Ricky Jackson

I think "the money is in the chase" was a successful 60s-80s NWA territory hero challenging the champ formula, but obviously not the be-all-and-end-all, because the WWWF and AWA had big business with a dominant face champ at the same time (although both had success with heel champs too). It really comes down to the wrestlers and how over they are. When a wrestler is hugely over, you can draw with either a chase or a dominant run formula

Admittedly I'm an Eagles fan, but looking at most metrics, it's really him and 2 or 3 other guys in the top tier, with not a ton separating them

It's almost like Vince was detrimental to the booking of the product for the last several years of his reign

I may even try to watch some of this stuff

Go back even further to the early 70s and almost all the major territories were drawing huge. Many were doing stadium shows. Places like LA, SF, Detroit and Montreal that dropped off considerably in the late 70s were on fire. No doubt this was a hotter period than peak Hogan WWF for ticket sales (on average) and probably TV ratings too, but then the amount of true drawing cards was much greater and ignorance was bliss in many territories as far as not being outclassed by a more major league presentation on TV, like with cable in the 80s

Yeah, you probably need to find the whole 6/79 MSG card to get the DeNucci match Man, that Strongbow Philly match is so special. I remember showing it to some friends who otherwise never watched any wrestling so old, and after not paying close attention at first, they slowly became riveted and by the end couldn't take their eyes off the screen

Ronda Rousey with a lot of no-fucks-given comments about WWE and Vince during her rounds promoting her book https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/ronda-rousey-wwe-is-an-absolute-sh-tshow-i-dont-intend-on-going-back-to

I need to see that match. As a fellow pre-expansion WWF/Valentine enthusiast, I'll put forth my own sneaky good Valentine match: vs Dom DeNucci at MSG from June of 1979

Thought I may as well update this Obviously my grand plans for a farewell tour of pods never materialized. As it stands, I believe the feed will go dark at the end of August, when the latest subscription expires. Not sure what the future holds beyond that, but I do have a contingency plan in place. There may be some special shows near the end, but not sure

The website appears to have vanished but they are still pumping out podcasts daily

Jim Ross with useless "let's move on" comments about Vince mixed in with a bunch of vague, cliched, carefully worded statements that don't say anything https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/jim-ross-comments-on-vince-mcmahon-allegations

He did, also by Rollins. Technically that one was on the guardrail though

I knew after Virgil died another wrestler would pass away shortly. Never fails Butcher and Mad Dog drew big money as a team in the 70s. He body slammed Andre. Had a memorable wedding on an early TNT

Yeah, seems like it's going to be tricky to release the Netflix doc anytime soon, since I believe Vince was heavily involved in it and thus it is presumably not an objective look at the man. There's no way you can release anything about Vince now that is anything but severely critical of him as a human being. Apparently it was very close to a release date before the last scandal broke. Netflix being partners with WWE would seem to prevent them releasing an edit that totally tears Vince down. Will be interesting to see what comes of it

I believe it's Bobby Jaggers. He did commentary with Hugo on a bunch of tapes from around then

This is one of the greatest bits of pro wrestling ever. RIP

I think it came up here at some point that Green Shirt guy has a job that allows him to work remotely and with a lot of flexibility, not that he's fabulously wealthy or anything. No idea where that info came from

I meant if you have such contempt for wrestling and its fans why do you even like it

Then why are you here?

Lord knows we didn't need another Chiefs SB win, and Mahomes becoming more and more a 21st century Jordan-level worshipped-like-God athlete, on top of the obnoxious Swift-Kelce lovefest, but as an Eagles fan I'll take that result every day of the week. Suck it, Deebo

Markoff passed away yesterday. Just watched that Inoki match a few days ago based on your recommendation. It was great. Let's nominate this guy!

Yeah, that's an all-time favorite underrated match for me. With the Bruno feud, plus the amazing Putski match and this one, Zbyszko had such an incredible 1980

I was struck by this note, mentioned in passing, from an article on the Observer site about TKO asking Vince to resign "One source noted to the Hollywood Reporter that had Grant's lawsuit been filed earlier, the $5 billion deal with Netflix may have been put into jeopardy." So, did TKO just luck out on the timing of the lawsuit or, conspiracy time, did they perhaps influence the timing? Edit: although I guess they probably wouldn't have let Vince be part of the whole NYSE thing a few days before if they knew about the lawsuit

Just saw Andre/Garea vs Sarge/Moondog Rex (yes, really) from the Spectrum, April 81, for the first time a few days ago, and it was quite good actually, especially the Andre/Sarge interactions

Yeah, I realize that now. Worst case he loses a bit of his money. Poor guy. I guess he may be finally banished from the company if public outrage is loud enough