MikeCampbell

Which is actually a good thing!

I'm fine with the Nash angle and Del Rio as champion. It was unpredictable, and not in a way that's unpredictable because it makes no sense whatsoever. I'd have liked to see Kofi beat Del Rio a couple of weeks back though, in their rematch from the title tournament, only because it sets up an easy title match.

The Beautiful People were doing the same shit in TNA 3 years ago. VERY original.

Bingo!

To quote Denis Leary: "Where's the problem?" AAA brings in names from TNA and lets them do their thing and potentially get over with a new crowd. Good for the TNA guys. AAA thumbs their nose at CMLL, since their deal with NJPW is basically to help the young boys get over or to keep Nakamura, Tanahashi, or Goto working, while giving them a break from the NJ fans so they can freshen up. Good for AAA. What DOESN'T happen with the current arrangement. Joe Lider works Impact and gets squashed in 30 seconds by Abyss. The Psycho Circus work a TNA PPV, as filler for some goofy reverse battle royal for an X-Division Title shot that only serves to lead to AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels for the 327th time.

I particulary enjoyed the part where he tried to push the Dynamic Dudes as being a cutting edge team. That may be the only part of the promo that it an obvious work. Considering Cornette's famous story about the big anti Dudes sign in the crowd and Johnny's comment when they were in the locker room (I'm at work, so I'll refrain from actually quoting it).

A friend of mine is good friends with Delirious, so I asked him if he knew anything about what was up with Daizee. He said it was a combo of both of them quitting the ganja, and Daizee only eating natural foods. As soon as I asked him if he'd seen her lately, he shot back with "Yeah, she looks horrible doesn't she?"

Neither is the Kobashi part. Kobashi beat Misawa in singles matches in the 1997 and 2000 Champion Carnival Tournaments. You're right about Kawada not being on par with Misawa, but Kobashi was positioned that way in All Japan toward the end of Misawa's run there and in NOAH, before he went down with his knee problems.

Nintendo Logic weighs in attempting to set them straight, but forgets that both Kawada and Kobashi beat Misawa long before '98 and '03 respectively. Kawada's first win over Misawa was in '95 and Kobashi's in '97

I recall one PPV, I don't recall if it was the '04 Rumble or 'Mania 20. But Ross and Lawler were going on and on about CLB nonstop and I finally had to ask WTF they were talking about. The only time I remember being used was when Trish was on the Highlight Reel and Jericho verbally tore her apart and commented about Christian being the CLB.

Yes, they're Chikara students.

I highly doubt it will ever happen. But, if/when they decide to scrap NXT, turning that show into a Diva's only show wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

Rikishi did it pretty safely. He has pretty fleshy, thick legs so the other wrestlers head never hit the mat from what I remember? Rikishi's version was done with the victim being draped over his shoulder though, which is much safer, unless it's a short guy doing it to a tall guy.

I don't think we're FB friends. A friend of mine, a few years ago now, put a video up of the Austin/Chono spot and commented that nobody should feel bad for Austin's neck problems because of that. I quickly set him straight and told him that Austin didn't want Owen to drop that way because of the Chono situation. Regarding Mr. Worker, he's right that it's technically called reverse piledriver (I've never heard Thunder driver, personally) but does it really matter? It's a perfectly accurate description of the spot. It's not like you degrading Austin's legacy by declaring that he injured Chono and got injured by a 'sitout tombstone' and not a 'reverse piledriver.'

I'm not sure of the exact date, but I'd guess August of '99. There was an angle on Thuder with Steiner and Sid beating down someone, maybe Perry Saturn. Benoit saves and cuts a decent promo telling them "You wanna throw your weight around? Well the crippler and Perr Saturn wanna throw your weight around!"

I never understood exactly why Dave had such a tizzy when Monsoon would comment that so and so wasn't going to give up to such and such resthold. It's a chinlock for the love of god. It's not like he was burying actual finishers.

Yes. Ironically, its the same thing Austin used on Chono that screwed his neck up in '92. Which is why Austin didn't want Owen to do it that way.

I hate that they're putting Laurinaitis on TV, but at least he's not being used in any real capacity. I got a kick out of him introducing himself and explaining his job, and then HHH just butts in with "What is this, career day?"

Agreed on all counts. I wouldn't minded seeing Rey and Miz's decision match saved until the end of RAW and then Punk making his return to cause a non-finish. Then cut a promo declaring himself the only WWE Champion. Did anyone else notice tonight that the tag champions had their own music and didn't have any arm bands on? It looks like Nexus is officially dead.

From what I'm recalling hearing about it. Benoit invited Regal to come over to the house to watch some All Japan. But when Regal arrived, Benoit wouldn't let him in. There may be more to it than that, but that's all I'm remembering.

Yes, that was his original point. My original point was that it finally looked like Omori was actually making some headway and moving up the ladder in 2000, but the NOAH split seemed to stall it and he never really recovered. Then it got sidetracked to jdw handing me my ass when it came to selfish Misawa perceptions. Does anyone know why exactly Takayama was the next TC challenger? I'm not saying it should have been Omori, since he'd just lost to Kenta. But it just seems so random for that time period. Also, John, when you mentioned the triple crown change history, spefically this series of exchanges from '98: To your (or anyone's knowledge) is there any truth the notion that 6/98 was originally slated to be Kawada/Akiyama? It's something I remember reading years ago when I first started watching All Japan.

Well shit, my candy ass just got pwnd Agreed. Which goes back to what I said before about NOAH's inability to elevate and cement new names. The only other name coming to mind is Omori, especially after Nagata's stock plummeted. Former partners during their formative years, generation rivals, etc. etc. Of course, that requires NOAH to give Omori a sustained push to get him closer to Jun's level. Not NOAH's strong suit.

Not that I agree with Misawa being a selfish booker, it's been documented many times that he was always trying to pass the torch, but looking at NOAH's GHC history, it's easy to see how one could get that impression: Akiyama/Omori seems like a more obvious route for the finals in terms of passing the torch. Misawa and Jun met in the semi finals, Jun beats Misawa, and then moves on to beat Omori to avenge the carnival loss from the year before. Of course, it's supposedly the 12/00 Hashimoto match that put Omori in the Misawsa doghouse, so maybe that was the original idea. Instead, Misawa wins the title, and puts over Akiyama the following July for the strap. Unfortunately, there wasn't much for Jun to do beyond that. Kobashi was hurt and NOAH would become notoriously shitty for making new top guys. Honda gets a short push before losing to Jun in September. Jun puts over Vader in October and beats him in December. The cro cop loss killed Nagata. Then he loses to Ogawa on a fluke. Misawa over Takayama in 2002 was the right decision in end, based on the fact that Takayama got hurt. Misawa wins in September, has a token defense against Ogawa in December, before putting over Kobashi in March. Assuming Takayama stays healthy, Kobashi wins the title from Takayama, and then they build to Misawa/Kobashi (6/6/03 Budokan seems most likely) where Kobashi retains to cement him as NOAH's new top dog. Both of the above cases feature Misawa obviously trying to make Jun and Kobashi into the NOAH ace, but on the surface it does seem like Misawa was interested in making himself champion. The third reign is easily explainable. Marufuji bombed with the strap, Kobashi was out with the cancer, and there was literally nobody else. Which goes back to NOAH being notoriously shitty at creating new top guys.

Didn't want to clog up the yearbook thread with this (where John intially started talking about how Omori was wasted during the '90's.) John (or anyone else, Ditch?) was Misawa doing the booking at the end AJPW as we knew it, or was it Baba's widow? It sure seemed like No Fear were on the verge of a big push: - Omori pins Kawada in semi final tag match on 1/23/00 - Omori and Takayama lose contendership match to Vader/Hansen on 2/12 (the tag title match itself was buildup for Vader/Kobashi later in the month) - Omori and Takayama beat former All Asia Tag Champs Honda and Izumida on 2/23 - Omori pins Akiyama and Doc in the Carnival, and loses to Kobashi in the finals. - During non-Carny matches, Omori and Takayama get wins over Kobashi/Shiga, Akiyama/Mossman, Doc/Scorpio, and Barton/Hawkfield. They do wind up on the losing side of some six mans, but neither of them drop the fall. - The following series saw Takayama challenge Kobashi for the TC. Although there was no real build beyond another No Fear win over Kobashi/Shiga, along with a win over Hansen/Watts. - The tour (and AJPW as we knew it) ends with the tag titles touranment in May, where they beat Misawa/Ogawa, but lose to Kawada/Taue (Kawada over Omori). - In NOAH, No Fear doesn't really do much of note as a team. Takayama KO's Taue on the Big 12/00 show, where Omori gets squashed in short order by Hashimoto. Omori loses in the first round of the GHC Tourny to Jun, while Takayama goes to the finals. They become the 3rd GHC Tag Champions in 12/01 and lose them in 2/02. No Fear breaks up a few months later and Omori buggers off the US and never comes back.

Tragedy I know, Will. I've got Barnett's Santo/Casas comp, but Bob himself tells me it's some of the shittiest VQ that he has, so I haven't brought myself to put it in yet. My best friend is an even bigger tragedy, as he's a wrestler who's gimmick is a Mexican Luchadore. And he only first saw Santito this past April, when hanging out at my house when I decided to pop in the two Santo rudo trios matches. His response was "Hey, he's pretty good!"