ohtani's jacket

When did Edge morph into Emilio Charles Jr?

Harley Race vs. Wahoo McDaniel Dream Match February 10, 1978 This was much better. Race gives Wahoo pretty much the entire match, but that's okay when it's a guy as tough as Wahoo, I actually liked how the only offense Race was able to muster was the headbutt while on one knee and those little jab-like headbutts from a standing position. I also liked that flat body bump Race took off Wahoo's chops. It was a touring champ performance from Harley, but it was an exciting one, and what the crowd wanted to see. This one goes in Harley's favor.

I finished J. M. DeMatteis' run on Captain America. It took me a while to get through it as it wasn't a huge page turner for me, but I made it to the end. The reason I wanted to read the run was that I've always liked DeMatteis as a writer, and I really like the work he did on Spectacular Spider-Man in the 90s. DeMatteis likes to put his characters through a lot of anguish and mental torment, and they lash out at their loved ones a lot. We got plenty of that here. He really dug deep into the soul of the man, Steve Rogers. Captain America isn't a favorite of mine, and strikes me as a difficult character to write much like Wonder Woman or Superman, but DeMatteis did an excellent job of portraying Cap as more than just a symbol or an icon, but a guy with all sorts of anxieties. But he was also a guy who had hope, and believed in people and the values and ideals of his country. Now, a lot of that stuff is difficult to relate to as a non-American, but DeMatteis certainly explored it in depth. One thing I love about DeMatteis' work is the relationship between the hero and his antagonist. He develops these incredibly complex relationships between the hero and villain that aren't purely black and white. In Spectacular Spider-Man, it was the relationship between Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. In Captain America, it was Cap vs. the Red Skull. I don't know how much of Red Skull's backstory DeMatteis invented for this run, but the issue where Red Skull tells his life's story to Cap while Cap doesn't say a word the entire issue was a phenomenal piece of storytelling. Another thing i love about DeMatteis work is that you get those pages with no dialogue or captions that let the art tell the story, and those standalone pages are always emotionally powerful. For the most part, I thought the art was serviceable. Zeck did some good stuff before they pinched him for Secret Wars. DeMatteis' final issue was re-written by the editors, and he quit the series in anger which is a bummer, but overall I thought it was a decent run. I doubt it's something I'll revisit, but I'm glad I stuck it out to the end.

I didn't realize these two had another match. Cool beans. Once again, they work a sweet mix of strikes, submission holds and counters. The Ironman stip is kind of pointless, especially with a 20 minute time limit, but it's a solid match.

Robert Duranton vs. Gilbert Leduc (aired 1/15/65) This wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The first 10 minutes had some decent grappling. If they had built on that until the tempers flared and they began throwing manchettes, then the match would have been perfectly fine. It was when the valet got involved that it became unnecessarily silly. If Firmin's interference had been memorable in any sort of way, it may have been a different story, but it wasn't executed very well and spoiled the match. It would have made more sense to me if Duranton had unleashed a more vicious attack on Leduc similar to the beatings we've seen Leduc take in the past, or if it had led to a stirring comeback from Leduc. Instead, it was a limp disqualification. But the work itself wasn't that bad. Duranton brought his wrestling boots and clearly didn't want to be shown up by Leduc. Leduc didn't look as good as he did in the 50s, but very few wrestlers from the 50s look good in 60s footage for reasons I have yet to figure out. Forgettable match but nothing that really bugged me.

Harley Race vs. El Halcon (AUGUST 31, 1979 NWA World Title) Not a great match to start revisiting Harley. He gets beat up before the bell by Bruiser Brody and spends the majority of the bout getting beat on. And this is a week after he won the title back on a bogus disqualification. I suppose he deserves some credit for fighting his way back into the match, but his comeback isn't particularly awe-inspiring, and then he gets beat up again after the bout. This is how you book your World's Heavyweight champion? Not the kind of Harley Race I want to see.

One thing I find underwhelming about 2002 CMLL is that the single matches don't deliver like they ought to. I'm slowly starting to accept that CMLL is sliding closer toward having basic TV matches than the blowoff matches of ole. That said, this a well-worked bout. Damian jumped Satanico by running through the crowd and they basically pounded on each other for a solid five minutes. Satanico was fired up and the crowd fed off that energy. I didn't have huge expectations for this, so I was glad to see them work such a tight match. Satanico laid down the challenge for a hair match, and as we've seen with 2002 CMLL, the build up to these types of matches has been strong but the payoffs have been weak. We'll see if Satanico and Damian can take it up a notch. It's mystifying that despite some fairly solid booking by CMLL standards, we're still not seeing better singles matches.

This match was built around Rey Bucanero trying to pick a fight with Vampiro. It was extremely well done and a tremendous showcase for Bucanero's talents as a worker. We all know he's a good worker, but he's often in the shadow of Ultimo Guerrero, the alpha. Here it was Bucanero's chance to shine and he took the bull by the horns and made Vampiro look like a bigger badass than he has during his entire CMLL return. Ultimo & Black Tiger did their part with some cool looking spots, but this was all about Vampiro & Bucanero and an excellent piece of business. GdI have become compulsory viewing in 2002, and this match is a perfect example of why.

Quick match worked in the tecnico's style. I often wonder how they decide which way they're going to work these matches. Actually, I was surprised that the Talibanes could still work this style of match. Felino seemed to injure Emilio on a diving headscissors spot off the apron, and it looked for all money like Emilio gave him a receipt later on, but that may have been me getting excited about their mini match up. Bestia was awesome as usual. Such a hugely underrated talent. Casas had a buzz cut, which is something you don't see often. Surprisingly good match.

One of the joys of lucha libre is random undercard trios matches. This wasn't the best example of this most pure of lucha libre artforms, but they did show it in full, which is rarity. I'm not sure where they dug Ringo Mendoza up from, but you've got to marvel at how clean looking his dropkick and plancha were. There were plenty of talented guys in this, but for the most part it was solid action without anyone standing out.

North American Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Armstrong (c) vs. Buddy Colt (Title Change!) (1975) -- Armstrong has a neck injury but is determined to defend his title anyway. He's a bit of a goofy bugger on offense, but the crowd love it. Good stuff. Southern Heavyweight Title Match: Mark Lewin (c) vs. Buddy Colt (Title Change!) (February 6th, 1973) -- Mark Lewin as a babyface seems weird to me. Decent looking match, but not top shelf Buddy. Decent footage. Florida TV Title vs Florida Heavyweight Title: Mike Graham vs. Buddy Colt (February 19th, 1974) -- this was all about putting Mike Graham over. Graham was a decent worker, but you can't help but resist the hype when it's the promoter's kid. Nevertheless, he takes Colt to the 20 minute mark to retain his Florida TV title and has some good moments. Good stuff. Jack Brisco vs. Killer Khan (1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was a studio match. It must suck to be introduced as the former World Heavyweight wrestling champion all the time. People say Brisco was washed at this point because his matches in Japan weren't very good, but I haven't seen much of a decline in his Stateside work. This was a short TV match with a 10 minute time limit, but watch how Brisco works it as realistically as he can. It's like an arena match crammed into the allocated time. I don't know how Brisco felt about this career at this point. Perhaps he was frustrated that he was no longer part of the title picture, but y'know, when you climb to the top eventually you have to come down the other side, and I don't think Jack's later work is bad at all. Good TV bout. Lights Out Match: Buddy Colt & Dusty Rhodes vs. Paul Jones & Eddie Graham (November 20th, 1973) -- the finish to a wild lights out match with Dusty bleeding while Paul Jones karate chops him in the face, and Buddy Colt and Eddie Graham going at it. Highly entertaining. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Cowboy Bill Watts (c) vs. Dick Murdoch (January 25th, 1975) (CWF) -- Watts has a porno moustache here. These guys are a perfect match up for each other, and they work the match exactly how it should be worked by repeatedly punching each other in the face. Good stuff. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Bill Watts (c) vs. Don Muraco (August 13th, 1974) -- Fantastic heel commentary from Watts. Watts put Muraco over as the next Jack Brisco, which is interesting. I wonder if Muraco is an early example of a guy who dogged it in New York. That may be unfair as I seem to recall his early WWWF stuff being good. Good stuff.

Bracket #1 1. Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon VS 9. Raven vs. Sandman 5. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels VS 4. Vader vs. Cactus Jack 6. The Undertaker vs. Mankind VS 3. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart/Hart Foundation 7. Steve Austin vs. The Rock VS 2. New Japan vs. UWFi Bracket #2 1. WCW vs. nWo VS 9. Sting vs. Vader 5. Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn VS 4. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage 11. Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts VS 3. Los Gringos Locos vs. AAA 7. WAR vs. New Japan VS 2. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan Bracket #3 1. Jumbo Tsuruta, et.al. vs. Mitsuharu Misawa et.al. VS 9. El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas 5. Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer VS 4. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis 11. Aja Kong vs. Bull Nakano VS 3. Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero 10. Sting vs. Cactus Jack VS 15. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage Bracket #4 1. Mitsuharu Misawa, et.al. vs. Toshiaki Kawada, et.al. VS 9. Jerry Lawler vs. Eddie Gilbert 5. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart VS 13. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai 6. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat VS 3. Moondogs vs. Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett 7. Rock & Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies VS 2. Jushin Liger, et.al. vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, et.al.

Steel Cage Match: Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt (April 14th, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is a better VQ version of the Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt cage match with commentary by Buddy. Y'know, Paul Jones has been something of a revelation for me. I'm not really a territories guy and I'm only really familiar with Jones as a manager. I don't think I've seen a single match from the never-ending Jimmy Valiant feud. I'm pretty sure he only lasted a few years in Florida before returning to Mid-Atlantic. He's been a superb all-round worker in this footage. He's probably in that second tier below the very best workers, but extremely good. Buddy is Buddy. Good stuff. Southern Heavyweight Title Match: Tim Woods (c) vs. Buddy Colt (Title Change!) (October 31st, 1972) Southern Heavyweight Title Match: Buddy Colt (c) vs. Tim Woods (November 21st, 1972) The first match is pretty much the finish. The second match is more illuminating. According to Solie, Florida had special rules for 2/3 falls matches. The first fall was a technical wrestling fall and the second fall was a no holds barred, no DQ brawl. The winner of the second fall was able to choose whether the third fall was technical wrestling or brawling. I don't know if all 2/3 fall matches were like this, or if it was a stip they used from time to time. It may have been an experimental thing. For all I know, Solie may just be talking shit over some 7mm film. But it's kind of interesting. Buddy shows his chops in the wrestling fall. Good stuff. Jack & Jerry Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk (1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- This is the finishing stretch of an exciting looking match between the Funks and the Briscos. Young Terry is so weird to me. His growth in the mid-70s was exponential. Dory is underrated at brawling. Good stuff. Jack & Jerry Brisco vs. Len Denton & Butch Bronson (1977) @The Sportatorium -- this is a studio squash match with both Briscos showing off their wrestling skills. I have no idea what made them want to show off their amateur skills in a squash match, but it was magnificent. Great stuff. The Dusty Rhodes Babyface Turn! (The Match That Changed The Course Of Wrestling History) (1974) -- Dusty commentates over his face turn. Batshit insane, as you can imagine. Superbowl Of Wrestling: Gordon Solie Interviews Harley Race (January 25th, 1978) @The Orange Bowl Gordon Solie Interviews Harley Race (1977) @The Sportatorium Gordon Solie Interviews Harley Race (1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) Gordon Solie Interviews Harley Race (1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) A series of Harley Race interviews. Harley was such an awesome promo. He stumbled over his words at times, but he came across as dead serious. You got the feeling that he meant every single word he said. The interesting thing about the promos is that we all know the lineage of the NWA title in the 70s (and if you don't then never mind, Solie will drill it into your head like arithmetic), but what we get here is some of the context. You get promos after Harley has lost the title to Brisco and hear about how hard he's working to return to the top of the mountain, and promos after he's won the title for a second time and proved the first title wasn't a fluke. Little things you could never gleam from a title history page. Harley Race vs. Angelo Poffo (1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) Harley Race vs. Frank Dusek (1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) Let's take a look at the man in action. These were studio squash matches. Pure offense from Harley. Harley had such great offense. If he had worked as a defensive wrestler instead of a stooge, he would be super high on my all-time greats list instead of fluctuating so wildly. The Harley you see in these matches is my ideal version of him. Good stuff.

Florida TV Title Match: Jack Brisco (c) vs. Buddy Colt (Title Change!) (June 30th, 1973) -- Buddy Colt is so awesome. I could watch him all day. In fact, I might just do that! This has Buddy working over Jack's arm, which Jack sells magnificently because Jack Brisco is a magnificent pro-wrestler. Good stuff. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco (c) vs. Buddy Colt (Title Change!) (February 20th, 1973) -- these two go at it again. Buddy loved to work over Brisco's arm, didn't he? Buddy had a rep for putting guys out of wrestling and he'd broken Johnny Walker's arm a couple of times, so they always make a big deal out of his arm work. Brisco sells magnificently, but what's cool here is that we get to see Jack throw the rulebook out and furiously attack Colt. He busts Buddy's head open by ramming it into the ringpost and keeps punching his forehead. Tremendous babyface ring rage. It backfires on him, though, when he follows Buddy to the outside and Buddy decimates him with a chair shot. That's justice, I suppose. Babyfaces aren't supposed to cross the line. Good stuff. N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title Match: Dusty Rhodes (c) vs. Harley Race (August 26th, 1979) -- there's a lot to unpack here. After Dusty won the title in Tampa, there was a protest lodged by Harley Race's camp stating there should have been a disqualification due to the over the top rule. The NWA Board of Directors in a split decision decided to waive the title can't change hands on a DQ rule for the rematch in Orlando (though it's not clear why, and Solie can't explain it well.) Before the bell, Terry Funk attacks Dusty and breaks his arm. Dusty fights through the pain and wrestles the match with one arm. Then the fatal moment comes where he back body drops Harley over the top rope (kind of stupid, Dusty.) Harley cuts a phenomenal promo -- seriously dude's promos are better than his matches. Back in the studio, Jos LeDuc wants the TV time he paid for and Dusty snaps. He beats the tar out of LeDuc and threatens Solie too. Nobody's getting funky with Dusty anymore! LeDuc even gigs. Commitment. It's amazingly how poorly all of this footage is sliced together, especially the terribly lit backstage promos, but exciting stuff nonetheless. Good stuff. Southern Heavyweight Title Match: Paul Jones (c) vs. Ron Fuller (Title Change!) (April 10th, 1973) -- I wasn't sure what to expect from a young Ron Fuller but this was an excellent title match. There was a huge height difference between them, and a massive gap in experience, but they went toe-to-toe, and Jones put over Fuller with aplomb. Fuller looked the goods both brawling and wrestling. The finish was iffy, but they were angling towards Jones vs. Colt, I believe. Great stuff. Wahoo McDaniel vs. Killer Karl Kox (September 5th, 1978) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is a post-match brawl between Kox & Wahoo. It looked great, but I would have liked to have seen a few clips of what made Wahoo so incensed. Wahoo is a guy who I haven't been able to get into but I'm forever hopeful. OK footage. The Great Malenko vs The Great Mattress (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Malenko wrestles a mattress. I'm not making this up.

If you're a Bret fan, then the one area where Rey can't beat him is the image of Bret as a heavyweight champ. I know they gave Rey a run with the belt. It was a nice moment and all, but not as meaningful as Bret's run. Bret was a trail blazer. A guy who showed you could come up through the ranks -- as a tag wrestler and an IC title level guy -- and become a world champion. Everyone who came afterward followed Bret's path. Rey is an amazing babyface and a great television worker, and I admire the way he adjusted to the WWE style and built an entire second career there. He definitely has Bret beat for volume. Best vs. best would be an interesting exercise, but eventually Bret would run out of matches. I can see an argument for Bret's most famous matches being better than Rey's, but the flipside to the advantage Rey has of working the modern TV style is that Bret had far greater opportunities to craft memorable matches given how crap the majority of the wrestling was. I love Bret vs. Owen to death, but would it have stood out as much if the WWF had produced the quality of wrestling that WCW did pre-Hogan? I always feel like Bret could have done more -- better matches in the territories, some better WWF matches, better WCW matches -- but I can't say the same about Mysterio. I prefer Bret as a wrestler and character, but I don't think Rey's career or output can be denied. Rey takes this.

I finished the fourth arc of Sandman Mystery Theatre. I really like the tight plotting of these four issue arcs. The pacing is excellent and everything ties together beautifully. The stories aren't really mysteries per se. We generally know who the killer is before the hero does. However, the way Wagner and Seagle pull together the plot threads is impressive. I do hope they start introducing some murder mysteries that happen outside of the main characters' social circles, however, as it doesn't seem plausible that they could be so closely related to so many different crimes (unless there is a storyline reason I'm missing related to Sandman's dreams.) I'm really starting to like the Dian Belmont character. I loved how they handled the discovery of Wesley's secret. It's such a strong dynamic with Wesley being guilt-torn over not being honest with Dian, and Dian discovering the secret for herself and being plagued by anxieties over how to broach the subject. They're well on their way to becoming a memorable comic book couple for me. One thing, though -- Dodds is supposed to be in his late 20s, but the way Davis draws him at times, and the way they color his hair, he often looks middle-aged. Am I the only one who feels that way? I'm still going strong with Jonah Hex and Conan the Barbarian. I just read Jonah Hex #50. I have no idea how they are going to write Mei Ling out of the series -- is she going to leave him? Will someone kill her? The suspense is killing me. Conan just went through an amazing run -- one of the best so far -- but big John finally hit the wall and now we've got a reprint and a three-issue Howard Chaykin story that was supposed to run in Savage Sword of Conan. It's amazing how much work Buscema produced on a monthly basis, especially all of the extra work he somehow found time for. For some reason, I decided to read the Punisher mini-series from 1986. I don't know why I did this. I guess for the same reason that I sometimes watch 80s action flicks. The mini-series was trying to be edgy and groundbreaking, but afterwards I read the first issue of The Question Quarterly, and that issue alone blew the Punisher mini-series out of the water. On a whim, I read the three-issue Hawkworld prestige mini-series. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about post-Crisis reboots anymore. I used to think they were cool, but now I'm not so sure. There's a certain timelessness to great comic book runs, but with these reboots, I immediately place them as late 80s or early 90s. One thing I'll say for Hawkworld is that the art is absolutely gorgeous. I haven't read a lot of Truman's work, but the pencils I've seen on Grimjack are kind of ugly to me. His work on this series was stunning. I also read Formerly Known as the Justice League. Justice League International is probably my favorite comic book series of all-time. I started reading it as a kid with the Kooey Kooey Kooey island storyline and was absolutely hooked. Many of my favorite childhood comic book memories involve hunting down the back issues of that series. You can never go home again, and you can never truly recapture the magic, but it felt like visiting old friends. There were a lot of characters whom I hadn't thought about in forever, and some side-splitting laughs. Maguire's art remains top shelf, and he's still a master of facial expressions. If you liked the humor of the original series, and the non-stop banter, then this sequel will feel like old times. The appeal of the original series was that it made fun of the doom and gloom of the mutant books and the stuff I mentioned above (Hawkword & the Punisher.) I'm not sure where the reboot fits in the scheme of modern comics (I did like the self-referencing joke they made about 80s nostalgia reboots), but it's the same silly fun.

N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. (c) vs. Buddy Colt (August 8th, 1972) -- Fun stuff. These two match up well. I discovered that it's actually Mark Nulty on commentary with Buddy. I absolutely love Buddy's commentary, especially his explanation for this taped thumb. Great selling and offense from Dory. The crowd was molten too. Buddy has a beautiful counter to the spinning toe-hold. Buddy thinks he's won the title at the end but doesn't see the leg on the ropes. Very good footage. Buddy Colt vs. Johnny Walker (Mr. Wrestling II) - Championship Wrestling from Florida TV 1973 -- not as electrifying as their lumberjack match, but some cool arm work from Walker, who was looking to give Colt the big payback for putting him out of wrestling twice. Great selling from Colt as usual. Good stuff. Dusty Rhodes Defeats Harley Race For The N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title! (August 21st, 1979) -- Dusty wins the title for the people. The match is decent enough, but it's the post-match celebrations and Dusty's promo afterward that are memorable. Oddly, for all the son of a plumber talk, Dusty wears a Flair style robe to the ring. Dusty was a new style of NWA champion, and while this reign only lasted five days, I can't shake the feeling that wrestling was changing and the 80s were going to be very different from the eras that proceeded it. Good stuff. Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. (The Great Malenko Attacks Funk) (January 12th, 1971) -- this is the match that started the Brisco vs. Funk rivalry, but we only see Malenko attack Funk before the bout and Dory lose it when Brisco pins him. Nothing special. N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title Match: Gene Kiniski (c) vs. Dory Funk Jr. (Title Change!) (2-11-69) -- I've never been much of a Kiniski fan so this didn't do a lot for me. I was more interested in seeing an extremely young-looking Solie interview Dory afterward. OK footage. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Bill Watts (c) vs. Johnny Walker (July 30th, 1974) -- Watts does commentary over the top of this. He's not as good as Buddy Colt but entertaining nonetheless. Watts wasn't super talented, but he was tough, he could wrestle a bit, and he understood the business. Decent footage. Fists And Karate Legal: Tim Woods vs. Paul Jones (August 15th, 1972) (CWF) -- this was a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to see more of the gimmick, but we didn't get a lot of straight brawling in the footage that was shot. Nothing special.

The hardest part is the very end of the podcast.

I finished up the fourth arc of Sandman Mystery Theatre. The return of Guy Davis made a huge difference. I thought his pencils were better than the first arc, and I can understand why he was the definitive artist on the series. Throughout the arc, I had the distinct feeling that this was how the book was supposed to look. One thing I really liked about the arc was how awkward Dodds was as a crimefighting vigilante. Instead of being some avenging angel, he worries that he accidently killed someone he used his gas on, he gets shot, and keeps bungling his secret identity act and jeopardizing his romantic relationship with Dian. There was a lot of sex in this arc, but it didn't feel gratuitous to me. Wagner and Seagle took time to detail the lives of people who were in same-sex relationships during the era instead of making it purely titillating. One criticism I do agree with is the covers. I don't think the photo covers have aged well at all, and I don't like the layout or the colors either. They worked on Sandman because McKean made original pieces of artwork that sometimes included photographs, but they come across like a failed idea on Sandman Mystery Theatre. I watched Akira for the first time in decades after recently finishing the manga. The manga obviously has a lot more depth to it since it's over 2000 pages long, but the film is an excellent adaptation. I was impressed with how well the animation held up. The direction is superb and the backgrounds are gorgeous. They basically string the beginning and the ending of the manga together. The personal relationships aren't as strong as they are in the manga with the exception of Kaneda and Tetsuo, and there are a number of characters who are cut from the movie completely, but the biggest difference is that the titular character, Akira, is barely featured in the movie at all. The ending to the manga is drawn out and more detailed, however you still get the general gist of it in the movie. I'm glad I watched the film again and regard it as a nice companion piece to the manga series.

Bracket #1 1. Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon VS 16. Steiner Brothers vs. Doom 8. Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit VS. 9. Raven vs. Sandman 5. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels VS 12. Bob Armstrong vs. Jim Cornette 4. Vader vs. Cactus Jack VS 13. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano 6. The Undertaker vs. Mankind VS 11. Konnan vs. Perro Aguayo 3. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart & Hart Foundation VS 14. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger 7. Steve Austin vs. The Rock VS 10. Heavenly Bodies vs. The Fantastics 2. New Japan vs. UWFi VS 15. nWo Black & White vs. nWo Wolfpac Bracket #2 1. WCW vs. nWo VS 16. Gaea vs. SSU 8. The Rock vs. Mankind VS 9. Sting vs. Vader 5. Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn VS 12. Triple H vs. Vince McMahon 4. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage VS 13. Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake 6. Ric Flair vs. Sting VS 11. Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts 3. Los Gringos Locos vs. AAA VS 14. Ultimate Warrior vs. The Undertaker 7. WAR vs. New Japan VS 10. Burning (Kobashi & Akiyama) vs. Untouchables (Misawa & Ogawa) 2. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan VS 15. Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Lee Bracket #3 1. Jumbo Tsuruta, et. al. vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, et. al. VS 16. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr. 8. Steiner Brothers vs. Nasty Boys VS 9. El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas 5. Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer VS 12. Kenta Kobashi vs. Vader 4. Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Psicosis VS 13. Michinoku Seikigun vs. Kaientai DX 6. USWA vs. SMW VS 11. Aja Kong vs. Bull Nakano 3. Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero VS 14. Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto 7. New Japan vs. nWo VS 10. Sting vs. Cactus Jack 2. Jerry Lawler vs. Bret Hart VS 15. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage Bracket #4 1. Mitsuharu Misawa, et. al. vs. Toshiaki Kawada, et. al. VS 16. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader 8. Chris & Toni Adams vs. Steve Austin & Jeannie Clark VS 9. Jerry Lawler vs. Eddie Gilbert 5. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart VS 12. Edge & Christian vs. Matt & Jeff Hardy 4. Eddie Gilbert vs. Cactus Jack VS 13. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai 6. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat VS 11. Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk 3. The Moondogs vs. Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett VS 14. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels 7. Rock & Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies VS 10. Atsushi Onita vs. Mr. Pogo 2. Jushin Liger, et. al. vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, et al. VS 15. Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. Dean Malenko

Terry Funk vs. Jim Dillon + Terry Funk vs. Bob Roop (1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Solie commentates over clips of Funk in action. This is my favorite era for Funk. He was in the best shape of his career and in his athletic prime. He still wrestled during his bouts instead of all-out brawling, but he could kick ass when he wanted to, and had all of the charisma and personality of his later years but without the wildness and over-exaggerated craziness. I'd take this Funk over crazy, wildman Funk any day of the week. Jack Brisco vs. Buddy Colt (August 12th, 1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Brisco vs. Colt is quickly becoming one of my favorite match-ups. Colt is a fantastic performer. I generally prefer wrestler types over performers as a preference, but I can appreciate a performer when they're as skilled as Colt. How good was Jack Brisco at selling? As good as he was at actual wrestling, and as aesthetically beautiful as his professional wrestling moves were, what sets him apart is his outstanding of how to sell. He wasn't a great promo, and I don't think he was hugely charismatic, but man he knew how to sell. Great footage. Steel Cage! Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt + Florida TV Title! Jack Brisco (c) vs. Bobby Shane (4-14-73) -- Bobby Shane's outfit needs to be seen to be believed. He looks like the most Matt D wrestler ever, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. I'm not a guy who goes gaga for territory wrestling, but Buddy Colt vs. Paul Jones in a cage match? C'mon now. My only regret about this was that I watched in the morning without a beer in hand. Buddy Colt rules. Good stuff. Lumberjack Match: Buddy Colt vs. Johnny Walker (September 29th, 1972) @Tallahassee Sports Stadium -- Holy crap, Johnny Walker is fucking awesome. I clearly need to see as much Walker as I can find. Not only is he an intense technical wrestler, but he can brawl like a motherfucker too. Colt is on commentary here, and I think it's from a later date because his partner sounds like a generic shoot interviewer. Buddy was a brilliant performer. Just flat out brilliant. He cracks me up by saying he had more intestinal fortitude than anyone in history. Great footage. N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes (August 13th, 1977) -- Harley Race cuts an awesome promo before the footage like only Harley Race can. He calls Dusty the Goodyear Blimp of professional wrestling, but Dusty is amazing shape by Dusty Rhodes standards. He's incredibly athletic compared to the Dusty I'm used to. Dusty thinks he's won the title and a bunch of babyface workers and fans storm the ring to congratulate him. They carry him out of the ring on their shoulders amid huge celebrations from the fans. I'm not keen on this switch from Brisco to Dusty as the biggest babyface star in Florida, but you can't deny that Dusty was the people's champion. Jerry Brisco is having a blast pouring champagne over Dusty in the locker room, but a grave Gordon Solie tells us that "all is not well." Dusty used the ropes for leverage, which was probably the most athletic thing I've ever seen him do, and the decision was reversed after the referee lodged a protest. Good stuff, and an eye opener for me about Dusty.

I loved Byrne's Superman as a kid. Not sure how I would feel about it now. I still remember the famous story with Lex Luthor and the waitress. The story everyone mentions these days is Superman and Big Barda filming a porno. I finished the second and third arc of Sandman Mystery Theatre. Folks weren't kidding when they said the book gets even darker. I'm still not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. It's kind of weird reading a Golden Age hero involved in these dark, gruesome stories. Part of me thinks it's great and part of me thinks its gratuitous. In particular, The Brute arc escalated rapidly, and had a strangely off-putting romantic ending after a series of horrific scenes. Sandman isn't your typical early 90s anti-hero, but the series does have a Frank Miller feel to it, and I'm torn over how I feel about that, especially having read James Robinson's Starman recently, which balances the darkness with light and joy. It appears that the relationship between Wesley Dodds and Dian Belmont will be at the heart of the series. I'm all for romantic relationships being the heart and soul of a series, I just wish Wagner would stop having them meet by having Dian show up on Wesley's doorstep in the early hours of the morning. I mean, I get that one of the motifs is the night, and how Dodds can't sleep because of his nightmares and everything, but unless it was some deliberate reference to storytelling of the era, Wagner used that plot device way too often in the first three arcs. Having different artists on each arc is jarring as well. It worked in Sandman, but here I find the characters keep changing their appearance depending on the artist's style, which is confusing when you're in the early stages of a series. The art isn't bad per se, I just would have preferred a more consistent look and tone. All of this sounds like I'm more critical of the series than I am. It's still an intriguing read and early days in the series.

Handicap Match: Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk & Gary Hart (1974) @Miami Beach Convention Center -- Short clip. Terry has his eye taped up after being attacked by Dusty. Classic Terry. No finish shown. OK footage. Dusty Rhodes Seeks Revenge On Terry Funk (September 4th, 1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is Funk commentating over an angle where he attacked Dusty and tried to rip the cast off his arm to prove it was loaded. This was classic wild man Funk. He's done better angles and cut better promos, but if you like Funk going nuts then this is an early prototype of it. He even squashes a jobber at the end and lets out a primal scream. OK footage. Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk (September 18th, 1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Short clip. Terry is still obsessed with the cast. Dory attacks Dusty. I liked the beard Junior had. I didn't know Funk vs. Rhodes was such a big deal in Florida. OK footage. N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco (c) vs. Buddy Colt (October 6th, 1973) -- this was great stuff. Colt was on commentary and was a delight. He had this beautifully understated delivery that built to hilarious one liners. Brisco was phenomenal again. Was there a better babyface in the States in the early 70s than Brisco? This was great stuff. Fantastic action, and Colt put himself over brilliantly. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Pak Song (c) vs. Jack Brisco (April 17th,1976) (CWF) -- Pak Song was a stereotypical Asian heel and didn't bring much to the table offensively, but man, the slow motion replays of Jack's work in this match were a thing of beauty. Brisco is poetry in motion. Good stuff. Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch (April 22nd, 1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- now this is the Harley Race I want to see! A tough, gritty bastard that kicks ass and justifies the legality of his headbutts as a God blessing him with a hard head. More of this Harley, please! Good stuff.

Aw, that's a bummer.

There's an art to it, Matty, my boy. Jack & Jerry Brisco vs. Paul Jones & Dory Funk Sr. (1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Paul Jones was new in the territory and only wanted to wrestle Jack Brisco. In reality, I believe it was Brisco's idea for Jones to turn heel. He sure as hell wrestled Jones like it was his idea. Plenty of feisty brawling between the pair. Jack has so many great match-ups in Florida. He owned that territory in a way few babyfaces did. Dory Funk Sr looks like Dory Funk Jr if you slapped on Terry's face. Good stuff. Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk (November 22nd, 1972) -- this was a short clip, but people who say Funk vs. Brisco was boring need to witness the intensity here. Brisco chasing Funk in the early 70s was a real thing. It's pretty clear to me that Terry didn't come into his own until 1974. That might be me swallowing Solie's narrative about Terry living in his brother's shadow, but it seems that way from the footage as well. OK footage. Mike Graham vs. Bobby Shane (May 23rd, 1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was supposedly Mike Graham's professional debut. Bobby Shane is one of those guys who wasn't that great but had a flamboyant gimmick. If I see more of him, he may win me over, but my first impression is that he suffers in comparison to a lot of the other workers I've been watching. According to Solie, Graham is supposed to be a great amateur wrestler, but it's not so evident in this footage. OK footage. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco (c) vs. Greg Valentine (April 18th, 1978) -- Hey, look! Brisco wrestled Greg too! Brisco is supposed to be washed up in the late 70s, but he looked pretty good here. This wasn't a fair comparison to the Brisco vs. Johnny Valentine footage, but I think it's safe to say that Greg wasn't as good as his daddy. Perhaps in the 80s, but not in the 70s. OK footage. Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. (1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was that slower, chess match style of wrestling that some people find boring, but I can appreciate for what it was. They've had more fiery footage, but I liked what we saw here wrestling-wise. OK footage. CWF - Terry Funk vs Cowboy Bill Watts (Dusty Rhodes Interferes!) (March 26th, 1974) -- Funk vs. Watts is a great match-up. Watching Watts in his younger days is an eye-opener. Scratch that. Watching Watts wrestle is an eye-opener. I'm pretty sure these two could work an excellent bout if the circumstances permitted. This was booked for Dusty and Slater to make run-ins. Apparently, Dusty and Funk were on the same side at this point. I guess Dusty was a heel. OK footage. N.W.A. World Title Lumberjack Match: Harley Race (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes (October 28th, 1978) -- If you're going to wrestle like a Buddy Rogers type then I guess this is closer to an ideal match-up for Harley than fighting Brisco or the Funks. The finish was controversial so the footage was centered around that. Dusty cut a cool promo afterward in the locker room. OK footage.