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Post by AD on Aug 10, 2020 22:57:40 GMT -5
ROH 2004-2012ish is my favorite period in wrestling. I re-watched the 5 Star Do Fixer vs Blood Generation Trios match from '06 just a few days ago and it actually seems even better now than it did back then. Basically the exact kind of multi-man match that everybody tries to copy today, only the DG guys were better at making sure their spots never looked too contrived.
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Post by Rev on Aug 11, 2020 0:04:21 GMT -5
That match was amazing! Gotta find my DVD of that show so I can watch it soon. Dragon Gate was just on a whole nother level back then.
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Post by [beej] on Aug 11, 2020 5:35:03 GMT -5
ROH 2004-2012ish is my favorite period in wrestling. Danielson’s 2006 title reign is still my favorite in the history of wrestling. Such a perfect character with perfect matches.
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Post by AD on Aug 11, 2020 15:58:11 GMT -5
Well, since you got me thinking about this Rev, I guess my favorite era for wrestling would have to be the 90's, to be as general as possible. But more specifically: WWF "New Generation" main events and top workers (Bret, Owen, Shawn, Davey, Austin, Razor, Waltman, Vader) late 92-97 WCW Cruiserweights 95-98 AJPW main events the entire decade NJPW juniors and main events the entire decade AAA early-mid 90's before WCW borrowed all their top talent and forgot to give them back. I really do need to see more All Japan Women's stuff from that era, though.
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Post by [beej] on Aug 11, 2020 18:39:20 GMT -5
May as well chime in with mine:
-WWF New Generation. It's when I first started watching wrestling as a child, so of course it will always be special to me. -WCW Nitro Monday Night Wars Era. Even though the main events were bad and the nWo stuff was painfully predictable at times, I always get so nostalgic whenever I see clips from this time period. Even the endless Mongo botches, which make me love him all the more! -WWE 2004-05. Not that there's a ton special about this period (aside from the primes of HBK, Benoit, Eddie, Angle, etc), but this is what me and my current best friend of 16 years initially bonded over. -ROH 2004-2007. The golden era, so much of which is tied to The MV Zone and my falling in love with all of this. -PWG 2014-2018. Easily the greatest (and most fun) cards ever assembled. PWG could do no wrong in that crappy little building, and they held my interest when no other company could during this time. -AEW 2019-current. Yeah, they make mistakes and it's not always compelling. But I adore what they stand for, and what they are trying to do. I 100% bought into the mission statement a little over a year ago, and I religiously watch them every week still marveling that after all of these years, WWE finally has some legitimate competition. For someone who ached for a viable alternative for 18 years, AEW succeeding means a lot to me.
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Post by headcheese (Pom Pom Harajuku) on Aug 12, 2020 12:27:24 GMT -5
Beyond Wrestling (2012-14) - Super good dynamic matches, fun interacting with wrestlers
Bizarro Lucha (2019-Current) - So much good stuff, fun chaos, met probably my best friend through learning Bizarro Lucha. You Make My Dreams is great song and do not doubt Nick Iggy
CHIKARA (2012-13/2019) - The first independent I connected. The 2019 is mostly because of all the good interactions I have made, I met sone really great friends and the wrestlers are joys to interact with, I think I befriended some too
Finest City Wrestling (2015-16) - Probably the biggest local workrate promotion I have ever got experience live. Getting to meet the Young Bucks twice. B-Boy being great!! Eli Everfly vs. Danny Limelight vs. Suede Thompson vs. Douglas James might be the best match I have ever seen live
Freelance Wrestling (2015-2016) - The year of Mustafa Ali! Isaias Velazquez, and Suge D/Sugar Dunkerton/Pineapple Pete were on fire there too.
Gatoh Move (2020) - So much fun. Choco Pro is my favorite weekly wrestling show maybe
Seafood Pro Wrestling (2015-Current) - Even though it has been mostly fan cams and clips Seafood Pro Wrestling has been a so much fun! Made two really great friends through this promotion. I am Seafood Champion
WCW (1992) - Have not gotten into it deeply but, it a seems like a fun time. Also WCW SLAM JAM
WWE - (1998-1999, 2002 (Smack Down 2002-06), 2008, 2014-2016) - Really good runs, a lot of great matches. Super Astros rocks
WWE/NXT (2014-2016) - The art school theater days of NXT, Bayley and Sami Zayn are maybe the most I have ever connected to a wrestlers championship Journey
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Post by AD on Aug 12, 2020 16:44:52 GMT -5
WWE - (1998-1999, 2002 (Smack Down 2002-06), 2008, 2014-2016) - Really good runs, a lot of great matches. Super Astros rocks Smackdown 02-03 when Heyman was booking during the Smackdown 6 era was maybe the best week-to-week WWE programming ever. It'll never get the love of the Attitude Era because they didn't have the star power, but if you go back and compare the show quality, they're in two completely different leagues.
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Post by [beej] on Aug 12, 2020 18:15:45 GMT -5
WWE - (1998-1999, 2002 (Smack Down 2002-06), 2008, 2014-2016) - Really good runs, a lot of great matches. Super Astros rocks Smackdown 02-03 when Heyman was booking during the Smackdown 6 era was maybe the best week-to-week WWE programming ever. It'll never get the love of the Attitude Era because they didn't have the star power, but if you go back and compare the show quality, they're in two completely different leagues. Smackdown in the Summer/Fall of 2009 was also really underrated, with the second coming of the "Smackdown Six." I distinctly remember a really awesome Rey/Morrison match. You also had the Punk/Hardy feud going on. Add on top of that Edge and Jericho being the two best heels in the company also on the same show.
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Post by Rev on Sept 22, 2020 2:21:17 GMT -5
T-Bar.
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Post by Paroxysm on Sept 22, 2020 14:04:32 GMT -5
But Slapjack tho.
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Post by [beej] on Sept 22, 2020 16:53:57 GMT -5
I haven't watched, but even listening to Dave and Bryan's recap of the show made me embarrassed to have ever been a fan.
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Post by AD on Sept 23, 2020 17:42:03 GMT -5
Sadly, the Road Warriors Darkside of the Ring episode had one chapter left to be written.
RIP Road Warrior Animal.
He always seemed like one of the good guys to me. What a shame.
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Post by Cheeze on Nov 26, 2020 16:43:53 GMT -5
I grew up watching NWA-TNA from 2002 onwards, so I very much missed out on WWE my whole life up until 2007. Great American Bash 2007 is like the earliest memory of WWE for me. One of the most talked about era’s in wrestling is the Attitude Era, so I finally decided I’d check it out and see what it’s about (I'm still early into it, Late July 1998). At this point I’ve seen and know about a lot of the storylines, but somehow I’m still hooked by the end of almost every episode. I find that the biggest misconception about this era for people from my generation and later is that the wrestling back then sucked and it’s way better now. That could not be more wrong. Every match does not start with a collar & elbow and go 30 minutes, which is a breath of fresh air. Serious feuds often start with them just going at each other from the get go and matches are more to the point. When you hear these legends always say less is more… it really is, but that’s a discussion for another time. I’ll just drop a few things that I liked and didn't like and I’d love to know what some of you that lived through the era think.
- Steve Austin was the man. Like it's the most commonly thing said, but until you see it i guess it's just a myth that you believe. He was so insanely popular with fans it was crazy. Him bullying Vince and Vince trying everything in his power to hold him down is just brilliant stuff. - Undertaker/Mankind from King of the Ring 1998. This is a spot that has been shown 10000 times over the years, but watching this match in full and the fact that mankind takes this fall within like the first 5-10 minutes of the match and then finishes the match taking yet another fall off the top of the cell & going through thumbtacks twice was mental! Foley is truly goated. - What I liked about what I’ve seen so far is that even with Austin/Taker/Kane/Foley running the show as the top guys, smaller feuds and other wrestlers were equally as entertaining. Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart & The Rock being some of my favorites. It is heart breaking to know what happens to Owen Hart, but I honestly fault the WWE for that. What was the need to give a talent like Owen Hart a stupid gimmick other than having something against him for being related to Bret? The grudge doesn't end there, it's later evident with Natalya and her farting gimmick. - They treated Vader like absolute shit when he didn't deserve any of that. I know Shawn Michaels is a fan favorite to many, but the sight of him just annoys me to no end, knowing & reading about the type of person he was then. Bret Hart > Shawn Michaels, all day every day. - Watching back the brawl for all, it is actually pretty dope. Watching these dudes shoot fight each other is kind of thrilling, idk why. The crowds were not pleased though and I completely understand why. People are here to watch wrestling and not MMA. It sucks knowing what happens later with Bart Gunn. Dude was a beast, beating the crap out of Bob Holly and eventually getting that huge upset over Dr. Death, which I assume is the reason for his burial later. - DX humor is very hit and miss for me. Maybe it's because I’m older and I would've found this stuff much funnier if I was like 15, but it really is cringe & childish for the most part. Triple H was also not as great as they make him out to be (but I feel like that's just common knowledge). He was fortunate to have guys like The Rock, Owen Hart & so many others carrying him through feuds/matches because he is one of the least interesting wrestlers to watch.
That’s all I can think of at the moment. I do hope to one day check out WCW (if there's a nice starting point please do let me know), because a lot of the wrestlers I later end up enjoying had runs in WCW i.e. Booker T, Chris Jericho, Scott Steiner, DDP & more.
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Post by AD on Nov 28, 2020 16:12:37 GMT -5
That’s all I can think of at the moment. I do hope to one day check out WCW (if there's a nice starting point please do let me know), because a lot of the wrestlers I later end up enjoying had runs in WCW i.e. Booker T, Chris Jericho, Scott Steiner, DDP & more. If we're talking boom period WCW, I'd say just start with the first episode of Nitro in '95 and work your way through the whole run. The company didn't really heat up until the NWO angle started in spring of '96, but the beginning of Nitro was when Guerrero, Malenko, Benoit and that whole group--including the Japanese guys who started coming in--showed up and brought the faster style that would become the cruiserweight division, which is really what separated WCW from WWE as a product. You'll have to suffer through some trainwreck angles and main events early on, especially with Hogan's feud with the Dungeon of Doom, but some of that stuff is also pretty funny for all the wrong reasons. You'll also get to see the start of Pillman's Loose Cannon gimmick, which was really groundbreaking stuff at the time. Then just stop at the end of '98. I wouldn't subject my worst enemies to 1999/2000 WCW. Once they ended Goldberg's streak in the dumbest way possible the whole company went downhill, and it went downhill very fast.
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Post by Storm on Nov 29, 2020 13:52:56 GMT -5
And if you want to see how bad WCW got, check out Bash at the Beach 2000, it's an experience
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