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They aren’t journalists. I doubt any of them have ever worked at any outlet outside of Wrestling Newz420 or whatever. I don’t think any of them ever worked for a local newspaper or news website or anything. Meltzer was at The National (this old daily sports newspaper that was really well regarded) but even he puts out so much speculation as “news.” I am an actual reporter. It’s an actual affront to me when these people say they are “journalists.” They’re not. They get emails or have Twitter conversations or pass things off from something they saw on Reddit. Remember before the company was sold that some goof reported that Saudi Arabia was buying the WWE? It took about five minutes for that to unravel. Or when all of these people were reporting the WWE was being sued for possibly selling the company to the Saudis (when those types of lawsuits literally happen anytime any publicly company makes news, and real business news outlets don’t report on those unless they have absolute serious merit and they very rarely do.) Now, keep in mind with the stuff that came out this week — no one “broke” it. A public lawsuit was filed. That’s all public information and anyone can get it. The WSJ had a head’s up it was coming out most certainly since they had a photo layout on the website and were the first to report it. But that’s not “breaking” news. That was just reporting what was in a lawsuit that was filed. The original hush money stuff the WSJ reporter? That was news the WSJ broke from a Pulitzer Award winner. This is all an educated guess — but I am guessing the reporter on the original Vince stuff heard about the absolutely awful things in the lawsuit. But he couldn’t print them unless he could verify that happened, and he couldn’t verify what happened. But once the lawsuit was filed, then the WSJ can report on it. (They also had a different reporter writing the lawsuit story from last week.) The “what can you actually verify” thing was actually really huge when the whole “Trump was caught with Russian prostitutes and Moscow is blackmailing him” thing came out. A lot of outlets had been sitting on it for weeks because the source of the material was a former spy who now gets paid to collect dirt on politicians. Nobody ran with it unless they could verify the lurid details — and everyone was being extra careful because it’s something involving the president of the United States. Then Buzzfeed of all places decided to say “Trump did this, according to something a political ‘researcher’ found” and all hell broke loose. But, please. These people are not journalists. They have no idea what journalism means or entails.

Its probably part of a much broader conversation we shouldn't have here/now, but I'm of the belief that we've reached the point of advancement as a tribe/society/species (however you want to phrase it) where media literacy needs to become a mandatory, standardized subject in public schools and universities in the US just the same as math, history, or anything else. The amount of otherwise perfectly rational adults I encounter on a daily basis who can't even identify an obvious phishing attempt, let alone misinformation or opinions-as-newz (both in and out of wrestling) is far, far too high.

Spare a thought for the poor Guatemalan grandmother who's going to be wearing a 2024 Royal Rumble Winner Karrion Kross shirt later this year.

“There are serious allegations being made about our former CEO who also happens to by my Father in Law. From a personal and professional standpoint, I am conflicted and there is understandably no way I can speak openly. What I can assure you is I personally had no knowledge regarding these allegations as they took place and make a promise that under my watch WWE will always be a friendly space for its employees and fans. These press conferences are largely for entertainment purposes and this is not the time for fake press conferences when something so serious is happening, Tonight out of respect for the victims we will be canceling the press conference and I hope everyone can understand.“

This and the CNN article have a TON of merit. There is so much insane stuff that both Endeavor/TKO and WWE put in what they reported to the SEC. I wrote this before. Sorry if I'm just saying these things again. 1) Vince's payoffs came out of the WWE's piggie bank instead of this own checkbook. Because of that, the WWE had to go back and tell the investing public: "Hey, we lied to you about how much money we made over the years. We made less because we didn't know Vince paid hush money with company revenue." That's the single biggest no-no in publicly traded companies. That's essentially what Enron did (albeit more complicated and for a lot more money.) That's what led to the reported grand jury sniffing around Vince right now. And grand juries can go into all sorts of directions, so something like what was included in the lawsuit could end up leading to criminal charges. (That's not my area of expertise -- there could be limits on what can be presented to a grand jury, but who knows.) Oh, I also forgot about the whole illegal campaign contributions thing. 2) One of the things companies have to disclose to investors are the "risk factors" that could cause the company material harm. A lot of these are just common sense -- an oil company could end up having to pay a lot of money if an oil well blows up. Endeavor/TKO and all of that listed Vince McMahon himself, as a board of director, as a risk factor because of the possible negative publicity and all of that. That's just completely insane to see that. It definitely opens up a lot of questions like "why did you keep this guy around?" and "what did you know about what Vince did to this woman?" Who knows what the hell was in Vince's personal agreement when he sold the company. But if he sold the company and can be fired (or forced to resign), then they certainly could have found a way for him to not be the chairman of the board with the ability to name other people to the board. That's just insanity. But, hey -- the company owns UFC, which employs Dana White to manage guys who get paid to fight in cages. I don't follow UFC at all but that seems like it's a pretty fertile breeding ground for horrible human behavior. And the CEO of Endeavor is Ari Emmanuel, who was the basis for Jeremy Piven's character in Entourage. What does that say about how much they take company culture seriously? (Oddly, the WWE also listed Vince as a risk factor -- but saying that his sudden death or incapacitation could be detrimental to the company's business. I've never seen that anywhere else, either.)

To be fair, critical thinking used to be part of Western education systems but it was messing with the war efforts in the 20th century so they got rid of it in favor of teaching static facts (that are constantly being proven wrong and in need of updating)

That says alot about Ricky if after 3/4 years in the company, he hasn't built relationships.

That and Donald Trump buyout reaction really showcased just how dumb people can truly be.

When I had a wrestling column in the local paper, I would get free tickets to WWF PPVs (SummerSlams 95 and 96 and King of the Ring 98), sit in the crowd and then write the column when I got home. I never got to interview the wrestlers or attend a press conference.

Subscribe to your local newspaper. That is the best thing to do. The newspaper industry has been absolutely gutted for all kinds of reasons. Almost every good reporter starts off at a small newspaper (or the local news desk at a bigger regional paper) — even if they end up at a really big daily or magazine or end up like I did in niche financial trade publications. Off the top of my head since I read a lot of sports writing — Zach Lowe of ESPN started at a small daily in Connecticut (even with a Dartmouth diploma.) Bill Simmons wrote local sports for the Boston Herald, which is not nearly as prestigious as “Boston” would make you believe. Adrian Wojnarski worked for the Fresno Bee and then the Bergen Record (where a bunch of my old colleagues/friends ended up — they said he was a really good guy.) It’s grueling work. Out of college, I routinely worked 60 hours a week writing things like “This guy grew a really big cucumber in his backyard” to “Debate ensues over how deep the new school swimming pool should be” for a bunch of weekly small-town suburban newspapers. I also had to take photos, so the layout m, open the Mail and even at times deliver the newspaper I also wrote. Those subscriptions go a really long way in helping develop good journalists since you literally have to do everything. And I think the most I made doing this was $28,000 a year. Poverty wages. Local news reporting is also really friggin’ taxing emotionally. One of my old colleagues/friends worked at the small newspaper in Connecticut headquartered s few miles from Sandy Hook. She knew a bunch of the parents who had kids who died from stories she wrote beforehand. She had to quit a few months after because she could not handle anymore memorials/events/etc. I got freaked out the one time I ever covered a murder because I went to the crime scene — a distraught mother freaked out and killed her newborn. That sent me straight to a therapist. The best editor I ever worked for was David Mamet’s roommate in college — my editor was an awesome writer, but he was a severe alcoholic and womanizer and went through a few marriages. I found my niche writing about business and finance. I was the “business reporter” at a small newspaper in Massachusetts. That was mostly writing about new tourist trap businesses or covering real estate planning commission meetings. I went to this traveling seminar in business journalism that a university put together. I learned from there that niche trade publications for different industries have stability. I also learned how to write about publicly traded companies — where to find the documents and what they meant. I actually used the WWE to help me “train” because I actually knew what the WWE did, and it is a really easy business to understand. So whenever I read about “wrestling journalists” it makes my skin crawl. A few are good with breaking some things like injuries or whatever like Dave and the other ones who are legitimate. The Wrestlenomocs guys are good with some things I’ve read but I have seen some of the more “finance” stuff they have written and they don’t quite get it. And that’s absolutely fine — this stuff is hard. I have to look up terms and definitions all of the time, and I have a lot of experience and was about halfway done with a MBA before I had a kid instead. And I also do not think I wold be a good wrestling reporter because you need all kinds of reliable sources and do you really think the wrestling world has those? But most anyone who says they are a “wrestling journalist” is absolutely not.

I'd like to see Gregg write 10,000 words comparing Dave Meltzer and Hedda Hopper.

Boy calls me down to the basement. “Dad! Come see this!” Proceeds to unload some damn-near-perfect Kobashi/Kingston machine gun chops on the heavy bag.

The injuries really opens up Rhea and Becky to steal the next few months. I am so excited for that feud and match.

Here's the CNN take: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/media/vince-mcmahon-wwe-risk/index.html

@Greggulator's post should be pinned somewhere on the board as a reminder.

Your positivity may have pushed me into looking forward to this card.

To be fair: Toa is pretty much a perfect Page opponent if he gives into the flow and doesn't try to make a statement with it and take too much of it. I have no idea if Swerve is a big RVD fan but they're two guys who move in weird ways and come at things from weird angles and maybe there could be something compelling there. Deonna and Taya have been in the ring together over ten times and that'll probably give them a jump start. Fletcher will have a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. He can create motion for Jericho. I got nothing. So it is set to overachieve but I'd be just as fine with it not existing they run back the Collision card again?

Dave Meltzer: Regarding the press conference last night, It kind of boggles the mind that Paul Levesque was prepared so poorly for the questions. While he couldn't have said much, he could have at least said some things. Talking about a week where the company has gotten its most mainstream news and most negative news, and clearly had aged Paul himself greatly, as a great week was a very poor choice of words. Obviously there was little he could say, but the idea of saying that he found out the same time we did or that he didn't read the lawsuit, the reality is he was on the Board of Directors, he knew about this in 2022 months before the Wall Street Journal. Is it possible he didn't know the details were as sordid as the lawsuit, yes. But as a major executive in a company that was sued, the idea he didn't read it would either indicate being oblivious to a major news story involving the company or a dishonest answer. I don't know which one it was. But the people who advised him did a horrible job. I'm guessing Cody Rhodes, who was asked a similar question and handled it better, probably wasn't advised either but he's not an executive. I also think that it's very important to not turn this story into Paul Levesque (nor to ignore Paul Levesque or wonder who knows what). Ultimately this is a story about Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and the culture stemming from the top at WWE that has been there for a long time. The problem is it came from the top, Vince McMahon, so even if many had knowledge and obviously many did, acting like they could have changed it is being naive. Vince isn't coming back, but we do have to look at the top of TKO, and that's not Levesque or even Nick Khan, but it is Ari Emanuel who made the decision to keep him in the company after so much had already come out and those on the Board who did a investigation and never interviewed Janel Grant, who was the person whose story ultimately started the ball rolling to uncover multiple payoffs. I don't think Levesque was hung out to dry on purpose, nor is this a defense of him, but once they decided to do the press conference, he needed to be prepped on what to say and they failed him badly. Regarding the Rumble show last night, the biggest news involving Mania is that Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes is the planned main event. Reigns vs. The Rock is still on the boards but for later, as long as Rock is open to doing it. All of the expected matches going in (Iyo Sky vs. Bayley, Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk is still there. There were a number of changes made for Mania in the last few days. The way it was explained to me is that it involves the creative plans for Brock Lesnar and a domino effect when the decision was made at the last minute to not have Lesnar on the show due to the lawsuit. Lesnar's planned creative last night was filled by Bron Breakker. Pretty much his point of entry, eliminations and how he was eliminated were all planned for Lesnar. The Lesnar creative which at this point he's not going to be involved with unless they decide they would bring him back, was Lesnar vs. Dominik Mysterio in Australia and Lesnar vs. Gunther (I don't know factually an IC title match but one would expect) at WrestleMania. Whether Bron Breakker gets those matches is not clear yet.

I enjoyed the men's Rumble much more than it merited, as my parents came round to hang out with their grandson, and my Mum was so high on baby endorphins that she got properly into the wrestling. Lots of 'Ow! That looked like it really hurt!', she got very invested in someone being able to stop Gunther (who was mainly the one hurting people, of course), and was well behind Kofi and Drew. My Dad was less into it but still moreso than at any point since we watched Rumble 91 together. Just as his glee at the absurd size of the Natural Disasters was part of what got me into it then, he was impressed by Bronson Reed and Omos this time. Both parents were also entertained and appalled by Bron Breakker charging around like an enraged steroid elemental. Neither really got CM Punk. So, below average show, but nice to know it's never too late for some new treasured Royal Rumble memories. The baby mainly just listened to it, there was milk to drink.

I gleefully add Vince to the current two person list who'd I'd love to see treated like Ghadaffi, instead.

Those FG choices were brutal. Just brutal. And that's not in a "in hindsight" way, it seemed obvious in real time. I know that Campbell has an identity he is going for and wants to stick with it. And I respect it, I do. But there needs to be a time and place for it, you can be aggressive and still minimize the risk. its all about balance. I hope this was a learning lesson for him that he can be crazy and chaotic but sometimes its ok to take the safe route.

Unsurprisingly, the new Like a Dragon is hitting all my buttons. I'm mildly annoyed that apparently NONE of the romance subplots from 7 are canon, but I'm having so much fun. I can't wait to get to the western side of town and find out if the gunsmith called Bullet Hell in English has that name in Japanese or is called Danmaku.

Wait, do we know if HHH can read? Maybe we’re jumping to conclusions.

Pretty much this. I think what people forget when they do a lot of the "what if the territories had survived" scenarios is that a lot of those territories were doomed anyway, and WWF hastened their demise. Take Black Saturday, for example. Georgia was buckling under the weight of trying to expand too quickly and the Briscoes wanted to get out anyway. If it wasn't going to be sold to Vince, it would have been sold to someone else. Watts? Watts crashes in 1986/1987 anyway; nothing stops the oil prices from falling and his territory from cratering. If anything, Turner's demand that someone run a studio show in Atlanta might spread Watts' territory out and buy him a little bit of time, but he still ends up going under if his home base is still the Mid-South area. Crockett probably crashes even faster than he did if he buys Georgia in 1984 instead of buying the slot from Vince, because then he tries to expand sooner than he did, and his staff wasn't capable of managing it. The question is really if Turner would be more willing to buy Crockett in, say, 1985/1986 rather than 1988. The AWA still dies because Verne Gagne's problem wasn't Vince, his problem was his refusal to change with the times. He had Hogan when Hogan was red hot and wouldn't put his belt on him because he wanted a cut of Hogan's Japan dates, which forced Hogan out. Then he got gift-wrapped Sgt. Slaughter, who was almost as hot as Hogan at the time, and squandered Slaughter. World Class still has the problem with the Von Erichs having their issues, and the territory becoming stale even if they do survive. If Turner somehow stays in the wrestling business and if the situation described by Mister TV doesn't kill most of the groups, then whoever lands on Turner and survives in the mid-1990s still likely gets cancelled in 2001 when Jamie Kellner restructures TBS and TNT's programming. People say it's WCW's financials that got them cancelled, but both channels got rebranded around the same time WCW got dropped. It was clear that the merged AOL Time Warner wanted to change their programming and WCW's financials were an easy out for them. It stands to reason that no matter how healthy WCW was, or whoever was in their spot, they don't survive 2001. This isn't to say that Vince was a genius or anything, but he was incredibly lucky and often in the right place at the right time. So assuming there's no WWF national expansion, eventually someone will end up trying (likely pushed by Turner as cable expands) and practically everyone ends up crashing due to their already extant problems.

Do you realize that over the past two years Roman Reigns has been pinned more times than Black?

It sure does. I queued up 2005 Unbreakable for the triple threat with AJ/Joe/Daniels.

I'm curious to see if use Bron tonight.

There's a bit more to this, Brody King responded... https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1504284/aew-brody-king-buddy-matthews-respond-recent-backstage-reports/ And to that, I say fair enough, Dave's theory is wrong about the rule changes, but glancing over his oeuvre it's a bit harder to argue against the theory that Malakai Black won't do jobs.

So Campbell makes the right decision late in the second quarter, and kicked the field goal to go up three scores. So midway through the third quarter, faced with the same scenario, he doesn't kick the field goal? Strange. Situational decision making is important. When he refused to attempt the tying field goal in the 4th quarter, all I could think of was Roy McAvoy dunking five balls in the water at the end of Tin Cup instead of doing the smart thing. I guess the spread covering touchdown is akin to holing out with the last ball in your golf bag to lose the U.S. Open.

Yeah, her rematch with Jordynne was her last contracted match with TNA. It only took a couple weeks but I subscribed yearly for TNA+ So I guess I'm back in on the TNA train.

Take in mind that was Tully Blanchard talking. Doesn't seem like the nicest, most helpful guy on the planet nevermind the roster.

The kids in Malawi are gonna love their "2024 Royal Rumble Winner Brock Lesnar" t-shirts

Page said something about the whole f'n show, but nothing 100% clear.

There's alot of "veteran presence" backstage in AEW. Dustin. Taz. Jerry Lynn. Dean Malenko. Jake Roberts. The fact Ricky "doesn't have anyone in the back to talk to" isn't because the people and resources aren't available to him.

RJ was smart to keep his eyes right where they should while she was crawling on him

Protect this man at all costs. BTW, McAfee did an interview yesterday where he said it was a legit surprise when he got called into the match.

So dang frustrating. 30 minutes of the worst coaching you'll ever see.

https://youtu.be/mAZ4TBIOq34?si=1IQIShDLYWquNZ-P Bayou Independent Wrestling Jan 27th 2024 Brookhaven Mississippi Opening match BIW Southern Heavyweight champion Bam Bam Malone has a non title match with Pac Ortega. Both are TX based indie wrestlers. BIW runs MS/AR/LA and uses s pile of younger TX talent.

When he says it’s time to play the Game it’s likely not a sudoku or a word puzzle.

I always assumed it was just cause AEW was as born out of the original All In event and they all just kept the theme for everything

No. He tries his moves out on me.

Really weird that they’re bringing in all those luchadores and running them on Rampage when Collision is like 10 miles from the Rio Grande the next night. Also weird that they ran Komander-OC in Bossier City instead of waiting a week for Edinburg and a “hometown” region ticket bump. Reynosa is 25 miles from Edinburg, and that area around McAllen/Mission/Edinburg/Hidalgo is densely populated.

Bryan getting stuffed on a double leg a bunch of times and finally winning it after about 50 leg kicks would be awesome. HUGE pop.

Abadon speaks?! | Hey! (EW), 1/28/24 (youtube.com) Abadon: Academic Zombie was not something I'd expect to start 2024. But I'm good with it.

Just a reminder to anyone that needs a pick up: SAMOA JOE IS CHAMPION