thee Reverend Axl Future

Thanks, bruddah. It's that mall punk haircut, half mask and PetCo clerk physique on so many of tnese young'uns - I gets confused. (I have never seen him work, he might be festive for all I know.) - RAF

Q: Why is Jimmy Havoc on that pretty Maki Itoh shirt? Not sarcastic, I don't know what links them enuff to appear together. - RAF

What the heck is Seth Rollins' gimmick anyway? It keeps changing but I never really know what he is supposed to be/want/represent/stand for/aspire to. Even his catch phrases/T shirt slogans don't really mean anything. Maybe he is the human cipher, a tabula rasa, a projection screen for out own identities. Or not. - RAF

Team Manspreading? Basic Instinct Connection? Anyone have a translation for those Jun shirts? - RAF

I was a guest host on The Rock & Wrestling Connection podcast with my chums Jason and Jason, two knowledgeable blokes and between us we managed to have three differing opinions about everything. If you tune in only to here me drop the truths about why Capt. Lou wears rubber bands in his face (sourced painstakingly from the legend himself) then you will be that much closer to achieving satori. I is either on episode #5 or #6, I dunno. Link below, but it appears to be on a few platforms. It was fun, I like to tell stories, and I hope to be invited back even though I can't stand Rush (the Canuck band not Lio). https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-wrestling-connection/id1525264024 - famous in his own mind, RAF

I finished the two Crowbar Press books mentioned above - I tried to make them last but they were too delectable. The Buddy Rogers book was great. It was illuminating to read a positive take on his career, since there was so much negativity about him it was hard to separate the sour grapes & bitterness from his actual place in the history of the business. Like an iconic rock star (Jim Morrison? Iggy Pop? Lou Reed?) Rogers' influence is still felt today, as he is imitated and copied (second/third/fourth/... - hand) by workers who may never have seen him at all. The research was incredible, but I would have liked a little more context, maybe his contemporaries and students talking about what made his work stand out for that era. The Frankie Cain book was doubleplusgood amazing. I could read about vets ranking workers, shooters, hookers, fighters and bookers all day long. The man is a genius and understands what makes pro wrestling work. His childhood was four or five lifetimes of adventures compared to most of us mollycoddled pink softboys, and if it was a movie no one would believe it. His love of the business and of life itself shines through - this should be mandatory reading for anyone in or into rasslin'. It's easily in my top 3 wrestling books. - RAF

My opinion of Bischoff could really not be any lower, but to clarify, has he maintained that Watts approved that initial HH gimmick and now he admits that it was just himself? I feel dirty for even asking, so I probably cannot get myself to listen... thanks, RAF

Reed and Neidhart - the happiest tag team ever? The Chuckle Express! RAF loves a laughing heel. And Duggan/Rhodes - Team SadPads. Buy some new elbow and knee protection, lads. That was a totally relevant foreign object AND the most unique. Is that you, Bill Watts? - RAF p.s. - RIP Hacksaw Butch Reed, you had two times as many abs as the rest of the wrestlers in that ring.

I am not even a Baba fan but these are all great. - RAF

All (of the best parts) (that differentiate it from other entertainments/sports) of pro wrestling is tropes. I am still pondering this topic, but some very generalized thoughts on the cage match escape styles: Cage matches as a race to escape is misapplied logic (always a dangerous thing to bring near rasslin') - "Hey, why wouldn't I rry to get out before (the Heel)?" sez the young finisher-filled Babyface. The concept of the cage match here is to incapacitate your opponent so you can walk out and win. But these workers are putting logic where emotion should be. The match is really so the anger-filled babyface can trap the cowardly heel in the ring with the cage (which can be used as a weapon, so I've been told) so REVENGE & BLOOD can be exacted. As a feud-ender, the face should be furious going in there, as well as anticipatory and determined NOT logical and devious. Of course, there are always different and unique ways to book any match, so it is delightfully possible be surprised., even by these young kids... - RAF

Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant's only bump was often his elbow drop, unless he was feeling tuckered out and then used the sleeper instead. Dory Jr. and Sheik may not have been bump machines but they worked a very physical style, Funk with the suplexes and takeovers and Sheik with the brawling. Falir would often take bumps that he didn't have to, even to the end. Dustin Rhodes? I remember lotsa bumpin'. Lawler could work a whole match with one or no bumps when he wanted to - heck, sometimes there was no contact for the first 15 minutes - and we loved it. All the giants who couldn't work (Khali, Gonzalez, et al) and late era Andre & Baba worked a totally safe style. less is more, RAF

Captain Lou Albano - poet laureate OR rock'n'roll wunderkind? ...or both, RAF

"The House of Positive Energy (H. O. P. E.)" is pretty damn workable, in my opinion. - RAF

Only my vow not to give WWE any $$$ prevents me from nerding out and buy this useless but well designed piece of merch. That belt buckle!!! Now, if they do a Capt. Lou one, I may cave. no chance of that, RAF

That's why he is thee Unpredictable One! Who the heck is Johnny Rodz Jr? HUNG GAR STYLE, FOOLS!!!! Tiger Jackson is sssoooooo good. I like how there is a "Special Appearance" by the promoter in the main event. If "FOR THE BENEFIT OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN" isn't a worked charity, it should be, Community Mayors or not. This poster is so very NE '80s indy show, it hurts me in the heart. - RAF

I can't stands Patera but I am glad DEAN posted this twice so I could like it twice. SCREW THE SYSTEM, BABY! - RAF

When I was young, I was too ig'nant to see what a great champ Mr. Backlund was. Could we grasp what a bold choice it was to choose him to hold the belt? He drew money and worked hard but much of the decision had to be how "controllable" and compliant he was. No other major title holder since was as created and set up by the promoters in that classic way. Most pushed workers since (and many before, admittedly) are aware of any power they have, and can politic and manipulate with the best. Heck, some even have contracts now! This is not to say that McMahon Senior and company did BB dirty but they held the cards. Can you imagine someone with Backlund's "gimmick"/persona/personality/image getting a belt, let alone a push, in the Modern Era (1984+)? Wild, man --- wild... Harvard Steppin', RAF

If there was a "Wrestlers With Cats" thread (sans Teddy Hart (who's cat is really nice, tho')), I would plotz with kawaii. - RAF

Not giving anybody a Scarlet Letter, but getting tested often does not prevent from getting the COVIDs: your behavior (AND luck) does. I would not be surprised if there were many dunderheads who were sloppy about prevention because they were getting tested regularly. I have spoken to a couple workers who have laid low because of sloppy precautions from both promoters paying lip service to rules & common sense and workers who range from denialists to "well, gotta work". Oy, what a world. - RAF

I mean, this is funky like a monkey, if you will... - RAF

TFunk and BEaton would also be in my Ten Top. Are there any modern era folks that y'all would call out for fantabulous punching or is it a lost art? - RAF

Lotsa festive stuff on that CWF segment - the super funky outro music, Missouri Mauler's post-match combover disaster, Dusty's somber Bell's Palsy promos, Terry Funk's intense ones and Jerry Brisco & Abe Jacobs (shooter , trainer and inventor of the Kiwi Leg Roll) against a gurning King Curtis and youthful Frank Goodish, and of course Gordon Solie. - RAF

- RAF

Try looking through Apter mags from the time period. If it was a Weston publication, there will be plenty of ads for it. - RAF

I love seeing "constrained by TV and baing a babyface" Abbie work. Also, so primo Cactus Jack squeals in there and a Hipbreaker Elbow! - RAF