goodhelmet

His Mexico stuff has to be blow away great. His WWE stuff doesn't get him anywhere close.

This is the dumbest use of a street fight I have ever seen.

New rule.. when somebody passes away, it deserves its own thread.

The match that comes to my mind isn't a juniors match or a Dragon Gate match, it was Raven vs. Saturn from a PPV in 2000 or 2001 (I think). No heat. Just two guys going back and forth exchanging spots getting their stuff in. they gave the crowd no reason to care but everything was executed well as I recall. Still, for a wrestling "psychologist" like Raven, it was embarrassing to watch.

I actually have bullet points on this that I couldn't post on the old board because of the formatting problems. Still including the quality of the punches.

Phil made the comment to me yesterday that he hopes Thatcher and Ishikawa mix it up soon since Ishikawa is in Canada right now.

Iceman Parsons & Skip Young vs. Pretty Young Things (8/17/84)

The one Dibiase team that feels like it belongs here. Strong heel team and face team.

I don't know if they make the final list but the feud against the New Fabs was amazing and they had a great run for a year. They had the match in Texas but this all hinges on your feelings on the New Fabs feud.

I know he had Randy Colley as a partner in the early 80s. He had the fat guy as a partner in the great 1992 Memphis run. They had the great series against the Fabs in Memphis. The Moondogs feel like they belong in the conversation but I don't know how to split them up really.

No

Dude, you know it was going to happen.... You have to give me 100 teams better at least.

If you guys haven't checked it out yet, listen to the interview with DMC from this week.

I still can't forgive him for railroading the SMW Cornette podcast. I thought Cornette was going to get to talk about the entire promotion including successes and failures. Instead it was an hour of Jim defending the New Jack angle against Todd Martin.

It wasn't must watch material. I like Masters back work and Hero's strikes. Beyond that, it was merely fun.

I currently have him in the top 50 and not likely to drop out of it

There is a thread here that talks about things wrestlers value that fans don't. I think Armstrong might be a great hand that wrestlers appreciate but never quite connects with the fans... similar to Lance Storm.

Borne is still in contention when you consider he had decent matches in Texas, Portland, Mid South, WCW and WWF. I don't know if he had any classic Top 5 promotion singles matches though.

Thoughts from the 80s project so far... Ronnie Garvin vs. Lanny Poffo WILL: Garvin is so awesome. He is just abusing Poffo here. Poffo bridges up so Garvin just clubs him in the stomach. garvin gets a chinlock but puts his whole body on the rop for leverage. Just acting like a complete dick. You gotta love Lanny on commentary, "He introduces me to the concrete." When Garvin isn't control, he completely Larry Z's it and stalls and acts like a chickenshit. Nice spot when Poffo escapes a piledriver attempt with a backdrop but Garvin holds on and sunset flips him. After Lanny hit the moonsault, I thought the match was close to over but they wrestled for another 5 minutes. I thought garvin would have had an easier time but he was the one busted up and who barely escaped after using the chain to knock Poffo out and grab the countout win. Another fun Garvin match but the crowd hurt this one as it is kind of embarassing to lose a heat battle to an Italian Stallion match. Steel Cage Match for the ICW Heavyweight Title Randy Savage © vs. Ronnie Garvin (sometime in 1982 or early 1983) KRIS Z: This starts out slow but Garvin would soon start working on Savage and would be the first to use the cage by ramming Savage’s head into it a few times causing him to juice. Garvin continues to pound on Savage using his offensive repetoire to weaken Savage. Savage would start his comeback by throwing Garvin into the cage numerous times causing him to juice as well before starting to unload punches on him. Garvin would come back though and they would start beating the crap out of each other but Savage would miss with his elbow drop off the top rope giving Garvin the chance to capitalize which is what he did as he started back working Savage over and would climb up himself to the top rope where he would land a diving kneedrop but Savage would kick out of the pin. Throughout the match both men would try for the piledriver especially Garvin but each man would fight of it. Garvin would throw Savage into referee George Weingroff then took off his belt where he would use it to punch Savage in the face with then tied him to the top rope by the neck but Savage would get out. Savage then made his comeback but would end up getting backdropped into the cage in a cool spot at that time. Garvin then climbed back up top where he would get crotched and slumped forward so Savage could lock him up in a piledriver for the win in a very cool spot. King Pez Whatley would then attack Savage after the match but brother Lanny Poffo made the save. Buzz Sawyer vs. Ronnie Garvin (7/16/83) KRIS Z: This is a rematch from last month where Sawyer walked out. Sawyer takes a nuclear bump off a Garvin backdrop where he almost was out of camera view before they went to the mat. Garvin really works on Buzz’s left arm early on but Buzz would chunk him to the floor leading to him taking control. Buzz would roughhouse Garvin using a beautiful salto then a suplex that looked like it took a lot out of Buzz. Garvin would come back here using punches and headbutts but would miss his kneedrop from the ropes leading to Sawyer trying for a spinning toehold. Garvin would kick him off but ate a vicious forearm in response although Garvin would lock in an inside cradle that Buzz would reverse for a win. This goes on the block as it was hard hitting and fun as shit. National TV Title: Jake Roberts © vs. Ronnie Garvin (11/26/83) KRIS Z: Garvin is great early on here with his armwork using a standing fireman’s slam which was great along with a wicked looking side arm scissors. Jake would go to the floor to regroup getting some feeling back in his arm then tries to sucker Garvin but he would go right back to work on the arm including some pin attempts while working the arm like a modified crucifix. This is some really good stuff here as Garvin is all over the mat using scissors holds and the like. We get a fucking clip and come back with both men on their back after a double collision. Jake would go for a DDT but Garvin holds the ropes and Jake goes down but Jake keeps on trying as Garvin has a death grip on the ropes. Garvin would let go and would catch Jake flush with a right hand and a splash for a nearfall. Garvin tries for a piledriver but Jake reverses into a Garvin reversal with a sunset flip before the time limit would run out. Garvin still punches Jake and they have to be pulled apart after the bell. Like I said this had some really solid stuff from Garvin and I’m throwing it on the block. Jake Roberts © vs. Ronnie Garvin (12/3/83) KRIS Z: These two went to a draw in the previous week so here is the rematch. This was such a great feud as both men worked very well together. Jake keeping his hands up as defense for any punch that Garvin might throw was great. Garvin would use a front chancery to keep Jake grounded early but would mix a great forearm smash in to force Jake to the mat. There would be a cut in the action for a commercial and we come back with Jake now controlling Garvin on the mat. Both men were very tight in their offense here with the strikes looking really crisp. Garvin would smash Jake’s head on the ringpost and hit a cross body block off the top rope for a nearfall with Jake rolling to the floor to regroup and kill time. Garvin throws some awesome punches of course leading up to a schoolboy for a nearfall and the fans at Techwood are getting into this. Garvin would then get an inside cradle for another nearfall and you could tell that Garvin was getting a sense of urgency after the last week. The time limit would run out as Garvin was stomping on Jake. This was another good match in their series and goes on the block. National TV Title: Jake Roberts © vs.Ronnie Garvin (12/17/83) KRIS Z: This is a 60:00 match as Garvin had asked for since he was part of 2 draws in the last 3 weeks. Garvin really works on Jake’s left arm to start the match but Jake would counter by working on Garvin’s left leg. This was good body part action here but Garvin would try to pick up the pace until Jake went back to work on his left leg. Jake was relentless working on the knee here but Garvin would reverse Jake’s leg bar into a toehold of his own before both men got to their feet with Garvin peppering him with punches. Garvin would hit his grounded crucifix for a nearfall and kept up the pressure until Ellering would distract Garvin enough so Jake could attack. Jake would get a couple of nearfalls but Garvin would go for a sunset flip before Jake would punch him in the mouth to break that up and went back to work on Garvin’s ribs. Garvin would start fighting back with punches in bunches until Ellering would pull Garvin’s leg from under him letting Jake get back control. The finished was botched bad here as Jake bodyslammed Garvin and Ellering was supposed to hold his foot but didn’t so they repeated the spot again and this time Ellering held it down but not for long and Scrappy McGowan made a 5 count. Weird finish but this was their best match of the series so far and with the others being on the nomination block, this also goes on. National TV Title: Jake Roberts © vs. Ronnie Garvin (2/25/84) KRIS Z: The fans voted his as their dream match and Garvin comes out at the bell for the win as he gets a quick inside cradle for a nearfall. Jake really controls the early part of the match using a rope to choke Garvin on the mat and kept Garvin grounded for a long while. Garvin would punch Jake in the side to break up the attack and started firing punches to the body in bunches. Jake takes a real pounding here and Ellering tries to get him to leave the ring but he won’t so Jake takes another way out as he punches Scrappy McGowan for the DQ. Garvin doesn’t care though as he continues to beat the hell out of Jake befor a big pull apart with all the jobbers coming out. This was a really good match before the screwy finish and I'm throwing it on the block. Ronnie Garvin vs. Ric Flair (1985) SHOE: High end nomination. I thought this was phenomenal. It was intense right at the lock up. This was just a hard hitting affair. Both guys just brought the intesity. Those Garvin jumping head butts were wicked. The slaps to Flair jaw were nasty and knocked the taste out of them. We get a Flair Flop in fast forward and that was awesome. This might be the most represented match on the set, and this might be might #3 on Flair's best opponents for matches. Ron Garvin vs. Black Bart (Loser Leaves Town Match) (6/8/85) WILL: I really like Bart's bumping. Garvin's hand is injured so Garvin uses headbutts to knock Bart down. He is also laying in the stiff kicks made better by Bart's bumping. Bart doesn’t do much but attack Garvin's hand but he doesn’t have to do much else. Garvin starts doing his twisty carny shit later on and it looks painful. I love this idea of Garvin having to find different ways to take Bart out because his hand is injured. Then, to make this match a stone-cold lock in my eyes, Bart does a senton (probably going for a leg drop) on the injured hand. Late in the match, Garvin knocks Bart out, sacrificing his hand but Bart has his leg on the ropes. As Ron argues with the ref, Baby Doll hands Bart a loaded elbow pad and knocks Garvin out in a shock ending. Great ending to a sweet match. Strong nomination. Arn Anderson vs. Ronnie Garvin 3/1/86 SHOE: This is a no frills match. Just a nice match with structure and story telling. We see Garvin do his best Ole impersonation and hit Arn with stiff strikes. He'd grab and twist and contort Arn's arm. He'd even headbutt it. This is real good arm work that Arn sells it big. Arn nails Garvin with a back drop.This allows Arn to focus his attack on Garvin's back. Ric Flair is out. Garvin has Arn in an adominal stretch as time expires. Post match Flair distracts Garvin and this allows Arn to lay him out with a Gordbuster. Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin 3/30/86 SHOE: This is a cage match and a handheld. The physicality gets lost with a handheld, but man their is a lot of great stuff going on.1st off Flair does a bit of storytelling before he enters the cage. We start off with both men brutalizing each other. Eventually Garvin takes control and beats on Flair, back rakes, and head butts. Flair gets the heat and he works over Garvin with the cage . Man Garvin is a bloody mess. So Flair mixes up with the cage and just some brutal punches. Flair locks on the Figure 4 and just tears up the leg. Garvin does a great job selling it. Even when Garvin has Flair locked it a sleeper he keeps lifting his leg to relieve the pressure. Garvin is all over Flair towards the finish. Garvin picks Flair up for a slam but his leg gives up and Flair picks up the win with his legs on the rope. The work on the leg paid off at the finish which I'm a mark of. Arn Anderson vs. Ron Garvin (TV Title) (4/86) WILL: TV match based around Arn controlling Garvin with a headlock early on. I love how these guys wok their holds always keeing their hands moving trying to feel out their oponent. When an announcer says it is a human game of chess, I think of matches like this one. This also has the great post-match where Arn and Tully break Garvin's hand. This is great. Tully Blanchard vs. Ronnie Garvin 5/3/86 SHOE: This match was awesome. They worked at a great pace, and told a compelling story. Garvin had an injured hand thanks to the 4 Horsemen. Every time Garvin would be making momentum he would hurt the hand and the tides would turn. Tully was his usual dick self, but had a real mean streak here. Finally Garvin begins working over the leg. This was awesome. The work on Tully's leg was great. We get some more battles down the stretch. The finish is pretty great. JJ gives Tully a load of quarters, while Dusty tapes up Ronnie's hand. Ronnie strikes 1st and gets the win. Man this was some choice stuff. Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair (Cage match) (Detroit) WILL: This match SMOKES the Starrcade match. It has all of your Garvin-Flair goodness. Hard chops, stiff punches, and it really helps that the crowd is hot. When Flair gains contorl, he goes to work on Garvin's arm instead of his leg. although he does slap on the Figure 4 later on in the match . I guess it makes sense if Flair's goal is to neutralize Garvin's hands of stone. Later on, Garvin counters a knee drop, slaps Flair down and applies his own Figure-4. I think that is a spot that never gets old in Flair matches... the opponent putting Flair in his own hold. Unless it is Russo or something. Awesome spot as Flair tries for a pin in the corner with his leg on the ropes only to have Garvin breaking the pin by grabbing Flair's nose. the one negative is that they didn't really utilize the cage for most of the amtch., However, when Garvin is scraping Flair against the cage late in the game, the crowd goes batshit. The end stetch is super hot as Garvin hits all the big moves in a desparate attempt to pin Flair. We have seen it all before so you reall ythink Flair wins in the end. He escaped the Garvin stomp, a body press, the Garvin punch. When Garvin hits the flying sunset flip at the end, it was a great fucking moment. Too bad they fucked up his World Title run. Slam dunk nomination. Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (Cage Match) (Starrcade 1987) WILL: Even though Garvin was booked like a chump in the lead-up to this match, the Garvin feud is one of my favorite Flair matchups. I always felt bad for Garvin as the fans turned on him but I blame that on the booking more than anything he did. I think the cage match that saw Garvin win the world title was much better but this still holds up esp. seeing it complete and not clipped like on the commercial tape. I also enjoy this much more than the Race-Flair match form the first Starrcade. I am throwing this one on the block

Chavo has been solid in almost every territory he has been in. Lack of footage hurts a little but we have enough from everywhere that demonstrates he was pretty good everywhere. I'll try to dig up a listing of matches we have nominated for the 80s sets.

Here are the thoughts of random singles matches that made the NJ set. I picked the comment that I thought put the match in the best light. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Vader CHILDS: Fujinami always worked monsters well, and this was one of the best examples. He spent most of the match bumping around and making Vader's offense look great, but every few minutes, he delivered a flurry of hit-and-run offense that kept him credible. Vader did a good job as well, selling the damage from Fujinami's leg kicks and tossing in a few theatrical bumps. Very good ending that played off Fujinami's ability to outmaneuver the unbeatable monster. This is a slam-dunk nomination. Vader vs. Fujinami CHILDS: I was almost looking for reasons not to nominate this, because we already have two no-doubters from their series. But fuck, it was just too good. Vader gave Fujiami a terrible beating, but Fujinami showed so much fire and resourcefulness as he kept finding ways to counter out of trouble and pile up damage on Vader's arm (which was sort of the big man's Achilles heel in NJ booking.) In a great sequence near the end, Fujinami destroyed Vader's arm on several metal posts and rolled him into the ring for an armbar that easily could have ended it. But then, in a twist on their previous matches, Vader battled through the submission to set up his own finishing run. It really came across as two epic forces throwing everything they had at one another before a huge, fired up crowd. I can't see leaving it off. New Japan Classics 340 Tatsumi Fujinami vs Vader WILL: After the initial flurry by Fujinami where Vader ends up outside, the big guy has to be frustrated that he has not been able to dominate him. I mark out as Vader completely dismantles fujinami's back with the press lam, bosy slam, etc. and even just hammering his back with the oven mitts. He tops it off with ramming Fujinami's back into the ringpost and body slamming him on the floor. Sweet. After getting poounded, Fujinami goes with the chop=down-the-tree strategy and gets VAder on the ground. Vader's dissection of the back keeps the match moving I particularly loved the ab stretch into Samoan drop that setup a nearfall. The ending came out of nowhere but after all the work Vader did on Fujinami's back, how ironic he got pinned with a backslide? I loved this match, maybe even more than the first match. this is clearly heads above the 2nd match. Strong nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Isamu Teranishi PHIL SCHNEIDER: I really liked this a lot, the interpromotional aspect of it added a lot of fire. This was intense from the start and they were pounding the shit out each other, with nasty headbutts, and punches. Teranishi just unloads on Fujinami at one point with some Necro looking rights and lefts. Finish was great too, this should go on a set. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ron Starr CHILDS: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ron Starr (WWF Junior Title) - More excellent stuff from the 1980s junior scene. They started with some crisp matwork, and Starr gradually started mixing in some heelish touches -- a kick on the break here, a hair pull there. Eventually, he went full heel, knocking Fujinami out of the ring several times and nailing him on the apron every time he tried to climb back. Starr employed fairly simple offense that all looked tight and hurty. Of course, Fujinami eventually rallied, and the closing back and forth was very heated. I'm loving this Fujinami invitational approach to the junior belt. He just worked great match after great match. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Killer Khan (11/3/83) WILL: Khan is showing alot of energy here but I think that bothers me about him in almost any match is that he is so awkward in his movement. His gutbuster (?) wasn't blown but it looked wierd. Then he does some simple stuff that I mark out for like rubbing his forearms over Fujinami's head. The first few minutes are all Khan abusing Fujinami so Fujinami bails and regroups outside. Fujinami takes control and I really wasn't enjoying his offense. However, there was one spot to look out for. Fujinami is trying to hook on a Sharpshooter but he can't turn Khan over... so he drops down and hooks him in a Figure 4 with ease because he already has the legs in position. One of themes that is quietly played on is Fujinami working on Khan's legs throughout the match. He'll do something like kick the leg and then they will go to another segment. Later on, he hooks on the Figure 4. After Khan controls for awhile, Fujinami goes to the leg again. He then tries to embarass Khan by taking him out with the top rope knee drop. Khan fights back and hits his 2nd rope knee drop for a close two. Soon after, Khan goes up to the top rope but is superplexed off by Fujinami. The match ends in a countout but there was plenty of fun stuff here to move it forward. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco (WWF Junior Title) (9/11/80) WILL: You get the mandatory groundwork to start off. Fujinami establishes an armbar and thehy work in and out of the armbar including some nice pinning sequences and a spot where both men run the ropes, lock arms, fall to the ground and Fujinami clinches the armbar again. While Fujinami controlled the first part of the match, Rocco takes over in the 2nd half with some decent offense. We also get some nice exchanges and some unexpected counters. At one point, it looks like Rocco was trying to do a Flair flip but couldn't keep the flip out of the corner. Before I could type in blown spot, Fujinami dropkicks him out of the ring. Nice. The end run is really great with both guys going all out before Fujinami catches Rocco with a rollup. Easy nomination. Hulk Hogan vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (2/5/85) WILL: The old “Hogan works hard in Japan†theory is in place here. Well, Hogan is working hard and he quickly takes control early on and Fujinami seems frustrated in not being able to gain any sort of advantage. Eventually he trips Hogan up and applies the sharpshooter. This results in Hogan getting a rope break and taking a breather. So far, so good. It looked like Hogan had it won with the Axe Bomber but Fujinami was able to put his foot on the ropes. I thought the match was done. After a tumble outside, Fujinami posts Hogan and he starts bleeding. Fujinami takes control inside and is pounding on the cut. Great ending as the ref tries to separate Fujinami fron Hogan and right after Fujinami pushes the ref away, he gets nailed with a lariat for the three count. Really good stuff from both guys here. Hogan gave Fujinami plenty and even allowed himself to be dominated later on before putting the match away. Thumbs up from me. NJ Classics 183 Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Grappler WILL: Just like the Lawler match, Fujinami's arm work was solid. I thought the Lawlwer match was better giving each guy control with better transitions. Like the Lawler match, Fujinami switches his focus tothe leg but I thought they did a better job of logically making the switch where here, it seems like Fujinami got bored and just mixed it up. They did a great job once they went to the leg with Grappler selling, missing the knee off the top to add insult to the injury, and Fujinami locking in the Sharpshooter. Grappler's offense was solid but Phil is right... that Fujinami backbreaker looked vicious. I liked the Lawler match more but this had more than enough going for it for a nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/9/82 TV) WILL: Fuck, Fujinami dropkicking Dick before the match starting and Dick respinding with punches to the face a couple of minutes later is pretty sweet. Of course, Dick works the arm and does some cool shit inbetween holds (like punching Fujinami in the face). When Fujinami takes over, it is still the Dick Murdoch show and you pay more attenton to Dick, looking for that next punch to the face. After the big dive outside, this was all action, with Fujinami trying to exploit the cut and Murdoch breaking out his repertoire of big moves. Even though I don't like the countout, the brainbuster on the floor to end it puts an exclamation point on the match. Very solid nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch WILL: This started off with Murdoch and Fujinami wailing away at each other and had so much promise. The match kind of whithers away for the first few minutes but then they go outside and it gets real interesting real fast. After they get back in the ring, it moves at a much faster pace with both guys going at it. I didn’t even mind the countout ending as Murdoch tries a suplex on the floor but Fujinami escapes and rams him into the ringpost, rolls inside and wins the match. This moves forward. NJ Classics 133 Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura (1/2/87 TV) CHILDS: I sat on my couch in shock at how awesome this was. Kimura came out with his fist taped and potatoed his old partner off the pre-match handshake. He proceeded to be a total dick, hitting on the break, stomping Fujinami every time he tried to get up, etc. I don't know what made him so angry at the world, but hey, no complaints. Fujinami unleashed some pretty sweet retribution, busting Kimura open on the outside and showing that he had counters for most of the upstart's actual wrestling moves. But then Kimura upped the ante with some vicious chair shots. I won't describe the whole ending, but this was a great, heated feud starter and really, a game changer for Kimura. Slam dunk nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura CHILDS: Not as heated as their previous match. They worked this more like Fujinami's matches with Choshu from 1983, with lots of intense matwork broken up by spurts of violence. It was still really good. I dug a sequence in which Kimura kicked Fujinami off the top rope to the floor and then almost knocked him out with a flurry of punches to the body. I also liked Fujinami's relentlessness in going after various submissions at the end. The only real disappointment was the respectful postmatch handshake, which signaled the end of a feud that seemed to have a lot more legs. Definite nomination nonetheless. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero PHIL SCHNEIDER: Lots of good stuff here. These two were almost perfectly matched in size, speed, technical ability, etc. I liked how they gradually upped the pace and mixed in more brawling as the match moved along. The crowd went from respectful to hot, just like the action. Easy thumbs up from me. Kengo Kimura vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NWA International Junior Title) (9/25/80) WILL: Off the bat, I thought Kimura botched an arm drag attempt but a quick rewind shows that it looked like he made a mistake and Fujinami capitalized on it. In fact, there were several points where I had to rewind the footage to catch something I didn't pick up on in my initial viewing. Just some beautiful sequences early on. One sequence has Kimura breaking a knuckle lock, getting his leg swept and kicks Fujinami in the face all in about a second. What started off as a nice technical match gets a little testy as Kimura and Fujinami just start kicking each other and later, Kimura slaps Fujinami in the face. They play off the earlier theme of Kimura unable to capitalize as he tries to hip toss Fujinami out of the corner but Tatsumi holds the ropes and slips out of Kimura's grip. I also like that they go back to earlier sequences such as Kimura controlling a head scissors after Fujinami had worked him over with one earlier in the match. It gets a little sloppy towards the end but Kimurra drops Fujinami with an UGLY piledriver. In the end, both guys hit some big moves and get nice and bloodied. The match is stopped when neither man can get up after a ten count but this was a SLAM DUNK nomination. Jerry Lawler vs. Tatsumi Fujinami PHIL SCHNEIDER: Man do I love this match. Only downside is a deadish crowd, but otherwise this is two of the best of all time bringing it. Lawler breaks out a ton of offense here, enzigiri, multiple diving fistdrops, piledriver, side suplex, calf branding, plus awesome Lawler punches and cheapshots. No chain or fire, but he does break a Fujinami sleeper with a back kick low blow. Awesome leg selling by Lawler too. Really a hidden gem, no one talks about. Akira Maeda vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (6/12/86 TV) CHILDS: Classic match and one that has to be on the set. I hadn't watched it for several years but it holds up incredibly well because of the intensity and violence of the exchanges throughout. And it was the rare case where a screwed up finish made the match more indelible instead of ruining it. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn (NWA International Junior Title) (2/1/80) WILL: Early on, Keirn controls the arm but after a quick roll-up, Keirn goes outside to regroup. When he gets back on control, he works on the leg of Fujinami to keep him grounded to prevent anymore flash pins. I am really enjoying the New Japan ground game. Not just in this match but from what I have seen so far in the company. Some of the matches might not have the excitement of All Japan but it seems more real, if that makes sense. The end run picked the pace up with Keirn attacking Fujinami and punishing him with a variety of attacks. However, the crowd really isn’t responding to these guys. Keirn busts Fujinami open on the ring post after a really sweet pin attempt. Fujinami tries to fight back but can’t gather the strength to do one of his patented outside dives. He battles with Keirn who keeps punching the cut past the referee’s 5-count and gets disqualified in the first fall. Keirn starts the 2nd fall abusing Fujinami with a variety of moves, casually pinning him, knowing the match is I nthe bag. However, Fujinami fights back and hits a dropkick. He tries another and Keirn dodges it and sets Fujinami up for a bodyslam but he pops up over Keirn and surprises him with a German Suplex pin. I know this match up will pop up again on the Classics so I want to see how the matches all play out but I have no problem nominating this.The crowd hurts it a little but both guys were great in this. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiro Hamaguchi CHILDS: They spent much of the match demonstrating how evenly matched they were on the mat. This stayed pretty interesting as they worked hard in the holds. They traded their higher-impact stuff in the build to the finish, producing several nearfalls. Nothing remarkable about it -- just a good, hard wrestling match between two well-matched, outstanding workers. I'll take that any day, so it goes on the block. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (WWF Junior Title) (2/5/80) WILL: Fujinami is phenomenal. In between the two Keirn matches, he fits time into his schedule to have this gem of a match. DK brings the high impact offense. He lays in the nice headbutts and European uppercuts. At two different points, DK tries to apply an Octopus hold and Fujinami evades the move both times. After both guys reset after tumbling out of the ring, DK gets caught in a leg scissors so he goes after the cut that Fujinami received in the Keirn match. After escaping the scissors, DK unloads with punches, headbutts and a nice kick to the head to get the blood flowing. After Fujinami attempts a Dragon Suplex, DK gives him a headbutt while Fujinami was behind him. It looked cool to me. The rest of the match has DK attacking the cut with Fujinami trying to escape pins or fight back. At one point, Fujinami gets a gut wrench into a pin and as he is standing up, DK kicks him in the head while lying on his back. This allows DK to finally hook in the Octopus hold. Shortly after, DK hits the flying headbutt and Fujinami has to be done but he kicks out. After a few more minutes, including a missed headbutt by DK, Fujinami pins DK with the same pin that put Keirn away in the 2/8 match. Is there a name for that pinning combo?

This wasn't a serious thing - it was Danielson as heel playing up to a stereotype and playing with the crowd, and them loving it. The crowd were just playing their role as part of the gimmick and feeling like they were involved in the product. This sounds so counter-productive that I don't know what to think of this.

I thought of that one, but honestly, the WWF sold the hell out of it by giving him such a long reign. Agree or disagree with the choice of champion, at least it meant something and everyone - the fans and the booker(s) - gave a shit. When he lost the title finally, it was a huge moment and it can be argued somewhat that Warrior was "made" because of it (I wouldn't go that far necessarily, but it didn't hurt). Compare that to the past decade or so, where the I-C Title hasn't rmattered. I thought of that one, but honestly, the WWF sold the hell out of it by giving him such a long reign. Agree or disagree with the choice of champion, at least it meant something and everyone - the fans and the booker(s) - gave a shit. When he lost the title finally, it was a huge moment and it can be argued somewhat that Warrior was "made" because of it (I wouldn't go that far necessarily, but it didn't hurt). Compare that to the past decade or so, where the I-C Title hasn't rmattered. Yeah, that was a big part of me getting out of wrestling for awhile but it didn't affect the title. Oh, looking back Honky was fucking awesome. It actually made the title seem REALLY important because people were pissed that this clown who's a total chicken shit was holding it and never losing.My issue was that I had been so emotionally invested in Steamboat winning the belt for YEARS, as I'd been waiting to see it since 1984. Then after the greatest pay off ever in what was the greatest match ever against the greatest ever.. OOH YEAH!!!!!! And then a month later he loses it on TV to the fucking Honky Tonk Man. It was the kickstarter to me slowly getting out of wrestling. The title of the thread is "When did the IC title nose dive FOR YOU". This was step two in me losing interest in wrestling for a long time. Step one was puberty and a growth spurt. Step three was the Dusty booking ruining my enjoyment of the NWA product. I hung around for the Hogan-Savage stuff and bailed out of the NWA when Garvin lost the belt back to Flair and the Roadies didn't win the tag title.

Throw me in the Ross has gotten much better camp. I have enjoyed the last 5 or 6 shows. I think Ross is finding his rhythm and is fully aware that he was coming off as a cranky old man in some of the earlier shows.

Bill, you can post this feedback in the podcast folders.