Cross Face Chicken Wing

Spring Stampede '94.

Kamala talking about the first time he smoked weed is hilarious. Edit: The story starts at about the 1-hour mark. http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=642&pid=436665#.VA4HP_GTAW0.twitter

Finally listened to this and Dylan talking about how every wrestling fan he knows is some variation of "smart" is fascinating. I know several casual wrestling fans and only one of them is into the Internet/behind the scenes stuff. Just one. None of them would know who Dave Meltzer is. They all think Triple H's character is just that. If I use the term "smart fan," they think I'm talking about college professors or scientists who happen watch wrestling. I've only been to one live WWE event over the last five years, but the chatter I heard around my section and at the bar before and after the show, nobody talked about any insidery stuff. It was all "I finally got to see Undertaker!" or "Did you see that (insert move). That had to actually hurt!" I thought centering angles around the chatter of smart fans was stupid back when it started and I still think it's stupid today. But after hearing Dylan say everyone he knows is some variation of a smart fan, maybe I should re-consider that stance. It's gotta be a regional thing......the Carolinas are more into wrestling than up here in Minnesota, so you get fans who dig deeper into it. Or maybe I just hang out with some really dumb people.

I love how Watts just keeps on bloviating over JR whenever JR tries to butt in with his usual bloviation. It sucks that people like Watts end up on JR's podcast instead of Austin's.

You're missing Kim Chee in the GOAT block.

How much fun the wrestler was to ride in a car with. It seems that workers who were fun traveling partners and could chug down a case of beer in the car get a couple extra points when fellow wrestlers evaluate their work in the ring.

John Cena. His white rapper schtick was one of the reasons I gave up on the modern product. Now whenever I pop my head back in for a month or two, I enjoy Cena's work and appreciate what he's been able to accomplish.

Someone invite Dave to my does anybody give a shit about Randy Orton thread. Nobody seems to give a shit about Orton save for a few folks online who get really mad when you point out that nobody gives a shit about Randy Orton. I'd be curious to hear Dave defend the guy.

So the dead silence when Orton comes out means the sound on my TV is somehow malfunctioning during each of his appearances?

Nobody gives a shit about Orton. He's not salvageable at all. Moazz is right that hardly anybody cares about Jericho as well. But Jericho has the personality to pull this off and, most importantly, it'd be his retirement match so we can (finally) be rid of him for good. Edit: Plus I think people enjoyed watching Brock just kick the shit out of somebody for 20 minutes at SS. They should milk that for one more PPV. You're going to get some buys from people who just want to see if Lesnar will break Jericho into tiny pieces.

How about this for an out-of-left-field idea that will never happen but might work: Feed Jericho to Lesnar. Nobody believes that Lesnar will lose his next title defense. What's the point of having him destroy another regular on the WWE roster? Have Jericho cut off the next 30 minute Heyman promo as Lesnar stands there with that shit-eating grin. Jericho makes fun of Brock for being a big dumb meathead, the type of guy he's battled against his entire career as he's tried to carve out his space as a smallish guy in a big man's business. When Brock laughs him off, Jericho puts his career on the line for one last shot at the title, and one final opportunity to go up against the type of big man who tried to hold him down his entire career. Jericho sneak attacks Brock before the bell with a chair and destroys his knee, offering some glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe he could pull this off. But after about 5 minutes of hope, Brock gains the advantage and beats the holy hell out of Jericho for the win. Jericho rides off into the sunset, something he should have done already, and Brock gets another convincing win to build up his unstoppable monster character.

Austin's podcast with Kamala was outstanding. However, I'm biased because Kamala is a personal favorite and the greatest gimmick in the history of wrestling.

I kind of liked watching Lesnar just beat the shit out of someone for 15 minutes. Maybe they should keep doing that until Bryan returns and tries to slay the giant. Hell, bring in the Mulkey's for a PPV main event and hype it as "Can the Mulkey's survive 10 minutes in the ring with Lesnar before dying or suffering permanent dismemberment?" I'd pay $9.99 to watch that.

It was pretty bad for me on the PS3, but my PS3 is downstairs, further away from my wireless router than the upstairs PS4 I usually watch on. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. I switched to my cell phone for Lesnar/Cena and it was flawless.

After Summer Slam, I think the number of people who actually give a shit about Randy Orton dropped from 7 to maybe 3 or 4. Since it obviously looks like the WWE has no intention of getting rid of Orton, and actually will continue to try and push him in some weird, boring and mind-numbingly dull type of way, I I hope they make him the guy who always wrestles the snoozer match between the semi-main event and the main event on PPVs. I'd sell it as a challenge for whoever Orton's opponent is: Can (insert Orton's opponent) actually make the snoozer slot on the card featuring the King of Snoozers Randy Orton somewhat interesting? If (insert Orton's opponent) manages to somehow convince half of the live audience to pay attention to the Orton snoozer match instead of checking their mobile devices or taking a leak, (insert name of Orton's opponent) earns a title shot the next night on Raw.

Who needs to go first? Randy Orton or the police chief in Ferguson, MO?

I don't know.....Cena as corporate champ sounds like a flop. The whole corporate thing is kind of tired to me. And I can't see WWE being creative enough to really make Cena stand out from previous corporate champ types. It'd be hot for a month or two, but like everything else, WWE would find a way to tame it down and kill it before it got too good. The way to make Cena a corporate champ that actually had the best shot of working long term: 1. Turn him at WM against Taker (too late) 2. Do some of the things you guys mentioned on the pod as far as video packages and angles (way over WWE's heads) 3. Morph his character from white rapper to a cross between a bro Ric Flair and a bro Million Dollar Man. He'd be one of those East Coast ivy leaguer bro types who got rich too fast on Wall St. thanks to his daddy's connections and now he's a complete and total asshole that nobody can stand who sucks up to people above him and abuses people below him. Of course, in Cena's case, Wall St. would be the WWE and instead of his daddy helping him get rich, it'd be Steph and Hunter.

A socialist publication opining about pro wrestling. Thank you, internet.

I'm not seeing the thread.....and I don't think I'm that drunk.....

General question because I'm curious what people think: Is old footage really that big of a draw for the Network? I know it is to those of us on this board, but in the grand scheme of things, were a significant amount of people really clamoring for a way to watch a ton of old wrestling footage? I don't think so. Most of my friends are lapsed wrestling fans who enjoy talking about some of their favorite wrestling moments form back in the day, but have no desire to drop $10 per month so they can re-watch those moments. And if they did have a desire to re-watch their favorite workers or moments from wrestling's past, that desire had already been met by the DVDs WWE has released over the years. The old footage aspect of the Network is one of those things that sounds awesome to people, but more in a nostalgic, "hey, that's really neat and cool idea" kind of way instead of a "I need to have this and subscribe immediately" kind of way. If people need an old-school wrestling fix, they whip out their Bret Hart DVD or the Monday Night Wars DVD. Better yet, they go to Youtube where they can navigate to specific matches and build playlists filled with what they want to watch instead of slogging through an app and having to deal with 3 hour PPVs and Monday Nitros. I thought a few more of my friends who used to be into wrestling would give the Network a shot, but I was the only one who subscribed. I think I overrated the allure of all the old footage.

Anybody wanna buy a nearly-out-of-business wrestling company on Craigslist? http://orlando.craigslist.org/bfs/4593447619.html

FWIW, I won't be re-subscribing. The current product was good around Wrestlemania so I subscribed to watch the PPVs. Now it's gone to shit and you couldn't pay me $10 to watch the PPVs so I'm out. I imagine there are a lot of people like me, old fans who every now and then get sucked back into the modern product only to be let down, who will not renew.

Did Wrestlemania 7 sell out? I know they moved it to a smaller indoor venue, but I was just curious if they even managed to sell that out. The upper deck appears dark and when the fans pop, it sounds echoey (sp?), like it's a loud noise being made in a half-empty building.

If you're ever in the United States, make your way up to Minnesota and I'll introduce you to the Jiffy Burger at the Blue Door Pub in St. Paul. Nothing you find in London will even come close to topping this masterpiece. http://thebdp.com/pdfs/BDP_MENU_2014.pdf

My personal top 10: 1. Hogan slams Andre 2. Austin 3:16 promo 3. Andre tears Hogan's shirt and joins Heenan 4. The Mega Powers break up 5. Warrior/Savage WM 7 6. Flair shows up w/ NWA title 7. Rock beats Hogan 8. Foley gets tossed off the cell 9. Undertaker's first year (I'd say debut, but I don't remember his actual debut. I say "first year" because I remember my friends and I totally marking out for him from the beginning. Am I cheating?). 10. Shawn Michaels kicks Marty Jannetey throug the Barber Shop window 11. Whenever Kamala pats his belly