The Microscope

I think we all agree that Cena has been in waaaaay too many great matches to be considered a shitty wrestler. But this quote from Dylan... ...should really be discussed further. I definitely agree with that statement. I'm wondering where we think he ranks against all promotions, and in particular, where he ranks against other WWE/F guys. I mean, his run on top has been way longer than Austin and Rock's. I guess about as long as Hogan's. Longer than Hart and HBK, too. Bruno was on top longer, but (I'm guessing) doesn't have the quality matches Cena has had. He's amassed a pretty long list of really good/great matches in his time on top. All…

Recommendations by Dylan. Chicky Starr vs. White Angel (1989) White Angel has a similar build to Paul Orndorff. Chicky Starr has an A+ moustache and a kind of a Mike Graham / Brian Blair type build. Seemingly he'd been working as a manager at this point. First five minutes is all shine for Angel, with basic punches and a hip toss. Starr begs off. Eventually we get our transition when Starr hits an inverse atomic drop out of the turnbuckle. Some basic offense from him now until Angel comes back with fists. Runs into Starr's knee and he takes over on offense again. Dumps Angel. Starr has colour from somewhere too, Angel is also bloodied. Heel colour commentat…

Alright, this is the thread I should have made before. In this poll, I want to discuss which version of Vince is your favourite and why. Option 1: Canary Yellow Jacket Vince Here is the the host of most (W)WWF programming in the 1970s while his father was still running the company up until about 1983. As you can see, he sports a snazzy yellow jacket. A bit later he'd trade this in for a light blue number, there's also a deep red version. This Vince often flew solo and his style is one of pregnant pauses and smooth transitions. He seems to roll his words as he speaks, there's a definite "smarm" factor to this Vince. Although often alone, he was also fr…

Arn (unsurprisingly) demolished Waltman and (a little surprisingly) saw off Tully with relative ease. But what about Eaton? For some reason I find that Arn is a very useful benchmark. For this one I really don't know. I think Eaton is right there with him. Interested in views here.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14 Take a pair of semi-over midcarders and tack on a couple nearfalls and you get "This is Awesome". I remember watching this match and thinking this was one of the most egregious examples of the overexposure of the "This Is Awesome" chant. My beef with "This Is Awesome" chant is that it tends to be the MOVEZ~! that are over rather than the individual wrestlers. If Ziggler was so over. how come Ziggler was not being cheered? A lot of it has to do with how the match was presented and laid out. What did Barrett do that was particularly heelish? Really the only reason Barrett was the heel was …

Tully was the only one in my 20 wrestlers better than Arn that I had to pause to think about. Interested to see where others land on this debate.

I thought you'd be taller. Ishii reminds me of Arn Anderson or 1980's Bret Hart more than just about anyone else. In that, he is a midcarder who can have an entire match unto himself. He basically plugs his opponents into his formula and produces dramatic, hard-hitting classics. For Honma, he put over how close NJPW's miracle underdog could come close to winning a match by showing his vulnerability through his trademark neck/shoulder selling. For Naito, the struggling hot new upper midcard babyface badly needed credibility with the fans and by standing tot to toe with the stiff powerhouse Ishii he re-earned the fan's respect and his career while not fully rehabilitate…

Not trolling anyone, serious question. Who do you think was better? Arn or Waltman? In my mind this is a total no brainer, but apparently not everyone sees it that way. What arguments does X-Pac have to even be in a conversation with an all-time great like Arn?

OK, so I've worked my way back into watching a fair bit of lucha again and since there's some excitement over the DVDVR 80s set, I thought I'd give this ago. I'm bound to forget some names, but here's what I've got: All-Time Greats Satanico, El Dandy, Negro Casas, El Hijo del Santo, Blue Panther Great Workers Emilio Charles, Jr., Atlantis, Pirata Morgan, Solar, Lizmark, Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Virus, Sangre Chicana, Villano III Excellent Workers Cassandro, Espanto Jr., MS-1, La Fiera, Fuerza Guerrera, El Signo, Dos Caras Strong Hands Angel Azteca, Perro Aguayo, Villano IV, Villano V, Dr. Cerebro, Apolo Dantes, Javier Cruz, Black Man, He…

I would love to see more of Steven Wright, as his match with Tiger Mask in 1980s NJPW stands as one of my favourite matches from that time period that I have seen. Sayama was, however, so tremendous during that era that it becomes very difficult at times to ascertain how good someone was simply by watching them work Sayama. Are there any Wright comps floating about somewhere, or is there anyone here who has seen enough of his career to say whether that kind of thing is worth seeking out?

First and foremost... here's a fucking kickass video of Stan Hansen with the greatest tribute song/video ever... a speed-metal ballad to the Lariat! Aight, here we go.... Hansen's probably in my top five wrestlers ever.... Seriously. I know this "top five" changes every couple months... but it def goes like... 1. Manny 2. Gordy 3. Windham 4. Hansen 5 Interchangeable 5th dude - , Rude, Rey Misterio Jr., Sabu, Pac (from UK), Mascarita Dorada, Buddy Rose, Murdoch, Headhunter B, CM Punk, Chris Hero, Brian Pillman *you get the point* Well, fucking Stan Hansen is DEF top five so I was wondering what most people's favorite Hansen matches were. I remember…

Zayn really opened my eyes to how good of a babyface he is when I watched the 2013 Two out of Three Falls match against Cesaro. El Generico always struck me as a lame gimmick and too cute for its own good on the surface. I saw a couple of his tag matches with Steen in person when I went to ROH but was never really blown away. However, in going back to watch NXT specials from last year, I think Zayn is best pure babyface in the world. Was he this good as Generico? Cesaro vs Sami Zayn - NXT Arrival 2/14 NXT is where pro wrestling lives, baby! Where has this Cesaro been on the main roster? No, it is not completely booking's fault. I am taking that bully mentality …

After watching him give Ryback his best match to date (5/3/13) I searched this section to see what was PWO's opinion on his work. It kinda shocked me there wasn't any thread about him yet considering he's probably been the most beloved wrestler on the internet in the last 8-7 years. He's been a favorite of mine since 2006 and I am legit shocked at how well he's developed in WWE (outside of the ring). He's a 10+ year veteran now and has worked on the biggest promotion in the world for the past 3... Is he a "hall of famer" yet? Top 20 american worker already? A little overrated by internet fans? is there anyone on the US that has been better than him in the ring i…

I thought this might interest some of you: http://wrestlingheart.com/info/matches.html

I miss The Shield. There was a time I really liked Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns and it seems so long ago. Let's wax nostalgic. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/believe-hype-shield-wwe-2012-2013.html [inception through September 2013. Gave their debut TLC match 5 stars] http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-shield-part-two.html [From September 2013 through December 2013. Battleground tag against Rhodes Brother ****1/2] The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14 It was around the Harper double stomp to break up an Ambrose bridging FIgure-4 that I thought to myself if the WWE produced something better in 2014, I must have a really foggy m…

I have really grown to love Cesaro this year as a weekly presence on RAW, but I don't make it a regular habit to watch anything besides RAW so using the Wrestling Culture Year In Review I decided to go back and watch some Cesaro I missed. Antonio Cesaro w/Zeb Colter & Jack Swagger vs Dolph Ziggler - Superstars 8/30/13 If Antonio Cesaro was the NWA traveling champion, I believe this is how the match would look. Ever since Ziggler turned babyface, he seemed content to wrestle the mid-90s Savage formula take heat for most of the match and then hit the finish. Beside the fact Mr. Livingston recommended this match, I knew something was up because the commentators w…

I asked the question, which Uso was better in my TLC recap post, but since it was buried in the middle of the long post, I figure I won't get many responses. However, my brother demanded to know which Uso was better and I can't think of a better place to ask than PWO! I can't tell them a part so I can't help. I am pretty sure they are equal, but I don't know. Is there a designated FIP specialist and the other is the hot tag? Do they switch off? Does one have a better Rikisihi butt bump? Does one get more Uso Crazy than the other? Let me know!

I know he's had lots of good ones, but I haven't seen him in a really awesome match. I could have overlooked it. If I'm wrong, please feel free to make recommendations.

I was a big rhyno fan , through ecw through wwe and his run in tna had its moments. It has always disappointed me personally that wwe wouldnt give him a true push due to his lack of height as he had such an intensity to him and was a better than average power move worker and the gore was over. WWE could have made him into a low main event high midcard level act i think (probably lacking too much promo wise for a proper main event spot in wwe) . I am going to add some of his most entertaining matches and moments going forward and i will try make the best case i can for him to get some kudos around here your thoughts on him ?

I like minis wrestling, I really do. I haven't seen a lot of it, but from what I've seen I've always enjoyed. In this thread I am going to watch as much as minis as possible. Mascarita Dorada vs Pierrothito (2/3 Falls, New Rochelle, NY, 2010/3/20) I didn't know what to expect with this being in an American Indie Fed, but I was really happy with the result. The first fall is Dorada going after the arm and doing some mat work, a real fun beginning to this one. Pierrothito takes over with his weight and does some power moves to get the first fall. Something great about Dorada is his size. Since he's so small, each slam and throw looks even more vicious. …

After rewatching the Embry/Brickhouse Brown vs Gary Young/Iceman King parsons match from the Texas set, I figured I'd make this topic. Embry was such a underrated guy. I remember getting the Texas set and just enjoying his matches with Lawler and guys like Gary Young. Actually even before that, I got a comp of all the Embry vs Devastation Inc. feud which was great too. He was a good babyface but even a better heel in Memphis in 91/92. The feuds with Dirty White Boy, Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler are awesome. Especially the DWB feud where he was having bloodbaths with him at the Mid South Coliseum and screwing with Dirty White Girl on tv in front of Dave Brown who looked di…

I've noticed a perception among some that Minoru Suzuki's recent MOTYC performances against Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles came out of nowhere after a relatively undistinguished career as midcarder. But I actually think Suzuki is one of the more fascinating workers out there. He was a world-class amateur and a key member of the second generation of shoot style workers. Then he left for a whole decade to fight in Pancrase, where he was a top star and a guy put over as a genuinely dangerous grappler by the Shamrocks, Bas Rutten, etc. He returned to pro wrestling in 2003 with wilder hair and a devilish smirk, and in the 11 years since, he's managed significant runs in New…

Listen to any guy who grew up in the 1970s watching WWWF TV and one of the first names they'll come out with is Chief Jay Strongbow, and usually they love him. Vince Russo mentioned him recently on Austin's show. Members of the Wu-Tang Clan like him. Jimmy Fallon. Seemingly anyone who grew up in that area has fond memories of Strongbow and loved him. My question is: WHY? I don't understand why the fuck anyone cheered for this complete douche. This guy is one of the shittiest wrestlers ever and as far as I can see has no redeeming features. I've seen him mid- and early-70s too and it's not like he looks or works any better. Let me breakdown the areas of shit: His look -…

Bear with me here. I was watching Royal Rumble 89 last year at some point and during the Jumping Bomb Angels match, I thought that far and away the best wrestler in that match was Judy Martin. I never really had a reason to follow up and watch more matches to see though. Now I sort of do. Judy Martin vs Princess Victoria, WCCW, 1983 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBpABrMKzw I actually think both women show a lot here but Martin probably shows a little more. She's the heel and she's fairly classic in that role, for the time, jawing with the fans, using the hair to win exchanges (including a ponytail in the top wristlock), claiming hair pulling when she lost t…

I've really loved this guy in every late 90s match I've watched him in lately. I presume the reason a lot of people weren't high on him at the time was because he didn't really fit the mold of an All Japan guy. He was more of an opportunistic, undersized heel. Ogawa never really stood out in a huge way to me in the early part of the decade, but I am loving him in 1998-1999. I'm curious if the criticisms of Ogawa go beyond what I've said, because I really look forward to his matches during this time. His matches with Akiyama and Kakihara were excellent, and I also like him as the cheating pipsqueak who teams with the beloved Misawa.