soup23

Parv, #62 and #63 are just for you.

With a slow work day, I filtered all the candidates and took a stab at my first list. Here is what came up: Misawa Kobashi Flair Jumbo Satanico Tenryu Funk Casas Daniel Bryan Liger Kawada Lawler Tamura Hashimoto Rey Mysterio Jr. El Hijo Del Santo Aja Kong Bock Steamboat Buddy Rose Jim Breaks Chris Benoit Billy Robinson El Dandy Bull Nakano Volk Han Jun Akiyama Rick Martel Ricky Morton Bobby Eaton Tatsumi Fujinami Vader Fujiwara Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Jack Brisco Giant Baba Eddie Guerrero Shawn Michaels Bret Hart Jaguar Yokota Atlantis Akira Taue Randy Savage Riki Choshu Sangre Chicano Sgt. Slaughter Steve Regal Virus Barry Windham Yuki Ishikawa Blue Panther Pirata Morgan Ron Garvin Chigusa Nagayo Onita The Destroyer Akira Hokuto Greg Valentine Bill Dundee Naoki Sano John Cena Ted Dibiase Devil Masami Perro Aguayo Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Fit Finlay Dick Murdoch Masa Saito Manami Toyota Chris Hero Meiko Satomura Tito Santana Yatsu Tanahashi Emilio Charles jr La Fiera Ohtani Nakamura Terry Gordy MS-1 Hiroshi Hase Dynamite Kansai Dick Togo Takyama Steve Austin Sinobu Kandori CM Punk Black Terry Dump Matsummoto Daisuke Ikea Tajiri Super Dragon Toshiyo Yamada Larry Zbyszko Ricky Fuyuki Yoshihisa Yamamoto Tracy Smothers Lex Luger Hulk Hogan I found the bottom 30 or so guys to be really tough to decipher. Anyway, I thought it would be fun if monthly, I updated this with who is rising up/down my rankings and why.

Cool insight kbeen123, I would like to see some of those shows as the audience interaction portion is something I have no memory of.

I was marking out for this too with Parv after we finished WTBBP. Was surprised to see Mil be so giving and he does a great bump off of Jumbo's high knee.

Shocked that you dislike Tatum Joe as his persona feels like someone that would utilize some movie theater pick up techniques back in the 80's. His changed man stuff in 1990 was also tremendous. Brian Pillman Tracy Smothers Eric Embry Chris Candido Tommy Rich These are the five fighting for contention for my top 100 for the GWE. I am right in the peak of Pillman watching him in his 91-93 run the past year or so and he had some great stuff throughout as a face or heel, as a plucky underdog or going toe to toe as a junior. Smothers has longeivity and still is entertaining to this day in the ring 28 years after some of his breakout performances in Continential. I would like to rewatch his stuff with the like of Bull Pain before I turn in my ballot. Embry/Candido/Rich are great territory heels that can also be dynamic faces when called upon. I honestly think both of these will end up in the 90-110 slots. Eddie Gilbert Buddy Landell Stan Lane Tom Pritchard Dutch Mantell This is my tier two. All are guys I like a good deal but won't make my top 100. Lane may be the aberration as I seem to be higher on him than most but I do prefer his pairing of the MX and thought he was there with Eaton and brought a flashy dynamic that was needed. Jeff Jarrett Really awesome in the early 90's, still good later when given a chance, WAY overstayed his welcome. Bobby Fulton Buddy Roberts Steve Keirn Really good tag workers that can shine but don't have the standout singles stuff to push them higher. Keirn also at points can look real uninterested and methodical. Robert Fuller Dick Slater Should probably see more but I like these guys. Brad Armstrong Robert Gibson One person I have never gotten the hype for (Armstrong) and someone that was clearly carried by his partner (Gibson) John Tatum Billy Joe Travis Awesome characters, not enough showcase stuff to gauge on tape. Lanny Poffo Terry Taylor Solid hands but vanilla personalities overall. Iceman Parsons Bill Irwin I don't like either of these guys very much at all.

http://placetobenation.com/good-will-wrestling-roh-vs-nxt/ SummerSlam Celebration Week continues and WWE has declared war on NXT. Will, Kris Zellner (Exile on Badstreet), Dylan Hales & Dave Musgrave (Wrestling Culture) weigh in on both companies and their big cards during SummerSlam weekend. We look at the NXT and ROH rosters moving forward and we also give a preview of the two shows, Takeover and Field of Honor. Would we rather buy a ticket to NXT or ROH? Tune in and find out!!!

Will has a great lineup of shows for this week. Here is show #1: http://placetobenation.com/good-will-wrestling-the-best-summerslam-of-all-time/ It’s SummerSlam Celebration Week, and on the first podcast of the week, Will is joined by Pete and Johnny (Titans of Wrestling) to discuss the best SummerSlam of all time. We run down every card and discuss all of the big matches. We narrow the list down to the Final Three and only one will emerge the victor.

Opening was real interesting as it is tentative with neither guy wanting to make a cardinal mistake. This opened up in a big way in the closing stretch and was highly dramatic but I loved how Hash still resulted back to the arm work he laid in the opening portion. That is a great continuity between the two halves from the match and made the match transfer from great to really great. I can see some beef about some execution things in the final portion but they didn't have any tremendous trainwrecks to take away from the tension of the story going on. Hash's final gasp just swinging wildly was awesome and Tenryu picks up a huge win when he is able to hit three powerbombs. Grand stuff. ****1/2

Another good interview but by this point Roma is a lost cause and nothing seemed to be able to save him.

Boss Man fits well in SMW and as much as I like the Vader matches, I would have liked to have seen an extended run here. This shows how he can deliver a great promo and work in the enforcer role.

Nice crossover again as these two guys should be a lot of fun working together inside the ring and outside the ring at this point in time.

I felt for sure they would repeat the top two main events of the last WK but Nakamura/Styles sounds like a possibility now. Nakamura/Goto again though is a match that needs to go away. I was half watching the G-1 final so it needs a rewatch but it looked damn good from what I have seen and could be my favorite Nakamura/Tana match which is a series I have fairly disappointed by in the past besides the Invasion Attack match.

Had to ruin this for Parv? i was looking forward to the "Two sixty fucking minute matches" messages on facebook.

Onita was immediately the first one that comes to mind. The Funk Barbed Wire match is IMO the best spectacle type match ever done.

Night 2 finish: Honma vs. Nagata Good match but I do feel me increasingly getting less invested in Honma due to his booking which is dangerous territory going forward. ***1/4 Okada vs. Elgin I don't see what was in this that had some people calling it a great match. It was a series of decent power moves with absolutely no cohesion or innovation. Decent but dull to me. **1/2 Anderson vs. Nakamura Ditto to the match before. This was a pretty weak G-1 card overall and was a pretty big chore to get through. Anderson was reckless with Nakamura in a good many spots. **3/4

One thing that is kind of weird to think about is that Arn Anderson honestly has a lot less experience than most of the people that will make my ballot. We only have about 12 years of him on tape which is comparable to people like Cesaro.

http://placetobenation.com/wrestling-with-optimism-5-nwa-legends-fanfest/ Wrestling with Optimism #5 - NWA Legends Fanfest Wrestling with Optimism is back as Graham Cawthon & Brad Stutts reminisce about 11 years of the NWA Legends Fanfest. With the final Fanfest set to start July 30 in Charlotte, NC, Graham and Brad share stories of their many years attending, the friendships made there, and the culture of the wrestling convention. They talk about how the event popped up on their radar, meeting each other there 10 years ago, being part of the event as both a fan and vendor, and discuss the fans and talent that make the trip each year. Topics include: nostalgia shows, fan collectables, facing the wrath of Sensational Sherri, getting scammed by Virgil, Graham’s wife mistaken for a TNA Knockout, one last photo with the Heavenly Bodies, Roddy Piper putting Graham out with a sleeper, Brad being part of a Piper-Ric Flair shoot interview, wrestler Q&As, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express / Midnight Express feud, Brad Armstrong, Sir Oliver Humperdink, Dr. Death Steve Williams, Bill Watts, Bret Hart, Jim Cornette, Ric Flair, Survivor Series 89, and much more. Follow them on Twitter at @thehistoryofwwe and @stuttsy and keep up with them for updates and audio from next weekend’s event. For more information, visit nwalegends.com.

Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto This was my first surprise good match of the tournament. Yujiro has probably been the worst guy in Japan consistently for around 2 years now and while he didn't do anything extraordinary here, he at least stayed on offense and kept the pace going. This match was structured as a nice contrast from the big bomb fest that preceded it. Shockingly enjoyable. ***

Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii Good match but nothing great in my opinion. The generic strike and bomb fest from Ishii with some good timing on the delayed suplex and the headbutt prior to the finish. Kojima actually had passable strikes which was an upgrade over the Makabe series. I was glad to see Ishii win here. This was missing that extra gear and hatred to take it to another level for me. ***

Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Jay White & Yohei Komatsu Disappointing as this certainly had a house show feel more than these competitors usually have. Just not much shine or substance. White gets worked over a bit and we have some flying around and moves for the finish but everything was paint by numbers the rest of the way and Tiger Mask pinned White. **1/4 Captain New Japan, Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe vs. Cody Hall, Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale Dreadful lineup and nothing to see here as this was really quick. Makabe wins, I am shocked as you are. *1/2 YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & A.J. Styles I thought this could have beena pleasant surprise but it never got there. AJ probably gives his laziest performance of the year in a match I have seen. If I do unfairly judge Nakamura from Most Outstanding Wrestler contention based on his multi-man performances, I have to do it for AJ too. Tonga didn't look near as electric here as in night 1 and Hashi didn't have one of his better performances either. Yano pinned Tonga. **1/2 Mascara Dorada, Tetsuya Naito & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Katsuyori Shibata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan They set up tomorrows matches with naito vs Shibata and Tanahashi vs. Tenzan. Tenzan is really worrying me as executing anything properly looks like a stretch for him at this juncture. I think Shibata vs. Naito could be really good based on the glimpses we see here. Taguchi was fucking awful here with his butt offense shit and thinking he is Randy Orton. Him pinning Dorada was a disgrace. **

Billy Robinson vs. Giant Baba (7/24/76) Some basic work to start with Baba gaining the advantage. The Torque and intensity Robinson conveys trying to throw Baba to the mat is great and Baba is good on defense standing his ground by locking Robinson's leg. Robinson does at least use this position to get a clean break and gives Baba a look that conveys "you are a big fucker." He then starts going after the leg like he is a lumberjack chopping down a tree. Baba for his part mainly shrugs this first strikes like he was swatting a fly. Both guys are really playing to their strengths and the match has a great back and forth feel with sound strategy abound. Quck wrestling by Robinson and he works over the leg some more. Robinson is the aggressor here but is unable to perform any substantial damage on Baba. He gets too close at one point and unlike some of the flashy wrestling sequences that Billy just displayed, Baba is content using a more basic approach and using his big frame to wear Billy down. Enter a bodyscissors. Robinson's escape is amazing as he takes a compromising position and makes the best of it while putting Baba in a leg submission I've never seen executed quite that way before with Baba's leg directly being cranked over the top of Billy's head. This results in another restart but Billy sees that his systematic approach isn't gaining much ground so he tries to amp up the strikes and they have an awesome 1 minute heated exchange with stiff strikes culminating in Baba hitting a hellacious looking boot for a nearfall and catching Billy with a back suplex to take the first fall. Again, Billy was the more aggressive worker but was unable to gain an advantage on Baba. 9 minutes of brilliant brick laying for a story there. Second fall starts with Baba smelling blood and clonking Billy and getting a side Russian leg sweep for a quick near fall. Billy looks really overwhelmed on his facials. Baba continues to chop away as Billy clings to the ropes and blocks the strikes as best he could. This is one of the better examples of ring positioning being utilized that I have seen. Billy has nothing right now except some semblance to not get caught in the middle of the ring. Baba goes for a pin at one point and Robinson immediately pays off this strategy by doing a foot break. Swinging neckbreaker and Billy can muster a kick out. Baba sends him in but Billy uses a bit of flash to put his foot on the middle rope and then he hits Baba with a hail mary forearm. Billy sees his opening and hits a dropkick. Another forearm and a particularly brutal neckbreaker that Baba is able to kick out of. With Baba in more pain now, Billy goes back to the leg. This is treated with more success than in the early going. Billy tries a butterfly suplex and isn't able to get it but he is able to lock in a nasty half crab and the second fall is over in favor of Billy. Shockingly the Giant looks in bad shape as he withers in pain as Billy collects himself between falls. Third fall starts with Robinson stalking. He fakes a lock up and then hits a beautiful short kick to Baba's leg that scores some damage. We get an amazing sly smile from Billy on his wittiness. Test of Strength? Nope, another short kick. Baba starts losing his temper and chokes Billy and tries for the chops but Billy is able to almost fully block the attack this time. Boston Crab fails and Billy doesn't want to forego all the ground hes made so he retreats to the outside. Back inside we get another neat spot where Billy tackles Baba's leg and both go tumbling to the outside. Atomic drop by Baba on good leg gets a nearfall but Billy does a callback and breaks that up with a foot on the rope. The match opens up now as Billy hits a flying forearm from the apron to Baba on the outside. After a little exchange outside, they both pile back in. Backbreaker by Billy and a rope break by Baba. Now maybe this is me looking into things but this was awesome as it 1. shows Baba's size and 2. gives Billy a taste of his own medicine by using the ropes to break pins throughout the match. Baba gets that irish whip he was looking for before but Billy catches the big boot this time. This match is full of paybacks and callbacks. Nice standing dropkick and running splash earn nearfalls for Billy. Billy runs the ropes again and runs right into a big time lariat from Baba and that is it. What a beautifully crafted match with a clear story that was easy to convey with the audience, but a ton of depth mixed in. Every moment of this match felt carefully placed but also organic. The selling, payoffs, and work was beautiful. For my money, the best 1970's match I have seen up to this point. *****

Tanahashi vs. Ibushi What a weird match. I thought Ibushi's selling wasn't good but not near as egregious as Kushida. The moves and everything was really good and I can see how some people would rank this where it has been but it did leave me cold in spots. I think Tim touches on a few of the reasons. The escalation and feeling of Ibushi growing throughout the match that I thought he had in spades in the 1/4 match was lacking here. Overall, a really good match and my MOTN but a match that I actually felt overachieved in some ways and was less satisfying than Styles vs. Shibata in other areas. ***3/4

Boricua, you need to charter up to Mania to rectify that!

I have seen the Patterson stuff and Backlund series. The Backlund series is good stuff but I prefer Bob vs. Hammer/Patera/Rose, maybe the Adonis match, and dare I say the Muraco Texas Death Match. The Alley Fight is probably one of my top 3 matches of Sarge career (with Shiek match and AWA cage match). I think me also being lower on Kernodle/Sarge as a team including the Final Conflict tag influences that opinion. I know on the GWE pod, Dylan said that match was a MOTDC type match whereas its around ****1/4 for me.

Some ones that have came to me listening to PWO/PTBN pods lately - I always consider Tajiri to be more fun/entertaining than great - Sgt. SLaughter had some great matches but I don't think he will be in my top 75 of the GWE poll - Renee Young annoys me on WWE tv.