KrisZ

One of the greatest tag workers of all-time whether it was with Arn Anderson, Stan Lane, Dennis Condrey, or teaming with the guy I thought was his best partner in Sweet Brown Sugar (Koko Ware.) Eaton was also a solid singles worker as well in Memphis working against guys like Dundee, Keirn, & Dutch then had some good matches in WCW in 1991 against Arn, Zenk, Terry Taylor in the TV Title mix.

Hashimoto was one of the best big match workers of his time as while Chono was Mr. G1, Hashimoto was Mr. Tokyo Dome as he had his best moments in that building in front of the biggest crowds. Hashimoto could work with anyone and the fact that he basically made Naoya Ogawa what he was is a testament to how great he was himself.

I voted for him every year I have had a ballot

Much like the EMLL front office eh Jose

The Gentleman Beat the Champ TV Title: "Gentleman" Chris Adams © vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (9/12/83) Adams has already taken Garvin to a draw for the American title in Dallas so this is the rematch but this time for Adams' title which is a cool concept. Adams is in his 10th week as the champion getting $500 for every week and this match is for $5,000 so it adds more to this. Some good matwork to start this with both men looking good especially Adams but Garvin hung with him selling for Adams quite well. Garvin would soon gain control and became more aggressive in his offense with Adams returning the favor on his comeback before jacking his jaw with a Superkick with 2 minutes left. Adams would climb up top but Sunshine would trip him up allowing Garvin to go for the pin but Adams would kick out. Garvin would hit a nice gutwrench suplex for a nearfall and kept trying to get the win in the last minute which was a nice touch as Adams was doing the same thing in their earlier match but time would run out with Adams surviving to keep his title and $5,000. Garvin would attack him after the match of course and nailed him with the belt forcing some juice and really heating up this angle. No DQ Match w/Gino in a cage above the ring: Kevin Von Erich vs. "Gentleman" Chris Adams (9/2/85) FUCKING GINO is rocking it in a suit that would make Ric Flair jealous. The story here is that Kevin isn't at his best level because he has been at the hospital with Mike for the past few nights. These two had some memorable singles matches at the end of 1984 but this one is different because those matches were still early in the feud where in this one you had a feud that was at close to a year long with so much hatred between the two plus you throw in Gino inside the cage and the No DQ stip allowing both men to throw away the rules. Both men just take it to each other and it would end with Gino throwing down the knux he used from earlier but Kevin would steal them and used them on Adams to win this match. Kevin would then strip Gino down after the match after the cage was lowered and then they locked him in the cage so they could cut his hair but Kerry would run out to make the save. This was great stuff. World Class TV Title: "Gentleman" Chris Adams © vs. "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer (6/16/86) Buzz worked his last match for the UWF at the Superdome 2 days earlier and now he has jumped to World Class. Buzz missed a running shoulderblock into the corner early hitting all ringpost which allowed Adams to work over his left shoulder which went from the ring to the floor then back to the ring. Buzz did what he could to try and break free including biting Adams on the leg and a great leapfrog exchange that ended up with an Adams body press for a nearfall then back to the arm. Buzz finally got his chance when Adams missed a running headbutt and went to the floor where Buzz would give him a suplex followed up by some biting. Buzz then went to work on Adams' back with a belly-to-belly followed up by a bodyscissors which was nice. Buzz then used a grounded bearhug but Adams would fight back until Buzz took him back down with the grounded bearhug. Adams would break free again though and would just nuke Buzz with a Superkick but was too weak to go for the pin. Buzz recovered quick and would hit a big powerslam but this time he couldn't go for the pin so he would climb up top where he missed his big splash. Adams made his comeback here hitting a reverse cross body block off the middle rope but Buzz would tuck and roll using the tights to get the win.

WAHOO Chief Wahoo McDaniel vs. Sgt. Slaughter (4/28/82) This is a non-title match with a 30:00 time limit. The action early was really good as both men were working in and out of holds with some really good counter wrestling going on. Wahoo was really going after Sarge's left leg here and I loved everything about this including him chopping Sarge on the back as he was working the knee. We go to a break with actual commercials which was cool including Paul Gleason shilling Clinomint and we come back to Wahoo just teeing off on Sarge. This turned into a slugfest before Sarge got control hitting the big Slaughter Cannon and signaling for the Cobra Clutch but Wahoo would break out every time then firing back with chops. Kernodle & Nelson would come out but Muraco would come out to neutralize them allowing Wahoo to hit a big chop to get the win. David Crockett was great here going nuts as the crowd was crazy as well. Jake joins Muraco in the celebration and both men cut really good promos afterwards. No DQ for the AWA World Heavyweight Title: Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Wahoo McDaniel (8/28/83) Wahoo is on fire to start as he has had two controversial matches with Bock the past 2 months so in this he is firing shots early and often. Bock would whack Wahoo with a chair though on the floor then bashed him into the post and barricade to bloody him. Bock is relentless working over the cut but Wahoo comes back chopping like a madman. This is nothing but a slugfest when Bock locks on his sleeper but Wahoo pounds him into the turnbuckle numerous times before he breaks free and Wahoo comes back with more chops then takes it back to the floor where he posts Bock and then bashes his head into the ringside table. Wahoo brings it back to the ring where he continues his onslaught until a double collision sends Bock to the floor. Bock then grabs a chair and nails Wahoo for the pin. This was an all out war with both men juicing and a total blast. Indian Strap Match for the AWA World Heavyweight Title: Curt Hennig © vs. "Chief" Wahoo McDaniel (11/28/87) I love the announcers burying Boris Zuhkov before the match talking about Wahoo sending him running away after the Russian Chain match which is similar to this style of match. Curt was dicking around to start so Wahoo strapped him on the chest to wake him up and that was great. Wahoo would choke Curt with the strap a bit and kept using the strap to his advantage before Curt took him to the mat and he started using the strap himself as a weapon. Curt choking Wahoo while yelling that is what he thought of indians was great. Wahoo is now juicing and Curt is solid at working over the cut before tying up Wahoo's wrists so he could drag him around the ring but Wahoo countered out so Curt went back to choking him a bit before trying to drag him again. Wahoo this time would use a mule kick to break free and now he starts his comeback where he just chops the piss out of Curt but he lost Curt on a suplex which looked really bad although the announcers used his blood loss as an excuse. Wahoo would fight back though using the strap before he wraps Curt up and drags him around the ring with Curt fighting hard trying to break free and using a low blow to stop him. Curt starts throwing punches and he puts Wahoo down with a suplex showing some fire and he drags Wahoo again with Wahoo again using a mule kick to break free. This match is pretty compelling at this point as both men are just going to war on each other and Curt takes a wild bump off the top with Wahoo pulling him down using the strap. Wahoo now thinks he has it and drags Curt around but Adrian Adonis runs out with a knife and he cuts the strap along with Curt's hand which needed a lot of stitches. Gary DeRush calls for the DQ as Greg Gagne makes the save and you can see Curt's hand bleeding profusely. Like I said this was a compelling match which I dug a lot

And Lawler's smarts has made him still able to work matches today when a lot of guys that worked a harder style in his era can hardly walk. Lawler is undeniable in my eyes and sits among the pantheon of wrestlers.

Superstar is one of those rare cases where he has had great matches in 5 different decades as he is a timeless worker sure he isn't as "good" as he was 30 years ago but his ring smarts is unquestionable and he can navigate his way around the ring like no other. Dundee & Lawler is one of the most legendary love/hate relationships we have ever seen in wrestling where they had some of the all-time classic singles matches and as a tag team they were just as great. Dundee will forever be tied to Lawler inside the ring but he had some really great matches against a wide variety of opponents over the years in Memphis and when it came to charisma very few could touch him inside and outside the ring. I think the one regret we have in Dundee's career was when he booked Mid-South he wasn't able to work higher on the cards which was great in a way since he couldn't give himself a megapush but still I think him working in more main events would've been awesome. Dundee was short in stature but his heart and passion was the size of the Great Khali and he is truly a legend in the sport.

I gotta get Bill Dundee on the list.....these come from the 80's nomination process for the Memphis set and I made it a point not to pick the Lawler hair matches as I wanted to pick a variety of guys. 2 out of 3 falls Scaffold Match: "Superstar" Bill Dundee vs. Sweet Brown Sugar (Koko Ware) (6/21/82) For some reason this scaffold match looked more dangerous than any other one but these guys didn't give a fuck as they just beat the hell out of each other. They looked like that the chance of falling off didn't really faze them at times as they were taking some wild bumps on the scaffold. This was also worked different because they would climb down at times before climbing back up instead like the others you had to stay on to win. This was very hate filled and it's too bad that we don't have the buildup for this as I'm sure it would've been awesome. Mid-America Heavyweight Title: "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton © vs. "Superstar" Bill Dundee (7/24/82) Eaton cuts another great promo before the match but Dutch comes out swinging Shoebaby demanding a match with Eaton. Dundee asks Dutch to settle down and to sit at ringside so he can counter Hart. Dundee takes it Eaton early as Dutch does his job keeping Hart in check and distracting Eaton. Dundee & Eaton would clash heads giving Eaton a chance to get the advantage but Dundee still maintains control as Hart whines on the floor. Dundee would miss a diving body press off the middle rope giving Eaton the chance he needed to gain the advantage. Eaton just works over Dundee serious while talking shit to Dutch on the floor then hits his powerslam on Dundee that he used on Keirn the previous week but Dundee kicked out. Eaton goes nuts on Dundee choking him but Dundee would kick him in the gut to get the advantage back. Hart would trip up Dundee though as he ran the ropes leading to Dutch attacking Hart as Eaton goes back to work on Dundee. Dundee would get Eaton in an inside cradle though for a nearfall as Dutch keeps Hart in his chair. Dutch would trip up Eaton as he ran the ropes with Dundee hitting a splash to follow for another nearfall. Eaton would throw Dundee into the ropes so hard it broke the second rope ala Sam Houston Coliseum but that didn't effect these guys as Eaton just kept pounding on Dundee. Eaton would try another powerslam on Dundee but Dundee's momentum took him to the mat and got the pinfall to win the title. Dundee & Dutch then pound on Eaton after the match until Sugar jumps in to make the save before King Cobra goes after Eaton. Dundee is juicing as everyone else is fighting which stops as soon as Dutch breaks out Shoebaby. Southern Heavyweight Title vs. Hair: Jerry "The King" Lawler © vs. "Superstar" Bill Dundee (10/19/85) Jesus there was some awesome punches thrown here by both men and a mega hot crowd. The rest of the action was great too as I don't think these two could have a bad match with each other. Lawler drops the strap and goes to town on Dundee but he would pull a chain out and jacked Lawler's jaw to win the title. Dundee now becomes the #1 contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the area. Dundee then cuts a celebration promo afterwards before Lawler comes out for a war of words. Lawler then threatens to bash Dundee’s car in if he doesn't sign a return match contract and goes to the parking lot to do it with the fans egging him on. Dundee finally agrees to sign it.

Damn that sucks.....Kenny is looking a lot like his dad these days.

Cien is a better case on his own than part of his brothers. The brothers life as a team was shorter than other families in lucha like Brazos & Villanos and Cien/MA2K were more known for their solo stuff than Universo

I was at this show and the rednecks in the crowd were going nuts.....the non-rednecks were all laughing our asses off.

You need figure out how the sections are going to be organized if you even do sections because there is a way where you can have as many matches as you want available for voting then whatever matches meet the final percentage for election then they get in automatically.

That's why I said feasible where you have the right amount of nominees per section to ensure the ratio is sound in the matches that get in and don't get in.

This needs to be bracketed the right way either by decade or promotion with a feasible amount of nominees.

Yeah they definitely need a new wave of guys FAST

And I wasn't necessarily going after Kevin Dunn but the agents could've done those guys better....I will say whoever laid out must love Adrian Neville because he was made to look like the top dog which I guess makes sense since he is the champ

The layout of working slow chinlocks in a match that should've been laid out as a sprint was the main thing that bugged me. Those guys had a small amount of time to work with and they should've all been able to get some shit in

Like I said on Twitter last night...that NXT match layout was the perfect example of the battle going on between the old WWE guard and the new WWE guard and how they are treating NXT talent

Bumping this back up for logical reasons.

Yeah that will work in Baltimore on a day like today

Forgot about Bonema in my list and he ranks high as well.

I will say this for Matysik after watching St. Louis stuff for the 80's set....he was way different than any other PBP announcer at the time as he didn't cheerlead for the babyfaces or anyone in particular. He played it right down the middle and fully would explain when a heel was cheating that if the referee didn't see it happen then he was doing what he had to do to win. Now of course if a heel was doing some wild and crazy stuff then yeah he would react but other than that it was right down the middle. Meltz's ranking of Larry isn't as far fetched as you would think as the other PBP guys of his era were the following WWF = Vince, Gorilla AWA = Rodger Kent, Gene Okerlund, Rod Troungard Memphis = Lance & Dave CWF = Solie GCW = Solie JCP = Bob Caudle, Rich Landrum, David Crockett Mid-South = Boyd Pierce & early Jim Ross World Class = Bill Mercer, Mark Lowrance Southwest = Steve Stack Houston = Paul Boesch & Peter Berkholtz Maple Leaf = Jack Reynolds Stampede = Ed Whelan WWA = Sam Menacker Southeastern = Les Thatcher, Charlie Platt, Rick Stewart I can definitely see Larry as high as #3 on that list behind Solie & Lance.

Anything involving Shoemaker is unfair especially his columns

Matysik was also an announcer and a booker. He's not just a WON personality, although I do admit to getting annoyed that he can't go two sentences without mentioning Brody. If Matysik (who I like BTW) is on the ballot for reasons like that then Peter Berkholtz from Houston should be on it too. They were almost exactly the same in many ways except Peter wasn't as good as an announcer.