Posts

Showing posts from March, 2021

5 Matches: New Generation Bob Backlund

Image
My idea here is to watch 5 matches of a wrestler who I haven't seen a lot of, or want to see more of, and decided if they have a shot at making my 2026 GWE ballot. Bob Backlund vs The Narcissist - Wrestling Challenge May 2, 1993 This is right after Backlund's return at WrestleMania 9, so at this point he is just being plain-old Bob Backlund, wrestler from Minnesota. He'd been gone for almost a decade, and so much had changed in that time that I'm not sure all that many people remembered him and none of the kids in the crowd understood why he was there. So, he exists in this weird space of seemingly like a guy you should know and care about, but you probably don't know him and you almost certainly don't care about him.   This is great in the way a five-minute TV match can be great. It's a King of the Ring qualifier against the recently debuted Narcissist, Lex Luger, so it's not just a cold TV match, but it doesn't have any build either. Backlund start

5 Matches: Ray Gonzalez

Image
My idea here is to watch 5 matches of a wrestler who I haven't seen a lot of, or want to see more of, and decided if they have a shot at making my 2026 GWE ballot. Fidel Sierra vs Ray Gonzalez - WWC 1998 Fidel and Ray are jawing at each other at the commentary position, Sierra hits the ring and attacks some randoms with the Cuban flag, Gonzalez follows him in and the two exchange punches. It's heated, but eventually, Sierra takes over wailing on Gonzalez with grounded chops that do a great job of making Sierra look like a bully. Gonzalez shows some life and gets to his feet, but Sierra gets him in the corner, and we've got some more chops, but Ray counters and starts to land some overhand chops. There are few things in wrestling that make like somebody more than overhand chops. Sierra eats a few but eventually gets back on offense, we get a flash of hope as Gonzalez hits a small package for two, and a few moments later sunset flip for two. Gonzalez is building momentum and