Parties

Darsow's best performance may be on the back of a flatbed in the match w/ Dustin. And Masked Superstar is wrestling personified as a character. But Demolition is one of the only acts on the Network who haven't looked better than I recalled. Almost everyone on a hot Saturday Night's Main Event is a better worker than you remember, but these dudes were so punch-stomp in their offense that I don't see the appeal. I guess I like them as promos, but Darsow had the same "Kick your stinking teeth in" lines for every gimmick he worked, and the characters were better as silent executioners wearing masks to the ring. Fuji actually added to their act, which you can't say for many. I agree with Naylor: wrestling needs more face paint. But paint is simply not enough for All-Time 25.

The Rusev-Lana split is starting to feel like a ruse that ends in them getting back together and Rusev winning the IC title in the Chamber. Which makes no sense, but still makes more sense than that terrible segment where she dispassionately watched Ziggler get destroyed at close range.

Charlotte isn't a total package talent yet. Only woman they have who is one is Sasha and maybe Alicia Fox, who they dropped as quickly as they pushed her in a one month “crazy chick” angle. Lynch and Bayley are in the zone, but it remains to be seen how big they can get. I'd be into Banks as the Rock, someone like Lynch, Charlotte, or even Emma as a mudhole-stomping babyface, and Bayley as the Mick Foley who main events but remains an affable comedy figure. If they even realize what they have in Banks, it's happened very recently. For all we know they could be having meetings about strapping the rocket to her. Rarely in WWE history do they recognize a major talent until long after the fans have demanded it. Recently crowds have had to stage outright coups. Mgmt. tends to be either behind their own curve or very conservative, depending on how you look at it. All the stuff you hear about not wanting anyone to get too over applies here. No one is allowed to be bigger than the brand, which kills opportunities to make stars. Paige looked pretty great in NXT too, and we've seen what happens when you become just another pawn moved around 6-7 hours of main roster TV each week. I would hate to see Banks stuck having three matches a week with Brie Bella, which is the nature of the beast right now. Listen to that the promo Lana just cut tonight to turn face. That was the most generic language you could use to impart ideas of independence and empowerment. It had all the right nouns of progress, but does anyone talk like that? Is it storytelling that people get behind, especially when it all just concludes with the prize of making out with Ziggler? Whether Steph had a hand in that or it came from writers pandering to her, I cannot say. But stuff like that can either be just universal enough to work, or come off as very phony. It worked in front of that crowd for Lana, but if that was coming out of Charlotte's mouth every week I suspect it would flop. All of this ignores Vince and Dunn's clear misogyny over the years, which cannot be overstated. Steph to her credit seems to recognize the need for change, but she's not writing the show week to week. Most of the Divas tonight appeared as giggly flirts swooning over the Entourage scrubs. To answer the original question: there's no good reason they can't headline PPVs, and it should happen. But we all know the reasons why it isn't currently happening, as it would require a very stubborn 70 year old man to change 30 years of bad habits.

I need to watch more of his peak, but as of now he wouldn’t yet make it. What it means to be Best in the World in 2014-2015 (or among the usual suspects) is interesting. I’m comparing AJ to older guys who were maybe 50th in the world in their prime or worse, but only because they worked in vastly superior eras. I’m weighing Styles against low-tier borderline guys like Caswell Martin, Leo Burke, Ashura Hara, Psicosis, etc. Is it that those guys are more fun, esoteric picks with novelty as I’m kind of discovering them now, while AJ toiled in mediocrity his whole career pre-NJ? I’m happy for Styles and he was hands down the best worker in ROH when I saw him live last year, and being King of Today’s Mountain (and he currently has some stiff competition to that throne) isn’t as valued by me as it probably should be. But being top 10 in the world in 2015 counts for so much less than ’85, ’95, or even 2005. In terms of guys currently in their prime, I'd be more inclined to take Cesaro. Either way, Styles is the poster child of being as good as the opportunities you're given.

Yarr, sorry, by "nominated" I meant to say "make my list". There's way too much stuff to watch for a project like this, but revisiting the peak of NOAH seems like a worthy cause now that they're off the radar, and Honda would probably be my top guy from the period to look at, aside from Akiyama perhaps improving his ranking on my list.

Los Terribles Cerebros should be nominated as a trio, and could definitely make my Top 25 tag teams. I don't see him as a top 100 all-time singles, but in times of worldwide awareness he's one of the most underrated guys of the last 10 years.

Just watched the ’94 barbed wire/landmines match between Aoyagi and Onita in ’94, and it is really good for a heavily-gimmicked deathmatch, botched fireball and all. Whenever I look at the Onita/Tarzan Goto era of FMW, I see how adept they were at working the drama of the big spots. Cool performance from Aoyagi where he is able to convey that he’s both in over his head in Onita’s world, but still a genuine badass who can win. He’s got a ton of charisma. As did Inoue, and other lesser-known guys from AJ/NOAH’s undercard. The ref is wearing ski goggles. I’m glad matches like this exist. Also saw Aoyagi vs. Kikuchi from ’03. Not a match that would put Aoyagi on top 100 lists, but an entertaining slugfest in and out of the ring. Has the vibe of that prime era of NOAH when they had midcarders over. Aoyagi hits a top rope axe handle in this. Tamon Honda is another guy from this period who could be nominated, as he has some great performances with and without Kobashi.

Lynch as Arn, Alicia Fox as Windham, Alundra Blayze as J.J?

He finished 44th in the Smarkschoice poll. I stand corrected, and should really only speak for myself in raising how his legend has grown in recent years. Though the SC consensus was rarely in line with my take, and is different from what followed on DVDVR/WKO/Segunda Caida, which I'm more familiar with than the SC stuff. Maybe it was just that I wasn't seeing people his runs of WWF and WCW back then? I just don't recall people discussing him as an exceptional worker who they were watching and appreciating at the time. But yes, his best known matches (esp. vs Warrior and Steamboat) also did well in the SC "Best WWE matches" poll that I did submit a ballot to years later, and Savage-Steamboat from Maple Leaf made my list. I think the Hogan-Savage match from MSG '86 where Savage bleeds a ton made my list as well. While many selections from it are very on point, and it's an interesting arifact, that SC list does look dated today. Which is understandable for a list from mid-2006. #14: Dynamite Kid. #15: Hokuto. #16: Austin. #27: Ohtani. #31: Ozaki. #33: Hase. #46: HBK. #53: Mutoh. #62: Ultimo Dragon. #68: Sayama. #72: Chono. #91: Toshiyo Yamada. #93: Tommy Rogers. Highest luchador is Santito at #20, and by my count luchadors only made up 13% of the wrestlers on ballots, with most of them at the bottom and coming from stunninggrover and pantherwagner as the high votes.

Would need to see more of his prime in Florida to fairly judge. If he's not a top 100 worker, he may be a top 100 gimmick. I think the Dungeon of Doom makes him seem small-time in some people's eyes, but he got that gig by being a fantastic heel who worked really hard to get a terrible feud over. Plus even after that he's got the stuff with Arn/Benoit. The Varsity Club was a very cool gimmick (just watched Steiners-Sullivan/Rotundo from GAB '89: short but very entertaining), and the Army of Darkness was tremendous. They would rank high among top 100 group photos of factions taken on the beach. On his brawling alone, he doesn't make my list, but he is a beloved figure for sure.

As of now he's on my list, but he would could fall off. Boot Camp and Desert Storm matches are great, as are Steamboat/Youngblood along with the Patterson and Backlund stuff. And for what it's worth, he has a lasting cultural legacy off the G.I. Joe stuff. He's an odd case in that he has so many great matches, but his look and aspects of his act strike me as second-rate. I didn't buy him as champ in '91. I get why they did it as they thought they were seizing on the moment, but he was past his prime and history has proven that it didn't get over. His mic work varied between fantastic and over-the-top cheesy. He also loses points with me for being perhaps the all-time worse panelist on The Legends of Wrestling, which is wildly unfair to assessing his career, but man, he was horrible.

I don’t mean this morbidly, but he’s a guy whose stock has risen since he died. There are other factors: the Memphis set, Network/24-7 subscribers rewatching early Nitros and MSG shows, presence on YouTube, continued merch. Ten years ago, he wasn’t someone who obsessive online fans talked about as a top 100 elite worker. He’s particularly great at MSG and the Mid-South Coliseum, and I agree with the idea raised earlier that live crowd engagement seems to have been his specialty. I think he was great and that the rediscovery is deserved. Being such a fun character helps his case a lot. Purely as a bell-to-bell worker, I think he’s a questionable pick. Steamboat at WM3 is very overrated. But then you see something like their match at Maple Leaf Gardens and it's clear that he was great. But I need to watch more of his prime mid-80s stuff and his Flair feud in WCW. He may well end up on my list (he’s on the first draft), but I could see him falling off in favor of workhorses elsewhere. Will put it best in raising the question of fond childhood memories vs. better in-ring workers discovered in adulthood. He’s probably one of the five biggest American stars of all time (him, Rock, Austin, Hulk, Flair?) and Flair’s the only other one on that mountaintop who would make my 100.

Physically he probably peaked sometime around the big 5-on-5 gauntlet or the Inoki match, but I think that Yamazaki in '89 is his finest hour, and the best match UWF ever had. He is a #1 candidate, and would be my highest ranked Japanese worker.

He benefits from having a lot of good TV singles in the last 10 years, albeit midcard Smackdown stuff that people tend to forget. He made MVP look like an awesome worker. Held his own with Finlay. Had a very good match with Flair. The McIntyre stuff is very underrated. I'd even say I like his singles work more than the Hardys tags now. Haven't seen any OMEGA or Matt V1 stuff in a long time. I wouldn't vote for him, but he absolutely deserves consideration.

The Onita rivalry has two strong intervals, separated by five years spent in NJ/WAR. Liger in ‘90 is real good, and Cagematch lists it as only his third appearance after the two with Onita in FMW. He was part of Heisei Ishingun’s big run in ’92, where he worked Fujinami, Choshu, and Tenryu. Had a lot of heat in his Onita run. I’d need to see his 90-94 in New Japan to know where he’s at, esp. '93 when he was in WAR. I always root for the NOAH undercard: he’s below Ikeda, Kikuchi, Sano, and Scorpio, but above just about everyone else. One curious factoid was that in ’94 he worked a WWF house show “Royal Rumble” in Osaka, with Taker, Backlund, Bret, Owen, Savage, Martel, Waltman, and others. Seems to have been respected by great peers, and has an impressively long and ongoing career, from ’89 to present. A good reminder to consider Japanese midcarders like Kikuchi, Asako, Hamaguchi, Matsunaga, and Kido. Some cool stuff I’d want to see, as this is all listed as making TV on Cagematch:

MVC vs. Stan Hansen/Danny Spivey (AJPW, 4/18/91) Hansen bleeds a bucket, and this is probably a match to make the case for him as a top 10 singles guy than MVC as a top 10 team. Budokan setting made this feel like something out of the 80s more than the 90s. This breaks down too quickly into a bunch of pin breakups - would have liked to have seen more of the high-end tag stuff they were doing. Some historic significance to the finish, but not a great match. MVC vs. Kobashi/Kawada (AJPW, 5/19/91) Context here is that MVC had been AJ tag champs from Dec-April, lost it to Hansen-Spivey, and would regain the belts a few weeks after this. Clipped to eight minutes. Good stuff, especially in the chaotic Williams and Kawada brawl on the floor at the end, but I’d have liked this more if it had been more competitive. A critique of MVC is that (esp. early in their run) they eat other teams up. On the food chain, Kobashi and Kawada were still below the Americans here, but I’m eager to see the more competitive stuff to come. MVC vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 5/24/91) MVC have some signature spots (double team stomps, double power bomb) that they’re utilizing here, and Williams is good about throwing in some contempt for opponents whenever he works Misawa or Kawada. This was much more competitive that Kobashi/Kawada a week earlier, which kind of establishes that Misawa was becoming the Man. Hard work from all, and a significant match in the history of 90s AJ. MVC vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 12/6/91) This is the rematch for the title change earlier that year, as the gaijin return for revenge. Hard hitting stuff: I particularly liked the Misawa work with Gordy as he hits his big forearms and topes well here. Some incredible kicks from Kawada here too. Gordy’s got a big finish here as well where he looks like such a gargantuan juggernaut. MVC vs. Steiners (WCW Worldwide, 9/16/92) This is MVC in taped house show heel mode. Pulling hair, barreling out of the ring, taking back body drops, and treating the Steiners as competition. Wild match as you’ve got a hot crowd and everyone’s beating the hell out of each other. Almost no selling until hit with something vicious: Scott was sort of unfazed by Williams’ punches until Gordy jumps off the apron and kind of just curb stomps him. In the middle, some jumbo-sized FIP. Ten minutes of chaos from four psychopaths at work. Really hot Detroit crowd for the Steiners, and while this is too short to be their peak, this is really entertaining stuff from everyone involved. MVC vs. Stan Hansen/Johnny Ace (AJPW, 12/20/92) Clipped to eight minutes. This is mayhem immediately, with Hansen throwing tables around and trying to tear Gordy’s arm off. Whole match is built around Gordy’s arm, and Ace holds his own here while working it. Gordy makes a tag by throwing one hell of a left handed punch that clocks Ace in the jaw. While MVC are often the ones steamrolling opponents, here they’re working underneath against the onslaught of Hansen. The finish is either sloppy or a football scrum race against time depending on how you see it.

Recommendations (updated 05/22/15) MVC vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 7/10/90) MVC vs. Joel Deaton/Billy Black (AJPW, 10/13/91) MVC vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 12/6/91) MVC vs. Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff (Great American Bash, 7/12/92) MVC vs. Steiners (WCW Worldwide, 9/16/92) Seems like a team that could definitely be among the All-Time Top 25, but I want to rewatch their stuff to see if it holds up and what their best matches were. MVC vs. Tiger Mask II/Shinichi Nakano (AJPW, 3/31/90) Looks to be their earliest readily available pairing online. Not sure if their Bunkhouse match from the Bash ’87 tour against Eddie Gilbert/Murdoch made tape, but that seems like an awesome pairing if possible. Here’s Misawa three months away from unmasking. Pretty dull until halfway through when Misawa hits a tope and Williams catches him perfectly, as if someone tossed him a basketball. Not a complete squash, but MVC controls the majority, and it starts to feel like a match where they took the night off. But then: home stretch, about three-quarters of the way, they start hitting crazy slams and suplexes. Gordy sells well for Misawa’s flying dropkicks. Good pin breakups too. Nasty finish that establishes them as killers. MVC vs. “Crusher” Bam Bam Bigelow/Davey Boy Smith (AJPW, 6/1/90) Here they are against WWF-style guys of the era. Bigelow starts the match by mouthing “Fuck You” to his opponents twice, so we’re off to the races. They both have to start taking enormous bumps and selling huge for Davey Boy, who’s definitely working a WWF face-strong opening. Williams is press slammed overhead by Smith. Narrative of this seems to be that MVC gave Bigelow some of whatever they smuggled onto the plane. Davey has some too, but he’s so juiced that he doesn’t even notice. Causes Bigelow to do some goofy overselling and bug-eyed crotch spots. MVC have to cover for their opponents weird choices. Davey botches a monkey flip, staring at Williams like a deer in strobe lights. MVC get credit for working hard to salvage this, and the end result works. Another really stiff finish: one negative to watching this team’s matches now is that every power bomb and suplex looks like a concussion in the making. But hey, only four months until football. MVC vs. Misawa/Kawada (AJPW, 7/10/90) Gordy continues to sell well for Misawa. MVC put a stomping on Kawada on the outside. Gordy throws a torpedo of a dropkick at Kawada. Williams is a guy whose physique and subsequent move set varies from match to match, and he is a tank in this. Finish of Misawa/Kawada working 100mph around Gordy is entertaining - great stuff where everyone comes off really well. MVC vs. Giant Baba/Andre the Giant (AJPW, 11/21/90) Gordy and Andre both achieve so much with their mannerisms alone here. And there’s something to this where Oklahoma and Texas both have ideas of respecting elders, and you can see Gordy in particular (by working Fritz?) knows how to get old broken-down vets over. Not a good match at all as Baba and Andre really can’t go by this point, but it’s an interesting bit of theater. Baba and Andre would be instantly destroyed by MVC in a more legit booking, but the puppet show is performed finely by all. In some ways Andre is still so impressive to watch here, his signature spots fun as ever. Falling to catch both arms in the ropes, his face is amazing. The Americans oversell the Old Dudes’ offense, but in some ways this is one of the most versatile and impressive MVC performances, despite not being a good match. MVC vs. Dynamite Kid/Johnny Smith (AJPW, 11/15/90) i liked Williams using really aggressive collegiate pins and arguing with the ref over the count. Picture an upper midcard match in AJPW 1990 between a British-Canadian team and two Watts guys and you’ve got it. Worked like a meeting between four drug mules: a mix of calm, scattershot tension, and abrupt, deadly surges. MVC vs. Joel Deaton/Billy Black (AJPW, 10/13/91) This is the same Deaton who came up on the Crockett ep of “Exile on Badstreet", working in Japan a few years after the story told on the show. Right away, Black takes a crazy suplex from Gordy. Competitive match while still establishing MVCs as higher on the food chain. Deaton is a strange character and the team look kind of low rent, but they also keep fighting back and I'm rooting for them. Plus they both sell very well and the match feels big time in its near falls. Keaton’s stuff is goofy and kind of uncoordinated, but he has lots of fire, even when he’s looking weak in comparison to MVC. Really impressed by the pace of this: probably the best MVC match of these first six. MVC vs. Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff (WCW, 7/12/92) From Phil at Segunda Caida: “This was another damn good match, the opening had Steamboat do some very cool mat wrestling with both Doc and Gordy, which is an aspect of his game you don't see very much. He would squirm in and out of holds using his speed to avoid the power of the MVC. Gordy and Williams then have a long section of beating on Steamboat. Few give beatings like Gordy and Williams and few take them like Ricky Steamboat, Williams hits a nasty backbreaker, and Steamboat spends much of the FIP section selling his ribs. When he finally tags Nikita, Koloff comes in with some cool shoulder blocks, before being spiked head first into the mat by Gordy. They then work over Nikita until the big cluster finish with Williams hitting an awesome Stampede spinebuster. This was a little one sided, with MVC really dominating, but the bursts of Steamboat and Nikita offense were great and it never dragged.” MVC vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes (WCW, 7/12/92) From Phil: “These two teams have a classic match up a month or so later on WCWSN, but this was a little disappointing . Crowd was deflated after the huge world title match which precedes it. Format was similar to the other Gordy and Williams match, with more greco wrestling then mat wrestling at the beginning, but Gordy and Williams really took about 80% of the match, Dustin is really great at face in peril as is Windham but I think they needed a bit more offense to really make this a great match. I did like the last couple of minutes with Dustin have a great firey comeback to almost get the tag before being cut off, and Windham dropkicking Rhodes in the back when Williams had him up for the Stampede. Still the first half of this match was a little dull. Still a fine match, but this PPV set a hell of a standard.”

"And Jimmy Garvin is a good pilot."

Cena and Bryan seem like the only locks. Cesaro and Lesnar are possibilities. I get Styles being on lists. Sheamus is my dark horse who almost certainly wouldn't make my top 100, but is closer than I'd have originally thought and is peaking at the right time to be considered. I need a few more years of Thatcher to choose him. When you really start listing guys, 100's a smaller number than you'd think. The number of amazing guys worldwide from the 80s alone could easily fill a sound top 100. Nothing against anyone listed or anyone picking them, as they're all worth discussing as options, but most of these guys wouldn't make a top 300 for me.

I find the whole argument to be somehow both pedantic and void of nuance, but generally speaking, wrestling needs fewer “company men” and more rebels who speak up to management and throw appliances in pools. Calling Flair a “company man” who’d do what he was told is too selective a view of Flair, given both his ace status and clashes with his bookers through the 90s. As is using Sid and Warrior as models of disagreeing with management. What about Austin, Foley, Bret, Shawn, HHH, and the countless others who argued to the benefit of their careers? It’s also false to say that “you don’t see a lot of guys talking up Rude.” He's praised often by his peers. Loyalty is admirable at certain times, but it’s silly to argue for or against it as any sort of all-encompassing concept. Rude thought highly of himself, and he may well have been a pain to work with at times. But look at the examples raised. He was wise/brave to call BS on Montreal. While not wanting to job to Hogan may have hurt his wallet, there’s more to life than your wallet. Showing backbone in that instance may well have helped in moving up the WCW ladder. He was correct in viewing himself as a rising star who shouldn’t have lost a career-making feud. And correct in thinking Hogan’s ego and endless insistence on winning to be a problem, one that plagued the industry for years to come. Hogan was the bigger star (if you wanna argue that his egotism was more justified than Rude’s), but Hulk’s selfishness was worse for the business longterm. Rude bragging about not wanting to job to Hogan is not at all the same thing as late 90s WCW. A cordial relationship in which a boss respects employees enough to appreciate constructive criticism is not the same thing as Nash's idiocy. No one's suggesting that Bischoff being a buffoon who threw around Turner's money to appease workers he was friends with and/or scared of is a sound business model.

Balor-Breeze: Balor’s paint looks ridiculous the moment you turn the lights back on. Aside from Balor’s dive, match didn’t work for me at all - weak offense from both guys. Breeze’s kicks in particular rarely look good, and they’re the majority of what he does. Bayley/Charlotte-Emma/Brooke: Surprised that management is high on Brooke’s fitness model physique, as she looks a lot like Nattie, whose look (it’s been said) has held her back. Emma was entertaining as sarcastic heel. Would not have thought that’d be a good use for her, but it works. Bayley is superb, and perhaps even underrated as a total package. She’s not perfection, but she’s got a real understanding of her character and how to work babyface. I like Charlotte and root for her as Flair’s surprise heir post-Reid. She’s a capable athlete, such that I often forget how little she’s wrestled. She's got some awkward coordination and mistiming to overcome, but there’s a lot to like. Corbijn-Rhyno: Loud “Corbijn Sucks” chants tell the story. He’s not awful, but one wonders why he’s being pushed so hard. He’s tall, but he doesn’t even have a good physique and looked downright out of shape here. Only reason I see is that he has HHH’s preferred Motorhead-Germanic S&M dungeon look, but we’ve seen how far that took the Ascension. I could see his finisher working: it’s a variation on one that dozens of other guys are doing right now, but at least it looks like it could KO an opponent. I just don't see him as a Reigns situation, as Reigns has so many pluses that Corbijn lacks. Dull match. Could have been three minutes of titanic power moves. I guess they want Corbijn to improve by working longer matches, but this wasn’t good. Rhyno’s selling/comebacks (spinebuster, lariat) were the highlights. Would not have expected Rhyno to be the fiery babyface working from underneath here, but he was good at it. Blake/Murphy-Enzo/Cass: Solid feud utilizing WWE’s formula for midcard tag teams. Blake and Murphy are inoffensive, and the babyfaces’ gimmick works. I liked the Rocket Launcher finish for comedic purposes. Banks-Lynch: Excellent match. One of the best of the year, and better than anything in WWE since Brock-Reigns, including New Day-Cesaro/Kidd. Banks stole the show and was the MVP of the night. If she’s jobbing to the Bellas in six months, it’ll be a waste. She should be booked as the Kobe/Wade/Garnett of the division who everyone loathes but still recognizes as the most cutthroat and talented. Unlike most matches with (relative) newcomers, they got more aggressive and violent as the match went on, building the drama. A Divas match built around such vicious looking submissions was unlike anything they’ve done with women in the past. There was a lot of Sara Del Ray in there. Owens-Zayn: Not as big a fan of these guys as some, but Owens’ mic work has been great/unique to typical WWE. I liked Graves’ analogy comparing Zayn to Pacquiao. I found this lacking as a match, as I often do with Owens’ work. Better character than he is as a worker. I’m torn about the booking. Second match in a row in which they successfully got Owens over as a dastardly heel. On the other hand, most of the crowd still loves him, it was a half-baked rehash of their previous match, and Owens’ heeling is so effective that I don’t even enjoy watching him work. It’s a strange deal, in that from a kayfabe perspective, he’s doing everything right. Maybe I just don’t like Zayn enough to view him as the conquering hero? They’ve done one too many injury angles with Sami. He’s too often the victim who’ll “get ‘em next time”, and the real life injuries are being milked poorly, much like Bryan. It risks the audience giving up on him. Liked the setup for Joe as the next rival to the throne. At his best Joe can be the guy who you want to defeat Owens, moreso than Balor.

Kaiju also did a batshit crazy draft where you were allowed to select anyone who'd ever lived, which led to some of the funniest stuff I've ever read on a message board. I recall drafting (among others) Terry Funk, Inoki, Ted Turner, Jim Herd, Andre the Giant, and Confucius. Several people actually tried to negotiate trades with me for Confucius. TheRoyalDutchOfDukes got this savant genius guy whose name I don't recall to write his, and the dude ended up scripting weeks if not months of genuinely great TV in which Kevin Sullivan and Jerry Estrada joined forces, Roddy Piper and Jumbo Tsuruta performed the Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?" together, and Kerry Von Erich was some kind of Nazi supersoldier who on his death bed transformed into Sid Vicious. Someone booked a warehouse explosion in which several of our characters died. It was a true high water mark for that board's insular brilliance.

I just saw Nailz-Virgil from Wembley for the first time in many years and while watching it thought, "This might be the weirdest, scariest dude they ever booked."

I go to roughly one ROH show a year, as they're really good about running in NYC. This time it's Best in the World from Terminal 5. Only two matches announced are a #1 contender three-way between Elgin/Moose/Roderick, and the Jay vs. Jay / Title vs. Title. Now that Moose has re-upped his deal, it seems feasible for him to win. I don't care for Elgin at all, so hoping he's a non-entity there. Strong is having a career renaissance, but I prefer him as a heel. As someone who hasn't kept up with ROH booking this year: is it that they're trying to unify the world and TV titles? (It's not being billed as such.) Or that they'd be willing to put both on someone and let them defend each separately? Or that this is bound to have a screwy finish and/or time limit draw? I usually dislike Title vs. Title matches, but going in ignorant, I at least feel like there's some intrigue to see where they'll go.

There were times when Alvarez & Martin podcasts felt like a couple who argue constantly and then make "Opposites attract! Yin and yang!" excuses for always being at each others throats. Alvarez thought that playing constant contrarian to Martin made for great radio, which it decidedly did not.