supremebve

I cosign this with one caveat, and that is no one is allowed to kick out of it again.

Somebody needs to tell Izzy to keep it kayfabe, and not look so happy about being next to Sasha.

I liked the opening match too, but Sabre had to stop selling immediately after the finish, just to remind me that I hate him.

The Flair vs. Tenryu 2 out of 3 falls match and the Hogan vs. Tenryu match from 90-91 or so are also really good, but not quite great matches too.

Juvy vs. Bltizkrieg and Benoit/Malenko vs. Raven/Saturn from Spring Stampede '99 deserve to be mentioned. Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty from Backlash 2000 is still really fun. I find that I enjoy early 90s Cactus Jack matches more these days. None of them are technically great, but Foley brings something every single time that makes them really entertaining. I'd try to name some Randy Savage, Rey Mysterio, or DDP matches, but they all pretty much have too many to narrow down.

Fool, this is America. We let rich people do whatever the hell they want. If you can't use your money and influence to get your brain beat in, what is the point of being rich?

It did. Born 78, first UFC 93. Come on. You know clearly what he meant, not him at 15 seeing UFC in its first run. UFC after the rule changes being on Spike and such, where you could make a living and showmanship was involved more. I still find it dubious, because I can't see someone who never went into any legitimate sports being the type of person who would go into MMA as a youth. It takes a special amount of discipline and determination to be anything but average in a combat sport. The amount of work it would take for someone like Punk, who isn't an elite athlete, to get good enough to make it to the UFC doesn't really seem feasible to me. It is an easy thing to say, especially when there isn't any real way to dispute it, but I don't really think Punk is the kind of dude who could get this far without the fame.

This is so true. Punk isn't a UFC caliber fighter, but he clearly dedicated himself to training for the fight. He gave an honest effort, and the only one who should be embarrassed about his performance is him. Punk is a dude who would be a pretty bad amateur MMA fighter, and was put into a fight with a dude who people think could be a pretty good professional one day. If Punk wasn't famous, he'd probably be fighting in a barn in the midwest for his first fight, but he is famous and that gets you some cache in a sport built on promotion. If the UFC had a choice between putting CM Punk into a fight next month or Filthy Tom Lawlor, they'd still choose Punk. There is only one reason Punk was on the card, and that is because you can sell Punk. There is only one reason to go into business and it is to make money. Punk makes money, therefore he gets to fight in the UFC despite him not being a qualified fighter.

Brock was the NCAA Champion, and he probably wouldn't be a UFC caliber fighter if he wasn't fighting in the worst division in the sport. The top 5 or so heavyweight mixed martial artists are legitimately great fighters, everyone else in the division has huge gaping holes in their game. I'd be willing to bet Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Anthony Johnson would be just as successful, if not more successful at heavyweight as they are at light heavyweight. I think Brock would do okay if he was smaller. He's just a freak of nature and I think it's a little unfair as a comparison. Brock had a great background for MMA and he could cover up his rough spots with pure power and athletic ability. Punk really isn't very athletic so he had nothing to fall back on to cover his weaknesses. The problem with a guy like Brock at a lower weight class is that he is too one dimensional. If this was 10 years ago, he would have been OK, but there aren't many guys below heavyweight who could compete with just their wrestling ability. He was able to do what he did, because he fought in the only weight class where you could legitimately be 50 lbs. heavier than your opponent. A 50 pound weight advantage in addition to championship level wrestling, and being a freak of nature is enough for him to compete in a shallow talent pool. A guy like Del Rio, who probably shouldn't fight at heavyweight, was a decent amateur wrestler and a pretty decent athlete, wouldn't be able to make up the difference between his lack of elite fighting skills. I've seen Del Rio fight, I'd bet money on any male fighter on the UFC's roster over him in an MMA fight. I'd probably take most of the women over him or Punk if I'm being honest. Does anyone think that Rousey wouldn't dump either of those dudes on their head and arm bar them? UFC fighters are better at fighting than most people are at doing anything at all. These are highly skilled, elite athletes, who have dedicated years of their lives to learning how to fight in multiple disciplines. That isn't something you can just decide to do and be successful, you have to make it your life.

CM Punk was also fighting a guy who wouldn't be in the UFC if he didn't call out Punk at an amateur fight Dana White was at. Mickey Gall is a good prospect, but he'd get owned by damn near every single welterweight in the UFC. He is a good grappler, and seems to have decent hands, but he's at best a bottom tier fighter in the UFC. Mickey Gall is currently ranked at #91 at welterweight according to rankingmma.com. He's 24 and inexperienced, but he's clearly better than anyone who isn't an MMA fighter. He's not that good, but he's much better than a guy who just spent the last couple years dedicating his life to becoming an MMA fighter.

Brock was the NCAA Champion, and he probably wouldn't be a UFC caliber fighter if he wasn't fighting in the worst division in the sport. The top 5 or so heavyweight mixed martial artists are legitimately great fighters, everyone else in the division has huge gaping holes in their game. I'd be willing to bet Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Anthony Johnson would be just as successful, if not more successful at heavyweight as they are at light heavyweight.

I just hope this stops all discussion about whether or not pro wrestlers could compete in MMA. I remember someone trying to say that someone like Alberto Del Rio could compete with someone like Conor McGregor, because of the size difference. That is completely absurd. Del Rio was a terrible MMA fighter when he was actually competing, and would get owned in every single way by a fighter as skilled as McGregor despite the size difference. MMA isn't a hobby for UFC caliber fighters. It is a sport that takes incredible dedication and discipline, and that is before you account for athleticism and toughness. CM Punk dedicated his life to training for that fight, and I believe he took it as seriously as he possibly could. He still was dominated by a kid who only had two professional fights. Mickey Gall is someone who started boxing at 13 and has been competing in submission grappling contests for years. This isn't he just tried on a whim, this is his life. The UFC is the NFL of MMA. We'd never assume the kid who was good in your backyard football games could play in the NFL, why do people believe there are random people who can compete in the UFC?

I think the finish of a match is kind of like the last act in a movie or a book. I think the only time a finish is important is when the finish is either spectacular or dreadful. A match like Austin vs. Hart from Wrestlemania XIII will be remembered forever, because the finish was absolutely perfect, but Austin vs. Rock from Mania X-Seven doesn't get the credit it deserves, because of the finish. If the entire match is utter shit, the finish isn't going to put it over the top, but a bad finish to an otherwise great piece of work can fuck it all the way up. Ultimately, I think matches can be great without great finishes, but to become iconic I think the finish is one of the most important parts.

Some people are just plain miserable.

So, there are dudes(I'm assuming they are dudes, just like 90% of every other wrestling message board) are complaining about watching Alison Brie in a wrestling outfit? Look, I don't know if this show is going to be great or horrible, but if I know that fine assed Alison Brie is going to be the star, I'm willing to at least give it a shot. It is a Netflix show, which takes absolutely zero investment. You literally can't watch a Netflix show unless you choose to watch it, what exactly is there to complain about. There is absolutely no way for anyone to know whether or not this show is going to be good or bad at this point, but Alison Brie has been good in everything I've ever seen her in and that is before she got into a wrestling outfit.

Taka's no hands, springboard plancha is my favorite dive of all time. I still don't really understand how he had the ability to build up the momentum to jump that high and the balance to land on the top rope and come to a complete stop. It really doesn't make any sense.

Oh my god, that would be the best Raw segment in years. Nate Diaz' interviews, for those of you who don't know, often are just long ass strings of fucks. When asked about his win against McGregor, he simply said, "I ain't surprised, motherfucker." He once submitted a guy while giving a double bird to the camera. Their pre-fight press conferences were Conor being clever and articulate, and Diaz responding with, "Fuck you." Nate Diaz is going to be Nate Diaz all of the time, and putting a live mic in front of him will always be an adventure.

There are definitely people who were the "right age" for ECW (mostly between 14 and 22) when they were first exposed to it that will always have a fonder appreciation for it than those older or younger. I was also 13 when I first saw ECW in 1996, and it was basically a synthesis of everything racing through my adolescent brain. Yeah, if you remember ECW RVD you probably have a different opinion of him than people who only know his WWE stuff. I don't know if I ever thought he was a great wrestler, but I was a huge fan of his when I was in high school. That flip dive from the top rope into the crowd is one of the more insane spots of all-time and he did it as a signature spot. Sabu may have been the most homicidal and genocidal wrestler in ECW, but that dive proved that RVD was the most suicidal wrestler on the roster. He was completely fearless and it was exciting to watch.

I really wish that like button worked. Well played, sir.

Define trained, because trained is extremely relative. I'd argue that most if not all of the wrestlers in the WWE aren't trained when it comes to fighting shoot fights. Lesnar is probably the only guy on the roster who could win a fight in the UFC, and even though he is a former champion he didn't do very well fighting guys who he couldn't outwrestle. Lesnar is pretty much the biggest strongest guy in UFC history, but I'd be willing to bet the top 5 fighters at 205 would probably beat him. He's much bigger, much stronger, and has outstanding wrestling, but those guys have much better overall skills. If they can avoid his takedowns, which I think those guys could, they'd be able to out strike him. I may even take Luke Rockholdt over Lesnar at this point, and he fights at 185. Being an elite amateur wrestler is a great foundation for an MMA fighter, but it isn't going to get you very far in an MMA fight. McGregor is great at defending takedowns, and there really isn't anyone on the WWE roster who could give him any problems anywhere else in a fight. If he can stay standing, and/or defend himself once on the ground he smashes those dudes. If I had to take a bet on McGregor or anyone on the WWE roster not named Brock Lesnar in a shoot fight, I take McGregor 100% of the time. He is a shoot fighter, those dudes are pro wrestlers. Why does anyone think a bunch of dudes who wrestled a decade ago could win a fight against one of the best fighters on the planet. Sure they're bigger, but how many of them have any striking skills whatsoever or even grappling skills if they do happen to take a UFC fighter to the ground?

If you had to guess, how many hours of actual fight training do you think the average professional wrestler have under their belt? Conor McGregor's full time job is becoming a better fighter. You go to your job for 8 hours a day and sit at a desk, he spends that time fighting. Jason Jordan was an elite amateur wrestler, but when was the last time he wrestled an elite striker throwing heat at his face? McGregor most likely wrestled an elite amateur wrestler sometime this week. McGregor lost to Nate Diaz, a tough as nails, veteran fighter, who is crafty as all hell and isn't an easy win for anyone. You are talking about some dude who wrestled back in the day, who doesn't spend any time training to fight, beating one of the 10 or so best fighters on the planet. That is pretty much absurd.

Wait, who brought up Cro Cop? I'm here to laugh at Del Rio and his MMA credentials. Alberto Del Rio got his ass beat by Kaz Nakamura too. He never beat anyone anywhere close to good, and would get his ass beat by the current UFC Featherweight Champion. Del Rio has MMA experience, but he only has one win over a guy with a Wikipedia page. That dude was in the middle of an 11-fight losing streak. Conor is one of the best fighters on the planet, Del Rio at his peak of powers would get his ass beat by McGregor.

Del Rio's MMA career...bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

There's a paradox lying somewhere though. You don't control a translation and there's always the risk of something being lost in it. If you're fluent, it means you're able to pass whatever message you want to with the upmost precision. If not, then you're simply not fluent. Hell, I don't consider myself *fluent* in English. So yeah. Then again, sports men... well. From what I understand he speaks English to the press all the time, off the record, but uses a translator for everything on the record. Tim Kurkjian, who is pretty much THE baseball reporter these days, says that Ichiro is fluent and speaks English as well as anyone in baseball.

How hard would you have to kick someone with your calf for it to actually hurt?