Tim Cooke

"It has to be NES. Saying "N.E.S" outloud is just lame." I have NEVER EVER heard anyone pronounce it NES or SNESZ. Then again, this is coming from a See You in Toledo. Tim

Not sure how Morishima will face Joe in the UK on March 5 since there is a Budokan show on March 4.

I think Fawlty Towers is really the best place to start if you are new to British TV Comedy. My favorites from the last 10 years: The Office Phoenix Nights Peep Show Brass Eye The Day Today Second tier is: Extras I'm Alan Partridge Knowing me, Knowing You The League of Gentlemen 15 Storeys High

I'm glad the FBI guy is getting frustrated. The season premiere was the worst episode in the shows run for me, partially because there were new rules now that they were on the outside and also because this FBI guy comes in and is figuring out Michael like he has been following him forever. But they have been slowly picking up since, with last night being some absolute great TV.

Just like the show, it looks like responses in this thread will be few and far between. So sad, since the show is easily the best series of TV I have ever seen.

Orton oozes heel charisma a lot more naturally than Danielson. His backstage antics prove that. Orton vs. Rey from 4/7/06 Smackdown is a good example of his heel schtick. I think Danielson is obviously better all around, but Orton is fine when he is in with guys who know how to work. Tim

"The dueling chants aren't dueling however. They're the furthest thing from it." Incredible. Having been to numerous ROH shows where the dueling chants WERE INDEED DUELING and one's where they weren't, I don't understand how you can determine it from watching a tape. Even if you watch every match on every ROH release, I just don't get it. And this is coming from someone who has been critical of ROH crowds (maybe one of the first). But being there live for 4/12/03 London vs. Danielson, there was LEGIT passion. The NYC bus trip LOVED London to death while the others were behind the foundation of the company in Danielson. Eventually the dueling chants became masturbatory in some matches but even when masturbatory, they were mainly used to get the crowd back into a match after a dead period. Tim

Jumbo Tsuruta

12/19/99 - Chris Benoit vs. Jeff Jarrett (WCW) 12/07/02 - Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London (ROH) 04/12/03 - Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London (ROH) 06/24/04 - Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (ROH) 08/07/04 - Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (ROH) 10/02/04 - Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal (ROH) 10/02/04 - Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe (ROH) 07/23/05 - AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH) 10/02/05 - Kobashi/Homicide vs. Joe/Ki (ROH) 12/03/05 - Steel Cage Warfare - Generation Next vs. Embassy (ROH) Tim

Best PPV since WM 17 or Greed. Opener was fun, more in the "you push guys strong on TV for 5 weeks and they will get over" kind of way. Benoit/Finlay was incredible. Best match they have ever had against each other. Booker/Lashley started slow and picked up really well. Henry/Angle was much better than expected since Angle didn't throw Henry all over the ring. Rey/JBL rocked. Would have been an easy MOTN if not for Benoit/Finlay. I just wish Rey could have had the blood coming out from his mask a little bit easier. Tim

In addition to Coffin's list, check out the 7/31/84 Hanson/Baba match. Compare the Baba mat work in that match to the 1969 Destroyer match. 1969 Baba mat work is all about pro wrestling holds. 1984 Baba mat work is a mixture of pro wrestling and the UWF style that was just getting underway. Baba breaks out the crossarmbreaker at least twice in this match (as well as in their other excellent 2/4/82 match). As for the Hawk comments on Misawa/Kawada, I did at least smile at the insane comments. So it was worth something...

Touching on a few points: * Mike is right about the length problems Gibson has. Watch his 5/1/04 Velocity match with Rey Misterio Jr. Now Rey Jr. is obviously fantastically great, but Noble does his end perfectly too. About 11 1/2 minutes aired on TV (match probably went 14-15 total) and it worked so well. The match also has one of my favorite sequences ever as Noble whips Rey into the ropes, Rey springboards off the second rope into a flying crossbody (one of his signature spots) into a cover, which Noble rolls through and locks on a cross armbreaker for a great near submission after he spent most of his time working Rey's arm. But those longer ROH matches have WAY WAY WAY too many of those double KO/clap clap clap spots which are second on my most annoyed list in wrestling behind someone lazily locking on a figure four headscissors (Tenyru, Ki). * Noble's strength involves him working over an arm. He has signature spots (dropkick arm into turnbuckle) along with basic kneedrops, leg drops on the arm. I have also seen him work the leg and neck effectivly. * In 2005 as ROH wanted to differenciate itself from TNA, you saw a lot less out and out spot fest for slower matches taking their time building to the finish. That's all well and good in theory, but unless the guys in the ring can make it work, it will results in finisher/finisher/finisher sequences or double KO's numerous times. This happened a lot in Gibson's matches. * I am a big fan of Noble, have been since he debuted on Saturday Night in October 1999. He was easily the best cruiserweight in WCW in Jan-Feb 2001. His tombstone piledriver is so brutal looking though you know it is safe since he does a last second clamping of the knees to protect the guys head. Even his dumbed down HWA work so the WWF guys could teach those "Power Plant" guys how to work is fun. I think Noble best excels in fast paced sprints, specifically in tags. Watch his early 2001 WCW work to see that. But best wrestler in ROH? Certainly not for me. Tim

"1. He cuts some of the worst promos on the entire indy circuit." I haven't seen many compelling Indy promos at all. Outside of Joe and Danielson, it is usually the guys like Cornette, etc. who come from a different era that cut the promos. If this was the WWE, I could see this being valid. "2. Forget having good or bad facial expressions. His facial expressions NEVER change." Misawa, Taue, Baba. They must not be good either. I will agree *shocking* that during the Gen Next heel run, he wrestled as a face instead of a heel. "3. His work is horribly contrived (the cartwheel out of the Boston Crab is the beginning of a long list)..." Where to begin? I can write out a long response but then again, this is coming from someone who likes Derek Frazier, enjoys XPW, and likes crappy indy flyers. "4. He has NO charisma." Ask numerous people and they will say Bryan Danielson doesn't either, even though he is one of the more charismatic guys in wrestling right now. He doesn't glow like the Rock when he comes out but during the match, he brings plenty to his role in the match. "He is the only guy I can think of to have a bad match with Azriel this year." Azriel had some stinkers this year. His early 2005 tag work with Dixie opposite Deranged, Izzy, Cloudy, Cheech was good but almost every other singles or tag match I have seen him in has been fast forward material. Tim

Christ. Danielson has more charisma than 99% of Indy guys and 90% of WWE guys. What are you watching? And Barbar not getting Strong puts a smile on my face. Tim

You want to go out of your way to see the following: 9/17 Danielson vs. Gibson 10/1 Kobashi vs. Joe 10/2 Kobashi/Homicide vs. Joe/Ki 10/15 Danielson vs. Corino 10/29 Danielson vs. Strong 11/5 FULL SHOW with Daniels/Joe, Danielson/Strong, and Gen Next vs. Embassy 8 man tag 11/19 Daniels vs. Danielson 12/3 FULL SHOW with Joe/Lethal, Danielson/Romero, Homicide/Corino, and Steel Cage Warfare 12/17 Danielson/Marifuji and Ki/Kenta