Matt D

This is well worth reading: https://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18802068/oral-history-wrestlemania-3-randy-savage-vs-ricky-dragon-steamboat

Lots of metrics to think about. For instance, he was featured in one way or another in SNME I, III, IV, VI, VII, IX, X, and XI). I'm not going to REALLY look at it, but at a glance I think that's second to only Hogan in those 11 shows.

Steamboat was an important cog in WWF and a lot of that was about The Karate Kid and not necessarily his body.

Nicieza's character development of Zemo in the back half of Thundbolts v1 is one of the most interesting bits of writing you'll get out of Marvel in that period.

I'll have some time for a tiny bit of 21st century wrestling in 2023, maybe. We can pencil this in for June.

Some of the most fun I’ve ever had in wrestling was watching the Shane match as it happened with you guys on the board. https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/33777-wrestle-mania-32-live-as-it-happens/?page=10

I think the real joy of Earth X was in the previews/Wizard and the guidebook/handbook, just seeing the sketches and learning about the world they mapped out. As a teenager, I enjoyed that way more than reading the actual story. Kingdom Come, on the other hand, work as both a story and that. With Kingdom Come, there were so many tiny background characters that actually had fleshed out backstories and personalities that you could only learn about through secondary media.

Anyway, definitely exploring a bunch of Pat Patterson 1980 TV matches, IWE Mighty Inoue, and whatever Caswell Martin I can find.

Cena sure sold a lot. But I can see how Dave might have missed that?

I am not promising to do it during this calendar year, necessarily (We have a bunch of years ahead of us) but having forced this zine into the world, I would be willing to write two sorts of articles now and again: "The Case For" and "The Case Against". As in "The Case for Negro Casas" and "The Case Against Brock Lesnar"

I watched 3 TV matches between Pat Patterson and Johnny Rodz from 1980 last night. I'm not 100% sure I would have done that if I wasn't thinking about this stuff. But I'm also in the middle of a comprehensive 1989 AJPW (as in everything) watch and I'm not about to stop watching whatever Shinichi Nakano vs Isao Takagi handheld match (hypothetical, that doesn't actually exist) I would have watched as part of that for this even though neither would make my list. I think it's additive and not subtractive right now, is what I'd say.

SNL would make sense like that.

Cowards.

People could probably get access to every year of WCW SN for $20? And not just like six episodes of 93 for $10?

My first thought was to do a skit with Hornswoggle as Cheatum, but now I think they should lean into it and just hire Maffew to produce a video for them. Nothing would make the fans feel more heard and part of the act.

I would go out on a limb and say that Christian from 09-11 is one of the best TV workers of all time. But it's just three years, tops, definitely not the attitude era. Again, I hope he gets a hell of a run here.

Obviously he doesn't live up to the hype (and it's not on the board to say "Who realistically would be better!" it's on AEW not to make claims they can't back up). It's completely mad to think he might. He's now the person on the AEW roster that I want to see wrestle the most though. If he's really healthy, and he has opportunities and is treated like a big deal, he could have a sort of a Bock in 81 (when he was 47 too) level run. He was 102 on the GWE list and I hated that he didn't make the top 100. I hope this gives him the chance to have some great matches, to work with the roster, to get elevated to a point where a couple of years from now, he does feel like a bigger deal than just being Edge's far, far superior second banana and the greatest Ace of WWE's bastard stepchild C brand imaginable.

Paige’s brother.

I'm not watching. What's the crowd situation like?

Angle sucks.

I’ll introduce you to his Journey into Mystery later.

Gillen’s X-Men > Morrison’s X-Men

A mega star is someone that transcends wrestling and goes into pop culture, someone my wife or parents may have heard of. I assure you my wife has never heard of Christian. She may know "that guy from Vikings," though. She definitely knows Drax. Christian is, in ring, my favorite "ace" in WWE history. His year on top in WWECW basically helped me get back into wrestling after I dropped off in 07. I think he's the absolute master of learned psychology in week-to-week TV matches and an evolution of Bret in switching around set moves and spots to create unique narratives that build upon one another. In listening to the Edge and Christian podcast and the questions he'd ask other wrestlers or the conversations he'd have with a guy like Randy Orton, it's obvious that while Edge was far, far more worldly and better read and had broad tastes, that Christian was a wrestling genius savant and the far superior wrestling mind. Basically, we get what you're saying. We understand the argument you're making. You don't seem to be understanding what we're saying. Instead, you're going out of your way to be flabbergasted. I hope you're right. I'd love to see Christian get a great paycheck, have some matches against fresh opponents where he's treated with respect and given time, maybe spread some knowledge in a quasi-agent role and help the AEW guys put together interesting matches. That still doesn't mean he's a megastar. Or even a big star.

Marty wants to rave about a show and we're all talking about whether or not Christian (as much as we love him) is a major star. Rey and Psicosis are off having a great match and everyone's babbling about Brian Adams joining the NWO out of nowhere. Monday night wars.

So... what's Nikki Bella up to?