The Microscope

am I only one who enjoyed this run? what did you people make of his stint there? I thought he had a good look for the time and reasonable ring work. I think he struck WCW at the wrong time and was buried by politics and writing. Sting looked disinterested in their feud he would have done well in the WWE in 98 with the same gimmick

Ok, so Tenta was a guy who took me by surprise in the All Japan viewing. He might not have had the best matches n the company but he always put in a good-great performance. Help me out guys... WWF fans and yearbook viewers.... What Earthquake matches do I need to watch that stand out in WWF? WCW watchers... What matches are worth checking out?

Apologies if this isn't the best place to put this - if it would make more sense somewhere else, do please move it. So, as I was looking through Youtube, I realised that you could truly disappear down the rabbit hole forever if you wanted to in terms of wrestling. Most wrestlers have some footage readily available, from wrestling legends to indy no-hopers. With that said, I got thinking about wrestlers I hadn't seen much of. Considering the wrestling knowledge of you guys, I thought it might be best to ask you - what should I be seeking out in terms of certain wrestlers? I want to keep this fairly general, as I might come back and add to the list. It doesn't h…

I guess I should have probably put Dino as my biggest wrestling guilty pleasure but I felt like he deserved his own thread. I loved his team with Martel, especially against the Road Warriors, probably my favourite Roadies tag match ever. I always enjoyed dark haired Dino but even the blonde bloated version could still put in some fun perfomances like in the Rumble 89 6 man tag.

LA Park vs. Dr Wagner Jr (02/06/13) First fall had quite a few indie garbage worker tropes that I wasn't that fond of. For example, Wagner Jr queitly standing by the turnbuckle after taking an 8-minute pounding checking his head for blood while Park casually gets four chairs into position for a powerbomb. I mean "come on". Disappointing end to the first fall that. Also didn't like setting up the chair for a baseball slide shortly after that. Not the sort of thing I can really get behind. I will say that I quite like the crowd though. Things pick up when Wagner finds a bottle in the crowd and starts bashing Park with it. I think he might have even glassed him wit…

So I decided to start this up because of the talk in the WON HOF thread. We have the thread that compares him to Cena, but I think it would be good to make a thread that centers around him considering he seems to be the hot button guy for the WON HOF this year. Personally, I don't see him high on any all-time list, and while he's a big reason why New Japan has turned around, him being the biggest draw in Japan at this point in time isn't really something that makes a case for all-time status. That's the one thing he has going for him right now. But it's only been about three years at most, and compared to the other guys in the HOF, three years does not really make a …

Pat O'Connor was born in Raetihi, a small town in the central North Island of New Zealand which I doubt any of you have heard of. Since I was born a ways up the road, I've taken it as my moral duty to chronicle the exploits of New Zealand's greatest pro-wrestler this side of Tony Garea, Rip Morgan and the Kiwi guy in the Sheepherders. Pat O'Connor vs. Dick Murdoch (12/15/75) O'Connor looked every bit the maestro here when he actually wrestled. Unfortunately, they spent forever in a headlock spot that was neither sold well from the top nor the bottom. Bloody awful thing it was. Every now and then you'd get glimpses of O'Connor's technical skill, but it wasn't until…

Leave him out of the Windham conversation unless there are some cool Big Bubba vs. Windham matches.

Me and a friend were debating this recently. I was on the side of Cena, but I'm interested in seeing some of your opinions on the matter.

I originally had this in Tony Anthony's thread, but I think it plays better as its own topic. Brian Pillman Tracy Smothers Tom Pritchard Buddy Roberts Tommy Rich Jeff Jarrett Stan Lane Brad Armstrong Bobby Fulton Robert Gibson John Tatum Eddie Gilbert Lanny Poffo Steve Keirn Robert Fuller Billy Joe Travis Iceman Parsons Eric Embry Chris Candido Dick Slater Bill Irwin Terry Taylor Buddy Landell Dutch Mantell

I have a hell of a lot I could say about Hansen. I still want to watch more 70's footage from the guy and may do it here. I think he's a top ten all timer, and serious number one contender. I think he's underrated working holds and bumping even though it's obvious his bread and butter is brawling. But that is not why I started this thread. I started this thread because I want everyone to watch the Carlos Colon v. Stan Hansen matches I've been reviewing in the Puerto Rico thread. Because watching this stuff I really feel like this is the most underrated feud of the 80's and that the matches are outstanding. I watched the matches out of order and I'm not even positiv…

Before I joined the internet wrestling community, I always thought of Austin as a much better wrestler than Shawn Michaels, to the point where it was not even close. However, prior to joining PWO in around 2011, my wrestling fix was sated solely by LoP, and there, Shawn was considered a much better wrestler than Austin, so much so that it was not even an opinion; it was just a fact, and you were a rube if you thought otherwise. They had an unexpected supporter in Steve Austin himself, who has gone on record saying that he does not consider himself as good a wrestler as Shawn Michaels. Well, I am a rube then, because I disagree, and I do so vehemently. I think Austin …

I mention him all the time, Will is a huge fan and so are others here so with him hitting the WON HoF ballot (finally) I figured I would give him his own thread. I'll start off by re-posting my comments from the HoF thread. I plan on adding a random match review or two a day for the time being. So yeah responding to Childs from the other thread asking about Buddy as an HoFer: Buddy is a better "work" candidate than most though I personally wouldn't vote for anyone solely on work (that I can think of anyhow). Having said that - and I've beaten this point into the ground by now - I think from the cumulative period from 77-84 he was the best wrestler in the W…

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ernie Ladd (6/30/73) "Promises, Promises". What a fucking dude. I think this is Luce on commentary, suggesting this is from Chicago. Ladd sells big for Wahoo to start, who throws a few big chops. Wahoo targets his offense on Ladd's leg. Headlock, up to a vertical vase. Wahoo really cranks on this headlock, it's a proper CRANK. Ladd takes over on offense. Send Wahoo in for the ride, Ray Stevens bump in the turnbuckle. These two guys really slugging it out now. Backdrop by Wahoo. Elbow drop. That gets two. Ladd has given Wahoo a hell of a lot here. Gut punch by Wahoo sends Ladd 360 (DiBiase bump), Another big chop and Ladd goes flying. Ladd…

This is the most ridiculous comparison I could come up with. Both guys are sloppy but with Baba it's part of the charm while with Punk it just comes off as unprofessional. Baba's finisher was safe but believable enough for Harley Race to sell it like it knocked him out while Punk's would either break his opponent's nose or look bad. Baba had an innate charisma while Punk's appeal could be summarised as "pay attention to me!". I'm interested if anyone would make a case for Punk.

I have never hated a referee more. He is always involving himself way too much in the action. Not in a Tommy Young way either. I think Young can ad to a match with his physicality. Nick Patrick is just always in the way, blocking movement, crowding the screen, motioning with his hands way too much. I can't stand him. He gets too close when he counts pinfalls, getting right up to the wrestlers. Its very distracting. I realize that part of it could also be his size. He is bigger than most referees, but still. Does anyone else feel this way? There are plenty of times I will get annoyed by a referee and lo and behold, it turns out to be Patrick, so I know I am not just pi…

I'm assuming this is the right part of the forum to post this, but please let me know. Simply put, I've always felt that Bret Hart had a number of finishes to matches that he would use, much more than I'd see from other wrestlers who tended to have maybe a second finisher at best, but not the amount of different uses of packages/cradles/other moves. However, as I watch more Sting, at least on WCW tv, it seems as if he rarely finishes a match with the Deathlock, choosing a myriad of different ways to defeat his opponents. Fairly pointless question really, but just one that had me musing (with the addition that some of you will have seen a tonne more than me) - …

Pretty simple question here. I know some people said that the win Owens got was the one that Rusev really needed. The win by Owens meant somewhat more since Cena had just blown through Rusev, who they had spent the better part of the year beating. I'm not necessarily asking who's better in the ring, or even as a total package, but instead which of the two they should have strapped the rocket to? More so then, who had/has more upside to be put strong over Cena and to be built strong moving forward? Or at least situational upside.

One is the biggest star in wrestling. One is one of the greatest tag wrestlers of all time. One has been wrestling for over 25 years. One had his career cut short. Two more Texans to sink your teeth into.

Since we're doing the hard polls here's another one. I used to think Jumbo was better. I enjoyed watching Tenryu more, but I always thought of Jumbo as a smarter and a more versatile worker. Even though watching Tenryu stiff the shit out of people brought me epiphanous joy I subconsciously wrote him off as a lesser worker that had to compensate his lack of other skills by working in that manner. And it took me many great matches to realise how smart of a worker he really was. Yes, his work is/was simplistic, but it ALWAYS worked. There wasn't an environment that Tenryu couldn't adapt to. And he has continued to produce great work years after his prime. He managed to put o…

In keeping with the current trends I thought it might be good to take a look at two other guys who will almost certainly finish high in the voting. This one interests me quite a bit because there are both direct and indirect comparisons to be made. They both worked as the ace of All Japan for an extended period of time. They worked against one another during the transitional period and that can come into play for comparison as well. I feel like an interesting comparison here would also be how Misawa worked with Kobashi during the years Kobashi overtook Kawada as the #2. It would be a very direct comparison to Jumbo vs. Misawa in my mind. On the flip side, o…

Obviously Andre was a larger than life attraction but what do people think of Andre as a worker. A lot of us grew up on late 80s wwf Andre who was broken down and couldn't move but I know he was able to bump earlier in his career. Here is a sampling of mobile Andre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp0Wo7hLTIE&hd=1

I promise you this is not a troll poll reacting to the Jericho vs. Hardy and Bret vs. Perfect polls. But yes, this one does go in the completely opposite direction. Instead of fast-paced athletic wrestling technicians, this comparison focuses on two musclebound brawlers who relied more on charisma, looks, etc. Ultimately, both of them - more or less - ended up in similar positions on the card. At first, this poll would seem to slightly favor Warrior, but after thinking about it, I'm not so sure. I could see an argument being made for Sid too. They've both been in at least a few great matches, but their opponents (or Pat Patterson) are usually given the credit.…

GOTNW posted this in another thread so I thought I would start a microscope thread examining Rusev. For my money, he has been a breath of fresh air and I love, love, love the Sheamus title change. Anyway, here is the "another thread" so we can talk about this guy, warts and all.

I just wondered if anyone here has really watched very many of his matches. For someone who is such a big name, he's never really been discussed much as a worker. There is plenty of footage of him out there, including some really long matches. In fact, he has a 60-minute draw against Frankie Talaver from 1950 that is on YouTube. Anyway, I want to make it a point to watch a lot of his matches relatively soon, and I wondered if anyone else here ever has. Was he one of the first American wrestlers to incorporate comedy in his matches?