BillThompson

There are a few people who believe that she is at that level, I'm one of them. She'd presently be my #5 in the world, not hyperbole, just where I think she stacks up currently.

Every once in a while Beyond Wrestling will release matches for free, and this time they are releasing a match for free based on a fan vote. The link is over at Free Pro Wrestling, so stop by and vote; there are some interesting matches on the list. Beyond Wrestling Poll

Both have their pluses and negatives. I tend to lean more towards caring about the rewatch as it appeals to my critical sensibilities. But, the live experience can't be discarded.

Baba I love to watch, Punk not so much. I've always found Punk to be a very lazy, lowest common denominator type of wrestler. He goes for the easiest route in the majority of his matches, and were he able to execute that wouldn't be that bad. But, I've seen Punk bring down way too many matches cause he can't hit a Springboard properly, or because he doesn't understand where to position himself for his opponent's big move. He has this rep as a fantastic worker, but I don't see it; I see a sloppy, lazy, uninspired wrestler who always leaves me wanting something better and more organic. On the other hand I love just about everything about Baba. He's big and gangly, perhaps the most awkward body ever for a high level pro wrestler. But, he gets all the little things; when to time his comebacks, how to make his moves matter more, why it's important to make his opponent look great, and he works so smart by sticking within his limitations.

Supposedly Vince hates the nomenclature Jr. as he himself is one.

They were wrong.

I need to see more from them. I really loved them as a team and they were great more often than not, but I'm not sure if the body of work is there.

I would have had no problem with Hogan putting someone like Kidman over as it could have elevated him. It needed to be done a certain way though, and they weren't willing to do that so it became a useless program.

I'm not in favor of extending the deadline for a couple of reasons. 1) If we extend it once why not a second time, or a third, or a fourth? 2) Sure, NWA Classics will be available, but there are modern guys who will also have matches past the deadline that could change where I rank them. It's a slippery slope where you're making an exception for some footage but saying that other present day footage that will come later isn't as important.

Lawler, Funk, Bockwinkel, Vader (depends on if you'd consider him a contemporary really, and I'm not sure he will place higher than Flair but I'm considering him), and I'd count Hansen myself.

I'd rather watch the Southern Posse.

I've talked to them about this, and supposedly the older events are in the work. And not just random events, but events released in chronological order starting from the beginning.

I will, but I don't really see a comparison to them and the Bucks.

Nope, but I'm up to 2004 on my PWG watch project, so I'll get there eventually.

I've watched a fair amount of Tozawa recently, and if anything I'd say he's in line for being one of the most disappointing wrestlers I've ever seen. He's immensely talented, one of the most talented wrestlers I've ever seen. But he very rarely puts all that talent together into a great performance. A lot of that comes from him so willingly buying into the Dragon Gate match structure; a structure that does his skills a great disservice. I mean, every Tozawa DG match ends up being pretty much the same; someone picks a body area and works it over a bunch, there's a lot of selling, then the home stretch hits and all the body work is forgotten in favor of flashy offense. Tozawa is capable of much more than that, but he is all too willing to sink to that level all the time.

What's your case against Necro then? I'd easily take Necro over Takada, and the more I watch of Necro the more I see him in the bottom of my top 100. He gets what he's good at in wrestling and he goes with that to the most logical and enjoyable conclusion. He's actually a fantastic worker when it comes to things like bumping, selling, and offensive execution.

http://www.wrestlingforum.com/classic-wrestling/1351194-1999-interview-dave-meltzer.html I do find it kind of funny that Meltzer stresses the depth of a piece; the importance of doing your work in journalism and presenting it when he employs Bryan Avarez and a host of others who have absolutely no depth to their reporting or opinions whatsoever.

I gave that match a go a few weeks ago; found it incredibly bland. Nothing wring with the match per se, but the sort of match that I was able to move past as soon as it had finished.

I really like Roddy now, but for a long while he was the very definition of a decent wrestler. Won't make my list because of that, doubt he'd ever have a shot because of all those decent years.

I think they are a clear case of being in TNA really damaging someone. They had great talent, and they were capable of great performances. However, being in TNA they were hampered by an endless string of BS finishes.

Only area where I would disagree with OJ is UWF-I. They presented a style that leaned more towards pro wrestling than shoot, but I still loved what they did and really loved a lot of the matches that came out of that promotion.

He has no reason not to. The Brock of today is much different from the Brock of 2004. WWE caters to his schedule, and leaves him be for the most part. From all accounts he's very content in the WWE in terms of pay, schedule, and overall job fulfillment.

I was asking about him yesterday. There's a pretty big gap in his footage, but I've seen footage of him from I believe 83 or 84 and he looked world class already. Rob Viper brought up the great point that he was always protected early in his career, and put with guys like Lobo and Fuerza who were great talents themselves. I think though, that even with the protection he showed top notch talent really early on and that carried over throughout the rest of his career.

I will definitely check in later and keep track of this. I'm by no means a shoot style expert, but it's a style I love and I've really been digging into it for the past year.

I'm in the dark on Psicosis, someone mentioned him for his AAA ork and I asked Zellner who said people spoke highly of his pre-AAA work as well.