Thoughts on the following wrestlers - 12/04

[Loss]

Here we go again. Hopefully, this will get more talk than the last batch did. Some of these names have been done before, but it's been a while, a lot of us have watched a lot more, and it'll be interesting to talk about them again. Here we go:

 

Dusty Rhodes

Bob Backlund

Dump Matsumoto

Atlantis

Jim Breaks

Sgt. Slaughter

Adrian Adonis

CM Punk

Roddy Piper

Randy Savage

[Loss]

Dusty Rhodes - I've grown to really enjoy Dusty Rhodes. I was a fan of him as a kid, and then grew out of him for a while because of the new wrestling I was discovering being pretty much the opposite of what Dusty did well. But, at this point, I'd rather watch a Dusty Rhodes match than, say, a match from any period of Koji Kanemoto's career, just to use a random example. A lot of Dusty's success depended admittedly on how the heel fed him comebacks and how they approached him. Like Hogan, someone willing to bump who had some cool ideas could have a good match with him. Dusty in New Japan is really fun, because they put over the elbow as a killer in his matches with Backlund and even more so Inoki, and the Backlund/Dusty match is very non-typical Dusty and something everyone should see.

 

I recently watched Tully/Dusty from 6/6/87 NWA (the match where JJ stole the money) and thought it was pretty good as well. Dusty/Tully generally succeeded in getting the job done. Dusty/Flair is a little more of a mixed bag, as I don't think they ever had a match that was better than decent to good, but I still enjoy watching because of the crowd heat and the chemistry their characters had. People seem to be coming around on Dusty and I'm glad to see it. He accomplished a lot without always putting out a lot.

 

As for his booking, he has had lots of great ideas and great years, and lots of unsuccessful runs as well. There are things he has put together that I have really enjoyed (Four Horsemen, Dangerous Alliance, War Games, etc) and there are some things that have been a little ridiculous (Midnight Rider, Johnny B. Badd obsession, etc), but overall, I'd say Dusty had more positives as a booker than negatives. The big problem was that he liked strong heels to a point where the babyfaces didn't always get their moment, and there were too many screwy finishes. I've been watching quite a bit of 1987 NWA lately, and he's really great at creating this massive celebration anytime there's a title change. It's a huge deal, probably because it didn't happen every week. He gets a bad rap, and a lot of it is deserved, but a lot of it is also overstated, as Dusty did some really terrific things while booking.

 

Wow, that ended up longer than expected. I'll do the rest later.

[Guest HTQ]

Dusty Rhodes

 

Had the charisma and promo ability to cover for his below average ring skills. Was a great booker at his peak, but his positives get forgotten over his refusal to stop pushing himself in every angle or segment on a show and for his major role in the death of the JCP.

 

Bob Backlund

 

I've always thought of Bob as someone who works to the level of his opponent . If he's in with a good to great worker, Bob will have a good to great match. But if he's in with a stiff, then you're in for a stinker.

 

Adrian Adonis

 

I've not seen a lot of Adonis, but he looked like a good worker.

 

CM Punk

 

A good worker who can be great if inspired to be. Tremendous promo guy who can talk cirlces around just about anyone in WWE. Should be the centerpiece of 'ECW', but I have a feeling he'll get the Chris Jericho treatment and be made the bitch of whatever steroided up stiff Vince goes with instead.

 

Roddy Piper

 

Does a great Howie Mandell routine. Ring work was never special, but again he had the charisma and promo ability to make up for it.

 

Randy Savage

 

A great worker in his prime who would carry just about anyone to a good match by bumping his ass off. Never a fan of his promos.

[Resident Evil]

Dusty Rhodes

 

Charasma galore.

 

 

Bob Backlund

 

I still can't get over the strength he had. A controversial wrestler when discussing quality. I'm in the camp that he was a very good wrestler. He has managed to be in several great bouts against Hogan, Bret and Adonis

 

Dump Matsumoto

 

She was the best heel she possibly could've been at the time. What more can you ask for?

 

Atlantis

 

Want to see more. I love the Mask vs Mask bout with the excellent wrestler that is Villano III

 

 

Jim Breaks

 

He reminds me of Johnny Smith somewhat so of course I'm a fan. The kind of wrestler you want on a roster. I'd like to see him in a time warp and see how the fans would react to him today

 

 

Sgt. Slaughter

 

Always been a fan of the Sarge. I just always thought he was a good wrestler.

 

Adrian Adonis

 

Great wrestler. He had a smart mind in the ring.

 

 

CM Punk

 

I appreciate his devotion to his drug free stance since I've done the same thing.

 

 

Roddy Piper

 

One of a kind. He has never been replicated and I don't think he ever will

 

 

Randy Savage

 

Very good wrestler who I believe was able to connect well with the entire crowd base through his charisma, his distinct interviews, ring attire and his before mentioned wrestling ability. One of the cornerstones in keeping the WWF as strong as it was. After Hogan and Andre, he might have been the biggest name.

[sek69]

I'll comment on the folks I've seen:

 

Dusty Rhodes: One of my all time favorites. His promos were just on a completely different level than anyone besides Flair. I always thought his matches were surprisingly good for a guy his size. Also, I think his role in the end of JCP is somewhat exaggerated. Yeah, his infamous finish wasn't the biggest help, but Crockett was just outfoxed by Vince at every turn once the PPV era started.

 

Bob Backlund: The more I watch of his 70s work, the more I understand why Vince wanted the belt off him ASAP. Yeah, he was a good wrestler (and I mark for the Gotch Lift every time) but he was like watching paint dry. When he did his crazy Mr. Backlund character in the 90s I was in shock that he could go from zero to awesome in the charisma department.

 

Atlantis: I've only seen the match with Villano III, and it was one of the best matches I've watched. V3 seemed to be past his prime at that point (which was still better than most people), so Atlantis deserves a bigger share of the credit than people seem to give him.

 

Sgt. Slaughter: Too bad most people seem to remember the Iraqi sympathizer gimmick. He was a good brawler who ended up out of the WWF right when he would have been one of the biggest stars. It was probably for the best, as Hogan's All American gimmick would have taken a lot of the steam from Sarge. Plus it gave us the GI Joe figure of him, so it was truly one of the best moves in history.

 

Adrian Adonis: One of the most underrated guys ever. I'm not sure what he did to warrant the Adorable gimmick, but instead of becoming Wrestlecrap he went way into it and made it work. Even at his biggest size, he was still taking crazy bumps like the Flair Flip over the turnbuckles. His work teaming with Jesse Ventura was solid as well.

 

CM Punk: I just don't get the fuss with the guy. I've only seen some of his ROH stuff and most of his ECW work, and I just don't get why he's the New Hotness. His moves seem sloppy and his "strikes" are embarrassing since they hype up his muay thai background (or at least they did). I guess people just want to live vicariously through him since he seems like a genuine nice guy who manages to nail all the hot chicks he comes in contact with.

 

Roddy Piper: He was a little guy who was able to get over at the height of the musclebound steroid freak era just by his promos. He ended up becoming a cartoon by the 90s, but his 80s stuff was golden. I never realized until watching his DVD is that you rarely saw Piper wrestle on WWF TV. That speaks volumes of how well he did his job since you had to pay to see him, and people did.

 

Randy Savage: I'd say he was the best wrestler of the 80s. Considering he never completely escaped Hogan's shadow, it's no wonder he went crazy over the years. I can see how someone wouldn't care for his promo style, but he legit freaked me out as a kid.

[jdw]

Dusty Rhodes: positives and negatives.

 

His promos at his best are off the charts. They frankly are the best of his generation. I've made the comment a few other places - compare his 70s WWWF promos on the Dusty DVD with the promos by Superstar Graham from the same era in the WWWF. Graham is allegedly a "great" mic guy from the era. Dusty runs circles around him. Dusty makes Billy sound like he's talking nonsense, which is true - Billy was talking nonsense. The irony is that Dusty was also rambling on nonsensically half the time, but could draw the various strands together and tie them together into a theme that made sense. There are a ton of great Dusty promos.

 

But what people tend to forget in clip-o-vision, Dusty DVDs and Best of's is just how Hogan In WCW and Trip In The 00's that Dusty eventually became in Crockett. We see just some of the great promos. What we don't see is that it was week after week after week of this guy putting himself over on the mic against half the heel side of the promotion, and half the heel side of the promotion during their mic spots that show being forced at some point to say, "Dusty Rhodes was out here earlier talking about...".

 

It was totally fucking annoying after a while. Much like Hogan and Trip you just wanted him to literally drop the fuck so that the promotion and the wrestlers could get on with the rest of their careers.

 

I'm glad for the Dusty DVD and for the Crockett set that Punk did over on CMax. It is important that people realize that Dusty was on another planet from everyone else on the mic. Hell, he had to - look at him. But I think we lose the negative side of his mic spots by cherry picking and not seeing them in their *full* context. There's a reason that not just the "smart" sheet reading or wiseass Front Row Section D type fans got tired of him.

 

As a worker, there are times that he's an interesting worker to watch. Starcade 1985, for instance, is interesting to contrast the performances of Flair and Dusty. It's not a good match. But it is a bit enlightening. But a load of his matches are just that - loads. I wish more tape existed of Dusty in his heel days. What exists show him a bumping, stooging worker who looks really good in that role. You see a little bit of the heeling later in New Japan, especially flashes against Backlund. But the really big bumper is gone.

 

My Dusty Dream Match to pray exists somewhere and will eventually come out is:

 

November 27, 1975---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido

International Tag Team title match

Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta beat Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes (2-1)

(1) Murdoch beat Tsuruta (13:27)

(2) Tsuruta beat Murdoch (8:00)

(3) Baba beat Rhodes (4:50)---Baba & Tsuruta kept the title

 

This is the same series as the 1975 World Open League which a ton of photage exists, but it's *before* the League portion runs (12/06/75 - 12/18/75). 25+ of Rhodes & Murdoch against the top team in Japan... it would be one of the best examples we'd get of seeing how Dusty worked heel against some guys who could work in a "big match", and of the Rhodes-Murdoch team as they come near the end of their time together.

 

John

[jdw]

Bob Backlund: I suspect that people know what I think of Bob. A vastly underrated worker. He didn't need to be in with a "good worker" to have a "good match". His 29 minute match with Hogan and his match with Dusty in Japan showed that, among other matches. He also could have dogs with "good workers" as his 1979 MSG rematch with Valentine and several of the matches with Patterson in Philly showed. Then again, those three mediocre matches during Bob's "prime" were due to the good working opponent not wanting to do much at all. Bob showed with Hogan that if he had a weak worker who was "game" and willing to work, he had plenty of things that could fill up even 30 minutes. But if a good worker didn't want to do much with him, there wasn't much Bob could do. The nice thing is that there is a great Valentine-Bob match from the era, and Patterson did have one very strong match with Backlund in MSG (not the Cage match), so we can compare matches and figure out what the differences are. I look forward to Will's set coming up. There are a few new matches for me on it, some things I haven't seen in a while, and a few that he will have in far better shape than my current version.

 

 

Dump Matsumoto: Never really did much for me. I won't despute that she wasn't extremely effective in her role. I just never cared for that type of worker. To the degree that she loses my interest in her storylines. That's just a personal preferrence.

 

 

Roddy Piper: I tend to think he's overrated in our memories in every possible way. In watching/re-watching old stuff, I've yet to see anything that reflects very well on him as a worker. On the mic, he babbles more nonsense than just about anyone. He does have amazing charisma, both on the mic and in the ring. That's his saving grace. But in the ring, he strikes me as a worse worker than Hogan. As far as building a storyline towards a match, I think Hogan was better on the mic since he was more focused, while Roddy would charismatically ramble nonsense.

 

 

John

[sek69]

Piper was never much in the ring, but I think he has a point when he asks Hogan if they would have loved him as much if he didn't have such a strong heel to play off of.

 

Besides, my favorite WWF 80s moment was when Andre ripped Hulk's cross off on Piper's Pit. Roddy's out-of-character (opposed to the crazy guy he'd been up to that point) response of a quiet "you're bleeding" to Hulk was brilliant. When a guy who spent the earlier part of the decade trying to end Hulkamania can realize that Hulk might be fucked here against Andre really sold the feud to me.

[Loss]

My Dusty Dream Match to pray exists somewhere and will eventually come out is:

 

November 27, 1975---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido

International Tag Team title match

Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta beat Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes (2-1)

(1) Murdoch beat Tsuruta (13:27)

(2) Tsuruta beat Murdoch (8:00)

(3) Baba beat Rhodes (4:50)---Baba & Tsuruta kept the title

 

This is the same series as the 1975 World Open League which a ton of photage exists, but it's *before* the League portion runs (12/06/75 - 12/18/75). 25+ of Rhodes & Murdoch against the top team in Japan... it would be one of the best examples we'd get of seeing how Dusty worked heel against some guys who could work in a "big match", and of the Rhodes-Murdoch team as they come near the end of their time together.

 

John

Interesting booking there with Murdoch and Jumbo trading wins. I know there was a Jumbo/Murdoch match that no one has been able to track down yet. Was that before or after this match? And what was the finish for that? I can see this taking place at the tail end of a feud with Jumbo going over, but can't really see it at the beginning since Jumbo got his heat back and there's no reason to continue the feud. Unless this wasn't really intended to be booked into any type of big picture.

[Loss]

Bob Backlund is someone I really like and always have. I can understand some of the criticisms against him, but some things seem overblown. For someone who New Yorkers hated, he sure was over before the live crowds and sold out a ton of MSG shows. Some do consider him a bit goofy, which I can understand, but I always thought there was a psychotic undertone to it that bubbled over occasionally when he had a bloody match with a Ken Patera or Sgt. Slaughter type that fit the character well. There's still worlds of Backlund I haven't seen (the hour draws with Inoki and Muraco are the first to come to mind), but there's plenty I have seen that I've liked. I also enjoy the Hogan matches, and while some aren't crazy about it, I think the WON MOTY against Patera was actually an outstanding match. I don't see the case for anyone other than Bob Backlund as the best wrestler of the world in 1980, considering the matches against Hogan, Patera, Hansen, etc.

 

All said, I can understand a lot of people not liking him. If the whole goofy act bothers you and you aren't a fan of his signature spots, I can see not liking Bob Backlund.

[Guest HTQ]

But what people tend to forget in clip-o-vision, Dusty DVDs and Best of's is just how Hogan In WCW and Trip In The 00's that Dusty eventually became in Crockett. We see just some of the great promos. What we don't see is that it was week after week after week of this guy putting himself over on the mic against half the heel side of the promotion, and half the heel side of the promotion during their mic spots that show being forced at some point to say, "Dusty Rhodes was out here earlier talking about...".

 

It was totally fucking annoying after a while. Much like Hogan and Trip you just wanted him to literally drop the fuck so that the promotion and the wrestlers could get on with the rest of their careers.

 

Having watched the Bob Barnett NWA set, I can testify to this feeling. Watching it, you get sick of Dusty very fast. He's either part of every angle or mentioned in every interview anybody ever does. And this happened for almost three years straight.

[jdw]

Interesting booking there with Murdoch and Jumbo trading wins. I know there was a Jumbo/Murdoch match that no one has been able to track down yet. Was that before or after this match? And what was the finish for that? I can see this taking place at the tail end of a feud with Jumbo going over, but can't really see it at the beginning since Jumbo got his heat back and there's no reason to continue the feud. Unless this wasn't really intended to be booked into any type of big picture.

 

The Jumbo-Murdock UN Title turnaround was in 1980. Both matches aired on TV in some form, and I've identified them on a list for Puroresu Hunter Extraorindare Dan Ginnettey to track down:

 

List C-3

04

Tsuruta VS Murdock (55/2/23UN)

Murdock VS door (55/2/27UN)

Murdock VS Tsuruta (55/3/5UN)

Murdock VS KAMATA (55/3/2)

DOSUKARASU VS Dr. Wagner (55/3/2 Mexico light heavyweight division)

Champion carnival ceremony (55/3)

Tsuruta VS curl phage (55/3/28)

Mysterious ASASHIN VS Baba (55/3/28)

Terry VS lei candy (55/3/28)

 

The two Murdoch vs. Jumbo matches you want which are the title changes. 17:20, 2:15, 4:03 and 21:55, 3:30, 2:25. In between is a one hour draw with Tiger Toguchi. Hard to know how much of any of them aired, but that seems to be the original airing.

Tapes on this list tend to be 2 hours. Carny would be one show, though nothing on it looks like a long match. If that's the case, it crams a lot of stuff into one show, which would shortchange Jumbo-Dick quite a bit. I'm hoping at least *one* of the title changes is in full.

 

I need to hip Dan to that tape again.

 

On the booking of the Tag Title match and the coming Open League, I'd have to see the match and know more about Jumbo's match with Murdoch in the League. I don't think it was anything special in the booking. Exchanging falls like that was common in tag title matches in the era. You'd see it in NJ as well - Saka exchanging falls with one of the gaijin before Inoki won the third fall. Or vice versa.

 

 

John

[jdw]

Bob Backlund is someone I really like and always have. I can understand some of the criticisms against him, but some things seem overblown. For someone who New Yorkers hated, he sure was over before the live crowds and sold out a ton of MSG shows. Some do consider him a bit goofy, which I can understand, but I always thought there was a psychotic undertone to it that bubbled over occasionally when he had a bloody match with a Ken Patera or Sgt. Slaughter type that fit the character well.

I tend to enjoy Bob's goofiness as Bob Being Bob. It's like when Terry Funk gets Stinky Beer Face and starts windmilling the arms around. I think it's great goofy fun. It drives Yohe nuts, and he thinks Terry wasn't worthy of being the World Champ. To each his own.

 

 

There's still worlds of Backlund I haven't seen (the hour draws with Inoki and Muraco are the first to come to mind), but there's plenty I have seen that I've liked.

It looks like Will is just about ready to release his Bob DVD Set. It's 10 disks, and pretty tightly cut. I think it's a smart culling of matches.

 

Bob had a number of matches with Patterson that are available. The Philly matches are Pat's "Fifth Of Gin" selling matches, and aren't good. The catch match in MSG is pretty widly available from the WWF itself, and I don't think really enlightens folks on what the two can do in a straight wrestling match when in synch. So Will went with their second MSG match, whichI think is quite a good match and reflects well on both.

 

The same goes with Slaughter. There's the 1980 MSG match, but for some reason the two aren't clicking. Sarge doesn't look as sharp as he usually does, and Bob doesn't seem to have a good notion of what to do with Sarge. It's pretty mutal in not clicking, and I thought for a while that they just didn't have styles that worked well. But then there are the Philly matches. The first is quite good and it's a total contrast to their MSG match - they're in synch. Then after a match inbetween, there's the cage match which is just an awesome WWF-style cage match. Bingo - Will's got examples of good matches between the two.

 

Bob and Valentine are the same - they had good matches in each of their three runs against each other, and lesser ones. Will has their 1979 draw, their 1981 match where Bob "wins the title back", and their final MSG match in April 1984 that Tabe is really fond of. It will be super cool to see then across five years.

 

There's some stuff on it that I haven't seen like that last Greg-Bob match, so I'm really looking forward to it.

 

 

I also enjoy the Hogan matches, and while some aren't crazy about it, I think the WON MOTY against Patera was actually an outstanding match. I don't see the case for anyone other than Bob Backlund as the best wrestler of the world in 1980, considering the matches against Hogan, Patera, Hansen, etc.

Depends on how one defines "best werstler in 1980".

 

If it's worker, I'd like to see more of Jumbo's stuff in 1980.

 

If you're going "MVP"... it's tricky. The biggest feud and match in the WWF in 1980 was Bruno vs. Larry, and it popped the Shea crowd.

 

Bob did have a great feud with Patera. He supported that with the matches Hogan in Philly, Inoki in Miami, Dusty and Stan in Japan, Harley in MSG (and St. Louis in Novermber), Larry and Slaughter.

 

Does the balance of quality of matches against a variety of opponents *and* drawing power make him the MVP?

 

I don't know.

 

On the other hand, he did have a really strong run from 1978 through some point in 1982. It's been pretty underrated. I think the worm has turned on what a fair number of people think of it.

 

 

John

[Loss]

Dump Matsumoto - I can understand someone not liking her, because most of her matches tend to throw the rules completely out the window, are filled with outside interference, have lots of hair cutting and scissor usage and she doesn't really have any offense. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea. That said, I love her, just because 20 years later, I watch her matches and she still scares me. It's hard to watch a Dump match and NOT be on the edge of your seat the entire time. Dump Matsumoto isn't just a great heel. She's a great villain. You could put her in the middle of some Japanese horror flick and she'd fit in perfectly. Every Dump match I've seen is an epic struggle between the schoolyard bullies and the normal girls that were just trying to survive. It was a dynamic made even more awesome by the fact that the Crush Girls, specifically Chigusa Nagayo, were a pop culture phenomenon in Japan at the time, and the heat for all of these matches from the time period is more insane than anything I've ever seen for any era of pro wrestling anywhere ever. Everyone should watch this stuff and at least form an opinion on the era. In addition to the more theatrical style of Dump Matsumoto, you had Chigusa Nagayo, Lioness Asuka, Devil Masami and Jaguar Yokota, among others, wrestling a style 20 years ahead of its time blending big highspots with MMA-style matwork and high-suspense near falls. 90s Joshi is great in its own right and gets more attention, but I think the 80s stuff is better.

[Loss]

Atlantis - The line on Atlantis among long-time lucha fans seems to be that he's an above-average wrestler who has the benefit of working with lots of talented guys and as a result has a long list of great matches that is a bit deceiving. I don't know if that's true, as I really enjoy Atlantis as a worker. He's not as skilled on the mat as Blue Panther and doesn't have a banner 1-2 years where he was consistently among the best in the world like El Dandy, but he's probably on the next tier beneath Santo and Casas of luchadores who have had lots of great matches spread out over a long period of time, and he seems capable of working with just about anyone. Not as charismatic as many of his peers as a technico, but really seems to turn up the volume as a rudo. Anyone who doubts his charisma should watch his match with El Faraon in March of '85 and see him put on a heel performance for the ages. One of my favorites.

[pantherwagner]

Is this where the pro-wres dorks post now?

 

Loss, you should invite some of the people from the BWE poll from Smarkschoice here. I'm sure many of us would be more encouraged to watch wrestling and be dorks if we had a good place to discuss it.

 

Dusty Rhodes: As a kid I didn't grow with the NWA (I started watching around 90 and it was the supposed start of the new Sting era) so I have no emotional connection to Dusty at all. That being said, I really have no interest in him. His promos are fun (even if they come off as really repetitive to me) but his matches do not interest me unless he's bleeding a lot and he's facing a superworker.

 

I'll continue later but now skip to...

Dump Matsumoto: We should bring OJ and Ginnetty here and whoever else watches 80s AJW and get some conversation going because during the last year, random episodes of 80s AJW has been one of my favourite things to watch. It can get repetitive, but if watched in doses, it's really fun stuff to watch.

 

That being said, Dump Matsumoto is awesome. Everybody is aware that she is a fantastic heel, but I think that as an actual worker she is really underrated by people who only have seen her hair matches with Chigusa. She does not have any major offense like a Bull or Aja type would, but her bumping is quite good, her bully psychology is great and she is pretty good at building to the babyface comebacks.

[Loss]

Well, the board was fairly hoppin' at one point a long time ago, and I've been trying to revitalize it recently. I guess it's working, if you and jdw are posting here now.

 

[pantherwagner]

Well, the board was fairly hoppin' at one point a long time ago, and I've been trying to revitalize it recently. I guess it's working, if you and jdw are posting here now.

 

 

I saw your signature a long time ago, visited the place and bookmarked it, and then forgot about it until a couple days ago. Later I'll post about 80s AJW, I have wanted to do that somewhere for a while.

[World's Worst Man]

Just throwing this out there, but would anyone else be interested in doing something where a match is selected and uploaded, and then we all discuss that match? I like the idea of having a specific topic to discuss, but I find myself to be more interested in discussing matches, rather than wrestlers.

[Loss]

I like that idea. I think HTQ tried it, but no one responded.

[World's Worst Man]

Ah, so he did. I think it'd be better to just post the match at the beginning of the thread. And we could start with some matches that most people would already have. There are probably a few of those that haven't been discussed to death already.

[Guest HTQ]

I think HTQ tried it, but no one responded.

 

Correct on both counts.

[Resident Evil]

Where at? What match?

[Guest HTQ]

A couple of weeks ago when I first came back. I made a post about it. I know people read it. I also know nobody responded.

[goodhelmet]

Dusty Rhodes- Dusty is a wierd one for me. I love his feud with Tully and all of the gimmick matches it produced. I think his best one-on-one match may be with Bob Backlund but I can't turn away from Big Dust when watching mid-80s Crockett. .

 

 

Bob Backlund- I love Backlund. To think, he has had the best matches I have seen with Dusty Rhodes, Ken Patera, Ivan Koloff (singles match), Greg Valentine, Antonio Inoki (w/ possibly Vader challenging him), Buddy Rose, Adrian Adonis, Don Muraco (again, arguable), and Pat Patterson. Yet, the guy has so many people who hate his guts. I think my upcoming comp will show him in a favorable light which is the whole purpose of the comp.

 

 

Dump Matsumoto- Just now picking up her stuff. A note to watch her and Jaguar over the holidays.

 

 

Atlantis- One of my favorite luchadores. After I do the El Dandy set, I seriously have to look into doing an Atlantis primer. Do you hear that, Jose???

 

 

Jim Breaks- I have Famous Mortimer;s comp and I enjoy British wrestling but I still don't think I have seen enough of him to truly evaluate him.

 

 

Sgt. Slaughter- I don't like him as much as Loss does. I'll have to talk to KHawk about some cjhoice AWA but after his singles matches with Sheik and Adonis, what else does he have? After his tag run against Steamboat and Youngblood, what else does he have as a tag wrestler?

 

 

Adrian Adonis- I don't like him as much as Loss but his team with Murdoch was great. His team with Ventura was not so great. His Portland stuff was good but I think that is becasue him and Buddy Rose were great opponents for each other.

 

 

CM Punk- Man, even with all the "MOTYCs", I think my favorite Punk experience was his Raven feud. The matches were dogs but I loved the interaction between the two. I still dig the Joe matches but is that because of Punk or Joe?

 

 

Roddy Piper- No comment right now.

 

 

Randy Savage- I am putting together a Savage comp as well but I think I may have over-rated him in the Smarkschoice poll. However, his best stuff is gold.