Matt D's Where the Big Boys Play: The Column Beyond Ongoing Thread

[bradhindsight]

Really excited for Matt D's PTBN debut as a reoccurring series and companion piece to Where the Big Boys Play.

 

http://placetobenation.com/the-great-american-bash-1991-matt-d-in-the-world-of-spartacus/

[Ricky Jackson]

Once again, great work Matt

[dgrblue]

Congrats on your spot. Good luck with everything.

[Matt D]

Thanks guys, I'm hoping to have some fun with it and maybe tackle things from some different angles.

[Matt D]

To herald the assuredly soon to drop next podcast of Parv and Chad my second column is up. Clash XVI may be the least of all wrestling megashows. Not the worst, just the least.

 

http://placetobenation.com/the-column-beyond-a-dotted-line-through-the-georgia-brawl/

[Bigelow34]

Loved that piece Matt, was a joy to proofread. Looking forward to more.

[Matt D]

Thanks a lot. I remember looking at your show reviews back all the way back in 2010 when I was working on the Demolition Project and they were definitely useful at the time. I don't envy you proofreading whatever comes out of my head though. I type faster than I think. That said, I do have some ideas for Halloween Havoc that I'm looking forward to trying to crack.

[El Boricua]

Just wanted to chime in and say I enjoyed the piece and the view point you bring to them Matt D. I really get the bizarro world thing you mention, I started watching WCW around late 1990 and first knew Bobby Eaton as a singles wrestler and Ricky Morton as the guy that teams with Tommy Rich (and Jim Cornette as that commentator guy from LPWA ). This should be a real good complement to WTBBP.

[Matt D]

Thanks a lot for reading. Some of these things you just never kick. I'm not even what I thought of Cornette. I think I saw him in GWF. OR, you know, I actually knew him from the 91-92 Apter mags the most. I had an old one about him and Stan Lane heading off on their own. I had no idea who he was before that.

[Matt D]

http://placetobenation.com/wtbbp-the-column-beyond-the-great-match-robbery-of-1991/

 

Third article is up as a herald to the upcoming podcast. This one on Hayes and Garvin stealing heat (which I know has gotten some play recently here and elsewhere) and the second match on the 1991 Halloween Havoc card.

[JerryvonKramer]

This was probably my favourite piece yet and I laughed out loud at the idea of Hayes using his powers for evil.

[soup23]

This article certainly shows that Hayes was a mustache twirling villain on this show that masked himself as a fan favorite.

[bradhindsight]

Chad - I can't edit the topic, but can we make this a "Matt D's Where the Big Boys Play: The Column Beyond Ongoing Thread"?

[Ricky Jackson]

These columns offer such a unique perspective on wrestling. All I can say is read these now if you have not. Brilliant stuff yet again

[Matt D]

That is high praise indeed. Thank you.

[bradhindsight]

Clash XVII piece on the art of Southern tag wrestling:

 

http://placetobenation.com/the-column-beyond-working-hard-working-smart-and-the-art-of-the-southern-tag/

[Loss]

Really great column, Matt! Probably my favorite from you. I loved it.

[Matt D]

Thanks Charles. I'm glad you liked it. It's nice to try to synthesize some of the thoughts we've developed over the years in discussion here.

[soup23]

http://placetobenation.com/the-column-beyondwrestling-shared-universes-and-the-obsolete-joy-of-the-lethal-lottery/

 

Matt writes a love letter to being a kid in the 90's and ties it into a love for the Lethal Lottery.

[Matt D]

Thanks to Bill for doing a preliminary read on this one. I like for SOMEONE to take a look at it early on and usually I go to Chad for that but there was a lot going on this month.

[soup23]

I made the final format and edit today Matt and as always, top notch stuff. Even though it kind of brought into question that I fit more into the sports bucket side of things. On the flipside of that, I was a huge Hogan guy and disagree with some of the sentiment I have seen of people championing for Hogan because he was a cartoon character come to life. I liked TMNT well enough but that was about the extent of my superhero craze throughout my childhood. Maybe I am just an aberration. I also love how Lethal Lottery has brought so many people together that don't usually see eye to eye (Joe, Steven, and Matt).

[Matt D]

I will reluctantly admit that the one element I didn't touch on was the idea of continuity in sports and I think it's because usually people don't think of investing in a team that way, but it is there from year to year, a narrative that builds on what comes before. I don't think it's mutually exclusive from what I was going for as that fit my youth a bit better (I didn't really get into sports in the "I need to watch Sportscenter every day" sense until 92 and I was more or less done with them on that level by 94). In some ways, a MLB or NFL team is sort of a story within a shared universe too.

[soup23]

Matt chronicles his journey attending the Royal Rumble live:

 

http://placetobenation.com/matt-ds-rumble-road-report/

[soup23]

Matt talking about finding a hidden gem in wrestling. I think this may be Matt's best article yet:

 

http://placetobenation.com/the-column-beyond-the-great-hunt/

[Matt D]

Next Column, one where I break down the commentary for a Tony/JR match sentence by sentence and then see how the addition of Jesse changed things.