Loss

Perhaps because they need to be filmed at a precise moment in time? I'm not saying it's legit, but a script of RAW did leak a few years back that looked remarkably similar. However, it did contain announcer talking points for each match.

The ring is shaped like a square, but if you notice, most action takes place within an imaginary circle in the middle of the ring, or at least it has traditionally. If you think about how wrestlers usually lock up (even though it's been years since I've seen a really good lock-up) and where most of the action took place, wrestlers tended to circle each other before locking up.

The Naylor interview is awesome so far. I don't always agree with all of his tastes, but hearing him talk does make me long for the days when talking about wrestling online was far more idealistic than it is now. I think this place is better than most, but for example, in the thread on the WWE Network, people are dropping statistics and discussing whether they think it will be a success or failure, but there's been very little talk of if people are excited to access more footage, any particular footage they hope WWE makes available, if they personally will be signing up, etc. Anyway, listening to Rob Naylor talk is a reminder that wrestling really is awesome and that I do prefer talk about personal enjoyment more than any other type of pro wrestling talk.

Right, which is why I think this whole idea that you can't dare criticize WWE or speak negatively if you expect to have a job with them in the future is overblown paranoia. If they see money in you, it will be forgotten time and time again.

I meant shoots from RF Video or Highspots.

On the flip side, has anyone ever been fired or blacklisted over something they said in a shoot interview?

Wow ... so many mistakes in that article.

Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 04/23/81) I am tired of this match-up, but I still really liked this match as a bombfest by their standards. I feel like I'm not saying enough about some of these matches, but a lot of them leave me indifferent.

Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW 04/23/81) This isn't really bad. It's not really special, but it's not really bad. Tiger Mask goes over in straightforward match in a relatively short match where he gets to show off some of his arsenal. A few messy spots, but nothing that takes away from the match that much. This is just kind of empty.

Jerry Lawler vs Terry Funk (Memphis 04/06/81) The famous empty arena match. It's really hard to rate this as a wrestling match. As an overall presentation, including Funk's post-match agony and Lance Russell's brilliant handling of all of this, it's a five-star presentation. There's not much of a wrestling match here, but I don't mean that as an insult. I just see this more as a piece of booking genius that sadly didn't draw like expected. I do think this is something everyone who considers themselves a wrestling fan should see at least once.

Jerry Lawler vs Dory Funk Jr. (Memphis 03/30/81) I loved this. One of the better Dory matches I've seen, with him working holds really well and showing decent aggression. Lawler sells his stuff really well, and when he finally gets his comeback, it's glorious. My only problem with this is that I thought this was too one-sided in the early stages. From the point where Lawler made his first comeback and they started going a little more back and forth, I really enjoyed this quite a bit. Started on the slow side, but it turned into a great match. I like this version of Dory.

Higo Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde, Herodes & Goro Tsurumi (IWE 03/26/81) I enjoyed this as a match with a lot of creative spots and better lucha-influenced mat wrestling than I'm likely to find anywhere else in 1981. The hard hitting Japanese guys made a nice contrast to the smooth matwork and highspots of the lucha guys. Hamaguchi's power spots in particular look good as a styles clash to some of the standard lucha spots. The subtle twist on the classic lucha fall finish to end the second fall was tremendous. I loved how violent this turned in the final fall too. Really great.

Yes, Will is waiting on me. I have a newborn baby and need to make sense of my life. I want to do one soon, but I have no idea how I'm going to manage three uninterrupted hours or so. I'll find a way though.

Looking into it. Sent a note to our admin. There was a server outage for about an hour today, which I'm guessing is the root cause of this.

It's never been right for me in the entire time I've posted on this board. I've gotten PMs about it just recently though. Is this a new issue?

This wasn't the problem at all. Lawler always being around had nothing to do with why they aren't around today. Lawler never stepping aside to help create a new star hurt Memphis bad. It didn't at all. The territory days were dead and that's what eventually killed Memphis. Costs can only be cut so deep.

Maybe they should consider writing 8 or 10 episode story arcs, like some of the bigger hit shows on network TV are doing these days.

I think the answer is in creating more stars, and I don't mean Punk-level or Bryan-level stars. They need an ensemble of Cena-level stars. I realize that's easier said than done. A seasonal rotation wouldn't be the worst idea at this point either. 52 weeks of first run content is a pretty high standard.

Liger. Dustin is a great worker who has kept a great tradition alive in some ways, but Liger was the kingpin of his era and is the greatest wrestler of all time in his weight class. There aren't ten wrestlers in history better than Liger. Bret is a better wrestler and the better and the more creative and resourceful overall performer as well, although at this point Cena's longevity probably means he has more high quality output. But as much as I love Cena, I can't see him working the mat smoothly or ever being referred to as a great technical wrestler. Bret was more versatile. I do think there is an argument for Cena as being more consistent and working harder, but things like execution and athletic ability do still matter to me. I think Bret is better in the context of wrestling being presented as sport. Joe. Bigelow was overrated because of his agility for his size, but I never thought his in-ring instincts (grasp of psychology, ability to work a crowd and play a strong babyface or heel) were anything special. Bigelow was never not over, but he was also never more over than the majority of his peers where it was noticeable and he was a standout. He was more a great athlete than he was a great worker.

The first wrestler to make an issue of royalty payments as it relates to the WWE network will be really interesting to follow. Maybe in the long run, they'll find that paying royalties based on access stats will make sense, because it will ensure that every wrestler and their mother plugs the on-demand feature.

I think this has pretty much applied to RAW for the past 15 years. They are booking for the same group of fans in an attempt to lure them back to the same place each week, only that group is a national audience instead of a regional one.

Does this have any impact on how WWE promotes house shows? Should it? Will it? I'm trying to think about every aspect of WWE business and how the network launching will impact it.

I called this earlier in the thread, but I'm glad to see Dave is taking on the issue. It's something that I think is getting overlooked in all the business talk, both in this thread and elsewhere. Wrestling is supposed to be fun to watch, and I don't see the idea that business stays stable no matter what creative decisions are made as a good thing. Still, I feel like 90% of what we get is Vince's moral vision anyway, so this may not be terribly different. The biggest difference may be that there won't even be the tease of a megapush when someone like CM Punk or Daniel Bryan accidentally gets over. The same outside pressure should still be there to deliver good ratings though, so maybe I'm wrong. But again, Hall of Fame arguments for guys who peak in the post-network era will be interesting because there will be very few objective metrics we can use to prove anyone's worth.

Someone doing a completist take on RAW, Smackdown and pay-per-views from this board and starting their own website to publish them, doing a completely different format from the Scott Keith rant, would go a long way in making that guy obsolete. Just saying.

If the rumors are true, they are providing a great service for a fair price, and I will be signing up. I know downloading is what it is, but I think the network as it is rumored is a great value for hardcore fans, especially with the on-demand feature.