the "not close" part may have been a bit of hyperbole. he's the most over guy in most arenas he's in and Tanahashi is close. I don't think Shinskay is close and Sakuraba is considerably behind him..

i love the burning hammer. i get so giddy when he does it. i recently watched his entire GHC title reign (14 defenses + title win). he only used it 3 times (vs Misawa to win, vs Akiyama, and vs Taue). i never get sick of watching Kobashi, truly the GOAT of ring workers. he makes people that have no business in the ring with him look like a million bucks. i'm moving on to a bit of Misawa singles action .

Thank you .iso for the links/recommendations.

I have seen a few Misawa matches and was always impressed, mostly because it was one of his matches I watched that had be thinking puro was a shoot, lol. I mean I obviously knew it wasn't but was wondering if those two guys just agreed to beat the **** out of each other in that match just for the hell of it. I have since found quite a few puro matches are like that and they work a lighter load because of it. If my last few sentences don't show how much of a noob I am to puro I don't know what does, lol.

Ric Flair vs Edge TLC Match - Raw 2006

http://youtu.be/oDxFaWbeWxo

Such an underrated match in my mind. They put it all on the line that night and it wasn't a PPV.

^

Remember watching that live and thinking, "Why on earth are they wasting this on free TV?"

Similar in that regard to the 4-way TLC match that was on Smackdown in 2002.

I'm about to start watching Tanahshi vs Okada's 4 matches from 2013...

those matches are ok. Okada/Nakamura vs Tanahashi/Naito happened last night. Getting a lot of praise. Is next on my list of matches to watch.

You have high standards for 'ok'!

Only NJPW I've ever watched is Super J Cup I and II plus a few other Jr Heavyweight '90s stuff. Shinjiro Ohtani is my all time fave NJPW wrestler.

I was joking. I think their 4/7 match is the best of the 2000's with only Undertaker/HBK from WM 25 and Kobashi/Misawa from 3/1/03 coming anywhere close. Their 1/4 match is the worst of the four which is still elite. They also had a great match on 6/16/12 that shouldn't be slept on. Their first match from last February is their worst but still really good.

me some Ohtani. Still going strong after all these years but I prefer his '95 work. Had some epics with Liger.

30 Years Ago
December 26, 1983
WWF Champion Bob Backlund vs. The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden

The result of this match shocked me more than I've ever been as a wrestling fan. Granted, I was only 12 and hadn't known any other WWF champions.

This version is edited.





The Preamble
This was taped on December 7th and first aired on the WWF syndicated program, All Star Wrestling, on the 24th, just two days before the title match.

The Iron Sheik would regularly bring his Persian execise clubs into the ring and claim that no American wrestler could use them proficiently. For weeks, the challenge wasn't met by anybody. Then, Bob Backlund, stepped up.





The Consequences
On December 27th, Hulk Hogan returned to the WWF, though very few of the WWF's fans would see it. At a TV taping of WWF Wrestling at the Chase (the St. Louis territory's show until it was cancelled in September of 1983), Hogan beat jobber Bill Dixon.




At the next TV taping for the syndicated WWF Championship Wrestling (taped January 3rd and aired on the January 7th), former champion Bob Backlund takes on Samoan #3. However, the other two Samoans and their manager, Capt. Lou Albano, harass Backlund from outside the ring. So, the former champion goes to the dressing room to bring out his new friend, Hulk Hogan.

The crowd's reaction to Hogan is extraordinary.

This version is complete but is poor quality, probably taken from a VHS.




This version is excellent quality but just focuses on the introduction of Hogan.




At the same TV taping (and airing a week later on 1/14), Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan teamed up to face Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chung Lee.

This is poor quality, again probably from an old VHS tape.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2r...-mr-fuji_sport


At a new WWF Wrestling at the Chase (taped 1/16 and aired 1/21), Hogan was interviewed on Victory Corner (replaced by Piper's Pit a week later) and said he wanted to challenge the Iron Sheik for the WWF title. The Victory Corner segment would be shown on the other WWF syndicated shows.

Later, Hogan beat jobber Gilbert Guerrero in about a minute.


Hulkamania
Bob Backlund was scheduled to get a rematch against the Iron Sheik at the next Madison Square Garden event. On the weekend before the match, Hogan replaced Backlund. The reason given was Backlund injury.

Hogan's match against the Iron Sheik was just his fourth since his return to the WWF.

January 23, 1984
WWF The Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan at Madison Square Garden

This version includes the pre-match interview with the Iron Sheik He calls Hogan a bitch and Okerlund cuts the interview short.

At the end is Hogan's post-match interview and celebration in the locker room.

Vince McMahon Sr., who fired Hogan from the WWWF in 1981, can be seen holding the curtain open for Hogan from 2:46 to 2:48. This was an intentional welcome back gesture.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1v...wf-title_sport


On the YouTube version, Hogan's entrance music "Eye of the Tiger" is edited out and replaced with "Real American"

I'm at work now but looking forward to working my way through that series of videos when I get the chance. Nice post.

Working my way through this 10-hour Youtube video ...



It's better than porn. The very first match, Kobashi/Steve Williams, is absolutely sick. Other classics follow.

Watched this last night. Awesome. There's like a 6 year period I didn't watch wrestling and didn't think I missed much, but love catching up on the things I missed that were good. Like this.

I love the ending to that match. Sometimes the end of a ladder match should be as simple as "I punch you in the face four times and you fall down"

Watched Steiner Brothers VS. Sting and Lex Lugar from SuperBrawl 91 last night. Fantastic match, among the best non-gimmick tag-team matches I've seen.

Tiny tiny booking nitpick, and I realize this is lol, being it was coming up on 25 years now but I didn't like when Sting moved Lugar out of the way to get his by Koloff and his chain. Koloff had a beef with Sting, so it would have made more sense for Sting to get pushed out of the way by Lugar and then for Sting to realize what happened (after Lugar gets pinned) and run down Koloff (which he did). Like I said, huge nitpick, lol.

Ace Steel & CM Punk vs BJ Whitmar and Dan Moff from ROH Death Before Dishonor 2. Very good street fight.

just watched the WM20 main event, for some reason I watch this whenever I feel down/depressed

Probably because it has the GOAT finish. I remember watching it live and actually yelling TAAAAAAAAPPPPP at the screen. I never verbally assault my TV when watching wrestling, but i sure did there

Watching Extreme Rising Unfinished Business. did Homicide fall out with likes of TNA, ROH etc?

Watching SurSer2006, funny line by Sunny (guest commentator) as 'sober' Jake the Snake is getting into the ring..."Jake wanted to be a lawyer growing up but he couldn't pass the bar".

That's '96 :-)

Love how super face HBK gets booed out of the building.

Kate & Rob

July 23, 1983
Steel Cage Match
Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd

The match is joined in progress.

Andre is in much better shape than I remember him being in mid-1983. He proves it with the ending.

Even if you aren't interested in a Andre-Studd match, seeing Andre jump off the top rope and crush Studd is worth a click. Go to 9:15

nice. love Gorilla's call in that match. Dynasty, if you can stomach Japanese commentary you should check out Andre vs Hansen from 9/23/81. Only 15ish minutes of two guys beating the crap out of each other. Don't turn off till end of video

watched Rock vs HHH in an Ironman match from some ppv in 2000. this match was a drag. gets lots of good reviews in wrestling forums but meh, thought it was borderline bad.

ROH - Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans, and Matt Sydal) vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, and Prince Nana) in Steel Cage Warfare.

Loved it. Thought it was excellent. Some sick spots involving Evans and Aries delivering the suplex onto the chair.

Just watched this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qut_aj3qlyU

Randy Savage wins the IC title from Tito Santana in 1986. Good match and fun time capsule; first IC title change of the WrestleMania era.

It was the second.

Greg Valentine (c) vs. Tito Santana
July 6, 1985
Steel Cage match

It has a good finish.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgb..****e_shortfilms