The Thread Killer

I quite enjoyed it. It wasn't an all time classic, but I liked the show. I've never watched an entire episode of the NXT UK show, but I had no problem getting into it. I got the impression that the Tag Team Championship finals and the Main Event were both trying very hard to be "epic" matches, they were both long, slow build match matches with a ton of false finishes. I don't think either of them accomplished what they were trying to do, but both were solid matches and bless them for trying. I enjoyed the overall feel of the show, I loved the venue and the crowd was insanely hot. The only thing I actively disliked was the ridiculous WWE camera work, with a million cut shots, needless zooming in and out and switching angles every second for no reason. Having watched the IMPACT PPV last weekend and the NXT UK show this weekend, the difference in camera work was glaring. Just because you can afford to have seven cameras and can jump between shots multiple times a minute, it doesn't mean you should, or that you have to. When it comes to production at that level, sometimes less really is more.

He trained at the "Future Stars of Wrestling" school in Las Vegas, mostly by Sinn Bodhi. He debuted with them in 2014. He has some MMA training as well but I don't think he's fought professionally. As El-P mentioned, he wrestled in Lucha Underground and he has also worked in AAA. I think the main reason he ended up in IMPACT is because Sonjay Dutt is a big fan of his. When Dutt was working for Global Force he booked Kross there, and now that he's an agent in Impact it looks like he made sure to get Kross in there as well. From what I've seen, he is a very solid promo but I haven't seen enough of him in the ring to have a strong opinion one way or the other. If he's even average as a wrestler, then IMPACT are smart to push him, in my opinion. He can talk, but most importantly he's new and isn't viewed as a WWE reject or cast-off. He's an original star and a new face and Impact is really going to need guys like him and Eli Drake if they want to succeed on their own merit and not end up looking like TNA used to, obsessed with getting WWE retreads.

Thanks brother. I think if the finish hadn't been so wonky, I probably would've been a lot more favorably disposed towards the Main Event. I wanted to like Moose, I really did. When I first saw him in ROH, I thought the guy looked like money. I especially thought if they built towards a feud between Moose and Donovan Dijak they might really be onto something, but that never really transpired to the best of my knowledge, for whatever reason. I can overlook most of my issues with him except two. I find that he moves really slow most of the time ("plodding" is the word I use) but even worse, his selling drives me nuts. I can't count the number of times I saw him get hit with some type of offensive maneuver, when his only reaction was to stumble backward two or three steps, wave his arms comically in a circular motion like he was losing his balance, and shake his head a couple of times as if he was confused. It was so damn cartoonish, it drove me up a wall. Maybe he was trained with the mindset that "you're a big guy, you don't have to sell" or maybe he just isn't any good at it, but either way, it drives me nuts. But hey, I am the first to admit that my opinion is just that...an opinion. Maybe Moose is better than I give him credit for being. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's just me. Here I am singing the praises of the Willie Mack/Sami Callahan match, and I haven't seen one other person online today mention it favorably. Just goes to show what is awesome for some people is "meh" for other people. I agree with you as well that Tessa/Taya without the referee angle was much better.

Yeah, Conrad says they are going to do an entire episode devoted to Raven and I am looking forward to that. Conrad is a documented Raven mark, and Eric seems to undervalue him, so that will be interesting when it finally comes. I agree with SomethingSavage, I get the feeling Raven was a bit of a thorn in Bischoff's side backstage in addition to all of his substance abuse issues causing trouble, so I have no doubt that is why Eric's opinion of him is somewhat skewed.

As far as the Piper episode, the one thing that really sticks out for me is the end, when Eric discusses Piper's death. He gets legit choked up talking about the way Roddy treated his kids and other kids in the backstage area, even when he didn't know he was being watched. It's pretty endearing, and I don't for a moment think it was a planned reaction or a "work."

So Impact Wrestling Homecoming is in the books. I actually paid to see this on PPV, so I thought I might as well write up my review and share my thoughts. Impact Wrestling Homecoming: 01/06/19 Impact has returned to the "TNA Asylum" which of course is the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena in Nashville. This is where NWA-TNA got their start in June 2002, holding weekly PPV shows here up until September 2004. I will go on record and freely admit that I actually ordered these weekly shows, each and every Wednesday. Back in those days I had a lot more disposable income than I do now, and I was also going through a phase where I was boycotting WWE and was desperately hoping another company would provide some form of competition. I pretty much gave up on that idea once Vince Russo started to assert himself as booker, and when TNA stopped the weekly PPV shows and changed to Fox Sports, I stopped watching because Fox Sports wasn't available in Canada, and I was pretty much off the TNA product by that time. However, I do look back somewhat fondly on that two year period when TNA came from this arena each and every week. Although there was a lot of crap produced during those years, there was some good stuff in there too. They showed a nice video montage of some of the best moments from those years, along with some of the biggest names that came through The Asylum like Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, AJ Styles, CM Punk, Ken Shamrock, Sabu and many others. The crowd seemed happy to have Impact back after all this time. It looked like a packed house, and they were pretty vocal throughout the night, although I think the Tag Team Title match may have burned them out at the end, as they seemed subdued for the last two matches. "Ultimate X" to crown a new X-Division Champion: Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel Brian Cage has vacated the X-Division Championship in order to get a World Championship match on this show, so the X-Division title is vacant and a new champ will be decided in this match. I saw the very first "Ultimate X" match and many of the subsequent matches, and I was never a huge fan. (If you've never see one of these matches, cables are strung above the ring in the shape of the letter X, with the belt suspended in the middle. In order to win, you have to climb up and shimmy your way across to grab the belt and bring it down. I remember specifically the match back in the day where the belt fell down several times before anybody could grab it. Good times.) The reason I don't like these matches are varied. Firstly, I don't tend to like multi-man-car-crash-spot-fests. Secondly, I don't like matches where you don't win by making your opponent submit or by pinning them. Finally, these matches are dangerous and to me, are basically high risk/low reward. Those cables are always strung up there quite high, and you're basically asking for blown out knees, and for what? The very nature of these matches make them unmemorable, there is so much happening at once that nothing tends to stick out long term. This match was...just okay. The ropes above the ring looked looser than I remember them being, I don't know if that was by design or not. Either way, it didn't affect the outcome of the match. There were a couple of spots in this match I quite liked. Jake Crist hit Rich Swann with a huracanrana but Swann landed on his feet which was an awesome visual. At one point Ethan Page shimmied out toward the middle of the ring only to drop a wicked elbow from up there on Swann, and that was pretty cool. One spot made me laugh - Page ended up falling crotch first on the top turnbuckle, and some fans started chanting: "No More Children!" There were three spots in specific that I freaked hated. Firstly, I can't stand those spots during multi-man matches where three guys kind of assemble outside the ring and just mill around, obviously waiting for the fourth guy (in this case Rich Swann) to do a suicide plancha on top of them all. It happens every single multi-person match and it always looks so contrived. It is one of those spots that is done so often that it has totally lost it's effectiveness. Secondly, I hate the so-called "Tower of Doom" spot where three guys form a human pyramid and give the forth guy on top a powerbomb. I remember the first time I saw that spot in an AMW vs. Triple X match in TNA, I was blown away. I swear they've done this spot on every PPV since then. Much like the suicide dive to the outside, I hate spots that make it brutally obvious that the competitors are helping each other out and setting the move up. If you can't do a spot like that organically and make it look even a little bit natural, then you probably shouldn't do it. Finally, there was one spot that I thought was great...but then it pissed me off. Jake Crist gave Rich Swann a picture perfect tombstone piledriver on the steel ramp. He executed it perfectly, and Swann sold it perfectly. Then, he dragged Swann's lifeless body all the way up the ramp to the entrance. Swann did an amazing job selling it, he acted like he was legit knocked out cold and was dead weight. Josh Mathews and Don Callis did a good job on commentary making the point that Crist was doing this to get Swann as far away from the ring as possible so he could go get the belt himself. The problem? I'd say about 2-3 minutes later, there was Swann, sliding back in the ring, no worse for wear. Call me a grumpy old man, but I remember when taking a piledriver in the ring alone was supposed to lay you out. Doing it on a steel ramp would be enough to put you on the shelf - you could build an entire feud around a move like that being done to you. Here? Nah, just shake it off! When I saw this match, I said to myself: "I guess Rich Swann is winning the X-Division title." He's a fairly big name based on his time in WWE, and besides - Jake Crist is one half of a Tag Team, I don't think they're going to break up oVe. "All Ego" Ethan Page looks like a preliminary wrestler from the 80's, and with all apologies, there is nothing even remotely remarkable about him, and while Trey Miguel might become something big someday, did anybody seriously think he was going to win this match? I know the Impact roster is thin...but I never had any doubt that Swann was going to win this, and he did. I don't think I'm any great prognosticator, I think it's more of a case that the only guy in there on Swann's level is one half of a Tag Team. So yeah, Swann wins the match and the title. A few neat moments, a bunch of contrived and choreographed spots, and that's that. 2.5 stars. Su Yung & Allie vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace Ugh. This match really pissed me off. I don't watch Impact every week, so I relied on the pre-match video package to let me know the backstory, and it was a bunch of stupid, wannabe Undertaker from the early 90's ridiculous unrealistic nonsense. These women are great athletes, I was especially impressed by Jordynna Grace. Let them wrestle, dammit. Why the creative team felt the need to bog them down with this beyond stupid demonic/darkside Halloween crap, I'll never know. The match was okay, I suppose. They worked a fast pace, there were a few awkward or mistimed spots but nothing too bad. But this whole wearing goofy makeup and making ridiculous faces garbage belongs back in Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom. It has no place here, in my opinion - it's what Jim Cornette calls "gaga" and I can't stand it. Su Yung and Allie win, and then a bunch of female druids or bridesmaids or whatever come out with a coffin, and out pops Rosemary who is apparently "back from the dead" according to the announcers. Another terrifying episode of Monster Chiller Horror Theater. 2 stars. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Moose Here's the thing...Moose sucks. He's fucking terrible. He's uncoordinated, he's slow, he can't sell and he has a giant freak-head that makes him look like The Great Gazoo from the old Flintstones cartoon. I tried to give this guy a chance, I really did. I watched him in ROH, I've seen him on other Impact shows and I've wanted him to have good matches, but he seems utterly incapable of it. They showed us (in another ridiculously melodramatic and entirely unbelievable soap-opera-like video package) the story behind the feud between Moose and Eddie Edwards which led up to this match. Apparently, Moose had Eddie committed to an insane asylum for 20 days, or something. Yeah. This match was pretty much your paint-by-numbers Falls Count Anywhere match, except for the fact that it had Moose in it, so it got slowed down. At one point, he set up one of the ringside barriers and propped it between the ring and the steel steps, and that seemed to be very hard for him to figure out. He threw about 8 steel chairs into the ring, for no reason because of course they only needed one or two at most. Worst of all, you could literally see Edwards helping him every time he delivered a powerbomb by boosting himself up and jumping into the air - which made it look like it wasn't Moose delivering the moves, it was Eddie doing it to himself. The fact that this match was even remotely watchable is entirely attributable to Eddie Edwards bumping his ass off for Moose. Eddie got hit with a couple of killer powerbombs on the ring apron which were brutal looking. At one point they wandered out into the crowd and Eddie jumped off the stairs onto Moose who was on the level below. The biggest spot was Moose getting tossed over the top rope, out of the ring and crashing into the aforementioned steel ring barrier contraption. I am not sure what they're doing with Eddie Edwards, it seems like they're trying to turn him into Impact's version of Tommy Dreamer or something. At one point, his wife came out and hit Moose with a Kendo Stick. I'm not sure why, but I liked it because at that point I wanted to hit Moose with a Kendo Stick, just because. Eddie wins. This match had enough car crash appeal that I can't say it was boring, but it was nothing I haven't seen done a million times, much better. Without Moose. Oh, and if there was a drinking game where you had to do a shot every time the announcers mentioned the fact that Moose played in the NFL, you'd have been hammered by the end of this match. Which probably would have made it more entertaining. 2 stars. Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack I usually hate Sami Callihan and anything involving Sami Callihan, but I freaking loved this match. You know why? Willie Mack is awesome, that's why. For those of you who don't know who he is, Willie Mack is a detective down in Texas. You know he knows just exactly what the facts is. He ain't gonna let those two escape justice. He makes his living off the people's taxes. Okay, maybe that's Billy Mack...but Willie Mack is freaking awesome. He is smooth as silk, at least he was during this match. This dude can pull off some awesome moves for a guy his size and he looks confident and comfortable doing it. I loved his performance in this match. One of the little things I loved about his performance is that every time Dave Crist got anywhere near him, Mack would attack him - totally turning the tired old outside interference narrative on it's head. The work in this match by both guys was tight, and they did pretty much everything right. Of particular note, the clotheslines were crazy good. This was just a hard-hitting, fast-paced brawl and both guys came out looking awesome. 4 stars. Monster's Ball Match: Abyss vs. Eli Drake Ugh, who is laying these shows out? You don't have a Falls Count Anywhere, and then one normal match and then another Hardcore Match right away. Bad show pacing. Also, I hate to say it but Abyss is done. That dude can barely walk, seriously. You can tell either his legs or his back are shot and he's almost immobile at this point. They did all the usual Hardcore/Plunder match spots, tables, thumbtacks, and all that...but just like the Falls Count Anywhere match, it isn't anything we haven't seen before, done much better. I guess the positive is that Eli Drake went over and he came out looking strong after this...but it was really forgettable and misplaced on this show. 1.5 stars. Impact Tag Team Title Match: Champions LAX vs. Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix I am really torn on this match. This is the main reason I bought this show, I wanted to see this match pretty bad. I have a ton of respect for both teams. I also loved the fact that the story behind the match didn't involve people coming back from the dead, or being sent to an insane asylum or any stupid crap like that. The Lucha Brothers wanted a shot at the titles. LAX wanted to give it to them, to prove they could beat them. LAX didn't like the fact that the Lucha Bros were overshadowing them, when they're the champs. Their manager didn't want the match to happen. Good old fashioned Pro Wrestling story telling, that works when it's done right. My problem with this match was the style. I like old school Tag Team wrestling, when guys tag in and out. They do the face-in-peril spot, they do the "ref didn't see it" spot, there is structure to the match. Before this PPV, the last "current" wrestling show I'd seen was WWE Hell in a Cell 2018. There was a match on that show with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for the Raw Tag Team Championships. I can't stand Dean Ambrose or Dolph Ziggler and I am ambivalent at best towards Seth Rollins. Basically, the only guy in that match I really like is Drew McIntyre. But despite that, I really liked that Tag Team match. Why? Because they stuck to the basics, and told a hell of a story - all credit to them. There was no goofy "everybody does whatever they want" running around. The results was a damn solid match. The kind of match that The Revival seem determined to keep alive in this day and age...the old school Tag Team match. I was assumed we would not see that kind of Tag Team match with this match, and I was right. Figuring the background of the four guys in this match, I was worried it would descend into chaos. I'm not big into Lucha Libre and this is why I hate the NJPW and ROH style of Tag Team wrestling. To me, all that means is that there are more guys in the ring...they don't tag in and out, it's just utter chaos with guys hitting move after move, with no psychology, rhyme or reason. Just spot-spot-spot. And that's what this match was. I don't think anybody spent any time on the apron at all, there were no hot tags because there were barely any tags, it was loosely controlled chaos. Here's the thing...as luck would have it, these four guys happen to excel at that particular style. So while they didn't have a traditional Tag Team match (and I don't even know if they could) you can't have seen this match and come away saying it was a bad match. It was an incredibly fast paced, highly entertaining match. There were a ton of crazy spots which were executed flawlessly. These four guys were so good, that they came across as head-and-shoulders above everybody else on the show up to this point. Almost like they didn't belong here, because they were competing at a whole different level. If I was Impact, I'd do whatever I had to do to keep Fenix and Pentagon around - although with AEW starting up and all the other places these guys work, that may not be possible. Anyhow, this was not my kind of match but I'm open-minded enough to know pure talent and skill when I see it. 4 stars. Impact Knockouts Title Match: Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie I like and respect Gail Kim, but this match was one of those cases of the "Special Guest Referee" overshadowing the match - and that is too bad because this was turning into a very good match before the nonsense between Tessa Blanchard and Kim started up. Both athletes worked hard, it was a well worked, well paced and smartly put together match. I was really starting to get into it, and then the goofiness with Gail Kim getting involved started up. I knew going into it that was likely to happen, but I was hoping it wouldn't.. It struck me after this match, it's almost as if Impact doesn't have enough confidence in their female talent to carry matches on their own without saddling them down with goofy gimmicks or outside nonsense. And that's too bad. Tessa is great and although Tara can be a bit awkward she carried her end of the load during this match. I assume this is leading to Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim, and to be honest it had better. Otherwise there was no reason to ruin this match with all the referee interference nonsense, and take away from Tara Valkyrie's moment. Unless they're just trying to protect Tessa by not having her lose in the middle clean, I don't know. 3 stars. Impact Title Match: Champion Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage Gotta be honest here, I'm not a big Brian Cage fan. I hate the steroid freak look in this day and age, aren't we passed that? And I defy you to look at his pre-match outfit and not laugh out loud. He looks like a cross between American Gladiators and a reject from a B Grade 1980's Direct to Video Sci-Fi movie. SO CHEESY. I do like Johnny Impact, I always have. I wasn't expecting much from this match, but even with moderately low expectations this match still disappointed me. It seemed...off. Weirdly paced, slow (especially after the crowd had gotten molten hot during the Tag Title match and amped up on the speed and agility - that made this one look even worse.) Something about this match was just...clunky. They didn't really mess any big moves up or anything, but the two guys just didn't seem to be on the same page and they seemed to be a half-step off and out of sync. Maybe these guys just don't have any chemistry and work well together, I don't know. And then there is the Survivor factor. I admit up front, I love Survivor. I watch it every season. I really liked the season that John Hennigan was just on, too. (David vs. Golaith.) He did pretty well, he made it to the jury and I figured that if he managed to get fairly far into the game, that Impact Wrestling would want to capitalize on the added notoriety that would bring. Here's the thing...they did a really fun little segment on the pre-show with Johnny Impact and Dr. Christian Hubicki. Christian and Johnny ended up having one of the odder and more entertaining "odd couple" like relationships on Survivor this season, and Christian was (and still is) so insanely popular that he's pretty much a shoe-in to get invited back to compete again. Considering their chemistry and Christian's popularity on Survivor, having him do a pre-show segment where he helps Johnny try and figure out how to beat "The Machine" was a perfect use of Christian and Johnny's history on the last season of Survivor. They really should have left it at that, in my opinion. Any Survivor fans who watched Impact for the first time after seeing Johnny this past season would have likely been satisfied with that one segment. There was no need to have Nick try and jump the railing, it was stupid and pointless and it took away from the match. It made a match that was already going kind of badly go a whole lot worse. This match ended up being like this entire show...just okay. 2 Stars. Final Thoughts... I can't say Homecoming stunk, but I sure can't say it was anywhere near as good as Slammiversary from just a few months ago, which was presented by the same creative team and essentially the same roster. That show was a game changer to me, this one was just kind of there. Looking at Homecoming from that perspective, this was a misfire. Impact has a lot of talent, but I'd say they need to do a few important things. Firstly, they need to let their female talent wrestle and forget the goofy outside the ring nonsense. Speaking of which, I find some of the creative writing and video packages/backstage segments Impact do to be laughably bad, unrealistic and stupid. When they concentrate on tried and true wrestling storytelling, they seem to succeed, but when they start trying to get all melodramatic it usually turns into something cringe-worthy. Remember that storyline with LAX supposedly getting a kid killed a couple of months ago? I rest my case. It's one thing to have backstage segments or dramatic motivation for what ends up happening in the ring, but if you're going to do that - by gawd it had better be good and by good I mean believable. Otherwise, it becomes what I like to call "Russoesque." There was some good here. The Ultimate X match was fair, and the Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan and Tag Team Title matches were excellent. The rest was fair-to-poor. If I was to give this an academic grade, I'd give it a C+ but that's just me. Opinions may vary I'm sure. EDIT: I forgot to mention when reviewing the Pay Per View. They made a "major announcement" that starting this Friday, the weekly Impact TV show will be streaming live on Twitch. So now pretty much everybody will be able to see the show. They are asking people to sign up with Twitch as subscribers, and they said their goal is to have 15,000 subscribers to the Impact Channel by March 1, 2019 so I don't know if there is a revenue component to this or not. Bottom line is, for the people who don't get Pursuit at least you can still see the show live every week. I saw somebody online saying that they wouldn't be surprised if more people watch Impact on Twitch than on Pursuit. Either way, it's a smart (and necessary) move by Impact.

I really missed the boat on that one last summer, Grimmas. They held Slammiversary XVI here in Toronto at "The Rebel Entertainment Complex" downtown, which is that club which used to be "The Docks" and then "The Sound Academy" - I don't know if you've ever been there. I saw Motorhead at The Docks back in the day, and from what I remembered, I couldn't see how it would make a good venue for wrestling, plus I was still leery of Impact due to the TNA/Dixie Carter stigma, so when a buddy of mine had a chance to get ringside tickets for $125.00 I declined. Big mistake. I ended up seeing the PPV and really wished I had gone. Firstly, I thought the way they set the place up for wrestling was great. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, maybe it's because Tommy Dreamer was on the show, but I got a real ECW vibe from the venue and I mean that in the good way. The crowd was super hot, but didn't come across as too smarky and the show was excellent. They did a couple of nights of TV taping at the same venue the next day. I've heard when they come back to Toronto (which they will since the Anthem offices are here) they're going to do more shows in the Toronto area, and if they do, I'm probably going to break my vow to never go to a live show again (made after ROH Global Wars 2014 at the Ted Reeve Arena) and I'm going to go. I'm surprised they are not running the Ted Reeve arena or the old Maple Leaf Gardens (aka. The Mattamy Athletic Center) as both those places seat around 1000 - 1500 which was the turnout for Slammiversary. After seeing Slammiversary and Bound for Glory since Anthem/Callis/D'Amore took over, I'm actually on board for supporting these guys - especially since they're now essentially a Toronto based organization.

Yeah count me in for this one as well. I am really looking forward to this show. All the people who crap on Impact just because it used to be TNA need to give their heads a shake. Yeah, the Callis/D'Amore regime has made some missteps but they're moving in the right direction and they've done a lot more right than wrong. This is NOT Dixie Carter's TNA anymore and anybody who avoids it because they think that it is, is robbing themselves of some good stuff for the most part.

I'm glad you are checking these shows out, El-P. I know you were a lot like me (except you're more French) in that you enjoyed the Something to Wrestle podcast format when it was being done right. I knew if you gave these shows a chance you'd find them entertaining and maybe even more informative than STW because Eric is more willing to admit when he was wrong, and dishes a lot more details. I have been pleasantly surprised at how personable Eric comes across on this show. (Except when discussing Missy Hyatt.)

It's interesting you mentioned that earlier this week. The Jimmy Hart topic really came to a head during this week's show, covering Starrcade 95. It was a good show, although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did the other shows they did on the various Starrcade PPV's. Interestingly, Conrad himself says during the close of this episode that he has been getting feedback from the fans that 83 Weeks seems to have really "hit their stride" with the recent Starrcade themed shows, and as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I couldn't agree more. I've been a listener since day one, and the quality really has continued to build. I think Conrad and Eric are much more comfortable with each other now, they know each other's patterns and shtick to the point where they are now really firing on all cylinders. This whole series on the Starrcade shows from 94-98 have been outstanding. It's becoming more and more clear what "triggers" Eric Bischoff when it comes to Dave Meltzer. (Unlike with Prichard, where everything about Meltzer sets him off. ) Bischoff clearly doesn't mind or even dispute when Meltzer reports on things like buyrates, TV ratings, or even some aspects of WCW business that have been made public. In a lot of cases, Eric Bischoff will openly agree with something Conrad tells him Meltzer reported, or in some cases, even his match reviews. What consistently drives Bischoff up a tree is when Meltzer inaccurately (according to him) reports something about the inner workings of WCW, especially as it pertains to their corporate dealings. For example, in this episode Eric goes bonkers when Conrad reads a Meltzer report that claims one of the reasons WCW finally turned a profit for the first time in 1995 is because Hulk Hogan's contract wasn't billed to WCW, it was billed to another part of the Turner Organization. (Either Turner Sports or Turner Home Entertainment, I forget which.) You can tell that Eric Bischoff is very proud of the work he did turning WCW around from a money loser in 1993 to turning a profit in 1995, and you can tell he takes it personally that Meltzer is reporting what Bischoff claims is untrue information that basically takes credit for the turnaround from him, or at the very least mitigates a lot of it. Bischoff re-tells a story he has told before (you can tell how proud he is of it) about how the head of Turner Finance had bet him a dollar that WCW would NEVER turn a profit. The catch is, if Eric can turn a profit, this Turner executive has to get down on one knee and give Eric the dollar at the WCW Christmas Party, in front of everybody. (This story is also covered in depth in the Nitro book by Guy Evans.) Just an aside - you have to admit that this story confirms the narrative that the Turner organization had no faith in WCW. When the head of the financial department and one of your top executives is willing to make a public bet that you'll never make money - what the hell kind of message did that send to WCW employees? Interestingly, I had always heard the narrative pushed by Meltzer that Hogan's contract didn't come out of WCW's budget. Eric Bischoff claims that just because some talents had contracts with Turner (and later AOL Time/Warner) that doesn't mean the money wasn't taken out of WCW's operating budget. He claims this is public information and can easily be verified. If anything, Bischoff claims the opposite - that the Turner organization used to dump expenses on WCW, the logic being that since WCW was a money losing operation anyhow, and a part of the overall organization that had no prestige, why shouldn't they be used to cover up or eat fiscal shortfalls? He doesn't discuss that all in this episode specifically, but it is something he has said repeatedly over the course of this show and it is a narrative put forth in the Nitro book by Guy Evans as well. Bischoff also goes nuts at the statement made by Meltzer (read by Conrad) that Eric used to watch WWF Raw while he was live on the air in the WCW broadcast booth and that the fans could see him doing it. Eric freely admits that he had guys watching Raw in the truck, and they would report to him about Raw spoilers he could give on the air, but more importantly they would tell them when Raw was going to commercial break. Eric claims they would try and counter-program Raw commercial breaks to keep fans from switching the channel back, but there is no way he could have actually sat and watched Raw himself at the desk while he was calling Nitro live on the air. Some other topics discussed on this episode... Specifically they talk about why Starrcade was never the WCW equivalent of Wrestlemania in Eric Bischoff's mind. Conrad complains that Starrcade feels like "just another PPV" at this point and Eric confirms that to him, it was. That has always been a sore spot with a lot of old school JCP/WCW fans for sure, and Bischoff totally confirms that theory. At the end of the episode they also touch on how this particular show was on a Wednesday (?!) and how that may have hurt the buyrate. (I believe this Starrcade was the second lowest rated PPV in the history of WCW, even including the Russo years.) They discussed the arrival of Madusa and get into the infamous WWF Women's Title being dumped into the trash. They also discuss Mark Madden being fired from the WCW hotline for apparently talking about how Hogan was getting booed in WCW and also talking about UFC on the WCW hotline. Eric talks about how Madden had a habit of "going into business for himself." They talk about the infamous WWF "Billionaire Ted" skits, and what Bischoff thought about them, what the talent thought of them and what Ted Turner himself thought of them. They talk about Hulk Hogan briefly - how Hogan was getting booed and knew it and how he and Eric felt about that. They talk about why Hulk Hogan wasn't on this show. They also talk about the Kathleen Kennedy sexual assault allegations made against Hogan around this time, Hogan's counter-suit, and Bischoff's feelings about the whole thing. They review the show match by match, and only when they did that did I realize - I never saw this PPV. At first I couldn't figure out why, because during the entire Monday Night War I used to see every WCW and WWF PPV, up until 1999 when I gave up on WCW altogether. (Ironically, I gave up when Russo came over, even though I wasn't totally aware of it at the time.) But I never saw this show. It wasn't until they covered the fact that for some reason they held the show on a Wednesday that I realized why I must have missed it. We didn't consistently get Nitro here in the Toronto area, so I pretty much depending on WCW Saturday Night and the PPV listings on TV. If it wasn't on Sunday I wouldn't have been looking for it. The match reviews are good, if unremarkable. Both Conrad and Eric lost their shit over how good the Eddy Guerrero/Shinjiro Otani match was. They really gushed over it, so I checked out the Match Discussion Database here at PWO and the consensus seems to be a lot less enthusiastic. They talk a lot about the whole concept of the New Japan vs. WCW theme, where it failed, where it worked, how it worked, etc. There are two things that got discussed during this show that I thought were especially noteworthy. Firstly, as SomethingSavage mentions earlier in this thread and as I alluded to at the start - Bischoff finally goes on the record about how much he disliked dealing with Jimmy Hart, and why, which is alternatively funny and interesting to hear. However unless I am missing my guess, the one part of this show which will have people talking is when they discuss Missy Hyatt leaving WCW and her subsequent lawsuit. Eric Bischoff doesn't come across great during this segment. Basically, the story is that in 1995, Missy Hyatt was the only female manager in WCW (although Bischoff can't remember if Terri Runnels was still there then or not.) Bischoff claims that Missy quite liked having this particular position, until the day Sherri Martel was brought back. Bischoff admits he didn't warn Missy that Sherri was coming in, and the minute Sherri walked into the dressing room Missy walked up to Bischoff and freaked out on him (reportedly out of insecurity and jealousy) so he sent her home. Bischoff claims that at a public dinner later that night which included over 30 WCW employess and their families, (including Bischoff's wife and two young children) Missy Hyatt showed up again and started freaking out on him, so he sent her home for good...resulting in the lawsuit. This is all pretty much public record. Conrad mentions that in her lawsuit, Missy Hyatt alleged being groped by a WCW employee and Bischoff openly admits that he was the one she accused. Eric Bischoff claims that when she sued WCW, Missy Hyatt claimed that Eric had grabbed her breast during that final confrontation at the Marriott restaurant. Bischoff is clearly still offended by that accusation (both the suggestion that it happened at all, and that he would do such a thing in front of his wife and kids.) Eric Bischoff proceeds to claim he would never do that because he never found Missy Hyatt attractive due to her "horse face." He also makes some snide comments about everybody knowing what eventually became of Missy Hyatt in the industry (I assume alluding to her porno career) and that "she had been passed around more than a joint at a Grateful Dead Concert." Not a good look for Eric Bischoff there. I can only guess how I'd react if somebody sued me and publicly claimed I had groped them. With all apologies to the "#MeToo" movement, I'm not sure I'd put a ton of stock in any accusations made by Missy Hyatt either, based on her history. She does have a well documented history of sordid sexual relationships with many wrestlers which she herself has put out for public consumption in various Shoot Interviews and Podcast appearances. She also has a history of making some rather odd claims. (One of my personal favorites is from New Jack. He claims they were involved in a sexual relationship, and one night she called him panicking and claiming her car had been stolen. He drove over to her house to discover that her car was parked in the driveway.) Bottom line is, there are countless wacky Missy Hyatt stories out there and as I said, she has freely put many of them out there herself. However. if I was Eric Bischoff I would have probably gone with the old standby answer of "that was a lawsuit and I'm not legally at liberty to discuss it, as per the terms of the settlement." Calling a woman a horse face and making comments about her sexual history just isn't appropriate in this day and age, regardless of who you're talking about. One thing that annoyed me however, was Conrad getting all righteously indignant with Eric for saying those things. Eric shouldn't have said them, but I can't really take anything Conrad Thompson says about appropriate behavior and sexually based comments at all seriously - considering pretty much every episode of "What Happened When" with he and Tony Schiavone is wall-to-wall sex jokes. Apparently in Conrad's world, calling Missy Hyatt a horse face is totally inappropriate but making jokes about Nikita Koloff's wife dying of cancer is no big deal. Eric comes off badly here but Conrad comes off as a fucking hypocrite. When Steven "Grimmas" Graham gets morally offended by sexist talk I take it as sincere and well intentioned. When Conrad Thompson does it, it's totally out of character, insincere and being done either to cover his own ass, or for an effect I can't even fathom. Bottom line is, I didn't much care for the whole thing and I think everybody comes off badly in that particular segment of the show. Overall, I still thought this was a pretty good episode of 83 Weeks, but it will be interesting if the "IWC" chooses to use this particular episode as fuel for their outrage machine. One never knows.

I loved the part in Episode 18 (I think) when Bahu and Steven were discussing Hayabusa's time in All Japan. Steven asked Bahu how Hayabusa got along with the wrestlers in AJPW, if there was any tension in the locker room because of competition between FMW and AJPW, or because FMW was seen as "garbage wrestling." Bahu said no...Hayabusa and Misawa were actually drinking buddies, and Hayabusa got along with everybody except for Kawada, which was fine...because nobody got along with Kawada.

My pleasure, brother. I was hooked on that podcast for a good long while, I was listening to episodes in order, and then watching the matches on YouTube. I kind of stalled out around episode 19, which covers the first six months of 1998. I'll probably pick it up again soon, but I took a break. I was burning out on FMW after doing nothing but listening to that podcast and watching the matches non-stop. But I want to start up again, and eventually catch up. They're on episode 28, so I'm not too far behind.

Hayabusa got the idea for the mask in Mexico, but the colorful harem pants and waist sash are definitely a rip-off of Sabu. Sabu and Hayabusa were apparently friends and interacted in FMW when Hayabusa was a rookie before he went to Mexico and changed his look, but as I said - Sabu was reportedly less than pleased when he saw Hayabusa's new look upon his return, which borrowed heavily from Sabu...without asking, I assume. You know how touchy most wrestlers get regarding so-called "gimmick infringement." The History of FMW podcast is really good, but if you're going to get into it, I highly recommend that you watch the YouTube version. They have video and photos to go along with the narrative which is very helpful. It's pretty much a fact that nobody knows more about FMW than Bahu, so you can't go wrong there. His co-host is a guy named Steven Ayy who is an American expatriate who lives in China now. He is a huge deathmatch fan who runs his own website and seems to have an impressive knowledge of the deathmatch scene in Japan from FMW up to now. The format of the podcast is that he interviews Bahu about the history of FMW and they cover it in 6 month increments, episode by episode. Steven has a pretty serious speech impediment (he stutters) which tends to draw the episodes out a fair bit. (I am not criticizing the guy for stuttering, I actually admire him for doing a podcast with a speech impediment.) The problem is that Steven comes across as pretty damn disorganized and he always sounds like it's his first episode and he's nervous as hell - there is a lot of "ummming and ahhhing" there are long gaps in the narrative, you can hear him rustling papers, and he loses his train of thought regularly - it's pretty much the podcast equivalent of college radio. Plus, his answer to everything Bahu says is "cool" and that gets old pretty quickly. I can't imagine sitting through that podcast without the visual aids provided by the YouTube version. They clearly put a ton of work into that aspect of it anyhow, so to listen to just the audio version would be to get half the story.

Yeah, Hayabusa and Sabu both had killer gear. Sabu had a ton of it too, he seemed to have owned an outfit in every possible color. In his History of FMW Podcast, Bahu claims that Sabu was really pissed the first time he saw Hayabusa in his new gear when he came back from Mexico, because he considered it a rip-off of his gimmick, but eventually he got over it. I know they were pretty good friends still after that, but it's true Hayabusa kind of aped Sabu's look.

i don't know why, but it has always really bugged me when guys wrestled in street clothes - especially if they mixed it with wrestling gear. Like IRS was supposed to be an accountant who was so into his job he didn't even bother changing into wrestling gear - aside from the giant elbow brace he wore and his wrestling boots. Or like that goofy gear Low Ki was wearing last time I saw him in TNA, with the Hitman suit. Just a weird pet peeve of mine which I can't even explain. The only exception I ever had to that rule was guys in ECW like The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer who would have just looked weird wearing spandex singlets.

From what I understand, the main reason Anthem bought into TNA/Impact originally was to provide original content for The Fight Network. I had heard that it wasn't so much that they wanted to own a Pro Wrestling Company as it was they wanted something cheap to fill large gaps in their programming schedule. I tend to believe that theory, because I have The Fight Network, and it is packed with old TNA "classic" content and current Impact content. (Counterbalanced with old UFC stuff, which I hear they are losing soon.) There was a point in the past when TFN had a wide variety of Pro Wrestling content from all over, but now it seems to be a mix of TNA/Impact, old UFC and infomercials. If Anthem did sell Impact, they'd either have to make Impact continuing to air on TFN part of the deal, or they'd have one hell of a big hole on in the their programming schedule...especially if it's true they're losing the UFC stuff too as part of UFC moving from FOX to ESPN.

I'm not sure how my fragile ego factors into this, one way or the other. I don't know who "Casey" is, nor do I care. I don't subscribe to the Observer, Torch or PWInsider. I just think it's sad how you're trying to convince everybody in this thread how important you are and much you know. I get the impression that it is important to you that people acknowledge that. Do yourself a favor. Take two steps back and objectively look at this statement you made: "Endless wrestlers follow me on Twitter...I am well connected with this generation of Wrestling talent and promoters. Casey Michael and I broke more signing stories in Pro Wrestling over the last 4 years than anyone." Even if your statement is true, if you're being honest you have to admit that the fact that you felt the need to make it, comes across as a cry for help. If you can't see that? Well then, by all means...enjoy your important status. You earned it. You're a very important person on Twitter, who knows all sorts of very important things, and all sorts of very important people and I am duly impressed.

Oh man, Mean Gene and Super Dave in the same day. Two entertainment icons from my teenage years gone at the same time. What a horrible day.

I get the impression that they are not going to do a TNA episode for a couple reasons. Bischoff has said in the past that there is still ongoing litigation between himself and Dixie Carter regarding his time in TNA...I believe if I am not mistaken that he left TNA being owed a fairly sizable amount of money. I am pretty sure he is suing Dixie Carter and Panda Energy for that money, so he can't comment about TNA too much while the lawsuit is going on. Secondly, I distinctly remember him saying that he doesn't have anything positive at all to say about the business side of TNA or his time there, but he really liked the talent and many of the people who worked there behind the scenes, so he doesn't want to speak ill of the company while they are still functioning. It's one thing for him to dish dirt on WCW since that company is dead and buried, but I know he has said he doesn't want anything he says about TNA to reflect negatively on the guys who still work there.

83 Weeks continues their strong run of shows discussing the Starrcade PPV's which took place during Eric Bischoff's tenure in WCW. They have already covered 96, 97 and 98 over the past few weeks. This week they went back and covered Starrcade 1994. I thought it was a really strong episode, and Eric really went into great detail (or "going into the weeds" as he calls it) regarding a number of issues. They discuss Eric's duties as "WCW Executive Producer" and how at around this time there was a lot of political maneuvering behind the scenes between Bischoff and the then President of WCW, Bob Dhue. They really go in depth about who Gary Juster is, how Eric buried him in his book, and why Bischoff cancelled all WCW House Shows to save money at the apparent objection of Juster. Conrad gets a tad snarky about Eric burying Juster since he has met him and likes him, and Conrad tries to call Eric out about it, a bit. Interestingly, Eric fires back with a claim that he knows Juster was leaking info to Meltzer. They talk about WCW attempting to grow their business internationally while their domestic house show business is dead. He gets quite animated and talks at great length about The Honkytonk Man and his release, rebutting Honky's version of his WCW tenure and claims that he quit. They review the Starrcade 94 PPV in depth, including a frank discussion of Hulk Hogan's friends getting WCW jobs - particularly focusing on Jim Duggan, John Tenta and especially Ed "Brutus-The-Barber-Brother-Bruti-Butcher-Man-With-No-Name-Zodiac-Booty-Man-Disciple" Leslie. They have an interesting discussion about the Alex Wright/Jean-Paul Levesque match, with Eric giving some interesting feedback regarding who looked like a bigger star in that match, and who was responsible for their push. A highlight is the discussion of the Mr. T. vs. Kevin Sullivan match. I particularly enjoyed the exchange when Conrad says he wanted to punch Bischoff in the dick after watching that match, and Eric shoots back and says he should punch his Father-in-Law in the dick - he was on the booking committee at the time, and besides - Flair's dick is a much bigger target. Eric ends up acquiescing and agreeing to be pushed down a small flight of stairs, due to how bad this match was. Two of the most interesting things about this episode to me were the fact that Bischoff (in his own words) "puts over" Dave Meltzer a fair bit, until he loses it at the end regarding what he claims are inaccuracies regarding Meltzer's reporting of WCW's financial loses in 1994. Also, I know I have discussed this at length at PWO but I think this bears repeating - I was really struck at how much more self-effacing Bischoff is when compared to Prichard. Maybe it's a "gimmick" but even Conrad grudgingly admits that he expected Bischoff to defend the Main Event much more than he did. Conrad was obviously expecting a real argument like the one they had over Starrcade 96 and 97 Main Events. Instead, you get a shockingly contrite Eric Bischoff who claims this is one of if not the worst shows WCW ever did under his reign. He also really gets into the details of Hulk Hogan's level of influence over the booking of his matches and selection of his opponents. He makes some interesting points - namely that while Hogan undoubtedly did use his influence to get his friends booked in Main Events, in Hogan's "defense" he legitimately thought the matches would draw. Eric makes the point that if Hogan thought working with his friends was going to hurt the bottom line - especially if it would affect his ability to draw money long term, he wouldn't do it. To me the highlight was the discussion of booking at this time (done by a committee of Ric Flair who replaced Dusty Rhodes, Terry Taylor and Kevin Sullivan) but more specifically I found it really interesting when he went into great detail regarding a series of targeted focus groups they ran which helped him determine what the fans wanted to see. There were a couple of negatives about this episode. Eric mercilessly flogged the 83 Weeks Patreon deal to the point of absurdity, and he also kept going back to a labored analogy comparing himself to a puppy and Conrad to an Alligator which was really quite goofy and just didn't work. When they are discussing shows which Bischoff knows are pretty much indefensible, he tends to try to paint himself as a victim of Conrad's criticism which isn't a great look for him. However, all in all this show encapsulated perfectly what I have been on about recently - how good 83 Weeks is, and how it is so much better than Something to Wrestle. Anybody else hear it, and if so what did you think?

I agree with you. I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks that. I've said that here and elsewhere, and had people argue with me about it, but I swear it's true. I've said Bischoff is now doing Prichard's show better than Prichard does, and boy does that upset the Prichard fanboys, but I stand behind my statement. I think it boils down to three reasons. Firstly, Eric seems way more enthusiastic about his show than Bruce does about STW. It feels like Bischoff cares more about the quality of the show, whereas Bruce just wants to keep cranking out the same old crap. Eric overanalyzes his answers and goes on and on about even the smallest issues, whereas Bruce usually resorts to either a "Fuck Meltzer" or a tired Vince impersonation. I just get the impression Eric is having way more fun doing the show, and frequently get the feeling Prichard doesn't even want to be there doing his show some weeks. Secondly, as big of an egotist as Eric can be, he will freely admit when he was wrong about something. I listened to the episode about Halloween Havoc 98 just last night, and at one point Eric basically says that the show sucked, and he can't defend it. I get the feeling if it was Bruce, he'd spend his time deflecting, ripping Meltzer's review as a distraction, and then resort to his tired old "the match might not have been great...but we were telling a story" line. I laughed my ass off when Conrad asked Eric if Hogan/Warrior 98 was the worst match in WCW history, and Eric said it might be...but he wasn't going to commit to that because they produced a lot of bad matches and there might be something worse out there. Bruce will admit at times that something sucked, but very rarely will he cop to his responsibility for it...and I very very rarely ever hear that level of honesty out of him. Finally, I think it comes down to the relationship each guy has with Conrad Thompson. I think it's pretty clear that Conrad and Bruce are good friends, and because of that Conrad won't call Bruce on a lot of his bullshit. He'll do it sometimes - he especially loves to needle Bruce about defending Triple H - but he doesn't go after Bruce anywhere near as much as he does Eric. Sometimes it feels like STW is a show where Bruce and Conrad review the shows to talk about how great they were, but the purpose of 83 Weeks is to rip WCW apart. Of course, you can make the argument that the WWF put out a better product than WCW so it's harder for Conrad to find things to criticize Bruce for, but I don't think that's the case. Let's remember, they spend most of their time discussing the Attitude Era (especially lately) and that is some prime Russo content, which Prichard was present for. Bischoff wasn't around for the majority of Russo's tenure in WCW, but Conrad doesn't hesitate to rake him over the coals for a ton of it. The two recent 83 Weeks shows about Starrcade 97 and 98 are a perfect example. That shit got plenty heated - especially when they talked about the Main Event of 97. I'm not saying I bought Eric's explanation/excuses, but I am saying that (regardless of whether you think the arguments were "worked") you never hear Conrad go after Bruce anywhere near as viciously as that. He used to, but not anymore. The only times I remember Conrad getting that pissy with Bruce is when Bruce tries to downplay the impact of ECW. Lets be honest, Bruce Prichard was out of the business and pretty much an afterthought when Conrad Thompson pulled him from obscurity and helped make him "relevant" again to the world of Pro Wrestling. (And I cringe at using that term.) Bischoff (while failing at his own attempt to have a podcast) seemed happy to be divorced from the business and has a lot of his own independent ventures which keep him busy. I don't think Eric needs Conrad as much as Bruce does, and maybe that's why the relationship and dynamic seems so different between them. Whatever the relationship and personal dynamics differences are, the end result has become 83 Weeks being a way better show. And I for one was not expecting that at all. I went into it with an open mind, but a year ago I never would have guessed that Eric Bischoff would be able to work this whole podcast gimmick better than Bruce Prichard. Oh well. At least Bruce is still much better than Tony Schiavone.

I enjoyed the Dynamite Kid episode from last week with Dave Meltzer.

83 Weeks and Cornette's Drive-Thru are pretty much the only podcasts I still listen to regularly, (although I am still working my way through The History of FMW.) Don't know if anybody around here caught the episode of 83 Weeks from a couple of weeks ago where they covered Eric's time in the AWA? I thought it was pretty good, and kind of interesting. Apparently, much to their surprise, that episode has turned out to be one of the most popular topics they've done so far. It seems to have caught them a bit off guard, since they didn't think many people cared about the AWA, and they assumed that most of the listeners would want to exclusively hear about WCW and the run of shows where WCW beat the WWF in the ratings. Then this past week, they covered Starrcade 96. It was a good show, but nothing too noteworthy - except they ended up touching on something which encapsulates why I have come to prefer this show and pretty much stopped listening to Something to Wrestle. Conrad starts by warning Eric he's going to be quoting Meltzer about the state of WCW's attendance, ratings and revenue in 1996 and basically says he knows Eric is going to complain about it. Eric argues with Conrad, and says he thinks Dave Meltzer does a good job of reporting on and covering the business aspects of WCW, and he trusts that information - he just doesn't like it when Meltzer reports stories when he is getting worked by his sources, or he editorializes. So Bischoff doesn't end up disagreeing with any of the stuff Conrad reads off from the Observer about WCW's business. Later, Conrad reads an item from the Observer about WCW being in talks with Tatanka (?!) about coming in. This time, Eric loses it and yells: "You see? NEVER HAPPENED." He claims that he had never even met or spoken with Tatanka until just recently, when they met at some convention. Whether it's true or not, Eric claims that the Tatanka story is total bullshit. Later still, while they are reviewing the actual PPV, Conrad reads Meltzer's review of the show - specifically his criticism of Roddy Piper's pre-match promo. Once again, Eric gets a bit touchy and claims that of course Piper's promo was rambling and nonsensical - because he's Roddy Piper. He even discusses how his and Dave Metlzer's opinions of what make a "good match" are different from his, since Meltzer focuses on the match quality and the moves, whereas as the promoter Bischoff was focusing on the "story" and business end. I don't always agree with Eric Bischoff, but these types of discussions are the reasons I still listen to this show. Bruce Prichard just dismisses every single thing Meltzer ever says and every story he reports, automatically out of hand. There isn't any discussion about why, there isn't any justification, it's just "Fuck Meltzer" over and over again. He refuses to give Meltzer any credit for anything and his repeated Meltzer bashing (along with what appears to be his own growing disinterest in his own show) has made Something to Wrestle almost unbearable at this point. At least Bischoff, gives Meltzer credit for accuracy in covering the business as a reporter, he just disputes his sources and his editorializing. At times he can resort to falling back on "Fuck Meltzer" too, but most times (if pressed) he is a lot more even handed and fair about it, and at least explains and justifies his reasons for having issues with Meltzer and the Observer. I don't think the enthusiasm factor can be overlooked, either. Every time I have tried picking up STW again lately, it sounds like Prichard is bored and just going through the motions. A few weeks back, Conrad and Eric did a show focusing on Eric's first year with WWE. Eric got so into the discussion and the details of the negotiation and his debut on Raw, that they had to split the episode in two. You might argue that Eric Bischoff just likes the sound of his own voice and there certainly is some truth to that...but I always laugh when Conrad asks him a question and then Eric takes 15 minutes to answer, going into detail and meandering off into side-topics. At least he is still enthusiastic about the show and the topics they cover. This show has been going for 10 months now, and in my opinion it has gotten better with time, unlike Prichard's show which has run out of steam. Although next week they are covering Starrcade 97, and Eric is already warning people that he and Conrad really get into it. I am betting it will be over the infamous Nick Patrick slow/fast count.

I can't imagine getting too seriously angry with you. We've been posting on the same messageboards for a scary amount of time, you were back at Rantysylvania from the very start, weren't you? I at least remember you from WDI and that was what...15 years ago? Also, I just read my original response to you and the first thing I thought was...