Matt D

I do think Vince has a couple of things going for him. One is an insane, probably quite literally, work ethic. The second is a bevy of ideas and, in general, an ability to think outside of the box when encountering something new. I think a lot of his outside partners he's worked with such as Ebersol or Andy Heyward would say as much. I think the fact he has such a quantity of ideas matters, as it helps to average out the quality.

Manny's whole shoot is awesome for how carny it is.

I think you guys are shooting in all the wrong directions. Hillbilly Jim: Someone who a lot of casuals know for various reasons including the cartoon and the WWF marketing machine but who was injured for most of his time in the WWF and never really had a lot of big programs or big anything. Huge exposure though.

Versatility is hugely important to me in a great wrestler. El Dandy was a guy who I was really looking forward to seeing a lot of and this only solidified that.

To your response to Redman's post: Wrestling is subjective. Totally okay that you feel how you do and it's validating to me that you've seen as much of the good as you have, even if you do think they are missing elements, since there are so many people out there who would not see that, and it's only through seeing multiple matches that it really comes to the forefront. It's one of those things you'd never know if you just looked out for Great Matches.

I'll post mine too. I will say that the first SNME match I think is absolutely brilliant. Also, it's a really tricky line. We have someone earlier in this note complaining heavily that Demolition gave way too much in the Twin Towers matches. For the story they were telling in these matches, I think they gave the Busters exactly what they should have. Also, it's been a few years since I've seen these and I've watched a lot of stuff since, so I'm not sure if I'd feel slightly different or not. I know I stand by the first match though. 5/89 7/89 9/89

I actually spit my coffee out at "There ain't no Phil Schneider show." It's too early for this crap.

This is what gave us the Attitude era, no? The rating was so bad that Vince shifted gears in a way he never had before. I think that's Foley's story at least.

I haven't heard everything yet but I'll comment on one thing. Re: me not giving credence to everything else in the Cage match, I do. Wrestling, however, is not something where you can take everything good and add it all up on a points system, not to me. How good the rest of the match is is actually part of what makes the terrible beginning so bad. It wouldn't be so bad if it was in a shit match. That it's in a match that should have been one of the greatest cage matches of all time is what it makes it so tragic and so terrible. Michaels basically digs himself so big a hole that no FIP performance and no heel beating can make up for it (not to mention things like Jannetty no selling the cage shot, etc). I hate the match so much not because there aren't great performances, but because they're completely ruined and invalidated. And even then I probably wouldn't hate it so much if they didn't run the same match a few weeks later without the glaring flaws so that I had it as a point of comparison. That's like salt into the wound. There's plenty more to say but that'll be in a few days.

Selling is a pretty major capability if you ask me.

Did you see the night after Mania Raws from this year or last year?

Don't worry Parv. I had a nice response about how we are occasionally on the same wavelength in some unexpected ways but I didn't think it had enough substance to actually post at the time. I'm looking forward to your opinions on the set, certainly.

This is PWO and we have a higher standard of avoiding personal attacks here than elsewhere so I shall mostly take the high road, but I think this seals the deal. For a very reasonable amount of money and the time it will take to watch 100 matches, I will be glad to participate. On the one hand, if I really find a lot that I like and broaden my views on an entire culture of wrestling, great, excellent. That's why I hang out here, right? A year and a half ago, I hadn't seen any Portland or AWA at all really. On the other, if I absolutely hate it and spend two months completely and honestly shitting on stuff that this grumpy dude right here loves? Hey, I can live with that too. Win, win. I'm in.

Buddy vs Martel - 5/17/80 - 2/3 Falls for the Title Buddy is still rocking the ridiculous white mask/wig. Some lady gives Martel flowers before the match. Oh man! It's so Buddy can destroy them. So carny. Sandy Barr throws the belt down in disgust. It's a ploy so Buddy can get in and ambush Martel who chases him but Rick gets the upper hand quickly and Buddy has to take a powder. Great start. The females in the crowd are erupting and Barr is still selling it like Rose committed some blasphemy. It finally settles down with Martel locking on a headlock but the crowd is still riotous. This is some of the most excited I've ever seen a crowd for an extended headlock, but Martel really grinds it in and Buddy's trying desperately to calm them down (Which just makes them stay loud, of course). Every time Buddy goes for Martel's hair or something we get more noise. Buddy pushes him off the ropes and they do this amazing dueling shoulder block/super-fast sunset flip spot. It's great. Then Martel locks back on the headlock. Did Martel pop the territory with females or something? I feel like I'm watching an 84 RnR match in mid south or something. They keep building to Buddy trying something and Martel doing something big (in this case a frankensteiner) before locking the headlock back on. This feels a lot more like AWA Martel with a base that they go in and out of and Buddy's a great foil for him. The crowd is hotter for Martel here than any AWA crowd I can think of which is a testament to how he's been booked, to Buddy, and to the Portland atmosphere. It's adding a lot to what would otherwise still be a very good first fall. Buddy finally gets out and goes for a dropkick but Martel catches him and I think Buddy does the most amazing sell of a catapult into the corner I've ever seen. Martel goes into the corner to come off with the headlock again but Buddy turns it into a back suplex. Buddy's hurting but takes over with his usual nice looking offense, focusing on the back. The fans are really rallying for Martel here. He hits a Calf Branding but does it into the square of the back instead of the head. Holy crap. Then a huge Robinson backbreaker and that's the fall and the fans are irate. GREAT first fall. Extremely straightforward but just absolutely beautiful pro wrestling. If that was the entire match it would be a great match. Second fall starts with Buddy hammering in on the back still (because that's how Portland falls work), including absolutely brutal kicks as Martel is up dangling in the corner. He ends up falling over the ropes and according to Bonnema hit the apron on the way down. Buddy keeps on the back using the ring post. Martel sells like a king. Buddy goes for an abdominal stretch but Martel reverses it. Buddy uses the hair to hip toss him off. Martel's selling huge so Buddy gets up first and starts right back on the spine, including a nice elbow drop, after which he pins him and counts along with the ref arrogantly. Buddy goes for a gutwrench suplex but Martel reverses it. Buddyis up first as Martel is selling but Martel reverses a front vertical suplex as well. Buddy is up first again but this time Martel's ready and he hammers Buddy with a forearm (selling the back afterwards) and then a whip into the corner (still selling), before unloading with fists. He hits a slam (and hey! he sells again). This lets Buddy get back up and try for a whip. Martel reverses it into the sleeper though! That's the fall. I loved the way Martel's comeback built and how he kept selling even to the point that it built into the finish. It was a short fall but it was great. Of course, Martel has to wake up Rose after the fall. Martel is a dick about it though. He finally does it with Buddy spasming accordingly. Third fall starts with Buddy screwing with the turnbuckle. Martel's still selling his back. The fans are shouting and pointing so Barr goes and checks it out. Martel kind of whips around the ring, never letting Rose out of his gaze to check it out too. It does give Rose the rest period he needs and he starts out on Martel only to get reversed into a backslide near fall. Martel unloads in the corner, is reversed in a whip, goes for a reverse body press off the ropes, but hits hard as Buddy ducks. Buddy starts on the back of the neck and then goes for HUGE punches but Martel reverses and they're slugging at each other in the corner now until Martel gets the upper hand. He hits a mare and goes for an elbow drop but misses. Buddy stomps the midsection and goes for a splash but lands on the knees. This is really back and forth but everything is measured and has weight. Martel hits a few shots to the midsection, tosses Buddy into the corner and locks on the sleeper again! Sheepherders come in, nail Barr, and then start on Martel with the flag. Piper and Dutch savage make the save. I don't know. I think this was probably a better match than the April one. I know that one's more highly touted but this was just a beautiful, beautiful match. The first fall was really tight and so well worked. The second fall had a great story that I loved and it was executed brilliantly and then the third fall had a less satisfying finish than the april match but was a more complete, exciting fall, if that makes sense. They're both amazing matches though.

My condition is that if I do the lucha set my reviews have to be read with Yakety Sax on in the background. I read what Will said as "You know, I don't think your money is worth putting up with you for three months," as kindly as possible. Alright, here's my compromise. If someone promises to do what khawk did over at DVDVR putting stuff into context, then I will absolutely do the set. I'd assume that'd be who? Phil? My post was not meant to discourage but I don't want you suffering either. If you aren't going to have fun watching lucha, what's the point in participating? I forget who it was at DVDVR years back who was shitting on every Texas match on the set and I thought to myself "this guy is a troll or is just torturing himself." In terms of context, you'll have Alfredo and Kris Z to give you context. I'll also do viewing podcasts with Kris as historian giving background and pointing out who the guys are. If nothing else, I am excited about the chance to learn about a topic I know so little about. It's a bit tricky to me. Narrative is so important to how I watch wrestling but people argue that this is something with its own set of conventions and, basically its own reality. Dylan doesn't but other people do. If that's the case, I should be mindful of that. By that logic, though, there's no reason why we shouldn't look at all wrestling that way and then I should be a lot kinder to indy spotfests that aren't very mindful of narrative and I can't quite manage that. I think I might be able to with 80s lucha since it's more esoteric? I have no idea though.

I actually paused the podcast and went to youtube to see if there was anything there for Orton/Slater too. The Brody stuff was a little painful.

I think you see it as the sign of a Tier 3 guy and not a Tier 2 one.