Loss

Bryan saying he's "trying to get in" the Rumble in a pretty kayfabe interview (name dropping Trips as COO and all) gives me some hope. Yes, this gives me hope that we're all being worked.

I think the main reason they haven't done that match again is that they don't want to give anyone two wins over Cena, and know what the reaction will be if Cena beats him.

What happened to the fears about doing Brock/Taker I wonder? I think the WON should have had a follow-up to bring the story full circle.

When did Daniel Bryan knock HHH out with the knee? I recall him attacking Shawn, but not HHH. Show punched HHH, that I remember. Punk too.

The same way polling does now? I hate polling. People get to pick a side in an argument without posting an explanation.

HHH/Shawn vs Punk/Bryan has potential. The key is that Daniel Bryan needs to get his revenge on The Authority, and specifically on HHH for pedigreeing him at Summerslam. Doing that match would also open up Stephanie taking a bump for Brie Bella, and yes I realize there's no way Stephanie is going to look that vulnerable. Sheamus is a guy I consider at the level of Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, etc -- guys that have had their cup of coffee but aren't at that level. I think that match is too big for him.

Well, good luck to the top four matches on that list, because I think there's a chance of the crowd turning on all of them. I'm not criticizing the Orton match so much, as the ratings on Monday night show that Batista is still a difference maker. But Daniel Bryan (his fans more than him, really) deserve better than a match with Sheamus. I'm guessing they'll play off of the 18-second match two years ago and reverse the result. Punk has floundered since the Brock feud ended, and I'm not sure I get pushing him higher on the card than Bryan. Flip those two around putting HHH against Bryan and Punk against Sheamus and I think this would be a much better lineup.

I'm more annoyed that it was a repeat angle of something they'd done before, and that since that time, Cena and Orton teamed a few times in throwaway matches on RAW. It's nothing new, but I really do wish they kept track of that stuff over the long term. Randy Orton once attacked John Cena's father. Why would Cena ever team with him like everything was okay? This isn't even limited to current WWE. I think wrestling in general has always done a bad job with stuff like this.

This remains my all-time favorite opening to a wrestling commercial release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqk_f6plJiI

He left Mid South and went to Dallas and Crockett pretty peacefully. But yeah, I had to think hard about that.

I'm looking forward to watching that again. I remember thinking it felt really dated by 1986 standards at one point, although I still thought it was a great match. But I'm willing to admit I may have been wrong on that one.

Flair vs Steamboat at Clash 6. War Games at Wrestle War '92 comes close but doesn't quite hit the mark for me. Flair-Steamboat had a torchbearer quality to the work that no American feud has had since. I can't think of an American rivalry since then that has felt like the two very best guys in the business going at it, not just their promotion or country.

Do you think they are still building the McMahon thing? They should have been teasing dissension by now and they haven't. In fact, Vince's return has been repeatedly postponed since October.

I thought that at first too, but there isn't really much they can do to punish him.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask, only because I don't think there has been a five-star match in the U.S. in the past 25 years. And I'm not sure there has ever been one in WWE at any point.

Yes, and that was in 2003.

I agree that Wrestle War '89 is the least of the series. I remember an old thread at Chris Coey's board years ago where John McAdam argued that what elevated the match to that level was that everyone knew it would be the final encounter and that it was "for keeps". I do think it's a fantastic match, and calling what I'd call a ****1/2 match the least of a series of matches speaks volumes about how great I think that series is. The video to "The Final Countdown" on TV that hyped Wrestle War was also sensational and really hyped me for the match at the time. But if we're looking at extraneous factors, I think the atmosphere at Chi-Town Rumble between the electric crowd, the lighting and Flair's amazing trumpeted entrance is pretty chilling. I also loved the "fuck you Dusty Rhodes" finish. It's the shortest of the three matches, but it's also the most action-packed. I alternate between that and Clash VI on which I prefer. The Clash is probably a better technical masterpiece, but Chi-Town is the better "event", if that makes sense.

The fall thing doesn't bother me. Why is it an issue in Portland and not in lucha libre?

Check out Eddy vs JBL from Judgment Day 2004. It's definitely a WWE main event, but it has that flavor.

Thanks, I will correct that. The confusion comes from the bad labels on YouTube. I liked the 11/15 match better than the 11/8 one. I will make the edit.

He did all the house show lineups for the WWF while he was there and because they always announced the full lineup of the next show in each market and they ran multiple shows each night, it was a stressful job that required great organization. Dave doesn't really consider him critical to the WWF's success since they continued to grow without him. His peak was in transforming JCP.

Yes! So glad to be reminded of this match!

Odd that they would report something that goes without saying as news.