Fando

Not only have we considered it, but he outright said it in the Wrestling Observer. It read like, "Yeah, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels were pretty good" the way someone would talk about Brad Armstrong or something. Ha ha yep. "This was not some five-star match or six-star match." was also pretty jarring to read

So if you read how Dave contextualizes this it's not just the match itself but the circumstances surrounding it - ending the longest title reign in the modern era, Omega's 2 year-long chase, the rivalry, the stipulation - all of that effected his rating. He doesn't compare it to any of those matches, he compares it emotionally to Misawa chasing Jumbo, Kerry vs Flair, and Dusty beating Race.

One thing too is that people will go in on Dave for throwing stars at "tons of moves and nearfalls" whatever, but this match didn't really fit into that cliche. They did a lot for over an hour of course, but in the last fall Okada's entire offense was: 4 dropkicks, 4 clotheslines, 1 german suplex. Omega went for more flashy moves like a phoenix splash and styles clash but in between it was mostly palm strikes and knees. There are only three nearfalls in the last 3rd of the match.

Should really be asking if there has been a match like that with lots of moves and nearfalls that the live crowd loved but he didn't, because the in-building reaction influences how sees the performance a lot, too (Punk-Cena, HHH-Taker, far from PWG style). I don't think it's fair to just write them off as "Meltzerbait" when the crowds are loving them in the building. There's been a real change in the "agreement" fans have with workers and what they expect and tolerate in the ring and you can argue Meltzer has had some influence there but I think it's really bigger than him. Think about how different fight scenes are in the average action movie today compared to 30 years ago.

Lordy, he went the full *******

I don't know if I totally buy a 4 star scale being the original, since movies and shit are 5 stars, but even if true the bar was raised in 1989 to 5 stars. No one was really around to complain back then. To claim it's because it's NJPW doesn't seem to make sense. Siskel and Ebert rated from 0-4 stars. 5 stars seems to be more of a current standard (Amazon, Netlfix)

Not sure if it's the first, but Harley Race vs Hogan in 1988 predates.

Don't think so, but his opinion about ratings echoes what Dave has said consistently over the years

On WOR Dave called Okada-Omega at Dominion the best match he's ever seen in his life. And although he didn't give it stars on air, in passing to a remark Bryan made about people freaking out about the Tokyo Dome match "because the scale was broken, even though it wasn't" Dave added "Well, it was today!" So freakout incoming, I guess!

He actually tweeted out "nothing but respect" after Punk lost his first UFC fight, so that's kind of weird. Maybe trying to get some favorable heat after the Saudi posts he made or just can't get over it.

Funny that you chose to phrase it that way, since it quite literally did change my mind. That's cool! What was the main difference about it compared to WK to you, since that's kind of the foundation for this match. Like you mentioned how they built on knowing each other so well here. I thought the first match was more exciting for what they did as it was happening and feeling so fresh, while this one felt totally familiar which didn't make it as exciting as the previous few, built to a perfect ending.

Not a match that's going to change anyone's minds, but when a clothesline is still getting enormous pops in the building after an hour, to the majority of their audience what they're doing is definitely not devaluing moves. Pretty great how they let the tension surrounding a certain spot hang in the air for the match.

"Fulla shit as Christmas turkey...his eyes are brown...and he lies constantly." https://youtu.be/2hYrxDKRRbU

People walking out on the Bret-HBK iron man is the other notable example.

Balor is dating Cathy Kelley.

Super fun match. Figure-four over huge.

Isn't the reason Hayes was not fired because Mark Henry asked that he not be? Then again, recently he was quoted talking about being part of some "delegation" that was against bringing Hogan back right now. The major difference is obviously nobody outside of the viewing audience really knows who Hayes is and Hogan cost them something like 50 million in the stock market and spooked advertisers.

Out of deference of Matt, I am going to let this slide. I will only say you know what I meant originally. You know you had no counter so tried to play a shell game. I am being calm and not going at you like you deserve. You can whine that you're being misrepresented all you like. I genuinely have no idea what you think you were getting at by comparing Paige's leak, where she doesn't say anything racist that would directly offend and alienate her coworkers in addition to a massive portion of the company's fans and stockholders, and so had no real reason to be let go, and Hogan's case. Oh well.

Yes, if Paige said on tape, "If I have to fuck a nigger, he better at least be rich. Fucking niggers. I'm a racist" I don't see the company keeping her around and they would be justified from an HR/PR standpoint which is why your original comparison, where nothing like that happened at all, was dumb as fuck.

Not only does it not count, it's exactly the same as Paige having sex with her colleagues.

He was just mad because the guy's father was wealthier but at the same time said, "If we’re gonna fuck with niggers, let’s get a rich one!" ???

It's silly how Nash and Hall and others quickly rationalized him saying it with his charity work etc. Hogan's threshold wasn't having to eat with or work with black people, it was the possibility of black guys boning his daughter.

And he's not very good at that anymore either. Anyway, he's fully aware of why they weren't on the show, that they weren't allowed to be, to begin with. Talks about how having WWE import Western culture will increase the chances of Saudi customs being relaxed and have women wrestle there in the future, but "You earn your right to be on the card!" It actually sounds worse than when you read it. https://youtu.be/hYzCKqVY6C8?t=7m54s

How about that. This made him seem likeable. Would be interesting to show him this clip and then the movie again and hear what he has to say about memory, processing images, and creating narratives. Strikes like a snake, and grabs him in a headlock? Never happened. https://youtu.be/L3wZhA5s3kI?t=23m16s