BillThompson

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I'm a bit old school in the sense that as much as I like some of the news and opinion based wrestling sites out there today I still love the feeling of leafing through a wrestling magazine. There are a few good wrestling magazines still chugging along and they are all worth your time. I happen to write for one of them, The Tag Rope. It really is a magazine worth checking out. Oli Sandler provides high quality photography, while Pedro Carvalho provides the best wrestling related art going as companion pieces for some of the articles. Pedro always provides a piece for my articles and with no shame I can say that without his art my articles wouldn't be anywhere near as good as they are. The Tag Rope offers long form thought provoking pieces about the world of wrestling. Interviews, match reviews, predictions, opinion pieces, and a lot of fun can be found within its pages. There's currently an eBook collecting a handful of articles from the first four issues; and it also includes original art from Pedro and an original match review written by yours truly. The best thing about the eBook is that it's free. So head over to PayHip and download your free copy today. Otherwise we sell both digital and print copies of the magazine, released quarterly, that can be found in the link below. The Tag Rope

Plugging this one again because it's been a while since I last plugged it anyways. I'm one of a bevy of writers/reviewers for Free Pro Wrestling. It's run by TJ Hawke, and the basic premise is that we offer reviews of matches that are offered for free by the promotions themselves on websites such as YouTube and Daily Motion. I have a lot of fun writing for this site, and without any bias I can say that if nothing else the website is a tremendous resource for free, legal wrestling available online. A few posters on these forums such as Case Lowe, Dylan Waco, and Tanner also write for the site. If you're looking for interesting writing about some free wrestling then by all means stop by; and we're very appreciative of anyone who gives the website some of their hard earned time. Free Pro Wrestling

A replug for my other wrestling blog. For whatever odd reason a lot of people starting sending links my way and asking me to review matches for them. I'm humbled that people would think my writing was worth seeking out, but on Blue Thunder Driver I only review matches I think are great. Thus I had the idea for Random Match Generator. You send something my way and I'll review it. I've reviewed a lot of stuff so far, and lots of CHIKARA because lots of people hate me. Don't care who the wrestlers are or what the promotion may be, if you send me a request to review a match I will review it and give it a fair shake. (I had very positive things to say about a Tozawa match for instance). I don't do whole show reviews in general, but you send me one to review and I'll review it. A few regulars from here, like Case, Goc, and Parv have sent me stuff to review, and I gladly welcome any and all new suggestions. Caveats: -- I need to be able to easily access the match/event somewhere online. --If I've previously reviewed it I'm not going to write it up again, sorry. --If I end up thinking it's a MOTYC then the review will appear on Blue Thunder Driver and not Random Match Generator, If any of this appeals to you then stop by, read some reviews, leave some comments, and keep the train rolling by suggesting some stuff for me to review. Random Match Generator

Figured it was about time I made another topic for my main blog, Blue Thunder Drive. I've been writing about great wrestling for a year now. I say great because one of the goals with this blog is to keep things positive, hence why I only write about the great matches. Basically if I watch something and I think it's a MOTYC, think ****+, it gets a write-up on the blog. I've written about a lot of stuff from a lot of different promotions, ranging from the sleaziest of small indies to WWE itself. I also have some ongoing projects where I pick out great matches from said projects. Couple of those projects would be WWE Nertwork PPVs, NXT from the beginning, and PWG from the beginning. Am hoping with the advent of CZW Studios to start a CZW from the beginning project as soon as they upload their shows chronologically from the beginning. Stop on by if you want, there's a lot to see, and I'm thankful for anyone who stops by and/or chimes in with comments. Blue Thunder Driver

Nope, but I really do hope this catches on. Or at the very least that they realize that they are aiming for a niche audience and build their model around those numbers.

Ah, shit. I now am guilted into buying this. Once the Roku app rolls out, they'll get my money. Word is that there hasn't been a large amount of subscribers to begin with and that's why Tharpe is releasing more stuff.

I figured Kidd was done after reading the whole "he should have died" story. My money is on him being done. I know he wants to wrestle again, but the statistics about his injury are not in his favor.

Her work with the likes of Carmella, Leva Bates, and even Charlotte says differently.

Per a swell Jim Caldwell article at the Torch the end may be coming sooner than people realize. Now, I'm not sure I completely buy into Vince giving up the reigns so soon, but there is a lot of growing resentment towards Dunn backstage. Not just from the wrestlers, but from the creative team as well. WWE still puts tons of stock in the ratings, and the ratings keep getting worse, and once football starts they are afraid that there ill be weeks where Raw is only getting a 2.0 to 2.5 rating. If that happens than a shake-up is likely to follow, and that's why people have started choosing sides. Right now it's mainly Dunn and his people being on the defensive because it appears as if their days are numbered.

I like both, but I tend to side with Will more than you on this one. Even when someone is doing something big I'm looking for the little things they are doing within that one big thing. I think the modern day #GrappleFuck movement appeals to me so much because it's essentially an approach that is all about the little things. It's about a knee to the small of the back to hold someone down while they are in a Hammerlock. It's about pulling back the fingers when your opponent leaves such an opening. But, at the same time it's about how the finish can come out of nowhere thanks to a big move, or has instances like Thatcher's Kawada sell of his own Headbutts. I'm a little things guy, but I can appreciate the big stuff, and I think both are essential to pro wrestling.

I don't think Emma has ever been given a match longer than 5 minutes on the main roster. She's really good though, even in the dreadful shit the main has given her she's looked good. I guess most people aren't high on Paige now, and I do think her main roster run has revealed she's not someone to lead other people in a match. But, I still think she's a good worker capable of good things. However, I don't think either correlates to Sasha, who is leagues above either one of them, and has shown the ability to lead lesser workers to better than they are capable of (specifically Charlotte).

She's been doing this on NXT with a lot of the greener women. She has very much of a Ric Flair vibe to her with the way she acts and carries herself, and wrestles, against lesser workers.

Hikaru Shida was the supposedly the Japanese woman at the tryouts. She kinda fits the look, but I doubt that they sign her. She gave another woman a nasty concussion a couple of months ago, if the WWE see that then they'll lose interest. A lot of people say Kana, but she has more of natural look then what they go for. Kairi Hojo has been fantastic the last few months but she has more of a "girl next door" look to her. Although her vs Sasha might be the best potential babyface/heel matchup in wrestling. Mio Shirai is really charismatic and works a pretty simple style, but she retiring in the fall due to a bad neck. Yumi Ohka might be the best fit, her moveset is very WWE so she would just have to learn the "style". Her problem is that while she's attractive she doesn't really have a star quality about her. For Shimmer, they just signed Jessie McKay, who was probably the Diva looking woman that they used on a regular basis. I think Melissa would work, but if she hasn't signed by now I doubt she ever would. Athena might work if they're looking for a female Kevin Owens. Athena is supposedly being signed by them. Which is good, because Athena has a lot of talent, but is usually her own worst enemy. The structure of NXT/WWE will do her worlds of good. I don't see them signing any of the other women you mentioned, pretty much for the reasons you mentioned. Same reasons I don't see them signing any of the Luchadoras who are pretty good right now. I mean I'd love to see Zeuxis in NXT/WWE, but they aren't going to sign a masked woman who wrestles her style. Sucks that Gail Kim sees Vince for the misogynist he is and has called him out on it, because she's a tremendously underrated talent who would do wonders with the likes of Sasha. The talent is out there, whether it be in Japan, Mexico, or North America, it's just a question of who WWE is willing to sign.

I'm not anti-footage, I'm more pro-explore whatever footage floats your boat.

Westside Xtreme Wrestling: 16 Carat Gold '15 - Day 3 (03-08-2015) Kim Ray vs. Timothy Thatcher vs. Daisuke Harada vs. John Klinger This is a Four Way Dance Match. Very disappointing, mainly because Ray and Klinger are awful and mediocre respectively. Thatcher looks pretty good here, though he seems out of place at times because he's never really comfortable in multi-man matches it seems. Harada is far and away the best man in the match. But, it's another match with a lot of meaningless spots and stupid bullshit that serves no purpose. WXW had a chance to book a single match between Harada and Thatcher. Instead they put them in a four way where they interacted with one another for maybe 45 seconds. Bad stuff.

Nah, I just used them as an example because I know some circles think their feud has been all-time best. Maybe someone like Shoe or Jimmy Redman could help with dates and stuff, I really didn't delve deep into their feud.

I don't know, last night kind of hit home how unprepared Charlotte is for the spotlight relative to Sasha, and even Becky. I'm not saying they won't push Charlotte as the game changer, but Charlotte's someone who needs to be led, not lead herself and that's why her as the game changer will probably fail.

I don't think it is wise to behave like there is no such thing as canon. Bill talking as if all pimped matches are on an equal footing is just willfully overlooking the reality of the situation. I don't know of any corner of fandom where Flair vs. Steamboat trilogy isn't pimped. They are "hyper canonical" as matches. Tanahashi vs. Okada just doesn't have that level of cache or history, and I see nothing to be gained from pretending that it does. Just so happens that we're probably in a situation where not a single person here hasn't seen those three matches, but they are just the most exreme example. I don't think there should be "required viewing", but I do think the argument that people shouldn't seek stuff out that is pimped for whatever reason is 100% against the spirit of the project. It depends on your wrestling circles. I know of some where Tanahashi/Okada wouldn't just be viewed as required viewing, but as more important to view than Flair/Steamboat. That is why I don't really think canon is super important anymore, who is to say whose canon is the right canon? There are matches that I would say are very important and must see, but others wouldn't agree. The same is true in reverse of course. Wrestling has become all about the journey for me, and I like the not oft traveled path just as much as the well trodden one. As long as I'm watching and exposing myself to wrestling I don't think it matters at the end of the day if the wrestling is heavily pimped or canon.

No, I don't think they should make it a priority. Even a few months ago I probably would have said yes. But, there is so much stuff that could be considered priority and by so many different people that I think people simply exploring whatever wrestling they choose to explore is what is best for them, and for the poll. I think we spend too much time worrying about canon and not enough time worrying about simply watching wrestling and finding the things that we love. If someone decides to seek out Flair/Steamboat and they love the heck out of it that's great. By the same token if they don't watch it and instead seek out Tanahashi/Okada and love the heck out of that pairing then that's great as well.

There's really two avenues for your questions. 1) What is Sasha herself capable of? 2) Will WWE change the way they treat women wrestlers anytime soon? The answer to 2 is pretty simple for me, no. As long as Vince and Dunn are in charge I see no reason to believe that Sasha will be given any different treatment than Paige, Emma, Alicia Fox, Nattie, etc. She'll be stripped of character and fluctuate from heel to face depending on the day. She'll be in four minute matches where the announcers would rather talk about anything but what is happening in the ring. Sasha Banks will be a wasted talent in the WWE. I'd love to be wrong, but after decades of women being treated a certain way in WWF/E I don't see them changing just for Sasha. The answer to 1 is also pretty simple for me; Sasha is capable of anything and everything. I truly believe she is a special talent, the sort that only comes around every once in a while. She's tremendous in the ring, she's already one of the best in the world in that regard. She also gets the character aspect of wrestling better than 99% of the roster. She lives and breathes her character and works her character into the way she wrestles. She very much has a Ric Flair as heel champion vibe to the way she carries herself as champion. Given the opportunity I know that Sasha could have great matches on a consistent basis, produce plenty of fabulous performances, be involved in interesting angles, and be in MOTYC's year in and year out. She could go down as one of the all time bestgreats because she's that talented and has that high of a ceiling. But, it all comes down to environment and she is not in an environment on the main roster where any of that will come to fruition.

I used to think this was important, I no longer do. If I spend time making sure to seek out highly pimped stuff that doesn't work for me and I end up not having seen less pimped stuff that I would have loved and that would have made a difference on my ballot I don't see that as time well spent. There's always going to be stuff that Person A thinks Person B should have seen, but in reality all that matters is that Person B feels they spent their time wisely and watched what they felt it was most important to watch.

I'm not sure this statement is in the spirit of this project though. Part of it is about seeking out new stuff. It is, but it's counterproductive to worry about what you haven't seen. If that's really an issue then no "Best Of" or "Greatest of All Time" list should ever be published for wrestling, music, film, etc. No one is ever going to see every match, let alone every match from every nominated wrestler, or every worthwhile match from every nominated wrestler. See new stuff by all means, that's something everyone should be doing, but don't think it's a prerequisite to see everything (or a suitable high amount) before you can submit a list.

Westside Xtreme Wrestling: 16 Carat Gold '15 - Day 2 (03-07-2015) Aaron Insane vs. Robert Dreiskker vs. Timothy Thatcher vs. Rotation vs. Sha Samuels vs. Michael Dante This is a Six Way Dance Match. Generic Six Way Dance; lots of spots with no meaning whatsoever behind them. Thatcher's inclusion is a complete waste of him, and his work in the match is barely worth writing about. Basically he takes a couple of nasty head drops off of a Vertical Suplex Neckbreaker and a Half Hatch Suplex, and that's it. Terrible match.

I've said from the beginning that people shouldn't worry about what they have and haven't seen. Lists are like this, especially attempts at a comprehensive list. You're never going to see everything so I choose to not worry about what I haven't seen and instead focus on what I have seen.