then we get Slick Ric busting out... THUMBTACKS. Show takes a bump into the tacks, but he pops right up. Show rises from the tiny bed of nails like this big, badass fire-breathing dragon - ready to plunder, pillage, and rape. Yup. He's ANGRY, folks. And the mood QUICKLY changes, as Show goes OVERKILL with his onslaught. Clothesline. Chokeslam. And then the Cobra Clutch Back Breaker - which is a finishing sequence that I'd LOVE to see him bring back sometime. It's absolute devastation. Show just manhandles Flair into position, hastily humbles him, drives him down across the knee, and then takes him to the mat for Nap Time. We get ANOTHER neat visual of an exhausted and broken Flair, just lying there on his side, caught in the big, bad bear-trap that is Show's Cobra Clutch. Flair's chest is heaving up and down, gasping for breath, with a pond of drying & caking blood smeared all down his torso. It's fantastic. Show isn't satisfied, so he proves his point further by lifting Flair (still in the Cobra Clutch) and just FLINGING him across the ring like a piece of trash. Ric is flung FACE-FIRST and lands in the scattered thumbtacks. So yeah. The Nature Boy goes above & beyond the call of duty in helping Show to look like a newly awakened MONSTER here. The commentary is strong and dialed directly into the story. It all just comes together really well in the end. Post-match, there's an awesome closeup that actually shows a thumbtack still STUCK in the skull - just hanging there like dandruff in the back of Flair's bleached blonde 'do. And this came before Flair was routinely doing the American Onita shtick in every major match he'd work for WWE. Just a drastically insane change from the older, slower version of standard Flair we were getting for much of his run prior to this stuff. The whole deal doesn't drag on too long either. And the treatment & attention given to Flair is something that SHOULD have carried over a lot more. Heck, this whole booking phase of Show as ECW Champ is extremely underrated altogether.

Some more of the same usual randomness... Edge © vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship. My exploration of the "less remembered" Ladder Matches of yesterday brought me to December 2010, where I settled on seeing what this one had to offer. It's another case of me not having any real vivid memories of the match, although I recall the dreadful Edge/Kane feud at the time. 'Berto and Rey were locked into a program together, so we get a mash-up of both feuds to produce this bad boy. There's a variety of styles among them, so altogether it's actually a neat crop of guys thrown together here. Truth be told, none of them are peaking or in their prime at this particular point in time, but I was curious to see how creative they'd get with the stipulation. Right away, I'll just randomly note that Rey's mask is pretty cool here. Not sure I've ever seen him in this hood on any other occasion. Rey is quite honestly the star of the match, as he shows just how clever he can be in these cluttered environments. He picks his spots well and chooses the most outstanding moments to shine. Early on, he sprints for the belt and QUICKLY moves up the ladder. It's a minor detail, but it matters. It's aggravating to see guys act like they're worn and weathered a mere 2 minutes into these things, but it happens A LOT - to the point where seeing a guy actually move up the ladder with speed and vigor is alarmingly unusual. But yeah. Rey shows he wants the gold. On the outside, we get a glimpse (just a glimpse!) of Edge and Kane blasting each other with simultaneous boots. Nothing extraordinary, but it's a neat spot that isn't overdone. Rey remains the center of attention for the most part though, busting out a Seated Senton with the assistance of the ladder and later eating a Wheelbarrow Suplex onto the ladder at the hellish hands of Kane. Edge dishes out a pretty awesome plunge through a table (and Kane) on the outside. Then the Rated R Soopah Starrr takes a nasty spill when he straddles the ropes. Seriously. Guy looks like he could've been split in half right through the uprights. Not a nice landing by ANY stretch of the imagination. I never understood it when a guy would try a dropkick on the outside. Here, 'Berto outdoes the stupidity of THAT and performs a step-up Enzigurie to Kane. And he pays for it, smacking his hip against the steel of the stage. Dumb. But it DOES play into a nifty section of the match, wherein everyone works together to gang up & effectively CHOP DOWN the Big Red Monster. Rey (again) seizes the most from the moment by leaping off a piece of the stage structure and CANNONBALLING onto Kane's chest. Once things get going back in the ring, Rey dials up or whatever, but his 619 is countered with a chair. Pretty sure there's a strong chance we've seen that before and since, but it's still cool to see it stuck in here. We reach the finishing stretch, and Rey has come full circle. He started off the match with high-energy, swiftly scaling the ladder. By the end, he's selling damage done to the arm and using every muscle fiber to DRAG himself up the ladder. Mysterio eventually runs into the roadblock that is DA DEMON, but the underdog tries one last gasp with his Lionsault. Kane catches him in mid-move and BURIES the luchadore six feet deep with a Tombstone Piledriver. Good stuff in the go-home portion, building to a not-so-hot conclusion of Edge retaining and sort of keeping the issue alive with Kane. This one's far from the best effort as far as Ladder Matches go, for sure. But it's still a decently fun encounter as a scatter-shot of multi-man action. I figured they'd go for more "multi-man" spots, like the Tower of Doom, etc. But what we got was okay. Nothing from the match necessarily stands out enough to really stick with you, which I suppose is why I had no recollection of it. But I'm glad I gave it another look anyhow, if only for how damn good Rey still was - even with all the injuries racking up and at this late stage of his game.

Aside from keeping up with the current product & my favorite indies, I'm still watching a bunch of random stuff whenever I get the chance. As far as agendas go though, I've been deliberately trying to go back and revisit some of the "lesser" Ladder Matches of the past. Maybe they're only "under the radar" in terms of how I recall them, but it's something I've been attempting to give a second glance. Recently? Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit © vs. The Hardys vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz - TLC 3 for the WWF Tag Team Championship. This comes from an episode of SmackDown in 2001, and I remember it getting lots of love at the time. That's about all I remember though. Very little else springs to mind going into this one. But the same could be said about TLC 4, and it blew me away upon rewatch recently. So we'll see. Right away, I find myself turned away by some of Cole's commentary. I know complaining about Cole is pretty much a broken record at this point, but hearing his contributions on commentary back-to-back with a JR match is staggering. It's such a stark contrast in what the two can do in terms of elevating a match and truly MAKING moments mean something. There are a few big spots in this bout that just scream for more streamlined significance & better calls than what Cole could possibly give them. It's noticeable, and that's the only reason I mention it here. With that out of the way though... The action itself is incredible. There's a neat spot with a drop toe hold into the ladder, which is one of those things you'd THINK would be done to death by now, but it isn't. Jeff takes a Superplex from Bubba Ray, and young Nero nearly gets folded up like a lawn chair when his legs BARELY miss the top rope on the drop. Narrowly avoids what could have been a serious injury there. Jericho is force fed a NASTY chair shot to the skull. Seriously. His head is tucked into his torso like a turtle shell off the impact. Brutal stuff from the get-go. Aside from the crazy violent excitement, some "story" is infused into the match. Benoit misses a swan dive headbutt to the outside and crashes through a table. He's carted out of the match temporarily, only to make his way back later and really sell the rib injury. So naturally, the hunting party converge likes rabid wolves and start to pick the bones of Benoit's rib cage. And the Wolverine puts it over proper. He clenches and grabs his ribs like his insides are being put through a freaking meat grinder. It's fantastic. Edge and Christian pour on the violence, and they eventually bombard Benoit with folding chairs from both sides. That's right. It's a standing Con-Chair-To, with one coming from the left, one coming from the right. Benoit is sandwiched between the steel. True to form, the closing stretch never lets up. They crank up the intensity and urgency with a succession of dangerous stuff. There's a sick monitor shot, another table spot to satisfy the crowd, and a tremendous Twist of Fate that almost HAS TO BE SEEN (and never got enough love in the video package department, I'd say). Plus there's Edge's go-to move of the Ladder Match, the Super Spear. It's all wrapped up nicely in the end, with Jericho and Benoit overcoming the odds and remaining champs to keep the program with Austin alive and well for the meantime. As far as fast-paced, frantic action-packed matches go? This one sure was a truckload of fun. Definitely glad I decided to give it another look after all these years. If you get the hankering for this specific match type, then TLC 3 delivers the goods well enough.

I'd be interested in hearing a more in-depth analysis of that, Dylan. Granted, if it's covered in the Half Year Review episode of your latest Culture podcast, I haven't had the chance to listen yet. This is a neat format, guys. Going full-fledged "judge with defense and prosecution" is a cool concept in my view. Could possibly see similar things done for other "controversial" figures, moments, and topics. Very much looking forward to how it all irons out.

Maybe we could talk about adding this to the conversation for a second... Lots of fun. I remembered really enjoying it at the time it happened, but there was a lot of people that soured INSTANTLY on Show's involvement with the ECW brand as champion. Looking back on it, I think it holds up as a tremendously worthwhile train-wreck. There's bloodshed & brutality. There's Big Show behaving like a big mean bastard. There's Flair eating an ENORMOUS amount of nasty violence at the meaty paws of the champ. Just lots of neat stuff crammed into this one. I guess it's technically a "championship challenge", with the story being that the Nature Boy seeks out Show and vies to attain the one "World" belt in the company that he hadn't yet captured at the time. But, even so, it quickly breaks down into an all-out brawl. Flair fights for his life and resorts to desperate measures, strictly to survive. And Show brings the heat, like a territorial carnivore that's out to keep anything & everything all to himself. There are plenty of fun spots sprinkled throughout. It doesn't drag on too long. And the treatment & attention given to Flair is something that SHOULD have carried over a lot more. Heck, this whole booking phase of Show as ECW Champ is extremely underrated altogether. But yeah. This one may be right outside the scope of what you're looking for, but it's still okay in my book.

Swagger has been so hit or miss for such a long time. I'm glad to see them at least make an effort to freshen him up and give him a substantial run again. The babyface shtick could shine him up a bit, and I sincerely hope they intend to keep Zeb attached to the act for the long haul. Dirty Dutch is just as efficient a mouthpiece, regardless of WHO he's opposing on the front-line. Swagger's had good matches with aerial workers - Rey, Kofi, Evan Bourne, and even going back to Kaval. He's had some fun hoss-offs with Big E, Cena, Sheamus, Taker, and others to his credit also. Heck, he's been putting out quality matches since his ECW run. So I certainly think he's salvageable. I just hope they don't pigeonhole him with the patriotic stuff. If they play it straight, keep it creative, and maybe even approach some of the mishaps of the past with an open mind - I think this could take him pretty far, to be perfectly honest.

Agreed with much of what Chad said. As a fan, I was never as invested in ECW after the blow off to Lawler and Dreamer. The match itself is just a fantastically fun brawl. Overbooked to the hilt, and it's a cluttered mess structurally. But it's freaking phenomenal to just kick back and watch. The near falls are tremendous. The heat Jerry generates is nuclear. And the Jake sighting is the topper. And hell. In fact, I think I've just talked myself into giving it another look soon. But yeah. Good listening right here, as usual. The ECW reviews clearly aren't destined for a long shelf life, but they're damn sure fun enough for the meantime.