Pro Wrestling

I've noticed that recently the WWE seems to be missing a performer I like to class as The 'Angle'. This term is named after Kurt Angle and below i'll describe what makes an 'Angle' An Angle must be able to get over equally well whether as a Face or a Heel An Angle must be an excellent worker, who can not just work well within their own style, but be versatile and adapt to their opponents style An Angle must be able to Sell convincingly, no matter the size or style of the opponent An Angle must have either an impressive or unique finishing move or in the case of a Submission move, it must always be applied correctly and give the impression that it could legitim…

Dylan and I were chatting about Goldust and whether he could have had a push to World Title level in 1996 WWF. He was pushed really hard initally with the gimmick being showcased. I can't imagine the gimmick being any hotter than it was at Royal Rumble 1996 given how long he had been in at that point. From there, Hall wasn't really willing to work with him further which could have hurt his momentum. He had a high profile match with Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania that year but was pretty much comedy from that point forward. Perhaps if he had continued to be put over people strong, and even still losing the IC title to someone like Ahmed Johnson, he could have been pushe…

Word is coming out that the segment on RAW tonight was 100% legit. Edge has been one of the guys Dave has been blind item-ing about when he was talking about a top WWE guy thinking about retiring soon, and recent tests showed more damage to his rebuilt neck. Apparently they just gave him a mic and told him he could say goodbye however he wanted. Looks like they're going to do an angle on Smackdown to set up how they're going to fill the title, kind of shocking to have this happen all of a sudden.

Phoenix New Times (me) wrote a profile of Billy Graham catching up with him: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2011-03-31/...be-killing-him/

did they ever wrestle even on house shows?

From Meltzer: I'm hoping someone like Bix buys this, because I'm sure there's some wonderful info here to educate fans of this era. There's still seven days left on the auction (the default eBay number for auction length), but there's already three bids. I found the auction in question: http://cgi.ebay.com/EXTREMELY-RARE-Mid-Sou...1QQcmdZViewItem

TOM K made this comment in the Meltzer thread and as the steward of the current project, I am very interested in the idea of which process is better for forming a concensus. In a way, you can even compare this to the 2 very different ways in which the Observer does its Hall of Fame and MOTYs. The 1990s project is more like the format used to select the MOTYs. People write in their match of the years and then the numbers are added up but not every match is considered. The Hall of Fame is set up so that you choose from a predetermined list on what you feel is most worthy (similar to the 80s sets) although the nagging issue of a lack of exposure to certain wrestlers can…

I've been a fan of this series from the beginning. At best it is insightful and illuminating, it's entertaining and provides a decent history lesson with the opportunity to see some footage from the vaults. Yes, there are some annoying panelists. Mike Graham, for example, always has my eyes rolling and I don't really like Pat Patterson on it either. Anyway, this one featured the debut of Bret Hart on this show and, my god, what an uptight son-of-bitch he is. He just seems to have a real chip on his shoulder about something. That is not the purpose of this thread however. Usually on Legends of Wrestling they do a decent job of running the gamut on the subje…

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/...E72M90520110323

This announcement of Rock/Cena at WM 28 has me thinking. What's the furthest in advance a promotion hyped a match. Not building a feud, but a specific match with a date set in stone. (And no cheating with a gimmick match like the Royal Rumble.)

For me, probably watching VIII live. First big PPV I ever watched live, a decent card, and a cool finish for an 8 year old mark.

I decided to start a thread to discuss this year's nominees (other than HBK since I'm pretty sure everything's been said about that topic already). First up: "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN At first blush, this seems like a Nikolai Volkoff level induction, kind of a lifetime acheivement award for a loyal midcard guy. And really, it is, but there's more than just his WWF career to consider. Ted DiBiase is doing the honors for Duggan so you'd guess their time in Mid South would be discussed since there won't be any footage to show. Plus Jim's always had that special kind of attraction since I've always considered him the human equivalent to a big lovable mutt. You look…

Tomorrow is the 23-year anniversary of the first Clash of the Champions, if anyone would like to feel old. This is just intended to be a pure nostalgia thread for how great these specials were (most of the time) and how exciting it was to actually watch wrestling during the week at night! What are your favorite Clash matches and moments? The first Clash will always hold a special place with me because it's when I went from fan to super fan. In retrospect, it has importance because it was Crockett's last hurrah and probably the best show ever to air on TBS. My other standouts are pretty much usual suspects: Clash VII with the awesome Luger turn that ble…

Drinks! Eating mediocre ribs at Abdullah's! Watching wrestling! And did I mention drinks? My dad, uncle and three more of my nearest-n-dearest will be joining me there. Surely some people here are also attending.

Inspired by BIG DADDY BRUNO BEEFCAKE and SAILOR MOSES in the Bix thread, I thought using this thread to create a list of other fun wrestling names that don't exist. They can play off of existing names or be entirely your own creation. For example: Slaughterhouse Stevens -- Headlined several MSG shows in the 70s before retiring to live with his family in Vermont. Finishing move was The Tenderizer. Have fun.

Effective April 7 Shame since it had tons of good wrestling. I don't get WGA but I used to catch it online quite often. Hopefully they air it on the website or find another station

Apparently Rey has asked for his release from WWE following Mania but the WWE is unwilling to do so at this time. Also, Rey is in "bad shape" which we all know is wrestler code for a lot deeper "problems" and "demons". This could get ugly soon.

Tag team wrestling is a bit of a different animal over in Japan as opposed to North America. Very few long-term tag teams going to different promotions and having matches with various other teams but still puro has produced some incredible tag teams and matches. My top 5 goes something like this - 1) Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 2) Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (yeah I count them as a Japanese tag team since most of their work was done in All Japan) 3) Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa 4) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama 5) Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

It amazes me a little more everyday how little I actually know about the history of pro wrestling in the 80s. I grew up with it in MA starting in 90 and by then there really was just WWF and WCW and a hint of GWF for me and later on ECW. I've been going through old observers and listening to a lot of shoots lately and one thing has come up a few times and I'm curious just how much we know about it. Eddie Graham's Florida Championship Wrestling was one of the top territories in the early 80s. They had a big show at the Orange Bowl. Dusty felt like he got screwed on the house/payoff. He went to a two-bit Crockett promotion that had been barely drawing, taking a big chu…

Does anyone know how many TV episodes the AWF produced in the mid 90's?

WWE really seems to be building up their latino fanbase. Makes sense as Mexico probably has better, fresher stars than most of the indies right now. And after watching Alberto Del Rio, I get the sense that WWE will put an effort into pushing Mistico.

Aries was rejected for Tough Enough apparently and these went up on his Twitter over the weekend dude's too good

I only saw the last few minutes of the Del Rio vs. Kofi match and the crowd was hot for the finish. Maybe someone else can fill me in on the opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ApH5c8kr4...feature=related I don't know if it tops pre show Bash at the Beach 95 but this is pretty much one of the best things ever in wrestling

I don't know if it's the "Rock Fever" of late with his comeback.... but holy shit was the Rock the fucking man. Dude was beyond underrated in the ring (I know, kinda stating the obvious). I think Rock shits all over Cena in every conceivable way. Anywho.... Austin vs. Rock at Mania 17 is so fucking good. I loved that it was kickout Mania at the end, cause the finish of Austin just wearing the Rock the fuck out with a steel chair to finally get the 1,2,3 with his heel turn is just so memorable. Austin's "Disturb'd" music post-match added to the vibe as well. I think between the crowd, the match itself, the closing run of nearfalls and the gross beatdown finish.…