Matt D

For some reason, I want the Genius to second Luger.

To me, the great joy in watching wrestling is to see how the pieces on the table (offensive moves, bumping, selling, the connective tissue between moves) come together to impart meaning on action and reaction, to create a greater whole. That's part of why I have been down on Brock over the last couple of years. His matches tend to be visceral. They tend to stir emotion, to be exciting, to feel special, to have their own aura of electricity, but that, in and of itself, is just one element of greatness. It's rare in modern WWE, so it stands out, but that's more about modern WWE as a whole, where there are no stakes or grudges, where there is no real hatred or animosity, where it's all about entertaining the fans or making a memorable meme-worthy moment. What makes Brock matches special is as much about the absence of that in everything else as it is about what Brock brings to the table. It's like candy, a great sugar rush in the moment, maybe fondly remembered as well, but the substance just isn't there. It's not true in all cases, but that's how it plays out more often than not. You might get a fun exchange or two or a beautiful transition or an interesting start, but it all devolves into a meaningless cacophony of diminishing returns (suplexes) before the end. This was not that. Why? Because it was much more carefully put together and because instead of appeasing your sugar tooth, there was thought and restraint, even in a match that was fast paced and full of constant action. For one thing, there was an outright physical mismatch. There's a mindset that's hardly prevalent in 2017 that flyers work best against bases and while that's not exactly what AJ is, when compared to the sheer force of Brock, it was the symbolic (if not literal) role he played here. They didn't go straight to the suplexes. At the same time, it didn't start on even footing either. Styles is dangerous and competent. He can stand with anyone in the WWE (except for maybe against Shane's punches and superior wrestling skill?), but Brock's the storm and Styles is not Braun, Goldberg, or even Joe (who had to rely on an ambush anyway). they didn't start with suplexes, but they did start with Brock manhandling Styles, tossing him around, crushing him in the corner, oppressing him on the mat. Styles' bumps made it all work. It made a simply throw across the ring or whip more impactful and meaningful than ten Brock suplexes. It was like getting tossed around by a tornado even though there wasn't anything in there which would be considered an actual "move." Brock is always something of a tweener, beloved by the crowd in the same way they'd love a malicious, successful gladiator. Styles is more of a direct babyface than Braun or Joe, and I'd argue more of a conventional 2017 one than Goldberg, and he was able to garner sympathy with the bumps, with his selling, with scant and futile attempts to get into the match. By going straight to Brock so definitively but also letting the match have an opening, letting it have some build, letting it have a first act and not just jumping straight to suplexes, it built up the tension and primed the fans for Styles finally fighting back. It's not the only way that wrestling can work, but it's certainly the purest and most straightforward and here it worked beautifully. Styles isn't a Del Rio or Rusev or Harper. He's established. He's a force. The fans knew he was going to be able to make a comeback somehow. He's also not a Cena or a Reigns, though. Whatever comeback he made certainly wasn't going to be a superman one. So as Brock was compellingly battering him up and down (though never escalating into things that should be in a later act, because Brock's stuff is so legitimate and because Styles' bumping and selling is so good), there was a buzz of intrigue on just how Styles could possibly battle back. And they nailed it. A shot to the leg, not as an end unto itself but as the means to unlock Styles full offensive potential. It would have been okay for him to stay on the leg, to work his comeback that way, but it would have been a different sort of match. That's a twenty, twenty-five minute match, not a ten minute one. To me, this is where it felt like a Hansen match (against someone like Kobashi, maybe). Styles wanted to meet Brock head on (perhaps had to, because you can't beat a tornado by chipping away at it) and the leg was just a means to that. They came back to it three of four times (with the whip to the stairs on the outside that allowed for the first of the forearms, for instance), culminating in the calf crusher and the act break that followed with Brock viciously fighting his way out like an animal. That animal intensity is part of why the botches don't really hurt the match too. It all came off as struggle. None of it seemed contrived. It all had its own impactfulness even if it wasn't entirely clean (in some ways it's better for not being clean like in some of the best Sasha vs Charlotte matches). When a match is wrestled as such, especially if it's hitting other narrative marks, it makes some things forgivable. The finishing sequence was part of the rehabilitation of the F5, which I think will pay off in spades over the next many months. Styles tried for the Styles Clash and almost paid for it. He was having much more luck, in and out of the ring with the forearm. We all knew that eventually he was going to get caught on something if he didn't put Brock away, and I especially liked the touch of him pulling down the elbow pad to set up the second one. That helped rationalize why he'd try the same thing again. It had been working for him, but not enough to finish Brock. Maybe this would make the difference. If not, what else did he have? It was a calculated risk, a desperate last ditch risk for someone who was in control of the match but fighting nature itself, and it failed him. There's no shame in that though. This was, despite its uniqueness, still a Brock match, which meant constant stimulation. It meant keeping the fans up for ten minutes instead of going up and down. That they were able to manage that while still investing meaning upon almost every movement and upon the match as a whole is hugely impressive to me. It's a real testament to how the parts can come together. Expectations matter. Escalation matters. Bumping matters. Selling matters. A logical, interesting transition matters. Appropriate intensity matters. Foreshadowing matters. Payoff matters, maybe most of all. Meaning is when all all of this comes together and that's the absolute beauty of pro wrestling. We're lucky to have it.

This 3-on-1 is pretty much the least compelling pro wrestling scenario I can imagine. Creating a situation this uniquely terrible that absolutely no one wants is fucking high art.

Super Shane single handedly fighting off two fresh guys even after taking that Balor kick.

Now I wonder if they've toned down the Germans from Brock because of Angle.

All I've seen is AJ vs Brock and I enjoyed it a ton. I loved the use of the leg not as an end unto itself but as a means to open up to AJ's totally credible other offense. An equalizer. I wish it had gone a few more minutes, but I get that they're rehabbing the F5 and I think, at this point, it's absolutely worked. Next time Brock hits it, I think match is over. They used the suplexes far more smartly and sparingly than in any other Brock match for a couple of years. And the "escape" from the calf crusher was the best thing I've seen in WWE since the Sasha escape a couple of years ago. I really liked that match.

The kids and grandkids of that great crowd that were so great cheering for Mark Lewin's 1980 face turn.

Though Conrad is much more of a Monday Night Wars fan than we are, even those of us who came to 1985 JCP later in life.

Youre assuming the Dynamic Dudes are faces.

Sometimes I think that the things that interest Conrad in wrestling are mostly opposed to that which interest Tony, too. I think in general, the show's been more good than not, though. I don't listen to the commentary ones, however, because, you know, car.

Im not sure thats the issue so much as that theres not a ton of difference between one PPV in 98 and another. I liked it when Tony would rewatch the PPVs and comment on what he saw. I think there was more legs in doing theme shows like the Heenan one though.

Dont fear. There are lots of terrible fake Russians still hanging around in 1988!

You made me want to go watch that Michaels vs Orton match. I hold that against you.

Is Judy Martin on your list? Shes pretty great.

Nailz is sitting there in the green room, waiting hopefully.

I've been in touch with him, but I have to admit Puerto Rico looks great. Boricua had the local advantage of sprinting out ahead and then grabbing his mainstays in the later rounds, getting Abdullah, Colon, and Chicky in 8, 9, 11. In the meantime, he scored Hogan, Windham, Rude, Hijo del Santo, Gilbert, Onita, Undertaker, and Guerrero. It was always a bit of Russian Roulette: Abdullah could have gone. Colon could have gone. Someone might really love Chicky, etc., but it completely paid off for him. He can have his cake and eat it too.

Duggan is a guy who could have realistically gone four rounds ago.

His home promotion is Twitter.

Only because I'm curious what happens gravity-wise if you pick up the Ding Dongs.

What if a giant Moon Quake happens, tears the surface apart allowing the newly formed giant water areas the great Emperor installed to separate the land into islands? Ever think about that? No.

There are no islands on the moon.

Also, Beast, in retrospect, it's interesting you went Sid instead of Taker. I'm looking forward to Taker as a monster in PR.

I kept hoping someone would go for the twin towers. It had to be hard to figure out whether to go with fat super-drawing Hogan opponent Bossman or prominent #3 babyface on the roster Bossman