Greggulator

Also: Remember this is a grand jury that subpoenaed Vince related to the hush money payments and especially the part where the WWE violated the laws about disclosing how much money you made to the public. (As in: Vince paid off women with company money, and the company misstated how much money it made as a result.) But those types of grand jury probes can go in all sorts of different places. There absolutely could be criminal charges at some point.

That complaint was really damning. Usually complaints are just words and what is alleged. Sometimes there are some pictures or something. Putting text messages out like that absolutely sealed the deal. The other thing in the complaint that was interesting is how easy it pointed to Brock. The other people who knew things but not sued all had things like “Corporate Officer #4.” They put Brock out there on blast. No attempt at anonymity at all. Her attorneys are really interesting. The woman taking the lead in the press is named Ann Callis. She ran for Congress as a Democrat a few years ago and was a judge in Illinois. I have no clue if she and her firm have done sexual harrsssment claims. But their website talks about all the class action damages they have won against really huge companies. (“We represent everyone who ever smoked a cigarette and now we are suing Philip Morris for $10 billion.”) The “actual” lead attorney is a corporate attorney from Connecticut — he does things like “I represent this big company against this big company.” I am guessing they needed the Connecticut attorney since he’s in the Connecticut bar. It also helps if you have a Connecticut attorney who probably knows (or knows people who know) the judge and the lay of the land. Callis is based in St. Louis. I forget how it works in terms of how you can represent people if you’re not in that state’s bar exam. But such an interesting mix. Usually, you will see an attorney who specialize in workplace discrimination law handle a case like this. You don’t see corporate attorneys or class action firms take on cases like this. I am so curious as to how this woman picked them.

I can think of $5 billion reasons.

I have said it before — the Wall Street Journal has had arguably their best reporter working on the WWE story. The guy won the Pulitzer for breaking all of the Trump/Stormy Daniels news. The editors aren’t pushing back on writing about a company that just scored a $5 billion deal with Netflix.

This whole thing is at a different level than just “normal” sexual harassment due to power imbalances — a CEO promising a woman a job and promotions in exchange for sexual favors. That’s really bad on its own. And Vince’s story was really bad from a “basic financial law” POV when you consider that the hush money came from the company checkbook instead of his own. Because that’s just pure greed at that point. But this is alleging sexual slavery. It really is. The excrement component is terrible but kind of overlooked is the part where Vince was hitting her during “roleplay.” Also: It’s not like you go from “using the power imbalance to prey on women who work for me” to “shitting on a woman’s head during a threesome” without some really gross progression of that along the way. Like… how does Vince approach his personal trainer or John Laurinitis and ask them if they want to do what’s in the lawsuit without it happening before? Especially since Vince is in his 70s. I think it’s really likely that more stuff comes out from other women. The only reason it hasn’t is because you absolutely cannot blame anyone who does not want their name out there for whatever awful things Vince did. The woman who filed the lawsuit is beyond brave. She attached her name in a lawsuit where she revealed the most possible degrading things. All of this is just insane.

If you're talking about the "celebrity doctor" -- all signs point to Dr. Phil. If true: Vince forced the woman he was sexually harassing into seeking mental health treatment with Dr. Phil.

Here's the lawsuit itself. I read it -- it's even more fucked up than what the articles are writing. (Especially one part about Brock.) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WWE_complaint.pdf So the legal stuff in the lawsuit the lady 1) There's a law called The Speak Out Act. According to the filing, the Speak Out Act means NDAs are unenforceable if the sexual harrassment/etc. violates federal law. Essentially, the Speak Out Act makes and NDA null-and-void. (According to what her lawyer says. I have no idea.) The lawsuit also says the NDA itself was poorly constructed ("too broad") and wouldn't even allow her to tell anyone she even worked for the WWE. 2) She was under duress and unfairly pressured to sign the NDA. 3) Human trafficking is alleged because McMahon was traveling across the country when he was saying insane stuff to her and/or showing people her photos/etc. while traveling around and had others fly to Connecticut to "meet" her. Also, since McMahon and Laurinitis used fraud and coercion to lead her into what she's alleging. 4) Human trafficking is also alleged because the company financially benefited because Vince offered her to Brock when he was negotiating a contract, and that a lot of WWE bigwigs knew about all of this and didn't do anything to stop it. (Note: I have no idea at all about what human trafficking laws actually say or not. Just explaining the complaint itself.) 5) Negligence (The WWE didn't do anything to stop this.) 6) Battery (According to the lawsuit, Vince hit her a few times during one of their encounters, along with a bunch of other awful things.) Also: I said above things like "According to the lawsuit." That's drilled into me as a reporter. You'll notice that across anyone writing about this today (or any lawsuit.) That's because none of the allegations have been proven yet. So, the reporting on it is going to be completely objective and just report what's in it. But as a wrestling fan -- man, this is so gross, and I hate that I watch this stuff.

Nah. Netflix released its quarterly financial report that day and had its phone call with the analysts who cover the company. Companies always release big news on those days, especially when they know they did well financially. I doubt that anyone at Netflix even knew this was coming.

The Toni Storm segment was wrestling ridiculousness at its absolute best.

I am not a media industry expert (despite working in the media) by any means. But my early thoughts: 1) $5 billion over 10 years for Raw and overseas things is insanity. I think that shows Netflix had to pay a giant premium (up their bidding price) to get Endeavor and the like to hand over the show to a streaming platform and not keep it on a basic cable network. I know there is cord cutting and etc., but a lot of people have Hulu or whatever to essentially watch cable. That is essentially though $500 million for 52 episodes of Monday Night Raw and international broadcast. I have no idea and don’t have time to look up how well international broadcasts do for the WWE. But if you factor it in just for Raw — Netflix is paying $9.6 million to air every single episode of Raw. 2) I saw Netflix has an out after 5 years. They also can extend for another 10. I have no idea if that extension would be at the same price or if there would be a negotiation. But Netflix is hedging it’s risk on both ends — it can cut bait if this doesn’t work, and it can avoid a bidding war if it doesn’t. 2A) Why would the WWE not want to have another bidding war for Raw in a few years? Because Netflix is paying them $9.6 million to broadcast a single episode of Raw. Take the money and run. 3) Can wrestlers please become full-time workers? The people getting paid from this are going to be company executives with stock options and big Wall Street investors. (Technically any investor but you get what I am saying.) Do the WWE guys still pay for their own travel? And health insurance? They should be in SAG or something already. They literally risk their lives every week and man none of them are getting anything close to their fair share.

From what I was able to watch tonight: Edge is not my guy. I am not interested in The Cope Open. But it serves something more important — a really good veteran gets to have matches with guys like Dante Martin and Lee Moriarity and that’s pretty invaluable. I wish they had some kind of circuit or house show because there is so much talent with the real young bulls of AEW but development is tough. But having an 8 minute match with Edge is going to be a well-organized match. I am sure before the match Copeland is sitting down with whoever he is facing, putting the match together, and explaining why the match is being put together that way. And after they go over like a few dozen times how it was executed. The Thunder Rosa match was fine. It was exactly what a returning match should be. Her opponent looks cool. I am so ridiculous invested in The Bang Bang Scissor Gang. I don’t remember when we have seen a really big group like that? Especially as faces? I was expecting it not to happen. I hope they stick with it because all of those guys have a lot of charisma and are fun acts. Toni Storm is the best. Best character in wrestling right now. Danny vs Buddy was expectedly good. A very smart match that had excellent usage of their seconds, leading to a great brawl and set up for a match. I am now watching Roddy Strong and Matt Sydall and calling it a night even though I really want to see Eddie/Ortiz vs. BCC

There’s probably some combination of trains and buses you can take but I can see that easily lasting longer than your flight. There are probably a few van services or something that can bring you. Not sure if the costs but here is one: https://www.kinglimoinc.com/our-services/personal/airport-shuttle-service-gloucester-county/airport-shuttle-service-williamstown/ But, yeah, you might get stuck renting a car. Williamstown is probably 30 minutes or so from the airport without traffic. Also, where is the event being held at specifically? “Williamstown” is pretty far spread out and overlaps with a lot of zip codes.

It didn’t feel work-shooty to me. Like it touched on a few things outside of kayfabe but they used it to douche it up like quality heels. It wasn’t something like Punk blurring the lines with Adam Page referencing Colt Cabana. Was more within the grounds of kayfabe.

Hook looks like every dipshit high school athlete I saw at LA Fitness when I had membership. It’s a very current look. But he does not look like a guy who is listening to Bandsplained or going to retro indie sleaze nights. All the hipster stuff in early 00s New York was in Brooklyn. There are books written about this. LCD Soundsystem clones were not playing shows at the last dying days of Coney Island High or the other bar at the corner. That was more pop-punk and power-pop dorks playing in front of their friends. (Source: It me.)

It has been a minute since I have been to St. Mark’s Place but it ain’t no hipster spot. It was sleazy cool in the 70s and 80s but even in the 90s it was more for suburban kids trying on bondage pants before going to see a Lookout Records pop-punk band than anything else. (Source: It me.) Last time I went, it was perfectly fine for what it is — a good comic shop, vintage clothing shops, falafel takeaway spots and carts and the like. I think you need to learn what a hipster is.

I will do some digging for Williamstown. Going from memory, it’s a lot of strip mall chain restaurant types of places — it’s right when the Philly suburbs start to no longer become the suburbs.

Great show. Dustin/Christian was so damn good. It’s two of the best to ever do it and why would else expect anything less? I am trying to think of anything they did to each other in the match that involved a bump beyond a frog slash, destroyer, a soear and Christian’s finisher. That is professional wrestling at its peak — two experts who know the craft of telling a story by working punches and feints and eye pokes. That does not include Nick Wayne — he has a deathwish apparently. The finish was a little off, but the false finish right before was awesome. Just a great match and a joy to watch. This has been the first time I truly enjoyed The Bucks. Nicholas and Matthew leaning into the aloof EVP shtick rules. I especially loved the HR violation of calling Renee sweetheart. I know they won’t do it, but heel Bucks can just explain that they have a personal referee who understands his place that justifies the inconsistent reffing in their matches. Swerve with the moniest of promos. I definitely do not want to see him and Hangman Part 58383883 but they do have good chemistry. However I am invested in The Acclaimed/Gunn Club Part 37473882. The reason why is because it is Bowens taking the leadership reigns on his end. I am such a fan of that guy. This is a great way for him to build out his character more than it’s established beyond “the guy who likes scissoring.” I really miss The Acclaimed being such a huge part of the shows. They were briefly the biggest act in the company. And man the more I think about it The Acclaimed vs. Swerve In Their Glory 1 might be my favorite AEW match. Toni Storm absolutely rules. Such an absurdly great act. She knows how to lean into it perfectly. Deonna was about to break. Also, did Deonna say she and Toni Storm were roommates? How many roommate issues has Toni Storm had considering that was the hook they used for her relationship with Jamie Hayter. (Come back soon Jamie.) That main event was something else. Joe wrecking dudes for a few months until there’s a hot enough act to take him down, and then Joe gets the belt back a little bit after that, rinse and repeat and you have your main event world title picture set for as long as you want. That was a fantastic beating. It worked. But could it worked better if: 1) Hook started off taking it to Joe, who then once he got advantage trucked his ass and it ended with Hook somehow coming into the ring after getting CTE from that table spot only to immediately get choked out. 2) Taz got off the table and begged Hook to not get back in the ring, only for Hook to do so. Or maybe Tax throws in the towel when his son is being choked out. Also, did they say Hook was from St. Mark’s in Manhattan? What the fuck is he doing there? Getting an AFI T-Shirt? Enjoying falafel? Trying to boost some graphic novels from St. Mark’s Comics? Taking a class at Cooper Union? Either way, good night of wrestling.

People are going to flip when R-Truth costs Priest the cash-in. Great build in this angle throughout. They really caught lightning in a bottle with Truth doing his best work and it playing off so well with the dark emo dudes. One of the most underrated parts of Judgment Day is that despite their general goth stuff they are pretty much a comedy act. I can’t believe I am such a fan because Edge and dark underlings was absolutely not for me. But they have really been the anchor of Raw the past 18 months. There is a way where we get Becky and Rhea to headline Night 1 of WrestleMania. I would much rather see that than Punk vs. Rollins in their lame ass shooty reality TV feud coming up. Fired up Becky rules when she has something to be fired up against and maybe realizing Rhea has surpassed her is a great approach. As much as I do not want to see Seth/Punk, I did enjoy Seth vs. Jinder. One of the reasons why WWE is so hot right now is because matches are laid out so well. They did a great job in using Jinder’s goons, the looming presence of Priest, the distractions and all of that to get to some really good heel near falls before Seth figured out the puzzle. Even the women’s tag match — while it was sloppy, it had a fun layout. Good show from what I was able to watch.

Sting is such a great smoke and mirrors wrestler. Dude is 65. He does wild garbage match-y stuff for a reason. A match where Sting takes a crazy table bump and sells for a while or wins with his scorpion drop from the rafters — maybe the crazy bump is not as crazy as a non-wrestler thinks and they’ve done a good job protecting a lot of the damage. That is part of the illusion and magic of wrestling. I mean, maybe Sting is just insane. But I could see there are possible ways where the bumps he takes in these matches (or bump?) are a hell of a lot easier on a body than a whole bunch of regular back bumps in a ring. Higher degree of difficulty with the table bumps but maybe they’re not as dangerous?

I am the same with Vincent. I was never clear why he was doing some variation of jazz hands on his way to the ring. Very much an “all-star high school cast doing Grease at a prominent regional theater” vibes and not desert dwelling weirdo with Messianic vibes.

Prediction: The Sting/Darby vs. Bucks match is going to be a fun, goofy all-over-the arena brawl with a few completely insane spots. The Bucks are actually good in a match where you can have chaos. They are a bunch of athletic dudes who are bump freaks and know how to get heat either as faces or especially as heels. They’re just awful in a type of match that requires structure and psychology and — most importantly — keeping the facade alive that you are watching an athletic competition with rules. Because the most important part of a tag team match is that the referee is a “strong” character so it makes the heel’s cheating and wrong-doing feel important and builds up anticipation for the faces to overcome those odds. The Bucks just do not do that at all in a regular tag match and it sucks.

Fun show. It had all of the stuff I want from an episode of AEW. OC/Dustin/Preston Vance/Edge might be the leader in all-time great goofy "WTF" pairings. The women's match didn't have the random weirdness of the men's match but I really liked it? It definitely reminded me that Ruby Soho is just an absolute world class wrestler. She completely held that match together. She's always in the right place at the right time, knows how to sell, knows how to taunt and knows how to express herself via body language and facial expressions. Samoa Joe is THE perfect champion. The only thing I keep thinking whenever I see him with a World Title is why hasn't he ALWAYS been the world champion? The guy has an aura and presence like only a few others have. He's awesome in the ring. He's also the only person who can be a monster bully and suit-wearing, scheming puppet master at once. We're all guilty of overthinking wrestling (duh) when "just give Joe the belt, let him be a dickhead heel, build up a face over the course of a year to beat him" is all you really need to anchor any promotion. I'm not feeling Hook and never have. I don't get the character. That said, he's a perfectly fine choice to be the first guy to put Joe on the ropes for a little bit before getting his shit wrecked. Sammy/Ricky was such a weird match. I don't know if I liked it or not, but it was very interesting. Ricky did that insane rochembeaux on the ring apron. It looked like DEATH and probably could have been used to set up an injury angle. Instead, it was the spot to a commercial break for a match that ended via a random superkick. WTF? I loved Ricky's "man, come on" when Jericho's music started. He spoke for us all. Jericho having his song playing ala New Jack was a nice touch and then it hit me as to the possible reason for it. I'm only half-joking. The ring entrance is short at Dailey's, so he can't do the extended entrance. But there has to be a stipulation in Jericho's contract where they have to make it through the chorus of his song so he gets some kind of royalty fee, right? That has to be it. The main event was really fun. I thought we finally saw the anticipated on-screen paralysis of Darby Allin when he got overtossed in that playground bully spin thing he did where he neck cracked off the rope. Bryce FLEW over to him to see if he was okay. What an insane person. I don't care about the Young Bucks but man that was a fashion CHOICE. Between them and Hangman the mustache game tonight is off. My one big criticism for the night -- someone should have thrown a shoe at Renee in the Toni Storm segment.

Kawhi just got a bag.

Anyone else love Lexis King?

Stevie Richards Emma OC Colt Regal