
BillThompson
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I'm in the same boat. I haven't seen much, and what I have seen has been pretty decent, but nothing to get excited over.
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That is a silly argument, it's a match on a main roster show, that is televised, and it's her first, so it is her debut. You'll remember, I'll remember, 99% of the fan base will remember, which is why the end result is counter productive. Count out, DQ, etc. are made for situations like that match.
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Pretty sure it is her in-ring debut for a televised main roster show. She had the WMXXX eye candy appearance, and she did a few house shows, but that's all.
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He's been a showcase in EVOLVE since the reboot earlier this year, and so far that's about as big as he gets aside from spots on CZW shows.
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All Pro Wrestling: Gym Wars (08-14-2010) Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Carlos Much the same as their previous encounter, only this time Carlos looks more at ease in the ring. Carlos gives up on the flying too easily,. opting to grab a Headlock. Now, it does give the viewer an interesting back and forth segment where Thatcher and Carlos are working through that Headlock into a number of counters and pinning predicaments. It looked swell, but someone like Carlos, especially given his size, shouldn't be engaging in a sequence like that with a fresh Thatcher. At least not of his own accord, as a way of surviving the grappling of Thatcher sure, but as a sequence he initiates, nope, not what Carlos should be doing. The entire middle stretch is all Thatcher on offense and Carlos bumping. It's a smart choice, because Thatcher's offense looks great and Carlos is one heck of a bumper. He really makes Thatcher look big, powerful, and hurty with his bumping. That's not a skill that should go unnoticed. Thatcher helps his cause by really laying into his offense. He doesn't really go after the arm this time, instead he bombards the back of Carlos with lots of power stuff and stiff strikes. It's a vary well worked segment and a smart one because it hides how limited Carlos is on offense. Hopefully over time Carlos improved his offense, but at this stage in his career he knows maybe a handful of moves and he goes for them over and over again. Having Thatcher be on offense hid that, and it was the smart call to make. Once Carlos makes his comeback Thatcher bumps really well for his speed based offense. Some of it is crappy, the "I grab you, we both fall to the mat and somehow you end up hurt" type of offense. But, Thatcher does his part to make it look like he should be hurt by bumping in the right measure for the offense Carlos is delivering. The finish is cheating from Thatcher, which fits his character throughout the match. All the skill in the world, but he's essentially a bully who doesn't know how to handle someone sticking up to him. As soon as Carlos stands up to him Thatcher has to get out of dodge as soon as possible, and the cheating ties into that nicely. Really good match, with Thatcher showing his ability to work within the limitations of his opponent to get the best out of said opponent.
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Funk's not alone in his viewpoint of the MVC, and Gordy in particular. I love grappling, absolutely love hold for hold exchanges and the like. That being said, the MVC had a bad habit of employing lots of matwork that never went anywhere and never factored into the finish or a hot closing stretch. It's really hard to watch Gordy hold someone in a Chinlock for two minutes and justify it as matwork that is displaying his dominance as opposed to him employing a Chinlock because he's some kind of combination of lazy, uninventive, or lacking in ideas of how to transition in the match. What made it worse with the MVC is that they would go back to the restholds over and over again. Kurt Angle in 2002 employing his Bodylock Chinlock was a resthold and it hurts the match when it doesn't really lead anywhere, but usually he only went to it once and he would find new ways of applying it and the like. With the MVC it was often, "Well, I hoped you liked that Gordy Chinlock from earlier because here comes another one, and don't worry there will be another one ten minutes from now."
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All Pro Wrestling: Gym Wars - Young Lions Cup '10 (04-10-2010) Timothy Thatcher vs. Dave Dutra Dutra is the first real polished high flyer I've seen Thatcher go up against. That makes for an interesting first few minutes as Thatcher gets to move around the ring and show off his speed and bumping ability. He's always in place for Dutra's offense and he bumps really well for the high flying moves. Thatcher is usually very slow and methodical, and while he does eventually bring the match to his pace the first few minutes and the end stretch are worked at Dutra's pace and Thatcher never looks out of place. No one is ever going to confuse Thatcher with a great flyer, but he can make for a great base, and that's what he provides to Dutra in this match. Thatcher does what he usually does during the middle stretch and grinds out Dutra with stiff strikes and lots of arm work. Again though Thatcher keeps things interesting by varying up his attacks. He augments his European Uppercuts by using the throw your opponent in the air and hit them with a European Uppercut when they're on their way down that Cesaro has made so famous. He also has a nice spot where he's on the outside and he pulls Dutra, who is face down, so that they are hanging over the edge of the ring. He then hits the defenseless Dutra with a vicious European Uppercut. At the same time Thatcher works over Dutra's arm with Elbow Drops and straight Headbutts, not his usual fare. I came away from this match pretty impressed with Dutra as well. He made the most of his moments, and his high flying offense carried impact. He's no Angelico or Tanahasi where every move seems like he's grazing his opponent with a feather. When Dutra hits a Moonsault his body makes heavy impact with the body of his opponent. I would have liked to have seen better sustained selling of the arm, and he could have sold the struggle of being caught in the Thatcher Stretch more. Also, whatever his finisher is supposed to be, it's not all that great and a little too complicated to execute, as evidenced by him messing up the first time he tried to apply the hold. Another great performance from Thatcher in a pretty good match.
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CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling
BillThompson replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
I've dealt with the Illinois Commission a lot, basically it all comes down to who you know and the power of whoever is backing you. In that regard I don't see Punk having any problem getting licensed because I can't see the commission telling Dana and the UFC no. -
Who should have come along at a different time or place?
BillThompson replied to JaymeFuture's topic in Pro Wrestling
Steve Corino would be regarded as one of the best performers of all time had he been around in the 80s. -
CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling
BillThompson replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
I'm more indifferent towards him. The part time/full time hypocrisy does rile me up. But, at the end of the day he's a guy I like as a performer, and I think he went about this podcast/UFC deal in a manner that would work out best for him and I respect that. -
CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling
BillThompson replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
To be clear, I never said it was something to be angry about, just smart business is all. -
CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling
BillThompson replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
I have no issue with him doing it the way he did, it was a perfect situation for him and Cabana to exploit. In the end they did, bringing far more ears, and sponsors most likely, to Cabana's show while Punk aired his grievances in a setting he could control and got his name in the public headspace again right before he made his UFC announcement. Where I find foolishness is the people who don't think this was a calculated business decision by both men to exploit their friendship for the best possible financial and notoriety gain. -
I think you're creating nuance where there is none. It's a pretty simple case of Punk complaining about part timers taking money and spots from full timers. Whether that complaint is directed towards the company or the part timers is irrelevant. Twice now, first in comics now in MMA, he has come in and taken money and a spot from a full timer who is more deserving. There's no nuance in that, it's a guy being a hypocrite because in the end all that matters to him is the money he's making, not who is actually getting their spot taken.
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He deserves some bashing by wrestling fans given his loud and frequent criticisms of Rock, Brock, Taker and other part-timers "who won't be there on Monday" given he hasn't done anything to earn a spot in UFC. You guys keep misreading his criticism of the part-timer situation. It was always much more directed at WWE for putting those guys over than at the part-timers themselves. I'm pretty middle-of-the-road on Punk overall, but the talk of him as a hypocrite on this specific point is misguided. Nah man, I can't agree. I've listened to him talk on the subject and he very clearly had issues with part timers taking away his spot. Whether or not he's mad at the company or the part timers is irrelevant. He made a big deal about losing money and his spot to part timers and then he turns around and does the same thing. As I've said in general I'm indifferent on Punk, but on this matter he is the definition of a hypocrite.
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Really underrated talent, always enjoyed watching him wrestle, and the Bodies are one of my favorite tag teams.
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Not when your entire goal is to prove you are the better man, the better wrestler, and worthy of all the things that man says you're aren't. If Bryan does brawl, does come out a house of fire then I think that lessens the match because Bryan is feeding into what Trips wants and not bringing his technical wrestling acumen to bear. But again, this is why our views of the match differ as a whole; we interpreted a much different story being told and we were looking for much different things from the match.
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The difference between those two feuds is that I don't believe that Bryan/Triple H was ever about hate. I always interpreted it as one man's, Triple H, vision of a great wrestler and another man, Bryan, seeking to prove that he was that great wrestler whether or not he fit the prototypical image that Triple H sought. That's why I bought Bryan wrestling with Trips versus going after him all revenge hate style. Bryan needed to prove that he was a great wrestler, not that he hated Triple H.
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CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling
BillThompson replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
So yeah, there's no way that Punk and Cabana got together and laid out when and where to do this interview so it would have the maximum impact for all of them and be a great name bumper for Punk right before he makes his big UFC announcement. Like I said before, really smart and calculating from both guys, but they obviously knew what they were doing in regards to formatting and releasing the podcast. -
Next promotion to launch a "Network"?
BillThompson replied to pantherwagner's topic in Pro Wrestling
Who knows when it will happen, but the owners have said they will be changing to a subscription based model at some point and it will be more of a streaming network type deal. Outside of CMLL/AAA I'm not sure if there's any others I see coming down the pipeline right now. I think eventually everyone will have to adopt the streaming subscription based model, and when that day comes I cans ee plenty of promotions banding together to try and form larger networks. -
I'll just say that Requiem for a Dream shouldn't be written in any specific way, same for any piece of art. Art is fluid, and it can be many different things to many different people.
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I'm indifferent to Punk, but having trained and fought in MMA there's really no way I don't see Punk getting his head blasted off the first time he faces legit competition. No amateur wrestling background, no striking background/training, and very limited and rudimentary BJJ training. Punk has all the makings of the guy who comes into the gym, grapples for a while, thinks he's better than he is, decides to try out MMA and either gets blasted hard in the sparring sessions and quits or makes it to an actual fight and is very much out of his element and discovers MMA is just not for him. Key difference here is that Punk will make enough that he'll keep coming back even after he gets destroyed the first time. Of course, I always leave the door open that Punk could surprise me and be really great, he may just end up being that. As far as what this says about Punk the person, it just shows how hypocritical he really is. Bitches and moans about part time wrestlers stealing a sport that full timers deserve more and taking money away from full timers. That's exactly what he is doing in MMA and in comics. If his fans can't see that, then they have massive blinders on.
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Fog City Wrestling: Heartbreak Ridge (Unknown Date) Timothy Thatcher vs. Malachi Terrible finish aside, this was a really good sub-10 minute match. Something I've noticed about Thatcher so far is that he very much has a formula. He goes after the left arm in just about every match. I could see some not liking that he has a formulaic approach, but I enjoy it. To me it emphasizes the wrestling as sport style that is Thatcher. He also changes things up, he doesn't always attack the arm with the same moves. He varies his arm attack moveset and it makes even his formulaic approach feel different each time out. Take this match for instance where Thatcher busts out a bridging Hammerlock as a new way of working over the left arm in setting up the Thatcher Stretch. The majority of this match is worked slowly and methodically, and the progression of the match makes a lot of sense. Thatcher goes after the arm and Malachi does a pretty good job of selling. In turn Malachi works over Thatcher's neck and Thatcher does a good job of selling. Every move seems like it matters, and the match is worked in such a way that Malachi's suplexes have more importance behind them. All in all both guys work a match that works well within the limits of Malachi as a worker. The finishing run is actually pretty compelling, and the set-up makes sense. The problem is the actual finishing move employed by Malachi. It's some sort of Straightjacket Piledriver, but it's not really a feasible move. The basic idea of the move is flawed as it essentially requires the person taking the move to do all the work. In this match in particular it's a bad choice for a finish because it requires, at least in wrestling logic, for Malachi to use his damaged arm to execute the move an that works against everything that has come before in the match. A well executed match that was fun to watch and worked really well up until the final move.
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Comments that don't warrant a thread - Part 3
BillThompson replied to Loss's topic in Megathread archive
Looks like Puroresu TV may have finally bitten the dust as the forums have been down for about a week now. I know it's not a bastion of discussion anymore, but I'm a guy who likes reading what others think about matches after I have watched them and that place featured a wealth of divergent reviews, opinions, and discussions about Japanese wrestling throughout the years. Sucks to see all that discussion disappear. -
I'd love to hear Dave talk again broach the subject of reevaluating old footage. Since World launched that's pretty much all he's been doing. It's a pretty seismic shift from someone who once directly told me that reevaluating old footage was a waste of time because you have to be in the moment to get a match.
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He was handcuffed and beaten against his will 2 weeks prior. HANDCUFFED AND BEATEN. Show a little fire. He beat the guy who handcuffed him and humiliated him in the process. He punished HHH the best way he could in storyline terms. (Understand, I'm not begrudging you your reaction.) This is my side of the coin as well. I get what you're saying TRMD, and your reaction is understandable. However, I think for the overarching storyline the type of match they put together was near perfect in its layout, style, and execution.