Cap

Updated My List Today. I have made a ton of additions since starting the Greatest Match Ever Project. I suspect there will be a good deal of movement coming out of that project.

Thanks for bumping. I had some major computer issues last week and wasn't able to write my normal post, hopefully I'll get to it soon. I have had a blast with this so far. I was actually just talking about how its been really cool to pepper in lots of top end matches to my regular watching habits. Plus this has forced me into classic British wrestling and Shoot style, which I have really enjoyed.

I would have to say no. This really is a high point. I agree that there is some sameness to a lot of the wrestling that exists and so much of what we watched is designed to be watched in a vacuum (at least in part because... well... there is too much to watch). We live in a very match-centric time which comes with its own pros and cons. Some of it is a matter of taste and expectation but there is an odd narrowness to wrestling in 2018 given just how vast the landscape is right now. However, at the same time we have access to old wrestling in a way we have never had, so with the exception of the most well versed wrestling historians there is probably something more story-line driven or unique and new (to you) that one can find out there to scratch whatever wresting itch the modern product is giving you Sure, if we are talking just about what is being produced right now, there are massive limitations, but if you are thinking about all we have access too and what would constitute new wrestling to the average fan, the diversity of wrestling we have at this moment is in another stratosphere. Watching reruns might not be quite the same as keeping up with what is going on right now, but if I can watch Start Trek TNG or the original X Files run and enjoy it I am not sure why wrestling should be any different.

Updated my list Yeah, that was a fantastic match. Doesn't top my list though. I am assuming Park v Rush is going to run away with it. If it hits 75% of its potential it will walk with the MOTY. That said, I hate when my expectations are this high because there is almost no chance it can really live up.

Yep. They saved the best for last (to me at least). This match was white hot. It had everything. It was high impact, dramatic, nuanced. Everything meant something. The leg work early was good and even though it didn't come back it was built into the story of the match for the most part until they were both operating on just adrenaline. Excellent stuff ****3/4

There were classic parts of this match... classic sequences. However there were some parts of this that cap it at great and not classic to me. The first 10 minutes or so lacked a little urgency and the there was some redundancy in the finishing stretch that just didn't resonate with me as much. That said, those are nit-picky things and didn't really take away from my overall enjoyment of the match, which I thought was great. They were laying into each other in the second half of the match. Some of those V Triggers looked like hot death. That double stop on the top was nasty looking. I also loved Kenny just dropping Ibushi as he went for the reverse rana. As has been mentioned, they left a lot on the table here and I am sort of expecting them to go all out at WrestleKingdom maybe. ****1/4

Loved this match, probably my second favorite of the tournament (Ishii/Ibushi is probably my favorite so far). I loved how dominant Omega was through parts of this and the pacing of Ishii's comebacks/hope spots. The scene at the end with both of them bleeding from the mouth was dope. In a tournament where a lot of things can blend together, this stands out.

I liked their cup match a good bit more. I think this match told a pretty good story on the whole and the extinction was good, but there was definitely something missing that kept this from getting higher marks for me. it isn't so much a criticism really. This just felt more predictable and less dynamic in the home stretch to me. Still a very good match that I hope serves as just another chapter in a building long term rivalry. ****

Finally starting to cherry pick my way through what has happened. I wish I had the time and mental energy to keep up with this, but even when I can sit down and watch it sort of burns me out pretty quickly. On the subject of Elgin, I never liked him and then a couple years ago he started to grow on me a little bit. He had some good matches with Omega and an out of nowhere good match on that Money Mark show in Greensboro with Trevor Lee. He had a barn burner with Sabre in Chicago I think. Right as all his controversy came along I was just starting to get on board with him a little as at least a big match worker. Then he took a hard dive again over the last year and became the first guy I can remember who might have actually hurt Ishii with a stupid move. Just doesn't do anything for me. I doubt I'll find my way to checking out too many of his matches from this tourny.

I was talking about this with a buddy last night. I am bumping this to 4.5. This is just absolutely awesome

Ciampa is untouchable right now. He is - in my eyes - the best heel in wrestling and it isn't really close. I feel like him playing old school heel is leaving a lot in the reserves, so he can really unfold as a character/wrestler for some time. I like that Ciampa's game plan really forces Black to push the pace and chase a bit (which I think helps justify his pace in general). I didn't LOVE the finish of the match but part of that is me sort of tiring of the Gargano/Ciampa stuff right now. However it makes perfect sense, works in their storyline, and establishes NXT shows as must watch (which they sort of needed - they have been good, but felt kind of predictable lately).

This was a fun spectacle match. It featured some high end violence in parts. It also featured some overbooking and some stuff that i felt brought it down from where it could have been. I am not a big fan of Callihan, but this is where he can shine (hate filled brawls where he can just be a shit head). I'll also give him this. He is always trying to do something new and creative. It doesn't always work for me, but he works hard to be different. This is the first TNA match I have watched in years and it was because I heard this show as great. ****

My GAWWWD! This is outrageous fun, just high end violence and offense through and through. From the quick counters at beginning, to the strike exchanges, to the lawn dart, to head kicks from ibushi, to the throat chops from Ishii, to the excellent near falls.... this was just a blast. I was probably able to enjoy this because I haven't watched much of the tournament, but I will say this. This is my favorite sort of Ishii match, a match that kind pops up out of nowhere and feels somewhat organic in terms of the intensity and the dynamic. Ishii is awesome, there feels like there is a difference between Ishii going out and doing Ishii stuff (which is great) and Ishii bringing a somewhat unique match out of an opponent (which is special). Its why I liked his first match with Keith Lee (which felt organic) so much more than his second (felt forced). This felt organic and like we got something a little bit special from Ibushi that only Ishii could get from him. ****1/4 easy.

that looks kinda dope

Yeah, I'll be honest, I had no idea Dave said that about the match, but I rewatched a lot of Vader stuff that i remembers liking after his death and came away thinking that match was one of his 2-3 best. I don't rate or anything on cagematch anymore (did like a few matches a couple years ago), but I hadn't seen this since I started being much more active on the interwebs and rating matches etc etc. I have noticed a lot of buzz about the match after his death that I don't really remember from before, some of that probably started with Dave. I bet there were a lot of people looking up "best vader matches" and things like that and finding what Dave said and going into some nostalgia viewing with positive dispositions to that match. It is fairly interesting.

Ali has become one of my favorite wrestlers, but Buddy Murphy is making a really strong case for MVP of 205 live (and might find his way onto my end of year top 20 or so). This was right up there with Alexander/Murphy. Its strengths have more or less been covered and I agree, but for whatever reason the best 205 stuff has sort of capped at ****1/4 for me. I am not really sure what it is. Maybe it is my brain not doing well to shake off the clear B or C show treatment they are getting, but I think its something else. These matches are great, but I feel like there isn't quite the teeth and urgency that i want to see from something at the next level. Especially this match. All of the parts are there and I can't quite put my finger on it, but there just wasn't the intensity I sort of expect from two people at this point in their feud in a no holds barred match. Again, maybe this is just me, but I think as great as 205 live has been for a while now there is some exciting room for growth if they can add some organic fire and energy to the matches.

I am legit surprised I am not hearing more buzz about this outside this little corner of the internet. This was amazing. Walter beating the ever loving hell out of Darby was a lot of fun, but I particularly liked that he was a bit more diverse in his offense. Walter is my favorite active wrestler right now, but he can be a little one note with the chops from time to time. Not here. He was clubbing and slamming and throwing and of course chopping Darby. He takes the early part of the match of course and just plucks Darby out of the air every time he tries to get anything going. I liked that they sort of subtly played on Walter running out of things to do. There are moments where he is just looking at Darby sort of puzzled. Darby works lots of angles, but keeps going back to the hand. Walter always sells the hand well, but he seemed particularly sharp with his selling here. I popped so hard for Darby bouncing off Walter from the cross body. Little stuff like that kept me on my toes. Darby also does really well to blend his offense into new and compelling counters for Walter spots. The match might have peaked when Darby just sat on Walter's arm and punched his hand. This dynamic was easy enough to establish, but they pulled off a very unique version of the big mauler vs the smaller underdog. By the end its believable that Walter is frustrated, tired, and surprised and gives up the pin to the smaller man. ****3/4

Yeah, I keep forgetting that its Kong actually. She is fantastic. You are spot on about her feature episode, fantastic stuff.

I really enjoyed this. It was a really cool combination of traditional lucha structure, bombfest, and brawling. The first fall was great with Cavernario swinging Fenix into the rail and then hitting that stupid looking splash to floor. Fenix's comeback was really pretty well done in the second fall and they extended it just a tad from what they really had to, which was nice. The third fall was good and of course it was the meat and potatoes here. They busted out some crazy offense in this. I loved Cavernario's barrel roll to the outside. Fenix hit what felt like 100 spin kicks and cutters. They threw in a little mask rip at the end. I am really not sure if it was intentional, but Cavernario pushing Fenix back into the corner as he lost his balance might have been the coolest moment of the match. It looked very organic and natural. Really great stuff on the whole. ****1/4 - 1/2

I have really enjoyed season 2 so far. I am a little over half way through (we have been binging most of the day). There are a few really top tier scenes and sub plots. They also still hit that sweet spot where they do stuff that sort of speaks a little more directly to the wresting fan, good wink/nod moments for us.

I am normally not one for strap matches (though i guess in reality there are three "tie two people together" that I think are in that all time conversation), but I think LOVE their strap match. They do it right. For me it is SB3, Cade, Bash for sure. I love the brutality and aggression of the SB3 match. I think the layout and the logic of the Cade match is incredible. I liked the shock and the dynamic they had in the Bash match. All really good to great.

Loved this match. Loved everything about it. I can't add too much. The two dq falls were great and the post match with Park trying to beat Rush to death with his bare hands was fantastic. This whole thing was not just legit great, it set up their hair/mask match well.

If you nominate something new right now put it in the "nomination process" section still. This will let us know that we still need to put that match on the index and reduce our risk of something slipping through that crack. Thanks for asking.

Ahhh ... gotcha. I am 99.999% sure he is just trying to say "urban legend" but for whatever reason he uses his own terminology, though I can see your point. Side note, this led me to look up where the term "urban legend" came from and it is sort of interesting. It has been around since the 1960s, but was popularized by a University of Utah (where I spent 5 years of my life) professor as a way of demonstrating that folklore and legend is not the exclusive domain of "primitive" or "rural" cultures and that we can learn a great deal about the modern world from such stories. Which is why "urban narrative" doesn't make any sense! I don't know why it bugs me, but it definitely does.

wait... what I said or "urban narrative"? care to explain?