thee Reverend Axl Future

I also like promo photos in the form of this grappling pose - - thank you, Mr Sonny King. less ephemeral digital duckface selfies, more cinderblock background publicity pics, RAF

I miss when rasslers would do the "stunned wide eyed stare" in photo ops. Abdullah was a master at it. See also: Brody, Bruiser, and Samoans, Wild. - RAF

I was there, and am working on an an extensive write-up of this show, whilst I am in my rowing machine. - no rowing machine actually, RAF

I have seen the bare pale asses of Dick Murdoch, Rick Rude and Ric Flair many times, and I am a better man for it. not that there is anything wrong with that, RAF

Old Man Tarzan Goto is just... very right. Rightful. Righteous. Right now. yes, RAF

This sad news gave me the blues all today. I always loved the Road Warriors. "iron Man" is great entrance music. I remember being blown away by them in Georgia (via TV) and I got to see them several times in the AWA where they were always an awkward fit. Sometimes they no sold the untouchable vets like Crusher and other times they had to incongruously sell for Verne or Raschke. Freebirds vs. the Roadies was fun as heck as was vs. the Fabulous Ones, but them losing to Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal practically exposed the business. They were great and always over in JCP/WCW, and the Warriors were cheered against any of the Horsemen who were usually the faces in Chicago. I vividly remember Flair vs. Animal ('87, UIC Pavilion) and the crowd was convinced that Animal would squash Flair here in his hometown. It was a screwjob, as Flair gouged Animal with his own spiked shoulderpads and the ref DQed the champ before the match even started. The audience was PISSED and it was a bad note to end on. The Road Warriors were hard to book but it could be done. The WWF never did as much with them as they could have I felt. They were SO VERY influential in the biz, every musclehead wanted to be a no-selling monster after them. and it kickstarted the Age of Steroids. Great promos and Amimal was always my favorite. He sounded like a stand-up guy and now I am bummed all over again. RIP to you, sir, thanks for all the good memories and pants. you tell 'em, big guy, RAF

Here's how I look at it: The Hardys may or may not have been great workers, match-wise - I can see how that is debatable. However, if you owned a promotion, you positively would want them in it. They sold tickets, they sold merch, they made the card more exciting, they brought in a young/female demographic, they had longevity. Like most workers, you wouldn't want a whole roster of Hardys, but they served an essential purpose on it, and they were influential in the business. I believe them to be HoFers, for sure. - RAF

In the WWWF, managed by Fred Blassie (thee Hollywood Fashion Plate of Wrestling), Hansen's elbow pad was definitely loaded with coins. How else was he going to take down Sammartino? I don't recall him using that gimmick when he returned (paired with again with thee Classy one) to face Backlund. What era matches were you watching? Maybe his elbow got callused with age and he didn't need the foreign object... - RAF

Oy, Konnan looks rough. Savio Vega (same age) looks great. Can't wait for the restart - I hope it is done as safely as possible. - RAF

Piledriver? Powerbomb? Both are good choices, BUT YOU GOTTA PICK ONE. - RAF

Those Patterson rumbles are some of the most elegant, subtle, lyrical and sophisticated pieces of booking ever - and those are words not normally associated with rassling. They are also damn effective and entertaining, getting over gimmicks, characters, moves and storylines (old & new) at a swift pace. Like a movie that is so engrossing that you don't "see" the acting, special effects or camerawork, those big matches that Patterson had a hand in are some of the ones that get talked about frequently on this board because they emotionally resonated with us - as the best wrestling does. Allow me to gush. I am in awe of the folks who excel at the arts of booking and writing finishes and such. Patterson is one of thee best. - I am going banana inside, RAF

I know a great wind-up for a head butt when I see one. - RAF

Plus Pat Patterson was there, to lay out the matches and finishes for the big angles to keep things flowing and logical. He took care of these details and helped with the big picture. Patterson was a master of this. PP > a whole room full of writers who never have been in the ring (secondary) and who have never absorbed the knowledge of booking savants past (Shire, Owen, Graham). - RAF

If we get into a "casting wrestlers in the Seinfelds", you and I will be in a heap of trouble. - RAF p.s. - Harley Race as Alton Benes

Sweet Jeebus, Mr. USA Tony Atlas was such a good babyface. He was one of the few we born-corrupted youths would cheer, come to think of it. That post match promo (love the wisp of a plaster on his brow) is fiery greatness, sellin' tix for that cage match. He never pronounces "Mongolian" the same way twice, and why should he the Stomper doesn't deserve it. He vs. Jesse Ventura (one of my guilty pleasures (SHUT UP!)) was always fun. - "you caint beat Texas", RAF

This is possibly the most secret arcane rassling shirt I have ever seen, If the model did not have tattoos I would have thought it was 30 years old. - nicely done, RAF

I remember these facts with amazement: Kurt Angle (ESPN interview) said he was taking 65 extra strength Vicodin (as well as a medley of other pills AND booze (4 DUIs during his TNA stay)) a day. I stand in awe of how much doctor shopping, pharmacy driving, $$$ and just plain swallowing that entails. He went eventually (allegedly) holed up at home and kicked over 10 days. His f'n liver must look like a piece of buffalo jerky. may The Great Spirit watch over him, RAF

Love those SW tag belts very much, but the Texas heat seems to have melted the camera lens and everybody has a hobbit version of Greg Valentine body. The post match promo is golden. - RAF

(Sorry, this fascinates me, I am sure there was color at least once on this card) Was it this van? Also, poor Chick Don(ovan). Eddie Hogan = Ed Leslie. I really want to see Robley vs. NAustin, and RIP Bob Armstrong. - RAF

The Mongolian Stomper looks like a low polygon henchman from 90s video game. He was carved from a big granite block of Brutishness with an obsidian adze. What a presence - born to a wrestler by looks alone and always looked menacing in a photo. Don Carson - what a head of hair, & vastly overlooked. Where is Stomper's furry vest now? And when was he called The Midnight Stallion? Was that a masked gimmick? Wait, I found this: $15,000 vs. Van? That must have some sweet ride. - RAF

This almost makes me regret not going to this. stupid COVIDs, RAF

No, I believe he said that this Main Event match should be a main event match. and it should, RAF

Bobby Shane was great, and he suffers from a lack of video evidence. He is often praised for his heel work by his contemporaries, and was an obvious inspiration for Ric Flair. Shane would have improved and excelled and might have had a big influence in the biz into the early 80s had he not been taken from us much too early. Just look at him in the ring (above) - he even walks like a heel! hail the true king of Wrestling, RAF

I disagree with this. Art is an absolute. You can create art in many media for one's own enjoyment. Great artists have produced works not meant for other's eyes, that later got discovered and hailed as art. However, the very nature of wrestling demands an audience, preferably a live one. The highest form of pro wrestling (again, it is arguable whether rassling is Art (I believe it is not)) is the workers reacting to a crowd. But wrestling without an audience, with no one seeing (let alone paying), is just practicing. Wrestling is time based, in (and of) the moment (the 4th dimension, if you will), it is ephemeral. A poem/movie/song/painting exists after it is made, even without eyes on it. cans of worms, Ways of Seeing, RAF

Is wrestling art(form)? Debatable, but there is an art to doing it well (as in craft). It is, and always has been, a capitalist venture. Profit was always the motive. It's carny. Is wrestling that doesn't make money still pro wrestling? I have heard oldtimers argue about this. Part of the fascination of rassling for me is this frisson between the formulaic profit-driven business and the beauty & elegance that can be created therein. You have to get the people to buy the tickets, and you do this by giving them what they want and what they expect, as well as by shocking and surprising them. Innovation sometimes, balanced with creativity and tradition, y'all. There has to be a pay-off, and a new hook, to put asses in seats. "Such a precise finality demands that wrestling should be exactly what the public expects of it. Wrestlers, who are very experienced, know perfectly how to direct the spontaneous episodes of the fight so as to make them conform to the image which the public has of the great legendary themes of its mythology. A wrestler can irritate or disgust, he never disappoints, for he always accomplishes completely, by a progressive solidification of signs, what the public expects of him." - my main bonhomme Roland Barthes - RAF