So, favorite pro wrestlers?

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HalloweenJack
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by HalloweenJack »

TNA is a weird little institution that when you look at them from back in the day until now that they've had just a stellar group of workers. Just as far talent in the ring goes, they're hard to beat.

That said they've had absolutely terrible leadership from day one. You've had Vince Russo who just....he just doesn't get it. Without a Vince McMahon around to reign him (Russo) in and control what he throws out there, he's just going to throw everything out. And not everything works. Jeff Jarrett had some power in the early days, but I think he was too high on Russo and honestly didn't throw much of anything in there. Jim Cornette could have really helped that company, but everyone in management was so high on Russo for whatever reason it killed any chance of anything worthwhile getting done. Then you have Dixie Carter, who I think is a fairly intelligent woman but just had no idea how wrestling worked and was so high on Russo for some reason. Then I think Bischoff and Hogan got in her ear and played to her ego to make her an onscreen character while they did their money grab. I don't even know where to begin about the Billy Corgan stuff.

On top of all that, TNA just can't seem to even run their own office effectively. They lose Angelina Love for nearly a year because they didn't pay attention to her expired visa. They used up almost all of Rob Van Dam's dates near instantaneously when the initially brought him in.

And yes....they don't really do anything for their homegrown guys. Performers who are talented or over are just released for no real reason. I'm looking Petey Williams and Sonjay Dutt's way (as an aside, I met Sonjay once. Very nice but very quiet guy). And then they sit on their hands with regards to guys like Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and AJ F'N Styles....and when they finally do manage to do something with them.....they Claire Lynch it
MacynSnow
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by MacynSnow »

HalloweenJack wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:34 pm TNA is a weird little institution that when you look at them from back in the day until now that they've had just a stellar group of workers. Just as far talent in the ring goes, they're hard to beat.

That said they've had absolutely terrible leadership from day one. You've had Vince Russo who just....he just doesn't get it. Without a Vince McMahon around to reign him (Russo) in and control what he throws out there, he's just going to throw everything out. And not everything works. Jeff Jarrett had some power in the early days, but I think he was too high on Russo and honestly didn't throw much of anything in there. Jim Cornette could have really helped that company, but everyone in management was so high on Russo for whatever reason it killed any chance of anything worthwhile getting done. Then you have Dixie Carter, who I think is a fairly intelligent woman but just had no idea how wrestling worked and was so high on Russo for some reason. Then I think Bischoff and Hogan got in her ear and played to her ego to make her an onscreen character while they did their money grab. I don't even know where to begin about the Billy Corgan stuff.

On top of all that, TNA just can't seem to even run their own office effectively. They lose Angelina Love for nearly a year because they didn't pay attention to her expired visa. They used up almost all of Rob Van Dam's dates near instantaneously when the initially brought him in.

And yes....they don't really do anything for their homegrown guys. Performers who are talented or over are just released for no real reason. I'm looking Petey Williams and Sonjay Dutt's way (as an aside, I met Sonjay once. Very nice but very quiet guy). And then they sit on their hands with regards to guys like Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and AJ F'N Styles....and when they finally do manage to do something with them.....they Claire Lynch it
that's been my only real complaint about TNA,Honestly.On the plus side,they had some really intresting idea's for Matches&the ring itself was great(Untill Hogan&the WWE guy's complained about the tightness of the ropes&they changed it...).The X-Division was one of my favorite parts of the Company....
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

Jake Roberts, describing slapping Elizabeth after she begged him to leave the Macho Man alone: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x47xgu ... -he-s_news

"That felt GOOD! I should have to pay MONEY to feel that!"
"I could cultivate her into something even *I* could want!"
"Trust. Me." *crosses heart. smiles*

Jake was so evil by this point that I hated him for years. And I knew wrestling was fake. Now THAT is a motherf**king heel.
Shock
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Shock »

RIP George the Animal Steele

One of my favorites
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HalloweenJack
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by HalloweenJack »

he and Nicole Bass today it would seem
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Batgirl III
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Batgirl III »

Shock wrote: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:53 pm RIP George the Animal Steele

One of my favorites
I moved around the state a lot as a young kid, but between fourth grade and high school graduation I lived in Madison Heights, Michigan. Jim Myers was a local and had actually been a gym teacher and wrestling coach for several of my friends' parents. In grade school, had a couple of D.A.R.E. anti-drug rallies in the big park near the high school and he'd show up as a celebrity guest.

I'm sure he's chewing on turnbuckles in heaven, getting hyped up for his rematch with Macho Man.
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HalloweenJack
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by HalloweenJack »

and now Ivan Koloff as well it would seem
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

Yup- Chavo Classic, Nicole Bass, George Steele & Ivan Koloff all within one week over each other. At least in this case, it's THREE old guys, and all seem to be of natural causes. Not quite like 2007, when it was all young men dropping dead.
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
MacynSnow
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by MacynSnow »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2017 7:41 pm Image
OK,that was a good one! :D
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

Manami Toyota (vs) Toshiyo Yamada- Hair (vs) Hair Match.

An absolutely amazing match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OeSiNdZH7o

Basically, the two are tag partners and best friends engaged in a lengthy, heated feud over which one is best. Yamada ended up winning most of the matches, driving Toyota nuts with WARRIOR'S PRIDE, and so she demands a Hair (vs) Hair match to finalize things. And so, after the Mandatory Perfunctory Submission Moves & Running Stuff That Goes Nowhere, they settle in to basically throw down enough Suplexes to make BROCK LESNAR go "wow, that's enough, ladies", with Toyota hitting that insane full bridge on each one.

And then, when one girl wins, she is so overcome with emotion at seeing her friend & rival accept her fate that she REFUSES to let the stipulation go throw. With tears in her eyes, she tackles the guy with the scissors, starts cutting off her OWN hair in protest, and eventually has to be held down by an entire squadron of rookies while her opponent takes the full-head-shave LIKE A BOSS.

Absolutely spine-tingling stuff- you don't even need to speak the language to enjoy it.

Here's the description a guy gave of the angle:
Now both Toyota and Yamada were members of AJW's class of 1987, and from early on they were set up as generation rivals, down to their wrestling styles, with Toyota going for a super fast, high-flying, suplex-heavy approach, while Yamada was all UWF style with lots and lots of kicks. Around 1989 each got their own rookie tag team, Toyota had the Tokyo Sweethearts with Mima Shimoda (a "beauty" team), while Yamada had Dream Orca with Etsuko Mita (the "sporty" team), and they wrestled a lot one against the other during that time period.

In terms of singles matches, their first match (or at least the first televised one) was in December 1989, where Toyota defended the AJW title against Yamada, and the two rookies went to a 30 minutes draw. They met again in September 1991 and wrestled another 30 minutes draw. They would face for the 3th time in January 4, 1992, again in a 30 minutes draw, with one of them requesting a 5 minutes overtime, and when they failed to get a finish, the other also requested another 5 minutes overtime, but no winner emerged after the 40 minutes. This however led to them teaming up together for the first time, and right away they won the new UWA Women's Tag Team Championship together, and later on in March they challenged Jungle Jack (Aja Kong and Bison Kimura), the WWWA Tag Team Champions, for a double title match, which Toyota and Yamada won in a big upset.

Now they were the tag champions, but there was still the lingering issue of which one was superior. During the Japan Grand Prix, AJW's yearly tournament, the tag partners met in a great match in which Yamada emerged the victor, as their singles series finally crowned a winner. This however was eating up at Toyota, whom wanted to prove the win wasn't decisive, so she challenged her partner, and friend by this time, for another singles match where, not only was Toyota putting her IWA Women's Championship on the line, but she was also betting her hair! Toyota's maddening need to prove herself leading her to go to such extremes, and Yamada accepted the match, but also made it a Hair vs Hair match, the most dramatic gimmick match AJW ran at the time.

And that was the stage in which the match happened, which also grants a greater understanding for why the aftermath of the match went the way it did.
MissRo
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by MissRo »

Toyota is a goddess, and literally the nicest human being on the planet.
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

You've met Toyota before, Ro? Or have you just heard stuff?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6kNcoM1qOQ


Smoky Mountain Wrestling had the Rock 'n' Roll Express get a Mystery Partner. And while Cornette keeps scoring off of the idea of a guy in a white sheet ("These rednecks probably see people comin' to their house in white sheets all the time!"), Arn cuts one of those promos that only he can cut, and gets the mother of all tough-guy burns on Cornette. Dude was a natural vicious heel, but God he was an awesome face.
MissRo
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by MissRo »

My brother is a huge wrestling mark, and loves Japanese wrestling in particular. He flew me with him down to Pittsburgh for a show that was all about Japanese female wrestlers. Toyota was the headline performer. They had a meet-greet before the show, and we got to meet her, and I took his picture with her. She was genuinely so, so sweet. All smiles, and you could tell she really appreciated her fans. I wish I'd had an appreciation then for exactly how amazing she actually is, 'cuz I'd have gotten a picture with her myself.

Incidentally, she has an amazing ass.
Jabroniville
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Re: So, favorite pro wrestlers?

Post by Jabroniville »

MissRo wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:54 pm My brother is a huge wrestling mark, and loves Japanese wrestling in particular. He flew me with him down to Pittsburgh for a show that was all about Japanese female wrestlers. Toyota was the headline performer. They had a meet-greet before the show, and we got to meet her, and I took his picture with her. She was genuinely so, so sweet. All smiles, and you could tell she really appreciated her fans. I wish I'd had an appreciation then for exactly how amazing she actually is, 'cuz I'd have gotten a picture with her myself.

Incidentally, she has an amazing ass.
Neat! Especially the ass part. I always found her to be a bit waif-ish, given that she looks to be half the size of everyone else she's ever fought. Her butt always seemed rather tiny. Though of course that appeals to some- I likes 'em like Naomi in the current WWE- so big it noticeably changes shape when she sits on the mat :).

Also, I had no idea that any of the big "Joshi" stars showed up in North America like that, aside from that one-off at Survivor Series (right before Alundra Blayze jumped to WCW), where all-star *****+ workers like Kyoko Inoue were demolished in all of one minute of ring-time.
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