Johnny P

Shit. I got a PM from Elliott and everything, I rush over, and it was last night (I just rechecked the PM). Damn you, life. Playlist is still up though, so I'm checking some stuff out. I can't WAIT for December. Everyone gets busy, but I get a month with no school, no newspaper to run, and just regular work. Wrestling footage, we will reunite for a more meaningful experience! Oh, and all my friends here, too. (Sorry, was havingan emotional moment with the footage)

I'm looking forward to this as I've never watched a full episode of Smokey Mountain Wrestling as a TV show either (footage, sure.Promos, matches, all in pieces. Yes. But a full episode, start to finish? No.) So I'm excited for this. A piece of advice: We have a TON of wrestling savants around these parts, which is AWESOME. But Justin is the key to your entire show. sure, you can give background with your friend Andy, and rate matches, talk about "work/workers," so on and so forth. I'd really appreciate that myself. I need the context for some things, for sure. But Justin is the "fringe fan." Please don't make him feel pressured to BE knowledgeable. I LOVE the idea of someone who just watches the show telling us what they like and don't ,like as a common fan(assuming your not saying, "he was a fringe SMW fan, but this guy reads all the news sites and subs to like 4 paysites/newsletters the last 10 years). If Justin is the common/fringe fan, his best use for someone like me as a listener is to be kept in the dark on what popular thought is about wrestler's work/SMW's angles, the company as a whole as compared to contemporaries like ECW. One of my favorite podcasts I ever produced (Yes, back in 2007-2009 I actually would do pods of my own for random shows I attended, and a few other things) was a live-to-tape post show on ROH's Hammerstein show (May or Aug. '08) with two old friends. They both would watch wrestling periodically, and were old fans, but didn't follow anything but WWE, and were never fans of anything else to the point they follwowed it. I'd say once every 2 years they'd go to ROH with me, and I would ask them questions specific to what they thought of it without the context of the crowd reactions as guides. It was really interesting, especially my friend Tommy, who wasn't as well versed as the other friend (he was not in any internet circles, nor had he ever really seen anything other than WWE, and was very honest about everything.) That could be a real strength to the show, even a "gimmick" for your pal.

I wanted to Jingus, but the alarm was set for 5:55am Eastern. Man, I wanted to close that out with a lot of people. I just went to the "room"....just to see what was there once the player hit zero.....nothing. Single tear Seriously, I had a tyon of fun and I didn't participate nearly as much as I wanted to thanks to my current schedule. I can not even imagine how awesome thins could be as a planned or "pop-up" event in the future. Well worth it. BIG Thanks to Sim!

Some of these need to be thrown up again in a shorter list with a time we can make an "appointment," Sim. Like, Hardys vs Briscoes i want to what with you, Matt, and others. Missed it. Same thought - RIGHT NOW I'm alone in the room about to watch Flair vs David Von Erich from '82 (it is thought). Someone come watch with meeeeee!!!!

HAHA! Nice, Pete. Thank you. Was thinking of asking Zellner, deadpan, "Does it say in your notes, and I don't know if this was Meltzer or Keller reporting this, that Jem was 'mysterious,' because in her own theme song she self-reports to being 'adventure,' 'excitement,' & also claims to be 'truly outrageous,' and given that fact it seems odd to call her 'mysterious' in the sheets...." but Bix beat me to it with his theme song rendition. And for my buddy, Kris, there's this:

This is really a fun way to watch wrestling. I mean, I seriously wish this was running on weekends all the time because at moments where you might tap out there's the chat function, and with just a few people it keeps you involved, and you can pop in and out, and because it was all PWO people in there (I was in for like 45 minutes around 2am talking to like 5 people) the snipped conversations feel comfortable and you notice little things others notice without missing much at all. I can keep the sound of the much up, but still have small interactions. I legit loved it. Best part - the Youtube "Mix Tape" is random. You bounce between so much stuff, its like a Yearbook, but even more random (both are great for that concept, this just extends the idea) So glad saw the recent post in the corner of the main page, and, truth be told, I saw "GWE viewing marathon" and thought, "How the hell is that possible? Global Force wrestling doesn't even have a TV deal. And this fucking guy didn't even spell the acronym right!" LOL. So I clicked on it just to figure it out, realized it was Greatest Wrestler Ever, not GFW, and got sucked in. Never so happy to have been an asshole as tonight. Thanks, si oem.

Grabbed it the other day. Read 2 of the reviews so far (60 min Lethal vs Strong match review is very cool and a great show of what this match guide is about)

Hell yeah, Kris! Very cool. Todd is perfect for this (given his past at being so good with it, and also being handicapped at the same time by a bored with his job, snarky guy who was in control of the show & his appearances. This, much like Martin at the Torch, is a MUCH better fit (even if its just for this week, or periodically)

Brock is really entertaining, and I'm not so jaded that I don't get excited for his matches. Economically, Dylan is correct, but THEY paid him what he demanded. They aren't poor. If I was an accountant for WWE, no, I would not be happy. As someone who sees these guys kill themselves without a union, good for him. Seriously. Hope he gets double. Here's the thing though, especially now that he's "all-in" now and not using the MMA card to hold over their head: His presentation is on them. If they don't put him into a position to be a draw, he won't be (or at least won't have the chance to maximize it). I believe Rich from Voicesofwrestling.com, and maybe Chris Harrington somewhere did a break down of his business numbers the first 2 years he was back. He was, I believe, deemed a draw for most of that period above there usual business, but not enough to justify the contract. The thing is (and he just re-signed, so this isn't an issue for at least 2 years), someone like me really only wants to watch their Network specials (former PPVs). If I can help it I don't even want to bother much with RAW past a notable segment I'll watch on Youtube or via DVR a day or two later. I don't want to watch Smackdown, or almost anything else they do. Lesnar is a draw for me personally, but I'm 34, and by virtuue of even posting here I'm a hardcore and incredibly niche-y in any estimation. I'm very interested in what part-time fans, casual fans, and more invested fans (hardcores by some sort of definition) from the generation just below me (so-called Millenials, but really anyone 6 yrs old to 25 years old) think of Lesnar, and if they see him as a part of why they pay for WWE. I'd love to know if they do third party research where they ask specific things past YES or NO on Lesnar, and ask things like "if yes, is he ever the only reason you subscribe to WWE Network, and/or watch RAW?" "Is he partially the reason you watch..." "Rank Lesnar within your top 5 to 10 reasons for buying..." and so on. You'd need to be very specific because I'm sure a percentage of "hardcore fanbase" are the types who might tell you they hate him and not even understand that they buy to see someone beat him AKA the Mayweather Effect.

I can respect all those opinions, because they're all well thought out. Appreciate it, JAC. I hear you on the start of Wyatt/Reigns. I'll be honest - I don't think I was even in the room for the begining of the match, and when I did walk in the next minute or two were seeing the screen with moving images, but 3 to 4 people talking to me at the same time. Slowly, that faded because one by one everyone got sucked into the actual match. I like the idea for Cena/Owens (the finisher ideas to quell Finisher spamming), and I hope I didn't come across as hating it. Still felt like a big time moment, but the volume was somewhat turned down. 3 in a row, plus many RAW/Smackdown interactions will do that to a feud from a company with an insane amount of TV, internet, and its own Network exposure, plus all the hype videos and replays. Still, it was big, its just the finish that really got to me. When a guy does get to go over Cena (Punk, Bryan) the company still wants to kill the guy. Starting to think the way to "make" Reigns might be to just say fuck it and program him with Cena, since that's a guy they won't fight putting over and letting it be. Might help with fan reactions too. Final thought: I guess they think they can get one more payday out of Undertaker before they ship him off to the glue factory. - JAC Me: They'll be trying to squeeze a pop and a dollar out of fans using Taker in 5 years, believe me. I've been hearing he's winding down, or it might be best if he starts making people, as talking points since 2001, and periodically every 18 months since then, until I'd say by 2008 or maybe 2009 it got a lot more common/louder. Thanks a ton for the feedback and thoughts.

Hell....YES! Seriously, I'm not trying to shame anyone, and I know time is limited and life is busy, but if you are on a board like this, and you are NOT reading Paul's Match Guides for each month, I'm not sure what you are doing here. Seriously, every month this thing gets better. These aren't move by move reviews, and the angles by which he comes at matches and subjects he wishes to discuss are really smart, and yet at the same time straightforward and easy to read. As a fellow writer I'm in awe at how he makes his points, often somewhat to very nuanced, with such brevity. This is the type of writing the pay sites & newsletters SHOULD be cultivating for content. Give it a chance. Breezy read, and yet I'm of the opinion there's enough to talk about after this that Paul should probably have a monthly podcast to accompany this thing every month with rotating panels. And for the record, I don't know him personally, we've never talked on the phone, and there are plenty of times I disagree with his assessments/we have different opinions on things. I'm not shilling for a buddy, I'm shilling to raise the bar of wrestling content (something A LOT of us at PWO have been attempting, in different ways, to do over the years.) Highest recommendation!

I love that ideas, and anytime you can tie it to a greater importance to the wrestling business or to fan's/promotions perceptions that were affected, that's great. However, the strength of this idea, and what I'd push for you to focus on, is the fan's you have on and THEIR personal connections/memories of these matches, feuds. Where they were in life. How it affected them. How it changed what they thought about wresting. How maybe it inspired them. Maybe they started watching with their cousin, and there was this one match they watched over and over. Then the cousin passed in his/her mid-twenties or something, and that match now represents the beauty of the time they had with that cousin. That's UNIQUE & powerful. I feel like no one is doing that, and that would be worthwhile, because we all have that human connection. Wrestling can be very contentious. I definitely sense that some members on the board, and particularly on podcasts, feel like they can't always say they love something because the perception is "That;s crap here." And that's a shame. I'd LOVE to hear people say they loved HBK or Kurt Angle matches if they really did, and what their connection to them was. For me, CM Punk was an inspiration. I'll never be completely straightedge, but that guy - Phil Brooks the person who played CM Punk, was inspiring to me. I'd run at the gym in 2003 listening to his theme music, or music I only peripherally knew he'd talk about in interviews. It opened some doors to things I'd otherwise not of thought of. Changed my dedication to things in a positive way. Its indirect past a few things (A influenced B, which leads to C, and eventually Z is the outcome), but CM Punk somehow influenced my life in some small way several times since I first saw him in Sept 2002.There are some memories I have of trips to shows in those early days where the promos and matches were not profound in the sense that we talk about here, but they affected me in some way. They are attached to other memories - sections of my life - moments and friends, etc. This is what I'd LOVE to hear about. A great example are stories Johnny Sorrow told on the Wrestling Across America pod - The Philadelphia episode - I appeared on with him and Blue Meanie (Will hosted). Johnny had memories of shows that involved his father, friends, and extended family that got him through tough times. I'd say mine that, and experiment/expand off that thought. Sort of a This American Life offshoot for wrestling fans and their experiences.

Looking forward to hearing Rich outside of his normal venue. Thanks for this.

It's "Three and three-fourths," damn you. What would the metric version be? Also, you are off my Christmas card list, Steven.

Paul, you are currently keeping an idiot in suspense....and I'm not talking about Shoe (a good man). We needs it, Sir (But life is hectic, so take this as an admirer of your work saying, "Hey, I hope there really is more of that good stuff put out there for people like me to read)

Hey Shoe/Will, I'm an old man. Is there a download link? I can't do the Itunes thing (something weird with the used Ipod I bout years back that won't load them.

Might we have a Matchbook guide this month, Good Sir? (Come on, don't make me beg)

Golden...as always. Seriously look forward to this every month. Will, get this man on more podcasts!! I'll even come out of the woodwork to join one (if the money is right, daddy!)

Just checking on a March Match Guide. Is it in the works? Such a fan of these.

I've mentioned this to Dave and Dylan privately over the weekend, and they encouraged me to post here and add the info: Something that was not mentioned/slipped through the cracks, is Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling, which used WWE talent in the late 90s as something of a training ground to get work in, I assume. Truthfully, I'm not an expert on this topic, and the reason I know it at all is because a teenage Johnny P. went to several of their shows over this period, and also remember getting some background on this via internet resources at the time (we're talking 1997-1999 time frame). PCW was run by an attorney named Blaine Desantis, who told me over email at the time that he'd started the promotion in part to do something with his teenage son after Blaine and his wife (I assume the son's mother) had divorced. They appeared to be well run and promoted shows for an indy. I went to my first in, I believe, the fall of 1997. Here's their info - he had said that once his son went off to college he'd probably wind it down, and it looks like that ended up happening: http://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=106 I'm trying to isolate the first time I went to see a show, as I know it was at the Cloisters in Reading (fun little venue), that it was very much a family show, and that I went because I wanted to see Reckless Youth & others I'd read about via the Indy rankings of the famed (for old heads like me) Whoooo Wrestling internet site. I didn't have a licence, and I remember I begged my mother to take me to my first two shows. I reached out to Blaine via email about getting involved in some way because I 1.) loved wrestling so much and found it an escape I was actually interested in/motivated by, & 2.) did not yet realize how shady the business actually was at the age of 16. Somehow Blaine ended up doing business, or at least being affiliated with, Jim Kettner's ECWA. It makes sense. Both were know for being family-oriented shows, run like businesses, that used local guys, and never had intentions of taking over regions, getting TV, or going national. Both also had a rep for being good dudes who saw it as a very involved hobby. And they ended up not only sharing local talent, but somehow using early WWF developmental guys that seemed to be primarily from the Dory Funk "Funkin' Dojo Conservatory." I remember seeing Edge and Christian as Christian Cage & Sexton Hardcastle, hilariously in a group with Reckless Youth that was an obvious rip off of DX (some this was post August 1997, and was my first show). Unfortunately those cards aren't listed on Cagematch, nor is 1998 (where I saw more cards from PCW where the loose relationship with WWF was taking shape.) I know that Val Venis was in before his run as Venis (Sean Morley, but I don't believe he was calling himself Venom), and I know that people like this, and long forgotten washed-out talent, were also placed here AND on ECWA shows during this time period. The card I'd point to is Feb. 5th, 1999. This was an 18th birthday present for me - the day before my actual birthday - and had a lot of WWF involvement as far as talent. you can see Tom Howard on the card, as well as Glen Kulka & The Truth Commission (no idea if those specific guys were still under deals though). You have Mideon, and Giant Silva. Flash Flanagan, who was still being looked at at the time. The big one for me was Dr. Death Steve Williams was there against Pierre Ouellet. I believe that was the match where Dory Funk "cornered" or managed Williams, as they were getting ready to bring him into WWF. Another highlight was Kurt Angle vs Steve Bradley, both with high hopes within WWF at the time. I DO NOT remember any of the main event, but apparently Michael Hayes was there as Dok Hendricks, doing some shtick as a match with Lance Diamond (the future Simon Diamond in ECW, accompanied by his finance/valet at all these shows, the future Dawn Marie). Anyone feel free to add what they remember to fill in gaps. You might notice Reckless Youth vs Mike Quackenbush on the same show, as they were maintains, as were people like Don Montoya. Later in the year you can see results for cards featuring The Mean Street Posse and Joe E. Legend, both WWF entities at the time (I believe). They ended up moving to the Hamburg Fieldhouse (yep, Piper, Snuka, and the Coconut) and I attended some of those, but I don't think they ever ran at Ag Hall in my hometown (WWF's other TV taping site, which I grew up a few blocks from). For some reason they'd fly in Mike Modest and even Roland Alexander once or twice as a heel manager, so I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one on Whooo Wrestling at the time. lol. In fairness, I'd guess Desantis paid only a portion of those flights, if anything.

I feel like for clarity I need to call you every time I watch a match I'm going to need to talk about in short order (modern MOTY discussions) or write about while attempting to be concise (80s projects). I have so many reviews I've never put out there publicly, or are public but I've never pointed most people to because they are lengthy, stream-of-consciousness epics where I often get a bit lost in minutia and can't always tie it together. We have similar analytic, nuanced thinking, but you present it better I've avoided speaking about this match because I didn't want to get into arguments where I might "choke" on the spot (sometimes I'm ON in podcast appearances, sometimes I'm just not). You really crystallized and distilled this down to something I could relate to and get behind. I love the way these two embrace their characters, and use it as part of the match. Both, but especially Ishii, have the ability to sell not only beautifully and with small detail within the body of the match (and after, for bonus points and atmosphere), but as PART of their character. But after a million big moves and the exchange sections, I glaze over in some cases. So many people simplify and point to near falls, or say "go-go-go" style. Its more nuanced than that. Its not completely a promotion wide style as much as a perception. This, for me, was on the low end of anything I might find "offensive," but I do think it was the exchange sections, and not any big spots or complete no-sells, that bothered me about this and led to a glazed over feel to it. I wanted to like it more, but that cliche of stand and trade, when done to the level they did it, wasn't right for me. A better example of when I liked it and felt it was appropriate was the Goto vs Ishii match from late last year (2014). This might not even be factual with use of a stop watch, but it felt like the trading "tough guy" sections were shorter, and made more sense in the context of the characters and match (and I'll include expectations, which gets into a whole different column for me, as that's an artist's intent versus audience interpretation argument). Basically, I thought you could cut one or two of the exchange sections, and shorten them as a whole - add some physical consequences because you keep upping the length of section and power/stiffness of strike, and its a zero sum game at a point much like ECW's violence/stunts (something I know far too much about). This was never bad, and these guys are talented, and they were executing in a great way that felt visceral. Just give me a bit less. That 15th strike means absolutely nothing to me. I'm day dreaming, waiting for you to fall over, and I'm slightly annoyed, because I know that in the 8th minute this is a waste - none of this will matter in minute 14. You aren't going with a collapsed lung match story regarding chops (which would fascinate me if a guy could "breath-sell" along with clutching/trying to protect his chest & a great announcer could get it over in America). You aren't going to sell serious head or - more interesting - neck damage on those forearms. I need wobbling. I need someone who switches things up after a nasty strike, emoting & projecting, "Shit, that registered and hurt worse. I can't keep up this pace, he's stronger and/or more accurate. I've got to make a smart play here or I'll be concussed & lose in the next 10 seconds." Just once I need it to be cerebral in addition to "tough." These guys show that in moments. They have the talent. I'm not going to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I think Loss is right - 3 3/4 stars is reasonable and fair assessment. My policy is always that I can respect & understand going half a star above or below, as 1/2* distances seem reasonable to me. However, this could have been Next Level stuff for me with a few small tweaks, and it starts and ends with these "strong man competition" segments within matches.

Love to hear it, Tim. Any ballpark ETA on The February Matchbook. Seriously, if Paul just puts out what he did last month (but for Feb) as a PDF I'll be over the moon, but any tweaks that make the creators happy is fine by me. Very much appreciated. And interesting to hear about the ROH stuff. Not sure what you may or may not have picked up about me here from sparse posts (but many guest appearances on podcasts), but I was a big ROH guy myself during the Sapolsky era. You guys Northeasterners?

Cookes rule! Actually, I have no idea - are Tim and Paul brothers? I've only known Tim's thoughts/work, but Paul I'd read without knowing his name until now. This is soooo awesome, and I'm just so glad people are doing these things regularly now. Wrestling analysis is really either in a golden age, or on the road to getting there, and this is part of that movement. Very cool, guys. Thank you.

I got charged Jan. 30th, so I'm assuming that's for Feb. and its not free to regular subscribers. My only complaint with them is the charging seems arbitrary to some extend. I signed up maybe 2 days before Christmas. In came out in three charges (one for $0 actually, and the other two adding up to a little above $8.50. But I got another Charge right around the new year, and with this third charge on Jan. 30th, that means I had to pay the monthly price for a week in Dec. I guess EVERYONE is on the same schedule, regardless of sign up day. Anyone else have that happen? I'm not wealthy, but I'll eat the $8.50 for Dec. However, like others, I do worry about problems with tech, payment, and such because they seem to have no support system for English speakers buying outside of Japan.

Happy to see this. We have a mutual friend, and I always hear positive things about him as a human being. He's also been doing RAW recap audio with Mike Johnson on PWInsider, and I've enjoyed their discussions. So I'm looking forward to this.