The Thread Killer

I don't know if I've ever told this story before at PWO, but even if I have...screw you guys, I'm telling it again. I was fortunate enough to be in the crowd for Hawk's last ever Pro Wrestling match in October 2003. I was working with kids at the time, and Ted DiBiase was running a travelling independent promotion called "Main Event Wrestling." They came to Oshawa, a city about 20 minutes east of Toronto. It was a charity show. Ted Dibiase's organization offered free tickets to disadvantaged or at risk kids, so myself and a couple of my coworkers took the kids to the show. The Main Event was The Road Warriors against Buff Bagwell and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, managed by Ted DiBiase. (As an aside...the match itself was pretty rough. The Warriors looked okay, but Valentine and Bagwell had both seen better days.) The LOD won the match when Hawk hit Bagwell with the "Doomsday Device." Right after the match, Hawk was attacked by a large group of masked wrestlers. They all gathered around him, and bound him in chains. For a few minutes, Hawk lay on the floor struggling, when a local football celebrity (a guy who played for the Toronto Argonauts, whose name I forget) came out, and former wrestler (and local anti-drug activist) The Missing Link came out, and helped him. Hawk broke the chains, and then took the microphone and explained to the 3000 fans in attendance, (mostly kids) that the chains around him were not just normal chains...they represented drugs and alcohol. With the help of his friends, Hawk broke his chains. Hawk then stood up, and shared the stories of how he had let his life be run by steroids, booze, and cocaine. However, he had just this past January gotten clean, and now he wanted to share his message with all of the kids in attendance. Animal, Valentine, and Bagwell all came out and shared similar stories, Bagwell talking about how he became addicted to painkillers after his career threatening neck injury a few years ago. (Sadly, he seems to still be struggling with his demons as we speak.) The show ending by Ted DiBiase talking of how he had really lived the life of "The Million Dollar Man" and been involved in a fast paced reckless lifestyle, but now he was dedicating his life to God, and trying to help kids. One of the chilling things he did, was point to Buff, The Hammer, Hawk, and Animal and say that any of them, or any one of us could die at any time, and there was no better time to turn your life around. At the end, about two thirds of the sold out crowd went down to the meeting area to meet all of the wrestlers, and talk to counsellors. When the news broke that Hawk had died, I had that stupid, reactionary response which so many people have when somebody dies unexpectedly. "How could he be dead? I just saw him two weeks ago, and he looked great!" Considering the recent stories about Ted Dibiase, I try not to focus on where the money raised by that show might have actually gone. What I do like to remember, if how at his very last Professional Wrestling match ever, Hawk seemed so happy and at peace with himself...and his last act professionally was actually to try and help other people. It's tragic that he died so young, but I am still glad he was seemingly at such a good place in his life at the end.

Cornette might be an embarrassment for what he says and does on his "own time" as was proven when he tried to work for the NWA. (Although Vince Russo is hardly without stain in that area himself.) But if I'm starting a Pro Wrestling company, at least Cornette also knows a ton of stuff about how to format television shows, edit, produce and about a million other things that Russo literally has no clue how to do. Even though some people love to shit all over SMW and OVW, Cornette was booking, producing and editing those TV shows almost by himself. You can criticize the actual booking, but there is no way in hell Vince Russo would even have the faintest clue how to do any of those other things. Do you remember when Vince Russo went to WCW and got sent home after a couple of months due to his insane booking? WCW brought Eric Bischoff back from exile specifically to try and reign Russo in creatively and work with him, much like Vince McMahon had to do with Russo in the WWF. At first, Bischoff actually liked Russo personally and wanted to work with him. (This was before the Bash at the Beach 2000 incident, which spelled the end of Bischoff and Russo working together.) Bischoff has said one of the first things he did is sit down and meet with Vince Russo, and asked for a written outline of Russo's creative plans for the next 8 weeks. Bischoff claims Russo actually got angry, defensive and emotional and claimed that wasn't how he worked...he didn't plan things ahead like that?! Jim Cornette has confirmed that (and there is zero love lost between Cornette and Bischoff.) Cornette claims that Russo was never able to provide Spike TV with usable show formats ahead of time, and when he did they were handwritten and riddled with spelling errors. One of the reasons Jim Cornette was able to work in TNA so long, is because the television production staff couldn't work with Vince Russo, he was pretty much banned from the TV production truck during shows, because he literally had no clue how to direct or produce Pro Wrestling on television. Jim Cornette's main job in TNA was to direct the action in the TV truck and act as a buffer between Vince Russo and the production staff. If you don't believe Bischoff or Cornette, Dutch Mantell (who actually doesn't seem to mind Russo) has pretty much confirmed the same thing. Russo would write "scripts" and hand them in, but he had no idea how to do anything else. Face it, there is a reason this guy has never worked again in Professional Wrestling. He's pretty much useless. That is not the kind of guy I would hire for my Pro Wrestling company. Besides, the embarrassment with Russo might not come over the stuff he says outside the ring (although I would hardly guarantee that) but there would definitely be embarrassment when people saw the crap he put on television. Keep in mind, this is a guy that Dixie Carter had to pretend to fire and secretly keep on the payroll, because Spike TV wanted nothing to do with his so called "writing." And then the moron accidentally outed himself and pretty much ruined TNA's relationship with Spike TV because he didn't know how to stay hidden. I actually agree with this point. As much as I agree with many of Jim Cornette's opinions, I don't think his vision of Pro Wrestling would work in 2020. I think if you gave him an unlimited budget and access to whatever talent he wanted, he'd probably still be unable to produce a watchable Pro Wrestling product for a significant period of time. I think a lot of his opinions are totally valid, that modern Pro Wrestlers need to calm the fuck down with all the perpetual motion and countless spots, they're burning out the crowds. I think they need to focus on psychology and tell a damn story in the ring. I think there needs to be much clearer lines between faces and heels. I think the majority of today's Pro Wrestlers couldn't cut an unscripted promo off the top of their heads to save their lives, and that's pathetic. I think all so-called "writers" should be fired and Pro Wrestling creative should be handled by people with experience in the Pro Wrestling business. I think Pro Wrestling would greatly benefit from more realism and less self-referential comedy. I think modern "garbage wrestling" is exactly that...garbage. I still think old school, traditional, competition based Pro Wrestling could work in 2020. But I don't think Jim Cornette could adapt and make it work. However, ideas like "Seth Rollins needs to hide his relationship status so he comes across as a sex symbol" are just antiquated and wouldn't work in 2020. Like it or not, the territory days are over, kayfabe is dead and buried and those things aren't coming back. I don't agree with Jim Cornette's opinions on a lot of talents. I despise so-called "modern wrestling" but I still think a lot of modern talent have a lot to offer, with proper production and coaching. But Jim Cornette would not be the guy to offer that coaching. Jim Cornette has made his choice. He has retired from managing and he has now officially retired from broadcasting following the NWA debacle. He has even greatly cut down on his public appearances (before the pandemic.) Cornette has made the decision to focus on his collectible's business and focus on using his podcasts as his platform to act as a critic of modern Professional Wrestling. He can't contribute to modern Pro Wrestling anymore, he doesn't want to and I don't think he should. He has value as a historian and critic. He certainly has comedic value. But his days of actively contributing to modern Professional Wrestling are officially over. He doesn't want to, and honestly I don't think he could. Pro Wrestling has passed him by. Whether that is good or bad, depends on how much you like Jim Cornette.

It's nice to see guys like Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Austin Aries express their condolences. EVOLVE, Impact and MLW have also paid respects. I thought it was classy of Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alverez to pay tribute as well. I am glad to see that somebody started a GoFundMe for Larry's daughters and that it seems to be doing well. It did strike me today when I went to 411, that without Larry Csonka writing there, I really don't have any reason to go there anymore. With all due respect, the rest of the so-called "writers" on that site are pretty much garbage.

Two episodes in and this series has been outstanding so far, in my opinion. The Undertaker has always been so private and gone to such great lengths to "protect his character" so now it's amazing to see the amount of personal access he gave this documentary crew. Sitting around joking with his wife, playing with his kids, interacting with his coworkers, and especially some of the personal interviews he gave, I did not expect. Honestly I thought this would be more of a typical WWE Network "puff piece." They certainly have highlighted a lot of "rah rah WWE" interviews and really played up how much Mark Calloway loves Vince McMahon. They have also stacked the program with the obligatory complimentary soundbytes from countless WWE stars and executives praising The Undertaker to the high heavens...but that was to be expected, and to be fair I think their admiration is genuine. All pro-WWE content aside, I still think so far this series has been very revealing. There have been a couple of legitimately moving and emotional moments. I can honestly say I never expected to watch a documentary in which I saw The Undertaker waxing poetic about how much he loves his wife and how much she has helped him. I am actually quite surprised at how vulnerable he has been portrayed, how much he admitted he is insecure about how he is seen by the fans and his peers and struggling with his "legacy." Watching him tear up while watching the WM33 Main Event with his wife, being embarrassed by his performance was not something I expected to see in this documentary. Talking about how he feels he let Roman Reigns down, and actually apologizing to him. Seeing how disappointed he was that he and Cena only got 5 minutes at WM34, because he wanted a competitive match to try and make up for the previous year was also something I wouldn't have predicted. Considering how good this series has been so far, I just find it equal parts amusing, baffling and ultimately sad, that one of the main talking points that a small but vocal group of fans have come away with, is complaints about what Mark Calloway has written on his t-shirts. I consider myself to be a reasonably observant person, and I can honestly say that the only shirt he has worn so far that I even noticed was that hideous canary yellow Andre The Giant shirt with the Japanese script on it. I guess I should be finding some hidden alt-right meaning in that, and complaining about it on Twitter. The funny thing is, were it not for the pandemic I probably wouldn't have even watched this series. I don't even consider myself a fan of The Undertaker and I usually avoid WWE documentaries for the most part. I got about 15 minutes into the first episode of the "Ruthless Aggression" series before turning it off. I generally can't stand WWE, but I'm not so blinded by bias against them that I can't admit when they produce something that is actually good.

He had the audacity to wear a shirt that said “Blue Lives Matter” which is intended to show support for the police, obviously. I actually saw another tweet where a fan was taking him to task for wearing a shirt featuring the American flag and some generic patriotic slogan, which the fan designated as “alt-right.” I really need to stop looking at Twitter. 99% of Pro Wrestling fans on Twitter make my brain cry.

Larry Csonka seemed like a really decent human being. I loved his reviews, his reports have been the only way I have kept up with WWE programming the past couple years. I followed him on Twitter and was amazed at how positive he was after losing his leg to necrosis last year. He always tweeted cute pictures of his pets and stories about his kids. His poor family must be devastated right now. This is so unexpected and such a shock, he just posted some news items on 411 earlier today. Unbelievably sad. EDIT: I just saw that his final tweet less than 24 hours ago was complaining that he was really tired and didn't feel well.

That statement right there clearly sums up our own difference in opinion regarding Jim Cornette. We both disagree with some of the things he says. Neither of us agreed with what he said about Becky Lynch's pregnancy, or Dana Brooke's face. I agree with most of his opinions about Kenny Omega, you do not. The difference is, I don't think the opinions that Jim Cornette has with which I disagree, somehow invalidate the opinions he has that I do agree with.

Yes, those parts. And don't forget the blow-up doll. Jim Cornette did not make any half-covered homophobic remarks about Kenny Omega. I never even knew there was a rumor about Kenny Omega being gay or bisexual until I read this thread. Cornette has said Kenny Omega prances around the ring like a sissy. You know where this insult originated? The fact that Kenny Omega is featured in an independent short film about Professional Wrestling called "Sissy Boy Slap Party." And also from the fact that he prances and dances around the ring like a modern interpretive dancer. Jim Cornette has never accused Kenny Omega of being gay, he has accused Omega of having an unhealthy fascination with female Japanese wrestlers. Cornette never said Omega is not a star. Quite the opposite. He thinks Omega and The Young Bucks are the biggest stars in AEW and that's the problem...that they're playing exclusively to their extremely passionate but also limited fan base, without taking advantage of their national TV exposure to try and draw in new fans and compete with WWE. He has never denied that Omega is popular. Nor would I, nor could anybody claim that...because it's not true. But just because Omega had a brief period of success in Japan and is now one of the Vice Presidents in charge of AEW, that does not make him the best or most popular Professional Wrestler in the world. But Omega does have the jazziest hands and does the best "pew pew" finger motions of any active Pro Wrestler I have ever seen. As far as the geek part? I've never heard Jim Cornette actually call Omega a geek, but if he did...he'd not be wrong.

I agree. I have no issue with Jim Cornette taking shots at people's lack of ability when it comes to Professional Wrestling. In fact, that's one of things that he does that I find entertaining. However, I don't see the need to take shots at a person's physical appearance. It's not productive, it's just mean spirited. Much like Cornette, the last time I saw Dana Brooke my first reaction was one of total surprise, as in "what the hell happened to her?" I used to find Dana Brooke quite attractive. I don't know why she felt the need to do that herself. I find it really sad that women in Pro Wrestling, the entertainment business, and in society at large feel the need to mutilate themselves to make themselves into what they consider (or what they think others consider) more "attractive." But she seemed determined to do it, for whatever reason. And when Cornette did make that mean spirited joke, she probably just should have ignored him or let somebody who is a bit more quick witted come to her defense. On his podcast, Cornette has gone to great lengths to eviscerate WWE and AEW for things they do...but he always does it with the caveat of "they shouldn't do that for this reason" or "they should have done this instead, it makes more sense." This past week, he complained that Jake Roberts is cutting promos as Lance Archer's manager that are doing a better job of getting heat on himself, and getting himself over than they are helping Lance Archer. He talked about his time managing Yokozuna, and the art of cutting a promo for a monster that gets them over. Little things like insisting that the camera focus on the talent during the promo, not the manager, so there is no confusion who is supposed to be getting over. He then cut a promo off the top of his head, that he says he would have done to promote Lance Archer in his feud against Cody. And of course, it was pretty much better than any promo I've heard by anybody recently. But that was the point...although it was venomous, it was still constructive. There was a point to it. Picking on somebody like Dana Brooke is just pointless. There's no reason for it.

I hope this comment isn't directed at me, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the definition of sycophant is one who somebody who attempts to gain an advantage or curry favor by flattering an influential person, or by praising a person in a position of authority. Since Jim Cornette has no idea who I am, nor does he have any authority or influence in my life and could not possibly confer any favor upon me, I am obviously not a sycophant. I have referred to Cornette's so-called "Cult of Cornette" on Twitter as sycophants, because many of them fall all over themselves complimenting him and tagging him, clearly hoping for a response and his attention and approval. I have never done that, and I never would. I think it's sad and pathetic. I couldn't care less what Jim Cornette would think of me. I'd say that conservatively, I agree with Jim Cornette about 75% of the time. Having said that, I find a number of his opinions to be illogical, simplistic and outdated. His opinions on Becky Lynch's pregnancy are the latest example. There have been other ideas of his that I have strongly disagreed with in the past, and I'm very sure there will be many more in the future. However, I am still a Jim Cornette fan. I would go so far as to consider myself a Jim Cornette apologist. I am not one of those people who, upon being presented with a viewpoint they disagree with from a particular individual, has to therefore automatically discount or invalidate every other opinion that individual has. People are complex. It's possible to agree with a person's opinion on one particular issue, and strongly disagree with them about another. I myself don't consider myself a Jim Cornette fan because I loved the Midnight Express. I am a fan because I happen to agree with a large number of Jim Cornette's opinions about Professional Wrestling. I also find him entertaining and funny. I also do not consider Jim Cornette "toxic." I'm not even sure what that term really means, when it is used to describe a person. I'm reasonably certain you can't die of poisoning from listening to Jim Cornette's podcast. I know the term "toxic" has risen in popularity in the past few years, seemingly in conjunction with so-called "cancel culture." I find that entire line of thinking to be putrid. Unless an individual is openly espousing or promoting violence or discrimination against a disadvantaged individual or group and can bring somebody to harm, I don't believe in the practice of attempting to silence them, just because you disagree. I've said it countless times, but it bears repeating. I am strongly hold to the "sticks and stones" philosophy. Opinions cannot harm me. Hurt feelings are not a reason to attempt to silence somebody. There are a great deal of people who have a public platform, with whom I disagree. If I find that I disagree with so many of their opinions that I don't even enjoy listening to them talk anymore, then I stop listening to them talk. The bottom line is, Jim Cornette's comments about Becky Lynch might have been antiquated and bordered on misogyny, but by gawd...he's right about Kenny Omega.

I'm usually the first one to defend Jim Cornette when fans of so-called "modern" Pro Wrestling or the AEW Twitter Brigade get easily and repeatedly offended by his opinions. Not this time. I heard this episode of The Jim Cornette Experience and yeah...he's pretty much out to lunch on the issue of Becky Lynch's pregnancy. He seems totally baffled by the fact that a woman would want to have a child when she's 33 years old, just because she also happens to be in a top spot in WWE. Cornette's analogy that Lynch choosing to get pregnant at this point in her career is the equivalent of Steve Austin deliberately breaking his own leg at the height of his run, is just flat out ignorant. His further statements that Vince McMahon should put a pregnancy clause in the contracts of his female talents, and his claims that this is the reason female wrestling was never heavily featured during the territory days are just...antiquated. I know Cornette actually respects Becky Lynch's work, he has been quite complimentary toward her in the past. And I know his underlying point is that he thinks she should make as much money from Vince McMahon and WWE while she can, and then walk away and focus on her family. But he just can't seem to grasp that maybe, just maybe there are things in life more important than being a WWE Superstar, or even filthy rich. If Becky Lynch chose to have this baby and walk away from the business forever, nobody will ever be able to take away what she accomplished. For a guy who loves to trumpet how much he is "pro choice" and that he supports women's reproductive rights, he sure doesn't seem to respect Becky Lynch's choice to focus on her family and walk away from her career, for now at least. If nothing else, one major indicator that Cornette was way off base here is the fact that Brian Last stayed pretty much silent during Cornette's entire rant. When Brian Last gets quiet and doesn't encourage Jim's insanity, it's usually a good sign he thinks Cornette has gone too far. Now if you want to make the argument that Becky Lynch choosing to have a child with Seth Rollins is stupid...I'm all in on that argument. If this child is really the genetic offspring of Seth Rollins, I anticipate that during the delivery, the newborn will only sell the slap on the backside for two seconds, and then totally forget about it. The child will then execute an unnecessary and superfluous triple somersault, and accidentally injure the doctor. And then cut a promo complaining that nobody appreciates him.

So tonight at 6:05 PM, they’re showing that 90 minute episode which was supposed to air right before the pay-per-view. At the conclusion of the episode, there’s supposed to be an announcement about the NWA by Billy Corgan. I hope it’s about their plans to start taping again, and not bad news.

I remember @C.S. mentioning in another thread that he saw an interview with Al Snow somewhere in which Snow also said that James Storm can be prone to sulking when he is asked to lose a match. I can't help but wonder if this reputation precedes him and might not be part of the reason he never caught on anywhere else. He had that extra short stay in NXT, and that was it. So far, they have done the "Eric Joins TNA" episode on September 30, and then TNA Lockdown 2010 on April 13, TNA Debuts on Monday Night on May 4, and this coming week will be TNA Sacrifice 2010. So that should be good. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

That whole Jim Cornette/Shane Douglas story has always fascinated me. @Superstar Sleeze if you haven't Cornette's side of that story you can see a video clip of it here. According to Cornette, they actually ended up shooting that match twice. I've never understood why (assuming Cornette's version of the story is true) Douglas would have gone to Jim Herd to complain about the angle, when the whole point of it was to help promote Shane Douglas and the Dynamic Dudes. The whole "I'm not selling that Memphis shit" line cracks me up for some reason. I also agree that Shane Douglas is an excellent interview. Much like @El-P you can count me in as a Shane Douglas fan. He is obviously highly intelligent and very well spoken. His Kayfabe Commentary shoot interviews are always excellent and he even has a 3+ hour interview on YouTube with that Hannibal guy (who I generally can't stand) that is also really good. I think one of the things that always worked against Shane Douglas and kept him from being more successful in Pro Wrestling is that he tended to be his own worst enemy and made some bad political decisions. IIRC, Mick Foley alluded to that in his first book. Douglas seemed to have the knack for rubbing important people the wrong way, no matter where he worked...aside from ECW of course. I tried listening to Shane's "Triple Threat Podcast" for a while, but it's pretty bad. His co-hosts are the guys from the "Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling" and the show seemed to mostly be them talking and interviewing Shane over the phone. Last I heard the show, he wasn't even using Skype to record (like everybody else seems to) and as a result the audio quality was awful.

Tim Storm was the guest on Sean Mooney's podcast this week, and obviously there is plenty of NWA talk. Great episode. And as we discussed earlier in this thread, the interview Tim Storm does with Sean Mooney pretty much confirms that Storm is the most sincere, nicest guy in the history of Professional Wrestling.

Overproduced is the perfect word for...whatever the hell that was. That looked like a giant steaming pile of ridiculous shite to me. Besides, even if that was good...it doesn't matter. This is WWE. One minute you're in NXT with a big entrance and starting to build momentum, the next you're on RAW, teaming with Ricochet and losing to The New Day while they dance around as they throw pancakes. There is zero reason to get excited about anything in WWE, or to get behind any new act. It's pretty much a given at this point that WWE will screw it up. Especially if the fans actually get behind it.

I know this is a late bump, but The Revival...sorry "The Revolt" were guests on Chris Jericho's podcast yesterday and talked about their reasons for asking for their release from WWE. From the sound of it, they left for exactly the reasons @C.S. mentions above, because the Tag Team Division on the so-called "Main Roster" is treated as a joke and an afterthought. They seemed to feel that they were never really used properly after they were called up from NXT. They were also able to confirm that those ridiculous sketches of new gimmicks for them that leaked online a while back were actually legitimate. They shared a really funny story about how Vince pitched the idea to them and their reaction. I respect those guys a lot after listening to this interview. They grew up loving old school, southern style, JCP era Tag Team Wrestling. That's what they wanted to do, and in NXT they were allowed to do it. It's absolutely a fair point that they were obviously being incredibly naive (or they just weren't paying attention) when they thought they'd be allowed to continue to be presented as a serious Tag Team on Raw or Smackdown. But as soon as they decided that they were never going to be able to achieve what they wanted in WWE, they respectfully asked for their release, in private. They claim (and based on the recent Brodie Lee interview, I believe them) that they were offered a ton of money to stay, but this isn't about the money for them...it's about being allowed to work the way they want to work. I also respect how loyal they are to each other. From the sounds of things, they're pretty clearly going to end up in AEW but I think they may try and get permission to work for other companies as well, be it the NWA, ROH, Impact or New Japan. They sound really excited about the prospect of working with all sorts of different teams. I look forward to this whole pandemic ending and seeing where they end up.

I also enjoyed the Herb Abrams episode. It obviously wasn't as dark in tone as the Benoit, Snuka and Bravo episodes, but that's not a bad thing. (Or even the New Jack episode, come to think about it.) There wasn't a whole lot of meat on the bone in terms of how complicated the story was, but it's also true that your average fan would probably never have heard of Herb Abrams or the UWF. I considered myself a fairly well informed fan and I only first learned about the story in Mick Foley's first book. It's one of those stories where on one hand, it's tragic because somebody died, but on the other hand the image of a guy coked out of his mind, naked except for a pair of cowboy boots, oiled up and running around smashing up his own office with a baseball bat...that's just entertaining, I'm sorry.

That is not an accurate statement. Eric Bischoff takes the blame and the responsibility for many of the things that went wrong with WCW on several episodes of this podcast. There are a ton of examples of him admitting fault. Bischoff has stated on more than one occasion that he allowed the top level talent in WCW to have way too much say in their own creative, and that he didn't pay close enough attention to creative in general. He has said that he didn't have any confidence in his own creative abilities or ideas, so he deferred to other people. He admits that WCW overexposed the nWo and rode that angle too long. He admits to waiting too long to cycle fresh talent into the main event scene. He takes the blame for a lot of the crap matches and angles that he and Conrad have reviewed. He is especially remorseful for how he handled the conflict with Ric Flair. He has also stated more than once that he should have dealt with Scott Hall and his substance abuse problems a lot differently. Hell, over and above all that...he recently did a "members only" podcast with Conrad Thompson where he discussed his recent ill fated tenure with WWE. Bischoff shoulders the majority of the blame for that fiasco as well. Hell, not only does he admit that he washed out in WWE due to his inability work within their system and give Vince what he wanted...he even admits he took the job for the money, and even talks about all the mistakes he made professionally and financially that forced him to have to accept the WWE job in the first place. You've made it pretty clear in this thread that you're not an Eric Bischoff fan, and that's fine. I can understand why somebody wouldn't be. But your claim he never accepts fault for his mistakes is just not true.

Of all the shows running during the pandemic, AEW is definitely doing the best job by using their talent in the stands to show some sort of reaction. I also like the fact that the AEW talent are acting differently and acknowledging that circumstances are different in promos and in the way they enter the ring. The WWE/NXT guys acting the exact same way in empty arenas as they always do, with the gesturing and the theatrics and the catchphrases, it just makes them look even dumber than they normally look. And that's saying something. It's just goofy and stupid. And WWE was already going way too far with all the stupid wannabe movie dialogue in the ring during matches when there were fans around. Now that you have to hear everything the performers are saying to each other...it's cringeworthy. It's like really bad community theatre. Without crowds (even WWE crowds) to react off, Pro Wrestling just comes across as odd. When comparing the so-called "Wednesday Night War" one of the areas I thought AEW had it all over NXT was in the crowds and crowd reaction. AEW crowds are usually rabid, and their reactions really added to the overall feeling and aura of the show. The opening moments of Dynamite reminded me of Raw or Nitro in the 90's in a good way. Enthusiasm and excitement. Hell, the NWA was drawing a whopping 250 fans to their TV tapings at the GPB studios, but those fans were LOUD. You need that. But even there, I didn't think that model was going to work long term. I don't think doing a show in front of the exact same crowd every week is ever a good idea for Professional Wrestling. TNA proved that with the Nashville "Asylum" shows and then later in the Orlando "Impact Zone." When you get the same fans every week, it gets harder and harder to get them to react. I found that NXT fans at Full Sail were getting less vocal and less enthusiastic as time went by. Of course, they might just have been reacting (or not reacting) to the quality of the Pro Wrestling they were seeing. Like I said, I have tried to watch Pro Wrestling during this whole thing, I have. There's just something about empty arena Pro Wrestling that doesn't appeal to me. I don't think it's a performance that lends itself to being done in front of an empty building. This whole situation has proved how integral a part of the show fans really are. It's not the same without the crowds, I just can't get into it. Granted, part of that might be the absurdity of watching guys pretend to fight in spandex, while meanwhile hundreds of people are dying every day. I don't know. But then again, I seem to be able to take my brain off the hook when I watch Survivor, and not think about the pandemic for a little while. Either way, I just can't get into the empty arena stuff. And based on the ratings for WWE and AEW, I am obviously not the only person who feels this way. The big question is how many fans will come back, when they're eventually able to.

If nothing else, the TNA shows are interesting because they dispel some of the fallacies surrounding Bischoff's time in TNA. Pretty much everybody online when he went there were making cracks about how he failed to move the needle on the management side, and used his time in TNA as further proof of his ineffectiveness as a Pro Wrestling executive. Eric Bischoff has long maintained that he wasn't involved in TNA management, but during these shows he has gone into detail about the fact that they literally didn't want him there, and the feeling was mutual. He claims he has a contract which not only proves he wasn't in management, but that said contract was actually his idea and written up by his lawyer. @SomethingSavage mentioned it earlier in this thread, but Bischoff has reiterated that in TNA, he basically became the "Jimmy Hart" of the deal. If you wanted Hogan, you had to take Bischoff...and that was at Hogan's insistence, apparently.

Yeah, ten grand is what a guy like Tony Khan leaves for a lunch tip, honestly. That’s such a nothing fine in the big picture.

First the Maryland State Athletic Commission robs Lex Luger of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at The 88 Bash, and now this.

I agree. I haven’t watched a full show since the pandemic started. I got two matches in to WrestleMania before I tapped out. I tried watching NXT, AEW and 205 Live more than once since this mess happened but it just isn’t the same. It feels weird. I’ll probably start watching again when (or if) they start running shows in front of crowds again, but until then? Pass.

I may be setting the all time PWO record here for quoting a post, since @SomethingSavage and @El-P made some of those statements above almost a year and a half ago...but there's actually a reason for it, I swear. I'm not one of those guys who goes around bumping old threads for no reason. As is well evidenced by even skimming this thread, I used to be an unabashed 83 Weeks fanboy. For quite a while it was my favorite podcast, hands down. There was the run of shows 83 Weeks had from November - December 2018 where every show was pretty much a home run, both entertaining and informative. The shows after that were still pretty good, but my interest began to wane for a couple of reasons. I found the format to be getting a bit "samey" but moreover I started to go off Pro Wrestling podcasts altogether, I was just getting burnt out as a listener. The main reason I quit listening altogether though, is because Eric went back to work for WWE in October 2019. One of the reasons I liked 83 Weeks is because Bischoff was pretty much out of the business and wasn't all that worried about burning any bridges. When he went back to WWE, I knew that Eric Bischoff was way too political a person to say anything even remotely controversial (and by association revealing) while he was working for Vince McMahon. I knew he wasn't going to bite the hand that was now feeding him, he wouldn't want to gloat about his success beating his new boss in the ratings, and he certainly wasn't going to criticize WWE now. Plus, I figured he'd be too busy working to seriously devote any creative energy to his podcast. After Bischoff crashed and burned with WWE this past winter (or as he and Conrad liked to joke, lasted "83 Days") I gave the show a couple of weeks to let the dust settle, and then I started to check it out periodically again. The show pretty quickly returned to it's tried and true formula, reviewing old WCW shows, doing watch-alongs of WCW shows or the odd "deep dive" on a particular talent. Like a lot of people, (and like the post quoted above) I had always hoped Bischoff would change things up a bit and discuss his time in TNA. He had always claimed that he wouldn't discuss TNA for two reasons. Firstly, he still had friends there and he didn't want to bury the company...but also he had ongoing litigation against Dixie Carter and Panda Energy and it's never a good idea to publicly discuss somebody you're in the process of suing, because that can be brought as evidence into the lawsuit. I suspected the lawsuit must have been settled because they finally discussed TNA in late September with the episode "Eric Joins TNA." Also, I don't think there is anybody left working in Impact Wrestling that Eric worked with, or he's back to not caring if he burns bridges, because 83 Weeks has finally started to cover Eric Biscoff's time in TNA. Or maybe Conrad is running out of old WCW shows and talent to talk about. Either way, on April 13 they covered TNA Lockdown 2010. This is the first TNA show they have covered, and it was a blast. Great episode. Eric is definitely in total NFLTG mode. He just buries the hell out of a lot of stuff in TNA, and goes on an extended rant about the six sided ring. Conrad even comments that he is more used to the careful, thoughtful, political Eric Bischoff and he really enjoys salty, pissed off, don't give a fuck Eric Bischoff. I found that episode to be a lot of fun, a change of pace episode but a return to form for the podcast overall. This week, they covered the period when TNA went head to head with WWE on Monday Nights. Once again, it has been a refreshing change of pace and I am really enjoying it. 83 Weeks seems to be recharged, and it is shooting back up to the top of my Pro Wrestling podcast list. I have to be honest, I don't listen to Bruce Prichard anymore. I find Arn engaging but a little dry and too diplomatic at times (plus I hate the "AMA" format) and JR can have good weeks...but his saltiness and defensive rants at strawmen can get a little old after a while. I am really happy that 83 Weeks seems to be having a bit of a resurgence. If you are one of the fans who used to like this show but quit, or if you wanted to hear him talk about his time in TNA and were disappointed that he didn't, I'd check the April 13 and May 4 episodes out, you may enjoy them.