ohtani's jacket

If they get into the HOF as All-Stars, then yes, more than you'd expect.

Dave's whole mentality seems to be that if you're a ball club that won a whole lot of games and some division tiles, you're not HOF worthy if you didn't win a championship. I get that for the most part, but when you times limited success by 10, or 20, or 30, or 40, that's a long time to be in business. How long do we think NOAH, ROH, TNA or AEW will last?

All right, then. I can't understand Dave's mentality at all. In fact, I do not understand why Okada was a slam dunk when business in Japan is rubbish compared to what it used to be. Okada was on top of a rubbish heap? Truly worthy. Obviously, some folks voted for Owen. Can anyone explain why?

Why shouldn't the Hall reward longevity? What exactly is wrong with surviving as a promoter for 30 or 40 years? Does this mean the Joint Promotions promoters, the German promoters, and the Paris promoters weren't successful because they ran smaller venues? How can the fact that Owen owned the building his TV show was shot in, and had one of the longest running television shows in wrestling history, be a negative?

Comparing Owen to a wrestler who was never a draw or a good worker seems unfair. If Owen is such a bad candidate why did people vote for him? And since when did having a sustainable business model become mediocre? I’d also like to know how Rocco came so close to making it in. If Portland wrestling is considered mediocre then how can Rocco have a leg to stand on?

Gordon Solie Interviews Joe Scarpa Regarding The March 5th, 1968 Card At Fort Homer Hesterly Armory -- Scarpa talks about his upcoming match with Johnny Valentine. Valentine has been accusing Scarpa of using his sleeper as a chokehold. Scarpa says he could if he wanted to, but he never would. I desperately want to see this bout. The main event of the show is a 6-man cage match, which seems pretty wild for 1968. Thunderbolt Patterson (1970) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Thunderbolt Patterson is interested in one thing, and one thing only, money! He likes the finer things in life like Cadillacs and diamond rings. Fun promo. 22 Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal (June 2nd, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- a 22 Man Over the Top Rope Battle Royal would ordinarily be pretty worthless, but this one ends with Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt! Paul says he'll gladly put up the eight grand he won from this match for a shot at Buddy's Florida title. Good stuff. Ernie Ladd Turns Heel On Dusty Rhodes (June 8th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Ernie Ladd does a fabulous job of explaining why he turned on Dusty Rhodes. Dusty does an even better job of selling it in the ring. Top segment. Bounty Match! Dusty Rhodes vs Giant Baba (June 25th, 1974) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dusty has fun commentating over the Hart Army & the Bounty Hunter, Giant Baba!, attacking him before Dusty and the babyfaces finally clear the ring. OK footage.

Strong Kobayashi c vs. Rusher Kimura IWA Heavyweight Title 2 of 3 Falls (7/9/73) Nobody's going to confuse these two with the greats of Japanese professional wrestling, but they went out there and had their match. One thing I appreciated about it was that instead of lying in holds all day, which Kimura, in particular, didn't know how to work, they quickly started beating the shit out of each other and worked short falls with plenty of bomb throwing. Much better than the alternative.

Juan Botana vs. Yanek Fryziuk (aired 7/25/65) At some point in the mid-60s, Jean Fryziuk started going by the name of Yanek Fryziuk (possibly meant to be Janek Fryziuk), but he was still recognizable by those amazing punches. And boy did Botana make for a fantastic punching bag. This looked like a barrel of fun. Fryziuk is great.

El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (12/1/95) This was a good title match, but on first watch, I wouldn't call it a lost or overlooked classic. It was most notable for being one of the least formulaic matches I've seen Santo work. He did very few of his signature spots, and his sole focus was on making Casas submit. It was quite a minimalistic title match in that sense. I thought the first two falls lacked the intensity and urgency that the occasion demanded. Casas was in control for much of the early going, and I'm still not sure how I feel about him as a mat worker. He's not bad on the mat, but he's definitely more exciting when he's kicking and chopping opponents. Santo looked much stronger on the mat and some of his counters were fantastic. The intensity lifted in the tercera, and Casas had some brilliant escapes, but I wasn't sold on the finish. I really wanted to add this to the canon, so to speak, but I liked the September match more, and I'm leaning towards thinking that Santo vs. Casas is a better brawling match up than a technical one. Story wise, this adds some context to the Santo heel turn as losing the match seemed to really peeve Santo.

Don Leo Jonathan vs. Strong Kobayashi (IWE 5/2/1972) So, Strong Kobayashi died the other day, and I was in the convenience store and I saw it made the front page of the sports newspaper, so I thought I should watch a Kobayashi match. This match isn't for the faint of heart as the crowd is practically mute. There are a lot of strength spots, as you'd imagine from this match-up, but they also use a lot of flips (Jonathan seems to like taking bumps off flips.) Kobayashi does some decent head scissors work, but he's not exact a mat wiz. The match picks up once Jonathan starts brawling, and I really liked his boxing spots. Jonathan is a guy we never talk about even though we should. There's a confusing restart in this, and Kobayashi wins against the run of play, but overall it was decent.

Rene Ben Chemoul & Gilbert Cesca vs. Anton Tejero & Pancho Zapata (aired 7/18/65) This was a nice blend of cocky babyface moves and retaliatory heel work. Couderc certainly enjoyed it as he kept laughing and singing random songs. It was hard to get a gauge on how good Zapata was, as he was mostly stooging for the babyfaces, but he was entertaining in that role and sold beautifully. I liked the part where he threw Cesca back into his corner after the heels won the first fall. Later on, he had took a big bump off a missed dive, and sold the babyfaces' punches like he was Terry Funk. The rest of the performances weren't eye-opening, but one thing I liked about the bout is that they worked a normal three-fall progression. It wasn't a great match, but it had a definite three act structure unlike something of these Catch matches where the falls are uneven lengths and the rhythm feels off. Zapata was the highlight.

The Observer says that it was a free show on Sun Beach during a fireworks festival.

Atlantis, Shocker & Silver King vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Emilio Charles. Jr. & Negro Casas (12/29/95) Quiet match to close out the year. Nothing really exciting happens and there are no standout performances. Casas is matched up with Shocker, and sells big time for him, but it's not very captivating.

Yagi! This was a reminder of just how good Yagi was. What a polished, consummate performer. Yagi vs. Hyuga and Ran Yu Yu? Yes, please! Add to that a pretty decent Dynamite Kansai clone in Genki, and you have a nice hard hitting Joshi tag. These overhead JWP handhelds may be the best Joshi action available from 2002 given how clipped the GAEA and ARISON matches are

Commando Bolshoi was a great worker, which is something that unfortunately doesn't get recognized enough. She was pretty much a female version of Delfin at this point. This is a semi-serious, semi-competitive comedy match against a limited opponent, and Bolshoi still looks good. I get the appeal of Tanny Mouse from the crowd's perspective. The point I want to make is how good Bolshoi looks in a low stakes match like this. Give the girl her due.

I love Homicide and Steve Corino is a guy who I have a newly acquired taste for, so this struck my interest. Corino cuts a pretty decent promo before the bout. He's trying hard to be old school, but I'll give him credit. The match feels more like Homicide doing a Steve Corino match than a proper showdown between the two, even though Homicide is the champ, but it's cool seeing Homicide do arm drag takeovers and other babyface moves. Less than 15 minutes long, which is against the norm for 2002 indy matches, but worth watching if you like these guys and have some spare time.

I've found a series I can binge read, and that's Fables. I've had a poke around and a lot of people seem to think it's an allegory for Bill Willingham's questionable politics, but to me it's a damn good yarn. I guess when I need something to binge read, I always end up turning to Vertigo. First Preacher, then Ennis' Hellblazer, Sandman Mystery Theatre, and Y: The Last Man. There's this buzz I get whenever I open a Vertigo book that makes me feel right at home. I guess I was a target reader for the imprint, or perhaps it's nostalgia since the imprint was launched right around the time I got into more serious comics. I'm also enjoying Saga. The other title I'm reading daily is Ms. Tree, after reading some discussion about it on another forum. Love Mike Tree, don't love duotone. Especially the brown duotone. Blue is okay, but I wish they had stuck with four colors. I also read Marvels for the first time (yep, that's right.) Is it the best Marvel comic of the 1990s, and if so, does it bother anyone that the best Marvel comic of the 90s was a reimagining of the glory days instead of something completely new? Another mini-series I read was James Robinson's Golden Age. I have no affinity for the DC Golden Age characters, but for some reason I like reading 1990 reinventions of them (Starman, Sandman Mystery Theatre, etc.), which is strange because post-Crisis reboots have been bothering me so much lately. Golden Age started strong but lost steam halfway through. In the end, it wasn't anything that Alan Moore hadn't done better in Watchman and Miracleman.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

That Terry/Condor match is like watching a movie. Definitely one of the best street fights ever.

Luc Straub vs. Giacomo Guglielmetti (aired 7/11/65) This was mostly two guys wearing each other down with holds. I have a higher tolerance for that than most since I'm more in the "wrestling as sport" camp than "wrestling as narrative," but even I have to admit that the match could have done with a bit more urgency. It was a gentleman's contest, so I guess they were reluctant to throw too many forearms, but I don't agree with the psychology of waiting until the final minute to pick up the pace. Guglielmetti was tall and lanky, and you got the feeling that he could tie a guy in knots. If Straub had been more charisma, the bout may have been better. Even when Straub fired shots, it didn't seem like he was fired up enough. That's a lot of nitpicking for a decent bout, but that's my take on it.

El Felino/Emilio Charles Jr/Dr. Wagner Jr/Negro Casas vs. Pantera/Silver King/El Dandy/El Texano (elimination match) (12/15/95) A very good lucha elimination match that went a solid half an hour with a lot of these guys proving difficult to put away. Starts off with Casas vs. Dandy, which is still pretty cool in '95 even if Dandy is no longer The Man in CMLL. Next, Texano reminds everyone why he was considered the best worker in the Misioneros by throwing down with Wagner, and Emilio and Silver King work really scrappy lucha exchanges that almost having a brawling edge to them. Surprisingly, we don't get a showdown between Felino and Pantera. Casas doesn't last long, but he kicks out of a ton of shit before he departs. He has another go-round with Dandy that is just as good as the first. Texano is a workhorse throughout. It's a shame that he didn't last longer with CMLL. The final stanza is a showdown between Los Cowboys and Wagner & Emilio and is solid solid stuff. Emilio looked spry in this, and while Wagner wasn't the presence he would become later on, he was still physically dominant. The final pairing doesn't last long, and the quality drops a notch once Texano is eliminated, but there's plenty to enjoy and almost everyone in the match is a top notch worker.

Billy "Red" Lyons vs. Hans Schmidt This was a great little match. It was easily the best Schmidt match I've seen outside of Chicago, and also the best match of his I've seen from later in his career. They basically played a cat and mouse game of Schmidt pummeling Lyons and Lyons using his speed and quickness to escape. Really good small vs bigger man bout that wouldn't look out of place on today's screens. It was interesting to watch Schmidt work a quicker pace and scramble more. The finish was kind of unusual. Lyons was counted out because a female fan wouldn't let him back in the ring. I'm not sure if it was a plant or adlibbed. I assume if he was supposed to get back in the ring that he would have broken free. Perhaps he was supposed to be counted out from fatigue and the women was a genuinely concerned fan. In any event, a unique finish. Larry Chene vs. Bobby Nelson (1954) This was a classic pro-wrestling story -- young, athletic guy gets frustrated by a wily veteran who knows all the tricks. Kohler used to run this sort of match up a lot, and Davis has a lot of experience commentating over these types of bouts. The difference here is that Chene can really fight. He looks fantastic as a back alley brawler to the point where you're glad to see him ditch the All-American shtick and abuse Nelson instead. They do this really cool spot where Chene has Nelson in a flying head scissors and Nelson falls backwards almost like a Samoan drop. Chene almost gets crushed from the impact but manages to hold onto the head scissors. The DQ finish was a joke given how much shit they'd done throughout the bout, but I still came away from this thinking Chene is a guy that needs to be on everyone's radar.

I'm happy anytime I see him in a trios match. We all know that the rudos are the most entertaining part of a trios match, but you need at least one decent tecnico for the match to be worthwhile. Atlantis is a guy you can rely on to hold up the tecnicos' end of the match. I agree that he's not the smoothest or most polished of workers. His timing is often excellent. He hits the ring in rhythm and delivers high impact spots like an arm drag or his backbreaker, but he's not as fluid a worker as El Hijo del Santo. He's not alone in that respect. You could make the same argument about Lizmark, and I am higher on Lizmark than most. Where Atlantis shines is in that eternal babyface role. It's a hard role to nail down, and it takes something special to be recognized as an outstanding babyface. Having just watched Casas amble through his 95 tecnico run, I can safely say that working tecnico is no walk in the park. It takes talent to get noticed. Just like it takes talent to act out as a rudo. I didn't know that Atlantis has a reputation among Mexican fans for being overrated or protected. I can see how that's possible. For all, I know his crappiness on the mic and the fact that he's pushed as the idol of the children may be a turn off for hardcore fans. He has some clear weaknesses in his resume as far as early apuesta feuds go, but he may have made up for that with his spectacles later on. I can imagine putting voting Sangre Chicana and Perro Aguayo ahead of Atlantis, and I'm not sure how fair that is. I guess the issue is that he probably wouldn't make a lot of people's top 10 luchadores list of all-time, which means he'll be lost in the shuffle once people figure in wrestlers from other parts of the world.

Shockingly few comments about Bestia. Gregor's assessment above is fair in the sense of addressing Bestia as a star, but as a pure worker, I think he takes the best elements of rudoism and combines them into a single package. He pretty much excels at every staple -- bumping, selling, gloating, comedy, brawling, you name it. He was more impressive offensively during his physical prime of '91-92, but still enjoyable ten years later trading chops with Casas. He may have wore out his welcome a bit with how long the Santo/Casas feud drags on, and he was a different worker at that stage with his broken down body and W.C. Fields' nose, but I love the Arn analogy. I would probably rate him over Emilio Charles, Jr at this point, but that's something that could change with the next batch of lucha I watch.

Danny Hodge & Jos LeDuc vs. Pak Song & Toru Tanaka (11-24-74) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- One of the potential all-time greats, Danny Hodge, does pro-wrestler-ry things like selling a stomach claw and struggling to make a hot tag. Later on, we see him as the hot tag and he clears the ring with punches. Does he look like an all-time great? Hard to say. He looks a bit like a fired up Dory Funk. OK footage. Eddie & Mike Graham (c) vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Karl Von Steiger (January 6th, 1976) -- Eddie Graham is fucking amazing. We know how good he is as a brawler, but he's just as good as a wrestler. Watching Eddie Graham work Bob Orton Jr on the mat was a treat. We get a lot of Orton vs. Eddie & Mike Graham in this and it's great stuff. I don't think Orton Jr was ever good as the main guy leading the match, but as a secondary guy he was rock solid. Good stuff. Mike Graham & Steve Keirn vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Bob Orton Sr. (April 20th, 1976) (CWF) -- this is one of the longer Florida clips lasting around nine minutes. I said Orton Jr was better as the secondary guy in a match, but with Keirn subbing for Eddie Graham, he had to be the main guy here and looked great. We get plenty of Bob Jr vs. Mike Graham, and I think I'm ready to accept Mike into the fold. Bob Sr does some dastardly heel things, and the Ortons get tremendous heat. They try to break Mike Graham's leg at the end, but Steve Keirn throws himself on Graham's leg like he was Kobashi. Good stuff. Gordon Solie Interviews Eddie Graham & Jack Brisco (1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is the build up to a World's Heavyweight title fight between Jack Brisco & Dory Funk Jr in Greensboro. No one here was a great promo, but they gave decent soundbites. I was impressed with Solie's hair. Cowboy Bill Watts & The Great Malenko vs. Dick Slater & Stan Vachon (February 19th, 1974) (CWF) -- this was some kind of screwy finish that was being dissected by Solie & Watts on commentary. Malenko hasn't shown us much so far, but he spends most of his time getting beaten up. For some reason, Slater was impersonating Dusty Rhodes every time he did an elbow drop. OK footage.