Frankensteiner

All I'm saying is you can't be surprised when they stay the course in the face of unexpected crowd reactions. We can argue those crowd reactions are qualitatively different (for Cena v. Batista, for example), but there's more than a small precedent that has been set.

I understand all those things. It's just hard for me to fathom that they think they can't do any better.

My problem is they haven't really tried finding that person. They kinda/sorta tried with Punk but quickly cut him off with all the Triple H nonsense and Cena was front and center for most of Punk's run anyway.

Cena has been booed for the last 8 years. Didn't affect his standing on top as the main face in the company. I don't see why crowd reaction would change their plans now if it hasn't in the past. We've had time to decipher the reaction Cena gets, why he gets it and what it means, along with why it's not really a bad thing. Batista's appeal isn't the same as Cena's, so that's why I'm asking the questions I'm asking - so we can figure that out as well. I guess I still miss the point of how the company's #1 babyface getting routinely booed is a good thing. If it were me, I'd be trying like crazy to find someone new who can appeal to most segments of the audience.

Cena has been booed for the last 8 years. Didn't affect his standing on top as the main face in the company. I don't see why crowd reaction would change their plans now if it hasn't in the past.

Rey was also booed during his big World Title win moment at WM 22 and in his title match against Edge at Rumble 2008.

You don't think Vince is still calling the shots? HHH may have the day-to-day control but Vince is still in charge of the big picture stuff.

That Punk/HHH match from Night of Champions a few years back was pretty decent aside from the last few minutes. I don't think it's necessarily a bad WrestleMania lineup; it's just that it looks like Bryan isn't getting the match he deserves.

Of the ones I've seen, Flair/Windham from Crockett Cup '87 would be my choice. Total Flair-by-the-numbers type match where Flair doesn't seem like a threat and you can call all the spots ahead of time. Windham could have been anyone from Sam Houston to Butch Reed.

Paul Orndorff is someone that jumps to mind when looking at the title.

I can't bring myself to watch that match again but I did want to respond to a couple of points. I think that is a pretty crazy conclusion considering you are basing it on a sequence of 3 moves done in succession in probably what is a minute of 20 minute match. And that is the only advantage Flair gets in the match. Race was in control for longer and looked more threatening against Backlund. Also, when you say this... and it's almost immediately followed by... ...that's not much of a backup to your point. Going by your play-by-play, it seems to me Garvin kicks Flair's ass all over the place. If you want to break it down to wrestling vs. brawling, it's at best a stalemate for Flair when they wrestle. I think the best things you can say about Flair (kayfabe-wise) is that he's resourceful and resilient when desperate.

Jerry should watch that Flair/Garvin match from the Superstars special. Flair gets off a few chops and I think some type of suplex and has no other offense in that match whatsoever. Something tells me the review would be a lot different.

I don't really care about this storyline one way or the other but I always get a chuckle when someone defends WWE storylines with some fantasy booked future pay-off in mind. When was the last time the WWE delivered a satisfying payoff to one of their big storylines? Even if they stumble upon something worthwhile, it's my impression things get unnecessarily dragged out before eventually petering out.

Aren't there some Dandy matches working Dragon and Sano in SWS?

The Hashimoto/Regal IWGP title match from '95 would be my pick.

I agree with you that Bryan may be in that position but Punk is the 2nd biggest star and most protected guy in the company after Cena (also probably the most over guy with the live crowds). He just got done steamrolling new talents Axel and Ryback. Jericho was never in that position in his wildest dreams.

That's actually a fantastic point in Bret's favor I've never thought of before. Also, while I'm not a huge fan of the match, he had the Ironman with Owen which is pretty well regarded and the Kid title defense from RAW within a few days of each other too. So Bret probably does have stretches like that too. Great wrestler. The Backlund Superstars match that you like is sandwiched in-between those two matches also.

Is Lesnar now done until Mania? As much as the talk is about Bryan, I think what they do with Punk now is just as interesting if not more so. It's pretty clear they're going to run some of form of Bryan/Orton/HHH in the upcoming months so there's really no mystery there (it's more of a question of execution). I don't see what they can do with Punk to keep his momentum. I don't think doing a Punk/Axel feud now helps either guy.

Scott Keith made this up. It is a complete lie. The part about Austin injuring his knee is true though. Think this is the last match for Austin sans any knee braces.

It's not going to happen, but I would personally love it if Christian got another longer run with the belt. They could run him against Swagger, Cesaro, Ambrose, or even Sheamus until Sandow cashes in. Then have Ziggler take it off Sandow after going over Big E/AJ and ADR in a non-title feud.

Did you forget to rate Atlantis/Black Warrior from March? Or is that pending a re-watch?

What Martel matches are available from the 70s? I know there's some late 79' stuff from Portland and a 78' match against Bock from Hawaii, but anything else?

Wyatt should just have a sleeper-type move as his finisher where he can do his creepy stare while putting the other guy away (or is that not PG?). Instead it's another lame, twisty variation of a neckbreaker/facebuster.

Only part of your post I would disagree with. I think Ziggler works better as a heel, which is odd since I pretty much think everyone works better as a face. As a character, cocky smiley show-off Ziggler doesn't really come across as all that like-able.

I have not seen the version on Youtube but I acquired a pretty decent version of the match from someone in Mexico last year. The VQ throughout the primera caida is very good with hardly any faults. After that a tracking a line develops and there's some occasional picture shake. I would still consider this an upgrade over the Jeff Lynch version that's circulating. I have this available on DVD for anyone interested.