Matt D

Instead of Sunny and the fake Clinton, they could do Stormy.

The problem is how to do it. You can release episodes of WCCW or Mid-Atlantic. It's a lot harder to release a dump of 1981 Winnipeg arena matches in a way that's consumable to their target audience.

Anyone that's been out back in for this week? Anyone need a week off? I'll spin the wheel/make the deal tomorrow.

We had 6 minutes of this before. Now we have the full ~20. I had seen 82 Andre in NJPW lately so my hopes were probably a bit too high. This is still very good for what it tried to be. It was a perfectly logical story. For the first act, Andre controlled as Bockwinkel tried to make the gloating most of every chance at an advantage only to get overpowered and forced to retreat. The second third came on a fun transition (Bockwinkel getting his knee up on the corner butt ram), and consisted of him working on the back long enough to lock in the dreaded Singapore Sleeper. While I'm sure Bockwinkel's facial expressions were great enough to carry this for the live crowd, and while they did work in and out of it to a degree, sometimes in clever ways, the camera angle didn't give us the most here and this felt like laying around more than it should have. It was obvious Bockwinkel knew what he was working with and both men knew how to make the most of it though. There's almost no one in wrestling that can just wrap one leg around the other and warrant such selling like Andre. So much of what made the Bock vs Martel series (for instance) work was the multiple camera angles that let you in to see the selling on holds. While the VQ is fine here, we didn't have that and the match suffered for it. In the end (your third act, including the post-match), Andre got out, Larry Hennig (special ref) got involved, and after some Heenan Family shenanigans, the crowd got sent home happy with the babyfaces standing tall. Very good stuff but maybe not great stuff.

I think it's like night and day between ~6 months ago and now. So that's something.

Is this show even on CMLLs radar? Their idea of ROH talent is Matt Taven.

I wonder what the rate on Hijo del Santo and his kid would be.

I certainly feel better.

I am far, far more excited about that than anything happening Wrestlemania Weekend.

I am happy that so many of you get to go to Mania, but looking at the size of the card, it's going to be tough making it through the show without you here posting along with us.

fyi i hate the superkick a move since it has bad technique behind it HBK's being the worst I only have a minute to reply right now. Yes, Stacey and I did that podcast for GWE, which was a blast. The match that DR Ackermann gave me this week was Tenryu vs Takagi from 1/28/90. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/37083-genichiro-tenryu-vs-isao-takagi-ajpw-128/&do=findComment&comment=5838248 I wish everyone did the jumping brain kicks instead of the endless superkicks now. I think we've fallen into a worst possible reality in that regard. This was an awesome six minute match and I kind of resent people for not making me watch it years ago. People should check it out. Grumpy Tenryu is great. Also glad that he liked the match I gave him this week. Lawler aside, it looks like it's been a good week for match trades. Thanks, guys.

This is one of the best sub 6 minute matches I've ever seen. I have no idea who Isao Takagi is, but he gets an A for effort and a D for brains. Takagi slapping Tenryu off the clean break was just an amazing moment, one that was made by the slow, exhaling patience from Tenryu as he decided he was going to show mercy, and Takagi just tossing all of that away. It came so early in the match, but I can't understate how well Tenryu portrayed his effort at self-control there. One facial expression. One slap. It can just mean so much. Then Takagi did everything he could to make the most of the moment. When he couldn't get him up for that pile driver, there was a visceral sense of the other shoe dropping, of impending doom. There was a collective inhale when Takagi slapped him and an ensuing exhale when Tenryu hit the back body drop reversal. Wrestling is all about build and payoff and while the build was short, it was meaningful and the payoff was everything you'd want it to be. There's a moment shortly in the beating where Tenryu chops him twice and goes for a pin and I loved this as it was just another moment of mercy. He gave Takagi a chance to stay down. He doesn't and he even fights back a few times, but all he really manages to do is reignite Tenryu's fire. The shoot struggle-laden DDT followed by Tenryu choking Takagi in the pin was something. The wild chairshots (and Tenryu almost pulling the fan over with his chair) was something. As much as the beating is glorious, it's Takagi's last burst that puts this over the top. The belly to belly he hits out of nowhere is huge and then he follows it with these brutal, desperate headbutts. Obviously the back brain kick (or front brain kick) was the move of 1990; there's about seven of them in this match and they all look nasty. Anyway, Tenryu cuts off the last desperate charge, snaps Takagi in half with a Scorpion and everything carries through right to the end with the ref throwing his whole body into Tenryu to get him off and Takagi pounding the mat in frustration after the break. This was a hell of a thing.

meh i just do not get lawler's popularity As language is something you are apparently working on, let me ask a series of clarifying questions: 1. Do you really not understand what people value in Jerry Lawler? 2. If you do understand, do you not think that Lawler possesses those qualities? 3. If you do understand and think he does possess those qualities, do you not understand why someone might value those qualities in wrestling in general? 4. If you do understand what people value, think that he does possess those values, and understand why someone might value those qualities in general, do you just disagree, with full understanding, that those values are worthwhile? It's pretty clear to me what you value and while I don't necessarily agree with you, it's not hard to make the small effort to understand why you value what you value. Is that a one way street? Point being, it's hard to have a discussion with someone when it's a one-sided discussion, even if that person is an absolute expert in his side. Lawler's excellent at playing upon people's sympathies (both as a face and a heel). It's hard to have a discussion with someone who can't or won't sympathize with the person talking to him.

There's PWO Welcome Pack level stuff like Savage vs Garvin in the cage or the Archie Gouldie promo about his son or even Andre vs Hansen. Absolutely. But there's also the ability to do this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=midnight+express+vs Yeah, but look at what you get there. The first hit is a really mediocre match with the Freebirds. None of the stuff on the first page is what I'd call intro level MX stuff. There's so much stuff, even on the Network, that it's hard to work through the backlog if you don't have something to guide you. Maybe someone should make some guides.

I said last week, the way to go is to pair them up, keep doing the will they won't they kiss stuff, and then just before they FINALLY do Alexa drops him like a sack of spuds and cuts the all time rejection promo and becomes the top heel. I don't disagree. I'm just not sure where it goes next. What's the payoff? Does Sarah Logan turn face and befriend Braun? Do you reunite Murphy and Blake to steal the tag titles from Bruan/Mystery Partner?

It's always had pretty rare stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if the person who runs it isn't just tossing money at the INA or something. If so, more power to him.

I'm trying to think what was comparable that I've experienced. I was at Royal Rumble 03, but to me (for Angle vs Benoit), that felt like the crowd forcing it, like the crowd wanting to have that connection so badly that they were almost able to will it into being. If you looked too closely, you saw the strings. Likewise Daniel Bryan at the Rumble in 2015 where it was a year too late and everyone wanted to recapture that moment while we could but we were sort of living in the memory of it. Likewise 1998 in Boston with the first Nitro after Flair returned. He was over but we couldn't have what they had a week before in Greenville. I missed out on Foley's first title win, which was on me. I've been to a bunch of indy shows (some major level like ROH, some local stuff like Chaotic or NECW, and some weird spot shows for certain names like seeing Eddy in 02 ten feet away from me work some schlubs), but nothing with that level of connection. Taz in NYC at MSG in 2003 coming out to destroy John Cena when he was doing an anti-Yankees rant is probably one of the top three pops I've ever experienced which is funny to say. Certain the heat Reigns and Rock got after the 2015 Rumble. That was real and visceral even if it was sort of winking. The crowd was really into Monsoon threatening Heenan at the 1993 Survivor Series? Sorry, that was a digression, but it made me think.

I will agree that it probably isn't the best way to go with Braun, but since strapping the rocket to his ass and striking while the iron is hot no longer seems to be in the WWE playbook, it just seems like a direction they could go. As for her character, they have turned worse people with less explanation, and the crowd wouldn't care so long as "cool big dude and hot girl" were funny and kicked ass together. It would work, but should they do it in 2018 is the question I guess? I actually think Alexa could be a very effective babyface. People love to cheer a bully. They love to feel like they're on the bullying side as opposed to the bullied side. It's human nature. If she just shifted to doing mean, horrible things to heels instead of babyfaces, the crowd would die to be a part of that. But boy, is it not a good idea for a company that touts itself as anti-bullying.

That Alexa's character is a reprehensible evil sociopath could maybe be a hitch in that? I mean, I don't know. I get that they were enjoyable in MMC, but... I mean, I guess if it ends with her getting slop dropped on her, but that doesn't seem the way to go with Braun.

The crowd connects with him instead of he connecting with it?

The only way I wanted Bryan turned heel was if he WASN'T cleared and it was all a big swerve on the fans and Shane. That would have garnered real, visceral heat, moneymaking heat at a time where almost nothing like that draws. Once he took the first bump, it was obvious that wasn't the case.