El-P

And really, ECW was as "relevant" as a pro-wrestling company could. But the Raven character showed up in 1995. Kobain had already killed himself. Grunge was dead. ECW used a Guns'n'Roses video for their yearly big event in the mid to late 90's. Gun's & Roses, people. And so on. Of course they were still way ahead of any other pro-wrestling company. Still waiting to a female wrestler coming out to bubblebum bass. Use Hannah Diamond before she's yesterday's news. She almost already is.

Yeah, pro-wrestling has always been a harvest for harnessing counter-culture.

"Shane sucks Johnny's dick". Philly. NWA. 1989. Oh, evil Heyman, you evil boy.

Yes. Don't let the fact in the way of your ridiculous reactionnary narrative. WCW was drawing flies in 93 before Bischoff came in. WCW beat WWF at its own game in 96 and jump-started arguably the biggest boom in wrestling history. Then you know what happened. Bischoff may be partly responsible for WCW's demise, but the idea that he gave Vince the monopoly is a plain lie. As far as the cult of southern wrestling as it was some kind of superior and pure essence of US pro-wrestling, well, it's also ridiculous. Plus, Dallas, Florida, Mid-South surely died because of Bischoff, much like Memphis became a indy because of Evil Uncle Eric. The Mid-Atlantic territory died the day it was sold to Turner. So, blame the Crokies I guess. Ah, the anti-Dave Meltzer point now. Gotta love it. Well, first, Jim Cornette and some other guy whose name eludes me invented the star rating. So there. And if we have to blame Meltzer for something, blame him for *us* then. Also, I love the idea that a crowd full of people actually having fun is a bad thing. Really, I'm annoyed as anyone by some of these chants, but the line has to be drawn at some point too. Pro-wrestling is entertainment. People going to a pro-wrestling show and having fun *with* or *against* the show are entitled to do so. What about those "smart marks" chanting "We want Flair!" at the GAB 90 ? Were they guilty of being corrupted by "Evil Meltzerism" already ? Of because they were chanting for Flair and shat on a crappy show, they were decent old-school fans still in the "Garden of Eden of kayfabe" ( ) ? And yes, kayfabe existed. Form the pro-wrestler's point of view. But let's not pretend the people ate it up without thinking. I never, ever "believed" in pro-wrestling, not for one second.

Watch some news reel footage from the 30's or 40's and you'll hear commentary pretty openly mocking wrestling and not even trying to treat it as a legitimate sport. My grandpa only needed to see one match back in the day to realize the whole thing was fake. The kayfabe situation is far more nuanced than it simple being "alive" then "dead," and the 70's-80's period where it was treated as a big deal is a relatively brief period in the overall history of US wrestling. I'd also argue the emphasis placed on protecting the business during that period is more indicative of the lowest-common-denominator crowd being pandered to than anything to do with the working style as stuff from that period is generally far more distanced from a real fight than stuff before or since. Word. If you listen to the french announcer Roger Couderc (who was awesome) during the Golden Years of French Catch in the 50's and 60's, there's a definite "wink-wink" element in the way he treats the whole thing, although never mocking pro-wrestling. My father used to sneak in with his friends to watch L'Ange Blanc and such at that time, and he never thought wrestling wasn't fake. The whole "kayfabe era when people believed it" never really existed. And the people who really thought it was real, well, it kinda speaks poorly about them and the way pro-wrestling were using their lack of culture and intelligence.

Ok. That would have been quite odd to be honest.

Not following weekly NXT, but Nakamura vs Joe, Asuka vs Bayley and a Revival tag match is already way more appealing to me than anything at SummerSlam. Is that Athena from TNA "fame" 14 years ago ? If so, with Aries and Roode, TNA seems to be the home of old TNA talent, which is both cool and ironic. Yeah, I'm watching that show.

I know. The evil "smart marks" wanted flippy-flops and the Russo/Bischoff/Heyman triad destroyed the "values" of old-school, and together they fucked it up because they all thought they were "smarter". Ok. You're channeling Corny ? (BTW, where is Vince McMahon responsability in all of this ? You realize he, and not Russo, had the final say on the Attitude Era. He put Stephy into creative. He's responsible for the dull monopoly, crazy TNA outsider aside, that is responsible for the shape of the current scene.)

You really want to watch SummerSlam now after that already overlong Rusev vs Reigns match on TV, don't you ? And to get that cool Demon entrance that you only get to see on majo… ok nevermind. SummerSlam doesn't look appealing one bit to me. Is there a NXT show the same week-end like last year (which was great) ?

Ok, seriously Parv, what are you smoking ? Loss of innocence ? Pro-wrestling as a carny trick to get "simple" (to be polite) people spend their money to watch fake fights.

I think he's undervaluing the fact that we're in 2016 and not in 1970 too. I love the idea that Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo and Paul Heyman of all people are responsible for guys like AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan (two objectively great, great wrestlers) becoming stars in the 10's. Eric "nWo Hollywood" Bischoff, Vince "David Arquette" Russo and Paul "Sandman & RVD" Heyman. Oh, the hilarity. And yes, Jim Ross & Jim Cornette (whom I have defended for way long before I just couldn't stand some of his shit) are acting like two old fucks lost in an era that doesn't exist. Lucha Underground rules, people.

I like creepy. And it seems like in 95/96, the WWF had its share of creepy characters and vignettes. Hell, I dunno why, but it seems like the vignettes from that timeframe resonnated with me in a peculiar way, in that I still hold them in a special place. Not all of them, but for instance I really liked the Fatu "Make a difference" stuff. Probably because I was a big Head Shrinker fan and a Fatu single push sounded nice to me. Plus I enjoyed the smooth ghetto-but-friendly vibe. But like I said, I like creepy. The Mankind stuff in 1996 was some of the most intriguing stuff I've ever seen to that point. Plus I had no idea who Cactus Jack was since I hadn't really seen any WCW or ECW at that point. So yeah, those promos, and the genius of the two different music themes. This was insane. I think people have forgotten how brillant this stuff was and only think of good-old (and annoying crowd panderer) Mick Foley these days, but the early Mankind shit was the best character introduced on WWE TV since, well, the Undertaker (expect much better all around). Creepiness was also a huge part of the appeal of the Goldust vignettes to me. Loved the music. Loved the super bizarre promos and Dustin's delivery, with the shots of Hollywood on green screens. Probably to this day, my all-time favourite vignettes. And yeah, I realize Vince Russo had quite a bit to do with them, so I gues that 0,01% of his contribution to the business was his peak and only streak of greatness. Then, let's say the debut left me a bit puzzled. The robe and wig was great, but Dustin's work wasn't very impressive at first. Really, Goldust didn't click on TV before Marlena came around. Then it was a winner. Finally some glamour back on WWF TV (which had been gone for years now). Another case of great vignette/not so great debut was Waylon Mercy. Those vignettes, to this day. Well, pretty much what I've said about the Goldust ones. Spivey was incredibly spooky and creepy in those. I don't think I had seen the Scorcese movie yet, so some stuff flew over my head. In the ring, it wasn't as impactful though, as Spivey was physically shot and it showed, although the piano music was wonderful and Spivey's "character work" was immediately great too, with truly disturbing facials and fake politeness. Funny, as I also remember the whole Body Donnas stuff well. Goofy but sexy thanks to Sunny and promising of good in-ring stuff thanks to Candido (whom I recognized from old WWF magazine talking about Smokey Mountains in 93). No idea why these years were the most stricking to me. I even loved the Jean Pierre Lafitte "old pirate tells story about his ancester" stuff Maybe because he was throwing a few words of french in those. Yeah, 95/96 was a good time for vignettes to me.

Cool to see some of these pics again. Well. As far as promotion I watched as it happened : WWF from 96 to Summerslam 98 ECW 95-98 roughly WCW 96-97 ARSION from 98 to 00 Hey, there's a pattern here (although I watched most of the ECW stuff a few years after the fact)

Not to mention people gushing over 60 years old Jerry Lawler matches, the fact we all pretty much praised past 40's Tenryu's career as one of the best ever, or even I singing the praise of physically washed up but smarter veteran Shane Douglas on TNA PPV from 2003 as well as Raven's work in 2004 when he was already past his physical prime himself. Not to mention the smarkiest, most obnoxious bunch of pro-wrestling fans ever in the ECW Arena Mutants treating past 50 years old Terry Funk like a deity. Not to mention the old fuckers lucha guys being revered and still packing crowds for their last mask matches, the japanese veterans always being showed shitloads of respect by their audience etc... Wanna talk about the nWo and those pesky young guys Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall jumpstarting the last boom in pro-wrestling history, before 55 years old Vince McMahon became the biggest heel ever ?

Thanks for the answer. I was really just referencing this though :

Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Because some old fucks are acting out like old fucks. That's why. The whole "it's not as it used to be, these young pricks don't know what they are doing and they play X-box instead of drug raping rats" is indeed old fucks talk. So there. They are the one making their age an issue. Likewise some young pricks who don't know shit and get worked by an MMA troll on Twitter. The old fuck Jericho was the only one carny enough to make a smart reply.

A lot of what I read here is not ageism at all. It's valid points. And yeah, older pro-wrestling as probably never been appreciated more than before.

Come on. The biggest show of the year is built around nostalgia and old fuckers.

What is your level in Japanese at this point Dan ?

This is so right ! Ozaki's nemesis : Dynamite Kansai Ozaki's archenemy : Chiggy Megumi Kudo's nemesis : Combat Toyoda Megumi Kudo's archenemy : Shark Tsuchiya

No matter how Corgan is an egomaniac, how the current Pumpkins are irrelevant, I love the fact he's a true pro-wrestling fan at heart.

Flair's nemesis : Steamboat Flair's archenemy : Hulk Hogan Ricky Steamboat's nemesis : Ric Flair Ricky Steamboat's archenemy : Randy Savage Randy Savage's nemesis : Hulk Hogan (way too many times on the same side of the track despite real-life loathing) Randy Savage's archenemy : Ric Flair Raven's nemesis : Sandman Raven's archenemy : Tommy Dreamer Misawa's nemesis : Kobashi Misawa's archenemy : Kawada

(should be moved into the August folder, sorry about that)

Raven vs Sabu (TNA 04/08/04) An ECW dream match that never happened before. And it's a chance it happens in 2004 in TNA, as Raven is a much better in-ring worker at this point, plus the setting doesn't encourage the ridiculous excess of the original house of hardcore. Although I admit I would have marked the fuck out if it happened back then. Anyway, this is a very good brawl with all kind of gimmick spots that they deliver well, with nice counters and some bloodletting, Sabu paying tribute to his late uncle (the whole feud was about a so-called promise both Sabu & Raven made to the Sheik of never fighting each other, which was neat, you can see again that Raven was booking his own stuff) by using a spike at one point. He also badly fucks up his left knee on a table spot and still does the triple jump moonsault perfectly (yeah, Sabu the blownspot machine is a ridiculous urban myth by this point). Back and forth beating the shit out of each other until Raven gets the win, not after Sabu did kick out of the DDT, to Raven's great facial reaction. Hell, his face after he won was terrific too. I obviously love both guys but they did deliver a very good bloody brawl here, not going overboard with stupidity, making chair shots looking much more bruta than they actually were for instance (you can see Raven protecting himself and Sabu throwing chairs strictly vertical toward his body, so nothing real bad can happen). These veterans are still better than 95% of the roster and they bring tons of character to their work too. Really enjoyed this.