Matt D

Okay, yeah. Conway Jr vs Valentine was some pretty great stuff too. The first fall was back and forth with a lot of Valentine stalling and stooging and a king of the mountain that was full of brutal Valentine shots. There was one slow bit of pedestrian arm control from Conway but in general, it was all enjoyable. It ended with Valentine starting on the leg and the second fall was really good stuff. I wasn't sure what to expect from Conway here but he sold the leg really well, and there was a unique sense of struggle for him to come back that I really haven't seen in too many other matches. It was just paced differently. Instead of hope spots and comebacks, there was this constant flow of him trying to fight back through the pain while Valentine more or less maintained control. Greg was so good here at closing the distance between them and controlling the situation. He also had some really good and varied stuff with the leg. I loved how he just stood on it, for instance. They got pretty heated at times too. I'm curious to see what other people think about it. I liked it a lot. Valentine was made for a 2/3 falls structure and it's a shame we don't have more of those sorts of matches from him. Post match is an interview from the following week setting up DVE vs Valentine for the Texas title. Bruce, please tell me we have that too.

The worst thing about this is that Pete is at the show so I'm going to have to step up and try to watch Conway, Jr. vs Greg Valentine tonight so that we, as a community, can figure out how good it is as soon as possible

There's not a ton of need for pre-91 issues I think. Anyone who really wants those already has them. Search-ability would be nice for research purposes, but yeah. Unless, of course it was 83 and prior.

In general, the way you view wrestling is probably a surprisingly healthy middle ground between some of the more extreme camps. It almost gives me hope for the future. I mean, nothing else about you does, but that does!

Here's what I wrote about PN News/Big Josh vs the Creatures from Halloween Havoc '91:

Personally, I think the two most interesting comparisons are Jericho and Michaels, both of whom often attempted ambitious things that outpaced their skill (Jericho's physical skill, Michaels' storytelling/acting skills). What I am seeing on the last couple of pages, however, is that people seem more forgiving of Punk (who was relatively ambitious in his attempts at both) when it comes to these, and that maybe he was able to overcome his limitations somehow.

Considering how quickly the big NXT events at Full Sail sell out, have they jacked up the prices for them?

I've not seen whole reviews of Blackwell run shows or NWC. That's what I'm saying. You guys did deep dives for the 90s sets, I know, heroic ones, but you can find 15 year old complete CZW reviews and road reports more easily than the Goerge Scott promotion or whatever. That said we look at wrestling way differently than we did 15 years ago so this is valuable. I'm just bring selfishly Parv-ish with Kris' limited time due to my own interests. My feeling about this era of independent wrestling is that this was the first time that we were catered to as a community so heavily. It was maybe the first time that promotions tried to give us what we thought we wanted instead of trying to define for us but we wanted, with a lot of what might be considered "fan fiction" thrown in. It led to a lot of excess, like having steak and vegetables on a plate but having it also covered by a huge pile of sugar. I'll be curious if you prove that sense right or wrong here. Really though a lot of what I want you guys are covering in Between the Sheets, but that's also putting things onto my radar more clearly and making me more interested. That's all.

It's interesting. He'd reach for moves that he shouldn't have worse than Jericho. His execution is what people have been saying, and he called spots worse than Cena. But I wonder if somehow the whole wasn't greater than the sum of the parts? I have no use for him in 09, but his last few years I enjoyed. I'd have to look back. He wouldn't rate high on my list, but I could see him rating.

No, I think we have enough distance from the early 00 indies that they probably deserve to be looked at again. It's just that I'm not sure ANYONE'S every done a real good look at the late 80s/early 90s "indy" footage that is out there, so that'd be untouched ground while this is just ground that hasn't been touched, often times, since it happened.

I'd be way more interested in you watching 1991 indies than 2001 ones.

Kris Z:

Someone needs to make a Jim Breaks argument on work alone.

And Bock as a Contestant on Hollywood Squares: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fEGnm-_hA

While I appreciate the plug, and I sorta kinda look like Gene now but with no mustache, I think I need to sit down with you and explain how jokes work. The humor would be based on if I actually had talked about it.Edit: and Daves getting worked cause only a dumbell would buy that . The humor works because you're the only person here other than goc who would be annoyed by people taking the rumor existing seriously.

I heard it from Johnny Sorrow on This Week in Wrestling.

This match is awesome. The sense of struggle is amazing. You guys hit a lot of the points already, how there was nothing too complex but everything was so tight and painful looking and sold like death. The competitiveness. The palpable dislike. The way that Llanes really honed in on the arm in the segunda. Not every lucha title match has limbwork. When we get it, it's like a gift. I wish that Dandy ultimately sold it a bit more but it was a great use of the time and a great way for Llanes to control him in the middle part of the match. And yeah, that Headscissors to ultimately get out of it! I have to go back and watch that trios. I like Llanes a lot and Dandy looked every bit as good as his reputation here.

Phil, you haven't written up the MX vs Fantastics match yet, have you?

The Mascaras, Halcon, Markus, Brooks, Gino, and Lothario one.

I know people have seen it before but I finally saw the Six man tag match in the two rings. That was crazy. It was like a two ring circus with action going on simultaneously. Just timing some of the spots there had to be challenging. Also, Bruce, when do we get the bathtub match? You said that it's definitely on tape.

Aka when it was basically Street Fighter II.

It sure makes them more punchable.

Hey, What's with this MMA content? What's next, a 1999 one talking about the debut of Rollerjam? But seriously, I'm looking forward to this.

Pete, what did you think about Ross and Boesch? I thought they made a pretty good team.

You could see the shapings of the finish in the first few minutes of the match. Jake was trying to goad Casey into following him back in early on. It finally paid off in the end during the comeback.