soup23

Evangelical preacher and motivational speaker usually use the same prose at times.

Amazing line here.

Cabana is someone that I feel like I have hated since the Homicide feud in ROH and his persona now strikes me as one of the most ungenuine in wrestling so I was pleasantly surprised when going back and watching early IWA-MS that Colt was more well versed as a super indy worker where he would sprinkle in his comedy. So far between Hero, Punk, and Cabana all three have impressed but Cabana is more polished from a persona and execution standpoint early on in his career. EDIT to Dylan's question below. I don't know if Cabana will find my list or not, but I am thinking of carving out my last five for more personal picks and have really enjoyed the trek I have made into the indy stuff from the first part of the decade. The stuff I have watched holds up better than I would have imagined.

Kris Zellner, Dylan Hales, Dave Musgrave, Johnny Sorrow, Pete and El Boricua join Will to talk about Hell In A Cell. Is Zeb and Alberto a match made in Heaven or Hell? What’s next for John Cena? Is the Divas Revolution finally catching on? Where does Brock-Taker rank in Hell in a cell history? Is Kane finally going to go away? All this and more! http://placetobenation.com/ptbn-reaction-show-hell-in-a-cell-2015/

1991 Taker pinning Hogan. This was the first SHOCKING finish I remember watching. Thanksgiving was a damper the next day for this little Hulkamaniac. 1998 the whole show. Really Vince Russo's shining moment and the visual of Vince and cronies skipping away after Shane turns is so awesome.

I noticed when doing the google images search it was the first one and sourced as Barbed Wire City so good marketing on your part Johnny.

Colt Cabana Danny Dominion and Ace Steel vs. CM Punk and Colt Cabana Good chance to see a teacher vs. student match here. Dominion and Steel have Paul E. Smooth as their mouthpiece. Prazak is leading out the Cabana and Punk duo. Some mimicking from Punk and Cabana get Steel out of sorts at the start. Cabana and Punk pull a double schoolyard trick where Steel and Dominion take turns tripping over one member. Steel and Dominion butt heads with each other and go out to regroup allowing both Punk and Cabana to do dives over the top rope. Some more comedy results when Steel gets drop toe hold onto the crotch region of Dominion. This results in a derogatory chant from the crowd. Steel and Dominion take over when Smooth pulls the top rope and then punches on Punk on the outside. Dominion is not someone I am that familiar with but he hits a nasty back suplex on Punk to maintain control. I always appreciate Cabana on the apron clapping along and rallying the crowd for the face in peril. Steel and Dominion are doing nice work over Punk and cutting the ring off. Dominion is definitely a more bomb heavy worker as he hits Punk with a flipping powerbomb that Punk didn’t seem to know how to quite take the bump off of. Smooth again is peppering in shots from the outside and Dominion hits a good suplex to pull him back in. A chinlock with Dominion taunting Cabana and a good “go Punk go” chant rises from the crowd. An assisted splash with Ace coming off of Dominion gets a two count and then Ace goes into a headscissors. Punk powers up and electric chair’s Ace but makes a mistake by trying to go on offense on Dominion instead of tagging Cabana. He gets a stiff lariat for his troubles and good looking jumping knee from the second rope. Steel gets cocky putting Punk up top and he sunset flip powerbombs him and then tags in Cabana who does a great hot tag mixing in some Dusty Rhodes with his punches to both men. Cabana’s springboard splash/headbutt and snap powerslam both look excellent and him and Punk both are punching in the corner. Smooth pulls Cabana off and gets chased by Prazak. Prazak gets double clotheslined by Steel and Dominion when he comes into the ring. All four men are brawling on the outside now with Smooth being liberal with his interference. Prazak recovers and dives off the top rope and then hammer Smooth to the delight of the crowd. Inside all four men are down with Smooth comes back with a chair but Prazak has one of his own. They each hit someone on the opposing team and then inadvertently hit their own team member before they both get superkicked with a chair. Punk then hits a fisherman suplex on Dominion to pick up the victory. Steel and Dominion get their heat back with double pildrivers onto the chairs. I thought this was a really good opener mixing in comedy, face in peril sequences, and good use of the managers. ***1/2 Colt Cabana vs. Jerry Lynn IWA-MS always makes it a big deal when Lynn is in due to Ian being a huge fane of his. I am less of a fan but it will be interesting watching him work with all of the IWA mainstays and see which of the matches hold up the best. Some more chain wrestling to start and they did a good enough job varying it from the one we saw in the previous match. This is worked face vs. face indy dream style so there isn’t any cheapshots taken so far. Lynn throws Cabana down and gets a nearfall. Cabana looks to be going toward Lynn but he thinks better of it and we are at a stalemate again. Colt hits some nice forearms and a dropkick to take over. Leaping forearm smash and powerslam for Colt as he is showing his arsenal of weapons. I got to say that it is endearing of me to see this indy worker Colt from the happy go lucky comedy stylings we see mostly now. Colt stupidly tries to ram Lynn on the apron and we know what the result is there. Lynn throws Colt back inside and they have a reversal sequence that leads to Lynn hitting a bulldog. Lynn goes through his offense and hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker and goes for a Cradle Piledriver. Fish out of water pin sequence ends that segment. That is followed with Lynn hitting a nasty looking German suplex that almost puts Colt away. Colt misses a second rope moonsault. Leaping tornado DDT almost earns Lynn the victory again. Colt is really good at kicking out at the last moment making the viewer bit on the nearfalls. Colt also shows some resilience and hits a neckbreaker. Brent Blades goes down and in a turn of events, Ace Steel throws Colt off the top rope. Lynn was down and didn’t see any of this but he does hit the Cradle Piledriver for the win. After the match, Lynn restores his face status by shoving Steel. Lynn then puts Colt over huge on commentary and Colt cuts a promo on Steel. This was certainly worked indy dream match style and there was a few instances of annoyance and tropes that plague that style, but nothing extensively in this match made me role my eyes to a huge extent and it was effective in getting over Cabana. *** The Resistance (Chris Hero, Mark Wolf, Todd Morton) vs. The Gold Bond Mafia (Paul E. Smooth, CM Punk, Colt Cabana) You probably know some of these guys but let’s talk about the three lesser known competitors. I touched on Wolf a little earlier but he was always a great complimentary piece in the promotion that could be relied on in big feuds as we will see vs. Morton and especially Mitch Ryder down the road. Speaking of Morton, he is one of the top five people I am most interested in watching throughout this whole process. A person personifying qualities from Doug Gilbert and Bill Dundee, Morton is an undersized loud mouth that earns the moniker “the biggest little man in professional wrestling” by bringing legit heat and intensity to numerous feuds. Paul E. Smooth (later renamed Chuck) is the #6 guy in this match IMO but he has a lengthy run in IWA throughout the next few years. Cabana and Punk look much younger here than Hero does by comparison. Punk has just started the process of letting his hair grow out a bit. Cabana is sporting frosted tips hanging on to that trend. Dave Prazak is the manager of the Gold Bond Mafia. Punk is on the mic beforehand and calls Hero a monkey, Wolf a referee and Morton a midget in a funny moment. Wolf is wearing a Disturbed shirt to prove to us this is indeed 2001. Morton starts a fight with a Brian Knobbs doppelganger as the bell rings. The opening exchange between Morton and Punk has some comedy stuff but unlike the previous two matches, they don’t let it wear out its welcome and intersperse those moments with some good wrestling exchanges. That is a key difference in making a match drag and in this case feel like an homage to a M-Pro six man from the 1990’s. Cabana and Hero come in and also have a good sequence with everything worked at a faster pace and smoother than what we have seen so far tonight. I liked the trope of tagging in Smooth and Wolf and they just bump heads instead of having an escalating sparring showdown like the previous competitors. This results in all six entering the ring and the match breaks down. Hero and Punk are now paired off on the outside. After a minutes of this, a traditional six-man results with Morton and Smooth in the ring. The Resistance takes over on Smooth and does a good job of cutting the ring off and making frequent tags. Hero is able to hit a big time tilt a whirl suplex and the pin attempt is broken up by Punk. Todd Morton goes for one of his on but Smooth gets a hope spot by hitting a dropkick. Morton regains his bearings and takes over with a suplex as Punk rallies the crowd to start a “Hero’s a bitch” chant. Smooth hits a hurricanrana off the top rope and should have tagged out but he instead goes for the early 2000’s staple, the Bronco Buster. Wolf gets a boot up right into the testical region of Smooth and hits a bridging back suplex. The referee counts the pin and informs the Resistance that both Wolf and Smooth are eliminated from the match due to Wolf having his shoulders down as well. Cabana and Morton start off what has now become a tag match. Hero hits a really good clothesline on Cabana and I am impressed with the fluidly these guys have shown in this match. I will reveal that I have seen some 2001 stuff so far most notably the 8/11/01 eight man tag and this has been much more cohesive and smooth than that match on last viewing. Hero mixes in some nice suplexes and the Resistance is once again in control working over Cabana. Cabana mounts a comeback by hitting an awesome piledriver on Morton that was made by him popping his head right off the mat. Cabana is able to tag in Punk and him and Hero square off. All four men enter the match with the Gold Bond Mafia firing away. Morton is able to send Cabana out and seizing the opportunity, Hero and Morton hit a backdrop/neckbreaker combo on Punk to put him away. Refreshing elimination off a nice double team move without excessive kickouts. Cabana is out there alone now and to add insult to injury, Harry Palmer returns to offer assistance to the Resistance. Hero locks on a Rings of Saturn variation submission onto Cabana but he is able to break free. A jawbreaker allows Cabana a moment of rest but Hero is able to make the tag to Morton. This doesn’t slow down Cabana who makes his comeback and hits an underhook suplex move that forces Hero to break up the pin attempt. Morton stunts the comeback with a backbreaker and double stomp to the knees. Both Morton and Hero are in the ring but Cabana pushes Hero into Morton sending Morton to the outside and allowing himself to hit a schoolboy on Hero to pin him. Morton immediately drags Cabana outside and posts him. Morton with an atomic drop onto a chair in a nasty spot. He follows that up with an elbow smash from the apron and some steel chair shots on the floor. Cabana does a good job firing back and this is not an easy role for him to be the face in considering the size advantage he has over Morton. Morton hits a splash but Cabana is able to float over and pick up the pinfall in around 23 minutes. Resistance jumps Cabana and it’s an attack until the Gold Bond Mafia makes the save with Smooth doing a wild dive onto Wolf and Hero on the outside. This match may have been a tad long and the crowd heat dwindled but it showed a lot of promise and range and was clearly the best thing on the show tonight by miles. ***

The Cena challenge stuff seems pretty interesting and one of the few genuine surprise things in the company that could provide long term benefits depending on what they go with. Taker vs. Brock actually intrigues me after the shockingly good SummerSlam match, I just hope that A. they don't go very long since the SUmmerSlam match lost a lot of steam for me once they went kickout heavy and B. Brock goes over setting up something intriguing for himself going forward.

Hey Jaze, Here is our entire list http://placetobenation.com/parv-and-chads-top-100-matches-of-all-time/

I usually get pretty lost with all the music and movie analogies that get thrown around but this is something I can get behind. It also says something especially in Top Chef when one of the contestants seems to use the same ingredient. While I do think someone like Hansen gives varying performances at times, I do think there is some validity to someone like Matt's argument that he also uses his version of a "scallop" as the base for all of his matches.

I watched these two matches yesterday. The Ayala stuff is fun with him not seeing his original opponent as competition and getting Invader instead which the crowd was clamoring for by chanting his name when Hercules was running down the roster. The opening was probably my favorite part of this match with the variety of strikes in the back and forth and each one of them looking good. I thought Invader was on top for a bit too long in this and I had some fairly big problems in thinking Ayala was too lumbering when he did get on top and that his boots didn't look all that impressive. That goes to say that Invader's performance here put the match in the good range for me but I feel I am much lower on the overall match than Dylan. vs. Muto I enjoyed more. Invader bleeding through his mask was an awesome visual and the stadium feels always add to my experience watching Puerto Rico. I did think this also went too long for what it was and featured to much choking of the cord by Muto but Muto is really good at doing these spectacle type matches sometimes and Invader was able to show his chops at selling and then dishing out some good strikes on the comeback. Really good match that would be in the ***1/2 range for me. One thing I will say about this style of wrestling overall though is that lately I have been watching some IWA-MS. I think I have came to the conclusion with brawls and death matches that the hatred that both men convey along with the pace is what I value in a hardcore match. I also think the time of the match in hardcore match is very important as a match that wears out its welcome seems to drag much more in a brawl setting where the variety of moves will be more limited.

Interesting point about the finishes OJ and something I will have to think about since right now I have Tamura a good bit ahead of han. One thing I will say about Tamura's finishes is I like the way he works toward a draw. Most indivduals in a 60 minute match, it feels like there is a lot of fiddling around to an extent and then the last 5-10 minutes really ratchet up the desperation with the kitchen sink being thrown at the opponent to try to win. Even draws I do enjoy like Kobashi vs. Kawada have this factor. Tamura works desperate from the onset so I do appreciate that in the final minutes of a draw he isn't necessairly betraying the strategy he was trying to exert up to that point. It is a weird purity context where time will not result in him losing his value system in some sort of way. That is why the draws he has vs. Yammamota and Kohsaka are some of the more memorable draws I have ever seen along with hennig vs. Bock because of how distinctive they feel.

Where do we think Joe's quality dropped? Was it when he left ROH exclusively for TNA? I know some people really dig the Angle series in TNA but I haven't seen that stuff except the cage match when it aired. If JOe has from 2002-2007 of high quality output that is a nice area that really is comparable with someone like Tully for stuff we have on tape.

"Here's where the Story Ends" is still my favorite song an any yearbook menu disc.

Here are the two essential Virus matches IMO:

Thanks for this. Will see about the Al Perez match but as Shoe can attest, I am a fan of his.

I saw the ones from 91-93 that was in puropotsy piece on PTBN. For some reason, a lot of shoot style stuff has vanished from the media sites in the last few weeks.

Been a couple of months since I looked at this. Let’s see where I stand as of now. Misawa Kobashi Pretty confident these will be my top two but I am unsure of the order which is a stark contrast from where I was two months ago. Flair Jumbo The two standard bearers in my eyes and where they will more than likely end up. I enjoyed Flair’s performance vs. Reed from October 85 FWIW as variety on some of his other performances where he faces a more powerful opponent. HANSEN was a huge omission and should be here on my rankings. Watched the Colon feud finally and it was grand. Satanico I picked Casas in the poll but see I ranked Satanico higher here. I will have to sit down and contemplate where I sit on the longevity/versatility of Casas vs. the quintessential heel character work in Satanico. Tenryu Funk Unsure of how much weight I should really put into his 90’s stuff but it doesn’t generally leave the best impression. As a result, he will likely be dropping slightly if I turned in a ballot at this moment. Casas Daniel Bryan Really want to take a closer look on him as I can see him being top 5 material. Liger Kawada This is where Funk would slot in right now. Lawler Tamura Hashimoto Tamura always will be my discovery of going through the 90’s stuff. Hashimoto just had an epic main event spectacle match with Great Muta where he gave an awesome performance. Rey Mysterio Jr. El Hijo Del Santo Haven’t given much thought to these guys lately. Ranking seems fine. Aja Kong Maybe a bit high on the prospect that when Loss poised the Kong vs. Kansai debate, I had to pause and think about who I thought was better. I think Kong slightly is but probably not at the degree my first list here shows. Bock Steamboat Buddy Rose Jim Breaks Two guys I need to see more of as of anyone in the upper half, these are the two I struggle with the most to grasp their identity and where their strengths and weaknesses in an overall candidacy lie. I think my unfamiliarity with them relative to everyone else surrounding them is a big factor in that perception. Chris Benoit Billy Robinson El Dandy Bull Nakano. Volk Han Jun Akiyama Happy with this ranking after the latest VOW HOF pod although I may flip these two back and forth. Rick Martel Ricky Morton Bobby Eaton Feel a tad high on Martel and I see someone like Taue below him and I am not sure that is the case. The other two feel comfortable being ranked next to each other in my eyes. Tatsumi Fujinami I need to rewatch the Choshu feud to see if he can hurdle over anyone. Vader Fujiwara Watched the 10/25/90 match vs. Takada as prep work for a pod and it is an amazing performance by Fujiwara. Top 5 shootstyle match of the 1990’s. Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Two more that feel right next to each other. Jack Brisco PARV influence Giant Baba Eddie Guerrero Shawn Michaels May raise Shawn up a tick more as his 96 babyface run is really good between the ropes. I know his 92 and 93 are fairly meh but between 1986-1997, he had 9 really strong years as a very good performer and I did like a smattering of his post comeback matches. Bret Hart Jaguar Yokota Someone else I need to see more of. Atlantis Akira Taue Taue will for sure be ahead of Atlantis and may make my top 30 when all is said and done. Randy Savage Riki Choshu Sangre Chicano Sgt. Slaughter Someone I always pause when I see him ranked this highly. He does have those absolute classics but I don’t know if he has enough of them to stay in my top half. Steve Regal Virus Love Virus but this feels a bit high in retrospect. Barry Windham Yuki Ishikawa Another guy that feels too high at the time of rankings. Blue Panther Pirata Morgan Ron Garvin Chigusa Nagayo Onita The Destroyer Akira Hokuto Greg Valentine Bill Dundee Naoki Sano John Cena Ted Dibiase Ted vs. Valentine is an interesting prospect and one where I may switch before the final vote. Devil Masami Can see her climbing the rankings a lot as her character work has rivaled Satanico which is fitting given the personas. Perro Aguayo Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Fit Finlay Probably need to check out the early stuff to see if I agree with the critiques that were levied in the GWE marathon sessions. Dick Murdoch Masa Saito Manami Toyota Chris Hero Looked really good in the IWA-MS stuff I have watched recently. Meiko Satomura Tito Santana Both are too low. Really solid performers that have good match after good match without any dip. Yatsu Tanahashi May not be in my top 100 anymore as I haven’t seen a performance from him since the G-1 that impressed me. Emilio Charles jr His match vs. Atlantis that just dropped is a lot of fun. La Fiera Ohtani Nakamura G-1 glaze here too. Terry Gordy May honestly not make my ballot. He is someone I so WANT to like just based on his size and demeanor but I am left wanting more a lot. MS-1 Hiroshi Hase Dynamite Kansai Criminally low ranking for Kansi here Dick Togo Takyama Steve Austin Sinobu Kandori CM Punk Also has looked good in early IWA-MS. Black Terry Dump Matsummoto Daisuke Ikeda Tajiri Super Dragon Toshiyo Yamada Larry Zbyszko Ricky Fuyuki Yoshihisa Yamamoto Tracy Smothers Tracy loves some offensive angles but he brings the goods inside the ring. Lex Luger Certainly off my list due to the Hansen omission. Hulk Hogan Feels like a good #100 choice.

I was looking over my tentative list today and here are the individuals which I have marked as "need to see more". Could someone kindly recommend 5-8 matches of each to get as comprehensive look of those wrestlers that a limiting look like that allows: Andrei Kopylov Bison Kimura Buddy Rogers Buddy Rose Chicky Starr Clive Myers Invader I Invader III Jackie Sato Lou Thesz Minoru Tanaka Ricky Santana Terry Rudge Steve Grey Yumi Ikeshita Zoltan Boscik I will also lump the Dragon Gate nominees in here. I really do want to give a look to those nominated and have enjoyed some of the sampling of Dragon Gate I have done throughout the years (especially when it was still in its infancy stage) but also watch some of the highly pimped stuff that does well on the VOW year end poll and don't enjoy the match very much.

Thank you U_2001, be sure to post on some of those threads in the match discussion when you watch the lucha and puro stuff.

Thank you Bkford123, isn't that Andre vs. Hansen match what all superheavyweight battles aspire to be.

Thanks Russian Daydream and very thought provoking stuff. The heightened violence is probably the kicker in me choosing the SuperBrawl match. I will say that I watched the Sting vs. Vader series a couple of years ago and only watched SuperBrawl in the past year so that could also have some factoring of it getting the edge. I just love the way that the match feels contained until Vader's ear gets damaged and then everything after has an out of control feel while still in the confinement of the gimmick place on the match. The critique you have laid out about the dragging the opponent is an interesting one and one I have never pondered. Thinking back, it is kind of a cheat and goes along the same lines as with current WWE right now in not being transparent on when and how the MITB briefcase holder can cash in. When me and Parv get to this series shortly, I look forward to rewatching all three big matches and seeing if my opinions change. it is funny you say the GAB is your favorite as tentatively that would be my #3 as the moment. Still a great match of course but I have always felt it was slightly more about the heel win than the journey to get there throughout the match. However, the Sting vs. Vader series is like the Flair vs. Steamboat 89 trilogy in my eyes in that there is no ranking of the three matches that would surprise me as all are fantastic.

What would be the upside of a yearly top 100 poll? For me, less definiteness in nature and more of a reflection that the list is ever-changing not a finite marker in time.

I think this is a strange claim as their are about 20 Rick Rude matches on the 92 yearbook, which all have threads on this board. If you go through those threads you sou the same people consistently critiquing the matches and Rude's performances. I looked through a chunk of those threads and only see analysis in the Rude matches from the people that voted for Rude in this poll from El-P, Tim Evans, and WingedEagle.

All points on both sides. We are sticking with 2016, just so it can be 10 years since the last poll. WrestleMania was picked, because that is the peak of interest for people in wrestling through the year. Obviously, if we need to, I would be ok in extending this to later in the year. Of course this isn't going to be definitive. If you gave us 20 years, we would still be missing on gaps, because of new found footage and new wrestling happening daily. I like the idea of re-visiting in 2026. That was in the Deadline thread.