Grimmas

I can't wait to hear Parv's thoughts on the Vaudevillians.

The crowd is awesome and if this hold's up will be the best crowd since Canadian Stampede. The look is amazing with the darkened arena and all dark ring. Commentators are on point. The opener was really fun and I hope Liger goes in the HOF this year. Breeze held his own, great start to the show.

On the other hand, Phil Schneider wrote in the nomination thread:

http://placetobenation.com/this-week-in-wrestling-for-august-22-2015/ As promised.

Dylan mentioned them and I think they deserve a nomination as they were a really great team for two-three years. What a breath of fresh air they were coming into the division. They have great matches with Hardy Boyz, Eddie/Rey, Batista/Rey, other Smackdown teams. Seemed like the complete package.

Discuss here.

Discuss here.

I WILL be the high vote on Masarita Dorada. I am toying with getting Little Tokyo and Mascrita Sagrada Jr on my list as well, so I may have the most minis.

I got to say this was a lot of fun. 3 hours of us shooting the shit, arguing and making jokes. Look for Pete going overboard on a phrase, the continuing of an argument through out the show and lots more different takes on everything in this week in wrestling.

Frustrated Pete, math nerd Steven and tap dancing Johnny are ready to kick it to This Week in Wrestling. The first fall (0:02:36) starts off with a discussion of our NWA Classic match for the week involving Black Gordman and Jose Lothario. How does this match compare to Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch from the NXT special? We then head into ROH TV where Johnny and Pete collide over The Young Bucks. We talk about EVOLVE 47 and 48, including some great matches and then end the fall with talk of the NXT TV go home show an Saved by the Bell. The second fall (2:00:35) is a short one looking at the finale of the G-1 Climax. The third and final fall (2:18:42) starts with our review of the go home Raw TV show. Including the Brock Lesnar homecoming and the John Cena vs Seth Rollins contract signing. How does this contract signing compare to the one on NXT? We end the show giving our predictions for SummerSlam! PTBN link to follow.

Bull and Hokuto will be high for me, top 25 maybe? I'm still going through both 80's and 90's joshi so not sure. From the limited viewing Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Manami Toyoto, Kyoko Inoue, Jaguar Yokota all have a great shot of making my list too. Maybe more girls too.

One thing we should discuss is if someone drops out there should be an option to switch promotions. For example there is a few promotions that should not die now, like WWF, Mid-Atl, etc.. If someone like that drops out, I think someone in a lesser promotion should be able to bail on theres and move over.

Maple Leaf can run Florida. Lots of snow birds up there

Of course they did, just like they hated John Cena getting pushed as company ace. Looking at the real problems of why the company was broken makes certain corners of wrestling fandom uncomfortable, so the brand split became an easy scapegoat. That things have gotten vastly worse since the split ended, and that, in retrospect, the split was an unambiguous good (and seemed like an unambiguous good to me at the time) is besides the point. OK, but why was it a scapegoat? Like, what was the IWC talking point that was being used back then that made people think unification would solve problems? I guess I can picture folks thinking that the SD/ECW guys were getting hosed on PPV time, but my memory of it is that even back then most people recognized that it was a net positive to get Vince's eyes off SD and keep like, Mysterio as far from HHH as possible. The problem was two belts that were treated equally (or they pretended at times). Once you have that and it is clear it is all one company then you have issues. The main issue from that is if everybody is a champion or the ace, then nobody is.

I'm an ECW fan, so I don't hate the style. I don't think Spike is good at much of anything but be thrown around like a rag doll, and even that gets old after a while because I can't stand the character so I have zero interest in what happens to him. Total one trick pony to me, his single matches consist of him trying to hit his one annoying spot (which wouldn't be as annoying if he had anything else worth a damn in his repertoire). I can't stand the gimmick, which is something I went through in great lenghts in the past already. Mediocre at best worker, annoying as fuck character. Balls is a decent worker ruined by his godawful gimmick of trying to permanently maim his opponents by hitting them with ridiculous unprotected chair shots to the head. I thought it was retarded back in the days, it's even worst today. It's too bad because of all these guys, he's probably the best worker if you take the gimmicks away. And yeah, like Tim Evans said in his review, Balls took insane bumps just for the sake of it, in a proto-Abyss (the stupidest "mainstream" worker ever in my book) way. As soon as you get the gimmicks away from Balls, I enjoy him much more (cf his matches with Matt Striker in WWECW for instance, which were fine and kinda fun too, final chairshot aside) I think the Duds were complete garbage worker, and I'm not talking about the style. Bubba is decent but was much more fun as a goofball fat guy bumper before teaming with D-Von, who's just plain bad. They got better in the WWE, and there I'm getting both redondant and irrelevant since I was supposed to tall about Balls & Spike. (and yeah, I know some people love Spike, including Dylan who has him in his top 10 ECW workers ever, we discussed that to no end a few years ago already. ) A way better post then say they are unwatchable! I like the team. I think that match is great for all the reasons listed above. This team seemed to get the best of the Dudleys and wish they had more of a resume to look at. Nowhere near my list, but I enjoy them.

To be fair, I think it's always been a part of wrestling, for decades and decades, that when they hammer home too hard the idea that someone has someone else's back, a turn may well happen. They usually tease something first. They have teased nothing except them being good friends even family.Maybe in the match they can tease it so it makes sense, but nothing before now indicates anything. Usually but not always. They sure didn't tease it when Rollins turned on the other two. I wouldn't count the one time he walked out of their match in February either since they were as close as ever for a solid three months afterwards. Shitty booking is shitty booking.

You hate the style? You don't think Spike is a good underdog brawler? What do you have against Balls? If you don't like the style, I can understand that. I still don't see why you would post that they are garbage. Lots of styles I don't like, doesn't mean all the workers are garbage. If it's something else, please explain. I can see them not making anybody lists, but garbage?

To be fair, I think it's always been a part of wrestling, for decades and decades, that when they hammer home too hard the idea that someone has someone else's back, a turn may well happen. They usually tease something first. They have teased nothing except them being good friends even family.Maybe in the match they can tease it so it makes sense, but nothing before now indicates anything.

Hogan vs Patera could be a huge feud in 83. Actually if I was the AWA I would build around that for months.

That probably isn't true. People wouldn't speculate on it if there weren't possible signs. I have watched every Raw for 7 weeks. Where are the hints? Haven't watched much lately but I have heard that they have been playing up the Reigns/Ambrose friendship just a tad bit too much, like as Masked Man of Grantland (ugh) says, a reverse foreshadowing. Ambrose and Reigns being friends is somehow a sign that one is turning? That is stupid Russo bullshit. There has been zero distension. There hasn't even been a mistake that lead to a loss.

That probably isn't true. People wouldn't speculate on it if there weren't possible signs. I have watched every Raw for 7 weeks. Where are the hints?

Yeah, pretty much what I thought looking at those. Now, this one in particular watched in a vaacum and not on a binge ECW watch, I have no idea what I'd think of it if, and I emphasize the if, it's one I actively fast forwarded through. That being said, both Spike & Balls were pretty much unbereable to me on their own already, so... So you are talking out of your ass and have no idea what the match is, yet it is unwatchable and unbearable? Either re-watch the match or don't trash it. Most people have praised it really high. Why trash something you have no memory of?

I think this will be a good wrestling show, but the booking will make me not care going forward. As good as I think the women's, Wyatt-Shield and Cesaro-Owens could be I am still not excited for this show. A turn would come out of nowhere, no hints on TV. Rollins-Cena just had a long match on TV. I don't care about Orton. Brock-Taker wasn't good at Mania. The only booking of the main that I would like is Brock squashing Taker ala Brock squashing Cena in a short Pride FC style fight. On the other hand, so pumped for NXT!

It's amazing how they had great matches in 99/00, 06/07 and 13/14. That's quite a wide spread and I think I will need to find room for them. That MNM stuff is really amazing to go back and watch how great it is and how different it is than their earlier run.