Matt D

Sorry guys, got a big caught up in things. Microstatistics and aaeeoo are stepping off. I think we'll revisit things a bit after this week, make sure that we all want to move forward. For now, we've got 10 still, which is a pretty good number for this. We might see some dupes in here starting now though not many (I think this is the second match that cad gave headcheese for instance): NotJayTabb boss rock Jetlag joe g Matt D NintendoLogic Tim Evans SirEdger cad Headcheese @NintendoLogic Did you catch this newly uncovered handheld when it popped up last year?

Initially, I had taken Kaoru to be younger and less experienced than she actually was, and that colored the two areas of the match which are a little problematic (being the opening and the abruptness of the finish) as better in my eyes initially. So far as I'm lacking context, I'm going to continue to be kind to them, however. I enjoy matches that are presented like puzzle boxes, the idea of "How is wrestler X going to deal with situation Y?" and a lot of times, situation Y is a wrestler that's bigger/stronger/more dominant/more established. It's one reason why I'm so disappointed with so many Brock matches that devolve into the suplexes within the first minute (and one reason I loved the start of the Joe vs Brock match so much). It's the most enjoyable part about later Hansen matches or the Aja Kong GAEA matches I saw. Obviously, that's at play here as Kaoru rushes in and assaults Hokuto before the bell. She DOES hit a few bombs right off the bat, but there's also a strange nonchalance to her stomps. Honestly, if you look at what she actually hits, it's a kick out of nowhere, the stomps, the dive which isn't super clean, a slam, a moonsault. Most of that stuff would have a big impact on a wrestler later into a match, but maybe less so on one that's fresh. We're not looking at a bunch of headdrops or postings or power bombs. Even the moonsault, when you think about the physics of it, may be something that'll knock the wind out of a battered opponent more than doing damage to a fresh one. It was all effective in keeping Hokuto on her toes and unable to fire back, but none of it was going to do enough damage to really knock her for a loop. When Kaoru got too cute about it with the springboard (which is a high risk-high reward sort of move), Hokuto yanked her off the ropes like someone swatting a fly. She was more pissed off than hurt and I thought that was both believable and effective. From a kayfabe perspective, Kaoru had a good idea but poor execution. Honestly, I thought the selling was perfectly appropriate as the match went on after that. There was a lot of cumulative damage. Except for one run towards the end, Karou was just trying to contain Hokuto however she could. Again, at first watch, I thought Karou was a bit younger/less seasoned than she was, and the end stretch and kick-outs felt like a pretty effective way of getting her over as tough, even though she was going to fall to one move too many. Now, I'm a bit iffier on it, but just a bit. I get the sense that I might not enjoy other Hokuto or Karou matches from this period, but I thought this held up pretty well for what it was.

Going to reroll tomorrow (and write up my match, which I did enjoy). MS is off. Anyone else? And hey, if anyone jumps on, just let me know. It's been a bit of a bumpy board week so we can all give each other matches and feel better about things.

As aggravating as the last couple of years of Lesnar have been, if Brock (or Ronda) played a role in the TV/Saudi deals, he's worth every cent and at least the short and medium-term damage of having a part-timer as your dominant champion. Frankly, for as many good matches and programs as he's had and how reliable he is to carry TV time, I wonder how much a guy like Styles (let alone a potential Omega) helps the company's bottom line. It's so hard to tell what makes any difference business-wise these days.

With their revenue effortlessly locked in as deeply as it is, I just don't see that happening. I could see them doing more petty things, though, which will lead to another few dozen threads like this over the next year or two.

I vaguely wonder if this correlates inversely with having a spouse, kid(s), and mortgage.

They're a bunch of oxymorons.

Where to even begin. Let's go around this circle again. 1. Bryan getting beat down on an almost weekly basis. 2. Them trying desperately to siphon the Yes chants onto Big Show, which actually worked for a few weeks until the actual match stunk. 3. Putting a ton of heat on Michaels even when they knew that there couldn't be any meaningful payoff to it. 4. The entirety of the Wyatts angle, which had a bunch of Bryan losing 5. The fact that it wasn't even "booking." Booking is when you do a bunch of things with a specific intent and that intent works out. This was a course correction that the fans forced upon them by rejecting Batista. The booking was to use Bryan to heat up Orton so that he'd be positioned for the unification match with Cena, and then leverage Batista's return into putting over Brock so that you can eventually get to Reigns. Along the way, they could use Bryan to help establish Wyatt for Cena too. On paper, it's not even that bad booking, though some of the week-to-week stuff was pretty rough. It's just that they completely misread the crowd and what they had on their hands.I'm pretty sure they thought Bryan was the world's best Eugene, a midcard act that was over for being an oddball and that could help put on some good matches with Orton. What they ended up getting instead blew up all their plans.

Personally, I'd go all the way back to Dusty being on the road too much, but that's just me.

This has been an unmitigated disaster. I say we just close this thread and just never speak of this company again. Maybe WWE will go back to Saudi Arabia again soon or something and we can talk about that.

All of the shit we cared about so much as kids made sense almost solely because of him.

I'm barely paying attention to this stuff (look, I'm about 500% more excited by the fact that I found a bunch of 2007 Dustin Rhodes on Highspots that wasn't on anyone's radar, even if I don't plan on actually getting it, than anything to do with AEW), but this does remind me a little of the disclaimer Marcy Wheeler puts at the bottom of every single one of her posts on the Mueller investigation on her blog (which is probably comparable in relative legitimacy to what Dave does, if you really squint), because she provided some evidence to the FBI at some point. It feels just a little like overkill or even self-aggrandizing but it also provides a buffer. "As I disclosed in July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post." It probably wouldn't kill him to put something like that in the Observer or at the end of the daily updates or what not, just for the sake of transparency.

This is annoyingly filmed but the most complete version online.

@Microstatistics This was a little tough actually. I know as of a few years ago, you hadn't seen much Virus or Jim Breaks/WoS. Those are two people in my GWE top 10. But I decided I'd go easy on you since I know you've got a lot on your place. .... Or not. The Virus vs Valiente lightning match from 2009 is no longer online. Something with meat on the bone then. Here's one of the very best CMLL matches of 2014 then (if not the best):

Ok guys. Let's take this into 2019. cad Tim Evans joe g boss rock Jetlag SirEdger Matt D Microstatistics NintendoLogic aaeeoo_ Headcheese NotJayTabb I think these are new pairings. Micro, I'll get something to you tomorrow. Remember, even if you can't hit your own match immediately or are behind, get your partner something. Happy New Year, guys.

I'll be honest that I haven't seen as much Yokota and Asuka as I probably should have. A lot of the 80s AJW stuff I've seen is the Nagayo vs Dump stuff, and while Asuka's on the side of that, it's not quite the same. Therefore, this lost a little big of significance to me. Thankfully, it's so direct and impactful, it didn't really need it. By this point, these were past the point of fully formed to be almost transcendent. Asuka had this air of danger to her, like she could sneak a kick in at any moment, do damage, and turn the tide of the match. Just a dominant force. Yokota was almost preternaturally smooth on the other hand. The opening agility demonstration, while probably rote for her, seemed akin magic while never feeling like an exhibition. Her consistent selling of the arm for most of the match was great too. It's a shame she dropped it in the stretch, as it would have added to her first failed attempt to hit the double-underhook pile-driver for instance. That sort of goes back to what the point of the limb selling is. Is it just to kill time? Is it to garner sympathy? Is it part of a larger attempt at storytelling? If it was the latter, she missed an opportunity or two to tie it up with a bow, even after Asuka had moved on to other things. The stretch might have played upon their matches from years past but it didn't really call back to the match they had been wrestling up until now. It was great action, but lacking resonance. I really did like everything leading up to it though. (One interesting thing here is that PeteF3 watched this match almost as blind as I did back in 2015 and he came out of it wanting to see more of Yokota's smoothness and agility. I came out of this wanting to see more 90s Asuka crushing people).

@SirEdger @aaeo_, Are you two back on? I'm rerolling tomorrow (and I'll write up my match too). Anyone need to hop off?

Do you think they might have the full Flair vs Bockwinkel match?

Just at a glance, Greg vs Curt seems really cool. Larry is strapped to Verne.

Ok, think I've got it. Edger and aaeeo off for a week. Tim's on. Think I have fresh pairings on the second randomize. Jetlag Matt D joe g Microstatistics NotJayTabb Tim Evans Headcheese NintendoLogic boss rock cad Jetlag, you're a hard man to find stuff for, but give me until tomorrow and I'll work something out. Merry X-Mas everyone.

Let's all do this for Thanksgiving next year.

Some people are just sneaking in here, but I do plan to reroll tomorrow. Let me know if anyone is jumping on or jumping off.

ECW tomorrow, then it's just 87 AWA and 85 PWUSA left, right?

NotJayTabb (and I ask here "If not Jay Tabb, then who?") Gave me a 1987 Reslo match: Fit Finlay and Dave Duncan vs Orig 'El Bandito" Williams and "Guy they got off the street" Geraint Clwyd. This was your Big Daddy special, just without someone quite the caliber of Roy Regal or Sammy Lee. The first fall was primarily Duncan in the ring destroying Clwyd and Finlay on the outside directing traffic and tossing an errant limb into the ring to be used as a prop any time poor Clwyd got anywhere near the corner. I haven't seen a ton of Williams, though I have read his autobiography which is unbelievable, entertaining, and carny and kind of sad towards the end given how much hope he rested on the gargantuan shoulders of Mason Ryan. The pop when Duncan finally makes a tag is massive. It's one of those crowd reactions that just lights you up and puts a smile on your face. I love that almost immediately thereafter, now that it was Finaly's time to be in the ring, Clwyd is tagged right back in, as if Williams promised his mother that he'd get as much ringtime as possible. He ends up getting one goal, a brave dropkick, before losing to Finlay 32-1. It all goes rather quickly from there. Anyway, I was glad to have seen this both for Finlay and friend demolishing a barely overglorified living training dummy (wrestling buddy?) and for the crowd coming unglued for Williams. Thanks for the match.

Bock vs Hennig is tremendous, especially the post-match but the whole thing.