Hagan

Awful stuff. And sadly, a lot of this stuff is gonna be hard to prove/disprove so people can justify whatever opinions they have moving forward. With these cases, you look for contemporaneous proof (did the victim tell someone when it happened) and does the accused have a pattern/history. Also, it's really not unfair to suggest that being an asshole or a shitty boyfriend or a cheater rises to the level of being a sexual abuser or exploiting power/authority over someone. Those are the grey areas that make sexual assault/harassment so difficult to suss out. And, ya know, a lot of times we just go by the eye test. Like, the Cornette stuff certainly tracks with everything we know about him. The Riddle stuff, which is horrid, it's okay to need a bit more. Hasn't the guy been married to his wife since high school? Bunch of little daughters? Seemed like a devoted family guy. But I think that's we have to do. Case by case. You know, in law there was always that axiom from Benjamin Franklin that "it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" and now, especially in our vitriolic online world, it seems that it's now "well if 99 percent are guilty who cares if some innocent people get destroyed."

Just saw the Starr thing. Ugh. Edit: deleted a comment that came off as glib. anyway, Anna Jay has potential

I haven't used NJPW World in a while but signed up but am unable to figure out how to log-in on the Firestick app. I get the option for account sign-up but it won't let me sign in or do anything. What am I doing wrong?

I remember some wacky cage match maybe on SD where Road Dogg tries to hit some flippy do move off the top rope) and loses and has a pretty hilarious backstage segment where he’s explaining to Hunter that ‘I usually don’t do that.’

Last Ride is such a great doc.

Bummer that Ospreay is still on ice but will be good to have New Japan back. That first show with fans is gonna be special.

The famous photo of II being headlocked by Carter is so iconic and somehow not even the wackiest photo of a wrestler with a future President. Are there any other good wrestler with politician photos?

The WWE will forever search for another Rey Mysterio while wasting current Mysterio and unmasking every possible Rey Mysterio. The repetition is comforting. I really want Cameron Grimes to just stop everything he's doing with that character. I mean, he was goofy as Trevor Lee as well but it's just so over-the-top. I've been cold on Balor for a while because he seemed to be in sleepwalk mode but he's been good the last few weeks.

- Just finished the show. I love Cody but him going long every week is gonna give me bad flashbacks to old RVD ECW TV title matches against like Chris Chetti that went on for half the show. I mean, logically Cody should lose this belt in three weeks from being run down from these epics. They need to have Cody start dispatching guys in like three minutes for a few weeks because this is gonna get indulgent. - What I liked most about this show was it reminded me of like a really good Smackdown from like ten years ago, back when Vince didn't pay attention to the show. It was just a pretty simple two-hour show that didn't attempt to hot-shot everything, didn't feel the need to force-feed us everyone on the roster and set-up stories moving forward. This company could easily be throwing Moxley and Omega and Jericho in matches every week and burn out the audience but instead the booking is just so patient. Was this the most exciting show? No, but I also don't feel exhausted after watching it and am excited to watch next week.

Penelope has really improved. Her and Sabian probably the biggest beneficiaries of the lockdown as they have gotten a TON of TV time the last few months and have done a pretty good job with it.

Saw on Twitter that Chris Hyatte passed away.

Started watching The Wrestlers doc and the episode on Voodoo Wrestling in the Congo is amazingly interesting

Unbelievably awful year.

It’s only mid-May but this already feels like the saddest year in wrestling history.

Happy for Lynch and, honestly, this is the BEST time to step away from the ring for all the obvious reasons. However, there's a good chance the WWE is gonna be pissed off at this. A due date in December, plus let's say six months after - and if all goes well you can have large gatherings in August 2021 - then a Lynch comeback at SummerSlam could be a huge, huge event, however. Also, not to be a downer - but has the Lynch title run been a flop? The Mania main event underwhelmed. She never got the blowoff with Rousey. I like Lacey fine but that was too soon for a main event feud. The angle with Seth was somehow not the worst thing to kill off his career but was still terrible. The Banks feud was fine with a great HITC match but fizzled out too soon. There were the disastrous back to back main events at Survivor Series and TLC. The last few months have been okay though. I dunno - she's great but that's a lot of bad angles and bad matches there.

Wading through a six-disc set of the Raven/Dreamer feud. It's such a blast. Nothing but hot angles, promos and brawls. In hindsight, I'm not quite sure why Beulah joined Tommy after he spiked* her night after night though. Obviously, the way it wove in so many different characters is what makes it an all-timer. It did get me thinking to how Dreamer has had a really interesting career and has me wondering: is Tommy Dreamer a major wrestling star? He was always decently pushed in WWE and somehow has managed to be on national TV consistently for three decades. Is he just the quintessential midcard star? *piledrove obviously.

Didn’t want to quote tweet but Craig’s post about the Kenny jobber match was 100 percent and more importantly it’s the story the announcers told during the match. Schiavone and Jericho both talk about how Kenny’s getting the ring rust off, getting the reps. They treated it like practice. Then when the guy tagged Kenny he got murdered with the V-Trigger. It’s no different than hearing about boxing sparring matches where the champ is laying back and just warming up and the sparring partner tags him and has to be dropped.

Velveteen Dream reminds me of a dude that Vince Russo would have wanted to push as World Champion in the Attitude Era and Austin would have refused to work with because ‘sumbitch can’t even throw a damn punch or run the ropes properly.’

- After seeing that entrance and presentation, I'm sure Hunter wants to bang both Kross and Scarlet. It's certainly a wild entrance though I'm not sure having her do Luna Vachon faces is how I'd present Scarlet on TV but Hunter does have a type. - That should be about it for a wildly overrated Dream. These empty arena shows have exposed that without a crowd Dream is one of the least-competent wrestlers in the company and the character is so cringe now. Combine all that with his myriad of personal problems and I really don't see him lasting much longer. Addendum: people need to realize that Dream is more likely to be No Way Jose and Adam Rose than the Rock and Hulk Hogan.

Really fun, interesting show. - JR was terrible on commentary and just desperately needs to go. What the heck was that "D-Von get the tables" reference the main event? You got the four of the biggest stars in your company and you're making twenty year old Attitude Era references. - I thought Janela looked good in that Cody match. He clearly has underwhelmed while in AEW and a lot of posts above are spot on. He clearly has charisma and a unique crowd connection, especially in the Northeast. AEW hasn't cracked the code on him yet and he should be given a shot at some kind of angle to see if he can make it work. AEW has a lot of deathmatch wrestlers with no real avenue to show them. Should they make Dark the "hardcore show?" - Brodie vs Mox should be fun and in a way it feels like the blowoff of all the early Dark Order overpushed stuff. Brodie can lose and then they can shift into whatever the act is gonna be (probably more comedy-based). - Brandi is a good promo but, man, nothing they've tried with her works. I mean, the best role for her is WCW-era Teddy Long where she just manages a coterie of well-meaning, nice jobbers. - Britt Baker remains a delight. - I think we're on a trajectory where we can build to a big Archer vs Mox match later this year. Good heat angle with Jake and Brandi but really needed a crowd. - Main event was fun but I tend to glaze over at these long main event tags. Definitely picked up once it to got to the back and Sami took an ALL TIME bump there. He made it look like he got absolutely murdered. Fantastic. - No Bucks and Hangman is hurting the show but it is what it is. - Really great, lively overall atmosphere. I have no real comment about the social distancing stuff because so much of this is filtered from where we live, and our social circle and our responsibilities and personal situation and health. I do hate the "but the optics" arguments. Optics are how something looks to an outsider. Basically, it's where people decide that something that doesn't concern them or has no real bearing to them bothers them or offends them in some way. Now, it many cases it is perfectly reasonable to evoke this. In other cases, though, it's just a way for people to make moral judgments. It's wishy-washy. If you think Tony Khan needed to make sure those kids in masks weren't there that's fine and reasonable but i don't think its particularly a big deal. And I mean the "it's bad Jake took his mask off " argument is dumb too. Dr. Fauci is at press conferences on TV not wearing a mask. The reporters at the the White House press conferences aren't wearing masks. I would suggest focusing less on optics because that's all about just making you feel better or for people to Covid-shame people for not being as monastic as them.

This may be better suited for Wrestling Classics but I watched the Spiderwoman/Wendi Richter double-cross and was it a big deal at the time or generate any controversy? I was a kid at the time and recall whenever I saw it on a VHS that it was just a weird fucked up finish or something. WWF wasn't really known for smooth wrestling afterall. Watching it now - that shit is kinda bonkers.

Good man, Niko. Cueing up Piper's Greatest Hits while I grade papers.

Are the old Coliseum videos still on the Network? I know the re-design is unwieldy so don't know if I'm missing them or if they got pulled.

Sped-read JR's new book and...I just don't know. I mean, his two books haven't really talked about ANYTHING. I would hope they would be more a "front row seat at wrestling history" and instead it's more random, not particularly amusing anecdotes. The new book is very painful. It's just a litany of the myriad of humiliations he faced from the company and how he kept coming back for more (i.e. the money). You get some interesting stuff about Austin's last run, and there's a very cool part about him drinking with Shawn and Taker behind the arena after HBK's retirement match. I know everyone is pretty protective about Shawn's rep these days and certainly there's nothing alarming about a story about him having some social drinks ten years ago but that was interesting. You also get a "that's good shit, pal" quote from Vince regarding some dumbass angle. It's definitely very negative towards WWE but JR is so schizo with that stuff like a lot of lifers are. Like, I kind of wish he would have just gone just scorched Earth on the company but he still has that loyal soldier mentality. The love/hate relationship these dudes have with Vince is really unhealthy. There's also so much about his wife and the grief she got from the humiliations he faced and the time he lost with her due to his job that is just so awful. JR just comes across like such a sad guy who kind of wasted his life in a scummy industry and had weird hero worship/father issues to a bunch of really terrible people like Cowboy and McMahon. On another note: just watched Hogan/Flair from the Garden in '91 and...it's uh really good. Not as good as their WCW '94 series but really fun formula stuff from the two. Hogan kind of had a sneaky good 91 with him carrying Sarge too. I get the business issues but a Mania match with Brain on commentary and Perfect bumping around during a Hogan/Flair match would have been fun.

Fell pretty far behind but what are some of the best non-fiction stuff on WWE Network from the last two years or so to slam?