Stiva

One thing about DVDVR that's fun is that it acts as a time capsule of sorts for the last few years of wrestling, at least in the US. When I was watching WWE 2007, it was fun going back and read the threads for opinions at the time and how they've changed now. Things like people being hot on Kennedy and MVP and ear marking them as top draws for years to come. PWO is awesome for its range of topics about wrestling as a "thing" but I like reading through the show threads on DVDVR to get a sense of the zeitgeist, which isn't always the case here. Two awesome depositories for the professional wrestling either way!

I'm psyched that Big Show is so high as he's a guy that I've really enjoyed watching, pretty much since his return in 08. When he's back from injury, I'd like to see him working with Daniel Bryan for a couple of PPVs to working long TV matches with Christian and just generally keep his high standard up. Show from 08 to whenever he retires is prime comp-material as he's been in a ton of fun matches.

Oh, I thought it was great, don't worry. Wyatt sitting in the rocking chair and watching his guys dismantle Kane was awesome and the whole entrance is wonderful, from the music to the complete darkness. Great pop too when he said "we're here"

So, the Wyatt's have arrived, taken out Kane and already there was some smart-asses chanting "Husky Harris" at Wyatt. Some people, man. I can see people being underwhelmed but anything short of a Nexus debut style angle would have been a disappointment after all the hype.

Deuce and Domino. That music, man. I literally couldn't tell you a single memorable match that they were in but I could sing you their theme music right now.

Word is that the old host is making things really awkward in the changeover: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?show...p;#entry5550201

That reminds me of the WWA PPV where he says he likes to have sex with prostitutes when they're in Vegas. Wasn't that the league whose commentary was echoed through the arena speakers? Ensuring every single parent with child would feel deadly uncomfortable at that point? Yeah. The first show had that, yeah. It makes for some great moments where Lawler's jokes fall flat. Madden replaces him for the 2nd show and I believe that their PBP isn't broadcast through the speakers but their hype in-between matches is, which is when Madden makes the gambling and prostitution joke. If anything, we can applaud TNA for NOT hiring him but man, I don't envy EL-P having to sit through his nonsense on commentary. Talk about making a bad situation worse.

That reminds me of the WWA PPV where he says he likes to have sex with prostitutes when they're in Vegas.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxhh5h8vtWZBW1IEi8sm-Og This Youtube channel has a load of matches on there, arranged into playlists for certain workers so you can easily have your WOS Finlay fix. It's predictably great.

SWA: ZERO 1 has their online show "Full On" at their Youtube page Here. I haven't started on it yet so can't speak to its quality though.

Low Ki doing voiceover work for Saturday morning cartoon villains is absolutely a career move I can get behind.

I've been thinking recently about some landmark years, not in pro wrestling as a whole, but in certain promotions and what goes into making them great. I'm not talking about profitable years (though I'd wager a lot of the best years were successful ones) but years where companies were either putting on great matches or booking things extremely well. Everyone points to 1997 or 2000 as years where the WWF/E had their shit together but having rewatched a lot of 2007 recently, and maybe it's because it's when I started watching again, but it's really fun. John Cena is on fire from the first day of the year and continues until he's injured and even when the injuries mount up in the summer months, Smackdown always pulls out some good TV matches. WCW has its 1996 and 1992 but I think 1990 has a lot going for it and of course, 2000 is a masterclass in booking professional wrestling... I like ECW's 95 a hell of a lot but I understand YMMV on that, especially if you're watching it for the first time now. If you want to extend things to WWECW, 2009 is very consistent with its core of Finlay, Christian, Swagger, Bourne (until he's drafted), Regal, Goldust and Dreamer (who has some real fun matches in his title run). What's the consensus for AJPW? Early 90s are awesome but anything from the 2000s that can stack up? I really have a puro and lucha blackspot for most of the 2000s so I would love to know what people think. Any stand-out indy years in recent memory?

Yeah, as much as I disagree with making this happen on a Smackdown, the final stretch is of the 6-man is awesome with some great heat. Daniel Bryan is the most over man in that company by a country mile.

I've watched everything available from TNA from the beginning up to the end of 2007 so far. While it has been painless enough from mid 2004 to current, getting through the 110 weekly PPV's should only be attempted by the most stubborn and determined of people. El-P I think you can make it since you've held steady on Death of WCW. Dip your toes into the WWA PPVs too since I like to think of them spiritually related to one another. The Luger/Sting match is funny in hindsight but it basically sums the whole affair up.

Did anyone watch Impact and see the Rampage debut and "confrontation" with Angle? Also, Mike Tenay may be in contention for worst announcer in history; Bully Ray is screaming in the guy's face and he's looking at him as if he's deciphering a Magic Eye picture, just so awful.

That's crazy; Loudspeaker/Donst was really well worked and as someone that hasn't seen any Chikara for 3/4 years, I felt immediately caught up with the angle and Donst's entourage. The Sarcophagus match was a meandering, boring mess. I read your review (good stuff btw!) but disagree about Hatfield on commentary. For some reason, him speaking through the mask and wondering if Jigsaw was really Dynamite Kid cracked me up and I thought he really added to the tag. As for the ending, man, I love when pro wrestling gets into crazy high-concept shit like this. Like the time Regal was Raw GM and he cut the broadcast off in the middle of Cena/HHH. Just awesome stuff that gets people talking and inappropriately riled up and the fallout is always great.

Everytime Cena heels it up in this match, it's supremely entertaining.

Holy christ, that would not end. Heyman gave it his all on the outside but man, the kimura lock sequence accomplished fucking nothing but I was convinced HHH was gonna book himself to beat the UFC guy with "his" move. The only crowd noise there was the pop when it was over.

That's incredible. HHH is so fucking shitty, goddamn. Michaels is selling concern for his friend like he's watching an eBay auction get too expensive too quickly.

Enjoyed that much more than the two Taker/HHH matches and Punk being King Dick of the universe helped a lot. Heyman on the outside was incredible, Punk's facials as he couldn't keep Taker down were awesome, as well as his shit-eating grin after hitting old-school. Crazy fun match and it's great seeing Taker's opponents come up with ways to make the near falls believable year after year. Punk got way closer than HHH IMO, especially with the urn shot. Crowd seemed to genuinely believe it was finished for a second.

Holy shit, Paul Heyman is fucking incredible out there

Can't say I enjoyed Fandango on offense a bunch but Jericho breaking out dives and big spots was fun. Fandango's entrance was great too. That ad where Miz bursts through the giant box at that kid's party is my current highlight of the night.

Really dug the tag and really dug the near-fall at the start. Would really like to see Ziggler as a babyface at some point but this team with Langston could have legs.

Man, Mark Henry is awesome. "That's what I do!" after dumping Ryback to the outside was great. The finish was great but the post-match stuff seemed dumb to me. As said, seemed like Ryback shouldn't have been able to hit his finish but hey, whatever, the finishing stretch was fun.

Is it the accepted inevitability of this show that Cena is turning? I've not been keeping up with WWE and that's totally the vibe I'm getting from that Rock/Cena video package.