C.S.

This match exposes just how ice cold and badly booked everyone has been in general, including Sasha and Bayley. Maybe I'm just over Chamber matches, but I can barely concentrate on this. Iiconics should win and face Sasha/Bayley at WM, which means Nia Jax and Tamina will win.

I missed the pre-show. I assume Murphy retained? Pineapple on pizza is amazing. Fight me!

Could be it THIS? Ouch! Nasty situation. While I don't condone cheating, I really hope Graves isn't in a suicidal state of mind. He has clearly been behaving erratically lately. Is this what Bix reported that set him off? (I don't think so.)

This proves, though, that it has to be handled delicately. (Lawler was the babyface here. Wow!)

Which was ridiculous of him even then. He was a comedy wimp and she was a tough fighter with a history of inter-gender matches and beating up male wrestlers. He's at it again with more anti-women's wrestling nonsense, but I won't derail this thread with that stuff.

Didn't Undertaker get the rights to his name and gimmick over a decade or more ago? I could've sworn I read that in the WON. He took a picture with some wrestlers from Impact recently. IMO, all that did was make them look like fans and small-time. Obviously, it would be a different story with Cody and Jericho - but I don't think even that would "harm" WWE in any way. Edit: Here's the Impact pic.

Since we're talking about the NWA, I thought the Aldis-Scurll segment was very effective. Caprice Coleman, whoever the fuck that is, seemed like he was trying too hard to cosplay as Mean Gene and he wasn't convincing at all. I'm also not sure who the woman with Aldis is and don't think she fits his act at all. Other than that, I thought it was great work and it makes me want to see the match. I'm not down on Aldis nearly as much as everyone else is. I think he looks the part and represents his organization well. I'm baffled he never got a real look from WWE.

I can't remember if I learned anything new from it - I read it a couple of years ago, at least - but it definitely left a positive impression on me. I really like interview books in general though, which is a rare format for wrestling. Here are two more like it on Kindle: The Power Slam Interviews - Volume 1 and 2 https://www.amazon.com/Power-Slam-Interviews-1-ebook/dp/B01ILZX304/ https://www.amazon.com/Power-Slam-Interviews-2-ebook/dp/B06XQQ8KJW/ I believe most of these are reprints from the magazine though. I've never read a single issue of it, so it was all new to me. But if you were a diehard Power Slam reader, your mileage may vary.

WWE has tried some children's programming recently (past 2-3 years, I want to say), but neither really went anywhere and weren't broadcast on traditional TV.

Tye Dillinger tried to get back into NXT, and like many others for various reasons (not all related to unhappiness), is now going by his real (?) name on Twitter.

A massive improvement over Aries. Then again, I'd be saying that if the former World Champion ended up being a 64-year-old Tony Atlas (he was the IWCCW "World" Champion - that counts, right?). Still makes me wonder what the whole Twitter "argument" between Aries and Solomon Crowe was supposed to be setting up.

Was actually just thinking about this the other day and wondering why The Headbangers didn't get a second run out of it.

It's sleazy, slimy rasslin', where everything is stuck in the '70s and the "rats" are "making it up for attention." The industry is decades away from taking a #metoo movement seriously. Hell, Austin Aries shoved his crotch in Christy Hemme's face without her permission or consent on live (?) TV, and no one paid attention or cared.

@The Thread Killer One day you'll find your dream girl who can appreciate going to scummy strip joint shows main evented by Terry Funk and Sabu - just have faith!

Halftime Heat was the most watched match in NXT history!

I guess I'm in the minority, because I'd never pay a cent to career malcontents like Aries (even if this particular instance is a work), Low Ki, etc. if I were running a fed. And as a fan, I can never invest in anything they do because I know they won't last and there will never be a real payoff to 99% of what they do. I'm sure they're fine as "YouTube wrestlers" though, meaning fun to watch random matches of. If AEW is smart, they'll steer clear of guys like this.

Must've had a rough night at the pub before composing that tweet. I'm with @clintthecrippler - I'd fire his ass on the spot after this. If the contract hasn't officially been signed yet, I'd renege on the whole deal if I were AEW. My God, not only does Havoc come across as the world's oldest (and dumbest) 5th grader with that tweet, he also makes AEW look incompetent for touting him as a big signing. I get wanting to lash back at idiot fans on Twitter - that's fine - but the wrestler should always look like he's above the fan. In this case, the fan - who sounds pretty stupid himself - somehow comes out looking like the less worse of the two.

These tweets all but confirm that it's Aries, no? As someone who thinks they're both useless geeks, this does nothing for me. But it'll get a rise out of TNA's general fanbase, I guess?

The "Vanilla Vegan" Austin Aries?

Posts like this are unbelievably embarrassing and speak to the perpetual infanthood so many young wrestlers seem stuck in on social media. I get that the fan was just as childish, but this does Havoc and AEW no favors. I've never seen him and I already can't stand him (and not in a money-drawing "heel heat" sort of way). As for Orton to AEW, he just cleanly defeated Mustafa Ali this week, so I doubt it. With that said, it would be interesting to see him outside of his WWE bubble and comfort zone. I said interesting, not exciting or something I'd actually want to happen.

Why Terry Funk signed with WCW at this point is another one of life's mysteries. Okay, not really a mystery: it was obviously for the money. But he had to know he wouldn't be used properly or fulfilled in any way. Guess at that point, in his relative old age, he was just looking to become as comfortable as possible financially. Can't blame him there.

Not really. He was a foreign heel originally, which is a gimmick that has always had a shelf life. She's a blonde bombshell who has been in major mainstream movies like Pitch Perfect. Why they continue to misuse and marginalize Rusev now that they know he has more range is another story though. I got nothin' there.

The Dean de-push begins.

I see all of the points Bischoff made about David Flair, Crowbar, and Daffney, but to be fair, Vince Russo got easily the best he was ever going to get out of David Flair, and the same is arguably true of Crowbar and Daffney. Not sure what that Bagwell comment even means. Nash vs. Funk was a terrible idea and never should've happened. Maybe I was too much in the "wrestling bubble" back then, but I absolutely thought Funk had a million times more credibility than Nash, who was a lousy WCW World Champ and didn't have one good match there in five years. Yes, the nWo was major, but Nash is easily the third wheel way behind both Hall and Hogan when it comes to whatever impact and cool-factor that faction had. (I'm more positive about Nash's WWF run, which had several memorable matches and moments.) But I guess to the casuals, Nash had to win because he sticks out like Ron Jeremy's penis at an airport? *Shrug*