GSR

Talk about it here.

If anyone has any reviews for post-August just post them in the August 2020 sub-forum and someone will move them over if/when later folders are created. I actually just checked on Loss' profile and he hasn't logged in for over a month now. Outside of he and Goodhelmet I have no idea who else may have Admin powers.

Moderators don't have the power to create new sub-forums for the MDA, only Admin or those with Admin capabilities do. Despite my interest in wrestling practically evaporating I still (at least for the time being) check the forum daily and I know Paul is around regularly too. As for anyone else though, your guess is as good as mine...

I thought El-P had put rovert on ignore? Draw a line under it, this is tedious and boring for everyone else (and probably both of you too).

There’s a great backdrop for this, the ring having been set up in a car park with trees and a forest in the background. A whole bunch of barrels are around each side of the ring with their wooden contents set alight. I reckon it’s going to be more a visual thing where they will tease someone being thrown into the bins but nothing will actually happen. The teams pair off, Pogo with Nakamaki and there is an early tease of Nakamaki getting his head put into the flames. They bash either a metal drain or an exhaust over each other. Pogo gets his head run into a car window. There is only one handheld filming this by the way and they’re following these two as opposed to Shimada and Taniguchi. Those fires are bellowing now, grey smoke filling the sky. Pogo sets a barbed wire bat on fire which he swings at the Nakamasochist. Everyone returns to the ring and we get out first look at Taniguchi and Shimada. As Pogo sticks his sickle into Naka’s head you hear a woman audibly scream. Sickle into the back and head of Taniguchi. Fuck, Pogo pulls out a knife which he draws across the foreheads of the opposition. He blows fire at Nakamaki and Taniguchi is there to break up the pin. Shimada grabs Taniguchi and holds him in place, however as Pogo goes to blow fire at him, Viking ducks and he burns his own partner. A big splash followed by a cover and after being beaten all match Nakamaki and Taniguchi steal one here. Pretty much the definition of a Death Match squash, just with the team getting squashed pulling out a ‘Hail Mary’ at the very last minute.

Sabu vs Matt Borne in 2001? I couldn’t believe it either. This bizarro of all bizarro matches taking place in Asylum Championship Wrestling. The barrel chested Borne has got half of his face painted up as if he’s Doink but is wearing regular-ish wrestling gear, Bill Alfonso in the corner of Sabu. Before they’ve even had the initial lock up Fonzie grabs Borne’s ankle from ringside, tripping him up and allowing Sabu to get the jump on him. Borne rolls to the floor and gets a low blow in, from where he runs Sabu head first into the ring post. They set off into the pro-Sabu crowd and a “Holy shit” chant starts up although I have no idea why. The former Doink uses Sabu’s own cape to choke him with, however it is tough to follow what’s going on. A short while later they return to the ring which means at least we can see what’s happening. Sabu jabs some object into Borne’s head, busting him open, and he’s busted open even more when he gigs himself right in front of the camera. Borne to the outside for a second time and Sabu wipes him out with a suicide dive. Another “Holy shit” chant. It would appear something happened out of camera view as Borne is to his feet first. He slams Sabu’s head into the timekeeper’s table and then climbs the turnbuckles. Fonzie, from behind, swipes out Borne’s legs and he falls backwards to that mat. Sabu goes for the triple jump moonsault but Borne trips him and he clatters into the chair. Borne tries to throw a table into the ring, literally throw a table into the ring, and I get the impression that he’s never used one previously, not even thinking about folding the legs down. Sabu shows him how to do it and the table gets set up in the corner of the ring. I think they probably had to improvise for a bit due to Borne’s struggles as eventually Sabu ends up lay across that table courtesy of a Borne right hand. Borne tries his luck upstairs again, it’s the same outcome mind, Sabu shaking the ropes which results in him taking an exaggerated and unnatural dive off the top. Fonzie is in the ring with that wretched whistle and the ref is doing nothing to get him out of there. Sabu puts Borne through the table with a top rope legdrop, although surprisingly he kicks out of the cover. Not so the triple jump moonsault with which he follows. If the initial match up between these two wasn’t bizarre enough, things take an even stranger turn. After being beaten, Borne says that he ain’t finished , is still standing and he isn’t going until he can’t get back up. He then spends several minutes cutting a promo on Sabu, who has long since left, involving the crowd too, almost as if he’s using them to guilt trip Sabu into coming back out. Sabu eventually does and he breaks something (a bottle perhaps by how it shattered?) over Borne’s head, which he no sells. Borne hits Sabu a couple of times, goes to hiptoss him, but Sabu slides out of the ring instead. He’s then back at it on the mic, saying how in order to beat him you’ve got to kill him, all the time Fonzie is holding Sabu back. I’ve no idea if Borne has gone into business for himself but this is so weird. Sabu has had enough and leaves Borne to it, who at this point starts telling the fans that he loves them and will die for each and every one of them. He gives it one final try, calling Sabu gutless and comparing him to Osama Bin Laden, but those words fall on deaf ears. The bits of brawling aside, the actual match wasn’t much cop and someone really should given Borne the “how to” on getting a table into the ring. I tried Googling to see if I could find anything online about what went on in the post-match but there’s nothing. It went on far too long and if it was an angle and wasn’t Borne going into business for himself, well done, they fooled me.

No sound on this match for me, which was uploaded to YouTube by Scoot Andrews himself. This looks to be raw footage as there is a clock counter running at the bottom of the screen. Not sure why these two are doing a “tryout match” considering how WWF has used both as enhancement talent in the past and are clearly very well aware of them. Things start out slow as they do some basic wrestling working around a wristlock and a side headlock. Scoot ducks out the way of the Lionsault, however Daniels is able to readjust in mid-air and land on his feet. He mockingly claps Scoot, offers him his hand, but as he is about to accept, slaps him around the face. After ‘the BNB’ telegraphs the backdrop Daniels thinks about the Rude Awakening neckbreaker, only to change his mind and elbow him across the bridge of the nose instead. A great counter to the running bulldog out the corner, Scoot flooring Daniel with a clothesline as he sets off. He can’t capitalise though and a leg lariat wipes him out. Whoa, version of the Japanese Ocean Cylone suplex!!! I would’ve loved to hear the crowd’s reaction to that. Daniels goes to the top but is caught by a handstand headscissors. Spinebuster for a near fall. Scoot tries his luck upstairs, similarly though he too is caught then slammed to the mat. He kicks out of the BME, much to Daniels’ annoyance. Daniels berates the official over his count, however when he turns around he walks into what I can best describe as an inverted Rock Bottom that give ‘the BNB’ the win. A solid match, one where I definitely got the impression that they were probably told to not go all out and overshadow what is coming up later in the show mind. If you compare this to Daniels’ match against Michael Modest on Nitro though, it’s like night and day.

This dick on commentary is calling Super Dragon a Power Ranger. He’s not letting Juvi get off lightly, saying how he could have a great career; he just needs to stay out of Australia. That’s probably so inside though that the vast majority of folk watching have no idea what he’s talking about. Juvi gets the better of a shoulder tackle and then takes Dragon down with a spinning heel kick. Quick legdrop for a two count. A Dragon koppu kick barely connects but Juvi still takes the planned spill through the ropes to the outside. The one commentator even calls it a “whiff”, while the other guy claims that Dragon’s shoe laces caught Juvi! A lightning fast tope con hilo is practically missed by the camera, although the crowd popped big for it. Back inside, Juvi rolls out the way of the springboard crossbody. Missile dropkick followed by a powerbomb. The Irish whip is reversed, Dragon then hooks Juvi and drives him into the mat. There’s no-one home on the Phoenix splash and Juvi hits his Driver for the win. The commentary sucks with neither man really showing Dragon any respect whatsoever, constantly making fun of both his outfit and his name (calling him things like Stupid Dragon etc.). The match itself was disappointing, too short (I can’t believe I’m complaining about a Dragon match being too short!) and they didn’t seem to work well together. I think this was the first time we’ve seen Dragon away from the comfort zone of his regular Revolution Pro opponents, as even when he would wrestle for XPW it would be against someone like Rising Son, and based on this outing I think he needs to branch out more.

I found a few reviews I never got around to posting when tidying up some files. There was one previous retirement from the project when I thought it was dead, this time I really am done. There’s a slight bit of hesitancy before Hotstuff hiptosses Rudy. He clotheslines him to the outside and then launches himself at him with an over-the-top rope tope that had some serious hang time. Rudy gets the jump when he’s thrown back inside and from there works Hotstuff over. Wow, I was not expecting a Tarantula out of him that’s for sure! Hotstuff fires back with some knife edge chops and a low dropkick takes Rudy down. One handed slam. He drops an elbow but it looks like he may have hurt himself. Rudy stops him in his tracks with a thrust kick and then sits on a rear chinlock before throwing Hotstuff to the floor where he whips him into the metal guard rail. In a turnaround from earlier in the match, this time it’s Hotstuff getting the jump on Rudy after he’s thrown into the ring. Big running splash in the corner. Irish whip is reversed and the ref gets bumped when Rudy crashes into him. Hotstuff with a spear. He climbs to the top rope, slowly, almost as if he’s waiting for someone. And he was, Kevin Northcutt running down and pulling out a leg. Superplex by Rudy. Gonzales then grabs a chair that Northcutt had left on the apron, KO’s Hernandez with it and the ref comes around to count the three. The two aren’t finished, double teaming Hotstuff after the match. Hernandez looked green in places, but his athletic stuff, like that tope, always catches you off guard. Action was fine, nothing mind blowing really, bar the tope and tarantula, and Rudy is seasoned enough to lead Hotstuff effortlessly through this.

I can fully empathize, my interest in wrestling has never been lower and I can't see a point to where it will ever return to anything close to what it once was. And that's if it ever returns at all. While I've not cared for the current product for years, there was always a ton of old stuff that I enjoyed; be it watching old territory footage for the first time (like I did with Smoky Mountain or with JCP), revisiting the Yearbooks, getting involved in PWO2K. Now there is nothing that gets me even remotely excited and it's like, "Have I really spent so much of my life, devoted so much time to wrestling?" My memory is shot and I do wonder if that is because it's filled with so much pointless wrestling knowledge? My actual interest in watching has definitely slowly subsided year on year, but 2020, despite trying to throw myself into the 2001 project, has been the straw that broke the camel's back. Even if I was going through a fallow period of not really watching, I would still take in numerous podcasts, read as much as possible about wrestling, spend far too much time on newspapers.com researching things, check the various message boards I frequent several times a day etc. The podcast listening has dropped to virtually nothing, the last thing I checked out being Zellner & Naylor's Cover to Cover on the first PWI 500 (and yup, I listened to all episodes in the background whilst doing other things) and Kris' stuff (with the exception of BTS which I have long had no interest in listening to) were the only wrestling podcasts I'd really keep an eye on. I have no idea how he can keep pumping out the volume of stuff that he does! I unfollowed all wrestling related Twitter accounts quite a while ago and immediately felt better for doing so. There are still a few people who if it wasn't for wrestling I wouldn't be following, but all news accounts, all wrestlers, gone, and I don't miss all that negativity on my timeline one bit. This whole sorry "sport" just feels way too negative now. I still read the Observer every week, but can't help feel that is out of habit, even though I do really enjoy Dave's historical pieces. I've sold off most of my original wrestling DVDs, have started to sell off my books and then it will be the arduous task of trying to move a several thousand DVD-Rs that remain. I still visit PWO daily as well as three other message boards, and although it was wrestling that bought me to those boards, they're not purely devoted to wrestling like PWO is. I do wonder how long boards will stick around for as it seems to be an ever smaller number of people posting, and that's not just here, that's on all four I frequent, and it tends to be longtime members who have been posting for years, no "new blood" so to speak. This place bought me so much enjoyment (shodate apart!) and I learned and discovered so much at the height of my fandom, but when I see Loss posting about wrestling regularly on Twitter and nothing here I do wonder what the future of this place holds? So yeah, a fairly rambling post. But I am 100% in the same boat as others, someone who's fandom has never been at a lower ebb than it is at the moment and someone who can't see that fandom returning any time soon.

Yeah, I nearly added something when posting that link. For reasons @The Thread Killer said (and I agree with pretty much everything written in the middle paragraph, bar I don't think Last was as bad as what he could've been, and I'm no Brian Last fan) there's no need to recap what was said, you can listen and make your own mind up. Plus, this whole shit storm was a few weeks ago now, no need to re-stoke the fires.

https://art19.com/shows/jim-cornette-experience Episode 349 I believe.

Yeah, pretty sure John talked about the formation of the Observer Hall of Fame in the past when he used to post here.

I've amended the post and deleted the tweet. Agree with the other comments about that account being sad and pathetic. I didn't even listen to whatever it was they posted, but no surprise that it was out of context, framed and edited like most of the shit they post.

Meltzer said pretty much this on the audio the other day; noting if you were looking for names, check who was absent from the Undisputed Era congratulating Kyle O'Reilly at the end of the show.

And they have Jude Bellingham! That kid is going to be a superstar. His father (Mark) used to play for my local non-league side and was a ridiculously prolific goalscorer.

Does anyone who has a vote even post here any more though?

In a sea of awful accounts on wrestling Twitter, that MeltzerSaidWhat one is the worst by some way. Fancy hating someone so much that you would devote your time reading everything they write, listening to everything they say just to play "gotcha" on Twitter (not to mention carefully editing audio). And actually paying that person to do so! Whomever runs that account has one seriously empty life.

Huh? Dave and Bryan were both of the opinion that the match should've been stopped there and then. At least on the audio that I listened to earlier.

Van Hammer’s unlikely tour of Big Japan continues with another televised bout. The light tube and barbed wire covered boards are already in the ring, one positioned upright in each unoccupied corner. Zandig presses Beater over his head, which brings in Pondo with his Stop sign to make the save, however before he can do so, Hammer, who is moving in slow motion, is in and boots the sign into his face. Hammer gets in on the Hardcore action, stapling a dollar bill to Pondo’s cheek and then another onto Wifebeater. Ah, okay, this is clipped, the next thing we see being Beater getting powerbombed through the light tube covered board. Zandig and Hammer double press slam Pondo off the stage into a mass of chairs. Beater suplexes Zandig from the apron back into the ring and then side slams him onto the thumbtacks. Alabama slam by Hammer on Beater. Pondo charges Zandig, but a drop toe hold sees him go face first into the tacks, Hammer stomping on his head for good measure. Zandig positions a couple of tables at ringside and places the barbed wire board onto them. He’s about to powerbomb Beater from the ring, over the top rope and through it when he’s attacked from behind by Ruckus. Beater lays Zandig across the barbed wire and Ruckus with a Swanton onto him from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Pondo staples Hammer in the groin, some payback for earlier. They set some light tubes between a couple of chairs and surely Hammer’s not taking the bump? He is! Double superplex through the light tubes for the win, Zandig unable to get there in time to make the save. Hammer and Zandig exchange words post-match, Hammer pissed about something, whether that be the state of his back (which is an absolute bloody mess), Zandig not being there to help or being forced into this match in the first place. Zandig tells him this is “C-Z-fucking-W” and that you’re either with us or against us, the rest of the CZW crew still in the ring at this point. Hammer acts as if he’s going to accept Zandig’s hand, but pulls it away at the last minute. Against them he is then!

No sign of the tarantulas yet, but the ropes are entwined with bracken and there looks to be boards covered in barbed wire and bracken positioned upright in two corners of the ring. Oh there they are, we just get a glimpse of a glass/Perspex box containing them. Matsunaga pulls the box into the centre of the ring, goes to powerbomb Zandig into it but ends up getting backdropped into it himself. That breaks the box, leading to one of tarantulas escaping and crawling across the ring and they have to stop the match whilst the ref scoops him up and puts him back inside. Each tries to force the other’s head into the box as another tarantula makes it’s bid for freedom. Matsunaga gets flung head first through some light tubes, Zandig then digging the end of a broken tube into his forehead. And he’s back trying to shove Matsunaga’s head into the box. Zandig gets suplexed through some thorny brambles and light tubes that have been bridged across a couple of chairs. Matsunaga with the worlds slowest applied Scorpion Deathlock. They even edited the video it was taking so long! It looks like Zandig is tapping when he is in fact just banging on the mat to rally the fans. The two end up on the outside where Zandig slams Matsunaga onto the carpet. He drags him up to a raised platform whilst a bunch of the seconds position one of those bracken barbed wire boards between two tables underneath and then press slams him through it. Zandig leaves Matsunaga there to return to the ring and arrange more tables and boards. Fucking hell, a powerbomb off the top turnbuckle with both men stood on a table into a mass of stuff that has been set on fire! Jun Kasai breaks up the cover at the count of two which brings in Van Hammer to help Zandig. Stereo Falcon Arrows, the match having been thrown out at this point. Zandig empties that box of tarantulas onto Kasai (I actually don’t think there were many, if any, left in at this point) who scarpers out of there. The whole tarantula gimmick was incredibly lame, they should’ve just stuck with the thorns and brambles instead. Matsunaga took a couple of crazy bumps, especially the powerbomb through the flames, but if you were intrigued by the gimmick and were considering watching it, it’s not worth the time.

Van Hammer, in Big Japan, teaming with Zandig, in a Death Match, might be the most surreal thing of 2001. The big question is will he take any bumps into the barbed wire or allow himself to be hit with a light tube? Zandig gets busted open on the first shot of the match as he and Wifebeater simultaneously break a light tube over the other’s head. Beater falls into his corner so he is able to tag Kasai who goes about working Zandig over. Double flapjack. Double clothesline and both Beater and Zandig go down. Tag to Hammer, making his first foray into the match. Considering he’s a vet at this point he looks so stilted and awkward. Kasai ducks the clothesline and hits a floatover DDT. He collects a bunch of light tubes but Hammer kicks him in the mid-section before he gets the chance to use them. Modified Alabama slam onto the light tubes, Beater saving his partner by breaking a light tube over Hammer’s back. Well that answers that question! The action takes to the floor, Kasai landing a high plancha out onto everyone. Zandig whips him into the merchandise table, which may add or subtract something from the price of the merch that’s now got Kasai’s blood all over it. That slam onto the light tubes shredded him good and proper. Some slight clipping in the broadcast and next thing we see is Beater and Hammer back in the ring. Zandig powerbombs Beater through the barbed wire board. Delayed superplex on Kasai, however Zandig holds on and sits him back on top for Hammer. Delayed superplex by Hammer. That was a cool spot. Flying elbow but the bloodied Kasai somehow kicks out of the cover at two. Beater returns and breaks a light tube over Zandig before positioning a bunch more between a couple of chairs. Powerslam through the light tubes, this time Zandig kicking out of the cover at two. Kasai is on the outside setting a barbed wire board between two tables, the only question now is who is going through it. Hammer saves Zandig on the attempted double suplex and the pair suplex Beater and Kasai back into the ring from the apron. The answer to question two was the Wifebeater, Zandig press slamming him through the barbed wire board. Cobra clutch slam on Kasai. Zandig places some light tubes on his chest and then comes off the top with a big splash onto them for the win. Some good moments in here.

The last few times we’ve seen Tobita he’s been facing monsters out on the waste ground, here he’s back taking them on in that same function room that we saw last year. Ghost appears to be doing an old woman gimmick, wearing a dress and carrying a bag of household objects, such as a carpet beater, a plunger, clothes pegs etc., that they use against Tobita. They also seem more interested in trying to get Tobita to read some book rather than defeating him. What book? No idea. Tobita, with pegs hanging from his ear lobes and nostrils, gets his face cling filmed at one point. He eventually drops Ghost with a clothesline and disappears out the door, returning with a rubber baseball bat which he batters both Ghost and then the referee with. Oh yeah, the classical music is back playing while all this is going on. Tobita wins with a piledriver on the floor. As odd as my brief write up would indicate.

The match is joined in progress, Malenko in control. Side headlock takedown and he transitions from one submission attempt to another on the arms, Yone eventually having to go the ropes for the reset. A stiff clothesline, but that hurt Yone too due to Malenko’s earlier arm work. After a legdrop, Yone starts cranking away on Malenko’s neck. These pro wrestling spots like legdrops are the one thing I’m not really digging in my BattlARTS viewing. Malenko escapes the sleeper, reversing into a cross face chicken wing. He grounds Yone and has him all tied up with a great combination oma plata/crossface. That looks nasty the way he’s wrenching back. Power guillotine, however on the takedown they roll into the ropes. Yone fires back with a headbutt to the mid-section and it becomes pure pro wrestling with a suplex followed by middle rope legdrop. Single leg crab. Malenko grabs the ropes, so Yone drags him back to the centre of the ring and applies the full version. It looks like he might be close to tapping, instead though rolls through, flipping Yone over and ending up on top. Cross armbar. Double underhook, Malenko dropping Yone face first into his knee and then locking in a Butterfly stretch, leading to another rope break. Yone catches him with a spinning heel kick, Musclebuster, a second single leg crab and this time Malenko taps. I’d not watched any BattlARTS prior to PWO2K and while I like the pure shoot style matches, these hybrid ones which mix the shoot elements with pro wrestling I’m not quite so sure of. Malenko is very good though and what I didn’t like about this match had nothing to do with him.