Bix

Anything newsworthy/of note or just a good editorial?

She bought a travel agency for the company to do business through and took on other clients for regulatory reasons.

There are a lot of big names like Jerry Lawler, Bobby Eaton, and Dusty Rhodes that didn't even have real training, just hung out around wrestling and got outlaw gigs, so who knows?

Hell, even the diving headbutts that didn't miss probably screwed Benoit up. As Bryan Alvarez has often mentioned, he seemed to hit opponents with it way too hard some of the time.

Exactly.

In hindsight, the bloodbath fans probably got the brunt of it in the '90s because it was easy to place the "vampire" tag on them.

Nope. Babinsack actually thinks he's one of the great pro wrestling thinkers and Jeuron Dove thinks he is too.

OH NO

Yeah, it's a semantic argument. I agree with you as far as the actual issue. What I was trying to say about the "not as legit as they looked" point was that they were painted as so expertly done that they were on the safe side as far as bumps go. I remember asking Dave Meltzer about the how the Ganso Bomb bump could be worked at all on an early WOL show. His answer was all about skill and Misawa and Kawada's trust from knowing and working with each other, etc, and at the very least he implied that they weren't close to as dangerous as they looked. Plenty of people forwarded the meme about how they tuck their heads just right at the last second and aren't actually getting dropped on their skulls. 10 years later, the guy who probably took the most AJPW/Noah head drops died from them. I think the over-reliance on the head drops in Japan turned people off a little bit, then ROH using them even more without even building to them turned people off a lot more, and then everything else snowballed with Nowinski/Benoit/etc, eventually leading to Misawa's death causing much more re-examination. That said, looking back, it's pretty ridiculous how blood marks were chided for being barbaric vampires by the "classier" sheet writers and readers who championed Cactus Jack and the AJPW head drop style. Which isn't to say that blading is not inherently ridiculous, but that it didn't do close to the damage of the almighty workrates.

I see what you did there. As though you're above using quotes from cult classic films...Are you claiming you have never, not once, used a movie line/quote in a conversation? I don't think he is. I think he's saying what I sad: That it's ridiculous to quote a fictional serial killer make a point about "normal" social behavior. Liking a match with ordinary looking guys is a problem because? It's not like Lawler had back boobs flopping around and looking like a pregnant cow. Anyway, Lawler has that natural coolness to him like Harley Race.And how do you know Lawler doesn't/hasn't do(ne) drugs or tipped bottles back? Did he tell you this - if so - you believed him? If anything, THAT would be laughable. I like how you insinuate that I am gay, very original there Bix. Again, how do you know Foley has always been drug free? 1. The line about Dynamite wasn't a "u r ghey" accusation. It went along with the same point you already made: That you (and your theoretical peers) enjoy wrestling more if the performers are physically attractive, regardless of sexuality.2. Lawler has a shitload of enemies who call him on a ton of shit, and they've never said anything about his claims to have not drank or done drugs. Foley has less enemies but the ridiculously jaded Dave Meltzer, who's sort of an expert on this, has said that he never did any drugs. 3. You said you wanted to see "diesel like fullbacks" which Lawler decidedly is not. Seriously though, as I said earlier: There are barely any fat guys in major league wrestling (I make the distinction because so many small indies let anyone wrestle) history who fit your grossout criteria. Bastion Booger was a gimmick built on gross behavior and an unflattering haircut/costume. Abdullah didn't get absolutely ridiculous looking until late in his career. The McGuire Twins and Happy Humphrey were novelty wrestlers who are only remembered because of their Guinness presence. Big Daddy V was a short-lived gimmick built around how he looked in a singlet but he looked like a comic book villain and it worked. The Headhunters looked more like prime Abdullah and were fun to watch. I can't think of anyone else who comes close. Who are you even talking about? Dick Murdoch (who really just had a gut), Adrian Adonis, and Buddy Rose (until he got out of control) were more "normal fat" and in the ring, were athletic as anyone. Yokozuna was incredibly agile and his fat all went to his lower body, concealed by tights, plus he was told to gain weight to get the big push when he went to the WWF (he was much more normal before that). I can't think of anyone other than the McGuire Twins and Happy Humphrey a that fits your criteria which is basically "LOL lookit the fat dude/lady with a gunt on a Rascal." By virtue of being athletic performers, I can't think of any other wrestlers who were like that. And while I'm not calling you gay, if you're not watching wrestling to jerk off, who the fuck cares how they look? Most of the best Japanese female wrestlers were very butch. Oh wait, that's right, you can't watch women pretend to fight because it's unnatural for them. Like how girls shouldn't poop, either, right?

Oh, and smkelly, didn't you love the 2nd loser leaves town match between average looking Jerry Lawler and short but fit Bill Dundee? Lawler has taken his fair share of big bumps in his career. Probably a lot more than other performers of his era. His backwards over the top rope bump has been a pretty regular spot in his matches. Yet, somehow, he seems to be injury free after almost 40 years in. He's also been free of drugs (steroids, painkillers, whatever) and alcohol. Dynamite Kid, who handsomed himself up to your standards with steroids (and also did any drug he could get his hand on), is a paraplegic in a wheelchair with 1.5 legs. Mick Foley is a lot more messed up than Lawler, and bumped closer to Dynamite, but he's always been drug free and can function okay. Foley and Dynamite both had a lot of extra weight (different kinds, but they work the same as far as taxing their bodies in taking hard bumps). I don't even know what my point is, but...yeah.

Except for how the seriousness of concussions became more well known in the last 3 years and there weren't many examples of exactly what a harder style could do to someone until the same time frame. And then, this year, the poster boy for head drops was internally decapitated. That is not wrestling's fault, nor the WWF's. Japan has seen a similar increase in head drops and death defying spots because of the audience becoming desensitized of the normal collar and elbow tie ups and working an arm for forty-five minutes.What? No. Who are these guys who did nothing but lockups and working an arm for 45 minutes? Head drops got introduced because they looked cool, and for a while, people accepted them, at least in part because people who theoretically knew more like Dave Meltzer and others would say that they weren't as legit as they looked. '80s wrestling was all about working holds? Really? Are you sure you're not talking about the '20s? ROH crowds enjoy more technical wrestling but they wouldn't enjoy an entire card of technical wrestling - they want the strong style the Japanese uses i.e head drop suplexes and dangerously hard strikes. The Rock says hi. Or they can learn how to work and throw convincing strikes without stiffing the fuck out of people. It worked well for decades. You're using a quote from a fictional serial killer to make your point about how social behavior works. You do realize that, right? Also, Big Dick Dudley is a really weird example, he wasn't really fat at all and was pretty jacked on steroids. Bastion Booger was made to look ridiculous because it was his gimmick. I can't think of anyone in the history of major pro wrestling other than maybe Takeshi Morishima who would fit the criteria you're arguing, especially with all of more jacked up fat guy types like Vader, Mark Henry, early Fred Ottman, Umaga, etc. There's obviously the McGuire twins, but they're the only dudes who are at the "fat dudes on scooters who jackoffs laugh at." Major league pro wrestling isn't sold as stroke material though. As far as being unbelievable, I guess you're not an MMA fan. Roy Nelson looks sloppier than most of the famous wrestling fat guys and is a upper level heavyweight who doesn't tire easily. Also, pro wrestling still requires a lot of athleticism. Chris Hero was still able to do long matches at his heaviest and as he lost weight, was able to easily work a 90 minute match 3 months later. 1. Wrestlers use narcotic painkillers to get high or because their pain is too severe for anti-inflammatories and Tylenol. Yes, the beatings his body took were worse because of his size, but if he wasn't a wrestler, he wouldn't need narcotics for an ingrown toenail. He might need more narcotics if necessary after a surgery because of his size, but he wouldn't need to jump to narcotics just because he's so big.2. What does the baby aspirin comment even mean? That people who take anything weaker than narcotics are pussies? I mean an adult wouldn't take pediatric aspirin so I dunno. He didn't have to. Plenty of guys have had shitty major matches and still drawn. I don't even know what to say here. Especially since you edited in the boxing thing for no apparent reason with no explanation of what it means.

When you think about it, Umaga was fired under pretty much the same circumstances that Kurt Angle was fired under. Except for the six figure payment to Angle.

Powell implied it was an OD (though he just said drug-related) before Dave updated his post, for what it's worth.

At least as of the Congressional interviews, Vince had never been tested.

He had a work study job.

She was charged because she had a position of authority over him. The guy was over MN's age of consent.

I assume they did not show the clips of Rhode's loss or the angle surrounding that loss? Too bad, as the whole thing together works so much better than any piece by itself of that whole five day switch-fest. Can someone give me a rundown of this angle? Race won the title back by DQ and I'm pretty sure it wasn't acknowledge in the Apter mags or on NWA shows outside of Florida.

According to Dr. Black's interview, he's given a roster by WWE, so it's theoretically possible that talent under the standard contract could be left off the list they provide to him so they're not tested. Since Black comes off as incredibly naive as opposed to a charlatan, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they do this and he has no idea. On the other hand, Dr. Tracy Ray, the MD who oversees the request for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), is clearly doing whatever WWE wants him to do. Him being pretty much called out on it by the doctor interviewing him is my favorite non-Vince part of those interviews.

Gee, I wonder what Dave meant there.

No, of course I don't think that he was clean the other times. I'm just saying that this specific case isn't the greatest example in the context that was given. He's obviously doctor shopped based on being one of the listed clients in the Astin case in spite of living thousands of miles away. His suspension was a few months ago. Nobody's reported what it was for. By the way, does anyone remember when the policy change to painkillers only being allowable when prescribed by company doctors was enacted?

In fairness, in this specific case, Rey was probably at home injured/recovering from surgery when he checked himself into rehab if it went unnoticed. He wouldn't have been tested if he was at home.

Not online at the original location anymore, so: http://www.mediafire.com/file/zjfnyiozkq5/

4,000+ in the building, 2,000 paid.

If it was the A&E Biography, WWE didn't produce it (though they cooperated), but they were the ones who ended up releasing it on VHS.