evilclown

I don't understand the case for some of the non-wrestlers. Gary Hart? Really? Even in his own self flattering autobiography he doesn't come off as a HOF'er.

There were major fights along the way Floyd was accused of ducking. Antonio Margarito, Joel Casamayor and Shane Mosley when Mosley was still in his prime are the three major ones besides Manny. Here's sort a of a brief discussion: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...eather-marquez/

When you watched the tapes every week from 1997-2001, it's hard to think about Sasaki as a Hall of Famer. He just wasn't pushed that way and the crowd didn't react to him that way.

Bix, or anyone have a link to the review on Hart's book? I've read it a few times, and love it more each time. Would love to read a review on it of this caliber. Thanks! I just wanted to mention, again, that the hilarious Bret Hart review was by my friend Kendall Shields. Less famously, he is also the co-author of The MMA Encyclopedia.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

Spit take.

Yes, I enjoyed that. I've been dancing with Paul for two years to get this interview. Pleased it happened.

I am willing to absorb any and all information on any candidate. [email protected] I can't find mine. Can you send to [email protected]. Send any other record books while you're at it!

I enjoy that there is literally nothing related to wrestling that you won't defend! Well, maybe not Kevin Nash. But most anything. What was your rationale for Benoit?

Court Baurer shared the same anecdote about Dave on his Baurer & Pollock podcast this morning. Dave sent him his ballot in response to a years old email when Court was still in WWE. Court offered the pro-tip of bombarding Dave with (news tip) emails during this season if you want a decent chance in receiving a ballot. My ballot came as a reply to an email I had sent him years earlier about UFC fighter Tim Kennedy.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1772553...omo-and-cm-punk Interesting discussion on the art of the promo with a comparison to sex that I think jdw might like.

The idea Vince hates JR or doesn't respect him is the kind of silly stuff you guys should see right through. The guy was a senior executive who helped run the WWE for a decade.

Yohe has posted results for LA in those years. They're likely buries somewhere on Classics. http://wrestlingclassics.com/cgi-bin/.ubbc...c;f=10;t=002319 I found the results for 65 if anyone's interested. and here's 66: http://wrestlingclassics.com/cgi-bin/.ubbc...ic;f=9;t=004886 I love reading these results, seeing Morales wrestling a Mummy in the main event, then thinking about all the idiots angry at Vince for "exposing the business."

I see. It's a difference in nomenclature. Thanks for providing this info.

Jerry, I appreciate the work on Koloff. But your characterizations aren't always on point. For example, you call him a "main eventer" for Mid Atlantic in 1974. Looking at the results myself, he was more often on the upper midcard or the semi-main event. If this kind of "boost" is how you approached every other year and territory, it limits the utility of what you've posted.

Any idea why they didn't have Koloff challenge Morales?

Han and Tamura are the best wrestlers I've ever seen. So I consider them seriously. I'm unclear on how to think about Tamura's time in MMA, where he was a significant player on some major cards. That might swing me one way or another. I hadn't really considered voting for someone just to keep them on the ballot. Maybe I should do so with AJ Styles?

I may vote for Patera too. Just for you Dylan.

Definites Historic: Enrique Torres Modern Era: Rock and Roll Express Japan: Volk Han Non Wrestler: Matsunaga Weston Jarrett Considering: Andersons Ivan Koloff Kiyoshi Tamura Mr. Wrestling II

TOO BAD! Exactly. That's what we call a jumping off point. And jump we did! I think Ivan is very interesting. But I really think his is kind of the standard "good wrestler" career and less a "hall of fame" career. But it always comes back to New York. I am torn.

Bob is like a great double A hitter who can't touch a major league curve ball. He's pretty damn good playing the Mud Hens in small towns down south, but he was never going to play first base for the Mets.

Great reply Dylan. I'm not ruling out Patera or Koloff. Just trying to figure out what we know as opposed to what we think we know. I guess I'm more skeptical that some others when it comes to a wrestler being used over and over again in key spots. Does that really mean he was working out? If we look at modern wrestling, we see guys recycled again and again because they are "stars." It seems possible to me that Koloff rode the wave of his Bruno win to opportunity after opportunity from copycat promoters who were dumb as rocks.

I'm not sure what that means. He went up and down the card. When was he in a "money spot?" His best run on top probably was Florida. Was he exceptional there? He's never mentioned as one of the big draws or opponents for the Briscos. Based on that record book he didn't work Japan often and didn't seem to be a top guy the way we'd normally define it. And, if anything, St. Louis refutes a Hall of Fame case. He was slotted as a midlevel guy—and he still did jobs. It comes down to this. Everything else is solid and respectable but not Hall of Fame worthy even if you're stretch Armstrong.

No offense, but that's wind. That's not the kind of stuff that would make me vote for a guy. Looking at his record post WWE title I see: 1972: Follows WWWF run with a build to a match with Verne. Loses and then loses his way down the card too. 1973: Successful heel tag team with Billy Graham near top in AWA. 1974-1975: Spent the year in Crockett. Looks to have been on the losing end in a lot of midcard matches. 1976: WWE run. 1977: Florida run. Looks to have had some success here. Would have loved to have seen his team with Pat Patterson 1978: More Florida and an Atlanta run teaming with Ole. Back in New York in the latter part of the year. 1979: More Atlanta. Teaming w/ "Other Nikita" Alexis Smirnoff 1980-1981: More of the same. Less successful return to Florida and then Crockett. 1982-1987: Mixed bag in Crockett. Really catches a break when Nikita catches fire. That's pretty solid stuff, actually. What I don't know is how he did in any of those runs? He had some sustained runs, but rarely at the tippy top of the card. He seems to have been a solid player in a couple of major territories. What value do we place on that in a Hall of Fame context? Lots of wrestlers meet that criteria.