The Thread Killer

Depending on your opinion of him and his "relevance" this might not deserve it's own thread...but I'm going to start one anyhow. Chris Hyatte died today at the age of 50. I know the membership here at PWO tends to skew a bit older, so it's likely a number of you remember his name, even if you might not have thought about him for years. For those of you who don't know who he was, Chris Hyatte was a Pro Wrestling columnist during the infancy of the so called "Internet Wrestling Community." When I first went online in 1996, there were only a small handful of sites devoted to Pro Wrestling, as hard as that is to imagine now. One of the biggest sites devoted to Pro Wrestling at that time was called "Scoops." I first discovered that site in early 1997, when Scoops started to run recaps of the two Monday Night Pro Wrestling shows, during the thick of the "Monday Night War." The recaps were called "Mop Ups" and they were written by Chris Hyatte. During his Mop-Up, Chris Hyatte would recap what had happened on the previous night's show, but that was only half the story. Chris Hyatte interspersed his reports with liberal doses of his own unique brand of humor. As the so-called "IWC" grew, it got to the point where you could easily find out what happened on Raw or Nitro on Monday Night from any number of sources, but there was only one Chris Hyatte. Whether it was because the world of Pro Wrestling fandom online was so much smaller back then, or because he was a really good writer, or maybe because he was just really good at grabbing your attention...whatever the reason...Chris Hyatte's Mop Ups quickly became extremely popular. Before long, it became a regular occurrence to see signs prominently displayed in the crowds on both Raw and Nitro emblazoned with the words MOP UP or HYATTE, or some variation thereof. ("MCMAHON FEARS HYATTE" for example.) In a statement on Facebook today, the former owner of Scoops Al Isaacs freely admitted that Chris Hyatte's Mop Up became the most popular column on his site, and was responsible for a large amount of the traffic and attention Scoops ended up generating. Chris Hyatte's writing was not for everybody. I am betting that if anybody does bother to respond to this thread, some will be critical or will not have been fans of Hyatte. I have seen Hyatte described as the "Howard Stern" of the IWC. That is an over-simplification, but in fairness it must be admitted there was some validity to the comparisons between Chris Hyatte and Howard Stern. There is no denying that Hyatte's columns contained a lot of sophomoric and crude humor. There was a lot more to Chris Hyatte’s work than just dirty jokes, but even his biggest fans would have to acknowledge Hyatte's material was often shocking or sensational. Some of Chris Hyatte's most notorious stunts include the time he posted Bob Ryder's personal phone number online, or when he recruited a female fan to "catfish" a popular writer from a competing website and then recapped the results. (Hyatte became famous for his feuds with competing writers and other websites. Over the years, Scott Keith, Sean Shannon and many others became the object of his ire.) Hyatte faked his own death (tongue firmly in cheek) and allowed others to report his death when he was taking one of his many sabbaticals from his weekly column. Another memorable incident came when Hyatte announced he was now running a website devoted to Sabu, "Sabu.com" and provided a link in his column. Turns out at that point, "Sabu.com" was actually a graphic gay porn site...and some of Hyatte's readers were not amused when they clicked the link, especially if they were at work when they decided to check it out. There was one incident for which Chris Hyatte became most infamous, and this will probably be what he is most remembered for. Chris Hyatte was not a fan of Tony Schiavone. Specifically, Hyatte (and many of his readers at the time) hated Schiavone's screaming hyperbole, relentless hype and frequent cries of "this is the greatest moment in the history of our sport" every Monday on Nitro. After a particularly annoying episode of Nitro which was packed with Schiavone's patented bluster, an aggrieved Chris Hyatte placed a mock "bounty" on Tony Schiavone. And his family. By this time, Hyatte was very popular and had a very large, very rabid fanbase. (A good comparison from today would be "The Cult of Cornette.") The reaction to what was meant as a comedy bit was reportedly a lot more serious than anticipated. Apparently, Chris Hyatte's "bounty" on Tony Schiavone resulted in a significant amount of harassment and caused such a backlash that Turner Security ended up involving law enforcement. Hyatte supposedly communicated with Tony Schiavone personally and apologized. He also retracted the so-called "bounty" but Tony Schiavone understandably bears some hard feelings to this day, as evidenced when he referenced the incident on his podcast. As the Internet Wrestling Community grew, Hyatte managed to maintain his popularity. But eventually and probably inevitably, some cracks started to appear. Scoops began to edit Hyatte's columns after one too many controversies and complaints, supposedly in fear of legal repercussions. Hyatte left Scoops as a result, and ended up migrating to a succession of different sites. He went from writing for some of the most popular Pro Wrestling sites online, to working for lesser sites with much less traffic. Every time Hyatte moved from one site to the next, it seemed to result in the law of diminishing returns, to a degree. But Hyatte kept at it as only he could, and changed up his approach as well. Hyatte was not a one trick pony. He went from doing recaps, to a news column, to an opinion column, and even to doing an advice column. Regardless of the theme, his work was always technically excellent, if not inconsistent. It has always been my impression that in time while Chris Hyatte maintained a loyal core of fans, as he moved from site to site, controversy to controversy and feud to feud, his readership started to fall away. This can probably be attributed to the fact that Hyatte's act started to get a little old after a few years, and it didn't help that Hyatte's own interest in Pro Wrestling began to lessen. His columns started to become infrequent, and sometimes weeks would go by with nothing new. The last major site Chris Hyatte worked for was 411 but by February 2007, after about 10 years of writing he finally retired for good. In his last few columns, Hyatte was upfront about the fact that he no longer enjoyed writing about Pro Wrestling, a fact which had become evident to even his most loyal readers. Hyatte admitted that a lot of the time he was now just going through the motions, and his work had suffered as a result. Hyatte also seemed slightly bitter that some people had actually generated income from his work, while he himself had never been paid for it. The man who had brought undeniable attention and plenty of precious “clicks” to a number of Pro Wrestling websites had made other people money, but he had not shared in those profits, and he had finally had enough. And times were changing. Hyatte referred to the early days of the Internet as "The Wild West." You could get away with saying or doing almost anything, but after ten years there were things you could no longer say. Chris Hyatte's time had passed. Some years later, Chris Hyatte briefly reemerged as a blogger. Hyatte generally ignored Pro Wrestling by this point, and it seemed obvious he had more or less lost his taste for it. He alluded to other projects he had in the works, including a novel. But by this time he only had a very small, loyal group of fans. Most fans had either forgotten who Chris Hyatte was, had tired of his act or just weren't able to find him. Hyatte blogged for a while, but eventually he even gave that up, and finally vanished for good with little fanfare. "Where is Chris Hyatte" was a frequently searched phrase on Google. Chris Hyatte's whereabouts became the subject of speculation, but he was gone. Not too long ago, Chris Hyatte reappeared on Twitter. Hyatte apparently had the Twitter account for some time, but had only been active sporadically. But less than a year ago, Chris Hyatte ended up sharing his real name and some personal information, in order to prove that it was really him. (Due to his level of infamy, a number of "fake" Chris Hyatte accounts had popped up on Facebook and Twitter.) Hyatte had been notoriously private about his personal information. "Hyatte" was actually his pen name, and he had never allowed his picture to be shown. But now, he revealed that his real name was Chris Gaudreau and allowed his picture to be displayed. Chris Hyatte also shared the unfortunate news that he was in very bad health. He was suffering from Kidney Failure, Congestive Heart Failure, and Diabetes. Chris Hyatte was in rough shape. He had to have his foot partially amputated, and ended up staring a GoFundMe account to ask his former readers for financial assistance. The response was significant, if not overwhelming. Hyatte ended up using his Twitter account as a means to keep his fans updated on his health. He required dialysis three times a week, could not walk and was basically housebound. And then a few weeks ago, Chris Hyatte shared with his followers that he had made the decision to stop treatment and that he wanted to let "nature take it's course." Hyatte explained that he was tired of being so sick, and for all intents and purposes he just wanted to die. Hyatte posted a rather lengthy "Tweet Storm" where he explained the reasons behind his decision. On May 15, he announced that he had finished his final round of dialysis and that he expected to live anywhere from two days to two weeks. This morning his cousin announced that Chris Hyatte had died. Chris Hyatte's death has really affected me, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I had a minor relationship with Hyatte at one point (not that he would have remembered me.) I was a regular reader of his column, and found him to be extremely funny. I ended up emailing him, and during our ensuing correspondence I made an offhand joke he really liked. Hyatte liked my joke so much that he asked if I would mind if he used it in one of his columns. I was happy to agree. Shortly thereafter, Hyatte announced that he intended to use his column as means to discover new Pro Wrestling writing talent, and asked for submissions. I submitted a column and was flattered when my column was the first he selected to be printed on 411. As a result, I was offered my own column at 411 and began a very brief tenure as a writer for that site. Since my column was introduced by Chris Hyatte, I had a brief glimpse into the almost bizarre amount of attention and adulation he was getting from fans at that time, and this was hardly his heyday. Just because I had first appeared in his column and he gave me the Hyatte stamp of approval, I got over a hundred responses to my first few columns, many of which were alarmingly flattering and I assume just a fraction of the amount of attention and praise Chris Hyatte got on a weekly basis. But that is not the main reason I am so affected by his death. I had pretty much forgotten about Chris Hyatte before he reappeared on Twitter last year and his GoFundMe began to circulate. I began to follow Hyatte and found some startling similarities between his situation and my own. We were both in our early 50's, single and in poor health. Like Chris Hyatte, I am also on disability and suffering from Congestive Heart Failure. I found his reflections on his own mortality and his imminent death to be starkly and unsparingly honest. Hyatte speculated on the possibility of life after death, and was characteristically blunt about his decision to end his treatment and essentially end his own life. As always, his writing came across as real and it grabbed me. Due to my own health problems, Chris Hyatte's ruminations on his impending death really struck a chord with me. About a week ago, Hyatte tweeted saying that he had just eaten his last Reuben Sandwich and drank his last Pepsi, and at this point every time he did something it would probably be the last time he ever did it. There was something about his uncharacteristic vulnerability that really resonated with me. My situation is not as dire as his was (yet) but there are still a shocking amount of similarities between us. Middle aged white guys, with no families, living in isolation and housebound. Aspiring writers who never quite made it. I know Hyatte hoped to be professionally published, he said as much on more than one occasion. Like Hyatte, I've been told by other published writers that I have the required skill to be published but for whatever the reason much like him, I have never seen it through. Hyatte frequently referenced projects he was working on, that he hoped to see published. He never did. I myself have no less than three partially completed novels gathering dust. In the end when you come down to it, we both seem to be destined to end as Pro Wrestling fans who loved to write but never took that next step. Looking back at our lives and wondering what (if any) legacy we leave behind. During his final months, Chris Hyatte stated wistfully that he had never saved any of his past work but wished he had. It seems that for all his ego, he may really not have known how important his work truly was. He was still being constantly asked to write "one last" Mop Up, but he refused. One of his more devoted fans scoured the net (using the "Wayback Machine" I imagine) and actually managed to put together a fairly impressive archive of Chris Hyatte's work. Hyatte claimed shortly before his death that "93%" of his work had been discovered and archived. He thanked the fan who had done it, and asked that his Twitter followers share his work with others. I found this to be equal parts sad and moving at the same time. Chris Hyatte knew he was just days from the end of his life, and his last request to his once massive fanbase was that they share the record of his work. I wish I could say that I didn't know what it feels like to be a man his age with nothing more to show for your life than a handful of Pro Wrestling columns and a couple of writing projects that never saw the light of day - including novels that seem destined to remain unfinished...but sadly I do. If the unrealized potential of an unfinished novel isn't an apt metaphor for the life and death of Chris Hyatte, I don't know what is. Make no mistake about it, Chris Hyatte was a bit of a jerk. He was rude, egotistical, condescending, touchy and frequently inappropriate. A lot of people hated him. Yes, you could hate him, but if you were being honest you could not deny the obvious talent that was there when you read Hyatte's work. Hyatte himself realized that a column like his would have no place in the year 2020 and admitted that in the 23 or so years since he had risen to "fame" for writing a Pro Wrestling column, he had obviously matured. 50 year old Chris Hyatte would not find the same things appropriate or funny that his much younger self did, obviously. If he tried even half the things now that he did with regularity back then, he would very quickly find himself being "cancelled" or maybe even sued. Hell, he'd never find a Pro Wrestling site that would publish one of his columns in this day and age, in all likelihood. His humor at the time was replete with jokes that would now be rightly viewed as both racially and sexually offensive, if not totally inappropriate. But at the same time, and for his time...he was very honest. You never got the sense reading a Chris Hyatte column that he was putting on an act or playing a character, unlike the feeling you get reading one of his countless imitators. If you read between the lines, Hyatte actually sought and nurtured a connection with his readers. He challenged them, and he clearly didn't care if they always agreed with him. But in his own unique way, he always told the truth. Chris Hyatte was an original in the world of Pro Wrestling fandom. He was the first to do something that countless have attempted to copy, without success. How often is a person who is the first to do something looked at as the best? Hyatte was. There was no improving on Chris Hyatte. To this day there are columnists and recappers who work for the very sites Hyatte helped popularize who are nothing more than pale Chris Hyatte imitators. Even when he was "phoning it in" he was vastly more entertaining that any Pro Wrestling columnist that I have read in recent memory. And many of those columnists walked through doors that Chris Hyatte opened first and now sit at a table that he set...whether they know it or not, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. Perhaps the biggest testimony to Chris Hyatte's talent is the fact that people still remember him, long after he stopped writing. Of the hundreds and now thousands of writers and so-called "journalists" who have devoted millions of words to Pro Wrestling online...how many will actually be remembered, especially 13 years after they stop writing? A handful, if that. In the end, it seemed clear that it was important to Chris Hyatte that he be remembered. He will be. From my own personal perspective, what is most important is that Chris Hyatte was a damn good writer and he was very, very funny. It was not unusual for me to read his Mop Up column on a Tuesday morning and end up laughing out loud several times. I still remember one of Hyatte's recaps, where he suddenly diverted from the play-by-play and claimed that he was going to take a moment to dance around the room with his penis tucked between his legs, like the killer Buffalo Bill in the movie Silence of the Lambs...because it made him feel SEXY. His humor was ridiculous but as I said, it was frequently laugh-out-loud funny. But you don't just remember jokes after all this time. There was substance to Chris Hyatte. To write Chris Hyatte off as nothing more than the Pro Wrestling equivalent of a "shock jock" is (in my opinion) failing to give him full credit for his talent. The man had skill, he could write, and he was smart. He was well read (and frequently recommended books and authors to his readers.) At the end of the day, he died leaving behind a small but devoted base of fans who will remember him. Whether it was 20 years ago or yesterday, to me that is the type of legacy that actually means something. I look at what is going on in the world around us right now, and I think if you could actually bring some laughter and entertainment into the lives of people...even if it was for writing about Pro Wrestling...then maybe you actually did accomplish something. Chris Hyatte's Twitter account can be found here. His old blog can be found here. His archive can be found here. "As I move onto wherever I'm going, with peace in my heart, I leave you pretty much my entire life's work...and if you take your time and savor them, you're looking at at least a year's worth of "it's been so long it's new!" material from me. And that's everything. There's nothing left." - Chris Hyatte, May 25, 2020

If they ever are planning on doing something with Keith Lee, they should probably strike while the iron is hot and do it sooner rather than later. The guy is already 35 years old, and I can't imagine that a guy his size who works the style he does and incorporates some of the higher risk manoeuvres like he does will last all that long after 40. They need to push him pretty much they way the pushed Batista, taking his age into account. Minus the "Deacon" gimmick of course. I really don't get the Dijakovic call-up either. I really like the guy, but his promos are average at best and even as a fan of his I think he comes across as a bit gangly and awkward at times. I don't know that he is smooth and polished enough for the main roster. But who knows.

I am thinking it's more the former rather than the latter. I don't think Cornette's anti-AEW fans are current WWE fans, because he rips into WWE almost as much as he does AEW.

If it's the clip from this past week on The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette says that he has been asked by a lot of people if he'd seen the FTR debut, but he says he did not, because he isn't going to watch and review AEW anymore. Brian Last explains how the debut went, and it actually turned into an interesting discussion regarding the best ways to make an impactful debut in modern Pro Wrestling and some of the best debuts over the years. Of course...Cornette being Cornette, he complains that it's impossible to make a surprising or impactful debut in modern Pro Wrestling because nothing is special anymore and everybody and everything has been overexposed and overdone...but the overall discussion is interesting nonetheless. But the point is, no...Cornette did not watch Dynamite this past week. As an aside, apparently FTR are actually going to be Cornette's guests on The Jim Cornette Experience this Friday. That should be interesting, for a variety of reasons.

The issue of Brian Last basically trying to provoke Cornette into having one of his AEW inspired tantrums was never more obvious than it was this past week on the Drive-Thru. At one point during the podcast, Brian Last made the claim that the size of Jim Cornette's audience and AEW's audience are actually comparable. I assume this is based on downloads and YouTube stats. I was fairly shocked to hear that claim, but I am prepared to believe it since it is the kind of thing that could easily disproved if Brian Last gets challenged on it. Last later said that the show is becoming so popular that it is getting hard to keep track of all the questions from fans that are coming in for the Drive-Thru. Then, Cornette reviews AEW Double or Nothing, and hated it so much that he has pretty much sworn off watching AEW from this point on. They decide to answer a few fan questions, and the FIRST question Brian Last selects out of the countless thousands submitted is: "What are Jim's thoughts on AEW's new line of footwear?" Just blatant nonsense. I have to wonder if Brian Last is a bit worried that Cornette is actually going to stay true to his word and stop watching and reviewing AEW. If Cornette meant it, that means a large part of Cornette's newer and more vocal fanbase are going to be turned off. All these new fans seem to want to hear is Cornette constantly cussing AEW, as @Bix mentioned. If they don't get it, I wonder if the newer fans will go elsewhere. I can't see those newer "fans" wanting to hear stories about Memphis Wrestling. I for one would be thrilled if Jim Cornette actually stuck to his word and stopped watching and reviewing AEW. Realistically speaking, I don't think the format of Cornette mostly ranting about modern wrestling every week had a lot of legs, anyhow. It was already getting extremely tiring and repetitive. I know it was great for business to have Jim Cornette say something outrageous every week, the Pro Wrestling "news" sites pick up on it and use it as a story, social media responds, and the next week Cornette reacts to the reaction...but I don't think that was sustainable. I don't know that it would happen, but I'd much prefer if Cornette's podcasts reverted back to their pre-AEW format.

Based on their history, I don't believe Cornette's problems with Kenny King are racially based. I touched on this back in November in this thread. Of course, there are people who will attribute pretty much negative opinion Cornette has to racism/sexism/homophobia or whatever, but in this case I honestly don't think race enters into it. Cornette has used some racist language for sure, and the Gangsta's angle pretty much speaks for itself, but I've never heard him say anything like "black people are lazy" or anything like that. When it comes to Kenny King, I think it pretty much comes down to the fact that King and Cornette had a handshake agreement and King went back on it.

I remember that quite clearly, for some odd reason. Summerslam 88 was actually "The Baron's" debut as their manager (if I recall correctly) but it lasted less than three months. He came in around the end of August 88 and was gone by early November, I think. I remember the whole idea seemed really goofy. I thought The Powers of Pain were awesome, but they had The Baron in that robe with the hood, and you could barely see his face. I assume they brought The Baron in because neither The Warlord or Barbarian could talk. (Well, I guess The Barbarian could talk, but you could barely understand what he was saying.) The WWF really didn't do well with babyface managers (aside from Elizabeth.) at that time...remember when Oliver Humperdink managed Bam Bam Bigelow and Paul Orndorff briefly? That seemed to last about as long as "The Baron." I assume the WWF really wanted somebody with those guys who could talk for them. I remember the Powers of Pain came in as babyfaces, but then at Survivor Series 88 they turned heel and aligned themselves with Mr. Fuji. The thing that struck my friends and I as really dumb was that Mr. Fuju managed Demolition who were the Tag Team Champions at the time. He turns on them, and aligns himself with The Powers of Pain, who were not the champions and never would be. So the brilliant, devious mind of Mr. Fuji concocts a plan to stop managing the champs and take up with a team who can't beat them? This is 32 years ago, so my memory isn't exactly vivid, but I recall Fuji's explanation for turning on Demolition being that "they wouldn't listen to him" or something like that. I got why they turned Demolition babyface, because fans were starting to cheer them...but I never understood why creative never had Demolition turn on Mr. Fuji, not the other way around.

I saw the first episode of the new talk show the NWA has on Mondays, which had an interview with Corgan and Lagana, and Corgan himself addressed the issue of the NWA closing. He claims they’re going to stay afloat, but admits they took a beating when they had to cancel the Crockett Cup. It really seems like the biggest issue is how they have lost momentum because of the pandemic, more than anything else. Thing is, the NWA is not a big company with a bunch of moving parts like WWE, AEW or even ROH. They don’t even own their own production equipment, they tape TV at a public broadcasting studio and put the show on YouTube for free. They have zero overhead. Dave Lagana is their only actual employee, everybody else are independent contractors under talent agreements. They don’t even have an office. The NWA basically have shut down already for all intents and purposes. Corgan owns the name NWA and the legal rights to some names and footage, basically that IS the NWA. When all this is over (if it ever is) then Corgan can just start up again with the same concept. He may have to find new talent, but the way the NWA is structured right now, I can’t see Billy Corgan pulling the plug on the whole thing permanently. Then again, I’m no journalist with my finger on the pulse of the business like Scott Keith.

If I’m gonna have to keep shaving my head I’m gonna have to get a hell of a lot better at it. Or get used to wearing a hat.

Are you able to get a haircut in France now? Because everything is still closed here. I ended up shaving my head using the electric clippers we use to groom the dog, and it did not go well. Things you never want to hear after giving yourself a haircut: "Well, it's not TOO crooked."

You're not the boss of me. If your (and other) comments weren't directed at me, then I overreacted. I made comments that were somewhat critical of Seth Rollins and found the ensuing response to be pretty haughty, especially considering the fact that I don't think I said anything all that out of line. I felt I was only speculating about Rollins mindset regarding his response to Cornette and didn't think I was terribly out of line in doing so. In the interest of full disclosure, I do really like @SomethingSavage and find that I tend to agree with him 99.9% of the time...but no, I wasn't attempting to argue on his behalf. I was reacting as if the comments were made toward me. SomethingSavage is perfectly capable of defending himself and doesn't need me advocating on his behalf. In retrospect my reaction was obviously defensive and prickly, because I really didn't think I'd written anything that justified the judgmental response. I'm not going to go back and erase what I posted, because I don't think that would help the situation, honestly. But if my reaction angered or insulted anybody here, then I apologize. Except to @El-P, screw that guy.

I don't disagree that poor spelling isn't necessarily an indicator of intelligence. However, I am also of the opinion that if you are choosing to challenge somebody in writing, especially in a public forum like Social Media, it's also not a bad idea to ensure that you use accurate spelling and grammar...if you want to be taken seriously. I admit that I might be showing my age with that comment.

So I guess we're not going to agree to disagree and drop this whole thing, huh?

Yeah, of all the terribly racist gimmicks and representations that Pro Wrestling has been guilty of over the years, the Kabuki Warriors thing never struck me as particularly offensive or insensitive. Then again, I'm a middle aged white guy, so I'm not exactly an authority on what is and isn't racially offensive.

I went back and posted a screen shot, so you could see it. As far as the nosebleeds, just tilt your head back. You know I'm just busting your balls @C.S., even though you're a Mauro Ranallo fan, you're still a Good Brother.

In other Jim Cornette news...the latest Pro Wrestler to try and engage Cornette on Twitter and take him to task is...Lio Rush. This isn't going to be pretty, if Rush is actually committed to following through on this. The fact that Rush is one of those geniuses who can't seem to figure out the difference between "their" and "there" doesn't bode well for his chances in a war of words with Jim Cornette.

One of the things about Jim Cornette that I find hilarious is that, in a lot of ways he is a walking contradiction. The way he talks and acts, you'd expect him to be a hardcore Republican or supporter of Donald Trump...but he is anything but. He grew up in the Bible Belt/South and is vocally proud of that, but despises religion and mocks anybody who believes in God. He owns a gun but complains endlessly about the NRA. He goes on and on about Women's rights, and generously supports supports the "Crusade for Children" charity...and then makes comments right out of the 1950's about Becky Lynch and childbearing and children in general. He made the infamous "Fried Chicken joke" and has no problem taking shots at the AEW Women's division for having too many Japanese women...but he has been very vocal about Asuka's gimmick being racist in nature. He says some of the most inflammatory shit imaginable...the Dana Brooke comments spring to mind as a recent example...but then takes a bunch of people to task for using the term "retard" as it's offensive to people with intellectual disabilities. He gets criticized for making a comment which is seen as "encouraging suicide" on Twitter, but breaks down in tears when relaying a story about a fan whose Brother killed himself. Then he spends months promoting a call in/online Mental Health clinic. He's either working a lot of the time and saying outrageous stuff to further his gimmick, or he is one of the least self aware public figures I've ever seen.

Oh, I get it. My mistake, I didn't understand the difference. If I post something snarky, sarcastic or something that evokes a heated response then I am being condescending. When you do it, then you're just being honest and telling it like it is. Gotcha. Clearly, I was unable to discern the distinction between the two. My sincere apologies. From now on, I'll just be honest and tell it like it is, and then we shouldn't run into any further problems.

You of all people at PWO accusing somebody of being "condescending" is pretty much the height of hilarity.

Please spare me the righteous indignation. I'm surprised you all aren't getting nosebleeds, way up there on your moral high ground. I clearly said, I don't blame Seth Rollins for being angry about what Cornette said about Becky. If I was Rollins, I would feel the same way. (Actually if I was Rollins, the first thing I'd do is shave that stupid looking beard...but whatever.) I absolutely think what Cornette said about Becky Lynch's pregnancy (and about female wrestlers getting pregnant in general) was stupid, archaic and borderline misogynistic. I say that as a Jim Cornette fan. But my other point was, Seth Rollins is a notoriously thin-skinned whiner who frequently has tantrums when anybody dares say anything critical about him. So much so that they actually worked it into his gimmick, for gawd's sake. But for years, Jim Cornette has sung the praises of Seth Rollins to the high heavens. I've always been of the opinion that Cornette based the majority of this praise on the fact that he liked Tyler Black in ROH. I don't even think Jim Cornette has even seen much "Seth Rollins." Cornette avoids current WWE, as well he should. Recently, Cornette reviewed some modern WWE and even his precious Seth Rollins was not spared the patented Cornette criticism. After all the controversial and inappropriate shit Jim Cornette has said over the past couple of years, Seth Rollins has never made a peep. He's kept his opinion to himself. You could make the argument that there was no need for Seth Rollins to comment on Jim Cornette because they don't work together anymore...but that didn't seem to stop pretty much everybody else in Pro Wrestling from throwing their two cents in on Social Media when it came to Jim Cornette. Then Cornette says something inappropriate about Becky Lynch, and Seth Rollins responds. As I said, that is to be expected and not really all that newsworthy. But I do find the timing coincidental, that at the exact same time Jim Cornette has soured on Seth Rollins and has been criticizing his work...all of the sudden Rollins has no problem publicly going after Cornette. Maybe he would have done it anyhow, even if Cornette hadn't said anything about Rollins as well. Rollins probably would have said something about Cornette based solely on what Cornette said about Becky Lynch being pregnant. But I was speculating that Rollins was probably just as upset that Cornette said things about him too. Now Rollins has all the excuse in the world to go after Cornette, and nobody is going to question it, that's for sure. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. But if my speculating about that hurt some people's feelings and they need to lie down for a little while in their safe space with a cold cloth on their forehead or something, it's okay. I understand.

I always assumed, based on his goofy in ring facials and hammy, over-the-top heel work that Edge had no dramatic ability, that he just couldn’t convey emotion realistically. I was shocked when he showed up on Vikings (one of my favourite shows) and he did a great job. I guess he reserves the over-acting for wrestling?

Call me cynical, but I have to question the timing of this Seth Rollins interview. For the last couple of years Jim Cornette has been effusive in his praise of Seth Rollins claiming he should be one of the top guys in WWE etc. etc., and basically gushing all over the guy. For the longest time Jim Cornette had nothing bad to say about Seth Rollins. However, over the last month or so, Cornette has really started to sour on Rollins, especially the ridiculous “Monday Night Messiah” gimmick. Cornette has started to become critical of Rollins work. All of the sudden, Rollins is upset with Cornette. I have no doubt that Seth Rollins is very upset about what Cornette said about Becky Lynch. He’s right to be upset, I don’t blame him, and I agree with most of the stuff Rollins said about Cornette. But knowing how sensitive Seth Rollins is whenever anybody says anything bad about him, I have to wonder if this interview would’ve happened at all, or if Seth wouldn’t have been quite so angry if Corny hadn’t taken shots at him recently.

Yeah there is no doubt that Brian Last has probably forgotten more about Pro Wrestling history than Conrad Thompson will ever know. I have no doubt Conrad Thompson is a better businessman and more adept at monetizing his podcasts, but I'm not sure that's a compliment. I don't always listen to the 6:05 Superpodcast (THE MOTHERSHIP) but on the occasions I have, I've always been impressed with the amount of knowledge and research that has gone into them. I have been seriously considering adding Ron Fuller's Studcast to my rotation because it sounds very interesting and informative. Personality wise, honestly I'd pretty much call it even. I don't buy Conrad's "aw shucks I'm just a fan like y'all" act. Hell, even Tony Schiavone was busting Conrad's balls about that on one of those episodes I listened to recently. "Yeah, you're just a fan who happens to be married to Ric Flair's daughter, one of your best friends is Vince McMahon's right hand man, one of your other best friends is the owner of AEW, you're rich and live in a giant mansion...and you also promote your own fanfests." Having said that, you can also tell Brian Last thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. That guy just exudes smugness. I'm not sure either guy is the type I'd enjoy having a beer with and talking Pro Wrestling.

I have been watching those ECW watchalongs on WHW that Conrad has been doing with Tony. What has been coming up that is very interesting, is that there is a subtle undercurrent where you get the distinct impression that there is legit heat between Conrad and Brian Last. Brian Last has openly taken shots at Conrad on Cornette's podcast, claiming that people who need to rely on selling "dick pills" on their podcasts obviously aren't smart enough to understand how to make money in podcasting. Last has claimed he would never insult his listeners by taking every advertiser that comes along and shilling their product just to make money. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to an old episode of WHW from last year, and Conrad said to Tony that there is another established podcast host out there who thinks he invented Pro Wrestling podcasts, he has something like 10 podcasts and is obviously jealous of Conrad. Conrad claims this unnamed host can take all the shots he wants, but Conrad will put up his podcast revenue and download numbers against anybody. Conrad talked about how this unnamed host has criticized him for having too much advertising, but that Conrad is a better businessman than this person and that the point of podcasting is to make money. Then, as if there was any doubt about who Conrad is talking about, Conrad sang the opening jingle from Cornette's Drive-Thru podcast..."Thank You, Fuck You, Bye..." There was also that big blowup between Bischoff and Cornette last year when Cornette was blasting Bischoff for promoting Blue Chew, Bischoff fired back, things got personal and a full on Twitter war erupted. During the exchange, Brian Last revealed some very personal information about Eric Bischoff...namely that Bischoff was then going through bankruptcy. During another episode of WHW, Tony asked Conrad what was going on with that situation, and Conrad casually mentioned that Eric and Jim had spoken on the phone and declared a truce. I don't remember the exact details, but Conrad implied that he had some how brokered the truce. Either way...it does definitely seem like there is some legit dislike happening between Conrad and Brian Last. Which is interesting.

I was going to mention just that. It's amazing, I found Conrad to be at his absolute best during those Dark Side podcasts...it's almost like he's an entirely different host. That has been a great podcast, I'm sad it's over.