Matt D

Is there any sense of match length yet?

They will never get nearly as much relative value out of her on the main roster. She matters so much more now and they need someone that matters in NXT with all the callups. It's a different crowd, one that is so in tune with her and an environment where she can be protected.

She's worth so much more as a big fish in a small pond in NXT. The act would get diluted and the purity of message blurred if she was on TV in front of apathetic crowds week in and week out. She's an actual draw in NXT. I don't think there's any value in bringing her up ever. They should lean on her more as NXT continues to become a touring brand. I don't think she'd be worth anything at all on the Main roster past month two or so, for reasons not at all her fault.

I still think the Lonely Orca nickname could be a thing.

It kills me that in the Brown match, he starts his comeback right when Boesch was about to say who the last person to use music to come out to was. It was an effective shtick for the time certainly, like 1978 New Jack. Dusty was great at conducting traffic there. Now, then, the Dusty vs Brody match. First of all, Pete and I both think this is the only Dusty vs Brody singles match we have. There's 7 mins of a FL tag with Dusty and Reed vs Brody and Studd, but this is one of the most historical things that On Demand has given us as of yet, strictly on paper. 17 minutes, 2/3 falls. I've relatively liked what I've seen of 78 heel Brody, before that first face turn. He stooges, he sells, he gives. He uses his lanky body to full effect tumbling this way or stumbling slowly down or flailing his arms about, or even positioning them up menacingly. I do think the match died a bit when he was on offense, but Dusty was quick to come back. In short, Dusty was electric with every little thing he did, and he did a few things I've never seen him do before, like the double axehandle that he fell down on or setting up for the Shattered Dreams '78 (which was the transition to Brody taking the first fall). I got such a kick out of him polishing off Brody's head before punching it and the sheer intensity that he took the second fall with was amazing to see. It's funny, but this was sort of worked like a modern CMLL Title match, with a back and forth first fall that ended with some escalation, a quick second revenge fall, and the a third fall with a lot of selling. The finish was a heat-saver but the post match had Dusty, again, being electric and I bet everyone went home happy. Unless I'm missing something, I'd call this hugely historical footage even if it wouldn't be the first match I'd suggest to people on the service. I'm very glad we have it.

What was important was the parallel to Rollins cashing in on Reigns.

I joked to Loss the other day that so long as it's pot, it's a brilliant booking strategy to make it seem like he's not the golden boy pushed by the company so that stingy fans can actually, finally, cheer him.

Taylor was just at the performance center as a guest trainer.

I do think that Brody has looked better in Houston than in other places. Some of that is having him younger. Some of it is how he had to be a certain way in Japan where we previously had most footage.

There were ~60 people in that first draft. I did a quick count on WWE.com and have ~70-75 people I'd consider active wrestlers on the roster right now, not counting anyone from NXT.

Pete's itching to get home from work and watch that one.

It was to show that Styles was a hypocritical heel. Cena can come out tonight and call him on it and Styles can call him a loser and they can build to the next match.

Hey, it's Point-Sycophoint!

The protective power of the Flak Jacket.

I dug that strike exchange too. The brawling's been good here.

Rollins is so much better as a babyface. (Even a De Facto one)

Rusev's individual stuff is great. Just the way he moves across the ring and gives the illusion of laying everything in, the way he gets his body behind blows. It was kind of painful watching Titus in comparison.

How big were the rosters in 2002?

I think such a thing existed before we started, to be honest. People view art through schools. People pick theories in order to understand the world. It's just the way of things. As for the initial thought, some people said from the get go the only list that mattered was their own. I appreciate that thought. I didn't go along with it. That said, I didn't think we were making an authoritative list that was going to change the internet either. What I cared about was the people here. When Stacey and I came up with the podcast name, we were told we weren't going to get as many listens because the global podcast audience tends to shy from lucha sounding names, and that was both well-meaning and likely valid, but that was never the point. The point was to produce something for the hundred-odd people here that we were in the trenches with who might have been interested, because that's who we cared about. That said, I have found it a lot of fun to look on other boards where this was posted, like an alien disease. What's great about the list, I think, is that for the most part, it is alien to people not here. It makes no sense to people how Hogan, Andre, and Cena can rate when it feels, in some other ways, like a "wrestling, not drawing" list. Or where Tiger Mask or Brody are if that's the case. Or how Nakamura or Tanahashi or Angle could be so low. Or how Jerry Lawler or Rey Mysterio are so high. My favorites were the big question of Dolph Ziggler! Or a board which had two pages of back and forth about Randy Orton. I think it's a list that is wholly consistent with itself, but in a way that is completely impenetrable to someone that wasn't part of the discussion. I get some sick amusement out of that.

Quick catch up: 1.) I was upset the Bounty Match did so poorly on the mid-south set until Pete told me what we had previously was clipped. The title match wasn't quite as good but that's more of a testament to the bounty match. Babyface Reed is someone I have a lot of time for and he matched up really well with Slater. I think there's something a little unconventional and Houston-y about Reed as a babyface. You don't quite shine/heat/comeback as much, but there's a lot of the crowd getting visceral kicks through him getting revenge. 2.) For Stomper vs Casey, it's still a bit of getting used to Stomper's vulnerability for a monster. It's a great act but it's one that would wear out its welcome fairly quickly in a territory, I think. Boesch really shined on commentary again helping through the long falls. I was cool with them working the holds but was glad to have Paul with us for it. 3.) Haven't seen the Sheik match yet, but it does feel like the sort of history we take for granted with this footage. How much 77 Sheik do we have? How much Tommy Seigler? Someone on youtube named Brandon Seigler posted two matches (one from Georgia in 72 one from Gunkel in 73) but we don't have a lot, right? It's not Funk vs Race but there's a lot to learn in almost every match that gets posted. 4.) I love Battle Royals. There was a tease of Wahoo vs Andre in this, just twenty seconds or so in ring #1 towards the end and I was way too excited for it. The final four in Ring #2 were a lot of fun. I wish we had another minute or two of Gino interacting with Andre but that's ok. The interview was very cool. Talk about history. Five minutes of Andre answering questions that weren't the typical ones.

It's a lot to keep track of. I just thought it was funny since it's something I learned from you guys. Speaking of Night Court, did people catch on the Gerwitz episode of the Jericho podcast and his Wrestler's court story that they actually used Kane as the bailiff? Had we known that before? Because that's amazing.

Kris not knowing about the USWA syndication thing was funny since I learned about it from BTS. Also, nothing else in the world has referenced The White Shadow three times in this decade.

I just don't get what he's saying: That wrestlers are dyslexic at best and that the form of wrestling is, at best, young adult fiction?

I think Tye could be an honest NXT draw. Which means that he's part of the collective act that people would pay to see. I really think that people pay money to sing to Bayley (or to sing Nakamura's song now) or to Do the Gable-Gable, Jordan-Jordan chants. Or yes, to do the "Ten!" thing. It's part of an interactive act in a way that the main roster isn't, and he's an increasingly valuable cog in that machine. If NXT only comes around to your city once a year, you may miss the chance to do the TEN! thing forever. I think there are a lot of people that appeals to, that ECW sense of being an interactive part of something special, like singing to Sandman's music or bringing a weapon for Axl or getting Bubba to insult you.. But it would mean absolutely nothing on the main roster.