Matt D

Summerslam's the best card, on paper, WWE's had in a while.

Counterpoint: Magic zombie.

This was probably my single least favorite moment of the Monday night wars as a teenager/person in college.

I think that the Arrow fangirls could channel into the Divas Revolution and create a perfect storm of a new audience. I don't actually think it WILL happen, but I think it would have been within the realm of possibility.

Re: Duggan vs Akbar: I absolutely love the Houston crowd. They were going nuts for everything. Akbar got so much heat just hanging out in the ring while they were announcing the rules. It's a lot of fun, with huge anticipation, a crazy gimmick I've never seen before, Duggan's perfectly timed punch at "1", and Akbar's fear as Duggan was outpacing him then his calm confidence after he got cut free. Pretty much what you'd expect with the crowd getting satisfaction but not too much but still leaving happy. They deserved to leave happy too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_pQV2-aH8

I'll have to rewatch it for specifics, but last time I saw cracks that, yes, I wouldn't have noticed before reading Bret's book, but now that I saw them, I sort of can't unsee them.

Bruce, I know that the results that the board's put together starts with 1978, and you've both mentioned you have shows earlier than that and have posted a few things. I think most of what's been posted has been further into the 80s though. Is there any sense for just how much you have from the early and mid 70s relative to the rest of the collection? It looks like Paul Boesch was running two or three times a month, but I'm not sure if it was all taped or if that's all in the collection/ It doesn't have to be in specifics, since I know you're still working it all out. Just a broad sense would be great. Thanks.

As much as I'm not sure Bret/Davey holds up, except for maybe as a carry job, Bret/Perfect surprised me in how well it did.

Last time I watched Summerslam 92 I liked Beverly Brothers vs Natural Disasters more than Bret vs Davey. It was a few years ago though and surprised me quite a bit.

There is no way in this world that the 90 Harts vs Demos match is better than the 88 Harts vs Demos match except for sort of as a cultural touchstone to people of a certain age.

Mid-South is a set I don't have so I wouldn't know. VQ was really good on it as goc said. There's a moment where a Guerrero is pinned in between the rope and the cage and it was pretty striking. Boesch commentated on it.

I really liked Funk/Robinson vs Avenger/Asteroid. Two-Three FIPs, some solid hot tags with work put into them, some hot comebacks. Just good stuff.

Guerreros vs Fabs in a cage was very, very good. How good? It's good enough that people should take a break from the youtube channel to watch it. Fab's were the heels and it's a bloody, heated affair with call backs and a very solid finish. Only 10 mins or so but gritty and action packed.

Johnny is on a roll this week.

Race and Bockwinkel vs Hansen and Brody was a pretty lame match, completely due to Hansen and Brody not giving Race and Bock anything at all. I think combined, over 15 exchanges, there was one minute out of ten, usually just for seconds at a time, where Brody or Hansen were selling or at any risk at all. This is the Hansen I really don't like at all. The post match brawl, on the other hand, makes this whole thing worth watching.

I thought BJH vs Kamala was as good as it could have been for an 8 minute match with 5 minutes of that being a nerve hold. BJH sold well. Kamala looked great in everything but variation of holds. He was really playing up the savvy savage well, which is way better than the stupid savage or the afraid savage. BJH's offense was pretty goofy but that didn't really hurt the match. They worked the under arm nerve hold and all but it was an underarm nerve hold. Low ceiling. I really liked Ladd vs Armstrong as a five minute match though. Brad's comeback was great. It was a good sprint with a decent amount of heat. At the same time, five minute match. I have absolutely nothing to say about Rip Oliver vs I-Forget-Who-Rip-Oliver-Was-Wrestling. According to the list Dave posted last week, we only have King Parsons vs Jack Victory left before we venture back out into the unknown.

And I gif'd the awesome sit out samoan drop that Blackwell did. https://gifs.com/gif/m6YDez

I've watched him in 3-4 of those matches so far and he's just phenomenal in them, especially playing FIP but in shines too. Something that's just crystallizing to me with Terry is the understanding he had of big moments and images.

Going to bury this here for now, but uh guys, look what I found tonight: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV0UiazosYuXyLKN6A6pR5A/videos No, seriously. Look.

Today is Brad vs Ladd. My silver lining on the last few matches being 6:00 or so is that it sort of lets us compare/contrast to modern TV matches in some ways, your Main Event or Superstars match with a couple of mid card names.

But seriously, I have one basic rule. Wrestling doesn't get in the way of family. It fits into the margins. I have a few hours of free time a night. I try to spend that with my wife and/or kids. I have various things I need to hit. I do 3 lucha matches on Segunda Caida a week. I've been writing the WTBBP column on P2BN, generally once a month (though that's slipping and may have to be on hiatus for me, sorry). I'm trying to watch stuff for GOAT. Right now I'm going through Hansen matches too, which is tangential but independent. I try to keep up with WWE at least a little, even if just the key matches and listening/half watching NXT as I'm doing other things. Sometimes a match will come around (like that recent Homna one or various indies) that I really want to find time to watch. The time I can watch things are the following: 1.) When giving the toddler a bath or putting her to sleep. I usually have a 15-30 minute window there where I can't do much but look at the tablet. Good time for a recent lucha match OR more recently, the daily NWA Classics match. 2.) On the exercise bike. I do this 5-6 times a week for 30 minutes. I have my laptop set up and this is when I take notes for whatever match I'm writing up on SC (or something like the Hansen matches). Project time. I can't always get through two matches in this time, so I'll do the back half with something I can just watch and not have to follow too closely, either more classics or something else I meant to see for a while (I did Cena vs Michaels from WM recently this way. I want to watch the Memphis Lawler vs Bockwinkel matches all together sometime soon, etc). 3.) If I have a break at work, lunch break, etc. I can sometimes catch something on youtube or in the rare case I've gotten a DVD. Sometimes I can listen to documentaries/interviews/podcasts in the background, etc. 4.) but most podcasts I listen to I listen in my 15-20 minute drive to and from the commuter bus or if I have to do a long ride. And PPVs and the occasional bits of live lucha (busca) I'll 2/3rds-watch on my laptop while we're watching TV or do something else, on mute, with subtitles on, generally. That's my time. Life just got too busy. I have too many responsibilities.. I wish I was back in college with the sheer availability of what we have now out there. Re: Burnout. Variety helps but projects help too. Even with the SC stuff, I need to break it up into some sort of series and not just watch random matches. That could be Hector Garza in 2010 or it could be every match I can find with Atlantis vs Emilio Charles, Jr. or it could be the build up to one specific hair match. But it has to be something.

Poorly.

Low on time this week, unfortunately, but I'll get to this. Is that O'Connor match the poster child for matches where Murdoch inexplicably doles out the comedy in the third act after twenty minutes of really good pro wrestling? Or is that a different match with O'Connor? EDIT: found my write up from January 2013 (which feels like forever ago):

The biggest takeaway from the Jericho podcast for me was just how young she came off as. She's three years younger than Bayley, five years younger than Becky, and six years younger than Charlotte. Only 23.