Parties

Defining “worst”: I think someone who truly sucks but still is/was pushed hard or had a long career of note is “worse” than someone who was hopeless but never went anywhere or was soon forgotten. This is why Kane is in the running for my all-time least favorite, and even I wouldn't say he’s the worst. Undertaker/Show vs. X-Pac/Kane from Summerslam ’99 is a very good match, and the Bryan/Kane team had some good moments. Brutus Beefcake is a good example of a total scrub getting a dozen pushes, but I think the Dream Team keeps him out of “worst ever” territory. Picking a Diva seems unfair: they're models who are trained to work, and half of them end up exceeding expectations. Historically, George Gulas is a good example in that he has the legend of killing a territory singlehandedly (or rather, with his father’s push). But that territory was killed off by Nick Gulas having such a bad rep and making so many bad business decisions, George just being the most notorious. I really haven't seen much Singh. What I have seen is awful, but from a gimmick and atmosphere perspective, I have a hard time calling a guy who lived such an amazing life (and printed his own legend) the worst ever. I know booking and status shouldn't necessarily equate to technical prowess here, but Singh was a bigger star than everyone in this thread not named Big Daddy, and even then I have no idea who was the bigger draw/moneymaker.

Camera work is hugely important and plays so deeply into how well a match is received that I've always been surprised it's not discussed more often. Vince writing WWE often feels like what would happen if the mogul who runs a major film studio also tried to script all of the movies the studio produced while also acting in them. Like, no one expects Scott Rudin to write Captain Phillips and play the titular role. By the same token, Kevin Dunn producing/directing WWE often feels like a guy directing sports entertainment who has watched neither sports nor entertainment in the last 20 years. And atmosphere is everything. The setting of great wrestling arenas and studios, the stylistic and regional nuances that are today such insightful time capsules into what Memphis was as a city in '77, or what New York and Tokyo were in '83. Kayfabe has become a dirty word, but kayfabe isn't about keeping fans in the dark: it's about shining the bright lights.

Memorability, as OJ noted, is a matter of time. But even Shield-Wyatts and Shield-Bryan suffered in a company with 7 hours a week of free TV, monthly PPVs, and NXT. WWE now produces in a month what a territory did in a year. The bookers are less savvy, creating too much content with too little diversity. The McMahons are victims of their own success, surrounding themselves with sycophants and hacks. Austin's podcast with Vince (while largely a work) was telling in Vince's tone deaf message: I'm 70 years old, but I'm still hip. The minor changes needed to produce 40-50 hours of memorable programming each month are actually pretty easy. They would cost nothing and in many cases save/make money. It's the needlessly stubborn, cynical philosophy that would need to change. I have mixed feelings about the whole “match quality is higher than its ever been” trope that gets thrown around a lot. Rosters are as good as they've ever been, but they've also never been used worse. Great talent – perhaps more than ever - all wasted in such poor presentation. I watched the 1988 Survivor Series for the first time recently. Tons of great talent, but tons of mediocre/bad/over-the-hill workers in there too. The booking was effective, but it was far from rocket science, with some baffling choices at times. But the show was unbelievably fun to watch, because they presented it as fun. It looked like everyone on the card was having a great time and put over this show (a largely irrelevant collection of multi-man matches) as being of great value. The teams had real camaraderie. The announcers were enthusiastic. Most WWE today is a chore to watch, because all of the performers from the top to the bottom look tired/bored/hurt/unhappy/uninspired. Especially with the McMahons pushing themselves as the top act, the entire creative ethos of the company seems like an out-of-touch, pessimistic, dreary product in which the corporate executive heels always win and the babyfaces are all cowards and rubes. In other words: it feels like a show written by a jaded 70 year old millionaire who dislikes his employees and customers. The WWE TV of '88 was far inferior in terms of matches, but the booking was so much more enthused that it made what should have been cocaine-addled dreck into something great, while the opposite happens today. And while I do think it's fair to take declinist attitudes with a grain of salt – and appreciate that there is some cherry-picking of the past going on – isn't national/global interest in wrestling kinda plummeting right now? Has wrestling ever been less cool? There's more at fault than foggy memories and shortened attention spans.

As goofy as Striker can be, he had self-policing moments where he knew to shut up, and there were several others where he covered for Ross getting things wrong, rambling, or sticking too close to his rote phrases.The version I watched unfortunately is missing the battle royal. Junior 4-way: Thought with ReDragon in, you'd see attempts at shoot style mimicry from Romero and Time Splitters, but this was the same match they've worked a hundred times. Not sure what the function of this division is anymore: redundancy interchangeable with what they did on the last few Dome shows. Highlights were Kushida hulking up and Fish's top rope Michinoku Driver. Lowlight was Nick Jackson's terrible pug face sucking wind the whole match. Tenzan/Kojima/Honma vs. Jarrett/Fale/Yujiro: The intros were tremendous, and this was better than it needed to be. Lots of sports entertainment, but they all sold for each other and played to the crowd. Fun finish to a short trifle that wouldn't have been out of place on an Attitude era PPV. Yano/Marufuji/Nicholls/Haste vs. Iizuka/Smith/Archer/Benjamin: At least they put most of the worst workers in one match. Iizuka-as-Killer Khan is fun. Archer has become a perfectly solid Acolytes-era Bradshaw: I await his run as a hedge funded world champion in 2021. Finish sucked and Marufuji is worse than ever. Sakuraba vs. Suzuki: Odd structure: Suzuki as the resilient face in white fighting through injury, with Saku as the ruthless one. Also not really sure how that was supposed to be under UWFi rules, as they didn't have time to utilize the rounds, points, and rope breaks. When they were competitive on the mat, this was cool. Way too short and I thought the finish lacked heat as no one bought it as the end, but good while it lasted. Ishii vs. Makabe: Best Makabe match I've seen. Brutal suplexes and head drops throughout, including a truly sick looking fireman's carry slam off the top from Makabe. This wasn't just an Ishii carry-job: both guys worked hard, especially given how injured Ishii is. Taguchi vs. Omega: Omega is such a nerd. So many other young guys they could have in this role. I liked Taguchi's butt attacks and other unorthodox stuff throughout. Two guys cosplaying Savage-Steamboat. Good that Taguchi kept trying to reel Omega in, but he couldn't halt all that goofy overacting. Admirably violent finish: they went out on the high note. Anderson/Gallows vs. Shibata/Goto: Anderson's improved greatly in the last year. Particularly liked the sequences of Shibata as unstoppable force and Gallows as brick wall. Didn't love this as much as some and it felt a bit short, but two badass teams throwing bombs works for me. Naito vs. Styles: Match of the night thus far. Naito's never looked more crisp in motion But Styles was the story here: great offense, like that inverted neckbreaker and his signature headdrop spots. Great submission in the Calf Splitter. Great bumps including some crazy stuff to the floor. I do question Naito's role here. He's a guy who looks like Richard Simmons on paper but has evolved into one of their best workers. Nakamura vs. Ibushi: Scratch that: this was the best of the night. What an entrance from Nakamura. The finish was perfect: just when you thought they were risking overkill, a definitive beatdown is laid out. But from start to finish the offense was really on-point and the contrast in styles worked. Tanahashi vs. Okada: These two aren't on the level of Nakamura/Shibata/Ishii. Okada as an elite worker never made sense to me. His closest American comparison would be the Rock: big star, not a great wrestler. This feud is what Rock vs. Michaels would have been if main eventing in '99-2001: some fun stuff and a main event spectacle that pops crowds, but none of the execution is great. I did like the backdrop on the ramp. Bad matwork thrown in just to have an "epic". I don't mean to totally bury this: they worked hard. Okada's flat back bump over the guardrail was the Terry Funk tribute the show needed. But Tanahashi taking breaks throughout what's supposed to be the natch of the year to do his poses and meander around the ring seemed odd, and the big counters at the end were telegraphed (forgivable when playing to a Dome crowd). Watching this: do you find Okada to be a killer who can beat you with raw power or a knockout strike? A great technician? A speed demon who wins on pace? I don't understand what I'm supposed to think makes this guy elite. Good dropkick though.

Sorry if it's been mentioned already in this thread, but has anyone reported on Hemme's contributions to creative? Storylines she's pitched or worked on? Did she come up with the Sam Shaw stuff? I had forgotten she was on the team and am curious if it's just another bizarre TNA hiring, if Dixie/others understandably wanted a woman on the team, or if she's actually got some good ideas (or as close to good as modern TNA affords).