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Yet another dude I have been lucky enough to meet a few times. He's got ties to the local Vancouver indie scene. They gave him work before he was a big name and so he often paid them back by coming up to work small shows for ECCW and Vancouver All Star in the early 2000s after he was well known for his work in ROH, Japan, and elsewhere. He always hung out at the after-parties and talked with everyone. Truly a good dude. Interesting, easy-going, laughs at your jokes... This was from the 2005 Pacific Cup after-party, if I remember correctly. The pic was snapped by my good friend, SLAM wrestling hall of famer Vicious Verne. If memory serves: We also sat at the same table with Bryan at the WrestleMania 21 watchng party (at Dropkick Murphy's?). I was impressed by his behaviour there. He was ramping up for his championship run n ROH, probably the biggest name and consensus best wrestler on the Indies, but he refused to be the center of attention. He kept turning the spotlight on other guys at the table, encouraging them to tell stories or reminding them of something the funny they'd done. The man just exuded generosity, consideration, and genuine warmth. When HBK and Angle went into that long and marvelous chain wrestling sequence, Verne quietly and 100 per cent accurately called every move, hold, and counter just before they executed it. Bryan noticed, and gleefully turned the spotlight on my old buddy. Afterward, I'd lamented to Verne that I had really wanted to get a picture with Bryan but had been afraid to look markish in front of the boys. A few weeks later, at the Pacific Cup after-party, Verne had a quiet word with Bryan and we arranged to sneak out and get a snapshot when nobody was looking. Dragon did everything in his power to put me at ease about it and then when we went back inside he was once again making sure that guys like Jesse Jimenez, Puma (TJ Perkins), and JJ Perez all got some attention and a chance to tell a joke or a story. He did that quietly and subtly. I only noticed because I was paying pretty close attention. I've been super lucky to meet a lot of very cool, nice, and fun people in the pro wrestling world. Bryan Danielson legit seems to be right up there as maybe the best dude and the biggest heart in the business. Literally could not be a nicer guy.

Okay, here we go. Bret-Austin, Submissions Match. This match is widely cited as one of the best matches in Mania history and the angle that follows as a pivotal moment in where the WWF finally let go of the 80's. It's actually been a while since I've watched this, so let's see if it still holds up. (Spoiler: it does) The background is Austin had caught fire after he won King of the Ring, and as he rose up the card, though still nominally a heel, he was getting more and more cheers as the fans in WWF were revolting against everything being presented. Bret didn't like that. So he and Austin fought in MSG at Survivor Series and Austin just barely got beat. The WWF Championship had been tossed into chaos as Sid, Bret, Undertaker, and Austin had all been fighting over it since Survivor Series when Sid beat HBK for the strap. And yeah, Austin and Bret just despised each other. So now we're here, the middle of a blood feud, and Bret wants Austin out of his way, so he can fight for the WWF Championship and prove Austin to be a fraud. Austin's motivations can be summarized as "Fuck you." Hoo boy. Austin gets his famous glass shattering intro here, and Chicago greets him with, I'd say 75% cheers. Bret comes in, and the crowd is cheering him too.... so it's a de facto face vs face match, even though, and this is part of what makes this match great, BOTH guys wrestle the match as heels. The moment the bell rings, they attack each other, because there's no time for any of that posing bullshit. They almost instantly go into the crowd and fight all the way through a shockingly not-cleared-by-arena-security region. Like the two of them, and special ref Ken Shamrock, all have to physically push their way through the crowd to get to their next spots. (My god this would never happen in 2020 -- for various reasons.) They make it halfway up the first bowl when Austin clearly says stop and they do a spot and fight back down. The camera work here is especially bad because they've just got no way to actually shoot where they are. Also, I think the only reason they got Shamrock to ref was to muscle the goobers in the crowd out of the way for Austin and Bret. So we finally get back to the ring, and Austin takes over. Bret is selling everything with relish and making Steve look like a million bucks. I'm struck by how in just a year, Austin's moveset hasn't really changed, he's just hitting everything with more passion and it looks so much better. I'm wondering if that's on Steve being more motivated, or Bret being a better worker than Savio. Also, Austin's not a submissions guy, so he doesn't really have a lot to do here aside from his usual stuff, so why not add a notch of intensity or two. Frankly, I think the closest Austin came to actually winning was late in the match when he's choking out Bret with the mic cord. I will say, and it's a minor annoyance, but the "ropes force a break" rule really shouldn't be in play here, but they... alternatingly(?)... are. Bret, for his part, leads the dance very well when he's on offense. Rolling through his stuff, although, I will say, while he began the 5 moves, he never really finishes them, as Austin is countering everything too much. He does have a nasty ringpost Figure 4 that Austin is selling like he's getting his leg ripped off. Austin really is an underrated seller, because damn he is bumping all over the place here. Though, to be fair, this was pre-neck injury. Speaking of nasty bumps, he gets thrown into the railings behind the announcers and he is busted wide open. Austin really took his aspirin beforehand, because he is a bloody mess within a minute of the blade job. Even Bret seems disgusted at one point. And I should note, the crowd is getting disgusted by Bret too. So the end... and I think there's an argument to be made that THIS was what made his career.... Not "Austin 3:16". Steve has fought out of everything Bret has thrown at him. He even gets the sharpshooter on Bret at one point. Austin does the chokeout spot I mention above until Bret clocks him with the ring bell. So Bret decides enough's enough, and locks in and I mean locks in the Sharpshooter. Austin is screaming in pain. Blood is pouring down his face, as the most famous shot of his career happens. The crowd is going nuts. Austin *ALMOST* breaks the Sharpshooter, but Bret just leans back into it. Austin tries one last time to break, and passes out from the pain. The fight is stopped, Shamrock has to pull Bret off Steve. Bret celebrates. Austin is dead on the floor, having never surrendered. Man oh man what a fucking match. Bret celebrates for a little bit, but doesn't really like the reaction he's getting, so fuck Austin. He's gonna get him some more. He beats on Austin until Shamrock pulls him off again and threatens to beat Bret himself. Bret thinks about it for a second, but basically says fuck you to Shamrock, Austin, the crowd, and everyone else there, and leaves. Steve slowly regains consciousness. He pushes off Shamrock. He stunners a ref. And he walks out on his own two feet. Beaten. Battered. And beloved. The double turn is complete, and so is my ride. End of Day 38.

Fun fact - "Sexy Boy" is the SECOND theme song Shawn Michaels' sang

Sexy Kurt would like a word.

I just came up with the greatest idea for a fuck finish ever: a mask vs mask match where the face wins and when the heel goes to unmask he stops, cites the laws about having to wear a mask at all times and that by law he cannot unmask and then walks to the back without unmasking.

KEYWORD SEARCH: "my smile" ERROR 404: File Not Found

Something I'm almost positive you'll disagree with: in 2020, the internet is a human right.

Being a middle school kid at the time with self-esteem issues this came at the absolute perfect time for me. I remember watching the match and liking it a great deal. But when this happened not only did my Stone Cold fandom increase ten-fold but it also affected me in a way that helped me with certain times at school (though that was temporary but it was good while it lasted) He was just somebody that made me then really want to have that confidence and swagger to put up with whatever bullshit was going on and it's something that's hard to explain many years later. And to rather pass out from the pain rather than giving up? Yeah, middle school me was all over that. Again, different times. But even when things got better with me (thank goodness) it was still something that I appreciated about the guy up until I found out about his out-of-the-ring stuff. So yeah, the match was indeed the best and most important WM match and looking back it's cool to think how much that affected me back then. Man, I wasn't intending to watch this today but now I feel a need to. Thanks for the review and man do you have a helluva way with words.

Austin was known as a very-good-to-great bumper and seller just based off his WCW work. He had that jelly-legged wobble before a crisp back bump down to a tee. This double-turn also ended up with the Hitman doing the best character work of his life. Heel Hitman in the U.S. still being a face everywhere else is the kind of nuance that very few can pull off, and when I watched that stuff again like three years ago, I basically agreed with him. The best heels have a point, and I got his frustration - Austin is a crass piece of shit! Michaels and HHH are absolute dicks! Why the FUCK would you cheer for them? One of the all-time GREAT facial expressions in wrestling history, at least as far as my limited knowledge goes, is Bret re-forming the Hart Foundation and reconciling with Owen and Davey Boy, and as they hug him, he looks out over the crowd with this look that mingles disgust for the fans, pride in himself for getting his family back together, and maliciousness as he thinks about how they're going to fuck up Bret's enemies together. The video should start at the point that I'm talking about. 1997 Bret Hart is one of the greatest characters ever; I'll gladly put him on the same level as any of the other great characters in the history of wrestling. Just a virtuoso performance, his last one before he goes to WCW and they keep turning him heel for some fucking reason that I never understand before Goldberg kicks him in the head and ends his career. Boy, was his work in the WWF in 1997 a hell of a swan song. That's my G.O.A.T.

This is mental health week in the UK. Look out for you and those around you. Be kind. Care is crucial. I wasn't sure whether to talk about mine here as there's still the stigma of mental health issues but I trusted in the DVDVR MB family so took the plunge. Few know about them so please that info private to here. Thank you xxx.

Hot take: Shawn Michaels singing his theme is the third-best version of that theme, behind Sherri Martel singing it (#1) and Vince McMahon singing it (#2).

I endorse all this. A ***** masterpiece.

Happy birthday to the GOAT.

If drawing money or killing towns was still a thing, congrats.

Man, Hogan really overdid it with the brain & nerve tonic, didn't he?

On the subject of Ric Flair a few pages back, his 2006 involved things you never thought he'd do. Ric Flair wrestled in a TLC match at the start of the year vs. Edge on RAW, a Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania XXII, used barbed wire and took a thumbtacks bump vs The Big Show on WWE'S ECW TV and used the same weapons against Mick Foley at SummerSlam 2006.

I am a sneakerhead but Shawn Michaels is the last guy I'd think of as 'cool' in 2020... :lol:

I mean I could only say that because I only remember Jericho talking about the one debacle at the Dome show debuting the gimmick, and how Riki Choshu came up to him after the match and killed the gimmick on the spot.

Just watched the Owen doc and I'd never seen the rigging clip that was holding him up before. Blew my fucking mind. "Whatever you do, don't pull that string." Fuck all of that bro. I understand where Bret is coming from, but I'm pretty much on Martha's side on the HoF topic. I never thought about Jericho's point that Owen was about to get Benoit/Eddie/Malenko/Angle/Jericho. Owen would have only been 37 during the 2002 Smackdown Six era with Mysterio coming in. His contract probably would have ran out before that, but man - that would have been something.

Wait... Is your mother named Martha too?

Props to Martha for fighting against Vince, She had so much going against her, including half the Harts. Owen isn't persona non grata in WWE, so I dont see the big deal about him not going into the Hall of fame. Kevin Steen acknowledges his name and his son name came from Owen. She now is continuing on his legacy outside of WWE and I think that's the problem with alot of guys is they feel they need be apart of WWE to stay relevant. Even if you look at Flair, it took him till after he retired to gain mainstream fame outside of wrestling doing outside projects and just socially relevant people in pop culture acknowledging how big of a fan they are and that's worth more than anything Vince and company could do it they tried. If someone like Drake, or Kendrick Lamar decided to do songs about Jericho or Bret and had one of the apart of their entourage they'd be away more over outside of wrestling. I'm not anti WWE but I've always had respect for people that stood up to Vince for whatever reason, whether its Warrior or Punk or Bret. Bret and Punk still have no filter and no problem saying something they dont like about WWE or an unpopular opinion unlike most guys that come back or get on good terms with Vince

16 years "together as a couple" with Helen. 2 houses, 3 continents, 1 wedding, 2 cats, 1 daughter. Wouldn't change a day...even the bad ones. Because we're at each other's sides. She's my strength, common sense, and I'm her frivolity and adventure.

The entire three way feud between Bryan/Show/Henry ruled, especially since Bryan turned heel halfway through when he won the title. We got a couple months of plucky underdog technician Bryan taking super heavyweights to their limit, and then we got a couple months of cocky, mean little shit Bryan besting monsters by the skin of his teeth. That entire run laid the foundation for everything that followed.

Here are several new bouts that have been made over the last couple days: 5/30 Tim Elliott vs. Brandon Royval Katlyn Chookagian vs. Antonina Shevchenko Brok Weaver vs. Roosevelt Roberts Casey Kenney vs. Louis Smolka Chris Gutierrez vs. Vince Morales Spike Carlyle vs. Billy Quarantillo 6/6 (UFC 250) Aljamain Sterling vs. Cory Sandhagen Neil Magny vs. Anthony (Tony) Rocco Martin Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland Chase Hooper vs. Alex Caceres 6/13 Marvin Vettori vs. Karl Roberson Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina Jordan Espinosa vs. Mark De La Rosa Julia Avila vs. Karol Rosa 6/20 Roxanne Modafferi vs. Lauren Murphy Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos Raquel Pennington vs. Marion Reneau Tecia Torres vs. Brianna Van Buren Cortney Casey vs. Gillian Robertson 6/27 Aspen Ladd vs. Sara McMann Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araujo 7/11 (UFC 251?) Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant 7/18 Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo II

I mean, it's in the running for most historically significant Wrestlemania match as well as best. Because yeah, this is what made Austin, not 3:16. The absolute best example of protect someone in a loss and/or get them over with one. "Moral Victory" almost always rings hollow but Austin does defeat Bret metaphysically even as he loses physically (and cleanly/unambiguously to boot).

Did you know that Rellik is Killer spelled backwards? ?

Perhaps JYD was a dude who enjoyed watching women sit on cakes. Best of both words.

Jericho was so good in 2008 that as a dickhead heel he won a kayfabed Slammy for wrestler of the year because he was shoot the wrestler of the year. One of the best runs you’ll see.

I feel like I should go back and check out 2008 PPV on the network I remember enjoying that year, lots of fresh talent like Punk emerging and Umaga, Taker was still a workhorse Finlay still going

At this point I see the Vinegar syndrome sales as a twice yearly spiritual tithing. It's like once during Spring planting season and once during harvest season you have to cough up your sacrifice to appease the Grindhouse Gods so that the next season will be a fertile one. I just wish they would accept humans burned up in a big wicker statue of Lucio Fulci instead of just U.S. currency. It would be cheaper and easier to hide the evidence from my wife.

I find that to be the best way to converse. Both sides will understand every word. I had a similar conversation with him and Masato Tanaka when they came to USA for one of the WWE fake ECW PPVs. Tajiri was so nice that he paid for my ribs at dinner.

This whole thing is amazing. From the six minute arthouse film opening to Bull's bedroom being adorned like every preteen girl in 1993 to the final match of the tape where they keep in Manami Toyota blowing every move in the history of pro wrestling. On top of that, you have Kyoko blowing her patented turnaround springboard dropkick and falling right on her face. Whoever edited this (and that's being nice) was asleep at the wheel.

Because JBL was so overpushed and forgettable, the only feuds and matches that he had that anyone remembers were the Eddie and Cena ones. And that's only because both men almost bled to death trying to get him over. The Cena match isn't even talked about all that much. And that was Cena's Muta scale moment.

Jeff Cobb. To be managed by Taz, and feud with Darby.

Signed to 1 ) Sit at Home and 2) Not Embarrass the Company. Truly the Chris Claremont of Wrestling.

Thank you odessa for your monthly everything is not Vince's fault post. This should change some opinions.

Found the picture! It was 2011.

@odessasteps @nofuture @Eivion @The Natural In my limited experience it seems to me that Kana is genuinely bubbly energetic and positive. She's definitely an Osaka lady and then some. You get all types in Osaka, but I bet she'd be a lot less goofy if she'd grown up in Kyoto or Fukuoka or somewhere. I also met Tajiri once, in the Cowboy Steakhouse near the old Osaka Pro arena. We got into a conversation and then I noticed that everyone was staring at us. Then I realized that out of politeness I had been speaking Japanese and he had been speaking English the whole time. That must have seemed crazy to the other customers. I really enjoyed meeting both of them. Haven't got a bad word to say about either one.

The idea that @TheVileOne is a Vince apologist is pretty out there from what I know of him.

The Henry/Show/Bryan feud was awesome because it was the first time they really let Bryan show a personality and the only time in WWE that he acted similar to his dick-ish ROH Title run. I remember losing my shit when he offered Henry a handshake and then did the "too slow" thing and walked away like a little asshole.