Laz

And he tucks t-shirts into shorts. Never trust a man that does that.

He was a very popular reviewer in the early days of the IWC. Many of us here even posted on his old board until it shut down in 2002/2003, and many of us went on to the board that popped up after Keith shut down his site. The issue is that he has not grown critically in nearly 20 years, is highly prone to perpetuating false rumors because he either believes in them or thinks they're still humorous, and is highly prone to temper tantrums. That old board he ran where many of us posted? Its downfall can be traced to Keith having petty arguments with moderators and posters, occasionally banning people for disagreeing with him. He's a jerk who happened to get really popular online when wrestling was super hot.

In terms of presenting character/gimmick through their ring work, Sabu is extremely underrated.

That seems as obvious as the crossover film/television audience.

You can't compare them 1:1, but they still show a trend. I choose Hardy, by the way, and only because the name is more well known.

Upon further introspection, I agree with the T-Bone Tazplex. You better watch out 'cause he's a war machine.

I think Brian Cage's Fucking Machine Suplex would fit that bill.

I still have love for Dreamer/Anderson, even just for the finish.

"I doubt any newspaper would look up information from an industry's top journalist."

He says Weiss's evidence proves it "in his mind." It's just a promotion for an episode, guys.

Opinions and all that...but you're wrong.

Which is how most musicians make their money, too. That band from across the country playing your nearby dive bar? They're probably only getting paid enough to get a little bit of gas and buy some shit off the dollar menu, but they probably don't want to sign their lives away to Sony or Elektra. Indie wrestling is the new punk rock, and not just because of the overabundance of guys wearing kuttes and covered in shitty tattoos.

I had... -WWF Full Metal (aka vol 1), vol 2-4 -both ECW CDs -two of those cheapie "garage band covering songs" CDs -WWE Anthology

Considering it seems indie wrestling is seen more like a touring band these days than ever before, something tells me a lot of talent is there more for the experience than to make millions.

If it were me, I'd still take the chance and go to the WWE. Even the worst-case scenarios will get you better paydays on the indies afterward. Not necessarily. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't a major factor in Styles and Bryan taking a decade to sign the money and how they made more of it than WWE were offering? Plus we have the Young Bucks out there who are so hot they move their own merch in national retailers, guys like Trent and Cody who've been better off on their own, Sami Callihan waa clearly not made for WWE, etc. It's like any other job and would boil down to personal views. If somebody offered me $100k but I had to sign over all IP rights and would be fined for using something I purchased legally vs. keeping my $40-50k but maintaining independence and professional freedom? I spark that doob up. It comes down to what you value more.

Edibles and smoke are entirely different feelings, though, and many who smoke don't like edibles. Regardless, I can see it being a deciding factor. Work a few dates a month for Impact (in addition to your indie bookings) and maintain personal freedom, both creatively and in terms of what you choose to put into your body...or take a chance in a company that has a track record of removing what made you special.

Austin went for that Ground Octopus Hold though, which I still find a hilarious choice of hold for a southern redneck character. Austin mentioned Al Snow showed him that hold because he didn't have any submissions before the match. That still fits the theme of the feud and of the match. Austin wanted to break Bret physically and mentally by bringing the fight to him, he wanted to upstage him by any means necessary. That's a match I really can't understand not "getting."

Everything about Cornette as a booker/judge of talent can be summarised by how willingly he let go of Generico and wanted to keep Steen out for a year when those were the only two guys fans cared about. Nope, gotta bring in QT Marshall and give Mike Mondo a push.

And many other indie talents, especially if marijuana is still on WWE's post of banned substances. If I was told I could get a job somewhere that won't fine me for using a product that's legal in most of the country, keep my IP, and be paid alright while able to work wherever else? Damn straight I'm taking it.

Re: Elgin/Richards The only thing about that match which stood out, even in its time, was that Elgin was presented as a legitimate competitor. It was cool seeing somebody not named Eddie Edwards take the fight to Davey, but the match itself still suffers greatly from both men's pitfalls. Maybe ***, if even. I think Meltz just loves finishing stretches. Like, LOVES them. It seems all the crazy high praise he doles out goes to matches where the finishes are stupid hot, no matter the quality of work heading in.

I guess I forgot to drop out of this. I apologize to those I've been paired with, but there's been a lot going on at home lately and I can't really focus on scheduled reviews. I'll probably join back in if things quiet down.

That's on you for eschewing the build and story of the match. Bret wanted to make Austin tap, Austin just wanted to kick Bret's was. They'd been involved for at least 5 months at that point. If you expected tons of technical wrestling then you probably expect a fast food burger to be healthy and filling.

I think Hart/Austin and Punk/Cena are examples of why wrestling doesn't work in a vacuum. Those matches exemplified the stories heading into them so perfectly that they're worthy of the full 5. I digress from Dave a ton. I wouldn't give any Misawa singles I've seen 5*, for example, because of my issues with Misawa's work in general. I also don't think the Joe/Punk series in ROH, which was the first US match to get 5* from Dave since Hart/Austin, gave me anything close to perfection since their two long bouts were HEADLOCK HEADLOCK HEADLOCK and sure, it fits the story perfectly, but 60 minutes of headlocks isn't what I call quality pro wrestling. That's not even getting into the 6* nonsense. Like TTK, I think Omega's facial reactions are ridiculous for such a "serious" talent (they were fine when he worked DDT and PWG a bunch), Okada struggles to make anything but the finishing stretch matter, and even the idea of extending the scale screams more "let's get Twitter heat" than it does "seriously this is that much better." But I've also never taken Dave's snowflakes to mean a whole lot. He's like Peter Travers, calling everything competently made an instant classic.

If we're being honest, my vote would switch if it were exclusively TNA/WWE taken into account. AJ was having multiple standout matches a year in TNA whereas Bryan in WWE has had a few great matches but spread out.

Bryan over AJ There's certain intangibles Bryan carries with ease that AJ isn't as adept in. Ring psychology being the biggest, but this one's going to come down to personal taste. Flair over Misawa Misawa is like Led Zeppelin to me: undeniably great and important, but I can always think of other contemporaries whose work I find more interesting. Flair is Flair, and when I think of what American pro wrestling constitutes? I think Flair. I don't feel the same about Misawa when it comes to puro. Bret over Steamboat This might as well be a coin toss, but Bret has the "it" factor when it comes to carrying oneself as a wrestler. Ricky is legendary but I struggle to think of work that stands out beyond Flair or Savage. Bret also had a massive hand in getting one of the all-time greats over the top whereas Steamboat doesn't really have that. (And yes, I know they both worked with Austin, but Austin/Bret is better than Austin/Steamboat.)