The Classic Wrestling Thread

[Bandit]

It's amazing how homophobic southern wrestling fans took to The Fabulous Ones.

Chavo/Hector vs The Sheepherders could have been good.

Meltzer rated it 3.25 stars. Which is usually what he gives a match that is good but doesn't get enough time. Which sounds about right for what tournament shows are. I'm sure it is good, Chavo was doing revolutionary things for the time and the Sheepherders were great until Vince ruined them with the kid friendly gimmick.

[handwrittenhysteria]

I watched a load of old All Japan RWTL over the weekend. Not a clean finish in sight

BUT, while I loved watching Brody and Hansen running roughshod over everyone, I had a newfound respect for the the Dibiase/Hansen team up - the two contrasting styles really worked to bring a different dynamic to their matches, plus their matching gears was boss. Underrated team for sure.

Similarly, I got to wondering: how different do you think AJPW main event scene would have been in the 90s if Tenryu hadn't left?

The pushing of Kawada and Misawa in particular was hastened by the departure and Tsuruta's ill health, so do you think Misawa is never crowned as the ace the way he was? Is Tenryu king of the mountain throughout the decade?

[Bandit]

It's hard to say since I didn't see All Japan as it happened. But Baba was one of the best at listening to the fans. He wasn't like Vince who claims he does, he actually did. So I think Misawa still would have gotten his push since the crowd was so rabid for him while Tsuruta was still active. He also initially refused to job to Misawa until Baba told him "Too bad, he's going over." So that's a true belief in Misawa. And Kawada and Kobashi were also over at an undeniable level before he went with them. So maybe their reigns wouldn't have been as long and he'd have gone back and forth between them and the old guard like Tsuruta, Tenryu and Hansen. But he wasn't a "tenure only" decision maker.

[handwrittenhysteria]

For sure, it just seems like it would mess up the whole 'four pillars' thing if Tenryu stuck around even if he was the gatekeeper (which is the roll Hansen ended up falling into)

[Bandit]

Yeah, it's really hard to say. Another thing is Tenryu and Tsuruta would have been expected to work the style of the Pillars where they tried to kill each other every night in their 40s. Hansen did it, but he wasn't expected to be there every night since he'd take two months off after a tour, whereas Tenryu wrestled 5 or 6 days a week. A lot in 6 man tags, but they weren't able to hide in tags anymore because those guys were stiffing each other and taking head drops in those tags as well.

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Big Boss Man]

Similarly, I got to wondering: how different do you think AJPW main event scene would have been in the 90s if Tenryu hadn't left?

The pushing of Kawada and Misawa in particular was hastened by the departure and Tsuruta's ill health, so do you think Misawa is never crowned as the ace the way he was? Is Tenryu king of the mountain throughout the decade?

I still think Misawa and Kawada get elevated because of the changing of the guard element. Sometimes when their hand is forced to make change it's for the best such as with Tenryu leaving to set up SWS. If he had stayed around They'd might never had been the classic AJPW matches with Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada if Jumbo and Tenryu are still around. Granted they'd no doubt put on good matches but no way like Bandit says can you expect 40+ year old guys to go out there and work the Kings Road style Misawa etc did. Plus it might have hastened Misawas departure to set up NOAH if he wants in a top guy position.

I think All Japan with their four pillars and New Japan with their "Three Musketeers" are very smart booking philosophies. In the 80s for NJ you had Fujinami, Inoki & Choshu; then Mutoh, Hashimoto and Chono in the 90s, 2000s you had Tanahashi, Shibita and Shinsuke. Nowadays you could argue Tana still is the mix, with Naito and Okada. Tana also has said Kota Ibushi could be one of today's Three Musketeers. Had Kenny stayed with NJ, I would have said Omega, Okada and Naito are representative as the 10's Three Musketeers. For the 20's, you could if he continues on the upward trajectory include a gaijin for the first time really in Will Ospreay.

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Wrestling Challenge Taping Dark Match 05/05/1993 – The Path of the Suplex Machine [Duration: 05:15]
Before becoming an ECW legend, The Tazmaniac went one-on-one with Skippy Taylor, who would later become known as Scotty 2 Hotty.

RAW Taping Dark Match 10/18/1993 – Too Extreme [Duration: 06:01]
Before cementing their legacies in both ECW and WWE respectively, Sabu faced Scott Taylor, better known to fans as Scotty 2 Hotty.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Everyone thought that show was the worst ever.....until Uncensored 96 which was twice as bad.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

WWF Magazine vs Superstar Billy Graham

[Dr. Zoidberg]

For the Australians, the Andre doc that aired on Viceland is now on SBS On Demand.

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

What Mushnick said was mostly right but he always came off like such a cunt the couple of times he faced off with Vince on a talk show he sounded like a lunatic and Vince was the voice of reason. Like a complete opposite of the time Vince was on Real Sports.

And the famous Cornette rant about him because of his Brian Pillman article was so stupid. I don't know if Cornette still defends it, but since Pillman died due to taking steroids during his career I don't know what you could be mad about.



That's why you can't take a lot of Cornette's rants seriously. He'll defend anybody who pays him.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Big Boss Man]