PeteF3

This clears up something that's confused me about some of the Japanese results that are online, which referred to a German suplex as something that seems to translate to "atomic bomb hold." That could be the difference between that an an atomic drop, which I recall still being an atomic drop in Japan (except for the inverted atomic drop, which is called a "Manhattan Drop" because Adrian Adonis apparently was the first one to do it in Japan). These obscure (to us) European and South African foreigners are the most fascinating parts of this history lesson to me. The Catchfans Facebook group produced a program from Sweden which featured Anton Laszlo among other more familiar '70s Europeans and that and this one IWE tour appear to be the only recordings of him in wrestling at all.

It wasn't a squash or clean, but even with the photographer it was about as decisively as Hogan had ever been beaten. He can't slam Yokozuna, Yoko kicks out of the legdrop, and Yoko pins him with his own move. Then beats him up some more after the match. There was just enough there to protect Hogan for a possible return on the Intrepid but it also served as an effective way to write him off, which is what happened.

I don't really believe there were any serious plans to replace Hogan with Warrior long-term. Warrior was just there to keep the belt warm for a year and for Vince to prove to the boys and to everyone else that he could get Hogan to do a clean job. So in that sense, yes, it may have built on Hogan's insecurities, but the belt was going to end up back with Hogan by Mania 7 no matter what.

"Dive is...caught." --Joe Buck

One that can't be blamed on these damn kidz today not knowing how to work, dammit: there's a heated stand-up exchange late in a match, things are reaching a boiling point, and...one wrestler grabs a side headlock out of nowhere, for no other reason than so his opponent can fire him off into the ropes a nanosecond later. A total eye-rolling spot, and yet almost every single one of the great workers of the '80s and '70s does it over and over. Also, one-fall triple-threat/four-way/higher matches. I've lost the battle on this and numerous other ones, but I still hate it and sort of find it a canary in the coalmine for a lot of the nonsensical shit that came afterward that fundamentally misunderstands wrestling at its best. And don't even get me started on it when a title is at stake. Ric Flair's motto did not go, "To be the Man, you have to beat the Man or another man in the same match as the Man."

There was an MLB relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins named Matt Guerrier in the 2000s so I knew the name, but he's the only example I know of. But he was from the Beverly Brothers' hometown of Shaker Heights, Ohio, not Canada. "Senshi" does not appear to be a surname in Japanese, just for the record.

That came right after Mike Chinoy explained exactly that, so I think the implication was that, yes, Bischoff was full of it.

WCW only sent one wrestler and one boss. Everyone else was working for New Japan or another Japanese promotion. It was a NJPW card the whole way.

Is TBS going to have any sports packages at all outside of March Madness and MLB? Will they be having any hockey (regular season or postseason) when the NHL goes to Turner next year?

I remember a roast or comedy special years and years ago, probably early 2000s, where one guy (not in a whiny OMG PC POLICE manner) talked about the end of ethnic-based comedy and how we were running out of ethnic groups to make fun of. But he said that for as long as he still could, he would target the remaining "allowable" ethnic groups for humor and sent out a warning to "you damn, dirty Swedes." This feud is like that stand-up bit, but without the irony.

Let's be fair to Cody and not assume what he means by "modern era." Like, if the "modern era" extends back to, say, Wednesday afternoon, it's a contender.

Apparently *nobody* on the site knew about it until it was up. Just inconceivable on Dave's part. I'm absolutely okay with him having an actual discussion with Bruce, but to just do a Joe Rogan and let him spout off and quadruple down on his original column is incomprehensible. I can *sort of* see why Dave might not have been 100% in the loop because this whole fiasco took place while he was planning his mother's funeral and wrestling, even a major story like Jon Huber's death, was probably about the last thing on his mind. But he had to have read the article by now and I don't know how anyone can evaluate it as meeting any kind of publishable, journalistic standard. It scarcely needs a rebuttal here, but someone gently remind Garrett that no, Bruce Mitchell does *not* "have the right" to a wrestling journalism career, assuming that's what he means by living his life doing what he enjoys.

If it is CM Punk then that's almost a relief to me because I'm long past the point of giving a shit about him, or expecting him to return in any meaningful capacity.

Twitter has poisoned Dave's brain. He wastes so much time arguing with bad-faith actors on behalf of Prichard and Bischoff that he's starting to see any criticism at all as being from that same kind of mob.

Last time I watched it I remember the finishing stretch being better than I remembered, but if it's a top-20, top-50, or top-100 WWF match of the '88-'97 time period, I'm the King of Romania. There are a lot of really, really good matches that I had to prune from my list.

Up to nine now. It is absolutely flabbergasting how terrible Japan's vaccine rollout has been. I would have expected them to be among the front lines, both because of their reputation and because they know they have the Olympics this year (in theory).

The Humvee line refers to the vehicle that Pillman was driving when he crashed.

Every negative the Sheik is accused of having, and much less. One of the worst workers of all-time, even "for what he is." It got so bad that I was basically skipping every Yearbook chapter he was involved in because I didn't want to be bothered. Like the Sheik and like peak Reign of Terror HHH, there's never any comeuppance or payback for the shit he pulls, so there's no emotional attachment to watching him wrestle.

Russ Davis is the Chicago guy, and that is...definitely a minority opinion, I think. I have no real opinion of him but a lot of old-timers hated him.

I don't believe that's correct. I'll have to check when I get home but I remember it being all about seniority and how it related to the WWF's ban on the blade.

Lots and lots of classic joshi discussion and show reviews have sprung up there, oddly enough.

I enjoy the Comments sections (for the most part) and Brian Bayless' WWF TV reviews, which are an invaluable resource. What can I say.

At this point I've completely tuned out any WWE wrestler contradicting a Dave report on anything. Fair or not, they've played that card too many times when it was plainly obvious that Dave had it right.

Horst Hoffmann We have so little hard info on the continental Europe scene pre-1980, but all indications are that he was the biggest star of that era, in a time when you pretty much had to bring the goods from a technical standpoint to get pushed as hard as he did. As good of a pure mat technician as anyone who worked in Japan in the 1970's. Inventor or at least popularizer in a pro wrestling sense of the gutwrench suplex. Supposedly the inspiration for Misawa to sport long green tights. 10/5/61 vs. Lino diSanto 12/15/75 vs. Dory Funk, Jr. 12/17/75 vs. The Destroyer 12/6/77 w/ Billy Robinson vs. The Funks

Also, 1998 Pro. Yes, Pro continued in syndication form after it left TBS with the debut of Thunder, for about another 9 months. It was mostly repeats with some exclusives mixed in. Someone on DDTDigest recapped most of them.