Frankensteiner

I re-watched this recently and probably came away liking it less than ever. What stuck out this time was how much Regal just guzzled Hash in this. He controlled most of the match, basically didn't show any hesitation or regard for any of Hash's offense, routinely didn't sell Hash's moves for long and would often beat Hash to the attack even after Hashimoto had been the one just hitting a move. It was like watching a blue blood gimmicked Hansen. It's still an interesting match but it's strange how they worked this. I'm not going to say it killed Hash's aura but he did look weak. It's one thing for Hash to go up against gimmicked guys like Norton or Power Warrior where he's "outgunned," but Regal?

Sure, I realize that and said as much. Still, there could be a bit of a double-edged sword if it sways voting into consensus. I know I personally ranked some guys higher than I wanted in hindsight because I felt they "should" be high based on others opinions. As I said tho, I don't have any ideas on how to counterbalance that and the discussion is the backbone of the project for most here. Just an observation I wanted to point out in relation to how I came up with my voting.

Were there actual instances of the discussion significantly influencing people’s voting? I remember Jetlag had a nice writeup on Franz Van Buyten close to the voting deadline which made me check out his matches and got him onto my ballot. But for a lot my other rankings, I tried to go off of solely my own viewings without being influenced too much by other opinions. And in retrospect, I regret that a few of my rankings were too strongly based on group consensus rather than my own views. I realize the discussion is the backbone of the project so I’m not advocating anything or have better ideas, but also having random people submit ballots at the end was interesting in cancelling out some of the groupthink (of course there’s other issues that arise with those type of ballots).

Tried organizing my thoughts but still too close to call in my mind. If I had to make a case for each, I’d say Fujinami’s junior heavyweight period was better than Bret’s early Hart Foundation run, and the periods from the Sekigun/Ishingun feud through the UWF invasion were better than Bret’s run with the Intercontinental Championship. And just looking at them from a traits standpoint, I think Fujinami was the better and more graceful athlete so his matches could be seen as more exciting just based on athleticism. Not that Bret was a bad or uncoordinated athlete, but Fujinami is one of the smoothest athletes ever in wrestling. For Bret, I’d say his main event run from ’92 – ’97 is better than Fujinami’s ’88-’94 run on top with the IWGP belt. And although the difference between their main runs probably isn’t as great as their undercard runs, I’m inclined to weigh their peak years on top more heavily. I would also argue Bret showed more versatility through his work as a subtle heel/heel against other babyfaces and as a brawler against Lawler or Austin, or even Owen. It’s just a side that Fujinami didn’t get a chance to showcase as much given how and where he wrestled.

Edge was on a hockey podcast and got asked about his favorite matches. He mentioned Shawn/Taker from WM 25 and Eddie/Angle from 20, which aren't surprising. But then also mentioned Bret Hart and Nick Bockwinkel as basically his favorite wrestlers to watch. Said he can go down a 5 hour Nick Bockwinkel wormhole (which I'm sure many here can relate going down worm holes for various wrestlers). Interesting because I don't think I've ever heard a modern wrestler previously mention Bockwinkel as any sort of influence. Also interesting because to me Edge wrestles nothing like Bret or Bockwinkel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwk4UKXq7ss (it's around the 54 minute mark).

Re: Tenryu, I don't know if I agree with that. Every time I've seen him in a US ring, he seemed like just a guy. Take away his stiffness and violence and what do the matches look like? I can't see a Tenryu/Luger match on Action Zone being noteworthy in any way.

I thought Bret’s matches with Tiger Mask in ’82 were safely good, probably as good as anything Fujinami had done in the Garden in those early years. But Bret in New Japan or Fujinami in the US strike me as more hypothetical than anything. There’s not a fair sample size to answer either question definitively. Fujinami had a less than stellar match with Flair at Superbrawl but I wouldn’t necessarily use that as evidence of Fujinami being unable to adapt to US style. Regardless, I’m not sure those type of questions are even relevant. Would Tenryu or Misawa be able to have great matches in mid-90’s WWF? I don’t see it, I think they would have really struggled. But I doubt anyone would hold that hypothetical against them when ranking them. Similarly, Jerry Lawler working Fujinami in Japan wasn’t pretty but that doesn’t seem to hurt his standing either. I think these type of comparisons ultimately come down to how each wrestler worked in their respective style/promotion, and then choosing between them is probably at least somewhat of a reflection of personal preference for a particular style or promotion.

I've been thinking about these two recently. Both are very high level for me, top-10/top-5 types (had Bret at #3 and Fujinami #5 in the GWE poll). I could go either way depending on the day. Very similar in terms of career paths by age, position on card, their versatility, and style within their respective promotions. Both were also basically ranked right next to each other during the GWE with almost identical voting statistics. Although somehow I suspect on average the people who were high on Bret weren't as high on Fujinami, and vice-versa. Curious where the board stands 5 years later.

Easy one for me. Bret/Austin at Wrestlemania 13.

Loved reading this and all the reviews!

Did Fujinami ever work heel/subtle heel in any match? Nothing comes to mind for me. There's matches where he's overly aggressive (e.g. against Kerry mentioned here before) but that's not really working heel.

This is great stuff! Looking forward to the rest.

This is the first Becky Lynch match I've seen from her current run. The work here was pretty good with a really nice build, so it overall I'd say it was a good to very good match. However, one thing that struck me is Becky Lynch's facial expressions and mannerisms to the crowd were terrible. Edge level bad. I know it's a total modern WWE thing to sell shock at opponent's kickouts, but they really need to stop with that. It always looks terribly forced and takes me out of the match.

Pretty disappointing they didn't include Dibiase/Murdoch in the Mid-South hidden gem.

Wow, that's pretty perfect. He's not necessarily bad but there is nothing about him that seems natural, from the way he carries himself to his ring work. Just seems like the product of someone's imagination on the CAW feature in those early WWF Attitude era video games (complete with Big Bossman's unlockable ring gear, if there is a such thing). I saw that brawl he had on Raw with Strowman and just couldn't help laughing at him starting it off with that Superman punch.

I don't get your conclusion at all. 1995 is one of the best years the WWF had in terms of high end matches. If you stack up the top 10 or top 20 matches in 1995, it smokes 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 98, 99, etc.

I think we will probably get a couple of never before seen matches, but I'd assume the majority of the set will be matches that were simply never released on DVD previously (think Bret Hart's Dungeon Collection). At least that's my take from reading the official synopsis on Wrestlingdvdnetwork.

This should be interesting. In my head, I counted about 15 locks and a total of 35 matches that could still conceivably make the list. So it'll be interesting which matches don't make the cut. - I'll predict Austin will be the opponent with the most appearances in top 25 with 4, then Diesel with 3. Bulldog will have 4 appearances too but not all of them as an opponent. - Highest rated regular tag match will be the Action Zone tag with Bret & Davey / Owen & Backlund. - Top 3: Bret / Austin Survivor Series, Bret / Owen WrestleMania X, Bret / Austin WrestleMania 13, in that order.

I like that you listed the Godwinn match. They also had a match the previous week on Superstars that was also good, although it ended with Lawler interference. Also curious, in the writeup of the Undertaker match, you mentioned they had a stinker in 1996. I actually think that match from the Rumble is Bret's most underrated. Did you re-watch the match recently or were you going off memory?

I want to say the Atlantis/Mano Negra mask match was the actual headliner and Casas/Fiera was 2nd from the top.

Looks like the new Undertaker collection on the network will have the Bret/Taker vs Diesel/Shawn tag match from MSG 3/17/96. Previously only available as handheld. I'm assuming this will be a camera shot from ringside as I remember clips of this airing on RAW to show how Diesel turned on Shawn.

I think the Bret/Anvil match (if the date is correct) is the only one that isn't from a TV taping. It took place in Montreal, same night as the Jacques Rougeau retirement match. I'm assuming that is the reason for the WWF having a camera crew there filming the show.

The match was good but I have a hard time buying Slater as a babyface. I think it's the way he moves around with his ass sticking out and the waddling gait, or maybe it's his other mannerisims, or maybe it's because he's Dick Slater. Whatever it is though, I don't feel like cheering for him.

It's been available JIP on the Houston tapes so nice to have it in full finally.