PWO Appreciation Thread

[MLD1083]

Hi all,

 

Long time lurker here, (very) part-time contributor.  This thread is probably mis-placed, but in a time of global pandemic and political and economic upheaval, I've been doing some thinking, and appreciating the things I have in this life. In 36 years, I have a family including my wife and three kids that I truly adore, a decent job, and a number of great friendships.  

 

And while I have not contributed a ton to this Board, it has been a big part of my life.  I find that wrestling is an interest that you can come back to in times of stress.  I look back at all the times I've struggled - bad grades due to some depression junior year of college, finding out I'm going to be a father at 22 with no real plan in life, working 65+ hours a week to put food on the table for my family to make ends meet, dealing with my dad's cancer diagnosis, his surgery and subsequent coma, his recovery and then 4 year battle that he succumbed to in 2017, having a child with a serious illness pull through in the NICU - all those times, I find myself popping in a vhs of Royal Rumble '90, watching my first PPV - WrestleMania V about 100 times on tape, dvd, and the Network, throwing on Starrcade '85 or WrestleMania X-Seven on the Network after a really tough day.  It's my security blanket, and my guilty pleasure.

 

So I wanted to take 5 minutes to thank Charles and everyone here for being an awesome community, repository of history, and a place where I was introduced to more great wrestling than anywhere else.  For a while I was intimidated to post due to the impressive depth of knowledge in the posting community here.  Then, as I felt more comfortable, work and family demanded more of my time where I had little time to interact online.  You guys rock, I enjoy reading your posts, and wanted to give a shout out to a great number of people who've contributed to my wrestling fandom in ways you probably don't know.

 

I can tell not everyone below still posts here regularly anymore, but maybe word can get their way. 

 

Charles/Loss - what can I say?  You have built and maintained the most tight-knit and knowledgeable wrestling community I've ever encountered.  Your takes are always thoughtful and articulate, a true wrestling historian.  You welcome people and have an art at discussion and disputation without offending others, a trait I think a lot of us could adopt in times of such social and political polarity,  Without going into too much detail, thanks for the Yearbooks, thanks for the match reviews and 'must watch' lists.  You're the man.

 

Will/Goodhelmet - and speaking of the man, the grand poo bah of evangelizing the love of wrestling for all to enjoy, Good Ole Will has been one of my favorite podcasters and people to interact with on the internet.  God bless you and your family, man.  You and Charles have made such a big impact on my fandom of wrestling all over the world.  Thank you.

 

Dylan - always has an opinion, backed by passion.  You were the first to make me think that Triple H or HBK could be overrated.

 

Naylor - hilarious, love your takes and opinions, especially on Will's podcasts.  One of the more entertaining follows on Twitter. 

 

Kris Z - encyclopedic knowledge and a knack for 'putting you back in the moment as a fan', I've loved your history deep dives in Exile on Badstreet and Between the Sheets.

 

Bix - Spunky and opinionated, but you bring the goods, especially in your long form articles and work on BTS with Zellner.  

 

JDW - 100% certain he doesn't post here anymore, but John's threads and lists here and on DVDVR and The Other Arena were huge in my burgeoning Japanese wrestling fandom.  You really put handles on a foreign (no pun intended) form of wrestling that I came to love over the years.  Thank you.

 

JerryVonKramer - speaking of JDW, JVK always entertained me with his posts.  While I lurked in the background, Part put himself out there, figuring out his fandom on the PWO boards in realtime, making outlandish claims, getting owned on some, bringing the data and evidence to back up others, stirring up hell, and not backing down (dude, you probably could have backed down a few times - it's just wrestling, haha).  Hell of a run when he was frequent here though.

 

Phil Schneider - another authoritative voice on GOOD WRESTLING that was just obscure enough at times to make me branch out and consider new areas of the 'sport of kings' to follow

 

Winged Eagle - probably the first guy to reach out and welcome me here, always a cool dude to interact with

 

Johnny Sorrow - brother, let your freak flag fly!  Always has an opinion and a kid-like love of the current product.  Probably the best Macho Man impression on the internet, and 100% fun to read your takes of the action.

 

El-P - always there, always with an opinion, and a great follow during PPV broadcasts

 

Ohtani's Jacket - man, I've learned a ton from your posts on British and Japanese wrestling.  Always a great read.

 

Matt D - Hell of a mind and always a unique take on the sport.  Thanks for your thoughtful and informative posts.

 

Grimmas - always fighting the good fight, passionate about what you love.  

 

Sek69 - always up for discussion and a good take

 

Exposer - Dylan's brother, and always an entertaining read.  Different view than a lot of people here but brave to express it.

 

JazeUSA - a lot of knowledge, a big collection.  Same can be said for Seabs, Migs, and a lot of the Village Green faithful

 

peachchaos - for his dedication and generosity, bringing the spirit of the yearbooks back to the 70s and 80s and a standup dude

 

Kawada Smile - there every week with the Raw/Smackdown thread, fighting the good fight in Brazil and having an infectious fandom.  Thanks for always starting the conversation and giving us quiet guys something to read.

 

ThreadKiller - just the opposite, I enjoy your takes and you seem to always add to the discussion

 

SomethingSavage - just flat out entertained and informed by your opinions

 

elliott - passionate, systematic, fun read.  thanks man!

 

Jimmy Redman - a refreshing woman's take and a hell of a lot of fun.  Especially as the women in WWE have taken a prominent role in the last 5 years, you are like WWE Women fan OG.  Love your posts!

 

Gordi - keep the prospective coming from the land of the rising sun.  A cool first-person look at 2000s puro (is it still not cool to call it that anymore?)

 

soup23 - another historian whose match opinions I respect and recommendations I will seek out

 

EricR - for always coming in two hours late to a PPV to tell us you've got a live blog going over at segundacaida, haha

 

Ricky Jackson - love the history, love the podcasts, love the knowledge

 

shoe - overall good guy who has a great knowledge and passion for the sport

 

PeteF3 - herculean effort to document 90s pro wrestling across the globe.  good stuff.

 

cm funk - always good for five paragraphs of detailed analysis at every WWE PPV

 

rovert - always has the inside scoop, always pissing somebody off.  "IWC leader"

 

stomperspc - for your posts during the NJPW g-1s and such circa 2013-2016, always a ton of info to bring an outsider up to speed

 

Ditch - holy hell, what can I say about how much I owe much of my understanding and love of Japanese wrestling

 

Superstar Sleeze - fun read, love to see takes from a fellow Bostonian

 

Khawk - our AWA historian and always informative and accommodating

 

DeathFromAbove 1979 - I remember enjoying your posts

 

Crossface Chicken Wing - RIP, a pillar of the community.  Sad that you are no longer around to share your love with the group.  

 

dahwo5 - great Japanese wrestling knowledge and always good for a solid opinion

 

cheapshot - love the gifs and history lessons on twitter

 

Alan4L - great voice and advocate for the sport of kings

 

Landy - how much wrestling footage do you have?  Thanks for all bringing all the knowledge and context to the table.

 

goc - might never have gotten into Continental without your work

 

Childs - for your professional and measured takes and knowledgeable posts

 

cubsfan - for the lucha recommendations!

 

BrickHitHouse - seemed to have a bit of a meltdown here, but has always been a standup guy in all my interactions

 

roy lucier - another standup guy and great preserver of the history of pro wrestling

 

A bunch of other folks who always contribute and rock including FMKK, NintendoLogic. CS, flyonthewall, Jmare007, SirEdgar, stiva, DMJ, PhilTLL, SteveJRogers, MoS, Blehschmidt, Bierschwale, Memphis Mark, Log, Alucard, KB8, JKWebb, concrete1992, kjh, SLL, Beast, Sean Liska, Al, Cox, Strummer, Microstatistics, Big Bad Mick, Zoo Enthusiast, Bad Little Kitten, shitty little boots, Coffey, smack2k, bradhindsight, bigelow34, cowboy hats. (BP), thebrainfollower, Fantastic, Mike Campbell (loved the blog back in the day), DKKookyPunk, Eduardo, NegroSuave, Smart Mark 15, wahoos leg, jpchicago23, BrianB, floyd, fxnj, Boss Rock, rzombie1988, GOTNW (always good for a unique opinion), CapitalTTruth, Not Jay Tabb, Jetlag, donsem43, Tim Evans, pol, 

 

RIP riderman hongo, or whatever his first name username was, and his various gimmicks (often popping up like Charlie Brown from Outta Town).

 

Anyway, sorry for the long post, felt it appropriate to give my appreciation in these trying times.  You all contributed a bit (or more) to my fandom, and I am grateful.  Please stay safe and healthy during this epidemic.  I hope to try and be a bigger voice here, if I can.  

 

Anybody else have good memories they want to share of this place, or their internet-based wrestling fandom in general?

 

Thanks!

Marc

[MoS]

This post got me very nostalgic and brought all the feels. And if we are remembering the greatest hits here, we cannot possibly forget the Ric Flair v. Bret Hart comparison from hell thread.

[SirEdger]

Glad we can all contribute to make things a bit better when we all need it. Especially in those trying and uncertain times right now, we can take anything we can get.

[BigBadMick]

What a wonderful thread. I've lurked here since early 2013, finally signed up in spring 2014. I doubt I've gone three days without checking in during that time. 

It's been a huge part of my life for a long time. It's nice to stop and take stock of that.

[gordi]

Yeah, this place is pretty great. It's really nice to have somewhere to engage in actual discussion and to learn something new once in a while. It's great to know that I am not the only person who obsesses over the finer details of, for example, a Japanese wrestling match from 1995.

Thanks for posting this, MLD1083. When times are tough it's important to take a moment to appreciate the good things and feel a sense of gratitude for what we have.

[Matt D]

This place means a lot to me. Thanks for the kind words. If I'm any sort of a mind on wrestling, it's because of the same thing that wrestlers say they need to get better, being in discussions (as opposed to the ring) with people who are great minds, and PWO has already has always had more than its fair share. I can't tell you how daunted I was by everyone when I started lurking twelve or thirteen years ago. Obviously that didn't last. If I graduated from the University of DVDVR, I got my masters degree here at PWO. Along the way, I've made great friendships here, and appreciate the place deeply.

Currently, even though things are quieter, it's still such an important place for uncovering new footage and discussing it. I'm not just talking the french catch trove either (though uncovering that would have been so much more difficult without PWO), but the Japanese handhelds, and TV, and discussion of Houston and the WWE Hidden Gems before that. We've moved out of an era of hoarding and into one where research, resources, and ingenuity can be shared. You need the sort of community only a place like PWO can foster.

[Loss]

What a beautiful sentiment. Thanks to everyone here for years of community and purpose. I've had the privilege to become friends with many of the posters here outside the confines of this board and I'll always be grateful for that. I haven't posted much in a long time because we're in an era where I felt a bit guilty for enjoying a form of escapism -- almost like I was contributing to a type of malaise that made the world a worse place. I've made myself miserable the last few years consuming real-world events almost the way that I used to consume pro wrestling. But I read this thread and think the opposite is true -- that having this tiny corner space online matters -- which is worth more to me personally than you know. I'm the one who is honored to be among all of you.

[Ricky Jackson]

Marc, that post brightened my day and made me smile remembering some of the names that used to post here a lot and some of the crazy debates (often started by jvk) that once took place on a seemingly daily basis. While not what it once was for various reasons, this place is great and, similar to what Matt D wrote, is where my fandom hit another level. Many "real life" friendships emerged from here and PWO provided the springboard for one of my main passions in life, podcasting. Great memories. Thanks man 

[WingedEagle]

Awesome, awesome post.  Activity at PWO may have slowed a bit these last couple years but its still a place I visit at least a couple times a day because wrestling and by extension, and especially this site, are a welcome distraction.  Its great to see many of the names mentioned in the OP chiming in here from time to time and I too remember many great discussions, podcasts and discoveries along the way thanks to this crowd.  

I've been meaning to start a thread on here linking and highlighting to a lot of wrestling that's been made available online over the last week and more, but real life responsibilities and stresses have stopped me from putting in the time to make it happen.  Hopefully I get there and others can follow through. 

But the fact remains that this place is awesome and a rabbit hole I'm always happy to dive into.  Thanks to all who've played any role in that.

[Log]

This is where my feud with MLD starts over him having me listed under the "other" contributers.  

Clearly, I am an elite-level PWO poster!  

I kid, of course.  That was a wonderful post and I 100% agree with you.

Stay safe, fellow PWO-ers!  There is no other place in internet land that can touch this board for quality pro-wrestling discussion.

 

[C.S.]

What a wonderful thread! Thanks for the mention, brother.  

3 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said:

I haven't posted much in a long time because we're in an era where I felt a bit guilty for enjoying a form of escapism -- almost like I was contributing to a type of malaise that made the world a worse place. I've made myself miserable the last few years consuming real-world events almost the way that I used to consume pro wrestling. But I read this thread and think the opposite is true -- that having this tiny corner space online matters -- which is worth more to me personally than you know. I'm the one who is honored to be among all of you.

If I couldn't turn to a good wrestling match, or a movie - my other great love - as a way to take my mind off the world, I would be a lot less healthy mentally and emotionally. Escapism is really important and necessary.

[cactus]

This is the only wrestling forum I still post on these days. I've always enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of this place and it's a great way to kill an hour or two. Reading and commenting during WWE PPVs have made staying up for them halfway tolerable! 

[Memphis Mark]

My friend's son works for  FedEX. Someone in their office building tested positive  for Covid 19. He and his family are home bound for 2 weeks. I send him a large amount of WCW footage to help him thur the next few weeks. He  is in he early 30's and was a big WCW fan as a kid.  If you know a wrestling fan ,  causal or hardcore ,  send them some wrestling if they are home bound for  a few weeks . 

[SirEdger]

Well, the Network being free for a while during the pandemic will definitely help. Don't know for how long but it is something.

[MoS]

Special shout-out to Dylan Hales for the comparing various wrestlers to HHH thread. It's like my favourite wrestling thread of all time and anyone isolating themselves at home could do worse than read that thread. 

Same is true for the Vince McMahon v. the world thread - think Kris and jdw did the bulk of the posting there.

[MLD1083]

11 hours ago, Log said:

This is where my feud with MLD starts over him having me listed under the "other" contributers.  

Clearly, I am an elite-level PWO poster!  

Haha, sorry about that, I stand corrected.  Honestly though, I was trying to do this from memory and started to get lazy towards the end.  There's easily a dozen others I probably forgot to name.  

3 hours ago, Memphis Mark said:

My friend's son works for  FedEX. Someone in their office building tested positive  for Covid 19. He and his family are home bound for 2 weeks. I send him a large amount of WCW footage to help him thur the next few weeks. He  is in he early 30's and was a big WCW fan as a kid.  If you know a wrestling fan ,  causal or hardcore ,  send them some wrestling if they are home bound for  a few weeks . 

This is awesome and exactly what I'm talking about.  Nicely done!

1 hour ago, MoS said:

Special shout-out to Dylan Hales for the comparing various wrestlers to HHH thread. It's like my favourite wrestling thread of all time and anyone isolating themselves at home could do worse than read that thread. 

Same is true for the Vince McMahon v. the world thread - think Kris and jdw did the bulk of the posting there.

Both legendary.

Glad to see the reactions here.  I hope everyone stays safe and sane during these times. 

Charles / C.S. - yes, there is definitely a place for escapism and fun.  It's all about balance. 

[akira maeda]

I want to thank Ditch for providing me with Puro for about thirteen years now.  I don't think I've ever seen so much effort put into something wrestling related.  Honestly, as stupid as it may sound, the content on that website got me through some of the darkest times of my life.

[MoS]

Also, he seems to be busy this year, but El-P's Highway to Hell is another PWO classic!

[Sweet Brown Koko]

Agreed about Highway to Hell! There was also a thread about Hulk Hogan being the worst babyface due to his heelish tactics that I love.

 I agree with all the sentiments posted. I check this site multiple times a day and appreciate all of the discussions had here. The discussions can be challenging and open your mind to new perspectives. I appreciate Lucha WAY more because of this site. Prior to coming here lucha was just guys in a mask flipping around. I’ve learned a lot about the nuances of this style and still have a long way to go.

Another MAJOR thing that helped me here were/are the podcasts!! Those really hooked me to this place. My all time favorite was the Royal Rumble Reaction Show when Roman Reigns won and got The Rock booed. It was Johnny Sorrow vs. The World! I wish I could listen to that one again. Bruno vs. Larry was also a must listen podcast. Same with the JCP breakdown series (Drawing a blank - JVK was on it and it had “The Billy Graham Award”.)

Thanks for everything that’s done here. I certainly appreciate it. Stay safe!

[WrestlingPower]

Hello and thanks to everyone here that keeps this place moving.

[Steve T]

Great post Marc. It never amazes me the knowledge and insight of the posters on this site. 

[Dav'oh]

The quasi-troll who dwrite w ith horr ible punctuationreferencing ultra-obscure wr asslers fromthe20s or japan ese indies, (I forget his name), was a guilty pleasure for me.

Although I've not posted much here - I've mainly got thoughts on wrestling/wrestlers, rather than facts, dates, references or the sheer volume of knowledge of a lot of PWO's posters - I've never felt like an idiot amongst such smart fans (as opposed to "smarts"). But I've felt like an idiot posting in the past on the "lesser" sites, not because someone called me an idiot or worse, but for thinking I'd get intelligent discussion. This place is a sanctuary, from the IWC and more importantly, as others have noted, from the ills of our world in general. I spend hours reading the archives, it's fantastic place is PWO.

Thank-you all for this community. Be safe.

[Tawren]

Just want to join in on the chorus...this is a great forum and I always enjoy checking in and reading everyone's opinions. I wish I had posted more over the years, maybe this is a good time to get more involved. It's always fun when I'm getting into a wrestler or match series or era and to come to PWO and check on what people said in the GWE forum on that person, or the match forum, or if there's a historical review with people who were there and know this stuff better than anyone. It's a real pleasure.

 

Cheers everyone.

[elliott]

This is a really nice thread in these dark times. MLD is right about this place being special.

Stay safe everyone.

[NintendoLogic]

Another member of the "also mentioned" master race checking in. To echo what C.S. said, some degree of escapism is necessary to make living in the horrible shitty fucked-up world we live in tolerable. Pro wrestling is the heart of a heartless world. And PWO is the heart of pro wrestling. For me, anyway. If not for this board, my perspective wouldn't be nearly as broad and I wouldn't be nearly as confident in going against the grain in matters of taste. As much as I appreciate it when people get something out of my contributions, it's barely a fraction of what I've gotten out of this board.