A 12-minute sprint. Fujita exploded out of the shoot, only to run into CIMA's sliding dropkick, and they never slowed down the rest of the way. It was one of the most exciting matches of the year because it was one great move after another, and the work was excellent in spite of a few minor miscues. The problem with doing this style is it meant the match was a spotfest totally devoid of selling. They just plowed through their spots without ever slowing down or thinking, but the action was so good that most people will have no problem giving it **** or better. Of course, if Rock matches are "****" then what is **** really worth other than next to nothing?

"The real problem is that most people have absolutely no business rating matches, particularly American matches. Almost every time I read the results of an American house show, TV taping, or PPV, I'll see some match that's obviously overrated. As a rule, I take the rating of any American match I see and cut it in half, unless that rating was given by someone whose opinions and objectivity I trust and respect. If the match is better than say ***, I'm pleasantly surprised. If it's not, then I got just what I expected," wrote Mike.

The other problem is relativity. Instead of having a set standard of what a *** match or a **** match is, people adjust their ratings to fit the current level of the product, which is declining across the board. Matches that aren't on the level with past matches from the same league or the same performers are getting equal ratings, which just makes the ratings totally meaningless. WCW is obviously in the toilet, so after seeing Jindreck & O'Hare beat Meat & Suck Palumbo, and the likes of Scheme Gene, Judy Bagwell, and Major Implants try to wrestle, you get these absurd comments like Booker vs. Storm was a classic. Sure, it was the best match on Nitro recently, but it was good for a 5 minute match, not something that's giving Ultimo vs. Rey 11/29/96 or any of the Flair vs. Steamboat matches from '89 a run for their money. It's not even something that would rank in the top 25 matches in the history of Nitro, which obviously only goes back to 9/4/95.

"There's a major hypocrisy going on today about the so-called new standards of wrestling matches. The apologists of today's product pretend that wrestling has evolved to the point where a 10 minute match is very long. With matches that short, the psychology has also evolved and people who accuse current matches of being substanceless should understand that wrestling as a whole has changed, and should adapt to the current standard, which is very short matches. So, you get the Storm vs. Booker is a classic 'analysis.' At the same time, the WWF still puts on long and even very long matches (24 to 60 minutes) as the main events of their PPV's. HHH vs. Jericho or vs. Rock have been called the exact same thing than Booker vs. Storm, classics. You cannot have both at the same time. Either the standards of wrestling have changed, and then Booker vs. Storm was maybe a classic, or it's another bullshit argument used by the wrestling 'journalists' and 'reviewers' to convince themselves, and more importantly their readers, that the current product is still very good. Obviously, it's the later," wrote Jerome.

I'm not even going to get into the ridiculousness of Foley vs. HHH matches getting better ratings than Foley vs. Kanemura 5/5/96 and similar ratings to Foley vs. Vader 10/24/93 (even if that match is quite overrated). It's just too nonsensical to even try to compare them. I mean, you have HHH whose main offense is punches and kicks, neither of which he does with the believability of most rookies in Japan, going up against injured up Foley who, in the ring, could never do much well other than bump, but isn't bumping as much here because of his health, and HHH certainly isn't picking up the slack. Sure, there were a couple of cool spots, but the matches themselves had little technical merit and were incredibly predictable and contrived.

Jerome wrote, "That's a second major hypocrisy from the 'journalists' and 'reviewers' It's not even a fact of adapting the rating system to the average level of the current product. It's an ass-kissing campaign. HHH is a pathetic roided-up stiff with no move set. The use of any kind of psychology in WWF has died with Owen Hart. What's left? Nothing. Oh yeah, the blading, so some idiot reviewer said, 'he's a great bleeder.' Yet his matches get more ****1/2+ ratings than Bret Hart or Michaels ever got (not that they deserved it either). Instead of looking at the facts, reviewers are making things up, psychology, move set or whatever, to sell him as a wrestling great. My question is, if HHH vs. the Rock marathon match was ****3/4, how exactly do you rate Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue 1/24/95? 25*?"

"This is really just a symptom of the much larger problem: the WWF and to a slightly lesser extent ECW have their fans-- excuse me, the marks, totally snowed. They've trained them to expect nothing in terms of actual wrestling quality, and to accept that the promos are more important, which is bullshit. The truth of the matter is that the Rock has never been involved in a **** match, and if he ever is to be in one, it would take a cleanly booked match with no run ins and he would have to be carried by someone overflowing with talent," wrote Mike.

I don't believe that the best wrestler at their peak could carry Rock to a **** match in the WWF. IMO, Rock would have to improve and leave the WWF to truly have a **** match, he's just too limited and has no reason to be interested in actual quality wrestling right now. The problem is the fans love getting the same old thing from him, and as long as they get off on the same couple of lines and moves, he'll never have any reason to try to improve. It's pathetic how low their standards are. With the little that Rock can do, it would have to be incredibly stiff to have a chance at ****, but Benoit and everyone else don't hit as hard or use as many moves when they come to WWF, it's never the other way around. There's no such thing as believability there, everything is contrived and all the top matches are way predictably overbooked.

"They don't think they have low standards, and the masturbatory reviews by Meltzer and co. only reinforce that impression. They all have accepted wrestling the WWF way. For them, it defines the standard of 'good' wrestling. They have no analytical perspective toward the products they are watching. People who still love and appreciate good wrestling (and who know where and how to find it) are seen as old jerks because they are supposedly hooked on the past. The problem is that old jerks like me have an established analytical perspective toward the products we are watching, and can judge with the most objectivity possible. Since I have no newsletter to sell, I can freely admit that the overall state of wrestling in the world sucks right now because of short matches, poor workers, a total absence of psychology, ridiculous angles, and so forth. It may be sad to say, but, if you want to be honest with yourself, it's the only option you can have. If not, you can live under the delusion that HHH is a great wrestler, ECW is ready to become the #2 company in the US, and Chigusa Nagayo is a great booker," wrote Jerome.

Dan wrote, "It really is insane how we are made to feel like old crotchety men with dentures barely staying in our mouths because we talk about how shitty 'today's wrestling' has become. Sorry, but I'd rather people think I'm an octagenarian than to have to sign off approval on this dreck like the people who overrate this stuff. It's not just Meltzer or people calling the Storm match a classic, this is what the Torch recently said about the women's 5 minute 'wrestling' match main event between Lita and Stephanie McMahon. (BTW, I'm convinced the WWF could put two oranguatangs in a ring and people would say it was a good main event because it "advanced the storyline" etc.) - 'A brilliant elevation...of women's wrestling in general.'

This would be a joke even if the entire universe of women's "wrestling" encompassed the WWF's clothes ripping "matches," the cat fight wars of 2000 in ECW, and whatever it is Russo thinks the women are doing in WCW, but the really depressing thing is that the author and most of his readers probably consider this to be the entire universe of women's wrestling.

"Now, I don't know how anybody in their right mind can sit there and write something like that and not feel dirty for doing so. But people do write that stuff, and they do believe that a 5 minute match full of schmozzes and interference was a 'brilliant elevation of women's wrestling.' What a joke. These are the same people who would have us believe that the WWF isn't about the cartoon stuff anymore and is the wrestling company now. I just don't see it. It's still crap, and just because WCW is bigger crap right now doesn't make the WWF a wrestling fan's paradise. The whole scene is a shambles. My eyes just don't see any good wrestling anywhere in this country, and for a while now. I hope this 'boom' period (boom for who? Not fans who like wrestling) ends as soon as possible and someone gets the novel idea of putting on some wrestling for fans who were there for Flair/Steamboat or are interested in putting on a new real classic for those not old enough to remember it. Otherwise, the longer this 'boom' period continues we will be subjected to epic Madden vs. Okerlund encounters, 20 minute 'shoot' interviews, or HHH showing better ability in putting a hammerlock on Trish 'backstage' than he does in the ring when he gets 4 stars for punching 100 times," wrote Dan.

Fujita has really improved his offense. He's small, but that doesn't hurt his work in any way because he really uses his quickness and athleticism to his advantage and he has enough strength to suplex his junior opponents. Fujita doesn't do any revolutionary spots, but he can do fast sequences of counters to go into his moves and does the same moves faster than just about anyone else. He's showing more confidence in the ring these days, and was even taunting CIMA a little bit.

The only spot they "built to" was CIMA's iconoclasm. CIMA thought he had Fujita set up for it after hitting his upper shotei, so he turned around and played to the crowd, allowing Fujita to come back with an enzui missile kick. Later CIMA cut Fujita off on the top rope with his upper and did the upper and iconoclasm, but Fujita got his knees up for the mad splash and followed with a swandive shiki no footstomp that really looked cool because it was done so quickly.

The match was back and forth all the way. There were so many counters that no one ever put together got a series of moves. The fans were into it because the work was so impressive. Fujita used all his favorite suplex holds; northern lights, German, and Dragon, but he couldn't put CIMA away. Finally, he blocked CIMA's nadare shiki no brainbuster, but CIMA caught him with an upper and, after a bit of a struggle, did the cross shiki no iconoclasm then the mad splash for the win.

Special thanks to: Mike Barnes, Jerome Denis, & Dan McGowan

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