This is, by no means, the easiest post that I have ever written for this blog. That honor falls to me taking apart Glen Gilbertti’s ridiculous arguments. However, this one, for the pure joy that the words make me feel, comes close. You see every person who is a fan of Pro Wrestling has their “gateway wrestler”, the person they mark out for above all others and the one who introduced them to this intoxicating world that they now live in. My first gateway wrestler was…. Jushin Liger. I, as so many of our peers did, grew transfixed with hearing the stories about this brilliant star with his innovative style who we could never see because he worked only in Japan, save for a few appearances on pay-per-view which we could never afford to see or a Clash of the Champions which was on a cable channel that not a one of us got. Nevertheless, the stories we heard, the tapes we procured as we grew older, made us endlessly fascinated by the brilliance we saw.
Well today…. I say that I have found a new person to mark out over, a new source of great intrigue for not only his style but the way that he conducts himself. Ladies and gentlemen…. The Majesty of Wrestling is proud to announce that we, proudly and with every last fiber of ourselves, announce that our new mark-out subject is none other than….. “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush. Let’s see if I can’t explain to you the meaning of why I like him so.
First, to understand Quack as his fans call him, it is perhaps in your own best interests to understand what he isn’t. First off, he isn’t packed head-to-toe with useless muscle mass. Standing at just 6 feet tall and weighing in at 191 pounds, he is, by the oft-cartoonist standards of the sport that he competes in, perhaps skinny. While us having to use this designation says perhaps more about the often size-obsessed world of Pro Wrestling than the man we are speaking of here the truth is this: In today’s modern world of pro wrestling he’s skinny. Capable of making you believe he is a pro wrestler, but still not someone who will at any point be on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine.
Secondly, he’s smart, and not in the way that people fool you into thinking that Triple H or Batista are. He’s actually intelligent. Like he can put together a sentence well and can reasonably carry on a conversation about matters that have nothing to do with his sport, a fact that is a welcome oasis in the way non-fans manage to treat pro wrestling, when they deign to think about it at all. Proof of this is in his podcasts, and they are many.
Now that we have gotten what he isn’t out of the way let’s dwell heavily instead on what he is. First I would submit to you that there are few wrestlers in the world today who show as much of a desire to learn about other forms of pro wrestling as he has. Name me someone who went, on their own dime no less, and learned about the fast-paced lucharesu of Michinoku Pro, and then took several camps with the llave master Jorge “Skayde” Rivera (another person for whom this blog has a great appreciation), and then melded that with the best of the American style and the European technical wizardry into something that worked for him.
Simply put…. He’s tremendous. And I’m proud to say I’ve seen him in action, live, twice. And I hope to tell him so next time I get the chance to interview him.
12.19.2008
11.11.2008
Lesnar-Couture: The reason why MMA matters
if you listen to certain corners of the internet blogosphere like this, or this, you would be well within your rights to assume that anyone who enters MMA as a career is, to quote the first article that was linked here, "doing nothing more than buying into a fantasy." And while this blog has, with regrettable results, tried to prove the point that those who have a bias towardss MMA should consider themselves to be as shameful as those who have biases towards athletes because of the color of their skin, the big fight coming up between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar drove me to revisit this thought. Because, after all, I am going to try and watch the fight.
So with that in mind I figured I'd explain why the persons in the main event of this show are better role models for your children than you think they are.
1: All of the american-born MMA fighters are at the very least high-level collegiate athletes.
The men in the main event of this show, Randy Couture, a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I All-American and a two-time NCAA Division-I runner-up at Oklahoma State University. What else could you want someone to do? World-class wrestler, got his degree from a very reputable institution.
Brock Lesnar, on the other hand, finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion with a record of 106-5 overall in four years of college. Both of these men are well-spoken, capable of representing themselves and their sport well, and are well-rounded men. Hell... Randy Couture got the nickname "Captain America" for goodness sakes.
Two: Competitive grace.
To be sure Lesnar and Couture will try their best to mine their arsenals as deep as they can to ensure the victory. for themselves but i can also guarantee to you that when the night is over, whether one of them wins or loses, they'll treat each other likes sporstmen. No Tito Ortiz-like grave digging here.
Three: Can Randy Couture do it again?
Every time anyone with even a casual interest in MMA has believed that Randy is done, that the new young bull is finally going to knock the old bull off, Randy refuses to die. Whether utterly dominating Tim Sylvia, out-striking Chuck Liddell, or battling through a broken arm to beat Gabriel Gonzaga, it has gotten to the point where there are few things that you believe he can't do.
In the days to come I'll add more listings to this list. Enjoy.
So with that in mind I figured I'd explain why the persons in the main event of this show are better role models for your children than you think they are.
1: All of the american-born MMA fighters are at the very least high-level collegiate athletes.
The men in the main event of this show, Randy Couture, a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I All-American and a two-time NCAA Division-I runner-up at Oklahoma State University. What else could you want someone to do? World-class wrestler, got his degree from a very reputable institution.
Brock Lesnar, on the other hand, finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion with a record of 106-5 overall in four years of college. Both of these men are well-spoken, capable of representing themselves and their sport well, and are well-rounded men. Hell... Randy Couture got the nickname "Captain America" for goodness sakes.
Two: Competitive grace.
To be sure Lesnar and Couture will try their best to mine their arsenals as deep as they can to ensure the victory. for themselves but i can also guarantee to you that when the night is over, whether one of them wins or loses, they'll treat each other likes sporstmen. No Tito Ortiz-like grave digging here.
Three: Can Randy Couture do it again?
Every time anyone with even a casual interest in MMA has believed that Randy is done, that the new young bull is finally going to knock the old bull off, Randy refuses to die. Whether utterly dominating Tim Sylvia, out-striking Chuck Liddell, or battling through a broken arm to beat Gabriel Gonzaga, it has gotten to the point where there are few things that you believe he can't do.
In the days to come I'll add more listings to this list. Enjoy.
10.24.2008
Explanation......
I do not do this normally but an addendum to the post just below this one.
When I wrote it, I was angry at what I thought was a series of cheap shots made purely because the writer knew he could take them with no one to call him on them. In the course of me trying to disprove those cheap shots, I did the one thing I should not have done: I took cheap shots of my own. The truth is this: D.K. Wilson of Sports on My Mind knows nothing about MMA, nor does he want to. That is his right. After all, there are things he is likely expert on that I know nothing about, nor that I would want to. Moreover, I vow here…. No more cheap shots on the subject of race, and for that matter no more cheap shots period. But I also hope that you hear this: Do not assume, that just because I have vowed not to take a cheap shot at you, that you can continue to tell your audience flat-out falsehoods about MMA. I will be watching.
And on the subject of racism in sports media this is the argument that I was trying to make, and I hope that if you have stumbled over here from Sports on My Mind you will listen to it. This blog, whether you wish it to be or not, is largely about pro wrestling, MMA, and amateur wrestling. When one of those three things intersects with something else I am going to cover both the original thing and the intersection. However, do understand, for I would not expect this of those of you who have a blog that details something in specific to detail from the things you enjoy discussing to come and cover the differences between T2P and Toryumon X, it will only be when there is a motivation that I find. Let me have this little corner of the blogosphere all to myself, to speak in my voice. And that voice doesn’t NOT care about ESPN, and doesn’t NOT care about other things that have nothing to do with all manners grappling. It’s that those opinions are private, left to me to discuss with comfortable AND uncomfortable company on my own terms.
Sincerely,
The Majesty of Wrestling
When I wrote it, I was angry at what I thought was a series of cheap shots made purely because the writer knew he could take them with no one to call him on them. In the course of me trying to disprove those cheap shots, I did the one thing I should not have done: I took cheap shots of my own. The truth is this: D.K. Wilson of Sports on My Mind knows nothing about MMA, nor does he want to. That is his right. After all, there are things he is likely expert on that I know nothing about, nor that I would want to. Moreover, I vow here…. No more cheap shots on the subject of race, and for that matter no more cheap shots period. But I also hope that you hear this: Do not assume, that just because I have vowed not to take a cheap shot at you, that you can continue to tell your audience flat-out falsehoods about MMA. I will be watching.
And on the subject of racism in sports media this is the argument that I was trying to make, and I hope that if you have stumbled over here from Sports on My Mind you will listen to it. This blog, whether you wish it to be or not, is largely about pro wrestling, MMA, and amateur wrestling. When one of those three things intersects with something else I am going to cover both the original thing and the intersection. However, do understand, for I would not expect this of those of you who have a blog that details something in specific to detail from the things you enjoy discussing to come and cover the differences between T2P and Toryumon X, it will only be when there is a motivation that I find. Let me have this little corner of the blogosphere all to myself, to speak in my voice. And that voice doesn’t NOT care about ESPN, and doesn’t NOT care about other things that have nothing to do with all manners grappling. It’s that those opinions are private, left to me to discuss with comfortable AND uncomfortable company on my own terms.
Sincerely,
The Majesty of Wrestling
10.22.2008
Puncturing Bubbles
I take no joy in doing what I am about to do, but know that if I didn’t do it, I’d find myself regretting every morning. Here we go.
Recently D.K. Wilson over at Sports on My Mind, who got this written about him the last time he tried to speak on something about which he has no great sense of knowledge, decided he’d keep the damned thing going. So, because we here at The Majesty of Wrestling like puncturing self-important people’s bubbles just as much as we like Torneo Ciberneticos, puppies, and American Dragon, here we go: A FJM-style dismantling of every single last one of Mr. Wilson’s points in his latest notes article found here
(Author’s Note: My Comments are in Bold. Helps to keep things clear.)
Brock Lesner was featured by Tom Ferrey in one of Tuesday’s E:60 segments. And Lesner was the recipient of some serious ESPN “White Pass” treatment.
OOH….. Racism. I’d love to see how we prove this one.
For those who do not know him, Brock Lesner was an NCAA champion wrestler at the University of Minnesota. He then entered the world of professional wrestling and became a multimillionaire. For his efforts he blew out both of his knees and has chronic back pain.
After leaving the ranks of pro-faux grappling he tried to parlay his wrestling fame into making the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive lineman. Lesner lasted until the final round of cuts and found himself lost and without work. So he turned to mixed martial arts for salvation and in a rocket rise through the ranks reminiscent of Kimbo Slice, is set for a championship fight against 45-year old Randy Couture in November.
The only difference between Lesnar and Slice is that while Kimbo got there because he was discovered by some faux boxing promoter looking to drag himself into the MMA mainstream behind the wing of a parody of a street fighter, Brock lesnar actually has and always had the credentials necessary to be a good MMA fighter. NCAA Champion, one of the most dominant college heavyweights in recent memory. And I will say that your dismissive attitude towards Pro Wrestling will not be treated as it normally would here.
It is a true, your 15 minutes of fame is up, story.
But not for the WWL and its continued efforts to make good on its bet that MMA is the next big deal in - sort of - sports, So to force MMA down the throats of sports watchers, we are introduced by Ferrey to 6′3″ 265-pound Brock Lesner:
“Brock Lesner has always wanted to fight. Four years ago he was labeled the next big thing - but in the make-believe world of pro wrestling.”
Former pro wrestler Bill Goldberg then says:
“He’s a genetic freak. If god were to sit down and build a warrior I think he would come out to be Brock Lesner.”
Wonderful imagery there, ESPN. This is, after all, the sports news outlet that played and replayed Kellen Winslow’s U of Miami locker room tirade where he mentioned being a warrior ad nauseum. They highlighted and debated Winslow’s quote on every show possible and slagged him for using the word at a time when America was at war.
Ok. Where to begin? Brock was actually named the “Next Big Thing” by the WWE and proved it, and then after an ugly split with the WWE, went over to New Japan and did pretty much the same stuff (although him leaving and taking the belt with him was kind of shady.) But, to somehow imply that Brock Lesnar isn’t a genetic freak is just plain dumb. The dude’s got massive strength, great speed, and is agile for someone who is built basically like a big house.
And ooh… the Warrior quote. Apparently Kellen Winslow, who at the minimum was an 18-year-old kid discussing a penalty he had incurred for a cheap shot and how he was tougher than everyone who was on the other side of the field, is perfectly alright. But Bill Goldberg, who meant it in a way of describing the boundless athleticism of Lesnar, is somehow deserving of the same criticism that Winslow got.
Well, we’re still at war, but it apparently is just fine to air Goldberg’s quote and flaunt Lesner, who until recently, was just another WWE goon participating in that arena of predetermined outcomes, as a warrior.
“He got the fame, the fortune, and the girl… better known as “Sable,” wrestling diva and Playboy centerfold.”
Lesner tells us that he “lived the world of a rockstar” replete with “two Hummers, a Mercedes, Corvette - airplanes, four or five houses…”
And they say black athletes are the only people to squander their earnings on luxury items while acting like petty, transparent, consumer-addicted whores.
Am I going to sit here and argue that Lesnar’s lifestyle wasn’t reckless and consumeristic? Of course I’m not. That’d be silly. Almost as silly as going through an entire friggin article calling someone Lesner when his name is Lesnar. Nitpicking I know but hey….. it’s only going to get worse. And re the spending thing: One of these days I’ll take you to the homes of some white players in major sports and we’ll see how big they’re living. Deal?
But ESPN attempts to trick us into believing this is just another story of an All-American kid from the heartland (Lesner is from South Dakota). Just after showing a snippet of one of Lesner’s MMA bouts, there is a jump cut to a sunset-lighted field with infinite rows of corn and luscious green trees in the background and a tractor creating furrows and kicking up perfectly wind-blown dust (out of video camera view) in the foreground.
And baleful country slide guitar is serenading us to a sleep filled with pro-white America dreams.
Lord have mercy Jesus Christ. Because someone is from South Dakota, and a country guitar is played, it’s… let me get this right…. PRO-WHITE AMERICA? Oh god. He actually said this? *Sips a bottle of water, trying to calm down.* Oh that’s better. God forbid there are people in this country, even in Lesnar’s South Dakota, who like country music who happen to not be waving confederate flags in the backseat of their pickup trucks. And regarding the field and the tractor and the corn: It’s actually a good shot of the Midwest. Things like that happen out there. People use their fields to grow things. Like Corn… Wheat…. Rice. People don’t call the Midwest the breadbasket of the USA because it sounds nice. It’s true by and large.
Ferrey intones:
“Webster, South Dakota, a town near the Minnesota border with fewer than 2,000 people.”
And a solitary man - Lesner? - stands next to the town sign on the edge of railroad tracks - obviously going out of Webster.
“Lesner grew up on this dairy farm, struggling to help his family hold onto a property headed to foreclosure.”
It is Sarah Palin’s America.
Lesner then tells the tale of a broke family and knowing he needed to get out and make something more of himself (damn those people sure know how to pull themselves up by their bootstraps).
Wait a minute. We’re now clowning Brock Lesnar because he was able to get out of a bad situation because he was good, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL good, at something and used it to get a college degree from a pretty good academic institution? Come on now man.. Besides, in Webster, farms exist. You know like the ones you might have seen (cursing under your breath that the men in them have GOT to be racist). Now you’re just Nat X, tilting windmills and seeing racism behind every corner. What’s next: “I demand to know why the black shoelaces are behind the white ones!”
If all of that wasn’t insidious enough to turn your mind’s eye queasy, the punch line is.
Ferrey then says:
“So Lesner literally fought his way out.”
Cut to childhood friend, Matthew Baumgarn, who is bright-eyed remembering a young Lesner:
“He likes to beat on people. He grew up beatin’ on people. Him and his brother were fightin’ all the time.
And then Ferrey asks Lesner:
“What is it like to simply maul somebody?”
To which Brock Lesner replies in a very matter-of-fact fashion:
“Ahh, it’s a good feeling. Handling another human being and makin’ ‘em feel less than you is, uh, I don’t know, somethin’ I got a thrill out of.”
The music turns minor chord serious folksy and Ferrey begins to pave the road to creating a respectable man out of Lesner by letting us know how he “channeled his aggression into football and wrestling.”
Really? Channeling your aggression into doing something safe, in a controlled environment, instead of beating up random people all the time is a BAD thing? That’s what wrestling is at its core Mr. Wilson. You try and impose your will on someone, make them do what YOU want them to. And as someone who had older cousins allow me to let you in on a little secret: We fought… A lot. I’m sure if I polled your readership the ones who had bigger brothers could tell chapter and verse about the times they got into it with their brothers. It happens.
But there is no humanizing this —— is there?
Those were not, when I was a fool stories Lesner told. The man loves to physically damage other human beings with his fists or in any other way he can.
Today.
Imagine if that was ———– Kimbo Slice?
Remember the animalistic poses ESPN coaxed out of Slice during his E:60 segment with Rachel Nichols - with the up close camera views that distorted his features even more; the sweat, the bare footed bearded black barely human-looking…. thing we laid witness to - dwarfing Nichols who, though she held up trainer’s mitts for Slice’s punches, she also appeared hesitant, frightened to enter too close to his space during the interview (another silent nod to King Kong?) – hailed as the possible future of MMA?
Lesner was interviewed by Ferrey in a clean as a whistle barn on Made in the USofA hay bales, baby - and don’t you forget it, brother.
I try very hard to make this a family friendly blog but this is too far. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Forget the fact that before anyone knew Kimbo Slice existed he did this same parody-of-a-black-man shit on youtube, knocking cats out at NothingToxic purely for fun. Again so we’re clear Brock Lesnar, who was a national champion wrestler and a college-graduate from the University of Minnesota, is as much of an animal as Kimbo Slice, who got into MMA because he wanted to make money and because boxing wouldn’t have him. Again… DK Wilson= Nat X.
Lawrence Taylor referred to himself as a “crazed dog” on the football field and has been forever remembered as the animal “other” who didn’t know the defensive scheme but made the Hall of Fame by being “turned loose” by his head coach Bill Parcells to decapitate the quarterback. Never mind that Taylor could also be found covering a running back on a circle route 40 yards down the field after recognizing that the offense was designed to have a tight end chip block him, a tackle block him, and have that running back chip him on his way out into his route. Oh, LT was a thinking man’s football player, all right, but you’d nbever know it listening to media members descriptions of the man.
Think of the portrayal of Mike Tyson, before the Evander Holyfireld ear biting incident. Tyson as a champion was depicted as a killing machine, a brutal human sub-species - part rotweiler, part shark, and only human through the fact that we walked upright and on two legs.
Think of the fun ESPN would have today if a black athlete described himself as does Lesner. He’d be a thug, a goon, a monster. He’d be deemed too brutal for whatever sport in which he participated.
He would be dehumanized.
But Brock Lesner? Brock Lesner is an American Tail, human, not mouse. Brock Lesner had it all but turned down a seven-year $45 million pro wrestling contract to try to play the honorable game of football for $230,000 per season; who now lives as he really always wanted to all along, simply and with the woman he loves. And all the while he is once again called “the next big thing,” this time of MMA. And should he defeat Couture, Lesner will have millions once again.
Not bad for an All-American warrior from Webster, South Dakota.
Right Tom Ferrey? Right ESPN?
For the last time it’s Lesnar. And if he defeats Couture Lesnar will have done an incredible thing. Do you know who Randy Couture is? Do you have any idea what he’s done? Thank you. Your silence speaks volumes.
Is the way that Mike Tyson and LT were portrayed for the vast majority of their careers racist by some? Yeah, I’d he honest and say for some media members it was. But remember…. Race didn’t make Mike Tyson say he wanted to drive someone’s nose bone through their brain. Race didn’t make Mike Tyson act like Godzilla in Japan. Race didn’t make LT fail drug test after drug test. And Race didn’t make LT into what he is now, a guy trading off of his fame.
This is not a wholly racist society. And if you think it is, if you imagine it to be a place where no black man can get a fair shot at anything unless he “sells out” or “Acts white”, I’m sorry. Your hopelessness saddens me.
Recently D.K. Wilson over at Sports on My Mind, who got this written about him the last time he tried to speak on something about which he has no great sense of knowledge, decided he’d keep the damned thing going. So, because we here at The Majesty of Wrestling like puncturing self-important people’s bubbles just as much as we like Torneo Ciberneticos, puppies, and American Dragon, here we go: A FJM-style dismantling of every single last one of Mr. Wilson’s points in his latest notes article found here
(Author’s Note: My Comments are in Bold. Helps to keep things clear.)
Brock Lesner was featured by Tom Ferrey in one of Tuesday’s E:60 segments. And Lesner was the recipient of some serious ESPN “White Pass” treatment.
OOH….. Racism. I’d love to see how we prove this one.
For those who do not know him, Brock Lesner was an NCAA champion wrestler at the University of Minnesota. He then entered the world of professional wrestling and became a multimillionaire. For his efforts he blew out both of his knees and has chronic back pain.
After leaving the ranks of pro-faux grappling he tried to parlay his wrestling fame into making the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive lineman. Lesner lasted until the final round of cuts and found himself lost and without work. So he turned to mixed martial arts for salvation and in a rocket rise through the ranks reminiscent of Kimbo Slice, is set for a championship fight against 45-year old Randy Couture in November.
The only difference between Lesnar and Slice is that while Kimbo got there because he was discovered by some faux boxing promoter looking to drag himself into the MMA mainstream behind the wing of a parody of a street fighter, Brock lesnar actually has and always had the credentials necessary to be a good MMA fighter. NCAA Champion, one of the most dominant college heavyweights in recent memory. And I will say that your dismissive attitude towards Pro Wrestling will not be treated as it normally would here.
It is a true, your 15 minutes of fame is up, story.
But not for the WWL and its continued efforts to make good on its bet that MMA is the next big deal in - sort of - sports, So to force MMA down the throats of sports watchers, we are introduced by Ferrey to 6′3″ 265-pound Brock Lesner:
“Brock Lesner has always wanted to fight. Four years ago he was labeled the next big thing - but in the make-believe world of pro wrestling.”
Former pro wrestler Bill Goldberg then says:
“He’s a genetic freak. If god were to sit down and build a warrior I think he would come out to be Brock Lesner.”
Wonderful imagery there, ESPN. This is, after all, the sports news outlet that played and replayed Kellen Winslow’s U of Miami locker room tirade where he mentioned being a warrior ad nauseum. They highlighted and debated Winslow’s quote on every show possible and slagged him for using the word at a time when America was at war.
Ok. Where to begin? Brock was actually named the “Next Big Thing” by the WWE and proved it, and then after an ugly split with the WWE, went over to New Japan and did pretty much the same stuff (although him leaving and taking the belt with him was kind of shady.) But, to somehow imply that Brock Lesnar isn’t a genetic freak is just plain dumb. The dude’s got massive strength, great speed, and is agile for someone who is built basically like a big house.
And ooh… the Warrior quote. Apparently Kellen Winslow, who at the minimum was an 18-year-old kid discussing a penalty he had incurred for a cheap shot and how he was tougher than everyone who was on the other side of the field, is perfectly alright. But Bill Goldberg, who meant it in a way of describing the boundless athleticism of Lesnar, is somehow deserving of the same criticism that Winslow got.
Well, we’re still at war, but it apparently is just fine to air Goldberg’s quote and flaunt Lesner, who until recently, was just another WWE goon participating in that arena of predetermined outcomes, as a warrior.
“He got the fame, the fortune, and the girl… better known as “Sable,” wrestling diva and Playboy centerfold.”
Lesner tells us that he “lived the world of a rockstar” replete with “two Hummers, a Mercedes, Corvette - airplanes, four or five houses…”
And they say black athletes are the only people to squander their earnings on luxury items while acting like petty, transparent, consumer-addicted whores.
Am I going to sit here and argue that Lesnar’s lifestyle wasn’t reckless and consumeristic? Of course I’m not. That’d be silly. Almost as silly as going through an entire friggin article calling someone Lesner when his name is Lesnar. Nitpicking I know but hey….. it’s only going to get worse. And re the spending thing: One of these days I’ll take you to the homes of some white players in major sports and we’ll see how big they’re living. Deal?
But ESPN attempts to trick us into believing this is just another story of an All-American kid from the heartland (Lesner is from South Dakota). Just after showing a snippet of one of Lesner’s MMA bouts, there is a jump cut to a sunset-lighted field with infinite rows of corn and luscious green trees in the background and a tractor creating furrows and kicking up perfectly wind-blown dust (out of video camera view) in the foreground.
And baleful country slide guitar is serenading us to a sleep filled with pro-white America dreams.
Lord have mercy Jesus Christ. Because someone is from South Dakota, and a country guitar is played, it’s… let me get this right…. PRO-WHITE AMERICA? Oh god. He actually said this? *Sips a bottle of water, trying to calm down.* Oh that’s better. God forbid there are people in this country, even in Lesnar’s South Dakota, who like country music who happen to not be waving confederate flags in the backseat of their pickup trucks. And regarding the field and the tractor and the corn: It’s actually a good shot of the Midwest. Things like that happen out there. People use their fields to grow things. Like Corn… Wheat…. Rice. People don’t call the Midwest the breadbasket of the USA because it sounds nice. It’s true by and large.
Ferrey intones:
“Webster, South Dakota, a town near the Minnesota border with fewer than 2,000 people.”
And a solitary man - Lesner? - stands next to the town sign on the edge of railroad tracks - obviously going out of Webster.
“Lesner grew up on this dairy farm, struggling to help his family hold onto a property headed to foreclosure.”
It is Sarah Palin’s America.
Lesner then tells the tale of a broke family and knowing he needed to get out and make something more of himself (damn those people sure know how to pull themselves up by their bootstraps).
Wait a minute. We’re now clowning Brock Lesnar because he was able to get out of a bad situation because he was good, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL good, at something and used it to get a college degree from a pretty good academic institution? Come on now man.. Besides, in Webster, farms exist. You know like the ones you might have seen (cursing under your breath that the men in them have GOT to be racist). Now you’re just Nat X, tilting windmills and seeing racism behind every corner. What’s next: “I demand to know why the black shoelaces are behind the white ones!”
If all of that wasn’t insidious enough to turn your mind’s eye queasy, the punch line is.
Ferrey then says:
“So Lesner literally fought his way out.”
Cut to childhood friend, Matthew Baumgarn, who is bright-eyed remembering a young Lesner:
“He likes to beat on people. He grew up beatin’ on people. Him and his brother were fightin’ all the time.
And then Ferrey asks Lesner:
“What is it like to simply maul somebody?”
To which Brock Lesner replies in a very matter-of-fact fashion:
“Ahh, it’s a good feeling. Handling another human being and makin’ ‘em feel less than you is, uh, I don’t know, somethin’ I got a thrill out of.”
The music turns minor chord serious folksy and Ferrey begins to pave the road to creating a respectable man out of Lesner by letting us know how he “channeled his aggression into football and wrestling.”
Really? Channeling your aggression into doing something safe, in a controlled environment, instead of beating up random people all the time is a BAD thing? That’s what wrestling is at its core Mr. Wilson. You try and impose your will on someone, make them do what YOU want them to. And as someone who had older cousins allow me to let you in on a little secret: We fought… A lot. I’m sure if I polled your readership the ones who had bigger brothers could tell chapter and verse about the times they got into it with their brothers. It happens.
But there is no humanizing this —— is there?
Those were not, when I was a fool stories Lesner told. The man loves to physically damage other human beings with his fists or in any other way he can.
Today.
Imagine if that was ———– Kimbo Slice?
Remember the animalistic poses ESPN coaxed out of Slice during his E:60 segment with Rachel Nichols - with the up close camera views that distorted his features even more; the sweat, the bare footed bearded black barely human-looking…. thing we laid witness to - dwarfing Nichols who, though she held up trainer’s mitts for Slice’s punches, she also appeared hesitant, frightened to enter too close to his space during the interview (another silent nod to King Kong?) – hailed as the possible future of MMA?
Lesner was interviewed by Ferrey in a clean as a whistle barn on Made in the USofA hay bales, baby - and don’t you forget it, brother.
I try very hard to make this a family friendly blog but this is too far. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Forget the fact that before anyone knew Kimbo Slice existed he did this same parody-of-a-black-man shit on youtube, knocking cats out at NothingToxic purely for fun. Again so we’re clear Brock Lesnar, who was a national champion wrestler and a college-graduate from the University of Minnesota, is as much of an animal as Kimbo Slice, who got into MMA because he wanted to make money and because boxing wouldn’t have him. Again… DK Wilson= Nat X.
Lawrence Taylor referred to himself as a “crazed dog” on the football field and has been forever remembered as the animal “other” who didn’t know the defensive scheme but made the Hall of Fame by being “turned loose” by his head coach Bill Parcells to decapitate the quarterback. Never mind that Taylor could also be found covering a running back on a circle route 40 yards down the field after recognizing that the offense was designed to have a tight end chip block him, a tackle block him, and have that running back chip him on his way out into his route. Oh, LT was a thinking man’s football player, all right, but you’d nbever know it listening to media members descriptions of the man.
Think of the portrayal of Mike Tyson, before the Evander Holyfireld ear biting incident. Tyson as a champion was depicted as a killing machine, a brutal human sub-species - part rotweiler, part shark, and only human through the fact that we walked upright and on two legs.
Think of the fun ESPN would have today if a black athlete described himself as does Lesner. He’d be a thug, a goon, a monster. He’d be deemed too brutal for whatever sport in which he participated.
He would be dehumanized.
But Brock Lesner? Brock Lesner is an American Tail, human, not mouse. Brock Lesner had it all but turned down a seven-year $45 million pro wrestling contract to try to play the honorable game of football for $230,000 per season; who now lives as he really always wanted to all along, simply and with the woman he loves. And all the while he is once again called “the next big thing,” this time of MMA. And should he defeat Couture, Lesner will have millions once again.
Not bad for an All-American warrior from Webster, South Dakota.
Right Tom Ferrey? Right ESPN?
For the last time it’s Lesnar. And if he defeats Couture Lesnar will have done an incredible thing. Do you know who Randy Couture is? Do you have any idea what he’s done? Thank you. Your silence speaks volumes.
Is the way that Mike Tyson and LT were portrayed for the vast majority of their careers racist by some? Yeah, I’d he honest and say for some media members it was. But remember…. Race didn’t make Mike Tyson say he wanted to drive someone’s nose bone through their brain. Race didn’t make Mike Tyson act like Godzilla in Japan. Race didn’t make LT fail drug test after drug test. And Race didn’t make LT into what he is now, a guy trading off of his fame.
This is not a wholly racist society. And if you think it is, if you imagine it to be a place where no black man can get a fair shot at anything unless he “sells out” or “Acts white”, I’m sorry. Your hopelessness saddens me.
10.16.2008
I get publicity....
Come and join the conversation.
A discussion about Jushin Liger over at friend of this blog The Starting Five.
A discussion about Jushin Liger over at friend of this blog The Starting Five.
10.14.2008
Three Countries: The Main Styles of Japan, Mexico, and England
Since I am spending a good bit of my time at the moment trying very hard to convince one “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush to deign to give this blog another interview I figure that now is as good a time as any to discuss my fondness for a particular style that he has shown an ever-increasing aptitude in, and that’s the British Lancashire style. This week on TMW…. British Wrestling. Pip Pip, Cheerio, and all that crap. We go across the pond.
Internationally Known: The various styles inherent in Pro Wrestling, and why British Lancashire needs to be revived.
As it goes, there are the three main styles that most American fans are familiar with: Mexican Lucha Libre, Japanese Puroresu, and the amalgam of both styles that is American pro-wrestling. Considering that most of what you see in American wrestling is a mix of the best of the two styles here I’m not going to give you the American listing. In addition, inside those two other macro styles there are various and sundry sub-styles. I will separate them for you now by country and give you the best matches to show you the form.
Puroresu:
The traditional style of New Japan called Strong Style. It tends to place high emphasis on matwork, submissions, and stiff strikes. Despite changes over time, it is always called 'strong style’. This is not the same thing as the imitators that have sprung up throughout the United States, the foremost of which is American independent promotion Ring of Honor followed closely by IWA Mid South. They are practicing what is referred to commonly as American Strong Style. Best Example: I’d say…. Takada v. Koshinaka from New Japan in 1986. A high-end contest for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title, a belt that would rise to new prominence with the arrival of the “Holy Influx” of juniors in the 1990’s led by this man: http://themajestyofwrestling.blogspot.com/2008/08/japanese-thunder-parable-of-liger.html
All-Japan and Noah’s contribution to this list is in the King’s Road style, a layered approach based on the escalation of maneuvers, lengthy striking duels, and fighting spirit in abundance. Incidentally, the stars of the era’s matches build one on top of another, each encounter requiring the winner to come up with some new attack to keep the loser off of him. For pure drama, there are few styles that convey as much as King’s Road. Best Match: Misawa-Kawada 6-3-94. The graceful, cerebral, and smooth Misawa, who already had a good run as the second Tiger Mask, against the hard-hitting and rough-hewn Kawada, nicknamed “Hard Luck” by the fans for his inability to catch a break.
Dragon Gate and Toryumon, and their stylistic ancestor Michinoku Pro, bring to us lucharesu. A fast-paced blend of the best of Japanese junior heavyweight and Mexican Lucha Libre (and we will get to them later.) The best way to describe the lucharesu style is to imagine blindingly quick mat work and insane aerial tricks, mix them up in a package, and out comes lucharesu. Best Match: 10-10-96. Kaientai DX (Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, Funaki, Terry Boy, Shiryu 2) v. Gran Hamada, Super Delfin, Gran Naniwa, Yakushiji, and Tiger Mask IV. A 10-man tag from a show called “These Days”. You think a 10-man tag is hard to follow? With this one it moves quick, with non-stop spots and a breathtaking pace still awe-inspiring 12 years after the fact.
UWF, UWF-I, RINGS, and so on. Theirs is a shoot style. More matwork than even Strong Style does, and lots of submissions. Crazy submissions that prompt you to say “Ow Fuckity Ow” like you were Juno McGuff. Best Match: With this, there isn’t a best match. More of a guy whose work you need to seek out. Volk Han.
Mexico:
Lucha Libre:
This is a bit harder to do because of the nature of what Lucha is, sort of a free-form art based entirely around timing. However, we wouldn’t be a blog called the Majesty of Wrestling if we didn’t try so here we go.
Lucha-core. A strange amalgam of traditional junior heavyweight daredevil spots, hardcore brawling, and dashes of the traditional Lucha style. It’s more commonly the style performed by the AAA luchadors. Best Match: Mexican Powers v. Las Hermandad v. Familia de Tijuana v. Teddy Hart\Jack Evans from the most recent triplemania.
Llave-Style. Think holds circled into holds in interesting way. It is maybe the hardest style to master, but the most aesthetically pleasing to this writer’s eye. A heavy influence on what would later be the T2P promotion in Japan. Best Match: Anything Skayde did in CMLL. Seriously go look that guy up. His work is awesome. If you cannot find any of his stuff in Mexico or in Japan, where he was the trainer for Toryumon and Dragon Gate then find his matches against Mike Quackenbush in the states.
Now then to the fun one. The British Lancashire (Or World Of Sport as it is more commonly referred to) style practiced extensively in Europe is in a lot of ways more closely resembling amateur wrestling than anything you will find with the possible exception of the UWF and RINGS stuff. It is entirely based upon wrestling skill and technique in applying a variety of holds, pinning combinations, and locks. Striking is at a minimum, and there are very few “gimmicks”. Out sized personalities do exist, in the awesome heel work of Jim Breaks and the babyface skills of Johnny Saint, but by and large it is about the skill inherent in the men who choose to compete in it. There are five 5-minute rounds in non-title matches with victory being achieved by one person who can get 2 falls by pin, 3 submissions, or 1 knockout. In the title matches there are 10 rounds of 5 minutes each and the same basic rules apply. Any participant who is knocked down to the mat has a 10-count to rise back to his feet and continue the battle.
Another interesting distinction is that the referee does not audibly count the pin falls, meaning that the crowd and the viewing audience is fully expected to figure out on their own steam that the 3-count is occurring.
Largely this style has been consigned to the mists of history and DVD’s, with only a few stars left from the era still capable of performing it. However, the current generation of American independent workers has mastered many of the spots, men like Mike Quackenbush, Chris Hero, Alex Shelley, and the Best Wrestler in the World, Bryan Danielson. If you wondered where Hero’s cravate came from, for instance, it’s in the time he spent studying under the British style.
I hope this has been as fun for you to read as it has been for me to write. Thank you for reading
Internationally Known: The various styles inherent in Pro Wrestling, and why British Lancashire needs to be revived.
As it goes, there are the three main styles that most American fans are familiar with: Mexican Lucha Libre, Japanese Puroresu, and the amalgam of both styles that is American pro-wrestling. Considering that most of what you see in American wrestling is a mix of the best of the two styles here I’m not going to give you the American listing. In addition, inside those two other macro styles there are various and sundry sub-styles. I will separate them for you now by country and give you the best matches to show you the form.
Puroresu:
The traditional style of New Japan called Strong Style. It tends to place high emphasis on matwork, submissions, and stiff strikes. Despite changes over time, it is always called 'strong style’. This is not the same thing as the imitators that have sprung up throughout the United States, the foremost of which is American independent promotion Ring of Honor followed closely by IWA Mid South. They are practicing what is referred to commonly as American Strong Style. Best Example: I’d say…. Takada v. Koshinaka from New Japan in 1986. A high-end contest for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title, a belt that would rise to new prominence with the arrival of the “Holy Influx” of juniors in the 1990’s led by this man: http://themajestyofwrestling.blogspot.com/2008/08/japanese-thunder-parable-of-liger.html
All-Japan and Noah’s contribution to this list is in the King’s Road style, a layered approach based on the escalation of maneuvers, lengthy striking duels, and fighting spirit in abundance. Incidentally, the stars of the era’s matches build one on top of another, each encounter requiring the winner to come up with some new attack to keep the loser off of him. For pure drama, there are few styles that convey as much as King’s Road. Best Match: Misawa-Kawada 6-3-94. The graceful, cerebral, and smooth Misawa, who already had a good run as the second Tiger Mask, against the hard-hitting and rough-hewn Kawada, nicknamed “Hard Luck” by the fans for his inability to catch a break.
Dragon Gate and Toryumon, and their stylistic ancestor Michinoku Pro, bring to us lucharesu. A fast-paced blend of the best of Japanese junior heavyweight and Mexican Lucha Libre (and we will get to them later.) The best way to describe the lucharesu style is to imagine blindingly quick mat work and insane aerial tricks, mix them up in a package, and out comes lucharesu. Best Match: 10-10-96. Kaientai DX (Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, Funaki, Terry Boy, Shiryu 2) v. Gran Hamada, Super Delfin, Gran Naniwa, Yakushiji, and Tiger Mask IV. A 10-man tag from a show called “These Days”. You think a 10-man tag is hard to follow? With this one it moves quick, with non-stop spots and a breathtaking pace still awe-inspiring 12 years after the fact.
UWF, UWF-I, RINGS, and so on. Theirs is a shoot style. More matwork than even Strong Style does, and lots of submissions. Crazy submissions that prompt you to say “Ow Fuckity Ow” like you were Juno McGuff. Best Match: With this, there isn’t a best match. More of a guy whose work you need to seek out. Volk Han.
Mexico:
Lucha Libre:
This is a bit harder to do because of the nature of what Lucha is, sort of a free-form art based entirely around timing. However, we wouldn’t be a blog called the Majesty of Wrestling if we didn’t try so here we go.
Lucha-core. A strange amalgam of traditional junior heavyweight daredevil spots, hardcore brawling, and dashes of the traditional Lucha style. It’s more commonly the style performed by the AAA luchadors. Best Match: Mexican Powers v. Las Hermandad v. Familia de Tijuana v. Teddy Hart\Jack Evans from the most recent triplemania.
Llave-Style. Think holds circled into holds in interesting way. It is maybe the hardest style to master, but the most aesthetically pleasing to this writer’s eye. A heavy influence on what would later be the T2P promotion in Japan. Best Match: Anything Skayde did in CMLL. Seriously go look that guy up. His work is awesome. If you cannot find any of his stuff in Mexico or in Japan, where he was the trainer for Toryumon and Dragon Gate then find his matches against Mike Quackenbush in the states.
Now then to the fun one. The British Lancashire (Or World Of Sport as it is more commonly referred to) style practiced extensively in Europe is in a lot of ways more closely resembling amateur wrestling than anything you will find with the possible exception of the UWF and RINGS stuff. It is entirely based upon wrestling skill and technique in applying a variety of holds, pinning combinations, and locks. Striking is at a minimum, and there are very few “gimmicks”. Out sized personalities do exist, in the awesome heel work of Jim Breaks and the babyface skills of Johnny Saint, but by and large it is about the skill inherent in the men who choose to compete in it. There are five 5-minute rounds in non-title matches with victory being achieved by one person who can get 2 falls by pin, 3 submissions, or 1 knockout. In the title matches there are 10 rounds of 5 minutes each and the same basic rules apply. Any participant who is knocked down to the mat has a 10-count to rise back to his feet and continue the battle.
Another interesting distinction is that the referee does not audibly count the pin falls, meaning that the crowd and the viewing audience is fully expected to figure out on their own steam that the 3-count is occurring.
Largely this style has been consigned to the mists of history and DVD’s, with only a few stars left from the era still capable of performing it. However, the current generation of American independent workers has mastered many of the spots, men like Mike Quackenbush, Chris Hero, Alex Shelley, and the Best Wrestler in the World, Bryan Danielson. If you wondered where Hero’s cravate came from, for instance, it’s in the time he spent studying under the British style.
I hope this has been as fun for you to read as it has been for me to write. Thank you for reading
9.23.2008
Super J Cup 2008... the dream version
Super J-Cup 2009: The Dream Version
The Super Junior Cup is a single-elimination tournament which has been held over 2 nights and has 4 blocks, each block having 8 wrestlers. Usually it’s mostly Japanese junior heavyweights who get the invites (and a few gaijins and luchadores thrown in for flavor.) But in my version it’s a World Cup team-style affair. There will be 4 teams of 2 singles wrestlers and 1 tag team: US, Canada, Japan, and Mexico, plus one alternate in the event of an injury. The only restriction is that no one who has a WWE contract is on the team (no CM Punk, Rey Misterio Jr, and so on.)
Team USA:
Captain: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. If you cannot conceive of a Team USA made up of all indy guys where Bryan Danielson is the captain…. Then I'm sorry but it is clear you have not been watching wrestling in recent years. He is, without question, one of the best technicians that independent wrestling has seen in the past 20 years. The technical skill he has shown, and the very fact that he has competed against all of the top stars on the other countries, makes him a perfect captain.
2: Mike Quackenbush. My friend Aaron Glazer at Pulse Wrestling literally became a rabid dog at the mere prospect that Quack would be a no. 2 and not Austin Aries or Roderick Strong from ROH. While a part of this is purely because I didn’t want to make this Team USA an all-ROH affair the main reason is that Quack fits the second-in-command bill to a tee. He’s just a sliver below Bryan Danielson when it comes to being technically sound and he also has a great deal of experience in international style, having worked extensively for WXW out of Germany and numerous federations throughout Mexico including CMLL. While Aries and Strong might be more talented Quack is the better guy to work alongside Bryan Danielson, dissecting the singles participants.
TT (Tag Team): Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, the Motor City Machine Guns. Again… this pick is based pretty heavily on the concept of finding a unit that fits. Shelley and Sabin have vast international experience as a unit, having faced off against some of Japan’s best tag teams during their stay in Zero-One and their work in UWA Hardcore and Border City Wrestling where they faced off against some of the best Canadians out there and separately (Sabin getting a title shot in All Japan, and Shelley doing the same against Ikuto Hidaka in Zero-One.) In addition… all 4 men on this team have faced the other at one point, meaning they can all provide valuable experience in scouting each other’s strengths and weaknesses during the course of the tournament.
Alternate: Austin Aries. In the event of an injury to anyone on this team, Austin Aries is the alternate. A tremendously explosive wrestler with a vast moveset he is well suited to be a no. 2 or even a captain of Team USA. The only strike against him is that he is not well versed in Lucha Libre, and this could be a strike against him against the stocked team from Mexico.
Team Japan
Captain: Koji Kanemoto. In the long history of New Japan juniors there are few who are nearly as accomplished as Koji Kanemoto. He won a Best of the Super Juniors tournament, was the third man in the Tiger Mask line, and wrestled in Mexico when he was Tiger Mask 3. In addition… Koji also has great leadership experience having marshaled the New Japan forces in a bloody war with Zero-1. While you might not realize it Koji is the perfect leader for a Japanese team that is NOT about to lose this cup without a fight.
No. 2: KENTA. The Japanese team is represented with a wide variety of styles, and here in Koji’s lieutenant we have perhaps the best striker in Japan today. But that’s not the only reason why he is here. KENTA has competed extensively and with great skill for American promotion Ring of Honor, facing off against Team USA captain Bryan Danielson and alternate Austin Aries. His knowledge of the American stars will be valuable for a prideful Japanese unit not in the mood to lose this tournament.
TT: Speed Muscle (Naruki Doi\Masato Yoshino.) When picking this tag team choice the Japanese contingent has many choices from which to pick… Jedo and Gado for instance, the polished duo of Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita, and the Kaientai DX team of Taka Michinoku and Dick Togo. But when it came down to it Speed Muscle is the best unit. Having teamed extensively against the best teams that the other countries have to offer Speed Muscle also provides a great array of offensive options for Kanemoto to utilize whenever they face the tag team offering from another country.
Alternate: Jushin “Thunder” Liger. If you have to ask refer to this…. http://themajestyofwrestling.blogspot.com/2008/08/japanese-thunder-parable-of-liger.html.
Team Mexico
Captain: Ricky Marvin. Unlike Team Japan and Team USA Team Mexico could well be regarded as the dark horse team. Their style is utterly unique from anything else out there, to the point where Team Japan and Team USA picked their teams based on who would be the best adaptable to the Lucha style. And with this in mind… Team Mexico picked the msoit well-rounded wrestler they could find, Ricky Marvin. A long-time star for Pro Wrestling NOAH, and a former prodigy for CMLL who now works for AAA, Marvin is one of the best wrestlers in the world and a worthy captain for Team Mexico.
No 2: Jorge “Skayde” Rivera. This is an interesting problem. Jorge Rivera is a legendary trainer who works very well in the classic Mexican llave style, a fact which will help him as he tries to work with his Mexican pupils. In fact it’s a style that is so unique, so difficult to prepare for, that really when he's on anyone will have a very hard time dealing with him and his ability to isolate a body part and wear it down.
TT: Hell Brothers (Chessman\Charly Manson.) This is the weakest part of the Team Mexico unit. The Hell Brothers are a solid tag team, capable of holding their own against most tag teams. The problem here is that they have not left Mexico in a very long time, and as such might not be accurately prepared for the different styles that they will more than likely to be facing in this tournament. This is a gamble for Team Mexico. One has to question whether it will pay off.
Alternate: Juventud Guerrera. The only reason that Juvy is in this position and not as the no. 2 is because of attitude problems. Simply put… he could reasonably cause 2 or 3 international incidents by the time that he gets there. As pure talent goes, though, Juvy takes a backseat only to the Team Captain Ricky Marvin.
Team Canada
Captain: El Generico. There have been few wrestlers who have become more well-known over the past few years than El Generico. And for Canada, a proud country with a strong wrestling tradition, Generico is the next in a long line to lead his country’s best to win this trophy.
No 2: Christian Cage. You might be asking why it is Team Canada decided to put Christian as the no. 2 and not El Generico. Well that’s because Christian is the perfect second banana in an environment like this. He can get under the skin of his opponents, is an excellent tactician when it comes to finding and exploiting weaknesses, and would be more than comfortable in this position.
TT: Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno\Player Dos.) You might be asking yourself why in the world this team was picked when there are better teams out there (Hart Foundation 2.0 as an example.) Well firstly… Hart Foundation 2.0 is disqualified due to Jack Evans being American. And secondly… Team Canada is looking to surprise the Americans with a tag team that they might not have seen yet. and the Current Chikara Tag Team Champions fit the bill.
Alternate: Teddy Hart. See the Juventud Guerrera page for explanation.
Results:
Aaron Glazer of Pulse Wrestling was all too capable to help out with picking these. Each singles match has 1 point, and the tag matches have 2 points.
Team USA beats Team Canada 5-0. Danielson beats Genericon in 45 minutes with a Triangle Choke (USA 1-0), Quackenbush defeats Christian Cage in 25 minutes with the Alligator Clutch (USA 2-0), Danielson beats Christian in 30 minutes with a Crossface Chicken Wing (3-0), Quackenbush defeats El Generico with a top-rope Tiger Bomb in 35 minutes (USA 4-0), and the Motor City Machine Guns beat the Super Smash Brothers in a 30-minute match with a double superkick (USA 5-0).
Team Japan beat Team Mexico 4-2. Kanemoto beats Marvin with a moonsault at 28:25 ( Team Japan 1-0), KENTA beats Skayde with a Go 2 Sleep at 16:35 (Japan 2-0), Kanemoto beats Skayde with a heel hook at 20:00 (Team Japan 3-0), Kenta beats Marvin with a Go 2 Sleep at 28:45 (Team Japan 4-0), and the Hell Brothers beat Speed Muscle with a spear\moonsault for Mexico’s only victory in the tournament (Team Japan 4-2).
Finals: Team Japan beats Team USA 4-3, Japan winning an 8-man tag as the tiebreaker . Kanemoto beats Danielson with a heel hook in 40 minutes (Japan 1-0), Quackenbush loses to KENTA with the Go 2 Sleep in 35 minutes (Japan 2-0), Kenta loses to Danielson with a small package in 45 minutes (Japan 2-1), Quackenbush loses to Kanemoto with a Falcon Arrow in 30 minutes (Japan 3-1), MCMG beats Speed Muscle with a double enzuigiri in 45 minutes (Tied 3-3). KENTA is the sole survivor for team Japan, last pinning Bryan Danielson with a Go to Sleep at 75 minutes (Japan wins 4-3.)
The Super Junior Cup is a single-elimination tournament which has been held over 2 nights and has 4 blocks, each block having 8 wrestlers. Usually it’s mostly Japanese junior heavyweights who get the invites (and a few gaijins and luchadores thrown in for flavor.) But in my version it’s a World Cup team-style affair. There will be 4 teams of 2 singles wrestlers and 1 tag team: US, Canada, Japan, and Mexico, plus one alternate in the event of an injury. The only restriction is that no one who has a WWE contract is on the team (no CM Punk, Rey Misterio Jr, and so on.)
Team USA:
Captain: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. If you cannot conceive of a Team USA made up of all indy guys where Bryan Danielson is the captain…. Then I'm sorry but it is clear you have not been watching wrestling in recent years. He is, without question, one of the best technicians that independent wrestling has seen in the past 20 years. The technical skill he has shown, and the very fact that he has competed against all of the top stars on the other countries, makes him a perfect captain.
2: Mike Quackenbush. My friend Aaron Glazer at Pulse Wrestling literally became a rabid dog at the mere prospect that Quack would be a no. 2 and not Austin Aries or Roderick Strong from ROH. While a part of this is purely because I didn’t want to make this Team USA an all-ROH affair the main reason is that Quack fits the second-in-command bill to a tee. He’s just a sliver below Bryan Danielson when it comes to being technically sound and he also has a great deal of experience in international style, having worked extensively for WXW out of Germany and numerous federations throughout Mexico including CMLL. While Aries and Strong might be more talented Quack is the better guy to work alongside Bryan Danielson, dissecting the singles participants.
TT (Tag Team): Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, the Motor City Machine Guns. Again… this pick is based pretty heavily on the concept of finding a unit that fits. Shelley and Sabin have vast international experience as a unit, having faced off against some of Japan’s best tag teams during their stay in Zero-One and their work in UWA Hardcore and Border City Wrestling where they faced off against some of the best Canadians out there and separately (Sabin getting a title shot in All Japan, and Shelley doing the same against Ikuto Hidaka in Zero-One.) In addition… all 4 men on this team have faced the other at one point, meaning they can all provide valuable experience in scouting each other’s strengths and weaknesses during the course of the tournament.
Alternate: Austin Aries. In the event of an injury to anyone on this team, Austin Aries is the alternate. A tremendously explosive wrestler with a vast moveset he is well suited to be a no. 2 or even a captain of Team USA. The only strike against him is that he is not well versed in Lucha Libre, and this could be a strike against him against the stocked team from Mexico.
Team Japan
Captain: Koji Kanemoto. In the long history of New Japan juniors there are few who are nearly as accomplished as Koji Kanemoto. He won a Best of the Super Juniors tournament, was the third man in the Tiger Mask line, and wrestled in Mexico when he was Tiger Mask 3. In addition… Koji also has great leadership experience having marshaled the New Japan forces in a bloody war with Zero-1. While you might not realize it Koji is the perfect leader for a Japanese team that is NOT about to lose this cup without a fight.
No. 2: KENTA. The Japanese team is represented with a wide variety of styles, and here in Koji’s lieutenant we have perhaps the best striker in Japan today. But that’s not the only reason why he is here. KENTA has competed extensively and with great skill for American promotion Ring of Honor, facing off against Team USA captain Bryan Danielson and alternate Austin Aries. His knowledge of the American stars will be valuable for a prideful Japanese unit not in the mood to lose this tournament.
TT: Speed Muscle (Naruki Doi\Masato Yoshino.) When picking this tag team choice the Japanese contingent has many choices from which to pick… Jedo and Gado for instance, the polished duo of Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita, and the Kaientai DX team of Taka Michinoku and Dick Togo. But when it came down to it Speed Muscle is the best unit. Having teamed extensively against the best teams that the other countries have to offer Speed Muscle also provides a great array of offensive options for Kanemoto to utilize whenever they face the tag team offering from another country.
Alternate: Jushin “Thunder” Liger. If you have to ask refer to this…. http://themajestyofwrestling.blogspot.com/2008/08/japanese-thunder-parable-of-liger.html.
Team Mexico
Captain: Ricky Marvin. Unlike Team Japan and Team USA Team Mexico could well be regarded as the dark horse team. Their style is utterly unique from anything else out there, to the point where Team Japan and Team USA picked their teams based on who would be the best adaptable to the Lucha style. And with this in mind… Team Mexico picked the msoit well-rounded wrestler they could find, Ricky Marvin. A long-time star for Pro Wrestling NOAH, and a former prodigy for CMLL who now works for AAA, Marvin is one of the best wrestlers in the world and a worthy captain for Team Mexico.
No 2: Jorge “Skayde” Rivera. This is an interesting problem. Jorge Rivera is a legendary trainer who works very well in the classic Mexican llave style, a fact which will help him as he tries to work with his Mexican pupils. In fact it’s a style that is so unique, so difficult to prepare for, that really when he's on anyone will have a very hard time dealing with him and his ability to isolate a body part and wear it down.
TT: Hell Brothers (Chessman\Charly Manson.) This is the weakest part of the Team Mexico unit. The Hell Brothers are a solid tag team, capable of holding their own against most tag teams. The problem here is that they have not left Mexico in a very long time, and as such might not be accurately prepared for the different styles that they will more than likely to be facing in this tournament. This is a gamble for Team Mexico. One has to question whether it will pay off.
Alternate: Juventud Guerrera. The only reason that Juvy is in this position and not as the no. 2 is because of attitude problems. Simply put… he could reasonably cause 2 or 3 international incidents by the time that he gets there. As pure talent goes, though, Juvy takes a backseat only to the Team Captain Ricky Marvin.
Team Canada
Captain: El Generico. There have been few wrestlers who have become more well-known over the past few years than El Generico. And for Canada, a proud country with a strong wrestling tradition, Generico is the next in a long line to lead his country’s best to win this trophy.
No 2: Christian Cage. You might be asking why it is Team Canada decided to put Christian as the no. 2 and not El Generico. Well that’s because Christian is the perfect second banana in an environment like this. He can get under the skin of his opponents, is an excellent tactician when it comes to finding and exploiting weaknesses, and would be more than comfortable in this position.
TT: Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno\Player Dos.) You might be asking yourself why in the world this team was picked when there are better teams out there (Hart Foundation 2.0 as an example.) Well firstly… Hart Foundation 2.0 is disqualified due to Jack Evans being American. And secondly… Team Canada is looking to surprise the Americans with a tag team that they might not have seen yet. and the Current Chikara Tag Team Champions fit the bill.
Alternate: Teddy Hart. See the Juventud Guerrera page for explanation.
Results:
Aaron Glazer of Pulse Wrestling was all too capable to help out with picking these. Each singles match has 1 point, and the tag matches have 2 points.
Team USA beats Team Canada 5-0. Danielson beats Genericon in 45 minutes with a Triangle Choke (USA 1-0), Quackenbush defeats Christian Cage in 25 minutes with the Alligator Clutch (USA 2-0), Danielson beats Christian in 30 minutes with a Crossface Chicken Wing (3-0), Quackenbush defeats El Generico with a top-rope Tiger Bomb in 35 minutes (USA 4-0), and the Motor City Machine Guns beat the Super Smash Brothers in a 30-minute match with a double superkick (USA 5-0).
Team Japan beat Team Mexico 4-2. Kanemoto beats Marvin with a moonsault at 28:25 ( Team Japan 1-0), KENTA beats Skayde with a Go 2 Sleep at 16:35 (Japan 2-0), Kanemoto beats Skayde with a heel hook at 20:00 (Team Japan 3-0), Kenta beats Marvin with a Go 2 Sleep at 28:45 (Team Japan 4-0), and the Hell Brothers beat Speed Muscle with a spear\moonsault for Mexico’s only victory in the tournament (Team Japan 4-2).
Finals: Team Japan beats Team USA 4-3, Japan winning an 8-man tag as the tiebreaker . Kanemoto beats Danielson with a heel hook in 40 minutes (Japan 1-0), Quackenbush loses to KENTA with the Go 2 Sleep in 35 minutes (Japan 2-0), Kenta loses to Danielson with a small package in 45 minutes (Japan 2-1), Quackenbush loses to Kanemoto with a Falcon Arrow in 30 minutes (Japan 3-1), MCMG beats Speed Muscle with a double enzuigiri in 45 minutes (Tied 3-3). KENTA is the sole survivor for team Japan, last pinning Bryan Danielson with a Go to Sleep at 75 minutes (Japan wins 4-3.)
9.19.2008
8.21.2008
Welcome Page....
Welcome to the Majesty of Wrestling. This site will be, in coming weeks and months, the main source you can have for independent non-mainstream wrestling news. Sound funny? I bet it does. But trust me when you see what we do, and how we do it, you’ll be happy to consider us your first place to go to get answers on questions, read interviews with the important names in the industry, and have a good time. Welcome Aboard and see you at the matches.
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8.18.2008
Japanese Thunder: The Parable of Liger
Japanese Thunder: A Parable for the most important Jr. Heavyweight of the last 25 years.
In American pro-wrestling in the year 2008 the idea of a strong junior heavyweight division is either a joke (WWE), a tantalizing reminder of what could have been (TNA), or good but unfortunately not presented to the mainstream (ROH, IWA-MS, assorted NWA Indies). So when I mention that in Japan the weight class is treated with respect, and never frittered away for the purposes of making a big muscle-bound slug a new star, people seem to have a great dral of trouble with this concept. They tell me “But wait a minute. You mean those little guys get a chance to do what they do best without being overrun by Triple H every 60 seconds?” Yes actually, and a great deal of credit for this mindset staying true over the last 25 years goes to one man and one company. The man is Jushin “Thunder” Liger, and the company is New Japan Pro Wrestling.
To understand the brilliance of Liger, and how he directly or indirectly influenced pretty much every lighter-weight (and a few of the heavyweights too) guy you see on TV right now, you need to go back a good way. See when the character was created, a sly nod to the anime of the same name just as Tiger Mask had been, it was assumed that New Japan was simply trying to catch lightning in the bottle with another wildly popular children’s hero just as Tiger Mask had been for them in the early 1980’s. And the hope was that this time, unlike the 1st Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama who left in a huff over the direction of the company, that the man behind the Liger myth would stay for a good long while. So they had to pick the right guy, a hungry young guy who would do what was needed to keep the character alive and who wouldn’t run in a huff and force them to extend the gimmick back to someone else as they had done with Tiger Mask after the original left in a fit of pique. So who did they pick?
Keichi Yamada, a guy who they had sent away for being too small, and got pissed off enough about it to go to Mexico on his own dime and learn while almost starving in the attempt. And while New Japan figured bringing him back in was a good idea they never figured how good of an idea it would end up being. And after he won the company’s Junior Heavyweight Title in a war against the salty veteran Naoki Sano he embarked on one of the longest and most consistent runs in the history of puroresu.
But on this run he would have help from his home promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, who saw him and his rivals the chance to build a marked difference from their promotional rival All Japan Pro Wrestling. And, largely, it worked. The best way to explain this is that All Japan is known for the 4 Corners of Heaven heavyweight unit of the 90’s which any puroresu fan worth his or her salt can name in a moment: Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Akira Taue. And each one of them had their own distinct personality traits meaning that fans could identify with the intensity of Kobashi, the coolness under fire and grace of Misawa, the unlucky and rough-hewn Kawada, and the dynamism of Akira Taue. Conversely the juniors of the 90’s get the same treatment although not nearly as snappy a nickname: Koji Kanemoto who is the surly veteran, the superhero in Jushin “Thunder” Liger, the graceful and perfectly skilled Minoru Tanaka, the evil Shinjiro Otani, the masked supervillain Black Tiger, and so on. But if you asked a puroresu fan to try and ascertain who were the All Japan juniors during the same period you’d get several seconds of deep blinking and then this: “They had junior heavyweights in All Japan?” To be sure they did, and some of them were talented, but there is in no way the same mythos surrounding them as does the New Japan Juniors.
New Japan understood, clearly where All Japan didn’t, that you could have a strong junior heavyweight division and it could be to the benefit of the company and not to its detriment. So when the top guys started to slow down new guys could come in and be accepted by the fans, as Wataru Inoue and Ryusuke Taguchi were, without fear that the promotion’s momentum would stop dead in its tracks.
But back to Liger. Liger’s brilliance is that even now, far past his prime, he is still finding ways to have matches on par with at least some of his best work and his name still means as much as anyone does. If you have never seen Liger at all, including his prime in America with WCW, go out of your way to do it. It’s worth it.
Videos
The Jushin "Thunder" Liger tribute video. footage from every promotion he's wrestled in recently.
JUshin "Thunder" Liger v. Ultimo Dragon from the Super J Cup.
In American pro-wrestling in the year 2008 the idea of a strong junior heavyweight division is either a joke (WWE), a tantalizing reminder of what could have been (TNA), or good but unfortunately not presented to the mainstream (ROH, IWA-MS, assorted NWA Indies). So when I mention that in Japan the weight class is treated with respect, and never frittered away for the purposes of making a big muscle-bound slug a new star, people seem to have a great dral of trouble with this concept. They tell me “But wait a minute. You mean those little guys get a chance to do what they do best without being overrun by Triple H every 60 seconds?” Yes actually, and a great deal of credit for this mindset staying true over the last 25 years goes to one man and one company. The man is Jushin “Thunder” Liger, and the company is New Japan Pro Wrestling.
To understand the brilliance of Liger, and how he directly or indirectly influenced pretty much every lighter-weight (and a few of the heavyweights too) guy you see on TV right now, you need to go back a good way. See when the character was created, a sly nod to the anime of the same name just as Tiger Mask had been, it was assumed that New Japan was simply trying to catch lightning in the bottle with another wildly popular children’s hero just as Tiger Mask had been for them in the early 1980’s. And the hope was that this time, unlike the 1st Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama who left in a huff over the direction of the company, that the man behind the Liger myth would stay for a good long while. So they had to pick the right guy, a hungry young guy who would do what was needed to keep the character alive and who wouldn’t run in a huff and force them to extend the gimmick back to someone else as they had done with Tiger Mask after the original left in a fit of pique. So who did they pick?
Keichi Yamada, a guy who they had sent away for being too small, and got pissed off enough about it to go to Mexico on his own dime and learn while almost starving in the attempt. And while New Japan figured bringing him back in was a good idea they never figured how good of an idea it would end up being. And after he won the company’s Junior Heavyweight Title in a war against the salty veteran Naoki Sano he embarked on one of the longest and most consistent runs in the history of puroresu.
But on this run he would have help from his home promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, who saw him and his rivals the chance to build a marked difference from their promotional rival All Japan Pro Wrestling. And, largely, it worked. The best way to explain this is that All Japan is known for the 4 Corners of Heaven heavyweight unit of the 90’s which any puroresu fan worth his or her salt can name in a moment: Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Akira Taue. And each one of them had their own distinct personality traits meaning that fans could identify with the intensity of Kobashi, the coolness under fire and grace of Misawa, the unlucky and rough-hewn Kawada, and the dynamism of Akira Taue. Conversely the juniors of the 90’s get the same treatment although not nearly as snappy a nickname: Koji Kanemoto who is the surly veteran, the superhero in Jushin “Thunder” Liger, the graceful and perfectly skilled Minoru Tanaka, the evil Shinjiro Otani, the masked supervillain Black Tiger, and so on. But if you asked a puroresu fan to try and ascertain who were the All Japan juniors during the same period you’d get several seconds of deep blinking and then this: “They had junior heavyweights in All Japan?” To be sure they did, and some of them were talented, but there is in no way the same mythos surrounding them as does the New Japan Juniors.
New Japan understood, clearly where All Japan didn’t, that you could have a strong junior heavyweight division and it could be to the benefit of the company and not to its detriment. So when the top guys started to slow down new guys could come in and be accepted by the fans, as Wataru Inoue and Ryusuke Taguchi were, without fear that the promotion’s momentum would stop dead in its tracks.
But back to Liger. Liger’s brilliance is that even now, far past his prime, he is still finding ways to have matches on par with at least some of his best work and his name still means as much as anyone does. If you have never seen Liger at all, including his prime in America with WCW, go out of your way to do it. It’s worth it.
Videos
The Jushin "Thunder" Liger tribute video. footage from every promotion he's wrestled in recently.
JUshin "Thunder" Liger v. Ultimo Dragon from the Super J Cup.
8.10.2008
The Best Promo Ever......
Watch this and try and see if you don't get emotionally involved and scared for his opponent. I dare you.
Your Bare-Bones Olympic Wrestling Preview
This is just a short post because I wanted to make a point about something. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing are happening right now and this blog cares not at all about swimming, gymnastics, or (Sorry TSF Nation), basketball. Instead here we care about the Greco-Roman and Freestyle Olympic Wrestling Tournament. And this will be a fun thing to watch, if you can somehow find it.
While the Americans are the defending World Team Champions in Freestyle the Russian unit is, without question, the current colossus of the freestyle branch of the sport now. Having won five Olympic gold medals in 2004 and seven titles at the Azerbaijan world championships last year, including a near-sweep of the freestyle fights, the Russians are trying their best to put a blanket around the freestyle side of the tournament. But this will not be easy as Cuba, Turkey, the United States, and Uzbekistan lead a crop of hungry teams looking to stop the tide.
This is what Russia does best.
However, in the Greco-Roman discipline, things are far more up for grabs with wrestlers from 41 countries having qualified. Nonetheless the Iranians, Georgians, and others look to dominate the upper-body only wrestling technique.
Watch the wrestling. Get into it. For here are the true toughest men in the Olympics, the men with more self-discipline and toughness than anyone on the US Olympic unit.
While the Americans are the defending World Team Champions in Freestyle the Russian unit is, without question, the current colossus of the freestyle branch of the sport now. Having won five Olympic gold medals in 2004 and seven titles at the Azerbaijan world championships last year, including a near-sweep of the freestyle fights, the Russians are trying their best to put a blanket around the freestyle side of the tournament. But this will not be easy as Cuba, Turkey, the United States, and Uzbekistan lead a crop of hungry teams looking to stop the tide.
This is what Russia does best.
However, in the Greco-Roman discipline, things are far more up for grabs with wrestlers from 41 countries having qualified. Nonetheless the Iranians, Georgians, and others look to dominate the upper-body only wrestling technique.
Watch the wrestling. Get into it. For here are the true toughest men in the Olympics, the men with more self-discipline and toughness than anyone on the US Olympic unit.
7.27.2008
GEAR!
I have found that without a single exception, that the first way you notice a wrestler is by how he looks, and more specifically what he wears. Think about it. When you see kickpads and shiny pants you think Indy. This post is about the gear that is truly “iconic”.
First off, the patron saint of the iconic gear. As much as I hate to say it it’s Hulk Hogan. To this day mention Hulk Hogan and the first words out of your mouth will be “Red and Yellow.” And to think he managed to completely blow that straight out of the water with the Hollywood Hogan gimmick later.
Next up is the modern version of this. He used to say this about himself, and it's accurate. While Hogan's gear was iconic in that it was one basic color scheme for the entirety of his run, our next subject was famous because he had about 25 different combinations of the same idera and they all looked perfect because they all fit his gimmick. This man.... is "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. I'm not going to even try to explain this. Just watch and enjoy the magic.
Before we go on further there is a honorable mention. This was contributed by Aaron Glazer of Pulse Wrestling, and he did such a good job of selling it that I decided to put it in. Whether it is his current camo-influenced stuff, or the Superman gimmick he has worked with for the vast portion of his career, Chris Hero has remained where he wanted to be: at the forefront of innovation. He does earn my respect.
And finally... the penultimate Japanese guy for this: Mitsuharu Misawa. He has never changed anything about himself from the time of his unmasking as Tiger Mask II in 1990. Some would argue that this is a bad thing, and it more than likely is.But here is not the place to argue that point. Instead it's to argue that he is the best heavyweight of his era. Thank you Misawa.
First off, the patron saint of the iconic gear. As much as I hate to say it it’s Hulk Hogan. To this day mention Hulk Hogan and the first words out of your mouth will be “Red and Yellow.” And to think he managed to completely blow that straight out of the water with the Hollywood Hogan gimmick later.
Next up is the modern version of this. He used to say this about himself, and it's accurate. While Hogan's gear was iconic in that it was one basic color scheme for the entirety of his run, our next subject was famous because he had about 25 different combinations of the same idera and they all looked perfect because they all fit his gimmick. This man.... is "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. I'm not going to even try to explain this. Just watch and enjoy the magic.
Before we go on further there is a honorable mention. This was contributed by Aaron Glazer of Pulse Wrestling, and he did such a good job of selling it that I decided to put it in. Whether it is his current camo-influenced stuff, or the Superman gimmick he has worked with for the vast portion of his career, Chris Hero has remained where he wanted to be: at the forefront of innovation. He does earn my respect.
And finally... the penultimate Japanese guy for this: Mitsuharu Misawa. He has never changed anything about himself from the time of his unmasking as Tiger Mask II in 1990. Some would argue that this is a bad thing, and it more than likely is.But here is not the place to argue that point. Instead it's to argue that he is the best heavyweight of his era. Thank you Misawa.
7.23.2008
An interview with Pulse Wrestling's Aaron Glazer
When I think of people who know a lot about ROH there are very few people I would speak to before the person I am now, Aaron Glazer from Pulse Wrestling. In fact he’s on the blogroll. This is a live real-time conversation done over IM. Enjoy.
Okori: Ok... here's the easy question I would ask of you. If you had to try and explain ROH to someone who had never seen it before, and in fact hadn't seen much wrestling since the heyday of the NWA, what would you try and sell them on?
AARON GLAZER (7:56:35 PM): That's totally fine
AARON GLAZER (7:58:45 PM): The key things to remember about ROH where it comes off so superior to other products and compares favorably with the past is that the matches are significantly longer and the wrestlers are all treated with respect.
AARON GLAZER (8:00:25 PM): While not everyone is trying to steal the show and ROH will give a complete card, everyone is in the ring long enough to tell a real story with an accurate measure of their skill. The feuds are logical and long term, without necessarily a hundred matches each and as they progress the matches get both longer and more brutal, usually culminating as a gimmick match, rather than a number of gimmicks for gimmicks sake, it all ends up happening for a reason.
AARON GLAZER (8:01:27 PM): With a variety of styles to appeal to all fans, your preference will be highlighted by a number of different wrestlers and while there is comedy, there will not be wrestlers looking like jokes or they don't belong. Even top guys go out of their way to make sure everyone and everything stay credible.
AARON GLAZER (8:01:32 PM): There, that'll do =P
Okori (8:01:39 PM): and what I’ve noticed in my watching of ROH, which goes back to the old remastered versions of Road to the Title and A Night of Appreciation, is that everyone on the roster clearly has something they do that is special... something that they are at the very least quite good at doing. It’s a real good thing to see each wrestler looking like they're all talented and getting some offense in.
AARON GLAZER (8:02:40 PM): Exactly. Squashes are extremely rare. Talent will move on but because of how well everyone fits and is treated finding and just as importantly elevating new stars is made far easier.
Okori (8:07:35 PM): and when I was discussing ROH with a couple of friends of mine it became kind of apparent that the RF-video era ROH was markedly different than the Reborn time and the Reborn time was different than the Summer of Punk, and so on. How much credit for that goes to Gabe Sapolsky, the booker of ROH and how much to the much more fluid top card than there are in the other big 2?
AARON GLAZER (8:15:37 PM): Well, Gabe is generally the best if for nothing else due to adaptability and logic. For ROH every show has to be a ppv caliber to sell DVD’s and doing that with WWE or TNA's limited talent allowed to go to the top of the card, the poor treatment of the midcard would cause the shows to fail. Think of it this way, the mainstream promotions are like movies or television shows, wherein the main characters get all the big plots and cool stuff. If they contact someone below, it’s still inexorably about the main characters. ROH runs more like a sport, where each different team might not be on the same skill, but they're always improving or falling back to the pack. The best teams, like the Yankees, would be like Danielson, usually at the top of the card, but sometimes the Rays, say Tyler and Jacobs, gives him a run for his money and comes out on top. That never happens in the mainstream, because the stars are the commodities. That's just how ROH has to run though. The real brilliance of Gabe is in his adaptability
AARON GLAZER (8:17:49 PM): The main storyline of 2006 was the CZW war. That was originally scheduled as a short feud, but due to outstanding fan reaction, it became the biggest and most memorable feud in ROH history. The same can be said of the huge Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico feud of 2007, based on a breakout performance by the latter duo at a major show, and Danielson vs. Morishima which was all based upon Morishima, quite accidentally, breaking Danielson's orbital bone. In 2005, the Summer of Punk is booking on the fly since there's no way to know Punk gets signed and really, who knows how Aries reign ends besides? All huge successes that make ROH what it is, all due to Gabe's adaptability.
Okori (8:19:30 PM): and to piggyback on that point if anyone had told me that a lanky spiky-haired Brit who was the Euro second banana to John Walters would eventually become the ROH World Champion, a classic jerk heel, and before that the sympathetic babyface.
Okori (8:20:50 PM): I think Nigel, in a lot of ways, is one of the biggest Gabe success stories
AARON GLAZER (8:23:32 PM): Its almost hard to pick just one success story to go with, Nigel's certainly as good as any
Okori (8:26:32 PM): and I think we have achieved our limit of questions in this interview before we go to the stars that moved on. I think while people notice Punk and Joe because of their current stations in their respective companies the first real guy from ROH who people were actually happy to see make it was Paul London. Two-part question: Did you chant "Please Don't Die" at any point during London's ROH run, and have you found yourself missing Paul's babyface work now in ROH?
AARON GLAZER (8:29:04 PM): More?
Okori (8:30:02 PM): more now if he was against a guy like Aries, who despite his current face run still resembles an excellent heel
AARON GLAZER (8:31:14 PM): Oh there's a lot more lol 2 seconds.
Okori (8:31:42 PM): sure
AARON GLAZER (8:35:13 PM): Paul is the ex-ROH guy I'd most want back and, sadly I was a poor grad student back then so I wasn't live for "please don't die." Paul is a special worker. He connects with the fans innately through selling and desire. He had nothing fancy making him stand out; he got over and got to WWE based on pure skill and connecting with the crowd. Shame that's going to waste as the Epic Encounter 2/3 falls match with Danielson is my second favorite ever ROH match. I would kill to see him against current heel Nigel, as well as a long match with Aries and rematch with Danielson. Hero and Strong also strike me as guys who had look amazing against London’s awesome selling.
Okori (8:36:57 PM): you know what? I agree with you. I think I find myself having trouble figuring out who would give London an actively BAD match. And, and this might just be me, but I think that is Danielson's best ROH match pre his return from England
Okori (8:41:05 PM): and that includes my personal favorite ROH match which is Testing The Limit which is Danielson v. Aries
AARON GLAZER (8:41:15 PM): Agreed there, though I enjoy it more than even Unified by a hair. More than anything but that first KENTA match, my favorite in company history.
AARON GLAZER (8:42:15 PM): It took me awhile to really get "Testing the Limit" but its a special match that, sadly, due to its extreme length, is really only for the hardcore
Okori (8:42:57 PM): and strangely enough Testing the Limit is an excellent concept although no one else could do it but Danielson and Aries I think
AARON GLAZER (8:44:24 PM): London could likely and Punk has done similar stuff with Hero (though not as good), but that might be it.
Okori (8:45:13 PM): although for what it is worth Punk v. Hero is an entirely different baby because it's so slow.
AARON GLAZER (8:47:12 PM): Right. That's Hero for you, though. Oh, I really want to plug Danielson vs. Hero from WxW's 16-Carat Gold Tourney this year. The heat is off the charts and Danielson is an amazing heel, while Hero is the conquering face. I can't believe how well it comes together and it’d be MOTY if enough people saw it.
Okori (8:47:38 PM): I own that DVD. A Quack-Saint match on there is epic.
Okori (8:48:31 PM): I actually interviewed him and while it wasn't as good as this one is turning out to be he seemed really enthused about the idea of British wrestling.
Okori (8:50:05 PM): which, funnily, brings us to your favorite wrestler and mine: Bryan Danielson. While you and I both dealt with Glen "I badmouth Puro even though I worked for Toryumon X with Magnum Tokyo and Latin Lover" Gilbertti's idiotic statement that Bryan couldn't wrestle I wonder if you share my opinion that Bryan's run in England made him the really good wrestler he is now
AARON GLAZER (8:50:31 PM): I'm really starting to get into it myself. Someone needs to explain why Quack can't be used as a special attraction in ROH. He changes the dynamics of everything wonderfully.
Okori (8:51:19 PM): I never got an answer from him on it, but I guess he's too busy
Okori (8:52:08 PM): although I agree.... In addition, I’d even like to see him defend his NWA JR. Heavyweight Title against like Aries or Tyler Black
AARON GLAZER (8:55:28 PM): Quack would be great against literally every single person in ROH. And Bryan was going to be good no matter what, he had the desire. It was learning the ins and outs in England that made it happen so quickly and had him a competitor for the best.
Okori (8:56:03 PM): I agree. and you and I both agree: Glen Gilbertti could be considered a moron
AARON GLAZER (8:59:03 PM): Hah, actually, he just wanted attention.
AARON GLAZER (8:59:15 PM): I don't think he meant or cared about a word of it.
Okori (9:01:46 PM): and here's my last question for you, because as someone who lives AND works near a target (Atlantic Center for work, and the new one in the Junction for living) that it can be a transfixing place.
how long do you think it will be before we see more of a Lucha influence in ROH? and if so.... can we beseech Gabe for Cibernetico v. Nigel for the title
AARON GLAZER (9:05:00 PM): Brb
Okori (9:05:06 PM): k
AARON GLAZER (9:20:55 PM): I doubt lucha will influence ROH since he's said it doesn't interest him. Quack was the best hope for lucha influence and that didn't happen. Big Andy Mac sees Claudio taking the belt and getting the face run that was desired for Nigel. Personally, I hope Tyler takes it at the Hammerstein.
Okori (9:21:55 PM): personally.... I agree with you. I think Tyler is going to take it in NYC
Okori (9:25:29 PM): and thank you again for giving me this interview
AARON GLAZER (9:27:05 PM): If you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to answer them tomorrow. This was fun, thank you.
Okori (9:27:27 PM): you're welcome.
Okori: Ok... here's the easy question I would ask of you. If you had to try and explain ROH to someone who had never seen it before, and in fact hadn't seen much wrestling since the heyday of the NWA, what would you try and sell them on?
AARON GLAZER (7:56:35 PM): That's totally fine
AARON GLAZER (7:58:45 PM): The key things to remember about ROH where it comes off so superior to other products and compares favorably with the past is that the matches are significantly longer and the wrestlers are all treated with respect.
AARON GLAZER (8:00:25 PM): While not everyone is trying to steal the show and ROH will give a complete card, everyone is in the ring long enough to tell a real story with an accurate measure of their skill. The feuds are logical and long term, without necessarily a hundred matches each and as they progress the matches get both longer and more brutal, usually culminating as a gimmick match, rather than a number of gimmicks for gimmicks sake, it all ends up happening for a reason.
AARON GLAZER (8:01:27 PM): With a variety of styles to appeal to all fans, your preference will be highlighted by a number of different wrestlers and while there is comedy, there will not be wrestlers looking like jokes or they don't belong. Even top guys go out of their way to make sure everyone and everything stay credible.
AARON GLAZER (8:01:32 PM): There, that'll do =P
Okori (8:01:39 PM): and what I’ve noticed in my watching of ROH, which goes back to the old remastered versions of Road to the Title and A Night of Appreciation, is that everyone on the roster clearly has something they do that is special... something that they are at the very least quite good at doing. It’s a real good thing to see each wrestler looking like they're all talented and getting some offense in.
AARON GLAZER (8:02:40 PM): Exactly. Squashes are extremely rare. Talent will move on but because of how well everyone fits and is treated finding and just as importantly elevating new stars is made far easier.
Okori (8:07:35 PM): and when I was discussing ROH with a couple of friends of mine it became kind of apparent that the RF-video era ROH was markedly different than the Reborn time and the Reborn time was different than the Summer of Punk, and so on. How much credit for that goes to Gabe Sapolsky, the booker of ROH and how much to the much more fluid top card than there are in the other big 2?
AARON GLAZER (8:15:37 PM): Well, Gabe is generally the best if for nothing else due to adaptability and logic. For ROH every show has to be a ppv caliber to sell DVD’s and doing that with WWE or TNA's limited talent allowed to go to the top of the card, the poor treatment of the midcard would cause the shows to fail. Think of it this way, the mainstream promotions are like movies or television shows, wherein the main characters get all the big plots and cool stuff. If they contact someone below, it’s still inexorably about the main characters. ROH runs more like a sport, where each different team might not be on the same skill, but they're always improving or falling back to the pack. The best teams, like the Yankees, would be like Danielson, usually at the top of the card, but sometimes the Rays, say Tyler and Jacobs, gives him a run for his money and comes out on top. That never happens in the mainstream, because the stars are the commodities. That's just how ROH has to run though. The real brilliance of Gabe is in his adaptability
AARON GLAZER (8:17:49 PM): The main storyline of 2006 was the CZW war. That was originally scheduled as a short feud, but due to outstanding fan reaction, it became the biggest and most memorable feud in ROH history. The same can be said of the huge Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico feud of 2007, based on a breakout performance by the latter duo at a major show, and Danielson vs. Morishima which was all based upon Morishima, quite accidentally, breaking Danielson's orbital bone. In 2005, the Summer of Punk is booking on the fly since there's no way to know Punk gets signed and really, who knows how Aries reign ends besides? All huge successes that make ROH what it is, all due to Gabe's adaptability.
Okori (8:19:30 PM): and to piggyback on that point if anyone had told me that a lanky spiky-haired Brit who was the Euro second banana to John Walters would eventually become the ROH World Champion, a classic jerk heel, and before that the sympathetic babyface.
Okori (8:20:50 PM): I think Nigel, in a lot of ways, is one of the biggest Gabe success stories
AARON GLAZER (8:23:32 PM): Its almost hard to pick just one success story to go with, Nigel's certainly as good as any
Okori (8:26:32 PM): and I think we have achieved our limit of questions in this interview before we go to the stars that moved on. I think while people notice Punk and Joe because of their current stations in their respective companies the first real guy from ROH who people were actually happy to see make it was Paul London. Two-part question: Did you chant "Please Don't Die" at any point during London's ROH run, and have you found yourself missing Paul's babyface work now in ROH?
AARON GLAZER (8:29:04 PM): More?
Okori (8:30:02 PM): more now if he was against a guy like Aries, who despite his current face run still resembles an excellent heel
AARON GLAZER (8:31:14 PM): Oh there's a lot more lol 2 seconds.
Okori (8:31:42 PM): sure
AARON GLAZER (8:35:13 PM): Paul is the ex-ROH guy I'd most want back and, sadly I was a poor grad student back then so I wasn't live for "please don't die." Paul is a special worker. He connects with the fans innately through selling and desire. He had nothing fancy making him stand out; he got over and got to WWE based on pure skill and connecting with the crowd. Shame that's going to waste as the Epic Encounter 2/3 falls match with Danielson is my second favorite ever ROH match. I would kill to see him against current heel Nigel, as well as a long match with Aries and rematch with Danielson. Hero and Strong also strike me as guys who had look amazing against London’s awesome selling.
Okori (8:36:57 PM): you know what? I agree with you. I think I find myself having trouble figuring out who would give London an actively BAD match. And, and this might just be me, but I think that is Danielson's best ROH match pre his return from England
Okori (8:41:05 PM): and that includes my personal favorite ROH match which is Testing The Limit which is Danielson v. Aries
AARON GLAZER (8:41:15 PM): Agreed there, though I enjoy it more than even Unified by a hair. More than anything but that first KENTA match, my favorite in company history.
AARON GLAZER (8:42:15 PM): It took me awhile to really get "Testing the Limit" but its a special match that, sadly, due to its extreme length, is really only for the hardcore
Okori (8:42:57 PM): and strangely enough Testing the Limit is an excellent concept although no one else could do it but Danielson and Aries I think
AARON GLAZER (8:44:24 PM): London could likely and Punk has done similar stuff with Hero (though not as good), but that might be it.
Okori (8:45:13 PM): although for what it is worth Punk v. Hero is an entirely different baby because it's so slow.
AARON GLAZER (8:47:12 PM): Right. That's Hero for you, though. Oh, I really want to plug Danielson vs. Hero from WxW's 16-Carat Gold Tourney this year. The heat is off the charts and Danielson is an amazing heel, while Hero is the conquering face. I can't believe how well it comes together and it’d be MOTY if enough people saw it.
Okori (8:47:38 PM): I own that DVD. A Quack-Saint match on there is epic.
Okori (8:48:31 PM): I actually interviewed him and while it wasn't as good as this one is turning out to be he seemed really enthused about the idea of British wrestling.
Okori (8:50:05 PM): which, funnily, brings us to your favorite wrestler and mine: Bryan Danielson. While you and I both dealt with Glen "I badmouth Puro even though I worked for Toryumon X with Magnum Tokyo and Latin Lover" Gilbertti's idiotic statement that Bryan couldn't wrestle I wonder if you share my opinion that Bryan's run in England made him the really good wrestler he is now
AARON GLAZER (8:50:31 PM): I'm really starting to get into it myself. Someone needs to explain why Quack can't be used as a special attraction in ROH. He changes the dynamics of everything wonderfully.
Okori (8:51:19 PM): I never got an answer from him on it, but I guess he's too busy
Okori (8:52:08 PM): although I agree.... In addition, I’d even like to see him defend his NWA JR. Heavyweight Title against like Aries or Tyler Black
AARON GLAZER (8:55:28 PM): Quack would be great against literally every single person in ROH. And Bryan was going to be good no matter what, he had the desire. It was learning the ins and outs in England that made it happen so quickly and had him a competitor for the best.
Okori (8:56:03 PM): I agree. and you and I both agree: Glen Gilbertti could be considered a moron
AARON GLAZER (8:59:03 PM): Hah, actually, he just wanted attention.
AARON GLAZER (8:59:15 PM): I don't think he meant or cared about a word of it.
Okori (9:01:46 PM): and here's my last question for you, because as someone who lives AND works near a target (Atlantic Center for work, and the new one in the Junction for living) that it can be a transfixing place.
how long do you think it will be before we see more of a Lucha influence in ROH? and if so.... can we beseech Gabe for Cibernetico v. Nigel for the title
AARON GLAZER (9:05:00 PM): Brb
Okori (9:05:06 PM): k
AARON GLAZER (9:20:55 PM): I doubt lucha will influence ROH since he's said it doesn't interest him. Quack was the best hope for lucha influence and that didn't happen. Big Andy Mac sees Claudio taking the belt and getting the face run that was desired for Nigel. Personally, I hope Tyler takes it at the Hammerstein.
Okori (9:21:55 PM): personally.... I agree with you. I think Tyler is going to take it in NYC
Okori (9:25:29 PM): and thank you again for giving me this interview
AARON GLAZER (9:27:05 PM): If you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to answer them tomorrow. This was fun, thank you.
Okori (9:27:27 PM): you're welcome.
7.22.2008
*le sigh* doing this again....
Honestly, Glenn, you make this too easy.
http://www.wrestlezone.com//column.php?articleid=218587680
For the sake of expediency, I’m going to copy and paste everything he said about the “Best Wrestler in the World” Bryan Danielson. And my responses will be bolded. Helps differentiating the idiocy.
I read a few weeks ago on one of the sites that the "best wrestler in the business" had a dark match with the wwe. So I you tubed this guy and checked him out. No offense to him, but I didn't think he was the "best wrestler in the business" from what I saw. He was decent for the style that he worked, but unfortunately, that style caters to a very small niche audience. Here’s a few of the problems.
Whee. This should be entertaining.
Most people watch professional wrestling because it's professional wrestling. I would profess that there is zero chance that you're going to draw from the mma crowd by doing fake mma. I think most mma fans would be more entertained by the disco inferno vs. the honkytonk man, because at least they know they're watching a pro wrestling match and not some hybrid ridiculous let's do the mma moves and pretend that the moves hurt and insult my intelligence style. Wrestling fans pop more for Mr. socko and the people's elbow than they would for a fake guillotine choke hold.
Ok. First off, if someone was drunk enough to put the Disco Inferno and Honky Tonk Man in front of a MMA crowd then they would deserve whatever kind of foolishness would erupt. And if you think that he’s doing fake MMA fine. That’s your opinion, no matter how utterly misguided it might be. However, he’s not trying to draw from the MMA crowd. He’s playing to his own audience, rabid fans of what happens IN THE RING. And I am not even going to respond to your theory on what wrestling fans pop for. Must explain that epic 1.0 rating you’ve been meaning for the past 4 months.
The guy needs a gimmick. I’m sorry, but you can't sell a plain joe to fans that want sports entertainment.
So the concept of a smug jerk of a guy firmly believing that he happens to be the very best wrestler in the entire world who fights everyone in front of him, and occasionally bends the rules to prove his own superiority, is not a good enough gimmick for you? Or, later in his current run, as the top guy in the company who can make a tag team specialist into a star just by coming close to beating him? That a guy in need of a gimmick? Oh that’s right. I forgot. You work for TNA. Jay Lethal’s Macho-Man impersonation there must be drawing TONS of money. And all the WWE guys that instantly get pushed. (Although, in the interest of full disclosure, Beer Money is pretty cool as a cut-rate Southern Heel tag team.) Subtlety is to you as profit is to TNA. You don’t know what it looks like because you’ve never seen it.
Also, for as good as everyone says this guy is, tna has at least ten guys better. everybody puts over these roh matches like they're the greatest thing ever, but if you put aj and Christian cage against the motor city machine guns for 25 minutes, and told them that you needed at least four stars, I’d bet my life that it would be better than anything roh has ever put out. Once guys like aj and the mcmg's got out of roh, look how much better they got. There’s something to say about the art of selling, which isn't really being taught to the up 'n comers. It makes matches so much more dramatic. It’s what causes the fans to suspend the disbelief to a higher level, because now they become emotionally involved subconsciously when a wrestler can convey suffering and despair to them. I really should open a school someday and teach people how to work. I actually managed to make a pretty good name for myself by dancing around like some schmuck pretending to be john Travolta for the past fifteen years. I think I know what I’m doing.
So hmmm… who could the “everyone” you’re referring to be? Are they the… gasp…. Internet smart marks? You know, the guys who have blogs about wrestling and sleep in their mother’s basements? Or is it the ever-common you tube shooters? Are they the ones who wax rhapsodic about Bryan Danielson? Hmmm… No. Everyone includes William Regal (who gave the guy his ring boots as a show of respect for how good he thought he was), Shawn Michaels (who trained Danielson), Jim Ross (who said that “I watched ROH’s Bryan Danielson wrestle in Oakland and I told any one who would listen that the young man is a keeper. Great work ethic, unique skills, lots of character, and he wrestles like he is a "star" which is not something all wrestlers can do.), and finally the WWE who offered him a developmental deal.
And on the subject of TNA having at least 10 guys better… go ahead and try. Just go ahead and try. Name them all Glen. I’ll give you a week. But before you do that go and ask Samoa Joe how good he thinks Bryan Danielson is, and Homicide, and AJ Styles, and Alex Shelley.
And AJ being better in TNA than he was in ROH? Hmm….. AJ is equal now in both places. And the MCMG’s had a tag match against the Briscoes in ROH that blows away anything that TNA did back to the AMW-XXX tag match.
Finally…. If you open up a school…. Anyone who trains there should be required to immediately be retrained by Mike Quackenbush at Chikara. That guy knows what he’s doing.
http://www.wrestlezone.com//column.php?articleid=218587680
For the sake of expediency, I’m going to copy and paste everything he said about the “Best Wrestler in the World” Bryan Danielson. And my responses will be bolded. Helps differentiating the idiocy.
I read a few weeks ago on one of the sites that the "best wrestler in the business" had a dark match with the wwe. So I you tubed this guy and checked him out. No offense to him, but I didn't think he was the "best wrestler in the business" from what I saw. He was decent for the style that he worked, but unfortunately, that style caters to a very small niche audience. Here’s a few of the problems.
Whee. This should be entertaining.
Most people watch professional wrestling because it's professional wrestling. I would profess that there is zero chance that you're going to draw from the mma crowd by doing fake mma. I think most mma fans would be more entertained by the disco inferno vs. the honkytonk man, because at least they know they're watching a pro wrestling match and not some hybrid ridiculous let's do the mma moves and pretend that the moves hurt and insult my intelligence style. Wrestling fans pop more for Mr. socko and the people's elbow than they would for a fake guillotine choke hold.
Ok. First off, if someone was drunk enough to put the Disco Inferno and Honky Tonk Man in front of a MMA crowd then they would deserve whatever kind of foolishness would erupt. And if you think that he’s doing fake MMA fine. That’s your opinion, no matter how utterly misguided it might be. However, he’s not trying to draw from the MMA crowd. He’s playing to his own audience, rabid fans of what happens IN THE RING. And I am not even going to respond to your theory on what wrestling fans pop for. Must explain that epic 1.0 rating you’ve been meaning for the past 4 months.
The guy needs a gimmick. I’m sorry, but you can't sell a plain joe to fans that want sports entertainment.
So the concept of a smug jerk of a guy firmly believing that he happens to be the very best wrestler in the entire world who fights everyone in front of him, and occasionally bends the rules to prove his own superiority, is not a good enough gimmick for you? Or, later in his current run, as the top guy in the company who can make a tag team specialist into a star just by coming close to beating him? That a guy in need of a gimmick? Oh that’s right. I forgot. You work for TNA. Jay Lethal’s Macho-Man impersonation there must be drawing TONS of money. And all the WWE guys that instantly get pushed. (Although, in the interest of full disclosure, Beer Money is pretty cool as a cut-rate Southern Heel tag team.) Subtlety is to you as profit is to TNA. You don’t know what it looks like because you’ve never seen it.
Also, for as good as everyone says this guy is, tna has at least ten guys better. everybody puts over these roh matches like they're the greatest thing ever, but if you put aj and Christian cage against the motor city machine guns for 25 minutes, and told them that you needed at least four stars, I’d bet my life that it would be better than anything roh has ever put out. Once guys like aj and the mcmg's got out of roh, look how much better they got. There’s something to say about the art of selling, which isn't really being taught to the up 'n comers. It makes matches so much more dramatic. It’s what causes the fans to suspend the disbelief to a higher level, because now they become emotionally involved subconsciously when a wrestler can convey suffering and despair to them. I really should open a school someday and teach people how to work. I actually managed to make a pretty good name for myself by dancing around like some schmuck pretending to be john Travolta for the past fifteen years. I think I know what I’m doing.
So hmmm… who could the “everyone” you’re referring to be? Are they the… gasp…. Internet smart marks? You know, the guys who have blogs about wrestling and sleep in their mother’s basements? Or is it the ever-common you tube shooters? Are they the ones who wax rhapsodic about Bryan Danielson? Hmmm… No. Everyone includes William Regal (who gave the guy his ring boots as a show of respect for how good he thought he was), Shawn Michaels (who trained Danielson), Jim Ross (who said that “I watched ROH’s Bryan Danielson wrestle in Oakland and I told any one who would listen that the young man is a keeper. Great work ethic, unique skills, lots of character, and he wrestles like he is a "star" which is not something all wrestlers can do.), and finally the WWE who offered him a developmental deal.
And on the subject of TNA having at least 10 guys better… go ahead and try. Just go ahead and try. Name them all Glen. I’ll give you a week. But before you do that go and ask Samoa Joe how good he thinks Bryan Danielson is, and Homicide, and AJ Styles, and Alex Shelley.
And AJ being better in TNA than he was in ROH? Hmm….. AJ is equal now in both places. And the MCMG’s had a tag match against the Briscoes in ROH that blows away anything that TNA did back to the AMW-XXX tag match.
Finally…. If you open up a school…. Anyone who trains there should be required to immediately be retrained by Mike Quackenbush at Chikara. That guy knows what he’s doing.
7.18.2008
The Challenge to Ron Glover and Michael Tillery
Considering your humble scribe recently got roasted over at www.thestartingfive.net in an argument over who was the best player of the early 2000’s I think it only fair that I am going to return the favor here and this one is a much more light hearted thing.
I beseech these men, if they think they have the stones to try, to seek out 3 matches from the following 3 stars each: Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Johnny Saint. And perhaps even to report on what you saw, and learned, at your own monolithic blog. If nothing else this will be the chance to show you can have fun.
I beseech these men, if they think they have the stones to try, to seek out 3 matches from the following 3 stars each: Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Johnny Saint. And perhaps even to report on what you saw, and learned, at your own monolithic blog. If nothing else this will be the chance to show you can have fun.
7.10.2008
This one is to help you understand who Misawa is...
this post is for someone who recently favorited this site. Misawa is special, and the video above will show you why. if you can't see it fire me off a comment or an e-mail and let me know.
7.07.2008
Unappreciated: Why Jumbo Tsuruta is the most unknown star of his era.
(Author’s Note: I have deliberately left out certain facts about the legend of Tsuruta. This is more of a worshipful piece to a guy I think gets ignored than a nuts-and-bolts encyclopedia-type article. If that is what you are interested in I recommend these 2 articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo_Tsuruta and http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingEditorial/may18_molinaro.html .)
As a general rule you can ask most slightly dedicated wrestling fans what they would know about wrestling in Japan. And most answers would be, in no particular order,: Jushin Liger, Great Muta, Antonio Inoki, Tiger Mask. Now what do all of those names have in common? They all competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling, known in the United States for its long-time talent sharing agreement with WCW and the WWF before that.
But, for hardcore fans of the art form known as Puroresu, there is another promotion. One with just as much history, just as tightly woven a partnership with a major American promotion, and just as many epic stars. This promotion is All Japan Pro Wrestling. And for most fans their salad days, if you can even remember the difference between All Japan and New Japan, is the era of the 1990’s where Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, and Toshiaki Kawada seemed intent on putting on one epic match after another and eventually earned themselves the moniker of the “4 Corners of Heaven”. But who was the guy who made it possible for those stars to become stars? Easy. The most under appreciated puroresu star of his era. Jumbo Tsuruta.
All Japan is different in that most of, if not all, of its main stars stayed home for the entirety of their runs at the top of the promotion. Kobashi’s sole trips to the United States took place after he left All Japan, as did Misawa’s while Taue and Kawada never left. Meanwhile, during the same time period, their promotional rival New Japan Pro Wrestling sent Jushin Liger over to WCW to blow the mind of the gaijin fans with an exceptional series of matches against the American Brian Pillman, and the Great Muta over to do the same thing with the all-American superhero Sting. Even recently, in the past couple of years, New Japan gave American fans Liger one more time by allowing him to be booked in Ring of Honor for a 2-match series.
But, while All Japan was strictly isolationist in its approach, Tsuruta was different. He actually flowered as a wrestler in the United States, having been sent to train in Texas with the legendary Funk Brothers and given the name Tommy Tsuruta. In fact, shortly after his training began, he was thought to be so good that he was put in a 2-out-of-3 falls match with the reigning champion Dory Funk Jr., and even managed to win a fall. After his apprenticeship in the states was done All Japan came calling, and he quickly returned home where he became a tag team champion with the promotion’s top star Shohei Baba. Eventually though Jumbo became the top man in All Japan, and held that title pretty much without interference or contest until 1990.
Because at that point someone new came along, someone the brass believed would be the promotion’s next top guy but needed just that little push. His name was Mitsuharu Misawa, and up until a little while before this point, he had been the second generation of Tiger Mask who was originally portrayed by the freakishly innovative Satoru Sayama.
But, as all fans would soon discover, he was more, much more, than just the next in the Tiger Mask line. And on June 9 1990 that dawning of what Misawa really was became evident. But, as things went on, we learned that while Tsuruta’s time at the top was ending he still had enough left in himself to put on one last epic. And he did just that. Putting on a performance that was so magnificent, so brave, that it left fans in the audience crying Tsuruta went down on his sword, and after that left.
In closing Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and Taue would not have become what you know them to be without Tsuruta. But hopefully, and with a little love, care, and attention, you have learned a little more about Jumbo than you did before you read this.
As a general rule you can ask most slightly dedicated wrestling fans what they would know about wrestling in Japan. And most answers would be, in no particular order,: Jushin Liger, Great Muta, Antonio Inoki, Tiger Mask. Now what do all of those names have in common? They all competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling, known in the United States for its long-time talent sharing agreement with WCW and the WWF before that.
But, for hardcore fans of the art form known as Puroresu, there is another promotion. One with just as much history, just as tightly woven a partnership with a major American promotion, and just as many epic stars. This promotion is All Japan Pro Wrestling. And for most fans their salad days, if you can even remember the difference between All Japan and New Japan, is the era of the 1990’s where Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, and Toshiaki Kawada seemed intent on putting on one epic match after another and eventually earned themselves the moniker of the “4 Corners of Heaven”. But who was the guy who made it possible for those stars to become stars? Easy. The most under appreciated puroresu star of his era. Jumbo Tsuruta.
All Japan is different in that most of, if not all, of its main stars stayed home for the entirety of their runs at the top of the promotion. Kobashi’s sole trips to the United States took place after he left All Japan, as did Misawa’s while Taue and Kawada never left. Meanwhile, during the same time period, their promotional rival New Japan Pro Wrestling sent Jushin Liger over to WCW to blow the mind of the gaijin fans with an exceptional series of matches against the American Brian Pillman, and the Great Muta over to do the same thing with the all-American superhero Sting. Even recently, in the past couple of years, New Japan gave American fans Liger one more time by allowing him to be booked in Ring of Honor for a 2-match series.
But, while All Japan was strictly isolationist in its approach, Tsuruta was different. He actually flowered as a wrestler in the United States, having been sent to train in Texas with the legendary Funk Brothers and given the name Tommy Tsuruta. In fact, shortly after his training began, he was thought to be so good that he was put in a 2-out-of-3 falls match with the reigning champion Dory Funk Jr., and even managed to win a fall. After his apprenticeship in the states was done All Japan came calling, and he quickly returned home where he became a tag team champion with the promotion’s top star Shohei Baba. Eventually though Jumbo became the top man in All Japan, and held that title pretty much without interference or contest until 1990.
Because at that point someone new came along, someone the brass believed would be the promotion’s next top guy but needed just that little push. His name was Mitsuharu Misawa, and up until a little while before this point, he had been the second generation of Tiger Mask who was originally portrayed by the freakishly innovative Satoru Sayama.
But, as all fans would soon discover, he was more, much more, than just the next in the Tiger Mask line. And on June 9 1990 that dawning of what Misawa really was became evident. But, as things went on, we learned that while Tsuruta’s time at the top was ending he still had enough left in himself to put on one last epic. And he did just that. Putting on a performance that was so magnificent, so brave, that it left fans in the audience crying Tsuruta went down on his sword, and after that left.
In closing Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and Taue would not have become what you know them to be without Tsuruta. But hopefully, and with a little love, care, and attention, you have learned a little more about Jumbo than you did before you read this.
6.25.2008
My First Interview ever.... With "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
When i started this blog there were a few people I wanted to get in touch with, and pick their brains on what they thought was good wrestling. And chief amongst those was the subject of my first interview... "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush. The current NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Mike is one of the most erudite guys on the scene today and is also a solid businessman considering that he runs his own successful promotion called Chikara Pro which is a mix of the best of lucha libre and puroresu. My questions are coded in blue, and his answers follow below. (Ed.Note: There can be no doubt that Quack is one of the nicest guys on the scene. Support Chikara and wherever else he is at.)
Q: If you had the chance to make a mix tape of your favorite matches to watch that DON’T include you what would they be?
Here's some easy ones:
1) Michinoku Pro 10-man tag from October 10, 1996 (Delfin/Naniwa/Hamada/Tiger IV/Yakushiji vs. Togo/Shiryu/TAKA/Teioh/Funaki)
2) Ken Joyce vs. Tony Costas (World of Sport...circa 1979?)
3) New Foundation vs. Orient Express (1992 WWF Royal Rumble)
4) Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (ECW Farewell match)
5) Johnny Saint vs. Mike "Flash" Jordan (World of Sport)
6) Rey Misterio/Juventud vs. Psicosis/La Parka (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97)
7) Owen Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid (King of the Ring 1994)
8) Jushin Liger vs. Dick Togo (Skydiving J 1997)
9) A crapload of 2005 & 2006 Mistico matches from CMLL
10) Jorge Rivera vs. TARUcito (T2P 1/23/2002)
Q: Based on the relative success of the World X-Cup concept for TNA if you could book your own Super Juniors World Cup with the same basic idea (Team USA, Team Canada, Team Mexico, Team Japan) who would they be?
I don't really follow TNA, but if I could pick a team to represent each of those groups, and budget was no object:Team USA would be Claudio Castagnoli (he is a citizen, after all) & Christopher Daniels
Team Canada would be the Super Smash Bros. (I love those guys! And they're from Canada!)Team Mexico would be Mistico & Incognito
Team Japan would be Naomichi Marufuji & Stalker Ichikawa
Q: And in what will be our last non-CHIKARA question of these proceedings….. Where do you get your ring gear? I ask because all of it looks fantastic. ---
Coco Verde in Mexico has made the lion's share of it in the last 4 years. Some bits and pieces come courtesy Daizee Haze and Dustin Rayz as well.
Q: Now to the CHIKARA questions. When was the last time you saw Gran Akuma busting out laughing?---
Is this a trick question?
Q: How often do you watch the Colony stuffing Vin Gerard in the garbage can at King of Trios and bust out laughing? ---
Not as often as you might think. I stay rather busy. My favorite moments from King of Trios, in no exact order, are the Team IWS vs. F1rst Wrestling tournament match, the random selection of Glacier as Los Ice Creams' partner, the wonderful moment when Hydra and Crossbones think they've won the tag team gauntlet only for the lights to dim and Demolition's music to come blaring over the sound system, and the inevitable meeting of Dr. Cube and UltraMantis Black.
Q: Which one of the alumni of CHIKARA would you most like to have back in your rings? ---
I'd love to have either Milano Collection A.T. or El Oriental pay us another visit. A lot has changed since we saw them last.
Q: Did you watch with your hands over your eyes, horror-movie style, when Eddie Kingston beat the stuffing out of Tim Donst? And did you stare at Chikarason like he shot your dog in the stomach when he booked the rematch?---
Luckily, I didn't see it until the DVD came to my house, so I could watch it in bite-sized chunks so as not to upset my stomach. But any time you get a crowd response like that, for reasons good or bad, there is almost always a rematch coming.
Q: What is the official relationship between Chikara and the NWA? Or is there even one, and you just defend the title in Chikara with a nod of understanding from the NWA?---
There is no exact relationship. When a title defense comes to CHIKARA we have to go through the same channels to get approval that anyone else would. We get no preferential treatment whatsoever.
Q: Do you speak Delirish? Does anyone, with the exception of Cheech and Cloudy, actually speak the language? ---I suspect Hallowicked does. Every once and again, I think I understand it a little, but you can never be sure.
Q: Here is the space that you have to plug all of your various and sundry projects upcoming?---
Come see CHIKARA live on Sunday, July 13 if you are in the Philadelphia area, or wait for us to come to the Midwest in September. If for some reason you do not live in those areas, you simply must watch our free, weekly podcast entitled CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go via iTunes, YouTube, etc
Q: If you had the chance to make a mix tape of your favorite matches to watch that DON’T include you what would they be?
Here's some easy ones:
1) Michinoku Pro 10-man tag from October 10, 1996 (Delfin/Naniwa/Hamada/Tiger IV/Yakushiji vs. Togo/Shiryu/TAKA/Teioh/Funaki)
2) Ken Joyce vs. Tony Costas (World of Sport...circa 1979?)
3) New Foundation vs. Orient Express (1992 WWF Royal Rumble)
4) Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (ECW Farewell match)
5) Johnny Saint vs. Mike "Flash" Jordan (World of Sport)
6) Rey Misterio/Juventud vs. Psicosis/La Parka (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97)
7) Owen Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid (King of the Ring 1994)
8) Jushin Liger vs. Dick Togo (Skydiving J 1997)
9) A crapload of 2005 & 2006 Mistico matches from CMLL
10) Jorge Rivera vs. TARUcito (T2P 1/23/2002)
Q: Based on the relative success of the World X-Cup concept for TNA if you could book your own Super Juniors World Cup with the same basic idea (Team USA, Team Canada, Team Mexico, Team Japan) who would they be?
I don't really follow TNA, but if I could pick a team to represent each of those groups, and budget was no object:Team USA would be Claudio Castagnoli (he is a citizen, after all) & Christopher Daniels
Team Canada would be the Super Smash Bros. (I love those guys! And they're from Canada!)Team Mexico would be Mistico & Incognito
Team Japan would be Naomichi Marufuji & Stalker Ichikawa
Q: And in what will be our last non-CHIKARA question of these proceedings….. Where do you get your ring gear? I ask because all of it looks fantastic. ---
Coco Verde in Mexico has made the lion's share of it in the last 4 years. Some bits and pieces come courtesy Daizee Haze and Dustin Rayz as well.
Q: Now to the CHIKARA questions. When was the last time you saw Gran Akuma busting out laughing?---
Is this a trick question?
Q: How often do you watch the Colony stuffing Vin Gerard in the garbage can at King of Trios and bust out laughing? ---
Not as often as you might think. I stay rather busy. My favorite moments from King of Trios, in no exact order, are the Team IWS vs. F1rst Wrestling tournament match, the random selection of Glacier as Los Ice Creams' partner, the wonderful moment when Hydra and Crossbones think they've won the tag team gauntlet only for the lights to dim and Demolition's music to come blaring over the sound system, and the inevitable meeting of Dr. Cube and UltraMantis Black.
Q: Which one of the alumni of CHIKARA would you most like to have back in your rings? ---
I'd love to have either Milano Collection A.T. or El Oriental pay us another visit. A lot has changed since we saw them last.
Q: Did you watch with your hands over your eyes, horror-movie style, when Eddie Kingston beat the stuffing out of Tim Donst? And did you stare at Chikarason like he shot your dog in the stomach when he booked the rematch?---
Luckily, I didn't see it until the DVD came to my house, so I could watch it in bite-sized chunks so as not to upset my stomach. But any time you get a crowd response like that, for reasons good or bad, there is almost always a rematch coming.
Q: What is the official relationship between Chikara and the NWA? Or is there even one, and you just defend the title in Chikara with a nod of understanding from the NWA?---
There is no exact relationship. When a title defense comes to CHIKARA we have to go through the same channels to get approval that anyone else would. We get no preferential treatment whatsoever.
Q: Do you speak Delirish? Does anyone, with the exception of Cheech and Cloudy, actually speak the language? ---I suspect Hallowicked does. Every once and again, I think I understand it a little, but you can never be sure.
Q: Here is the space that you have to plug all of your various and sundry projects upcoming?---
Come see CHIKARA live on Sunday, July 13 if you are in the Philadelphia area, or wait for us to come to the Midwest in September. If for some reason you do not live in those areas, you simply must watch our free, weekly podcast entitled CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go via iTunes, YouTube, etc
6.06.2008
A Challenge for DK Wilson
Sometimes by virtue of having this blog which makes no secret of the fact that I am a pretty good fan of wrestling people make the assumption that all this is about is pro wrestling, although that’s not even close to the truth. Here I'm going to be covering MMA, and amateur wrestling which will be especially interesting considering that the Beijing Olympics are coming up.
But this becomes the problem: http://sportsonmymind.com/2008/06/02/it-called-mma-him-name-kimbo-%e2%80%93-you-love-both/. A cheaply biased piece that trades in the same stereotypes about MMA fans that are held by people who honestly ought to know better. MMA is an art form, a craft, and yes a sport. But people, like the man who wrote this article, refuse to see that and instead continue to trade on the worst of what they imagine MMA fans to be.
While I could quote and rebuke the most inflammatory portions of the article, including his mistaken belief that anyone who can enjoy MMA at a real honest level is somehow some desensitized barely-human child, I'd instead make this offer to the man who wrote this.
DK Wilson from Sports on my Mind… the next Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Grappling Championships here in the United States will be on October eighteenth and nineteenth. I extend you an offer, when the time comes, that you and I go together and you can see what the real influences of MMA are. And how people who are the real fans can see everything but the vicious brawls you imagine them looking for.
I'll be waiting for your response.
But this becomes the problem: http://sportsonmymind.com/2008/06/02/it-called-mma-him-name-kimbo-%e2%80%93-you-love-both/. A cheaply biased piece that trades in the same stereotypes about MMA fans that are held by people who honestly ought to know better. MMA is an art form, a craft, and yes a sport. But people, like the man who wrote this article, refuse to see that and instead continue to trade on the worst of what they imagine MMA fans to be.
While I could quote and rebuke the most inflammatory portions of the article, including his mistaken belief that anyone who can enjoy MMA at a real honest level is somehow some desensitized barely-human child, I'd instead make this offer to the man who wrote this.
DK Wilson from Sports on my Mind… the next Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Grappling Championships here in the United States will be on October eighteenth and nineteenth. I extend you an offer, when the time comes, that you and I go together and you can see what the real influences of MMA are. And how people who are the real fans can see everything but the vicious brawls you imagine them looking for.
I'll be waiting for your response.
5.29.2008
the TSF special: Why Chris Benoit.
Chris Benoit: 1 Year Later. Why it hurts, and why the mainstream media stopped covering it, and how the internet shaped what we know about it.
Recently the HBO program “Costas Now” had a 4-part roundtable discussion on sports media. There were programs on Sports Talk Radio, Sports TV, Sports Journalism, Race and Sports, and the internet. However, all anyone remembers is the internet because of one man: Buzz Bissinger and his self-immolation in the segment flanked by Deadspin founder and seeming eternal frat boy Will Leitch and an utterly confused Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns. His point, near as it could be determined underneath a haze of profanity and disagreement, was that the internet is populated by-and-large with people ill informed about the concept, much less the principles, of strong journalism. I will leave it up to you to decide if that is the case with this blog. However, as I heard him, and recently read an interview on friend of this blog The Starting Five, I am reminded that the “old media” which Buzz is a part of clearly knew nothing of what they were talking about when it came to a case. In fact, it could be argued that without a blog, and more than one, that what we know about this case would be far less than now. The case I am speaking of is Chris Benoit.
First, for those of you who come to this blog having no clue as to who Chris Benoit is or what he represented, I will try to sum it up. Simply put… Chris was the wrestling fan’s wrestler. He had busted his tail in Canada, and Japan, and Europe to be thought of as the best wrestler that he could be. In many ways his aggressive style was the template upon which an entire generation of junior heavyweights based their work. He was the bright shining light for fans of WRESTLING, not sports entertainment, throughout the 90’s and up until his death. His was a legacy of brilliance up until the last time we saw him alive.
The way his life ended, and the way he ended the life of his wife and his son, hurts because we never believed this to be from him. Admittedly, we never believed it to be from anyone, but especially not him. Not when all you heard was about how nice of a man he was, how sweet, how caring to his child. And when he had seen his best friend die in just the same way, and wept openly on a live tribute along with us, we assumed he would calm down… that he would be the guy we could say we grew old watching.
But this is not intended to be an elegy. Rather it is a reminder of what he was on the day before his death, and what he became the day after. You see on his day after… Chris Benoit was a monster, a tragedy, and the best case for increased vigilance about concussions. All depending on whom you believed. But do you know who knew nothing? The mainstream media. Buzz Bissinger’s media to be exact.
Nancy Grace, who before this episode was perhaps best known for knowing nothing and driving a woman to suicide, believed Chris Benoit was demoted from the 4 Horsemen to Raw, and that his death was due to steroids exclusively. NBC’s Today Show allowed Vince McMahon to go on their air that By contrast…. The Wrestling Observer, a newsletter run by the estimable and highly qualified Dave Meltzer, had already sniffed out that this was a murder-suicide by the time of the west coast rerun of Raw and within 72 hours had found out that he had a high amount of concussions, enough so that his brain was like a 90-year-old dementia patient.
But even the internet gave up… because after a time there was nothing new to say. No survivors existed, and the WWE excised Chris Benoit from its entire history. So what do you do when there is nothing left to report? You move on.
And that’s what I am going to do. Move on. See you guys around next time.
Recently the HBO program “Costas Now” had a 4-part roundtable discussion on sports media. There were programs on Sports Talk Radio, Sports TV, Sports Journalism, Race and Sports, and the internet. However, all anyone remembers is the internet because of one man: Buzz Bissinger and his self-immolation in the segment flanked by Deadspin founder and seeming eternal frat boy Will Leitch and an utterly confused Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns. His point, near as it could be determined underneath a haze of profanity and disagreement, was that the internet is populated by-and-large with people ill informed about the concept, much less the principles, of strong journalism. I will leave it up to you to decide if that is the case with this blog. However, as I heard him, and recently read an interview on friend of this blog The Starting Five, I am reminded that the “old media” which Buzz is a part of clearly knew nothing of what they were talking about when it came to a case. In fact, it could be argued that without a blog, and more than one, that what we know about this case would be far less than now. The case I am speaking of is Chris Benoit.
First, for those of you who come to this blog having no clue as to who Chris Benoit is or what he represented, I will try to sum it up. Simply put… Chris was the wrestling fan’s wrestler. He had busted his tail in Canada, and Japan, and Europe to be thought of as the best wrestler that he could be. In many ways his aggressive style was the template upon which an entire generation of junior heavyweights based their work. He was the bright shining light for fans of WRESTLING, not sports entertainment, throughout the 90’s and up until his death. His was a legacy of brilliance up until the last time we saw him alive.
The way his life ended, and the way he ended the life of his wife and his son, hurts because we never believed this to be from him. Admittedly, we never believed it to be from anyone, but especially not him. Not when all you heard was about how nice of a man he was, how sweet, how caring to his child. And when he had seen his best friend die in just the same way, and wept openly on a live tribute along with us, we assumed he would calm down… that he would be the guy we could say we grew old watching.
But this is not intended to be an elegy. Rather it is a reminder of what he was on the day before his death, and what he became the day after. You see on his day after… Chris Benoit was a monster, a tragedy, and the best case for increased vigilance about concussions. All depending on whom you believed. But do you know who knew nothing? The mainstream media. Buzz Bissinger’s media to be exact.
Nancy Grace, who before this episode was perhaps best known for knowing nothing and driving a woman to suicide, believed Chris Benoit was demoted from the 4 Horsemen to Raw, and that his death was due to steroids exclusively. NBC’s Today Show allowed Vince McMahon to go on their air that By contrast…. The Wrestling Observer, a newsletter run by the estimable and highly qualified Dave Meltzer, had already sniffed out that this was a murder-suicide by the time of the west coast rerun of Raw and within 72 hours had found out that he had a high amount of concussions, enough so that his brain was like a 90-year-old dementia patient.
But even the internet gave up… because after a time there was nothing new to say. No survivors existed, and the WWE excised Chris Benoit from its entire history. So what do you do when there is nothing left to report? You move on.
And that’s what I am going to do. Move on. See you guys around next time.
Footnotes....
T2p= Toryumon 2000 Project, a brief but highly influential wrestling promotion out of Japan noted for its heavy reliance on lucha libre and the submission style.
Ace= japanese term meaning the top man of a particular promotion.. e.g. Koji Kanemoto is the ace of New Japan.
4 Corners of Heaven= Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada. The 4 men who were, at any point, the 4 greatest heavyweights in the world and all wrestled in the same promotion at the same time frame (All Japan in the 1990's)
World of Sport= the term commonly used to define British Wrestling in the 1960's to the early 80's. Named so because all live matches were televised on the BBC's World of Sport programme.
Special= A hold usually invented by the man that uses it most commonly. Rumor has it that once it is a special it is considered a vast insult by anyone to use the hold other than the trainer, save in rare instances. e.g. the figure-4 leglock could be called the Ric Flair Special.
more facts to come.
Ace= japanese term meaning the top man of a particular promotion.. e.g. Koji Kanemoto is the ace of New Japan.
4 Corners of Heaven= Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada. The 4 men who were, at any point, the 4 greatest heavyweights in the world and all wrestled in the same promotion at the same time frame (All Japan in the 1990's)
World of Sport= the term commonly used to define British Wrestling in the 1960's to the early 80's. Named so because all live matches were televised on the BBC's World of Sport programme.
Special= A hold usually invented by the man that uses it most commonly. Rumor has it that once it is a special it is considered a vast insult by anyone to use the hold other than the trainer, save in rare instances. e.g. the figure-4 leglock could be called the Ric Flair Special.
more facts to come.
A Primer for Puroresu.
Today’s article: “a primer on Puroresu.”
As is sometimes the case people might say something so stupid, so utterly deviant from the basic concepts of truth, that they must be dealt with. This is the case with Glen Gilberti. He has forced me to explain Puroresu, calmly and slowly.
First off, I will deal with Glen Gilberti’s assertion that somehow Puroresu is nothing more than people elbowing each other in the face non-stop is beyond ridiculous. It is not strange to hear this from him though, considering that he works for a promotion that has a roster who by-and-large enjoy Puroresu as an art form, and have in some cases worked in it. Furthermore, it is also not strange to hear this out-and-out dismissal of a non-American art form from someone that works for a promotion whose head booker alienated an entire promotion by booking a title change for one of the most respected titles in the world with a tequila bottle used by a Mexican wrestler as the base for the finish.
Let us be clear though: Puroresu is not merely the concept of no-selling violence that Gilberti and the other detractors of it seem to think. Matter of fact Glen should know this better than most, considering that he was once upon a time booked in WCW with a young man named Tokyo Magnum and then returned the favor by flying over to Japan to appear in Magnum’s Toryumon X promotion. Truthfully Puroresu has influences in a vast majority of styles, whether it be the layered escalations of maneuvers commonly found in All Japan during their “Four Corners of Heaven” period in the 90’s or the serpentine and heavily involved submission work of Toryumon, Toryumon X, and their forerunner T2P and most of all the rapid-fire exchanges found in New Japan’s stocked Junior Heavyweight Division.
The trouble with Puroresu is not what people think it is not, but it is what people think it is. Truthfully… Puroresu achieved its exalted space in the minds of wrestling fans because of its greatest moments. The passing of the torch by Tsuruta to Misawa in 1990 that left fans crying in their seats, sad that they had seen their previous hero felled but happy that a new one emerged. The Benoit\Sasuke classic of the 1994 J-Cup where the man who would sadly later be known for a horrific crime proved that he was a worthy heir to his own idol’s throne. THAT is Puroresu, not what Glen Gilberti imagines it to be as he listens to his boss down everyone who is not American.
As is sometimes the case people might say something so stupid, so utterly deviant from the basic concepts of truth, that they must be dealt with. This is the case with Glen Gilberti. He has forced me to explain Puroresu, calmly and slowly.
First off, I will deal with Glen Gilberti’s assertion that somehow Puroresu is nothing more than people elbowing each other in the face non-stop is beyond ridiculous. It is not strange to hear this from him though, considering that he works for a promotion that has a roster who by-and-large enjoy Puroresu as an art form, and have in some cases worked in it. Furthermore, it is also not strange to hear this out-and-out dismissal of a non-American art form from someone that works for a promotion whose head booker alienated an entire promotion by booking a title change for one of the most respected titles in the world with a tequila bottle used by a Mexican wrestler as the base for the finish.
Let us be clear though: Puroresu is not merely the concept of no-selling violence that Gilberti and the other detractors of it seem to think. Matter of fact Glen should know this better than most, considering that he was once upon a time booked in WCW with a young man named Tokyo Magnum and then returned the favor by flying over to Japan to appear in Magnum’s Toryumon X promotion. Truthfully Puroresu has influences in a vast majority of styles, whether it be the layered escalations of maneuvers commonly found in All Japan during their “Four Corners of Heaven” period in the 90’s or the serpentine and heavily involved submission work of Toryumon, Toryumon X, and their forerunner T2P and most of all the rapid-fire exchanges found in New Japan’s stocked Junior Heavyweight Division.
The trouble with Puroresu is not what people think it is not, but it is what people think it is. Truthfully… Puroresu achieved its exalted space in the minds of wrestling fans because of its greatest moments. The passing of the torch by Tsuruta to Misawa in 1990 that left fans crying in their seats, sad that they had seen their previous hero felled but happy that a new one emerged. The Benoit\Sasuke classic of the 1994 J-Cup where the man who would sadly later be known for a horrific crime proved that he was a worthy heir to his own idol’s throne. THAT is Puroresu, not what Glen Gilberti imagines it to be as he listens to his boss down everyone who is not American.
5.01.2008
The First Post ever on this blog....
Hi I'm pretty sure you're going to be wondering what in the hell I'm doing here, and why I posted this blog.
Simple.... I like wrestling, all kinds from all different places. And it was past time, I thought, for people to know about it.
I'll be posting on everything from recent DVD's I have ordered to matches that I downloaded, to maybe even a few interviews with some of the indy stars I think are worth watching.
Welcome aboard. Hopefully you will enjoy this blog.
Simple.... I like wrestling, all kinds from all different places. And it was past time, I thought, for people to know about it.
I'll be posting on everything from recent DVD's I have ordered to matches that I downloaded, to maybe even a few interviews with some of the indy stars I think are worth watching.
Welcome aboard. Hopefully you will enjoy this blog.
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