thee Reverend Axl Future

- you're welcome, RAF

When Humperdink threw him out of the CWF heel locker room, or rather, threw his gear out into the hallway, for being a loser (post-injury, after doing a lot of ringside work with Ron Bass and taking the blame for RB losing the Southern Heavyweight Title), didn't he have a brief face run versus The House Of Humperdink and teamed with Dusty Rhodes? I remember him returning with the mohawk in Texas with Skandor Akbar after that. One Man Gang always rocked. the brain cells are weak, RAF

That's Panama Gang to be precise, y'all. - RAF

My pick is Chicago's International Amphitheatre, a unique venue that was the site of much rasslin' history, and indeed much US sports history. Built for cattle shows, it's solid concrete construction and layout made it a natural for hockey, concerts, basketball, political conventions, wrestling and even soccer. I saw my favoritest card ever there, after it had been sold to a Mexican-American promotion cartel - thee AAA/ECW supershow. It had the best concessions I have ever eaten at at an event and was the only time I ever was in a riot (as a fan). So bueno. memories, RAF

PP>HHH -RAF

I own a bottle of this, and will douse myself in it when I am forced or obligated to go to a function that involves me going to a church. It smells like a mix of Paco Raban, generic Mountain Dew and old AMC car dashboard - perfect for keeping the Prince of Peace at bay! = RAF

- RAF

This was a really solid show with great... everything. If this is the week before the blowoff show for Wargames, then i am ascared that they will not be able to top it. NXT is great at creating a perceived sense of urgency amongst the wrestlers that it is important to get on the big shows, that it means something, just as they have made it like (as it should be) the belts really are important to the wrestlers themselves. The Sullivan/Dream finish did a great job of pre-PPV (sic) "hey, the challenger could really win this", and the post-match angle with Chiampa really took it over the top to "oooh, now I want to see him win it!". Masterful. Yadda yadda, why can't they do this on RAW or SD!?... - RAF

Nick Bockwinkel don't wear no wife-beater. - RAF

I watched the latest WWE/UK/NXT show and this thread was all I could think of during Ashton Smith vs. Tucker match. Thanks, folks... - RAF

On a personal note, I am a big fan of Memphis rasslin. It sucked now and then, but nothing kills my heart like the WCW levels of suck. The was no excuse why that Bischoff/Russo/Herd/et al (and plenty of other folks let me down, many of the workers included) stuffingIOP was so terribly awful given the resources and talent at hand. Plenty of reasons, but no excuses. I would much rather watch Man Mountain Link as USWA Champ than David Arquette, dontcha know. That said, I still do not believe that when WCW was "on top" it was making a profit. If we are going with feds that did not make money give me ECW all day long. - RAF

Oh believe you me, when Mempho was bad it was really really really bad. During the times when the star power was not there, the show might be built around Bill Dundee or Snowman. In a comp tape world, you can be dazzled by it's edited brilliance and certainly Lance Russel could make chicken broth seem thrilling. When it was good it was great but oh boy, there were plenty of hours of stinkeroos. I am of the firm mindset that Bischoff Era WCW never made money. Let's not forget the sweet contracts that Hogan (and company) had, and that monstrous percentage of merch he made AND -this always blows my mind: his salary was not even on WCW's books, it was paid from some far more profitable sector of Ted Turner's empire. Holy creative bookkeeping, Battman* - RAF *Tony Marino, not drunk Adam West vs. SuperKing

For the Ralph Kramden Sartorial HoF, I nominate those pants that ref Fred Nicholas is wearing. Nevertheless, Thee Mormon Giant has never failed to impress in any footage I have seen of him, his interviews were effective and he took a great promo shot too, what with that pompadour and 'chops. - RAF in Mr. Blackwell mode

I am hoping that thee young'uns will investamigate and discover the brilliance of thee BB, who pioneered so much stuff it is mind-warping. That mighty Greg Sage DVD/CD set on thee Beautiful One is really one of the best things I ever got, media-wise. He should do one on Chris Colt as well, although it might be NSFW. - RAF

I just spent 15 minutes looking for a not too scarifying/SFW Aphex twin video, but couldn't find one. Sorry, kids, best this Rev could do: yer welcome, RAF

Incorporating street people and winos into your promos is some next level Beautiful Beauregard/Jimmy Valiant/North South Connection level cosmic slop, easily on of the best things the usually dreadful HH ever has done. - RAF

I remember on the indies a big division between the old school workers and their trainees, who were not allowed to get into a ring without official rasslin boots, and the "next generation' who were trained by those above trainees. Japan tapes, backyard feds, friends training friends, changing styles of dress and work, all had something to do with it. I remember some folks just plain did not want to buy boots or at least spend money on them, which I found amazing. THE BOOTS ARE ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF BEING A RASSLER - that, and being allowed to refer to oneself in thee third person. The Reverend liked that. - RAF, K&H customer

I do not want to get in a political discussion, but this is some unfounded crazytalk. Wrestling has always been a mixed-up jumble of conservative & reactionary (outsiders are evil!) and liberal & progressive (different folks can work together!) viewpoints but has mostly stayed apolitical. The McMahon family (as did most promoters) supported whatever party was in power and whomever would let them make as much dirty carny money as possible. Vince and Linda in particular contributed to both the Republicans and Democrats for decades, and her run as a Rep. candidate was mere opportunism. The Trump connection is based on his reality show fame and mutual money-making, not necessarily from shared values. A large part of both rassling story arcs and match psychology are based on the individual, often the underdog, overcoming the odds. The Elite/1%/Rich White Guys believe they are better and therefore deserve what they have - that's human nature. The Randian individualism "philosophy" shares this view as well, and is adopted by some of the far Right folks as well as the Libertarians. Breaking up groups and turning faces has been around since Oog threw a worked punch at Mok, in front of the whole tribe, not to say they aren't overused tropes by a crappy writing committee. The idea that VKM thinks that a grim negative booking trend to prove a political point will draw more money than one that makes fans happy is ridiculous. C'mon, Mr. McMahon is guilty of a bunch of stuff as the man with the most booking power (the potty humor, the misogyny, the out-of-date references) but he has never been of a political bent or especially of advancing a political agenda by booking anti-humanist propagandas. Then again, the personal is the political, so what do I know? - RAF

I cannot express my adoration for the above clip enough, so many of my favorite rasslin things: Florida, young BWindham, Solie, an Asiatic spike, that janky army cot stretcher... Muraco is one of the top three heels EVER in my opinion, just check out that promo and his impatient stalking whilst YBW is being attended to. So so good. - RAF p.s. - who was thee genius who named that move? "how about the thumb of death?" "naw, the asian thumb!" "the asian spike!!" (genius guy) "it needs to be called Thee ASIATIC Spike" "yes" "yeah" Who was that??!?!? Why does that work so much better? The move even gets traced and historicized, via thee Magnificent One & Killer Khan to Terry Gordy. Damn, I love this stuff.

Hey now, I can pull the geezer card as well. Rotundo in Florida was a very effective babyface with a great amateur wrestling gimmick - the heels would drive him to lose his temper for great comebacks where he would meet them on their dastardly violent level. The US Express was a over-like-Rover tag team that did not follow the Fabulous/R'n'R mold but sexy for the ladies and were hard-hitting enough for the menfolk. Varsity Club was tall genius too. - RAF

I am a big Ole Anderson mark, but a major part of his face run post-Horsemen was incorporating the novelty hit single "The Curly Shuffle" into his interviews and ringwork. The horror, the horror... If anyone thinks that there is a single heel who cannot be booked as a babyface -and if they were ever any kind of an effective heel, an over babyface- then you really do not understand Thee Rasslings. -RAF

...because it wasn't Jimmy's fault. - RAF

I just wanted to say that I am very delighted with the return of Noam Dar. The man is a great worker. Another of my (until recently) underrated faves is thee impressive Buddy Murphy - a tag team of these two would be devastating, very 70s rassling vibe. How about thee WANEBY Express (We Are Not English, Bloody Yanks)? - RAF

Twitter itself and the way people use it is a large part of the problem. Each additional application merely exacerbates the problems it causes, as usual. As with any medium, identification of it's advantages and problems before using it is necessary but rarely done by those who have immersed themselves in it. I am against it for the most part. It's a black hole of shitness, and lately it has been burning, degrading everything inside it. Leave it alone and let it wither. - RAF (insert .gif of Abe Simpson v. cloud headline here)