Over the last few years I have found it hard to enjoy wrestling. I have been a life long fan [yes, I'm a mark] and I have been in the business for too many years [I stopped keeping track]. I enjoy old school wrestling, since i worked in some of the greatest territories. I miss the insane Memphis wrestling. The interviews, Jerry Lawler, and some of the wackiest characters made the show entertaining for me. I miss Continental. You had to appreciate how Eddie Gilbert revitalized a burnt out territory and got it back on track. He used to refer to that as 'making chicken salad out of chicken shit'. I miss UWF/Mid South TV [I don't miss Bill Watts]. The TV was episodic and it peaked right before it went off the air. I just can't find any wrestling shows that bring that entertainment and emotion to myself any longer. WWE is fine. They have their formula [Hornswoggle is my favorite]. TNA can be hard to follow at times. I do enjoy some of their wrestlers [especially Samoa Joe, Jim Cornette, Shark Boy, and Curry Man]. Wrestling Society X crashed and burned so quick. I think it got more attention on DVD than it did being first run programming. I found Society X to be too fast paced. Granted they had 22 minutes to get as much content that they can squeeze in. I watch bits and pieces of AAA. I think Cibernetico has total rock star charima [too bad AAA burnt him, literally]. I enjoy the Hell Bros. VS. whatever heel combination they go against. Its almost like the Von erich's VS. Freebirds [I'm sounding too dated].
 
I occasionaly watched Japan wrestling throughout my career. The last time i really watched it was 7 years ago for WK Media PPV [where's my commercial version of the DVD?]. Japanese wrestling has taken a big hit in popularity from what i understand. Many old timers used to knock Japanese wrestling as 30 minutes of guys being dropped on their head, no psychology, blah, blah. I recently watched a 10/07 NOAH show that a fan sent me.  My cable TV went out from snow. I ran out of movies to watch. So I went to wrestling for entertainment.
 
The psychology in NOAH was better than most of the U.S. internet favorites. I found every match making sense. The workers knew when to hit their big spots. They knew how to pace their matches. It might sound old school, but the matches made sense. The wrestlers let their facials tell some of the story. I find it a contrast to some wrestlers who believe in having 30 minute matches that consist of all big moves, no selling, and very little story telling. That style of wrestling burns out a audience and gets you immune to devestating moves. The slower pace of NOAH that climaxes in big matches is a better formula in my book. Too bad the DVD didn't have Samoa Joe [rules!] VS. Misawa.
 
I saw a recent ROH DVD that had Misawa on it.  As broken down and limited as Misawa is, he told a better story in his match than most young wrestlers that can hit a million spots. The art of wrestling is knowing when to do your moves and maximize the effect of it. 'Less is more'. I'm very sure Jim Cornette would be preaching the same advice.
 
I recently worked on a independent for Bobby Ridell in Long Island, NY. His workers were such a joy to watch. Their matches told great stories. You had your faces VS. heels. Baby face makes a comback. The crowd was in to the wrestlers and the show was packed. You need to create a emotional relationship with the wrestler and fans. If their is no emotional relationship, the fans will piss on you when you no longer can get dropped on your head for 30 minutes.
 
I found Marafuji and Kenta to be so entertaining. Marafuji is a great baby face. He sells. He knows when to make his desperation moves. He can hit highspots that make sense. I'm glad he got over in the U.S. last year. Kenta is so believable on his kicks.  Morishima reminds me of a combination of Terry Gordy and Steve Williams. Stiff monster. NOAH has created a great foundation of native wrestlers to carry the company for the future.
 
I'm glad that I still love wrestling to check out alternatives. There is something for everybody in indy wrestling, Japanese wrestling, WWE, TNA, etc. I will continue my search for a wrestling product that has episodic and soap opera stories that will entertain me. The quest continues. I'm going to try to catch a episode of AWA classics on ESPN. I'll be honest, I never watched AWA in my life.
BTW, I just got a new subscription to Figure 4 Weekly. Bryan Alvarez rules! No offense Dave.

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