NMB Wrestling Archive

Canadian Stampede 10 man Until Rock-Hogan I, probably the best crowd atmosphere the WWF has ever had, since you could literally see some parts of the arena shaking when Bret is introduced last. They seemed to feed off the crowd for the opening minutes of the match, and the quick tagging kept the action going with little to no slow periods, which was very good. The spots where one man ends up in the wrong corner and gets the shit beat out of him, drawing everyone in kept the crowd rabid and way into the match. The problem comes when both Owen and Austin are taken out of the match; it seems like the other 8 guys just couldn't keep the intensity up without them. …

JBL vs. Eddie Guerrero (Bullrope Match) (Great American Bash 04) Ok, I watched this one a couple of weeks ago but hadn't seen the JD match. So, while I enjoyed it on first viewing, I went back and viewed it in its proper context and had a match to immediately compare it to. This one is slower to get started than JD. Whereas both guys came out with fists flying in the last match, they are more reserved here. While they both use the bullrope liberally in some nice spots (JBL's attempted hangman, whacking each other with the bell, the tree of woe corner choke) but it doesn't really start to heat up until they go to the outside. The biggest problem with this thinking …

I'm going to try listing five wrestlers here, since we tend to go in depth, this might make things a little easier. Andre the Giant Shane Douglas Wendi Richter Dustin Rhodes Bob Sapp

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - WrestleWar '89 So I decided to watch this again to see if I can agree with those that say it is one of the greatest matches of all time. The work is sound; Steamboat working on the shoulder of Flair to set up the double chickenwing, which he used to make Flair submit in the 2/3 falls New Orleans match is smart and simple booking, but there really isn't anything "special" in the match to warrant praise as high as "Greatest of All Time." A big black mark for me is the multiple (and unneeded) over the top rope spots, which were I guess supposed to tease DQs, but the only one that was really needed was Flair crotching Steamboat on top and…

Midnight Express v Rock & Roll Express - NWA World Wide Wrestling 02/17/90 For an 8-minute TV match, this is about as fun as it gets. I love watching American tag matches because they're all basically the same in structure, but it's the presentation and ability to adapt that makes them work and that sets them apart from others. Gibson is mostly a cheerleader on the apron here, but Morton was on a roll at this time. Most of the R-n-R's run in 1990 seemed like a rehash, but the early stages of their comeback saw them motivated to strut their stuff and prove that they still had gas in the tank. This match is almost all face domination, with comedic selling and some g…

I may hold off a few days doing another one of these. We don't want to run through everyone worth talking about too quickly. Today's 10: The Rockers (not as singles wrestlers, but as a tag team) Ted DiBiase Arn Anderson Sid Riki Choshu Kevin Sullivan Jushin Liger Psicosis Ken Shamrock Manami Toyota

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk 6-12-04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk 10-16-04 As part of goodhelmet's awesome attempt to send me every great match ever (which will continue when my financial situation improves ) After only watching the matches once, I'd put them down as some of the best this decade. I can't think of anything in NA that really touches them. The psychology throughout both matches is sound, with Punk attempting to wear down Joe through repeated headlocks. In context, the moves work so much more than as the simple restholds WWE portray them as. The second encounter plays off of many spots from the first. There's a sequence where Punk attempts to sho…

Wrestlemania 8: 1992.04.05 IC Title Roddy Piper© vs. Bret Hart Hadn't seen this match since it's initial airing but I remember loving it and I still love it today. Story - Pre-Match Interview: I did the transcript in the quotable section but it's fabulous. You have these two guys totally respecting each, friends, and all that. Then Bret takes exception to a tiny moment by Piper and you immediately feel the hatred rise in Piper. Piper's suddenly a time bomb pissed that Bret is acting above him. Piper instantly taking the heel role to enter the match. Great job by Bret immediately out wrestling Piper and forcing Piper to try and keep up. Piper realizes …

A crappy video opens. I like that the WWE tried to make a different video, but it was bad different. They just took out some of their usual elements. HHH opens. Good opening line.

I watched Bret/Backlund: Survivor Series 94 the other day and it was great. I really liked the old school build to the finish and Owen's acting job to get his mom to throw in teh towel. The crowd was very hot for Bret, they poped for a headlock spot. I thought the ending should have been sped up a little as Backlund had Bret in the chickenwing for over 5 minutes while Owen convinced his mom. I understand why, but it went on a little too long. After the towel was thrown in Owen just grabbed it and sprinted backto the lockerroom. He should have jumped with his hands out and let out a big "wooo" or something to sell it to the crowd. Other than that I really liked the m…

What matches in WWE history have played a big role in elevating the company into what we see today? I ask this cause every now and then there seems to be a special match, and you just know it was special after it ended. I think these matches deserves some nods... -HBK/Bret at Survivor Series. I'm not talking about their iron man match, although that is a classic. I'm talking about montreal. This sheaded the light that anything can happen at any given time, its not all by the script... -Hulk Hogan/Andre at Wrestlemania 3. Obviously most of us can admit we sometimes still see the highlight of Hogan dropping the big man onto his back in the middle of the ring.…

Have at it! I'm pressed for time, so I'll have to chime in later. Booker T Bobby Heenan Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig Terry Funk Lex Luger Dusty Rhodes Rick Martel The Great Muta/Keiji Muto Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid/Syxx/X-Pac) Ric Flair

I like these topics, so I may start them for a while. Anyway, here's another batch of random wrestlers. Bob Backlund Kenta Kobashi Owen Hart The Rock Rey Misterio Jr Paul Heyman Harley Race Konnan Eddy Guerrero Barry Windham

First four are by special request, even if I am NOT a soft-rock DJ. Lance Storm Nikita Koloff Scott Norton Bam Bam Bigelow Chris Benoit Raven Ultimo Dragon Dory Funk Jr Ricky Steamboat Davey Boy Smith

1996.07.21 IYH 6 Man Tag: Shawn Michaels & Ahmed Johnson & Sid vs. Vader & Owen Hart & British Bulldog Just watched this on my computer and thought it was really good with some great face in peril moments from Michaels. The crowd was nuclear for Sid, chanting his name thoughout Ahmed's first action in the ring. The heels play their roles well with Owen being the sneaky bastard by using his cast as a weapon and hiding it from the ref when possible. Great action in the first few minutes establishing the crowd heat for the faces before slowly delving into the action and flowing into the face in peril section. Solid finish with Michaels thwarting Vader and…

CJ just urged to me to flip over to RAW to see watch this and man, fucking gold. This is the sort of stuff WWE needs to be doing if they insist on acting Hollywood. Now I wanna see the old skits Booker did when he wanted to be Hollywood. And I think that promo convinced me to order WM.

Anyways, just finished watching the 2004-12-04 Paul London vs Akio match and am following that up with 1993-02-21 Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio match from Superbrawl III.

Just random wrestlers or personalities involved in wrestling. Tell us what you think of them. This may be better than doing a thread about one wrestler in the long run. Randy Orton Tazz Chris Jericho Shane McMahon Antonio Inoki Vader The Road Warriors Tito Santana Jim Cornette Have at it!

I think they should, but not on PPV. Raw has no Feb. PPV and doing a one night tourney on free TV could be cool and help elevate some guys. If a SD! wins the Rumble then the winner of the KotR would get the title shot at WM and a Raw guy wins then the winner gets the prestige of winning, I guess. IF you look at the winners of the KotR you have Austin, Bret, HHH, Brock, Owen, and Angle who all went onto the title or in Owen's case a title match and success. Mabel, Gunn, Edge, and Shamrock are really the only guys who didn't get elevated or succeed in Mabel's case after winning. The night after the Rumble, I'd have them start with qualifying matches and build up …

What is your opinion on the hardline 'smart' internet fans? The most memorable moment I have when thinking of ?smark? fans is the night I looked up what they were saying about Jim Duggan, after I watched a video tape of his retirement speech from a 1998 edition of ?WCW Thunder? right before he was to go into an operation to try and avoid his bout with cancer. In his very emotional speech Hacksaw referred to the internet smarks making fun of him, because of his low ?workrate? and, perhaps intentional, limited wrestling repertoire. When I watched this, I couldn?t help but think this though; I'm watching a man who began his career before any of us ?smart? gu…

I watched Benoit/Angle Ultimate Submission match from Backlash 2001 last night. I didn't really like it, it was worst match they've had together that I've seen. The psychology was all over the place and as a result so was the seeling (to the extent there was any). They seemed to just grab random holds (cross arm breaker and then an ankle lock) when each guy should have concentrated on a certain body part and workes on it through out. The 30 second rest periods between falls killed the already anemic crowd.

I'd have to say mine is WCW/NWA from about 1986 to 1993. There was a lot of crap amidst the good stuff, no doubt, but the peaks were better than anything happening in the US scene most of the time. When I think of the "golden age" of my fandom, I think of people like Ric Flair, Sting, Vader, Lex Luger, Barry Windham, Brian Pillman, the Steiners, Arn Anderson, Cactus Jack, a young Steve Austin, Tully Blanchard, the Midnight Express, the Rock & Roll Express, the Dangerous Alliance, the Road Warriors and even Dusty Rhodes. I remember how crucial it was that I tune into to TBS at 6:05 Eastern time every Saturday evening. It was a tradition, and even though I had long sinc…

Even though the booking was about as obvious as you can get, I still marked out for Batista turning on HHH. I liked the callback to them turning on Orton with the thumbs down too. That's as close to continuity as we'll get with WWE programming these days.

Reading Meltz's play by play of tonight's PPV and remembering the reaction the Diva Search got, I think we can offically say that the audience is tired of all these stupid broads wasting TV time for no purpose. Vince seems unwilling to understand that wrestling fans don't mind seeing women as annoucers or valets, but no one really wants to see them taking up whole segments of airtime.

'Cowboy' Bob Orton is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year at Wrestlemania. Not to pull the rug out from under him, but I can't help how much of this is due to the Push of Randy Orton, his son. Honestly, Bob Orton was never really a major player in the WWE, he is more well known for breaking his arm and wearing a cast than anything else. He wasn't really as popular or as big as some of the other guys who have made it in, like a Junyard Dog, Jesse Ventura, or Big John Studd. He wasn't a major Champion and just kinda got lost in the shuffle for the most part. Yet somehow he is beating out alot of worthy candidates for a spot in the Hall of Fame. Do you think …