evilclown

Right. But as far as I can tell that's just not true. Only Terry Funk made that leap, and it was years later. More often than not it was a belt a former NWA champ held after their run was over.

So if Race was Missouri champ he didn't defend in Kansas City? Interesting.

Didn't they defend the belt in the Kansas City territory too? Or no? I need to get that book. I have held off mostly after following Scott Teal on Facebook and seeing his repellent politics. Should get over it....

I understand that is the perception. And maybe it is true. But does that stand under scrutiny? Was Dick Slater a made man anywhere he went? Murdoch? DiBiase? They seemed to fluctuate up and down the card depending on how they got over in any given place. The only guy he really seemed to "make" with the belt was Race, who was the local star. (Please keep in mind that these are real questions and not snarky questions. The internet isn't always good about making that clear.)

I think in wrestling lore more than anything else. Was it a big deal the next year when Dick the Bruiser and Dick Murdoch traded it back and forth? Or the main belt for a small territory that happened to be run by the President of the NWA?

It's fine if you don't read Bleacher Report. Lots of people do. Plenty more don't. But coming to a thread just to point out to a Bleacher Report guy how much you think it sucks is a dick move. Which is also fine. Just don't try to pretend it's not mean spirited.

Backlund was a non entity before and after getting the belt. It almost seems like Senior wanted to prove a point—that he could work with anyone on top. It had to have been a powerful lesson for the boys.

When they pay you thousands of dollars not to read it we'll call it a draw.

The fact that you almost certainly would take a million dollars to write an article for BR. No, I wouldn't. Some of us still live by the rules. You couldn't pay me just to read that website. I'd probably stab my eyes out first. It seems likely you won't get an offer to write for our site. Or any site. So take comfort in that.

Thanks for sharing that. It's the third largest sports site in the country, offers me access to athletes and industry leaders, and pays decently. I can't complain. It's the third largest sports site in the country because it knows how to work google and got bought by Turner Sports. I don't mean to demean your work and it's know fault of your own, but Bleacher Report is one of the worst sites on the internet. I don't go to it on general principle. You do mean to demean the site and the work of a couple of posters here by extension. If you're going to do so, that's fine. Don't pretend that's not what you're doing though. It's the third largest sports site because they're good at creating content people want to read and getting it in front of a large audience. The site isn't successful because Turner bought it. Quite the opposite.

Thanks for sharing that. It's the third largest sports site in the country, offers me access to athletes and industry leaders, and pays decently. I can't complain.

Can you interview Buck Zumhofe next? It's not fool proof. Jim Ross is still alive and kicking despite several strong efforts on my part.

Indeed.

Wow, I didn't hear Buck Robley died. Not to be flip, but I'm starting to think being interviewed for my 80's book is not good for your health. Or else, that's just wrestling.

I like the use of Timberlake for a better current analogy. I date myself with the Jackson 5 and the Supremes. If I've learned anything reading Meltzer and listening to the announce trio on Raw mock each other, it's how important it is to keep your references current!

Here is the final product. Everyone hates it! http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1653867...he-shields-push

Thanks all. I will borrow some of these ideas liberally.

So, the Shield is a hot act. Getting hotter all the time. Looking like a threat to the entrenched establishment. How do you think the boys in the back, the locker room lawyers, are going to bring them down? Besides pointing out Ambrose's lack of tan and how scrawny their arms are? Any ideas? If you were HHH, Orton, Cena, Lesnar—how are you planning to bring them down a peg or three?

I'd quibble with a number of things that you've managed to squeeze into this paragraph. I didn't say pro wrestling doesn't require athleticism for starters. I'd disagree Benoit was a "Top 10 guy of his era" as well. Athleticism basically refers to the physical skills you need to excel in competitive sport. Most simply defined it includes dexterity, speed, strength, hand eye coordination, leaping ability, intuition and any number of other things that allow a person to compete against themselves, their opponent, or a clock/measuring stick. I never noticed anything out of the ordinary about Chris Benoit's basic physical tools. He was certainly less fluid than his peers at junior heavyweight and didn't make displays of strength, quickness or really even skill a big part of his repertoire. This doesn't prohibit him from being a great wrestler. I doubt anyone would consider Jerry Lawler an incredible athlete and great workers like Nobuhiko Takada failed miserably in competitive sport.

I will be polite and simply ask why you believe that to be true? Benoit seemed a lot more coordinated. Granted, wrestling is worked, but there was something fluid about his motions that it would have required an impressive degree of coordination to pull off his style. He moves just as well as Angle, who is an Olympic gold medalist. That's honestly flabbergasting to me. Benoit never seemed to have an athletic bone in his body. Owen Hart was fluid. Benoit was borderline robotic. He moved like a guy who never played sports. Like, if you asked him to run across the parking lot after a show, it would be downright comical. I'm, right now, trying to picture Chris Benoit playing pickup basketball. It's making me laugh.

I will be polite and simply ask why you believe that to be true?

As someone who has seen this argument play out 10,000 times in various forms, I suggest you use the term "successful" rather than "great."

I'd pay $100 to hang out with the guy for a day. I'll say though that not everyone with AS is an obvious case. (Most wouldn't guess I'm of any mental deviant even after hanging out with me many times because I'm too interactive. Some are very obvious cases though.) But you're right. It's a pro-wrestling board with serious pro-wrestling historians, critics, and dilettantes. To the outside world, they'd think we're all nuts for caring about a "fake sport". I'm probably in a unique position as someone who knows Dave personally and who also interacts with people with autism on a daily basis.

The stuff Chris just posted about WWF expansion is a tremendous piece of data.

Dave is coming more from a live POV but he acknowledges that the internet is the internet when it comes to anonymous bile. I was shocked by how unsophisticated Dave's views on race are. He was trying to argue with me on Twitter and legitimately thought that showing the UFC fan demographic included Hispanic and black fans somehow negated the possibility of racism. Yes, he essentially made the "UFC has black friends" argument. Dave also doesn't believe sports announcers use racially coded language. It was a serious wakeup call for anyone who thinks his expertise includes anything outside the realm of professional wrestling.