Feel free to start a thread. Just be nice and try not to repeat topics that already exist. No real etiquette beyond that.

I haven't seen his WCW title run, but I could watch Doom or APA beat the hell out of guys forever. I also think the original version of the Nation was awesome and he should have been pushed to the moon. He would have been a good opponent for Austin's initial title run. Now I'm imagining Vince joining the Nation, which would have been priceless.

Speaking of Mel Philips, does anyone know if he was really the reason Hogan/Andre at mania 3 was only released with the hard camera footage on some recent DVD releases? It looks like a fancam. Really bizarre, and the network has the original version, so it seems arbitrary.

 

I agree that it seems ridiculous if they are going to show the original version on the Network.

 

Here's an article on the Mel Phillips thing....

 

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2013/1201/567881/wwe-trying-to-erase-a-former-ring-announcer-historic/

Nikita should have won the belt at Starrcade.

Why's that, Johnny?

It would have been a good way to cap off the story of him turning face because he respected Magnum for one. Plus it always seemed that since JCP had such a thing for heel champs, it kind of made the babyface challengers look like chumps to me when even if they did win the belt, it was only for a couple of weeks (or less) before they lost it back.

Had he not fallen ill where do you think Brian Hildebrand/Mark Curtis would rank in the pantheon of all-time great referees? Maybe I'm alone in my assessment of his ability as a ref, but I thought he was outstanding and in the late 90s was easily the best ref working in North America. I know it's always dodgy when people talk about wrestling seeming real, but Curtis made the matches seem more real. His reactions to power moves, to a guy getting hurt, the way he moved around the ring to be in position, and the way he sold the importance of nearfalls, he was great all around. For my money he's the natural successor to Tommy Young as far as the best referee in North America goes, and I don't think a referee in North America has come close to touching him since his untimely passing.

I agree no one's come close since him. One thing that helped was being so small made ref bumps look like something more than just a booking tool. Plus I still mark out for the time on Nitro a fan ran in and Mark took him down in a second.

It's REALLY hard to be a ref who is part of the show doing all kinds of his own "ref spots " and reactions without looking like a total douche. Like Hanson in ROH and JAPW back in the day. But Hildebrand pulled it off incredibly.

Ugh, Hanson, I just listened to an interview with him a couple of months back, what an egotistical prick.

You guys are no selling Charles Robinson. I think he has been the best ref working since Brian passed on. I know that when I watch a match that he is reffing I won't notice him very much, but recent gifs have shown him to be awesome at referee impact selling.

 

 

 

I didnt even know he reffed these matches until I saw these.

Little Naitch has been my favorite ref for awhile.

Bryce Remsburg is also a guy that fits that mold, albeit on a much smaller stage. I also think Pee Wee Anderson doesn't get as much credit as he should, because his career pretty much ran parallel to Hildebrand. I think he's pretty much the bridge between Young & Hildebrand as far as great referees go.

My friend made a fun Genius vs. John Cena battle rap video that some of you may like.

Charles Robinson is my current favorite and has been for a while. I personally barely even notice him, which is exactly what you want from a good ref, but when you do notice the little stuff he does (like those above GIFs) he's just fantastic

 

Hildebrand and Pee Wee Anderson were both pretty great, and both sadly lost too soon to cancer. I always thought WCW had better refs. Those two, Robinson and Nick Patrick were all fantastic in my book.

My friend made a fun Genius vs. John Cena battle rap video that some of you may like.

 

This was fun!

I think Scott Armstrong has been the best TV ref of the last several years.

For what it's worth, even though it was probably unintentional, I loved that the ref in the Authority's pocket was Armstrong after the NAO came back, especially with the reference during the main of WM. What does Bullet Bob think of his sons conspiring to screw over a plucky young gentleman like Bryan?

Armstrong's count is too slow and deliberate for my liking.

 

And Pee Wee Anderson overdid the reaction selling a little too much for my liking. I remember an episode of Nitro when Anderson practically took a bump from Flair chopping somebody, and it was a step too far.

 

Tommy Young was the perfect middle ground of a guy who was awesome at all times and added to a match rather than distracting.

My friend made a fun Genius vs. John Cena battle rap video that some of you may like.

That was good. People talk about how terrible they script Cena's promos now, but that Cena computer rap at the end is as bad as any of his poopy joke promos now.

Ever since Loss mentioned it on Twitter, I can't unsee Nattie as the Meg Griffin of WWE now.

Does anyone know where the "Three Musketeers" label to describe Muto, Chono and Hashimoto in the 1990s originated from?

 

EDIT: Got an answer from KrisZ on Twitter. Apparently, the trio gave themselves the name when working WWC in 1988.

I think it's technically Fighting Spirit Three Musketeers, but I don't think anybody wants to go around calling them that.

This group of people just did karaoke night at a bar in Belgium

 

I think it's technically Fighting Spirit Three Musketeers, but I don't think anybody wants to go around calling them that.

 

Maybe not, but that sounds like a hell of a candy bar.