Frankensteiner

I would have Tamura neck-and-neck with Han, with a slight edge to Han, although I would also argue that Tamura had a higher peak. If I end up turning in a ballot, Tamura will most likely be my highest ranked Japanese born worker.

I watched a little bit of the show so far, mostly caught the Reigns/Harper match and then the Rusev-Ziggler angle. Last time I saw Reigns was at Wrestlemania and he looked pretty impressive going up against Lesnar. Tonight not so much. It looked like all his offense was comprised of spots with varying degrees of elaborate setup. I don't know if it was just today or if I didn't notice it previously, but many of his moves had some hokey, unnecessary movement. Made him seem really unnatural and too cooperative when running through his stuff, although Harper was pretty good on his end. The Rusev/Lana/Ziggler stuff was fairly entertaining. How did Rusev turn from Russian to Bulgarian in the storyline? Also saw the hype video for Lesnar-Taker and I thought that was well done.

That was a really good read, thanks. I also found an old site on archive.org that had a bunch of AOL chat and Prodigy interviews from 1996. Nothing earth shattering but somewhat interesting, especially reading it in the context of 1996 (the WWF ones were done at the time of WrestleMania). Here's one with Rick Martel: OnlineHost: Welcome Rick Martel!!! Rick: I want to say that it is great to be online so I can communicate with all my fans to tell them what's happening with me. Question: Rick, I always loved your Model gimmick. Any change of you returning to the WWF in the future? Rick: Yes, of course there are chances of that. I have always been treated very well by the WWF. When I am ready to come back to wrestling full time I will be talking with the WWF. Question: WrestleMania 8...What do you remember about that match with Jake? Rick: That was WM7... I am sure that somehow, now that I have watched it, Jake Roberts had to be able to see out of his blindfold otherwise he could never have beaten me. Question: What have you been up to?Are you still wrestling? Rick: No, right now I am enjoying myself like I never have. I am downhill skiing, snowmobiling up in Canada, going to Florida to play golf and just enjoying life. As of right now I am not ready to make a decision as to what I will do regarding wrestling. Question: What Do you think about Skip stealing your move, when you would always do jumping jacks in the ring? Rick: Well Skip can try to imitate me but he will never ever be able to duplicate me. Because of the way I look compared to the way he looks...he can try all he wants,but he will never come near the way I look. Question: Mr. Martel, Would you ever team w/ the Z-man Tom Zenk again and reform the Can-Am Connection? Rick: Well this is a very hard question. There is no doubt in my mind that he and I were the best tag team ever put together as far as style, look and skill. We performed as one and I am sure that if he and I were to stay together, we would have been the greatest tag team ever. Right now, it is a question I honestly cannot answer. I would not be able to trust him again ever, knowing that he walked away. Question: Rick...You were great as the AWA champion.What do you remember about those days? Rick: First, my matches against Nick Bockwinkle, those were great matches. And of course I remember most my win for the World title in AWA against Tsuruta. Question: Where can I buy Arrogance and how much does 1 ounce cost? Rick: Arrogance is priceless. You cannot put a price on it. I am the only one who can wear it and deserve it. Arrogance is not only a fragrance, it is a way of life. Question: Are you related to Sherri Martel? Rick: No, I am not. She is not my wife or my sister. Question: You tagged up with Tito Santana, besides him whom was your best Tag Team Partner? Rick: Of course Tony Garea. Question: What was your most memorable match? Rick: This is a hard one...I have had so many great ones. I would say the second time I won the world tag team championships with Tony Garea because nobody thought we could do it a second time. I was so proud of the effort that Tony and I put in and I think it was my greatest moment. Also, there was another time...in Miami at the Royal Rumble where I had the record for the longest time in the Royal Rumble. It felt great that night. Question: Who do you believe to be the best in the WWF today? Rick: It's very difficult to pick one. Definitely between Bret or Shawn. Question: At WM6..you wrestled Koko..what do you remember about that match? Rick: No, it wasn't easy to wrestle Koko, it's just that the way I felt great and of course it might look easy for the people when they see the way I move, but it sure wasn't. What I liked about WM in Toronto is that it wasn't my own country. It felt great to perform in such a great event. Question: What do you think of older wrestlers making comebacks? i.e. Warrior, Snake. Rick: I understand, doing what I am doing now. Wrestling is in your blood, it something that is hard to give up. When you feel as Ultimate Warroir and Jake Roberts feel, that they have so much to give prof. wrestling, why not do it? The fans benefit from it, and of course they benefit from it. It's a win win situation for everybody. Question: What did you like better, tag team or singles? Rick: I liked them both, but I liked singles better. You don't have to rely on anybody but yourself. Question: Do you have any comments about the WWFvs WCW war? Rick: Yes, I do. I think that the winners in this confrontation are definitely the fans. I think that the fact that there are two big organizations competing with each other, definitely brings the wrestler to perform at a higher level, to make sure that they have a place in one of the two federations. Question: Who was your toughest opponent?Ever..either AWA or WWF?And why? Rick: My toughest opponent ever was Stan the Man Hanson. He was big, strong and he had alot of stamina. This guy was unbeliveable. Question: What do you think about the very unusual Goldust? Rick: I don't care for that. I don't like that kind of behavior in a sport such as prof. wrestling at all. Question: Hey Model..Do you still talk to wrestlers today? Rick: Yes, I do keep in touch with Roddy Piper and The Genius. Question: How was it working for Vince McMahon all those years? Rick: I had a great time working for Vince McMahon. He was fair to me in good and in bad situations. Question: If there was one wrestler you wish you had a chance to wrestler who would that be? Rick: It's hard because I have wrestled many of them. I wrestled everybody I wanted to. Question: What do you think about the Warrior? Do you still think he will be effective? Rick: I definitely think so because I have seen him and wrestled him and he is very very intense. I know with his discipline and his great physical condition...there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a force to reckon with as he has been in the past. Question: Do you think Sunny of the Body Donnas would have made agood manager for you? Rick: Of course! She would have been a great manager for me. Our styles would have complimented each other in a great way. Question: What do you think of Vader Rick: First, I fear no one, just want to make that clear. Vader is big, tough and strong but he is human and I have experienced in wrestling that I can definitely use my advantage against such opponents. Question: If you came back to the WWF...Who would you like to tag with? Rick: To be honest, I wouldn't want to tag with anyone because I don't think anyone can meet my standards of a tag team partner whether it is in the ring or out of the ring. Question: What are your feelings on Piper being the president, and what he's doing? Rick: I was surprised when I heard that the WWF appointed him as acting president. But knowing him, I know that he will definitely do a great job and that no one, I am sure, will mess with him when he makes a decision. Question: Over your career..Do you have any regrets? Rick: No, I have no regrets. The only thing I regret in professional wrestling is the death of my brother Michel. Question: Rick..Do you still keep in touch with Tito Santana? Rick: No, I haven't. Question: How did you get a start in pro wrestling? Rick: I got my start in Nova Scotia. There was a wrestler that got injured one night and they needed a replacement for him within 24 hours. So, my brother called me up and told me to get on a plane from Quebec to Nova Scotia and he told me I was starting as a prof. wrestler. I was only 17 years old. That was the begginning... I always admired Jack Brisco. I thought he was everything a champion should be. He was my idol and I did get great motivation by watching him wrestle. Question: Do you think that wrestling has changed for the better or worse? Rick: Well it has changed for the better and worse. I think it has gotten more people around the globe watching and knowing about it through TV that it never had in the past. But as far as the wrestling style, I think that somehow it should have stayed more the way it was as far as wrestling holds etc. because there are more aerial movements now which I think there shouldn't be. I think that the showmanship part of it has gone too far. It should come back to the basics. Question: Rick..at WrestleMania XII..Who do you think will win Shawn or Bret Rick: My prediction is Shawn Michaels. Question: Who was the toughest tag team you faced with Tony? Rick: It was between Saito and Fuji and the Wild Samoans. Those were the two toughest opponents we faced. OnlineHost: Rick Martel......Thanks for joining us on AOL!!

Since we had a debate here on the importance of selling (or lack there of), and since you think Bret was an awful babyface, I'm curious what you think got Bret over so much with the WWF crowds where he was arguably the most popular face in the company for some 3+ years? All throughout a period of time when there were clearly other wrestlers (Hogan, Luger, Diesel) getting pushed harder by the company as the #1 face.

I thought Dandy had some rudo in his playbook. It was usually fight-fire-with-fire type stuff but I don't know that I saw him always as a classic tecnico.

Do you think if somebody's matches are getting over, that there is a small chance that they would get over themselves? Selling is only one part in getting the matches over. Of course. Selling can be an aspect of a match that helps get it over. Having over matches can help get somebody over. Thus selling can help someone get over. What am I missing? First, I would argue that up until recently having good matches or matches that are over wasn't very important in getting wrestlers over. Second, even now when having good matches is seemingly more important, I would say most fans would equate good matches with athleticism, hot moves, and near-falls. Selling would be distant in terms of importance. I will not argue that selling gets crowds more behind a wrestler during the match. But for that to even register, fans need to be attached to a wrestler prior to the match, in which case the criteria I listed earlier is far more important. There are plenty examples of guys selling well only to be met with muted or even hostile reactions. Would you disagree with my Ricky Morton hypothetical?

Do you think if somebody's matches are getting over, that there is a small chance that they would get over themselves? Selling is only one part in getting the matches over.

I am not arguing that selling doesn't get the crowd more behind a wrestler in the context of a match. But that to me isn't the classic definition of a wrestler getting over. Something tells me Ricky Morton would be just as popular in the 80s if he were the one getting the hot the tags in those matches. On the other hand, if Morton cut his hair, wore plain black trunks, and didn't talk, there's no way the crowds would have responded to him nearly in the same manner even if he wrestled the same style.

Huh? This isn't the case at all. It gets people invested in the match and builds heat (i.e. gets the match over) but I think wrestlers get over because of some combination of: winning/push, look, charisma, interviews, and (more recently) overall wrestling ability. The logical conclusion of your argument would be wrestlers who don't sell or sell well won't be over which is not true. You have your Goldbergs, Warriors, Sids, Undertakers, etc.

Selling doesn't play a role in getting anyone over. It plays a role in getting the match over.

This is such a tough question because there's so many potential candidates. Some of my favorites: Bret Hart - Maybe he stood out because of his serious approach in comparison to his surroundings in the WWF, but to me he was super convincing both in and out of the ring. I liked his more realistic approach to selling and he would always pull out something new to outsmart his opponents. Totally great babyface in a variety of different situations: going up against monsters, getting revenge against Lawler (though we didn't get to see enough of that side of him), great at having matches with other babyfaces even when he had to straddle the line between face and heel, etc. Volk Han - I actually think there's plenty of similarities between he and Bret in their respective promotions and so I like him for many of the same reasons. Han was awesome at pulling out new stuff and coming up with creative new counters. Like Bret, he was great in a variety of different situations: could fight big guys (Vrij, Tariel, Nyman), the other Russians (Zouev, Kopylov), or have great face vs face matches against the Japanese natives (Maeda, Yamamoto, Tamura, TK). Always came across as super classy in the end. Tito Santana - Although Matt hit on the often simple structure to his matches, I thought his selling and comebacks are some of the best ever. The obvious comparisons here would be Martel and Steamboat. I think Tito is just as good of a worker as either of them, but no way do those guys match Tito on kicking ass. I only wish he had a longer run in the upper mid-card instead of fading after the Savage feud. Atlantis - Best pure tecnico. I don't think there's a better tecnico title match worker in Lucha. Jim Duggan (Mid-South era) - Dibiase and Sawyer feuds. I'm generally not a fan of pure brawlers as I like wrestlers who come across as real athletes but Duggan was just amazing in slugging it out in Mid-South. Honorable mentions: Fujinami, Martel, and Kerry Von Erich.

If you get a chance, you should check out the Tenryu vs Nakano match. It's probably one of my favorite short matches ever.

Other than the aforementioned face turn against Flair and the subsequent matches against Murdoch, what are the other singles matches worth checking out from Dibiase's face run?

Was Fiera doing anything in '94? I know there's the feud with Emilio which I thought was pretty good but otherwise I'm drawing a blank. Looks like he had a hair match with Black Magic late in the year but I've never seen it.

Best way to compare the two is that late '92 - late '93 period when Perfect returned from his back injury. That was the peak of Hennig's WWF run in my opinion and both guys had similar card placement and number of shared opponents: HBK, Flair, Berzerker, Shango, Doink, Fatu/Samu, Luger, Lawler, Yoko... there might be some handhelds of Perfect working Razor also.

I really don't see that much Backlund in Bret's work or mid-90s WWF style in general. I'd be interested to hear about the similarities that others may see though. I always thought --maybe incorrectly-- that WWF workrate style of the mid-90's was closer to the AWA style of the 80s. Martel, Curt, and Shawn still had some of that style in their work. And Bret as champion worked more similar to AWA-era Martel than he did to Backlund.

Yeah, I understand. All I was giving is the air date typically attributed to the match. It was on Dan Ginnetty's 1990 set so I'm not sure why there's a discrepancy.

Does anyone know what episode of TV this actually aired on? I know the 2/21 date is correct, but I can't find this matchup airing on AJ TV after 2/21. It aired twice before that date, though. I have this as airing on the 2/19 show.

Bockwinkel/Adnan in '81 was heel vs heel

I'll second this match. I think it's also my favorite commentary between Gorilla and Jesse. Otherwise, I sort of agree that the format wasn't very conducive to having great matches. Can't think of any other notable ones that weren't already mentioned.

Of course he's justified. As long as they're not paying him, he doesn't owe anyone anything. He was being paid at the time of his walk ou. If WWE stopped payment to his account, then yes, by all means all out. But that didn't happen. This reminds me of Rampage Jackson complaining about getting the short stick in UFC despite being one of UFC's most promoted personalities and making 14 million while fighting for UFC post Pride. You are essentially saying that if someone is unhappy at their job, they are never justified in quitting it. I don't really see any justification necessary beyond that. If WWE is paying Punk after he walked out, that is their fault, not his.

Of course he's justified. As long as they're not paying him, he doesn't owe anyone anything.

Didn't they already try making him more corporate by attempting to cut his beard on one of those RAWs?