Kronos

I didn't mean it as an insult. Plus, one of the bits I caught when sampling was a promo from Billy and Rudo that felt a lot like a Chikara back-stage promo. (I think it opens vol 2) That's all I meant. I like a bit of humor mixed with straight rasslin. I got tired of ROH because it was all so seeeerrrrriiiiiioooooouuuuuuussssss all the time. I love me some current NOAH, NJPW, and BattlArts, too, though, alongside my DDT and Chikara -- so what do I know?

Sampled the first show. On initial glance, looks like some nice humor/fun tone in the vein of a Chikara or PWG -- is one of your guys actually called Rudo the Heel? Not sure whether to laugh or cringe. You got kids involved, chanting and cheering, which is pleasant. And your camera work is gorgeous, especially considering it was shot with an iPhone. I am looking forward to checking out the shows, and I will write comments on youtube as RorkesDrft.

From wiki: So that's 13 world titles.

Barry Windham vs Johnny B Badd - WCW Saturday Night 01/2/93 This match is fairly . . .well. . . boring. Both workers are competent, but they do seem to be going through the motions for about 7 of the 8 minutes. The final minute has some nice reversals, and Mero does a running frankensteiner followed by a sunset flip off the top rope that help to pick up the pace. Not much drama, and I just didn't care about any of it. Who was it who said above that Windham was king of boring singles matches? MX vs. Ron Garvin/Barry Windham - NWA TV 5/16/87 "Go, Ronnie, Go!" and "Beat Em Up, Baaaaaaaaarry, Beat Em Up!" should tell you whose side the crowd takes in this match. What an explosion of blonde hair. Terrific action. There's a segment when Garvin is suffering FIP where his opponent (I forget which) has him in a seated headlock. Garvin rolls over and does mountain-climbers over to corner, almost enough to tag Windham. It's a simple spot that could be used to great effect by someone today like a Cena or a Danielson. These guys are so smooth, and the studio crowd was hot. The ending basically includes all hell breaking loose -- refs get thrown out of the ring, Cornette gets knocked out by a sleeper hold, and all sorts of shenannigans go down. Great stuff. Works for me. Ignore the comment I made above about a boring Mero match.

seems fixed now.

I haven't been able to get the page to come up now for several hours. Anyone know anything?

It's definitely easier to pick up than Lucha for a non-language-speaker. It's part of the reason I have been learning about puro for 5 years now and only just beginning to think about taking the plunge into lucha.

Wasn't Clash always free? I thought that was kind of the point -- a PPV supercard but on their regular channel, 4x a year. That ICW poster was awesome, but it's pretty shameless to use the lure of charity donations to get people to come to the show.

And that's just what I meant. I am willing to make some allowances for heels doing it another way, though I dislike it if not done skillfully. But I especially don't like a Face doing it a different way.

Um, except for the fact that Misawa/Kobashi vs Kawada/Taue went an hour twice in '95 and both ruled, and there were a bunch of great broadways in the '80s, and a couple really good ones in the '00s, soooo... Contrarian today, aren't ya? Kidding. There's a Flair/Jumbo match from one of the PWO dvd's (#3, I think) that's pretty fantastic -- and of course, Bock/Curt. I wonder how the Angle/Lesnar iron man holds up?

This is silly. Mainstream political rhetoric was WORSE in days of yore, and "I hate yer miserable guts you lowlife scum!" was the wrestling promo template for most of history. Nastiness was with us since Ug told Ur his mother smelled like poop, and it will be with us indefinitely. You change "nonsense" to "silly". That was polite of you. I am willing to admit to some wishful thinking on the political side after being so burnt out by the rhetoric in the last 10 years. And you may be right about the promo template. But the BEST guys didn't do it that way. (and yes, I am aware that I might be slightly moving the goalposts - I am really upset aesthetically with the kinds of promos Cena delivers as the SuperFace of the promotion) Look at Piper. I was watching him last night with Santana on a 1985 Piper's Pit. He insulted Tito, but he did it so elegantly that it initially felt like a compliment. He didn't just come out and say, "Hey, Santana, you're beneath my contempt and don't deserve to even be on a wrestling show! I hate your guts, lowlife scum!" And besides, we expect him to be a jerk -- he's a heel. 80's Flair always communicates his contempt for his opponents, but he's never juvenile about it - even when implying to Savage on that 1/96 split-screen that he fucked Liz, it doesn't feel as crass as it would today. Maybe that's my problem. Maybe the best insults and put-downs were just better-spoken in days past. Maybe I am not offended by jerks on the mic as much as I am by them being bad at it? Or maybe my biggest problem is Faces who act just like heels when on the stick. Edge, Cena, Orton -- all three are especially guilty of it. Then again, maybe I am also being fueled by a "all things in the past are better" approach right now. It's like, "Classic Movies are always better than current ones." Well, maybe, but that's probably because only the best ones have come down through history. Time has winnowed away the dross.

Inspired by OJ's WCW thread. . . Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch vs Sgt. Slaughter & Terry Daniels, MSG 7/23/84 I just clearly haven't seen enough of the formula based on John's comments of how weak this one was, because I thought the match was terrific fun. I never once got bored, except maybe in some of Daniels's million and one armbars. I can appreciate deficiencies of the heel-in-peril model and how it doesn't set them up as serious threats. But what I see here is two guys who don't take Daniels seriously early in the match, leading to his getting some dominance. I never really feel they're out of control when Slaughter's not in the the ring. Yes, they get arm-barred. A lot. Too much. And Daniels throws a pretty nice drop kick. But I always get the feeling that when they're ready, Adonis and Murdoch become dominant. Which is exactly what happens later in the match - they get tired of playing with this munchkin and start smacking him around. That's whan Slaughter has to come kick ass, which is a joy to see. What blows my mind is just how mobile Adonis and Murdoch are through this match. They're flying and jumping and moving like guys half their size, and it's beautiful. What also amuses me is how the crowd decides to chant USA to insult the Texan Murdoch. Stupid Yankees. I loved this match. Terry Funk vs Pedro Morales, Boston Garden 1/11/86 On one of the LOW roundtables, Flair says that Scott Hall was lucky enough to be at Mania the day Shawn Michaels wrestled a ladder. That's not so far off in this match. I don't know what was up with Funk, but surely he's ribbing Morales (or maybe ribbing the crowd). It's like he's performing solo, and Pedro happens to be there. He does 95% of the work, bouncing about and comically overselling. In fact, the first half of the match feels almost like a squash. Even when Pedro makes his big comeback -- which the crowd enjoys -- it's still Terry throwing himself to the mat and through the ropes. He hides under the ring steps and gets into it with a fan who threw something at the ring. In the end, his trunks get pulled down, so we're treated to bare-Funk-ass as he makes the final pin. Bizarre but enjoyable. (Unless you're Morales, trying to put on a match.) But I figure Terry knew that Pedro has the personality of a tree, and so he took it upon himself to liven things up. Or maybe he was drunk.

I was telling my brother about some comments I had made on a "what went wrong" thread at TOA, where I describe how mean-spirited promos and interviews are these days. I said I blamed The Rock and NWO for getting so much success out of being assholes, and so John Cena and everyone else has to do it now. He reminded me that our whole society has shifted in that direction. Political discourse, reality tv, etc -- so much has shifted to a "must tear down the other guy no matter what" attitude. No wonder rasslin does the same thing. It's just an interesting comparison to a segment from USWA 1993 I just watched last night where Savage went down there and challenged Lawler. They spent time putting over each other's accomplishments before saying, "And that's why it'll be that much sweeter when I beat you." Whereas on RAW last week, Cena spent his whole time crapping on Miz and saying what a worthless human being Miz was.

Scott Steiner vs Goldberg, Nitro 2/22/99 The match itself is about 5 min on-screen, thanks to a commercial break, and the entrances are well longer. The crowd is superhot. Steiner starts out with some aggressive striking, and then Goldberg no-sells having has face smashed into a turnbuckle. The crowd gets even wilder, if such a thing were possible. Goldberg picks up Scotty and does about 4 overhead presses before pulling a Warrior and dropping him straight down. Some shenannigans by Bagwell at ringside help to even the odds. They botch a whiplash spot (Goldberg's head slides under the top rope); both guys seem thoroughly winded. Rick Steiner runs in, and eventually Scott gets DQ'd (I guess because Bagwall bodyslammed the ref over the top rope). Considering how little actual wrestling Goldberg does here, Steiner carries him to a fun sprint between monsters. It's not remotely subtle, but with the insane crowd it's easy to get drawn in. I wonder if Rick Steiner ever got that kind of crowd response since?

Anyone watch Adult Swim's Mongo Wrestling Alliance? It's fucked up -- and pretty darn knowledgeable. The main character graduates from Far West Texas State, for one thing. It's really got a sense of the cliches. I am excited for the next episode. It reminds me of the episode of Squidbillies where Mick Foley voiced a Hulk Hogan character.

I forgot about Shawn/Mankind. I am curious to see how the Iron Man holds up when I get to it. But clearly it loses support every year we get away from it.

But they did debut on different shows as Hardy debuted on January 4th 2010 and Rob Van Dam debuted on March 8th 2010. I suppose the lesson here is don't let the facts get in the way of a good "shoot" promo. Haha, nice one. I was thinking they were on the same show, too. Jeff appeared and sat on top of the X-cage -- that was his big debut. And then RVD later on the show. But then, I am not a rasslin industry professional who should recall such things. Nor do I keep up with TNA religiously. The shoot with Dutch was pretty interesting, but man was he bitter at every thing and every one.

Wow, you have to go 40 deep before you find a WWF match? I know that will change a little, as we at least have Bret/Austin in Nov. Guess it wasn't as good a year for Vince as for everyone else -- although better than 1995 is still an improvement.

Well there you go. I can't even keep my dog collar matches straight - I guess I block them out.

Haven't watched it yet (only just started Feb, myself -- how the hell are you blowing through these discs so fast, Loss??!!), but doesn't this match tend to pop up on polls as one of the greatest ECW matches of all time? Personally, I don't care for dog collar matches myself, nor do I look forward to any match that has Raven in it.

I'll watch those Regal matches before long - they sound intriguing. There's a Vader/Steamboat match from 2/26/94, too, and I have never seen those guys work before. Rick Rude vs. Mark Starr, WCW Saturday Night 5/14/94 This is a nothing squash that goes about 4 min, with Rude shouting for Vader the whole time and looking about ready to burst a blood vessel. Starr only gets one bit of offense, which is a flurry of slaps Rude completely no-sells [ok, that bit was pretty amusing]. Afterwards, he meets Scheme Gene and cuts a promo on Vader to hype their match at Slamboree: "It's Rude against Vader. It's a rottweiler against a pit bull. It's a clydesdale against a racehorse. The shotgun against the Mac-10. Vader -- Philadelphia, PA -- it's Evil against Evil." It's an interesting match for its historical importance. During the post-match interview, Rude is carrying the belt he won off Sting in Japan, and they repeatedly refer to the title win. However, he doesn't wear it to the ring, so logic tells me he taped the match before Japan. Since Rude got hurt in Japan then I am guessing this is his last televised match.

I love shoot style. That said, I'm not sure that it's a style that lends itself to 8-man tags? The realism is lost when the new japan guys throw pro rasslin moves and when everyone gets to tag in. Plus in focusing on the grapps side, you lose some of that build to big dramatic spots or reversals. And of course, you also lose the wearing down the opponent that you see in a one on one submission match like Ot/Sam. None of which prevented me from enjoying the heck out of the match. I feel like the new japan guys worked better as a team, which makes sense given their wrestling style. And there's a great moment when Ohtani- tired of being beat on - says "fuck it" and picks up his opponent (Sakuraba?) to carry back to his team mates. That bit made me smile. I read Loss feeling the back and forth was too even, but I am thinking that fits the model. And it's going to be a symptom of the problem I described at the beginning. The third fall is a bit of a mess, and I ought to watch this one again before long. But I definitely liked it.

Blowing through the discs, as I don't know how much I will get to this week. January is now ended, and I am looking at a paused ring full of Japanese guys to start the new month. I should apologize for all my typos. I am watching the match or clip and then typing the response on my iPhone. That way I don't have to get up and walk to my computer while the video is fresh in my mind. It does allow for proofreading errors though.

I love the finishing sequence with them climbing over each other. Juvi makes like he's going to fall to the floor from passing out, and then they tease throwing each other off the top before falling to their doom. They really play to the crowd at parts, especially Rey when ties Juvi to the ropes and hits him with a chairshot. Besides the finish, my favorite spot is when Rey goes to spring up the cage and fails to catch hold. Good stuff.