Al

It's the only Hall of Fame with any transparency about the process. People love arguing about Hall of Fames in any sport. Meltzer's allows for it.

Has anyone ever done a top 50ish list for luchadors? I've only seen lists of mexican wrestlers in America, and that's not what I'm looking for. Honest question here. The conventional wisdom here on candidates is that amateur credentials/MMA work shouldn't be part of a Hall of Fame candidacy. But for wrestlers like El Santo, their movie career is a huge part of what made them cultural icons. Where does one draw the line on anything outside of wrestling?

I'm a little surprised he was still alive. Kind of a gimmick wrestler, a good performer from the little I've seen. Probably pissed off the purists, but guys like him make wrestling fun.

Considering guys like Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, El Canek, Perro Aguayo wrestled forever, it's not inconceivable that many wrestlers in Mexico worked with/against both. But that bleeds into a problem where most probably saw/worked with Santo post prime and not during the 1940s.

Three. There's me and someone else.

That's a problem with the limited time eligibility rule as well. This ballot is complicated, candidates could be passed over because the process doesn't work. This isn't a sports Hall of Fame where there are obvious points someone's career ended. Candidates are literally thrown on the ballot mid-career.

Mick Foley's book mentioned Kane being upset about Montreal, but being in a position where he couldn't make waves.

I just watched the '91 Rumble. Probably not a classic as far as work but the Rockers/Orient Express is one of the WWF's best opening matches ever. You've got the Virgil face turn, and the Rumble itself is decent. But more than that, the crowd is absolutely molten all night.

Can any AWA fans provide input on Hercules Cortez?

I can't believe I've never seen that finish before. Someone needs to steal it.

Super Macho Man seems like an archetype of many wrestlers. Most of whom drew inspiration from Graham. King Hippo though is obviously King Kong Bundy.

Russ Davis seemingly refers to everyone as "boy" at some point. The japanese, the greek, the local Polack, etc. In some ways, this is like watching Punch Out! The stereotypes are cartoonish and turned up to 11.

Holy shit. I have the worst luck in going on vacation. (Tomorrow starts four days away from Wifi). Glad it's the archivists posting it so I can be assured it'll be there when I'm back. I see a 50 minute Thesz/Rogers match in there. The Sheik, Don Leo Jonathan, lots of Verne Gagne. I can't wait to dig into it.

I subscribed the day of Wrestlemania, April 6. So when I renew for six months that would cover the Rumble, Survivor Series and Wrestlemania XXXI. At that point I'll decide whether or not to continue. To get those three shows in one shot is too good to pass up.

Hogan/Andre is the standard for "match that was terrible but drew money." But I don't think it's a bad match. It's not a good workrate match and it looks somewhat sloppy because Andre could never bump. But it was dramatic and hooked the crowd. What might be an example of a match that drew money or a big crowd and completely shit the bed? Something that would never get elevated to the status of a big match for that reason. Inoki/Ali?

You could always create a separate "pioneer" type category for untaped/unavailable matches. Kind of an honorable mention for Gotch/Hackenschmidt, Rich/Sawyer, etc. that have an obvious place in wrestling history.

The 15 year eligibility thing seems a bit haphazard. The way wrestling works, it's possible for a wrestler to become ineligible before he even retires.

I always thought Whippleman's role was to make the monster heel look bigger by comparison.

John Tenta/Earthquake seems like an obvious one. Grew up thinking fat wrestlers were dull. Watching him again he's clearly as entertaining as most of the circa 1990 roster.

Re: The Devious One. I think the backstage ribbing is behind it. But from a character standpoint, Fuji always struck me as the one most willing to outright maim an opponent. Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart would cheat, but they had some scruples. Fuji was the person who would beat his charges to make them go harder.

Professionalism

Jesse comes off as annoying at times on the Saturday Night's Main Event broadcasts. But I think a lot of that is him trying to help the heels save face because they have to draw money post-Hogan.

IMO, Chromecast is a horrible, clunky, overrated piece of shit. The lack of a remote kills it dead (don't care that there's an app). With the Chromecast, it's so ridiculous because not only do I have to stick it into my TV's USB, I also have to plug it into my wall. Looks like absolute dogshit. (I realize this is partly because of my TV and not everyone will have to do that, but still.) How is the Roku Streaming Stick in comparison? The Roku stick plugs into your HDMI port. It also needs to draw power via USB adapter. I plug the USB back into the tv and draw power that way. There's a remote. My complaint with the remote is I'll find myself bumping a button and it takes me forever to get back where I was. But otherwise it works well. There's a remote app that I do appreciate, and I find my linking my smartphone ideal for searching Youtube videos. It is also the fastest app I have streaming Youtube, if you consume wrestling that way.

The Roku streaming stick is my device of choice, and it really does work great. Also easy to add other apps.

I like him sticking the newspaper on the chair along with the book. Couldn't those things get ruined? 34 years is damned impressive though. My wife's sister died of ALS. She passed a year after her diagnosis.