BillThompson

One could make the argument that Joe versus Butcher is a squash match, cause it's extremely one sided and fantastic.

Based on what Matt wrote me yesterday, I'm very keen on diving into the Gino Hernandez and Jose Lothario footage we have from this service.

This is your take on message board posts, "their depth and fierceness." You're making posts on a wrestling message board, there is no fierceness taking place; from you, myself, or anyone really. And really, if you think grown adults are so scared of the fierceness of your debating skills then you really are beyond hope. Maybe, just maybe, they don't want to deal with someone who argues like a child? As for the rest, people can call me a dick all they want, but I'm secure in the vitriol I'm slinging towards Parv. He's a guy who gets his jollies on telling others that their opinions are arbitrary or don't matter. So, hurting his feelings doesn't concern me much. And trust me, if I take off it's not because of the fierceness of any debate or because I'm oh so scared of you Parv. I run into burning buildings for a living and I hold four year old kids in my arms as they die. Don't think that a guy who is too full of himself on a message board is all that fierce or scary actually.

Think whatever you wish Parv. Your words, the way you talk to & about people and their opinions is all the ample evidence I need of your little tyrant mentality and your tendency to treat others like shit.

That's not the case though. Your history on here proves it. People will go to great depth to explain why something or someone did or didn't work for them and you'll still ask them for more explanation and tell them their explanation isn't good enough. Or worse if you don't agree with their take that they're being arbitrary. Yet you turn around and offer surface level critiques and say, "Don't see why I'm being asked to explain myself." My vitriol here and other places is because you act like a baby, treat others like they are worthless, treat their opinions like they have no value next to the almighty value of your opinion, and manage to get away with it.

*Not worth it*

The guy who constantly tells others that they have to explain why they feel the way they do making this statement is really fucking rich, let me tell you.

Beyond Wrestling: Greatest Rivals Round Robin (09-26-2015) Timothy Thatcher vs. Biff Busick Was really digging this until the last couple of minutes. They built off of previous meetings very well, and I liked how the match was centered around the idea of exploiting one tine opening. Thatcher goes to town on Busick's arm, and even busts out some of his heel shtick by taunting Busick's fans in the corner. I liked all the arm work, and I liked Busick's selling in the moment. The big problem I had with the match was in the final two minutes where Busick throws Knifehand Chops with his injured arm, hits a textbook Half and Half Suplex with the injured arm, and locks in his finisher with the injured arm. That was some bad long form selling from Busick and it drags the match down considerably. Still good, but not great like it could have been.

Beyond Wrestling: Greatest Rivals Round Robin (09-26-2015) Timothy Thatcher vs. Eddie Edwards Very much a sprint in the #GrappleFuck style, and it turned out really good. Loved the focused limb work from both Edwards and Thatcher, especially that it directly played into setting up the finish and the actual finish itself. Never been a big fan of Edwards, but he looked real good here. His selling in the moment was great stuff, really getting over the work that Thatcher was doing to his arm. This is the sort of match that highlights why Thatcher is the best wrestler in the world, all the details and little things he does are on full display. The pressing down on the injured arm to enable a reversal, or slowly working his knee over the top of Edwards' knee so that he can use it as a fulcrum to power out of a hold. The final minute is a bit iffy just because their timing was off. The Knifehand Chop to the head was a great idea, but Edwards was a tad slow to be in position to throw it and that made Thatcher look bad. Otherwise, really good match, very brisk as well.

Definitely has a shot, but I want to watch more so that I honestly believe that opinion and it's not based mainly on nostalgia.

Art is different based on internal and external culture. That's why as much as we have things that we may think are important in wrestling, they can and should be malleable depending on the context of the match in question. If we're judging all art by one set of standards then we are doing a disservice to the art form being presented to us because we're not judging it as it is. Rather, we are trying to make it fit into neat little boxes that we have made before the fact. Art doesn't work that way, and art appreciation is just as much about understanding context and culture as it is about forming standards.

I've stopped watching WWE twice while actively continuing to watch other wrestling. 1) When Triple H beat Goldberg back in 2003. I realized it didn't matter who was over or if storylines made sense anymore. Trips was a made man and WCW was dirty, so he had to go over and Goldberg had to lose. I didn't tune back in for about a year after their Elimination Chamber match, and even when I did I realized it was more of the same and I checked out again soon after that. 2) When Seth Rollins cached in at WrestleMania 31. It ruined what was a great match, and it made a guy who had almost no heat, was weak as heck, and wrestled a style I didn't care for as the face of the company. I tuned back in from time to time, but when Seth would give a 20 minute rambling promo that elicited no reaction from me, or the crowd I would leave again. Then I'd come back and watch some pimped match of his, think it was either trash or mediocre at best, and I knew that Seth just wasn't a guy I want to watch wrestle, talk, or do anything.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Battle of Los Angeles '15 - Day 3 (08-30-2015) Timothy Thatcher, Drago, Mark Andrews, Andrew Everett, & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Drew Gulak, Drew Galloway, Aero Star, & Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) Context is often king in pro wrestling, and this match came at just the right moment in PWG's annual tournament. I was starting to feel the length of the event, nearing burnout levels. Then this match came about and I felt refreshed. There are people who would absolutely hate a match like this, the slow motion segment in particular. I think a lot of people would peg me as the type to hate this, but I pretty much loved it. Not a great match or anything like that, but a heck of a lot of fun. Everyone was great at what they were doing, with the two standouts being Galloway and Taylor. Thumbs in assholes, an entire crowd, announcer, and group of wrestlers working together to create a super long slow motion segment; it all equals some fun had by me. As for Thatcher, he was really good here. He did his usual stuff, had a nice exchange with Gulak, and was more than willing to play along with the dynamics of the match. If I hadn't of seen Thatcher in death matches I would say him being so heavily involved in the slow motion segment was his most out there moment. It's still pretty zany though, with Thatcher fully committing and adding to the fun of it all.

Brian Cage/Jack Evans from PWG: BoLA '15 - Day 3 is a definite contender for this category. The absolute best Cage has ever looked, and the one time I truly believed in him as a world destroying monster. He left all his flying bullshit in the back and just beat the fuck out of Evans with Suplexes, Throws, and Bombs. Evans did his part by bumping like a madman and really selling that he was dead versus Cage from the moment the bell rang. The ending works like aces because of their positioning. Great stuff really, and it's under five minutes long to boot.

This is someone that I'm interested in checking out. Anything easily available, via YouTube or whatever, that you would recommend? Look up him versus Danny Cannon from IWA Mid South; it should still be there and it's a fantastic match as well as the perfect showcase for what makes Kongo so special.

Miyahara is still a fan of moving through his spots instead of letting them breathe. It's not a negative by any means, but a lot of the time it leaves me thinking that his matches are just good, but not great. Against Bono he wasn't able to do that, as the match was built around Bono's size and his ability to grind Miyahara down and to force Miyahara to employ a more focused plan of attack in trying to chop Bono down. Now, you remove that from the question and Miyahara attacks Bono at his usual faster pace and the result is just Miyahara blitzing through stuff while Bono doesn't do very much. Sure, that could be good if Miyahara puts maximum effort in. But, in this match he works with Bono instead of working around Bono, and the match is all the better for it.

It's hard to take this statement seriously considering that the match they had last year that got pimped as a japanese MOTY on some places was wrestled when Akebono was sick and could glaringly barely move. Somehow I think Miyahara knew what he was doing in there. I'm not saying he didn't, nor am I saying Bono carried him. But, it was Bono's pacing and approach that made a good match great.

It's not just me though; plenty of people have come around on Bono and have loved his work, this year particularly. For instance the matches you are highlighting as carry jobs really aren't. He didn't just hold his own in them, and in something like the Miyahara match he was the driving force behind the match being great.

Yep, it's in order. I like Miyahara a lot, but he hasn't been as great as consistently as Bono has been this year.

That's a tough one as both DM and YT take down AJPW stuff pretty early these days. But, if you can find the 8-29 tag match with Omori versus Go & Miyahara or the recent Akebono match, those are definitely go to matches from this year.

I think he's developed into one of the best big men in wrestling (Kongo Kong is the best but I haven't seen enough from him this year). He still has his misses, but when he's on, he's on. I'd highly recommend his matches this year against Miyahara, Akiyama, and any of his tags that involved Xceed or Burning.

Sure, it could happen. It won't, but if one day Vince said, "Hey, we're gonna do a barbed wire match" then whoever the heck he told to be in the match would be in the match. Doesn't mean it will happen, but it definitely could.

It's sad how correct you are.

Not happy when anyone gets injured, but I'm not a fan of Rollins at all and if WWE plays this right I might become interested in the main roster non-C show product again. They're being given a clean slate to do whatever they want, and that's why when Kane walks away champ I'll feel stupid for even thinking they would try something new.

He's in my top 10 for sure, and with every performance I watch he inches up the list.