NintendoLogic

Making false filings with the SEC is a federal offense, so I'm pretty sure they're reliable.

In the NFL, every scoring play is reviewed. Using that logic, every pin should also be reviewed.

I'd go with MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana for lucha and Choshu/Fujiwara for New Japan. That is, unless you're afraid you'll burn the crowd out with all the bloodbaths.

I would swap out the 1/99 Misawa/Kawada match for 7/24/95. Not only is it the second-best Misawa/Kawada Triple Crown match, I'm pretty sure it's the shortest. The only real required backstory is Misawa's broken orbital bone. I would also recommend Hansen/Kawada from 2/28/93. I remember thinking a while back that it might be the perfect match. It's not the greatest match of all time, but it could be the one with the most universal appeal. Two guys beating the crap out of each other is something just about anyone can get into, but it also has enough going on under the surface that it isn't just mindless clubbering.

Guys repeatedly getting away with cheating never really made sense from a kayfabe standpoint, but it's even worse now that just about every sport has instant replay. It makes wrestling look behind the times.

It looked to me like there were two separate instances where Zbyszko ended up in the match without tagging in. It wasn't an attempt to get heat by coming in illegally, they just lost track of who the legal man was. Still a great match that I prefer to any MX tag. I was also amused by Jim Ross completely no-selling Tony Schiavone's attempts at analysis.

Sure, Hero could rub someone the wrong way and get jobbed to oblivion. By the same token, he could get run over by a bus. Or NXT Arena could get hit by a meteor. Why are we discussing worst-case scenarios as if they're highly likely to occur? Look at the guys mentioned in the OP. WWE's track record with high-profile indy talent is actually pretty good. The main exception is Low Ki, and again, a big part of that was him being a gigantic shithead. Of course, Joe had no way of knowing all this at the time. But saying that signing with TNA was the smart move in retrospect is pretty ludicrous, I think.

Every single person who signed a developmental contract isn't the proper comparison because not all developmental talent is created equal. It's like those articles that talk about new Ph.Ds trying to obtain tenure-track positions that make it seem like someone with a Ph.D from Princeton has the same prospects as someone with one from the University of BFE. There's plenty of things you could say about WWE, but the cream usually rises to the top eventually, as Punk and Danielson are currently showing. Even Christian, who spurned WWE to sign with TNA, received a respectable push when he returned. And bombing in WWE isn't a death sentence if you're good enough. Low Ki hasn't exactly been scrambling for bookings despite being a massive pain in the ass to work with.

All that may be true from an intellectual standpoint, but watching wrestling isn't a purely intellectual exercise. Sometimes when you put two guys in the ring together, fans have a visceral reaction of "I'm sorry, I just can't buy into this" no matter how good the booking is.

I have no problem buying Punk as an opponent for Lesnar, but I'm not going to tell someone who can't that they're wrong. Suspension of disbelief isn't something you can just turn on at will like a light switch. Sure, you have to be willing to buy what the promotion is selling, but the promotion can't just tell people to shut up and enjoy it. They have to present something that fans can buy into. With that said, I don't think it'll be an issue.

It's true that we have rather divergent tastes. But if someone is really high on a particular match or wrestler, I'll at least give it a shot. The main matches I saw were the Yoshihito Sasaki match and the Michael Elgin match. I also saw the Kevin Steen match, but that was too short to really go anywhere. Based on those matches, I think I have a decent idea of how the Callihan formula works. Also, his selling comes across to me as schizophrenic. Like, he'll sell a chop to the chest like he's been shot and then kick out of a burning hammer at one. I don't think he's completely wretched, but he probably needs some time in WWE developmental to smooth out his rough edges. Moving on, I'm curious as to whether you've had a chance to check out the Okada/Suzuki IWGP match. It wasn't as psychologically tight as Okada/Tanahashi, but Suzuki's arm work was more technically high-end, and his personality and expressiveness add a lot to his matches.

We all talk about Southern-style tags, but I find the term somewhat problematic. For one thing, it isn't always precisely defined. It sometimes seems like any match where someone is put in peril is classified as Southern, which is surely too broad. Also, the qualifier "Southern-style" implies that there are other styles of tag team match, but they aren't really talked about or even named. So what else is there? Well, after doing quite a bit of viewing, I've decided that All Japan tags constitute a distinct style separate from Southern tags. I'm thinking mainly of the big 90s tags like 6/9/95 and 12/6/96, but the basic elements can be seen at least as far back as Jumbo/Tenryu vs. Choshu/Yatsu. For the most part, the two styles are pretty similar. The way I see it, there are two key differences. 1. Outside action. In Southern tags, rules against interference are taken seriously. Things like double-teams mostly occur briefly after tags or while the referee is distracted, and it's rare to see someone run in to break up a pinfall attempt more than a couple times. All Japan is more of a free-for-all. Guys running in at will to break up pins and holds, lengthy and elaborate double-team sequences, the two illegal guys going at it on the outside, all four guys in the ring at the same time, pretty much anything goes. 2. Hot tags. Much of the drama in Southern tags comes from the FIP making repeated attempts to tag out or otherwise gain momentum and getting cut off. In All Japan, on the other hand, almost all tag attempts are successful. If someone tries to make a tag and fails, it's usually because his partner got taken out. Of course, not every match can be neatly slotted into one of these two categories. It's a continuum, not a dichotomy. Plus, there are even more ways to structure a tag match. I'll let someone more well-versed in lucha than myself outline the conventions of their tag and trios matches. I'm sure joshi tags are a distinct style as well. Feel free to name any other styles you can think of and compare and contrast.

Well, I hate like 90% of WWE tag matches. So there you go.

I don't know if there are too many things more difficult than being a standout performer in WWE's cookie-cutter tag environment. To do so, you have to be both an outstanding FIP and and outstanding hot tag.

Dolph's bumping can be easily retooled. He's worked face in a few matches over the past year or so, and his bumping and selling were on point. And his look is only an issue if it prevents people from getting behind him. He gets cheered everywhere he goes, so I don't think that's a problem.

How so?

Maybe, but I guarantee you they thought he was way better than Neely and Harris.

Holy fuck. I can't decide if I want to lock the thread or see more genius Harley pics. I am still amped to see Slayer with Harley on drums. There's an opening at guitar, so that might be a better fit.

The only way you could think that Joe would have fared similarly to Bam Neely or Chris Harris in WWE is if you believe that working ability is completely irrelevant to the level of one's push. There's a huge difference between "consensus top 10 in the world" and "didn't look out of place against Jeff Jarrett." Sure, Joe would have had to do some slumming in the midcard. But I don't see how that's a dealbreaker if he's content to draw a paycheck in TNA. He's certainly not a headcase like Low Ki.

Dylan's constant pimping of Sami Callihan had me interested in his work, so I decided to check out a few of his matches. Based on what I've seen, I don't see what the big deal is supposed to be. He strikes me as a typical indy weeaboo who does lots of chops and lariats and fighting spirit no-selling. And he gets extra demerits for those thigh-slapping kicks. What should I check out that might change my mind?

I don't buy the argument that Curt was unfairly restrained by the shackles of the WWF. Guys like Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat were far more successful, from both a workrate standpoint and a distinctive/big impression one, while operating under similar constraints. EDIT: I should note that I consider the Bret match at KOTR a top ten match in WWF history.

Speaking of Heyman, Joe would probably benefit a lot from the original ECW if it were still around. He could drop in for a few months, wash off the stench of TNA, get his mojo back, and show up in WWE ready to kick ass.

I thought the match where Lawler won the AWA title was a huge disappointment, and it wasn't just because of Jackie Fargo's involvement. That would seem to lend credence to the notion that Hennig lacked adaptability.

Dan Spivey warrants special mention for rocking so many varieties of mullet. He had a classic mullet as the Golden Boy, a flattop mullet as a member of the Skyscrapers, and a quasi-skullet as Waylon Mercy.

Don't forget Magnum TA. Also, pretty much every 80s blowjob tag team.