Mrzfn

Possibly a weird one, but I've been thinking possibly Lanny Poffo is one who came about too early. Been watching his mid 80s stuff and he tries a lot of high flying type stuff that most guys don't in that time. Not saying he would have been huge, but probably could have been more than a jobber if he had come around 5-10 years later. EDIT: Oh shit, somebody said Lanny at the same time I did. Must be something to it then.

Some personal picks: The Skyscrapers: Yes, the Sid version. I think some people enjoy watching this team crush jobbers but by god they were dang useless for anything else. They were also in the peak era for Sid's incredibly annoying "do one move, stare at the audience forever, do one move, repeat" habit. The Freebirds: I'm talking late stage WCW here, where they were broken down beyond belief. Again, I think some people even like this version, but to me they were death to any match they took part in for the last several years of their run. The Patriots: Firebreaker Chip is still the weirdest wrestling name I've heard. This team redefined pointless. Nasty Boys: Sometimes they were ok, but sometimes they were damned unbearable. I was watching through some mid 90s WCW and besides the Cactus Jack brawls, they were often damned agonizing to watch. The Beautiful People: Maybe an exception for the original, but all reunion versions have been horrible, especially any featuring just Velvet Sky & Angelina Love.

I'm surprised, I never found Chris Hero to be a bad name. Oney Lorcan surely takes the cake.

They love to talk about second or third generation wrestlers on commentary, so anyone who fits that bill probably mentions it at some point.

You are preaching the good word on LU, my man. It's a huge bummer that they're on a break, my favorite wrestling show and they are just sitting on footage for months. Come on, fourth season, get confirmed!

I haven't been watching TV much so I'm wondering, what makes people think Jericho will turn face over Owens? Jericho is more over in terms of his comedy shtick, but I feel a lot of fans are ready to cheer Owens, plus Jericho is sure to be more badly exposed in the ring as a face (though if WWE is aware and/or cares about that is another question).

This Rumble also features one of my all time favorite strategies, with Road Dogg fiercely hugging the bottom rope for much of the match. Not to mention poor TAKA breaking his face.

I haven't really seen any of their TV stuff, but I thought Enzo and Cass seemed CRAZY over at the Rumble. Or at least their catchphrase bits.

I can't really say "greatest" for a lot of reasons, some touched on by Loss and some related to the overpowering subjectivity of wrestling. I will say, if I could only take one wrestling match to a desert island with me and watch it again and again, it would probably be the '92 Rumble. So many great factors converge in that match, it's a very layered overall performance from a ton of different perspectives.

Count me in with those who didn't like the Rumble match, though I can see why some did. I actually liked it pretty well for the first 2/3rds or so, but the final stretch seemed to just hammer home the WWE trope that nobody matters except a select few guys, mostly part timers and Reigns himself. Even Orton didn't look that good winning since he got his ass handed to him by the "real" starts for most of the match, and after Lesnar turned him into hamburger meat at Summerslam I'm not sure why anyone would really be excited about him even in a kayfabe sense.

Batista just always came off cooler, I think. Don't underestimate the value of that. Liked the guy even from very early on pretty much all the way through. Didn't love all of his last run but once he settled into a role he did well enough.

Based on my personal preference and sticking to stuff I've seen within the last few years, so that I know it holds up. Some eclectic choices in here, I'm sure. Billy Robinson vs. Antonio Inoki, 2 out of 3 Falls, NWF Championship 12/11/75 NJPW Toukon Series II Day 42 Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine, Dog Dollar 11/24/83 NWA Starrcade Royal Rumble Match, WWF Championship 1/19/92 WWF Royal Rumble Royal Rumble Match 1/25/04 WWE Royal Rumble EC3 vs. Rockstar Spud, Hair vs. Hair 3/13/15 TNA Impact

Heenan in AWA should get a nod. He was essential to Bockwinkel's near decade long reign (with a few brief interruptions) and always appeared to be vigorous in his backstage negotiations. He was also willing to take a hell of a beating with or for his clients if he had to and always pushed his guys to the forefront. I'd have to double check but I'm pretty sure he had some impressive tag team runs in there as well. In WWF he was less successful in terms of championships but AWA Heenan was where it's at.

ROH fans are pretty smarky by nature. Hard to think something like this wouldn't backfire instantly.

This is probably an unusual one (or at least for unusual reasons) but for me Eddie Guerrero stands out. I first caught him in WWE and was turned off by the whole "cheating face" gimmick, the presentation of it seemed so hypocritical considering how it was treated as being terrible whenever someone else cheated. It was actually not until he passed away that I took stock and realized how much charisma and hard work he had brought to the table in order to pull it off as well as he did.

Hopefully it won't be an issue for Pentagon to continue with LU, they kept on Sexy Star even though (if I recall) she split with AAA before the season 3 tapings. Then again with season 4 being up in the air it's hard to say. Part of me wonders if LU with switch their relationship to the Crash, it seems like a lot of the AAA guys they originally got were recommended by Konnan anyway.

If we're talking modern, I'd argue that the first Cena/Rock match and then the big Cena/Punk match in 2011 shaped the entire direction of the company, between the two of them. It certainly turbo charged both the push to emphasize part time guys during 'Mania season and the idea that "indy" guys could actually be money players.

I'm interested in the thought process of those listing Lesnar/Undertaker, in some cases as the only important match of the past 20 years or so. The Streak breaking the way it did was surprisingly, certainly, but did it have much lasting effect? Lesnar got a big(ger) push for a while but I'm unclear if it had much effect on the business, and it kind of all came to nothing long term. I realize a match can be important without changing the business, but I'm wondering what sets it apart apart from the surprise finish.

Looks like he needs some sleep though.

I actually like Morrison/Mundo more than most around here, but it's incontestable that Starship Pain is one of the worst finishers ever.

Boooo. I'm probably not savvy enough to break down the various reasons for the divide better than those before me have done, but I will say on a personal level I checked out the pair of Volador Jr/Barbaro Cavernario matches CMLL did in Sep/Oct and I thought they were as good as just about anything I saw in the G1 Climax this year.

Fair or not, I can't imagine a 'Mania crowd wouldn't shit all over a Roman/Strowman match.

Your mileage may vary on what you call "top tier", but poking around for a general consensus yields the following list: Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal 4/10/13 Antonio Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn, 2 out of 3 Falls 8/21/13 Antonio Cesaro vs. William Regal 12/25/13 Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn 2/27/14 Charlotte vs. Natalya 5/29/14 Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd 9/11/14 Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks 12/11/14 Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn 12/11/14 Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor 2/11/15 Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks 2/11/15 Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn 2/11/15 Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks 5/20/15 Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens 7/4/15 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 8/22/15 Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens, Ladder 8/22/15 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, Iron Man 10/7/15 Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe 12/16/15

Bigger does not always equal better. Just look at the World War 3 concept.

Just this weekend watched the Volador/Cavernario matches from 9/30 and 10/7 and thought they were phenomenal. Definitely will be in my 2016 MOTY consideration.