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PG-13 vs. The World


Dylan Waco

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This felt like it deserved it's own thread and shouldn't clutter the other thread. Basically I think PG-13 MIGHT be a top ten all time team and almost certainly IS a top 20 all time team. Smkelly objected to this and rolled out a list that I will respond to. He also asked for a list of matches. It just so happens that I have watched a couple of short - but really great - PG-13 runs in the last few years and have several reviews written up on the matches and will post them here. Others should feel free to add their thoughts of course. I think this could be a fun thread and if it spins off into a more general discussion of great tag teams (forgotten, ignored and otherwise) we can amend the topic title.

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The smkelly "list"

 

1. Arn & Tully

2. Rock & Roll Express

3. Fantastics

4. Midnight Express

5. Jumbo & Tenryu

6. Choshu & Yatsu

7. Misawa & Kawada

8. Misawa & Kobashi

9. Misawa & Akiyama

10. Kawada & Taue

11. Footloose

12. Can-Am Express

13. Doc & Gordy

14. Orient Express

15. Hardy Boys

16. Dudley Boys

17. Edge & Christian

18. Benoit & Malenko

19. Windham & Hennig

20. Freebirds

21. Hansen & Brody

22. The Funks

23. Hansen & Gordy

24. Tenryu & Kawada

25. Jumbo & Taue

26. Owen & Davey

27. Faces of Fear

28. Harlem Heat

29. The Enforcers

30. British Bulldogs

31. Hart Foundation

32. The Rockers

33. Rose & Somers

34. Inoki & Fujinami

35. Adonis & Murdoch

 

At least a few of these teams are teams I think are better but there are A LOT that I would and will dispute. Some I think are pretty laughable (Harlem Heat? Faces of Fear? I like Meng and Barbarian but come on), but some could spark some fun discussion. Not sure whether or not to go the route of one master post or to try and compare a few teams a day. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

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Matches I don't have reviews from from the two brief runs I have watched recently but can confirm were really great matches (SMW 95, ECW 97)

 

PG-13 v. D-Von/Bubba Dudley Hardcore Heaven 97

PG-13 v. Mikey Whipwreck/Spike Dudley Orgy Of Violence 97

 

PG-13 v. Curtis Thompson/Jackie Fulton SMW Super Bowl of Wresting 95

 

Randy Hales promo before the match. PG-13 are so great at working schtick and @#!*% off people and they do that well here. Everything from bailing out of the ring, to calling time out, to being proud of each other for winning exchanges, escapes, et. Wolfie really does a good job getting in place for some big spots in the early going as well including a couple of really good criss cross spots. Really loved that another excessive criss cross spot led to the heels taking over and the spot with PG-13 getting chased around the ring and meeting in the middle to beat on Thompson on the floor again was unique. Thompson makes an awkward FIP given his size, but he was effective enough in that role and PG-13 are so good at working heat getting spots that you hardly notice the size disparity. Comeback press slam counter is really cool and Fulton's hot tag was really dynamic by the standards of Jackie Fulton. Cool spot with legsweep causing PG-13 to take each other out of the ring. Heels win with the hubcaps which was inevitable. Another good showing from PG-13.

 

PG-13 v. The Thugz - SMW Volunteer Slam IV 5-19-95

 

Pre-match dueling Smothers/Ice mic work was unsurprisingly excellent. PG-13's pre-match ritual is so ridiculous it's a sure fire heat getter in and of itself. They haven't even locked up and Ice is flexing and strutting around the apron, jumping down argue with fans, graabbing the mic and @#!*% talking the infamous old lady, et. DWB runs over and hugs her which gets a huge pop as Dundee flips the @#!*% out. Wolfie armdrags Tracy and of course PG-13 go into a ridiculous celebration. Tracy wins the next exchange and of course PG-13 flip out. We are now nearing five minutes in and there have been all of two successful offensive moves and this is still awesome. Pace finally picks up with Smothers clearing the heels out with dropkicks and PG-13 dropping to the floor to call a timeout. Thugz taunt them by doing the Fargo Strut. Now Wolfie is talking @#!*% on the house mic. Ice gets bested in an armwringer exchange and ends up getting double chopped to a big a bump before retreating to his corner yet again. Holy @#!*% DWB's mocking of PG-13 dance is @#!*% hysterical. Ice gets into a criss cross with Anthony and ends up jumping into the arms of Wolfie to avoid a right hand. They both flee in terror, while Anthony makes the homophobic hand wave gesture and the crowd breaks out in a massive " @#!*% !" chant. Cool double drop down spot with PG-13 running into each other and taking each other out. Dundee grabs the mic and says the official is biased and they are leaving. Then he's calling Anthony "fatboy" and telling him if he doesn't play fair this time he's going home. Wolfie comes in and they end up working a pretty standard control segment, before Ice breaks it up with a knee to the back of Smothers, followed by an over the top clothesline bump. Smothers takes a crazy guardrail bump that almost knocks out the front row. Smothers is really good taking a beating here and I'm impressed as his ability to sell so convincingly for two guys that were being off the charts comedic just three minutes earlier. Crowd is almost frantic in their support for Smothers at this point as the heels are bringing out all the tricks to work him over and stir up @#!*% . Really cool spot with Ice getting caught in a desperation sunset flip off of a rope running spot but Curtis is distracted by Wolfie in the corner. This is followed up shortly thereafter by an ever better spot with Tracy avoiding a corner splash but getting caught by a running clothesline from the apron as he tries to make a full escape. Ice takes a huge corner bump on a really excellent teased hot tag as I was certain Smothers was going to get DWB in. Heels attempt the same spot with the missed corner charge/clothesline but Smothers ducks and they take each other out. Smothers catches Ice coming off the top but still can't fight to the corner. Finally hit hits a double DDT and then sells for a few seconds before making a huge leaping hot tag. DWB in and he is cleaning house. Bucksnort Blaster bu the ref misses the fall and PG-13 use the hubcap but Smothers breaks up the pin. Thugz use the hubcap for the pinfall. Randy Hales complains about the hubcap use post-match and Curtis reverse his decision. Besides the lame Dusty finish this was a tremendous Southern tag, with all four guys looking great.

 

PG-13 v. The Thugz - SMW 8-10-95

 

Lots of pre-match antics and stalling from PG-13. In particular I enjoyed DWB @#!*% talking Ice into tagging in and then J.C. immediately going into karate pose/hiding in the corner/tagging back out to Wolfie. Wolfie gets a brief advantage with some punches but Anthony comes back with an atomic drop that sends Wolfie careening head first into Ice taking both of them out. Back in the ring Wolfie seemingly offers to show White Boy his dick and then tags in Ice who is yelping at Tracy demanding he tag in. Tracy does his back flip over the ropes and then dances a jig that equals or matches any of Ice's absurd strutting - then Ice tags Wolfie back in. Wolfie wins a lock up and PG-13 celebration culminates in him mooning Tracy. Smothers than hits a fireman's carry and Thugz return the mockery and Ice tags in again. Ice bails out of the ring but runs back to beat the count. Now he's doing the old "heel extends his hand act. Naturally he gets caught trying to kick Tracy and takes an atomic drop which is the first actual contact with anyone Ice has had in the match. Heels gain the advantage off of a rope running trip from Ice on Smothers. Tracy gets taken down and they work a cool hope spot with him getting kicked blindsided in the back coming off the ropes. FIP does not seem terribly spirited though I did like the comeback spot a lot and Tracy rolling through backwards for the hot tag was a neat touch. Finish with the faces winning via struggle over hubcap was okay.

 

PG-13 v. Mikey/Spike - ECW FanCam 6-20-97

 

"You remember one thing, Custer surrendered, I didn't surrender nothing." Tremendous history lesson on North/South relations from Ice. Match is the same old from these teams, which is to say it was very good. These guys have a routine and you get the staples of that routine, including the double dive from the faces, the heels accidentally hitting each other over and over, the mid-match mic work, the JC can't slam Mikey spot, et. Some of the stuff in this was a little sloppier than in other matches early though it tightened up down the stretch. This one had the benefit of an especially nasty sounding Wolfie punch and a really good camera angle on the Wolfie rana of Spike into the turnbuckles. This also benefited from a heat section on Spike that was really well done and more varied then some of the others. I especially liked the tilt-a-whirl double team with J.C. refusing to cover Spike afterword and the spot with Spike getting bumped to the floor and Wolfie following up with a Macho Man style double axe to the floor. Wolfie hits a back body drop/elbow drop combo after a really good cut off clothesline that I've never seen before. J.C. grabbing the mic to @#!*% talk leads to a nice teaser fall from Spike. Hot tag seemed a little uneventful and the finish was the same dropkick/schoolboy combo from most of their matches, but I think the meat of this one stacks up as well or better than all the others.

 

PG-13 v. MIkey/Spike ECW FanCam 6-27-97

 

 

Pre-match stuff with PG-13 is really great, especially Ice pointing to a mid-rope licking Spike and talking about how it proves that there really are people who " @#!*% their mothers and brothers and sisters." Ice actually has his own mic and refuses to take his shades off and is still @#!*% talking fans when the bell rings to the point where Mikey is literally cracking up in the corner. Wolife ends up beating on Spike, but Spike counters with a series of roll ups and then an arm drag followed by an arm bite. Criss cross spot ends with Wolfie getting kicked in the balls, Ice getting dropkicked to the floor and the double plancha onto PG-13. They do the bit where Ice can't slam Mikey, so Mikey slams him. Then PG-13 accidentally elbow drop each other about ten times before bailing to the floor. Ice ends up getting on the house mic and declaring that he will abandon Wolfie if that happens again and then they end up hugging. Spike comes in and gets his head taken off on a misdirection clothesline from Ice. Spike goes FIP. Really cool spot with Spike getting rana'ed into a turnbuckle headfirst. This prompts Ice to get on the mic and say 'that's how we treat our women in the South, just smack them in the face like the @#!*% that they are." Good powerbomb from Wolfie and a cool dropkick/russian legsweep combo. Spike hits a desperation double DDT and then gets a hot tag. Cool finish with Wolfie crotched up top to set up the diving dropkick/schooboy pin.

 

PG-13 v. Mikey/Spike - ECW FanCam 6-29-97

 

Another in the awesome series and another that starts off with Ice @#!*% talking. Holy @#!*% Ice @#!*% talking the mutants for not having girlfriends was great. Ice leaves them by saying if they don't win he and Wolfie will "suck every dick in the building." The opening sequence in this with Spike and Wolfie is almost identical to the previous night but better executed and made much more entertaining by the fact that Ice is @#!*% talking fans on the apron in the background the whole time. J.C. comes in and finally decides to take off his sunglasses while dancing around like Elvis. They do the same bodyslam spot from the night before but it is made ven more awesome by the fact that Ice is threatening to anally rape ringside fans and Wolfie comforts his initial failure by saying "what are you talking about, you are the strongest man in wrestling history?!" The crowd chants "spit or swallow" and Ice literally launches into an analysis of this concluding with a line about "busting a nut" being the endgame other way. Spike goes FIP in a slightly different fashion from the night before and takes some really cool bumps. The crowd chants "you @#!*% up" for no real reason at all. Ice with his double stomp for a nearfall, then runs over and slaps the @#!*% out of Mikey. Spike takes the awesome rana into the turnbuckle spot again. Spike with the hot tag off the double DDT and ends up getting tossed onto his @#!*% head on the floor when all @#!*% breaks loose. Jason gets on the apron, but ends up backfiring and Mikey rolls up Ice. The crowd breaks out into a massive "suck my dick" chant at PG-13 almost as soon as the fall is counted. This was really similar to the match from two nights before, but the interaction between the wrestlers and the crowd was so much better that this was a MUCH better match.

 

PG-13 v. Mikey/Spike - ECW FanCam 7-10-97

 

Pre-match J.C. Ice mic work is somewhat difficult to hear at times, but what is audible is typically awesome. Opening Spike/Wolfie segment was really entertaining as they kept having these weird spots that sort of looked like something was being miscomunicated, but kept resulting in @#!*% that made sense or was really cool like Wolfie's wipeout bumps to the floor off of a rope running exchange or Wolfie taking an attempted reverse rollup like a @#!*% spike piledriver. This all builds to a cool dive spot where PG-13 catch Spike only for Mikey to hit a leaping hilo onto everyone for the big bump. Ice and Mikey exchange starts off great with Ice being incapable of slamming Mikey so Mikey slams him. Ice can't knock Mikey down so Mikey knocks him down. Ice resorts to ridiculous karate posturing, Mikey bows, Ice bows, Mikey punches him in the face. Just lots of fun @#!*% early. Wolfie comes in and throws some punches before Mikey takes advantage again and they do the spot with Ice pouting on the floor and Wolfie consoling him with a hug. Mikey eventually loses control on a cool misdirection clothesline, but the really great stuff starts when Spike comes in. PG-13 takeover on Spike with a clothesline and from there it is just a ton of awesome, with Spike taking rana's into the turnbuckle, getting punched to @#!*% , selling his @#!*% off, et. Mikey is great on the apron desperate to get in. Wolfie ends up taking the great flip bump off the top to lead to the hot tag and Mikey is a great house of fire. Finish is Wolfie getting tossed crotch first off the top by Mikey onto the ropes and Mikey hitting a top rope dropkick onto Ice into a Spike schoolboy. I thought this was a great match when I saw it at the time and seeing it now nothing changes my mind. Watching Mikey work as the strong man/immovable object is really pretty insane but he was great at it. PG-13 were just incredible at incorporating all of the tricks of the trade and Spike sold better than @#!*% near anyone in wrestling at that point. Awesome stuff.

 

PG-13 v. Mikey/Spike ECW FanCam 7-11-97

 

I did a virtual play-by-play of the 7-10 match and I'm not going to do that here. This is very similar to the match the night before, but I think where there was variation it was arguably better. For example I liked the double drop down criss cross spot more than some of the schtick PG13 worked in the first match and I thought Spike's flip plancha was a welcome addition here. I also really dug the Ice test of strength with Spike which was just as over the top as him not being able to slam Mikey, but done in a fashion that seemed near believable. The Woflie D/Spike follow up with Mikey coming through Spike's legs for a ball shot on Woflie and J.C. going for the same thing only to get poked in the eyes leading to him popping up and headbutting Wolfie in the nuts was pretty great (as was subsequent helium voice on house mic performance from Wolfie). Spike's FIP was a little weaker here because of the length and the lack of tension on the hot tag, but I actually kinda liked the hub cab assisted victory for th ebad guys.

 

 

There are ten matches I've watched in the last year that I think range on the low end from good to great. Note that these matches reflect a month match stretch in 97 and a couple of months of secondary work (they were USWA guys then) in 95.

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1. Arn & Tully

2. Rock & Roll Express

3. Fantastics

4. Midnight Express

5. Jumbo & Tenryu

6. Choshu & Yatsu

7. Misawa & Kawada

8. Misawa & Kobashi

9. Misawa & Akiyama

10. Kawada & Taue

11. Footloose

12. Can-Am Express

13. Doc & Gordy

14. Orient Express

20. Freebirds

21. Hansen & Brody

22. The Funks

23. Hansen & Gordy

24. Tenryu & Kawada

25. Jumbo & Taue

30. British Bulldogs

31. Hart Foundation

32. The Rockers

33. Rose & Somers

34. Inoki & Fujinami

35. Adonis & Murdoch

I agree with these being clearly better.

 

15. Hardy Boys

16. Dudley Boys

17. Edge & Christian

18. Benoit & Malenko

19. Windham & Hennig

26. Owen & Davey

27. Faces of Fear

28. Harlem Heat

29. The Enforcers

I agree those are clearly worse, with the 3 early 00's WWF team (Hardys, Dudleys, E&C) being the most overrated teams in wrestling history. Faces of Fear were a super fun Nitro era team whatever that means. Harlem Heat were just shitty and were happy to have a few good matches here and there. Benoit & Malenko weren't particulary good as a team.

 

That's not even counting the joshi teams. I like PJ13 a lot, but top 20 of all time...

It's kinda like Spike Dudley top 10 ECW worker (well, not really, since Spike kinda sucked actually).;)

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The tricky part is to make an outrageous statement such as "There are barely 20 teams better than PJ13 in pro-wrestling history" instead of a reasonnable statement such as "PG13 was a damn excellent team and it should be time to revisit their body of work".;)

The second statement I totally agree with, they are criminally underrated and were a great team if you like Memphis ga-ga (which I do).

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That,s not exactly the statement i made but whatever, this is the thread to actually discuss them without the hyperbole or accusations of hyperbole. Ill get into the specifics more when i get off work tonight. Also we can rehash the spike argument in another thread. Ill just say that claiming that spike wasnt a top ten ecw wrestler is far more outrageous than saying he was

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That,s not exactly the statement i made but whatever, this is the thread to actually discuss them without the hyperbole or accusations of hyperbole. Ill get into the specifics more when i get off work tonight. Also we can rehash the spike argument in another thread. Ill just say that claiming that spike wasnt a top ten ecw wrestler is far more outrageous than saying he was

Are you guys even considering older teams like Bockwinkel and Stevens, Race and Hennig, Bruiser and Crusher, or Gagne and Brunzell (to name only a few)?

 

I know, my AWA is showing again...but seriously, is there a set criteria for who is better than PG-13 to work with here, or is it just opinion?

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Also we can rehash the spike argument in another thread. Ill just say that claiming that spike wasnt a top ten ecw wrestler is far more outrageous than saying he was

I don't intend to rehash arguments about a guy who I think mainly suck and was a chore to watch when I did my ECW thing. Certainly in my worst 10 ECW performer list with New Jack, 911, Harris Boys, D-Von Dudley, PE... Well, not as terrible as most of these guys, as he was half fun being thrown around by Bigelow and Awesome, but he was mostly unbearable to me on every level, and if not surrounded by people I cared about, he would have been FF material most of the time.

 

But I like the idea of pimping PJ13, hyperbole or not.

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I'm glad to see PG-13 being discussed, hyperbole or not (and I don't think it is).

 

I'll skim some things I've posted in the yearbook folder that I think add to their case when I get a chance.

 

As far as the quality of their signature spots, there aren't too many U.S. teams I'd rank higher. Sadly, one problem they face is that despite being a 90s team, there isn't a ton of footage. Lots of clipped matches where you get an idea of how great they were, and a few complete ones that back up that case well.

 

How did teams like Misawa/Kobashi even enter the discussion? Wasn't the whole point U.S. teams?

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I like PG-13 (though I'll admit that I'm not as well-versed in them as some people), but my problem with them, and it acts as a ceiling with me, is that I just don't buy them as being able to kick anyone's ass. Their look was just so, cheap, small-time? I don't know... indy? I just can't believe in them as a threat to very many people. It's one thing for, say, Lane's kicks to look shit and not buy into a specific part of what they do, but with PG-13 it's, like, the entire thing... maybe I'm alone in that, I don't know.

Responding to this from the other thread. They worked the USWA and SMW. Not sure how you can criticize someone for not giving the impression of a major league tag team when they don't work major leagues. I guess they had a cup of coffee in WCW and the WWF, but I'm sure no one is really factoring that into this discussion.

 

As heels, the whole point of PG-13 was that they were undersized and scrawny. Big mouthed guys who thought they were much bigger than they were. As babyfaces, they were underdogs because of their size. They got over as babyfaces in the same way small guys have always gotten over as babyfaces.

 

I never had a problem buying PG-13 being able to kick someone's ass, primarily because they seemed like the type of guys that would do just about anything to win. (This is another discussion, but I've always seen wrestling as more about outskilling someone than kicking their ass.) They were resourceful.

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I'll be honest, I don't really think PG-13 were all that great as a tag team. Sure, their run in USWA was entertaining, but asides from that, they never really built much ground and thus hardly anyone remembers who they were. As for the list... (emboldened is for teams that I think are better than PG-13)

 

1. Arn & Tully

2. Rock & Roll Express

3. Fantastics

4. Midnight Express

5. Jumbo & Tenryu

6. Choshu & Yatsu

7. Misawa & Kawada

8. Misawa & Kobashi

9. Misawa & Akiyama

10. Kawada & Taue

11. Footloose

12. Can-Am Express

13. Doc & Gordy

14. Orient Express

15. Hardy Boys

16. Dudley Boys

17. Edge & Christian

18. Benoit & Malenko

19. Windham & Hennig

20. Freebirds

21. Hansen & Brody

22. The Funks

23. Hansen & Gordy

24. Tenryu & Kawada

25. Jumbo & Taue

26. Owen & Davey

27. Faces of Fear

28. Harlem Heat

29. The Enforcers

30. British Bulldogs

31. Hart Foundation

32. The Rockers

33. Rose & Somers

34. Inoki & Fujinami

35. Adonis & Murdoch

 

My own addition of 10 teams that I think PG-13 are better than...

 

1. Too Much/Cool

2. The All American Males

3. Jim Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff

4. Demolition

5. The Harris/Blu/DOA Brothers

6. The Johnson's

7. The Basham Brothers

8. Axl and Ian Rotten

9. Right To Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather)

10. The Nasty Boys

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I'd like a discussion, on this:

 

The smkelly "list"

3. Fantastics

4. Midnight Express

What.The.Hell?!

 

Why would you ever rate the Fantastics over the Midnights?

 

EDIT: Some more teams to consider (NB. I have no idea who PG-13 are!):

 

- DiBiase and Williams

- DiBiase and Rotunda (Money Inc.)

- DiBiase and Hansen

- Jake and Barbarian

- Sting and Luger

- Arn and Zybysko

- Austin and Pillman

- Steamboat and Douglas

- THE STEINER BROTHERS

- Santana and Martel

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It's great that everyone is listing tag teams, but it really doesn't make for a useful discussion unless there is a mention of why next to each team.

Yep. Im at work, but when i get home ill run through every team listed and maybe add some thoughts on some other very good ones who have not popped up yet.

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A large part of how much you'll like PG-13 is simply based on your preferences towards Southern schtick, the kind of walk-and-talk matches that they call "Shakespeare". I personally have never been fond of that style. Even the best stallers, like Tracy Smothers, still leave me with an automatic emotional reaction of "just shut up and wrestle already". A guy stopping in the middle of the match to jaw with the fans or bitch on the mike is generally FF material with me, no matter how much cheap heat they're getting. So even though I worked with both Wolfie and Jamie plenty of times and liked them (or, at least, found their craziness to be more amusing than off-putting) they wouldn't be anywhere near the top of a Best Teams Ever list for the simple reason that I just don't like the Memphis ga-ga.

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They aren't really all gaga though. The Whipwreck/Spike tag that aired clipped on ECW TV is a good example of this. The headscissors into the turnbuckle pad is an AWESOME spot that I wish someone would steal. There was tons of good action in that match, and that's just what we saw of it.

 

Not putting you in this category, but I always find it interesting when people complain about stalling and gaga in places like Memphis, yet enjoy the Michinoku Pro schtick that originated from the same place. In fact, if you look at early MPro, they are doing a lot of Memphis comedy spots in the process of developing the style, like the back-turned arm wringer that is guaranteed to end in accidentally giving your own partner an arm wringer.

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I'd like a discussion, on this:

 

The smkelly "list"

3. Fantastics

4. Midnight Express

What.The.Hell?!

 

Why would you ever rate the Fantastics over the Midnights?

 

 

I don't think he was. He just listed teams that he thought were better than PG-13, and put numbers next to them so that we could see there were more than 20 of them. You're reading more into smkelly's list than was there.

 

John

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They aren't really all gaga though. The Whipwreck/Spike tag that aired clipped on ECW TV is a good example of this. The headscissors into the turnbuckle pad is an AWESOME spot that I wish someone would steal. There was tons of good action in that match, and that's just what we saw of it.

Of course it's not all ga-ga, both were really good mechanical workers, but when I watch a PJ13 match I don't ask for a spotfest or a workrate heavy match, I *want* my Memphis ga-ga. I know I'll get some cool spots thrown in, which is a plus, but really, PJ13 is the apex of Memphis tag westling, and that's a compliment to me.

 

Not putting you in this category, but I always find it interesting when people complain about stalling and gaga in places like Memphis, yet enjoy the Michinoku Pro schtick that originated from the same place. In fact, if you look at early MPro, they are doing a lot of Memphis comedy spots in the process of developing the style, like the back-turned arm wringer that is guaranteed to end in accidentally giving your own partner an arm wringer.

That spot just never gets old.

I guess those people like the comedy spots because it's only a part of über workrate matches. In Memphis you don't get the action of the MPro tags, so I can see why they wouldn't dig it.

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They aren't really all gaga though. The Whipwreck/Spike tag that aired clipped on ECW TV is a good example of this. The headscissors into the turnbuckle pad is an AWESOME spot that I wish someone would steal. There was tons of good action in that match, and that's just what we saw of it.

Oh sure, not saying they weren't good wrestlers, of course they were. Not great, but good. The thing is that PG-13's extra something special that they bring to the mix is the aforementioned gaga, so it leaves me unmoved. I'm not saying they suck, I just don't like that style.

 

Not putting you in this category, but I always find it interesting when people complain about stalling and gaga in places like Memphis, yet enjoy the Michinoku Pro schtick that originated from the same place. In fact, if you look at early MPro, they are doing a lot of Memphis comedy spots in the process of developing the style, like the back-turned arm wringer that is guaranteed to end in accidentally giving your own partner an arm wringer.

I've never watched much MPro, so I can't speak to that. In general, I find the more simplistic, southern style of comedy is just not my thing. All too often it tends to require the heels to pretend to be legitimately retarded in order for it to make any sense; like the spot where one guy drops down and leapfrogs over the other one until the heel eventually chucks himself out of the ring. That's the kind of stuff guys would call "midget spots", from it supposedly being common staples of minis matches in the old days. I can only watch the same trick so many times before it stops being funny. And as I've said before, I worked a lot of southern indy shows where untalented wrestlers would lean hard on the walk-n-talk bullshit every night because they were either unwilling or incapable of doing anything else. Five years of watching chubby wannabes cosplaying old Jimmy Valiant spots is a great way to murder your ability to enjoy that kind of thing.
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Before I get into the meat of the list let me comment on a few things that have already been mentioned.

 

First of all Ditch is right that a big part of the problem is that there isn't a lot of footage that has been widely circulated. I am confident that if we had the volume of stuff available and dispersed for PG-13 as we did for other more well known teams they would be very highly regarded.

 

Second to Jingus' point about stalling/schtick/et. I think one of the things that makes PG-13 so great is the fact that they are masters of that style but NOT JUST THAT STYLE. I personally think they are the absolute best ever at that sort of thing as it never feels like overkill to me, always gets the crowd going and always builds the heat to a high point before they really start dropping bombs. And that is really the point. As Loss noted PG-13 had GREAT spots both individually and as a tag team. Seriously they worked the ga ga and then delivered with some extremely dynamic and fun moves which is something I think is really important for tags and one of the reasons I rate PG-13 above a lot of teams that have bigger reputations. I would put PG-13's signature offense above all but a handful of teams in wrestling history and that is NOT something you would reasonably be able to say about a team that relied purely on schtick. In other words they had their bullshit, new how to work it, but also could go balls to the wall with action in the ring.

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Guest Rob Naylor

I love PG 13 too. Def one of my favorite tag teams. I wish I could have seen more of them. I'm one of the rare people that really didn't care for USWA in the early 90's when PG-13 was formed pretty much, so I've not seen much of it, to be honest. Their Smokey stuff is just fantastic and the ECW run was inspired and just a cool monkey wrench thrown into the standard ECW fare (and I say that with love). Jamie Dundee was just soooooo unbelievably great at controlling a crowd. And yes, the spots they did totally always work. For instance, this weekend, Austin Aries did the old "wrestler takes a sunset flip.... but staggers.... staggers..... flails arms.... allllllmost dropping... grabs the rope to disallow it, hold till five and have the ref kick your arm and fall back into the sunset" spot, which is such a great spot that always works and gets something little over as something big. He's also done the irish whip into the ropes, hold the ropes so the opponent dropkicks nothing but air spot of late too. I swear, I wish everyone would watch more Buddy Rose, cause that dude was KING of about a million other lil things like that. But yeah, Jamie growing up in a wrestling fan was prob damaged in soooo many ways, but in ring working was not one of them.

 

For the record, I realllly loved the Heavenly Bodies of Pritchard and Del Rey to the point I like them more than any incarnation of the Midnight Express!!! I've even told Jim Cornette this to his face. Pritchard was such a ring general and Del Rey's flying was wild at the time and he had more of a sleazy connection with the crowd then heel Bobby Eaton did (not a knock on Bobby since he was all time greatness too, but I just really loved the Bodies).

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