Episode 33 has been released! You can listen to it here at the site or via iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. You can also now get the episode over at Place to Be Nation! In this episode we discuss:
– Deep Dive: Star Rating System
– Mount Rushmore/Death Valley: Gimmick Matches
– XWF #1 11/01 Review
AND SO MUCH MORE!
Enjoy the show!
Our Vantage Point - Retro Wrestling Podcast 
The star ratings for matches are stupid. Don’t really care about them. Too much emphasis has been put on them. Some of the biggest spectacles in wrestling (i.e. Hogan vs. Andre) would’ve gotten horrible star ratings but still are among the biggest moments in wrestling history.
Mount Rushmore & Death Valley of Gimmick Matches
Royal Rumble
No explanation needed. Still the best gimmick match of all-time I think.
Survivor Series
I’m surprised you guys not only passed this up but didn’t discuss it at all. The first several; years of the Survivor Series featured stellar five-on-five elimination matches and did not disappoint. While it’s true the match has gone to shit in recent years it still did enough good business over the years to be included.
Hell in a Cell
There have been enough awesome Hell in a Cell matches & memorable moments created in this match (Kane debuting, Foley being thrown 25 feet off the cage & through the announce table) I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be included.
War Games
WCW’s only best ever gimmick match which had many great moments. While the match wasn’t always booked well (think Fall Brawl ’97) it still was a spectacle people couldn’t wait to see.
Death Valley
So much crap, so little time…
Strap Match
Can’t ever think of a decent one I’ve ever seen.
MITB
The match started off as an awesome & innovative concept but has really gone downhill over the years. The fact it has its own PPV dedicated to it now while not producing any notable champions (except Ambrose for a couple months) recently shows the gimmick has overplayed its hand.
Dungeon Cage Match
I’ve never seen it but it sounds truly horrible. Lol
Elimination Chamber
I’ve never cared for this total shitfest. I don’t remember one single Elimination Chamber match I couldn’t live without. This gimmick should be done away with altogether.
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Sting vs Vader in WCW is a great strap match.
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If I may offer a defence of both Meltzer and the star ratings…
I like Meltzer because of what he means to wrestling journalism and history. Long sit down interviews with him are fascinating because you always learn something new. The guy is probably the preeminent wrestling historian and journalist, and he earned that just through his body of work. As a source of knowledge? I would say he’s invaluable.
On the star ratings…
Meltzer himself has said he doesn’t understand why people get so hung up on his ratings. People will ask him about a rating and he’s flabbergasted they care more about thant than his journalism. He’s said that the star ratings are just shorthand for his own opinion, and that people ought to not take them so seriously. I know I don’t, and I just sung his praises as a historian and journalist.
There are people who take his ratings far too seriously, but I can’t hold that against Dave Meltzer himself. Dude’s just giving his opinion and other people are blowing it out of proportion.
ANYHOW MOUNT RUSHMORE TIME!
-War Games
As a WCW fan? The War Games just seemed like this apocalyptic event.
I’ve been rewatching 1995 WCW, and the 1995 War Games match seems huge deal, and that was Team Hogan vs the Dungeon of Doom. Didn’t matter how much the DoD sucks. It’s War Games and that means some kickass shit’s going down.
And the rules sort of just fade into the background. All you need to know is that there are teams and they alternate sending people out.
-Royal Rumble
It’s the best Battle Royal variation. In many ways the RR has become the most anticipated PPV of the year. The RR has is just awesome.
-Hell in the Cell
It actually has its roots in WCW through NWA Georgia Championship Wrestling. The Last Battle of Atlanta and all! WWF then resurrected it as Hell in a Cell 😛
The Hell in a Cell is so good that despite years of bad HiaC matches? People still love it! The complaint is always “why don’t they make HiaC better?” not “why don’t they get rid of HiaC?”
-Money in the Bank
Ladder matches are just fantastic, but the MitB stipulation adds a wildcard to the long-term booking plans. It’s always fun as a fan knowing that, as stale as crap gets, you could always get a MitB cashin to shake things up.
Death Valley
-Falls Count Anywhere
My problem with this match type is that it wanders. Once they leave the ring you know there’s going to be a lot of meandering around backstage.
-Elimination Chamber
The pods never work, and the countdown aspect just never seem interesting. Like with the RR or War Games it’s always who you’re going to get next. With the EC we know who everyone involved is, and it’s just like “can we get this over with?”
-World War 3 Battle Royal
WCW had the perfect answer to the Royal Rumble with War Games. The WW3 Battle Royal was a misguided attempt to match the RR, but it was always a huge mess.
-Reverse Battle Royal
TNA’s creation (I think) that’s just awful. It’s a bunch of geeks trying to roll people into a ring.
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