Loss

It's touching in a way how much Tony Schiavone clearly LOVES announcing with Jericho. He doesn't even try to hide it.

The reporting was that Tanahashi was making the case that pro wrestling should be the last thing they reopen. Is that incorrect?

It seems like Mickie's real value is to be a veteran hand who can work house shows with younger wrestlers who need ring time. With the major companies doing that less and less, I wonder if those opportunities are sadly going to shrink.

I haven't seen Lana's name anywhere and I think she signed a new 5-year deal only about six months ago. I wonder what's happening there.

Ember Moon always struck me as someone really solid in the ring who was weighed down by a gimmick that didn't really fit her. Hope she does well.

Duly noted. I too would love to see Rusev's potential without the shackles of WWE, because I think he has real promise as a top guy. A great worker with a lot of personality, and one whose calling I think is as a babyface with a certain charm. Hoping we don't have to wait long to see what he does next, even if I'm worried he'll be shut out.

The Japanese companies met with the government today and made a case for pro wrestling to be the last thing they reopen. Add in that every company is probably losing money by the week right now and they may be too broke to hire anyone until they run shows for months to clear their debt. We're looking at a really long way back. A lot of marketable talent will suffer, sadly. I'm not saying for sure that Rusev is in that category as much as I'm saying the rules of the past don't apply anymore. I don't even think it's a lock that names like Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, or Rey Mysterio would immediately have work elsewhere in this climate.

Not if the companies aren't running shows, which they may not be until 2021 or 2022 based on some recent projections.

These are not normal times. These runs in Japan are not necessarily going to even be available for a lot of these guys.

I figured this was bumped because just yesterday, in response to recent criticism of Lawler's announcing, Cornette pointed out that Bearcat Wright drew a sellout in 1970 when the heels painted him white, but that sadly today, there would be a movement to kick them off the air. Yes, the world indeed changes.

I think it's hard for most wrestlers who are not just on top but carrying companies for years at a time to accept that it's over when it ends. I understand it. In Flair's case, his removal didn't happen because they had someone younger who was just as good and ready to carry the torch forward, but because there were people trying to sabotage him for their own reasons. And that has stuck with him for the last 30 years, to the point that I think he still gets his dander up thinking about ways that people like Herd and Bischoff sabotaged his career, particularly when he sees that plenty of people have been kept strong and used in a productive way in their 40s and beyond since then, proving that it can be done. At the same time, there comes a point when you'd like to just see him accept it and be grateful that he spent so much time as the top guy, and that he's still viewed by just about everyone as a legend that is almost in a class by himself. He has some legitimate grievances, but his legacy was secure long before anyone started fucking around with it. There is a passive aggressive fury to almost everything that Flair says, but he also strikes me as kind of a small man underneath the Nature Boy persona, and one who is not very self aware or secure in who he is at all. That comes out sometimes in some very telling ways.

It seems like AEW really wants Spears to catch on as something bigger. I'll never say never, but it doesn't seem likely. Plus, I don't think he and Tully have any real chemistry. I saw them do a promo recently where Tully was trying to contribute and Spears kept stepping on him, almost like he doesn't even like having him there. Seems to make more sense to put Tully in an act where he could be a difference maker.

On that last point, WWE benefits exponentially for being under the radar of most of the media. They don't like that they don't get more publicity -- and when you look at their business peaks, there are absolutely times when they deserved more good publicity -- but they should also be thankful. If they were scrutinized like other forms of entertainment, they'd be in trouble.

The thing about the Brawl For All is that I'm not sure that most fans at the time fully got the whole, "This part of the show is real, but the rest is fake" dynamic because they never explicitly said it. For me, those segments were pretty much always a channel changer to Nitro just because I thought they were so incredibly boring.

A lot of what I would have said about the show has already been said, so I'll just add that "Because I'm a dentist" is my favorite new catchphrase in many years.

I like the idea of getting Tully Blanchard away from Spears to pair him with The Revival if they are coming in. Revival feuding with the Rhodes brothers eventually, with Tully and Arn in respective corners, feels like a dynamic with a lot of potential for different directions they could go.

I don't know the answer to this yet because it seems to be unfolding in real time. My gut instinct is to say no, but I still think all of this is going to get worse before it gets better. A few years back, Vince expressed interest in selling the company with the understanding that they'd still have some degree of control over day to day operations. I still think that's a possibility eventually, although I don't see any of the potential buyers making offers anytime soon. The company has at times been both undervalued and overvalued in recent years, so I don't even know what would be a fair asking price at this point. $5 billion?

Dave told a fascinating story on WOR about how Sam Muchnick used to shut down the St. Louis territory every summer to spend time with friends and family and go to baseball games. During the shutdown months, they'd air shows from other territories. Then they would receive letters from fans where they talked about who they liked and that helped guide them on who to bring in during the rest of the year. Obviously, times are different and that exact model couldn't work now. But it does show just how small and inside the box the thinking has been about how to respond to COVID. If they have determined that they need to air live shows to eliminate the risk of the financially strained TV networks pulling them after a contract breach, so be it, but there has to be a better way to present those shows than just empty arena wrestling, even if we don't know what it is yet because we haven't seen it. AEW has been more watchable than WWE TV for the most part during this, but I guess I'm looking for someone to come up with a new idea that changes how wrestling is presented.

Shows what I know. I didn't realize that modern roller derby even existed.

I don't have a lot of knowledge or things to share, other than that I'm super excited that I found the full soundtrack to Rollergames on YouTube! This was a show I got into in the late 80s because of the pro wrestling similarities, but also because it aired on a lineup with American Gladiators, WWF Superstars, and NWA World Wide Wrestling. I was always interested in the overlap in pro wrestling and roller derby history and this thread seems like a good place to be a catch-all for this topic. I'm sure others know more than I do.

I'd still probably go pre-1996 if I absolutely had to make that choice, but I'd be more sad about it than I would have been in the past. In a vacuum, it's pretty likely that there have been more great matches that have made tape since 1996, but I do still care about other things too, and I still don't think there's enough variety in wrestling post-1996.

What a beautiful sentiment. Thanks to everyone here for years of community and purpose. I've had the privilege to become friends with many of the posters here outside the confines of this board and I'll always be grateful for that. I haven't posted much in a long time because we're in an era where I felt a bit guilty for enjoying a form of escapism -- almost like I was contributing to a type of malaise that made the world a worse place. I've made myself miserable the last few years consuming real-world events almost the way that I used to consume pro wrestling. But I read this thread and think the opposite is true -- that having this tiny corner space online matters -- which is worth more to me personally than you know. I'm the one who is honored to be among all of you.