Loss

As there should be. Plus, he is a star from a previous era. Still, he should be pushed as important -- the #3 babyface spot seems really ideal for him, and I think he should be in occasional main events since he always gets over and people will always buy him as a challenger. He also seems like the ideal guy to make Almas.

It's more that for many years, the WWF had an anti-good match bias.

Meanwhile, Smackdown has three really strong babyfaces (Styles, Bryan, Hardy) who have mountains of heels to take on in singles, tags, and six-mans.

Jericho was originally announced in the Rumble match, so I'm assuming he's been shuffled back.

According to your top 500 of the 90s, Dandy's 5* matches that year were la lucha de cabelleras against Satánico and....? Wasn't vs Azteca ****3/4? I've wavered back and forth on that one. Yes, you're right. Last time I watched Dandy-Azteca, I took off 1/4*.

Just remembered the first Super J Cup. Benoit-Sasuke is a great final and I love it, but I don't think it rose to that level.

I also wonder how he categorizes wrestlers that are still technically active, but whose prime has long passed. Think Sean Waltman or Ricky Morton. Are they "active wrestlers"?

Consider the booking between Survivor Series and Wrestlemania. The feud became far more personal and heated. Theres no real use in playing off of something that was basically ancient history. Its important to remember that the presentation wasnt nearly as self referencing as it is now. The match was to settle a score, not to make a statement on the grandest stage or whatever the build is now.

My problem wasn't that they did it, but rather in how they ended it. Such a wasted opportunity for a couple of heels to shove Braun in a meat locker and corner Nicholas in the ring to scare him into lying down to take a pin. The Bar could have done that, and so could have Owens and Zayn. Braun should have thought this through ahead of time.

They weren't exactly pulling out of North Carolina when so many large businesses were either. Just the latest example.

To submit is basically to say "I quit". Tapping out, which is a gesture that only appeared, or at least got popular, in the late 90's with Ken Shamrock getting in the WWF, doesn't mean anything other than "I quit". Before that, the guys caught in a submission hold (like the Sharpshooter or the Figure Four) would either signal to the referee that they were submitting, hence "quitting", or pass out, hence physically "quitting". The gimmick matches were not worked the same way : one was usually meaning "no pinfall, only a submission (implied hold because it's the most simple way to attain that goal) can end the match" while the other had to have the oral signal of quitting, heard true a live mic, but in the end this is exactly the same thing in term of meaning. So yes, there's a difference in semantic only. And in term of pro-wrestling, in execution of the gimmick (which I why I said I could understand nitpicking with the Austin vs Bret match to some extent, although like it's been said, it doesn't really matter, the match is a classic that goes beyond the gimmick and reducing it to the maybe non-conform execution of said gimmick is ridiculous) Submission matches set expectations that the finish will be a hold. That's not an implicit or explicit expectation in I Quit matches. Magnum-Tully couldn't have been a submission match because the match wasn't based around wrestling.

To me, all that Daniel Bryan percentage shows is that most of the people who vote in the WON HOF aren't active wrestlers and that the ones who do are all over the place with their opinions. EDIT: However, I do agree that retired wrestlers don't really sing the praises of Bryan, Owens, or Zayn very much. They have real trouble getting past look in all three cases I think. They seem to really love Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt.

For what it's worth, I agree that there's a difference between a submission match and an I Quit match that isn't just semantic. Submission matches are about submission. I Quit matches are about surrender.

Here to stay. 😁 Ill follow up with our server guy and see what I can find out.

Probably even in Dragon Gate during the same time period, to be honest. It has certainly happened but its hard in my mind for touring showcase matches to be great, mainly because the goal is typically to introduce fans to a new style, concept, or group of wrestlers more than it is to deliver a satisfying payoff.

The mentality that Asuka wouldnt be over without the streak is in my opinion the wrong mentality. Dont we want them creating pushes that highlight the strengths of each performer instead of dwelling on their weaknesses?

I love Adam Pearce. The main strike against him was always that he was doing fake Crockett or whatever but I dont look at it like that at all. Thats far more true for The Revival, whom I love, than it is Pearce.

Allow me to disagree it is a perfectly acceptable match regardless of how many snowflakes you toss its way.This would be my pick. Also, I dont even think Misawa-Kawada from 6/6/97 is a good match, much less a *****+ match. All of that said, Dave has far less head scratchers than I do in a fraction of the time. Ive had to go back and reconsider my original lunacy more times than I can count.

Yep.

Nope. Misawa had two in 1995, yes, but they weren't both singles matches. And actually, yes, Kobashi I'd argue as having two in 1998. That was one that escaped me. El Dandy 1990 Kenta Kobashi 1998 Johnny Gargano 2018

Nope, had him having just one (Steamboat at Clash VI), although he has a lot of close ones and it would take a lot for Gargano to have an overall better year.

In April, Gargano has already had an all-time year. For comparison purposes, the only other wrestler I've ever argued as having more than one 5* singles match in a single year is El Dandy in 1990. No one else ever.

I do think this match was really good, and while Nakamura underwhelmed, AJ looked terrific. It was the wrong match for this setting and this spot on the card, but it was still an excellent match. It could have been great if Nakamura was as game as Styles. ***1/2

I thought this was yet another really good TV match. I don't know how Big E does it. He's a hell of an athlete, but those bumps on a guy his size have to take their toll. The Usos have the finishing stretch down pat, almost to the point that they just forgo the opening part of the match. ***1/2

That bump looked brutal, but if he builds to one big bump per match like that over the long haul, he should have some nice longevity. I thought it was an excellent teaser for an even bigger match in the future. I'm not sure what flying around Sleeze saw. I'd also go 3.75*.