ohtani's jacket

I see. That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. SELLING FOR MONSTERS Cena vs Great Khali - Judgment Day 2007 This was the first match that I thought was actively bad. I wasn't expecting much from Khali who's a horrendously bad pro-wrestler, but Cena's punches and the moves he did to try to knock Khali down were appalling bad. Cena's selling was passable I guess, but he was never in any serious trouble, the jeopardy didn't match the stakes, and after all the hype that Khali had never been pinned or submitted, he lost in incredibly weak fashion. Surely, Cena could have gone to greater lengths to beat him. This wasn't even passable for a RAW match. About a *

They're chanting because they think they're part of the show. It used to be that you went to wrestling to watch the show. Now you go there to interact with it. I can't blame the audience entirely since they've been directly addressing the fans for decades now with their 20 minute opening monologues.

It is the same thing in that you claim to be caught up in this amazing moment, yet you are still detached enough to post on Facebook or chant about the quality of a match. Or it could mean you're having a great time and want to take a picture of you and your friends and put it on Facebook or write some short one line message. It's pretty innocuous as opposed to the chanting which is obnoxious.

Dave Finlay vs. Roy Scott (4/23/85) This was supposed to be Finlay vs. Scott McGhee, which would have been a much better bout, but I guess McGhee had left the country or failed to make it to Watford for some reason. Roy Scott is a name that means nothing to me. To be honest, the Crabtrees rolled out a whole host of no-names in the later years as talent began to thin out. They even brought back really old wrestlers, which I thought was a big mistake in light of the competing products. Walton mentioned this was Scott's second time on TV and he actually got four rounds with Finlay here, which seems like a lot, but then Dave liked to methodically wear down an opponent. Another Princess Paula/Finlay showcase more than anything else. There was a big emphasis put on the tombstone piledriver in these quasi-squashes. The Black Prince vs. Dave Finlay (2/5/85) The Black Prince was a white guy named Steve Prince who looked like Nigel Mansell and was trying to do a Pat Patton/Kung Fu style gimmick. During the intros he performed a Kendo Nagasaki style sword wielding demonstration. Paula had no fear and got right up in his face despite the katana blade. Apparently, Regal talked about this match on Austin's podcast as for some reason Finlay did not like the Prince one iota and not only sandbagged him the entire bout but was pretty god damn brutal with him. At first it seemed cool because of how stiff Finlay was working, but after a while it was a bit much. Either Prince was the Ricky Morton of Britsh wrestling or the guy was legitimately hurting, and I would suggest the latter. Maybe Finlay had good reason to beat on him, but if it was just some macho crap then Dave comes across as a bit of a jerk. Dave Finlay vs. The Grasshopper (2/27/86) The Grasshopper Phil Johnson was a judoka doing yet another kung fu gimmick. He was a little hard to take seriously since he looked like Alan Dennison prancing around in a gi, but it was just eccentric enough that it worked. He got all fired up and did exaggerated kung fu poses and the contrast with Finlay was fun. Dave pulled out the piledriver again, but not before bumping and selling for the Grasshopper a bit, so there must have been something more at play during that Black Prince bout. As a side note, Walton's commentary was continuing to slip here. He missed was essentially the turning point in a rather short bout when Finlay countered Grasshopper's pin attempt with a punch to the face. Grasshopper got all fired up and took off his jacket and Walton thought it was because he was angry with himself for missing the pinfall chance and somehow hurting his head. The only reason I mention it is because prime Walton never missed a beat.

There's a Tully thread in the Microscope where I watched a bit of his Southwest stuff.

I hate all of the chants in wrestling, but it's not the same as whipping out your smartphone at a club and taking two seconds to use an app.

Kidd is regarded as the greatest lightweight wrestler of all-time. He was the World Lightweight Champion for 26 years and retired undefeated in 1976. Whatever footage there is of him is locked away in ITV's vaults.

Marty Jones vs. Peter Wilson (10/28/81) It's striking how much younger and slimmer Jones looks here. Not sure that move up into the mid-heavyweight ranks was too good for his all-round wrestling ability. He was trying to drag Wilson to a good match here, which was markedly different from how he's been in '84-85. The Jones from the Duran bout would have eaten Wilson alive. Pete Wilson has to be the most nondescript WoS worker I have come across, and that's saying something. Walton was brutally honest in saying he had never been tremendously impressed with Wilson before. He was trying to put over the improvement he'd made, but I don't think it helped. The match was nothing special. Marty Jones vs. Pete Roberts (7/22/82) This was a pretty bout. I knew these two must have had a good bout together at some point. It was every bit as combative as you would expect with neither wrestler giving an inch. The skill level was tremendously high and unlike their other two bouts there were no blown spots. You could maybe argue that it never reached truly great heights (I was tired and would have to watch it again), but they were tied heading into the final round and went all out in a way that few other wrestlers had the gears for. Excellent on first watch. Could be more on second.

LONG, WORKRATE-Y MAIN EVENTS Cena vs Shawn Michaels - Raw 23rd April 2007 This was okay. I appreciate the fact they went out and delivered a long main event by television standards and something close to pay-per-view quality. The structure was kind of simple but fairly well staggered to get them through to the end. The problem for me was that the work just wasn't that interesting. The early takedowns were too slow and Michaels was monotonous with his chops, back elbow and use of the heel. The big moments like Cena catching Michael's plancha attempt really weren't that blow away amazing, and the whole STFU vs. sweet chin music slant was boring really. Michaels as technician is not something I buy or want to see, and without seeing the build-up I couldn't really understand why Cena was being such a prick. On the other hand, I give them credit for going long and not losing me. I can see how if you really like these two it would be captivating. JR and Lawler's commentary was another weak point. Ross sounded jaded. His reaction to Michaels winning was startling lukewarm. *** 1/2 for effort.

Marty Jones vs. Dave Duran (3/20/85) Lenny Hurst vs. Scott McGhee (3/20/85) Marty Jones vs. Scott McGhee (3/20/85) Scott McGhee! That's not as random as it sounds as his father was Geoff Portz, a British heavyweight of some renown who later worked in the AWA, Portland, Stampede and Florida. though Walton referred to him as his trainer here. I think McGhee may have even had a brief stint in the UK in the mid-70s using his real name Garfield Portz. This was shortly after Eddie Graham's suicide, but I don't think McGhee had left the territory yet. I'm pretty sure he returned to Florida before doing another tour with the original UWF then starting with Vince in September. This was billed as a Four Nations knockout tournament with two ten minute semis and a fifteen minute fall. MC Rob Harding butchered an introduction that must have ticked Walton right off because he could be heard bitching about the seating arrangement and how "everyone thinks I want to be right next to the monitor." Kent! As some of you will know, Jones had a lazy eye and always wrestled cross-eyed. Here he wore tinted glasses to ringside, and whoah... Bruce Hart eat your heart out. Dave Duran was a thick stocky Irishman who was basically a rough and tumble type, but he had a neat scummy look and was a decent enough hand. I tell you what, Marty Jones didn't mind letting the world know when he outclassed someone as he would just play cat and mouse with them all match long. I suppose if I were as good as Marty Jones I'd be cocky too. It wasn't as though it was a bad bout; it was just like watching Jordan take some poor sob apart. McGhee vs. Hurst was actually really good. They took it to the mat a lot more than I expected, and while it wasn't exactly Euro style matwork it was pretty slick. For a ten minute knockout bout it was pretty ideal though the finish was much too soft. The final was more dynamic and less mat based, but also a solid bout. It seemed for all money that Jones would go over as he was one of Joint's favourite sons, but they gave the new man to the territory a rub by having it end in a draw. That meant the promise of a re-match some time on television or anywhere in the country as Jones so earnestly put it, but McGhee didn't stick around. That's a shame really as he had a lot of potential in this style. It wouldn't surprise me if it paid more being a WWF jobber though.

Japan has many loan words from English, though the meaning often changes and becomes what's known as "Japanese English." For example, high tension means to be excited or full of energy. Using romaji for names and what not is extremely common. It's simply a style choice. In the case of KENTA it's seen as cool.

Jerry recommended I move these to the Microscope, so here they are: MIDCARD HEEL CENA Cena vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 6th November 2003 This was all right. A good, basic sort of match, though nothing really memorable past the week it aired. Cena's promo to start with sucked, but I thought he displayed good intensity after the bell and stood out fairly well for a midcard act. He was a bit too anxious about getting into position and watching him call spots was off putting, but I liked his aggressiveness. It was too short to be much of a bout and not really structured that well other than to give Cena a cheap win, however a decent start to this project. I'd go about ** MIDCARD FACE CENA Cena vs Rene Dupree - Judgment Day 2004 This is the first time I've seen Rene Dupree. I have no idea how good or bad he usually was. Having seen many of the great French heels, he didn't impress in that regard, though I did like his flick of the torso (very Rick Rude/Martel-ish.) Cena's promo was slightly less cringe worthy than the last one, but still a different world from what I like. The match wasn't bad for a midcard level bout. It was highly choreographed and a bit telegraphed at times, but that's what happens when you're working to a script I suppose. As someone else mentioned, I also find it strange how the WWE can look so much like other styles of modern wrestling that are criticised and lambasted yet is somehow championed. The finishing stretches are counterrific the same way that modern New Japan matches are, although in this case there weren't any exciting nearfalls. What's more, I don't think you can argue that the body of the match played any part in the outcome. The bear hug spot was badly worked. Cena didn't time his comeback at all well and they dropped it to head into stretch run. From there it was just button mashing on the controller. It's only 2004 I'm looking at, but I don't see a lot of natural talent from Cena and I don't really see (at this stage) a guy who exhibits the confidence or control that a great worker shows. He's a hard working dude trying his best to stick to the plan. But like I said, Dupree could have been absolutely terrible outside of this and I wouldn't really know. I'd go about ***

I forgot to mention that the coolest thing about the Daddy tag is that if you type "Big Daddy Kid Chocolate" in YouTube you get all these hits for Big Daddy Kane from his Taste of Chocolate album.

Don't mind my comments too much. I'm getting a picture for things as I go along and my opinions will probably morph and change into something else by the end. I appreciate the effort you went to in preparing the list and I'm enjoying my daily dose of Cena in my own way even if doesn't seem that way.

And now a couple of tags to finish off 1980. Giant Haystacks/John Quinn vs. Honey Boy Zimba/Dave Bond (1/9/80) This was Quinn's return to UK television after being humiliated by Daddy the summer before. Forget what I said about Quinn being big, he looks like a midget next to Haystacks. Jesus what a giant of a man. He reminds me of Volstagg from the Warriors Three or that Rubeus Hagrid dude from Harry Potter. Brian Crabtree has one of those 1980 moments when he describes Honey Boy Zimba and Dave Bond as representing the "negro team." Zimba bust his ass here as he seemed to do whenever he was put in this spot. I'm not sure why as I can't imagine the payoffs were any better. The Quinn vs. Zimba portions were easily the best thing about this, though Quinn and Bond also had a nice strike exchange. Bond threw himself in the way of a posting by leaping over the top rope and clinging to the turnbuckle. I don't remember seeing that before, though surely it was something he picked up from the Royals or some other tag team. Walton had trouble describing it so I guess it surprised him as well. Quinn seemed to misread the finish as Zimba was knocked into next week by Haystacks' splash and got on the house mic as though the bout was over. Technically it was supposed to continue and there was an awkward restart before the ref called things off. I'm pretty sure Quinn was meant to wait until the bout had ended to launch into his tirade. Zimba's selling was excellent, though. Big Daddy/Kid Chocolate vs. Mark Rocco/Tony Walsh (2/5/80) Banger Walsh and Mark Rocco, what a dream team. They worked together really well here. If tag wrestling had been more important in the 80s they could have been the Black Diamonds to Finlay and Murphy's Les blousons noirs. Daddy came to ringside pushing a kid in a wheelchair and stopped to have a photo opportunity with the local mayor. Slimier than the slimiest politician. Kid Chocolate was dressed like Carl Anderson in the Jesus Christ Superstar movie. I had this notion of him busting out the Big Daddy version of (Too Much) Heaven on their Minds. Rocco and Walsh started the bout by trying to take Daddy off his feet as though they were cleaning him out of a rugby ruck. They even tried the battering ram spot. Man did they bump for Daddy. They made him look like a million bucks or should I say pounds sterling. At one point Rocco jumped on his back to try a sleeper and Daddy tossed him off for a flat back bump from a considerable height. Walsh bumped like a mofo too. I hope these guys got a better than average payoff as this was a lot better than your average Daddy tag. Chocolate took a beating before making the hot tag and the heels worked him over nicely. It's a shame it didn't last for longer, but one of the more amusing Waltonisms is the way he'd always mention how much time there was left in a Daddy tag as though it could possibly go the time limit. Daddy was so god damn lame though. HOF'er he may be if you can convince yourself of his credentials, but the guy was not only a colossal prick, he was also incredibly lame. The injured Chocolate was in his corner and Daddy tried to rev him up by getting him to chant "easy" with him. So lame. Rocco and Walsh walked out on the contest, which was a dignified response. So that's it for 1980. There's about 85 matches that survive. I must have seen more than 80 of them. There's a couple of bouts involving Daddy or other workers that I couldn't justify spending a penny on, but I've now seen close to the entire season of 1980 WoS as we know it. There's one more Veidor tag I might pick up that I think is the last Veidor footage we have on tape, but otherwise it's done.

Yeah, but if someone got a whole bunch of their online buddies to vote for modern candidates that would skewer the results far more than one person voting Rip Rogers #1.

Surely there won't be enough voters for people's strategies to make much difference.

Cena vs Rene Dupree - Judgment Day 2004 This is the first time I've seen Rene Dupree. I have no idea how good or bad he was usually. Having seen many of the great French heels, he didn't impress in that regard, though I did like his flick of the torso (very Rick Rude/Martel-ish.) Cena's promo was slightly less cringe worthy than the last one, but still a different world from what I like. The match wasn't bad for a midcard level bout. It was highly choreographed and a bit telegraphed at times, but that's what happens when you're working to a script I suppose. As someone else mentioned, I also find it strange how the WWE can look so much like other styles of modern wrestling that are criticised and lambasted yet is somehow championed. The finishing stretches are counterrific the same way that modern New Japan matches are, although in this case there weren't any exciting nearfalls. What's more, I don't think you can argue that the body of the match played any part in the outcome. The bear hug spot was badly worked. Cena didn't time his comeback at all well and they dropped it to head into stretch run and from there it was just button mashing on the controller. It's only 2004 I'm looking at, but I don't see a lot of natural talent from Cena and I don't really see (at this stage) a guy who exhibits the confidence or control that a great worker shows. He's a hard working dude trying his best to stick to the plan. But like I said, Dupree could have been absolutely terrible outside of this and I wouldn't really know. I'd go about ***

I guess so. Portland was also a better territory for tag wrestling than the WWWF.

When I think of J-Rock I think of visual kei -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_kei which is much more outlandish than Tanahashi. I would argue the thing that people don't get about Tanahashi is that women (including my wife) and even men for that matter find him extremely handsome and that he has an attractiveness that makes him popular. Nobuhiko Takada was similar in the 90s and Jumbo Tsuruta in the 70s.

Maybe Martel was tearing it up in Portland because he was in a hot feud with Rose? Even in that feud he was still a little rough around the edges.

It is tricky, but Tanahashi connects with his audience on a level that not everyone gets. It's like the whole Misawa stoicism thing where you have these fans coming in with their heel fan pro-wrestling fan sensibilities thinking Kawada or Taue are better when just about every guy in Korakuen wanted to be Misawa. Misawa was (to some extent) the epitome of the ideal Japanese male. Similarly, Japanese fans find Tanahashi cool in a way that I can't understand with the air guitar and all that shit. The thing is you don't have to find Tanahashi's air guitar cool (because frankly it's not), but you can't write off the fact that it's over or try to bend it to your will by suggesting ways it could be done better. You just have to accept that it's something from another culture that's slightly foreign; but if you start trying to rate that sort of thing into your list objectively then it's going to be a pretty boring process. I don't really see the need for neutrality. Just a concession that in some cases the fault lies with the viewer and not the product.

Most guys were only on TV a couple of times a year so you tended to see a lot of their showcase signature stuff. In Sarjeant's case there's so few matches available that I'd gladly take more of the same. In terms of being an exhibition or spotfest, it makes a big difference whether it's face vs face or heel vs face, and wrestled at the same weight or at catch weight. The weight class makes a difference too as the lighter weights tend to exhibit their skills more. Which as a Waltonism is otherwise known as "another pure wrestling contest for the grapple fans." The heel vs face matches are easier to get into, but if you watch a whole bunch of those in a row you'd also get bored. The tapings for television would usually present the full range of match styles at any given venue, though there were some towns where the heel cheating was so over that it would happen in multiple matches.

The mini-Adonis, body building brat Johnny England: A heavyweight I've always found a tad overrated, but whom others swear by, the leading heavyweight of his day Wayne Bridges:

That's good to hear, Childs. Here's the mysterious Anglo-Russian grappler Ivan Penzekoff with the vague gimmick and legendary drinking prowess against the aforementioned king of comedy Kevin Conneally. Long time vet and solid pro, The Jamaican Kid Lenny Hurst: