Follow Friday: Thank Yous

This week, I had something lined up, but I really don't feel like writing about the wrestlers I had listed. So instead, I'm going to give shoutouts to the people who gave me Follow Friday mentions today on Twitter. Is it lazy? Maybe, but you know what? FUCK YOU IT'S MY BLOG... err... I mean, uh, here they are:

@Shake_Well - Joe Drilling of the On the Stick and Action Cast podcasts is a really cool dude. You should follow him because he's got some good POVs on wrestling (he wrote for the first Fair to Flair quarterly) and he's part of a weird cadre of Brewers fans who follow me (and I follow in kind) on Twitter. Weird.

@NateLinehan - A Boston area Twitterer, Nate is also an aficianado of The Simpsons, hot dogs and of course, wrestling. He shares the same disdain for Triple H and the same respect for the women wrestlers.

@HittheRopes - The official Twitter of the podcast by the same name, they're always a lively account to follow on Monday nights. Check 'em out!

@OkoriWadsworth - He's one of my Twitter followers who likes himself some indie wrestling and like me, doesn't see what the big deal is with Mercedes Martinez. He's also a self-proclaimed Michigan Man, though without the Michigan education

@NotTripleH - This faux-Trips paid me a pretty good compliment by calling me a very talented writer. I'm not sure what blog he's been reading... ahh, I keed, I keed. This account isn't for the weak-stomached. He says a lot of stuff that's intentionally offensive, but 99% of it is really funny, I think.

@WrestleChatNet - WCN, run by Brett Clendaniel, Jr. with writing from Jeff Peck was featured last week, but I'll feature them again. They're probably the best C&P site out there, mainly because there's no malware or viruses. Plus, they support me and post my blogs with links back. They're good friends to me over there.

@wrestlespective - He's just some guy.

...nah, if you guys don't know who Jason Mann is by now, then yeah, you're probably a new reader here. He's the founder and spiritual sherpa for Fair to Flair as well as the emcee of the Wrestlespective Radio podcast, which is wrapping up its SummerSlam main event series.

Thank You, Johnnies

Two of the best, ever
Photo Credit: Dirty Dirty Sheets

I'm very much an adventurous wrestling fan. I will sit through anything once, whether it's the most familiar of familiar styles like a WWE main event match between John Cena and Chris Jericho, or the most arcane and unusual of the lot, like an absurd match between Survival Tobita and Mojukin Ken. When it's middling or worse, I pass on it, but when it's good, when it's really good and eye opening, then I have no choice but to really heap praise on it. It's what I do when I find something I really like.

Until Saturday and Sunday, I had very limited exposure to what English mat wrestling₁ was all about. I had seen Johnny Saint before at my first ever indie show, and I had been exposed briefly to wrestling exchanges by Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness before as well. However, I'd never been exposed to the full breadth of what men like Saint and Johnny Kidd could do. I likened Saturday's match to a religious experience, because it was like my eyes were opened to a whole new world of what wrestling could be like. I already had faith in what the artform could be, but that faith was bolstered by both matches that these two English legends produced, the first night by themselves and the second with the help of Cabana and Mike Quackenbush. I saw the beauty in each wristlock. I saw purity in each reversal. Hell, I even found a place in my heart for the Lady of the Lake, even though it literally had nothing about what I normally enjoy about matches about it.

After the second match, both Quack and Saint got on the microphone to thank the Philadelphia crowd for being in their words, not mine₂, such a great crowd for wrestling. I appreciated the sentiment, but again, I don't think they should have been the ones thanking us, but vice versa. So, I will take this opportunity TO say thank you to all four men for awakening me to another world of potential for wrestling to take me as a fan and critical viewer. Thank you Colt Cabana, for your antics in the second match, making it a more fun experience than it would have been without your presence. Thank you Mike Quackenbush, for putting this match together and for wanting to expose your loyal fans to as many different styles of wrestling as possible.

And thank you most to Johnny Saint and Johnny Kidd. I was honored to have been there both nights to see you two legends ply your trade, for teaching me something new about wrestling, something that I've been missing out on for years and years now. It really was an engrossing experience, and it helped cap off what has been one of the most tremendous months in wrestling history.

1 - I erroneously used the term "chain wrestling" to describe the style used by Johnnies Saint and Kidd. I linked one William Regal to my Fair to Flair piece on the match, and he admonished me for using it. So, there's your knowledge for the day; it's not chain wrestling, it's mat wrestling or just plain ol' wrestling. On a side note, how f'n cool is it that Regal read one of my blogs? REALLY COOL is the correct answer.

2 - Just to head off the anonymous commenter who thinks I get off on "patting myself on the back" at the pass.