thee Reverend Axl Future

I first heard it from a(n indy) worker. I don't know if they got it from a newsstand magazine or what, but then when I scoffed another young indy worker chimed in with the idea that it was Tajiri's special pants that made that sound. I guess you can work a worker, and everyone is not as carny or canny as they think they are. I gladly spread these rumors as it amused me (fake rassling news?), sort of a meta-kayfabe. How droll I am. - RAF

The only person allowed to do the thigh-slap in my book is Tajiri. Adams gets a pass (and he's dead). All other should buy that solenoid kick noisemaker that Tajiri was rumored to hide in his baggy shiny vines. - RAF p.s. - I liked Wrestling 2's backslap and thought it could be justified as part of thee effectiveness of the kneelift, as with Jake Roberts' (less consistent) DDT percussion. p.p.s. - I was taught to punch with a stomp.

plug: There's a new Rock And Wrestling Connection podcast, and I got asked to help! This time we present thee special Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch edition, ridin' the coattails of the upcoming AEW PPV. It's topical, timely and educational, check it out - - and I am sure it is available on other pod-type platforms as well. Give it a try and let me know what you think, please. - RAF

JCP & Crockett Jr. made some great rassling, so great in fact that 35 years later a brave promoter/booker/worker still copy it, modernize it, namedrop it, or merchandise it and they can still make money. Whether you are in the biz or if you are a new fan, those shows still stand up and the best will get you on your feet. So many eras and so much great action and angles and innovations - thank you, sir. - RAF

I would not put it past the wily Gokuaku Domei to do such a dastardly deed, but was Hair Product V-Neck Babyface Ref or Squat'n'Swarthy Redslacks Heel Ref known to the fans before the switch? Was it part of an angle or typical tactic, or by inference as puro rassling fans did the teenyboppers figure it out? - RAF

I am sure some Hartford CT pencilneck beancounter was tasked to do a cost evaluation of how many new subscribers the complete digitized SMW library would bring to the Network versus how long some intern would have to go through the footage and put a big blue dot over all the Confederate flags and black eyes on Dirty White Girl, and here we are. - yeehaw, RAF p.s. - I like a lot of SMW.

Lordhavemercy, this was brutal but they got their money's worth out of that brutality. Thee Brian Kendrick, at least your brain cells were sacrificed to further Brock's character development, an angle or two and the following SummerSlam. Stick this in the Blood Freak thread. - RAF

Related but not a trope: every f'n HHH entrance, I mutter "Was he that dehydrated that he couldn't finish his water before he comes out?!!? And he doesn't even swallow it!??!" ggrrrrrr, RAF

I hate when workers chew gum. If it's a heel star doing a squash it's cool, otherwise it make it seem to casual and not serious. I do love it when Monsoon or Vince would lose it when Muraco would chew gum, wear sunglasses or eat a meatball sub while wrestling, or Hansen would have some chew. If Buddy Rogers didn't need candy whilst he worked his way to the top, dammit, then neither do these young'uns. - RAF

"Now that's called heat" is the one of the best things for a worker to hear when they get to the back. Now that's called heat, ladies. What was the deal with the ref switch, for those with thee joshi knowledge? - RAF

I can't recall any US women getting color in the US until... ??? Memphis? '90s indies? IWA-MS? Sure, Mexico and Japan, but what is the history of Lady Wrestlers and Thee Blade in the USA? - RAF

WON memories - - the lucha coverage (in a pre-internet era, admittedly much more difficult) was very sparse until he had readers who could properly fill him in, and then Konnannnn came along. - ECW was far overdue for it's own section, and there was some debate about that. - letters! - plugz! - amazingly padded attendance and sometimes imaginary indy show reports. - the lengthy debate over whether MMA coverage belonged in there. Dave liked it, and was covering it by default for other papers/sites (and it's his newsletter) so it went in. Another section for me to skip, but again it is his newlsetter. I did catch the tail end of roller derby, which was also debated before I got there ('84). - Meltzer covering for sources, but occasionally getting worked as management started used him to break stories. - no paragraphs! - no columns! - crazy fonts! - year end editions the size of a tombstone. Those were amazing, with lots of guest writers. It's always been a work in progress, and always worthwhile. ---RAF

This is me whenever ratings start getting discussed, parsed, analyzed, dissected and/or compared... The Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic used to be more "most embarrassing/repulsive angle or gimmick that a promotion did to draw heat, get publicity and/or make money" but it occasionally devolved to "thing that I don't like that this promotion did", but now I guess it can be "bad thing that happened to wrestling". I mean the Speaking Out movement shouldn't be what is voted on, but rather how a particular promotion dealt with the effects of it. "Fritz Von Erich's fake heart attack" ('88) or "José González's babyface push one year after Bruiser Brody stabbing case" ('89) were the classic ones to me. On the other hand, "Bob Backlund as WWF Champion" won in '82, so it has always been a bit ambiguous. - RAF

Ima put this here - Tiger Jeet Singh Sr., keeping it real: He also described one of his most infamous moments, his shopping mall brawl with Antonio Inoki that helped make him a household name. “I was in the shopping centre, and I ran into Inoki’s wife, who was a very popular actress at the time. She looked at my shoes and admired my shoes. Then she looked at my shirt, and touched the material and said she liked that. But then she reached up and touched my turban. My turban is very sacred to me, and I don’t let anybody touch it. So, I reacted and I slapped her. Her bodyguards were around me, and then Inoki saw me, and saw his wife on the ground. He attacked me, and we fought all around. We smashed up the entire place, breaking things, and going through the windows. When the police came, I ran to get a taxi cab, but none of them would stop because I was bleeding and my clothes were all torn. I finally had to jump in front of a taxi and they had to stop, so I told my manager to get in.” “I had to stay in my hotel room for two weeks, because the police wanted to arrest me, and the laws didn’t let them come into my room. Finally, the New Japan office cleared things up, and I went to the police station. They accepted that it was self-defense, because Inoki had attacked me, so I was allowed to go.” real kay fabe and I wouldn't have any other way, RAF p.s. - this from a recent ceremony in Japan where TJSingh Sn. & Jr. were getting an award for there humanitarian & charitable works regarding the '20 tsumani. I caught this from an article about the event on a wrestling "news" site, and of course there was no citation of date or any other context or real info. Why do I continue to forget how crappy most wrestling news sites are? Not only can I cut and paste a press release, but I can also google - "New York, Feb. 25 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Consul-General in Toronto Takuya Sasayama awarded on Thursday the consul-general's commendation to Canada-based charity Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation for contributing to amity with Japan, including support to children affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami." p.p.s. - I have never seen any match with any TJS that I have enjoyed, charitable works notwithstanding. Are there any to recommend?

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 second this motion. Step aside Seinfeld, a new DVDVR meme is created and you were there. In Soviet Rooosha, RAF

As we used to say, so many lifetimes ago it seems, "A MILLION BILLION SNOWFLAKES". It may mean something else now to most, but I still remember... - RAF

I agree that as a "legend", Edge comes off as manufactured. A lot of folks on this board (not necessarily (or at all?) the ones on this thread) were all over those E&C show on the Network, and that's kinda his appeal: an indy (as indies were back then) guy whom you could identify with, who paid his dues made good (like Sean Waltman and the Hardys) who appeared to be happy to be wrestling (unlike XPac) and who stuck around (unlike the Hardys). Christian has always been the more over one on DVDVR but in my eyes Edge and Christian together was much more than either separately. Edge has been in some very fun and a few influential matches (and skits), even if you think he was over-pushed or carried. Some people have had none (hello Dolph!). Since his return it is certainly much more popular to bag on him. I could think of plenty more channel-changers in any of the Eras he was in in the WWE, but "legend"? No. kazoos over 36 minute WM wankfests, RAF

Funeral, you say? I am confident that Martin Scorsese would proclaim this to be a fine use of cinematic technique, and damn funny as well. - RAF

i am really looking forward to the new viceland wrestling documentaries they are really good i like them alot -boys, boys, boys: we're all in the same gang, RAF

Heck, just go with "Frankie Steiner" and take that unused Unfrozen Nazi Wrestler gimmick and tweak it up properly: Ted Turner found a third Steiner brother and as part of a master longterm Monday Night War Masterplan, put him in cryogenic suspension. When scouting locations for this WWE Warehouse Props Roadshow (tie-in synergy!), Malcolm Bivens finds Frankie in a warehouse in Atlanta GA. He emerges, and Bivens, to keep FS under thrall, keeps him thinking it's 1989. His singlet has geometric patterns of orange and acid green on it, he wears Roos, all his promos are shouty, and he keeps asking for Sting and Lex Luger and - his brothers. Everything is EXTREME (and rad). he can work all the vets! start printing my money, Mr. McMahon, RAF

This is f'n sad and most of these folks are the ones getting main events as well, with the exceptions being some of the remaining highlights here - the ladies, RReigns, a couple of the NXTers, New Day. What a revoltin' development. - RAF addendum: are Rey M and Big Show the only WCW vets remaining?

You are so right, in the most important sense of the actual wrestlers involved - I assume you misspoke on the genealogy. Thank you for the correction, I have lost much face. I would like to assume that they are all related like Pacific Islanders,but in some krazy shinobi clan manner, with Killer Khan, the original Kabooki, Lord Tensai, Magic Dragon, Yoshi Tatsu, Taijiri, Yoshi Kwan, Kwang in some jumbled "tree" with most folks being "cousins". Would the Great Nita, Kevin Sullivan, Tor Kamata and King Curtis be honorary uncles? - RAF

Father and son! Aawwww... - RAF

HOLD THE PHONE!!!! that's enough of that, chum. - RAF