Dav'oh

Coincidentally alliteratively, Bryan, Bockwinkel, Brisco and Bob Backlund, which makes me think going through the nominees list alphabetically might be easiest. I'm behind on pre-WWE Bryan, hugely impressed by the little Bock I've seen, going to watch Jack Brisco thanks to a recent suggestion, and I love me some Bob Backlund. I'm up-to-date on Bruiser Brody and Bam Bam Bigelow, thanks

Valentine for me, easily. Working Mid-Atlantic style in the WWF, he really stood out to me. He was the first wrestler I deep-dived when the lockdowns started. His work was top-end in terms of both technique and billing, and as the Macho Man pointed out, the cream always rises to the top. I know he did some ok stuff in 90s WCW, but the Garvin feud to me was his swan-song, and I could watch the Backlund series all day (I like Bob, a lot). Some intangibles: *He was a meme before memes were invented ("It takes him half an hour to get warmed up!") and will be a meme after memes are gone ("Happy Valentine's Day" over a picture of a gurning Hammer). *Was more intimidating than wrestlers his size - your Flairs, Steamboats, Ortons, Garvins et al - and in the Land of Giants and Dianabol was more frightening than your OMG/Akeems, Bigelows, Bravos, Muracos and Hogans. Mainly because.... *....he was "The Man With The Worst Personality in the World" long before Minoru Suzuki. Just a thoroughly miserable and sour bastard. The "consummate professional" between the ropes and one of my favourites, I can see myself having him in the 50-75 range. Regal I can take or leave (great input, not so much output, for mine).

Fitting thread title, @NintendoLogic. f4wonline.com reports, "Monday's night's July 5 edition of Raw averaged 1.472 million viewers on the USA Network, down 6.2 percent from the previous week." (The week before it was down 8.7 percent). It's the lowest number since September 13, 1993. Something's gotta give...

I know some less-than-savoury and more-than-hard people who are quite at home in the exercise yard of Her Majesty's Hotel. If I was sat around talking about Dav'oh's Penitentiary they'd be putting billiard balls in socks for my edification. I truly (if maliciously) hope Jimmy is sentenced to a period of new friendships, and that said friends welcome him in a way that ensures he never spouts his "Uso Penitentiary" dick-waving misappropriating bullshit ever again.

Jimmy Uso probably wasn't watching RAW, given he gone done again for DUI at 10.35pm on Monday... https://www.tmz.com/2021/07/06/jimmy-uso-arrest-dui-again-florida-wwe-jonathan-fatu/?fbclid=IwAR0nlYoDRjiTVIfiwgv7kyk5PdKDpCqI9pYi6DXTlUb1WK1gcHAXNld8t6I

Wrestlers who wear sneakers/joggers/runners/trainers (whatever they're called in your neck of the woods) in the ring. Just saw Kofi wrestling in his Nike basketball shoes and it reminded me a) how prevalent it is and 2) that I find it somehow.....disrespectful. You should always wear proper gear and you should wipe your boots before you step in the ring

Jadon Sancho to Man Utd AEW...

At this point, I don't think AEW would lose many viewers or much goodwill by shunting JR.

From the Kayfabe Memories thread, "San Francisco: What did the boys get paid?" https://www.infinitecore.ca/superstar/index.php?threadid=95768 "Rocky Johnson in his book says he made top money in SF and its why he stayed there longer than in any other territory (four years) in that era. He claims $1,000 to $1,500 a week". (Dav'oh - This seems to be from 1970-1974, going by Cagematch data.) "Heard Patterson say only WWWF paid better than Northern California in the 60s and 70s". And, "The California state law was that wrestlers had to make a $25 minimum for TV tapings and that's what Shire paid. Shire paid on a percentage basis and rarely paid guarantees, although Ron Starr had a $500 weekly guarantee in late '78 through 1979". It's not a lot to go on (the thread is quite small), but I'll keep digging.

Is the thread title a reference to all the own goals WWE (hell, wrestling in general) kicks?

I read recently that match-quality wasn't a concern for WWF management at that time. Don't push yourself too hard, don't get hurt, just make the next town. Then, now, forever?

"Joey Janela got himself kicked out of a Seminole County school board meeting last night for what appeared to be trolling the people involved. Janela was at the meeting, where he ran into Drake Wuertz, and noted on Twitter that he was kicked out after five minutes." I can't make heads nor tails out of this....https://411mania.com/wrestling/joey-janela-kicked-out-of-school-board-meeting-for-trolling-with-anti-mask-rant/

@Rah Wasn't Paul Wight impersonating Andre's son, before dropping that and becoming his own man? Either way, he never duplicated Andre; no-one could. Absolutely. Then squashing both of them in the corner and piling them on top of each other for a one-footed pin.

"Andre could do everything Arn could do; I don't think the reverse is true"? "Most half-decent, technically sound wrestlers could've played the part of 'Arn Anderson'; only one man could play 'Andre the Giant' "? "Andre was tested by the best on the biggest stages, and never looked out of place; Arn was a mid-card remora in a small pond"? "The sport looks exactly the same, with or without Arn Anderson; the wrestling world looks different without WrestleMania 3"? "Arn is often imitated and often duplicated (see: FTR), and was an imitator himself ("he worked like an Anderson"); try saying that about Andre the Giant"? ...would be my first five guesses. I'm just going to assume PWO gives out prizes and mine has been sent to me in the mail

I've felt like writing this about Flair, and Kobashi, and now Dump Matsumoto, so here goes: whatever she was in her comeback, she earned the right to be. Flair earned the right to become whatever one thinks he became, Kobashi earned the right to become Chopbashi and broken-down. Dump's comeback cannot diminish her extraordinary work. She couldn't bottle the lightning of the 80s when she retired, to be uncorked 15 years later - no-one could. But when you've shown, unequivocally, what you can do over a prolonged period of time, and you've left every single ounce of your self and your psyche on the canvas (an apt term) every night, at the very highest level, for as long as you could, well...you've got nothing left to prove (to me, at least). Come back as Dump the Box, or Dumpswoggle, for all I care. I'm comparing the greatest at their greatest, because we're looking for the greatest.

He replaced Nikolai Volkoff in the Mongols, as Bolo Mongol, for his first big break. There's a 1975 IWA tag and a 1976 Bolo vs Dino Bravo match (Bolo Mongol, of the Mongols, is hilariously announced as hailing from Parts Unknown) on Youtube for very early glimpses of Eadie. Big fan of Eadie, here, but I think he's a Most Solid/Sound Wrestler contender rather than a Greatest.

FBI sting involving ANoM, an encrypted communications app, results in 3.7 tonnes of drugs being seized in Australia alone. "Senior investigators describe Ayik as the 'principal distributor of the AN0M handset.' who didn't just distribute the devices among associates but also profited from the sales. 'It's like having The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) sponsoring your gym. This is a high-value criminal sponsoring a criminal communications system,' Australian Federal Police Superintendent Jared Taggart told News Corp papers.

Loved the pacing - slow and logical. Loved the lack of finisher and kick-out spamming. Loved the outcome, hope there'll be some stability at the top. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a Shingo lariat that didn't make me shudder.

Not always, no, but here I think it speaks of a disassociation from reality, or a very strong state of denial. He starts off with the correct tense, "It was at a live event", but when it comes to his employment status he switches tenses - in the same sentence. I think (again, I'm no headshrinker) a balanced mind would say, "It was at a live event and one of my jobs was to...". He speaks like he's still employed there, which is what leapt out at me. Taken alone, you're right, @C.S.. As part of the bigger Drake Wuertz picture, it seems like another indicator of his psychological decline. Or I'm reading to much into it and it was a slip of the tongue.

Drake Wuertz interviewed by Fireside Chat, post-release, discussing the Ezra Judge incident: "It was at a live event, EJ was fairly new and one of my jobs is leading the ring crew on the Florida loops. Everyone gets together to set up the ring. Any time there is a new class coming in, we teach them how to set up the ring and do it safely and efficiently." Please note his use of the present tense. I'm no headshrinker but I think it's further proof there's some kangaroos loose in Drake's top paddock.

"You men are all the same. Only interested in one thing - my dad!" Charlotte to Andrade, I'd reckon (here's Andrade suplexing Ric instead of shagging Charlotte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2sPrnuf20Y)

Murphy vs Takahashi, then if possible vs Ospreay and vs Ibushi. Please. Ruby to AEW, Lana to social media platforms, Black can go jump. I'm surprised they released Strowman. Does he need money / have the knees / love performing? Or will he be happy to shut shop and do whatever it is behemoths do for fun?

ditto. I was hoping Jose Mourinho was heading to WWE to manage Baron Corbin or Cesaro when Spurs dumped him.

Jim Cornette was my source for the "heel routine" part, though he may have been referring to the specifics of Rogers' heel act. My understanding is there's always been heroes and villains, since nearly day dot; it's just that they didn't have "routines", they had ethnicities or ugliness. George's routine seems to be pre-bell, according to the essay I linked to above, and that essay also leads me to believe that Buddy is the not-so Missing Link between Frank Gotch and Roman Reigns. He gave us what we know and love as pro-wrestling between the ropes, whereas I see George's contribution as being to gimmickry alone. But I'm far, far, far, from the best man for the job.

Someone turned Shibata vs Okada into a funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3B889HPoe0 And to stay on topic, I'm a big fan of both but I won't be anywhere near the highest vote for either. I've seen most of Okada as it happened and need to brush up on Shibata, but they're not really on my radar at the moment.