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My best friend and I do a Zoom watchalong of old wrestling matches every Thursday. I try to pick a mix of good matches, topical matches, absurd matches, etc. Last night we watched Flair vs. Funk from Superbrawl 2000 due to the fact that Flair's birthday was yesterday. But, I saw that the Tank Abbott vs. Big Al match was on that card so we had to watch it. What a glorious, hilarious trainwreck. 1. I have no clue who the fuck Big Al was. I remembered the match happening and always assumed it was either 911 or Al Greene playing the role but it was just some random dude. 2. It was a leather jacket on a pole match which would scream "Vince Russo booking" but Russo had been sent home at that point IIRC. The leather jacket in question was supposed to be a "skin" akin to a motorcyle jacket that Tank had for a long time and had when he was in a motorcycle club with Al or some shit but it was clearly a brand new jacket with UFC logos on it. 3. They start the match by strapping their wrists together with a belt for some reason and trade slaps. Big Al gains the advantage when he eschews slapping to forearm Tank. 4. Tank attempted to climb up the pole with Al over his shoulder (Al was a fairly big guy, at least 250lbs) and dropped him from the top turnbuckle to the floor in a horrifying bump. 5. Tank gets the jacket and sort of tries to wear it, gives up and roots around in the pockets to get a knife. 6. Tank holds the knife to Al's throat. Mark Madden screams, "he's going to cut his throat" or something like that while Tank audibly goes, "I could fucking kill you right now." 7. Tony Schiavone valiantly tries to save the whole thing by going, "Are those scissors? He's trying to cut off Al's beard." 8. Al was clean shaven.

I turned 40 today. I don’t think this last year should have counted, though. I should get to be 39 again. I’m just saying.

Anvil was also the personality of the team, especially in the early years.

You should apply to be an AEW referee!

Yeah, of course if you want to stack the deck and pick one of those matches where The Anvil was all hungover, it makes your point (j/k). I do think that too many folks look at being the weaker and/or less celebrated worker of a tag team = being carried. Neidhart was a respected and in demand worker pre-WWF, with stints in Stampede (where he worked and trained with Bret Hart), Georgia, New Japan (multiple times), Mid-South, Florida and other top territories. His style doesn't translate well to more modern sensibilities but he could hold up his end and more. Thee Anvil definitely was the personality and promo man of the team for most of their run, since Hart was out from under his Daddy's wing (and Canadian (j/k (?)). His laugh and beard-tug elevate him greatly in my eyes. I am not a fan of the Hitman, so I could argue that JN was the soul of the team but I won't. Also to tip the scales pro-Anvil for RAF is that Jim Neidhart did generously share his Jack Daniel's with me (but not any other, um, treats) in a Milwaukee hotel room post-WWF and also gave me tips for pleasing the ladies which I will treasure always. It was an odd tour, that one. - misty water colored memories, RAF

I disagree with all this years WON awards and I have nullified all results from my dimension of existence.

I feel like the more I watch old TNA the more I start to think I've been duped thinking it was the shits this whole time. Don't get me wrong, a lot of it is silly or downright bad, but it's almost always entertaining. The above clip perfectly encapsulates the wonders of TNA. AJ taking a savage bump, disheveled Lex Luger a step away from getting caught up in Billy's t-shirts (which are too tight!), Abyss becoming the tag team champion by winning what appears to be a 1-on-1 tables match, child aged ref Posey now of AEW, and the GOATed announce pairing of all time sounding like they put their money on AJ. Everything here is great.

I checked it out, and it seems your math is good there. 43,000,000 is indeed more than 0. Also Tony K's dad is a legit billionaire. 234th richest person in the entire world. Made his money making and sellibg car bumpers. A legit "American Dream" story. AEW could lose ten million dollars a year for a hundred years and that family would still be one of the richest in the world. In terms of stuff we need to worry about w/r/t AEW, money is very low on the list. Maybe not on the list at all. tl/dr: 43,000,000 > 0 Couldn't agree more. What's the damn rush to get to #1. Slow and steady wins the race. AEW is already a success story, and as we discussed above they aren't about to run out of funds any time soon. Not too long ago, there were serious questions about if these guys could draw 10k fans without the WWE machine behind them. They are way ahead of schedule doing this well one year in, with the world the way it is today. Absolutely. Take your time, Tony K! Make AEW the best AEW it can be. (And I was gonna make the Ricky Bobby joke, but No Fists beat me to it).

I have never been so happy to talk about this Bad Bunny fella in my life

Am I going crazy or do I just not understand what a "promotional tactic" is?

Us watching WandaVision:

Dude, we're both basically in the same wheelhouse. You're exactly spot on. The only difference is I do like the watch alongs. Although, if it's a really good show, it's much tougher cause you want to actually watch the show. Spring Stampede 94 is probably the obvious answer because it's an ATG show and Bobby Heenan is ON FIRE, you hear me? During the Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack/Maxx Payne Chicago Street Fight: "If the Cubs could hit like that, they'd be in the World Series!" "Tell 'em to bring the meat wagon back....we got more work for 'em" *in his best Chris Berman voice* "BACK BACK BACK...GONE!" During Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck: *a bloody Dustin Rhodes crawls across the ring and pulls a small, white crumbled up piece of paper out of his jeans* "What's he got in his hands?...His will?!" That's a show where you don't need alternative commentary. However, when Rude and Vader get into the fight in the locker room and Jerry Saggs is in a bath towel cause he just got out of the shower, that's when WHW excels. As for Eric, you're completely right. Bischoff strikes me as a guy who 100% should be in like the business, marketing, or maybe production side of wrestling. I think it's crazy that folks don't really give him that credit. They will give him credit if he's an onscreen performer but nothing else. I think in terms of booking or most creative decisions, he probably should stay away 90% of the time. As you know, he constantly brings up or has several times brought up the fact that WCW needed a Pat Patterson so they could come up with better finishes. And he's right. The bigger problem is I think Eric has always been swayed by certain personalities and egos backstage. I'm not completely blaming him for that because to me, IMO, he was in an unwinnable situation if you're looking at the long game. At some point, these guys who already aren't bending their will to you (but you are with them) are going eliminate all your sensible and logical booking options. If a guy simply doesn't want to do a job or doesn't want to do it a certain way or just flat out refuses to do storyline or angles a certain way, then you are screwed. Moreover, you had guys flat out no showing Starrcade 97 (their biggest show ever, mind you) calling in sick or what have you. Let me tell you what would happen if people tried that with Vince on ANY major show: your ass won't be on the next show or any show after that. It's clear from listening to these shows (especially if you hear him defeatedly say they had no clear end for the NWO) that he was taken advantage of in certain respects and that caused him to lose focus. He had something great going, and they lost the plot. It's very intriguing to listen to how he coped with all that through the years and periods he was there. And it's also hilarious to hear him rail on Bill Watts. He fucking HATES Bill Watts. He went on one little tirade about Ole, Watts, and Jerry Jarrett that was GRAND. As much as he's being a mean dick, he's absolutely 100% right. And I'm someone who disagrees with his idea that WCW was too southern overall (shit, we're talking about a company that idiotically was running the Great Western Forum, Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, and the Meadowlands in the period before he got in control). However, in the bigger picture when he's explaining himself in said tirade, he's right that all these guys like Watts and Jarrett (hell, you can throw Cornette in there with the benefit of hindsight) for all their genius and knowledge of their craft, they were too ass backwards and too masturbatory for their own good to lift the business out of it's funk. The guy people were calling Verne Gagne's coffee boy and Ken Doll looking motherfucker or whatever was the one who did it. That chaps a lot of people's hides. It's funny cause Tony Khan might be on that same trajectory. Who knows? It's just that in pro wrestling I believe when it comes to people in charge, the quote to the effect of "there is no perfect messenger, only perfect messages" definitely applies. If you want to call Bischoff a cocky, arrogant, too cool for the room entitled prick (his rich aristocrat cadence kills me), you would have a case. Or if you want to say the biggest whiny bitch ever like Fowler stated, you would have a case as well. However, he's the guy who scored the touchdown. He made the play everyone will remember and got the Super Bowl ring. I mean he played on teams that got their doors blown off AFTER that, but you can't take that away from him.

I agree

I thought someone would have mentioned the most qualified candidates to fill Lanny’s boots. It absolutely has to be either member of the underrated and short lived teams - The Initiative (Cutler & Avalon)! They could each fill a role whether you want a heel or babyface to be Lanny du jour. I think one’s appreciation for Dark runs parallel to your appreciation of the team and/or the individual wrestlers Two battle royales are being conflated here. WMII had the football players in it. The pre-WMIII match had Hogan and Andre in it. IIRC, the one from 87 is on the SNME set WWE put out many moons ago. I remember staying up late to watch it. I think HNIC that evening was Toronto/ Calgary and my Flames lost as the lead-in to SNME. I have so many vivid memories like that one...and I remember watching the SNME with Bret/Savage was the same night I had a shunt surgery. I remember staying up late in my hospital bed as I tried to keep my eyes open long enough to stay up. I was watching it on one of those little TVs that hospitals used to have for rent individually. I loved those little TVs on a swivel that you could pull right up to your face if you so desired. I am legally blind so I desired it whenever I spent a night in the hospital. Anyway...staying up late, watching my favourite show and hearing the wurrrr of the I.V. providing a most relaxing ambience. It is seriously one of my favourite childhood memories.

It's amazing. One of my favorite matches/moments in TNA history. Like what Starrcade should've been only years later and older. The stakes was for Control of the Company and Sting would leave if he lost. In media interviews leading up to it, Hogan openly talked about how he was not going to bump in the match due to his back surgeries, so when he actually does end up taking three bumps, it felt like that much of a bigger deal it was great. I love a good oldschool bloody brawl with legends (Nash/Foley in 09 is also great). The post-match angle is really what puts it all over the top, one of the greatest crowd pops in TNA history and a total blast to watch play out. Definite recommend! This show kind of kicked off one of my all time favorite eras of TNA from here to BFG 2012.

JEEZUZ! This might be the most violent wrestling match I've ever seen. Bull Nakano is awesome as a babyface taking the full brunt of Dump's lunatic offense. Postmatch, Dump takes on THE ENTIRE BUILDING.

Dynamite: 831k, .35 NXT: 734k, .18

I have zero issue with anyone objecting to blading, be it a fans or wrestlers. It's pretty unreasonable to demand a human being take a razor blade to their own body to produce legitimate blood. I also have zero issue with dudes that are cool with blading. I myself have bladed a handful of times when it was warranted. It's hard to explain to someone who's never done it. But when you're mid flow in a match with that reaction & adrenaline it's painless. You don't feel it at all. I'd rather blade than get an accidental paper cut lol. The nails on chalkboard sound of the blade scraping against your own skull bone is more off putting than any resulting pain. But I don't think it needs to go away. As long as people are being tested and keeping it safe from a health perspective I don't find it carny or dangerous at all. That 'do it in a straight line, neosporin it' advice is garbage tho lol. It's still gonna scar up if you do it a bunch. How many people have a weird scar on their body from a single cut you've had in your life? I know I do. Yes neosporin will reduce the risk but it's not a miracle cure. I'd bet money Flair's forehead only looks so good in comparison to Dusty's because of a little plastic surgery.

I could do that too (legally blind) except I got bad knees and am totally out of shape so I'd have to stand there and count like Bronco Lubich

Is Punk seriously going to the same company as Colt Cabana? After everything?

Your shtick is lame.

I wonder if Bret Hart actually sucks

Counterpoint: casuals knew and loved Ed Whelan. The guy was a Calgary institution. But he had a way of crapping all over any bit of Stampede booking he didn't like, and it hurt the product. Now has Ross gotten to that point for people outside of me, @Jiji, and other guys here who have no patience for JR to begin with? I'm not sure. Probably not. But he's definitely not helping. Your lead announcer should be helping get the storylines across, not crapping on the stuff that doesn't fit his narrow view of wrestling. I LOVE IT. "You've always been the Hangman, sir." Seriously, outside of telling guys like Chuck Taylor to add some mass through purely non PED related means, I wonder what JR does backstage. Really great point. Just wanted to call attention to this. Depends. What kind of truck does Hogan drive? Does he have any hobbies or interests that have nothing to do with wrestling or his character that he could put on TV anyway? How does he feel about Star Trek? Though I have to say having a Hogan T shirt as your Black History Month/BLM awareness merch might be problematic.

?

I think I remember wishing back then that Lex would get it together for a run in TNA. He was still in shape (personal demons aside). He could have been beneficial to them had he given a shit. Then again he would have probably just been eventually used to put the NWA Title on Jarrett one way or another because all things TNA led to Jarrett.

and Neidhart is absolutely a victim of the Wheat Or Chaff paradigm that gets unfairly imposed on all tag teams. Yes, Bret turned out to be an all-time great. That does not mean Anvil must have been a slug

They should make Steiner’s kid a Rougeau as a rib

WWE likes to manufacture legends. I'd say, other than HHH, Edge is their most manufactured "legend". As in, he's a guy who's referred as one, but just doesn't have the resume or popularity to back it up.

Also, my favorite thing from the awards issue: Dave bitching about the way people vote for best box office draw, because it wasn't all UFC fighters. Why is this even a vote? Just use math to hand it out.

I'm still in disbelief that Brian Danielson is runner up in the Brian Danielson award. But this is at least funny...

This was awesome. Feels like we're getting the culmination of an origin story for Wanda that started with AoU. Thinking about it like that makes this journey really fucking cool.

OK, well that's interesting. I really liked TNC's run on Black Panther and I'm guessing he's got some things to say about Superman. Not too jazzed about the Abrams part, though.

Breaking Pokemon News when it feels like breaking! Pokémon Legends Arceus "Open World" Pokemon game coming early 2022

I can't get around the idea that a zombie outbreak is happening, and these people are stealing money.

That's a bit "if a tree falls in the woods", innit?

Happy Birthday, Dr Control! I turn 40 and my brother turns 50 in April and I had really hoped we as a country would have our shit together enough that we'd be able to celebrate with our family but haha, nope.

I know that's probably her mom, but.... BRUH. I am fuckin' shook over here.

Not surprising but the whole Network to Peacock is still a cluster From the new WON

CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD (BBC) New Adam Curtis from earlier this month. I've still not finished part 6. He's uploaded all parts on his youtube but I think only parts 1-3 are available outside of the UK for now. There are... other ways. While I don't agree with all of his takes, this is a fascinating examination of modern power, the individualism/collectivism dynamic, and continuity/change is masterful. As is the use of somewhat peripheral historical figures (and Tupac) vaguely tying together to represent bigger shifts is so great. Love the use of archival footage. I studied history and I'm leaning more and more in my college Marxist tendencies, so this macrohistory on power and corruption is hitting at just the right time. Can't recommend it enough. And then something fascinating happened... Here's part 1: He focuses on the UK, US, Russia, and China but with more global overtones. Jiang Qing was something else. @Caseythis may be of some interest to you.

Another game conference on the horizon, another set of "Elden Ring isn't real" memes. I guess in fairness we should have seen this coming with George RR Martin involved with the project since he writes about 9 pages a year.

It's been said that in his prime, Ric Flair could carry a broomstick to a 5 star match. With Edge, it's the opposite--the broomstick would be the one carrying him. Every great match Edge ever had required copious amounts of ladders, chairs, and other plunder to be memorable.

Cameron Grimes' hillbilly knock off of Ted Dibiase's shtick is amazing. Major improvement and my favorite part of NXT right now.

Regarding championships, I stand with Minoru Suzuki: I never liked the idea of secondary titles that are secondary just because. Even as a kid, I would think "what exactly does the WWF European championship have to do with Europe?" Also--and I realize this is easy for me to say when I've never had to book a wrestling promotion--I think it's a bad sign if you need to introduce new titles to have feuds that feel like they're going somewhere.