Kronos

This is terrible. Shawn looks like he's going to crack up in the serious bits, and then he comes across as uber fake in the happy bit at the end. How do you get both emotions wrong?

Fun fast-paced match, almost a sprint. The heels screw themselves when they try to cheat, setting up what I imagine will be a rematch. I could listen to Lance Russell all day. Is the black commentator Cory the same guy who supposedly sold the Memphis tapes to highspots.com?

What Loss said. This segment kicks all kinds of ass, esp the top hat interview. The series of interviews ending in the brawl is some of the white trashiest stuff I've seen in awhile (at least since I last saw a Terry Gordy World Class interview), and I loved it. Not sure if Doug Gilbert has ever seen the inside of a grammar classroom. My favorite has got to be the exchange about who punched whom and why. "You just wasn't big enough to hold your guy, so I blame you!" Rasslin is fun.

Wow, crowds were already "woo'ing" figure-4s in 96. Who knew? I don't see myself watching this one multiple times, but it's kind of fun in the right mood. Hollinger is right about how safe they play it, considering how violent the match is. They're all selling the exhaustion and beatdowns, and both teams are very charismatic. I've always enjoyed PE's entrances, and they cut a nice promo at the end. Loss is right that the highlight vid kicks ass.

Stevie wresting in that Headbangers Ball t-shirt: was it meant as a joke, that he thought he was "studly" but really dressed and acted like an IROC driving douche from 1989? Sabu starts this one chasing a stooging coward Stevie, before hitting one of his patented over the top chair dive. Really, this match doesn't have a lot in the way of pacing or direction. It's just an excuse to throw spots, mostly by Sabu. Which is not to say that some spots aren't cool in their way - the sunset flip to the floor was sweet, as was Sabu putting himself through a table (albeit some of them foolish, which is the point). I gather Stevie's role was to be yoshihiko in this match, and he performs well enough. And of course Styles is working hard to sell Richards's non-wimpiness. I do think my favorite spot was Stevie's sudden superkick out of nowhere because it suggested some kind of dramatic reversal. I'm only half through the disc, but this match may be the worst on so far. As an excuse for Sabu's crazy spots, it's amusing enough, I guess. But I found it quite boring, and I was supposed to be cheering. I have seen lots of Sabu checklist-of-spots matches that I recall enjoying, though.

Bring it. I love it when people get into fights on this forum because it means a lot of traffic and some interesting opinions.

From GAB '92 Ventura: [speaking about Liger] "That is an ugly mask. He looks like The Predator." Ross: ...

While eating my lunch, I am beginning GAB '92. I've been meaning to ask: Anyone know why Jesse would jumpy to WCW in the early 90's? Surely Vince was paying him well enough.

Kind of playing devil's advocate here, as I am not a huge fan of Edge (though I don't hate him, pre-2009 or so). But what's the difference between his silly Spear and Hogan's Legdrop finisher? If the commentary and the opponents sell it as devastating, then isn't that what matters?

Has anyone seen a matchlisting of the Big Show dvd that's supposed to come out in a month? I couldn't find one yesterday when I looked around.

I saw that and commented on it in the other thread. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's great info for me. And because I think of 87 as being a strong year for WWF but don't know that much about it, I am curious to hear what they have to say. I can't believe Kamala was such a draw. He had a cool look, but he has never interested me in any of his matches.

Where did World Class run its Ft Worth shows? At the Tarrant County Convention Center? Interesting that the reader letters already demonstrate a kind of smarky hatred of WWF product. I always sort of imagined that attitude grew up in the rise of Japan tapes being traded in the 90's and ECW making its mark. The internet was the perfect format for this kind of debate. But here it is already in 1987. I guess this update answers my question about Bock-Hennig's 60-min match in the previous thread.

Talk of the use of Latino Heat's death reminds me of an OTT promo that JBL cut a couple of years back. He was working David Smith. I am not even sure the new Hart Foundation existed yet. Anyway, JBL made some crack about how "no father is going to save you this time", and then he proceeded to squash Smith so badly that I am pretty sure he didn't show up on tv for months. I like JBL more than most people, and I love hating him for his genius but evil promos. Still, even I felt the whole situation was cruel and shameless, and the match was a total burial.

End of career Andre is amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a guy more limited in his ability to move but who made so much of what he had (which was quite a bit, just not conventional). He seemed to know what to do in every second of every match to make a match effective. And his selling and expressions were just great. I think, for instance, the Warrior/Andre SNME match (which I think was WON worst match of the year) was REALLY smartly put together, and don't get me started (again) about the MSG House Show between Colossal Connection and Demos. Yeah. I LIKE Hogan-Andre at Mania, too. For my part, I was just shocked at how much more mobile he was just a few years earlier.

Do you mean Brooke? That would put her at something like 22 now. Is that right? Wow, I was thinking she was younger than that. The big Bock-Curt broadway was taped when, Thanksgiving 86? It's not the one mentioned here, right, because this one was not a Draw. And didn't they do a controversial one in early 87? I seem to recall something about a roll of quarters being used.

I just watched that on the yearbook. It wasn't funny to me. Maybe it's because I have a sense of the mean-spiritedness that's yet to come, so that something that might have been "awesomely stupid" comes across as just lame at best.

Agreed. I can enjoy a flippy-dippy or massive head-dropping match as much as the next fella. But I can't tell you how long it's been since I sat through a whole ROH disc (or other indy-tastic shows, for that matter). One exception might be Chikara, but only when I am in the mood. And primarily, the difference is that the guys in Chikara - the whole promotion, in fact - just doesn't take itself so deadly earnestly. It's all kind of a joke, and so it makes me smile. Whereas ROH, a lot of PWG and JAPW, IWA, DGUSA, SHIMMER, and the wannabes all take the kind of "intensity" approach that Resident Evil loves so much. I get tired of that very quickly, just as I weary of endless spotfests in the X-Division.

Where would Marc Mero fit in a list like this one? I haven't really seen his WWF work, but I am a bit of a fan of his Johnny B Badd period. It's pretty ridiculous, but he's so enthusiastic that I can't help but like him. And the matches I have seen have generally entertained me. Is he considered bad? Or just mediocre?

Good call. This would make for a good discussion. My first question on reading the comment above was, "What in the world matches was he in, and which of those were primarily because of a super partner?" Thinking, for example, of the Smackdown 6 era. . .

Ultimately, this. I have made so many snap judgments about someone based on a couple of matches and a promo, only to find that they really WERE a lot better than I gave credit for being.

Really? Interesting. So you're not likely to youtube a match that you might have seen people discussing, because it's a one-off? I can see the point. If one jumps from AJPW 1994 to RAW 1994 (or vice versa), it would be a pretty big culture shock. But then once you get used to the flow, you can appreciate better what's happening. The match works better in context of a worker's development or an ongoing angle or a direction the whole company is taking.

I agree about that stuff. It turned me around, though I doubt I have seen as much as you by a long shot. I recall a WCCW match from early 83 or late 82 that first made me reconsider. It was a battle royal, and I had never seen Andre move like that because I had really only seen his work from 1987 to the end. It amazes me how much he declined in 4-5 years.

Pretty much my only exposure to Garvin is one night watching some NWA-TV on justin.tv -- I think Garvin (he had a blonde flat-top, right?) was in a tag match that may have had Manny Fernandez in it. It was pretty fun, although nothing to write home about (not that what I have seen of the studio matches ever really is groundbreaking for that era). About a year ago, I watched a Backlund-Patterson cage match on youtube. I should look that one up again. I recall it really being amazing in how simple and yet effective they worked it. Both of them sold perfectly and built a lot of drama and intensity (hehe, "intensity" would please WildPegasus). Bob has definitely grown on me -- not least because of the pimping you mention. For me, it's a bit tough to watch him in an era when you have Dusty, Piper, Flair, Superstar, Slaughter, and others who bring so much dynamic character work. Bob's bland babyface has to grow on you, even though he is probably a far better technical wrestler than almost anyone at the time. Put him in the ring with someone who has those skills or else who knows how to lay out a match (like Pat P), and you get magic. Or work him in Japan where the character stuff can be better presented non-verbally, and you get magic. That's my experience, anyway. Obviously, mileage varies. And later when he becomes crazy "Mr Bob", then he's a lot more dynamic (if a little cartoony). EDIT: Found the Patterson cage match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F81a0nBRVRc

When I first joined this forum almost 3 years ago, I was obsessed with women's wrestling. I couldn't get enough deevers, joshi, shimmer, knockouts, all of it. Sometime in early 2010, I completely lost interest. I'm just not down with chick rasslin much anymore. It kind of got me to wondering: What styles, workers, eras, etc do you now feel the opposite about? It doesn't have to just mean going off of an old favorite. Maybe you hated and now love it. I'm just always curious what shifts occur, especially for people who have been watching for years and years and years.

I was amusing myself watching the R-A-S-S-L-I-N performance again on youtube, and it made me feel like watching . Jesus, I had forgotten how absolutely shameless this thing is. I appreciate that the crowd might like the idea of honoring David, but they trot out a kid to sing. The lyrics are embarrassingly over the top. And at the end, they have the gall to offer the tape for sale. What comes to mind when the term "shameless" is used? I figure we could just say "Fritz" and then close the thread. But what else? (oh, and I secretly love that "heaven needed" song - don't tell anyone)