KrisZ

The Mad Dog is one of my all-time favorites working a manic style with his insane persona but he fails for not having enough high profile matches on tape in the early part of his career. You could see from the various important matches that we do have mostly from TV that Buzz could go with the best of them before he got terribly out of shape and his powerslam was probably the greatest version of all-time not to mention his own version of the Superfly Splash. Buzz was also a guy whose demons hurt him tremendously and if he had stayed even sorta straight he could've been one of the best around. Buzz's work with Mid-South/UWF in 1985-86 was pretty damn great as his matches with Duggan were some of the greatest brawls of the era. It's a shame that the key matches of the Rich feud in GCW from 82-83 aren't available because we would have a greater picture of both men.

Chavo is someone who is hurt by not having a real high profile singles run in the States although he had some damn good matches in Japan for the various Jr. Titles. What we do have in abundance is Chavo working in tag/trios matches and he is such a damn good performer in those but again his bouncing around territories not to mention taking lots of time off at different points in the 80's hurts him in my eyes.

USA definitely wants the 3rd hour and it was their call

Gilbert in USWA from 90-91 was pretty much the high point of his career as a worker especially inside the ring. He also had some fun matches in GWF after that as well against Simms, Patriot, etc

I was just thinking of how eerie it is that the career paths of Barry & Dustin Rhodes were so similar for many years but Dustin's comeback over the past few years was something that Barry couldn't achieve which was sad.

One of the ultimate heels of his era and a guy who you knew every time he got in the ring would deliver whether it was against Dusty Rhodes or Buzz Tyler. Tully was one of the best workers in a promotion that was filled with great workers and then when he became a tag-team wrestler with Arn Anderson they formed one of the best teams of the decade. Tully also had tremendous charisma and always cut good promos which added to his aura of being a fucking piece of shit who you wanted to punch right in the face.

Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987. Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday.

The Chief stands tall in my eyes for being one of the toughest SOB's to ever step inside the wrestling ring and a man who could have a great match in any setting whether it was a straight match in a studio like against Sgt. Slaughter or Johnny Valentine, World Title matches against Bockwinkel or Flair, or a Steel Cage Match against Magnum TA, or a Indian Strap Match against Curt Hennig, or even a Russian Chain Match against Boris Zuhkov. Wahoo's believability was maybe his strongest suit because he was a guy who while not in the greatest of physical shape was a guy you knew as a fan could kick your fucking ass at the drop of a hat.

God I loved Hot Stuff so much because he was immensely entertaining and one of the of best heels of all-time. Gilbert wasn't the most technical wrestler around but he could go when needed and when working as a heel in the Memphis style he was in his wheelhouse and just fantastic to watch. That though is a problem with Eddie as there are people that don't get or like the Memphis style and they think Eddie as well as others like him aren't great workers because they don't break out a lot of moves but when it came to psychology Hot Stuff was an all-timer.

Rude is such an interesting case because his career ended right at the time he was going through his best run as a performer. 1992-94 Rude was fantastic in the ring and probably the best heel in the United States. Rude showed potential in Memphis in 1984 working with great talent there like Lawler, Idol, Rich, & Savage but it wasn't until he got to World Class where he got the chance to really blossom but the downside of his run there was he never got the main event run of working a Von Erich like he should've. Rude & Manny as a team in JCP in 86-87 was one of my favorite short-lived teams of all-time and again it was a shame he didn't get a singles run there. Rude then going to WWF made his career as he became a legendary performer there although he never got the run with Hogan that would've made him even bigger although he can say that he had the best matches Warrior ever had.

Muto's problem at times was that he suffered an identity crisis as he couldn't decided whether he wanted to be himself or his altar ego. Muto was also his worst enemy in that regard because working as Muta he had to do the moonsault in every match which killed his knees and aged him way earlier than he was.

I've made jokes lately about Barry Windham being in the Hall of Fame for terrible decision making but when it came to working in the ring he was easily one of the most natural guys of his era. Barry was so damn good it was scary at times and he had the knack of performing at his best when it counted in the big matches against guys like Race, Flair, Luger, Dusty, etc.

One of the most influential wrestlers of his era and that is as a Japanese wrestler working in a major US promotion for not even a full year. I remember going to loads of shows in 1989 and watching fans in awe of what Muta was doing in the ring because he was so athletic plus had a great look. Then watching him go back home to Japan where he would become a megastar and working in some of the most memorable matches of the decade was great. Muta's rebirth in 2001 was one of the great comebacks ever as he had his new look and rejuvenated in the ring becoming one of the hottest performers in the business was amazing to watch because a lot of us thought he was basically washed up in 2000.

When working for Watts....Duggan was one of the best big match wrestlers in the business having classics against guys like Buzz Sawyer, One Man Gang, Kamala, Dr. Death, DiBiase, Gordy, Slater, Hercules et al and that's not counting his work in tag matches against the likes of MX and the Freebirds. Now Duggan in the WWF had his ups and downs and definitely was not the same guy there as he was in Mid-South but damn Duggan in his prime was pretty damn awesome.

Are we going to nominate anyone who ever had a half decent match? Duggan made those DiBiase matches great don't hate him.

I'm sure some felt the same way

I just noticed that Duggan isn't on the list...he had some classics in Mid-South against all kinds of guys

Thing is I don't think AJPW would've gone with WWF....they would've been strictly AWA

Taue is so much like Sakaguchi to me in stature wise....working wise Taue was way better no doubt but when it came down to pecking order while getting runs here and there he was putting out Yellow Submarine while Misawa, Kobashi, & Kawada were putting out Hey Jude, Revolution, & Something.

Flair going in as champ working against Inoki, Fujinami, Choshu instead of Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu....

So I'm reading about how the NWA Convention in 1980 was pushed back a couple of months because of a huge power struggle regarding the membership promotion in Japan where Bob Geigel was leading the charge for AJPW while Eddie Graham was leading the charge for NJPW. They eventually held the convention in September coincidentally after Race dropped the title and won it back from Baba on a tour. The talk was that Race did that because he thought that was going to be the last time he would defend in AJPW. Now just imagine how different Japan would've been post 1980 if that switch happened.....

Onita was definitely one of the most charismatic wrestlers of his generation Japan or anywhere and was smart enough to helped create a style in Japan that they rarely had seen before that in taking the elements of Memphis & WWC to start up FMW. Onita was great at what he did in the ring and when it came to business you can't deny he was a tremendous draw. Onita also became a cult hero to the fans over here and I remember a lot of fans in the mid 90's trying their best to find whatever FMW tapes they could find from whomever they could get it from.

Wow......that is crazy because yeah he just posted his HOF ballot. Jim was a tremendous resource for me when I started gathering results and the fact that he is gone is a tragedy for any old school wrestling internet fan. RIP Clawmaster

I thought Morton was a great heel but the problem was he was stuck in the York Foundation which all the fans I ran with hated at that time....if they Morton & Rich work as Memphis style heels they would've been so awesome.

Probably the greatest babyface tag team wrestler of all-time which says a lot about how great he was in his role. I will say though that if Morton didn't have his series with Flair for the NWA Title in 1986 which drew extremely well his praise might be a little different because unlike other guys that are known as tag wrestlers Morton actually proved he could work as a singles main eventer and draw money.