Matt D

I voted for Dustin, but in general I wish he had a better resume of heel work. I like him vs Michaels in 96 on house shows and I think his matches vs Ahmed (especially Ahmed. He got such amazing heat in that match, not even doing much at all) and Piper are both interesting performances but that's about it from that run. There's not a ton (or the opportunity for a ton) in early 98 or in 99. His early 00s return was mainly against RVD which is about as frustrating as you'd expect. The less said about Black Reign the better. And then there's last year, which wasn't bad by any means, but I just wish there was more. I have a theory that he's not as compelling on top as a heel as he ought to be because he was so good working from underneath as a face. Because of that he thinks that it's not necessary to do a ton. He's up against a litany of guys not even close to being as good as he was as a face though.

Part of me thinks that the audience they can draw in with Total Divas is at odds with the audience they could draw in by focusing on Bayley and also with the audience they could draw in with Sasha Banks workrate classics. That's either part of the problem or can be presented as part of the problem by conservative elements inside the company who don't want change.

Ronda to counter steph seems weird. Chained to Kane seems more appropriate.

There is none. It's just a thought, since they don't get many women viewers. Has an increase in female viewership ever been attributable to female talent? Are we counting the Dawn Marie/Torrie Wilson/Al Wilson storyline?

At this very moment, I'd have to see Negro Casas and El Hijo del Santo. When they teamed reguarly in 00-02 there was just so much history behind them and I love the interplay between them and they're, you know, two of the best wrestlers of all time, which helps.

There are also two other elements, the first being that a lot of things that do work in NXT work because they were built to. That can be a small thing like Emma starting out as a heel trying to yell at the crowd but winning them over after a taping or two with her awkward attempt at things. Or it could be a big thing like Bo Dallas pushed as a top babyface for two years as the crowd slowly turned against him, until they were able to run with the delusional character that didn't realize it. Then when both came to the main roster, they came up fully developed without the work the fans needed to buy into what they were. Obviously, it wasn't going to be successful. The second is sabotage but that's another story.

You've picked up Mark Yeaton?

The problem is Jericho is a "not nearly as good as I wish he was" wrestler.

Parv. Look at this. This is what WWE.com does with its time now.

You and I will probably be low on the AJPW guys and high on arn anderson.

How is this note still going almost ten years later?

I've not nominated anyone as of yet, I don't think, but a guy I could potentially see towards the end of my list is Adrian Street. So I'm nominating him for discussion.

When I watch those Misawa and Kawada matches suggested to me in the other thread, I'll make sure to watch that one too. I did stick in the execute to desired effect bit in there too. I was going to go on about how a general "desired effect" might match up or not with my own desired effect and then my grand theory of Flair, but I've got to write about Larry Zbyzsko in Japan here.

The joke is: "No, no, you're thinking about Johnny." The statement I will say instead is: I value the outcome of one over the outcome of the other but think both are important. I am well on record in saying that the most important element of wrestling to me is "making moves matter." Understanding pro wrestling and then utilizing that understanding to a desired effect. It helps, as well, when that desired effect matches up with my own preferences, but I try to understand situations when it doesn't, so long as I feel that understanding is there from the other end.

Fuck it. I'm actually really frustrated that no one bit on this statement from before: That comment sort of made me feel it again.

I think this is a tough one to accurately compare without more complete Stampede footage.

The words Exile + Main Street have been linked in my mind for 30+ years. Apologies to Kris but when i link Badstreet its to USA. Main Street, Atlanta USA! Mainest street in the whole GA! Great show, guys. Can't wait to vote Sasha Banks top 25 on my WKO 100 ballot this year. She'll lose 100 places if she gets called up though. It's a structure/agency thing.

This may be a weird statement, but if I could say one thing to Flair, and the one thing that I think he'd want to hear the most, it wouldn't be that he was the best wrestler ever or had the most great matches or that I was a big fan or even how great Charlotte is. It'd be that they were crazy for not using him somehow on screen every week now.

I always found Flair's opening matwork to be pretty compelling too. Whether or not it means something or should mean something is a different matter, but he's usually pretty entertaining about it. There are different axes on the scale when it comes to matwork. Complexity or "tricked out"-ness is only one of them.

Because of this? http://kevineckwrestling.sportsblog.com/posts/2218634/to-truly-give-divas-a-chance--wwe-needs-to-give-them-better-creative.html

Sometimes if I read too much commentary from an author about his work or just in general, I can hear his too personal voice too clearly in his fiction. I have that problem with Jericho's matches, more so than any other wrestler I can think of.

Watch 1980 Portland

I don't want to be associated with Chad, Pete, or the Young Bucks. Matt Denton On the Boards I'm okay with, because at least he's skilled at what he does.

If Dylan is wrestling with culture, he's probably losing on points.

I absolutely loved the Breaks I saw. I need to make time for this somehow.