Laz

"Realism never mattered in pro wrestling" is a revisionist thing considering after the business spent most of its existence trying to maintain kayfabe. Regardless, however, if you're going to tell me AJ Styles couldn't maintain a sense of legitimacy in the ring after watching his snugger work earlier on (particularly vs. LowKi and Bryan) then I don't think you understand the line that pro wrestling is meant to blur. It's like how John Wick is a more realistic take on gunplay than your typical action movie. Is it realistic? No, pulling off that many headshots against that many combatants is ridiculous, and Wick would've been gunned down quickly. Is it more believable than other action movies? Incredibly so, as it blurs the line that much better due to allowing the action to carry weight. Defending AJ Styles has been something a lot of people have done for the last 16 years. Maybe it's time to stop because he didn't do worked shoot and worked PRO WRESTLING.

AJ could more than hold his own in the 02/03 indies working a stiff, more realistic style. Matches with LowKi, in particular, proved he can work that way (or at least hinted that he could learn it). However, given that the focus of pro wrestling has switched from convincing the audience that they're watching genuine competition to presenting a hyperbolic and exciting performance, I don't think your criteria is a particularly great way of deciding AJ's value as a talent.

Nobody's tried to debate you because you readily admit your bias, namely your criteria for being great focusing solely on realism.

That adds some flavor to the Styles/Bryan debate, though, in how AJ was able to shine no matter the booking but Bryan was protected everywhere (but WWE, overall). If we're talking who the best overall talent of that generation is then I'm actually siding with Styles for that reason. Since this thread is purely about in-ring, though, it's Bryan 100%. El-P, you are doing yourself a major disservice writing off Bryan in ROH. It was a completely different company then and the flaws with the "ROH style" didn't show up until Bryan was on his way out.

I'd even say he's better overall than the ones you've listed.

The PWI 500 was a great way to gauge general interest in talent contrasted with their push and market penetration.

Wow, that was an effective promo to build off of. Alberto is finally interesting and the whole thing is such a dick move. Bonus points because my girlfriend is vegan, so I know exactly how annoying Alberto is being.

Interesting that he was already showing signs of how great he would eventually be.

WINNER

As a bohab, I can't say the Bucks are Gwar. Not enough "edge" or splatter. I'd say Necro Butcher or Drake Younger are Gwar. Hmmm, Bucks as Collins...ehhh, still too "big." Maybe they're more AWOLNATION, where it's a band whose biggest supporters are loud douchebags but their work is actually quite good if you've a flavor for it.

Nah, Randy Orton is the pro wrestling version of Nickelback. Bland and vanilla but pushed relentlessly and only delivering true quality in a very sporadic manor. I'd say the Bucks are more like pro wrestling's Tyler the Creator.

Is this anything new for "cult" level entertainment, though? Just in my time as a fan there's been this type of criticism thrown at Mutants and ROHbots, so why should today's hottest non-WWE act be different?

I'm actually surprised more board communities don't organize meets for events in local areas. I've gone to a couple Beyond shows with a poster from elsewhere and it was a blast.

From the little JAPW I've seen, it feels like the missing link in the "ECW to ROH" evolution.

1. People were legitimately treating this as if Sami intentionally walloped Eddie, at first. Then it became a question of how safe Sami is as a worker, because going his entire career (most of it in CZW) without seriously injuring others hasn't been a testament. 2. Sami is as much at fault as Eddie, who repositioned the chair.

People probably won't like the review I give since I really dislike modern NJPW, but I'm looking forward to it. In return, Edger of the Sirs, I give you Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka, FMW ZEN 3/13/98 https://youtu.be/aIy7KROtQeo

For at least the last few months, WCW Thunder was on Wednesday.

I'd say it's more likely that each company booking Aries as he collects belts knows that it will attract more attention to themselves, but it would be absolutely foolish to not think that the bridge has been repaired now. So, what belts does he have now? -Defiant Wrestling Defiant championship -IPW UK World championship -Impact World championship -Impact Grand championship -WSW Heavyweight championship He's now throwing in for the ROH TV title and, if it's created, the MLW Middleweight title. It also wouldn't surprise me to see him get the XWA Heavyweight championship once he challenges for it.

Wouldn't playing golf be a handicap itself?

AR Fox pushed past me to do his balcony dive on Matt Tremont and if you hear somebody yell "I am the table" during the Dijak/Dickinson/Dunn 3-way? That was me. I also had a very pleasant talk with B-Boy about RDA and fill tanks.

I think there are a lot of people who self-identity very heavily with pro wrestling, who want to feel like they are part of something, and who have a decent amount of disposable income without strong responsibility-driven drains upon their time and money. I don't think this is a crazy notion. I certainly wouldn't bet against you. Agreed wholly on that first part of your response, Matt. Pro wrestling, like roller derby before it, is a new punk rock.

Jesus that was a hard read.

For WingedEagle https://youtu.be/FxDAsqgtEjM Randy Savage vs. Adrian Street International All-Star Wrestling, 1/28/85

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's one of the rare matches where I could buy into both guys trying the same moves and sequences over and over because the match was all about ego.

It clips the chair and rolls off because the chair started falling and Eddie held it. Sami deserves all the shit he can get for screwing that up, and the company deserves shit for 1) allowing it to happen and 2) not gimmicking the bat. Hindsight, sure, but to start acting like a guy who's been featured prominently on the indies for the last 7-8 years without real incident is worthless now seems preposterous to me.