The Thread Killer

Poor Ali gonna get murked

Becky Lynch doing her best Bruce Lee cosplay

Women have to be covered from neck to feet in Jeddah, but Rollins is allowed to dress like a circa 1970’s hooker, including gold nail polish.

SABU motherfuckers!

Great retrospective on Superstar Billy Graham’s career by Jim Cornette and Brian Last. Highly recommended.

Imagine how pissed off you would be if you paid full price for your tickets early and then saw that they were not selling and that deal became available later on?

I can’t even imagine why AEW is running Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for a TV taping on July 24, either. AEW ran the Coca-Cola Coliseum for two nights the last time they ran Toronto, and they couldn’t sell it out both nights…and the Coliseum has half the seating capacity of Scotiabank Arena. I know it’s the same arena and the night before Forbidden Door II in Toronto, but adding that second show seems like a bad decision to me…at least in that venue. There are a bunch of really good venues in the Greater Toronto Area that they probably could have run and sold out, that are much more reasonably sized. There is a very serious problem here in Toronto when it comes to these kind of events and secondary ticket brokers. As I complained about in great length, the first time AEW ran Toronto, the tickets were $325.00 they eventually went down to about $150.00 in the last few days before the shows. That is why they did not sell out the second show, which was a Rampage taping. The tickets for Forbidden Door II were going for about $1200.00. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that people are going to be willing to pay those kind of prices. I am not necessarily blaming AEW or Tony Khan because I think the tickets were probably more reasonably priced and were bought up by Stub Hub and re-sold. But they have to know that is how much the tickets are going for. I know a number of people that would probably go to some of the shows but they just can’t afford it.

I don’t believe a damn word that’s been reported on this entire Punk/Elite/AEW story anymore. Until I see it with my own eyes, I’m considering it bullshit. There has been so much speculation, spin, bias, unfounded rumours and outright falsehoods reported during this entire fiasco…you honestly can’t trust anything you read or hear at this point. I’m not just talking about Meltzer and Alvarez either (although they have certainly contributed more than their fair share to the problem) I’m talking about everybody. I hate to use this phrase but at this point I am considering it all “fake news.”

Rumor has it the Von Erich boys are a chip off the old block…meaning they work stiff as hell and frequently refuse to lose.

I was thinking that exact same thing, except I didn’t want to be one of those guys that derailed a eulogy thread. Superstar Billy Graham is responsible for a lot of things that were…questionable at best. Aside from pretty much ushering in the steroid era, he also falsely accused Pat Patterson, of being a pedophile, purely out of spite towards Vince McMahon.

So apparently the most recent episode of JR’s show ends up being a bit of an unexpected shock. The topic was supposed to be how JR broke into the business, but during the episode Jim Ross decided to basically spill the beans and name names…and he supposedly tells some harrowing tales about Mid South in the 70’s. The episode apparently deals with racism and sexual assault, and it is so shocking that Conrad Thompson had to introduce the episode with a disclaimer. I am listening to it right now, and I want to get through it, because rumour has it it might get pulled down due to the controversy. They ended up calling the episode: “The Dark Side of Mid South.”

That’s the weird thing to me. When they bought UFC, it wasn’t long before they started firing people like crazy. Including people who Dana White had given so-called “lifetime jobs” to, like Chuck Liddell.

Brock’s gotta get him some of that sweet Saudi money somehow.

Wow, we got a whole three minutes of action before they went to commercial again!

Apparently it has something to do with them wanting to counter-program the NBA and NHL playoffs or something. Like any serious sports fan would watch this instead of the playoffs. If the Jays did not have the night off, I wouldn’t watch this crap if you paid me.

WTAF is wrong with these people? It’s 20 minutes in, and nothing of significance has happened yet. Seth Rollins makes his entrance, then they go to commercial. Then they show a recap of Backlash. Then they do a backstage interview with Damien Priest, while Rollins is still standing in the ring with his thumb up his butt. Who the hell is laying this show out? Say what you want about AEW, but at least it’s not boring like this. They start with a match right off the bat most times.

You are not wrong there. I used to post at the Sherdog forums and the musclebros are out in full force in places like that. It’s plenty scary.

Not to mention saying “I still got it” implies that you actually had it in the first place.

Quite honestly, who the fuck cares? He’s under contract to AEW, not to mention that he’d never go back to work there in a million years. Plus I really don’t think Tony Khan gives a shit if a guy who isn’t even active on his roster right now goes to visit his friends when they’re in his hometown. TK doesn’t strike me as being that insecure or paranoid. (Unlike Vince, if positions were reversed.) Hell, at this point Punk probably has more friends in the WWE locker room than he does in AEW.

I used to really like that song. They’ve kind of ruined it for me.

Exactly. I am super pumped about this. Judging by the fan reaction to the tweet announcing these tapings, I am not alone either. The general feeling seems to be the last few weeks of ROH on Honor Club have been okay…but the first month was better.

ROH is heading back to Universal Studios to tape another month of TV. That will be SO much better if Tony Khan does it the way he did the first set of ROH on Honor Club tapings. This forces him to plan ahead and book everything out in advance, the show will look much more aesthetically unique, ROH exclusive and not just like AEW Dark, and when it comes to talent hopefully he will do what he did last time. Namely, bring in a bunch of talent for both nights of tapings, a healthy mix of ROH Legacy talent, young, less experienced AEW talent and new names or guys from NJPW Strong. These last few weeks that he has been taping ROH before Dynamite felt like he is just randomly grabbing guys who happened to be standing around backstage.

Here is the lineup for ROH on Honor Club tonight. It’s a fair bit better than the last few weeks, but that’s really not saying much. ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Colt Cabana I am sure this will be a competitive match but it really shouldn’t be. Cabana is pretty much useless as far as I’m concerned. Proving Ground Match: Athena vs. Heather Reckless Weekly ROH TV wouldn’t be ROH TV without Athena beating the crap out of some poor girl I’ve never heard of. I can’t see this being any different. I am totally digging Athena’s new gimmick and her reign of terror so far, but the problem is that they have nobody to put in front of her as a credible challenger. If you think the AEW Women’s Division is shite, ROH is even worse. Where the hell is Serena Deeb? El Hijo Del Vikingo vs. Gringo Loco I don’t know who Gringo Loco is, but based on his name it’s probably going to be a whole bunch of flippy goodness for those who enjoy that kind of thing. Lance Archer vs. JAH-C This is going to be legalized murder. It’s going to be a total squash. Brian Cage vs. Joey Jett See above. For reasons known only to him, Tony Khan seems determined to make Brian Cage a thing, by just pushing him relentlessly. See Garcia, Daniel and Yuta, Wheeler for examples. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Lee Moriarty Now this is more like it. These are the kind of matches I want to see in the new ROH. I know Takeshita is going to win, and so he should…but it should be a great match and give both guys a chance to shine. Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. Lee Johnson & Cole Karter I would be a bit more interested in this match if it was Uno & Grayson not Silver and Reynolds (but not much.) I like Johnson and Karter both. This is another example of the kind of matches ROH should be featuring in my opinion. I assume something will be happening around this match to advance the developing Dark Order/Righteous angle. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Nick Comoroto Comoroto is another AEW guy who has shown a lot of potential but has become lost in the Dark/Elevation vortex. Penta will win, but I am curious how Comoroto will acquit himself. I am further curious if something will transpire around this match to give us a clue to who the next challengers might be for the ROH Tag Titles, since Penta and Fenix just won them recently. Iron Savages vs. Ren Jones & Logan Lynch For those not in the know, Iron Savages are perennial Dark/Elevation regulars “Bear Country” repackaged. I assume the opponents are enhancement talent. I am reserving judgment on this until I see it. Willow Nightingale vs. Robyn Renegade Speaking of talent Tony Khan seems determined to ram down everybody’s throat and make happen no matter what…here’s Willow Nightingale. I freely admit, I can’t stand her gimmick, she has the proverbial “change the channel” heat with me. Her music hits, and she comes bouncing out to the ring, grinning like a simpleton and waving to the fans while goofy music plays and cartoonish graphics are plastered on the tron. She’s like a cross between Bayley’s original gimmick and fucking Eugene. But she’s on ROH TV, every week…no matter what. Bleh. Hard pass. The Kingdom vs. Action Andretti & Darius Martin So I guess this is the match where we find out if the Kingdom/Top Flight feud is really going to continue with Andretti just sliding into Dante’s spot…or if this will wrap it up. I am somewhat curious to see how Martin & Andretti do. You’d think The Kingdom win here and maybe move into a rivalry with The Lucha Bros for the titles, but who knows.

Saw some news about this story finally reported today.

Nice, I might check that out. Was he any good?