brockobama

Was this why he didn't get picked up by WWF in 2001 along with that first batch of WCW guys? Was talking to a friend about this the other day, it's very odd to me that they didn't see the potential in him. Or was it that Rey wanted to go back to Mexico for a while?

Wrestling wasn't meant to be enjoyed, much less something like this.

Bummed that podcasts sorta supplanted the shoot interview format, especially the Kayfabe Commentaries crew. You can cast a wider net with podcasts of course, with more voices in the mix and stories you might not get with a two hour video, but with rare exception I find them far less informative and far less charming than a good sit-down with Sean Oliver. In particular I feel that podcast hosts are far less likely to push back against a bit of bullshit or hearsay, which Sean's great at. On a different note, also bummed that recent-ish events have soured Sammy Guevara in practically everyone's eyes. Ever since I first saw him I thought the guy was a great midcard shithead heel and I thought he really proved his worth by being quietly one of AEW's most reliable performers in 2020 between the big Darby match, Stadium Stampede, and the extended Matt Hardy feud. Hate that a disastrous, ill-conceived babyface run last year and all the drama since then has made people overlook that. No idea where he goes from here, whether in AEW or otherwise, and that's a shame because wrestling needs people who you want to punch in the mouth.

Very well said. Don't have it in me now to do the big writeup I think Inoki deserves but in the wake of his passing I've found myself thinking similar thoughts, wishing that the struggle and the emotion at the core of Inoki's work was more widespread today. The last few mockups I've done had the man landing somewhere in the teens and I don't see any reason why that'll change.

Would love to hear more about this, yeah

I'll say that the IWGP title match with Sasaki is really bad, maybe the worst of its era, because Nishimura tries so hard to leave his own wheelhouse and adapt to a faster paced, high impact style with tepid, repetitive results. Still, Nishimura rules and I'll wholeheartedly support anyone making a spot for him on their list. And yeah Mike Awesome is so overrated. Was gifted big matches with some of the greatest bump dummies ever and looked like a fraction of the man in every other match without them. No dawg in him.

Rising: "Cartoon wrestling": In some ways I've always been a sucker for colorful, kid-friendly wrestling but as my tastes have changed since the last GWE these sorts of figures are shooting up more and more. Did a big writeup on Hacksaw Jim Duggan, a guy I'd never have dreamt of considering a few years ago and who will definitely make my list now. Two of his great rivals, Andre the Giant and Randy Savage, were already going to make it but will get a boost in no small part due to this kind of work. Have always had Gran Naniwa penciled in for a vanity 100 but more and more that seems like a lock. Jim Breaks: Of all the WOS wrestlers who may end up on my list Breaks feels like the most likely, as well as the one likeliest to rise higher than the back half. The crybaby heel shtick is more of that sweet, sweet cartoon wrestling but moreover of anyone from that scene he feels like the one who's had the longest impact, whose influence I can trace directly to the present day. Sure, plenty of dorks will do the Lady of the Lake or whatever but that's plucking one wacky move out of a guy's arsenal and throwing it into an otherwise unrelated match. I think it reflects far better on Breaks that one of the two biggest British stars of the last decade has wholesale lifted his entire routine much to the amazement of American indie and NJPW audiences. William Regal: Another of the great cartoon wrestlers. In particular I've been really impressed by how much genuine heart he brings to the Eugene angle/team in '04/'05 WWE, making the best of a bizarre gimmick after over a year on the shelf. Having settled on the Ambrose rematch as the best match of the 2010s (along with the Cesaro match making the top ten) has also raised his stock tremendously for me, capping off a career of delightful midcard work with some incredible main event melodrama. It's not gonna raise him to the top 10 or anything but he was teetering on the edge of the list and now has firm footing somewhere in the amorphous middle. I'll also echo Randy Orton as a guy making a case as a borderline candidate. Straight up loved his big 2020 matches and have really enjoyed that brief post-Evolution babyface run. Falling: Dick Togo: Still enjoy his classic tag work plenty but every time I've gone back to watch an old Togo singles match over the last few years I've come away thinking it was borderline awful. Dry, directionless, overindulgent, catering to lesser opponents in all the worst ways. Even the famous retirement run in DDT left a bad taste in my mouth. I'd love to rank the guy for his strong work anchoring many of my favorite tag matches but I can easily find 100 wrestlers who don't stink when left to their own devices. Need to revisit some things but right now it feels like a long shot. Claudio Castagnoli/Cesaro: Still grappling with this one. Definitely a great wrestler who I've loved for as long as I've loved wrestling but one who never feels like he belongs, listed next to my obvious locks and probable picks. Part of that's due to how he'd disappear into the WWE morass for years at a time, part of that's due to his relative lack of charisma compared to just about every other candidate I like, but mostly I just think it's the difference between a skilled worker and that next level of achievement. Doesn't help that I like him way more against lesser wrestlers than people on his level or higher. Ric Flair: Haven't soured on his work at all, this is more a function of having a conversation that made me realize there's no way he's making my top 20 based on how many people I'd gladly list ahead of him. Not sure where he ends up but the mental math isn't shaking out well for ol' Naitch.

Man had a nice ass, it's true

I think it very much depends. The weather is obviously one concern but it goes further than just temperature and precipitation, as wind can be an issue both in the ring and especially the higher up you go. Nothing worse than gale force winds drowning out what little sound you could be hearing up in the cheap seats. Visibility is also a factor beyond a certain point, as it is in huge indoor arenas too. I remember having difficulty following the ball when I used to work Purdue home games and Ross-Ade isn't particularly big as far as college football stadiums are concerned. I sort of can't imagine what it's like for the top few levels of a WrestleMania crowd. That's another thing, the nature of the crowd. You get a big enough group of people together and there's real volatility in terms of interests and responses. How many times have we seen perfectly enjoyable matches on Mania undercards or Dome shows that got no reaction because 40,000 people were just there for the main event? (Or the spectacle of the event itself, a whole other can of worms.) The outdoor setting only worsens this, as the sound going straight up even more than in an indoor arena makes it harder for disinterested fans to get into a match because of the reaction of others around them. You can win over a huge indoor crowd but it seems damn near impossible to win over a huge outdoor audience. Also there's an added level of unpredictability with an outdoor show. Very easy for the production crew to cut from one shot to another only for a wrestler to shift slightly in the ring and suddenly the full force of the sun is shining into the camera. Same goes for the wind suddenly blowing someone's hair in their face at a key moment. The weather shifting on a minute to minute basis can be a real nightmare and does impact the viewing experience to some degree, at least with some shows. I don't mind when cloud coverage is a factor in the Zona23 junkyard but when the color temperature of the image on an overly-polished WWE show changes suddenly it feels real weird, throws the entire aesthetic off. And that's my last point, that the aesthetics of an outdoor venue itself can make or break a show. I love when AEW runs Daily's Place because it looks incredible but I find Raymond James Stadium bland on the inside and ugly on the outside. The appearance of the arena is all the more noticeable when you're running in broad daylight. So yeah, it depends. There are outdoor shows I like and a lot that I would've preferred to stay indoors. If you can get all the little nuances right it makes for magic but it's real hard and not entirely in your hands.

Had no luck looking around for it a few weeks back but I figured I'd ask here on the anniversary of his death: is there footage of that Brian Hildebrand/Mark Curtis benefit show from '99 floating around somewhere, preferably on the internet?

Erling Haaland is incredible, wish he played anywhere other than City. Oh wait Dynamite's on?

It always comes back to the Reds smdh. Hope that Wrestling Heritage site has a full breakdown of football affiliation among the wrestlers, need to know who my fellow hopeless Spurs fans were.

Have a few questions as I slowly inch my way through this footage: -How many of these international characters are just Brits with gimmicks? If it's only a handful it feels like Joint Promotions would've had more foreign talent than any one contemporary American territory would've had at a given time. Was there a concerted effort to put on a more colorful, worldly product? -When did ITV's standalone wrestling program air after WOS was canceled, was it the traditional Saturday afternoon spot or a different time of day? -What's with Big Daddy using "We Shall Not Be Moved"? Very strange seeing this large red-faced Englishman kissing babies and hugging grannies to this anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.

Maybe he just switched allegiance to uhhhh [frantic Googling] Long Island University

Hate to break it to you pal but three of the people you listed are very much not British

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I will concede that he had nicer hair too

Hear, hear

Were they drawing different crowds to television tapings versus untelevised shows then? Hard to tell, from the ITV match listings, how many of these events were our equivalent of touring house shows or if it was virtually all taped and there's just little surviving footage. Fascinating to hear about guys garnering a reputation as "too hot for TV", that's classic wrestling.

Rock did the same thing in the Fast and Furious series right? Man's a born wrestler Was this always the case? Like much of this WOS footage comes from later airings on some "men and movies" block that clearly caters to a very different audience. Surely cultural perspectives of British wrestling shifted around over time the same as with American wrestling. At some point I'm just gonna have to read that John Lister book.

In every mockup I've done so far Necro's wound up in my top 20 or just outside of it. Doubt that's gonna change. There's no way that a guy who's had a handful of matches I'd seriously consider for the greatest match ever could wind up anywhere else, let alone miss my list. Great punches, great bumps, great selling, great personality, all that's missing is more longevity--and I'd argue that his longevity rivals all but the best Japanese deathmatch workers and blows almost all the other Americans out of the water. The style naturally results in a shorter shelf life than basically any other kind of wrestler and I think the guy going as long as he has (including on the other end of a cancer diagnosis) should count for something. But his greatest strength is the intangible aura. Dylan said it best, his work achieves a transcendence few others can equal. The best Necro Butcher matches feel like a life or death experience, whether for being literally dangerous or for being so wholly absorbing. Would also suggest that his scuzzy appearance is his charm. In an indie scene chock full of superior athletes and polished professionals, Necro is the everyman brawler just fighting to survive. As with a guy like Mick Foley, it's this mortal fallibility that helps to heighten his superhuman struggles and prevent them from wading into self-conscious Shawn Michaels territory. Maybe his work doesn't hit you in that way but discounting the guy for his flabby frame (or even his "bad" move execution) should get you laughed out of the room. I'll recommend some more matches that haven't been mentioned yet. His PWG title four-way with Chris Hero, Low Ki, and Eddie Kingston from August '08 is maybe my favorite match in that promotion's history, even over Necro/SD. Another great example of what he can do in a non-deathmatch environment and how his rugged naturalism disrupts the wider US indie style, even among fellow heavy hitters. It's also just fun as fuck. Would also recommend his British Rounds match with Hero on IWA Mid-South's January '06 show, a great bit of bullshit with this country bumpkin getting the best of the cocky, world-traveled technician. As far as hardcore stuff goes, Necro/Hero/SD vs Joe/Whitmer/Pearce from ROH's 100th Show in April of that same year isn't nearly so good as the Cage of Death a few months later but is a terribly enjoyable match more in the mode of a classic crowd brawl. On the same day as the famous Samoa Joe match Necro has a tag with Toby Klein against the H8 Club that is incredibly impressive if nothing else, illustrating how the guy can carry a lesser team through a fun falls count anywhere affair a few hours after a legendarily grueling match. (The tag title switch the following month isn't of the same quality but shows how great Necro is in a feel-good win.) Finally I'd point to his first round meeting with Matt Tremont in Tournament of Death X as a prime example of Necro elevating a promising youngster that would basically go on to supplant his role as the hometown hero of the American deathmatch proletariat.

The jokey, lighthearted nature of the matches and the crowd has made this a bit of slog so far, yeah. I love some comedic wrestling but there's been so much of it, really feels like the """serious""" wrestling is a relative rarity.

Been inching my way through WOS lately. Funny how there's not this widespread orientalist view of the "respectful" British audience, who so far through this footage have been just as quiet as any Japanese crowd I've ever seen. Maybe Chris Jericho needs to write another book about other countries he bombed in.

So really, how much pre-fed footage do we have? Is it just scattered matches I'd find searching YouTube? Because honestly Yoko's painfully short peak in WWF might be the only thing separating him from the bottom few spots of my list.

Reviewed a bunch of his matches a few years ago and came away thinking that he was awesome but was going to miss my list, largely due to some significant down periods in a lengthy career. That complaint still stands but everything I've done since then makes the idea of him not making my top 100 sillier and sillier. Has the scientifically proven best match of the 2010s and every time I've seen him pop up when I've been working on someone else's case I've thought "goddamn is Regal great". This BCC run ten years after his retirement just further emphasizes how much of a presence he has in whatever he's involved in. Lock for the massive, amorphous middle of my list.