NintendoLogic

Those guys were all heels, and all except Graham were transitional champions. Well, Superstar was kind of a transitional champion in that the date of the title switch to Backlund was set in stone from the beginning. The point is that they didn't need to look strong in victory because they were never intended to carry the ball long-term. The main examples of babyfaces ending long heel reigns that jump out to me are Backlund and John Cena. In the former case, there was some chicanery as Graham's foot was on the ropes for the pin. However, that was considered poetic justice with the way he won the title in the first place and also set the table for rematches. In the latter case, Cena won the title from JBL at WM21 in a short forgettable match. It was the rematch at Judgment Day, a classic I Quit match, that really legitimized him as a top guy. I guess the main takeaway is that the title change itself is less important than the babyface winning decisively later on down the road. As far as Cody being too old to be the heir apparent, with all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey. Advances in exercise science and wrestlers taking better care of themselves outside the ring mean they can remain viable main eventers well past the age of 40. Also, TV age is more important than chronological age. There are plenty of fans who don't seriously follow non-WWE wrestling, so Cody's return a couple of years ago may as well have been the arrival of a new superstar.

I had no idea that Tito Santana was ever in WCW.

Looks like X-Pac is confirmed for the Rumble.

I was actually going to post that we'd see how well my thesis regarding the fortunes of AEW and the Jaguars being inversely proportional held up now that the Jags missed the playoffs. That theory is obviously out the window if it just means TK has more time to shitpost on Twitter. The real irony is that tweet did more to get Jinder over than anything WWE could have done. By the way, was there really significant outrage over HOOK getting a title shot or was that a figment of TK's Adderall-addled imagination?

This showed up in my YouTube recommendations for whatever reason, so of course I had to watch it. I did find it amusing how like half of them were just one woman calling another woman a bitch. The WWE women's division in a nutshell.

First top three for 2024 with the caveat that I've only seen three matches so far this year. I also changed my 1992 and 2005 selections to be in accordance with my 2023 GME ballot and decided to use 1975 as a starting point.

New Japan had previously shied away from using Riddle due to his fondness for the Devil's lettuce, so they must be pretty desperate. Or maybe Tanahashi is more open-minded about that sort of thing. Giving him the "who are ya" treatment is a bit puzzling, though.

I'll admit I chuckled when he superkicked the zombie's head off.

Is Ibushi the only wrestler in history to go straight from fresh-faced up-and-comer to completely washed up without an intermediary veteran gatekeeper period?

It was previously reported that the Australian tourist board had asked about Rock's availability for Elimination Chamber. And the UFL kicks off the week before Mania, so his availability might be limited once the season is underway. I wouldn't bet the farm on Rock/Roman going down at EC, but it can't be ruled out either.

In fairness, the question originally posed wasn't so much about WWE itself as Vince's involvement with it. He no longer makes the key decisions for the company and Shane and Stephanie are out entirely, so it can be said that the McMahon family wrestling empire is no more.

AEW PPVs and behind-the-scenes drama the day of: name a more iconic duo.

The court ruled in 2020 that he was incompetent to stand trial because he was unable to understand the proceedings and charges against him and contribute to his defense. Since dementia is a progressive condition, he was likely suffering from it to a degree when he assaulted his girlfriend, although there's no way of knowing if he was still able to tell right from wrong at that point.

What's HHH cooking?

I doubt the current fanbase has more than a vague recollection of Dillinger and his gimmick. He's been gone too long to be fresh in people's minds but not long enough to get a nostalgia pop. Regardless, there's always room for midcard goofs in the Rumble. Even the 1992 edition had the likes of Repo Man and Skinner.

Good Lord, this is Young Rock tier.

Just asking questions. Raw this week was a best-of and Smackdown will be as well, so feel free to talk about whatever.

Is WWE allowing him to use the Mustafa Ali name? If not, there's probably a cease and desist letter in his future. It's not his real name and he didn't use it prior to WWE (he did use the name Prince Mustafa Ali, but it looks like he's dropped the Prince part), so I don't know what grounds he would have to claim ownership of the trademark.

The honest truth is that the relationship is primarily for AEW's benefit and any benefit to New Japan is basically a favor to them from AEW. But like I said previously, New Japan is simply isn't in AEW's league financially and thus has no leverage to dictate terms. If they don't like what AEW is offering them, they can end the partnership and then AEW will just take whatever they want from them and give them nothing in return.

Get ready for Triple Crown Champion Lexis King! In all seriousness, "submission assassin" and "killer catch style" would indicate that they're sending Drew Gulak.

This issue has come up before on this board, but non-Americans often forget that Puerto Rico is a US territory. That means Americans can travel there and work there without a visa and vice versa. That's a big part of why Puerto Rican wrestling is more connected to mainland US wrestling culture than that of Latin America.

Antonio Pena was heavily influenced by Titanes en el Ring, so there is a connection. Regardless, treating the British, French, and German wrestling cultures as completely distinct while lumping all of Latin America together is pretty silly.

I'm sure the idea is to start out with Ridge being remorseful to build to him snapping and becoming a guy who injures people and doesn't care like with Billy Kidman a couple of decades ago. SSPing Paul London while he was tied down on a stretcher is by far the coolest thing Kidman has ever done with the possible exception of landing Torrie Wilson. Even so, doing it with a guy who was getting death threats over injuring Big E is pretty gross.

Seth already directly referenced Punk's issues with Cabana in an interview, so it doesn't seem like anything's off the table. On the other hand, the crowd mostly reacted with confused silence when Punk alluded to Brawl Out on Smackdown, so they run the risk of going over the audience's heads if they get too inside.