Tawren

Wow, I can't believe it's 2005 and nobody has started this thread (yes, there is a WWE one, but there is more than WWE out there). SO, post your lists for 2004! Best matches, best wrestlers, best promotions, best shows, best dressed, best anything for 2004. I'll start the thread of with my top 10 matches. 1. L.A. Park vs Ultimo Guerrero, EMLL Guadalajara 4/18/04 ****1/2 Insane heat and a completely wild brawl. This match is just off the charts great. Parka has three beautiful dives. Completely underpimped this year, but everybody absolutely needs to see this. Just wonderful. 2. Samoa Joe vs CM Punk, ROH 12/4/04 ****1/2 Tons of plays off of 6/12 and 10/16 plus a beautiful story of desperation. Joe is great here as the champion who will do anything to remain on top, and Punk equals that as the man who will do anything to be champion. Great great stuff. Anyone who knocks this for being just 31 minutes hasn't seen it. 3. Samoa Joe vs CM Punk, ROH 10/16/04 ****1/2 Lots of great plays off of 6/12 and a great build towards the draw here. Joe is great as the monster heel champ and Punk is the spunky underdog in his hometown who will refuse to back down. Great, and required viewing before 12/4. 4. Samoa Joe vs Bryan Danielson, ROH 10/2/04 ****1/2 Danielson is the one guy who is better than Joe, and so Joe readjusts his strategy to it. Out of this world good, and just more proof that Danielson is the absolute best in the world. Danielson brings a great strategy of stopping Joe from even getting out of the gate with his big moves, and it is just wonderfully done. 5. Super Dragon vs Scorpio Sky, PWG 3/27/04 ****1/4 Super Dragon is the absolute man, and Scorpio is the guy who wants to dethrone and become him. Scorpio busts out several of Dragon's old moves as the way to beat him, but Dragon is the real deal, and in the end executes the traitor with a top rope double stomp through a chair. Damn good. 6. Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue, NOAH 9/10/04 **** A lot of people don't like this, but I really got into it. The selling, pacing, and facials are all really good and the bombs they throw throughout make sense. 7. Eddy Guerrero vs Brock Lesnar, WWE 2/15/04 **** Excellent big man vs little man match. At the start, Brock refuses to let Eddy in the ring with a total "this is my ring, punk, respect me because I'm the fucking man!" attitude, and Eddy ends up using the ring throughout the match for effective counters and moves as if to say "this is MY ring, not yours". The interference from Goldberg doesn't hurt it, it helps it. Eddy's entire character is that he lies, cheats, and steals. He cheats by accepting the run in and tries to steal the victory but Brock is still tough so he kicks out. And then they move on to the real finish. Great great match. 8. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama, NOAH 7/10/04 **** Like 9/10, this match is hated by lots but I really like it. Kobashi is the champion going into the huge match who just refuses to be stopped, and Akiyama is the guy who is demanding to stop him. Lots of great false finishes and huge bombs that make sense. 9. Averno vs Zumbido, CMLL on TLN 10/30/04 (air-date) **** Wonderful work, with lots of great rope running, submissions, and near falls. I just love this match. The third fall is incredible. Very very fun, and just overall great. Like most lucha, not many got to see this, but get a copy. I demand it. 10. Chikara Torneo Cibernetico, Chikara 10/30/04 **** I'm a mark for multiple man matches because so many stories can easily be weaved throughout, and they pull that off here. Full of wacky lucha fun. The ending where Quackenbush is revealed is beautiful, and it makes sense with clues presented before. Tons of pay offs in the end.

They also show that neither William Shakespeare nor William Golding can write worth shit. I was just skimming the thread. This poster's even dumber than the Hitler guy and it needed to be mentioned. I was about to say the same thing. His name should be changed to reflect this. Even if people don't understand it they understand the significance of Shakespeare's work. He's famous. He certainly isn't good.

Naylor man, just to make sure, I didn't say that, it was just from the guys review (which was the first actually detailed one posted anywhere). I've got nothing but respect for someone like you.

Um...right. He was a complete heel from the start. "I will BEAT respect into you" was his catchphrase, he took shots at America, all kinds of dumb crap. It's retarded.

"I am an American. I deserve rights!" "BOO! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!" "Fine! I'll just attack the announcer then! MRREAHDSGREDFARFG!" Wow. Deep.

They also show that neither William Shakespeare nor William Golding can write worth shit.

Why would you want to watch it anyway? SPOILER: HHH WINS. GASP.

The beat the clock stuff was a neat idea, as I was thinking to myself earlier about how the six people in the match should have to qualify for it somehow. I would have liked to have seen the jobbers get more offense, though, as it was painfully obvious who would win each match. As for HBK as guest ref, that's a stupid idea. On a show already lacking in matches, build up, and stars (6 of the biggest guys are in one match) they put another big star into the main event. As far as match quality goes, the same as always - subpar.

He did. Joe shook his hand, delivered a speech about respecting the belt and being an honorable champion, then left. CM Punk on the EWBattleground.com forums posted a review of the show:

Wow. I can't believe it. I am seriously shocked here. It's nuts to think that Aries wasn't even in ROH at the start of the year. And now he's world champ. Wow.

I've seen that match just once, I think, and I really liked it. But I haven't watched it since it aired so I can't comment. I have the tape somewhere, I'll try and find/watch it and then perhaps edit the list.

This is a WWE list. My pro wrestling list is much different. 1. Brock Lesnar vs Eddy Guerrero, 2/15/04 No Way Out, **** Excellent big man vs little man match. At the start, Brock refuses to let Eddy in the ring with a total "this is my ring, punk, respect me because I'm the fucking man!" attitude, and Eddy ends up using the ring throughout the match for effective counters and moves as if to say "this is MY ring, not yours". The interference from Goldberg doesn't hurt it, it helps it. Eddy's entire character is that he lies, cheats, and steals. He cheats by accepting the run in and tries to steal the victory but Brock is still tough so he kicks out. And then they move on to the real finish. Great great match. 2. Paul London vs Jamie Noble, Velocity 3/6/04 ***3/4 Tons of fun with actual wrestling involved. London gets the crowd firmly behind him and Noble works a great old-fashioned heel. The finishing sequence is one of my favorite sequences of the year. This match is something that everybody needs to see as proof that cruisers can get over. Boatloads of awesomeness. 3. Randy Orton vs Val Venis, Heat 5/2/04 ***1/2 I hate Orton, but this is far and away his best match. Venis is such a great wrestler that has not been given a real chance. This is Orton's best smarmy heel match. Lots of fun armwork and the crowd gets into it. Sad that it takes someone the WWE doesn't even know they have to bring out the best in their golden boy. 4. Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio, Smackdown 3/18/04 ***1/2 This is the finish of the Smackdown gauntlet. Neither guy is a good enough wrestler anymore to go balls to the wall like they did in 1997, so instead they work a slower match. And it works. The arm work here is fun (and plays into the finish for once) and there are several plays off of their previous matches. Lots of good high spots too. 5. Smackdown Royal Rumble, Smackdown 1/29/04 ***1/2 The crowd heat is off the charts. Almost everybody does a good job working a regular Rumble and Eddy has a great performance of desperation to win throughout. The Angle/Eddy finale is incredibly intense and the mat stuff is excellently done. 6. Rey Misterio vs Yoshihiro Tajiri, Smackdown 1/1/04 ***1/4 Wacky cruiserweight fun. Tajiri is his usual intense self and the kicks are good, but Rey's selling of them is great. I also remember this having some swank submissions. At any rate, a well-worked match. 7. John Cena and Chris Benoit vs Big Show, Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Rhyno, Smackdown 1/22/04 *** Wow. Matt Morgan on a MOTY list. Sad, but true. Out-numbered to all belief, Cena and Benoit do a great job of getting over the underdog story without being idiots and resorting to "huge comeback punches!" or anything like that. The heels are good in their roles as jerks and the match works. 8. Jamie Noble vs Paul London, Velocity 6/19/04 *** Short, but very fun and with some good plays off their earlier match. 9. Paul London vs Akio, Velocity 12/4/04 *** Worked at a pace and style so unlike what we usually see in the WWE that I will include it on a MOTY list. Some solid stiff exchanges, the sick head drop, and just all around fun work that deserves to be recognized. 10. Paul London vs Billy Kidman, Velocity 12/11/04 *** London is a babyface on fire, god dammit, and his stomps and fired up offence work well in his favor. Kidman's bewildered look (yes, I know he usually has it anyways) works well here because it puts over how little he thinks of his former partner. Again, lots of fun spots (double stomp on the head, anybody?) make this worlds better than it should be given the amount of time it is given. I may edit this if I've forgotten any matches (middle of the year Smackdown and all Raw's tend to run together for me).

I see a lot of people getting gift cards (myself too, to the Canadian Tire - hooray). I just don't get why people give them. Okay, you're too lazy/stupid/don't know me well enough to get me a real gift, so you're basically just giving me money. Except you aren't. It limits what I can buy and where I can do it. Seriously, I can spend the money on gas, but what can I buy that I want (key word) at the Canadian Tire? Bah.

Buffy Seasons 4 and 7 Wrestling Observer subscription $100 in Canadian tire gift certificates Watch Clothes (shit tons) Went to my aunt's last night, whole family was there. Lots of "done your wrestling phase yet?" comments my way. We did a gift exchange much like Bruiser Chong's where you had to spend $10 at a gas station, so I gave 3 bags of sugar. I ended up with a pack of cigarettes and a Coke, and though I don't smoke I felt I won Christmas Eve. TONIGHT: off to the Grandparents for the same people and same thing minus the gift exchange. Long ham dinner, lots of boredom my way.

Lost - A And that's it. I've tried a few other things (House, ER, etc.) but I cannot get into them. I hate reality TV and I hate the lame laugh track sitcoms.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ronics&n=507846 The Rio Karma is apparently great.

I can see that point, but if Brock were to return, he would need to go to Smackdown just to help even out the rosters. They could help by having Benoit (or somebody from Raw) demand to be traded to Smackdown in exchange so that they can "teach that traitor a lesson". After feuding with the established stars out to get him, Brock could deal with some lower card guys who can say that they hate Brock for going right back in the main event and not having the love of wrestling that they do. I mean, they wouldn't do anything like that, but it would help out Smackdown a lot to have Brock back. A lot more than it would benefit Raw.

So now we know why they were hired.

45 hours of non-TNA AJ Styles footage

London's head drop. Nah, I say the Lita one was worse then that. One, London had his hand in a position so he was protected...and I still say it was orchestrated. But Lita's was basically just a drop on the outside. Rey Misterio does a similar bump in many matches (I'm sure he did it at Survivor Series). London flipped over right onto his head.

London's head drop.

I completely agree with RRR and Co. here. It made NO SENSE for Benoit to jump to Raw. And I also agree that Evolution was broken up too fast. When it happened, the Raw thread was going nuts. It got put in the classics folder. And then Orton became the generic babyface good guy, JR started sucking his cock because he's good now, and like the other faces, HHH squashed him on PPV. If they had drawn it out and done the HHH is jealous angle until now and then pulled the turn, then it would work a whole lot better.

All of Jim Carrey's lame sentence ending stuff where he shook his jaw and made weird noises. The narrator. Basically, everything Carrey did. Dressing up as different characters and trying to sneak in and steal the kids. Complete with wacky accents! Oh ho ho ho! I love lots of stuff, just not crap. I will admit that I cracked up laughing once during Lemony Snicket: Jim Carrey: ...do every single thing that pops into my head. Boy Kid: No. Jim Carrey: MASSIVE FUCKING BACKHAND RIGHT ACROSS THE JAW. I got a ton of dirty looks from parents around me for cracking up at that.

Jesus. First people say Harry Potter is dark. Then it's the Incredibles is dark. And now it's Lemony Snicket was dark? NO. They were not dark at all. Jeez. There was so much lame kids humor, LOL the baby had a pun LOL crap in it. Horrible movie. Absolutely horrible.

That's an incredibly asinine thing to say. Faarooq retired, and then JBL moved up the card. Christian and Haas are still on the shows, with Christian in the upper midcard and Haas being in one of the bigger angles on Smackdown.