BillThompson

Are you saying you watch CMLL shows from top to bottom? How long has CMLL been the best promotion in the world for? Who are the top 20 workers in the promotion? I watch the majority of CMLL, and I'd say they've been the best in the world since at least 2010, maybe even earlier but I'm still not done with my CMLL explorations of pre-2013. I wouldn't deny that CMLL is capable of some dreck, much like NJPW they often put on undercard matches that are mediocre to terrible. But, as I said in my initial post, the top flight stuff is the best of the best and better than what any other promotion puts out. Presently in no particular order my top 20 would be Cavernario, Hechicero, Virus, Dragon Lee, Cachorro, Ultimo Guereero, Atlantis, Blue Panther, Rey Cometa, Mascara Dorada (still unclear as to if he's gone completely or will be returning a lot), Rush, Amapola, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volador Jr. Titan, Raziel, Angel de Oro, Negro Casas, Zeuxis, and Stuka Jr. Though I will say, your response comes across as one of those "I'm a real fan of CMLL, prove to me how much of a fan you really are." Hopefully I'm just reading it wrong though.

I actually thought it was heading towards MOTY territory until the third fall. That lack of selling though, I can't excuse it. Especially not when Maximo did such a great job of selling in the first and second falls. I loved everything Casas did, and the kiss spot didn't bother me at all, but the way Maximo said, "Fuck my leg being hurt I have to get my shit in" really dragged the match down.

AJPW 01-03 Go Shiozaki versus Joe Doering Tells a really swell story based on initial nostalgia and then the idea of turning the classic David versus Goliath on its head.

I'm not going to touch on the business side, because that doesn't matter to me. All I care about is what happens in the ring, and in that regard I think CMLL is far and away the better promotion. I don't dislike NJPW, I like a lot of the talent they have and they have been consistently putting out good to great stuff for the past few years. CMLL and NJPW are similar in this aspect, they are both consistently really good to great. However, the difference comes through in the depth that CMLL has compared to NJPW; as well as the simple truth that I enjoy watching CMLL a lot more. When I'm talking about depth I mean that for me NJPW undercards are pretty abysmal, and since I'm not really a fan of Okada or Tanahashi their main event scene doesn't light my world on fire either. Contrast that with CMLL where I greatly enjoy almost all of their top guys and think the depth is there in spades. They have more output than NJPW so CMLL is more prone to bad matches, but their good stuff far outweighs their bad stuff at least when it comes to overall quality. I struggle at times to get into what NJPW is offering that isn't Ishii or Nakamura, but I can go fifteen guys deep and still enjoy what CMLL is doing. At the end of the day that's what it comes down to for me, what I enjoy watching the most. For me that's CMLL, from top to bottom, and that's why in my opinion they've been the best, or close to the best, promotion in the world now for many years and NJPW hasn't.

Read the original and I'd say it's on par with Keith's low quality level. Alvarez just isn't good in any capacity when it comes to talking about or writing about wrestling. Reynolds is a bit better, but he really can't write in a palatable manner.

Did you know that the only reason Atlantis/Guerrero, Shield/Wyatts and Bryan/Triple H made it into the top 10 matches of the year is because New Japan put on so many awesome matches that people forgot to vote for a bunch of them? This irked me, quite an obtuse stance from Dave. The thing is, I love CMLL, think they were by far the best promotion in the world in 2014, and have come to the realization that they have been for many years now. I could see a top 10 where it was nothing but CMLL matches, that would make perfect sense to me. However, when people are submitting their top 10 lists and they are full of non-CMLL matches I don't for a second think, "They must have forgotten some of the great CMLL matches, that's the only reason they have any other promotions on their list." That's silly, and when Dave does it with NJPW it shows a hubris towards the rest of the wrestling world that is hard to stomach. Dave is by all means entitled to his opinion, but the way he so easily dismisses any promotion not named NJPW and siscredits the opinions of others who may not love NJPW, it's, as previously stated, hard to stomach.

It didn't tell the same story at all - it was based around Austin working on the injured neck and trying for the piledriver to end things once and for all. The Summerslam is much more frenetic and spontaneous and exciting, and the work in general is a lot crisper and fluid. Austin changing his plan of attack does not change the story. The story was still that of Austin the cowardly heel doing whatever he can to keep his title, while the babyface Angle is fighting against odds and history to prove he belongs in the ring with a guy like Austin. And the work in the rematch is far, far superior, in execution and application.

Supreme Pro Wrestling: Unknown Event (12-18-2011) Sir Samurai, Virgil Flynn, Mike Hayashi, Bobby Hart, & Timothy Thatcher vs. Faction (Sal Thomaselli, Cjay Kurz, Paul Isadora, & Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend)) This is an elimination match. Frankly put, a lot of this match is dead weight. Because of that it's very rarely good as for the most part the guys who can work are stuck in the ring with the dead weight. There's also a decided lack of flow or purpose behind the match, and it really shows. It ends up being a bunch of guys hitting moves and throwing strikes without meaning or import, and that stuff in a vacuum isn't interesting to me. Thatcher isn't in this that often, but he does pretty good in a long selling segment he gets. That's about it though, as his participation overall is very minimal and he adds very little to the match. Essentially this is a match that can easily be skipped.

The guy has a brilliant mind for the fight game, it shines through anytime he talks strategy and game planning. The rest, well, he's managed to build himself a brand that sells fights, shirts, appearances, etc., not sure what's stupid about that?

I love Roy Nelson like he's family. How could anyone not like Roy Nelson?

This has been the case for many, and I know one of their mid-card guys, Jesse Sorenson I believe, said he started working at Walmart in an entry position and is making more than he did at TNA.

Don't tell that to old, cranky, and out of touch Jim Cornette, he'll bite your head off for not realizing pro wrestling and sports entertainment are very different things.

Really? I just enjoyed his Negro Casas match and it will be said to see him out of lucha and wrestling the depleted NJ Juniors. However, it will help to freshen up NJ so... Yep, it's been conformed by a few different people that he signed a one year deal with NJPW. It's probably for the best, he's been a guy that has been very unhappy in CMLL over the past year from all reports.

I actually much preferred their rematch at Unforgiven. Told the same story, but I thought it was executed much better, and really cemented Angle as a guy who belonged in the ring with the top guys.

EVOLVE Wrestling: 34 (09-13-2014) Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher Reviewed at Blue Thunder Driver.

On this front I'll say you're off base Doc. The build had been to Bryan getting the big push, and when he didn't come out at the Rumble the fans realized he wasn't going to get the big push they rebelled. It's not just the fact that they booed Batista, but they also booed Rey Mysterio, and proceeded to shit all over anything that ran contrary to Bryan being in the main event of Mania until WWE was forced to make Bryan the main event of Mania.

EVOLVE Wrestling: 33 (08-10-2014) Timothy Thatcher vs. James Raideen This is a match in the EVOLVE Wrestling 2014 Style Battle Round Robin Challenge Tournament. Raideen is very limited as a wrestler. He has some nice Chops, but that's about it. Luckily this was kept very short, and Thatcher pretty much got the best possible match out of Raideen. Lots of rudimentary stuff, and a lot of hand holding from Thatcher. In the end there's only so much he can do with such a limited wrestler, but he manages to get the most out of what Raideen can do. Not a terrible match, which is a testament to Thatcher;s ability to guide Raideen, but merely a passable match.

Wow, I hate that Angle-Benoit match. When I did the top 25 Rumble matches in history last year it didn't even make the list. After the 10th minute of German Suplex & sharpshooter reversals I seriously questioned whether I hate or love wrestling. I think we've had this convo before, but it's one of my all time favorite matches. The way they brought a dead crowd back to life, and the way they worked the reversals and the big spots, pretty much everything I love about pro wrestling.

EVOLVE Wrestling: 32 (08-09-2014) Timothy Thatcher vs. Biff Busick This is a match in the EVOLVE Wrestling 2014 Style Battle Round Robin Challenge Tournament. I liked this a lot, but it fell just short of being great. It's really, really good though. The early hand manipulation by Thatcher is really something, just the way he visibly wrenches Busick's wrist and makes it seem like he's really grinding down on Busick and damaging his body. Thatcher's also great with facial expressions, the looks of disdain he gives when Busick escapes holds is a real treat. For his part Busick is crisp as well, although his offense was a little too unfocused for my liking. My biggest gripe with the match was the stop-start nature of stretches of it. For as much chemistry as these two have it felt like they weren't on the same page a lot. Still, though this would be around a ***3/4 match, and that's still a darn good match in my book.

I'd say as far as top stuff goes AJPW is on par with, maybe even better than, NJPW presently. A lot of that has to do with me far preferring the overall top talent in AJPW to the overall top talent in NJPW, but in general I find myself enjoying the AJPW shows far more than the NJPW shows. Smack, I'm not Dylan, but DailyMotion is your best bet to keep track of modern AJPW. Guys like RealHero upload lots of stuff from them, so basically seek out some people on DM who are uploading modern AJPW and follow along with what they upload.

If we're talking just WWF it's probably Austin/Hart at WrestleMania 13. If we're including the WWE years then it's Angle/Benoit at Royal Rumble '03.

PS3 at home and my laptop when I'm at work.

There's a lot about that statement I disagree with. There's no arguing WWE is the #1 company, but that's in terms of exposure and finances. In terms of being the only source for pro wrestling in North America, well, that ignores the indies in America, Mexico, and Canada. It ignores CMLL, AAA, and Lucha Underground. It ignores Ring of Honor. It even ignores NXT, which may be WWE's developmental territory, but is a distinct product all its own. WWE may be the #1 company, but they aren't the only company, and there's a lot of great pro wrestling in North America, some of which isn't hard to find.

Joe Gacy versus Drew Gulak from Combat Zone Wrestling in September 2014.

This shows an incredible lack of foresight and understanding by the WWE. Sometimes I'm amazed that this company has stayed in business this long, and I really wonder if they'll ever understand exactly what the Network should be.