BigBadMick

well I'd say I'm the outlier to that if that's true. He's close to being my favourite guy in WWE right now, and as a whole I think his WWE work has been stellar. I get actively pissed off when the smarky North East crowds shit on him, and chant "boring" and stuff. For anyone wondering about his pre-WWE career, he was atrocious. Dunno how much I'd hold it against him though - particularly if he keeps his good WWE work going. I think his body of work, particularly 2012, is very good. He's rock solid as a performer - a slightly higher up the card Arn Anderson type. It's just his characterisation/caricaturisation that grates with me slightly.

Well, you're persuading me that some rewatching is needed, anyway....

Yeah, but how strong is the argument for Final Conflict, and how important was he to War Games '92? I immediately think of Windham, Austin, Rhodes and Anderson as more important to that one. Also, v Luger as second best US title match ever is pretty weak imo. And the Iron Man as best WCW match ever? To each his own, but....... well down my list anyway. I do think Steamboat is very, very good, but I think you're overstating the value of these examples.

Really good analysis there, Parv. One thing though - Hogan and Warrior typically didn't put on 20 minute main events in the 1984-early 90s timeframe.

Bingo! Father Ted, anyone?

Another good one. Enjoyed reliving the whole period. One thing you didn't really mention, and fair enough you were concentrating on the booking, but match quality was pretty high throughout the invasion angle. For my money WWF standards from 2000 were maintained, and SummerSlam through Survivors were all mighty fine PPVs.

I watched the first Rivalries too - very familiar stuff as Shoe noted. I'm curious about how they'll handle part 2, covering Austin's comeback from late 2000 onward. The burial in June '02 was pretty brutal.

Me too. He's top 10 material for me.

I wouldn't be annoyed about it if it happened once, but when the same thing is blurted out every week it grates on me.... a bit. Won't stop me watching or anything like that

On Ross's podcast with Mark Madden, he mentioned that Sting and Undertaker don't live far from each other - Waco and Austin. Which lives where? And when did Sting move - I always thought he lived somewhere in California

Anyone else get annoyed at the start of each episode when they refer to the Monday Night Wars taking place 'throughout the decade of the 90s'?

Yeah, enjoyed it a lot. Imagine if you lads could grab everyone that's ever done a crappy, half-hearted rf shoot and lock them in a room until you'd gone through everything of note with a fine tooth comb. Each interview might last 7 hours though.....

Good podcast guys, looking forward to you getting to Heatwave 98 and on into 99.

I've listened to this and it's very interesting. I know Dave's thing is you can't evaluate work outside of its present day context, but do you think he regrets any of his snarky comments from the 80s? For example, is he still as down on Backlund?

...or, generally late-70s mid-Atlantic. From limited viewing of the Cornette garbage footage that seems to be a good starting point for 'standing up' (to coin a phrase) matches.

Parv, no mention of Flair and Steamboat yet?

That does sound annoying alright.

Is he that bad? I find Alvarez more annoying than him.The impression of Todd comes from people reading his Raw reviews. It is a pretty dated impression.Nah. I doubt I have even read more than one or two of them. Why would I care what anyone on that wesbsite not named Dave Meltzer thinks of Raw? It's because he comes across as a complete douche on the shows with Bryan. Like almost as unlistenable as Lance Storm. Storm's a problem too? I find him enjoyable enough. A bit dry, but he usually comes up with booking suggestions to improve Raw on the fly that make sense....

Is he that bad? I find Alvarez more annoying than him.

Why was the rooftop opening replaced so quickly? It's gone by Spring '96.

Thanks Loss, won't ask for anymore stories.....

What did Jericho do? Come on, I'm not buying the book.....

What do you mean by lacking self awareness? Too high an opinion of himself/his accomplishments? Just curious. I take it you don't follow him on Twitter or listen to his podcast. During his most recent WWE return he would talk about every PPV match he had stole the show or was match of the night. He is very showbizy/Hollywood too. I do listen to his podcasts..well, the interviews on them anyway. He can come across as arrogant and in his own wee world, but I sort of admire the way that makes him a better hustler, you know?

What do you mean by lacking self awareness? Too high an opinion of himself/his accomplishments? Just curious.

I think his work got a lot tighter after coming back in late '07. Plenty of vicious strikes in the Jericho feud.