C.S.

Didn't he write that Shooters book? A couple of folks here vouched for it, calling it one of the best wrestling books ever, but I couldn't even finish it.

The horror! The horror!

Thanks for such a lengthy and detailed answer, @The Thread Killer. Wow, there's a lot to unpack here. This is why I can't take Ryan Satin seriously as a legitimate journalist. He's not one, never has been, and probably never will be. I look at him as the tabloid TMZ hack he is. One of the golden rules of journalism is to report the story, not make yourself the story. Satin was flat-out unprofessional there. I assume he was inspired by Mark Madden tattling to baseball legend Hank Aaron about Bill Watts. That can be debated too, but the difference is, Madden got an openly proud racist removed from a powerful corporate position. Satin did what? Got Russo yanked from a podcast no one was listening to anyway. (I realize Russo was the target of a racial lawsuit himself, but I never got the impression that he was racist so much as he valued mic work above everything else, and wrestlers who spoke limited English weren't going to be valued by him for that reason - not because he hates Mexicans or whatever. I remember him loving Hector Garza, for example.) Of course, that does not in any way excuse Satin's poor girlfriend getting death threats over it - especially if they were influenced by Russo (even indirectly, which is no different from what Trump does). For as much criticism as Conrad gets for his formula being stale, played out, paint-by-numbers, or whatever else has been said here, it sounds like it would've been a winning recipe for Russo.

Ironically, the lack of live crowds now is probably what will save him in the long run - assuming nothing else comes out and if what's already come out can be conveniently swept under the carpet by a combination of WWE's lawyers and fans who want to develop selective amnesia. Agreed.

I dunno, guys... I realize Theory is still young and has a decade or more to grow into something, but nothing about him right now makes me think he brings what Dom does to the table - or even what AEW youngsters like Sammy, Darby, Jungle Boy, etc. are already showing us. If Theory wasn't a potential liability, I'd say he was worth bringing along. But now, why take the chance? Randy Orton at 23, yeah, you could see the potential. Brock Lesnar at 23. The Rock at 23. Even Velveteen Dream. Austin Theory? Not seeing it. He's nothing more than a bland "good hand" at this point, and "good rasslin'" doesn't, never has, and never will mean anything by itself without other key ingredients. I don't see the special superstar aura in Theory that was apparent in all of the above examples. (Which, BTW, is also why Timothy Thatcher is DOA the minute he gets called up from NXT. There will never, ever be another Chris Benoit who gets a major push in WWE because he's amazing in the ring, despite being deficient in literally every other category.)

Boggles my mind that he was kept, even if he's been demoted to NXT. I can understand keeping Dream - I'm not saying I agree, but at least there are (or used to be) dollar signs with him - but what does Theory bring to the table that's worth the risk?

What exactly happened here?

Isn't Austin's style - at least on these Network shows, or at least it's edited that way - to hang back and let the guest dominate the conversation?

Hope no one thinks I said Sydal shouldn't have been signed because of his "Shockmaster" botch. I agree with the above that it's no big deal in the grand scheme of things and not even an accurate comparison. The reason I think Sydal shouldn't be signed is because AEW already has a bunch of guys who can do Sydal's style, and they're all younger and better at it, period. As for Jericho-Orange Cassidy, I was going to bring up the Fandango comparison myself. That did nothing for either guy. I wouldn't quite put Orange Cassidy in the same category, as he definitely has more upside and can be a draw for the company. But I do agree they have to be very careful about who Jericho puts over, how, and why.

I know the inclination will be to credit what's-his-name for that, but Brad Armstrong was a hell of a worker and very, very underrated. But that doesn't explain how one develops more of a Southern accent in his 70s.

Credit where it's due, they're selling the hell out of this match.

Broken Skull Sessions with The King is good fun. Probably my favorite episode yet. Likely nothing new for most of us, but still a fun trip down memory lane - especially the Andy Kaufman stuff and stories about Jim Carrey and Man on the Moon. King's obvious plastic surgery is a tad bit distracting at first though. Also, it may just be me, but his accent seems slightly more Southern in this setting. Despite him being the King of Memphis Wrestling, he's never really sounded like a Southerner to me before.

My impressions after 24 hours: This week's Torch Newsletter was 90% show and PPV recaps, with a main story (the Reigns turn), two columns, and a tiny section of forgettable news tidbits. I get that the show results need to be preserved for historical purposes or whatever, but there has to be a better way go about it. Overall, I found the latest issue very disappointing and lacking. Has Keller even done a Torch Talk in a long time? He's very mistaken if he doesn't think that's still his bread and butter.

Was talking about this with a friend last night... I hope AEW didn't sign Matt Sydal. To me, guys like that are a colossal waste of money - no matter how cheap they work, because that budget can still be used better elsewhere. Do I have anything against Sydal? Not really. He's...fine. But they have a lot of guys already who can do the same style, and they're younger and flashier than Sydal is. IMO, if AEW had to do it all over again, they wouldn't have opened the purse strings for Shawn Spears (who I like), Pac, Jake Hager, and people like that. Sydal is on the same list in my mind. I can at least justify Zack Ryder because he always got far more over than his push and station would dictate. If Sydal is just a once-off (or maybe a twice-off so he can make up for "Shockmastering" the first time), that's fine. Even as a surprise, I think the majority reaction was "oh, that guy" and "that's nice, I guess." But okay, still a fun use of him. More than that, why bother? My friend mentioned Chris Hero as someone he'd like to see signed. Even though I thought he was useless in NXT as Kassius Ohno and he's also someone I don't necessarily think AEW should hand a contract to, I can understand that more than someone like Sydal. At least Hero has a cult following of sorts, unlike Sydal, and a unique look, also unlike Sydal. The fact that it hasn't happened yet makes me wonder if AEW just isn't interested in Hero, or maybe Hero isn't interested in AEW for whatever reason?

Just curious: I understand you had to leave for work, but why would you buy a show and then read the results for the second half instead of just watching where you left off? Or did you watch a live feed through *ahem* alternate means? (If that's why you couldn't see the rest of the show, then that makes sense. Otherwise, I am genuinely baffled.)

Who?

It's ROH, which is easily the sleaziest promotion of them all. They've handled Covid remarkably well compared to every other U.S. company, but they've handled everything else so poorly. Remember Bubba Ray dragging a fan backstage and intimidating him? And let's not even get started on Sinclair Broadcasting.

Pretty sure Enzo debunked that by saying he found out when WWE did. Whether Enzo was being truthful is another story. How Swann still has a job anywhere, and why Su Yung is still with him, is beyond me.

Not sure, but at 99 cents, I'd say it's worth the gamble to find out. Update: I gave it a try. No real impressions to report as of yet - I haven't even checked out more than a few lines of the latest newsletter at this point - but it does seem to run well on mobile. Is the Observer site design still outdated hot trash? I don't care about audio, so that's not a draw for me on either site.

People in the U.S. should bitch about the price because it's $20 in the rest of the world. That has been a massive turn-off to me from day one.

As awful as that sounds, I don't want J.R. to retire. But bring in Mauro. A J.R.-Mauro Dream Team is something I need at least once in my life.

No way. Conrad can barely feign interest in '80s NWA, according to you guys, so what makes you think he gives a shit about SMW?

It's a shitty point though, because Vince would definitely make an example out of a few lower carders. Doubt Punk will be paying their bills after doling out such irresponsible trollish advice.

Thought this deserved its own thread... Shit just got real! Politician Andrew Yang goes after WWE. Actress Lea Thompson responds.

UPDATE Batista just responded. ANOTHER UPDATE (9/14/20) This isn't going away... Andrew Yang On How A Joe Biden And Kamala Harris Win Could Help WWE Wrestlers