The Microscope

Listening to Will and Johnny argue on the Reaction show made me think about this. Based on the last few times I've seen them, I feel pretty strongly that it's Charlotte. And if I was booking, she is also who I'd run with as the hottest heel they've had in years.

Yet another of my 70s plates spinning here. But I was intrigued to see more Sheik after his absolutely masterful performances in those Funks tags, the 1978 one in particular. I had an idea that he was at the very least a master of psychology. Well I have a 7-disc set to test that hypothesis. I will likely do this in bitesize chunks because Sheik is a guy you can get burnt out on -- ho ho ho. Also, I'd appreciate any help with dates because I'm not digging through Clawmaster results to find these. The Sheik vs Tom Jones No not the Welsh singer or indeed the Henry Fielding novel, but a black guy working in Detroit in the 70s (possibly even 60s). Footage quite…

Will anyone pick someone other than Eddy?

I'm genuinely curious how people feel about this. I wanted to ask this question as its own thread instead of just an off-hand question in the comments thread. Let's get a list going of matches that matter. I need help and dates. We can debate the matches too (for example I know some people hate the Shane McMahon street fight). JOHN CENA: Vs. JBL, "I Quit," WWE Judgment Day 2005 Vs. Rob Van Dam, ECW One Night Stand 2006 Vs. Kurt Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, Shawn Michaels & Kane. "Elimination Chamber," WWE New Years Revolution 2006 Vs. Umaga, "Last Man Standing," WWE Royal Rumble 2007 Vs. Shawn Michaels, WWE Wrestlemania 23 Vs. Batista, "Last Man Standi…

There is an existing Terry Funk thread, but I am planning a "deep dive" on the Funker in chronological order soon. However, since there have been all these new matches uploaded, I'm going to get a kick start by starting with that stuff. Then I plan to go from 70s all the way to 00s. Obviously, any and all Funk tags will be reviewed in the brother Dory thread. Dates for remaining Terry matches from new uploads (for my own reference): Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/15/78) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/28/78) Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Rufus R. Jones (7/21/78) Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Kintaro …

Billy Robinson vs. Giant Baba (7/24/76) I went in expecting this to be a chess match on the mat, but this was a fucking fight, full of stiff slug fests and big throws. Robinson even does a plancha at one point. And Baba does a suplex bounced off the ropes for leverage. Kind of a 70s equivalent of a spot fest in a way, but super heated, with intense work by both guys and good psychology as you'd expect. Robinson is just phenomenal in this match. Everything he does from the stiff forearm smashes and uppercuts to his swank backbreakers is great. Great example of Baba as a top worker too, but this is mostly the Robinson show. This is like a 25 minute sprint over 2/3 falls. …

Sell him or bash him. Never really heard too much of the guy but he was around for quite a while from what i gather. Dont know too much about him to be honest but for some reason he intruges me and maybe he is a hidden gem guy. Probably not quite the level of a Murdoch or Butch Reed but if anyone cares to expand on him good or bad please do.

I could watch Lizmark matches all day. I won't, I'll try to keep it to two per, but to me he's one of the most watchable wrestlers out there. Like all tecnicos he had his spots that he tried to use in all of his matches, but through some combination of likability and effort he never got boring. Well, I'm not too familiar with this millennium Lizmark, so actually that remains to be seen. Most of these will end up being from 1989-1994 simply because that hits the sweet spot of TV+push, but I'll try to pepper in stuff from before and after as well. January 27 1994 Lizmark/Rey Misterio/Rey Misterio Jr. vs Jerry Estrada/La Parka/Espanto Jr. What better way to kick off a …

So I've started watching Verne Gagne matches and it's clear what a major talent the guy was. And not just working holds either. His bumping and selling were fantastic and he had a flair for the dramatic when it came to pacing a bout and putting it over as a marquee contest. That's not the first thing I'd associate with Gagne, but in all of the 50s footage I've watched he's probably the most dynamic guy on the scene. I saw him have a tough, gritty contest with Canadian wrestler Roy McClarity and a fun game of cat and mouse with Don Leo Jonathan. Then I saw him work wonders with Dick the Bruiser. So far the only thing the Bruiser's shown me he looked like a brute, but a…

I see a lot of wrestler vs wrestler comparisons but this will compare two legendary feuds. Flair/Steamboat might have the edge on ring and that's a strong might. I'd definitely give the out of ring to Lawler/Dundee. Both iconic feuds but my choice would be Lawler/Dundee. So many twists and turns and was basically the backbone of a town for decades. The overall synonymous nature the two have with each other is hard to beat for me. Other guys come to mind for Flair but Dundee is always the guy for Lawler. Who ya got?

Is this the right place to ask? Anyone ever reviewed this guy? What are the opinions of him? I know there's not a lot of stuff. Curious.

I am calling Matt D out here. Bock was his hero and now he is scanning through Buddy. He has watched plenty of both guys at this point. I realize not as many people have seen peak Rose, but these are two of the forgotten all time greats. So for those who have seen a decent sampling of each where do you stand?

This is an easy-ish topic considering we just finished up GWE so most people's thoughts are probably fleshed out already. Somewhere in the GWE forum Dylan asked if people thought Hansen was the best worker in the history of All Japan. Even ranking ahead of the 4 pillars and Jumbo. I think I chimed in saying I agreed that Hansen was the best All Japan worker basing things just on All Japan and that I was considering Funk as the 2nd best in All Japan's history, ahead of all the usual suspects. Funk's longevity and versatility just looking at his All Japan work is pretty damn impressive actually. His run is basically as long as Kenta Kobashi's. So if you're someone who think…

I have always considered the Tamura/Han series to be the Flair/Steamboat of shoot-style, but in fact even better (by a small margin though). Was wondering what others thought about it. Also I know Flair and Steamboat had some matches in March 89 but I am specifically referring to Chi-Town, Clash 6 and Wrestlewar for this.

This is the only comparison thread we haven't done yet for the top three ranked luchadores. Judging by the Santo/Dandy thread Casas should win in a landslide which would be interesting since Satanico, who finished below Dandy in the GWE poll fared fairly well in a direct comparison versus Casas. I am not sure if Casas ever had a year like Dandy's 1990 but his best matches reached a higher peak than Dandy's and quantity and longevity are on his side. At his best Dandy was a phenomenal wrestler but I can't say his performances have ever impressed me so profoundly like Casas' best did.

What's the consensus on Mike Shaw? I really enjoy his Norman the Lunatic run until Trucker Norm, Bastion Booger is what it is, and admittedly I've never properly seen much Makhan Singh, but he seems pretty serviceable enough just going from his Lunatic stuff. Quite a lot of fun to watch in fact. So aye, what's the craic on him?

I'm about to get some more Rudge in, but here's two I watched recently: Tibor Szacaks vs. Terry Rudge (aired 5/4/74) These are two of my all-time favourite British workers so of course I was into this. Unfortunately, it ended in the third of fourth round of a possible six rounds just as the action was getting really good (like Tibor Szacaks vs. Terry Rudge good.) If I have one complaint about Szacaks it's that his matches weren't long enough, but he was probably past his prime at this point. Mike Marino vs. Terry Rudge (1/22/77) This was a few weeks after the classic Rudge/Jones match, so he has the shaved head here. Marino/Rudge was an awesome sounding ma…

I am so bored of some of these discussions and comparisons, I swear we've had ten threads on the variation of "who is the best out of these All Japan wrestlers" (sorry Elliot your thread is actually interesting becuase it does add some other candidates into the mix). We could use more direct comparisons between the top lucha guys probably. Would anyone take Dandy over Santo? He certainly has an argument on peak. I actually had him higher on GWE but think that was a terrible mistake on my part in hindsight as I hadn't watched some Santo matches that completely changed my perception of him and I now see as some of his best like the Espanto Jr. title match from 1988, one of …

These guys have had less attention than other high-end GWE guys.

Ace of All Japan vs Ace of New Japan. Misawa was considered an all time great before most of us started posting online. Hash was well thought of at the time but people REALLY love him now. Who you got and why?

Ive heard the WWF shot an angle when Jake was a heel that ended up with Roberts dropping Hogan with a DDT. The problem was there were audible cheers after the DDT and that WWF and Hogan panicked and the segment was never run Is this true? and did they ever have a house show run?

Easily one of my favorite guys of all time. He probably gets more love because of his death, which a lot of people do but i loved Owen, especially as a heel. His matches with Bret and Bulldog were always good. His match with Liger in 90 or 89 was really good. I personally loved him as a tag worker. Havent seen too much of High energy but i really liked his teams with Yoko and DBS and the Jarrett team was actually pretty good too. I always thought he was a great dick head heel and got the most out of every opponent. He had a great match with a small guy like Kid and then worked a great almost shoot style with Shamrock. His feud in 94 with Bret is one of my all time favorit…

Here we go! Wilbur Snyder vs. Angelo Poffo (Chicago) Angelo is more Lanny than Randy though you can see a little Randy in him with his evasive tactics. The subtext here is fairly obvious with the All-American crew cut against the effeminate Poffo, but they really don't play it up to any great degree possibly because it was for TV and possibly because Snyder didn't work that sort of match. I don't know, that's what this exploration is all about. At one point Snyder puts on a leg submission that wouldn't look out of place in a lucha match. See, most wresting styles are more unlike they they are different. I enjoy these simpler times when a dropkick into the turnbuck…

Yeah, there's a guy you pretty much never hear anything about. While watching some old Thunder episodes, i came across a match with Blitzkrieg vs Kidman. I remember being impressed with this guy when i first saw him, and while the match was pretty good, im not sure if his style still holds up as he basically did the typical cruiserweight stuff, and in fact Kidman seemed to carry the match. Are there any matches out there from his brief run (i think was only around from February 1999 to September 1999, and then he literally disappeared from wrestling altogether) where he really shines?

what are your guys generals thoughts on the runs they both had? if you had to include one of them (at the peak of their powers) on a roster which would you include? as a tag team were they less than the sum of their parts or greater? was that match against Kane and Undertaker as horrible as history paints it?