El-P

That Sano match was indeed really good, although it went a bit long. It peaked around 18-19, and the following minutes seemed just too much, although they brought it up back for a hot finish. Shamrock looked better there than he ever did during his WWF comeback. And it's crazy to think how good Sano was at that game. I believe it was an interpromotional match between PWFG and SWS, as you can see Takano in Sano's corner. Sano busting out a DDT and going straight into an STF later on was cool. He's the first Battlarts worker, kinda. (ok, not true, Tiger Mask was doing lots of pro-wrestling shit in UWF anyway, as were Takada and Maeda) Totally forgot about the Owen's matches, which were Shamrock's highlights in the WWF, and Owen's last notable matches too. I have somewhat of a fondness for Shamrock because he reminds me of my favourite era in watching WWF (97/first half of 98), but he's just not a very good worker. And I was always kinda distracted by the fact he looks like a hugely buffed up version of French comedian Elie Seimoun.

Yumi Fukawa couldn't drive worth a damn back in 2000.

I really enjoyed this edition, Magnum was a solid and interesting interview (as opposed to Vader or Windham in the WCW serie). I kinda got a kick out of him saying that Flair was "very predictable" and that after just a few times, you could have a match with him with your eyes closed because of that… But yeah, this is a good one.

Even more fascinating to me is the thought of Kerry Von Erich, IC champion, showing to the world that you can lose a foot yet still be a champion and go on with your life and achieve great things. With Kerry's babyface charisma and terrific body, the WWF could have had something really big and positive on their hands. Of course, drug use and depression would have caught on indeed, but still...

Greatness really shows its (rare) face, when you're watching a product and all of a sudden two guys like them show up, and you realize they just aren't on the same level as anyone else. That's what happened with me going through WCCW TV. The product is so damn drab as a whole, and then the MX show up. And they look like they are head and shoulders above everyone else. Of course, working alongside the Fantastics, who themselves were better than most people in World Class. But still, that's the sign of greatness. (of course, I was already familiar with this version of the MX, but it was so striking in that context)

Yeah, you can interpret the whole Sasaki Promotion two different ways : he felt guilty inside and found a way to redeem himself by taking care of young prospect and giving back to pro-wrestling. Or it was a way to make people forget about the incident (light word when we're talking about an actual death) and paint himself under a very favorable light (great family guy and such). To this day I have no idea.

He's in the ZONE ! Thanks for nothing about the ankle lock BTW. I could have lived without this shit in US wrestling, although he was better at it than Angle who just grabbed a feet and turned it sideways most of the time. (not understanding Kurt Angle in 2015...)

But his body of work is more like the Japanese Arn Anderson though.

Oh, that shootfight against Gilbert Yvel.

Are the couple still married ? I wonder how Fukawa looks these days, that cute little shoot-style demon. I guess she hasn't aged a bit in 15 years.

I liked both better in managerial roles, Lita at the very least from what I've seen with Edge. She really wasn't much of a worker, she was all about spots and not doing them very well. Trish was better, but again, she could have been a much better valet/manager who could bump instead of a "good for WWE 2000 standart" in-ring worker. Hey, I remember her actually acknowledging *me* when she was working on the LAW in 98 or so, saying she loved me for talking shit about one of the two guys who hosted the show (I was listening on Realplayer and sending them mails back then, oh, the memories). Yeah, that's my Trish Stratus story.

I really liked him until he married Yumi Fukawa. Wait, no, that's not it. I really liked him until he became Heat, which was a shitty gimmick and hurt his work. No idea what he became afterward.

Watched one or two matches of him for the 2006 poll, and they were terrific. Haven't really watch any lucha since, and probably won't do.

Great euro-trash gimmick in WCW. Underrated worker. Not enough output to slip him in.

Most probably. Could make any kind of shitty NJ undercard program watchable, and even fun. Gotta rewatch some of his junior work soon, as part of my "rewatch some Takada" project.

Haven't watched RINGS in years, but his 30 minute draw with Tamura is the most beautiful pro-wrestling match I've ever seen. Terrific shootstyle worker.

So, is PRIDE pro-wrestling, Dan ?

I never got the love for Lita as a worker. What did she ever do apart from blowing spots (among other things) ?

I know the feeling. And I'm a Lawler fan (not überfan in that I don't consider him to be that great miracle GOAT candidate worker). But he's not without flaws (although that's not what this particular clip is about, he's absolutely fine there to me). But I mean, do you really want me to explain why it was stupid as shit to have Lawler play hide-and-seek-the-chain in the Kerry Von Erich CAGE match ?

Kevin was the most awkward of them all to me, not to mention really looking like "some dude in his underwear rolling around, with dirty feet to boot". Kinda creepy actually. But all of them were awkward in the same way, so I guess it's either a family thing or just the way they were trained (by their father, so yeah, family). The Von Erich's inherent awkwardness is something you either accept, or you just throw them all to the woodpile. In that respect, I can totally see the John Cena comparison for Kerry, that and the fact he brought stuff to the table in big matches. It's not that I'm high on David. I'm not high on any Von Erich. But David struck me as the guy who had the most potential of the three, he had the strongest personnailty and charisma, I really am curious of what kind of worker he would have become. That's more in a "potential" way that I meant Kerry wasn't as good as David, of course his output ended up much better because he had to fill for David in all those big matches against Flair and such. All in all, Kerry pretty much overachieved, especially after the accident.

Never got the hate for that guy. Then again, haven't watch a Marufuchi match in like 8 years or so.

So yeah, really solid worker in Texas, efficient both as a face and a heel. But never got past the "really solid" level to me. Carried the Dynamic Duo, as Gino Hernandez was sloppy as hell. I didn't get into the late part of WCCW/USWA era, so I haven't seen the Austin feud (and probably won't take the time to). Aside from Gordy and Robert, the best and most regular worker in WCCW over the decade I guess. Still nowhere near a top 100 candidate to me after all.

For the longest time I though Hayes was underrated. Watching a lots of peak WCCW, I realized that this impression came from watching a lot of Hayes teaming with Jimmy Garvin, who's one of the worst worker I've seen. Next to him, even past his peak Hayes looked good. But in the context of peak Freebirds vs peak Von Erich, Hayes just comes off as a pretty poor worker inside the ring. Good timing, strong personnality, but shitty looking offense and very mediocre bumper. Especially when you're surrounded by such a rock solid veteran trooper like Buddy Robert and a big bumping prodigy like Gordy. Plus, all those Freebirds vs Von Erich matches really were a lot about heat, but didn't do that much for me otherwise. Really didn't stand the test of time I guess. Or they just aren't that good. Anyway, I thought Hayes was actually better as a babyface later in the decade, but still a mediocre in-ring worker overall (execution matters, sorry). And I never bought him as either a tough guy nor a cool guy. Badstreet USA kinda ruined the Freebirds intros too (coming out to Freebirds or Georgia on my mind was sooooo much cooler). Maybe the fact he's probably an old semi-racist bigot alcoholic taints my perspective as far as coolness factor goes, but then again, what's his excuse ? So nope. Not much love for Hayes from me.

Das Klaw. I went back and forth with Kerry. He did bring some good shit to his biggest matches and was game. That being said, he had the awkward Von Erich body movement and wasn't as good as David. The Flair series goes from very good to excellent (even great maybe), the Jumbo match is awesome. The Lawler feud, meh… If you love play-hide-and-seek-the-chain, I guess it's a "fun" feud, but Kerry really wasn't the same after the accident, although working on one feet and still having good matches should get some credit. I just don't see the supposed amount of "great match" on Kerry's resume, and since he's definitely a "great match candidate", Kerry won't make it. And really, it took Jumbo to make a really compelling way to work around that stupid claw. Rush's Tom Sawyer is one the greatest pro-wrestling theme you can get for an 80's babyface though, and Kerry was indeed a terrific babyface.

I have no idea, and really don't care to be honest. And I don't see where the idea of watching a match from one wrestler POV comes from actually. The only POV you're watching a match from is your own.