Kronos

I second Jaguar -- I am into joshi but just getting into her, and she rules. What about a match from that PWFG promotion Will was recently pimping?

I didn't see last week's SD, though I am hearing it's been good since the draft. If the crowd cared about melina, it'd be the first time since her Face return that they have. . . Your comments about charisma exactly line up with what I was trying to say. Rarely are there bad crowds -- though of course it happens. But there are bad wrestlers. Or bad characters. Or bad storylines. Or bad show-pacing. Or even bad announcers (for the tv audience) -- just watch those horrible English commentaries on the Noah shows ROH sells to see how bad announcing can ruin a decent match.

Speaking as a fan of women's rasslin, I say, "Harsh, Double-D, harsh." But true. There's plenty of reasons why divas matches don't get over, and it has nothing to do with the crowds being dead. Give them something to care about, and they'll go nuts. Watch Mickie/Trish at Mania 22, Lita/Trish on RAW 12/04, or Lita/Victoria in the steel cage on 2003 -- and you'll find a crowd who's ridiculously into it. I like the current girls, but aside from Mickie, people just don't care. They're not being given a product to care about. I don't like it when a great match is happening, and the crowd is practically silent. But how often does that happen, really? If the crowd's not into a match, it's most likely because the match is boring -- and this is athletic theater, so I blame something about the performance if the audience is snoozing. Conversely, a great crowd can make a mediocre match into something outrageously fun. See Hogan/Warrior, Hogan/Andre, and Hogan/Rock as perfect examples. Workrate-wise, they range from borderline bad to just okay to pretty good depending on your mood and which wrestlers you like. But the crowd takes those matches to another level. Another note: the crowds cared for the Knockouts in early 2008 because they were given a product to care about. Fun characters and exciting wrestling = a good crowd, usually.

Half court, make-it-take-it -- first team to 21 by one's? Awesome.

It'd be interesting to see if Vinnie sues for breach of contract and then tells Denver (in my state) to go F**k themselves -- and proceeds to avoid the state for years. . .

Here's some randomness that shows a bit MMA doesn't get respect amongst certain people: I was listening to NPR today, and they were doing their geography quiz. The city they were mentioning had a clue about the next UFC show being held there. I paraphrase, "If you don't know what Ultimate Fighting Championship is, think about the movie Fight Club. You've about got it. You can choke, kick, and stomp -- but you can't bite or gouge eyes." Ummm, modern MMA is not like fight club at all, aside from the fact that two guys are fighting in front of people. Rules are very strict, and in some ways it's safer than pro rasslin to my mind. . . (I know, I know, of course they're not going to be supportive of fighting sports on NPR -- but still, misinformation only breeds ignorance.)

Ahhh, so much to like on this one. First, I want to commend Will.i.am on this gorgeous VQ for a match 40 yrs old. Beautiful! Second, I should get some of my complaints out of the way, even though they are fairly minor. First, this match is very slow for a long time. It was just not that exiting. Now, we're not talking about that Duke Kiomuka match on the Triumph of WCCW set slow, but it had moments where I wanted to yawn a bit. And also, the crowd here is the kind of audience that gave rise to that whole "Japanese crowds are silent and polite" myth. For me, the crowd's involvement is a major part of liking a match. Fortunately, they got riled up when big moments happened, so it wasn't so bad. Now on to the good stuff. Both guys look great. Inoki does not look like the giant-faced cartoon he would become years later, and Jack's hair is so crazy it's like a 3rd character. Much of the early bit is as much submission wrestling as it is going for the big moves and the pin, and I appreciate it. (I have been watching a lot of battlarts lately.) They really go back and forth, and the sense is a mutual respect between two masters just trying to outdo each other -- a little like Benoit/Bret on the Owen tribute match. The use of big moves makes sense and comes out only at rare intervals, so an underhook suplex attempt which is countered into a freaking backslide is exciting and a little suspenseful. I love how Inoki will adjust his tights from time to time, with an expression of calm danger on his face. It's like he's saying, "Just give me a second here, and then I am going to kick your ass." The slow pacing I complained about earlier is especially useful here, though, in that when the pace does pick up in the end, it's awesome. Inoki pins Jack with the German for the 2nd fall, gets energized, and basically hulks up for the 3rd fall. It's ridiculously exciting, more than it really probably should have been. But then, that dead crowd after the final fall. Amazing. . .

"I've got a widdle wed wagon. . ."

Insane is right. I am not sure at all what they were talking about. He's going off on Sting, no it's Luger, no it's Sting. And he talks about how there's only room at the top for the Celtics -- while wearing a goram Lakers championship hat! Truthfully, I was kind of embarrassed for him. Some of Warrior's promos were more coherent.

I liked how the pacing varied -- it wasn't as fast as I was expecting, though they would once in awhile kick it up a notch. The first fall was a thing of beauty, with the arm hammered and the legs off the ground. Day and and day out, lucha crowds have to be the best, and they really make the difference here. I guess it helps when you have such clear-cut rudos and technicos. But aside from the hot crowd and some cool spots, I was just okay on this one. I certainly enjoyed it, but it's not my favorite.

BTW, there's a Rude/Austin v Sting/Steamboat match from around this period that I think might be more fun, even if it might not be better put together technically. The crowd is hotter, and Rude/Austin really heel it up to 11. I need to watch it again and see if I still feel that way.

I am a total mark for Madusa in all her incarnations, so my opinion may not be just. But I thought she was great here, too, especially how she runs away from the ring, giving Austin a chance to throw a nasty clothesline on the ramp. And JR really shut up Jesse, didn't he, when he mentioned that someone from Minnesota wouldn't know about college football. First time I have seen this match. I really liked how it was such controlled chaos, right from the beginning when all four guys went nuts on each other. The backstory helped a bit, though I wasn't sure when it happened that the DA broke Barry's hand. He seemed perfectly healed up here. I found myself trying to figure out how they did that hand in the car door spot. It was nasty-looking. These big men threw dropkicks and went over the ropes and did all sorts of crazy bumps. I, too, enjoyed their gameness. One of my favorite bits was when Barry needed to tag out but couldn't get to Dustin. So he simply falls backwards, fully extending his body and getting the tag. So simple and yet so cool. I can't wait to see more of these guys -- I just got the DA comp a week ago. One thought -- does Austin 1992 know any move besides the clothesline? Damn, he's crazy for that move; it allows from some beautiful bumping, to be sure, but it kind of gets old after a bit. Doesn't take away from the greatness of this match, but it sure seemed noticeable to me. We'll see in the DA discs if he really continues to use it. One other thought -- early 90's WCW completely rules. That is all.

I am not entirely certain what to say about this. Rude looks like a porn star, surrounded by hot 80's chicks in big hair and bikinis. (Wait, the first bit is girls in leotards on the steps.) I glory in this video and I cry, because everytime I see Rude I am reminded that he was freaking awesome -- and that he's now dead. The action clips are fun, especially the drop kick he throws on Kevin. And the dated gym scenes absolutely rock. I miss the 70's and 80's. BTW, the coolest bit is when he bench-presses that chick.

I figure my DVD will be here any day. But I am interested in this match, too, because the one Tim mentioned is definitely over-rated. Maybe it just got too much hype as a work of genius by the time I saw it, but I finished it and thought, "Is that it?" So hooray for bringing something different!

sorry. . .didn't mean to post here. . .ignore. . .no, really, why are you still reading?

echo echo echo Say, how long is this disc? 2 hrs? 4 hrs?

ha...I don't know why, but I read this twice, and both times I literally laughed out loud It is quite amusing. Here it is, starting about 1:20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCPxoEnBDfo. Listening back, I misquoted a bit because they say something in between the two lines. But I just love JR's tone when he admonished Lawler.

Loss, I think you hit it right on the head. Who else has that kind of volume of footage? Hogan? Lawler? If anyone's tired of Flair, it's because they have seen 5x as much Flair as anyone else. . .

JR and King on Backlash 2007. Melina has climbed the ropes and has Mickie hanging in the air by her neck. Lawler is questioning if that move is legal. JR: "I don't think so, King. You've only been in the business 30 years. You know it's not legal to use the ropes. It wasn't legal last week or last decade." King: "JR says that's not legal."

http://www.silvervision.co.uk/products/All...VD-3-Discs.html Looks like some rare stuff, maybe. Look at that AWA 72 match! Odd that the only Dudleys match is from WWE and not ECW. . .