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El Dragon

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  1. Fun fact: Kingston nor Garcia even went over the top rope. Neither should have been eliminated. I'm so god damned confused about this company. Also, the one thing this company really really needed: ANOTHER FUCKING TOURNAMENT.
  2. Well, this is a bummer of a write up that’s next on the docket. Brodie Lee’s untimely passing really sucks for a few reasons, the largest obviously being by all accounts he was a good man that nobody has a bad thing to say about. But, this is a discussion about a case for a Top 100 all time, and I think Brodie had the chances to get there, but his death might lead to a general feeling of “There just isn’t enough” to his case. And even though I think he was awfully damn good at his peak, it’s gonna be hard for me to disagree. But, let’s talk about what made him awesome first. Brodie’s run as the Big Rig on the indies was always really impressive to me, and, as a bit CHIKARA fan at the time, I got to see a lot of the development first hand. A couple of things jump out at me from that era, as huge pluses for Brodie, and that’s everything he throws out looks great, and the dude was a fantastic base. Not quite at the Claudio level, but possibly second best of any US based wrestler this century. He didn’t fall into the trap so many of modern “big” guys did, where they focus on what they can do (flips or super athletic spots) and instead focus on what someone there size should do (great looking strikes, and using your athleticism intelligently to maximize your moments to show them off). That said, I honestly think his size limited him on the indies. Nobody was willing to go all with him as a dominant champion heel monster, which is a role I think he’d have thrived. It led to him working a bunch of 50/50 stuff which he was good at, but did feel it was him somewhat limited. So, then phase 2 of his career starts in the E, which can be described as “when given an opportunity he is clearly great, but he’s just never given enough god damned opportunity.” Great performances as a Wyatt member, probably the best guy in the match for the first Shield/Wyatt Six Man, his singles runs were always really good then immediately cut off at the knees because he wasn’t once of Vince’s guys, and it was a frustrating my time as a Brodie fan and for Brodie personally. He still clearly added to his case in this era, as he was still clearly really good, but it once more felt like a missed opportunity. And then we have the move to AEW, we’re it feels largely like thinks click into place. He’s given a push at the forefront as soon as he signs, and fits in perfectly, has some really strong in ring performances. It feels like he’s ready for that extended run that truly solidifies him as one of the best performers of his generation. And then he dies. Fucking sucks. Basically, I have no real negatives to say other then his case feels incomplete in a way that frustrates me. His AEW run felt like the start of the 3rd act of a movie that just ends after 5 minutes. The best comparison I can give is, try imagining a world we’re Eddie Guerrero passes away in late 03 instead of late 05. It feels like we are really missing that 2 year run that kind of cements Brodie as a worker that really locks in the type of case he has. As stated, Fucking Sucks. At present, Brodie Lee Is at 81st on my list. That’s pretty firmly in my “will finish somewhere between 120-160” block of wrestlers, were it would be pretty surprising if they made my top 100, but firmly in my top 200. If I further deep dive Brodie I might be able to move him up a bit, and he should be worth deep diving for basically everyone, as man could the big guy work.
  3. It’s actually remarkable how after every single big Eddie Kingston PPV match I come away looking at my list and go “Kingston is too low on my list”, which is mighty impressive as he’s in my top 10 right now. I’m not sure if there is a wrestler that more speaks to what I want in wrestling ever then Kingston. He can make me forget wrestling isn’t real for stretches of matches. When a crazed bloody zombie looking Kingston staggers out with a can of gas in his hand, I’m not thinking how goofy this shit is, I’m thinking “Oh my God he’s going to burn Jericho alive on fucking Pay Per View” Sure, I return to my senses, but he keeps getting the moment. He makes you care about more then how great the match is and makes you care who wins and losses in a time period basically nobody else does. I think we are at the point we’re having Kingston in your top 5 doesn’t feel like it’s a crazy pick at all. And, well. If it is, I might just embrace the crazy.
  4. I've thought this has been pretty damned great personally.
  5. You don't think Danielson loved checking another box of matches to pay tribute too? It was probably his idea.
  6. They built it, he had a leg injury set in story this week. Also, everyone else got literally taken out of the match, he was the last man left to even take the fall.
  7. This is an orgy of violence and I love it.
  8. The brawl going while Wild Thing plays is fucking perfect.
  9. That dive by Darby was god damned terrifying.
  10. I don't know why they are still running this back. You had the Scorpio/Sammy ladder match. You got something out of a total dud of a feud. And yet they are still running this back.
  11. For my bitching about the result, this post match was incredibly well done, so full credit there. Also, those belts are awesome.
  12. The only way the booking of this tournament could have gone worse for me personally is if Gargano was the joker and faced Cole in teh finals. Britt and Cole are the two most over exposed people on the roster.
  13. Ah yes, nothing like adding potential buys to a PPV by potentially not delivering one of the main 2 matches on the show. I was considering putting 50 down on this show and decided to save my money partly because I of the uncertainty of this match.
  14. Are you positive about this? Because Claudio certainly didn't have Chikara dates left, his last planned match was all the way back in November where he lost the tag belts cleanly and then was kicked out of his stable. His leaving of RoH felt like it wasn't really last second either.
  15. El Dragon

    Paul London

    My posts so far have been about building up a guys case and then tearing it down to show why they probably don’t make my top 100, while trying to give reasons why people should watch them and give them a chance. That is not how this is going to be. Today I’m going to cover the problems with Londons argument first, and then explain, my main counter argument. First off, Londons prime, in terms of what we can safely say “this dude is having amazing matches” is quite simply way too short. His RoH run of getting actual matches of note is about a year (probably closer to 10 months), his WWE run is basically him never getting opportunities except for a brief really strong tag run, though not historically strong, and him bumping like a lunatic to get others over. His return to the indies has, sadly, been largely just a guy who doesn’t have the passion to be a truely great wrestler anymore. He also has never really been a great heel (though his time in LU was pretty fun). So, if you wanna build a case for him, you are basically taking his 10 month RoH run and saying “I’ve seen enough, he’s getting in!” and that’s a mighty big ask. All that said…. I’ve seen enough, he’s getting in. I can break down Londons matches if I wanted too, as he has some absolute classics to his name in that 10 months. London/Danielson remains my favorite Danielson match of all time, if not my favorite match outright, London/AJ is an outstanding war, he brings Xavier to the best matches of his career, etc. But the thing that makes this London run so incredible to me goes beyond that, and I want to go into those first First off, let’s talk about degree of difficulty of what London did. As basically a pure white meat babyface with no real hook, London goes from unknown student from the TWA (Not even the one RoH initially pushed: that was Michael Shane), to what is pretty clearly the ace of the promotion in 12 months. He does this in a promotion that is largely built around “workrate” in a promotion in which he basically becomes the lead babyface by surpassing Low-Ki, AJ Styles, and Bryan Danielson, to the point he routinely has the crowd behind him in matches against the other 3. That’s an incredible leap for a guy to make in a year. Let’s also factor in he did this in the Northeast in a post ECW world, largely in Philly. Have I described enough of why this is incredible? Because I have another note to consider: with the possible exception of Trevor Lee in CWF Atlantic (which has an asterisk: Lee was the home town boy who attended shows for years, where as London was some nobody coming in from Texas at the start), Paul London is the last true White Meat Babyface to become a promotion ace. And he did it in front of arguably the most cynical fan base in wrestling. That is genuinely one of the most incredible feats I think wrestling has seen in quite a while, and it has been completely lost to time. Second, Paul Londons connection to the RoH fanbase largely led to a lot of modern wrestling “culture”. This could be viewed as a negative, but I think it’s clearly a positive because how genuine the reactions were. Basically, everyone that knows of Paul Londons RoH run know the famous chant associated with London was “Please Don’t Die” due to his incredibly risky high spots he hit in his Street Fight with Michael Shane, the Denton jumping off the ladder and then the Shooting Star Press off a ladder that was barely being held together. People forget that the much more famous “Please Don’t Tap” chant also originated with London, with the RoH fan base trying to keep him from tapping out to Bryan Danielson. That Danielson/London match (which is fucking incredible and basically the apex of Londons rise to Indy superstar) also featured the first ever dueling chant I can find in the US, with the crowd heavily split on who they wanted to secure the win in that match. And while I’m not a big fan of large scale chanting in most wrestling due to how largely forced it’s gotten, every single big chant for London matches at this point tends to be original, and done due to an actual sense of desire to see Paul London win. Not to see him have a great performance, but actively to see him get his arm raised. And, as stated, this is in the Northeast with a crowd that for basically everyone else in the company, largely just cared about how good the wrestling was, not who would score the win. So, I suppose the question follows, if London had such an awesome connection to the crowd, how did he achieve it? He had literal all timers around him fighting for the top spots, yet London somehow came from this the guy the crowd was most engaged with, so there had to be some meat there. And boy was there. Let me lead with London being a next level bumper and seller. His bumping prowess was always a bit famous, even in his WWE run (his rumble elimination from Snitsky is probably 2nd only to the Taka one for most painful looking elimination in the history of that match), and that can’t be understated, but his selling is even better. Watching him work a match with a bad wheel against Danielson was basically perfect, one of the best limb selling matches I’ve seen. London in general is outstanding on the defensive side of wrestling, showing great in ring fire at the correct moments to keep the crowd engaged and waiting for comebacks. He’s just as at home in a 50/50 as he is working from underneath. His offense was quite good, and his ability to work the mat is incredibly underrated, looking every bit the part of a rival on the mat to Danielson and Styles in there matches against each other. Basically, name a tool in the toolbox you want from a firey babyface, you got it. Only thing we really don’t have in that year is a straight up by the books brawl, as the Shane street fight is more a stunt show (though a damned good stunt show) Basically, Paul London is, very clearly imo, the lost great wrestler of the last 20 years. If a young guy came up right now with all the physics tools and the attention to detail he has, he’d be rising into the AEW upper card already. Sadly, London was stuck working nothing matches on WWE C shows until he was basically mentally finished. Most people will find there isn’t enough here, and I can’t even blame them. But I’m giving one of the best talents I’ve ever seen his time in the sun. For a few brief months, he went up against guys like Danielson, Styles, Ki, and Joe, and not only did he hold his own, I legitimately think he was better then them, and that’s pretty damned incredible. At present time Paul London is 69th (nice) on my list. He will make my top 100, most likely at spot 99. There is a possibility I will find 100 wrestlers better then him career wise. That’s really unfortunate for some of them, because London will make my top 100 no matter what, and some others I enjoy will have to enjoy spots 101-105. Go watch RoH London, cause he’s outstanding.
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