jdw

The "significant retirement accounts" would be at least half Beth's if they existed when they divorced. And if they can't be touched, it's only because it was also of value to Beth to not touch them until the matured. While his alimony and other "family bills" aren't likely cheap, let's be honest in saying that Ric has also been blowing money check-to-check to continue to Live The Lifestyle. That included Wife #3, and Current Hottie (unless he's moved onto Next Hottie since them). Ric is 61. It's not like you can't touch your retirement money until your 95. The "retirement accounts" song and dance isn't going to last much longer. "apparently borrowing like crazy" You would think that throwing out that line would make someone slow down to think. John

Flair Fanboy #1

I don't think they thought this one through. It's sounds like they thought they reached a deep moment of Truth with the concept captured in Bix's first sentence, and didn't think ponder the fairly obvious places it takes them, nor the self-contradictions with what they've said in the past. Unless they think they always get into the proper context of the promotion when watching stuff that isn't "live". John

Guess the Torch Board write who is quite unhappy that someone posted in the Mitchell Forum about Ric's beltgate: Not 100% his normal posting style, since he's a little madder than usual. But I think it comes through. John

Conbraco isn't a bank, nor is Highspots. Look at the list of stuff that Ric is putting up for the loan. This is "Crack Head Celebrity Going To The Pawn Shop" level. Clearly Ric hasn't paid off Conbraco either. Since this isn't a bank and is going the memorbillia route to a couple of money marks/loansharks, it makes you wonder if all the stuff that allegedly had Ric "loaded" to the tunes of "millions" has already been used at collateral for loans from banks. I look forward to reading Ric's bankruptcy filing once it hits Pacer. John

Time to bust out Dave's "Ric Is Loaded" line that never passed the laugh test. John

On Strikeforce, or hooking up with some money mark like Cuban to fund another promotion, would be a really dumb idea. Shane probably should think "small" rather than BIG. Thinking big lead to the XFL. Not blaming that one on Shane, but it's a pretty typical wrestling mentality detached from the real world. John

I'm not sure why the Fertittas would want to sell a piece of Zuffa to Shane. They do have issues with Station Casinos in BK, but those issues are far, far, far beyond what Shane can put on the table. They turned down $950M for much of Station earlier in the year, instead going the route of Chapter 11. Lord knows what Zuffa is valued at, and how they've strucured the company as far as debtload. But Shane's WWE shares and income are chump change compared to what the sale price of Zuffa is. $10M, even if Shane has that laying around (or more likely could take out a big loan for) doesn't buy much of the company. John

I would be surprised if Shane starts a rival promotion. The cost would be great, and he would be cutting into his inheritance. I can't imagine that he's burned the bridges on the way out to the point that he's "out of the will". In which case, it wouldn't make sense for him to do much that would harm the company. John

I've seen pics of it as is was a semi-famous joshi match, Sato being a former WWWA champ and Kandori just making her bones. My recollection is that it was a bloodbath. John

One of the great twists of soap history was Luke getting spun into a babyface after that, and Scotty going heel. John

True, though that sells more with Older WON Readers than with loads of online fans who made their bones with the Monday Night Wars. Of course I could roll the ball bearings on Takada-Vader-Dojo (if I could remember it), while I would be talking out of my ass to try to book WWE vs TNA. John

Corny sounds pretty exposed here. John

I never thought wrestling was real, so I've always liked it when it's fake. John

As far as I know, that's not the WON Vet Com. It's more something that Steve and other historians started, sort of along the lines of Inoki's Greatest 18 Club (or whatever number Inoki was using). But I could be wrong and have misunderstood Steve. John

I thought Martin got one rather quickly, and Wahlers had to wait a little while. I recall Martin making a HOF post earlier, and it was entertaining reading & punting. That said, I'm not sure Todd has it *instantly*. I think the initial Shawn Michaels discussions we had (on Wrestling Classics and possibly elsewhere) were *before* he got a ballot. I think the pro-Shawn advocacy helped get him a ballot for the following year. John

I'll have to ask Steve. From my conversations with Steve, it doesn't sound remotely close to "official". Far more like an "informal" one of people that Dave talks to. Dave may know who all the members are, but it's not an official committee unless all the members can discuss the candidates among themselves and come to a collective decision. I don't think that's the case. John

There is/was a faux vet com in the sense of people who would suggest to Dave the old timers who should get in without being voted on. It really isn't a com, but just folks Dave completely informally and separately bounces stuff off. To a degree it's a shame that they all are so internet ass backwards that they never set up a mailing list or private board to discuss stuff among 10 or so of them. No doubt the people in the business Dave polls wouldn't want to participate, or would get annoyed when some of their Tall Tales got holes poked in them... as occassionally Lou did, though frankly Lou took it better than most. Anyway... I digress again on how things having been terribly well thought out, and how it really isn't that hard to have done things better (and probably still do things better). That's the "old vet com", and has been around in one form or another since 1997. I don't think there's a current VC in Dave-Speak relating to the Old Timers category on the ballot. I suspect that if either Bruce or I voted for old timers, it would have counted. When I checked my e-mail with the ballot from Dave, there isn't anything on there indicating _any_ category that I can or can't vote in. Seriously... you'd think he would tell me. John

5% doesn't mean dick in the HOF. Do the math. It takes 60% to get in. 5% can be complete idiots and it won't have any impact on whether someone gets in or not. Christ... far more than 5% are voting on stuff they don't know a great deal about. Pretty much everyone who voted for Luchadors and Euros don't know a great deal about it. When Kobashi went in with that high percentage, an overwhelming majority of the voters didn't know a great deal about him other than "he's a guy Dave has pimped over the years!". I wouldn't go that far. We have no idea how many folks like that Dave hands ballots out to. It's not terribly fair to think that everyone who gets a article "published" on WO-4 gets a ballots. Who is more likely to have a ballot: John Muse or Dan Wahlers? Wahlers may have one now, but Muse likely had one from the start... or at least very early on when Dave started expanding the voter base. We simply don't know who, what and how many. I frankly wouldn't get to bent on that aspect. Voters in every buckets are likely to trumpet Dave's opinion. It's always going to be there. Again: Kobashi's high number. And that shouldn't be read to mean that "jdw doesn't think Kobashi is a HOF'er". I voted for him. Just saying that there would be a bit of a difference between me voting for him based on watching week after week through the years and closely following the business in the Japan up to the point he hit that ballot... and say Dan Wahlers voting for him based on just reading the WON. The don't match, yet in some ways they do. Most sports HOFs are pretty fucked up in the selection process in one way or another. John

Change that to "people in the business" at one point or another. There really aren't many "reporters". It's largely a nonsensical category that Dave created. Granted: "historians" is a stretch as well. Dave needs a bucket to toss someone like me into, and that's as close as he can find. It sounds better than "fans I send ballots to". But even stretching "reporters" to the breaking point, there really aren't that many of them. I doubt that everyone in Wade's large cast of character's has a ballot, nor everyone who sends in stuff that gets posted to WO-4.com gets one. I would be surprised if very many people in Mexico get ballots. Don't you think the Lucha coverage would have been a bit better over the years if he did? John

Veterans Committee? There's a Vet Com? I'll have to ask Steve if he's on it. I don't recall Dave ever mentioning in his HOF e-mail that there is one. I'm trying not to be critical of Dave, and keep saying that the process is far more simple that people are reading into it simply because Dave isn't communicating well at all (nor providing the data & breakdowns). But the more he talks, the more he's coming across as having come up with a wacked out Rube Goldberg machine. John