C.S.

This Peacock deal is so weird to me. It almost feels like WWE is throwing in the towel and admitting the Network has bee a failure.

WWE continues to be the worst version of a pro wrestling company. https://www.cagesideseats.com/2021/1/26/22249836/rumor-roundup-jan-26-2021-wwe-policy-covid-vaccine-raw-match-restart-brooke-jax-japanese-signees

Can Chris Hero Save Wrestling? (Not with those basketball shorts he can't!) I guess this is the big new Conrad show?

This will probably get lost in all the Peacock posts, but I highly, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend the Pat Patterson documentary My Way on the Network. It's legitimately one of the best things they've ever done. No earth-shattering revelations if you've read the Bertrand Hebert book, but it's awesome to see old photographs and video footage of everything.

First of all, @The Thread Killer, you have no idea how excited I was to see myself tagged because you had reviewed the Arquette interview and documentary. Because of that, I made it a top priority to watch You Cannot Kill David Arquette last night and push aside whatever else I was going to watch originally. After the movie was over, I grabbed my tablet and read your entire recap before bed (well, I ended up watching the Pat Patterson doc too, and then I slept). Now I'm here in the light of day to respond to your thoughts, so here goes... It's on Hulu in the U.S. I had some of the same issues, starting with the bullshit Ken Anderson scene at the beginning. But I later realized that was a "wrestling promo" of some kind, so I was able to excuse it that way. I was surprised to see Patricia Arquette in this. I realize they're family, but she's a recent Oscar winner and her career is doing fairly well. It was also cool seeing Rosanna Arquette, and there was a nice nod to their late sister Alexis Arquette through her art. I'm pretty sure it's more than suggested - I remember wrestling being outright blamed for Arquette's supposed career woes in Hollywood. I think that's bullshit and completely ridiculous, but whatever, it gives the story depicted in this doc some stakes, so okay, I'll roll with it... I found this very suspect myself. Agreed. I can only assume this is meant to demonstrate how little Arquette truly understands the pro wrestling world, and to provide a nice contrast to what we see later on, of him looking buff and wearing professional costumes and tights. I'd be first in line to see Arquette, but I can kind of believe that wrestling fans at a wrestling convention would want to meet wrestlers instead. Of course, I would not be even remotely surprised if this ends up being BS to further the story the documentary is telling of Arquette not being accepted as a legitimate wrestler. This came across as total BS to me, or at least a case of the cameraman and editor creating a situation out of thin air that never actually happened by shaking the camera around and including other similar effects to convey a sense of chaos. I found this scene very bizarre and felt very angry that Arquette was basically taken advantage of. Who cares if Arquette excelled in this scenario or impressed these idiots? Backyard wrestling is not legitimate, and while these "wrestlers" may be passionate about their "craft," I don't consider them actual wrestlers and won't until they go to a legitimate training school. Apparently, Arquette came to the same conclusion... I concur. Most wrestling schools are shitholes in garages with bad rings, and this scene conveyed that perfectly. Yes, I think the documentary is taking some creative liberties, but in this instance, it's doing so to reveal greater truths about wrestling. It's DDP. I can 100% buy all of this being exactly the same without cameras present, lol. I loved these scenes. BS? Maybe. But also in service of revealing a greater truth IMO. I had no idea that was Peter Avalon. Was his look completely different or was I just tired? Do you think he was aided by any "enhancements?" His look certainly wasn't steroidal in nature, but as we've seen with even guys like Jamie Noble getting popped, you don't necessarily have to look like Ultimate Warrior to be on the juice. RJ City You and me both. I could've also done without the scene involving serial rapist Joseph Meehan (Joey Ryan), which added nothing to the movie and could've (and should've) easily been cut. The credits list a bunch of people we never actually saw in the movie - Bully Ray, etc. - so I'm wondering how much was left on the cutting room floor. Well... Better to be able to keep an eye on the situation from the inside looking out rather than the outside looking in. But yeah, I mean, this is probably more BS in service of revealing a greater truth, as wrestling does tend to destroy marriages (Flair, who showed up at the beginning, is a testament to that). I didn't realize that was Luke Perry at first - I legitimately thought it was Vince Russo - which makes me wonder if this was an early sign of Perry's health issues that everyone missed. BTW, will this end up being Luke Perry's final film? I'm not quite as cynical as you about this one. 1. Who the fuck is Nick Gage? An indie guy nobody has ever heard of. 2. "Selling point of the documentary"??? Really?! Again, see #1. 3. Sure, it made for a dramatic scene in the movie and exposed another great truth about wrestling, but let's not kid ourselves here - even without that match and scene, everyone who would be interested in seeing a movie like this would still see it. Sure, but let's be honest...that's every documentary or reality show ever, because these things are really created and structured in the editing room. To be honest, I think you've been spoiled by the intelligent and articulate discourse here on PWO. I don't think the movie was necessarily accentuating stereotypes as much as revealing the facts. Most rasslin' fans really are like this - especially at indie shows and conventions. I can't hold that against the movie though. Something that's organized, structured, coherent, and tells a story that's compelling for the audience - that is how it's supposed to be. I much prefer this approach over the loose and meandering way something like Lipstick and Dynamite was put together (especially when that contained its fair share of BS too - *cough* Moolah *cough*). Exactly how I felt, but unlike you, I think that's actually the perfect approach for this material. I really enjoyed the documentary. I think I ultimately liked it more than you. It was very (sports) entertaining. Even when I questioned the validity of what I was seeing at times, those scenes still served to reveal greater truths about pro wrestling.

The Knight family (Paige's family) just had another accusation leveled against them. At least this one isn't sexual in nature.

Pretty sure I heard she's been training with Teal Piper.

Reading between the lines, it's clear Herd didn't like Arn and Tully and/or saw nothing special in them.

Doesn't sound very sanitary either.

Herd pretty much nailed what a con man carny charlatan Jim Cornette was, is, and always has been, but I guess he got the wool pulled over his eyes by the "charms" of Paul Heyman. It does appear, though, that Herd let his dislike of Cornette cloud his judgment a little bit. Then again, Cornette wouldn't show up in the WWF for several more years, and the Midnights never did, so much gas was really left in that tank? Viewing Arn and Tully as midcard acts sounds harsh to our Horsemen-loving ears, but was Herd really wrong at that point in time? Tully was always en route to self-destructing anyway. Bottom line: WCW/Turner's corporate structure was a complete and utter mess. Not even Jesus could've saved it. Uncle Eric came the closest but eventually he was undone by the exact same issues. I still want Arquette, but I can't argue with The Plane Ride from Hell being the next recap.

Amazing, as usual, @The Thread Killer. I was always under the impression that Jim Herd was some schmuck who walked in from Pizza Hut with no prior experience, because WCW was gonna WCW, but that's not the case at all. This really feels like a radical re-evaluation of everything we know about Herd. He had some great ideas and wanted to make some big moves (such as signing Savage) but wasn't always successful because of locker room and Turner politics. Even the movie tie-in stuff could have potentially been good, and the idea of it was certainly way ahead of its time. Herd seemed to understand what many people now have lost sight of - that rasslin' by itself is not a draw, never has been a draw, never will be a draw, and that attracting a wider audience through various means should always be the goal. Can't wait for Part 2. Minority opinion here, but I loved Lex Luger's reign with Harley Race and Mr. Hughes by his side. I thought he was a very good and very underrated World Champion in this era. Of course, it probably helps that I didn't start watching WCW until after Flair left and Luger was champion, so I had no preconceived notions to ruin my perceptions.

With WWE Studios still being a thing, I have no idea why they haven't given The Fiend his own horror movie yet. That would be a much better, more logical way to use him.

Who is this old loser exactly? I feel like I should recognize his name, but I'm drawing a blank.

Mark Henry's at it again - this time against the monumentally dumb jock-ass Ryback. When Ryback comes out looking like the better, classier, and more stable of the two, you know you have to rethink your approach. WrestlingInc.com: Mark Henry Says Ryback Should Apologize For Recent Comments WrestleZone.com: Mark Henry Responds To Ryback: ‘I Could Take A Nap And Be Better Than That Motherf*cker Any Day Of The Week’ Update: I spoke too soon. Meathead Ryback fired back with some nasty shots - even invoking the name of Big Match John. WrestlingInc.com: Ryback And Mark Henry War Of Words Continues

Kross is going to get eviscerated on the main roster, because Vince will see Scarlett as the real star of the two - like Ru Ru and Lana, except this time, he won't be wrong.

The Pat Laprade Andre book is once again $5 on Kindle.

Next stop MLW? That seems to be the place for malcontents who aren't actually draws, or interesting, but think they sold out every building ever and are God's gift to any wrestling promotion they "grace" with their presence.

Two honest questions: 1. Did anyone actually buy the show for him? 2. Does speaking out like this encourage any future employers to take a chance on an unknown quantity like him? He's not a star. He doesn't even have "indie buzz." And now this. Why would anyone hire him? I certainly understand his frustration if he was lied to and the editing of the match was a sloppy mess - was it? I didn't see it - but this hardly seems like a smart career move.

What a fantastic fucking thread. I never would've fathomed that kids on the other side of the world weren't listening to Gorilla, Heenan, etc. and actually had their own commentators instead. Do you have a link to this? (Well, if it's written in French, that won't really be of much use to me.)

Maybe he's getting a relatively nice payday for very few appearances.

Wouldn't surprise me if Broski shows up on Dynamite and rails against AEW for not signing him after his five-appearance deal expired.

Before I get into this, I want to make it clear that I'm not defending Bruce Mitchell's article, which was lazy, sloppy, typo-ridden, irresponsible tabloid speculation at its worst - completely lacking in ethics and common sense - not to mention incredibly harmful and hurtful to an already grieving family for absolutely no reason. With that said, we are only now finding out - many months later - that both Chris Jericho and Nick Jackson tested positive for Covid all the way back in September. I wonder if Bruce knew of that information ahead of time, assumed it was a cover-up, and that colored his opinions while writing about Brodie Lee. Just to be clear, if Jericho and Nick Jackson let the locker room and anyone else they were around know about the diagnosis and then followed the proper protocols, that is all they needed to do IMO. As a fan, I do not in any way feel entitled to know a pro wrestler's private medical history.

I wonder what Simon Gotch thinks of Mark Carrano.

Another tremendous recap, @The Thread Killer. Slow start with all the boring bullshit about BBQ joints, but it definitely picked up later on. BTW, big LOL for this... Also, I kinda feel bad for Mark Carrano. He's not "one of the boys" because the business has changed and Vince no longer puts "the boys" in that position. Seems unfair for Chioda or anyone else to hold that against him. Carrano does seem like a bit of a smirking cocky douchebag on Total Divas, but it would be ridiculous of me to judge him based on a fake "reality" show.

Funny you should say that - Nikki Bella wants the book.