Ricky Jackson

I forgot about Benoit. He's truly been erased from history Plus, come on, "Cena sux" talking points in 2020?

Yeah, WWE history has hardly been full of big stars working snug, realistic offense. Like, Bret Hart and who else before Bryan? Even Backlund was pretty over the top. Austin turning heel drove away fans. Triple H on top drove away fans. Whatever the fuck mess they've been putting out for the last 5-6 years has drove away fans. Cena on top didnt drive away fans. I think fans actually liked going to shows and booing him, even though they bitched about how much they hated him and that someone else should be on top all the time. I guess he was a heel after all

That would get me watching wrestling again

Sounds like it's a mix of UWN footage fearuring NWA talent and unreleased stuff from the same tapings

Yeah, that's what it is

Victim of a slow decline and his career ending with a whimper. I remember Meltzer accusing him of phoning it in as soon as he became a megastar in 84 and then coasting afterwards. Not sure of this, but I'm assuming the 90/91 Iraqi sympathizer run was trashed at the time in WON. Outside of PWO and few other circles, not much love for Slaughter's early 80s glory days. JYD, Patera, Rich, Blackwell, etc are similar--guys who were huge pre-84 but are either forgotten or more remembered for sad last days by most fans

For me, "most today know little about" hopefully means Dom DeNucci

Oh, there's definitely a comics history subsection of fandom. TwoMorrows publishing is kinda the equivalent of Crowbar Press and has been my go to place to grab history publications. The American Comic Book Chronicles series is top notch. They put out decade by decade volumes that cover American comic book history, mostly focusing on mainstream comics but also with plenty of info on smaller publishers/undergrounds. I've only read the 70s volume so far but it was excellent. What I've seen of the other volumes looks great. Going to tackle the 50s next. TwoMorrows also has various ongoing publications like Alter Ego and Back Issue that are great for creator interviews and obscure bits of history. Fantagraphics books also puts out a lot of history publications. Just finished the excellent Fire & Water book on the career of Bill Everett Yeah, Man-Thing isnt amazing or anything. Definitely fun and wacky. Ive been putting off Son of Satan but may dip into it soon based on your recommendation. Also about to start Gerber's Defenders run and perhaps his Omega the Unknown, which is pretty far out stuff. In the context of a lot of mundane and mediocre 70s Marvel art, Starlin really stands out for me. It just feels like a fresh perspective, similar to Steranko, whom I've also always enjoyed, both despite a limited sample size. As I've been reading more and more 70s comics, one of the main themes of the decade is, because of the demands of newstand deadlines in a world where comic shops were just emerging and not large enough to make a difference in overall sales, Marvel and DC relied on speed freak artists (also writers), and a lot of the most interesting talent worked too slow, because they put so much into each panel. Guys like Starlin, Wrightson, Ploog, Smith, etc, would gravitate to poster work, paperback covers, advertising, independent publishing, where the deadline crunch was far less intense, plus they could make as much or more money than in comics, which overall were struggling sales wise compared to earlier decades. Some really great talent, like Colon and of course Kirby, could reliably make deadlines and produce high quality work, but so much of the Marvel and DC art from the 70s is very samey and rushed off looking. Starlin for me produced a real vibrant alternative compared to a lot of his peers in that environment

Come on @Loss and @goodhelmet create the sub folders. This is a great and unique place, despite being on the wrong side of history, surely this tiny bit of maintenance can be maintained

Right, well I guess wrestling history ended with August 2020 as far this place is concerned

Im not volunteering myself, but maybe some folks who are regulars and are invested can be granted mod powers in order to manage such things? Not to call anyone out, but a lot of the mods here aren't exactly regulars anymore

Could be interesting but I'm afraid any subjective story of Vince and WWE will be at best mostly puff piece or at worst a total mockery of the concept of the documentary itself. I mean will they address anything related to something controversial, like wrestler deaths, independent contractor bs, Saudi blood money, declining popularity, creative bankruptcy criticisms, etc, etc, etc.?

Jones and Jacobs' The Comic Book Heroes was my bible 20 years ago. I suppose it hasn't aged well in certain ways Urban legends is fun for sure. One pod I forgot to mention that goes pretty deep into creator discussion, with tons of interviews, is the Comic Book Historians Podcast. Really interesting stuff usually focusing on more lesser-known/discussed works and creators

It's interesting how the two fandoms share many similarities and crossover but are also very different in the areas the hardest of the hardcores focus on. Like you pointed out Matt, hardcore wrestling fandom is very obsessed with behind the scenes details and the story of the "real" person beneath the character (to a degree that I believe has been totally overemphasized in importance and interest over the years, but that's neither here nor there) and, yes, that is often the driving force behind at least the most well known podcasts. I've been going increasingly deeper into comics fandom lately and becoming more in touch with the overall community interests of the history minded hardcores than I ever was when I was younger (I wasn't part of any online comics communities back then). There definitely isnt an obsession with the behind the scenes details of the lives of creators, although some folks are into that stuff. Wrestling has biographies/autobiographies, shoot interviews, etc, on a much larger scale than those devoted to comics creators. This speaks to the difference in mediums. There just isnt much money to be made from comic creator bios/interviews because only a niche within a niche group is interested in such knowledge, while many hardcore wrestling fans become transfixed, and often have their fandom rejuvenated or extended by the relentless quest to know the real people and the real stories behind the larger than life characters that drew them in to this amazing world in the first place. Even today, after Kayfabe dying years ago, there is a feeling of discovering forbidden knowledge, of finding out secrets you can never know just by watching the shows, that drives many fans to spend ridiculous amounts of time and money to become closer and closer to the "truth". It's both fascinating and disturbing, really. Anyway, because comics fandom doesn't have this side, the podcasts related to the medium definitely have a different focus, but are just as enjoyable imo. As stated, I've only really been diving deep into the community of comics fandom for a few months now. I've been listening to a crazy amount of podcasts since early March (I dont think I've brought this up on here before, but I've had a ridiculous amount of free time since 2020 started. My wife and I sold our condo in the city and relocated to her family farm, both now unemployed and living off the money we made in the sale, with the luxury of not having to worry much about income at the moment) and there is a wealth of interesting shows focused on reviewing classic comic books. The Epic Marvel Podcast and the Comics Canon are my faves, along with the absolutely delightful Checkered Past, which ambitiously intends to review every single DC comic from 1966-67 that featured the infamous "go go checks" along the top. It's freaking great, as they cover everything from superheroes, to war, to romance, to Bob Hope comics. Anyway, these review shows either play it pretty straight, like Epic Marvel and the Comics Canon, or, like Checkered Past, go for the post modern, "this doesnt make logical sense", ironic approach to reviewing old school comics. One pod I've discovered that is more like a wrestling style look at the people behind the curtain is the Classic Comics Cavalcade. This show is far from perfect when it comes to production values (and often guest audio quality and chemistry), but the host, Jason Sacks, is a great historian and really knows his stuff when it comes to discussing the career of a certain creator. I'm still searching for better and more interesting comics pods. There is of course a shit ton of Marvel-related pods to wade through, just like there are a shit ton of WWE pods. @Matt D I would suggest giving one of those I mentioned a whirl Ok, I've rambled on enough lol

The next issue to read is #10 and Blade's first appearance. I thought that was a good time to pause, right before the title really got cooking. I've found myself more drawn to Englehart, Starlin and Gerber right out of the gate but will definitely resume Tomb soonish

It's been on my read next pile since I bought the first Epic Collection at the beginning of the year but I've been totally sidetracked by reading digitally for months. I need to balance between digital and print because I have a bunch of unread trades full of great stuff sitting collecting dust

Try... The Epic Marvel Podcast The Comics Canon My Marvelous Year ...to start

Come on bubba, keep it in C.S's thoughtfully started thread https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/52209-nxt-halloween-havoc-spin-the-wheel-make-the-deal-put-on-the-coal-miners-glove/ I may not watch wrestling anymore but I can still be anal about people posting about the same show in multiple threads

In my experience, a ton of people have Facebook accounts that either dont or barely use them. The rare time I use the app it's pretty much just my boomer friends/family posting stuff anymore

Ok, since i brought up my rejuvenated comics fandom in the Conrad thread i thought I'd update what I've been reading the last five months or so. -70s Marvel, and some DC, has been my main focus: Really loved Starlin's Captain Marvel and Warlock. Starlin was definitely one of the best Marvel artists of the 70s. It helped that he worked on low selling, bimonthly books where he could take his time and do whatever he wanted with characters that were low priority I've always been a huge Kirby fan, so his 70s work has been another focus. Jimmy Olsen was fun and full of energy and craziness. I think I preferred the Demon though. I just really dig the character. I've been holding off on Kamandi and his return to Marvel stuff, waiting for the right mood to strike. Read the illustrated bio by Tom Scioli that came out a few months back. Really great and highly recommended. -Speaking of Scioli, his Fantastic Four: Grand Design is really awesome. X Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor is also good. A hardcore X Men fan, which I've never been, would probably hold it in higher regard. Been on a bit of a FF kick in general. Also read World's Greatest Comic Magazine from 2001 (12 issue series that coincided with the 40th anniversary of FF #1, meant to be the wrap up of the Lee-Kirby run if the two had planned on a finale, instead of Kirby leaving for DC in the middle of a storyline) and Unstable Molecules from 2003, done in an indie style and actually really good. I'm also about 2 years into Hickman's run and also really enjoying it. Johnny's "death" was handled really well and I love how they used that storyline as a way to kickstart a new chapter in the history of the team, as they go beyond being the Fantastic Four and become something bigger. Hickman's FF is my jumping on point for trying to get into "modern" (10 + years old) Marvel. Just started Journey Into Mystery based on the recommendation of @Matt D Also trying out Mark Waid's Daredevil. As for "modern" DC, I gave the first volume of Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing from 2011 a whirl and it's pretty good. 70s and 80s Swampy is one of my all-time faves but this is first I've read of the character outside of that time frame. Also read vol 12 of Astro City (another all-time fave) and plan on finishing up the series when the titles become available digitally again. They were on Comixology and Kindle until a few months ago but have been removed. Rumours that Marvel may snag the rights. Also, going back to Scioli, tried out Godland from 2005 and it's pretty cool. It's done totally in the style of late-70s Kirby. -Back to 70s Marvel, I've read... Panther's Rage: Great art throughout, but McGregor's prose became so florid that I had to drop reading the text for the last few issues and just read the art. Still, a good story and much more ambitious than almost everything else coming out of Marvel at the time (Jungle Action 6-18) Englehart's Captain America (#s 153-186): In the end, I enjoyed the first arc about the return of the 50s Cap and Bucky more than the later, and far lengthier, Secret Empire arc. I've enjoyed Englehart's runs on Dr. Strange and Avengers (both not finished yet) more tbh Defenders has been a total blast. Just about to start Gerber's seminal run with #20. Speaking of Gerber, I've read about 75% of his Man-Thing and it's good, especially with Mike Ploog on art. I've also dipped my toes into Tomb of Dracula (#1-9) but haven't fully committed yet. Soon -Currently reading Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier from 2004 on Comixology and am loving it. So great. Love Silver Age DC Have a bunch of things planned for the future as far as reading goes. This is going to keep me busy for years. I love it. And yes, also listening to a shit ton of comics pods. I'll maybe post about those later

Yeah, count me among the longtime diehards whose fandom has dropped off a cliff in this cursed year. I'm down to visiting PWO and listening to one wrestling podcast (Greetings from Allentown). That's it. That's the extent of my fandom in 2020. I haven't watched a single match since late-August, and that was for a podcast appearance. I haven't watched a single match for my own enjoyment since the Stadium Stampede, so like the end of May? I retired from podcasting after 7 years, cancelled my WON sub, and stopped reading wrestling history books. My interest in wrestling is at its lowest ebb since around 2003-04. I'm pretty much done with the hobby and dont really care. I've gone back 100% to comics fandom, which I neglected for about a decade, and I'm absolutely loving it. Wrestling had dominated most of my free time for so long. It feels great to toss it aside and return to a hobby that I've loved for longer than wrestling. 2020 has just been a perfect storm I guess, with the the pandemic taking away crowds, and all the depressing #SpeakingOut news, coupled with finally hitting a wall with watching wrestling and podcasting. I'll probably return to the hobby eventually, I always do, but it's going to be at least a few years

Honestly, there wasn't a ton of NXT discussion here back when it was considered good. I remember being the lone voice offering comments many weeks

Someone forgot to make the monthly bribe I guess

All the best with the upcoming surgery from me as well, TTK

Tbh, even though I watched enough matches involving the team, I couldn't tell you for certain if Moss was the one with long hair or the one with short hair