Matt D

There's a pretty fun Mid-Atlantic match on youtube vs the Masked Superstar which isn't a lot of action but the crowd is so hot for it that every time the two guys touch they go nuts.

Vulnerable heel champ matches where the face isn't taking the title.

I probably need to cool it on the "Arn Anderson, super-agent" thing.

I should go back to archive.org and find that write-up. Can't have it lost from (to?) the annals of time. For Will's sake, I will not discuss that match again until we see how it ranks.

I rewatched the 6-person tag with Despina and Sherri since I know people had that high. I like everything but the FIP on Michaels, which is well worked but doesn't have the involvement of Sherri at all. It's weird since she's all over both the transition in the corner and the second FIP leading to both hope spots and the eventual hot tag in a really big moment. It's not a match killer but it took me out of it enough that it's going to be just under my top third I think,

Everything I've read from Dave makes me thinks that he feels like Edge, Angle, and Michaels are both better workers and better big match workers. Everything. The things that Cena does well aren't the things that he values the most.

Was he talking in terms of a box office draw or atmosphere though? I'd certainly say I've looked forward o Angle / Michaels matches far more than Cena's - and those two more regularly delivered the goods in the ring as well. Depends on your definition of goods. There's a whole note about Cena. Go find it and read it. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?showtopic=20910 Here, then at least you can start a discussion with us from the same starting point since we already got this far with it.

At the very least, there's a lot going on right now. There's a sense that things "matter" in a way that I'm not sure I've seen in a couple of years at least and they've kept it going for a relatively lengthy time. More than that, it almost seems like they have a plan. These are all good things.

I tried googling that book and couldn't find it, btw.

Not saving Miz IS the right thing to do.

Islanders is the missing turned WWF team. Someday I will watch a bunch of their matches since they apparently hold up. As for obscure, great Bret matches in the early 90s, the place to look isn't the CVs but the MSG/Boston garden shows. I have a lot of fun living in the opportunity world where Barry is the best ever.

My initial guess is that it will be like the Wahoo vs Bock match to me. High on the intensity, relatively weak on the micro building the macro. Bloody. Top third but nothing I am very excited about. But it was the first thing I saw so I might feel very different on a rewatch. I like brawls more than title mtaches so far. I am still a week or two out from buying the set.

I'm 40 mins in and it'll be a spotty journey the rest of the way. I'm not going to either defend Neidhart or bash the Road Warriors. I'm too lazy and apathetic for the one and for the other there's an "aura" thing which really can't exist for someone who didn't start watching wrestling til 90-91. I do want to talk about the tag teams/crusierweight thing. To me that all comes back to meaningless depth. The reason why tag teams were more highly presented in Crockett was two fold. You can't overlook that Mid-Atlantic was traditionally a tag team on top territory so there were fans (and even announcers like Johnny Weaver) who bled that sort of thing. Past that though, they pushed tag teams on top more or let the tag teams interact with the top guys because they had to. Cards were more fluid. The roster was smaller. WWF would have things far more structured throughout the year while Crockett had cards that looked wildly different two nights in a row. There was a lot more need to shake things up than in the WWF.

I look forward to finding something else to harp upon.

I think the biggest problem is the number of PPVs and especially the fact that Hell in a Cell is upcoming. That said the build to Night of Champions wasn't exactly well balanced and overly smart.

The flip side is that if Bryan had the belt, he would have a legitimate claim to being the face of the WWE. It wasn't just that Orton was their handpicked champion, it was that Bryan DID NOT have the title, because that would be "bad for business."

Yes, well, I don't quite understand why he has the belt now. And I absolutely think he should have a No Way Out sort of cage match with HHH to get into the Rumble or something. I've said that before. I think the end goal has to be winning the belt in a meaningful way though.

It's not just having the belt. It's having the belt in this specific angle where the idea presented in the storyline is that Orton is the face of the WWE since he has the belt.

Do you really not see how having the belt matters? I guess I could see an argument for dovetailing this and having the belt held up with Hunter using BS to win it himself and then having that be the endgame, but I think being champion and thus "the face of WWE" is more important than pinning Hunter.

He gets revenge on HHH by being the champion and holding on to it and becoming the new face of the WWE, by proving that either A> he's what's best for business or B> that there are things that are more powerful and matter more like fighting spirit and staying true to yourself. So what if he beats him up. Bryan only wins if he changes the system.

Wrestling is always four years behind, at least. The fans are used to it. Add in the southern/conservative (socially not politically) WCW fan base and sure, why the hell not?

I'm probably just a moron for thinking the belt at Mania should be a bigger endgame than HHH in 2013-2014. Vince wasn't even the endgame for Austin.

Scott Armstrong was the official referee of the match. He took a bump towards the end but came back for the finishing sequence woozy. He made a clear fast count after Bryan hit the knee for the win. I think they're (HHH/regime, etc.) going to say Armstrong was unfit to officiate and suffered a concussion or some type of injury during his bump or something to hand the title back to Orton. What would be best if this was the start of an Armstrong/Rhodes alliance. If only Brad wasn't dead. And Road Dogg could be in the middle between his family and Hunter.

Actually, I think that's how Cody gets his job back. Even though it makes no sense timeline wise. I think the "business" Steph wants him to do is to announce the Dusty Finish himself.

I suggest everyone give up now and watch the Andre match. It was great. I'm going to watch something else instead of RVD forgetting to sell six minutes of limb work since it's his turn on offense.