SPS

Great, I look forward to eventually getting the whole set. To me it seems like the best way to really get a nice spread of the wrestling scenes of the day in a way that is gonna be more economical time wise as with day to day life now I don't have the hours I used to have to spend hours and hours day after day watching massive back logs of wrestling haha. Also then it can let me see what I want to seek out in more complete run form for various groups and promotions

Really interesting stuff, I know next to nothing about the wrestling scene in Brazil. The only things I've read about it are about Kimura working some matches there during the period he ended up having the famous shoot with Helio Gracie and that the Vale Tudo fights used to be televised on Brazilian TV until a match where future UFC 1 ref João Alberto Barreto broke the arm of an opponent who refused to submit and due to the violence TV execs cancelled the show and replaced it with Pro Wrestling instead. I wonder who taught these guys how to work?

How are you enjoying them? I really am interested in getting them once I get some extra funds.

I just have NJPW World and a lot of Hard drives for classic content for the most part.

You're conflating 2 different stories, the revenge Dynamite was planning in a match that never happened was talking about Brutus Beefcake who disrespected Dynamite's trainer Ted Betley in the locker room when he was over visiting Tom in the WWF and was getting autographs from all the boys with Andre even signing politely for him. Dynamite found out and was gonna get his revenge in a tag cage match he said he was booked for against Beefcake but he suffered his back injury in Ontario a short time prior and never got to the match. As for the Rougeau story the deal was that Vince basically told Dynamite if he did anything to retaliate for the sucker punch then he would withhold his PPV and Merch royalties that Dynamite had coming and also told Tom that The Rougeaus gave their Mobster friends Tom's home address if anything were to happen to them. So Dynamite basically swallowed it but brooded and even worked with them in the Survivor Series doing a few spots in The Bulldogs last WWF match.

- To get more into Joshi, specifically signing up for and watching STARDOM World. - To watch the entire SMW run start to finish. - To finally sign up to be a patron for Between The Sheets podcast and hopefully scrounge up some extra cash to appear on an episode since I enjoy the series so much. - To get back into good enough shape physically to get back into the ring and work some matches.

I dig it, sounds like a fun way to open people up to new experiences and to interact.

My memory is hazy as well, and I certainly can't recall the source, but I remember hearing that Vince was chomping at the bit to do something with the "big Samoan kid" but wanted something more high-profile than a tag team - he just wasn't sure what. Then someone (Heenan?) suggested the Yokozuna gimmick, and the rest is history. BTW, I'm impressed any of you knew who Akebono was back then - the first I heard of him was when showed up at WrestleMania a few years ago. I believe on one of the Legends of Wrestling Roundtables from WWE 24/7, Sgt. Slaughter said he was the one who pitched the gimmick of a sumo wrestler for Yoko.

Here's what I've written to post as my Amazon review once I get chance to post it later tonight, "Finally got to sit down and finish this during the holiday break and was tremendously pleased with how much I enjoyed and learned from this book. This book was well worth the money and was so well put together and well written compared to some wrestling books I've read and I've read a whole lot of them. The amount of stories and viewpoints from the people who knew Brian best from all different eras of his life both personally and professionally really helped paint the picture of who he was with both the amazing admirable qualities and the sometimes disturbing faults. Brian was by no mean a perfect person but his spirit and overall intentions when not clouded by his own demons or faults seemed to still shine through. The pacing of the book was great as it didn't drag but also wasn't rushed and gave fair weight to all the milestones and periods of Brian's career that sometimes get glossed together in previous tellings of Brian's life and career especially his WCW struggles. Also the amount of obvious suffering and struggle the man went through as a child with the throat issues was explained in a way that I really could sit and take in how much of a struggle something like that had to be to endure, which I hadn't gotten before when talked about in other reflections of Brian's life. The parts I enjoyed most were the bits of Brian's thirst for learning wrestling history and the funny story of him calling and riling up Lou Thesz by questioning of him on some the accuracy of his book after consulting Stu Hart. The amount of books on conmen and research he did in crafting the Loose Cannon character really was fascinating and makes me want to seek out and read those books and check out the film House of Games. And the list of quotes of Brian's wit on commentary with JR in his WWF announcing stint had me rolling in laughter all these years later. Overall the sentiment of a lot of the folks making the point of not feeling guilty for Brian's untimely death but rather sad and terrible about it happening is the same way I felt about his story and the fallout of what happened to his kids. It was sad and terrible that they were left without Brian and left with a mother and "step father" to use the term loosely that also were plagued by demons of addiction that made the whole family suffer in life in a way that Brian probably would've been devastated to see if he had lived. I'd strongly recommend this book to any fan of pro wrestling especially of that era because the honesty and gems of information and sobering lessons are such valuable knowledge in truly gaining an understanding of the wrestling business as it was and what it can be without the proper checks and balances. How such a talented and intelligent person can with some terrible choices anyone can make destroy and jeopardize their entire body of work and livelihood and the methods taken to attempt to remedy and salvage it can cause their own self fulfilling prophecy and untimely demise and also leave those they hold most dear susceptible to those same demons in their absence." So I loved the book and easily rank it in the top 5-10 wrestling books I've ever read. Thank you for putting such obvious great and hard work into this project as the result was such a fantastic read and journey on a person who really was a rare innovator in the history of professional wrestling.

He is right though. The only ones who don't understand this are the blind hardcore MMA fans who don't believe there's been a ton of fixed fights in the sport before to begin with. The local Japanese fanbase is very different than the foreign fanbase. If you are an entertaining, charismatic fighter with a ton of personality, a flashy entrance and put on exciting fights, the fans will respect, cheer and support you. That's why there's guys with a ton of losses and possibly losing records getting marquee fights. IIRC he was also supposed to go over Tamura before he got KO'd. I agree with the North American MMA fans being in denial how much Pro Wrestling influenced and contributed to MMA. Also for the earlier comment I thought the Coleman fight looked way faker than the Sturgeon fight but both were awful. The Tamura fight I always heard was supposed to be a carry job with Tamura not going for the finish so soon but Takada fucked up and charged it and got clipped and KO'd. I never heard he was supposed to go over and it'd defeat purpose of him retiring if he beat Tamura who was gonna still be a viable star for PRIDE.

I believe what he said was along the lines of there were no plans set but that could easily change. So not exactly the same sentiment and it's easier to interpret what Dave means when you hear him speak(as challenging it can be at times when he stammers or shuffles his notes) an when you read it.

I had Twitter for only a couple months and got nice replies from Nigel Mcguinness and William Regal, I was always very polite and addressed them with respect and got the answers I was looking for. I eventually gave it up as the retweeting and constant stream of stuff got tiring to scroll through to find the things worth reading for myself. But for all the people bragging about getting blocked for slagging off or trolling folks (outside those blocked for vanity searches or for reasons they don't understand which is just what it is no harm no foul) perplex me as people act as if because you can contact these people on social media it makes it a buddy-buddy environment at best or everything is a statement or their character/beliefs at worst. These people obviously use these accounts to further their business or for their personal enjoyment in their free time so how some people get surprised when they get blocked for acting the fool is just ridiculous to me. If this were a pub and people went about approaching people like this nobody could be surprised when someone would just ignore or walk away and refuse to interact further with them. Also half the nonsense people tweet and imagine how many goofs these popular people must hear from, is trash few would have the courage to say in person to that individual. It just comes off as cowardly and an ego trip at times for people who like to lash out on twitter and that can be from either side no doubt.

He said he was there with his son.

Thanks to everyone with all the Blue Panther recommendations, I'll binge it this weekend and let everyone know how it goes.

Can anyone who knows a good amount about about lucha (which is my one of my wrestling blindspots) recommend me some Blue Panther matches that are available online? or a comp I could inquire about? after hearing Bryan put him over so much in a video where he received a Blue Panther mask and spoke about his great work I feel like I absolutely need to learn more about him and check out his work.

Just finished this over the weekend and really really enjoyed it. I liked that it was not wrestling heavy but used it as a fun and creative backdrop to tell these folks stories along with the super 80's vibe and music tying it all together. The characters were really great and I especially thought Marc Maron as Sam did a very fascinating character who wasn't a good guy at all but had moments where he broke through his own inner turmoil. Also Kong looked physically the best I've seen her since her early AJW days and did a great job. Alex Riley's performance as Steel Horse was really good as well. I'm really looking forward to the next season and hope they get 3/4 seasons out of this concept because it's a fun watch.

I'd go as far to say any wrestling service outside of WWE Network. Even with NJPW World you'd have to be some sort of hardcore fan to follow it and know who the guys were. Also I'd throw in people who actually watch non WWE product either via online streams or TV since even with ROH and Impact it's not easy for everyone to access them on their cable provider so if you seek them out and actually watch every week and don't just catch results online or gifs on Twitter then I'd lump you into hardcore fan as well.

Hahaha get real, Cena is not in McGregor's league. Conor is not Ronda as he never turns down press or hides in isolation win or lose. He always hypes his projects and promotions and is damn good as it. Conor will go down as one of the greatest stars UFC and the MMA world has ever produced.

I have finally ordered and eagerly awaiting its arrival to read. I'll update once I'm done with my thoughts.

THANKS for putting the direct link up and I look forward to a new episode as always

On Sakuraba vs. Newton -- There's always been talk that there was a gentleman's agreement backstage where they agreed to focus mainly on grappling and thus the lack of strike exchanges in it. The best grappling exchanges I've ever seen in MMA fights featured Daisuke Nakamura. He's a former U-Style guy who transitioned over to MMA. He's a master at armbars. His 2 fights against Bogdan Christea and Hideo Tokoro are amazing. Tokoro had some particularly great grappling exchanges in some fights IIRC too. I believe he had a great grappling center match against Abel Cullum in DREAM some years ago, but I haven't seen that fight in forever. I love watching Tokoro and Daisuke Nakamura, they are awesome examples of pro wrestling fans who went the MMA route while keeping the entertainment aspect of their performances a vital part even when in a shoot environment. The fact Tokoro with his seemingly limited win/loss record held Royce Gracie to a draw always tickled me and his fight in Bellator a while back was fantastically entertaining.

Ahh I see, I have heard of the others but this was one splinter I did not so thank you for explaining. I'll have to search some of this group out when I have some time.

What is WDF? I've never heard of this group before.

If Hogan stuck around, the Lex Express does not happen. Lex got his push as a hero after the relative failure of the Hogan comeback. Who wrestles Yokozuna? Obviously Hogan/Gonzalez is happening and Bret was programmed to battle Lawler in early June time. The Undertaker? since he wrestled Gonzalez and would've been left without an opponent and him and Yoko ended up feuding by the Rumble anyway.