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Also it gives them cover from any backlash from their fans if they go to the Evil WWE Empire to say "well things went downhill in Japan so we had no choice".

Yeah it looks like the Elite crew is stirring shit up, which is funny because they are proclaiming a united front when there's no way Omega would walk away from his spot as the face of their expansion efforts.

Their best bet is to just promote the show and try to minimize mentioning anything else. Problem there is that it's clear MBS is giving this money out to make sure the recipients promote how progressive the country is. They are going to expect the full BJ treatment they got last time, and that's going to look ridiculously bad for WWE.

Not unless Vince digs his heels in and has a public knock-the-papers-out-of-Bob-Costas's-hands tantrum about it, which is not an impossible thing to happen. I would imagine the Board of Directors probably has Vince tied up Hannibal Lecter style to prevent that.

With Benoit, it was a terrible thing that unfortunately happened on their watch. This thing is something they are actively talking part in as the optics just get worse for them.

So, recent events might end up having WWE's relationship with KSA blow up in their faces in a big way. It's looking more and more like the Prince had more than a passing involvment in making a journalist from the Washington Post disappear for being an outspoken critic. Having a big Saudi love fest a month after all this hits the fan is going to be an awful look for the company.

Also, I knew it happened, but it always boggles my mind when I'm reminded Hijo del Santo techincially worked for the WWF.

It's amazing that Dave's not wrong here, but it would still have been better than how they actually ended up ending the streak.

So in this photo the guy who's ex KGB, probably has had people killed, is the embodiment of 1980s Cold War propaganda, and the defacto leader of the US is probably #3 on the list of people I'd want beef with in that room.

There's a list on Wikipedia here that seems to pretty accurate.

Hogan and Nash's eternal power struggle is really one of the more underrated aspects of late era WCW.

The Jimmy Hart role of the pipsqueak manager who's annoying but can also bump when someone gets their hands on him is one of those things that always works. I'm not sure why it fell out of favor not just in WWE but everywhere it seems.

...and now they are rushing to book Cormier vs Derrick Lewis at MSG despite DC having a broken hand and Lewis getting his ass beat for 3 rounds before pulling out the KO win. The new owners are so desparate to get PPV buys to pay their loans off, concern about fighters' health goes out the window. These guys are making WWE look like caring employees by comparison. At least WWE tries not to kill their folks.

I'm now imagining the head of TNN was Rev. Lovejoy from the Simpsons.

Apparently Alexa has an arm injury.

I marked out for the Kurtquistador, not gonna lie.

Khabib is a dude who grew up in a violent war torn part of Russia and is friends with a brutal dictator. Conor's usual pre fight banter included taking shots at Khabib's father (implying he was involved in 9/11) and comments about religion. Not that this justifies his actions, because they don't, but Khabib is not the guy you say that kind of shit about and expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows afterwards. Apparently Conor's coach was talking shit the entire fight at Khabib, and by the end he had it. Also it's kind of been forgotten that the whole "Conor attacks a bus with a dolley" fiasco was him trying (or acting like he was trying) to get to Khabib and his crew. There was zero consequence from UFC for that despite several fighters getting injured from broken glass and an entire PPV getting fucked up, and they used footage of it to promote this show. UFC basically is reaping what it sows here. They constantly allow their draws to act like children with little to no consequence, then you get stuff like this when one of them tries to talk shit on a guy you Don't Fuck Around With. Conor's the asshole at the bar who talks shit and tries to fight the whole world. Khabib's the dude who just makes a phone call and mf'ers disappear. Dana should be happy that all we got as a pull apart brawl, as it could have been a whole lot uglier. Of course this is going to result in them throwing the book at Khabib (which they should) and Conor skating consequence free once again despite him being the reason all this happened in the first place.

So I've reached the point of my Mid Atlantic watching where the build is just starting for the first Starrcade, and I'm wondering who exactly was booking during this time. Obviously Dusty came up with the name and concept of Starrcade, but Dave has stated previously that Dory Funk Jr. was booking at the time. You can see fingerprints of both guys' styles in terms of heels offering bounties (Dory) and everyone randomly mentioning Dusty in promos, but it seems that Dory's style was more prevalent in how the main angles unfolded. I just assumed Dusty came up with the idea of a big year end show and Dory just came up with the way to get everyone to the end point. Also it's been amazing to see the build unfold, as it's something I never saw before (it was right before my wrestling fandom began). From Harley Race as the aging champ not wanting to give the young upstard Ric Flair a chance to replace him (ironically the opposite of real life as Harley apparently needed to be talked into having another reign since he was winding down at that point), to the dastardly Briscos taunting Steamboat and Youngblood (and seeing Rick Steamboat become more and more visibly annoyed at Jay becoming less and less coherent in promos as the weeks go on, which wasn't part of the angle but more Rick losing patience with Jay and his demons), to Gary Hart and his "asians" Great Kabuki and Magic Dragon feuding with Jimmy Valiant over the TV title.

Dave really hated the WWF back then, plus you have to remember most of the people he was talking to in the business were wrestlers or promoters who's business was being affected by the expansion.

Honestly, hating on Cody smacks of elitism at this point. He's improved so much and his heel work has been on point, it's silly to keep pretending he's still the guy who was floating aimlessly in WWE.

Even though his act can get a bit try hard at times, I'll never turn on Jericho just because of how his introduction to the WWF was a masterclass of petty backstage bullshit.

Triple H (with HBK) vs Undertaker (with Kane) Shield vs Braun/Dolph/Drew AJ vs Joe Daniel Bryan vs Miz Lashley/Cena vs Elias/Kevin Owens Bellas/Ronda vs Riott Squad New Day vs The Bar Becky vs Charlotte Auska/Naomi vs IIconics Cedric vs Buddy Murphy

Well whaddya know, the mystery of why Hugh Morrus was such an asshole to trainees seemingly solved.

The shows that governments are paying them to put on are going to take precedence over the one they're doing for PR.

I don't usually watch the "My son is a WWE superstar" episodes but the one on Braun Strowman is a hoot. His dad is the answer to the question "what if Braun had played softball instead of wrestling" and is quite the character. Also him being mock angry at not getting picked as Braun's WM partner was great. It occured to me that between Braun, Miz, and Cena you could have a great all-dad stable.