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Post by Cap on Feb 13, 2020 19:28:37 GMT -5
This is one my buddy and I mused about a bit a while back. I forgot it until just now. Both are guys that I think are GREAT at what they do. Neither has - for me - a sure fire run away classic, but both have a lot of very good matches that their most avid supporters might call all timers. Ohh... and they represent fairly different approaches to pro wrestling.
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Post by bossrock on Feb 13, 2020 19:52:03 GMT -5
These are two guys I need to do a deeper dive on. Butcher was one of the biggest revelations for me during this project and represents the wild, "anything can happen" style of brawling I love. Regal has had some real gems over the years though and was a really fun bruiser. I have Butcher on peaks but am interested in checking out the rest of Regal's catalog.
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Post by elliott on Feb 14, 2020 17:54:43 GMT -5
I went with Regal without thinking about it. The more I thought about it, the more Regal ran away with it. I like Necro Butcher a lot, but Regal is a true artist and one of the great minds in wrestling history. Necro's like "Hit me with that paint-can as hard as you fucking can." Which is fine and all and did lead to some great matches.
Cap's Categories:
Top Matches - Regal. This is the category I had to think about the most. I'm going with Regal though because there's more variety in his top tier matches and he's usually the guy dictating the match. I also think there's more great Regal.
Necro vs Super Dragon
Necro vs Samoa Joe
Necro vs Low Ki
Necro vs Sami Callihan
ROH 6 Man Tag
ROH Cage of Death
Necro & Brodie Lee vs Heavy Hitters
I still need to watch those Toby Klein matches Jetlag recommended.
Regal vs Finlay Uncensored
Regal vs Finlay Parking Lot Brawl
Regal vs Hero
Regal vs Ambrose
Regal vs Cesaro
Regal vs Hashimoto 95
Regal vs Hashimoto 96
Regal vs Arn Super Brawl
Regal vs Larry Z x3
Regal vs Christian
Regal vs Sting
Regal vs Flair Marquis of Queensbury
Regal vs Benoit
Armageddon 2006 Tag Ladder Match
I think Regal has the 2 best matches either guy had (Uncensored vs Finlay & vs CHris Hero), but Necro might have 3 of the best 5 (vs Super Dragon & the two multi man matches). So its close. But I think Regal starts to swamp him with volume pretty quickly.
Versatility - Regal. Both guys were great at being themselves, but Regal had more depth. He could stooge and work comedy spots, he could be violent, he could take a beat down, he could have classic technical matches, he could work crazy brawls.
Consistency - Regal. Could make an argument for Necro here based on always working hard and Regal was often stuck working short TV matches or out because of drug problems. But I think he still manages to do something interesting in every one of his matches even if its like 3 minutes long.
Charisma/"It" Factor" - Regal. Necro actually beats most people here which is rare for a career indy wrestler. But I've said before that Regal should probably have been making comedies with Will Ferrell for the past 20 years instead of wrestling. Regal sort of transcends wrestling while Necro Butcher is an "only in pro wrestling or meth dealing" kinda character.
Promos - Regal. Moving on.
Elevating Others - Regal. Was the best opponent for guys like Hero, Ambrose, Cesaro, Finlay. Convinced people Davey Boy Smith was a good mat worker. Reminded people Sting could work. Worked with CM Punk early in his WWE career. Got Larry Z really over as an in ring performer to a new audience. Trained motherfucking Daniel Bryan.
Offense - Regal. Regal would grind his forearm into your face on the most basic pin attempts just because he was a nasty bitch.
Selling - Regal. See Hero match.
Rewatch Valley - Regal. I want to watch every match of his career. There are tons of matches Necro Butcher had that I don't really have any interest in. Against certain opponents and in certain settings, Necro is fucking amazing.
Bonus Elliott's Question (Brody vs Nigel or best work associated with a crappy wrestler) - I dunno. Regal.
Regal - 10
Necro - 0
Draw - 0
I love Necro Butcher in certain matches. I love Regal all the time. I will say these are two of the all time "Dream Match Opponents" where I'd like to see them have a match against basically every wrestler ever. Regal vs Volk Han? Regal vs Abdullah the Butcher? Necro Butcher vs Hansen? Necro vs Johnny Saint? I'd watch all of that and so would everyone else.
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Post by bossrock on Feb 14, 2020 20:57:00 GMT -5
Will co-sign on the Toby Klein matches. And the Chris Hero match in IWA is a really cool match with a unique twist to most Necro matches.
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Post by Cap on Mar 16, 2020 21:33:55 GMT -5
I’m going to knock this one out quickly. Top MatchesOk, this is one of the only two places this is probably interesting. The reason I brought this one up is because a few years ago I was really deep diving into top end wrestling. It was just after GWE. I had a lot of free time on my hands and I was watching a new and rewatching so much. I messaged my friend with the question: who is more likely to have a hidden gem – a sure-fire 5 star banger – out there, Regal or Butcher. Both guys seemed like wrestlers we have most of their work, but they probably each have some matches out there that most havent’ seen. We came to agreement, probably neither because we probably have all their best work, but that was the origin. This is one of the only categories I think Necro has a strong claim. Regal has good to great matches of course (Finlay, Arn, Steamboat, Sting, Flair Ohno, Cesaro, Ambrose, among many others), but I would probably put two of Necro’s big three (Joe and Super Dragon) would probably top all of them for me. The Low-Ki match would top quite a few of them. Necro has other good to great matches, but those are - to me - his best three. I’m going to give this to Necro because he had a match that made my first list (likely won’t make the second). I think Regal is a better wrestler in almost every way, but Necro creates chaos and he brings something to a match that can push it to new heights. Winner: Necro VersatilityI love Necro… but he is Necro. Regal can brawl, grapple, do comedy… He can be just about anything you want. Not close Winner; Regal ConsistencyThis is about as close as Versatility. Regal takes this is in a cakewalk. Winner: Regal Charisma/”It” FactorThis one is closer than most. Necro has a presence about him. He is unique and has a strange Charisma. Regal has that to though. He was also able to elevate beyond what Necro could. Winner: Regal PromosCome on…. Winner: Regal Elevating OthersRegal is the type of guy you put in there with someone when you want to make sure they look good and he had the ability to make them look real bad if he wanted. Winner: Regal OffenseEven in the chaos, Necro’s strength isn’t his offense. Its his ability to take a beating. Regal with another easy one. Winner: Regal SellingA little closer, but its hard to compare someone who is legit just taking a beating to someone who is selling. I’ll give it to Regal because he approaches it as a skill. Necro just reacted. Winner: Regal Rewatch Value The only category other than top matches that seems legit competitive to me. I am probably more likely to sit down for a crazy Necro match than I am for a Regal match, but at the same time Regal’s catalogue is filled with way more that I will go back and visit and I would pick him for an island wrestler every time. Winner: Regal Elliott’s Bonus Question (Brody/Nigel or Best Work Associated With a Bad Wrestler)Ok… Regal takes this for a variety of reasons. He has worked with a bunch of duds, but I am actually going to cite the Goldberg match as my reason for giving him this. Now I know that everyone loves Goldberg these days, but I am just not on the rehabbing Goldberg’s rep train. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I don’t hate Goldberg. I like him as a character and few people have more charisma…. But he isn’t good between the ropes. Nothing anyone can say will make me believe otherwise. He can be carried to a good match. They can agent something for him… but I just don’t buy him as a good in-ring wrestler. Regal tried his best to put Goldberg in the type of match he COULD have excelled in if he bought in. I genuinely believe that. Was he a dick along the way? Probably. However, it brought some of the best offense out of Goldberg. That shoot hip toss was AWESOME. The match is still not “good” by any traditional measure, but it is talked about and well regarded by some. Its probably in the top 3 Goldberg matches I am likely to ever revisit (Brock from Mania and maybe DDP would be the others). That is enough to get Regal the nod here. Winner: Regal
Final Score Regal 8.5 Necro - 1
I think there is a chance both of these would make my top 100 if I did a GWE. They would probably be closer than this indicates, but Regal would be higher for me. In the context ofa greatest match ever project its a bit closer, but Regal still probably has more matches that I think are genuinly worthy of conversation and probably some that I am not even all that familiar with. I say this as a WV boy who loves him some Necro Butcher too.
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