KB8

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

Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka v Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. (12/13/81), Real World Tag League Final, All Japan Pro Wrestling One of my favourite tag matches of all time! I love the intertwining hate between Terry and Brody, and Terry just throwing Snuka into his corner so Brody gets in for a fight is just awesome. Of course the monumental debut of a certain burly sumbitch is great too, so when said burly sumbitch knocks Terry the fuck out with a Lariat, Dory is left all alone to fend off the crazed gaijin. Eventually it's too much, and Dory succumbs to the King Kong Knee Drop! The aftermath is just as great with Brody, Snuka and Hansen all continuing to beat on the Funks before Jumbo and Baba make the save, resulting in an all out brawl. Hansen even blades for a Baba Chop on his first night. The cursing from Hansen all the way to the locker room, and threatening to beat the bejesus out of a camera man for daring to follow them in, is the cherry on the cake. ****1/2 Bruiser Brody v Jumbo Tsuruta (10/7/82), Int'l Title Match, All Japan Pro Wrestling This was my first taste of Brody v Jumbo in a singles environment, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. It's another one of those slower paced matches, with Jumbo focusing on taking the big ol' Bruiser's leg away from him, while Brody tries to get some sort of foothold in the match, and while Jumbo's leg work is nothing fancy, it serves its purpose just fine. Brody's never been much for the long term selling though, so it does tend to get blown off - although Jumbo is really good at going back to it quickly enough that it doesn't seem as noticeable - but his short term selling (ie. after just escaping/being released from the hold) is fine. No surprises with the finish... or lack thereof... but I'm used to it enough that it doesn't hurt the match too much, at least for me. ***3/4 Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen v Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (11/26/82), All Japan Pro Wrestling Straight up, this is freakin' awesome. The pace is crazy, the heat is there in spades, the heels are great at what they do, likewise the babyfaces are great at what they do, and Jay Youngblood gets annihilated for being a pretty boy. Hansen and Brody are just a couple of tough bastards, and apparently Jay tried to put the moves on their wives, because they make him PAY... for something. Steamer's a great hot tag, although there isn't an especially long FIP segment, and as the match progresses it becomes clear that they're going to have to use every bit of speed and teamwork they've got to win. One thing I really liked was the spot where all 4 guys go to the floor and proceed to brawl and beat the shit out of each other with chairs and stuff. Now at this point I'm thinking "Damn it, they're gonna throw the match out. Just when it looked to be getting great.", but instead, they get back in the ring, form some sort of semblance and continue wrestling for another 10 minutes. In the end, young Jay (no pun intended) put up a good fight, but it was inevitable that Hansen wasn't going home without decapitating a bitch... too bad for Jay that it had to be him. Great fun. ****

Bruiser Brody v Giant Baba (4/16/82), All Japan Pro Wrestling Nothing that's going to set the world alight, but I dug this. I especially liked how they would use a slow build - perhaps too slow at points - and incorporate the standard shoulder block to get the point across that they were on the same level in this particular match. This leading to Brody pretty much saying "Fuck it" and drilling Baba in the head with a boot as opposed to continuing a shoulder block war was pretty awesome. Like I said, nothing amazing, but it's definitely passable. *** Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen v Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta (4/20/82), All Japan Pro Wrestling Building upon the match from 4 days ago, this time each guy brings a friend. This is 2/3 falls, and I thought it was pretty awesome, actually. Brody and Hansen just exude an aura of complete bad-assery that's unseen nowadays, and I wouldn't be surprised if the crowd thought the natives might actually die at some point. My favourite part of this, similar to the 4/16 match, is another big boot, this time Baba dishing out a receipt for Brody cheating in their shoulder block war by kicking Brody square in the face. Weak finish, but it's almost to be expected considering it's a non-RWTL Brody match. Really good stuff leading up to it, though. ***1/2 Bruiser Brody v Dory Funk Jr. (4/21/82), Int'l Title Match, All Japan Pro Wrestling I honestly don't remember much about this, despite having watched it a couple nights ago. I do recall a "technical wiz trying to combat the crazy brawling bastard" story, which came off pretty good, if somewhat uninspired, in execution, but the weak finish is what sticks out most to me. For a change, it's not a DQ or count-out, but rather a botched reversal... thing, and it leaves the crowd somewhat confused. Still though, the rest of the match is most definitely watch-able, even just for Brody's double blade-job, taking a swipe above both eyes leaving him looking like a crazy bastard Native-American. Except this one doesn't use a tomahawk, he just chains you to shit. ***1/2 More later, I guess. Edited to include some ninja stars

I'm having a blast reading all of these, Loss. Thanks for sharing.