Graham Crackers

Y'know, I don't get upset when people talk about rednecks in the context of how delightfully trashy pro wrestling can be (example "it was like watching an awesome fight between two surly rednecks") and I already know that people from Appalachia are the one group that nobody will ever step up to defend but bringing up class in such a negative way is pretty tacky. Yes, pro wrestling is generally consumed by poor folks but I prefer to embrace pro wrestling as a populist form of entertainment instead of acting like indy wrestling is somehow just enlightened enough for the upper crust.

I think the NOAH junior whipping boy you're talking about is actually Genba Hirayanagi.

I vividly recall WWE showing a slow motion replay of Khali brainchopping Kane and watching the impact ripple down his body. It made me laugh and is probably my favorite Khali moment next to the Cena match.

Atlantis, El Dandy y Popitekus vs. Gran Markus Jr., Pirata Morgan y Ulises (5/26/89) In the 1980s project thread for this I am the only person who seems at all excited about this match. This match has two big fat fucks doing athletic lucha spots so it's definitely staying in the top half. You rarely get to see David vs Goliath stuff in lucha so watching the smaller guys taking down the big boys with all kinds of cool armdrags and flying techniques (including Morgan hitting the best tope en reversa) was pretty cool. One of the most fun matches on the set.

CHICO CHE http://luchawiki.org/index.php?title=Chico_Che

Shit, I hadn't heard about the show in Queens tonight. I hope my girlfriend appreciates the sacrifice I'm making by going to see her play instead of watching LA Park and Pierrothito.

I remember there being a note in one of those late 80s WON issues that Loss transcribed on PWO about Jumbo trying to convince Baba to bring in Maeda to feud with him. I love 1989 UWF and I love 1989 AJPW but I can't imagine what that would have looked like.

I always liked this one: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1kstr_rey-mysterio-jr-vs-super-calo_sport

Yes, Martian Timeslip and Clanes of the Alphane Moon don't get enough love. Neither does Our Friends from Frolix 8, but I was limiting myself to ten. Actually, other than some posthumous stuff like The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike, you really aren't wasting your time with ANY PKD book. Only posthumous Dick I've read is Radio Free Albemuth and it is one of my favorites. I will say that while admitting that I've actually never read VALIS which has a similar plot and is supposedly much better.

I remember Akira Maeda & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Bad News Allen & Steve Williams (7/25/86) on the NJPW set being decent fun but not living up to those names.

There were some kids sitting near me at Final Battle 2008 who were referring to all of the ROH wrestlers as if they were big name WWE guys. I don't remember all of the connections they made but I remember them referring to Davey Richards as Batista and Go Shiozaki was Kung Fu Naki. It was pretty fucking funny.

Obviously it's not as immersive as pro wrestling but this discussion reminds me of this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel The podcast Welcome to Night Vale is fiction told through the framing device of a fake local talk/newsradio broadcast. I've heard there is also a book in the works and I wonder how that will fit into the universe. Will it be written as if it were nonfiction?

I'm going to guess it's Duggan vs Sawyer from 11/11/85 which was my favorite match from the Mid South set.

Seriously, is that Duggan/Nagasaki match on tape?

It just came out and I probably won't get around to it for a while but I like Brown so I have a feeling that it should at least end up being an enjoyable read.

The first match between them is better but this is still an awesome Midsouth style gimmick match:

The Canek matches on the lucha set were just alright. I did like his match with Tiger Mask on the NJPW set though. Crazy as that may sound.

Now this is the best Velocity match ever: And speaking of house shows, I saw Noble carry Snitsky to a good match at an MSG house show where Noble won via armbar.

I didn't watch a ton of wrestling last year but I did watch a few CMLL shows. Rush vs Casas was a consistently awesome feud but Virus had better matches. I went Virus because those title matches give a better picture of why he's great whereas many of those Rush trios just suggest potential greatness. If the Rush vs Casas singles match had a little more meat on it I think this would be a different conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kIPaTXjCG4 One of the best junior tags of the 2000s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8BrNy6Tlg My favorite match from Togo's last big run leading up to his retirement.

That's Danny Hodge.

Man, Gringos Locos are my least favorite team in this whole bracket.

A great match from U-Style: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8hzy0_hiroyuki-ito-vs-alexander-otsuka-u_sport?search_algo=1

I'm taking a little break from this set. I've watched a bunch of matches a second time (a few have even been watched a third time) and that's lead to a bunch of rankings changing from when I made MOTY lists earlier in this thread. I think I will come back to this after more people have watched and commented which will also help me figure out what I need to watch again. I'll post my full list when the whole process is done but for now here's my working top 20. The order of the top 3 is still up in the air and something I won't finalize until I send in my ballot. MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana (Hair vs Hair) 9/23/1983 Gran Cochisse vs Satanico (NWA World Middleweight Championship) 9/14/1984 Espanto Jr. vs El Hijo Del Santo (Mask vs Mask) 8/31/1986 And the rest: Los Brazos vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan & El Verdugo (Super Libre) 11/10/1989 Solar, Ultraman & Super Astro vs Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco & Rudy Reyna 2/26/1984 Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca (NWA World Welterweight Championship) 1/27/1984 Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala & Verdugo vs Atlantis, Angel Azteca & Ringo Mendoza 3/1988 Emilio Charles Jr, Fabuloso Blondy & Pirata Morgan vs El Dandy, Atlantis & El Faraón 7/21/1989 Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo (Hair vs Hair) 2/28/1986 Super Astro, Atlantis & El Faraón vs Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther & Emilio Charles 8/18/1989 Sangre Chicana vs Satanico 5/26/1989 La Fiera vs Babyface (Hair vs Hair) 8/15/1986 Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan & Hombre Bala vs Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. 2/1987 La Fiera, El Faraón & El Egipico vs MS-1, Satanico & Pirata Morgan 3/29/1985 El Satanico & Espectro Jr. vs El Faraón & La Fiera 8/12/1984 Babyface, Cien Caras & Mascara Año 2000 vs Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco & La Fiera 1986 MS-1 & Masakre vs El Dandy & El Satanico 8/11/1989 El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (Mask vs Hair) 7/18/1987 Pirata Morgan vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) 9/23/1988 Tony Salazar vs Herodes 3/2/1984