ohtani's jacket

Warren Bockwinkel vs. Billy Varga Nick's old man was a savvy old bastard. This was a masterclass in a veteran worker frustrating a young, stronger opponent. At first glance, Varga should have won this, but he dropped the opening fall unexpectedly and was playing catch up the rest of the way. If you're a Nick Bockwinkel fan, you really ought to check out the old man. I'm sure you can find similarities between the two. Good, competitive match.

I finished reading Planetary, which is very good, excellent even, and the ends. Although, I believe there were delays in real time. I've been looking for something to sink my teeth into. I started reading Fables and Saga. Both are in the world building stage. Fables has a stronger hook given it uses famous fairy tale characters. I'm not how I feel about Saga yet. It's strange reading fantasy characters that speak and act like contemporary adults, but that is very much Vaughan's style. Does anyone have recommendations for a binge-worthy book?

That particular trios was the week after their Grand Prix Tournament match where Casas fouled Santo. It led to their match on the Anniversary show that Casas won by DQ. Santo disappeared for a while after the Anniversary Show and came back for the rudo turn. The Grand Prix match is on YouTube, but AFAIK, the Anniversary show match isn't on tape.

Don Arnold vs. Edmund Francis (10/30/52) Bobby Ford and Robert Rouche vs. Ali Pasha and Tommy O'Toole (10/30/52) This was more footage from Rainbo Arena. Arnold and Francis had a rugged encounter. I really liked the spot where Francis missed a punch in the corner and smashed his knuckles on the turnbuckle. Both guys took spills to the outside. Great camera angle from ringside. Match is JIP like the opening bouts on French Catch broadcasts, but looked like a good preliminary bout. The tag was two good-looking young guys vs two evil henchmen. Pasha we've seen a lot of in classic footage. O'Toole is in a Los Angeles match against Warren Bockwinkel. It was straight forward pro-wrestling, but I liked the way O'Toole worked over the young guys and the babyfaces had some decent flurries. Not a bad match. Wayne Griffith is a million times more tolerable than Pappy Davis. Hopefully some more of this Rainbo footage exists on 16mm film.

I have a soft spot for the Baron. He does look a bit like Ron Jeremy though. I like the LA presentation a lot more than Chicago. I can't stand Russ Davis. I'll take Strongbow over him any day of the week. Plus LA has plenty of good workers like Lord James Blears, young Nick Bockwinkel, Enrique Torres, Leo Garibaldi, luchadores like Rita Romero.

I find LA much more entertaining than the other territories. Chicago is the best, objectively speaking, but LA is the most entertaining. Can't stand Buffalo.

I thought this conversation was over.

Iska Khan vs. Jean Gasparini (aired 7/11/65) This reminded me of those World of Sport bouts between a good worker and a showcase star. In this case, Khan was the showcase star. His style of working didn't really mesh with French Catch, but there was already guys doing judoka gimmicks and he was exotic enough that the crowd could accept a different style of wrestling .I guess the fact that he was a babyface was different from the norm in terms of Asian representation in this era. There's nothing about the match that doesn't scream "prelim bout," but I guess Khan is treated better than the Asian heels of the day.

Satanico, Felino & Negro Casas vs. Atlantis, Lizmark & Vampiro (10/6/95) This was a great match. Casas was on the rudo side here having turned heel during the September Santo feud. I have to say, he was a much better rudo than tecnico during this point of his career. I guess that began to change after Santo turned heel. This starts off with Satanico vs. Atlantis, and if you don't think that's in my wheelhouse then you mustn't know me. Satanico wasn't very good during this time period. I'm not sure why. I guess he wasn't happy about how he was being used. Whatever the reason, he dogged it a lot in the mid-90s, but not against his old foe Atlantis. Hot on their toes is Felino vs. Lizmark, which is one of those match ups you've never really thought about but immediately want to see. Then you get the main dish, Casas vs. Vampiro. An intense stare from Casas to begin with. Years ago, I would have rubbished the shit out of Vampiro, but I have a soft spot for him now after watching the Rey Bucanero feud. He is pretty fucking awful here, but I still want to see what Casas can do with pretty fucking bad Vampiro. He works Vampiro exactly how he worked Ultimo, but knowing what we know, it's like a proto version of the Bucanero/Vampiro feud. Vampiro is one of the least polished workers you'll ever see, so roll with it. Have a wild, reckless, out of control brawl. In some respects, it's different from the usual polished lucha sequences. The first fall goes long, which to a seasoned lucha viewer signals that this is only going two falls, but the work is fantastic. I love the switch-ups in the second fall. I absolutely want to see Felino vs. Atlantis, and they give me the throwback Satanico vs. Lizmark exchanges that I expect. There is a compelling through line of how the smaller Casas can beat the longer, lankier Vampiro, and he ends up doing it with a dragon sleeper and a Jordan tongue poke. I wish this had been the start of something, but it was a something from nothing, kickass trios match instead.

Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Roop (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes (September 16th, 1975) -- Dusty was attacked before the bout by Larry Hennig and is bandaged and bleeding heavily. Roop thinks he's won the bout by default, but Dusty charges back to the ring and we get some red hot action between the two. Roop does a great job on commentary explaining why a scientific wrestler like himself is using kicks and punches. Roop's stock is definitely on the rise. Big melee at the end with Hennig, Cyclon Negro, and Rocky Johnson getting involved. Screwy finish. Classic Florida booking. I wonder how many times a title change was overturned by the NWA in the state of Florida? Very good footage. Eddie Graham & Mike Graham & Kevin Sullivan vs. The Samoans & Don Carson (September 18th, 1973) (CWF) -- Eddie Graham is the fucking master. Look at this clip, Graham vs. two Samoans, a guy with a loaded glove, and a manager on the outside, and he just kills it. I love how Solie puts over Graham as having the hardest punch in wrestling history. Eddie Graham is fast approaching Wrestling God status. Good footage. Florida Title Return Match: Rocky Johnson vs. Lars Anderson (November 1st, 1977) @Ft. Hesterly Armory -- Killer Karl Kox introduces himself to the crowd before the match and says something things to Rocky Johnson that draw his ire. No prizes for guessing the connotations there. Decent looking match between Johnson and Anderson. Rocky is softly spoken on commentary but does a good job getting his points across. Kox attacks Johnson at the end and gives him a brain buster on the outside. Rocky gets stretchered off, and we have ourselves a decent feud starter. Good footage. $2,000 Silver Dollar Challenge: Dusty Rhodes vs. Lars Anderson (November 15th, 1977) -- Shenanigans as Dusty wins two bags of a thousand silver dollars. Decent footage. Bearcat Wright vs. The Great Malenko + Bearcat Wright vs. Jack Brisco (March 28th, 1972) -- I like the concept of the Brass Knuckles championship in Florida, but Bearcat Wright isn't the greatest worker. Malenko looked like he took a decent beating. OK footage.

Johnny Valentine vs. Bob Bruggers (Mid-Atlantic, 1970s) -- this clip gives you an insight into what the beginning of a Johnny Valentine match was like. Maybe a little slow for some people's tastes, but you can see the same clear psychology that's in Greg's matches, i.e. grab a hold and don't let go. Johnny Valentine vs. George Steele -- another match that shows the basic Johnny Valentine lock up, punch combos, and elbow drop that were the foundation of his offense. Super Destroyer & Johnny Valentine vs. Sonny King & Swede Hanson -- great looking performance from Valentine, who, accounting for inflation, made Sonny King look like a trillion dollars in today's money. Johnny Valentine vs Johnny Weaver -- Two fantastic looking clips with tremendous heat. Valentine sold Weaver's sleeper like a life or death struggle.

I thought about Jaguar vs. Lioness as well, but that has more to do with the match and not Jaguar or Lioness as workers. It would be a different story if it was the only footage we had of Jaguar or Lioness, and even then, if we got the match in full, we could still learn a lot about them as workers even if the match wasn't a lost classic. When I watch a newsreel clip of Londos, I think about how low his center of gravity is, how amazing his leg strength is, the flying tackle style of setting up the finish, the takedowns and the submission work he does. I know he wasn't a shooter, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a good worker. The newsreel stuff is largely highspots and finishes, but you can start building the picture the same way Loss used to say you could build a picture of a 70s Flair match from the garbage tapes (my apologies in advance if I misquoted what Loss said.) Since you mentioned film, we have the same footage issues with silent films. Lots of destroyed footage. Doesn't stop people championing the great directors of the silent era. The same with music. The Destroyer argument I feel is a genuine one. I think you could make the same argument for Jack Brisco and Billy Robinson. Forget about Londos and everyone before the 70s for a second. How can you compare what we have of Destroyer, Brisco & Robinson to Bryan Danielson's entire career? We have these matches from Japan... Well, ok, but what about all the stuff Destroyer did in LA, Brisco in Florida, and Robinson in the UK? Those are MASSIVE missing pieces. We clearly have more footage of Destroyer, Brisco and Robinson than Londos, and a better idea of what a complete match looks like (albeit in a limited number of territories), but people are still making concessions.

Why do we need to have three full matches to judge a worker? Why can't we judge them based on a bunch of clips? There's a difference between workers where we barely have anything and workers where we have enough clips to form an opinion. Londos vs. Bronko may be clipped, but even in clipped form, it's still one of the best matches we have from the era. Obviously, there's a chance that the full match wouldn't be as good, or that there were other matches from the era that were better, but this isn't Greatest Match Ever. It's possible to watch the Londos/Bronko footage and be impressed by his ringwork. If you're impressed by his ringwork, then why isn't he a viable candidate? Do we really need to be able to pick apart his career the way we do with other candidates? I get why it's not fair to push Londos based on limited footage while other wrestlers get full critiques, but at the end of the day, people still vote for workers who impress them regardless of what others say. At a certain point, we have to accept that there are certain candidates that we're not going to get new footage of because of how limited the technology was in their era. Do we ignore guys like Londos, or do we embrace the history of recorded professional wrestling? We're not talking about someone like Mildred Burke or Enrique Torres where we have one or two clips period. People are happy to vote for the Destroyer when we are missing huge chunks of his career just because we have a few matches from Japan. Why can't we watch every Le Petit Prince match on tape and not think he is phenomenal when people will dismiss Dynamite Kid based on a couple of Tiger Mask matches they don't like? Do I really need to watch every mediocre Casas match to validate my opinion of him? Judge things for yourself. We all know a handful of people will vote for niche wrestlers and the majority will vote for the Bryan Danielsons. Let the voters decide whether they should really vote for Dick Shikat. The last time we did this poll, I was surprised when historical candidates appeared that I hadn't head of. That led me down the path of watching 1950s footage. If you don't allow for those types of votes, there's a chance that someone out there won't discover workers like Londos.

Wahoo McDaniel vs Johnny Valentine 1974 -- When people think of Wahoo McDaniel vs. Johnny Valentine, I guess they think of the chops and clubbing blows, but what this clip showcases is Valentine's masterful selling. He sells in a very slow, deliberate way to the point where when he finally takes a bump it's like a redwood falling down. He was brilliant at selling exhaustion and putting over blood loss, and he would make those fantastic choking expressions with his eyes bulging and his tongue poking out. The match feels strangely paced because of the cuts. There's no way to tell how well they transitioned between heat segments, and a lot of the heat is on the ref, which isn't something I enjoy in professional wrestling, but the big takeaway here is Johnny's great selling. Wahoo McDaniel vs Johnny Valentine (studio confrontation 6/74) -- this was clipped, but it must exist somewhere in full. Wahoo is on fire here. He pummels the crap out of Valentine. Harley Race vs. Johnny Valentine - NWA St. Louis 3/7/1975 -- Talk about the perfect opponent for Harley. This is everything you'd want from a true Harley Race match. Harley is at his best when he's working guys over with that short little punch of his. Johnny Valentine is one of the all-time great brawlers and sellers, and he can dish out the punishment as well. Johnny Valentine vs. Johnny Weaver with Bearcat Wright as referee 1974 -- Brother, this had some amazing standing punch exchanges. Johnny took over at the end too, which is something that's perhaps been missing from these other clips. I actually liked the ref shtick here. Johnny Valentine vs. Paul Jones (cage match) 1975 -- this was more of a fence match than a cage match, but amazing heat for Jones, and great, stalking heel work from Valentine. Jones' bladejob looks great. Valentine works like a monster. Again, you can't really tell how well paced the match was, but you can see the patterns in how Valentine worked to the point where you can pretty much imagine what happened between the cuts.

Armand Zarpa/ Luc Straub vs. Marcel Manneveau/Pierre Bernaert (aired 7/2/65) Nothing flashy about this one. In fact, it felt closer to straight pro-wrestling than French Catch. The work was solid, and you could tell that everyone involved was a decent worker, but Zarpa and Straub weren't the most charismatic of babyfaces, and for some reason this was the least showy that Manneveau has been. Bernaert also stayed inside his shell. Which isn't to say the match was boring. It just didn't have the heat, or the wild and flashy moments, you expect from Catch.

Fit Finlay vs. 2 Cold Scorpio '(Bremen 11/27/94) This felt like a transplanted New Japan juniors match, but I guess that was the way European wrestling was heading in the early 90s. Finlay took too much of the match, which is prone to do at times. The German crowd popped for Scorpio's dives, which was the coolest thing about the match. We all know Scorpio through tape trading and what not, but hearing the reaction for him from a live crowd in Germany in '94 was cool.

Bestia Salvaje & El Brazo, & Emilio Charles, Jr. vs. Hector Garza & La Fiera & Negro Casas (7/21/95) This was built around a feud between El Brazo and Hector Garza that I couldn't give two shits about, though Garza does do a nasty bladejob. and El Brazo is a sick motherfucker licking Garza's blood off his hands. Casas doesn't do much. He has a pretty good exchange with Bestia at the start, but how many times have we seen that? I do not like El Brazo. Bestia Salvaje & Felino & Ray Gonzalez vs. El Dandy & Negro Casas & Ultimo Dragon (8/11/95) This was part of the build for Dandy vs. Gonzalez. Gonzalez wasn't anything special as a worker, but at least he was new opponent for Dandy. This had some great action between Bestia & Felino and Negro & Ultimo. They were really busy here. More than usual for a match with a through line like Dandy/Gonzalez. Watching Felino square off with Casas was a treat. Casas has been playing a lot of boring tecnico roles in these mid-'95 matches, but this had some great work.

Bobby Nelson & Bert Ruby vs. The Great Balbo & Sam Hallock (3/18/52) This was a match from Fred Kohler's television show, Wrestling From Rainbo Arena, which aired on the ABC Network. The commentator was Wayne Griffith. The first two falls have some nice action. Ruby & Balbo were really good. Ruby was a barefoot Hungarian, and as we know, Hungarian wrestlers are generally excellent. About halfway through, Ruby & Balbo finally lock up and have a breathtaking exchange that is incredibly skillful. Things slow down a bit in the third fall, and the finish isn't the greatest, but definitely worth watching for Ruby & Balbo. I think we have a couple of other Balbo matches, but this is the only Ruby that I know of.

How long until Bill SImmons is on the pod?

His real name should be Ken the Wooden Training Dummy.

I finished the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon Punisher mini-series. I guess Ennis' take on the Punisher character wasn't bad, and Dillon's art was all right, but the sophomoric attempts at black humour were too much for me. I also read the re-colourized collection of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer. I normally dislike re-colouring of older comics, but I have to admit it was a pretty good colouring job. I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the quality of Stevens' work. It's just a shame that the stories up and end just when it's getting good. Another thing I finished was Terry Moore's original Strangers in Paradise mini-series. This was a series I was aware of back in the 90s but didn't really know what it was all about. The art was slightly more cartoony than I was expecting, but I liked the overall dynamic. I could easily have seen myself picking this series up in the 90s alongside Bone and the other titles I was reading. And I also made it to the end of the first arc of John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake's Spectre. I know I've read this series before, but I can't recall if I made it through to the very end. It was so long ago that it feels like I'm reading it again for the first time. I don't entirely love the first arc, but the last three issues are some of the most intense stuff I've read in a while. I guess I had completely forgotten the details of the story because the finale hit me like a ton of bricks and the last panel is flat out amazing. It's a really grim and gritty 90s comic, but the storytelling is uncompromising, especially for a non-Vertigo book. I finished the 40th volume of Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom, which marks the halfway point in the series. It was easily the most impressive volume of the manga for me personally. I ran through a gamut of emotions, almost cried, gave the book a clap of applause, was taken aback by the depth of the storytelling, and was overwhelmed that Hara had stayed so committed to the manga for ten years. What I thought was a good manga has now been elevated to the next level.

I personally feel like I've seen enough footage of Johnny Valentine to know what he was like as a worker. What I don't know is how many great Johnny Valentine matches there are. If I'm making a list based on good guys were, then Valentine is a lock. If I'm leaning more toward output, then he might make it on the end of the list as a personal pick. There are a lot of workers i love with even less footage than Valentine. I can't justify voting for someone we might have one or two matches from. Valentine I wouldn't feel guilty about. In some cases, I don't need to see more. Do I really need to see more Londos to know that he was great? Or more Thesz? I mean, I would like to, but it's probably not going to happen. The fact that I already think they're great from a small sample size suggests that they were pretty freakin' good. It's possible that if we got more Valentine or Thesz footage that we'd discover that the average Valentine/Thesz match was nothing special, but that's true for pretty much every worker ever. I don't think it would lower my opinion of them that much.

Who is Tony Nese? Is he good?

For the 50s, I would go with Thesz. 60s is probably someone from Europe. The first half of the 70s was either Jack Brisco or Johnny Valentine.

Greg Valentine Demonstrates The Power Of His Elbow Drop (Championship Wrestling From Florida) (1976) -- footage of a young Greg Valentine breaking karate boards with his elbow drop. Ivan Koloff & Mr. Saito vs. Rocky Johnson & Pedro Morales (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is one of the longer clips from Florida. You get the sense that it covers every stage of the match. It's exactly what you'd expect from the teams involved. Koloff & Saito were interesting to watch. The heels refused to leave the ring at the end, so Andre and Ivan Putski showed up and cleared the ring. Andre beating up Masa Saito isn't something I expected to see this morning. Good footage. Pat Patterson vs. Angelo Poffo (January 11th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Poffo was in his early 50s here and still in pretty good shape. Pat worked babyface. He was never the smoothest of wrestlers, but he seemed particularly sloppy here. OK footage. Andre The Giant Wins A Battle Royal (April 16th, 1974) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- This ends up being Andre vs the Hollywood Blondes, and Andre gives the crowd their money's worth. He even does a spot that looks like something out of French catch. Worth watching as a reminder of how mobile and athletic Andre was at this point. Decent footage. Harley Race & Bob Roop vs. Rocky Johnson & Cyclon Negro (July 8th, 1975) (CWF) -- Jeez, Roop bumped like a madman in this. Cyclon Negro had such a cool look. Black tights, taped wrists, and a thick beard. I don't always love Harley as a stooge, but he had a good reason to stooge here. Roop was excellent throughout. The story Solie spun was that Roop was hellbent on putting Rocky Johnson out of wrestling. I've been digging Roop here and there as the second guy in tags, but this is the first time I've really enjoyed him as the lead guy. I'd love to see more of this feud. Very good footage.