Pro Wrestling

Thought this would be good for some discussion: Tag Team They're bigoted tools just like him, so no real shock there. I loved Cornette in his prime and still admire his passion and knowledge for wrestling, but he's an absolute embarrassment now in every other way. Enough of my soapbox though. Onto his singles pick... Singles His love for Dolph is a bit of a surprise. Makes me wonder if he's seen any of Dolph lately. I have my doubts, considering his earlier admission about still being unfamiliar with Jordan and Gable. Anyway, I think this would make an interesting discussion on two fronts: 1. To debate who Cornette did pick. 2. Who we…

http://www.wwe.com/article/blackjack-mulligan-passes-away I know most of his career didn't make video, but are there any really good matches of his available?

Based off FPT's comment in the giant TNA thead. Which of them has had been worse for the business over the last ten years?

PWInsider is reporting that: My thoughts here: http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/4/6/11380544/evolve-wwe-relationship-grows-stronger-focus-changing

Sasha Banks praising the Fabulous Moolah, who ran a prostitution ring for wrestlers and then had promoters use them as wrestlers to launder the money she made off of it, made me realize how much of this history has been forgotten or whitewashed. I don't feel like I even know the full extent of it, but I have read the stories about Sweet Georgia Brown becoming an addict after being drugged, raped and beaten so many times. She was under strict orders from Moolah to answer the hotel door ready to go when wrestlers knocked. There's also the stories of Mildred Burke pressuring her crew to have sex with promoters so they could get return dates for more money. It does ma…

I've been watching the incredibly awesome Other Japan set and it got me thinking about the shoot style promotions. We have a "Beginners Guide" Thread for Lucha and European wrestling. I figured it would be useful to have one for shoot style. These were some of the questions I thought it would be important or interesting to talk about. UWF was the first shoot style promotion. When did it start, how long did it last? Who was the “Ace” from the very start? Who were the other key players from the first UWF and what were they up to before the promotion started? Gran Hamada and Perro Aguyao worked a brawling all over the place match in UWF 1. How long did they use wor…

hello, i briefly mentioned this in another thread but was planning to make this one for a while. you've probably noticed that my posts here tend to be about social phenomena or wrestling criticism itself, as opposed to talking about specific matches or what have you. the reality is that i'm not too into watching wrestling anymore, and take much more interest in the business/political side & the development of the critical scene over time. why is that? in short, i can't stand how formulaic most in-ring action tends to be. in particular, i completely detest the shine/heat/comeback structure and the whole need for babyface comebacks in general. i'm not a comi…

But then told him he was going to drop the strap to Diesel a few days later because, with Randy Savage leaving for WCW, Vince had no choice but to create a new star ASAP. This comes from Backlund's wonderful autobiography that I just finished. Of course, Savage wasn't being used as a draw anymore in the WWF at the time he left, and Diesel was being groomed for a big run for all of 94 before getting the strap. Backlund doesn't question the sincerity of Vince's excuse in the book and just moves on from there. Just thought I'd share that since I've never come across it anywhere else

News seems to have broken on Twitter that Kris Travis died this morning. Absolutely heartbreaking news. Aside from being a standout performer on the UK scene, he was by all accounts a lovely guy. Only met him once, where he was very friendly, and he's done loads of work to raise money for the local cancer hospital which looked after him since his diagnosis. His in-ring comeback last year was genuinely inspiring before the news broke though that the cancer was back, and this news is a real sledgehammer blow.

At what point will the nostalgia pops for guys like Austin, Rock, Foley and HBK die off? 5 years from now? 10 years from now? Never? As soon as WWE actually starts booking current wrestlers above the nostalgia acts? When the group of guys who currently receive huge nostalgia pops fade away or are no longer used, will WWE have new nostalgia acts to replace them? Fifteen years down the road, will Jericho come out to a huge pop at Wrestlemania and beat up a current worker? Will Cena be able to generate the loudest cheers of the night just by standing in the middle of the ring and smiling like Rock does today? How long will Daniel Bryan be able to get an arena full of peo…

I am a giant fan of tag wrestling so I was pondering the best tag team names ever. What do you think? Tops for me would be Holy Demon Army, Miracle Violence Connection, Raging and Ravishing, Midnight Express (from the darkside), and The New Breed.

I imagine a large chunk of those that hang out here at PWO have seen Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams 2000 documentary film Gaea Girls. For those that haven't, its a feature length documentary on the trainees under Chigusa Nagayo and a set of more senior trainees, some of whom have already made their debut. Most memorably these seniors include Meiko Satomura, who in one particularly notorious scene shoot dropkicks a young wrestler in the face, splitting her lip open and leaving her a bloody mess, for the crime of not having managed to perfect the requisite emotional fire/physical believability. Its an early example of the recurring themes in Longinotto's films which h…

From Between the Sheets #33 thread. Me - 'Listened to the first 15 minutes or so and I've got to admit to be fascinated by the incredible travel schedule maintained in the mid-80s in WWF. When did it really ramp up and when did it settle into a more regular touring circuit?' Kris - 'It started ramping up hard in 1985....it didn't really settle down until late 1987 or so' Could we flesh this out a bit? How did it settle down? Better organisation? Less opposition to squash throughout the country? I'm interested too in how some maintained a better standard of work than others along the way, at least on televised footage we have.

Disclaiminer: this didn't start out as a thread idea, but just kinda took on a life of its own as I was replying to funkdoc. I think I did once describe Ted DiBiase as a "booker's dream" and argued he'd be a super high draft pick among bookers, any era, any context, any promotion, just because he could literally perform any role on the roster and get over any angle you ever wanted. He also had good size and good athleticism. He could talk, he could go, work face, work heel, work tags, gimmick matches, brawls, main event, mid-card, carry a promotion, just be a side dish, put someone over, put himself over. You name the function the booker could ask of him, and he…

I just ordered the two EVOLVE shows and the WWN Live Special, that along with Mania, HOF and NXT is a huge three days of watching. I know a bunch here are going to Mania and some are staying home and taking in ippvs. What are you watching and what are you excited for? NXT Take Over looks like the best show of the weekend, to me.

Rudman is alive and doing well. The Titans crew should try and contact him to appear on a future Titans podcast. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20160306_Kal_Rudman__music_maven__philanthropist__and_legend_.html

Some of may not know that as well as being a wrestling enthusiast, I'm also a doctor of English with a particular interest in literary theory -- just completed two books looking at literary approaches being published next year. So I'm always interested in methods of assessment, aesthetics, notions of value and so on. In wrestling fandom, the so-called smarts have always valued psychology, logic and storytelling within a match over pretty much anything else. I've been thinking about this of late and wondering why. Two questions: - In real life, do fights follow any particular logic? Would a bloke in a barroom brawl think about softening up a leg in order to …

The Road to WrestleMania XXX: The Good Shit - http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/33558-the-road-to-wrestlemania-xxx-the-good-shit/ The Road to WrestleMania 31: The Good Shit - http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/33559-the-road-to-wrestlemania-31-the-good-shit/ NXT at WrestleMania 31 Axxess – March 26, 2015 These matches aired on the April 8, 2015 broadcast Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale Qualifier Tournament Semifinal Neville vs. Hideo Itami Staredown triggers a “THIS IS AWESOME~!” chant, and it should for this is a dream match. Eight years ago, this could be manipulated into being ROH vs. PWG. Five years ago, NOA…

I'd probably find examples in both directions of what's important to me, but I didn't want to keep flooding the BIGLAV thread with posts about this, so I thought I'd start a thread for it. I don't think not being able to do everything is critical unless the wrestler had a career where they were expected to take on roles they were unable to perform. So Ricky Morton being the greatest sympathy babyface tag team wrestler ever means more to me than Chris Jericho's ability to work face or heel in any spot on the card and get over doing it. Both are impressive, but Morton was a standard bearer in his one thing which is extra special.

I THINK this is Paraguay? But I have no idea. I don't think it's Argentinian Titanes. My favorite stuff starts at the 17:30 mark. Tony Luciano is TREMENDOUS.

Paul Cooke recently wrote an article for the site entitled 'The Homogenization of Pro Wrestling', which brought up some interesting points that are pretty relevant to the kinds of discussions that take place on PWO. In particular, he questions whether the modern equivalents of Ultimo Guerrero, Tiger Mask, Gran Hamada, Guerrero, and Mysterio -- who merged styles and ways of working in certain respects -- have now become the norm as far as the global landscape is concerned. There is also a big question as to whether or not WWE's acquisition of talent and creative restrictions, to whatever extent, will and have caused a fading of one pro-wrestling's greatest assets -- it…

they did her wrong, shattering that Princess Di image and turning her into a shameless cougar. but everything they got their filthy hands on eventually turned to shit Christ what a company how did you guys feel about her time there?

I was wondering what people are watching, so what promotions do you follow currently? Also, to what degree do you follow them? 1) WWE Watch special events and well hyped moments on Raw, will watch Raw if they get consistent praise. 2) NXT All TV and special events. 3) Progress All Chapter specials at the least, might start the other shows they do. 4) CMLL Interesting looking and hyped matches. 5) EVOLVE Select shows live and well regarded shows on demand. 6) Everything else MOTY candidates or shows that get a LOT of praise.

Astoundingly stacked big card by CMLL standards. Hair vs Hair: Volador, Jr. vs Nego Casas Hair vs Hair: Rush vs Maximo Sexy Mexico vs Japan: Mistico/Valiente/Mascara Dorada/Dragon Lee vs Okumura/Fuijin/Raijin/Kamaitachi When was the last time CMLL even ran an atomicos match? They didn't do one at any point that they had a 4 man Ingobernables line-up or at any point during Thunder vs UG when it might have made sense.