Pro Wrestling

Just saw a tweet from Sempervive that Tommy Rogers has passed away. Pour out a little for half of a fun tag team from the 80s.

If you never seen it, it's rare. It only aired on French TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYJtgT_h5U&feature=youtu.be

G1 Climax announcement. 20 men, Okada, AJ Styles, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenza, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Tetsuya Naito, Katsuyori Shibata, Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Yujiro Takahashi, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Bad Luck Fale, Michael Elgin, Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma This is pretty much the same as last year. You add in Ibushi, and Elgin. Take out Archer, DBS, Shelton, Suzuki. I''m sure we'll still get a great G1 match wise. Still it's so samey and comes across stale. Of all the foreigners you get Elgin who didn't look good on the ROH/NJPW shows in June. Strong smoked him, and Cedric Alexander's ma…

I am interested in this. I think it's a slightly different topic from how WWE positions women now, so a new topic I think. At various times promotions have tapped into a female audience. Ricky Steamboat was over with the girls in Mid-Atlantic. Jack Brisco apparently was over with female fans. Later the Rock n Rolls, Fantastics and other blow-job babyface tag-teams had a lot of "girl fans". You can hear them and see them in the crowd. Then there was this: Then there are the old women you sometimes see in old crowds. I remember as a kid there were quite a lot of women in their 50s and 60s my mum knew who randomly liked wrestling and watched WWF…

Baretta vs Komatsu Komatsu is over pretty big here. Whenever he gets a win over an established star the building will rock. Both guys are really pushing the action. Komatsu's 1/2 crab is over as a finisher. A flying stomp from Baretta. A nasty Death Valley Driver on the apron by Baretta. Trading of near falls down the stretch. Komatsu really had a ton of fire in the match.Baretta's body language really puts over Komatsu well post match. 3* Tiger Mask vs Finlay This was solid. Nothing out of the ordinary 2* Liger vs Cavenario Cavenario is really wanting to have a good match with Liger. They get a ton of time, but have a fun match. 2 1/2* H…

Fish vs Finlay Some basic mat wrestling to start. Finlay with a nasty European forearm. We get some fun strike exchanges. Fish's leg work was solid and played into the finish. 2* Cavenario vs Komatsu Komatsu's head scissor was a little off. The both guy's timing seem a bit off early. Cavenario with a bitchin Silver King dive. Cavenario's front guillotine/armlock suplex is awesome. They seem to be on the same page now.I liked how Cavenario's back work payed off. Overall they have a fun match. 2 1/2* O'Reilly vs Owens Some fun mat wrestling to start. I like O'Reilly controlling the match with a headlock. Owens tried a headlock, O'Reilly blocks it and…

Gedo vs Baretta I really like the building they're working in. This really isn't resonating with me at all. At least it was inoffensive and short. 1 3/4* Liger vs Taguchi Taguchi on the best of times can test your nerves. In a tournament format it's deadly. When Liger was on offensive it was entertaining. 2 1/4* Kushida vs Romero They start out with some fun stuff. They've worked each other plenty so they should be able to have a good match. Romero's heat segment is fun, and sets up the story of hurting Kushida's arm. Romero is working Kushida smarter than Fish because Romero's arm work won't hurt Kushida's comeback like Fish's leg work did. Love…

Steve Austin's recent talking point re: the DDT has me thinking about how the piledriver has been sold differently according to time and place. It's a move that people are even more sensitive about than the DDT and many people have very prescriptive ideas about how it should be sold that seem to be mostly a result of growing up with wrestling where it was a big move. But there's plenty of examples of it not being that big a deal. Watching 80s New Japan stuff, one thing that struck me is how little piledrivers are sold, even spike piledrivers. In Mexico it's famously sold like death, though I have no idea if it's always been that way. It seems like most of the popular …

Four years ago, in June, we discussed the significance of a big loss. We were discussing how losses can damage careers. In this thread, I want to focus on the opposite: times when someone loses a big match but the process of losing in the match actually elevates them up the card. I watched one example last night: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (7/29/93) Seems to me like this sort of thing would happen much more in Japanese wrestling than in US wrestling where most of the examples I can think of are actually draws vs. a champ (see Sting vs. Flair, Clash 1).

In a perfect world sans politics and Hogan and Nash not holding guys down who do you think would have been the biggest stars or tops guys out of the late 90s WCW midcard? Benoit is the obvious choice but he always seemed so out of place when working with Hogan and the rest of the NWO guys. It didn't happen often but when it did it was awkward and didn't have the right aesthetic feel. It wasn't necessarily his fault as WCW had such a caste system that certain guys just looked like they didn't belong at different levels Eddy could have hung with those guys on the mic and would have a made a damn good underdog against the top guys ala a DDP. Jericho a definite …

Romero vs Finlay Basic wrestling to start. They keep it interesting. Romero sells a dinged ankle on landing wrong on a Monkey Flip. We've seen this a few times in the tourney from a few of the wrestlers. Finlay works the leg. His Stretch Muffler looked pretty good. A solid match 2 1/2* Komatsu vs Taguchi Sure Komatsu hasn't won a match, but he really seems ready. This rope running sequence is a thing of beauty. A forearm to Taguchi's ass. Taguchi sneaks in a dive to the outside. This has been solid stuff. Komatsu's 1/2 crab is over., 2 1/2* Cavenario vs O'Reilly O'Reilly with a barrage of strike early. Cavenario turns the tides with a huge dive.…

Tiger Mask vs Kushida Kushida sold an injury and allowed TM to work over his leg. Tiger Mask has been the worst worker on the tour. So this was a pretty cut and dry match. 2 1/2* Liger vs Baretta This was a real solid bout. They cut a pretty all action pace. I liked Baretta's taunting Liger chants just like the crowd. 2 3/4* Gedo vs Owens Another pretty basic match, but fuck was Gedo over. 2*

I wanted to use this thread to discuss common match criticisms, both those that you agree with and think are valid and those that you don't quite understand or disagree with. You can take on the role of the criticizer or defender. I'll be criticizer for one and defender for one to get us started. Criticism: The crowd was dead. Criticizer: I've always felt like if a match fails to get the crowd involved, it's failed to reach its most basic and important goal. Does that mean a match can't be good if the crowd is dead? Not necessarily. But it does mean, in my opinion, that a match with a dead crowd can't be a classic. There are matches I enjoy that have a dead crowd …

Was it just that writer who was allowed to do this? In April, I want to do a one-off show breaking down what makes a great promo. I want to look at some of the great talkers and think about what they do well and what they don't. I want to go super in-depth and even try to categorise different varieties of promo. Different styles. I want to do about 90 minutes of the most in-depth thinking about the art of the promo ever recorded. But I need your help. In research for this, I would like people in this thread to provide examples of what they see as the greatest promos ever delivered, any promotion, any era. What would be especially great is promos that are "o…

I posted in the Meltzer thread about so many fans saying that Debra deserved getting beaten by Austin, and that Austin should have "walked her dry" after "stomping a mudhole in her". Now, according to news reports, a 20-year old fan killed his girlfriend's 18-month baby by doing the Last ride on him, and according to him, "missing the bed". A lot of us play-act and have done so since we were kids, but I do not think an 19-month old has the ability to give informed consent to getting powerbombed. Not to mention, it would have taken extraordinary negligence to miss the bed while performing a powerbomb. What other incidents are there where a few fans of our favourite sp…

Honma/Finlay vs Komatsu/Tanaka This was a super high energy tag. Their was that one ugly with Finlay,. Other than that this was a lot of fun. Honma is the jack of all trades. He's able to work with maineventers and get people behind him believing he's on the verge of winning. Here because part where he's slotted on the card. more because of talent he's able to get the crowd into believing he's about to get pinned by one of the Young Lions. Both Young Lions are ready. Komatsu more than Tanaka. Question is when is the right time. 3 3/4* White/TM vs Cavenario/Owens Some comedy early with Cavenario. Loved the near tag by White that was disrupted by Owens .I'm real…

I posted this on another message board then figured some here would enjoy reading it. This comes to us from a 2006 edition of Luchas 2000 with DJ Spectro making the list. From the magazine I posted the date and the match/location, then I added some footnotes to some of the matches. Even made some corrections to dates as well. Since the list only reaches 2006 it may be missing a few. If you feel like adding to the list it could make for some interesting discussion. Remember these area only cabelleras versus cabelleras or hair versus hair match. So a match like the AAA/WCW When World's Collide match with Santo & Octagon wrestling Barr & Guerrero would not quali…

What do you think are the best studio matches? What's the best one you've ever seen? I love a TV studio match. They always feel a bit different to arena matches. Here's my favourite and the best I've seen to date: Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair (WCW 12/28/85) Truly I love this one. You can hear the chops echo in the studio.

Overall I would give this an 8 out of 10. The extras are tremendous and truly encompass Lawler's career. The documentary was good but it seemed like it could have gone another hour. It gives a good history of Lawler and Memphis and after the Kaufman angle it goes to Superclash, Lawler to the WWF, commentating, Kat getting fired, his return and Hall of Fame induction, WWE Title and Wrestlemania match, heart attack (with footage of him getting shocked backstage) and the it ends. There was NO mention of the ECW feud but they do have the extras and a match against Tommy Dreamer. I would put this on par with Mid-South blu-ray. Lacking in a few areas but a great set.

Hey guys, Since I'm new to the board I thought better way to introduce myself than to tell you what I look for in a wrestler and some of my favorites. My list is a hodge podge of different things. This is a sort of what I enjoy in wrestling and matches I have fun watching. The list: 10) Terry Funk; This is a discovery that I've evolved into loving. I first saw Terry Funk on the Bloodsport ECW's most violent matches DVD and seeing this crazy old bastard wrapping himself in barbed wire. Then I YouTube him and see that he's a great worker too. So for the top 3 I chose two violent and one technical that is violent. 3) Terry Funk vs Mick Foley King of the Death matches …

So for this week's podcast we're taking a look at great tag teams, and are looking to get a sense of which teams come to people minds when the question is posed: Do you have an all-time favourite tag team, or a combination that you firmly believe are the best tandem to ever grace the squared circle? If so, why them, and what is it that sets them apart to you as favourite, or what is the defining element that makes them the best you've ever seen? I think there's a murky line between 'favourite' and 'best', so tackle this one however you wish, but I find it interesting to narrow it down to the one team you set above all others. As always the best answers will be read on t…

I spent some time in a Family Video store the other day. Walking around and browsing the shelves brought back memories. I made my way over to the "sports and fitness" section to see what the wrestling selection was like, and it was pretty weak. Family Video must sell their wrestling DVDs not long after they get them. Anyway, video rental stores were a big part of me becoming a wrestling junkie. Here are a couple of my video rental memories: My family didn't have cable and we didn't have a VCR until I was in my teens. Once every 3-4 months, my parents would rent a VCR and a couple of movies. When I was about 6, we rented a VCR and my dad rented Wrestlemania III. I…

Call me crazy but When you think about big men in the WWE over the past 20 years and since 1999 Kane has been the best big man they've had. You blindly look at the man's body of work and accomplishments and he's a sure fire WWE and Observer Hall of Famer. You analyze it, he's a good worker, has the accomplishments that many others do not have, been on top or near the top for all of that time and he's delivered in big spots. The reason why they keep putting him in the main event picture is because of his reliability and his ability to deliver. Think about it and compare him to even the Big Show and you'll see that Kane has a better overall resume than any other big man bes…

Evolve 43 is on tonight. I ordered the show. Follow along and post your thoughts.

Gedo vs Cavenario This was good. Gedo has a charisma that gets matches over. His style stands out in comparison to the others. The guys have good chemistry. Cavenario plays well off of Gedo. I wish Gedo gave Cavenario more in the match. 2 1/2* Kushida vs Finlay This was good stuff. I liked how both guys worked the arm. Finlay needs to learn more types of reactions. Finlay is showing promise. Kushida was tremendous and his arm work was nasty. The finish was great. 3* Romero vs N. Jackson I really liked this how they straddled the line between comedy and seriousness. The end result was a really entertaining match. 3* Taguchi vs Barretta …