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Post by Cap on May 14, 2020 5:36:02 GMT -5
I didn't realize this till way later than I should, but my two favorite "bad" movies both feature two of my favorite wrestlers of all time.
No Holds Barred obviously has Hogan, but it also has Stan Hansen
Over The Top has Terry Funk.
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Post by elliott on May 14, 2020 12:18:45 GMT -5
Terry Funk also in Road House
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Post by elliott on May 23, 2020 10:38:15 GMT -5
Another fun early 90s Meltzer quote: "Sting pinned Vader in a match that surprised everyone as to how good it was. ***1/2" 4/13/92 WON
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Post by nintendologic on May 23, 2020 17:58:21 GMT -5
In fairness, I don't think anybody could have predicted that Sting and Vader would have such amazing chemistry with each other. Sting's resume of classic matches was pretty thin at that point. So was Vader's, to be honest.
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Post by workedshoot on May 27, 2020 13:52:12 GMT -5
Eh, IMHO Sting has been picked on or underrated by smarks since his first World title reign which was disappointing to them. I was not surprised his match with Vader was good. Vader was always amazing to me after his NJPW debut. I was watching all of WCW"s programming at the time, so everyone seemed capable of great things, even Johnny B. Badd, Scotty Flamingo, and Marcus Bagwell. Could be my bias because I felt a connection with Sting, but he always got pops and was in the main event scene, and featured in all the mags. His work was exciting to me, unless the other guy stunk up the joint like Butch Reed. He had much more speed and athleticism than the other muscle dudes from that era like Hogan, Warrior, and the Road Warriors, not to mention older ones like Billy Graham and Ventura. I understand that Luger has had a resurgence in recent years on PWO and a couple of other places, but I still don't get that revisionist history.
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Post by Cap on May 27, 2020 17:20:47 GMT -5
I always have mixed feelings about sting. He was my favorite as a kid so it always colors his matches for me (as it should I think). At the same time I come away dissapointed with his work sometimes. I think Sting is a guy who is more than capable of putting on a banger when he was working with someone he had chemistry with... he jsut didn't always have chemistry with folks.
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Post by elliott on May 28, 2020 14:57:52 GMT -5
Another good one from Meltzer from 4/18/92 WON on Naoki Sano: "Sano has great physical talents and can do awesome things in the ring but doesn't work well with a variety of foes so I feel he's overrated by US fans."
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Post by kas on Jul 23, 2020 7:52:30 GMT -5
Does there exist a full version of the Ozaki vs Kudo match? Because the 12 minutes we get is sensational.
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Post by elliott on Jul 23, 2020 12:00:01 GMT -5
Does there exist a full version of the Ozaki vs Kudo match? Because the 12 minutes we get is sensational. Ive never seen a full version.
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Post by elliott on Jan 13, 2021 19:51:26 GMT -5
Read an interesting tidbit in an old WON from June 1995. I knew the Masa Saito competed in the Olympics but I didn't realize it was in 1964 (!!!) and according to Meltz, he was considered the greatest Japanese amateur wrestler of all time.
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Post by jiraffejustin on Jan 14, 2021 12:44:28 GMT -5
Meltzer and/or whoever considered him the greatest Japanese amateur wrestler of all time would be wrong. That distinction belongs to Yojiro Uetake, and it's probably not even close. Uetake came to the states to wrestle for Oklahoma State, where he went undefeated and won 3 national championships. Uetake then won Olympic gold in 1964 and 1968. Saito's credentials as an amateur may have been kayfabed a bit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BswhMsN4M&ab_channel=OklahomaStateAthleticsEDIT: It's entirely possible that maybe only heavyweights were being considered, which maybe Saito could be the greatest Japanese heavyweight of all-time. I don't know much about Japan's heavyweights, because they don't seem to have too rich of a history of producing high level heavyweights. They have produced plenty of great lighter wrestlers, and their women have been dominant for the last 20 years.
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Post by elliott on Jan 14, 2021 12:57:34 GMT -5
Oh that's interesting! According to google, Uetake is considered the GOAT for Oklahoma State wrestling. I looked it up to see if Meltzer clarified a weight class. And he did. The exact quote is:
From June 26th 1995 "...we know of the following Japanese stars who have strong amateur backgrounds: Masa Saito, 1964 Olympics, 6th, heavyweight freestyle, considered up to that point the greatest heavyweight wrestler Japan ever produced..."
Do you know if that is accurate or a fair statement at the time?
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Post by jiraffejustin on Jan 14, 2021 13:31:15 GMT -5
I can't say for sure. I don't think a Japanese heavyweight has ever even medaled at the Olympics, so 6th place might be the best ever for a Japanese heavyweight.
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Post by nintendologic on Jan 14, 2021 18:05:36 GMT -5
Tamon Honda came in fifth at the 1984 Olympics, but that was the year of the Soviet boycott.
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Post by bossrock on Jan 18, 2021 17:45:33 GMT -5
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