BigBadMick

Yeah, all those reasons why I started reading it and getting into tape trading in 94 - 95. I was a big Rob Butcher fan too. It was never a gateway for me though - there were some things I found objectionable in the early noughties but not to the extent of ruining the mag.

Funny you should mention that, I've taken out a subscription to FSM. Let battle commence....

Yeesh, that Rocky Raymond guy - what a loser! It's not as if I used to record my own commentary on audio tapes in 1994-5 for Japanese matches....ahem.

Actually, 2004 is probably just slightly stronger, PPV-wise, than 2003. Losing Lesnar and gaining JBL was a MASSIVE kick in the balls for Smackdown, and while HHH improved his output drastically over the previous year, there was still than horrendously overblown Hell in a Cell with HBK to answer for.

Interested in this because there's loads of gaps in my 2010 and 2011 viewing.

Another great recap lads. And a hell of a show. Second half of 02 seemed much more stable, looking forward to the next few reviews.

Definitely solid TV, but I was going by the thread being about PPVs. I thought that was their worst top to bottom PPV year. Definitely solid TV, but I was going by the thread being about PPVs. I thought that was their worst top to bottom PPV year. I thought several PPVs in 06 were solid to strong - Royal Rumble, No Way Out, WrestleMania, Judgment Day, One Night Stand, Unforgiven and No Mercy. 2003 was probably the worst year imo. And it wasn't completely atrocious - Lesnar, Angle, Guerrero, Tajiri, Benoit, Jericho and Michaels were all delivering, and that's just off the top of my head. Look forward to Scott's apologies for HHH's debacle after debacle after debacle on P2B....

I've been skipping the first 20 minutes on any Ross Report I've listened to. He's a spectacularly delusional, out of touch, bitter man.

Listened to the second hour this morning. It picks up a great deal, to be fair. Ted covers his early career, a few Mid-South stories, Dr Death and Hansen.

Ted's very dull, no question. But isn't it up to the interviewer to direct the conversation? All Ross has to do is bring up the classic Mid-South angles/matches that we all want to hear about. And by all I mean anyone that wants to listen to JR interview Ted DiBiase.

Halfway through Ross Report with DiBiase. This one had sooooooo much potential, but these two old sticks in the mud are putting me to sleep. Never mind rambling about it not being as good as the good old days - just tell the stories from the good old days. How hard is that!

I always get the impression there are a lot of very intelligent people on this board. Just look at what's going on in the 'is drawing a good metric?' discussion, for example. Part of what I'm asking is - do you feel your time could be better spent with more highbrow pastimes? Again, maybe it's just me with my lowly job and delusions of grandeur. Again, don't shoot!

Thanks, Johnny - needed that! It's a great thread but it's heavy going....

Agree completely. Poor Randy! Gets a lot of abuse but to me he works hard and has periods of really strong work. I remember someone saying it seems like he and WWE are in a loveless marriage but it's not fiscally possible for them to extricate themselves. Sometimes he lets that contempt shine through, because he has impunity. Compared to everyone else threading on eggshells, him and Lesnar make me laugh.

Sorry for dragging this up a month later but part of what I'm getting at is - do you have faith that you would get more enjoyment from everything going forward than you would from what's gone before? I get as much enjoyment from rewatching/re-evaluating wrestling as I do from the live experience (I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard around here)

Oh, forgot that I watched the Flair-RazorvSavage-Perfect and World title match at Survivors too. The tag match was ok, nothing earth shattering. Pleasantly surprised by Hart-HBK. I'd remembered it as technically sound but long and a little dull. Found it much more exciting and fast paced this time round. For what it's worth, I'd guess that prior to last year I hadn't watched any of these since the mid-90s.

Watched some WWF and WCW 92 last year. Rumble 92 - Watching it now, it's pretty slow and dull in large parts imo. Don't know if I've seen a massively pimped, beloved match fall further in my estimations. The IC matches at Wrestlemania and SummerSlam held up very well though, as did Savage-Flair at 'Mania. My opinion of WCW PPV output remained unchanged. SuperBrawl, WrestleWar and Beach Blast all strong shows (Steiners-Doc Gordy was still solid, not great imo). Things get dodgy with GAB and Havoc (although Pillman-Steamboat and the tag title match on Havoc are enjoyable), and as stated earlier, I enjoyed parts of Starrcade - even the battlebowl matches and battle royal weren't terrible. Anyway. that's my two cents.

Has Parv a subtle Welsh accent? Apart from an odd pronouncation of 'heard', he's London/south of England all the way with me

Ok, I haven't completely given up on this. Gotta defend this month's issue. Write ups on TNA Sacrifice, NJPW Dontaku, DG Dead or Alive and RoH/NJPW War of the Worlds that actually make me want to watch all four (or parts thereof at least). A really good interview with Fergal Devitt (interviews are one of PS's strongest suits in general). An appraisal of Bray Wyatt's career so far (all very positive and optimistic about his future).

Although I agree that 92 was a year of 2 halves. For better or worse, the Watts era was very distinct from it's predecessor.

Starrcade? ok, it wasn't the greatest show ever, but Sting-Vader and the tag title match beg your pardon.

This is starting to sound like a thread we should start if it doesn't already exist?

Yes. Not to mention, better draw too. Drawing power aside, that's an element of wrestling that doesn't interest me, my recent journey through late 80s NWA into early 90s WCW led me to a different conclusion. I definitely appreciate Luger and find him to be a really good worker in that time frame. However, my opinion of Sting has been raised a lot during this rewatch. He knew how to capture the crowd and make them care, he was a really good worker (I'd say that he and Luger were on about equal footing in this area during these years) and he was a great babyface in peril. I've found recently that drawing power and how well a promotion is doing financially can be a massive distraction when trying to enjoy the product. Reading Observers from early 90s WCW is all doom and gloom, not quite ignoring but certainly overshadowing the great matches going on all the time. Don't know if it's watching wrestling in an inappropriate bubble, but as long as the on screen product is entertaining with crowds hot as hell, why should behind the scenes turmoil detract from that? Perhaps this belongs elsewhere, don't mean to derail.

Yes. Not to mention, better draw too. It's funny because if you travel out into the "regular" wrestling internet, most fans would immediately laugh at this and say Sting was better in every way because that is how they've been conditioned to think. Despite overwhelming evidence that Luger was much better in a lot of areas in a lot of timeframes. That's what's so cool about PWO. Agreed. There's a pointless, lazy dig at Luger in the review of WCW Greatest Matches DVD in this month's Power Slam that's infuriating.

Money Inc v Doc and Gordy might have been one of the most interlinked, historically intriguing tag matches possible. DiBiase-Doc, DiBiase-Gordy and Doc-Rotunda all have his backstory. I would guess Rotunda-Gordy paired off sometime too?