BigBadMick

Not sure if this is the best place to put this up but does anyone have match dates for the Fighting Spirit Wrestling series? Found out her http://fightnetwork.com/news/36883:fight-network-launches-fighting-spirit-wrestling-series/ that it was starting in March 2013 and seemed to run for one season. Here's the episode listings... =Season 1 Episode 1= [CMLL] 2-out-of-3-falls grudge match: Mistico vs. Volador [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Satoshi Kojima © vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi =Season 1 Episode 2= [NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Riki Chosu & Wataru Inoue vs. Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka, Tamoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishi [NJPW] GHC Heavyweight Championship match: Hirooki Goto vs. Takashi Sugiura © =Season 1 Episode 3= [NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" match: Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH) [NJPW] Chain match: Takashi Iizuka vs. Togi Makabe =Season 1 Episode 4= [NJPW] Mistico, Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Averno, Gedo & Jado [CMLL] La Sombra, Mascara Dorada & La Mascara vs. Alebrije, Olimpico & Psicosis =Season 1 Episode 5= [NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Koji Kanemoto vs. Akira, Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger & Masahiro Chono [CMLL] Olimpico vs. Hijo del Fantasma [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Shinsuke Nakamura © =Season 1 Episode 6= [CMLL] Mascara Dorada, La Mascara & La Sombra vs. Alebrije, Psicosis & Olimpico [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Togi Makabe vs. Satoshi Kojima © =Season 1 Episode 7= [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Shinsuke Nakamura [NJPW] Tama Tonga, Tiger Mask IV, Tomoaki Honma & Wataru Inoue vs. Gedo, Jado, Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi =Season 1 Episode 8= [NJPW] Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega & Taichi [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) © vs. Averno & Ultimo Guerrero [NJPW] Mistico & Tiger Mask IV vs. Okumura & Tomohiro Ishii =Season 1 Episode 9= [CMLL] Angel Azteca, Angel de Plata & Angel de Oro vs. Cancerbero, Raziel & Virus [NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH) =Season 1 Episode 10= [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Keiji Muto © =Season 1 Episode 11= [NJPW] TAJIRI vs. Toru Yano [CMLL] Tiffany, Estrellita & Marcela vs. Princesa Sugehit, Princesa Blanca & Amapola [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Tiger Mask IV vs. Mistico © =Season 1 Episode 12= [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Hirooki Goto =Season 1 Episode 13= [NJPW] Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger, Kushida, Mascara Dorada & Tiger Mask IV vs. Atlantis, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Valiente [NJPW] 3-way hardcore tag team match: NO LIMIT (Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro) vs. Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) vs. Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray) =Season 1 Episode 14= [CMLL] La Mascara, Maximo & Sangre Azteca vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso Jr. & Texano Jr. [NJPW] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Giant Bernard =Season 1 Episode 15= [NJPW] TNA World Heavyweight Championship match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Hardy © [CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Polvora vs. Rush [NJPW] IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) © =Season 1 Episode 16= [CMLL] Magnus, Guerrero Maya Jr. & Fuego vs. Tiger, Doctor X & Loco Max [NJPW] Takashi Sugiura & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada =Season 1 Episode 17= [NJPW] "AJPW vs NJPW" tag team match: Masayuki Kono & Masakatsu Funaki (AJPW) vs. Blue Justice Army (Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata) (NJPW) [CMLL] Rush, Strong Man & La Sombra vs. Misterioso Jr., Texano Jr. & Psicosis =Season 1 Episode 18= [NJPW] Manabu Nakanishi, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [NJPW] IWGP Tag Team Championship 3-way match: Muscle Orchestra (Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man) vs. Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) vs. Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) © =Season 1 Episode 19= [NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" tag team match: Koji Kanemoto & Yuji Nagata (NJPW) vs. Atsushi Aoki & Go Shiozaki (NOAH) [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) © vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) =Season 1 Episode 20= [CMLL] Mascara Dorada, La Sombra & Mistico vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Ultimo Guerrero & Atlantis [NJPW] "NJPW vs NOAH" tag team match: Hirooki Goto & Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) =Season 1 Episode 21= [NJPW] IWGP Intercontinental Championship match: Toru Yano vs. MVP © [CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Polvora vs. Rush [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Low-Ki vs. Tiger Mask IV © =Season 1 Episode 22= [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada © [NJPW] "NJPW vs TNA" tag team match: Akira & Masahiro Chono (NJPW) vs. Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode) (TNA) =Season 1 Episode 23= [NJPW] CMLL World Welterweight Championship match: Mistico © vs. Mephisto [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Takashi Sugiura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi © =Season 1 Episode 24= [CMLL] Blue Panther, Brazo de Plata & La Sombra vs. Averno, Taichi & Mephisto [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) =Season 1 Episode 25= [CMLL] Hijo del Fantasma, Toscano & Brazo de Plata vs. Atlantis, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero [NJPW] Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga vs Kyosuke Mikami & Tomoaki Honma [NJPW] Hirooki Goto vs. Masato Tanaka =Season 1 Episode 26= [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi © [NJPW] Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger & Takuma Sano =Season 1 Episode 27= [NJPW] Jun Akiyama, Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto, Kenta Kobashi & Masahiro Chono =Season 1 Episode 28= [NJPW] Kazuchika Okada vs. TAJIRI [CMLL] 10-minute time-limit "lightning" match: Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Valiente [NJPW] IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura © =Season 1 Episode 29= [NJPW] Giant Bernard vs. Minoru Suzuki [NJPW] TAJIRI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi =Season 1 Episode 30= [CMLL] La Mascara, Mascara Dorada & La Sombra vs. Ephesto, Averno & Mephisto [NJPW] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Kota Ibushi vs. Prince Devitt © =Season 1 Episode 31= [NJPW] Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Super Strong Machine & Wataru Inoue vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger, Kazuchika Okada & Koji Kanemoto [CMLL] Magnus, Angel de Plata & Rey Cometa vs. Bobby Zavala, Skandalo & Loco Max [NJPW] CMLL World Welterweight Championship match: Ryusuke Taguchi © vs. Mascara Dorada

Have you been watching Channel 4's 'It was alright in the 1970s', Parv?

Holy shit!!!! Have Vince ever ever ever done a shoot before? I mean a proper one? Don't think so. Do you think this will be a proper shoot? I know Austin's usually good about getting to the point and cutting through bullshit, but it's on the Network and all.......

Nigel McGuinness probably deserves a mention too - He was in Belfast last year screening his documentary. Came across as really decent in the q and a afterwards.

Nicely put.

Daniel Bryan seems like a really good dude. Can't think of anything negative I've heard about him over the years.

Can I ask what people thought of Foley in 2008? I enjoyed it and felt he showed potential. And I wouldn't care for being over-produced either...

'Tony gave a lot less back but Jesse dominating this nice family guy who is trying to do his professional best is gold.' If you ever get to watching JBL/Cole in '06 - '07 you'll see a familiar dynamic, Parv.

Ok, the 'Vince screaming in everyone's ear' thing - when did it start? Or start to really hurt the commentary, anyway. For all the criticism WWE gets on various fronts, commentary isn't as closely studied as many other areas.

I've been going through some WWE 09-10 lately and haven't found the 619 offensive at all. I think it definitely could be in lesser hands - it's a credit to Rey that it works. Also, does his Elimination Chamber performance in 09 get much appreciation? I hadn't heard much talk about it and my God he was phenomenal.

His crippling insecurity is beyond tiresome for us at this point, but it drove him to where he is now (for better or worse). People talk about Bret taking himself too seriously, but it was that very fact that turned him into the superstar he was. Same with HHH, I think. And, as far as how he reacts to the B+ thing, can you imagine Vince taking it any better? Also, think of the situation he's in. He's under a sh*tload of pressure as the heir apparent, he's unproven as a CEO, he doesn't have any business admin background that Wall Street would prefer, the Network isn't doing what was promised. The poor bastard has to lash out somehow....

Yeah the question posed didn't really suit my opening statement. I agree that it goes up and down, and I pointed out various teams I've enjoyed in the last decade or so. It's not as straightforward as a gradual - or sudden - decline. It's peaks and troughs. Hell, Striker was well received in his initial ECW run in the booth.

That's the really frustrating thing - commentary should be your entry point to everything. Great commentary really enhances the product.

I've been thinking about this lately. Lawler seemed fine for the 90s and into the 2000s, but I think he was shown up as tired and unoriginal when Heyman replaced him in '01. I certainly wasn't too keen on him returning, and I think he's been criticised more and more ever since then from all directions. I thought Cole and Taz were fine over on Smackdown and I had no problem with their work. Similarly, JBL was a fine successor - fresh, interesting and capable in 06 and 07. Also, Foley's brief run - Backlash 08 til just before SummerSlam - was showing promise. He knew his stuff and seemed to be improving every week. I jumped into 2010 ppvs this week and was struck by just how rancid Cole, Lawler and Striker were. Cole actually got worse as 2010 wore on and he morphed into the heel role. I was happy when JBL returned in 2012 but have been sorely disappointed by his work. Anyway, what do you think? When did it all go sooo wrong? Is it too much Vince micromanaging? Too much twitter and other distractions?

Rewatching some WWE PPVs from early 2010. Cole, Lawler and Striker are brutal together. Noticed Lawler getting testy with Striker at times during Extreme Rules, then watched Punk v Rey at Over the Limit and... oh dear. Awkward! What's the story? Lawler just getting more and more annoyed having to listen to Striker's pontificating and then having unprofessional on-screen hissy fits? Actually felt embarrassed for Cole trying to hold things together. It's as bad as any Heenan-Schiavone bust ups on Nitro.

Is the Savage Documentary any good?

A good listen here, as usual. The Enforcers v Steamboat and Rhodes was one that somehow eluded me, in that I never heard that much praise for it in the early '90s. My main opinion-influencers back then were Fin Martin with Power Slam and, kind of separately, Rob Butcher's video trading listings with star ratings. Anyway, for whatever reason I never heard of this as much more than a standard enough tag. I finally got round to seeing it in 2007, and the thing that struck me immediately I was the insane heat throughout. I watched it again last week and it holds up as a classic, I think. However, there's an absolute ton of great tags coming up on WCW tv until at least May '92. I'll be curious to see if you do a 1992 tv special and still feel it holds up or if it becomes one of a great many exceptional matches.

How do you mean, Dylan? I can't see the comparison.

Good stuff lads - worth the wait. It reminded me an awful lot of arguments against Dusty and the collapse of JCP. Huge difference in that he was actual booker and talent, but a lot of it comes down to whether it's on Dusty or if the Crockett's should have reined him in.

I thought this got really fascinating with the DiBiase talk. Will's point of view - watching him in Mid-South, then thinking he's a just another character in WWF - was interesting, and contrasted so sharply with Parv's love for Million Dollar Man and general mid-to-late 80s WWF kitsch. Attacking Parv's youth and the general 'you weren't there man, you'll never know' tone was amusing. As was the counter-accusation of anti-WWF snobbery by Parv. With this, and Parv's noncommital response to whether NWA could have been bigger in the 80s on the Hogan show (I thought Will had him when he started quoting Great American Bash attendences...), I think there's a very interesting podcast waiting to happen on the generational differences in perspective.

I remember Bruce Mitchell saying the Steamboat-Tully series prior to Starrcade 84 had escalating time limit draws. Up to 45 minutes, I think. Then Dusty came in and beat Tully for the tv title in 10 minutes or so. Ah, Dusty....

Yeah, really enjoyed this. Nice use of 70s clips too - Andre standing in the corner, about to referee a Steamboat-Flair match was cool. Also, I'm getting used to black and white when blood appears on screen - adds a little old school charm, even if it's by necessity. One thing that annoyed me was the implication that it was all downhill for the Crocketts after Bash '86. I feel that's cutting their glory days short by at least a year.... Does anyone have a schedule for upcoming episodes? From the intro, I'm assuming HBK-Taker, HHH-Rock, Piper-Hogan are all in the pipeline

I'm watching the UK vhs release of SuperBrawl 2. It's bad enough that they butcher Liger v Pillman, but then a Terry Taylor interview plays for Bagwell v Taylor...which isn't on the tape. Brilliant!

The spinebuster Arn gives Michaels is, IMO, the most beautifully executed move in the history of wrestling Where's a good gif when you need it?

Wow. I haven't sat up for wrestling since university days in '98. I have the 'advantage' of not personally knowing any fans, so the chances of spoilers are minimal.