KB8

The last two threads of yours were my favourite on the board, and I used them as frequent go-to lists of stuff I should check out, so a new one should be just as interesting. I actually find your star ratings (which I also like using as a good shorthand as you put it as I have something like this ongoing myself) for 2008 most interesting. I'm not sure why it caught my eye as much as it did, but the ****1/2 rating for the Shawn/Jericho ladder match really surprised me. It's a match that's loved in a lot of circles, but I tend to find it liked much less so around places like DVDVR, Smarkschoice, here, etc. Or at least liked less by the people that frequent those places, anyway. I personally loved it immensely, and it's one of my very favourite matches ever. Being a huge Michaels fan growing up and being so into their feud last year like I was, this was somewhat of a dream match for me. Not necessarily from a "smark" perspective, but more because I was wondering if it could make me feel like a mark again, because not much of the recent stuff had been able to do that for me. I didn't watch it live, but I did go in spoiler free, and needless to say, I wasn't disappointed at all. Really, really loved it. I've only watched it the once, but I think it's the only match I've ever seen where I'll actively try and *not* watch it again so to preserve the whole rush and moment it provided when I first saw it. Sounds pretty silly, I guess, but those mark the fuck out moments where you're desperate for that balding dude that's still kicking it all heartthrob style to grab the shiny belt come few and far between nowadays, so part of me wants to try and preserve that for as long as I can. It's actually a match that I've never stuck any snowflakes to, but ****1/2 is generally where I land if anybody asks me. Danielson/Nigel from the 6th Anny show is another that caught my eye, mostly because I've also got it as the number one match from 2008, and also sitting at ****3/4. I think the way they, especially Nigel, managed to take the "smart" crowd and completely play them like a fiddle is what stands out most to me. The whole "I'm doing this for my health" angle that initially turned people on him was interesting, but the way he managed to outsmart and completely shit all over the people that still defended him was tremendous. A freaking ROH crowd starting a USA chant was awesome as Hell. So many subtle pieces of greatness all the way through that match. I'd say it's my favourite of the Danielson/Nigel series, too. There's some other stuff that I love there as well (Wargames '91 being your top match from that year, which is something I think myself), so I'll probably try and comment on some more stuff when you watch it and whatever.

While you can't exactly say any of them are "expected", this one is just WAY outta left field. Really, really crazy. Rest in peace, is pretty much all I can say.

I watched this three times this week and it got better every time. So, so great. It's pretty much the perfect balance between Lucha and Mid-South that I could imagine, and since I've been on a big lucha kick as of late and Mid-South's my favourite promotion ever... well, you probably get the idea. The first time I actually wished the lighting was better, but after checking out the link that John posted and going back and re-watching the disc version, I thought the dim lighting added to the whole feel - this is a fight, these two are beating ten shades of shit out of each other to the point where it's almost human cockfighting and the darkness highlights the overall gruesome tone. Or something. I love that Chicana gets absolutely zero offence in for about a caida and a half. None at all. Whatsoever. Instead he just bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and takes an ass-stomping like a man. Of course, the heat they build for the eventual comeback is about as well done as I've ever seen, and the crowd completely blowing their stack for a duck and punch is a pretty beautiful thing. The revenge spots are simple yet naturally effective, and then the plancha that totally creams MS-1 which leads to him being counted out was pure greatness. Third caida is amazing, from the scud missile planchas that resemble hate-fuelled diving headbutts to the mat being completely stained red. This is the only match I've ever seen featuring these two, so I'm not sure this is even the case, but was there a couple moments where MS-1 teased applying the move that Chicana later submits him with (which I'm assuming is Chicana's signature hold/finisher)? He grabs the leg as if he's going to slap on a half crab and the heat it generates is crazy, even more so when he grins out at the crowd. Then he grabs Chicana's arm and the heat that gets is huge, too. Nothing important or anything, but it's yet another little thing I loved about the match. The bump off the missed senton looked especially nasty, and the resulting submission and head-shaving capped everything off perfectly. Just a great, great match.

I thought this was pretty fantastic! I'm pretty sure this is my first foray into the Lucha minis, but it's definitely given me motivation to start checking out some more of the highly pimped stuff; from '97 CMLL, for example. Mascarita Sagrada's so awesome, and Espectro taking multiple cheap shots at him as the crowd goes ballistic leading to the big save in the third caida was my favourite part about the whole thing. Both guys bump like loons, too. The Espectrito bump in the third (don't remember what he was going for... I watched this a few days ago and it's slipped my mind) looked nasty as shit. It looked like they botched the intended finish, but it doesn't make a difference at all really, because everything else was great. When this isn't even the best lucha singles match I've watched from a single disc in the space of a week, I know I'm watching a stacked comp.

I'm pretty much echoing the sentiments of everybody else here, but yeah... suitably nuts. The way he goes from slick Ric to this insane headcase that's jabbing himself in the forehead is great. I watched this more than once.

Thanks for posting this! I love reading thse kinds of things, so I'd definitely be psyched if you do more from time to time.

I'm especially interested in seeing the Russians/Rock 'n' Rolls tag from JCP, which I think I recall Loss being pretty high on, although I'm really not sure where I read that, if I even did at all . The response to the omission of the Harts/Steiners tag from 1/94 has been bordering on outrage on some forums, since I guess people were expecting that to be a lock for this ever since it was announced. I'm not terribly fussed about it myself, though; never really was that high on it. I'm still a sucker for the Steiners/Hase-Sasaki match, so I'm glad - and maybe a little surprised - that that's been included. And I don't really know why, but I'm psyched to see the Demolition/Killer Bees 2/3 falls match.

I'm definitely gonna participate in this at some point (would've bought it already had I not received three Schneider Comps today; gotta get a head start on watching some of this stuff). Assuming people are still free to do so in say, two weeks down the line, anyway?

I actually read that Matt Striker was the guy they were going to have host it (no idea where I read that, though... don't usually check wrestling news sites). Striker's pretty much the best announcer in WWE now, so I'd much rather have him do it that Grish'. Interested in seeing the match listing for it. Obviously the Wrestlemania match against Steamboat is on, and his 'Mania appearances against Warrior, Flair and probably DiBiase will be there, too. I'd like for the Toronto match with Steamer to go on as well (the one Loss mentioned where he hits a gusher), and a Santana match or two is a possibility. I'd suspect their 4/21/86 NO DQ match from MSG is given the nod, but who knows? If they go with a Hogan match, I'd like to see one of their '86 matches from around the horn on there. They had a really fun lumberjack match from MSG in February of that year, and it may actually be my favourite match they had together (haven't seen the Wrestlemania match in a long time, though). Don't remember much from his WCW stuff, but I'd think a DDP match would be on there. Hopefully they include a chunk of promos and segments, too. Some of his Tuesday Night Titans segments were wildly entertaining, especially when he was out ripping on Hulkamania and telling everybody it was all about the Macho Madness.

Surprised to see Michaels and Jericho pick up Worked Match of the Year with the Ladder match. Personally, it was my favourite match last year, but I didn't expect it to do very well. Michaels seemed to do really well in general, actually. Well, as well as one can do when it comes to winning an internet award .

Yeah, so... am I the only one that really doesn't dig the Lawler/Savage LLT match from 6/3/85 that much? I mean, I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but I definitely don't have it as the number one match from disc 6. I intend to re-watch this as soon as I get done with the set on the first run-through, though, because I went in with expectations that were probably too high considering I'm a massive fan of both guys. What's also strange is that I didn't dig the Savage/Oski match all that much either. Hell, my number one for disc 6 is the Lanny Poffo v Jerry Oski match, which I loved much, much more than I anticipated. Actually, here's my rankings for disc 6: Looking back on this now, despite only being a few matches short of finishing disc 7, it seems like there's a lot of stuff I need to revisit... because that seems like a pretty crazy order .

I know I'm a little late, but I finished disc 1 today: Super quick thoughts: Dundee is awesome. Lawler is awesome. Farris shocked me since he was pretty much piss poor in the WWF.

The angles being included is really what makes this entire set awesome(er) to me. I'm finding that I tend to place the matches with them in mind. Can't wait to delve into some of the much praised Lawler stuff later in the discs as well.

Bill Dundee v Paul Ellering (5/24/80) I may be crazy, but I thought this was pretty great. Not in the sense that it'll end up being one of the highest I place from disc 1, but more because it was a ton of fun in that Dundee is awesome as hell, and Ellering is just staggeringly juiced. Really liked the arm sequences by Paul at the beginning, managing to keep a hold of Dundee's arm after a body slam, rolling through and working over it some more. It seemed like Bill was feeding it to him, which made it even better since it enforces the 'Bill Dundee is the man' theory. Another thing I thought was cool was how Dundee tried to sit up and dodge the legdrop, except it didn't quite come off right as Ellering's leg catches him on the head, so instead of firing back like I would assume he was intending on doing, he plays it off as if, well, he tried to dodge it and got caught because he was too slow. Absolutely nothing observation, but I liked since I get the feeling it would've been just brushed off nowadays. Ellering's post-match roid rage was great too, and Lance Russell continues to make me smile at how great he is. Bill Dundee & Tony Boyles v Larry Latham & Wayne Ferris (6/7/80) My favourite match on the set up to this point (4 matches...). Simple enough dynamic with the heels v veteran w/rookie, and it worked really well. Dundee's moveset is just a ton of fun; the sliding kick was cool as hell. Also really liked the Ferris attempted save spots at the beginning with Dundee having Latham in a cover, so Ferris repeatedly tries to break it by stomping Dundee, but Bill moves and Ferris constantly hits Latham instead. Dundee's really great at trying to interject himself, too. He does it as if he *really* wants to get in there, walking all the way around the apron and ringside, which makes a nice change from the guy on the apron lifting his arm or something like that, "distracting" the ref'. Finish is noticeably botched, but it honestly didn't bother me too much since it ended up looking like some bastardised version of a piledriver that Boyles sold fine anyway. Post match is a ton of fun with the beatdown. Quick question to those that are further on in the set; when ranking the matches, do you tend to look at strictly what goes on from bell to bell, or do pre and post match angles have any effect on your placement of the matches in question (for example, the post match angle for the above match would probably keep it higher up my list come the end if I were to take that into account, as opposed to sticking to what happened only in the match itself)?

Watched the first 5 matches from disc 1 last night. Bill Dundee v Larry Latham (4/19/80) Fun way to start the set! Really liked Latham going after the leg, even if it wasn't anything overly special or vigorous. Dundee sold it really well too, I thought. I also love how Lance Russell is always quick to point out the hair pulls and dirty tactics in every match. Obviously that's nothing new in itself (if it was, then I wouldn't have seen much wrestling), but he just seems to make everything seem more legit, if that actually makes sense. Really good fun, although I have absolutely no idea how this will place on my final ballot at this stage, due to being a complete newb to Memphis Ricky Morton v Sonny King (4/26/80) I plan on giving this a re-watch later, but I didn't enjoy this that much on first watch. I was getting the "power struggle" vibe throughout (forced home by Russell ), but - I'll probably get crucified for this - I wasn't quite buying the whole size difference thing not making, well, a difference. Which surprised me since I never felt any Angle/Lesnar match was awkward while watching them go on the mat. Eh, I dunno. One thing I did like was King almost heeling when they grappled close to the ropes. Obviously not to the extent where he actually looks like a heel, but I just got the idea that he was like "I really want to squash this little fucker". Like I said, I'll re-watch this later, but at this point I don''t see it placing high even as a contender for one of the best matches on disc 1, never mind the entire set. Back later with some more thoughts.

My set arrived today! Definitely getting to disc 1 a little later. Really looking forward to seeing Dundee in his Memphis glory.

Itching to get on this, but unfortunately, I don't see it arriving within the next couple days... around which time I'll go insane. And speaking of the Mid-South set, if that's still available in some form then I'm definitely picking it up after I get through the Memphis set.

I think I read somewhere that they were planning on doing a Jarrett/Roadie split since Roadie cost him the match, which would lead to a programme between the two, and Jarrett felt he was "above" working with someone that had been nothing more than basically a manager. Jarrett didn't like it so he left. Not sure what reason was given as to why Roadie left, though. Actually, I'm sure I read this somewhere.

Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen v Harley Race & Dick Slater (12/2/82), All Japan Pro Wrestling Well, there are no moonsaults or shooting star presses in this one; 2 teams beating the shit out of each other sounds about right as the long and short of it. I can't quite pinpoint why I loved this as much as I did - maybe it was the fact that Race was tossing referees about and hitting them with chairs like nobody's business - but I most definitely enjoyed the hell out of it. The strange thing is, I watched it this morning, and I've pretty much forgotten everything about it aside from the fact they just straight up fight each other. Actually, maybe that's the reason I loved it so much... ***3/4 Bruiser Brody v Terry Funk (12/7/82), All Japan Pro Wrestling The Brody/Hansen v Funks war continues, this time through singles competition... and it's just fantastic! There's no headlocks or chinlocks to ease into this one; both guys hate each other - they fight... actually, scratch that, they FIGHT - and for the first couple minutes they're level pegging. That is until Brody catches Funk with a kick in the ear. Terry's visibly in some amount of distress, so Brody continues to kick away at it, eventually ramming him into the post. When Terry gets up, he's bleeding badly from the ear. It's an uphill struggle from here on out, but Terry is just so damn great in that position that it's a ton of fun to watch. The way he tries to desperately headbutt Brody as he's getting in the ring, hanging onto the ropes so he doesn't fall onto the concrete himself, is such a great move for getting the crowd fired up, as well as getting the desperation over at the same time. Eventually ol' Stan Hansen decides he's had enough so he interjects himself, followed by Dory, leaving the referee no choice but to throw the match out. We're not done there though, because the tables and chairs at ringside are just beggin' to be launched in the ring... so Terry obliges. Post-match is crazy good fun, and it only adds to an already super-heated brawl. I also want to add that Terry Funk is just off the page great in this whole scenario. He doesn't do anything that would otherwise stand out on its own, but his general movement, crowd control, and especially selling, are just beautiful to watch. Man, I love both these guys. ****1/4 I also watched the 1980 RWTL final between the Funks and Jumbo/Baba, and while I thought that was supreme as well, I'm interested as to what most people think is better between this and the '81 final. I'd throw ****1/2 snowflakes at both, although I just prefer the '81 match, but what's everybody else's take?

Pretty epic stuff, John. The formatting is.. different