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So in terms of like, transcendental heroes of wrestling, I know in the US it's Hogan, Austin and the Rock, In Japan it's Rikidozan and maybe Tsuruta, and in Mexico it's El Santo ... did the UK/Europe have a figure like that? I've heard of Big Daddy as being huge in his time.

I know it's not meant to be the focus of those gifs, but Steve Williams pulling out a handspring elbow is ... weird. Also, good grief, I forgot how fast and slick Bossman could be.

This will sound weird, but, is Nate actually emotionally stable enough to be champion? The guy has pretty obvious social anxiety and hates talking to the press and whatnot, but he'll have to do that as champ.

The chickenshit heel/doesn't want to get hit in the face heel. It's basically a full contact sport that allows strikes to the face. Cowards don't involve themselves in boxing, MMA, football or even soccer, there's no reason for them to be involved in pro wrestling. If it's a manager, fine, but if the guy is a full time competitor, him being a coward makes absolutely zero sense.

Ha ... imagining Christopher Lee and Dusty Rhodes drinking together and holding court at a bar bought a smile to my face. I needed that.

The man was also metal as fuck, releasing 2 symphonic metal albums in 2010 and 2013. He did the spoken word passages for Rhapsody of Fire's albums as well.

So, would it be fair to say that Randyll Tarly is basically Tywin Lannister, if Tywin had purely pursued martial strength?

I was about to say Christopher Lee edges him out, but they're the same age actually. I assumed Vaughn was younger than that though.

Jesus, even the ref looks like a badass.

On the subject of Randy Savage, the retirement match against Warrior ... was he fully intending that to be his in ring swan song and moving on to other things, or was there a comeback in mind the whole time?

Calling it now: that kid squiring for Jon Snow at the Wall is the one who stabs him to death, not the brothers of the Watch.

So, been watching this glut of French catch stuff that popped up on Youtube earlier this year. Some of these matches are just mind blowing. What I'm wondering is, why did this stuff get completely lost to time, to the point it seems none of these guys got their due from the wrestling community at large? Gilbert Cesca particularly seems like he should be included in discussions with guys like Gotch, Thesz, Gagne, Funk Sr, etc, but again, it seems like none of their peers ever mentioned any of these guys, or France in general for producing great wrestling. So what the heck happened?

This has occurred to me looking at older videos and pics ... it seems like in the era of the 60s, every last fucking heel, and even a few babyfaces, were bleaching their hair ... even Harley was doing that for awhile. What was with so many guys doing that back then?

Tenryu sounds like he should be doing vocals for a death metal band. I got the biggest grin watching him punch young karate guy in the mouth. Really fun match all told though. I loved him having one more exchange with Suwama post match ... like he wanted the fans' last image of him to be him punching someone in the face.

Abby was a weirdly awesome seller in his younger days.

So an interesting what if occurred to me today. What if Bruno Sammartino was totally soured on the wrestling business after getting blackballed by Vince Sr, and never returned at all? Who does Sr. go with as his star during what would've been Bruno's big run?

I'm thinking that's Johnny Valentine on the left, but I can't figure out anyone else. Is that Dick Murdoch, second from right?

Norton with the bald head looked terrifying.

I think this will come off sounding ... conspiratorial? Not sure of a good word for it. Could this be some weird play for pro wrestling to regain some of the credibility it's lost over the past decades? It's a gamble, yes, and we all saw this happen before with New Japan, but if Punk can notch a victory or two, I could see him coming back to pro wrestling to finish out his athletic career, with that credibility of having competed in a real sport.

Out of likes. Just imagine seeing fucking Vader, of all people, flying at you like that. He got some damned impressive height on that too. Young Vader is just amazing.

I really do wonder if keeping kayfabe so strongly was the best thing financially for pro wrestling though. Could they had been more successful presenting themselves as entertainment/characters. I get the whole thing about, that's how pro wrestling makes money, by appearing real to get emotional investment. But, to use a modern example, look at Game of Thrones. It's a TV show, these are actors, none of it is real at all. But people still get deeply emotionally invested, people love the characters and follow them and want to see their fate. I think some people, historically, may have gotten turned off to wrestling by it's insistence that, this *is* real, we will be taken seriously (this doesn't really happen in the modern day, I'm talking previous eras).

No. Just....no. Yes. Just yes. When you get guys fired just because they sold more merch than you, you're a scumbag and an asshole. He and Jerry Jarrett were conmen and control freaks, nothing more. No. Just....no. Yes. Just yes. When you get guys fired just because they sold more merch than you, you're a scumbag and an asshole. He and Jerry Jarrett were conmen and control freaks, nothing more. You sound like either you worked for Jarrett or Lawler banged your chick(which if you're young, is a very good possibility). You're beef describes the wrestling industry in general. I'm trying to figure out why you think those qualities are forgivable/acceptable. They aren't. Yes, I'm aware the cliche of pro wrestling promoters is not a good one, but that doesn't mean everyone should just shrug and go, that's how it is. Lawler shouldn't recieve any respect/admiration from anyone within the business or any fan of the business.

This has been stewing in my head for awhile ... the basic question is, did pro wrestling hurt itself by being so insular? It seems like pro wrestling has been unpopular with the major media and entertainment industries for years. Most of my life (I've been a fan since 1987), pro wrestling received no coverage in the media. Thing is, I think pro wrestling kind of did this to itself. They so tightly clung to kayfabe and pushed away people who weren't willing to go along with the unwritten rules the business had drawn up. The business seemed to want to be viewed alongside legitimate sports, without actually being one.

No. Just....no. Yes. Just yes. When you get guys fired just because they sold more merch than you, you're a scumbag and an asshole. He and Jerry Jarrett were conmen and control freaks, nothing more.

I despise Lawler. Never liked any of his work or promos, the guy is way too impressed with himself, and I hate how everyone talks him up as a brilliant worker. He isn't, he just had control of the Memphis area wrestling television, and jealously protected that spot to the point that no one was allowed to get even slightly popular in the area.