rzombie1988

I reviewed USWA 1/30/1993 TV here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/us...tv-1301993.html Overall thoughts: Good show. Moondog Splat's debut was good, Samples was very good, the Prentice/Texas segment was pretty brash and the main event was fine until the finish. Some shots from it:

I reviewed USWA TV 1/23/1993 here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/us...993-review.html Overall thoughts: Well, this show was better than last week, but that's not saying that much. The matches weren't very good but I did like Mike Samples on the mic, the quick Bruise Brothers promo and the Sapphire/Miss Texas ordeal. The Doug Gilbert turn was very weird though and has no explanation. There wasn't enough here to make this a good episode or a recommended one. Some shots from the show:

Basically, this might be a small upgrade from their online WWE Classics on Demand service which they were already offering and didn't make much off of. There's no real problems with offering stuff online but the audience will be limited and it's going to be hard to get new people to buy in. There's also a small problem in that anyone who watches wrestling online usually tends to know where to find the stuff for free anyway. The only good thing is that it is a lot cheaper and a lot less riskier to run some servers than to set up a whole TV network. The trick to live streaming stuff online for mass people to view is having multiple streams open. A couple hundred or thousand people can kill one stream but if you can split those people into 5 different streams or more, there will be less problems. Other online live streaming sites seem to be able to pull it off. I don't know if it will hurt the PPV business or not. I prefer to watch wrestling on my computer but most people prefer it on their TV's. I do think charging $10 a month for PPV's is a great way to get younger fans and simply broke fans the chance to see PPV's. I don't care what anyone says, most people do not know 1 person who likes wrestling yet alone 5 or 6 others to split a PPV with. Even if you do, good luck getting them to drop everything to come do it. They may be able to get some of the people who watch free streams to plunk down the $10 a month like a lot of people do for Netflix even though they too usually torrent instead.

I reviewed USWA TV 1/16/1993 here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/us...993-review.html Overall thoughts: Pretty lame episode overall. When Sapphire is the highlight of your program, it's not a good one. I saw way too much of everyone here as the same 8 guys seemed to be involved in every segment. Some shots from the show:

I feel like I've seen more ICW than a lot of other things from that era. They actually released a few VHS tapes and some of their footage was saved by PM Films, which would explain that. Other companies have their footage being held hostage by the WWE(AWA, NWA, WCCW), didn't take care of it(GCW, NWA) or aren't financially sensible to release(Dick the Bruiser's WWA, Continental/Southeastern, Memphis).

Glad you guys are enjoying the pics and gifs! Honestly, I have as much fun getting them as you guys do watching them. DO NOT MISS the 1/9/1993 episode of USWA as its just unreal.

I reviewed USWA Memphis TV 1/9/1993 here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/us...993-review.html Some shots from the show: Overall thoughts: This was a fantastic episode of Memphis Wrestling, probably my second favorite next to the Steve Keirn spaz out episode(http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/uswa-memphis-tv-121993-review.html). Everyone was so good here on the mic and their performances were unreal. Lauren Davenport was absolutely awesome and made the show great. I loved her angle and how she tried to play everyone to get her bidding done and finally succeeded. Bert Prentice, Mike Samples and The Bruise Brothers were also very good with their roles and honestly, this episode felt like it transcended wrestling in some ways. Some of these angles and acting are basically what wrestling is trying to do now and honestly isn't even coming close to. Everything here felt real and everyone was really vicious. It was almost like a wrestling version of the Jerry Springer show with people being accused of sex changes, women beating, cat fights and more. There's no way some of this stuff was scripted and that's what put this show on a whole different level. This is Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones' quality level of stuff and this is some of Memphis wrestling at its best. This is really a must see. Don't miss this.

Fast forwarding a couple of years here with a review of USWA TV from 1/2/1993: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/us...993-review.html Some shots from the show: Overall thoughts: I thought this was a pretty good show overall. I enjoyed the Lawler vs Miller feud and The Moondogs were crazy and exciting like always. Miller really stepped it up and got great heat and Lawler did good too. I hated Dundee blowing off the three piledrivers though and they could have used a match of at least a few minutes here. I would recommend this overall.

Showing back to back episodes of Raw seems like the makings of a disaster. There's no way anyone could sit through that.

I've sadly had multiple dreams of just browsing DVDVR.

From what I've seen of Mach in Memphis, he would have fit in perfectly in the Attitude Era. He was basically Brian Pillman before Brian Pillman was. He was dangerous and a madman.

The Goliath Bird Eater:

Not sure what there really is left to discuss to be honest. No one's going to argue he wasn't good and since he passed, there's nothing really new left to discuss. Also might be worth to keep in mind: - Talk lessens for each wrestler after they die, unless they die under odd circumstances. There's always going to be a Brody, Gino or Benoit mention but you won't hear too much about Andre(aside from a drinking story) or Misawa. - Eddie kind of falls in middle of the older fans and newer fans. Most of the current Cena fans weren't watching during his last days and most of the older fans have pretty much said everything you could say about Eddie whether it be the LGL vs Santo/Octagon match, the HH 97 match, The Smackdown 6 or the Brock match. - A lot of the older fans have moved on with few replacing them. I don't have numbers to back it up but there used to be A LOT more people on the boards like DVDVR, Puroresufan and others compared to how many there are now. I used to be able to spend all day and not go through all the threads, but now I could clear them in no time.

I'm back with a review of CWA Championship Wrestling from 7/7/1984: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/cw...984-review.html The show was highlighted by Macho Man and Poffomania being pretty awesome along with some fun Ric Flair style heeling by the New Hollywood Blondes. Not a classic episode, but I've seen better and I've definitely seen worse. Mach with a snake was probably the highlight of this. The show is here if you want to see it: Some shots from the show:

Dino Bravo all the way. Add Kane in there too along with pre-face turn Brutus Beefcake and after IC Title run Greg Valentine. Definitely Warlord too for the ennnnnnddddlesssss tests of strength and bear hugs.

Haven't watched in a month and honestly have tried to go without thinking about wrestling for a month but saw everything, literally, everything for the last year. Here are my thoughts on who goes and stays: Brodus Clay - He's useless. Just another guy who has a job for being big. He will forever be a bad worker and will forever be clumsy. We have enough people doing dancing gimmicks anyway. DROP. Curt Hawkins - He's there because Rock likes him and I think he is mostly an extra body to have around at the development center. He's never going to be anywhere or do anything but if you need someone to help out the youngsters, maybe he can stay. DROP as a full-time wrestler, keep as your El Local/Local Veteran type to help the rook's and get an odd match or two. Curtis Axel - He is a 2013 poor man's version of a Bobby Eaton or a Tim Horner. Good worker who has been in a lot of solid stuff and the midcard is about as far as he can get. No reason to fire him. KEEP. Damien Sandow - He does have potential but he still needs work in ring. He's one of the few who can go on the mic and can do their character well. KEEP. David Otunga - Maybe has the best build on the roster. Not very good in ring but good on the mic and he can play his character well. You don't really need him but he's someone you keep around in the hopes that they can pick it up in the ring someday. KEEP. Drew Mcintyre - One of the best workers in the WWE and has the looks of a star. I'm not sure if he can ever get past the 3MB gimmick or get a decent gimmick and I don't know about his mic work, but he's worth it for the other things. KEEP. Primo & Epico - Tough one here. Decent to good workers but they can't be stars and they won't be stars. Primo is good to have around for the younger guys and he bumps his butt off but Epico is no Primo and you don't need both. Primo - KEEP, Epico - DROP. Ezekiel Jackson - He did show some potential at one point in time but WWE has a million guys like him. DROP. Fandango - He has the look and is secretly a good in-ring worker. He's done pretty well with his character as a mid-card act. KEEP. The Great Khali - The worst wrestler in the company and one of the worst wrestlers of all-time. He can't move, he's constantly injured, you can't understand a word he says and the big guy who dances gimmick is already taken. DROP. Hornswoggle - He serves no purpose aside from the occasional Rey Mysterio lawn-dart spot. DROP. Jinder Mahal - He's there because he is Indian. That's all. He's below-average , will always be stuck with a Middle-Eastern gimmick and won't ever be anything more than what he is. DROP. Heath Slater - I used to hate him but he's really underrated and under-appreciated as your opening match goof. He's very good in his role and he's very easy to hate. KEEP. Justin Gabriel - He's good but not great. I think he is a weak AJ Styles, he doesn't have any mic or character skills and is droppable. DROP. JTG - Useless. Not over, not a good worker and is lucky to have stuck around as long as he did. DROP. Kofi Kingston - He's your 2013 poor-man's Tito Santana. When given the chance, he has shown up but he's just always going to be in the midcard. KEEP. The Miz - Never going to be a great worker but is WWE's go to PR boy and seems willing to do whatever they want. WWE could KEEP him but I would DROP him. R-Truth - He's your older vet. He has good matches some times and is over with the crowd a little. No reason to get rid of him. KEEP. Ricardo Rodriguez - Good in the ring and his lackey character was pretty good. He got over so I'll KEEP him. Santino Marella - He is a dream face for WWE. They can embarass him until they are fulfilled and he stays over. KEEP. Tensai - Needs a name change and believe it or not, this is his second or third run as a dancing sidekick. He's good for putting younger guys over and having hoss matches, but not much use otherwise. Might just be best putting him in a mask. KEEP. Sin Cara - Useless. One of the best workers turned into one of the laziest workers. He's collecting a paycheck. DROP. The PTP's - Both are good workers are fine in the roles. KEEP. Natalya - Good but not great worker. Useless other than the "Victoria" role. KEEP. AJ Lee - She hit a home run with her character and has a following. One of the few diva's who is over and has an angle. KEEP. Kaitlyn - Useless and dangerous. DROP. Layla - Secretly WWE's best female face worker on the main shows. Please turn her face again because she is fun to watch. KEEP. Aksana - She did improve but she's always going to be sub-par. DROP. Naomi - Good worker and has potential. KEEP. Cameron - Is a total airhead on TV and off. She seems like one of those people that just attracts trouble. DROP. Jo Jo - I have no idea why they have her. She's too small, she's terrible on the mic and the last thing WWE needs is another smiling diva. She's also too young for them to do anything with until she turns 21. Something will not end well with her. DROP. Rosa - DROP. The Bella's - Well I mean they aren't even that good at being twins. I guess you keep them around to keep DB and JC happy but they will always be bad workers. I'd DROP but WWE should KEEP. Tamina - Awful worker with negative charisma. DROP. Summer Rae - ProWresBlog's 2013 Rookie of the Year. KEEP. Renee Young - Awesome in her role. Reminds me of that one TNA announcer they had(maybe Lauren?) who actually had a good personality. KEEP. Eva Marie - This is why you don't hire a ring rat. DROP. Top 5 Keepers: Summer Rae Renee Young Heath Slater Drew McIntyre Santino Marella Top 5 Droppers: Khali Eva Marie Rosa Mendes Brodus Clay Sin Cara

Japan doesn't really do hot feuds in the traditional sense, which I always thought hurt them. They do some I guess but most of what they do are more rivalries than feuds. NJ is doing a good job at this, but overall, I think Japanese wrestling needs more foreigners. I think they are a big but forgotten part of Japanese wrestling.

MOTY - Shibata/Ishii Best Wrestler(Whatever the one is that doesn't count drawing) - Antonio Cesaro - He carried people like Kane and Khali to good matches while also saving Jack Swagger's butt. Rookie of the Year - Summer Rae Show of the Year - G1 Day 4 Best TV Show - NXT Tag Team of the Year - Bad Influence Worst Match of the Year - Masada vs Jun Kasai from CZW Worst Wrestler - The Great Khali, also a nod to Matt Morgan Promotion of the Year - WWE

I think they were going for Ivan Drago's wife, as she looks similar.

As for the GLOW girls, the two best were Ninotchka and Attache. Ninotchka had some good matches, charisma, was good on the mic and in skits and overall just hit a home run with her character. She really deserved a run anywhere because she was good enough. She was also naturally attractive, as opposed to the implants and all that. She's still pretty hot now too. Attache was their de-facto veteran who worked with all of the new girls. The crowd liked her and she wasn't a bad worker at all. She always bumped big. She had a good submission match with Tina Ferrari/Ivory. I'd put Ninotchka above Trish. Tina Ferrari/Ivory was good too but she wasn't as good character wise. She and Ninotchka had a really good title match in POWW. Other good wrestlers in GLOW: Susie Spirit - She did the cheerleader gimmick but she had a gymnastics background and would bust out stuff not many other people did. She was rather creative and likeable. Spanish Red - Red is really popular. She just had great fire and she felt real. Everyone likes Spanish Red. Faby Apache is really good. She's one of the best faces and deserves a lot more love. She can work and she can work well.

Modern Day Joshi is hard to keep up with. It's not drawing well and the promotion's not having TV really hurts it. Not much pops up online either and if it does, it's usually months behind, which doesn't lead to much discussion. We do get more WAVE than we used to but that's about the only good thing. I never liked Sara Del Rey. She wasn't that good, had that horrible face paint and was slow. Plus, she was always such a nasty person that she made Abdullah seem nice.

Jaguar - In consideration as she was really good in pretty much everything I've seen. I've seen more of her Jd' work than her AJW work and she was really good there. It's not that her AJW stuff isn't out there, it's just that I have it and never watched it. Ozaki - Was also really good in her peak but her current stuff really diminishes anything she used to be. She is also one of the worst bookers ever. Toyota - I love her style, while some others don't. It's really hard to argue against her having a case. My favorites of her are the Yamada/Toyota vs Oz/Kansai series, vs Kandori, vs Aja(The one where she wins the title off Aja and Big Egg), vs Yamada, vs Hokuto, loved the Inoue match from 98 and others. I can come up with more great Toyota matches than most wrestlers without thinking too hard. She's also a great lady in person. Aja - I wouldn't have any problems with her being considered. Tons of good matches and she still holds up well in 2013. Hokuto - Another really good choice. She just had tons of good stuff and was the biggest star during AJW's hot 1990's period. She was better at 40% than most were at 100%. Tons of people have said she was the best female ever and I have no problems with it. Sherri - No way. You can't grade her amongst the ones above. She wasn't even on a fraction of their levels. Good manager and good personality, but not a top worker. The Crush Girls - Both have pretty good cases. Nagayo was a good worker with great aura and charisma and I've enjoyed most of the stuff I've watched of hers. Lioness was also good and really had a great heel run in the 90's. Bull - I'm thinking No on Bull. She was good but doesn't really have the resumes of some of the others. Her best stuff is the Kandori chain match and the Kong match. Kyoko Inoue - should also be in the running. She was one of the best at her peak and even with her weight gain was still able to do a lot of good stuff. She's going to be remembered though for her selfish booking and her weight gain. Kudo - Because someone is going to say it and the answer is no. She didn't get good until she was near retirement. Great personality and one of the most popular female wrestlers in Japan though. Best North American women's wrestler? Tough one. Gail Kim would have a really good shot at it. I really enjoyed Judy Martin but I don't think it's at that level. I pray nobody says Trish.

I didn't really like him until his rejuvenated 2004 run.

My thoughts: - Is Cena a good worker? Definitely, but his flaws are very obvious and he absolutely refuses to fix them at all costs. The stuff he needs to fix is easily fixable too. I've seen most of his main events and they are usually always good. - Cena is the most pushed wrestler ever in wrestling that half the crowd hates. In a way, WWE was smart to keep him face, and credit has to be given to them. It pretty much ensured a hot crowd one way or the other for his matches. - A heel turn probably wouldn't help him. I think it would just alienate his existing fans, because the fans who don't like him aren't going to like him anyway. - Speaking of alienating the fans, I do think he has alienated a portion of the fans already. I know some people who never liked him to begin with or got tired of his never ending push and subsequently stopped watching WWE as much. To a certain degree, everyone alienates some portion of fans but I've never seen as much hate as I have towards anyone except him. I went to tons of Wrestlemania's where even the mention or picture of him would get tons of boo's. - I'm not as high on his promo's as others. I thought they peaked with the rapping character phase. His delivery is good but most of what he says is really lame and I can't buy anything he actually says. - John Cena is the face of the PG Era. When anyone thinks of the PG Era, he comes to mind immediately. Therefore, he's going to take the blame for a lot of stuff that happened. - I do think WWE needs to find someone to replace him. He's 36, they've done about all they could with him minus a heel turn and I do think he peaked already. He's been on top as the man for longer than anyone not named Hogan or Flair and it's time to find the next guy. Daniel Bryan could be that guy and so could a lot of others. That guy is not Randy Orton though.

I've always thought that pretty much all of the stars were on a buffet of different things. With their lifestyles and being in business that requires you to look even better than wrestling does, it's no suprise.