Loss
Admins
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Loss
-
Do you think he specifically had short runs for that reason, and that it was a deliberate decision? Or do you think it was coincidence, and that he just enjoyed taking time off, and took gigs when he felt like it or wanted to earn a little money? I think it has a trickle down effect, because it's a lot easier to put together a thoughtful performance with creative spots and bigger bumps when there's more time to think about things in advance, and to heal any nagging injuries. Terry Funk is unique in the world of wrestling, because he's the only part-timer eligible for full-time benefits, in this case being GOAT consideration. -
I guess my response to that is that we don't know if he would have gotten stale or not. He was never tested by a 3-5 year main event run without time off where he worked in front of the same crowd, unless it happened in All Japan. I'd be interested in seeing if there were lots of skipped tours in the early 80s.
-
All of that is well and good, but if the goal was not to have a good match, was the goal to have a bad match? Was the goal to bore the crowd? Was it just to fill time? Was there not some type of point to their matches? What was the goal of an undercard WWF match during this time period? I just can't buy that they weren't allowed to have good matches. There were good undercard matches in 80s WWF. Were they bucking the system? I understand not upstaging the main event, but I think it's possible to do that without going through the motions, and we've seen it happen before. And I guess my ultimate point would be that Bret was a guy who delivered when he needed to deliver, and didn't deliver when he didn't need to deliver. It's hard to see a case for great in that. To me, the greats should surpass expectations and surprise you from time to time. And if this is the reality of Bret Hart's career -- that he worked in a promotion where he wasn't allowed to go all out -- then it is laughable to suggest that his career is comparable to that of Ric Flair, even if one can point to details in his act that are better. And it's also a waste of time to even bother watching old WWF matches now because they have no value. If the wrestlers involved took no pride in what they were doing and would have been ostracized if they did, so why do we care about going through old house show matches? What value does it serve?
-
-
If Dusty wasn't facing Flair, and Flair was on the card, Dusty didn't get top billing. He was Flair's top rival for sure, but I don't think it was exactly the same. Starrcade '83-'87 had Flair headlining every year, but Dusty only headlined when facing Flair. Dusty of course did headline plenty of shows against people who weren't Flair ... when Flair wasn't on the card.
-
Listening to this again, I may have conceded the home promotion category for Flair. I still think Lawler probably takes it in the end. But Ric Flair helped Crockett expand in ways that Jarrett didn't. That's not a completely fair point, because Jerry Jarrett was the most conservative promoter in wrestling and wasn't going to take many chances on losing money. But Flair helped Crockett broadcast a supercard through closed circuit television. They built around him as their top star and were able to go national. Even in dying, Turner would not have purchased the company from JCP if Flair wasn't part of the package.
-
-
The Waltman matches he's known for are the Global matches. The PWA matches from 1990 blow those out of the water, as much as I do still like the Global matches.
-
This was awesome, with Toyota showing a real mean streak and going after Hokuto's arm like a woman possessed, even ripping the tape off of it. Hokuto tries a comeback, but can't really pull off any moves. Slipping when trying the superplex was great. I have never seen a Toyota performance anything like this, and Hokuto delivers some top-notch selling to match. I think this is their best singles match together. It isn't worked as "big" as their other matches, but that's what makes it work. Sometimes, the simplest, most straightforward approach is the best path ahead. Really compelling stuff and the first MOTYC to blossom from '91. Toyota has this look on her face after the match where she's trying to act casual, but also seems a little guilty and surprised by what she just did, which seals this.
-
-
-
-
-
Yeah, I don't know what was wrong with me the first time around. Savage wasn't promising interference. He was promising to be champion before the Rumble. Also, all of the focus in these segments being on the Iraqi people being evil instead of their leader being evil shows how little the WWF understood global affairs at the time.
-
Not much I'd say differently on this one this time around. I do think this is definitely AJW's version of the Kawada/Kobashi match from the year before, with the difference being that Takahashi wasn't really a new star like Kyoko was. But in terms of how the match is worked and being a mixture of good ideas, overreach and all-over-the-place structure, it's a good comparison.
-
There is nothing wrong with saying, "I don't know. You should email Dave Meltzer. Here is his email address. Let me know what he says and I'll post it on the blog." Ridiculous.
-
Re-watching this, I also like this one better than I did the first time around. Those who aren't fond of the Joshi style will find things to be annoyed about here, mainly because they build to some good things that either don't go anywhere, or are hampered by the way the style works. This match was at its best when it was more deliberate, and it's cool that Hokuto clearly has that as a strategy. It just makes the first few minutes of go-go-go stand out like a sore thumb because it really doesn't fit the rest of the match. This is still a very good match that I liked in a lot of ways, but it's more of a peak within the style than it is something that looks good compared to similar matches in other promotions.
-
There's so much great wrestling out there - so much of it rarely discussed or never really broken down - that it honestly baffles me that we spend so much time talking about 80s WWF tag teams.
-
-
I just rewatched this after giving myself a little space from the 1990 Yearbook. It was much better this time. Great match, and I agree with Will and Phil about the finish being so abrupt, and cutting short whatever momentum they were building. It wasn't so much the fast count nature of it, it was that it seemed to happen in the middle of an arc they were building to the "real" finish. This was gritty and messy, taking place in a torn up ring, with both guys swinging the chain like they are Gogo Yubari. Really awesome brawl, and probably the best start we've had yet for a yearbook.
-
I know it was in the WON that Luger had cold feet about doing a clean job after some vets got in his ear, which is why they did it. Years later, in a post on Classics, Dave confirmed that Flair did that so Luger would have something from the match. It could be that some combination of both are true - that Flair knew people were in Luger's ear and did that for him so he would feel better about the finish. I'm not sure.
-
Flair very well may have come up with that finish himself, or someone other than George Scott could have suggested it to Flair for him to decide to do. It could have even been something that was called as an audible. Things like that happened then. For example, Flair was supposed to beat Luger completely clean at Starrcade '88 and put his feet on the ropes anyway so Luger would have an out.
-
I have no problem starting the nomination threads to make the case for people, as long as we let it play out for a few years before holding a vote. We can use The Microscope folder for that purpose.
-
I also wanted to add that I thought Matt Peddycord was fantastic as a guest and I hope you'll have him on again. Does he post here?
-
Listening to the show now. At this point, I don't believe it was known Windham was on the way out. Within the month, it was clear he was leaving, so they bumped Hayes up to take his spot. I'm pretty sure there was talk of Flair and Windham feuding after Flair turned face. I think the idea was even tossed around of Windham beating Steamboat to take the title, followed by babyface Flair chasing Windham.