Loss

Buddy Rose vs Rick Martel (PNW 04/26/80) This is built around Buddy Rose wearing a mask/wig combo (I'm guessing he lost his hair??) and Martel trying to rip it off. Rose neutralizes him by working over his knee like clockwork and busting out some great offense and holds. Rose gave an awesome performance in this match, but it seemed like he was wrestling himself, as Martel was really green and it showed, as he did nothing for me in this. But Buddy laid out a really strong match, took excellent bumps and worked the crowd like a champ. Not much more you can ask for in a wrestler's performance.

Pat Roach vs Dalibar Singh (World of Sport 04/21/80) This was my least favorite match so far, not because it wasn't good, but because it was the least unique. This felt very much like All Japan/New Japan heavyweight matches in the same time period. Maybe it's because this is the first heavyweight match I've seen from World of Sport. This is a very good match by any standard, but unlike the others, it's not a remarkable one.

Thanks, I will let you know. There are a couple of things I may ask you for, actually. Jim Breaks vs Young David (World of Sport 02/13/80) Really great. So Young David is exactly as his name suggests, this skinny, impressionable kid who has no idea what he's up against. Jim Breaks is rough around the edges and is a total asshole, stretching this kid and taking unnecessary cheapshots when he's already clearly more skilled and experienced. And as the match progresses, something unintended happens. In addition to being this little punk's opponent, Breaks is also his teacher. So Davey Boy starts taking cues from the jerk and fights fire with fire -- sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully. But he proves himself a quick study and gives Breaks a far tougher match than he might have had Breaks been able to just control himself and wrestle without being a prick, in the end holding him to a draw after 12 rounds. Breaks can't just do anything -- he has to rub his opponent's face in everything he does. And with this kid, it backfires. Beautiful story and another high end match for the year.

Jon Cortez vs Jeff Kaye (World of Sport 02/05/80) This wasn't as fluid as Saint vs Grey, but that's an awfully high threshold and it's probably not fair to hold everything to that standard. Still, it was another fantastic match from World of Sport with a pretty vast array of impressive holds and counters. The headscissors Cortez - who looks like a world beater in this - locks on Kaye is amazingly tight, and watching Kaye struggle with everything he has to counter it is awesome. Again, they are sportsmen and seem impressed with each other, to a point where this takes on a sparring session feel the longer it goes. At times, they even have smiles on their faces. That sounds lame and not very compelling, but it works and surprisingly this still doesn't feel like an exhibition. I've come to realize that not every great wrestling match needs to have a strong babyface/heel alignment and a meaningful personal issue. It's usually preferable of course, but if your work is this good, you can get away with letting your wrestling speak for itself. Check out all the work around the full nelson in Round 5. This becomes quite the spirited game of chess as the match progresses. It's almost playful. So far, I've seen four matches and they are four different representations of the style, which is awesome.

Jon Cortez vs Peter Lapaque (World of Sport 01/28/80) I think it's interesting how the vertical base isn't the assumed position of normalcy in this style. Anyone who wants to be competitive should be capable of devising a hold or counter from any position, no matter how atypical. I think this match does quite a bit to get over the idea that offense or defense can come from any position. It's cool how they build the match too. I've always thought the rounds system was the antithesis of building drama in wrestling match, but they really work it to their advantage here. Just when it appears tempers are about to flare, the round is over which would normally kill a match at the worst moment for me, but what they are actually doing is setting up the next round and thus building suspense for and teasing aggression that is later to come. The new rounds aren't "restarts", they are simply new chapters in the match. And this is the first time that's really clicked for me, be it because I saw the right match or because I saw something well-worked. By the final round, these two guys are waylaying each other with brutal uppercuts and while this never boils over in a way that the sportsmanship is lost, the aggression reaches a peak. I also like how decisive Cortez getting the consecutive pins at the finish was. What a great card. I find this style so easy and refreshing to watch.

This happens from time to time and I'm not sure the cause. Next time you receive a new PM, you'll move to 0 New Messages and then it should be correct. If you need me to send you a PM to make that happen, let me know. On a positive side note, I am looking at upgrading the board software very soon. It's time.

This is a known issue that I'll hopefully have resolved soon. I am waiting to hear back from our server guy, as he did an upgrade recently and it messed a few things up, most of which have been fixed by now. But if your post contains a "smart" apostrophe (one that curls to the left or right), you'll receive the IPS Driver Error because the board doesn't recognize the character. If you encounter this, make sure that your post doesn't have any smart apostrophes and it should go through successfully. I realize this is an inconvenience, especially when copying and pasting something that may contain this character. Hopefully it will be fixed very soon.

Yes, that's the match, but based on the date OJ provided, the real date is 1/28/80. I think the YouTube date is an error.

Yes. I don't think anyone wants to hear me bash HHH relentlessly for three hours. It wouldn't be a pleasant listening experience. But I support anyone who wants to give it a shot.

Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey (World of Sport 01/28/80) Well I'll be damned if this isn't the most impressive wrestling match I've ever seen. In terms of presenting wrestling as a serious sport by using the holds, maneuvers and other actions in the ring to convey a story and manipulate emotions of those watching, this is really one of the best examples I can recall seeing of what wrestling can be at its absolute best. It serves as a tribute to the art form, and looks like the pinnacle of what wrestling is capable of when stripped down to its most fundamental parts. Both men are marvels as mat wrestlers (understatement of 2014) and while I don't think I've watched enough World of Sport yet to do a write-up that does this justice, this is as good as just about any wrestling match I have ever seen.

Jeff Kaye vs Tony Walsh (World of Sport 01/28/80) This was a really fun match made by the contrast of Kaye's gymnastic highspots against the cheating and ground attack of Tony Walsh. I really like Walsh as a heel because he goes out of his way not to do anything fancy that might solicit an accidental cheer until the final few minutes when he needs more than cheating to secure the match in his favor. But by then, the crowd hates him enough that they aren't popping for the athletically impressive stuff he does. He leaves most of the flash to Kaye. Pretty cool how Walsh sneaks in the punches and jabs, both bending and outright breaking the rules, but I also enjoy how he sets up his own embarrassment spots like the alternating stomp between Walsh's back/ribs and hands.

I think Shawn has actual value as a performer. That's the difference. I don't want to do a podcast about a guy I can't say very much nice about.

Over/under on number of minutes after the meeting is over before CM Punk tweets something cryptic and sarcastic about it?

I'm incapable.

I want to see the ROH match before voting. Is it online?

No thanks. :/

No. But he gets $5 million a year for ten total appearances (TV & PPV combined), and he was enough of a difference maker on PPV to justify it. The gravy train may be close to running dry not just for Brock, but for a few of the older part-timers. We'll see.

6/3/89 episode of WCW

With all of these changes, is Brock Lesnar still worth his high price tag?

Weird. It's hidden from view and I don't have permission to view the folder. I'll contact someone over there about it.

Is the lucha set not being discussed at all at DVDVR? Or am I just not looking in the right place? I don't see an 80s folder.

Exactly. He never did. He was only responding to this ridiculous post. Nothing more. That got turned into him defending Prince Devitt as a worker, which was never his intent.

I think "unedited" is going to have some caveats. I can't see them airing Bret's profanity-laced promo going into Wrestlemania XIII without any censoring, or some of the nip slips of the divas that have happened on pay-per-view.