Look what I found in my email today...

[Warner2BruceTD]

Fuck the podcast.

I demand an answer NOW on Sting.

This isn't Monday Nitro pal, no PPV quality shit on free TV.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

This isn't Monday Nitro pal, no PPV quality shit on free TV.

#suicidebox really did a number on you.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I'd like Jun Akiyama back on the ballot. I'm on the fence, but he's a better candidate than Yuji Nagata.

Somebody brought up Shinsuke Nakamura. I wouldn't vote for him right now, but Chris Jericho is in. Pretty similar to each other in each culture.

mookieghana was talking about getting Big Show back on the ballot.

How many more years do Gedo & Jado need as a booking tandem to get on? I am so high on their booking from a creative standpoint, that I would consider them right now. Plus, 500% increase in business on their watch, and still growing.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Allegations that Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima are severely beating trainees.

If this had broke before I voted, I may not have voted for Kensuke. I'm not sure killing one trainee, and then continuing to beat the shit out of them a decade later, fits the criteria of influencing wrestling in a positive manner.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Next year, Warner is voting for Bill DeMott.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Six made it.

First is a pre television overlooked historical inductee, Henri Deglane, the most popular wrestler ever in France, and a world champion in Canada & the U.S. in the 30's & 40's.

The Hall of Fame issue comes out next week with the five voted in inductees.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Two more days.

Meltzer had this to day about the Japanese region:

"I will say this, to me, two people on the ballot that were no-brainers were Matsunaga and Tanahashi. Everyone else was debatable. I know some people think Tanahashi is debatable. But I can't find the debate. Workwise - He's one of the best wrestlers I've ever seen - consistency; big match; great world champion! That gets you in. Best guy in the business for the last two 1/2 years. And he was good before that. Even if there was no drawing power. And there is drawing power and he's the star during the resurgence of the company; he is the biggest internet ppv draw all of all time. And I don't know what that means. But they're doing internet PPVs numbers very close to what WWE is doing for most of their rank & file PPVs on television where United States is three times bigger than Japan. And that's an impressive number. And he's the big draw. And I find him a no-brainer."

Agree with Dave completely on Tanahashi. I voted for him without any thought. For me, he gets in on work alone if he never even drew a penny. Toss in being the top star during a big turnaround and the iPPV stuff, and it becomes an uncontested layup. Can't fathom a no vote argument that would sway me even .01%.

Okada is on a path to be even better. In fact, I think Okada is slightly better already. He does some things at a higher level than Tanahshi, and he's only 25 years old. He may not peak for a decade.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[FedEx227]

Mike tried to get him to say something on their podcast this weekend and just by Dave's tone and demeanor during the questioning — he's in. Don't know for sure, but his defending of it, him saying he can't tell Mike anything and he had to wait and just the overall tone, he's in.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Mike tried to get him to say something on their podcast this weekend and just by Dave's tone and demeanor during the questioning — he's in. Don't know for sure, but his defending of it, him saying he can't tell Mike anything and he had to wait and just the overall tone, he's in.

I've read ballot's from people who voted Japan & abstained from picking anybody, just to lower the percentage for Kensuke & Tanahashi. Yeah.

But it doesn't matter, even if it isn't this year, it'll be next year or the year after. He's getting in, even if the weirdos keep him off for now.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

LOL, they've stopped being polite to me over at PWO...

I made that same exact Tanahashi post as #67 here, and here are the first two responses:

Are you serious here? He would have been like the 12th best guy in 1990's AJPW.

and wait for it....

If Buddy Rose doesn't get in on work....

If Buddy Rose doesn't get in on work....

If Buddy Rose doesn't get in on work....

EDIT - The All Japan commen is from Jonathan Snowden, btw

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

It baffles my mind of anyone who doesn't vote Tanahashi in. He is one of the top draws of the 2000's. He is an A+ worker. The guy is the Japanese Shawn Michaels. We got some weird fucking wrestling fans out there.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

What I love about PWO, is that they possess a total lack of self awareness on their niche Buddy Rose fetishism, among other things.

Hey man, I like Buddy Rose just fine, great heel in Portland, all that. But pump the brakes. He was a great shortcut heel. Tanahashi is just great. It's laughable to compare but also pointless, because im on the wrong side of the tracks. It's just me & rovert, and even rovert knows enough to not bother.

 

[FedEx227]

And also it's kind of a stupid argument similar to what we get in the MLB HOF sometimes. WELL HE WOULD BE LIKE THE 15TH BEST OF IN THE 1950s!

Sure, cool, but why does that lessen what he did in his era? It's not Tanahashi's fault he was born 15 years too late (I don't even agree with their theory just saying in principle). So what if he'd be the 10th best in 1990s All Japan, he's the best right now and has been a relative great draw given the state of professional wrestling in the world.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

OK, they've gone all in, and so have I:

If work alone got guys in the HOF then Buddy Rose, Bill Dundee, El Dandy, Regal, and many others would be first ballot

..and then Bix (yes, THAT Bix, from B/R, f4w, etc) with the low level troll argument:

But they're not as muscular or hairless as Tanahashi.

I fired back, and this is sure to either set off 19 pages of rebuttal, or just a couple of LOL's:

-Work alone isn't getting Tanahashi in,

-But it certainly could. I know this is going to open a gigantic can of worms, and I realize there is probably no good reason to do this because i'm clearly on the wrong side of the proverbial tracks, but sometimes on this site there is a severe lack of self awareness of the niche fetishism for people like Rose, Dundee, etc.

If you asked me if i'd rather watch my house burn down or watch a typical Dundee southern style punch fest, i'd think hard before settling in for the match. Memphis is about as appealing to me as GLOW or lightning tube death matches (hint: I don't like those things), so i'll chalk that up to style.

But Rose I like, he's fine as a small territory heel, actually very good in fact, but don't pretend as if Rose as some slam dunk awesome top ten worker is a universal opinion. It isn't.

Tanahashi is churning out non stop ****+ star stuff at a pace that hasn't been matched since Misawa/Kobashi. This run is legendary, and he wasn't chopped liver before it started. He's on a completely different level than somebody like Bill Dundee or Regal, and I love Regal. But Tanahashi's worst singles match this year rival's Regal's best stuff ever.

Anyway, this is all subjective. I feel like Dylan does when he wanders over to "my" side of the tracks. My post probably reads as a troll, but that's not the intent. I just don't think the work of people like Dundee or Rose is what your typical HOF voter looks at as HOF level great. Tanahashi's stuff is.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

That KrisZ post is incredibly stupid anyway, because there are plenty of people who got in on work alone, and on the first attempt: Benoit & Angle for starters.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

And also it's kind of a stupid argument similar to what we get in the MLB HOF sometimes. WELL HE WOULD BE LIKE THE 15TH BEST OF IN THE 1950s!

Sure, cool, but why does that lessen what he did in his era? It's not Tanahashi's fault he was born 15 years too late (I don't even agree with their theory just saying in principle). So what if he'd be the 10th best in 1990s All Japan, he's the best right now and has been a relative great draw given the state of professional wrestling in the world.

It's retarded anyway. There are exactly two people from that era of All Japan that I would say are universally considered better than Tanahashi, and you know who they are. Anybody else is debatable at best, and I would side with Tanahashi in most if not all cases.

It's all a matter of taste, but if you are going to go all in on El Dandy or Buddy Rose, have the self awareness to understand that it's a niche opinion. I think Bobby Fish is tits, but I put him #99 in full vanity mode, not #6 as some delusional fetish.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

All Japan 90's guys you could argue are better than Tanahashi and I will take the argument seriously. No order, just as I think of them:

Misawa
Kobashi
Kawada
Taue
Williams
Hansen
Akiyama, I guess (generous, they are contemporaries who overlap and I love Akiyama but he's no Tanahashi)
Jumbo (was around a shade earlier, but we'll count him)
Tenryu (not really part of this group historically, because he left early on to form SWS and was not there for the hot workrate period people talk about)
Gordy

That's 10. Maybe i'm forgetting one or two. But now you are into Johnny Ace, Krofatt, Furnas, Kikuchi, Ogawa territory, and Tanahashi is better than those guys, and I think all of them are really, really good and underrated, every one of them.

To get Tanahashi to 12th, you'd have to include Vader, who came at the end of the deacde, 98/99ish after the 89-94 period which is really what people talk about.

So even being generous you have to count guys who came too early (Tenryu, Jumbo) and too late (Vader) to even find 11 worthy of arguing, and then you have to win every argument to get Tanahashi to 12th. And that's mental.

For me, and hey, im just one guy, he's better than all of them except for Misawa & Kobashi. And he isn't far behind those two. He's that good.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

It's gotten ugly. They busted out basketball analogies.

The All Japan guys are Michael Jordan, and Tanahashi isn't even LeBron. He's Harold Minor. Cena is Dwayne Wade.

LOL.

EDIT-They didn't like my "niche fetishism" label for their love of guys like Rose, Dundee, Black Terry, etc. They pretty much came at me with the torches & pitchforks.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

If you guys are interested in alternate perspectives, and me arguing with the smarmiest contrarians on earth, I would recommend reading the PWO HOF thread starting here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?showtopic=20981&st=520

 

[FedEx227]

It's gotten ugly. They busted out basketball analogies.

The All Japan guys are Michael Jordan, and Tanahashi isn't even LeBron. He's Harold Minor. Cena is Dwayne Wade.

LOL.

EDIT-They didn't like my "niche fetishism" label for their love of guys like Rose, Dundee, Black Terry, etc. They pretty much came at me with the torches & pitchforks.

These fools ever watch Harold Miner play?