C.S.

I just did the dishes. I just did the dishes!

So, Shane is Lashley's new manager? (And hopefully mouthpiece, because - God! - Lashley is dogshit on the mic.)

Lashley is as dull and fucking useless as anyone ever. His act really misses Lio Rush tonight. Even a body hair segment would improve this.

This kind of stupid shit would've worked well in the Attitude Era with the right characters (Edge and Christian with the "ass cream"), but oof! WWE applies a "one size fits all" approach to everyone, regardless of whether it suits the characters or not. We talked about that in another thread with the "childhood dream" stuff, but it also applies to bad "comedy" like this.

WWE "comedy," ladies and gentlemen...

Me too. I was worried he was legitimately injured.

Raw's format is so stale... Dull opening talk segment with horrendous mic work ✔ Meaningless tag match with zero stakes ✔ About the only positive was that Ricochet looked good, but it won't matter when he loses.

Agreed with everything you said, @SomethingSavage. I see so many "great matches" hyped here and elsewhere that mean diddly shit to me because there are no stakes and/or I don't care about one or both of the characters. If I don't care about those things, I don't care about the match. A "great match" with no context only works during those magical first few weeks you're going into a promotion cold, with no prior knowledge (NXT when the Network was launched, TNA's early days or even one of the many second chances they've gotten over the years, random indy shows or live events, etc.). After that honeymoon period is over, the characters and story better be there.

LOL... He's probably moving to a new city or house.

FWIW, I love @SomethingSavage's and @The Thread Killer's posts about Bischoff - and I don't even listen to the podcast.

Finally watched the Brody one. Best so far. Such a sad, tragic, and senseless crime. My heart broke for Barbara Goodish and her son. Bruiser was so much more well-spoken than I expected. Who was the narrator? Was it Mick Foley? I am the worst at figuring out such things. But whoever it was, he was much better than Dutch Mantell in previous episodes (and Duch was good too). I went on YouTube (on Roku) after, and oddly enough, this video was the first one that popped up. Mostly a waste of time, mostly incoherent, and mostly people who didn't know what the hell they were talking about (some by admission). Bill Apter and - of all people - Sunny probably came across the best. Nash sounded like a tool. Never mind Sandman, New Jack, and others rambling about God knows what.

I have never, ever noticed Sonya's rainbow hanky - or if I have, I never thought twice about it - which tells me it's not the big deal Scott seems to think it is.

Not sure if this means anything at this point... It's from a local TV ad, and aren't those usually produced way ahead of time?

The "childhood dream" approach works in small doses when presented with the right character - Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, etc. It does not work for everyone, should not be used for everyone, and ceases being special when that becomes everyone's storyline.

Bret Hart vs. Tom McGee to be shown at Starrcast (presumably only for the live audience and not for people watching through FITE). https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/04/wwe-allowing-previously-lost-match-to-screen-at-starrcast-ii-653514/

My Take: My Brother Randy and Liz’s Episode on Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring (Lanny Poffo) https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/randy-savage-miss-elizabeth-viceland-dark-side-of-the-ring/ Great read. Interesting insights, and Lanny isn't afraid to be blunt!

They're idiots, but at the same time, I don't understand the strategy of posting about a release before it's signed, sealed, and delivered. That obviously doesn't work.

Tony Atlas on Sasha Banks: "She made the biggest mistake of her wrestling career." https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/04/wwe-hall-of-famer-says-sasha-banks-made-the-biggest-mistake-653487/

I was re-reading about the old Lio Rush-Emma Twitter incident, and man, Jack Gallagher comes off as super, SUPER, SUPER racist here. https://www.cagesideseats.com/2017/10/29/16567600/lio-rush-jokes-emma-release-asuka-sean-waltman-rosa-mendes-peyton-royce-bray-wyatt-tessa-blanchard

Lio Rush supposedly has heat with WWE. https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/04/lio-rush-reportedly-has-backstage-heat-in-wwe-653471/ Which is shame, because he is easily the most (okay, only) interesting part of Lashley's act.

It's behind a paywall. Subscribe to the FT to read: WWE stock slammed as ticket sales and TV ratings drop

No idea when this was recorded, but Daniel Bryan is going to be on an upcoming Jimmy Jacobs podcast. https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/04/daniel-bryan-on-being-depressed-in-cities-653441/

I mean, yeah, suitable for message board geeks like us, maybe - but the rest of the world would be far more excited by Taker and Angle, obviously. Still cool though.

I agree, but this thing can actually be ordered on FITE, so it's basically going to be "televised." That kind of changes things a little bit.

It keeps Reigns away from the Smackdown WWE Title picture, which is honestly the least interesting thing they could do with him right now. I'm not saying I'd be super-excited for it, but at there's a natural history there and a built-in storyline, which is more than we can say for these forced Kofi-KO and Becky-Lacey pairings (although that's better than yet another forced Becky-Charlotte pairing even though they have years of history), or a forced transition from Kofi to [fill in heel] to Roman. I'm not against Shane. Sure, why not? But also why? Can't they just run with Kofi and, ya know, give him a chance to actually succeed without planning his successor before his title faceplates have even had a chance to get warm yet? I agree about "menacing" KO, BTW. It worked in NXT but hasn't worked since and definitely didn't work here.