Goodear

And yet... I feel this is very much a case where the holistic view of Windham and his skill set doesn't match with his output especially in terms of longevity. I mean I love Barry like soooo much and even I'm wondering if he's ranked too high in the position of 25.

IS Barry Windham still out there? I'm a little surprised he is still kicking around after Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton have dropped.

Hennig is one of those guys like Martell and DiBiase who seem to be getting free passes on years and years of mediocrity in WWF. Even if you love,love,love their other stuff, those are big stretches where nothing notable in ring happens. And I know people think the style was limiting but how does that explain other guys like Savage, Bossman and fucking Warrior having more standout performances?

Lazy Canadian out drinking maple syrup and apologizing to people.

Is it telling that all of Dundee's recommended matches are against Lawler?

So if you aren't the high vote on anyone... Asking for a friend.

Someone actually listened to me! I'm excited! This is not sarcasm. I'm honestly excited. Sure it could be my problem, I can only attempt to articulate what that problem is because I'm working on speaking up more. I'm not just going "Mexicans! BLECH!" when I try to watch lucha because that seems exceptionally short sited and OMG so racist. I'm trying to tell you what my issues are and why they exist. I'm not trying to tell you that you should stop liking it. There are obviously people who love shoot stuff since they seem to think their guys are getting underrated, I just figured I would throw in from the other side of "I didn't rank him" since the conversation was somewhat one sided.

Well sure, but pro wrestling as a whole is comic book slug fest between the Thing and The Hulk where they can punch each other for an issue and not break their hands. There is an internal consistency that causes a lovely cognitive dissonance that allows you to ignore Irish whips as being bullshit. It's actually fun to me to try and find the point when that suspension breaks on Young Buck matches when it becomes too much for my brain to handle. Shoot style has the opposite effect where its supposed to be closer to true fighting which serves (for me watching it now 25 years later) to highlight how real it is not.

"Roman Reigns Sucks" sounds like a hard chant to rhythmically do. How does that cadence even work?

Unfortunately it is 2016 and I don't have access to a time machine that will allow me to go into Worked Shoot matches not knowing what MMA looks like. Its the unfortunate consequence of having your promotion being built around this idea of being 'real' when real stuff becomes readily available. Watching worked shoot can come off like a karate instructor doing the 'this is what you do when an attacker throws a punch at you' bit but faster at times.

I don't really get shoot style. Now that MMA is an actual thing that everyone has seen, I can't get past the inaccuracies from actual fights. Like the Tamura-Vader match I saw seemed more unrealistic because Vader wouldn't check leg kicks and Tamura wouldn't just keep annihilating the limb. That the match finished with a powerbomb was the icing on the cake for me. I don't know, its almost uncanny valley up ins as its closer to real fights than most wrestling but its so close that its jarring that its not 100% what you would see at UFC 1,382.

The Smash to his Ax.

It's okay if you have bad taste. No one will judge you. Sleeze is now in the Book of Grudges.

To make a wild claim based off nothing, Muta benefits greatly from the current a la cart style of watching wrestling where people only watch hyped stuff and skip the garbage. The wildly inconsistent do well in today's climate.

That goes to a larger question of star ratings and how they could work as tools for recommendation as opposed to a method of putting things in order.

I think ultimately this is match that if you read a play-by-play account it would come off better than it was in reality. The overarching narrative is that Dean will sink just as low as Triple H to accomplish his goals which starts with a series of eye pokes early in the contest and culminates with a exchange of low blows going into the finish. They also feature a call back to the Roadblock match finish where Dean barely gets into the ring to avoid a count out and Hunter goes right to the pedigree. All in all from a lay out perspective, I think the match was constructed well (although the headlock as a control tool for Dean is ill fitting). The issue is one of execution as Triple H especially seems almost casual doing certain things like side side stepping a corner charge or tossing Ambrose out of the ring. It keeps gear of the match too low to pull off a vibe that would work with Dean being frantic and keeping Hunter off balance. I don't think Matt should watch it. Tip to fan cam guys. No one wants to see you and your friends, keep the camera on the action. Keep the ring in frame.

According to the Afterbuzz TV recap show, Tucker Knight came out to Torrie's old theme.

No. it's been well established that Hogan kayfabe character was an asshole mistreating his friends and a whiny egomaniac bitch. There's a whole thread about this. Plus he was cheating his ass off and using shitty heel tactics (like scratching his opponent's back) despite being a colossus. It was so easy to agree with Jesse Ventura on color when he was pointing out how awful Hogan really was. That was a fucking great thread. I think it was worth noting that by the time someone got to Hogan, they had already brutalized Koko B. Ware and Hacksaw Duggan by that point. I think it was part of Hogan's act that his was the retribution for that behavior and he didn't sit back on his haunches waiting to get thumbed in the eye before he would fire back in kind.

Pillman's biggest flaw was that he didn't have the tools to work heel effectively as a single. Obviously he didn't have the chance to show what he could do as he got older and less mobile but I don't see any evidence that he would have been able to adapt to diminished physical condition as his final run on his ankle was lackluster.

So Brian Pillman is overrated. That's nice. As a face he always struck me as a very NWA style face who had a flying bodypress finish and did arm drags because that is what NWA faces did darn it! I never quite bought into him in that regard and I think that was because he had the mental makeup as a heel. Unfortunately, I don't think he ever had the physical skill set to work heel much like we have seen from Seth Rollins. He was unfortunately torn between those two axis and never stood out to me because of it. While his Loose Cannon stuff could have taken him higher, he could never really pull off the work for the gimmick.

Alan Kilby, what a jerk!

Would Ric Flair be beloved if he was called Sparticus and wore an earring?

Its ambitious in that Jericho is uniquely reactive to his opponent. The strength of WWE style is its tier system where Mark Henry is stronger than John Cena who is stronger than Christian who is stronger than Rey Mysterio. So when Mark manages to catch Rey and do what he does, he is likely to win the match. If Rey can do what he does, he is likely to win. Jericho lacks physical tools for the most part where he can exert that advantage in many situations. On the 10 point scale of attributes, he's a 3-4 in all of them. So in addition to doing his spots, he routinely counters other people's spots. So he is less likely to eat three shoulder blocks, throw a punch and get caught in the protoplex. It requires not only a knowledge of what he does, but what everyone else does as well. He doesn't always pull it off, obviously.

I would agree that Jericho can overreach mentally but I think its better to do that and create a role for himself rather than work like CM Punk and have to fall back on winning 'cause' when he isn't big, fast, strong or have any sort of physical advantage over most opponents. His counter wrestling psychology probably works better when up against guys who have been around for a while like Rey Mysterio than newcomers but it at least indicates he scouts his opponents in a kayfabe perspective. I would give him credit for trying something new and unique, even if he doesn't execute it perfectly. It's at least ambitious.

I saw Cesaro and Miz have the best match of a house show just before Cesaro went out with his shoulder injury. Dave has some of the worst taste in wrestling, I swear.