Matt D

I'm now much more interested in figuring out who the best in-ring wrestler in the WWF in 1993 was than any direct comparisons. (I doubt Michaels would be in my top 5, from either an input or output perspective. I'd probably have Borne, Bret, Yoko, Kid over him easily. Maybe Hennig too).

I'm certainly not saying someone can't have an opinion the match without any other supplementary material, but anyone who cares enough to have an opinion that's lasted 20 years really ought to listen to the recent podcast where they talk about the match, including that very specific issue and their own reluctance when it was told to them that it was happening.

Roode is a really good house show worker. He's just a lot less of a TV/PPV worker.

Headcheese, I'll take laz' match (assuming you didn't pick something for him specifically) and give you this: One of the best, funniest midget matches we have on tape. Astroboy, happy to watch that. Here's yours. One of the best Super Astro matches we have on tape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxrDvBYenI Solar, Ultraman y Super Astro vs. Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco y Rudy Reyna

Do you think that also current wrestlers think in this way? I know current wrestlers love Randy Orton because he's apparently very easy to work with (though occasionally hard to get to take a risk). The whole "Working with him is like a night off" mentality. That's obviously a metric that we as fans would almost never really rate someone on. Likewise, Christian and the fact he never got blown up no matter what you wanted to do.

Guys like Angle and Brock are so beloved by old-timers because wrestlers are marks. They give everyone who ever wrestled more of a sense of faux legitimacy. Bryan on the other hand generally looks like a guy off the street and hates to party.

I think I took you off for a week as requested and then tossed you back on (but work and home have been busy here too so I might have slipped). Anyway, I'm happy to double with HeadCheese this week. I'll have a match for him and Astroboy today.

Salvator Mundi?

The Pat O’Connor match is the best and the worst of Murdoch rolled into one.

The NXT taping sheet from last week that leaked out had Michaels and Taylor producing the Gargano match. I am going to infer that Michaels had a hand in this, as I first thought, and reiterate how I have always said that Michaels would be a better director than an actor because he lacked emotional subtlety and range. He had ideas in his late career that transcended most wrestling matches in a way that leaned towards the WWE cinematic ideal, but lacked the ability to execute them.

If you set up an expectation in your fan base, it is your fault if people are disappointed.

I always assume he just replaced Ty as the player-coach.

I get where you're coming from but it is vaguely problematic that this was the payoffs to one of the only planned and built up surprises on the show, that it helped to buried the tag champs (and thus the belts), after Braun already went over the entire division in a battle royal, after they've done a decent enough job of keeping the belts at least sort of meaningful for the last couple of years. It also took ages for Braun to go get the kid which would have been fine on the pre-show but was death so late in the show.

Workrate über alles

Ladder match had a five minute dead zone in the middle that brought it down and made it feel never ending. Itwas fine for what it was and can be judged for what it was but I think that period brings it down.

Intensity and Intelligence, I think. They leave integrity at the door.

Week 15. AstroBoy back on. Winged Eagle off for two weeks. dawho5 oldbirds HeadCheese laz Jmare007 jetlag DR Ackerman shodate rah Richeyedwards joeg siredgar Matt D AstroBoy Nintendo Logic Tim Evans

It's too bad we don't have more NXT house show fancams.

With both Striker and Mauro the issue is their smarkiness. They're basically the worst stereotype of a 1999 online wrestling fan given the power to spout off about it in a legitimized, national setting. I see absolutely no difference between their excesses.

Stakes are everything in wrestling.

It takes a long time for people to learn how to work their size effectively, apparently.

I don't know. For one thing, it means they trust Rusev to take Taker's stuff and MAYBE get some in on himself. They also trust him to work a convoluted match like a Casket Match. They see him as big enough, relative to their other options, to stand with Taker in a featured spot to a degree. I imagine if he has to travel all the way there, he'd much rather be in this match than just be in the Royal Rumble, payday aside. Plus, you know he and English are going to have a lot of fun with promos and things to build it up.