C.S.

I don't follow ROH, but am I wrong in assuming that Bull is probably a better wrestler than 90% of the ROH roster because actually has big league experience (NXT) instead of just bingo hall experience? Bubba Ray is a piece of shit who is an absolute embarrassment and albatross when it comes to representing the wrestling business, and that has nothing to do with his weight. I'm proud that he's one of only two wrestlers who have blocked me on Twitter (the other being Ryback, and I'm still scratching my head as to why - I was only ever complimentary toward him, so who knows).

CM Punk would certainly qualify.

The Jimmy Hart episode of Legends With JBL was okay - easily the weakest one though - with way too much talk about Elvis/music. It's a shame the show is ending with such a whimper.

Its like the Razzies - those aren't really the worst movies, just the most high-profile. With that said, I don't think Fuji was that bad. He was never one of my favorites or anything, but he did okay in his role. Then again, I didn't mind Harvey Wippleman either. His only crime was being too indy and Southern in a down period for the WWF. Speaking of which, Kamala's book claimed that Wippleman's Mississipi origins - and accent - were both fake. Odd.

So, Josh Matthews thinks this about himself: "I'm the best play-by-play announcer in the world."

I watched it last night. Fun as always, but I'm not sure there's any new information contained in the interview - and I say that as someone who is far from an expert on Stan Hansen's career.

Speaking of wrestling fans on other sites, it makes me sad to see people referring to Jack Gallagher as a midget and joke. In reality, he could wrestle circles around most of the people that were in the Rumble. Then again, it doesn't help that WWE treated him the exact same way by having him be the first wrestler eliminated. He was the only Cruiser in the match though, so that's something, I guess.

Possibly the worst TakeOver yet? It still had its moments though. Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young: Took forever to get decent, but the final few minutes were okay. Young's current character is not an act with any legs, but Tye is under-utilized. His charisma and facials seem a bit limited, but he's worked this "Perfect 10" gimmick to the hilt. Andrade Cien Almas vs. Roderick Strong: Strong is the definition of a "vanilla midget." He is someone who has zero chance of succeeding on the main roster, and I think he'll end up fizzling out in NXT before long too, a la Solomon Crowe. Put some paint or a mask on this kid - because he's as bland as can be. I don't care about what he did in the bingo halls and armories of ROH - it means nothing now and doesn't translate at all to NXT/WWE. Almas is slowly growing on me, but his stint so far definitely has to be considered a disappointment considering the hype and positive projections he came in with. Tag Team Title Match: Authors of Pain are still rough and raw, but they have a cool look at least? Was hoping for a #DIY breakup, but maybe we'll get that eventually? The glory days of Revival matches stealing the show seem to be over for now. AoP are far from that level. Maybe #DIY will regain the titles at the next PPV and split down the road? I doubt it though. I think this AoP push is going to last a while. Seth Rollins: A cool idea, I guess, but the execution was lacking. I actually forgot all about it until I read the thread. Having Triple H come out only to leave and unleash nameless security goons was really anticlimactic. It might help if I cared about this feud in the first place, but I don't. This Seth segment should have been much hotter and felt a lot more historical (he was the first NXT Champion), but it kind of fizzled out IMO. Women's Title Match: Match of the night, even though I do recognize it involved a lot of shortcuts and garbage wrestling. Still, it worked. This is the most interesting Asuka has been. Main Event: Roode's character is glorious - his in-ring work is anything but. J.R. would call him "methodical" between the ropes - I just call him boring. Nakamura's "injury" and selling fooled me at the end though, because Nak has been really inconsistent about selling. Not a great match, but a nice finishing stretch. The bloom is really off the rose for NXT, and this thread is proof of it. Previous TakeOver threads have gotten 6, 7, 8, 9 pages. This one barely has 3.

Ride Along has to be the most boring show ever. Bryan was sniffling and blowing his nose constantly. I would've thrown his ass out of the car and told him to get his own ride. But Ellsworth, who was disgusted, had to be polite because of their different positions on the WWE totem pole. Such a boring pairing because there could never be conflict. Slater/Rhyno was a bit better, but still dull compared to what their real car rides must be like. The only highlight was their visit to some sort of redneck superstore, and even that didn't last long enough. I wish the whole episode had taken place inside that store.

Meant to put this in the WWE Network thread, so please excuse the double-post. Ride Along has to be the most boring show ever. Bryan was sniffling and blowing his nose constantly. I would've thrown his ass out of the car and told him to get his own ride. But Ellsworth, who was disgusted, had to be polite because of their different positions on the WWE totem pole. Such a boring pairing because there could never be conflict. Slater/Rhyno was a bit better, but still dull compared to what their real car rides must be like. The only highlight was their visit to some sort of redneck superstore, and even that didn't last long enough. I wish the whole episode had taken place inside that store.

You're right. I'm actually spooked by this. For years, I thought Christian won. Am I thinking of another match or different DDP result?

If Undertaker, Rock, or Goldberg aren't going in this year, I would not be at all surprised to see Christian as the headliner. In WWE's world/Vince's mind, he's a far bigger star than DDP from "that other rasslin' company." Plus, Christian actually holds a win over DDP at WrestleMania. But I'm guessing Goldberg is going in this year. As for Lemmy/Motorhead, even if their only accomplishment was being friends with Triple H, that would be more than enough for this Hall. As it stands, they actually had a pretty long and successful music career.

On Stone Cold's WWE Network podcast, he flat out insinuated the old stereotype that Jews own everything, which silenced Heyman for the first time in his life. I was expecting tons of outrage the next day, but no one said a word. Pretty much reinforces that rasslin' fans are the lowest common denominator and either don't care/feel the same way or it went over their heads. Later on, I think Heyman said his people chose the one place without oil. Anyway, I liked Rosenberg and agree with Heyman 100%. Fans will bitch and moan, and even worse, they'll do so in the most contradictory ways. Why should anyone listen to that white noise? It really doesn't mean a damn thing until they boycott. None of those Twitter twits are coming close to doing that, so who cares what they think?

I thought Bring It To The Table was surprisingly decent. I always have very low expectations for these "celebrity" hosts, but Peter Rosenberg did a nice job IMO.

How is Cody's behavior "markish"? What a strange thing to say. That's his dad, and he's entitled to feel however he wants - especially when Dusty's memory is being used to heat up an ice cold act like The Club, who aren't over at all. Not a single person would miss Gallows and Anderson if they got fired tomorrow and went back to Japan. They're terrible. Maybe they were something in NJPW, but that hasn't translated to WWE at all. Saying that putting AJ Styles in NPW would be like WCW putting Bret Hart in the U.S. Title scene is also strange to me. AJ was and is not near the level of star Bret was. They're not in the same galaxy (star power-wise), even now. With that said, AJ's first year in WWE has exceeded all expectations and I'm genuinely happy for him - he deserves it - but the Bret comparison seems like major hyperbole to me. Jack Gallagher has been one of the top acts in the Cruiserweight division from day one and would've been a great first champ. What a shame that they gave that push to the overrated Zach Sabre Jr., who ended up not even signing. Anything ZSJ did, Jack does better. (Maybe Sabre is like The Club and his act works overseas but doesn't translate to U.S. audiences?) I wasn't high on Dar at all during the CWC, but making him a creepy heel is a no-brainer, because that's how he came across during the entire tournament anyway.

ProWrestlingTees.com is selling a Dustin Rhodes shirt. Thought that would be of interest to some of you. http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/dustin-rhodes/the-natural-6870.html Other Dustin shirts: http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/dustinrhodes

How the hell do you cancel a subscription? I'm not seeing an option on either their site or PayPal. (Torch was easy to cancel, so I know the procedure.) Edit: Never mind. I found it on the F4W site. Very easy to miss.

Great idea making Dar a creep, because that's exactly how he's come across from day one. As for Gulak and Nese, they're not ready for prime time IMO. Both need at least another year on the indies/in NXT to develop personalities.

Except, it wouldn't really be the "true main event." It would be in the middle of the show and therefore seem less important and like "just another match" - e.g. Triple H vs. Booker T and most of the Smackdown World Title matches during the last brand split. Still, it's not a bad idea - I wouldn't jump for joy over seeing those two paired together in a World Title match, but I wouldn't necessarily mind it either. What I could really do without is a Triple H match, unless it's Triple H vs. Shane McMahon - as Ric Flair suggested. If those two are going to have matches, I'd rather it be against each other, thereby occupying one spot on the card instead of two. Yes, Trips vs. Rollins is a lingering issue, but: 1. No one cares. 2. Rollins has been a bust as a babyface. 3. There's actual interest in whatever "issues" Shane and H supposedly have.

:o :o Damn!

This Enzo-Lana storyline is so ass-backward and the perfect example of why wrestling is still so dated and embarrassing.

To be fair, the "Vince being afraid Bret would show up with the belt" narrative was around in 1997 too.

Alundra was never really a big deal, but it's Bizarro World to think that Vince reinstated the Women's division in 1994-95 (or whatever year it was), centered the entire division around the former Madusa, and brought in a bunch of Japanese killers for her to feud with. All of that goes so against the grain of what WWE has ever been about. Like I said before, Alundra was miscast as a babyface. She was far more interesting as a heel and a rare example of someone WCW used better (in 1991-92 anyway), even if she rarely wrestled then.

Vince "didn't know" that Bischoff supposedly never would have had Bret throw the belt in the trash because of the lawsuit.

No, I mean the timeline between her first WCW stint ('91-'92 Dangerous Alliance) and Alundra Blayze. She claims she was homeless before joining the WWF. They actually addressed that too. JBL: "Vince didn't know that." Whether that's bullshit or not, who knows, but I am inclined to believe that Vince would at least be paranoid enough to think Bischoff would try something. After all, Bischoff/WCW was already being sued anyway. The problem was, she was miscast from the start as a happy-go-lucky babyface. Anyone who saw her in WCW as Madusa (granted, that was probably a small fraction of the WWF audience) could never buy her as the face of the Women's division - I know I couldn't. I wanted the badass Madusa back (even with a new name). There was a lot of that in the WWF at the time - "Made in the USA" Lex Luger never worked for the same reasons.