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Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of The Wyatt Family, Wyld Samurai, at least it's an ethos.

The more I see Bray tweeting like Matt the more I hate it. I'd love if he went back to his Waylon Mercy character.

Poor Conrad.

I for one am shocked that the engagement Cena was forced into by his boss has ended.

We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune! We're takingturns to act as a sort of executive-officer-for-the-week-- But all the decisions *of* that officer 'ave to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting-- By a simple majority, in the case of purely internal affairs-- But by a two-thirds majority, in the case of more major--

It's what you get for returning Piers Morgan to us instead of blasting him into space.

Undertaker, secret best bro...

He made a terrible Wild Samoans pun one week that was like, "You may Sika this title, but you still won't have it Afa Wrestlemania." Paul's preoccupation with Reigns's Samoan heritage always gets weird. It's like he creeps toward the precipice of phrenology and backs off.

This is Sanity! They are here to have crazy fun!

So "Proud SquaredCircle Warrior" is another term for Incel right?

The problem with this is that there is a catch-22 there if the fans ARE clued in by Dave, because honestly it ties into a bigger issue than "Is Rusev going to get a push": The fans have just given up on their heroes ever getting pushed in WWE, and this is paradoxically the reason they WON'T be pushed. Sometimes in all of entertainment, you have to break the fans' hearts to make them want something THAT MUCH MORE when they do get it, and it's that fact that makes entertainment in any form. There's a world of difference between if WWE gave Daniel Bryan the WWE Title at Summerslam 2013 (when he was a cult hero, popular, but still a tag guy) and Wrestlemania 30 (when he became a force of nature and the fans NEEDED him to win). Unfortunately, the fans have had their heart broken so many times that it's never going to mend again...and that leads to two big things to kill that: On WWE's side, they know only true love can break your heart, and so if the fans give up on their favorite ever making it to the top the second they get a little adversity, then WWE will just think "They didn't REALLY love them, we can put them on the backburner". On the fans' side, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy- since the fans have had their hearts broken so much that even if WWE DOESN'T give their hero adversity, it'd just be "Whoop-dee-damn-doo, they're prancing around with a pwetty title with their logo on it. Whatever- they're just going to lose it to Roman Reigns/to a blonde anyway, they didn't REALLY go all-in with them."

Finally! Somebody gets it.

That would've been great for PowerPoint Gulak

Sanity would be fine on the main roster with a few vignettes and an interview with Eric Young explaining their beliefs and mission in WWE. However, this is WWE, so we wouldn't get any explanation beyond Michael Cole repeatedly calling them crazy. I'm not asking for Chikara-level storytelling, but a little more than half-assed effort would be nice.

Re: Sanity They're not a cult. They're anarcho-nihilists. They don't care about anyone or anything. They just want to break down social norms and cause as much mayhem as possible. You saw that play out in War Games. Speaking of which - God bless Alexander Wolfe. I love that big ugly bastard.

Tie: Matt and Nick Jackson. Poll could do with some spicing up, both in terms of timeframe and geography. Not everyone here is too lazy to watch some Pat O'Connor. Of the options, I suppose I most enjoy the stories told by Bret during his peak. And there's also something to be said for being the one among the three who wrestled the style least conducive to brain damage, regardless of how his career ended. So what's the deal with this account? Are you the DVDVR version of those Facebook quizzes that are collecting everyone's data?

That was probably one of the best SmackDown endings ever!

Marty and Sweetster.

I don't know, Jonestown had some massive turnover.

Catching up on the main event and holy shit, this is everything I thought we'd see with Gaethje in the UFC. Just porous, shit defence matched with an iron skull. Poirier hit Gaethje with an absurd amount of shots to Gaethje's dome. Gaethje is just so wild in everything BUT his leg kicks, which are next level, and a decent but inconsistent jab. What an awesome fight! One of the best and it exceeded the hype. It's almost like trading 3-5 significant head shots for one leg strike doesn't work out most of the time.

That was such a great, great fight! You really could see Casey's shortcomings and strengths all in one fight. Waterson needs that atomweight division badly. Way too much size to give up even though she's become a really good wrestler all things considering, taking down Casey and Torres in her last two fights. And that kick that sent Casey backwards at the end of round 2. Perfection.

Michelle Waterson is still undersized for 115 and she doesn't respond well getting hit by the bigger fighters but she is able to make up for that in heart. Incredible fight.

Which feels like a terrible idea on multiple levels. Bray turning again so quick would suck, and Sanity doesn't need him. Although if he does turn again, I guess he does need a cult since him without one really sucked.

Pets are wonderful. As dumb as it may sound to some, my cats have kept me from seriously hurting myself because I can't fathom not being there to care for them.

Damn, Jim Neidhart looks different.

He'll always be Robin Hood with an English accent to me.

For those that loved the Gresham vs. Lethal match from two months ago tonight they topped it with a even better match.

My favorite part of this whole thing is the idea that there’s a shortage of Bob Backlund footage.

Joe is way more of a bulldozer than Roman. Roman is like a Samoan pick-up truck.

It's tongue-in-cheek gory horror that definitely doesn't take itself seriously. It's a good time. There's much worse out there. I'll never forget when I first saw it, in a sold out theater with no air conditioning in the middle of August on one of the hottest days of summer. Snack bar was verging on selling out of anything cold.

Grim Dawn is a lot of fun. However, it will also cheerfully kick your ass over and over again. Got a Commando (Demolitionist/Soldier) through the base story with as much luck and spamming heal pots as any real skill. That showed up to bite me in the ass when I started the "Ashes of Malmouth" expansion. Then even trying to go back and clean up some bounties got frustrating, because my toon was level 46/47 and everything seemed to scale up to 50+, even quests that I had picked up 10 levels before. So I finally said fuck it and started a couple of new toons. One is a melee Shaman/Arcanist (Druid), and one is a ranged Inquisitor/Demolitionist (Purifier). Not sure which I prefer yet.

Since it is a bone of contention every year This year's Mania DVD will have the kickoff show matches (as special features on Disc 1) It will NOT have the Hall of Fame ceremony - instead Disc 3 will be the RAW after Mania (Paige as new GM and Carmella cashing in with be blu-ray exclusives) Basically because of how long both the HOF ceremony and Mania itself were - they couldn't fit them both in on a 3 disc set

Probably not in a convincing way.. Sanity isn't really a cult and I think they work best as all members being equal. They can have a mouth piece or front man but not Bray, I think Eric Young is perfectly fine for the role.

I know it's a minor change but War Raiders...meh. Still I greatly look forward to Hanson and Dozer in a hoss fight. Oh yeah Rowe and Knight will be involved as well. I know NXT doesn't need another stable, but I kinda want to see Moss/Sabbatelli team up with EC3. Seems like a perfect fit.

I saw Joe Cole (yes, THAT Joe Cole) play for the Tampa Bay Rowdies today vs Red Bulls II in USL action at Red Bull Arena in front of about 100 fans (game kicked off an hour after the MLS match ended). His team lost 5-0.

Dug this one deep out of the twitter archives: I'm torn between listing out all the names and instead letting people go "wait, is that?" so I'll split the difference and put the names in a spoiler:

This.

For those who missed it: LOL they even screencapped it with first time referee Mike Chioda treating the briefcase like it's the Arc of the Covenant.

Got some time at work so going to jot down some Mania weekend notes and observations. This was my 3rd Wrestlemania but the first time I’ve had the ability to do independent shows. By and large, this was my first exposure to any of these guys live this weekend. Thursday: Wrestlecon Supershow: - Great crowd and atmosphere. Sell-out crowd so spent most of the night standing and jockeying for position. One of the more fun shows of the weekend. Venue was great with reasonably priced beer. I’m kind of bummed it was so early in the weekend as I had just come off the road and was rushing to make it. Would have been nice to watch it in a more relaxed state - Joey Janela carries himself like a superstar. - Jeff Cobb had an overall great weekend. Fantastic, G1-level match with Ishii. I’m often cold on Cobb’s stuff but he showed good intensity. He really should have an NJPW spot. - Fenix/Horus vs Bandito/Flamita was a fantastic spot-fest. Sound was a little spotty during the intros so it was hard at first to keep everyone straight. I mean, I know three out of these four guys from LU and other indies but not being a lucha watcher per se it gets pretty hectic following it in a live-setting. - Ospreay comes across like the biggest star in the world live. What a gutty weekend. Also, he’s a great seller. Was glad to see Adam Brookes, though I don’t recall him standing out. Your usual quickie four-way flippy match. - People lost their mind when Suzuki came out. He was going to be the one guy I was going to miss that weekend so great to experience him and Kaze Ni Nare live. Tanahashi has an aura about him as well. What surprised me was how good Juice comes across live. Good charisma and size and also carries himself like a star. David Starr’s entrance always amusing, too. - Chuckie T was the star of the main event. Great promo work and worked hard. Omega and Ibushi, obviously, didn’t kill themselves but just seeing them live is a trip. This was a hot, fun crowd. People fucking with Flip about being a flat Earther always fun, too. My hunch is Evolve was a better show but this is such a good smorgasbord of the top wrestling talent in the world. Friday: PROGRESS: Mardi Graps: - It’s very easy to bag on Smallman’s monologues before and during the show, but, man, seeing it live I loved it. He gave just the most lovely speech that basically culminated with him stating that pro wrestling was the greatest thing in the world and that if you liked pro wrestling you were his friend and that anyone who likes pro wrestling will always be your friend, as well. This was Heyman-levels of inspiration without the “take unprotected chairshots for no pay and slam Klonopins after” underdone. This was such a fun, emotional, hot crowd. - Venue in Kenner is great. Awesome sight lines. Reasonable prices. Great vibe. The hotel that everyone was staying at was next door so you could dip over a coffee or beer in between shows or sit in the lobby and charge your phone. There was a riverboat casino across the street as well. I’ve been to New Orleans a thousand times but obviously never go over the bridge much. Was very impressed with the whole setup. - Mustache Mountain is a full-on comedy team now but they do it well. Grizzled Young Vets are sneakily great. I feel WWE is going to take all the fun out of Trent Seven. Pre-match bants was the highlight but the action was good. - Ospreay continues his insane weekend and has a nifty match with the very short Mark Haskins. Haskins is billed as 5’10. There is no fucking way. - Seeing WALTER live is something. More to come with that. Seeing Keith Lee live also something, too. - Maxwell Jacob Friedman is good on the mic. He got an EC2 chant, which basically sums him up. - Riddle vs Havoc was fun but too short. Sometimes Riddle’s sprints comes across a bit flat to me. It comes across less as “what a war” and more “Riddle has to get an Uber across town” sometimes. This was Riddle’s like 1st match of four of the day so it was a bit perfunctory. - Dunne turning was one of the most authentic holy shit pops of the weekend. - Travis Banks might be the most over-pushed in wrestling. Evolve 103: - Everyone went to Rev Pro so it was barely half of PROGRESS in the crowd. I enjoyed being away from a jam-packed crowd for a bit and made plenty of visits to the bar during this show. - Theory vs Lee was good with a surprise finish. - AR Fox has a fun superstar gimmick. - WALTER’S chops are something to behold. - I was unfamiliar with Sawa but really enjoyed his work. - Riddle vs Sekimoto was a goddamn war. Vicious, nasty, brutal match. Mercury Rising: - First time seeing Sabre Jr. As I’ve noted, sometimes the submission, grappling stuff turns me off. Him and Sawa worked hard. This is a match I want to re-visit. - Work Horsemen put on a fun garbage brawl and managed to stand out on a loaded day. - Sekimoto and Lee was a good hoss fight. - Riddle and Ospreay was maybe the match of the weekend. Just a fantastic match between world-class wrestlers in front of a crowd losing their mind. Saturday: PROGRESS: Bourbon Is Also A Biscuit - Will cut a speech basically explaining how fucked up he was and if he could have a nice fun intergender match. Ospreay/Kay Lee Ray and Jinny/Austin Theory proceeded to tear the fucking house down. Definitely a match to watch. Just a ton of fun and everyone worked their asses. Jinny and KLR looked great, too. - WALTER vs ZSJ another contender to match of the weekend. WALTER batted around Sabre like a bear playing with a rabbit. Stiff, brutal, nasty match in what may have been Zack’s swan song to the indie scene for a while. - Banks laid an egg against Cobb. Nothing with his stuff is working. His promo to start was cringe and the crowd that cared was pulling for Cobb to win even though he’s very much an outsider and PROGRESS fans are nothing if not loyal to their guys. ROH - Hated the venue. Way the fuck in the middle of nowhere and expensive. - Hot, hot crowd who fucking pops huge for Cody. I mean, Cody was more over than Omega for this crowd. There’s a whole discussion about the differences between ROH fans, WWE fans and independent fans. ROH is really hot but with a unique audience. - Ishii and Martinez was fun and stiff. Martinez is still rough but Ishii can carry a broom to a great match. - Hangman vs Ibushi was fantastic. Page is having a fantastic few weeks and is turning the corner on his work. He’s starting to get over, too. - Ladder match was your ladder match spotfest. Not as crazy as some others you’ll see. Bucks did their Bucks thing. Flip is still very hit and miss. Overbooking was a little ridiculous with this but, like Mania, halfway through the show this show is looking like a thumbs up. Unfortunately, we still had many, many hours to go. - Briscoes vs Tana and Lethal didn’t much. First major disappointment of the night. Something just didn’t click and the intermission post-ladder match started to flag the crowd. It was also starting to get late on a rainy Saturday. People were very eager to see Omega vs Cody. - Young vs King went on forever and no one cared. This is where ROH is doing the weird WWE-style of match arrangement where you’re putting matches in dead spots. The only thing that could have followed that ladder match was Cody and Omega. - Bully Ray continued to kill the crowd dead with that nonsensical, endless segment. At this point, I’m actively wishing harm on Delirious. - Cody vs Omega was great. Everything the first chapter needed to be. It was very much a Cody match, which the crowd was fine with. Good finish in what is the best story in wrestling. - Castle vs Scurll was TOO FUCKING LONG. Legitimately, this weekend should provide the final lesson that cards don’t need to go past four hours, tops. It’s death for the live crowd who is probably cold, tired and, if not willing to shell out a ton of money at the concession stand, hungry, sober and thirsty. These guys could have worked at a Kobashi/Misawa level and I would have hated it. No clue why this went on last. I know that the title should be held sacred but, like WWE, you have to realize what the actual main event of these shows are. The crowd that did stay for it was pretty hot. At this point, I had gone into the lobby to stretch my legs and charge my phone but did walk back in to catch the last few minutes, which seemed pretty hot. On the whole, though, just a way too long, overbooked match to cap a way too long show. Wrestlemania - Show was too long. First few hours were great and, like every other year, it falls off a cliff. Entrances were excellent all the way around. - Overall, I liked the booking as it set things up moving forward. Charlotte winning was a surprise but it was always gonna either be Rousey or Charlotte ending the streak. Charlotte vs Rousey the more attractive match-up promotional-wise and could very likely headline SummerSlam or Wrestlemania next year. - The Superdome FUCKING LOVED Rousey. Superstar pop. Bigger reaction than all but maybe the Undertaker. Any doubt that she should be pushed as the top star should be dispelled. - Cena’s squash by Undertaker was hilarious. Kudos for Cena for going along with this goofy angle that saw him humiliated at the end. - Crowd by and large stayed hot through the Bryan match. Shane was in the ring way too long and started to flag the crowd. - It would be easy to blame Nak and Styles for being flat on the dead crowd but they were hot for Braun. They should have put the WWE title match on earlier in the show. By that point in the night the crowd didn’t have the patience to see moves being exchanged. Moving forward, put your wrestling matches on early and the spectacles on late. - Roman and Brock seemed to work really, really hard. Match layout was absurd, though. This was one of those things where the crowd had this idea in their head that wasn’t actually what was being presented to them. I liked Brock winning as you set up the next big show and establish uncertainty in the direction. Wrestlemania 2000/Backlash 2000-level booking.

"Are we making a baby?"

No.

As bad as everything was, at least Sumie Sakai didn't win a title on this show.

They shouldn't have changed the name of the Moolah battle royale, because that thing set back women's wrestling almost as much as Moolah did.

Puma design department going all out this year