100 Matches You Really Should See...

[IANdrewDiceClay]

it was a cracking watch in the flesh and still holds up now.

Still holds up now? When was it from? 1983?

[patiirc]

it was a cracking watch in the flesh and still holds up now.

Still holds up now? When was it from? 1983?

18 months or so... Given that wrestling is all about moving along quickly these days, I though that it was, you know, okay to say something like that. Compare and contrast with the BWC stuff on Challenge which was the same year iirc which doesnt look so good then yeah. Tweeting under the ring is so current?

[PowerButchi]

Honestly, i'm not really sure what the big fuss about LA Park is.

I thought we were friends, Hoss! LA Park is awesome.

[ShortOrderCook]

Haha, i'm not saying he's shit or anything. I've not seen anything of him since the WCW stuff and I enjoyed him there, but was fairly indifferent towards him really. Apparently though, I've heard before and when watching and searching for that match and looking into the background behind it had confirmed that he apparently holds a Stone Cold like Attitude Era level of popularity over in Mehiho.

Out of all the wrestling I watch in my geekery Lucha is the one that I'm finding most difficult to get into.

I'm the same. I haven't seen much at all, but when I went to Royal Rumble 2008, one night late while in the hotel flicking through the channels I stumbled across some CMLL...or AAA (I think it was AAA - X-Pac was there at the time) and thought i'd check it out being on a wrestling themed trip and all. Didn't take to it at all, it seemed a right mess. I hear many a good thing though, so i'm open and hoping to find something I do like through this thread. I somewhat hoped someone might submit some of Misitcos great stuff because that would have been interesting to see Sin Cara and how good he supposedly can be in his own environment. I do love much of the imagery that comes from the world of Lucha though.

There may be a lot of Joe love in this thread.

Indeed there is. Early TNA Joe appeared a fair few times.

[Vamp]

I think the thing with lucha is, as much as I hate saying this because it sounds like pretentious bullshit, it has a bit of a learning curve if you're used to watching other forms of wrestling. I seem to remember Butch commenting on the Virus vs. Panther match a couple of weeks ago that he didn't get the psychology of it until he watched good people doing it. I think that's probably very true, but I also think that watching the odd match probably doesn't work either. It does click at some point. There's still shit, and there's going to be things about it you don't like (Arena Mexico main events, Jack Evans, IWRG having long stretches where you get to watch bored people, Jack Evans the way CMLL books tournaments, Jack Evans, for example) but there's also nuggets of joy. I suspect my list is a bit shit actually, since it doesn't really have enough maestro matches. I feel dirty having used that argument.

I stumbled across some CMLL...or AAA (I think it was AAA - X-Pac was there at the time)

That would have been AAA. Scott Hall made an appearance aroudn that point I think. I wasn't watching then. I will say that I always find AAA the easiest show to watch. I can watch an hour of it a week and know where I am. I wouldn't say that for any other lucha promotion.

[ShortOrderCook]

ShortOrderCook SPECIAL!

 

 

#93 The Miz vs Primo Colon, WWE ECW, March 2009

 

 

 

WATCH IT

and

 

 

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?

 

Because it's unexpectedly brilliant. It's fucking Miz and Primo and almost nobody would have seen it when it was on. This sucka is the first from the ShortOrder selection, it took place shortly before WrestleMania 25 in the midst of the rivalry between both sets of tag champs which I really rather enjoyed and was a bit gutted for them (and myself) that their match never made the WrestleMania cut. I loved Miz and Morrison and they were just tremendous at this point in time, all over every single show as well as an internet show but still you'd have welcomed more of them. Both of these guys are actually really rather good. I've come to realise that although Miz is pretty unbearable as a babyface in any talkybits, he's actually a pretty nifty babyface wrestler when it comes to in-ring, maybe he picked some stuff up from Primo, who's a much under-rated babyface wrestler in my mind. He's great fun to watch. Bang a mask on him and give him Sin Caras spot I say, the boy's wasted. This match also proves John Morrison can be a comfortable talker and entertaining in the process. Regularly around this period I found him to be a barrel of laughs on commentary, exactly the sort of style his character should always have talked in I think. Neat finish to the match as well.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Ooh, this was the match I was thinking of specifically from WWECW! Glad to see it make the list.Also, Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen. Damn, that was a joy to watch. Hogan really had his working boots on for that one.

[garynysmon]

I'd never actually seen that Hogan v Stan Hansen match either, but glad I did now!

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Couldn't get into Miz vs Primo cos of the distracting commentary. Didn't know John Morrison had it in him to be amusing, that was a shocker. There's probably loads of forgotten WWECW gems.

[ShortOrderCook]

#92Team Ultraviolence (John Zandig, Lobo, Ian Knoxx, Wifebeater, Nick Gage, and New Jack) vs Hi-V (The Messiah, Nate Hatred, The Backseat Boyz, Adam Flash, and B-Boy) CZW CAGE OF DEATH 5, 13/12/03WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF IT

WHY ON EARTH SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?lostprophet_y2j did and this is why;

I always enjoy CZW's Cage of Death main events, partly because of the crazy ring/cage set-ups. This had 2 rings. 1 with a 'million' thumbtacks and 1 surrounded by a cage filled with weapons. The ringside was covered in tables and the competitors entered Royal Rumble-like every 90 seconds but on a suspended scaffold bridge that was above the thumbtack ring. It sounds as crazy as it was.

WHAT DO I THINK OF IT?Morbid curiosity would be the reason to check it out then I guess. Unfortunately (or maybe not so), seem to be unable to find a link to the full match. But check out highlights of it from the link above and if you like what you see, seek out means of acquiring the full match. Or, if anyone has or can find a link and wants to provide it, then muchas gracias. This isn't my bag at all, but it's interesting to see nonetheless, purely for just how ridiculous some of the shit is that CZW gets up to. This isn't wrestling though by the looks of things, just stupid, crazy, reckless stunts - one after the other. I'd be interested to hear a different viewpoint from someone who does enjoy CZW, if they feel that isn't all there is to it.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

#92Team Ultraviolence (John Zandig, Lobo, Ian Knoxx, Wifebeater, Nick Gage, and New Jack) vs Hi-V (The Messiah, Nate Hatred, The Backseat Boyz, Adam Flash, and B-Boy) CZW CAGE OF DEATH 5, 13/12/03

Quite the eclectic bunch there. Reminds me of the MLW War Games match which seemed to put anyone they had free that weekend in the match:

War Games Cage Match: Terry Funk, The Sandman, Steve Williams, Sabu & Bill Alfonso vs. Steve Corino, Simon Diamond, C.W. Anderson, Justin Credible & Barry Windham

One of the most uneventful matches ever as well. It takes some doing having a boring 10 man war with a fire spot at the end, but this lot managed it. That in itself is quite an achievement.Court Bauer may wax lyrical about it now but I remember the tagline people made up for it was "MLW - The Promotion Where Great Workers Have Bad Matches". I remember Samoa Joe (him again) was set to wrestle Mike Awesome, and Awesome set out this match where Joe would play the part of Masato Tanaka and take all this ridiculous punishment and Joe said "fuck that" and they had a awful bout. Joe was considered one of the worlds best at the time, but this really made him look like a plonker.

[JNLister]

Lucha looking "wrong" is partly the rules and psychology, but also partly because the whole working the other side means everyone always looks to be in the "wrong" place when they do a move, a bit like if you watched a US match in the mirror, or tried crossing roads when you visited America.

[ShortOrderCook]

From one extreme to another...

 

 

#91 Bret 'Hitman' Hart vs Ric Flair, WWF, Boston Gardens, 9/1/93

 

 

WATCH IT HERE

 

 

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?

 

It's Bret Hart and Ric Flair wrestling for over an hour and apparently Ric Flairs favourite match he had in WWF.

 

 

WHAT DO I THINK OF IT?

 

I'll update this later, as I haven't watched all of it yet. Although I will say I don't think this would be for everyone as it starts slow and is a lot of holds, but they make sense with regard who's involved and thus far is telling the kind of story you'd expect.

[Tommy!]

and even got a good match out of that idiot Sabu.

Sabu gets a bit of a bad rap. Very few have ever been able to walk that line as well as Sabu for me. I remember the first time I saw him I was in awe, and it's not just what he does but the character and the way he did it. There are loads of people who can do what he did, but few who can do it how he did it.I love the spontaneity of him, so often things feel on the fly and anything can happen even when they aren't.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Looking through his OWW profile Sabu seemed to wrestle everyone in 2006. John Cena, The Big Show, Kurt Angle, Umaga, Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, Rhino, Abyss, The Briscoes, Necro Butcher, Dory Funk Jr., Mad Man Pondo. A right bunch of names there.