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The little short hook knockdown is some true hands of stone shit.

Batman #147-148 spoiler:

Lanny had his deal just based on an agreement with Randy, and supposedly, Lanny's money came out of Randy's money. So Randy was essentially funding his brother to sit at home.

How many Lanny Pofffo’s were there mailing six figures to sit at home? (Too many to be sure)

I think WCW's issue was not so much guaranteed money because how many of the top guys were sitting at home. Yes, there were bizarre occasions where for whatever reasons you had folks missing Starrcade 1997 but that was pretty rare. Those type of issues came to a head when they were already losing a ton of money. I think the issue is just hiring a bunch of people who weren't going to make any dent in the bottom line. Of course, not every one is a draw. However, there were a lot of guys being used that either were past their prime, not all that good in the ring, or weren't great prospects to begin with. They could save a nice chunk of money not investing in guys who were just roster fillers. They had a ton of bad hires. I have no issue with the top guys making good money or the guys on the fringe of being top talent. You can certainly how much they probably should be making, but hey, it ain't my money. However, you don't realize how much those lower and mid tier guys are taking up a significant amount of money if you sign them by the dozen. Why are trying to lock down talent that WWF doesn't even want? Moreover, why you legitimately investing in your future? At some point, you have elevate other guys in those spots. I think one of the issues early on is when WCW got really successful is they started immediately negotiating and re-negotiating contracts. That's great on the surface but a lot of those guys would have been in the early 40s, their mid 40s, and damn near 50 years old by the time those 2nd contracts expired. They probably would have been smart to let those first deals run out and then go back to the table. Otherwise, you have no leverage when the business has dipped and feel like you need to maintain the stars you do have. Those are now bad contracts. Instead of saying, "hey we got all the big hot angles and matches out of you, time to go to Stamford and see what Vince will give you", you're at the mercy of how easy tides can turn.

Jey/Finn was good. Dug the backstage confrontation between Pearce and Drew and how it bled into Punk appearing right after Drew left. The Punk promo right after was solid and fun even if it felt just a pinch long. Io/Nattie was pretty nice with the two meshing pretty well. Wouldn't have guessed this was a first time match. Was happy to see Io take the win. Ricochet/Ilja was great with tons of nice action and a wonderful showcase of what ilja is capable of to the main roster crowd. Zoey/Ivy was solid and decent showcase for both women. Reed/Gable was nice while it lasted before Sami appeared for the predictable non-finish. Would be annoyed normally, but this was the most sensible way to go with how this feud has been building. Glad they finally pushed for the triple threat officially. Sami's promo for it backstage was good. The Becky/Liv segment was solid. Dug Damage CTRL getting involved and how it bled into Lyra/Dakota which was pretty solid itself. Gunther/Sheamus III was fantastic. This echoed the brutal hoss fight like their first match with the two giving each other as good as they got, Sheamus having some good fighting spirits moments, and some great nearfalls before the end finally came. Didn't quite hit the level of their match, but damn, was it close. Pretty good Raw with solid segments and some fine wrestling. All of the tournament matches were solid at worst with Ricochet/Ilja & Gunther/Sheamus really standing out as one might expect.

"ALL RIGHT PAL, WHIP IT OUT!!!"

I was under the impression that he said something to that effect during his interview with Hewanii. I would agree in WCW too much guaranteed money had guys sitting at home and being lazy on top, I think if you said the salary floor would be connected to the companies profits then you could have the best of both worlds, not going back to Ernie Ladd trying to count the house while working a side headlock but at the same time giving everyone incentive to make the product as good as possible

I saw him vs Josef Samuel in PCW Ultra a few years pre pandemic and was surprised how slim he looked, honestly healthier than a lot of his time in ECW

Damnit. I even looked it up because I can never remember which order the Bullets-Sonics titles went and then still somehow just skipped them.

Everybody's looking for a little bit moooooore... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDo3sGIsOJY

Update: 10. Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch. WWE WrestleMania XL, 6th April 2024. 9. Ilja Dragunov vs. Ricochet. WWE RAW, 6th May 2024. 8. Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens. WWE WrestleMania XL, 7th April 2024 7. Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins. WWE WrestleMania XL, 7th April 2024. 6. Oba Femi vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs. NXT Stand & Deliver, 6th April 2024. 5. Baron Corbin/Bron Breakker vs. Axiom/Nathan Frazer. NXT Stand & Deliver, 6th April 2024. 4. Bayley vs. IYO SKY. WWE WrestleMania XL, 7th April 2024. 3. Gunther vs. Sheamus. WWE RAW, 6th May 2024. 2. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther. WWE WrestleMania XL, 6th April 2024. 1. Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns. WWE WrestleMania XL. 7th April 2024. *****.

Forgot the Sonics title in there.

I am finally watching this now. Man, this opening tag match is a platonic ideal of an opening match. This is how you star a show in front of a crowd this scorching hot. Hot brawl with two legends (KO has hit that level), general chaos, rule change so it’s a brawl, and just beat the hell out each other with plunder and tables until the shock ending. Just keep it simple and wild. This feels like ECW Arena circa 1996 and I mean that as the biggest of compliments.

If Minnesota wins this series, we'll be guaranteed to tie the NBA record for most consecutive years with different NBA champions at six. Last and only time it happened was 1975 to 1980 when the Warriors, Celtics, Blazers, Bullets, Sonics and Lakers each grabbed a title before Boston broke the streak.

Humbert Humbert. Or would that not be a secret? charles Foster Kane, of course.

That’s like this current BS in English football where most of a clubs income comes from TV vs the gate, yet teams are all raising their season ticket prices, for just that “little bit more.” As if all the nation states and hedge funds didn’t have enough money already.

So Everbody's In LA is kind of like Mulaney doing Carson as written by Hunter S. Thompson I love it James

Well, duh I really did not expect Kriegshog to come up. I just bought the re-release of their first LP, which is fuckin nuclear. The new one is almost totally different. I'm... not entirely sold on it yet. And of course, The Chisel is awesome. In another world they would be huge.

Hot damn that was some quality professional wrestling tonight. I did not that we’d get anything better over the next few weeks than Ricochet/Ilya. Great way to bring Ilya onto the main roster and awesome showing from Ric. But then here comes Sheamus/Gunther giving us an all-time great Raw match. Those two are just a perfect pairing for each other. Neither man cares about their health at all and we are better off for it. Iyo/Natalya was also real good. Sami with a quick banger promo, too.

There is that Bobby Roode match where he proves he will absolutely bleed like a stuck pig.

Ricochet match was really a Ricochet match. They dragged out the end and Ilja overemotes like always, but it was still good. Gunther/Sheamus was what you expected. Nice finish and diversion from the neck to the leg, just so Sheamus didn't get chopped right between the shoulder blades anymore, Jesus Christ (or "Jeez Louise" if you are McAfee). It was funny how Kaiser was initially treating the match like he was watching TV in the WWE style, standing sideways to get that camera profile. Also, I didn't think I'd get the opportunity to flip off my TV and say "Fuck you Nixon!" to my TV tonight, but there you go.

And then TNT rubs it in on Denver by playing the nWo Wolfpack theme song as the game goes to halftime. Jesus that was crazy. Denver HAS to start punching back instead of shot hunting. None of it's going to be easy; if you're the champs, then take and make the contested ones.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is utterly mauling Denver. Like up by 26 at the half. Sheesh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEwrle8Bzp8