Matt D

They can buy it so no one else shows it and thus gets a terrible idea of what sports entertainment is. It's like how we pay farmers not to farm.

Considering how much work Martel seemed to put into his comeback, I don't think his leaving the business was totally his call. He seemed to even regret going so deep into real estate in the early 90s though obviously it worked out for him in the end.

Have you seen the 1979-80 Portland stuff from Piper? It's really a revelation.

Thanks for sending this. I read through about the first half on my commute in and it was pretty interesting. you can really see how the regulations (like wrestling not be allowed on TV in Mexico City) shaped the industry. I'd really love to hear more about the wrestlers' union.

Tito Santana is the guy that every wrestler talks about.

It might be worth it just for a public bonfire.

Mocho Cota is totally on my list, whatever it is.

If we're turning this into a Q+A thread, how did people follow things in mexico in the 80s? There are definitely storylines where one match leads to the other and what not. Did big newspapers report on things? What were the lucha mags like? The Apter mags is our general point of reference. What was the format of weekly TV like? Do we have any idea of how big ratings were? Etc.

Seriously, feel free to write long rants. That was very helpful. Thanks.

I actually thought that they should have put the Wyatts against Bryan the night after Summerslam to get him away from Orton but it's just a hilarious notion now.

I think a lot of that is us not them. I'm not sure there are five wrestlers in the world that I'd rather see over Goldust. Wrestling is a craft. So long as you're not totally unable to physically function, being older often just means you're better at understanding it. I think there were rarely promotions in all of wrestling history where on average the 28 year olds were better than the 38 year olds.

Fuck, most of us would rather them push pre-heart attack (and even post maybe) Lawler over the entire roster. Or Finlay. Or Regal. We like old wrestlers who are amazing. We like watching old Wahoo and old Bock in the 80s and plenty of people on the board think the best wrestlers in the world right now are 50+ lucha guys. I don't have WWE stock. I want to watch Dustin Rhodes get a ton of TV time and be awesome. They can screw everything else up but that and honestly? They'd STILL have a better batting average than at other various points of my life.

Geez, in the span of about three months in 1980, Portland loses Martel, Piper, Wiskowski, Rip Rogers and the Sheepherders. At this point the faces are basically Jonthan Boyd, Mike Popovich, and Joe Lightfoot, with Dutch Savage "injured" and semi-retired. The army is Rose, a newly debuted Rip Oliver and Cortez the Cuban. And the Popovich thing is about to explode in Portland's face. Are there drawing figures from this era? I'd love to see if Buddy can hold the fort down.

Do we know who's the lead creative voice on NXT now? There's a lot that they really do well like setting up matches for the next week and seeding future feuds.

I'd love to hear Kris' take on the question, then. I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing the background he adds on the lucha podcasts so far and it's been as big help. Likewise, I'd like to hear more from Childs since he raised the question.

My real pie in the sky stuff would be them having Regal go Mr. Wrestling II heel on Bryan for a few months, but obviously we're not getting that.

What I'm hearing from OJ here is that any title match at seems particularly heated or aggressive or intense or anything that's not, you know, Rheingans vs Martel with the world's biggest stakes (and I say that as someone who could appreciate it as much as the next guy and more if the next guy is some of you), is an outlier and exception and not really indicative of most title matches.

and then Edge!

When does Sheamus come back? HE'd be a good heel opponent for Bryan for a few months.

He had a hand in the FCW booking though, right? That's what Naylor was his assistant on, no?

So do title matches just suck then, or what? You're very good at making lucha not nearly as fun, you know. I swear it's some sort of karmic thing getting back at me for my past transgressions.

Does Dusty book NXT or is it the Junior version of the normal WWE writers? I do sort of hope we get the Bryan/Punk Mega-Powers I wanted last year after Mania.

We're burned every single year after the summer story gets us all drawn in. At least we get a ton of really good matches out of things this year and a very unexpected Goldust return.

They could add Heyman to the Authority and toss Ryback at Bryan. It's a shame that the Real Americans aren't built up more.

Alright, what about Bryan then?