goodhelmet

According to Meltzer, the WWE is suing the following wrestlers... I guess that shoots down any chance Ivan will ever get elected into the Hall of Fame.

Hah! I thouht it was like TNA getting kicked off Spike and getting resigned to Destination America.

Damn, that was quick.

They can't be WCW because even when WCW was horribly managed, they still had the workrate. Clippers success relative to the age of the franchise is percentage points closer to TNA having worthy matches.

I think I short changed Rey Mysterio also.

I think Funk should probably be there. Good catch.

I don't think the third company was TNA. I think the 1st company was the AWA.

Kumegaya 7/8/83 · Nick Bockwinkel defeated Terry Funk by count out · Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu defeated Ashura Hara & Mighty Inoue when Jumbo pinned Inoue with a backdrop suplex · Yoshihiro Momota & Mitsuo Momota defeated Jerry Oates & Gerry Morrow when Mitsuo pinned Oates with a Schoolboy Pin · Takashi Ishikawa, Shiro Koshinaka & Rocky Hata were victorious over Tiger Jeet Singh, Gypsy Joe & Umanoseke Ueda when Singh was disqualified for using his sword · Billy Robinison pinned Alexis Smirnoff in a very short match · Hiromichi Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuharu Misawa & Nobuyoshi Sugawara when Kawada pinned Sugawara after a spinning heel kick · Great Kojika defeated Ultra Seven in a comedy match

NEW JAPAN ON ASAHI July 8, 1983 TV (Taped on 7/7, Osaka) The show opens with a screen of the card for tonight’s 2 hour special… Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dave Finlay Osamu Kido vs. Brian Blair Tiger Mask vs. Pete Roberts for the WWF Jr. Heavyweight Title Dick Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara Rusher Kimura vs. Animal Hamaguchi Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami for the WWF International Heavyweight Title +++ Before the match, a video of Finlay wrestling in Ireland is shown as he applies different submissions and holds on various opponents. Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dave Finlay Early on, Hoshino tries to lock up with Finlay but gets overpowered. Finlay hooks a side headlock but Hoshino grabs his hair, pulls him back and trips him, eliciting a laugh from the crowd. Hoshino plays up his comedy antics but ends up pissing off Finlay who decides to torture the spirited veteran. Finlay brutalizes Hoshino’s leg with an array of submission maneuvers that disarm one of Hoshino’s biggest weapons, his speed. In a brief comeback, Hoshino, hops on to the second rope on one leg, with the crowd cheering him on, and hits Finlay with a one legged flying dropkick. As Hoshino sells his leg, Finlay is able to stand first and begins to apply a figure four leglock. As he turns, Hoshino hooks Finlay for a flash pin and the upset. Finlay, realizing he has lost the match attacks Hoshino and his injured leg as the crowd boos in disapproval. WINNER: Kantaro Hoshino upsets Dave Finlay in 8:49 +++ Prior to the match, video clips are shown of Brian Blair wrestling in Florida. Highlights include putting a jobber to sleep with his sleeper hold and knocking an opponent out of the ring with his explosive dropkick. Osamu Kido vs. Brian Blair Both guys begin the match at a fast pace… rope crossing leap frogs, hip toss exchanges and a monkey flip from Blair to show the crowd this will be a fast affair. Kido responds by hooking Blair’s arm and kicking his chest. Blair counters by grabbing Kido’s leg and picking him up for a bodyslam. So far, Blair has been able to counter Kido at every point. However, after an Irish whip exchange, Kido holds the ropes when Blair goes for his dropkick and Blair crashes to the mat. Kido hooks in a Boston Crab and Blair has to fight to the ropes. With a damaged back, Blair struggles to fight off Kido who responds with offense focusing on Blair’s back. Blair is able to gain control with a sleeper after ducking a Kido clothesline and dropping Kido to the mat. Kido fights out and hooks the Kido Clutch for the pin… but Blair kicks out at two. Kido is frustrated and runs across the ring to come back and drop a senton splash on Blair but after Kido hits the ropes, Blair pops up and nails Kido with his dropkick for the pin. WINNER: Brian Blair pins Osamu Kido in 9:13 +++ Tiger Mask © vs. Pete Roberts – WWF World Jr. Heavyweight Title Match The match begins with Tiger Mask taking Roberts off his feet with moves too quick to describe because of Tiger Mask’s insane speed. If you blink, you might miss three offensive moves. Tiger Mask goes for a flying body splash but Roberts moves out of the way and Tiger crashes to the mat. Even his misses are super quick. Roberts takes the opportunity to lock in various European-style holds on the mat, keeping the speed demon on the ground. Mask has decent ground skills so he is able to escape some of the intricate holds but Roberts throws repeated forearms into the ribs of Tiger Mask to capitalize on the damage. Roberts picks Tiger Mask up and whips him into the ropes, Tiger leaps on the 2nd rope and spins to crash into Roberts but eats a European uppercut. Roberts gets a close two count. In an uncharacteristic display of hubris, Roberts goes to the 2nd rope to attempt a body splash on Tiger Mask but Mask rolls out of the way. As Roberts stands up, gasping for air, Tiger Mask clasps him around the arms and nails a Tiger Suplex for the pin. WINNER: Tiger Mask pins Pete Roberts in 13:42 +++ Dick Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher This begins with Abdullah forcing Murdoch into the corners and Dick hitting Abby with the big elbows that stuns Abby. As Dick goes for another, Abby counters with a throat thrust that sends Dick down. Abby continues his attack with the throat thrusts and goal kicks straight to Dick’s throat. Murdoch fights back with the big bionic elbows but Abby counters with a throat thrust and a 2nd rope headbutt which is as high-flying as Abby gets. Murdocch keeps fighting back with his patented punches but Abby lands a hard right to Murdoch busting him open. It appears Abby had a foreign object. Once Murdoch is bleeding, Abby attacks the cut and the crowd is vocally behind Murdoch. Murdoch keeps fighting back but Abby keeps cutting him off with his illegal spike. Murdoch grabs the spike but before he can use it, the referee grabs Dick’s hand allowing Abby to attack and hit a running neckbreaker drop clothesline. Murdoch kicks out but Abby tries to end it with the big elbow but misses! Murdoch picks Abby up and almost kills him with a BRAINBUSTER!!! Abby kicks out and Murdoch is thrown outside the ring. In an act of frustration, Murdoch busts Abby open with three chair shots. Murdoch continues to nail Abby with punches as they end up outside brawling throughout the arena and the crowd clears as they lay waste to each other in the stands. WINNER: The match is ruled a no contest +++ Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara Both men are tentative at the start. Sakaguchi has the height and strength advantage but Fujiwara has the ability to hook on the armbar in a blink of an eye. Sakaguchi hooks a headlock and uses a judo throw to take Fujiwara down. Fujiwara retreats and regroups in the corner. Fujiwara is more tentative and goes into a standing defensive position. Sakaguchi attempts a leg take down but Fujiwara hokos the arm, yanks on the arm and hooks in a Fujiwara armbar. Sak furiously crawls to the ropes to break the hold and now Sak retreats to the corner to regroup. They reset and after several minutes of counters, it begins to get heated when Fujiwara slaps Sak across the face. Sak responds with hard chops to the chest of Fujiwara and they begin to exchange strikes reddening each other’s chests. Sak ends up nailing Fujiwara with his jumping knee, dropping Fujiwara to one knee. Sak picks him up in an Argentine backbreaker position but Fujiwara slips out and nails a headbutt on the back of Sak’s head that leaves him stumbling toward the ropes. He attempts another jumping knee but is still unsteady from the headbutt. Fujiwara capitalizes and hooks in the Fujiwara armbar in the middle of the ring. Sak can’t escape and is forced to give up. After the match, the two men shake hands and Sak raises Fujiwara’s hand. WINNER: Toshiaki Fujiwara submits Seiji Sakaguchi by Fujiwara armbar 15:27 +++ Rusher Kimura vs. Animal Hamaguchi Hamaguchi recently abandoned Rusher to join Ishin-Gundan so we are about to witness a battle between the former tag team partners. Kimura enters the ring first. As Hamaguchi walks down the aisle toward the ring, Kimura hops out of the ring and attacks him in the aisle. They begin brawling through the crowd before the match begins. The crowd scatters and chairs start swinging between the two. They work their way toward the railing and Animal whips Kimura into the railing. As Kimura is dazed, Animal picks him up and dumps him over the rail onto the ringside mats. In the ring, Animal continues his attack on Kimura using his backbreaker and repeated elbow drops to the neck. Animal whips Rusher into the corner. Animal charges and is met with a foot to the face. Rusher responds with repeated headbutts and they tumble back outside the ring. Kimura ends up headfirst into the ringpost, busting his head open. It looks like Animal is about to control but he charges Kimura who moves, resulting in animal going headfirst into the ring post. Kimura headbutts Animal back into the ring and hooks in his patented buttefly suplex for a nearfall. Both men are covered in blood and Kimura helps the blood flow more by continuing to headbutt Animal as blood goes flying with each headbutt. Kimura goes to the well one too many times, he tries a headbutt but is lifted up on Animal’s shoulders for the Airplane Spin Samoan Drop followed by a leg drop for the pin. Animal didn’t win the match. He survived it as blood covers his face as the referee raises his hand. WINNER – Animal Hamaguchi pins Rusher Kimura in 13:22 +++ Riki Choshu © vs. Tatsumi Fujinami * - WWF International Heavyweight Title Match Fujinami, trying to regain momentum in the series, immediately caught Choshu in an armbar. Choshu fought out and applied his own armbar. Fujinami escaped and went for the figure four, which had served him well in their previous match. But Choshu reached the ropes. Next, they tossed in some intense counter exchanges on the mat. Choshu had seized the advantage in the series by being the more explosive wrestler. And this match seemed headed that way too as he hit a lariat out of nowhere and slapped on the scorpion. Fujinami fought to the ropes but then Choshu caught him with the back suplex and went to the scorpion again. The crowd went nuts as Fujinami fought out one more time. Then, he caught Choshu with a lariat and went for his own scorpion. Choshu fought to the ropes but Fujinami simply reapplied the hold after the break. Choshu fought to the ropes again but this time, Fujinami wouldn't break the hold and got disqualified. He must have held it for three minutes, even as others brawled around them. Members of Ishin-Gundan and friends of Fujinami fight each other as Ishin-Gundan attempt to get Fujinami to break the hold. Finally, Choshu is free and helped to the back. Fujinami grabs a microphone… Fujinami: 長州！私はあなたが負傷した犬であることを今夜証明されています。ドラゴンズはいつも通りの犬を食い入るようになります。チャンピオンとしてあなたの日は番号が付けられています！ WINNER: Riki Choshu after Fujinami is disqualified The show ends with a graphic advertising next week’s matches… Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami Don’t miss New Japan on Asahi! * Thanks to Childs Walker from 25 years into the future.

July 8, 1983 Toyohashi · Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami ends in a Double Count Out · Yoshiaki Fujiwara forces Kengo Kimura to submit to a Fujiwara Arm Bar · Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch defeat Isamu Teranishi & Tiger Toguchi when Murdoch pins Toguchi after the brainbuster · Akira Maeda pins Haruka Eigen after a kick to the face · Rusher Kimura defeats Abdullah the Butcher when Abdullah is disqualified for using his spike to destroy Roberts’ face · Pete Roberts & Dave Finlay defeated Black Cat & Tatsutoshi Goto when Finlay used a piledriver to pin Goto · Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Kantaro Hoshino · Masanobu Kurisu pinned Ryuma Go · Fumihiro Niikura forced Halcon 78 to submit

Ooohhh... sounds like some DIRT

Keep the BBall in the BBall thread John! Just went back and looked at some other wrestlers being talked about. Lawler... 3 pages. Jumbo... 6 pages. Dory Funk... 3 pages and if Parv wasn't on the board, it would probably be about 3 comments total. Because of the high amount of visibility, everyone has an opinion on the guy.

I wonder what happened on that MSG card.

I don't need to. They both have longevity. They both have incredible matches on their resume. Santo signed a personalized mask for me a few years ago. That was the tie breaker.

Done!

Like 26 or 27 as of now. May drop a few spots depending on how I feel about Fujiwara tomorrow but he will be Top 30. Here is the thing... I love Bock but I also saw him fall asleep in the middle of matches in All Japan. Childs can back me up on that. I am also not enamored with Bock. The AWA set rehabilitated my enjoyment of him as a wrestler when the All Japan project nearly crippled it.

Keep your stories coming!!! Some of them have really cracked me up. Others are just neat to read because it is completely imaginary backstage politics that could be real or not.

i have been toying with my list and it still needs some adjustment but I think these are the Top 25 for me. I am going to think long and hard about this 25 before submitting my ballot. I decided I am not going to watch like 5 or 10 matches from guys and then rank them. The people on my list are guys who have maintained staying power in my rankings for several years. When we revsit this thing in ten years, I will make sure that I have a firm grasp on a bunch of guys recommended here. However, if I were to all of a sudden add someone to my list after being excited, they would benefit from not suffering at the hand sof the "Law of Diminishing Returns". I don't think it is fair to guys I have been watching for decades and can still get excited about watching matches. I made a Dick Murdoch comp about 9 years ago. I still get excited about Murdoch matches. That type of power means something. I still love Jumbo after 15 years of tape watching. That means something. I was like everyone who criticizes Flair and got tired of watching him... but the 80s project has made me appreciate him even more and I still enjoy watching unseen Flair matches. Anyway, my Tentative 25.... 1. Jerry Lawler 2. Jumbo Tsuruta 3. Genichiro Tenryu 4. Toshiaki Kawada 5. El Hijo Del Santo 6. Negro Casas 7. Ric Flair 8. Tatsumi Fujinami 9. Mitsuharu Misawa 10. Buddy Rose 11. Dick Murdoch 12. Steven Regal 13. El Satanico 14. Stan Hansen 15. Jushin Liger 16. El Dandy 17. Daniel Bryan 18. Kenta Kobashi 19. Dustin Rhodes 20. Ricky Morton 21. Eddie Guerrero 22. Bill Dundee 23. Shinya Hashimoto 24. Riki Choshu 25. Vader

If nothing else, what you could say is that Flair's detractors and Flair's supporters are more vocal than for any other wrestler. Flair is an important guy, no doubt.

That is awesome!!!!

Break it down... what happened?

It's scary that Dixie Carter is the Donald Sterling of wrestling.

That is insane. I had no idea.

I liken any Clippers success to like 2005 TNA when they were having good PPVs and promoting Joe vs. Angle.