Loss

What are everyone's favorite genres of music? I really genuinely love the post-disco of the late 70s and early 80s, stuff like Indeep's "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life", Prince's 1999 album, Madonna's first album, Shannon's "Let The Music Play" etc. But really, all the sounds I like seem to have been at their strongest during this era. I love punk, especially the poppier stuff from groups like The Buzzcocks and The Clash. I love new wave. I even love disco and think it gets a bad label because of some crap songs that ended up the biggest hits of the era. Love funk and R&B. Love hip hop, especially earlier stuff. Love electro. Everything that led to that era and sprung directly from it is stuff I generally like. I enjoy classical and jazz sometimes, but know less than I should. Not a huge fan of straight up house music for the most part unless there's also a strong pop hook to it, with a few exceptions. I kinda hate prog-rock for the most part and prefer post-punk to quench my experimental pop/rock thirst. Other interests where I'm not quite as obsessive as wrestling, but definitely dig deeper than the average bear are neoimpressionist art (Haring, Basquiat, etc) and post-World War II American history. I love reading biographies. I've never been much of a fiction guy. Love James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton. Not really into comics or video games.

Breaking Bad Friday Night Lights Veronica Mars Happy Endings Queer as Folk Girls Transparent The Simpsons Orphan Black (mainly because of the acting!) Seinfeld

I really enjoy the new and more sane Daniel Bryan style. The table bump looked great, but was a pretty soft landing once again, and he's doing a lot more detail-oriented matwork than he had in a while. Terrific main event tonight. It wasn't a blowaway match that was a MOTYC or anything, but Bryan's performance was excellent.

Vince left to his own devices picking stars (as opposed to reacting to circumstances) has a pretty horrible track record. If everything he thought would get over always did, Mason Ryan would be the ace.

Figured I'd get this started.

Fun topic, but I'll move this to Pro Wrestling Mostly.

I made the Pro Wrestling Mostly folder members only, so have at it.

Separately, Bryan is doing a job way too early in his return and I'm not sure this was a wise match to book. Still though, considering that they did book it, it was the right result.

Haven't watched yet but that's awesome. Was hoping Bryan would lose this one. Keep him far away from multi-man ladder matches, but also a Rusev win is a big deal.

Of course they would have. Guys just as valuable got fired many times. Wrestlers were more willing to push back because they had 25 other places they could work. Remember, Ole Anderson had no use for Hulk Hogan in Georgia and sent him packing.

I would be ok with a single Getting to Know You thread in Pro Wrestling Mostly if theres a lot of interest.

What HHH thread?

Two more requests with different email this time, but the same IP address. Getting better, but still not quite there.

Oh, and the threads haven't been deleted. They're mixed into the Pro Wrestling folder now. RIP.

Ultimately, this experiment was a failure. The board is gone. Starting now, we return to the sharp line of avoiding politics here. If something like Saudi Arabia comes up where there is topical overlap, we'll handle that on a case-by-case basis. I trust people here to know the difference and stay on the right side.

I actually don't dislike the guy in the least. I don't think he's cut out for message boards, but if he's reading this, I hope he finds the right online wrestling-related home. Genuinely.

They don't have to build around Bryan. They just need to give him good programs with good opponents and play to his strengths. Fans are going to keep him at a certain level regardless of what WWE does. I do think it's silly for Bryan not to at least get a title challenge to headline a PPV at some point -- at the very, very least -- but I'd be surprised if that doesn't happen. Bryan as a top guy I think works just fine. The problem is that there's a void at the top either way.

It cracked me up. Reminds me of the SNL skit where Bob Dole kept trick-or-treating the same house.

Maybe next time, don't use the email address [email protected] to set up your account. I'll admit I'm laughing, though. A for effort.

They should have waited until Cena was replaced successfully before phasing him out.

To be clear, if they never bring him back and stick to it, I think that's fine. It's the firing him, waiting it out, and then bringing him back like it never happened that's problematic to me.

Ok, everyone seems on the same page that what Hogan said was inexcusable. Firing him I do agree was a cheap and easy way out though. Hogan and WWE have overlapping legacies, and as far as public image goes, they sink or swim together. I don't think it was necessarily wrong to fire him, but waiting on it to blow over before bringing him back just makes it painfully clear that they don't give a shit about racial justice. They care about their public image and nothing more. Maybe even that wouldn't bother me if they weren't constantly trying to have their cake and eat it too. (See Saudi Arabia.) What would have been much better: * A full-length statement from either Vince or Stephanie repudiating Hogan's comments, explaining the racist past of the wrestling business (not just their own company), steps they've taken to make it better, and steps that are still needed. Hell, this is also a chance for them to tout the diversity of the audience and their roster, their work with GLAAD, and their progress on the women's front. Maybe that would have rung hollow, but it's at least a thoughtful response instead of just a cowardly attempt to immediately wash their hands of the whole thing. * Remove Hogan from PR work temporarily and send him to rehab. Announce that they're doing diversity training for their roster, including those under Legends contracts. * Announce that after rehab, they are going to closely monitor Hogan's words and actions and if there isn't any indication that he's learned his lesson, they will of course fire him. There's something that rubs me the wrong way about Michael Hayes being given extra chances and Hulk Hogan being fired immediately. Who is more important to the legacy and public reputation of the company? Maybe this all would have been a work and been shameless on its own. Chances are it would have been, considering the company track record. But if it is, they can at least be criticized for that, and they're at least trying to make it right instead of just firing him, hoping people forget, and then bringing him back later like it never happened.

Hopefully this is it for Styles and Nakamura.

Scott Keith created a new site -- The Smarks -- and we both ended up on that message board. Then when he closed down that site, TSM opened and we ended up there. Countless offshoots of offshoots.