Matt D

I don't know. This arm stuff is pretty fun. I can vouch for those two minutes.

I'm 25 minutes late,but I'm here now, right? I missed what, one match? I just turned it on to see Alexa Bliss' eyelashes falling off. I feel like they should be a color coded tag team. Oof, Sasha wiping out always make me feel dirty, like I'm watching Faces of Death 6 or something.

I'll have to catch up later, but isn't that basically almost every wrestler ever.

I've decided that we'll accept his late GWE ballot if he submits it.

1. The perception of what makes a five star match to him is more important than the truth. 2. While the WON is an institution, the secondary conduits are almost more important. The identity of being a smark around the turn of the century, and the way dirtsheet readers gave way to the "IWC" which gave way to the current social media majority. 3. I always liked the religious idea that a deity is shaped by the beliefs of his worshippers even as much as he shapes those beliefs. I agree that there are plenty of unintended consequences in all of this, including, perhaps, a bottom-up reduction in Dave's tastes.

Considering his history and taste over the years, it makes perfect sense. Flair > Michaels > Angle > Omega. You can see the morphing of old NWA style turing into a go-go-go style matches (Flair) to the same classic US stuff with way more athletic spots (Micheals) to an even more go-go-go style with lots of finisher kick-outs and reversals "like in Japan" (Angle) to the mutation of the style through the latest Japanese stuff influenced back by the US indies mentality (Omega). (and that's not to say I mean Flair is like the other three, although my feelings about Flair as a worker are pretty clear by this point, great but overrated too; in that respect, I can see the "flow of taste" from Meltz making sense to me although I obviously strongly disagree. I'd rather watch Bockwinkle, Bret, Joe or Naito) This is sort of it. It makes sense. It's an actualization of Meltzerism in wrestling to a big degree. It's fans of fans of wrestlers wrestling now. It's a processing of wrestling to maximize what he values and minimize what he doesn't. I won't fall into the argumentative trap that people in wrestling never wanted to have good matches, but I don't think we've ever been at a point where people want to have matches that would specifically earn them five stars from a single source. It makes sense that people seeking to do that would manage to do it more than anyone before them. The issue is if a watcher happens to think that Dave's criteria are backwards and clownish.

Ain't no stopping him now (unless he gets injured again).

I'd argue (or perhaps agree with your arguing) that something is innately broken/out of whack when you feel that way for a match you gave 4 stars.

And once again, you don't enjoy a dick spot. (because he's a heel... a dick... see what I did here ?) See, I'm not going to be a stingy reviewer like you. You're getting 4 1/2 stars for that joke. Thanks. I'm trying to work comedy posts inside the context and conventions of PWO. Your selling is the pits.

He sure is a cowardly chickenshit heel.

It's always more impressive to build something up than to tear it down. When the comedy works within the conventions of wrestling, I'm way more impressed than when it just dumps them or mocks them, especially when the next match on the card has to embrace them once again.

There is a difference between comedy that makes fun of the heels or the ref and comedy that makes fun of wrestling.

Is that the month with the Fuji vs Strongbow match? (kidding, but if so the best choice we probably have that people would have access to easily is Bruno vs Patera; I should have probably said August, 87).

I'm going to nominate something from August 1977 instead.

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/29998-judy-martin/?hl=judy I didn't get very far and most of the matches are down now. It follows Stacey's diva logic to a degree (just, you know, far more balanced). She didn't have a ton of opportunity to have traditionally great matches, but you can see just how good she was by watching her work.

Martin is the best wrestler in those matches.

Corbin Baronsen. They can hire Leah Vaughan to be his valet as Leah "Wild Thing" Vaughn.

I mean regardless if matches happened there that qualify as the Best of the 80s they should be counted. I think a case for Flair vs Kerry from Hawaii as the best match of the 80s can be made. Just because Hawaii was a layover/working vacation spot doesn't DQ it from contention. Leave no ROCK unturned I can think of one that can be left unturned (at least for a certain era):

How do you mean? https://books.google.com/books?id=whe0idKbGXMC&pg=PA136&dq=shawn+michaels+demolition&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwippqOZ0MzVAhVGSiYKHRfpCJsQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=shawn%20michaels%20demolition&f=false The idea that they didn't give for the Rockers in that match is crazy. Heels giving too much (unearned especially) for babyfaces was the biggest problem of the 80s WWF tag team style. Demolition (Ax especially) made their opponents earn it (not unlike how Hansen is lauded for doing the same thing) but if they earned it, they sold and it mattered. Rockers came out of that match looking better than if Eadie worked it 50-50 with them. Moreover, pecking order DOES matter. Through being careful with their selling (including reacting) against the Rockers (or Rogs or Bees), when they have a match like they do at Summerslam 1988 with the Hart Foundation and suddenly put them over way bigger, even begging off from Bret, it makes them, who the Fed was pushing way harder, look like huger stars because there's built up expectations from the fans. It's just a totally backwards view of what matters and an egotistical one of how that match should have work, ironic in that he frames it as the complete opposite. Not every "great match" looks the same.

I like how excited Gotch seemed that Enzo was selling so well for him.

I really like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5STdkX-Vs But I'm not sure if it's "OF THE 80s" material instead of just being really freaking cool.

Is the first half actually what happened?

Except for when we do GWE again next month!

I know you're like 6 months past this part now but I did just get the full episode where Bob Armstrong gets turned on in the Cage by Robert Fuller and uploaded it on my channel. I might double back to that as everything will resonate more now. All I have to say currently is that I really enjoy whenever Brad Armstrong and Tom Prichard are paired together.

Nothing exciting in Hidden Gems 3 unfortunately.