Ray

I've heard Meltzer react the same way to other callers in the past, when he was expecting them to say something controversial.

http://noah.puroresufan.com/ This is the best Budokan card they've put together in six months. Finally we have some interesting singles matches in the undercard, instead of a ton of random tags. With Taue vs Hashi and Akiyama vs Shiosaki we get the vet/youngster thing, and with match #8 we get more KENTA/Suzuki interaction, which was the highlight of the last tag they were in.

Taue vs Marufuji, Joe vs Daniels, Akiyama vs Taue, Danielson vs Storm, Kobashi vs Marufuji, and Misawa vs Morishima were my favorites, but KENTA/Marufuji vs Morishima/Rikio (NOAH 7/16) is my pick. I thought it worked very well as coming out party/showcase-type match for what will be the future of NOAH, and it gets extra points from me for that.

It's wildly unpopular in some circles. They'd have us believe Kobashi is a complete idiot who has no idea how to wrestle a match anymore.

Kenta Kobashi is still a great wrestler.

That should be Minoru Suzuki, not Kotaro. Hell of a list you have there. I wish I could say I'd seen all of those matches...

(hope somebody gets the joke)

I strongly disagree with the notion that Styles and Daniels have their best matches with each other. Styles' matches with London, Abyss, and most of all Samoa Joe were comfortably better than any Styles-Daniels match I've seen.

This is something I'd love to have if I ever got back to watching wrestling on a consistent basis.

"Hulk Still Rules" is long out of production and, from what I hear, they can't sell it due to legal reasons.

Yes, to add diversity. Which is hardly the same as doing a poll and then running around shouting "HEY EVERYONE LOOK WHAT WE DID!!", which is what you're saying we'll do. What is the problem with that? So...fun + motivates discussion = worthless?

Doing a list motivates people. I don't recall saying it was worthless. Since it hasn't happened with the other lists, I'd say the odds are slim. We don't do lists to impress the rest of the internet.

What the fuck? We're wrestling fans and we like talking about wrestling. If you need to dream up some grand scheme to figure out why we're doing a poll I don't even know what to say.

When people want to argue Hogan was a good wreslter, they always tend to bring up his work in Japan, as if knowing how to work a few basic wrestling holds makes one a good wrestler. There is a good argument for Hogan being good but it has nothing to do with being able to work a few basic holds.

I'm CONSTANTLY running into people online who think Rey is too small to hold the top title. They're everywhere.

I love the way title reigns and title defenses are handled in Japan. I love how they keep track of the numbers of successful defenses, how they go weeks - or even months - between defenses, how the champ is generally kept out of singles matches until the next defense. It adds such a sport-like feel to it all, and makes the titles seem much more important.

After watching a match like this, it's sad that people still think Rey isn't big enough to be on top. Here he is, working with a guy who has a "strongest man in the world" gimmick, and the crowd *TOTALLY* buys him as a threat. Shockingly good match.

I'll gladly jump on that Loss bandwagon. You've been killing 'em lately and I don't think there is any reviewer I enjoy reading more. You might want to check out the latest F4W radio show: http://www.f4wonline.com/free/012006daily.mp3 Alvarez and his wonderful guest, Mo Chatra, essentially tell us that if you disagree with the majority, you are either a troll, a devil's advocate, or a contrarian, and the discussion should be banned.

The WOTY award is based on a combination of drawing and ring work. Kobashi is the top draw and the anchor of a major promotion and he had plenty of good/great high-profile matches. I can't see many others who have that combination of drawing and work. Some would say Mistico, but I don't have the numbers for that. Kobashi is a fine pick for 2005 WOTY.

So I'm watching a Danielson-Gibson match from PWG. Gibson's trying a verticle suplex on Danielson, and right at the apex of it, Danielson cracks him in the head with a knee to block it. That was nifty, I declare.

I've read the books of Mick Foley (both), Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, The Rock, and Dynamite Kid. DK's was the best.