Boss Rock

Watching CMLL and Negro Casas still has terrific kicks and chest slaps.

Danielson-McGuiness totally slipped my mind. Another great one.

The Bryan-Authority run from about late 2013 to Wrestlemania 30, late 2016-early 2017 Smackdown Live, and the first season and a half of Lucha Underground really stand out.

I was under the impression he was still working with them under WWE Studios.

Question about Sangre Chicana. I've only delved into his stuff a bit and I agree he's great but I don't know much about him beyond that. Does he meet any other requirements for the WON HOF besides in-ring work? What's his status as a draw or influence on lucha in general? Is he like a Fujiwara to Japanese wrestling?

Would have certainly thought TNA would try!

Surely, me being in Chicago is good for at least a dozen tickets sold, but whatever dude. Same!

As far as current NJPW goes and the guys on the ballot, Naito is definitely someone who will have a case in a few years if he remains a top draw and high-level wrestler. And as controversial as Kenny is, he could be another guy in a few years with a better case. Okada will inducted his first year eligible and unless he absolutely tanks from here on out, he will deserve it.

Amen.

I do love the Lawler-Funk stuff. Funk calling Lawler a "lover of chickens" has to be one of my favorite promo lines ever.

Maybe not MOTYC stuff, but the two Ibushi matches and most of the Okada matches were great. He was also regularly delivering bangers in the G1. Was really one of the most if not the most consistent volume + peak worker in the world the year and-a-half he was there.

Punk is talking with Dana this weekend about his future in UFC. Even if UFC passes on him I could easily see Bellator scooping him up leading to another year or two of promoting a fight.

Punching has seemingly become sort of a lost art. Not a ton of wrestlers today have good-looking punches. Mostly the territory folks back in the day. Dutch Mantell is another guy who stands out to me.

Some other favorites: Bryan-the Authority: Never have been more invested in a feud than this one. The literal WWE machine trying to hold back Bryan made for excellent TV and had the most satisfying conclusion of any feud I've seen. Misawa-Kobashi: Some incredible matches and an amazing multi-year story of Kobashi FINALLY besting him in a 1-on-1 match after years of falling oh so short. Misawa-Kawada: Great matches and odyssey for Kawada even if he ultimately fails in the end. Hansen-Kobashi: Another great multi-year story of Kobashi coming closer and closer every time to beating Hansen (Kobashi is one of if not the greatest underdog of all time). Hansen-Colon: Tremendous brawls and violence. Hansen was great as the despicable heel and Colon was a terrific fired-up face. Okada-Tanahashi: While I wouldn't go as far as some who say it's the best feud of the 21st century, had some great matches and was an awesome battle for supremacy. Kamaitachi/Takahashi-Dragon Lee: Match for match might be the best feud I've seen, at least when it comes to the 21st century. Flair-Steamboat: Classic series of matches. Flair-Funk: All-time great brawls and showed Flair's range as a fired-up face. Funk was also terrific. Tenryu-Hansen: Violence. Pure, unbridled violence. Satanico-Dandy: Arguably the best lucha feud and best aspuestas match of all time.

Not sure if it's my absolute favorite, but I loved the Matt Hardy-MVP feud of 2007-2008. Maybe the last slow-burn midcard feud WWE has ever done. Lots of twists and turns with Hardy first chasing him in title matches, then needing to overcome ridiculous challenges like basketball, burger eating, and boxing (Evander Holyfield!), then joining together as a tag team, then MVP turning on him when he realized Matt was getting too close to the U.S. title. Matt costing him MITB at Mania and then finally beating for the title the following month was super satisfying.

If it ends up being Chicago I will definitely try to attend.

I really admire the ambition and think it would be really cool if an indy could pull a number like that, but I don't see it happening unless they get Bryan, Punk, or both.

Oh no worries at all and that makes a ton of sense.

Quick, violent, and exactly what it needed to be. Continued to make Lars look like an unstoppable monster and made Kassius look good as the first guy to give him a real test. The gatekeeper role is really what Ohno has always been best at. Give him sprint matches like these to test new talent against. And Lars may very well be NXT's answer to Braun Strowman. ***1/2.

His storyline brother? I always got the impression that Taker was a more credible attraction and when guys lost feuds to him, it seemed more like an inevitability than a straight-up heat killer like Kane. I've also always thought Taker was a better wrestler even if he wasn't great.

Could be wrong, but I thought I saw in one of Foley's books that Funk's punches were like actual strikes.

Has there ever been a wrestler more over-pushed than Kane?

Tenryu is one of those few guys whose peak wasn't limited to just a few years. In the 80's he had awesome matches with Jumbo and Hansen. In the 90's he had awesome matches with guys like Hashimoto and Onita. And in the 2000's he put on one of the greatest sprint matches I've ever seen against KENTA. When ranking wrestlers I really like to see longevity + peak. Not to say I'll discount someone who had an all-time great peak but a relatively short run, but the ability to put on such high level performances for multiple decades really screams "all-time great". It's true he was sloppy as hell and his enziguri, powerbomb, and even lariat on occasion could be downright awful, but the way he carried himself in a match almost made it inconsequential. For all his sloppiness, I struggle to think of a Tenryu match I didn't think was at least very good. And while I prefer him as the grumpy asskicker pounding away at the soul unfortunate enough to challenge him, he was also an incredible babyface who made his comebacks count every single time.

His '86-'92 run is an all-time great run. Tremendous striker and made everything he did look painful as hell. Excellent as the veteran and ace looking to teach those young Four Pillar whippersnappers a lesson. Even if it wasn't a blood feud, he always looked pissed off and ready to hurt someone. Everything prior to '86 I find pretty boring, but maybe that's because I got so used to pissed-off, grumpy Jumbo that everything prior came off as a bit of a shock. Even the Kerry match, which is good, seemed a bit underwhelming compared to what he did in later years.

Lack of older stuff on the World is disappointing, but I wanna say I heard a lot of that content is owned by different TV stations they can't get the rights from. At any rate, Fujinami is definitely a guy I've been meaning to dive in to. Thank you for the write-ups!