Matt D

Star ratings for Dustin matches (WCW PPVs+Clashes): Dustin Rhodes vs. Buddy Landel = *1/4 Dustin Rhodes vs. Terrance Taylor (w/Alexandra York & Mr. Hughes) = ** Dustin Rhodes vs. Terrance Taylor (w/Alexandra York & Mr. Hughes) = *3/4 Six Man Tag Team Elimination: Dustin Rhodes & The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Badstreet, Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) (w/Big Daddy Dink) = *1/4 WCW World Television Title: Steve Austin © vs. Dustin Rhodes = ***1/2 WCW World Tag Team Title: Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (w/Barry Windham) vs. The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) © = ****1/4 Lethal Lottery Tag Team: Dustin Rhodes & Richard Morton vs. El Gigante & Larry Zbyszko (w/Madusa) =3/4* Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby & Larry Zbyszko) (w/Paul E. Dangerously) = **** Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin = ***3/4 War Games: Sting's Squadron (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat & Sting) vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude & Steve Austin) (w/Madusa & Paul E. Dangerously) = ***** NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson & Beautiful Bobby = ***1/4 Six Man Tag Team Match (Special Referee: Ole Anderson): Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby & Steve Austin) (w/Paul E. Dangerously) = **3/4 NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Quarter Final Match #3: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin = *1/4 NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Semi Final Match #2: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shinya Hashimoto = ** NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Final Match (vakant): Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes = 3/4* Butch Reed & The Barbarian vs. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes = ** NWA/WCW Unified World Tag Team Title: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes © vs. Steve Austin & Steve Williams = *** NWA/WCW Unified World Tag Team Title: Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes © = **1/2 Battle Bowl Qualifying: Big Van Vader & Dustin Rhodes (w/Harley Race) vs. Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian = * Six Man Tag Team Steel Cage: Cactus Jack, Dustin Rhodes & Sting vs. Barry Windham, Big Van Vader & Paul Orndorff = ***1/4 WCW United States Heavyweight Title: Dustin Rhodes © vs. Maxx Payne = -1/2* Paul Orndorff & Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes & Kensuke Sasaki = ** Big Van Vader, Rick Rude & Sid Vicious (w/Col. Robert Parker & Harley Race) vs. Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes & Sting = *** WCW United States Heavyweight Title Thirty Minute Iron Man Match (vakant): Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude = ** Dustin Rhodes & Road Warrior Hawk vs. Rick Rude & The Equalizer = 1/2* War Games: Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, Sting & The Shockmaster (w/Road Warrior Animal) vs. Harlem Heat (Kane & Kole), Big Van Vader & Sid Vicious (w/Col. Robert Parker & Harley Race) = *1/2 WCW United States Heavyweight Title: Dustin Rhodes © vs. Steve Austin = **3/4 WCW United States Heavyweight Title: Dustin Rhodes (w/Dusty Rhodes) © vs. Paul Orndorff (w/The Assassin) = *1/4 BattleBowl Tag Team Match #4: Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs. Awesome Kong & The Equalizer = -*** WCW United States Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls: Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Dustin Rhodes © = ** WCW World Television Title: Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) © vs. Dustin Rhodes = * ThunderCage Six Man Tag Team: Dustin Rhodes, Flyin' Brian & Sting vs. Paul Orndorff, Rick Rude & Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker) = ****1/4 Bunkhouse: Bunkhouse Buck (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Dustin Rhodes = **** Bullrope: Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (w/Col. Robert Parker) = *1/2 Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Arn Anderson & Dustin Rhodes = *** Dustin Rhodes & Dusty Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk (w/Col. Robert Parker & Meng) =**1/2 War Games: Dustin Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes & The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) vs. Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Col. Robert Parker & Terry Funk (w/Meng) = ***1/4 Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson (w/Col. Robert Parker & Meng) = ***1/4 Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Dustin Rhodes = ***1/2 Blacktop Bully (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Dustin Rhodes = *1/4 King Of The Road: Blacktop Bully vs. Dustin Rhodes = -** Kind of weird curve there with a few blips here and there.

Orndorff is wonderfully delusional about his role in the history of the business.

The PWO Army.

Maybe we should be talking about the idea of progress instead?

Watch it when you get a chance. It's not hard to find and what's online is just an extended clip so it's only a few minutes. It's interesting though and would show you a bit of what you were looking for in that regard.

Have you ever seen the Pedro vs Fuji match from the mid 70s, Parv?

It's funny, because I know you guys have your stuff down as well as anyone on the internet, but at the same time, I kind of like that guy who makes a note full of talking points BEFORE filming the podcast and I kind of wish you'd do that too. Especially with a Mark Henry thing. Because maybe I want you to think about Henry vs Vader from when he was a rookie that might get overlooked or I think it's important to look at his babyface tag work with D-Lo and then later on with MVP to see if there's an interesting contrast there, ten years later, to see how he improved, etc. Those are just random examples, though. I also get that these podcasts aren't always for the 30 people who post regularly here but for the broader audience you have, so that changes how in depth you have to go and also that you have to hit talking points and discussions that we all know and have been over a dozen times that other people maybe have not.

If this was Johnny and not Parv doing this, we could be talking about F-Troop instead.

Alright, I guess there's no point to any of this anymore. Let's all just go home.

I do the same thing but for New Japan also. Then I get annoyed if my phone loses its place since I have to start over. TO BE FAIR, I did actually read the Jon Jones (that the right name?) stuff this week because of how it was presented, so I guess I'm a huge hypocrite or something.

There's something to that. You can watch late era Duggan or JYD and see what they do well and effectively and how they relate to the crowd and how and why the crowd relates to them. I think anyone on this website can easily explain why people were behind Warrior and it's even easier if you go back and watch the matches and pull out bits of evidence. Parv is doing this with Strongbow and the well seems empty. I imagine Parv is actively looking for something to cling on to and not just trying to further damn the guy here. He wants it to make sense.

I have a hard time placing EXACTLY when I started watching wrestling again in 98 since I really didn't totally dive in until the build up to Wrestlemania in Boston, but I distinctly remember this, so, maybe?

This is PWO where you never have to ask forgiveness for MMA ignorance.

Rush-Del Rio (no it's the UFC thing)

I really, truly feel that there's so much nuance in wrestling that I just missed out on completely when I was a teenager and in my early 20s and much more tuned into workrate. I've said it before, but what Benoit's death did to me was take me away from wrestling for a few years, and when i came back, the 96-06 period was really radioactive to me. I started a lot more of the stuff I grew up on and I started watching a lot more whole shows/months/etc and not just the big hyped matches and classics, and it hugely changed the way I thought about wrestling.

I think we're all a little like that when it comes to Dusty actually.

Totally. I want to relive everything in chronological order I want All American Wrestling. I want that Wrestling Spotlight show. I want Mania I want everything in chronological order. I am insane.

Why do they think people want WCCW so much? What a weird choice of all the territories. I honestly hope we get a bunch of random Canadian stuff to placate them because we're not getting a bunch of anything else.

I raised it over on DVDVR but one of the more interesting things Morton said yesterday is that you shouldn't take a somersault bump on a shot to the stomach like some guys do, but instead keel over realistically in order to make it seem more realistic and generate heat. I'm not always a proponent of "wrestling should be as realistic as possible," because I think it's symbolic, but this is a guy who made his living on getting support from the crowd saying it. Now, that's just a babyface talking and a lot of these pinball guys are heels.

I wish that Ricky Morton was a poster here. He'd enjoy himself. But then so would Austin.

Heyman running with a Nixon gimmick is the way to go.

There are things I like a lot about 95 WCW but they mostly involve the tag division and random Lightning Express vs Blue Bloods syndi matches.

Magnum TA. What could have been.