tim

I liked this match way less than I did when I first saw it a few years ago. Still a lot of good stuff in it though - one thing that always stood out for me, as small as it was, was how exaggerated Takada's reversal of the Irish whip was on his initial comeback, just made it seem like a much bigger deal and was a great comeback visual. Also the slaps. Too much laying around in the submissions without really working them, though. The crowd was super hot and the reversals were exciting, I loved the building of the Norther lights, and the one to end it looked great, Takada looking like he was legitimately trapped in it as he tried to kick out. But, I dunno, the bulk of the match, although certainly good and being received by a hot crowd, just didn't do it for me for some reason. Maybe I need to rewatch it.

projects and lists would be pretty nice PM'd you. -- Loss, 01/29

I wanted to see the return so I watched the last 40 minutes or so of RAW for the first time in several months, and boy, is King's fake laugh to desperately convince people what's happening is funny depressing.

He reminded me of a flamboyant homosexual who organizes entertainment on senior cruises. He REALLY needs to get his ... uh, wrestling voice? back.

I thought this was a really really good Flair match - one of the better untalked about ones I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen a Taylor match before this and I was pretty impressed. The beginning with Taylor's offense was pretty good, and the transition and Flair's offense was pretty good, but Taylor's comeback was just fantastic. The crowd was really hot for Taylor at that point so the response to the initial comeback was great, and the ref blocking one of Taylor's punches leading to Flair taking advantage, which lead to a tough ref pushing back at the heel spot which the crowd loved, leading into part 2 of Taylor's comeback, I really really liked. The match actually ending with a Figure Four was pretty surprising, though it really was one of the better builds to the move I've ever seen.

About 5 minutes in it already feels like it's been a violent, grueling epic. I love how in matches like these they can so early on make every punch, elbow drop and body slam feel like a huge move thanks to all the fatigue selling. There was a commercial every 5 minutes or so, but they didn't feel too close together at all, because of the atmosphere they were able to give the match each 5 minutes felt like a ton had happened. The heel/face dynamic is as great as you would expect from young babyface Windham and Champ Harley.

Man this was a revision of Yokozuna. I think the last time I saw a Yokozuna match I was a 14 year old cunty Scott Keith reading smark, so of course he sucked because he never did a dragonrana. But man he was a fantastic seller. He's so massive that just him missing an elbow drop really gets the crowd into a possible comeback spot because they would expect him to be so dominant, that one missed move would be like a monumental opening for the face. He also had some really nice looking body slams in this match, and some good dazed vulnerable monster selling. Loved the commentary team too. Polo had a really Bobby Henan-esque feel here, so it's no surprise he matched up well with Gorilla. Really interested to see some more Yoko with a more 'enlightened' perspective now.

Really wasn't too impressed with this match. It wasn't bad or anything, but didn't Meltzer give it *****? I know it's Meltzer and all, but I've seen plenty of Juniors matches that weren't notably a level lower than it in quality. Tiger Mask flattening the guard rail is not something you see everyday in Japanese Irish Whips, so, as meaningless as it was, it kinda got me into the match right away. Most of the stuff after that was pretty standard, with a pretty great sequence towards the end leading to a fantastic dive from Tiger Mask. Misawa doing a full front flip over Kobayashi's criss cross attempt would still be visually impressive if done today in Dragon Gate or something. Maybe I need to watch it again but on first viewing I really don't get what the fuss is over, although the match is very enjoyable at times.

Damn, the piledriver into the mounted punches has to be one of my favorite spots ever. I'm not sure anyone was ever as good at building up to a spot and making the crowd as responsive to it as possible as Lawer. Immensly fun match, I could probably sit down and watch it on repeat 5 to 10 times.

Got mine. Great to see Hase/Hash on there, wanted that on tape/DVD for ages.

I said in the Bret/Kid thread that I really like matches that are stopped and restarted because it makes it feel like a big event, and that worked perfectly here. Lawler unloading on Dundee after the restart was incredible. It's how guys can work a match this great around very little more than punches. Love the spot where Dundee was on his knees, Lawler was walking towards him, and Dundee suddenly turned around with a huge punch and Lawler's beautiful bump off it.

Absolutely perfect TV mainevent. A match that's truly great and anyone in the world could find fun, massive heat, great pacing, and I could watch it anytime. I love matches like these where no one would really go out of their way to pimp it, because there's probably tons like it and it's just some random main event from a Saturday Night show, but it's so awesome and perfect on a set like this.

I requested this match and was in no way disappointed. I'm just now discovering how great Slaughter is and want to see some other high end matches of his other than his and the Boot Camp match. The first ram into the cage was such a huge move because of all the building to it, and Slaughter tackling Kernodle so Steamboat jumps into the cage is one of the coolest spots I've seen in some time. Definitely my favorite cage match ever and probably my favorite US tag.

It's hours into the investigation ... How can anything be "ruled" to have happened, as it states on WWE.com, without as much as an autopsy ...

I liked some of the little things Markoff did, like how when he would follow Inoki outside the ring, he would come off the apron with a stomp on Inoki. Loved his selling of the dropkick from Inoki when he went over the ropes and ran through the crowd. Really fun just to see a classic old school Japanese Hero vs. Treacherous Caucasian match with great heat.

yeah i thought the exact same. speaking of restarts, i love them, because they make the match feel like a special event as well as a wrestling match, and it was really great here, especially prefaced by the bret's speech praising Kid. And God those European uppercuts were brutal.

Damn, still haven't gotten my money? I guess if by the time the disks get here you haven't gotten it I'll upgrade my Paypal account or whatever they want me to do to it that makes the credit card with money in it work.

10 minutes of the most boring TV in WWE history not involving Triple H followed by an explosion.

Sounds great. Especially if you put Steamboat/Youngblood vs Slaughter/Kernodle 3/83 on the first DVD : D

I don't go spouting how much wrestling I watch to anyone I see, but it not like I "wouldn't admit it." If someone asks if I watch wrestling for whatever reason I wouldn't say no. Lying about your interests for "popularity" is a bit ridiculous, isn't it? For getting out of high school earlier, you seem to be taking this with a very high school mentality.

maybe some people are mature and dont have a high school complex

I never really got how so many wrestling fans say they don't want their kids to be wrestling fans. Admittedly, I'm a good deal younger than most here(17), but I'd certainly want my kids to like wrestling because it's one of, if not my biggest hobby. It's like someone who is into hunting teaching your kid how to hunt, but instead teaching your kid about selling and the importance of psychology! Just always struck me as being like a self hating Jew, and we all know Michael Savage dosn't like that. Anyway, about the topic question, just tell them the wrestlers are trained and that they shouldn't try the stuff themselves(they probably will anyway), and it's really not too hard to find out wrestling is fake on your own.

I love this list. So much high ranked stuff I've never seen before that I tracked down and was awesome. Out of curiosity, what would be your top 10 matches ever?