Straight Shooting

DEAN Rasmussen

Well HTQ, you asked for it....

 

 

Mitsuharu Misawa

Antonio Inoki

Keiji Muto

Toshiaki Kawada

Akira Taue

KENTA

Yoshihiro Takayama

OVW

Undertaker

 

The so-called locker room leader is nothing more than a self-serving egotist. Mark Calloway, for all of his talk in the past against cancers such as Kevin Nash has wound up being just as big of a cancer himself. His absurd power plays have stifled and derailed careers, and his actions are those of a man who, despite acting like he is ‘one of the boys’ is just another Vince McMahon lapdog ready to say “How high?” when Vince says “jump”. Just a complete cancer in his own right, and equally as bad as Triple H when it comes to putting his own ego ahead of what is best for the company and for business, I have nothing but contempt for Mark Calloway.

 

Kane

 

Kane is a hard worker, and he’s gone further with the gimmick than most thought he would, but he’s so far beyond stale now it isn’t even funny. And it’s the gimmick that has trapped him into being where he is, because he can’t be repackaged, he can’t be given a makeover; he’s forever Kane. Glen Jacobs is trapped in WWE for as long as he needs to make a living, because without the Kane gimmick he has no outside value, and ironically it’s the gimmick that causes him to have no internal value either.

 

Bill Apter

 

Bill is a great guy, and he’s pretty funny. The less said about the ‘Apter Mags’, the better.

 

Eddie Ellner

 

He was one of the few real Apter Mag writers wasn’t he? Didn’t really pay attention to what he had to write, if indeed it was he writing the articles attributed to his name.

 

Booker T

 

Booker deserved his run as WCW champion, even though it was filled with the usual politics and bullshit dragging it down that tended to affect everything in that company. He got an undeserved bad rap during his first year or so in the WWF, and he never really recovered. Criminally underrated by a lot of people, Booker is someone who should have been given a lot more than the meager offerings he’s been lumbered with over the years in WWE.

 

Stevie Ray

 

Stevie Ray wouldn’t be worth $800 a year let alone the $800,000 he got in WCW. What the hell did Eric Bischoff see in this totally useless person?

 

Ice Train

 

It strained my eyes too, having to watch this feckless goon on television. Train had all the talent of a lump of coal. Wait, I take that back. The lump of coal could at least provide warmth. All Train could provide was…was…ok, someone help me out.

 

Charlie Norris

 

Tatanka-lite, Norris might have been even more useless than Chris Chavis. He went nowhere fast, and does anybody miss him?

 

2 Cold Scorpio

 

Scorpio was a better talent than his pre-NOAH career suggests. He got fired from WCW for pick pocketing while the rest of the roster was off committing arson and murder, which was total bullshit. He had a great run in ECW, which saw him really show off his stuff. His run in WWF was a complete waste of his talent, but Scorpio has to share some of the blame for that. Scorpio can still go when he has to.

 

Rob Van Dam

 

RVD polarizes people; there is no doubt about that. RVD has his weaknesses, like any other wrestler, yet for some reason a lot of people point blank refuse to look past them and admit there are ways to work around them, and instead seem hell bent on using those weaknesses to complain long and loud about how RVD could never have been a main event player. These people have rocks in their heads. When he was at his hottest and insanely over in the WWF, he absolutely should have been given the ball to run with. The fans were dying to accept him as a main event player and they desperately wanted to get behind RVD as the main man. However, ego and politics got in the way and RVD never get the push he deserved and that the fans clearly wanted. RVD was one of the numerous victims of Triple H’s self-serving attitude when it came to Triple H putting his own fragile ego ahead of what was best for the company. While the boat may have sailed on RVD’s time on being the main man, coming back fresh, he can still be pushed and accepted as a viable player in the main event scene.

 

PN News

 

PN News was fat, out of shape, sucked a great big dick, and was beyond worthless.

 

Van Hammer

 

Looked like David Lee Roth on steroids, and wrestled about as well as David Lee Roth. Hey Van; William Regal says hi.

 

Raven

 

Didn’t I already cover Raven? Raven has a great mind for the business, if a little one-track on occasion. Can talk with the best of them, always works very hard, and is a great talent to have.

 

Jeff Jarrett

 

Jeff is not the man to anchor a national wrestling promotion. He never has been, he never will be, and there is absolutely no force in the universe that will ever change that. Sadly, Jeff’s incredible ego prevents him from seeing this, and, like his equally blind worshippers, Jeff continues to believe that TNA needs to be built around him, and he continues to be its most featured performer, and he will be more so now that TNA are on Spike. The sad thing is that Jeff isn’t a bad worker; he’s a good hand to have on the roster. He just has absolutely no place at all being anywhere near the top level in any way, shape, or form. Unfortunately, as long as his ego demands that Jeff is pushed as the centerpiece of TNA, TNA will never make any challenge to WWE, and that is a very bad thing for the wrestling industry.

 

Jerry Jarrett

 

When it comes to booking things in the Memphis style, Jerry knows his stuff and can do it like few others. Unfortunately, Jerry has displayed a complete inability to move with the times, which is a trap that a lot of his ilk has fallen into. It goes without saying that someone of his booking skill could be a useful person to have on a committee, but only if he shows a willingness and ability to move forward and not stay stuck in the past.

 

Jim Herd

 

Jim Herd was an absolute blithering idiot. Herd didn’t have a clue about wrestling, he didn’t know or understand it to any degree and his complete and totally disregard of common sense and logic led WCW down a dark and scary path that it never really recovered from. I’ll always remember his appearance on the old Wrestling Observer Live show on eYada, when caller after caller tore into him for his bungling, and Herd wound up on the verge of tears.

 

K. Allen Frey

 

Frey knew enough that he knew he didn’t know enough, and let the wrestling people get on with their jobs. Sadly, he wasn’t able to stick around long enough to oversee what might have been a real turnaround for WCW, and instead we got lumbered with a woefully behind the times Bill Watts, and a terrible run that last almost a year.

 

Bill Busch

 

Over his head in all departments, Bill Busch should never have had anything to do with wrestling.

 

Bill Clinton

 

He’s got quite the instrument.

 

George W. Bush

 

A complete buffoon and totally inept when it comes to running the country, George Bush has proven to be in way over his head as president, even with the numerous people that are helping him along who are truly pulling the strings. Maybe that itself is the reason for his almost total failure at being the kind of leader the US really needs, but then again when he’s left to his own devices he can’t even consume a pretzel without choking himself into unconsciousness. I don’t think Bush is an evil person, but in a way he’s much worse than an evil person because Bush thinks he’s doing good, when in reality he’s bungling things to such a degree that someone who really is evil couldn’t screw things up as bad. His recent actions during the disaster in New Orleans have pretty much erased all doubt that Bush is in over his head when it comes to running the country, and you have to wonder if the people who voted him in would have done so had they know what kind of leader he would turn out to be.

 

Jun Akiyama

 

Akiyama has all the talent to cornerstone NOAH, but unfortunately he lacks the necessary charisma and personality to be the figurehead of a major promotion. It’s sad, because he was the lone guy to truly break into the main event scene after Misawa et all rose to the top, and someone like that really should have been able to get a big run.

 

Satoshi Kojima

 

For me, Kojima is like Akiyama in that he has all the ability to be the figurehead and cornerstone of a major promotion. However, I think Kojima has an advantage over Akiyama, because I feel Kojima has the charisma and personality to succeed where Akiyama has failed. Kojima is the current Triple Crown champion in All Japan, and I think that a long reign can and should establish Kojima has the new ‘ace’ of All Japan, and a real star in Japanese wrestling.

 

Kurt Angle

 

There tend to be two positions on Kurt Angle. The first is that Angle is a tremendous wrestler, a super worker, and is either one of the all time great talents in wrestling or on course to be. The other viewpoint is that Angle is highly overrated by people who hold the first position, and that while he isn’t bad, he is nowhere near as good as people claim. I take the middle ground myself, with leanings towards the second viewpoint. I think he works very hard, even when his health says he should take it easy. He can carry lesser talents to good matches, and he can talk pretty well. However, I do not think he is some great wrestler, and is ‘just’ pretty good. He doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses, but the ones he has really stick out for me. He punches way too much for a guy pushed on his wrestling ability, and his punches are pretty ropey as it is.

 

Jumbo Tsuruta

 

Tsuruta was undoubtedly on of the greats. The ‘ace’ of All Japan for the decade of the 80s, Tsuruta was one of the best workers of all time. His NWA title match against Terry Funk back in 1976 began an almost constant stream of classic matches that only stopped when he contracted hepatitis in 1992. While he wrestled for a few years after that, he was never close to what he once was, and was relegated to the midcard.

 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

 

Tenzan is like Kojima, in that he has the talent, ability and charisma to be the figurehead and cornerstone of New Japan. Sadly, he has been so incredibly mishandled for the last two years, that I think Tenzan’s chance to be the ‘ace’ of New Japan has passed. He still has credibility in the ring, but I don’t think the fans would take him seriously as a long-term IWGP champion, which is unfortunate.

 

 

Trish Stratus

 

Trish workers harder than she probably has to, but her dedication means Trish has improved to where she can work good WWE-style matches. Don’t get me wrong; she’s below average as a wrestler. However, for WWE, Trish is pretty good.

 

S_D

 

S_D is a quality poster in the wrestling forums, and he makes a refreshing change from the sea of idiots that the wrestling forums have been flooded with lately.

 

spman

 

Nothing about this person stands out.

 

Star Rating use by everyone and their mother

 

Star ratings can be a useful way to see at a glance what a reviewer thinks of a match, but that only really works if you read a lot of the reviews of the person in question and are familiar with how they judge matches. Even then, however, it only gives you a thumbnail version of their review, and to see the rating given in its proper context you need to read the whole of the review.

 

Canada

 

I have nothing against North Mexico, and I give it two thumbs up.

 

Gorilla Monsoon

 

Gorilla was a pretty decent commentator until around 1990, at which point he went downhill fast.

 

Ricky Steamboat

 

Steamboat was the best babyface of all time, and along with Ricky Morton was one of the best sellers of all time as well. Steamboat never got the break a wrestler of his talent or ability deserved, and seemed forever to be a transitional champion. Steamboat is my pick as the best US wrestler of the 80s.

 

Vern Gagne

 

One of the few men in wrestling whose ego and arrogance approaches Vince McMahon’s level.

 

Nick Bockwinkle

 

Nick was a great talker and a heck of a talent. His articulate and intelligent rants are priceless, and his talking down to Lance Russell and ripping into Memphis after losing the world title to Jerry Lawler remains one of the funniest promos ever.

 

Bret Hart

 

Bret Hart was a tremendous wrestler. He didn’t have the flashiest of styles, but his strength was in telling a compelling and exciting story in the ring, and building the people up so that by the time the match was hitting the home stretch they were going crazy. His moves and execution in the ring always looked crisp, and his selling was top notch as well, unlike a lot of his contemporaries at the time. After all that he has been through in his professional and personal life, Bret deserves a happy and peaceful life after wrestling. However, for the reasons we all know, that is unlikely to happen.

 

Superstar Billy Graham

 

Like Bruno, Superstar was never a great wrestler, but he had charisma to burn. Graham could talk his ass off, and he was the prototypical cool heel, and the inspiration for numerous wrestlers over the years.

 

Bruno Sammartino

 

Bruno was never a great wrestler, but he had truckloads of charisma, and he had MSG going crazy at times. Never sold-out MSG more times than anyone else, despite legend saying otherwise.

 

Superfly Jimmy Snuka

 

Don’t share a motel room with this guy.

 

DEAN Rasmussen

 

I only know of Dean by reputation, and he seems a bit hit-and-miss.

 

Mitsuharu Misawa

 

Misawa is a legitimate legend in wrestling. The ‘ace’ of All Japan from the moment he pinned Jumbo Tsuruta all the way until he left the company to form NOAH, Misawa has had dozens of incredible matches. His feud with Toshiaki Kawada is probably the best in-ring feud of the 90s, and maybe even of all time. His booking is sensible for the most part, though there are times when he makes some strange or illogical decisions.

 

Antonio Inoki

 

Inoki’s ego and delusions of grandeur have helped to cripple a once great promotion in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Inoki is like Hulk Hogan in that he is totally lost in the world working as to be almost completely removed from reality. For New Japan to get back to where it once was, Inoki has to be removed from the picture, and that is unlikely to happen unfortunately.

 

Keiji Muto

 

Muto is another legend in Japanese wrestling. The pioneer of the moonsault, Muto could pretty much do it all in the ring, and was a tremendous wrestler. In his later years, with his knees falling apart, Muto isn’t at the level he used to be, but he’s still smart enough to know when to do what he is still physically capable of doing.

 

Toshiaki Kawada

 

Kawada is another legend in Japanese wrestling. At his peak, Kawada was one of the best wrestlers in the world. His style was stiff, intense, and very believable. Unfortunately for Kawada, he was never going to be able to surpass Misawa in terms of popularity and importance to All Japan, which led to bad blood between the two, and meant Kawada was one of only two native wrestlers to stick with All Japan when Misawa and company left to form NOAH. Kawada is in his twilight years now, but I think he’s better than Misawa right now, which may be down to his frequent injuries from 1999-2002 giving his body more off-time, and letting it hold together more.

 

Akira Taue

 

Taue was a pretty decent wrestler. Unfortunately, when you’re sharing the spotlight with Kobashi, Misawa and Kawada, a pretty decent wrestler looks like bad one. Taue got a bit of a bad rap during his time in the All Japan main event scene, and the fans didn’t accept him at the level of the other three, which in all fairness he wasn’t at. Right now, Taue is where he should be, playing the part of the grumpy old man at the lower level of cards in NOAH.

 

KENTA

 

KENTA is a heck of a babyface. He’s got that youthful charisma that makes the ladies like him, and he can sell pretty damn well. He can go to the air for some great looking moves, and can bump like crazy. For me, though, he lacks that something to be accepted at that top level, but if he can get that, he’ll be set for life.

 

Yoshihiro Takayama

 

Takayama went from being a terrible wrestler to a pretty good wrestler and a very hard worker. Takayama has taken some insane punishment over last four years, and he hasn’t wrestled since facing Kensuke Sasaki in last years 2004 G1 Climax Tournament and he may never wrestle again, which is very unfortunate. I liked Takayama a lot, and I hope he can wrestle again someday.

 

OVW

 

OVW has been WWE’s developmental territory for almost six years now. During that time, OVW has sent up some really great talent to WWE. Who have then promptly fucked them up seven ways from Sunday by booking them in the completely opposite direction to the one that makes the best use of their talents. With few exceptions, every talented or promising wrestler that WWE has called up has wound up being totally misused to the point that WWE have fired them. The few that WWE do call up and put the effort in with have been talentless stiffs who have been juiced to their eyeballs and will die of a heart attack before they reach 40. OVW, until Jim Cornette was fired and removed from being the booker there, was booked so much better than WWE it wasn’t even funny.

 

And can we keep the requests to two or three people at a time.

Kazushi Sakuraba

Alexander Otsuka

Akira Shoji

thanks in advance

Rob Conway

Doug Basham

HWA

Kazushi Sakuraba

 

Sakuraba was a really good fighter when he wasn’t getting cocky and getting KO’d by errant knees. After getting beaten up so much over the years without being able or willing to take time off to heal, Sakuraba has become a shell of his former self a lot quicker than he should have. He’s very charismatic too.

 

Alexander Otsuka

 

Otsuka wasn’t that bad of a fighter, but he got a lot of mileage out of beating Marco Ruas many years ago, and had a fight career that he probably shouldn’t have had. I’ve seen him wrestle a few times too, and he’s a better wrestler than he is a fighter.

 

Akira Shoji

 

Shoji is pretty much a jobber in PRIDE, but I still like seeing him fight, because he knows he’s cannon fodder, and so he tends let it all hang out.

 

Rob Conway

 

Conway is a really good worker and he can talk very well, but you would never know it given how badly he has been misused in WWE. Conway deserves a lot better than being a member of the New Village People.

 

Doug Basham

Basham is a great worker, and he can talk, but like so many OVW alumni you would never know what he can do. Basham seems like he’s getting a jobber push, so his job seems safe, if not his career.

 

HWA

 

I’ve never actually seen anything from HWA, but I’ve seen a few HWA wrestlers on OVW or ROH, and if they were trained by Les Thatcher then Les seems to know his stuff.

 

Deon

Wildpegasus

Czech Republic

Downhome

KNK

Zack Malibu

Kahran Ramsus

 

Scott Steiner

Paul Roma

Mark and Jay Briscoe

Jack and Gerald Brisco

Shinjiro Ohtani

Dutch Mantell

Junkyard Dog

 

Deon

 

He seems a decent enough poster, but I don’t really pay him a lot of attention.

 

Wildpegasus

 

Wildpegasus is another quality poster, who brings the good content whenever he posts. He should post more often, but given the type of poster we’ve had lately, I can see why he doesn’t post more often.

 

Czech Republic

 

I usually skip over whatever he says.

 

Downhome

 

A fine poster, Downhome brings a nice mix of ‘smart’ and ‘casual’ to the wrestling forums.

 

*KNK*

 

*KNK* is really good poster, and a great addition to the wrestling forums. He brings quality content, and we really need more posters like him to offset the idiots that have been dragging the forums down lately.

 

Zack Malibu

 

Zack seems to know what he’s talking about, can articulate his points well, and he’s a fan of OVW. He’s another poster who should post more often here.

 

Kahran Ramsus

 

Kahran is a great poster on the forums. He knows how to get his points across, and it is fun watching him shoot down the twerps we’ve had around here of late.

 

Scott Steiner

 

Before he really got into the juice, Scott was a hard worker, and was a great talent. Once he heavily started gassing up, Steiner become a giant and immobile lump of muscle, and became virtually useless. Coincidentally, it was at this time that Steiners temper became the stuff of legend as he started ranting, raving and losing his cool on an almost weekly basis.

 

Paul Roma

 

Devoid of charisma and personality, all Roma did was take up space and sully the Horseman name.

 

Mark and Jay Briscoe

 

Mark and Jay are great workers for their age, but they still have a long way to go to become legitimate good workers. They always worked hard, and did some really crazy stuff, and if they put their minds to a career in wrestling I think they had the potential to become legitimate really good workers.

 

Jack and Gerald Brisco

 

I’ve only really seen Jack in action, and he seemed like he really knew his stuff. A very good old-school style scientific wrestler, Jack made a great NWA champion. I’ve only ever seen Gerald wrestle at Starrcade in 1983, and he came across as a less talented version of his brother.

 

Shinjiro Ohtani

 

I love watching Shinjiro work. As a junior, his facial expressions were off-the-charts great and he played the underdog role to absolute perfection. After bulking up, Ohtani stopped playing the underdog, but he is still really good in the ring, and still has those great facial expressions.

 

Dutch Mantell

 

Mantell has a great booking mind, as shown by his incredible success in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, Mantell has fallen into same trap that other bookers of his era keep succumbing to and that’s an inability or unwillingness to move with the times.

 

Junkyard Dog

 

Great charisma in Mid-South, but after leaving his career just sunk like a stone as his drug problems spiraled completely out of control.

 

-Star Wars trilogy (original, not prequels)

-Paul London

-Billy Kidman

-the "Raven @ home" skits in WCW

-WWE's "1 size fits all" style of wrestling

-Vince telling London "maybe you should learn how to work" comment

 

(this next 1 may be better suited as a stand-alone entry, but that's up to you)

-the last 6-12 months of WCW - what you thought they did right & wrong, stuff you enjoyed (angles, gimmicks, wrestlers, particular moments or matches)

Jim Neidhart

Gerald Brisco

Jack Brisco

Um, he just did Gerald & Jack.

Paul London

 

London is a really good worker, who is one of many smaller wrestlers that WWE have reduced to wrestling the same heavyweight style and isn’t allowed to cut loose. This was really made evident when Vince banned almost all top rope moves, which begs the question of why even bother with hiring smaller wrestlers if they won’t let them wrestle how smaller wrestlers should.

 

Billy Kidman

 

Kidman used to be a great worker with a lot of charisma. Since coming to WWE he’s bulked up because of the WWE size obsession which has only served to make him a worse wrestler. And he cut his hair, again because WWE have this thing about long hair, and when he did that he cut off all of his charisma too. His getting release was a surprise, if only because it was felt that as long as the company was using Torrie Wilson that Kidman’s job was safe.

 

the "Raven @ home" skits in WCW

 

They were different, and I actually enjoyed them because I was interested in seeing where it would lead. It was meant to lead to something involving Roddy Piper, but as WCW always did with something that was getting a non-main event over, the skits were dropped for no reason, and nothing that happened in them was referred to again.

 

WWE's "1 size fits all" style of wrestling

 

Exactly the kind of blinkered and nonsensical mindset you’d expect from a company with the attitude that only their way is any good, and nothing anybody else ever did could be of any value.

 

Vince telling London "maybe you should learn how to work" comment

 

Exactly the kind of nonsensical comment you’d expect from a man with the attitude that only his view is the right view, and any other mindset can’t possibly be of value or meaning.

 

the last 6-12 months of WCW - what you thought they did right & wrong, stuff you enjoyed (angles, gimmicks, wrestlers, particular moments or matches)

 

WCW from March 2000 until the end of the year was just a disjointed mess. For March we had the Kevin Sullivan régime which produced some terrible PPV’s and television. However, they were putting out Shakespeare level drama compared to the total and utter mess that we got under the eye of that monumental incompetent Vince Russo, along with Eric Bischoff. Thanks to Russo we got television, PPV’s and angles that set new heights for idiocy, stupidity, and nonsensicalness. From April 2000 until near the end of the year WCW was virtually bereft of value, meaning and of anything that mattered. Russo completely and totally killed off the WCW title between putting it on David Arquette and changing it almost every other week. From January 2001, while WCW was still a complete mess, started putting out decent PPV’s and actually had some really good matches. Sadly, the overall booking was still focused almost entirely around the old guys, but at that point WCW was past the point of no return, and it was just a waiting game to see how long WCW would splutter along before flatlining.

 

Jim Neidhart

 

Niedhart was lucky enough to marry into the Hart family; otherwise he’d have sunk like a stone. Neidhart is just a total waste of space.

 

Star Wars trilogy

 

A really fun series of films, the trilogy might not have won Oscars, but they were great entertainment.

 

Since I'm on a ECW on TNN fix (anything but WWE at this point):

 

- The Network angle

 

- The seemingly weekly match involving either Crazy vs. Tajiri, Crazy vs. Guido, Tajiri vs. Guido, or a 3-Way Dance involving the 3.

A-Train

Ken Shamrock

The Network angle

 

It was a unique way to play off of a real life situation, and it was a great way for Paul E to vent his frustrations with TNN.

 

The seemingly weekly match involving either Crazy vs. Tajiri, Crazy vs. Guido, Tajiri vs. Guido, or a 3-Way Dance involving the 3.

 

Kind of repetitive, but at least it made for a quality match every week.

 

A-Train

 

A-Train was ok, but ok was about it. He had some decent mobility for a guy his size, but that was about all he had going for him really. I don’t miss him.

 

Ken Shamrock

 

Ken was a great fighter in his day, and could more than hold his own. Time seems to have passed him by now on that front, so he really should leave MMA. As a wrestler, he could have really stood out and been something different, fresh, and unique. WWE had other ideas, and quickly turned him into just another wrestler, and his potential was lost.

 

Joshi

 

Genichiro Tenryu

 

Harley Race

Um, he just did Gerald & Jack.

 

 

My bad.

Joshi

 

I’m a fan of Joshi, but not a big fan of it. Some of the matches I like and I’ve seen a few that really blow me away. But a lot of it, or at least the majority of what I’ve seen, is just move after move after move, with nothing between the moves but more moves. An example would be the legendary tag team main event of All Japan Women’s All Star Dream Slam II that a lot of people called the greatest match ever. I watched it and, while I appreciated the work and liked it, I certainly wouldn’t call it great, because it was just a mind numbing series of constant moves with almost nothing holding it together.

 

Genchiro Tenryu

 

Tenryu is one grumpy old bastard, and I love him for it. He’s just so great at playing the role of the grumpy veteran who isn’t about to roll over and lay down for the upstart punks that are coming his way. His match with Yoshinori Ogawa at the Destiny was thoroughly entertaining due to Tenryu treating Ogawa like a punk. Tenryu was a great worker in his prime, and while he has obviously slipped a little since then, he’s still incredibly entertaining, and is what Ric Flair wishes he was.

 

Harley Race

 

Harley Race is a true legend in wrestling. He was a great world champion, he could wrestle against anyone, and he was tremendous talker. I love watching Race wrestle because he actually wrestles.

 

I’m a fan of Joshi, but not a big fan of it. Some of the matches I like and I’ve seen a few that really blow me away. But a lot of it, or at least the majority of what I’ve seen, is just move after move after move, with nothing between the moves but more moves. An example would be the legendary tag team main event of All Japan Women’s All Star Dream Slam II that a lot of people called the greatest match ever. I watched it and, while I appreciated the work and liked it, I certainly wouldn’t call it great, because it was just a mind numbing series of constant moves with almost nothing holding it together.

 

 

Did you start your Joshi viewing with Dream Slam II? I could see where you are coming from.

 

Another thing about some of their shows is the pacing. On Dream Slam II, there are a ton of great matches before that main event tag match that by the time you get there, the wind is taken out of your sails. (sort of like HHH and Jericho trying to follow Hogan/Rock at WM18) I've found myself loving a lot of the matches as a stand alone versus part of a show because of this reason.

I’m a fan of Joshi, but not a big fan of it. Some of the matches I like and I’ve seen a few that really blow me away. But a lot of it, or at least the majority of what I’ve seen, is just move after move after move, with nothing between the moves but more moves. An example would be the legendary tag team main event of All Japan Women’s All Star Dream Slam II that a lot of people called the greatest match ever. I watched it and, while I appreciated the work and liked it, I certainly wouldn’t call it great, because it was just a mind numbing series of constant moves with almost nothing holding it together.

 

 

Did you start your Joshi viewing with Dream Slam II? I could see where you are coming from.

 

Another thing about some of their shows is the pacing. On Dream Slam II, there are a ton of great matches before that main event tag match that by the time you get there, the wind is taken out of your sails. (sort of like HHH and Jericho trying to follow Hogan/Rock at WM18) I've found myself loving a lot of the matches as a stand alone versus part of a show because of this reason.

I watched most of DS II before watching the main event, but I watched the main as a stand alone match.

Tito Ortiz

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

if you would, I'd like to hear your opinion on them as MMA fighters as well as if you think they have potential as pro wrestlers, as both seem to be royally screwed where they are

Tito Ortiz

 

He's good and can be very explosive, but his fight with Liddell showed he has a major weakness when it comes to the mental side of the game. If Ortiz doesn't go into a fight believing he'll win easily, then he seems to let that get to him, and it showed. Very charismatic, and UFC's best drawing card, Ortiz would draw for them again if Dana White would stop being such an idiot.

 

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

 

Funny as fuck on the mic and very charismatic until he found God. Rampage is good, but he's not great. He can take great dives through the ropes. Just ask Wanderlei.

Bam Bam Bigelow

 

In his prime, Bigelow was really good worker who put in the effort. It’s a shame that Bigelow has turned into a complete asshole and become a total mark for himself.

 

Can you please expand on this? He seemed like he was a pretty down to Earth guy every time I've seen or read something about him. Thanks.