Pro Wrestling

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White Man I thought this was a real good opener. White's strikes are awesome. They worked at a quick pace with big time strikes, and some good looking submissions. They worked it in a way and got me to believe White could win. I thought these really clicked on a lot of levels. Loved Taguchi using his butt strikes to work over White's arm and leg. White's payback spot with the butt strike was tremendous. White seems like a big time star waiting to happen. 3* Tiger Mask vs. Sho Tanaka This match kinda surprised me at how tight they worked the match. The submissions were basic stuff but looked super hurty. The strikes were very good…

On this week's podcast we're returning to our trial format to talk about a figure held more positively than our previous trials, and debate whether or not Paul Heyman's booking was more detrimental than positive in the long run for professional wrestling, and we're looking for your thoughts on the subject, considering the following elements: *The human toll his booking created *ECW's influence on the business in the 90s and beyond (both good and bad) *ECW's lack of financial success *Your opinion on his booking throughout his whole career As always we'll read the best ones on the air and credit you accordingly, so do the positives outweigh the negatives for you or…

Against my better judgment I am going to try and watch this show tonight. I doubt there will be a reaction show at PTBN because I doubt anyone else is this stupid/brave. But I will post comments here. Will anyone else be suffering with me?

For this week's podcast we're taking a look at examples throughout history where certain guys were pushed far beyond their limitations, and want to know about those particular instances that actually annoyed you as a viewer and why. This can manifest itself as: a) A terrible wrestler you couldn't stand getting a spot they shouldn't have. An acceptable midcard act being ruined by being spotlighted too much. c) A badly executed push for a talented guy. Either way, what is an example of a really aggressive promotional push you couldn't stand, and why did it annoy you? As always we'll be reading the best examples on the show (which will be up this weekend) a…

Thought this topic up after just shitting on some refs in the Microscope thread about Nick Patrick. One of the Hebners took a wickid missile bump to the floor off a Davey shove in the Michaels-Bulldog IYH Beware of Dog.

Agreed. Pro-wrestling can be a great craft. And there's nothing wrong with that. The pedestal on which so-called "art" is put on to the detriment of anything else really make it seems like you have to call anything "art" to be able to praise it. Pro-wrestling has never been an art. It doesn't keep it from being awesome at its best.

So, I used to blog wrestling a few years back, I'd review matches, cards, etc and then give them a rating. I've always hated the standard star rating system that Meltzer pioneered (which has subsequently become the standard used by pretty much everybody). That formula is good, because people take note of the ***** and the DUD's, but I find it quite limiting in places. Pretty much every good quality match is **** - **** 1/2. It's messy, but everybody else who blogged on the site (I won't give details because I was under my real name) used the Meltzer scale. I didn't like this, it limited me: So, I rated matches on a scale of 1-10. I didn't just rate matches based on pe…

If you want to talk about my personal favorites in wrestling.....Budro is near the top of my list...an amazing performer who could do it all. If he didn't have personal problems throughout the years he would've been one of the all-time legends in the business.....Of all the great promos that Budro ever cut this is the one that stands on top of the mountain. RIP Budro......I hope you are bumping and selling for Big Dust in the sky right now

One more -- what are your favorite EVOLVE matches?

I'm still working on getting my podcast up and off the ground. For those unaware the format is going to be to discuss the MOTYC's from various years, promotions, etc. I've decided on 1976 as the first year I will cover. And outside of one curmudgeon on Twitter who seems to enjoy trying to suck the fun out of everything I'm looking for some recommendations of the best matches from that year. I've already got a solid top 10, but I'd love to get some more recommendations so I can cover as much of the year as possible.

I remember when tomk would talk about FIP being more of a traditional, old school presentation than ROH with a stronger face-heel divide. However, the only match I've seen is Punk-Danielson from 2005. What FIP is worth seeking out? Lots of matches look good on paper, but I never really heard too much buzz for this group.

You may have figured out by now that I'm going to be starting threads for a lot of the indy groups. I've seen Joe-Butcher (only the first one) and Ki-Butcher, but that's really it, so I'm open to any and all recommendations.

If Great Match Theory is going to become an institution, will the history books cite me as its greatest champion?

My match of the year list after MITB and where you can watch it 1) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi Wrestle Kingdom 9 http://rutube.ru/video/5c2e113a5d87c926c6da7441e4b9d745/ 2) Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma NJPW New Beginning https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii42J_6qpBY 3) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada Wrestle Kingdom 9 http://rutube.ru/video/bee3bbc3e39b41938b0267c9ccbb9a4c/ 4) Twin Towers vs Strong BJ from 5/31 BJW http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2t2zkh_kohei-sato-shuji-ishikawa-c-vs-daisuke-sekimoto-yuji-okabayashi-bjw_sport 5) Roderick Strong vs Zack Sabre Jr Roderick Strong vs Zack Sabre Jr. PWG 4/03 http://watchwrestling.ch/video/watch-pwg-dont-sweat-t…

My Mid Year Wrestling Observer Awards What are yours Lou Thez Award (Wrestler of the Year) 1) Kevin Owens 2) Kota Ibushi 3) Shinsuke Nakamura Most Outstanding Wrestler 1) Roderick Strong 2) Kota Ibushi 3) Zack Sabre Jr. Best Box Office Draw 1) Rhonda Rousey No one else worth voting for in the wrestling or in MMA Feud of the Year 1) Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn 2) Roderick Strong vs Drew Galloway 3) Kazuchika Okada vs Bullet Club Show of the Year 1) PWG Don't Sweat the Technique 2) Wrestle Kingdom 9 3) WrestleMania 31 Match of the Year 1) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi 2) Zack Sabre Jr vs Roderick Strong 3) Kevin Owens vs John Cena Tag Team of the Year 1) RPG Vice …

It is very rare that I start topics here, but I thought a lot of you were insanely well qualified to answer this question: Which year offered the best TV (in your opinion), either in the form of a specific show that a promotion ran, or just an overall promotions TV output?

I thought I'd create a thread where we can share anecdotes about being involved in shows. I'll start off - In 2006 I started working a new job, and on the same intake as myself was a guy who promoted shows in the Wigan area of Lancashire (Wigan, the home of The Snakepit) - we got talking, and soon enough I managed to get myself on some of his shows working as referee. Here I am in 2007 reffing a squash match for GPW: I enjoyed the experience, but being backstage, I couldn't wash some of the wrestlers attitudes, some thinking they were big stars, and calling the fans in attendance marks etc. Some of the GPW roster have gone on to bigger things since - El Ligero…

From the Flair-Steamboat podcast - 'I found it fascinating that Steamboat questioned the wisdom of being so tough on trainees. I've never heard that from an old-timer before. And I agreed with him.' Steamboat was wondering how many potentially good workers were put off by 'initiation'. Flair said he didn't feel sorry for any rookies beaten badly because he'd gone through it (a standard veteran pov).

After reading El-P's inspired effort in the Highway to Hell thread recently, for this week's podcast we're looking to tackle the commonly held belief that WCW was still salvageable when Vince Russo came along, and as always we're looking to get some feedback from your good selves on this issue. If the date is October 1st, 1999, what would you have done to try and turn the tide against the WWF? Who are you pushing, who are you not, is there an angle you think could have made a difference? What changes would you make? Or do you think it was beyond repair? Post your suggestions for what you'd do to "save" WCW, and as always the best ones will be read on the show, and…

I just discovered that this promotion existed. Can anyone fill me in on the details? There's not even a Cagematch or WrestlingData page for it. When did it form? When did it dissolve? Why did Hamada elect to use the name of an already existing promotion? I assume Sasuke got his start here; did it debut any other notable workers?

Would it be fair to say that he's one of very few guys who could legit build three entirely separate slamdunk Hall of Fame cases? 1. As wrestler, 2. As promoter, 3. As trainer?

How do you define kayfabe ? When did you first learn the term? Has your understanding of kayfabe changed since? It's been said that kayfabe is dead, is it? Is it's death necessary for pro wrestling moving forward? Generally curious as to what the board may think..

If you're watching chime in.

alright yall, this is a thread idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while now... so usually when you see people debate various wrestlers' effectiveness as draws, there tends to just be a focus on the amount of money in itself and how much people worked on top in promotions that did well. this approach always felt funny to me, but i really got motivated once i saw parv discuss dominic denucci vs. mick foley and how they might be equal as draws. i immediately thought "wait, was denucci EVER one of the 10 biggest wrestling stars worldwide? because foley definitely was at one point. alright, this is kinda silly and i need to talk about it." the idea …

Let's play Monopoly. Budokan, Korakuen, Tokyo Dome, MSG and Greensboro are all in the discussion. What other buildings have seen the best matches, most historic matches/angles?