Dav'oh

'Rana/Frankensteiner, where no bastard actually locks their ankles behind their opponent's head, so you get spots like in the Drew/Kofi match where Kofi jumps up, puts his puny girly ankles on Drew's mammoth shoulders and....Drew takes two steps and blatantly propels himself forward (I turned the match off at that point. It made Drew look weak and stupid). Bring back the old school R'n'R headscissor takedown - at least you're locking the neck. Splash by anyone under 300 lbs, let alone anyone under 150. The splash used to be the domain of those with blubber. Remember Bundy and Little Beaver? Just the threat of Bundy splashing Beaver was enough. Now we've got Rey Beaverio Jr splashing neo-Bundys as a fucking finisher. Get rooted, as we say down under. The related Stinger splash. Piss off. It's such a low-impact, try-not-to-hurt-anyone move that always looks like shit. The jump actually lessens the impact and the only contact is tits-on-tits. Charge in with your lard and squash the fucker. (Sorry about the cussing. I get inarticulate when I'm peeved.)

These clips of Jumbo, Baba, Onita and pals in a 1983 production of Snow White, and Jumbo, Tenryu and Baba in a 1986 Super Mario/Gulliver's Travels mash up are just some of the gems found at Wrestling Club with Darren & Brett https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe7nIEAANk8IR2DK_YbW3FA

Cody interviewed in Fighting Spirit #94, 2013. "FSM: Which wrestlers influenced you? I suppose your father would have to be on that list? CR: Not so much - only because I don't want to be like him, because it's so easy. I always get mad when I see guys do their father's finishers, and things like that. Yeah, that's great, and Dusty Rhodes was popular with the fans, but it's nostalgia. I want to do my own thing, and part of that is out of respect for him. So I'll steal from totally different guys like Shawn Michaels, Jake Roberts, Pat Patterson, Buddy Rogers and Nick Bockwinkel. I try to steal a lot from a lot of the guys my dad competed with, like Ric Flair. I try to take more from them than from him." I think I could insert, "Pull the other one - it plays Freebird" at several points in that response....

That's a surprise...I thought Tuesday was bin night.

Hansen and Funk? Tick. Hokuto? Tick. Aja? She's growing on me with each viewing. Just a force of nature, a maelstrom sucking everything around her into an inescapable vortex of violence. Leaning towards "tick". Rogers and Flair? Tick. (Working on my Rogers treatise as we speak type). Liger? Tick. Bryan or Rey? Tick. (Bryan has to overcome my recency prejudice. Or more accurately, I have to overcome my recency prejudice, it's not really on him.) Andre? Mais oui. Tick. Kobashi? Currently tick, but there's so little separating three of the four. I've been watching a lot of Pointless lately. I hope to see you on there one day, elliott

Two Texans, two Joshis, two Nature Boys, two lighter-weights, a Giant and a Pillar are my front-runners. And I've got five years to learn how to love a Bockwinkel and appreciate various Luchadors.

Just saw the referee in the tag match on NXT do a drop-down and a leapfrog and I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

Dennis James was commentator for DuMont's wrestling and boxing shows in the late 40s-early 50s, so it might not be the guy you're thinking of, but he used to snap chicken bones into the mic when a grappler would lock on a hold (this may be apocryphal, though). Wiki says, "James often addressed the TV audience as "Mother", a practice he had begun when discussing the finer points of wrestling during his sports broadcasts. He feared the men in the audience would be insulted by the implication that they didn't already know the rules (even if they didn't), but would accept that James was merely explaining things for the benefit of women viewers."

"El Desperado (c) vs. YOH for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was postponed due to a wrestler being shown to have a fever before the event." Cue ominous storm clouds? You'd hope their wrestlers and officials are more diligent than NXT's; it's possible it's unrelated to Covid, too.

It's not often I defend the 'E, but she was rehired in October of 2020. Apparently she's been tanning training at the Performance Centre since December.

I speak fluent Dickhead (it's my fifth or sixth language) and even I don't understand him when he says "Let's live life!", like getting a vaccine or wearing a mask stops you from doing that. I mean, he'd whack-up live monkey-hormones before putting on a ski-mask to rob a 7-11 to pay for more live monkey hormones, so I don't really see why a different injection and different mask are any more onerous... Edit: now I'm thinking of all the substances of dubious provenance from the skeeziest dealers he's put in his veins without a second's thought. But, yeah, it's the vaccine that'll fuck you, Skippy.

No worries, just sharing the wealth. It's from this discussion at KM: www.infinitecore.ca/superstar/index.php?threadid=91651&page=0#pager which is plenty interesting.

Kaufman in the WWF in 1979, being interviewed by Vincent K. This would be two and a half years before pitching his intergender idea to Vincent J. and being dismissed summarily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKSy1LQwt0I

When I began expressing myself artistically on the metropolitan rail network (ahem), my first "tag" was BamBam. I was 15/16 and just discovering the sheets and tape-trading, and Gordy was not so much "flavour of the month" (this would've been 1988-89) as that makes him sound fleeting, but he was like the first "indy darling", if I may, that I recall of my fandom. He's legendary in his own way, just probably not in a way that would get him a spot on my list. His look, style and work was in such juxtaposition to his puppy-dog eyes that there was an almost instant pathos that very few others had, and he was certainly highly-respected amongst the "smart" fans I was becoming one of. Starting at 14 years of age will help get you that respect, I suspect. Undeniable toughness, love the guy, but I doubt I can include him. More "aura" than "output", perhaps.

No danger of that, I wasn't asking for list-purposes (he's not even on my working list). It was just idle thinking. Can't believe I forgot him. Was too busy trying to get my shit in my Bob Holly gag in

Someone sincerely asked me if this was Nelson Mandela

A question: Apart from Mil Mascaras, Antonio Inoki and Bob Holly, which wrestlers do you think would honestly rank themselves as number-one-and-the-best, the Greatest Wrestler Ever? Because here's my thinking: most wrestlers would point to someone else. Sasha would likely point to Eddie, Triple H would point to Harley or Ric, even Lou Thesz pointed to Lewis. A lot of wrestlers would be embarrassed to be even in the conversation for number 1 (not talking top 100, just the Single Greatest Wrestler Ever). Flattered, yes. But they'd nearly all defer to someone else. And for a secondary question, do we know who any other wrestlers rate as their Number One of all-time? I know Ray Stevens' name gets thrown around a bit.

ANDRE KNOWS EVERYTHING And Here's A List of His Teachers But first, a preface. Before the world went global, three sportsmen's names were known all over, Pele, Mohammed Ali, and Andre the Giant. To so many who knew nothing of pro-wrestling, they knew Andre, they knew he was a Giant, and they knew he was a wrestler. Same as people who knew no boxing knew Ali, and those that knew no football knew Pele. It's probably still true today. The world did not fit Andre the Giant. Not doorways not carseats not beercans. Not anything. But Andre the Giant fit pro-wrestling, like no other. Were there bigger? Were there better? Yes and yes. But none were greater. Andre faced everyone, the Who's Who, right from the start. By the time he hit New York in 1973, he had received seven years (and would continue to receive under Vincent J) of the greatest education in wrestling and working one could imagine. And I'd certainly posit that Andre faced all of the contenders for Number One and never looked the lesser man, and often surpassed them. That will be up to you to decide as a viewer. I can't use the written word to explain moving pictures to you. My evidence is not in the footage. Andre's evidence is in the footage. Consider this auxillary evidence. There is NO in-ring here, to iterate. That's on the YouTubes and the DailyMotionses. ********************************* So it's January 1966 and Andre's 19 and he enrols at French Catch. By the time he "defeats" the vaunted Franz van Buyten 24 months later he's had only 32 matches in a variety of French cities, but he's "beaten" certified greats like Rene Lasartesse, Robert Gastel and Andre Bollet. Yves Amor works him multiple times early on, as does Franky Valois, such an important figure in his later life. By May of 1969 he's deemed sufficiently advanced in French Catch to go to Joint Promotions for a look at the British Style. He's wrestling in England and Scotland, working Jim Hussey and Steve Veidor, as well as Peter Thornley as Kendo Nagasaki, who becomes the first man listed as beating Monster Rousimoff. By KO. London to a brick Andre's training with your more hookery shootery rippery types England loved to produce, but he's still turning up in one piece the next day. He's learning everything some great minds and technicians think he'll be needing. So it's January 1970 and Andre studies overseas rather than overchannel at Japan Tech, IWE Campus. He's in there against Strong Kobayashi and Thunder Sugiyama. He's 23, mind you. He stays six weeks and heads home and has one match in the next twelve months (I'm sure he had his reasons) before reporting back for another semester at IWE with Isamu Teranishi, Rusher Kimura and Tetsunosuke Daigo showing him what they know. How is he not learning? How many GW'sE already? Karl Gotch now. In tags before going over him 1vs1. There's at least three draws vs Billy Robinson on this tour, the first being just his 113th match. How good are his teachers and how good is the student? No-one was "seeing through his shit". He wasn't being held by the hand in undercard matches by old-timers or relegated to gimmick matches. No. The biggest names, the best teachers, because he was good enough for them, just as he was good enough to be in a prestigious tournament in front of a discerning Japanese fanbase. A week after the IWE World Series he goes and sits in 1970 Economy seating, the ones that don't fit him - none of this "two comp'ed first-class seats" mythos - on his first North American excursion, to Montreal's Grand Prix as Andre Rousimoff. Smart to ease him in somewhat there, but it's only the three matches, one a countout loss to the unidentified Professional. Now he makes his US debut; just his second day in is a tag match against Larry Hennig and Lars Anderson. Heh heh heh. Fuck. " 'allo 'allo, Mr. Gagne." "Andre! Welcome to America. See how you go with these two! Two out of three falls while you're at it!" It's only the three dates for Verne interrupted by another loss in Montreal territory to the Professional (who is this masked nemesis?), then he's off to see how they do things in Toronto as Jean Ferre, interestingly (to Antipodeans) wrestling Steve Rickard. To a one-shot for Afflick's WWA and now three weeks for Verne. And wouldn't you fucking know it, he's in there in a tag against Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens, he's opposite Ivan Koloff. Nowhere do we see or read of him "cArRiEd", nowhere is he seen or recorded to be overwhelmed, nowhere does he seem like he doesn't belong in there. Nowhere is he treated like the McGuire Twins or given old hands in the undercard or a plethora (see what my avatar did there ) of handicaps or Battles Royal. These fucking names tutors. Another IWE series. In still just his 151st match he goes to a draw with Don Leo Jonathon, and you know full well DLJ is teaching him a trick or two, suspecting they might cross paths again. Oh, and he's working nearly every night for two straight months on that tour, ending May of 1972. At that size. In those bus-seats. Beds that don't fit him. In those rings (and remember, Andre could and would bump like a champ). Always learning learning learning. He takes ten days off and it's back to Quebec and...Professor Don Leo! Whaddyaknow. Sees Dusty Rhodes across the ring for Verne, swaps wins with DLJ between Verne gigs, teaming with Dick Beyer against Bock and Stevens holy fuck he's in rarefied air almost every time out. And he's keeping up with them he's surpassing them, that's up to you, the viewer, but I suggest to you, the reader, he was never the marked inferior against or alongside any of the greats. He teams with Mad Dog Vachon, faces Baron von Raschke (his first listing as "Andre the Giant" in Cagematch) and now, now, in his 209th match, it's Jean Ferre alongside Edouard Carpentier and Yvon Robert Jr, against Don Leo Jonathon, Killer Kowalski and Mad Dog Vachon. There's my submission for a murderer's row, your honours. I believe he belonged. We can all see how well he moved, wrestled and worked. Dick Murdoch next. Fuck me I didn't know my premise was quite this strong. MARCH 26, 1973 - ANDRE HITS NYC. The apprenticeship is over. He's the show now. A "Special Attraction". You don't go to the wrestling to see Andre the Giant. You go to see Andre the Giant and he just happens to be in his underwear. Vincent J., having taken the reins, uses him only in Gardens Boston and Madison first go around, six shots in seven weeks. Couple of intro squashes, then Toru Tanaka gives him an Introduction to North-East Heavyweight Style 101 at MSG and he teams with 1973-popularity Chief Jay Strongbow and Gorilla Monsoon. And you know Andre is looking at every little trick Strongbow and Monsoon are using, learning learning learning. He gets sent to NWA Big Time for Fritz von Erich I think and Houston for Boesch I think. He beats Black Gordman and Goliath in a handicap. Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston get their first looks at him. Fights John Tolos in Bakersfield and teams with Strongbow and Gorilla the same day in Boston. Is that a mistake or was that possible working the timezones? He finishes off the year for Vince against your Stan Stasiak Blackjack Lanza and Mr. Fuji types. It's the miles. He starts 1974 doing El Paso, Lubbock, Abilene, Amarillo, Houston in 1974 cars, monster-sized beasts but still they don't fit him. Travelling with the boys. Doing the hard yards. They mainly give him Killer Karl Cox. Another big man to learn from. He debuts in Las Vegas and San Francisco squashes and a Battle Royal . Makes a quick bucket of cash vs DLJ on his way to Central States for the first time, a one-off, getting Baron Mikel Scicluna for more US Big-Man 101. Then it's Ed Farhat, the Sheik, for the first time (4'15" DDQ) in Toronto and a three-minute loss to him a week later. I'm struggling to think what Andre learns from Ed. But it's off to debut in New Japan as part of what I consider a fairly lop-sided "partnership" between Capitol and Inoki. Long flight and the toilets don't fit him. It's vs Seiji Sakaguchi and Shibata and Antonio Inoki in tag and six-mans nearly every night for a month leading to his first singles with Inoki. NWA Hollywood first-up back in the States. Debuts at the Kiel in a Battle Royal (Dory Funk Jr wins). He hits St Joseph and Waterloo. Between the 15th of February, and the 13th of April, 1974, he worked 27 matches all over Japan and then California, Missouri, and Iowa and debuts in Florida on the 16th. At his size. In that world, built for everyone but him. How is he doing this? 74 Andre teams with 74 Muraco vs 74 Dusty and 74 Ole Anderson. He's in Georgia for an intro squash, then MSG, back to Florida via Georgia and an introduction to Bill Watts in a tag. We're starting to see some short and long-term feuds starting to build, but he's not really being put in a position to do anything except make a good first impression. Clearly, he does. Against the best. Singles vs Watts, he faces at once Jimmy Garvin, Ronnie Garvin, and Seedy Garvin. He's facing Buddy Roberts. The Battle Royals are mounting as he makes his first appearances in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Richmond. An AWA cameo. A week in Japan. This fucker's not human. Back to Western States where he faces Terry Funk, Murdoch and DLJ for luck (wins a Battle Royal with Akio Sato while he's at it). Learning Texas Tricks to go with every other Regional Trick and National Trick and Big-Man Trick he's been taught or picked up along the way. Canada to wrestle Gene Kiniski. Fuck me - this is one straight run of matches: July 22, 1974 vs Gene Kiniski (DCO) New Westminster, British Columbia August 9 vs Ernie Ladd (DDQ) Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles August 18 vs the Sheik (DCO, 5'10") Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto August 26 def. Killer Kowalski, aspirational if not practicing trainer, at MSG via count-out August 31, 1974 teams with Bruno Sammartino against the Valiants at the Civic Centre in Baltimore. I wonder what Austin Aries' booking diary looks like for August? And again, it's not for me to tell you if the matches were any good. He gets Don Jardine (as Super Destroyer), Buddy Colt, and the Minnesota Wrecking Crew over four nights next. The Akio Sato pairing and Bruno tag seem to be part of a shift from "Andre vs territory's literally biggest heel", to, "territory's biggest face gets to team with Andre". He's co-winning Battle Royals with Dusty and teaming with him and teaming with Wahoo McDaniel. Teams with Bruno and Haystacks against that teacher Kowalski and some Valiants. Teams with Gorilla. He's already learned how to wrestle and defend himself and attack in a variety of ways, as taught by the greats. Now he's learning how to be the world's greatest babyface, learning at the side of the some of the greatest heels and babyfaces in history. I LOVE THE UNIVERSE on November 1, 1974, Andre faced Johnny Valentine and Ric Flair in Richmond (teaming with Sonny King ). Beats Flair and Rip Hawk the next night, before a fortnight off, then Japan. Oh, to the, "But he had his off-nights" Brigade: Fuck me running. Of course he fucking did. I got jet-lagged writing then typing this, and I'm in a seat that fits me. Japan's just a build up facing the New Japan regulars leading to Inoki-Andre II. Christmas time is Andre's Time. Yay! New Year's 1975 starts off with Houston, St. Petersburg, Fort Worth, Dallas in four days. In seats that didn't fit him. He's teaming with Carpentier against Greg Valentine and Pat Patterson in LA. To Ohio where, with Tex McKenzie, he faces Abdullah, a butcher by trade and the Sheik. A few nights in Florida where he faces Archie Gouldie , a Stomper from Mongolia by hobby. He's teaming with Peter Maivia and Patterson in SF three nights later, three nights later it's Valentine and Jardine in Charlotte. Wonder if he's allowed an off-night yet. Probably not because he's got a run with Verne now, going to two draws with Chris Taylor in there. Teams with Dusty and Superstar Graham to say goodbye. He's already learned how to wrestle. Dusty and SBG and co. are teaching him theatrics. Now it's Big Bill Miller at the Kiel. At this point, I don't think there's anything to be gained by anyone trying to "prove' themselves against Andre. The boy can play. There's not a lot in pro-wrestling he doesn't know, in or out of the ring. The first draw with Taylor was his 400th match. He's 29 years old and more than halfway through his life. Vincent gives him to his promoters in Utica, Trenton and Albany before Verne gets him for seven matches in eight days. Andre travels with the boys in seats that don't fit him from Chicago (vs Ox Baker) to Green Bay to Moline to Omaha, Denver, St. Paul, and Duluth (in tag matches). Tulsa, OK for a Battle Royal the next day, four days later it's a double-shot in Shreveport and Colorado. He had a bad back? Funny, that. Handicap wins over Don Greene and Jerry Lawler and stuff with Abby in Georgia and trips to the Western States circuit before debuting in Oregon. He's well past being taught anything. He's out there now, showing what he's learnt from a Who's Who of the Who's Who of Pro-Wrestling. Did I mention, this world he's travelling? Not one doorway was meant for him.

I lean entirely in the opposite direction. One person, one vote. But I understand why people would find that less than ideal. So I'd more realistically suggest limiting ballots to 20 or 30. You'd still get a top 100 out of that, but we wouldn't be wasting time on the Alexa Blisses and Bob Hollys of the world and actually focus on who is the GREATEST WRESTLER EVER, not who is the 143rd "greatest".

"Hansen's individual case is how he approaches wrestling". Agreed. From his book: "I always liked to go out and do what came to me in a split second, and then wait for my opponent to react to what I did. I felt that was much better because it was an authentic reaction to my impromptu action." I'll have a very difficult time including anyone from the "call it all in the back" generation (and anyone in the overlapping "never had to take bumps in a ring with as much give as a WWII bunker" generation).

There's a fella running around Italy in Serie A for Verona with the surname Lasagna. Nothing too remarkable there. His first name is Kevin. Would you rather be Kevin Lasagna or Kiki Morning?

Doesn't affect his or Stan's rankings, but here's an amusing (or frightening, ymmv) anecdote from Stan's book: I wrestled Carlos [Colon] at a baseball stadium show. While the ring announcer was introducing us, a knife with about a 10-inch blade flew from the grandstands and the point buried itself in the center of the ring. If it had hit either one of us, it would have buried itself to the hilt. Carlos and I turned our heads to look at each other. Simultaneously, we grabbed hold of each other, fell down to the mat in a heap, and began rolling around the ring. The fans thought each of us was trying to wrestle and get the advantage, but in reality, we both were trying to pull the other one on top of himself to protect himself from another knife or thrown object.

Well, they have to pay for Nick Khan's $5 million sign-on bonus, $6.8 million in stock awards and his base salary of $498,462. And Vince's $3.9 million ($1.4 million in base salary, $1.64 million in stock awards, $854,000 in incentives and $20,583 in other compensations). And Princess Steph's $2.2 million ($724,115 base, $464,778 stock, $222,650 in incentives, and $775,723 in other compensation - her performance/merch contract). And while they're throwing money around, loser son-in-law Hunter needs $2.38 million ($724,115 in base salary, $464,778 in stock awards, $222,650 in incentives, and $906,737 in other compensations - his performance/merch contract) to help pay the bills. Black sheep Shane-O has a has a performer's contract paying a minimum of $820,369 (for what? A handful of interviews and 15 minutes of sweating profusely wrestling?) Source: Proxy statement issued under SEC regulations

I don't think this project would get very far if it was: Who Would Jesus Vote For?

Who "produced" the WrestleMania matches (stolen straight from WhatCulture): "Here's the near-complete list of WrestleMania 37 producers:- Night One Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre: Jason Jordan and Jamie Noble Tag Team Turmoil: TJ Wilson and Pat Buck Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins: Shane Helms Omos and AJ Styles vs. The New Day: Chris Park Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon: Michael Hayes Bad Bunny and Damian Priest vs. John Morrison and The Miz: Adam Pearce Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks: TJ Wilson Night Two Randy Orton vs. The Fiend: Jamie Noble Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Natalya and Tamina: TJ Wilson and Pat Buck Riddle vs. Sheamus: Chris Park Apollo Crews vs. Big E: Jason Jordan Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka: TJ Wilson Edge vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns: Michael Hayes"