C.S.

Not what's happening here, at all, but okay... Nasty toe spot, but I loved it. Usually these wrestling idiosyncrasies, like going barefoot, are ignored.

I feel the same way, and I say that as someone who LOVES big man wrestlers, but Ohno's outfits don't flatter him. Prediction: Ohno wins.

Next to Riddle, Ohno actually looks a bit like Kevin Smith. Now I suddenly want them to be a tag team.

Jason Mewes vs. Duke "The Dumpster" Drose up next...

Bold prediction: In five years, Hanson will be the biggest star from this match (that is, if any of them become stars).

Only part-timers are allowed to be on the juice now.

Is it just me or do the War Raiders look like The Berserker and The Warlord?

People have lost after huge entrances many times - Sasha Banks came out with Snoop for one WM and still lost.

Cool entrance for the War Raiders.

Pat is SO BAD!

I took a few months off from WWE and the Network. Kassius Ohno being on a main TakeOver card tells me the NXT roster is depleted again. I know he's a Hero to some of you, but he does nothing for me. Aleister Black does even less for me. Ohno and Black being on this show while Velveteen Dream isn't is a big WTF to me. But even "bad" TakeOver shows are usually good, so I'll tune in.

Because most wrestling fans are chaw-sucking scumbags...

Undertaker? Supposedly no plans for him at WM (according to the increasingly wrong Meltzer anyway).

To be fair, he was probably beaten down and broken by '99 - like the majority of the WCW roster at the time. Plus, his name was General Hugh G. Rection - what's the fucking point of putting in any effort when your career and push are DOA anyway with a name like that? Not that I'm the Bill DeMott defense force - far from it. His training methods were exposed as nothing short of awful. Even on worked/kayfabed shows like Tough Enough, he came across pretty poorly. Part of is "this is how rasslin' used to be" *spits tobacco* and he didn't/couldn't change with the times, wasn't able to realize that the paradigm had shifted, and was ultimately used as a scapegoat by a front office that willingly encouraged his behavior or at least willfully looked the other way for many years. Not that I'm absolving him of his sins - he was a pretty shitty trainer and person by all accounts, and who knows how many future main eventers he drove away with his bullshit. (Kenny Omega?)

Now a post from Roman himself...

Here's what the Big Dog has been up to...

AEW has signed "Jungle Boy" Nate Coy. Rumor has it that Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale star Luke Perry and a team of lawyers were there for the negotiations, and they opted for a shorter deal instead of the two years originally offered. Of course, it should probably be mentioned that "Jungle Boy" is Luke Perry's son.

I watched that Let Me Tell You Something Mean Gene special, and it was pretty good. Wouldn't load at first when I tried to access it from the Recommendations section. I tried something else and that worked. Tried Gene again and nothing. Ended up loading it from a different part of the service. Good to see that WWE Network still runs on scotch tape and tin foil. I was hoping dumping BAMtech would improve things. Guess not... Anyway, the Gene special was nice. How is the Nigel doc? Is it the same one he released years ago?

Abyss and Sonjay Dutt have left Impact to take jobs with WWE (presumably in non-wrestling roles, but who knows). I thought Abyss would be a lifer there. Guess not... Wonder if he regrets not signing with WWE a decade ago when an Undertaker match was apparently dangled in front of him?

@The Thread Killer You're one of my favorite posters here, and I'm very sorry to hear about your health issues. Been there and done that, and it's not fun. I'm really glad the Patreon is bringing you some joy. I have to admit, it does sound very cool. I barely have the time and energy for any podcasts, but I always enjoy the ones I do infrequently listen to (I haven't tried this one though - I just enjoy reading the recaps and opinions in this thread).

Well, they may have bitched, but there was no social media or even internet then - and the media certainly wasn't talking to wrestlers or taking them seriously back then. Not to mention, kayfabe would've prevented them from complaining about Andre that way in public.

I want to rewatch 1992, which was my first Rumble and still the best one IMO. I'm just terrified it won't hold up. I remember '93 being pretty underrated too, with that awesome Backlund iron man performance during the Rumble. '94 at least had the memorable Bret-Lex finish. '95 was shortened bullshit with HBK winning in half the time even though he easily had the endurance to go a full hour-plus in a traditional Rumble. He won again the next year, but I can't remember where he came in or how long that Rumble was.

I asked a friend if WWE Network still offered free months for new or lapsed subscribers. Sure enough... https://www.wwe.com/3-months-free This gets you a free membership through Mania. I can confirm it does work.

It sounds like Mike got clean on his own (with Maria's help) instead of going to a facility? I'm guessing WWE wasn't informed about the pill addiction until after the fact? But who knows.