cm funk

My understanding is that the term "shoot" comes from shooting in for a takedown in wrestling. MMA, obviously, has roots in grappling

Stevens was a cartoonish bumper at a time when not many people did that. He was also a good brawler. Unique style, and sort of an originator for the time. Very charismatic as well. Guys like Flair, Perfect, HBK and Ziggler have all taken a page out of his book, whether they know it or not

I listened to that audio show, and it sounded like Dave was implying she's got a rep as a partier/drinker. And she's not 21. Which means she's drinking illegally. So yeah, it makes complete sense that WWE wouldn't want that going on. Who's the youngest person they ever had on the main roster? Kelly Kelly?

I've been back and forth on Hero over the years. He was such an indyriffic jobber back in the day. What's that phrase we use around here to describe WWE main events we don't like? Self aware pretentious wankfest? Or something like that. That was every Hero match for years. Like he was cosplaying being a wrestler Then I thought he improved a lot and become a very solid worker, after he ditched the wanky "this is wrestling! I am wrestling!" bs. Hero and Claudio were a great tag team who had a nice long run, one of the best US tag runs in recent memory I'd like to see Hero get a shot, but really, it doesn't surprise me that the company might be down on him. They never seemed that interested in him in the first place. It took him years just to get signed, and he's been in developmental for years at this point. I know he has some friends and supporters on the main roster, but when the key decision makers are down on you for whatever reason, he's probably f'd

I would love to have all of those! I still have all the ones rovert shared with me, would gladly pass them on to anyone interested

Is Wrestling Inc. a credible news source? I'm wondering because on the latest Court Bauer & John Pollock show at mlw.com, Court is talking about a guy in developmental who's in the doghouse right now, could be on the bubble to be released, and it would absolutely shock people. The way he described him (guy who's been there for a long time, frustrated that he hasn't been called up yet while others have passed him by, might be losing motivation to train as hard and isn't taking advantage of the new gym) I thought for sure he was talking about Hero. This article and it's "source" reads like someone listened to that podcast and extrapolated from that I think they might have added some dramatics to the story (I doubt he's in danger of getting released), but it's clearly not smart to decide to protest your lack of promotion by slacking off in the gym department. Developmental is Hunter's baby, and we all know he's a bodybuilding mark, so a developmental guy showing an unwillingness to hit the gym is the career equivalent of shooting yourself in the head. Considering Hero has the same skinny-fat build as Punk without all the tats to distract your eye from it, he could have played his hand better. Wrestling Inc didn't add the "in danger of being released" part to the story to dramatize it. That was Court Bauer on his podcast, who basically spelled out the entire story that people are now running with, though he didn't actually name the wrestler in question. That newz website as far as I can tell just took what Bauer said on the podcast and expanded on it with the assumption that a) it was Chris Hero, and that it was HHH. Which would seem obvious, but I doubt that they actually have firsthand sources to confirm any of it

I thought Doane had main event potential when he was down in OVW. Very green, but super athletic with a great look and a douchey heel charisma. Seems like a combination of things went wrong for him, with attitude being the biggest issue by most accounts. I can't even really blame Spirit Squad because Ziggler managed to overcome that stigma and reinvent himself, though I'm sure that didn't help. He might have been hurt more by being brought back to the roster so quickly and them doing nothing with him than anything. Other than the brief time as Kerwin White's caddy, Ziggler was basically off TV for two years before coming back as Ziggler.

Is Wrestling Inc. a credible news source? I'm wondering because on the latest Court Bauer & John Pollock show at mlw.com, Court is talking about a guy in developmental who's in the doghouse right now, could be on the bubble to be released, and it would absolutely shock people. The way he described him (guy who's been there for a long time, frustrated that he hasn't been called up yet while others have passed him by, might be losing motivation to train as hard and isn't taking advantage of the new gym) I thought for sure he was talking about Hero. This article and it's "source" reads like someone listened to that podcast and extrapolated from that

He's a superfan who broke in. He published some pre-Observer newsletters in the 70's, wrote programs for Mike LeBell in Los Angeles and articles for various wrestling magazines of the time. He was also a big part of the early tape trading scene. He had some sort of casino job in the 90's (sports book I think) which he parlayed into working with a local radio station, which led to the Wrestling Insiders radio show that gained national syndication. He had a relationship with WCW through the radio show, and WCW brought him in to do the When World's Collide PPV because none of the in house announcers knew anything about AAA or lucha. Bischoff decided to keep him around and use him as the "cruiserweight announcer" which eventually led to a regular gig

I find it highly unlikely that Austin would come back for a "dream match" against HHH that isn't a dream match to anybody but the McMahons. Austin isn't in the WWE bubble, he keeps tabs on the product, and he's smart enough to know that that's a waste of his last match. The whole setup doesn't even make sense to me. I would think Steph eventually sides with HHH and they go over in this power struggle storyline as the future leaders of WWE, unless the whole idea is to turn Vince into the grandfatherly babyface authority figure while he's doing less and less backstage. But if that's the end goal, why is he a total heel right now in the start of the angle? Meh, it's a waste of time trying to wrap my head around McMahon nonsense. Just the fact that they're making themselves the focus of the major WM angle yet again is stupid on it's own merit

Batista vs. Dolph would be pretty great

I can see the promo the next night right now "Daniel Bryan.....you are the weak link" *crowd riots*

As much as I don't give a fuck about Orton, I actually have zero problem with the decision. Orton is a guy that needs something like MITB to justify a title run or any interest in a title match. He's just that stale/overexposed. A MITB cash in is also probably the best possible way to turn him heel which desperately needs to happen. I almost expect Bryan to somehow beat Cena and have Orton cash in on him immediately in your Hardy/Punk 2.0 scenario. As a match I agree that it was longish, but Sheamus being the bump freak of the match was awesome. Also Bryan was the most Mark Briscoeish I've ever seen him here. On Henry v. Cena I thought it was an awesome match, but it's exactly the sort of match that will have almost no resonance to people who aren't Henry or Cena converts. I'm not sure it's my WWE MOTY (I definitely can't see it ahead of Ohno v. Regal if you consider that WWE and you should), but WWE ppvs have been unusually dismal this year and this is probably the best WWE ppv match I've seen this year if nothing else (Elimination Chamber Shield Six-Man would be a contender). I also have zero problem with Henry losing and this is coming from a guy who turned down free tickets to Mania because I hated the way Henry was booked going into that show. I would ave preferred him lose by pinfall, but that's a relatively minor complaint. I had work and missed the majority of the show, but it seems like it's worth going back to check it out so I will You are on the money with Cena/Bryan.....Orton cashing in after DB beats Cena would be the ultimate heel move. Agreed, and I'm kind of expecting that to be the direction. You never know with WWE, but that seems the obvious way to go. They've built up this Bryan-Orton stuff for a while now and it feels like they've been delaying the Orton heel turn forever (I thought it would happen at Mania), so the briefcase has to tie into that I would think. Thought the show was fun but not great. World Title MITB was the match of the night, followed by Cena-Henry and Ziggler-Del Rio. Cody Rhodes turning face in the MITB match even before Sandow turned on him was shocking to me. Was also surprised at how over Fandango was. I saw a lot of people the last few weeks saying the match wouldn't work because it was all heels, but I thought that idea was stupid. 1) It was in philly. 2) It's a spot match which always pops the crowd. 3) You knew Ambrose at least would be the babyface of the match, and he was. Ambrose, Fandango, Cody and Claudio all got face heat.

That recap makes that show sound more fun and interesting than any ROH show in recent memory

Punk did look like shit in that match, while Orton was bringing a ton of intensity, but Austin probably shouldn't be calling him out on twitter

The Husky Harris chants were really awful. Just the worst of "smart" fan culture personified there, because the "monkey see monkey do" shit that exists in WWE crowds might actually turn that into a thing, and that will bury this gimmick. WWE should probably just cut it off before it starts and do some vignette or promo where Wyatt explains why "Husky Harris" isn't here anymore I liked the Wyatt debut well enough. It wasn't perfect, but the way they built it up nothing was going to live up to the hype. The targeting of Kane was interesting. He didn't have anything going on really since they pretty much blew off him and Bryan. If the angle is that Wyatt wants to convert Kane to his side (and in the process they can ditch this guy who apparently is a shitty worker from all reports), yeah, I can dig that

I'm in my early 30's and I feel middle aged, but I also had a lot of sport related injuries in my early 20's, and partied pretty hard. I've got back and neck problems, and athritis in my knees and ankles. I've been thinking for a couple years now that if I make it to 70 and beyond I'll have done well. Ahhh, mortality, gotta love it.

Aside from status, part of the reason the NFL is so valuable to networks is that it allows them to promote the rest of their programming. The NFL is a demographic juggernaut. The advertising money, the eyeballs tuning in, and the ability to say "hey America, you like football? watch all this other stuff!" makes it profitable in a roundabout way.

Vince Vaughn is more or less the same height as Kane? Wow

naylor was probably my favorite message board poster, and fave podcaster. The dude was funny as shit. Never met the guy, and I don't know why he's leaving FCW, but I hope he does some kind of tell all down the road

Benoit wasn't schizo, he was psychotic. Brain damage, two decades of drug abuse, and the death of some of his closest friends drove him insane. There were obviously some underlying issues with him, but I doubt he had major undiagnosed mental problems

They bill Fandango at 250? lol

Joe Hennig?

I meant his WWE run 2002 onwards

Did Benoit himself do the kendo crossface spot before? I feel like I've seen that spot before, but I can't remember what match or who did it