BigBadMick

I actually think Bruce Mitchell is great, if you can get past the "everything was better in Crockett" stuff. He did a podcast with Keller this week that dissected every issue with WWE and TNA programming like a serial killer. Agreed. He has a few peculiarities and annoying traits, but I've never understood why Mitchell is barely mentioned in PWO.

Todd Martin's been reviewing old Observers on Alvarez' show for a while now. They've gotten to the middle of 1985 now. Meltzer was on a major kick against everything WWF was doing at the time, and said one Fabulous Ones match in Memphis had more action than all of WWF combined all year. The two men agreed that Dave has changed his views on many things over time, but I'm wondering - when did Dave grow up and stop writing like an angry teenager?

I'm noticing a lack of affection for Rumbles this decade. Would it be fair to say that quality/intrigue/novelty/spectacle seems to have dropped off? I know it has for me.

Don't know if there are many regular viewers here, but if I was to cherrypick and ask for a best 10-20 matches of 2014 - any ideas?

Watched eps. 18 and 19 over the weekend. Noticed they've relaxed a bit on showing and mentioning Benoit.

Taker-Rey, really? Watched it again last year, it didn't jump out at me as exceptional..... What's the rest of the list?

I think it's easier to separate this into best undercard ever and best Rumble ever. Best Undercard - 2000 (the Rumble was forgettable) Best Rumble - 2007 (especially for the Undertaker-Michaels finishing stretch)

Good recap. Have to agree with Chad about not letting nostalgia overpower reality. I first saw this in 92 or 92 when a glut of WCW videos were released here. Loved it then, but I can see that it doesn't hold up and lacks any real substance. Looking forward to the 91 tv episode - watched loads of it a few months back so it's fresh in my mind.

Just getting caught up on these now. Really good show. I like episodes when you cover a period of time (helped by Observers) and get quite in-depth with it - loved the Invasion angle one also. Perhaps you could continue these with 4-6 month updates per episode? I'd like to hear more until the end of 98 at the very least.

The New Year tradition! Looking forward to it

He did a 1996 one? I thought he only did 1997 (which was really good, btw).

I was lucky enough to attend both the 1993 Fanweek and half of the 1995 fanweek. It was an amazing experience. It truly gave you a first hand experience of being in a territory. Cornette was very accessible. Brian Hitlebrand (Mark Curtis) ran the show for the fans. In 1995, Downtown D-Lo Brown was my driver. He carted me all over Tennessee and Kentucky. I was 20 (1 week before turning 21) during the first fanweek ('93) and i was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, though I would've stayed for another week it was so much fun. It seemed we never arrived "home" before 1 or 2am. Some nights were 3-4am. Then you were back up and on the road by noon to do it all over again. It certainly earned my respect for the boys who were taking bumps and doing the same drives. A few great memories for me: Sitting in a hotel room with Dave Meltzer watching Hokuto v Kandori from Dreamslam 1 and Flair v Steamboat from Music City Showdown. I realized at that moment that as big of a wrestling fan as I was (and I was), I was nowhere near the fan he was. He watched intently, pointed out things to the few of us and popped louder than any of the "hardcore fans" in the room watching the matches. Another great Meltzer memory was stopping at a Perkins at 2:30am to eat dinner with 20 other wrestling fans and one fan (Marty from New York, most well known for having Tammy Sytch and Jimmy Del Ray light his hat on fire at a BBQ) persisted to argue with Dave about how Bob Backlund was a much better pro wrestler than Ric Flair. Dave was doing his best to be respectful, but Marty's argument that Backlund would still be champ (this was in 1993) if it wasn't for Arnold Skaaland, was his #1 argument point. Lastly, in '95, we went to a USWA show at the Louisville Gardens. This was in the midst of the SMW v USWA feud. Of course, we were all SMW fans. Cheering the "heel" outsiders. We needed a police escort out of the building and out of Louisville. True story. The business was still alive and well in Kentucky and Tennessee in 1995. Saw some amazing matches and watched some amazing workers. You get a completely different view of some guys when you see them work every night. Great times. Ok, I've changed my mind - that sounds fantastic!

One thing I'm always curious about when the HHH = bloated matches narrative comes up - how do people feel about his work in 2000? Specifically the Foley, Jericho, Rock and Benoit matches. Very rarely come across criticism of his performances therein. Had he yet to consolidate power, in order to lay out matches the way he later preferred? Over at DVDVR we looked at a few of his matches at least. I wrote up some reviews that wouldn't make a ton of sense out of the context of the thread but I found that the big Jericho match and the 3 Stages of Hell match with Austin, at least, were considerably bloated and could have been good matches with some restraint. Thanks Matt, I'll check this out.

I didn't say S&S was hip. But the point is he's doing his homework. The thing is, (back to wrestling) even if you are missing out on stuff now to an extent "cream will rise", so you'll always be able to seek out what is pimped after the fact. I've said it before ... I think the real reason people watch WWE now is to be part of the instant reaction on social media. It's less about the product and more about being part of an ongoing discussion in the moment. There's loads of things that I get swept up in the moment by and, although not necessarily regretting the time invested, wouldn't do the same again in hindsight. I think I need to strike a balance for me personally - I can't just watch 1980s wrestling, on my own, without on-going discussion in the moment, all the time.

One thing I'm always curious about when the HHH = bloated matches narrative comes up - how do people feel about his work in 2000? Specifically the Foley, Jericho, Rock and Benoit matches. Very rarely come across criticism of his performances therein. Had he yet to consolidate power, in order to lay out matches the way he later preferred?

What was that match like? I didnt mind the one they had at the Clash where Catus returned but figured a shame Davey never beat Vader for the title as he was strong enough to. Not many guys could do a standing suplex on vader. It's been a while, but a good, solid match as I remember. A bit plodding at times - Vader was probably the more sprintly of the two at that time.

Reminds me of this thread.... http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/26260-wrestling-before-or-after-1996/ I know we don't like to categorise a PWO 'type', but would it be fair to say most posters are connoisseurs?

I agree, Sleeze. The SummerSlam match reminds me of Mankind-Taker at KotR 98. Using the same feud, Night of Champions is their KotR 96 or Buried Alive equivalent.

Can't recall the tape, but Michaels-Hennig in early 1991 was very good. And Invasion '92 had Michaels-Flair and Hart-Flair - both really enjoyable, last time I looked.

There's a DiBiase-Michaels match from mid-1990, on a tape released in the UK as 'WWF Hottest Matches' (I think) that's well worth a look. It popped up on Vintage Collection a few years ago too.

Seems a shame that you aren't, man.

Agree that Michaels is really obnoxious here. Vince egging him on is painful to watch.

I'm thinking it was Jim Ross's 'shoot' on the post-Mind Games Raw in Sept '96, judging from the hushed tones of Lawler and Kevin Kelly?

Thanks Chad, that's the way I like it. And thanks Word Hoard, but you can't teach this old dog new tricks

Where's the download icon on this?