C.S.

I didn't get home until 7:50. Was Pat McAfee that lobster-faced dork? Who the hell is he?

Figured I may as well start this thread... Here's the lineup: - Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Chicago Street Fight) - NXT Championship -- Aleister Black © vs. Lars Sullivan - NXT Women's Championship -- Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross - NXT Tag Team Championship -- Undisputed Era © vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch - Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream Should be a great show!

Anyone watching Undercover Boss tonight? That's the show where Big Show doesn't recognize Stephanie McMahon, whom he's known for 20 years, simply because she's wearing a really bad disguise.

Which makes them both smarter than Sabu. Seriously though, I watched the clip Thread Killer posted and actually found myself agreeing with Sabu. One clip led to another, and I gotta ask, what the fuck is with Sean Oliver? He always looks like he's ready to fall asleep.

Or Kenny Omega. (I think he'll sign eventually, but certainly not anytime soon.)

Pretty good episode of the Prichard podcast this week, clocking in at a tight 77 minutes, about AJ Styles in TNA. Yes, there was footage of TNA. Yes, the Global Wrestling Network got a plug at the end (talk about an identity crisis - their streaming serviced is named after a failed cash-for-gold promotion - and the words Impact or TNA are included nowhere in it). I don't believe this was ever covered on the regular podcast, so it should be all new content. All of the news was new - to me, at least, as following TNA was something I could never stomach for long. The show covers only Prichard's time in TNA - from 2010 to a couple of years later - so it's that time period and AJ's departure that are mainly focused on. They talk about the office's perception of AJ at the time Bruce came in, some of the booking decisions, and go into his contract and exit in great detail. They also cover some of the non-AJ stuff going on in TNA at the time, such as Flair showing up to the WWE Hall of Fame while still under contract to TNA. Maybe it's just me, but Conrad seemed pissed off in a non-working way this week. Maybe a big mortgage fell through? Overall, I thought it was a fun listen.

Pretty good episode of the Prichard podcast this week, clocking in at a tight 77 minutes, about AJ Styles in TNA. Yes, there was footage of TNA. Yes, the Global Wrestling Network got a plug at the end (talk about an identity crisis - their streaming serviced is named after a failed cash-for-gold promotion - and the words Impact or TNA are included nowhere in it). I don't believe this was ever covered on the regular podcast, so it should be all new content. All of the news was new - to me, at least, as following TNA was something I could never stomach for long. The show covers only Prichard's time in TNA - from 2010 to a couple of years later - so it's that time period and AJ's departure that are mainly focused on. They talk about the office's perception of AJ at the time Bruce came in, some of the booking decisions, and go into his contract and exit in great detail. They also cover some of the non-AJ stuff going on in TNA at the time, such as Flair showing up to the WWE Hall of Fame while still under contract to TNA. Maybe it's just me, but Conrad seemed pissed off in a non-working way this week. Maybe a big mortgage fell through? Overall, I thought it was a fun listen.

Daniel Bryan is a fucking idiot! (Daniel Bryan Says He Could Beat Mike Jackson “On the Ground” in UFC Fight) Even if that's true, he's a goddamned fool for even thinking it. Hello, did he suddenly forget about his brain and concussion issues?

See the bolded for what differentiates him from Alberto.

Especially now that Del Rio is putting God knows what up his nose.

Yeah, we are sure there's anything to this Cabana issue? According to the reports, they were friendly in court.

The link doesn't appear to be working. Tried to find the interview on the actual website but gave up, that site is a complete mess. The board did something wonky to the link. Try this: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/exclusives/exclusive-corey-graves-explains-his-cm-punk-related-tweets-fightful I'll correct my original post and hope it sticks.

Took me a solid half-hour to find this again, but it's worth it... An amazing article about the Original Sheik, written by his daughter: https://jenfarhat.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/life-with-a-madman-jack-detroit-july-2011.pdf (PDF file) BTW, in the Drawing Heat sample I read, McKigney is definitely mentioned. There's a acknowledgements section at the beginning discussing his death, with the author lamenting that he wishes McKigney was still alive to enjoy its publication and re-publication.

Sabu ran over my pet iguana. No, seriously, that was a fantastic post, Thread Killer. You obviously know more about Sabu than I do, particularly as it pertains to his personal life. Yeah, I can say "well, he should have gone into WWE with a positive attitude" or "things were different in The Sheik's day and not everything he did applies to today's version of the business," but that would really just be me halfheartedly arguing for the sake of it. I won't do that, because your post accomplished something rare - it convinced me to see the other side of an issue. While I still believe in a lot of what I said about wrestlers and wrestling in general, I also think your defense was pretty damn compelling when it comes to Sabu the person specifically. P.S. You've piqued my curiosity re: the Freedman book. I've downloaded a free sample to my Kindle.

The hard truth: Sabu is a nobody. He's already forgotten outside of message boards like this one. Like The Bushwackers and George "The Animal" Steele before him, Mick Foley cashed in his chips. He played the Mr. Socko hand and became a comedy character - and in the process, he turned himself into a more beloved figure than ever. He still has a career inside and outside the industry. He'll be remembered long after he's gone. Yes, Sabu made a shit-ton of sacrifices for his "art." So did Mick Foley. One of them was smart at the end of his career. The other was Sabu.

Exclusive: Corey Graves Explains His CM Punk Related Tweets To Fightful Edit: Corrected link...I hope.

Which was exactly my point.

More from Corey Graves: Don't forget ya'll, I actually knew how to fight BEFORE I got to TV. ?? — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 Dude, I've texted him no less than a dozen times. If you avoid truth long enough, you can write your one narrative, I guess? ????? https://t.co/eNSMxksGUP — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 ?? Punk would rip you apart. — Tobias Cunningham (@saibot24) June 10, 2018 Wanna bet? https://t.co/3v1Nftp6jp — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 I'll fight him. — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 (Sorry about the weird ?? marks. I'm pasting from Wrestling Inc. and the emojis are not translating.) If this isn't a work, it's really sad. As prickly and ornery as Punk is, I despise this infantile millennial mentality of airing your shit out on Twitter instead of man-to-man (granted, Punk is ignoring Graves' texts). I've told the story before about getting blocked by the shame of Haku's loins, Tama "Toddler" Tonga, because I disagreed with him criticizing J.R.'s commentary on Twitter instead of being a fucking adult and handling his business face-to-face. But we're probably being suckered into another Booker T work. Remember Brock and Taker at a UFC event? Workers gonna work.

Who said anything about money? I said career longevity. Yes, money (and the more important part here, security) is part of that, but not all of it. It sure as hell beats prostituting himself in high school gyms for $50 a shot like a weathered old gigolo, which is probably what he's doing now. "The Wrestler," anyone?

More delirious tweets from Graves: My loyalty? Oh, would you like the BEFORE? Or AFTER? I've got both. I mean, one can only be s--t on by their "best friend" for so long before they smarten up, no? But it's cool. I'm sure you love Kenny Omega. And you know more about this business and friendship than I do. ?? — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 Dude, I'm far from distraught. I'm in a good place. I'm just really bummed that I had a true friend turn his back on me for no other reason than the company that employs me. — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 10, 2018 Omega responded with a gif. I'm also wondering if it's a work. Graves couldn't be this stupid, could he? With that said, I did hear that Punk basically cut ties with almost everyone from wrestling after he left WWE. I know for sure Jericho mentioned it. There's also this weird-as-fuck rift between Punk and Hornswoggle.

What the fuck is Corey Graves talking about?! Corey Graves ‏Verified account @WWEGraves 41m41 minutes ago Maybe abandoning everybody who stood by your side, even when we weren’t supposed to, only to have you turn your back on us wasn’t the right move after all? No anger. Only sadness. Corey Graves ‏Verified account @WWEGraves 28m28 minutes ago Awww. Seems the “fans” are disappointed. Maybe you guys should know that “That Dude” held my first son before I did because I was on tour and I trusted him. I had dinner with him the week after he quit. Corey Graves ‏Verified account @WWEGraves 26m26 minutes ago The first rule of “punk rock” is loyalty, and this guy betrayed it all. I still love you, “friend” and I’m sorry you got lost. Corey Graves ‏Verified account @WWEGraves 20m20 minutes ago Don’t worry, hey @VinceMcMahon this has nothing to do with you. You either @TripleH This isn’t corporate. This is real life. Calm down internerds.

I forgot to mention that. What a Joey Styles "OH MY GOD!" mind-blowing revelation. And how fucking dumb was Sabu for not embracing that. I get that he probably didn't want to "sell out" and "become a WWE cartoon" but he was getting up there in years. Sometimes you have to know when to make the transition from "badass" to "sports-entertainer." George "The Animal" Steel and The Bushwackers both did it, and it added years to their careers. If what Bruce said is true, then Sabu is a schmuck and a mark for himself. To be fair, the dude gained a shit-ton of weight, didn't show much in his WWE matches and promos, and shouldn't have needed seven months in developmental in the first place. I wonder if the notoriously cranky Punk boo boo-faced and purposely tanked the matches he was losing, only to turn up the volume for his big win.

So, Conrad is saying WWECW wasn't the original topic and the "controversial" show was actually going to be something else. I assume the show they wanted to do was CM Punk, and what they couldn't mention in the WWECW episode was Benoit. Pure guesses on my part, but they're the only things that make any sense. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2018/0609/641658/conrad-thompson-on-why-bruce-prichard-wwe-network-podcast-was/

So, Conrad is saying WWECW wasn't the original topic and the "controversial" show was actually going to be something else. I assume the show they wanted to do was CM Punk, and what they couldn't mention in the WWECW episode was Benoit. Pure guesses on my part, but they're the only things that make any sense. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2018/0609/641658/conrad-thompson-on-why-bruce-prichard-wwe-network-podcast-was/

Is it just me or does the current incarnation of Prichard look and sound like JBL? Especially their teeth. Weird comment, I know, but it's true. Maybe they have the same dentist?