Matt D

They also had the tag match that fits into the feud.

Maybe if they give him a cooking show.

http://deathvalleydriver.com/forum/index.p...-1980s-project/ The level of difficulty in watching these matches is way higher than in the AWA set so there is discussion but it's slow going. I seriously need to get back to watching. I'm going to have to do a rewatch of pretty much everything if I want to do a ballot.

You really want to watch Legends House?

i'm actually a little worried this will do me more harm than good in the short term depending on crackdowns on stuff that they're not planning on adding anytime soon. I figure, worst case, it'll lead me to helping someone afford an even better helmet and watching a lot of Jerry Lawler or something.

We really didn't come out of this knowing anything that wasn't already suspected except for some of the new shows. I'll be more interested in a few days/weeks/months when we learn more about the old B/C shows and the territories since that's most of what I watch.

What a "PPV" means now sort of changes in general.

In that case it's probably karma.

Which is a shame since then we could have gotten a poorly drawn Nord instead.

It was usually the other guy writing it up and making Brody pictures though. Early on at least.

Read through all two decades ago. Two telling things: * he came right back into writing the WON almost instantly * he spent a significant amount of time covering the WWE in 1984-85, more than any single promotion I think if one looks at the 1986-89 WON's where he finally settled into the weekly format and coverage pattern that he largely still follows today with minor tweaks, the coverage of the WWF was significant. Did he enjoy the quality of WWF work? Not a ton of it. But then again, not a lot of hardcores did... and that wasn't really the influence of Dave. They all preferred what they grew up on, and generally saw the WWF as weaker / less entertaining / less fun. There are some WWF backers, but they were a smaller, less vocal group of writer-fans in the Letters Section. John From reading the 84-87 ones, I was always way more frustrated with the AWA coverage while watching the set.

Neither here nor there but I think reading through the WONs from the start of 84 to the issue where he says that he's quitting the Wrestling Observer as it was (APRIL 15, 1985) is pretty fascinating when it comes to how he sees WWF and his general optimism level.

Well that's certainly a no brainer.

Do they want to mess around with that while negotiating for new TV deals?

I think the guys they have for the launch event is a good sign that they are going for an older demographic. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they cart Hogan out as a surprise.

It's a good question. The Wyatts have developed over the last few months, especially Rowan. I really think Harper is one of the strongest guys on the roster. There are some situations where Rowan still seems, if not a little lost, then certainly lacking. On the other hand, Cesaro and Swagger have started doing some tandem moves that they hadn't before which is enjoyable. My favorite thing about them might be the sort of jockish camaraderie that Cesaro shows for Swagger. I loved the finishing segment of the tag but it definitely felt slighter than the Wyatt's match. I felt like it had less time, which might be part of it.

Rob Naylor and Eric Bischoff doesn't sound like a bad team. Obviously, the only way to go is with the booking committee of Jarrett, Ross, Meltzer, Naylor, and Bill Dundee.

Pro wrestling fans (what we would traditionally call "smarts") in general have more of an inferiority complex than any other fandom I can think of. Maybe comic book fans. I think almost every one kind of secretly wants wrestling to get big again because then they could talk about it with the general public again, even if it would only get big by appealing to a widestream audience at the cost of a lot of things that we prefer and that we get when they aim more at the hardcore crowd.

It was used a decent amount in Portland on Buddy Rose to comedic effect.

Also, she has a Milk Commercial now. It's surreal.

A few things about the match, most of which I've said before. 1.) It was Martel's debut to the territory really. He came in very shortly before the Race matches and the way that they build him up as a babyface in the first quarter of 1980 is really incredibly well done. Here, though, he was new enough it was almost felt like Crockett sending a Magnum vs Flair match to help prop up another territory's big show. There's not even the proximity to Canada connection since he was billed from France. 2.) Frank Bonnema basically explains/rationalizes, at length, the neverending armwork as "control" and while I really like him as an announcer in general, that's one of the best things i've ever heard an announcer do. 3.) I think it says a lot about both Race and Martel (at this early point in his career) when you look at how they chose to work this match relative to the big matches that Martel would have later in the year and then later on in the AWA. EDIT: I'm not sure what else I'd REALLY suggest from Portland in 1980. Past the matches listed (though the Midget match is a bit slight since we don't have much of it). If you're going to watch that then you should watch the June 14, 1980 Battle Royal too). So much of what worked for it for me was to see it in context and how things led into each other and how Buddy would deal with different situations even if they weren't meant to be MOTY whatevers. I realize I haven't seen that six man vs Lightfoot/Youngblood/Cortez which I didn't realize existed, so I'm excited to track that down someday and see some babyface Cuban. I guess if I had to suggest one more 1980 match from Portland I'd go with Rose/Wiskowki/Fidel Cortez vs Sheepherders/Jonthan Boyd - 2/3 Falls - July 19, 1980