Loss

How? The best way to handle it is to do nothing at all. WWE created their own problem here. I could seriously come up with warnings for everyone. There are lots of bad people in wrestling, but Benoit is the only one who murdered his son. Do you really not see the problem? Are there really going to be critics if the WWE just put up the matches and ran them as if it's business as usual? El-P made a good point. They have other unsavory characters they will most likely show footage of. Should they bring attention to each and every one of their misdeed, grave or minor? Yes, there are going to be critics if they go about business as usual. "I guess they don't care anymore", "Look at them profiting from a murderer", etc. Benoit's offenses are far worse than anyone else's in wrestling. Comparing murdering your son to the other scummy things people in wrestling have done is downplaying the severity of what he did.

This frustrates me on WWE's behalf. There is no way they can handle this that people don't criticize. This thread is proof of that.

I noticed Flair/Jumbo wasn't in your top 20. What were your thoughts on that match? Just curious.

Remember that Brian Lee worked ECW.

From Bash at the Beach '94: Tony: As they've been saying, wrestling is cool again. Bobby: Watch WCW put a hold on you!

Much easier and more enjoyable for sure. I've gone through phases and that's what works for me now because I watch so much wrestling in bulk. I used to watch matches more in isolation and would write super long reviews, and I'm still motivated to do that occasionally, but not as a rule. There are times when a full breakdown is appropriate, but I don't think it's always necessary. Just my opinion. Others may see it differently.

Vince still believes in faces and heels. I know what he says, but I don't buy it. It reeks of something he hasn't really thought through, as far as the consequences and impact of fully embracing that vision.

Rankings for 1981, to be revised as additional sets are released: #1 - Andre the Giant vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/23/81) ****1/2 #2 - Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 10/09/81) ****1/4 #3 - Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (Memphis 03/23/81) ****1/4 #4 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Isamu Teranishi (NJPW 10/08/81) **** #5 - Bill Dundee, Steve Keirn, Rick & Robert Gibson vs Dream Machine, Nightmare I & The Heartbreakers (Memphis 07/25/81) **** #6 - Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis 09/04/81) **** #7 - Dory & Terry Funk vs Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka (AJPW 12/13/81) **** #8 - Jerry Lawler vs Dory Funk Jr. (Memphis 03/30/81) ***3/4 #9 - Higo Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde, Herodes & Goro Tsurumi (IWE 03/26/81) ***3/4 #10 - Bill Dundee & Tommy Rich vs Austin Idol & Dutch Mantell (Memphis 03/12/81) ***3/4 #11 - Nick Bockwinkel vs Billy Robinson (AWA 12/25/81) ***3/4 #12 - Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Pete Roberts & El Solitario (NJPW 09/04/81) ***1/2 #13 - Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Andre the Giant & Rene Goulet (NJPW 12/10/81) ***1/2 #14 - Bill Dundee & Dream Machine vs Kevin Sullivan & Wayne Farris (Memphis 05/02/81) ***1/2 #15 - Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (Memphis 04/06/81) ***1/2 #16 - Kevin Sullivan vs Dutch Mantell (Memphis 05/09/81) ***1/2 #17 - Bill Dundee vs Wayne Farris & Tojo Yamamoto (Memphis 03/07/81) ***1/2 #18 - Adrian Adonis vs Jim Brunzell (AWA 06/28/81) ***1/2 #19 - Bob Roop vs Mike George (Mid South 12/16/81) ***1/2 #20 - Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (NJPW 11/06/81) ***1/4 #21 - Stan Lane vs George Takano (NJPW 07/24/81) ***1/4 #22 - Ricky Steamboat vs Jimmy Snuka (AJPW 06/03/81) ***1/4 #23 - Mil Mascaras vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW August 1981) ***1/4 #24 - Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs Ricky Steamboat & Chavo Guerrero (AJPW 09/06/81) ***1/4 #25 - Bruiser Brody vs Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 10/09/81) *** #26 - Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis 08/01/81) *** #27 - Jerry Lawler vs Crusher Blackwell (Memphis 05/04/81) *** #28 - Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 04/23/81) *** #29 - Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs Negro Navarro & El Signo (NJPW 10/30/81) #30 - Stan Lane & Koko Ware vs Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton (Memphis October 1981) #31 - Atsushi Onita, Masa Fuchi & Tojo Yamamoto vs Rick & Robert Gibson & Roy Rogers (Memphis 09/05/81) #32 - Tiger Mask vs El Canek (NJPW 12/08/81) #33 - Nick Bockwinkel vs Jim Brunzell (AWA 06/11/81) #34 - Dory & Terry Funk vs Umanoseke Ueda & Buck Robley (AJPW 10/06/81) #35 - Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW 04/23/81) #36 - Bill Dundee & Dream Machine vs Dutch Mantell & Wayne Ferris (Memphis 03/14/81) #37 - Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura vs Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell (AWA 03/22/81) #38 - Big John Studd & Crusher Blackwell vs High Flyers (AWA 02/20/81) #39 - Nick Bockwinkel vs Pat O'Connor (AWA 03/22/81) #40 - Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura vs Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell (AWA 03/01/81) #41 - Andre the Giant & Cien Caras vs Alfonso Dantes, Herodes & Sangre Chicana (UWA 1981) #42 - Billy Robinson vs Crusher Blackwell (AWA 12/03/81)

I watched this again. A lot of what I said I still think is true - it's faster paced and more action packed than most of what surrounds it in 1981. That said, the execution has a lot of problems and I somehow missed that on the first viewing. I wouldn't go as far as to agree with the backyarder description, but I do think Steamboat was uncharacteristically sloppy and Snuka was embarrassing at times and okay at times. Where I don't think the match is getting enough credit is in creating the great dramatic blood soaked visuals and winning over the crowd through Steamboat's selling. But I do get a lot of the criticisms of this otherwise. (I know it's New Years Eve and I should be out, but I have a newborn and we have five inches of snow in Chicago, so it's just another night in our house.)

Nick Bockwinkel vs Billy Robinson (AWA 12/25/81) If only this were an annual December tradition all the way through the 80s and not just at the beginning of the decade. I thought this was an excellent match - not quite up to par with their 1980 mat classic, but a very good match in its own right with some focused shoulder work from Bockwinkel and Robinson looking really good and doing some clever spots. The finish was well executed, even if I wasn’t a fan of the booking of it.

Use this thread to recommend any matches you've watched that happen in calendar year 2014 that you enjoyed and think others may like. I'll use this post to edit a master list as you add things to the thread. This is not just a thread to dump YouTube links. Please include a few comments about what you are watching to explain what others may like about it. If it happens in 2014, it can go here, regardless of the promotion or country in which it takes place. WWE Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs Luke Harper & Eric Rowan (WWE Smackdown 01/03/14) NJPW Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8 01/04/14) WWC Los Matadores vs Thunder & Lightning (WWC 01/05/14)

Bob Roop vs Mike George (Mid South 12/16/81) Mid South! Nice short match between two pros with some good amateur rides and counter moves. Nasty in spots - I love the eye rake on the ropes from Roop to turn the tide and George throws some stiff looking punches and does an eye rake on the ropes of his own when he makes his comeback. Roop ends up working over George’s arm, who attempts a one-man comeback before missing a shoulderblock into the turnbuckle, which secures the win for Roop. I think this match was a little underplayed by people the first time because they were ready to get to the “glory years” of 1984-1986, but this is an excellent studio match.

Dory & Terry Funk vs Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka (AJPW 12/13/81) Here we go! Pretty famous match. “Hansen? Stan Hansen?” One of my favorite calls ever. Super match that really picks up after Hansen takes Terry out with the lariat. Dory gives one of his better performances here, both in working over Snuka’s knee out of desperation because he has no idea what else to do to keep the heels at bay, and as the underdog fighting solo after Terry is taken out of commission. Hansen’s profanity laced post-match promo is of course tremendous.

Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Andre the Giant & Rene Goulet (NJPW 12/10/81) Andre continues to impress. There are so many fun spots that they are able to do around a guy so big. Inoki and Fujinami work as a team to try to take this guy down and just can’t do it. I love Inoki and Fujinami working together to lift Andre. That was a hell of a bump for a guy Andre’s size. Yeah, I want to see a lot more of this guy working Japan, because this was a really fun match.

Tiger Mask vs El Canek (NJPW 12/08/81) The best thing about the Tiger Mask matches so far is getting to see more of guys who intrigue me, but for whom footage is limited. El Canek looks excellent in this. The crowd goes crazy for Tiger Mask, but he blows so many moves and is so sloppy. People I trust said this about the guy but I was worried it was just group think gone amuck until I saw this for myself. Didn’t care much for this match, but as I said, I was glad to see El Canek.

Billy Robinson vs Crusher Blackwell (AWA 12/03/81) Steamboat vs Snuka? Really? This is the worst match I’ve seen on an 80s set. For the first half of this, they are laying on the mat doing nothing while a dead crowd sits in silence unless they are doing a boring chant. When they get up, this picks up a little bit but it’s nothing special at all. Blackwell’s dropkick is impressive and I sort of like Robinson’s attempts to do leg holds when he can’t get Blackwell in the desired position because of his body type, but that’s not remotely enough to make this match any good.

Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (NJPW 11/06/81) I thought this was a pretty good match. This is the match that really shows that Hamada totally outclassed Sayama as a worker at this point. It’s more of a good display of what Hamada can do than it is a great match (even though the last few minutes are awesome), but I really enjoyed this.

Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs Negro Navarro & El Signo (NJPW 10/30/81) Really cool to get a glimpse of the luchadores at this point. They look great in this. There are a lot of great sequences, including a few lightning fast counters from Tiger Mask. But if Tiger Mask was a musician, in this match he'd just be a guy playing around with the effects in the stereo, not a guy using them to produce a good song. Things like the quick roll from his back to his feet are overdone in a weird way and don't really add anything to the match, even if they pop the crowd. Kimura isn't amazing in this or anything, but he's more focused on the task at hand. That's not really a huge Sayama criticism, as he was over because of the crazy stuff he did, and it made sense to experiment with certain things to figure out how to maximize that. But it results in some weird matches, because he's using his matches as a playground to try out highspots he's thought of instead of working a match.

Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 10/09/81) People can say what they want about Flair’s act, but looking at him in the context of what was surrounding him less than a month into his first run as NWA World Champion, he comes across as completely fresh and as the best guy who could possibly be in the role at this point. His strengths are on display in a big way here. Aside from Fujinami, no one else was wrestling matches that were this intense and athletic and cut at such a fast pace around this time, at least not in the other groups that have had 80s sets with representation in 1981. I love the initial spot with Jumbo almost pulling a fast one on Flair and Flair bailing outside until he collects himself. Jumbo controls with the headlock before Flair takes over with this nice looking crossface/facelock thing. Eventually, Jumbo does some nice knee work (check out all of that figure four build) and wins the first fall, which puts Flair on the defensive going into the second fall. When Flair targets Jumbo’s leg, Jumbo bails out of the ring, but Flair brings him back in with a great vertical suplex and elbow drop and is now firmly in control. It takes a couple of attempts as Jumbo is still very much in the fight, but Flair finally locks in a figure four, which Jumbo sells like death. The crowd chants for Jumbo to rally a comeback, but it’s not enough to turn the tide, as Flair takes the second fall. Cool dynamic at play where at the end of the first fall, the match looked like Jumbo’s match to win, and now it looks like Flair survived his best and has got this. Jumbo hobbles around to start the third fall and Flair is relentless, crawling after him on the mat in an attempt to catch him off balance and finally cornering him to toss him outside the ring and beat the shit out of him. He then brings him back in and punches him in the face repeatedly until Jumbo is bleeding. But Jumbo finally stages his long-awaited comeback and appears to have Flair beaten for a few minutes until he goes for a high knee, only for Flair to duck and Jumbo to hit the top turnbuckle knee first. The earlier work had an impact, as he’s an easy pinfall win for Flair to retain his title. Great match. It flew by and was definitely one of the best of the year. My only issue with this is that even at over 30 minutes, the match felt a little bit rushed. They really did cram a lot in here, but the work was so good that it’s hard to fault them too much for that. Still, I think they could have easily filled in another 20 minutes just by milking everything they did anyway for maximum effect. I think this was every bit as sophisticated as something like Robinson vs Bockwinkel, with the key difference being that they did a lot less “stuff”, which made what they did carry more weight. The idea of Flair as this weak champion who makes himself look weak and ineffective in his big title defenses is hogwash. He was an asskicker in this one, and he had a game opponent but was clearly the better man on this night.

Bruiser Brody vs Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 10/09/81) I kept waiting for an employee to break up this cafeteria fight between mental ward residents. Dory just wanted to hand out flowers, but this Frank fellow kept attacking him. Anyway, Brody beat the shit out of Dory and in Dory’s comeback, he takes Brody outside to give him a snapmare on the floor before bringing him back in to apply the spinning toehold. That’ll show him! Kidding aside, this isn’t a bad brawl at all and I sort of enjoyed the superficial aspects of it at least, between the double juicing and the hot crowd. This is far more emotion and passion than I’m used to seeing from Dory Funk. And he’s a guy I need to see more of although I’m well aware of the criticisms, but I thought Brody looked perfectly good as a madman brawler in this.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Isamu Teranishi (NJPW 10/08/81) Not as long and sprawling as some of Fujinami’s mat classics from 1980, but a great 10-12 minute match that would fit right in on a BattlARTS card. A really violent, high octane match that doesn’t overstay its welcome. These two work really stiff and have some outstanding matwork, hard strikes and a great flair for the dramatic. I’ve always liked Teranishi, and Fujinami is the best guy in the world at this point. Really feels like the godfather of a lot of the fun short matches in G1 Climax tournaments in the 90s. Kind of a holy shit combo of moves from Fujinami for the finish too. What a talent!

Here's what I can't figure out. Is WWE burying Daniel Bryan? Or is WWE "burying" Daniel Bryan, because they've figured out that the more they beat him, the more he gets over? I think they've tapped into something where fans think supporting him is being rebellious against the company, and I can't figure out if that's promotional incompetence or if it's by design.

Dory & Terry Funk vs Umanoseke Ueda & Buck Robley (AJPW 10/06/81) Based on Ueda’s entrance and some of the standoffs that kept getting broken up, this seemed to be building to the roof finally blowing off and an out of control brawl breaking out. But when the brawling finally happened, it was pretty underwhelming. Dory is so freakin’ weird. The spot where he blocked the impact of the Irish whip to the turnbuckle didn’t really fit well with where the match was at that point in time. Not really a match that made an impact on me at all.

Stan Lane & Koko Ware vs Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton (Memphis October 1981) 2/3 falls. No DQ, but it’s the 80s, so the rules are still enforced and they don’t make a big deal of that. This was the Bret/Owen Ironman match of 1980s tags — lots of good work, but lots of stalling and a 20 minute match that was just stretched out to 30+ to the detriment of the match. I don’t think 2/3 falls works really well in a Southern tag either because it doesn’t complement the traditional tag formula very well. Memphis probably had more top shelf young talent than any territory at this point though, and this match manages to showcase that really well. Pretty cool that these guys worked this long and produced a sound match without a vet in the ring to direct traffic.

Andre the Giant vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/23/81) Outstanding match! It works as a spectacle obviously, based on the crowd heat and the cool factor of seeing these two duke it out, but it also works as a smart wrestling match. I really dug all of the arm work and Andre’s teases of big moves, some of which were paid off and some weren’t. Hansen sells Andre’s offense like death. They cut an impressive pace and Andre is an awesome heel, better at goading the crowd than any Americans I’ve seen work Japan in 1980-1981. Love the bodyslam! It’s so cool to see Hansen working as an underdog babyface, because that’s not a dynamic we encounter very often. The restart was also really effective in this setting and I thought it added a lot to the match. Andre’s stiff shots and big bumps got a pop out of me. Andre has always seemed like a sacred cow that people are afraid to look at critically who I perceived as having a reputation he didn’t deserve, and I’ve never been a huge fan because I didn’t think much of a guy who could barely move in the late 80s being called “great”, especially when factoring in stories like working loaded, taking a dump on a guy in the ring, not always showing up to work and stiffing guys unnecessarily. But that’s all crap and this match helped me get over myself— he won me over here in a big way. And that’s to take nothing away from Hansen, whose selling and comeback teases were as good as just about any I’ve ever seen in wrestling. I didn’t know Hansen could be Ricky Morton! Every superheavyweight in wrestling should study this match. My MOTY right now.