World's Worst Man

Well, at least I called one block right Poor Tenzan, going to be food for Fujita. Then again, it's certainly a better showing than what actually happened.

It wasn't a matter of not liking the build, because there was no build. As I said, they started firing off spots immediately, starting from the backdrop ~30 seconds into the match. And it's not like the backdrop was just a "flash" move where one guy gets surprised early in the match, but ultimately doesn't suffer a whole lot because of it. The backdrop was a transition into bringing the ladder in and firing off more spots, without ever even bothering to do any basic wear down or spot teases. The match was essentially all spots, and when a lot of those spots are sloppy and contrived, it's hard to view the match as even remotely good.

Some of the Rey vs. Eddy ratings are amusing. The match had absolutely no build, as they started running out the ladder spots almost immediately. A couple of the spots were incredibly contrived, most notably the spot where Rey got flung into the ladder that was perched in the corner. Eddy's knee selling was just bizarre, as he'd be selling it like it was a serious injury one second, then having no problems with it literally 10 seconds later. For comparison's sake, go watch Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles from TNA Sacrifice. I more or less had that match rated the same as some of these higher Rey-Eddy ratings. Maybe people overrated that match too, but comparing them to each other, I'd find it difficult to come to the conclusion that they're even close to being equal.

I predict a Nakamura loss coupled with a Tanahashi draw, sending Nakamura to the semis against Kawada. I'll take Nagata in block A, going on to be food for Fujita. Normally I'd say Tenzan would take the spot, but he just lost to Fujita and I don't think he would be jobbing to him again so soon. Kawada vs. Nakamura, Fujita vs. Nagata. The rest would write itself, assuming that's the way the semis go down.

Well, the post that got me thinking was in the Triple H HoF thread. The situation I theorized would probably never happen, as I don't think anyone would be interested in taking the subjectivity excuse that far, nor would it ever get that far before the insults started flying. It was more of an example of how ridiculous the subjectivity excuse could get, and while it technically might be true, it's not really any way to go about having an argument.

We're all marks if you want to be technical. I think the word you were looking for is "fanboy" and I very much doubt that the "no to Trips" people are WWE fanboys. Just a hunch.. As for criteria, well, I would say the only reasonable criteria is wrestling ability, drawing power/popularity, longevity and influence on the business. Under these criteria, Triple H stands no chance, due to not having exceptional wrestling ability or exceptional drawing power, to go along with his mostly negative impact on the business. Likewise, I'm not so sure UT is a HoFer either. His wrestling ability probably earns him negatives, and his drawing power while good, isn't fantastic. What he has going for him is longevity at the top as well as being over with the fans for so many years. Mick Foley on the other hand, has his rather large impact on the business going for him, even though he was lacking in wrestling ability and drawing power. I'd certainly say that in the present, Foley and UT would make better candidates for the HoF.

Lets also not forget that Triple H, based on his wrestling ability alone, is in no way, shape or form, a hall of famer. That means his drawing power and positive impact on the business must be great enough to overcome those "shortcomings". I think one would have a tough time arguing that his drawing power was at such a level as to overshadow his merely above-average wrestling ability. Not to mention his negative impact on the business.

Poor Nagata gets no love But Ka Shin has to get a win or two eventually, and better Nagata than Tenzan or even worse, Kawada. Smart. No need to really have Nishimura up in that logjam for 2nd place. I'd say have too many guys being tied for the last playoff spot would tend to be overbooking things a bit. 2-3 seems like it's enough of a race. Throws some doubt into the equation, rather than it being blatantly obvious that Tenzan will take the 2nd playoff spot. Good finish to kep Tenzan strong, as well. I might have favoured a draw here. While Kawada needs to be booked strong, I don't know if going 7-0 is necessary. And with his remaining 2 matches, this appears to be the one where a draw would be most suitable. Not a big deal though.

I agree. His drawing power wouldn't seem to be adequate enough for the HoF, and he certainly doesn't deserve recognition based on his in-ring abilities. But if Kurt Angle's in, why not Triple H, I guess.

Triple H being in is of course perplexing, but not so shocking given a few of the past entrants. Of course, to me, the WON HoF couldn't be more irrelevant. The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum seems to be alright to me. As an aside, I thought a few of the HoF polls from the past couple weeks were rather comical. Thursday's in particular was something to behold.

This was a great example of a promotion supposedly giving fans what they want right NOW, yet screwing themselves in the behind 2 months down the road when they need to fill up the Tokyo Dome. Who's realistically going to pay for a Fujita-Chono main event at the Tokyo Dome? Maybe 20,000 people, that's about it. Granted, if it's true about Nakamura getting the "Randy Orton treatment" you can't very well keep shoving him down people's throats. Tanahashi is hurting and probably might have to take some time off (although that was still no excuse to essentially bury him during the round-robin). If New Japan had any sense, they would have put Kawada over Fujita in the finals somehow. It doesn't matter if he's an outsider, what matters is the 10/8 Dome Show. A well built Fujita-Kawada match draws better than probably anything else NJ could ride out there now. Tenzan-Fujita? As much as I like Tenzan, he's not any sort of draw. Nakamura and Tanahashi have already been addressed. Nagata might have less credibility than Chono. So to me, putting Kawada over was the only smart thing, business wise, they could have done. But nope, they had to send those 11,500 fans home happy, and totally destroy any chance of them drawing more than 25k to the Tokyo Dome in October.

Welp, I couldn't have said it any better myself really. As someone who was around the board in the early days (1999), I can see how things have changed. Back then, it was mainly a bunch of workrate fans who discussed match quality and the like. There weren't many flamewars and people were generally intelligent and mature. But even back in 2000, I noticed a small shift in the way the board was going. More and more people started adopting the "I enjoy WWF and they put on good matches, I don't care what you puroresu elitists think." attitude. And it seems like there's a good number of people like that polluting the board today. "Fuck that smark shit" "LOL @ Not thinking Gurrero is the best in the world", "There's more to a great match than workrate" as the person gives some poorly wrestled WWE main event ****1/2. It just seems like there's an anti-elitist/conformist attitude that has more or less turned into a conformist/elitist attitude itself. It really sucks, because I don't even know where to go to intelligently discuss in-ring wrestling anymore. But yea, the dick-riding of certain wrestlers and the absolutely crucifixion of certain (intelligent) opinions has just gotten out of control. Although I should probably add that the DVDVR guys are still good folks, and there are a few really good posters there, so it's not a complete loss. I guess the thread quality just hinges on whether or not certain regulars post in the thread. There are a few regulars (and a lot of random, faceless people) who just drag down any thread they post in.

How much do you wanna bet that Nishimura beats Tenzan after a fluke rollup? Here's who I like tomorrow - Goto, Nakanishi, Nishimura, Nagata, Fujita, Kawada, Chono-Suzuki draw, Tanahashi. If Tenzan loses, I expect him to win out the rest of the way. I don't expect Kawada to lose a match, but I think a draw against Chono is a possibility. I believe Tanahashi will win out the rest of the way as well, regardless of what happens tomorrow. Assuming they're going to do the 8-man playoff format, I'd expect Kawada/Tenzan/Suzuki/Nagata, in that order, to advance from pool A, while Fujita/Tanahashi/Nakamura/Nakanishi, in that order advance from B. I'm hoping it all leads up to a Tanahashi-Fujita finals, with Tanahashi getting a win against Kawada and then taking the finals. It's time to start building Tanahashi to the moon.

*shakes fist* Why you!!!! Shake harder, boy. *shakes fist harder*

I agree to a point. Analysis is good, but I hate reading overly long analysis. When it takes longer to read the analysis of a match than the match itself, that's going a little too far. This is a good point. When the analysis gets to a point where it's doubtful that the wrestlers even meant certain things to be taken that way, it's too much. Then there's the 10 page (not literally) match reviews that certain people have been known for.

You're such a mark!! You know Meltzer, his ratings can be pretty friggen way off base. And since he never really provides any match analysis, you really have no idea what the hell he's thinking. A shame so many look to him as the gold standard of wrestling analysts though. But I am intrigued in what you're saying and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Do you take federal breast inspector's card for payment?

1) What is your favorite WM, top to bottom, of all time? Probably WMX. It had the best WWF match of all time, as well as another excellent match. Also, as a kid I remembered the Crush-Macho match fondly and Bret winning the title was a real markout moment seeing as how I was a big Bret fan during my younger days. 2) What is your least favorite WM of all time? Right now, WMIX probably. There was nothing even remotely good on that card. 3) What is your favorite WM match? Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. Best match in WWF history, with all due respect to a certain WMXIII match. 4) What is your least favorite WM match? Too many to list really. 5) Name some honorable mentions for favorite match: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - WMXIII Razon Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels - WMX Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage - WMIII 6) What is your favorite WM venue? Skydome. I'm from Toronto so what the hell. Skydome is a really great venue when the whole place is packed. 7) What is your least favorite WM venue? Don't care. 8) Going in, which WM card do you think looked the best on paper? Too hard to say. None of the WMs really had a ton of matches that looked like they'd turn out great. WMX obviously had the 2 matches that looked like they would be at least excellent. WMVIII actually had a 4 matches that looked like they'd at least be good. I'd say most WM shows had 2-3 matches that looked like they would turn out good, but not a whole lot of stuff that would turn out great. 9) Going in, which WM card do you think looked worst on paper? WMIX in a walk. 10) What do you think is the most underrated WM of all time? Don't really know/care. 11) What do you think is the most overrated WM of all time? Maybe WMX-7. Angle-Benoit was real good, the gimmick battle royale was fun, but the main event is probably the most overrated match in wrestling history. 12) What is your favorite WM moment? Finish to Bret vs. Owen. 13) What is your least favorite WM moment? Don't care. 14) Who would you pick as the top three Wrestlemania performers of all time? 1. Bret Hart 2. Randy Savage 3. Shawn Michaels 15) How many of the previous 20 Wrestlemanias have you seen? I've seen WM 1-10 numerous times. I've seen 11-14 once or twice. I haven't seen any WM from 15-20 in full. I've seen parts of 20 and 17. 16) What was the most surprising WM moment to you? Probably the Hogan win at WMIX, just because as a kid I had no idea it was going to happen. Honourable mention to Owen pinning Bret clean at WMX. 17) Who was your favorite "special guest" at a WM? Don't care. 18) Which WM have you seen the most times? Probably WMIV, as it was my favourite WWF event as a kid. 19) Which WM commentary team was your favorite? Gorilla Monsoon & Jessie Ventura easily. 20) Above all, what do you want to see at WM this year? Good wrestling matches. And I should get it with Rey vs. Eddie and any CW title match they run. Other than that I'll probably be greatly disappointed. P.S. DrVenkman is cool.