The Thread Killer

That was a pretty fun little match. I haven't watched Raw or SDL since before Wrestlemania, so I only have a periphery knowledge of the "storylines" going into this show, based on what I've perused online. I see Rusev is still very popular and I see the "creative" team is still doing nothing about it. The New Day aren't stale at all. Gotta keep selling them shirts, I guess. And now the Main Show. To quote Jeff Winger from Community: "Okay...let's crap out this piece of crap."

Yeah, how you do that? I have a rare Sunday night off and was actually going to watch this show and post along like old times. Unfortunately, we are having major hydro problems (apparently due to the unseasonable heat we're experiencing) and as a result we are having "brownouts" where we lose power about every 15 minutes for 2-3 minutes. Then it comes back. Then it goes out. Trying to watch something during rolling power outages will probably be incredibly frustrating. Maybe even as frustrating as the booking on the actual show.

Randy Orton is going to drag Jeff Hardy to the top of the Cell...and then put him in a chinlock.

Jim Cornette talked about that very issue recently on one of his podcasts - how some fans assume that just because a Pro Wrestler is one of best workers in the business, or one of the top draws, they should automatically be able to book. Cornette's pointed out that no matter how good a guy was as a wrestler, it is a big mistake to assume he might have the creative skills needed to do more than that. If I remember correctly, I think Cornette might have been talking about Hogan's ill-fated run in TNA from 2009-2013 where he was reportedly contributing all sorts of bad ideas, but the point is probably equally apt when it comes to Austin.

I just started catching up on this series on YouTube and I absolutely love it. It takes me back to when I first came online, ordered a bunch of FMW tapes and discovered Onita and Hayabusa. Great work, I can't wait to hear the rest of this series.

I wondered if anybody else thought that. He sure looked buzzed, didn't he? Between how drunk he got during the Bash at the Beach 2000 episode of 83 Weeks, and his performance on this episode of Table for 3, I'm starting to wonder about that guy. Then again...who am I to judge?

I'm at that point now too, which is too bad. I used to make a point to download the latest show each week pretty much as soon as it was made available, but since this past spring I have found my interest in this show waning quite rapidly - which ironically started right around the time of their 100th episode. I couldn't sit through that one and they have been hit and miss since then, mostly miss. I've skipped a couple of episodes or only listened to part of them. It's just over-saturation of the same old tired jokes and imitations over and over again, and seriously...enough with the fucking Meltzer bashing already. It doesn't help that (in my opinion, which I know a lot of people won't share) 83 Weeks has become a more compelling show, using the exact same format. Bischoff does his share of Meltzer bitching too, but he's a lot more even-handed about it, and I find his re-telling of the Monday Night Wars from a more business based perspective to be a lot more interesting. Also, maybe it's just me but Bischoff doesn't seem to have as big a problem as Prichard does admitting when something sucked, or when he made a mistake. Either way, for whatever reason I find that STW has really lost it's lustre for me.

Finally checked these shows out, and you guys weren't kidding. I have loved all the "deep dives" he has done so far, but these OVW shows have been even better than the other ones he has done in the past. From what Brian Last has said, it sounds like the Deep Dive shows are getting a ton of positive feedback, so I really hope that Cornette continues to do them. I could listen to him talk about wrestling history all day, and he keeps such meticulous records of the things he has been involved in, that you don't have to worry about the usual bullshit or vague recollections. Cornette has such an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of Pro Wrestling, when he does the Deep Dives or even on his Drive-Thru podcast, I find them to be essential listening. They are way better than anything Conrad and Company produces. So many fascinating details about the business and booking of SMW, and now OVW. But on the flip side, I really don't care to hear him rant endlessly about American politics. It's his platform and he's certainly entitled to his opinion, but that's not why I listen to a Cornette podcast. It's not like I am a Trump supporter or anything, it's just that I find I get inundated with people complaining about Trump online (especially Twitter) on TV and in print media pretty much non-stop. I like to keep my Pro Wrestling politics free, as an escape - so I much prefer when Cornette sticks to Pro Wrestling history and leaves the politics out of it. Like I said, some of these shows have been so damn good, I hope they mark a bit of a change in format for him.

So apparently Marty Scrull is going to be wrestling Sami Callihan on the sea-cruise Chris Jericho is hosting. If a giant wave came up over the bow during their match and swept just the two of them out to sea forever, I wouldn't be too upset, really. That might make me a bad person, but I don't care. It would mean no more crappy sloppy worked shoot hardcore nonsense from Callihan, and no more ridiculous arm flapping from Scrull. They don't have to drown. They could live on an island together, like Tom Hanks and the volleyball in Cast Away. As long as nobody finds them. That's all that matters to me.

Does anybody have a list of his TV/PPV matches with Cactus Jack in WCW? I wanted to go back and watch those, too.

When I saw Angle on Table for 3 with Edge and Christian, I remember thinking that he seemed a little...off. Just a step or two slower verbally than I remember him being. I also thought maybe he had lingering concussion issues too, or that substance abuse had taken it's toll on him. It sounds mean-spirited and I don't mean it that way. I'm not saying it to be insulting, but he really doesn't come across like the same guy since his return.

I didn't mind his interview, but I never realized until listening to him on Jericho's podcast how much Meltzer kind of sounds like he's hopped up on speed a lot of the time. I probably would have clued into that earlier if I listened to WOL more than just YouTube clips...but that would involve listening to Bryan Alverez and I'm just not going to do that.

I enjoyed his matches with Sting and especially with Cactus Jack in WCW, but what put me over the top in my Vader fandom was his trilogy of matches with Takada in UWF-I. I loved those fights. He really could work with just about anybody. One of the things that has always struck me about Vader is that you can go back and watch his classic matches and they hold up just as well now - which you can't say for a lot of people. I remember being really pleased when he ranked #14 in the GWE, to me it showed the high regard everybody here at PWO held him in. Anybody who only saw Vader in the WWF didn't really see him at all. All I could say to those fans is seek out his entire body of work. It is so rare to find a Pro Wrestler who actually changed the entire business, but Vader really did it. It's not hyperbole it's true. Vader made the whole concept of plodding super-heavyweights obsolete. He changed the game. An all time great, and his death is a huge loss to the sport. On top of that, from what I've read, seen and heard he was also a really nice guy. I have to admit that sometimes I have become desensitized to Pro Wrestler deaths, but this has really gotten me down today. 63 is too young to go, and I am so sad for his family and loved ones. Rest in peace, big guy.

With Cass, it will be interesting to see if he actually continues wrestling after being released, or if he quits altogether. I'm curious because some of the guys coming up in developmental over the past few years are of the age that they have grown up wanting to be "WWE Superstars" and have a "Wrestlemania Moment" not actually learn to be Professional Wrestlers. It's conceivable that a guy like Cass might take the attitude that if you're not working for WWE, what's the point? Drew Galloway seems to have kind of written the book on how to get released, work hard, build a buzz and earn your job back eventually, but I wonder if a guy like Cass would even be willing to do that. Time will tell.

I've seen other people say the same thing elsewhere but it bears repeating. Coach is almost fascinating to me (in the same way Vince Russo is) in that I can't fathom how somebody could be so closely involved in Pro Wrestling at such an intimate level, for such a prolonged period of time...yet still have no understanding of the simple basics of the sport or even a minimal understanding of what makes it work, and why. There can only be two possible explanations, either exceptional stupidity or - and this is more likely - supreme arrogance. As in: "They hired me to work here and I get paid, so I must already know everything about this business and don't need to study or learn." In Coachman's case, I sometimes get an "Ed Whalen" vibe from him, like because of his "legitimate sports" journalism background he somehow thinks he's above Pro Wrestling or looks down on it in some way. Either way, it's disrespectful to the sport, and maddening to witness.

Toronto in the summer rules! There is also Toronto Football Club to check out too. Lots and lots to do. There is a lucha company, that occasionally brings in names. Other indies run here too. Let me know if you head to Smash, we can greet and stuff. Would love to man, will definitely be in touch I would also extend an invitation to meet, but unfortunately I am a borderline agoraphobic who only leaves his apartment to work and get supplies. You're in much better hands with Grimmas.

I thought MSG had some sort of exclusivity agreement with WWE? Bischoff has claimed that WWF/WWE had exclusivity agreements with a bunch of the major arenas, most notably MSG...which froze WCW out of a lot of these places. You know Bischoff would have loved to have run MSG to stick it to McMahon back during the "Monday Night Wars." I can't imagine WWE letting anybody else run MSG, unless their agreement has lapsed or something.

This week's episode was a tribute to Dusty Rhodes. It was pretty unremarkable until the surprise Hulk Hogan appearance during the last half hour of the show. I have to admit, it was pretty surreal to hear Conrad Thompson asking questions of Hulk Hogan like he normally does of Bruce Prichard or Eric.

I was poking around and found the clip from the KC shoot where Sabu talked about his time in WWE. (We don't seem to be able to post YouTube videos anymore?)

Bro, they could put the pile of coke on a pole, and whoever gets to it can snort it during the fight, bro.

Regarding the logo, I posted my suggestion on Twitter for Loss but somebody told me it had already been used somewhere else by somebody or other. I don't know who else ever used this style of logo. I think it's pretty sweet.

The majority of the information about Sabu's personal life I learned during the aforementioned "Breaking Kayfabe" interview he did with Kayfabe Commentaries. That is a series of Shoot Interviews Sean Oliver does where he focuses on the personal lives of the subject and if you are a Sabu fan, I can't recommend that interview enough. I've seen pretty much all the shoots Sabu has done, but that is the one where he is by far at his most open and candid. He even comments during the interview that he is comfortable enough with Sean Oliver (due to the two previous interviews they had done, in addition to their working relationship) that he doesn't feel too anxious talking to him. That is also the interview where he gets into detail about his time in the WWE, what went wrong, how they tried to change him, and how he felt about himself there. C.S., I hope you'll like Drawing Heat. You have to keep in mind, that book was originally published in 1988, long before Mick Foley wrote "Have A Nice Day" and opened the doors for the million wrestling books that followed. I fully grant you that the book is pretty "Toronto-centric." It's mostly about how the Toronto Wrestling Office run by the Tunney family tried to run an independent promoter named Dave McKigney out of business. McKigney (known as The Canadian Wildman) was infamous for two reasons. Firstly, he used to wrestle a bear on his shows, until the bear attacked and killed his girlfriend. Secondly, McKigney was driving the van during the car accident that killed Adrian Adonis and he was killed himself in the accident. This book came out before the accident, but I understand the latest printings have a new final chapter covering the accident and McKigney's death. However, one of the main stars of Dave McKigney's shows was The Sheik. By this time the Sheik was long past his prime, however he liked working for McKigney. Sabu actually got his start working for McKigney too, wrestling as "Terry S.R." Professor Freedman got to know The Sheik as they both traveled with McKigney, and the chapters about The Sheik are pretty eye-opening. I might have suspected they were being embellished for dramatic effect, but all the other stories about The Sheik seem to bear those types of stories out. I appreciate you giving my side of the argument some thought, at the least.

Dude, did Sabu run over your dog or something? As the board's resident Sabu fanboy (immortalized when I was his high vote in the GWE) I strongly disagree with your opinions when it comes to him. There is no way Sabu acquiescing to Vince McMahon's and the WWE creative team's "tweaks" to his character would have ever worked, anyhow. If Sabu had changed who he was, he wouldn't have been Sabu. His Uncle made him Sabu. Sabu was not only trained by The Sheik, but he was his nephew and grew up around him. Sabu didn't have a father in the picture and pretty much idolized The Sheik from the time he was a kid. Sabu has gone on record as saying he has designed his entire career as a living tribute to his Uncle. So he did (and does) things the way his Uncle did, and would do them no other way. I know I harp on this point a lot, but in my signature there is a link to a book called "Drawing Heat" by Professor Jim Freedman. The Sheik features heavily in this book. Prof. Freedman was never a wrestling fan and knew nothing about Pro Wrestling when he started writing that book, so he met and got to know The Sheik from a totally unbiased perspective. The picture he paints of The Sheik (which has been pretty much confirmed in every Shoot Interview where his name has come up) is of a man who didn't have "a gimmick." His wife called him Sheik. His kids called him Sheik. He took being The Sheik deadly serious and there is no way that didn't rub off on Sabu. Secondly, Sabu (by his own admission) sucks at promos. Sabu tells a hilarious story where during his training, his Uncle asked him to cut a promo. Sabu tried, and The Sheik said to him: "Promise me you'll never do that again." They agreed that he (like his Uncle) wouldn't speak. Everybody else talks, and yells, and points at the camera, and threatens, and puts themselves over...so he wouldn't say a word. He'd just point up. He doesn't even like talking to people he doesn't know in private, which is one of the reasons he smokes so much pot. He has Social Anxiety Disorder and gets so anxious when he is asked to speak in front of people he doesn't know, that he stutters. This is noticeable in the aforementioned Kayfabe Commentary "Breaking Kayfabe" interview. There is no way that he ever would have become comfortable enough cutting promos - especially scripted promos - that it would have been enough to satisfy Vince McMahon and the WWE. Finally, the main factor is that Sabu hated working for WWE. Hated it with a passion. He freely admits that he "sold out" and worked there for the money but he was so miserable there that in the end, he kept doing things trying to get himself fired - and eventually he did. The big difference between Mick Foley and Sabu is that Foley was willing to do pretty much anything to succeed in the WWF and make money. I don't think Sabu is adverse to making money - especially considering the medical bills he has had to deal with over the past few years - but he has gone on record saying that there are plenty of things he wouldn't and won't do to make it. I don't think Sabu is a nobody. He will be remembered by a lot of hardcore fans. Hell, I think he is actually pretty damn unique, which is not easy to pull off in Pro Wrestling.

I hope you enjoy it and everybody is welcoming to you. Sadly, I haven't been to an indie show in the Toronto area since 1999 or so. Unless you count Ring of Honor, I guess.

I'm about an hour into the Chris Jericho episode. It's really good, as good as the Bret Hart episode, but damn is Bischoff a lot more prickly and defensive so far this week. I am also greatly enjoying that every time he uses the word "bro" Conrad calls him on it, and Bischoff's subsequent reaction. As much as I enjoy this podcast, I have to admit we are starting to see a lot more of the kind of behavior people were worried about when it was first announced. Eric Bischoff is really showing his arrogance at times, and doing his absolute best to portray himself as a creative visionary and business genius. In his defense, it seems to be his reaction the various misleading or outright false narratives which have come up over the years regarding WCW from various Shoot Interviews, books, documentaries and autobiographies - but it's still not a flattering look for him. I prefer funny/self-effacing Eric to indignant/defensive Eric.