soup23

If only, the interference while the referee is hugged is my absolute least favorite spot in Dragon Gate.

I am intrigued by that notion too, I think he will get around 20% or so honestly. Been watching some Tamura vs. Sano as I have went to sleep the last two nights. Man, do I love the guy.

Another great post Elliot that you articulated your thought process well. I did vote for Fujiwara and have him stronger as a candidate compared to Han and Tamura.

Don't you think that is more a critique of the formula though. Maybe there are people out there that think Big Daddy was a great worker but I haven't seen that crop up in any discussion of the voter base currently. Dave has always been vague with his three pronged criteria for getting into the HOF, I think devaluing the work criteria as inferior is missing an opportunity for those stronger workers based on newer perceptions to get in. It is probably a benefactor of the people I voted for in Japan but when I first was on the internet wrestling seen, rampant opinions seemed to be made that Taue was clearly the worst pillar, Akiyama was never going to draw or reach his potential as a worker to a degree. I think the study and evaluation made in revisiting these stances has helped increase the HOF case as both with the work rate component being a major factor. I guarantee JYD does so poorly on his percentage based on the fact that people think he is terrible as a worker, otherwise what is really the case. If that can be used as an absolute naysayer to a large degree for keeping someone like JYD out to the voter base, I have no issue using it as an 80-85% argument for me voting yes for Tamura. I do say this as someone that ABSTAINED from historical, lucha, and other categories this year in voting. Had I voted in those three areas, there is not way Slaughter, Han or Tamura would have made my final list.

Goodfellas is my favorite movie, I saw Donnie Brasco once drunk off my ass. I had no idea what Parv was getting at. Thanks for the feedback Brian. Payne is at least competent on the guitar so he has that going for him but he just rubbed me the wrong way in every instance on this show and I don't remember his entire run much more fondly.

Should be up on the PTB feed Mick. Do you not see it?

Case, you should build JVK a 5-10 match Dragon Gate primer.

Aw snap good call Parv as I forgot the Clash 17 tag, that would be above the strap match for me as well.

It and WarGames 91 and Lex vs. Flair WrestleWar 90 are really close probably have WarGames 91 ahead of it slightly and the Luger/Flair match behind it.

I would have the strap match behind the Beach Blast iron man and WarGames. Above everything else.

This week looks at Marufuji vs. Okada. Thanks for the continued feedback JKWebb. http://placetobenation.com/match-of-the-week-club-kazuchika-okada-vs-naomichi-marufuji-new-japan-pro-wrestling-10-10-16/

Thanks for the background involving Sidello.

Will be voting for Tamura. I see Tamura's drawing record as equal to JYD's candidacy as a worker. Not really great but adequate and overwhelming in other areas of the ballot. For JYD it is both historical significance and drawing which makes him a slam dunk. Tamura was ranked #9 for me in GWE and ranked in the top 75 overall. Beyond that, his average vote of people that voted for him was 31.11 which is half of his overall ranking. Of the individuals I voted top 20 for WON HOF, he is the only one not currently in the WON HOF. Tamura's historical significance is not something I really am going to push as a huge plus for his candidacy but I do think it actually has grown and you are seeing newer generation of wrestling fans going back to watch the shoot style golden era of the 1990's and coming out with Tamura as the best of the bunch.

This has a good bit of hype surrounding it on the indy sleaze front. I liked the structure of it and especially Kengo's leg work but was really bothered by Tomato's selling in the final portion and thought he relied way to heavily on the significantly damaged leg that prevented this match from being a great one. I really compared this to the Okada vs. Marufuji G-1 match where I felt the same way about the limb selling preventing a match from reaching its potential. ***1/2

May not be a consensus at the time but the yearbook crew that has plowed through those years has came to the conclusion that he is at least on the short list.

This week's entry looks at the Great War: http://placetobenation.com/match-of-the-week-club-the-great-war-tna-wrestling-10-2-16/

This may very well be my MOTY but I don't think I could describe it as a brawl. Don't see it as a full fledged brawl but certainly see the skeleton of the match being revolved around the brawling and the blood and hatred that was portrayed by both. I think the near falls and use of lucha storytelling make it transcendent.

Over at PTBN, I have started a PTBN Match of the week club. I know that didn't go over too great here but I would encourage feedback on the matches we watch and think it is a great opportunity to build up discussion within the community. http://placetobenation.com/match-of-the-week-club-tetsuya-naito-vs-michael-elgin-njpw-92516/

Wow, glad Pete dropped the full monty on Trauma I vs. Canis Lupus

Biglav loves Mascaras

Thanks KBenn for the context, makes more sense now.

The DDP stuff form 1998 is a great call. I enjoyed almost all of it and yet it fell just below the great version, ditto the Savage vs. DDP feud in ring from 1997 including excluding the Havoc match.

Dig Devon a lot on the shows too because he is a staunch WWE watcher and has no problem critiquing or praising the product in an unbiased fashion.

What an transcendent match. Blood, escalation, some of the best nearfalls I have ever seen, agony of defeat, elation of winning. MOTY and one of the 50 best matches I have ever seen in my life. *****

Ditto, I think on first watch I was annoyed at the way it felt like Sawyer and Rich were kind of cast aside for Ellering and Ole but rewatching again it was a hell of a brawl and made sense that business must continue. I am still a bit conflicted on some of the critiques being levied against this. The crowd thing especially. We have seen numerous lucha brawls that have subpar sounding heat that you know are off the charts with genuine heat. A comparison is the Lupus vs. Trauma match that happened on Sunday and comparing the IWRG version with the ringside hand held footage that came out. I think brawls more than any other match really are affected by how much they grab the viewer, but I certainly got a sense that the fatigue was earned here because both guys were essentially bleeding out. As a modern comp, this was why the Wotan vs. Terry match worked for me because Terry is a 63 year old man that doesn't have the stamina he naturally once did. Brawls really need to have a feeling of desperation or hatred for me to grasp the concept and this match had it in spades with the mat brawling.