thee Reverend Axl Future

For me, Fat Man Ring Gear has one classic look: (bib overalls, dirty shirt, horseshoe/bone accessory, shoes optional) and one casual look: (any ensemble that Capt. Lou ever sported) unborn virgin goats milk, RAF

Adrian Street's books are really fun and detailed, and the Vachon books are great as well. I enjoyed the Blassie book and the Gorgeous George bio muchly, and you probably can find them at uninflated prices. - fundamental, RAF

"Tibetan Stomper" just doesn't have the same ring to it. I strongly disagree. I think Tibet is an untapped resource of gimmicks: exotic martial arts killers, imperturbable mystics, primitive cow-herding barbarians, hypocritical "non-violent" lamas, Red Chinese sympathizing traitors, anti-Maoist guerillas... the sa-skya's the limit!, RAF

Out of curiosity, what was the reason all you supplicants did not pay cash for the physical copy of GHart's book when it came out? - RAF

NNNOOOOO! Pandorataker, what did you do? Now I want to see that picture again. - RAF

A couple of years ago, there would have been just as many pages of sexual device/household appliance mash-up gags. The Sleaze Thread: a lifetime ago... young lads we were, and twee, RAF

Factually speaking, it was Sheik's cocaine blow but Duggan's marijuana reefer for the arrest. I am sure they respected the rules of hospitality. - RAF Unfortunately, it can't be. Duggan's run as King Duggan was in '89. Duggan and Sheiky baby were busted together in '87. Dammit, why must you all trample on my particular flavorful medley of reality & kayfabe & fantasy? If I want to miserably grounded, I would be watching RAW. - dang, RAF

Please tell me this is just before his infamous arrest. I am seeing in my head The Iron Sheik just off camera cutting a promo on a pimply faced park worker after looking through one of those souvenir racks for a little license plate that says 'KHOSROW'. He's got a fanny pack with a Proto Pipe, a pack of Sno Seals and 14 Crunch bars in it, and the cooler is packed with ice and beer in the trunk of the Tercel. Somewhere a state trooper is reading a Sports Review Wrestling magazine, unaware of his date with destiny... - RAF

I hate to disrespect a worker's cash flow, but I concur about how useless the MLewin book is. I liked hearing about Shane, Hart, Iaukea and Sullivan but it's a must-avoid, especially with all the better books out there. - RAF

I'm really surprised no one in wrestling has tried to book a one handed wrestler specifically for this purpose. I was always very disappointed that the Iron Duke Jim Mitchell (AWA) never used his lobsterhand as an offensive weapon, say a claw strike to he throat. - RAF

I don't know if this is a heel gimmick thang, but some cocky indy fellow has to steal this, maybe having it read "before I get signed". On some cheap colored paper, inexpertly cut from Kinko's. And offer to sign them for a dollar. - RAF

As for that Onita brawl, it made me wish for a wrestling video game with a Japan Death Match option, wherein the floors are slippery, cowboy boots and belts are effective foreign objects, the chairs have different sound effects, the tables can't break, the crowd scatters when you go outside and there is a constant screech of "GETBACKINDARING". - RAF

This inspired piece of casting really flips my wig: Roddy Piper as Oscar Wilde. I salute you, Upward Rising Development film production staff. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3103620/?ref_=nv_sr_1 No other details, but they shall have my viewing eyes and maybe even my money. "everything popular is wrong". RAF

I disagree but kayfabe in the modern media era does inhibit publicity for pro wrestling. I do think that even if all pretense of out of the ring kayfabe was halted, business would not increase at all. It might as well be live "Power Rangers" then. Kayfabe is the beauty of the whole thing. Without it, it is just "fake fighting". Kayfabe is what I miss most about rasslin'. - RAF

[sorry, late to the party, too much work] Oy, such mocking. I may not be sure of everything I see, but I am always suspicious: you can never take the carny out of an ex-worker. I maintain it is too convenient that a debuting wrestler who is getting hot-shotted to face the new Underdog Champ gets to make a literal colorful splash, putting him over as a tough guy brawler. Am I being too skeptical/cynical/realistic? Maybe, but little goes on in a WWE ring that isn't planned. Usually the director is under strict orders to zoom out when there is color, and the medic or ref wipes it away and greases the cut. Last time (that I recall) that something like this happened was MITB '13, Heyman turning on C. M. Punk. There was speculation of a blade job then as well, but they definitely took advantage of the situation (intentional or not) with some gory pics of backstage stitchwork. Strangely enough, at the TLC PPV after the NXT one, Dolph Ziggler got color, the announcers were not shy about mentioning it and it factored into the finish. New era? stubbornly recalcitrant, RAF

I still think it looks like he bladed. As I said, he would not have done it without approval. Gigging the bridge of the nose is done to achieve such an effect. If he did, more power to him. If not, it was some sloppy punching. - RAF

It's a Festivus miracle! - RAF

I also enjoyed the show. A couple points: - CGraves did a fine job on commentary. - FBalor entrance as the sexiest go-go boy at Burning Man was fun. - BCorben still does nothing for me. - Sea chantys are good but chanty crowds are shite. - FOwens still plays to the crowd constantly, ugh. Nice entrance music. As I saw it, he got his color the old fashioned way: he bladed. It looked like he kept the gigger in his mouth. When he came out later, there was no swelling or discoloration that often come with a bruised or fractured nose. Also, he still had his color on - if it was truly verboten wouldn't he have been cleaned up? I am sure management was down with this. - Tag match was disappointingly sloppy in spots and had a crap finish. - Ladies match was brilliant. SDRey was one of the best workers when she was active, mostly because she could put together a match better than almost anybody. It has carried over to her training and laying out. - Speaking of ring geniuses, thee appearance of the night was Pat Patterson. I feel like he had his hand in laying out the feud for the main, as it had his subtle brilliance on it. better than the main roster? definitely more fun, RAF

That may also be the problem- For everything that HHH gets, the one difference is that he seems to get that pro wrestling is now officially "the geeks' sport" and is trying to adjust WWE as a whole to reflect that going forward, WWE is at its peak as one of many parts of geek culture. Vince McMahon, on the other hand- is an alpha male, and wants the WWE to appeal to other alpha males- so wrestlers who appeal to geeks and different subsets of it- which can make the casual adult fans get interested, will never succeed as well as someone who can presumably get those alpha males Vince WANTS to like the show back into the fold. I've been saying this for some time and could not agree more. That WWE is blowing this opening to feed of of geek culture - and the money and tech savvy that's there - is absurd. The sort of irony being that Punk is running off to the UFC, where most of the WWE's meathead crowd ran off to. I wanted to disagree with SorceressKnight's theory at first, but upon further reflection it seems truer and truer. Is HHH that carny/mercenary/realpolitik/capitalist/realistic/pragmatic that he can overcome his own jock roots and consciously steer WWE towards this demographic? hhmmmm, RAF

I'd love to see something like this tried on Adult Swim. Sort of, kind of: - RAF p.s. - the proper usage, rassling-wise, is "was banana", singular, cf. PPatterson.

I often picture Mr. McMahon as the Major General Bartford Hamilton Steele character from the "The General Flipped At Dawn" episode of M*A*S*H, who berates the series regulars with his looniness including the statement "M*A*S*H means 'Mobile' " and moving them closer to the front. The pedantic/bureaucratic/irrational New Owner who takes over the Family Business and steers it away from it's Original Purpose, Meaning or Soul is a common trope (usually resulting in the workers taking over and restoring the circus/carwash/taxi service/college/etc to it's former values, y'know, for the kids). VKM's literal insistence on the "Entertainment" aspect is understandable, but to me "Wrestling" encompasses the entertainment aspect anyway, and to emphasis the "E" dilutes the S.I.O.P. Isn't baseball entertaining, or Shakespeare In The Park, or the Olympics? I dunno, RAF

That forking jiggly vein on Mr. Intensity reminds me of the one from Don Muraco's arm: It fascinated us greatly during his '80s WWWF/WWF run. He became even more... um, vascular later on. I dunno what became of The World's Most Intense Sting Fan but I am sure it involved bad tattoo choices and jobs with nametags. rassling!, RAF

I never get tired of boob jokes about The Rock. emmis, RAF

Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy are right there, no need for butt-babying. Texicans Tres Mil, let JBL manage 'em, starting a new trios division. longhorn, RAF p.s. - the idiom "butt-baby" as a verb <copyright*trademark*patent pending*prior use>

But what about thee Asiatic Spike? confused, RAF