
BillThompson
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Flair's podcast (WOOOOONation)
BillThompson replied to JerryvonKramer's topic in Publications and Podcasts
I'll check it out at some point, but with so many podcasts out there I have a short leash these days. -
I'm back with some ladies action, First up we have the now Sasha Banks back when she was known as Mercedes KV vs. Ivy Fit from New England Female Wrestling in 2011. Then I cover Candice LeRae vs. Cheerleader Melissa from Quintessential Pro Wrestling in 2013; very good match and an odd super indie of sorts.
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Tell me about it, they also have what has been reported as an excellent Masters/Thatcher rematch that has yet to see the light of day. It has to have been because of some organizational change, because they used to be so freaking great about releasing all of their footage.
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He's saying that you're a guy who is only mainly interested in top level guys, not in guys who made careers out of being great hands in the ring. Maybe it's not true, but you do seem to be easily dismissive of anyone who isn't a top of the card guy.
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I think Piper is hurt by being pretty horrible from 1993 onward. He's also hurt by not being great over an extended period of time. He has flashes in the 80s and early 90s where he's great, but they are only flashes. For the most part he's a decidedly average worker who puts in decidedly average performances night in and night out. I'd probably rank him below every guy you listed and maybe even with or a hair better than Edge.
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10 years ago as much as I loved Hardy I would have given Jericho the edge. Now, I go with Hardy and don't even question the decision. Jericho is a case of diminishing returns, and of past glories not holding up. It's been depressing working through old WCW/WWF/WWE and realizing how very little of Jericho's run holds up. Conversely Hardy is someone who I find I appreciate much more because of how he was successfully able to change himself as a performer. He's had his run as a spot guy, as a base guy, as the Morton style babyface, as the prick heel, the aging veteran, etc. and he's performed all those roles greatly at different points in his careers. Grimmas is right that Jericho may end up with more great matches as a result of his position on the card. But, I think Hardy easily has more great and versatile performances, and the thing is that Hardy is still a top level guy whereas Jericho has completely fallen off a cliff.
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The key difference though is that you, I, and the woman down the street are just everyday people. We do not represent a multi-national corporation that purports to be kid friendly as well as have a vested interest in programs that are against domestic violence, bullying, etc. In that context Triple He's support of Mayweather is a very poor move.
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Were you live for this or has it made its way online somewhere?
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The anti-Mayweather stuff has been going on long before yesterday's fight was even announced. Beadle, Rachel Nichols, Mike Gallego, and Sarah Spain have been writing about and reporting about Mayweather's despicable actions for some time. This isn't exactly a fly by night issue, it's one with staying power.
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It's a black eye against the company for sure. I know others will make the "wrestlers do this stuff too" argument. There's validity to that, but that loses sight of the groundswell behind the Mayweather detractors, how high profile Mayweather and his problems are, and how a lot of people have, rightfully so, pegged Mayweather as a negative sports influence and thus any association with him will be looked down upon.
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All Japan Excite Series #7
BillThompson replied to JerryvonKramer's topic in Publications and Podcasts
Ok, will check when I get around to this playlist. -
All Japan Excite Series #7
BillThompson replied to JerryvonKramer's topic in Publications and Podcasts
Is 06/01/93 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue available online? It's not in the playlist on YouTube, and I couldn't find it doing a search. Ditch's site maybe? -
Introduction to the Board as a wrestling fan
BillThompson replied to soup23's topic in Forums Feedback
#BoycottDragonGate -
He's actually been very over recently, but WWE cooled him down on purpose as they didn't like how over he was getting with the fans.
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I read this as James Deen, which would certainly announce and end to the PG era.
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If the matches are still great I personally won't care. It's his body and it's his decision to do with it what he pleases. However, I too am high on inability to adapt, and if Bryan is delivering lesser work because of an unwillingness to adapt, for any reason, then that is definitely something that should be held against him.
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I'd be interested to hear some of the people who said that Cena winning at Mania was the way to go justify that now? I mean I'm usually not someone who gets too heavy on the booking side, but based on everything that has come after, as well as what is to come, Cena winning at Mania seems very, very stupid, and ultimately the wrong choice.
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EVOLVE Wrestling: 41 (04-17-2015) Timothy Thatcher vs. Roderick Strong This is a Two Out of Three Falls match. In a lot of ways this is a better part of a whole than it is a singular event. The happenings in EVOLVE Wrestling around this time time are really what provide the extra juice for the match. Thatcher is the new star, while Strong is the guy one step away from the title match. The result mattered more than the journey in this case, as the right guy went over and it created lots of opportunities for match-ups down the line. The match itself is really good, albeit a tad rushed. The three fall format would have worked better had the final two falls been given a bit more time. As is it feels like both guys are rushing through the final two falls to get to the finish. Still, there are some great moments in this match, and on the whole it's really good. The facials that Thatcher provides after Strong Knifehand Chops a steel pole; the absolutely sick Backdrop Suplex that Strong hits on the ring apron; the way they worked to the high spots, etc. Given a few more minutes this would have have been another MOTYC from these two, as is it's a really good match, and a vicious one at that, and there's nothing wrong with that.
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Favourite style of wrestling? It's a stock response but there really isn't one style I think of as a favorite. I can get into pretty much any type, if I feel it is done competently and I am engaged. I can enjoy a random indie spotfest just as much as I can enjoy old man Tenryu not being able to move and just Knifehand Chopping fools in the chest. However, I do tend to slightly prefer a more grounded and realistic style of pro wrestling. That doesn't mean it has to look real, it's just if a guy gets hit with a move he sells it. Short term and long term damage happens. There's a rhyme and a reason for why move X was attempted as opposed to move Y. Favourite way wrestling is presented? Realistically, and again this doesn't mean truly real. Rather it's about making me believe a struggle is taking place and that there are stakes at play. Favourite type of match? Your classic one on one match. It's the one we see most often, but I enjoy the heck out of two wrestlers going at it without any gimmicks or stipulations to worry about. Favourite gimmick match? The Rumble, easily. It's hard to get the Rumble wrong, though there have been a few times where it has been done wrong. Still, it's an energetic affair, full of lots of different styles and faces. A lot of story work can be done, eliminations can be very exciting, and when done very right the match itself feels like it carries a lot of importance. Favourite wrestler? There are a lot, but right now it's Timothy Thatcher. I know I write about him a lot, but he's deserving of it. When it comes to plying his craft as a professional wrestler he is the complete package and the very best of the best. But for me it is more than that, he reenergized me on wrestling and gave me a reason to seek out pro wrestling again and to care about what I was watching from week to week. Favourite match? Of all time it's probably the Vader versus Sting strap match. It's a great match, but it's not the best match of all time. However, it is a vicious match, that is straight to the point and easily gets across the real brutality of pro wrestling. I'm supposed to believe that a fight is taking place and one person is trying to beat the other person. Vader versus Sting is a series gets that across, and their strap match is probably their best match and it ranks as one of my favorite of all time. Favourite feud? Hmmm, this is a tough one. I'd probably go with Misawa and Co. versus Jumbo and Co. in 90-91 AJPW. A perfect passing of the torch feud where each and every match feels hot as can be and manages to advance the feud to the next level. It's also like real life in that it doesn't have a stopping point. At some point the Misawa side essentially wins the feud. But, the feud doesn't stop there because life doesn't work that way. Jumbo's group and Misawa's group still hate one another, and that plays out even past the point where conceivably Misawa has ended the feud. Favourite angle? Probably the initial heel turn on Owen Hart. I was one of those people who didn't view it as a heel turn, I mean Bret pretty much screwed Owen over and Bret deserved whatever Owen gave him. But, I loved how it played out in the ring, and how in one simple sweep of a leg Owen became a name performer in the WWF. Favourite promotion/period of wrestling? Most likely AJPW in the early 90s. An amazing collection of talent, top flight booking, and shows that from week to week made me want to keep tuning in. Early 90s AJPW churned out so many great matches that it became impossible for me to keep up. When I hear people talk about present day New Japan in the same breath I can only shake my head, because I don't think any promotion in the world has come as close to being the complete package that was early 90s AJPW. Little things that happen in wrestling that you always love? Facial expressions, they are the little factor that can make a good match great and a good match bad. They can allow a performer to become great or a performer to show that he/she is never going to reach that level. Owen Hart and Lita are two great examples of this. Owen from 1994 onward had many different faces, but his facial expressions always revealed someone who was good at their craft and needed to prove to the whole world that he mattered. Lita changed throughout her career as well, but she always had the same dumbfounded I on't know what's going on facial expressions. It's hard to get behind a wrestler who doesn't emote on the simplest but most important of levels.
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I have a few more I'm planning on nominating, just haven't had the time to do the research and writing yet.
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Jumbo will be very high on my list. I need to see more, but as I make my way through 1990s Jumbo I do have some issues that will probably keep Jumbo as a guy either in my low top 10 or just outside of my top 10. My biggest gripe is his goddamn Sleeper. I vehemently disagree with the notion that he makes it look like a finisher. When Jumbo pulls out that Sleeper I know it's time for Jumbo to rest for a bit and for him to lazily apply the hold on someone while any flow or momentum the match had going comes to a halt. I'm not a fan of his TC match in 89 with Tenryu because of the Sleeper. Jumbo goes to it multiple times and it never serves any purpose, or looks good in any way. Others have touched on his use of the Single Leg Crab, but that doesn't bother me as much. He applies it perfectly fine, and actively works the hold, that's enough for me. It really all comes back to that Sleeper and how when Jumbo has decided he doesn't want to work he says screw it to momentum, flow, story, etc and just locks in a terribly applied Sleeper.
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I don't see it. He's never impressed me in the footage I have seen from him. Super wooden and awkward in a bad way in the ring. Maybe he'll have some better showings as I make my way through the 80s set, and I'm more than willing to seek out any matches where others think he's great. But right now he has no shot at making my list.
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Right now Dave has a major hard on for New Japan. Similar to Dylan's earlier comment, Dave has decided NJPW is the best in the world at everything and he will hear nothing else. As a result he's been oddly negative towards other wrestling that isn't NJPW. I'd like to think Dave doesn't take the "This thing I like is great, how dare you suggest something else is just as great" approach. However, when he goes on Twitter and blasts things from standpoints that only exist in his head, such as the crowd being dead for V4/BP, it's hard to think he isn't using said approach. In the specific case of Lucha Underground there's no issue with Dave being down on the future of the company, their viewership, or their general viability. There isn't even an issue of him not liking the in-ring product, he's certainly entitled to like what he likes and dislike what he dislikes. But, when Dave talks in circles and steps over his own words in the process of trying to knock LU down a few pegs I do take issue. And honestly, Dave has been increasingly like that when it comes to anything that isn't that thing which he loves at the moment. Right now that's New Japan, maybe two years from now it will be something else, who knows.
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I don't listen to anything Dave has to say about Lucha. He loves to toss out incorrect assumptions, and in general seems to have little idea of Lucha history or how things in Lucha actually get over.