C.S.

Ironically, I liked it more than the first book. I'm sure everything you say is true, but I remember him being kind of a whiny bitch and making excuses for his bad behavior and bullshit in the first book, whereas he at least owned his mistakes and seemed to have a more mature outlook in the second book. 'Course, it probably helps that I paid only $2 for the second book on Kindle and went into it already knowing it was more about religion than wrestling, so I tempered my expectations accordingly. BTW, I've read all three of the books on your "bottom tier" list. My quick thoughts: Chyna: She had a rough childhood and rocky relationship with Hunter, which sadly portends her tragic future. This was written before she broke up with Hunter and left WWE, but it definitely reads like the beginning of the end in retrospect. A dour and depressing read then, and more of one now. Rock: Half of the book is written in-character, which is such a bizarre choice, even for 1999. Needless to say, those portions are unreadable. The other half of the book - about his life and career - are much better and well worth reading. It was written too early in his career as a blatant cash-grab by WWE, but it's not bad if you skip the baffling chapters written as his character and read only the ones about his real life. Hogan: It's...fine. A lot of bullshit, but fine. Disappointing because it's way too short and not very detailed for what is arguably the greatest wrestling career ever. If any wrestling bio warranted the 800-page Bret Hart treatment, it was this one.

I've never watched Game of Thrones (spare me your fake shock, people), but didn't the kid who played Joffrey quit acting because fans took his villain role too seriously? I know the same thing happened with Beverly Hills 90210 guest star Jamie Walters, who played Ray Pruitt - the guy who threw Donna down the stairs. (He eventually resurfaced for an episode of the ill-fated 90210 fake reality show reboot.)

Jordan's a bitch, says biographer Ken Burns Okay, Burns didn't say that, but he's not a fan of the documentary for reasons explained in the link above.

Becky and Big Show were on boxes of Golden Crisp and Honey Comb because there was a WWE Network promo attached to the cereal.

Sure, but that's a problem hardly exclusive to Becky Lynch - the entire company is in the same boat. Relative to others, she's still in a great position.

"Brunzell faded into retirement in the mid 90’s and is now selling toilet paper in Minnesota." If he's still doing this, I imagine he has suddenly become a lot richer and more successful.

Most of the anti-WWE sentiment on this board is valid, but not this. Becky Lynch is the most pushed female wrestler in the history of the company. She has hardly had her potential "pissed away."

Jimmy Uso is out for 6 to 9 months with a knee injury. In case someone saw my rant about The Usos in another thread and think I derive any pleasure from this news, I don't. IMO, he's much better off and safer sitting at home.

I don't dispute the impact of Hardys vs. E&C or the TLC matches, but I think you are underestimating what a big deal Shawn vs. Razor was at WrestleMania X. Even though it feels like Shawn-Razor and the first Hardys-E&C match happened a decade apart, there was really only a four-year gap. The two Shawn-Razor matches were in '94 (WMX) and '95 (SummerSlam), Hardys vs. E&C was in '99, followed by a Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000 (adding the Dudleys into the mix), the first TLC match at SummerSlam 2000, and the TLC rematch at WrestleMania X-Seven.

Sure, but the latter doesn't happen without the former.

I agree with your assessment. I would not call RnS or BoD high-end tag teams like a Hart Foundation or British Bulldogs or E&C/Hardys/Dudleys or...I could name a hundred more teams, but you get the idea.

I thought that entire run was wildly overrated - even here on PWO.

Well... I would honestly rather see Rock 'n' Sock Connection or Brothers of Destruction. (I mean in their primes, not necessarily now.) They connect with me as characters, as acts, and in the ring. The Usos are completely insufferable and intolerable to me - horrid gear, obnoxious attitudes (even as faces), irritating catchphrases, I could go on and on... Are they decent hands in the ring? Sure. Have I ever been given one single, solitary reason to care about any of their matches or them personally? Not at all. Part of that is WWE de-emphasizing the importance of tag team wrestling, sure, but the other part of it is that I simply cannot stand The Usos.

The Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X. Was it the first ladder match? No. (Bret used to do them in Calgary.) It wasn't even in the first ladder match in WWE. (Bret did one earlier at a house show with Shawn.) But it's the one that put the stipulation on the map. From there, we got more Ladder Matches, with the concept eventually "evolving" into TLC, Money in the Bank, etc. It may be something everyone is sick of at this point, but it undeniably changed the business.

That would probably be my timeline too. The Joe, Balor, Nakamura, and Roode reigns were all dogshit. Drew and Andrade were slight improvements but that's not saying much. I loved the Gargano-Ciampa matches at first, but they ran that feud into the ground. Their most recent "epic" match was 45 minutes of boredom, unnaturally dark lighting, and weird camera angles. Adam Cole does nothing for me, bay bay. Dream might have been a fun champ, but I can't see that happening now - for obvious reasons. IMO, just run with Keith Lee. Even in the cheesy Netflix movie "The Main Event," he had charisma and starpower written all over him. I've never thought of it from this angle. What exactly, at any point, has ever prevented Shane from still being the heir apparent? Sure, he left, but then he came back, so what's the problem? Does he still not want it? I realize he has supposedly had some goofy creative ideas, but he also had good ideas like turning ECW into a legit third brand (basically, what they ended up doing with NXT years later) and investing in MMA (certainly a better idea than the XFL).

This made me laugh out loud. Well-played. I can imagine the episode in my head right now... JIM CORNETTE: That son of a bitch Kenny Omega, that outlaw mudshow wrestler, he wrestled a 9-year-old girl, exposed the business, gave a jobber way too much offense. By doing that, he actively destroyed the credibility of me, all the boys, and everyone in every wrestling locker room ever. KENNY OMEGA: AEW was a startup company at the time and we were wrestling in the middle of a pandemic. So what if I gave a young talented guy a little bit of the spotlight? ALAN ANGELS (JOBBER): I may not be Kenny Omega's best friend, but he's mine after what he did for me that night. I can still hear the roar of the crowd when I kicked out of the V-Trigger, man. KENNY OMEGA: We had no fans in the arena, no money coming in, no guarantee our jobs would still exist in a year, so I was like... YOLO!!! DAVE MELTZER: The match was fine. That V-Trigger kickout spot happened a lot at the Tokyo Dome in front of 50,000 fans. RYAN SATIN: OKAY, BOOMER! JAKE HAGER (NARRATOR): But that night - and that match - took a toll on Kenny Omega's career that can never be calculated. (Grainy footage is shown of a washed-up and desperate Adam Sandler playing Kenny Omega in a re-enactment.) KENNY OMEGA: First, everyone started kicking out of the V-Trigger. Then it was my finisher, the One-Winged Angel. Kip Sabian, Joey Janela, Marko Stunt all kicked out of the One-Winged Angel. Then Orange Cassidy kicked out - in slow motion. By the end of my run in AEW, little kids were coming out of the crowd and kicking out of my finisher. That's when I knew I was done. (The ominous Dark Side of the Ring logo is shown.)

Thinking out loud and probably making no sense at 2 in the morning, but I wonder when it became obvious at some point that Shane wasn't going to be the heir apparent, if Vince never really came to terms with that and never truly had his heart set on Trips (or even Stephanie) being in that role.

Trips is lauded by the general internet for the way he runs NXT. What would make Vince doubt him? Hot take: NXT has been a slog for years now.

Other than the tone deaf slogan, I actually like it. It's fun and colorful - two things WWE hasn't been in years.

Curtis Axel was apparently released. I can't find it on WWE.com though, only newz sites. Edit: WWE Sheet is reporting it. Found the WWE.com link: https://www.wwe.com/article/curtis-axel-released

WOWWW! Did you have the heart to break it to her about "nice, sweet Robbie"?

Arn Anderson thinks he's a top-flight worker, so the door definitely seems open for Ziggler in AEW if he ever wants it.

Weird post... @KawadaSmile is no "blind fanboy" and his opinions are far from "banal" - even if we don't always agree - and WWE hasn't tried to make Roman Reigns the next Steve Austin in ages.

But Scotty Goldman died an instant death. I'd be more inclined to blame WWE than Cabana for that though. As terrible as I think Cabana is, WWE didn't even try to do anything with him.