The Thread Killer

I don't get that. This is one of my biggest pet peeves right now in all of wrestling. The End of Days involves Baron Corbin picking up his opponent, holding them on top of him, and then hurling himself backward so he lands back first on the mat as hard as he can, with the added bonus of his opponent's weight on top of him. He is essentially giving HIMSELF the Rock Bottom. HOW IS THAT A GOOD FINISHER? Also YES...bald guys who don't want to admit they're bald and grow the rest of their hair long, with a few last remaining strands on top? These people are meant to be laughed at behind their backs, not admired.

I agree, that headline is unfair. "Why has Randy Orton's entire career been so bad?" would be much more accurate.

Harts vs Killer Bees is the only thing close for me. Grimmas, I know you are from Toronto. Were you of the right age to have attended the Frank Tunney Memorial Tag Team tournament at Maple Leaf Gardens? I was there, and (as I recall, although this may be nostalgia, not an accurate reflection of quality) it was great. The Killer Bees won the tournament and got a shot at The Hart Foundation in the Main Event. For a long time, many of the matches were available on YouTube but sadly I don't think they are anymore. Anyhow, +1 for the Killer Bees vs. Harts love.

If I had a co worker say that to me I would have blasted him with a Stone Cold Stunner! If I ever lost it and attacked one of my coworkers, I always saw it being more along the lines of the time Mankind attacked Jim Ross after their interview. I'd give them the mandible claw, while making that loud screeching noise Mankind used to make. I could see myself snapping and doing that, and then afterwards sitting on the floor cross-legged, rocking back and forth while I waited for security to come and get me.

What?! Only a 1/4 star? Your ranking system is too tough. In the interest of full disclosure, when I responded to your post I had just worked a 12 hour night shift and hadn't eaten. It's entirely possible I was being snarky when I responded and could have done it a bit more diplomatically. The end result is, I have established that I don't care for Joey Ryan or his spot. I respect and understand that there are lots of people who do. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this issue. I agree with this sentiment. If nothing else, the issue gave me an entertaining diversion while on my break at work. So in that sense, I guess you could say Joey Ryan and his dick-spot entertained me.

I don't care if some people thought it was funny or not. This is completely different. Vince Russo booked illogical shit, offensive stuff and violence against women and effectively killed off whatever was left of WCW and prevented TNA from ever growing past of its status because of it. Joey Ryan is an indy comedy wrestler who does an absurd gag spot. Get over it people. And yeah proposing his girlfirend during a match is relevant to the whole character, because it was also a spot in the context of a pro-wrestling match, and quite a cool one at that. (and since we're playing a "morality game" here it seems, yeah, those Dynamite Kid matches were awesome, weren't they ? Of course, the man was/is a complete piece of shit, but that never was considered an embarrassament to pro-wrestling, that biz where Jimmy Snuka gets a hero tribute video) As far as making pro-wrestling look stupid ? Watching Ric Flair placing the hand of his opponent on his chest before taking the same damn bump for no other reason other than "pop the crowd" makes pro-wrestling look stupid to anyone willing to think about it for two second with an "out of the wrestling bubble" mind. Hulk Hogan is stupid as fuck (really, he looks like a giant jingoist clown injected with steroids doing bad pantonyme). The Undertaker zombi sit-up ? John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle ? The People's Elbow ? Kicking yourself hard in the face until you bleed or get concussions like Shibata used to do ? Jumping off the Cell through the announcers table ? Mr. Socko ? Guys in masks carefuly rolling around doing gymnastics and very obviously collaborating with each others ? Men in underwear slapping each others' chests with open hands ? Working "stiff" despite not actually being in a fight ? A fucking Irish-whip ? "Do you smeeeellllalalala what the Rock is cooking" ? Playing on xenophobic, homophobic, mysoginistic clichés ? Cutting your forehead with a razor to draw blood to pretend you were punched hard ? Actually punch a guy hard to draw blood to pretend you punched a guy hard ? A fat man sith a G-string sitting on another guy's face ? Giant Baba's chops ? Guys catching other guys doing jumps and flips over the top rope instead of moving ? For fuck's sake. Pro-fucking-wrestling. It's a gag. With a dick spot hulking up. It's funny because it's absurd. And harmless. Get over it. (I probably spent more time today talking about Joey Ryan than I actually ever did watching Joey Ryan's stuff. And by stuff and don't mean anything specific.) Damn, you seem outraged over this. The outrage and vapors are quite funny. And ridiculous. Mostly ridiculous.

Holy crap, you literally couldn't be more wrong. Talk about your sweeping generalizations. Firstly, just because somebody doesn't like Joey Ryan and his dick routine doesn't mean they dislike ALL comedy wrestling. That would be like me saying to you that if you don't like Louie CK, you don't like standup comedy, or if you don't like Judd Apatow, you don't like comedy movies. I love comedy and I am not opposed to comedy in Pro Wrestling - when it is done properly. Chris Jericho is pretty much the epitome of a guy who mastered the art of comedic wrestling while at the same time being able to balance the serious aspects of the business and still get his character across. To a lesser extent, ditto for Edge and Christian. Secondly, I have been called a lot of things in my time and accused of a lot of character flaws, but I have literally never been accused of being self-serious or taking things too seriously. In fact, I've been criticized for the exact opposite. You are making a massive leap in "logic" and are being incredibly presumptuous by assuming that just because somebody isn't amused by Joey Ryan, they take themselves too seriously or have no sense of humor. I could just as easily turn around and accuse you of having no taste in comedy for liking him. I could ask why you don't have more respect for the tradition of professional wrestling, and why you would support something that makes it look foolish. I liked Enzo & Cass. I liked The Wyatt Family. I like Gallows and Anderson. (They're a couple of good brothers.) But I know a lot of people around here do not share these opinions, and in my 34 years as a wrestling fan I have learned that just because something is popular, that doesn't mean it's good. By the same token just because something is unpopular, that doesn't make it bad. I don't like Joey Ryan one little bit, but if you enjoy that sort of thing - knock yourself out. But the fact that I don't like him doesn't mean I have some sort of perceptive problem or personality flaw. You know the last time I was embarrassed about being a wrestling fan? When my co-worker asked me if I liked "the dick guy." I had to try and patiently explain that he was not a typical Pro Wrestler, that most of them are legitimate athletes, and that when it is done well, Pro Wrestling can have all the intrigue of a well written movie or television show, or all the athleticism of a legitimate sporting event or athletic contest. I have no issue telling people I am a fan. After all these years, it's pretty hard to hide. I just don't like having to try and excuse or explain stupid shit. I felt the exact same way then Mae Young gave birth to a hand, or when the world was introduced to Katie Vick. Not moments where I WAS proud to be a fan.

What does proposing to his girlfriend have to do with anything? Aside from his girlfriend - and you apparently - who gives a shit about that? I'm sure he loves his mommy, and thinks kitties and puppies are cute, and he cried at the end of Toy Story 3, too. Equally irrelevant. Joey Ryan makes a living pretending he has a super-powered penis, I don't think that exactly qualifies him for Man of the Year. As far as the bigger picture goes, I'm not "outraged." I don't like him. But I freely admit, his super-dick routine is intended to be a joke. Okay fine, Joey Ryan is comedy wrestler. Be careful what you wish for, Joey. As I said, I strongly suspect that when all is said and done, he is going to go down in the annals of wrestling history as a guy who achieved a brief period of fame and notoriety for doing a comedy spot based around his penis. Maybe that is why he got into the business. If so, mission accomplished. Mind you, if we apply your logic...most of the stupid crap Vince Russo booked in WCW and TNA, now that I think about it, I'm sure there were plenty of people who found that stuff funny, right? And Vince Russo made a living doing what he loved, got over, got fans, didn't hurt anyone doing it, and he's been married to the same woman for something like 27 years! That sounds like all good and fun to me. Except... I don't like stuff that makes Pro Wrestling look stupid. I don't like being embarrassed for being a fan of Pro Wrestling. You can quite easily trot out about a million examples of things that have been done since the first day Ed "The Strangler" Lewis pulled on a pair of wrestling boots that were stupid, insulting to the intelligence and embarrassing. You can even argue that by it's very nature, Pro Wrestling IS stupid and embarrassing. That's not the kind of Pro Wrestling I like. I liked Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask. I liked Flair vs. Steamboat. I liked Misawa vs. Kawada. There were very few penis spots in those matches, that I remember. Of course, I also laughed at Edge and Christian playing Triple H's theme song on a kazoo. I laughed at Kurt Angle driving a scooter while wearing an enormous helmet, trying to show the Undertaker that he too was a badass biker. I laughed at the List of Jericho. But I wasn't embarrassed by any of those things, and people who weren't fans could look at those things at see that they were making fun of characters and situations, not making a big joke out of Pro Wrestling itself.

I'm sure if Joey Ryan was offered an NXT deal he'd turn it down on principle, out of an unwillingness to compromise his art. The one thing I enjoy about this is that he's forever going to go down in history as the guy who wrestled using his penis as a weapon and aside from that, accomplished...dick all.

Exactly. I don't think Joey Ryan is going to be the end of the wrestling business as we know it, but I also don't think he's just a harmless guy doing a comedy spot, either. It's hard enough being a wrestling fan and admitting it to people. 99% of people who aren't fans feel the need to break it to you gently that it's fake. I actually had one coworker of mine once say: "I can't believe you're a wrestling fan, I thought you were intelligent." I had another question the validity of my University Degree, assuming that anybody who watches wrestling can't possibly have a post-secondary education. When that stupid video of Joey Ryan went viral, and ended up on the news and all the stupid late night talk shows, I actually had people ask me: "Hey Dave, you're a wrestling fan...are you a fan of the guy who beats people up with his dick?" Joey Ryan is a mediocre talent at best, who was never going to make it big based on his skill level. He did something stupid to get attention, it worked better than he ever could have possibly hoped, and now he's milking it for all it's worth, regardless of how stupid it makes pro wrestling or pro wrestling fans look as a whole. To paraphrase The Iron Sheik: Fuck The Joey Ryan.

Well, if you can't trust rovert as an unimpeachable news source, then who can you trust.

I saw the extended promo for Simon Gotch's just released RF Video Shoot Interview, and there are clips of him just burying the hell out of Enzo, and giving examples of why he is so hated. One of the most interesting examples is Enzo claiming to be a protege of Dusty Rhodes, while knowing next to nothing about Dusty's career. I'd rather die a painful death than put one dollar in Rob Feinstein's pocket, so I shall not see the interview, but it looks quite interesting.

Did anybody hear the "Paul Heyman in the WWE" episode? I swore I wasn't going to listen to this show anymore, but the fact that the topic was Paul Heyman's time in WWE combined with a killer case of insomnia caused me to go back. It wasn't a terrible episode, I listened to the whole thing, but a few things really jumped out at me. Firstly, despite his claims that he and Heyman are friends, or friendly at least, it's blatantly obvious that Prichard is crazy jealous of Heyman's reputation. (The good parts of Heyman's reputation.) He goes to great length to try and take away any credit Heyman got while he was the Head Writer of Smackdown. He goes so far as to basically say that the title of Head Writer was just a figurehead title, and that both shows were written by the entire creative team, so whatever credit Heyman gets for his time writing Smackdown, the entire creative team should get. He claims he had never heard of the "Smackdown Six" which may be true. Basically Prichard pretty much refuses to give Heyman any credit for the success Smackdown had while Heyman was the Head Writer. Refreshingly, Prichard openly admits that Smackdown was always the "B Show" and was always seen as the "B Show." We all know it's true, but it was nice to hear him talk about it as if there was never really any doubt. Prichard takes great joy in bringing up some stories of when Heyman was wrong about characters or pushes. Specifically, he claims that Heyman lobbied long and hard against Cena getting the "White Rapper" gimmick, claiming it would kill his career and haunt him until the end of his days. He also claims that Heyman loudly opposed Eddie Guerrero being given the World Title, claiming it would never work and that Eddie was only over with the Latin audience. Prichard also claims that Heyman buried and did not support any ECW "original" talents being given pushes in WWE, aside from RVD. For example, he opposed them hiring Sandman, claiming Sandman is an alcoholic. Somebody really needs to get Prichard to do all of his imitations, and then compile a list of which ones are good, and which ones aren't. He should then be forbidden to do the bad ones. For example, his Vince McMahon and Johnny Ace? Great. His Jim Cornette, his Pat Patterson and most specifically his Paul Heyman imitations are AWFUL. And unfortunately, this episode was packed with his Heyman imitation for obvious reasons...and it sounded NOTHING like Heyman to me. Also, we need to pass a rule where Conrad needs to stop asking Prichard questions about how much money guys made. Prichard never knows, and when he does know he refuses to say, but Conrad keeps asking. This podcast is a year old. When is Conrad going to figure out that Prichard won't talk money? I don't want to give the impression that this episode was without good parts. There was good in here. For one thing, I have heard from a variety of people that Heyman's greatest flaw was that when he thought he was right about something he just wouldn't let it drop, and would keep pushing the issue until everybody wanted to kill him. (Actually I think Stephanie talks about that on the Paul Heyman DVD.) Prichard confirms that here, and provides some other insights too. Some parts were odd...like Prichard insisting that Heyman was never really interested in purchasing Strike Force when it was for sale, because how could he purchase it since he had gone bankrupt? Heyman has been pretty clear that he was part of a consortium that was looking to buy Strike Force, not that he was going to buy it out of his own pocket. But like I said...to me it became pretty clear that Prichard doesn't mind Heyman as a human being, but is really unhappy that Heyman has a reputation in the wrestling industry as a creative genius. He trots out the old Heyman talking point that his greatest strength is showcasing a talent's strength and hiding their weakness...but he also claims that Heyman used Meltzer and the internet to pump up his reputation. I really got the feeling that Prichard thinks that he himself should have a reputation like Heyman, or something.

Well, it's pretty much confirmed now that Meltzer got at least half this story right. We may never know if Big Cass is a vocal Trump supporter, but the reports of Enzo having major heat backstage and getting booted off a tour bus have been confirmed by no less than JBL and Corey Graves on Bring it to the Table. They also confirmed that Enzo has some major heat on him in general. Sports Illustrated (which is all of the sudden breaking and reporting some stories with a degree of accuracy) reports that the heat on Enzo is apparently due to his being generally unlikable backstage. Corey Graves claimed that Enzo's backstage personality isn't all that different than his on-screen persona, and if that's the case, he must be as annoying as shit. Other claims are that he is partying like a madman. I don't know if anybody here has heard the stories about him going to a strip club in Buffalo all drunk and acting like a jerk to the dancers, one of whom posted about it on Facebook and the stories took off from there. Apparently that story got him some heat as well. Other claims are that he is concentrating too much on projects outside WWE, including music(?!) The main thing that has him heat right now is that he apparently brought some of his party friends backstage and these people were generally unwelcome and taking pictures to boot, which is a major no-no. I'm just a fan and even I can figure out that bringing strangers backstage and letting them take pictures is a really dumb idea. Like a lot of people speculated, apparently parts of Cass's promos during their split were supposed shoots, about how nobody liked Enzo and how Cass was getting sick of defending him and sticking up for him. My question was (and still is) that if he has so much heat backstage and is on the verge of being released, why WWE would let Enzo cut so many promos during the breakup with Cass (which have only helped him) and why they have featured him so heavily on Raw recently. Wasn't he in the closing segment last week? That doesn't seem like a guy who has heat and is getting buried. If they are going to release him for being such a doofus, they should probably just get on with it, unless they are planning on writing him out with a major injury angle or something, at the hands of Cass. The other possibility is that WWE is experimenting with working the fans and so-called IWC by perpetuating these stories on platforms like Bring it to the Table, when they aren't really true. Maybe he doesn't have heat and this is all a work, bro.

Man, if it wasn't for bad luck The Revival would have no luck at all. I think Raw and Smackdown are both in Toronto this week. I wonder how the crowds will be, Toronto crowds are notoriously weird when it comes to who they boo and cheer.

This is really sad. I have read conflicting reports about the cause of the injury. The first report I read about this injury said it was from a DDT spot gone wrong. Turns out no, the injury was the result of a sunset flip, during a match for DDT. I also read that this has caused a big financial burden on his family, which just adds further misery to an already tragic situation. I thought Japan had socialized medicine like we do in Canada, but maybe not? It's bad enough this happened to the poor guy, but for his family to be crushed with the weight of mounting medical bills on top of the accident, makes an already sad situation that much worse. Terrible news.

I guess I got off "lucky." My ex-wife never slapped me, hit me or threw anything at me. She cost me my home and business, bankrupted me, embittered me and disillusioned me toward the entire concept of romantic love forever, sure. But she never hit me.

I should mention that the reason I assume that this is not a standard case of domestic abuse, is that there is ample evidence that Paige poured a drink over Alberto's head, in public. In all of the cases I have ever read about, heard about or seen of spousal abuse, I have never known the victim to provoke the abuser like that. Never, ever. That is one of the things that makes domestic abuse so horrifying - that the abuser usually attacks the victim for no reason whatsoever, except for some perceived slight that only exists in the abuser's mind, which gives them some perverse justification. That is what makes me think they are involved in a co-dependent, mutually destructive relationship. It doesn't make what is happening with Paige any less tragic, it only makes it a different type of abusive dynamic. (And before anybody jumps down my throat, NO...I don't think if Paige dumped a drink over Alberto's head she "deserves" to be assaulted, either. I'm simply saying that in my experience most domestic abuse victims would never dream of doing anything like that, and would be terrified to do so.) The other thing I should have mentioned is, that for what it's worth, if I think Paige should be released by WWE then of course Alberto El Patron should be released by GFW. That goes without saying. I have no confidence it will happen, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think that GFW is more concerned with having any ex-WWE wrestler with name recognition on their roster than they are with doing the right thing. Secondly, from what I understand Jeff Jarrett is in charge of making those types of decisions and I think Jeff Jarrett is the world's biggest Idiot Savant, minus the Savant part.

This. I wish everyone the best. Don't be obtuse, both of you. And let's not be naive, either. WWE isn't in the helping Paige business, they're in the making money business. There may well be people who work for WWE that like Paige, but in the bigger picture, they most likely don't give a damn about her one bit, above her ability to make them money. When she can make them money and do them good, they'll love her. Right now she's a massive liability. If you don't think that is the way they see her, then you've obviously never had a job "in real life." In the past year, Paige has been suspended twice for violating the wellness policy, which she publicly denied and tried to deflect responsibility for, using social media. She is engaged to marry a former WWE employee, who is now the main star of their competition, such as it is. This guy, her fiancee, publicly bashes the WWE every chance he gets, insults the physical appearance and personal lives of their owners and top executives, and went on to threaten current employees of the company, inviting them to his place of business so he can beat them up. She has been involved in at least two high profile domestic incidents with her fiancee, both of which involved rumors of drug involvement. She was involved in a sex tape which involved a current and former employee of the company. All of that in the past year, more or less. Does anybody here honestly think that she isn't in a downward spiral, and that WWE doesn't want to wash their hands of her before she ends up on the front page? The WWE is a publicly traded entertainment company. A huge part of their audience is parents and little kids. Paige is a ticking time bomb and a potential PR nightmare. Does anybody remember Vince's infamous "I don't want an Olympic Gold Medalist dying on my watch?" line when Kurt Angle seemed determined to kill himself in and outside the ring? So what did he do? He cut Angle loose. That's the cold, hard, business facts of the situation. But hey, let's say I'm a bad guy for suggesting they release her. They need to keep her on, to "help her." So they don't release her, even though she is clearly saying in this interview that as far as she is concerned, everything is hunky dory. What the hell kind of message does it send to the fans, to the WWE locker room, and (most importantly to them) the WWE stockholders, if after all that has happened over the past year, WWE puts Paige back on TV? "We don't care if you are going down in flames, so long as we can still squeeze another dollar out of you before you croak!" This is the proverbial no-win scenario and Paige and Alberto have made it that way. On an emotional level...do I think Paige is in trouble? Of course. Do I think she should get as far away from José Rodríguez aka. Alberto Del Rio as humanly possible? Of course. Who wouldn't think that? Who wouldn't wish her the best and want her to get away, and be happy? Everybody can see that this situation is going to end badly, except for Paige, unfortunately. The one thing that this interview made clear is that we are not dealing with a "simple" (for lack of a better term) case of domestic abuse, where one person has the power and is victimizing another. It would likely be easier to help Paige if that what this was, you get her away from him (like preferably in different countries for a while) and let the legal system deal with him. (As ineffective as that is, but that's another story.) I'm not convinced she really wants to be away from him at this point, sadly. She should, but I don't think she does. What is happening now (as is clearly evidenced by this interview) is that Paige and Alberto have a co-dependent relationship, likely being exacerbated by drug use. Sadly, a similar type of scenario would be Sid Vicious (the musician, not the wrestler) and Nancy Spungen. I would speculate that in this particular situation, Alberto has the power, but he also likely has a powerful psychological grip over Paige as well. It's one thing to lock a woman in a closet and make her a prisoner. It's another to convince her she can't escape by using fear. Making her feel helpless. But it's another thing entirely to convince her that she wants to be there. That everybody is against them, that nobody understands them as a couple. These types of couples usually end up "loving" each other to death. This is all purely speculation on my part - based on what I have read about their situation, and based on my own experience dealing with other people in very similar situations. I spent a huge chunk of my career beating my head against the wall when dealing with domestic scenarios which were frighteningly similar to the way this one appears. But I'm not there, so I don't know of course. None of us can. I would hope that WWE has tried to help Paige. I assume that they have, not out of humanitarian motives either. If they haven't, then they really need to, now. However, if she doesn't take their help, or even think that she needs it, then yes...I think that they should cut her loose. Lord knows she needs help, but if she doesn't think so, or want the help...then from a business and PR standpoint, it makes sense to let her go. It's not like there isn't countless precedents for situations identical to this throughout the entire history of the entertainment and sports industries. Actors and athletes both have been fired from films, movie studios, sports teams etc. when they are engaged in self destructive behaviors that could cause embarrassment to their employers. I'm not advocating that while dancing around rubbing my hands together, laughing with delight. It's a sad situation, liable to become tragic.

Years ago I worked with abused women. I ran a shelter/group home for abused girls and did counseling and support work with their families. It's scary how about 75% of the lines used in that interview are lines that I literally heard women or people in dangerously abusive and co-dependent relationships use. You add any sort of addiction to that mix, and you have yourself a recipe for repeated domestic violence at best, and a homicide at worst. The whole "We're passionate people, we fight like cats and dogs and say and do horrible things to each other but then make up 20 minutes later" line has been used in pretty much every domestic violence intervention, ever. That kind of fighting - even without drugs - is usually a sign of Borderline Personality Disorder. Considering Paige's tumultuous family history on top of all that, there is very little chance this ends well. I feel horrible saying this, but she's pretty much a textbook case. I know it sounds callous, but if I was WWE I'd cut bait and run, at this point. I don't care if she is "physically" able to wrestle again soon.

HoHo vs. Ohno! Or HoHo could have teamed up with Ohno, against The Fashion Police, Hoho & Ohno vs. Po-Po. With special guest referee, Koko.

Uh...what possible dream match would have involved HoHo Lun? HoHo vs. Xanta Claus? The Godfather vs. HoHo?

Okay, so they're going to have another Styles/Owens match at Summerslam? Another one? But the twist is that Shane is the ref, setting up the rumored Shane/Owens angle? Seriously? Another Styles vs. Owens match? How many of these damn things do I have to sit through? Who am I, Job or something? All of the sudden I'm starting to wax nostalgic for the classic Dean Ambrose/Miz feud. Oh by the way, that Rusev/Gable match was excellent. Rusev's selling is outstanding. He was still limping to sell the anklelock in his post match promo. Seth Rollins should be forced to watch a bunch of Rusev matches while somebody pokes him in the ribs every time Rusev sells something.

Ugh, I frickin hate Mark Madden more than I frickin hate anybody else in the history Pro Wrestling with the possible exception of frickin Vince Russo.