C.S.

Is this really necessary? I've had "hotter" hot takes than @SmoothS and no one has tried to run me off the board. They've argued passionately with me, probably thought "You're cray cray, Bubba," the whole nine yards, but they've never tried to run me off. I thought Gulak was boring at first too, but he has won me over recently. Then again, that could just be the Bryan Effect, as even Big Cass seemed like a competent worker with untapped potential when paired against Bryan. I do recognize Gulak's skills, obviously, compared to Cass though. I wasn't on PWO at the time, but I would've defended Shield-era Seth Rollins and even Authority Seth with the World Title. Somehow, somewhere along the way, it went downhill for Seth. I find him insufferable now. When he was in the I-C division, he was considered a "great worker" and having "workrate" and "movez" matches that did nothing for me and got volleyballs thrown around by the audience. When he returned to the World Title scene after that, it was only as Roman's replacement, and it didn't really work. If he was in more of a midcard or tag team role, I'd probably enjoy him again. I think Roman is awesome, underrated, and gets piled on way too much (outside of PWO anyway). However, SmoothS has a point when he says Roman comes across as a bodyguard. He's not wrong. Not evolving Roman past the Shield gear was and continues to be a massive mistake IMO, and it's one of those "little things" WWE used to do so well but no longer does, and it limits him.

To be fair, that was probably necessary for a Warrior match. Didn't Pat Patterson meticulously lay out Hogan vs. Warrior anyway?

Either Ric thinks he's bulletproof - and who can blame him? - or he's already had Covid and it was kept quiet.

Dave just destroyed Aries. When even an impartial journalist can't feign respect, you know it's bad.

Just stumbled upon this: The Chronicles of Mad Maxine - $5.99 on Kindle It's a fictional account of Mad Maxine's brief tenure in wrestling. Her reason for that (transcript courtesy of ProWrestlingStories.com): I haven't bought it or read it, but I'll check out and sample and decide if it's something I'd enjoy.

Neither of them are even remotely believable to me in "tough guy" roles, but Joe is better at it than Taz for sure.

Is this a website, a YouTube or Dailymotion page, a paid streaming service, or what?

I have never, ever respected Low-Ki and Austin Aries as wrestlers, performers, businessmen, and human beings. Glad to see they're "living up" to their reputations.

My bad - I thought he was the married one. But no, he should not be lumped in with sewage like Joey Ryan, etc. Not at all. With that said, being a cheating spouse and breaking apart a marriage and family just to get your rocks off is not something that should be so casually discarded as "Puritanism" when it's rightly criticized. It does real damage and lasting damage. However, Bate should not be fired for it or scapegoated in the same sentence with rapists and abusers. That is ridiculous. Edit: Turns out there's a lot more with Bate than I realized (see posts below), so fuck him.

Being an unfaithful scumbag isn't a fireable offense, but WWE better hope that's the extent of it.

"I would go on the main roster at some point but I wouldn’t move to America. Moving to America is not for me. American lifestyle is not for me. No, I couldn’t imagine that. When it comes to that, I stay where I am. But, I am able to get on an airplane! [laughs]." https://talksport.com/sport/wrestling/597210/walter-exclusive-nxt-uk-wwe-raw-smackdown-live/ Obviously, he can't fly around now, but he can easily join NXT U.S. or WWE after all of this is over if they don't mind him living abroad.

IF Cornette is guilty of anything, these " jokes" are a bad look.

I watched The Broken Skull Sessions with Mark Henry last night. Possibly the best episode of the show yet. Some "SPOILERS" below: - Not that I'm defending Mark Henry's stance about Lio Rush carrying bags, etc. for veteran wrestlers, but watching this will help you understand why Henry feels the way he does. He talks about coming into the company and being assigned as Yokozuna's driver "because the way this company works, the young take care of the old" - or words to that effect - according to Vince. Henry called it the best time of his life in wrestling, even more than winning the World Title. There are funny stories about Henry driving 100 miles an hour with Yoko and later The Rock and Mae Young. - This relationship with Yoko gets Henry in good with The Undertaker and the BSK, even if Henry is so green and unfamiliar with the business and associated terminology that he takes offense to Taker saying "here's our new babyface." I'm not sure Taker wasn't being sarcastic though. - Henry is definitely entrenched in the WWE way of thinking, even quoting the popular Vince refrain, "you've got to learn to eat shit and like it" if you're going to make it in WWE. - The story from the WWE Mark Henry documentary is repeated, about Henry wanting to return to strongman competitions, with Vince allowing it but saying "there's no place here for the second World's Strongest Man," so Henry had no choice but to win. I'm not sure if Vince was serious or if this was just a weird motivating tactic. - Henry talks about the rib of being announced for a dark match and being left out there for 20 minutes for an opponent that was never going to come out. When he figured out it was a rib, he ripped out lights and destroyed property backstage (which, of course, is the normal way everyone handles workplace disputes). Then he called up Vince, yelled at him, and asked why he should stay in WWE when "you obviously don't respect me and you damn sure don't fear me" (paraphrasing). Vince showed Henry footage of the rib and pointed out his white hot angry facial expression. Vince said if Henry could be that guy all the time, they could make a lot of money together. Henry said Vince didn't want that guy, because he couldn't control his emotions. Vince said, "Yes, you can!" Thus, the "Hall of Pain" was born. Henry did skirt around the issue of not wanting to perpetuate an "angry black man" stereotype, but he seems to feel like it worked because of everything that led up to that point. I can agree with that. - Jim Ross Is A Grouchy Hateful Vile Human Being. Well, not really, but he did tell Henry to his face that he wasn't going to make it - in front of Vince - and that Vince should cut his losses. After Henry won the World Title, he was booked to confront J.R. on TV and demand an apology. During the angle, he claims he started choking J.R. legitimately. Ironically, Mark loves J.R. now, because J.R. has been a mentor to him, giving him about advice about his radio show. - The only disappointment is that the fake retirement salmon coat angle with Cena isn't mentioned at all. Instead, the show ends with both men praising Keith Lee but saying he "still has a ways to go." This only scratches the surface of everything that's covered, so it's still well worth watching.

I did finish it. It's a really solid book, mainly of stories about wrestling in Japan, but also about growing up in Minnesota, his time as an arm wrestler and filming the movie "Over The Top," his stints in WCW, and living through the infamous show in North Korea. Nothing salacious. Just a fun career overview. Still only $7.99 on Kindle, and I'd say it's definitely worth that. Edit: Just noticed you said you don't want Kindle. The paperback is $25 on Amazon - pity there isn't a nice hardcover - but I remember paying that or more for books way back in the day. As Scott Norton's biggest fan on PWO, it may be worth it to you.

This Low-Ki tweet was posted in another thread, but look who just liked it... Lince Dorado is a fucking moron. God help him if the WWE Covid outbreak is traced back to him or he's scapegoated for it. Fuck him though!

I don't know what a "Chad" is, so you'll have to teach me that one. A Karen is basically a super-entitled white woman with a Kate Goesslin haircut (or Bayley, for those in the bubble) - the "I want to speak to the manager" types. The definition has been expanded to include exceptionally selfish people and racists who call the cops on black people for committing such "heinous criminal offenses" as walking on the sidewalk or in the park.

This tweet called Low Ki a "Corona Karen" - a perfect description if I've ever heard one. In addition to being a useless liability everywhere he's ever worked, Brandon Silvestry is also dumb as fuck. Glad I never bought into him.

Yeah, this feels like deliberate trolling on WWE's part (or maybe SRS's part) to the "release" rumors.

The sleazy, slimy, scuzzy wrestling business never fails to sink even lower. Wrestling Inc.: Anonymous WWE Talent On Not Being Allowed To Speak Out About Positive COVID-19 Results (Photos) WWE deserves to be buried in lawsuits from this.

I doubt it, because AJ specifically said on the documentary that the match was built around fans wanting to see Taker kick AJ's ass. Nothing in the build, with AJ making it so personal, suggested that he would be the one going over. Now, if the feud didn't get personal until after the shutdown (I'm not sure), then maybe AJ was originally scheduled to win. I still don't think so though.

Nice to see Impact releasing people for the right reasons, like being racist monsters and/or sexual deviants. Oh wait, that's not why any of them were released at all... #LOLTNA

NXT UK's Ligero and Travis Banks were finally released by WWE.

A really nice story about Sammy Guevara:

I really hope Tully doesn't try to pressure AEW into giving his little girl a spot. Sadly, they'd probably take her. Even more sadly, their women's division desperately needs her. She's not worth the baggage though IMO.

Apparently Tessa Blanchard was stripped of the Impact World Title and released after not sending in promised interview footage to hype her upcoming match. Remember when she was the next "can't miss" hot prospect? Those days seem long over. I can't see any major league organization bothering with her racist baggage and spoiled diva antics now.