NintendoLogic

It's disappointing how much the smaller territories get written off, by Dave especially, for not drawing huge crowds when they didn't have the population bases to do so anyway. Having a successful money making promotion for decades is impressive even if your biggest arena could only hold 3,000-4,000 instead of 10,000. Memorial Coliseum held way more than 4,000. So did Key Arena.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's easier to be a great tag wrestler than a great singles wrestler. As for Roman, what can WWE do if the Shield reunion doesn't get fans behind him? From my perspective, the only arrow left in the quiver is to turn him heel and hope he develops an organic fan following.

I guess I'll throw it out there. Does anybody want to give any matches ******? I don't know if I'd go so far as to award an extra star, but I consider the top five matches on my list of favorites (6/9/95, 6/3/94, 1/20/97, Hokuto/Kandori, Hart/Austin) to be a cut above my other ***** matches.

No need to imagine. Look at WWE's attempt to recreate Final Deletion with the New Day at the Wyatt compound.

I thought Harley looked great in the Funk and Andre matches (I'd personally give the nod to the latter). He's the guy whose stock rose the most in my eyes from the Houston footage.

I'm curious as to everyone's pick as to the earliest all-time great match that transcends eras. Speaking personally, the earliest match I'd unequivocally go to bat for is Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson on 7/24/76. There are a few 60s and 70s matches I'd like to re-explore, though.

It's kind of funny that for all the talk of how in-ring ability is more important than ever to the modern fan, the division built around workrate was treated as a piss break until a promo guy who can't work a lick was made the centerpiece.

The one on the 2007 DVD set took place at MSG on 1/23/89.

Thanks to Shane, future generations are going to wonder what the big deal was about Foley getting thrown off the cell.

I can't think of anyone who has been in multiple high-profile PPV marches with worse strikes than Shane McMahon.

The Singh Brothers continue to be the only redeeming aspect of Jinder Mahal's act.

Does anyone in the women's division have better chemistry than Charlotte and Natalya?

The end of that match felt All Japan-esque with the New Day fighting back valiantly before being overwhelmed by the odds.

Oh, snap.

Is heel heat more important than merch sales?

All Japan has been getting quite a bit of buzz lately, so I've been giving them a look. Based on what admittedly little I've seen, Shuji Ishikawa looks like the best wrestler in the world. He's like Braun Strowman times ten. And he gets bonus points for using Battery by Metallica as his entrance theme.

Since I started posting here, I feel like my tastes have simultaneously broadened and narrowed. There's more stuff I like and appreciate on some level, but less stuff I absolutely love.

I realize that Japan is on a different planet when it comes to this sort of thing, but Muta in HUSTLE impregnating Yinling by blowing mist into her crotch seems worthy of a mention.

New #1 for 2017. All Japan is back. Believe the hype.

Putting Chyna in the non-wrestler category is a rather curious decision. Have Arn and Tully ever been on the ballot as a tag team before? It's probably the closest we'll come to having the Four Horsemen on the ballot, so they should get in.

Sinclair has lawyers and they dwarf WWE.

I think that WWE is more responsible than Meltzer for the current workrate fetish among hardcore fans. It's often said that the style of wrestling you're first exposed to is fixed in your mind as what wrestling "should" look like and other styles will always seem off. Well, if you started watching in the late 90s or early 2000s, you probably got your ideas of what good matches should look like from guys like Angle, Benoit, and Michaels. Modern WWE/NJPW/PWG is basically that style turned up to 11. At the same time, wrestling's decline in mainstream popularity meant there were fewer Lex Luger types getting into the business to make a quick buck. And the ones who did lacked the ability or charisma to present a compelling alternative to the workrate style.

Wasn't Akiyama the booker during NOAH's peak and downfall? Akiyama was. Misawa oversaw everything but Akiyama was the primary booker. I have no clue who did what when it comes to the Matsunaga Brothers. The brothers would switch around the formal titles they held with the company, but Takashi was the brains behind the operation.

Dave recently said that **** is the equivalent of a black belt and anything above that is additional degrees.

How can something be overvalued if more people are willing to pay for it? I'm not thrilled with the modern emphasis on workrate by any means, but the market has spoken.