BillThompson

Won't make my list, and the eye test would reveal a guy who shouldn't sniff a list like this. But I'll be damned if I don't always enjoy the guy and think he's pretty damn great at engineering heat filled slugfests.

Reading the TNA lunatic fringe try to deny the facts about the state of the company is akin to listening to politicians try to deny the facts about climate change. It's amusing at first, then it gets tiring, then it becomes annoying, then it's finally something you have to ignore for fear of losing your sanity.

But why should drawing power be disqualified? Wrestling doesn't work in the kind of workrate-only vacuum that so many people online wish it to. If someone is less over, that should and does matter. Of course, in Matt's cake, if he hadn't been cut at the knees during his great heel Matt Hardy Version 2 heel run, terrible Edge feud where he was made to look like a chump, etc., he might have gotten more over. That goes back to my earlier point about booking. Jericho has lost luster recently because he's been booked abysmally and Hardy lost luster a decade ago because he was never booked past a certain point. It all matters. I am consistent in not placing any value on drawing power. It matters to business men and to the wrestlers in terms of how much money they make. But to me, the consumer, drawing power doesn't matter nor do I feel it should matter. The art form is all that matters to me,

I'd go Rude, simply because I think Rude kept getting better and became a true top in the world talent near the end. Dibiase was talented, but he fell into the WWF machine and as the years went by he was producing the same style of matches that I found less and less appealing.

Are you really asking this? Come on now! The answer is EVERYTHING! People on the bottom of the card don't get the same chances to showcase their skills. You know that. There's a tendency around here to make the false argument that the way a wrestler is booked doesn't matter, when the reality of it is, it absolutely matters and has a major effect on every aspect of someone's career and ring-work. Card placement doesn't really matter. It means that the person higher up on the card will probably get more air time and more chances at longer matches. However, that in no way means that someone like Matt Hardy isn't better in his role of ten-15 minute matches compared to Jericho's 15-20 minute matches. Also, in this case arguing that Jericho is better because he was more over doesn't really hold water. We're not talking about drawing power, we're talking about their skill in the ring as workers. In that regard I think Hardy is definitely better, and the longer they both wrestler the wider the gap becomes.

Love the guy, but he won't make my list. Provided he stays healthy he's a guy I could see making my list in 5 years or so, but he just burst onto the scene and unless a bunch of pre-2014 Cavernario is unearthed somewhere I just don't think he has the body of work necessary for consideration.

Went ahead and added Super Dragon since he fits in this category, Definite Chris Hero Daniel Bryan John Cena Kurt Angle Mascarita Dorada Samoa Joe Super Dragon Necro Butcher Just on the Cusp AJ Styles Sheamus Timothy Thatcher Brock Lesnar Cesaro Jay Briscoe Sami Zayn Shunsuke Nakamura Tomohiro Ishii Need to See More Amazing Red Austin Aries Low Ki Bully Ray There simply isn't enough footage Chris Masters No Chance Batista Christopher Daniels CM Punk Hiroshi Tanhashi Kazuchika Okada Kenta Kota Ibushi Michael Elgin Matt Sydal Mark Briscoe Prince Devitt Randy Orton Ricochet Sami Callihan Seth Rollins Haven't Seen Hardly Anything Akira Tozawa Katsuyori Shibata James Storm Kevin Steen Kyle Matthews Kyle O' Reilly

The stiffness I'll keep an eye on because so far I have yet to reach that point with him. I'm nearing the end of 2004, and he just finished getting his ass handed to him by Samoa Joe. As a result he's working on building his aura back up and while still stiff there's a decided hesitation to his offense and less violence behind it. Maybe that changes over time but as of yet I haven't seen him get to a level I would consider recklessly stiff.

He's was an interesting case for me, didn't really know if he had a shot or not. Now that I'm really delving into his work he'll definitely be making my list. The ultimate example of a guy who built up an aura and worked that aura to the maximum possible effect. Stiff as hell, but in a way that I never felt detracted from the match, like say a Low-Ki. It's true that he was very much only a Cali indies guy for the most part, and injuries did cut his career woefully short. But, what is out there I find very interesting, and while my main reason for nominating Dragon is that he's a great wrestler I would be remiss in not mentioning that I get excited to watch him wrestle and that means a lot to me. By the way, anyone who is a big fan of Pentagon Jr. should check Dragon out, there are a lot of similarities present.

We interviewed Jarrett at The Tag Rope a month back and he was really pushing the idea of using TV as a way to boost GFW's online presence. Not sure if he will hold true to that statement, but if he uses the TV and house shows to boost an online streaming service or to hook up with Hulu somehow then he's doing things right I think.

Ok then..... Like I said, didn't read it, don't read the board, don't read anything by Nason........don't care. But, it would have been a good 'in joke' and on the nose because WWE literally debuted Uhaa without a name.......and it was talked about, and written about on the damn website quite a bit So maybe this Nason character is just a shoddy ponce I find it funny though that people think something like that lowers Dave's standing as a journalist, or "that's why I don't subscribe". Really? Didn't say it lowers Dave's standing as a journalist, although Nason, along with many others under Dave's employ, make me really question Dave's eye for fellow journalistic talent. As for the not subscribing part, why should people spend money on a journalism based product that doesn't bother to do adequate journalistic research? It's not like this is free content, it's something that should ascribe to a certain quality because customers are paying to read said content. It's no different than a newspaper or any other reporting venture in that regard; if the journalism being offered is of a subpar nature then people shouldn't subscribe and give their hard earned money to a subpar product.

Super Dragon Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Tango & Cash Invitational - Day 1 (01-24-2004) Excalibur & Jonny Storm vs. American Dragon & Super Dragon I think he may be dead, like all legit like! This is a first round match in the Tango & Cash Invitational tournament for the vacant Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Championship. I’m not going to mince words when it comes to this match. This is a stiff as all hell beating, and it is glorious. Essentially one of the owners of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Excalibur, said to one of the other owners, Super Dragon, “Hey, why don’t we bring in American Dragon, team the two of you up, and you guys can beat the shit out of me?” I have to imagine that’s how that conversation went, because that’s what happens, and man does Excalibur ever take a great beating. Jonny Storm is present too, and he gets in some good stuff of his own, but to be honest he is very much a minor player in the slaughter of Excalibur. The PWG crowd is in on how awesome this match is going to be from the very start. They are small in number, but man do they ever create a frenzied atmosphere. Once the ass kicking begins they never really let up either. And like great performers all involved feed off of the crowd and build and build until the crowd is ready to lose their collective minds. I mean, it’s hard to describe how badly this Santa Ana, California crowd wants to see Excalibur killed dead. Every time he takes a bump or a stiff shot, the crowd erupts, and they only get louder the longer the match goes. I really want to talk about how bad ass Super & American Dragon are. Because they come across as absolute killing machines in this match. They pick apart Excalibur at will, and they engage Storm in the little moments of technical back and forth he wants to employ. Of course they are always quick to Slap Storm in the face or level him with a European Uppercut so that he remembers this isn’t a match about being technical but hitting dudes hard in the mouth. The thing is though, that while the two Dragon’s deserve a lot of credit for the crispness of their offense and for their ability to keep up a breakneck pace; they are not the stars of the match. The star of the match is Excalibur. His bumping and near death selling is top notch. He even looks good when he gets his few moments of offense in. But really he shines the brightest when he is bumping big for the two Dragon’s. They toss him around like a rag doll, and he makes their offense look super believable. Without Excalibur’s impeccable bumping and excellent timing on said bumps neither Super or American Dragon would have looked anywhere near as great as they did. The spotlight is on those two, but the true star in the ring was Excalibur and his excellent ability to take a beating. I’m not bashing Storm, I’m really not. But he does instigate a bit too much chain wrestling and spottiness for a match that isn’t about those two things. He always reigns it in as soon as he gets hit in the mouth, but he does on multiple occassions attempt to take the match in a direction that it need not go in. Conversely near the end of the match he is spot on with the pace he is working and the way he is flinging his body at his opponents like a weapon. In fact, his Reverse Avalanche Frankensteiner on Super Dragon may have been the most brutal move of the match. At twenty minutes American & Super Dragon versus Excalibur & Storm is the right amount of time for the match they are trying to deliver. I kid you not when I say that watching the Dragon’s stiff the bejeezus out of Excalibur, and Storm, was an event I will never forget as a professional wrestling fan. I may be eleven years late to the party, but the party is still awesome and I’m just glad I was able to experience the sheer viciousness of this match. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: The Secret of the Ooze! (08-14-2004) Super Dragon vs. Samoa Joe When the company prick meets his match! The best way to describe Super Dragon is not as the company ace, but as the company prick. He is in fact the ace of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, as he draws the biggest reactions from the fans and is consistently in programs that accentuate his strengths as a pro wrestler. However, the role that Dragon has taken on is that of a grumpy, pissed off ass kicker. He’s not your typical ace in that regard, he’s far more Taz than he is John Cena. But yet Dragon is in a category all his own because he doesn’t just rough guys up, he stiffs the ever loving hell out of them as he leaves a path of destruction in his wake. Championship belts aren’t even part of the equation for Dragon. He’s not the company ace because of a title belt. He’s the company ace because he can beat up anyone who competes in PWG. Enter someone like Samoa Joe, an ass kicker the world over. He’s been in PWG on multiple occasions, and every time he has come away looking strong. He’s shown an ability to stand up to and take out other big name indie talents. He’s run roughshod over any local PWG talent who came into his path. In every imaginable way Joe lived up to the persona he had crafted for himself. Yet he still wan’t the ass kicker in PWG, that title belonged to Super Dragon. The beginning of this clash plays out just like a match between two wrecking balls of destruction should play out. Joe and Dragon unload freely with stiff shots from every angle possible. Dragon appears to be holding his own, which is exactly what an ace should do. Things change when Joe really starts to bring the heavy strikes down on Dragon. Joe is bigger, much bigger, and he leans into Dragon and by about the eight minute mark the match is no longer a clash between ass kickers. Now the tale being told is one of Dragon attempting to survive the onslaught of Joe. There are moments of offense for Dragon, but they are fleeting. In holding true with one sided slugfests; for every one move or shot Dragon gets in he is lit up by three or four in return from Joe. Joe bludgeons Dragon, beating him down in front of fans who have been trained that Dragon gets up from anything and takes no quarter from any man. That’s why Joe presses on, and that’s why he slowly and surely beats Dragon down in front of his hometown fans. Joe is systematically taking out the ace of the promotion, and the ace appears helpless to stop his own demise. There are various hope spots set up throughout the match. Each of them is very effective because they come from different angles. A few are based on Dragon trying to outwrestle Joe. Some others are based on him trying to stun Joe with stiff strikes. Even more are based on Dragon taking to the air and blitzing Joe with an aerial assault. Each and every time Joe has an answer for whatever Dragon throws at him. He’s the ace stopper and Dragon is the ace unable to get past the roadblock. The ending is fitting in that regard. Dragon is in the middle of another comeback attempt when Joe stops him dead in his tracks and hurls him to the floor with an Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Dragon has been beaten so badly that he can’t answer the count. It’s not the conventional ending, but context is important. Joe didn’t just beat Dragon enough for a three count victory, he beat him down enough for a twenty count victory. Dragon had ample time to get back up and fight some more, but he couldn’t. In the span of twenty minutes Joe has mauled the body of Dragon and destroyed his aura as the ultimate ass kicker in the land. For as great as the overwhelming majority of the match is, it’s not a match without its faults. Dragon’s selling of his injured arm is iffy at best. Sometimes he really gets across the damage to his arm. In other moments Dragon seems to forget about his arm for the sake of a spot or a big moment. There are also instances where Joe is too slow to react to the offense of Dragon. At one point Joe is slow to get into position to catch a Dragon Skytwister Press to the outside and the end result is Dragon splatting on the hardwood floor. It’s a moment that helps the idea of Dragon taking a beating, but the timing being off is a little too obvious for the viewer. On the whole Dragon versus Joe is an example of great storytelling in pro wrestling form. Joe slays the Dragon, and the fans are left in a shocked state. They certainly don’t accept the count out finish, but despite their protests the finish did happen and Dragon has been left in a heap on the floor. The ultimate ass kicker got his ass kicked; Joe reigns supreme, and shocked though they may be the fans know they have witnessed something special. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: The Next Show (09-04-2004) Chris Hero vs. Super Dragon What happens when someone becomes just a guy? Context is very important when it comes to this match. Knowing that Super Dragon is coming off getting ass handed to him by Samoa Joe helps to paint this match in an entirely different light. No longer is Dragon the ultimate ass kicker, now he’s just a guy. Chris Hero recognizes this change, and he attacks Dragon as if he is just a guy. There’s no fear anymore, no worry that Dragon will mess him up. The new Dragon dynamic creates an interesting match, one that I’m not sure Dragon would have been capable of even a month earlier. Hero takes the fight to Dragon, and Dragon receives as much as he gives. The back and forth narrative is built around Dragon building himself back up again. There are flashes of the ass kicker he can be, but he needs to work to get himself to the point he was before the Samoa Joe match. To that end he works the mat more, he sets up his violence more, and he leaves himself open to Hero’s offense far more than he usually would have. Everything Hero does is crisp, and very much to the point. He doesn’t waste much motion, and all of his offense is centered around taking apart Dragon’s neck. The Cravate Suplex, the Cravate STF, and so on and so forth target the neck of Dragon and put Dragon in a position where he can easily lose the match. What Hero does by attacking Dragon in a logical manner is to create an air of possibility. I bought that Dragon could lose, and I slowly came to learn that this wouldn’t be the typical Dragon ass kicking contest. Dragon more than does his part, as he really gets across the difference in his approach. There’s a slight hesitation to his step, and in a very uncharacteristic fashion he plays to the crowd at one point. Not only did Joe destroy the aura of Super Dragon for the fans, he destroyed the way Dragon views himself. In that way the match plays out like a block building exercise for Dragon. He’s trying to put the pieces into place, and that means plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities. There were really only three distinct moments in the match that I didn’t much care for. There were separate instances of Hero no selling a Dragon Backdrop, and Dragon no selling a Hero Cradle Backdrop Driver. They were unneeded moments, and did little to add to the story of the match. The other moment was when Hero hit a Suicida Senton. It sure as heck looked cool, but Dragon had worked over Hero’s neck pretty good and Hero hitting a high impact move on said neck didn’t make much sense. In the end Dragon wins a hard fought contest. A true back and forth affair where Dragon began the road of restoring his aura and the pecking order in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Both men looked really good in a match that was as logical as it was exciting. This isn’t your typical Super Dragon match, he gave way more to Hero than he normally would. The result was a great match, and Dragon showing a new side to his character.

Not being familiar with him is fine, but in this day and age a quick Google search would tell you everything you need to know.

I believe he is paid, though I could be wrong on that. If he's not paid, then it falls on whatever editors WON does pay as that is something they should catch and rectify.

It wasn't a joke though. Nason went through three stages. The first was getting called out for his lack of research and correcting the article and including in the update, "We apologize for the previous mistake, it has been corrected." When people told him that there wasn't a mistake, just lazy research he then told people to not bother reading if it really bothered them that much. When readers kept on him he then started up with the "Guys, it was a joke, and you all fell for it" rhetoric, which was very obviously a narrative he created to try and save face. It's a simple issue; if you are a journalist for a product that people pay to read, then do your research and make sure the people get their money's worth.

Recently a bunch of people were perturbed when the WON's NXT report, written by I believe, Josh Nason, stated something along the lines of, "Then they showed Regal with a big black guy. He may be someone from the indies, I have no idea." People took Nason and the WON as a whole to task for presenting themselves as journalists and then not bothering to do a modicum of research. My main beef was that this is a service that people pay for, and when called out on shoddy research and work Nason's response boiled down to, "No one's forcing you to read." Stuff like this makes Meltzer, and really hurts people like Alan, Bix, and Farmer who are much better than what boils down to WONFW journalists these days. And to those people this is yet another reason why, despite your good work, I can't justify giving WON my money every month.

I never expected the old footage to draw people in, but just like what Netflix and Hulu do with old TV shows and old movies it serves as a good way of beefing up your library and keeping your entire fanbase happy. That's where I feel they've dropped the ball, plus you've got this huge library they should be putting it on the Network to make money off of it any way they can.

1. That's not an option 2. That's all I ever offer

I've never been impressed by his WWF and AJPW stuff. He's a decent hand, at times, but he's also dreadfully monotonous and boring for long stretches of his career. Great character work, but his character work only carries him so far. I'm more than open to his Mid-South work blowing me away, but I don't think there's enough there for him to suddenly catapult into contention.

I found the Corgan interview fascinating. Not because of Jericho, who I increasingly find to be a bland and generally lifeless interviewer. Corgan though is fascinating. I've heard lots of shit about him and I'm not sure if he can make it in TNA, but damn does he seem to have a real mind for the business. Smart, articulate, and willing to think in new ways that remain very pro wrestling in their approach. Corgan impressed the heck out of me in that interview.

I simply can't get into Ospreay being more than a meaningless spot machine. Will give this match a watch, and a chance, but it has an uphill battle.

More Tanner, less you (and by less I mean none) and this podcast could really be something.

***** 1. All Japan Pro Wrestling: Summer Action Series ’76 (07-24-1976) Billy Robinson vs. Giant Baba 2. National Wrestling Alliance: Starrcade ’85 (11-28-1985) Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard 3. All-Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling: Nippon Budokan (08-22-1985) Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka 4. National Wrestling Alliance: Chi-Town Rumble (02-20-1989) Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair 5. Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre: Super Viernes (06-01-1990) El Dandy vs. Ángel Azteca 6. World Championship Wrestling: WrestleWar ’92 (05-17-1992) Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude, & Steve Austin) vs. Sting’s Squadron (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, & Sting) 7. World Wrestling Federation: WrestleMania 13 (03-23-1997) Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart 8. World Wrestling Entertainment: Royal Rumble ’03 (01-19-2003) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle 9. All Pro Wrestling: Gym Wars (01-05-2013) Oliver John vs. Timothy Thatcher ****3/4 1. New Japan Pro Wrestling: Bloody Fight Series ’81 – Day 29 (09-23-1981) Stan Hansen vs. Andre the Giant 2. All Japan Pro Wrestling: Real World Tag League ’88 – Day 22 (12-16-1988) Revolution (Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu) vs. Terry Gordy & Stan Hansen 3. National Wrestling Alliance: WrestleWar ’89 (05-07-1989) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat 4. New Japan Pro Wrestling: Super Fight in Tokyo Dome (02-10-1990) Stan Hansen vs. Big Van Vader 5. Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre: Super Viernes (03-23-1990) Jerry Estrada vs. El Satánico 6. World Wrestling Federation: WrestleMania VII (03-24-1991) Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior 7. All Japan Pro Wrestling: Summer Action Series II ’91 – Day 17 (09-04-1991) Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen 8. All Japan Pro Wrestling: Fan Appreciation Day (04-20-1991) Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue, Masanobu Fuchi, & Jumbo Tsuruta 9. World Championship Wrestling: WrestleWar ’91 (02-24-1991) Sid Vicious, Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko, & Ric Flair vs. Flyin’ Brian, Sting, & Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) 10. World Wrestling Federation: Royal Rumble ’92 (01-19-1992) Royal Rumble Match 11. All Japan Pro Wrestling: Excite Series ’93 – Day 7 (02-28-1993) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen 12. World Wrestling Federation: WrestleMania X (03-20-1994) Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart 13. Union of Wrestling Forces International: The Kings Road (10-08-1994) Kazuo Yamazaki & Gary Albright vs. John Tenta & Super Vader 14. World Championship Wrestling: Halloween Havoc ’97 (10-26-1997) Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero 15. World Wrestling Federation: Royal Rumble ’00 (01-23-2000) Cactus Jack vs. Triple H 16. World Wrestling Federation: Unforgiven ’01 (09-23-2001) Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin 17. Pro Wrestling Bushido: La Jaimica (10-16-2011) Timothy Thatcher vs. Fit Finlay 18. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre: Domingos Arena Mexico (10-06-2013) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Virus 19, NXT: #43 (03-21-2013) Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal 20. World Wrestling Network: Mercury Rising ’15 (03-28-2015) Timothy Thatcher vs. Chris Hero

Cool idea, Locks Dustin Rhodes Terry Funk Stan Hansen Steve Austin On the Bubble Dory Funk Jr. Mark Henry Tito Santana Tully Blanchard Need to See More Barry Windham Bruiser Brody Dick Murdoch Dutch Mantell Kerry von Erich Kevin von Erich James Storm No Chance Bob Orton Jr. Dusty Rhodes Ted Dibiase

Hey, any promotion that is smart enough to snag Chris Masters and make him a highlighted piece of the promotion gets a chance in my book.