Best A-Train Matches

[Guest wildpegasus]

So after watching A-Train (Giant Bernard) vs Nagata I had some mixed feelings which are causing me to make this thread. A-Train on this board was one of the most of it not the most underrated superstar ever on the smartmarks. In fact, for whatever reasons people would turn a blind eye to his talent and say -- He sucks -- Why are they pushing him? -- Push someone with talent. I was one of the few people on the board who actually defended him and told it like it is. The guy had talent and had the magical "it". "It" in this sense being hunger and not charisma. The guy wanted it and I felt bad for the big guy because of people's blind hatred of hosses here on smartmarks. Now after watching A-Train vs Nagata from Japan I felt inspired to write this because I was so happy to see him at the top of the card wrestling a really good match. In fact, I challenge any A-Train detractor to watch this match and than come away from it saying A-Train sucks. Bottom line is you can't. You can watch the match over at deathvalley so go ahead and check it out.

 

Now that I got that rant out of the way (I was right, you were wrong) let's get to celebrating the big guy's best bouts.

 

Obviously the Benoit matches come to mind. No Mercy (did they clip some of the stiffness out of this one for video?) and one of the best short matches I've ever in what was I believe a tournament bout. Man, my memory sucks.

 

The rescent Nagata match is definitely up there.

 

He had a good match against Brock Lesnar on Smackdown as well as Bradshaw.

 

 

WP -- Marjor league excited about the championship Lesnar vs A-Train bout.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The best of A-Train can be found along with the best of Al Snow in a special box set.

[CanadianChris 0]

If many disagree with one, the many aren't always right.

 

In this case...the many are right.

[Aero 0]

The only singles matches that come to mind are his series with Benoit around No Mercy 03 and the match with Kane from 2001. Kane-A-Train was decent for a Kane-A-Train match, but it's been way overrated since then, mainly due to the hurricanrana by Kane. I think that was actually discussed in another thread within the past month or so.

 

Now, in tag matches, T&A & Trish vs. the Hardys & Lita from Fully Loaded 2000 was an awesome opener.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Everyone, go watch A-Train vs Nagata. It's in the downloads section of deathvalleydriver right now. Than come back here and make some comments. People aren't saying they're loving the match just for the fun of it. They're saying it because it's a really, really good wrestling match. As wrestling fans you owe it to yourselves to watch the bout. At least make a somewhat more informed opinion before commenting in the thread otherwise you're going to make yourself sound silly.

[JST 0]

In fact, I challenge any A-Train detractor to watch this match and than come away from it saying A-Train sucks. Bottom line is you can't.

 

He was called A-Train.

[Guest wildpegasus]

In fact, I challenge any A-Train detractor to watch this match and than come away from it saying A-Train sucks. Bottom line is you can't.

 

He was called A-Train.

 

His name doesn't mean his inring work sucks. Has anyone watched the match against Nagata yet?

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't think a lot of the hate for the A-Train was due to him being a bad worker really. He was a slightly above average big man, but let's not kid ourselves. He wasn't 1992 Vader or anything. And the bottom line is that he had literally no heat or charisma. You could feel buildings just die whenever the guy showed up. He was like a 300 lb. version of X-Pac, which is appropo since they were in a faction together for a while.

 

One thing that also hurt him is that no one at a critical point would remotely agree to put him over. I remember UT praising him in print, but how often did UT job to A-Train to help him get over?

 

As far as his good matches go, the only one that comes to mind is the Kane match. One on TV where Kane beat him, not where Albert won the IC title.

[tekcop 0]

See, this is where I back up WP. A-Train was great. I can't actually think of too much great stuff he did in WWE other than what's already been mentioned, but I expect his Japanese work is really solid.

[Guest wildpegasus]

See, this is where I back up WP. A-Train was great. I can't actually think of too much great stuff he did in WWE other than what's already been mentioned, but I expect his Japanese work is really solid.

 

I saw him against Sasaki awhile ago and it was a good match. This was shortly into his Japanese tenure. This is the second match I've seen him in Japan and it looks like he's improved. I have also heard good things about his match with Kojima. You can see the Japanese influence on his work especially around the "Vader splash" spot around the turnbuckles. He's been able to adapt outside of the WWE stlye he was familiar with and adapt to a different style. That is a sign of a good worker. And New Japan reportably is not as talented as it once once. Imagine how could A-Train could be if he was surrounded by even better workers.

 

One cool thing I noticed here is that although A-Train doesn't look like he's in better shape than he was in the WWE I think he is actually in better shape. A-Train had the pedal to the medal in this bout as he was working his but off physically but yet I didn't even notice him get winded during the bout.

 

I know I might sound a little too excited here but man I just love when I see someone so passionate in the ring. Someone who wants to succeed and than does it. That's a big reason why I love professional wrestling so much.

 

Everyone, check the match out. It's got a lot of the good stuff that makes us love the professional wrestling. We are wrestling fans and we like good wrestling. This is a very good match so therefore it is wise to watch and enjoy. Go in with an open mindset and I guarantee you that you'll like it. I can't spell it out any more than that.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

T & A and Trish Vs. Hardyz & Lita - Fully Loaded 2000.

 

After a few mishaps, it gets REAL good. I mark out huge for A-Train's spot where he swings his right arm to clothesline Matt, Matt ducks it, and then from behind Matt gets leveled with the LEFT arm.

________

 

A-Train/Kane series was hot. Including Kane doing a Frankensteiner.

________

 

A-Train as a babyface with Scotty was a guilty pleasure team. I liked seeing the crowd support Albert and pop for him, even though the team wasn't really going anywhere.

 

Vengeance's Albert/Scott Vs. Test/Christian was cool, as I was a big fan of 3 of them at the time.

[Darth Vader 0]

As far as hosses go A-Train was decent, he wasn't really bad I guess just boring. Maybe not having to work the ball and chain WWE style is helping him I dunno.

[Golgo 13 0]

He's not awful. He's not Vader either. He's somewhere in the middle depending on who he's working with. During his WWE tenure he was a good, intimidating monster type that served well as a speedbump in the midcard and he had a fucking great, unique moveset (when compared to every other WWE hoss) which, alone, gets him points. Yes, I'm a fan.

[Guest J0bber]

I always liked A-Train. I thought the WWE kind of killed his push when they took him off TV for a while in the spring of 2003 after his big late 2002/early 2003 push. Then, after weeks of being on Velocity, out of the blue he showed up again in the upper mid card scene in the summer of 2003 but never really got the steam going. I think he jobbed to a ton of guys like Taker, Benoit, etc. After he got drafted to Raw in 2004, I was one of the only people cheering for him in his dark match in Chicago against a jobber. I guess WWE dropped the ball on poor old A-Train.

[Golgo 13 0]

He also wasn't completely heatless. It's not like he's Chris Masters or anything. He had his Shave Your Back chants, which isn't much, but it's something. If the fans aren't chanting boring or sitting on their hands and keeping their mouths shut, it's plus charisma.

 

Seriously, how can one at least not tolerate the guy based on moveset alone.

[Jingus 0]

Lots of smart marks just hate big hossy heavyweights, period, no matter what. In Albert's case, it doesn't help that he's had a bunch of shitty gimmicks and never had a real chance to get over.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I'm unfamiliar with deathvalleydriver's website and couldn't find the download section. Do you have a link or something?

 

I thought A-Train was decent in WWE. Definitely not as bad as some would make him out to be. I think a lot of people crap on him because they remember his stupid gimmicks and not his ring work.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I'm unfamiliar with deathvalleydriver's website and couldn't find the download section. Do you have a link or something?

 

I thought A-Train was decent in WWE. Definitely not as bad as some would make him out to be. I think a lot of people crap on him because they remember his stupid gimmicks and not his ring work.

 

You have to be a member of the board in order to get the download section. It's a good board overall that used to be great. They had an infamous sleaze thread that went on forever which ended up bringing a lot of new members to the board. I think that singlehandidly changed the site.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Here it is. There's absolutely no excuse for anyone not to watch it now. Remember to take the "x" out.

 

Enjoy because that's what wrestling's all about.

 

xhttp://www.megaupload.com/?d=0OW7SLHE

[Just John 0]

"What wrestling's all about" might be stretching it to describe that match. It was pretty good, but nothing extraordinary. I'd say maybe *** 1/2 if you like star ratings. My main complaint is the spotty long-term arm selling. One minute, Albert's struggling with a powerbomb, the next minute he's hitting a clothesline with the injured arm. Nagata looked good here, though. On another note, I'm glad Albert finally got that unsightly body hair taken care of.

 

And while this was a good Albert showing, you're crazy if you think his WWE work warrants him a reputation as a good worker.

[Guest wildpegasus]

"What wrestling's all about" might be stretching it to describe that match. It was pretty good, but nothing extraordinary. I'd say maybe *** 1/2 if you like star ratings. My main complaint is the spotty long-term arm selling. One minute, Albert's struggling with a powerbomb, the next minute he's hitting a clothesline with the injured arm. Nagata looked good here, though. On another note, I'm glad Albert finally got that unsightly body hair taken care of.

 

And while this was a good Albert showing, you're crazy if you think his WWE work warrants him a reputation as a good worker.

 

What wrestling's all about to me is seeing wrestlers with true passion above and beyond the call of duty in the ring. When I see that and than I see a wrestler succeed there's nothing I like more in wrestling. That's why I liked the A-Train in the WWE. He was a good wrestler and even though he wasn't the best in the league you could tell he wanted it almost as bad as anyone on the roster. And in this match against Nagata I still see the passion. Full on effort, does stuff to keep the match interesting and has shown that he can adapt to different styles.

 

 

About the arm -- Fighting spirit baby! A-Train's not a weak mid card wrestler anymore. He's one of the toughest guys in the main event of New Japan. Yes, Sometimes he might've been using his arm perhaps a little too easily but for the most part he sold it pretty well and that was only one part of the match anyway. I LOVED the internal mental struggle he had with the powerbomb. Who was going to win? The pain of his arm or A-Train's determination? As we all know now it was A-Train's fighting spirit!

Btw, I'm glad you liked the match.

 

 

 

 

About the WWE -- Than I just imagined all those good WWE matches with Funaki, Rey, Bradshaw, Kane, Benoit, Undertaker and Lesnar. I so need an A-Train comp now.

 

Anyone want to take any bets that Lesnar's best match in New Japan will be against A-Train once we see footage of it?

[Guest wildpegasus]

T & A and Trish Vs. Hardyz & Lita - Fully Loaded 2000.

 

After a few mishaps, it gets REAL good. I mark out huge for A-Train's spot where he swings his right arm to clothesline Matt, Matt ducks it, and then from behind Matt gets leveled with the LEFT arm.

________

 

I can't remember right now but I know he at least went for something similar in this match. It may've been more of forearm blows than a clothesline though. I know Nagata ducked the first and Train went for a second but I can't remember anything after that. Man, my memory's not that good. Of course, in my defence there was a lot of action in the bout.

[tekcop 0]

Anyone want to take any bets that Lesnar's best match in New Japan will be against A-Train once we see footage of it?

That's not really saying much, you know.

 

I'm attempting to download this match, but I have dial up, so there's a good chance it won't go through. I'm 32% done with another 3 hours to go.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Anyone want to take any bets that Lesnar's best match in New Japan will be against A-Train once we see footage of it?

That's not really saying much, you know.

 

I'm attempting to download this match, but I have dial up, so there's a good chance it won't go through. I'm 32% done with another 3 hours to go.

 

 

 

 

 

At 3 o'clock in the morning. That's pretty hardcore. What timezone are you in?

[tekcop 0]

It's 2AM here. I'll probably go to sleep in a while then check and see if it finished in when I wake up.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

In regards to pacing, building (and escalating) moves and pay-off spots, and execution of moves, I thought Albert did an expert job. I think he needs to get better strikes and maybe sell a lil bit less if he is playing the monster role.

[tekcop 0]

You know, that whole selling thing has always been my biggest problem with not only A-Train, but Abyss as well. They need to watch more Vader.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Typical good, but not great, New Japan match. I personally don't see a whole lot to get worked up about, as New Japan usually produces a great many matches in this range in a given year (their problem is that very, very little exceeds that). Aside from that, from the little I saw of Bernard in AJPW, it did appear he improved. I think a lot of that comes down to just not being in WWE anymore. I've seen it many times, a guy will leave WWE for Japan, or ROH, and all of the sudden their ring work improves leaps and bounds. Those enviroments are just more condusive to good in-ring wrestling, so it's somewhat natural for a guy to look better there. The only guys you probably wouldn't see that automatic improvement with, are a) guys so bad that they have no hope of ever improving (Singh), b) guys who've been with WWE for so long, that they'd wrestle that shitty style no matter where they went (Undertaker, Trips probably) or c) younger guys who've been specifically groomed by WWE (so someone like Orton I guess).

 

As for the match itself, I found the pacing to be a little suspect early on, and the whole story surrounding Bernard's arm was completely overblown considering how much damage it had actually taken. I'd say Bernard is definitely not even close to being good, (then, I also don't throw around "good" a whole lot) but he's certainly servicable. Against someone of equal skill, they'd keep things passable, against someone better he can be dragged along to a good match, while still looking decent along the way (ie. not being completely carried). Calling him terrible at this point would be quite far from the truth I feel.

[tekcop 0]

Got up to 49% and was disconnected. Back down to 2% now with my last try. God, I hate you fucking broadbanders.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I just looked at a little bit of it, good to see Albert shaved his body hair but I just don't understand this trend toward massive tattoos