Matt D

A WWF match, boys and girls:

Thanks for the nudge. I think we're still aiming for post-thanksgiving for a truly yuletide feel but maybe I'll try to set us up in the week or two prior so we can hit the ground running.

Teaming with LeDuc too. Do we have LeDuc earlier than 74?

Are ALL of these new? I can't remember if I've seen that AWA footage. Khawk? Kelly(on the MSG match)? Texas Rasslin’ 06/17/1952 – Legendary Lou NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz puts his title on the line against the dangerous Wild Bill Longson. WWWF @ MSG 01/31/1972 – The Great Gotch Karl Gotch makes his impact felt on U.S. soil when he teams with Rene Goulet to face The Rugged Russians at Madison Square Garden. Championship Wrestling from Florida 11/12/1974 – Oklahoma’s Favorite Son The highly revered Danny Hodge joins forces with wild man Jos Leduc to battle the dastardly duo of Pak Song and Toru Tanaka. Stampede Wrestling 08/12/1983 – Japanese Pride Before becoming one of Japan’s most controversial figures in MMA, Nobuhiko Takada traveled to Canada to face Athol Foley. AWA 10/18/1984 – To Catch a Model Billy Robinson, accompanied to the ring by WWE Hall of Famer Lord Alfred Hayes, takes on Rick Martel in this contest from Canada.

And does it even matter since it was about sports and not anything to do with whatever they were presenting? I don't think the crowd bought the attempts to turn it towards Cena. They were still booing, but they weren't booing that.

The fact of the matter is that he's the only guy in wrestling who is going to do stuff like this week in and week out. Maybe he can't hit as many spots as quickly as before, but you can go back or forward ten years and you'll probably have nothing like this on a regular basis: He pretends to steal the guy's phone. How great is that?

It's always possible they might have footage from one of the Mexico City house shows over the years where he was featured prominently. That would be fun at least.

Worth noting that next month is a Rey Mysterio collection.

I want to see more research on Johnson. He came off as a big deal in the 78 Houston footage. Likewise in 81 Portland. And obviously he got a really big push in Memphis. I'm pretty sure he was pushed heavily at times in Florida too.

Hell I thought the Toxin match from yesterday (it's on youtube) was a lot of fun, including some moments of real deftness (on top of the character bits and smart, focused storytelling).

The idea, in part, is that WWE can use these five years to tap global markets (especially India and China) in a way they're just starting to.

You guys still matter to me!

Popularity as a NXT trainer? So long as he only shows up on TV 1-3 times a year, he'll always get a pop because it'll feel special.

Between work and some stuff at home I've had next to no time lately. I'm watching the bare minimum right now, just enough to keep up with Phil and Eric for New Footage Fridays over at Segunda Caida.

I bet you guys are high on Dean Malenko too.

Look, at least they did something.

A lot of it was that Brock was always around and everyone else just became gatekeepers/stand-ins for him.

Also, look, part of the problem is me. At the end of the day, they're bulletproof. They're rolling in the TV rights now. They have the Saudi government paying them up the wahoo. They're expanding into new markets in new ways. So the answer to this is that nothing matters. But, it's really hard to figure out what the hell they're trying to do and what they think they're going to accomplish over time. You can look at 98/99 WCW and everything at least makes sense. The ending of the streak makes sense. Nash putting the belt on him makes sense. Hogan taking it makes sense. Savage, DDP, whatever. Even the stupid stuff Russo tried, you at least get what he was trying to accomplish. The politics are decipherable. With this, it's crazy political hit conspiracies on top of pleasing the Saudis on top of Vince's stubbornness on top of a three year plan which has to be bs, because it just has to be, because it makes no sense, with a wellness violation and the year of Authority Rollins and grumpy Brock and Goldberg inexplicably getting superover and did I mention political hits and Hunter after Reigns actually got over due to Vince and Sheamus? We study this stuff over multiple decades and companies and bookers and this is like playing chess with a moron playing checkers and trying to figure out what the hell he's trying to do (and somehow he's still winning!).

Are you still doing that corner dropkick spot?

It might actually benefit all of them to use Reigns sparingly for a little while.

The Brock reign? Sure. The rest of this backwards bs? I have a feeling we're all going to be sitting here in 12 months frustrated out of our skulls still.

The fact that people are amazed and rejoicing that Vince actually got people to pop for Roman beating Brock like it was some act of genius just shows how thoroughly the goalposts have been moved here. This isn't how wrestling is supposed to work. This isn't how anything where planning can actually happen should work. All of this stuff is so inherently broken that we're celebrating the fact that it wasn't a complete disaster.

Oh good, a banana peel. I'm sure this will work out well for them in the long-term. Or, you know, tomorrow.

I also mocked Corbin's gear if it's any help? Balor's chest tongue was terrible too. Everything is stupid, apparently.

Oh, cool. When Ronda's wearing the demon make-up, she can squash people too.