S.L.L.

IWA: Mid-South titles change hands about 200 times in the time it takes for me to type this sentence, which is also the rate that people fall in and out of favor with Ian, so I have a hard time keeping track of which particular title change/falling out you're referring to.

Well, I started it, I might as well finish it. Expecting: -The weirdest period in the history of pro wrestling will continue to be such, but WWE business will be bolstered by the continued presence of John Cena at the top of the card, although it's entirely possible he'll get injured again. Really, the WWE's 2008 is pretty unpredictable. -There will be another major injury or death in the WWE (bold, I know), but this will be a big one, one that could seriously cripple business. Cena, Orton, Mysterio, Chavo, and Vince himself would probably be the favorites -TNA will continue to exist, unless Angle dies -ROH, barring a miracle, will spiral towards it's grave. The indy scene, however, will not die off, but rather, will splinter into something resembling the Japanese indy scene of the mid-late '90s. This might not all happen in 2008, but look for Jimmy Jacobs to become the modern day Western Atsushi Onita one of these days. -Sadly, Tim's predictions of AAA's 2008 seem about right -New Japan will continue to work it's way back to the top, but the quality of the matches will still leave me underwhelmed -NOAH's poised for a fall, Kobashi will give them a big boost initially, but I sense it won't last. It's a slump they'll survive (unless Misawa or Kobashi don't, which is entirely possible), but it's a slump nonetheless -The Japanese indy scene will continue to confuse and frustrate me -The joshi scene will do the same Hoping: -REAL change in how wrestling in America is regulated -Cena finally leads wrestling into the real, honest-to-God boom period that they've sort of been on the precipice of for two years -TNA actually starts booking competently (lol) -ROH dissolves in the scenario described above, Jacobs forms something like an old southern territory as filtered through Internet Age culture, Danielson forms something territorial in style, but with more MOVEZ, Nigel will basically just form another ROH, Aries will try to recreate Dragon's Gate -UMLL becomes a major player -New Japan will continue it's resurgance, and hopefully will become more interesting to me in the process

http://home.intercity.or.jp/users/saigou/asf/ That's the one. Thanks. And this would be the match.

Oh, yeah, I remember that. "THIS IS HOW I BROKE YOUR FATHER'S LEG!!!"

I stumbled upon the directory for (I think) a Japanese website some time back that had a lot of videos of fancams from Japanese house shows, one of which was my Steven Wright experience, a match with Yoshiaki Fujiwara that was pretty awesome. For the life of me, I can't recall how to get to the website, but just so you know, that's out there as well in some form or another.

(1) What do you ultimately think Vince McMahon will most be remembered for as a promoter? National expansion, Wrestlemania, and generally being the P.T. Barnum of his day. (2) What do you think is the most important positive change that has come from the WWE vision of what pro wrestling is? Creating something that could make wrestling into a world-wide mainstream sensation, if only for a few years at a time. (3) What do you think is the most important negative change that has come from the WWE vision of what pro wrestling is? The steroid culture that's resulted in numerous deaths and may be their undoing in the long run. (4) What is something that you have always felt WWE does well that they don't get enough credit for? If you'll indulge my rambling..... The most important thing Vince McMahon did creatively when he expanded was that he took a traditional territorial booking formula and used that as the template of a national promotion. As an amateur narratologist, I can't begin to tell you how crucial this was to his success in the years to come. Vince was creating something that had never existed before in America - a real, honest-to-God, national wrestling promotion. There was the NWA, obviously, but that wasn't really a national wrestling promotion so much as a national body that held together many regional promotions. You couldn't turn on the TV and see "the NWA", you'd see the WWWF or JCP or CWF or the CWA or Mid-South or WCCW or Continental or Portland Wrestling or whatever. Vince would have one promotion that would be seen nationwide, and he didn't book it like the hypothetical national promotion that already existed, he booked it like a territory, only one that toured everywhere and could be seen everywhere through the power of cable TV. I say he doesn't get enough credit for this because nearly 25 years after this all went down, people are still inexplicably claiming that Vince made a mistake by doing this, or that the success of his style is an aberration, when really the "correct" way of booking only ever successfully existed in a hypothetical umbrella promotion. The most obvious example of this is the great "the money is in the chase" fallacy. The money is in the face challenger chasing the heel champion, and thus the heel should be champ more often than not. Because Hogan made so much more money chasing The Iron Sheik for those two months than he did in the four years after it. People want to see the good guy win. This isn't hard to figure out. Sometimes, the bad guy winning can be useful in building up drama, but at the end of the day, people want to see the hero stand triumphant. This didn't happen with the NWA World Title - the one all the people making these claims have such fond memories of - because the situation there was totally different. That guy would be in a different town every night, facing the top stars of all the different territories, and since those guys were usually faces, it only made sense for the NWA champ to be a heel. They could come in, get their ass kicked by the local babyface, sneak out a win, and leave. That was fine. The good guy didn't win, but he proved he could hang with the best in the world, and it's not like the champ would be there every week lording the face's failure over him. That would be a pretty huge buzzkill....and when Crockett went national and tried to take that formula national, that's exactly what happened. If touring champ Flair wasn't around every week, Lex Luger coming ever so close to beating him but falling short would make him look tough. When Flair is everpresent, Lex Luger's losses to him made him look like a choke artist. I said in the WCW poll that keeping Ric Flair as a heel for as long as they did was a big mistake, and this is why. I mean, it's not like everybody wasn't cheering Ric anyway. At least they started to realize what was going on by the end of the decade and started setting up Sting to be the top guy in the company, although that never quite happened for a number of reasons. But I digress. My point is, Vince realized what Crockett et al. didn't, and has built his company around strong babyface champions ever since. Well, strong babyface champions and his NWA-touring-champ-wannabe son-in-law, but what are you gonna do? (5) What is something that you have always felt WWE does horribly that they don't get enough criticism for? They killed the cage match. (6) Overall, do you think most people are fair when discussing WWE, or do you think people tended to be blinded -- either by fanboyism or hatred? They're definitely blinded. The internet, like religion and politics, makes you stupid, and it tends to make people far more antagonistic over issues that really wouldn't bug you at all in real life. I'm sure there's more than a few dudes I've e-yelled at about John Cena who I'd probably like just fine if I sat down and had a drink with them. But the internet breeds arguments for some reason. I was at the DVDVR board, where they had a rep for being puro snobs, and saw people bitch about how they never gave the WWE a chance. Then, when they started praising things the WWE was doing and criticizing the state of wrestling in Japan, the same people who were calling them puro snobs were now calling them WWE sheep. For a long time, I wanted the WWE to deliver something that I didn't ever expect it to, and now it is. I for one, am happy, but some people can't seem to handle getting what they want. Some people just want to bitch about something. Oh, well. (7) What match would you point to as the match that most defines the WWE version of wrestling? Hogan vs. Andre, Wrestlemania III (8) Could the WWF have had their initial success without Hulk Hogan? Why or why not? Probably, but they didn't. Hogan was the best choice for the job, certainly, but if they had built the company around, say, Ricky Steamboat or Barry Windham or Sgt. Slaughter or Roddy Piper or Jim Duggan or Magnum TA or Kerry Von Erich, I think they still could have pulled it off. No telling just how well they would have fared, but I maintain that it was doable. (9) Could the WWF have been more financially successful in the post-Hogan, pre-Austin time period with different people on top? Why or why not? I suppose so, but I don't really think it's so much a question of them putting the wrong people on top as it is one of booking those people poorly. Specifically, killing Bret Hart right out of the gate by balking on him as company ace and turning to Luger instead, which ultimately hurt both of them. (10) Who do you think was a bigger star at their peak -- Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin? Hogan (11) What do you think is Vince McMahon's greatest accomplishment as a promoter? I agree with Loss that Vince establishing PPV as the new dominant money-making medium in wrestling is the one. (12) What do you think was the greatest contributing factor to WCW overtaking the WWF from 1995-1998? Failure to establish a compelling identity in the wake of Hogan leaving and in contrast to the rise of the nWo. (13) What do you think was the greatest contributing factor to the WWF overtaking WCW in 1998? WCW's failure to properly blow-off the nWo angle and establish Sting or Goldberg as the company ace, in contrast to Austin catching fire and being booked effectively. (14) Which world champion was the best in terms of ring work and why? Eddie Guerrero, aside from being extremely charismatic, extremely gifted technically, and a guy who - if his circumstances had been different - had the ability to be a Hogan/Austin-level star, made BRADSHAW of all people into a really compelling main event heel. In general, his style spoke to me more than any other WWF/E champ ever, mastering both technical skill and storytelling ability in a way that only Savage, Flair, Hart, and Austin have done as WWF/E champ. (15) Which world champion do you think meant most to the company? Hogan, natch. (16) Which world champion had the worst run? Diesel (17) What do you consider the high point in WWF or WWE history? Vince McMahon getting his head shaved at Mania 23. Seriously. (18) What do you consider the absolute low point in WWF or WWE history? Chris Benoit murdering his family and killing himself. (19) Looking at things from their point of view, why do you think WWE frowns on employees being big wrestling fans? Because Vince sees what he does as something more than just wrestling, and he surrounds himself with like-minded people. (20) Do you think the WWF has ever done a good job at booking tag teams in a meaningful way? If so, what time period? They do for a couple of months at a time, but compared to what was happening elsewhere before he came along, no, not really. (21) What is the best non-main event feud the company has ever produced and why? Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero in 2005 was a big ratings draw, had a bunch of great matches, and was generally the most compelling thing in an otherwise lackluster year for free TV wrestling. (22) What is the worst main event level feud the company has ever produced and why? Hulk Hogan vs. Zeus. I kinda feel like this should speak for itself. (23) What do you think was the single biggest contributing factor that caused the end of the 1998-2001 boom? Failing to establish a hot new babyface star in the absence of Austin, Rock, and Foley. (24) From your personal experiences, is the WWF a company that delivers house shows where you feel you get your money's worth? It's been a long time, but yeah. (25) Where do you think they'll be in five years? Reply hazy, try again.

I'm sure he did.

Or, for that matter, Prince Nana.

Buh Buh Ray Dudley graduated from the same high school I did. He's not really from Dudleyville.

Maybe one or two, but not enough to make it worthwhile.

But we did have THE UNDERTAKERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR and "HBK"...THE HEARTBEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAK KIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDD.

I don't have strong feelings one way or the other on Graham's HOF candidacy. But I always felt it was a mistake to put too much emphasis on the "Fame" in "Hall of Fame". It always seems to be applied selectively, too. George "The Animal" Steele is more famous than a good 3/4 of the guys in the Hall - possibly including Superstar Graham - but I don't think anyone would seriously consider him for induction. "Hall of Fame" is pretty obviously meant to be a figurative term that actually refers to a "Hall of Merit", otherwise one kind of wonders how people like King Kong Bundy and Captain Lou Albano are kept out while Diablo Velazco and Bert Asserati get in. I mean, the WON HOF doesn't have an actual "Hall", either, but none of us see anything odd about that.

I'm not sure what it would be offhand, but there must have been a more disgusting promotional tactic in 1982. Meltzer just really, really hated Backlund, and well, we've seen how his readers tend to take his opinions to heart when voting in the year-end awards.

Huh? I suppose one could disagree with the decision to give him the belt, but "ridiculous"?

You just hate him because he's black I forget, does anarchistxx hate gays, too?

You've seen it voiced before by me. Pretty sure that there's a thread on this very board where we went back and forth on the issue for a while. This really shouldn't be a shocking development to you. EDIT: To clarify, since you've forgotten, I think Khali is a dude who was one of the very worst workers in the world as recently as this time last year, who still won't make you forget El Hijo del Santo, and won't be mistaken for a top ten worker in the company, but has learned to work within his severe limitations and put on entertaining giant freakshow matches. When paired with a superworker like John Cena, he can deliver really high end matches. If you need dynamic offense, a lightning fast pace, or "realism", he's not going to be your cup of tea, but I tend to think that line of thought misses the point of pro wrestling, for whatever that's worth.

That actually is Meltzer's definition for the award, though. Not that that makes Khali overrated, anyway.I'm confused, are you saying that the "low talent, high on the card" definition doesn't fit Khali? Yes.

Well also that that match kind of stank. Well, yeah, that too. But I kind of specifically remember it stinking because the Hardys were pulling off stuff that was pretty cool, and then WGTT would go on offense, and it really served to illustrate how much worse of a tag team they were. That actually is Meltzer's definition for the award, though. Not that that makes Khali overrated, anyway.

Not to mention that WGTT were pretty clearly the weak links in that match.

See, at least with the others you at least knew what they were aiming for. I never understood the point of the Evil Foreign Heel Menace From......Finland? How was that supposed to get over at all? Is he going to sodomize you with skis? He wasn't even that bad of a wrestler for the WWF at the time, but the premise was so ridiculous people were just like "LOL Finland". Watching old WWF syndie shows from the period reminded me that he was actually really bad for the WWF at the time, but that's neither here nor there. My line of thought here was that he came very close to being pushed as the top heel in the company, ended Tatanka's two-year undefeated streak, and was supposedly being considered for a WWF Title run, but really wasn't very good at anything, and ended getting fired at the height of his push after he hurt his ankle. His post-wrestling career makes for added hilarity.

Glancing over WrestleCrap's past inductions, the ones that jump to mind: Ted Arcidi Billy and Chuck's wedding Ludvig Borga The Invasion Lex Luger's WWF run Zeus Vince Russo's WCW run WCW Mini-Movie Trilogy The Dungeon of Doom The KISS Demon nWo Nitro Oz The Yeti

I'd put it easily ahead of the Flair match. Never did see the Backlund match, though you've always had good things to say about it. Worth noting that one of the things that stood out to me about Nick/Dusty was that it didn't jump out at me as being a carryjob. Dusty's performance won't make you forget Chavo Guerrero's performance in the following match on the set, but it's not like he wasn't bringing anything to the match, either.

Watching his match with Dusty on the Mid-South set reminds me that Nick Bockwinkel really should be in my above list.

Russo is too much of a loadmouth pussy to actually cut Jake Meltzer's nose. Yeah, but don't forget who's directing.

Well, technically, it would be a transsexual Alicia Webb/Ryan Shamrock/Symphony as Faye Dunaway, and the Sham himself in the John Huston role. For multiple reasons, I guess this would also mean Vince Russo gets to be the thug who slices up Dave's nose.