World's Worst Man

Andre the Giant circa 1990, Tiger Jeet Singh and Abdullah the Butcher were great workers. Oh, and this guy is clearly a troll. You can tell by the little comments like "The X division is praised as a kind of a revolution in pro wrestling by self proclaimed "smart marks"." And then there's the factually false statements like "We have a succession of moves, and the performers seem not to feel any pain, there is no(or really bad) selling!". So yea, it's not worth debating a guy who's obviously working a gimmick, trying to get people to waste their time actually debating his (laughable) points.

Makes one wonder how Melina got in, considering she's not only not hot, but she's actually ugly without the makeup. Who is she sleeping with?

Was power vs. speed actually shown, or is it just an assumption? I didn't really see a power vs. speed story going on, it was just AJ coming out aggressive and trying to beat some respect into Joe. I'm fairly sure I've seen the tiger driver being used in TNA before, unless you mean the debut of Joe using it. I thought the second kickout was kind of superfluous, but it didn't bug me much. Maybe it's because the ref counted to two, even though AJ kicked out earlier. I'm also fairly sure Joe's control segment was a lot longer than 4 minutes. The match went about 19 minutes (18:55), so if the times you listed were correct, Style's offensive comeback and the back and forth finish went 13 minutes. I think Joe's control segment was more like 7-8 minutes or so.

This so called "hulking up" is a complete non-issue, due to the fact that it wasn't even really "hulking up". AJ just kicked out of a move at 1, yelled, and changed the expression on his face. The fact that he didn't get up and didn't mount any offense of his own means he was still putting over the damage that the moves had done. ie. He wasn't no-selling the moves. That was actually a fine example of how to show the so-called "fighting spirit" without no-selling or delay-selling the opponent's offense.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kendo Kashin from this year's G1. This was basically Kashin getting destroyed the whole match, and every now and then attempting a quick rollup. Kashin got more offense in against Kawada's second (Taichi Ishikari). whom he kept going to the outside and kicking around. But Kashin actually ended up winning after he fell back while Kawada had him in a stretch plum, managing to get a pinning combination. Pretty nifty match.

I didn't think of this as a botch, as much as I thought of it as adding to the story, with AJ out on his feet, not knowing what to do next. Due to him taking too long, Joe took advantage, as you said. Honestly, before AJ tried to step into the ring before Joe kicked him as he entered, it looked as though he couldn't find his balance to step through the ropes properly, costing time. At that point, I thought he had a legit concussion. So either he wasn't there fully mentally, or he deserves commendations for his selling. It looked like AJ screwed up because he either didn't know what to do, or he was too dazed (legit) to do it. Joe managed to save it, so it wasn't a huge deal, but I definitely think the spot wasn't called that way.

Adonis started falling off in late 86 or so, but he didn't get terrible until later. Up until that point, the guy could go. To put it in perspective, he'd be better than all but 2 or 3 guys in the WWE today. And yes, WWF likely had the worst in-ring product of the 80's. The style was absolutely terrible. It was just so dull and relied so much on "by the numbers" heat building shortcuts. It's kind of like the way WWE is today. Unless there are any hidden gems that didn't make the DVD, they only produced 5 ****+ matches for the whole decade. Funny, that's about the pace that WWE is on for this decade.

Rewatched the match just now. A few general themes in the match. First off, Joe's offense was just incredibly stiff, more so than usual. Stiff in a good way, as it wasn't "sloppy" stiffness, but intense and believable stiffness, that put over how Joe really meant business in facing his toughest challenge yet. Joe's long control segment on AJ was really good, and basically is what made up the majority of the match. It was long enough and the offense was effective enough to leave no doubt as to what it was meant for (meaning building heat on AJ for an eventual comeback). AJ's comeback teases were really good. Fighting out of the chinlock, and then taking a brutal running knee in the corner was a short-lived, but effective first attempt. Him blocking the facewash, throwing a few strikes, only to get the taste slapped out of his mouth during the discus punch was just awesome. Selling was absolutely incredible. AJ put over the beating like he really was getting rocked (and maybe he was). Even on offense, he was putting over the damage. Joe as always, was selling well, but his late, long-term selling was also top-notch, in particular showing he was fatigued. A few specific things. AJ's early aggression played perfectly into the story that he wanted to beat some respect into Joe. AJ going for the muscle buster really put this over as well. Transitions were typically strong. The setup to the running moonsault was in particular effective. Joe's 2nd attempt at the running corner knee/kick was countered with a back bodydrop to the outside, which was then followed by the running moonsault. The big clothesline transition late in the match was great too. It looked brutal, and Joe handled it like a pro, very slowly going for the cover, to put over the damage he had just taken seconds earlier. A few small things. Joe's short kicks to AJ on the ground were a nice touch. Really put over how much Joe was dominating AJ in the middle portions of the match. AJ's facials after Joe kicked out the clash were perfect. A look of shock and fatigue. Is was almost as if right then, you knew Joe was going to win it. A few suspect things. The 2nd apron spot seemed botched. AJ elbowed Joe away, and then there was an uncomfortable pause, as Joe was clearly expecting a springboard move, while AJ was just standing outside doing nothing. Joe ended up keeping this from being a huge problem, as he went over and kicked AJ as AJ was entering the ring. It ended up coming off like AJ was a bit woozy and wasn't able or willing to go for a springboard spot, and Joe was able to capitalize on that weakness. AJ also messed up the powerbomb to STF combo, as he rolled on his stomach after kicking out of the powerbomb. Joe looked confused for a second, but quickly applied a boston crab instead. Again, Joe kept it from being too big a deal. Overall, this match had a clearly defined story, to go along with believable and generally well executed wrestling. The few mistakes AJ made weren't a big deal in the end, and there weren't any other relevant problems to speak of. Ironically, in many ways, AJ is to thank for this match. We know we're getting fundamentally sound wrestling from Joe. But unlike many past matches, AJ's selling was strong, and his pacing was kept in control by Joe, so the match wasn't dragged down at all. This is probably the 4th best match I've seen this year, and definitely the best AJ Styles match I've ever seen. ****1/4

Kurt Angle really is the 2005 version of Scott Steiner circa 1994.

It's a keylock/neck-crank combo. For whatever reason, Punk stopped doing the keylock part of it, so it was basically just him cranking back with a headlock.

It's alright Coffey, you didn't seem angry in that post. Since people want to assume things, I'll just assume the first guy who accused you of that is an AJ Styles mark. Boy, the world sure is easy when you can assume things without really knowing. Anyway, I'm going to re-watch the match today and really put the screws to it to see how it turned out. Unfortunately I don't have access to the first Joe-Styles TNA match, because I'd like to re-watch that one too.

Not even close to being as good. AJ was brutal tonight, and the match was either not booked or called as well as it could have.

Monty is getting booed, Christian is over like crazy. Christian needs to win this. Heenan was alright, he made a few funny jokes. His voice being like it is, makes it hard to understand him sometimes, so he can probably never be a regular commentator.

They showed Johnny Damon earlier when Borash cut the apple up on the barbed wire. Heenan also greeted Damon when he came out to do commentary. He was also mentioned by Tenay a few times.

They only did a few spots, nothing too nutty. It was certainly no Big Japan match.

Somehow, 2 DUDs made it onto the set (including one of the worst matches I've ever seen), but TM vs. DK was left off. Go figure. The WWF category wasn't very deep, I think I only had the top 30 or so rated above ***. It's a nice set to have anyway, as it allows one to see the greatness of Adonis, Murdoch and Sarge, all of whom are really, really good, but don't get much praise in some parts. Here's how it broke down for me. 1. Bob Backlund vs. Adrian Adonis (1/18/82) 2. Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (3/29/87) 3. Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Iron Sheik (6/16/84) 4. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch vs. The Brisco Brothers (12/28/84) 5. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (7/27/86) 6. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch vs. Bob Backlund/Brian Blair (7/7/84) 7. Bret Hart vs. Bad News Brown (4/25/88) 8. Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (3/21/81) 9. Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat (6/21/85) 10.Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts (8/9/86) 11. Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Orton Jr. (7/20/85) 12. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik (5/21/84) 13. Bob Backlund vs. Adrian Adonis (3/20/82) 14. Les Thornton vs. Mr. Wrestling II (3/2/85) 15. Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage (11/11/87) 16. Ricky Steamboat vs. Bret Hart (3/8/86) 17. Bob Backlund vs. Buddy Rose (11/25/82) 18. Blue Angel vs. Barry Horowitz (8/13/88) 19. Rougeau Brothers vs. Hart Foundation (9/22/86) 20. Rockers vs. Brainbusters (10/31/89) 21. Hart Foundation vs. Twin Towers (5/17/89) 22. Strike Force vs. Islanders (10/3/87) 23. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Terry Daniels (7/23/84) 24. Randy Savage/Adrian Adonis vs. Tito Santana/Bruno Sammartino (7/12/86) 25. Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (8/28/89) 26. Dream Team vs. Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana (4/21/85) 27. Brainbusters vs. Young Stallions (11/6/88) 28. Bret Hart vs. Ted DiBiase (3/8/89) 29. Honky Tonk Man vs. Ricky Steamboat (8/22/87) 30. Rick Rude vs. Roddy Piper (12/28/89) 31. Bob Orton Jr. vs. Mike Rotundo (12/1/84) 32. Brainbusters vs. Hart Foundation (8/28/89) 33. Tito Santana vs. Paul Orndorff (9/1/84) 34. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik (5/19/84) 35. Glamour Girls vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (11/24/87) 36. Bob Backlund vs. Adrian Adonis (3/28/82) 37. Bob Backlund vs. Ivan Koloff (6/4/83) 38. Hulk Hogan vs. Bad News Brown (2/16/89) 39. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage (4/2/89) 40. Johnny Rodz vs. Kuniaki "Chin" Kobayashi (11/25/82) 41. British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation (11/1/86) 42. Strike Force/British Bulldogs/Rougeau Brothers/Young Stallions/Killer Bees vs. Hart Foundation/Islanders/Bolsheviks/Demolition/New Dream Team (11/26/87) 43. Mr. Perfect vs. Ronnie Garvin (12/12/89) 44. Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana (4/22/86) 45. Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts (8/28/86) 46. Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs (4/7/86) 47. Dynamite Kid vs. Bret Hart (9/14/85) 48. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (10/2/89) 49. Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (1/10/81) 50. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage (2/17/86) 51. Tito Santana vs. Butch Reed (5/12/87) 52. Powers of Pain/Hart Foundation/British Bulldogs/Young Stallions/Rockers vs. Demolition/Conquistadors/Brainbusters/Rougeau Brothers/Bolsheviks (11/24/88) 53. Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase (7/22/88) 54. British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation (9/23/85) 55. Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen (6/6/81) 56. Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts (11/15/86) 57. Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana (3/16/86) 58. Hulk Hogan vs. Bob Orton Jr. (5/12/87) 59. Tim Horner vs. Barry Horowitz (12/30/88) 60. Hulk Hogan vs. Don Muraco (6/21/85) 61. Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees (2/23/87) 62. Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter (5/4/81) 63. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Paul Orndorff (6/2/84) 64. Rick Rude vs. Tito Santana (2/11/89) 65. Tito Santana vs. Bob Orton Jr. (8/9/86) 66. Johnny Rodz/Jose Estrada vs. Tony Garea/Steve Travis (9/18/82) 67. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage (1/27/86) 68. Tito Santana vs. Ron Bass (8/22/87) 69. Barry Windham vs. Dick Murdoch (2/16/85) 70. Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff (12/14/86) 71. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Rick McGraw (6/20/81) 72. Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bossman (3/18/89) 73. Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff (7/7/84) 74. Rockers vs. Rougeau Brothers (10/13/89) 75. Greg Valentine vs. Ron Garvin (9/30/89) 76. Hulk Hogan vs. Don Muraco (5/20/85) 77. Ken Patera vs. Pat Patterson (12/29/80) 78. Iron Sheik vs. Tito Santana (1/21/84) 79. Ken Patera vs. Pat Patterson (4/21/80) 80. Ted DiBiase vs. Jacques Rougeau (9/16/87) 81. Rougeau Brothers vs. Rockers (10/10/89) 82. Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (10/20/80) 83. Bob Backlund vs. Hulk Hogan (4/8/80) 84. Jake Roberts vs. Ted DiBiase (4/24/89) 85. Bruno Sammartino/Paul Orndorff vs. Roddy Piper/Bob Orton Jr. (10/26/85) 86. Hulk Hogan vs. Iron Sheik (5/5/84) 87. Don Muraco vs. Jimmy Snuka (8/16/83) 88. Ricky Steamboat/Junkyard Dog vs. Don Muraco/Mr. Fuji (8/17/85) 89. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch vs. Mil Mascaras/S.D. Jones (Spring '84) 90. Mr. Perfect vs. Ron Garvin (3/18/89) 91. Roddy Piper/Bob Orton Jr. vs. Jimmy Snuka/Tony Atlas (1/12/85) 92. Hulk Hogan vs. David Shultz (6/17/84) 93. Hulk Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase (3/12/88) 94. Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko (4/21/80) 95. Jimmy Snuka vs. Roddy Piper (7/20/84) 96. Hulk Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff (10/3/85 97. Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown (1/16/89) 98. Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan (11/14/81) 99. Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko (4/8/80) 100.Don Muraco vs. Pedro Morales (11/23/81)

Courtesy of Da Meltz "Kazuyuki Fujita sent word to New Japan that he was pulling out of his main event match against IWGP champion Brock Lesnar on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. The word came suddenly to New Japan. Riki Choshu, before today's show in Osaka, announced Lesnar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura as the main event of the show. In Japan, there appeared to be no concern whatsoever with WWE legal actions potentially blocking any of Lesnar's matches." Can't say I'm not pleased. This should end up being quite a bit better than the original match. I can't wait to see it, and I expect big things if Lesnar has shaken off the ring rust.

Here's my list of ROH's good stuff for 2005. July 8th is the latest show I've seen, so it's obviously not complete. I'll say that the best shows in my opinion were 2/19, 4/2 and 5/7. 3/15 has been the only "stinker" all year, and compared to some promotions, it really wasn't bad at all. ****1/2 (1) Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe (10/1) **** (2) CM Punk & Spanky vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal (3/12) James Gibson vs. Austin Aries (4/16) ***3/4 (4) Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries (2/19) Spanky vs. Bryan Danielson (4/2) CM Punk vs. Austin Aries (6/18) James Gibson vs. Homicide vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe (7/8) ***1/2 (10) Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson (1/15) Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson (2/19) Alex Shelley vs. CM Punk (2/25) Roderick Strong vs. James Gibson (4/2) James Gibson vs. Austin Aries (5/13) Doug Williams vs. Homicide (5/14) Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (5/14) James Gibson vs. Samoa Joe (6/4) Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe (6/12) Colt Cabana vs. Samoa Joe (6/18) ***1/4 (7) Spanky vs. James Gibson (2/25) Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries (2/26) Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer (5/7) Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk (5/7) Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk (5/14) James Gibson vs. Homicide (6/12) Roderick Strong vs. CM Punk (6/12) *** (9) Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson (2/26) Roderick Strong vs. Homicide (3/12) Bryan Danielson vs. Black Tiger (4/2) Spanky vs. Jay Lethal (4/16) Black Tiger vs. James Gibson (5/7) Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal (5/7) Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries (5/7) Spanky vs. Austin Aries (6/4) Low Ki vs. Austin Aries (6/12)

Yea, he looks like lot Dick Murdoch circa 1985. And we all knew that "fat piece of shit" couldn't work

They wrestled for the title on Smackdown once, right? I don't know. Even if they did, I'd still want to see a PPV main event match from those 2.

With how good Brock vs. Eddy was, Benoit vs. Brock could have been WWE's first great match in quite a while. But who knows, maybe we'll get to see it afterall, and in a less restrictive enviroment at that..

TNA needs to bring in more New Japan guys. Rocky Romero in particular would be awesome. But I'd also be curious as to how a guy like Tanahashi would do. He has a lot of in-ring charisma, so I wonder if he could get over as a babyface without being able to cut promos. I also second the notion to bring Corino in. He's a funny guy who could get super over being a heel. Obviously Colt Cabana would be a good fit too, but it seems like he might be going the WWE route.

Murdoch has a good grasp of the fundamentals. Judging him based on his WWE work is just pointless, because the wrestling style is such garbage and plenty of "ok" guys might look like crap after they're fed a list of things they aren't allowed to do in the ring. As for Benjamin, I hear all this praise about how he's so good in the ring, yet I've seen so very little evidence that he actually is good. He's a spotty wrestler that has a tendency to blow spots. Not a good combination.

So what's the "Supernatural Driver"? A bodyslam?

Inoki through with pro-wrestling? Thank god.