The Thread Killer

So today is 36 years ago to the day that Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff turned on Hulk Hogan. And now I feel very old, because I remember that angle vividly.

I have to admit, I kind of lost respect for Titus O’Neil when they suspended him for having the audacity to lay his hands on Vince McMahon in a joking manner, and O’Neil just took it and went right back to being a PR guy for WWE. I know the man has a family to feed and it’s probably not my place to judge him for what he decides to do, but I have to be honest, if I was in a similar position and I was humiliated like he was, I cannot see myself going back there. I remember Bautista publicly saying at the time that he was shocked Titus did not quit after that mess.

There is a 90 minute segment on the most recent episode of The Jim Cornette Experience which covers Cornette’s early years as a fan and tape trader, and his friend Norman “Weasel” Dooley who had one of the very first newsletter/dirt sheets. He also discusses the creation of the “star rating” system and the first match to ever get a 5 Star rating. It’s absolutely fantastic stuff. This is the Jim Cornette I love listening to. Highly recommended.

I listened to the whole first episode because I wanted to give it a chance. There was some good in there for sure, but there was a lot of…not so good stuff, in my humble opinion. I always knew this, but this podcast pretty much confirmed that Kevin Nash doesn’t really care about pro wrestling all that much. And I don’t blame him for that. He has always viewed it as a business first and foremost, which is why he is doing this podcast. To make money. But he doesn’t really follow the product right now, and I really don’t want to hear any more old Kliq stories…especially ones which have been told a million times in shoot interviews or other podcasts. One episode in, and we are already rehashing the curtain call, and the time that Vince had to fly halfway cross the country to meet with them and hear their demands. I also really don’t want to listen to a professional wrestler opine about politics. I didn’t like it when Cornette used to do it, and I don’t like it now. To his credit, Nash is definitely more intelligent than your average pro wrestler, but I really don’t want to spend my time listening to him and Sean Oliver discussing abortion, gun control, the 2024 presidential race, or any of that other stuff. I have a limited amount of time to listen to podcasts and there is a lot of competition for that time. I can’t see myself carving out two hours every week to listen to this show. It’s too damn long. Nash came across as very sincere and heartfelt when he was discussing the last days of Scott Hall. That was very moving. And Sean Oliver as expected, was outstanding. He is so much better at this than any other possible host it’s not even close. I was on the fence about listening to the second episode, when I saw what the topic is for this week. “Who would play the Kliq in a movie?” Yeah…hard pass.

I find the announcement about Honor Club to be confusing. I guess I can see paying 10 bucks a month for access to the complete ROH archive, but the fact that current PPV’s are not going to be included in this until 2 months later, seems like a bad decision. Unless, by the time the new service launches…Honor Club includes the COMPLETE archive and a new weekly TV show as part of the package. I guess I could see that. Mind you, as a Canadian this means I would end up paying almost $14 a month when you factor in the currency exchange rate.

Holy crap…this Lee Moriarty/Jonathan Gresham ROH World Title match on Rampage is outstanding.

I agree. He has alluded to being close to a TV deal, but nothing yet. Maybe there will be an announcement at the pay-per-view? But you are right, there’s no reason why they couldn’t do a free show on YouTube or FITE in the meantime. They already pretty much have the infrastructure in place.

So Briscoes/FTR II is going to be 2/3 falls. Between that and the tentative World Title match, this card just keeps getting better.

There's no way they push the envelope that far this time, I don't imagine. Even though TV has become a lot less PG in general since the Attitude Era, I don't see a lot of that risque stuff flying now. People are too easily offended, and any kind of public backlash would screw with their stock price, and you know they're not having that. Besides, my main point in making that snide comment is that their creative is terrible right now in WWE. Adding a risque element isn't going to make the creative any better. It's just going to make it bad creative but with more swearing/booty shorts/whatever.

WWE: We still suck, but now we suck with cussing, blood and scantily clad women. Plus now with even MORE scatological non-humor!

I am only about half an hour into it, but I am already loving the most recent episode about Spring Stampede 94. This has definitely taken over as my favourite podcast by a mile.

Yeah count me in for that feud. It could be and should be a great showcase for both guys.

Apparently it was reported on Fox last night as well. If Fox turns on him, he just might be in trouble. That would suggest all media outlets are going to cover the story, regardless of their political slant. I guess it all depends if the media keeps after the story or if they let it die. But as has been suggested, I would imagine even if he is “removed” he will still be calling the shots from behind the scenes. I remember on Prichard’s podcast he discussed how they had a plan for Vince to essentially be calling the shots from in prison if he was found guilty during the steroid trial in the 90’s. I think the only thing that is going to keep him from running that company is death.

I want to preface this by saying that I really enjoyed this past weeks episode of Dynamite. I thought it was excellent and a real improvement over the last couple of months. Having said that, this announcement about the barbed wire death match really reaffirmed to me that somebody really needs to save Tony Khan from himself. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it. A barbed wire death match on free network TV, especially so soon after a War Games match…just…WHY? It sounds like a colossally bad idea for a variety of reasons…but what do I know.

I wonder who is getting the World Title shot? I read about the angle with Gresham that happened on Rampage but I’m not sure that will result in a World Title shot. I will not elaborate because I don’t want to spoil it for those who plan to watch the show live.

Yeah FITE is, at least internationally. I know this because I already put in my pre-order as soon as they announced the Tag Title match.

So it looks like they are going to end up doing an FTR/Briscoes rematch at the PPV and I am SO there for it. The other two matches they have announced already looked pretty good as well, this pay-per-view could end up being excellent.

I am not even a little bit surprised, but I was morbidly curious to see how big of a shit show this card was going to be if it actually came off. Now I guess we will never know.

Exactly. I don’t mind Radiohead actually, but I will not stand anybody besmirching the good name of Yes, dammit.

Now that it is confirmed that the new Kevin Nash/Sean Oliver podcast is owned by Conrad Thompson, that means Sean Oliver basically works for Conrad’s new company Podcast Heat. The preview clip they have posted on YouTube features Conrad and confirms this. Eventually all of Conrad’s shows will be under the Podcast Heat/Ad Free Shows umbrella. So, seeing as that is the case, can we just get Sean Oliver to host all of Conrad Thompson’s podcasts please? Sean Oliver, yes. Paul Bromwell, NO.

The unravelling continues. The former Nia Jax has now tweeted that she is not happy these guys are continuing to promote her as appearing on this show, as she will not be. So this is turning out pretty much exactly like everybody predicted it would. It is perversely entertaining to observe from a distance, if not a little sad.

Adesanya decided to really go all out with his Undertaker tribute. He used his music, his outfit and then went on to have a boring, plodding and very long fight in which there was no doubt regarding who would win.

That (along with the laughable “creative”) was one of the reasons I gave up on WWE after being a lifelong fan. Their camerawork is literally nauseating and it’s even more jarring if you stop watching for a while and then go back to check it out again later. It’s impossible to not notice it.

Most major MMA fighters have a detailed breakdown of their Won/Loss record as part of their Wikipedia pages too…which of course is only helpful if they are a big enough name to warrant their own Wikipedia page. But for last night’s UFC show for example, I was able to find the W-L record with details on Wikipedia, including who they had fought, and when. I found that helpful. But Al is also correct, Sherdog was also a great resource, although I haven’t used it in years…but from what I recall you’ll need a good pop-up and ad blocker.

I just noticed Nick Khan sitting next to Pat McAfee too.