I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing if a wrestling match works in the moment but doesn't really transcend time. I think it's more nuanced than that. Some matches are great in the context of their time and what surrounded them, but are not as enjoyable now. Some matches look better with hindsight than they did at the time. Some matches are timeless. All have positives in very different ways.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Something can be awesome for the time or just good or whatever, but do be a great piece of art you need to be great nobody when it is being consumed.

So what's all this fun at the Observer board about an older wrestling figure getting mad at Dave because of Todd's 80s Observer recap audio segments and Todd subsequently disappearing?

 

Not sure I completely buy it, as Todd got into an argument with Mike Coughlin on the board, where he used some pretty heavy language before his disappearance.

Wait... Todd Martin? That seems odd.

 

Lord knows I worked stiffer than Stan Hansen with him in any number of threads. No matter how cheesed off he'd get, he never aimed "heavy language" at me. He just never seemed to go there.

It's a really odd situation all round. Coughlin got banned. Todd then disappeared off the face of the earth (after calling Coughlin a c*nt and a sociopath). The only response Bryan made to his weekly radio show with Todd not happening afterwards was "Has anyone thought for one second that perhaps there is a reason I haven't said anything about this?"

Hmmm... this would be an interesting thread. What was it about, how did it go off the rails, etc?

From what I can gather, Coughlin has been going through some personal shit and while possibly drunk posting he took some shots at Todd. He either didn't know about Mike's issues or didn't care (they had run ins before), and took some shots back. Mike was temp banned and Todd seems to have vanished until the heat dies down.

On the bright side, no Todd Martin audio shows.

On the bright side, no Todd Martin audio shows.

 

I really enjoy the Bryan and Todd shows lately. I used to not care for the guy but he's loosened up a bit and is much better than he used to be

 

I don't know what drama is going on here, and don't really care, but I would miss the Figure 4 Daily shows with Todd. The OBSERVOR stuff is great

 

Did he manage to piss off Meltzer? Pissing off Dave is a major no-no

Bryan posted this on the BOARD today:

 

 

 

The Thursday Todd Martin show is on an indefinite hiatus.

A big thank you to those who had understanding during one of the most difficult periods I have had in the history of this website.

 

So what's all this fun at the Observer board about an older wrestling figure getting mad at Dave because of Todd's 80s Observer recap audio segments and Todd subsequently disappearing?

 

Not sure I completely buy it, as Todd got into an argument with Mike Coughlin on the board, where he used some pretty heavy language before his disappearance.

 

No one thing was the reason but the recaps were not inconsequential. The Coughlin thing (and Todd's likely reaction) just put it over the top.

What exactly were the objections to the observer recap segments?

 

Feels like people are talking in riddles here...

Don't mean to talk in riddles, sorry if that's coming across. It's just that those of us who have been with the site since the beginning don't want to get anyone in trouble. Some of us still talk with one of the catalysts of this whole thing, so its why some know more than others.

*Edited out of deference to those directly involved, don't want to create more trouble for anyone.

That's ok. It's a bit like someone writing something cryptic on facebook.

 

Drives you mad, but you don't want to be the one to give them the satisfaction of biting....

 

Why would anyone care about Todd Martin? I'm asking as a serious question. Did he ever do anything besides write Raw recaps for the site? Was he ever a more integral part of the Observer product?

A wrestler getting pissed off about an 80s Observer audio recap is kind of a dumbass thing for Dave or Bryan or anyone else to give a shit about. Even if it was Jim Ross or Paul Heyman or someone Dave might be close with bitching about it, Dave really shouldn't give a shit. Even if they're bitching about it because of Martin repeating snarky shit Dave wrote about the figure back in his more snarky 80s days isn't something that Dave should give a shit about.

 

If Dave was getting annoyed by Todd pointing out silly / goofy / wrong stuff Dave wrote, well... Dave needs to put on the Big Boy Pants.

seriously

 

Dave wrote some embarrassingly bad stuff in the 80's, when he was younger, and the OBSERVOR was more of a fanzine than what it became, the "Paper of Record" of the wrestling business. Junkfood Dog, Anabolic Warrior, etc. etc. We all say and do stupid things when we're young. Dave was pretty angry about the WWF and the death of the territory system/birth of sports entertainment at that time, and it came across in his writing, opinions and ratings

 

If Todd picking funny and interesting bits from old newsletters, and poking a bit of fun at Dave......there was nothing malicious and mean spirited about it......Alvarez was right there too cackling like a hyena and "WOW" at some of the stuff Dave said back then.......if this really is the reason or part of the reason Todd is gone that's just weird to me, and slightly unbelievable

Yeah and considering how much Todd respects Dave, there's no way Dave should even take Todd's recaps as "insults". He was clearly having a good time reliving the mid-80s through these classic observers and was never derogatory in his recaps.

 

This whole situation has been handled dirt poorly.

I was under the impression the issue was the Todd/Coughlin heat, none of the roughly eight million threads on the WON board about it mention anything about the Observer reviews.

I was under the impression the issue was the Todd/Coughlin heat, none of the roughly eight million threads on the WON board about it mention anything about the Observer reviews.

Yeah, that is my understanding, as well.

That is probably the biggest part, but a few posters made reference to an older star (Ross or Flair?) hearing about something negative 1985 Dave said about them in a 1985 Observer. Not that they listened to a Bryan/Todd show, but that some other party did, and passed it along.

It's been a while since this site was the Wrestling Observer observer.

That is probably the biggest part, but a few posters made reference to an older star (Ross or Flair?) hearing about something negative 1985 Dave said about them in a 1985 Observer. Not that they listened to a Bryan/Todd show, but that some other party did, and passed it along.

 

Pretty sure Ross would've been a subscriber approximately that early. I believe the period where Bill Watts told everyone to subscribe was a little later, but Dave was already trading tapes with Joel Watts by early '85 at the latest.

 

What would 1985 Dave have even said about Flair that would be an issue?

That's whats so confusing about something like that happening. Maybe Dusty? Ghost of the Junkyard Dog?

 

And either way, who gives a crap about something said 30 years ago?

Meltzer's reaction to the Villano IV vs Blue Demon Jr discussion on twitter was somewhat entertaining. Not really surprised that he wasn't too into it, just more surprised that his criticism of it being slow mo chain wrestling, didn't really seem to apply to the match.

Yeah, I was amused by his claim that the audience hated it too. I guess that's why they were trashing the ring with their money. Are there any diehard lucha fans at all who take his lucha opinions seriously?