What I'm watching: Mike Quackenbush vs Johnny Saint

I admit this freely. I am a huge junkie for top-notch technical wrestling. But here's the problem: So much of what people understand as top-notch technical wrestling really isn't. It's not just knowing a billion million holds. It's knowing how to apply them. It's being slick and artistic without having it look forced, and making your trademarks look like you were smart to get your opponent in that position rather than you and your opponent both were playing off of the same script. This is harder than it seems. And two of the masters of this style are perhaps best known as partners, but I'm watching one of their matches when they were as opponents. The only trouble with this is that I can't find this match, and I'm not about to send you off to torrent it. I like the people at Chikara too much for that. So what I would suggest is google Mike Quackenbush vs Johnny Saint and then buy the match. It's worth it. It really is. To whet your appetite, here is a video of Johnny Saint doing what he does followed by a video of Mike Quackenbush doing what he does.

Why I stopped watching WWE, and why I am still a wrestling fan anyway

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not spent nearly as much time watching WWE or televised wrestling as so many of the people with whom i have some sense of kinship in the wrestling blogosphere with. But I'm still a wrestling fan regardless, and the reason for that is simple: Corporate wrestling no longer speaks to me.

To be sure, I'm not overly precious about this. I'm not saying that you should never watch Raw if that's what you like. I'm not saying that if you are enthralled by the majesty of the Undertaker, or captivated by every promo CM Punk has ever done, that you're a bad wrestling fan or a bad person. The first one doesn't really exist, and you'd have to do a whole hell of a lot worse than like the Undertaker or CM Punk to make you a bad person.

But what I am saying is that for me, WWE no longer gives me what I want. And rather than watching them with all of the love gone and nothing but hate in my heart, I think it's better for me to move on.

To be sure, there was a time when it did. I am still a Rockers completist, constantly looking for the matches they had that made me believe they were the team of the 1990's. Bret Hart was my gateway drug into all of that high-end, slick without seeming forced, technical wrestling that has grown to be the thing I absolutely love more than anything else. And Randy Savage was explosive and kinetic in a way that few wrestlers NOW could ever dream of being, much less when he was at his possibly cocaine-addled apex having great matches.

But those days are gone. Instead, I find the things I love in other places (with the exception of Randy Savage. He was as Sui Generis as any wrestler could ever be. There will never be another like him.)

If now I want to watch tag team artistry at its highest level, I can watch the Young Bucks ply their trade in PWG. I can also go in my DVD's from the not too recent past and see Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw, or watch the Colony or the Canadian Ninjas. Tag team work, of the kind perfected by the Midnight Express and the Rock N' Roll Express, is no longer practiced on your TV in the same way as it was during even the Monday Night Wars, much less that period when WWF Superstars and WCW Saturday Night was all that you got and you liked it.

Technical wrestling is a different matter. The trouble with technical wrestling now is that too many people Malenko-ize it. (Which is to say, nothing ever looks like it was particularly hard to get. Also, occasionally brainless.) The masters make slickness never seem forced. That old wrestling announcer cliche about how they never waste a move? That's what Mike Quackenbush does, and what Colt Cabana does, and what KANA does.

So to sum up, just because I no longer watch televised wrestling doesn't make me any less of a wrestling fan than someone who still does. it just means we're different.

The Indies and You: Why going to a smaller show is the best way to see the sport.

In the shadow of Wrestlemania, and the Raw after Wrestlemania, some of you might have been wondering where to go to see wrestling. I mean, big box corporate wrestling may or may not be coming to your town in the future. And even if it does, there's a very real chance that it's going to be in a crowded arena and you'll have the kind of seats that make you think you are watching two specks wrestle each other.

Instead, what I'm going to recommend instead for you to try is something that feels counter-intuitive. Don't go and see John Cena. Instead, go and see a smaller indy show in your town. The reasons to do this instead of putting your money in Vince McMahon's pockets are innumerable.

A: You see the stars before they become stars.

You know that guy CM Punk that people fawn over, and proclaim him to be the "Best in the World"? Well, before he was the WWE's big deal, he was wrestling on smaller shows. Same thing with Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio in Mexico, and look at how important they are to the WWE now. The indies are where kids, of both genders, fresh out of wrestling school refine their craft. Right now, at the show being held at your local armory or church, there may very well be someone who could be a big deal in a couple of years. And you're seeing him when he was just starting out, rife with potential. Does that honestly sound like something that you want to miss.

B: We are in a bumper crop right now.

With the Wrestling Is.... projects, the Dual Anarchies in St. Louis and Texas, PWG on the West Coast, AAW, Shimmer, AIW in the Midwest, Chikara traveling the country, and the south becoming a breeding ground for awesomeness, there's really no good reason for anyone to say with a straight face that they can't find an indy show that's good. But if you can't find something near you, or if you're the sort who needs to know what you're getting into before you head out, this should help you find what you're looking for.

Also, believe me when I say that the talent level is as good as it's been in a while. This is a generation of wrestlers schooled on all different styles. There are too many good wrestlers right now for me to name them all. But believe me when I tell you, they're out there. All you have to do is go find them.

C: You are a part of the Show.

It's a simple thing. Might not seem like much. But I can guarantee you: It is a lot harder to feel a part of the show in an arena packed to the brim with people with pyro and propane going off every 20 seconds than it is in a hotel ballroom with 1000 people. When you cheer or boo at one of those big-box corporate shows, the chances that the object of your words hears it? Pretty small. You become part of a low keen at that point.

But on an indy show? This can happen. So can this:

Go. Be entertained. Honestly.

And that's that. Thank you for reading, and go and support your local indy.

The Dream Match To End All Dream Matches, Or Discussion Of Them

KANA. 1\2 of the greatest dream match ever.

(Full disclosure: I root passionately, unabashedly, and shamelessly for both KANA and her opponent in this match. I don't think that will change the way I write this match, but I needed to clear that up before I kept going in this piece.)

One of the beautiful things about this blog is that I get the chance to spitball ideas for this blog of mine on Twitter. For some reason, my mind and my heart has been drawing me to discuss dream matches. For whatever reason, they've always captivated me. The idea that 2 wrestlers who are clearly stars coming together to figure out which one of the 2 is the better has always interested me. And when I think about what dream matches are left, there's really one left. And it's so beautiful that I had to talk about it, write about it, and hopefully do my small part to make it happen.

The Conversion Progress Featuring ESPN Columnist Jemele Hill

It's amazing the things you think about doing when you have a bunch of free time.


One of those things you think about doing is bothering all of your friends on Twitter to watch some wrestling matches, and tell you what they think of them. But that wasn't enough. Rather, I wanted them to watch stuff that wasn't from the WWE. I'm doing this in the same way that Dirty Dirty Sheets is trying to show people good wrestling anywhere that you can find it is just as valuable and important to get the enjoyment you should out of this watching hours upon hours of corporate wrestling where the template for what you see is made in cement. And after some internal debate about who I could convince I went to the one person I know would try this and enjoy it. ESPN columnist Jemele Hill.




It's not that she's written some really acclaimed articles (although she has). It's not that she's been on First Take, the Sports Reporters, Rome is Burning, and Around The Horn (although she has). Truthfully, this is because when she's on twitter I always got the sense that she was open-minded, a sense that was proven right when she agreed to do this.


A pair of quick ground rules because this, Hashimoto willing, is not going to be the last time that I do this:
1: I burned these videos from my own collections before they were give to Ms. Hill. If you want to see everything she saw, go on youtube or find a tape trading site. I'll link the best at the bottom of this post. Ok? Good.


2: I'll be adding my own comments on these matches below Jemele's. Her comments, then, will be in blue to differentiate.