The Nature Boy

I wonder if Vince Sr. was into it in the 1960s and soured on it later or saw it as unnecessary once he had a monopoly on the Northeast. I feel like for such an influential figure in pro wrestling, relatively little is known about Vince Sr. It's a shame that no proper biography was ever written about him and most of the people who could contribute to a biography as either dead or very old.

Here's an interesting musing of the day: Vince Sr. relocating the WWWF out of Washington DC was actually a newsworthy event, which surprises me. What is also surprising is the extent to which the Globe mentions Vince Sr.'s usage of television and celebrates to expand wrestling to new audiences. The article also acknowledges that pro wrestling is predetermined. Vince Sr. blamed the declining neighborhood where his DC venue was located as the primary reason that he left the cty. Vince Sr. getting credit for using celebrities and television to spread the WWWF is interesting, especially since WWE's current line is that Vince Jr. took wrestling out of smoke filled bingo halls and into the big time. It's behind a paywall so I can't share but if you want to find it, it's in the October 10, 1971 edition of the Boston Globe.

I'm intrigued by the idea of Hogan doing the Hollywood Hogan heel turn in 1993 and feuding with Bret. Hogan as the movie star, prima donna, cowardly heel against Bret Hart, a guy who represents the opposite of that could've been more intriguing TV than what we actually got in 1993. Bring in someone like Jim Cornette as Hogan's "agent" and you have a heat magnet. I'd also have Yokozuna function as Hogan's bodyguard. Here's what I would do: I'd have Bret retain at WrestleMania IX, Hogan do the heel turn sometime around King of the Ring, win the belt at SummerSlam, and hold it through WrestleMania X where Bret heroically wins it back. You can still do "Made in the USA" Lex Luger as a placeholder feud for Hogan after SummerSlam. I would also still do the USS Intrepid bodyslam angle. Owen's turn still happens as well but is caused by Cornette and Hogan getting to him and convincing him that Bret is a spotlight hog who has denied Owen his rightful opportunity to shine. Owen goes over Luger at Mania and feuds with Bret afterwards. What happens to Hogan after WrestleMania X is a mystery to me. Hogan in the 90s would insist on still being in the main event scene, which undercuts the New Generation and Bret, in particular.

I'd like to see an Office style sitcom about WWE HQ. In a sitcom, it would be revealed that JBL is actually WWE's head of HR.

There's a long list of things that WWE's HR Department would need to talk to talent about and I'm not sure that this is high on that list.

I'd actually like to see Jim Cornette manage him. Fuck it, Jim Cornette needs to adopt this gimmick.

How am I just now seeing this? As a New Englander, I got "OMG THAT'S MY CITY!" excitement from watching Rock cut promos from places that I've visited a lot.

Hogan

Play to your audience. People in Appalachian Kentucky think that Clinton is the liberal devil.

I haven't been here that long but I am almost 30. I notice that Reddit attracts people who are a decade or so younger than me. When I was their age though, I just lurked on forums because I didn't feel like I knew enough to contribute. But holy shit, the Attitude Era is as distant to these people as Hulkamania was to me.

Punk was so set on leaving that him winning the Rumble would be like when WCW put the belt on Benoit at Souled Out 2000.

I decided to try going to Wreddit last night. I now appreciate how high quality the wrestling discussion is here.

"You know, there may have been plans to put a lake in Los Angeles but you know, it just didn't materialize for whatever reason, you know. I don't think that there are any lakes in Los Angeles but that is of course unconfirmed."

"Who the fuck fired JTG?"

Serious question here but has anyone tried to connect the OJ Simpson murders to CTE?

If we're bringing in Scott Steiner, can we also bring in Rick, put them with Brock Lesnar and start a stable of ex-Big Ten wrestlers who go around fucking up shit?

I just want to point out that Yokozuna was never Japanese, he was always a Polynesian who represented Japan for some reason. That detail may have been forgotten though.

The NWA is functionally useless as a brand. Its value comes from its history and Vince McMahon owns the rights to almost all of the NWA's most significant moments. If you were going to relaunch the NWA, you'd have to build it up by talking about and showing its history, and that's impossible for anyone who owns it. The only person who could do the NWA justice would be Vince and I'm not sure that he has any interest in doing so.

I quit watching wrestling for a few months and I come back and Jinder Mahal is the fucking WWE Champion? What the actual fuck?

I still wonder the original plan was for Vince Russo: WCW World Champion. How would that had gone? As much as I hate having two World Titles, at least it isn't treated as a hot potato any more. Between 1999 and 2000, Vince McMahon, Vince Russo, and David Arquette all got World Title reigns. If Russo had been booking the WWE in 2007, he would've had Kevin Federline win the WWE Championship when he went over John Cena.

Buzzfeed discovered the People's Eyebrow and this article is as cringeworthy as you might imagine. https://www.buzzfeed.com/norbertobriceno/smelalalalalalalow?utm_term=.bqr2NNBxZ#.npze4493R

And now he's returning to WWE to induct the Rock and Roll Express.

Corvette's anti-WWE crusade would have more credibility if he hadn't spent over a decade with them and served in a prominent role. The guy was at one point in charge of their developmental program and was given the opportunity to do the job while living in Kentucky. It's not like he was some pariah in WWE until he decided that slapping students was a good move.

Does anyone actually expect Goldberg to be around after WrestleMania?

Of course, Cornette "doesn't intend to watch it" so we don't know if he'd actually like it if he watched it.