Matt D

I didn't think it was one of the strongest of the two ring six mans. Lots of claws to just kill time. I did like how the babyface in the middle's job was really to keep the heel busy or else he'd just interfere however he wanted. There were a couple of moments where it seemed like it was going somewhere but then it just led to a pinfall. I thought Dutch looked good.

Nope. But it'll be close.

Thankfully, I don't care about any of that really. I mean I do enough that he's not #1, but not enough that he's not #30. I may have Martel above him (and if I don't, it's because he's hurt by his heel work and because I don't think he shows QUITE the level of understanding that I think Tito does). If I were to rate Kobashi, I'd probably have him above Tito.

I thought of that but part of the problem there is that I came into Bock and Buddy fairly late in life so there's not that long-time attachment to anything.

Past maybe Ricky Morton, he's the purest living definition of the shine-heat-comeback structure of wrestling, who obviously had strong feelings about what wrestling should be and executed that understanding over years and matches to great effect. He is primal and iconic, tapped in to the very leylines that power pro wrestling.

It's weird. I wouldn't have the slightest what to watch here. I'm not sure I could tell you my top ten favorite/best/sentimental match if I had a week to try to figure them out. I'm glad for those who do and who have this as a tradition though.

If I had to guess right now 25-35, but I'm going on feel.

Tito might be the best babyface of all time. It says something about me that I have the top bad guy of all time in my top 3 and I can't see Tito above 20,

Top 30 but not Top 20.

I could be the high vote on Christian but he's not going to be super high or anything.

Weirdly enough that's Mick Foley's list too.

1. Shawn Michaels 2. Ric Flair 3. Randy Orton 4. Kane

If I had to guess, I'd go with one of these three pre-Magnum matches: Boesch @ Houston, TX - Sam Houston Coliseum - July 31, 1981 Tom Prichard vs Terry Allen Boesch @ Houston, TX – Sam Houston Coliseum – August 7, 1981 The Spoiler vs Terry Allen (How cool does that sound?) Boesch @ Houston, TX - Sam Houston Coliseum - September 4, 1981 Buck Robley vs Terry Allen OR, maybe this one: Boesch @ Houston, TX – Sam Houston Coliseum – October 7, 1983 Magnum TA & Lone Eagle vs Tom Stanton & Cowboy Lang Those are my guesses. There are some other fun oddities I can't wait to see eventually (like a cage match with Ladd, and a match with Bundy, and a series with Rip Rogers, and one match with Flair and a late match with the Baron), but that's what I'm going with.

Is this how they write Phillips out so the new guy can announce?

Past GWE (and my GWE focus is Classic UK primarily), I want to keep the 3x a Week lucha posting for Segunda Caida up until at least April. That'll take me to two years and 300 matches reviewed and that feels like a pretty substantial footprint. After that I'll likely look at other things. I'd like to catch up on Lucha Underground too. That's it though. Work is busy. Life is busy.

Actually submit a GOAT ballot. Is there really anything else to strive for this year?

I'll have Lawler within the top ten and I'm with Will. It's all based on in ring stuff and I don't think I watched much, if any, Memphis until I was 27 or 28. Angles and promos and everything else are ammunition that a wrestler can use but it's how the wrestler uses them that matters for this. There are opportunities in any wresting match.

We hear all the time the announcement not to throw anything into the ring in Houston. It's sort of a "mind the gap" style of joke you can make about the ambiance of the place, but this is one of the first times I've really seen the trash come flying in. Can you imagine if they did actually overturn that finish?

I think for a lot of us it's way too late in the game to move goalposts. Especially if this is meant to compare/contrast the 2006 list.

I'm most of the way through. Pete was a great guest, because if nothing else, he's really a different voice to a lot of us, but has a ton of knowledge. I always like hearing Kris and Bix interact with people from outside our immediate DVDVR/PWO circle. The RWTL teams were interesting, especially Hickerson/Blackwell. Has anyone seen any of this? I really liked Baba vs Blackwell interaction from early in the decade, but I can only imagine what it'd look like in 88. 25 16.12.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Hiroshi Wajima & The Great Kabuki defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson(11:42) AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 22 @ Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan TV-Show 26 14.12.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 20 @ Sagamihara City Gymnasium in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan Event 27 13.12.1988 Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 19 @ Niigata City Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan Event 28 10.12.1988 Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson defeat Isao Takagi & Takashi Ishikawa AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 17 @ Nakajima Sports Center in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan TV-Show 29 07.12.1988 Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson defeat Isao Takagi & Takashi Ishikawa AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 14 @ Higashine Citizen Gymnasium in Higashine, Yamagata, Japan Event 30 06.12.1988 Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 13 @ Funabashi Civic Movement Park Gymnasium in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan Event 31 04.12.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Jimmy Snuka & Tiger Mask defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 12 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan Event 32 03.12.1988 Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 11 @ Tsu City Gymnasium in Tsu, Mie, Japan Event 33 30.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Danny Spivey & Johnny Ace defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 9 @ Fukui City Gymnasium in Fukui, Japan Event 34 28.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 7 @ Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan Event 35 25.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 6 @ Kumamoto City Gymnasium in Kumamoto, Japan Event 36 24.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson vs. Dick Slater & Tommy Rich - Double Count Out AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 5 @ Kitakyushu Municipal Gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan Event 37 21.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 3 @ Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan TV-Show 38 20.11.1988 Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson (7:46) AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 2 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan Event 39 19.11.1988 Real World Tag League 1988: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu defeat Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson (6:55) AJPW Real World Tag League 1988 - Tag 1 @ Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan TV-Show

Sure. It's not over. It's just something else. But whatever it is, there's no HHH keeping kayfabe.

I watched an episode of upupdowndown with the Miz playing street fighter, and Bray Wyatt was just sitting there in the back watching in civvies. It's over.

MX vs RnR was an amazing match. Just a picture perfect shine with stalling and ref shtick and . No one was better at feeding and clowning than Condrey and Eaton. A beautiful transition, with focused work giving way to violence and heatseeking, and then oscillating back between hope spots from the greatest face in peril of all time and cut offs including one or two that were up there with the best I've ever seen (what a perfect spot, the Eaton powerslam). Then there was a fun and novel hot tag and such a hot finish. I loved it.