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Second!

Beat me to it... I just remembered that when I saw someone mention King of the Hill. That episode was brilliant.

The south park episode when the kids start their own promotion and run it like its the theater and are wildly successful is pretty great too.

I need to seek some of these out.

Random Question: what is the best "wrestling themed" episode of a TV show? The Its Always Sunny episode with Piper pops into my head right off the bat. Obviously Vader on Boy meets world is classic.

Bump I started my deep dive in for this project recently and am going to try to get as much of it done this summer as possible. It has been a lot of fun watching great matches and thinking about how they stack up to one another. The board discussion has slowed a bit, so I hope those of you who are interested in participating are able to get into the swing soon, start threads, reply, get some discussion going.

awesome... i want to check this out.

I don't know what Punk's credentials are, but he looked absolutely lost out there. I have been more or less done with the UFC (and MMA pretty broadly) for a couple years now (if I want pro wrestling booking I'll watch pro wrestling - and I do), but I didn't really begrudge them booking Punk once as a draw to see what - if anything - he had. Booking him the second time was a terrible look. It was genuinely embarrassing and I don't mean that as an aspersion on him. He isn't responsible for the sport. He is only responsible for himself and he made a choice as an adult that he wanted to give this a go. The biggest promotion on earth and an athletic commission gave him the green light. The UFC shouldn't have booked it and if they took themselves seriously as a sports promotion, they wouldn't. The athletic commission shouldn't have allowed it and if they took their jobs seriously, they wouldn't. I like MMA, but this kind of stuff just isn't interesting to me.

I have been saying that for a while... LA Park vs Nick Gage is another match I would very much pay to see.

Would love for someone to fill in the gaps, especially that big one between 2001 and 2011. Like I said, I was just listing a hand full good matches that I happen to think of/have notes on and I am not the person to come to for comprehensive career analysis.

If you are factoring longevity I am not sure there are too many that could really compete. Necro Butcher might have some claim, but doesn't have the longevity. Peak Black Terry - particularly those 2016 performances - might be an untouchable brawler, but again, putting that up against 20 years is tough to do. I am sure there is someone I am not thinking of and there are probably a ton of under the radar people to consider.

Yeah, I think Viking Hall acknowledged this was likely under his radar and that it was always challenging for them to dig into lucha. Even for me, and I fucking love Park and Lucha more broadly, it can be hard to dig in and keep up over large swaths of time. Like I said, I wind up cherrypicking more often than not, but that holds true with most wrestling for me. There is just too damn much for me to really keep pace. I can see how this might seem like a resurgence to someone who hasn't had time to follow his career closely (which isn't exactly the most linear and easy to follow for a variety of reasons) rather than surge in hype for a dude that has been out there crushing it for 20 plus years. Anyway, yeah, Park has been doing great stuff for a long while. This "resurgence" is as much as anything people catching up on his greatness as more fans become deep divers into wrestling over the past couple years and his buzz travels a little further into various wrestling circles.

So, despite my avatar, I am not the best person to ask in terms of timelines for his career. I cherrypick lucha big time. Below are some great Park performances post 2000 that i think are all available on youtube. vs El Hijo Del Santo (1/23/2001) w/ Haloween and Rey Mysterio Sr. vs Rey Mysterio Jr, Damian 666, and Vampiro (10/26/2001) vs el Mesias (6/18/2011) vs Dr. Wagnar Jr (5/11/2013) vs Rush (7/14/2016 - air: 7/16/2016) w/ Rey Ecorpion vs Penta el Zero and Daga (3/1/2017) vs Rush (3/11/2017) w/ Volador Jr and Flyer vs Rush, La Bestia del Ring, and Terrible (5/25/2018) You could sort of take those in chapters. Those are two all time individual performances from him in 2001 where he is still relatively thin and athletic. His strength here is playing to the crowd and the strength of his opponents. He really is the glue that holds this stuff together. The 2011 and 2013 matches are ape shit brawls after he has put on some weight, but still gets around pretty well. They are, to me, some standout matches from the time period and really just based on crazy bloody brawling. It has been quite a while since I have seen them, but Park at this time was a peak brawler and made everything so visceral and malice. The four matches from these past two years are contemporary Park being a fat crazy man. There are lots more matches you could watch, but those would give you a little taste of Park coming into this exciting CMLL/AAA stuff, I think. I would say his greatest strength is bringing a feeling of absolute chaos to matches right now.

What do you mean by recently? Last year or two? Last 5-10?

Must admit, I cherry picked the show. I really enjoyed Takahashi vs Ospreay a lot. I used to say I wasn't a fan of Ospreay, but at this point in 2018 I am a fan. He has put on a lot of really good to great matches recently. This started like a house of fire and it did taper off just a bit, but still wound up being a really solid match that provided a strong story and solid finish. **** Jericho vs Naito exceeded my expectations by quite a bit. Jericho looked like he has been watching Park matches and Clockwork Orange. Psycho clown Jericho was a ton of fun here. Naito getting him back when he finally got the advantage was solid, simple story telling. Jericho gets how to make whatever he is doing stand out in he NJPW landscape and i think he and the company are both benefiting from the relationship. Okada vs Omega... Man... What a match. I get that it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but to me this was easily the best of their series. I really liked WK and the G1 matches, but WK lost me in places near the end (on its way to classic and then dips a bit in my investment) and the G1 match is great but just never hit the classic level. I didn't care nearly as much for the hour long draw. That match felt much more redundant to me on the whole. This on the other hand accomplished what none of the others did; it kept me engaged from start to finish. The beginning didn't drag like some title matches. The story arches made sense. The first fall feeling like a title match in itself only to see Omega take an L on a reversal was awesome. Okada's swagger in the second and the slow tide turn carried this and built a great foundation for their desperation bomb throwing in the final fall. I have it just under Almas/Gargano for the year, but it is still going to land at either 4.75 or 5 stars. Some of Omega's offense, even well after the hour mark was just incredible. Like I said, I get why some people might not like this, but I thought this was a phenomenal bit of business.

I can't express how excited I am for all this. I am sort of trying to keep my expectations down until I actually see it happen because ya know... its Park... and lucha... I am guessing the mask goes at CMLL, which would be out of this world insane. I am trying to imagine what that psychopath will do during a match that he is going to lose his mask in... its going to be crazy.

hahaha... I finished the match (which I really really liked by the way) and immediately thought, "I bet Dave gives that at least 7 stars". Which proves that his use of star ratings has done more to keep him relevant and keep people talking about his work than anything else. I have never though about his star rating after a match until today. Its amusing to me. What he gives the match really could not matter much less to me, but I probably will find some strange amusement from the fallout among fans.

Fantastic news. This is a really exciting sounding project and I - like everyone here, I believe - really wish you the best.

I came away a bit disappointed here. I am not sure why. This one really never grabbed me. It felt like they were going for big where their first match felt more like something unique that developed organically from their styles/statures. It was still good, but it never got near great to me.

Man. I loved this one. The early grappling elevating as the match goes along anchored a wonderful little story that was executed really well. Kushida's doggedly going for the kimura was awesome. I also really liked Sho working for distance and using it the best he could when he got it. It added a lot of suspense to the match. I loved this as a change of pace, but something that really stands out not just in this tournament, but on the year. ****1/4

I drove over to Raleigh for SD and 205Live and this match in particular made the trip completely worth my time and money. I thought this was really top notch stuff on the whole. There was a good, deliberate build with lots of good offense, but it wasn't overdone. I thought Murphy did a wonderful job being the sort of glue that holds everything together. I like Alexander as an offensive wrestler, but I do agree that his selling is still developing a bit. That said, i did think this was one of his better performances. The escalation near the end and the cut offs were fantastic. One of my tells for a great match is if it gets me to bite on false finishes despite being pretty sure I know who is going to win. This did that. I would give this 4.5 if Murphy would have caught him off that handspring off the ropes near the end and went right into his move instead of having to readjust. I don't mean that as a criticism - honestly - because I thought they recovered beautifully there. It is just that is a spot that would have really cranked up the intensity in the moment (felt that way watching live and on tape). I still thought this was probably my favorite match from either man and a top contender for 205's top match so far. ****1/4

Im not going to lie. Ive been thinking all day about the fact that you said a cheese was better than Park was a wrestlers and I've already looked up ordering it. Thats HIGH PRAISE

Fantastic. I dont know nearly enough about cheese, but I'm learning a lot.

I second everything Maciej said. This was an awesome trios match that sort of felt on the cusp of out of control from the gun. Nothing feels like a formality here. This is visceral and elevates really nicely. Park does awesome Park stuff and by the third fall he is tossing luggage around like a god damned psychopath that is getting carried away at a party. I really loved the end. Volador running in out of nowhere and attempting murder with a chair was an exclamation point on the end of a match that absolutely warranted one. ****1/2

Not their "best" match as a pairing, but a really good chapter in their ongoing feud. I liked that Starr worked the leg instead of the arm/hand here and I loved how Walter sold that throughout the match. Walter really felt like he was on his heels near the end of this, just bear-maning his way through the pan when he can but still very limited. The roll-up was sort of a double edged sword for me. I loved it and thought it added a new layer to their feud that makes me really excited to see their next match. The idea that Walter had to pseudo steal one here is incredible and I think really elevated Starr in the match. As soon as it happened I laughed and was really happy in a "this genuinely shocked me" kinda way, which I love. At the same time it felt a little like it cut a classic a touch short. So while it might have limited the match itself, it really is a boon for the rivalry as a whole. ****1/4