NintendoLogic

It should come as no surprise that I'm a big fan of the Sharpshooter. I also really like Mariko Yoshida's Spider Twist.

I have to admit that when I saw the thread title, I thought that the poster who goes by the name of Mad Dog had died.

I think OJ's assessment is spot-on. Tanahashi's matches aren't going to have a bunch of cool moments, but they will have a well-structured and satisfying narrative arc. It seems to me that a lot of those who are anti-Tanahashi tend to be more interested in Stuff than in structure, which is where I think a lot of the disconnect comes from.

I will be really sad if Pat doesn't realise the potential of his story. I can't wait to hear Pat's thoughts on all the wink-wink nudge-nudge comments JR made in the broadcast booth.

I just did a search for posts by him and had no problem pulling them up. Dare I reveal the secrets of my arcane knowledge?

This isn't exactly scientific, but I played the name recognition game with a 33-year-old female acquaintance. She knew who Hulk Hogan was, but she had never heard of Molly Ringwald.

I skimmed through Shoemaker's book at Barnes & Noble today. Among other things, I learned that the famous Liger/Pillman match took place at the 1995 edition of Superbrawl and that Sid wrestled as Lord Humongous in Mid-South. Also, the chapter on Crush contains a completely irrelevant side discussion of "geopolitics in wrestling" (anti-American heels, in other words). I don't know if I'm more confused by that or the fact that there was a chapter dedicated to Crush in the first place. EDIT: It looks like most of the chapters on individual wrestlers were lifted virtually verbatim from his Dead Wrestler of the Week columns. So I guess that explains it. Oh, and he thinks that Iron Mike DiBiase is more well-known among wrestling fans than Mitsuharu Misawa.

Yeah, what Diva wouldn't be thrilled to have her body image issues turned into a joke on TV?

It was basically the same match the Shield have every week. Are you saying this like it is a good or bad thing? A little of both, I guess.

I find it interesting that OJ's thoughts on Tanahashi's matches are basically the same as my own. I'm pretty sure that's the first time he and I have seen eye to eye on a wrestler. It's also nice to see some pushback against the argument that Tanahashi/Suzuki was a carry job.

It was basically the same match the Shield have every week.

I've said in the past that WWE should go the 80s AJW route with the women's division and market it toward young girls. Someone like AJ could totally be the centerpiece of that effort.

Aren't monthly PPVs at an inherent disadvantage here? It's a lot harder to present strong matchups three months in a row. Maybe we should include Clashes to even things out.

It begins...

Thanks for the input, everyone. Of the matches mentioned, Finlay/Regal, Kong/Hotta, and Hash/Tenryu from the 98 G1 come closest to what I had in mind. I'd also go with Hash/Yamazaki from the 98 G1 and Ikeda/Otsuka from 4/26/99.

I haven't seen the match in a while, but my recollection is that Martel worked not-so-subtle heel against Jumbo in All Japan. He wasn't cheating and stooging, but Flair didn't really do that in Japan either.

I've decided that I want to compile a list of the best matches centered around the participants beating the holy hell out of each other. I don't mean brawls or deathmatches, I mean straight wrestling matches centered around stiff strikes with stuff like matwork kept to a minimum. Off the top of my head, I'd say that Hansen/Kawada and Vader/Takada would certainly fit the bill. What else? Bonus points for matches without endless strike exchanges because I hate that shit.

I was actually going to bring up Paul Hogan as a comparison. The first Crocodile Dundee movie grossed more than all the Brat Pack films combined, and the second one grossed over $100 million as well (in 1980s dollars, it should be noted). Was Paul Hogan a bigger deal in the culture than Hulk Hogan?

I really don't see the argument for peak Ringwald being more famous than peak Hogan. Yes, movies are a bigger deal in our culture than professional wrestling. But Ringwald was a pretty marginal figure in that medium. Hell, I grew up in the 80s, and I had never heard of her until I was a teenager. Honestly, the soundtracks to her films were a bigger deal than the films themselves.

The way Loss defines it, Hogan is not a pop culture icon. But neither is Molly Ringwald.

I think this is my biggest area of disagreement with Dave on this subject. Being ahead of one's time should be celebrated, not denigrated.

I already covered the second part, you willfully ignored it as you do with any post I make that you dislike. The first part has been covered a multitude of times on this forum as well. Ummmm....OK. I guess I should clarify. You did offer explanations, but I didn't find them entirely convincing. They explain why he wasn't voted in, but I don't think they adequately explain why he wasn't even seen as a serious candidate for the most part. I could go into greater detail, but arguing points with you is like a duel to the death, and I don't have the stomach for that sort of thing. But rest assured that I'm not willfully ignoring you. As to the first part, I get that wrestlers can have agendas. But that's the whole point of having multitudes of voters: to neutralize that factor and allow the wisdom of crowds to prevail. Someone thinking that Kane should have a shot at the HOF because he's a nice guy and doesn't work stiff can get him on the ballot, but it can't keep him there.

To be fair, all the Abdullah/Brody matches I've seen were solid sub-10:00 DCOR brawls. But when you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Monday Night Football.

I had a dream last night that I got into an argument on this board over whether Rob Schneider was a racist. I think that's a sign that I spend too much time here.