The Thread Killer

The only problem with guys like that is that their shelf life is so short, because of the wear and tear on their knees. Or they have to adjust their style so they aren’t quite as flashy, ala Bam Bam Bigelow.

So SmackDown was pretty much hot garbage last night, I don’t know if there was something in the water but it was a total botchfest. I expected the Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints match to be good (and there were brief flashes of it) but those guys could not get on the same page, and there were some sequences where they were so out of sync they practically ended up standing there, staring at each other. At one point, Saints dropped Melo on his head, which isn’t going to win him any fans backstage. Although he may not have any already, considering he’s been on the Main Roster for 3 weeks and lost twice already. Priest vs. Tama Tonga was also a bit of a mess, highlighted(?) by the sequence where Priest climbed to the top rope and appeared to basically stumble and fall and land crotch first on the top turnbuckle. Both those guys looked rough in that match. I’m not even going to mention the Brie Bella and Paige team, because considering the ridiculous amount of female talent WWE has right now, the idea of those two having the Women’s Tag Team Titles is just baffling. I was really impressed with Royce Keys vs. Gunther, although it bears mentioning that the parts of the match where Keys was in control seemed smoother than when Gunther had the upper hand, which was unexpected to me. But I really liked the story they were trying to tell with Gunther being unable to bully Keys like he does most people. And then Solo showed up. Ugh. Anything involving Solo is not likely to help Keys in the way they think it is, that’s all I’ll say.

As I mentioned earlier, I highly recommend Gangs of London. Done by the creative forces behind The Raid: Redemption and The Raid II. Great stuff, brilliant cinematography and choreography if you enjoy Hong Kong style action, but not as corny. The main villain character has the acting range of a block of wood, but it’s still very compelling.

$30 for an entire year of AMC+ isn’t a terrible deal, considering that they have a ton of really good shows on that service (Gangs of London springs to mind.) AMC+ is available as an add-on channel to Prime Video, and they offered a free trial which I signed up for, and quite enjoyed. They have a good library, including some British TV programming. Having said that…we already get TNA here in Canada as part of the Sportsnet package on cable. Sportsnet started showing TNA when they lost RAW and SmackDown to Netflix. I tried watching TNA for a while and let me tell you, it’s pretty much unwatchable. I can usually find something to enjoy in just about any kind of Pro Wrestling, but that crap is just boring as hell. I wouldn’t pay 30 cents for that garbage, never mind 30 bucks.

Fightful is reporting that he’ll be serving his sentence under the same terms, as per the Mexico Attorney General’s office. “…the convicted individual will serve his sentence while remaining free and may continue to practice his profession, under judicial supervision, and must therefore report every three weeks regarding his appearances, venues, and match cards. As part of the protective measures for the victim, the court ruled that he may not participate in events where she is present.” https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/mexico-city-attorney-generals-office-releases-statement-on-ruling-against-cuatrero/

So apparently he will be serving his sentence “under supervision” which means he’ll be walking around free, and is at liberty to wrestle so long as Stephanie Vaquer is not in the building. But hey…he has to check in with the police every 3 weeks. And I’m sure they’ll be super strict about enforcing that condition and won’t let him fall through the cracks at all. That’s much more like the Mexican justice system we’ve all heard so much about.

Massive thread bump here, but it’s for a reason. The latest season of WWE Biography on A&E started a couple of weeks ago. The Season Premiere was a 2 Part episode called “The Curse of the Von Erichs.” I know what you are probably thinking. WWE already did the “Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling” years ago. Then there was the independently produced “Heroes of World Class” documentary. Most recently there was the Dark Side of the Ring episode “The Last of the Von Erichs.” Because of all of that, I went into this not really expecting much that I had not heard already. I was actually really surprised by this episode, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the production on this episode was top-notch. The A&E produced biographies are done in cooperation with WWE, but A&E handles the production, and it really shows. Over the last few years some of the Biography specials they have done have actually been better than the WWE produced documentaries that were on the network. For example, I think the Bret Hart and Mick Foley episodes of Biography were superior to the WWE DVD’s and documentaries produced about those guys. More importantly, in the case of “The Curse of the Von Erichs” this episode of Biography was produced with the full cooperation of the family, so they have access to all sorts of family home movies which have never been seen before. Even more interesting than that, there are interviews with family members that have never given interviews before, most notably the widow of Kerry Von Erich. I can honestly say that there is family information that is disclosed in this episode of Biography that has never been disclosed before. I know this may sound almost impossible to believe, but the history of this family is even more tragic than we already knew, if you can even believe that. This episode also challenges some of the popular narratives that exist about the tragedies that have occurred within the Von Erich family. Anyhow, my point is that I highly recommend watching this episode if you have an interest in the Von Erich family. It’s a fascinating Biography.

Agreed. I saw it theorized elsewhere (and this theory may have some merit) that Rollins is feeling pressure due to the obvious youth movement that WWE is clearly embracing, so he is trying to stand out by performing maneuvers which are probably beyond him at this point.

Both guys looked really rusty to me. Seth blew a couple of spots so badly, I could barely figure out what he was trying to do. And that spot where he came off the top rope and landed on his feet, but both his knees buckled made me cringe. At least the right person went over.

If Lil Yachty is going to be active on a regular basis in WWE, then somebody really needs to explain to him the concept of selling. Zayn beat the living crap out of him with that Kendo Stick, and he was back up seconds later as if nothing had happened. Then Zayn flattened him with the running kick, only for Yachty to pop into the ring, and start dancing and throwing money around moments later. When it takes your wrestlers longer to recover from things than some skinny rapper, it doesn’t look good for anybody.

The Renegade might turn out to be pretty sad. Hogan pretty much used that guy to be his fake Ultimate Warrior, then he got tossed aside when he wasn’t any good (like the real deal was?) and he eventually gets released and ends up committing suicide. It’s definitely a sad story. I remember the Joe vs Necro match vividly, since they basically stiffed the living hell out of each other, but I thought it was a good match and didn’t know there was really any story behind it. I can see them doing an episode on Necro, because you know, he’s nuts.

So, I don’t know if anybody has actually been watching, but much to my surprise, the weekly AAA show has become a must watch. Partially I think it’s because it’s only an hour so even if it’s not great it’s not a chore to sit through. But in the larger picture, I’ll be damned if they somehow haven’t managed to turn the Americano vs Americano feud into one of the hottest angles I’ve seen in quite some time. Even Jim Cornette of all people had to give them credit after they shot that super hot segment on the April 11 episode, where OG Americano attacked that blind comedian, and then went after the female interviewer (who apparently everybody knows is Ludwig Kaiser’s girlfriend IRL.) At first, I was a little annoyed that they were focusing this feud south of the border and weren’t going to do the Mask vs Mask match at Wrestlemania, but considering what a shit show Wrestlemania turned out to be, and taking the insanely hot crowds and massive popularity of Americano II into consideration, it turned out to be the smart decision to keep this angle confined to AAA. It’s also nice to see acts like Los Garza, Fenix, the LWO and War Raiders get a chance to get some decent ring time there as well. I’ve actually been enjoying the angle between War Raiders and Psycho Circus. @sek69, I don’t suppose you have been watching?

Not quite sure how Ray Traylor qualifies as a “Dark Side” episode aside from the fact that he died tragically young. Aside from that, from everything I’ve heard he was a beloved guy backstage, and actually had a decent career. Kind of reminds me of the John Tenta episode. I’m also not sure we need THREE episodes about TNA. I thought the show was supposed to focus on the dark, seedy underbelly of the business, not so much the gross incompetence aspect of it. Because if they are just focusing on stupid people now, where is the Vince Russo episode?

So the episode list is out for Season 7 of DSOTR: * TNA Wrestling & Jeff Jarrett (Three Episodes) * Paul Orndorff * Big Boss Man * Missy Hyatt * Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher from IWA-MS in 2005 * Zach Gowen * The Renegade, aka Rick Wilson

That vignette they showed introducing him was pretty well done. He’s got a great look and aura.

This Tweet has been getting a lot of mileage today: UFC was pretty infamous for making these exact kind of moves before TKO bought them, and since then? Yeesh.

For whatever reason, WWE has decided they don’t care about Tag Team wrestling anymore. (Except for the Women’s Tag Division.) WWE had a perfectly serviceable Tag Division on both shows and have done squat with it. They buried teams like the Creeds, the LWO, Los Garza, War Raiders, Alpha Academy, and up until recently, Street Profits. They inexplicably got rid of the MCMGs. The only team that gets any TV time is Fraxiom and they were stuck in that endless ridiculous storyline with Gargano that went nowhere and was just stupid. So honestly, New Day weren’t going to accomplish much more in WWE, not in this climate. They seem to be putting the Tag Titles on stables now instead, like The Vision, Judgment Day, MFT and the Wyatt Sicks…and now 3 out of 4 of those stables are toast. I don’t even know why they bother having two separate Tag Divisions. They are getting to the point where they don’t even have enough talent to sustain one. Even worse, you can tell from looking at NXT that they don’t have any plans to change. The only team they have down there of any note is Hank & Tank who are basically a poor man’s Public Enemy. I would not blame New Day if they wanted to go to AEW because at least they do not treat their Tag Division like a complete joke. The problem I can see is that both of those guys have worked for WWE for so long, I don’t know if they would be able to make the change from WWE style to AEW style. There is a really big difference. And I will be honest, a lot of the stuff New Day has done recently has been pretty cringe backstage comedy, and light on actual in ring action. I’m not saying they couldn’t cut it in AEW, but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that they would.

Angel Garza tweeted a picture today which could be interpreted as implying he and Berto had been released as well. Aside from using them as cannon fodder for Royce Keys and their brief run in AAA, I kind of forgot Los Garza even worked for WWE, to be honest.

You clearly didn’t see any of his WWE work. He’ll only go if there is free catering, and then he’d get winded climbing the ring steps. That dude has fallen off HARD since the last time you saw him, let’s just say that. I hate TKO with a passion, but I totally get why they released Cobb. He was terrible in WWE, and missed every opportunity they gave him. I literally could not believe he was the same guy I saw in New Japan and AEW years ago. I was actually excited when he signed…and then he showed up.

I have no confidence that Tonga Loa wouldn’t trip on his way through the door, stumble into a light fixture and then fall down an elevator shaft on his first day.

That is just unspeakably sad news. She has lung cancer and then finds out on top of that she has ALS. It’s a tragedy. Thank the Lord she works for Tony Khan who is paying for her health care. If she was with WWE, TKO would probably cut her.

If Danhausen doesn’t pick Mr. Iguana to be his partner at Backlash, I’m calling this whole thing a big missed opportunity, I’m just saying.

Or they could call her “Aunty Vaxx”

I’m not saying who she is related to didn’t help her get the tryout. I’m sure it helped her in the same way being a member of the extended Anoa’i family helped all of them get jobs with WWE (except Lance Anoa’i for some odd reason…there’s no way he can be any worse than Tonga Loa, but he spent an entire year at the Performance Center, never wrestled in NXT once, and then got released. I would love to know the story there.) What I am saying is that Meltzer is reporting she passed the tryout because of her Uncle, and I don’t know if I buy that. It is certainly more than plausible, but I don’t trust Meltzer anymore and he is the one who is pushing that story right now. My main point was, I am not going to pre-judge this girl based on who her Uncle is. If she turns out to be the next Ava Raine, I will be the first to criticize her. But I don’t know if she shares any of her Uncle’s political or medical opinions, and I really don’t care. I just don’t think it’s fair to blame her just because her Uncle is a weirdo. Hell, 99% of that whole family don’t identify with RFK Jr. anyhow.

I am not prepared to judge anyone based on their familial relationship with an Uncle. A parent or sibling might be one thing, but Aunts and Uncles? My mother is one of 7 kids, I have Aunts and Uncles whom I have only met a couple of times in my life. Hell, my Brother moved half way across the country and has 4 kids now, 3 of whom I don’t really know either. He has 3 girls and I am embarrassed to admit I can never keep track of which one is which. I’d hate to be judged based on something one of my Uncles did, nor would I want one of my Nieces or Nephews judged on something I said or did, considering I barely even know them. There might be plenty of reasons to judge someone if they choose to work for WWE (although I personally don’t) but pre-judging someone based on who they are related to seems like a stretch to me. Meltzer might be reporting that this was a politically forced hiring, (ala Ava Raine) but then again just this week Meltzer also reported that Kairi Sane asked to be released, which has since been refuted by…Kairi Sane. So I don’t put a whole lot of stock in anything he says about WWE anymore. I don’t think he has the sources.