Greggulator

I just wrote in a comment on the New York Times Facebook page that said ECW was wrestling’s punk rock. But Sabu was its Velvet Underground. Only a limited amount of people knew who he was at the peak of his powers, but those who did went on to become obsessives or indie wrestlers.

Epic stuff, Phil!

NY Times wrote an obituary!

To make this perfect ECW: Lou Gregory was Sign Guy Dudley for those who didn’t know.

Sabu is possibly my all-time favorite. Like everyone says: You can’t tell the story of wrestling without Sabu. I was lucky enough to have found ECW on sketchy TV channels that only showed infomercials in 1994. Him coming out in the Hannibal Lecter mask — I actually thought he was really insane, and I was 17. Sabu felt dangerous in ways nobody else in wrestling felt dangerous. It felt like every move he did could be the last move of his career. He could be sloppy as hell but that was great — it didn’t looked choreographed, it looked like an unhinged maniac doing insane shit that he should not be doing. Every time the WWE uses a table spot as a big moment in a match or there is some crazy dive to the floor — none of that happens without Sabu. And maybe others do that stuff “better” but no one made it feel more real. Because it was reckless and chaos. RIP Sabu.

The women’s tag match was so good. Loved that they sat down and saw the Steamboat/Dustin vs. Enforcers match from that Clash of Champions and decided to do a tribute. The women’s three way also ruled, not a lot of “one person hurt for an abnormally long time” match, it felt like a true one-on-one-on-one match. The four-way IC match was also golden. I’m excited for heel Cena trying to ruin wrestling.

Gable is so friggin’ great. Throws himself into everything and is also so smooth in-ring. He is so good at playing a goober. I also love how he’s changed his moveset just a bit now that he’s under the mask — that double moonsault thing last night does not feel like it’s possible except for someone like Simone Biles. The New Day vs. Raiders match would have gotten a giant “This Is Awesome” chant as a main event on Raw. That main event was exactly what is should have been. I love that Seth absolutely owns Roman in their biggest moments — he pulled the trigger when he ended The Shield, swiped the titles when he cashed in, took the bullet for Cody last year and now was in cahoots with Heyman to win the main event. Also, Roman’s look of betrayal walking up the ramp last night as the show ended is proof as to why he’s one of the best ever. He actually knows how to act and convey that type of emotion. Punk tried the same reaction and was fine for a wrestler. But Roman actually looked like he could be on some shmaltzy show. I mean, I’m not saying it was an Oscar level performance or anything. But the whole Bloodline crew really knows how to lean into so much of the emotional storytelling component better than anyone else who has ever done it.

I have to get caught up on Dark Side but is there really Foley Erasure going on? If he or Sabu and etc. want to do absolutely insane things they should not be doing to their bodies who am I to stop them? I don’t feel guilty or bad for liking that stuff. If it isn’t for you I get that and can respect that. But Foley was far more than a garbage wrestler. He is one of the best at playing a character in wrestling history. Dude was the best maniac indestructible heel… and then became an awesome underdog babyface in his stuff against Vader… and then went from being an incredible promo guy to arguably the best promo guy of his era in ECW… to adapting to WWE cartoony villain stuff and then weaving that into the Three Faces of Foley stuff and somehow managed to get tossed off the cage and also be the Mr. Socko guy in like 18 months from each other. He’s maybe the most creative guy in wrestling history.

Man, the KO news is real? It felt like a decoy. That it came off that way and not as a possible retirement speech really speaks highly of show great KO’s most recent heel run has been. KO is on the Mt. Rushmore list of “1B” dudes like Henning and Rude and a lot of others. He did everything well. One of the best workers of this century. We were lucky to have him from the moment he backstabbed Sami in NXT. Very fitting that his final match (for a long time) would be against Sami in Canada and was an absolutely fantastic brawl garbage match.

Adolescence is going to stay with me for a long time. Absolutely frightening look at modern Internet culture and the manosphere and what it is doing to kids. But it’s also one of the most shockingly well-done pieces of television ever made. The acting is just at a level that’s incomprehensibly good. The third episode especially. The kid playing the 13-year-old has never been in anything before and feels like he’s going to be a star for the rest of my lifetime. Absolute must watch.

Things I have watched lately: 1) Long Bright River on Peacock. As a Philadelphian, I am required by law and civic code to watch anything about life in Philly. Amanda Seyfried plays a beat cop in drug-plagued Kensington who is on the lookout for her addicted sister in the midst of the hunt for a serial killer. Started out like something I was going to love and then something I was disappointed in as I wanted it to be better to absolutely awful to something I enjoyed as a hate watch. It’s so bad with stupid plot twists, predictable plot twist, inexplainable plot twists, and more. The “Philly” stuff in it is also so weird. It has really local references but does not feel like it’s true at all to the part of the city it is about. Or that they even made an attempt to make things look like Philly while trying to make the setting a huge part of the story. Have to do more than stick a Jason Kelce jersey on a random family member during a holiday party. 2) Dope Thief on Apple Plus. Another Philly drug scene story. I only caught the first episode. Directed by Ridley Scott. It’s about two low level rip-n-run dudes (starring Brian Tyree Henry) who pose as DEA agents but then end up in over their heads. It’s so much fun. Reminds me a lot of Pulp Fiction, Fargo and Pineapple Express. Really pumped to keep this going. 3) Adolescence on Netflix. Four-episode show. UK crime drama about a 13-year-old charged with murder. Acting is at a high level even for acclaimed British crime dramas. I am only through one episode but man this is fantastic. Also, each episode is only one long shot. I would have had no idea unless I read it. I mean that as a compliment because so much “one take” stuff is just kinda masturbatory but this just adds to the claustrophobia and drama and intensity of what happens when a family’s life is turned upside down.

“I hope you get relegated to ‘Challenger Pro League Belgium’ where you belong!”

Man, what a great Raw. Punk and Rollins are far from my guys but I loved that cage match. The beginning of that match was golden with those guys just laying in punches and hard chops. Ir really felt like primal hatred at the start of the match before it built into WWE main event-style with two HOF-level guys just throwing big bombs back and forth. The end was great production. The crowd pop showed someone was coming (and we knew who it would be) but then Roman dragging Seth out to pummel him was gold. Great reference at the end with Roman smugly laughing as he saw Heyman rush to the aid of Punk while we got reminded about the favor. Great way to kick off that feud. Iyo might have stolen the entire show tonight. Rhea and Bianca would outshine 98% of the entire roster (both genders) and Iyo responding from their palm faces with slaps got the Garden crowd fully on her side. Actually, I lied. Chad Gable stole the show tonight.

This is why I loved the promo. You absolutely can see it that way. I don’t remember a promo where an uber confident babyface like Rhea reacted to losing clean. Usually that doesn’t happen since a heel is a heel. In kayfabe, it must suck to lose against a heel but if you’re losing to the numbers game or having someone turn on you, what can you do? And if you were the villain at some point doing the same thing to people, I think you just have to accept what happens and find a way to overcome the odds. But this was the rare babyface losing to a babyface match without any interference. How do you handle that? Rhea’s response to that might not play to her brashness… but I like that she’s not just shrugging it off. She’s shook and has to find her footing and she has to do so while dealing with being isolated and alone without her ride-or-die who is now on Smackdown while also having to see her ex and Liv running around together. I really love Rhea’s performance with this. It’s kind of Bloodline stuff where she actually has a little bit of depth and subtlety— I love her nervously biting her finger at the end. I mean, it’s not Oscar worthy or not, but it absolutely looks like she’s worked a lot on the acting side of wrestling. I also like that Bianca is going through something similar. She’s also a badass confident shit talker. She won EC but had to see her two best friends go at it in front of her first while she couldn’t do anything about it. Meanwhile, Iyo has Dakota and while her crew is injured, there was no division. This is going to be a really interesting three way feud. Really interesting set up.

Actually, it looks like they’re going that route with the story. Rhea kills it in this — really does a great job showing her vulnerability. We’re lucky to have her in wrestling because she has some chops.

I think everyone who stayed in WWE when they could have left for AEW is in really great shape. Drew may not be headlining WM, but he’s headlined a bunch of other stuff this year. Damian Priest won the World Title at WM last year in a cash-in. Jey Uso and Gunther might be closing out Night One. Sami and KO both potentially could have left AEW back when AEW was scorching hot. They stayed obviously and had huge roles in The Bloodline saga, were involved in arguably the greatest angle and storyline ever, with Sami headlining a PPV in his hometown and the two of them winning Night One of WM against The Usos. I think everyone else on the WWE roster knows that there are going be be people who show up and take a big spot. But I don’t think anyone at all cares if it’s Cena. They know there’s a shelf life.

I was watching with some friends last night. My wife hates wrestling but she watched it with us for a while. 1) She LOVES Big E. Really wants Big E. to get his own travel show. He really is a natural for something like Main Event Meals. That was pretty much the only thing she liked. The rest of it wasn't for her and she looked at whatever on her phone. That closing out segment was incredible. It's so awesome and crazy to me that after all these years, they'll always wind twists and turns that I never saw coming. Cena's devilish look to The Rock while Rock told him to execute him was an all-time great moment. I also love the internal logic you can see behind all of this. The Rock's been scheming this whole time to get back at Cody despite them having some kind of loose friendship (that started when Rock gave Cody some kind of trinket last year.) He did the whole "I want your soul" thing knowing it sounded ridiculous and Cody was going to think it through before turning him down. He hedged his bet that Cena was going to win the EC and got in Cena's ear a while ago about getting that no good Cody Rhodes. And, if Cena didn't win, Rock might have had a Plan B or they'd get him another week on Raw. An all-time great angle. Surprised we didn't get a garbage tossing firestorm like when Hogan turned. I was all for a Cena Goodbye Tour with just a bunch of feel-good stuff. I really was hoping he'd turn heel at the final moment just so we could see this. I wasn't expecting him to go heel right away, but man I'm here for it.

That's what I'm hoping for. Liv sold it when Jade came back like she was about to face impending death. I think it's a lot more interesting if Jade's coming in that way rather than it was this plot by Naomi all along. Also, Bianca did a hell of a job on the post-show stuff last night selling the mixture of emotions she was having after winning the match but then seeing Jade/Naomi at the start.

KO/Sami is my favorite garbage match of all-time. Pure hatred and intention and chaos and an absolute psychodrama. The ending with Owens going back to the apron powerbomb to take Sami out like he did when he first broke Sami’s heart back in NXT was an epic callback. Not a wasted moment. Sami is the best at selling — loved his arm twitch thing to show a possible stinger. KO is the best at using his eyes (his only competition is Eddie) to show the type of person he is and has become. Dear god did I love that match.

The Sami sit down promo was so friggin’ good. Really great job in explaining why this time’s different and (most importantly) making it sound so dangerous that I have to go out of my way to watch. God damn that main event was something special. I like how different it was from a lot of the usual tag formula — the champs jumping the heels at the start, Dom not being at ringside but sneaking down at the right moment, insane double teams and impeccably timed kick-outs. That end was also a chef’s kiss in heel chespshot victories. Everyone played their role so well. Liv since her heel turn has turned into such a great little shit stirrer always looking for shortcuts. But man Naomi has just put things together the past year or so. Naomi has been around so long that she was in the Funkadactyls and was out there for AJ Lee’s Pipe Bomb. She didn’t come through NXT or any kind of development system worth anything. She’s always been a freak athlete but I always thought she needed her hand held for someone to get her from move to move — stuff that you actually learn by being treated like an actual wrestler and not to be the eye candy for a future Fox News grifter. But Naomi pretty clearly has always wanted to be good at wrestling and has worked really hard to the point where she was the babyface in the ring during the final section of one of the best tag matches in a really long time. Damn that match ruled.

I being reported that the inquiry into Vince is being dropped. Helps when your wife is a lackey to the president.

Ricky absolutely eviscerated MJF on the mic that time they had a feud. Not a lot of people can say that. Imagine if he had the Adam Cole mastermind spot. His line last night about the pretty face and expensive fragrance was pretty killer. I love Ricky and he’s got a ton of upside.

If this is somehow KO’s swan song (is this going around somewhere?) then where does he rank as best ever in the WWE? I think he’s the Phil Hartman of the WWE. He’s probably the best utility player of the century. He can get anything over. He’s a great face and a great heel. He can main event any PPV or have an entertaining goofball angle to chew up the midcard. He can be in singles and tags. He’s one of the best promos. Wrestling is going to miss KO when he hangs it up.

Sami/Punk was incredible. What a TV main event from two of the best to ever do it. I was absolutely rooting for Sami. There were so many great moments in this that really showed why they are both so good. I prefer Sami’s subtleties to build sympathy like his “knocked out falling forward” sell in the corner over Punk’s preening to the WrestleMania sign and trash talk, but Punk being bombastic works. The KO run-in at the end shocked me. It felt likely they were going to do something for WM but wasn’t expecting the build to start so soon. KO/Sami having a WM match is going to be one of those matches that you know is going to steal the show and somehow surpass what you thought it could be. Wondering if we’ll get a HITC or something. Iyo/Liv was also excellent. Babyface Iyo is so much fun and she knows how to keep the crowd into stuff in a very 1980s way. Liv has become elite at being a conniving piece of shit heel and being in the right place for whoever she’s in the ring against. Jey was absolutely the right choice to win the Rumble. He’s as hot as any wrestler has been since Danielson. He’s really does deserve it because he got over so much by being a great character actor and connecting in that fashion. Who cares if he hasn’t had a five star singles match? The crowd loves him.

Jey Uso was enslaved and beat into becoming Roman’s flunky. That is almost always a career ender. But he’s so talented and found a way to connect so organically that he’s going to get a title match at WM and is the most over guy on the roster right now and has been for 18 months probably. What a story.