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The Meltzer Thread

Big Papa Paegan

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The thing that bothers me the most about Meltz just changing how he hands out snowflakes is that he used to outright argue the criteria for the full 5. It needed to be a perfect example of a style, an era, a territory, or the "artform" of pro wrestling itself.

This is why so many were able to buy 6/3/94 as the GOAT, why so many could agree that puro was favored over the US, and why the WWF/E wasn't as favorable as other companies.

Then he just changed it to "this is my favorite match of the moment."
 

HarleyQuinn

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You can literally see a bit of Stevie die internally at the 15:30 mark

 

alkeiper

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Nothing sums up the elegance and passion of wrestling's greatest matches quite like going to the white board. I do agree Dave underrated Hogan/Andre and I hope he learned some lessons in the *checks notes* 37 years since then.
 

Valeyard

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I just don't understand why people take his ratings seriously.

Meltzer used to be comparable to Roger Ebert in that even if I disagreed with him I could understand how he got to his rating and figure out how I'd view the match in comparison. Now a lot of the time there really isn't any geussing.

The Young Bucks are his Cop And A Half.
 

Valeyard

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Exactly. If you don't like that stuff, you don't get it. Workrate has vastly different forms and appreciation.
 

Big Papa Paegan

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You can literally see a bit of Stevie die internally at the 15:30 mark

Finally getting around to watching this in full, and I'm hit with a really ironic realization.

Guys like Stevie Richards and Al Snow, two workhorse talents that are respected all across the business for how good they were in the ring but who were never really draws, always value money drawn as the highest indication of a good match. Guys like Bret Hart and Ric Flair, two names that literally set the standard for quality work and how to carry a promotion, always value the quality of the work bell-to-bell as the indication of a good match.

Stevie gives away, very early on, that he's not "getting" the POV of most fans that become critics and dish out star ratings. We aren't looking at the gates, we aren't looking at the historical importance of the booking decision, we're looking strictly at how the action in the ring unfolds.

It reminds me of when the Best Picture at the Oscars would go to the film with the highest box office, or the Grammy for Best Album to the highest selling record, versus what the general consensus of quality in the art itself from the judges. The logic holds - it's the entertainment business, after all - but doesn't translate to people who view it as art first and foremost.

That's where the disconnect is. Meltzer wants Crank, and he doesn't care all that much about the box office receipts unless that's the argument (and, even then, he'll make some excuses if he really enjoyed the show anyway).
 

Valeyard

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The only ratings that matter are from the Netcop
 

strummer

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Listen Dave likes ultra athletic workrate intensive wrestling. He always has. Always will. He grew up on a pretty workrate heavy territory when he was a kid so that's what he liked. He wants a workrate promotion to get over in the mainstream. It validates his opinions. I mean when I was in my 20s this annoyed me more than it should have but now in my 40s I don't give s single shit. I don't get worked up about what people like anymore.

Him being "biased" again is more about his philosophy on the business. He wants to prove that workrate can draw on its own. He wants to prove that wwe's way is not the only way. I get this being annoying but again at this point it doesn't bother me anymore.

Anyway I think that's it...
 

cobainwasmurdered

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I don't listen to any of these podcasts or any of that shit so I have no fucking idea who that guy is and I made it maybe two minutes into him going on about questioning if AEW would be renewed or blah blah. He's a moron. Meltzer has a lot of issues but he clearly knows more than this guy.
 

Fall of Epic

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He's a guy who does wrestler shoot interviews on YouTube and has a weekly (daily?) podcast with Dutch Mantell and another one with Stevie Richards.

He also wrote a book compiling all of Owen Hart's pranks.
 

cobainwasmurdered

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Yeah when I saw that I just shook my head. I rewatched a bunch of old GOAT matches from the past a couple months ago and if anything I liked them more than ever.
 

909

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It's crazy how hatred doesn't factor into his ratings at all. It's like the match meaning something is just completely foreign to him and he doesn't understand how that changes the quality of the match.
 

Valeyard

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What other stuff is Meltz into? Like what movies or music does he really like?
 

BUTT

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He saw Bryan Adams at the SAP Center earlier this year.
 

Big Papa Paegan

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Yeah when I saw that I just shook my head. I rewatched a bunch of old GOAT matches from the past a couple months ago and if anything I liked them more than ever.
I get that opinions and tastes change with the times, but just like movies or novels or plays? Great is great.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was incredible then and it's incredible now. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels was incredible then and it's incredible now.

Meltz just keeps losing cred and Cagematch keeps gaining it.
 

cobainwasmurdered

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I can't find the bad fan take thread or whatever it is. I feel like Dave's comments about old work not aging well and his love for Ospreay (who I also like!) has some influence on this kind of stuff. I know Dave is a big Funk guy so I'm not saying he's directly responsible or anything. Just that in some ways he's helped influence a kind of fan who doesn't understand or appreciate objectively great wrestling.
 
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