goodhelmet

That isn't true. Crazymax is just fine. You can practically find anything you want there and most of the traders are really good people. There are always exceptions of course but you get that everywhere you go. Seriously, if you have a request, someone will probably be able to fill it in a matter of minutes.

Trading is alive and kicking. More footage is available now more than ever... and cheaper than ever. At this point, there is very little footage that you can't obtain with a little searching around.

Who the hell is Umaga? The newest Papa Shango?

From Meltz:

from Meltz:

Is it the same CCW as the one that held this memorable event? It's still real to me!!!!

Actually, I would prefer they started fixing the problems that plague their own promotion.

Ialso don't care what anyone says... when two guys have that many great matches together, it isn't just one guy doing all the work.

I have a feeling that after enough World Class footage is compiled that World Class will get its own category. Too much good stuff to ignore. Speaking of Kerry-Flair matches, just watched the Kerry-Flair title change from Japan last night. This match is another one you can chalk up to good Kerry-Flair matches. Much much better than the Kerry win in Texas Stadium which felt rushed and almost a Cliffs notes version of Kerry-Flair. The thing I am loving about the Kerry-Flair series is that each match seems appropriate for the time and setting. The early matches from '82 are Flair, the veteran champion showing up the popular green youngster who is talented enough to think he could score the upset. The 1984 matches show a more experienced Kerry taking it to the champ and even taking the belt off of him. the 1985 Mid South matches show both wrestlers on equal footing and there is much more give and take between the two even though Flair leaves with the belt everytime. Just a wonderful series of matches.

My biggest argument since day one is that I think that matches not included on the DVDs should be allowed in the voting process. There have been too many matches I have seen since the project began that would deserve inclusion. It just seems liek a shame that people were not allowed to vote for them. In the end, I think the results end up a little skewed since it portrays Andre-Khan as the 100th greatest match when it probably wouldn't hit 200 if more matches were allowed on the ballot. With that said, and I have been a critic of the process, I have recently started compiling tons of footage in making comps and I have to commend Bix for the amount of effort it takes to get that many matches in one place. Hell, just for my 2005 comps, the project was delayed upwards of three months because of the difficulty in acquiring footage... modern footage at that. So, being able to compile that much classic footage in one place is huge. The project also piqued my interest in 80s WWF and I may compile an alternate set that includes the top matches of the poll in upgraded VQ as well as matches that may have been overlooked for whatever reason.

Might as well tack on the other IWA matches as well. Well, this is where the paths really start to diverge. What makes it good? What else does he bring? Why do you think any of those matches were good? What made them good? OK, I remember him wrestling the Slamboree show. Which is neither here nor there. I patiently await when you tell me why you think those matches are good. It depends. I think both of them should have retired years ago. Still, since Flair works a full-time schedule and has been shoved down our throats on TV week after week, it is easier to expose his weaknesses than it is Funk's. If Funk was employed regularly and seen every week, the shitty decline factor would be just as noticable. No, I don't have a dislike for Funk the way you do about Kerry. I love most of Funk's work for at least a good 15 year span. For post-89 Funk, you might be able to male an argument for a couple of matches being worthwhile but just saying you like a match doesn't mean it is good. I think the big difference is that you like his "garbage-style" body of work and I don't. Since Funk was working that style the majority of the time, it appeals to me less. Why he decided to go that route is beyond me since he was so good at so many other things.

On Terry Funk... We differ on nearly every sentence here save for the mid 90s WCW which I am drawing a blank on. When was this and who was he fighting? I didn't care for his SMW or ECW work at all. Rollling around in barbed wire with Sabu is not good to me. Having 45 minute 3-ways with Shane Douglas does not entertain me in the least. Him and Cactus throwing each other into bombs may be entertaining but it isn't good wrestling in my eyes. I watched the Bob Armstrong match and I really don't care to see two senior citizens limp around the ring pretending they are still serious conteders. I thought the last WWF run was abysmal because you had a 55 year old man running around with pantyhose on his head jumping into dumpsters. The last WCW run was not good anyway you slice it. Compared to the horrible shit that surrounding him? Maybe. But it is still a lowlight on what was a great career. This is a man who had great matches with JumboSteamboat, Lawler, the Sheik, and Flair. He knows how to work. No one is disputing that. He could brawl and bleed with the best of them. And then instead of maintaining that, he resorts to garbage even though he should know better. I don't care for that. Still, you are right... his pre-89 work is awesome (at least what is available on tape). don't get me wrong, Funk will still be high on my list but not as high as Flair (who has raised his stock in just the last 3 weeks of my viewing) and Race and Steamboat. At one point, I would have had him over all three. Now, I don't. Pretty much the main reason his stock has fallen over the last couple of months in my eyes. I have seen matches from pre and post 89. However, it is getting harder and harder for me to find more great Funk matches while I keep discovering gems from Flair that I never knew existed. On Rude... The only matches I have watched closely in recent months are the RNR vs. RNR tags from 86-87. However, I am a couple of Japanese matches away from assembling the Rick Rude comp. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go up the same way BA, AA and Blanchard did. Then again, he may drop a few notches like Magnum did. I'll have to wait and see. When was this? GAB 87? Rey vs. Vader vs. Destroyer I don't think it is wierd at all to have Rey over Vader esp. when you take into account their entire careers. I will probably have Rey above both Destroyer and Vader and not lose any sleep over it. With Destoryer, I will include him because I have seen enough great matches to justify his inclusion but I haven't seen any low points to see how he has changed or evolved. On Patterson... I refuse to do that. Same reason I won't put a Lou Thesz or other old-timer in there. I can't go on reputation... only on what I have seen with my own eyes. Speaking of old timers, where is Dory Funk on your list? As for planning great matches, having a great mind for wrestling does not mean that you always delivered the goods in the ring. Listen to Raven talk in his Secrets of the Ring series and you would have thought he was a Top Ten wrestler of all-time. He's not and doesn't have the Body of Work to back up his talk either. However, he does have a great mind for what works and what doesn't but it doesn't mean it always translated properly in his own work. On Brisco... I may have to bug Dan for all the available Jack Brisco footage he has because I really want to see more of this guy. Jeff Lynch is sending me a list of American comps he put together so I may see if there are any possibilities there as well. One of the guys who I want to see more of before I finalize any list. On Bockwinkle... I have enough footage I think to probably even make a nice NB comp but may wait until I grab even more footage from KHawk and Dan. On Chavo Guerrero... What recent lucha have you seen with Chavo? I like the Hector Mid South team as well but I don't know if I like them enough to put either on a Top 100 list. when other teams around the time (RNR, MX, Fans) are head and shoulders above them. Maybe once the Guerrero Bros. comp is complete, I can get a better picture of who Chavo is. On Adrian Adonis... I have an East-West comp coming from KHawk that will give me more Adonis exposure. I also need to watch the AWA Adonis comp I just picked up. Still, it's one thing to be paired up with Ventura and carry the team to good matches and another to be teamed with Dick Friggin' Murdoch. Also, his best matches in my eyes have been with Bob Backlund who I rate pretty highly (I rated thier 1/82 match #1 in my personal WWF 80s poll) and Fujinami who I also really like. As for bumping, I do not think that is really mandatory in order to be a great wrestler. Def. not as important as logical match progression or selling or even character expressions. I think Adonis does these things pretty well but I would take Bret over Adonis at this point. I think I would also have Barry over Adonis because he had a longer period of time where I enjoyed his work and had the super high end matches. When I get the Dick Murdoch Japanese work and compile his comp, I have a feeling Dick may be in the Top 5 American workers on my list (excluding Canadians and Eddie ) On Slaughter... This is just one of those wrestlers that we disagree on. The boot camp match has been a victim of the law of diminishing returns for me since I like it a little less each time I view it (as we had discussed before). I love the Greensboro tag but I think that was all 4 guys going over the top... not just Slaughter "carrying" the other guys. I have still not seen any other great Slaughter performances including the other WF DVDVR matche, the little AWA I have seen, or the Portland matches. To be fair, his Portland work is with the Road Warriors and Kendo Nagasaki so I don't hold that against him. On Buddy Rose... Last week and the week before I watched a ton of Buddy Rose from Portland. Oddly, the one match I did not watch closely was the Adonis match. He was a great heel and annoying as fuck but being the king of Portland is like being the top dog in CZW today. It doesn't mean much in my eyes. Plus, my favorite Rose match so far is the Backlund lumberjack match but I love Backlund and his "formula". I haven't marked out for any other Buddy Rose matches including the Rockers tags. On Jake the Snake... I like some of his Mid South work but not all. I like his Steamboat feud which I think you despise. I may be wrong on that. I don't really like anything else he has done including the Rude feud. I may have to do a Jake the Snake comp to revisit his work but I don't know how big of a priority that will be. On HBK... I think his return has really hurt him. I know you complain about indy guys simulating wrestling matches. That is EXACTLY how I feel about Michaels. Look at the Hogan match. You knew he was bumping his ass off for Hogan but you knew it was him simulating the motions of being in a fight with him. When he gave his bitter promo the next night, it only reconfirmed what I watched. The same could be said for the Angle matches that made absolutely no sense to me. I think you were the one who mentioned how those matches ahd ultiple peronalities and I would agree. YOu love/hate/love/hate parts of the matches becuase they were so disjointed. The Bret feud was great and I love the early DX heel shtick but only a small handful of matches stand out for me from that time. I never really cared for the Rockers (per earlier discussion) or the Boy Toy. I may make a comp of his to re-evaluate this as well. Once yo uadd luchadores and Japanese workers to this list, HBK will not be in the Top 100. On Kerry Von Erich... I think one of two things... 1. They haven't really seen alot of Kerry Von Erich and only remember him stumbling around a WWF ring looking lost (a valid complaint) but something that does not show the entire career. To be honest, most guys who are on the message boards were probably still in diapers when Kerry was at his peak (anywhere from 83-85). Hell, it was hard as hell for me to find Kerry's best work (Mid South and Ft. Worth matches) and only did through the goodness that is Dan Ginnetty and our Mid South bulks. 2. They have some strange bias against him where they already formed an opinion regardless of what the matches actually show. How many wrestlers have we heard criticized over the years only to change our minds on when we actually see the footage? Slaughter, Duggan, Rick Rude, Magnum TA are just a few. I can count on one hand the number of guys who had good matches with Michael Hayes (singles), Kimala, and One Man Gang. Kerry is on all of those lists. Flair is known for carrying Von Erich but each Flair-Kerry match is an entirely new match and has elevated BOTH guys in my eyes. Seriously, when I make the Kerry-Flair comp, look at how each match froms its own personality and how Kerry is right there wih Flair step-for-step most of the time. I don't have any deep-rooted love for Kerry. I grew up with World Class but I don't mark for him the way I do a Ricky Steamboat or Ted Dibiase. I just watch the matches and the matches have shown me he could work his ass off.

Flair as #1 is a perfectly obvious and acceptable choice but I don't know if he would be my personal #1. Still, whenever I seek out material from other wrestlers, a Flair match always pops up and 8/10 times, the match rocks. Easy Top 10 choice for me now. Depending on the placement of some luchadores and Japan guys, may break in at #5. I would be tempted to put Race above Flair in my list because of his work in Japan as well as what I have seen from him stateside. However, the limited amount of footage available may prevent that from happening. Lawler rules. Look for the comp. Loss already explained why this guy rules. I have him far above Benoit on my list and it isn't becuase he is dead. It is because the guy was phenomenal at everything he did. I love his work and I think he is a great wrestler. Still, I love so many other wrestlers more. I want to watch more of his stuff from Mexico before making a final decision on Rey. Never seen any stateside Destroyer matches. All of his AJ Classic stuff has been great. I love Terry but I don't know if I will have him as highly as I initially thought I would. It seems everytime I come across a great Funk match, I also find a bad one. When you include both their Japan and U.S. work, easy picks. Without Japan, it would be hard for me to vote for any of them. then you have Terry Gordy who I think had an underwhelming run in Japan compared to his peers but his U.S. stuff blows away most of the work from the above guys. I think I would include him Top Ten American. I simply have not seen enouugh although I have a bunch of Bockwinkle to go through. Making comps for these guys raised the stock of all 3 in my book. Magnum won't make my list because of a lack of longevity but he had a helluva run from 84-86. Just some phenomonal work. I have all of these guys ranked much higher than Loss does. Ricky is Top 20 overall for me. Dibiase and Backlund are Top 10 American. I love both these guys but I actually like Bobby Eaton better than Morton. I would also lump Tommy Rogers in this list. Man, I have to make that Guerreros comp for Jose because I am not seeing it. Maybe I am just missing a big chunk of his career. I think this is about right although you could lower or raise all of them 5 spots and get no arguments from me. The jury is still out on these guys. Comps are in the works for both so I may change my mind on both ten times before it is finished. Bubble guys for me. All would land in the lower half of my final list if they made it. These guys will not make my list. Reed and Kerry will make my list. Too many good-great matches to ignore thier gifts. The others won't.