Gordi the former AEW fan

Yeah, Doering is massive. I'm 5'9" and I was maybe a cup of noodles away from hitting 250 lbs at that time. He's got to be every bit of a legit 6'5" and his frame is huge. Maybe the widest shoulders of any wrestler, powerlifter, bodybuilder, strongman, or football player I have ever met. I've taken pictures with Suwama, Zeus, Bodyguard, Abdullah the Butcher, Bob Sapp, Kyoko Inoue, Dump Matsumoto, Alexander Otsuka, Morishima... all kinds of big strong wrestlers, mass monsters and awesome freaks of nature... and Doering is the only one who ever made me feel small. (Although, also, when Abdullah and Sapp shook my hand, their hand completely engulfed mine, like when I take my six year old daughter for a walk. That was pretty awesome, too. And it's pretty crazy to be present and see the reaction when Zeus takes off his shirt. I mean, the room just stops for a minute while everyone freaks out a tiny bit. And Otsuka is much larger than you might think, he's another guy with a truly superhuman frame...) but Joe Doering might be the actual biggest guy I have met in Japan. Another super nice guy, too. He and Suwama came and hung out with my friend Yuji and I when the Champions Carnival came through Osaka in 2013. Like, we didn't have to shyly approach them, they came over and started conversations with us. Akiyama also came over, joked about our matching hairdos, and offered to take a picture with me if I wanted one. Then, later, Tiger Hattori helped me to order an AJPW warm-up jacket in my size when Yuji told him that I dreamed of having one. I guess what I'm trying to say is that everyone from AJPW that I met in 2013 was genuinely extra nice to me. I'm happy to have memories like this at a time when it's being repeatedly brought to everyone's attention how many deeply lousy people there are in pro wrestling... I need to keep reminding myself that there are a ton of really good people in the business as well. To get back on topic, Chono is also a jam up guy and a damned fine pro wrestler. Another Chono story: He once came to an Osaka Pro show or a show promoted by one of the boys and handed out free cans of Strong Zero Chuhai. He was the face of Suntory's national advertising campaign for the beverage and also his face was literally on the cans. I was freaking out. "It's Chono! It's Chono!" but my friends (who were strictly Osaka Pro fans as opposed to pro wrestling fans in general) had basically no idea why I was so excited. Then everyone started giving me their cans since it seemed like such a big deal to me. Somebody (probably Kenji and Kae) convinced somebody (possibly Chono) to give me the left-over cans as well. I seem to recall they were mostly half-litre tall-boy cans and 9% alcohol. I distinctly remember hauling two plastic bags full of chu hai on the train back to Nara. The grapefruit one tasted OK but the double lemon one was just brutal. Tasted like furniture polish (or at least like how furniture polish smells). It took me forever to finish off both bags. I gave away cans of the double lemon to people I knew who like pro wrestling. That's kind of a crummy gift but at least it had Chono's picture on the can so the people I gave them to seemed to be happy. Come to think of it, that might have been at the Pink Ribbon Charity pro wrestling show in November 2009, so it's possible that the first time I spoke to Chono was freaking out and profusely thanking him for the Strong Zero.

I choose to believe that Biff Busick is this guy's son. I will not be searching online to find out if he is or not. Also, just to be clear, I do not think that Oney Lorcan is Big Bully Busick's son. Just Biff Busick.

He's got connections to a few of my Osaka friends. and while we've never had the chance to hang out at length (the one time I was invited (as part of a group) to have dinner with him, he ended up being unavoidably delayed by travel issues) but I have had the good fortune to meet Chono several times. He certainly seems like an awesome guy. The first time I spoke to him was when he was the special guest at KUUGA's 15-year anniversary celebration in Wakayama, in April 2011. I wanted to buy an ARISTRIST t-shirt but he didn't have one in my size. He was also a special guest at Hurricane 2011, in August. When I arrived at the show, my friend Kenji ran up to me and yelled that he had a present from Chono. It was an XXXXL (which is about XXL in American sizes) ARISTRIST t-shirt, and a signed towel. I have never been sure if Chono gave it to Kenji to give to me or if (the extraordinarily generous) Kenji paid for it and never asked me for the money... but I choose to believe it was an actual gift from Chono himself. At the very least, Chono remembered that I had wanted a shirt and went out of his way to bring one to Osaka four month later, and also he remembered that Kenjji is my friend... Here I am with Big Joe Doering, wearing that shirt:

Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Dragon Master (Kendo Nagasaki) 4/1/1990 (Texas Death Match) is very good indeed. More suitable for the Clubbering thread than this one, though... (edit: Had a quick look and in fact Curt posted that match in the clubbering thread)!

Randy Savage & Adrian Adonis vs Bruno Sammartino & Tito Santana in a classic bloody cage match

These stories are great. Man, I really needed this thread. I understand that there is a solid chance that all the negative stuff coming out now will lead to a better tomorrow for a lot of people... but it's been kind of overwhelming. I'm feeling better after reading this thread. Not just better about wrestling, better overall. Thanks for starting this, Octopus!

Somebody help me out here. Does anyone else remember when pro wrestling was a pleasant diversion from everything going to shit? It seems like it wasn't all that long ago, but it also seems like it was years and years ago.

I think there is an interesting TV mini-series or movie to be made about Onita's life. Now, would you include that scene? I guess it would depend on the network and the director...

I have been super lucky when it comes to meeting pro wrestlers. Through my friends on the Vancouver and Osaka indie scenes and through just plain crazy good luck,I have had the opportunity to collect little personal memories of people like Bryan Danielson, Tajiri, Jun Akiyama, Suwama, Chono, Razor Ramon RG, Dump Matsumoto, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi... and all of them went out of their way to be extra-nice to me or to someone I know. Even people with reputations for not being friendly to fans, like Akira Hokuto and Abdullah the Butcher, have been supremely friendly and kind to me. There are a lot of scumbags in pro wrestling, but there are also a lot of good people.One example: Atsushi Onita was a special guest on Osaka Pro's 14th Anniversary Show in April 2013. At intermission I got out into the lobby as fast as I could to take advantage of the opportunity tp pick up some Onita merch. I got to his table before he did, and snagged a pair of Onita sweat bands (you can see one of them on my wrist in the above picture). I didn't have a ton of cash on me, and that was an affordable memento. There was a kid, around 12 at the time, who was always friendly to me at the various Osaka Pro shows and events. He had an autograph book that had been signed by all kinds of wrestlers. He really wanted to add Onita's autograph to his collection, but Onita's manager (or whoever he was) was firm in insisting that the kid had to buy something first. The kid had less money on him than I did, and he was pretty clearly heartbroken. So, I handed him one of my new wristbands, which he put on and used to get into the autograph line. Then, I saw Onita staring me down and gesturing at me to come over. I figured that I was in for a bollocking, but instead Onita pulled up a chair, sat me down beside him, and threw his arm around me. I had just taken money out of his pocket, and he had seen me doing it, but because I'd done it to help a kid he apparently loved me for it. For the remainder of the intermission, everyone who took a picture with Onita took a picture with him and with me. Imagine a pro wrestler rewarding you for costing him merch money! It really happened.

Word on the streets over here is that they are going to stream the semi-finals on July 3rd for free, no sign-up needed, on NJPW World

Every iteration of Rose vs Piper or Rose vs Borne that I have seen (which, sadly, only amounts to a few matches) has been amazing. Those guys have great ring chemistry and they really know how to work that Portland Sports Arena crowd.

Go read Matt D's first post in this thread, Ape. This project is not the same as the previous one.

?

I was kind of worried about what might happen to the ref.

Stan Hansen. In a bunkhouse match. In Memphis. Figure there might be some clubbering in this one.

JTTS vs JTTS matches are a special kind of niche treat. In my opinion, this match features four of the top five WWF JTTS vs JTTS guys (Koko being the other one - though I'm almost certainly forgetting somebody). Also in my opinion each guy has at least one moment that shows why they were one of the top jobbers of their time but also a moment where they show why they were never more than that in the WWF. (Check out the "elevation" that Casey gets on his cross-body, for one example, and the nice bump-and-sell that Lombardi takes on the follow-up hip-toss for another). Also, you get near-peak meandering Bruno on commentary.

It might actually be very interesting if The Greatest Match is edited down to, say, 20 or so mins (from a reported 30 - 35) because that could give us some insight into what Vince and his yes-men consider to be "Great."

Here is my all time, edge lord, what the hell? he must be trolling, ucey hot, galaxy brain take: It is likely that Bryan vs Styles will be a better pro wrestling match than the upcoming Greatest Wrestling Match of All Time. Yeah. That's right. I went there.

That's a good take about the difference between the ladder match with guys doing crazy shit but taking care of each other and the Hardcore Championship match with guys just unprofessionally braining each other. Never thought about it quite like that before, but it's clearly accurate.

IYH Canadian Stampede main event just dwarfs everything else for me, in terms of "I wish I could have been part of that crowd." Tigers Mask vs Black Buffalo mascaras contra mascaras took place before I moved to Japan. A lot of my Osaka Pro fanatic friends consider it their favourite match. Two guys who are really close friends "in real life" and at that time massive rivals in kayfabe... people I know were moved to tears by the match and its aftermath. I can only eat my heart out. Flair vs Funk I quit match would be pretty great, too... but I think the Terry Funk match I would most like to have seen live was the 1980 match to determine the winner of the RWTL tournament. Baba & Jumbo vs Terry & Dunk. That would allow me to live my impossible dream of seeing both Baba and Jumbo live and in person.

Yeah, he is shockingly good in that match. It's a real eye-opener.

For me, the joy of that '79 tag league match is twofold: First, just the fun of seeing genki young athletic pure babyface Jumbo. Such a nice contrast to the grumpy ass-kicker we are all so much more familiar with. And, it's kind of like watching young Bret in the WWF facing Savage (or that Boston Garden match he had with Steamboat).You can see the respect he's being given at this point in his career. Like they knew he would become something special. As @Beech27 put it, you want to see the trajectory of his career. It's like a backward glance at a future that we all know will actually come to pass. Second is the happy astonishment of that finish. Looking at it on paper you'd just naturally assume, in order of likelihood: A count-out, DQ, or other stereotypically 70s/80s Japanese wrestling non-finish; Mil pinning Jumbo; or Baba pinning Dos Caras. Jumbo getting the pin blew my mind the first time I saw this... and I suppose that ties in with the whole "Jumbo was bound for greatness" thing. Thanks to everyone who took the time to watch and review it! Munny vs Brookes is absolutely something I'd have enjoyed the hell out of if I'd been there live. Very fun match.

Here's a nifty little bite-sized wrestling treat for you all And, in case you are more in the mood for a big meal as opposed to a tasty snack:

Prince Nana and Prince Iaukea should come in to AEW as a kind of "consulting firm" for young wrestlers. They could use that Spin Doctors song as their theme. You know, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"

I have somehow never seen this before. What a tremendous match! Great use of "TV time remaining" to enhance the drama. I briefly thought "Wait a minute! Did Curt beat Hansen for the title? ... I'm pretty sure it was Bockwinkel..." But you know they've got you good, when you are thinking things like that.