Microstatistics

Last Call

As noted, the parallels between Austin/Rock II and Becky/Ronda(/Charlotte) are striking. Needless meddling and an inability to leave well enough alone. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Hopefully, they mirror the match quality too.

If there are matches in the nomination process that seem to meet the nominee criteria, those should be fine too since not everything has been moved.

Also note: the search feature is a little unreliable. If you used it to find a match and got no results, it doesn't necessarily mean a thread doesn't exist.

Probably but the process has been a lot more enjoyable and civil than GWE. Reminder: There is approximately one week left to submit a ballot. Submissions will be closed at the end of WrestleMania next Sunday.

Also, Angle might be the worst "way past his prime" wrestler I've ever seen.

How is Vader STILL not in?

This is the absolute key. They shoehorned Charlotte into the match and then realized (surprise surprise), she was a third wheel. Then they screwed over an already neglected Asuka to "rectify" it. Not sure why people are jumping through hoops or going back to that nonsensical and untrue "Asuka has no heat" argument to justify this decision, when they created this problem for themselves.

Copy and paste the link into a search/address bar, then it works.

I still expect Joe vs. Rey to be MOTN even though both are not really at their best. Brock vs. Rollins should also be alright because, as mentioned, Lesnar almost always has, at worst, a decent match when it's David vs. Goliath. Even though I think Ronda is overrated, Becky is generally average and the triple threat stipulation is limiting, still expect the women's main event (assuming it is the main event) to be good-very good. Three good looking matches and a potential solid one (Styles vs. Orton) is not bad but yeah, length is going to be an issue.

The Greatest Match Ever project is currently accepting ballots. Please follow the google form link and submit your current Top 100 pro wrestling matches of all time. The deadline is the end of WrestleMania 35 on April 7th. The Form for submission: goo.gl/forms/AIgFSVohxFKuZMvj2 http://gweproject.freeforums.net/thread/939/ballot-officially-open for more information

Bryan Danielson defends the ROH World Title Right now, this is in my all time Top 50. One of the most overlooked matches in US indie wrestling history. Heel masterclass by Bryan and a focused Homicide performance, which makes his character moment at the end more rewarding. Excellent dueling arm work and consistent selling from both. Great continuity with the past when it comes to previous Bryan title defenses and the finish has 1/20/97 vibes to it. ****5/8

Reminder: The nomination process is closing tomorrow at 11:59 PM ET. If you are planning to submit a ballot and are considering a particular match, make sure it is in the nomination process subfolder (if it wasn't nominated already)

Still waiting for that Joe vs. Rey singles bout.

Lou Thesz El Hijo del Santo WALTER Daniel Bryan Yuki Ishikawa

The build to HHH vs. Batista is odd. Isn't Batista 3-0 vs. HHH? Why would he be so desperate for a match? They've got the dynamic backwards. Guardians of the Independent Scene line was pretty good though, despite being wink wink.

A true wrestling master. He was great at pretty much everything. RIP.

I think WWE has been the promotion of the decade and here is a rough Top 10 1. Brock vs. Roman, WM 31 2. Shawn vs. Taker, WM26 3. Regal vs. Ohno, NXT 2013 4. Shield vs. Hell No/Ryback, TLC 2012 5. Brock vs. Cena, Summerslam 2014 6. Revival vs. #DIY, NXT Toronto 7. Bryan vs. HHH, WM30 8. Brock vs. Taker, Summerslam 2015 9. Bryan vs. Roman, Fastlane 2015 10. Regal vs. Cesaro, NXT 2013

As much as I like body part psychology and things like dueling limb work, Bryan and Styles have run it into the ground over the past 9 months. The AJ's arm vs. Bryan's knee stuff is almost tedious now. All they have to do is switch things up (flip limbs or work over something else).

Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor I made a mistake of reading reviews of this and getting my hopes up. It's good but nothing more. Pretty great selling by Brock and Finn's focused attacks. Nice desperation finish. The pacing was so lethargic though. I expected a compact and intense sprint but this just lumbered along and that's my main criticism. The postmatch was also weak. ***

Asuka vs. Becky Lynch I wish more people incorporated struggle into their matches like Asuka does. One thing I don't like about Becky generally is that her offense is weak but she turned it on here with some vicious stuff. Great finish. Good title bout. ***1/4

Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey My most anticipated match of the night, which turned out to be really good but not great. This might be an unpopular opinion but I think this and the Charlotte match have exposed Ronda, she was easily outclassed in both matches. This was a borderline Sasha carry job in all honestly with aggressive, creative arm attacks and great pseudo-heel character work. Ronda sold the arm well but was pretty much along for the ride. I liked the role reversal start and the finish ending with a pin rather than a submission (something the commentators also pointed out). Intense and competitive. ***1/2

1930s: Bronko Nagurski vs. Jim Londos (Philadelphia, 11/18/1938) 1940s: TBD 1950s: Lou Thesz vs. Buddy Rogers (Chicago, 6/21/1950) 1960s: Jesse James vs. Al Costello (LA , 6/8/1960) 1970s: Jim Breaks vs. Adrian Street (Joint Promotions, 2/12/1972) 1980s: El Satanico vs. Sangre Chicana (EMLL, 5/26/1989) 1990s: Kenta Kobashi/Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (AJPW, 6/9/1995) 2000s: Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH, 4/23/2006) 2010s: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (WWE, 3/29/2015)

Oh man this started off so promisingly. The animosity, intensity and struggle and Omega's attacks on the back and heel antics were really good. The table stuff was good storytelling. But then it degraded into generic main event back and forth with poor transitions and selling. Bad Tanahashi performance. Just by the numbers stuff with minimal selling. Completely no sold all the initial backwork too so one of the better segments of the match ended up being filler. Kenny was alright but his knee selling was wildly inconsistent and uncompelling by the end. Poor crowd too. **1/4

Really enjoyable match. Felt like a collection of great moments than a great match though. Lost a bit of steam in the middle as they threatened to venture into standard match territory but they balanced the hateful plunder brawl aspect well enough.Naito's baseball spots and Jericho throwing a chair at Naito while he was climbing (rather than coming off the top rope) were standouts. Also liked how decisive the finish was, something very rare these days. Fun postmatch antics. ***1/2