The Thread Killer

I watched the match and it was as good as advertised. I don't know if the finish got botched. If it did, they sure covered it well. That was a fun show to watch, overall. I still think they need to get that title off Nese and onto Gable ASAP.

So Impact try and force Eli Drake to take part in an Intergender match, which he refuses to do. He then gets released. Killer Kross's contract comes up, and they make him a lowball offer, so he refuses to re-sign...and he's gone. The Lucha Brothers are no longer being booked by Impact and are gone. Impact's reaction to losing that kind of young, exciting talent is signing Michael Elgin and a 48 year old Rob Van Dam, in addition to doing shows featuring Sabu and The Sandman on a presumably part time basis. What the fuck is wrong with these fucking people? Just when it looks like they have their shit together, they pull a bunch of moves like this. I love RVD, and yeah he has looked great so far...but he's 48 years old. I am one of the biggest Sabu marks out there and I love seeing him on TV again, but isn't this company supposed to be planning for the future? How long do they think they are going to be able to milk the ECW nostalgia thing, seriously? And they couldn't even sell out ECW arena when they ran there. They need fresh, new talent that aren't viewed as WWE rejects. They had that, and they either release them or let them walk out the door. I had high hopes for Impact when D'Amore and Callis took over, and at first they were doing great - but I can't see myself spending a damn nickel on them at the rate they're going. And it sounds like they need my nickel.

As everybody here has discussed at great length, WWE has way too many wrestlers signed. If 205 Live didn't exist, it's not like these guys would be getting featured on Raw and Smackdown, they'd just be buried and not be used. Remember when Raw was supposed to be "home of the Crusierweight Division?" They'd have a Cruiserweight match, change the lighting, the color of the ropes and a special graphic, etc. How long did that last, 6 weeks, maybe? Now, even though people have to suffer through 3 hours of Raw every week, they can't find time for the Cruiserweights. I'm just glad these guys have somewhere to work where people can actually see them if they want. Hell, I hope Eric Young gets sent there, it's his only chance to get on television, probably. The hilarious thing is that the guys who do distinguish themselves on 205 Live and really stand out like Murphy and Alexander get sent to Raw or Smackdown as a reward, I guess? And that reward is...nobody ever sees you again.

So they finally grew a brain and put Gable on 205 Live? I need to check that out ASAP, especially if he's fighting Gentleman Jack. Gable is easily talented enough to carry that whole show and division on his back. They need to get the Cruiserweight Championship on that guy and far away from Tony Nese, ASAP. Now maybe we can get good CW matches on the PPV's unlike that Nese/Davari classic we got treated to at MITB. I see they were finally smart enough to put the Singh brothers on 205 Live as a Tag Team as well, instead of just being Mahal's lackeys.

Way back in the early nineties when I worked as a Corrections Officer in a Detention Center for Juvenile Delinquents (criminals aged 13-17, or as we called them in Canada "Young Offenders") I worked with another C.O./Counsellor who had been a Nazi Skinhead earlier in his life, an actual member of the Aryan Nation and he had done prison time for some of the shit he did. He reformed while he was in prison, ended up getting a pardon eventually and swore to spend the rest of his life trying to help kids avoid that life. He was covered in these awful scars from where he had all his Nazi tattoos removed, which he said hurt like hell but he felt he deserved it. In those days there was a minor epidemic in the Toronto area of gangs of Nazi skinhead kids "swarming" minorities on the subway and beating the hell out of them, stomping and kicking them, etc. A number of kids who were arrested for that ended up doing time where I worked. This guy helped turn a bunch of them around and get them out of the organizations they were in before it was too late. I remember I once worked an overnight shift with the guy, and he told me he would be haunted for the rest of his life by some of the shit he said and did. I got the feeling that no matter how many kids he helped he was never going to be at peace. So yeah, I believe people can change, for sure. However, I am also cynical when it's a celebrity or somebody who gets caught and then turns around and claims they have changed, I am less inclined to believe it.

Gene Simmons has stated in several interviews over the years that KISS has taken a ton of shit over the "SS" in their band logo, and have been accused of being Nazis or sympathetic to Nazis because of it. (Which is rich considering his and Paul Stanley's background, but whatever.) That double S is the exact same design as the Nazi SS, and during the heyday of the Moral Majority Music Censorship movement in the mid-eighties I specifically remember fundamentalists and other concerned parental types accusing KISS of being Nazis, especially around 1983 when their stage set was a giant tank that fired pyrotechnic shells into the crowd, and because they call their fans the "KISS Army." To some (and more than a few people) that meant they were Nazis. I know this because I was a KISS fan at the time. (I was 13 years old, give me a break.) Of course it's all bullshit, it defies all logic and of course I don't buy any of it...but the accusations were made nonetheless. It is a leap of logic to compare the KISS logo to the picture of The Undertaker, but my point is that people are quick to point the finger and make accusations even if they don't know the whole story. The photo was allegedly taken in 1995 or 1996 at the latest, around 24 years ago. It has an SS logo on the chest, and a slogan mentioning customizing Harley Davidsons. Me personally, even if I was a Biker, I would not wear a T-shirt that could be mistaken for anything that might give people the impression I had Nazi sympathies. I absolutely think that it was stupid and in terrible taste for him to wear that shirt 24 years ago. Hell, maybe he IS a damn Nazi, I don't know. That's the point. We don't know if was a Nazi then. We don't know if he's a Nazi now. We don't know how close he is to the Harris Brothers now, and if he is friendly with them or does that mean he shares their views. Jeff Jarrett loves those guys and got them jobs in WCW and TNA. Does that mean Jeff Jarrett is a Nazi, or does he get a pass because he didn't wear the T-Shirt? All we have is a photo from 24 years ago...but all of the sudden that is more than enough evidence and because people have been spreading it online...The Undertaker is a Nazi. I don't feel right about declaring somebody a Nazi because of that, but if other people are...that's your opinion and you have a right to it. To me, that is one hell of an accusation to throw around based on such little evidence, but that's just my take.

I don't deny that for a minute. Dick Murdoch was reportedly a proud card carrying member of the Klan, and there are countless other examples of wrestlers being overtly racist and pretty much getting a free pass for it. I just don't think there is any credible evidence The Undertaker is a Nazi, and in general I hate seeing that term get casually thrown around like it's nothing. Even if it is a "joke" I think it's in bad taste, even for a Pro Wrestling message board. Maybe I'm too easily offended, but my Grandfather died in the Second World War fighting ACTUAL NAZIS, and I hate this trend that has developed over recent years of the people using the term as nothing more than a label or insult. Like I said, I think it diminishes the term. Show me some actual evidence The Undertaker is a White Supremacist or a Neo-Nazi and that's a whole different matter. I just don't think saying somebody is a Nazi or making jokes about it is a decent thing to do. Sure, I know Mark Calloway isn't going to browse PWO and see this and get offended, but by the same token it's because a couple of goofs posting nonsense on other messageboards and Twitter over the past week that caused this "story." Ironically, I don't even really like The Undertaker all that much. I'd say the same thing if it was Joey Ryan being called a Nazi.

Well, if anybody knows how funny Nazis and Nazi jokes are, it's the French.

Ugh. I know you're a big fan of making hysterical political comments (regardless of whether or not people want to hear them) but that comment is beneath even you. For those who don't know what this nonsense is about, a picture surfaced of The Undertaker which was reportedly taken over 20 years ago. He is wearing a T-shirt for a (now defunct) Motorcycle shop, in which the logo features the two "lightening bolt S" symbols. This picture, combined with the fact that he is (or was) friendly with one of the Harris brothers, clearly means he's a Nazi, because one of them are. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he's a Biker who is wearing a T-Shirt from a bike shop and is friends with other Bikers. Nope. He wore a T-Shirt and associated with somebody who either is a Nazi or is related to a Nazi. Therefore, he must also be a Nazi. By the way in the interest of full disclosure, when I was younger I owned some KISS albums which had the same symbol. Therefore I must also be a Nazi. Also, when I was a little kid I was taken on a trip and toured some Civil War battlefields and museums, and actually bought some memorabilia which featured the Confederate flag...which I then wore. Therefore, I must also be a member of the Klan. Seriously dude, don't be a goddamn moron. People who go around randomly accusing people of being Nazis actually dilute the seriousness of the term and make it less difficult to take it seriously when somebody actually IS a White Supremacist. That was a stupid post to make, I hate it when people throw that term around like that. Grow up.

Yeah, those are both excellent signings which will really help Impact in the long run. I am really digging The North as well, even though they are affiliating themselves with Moose.

If it is getting this kind of buzz and it hasn't even aired yet, it sounds like that match is definitely worth checking out. I know despite his opinion of "hardcore wrestling" Jim Cornette has a soft spot for the original Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl from 1979 with Lawler & Dundee vs. The Blond Bombers, and I got the impression that he got that kind of vibe from the post-match brawl Rovert mentioned.

That's exactly what I was afraid of. They're actually going to try and get three PPV's out of Rollins vs. Corbin and Kofi vs. Ziggler. And then they wonder why their ratings are in the crapper. They're basically telling their fans that they're stuck with this nonsense all the way until SummerSlam. Remember how 1997 was "The Summer of Love" when Mick was playing all three faces of Foley? I guess 2019 is the Summer of Corbin.

There have been rumours going around for the past month or two that they have a better TV deal lined up for this Fall. They'd better hope so. I know the Twitch deal has reportedly worked out well for them so far, but Pursuit has been a bust. Tons of people don't get the channel and Pursuit has been cutting off shows early, airing the wrong episodes and doing squat to promote them. The saddest thing is, Anthem owns Pursuit, but I guess whoever they have running the channel doesn't think Pro Wrestling is a priority. They need better TV.

I agree with you 100%. I thought once he got to NOAH and was out from under the "Four Corners" it would really be finally be time for Jun Akiyama to come into his own and shine. Hell, those first two NOAH debut shows were pretty much designed to put a spotlight on Akiyama and make him look the equal to Taue, Misawa and Kobashi...but most of his performances from the first few years of NOAH made it look like he was just kind of coasting along and not even trying. I don't want to be like Meltzer here and hang the "lazy" tag on him, but he sure did seem unmotivated a lot of the time.

Thank you Ricky and Mr. Trees. One thing I find hilarious is that a lot of fans online and even some wrestlers like Matt Riddle are dumping on Goldberg for being sloppy or "unsafe" in that match, while seemingly ignoring the fact that Taker screwed up that Tombstone and spiked Goldberg headfirst into the mat. Yeah, Goldberg badly botched that Jackhammer, but it's not like Taker was the excellence of execution in there, either. I guess Goldberg is claiming that when he did the spot where he missed the shouldertackle and slid into the post (and busted himself open) he legit knocked himself out. Like a bunch of other people have said, I am betting both those dudes have concussions, for sure.

I actually started listening to this past week's "Ask Eric Anything" episode but I quit when he started telling that story about how he kicked that dude's ass in a bar fight. I love 83 Weeks but I generally hate AMA episodes. It's always the same stupid fantasy booking questions, and those just annoy me. "If you hadn't picked Hogan, Hall and Nash for the nWo who would you have picked?" "If the nWo were active today, who would you put in the group?" "If the nWo crashed in the Andes mountains and were starving, who do you think would eat who first, and how would they cook them?" Who gives a damn, seriously? At the recommendation of @SomethingSavage I skipped ahead (I am way behind on my 83 Weeks listening) and listened to this show, and I can confirm that it is an excellent episode. It really doesn't even focus on the wrestling aspect of the show all that much, but it is extremely compelling listening. I can't recommend this episode enough either.

Speaking of Contra and Jim Cornette, Corny claimed on his podcast this week that there is a 6 Man Tag coming up on a future edition of Fusion (June 22 I think?) which features Tom Lawlor and the Von Erich brothers against Contra, and he claims it is very good and very "old school." So far, even though he works for MLW Cornette hasn't been one to shill for them too much on his podcasts. He has spoken very highly of MJF on more than one occasion, but other than that he hasn't really talked about MLW too much - aside from bitching about his road schedule and giving reviews of the burger joints he eats at on the road. So if he is giving this 6 Man Tag good reviews, it may be worth checking out if you like the old school Crockett era type stuff.

Tony Schiavone has a full time job calling baseball during the summer, and that job is his true love above and beyond anything related to Pro Wrestling. He is the play-by-play man for the Atlanta Braves Triple A team, and that is what is most important to him. He mentioned this during an interview he did on JR's podcast a few years back, and I have heard Conrad Thompson mention it as well. I guess people have asked repeatedly for "What Happened When" Live Shows and Conrad has said on more than one occasion that those shows are very difficult to book because Tony won't do anything that interferes with his baseball job. I assume after baseball season is done Tony will be back to MLW, but I'd bet it will end up being a three man booth with Tony, Cornette and Rich Bocchini...that way when Tony leaves again Cornette and Rich can continue on. I don't think Cornette is going anywhere at this point because he is working as a producer backstage and attending production meetings, etc. I don't think he is involved in the "creative" but they consult with him about it, plus he is working as a Promo Coach as well.

Thanks very much for the kind words and thoughts, guys. I really appreciate it. On an unrelated note, I had a thought when considering this show... I assumed that when they book these Saudi shows, they don't want to give away the so-called "marquee" matches, which they probably want to save for their standard PPV's. I (erroneously) thought that the reason they booked weak championship matches like Rollins vs. Corbin and Kofi vs. Ziggler because they didn't want to throw away the big money matches on the Saudi show, which they have to know a lot of people aren't going to watch. That whole theory kind of got tossed out the window when they announced that Stomping Grounds is going to feature rematches of both the title matches from this show. That can only mean one of two things: 1) They think doing two major shows on the Network within a couple of weeks of each other will give them less time for the buildup on their TV, so they don't want to put something new on the Stomping Grounds PPV without a proper buildup or... 2) They actually think people want to see Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship and Kofi Kingston vs. Dolp Ziggler for the WWE Championship. Again. I really don't understand the logic at all. On top of that, I can only assume they are going to continue to drag out this whole "when will Brock cash in" story until Summerslam now, which makes anything Rollins is going to do until then pointless. After Stomping Grounds, they have Extreme Rules. I can't see them doing Brock vs. Rollins at Extreme Rules, which leads me to the terrifying conclusion that they may actually drag this Corbin angle out through Extreme Rules and do a gimmick match against Rollins at that show. It's either that, or come up with a new challenger for Extreme Rules, which I don't see them doing. Maybe they have something more creative planned, but I don't know. I think they really do see Rollins/Corbin as a good program to keep going with, which is kind of messed up. At least Kofi stands a chance of getting clear after Stomping Grounds, and finally having a decent challenger...something he really hasn't had since he won that belt, in my opinion.

Thanks brother. I've had a wonky heart arrhythmia since December which makes me short of breath and dizzy all the time because my body is no longer getting the blood and oxygen I need. They've tried a ton of different medications (all of which have gawd awful side effects) and have tried three times to restore my heart to a normal rhythm by shocking me, but none of that has worked. It's starting to do permanent structural damage to my heart, so the time has come to operate. If they don't, there's a serious chance I could have a heart attack or stroke any day now. They're probably going to go into my heart, find the valve or chamber which is causing the problem, and then cauterize it. Then, they'll put in a pacemaker to ensure that my heart rate remains steady from this point onward. It's apparently a risky procedure but we've run out of other options and I'm so over this shit I just want to get it done. If you'd have asked me beforehand, I would have said I'd love to sit on my ass for six months and watch television, but between feeling like shit and being bored out of my skull, it's driving me so insane. Things are so bad, I actually resorted to watching WWE Super Showdown.

If you were to go by crowd reactions, Triple H. vs. Orton and Taker vs. Goldberg were by far the most popular matches. Both had the same problem, they went too long. In the case of the Triple H match, there was no way in hell that match needed to be 25 minutes long. They could have easily shaved 10 minutes or more off that match, and it probably would have actually been decent. I don't know if it's because Trips loves being in long WWE style "epic" matches or because they were running short on time, but that match clearly went way too long. The Main Event really wasn't that long, but it seemed to be because both guys gassed out so damn quick. Goldberg was never known for long matches in his prime, and those days are long gone. Maybe WWE thought they had to go longer to avoid cheating the fans, but I'd have rather seen a quick squash or a sprint like some of Brock's matches have been over that sluggish botch fest. You really can't overstate this point, either. After Mansoor won the Battle Royal and gave his inspirational speech, Rene Young made a joke about hiding the fact that his speech had made her cry. Corey Graves responded that he couldn't cry if he wanted to, because he had no water left in his body at that point. Between a couple of matches, they did a video package interviewing the fans, and several of them said they were excited to be going to a WWE show despite how hot it was going to be. When people who live there and are used to the heat mention that it's so damn hot, that's probably all the proof you need to tell you it's probably not a good idea to have an outdoor show in the summer time in the middle east. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for those guys having to try and work under lights, in 100 degree temperatures in the damn desert.

Yeah when it comes to the whole issue of being gassed and unable to properly execute moves, there is more than enough blame to go around for both guys in that match. I don't think one was worse than the other.

"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken." - Colonel Sanders

The Main Event actually started off fairly well. The fans were crazy into it. The problem is, both guys gassed out pretty much right away. Goldberg bled. They started trading finishers but screwing them up, badly. Goldberg couldn't get Taker over into the Jackhammer, and dumped Taker on his head. Taker looked pissed. Of the two of them, Taker looked better, but that's not saying much. There were a couple of times Goldberg ended up leaning over the ropes, sucking wind. There were a few botches, Taker gets the win with a terrible chokeslam.They say it was 100 degrees in that ring, and if you add that to a couple of 50 + retired guys, you get...that match. End of show. That was pretty much what I expected. What I didn't expect is that they'd think it was a good idea to do those two title matches again at Stomping Grounds, because...ugh.

So the Main Event is Goldberg vs. Taker, a match I would have been somewhat interested in seeing 20 years ago. Goldberg is probably rusty as hell and can't go long, and we're still unsure if Taker can go at all anymore, so this could be scary bad. If they keep it short with lots of gaga, it could be okay...I guess. Like the match Goldy had with Brock at Wrestlemania. If they do something like that, it could conceivably work. It's taking Goldberg so long to get to the ring, it's like that famous scene in Spinal Tap. Good lord, these entrances are as long as Triple H/Orton. Just kidding, nothing is that long.