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As I said on Twitter yesterday, this is my new favorite photo

Hogan was a piece of shit dude. Carrying another man's wife to the back trying to be a hero... getting eliminated fair and square in a Rumble and then yanking the guy over the top etc..

They’re gonna fuck up and turn Jinder into a huge face character just by having him in a program with Reigns. I can’t wait.

Sounds like gimmick infringement to Paul Smackage, brother brother

Roman being lumped with another one of Vince's failed creations is quite appropriate really.

I decided recently I am going to try my hand at stand up comedy. I have been writing jokes for years but was too chicken shit to try. Apparently Huntsville is lousy with open mic nights. I'm nervous but think it could be good for me. At the very least toughen up my anxiety.

Where's the G-TV video of Roman putting up that wall just to put Jinder through it?

I know they wanted the audience to see that as something cool, but all I could see was a safety hazard by tacking a 2x2 strip to each wall and then screwing a sheet of drywall to those strips, which blocked an actual hallway. I await the Roman defenders saying it was a face move by destroying the wall and thus eliminating the fire and safety hazard.

You idiot. That's John's mexican cousin JUAN Cena. Next you'll tell me Mr. America was Hulk Hogan.

In my next D&D dungeon crawl I'm going to just keep spearing people into walls assuming that eventually it will reveal a secret passage.

I will never have sympathy for Jinder, or Roman for that matter. Just apathy.

Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega debut on the main roster tonight on WWE Smackdown Live!

I don't know about you fools, but I will never have sympathy for Jinder fuckin' Mahal.

By the end, Jinder was looking pretty sympathetic.

Usually, I try not to apply the same philosophies to the guys as I do with the women, but I think back to a female boxing fight with Diana Prazak (who was one of Ronda's sparring partners at the time) vs. this Swedish (?) female boxer whose name escapes me right now. Now it was for a world title but it was in the Swedish's fighter's hometown. Lucia Rijker was cornering Prazak. IIRC, it wasn't a knock down drag out fight or one sided like Nunes-Pennington. However, the Swedish fighter was clearly getting more sluggish and sluggish as the fight was approaching the end. Then between rounds or shortly after the fight ended, Lucia Rijker looked out of her corner away from her fighter Prazak to the opposite corner where the Swedish fighter was clearly in distress. As she went over across the ring to the opposite corner, which is something I've never seen a cornerman do unless it's a pier six brawl like Mayweather-Judah, the Swedish fighter just slumps over and collapses. Lucia Rijker basically had to go in the other corner and help out because of the ineptness of the other corner, who didn't notice beforehand their fighter was doing considerably bad health wise. Now it turned into a pretty bad situation (and I don't think that fighter ever fought again) where the fighter had a brain hemorrhage, but that easily could have been another Benn-McClellan or Magomed Abdusalamov-Mike Perez situation where one fighter ends up a vegetable instead just losing a career. Shit, Daniel Franco, who I brought up not too long ago, just got a courage award from the Boxing Writers's association because his promoter (Roc Nation Boxing) ignored him after he lost a piece of his brain and skull after a tuneup fight he lost at some casino in Iowa. There were SO MANY stories in the last ten or so years of all these soccer moms dying in Toughman contests in the midwest, which is why I'm digusted by a promotion existing like Xplode MMA who exploit non-athletes and weekend warriors and do shit like putting some random woman versus Ilima-Lei Macfarlane to get her head bashed in for internet views. We're not in 1998 anymore where Monte Cox is doing Extreme Challenge and putting all his fighters versus Denny's assistant managers and long haul truck drivers. I know fighters want to make money, but if you're competing in promotions like this still whether you're male or female, I'm looking at you side-eyed because you're almost as bad as the promoter. Unless you have the aura of mid 80s Mike Tyson, ain't NOBODY struggling that bad to find opponents. If you are, find new management and/or a new promoter. With that said, I'm of two minds with the Pennington situation. You can apply what happened with Cachoeira and Valentina in Belem in February here, but you also have the give the slight benefit of doubt being a title fight. Even with that in mind, it's still not good judgment by the corner. Hell yeah, Raquel is going do the same song and dance that Cachoeira did after getting beat into oblivion and say she wanted to go on. The women can't show weakness. The problem here is, if you take away gender out of the equation, EVERY corner has to realize who their fighter is. If you have a legitimate A, A-, or B+ level fighter, you can give them a little more time to prove themselves. However, if it's not their night, you STILL have to recognize it is not their night. Raquel Pennington is clearly below that level where fighters shouldn't get that benefit once we've left the realm of puncher's/grappler's chance or anything short of freak injury changing the result of the fight. And to be fair to Pennington, due to relative youth of female MMA, she isn't the only fighter at this level. She just happens to be in a very shallow division at the moment and was basically in the mandatory contender role. And the regret argument is toothless because if your corner is willing to let you take extra punishment to do something that 9 out of 10 times isn't happening, that means your trainers have little belief you will ever reach that championship contender status ever again. At that point it's not regret, but sheer stupidity. Male or female, I don't want the UFC or any promotion to have to deal with what boxing has had to deal with on what seems to be a fairly regular basis. I mean I remember watching the Prichard Colon fight where he had the upset loss on NBC on some random mid afternoon show. This guy is another fighter in a vegetative state, and the crazy thing I've seen worse beatings more frequently in MMA. Raquel Pennington isn't like this superwoman. Being a barely above average fighter doesn't afford her the skill of being infallible and insulated from brain damage and the like. Someone is going to be the cautionary tale sooner than later just because MMA is not going to be immune at all, however, I would like that to happen in the DISTANT DISTANT DISTANT future where all precautions were taken and it was just unavoidable. I don't want it to be a fight where the outcome and result is already a foregone conclusion and the corner is just moronic like what happened in two major female MMA fights in Brazil within fourteen weeks of each other.

Please put your clothes in the right hamper.

The announcers were amazing. Announcer: "The most divided reaction in the WWE Universe!" Crowd: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Announcer: "Well they either love him or hate him." Crowd: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Announcer: But you have to admit he got screwed and deserves another shot.... 1 hour later Same announcer: How many times is Kevin Owens going to demand a second chance? Other announcer: Even if he thinks he got screwed, he's had endless chances and hasn't gotten the job done. 1st announcer: It just pisses me off as a viewer. Let it end already, Kevin.

Trying to talk to the average Reigns detractor is a lost cause at this point. It's not even about him, it's how they insist on calling anyone who doesn't hate him stupid, WWE sheep, or far worse. Why have a conversation with anyone who clearly considers you lesser than them? And over wrestling, of all things. We all like a carny sideshow, you'd think that would result in some level of solidarity even if we don't agree. Roman calls out Mahal like an actual babyface would. When Mahal doesn't answer, Reigns finds him and whoops his ass. That's exactly what Roman should do. He doesn't do pandering well, so put him in situations where he can be in take-no-prisoners mode. Was the wall moment silly? Yes, only because the wall was blatantly fake. But that's a creative decision, nothing either wrestler chose. And that's the heart of the matter: wrestlers getting pissed on for what Vince decides. That's par for the course, but you'd think we'd be more sensitive to that in 2018.

Looking at that lineup they're going to make so much damn money it's ridiculous. I would go to literally all of that if it was closer to me. Too bad with other expenses I don't have that kind of disposable income. But if any of you go have fun as that looks to be a blast. And I'm over the moon thrilled with the success of the ticket sales. I don't care of Meltz is in with them or not. But the idea that a joke about a $1 bet turned into this is impressive. Add to that that Cody and the Bucks seem like awesome guys and I just can't help but be very happy for all of them.

Per Meltzer - the following people have been offered deals (if not outright accepted) so expect them on this show in some form Toni Storm Joe Coffey Dave Mastiff (my jeans are really tight right now) El Ligero Travis Banks Chris Brooks Eddie Dennis (He said there are probably several others as they are trying to get guys away from ITV)

People get really weird with Roman. If he straight acts like a face they complain about “WWE trying to get people to cheer him” but if he’s out attacking people he’s unlikeable. It was the same with Cena at times. Granted “The uncrowned Universal Champion” sounded bad but as much as people say faces don’t have personalities they don’t seem to want to accept any without thinking its a heel turn.

I’m on my phone so I can’t post the Starrcast schedule, but goddamn all of that stuff looks like a lot of fun. Off the top of my head - some retrospective about the Empty Arena match with live discussion/commentary by Lawler and Funk, video game tournament hosted by Leva Bates, WarGames retrospective with Blanchard, JJ, Animal and Luger, jam session with Papa Buck, Madusa hosting a women’s panel, NWO retrospective by X-Pac with Hall and Nash, WrestleCrap/Death Of WCW, a breakfast with legends, etc. Shit.

Cena: "I have to return some video tapes"

Agents of SHIELD has been renewed for Season 6. Only 13 episodes, but ABC hasn't decided if that'll be the final season or not.

Holy shit, the cynicism in this thread is tired as fuck.

Province of Quebec rules. That worked out pretty well for Jacques and Pierre.

Johnny Crowley Johnny Necronomicon Johnny Lovecraft Johnny Cthulu

I hope they don't do anything different for Almas, like giving him different lighting or making him look like Sinn Cara. The best would be for him to show off his explosive offense, have Vega torch someone on a promo, and then have Almas scream "EL IDOLO" or something.

WWE Payback 2016. Dolph Ziggler Vs Baron Corbin (kickoff match): This was a decent little match, with Ziggler getting what was sold as an upset victory. I like Corbin. He's the type of ugly, sleazy-looking guy wrestling needs more of. He should be paired with a hot chick that he treats like shit. Kalisto Vs Ryback (kickoff match): Kalisto's US title run continues. Not as good as his work with Del Rio, but this was still pretty good, and worked pretty logically. I liked Ryback doing a gorilla slam off the top rope. The Vaudevillains Vs Enzo and Cass: New Day are out at ringside to watch this, as this decides their next challengers. This show is being sold as the start of the new era, so it makes sense that we start with these two new teams. Of course, this only goes a few mins before the injury to Enzo ends it. I assume Enzo and Cass were going to win this. Do we think the Vaudevillains were punished for this, as they pretty much became jobbers after their match with New Day? Or was that more Gotch getting into fights with everyone? I liked the team. I like a bit of silly in my wrestling. Kevin Owens Vs Sami Zayn: This was a good match, but not really my kind of match. I think anyone who's read through these reviews knows I'm not a big fan of the modern indie style. But Zayn sells really well, and I think Owens is a good heel in bursts. I just think they go a bit too far in these matches. Owens won clean with the powerbomb, and then continued the assault on Zayn. He then demanded Saxton come into the ring to interview him, and said that he was going to reclaim his IC title. That led to him joining the commentary team for the next match. The Miz Vs Cesaro: Miz defending the IC belt here. He has Maryse with him. I think Maryse added a lot to Miz aesthetically, but I never thought she was a good second otherwise. Cesaro is great in this match. Has to be one of the most rounded offensive wrestlers they've ever had. He can pretty much do it all, and I'll never not be impressed by his feats of strength. Sami Zayn ended up coming back out and attacking Owens at ringside, and that ended up causing a distraction which allowed Miz to retain. A donnybrook then broke out with ended with Owens standing tall after another pop-up powerbomb on Zayn. This whole segment was really well done, with my only criticism being that I didn't like Owens being so dominant without cheating at all. I don't mind him beating Zayn clean so much, but then to dominate again here just seemed a bit much. But a good angle nonetheless. Dean Ambrose Vs Chris Jericho: This was really long. It went nearly 20, but felt nearly 30. Neither one of these guys should really be working this type of match, as it doesn't play to their strengths at all. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds. Charlotte Vs Natalya: Nattie has Bret in her corner to counter Flair. This is shortly after Bret had beaten his cancer. I'll never, ever not be happy to have Bret on TV. My all-time favourite. This match was going okay, but man, I can't believe they did a Montreal finish here of Charles Robinson calling for the bell as Charlotte puts Nattie in a sharpshooter. Terrible and pathetic to bring Bret in for this (thought clearly he could have refused). But terrible and pathetic that they're using this finish at all. Really the match existed just to have the visual of Bret and Nattie putting Charlotte and Ric in dual sharpshooters. Next they did a segment with Vince McMahon announcing who would run Raw. Nothing says new era like a fucking McMahon family angle. Seriously, I can't imagine why anyone would give a shit whether Shane or Stephanie McMahon runs Raw. Sure, Shane is popular so he got a pop, and Steph got boos, but I don't think anyone cared about the segment otherwise. Actually, when Vince announced that Shane and Steph would run Raw TOGETHER, like this was some big shocking announcement, it was met with mostly crickets. The commentary team putting this over like it was a landscape-changing turn of events was just sad. I went to Raw shortly after this where the main event was Vince announcing who the GMs of Raw and Smackdown would be, and it turned out that it was, yes, Shane and Steph. So fucking annoying. Roman Reigns Vs AJ Styles: This has a nice big match feel, because it actually feels like the two best/biggest stars in the company going at it, with both men really wanting to be champion. Really, really good match too. The restarts hurt it a bit (yeah, more McMahon nonsense), but they recover the situation nicely with a hot closing stretch. That table bump was "phenomenal", and very unique. I like the angle with the Club too. Crowd was very pro-AJ. Loud boos for Roman, though we got some dueling chants too. Good stuff all round. They have to get the McMahons in one more time announcing a rematch for Extreme Rules. Match of the night: Reigns/AJ at 4 stars. I give Owens/Zayn 3 1/4 and Miz/Cesaro 3 stars. Show rating: Pretty good strong overall, although the bad stuff is really bad (the tag match finish- not their fault, Ambrose/Jericho going on forever, the Montreal tribute, McMahon bullshit). Yeah, a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde show I guess. But a strong main event hides a multitude of sins. 3 1/2 stars.

Sadly, their margin for error was always small and as you mentioned, the back to back injuries did them in. Had they moved to SDL and feuded with New Day or the Usos. they would do well. That should have happened, but wasn't meant to be. I got a chuckle out of commentary putting Braun at seven feet when they have never done that before and it's clearly not true. Anyone with working eyes can see McIntyre is a legit 6'5" and only gives a couple of inches to Strowman. I wonder if the GRR trophy getting knocked over was by intent. It didn't seem so, Braun simply mowed down McIntyre and caused him to flip over, resulting in a broken trophy.

At first I thought that $129 was kinda steep, but damn, you get access to a shitload of content if you can make it all three days. If that weren't a weekend where I have my daughter, I probably would go to all three (if I can get a ticket near face value for the actual wrestling show).

It's one of two traditional city derbies in Germany and I'm 100% sure they will be. Your comment about our way of handling this is also true. Bundesliga 2 will - once again - be more interesting than the German top flight. It has been for years tbh though.

Arguably the one OG member that was missing is the most important, though. You might still have East Bay Ray, Klaus and DH... but Jello is the most important, IMO. but I just love Jello Biafra, so... I remember listening to his spoken word albums/shows when I was in high school. I could listen to that man talk all day long.

They were intentionally safe with their passing, despite drilling some absolute beauty assists on the money. I'm with Chuck. Warriors in 3.

It's not, especially since Roman has a habit of flying off the deep end and trying to kill someone when he's in a rage (beating down Triple H, driving an ambulance into a semi with Braun inside). The big difference is that the second part, the spear, was calculated. Reigns usually reacts in the moment. That was pre-meditated. But even with that, Jinder screwed with Roman last week. It was payback in its most basic form for WWE.

How in the fuck is this a Braun move? It was just twice, the second time to finish Jinder off after being held back during the first attempt.

I'll march on Stanford. I hate that tree.

This new season of Total Divas is going to be something.

The original NXT roster:

And if you can/will pay the $1000 on StubHub for tickets - I envy your disposable income

But he's the son of a son