Matt D

Some of the most interesting things Austin says are about protecting his position, whether it's with Jarrett or with other people. Also, how much he regrets walking out and at the very least losing the years of income. I do think you occasionally see hints of insecurity with him. That's the thing about these podcasts. You just see a LOT of the person as a human being in what they say, in what's not said. Austin can be more guarded since he's not shitfaced, mind you.

Bob was the opponent. Gran was the partner of Gino who was on the outside.

I watched Gino vs Bob Markus. I'm not familiar with Markus but he was fine in this role. I haven't seen too many Gino matches in my life either (a handful at most), so I wanted an introduction through this that wasn't one of the bigger matches. I liked this, especially the early transitions, first with Gran Markus' interference and distraction, and then with a sense of strategy (Gino went for the leg, so Markus countered by going for the leg too). Back half of the match is a bit of a blur to me now as I watched it last night but all in all, I liked it as an intro to Gino.

Yeah, I don't think I've seen wrestling on a TV screen since 2009, so I'm not sure what it's like on that. Sometimes too much of a good thing can hurt though.

This is exactly how I feel. I feel that way and also feel the need to bring up watching seventh generation dubs of tapes or watching matches that you spent all night DLing in RM format in a tiny tiny box in 1999 or dailymotion (DAILYMOTION!!!) and what not. I mean, I feel bad if people get headaches due to problems with their eyesight or something, but this is stuff that we might have never seen period.

There is so, so much on that list that I hope is in their library.

Can we delete the last six or seven posts before Parv gets back from his holiday and pretend like we went to him first?

I don't know anything about Houston wrestling! I'd have suggested Kris but he probably would have hoarded the spreadsheet once he made it.

I really think Shoe should take one for the team and make a spreadsheet detailing each card from the appropriate time period, whether or not a match has already been in circulation, and then whether or not it's been posted yet, and maintain the master. It could be something Tharpe would be interested in too.

I also think we need to talk more about Santo vs Casas.

Where's Bock?! Morton is the most interesting name on that list to me.

There's a Red Rooster vs Blue Blazer match out there.

It's Luke Williams talking about Buddy Rose.

"..The first stop was Wendy's or Arby's... I can still tell you the orders...At Wendy's, it would be two hamburgers, with ketchup, no pickles, no onions. At Arby's... and then after the show it was the donut stand. After he went home, he always stopped at Dunkin Donuts."

I wasn't quite as high on Dusty vs Lewin as others. I thought the first half was excellent, everything to the point that Dusty came back out to the floor to fight back. Even that moment was good but I didn't feel Dusty's comeback and the finish, in a brass knuckles championship match, was really dumb to me. Why was the ref stopping Lewin? That said, the execution of the elbow from the apron in was awesome. I enjoyed Guerreros/Landell vs Lothario/RnR quite a bit. I thought it was balanced well, that the heels played into the shine like champs. The ring positioning on the heat on Morton was good. Tons of attitude from the heels. And I liked the chaotic finish where it looked like the Guerreros were going to take it. I could have used a bit more Landell. They were keeping him away from Lothario to start but that really stopped mattering as the match went on.

It wasn't much of a decade relatively?

Why the heck did Nick Barberry get a dark match win?

WWF @ Boston, MA - Boston Garden - April 20, 1991 (matinee) Rick Martel did not appear as scheduled Bret Hart fought the Barbarian to a draw Ricky Steamboat defeated Haku Ted Dibiase defeated Roddy Piper when the referee stopped the bout due to injury Kerry Von Erich fought the Warlord to a double count-out Sgt. Slaughter defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via disqualification The Berzerker defeated Tugboat WWF IC Champion Mr. Perfect defeated Davey Boy Smith Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated the Orient Express I've told the story before but this is when I, at age 9, got to go backstage and meet Bret right after his match vs the Barbarian. I don't remember anything after Slaughter vs Hogan. Meeting Bret is vivid. The end of the Hogan vs Slaughter match I remember. I remember being disappointed that the building regulations meant that Steamboat couldn't breathe fire. I vaguely remember Piper selling his leg but I couldn't swear by that.

Which is so Beefcake since the PPV was taped in summer, 2000.

So when are you guys doing a Mike Jackson retrospective.

I think the word "valid" is maybe not the best. What I'll say instead is this: for a rewatch, you're having a shared experience with the rest of us. We can more easily talk about the same thing. That makes for a better level of middle ground and better conversation. In that regard it's more "useful." I don't know about valid, though.

I've just seen Jericho vs Neville so far but I'm a little floored by how much I enjoyed it. My only real annoyance is that the crowd didn't turn on Jericho at all once he started playing the frustrated vet. They were just so glad to be there.

Ok, I'm live and with you guys now. Andre vs Harley is awesome. Things I loved: -How NWA Title Match the first fall felt despite the fact it was Andre, what with the arm work and the wrestling. Huge points to Andre in general. -That Harley slammed him with his right hand and not his left. -The backwork and how Harley seemed totally credible bearhugging Andre and Andre sold, so so well, and consistently late into the second fall. I really liked how he targeted Race's back even as his own was hurting. Surly Giant. -The way that they sort of paralleled the end of the first and second fall by having Harley try to lure Andre out only to get SLAMMED over the top because Andre was pissed after missing the butt bump in the corner. Then of course, that sort of led to the third fall too which made it all more acceptable somehow, you know? Harley seemed desperate and clever. It felt like a bit of canny, heel wrestling, a human fighting a force of nature, just trying to survive. I was cool with it. -I tend to prefer predator Harley to prey Harley but him selling to the back row for Andre is completely appropriate and pretty awesome. -Maybe most of all, just the feel of this. It feels hugely epic, especially when they stand and stare at each other before fighting. There's one moment in the second fall when Harley goes out and Andre goes after him that there's just this moment of weight over the match, just how big the stakes are and how larger than life it all is. That's right before Andre hits him and Harley does the total full body wobble selling that doesn't seem outlandish but seems to fit the moment somehow.

It's just like pro wrestling to him, no?

There's a lot to love about this match. It's so, so much better than the Summerslam 1990 match. In context it's even better than that. Between the stage and the rare match with the Hart Foundation, Demolition really sell for them and make them feel like a threat. I think it's the first time chronologically that Ax begged off and he did it because Bret was presented as something more at the time and because the moment warranted it. It's part of the versatility argument. i'm sure I'll have more to say later.