JNLister

Couple of interesting clarifications in the latest issue of the Observer (which aren't on the ballot): * The ballot always says you have to have something to offer in all three categories (work, drawing, historical importance) or be so outstanding in one or two that you deserve inclusion. The new issue says: * The new issue clarifies that even though candidates are divided up by region: While that's great/sensible as far as whole career counting, the idea that part of your career counts against you raises a big problem with a system where some guys are considered before their career is over. I'm almost certain that had Caristico been on the ballot in 2010 he would have got in on drawing power alone, so it seems odd that you can reach hall of fame status and then lose it.

Daddy sold out Wembley one time (actually a handful of seats short.) The other two shows did around 70 and 50 percent of capacity.

The Chikara-like ATTACK group in the UK does an annual late October show called GooseBumps with a heavy horror movie influence:

Or he's been told the story on background, meaning he can't publish it (even without attribution) unless he gets somebody else to confirm it, but he can use it to inform his reporting, in this case to print that the reason isn't Cena or Twitter.

You might be interested in an interview I did with Drew a couple of years back for FSM:

It's December 13th 1980 (Walthamstow, taped 26/11/80).

Hope nobody minds a cheeky plug, but I've now added all the YouTube videos I could find to the match listings on itvwrestling.co.uk. They go back to 1970, though as you'd expect, the later years are closer to complete. I should stress that I've simply embedded the videos and they aren't actually hosted on my site -- 99% of them have been uploaded by other people. If anyone spots a video that's been deleted, or one that's not the listed match, please do let me know. I've tried to match them up as best as I could, and can probably now recognise most of the venues at a glance!

They are region locked. Definitely not available in the UK. Don't know if it's blocked in UK only or blocked everywhere but Japan (as happens with CMLL.)

I was always under the assumption the real plan was to be ready and waiting to snatch the TV deals (particularly international) if and when TNA went under, hence having a good few weeks in the can ready to air right away. Turns out I underestimated Jarrett's ability to get back in control!

The Android app's weird. All it actually does once installed is open the NJPW World web page in your default browser (from which you can play clips or cast to Chromecast as normal.) However, you do need to have the app installed on Android devices: if you don't, then trying to play a clip just sends you to the Google Play store listing for the app.

The price rise is because they've ended the channel-specific subs (except for existing subscribers.) So like the annual price, the $30 now covers everything FloSport does. I hope they aren't thinking that's a good justification for the price rise because for some reason I don't see much attraction in paying an extra $10 a month to see marching band.

On the concussions point, a lot of the recent research/what we know now wasn't so much "blows to the head are bad" -- which is kind of obvious -- but rather that suffering a second concussion while you are still recovering from a previous one significantly magnifies the chances of the damage being more serious or permanent. That's particularly relevant to pro wrestling where the schedule and the nature of repeating spots/routines means that if you suffered a concussion from a particular spot (table match bumps in Chris Nowinski's case), there's a good chance you'd suffer a repeat one within a few days.

There's surely only been one Disco ladder match:

Flair-Michaels in 1991 was likely too early for Michaels, while Flair-Michaels in 2008 was clearly too late for Flair. In theory there might have been a sweet spot between, but the matches they had in 2003 were disappointing, so it may just be they didn't click or contrast right.

I kind of assume the Rockers-Rougeaus 60 minute matches are majorly padded with stalling and comedy spots, but that kind of makes me want to see them more.

Might not be possible if Vince feels he has to score a "win", but it would be best all round to negotiate a deal where Ross and Ranallo get releases from their AXS/WWE jobs respectively and then switch roles.

Had a similar story when I interviewed British wrestler Jackie Turpin:

In case you didn't know, Sledgehammer is Bate's usual music on shows with less concern about rights issues. They didn't do a bad job all weekend picking/making generic music that captured the tone of the wrestler's "real" music.

Almost as funny as seeing all the people lose their shit on Twitter over Dave's opinion. Brings a new meaning to "special snowflake".

This is much appreciated. I'm (very very slowly) adding YouTube links to the listings at ITVWrestling.co.uk, so this will be a big help. 87 and 88 are already done.

I don't get why they are having technical problems (eg audio not in sync if Chrome's full screen) and then explaining them away as teething troubles. Surely all of these issues should have come up and been dealt with in their coverage of all the other sports. Then again, I don't get why they've got 150-ish employees but the guy who works there and came up with the idea of having a pro wrestling channel and did all the publicity and presumably negotiated the promotion deals is also the guy who is personally encoding and uploading all the files.

Mistico will be interesting. If you remember the list Dave did in 2010 working out the biggest draw each year (based on 10,000 crowds with bonus for 20k, 30k etc), then other than Miguel Perez as Rocca's partner, you have to go back to 1936 to find the last guy who isn't in the WON HOF.

The only thing more baffling than Chyna on the ballot is Chyna on there for non-wrestlers. She clearly can't be there for work or drawing, so the only thing close is historical important/influence. And whatever case she has there is for the fact that she normalised inter-gender matches, which is clearly something done as a wrestler. As a non-wrestler, she was a valet/bodyguard for less than two years.

Bubblegum's name came way back when he started out as a fresh-faced, lovable, wholesome youngster, at which point the name was along the lines of bubblegum pop - favourite of the kids and mums, and all that. For Progress, Rev Pro and anything else that uses Pivotshare, Roku works perfectly and seems to be the only platform that does so.

My rule of thumb is that no matter how low-budget or small-scale your show, or how inexperienced your roster, the moment you pass 3 hours it's fair and legitimate to compare it with WrestleMania. Admittedly this is less of a penalty this year.