GuerrillaMonsoon

I think if there was any possibility that he was: a) the document would go to painstaking lengths to identify him a lot more clearly (as they did with Lesnar), and b) if there was any scuttlebutt of that, media outlets would be running with that story that a current executive is heavily implicated to be involved in it.

Having read the articles around Dwayne's behaviour for the promotion of Black Adam, in calling audibles without consent from WB, and failed powerplays with the studio, is it unreasonable to suggest that perhaps the same behaviour is occurring here with the Roman match? Was the head of the table line planned, given they'd presumably decided on Cody winning the Rumble at this point and knowing that having such a line would only undermine Cody as a WrestleMania main event prospect and promise a match that they had no intention to deliver other than Dwayne himself? Given they've barely paid any attention to it on the weekly programming since, and the subsequent appointment to the TKO board would somewhat explain his appearance...worth considering.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1053750655747741 Had no idea this match ever happened (not on Cagematch). Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan vs. Jake Roberts and the Berzerker - circa prior to WM 8....

Oh god that's the most unflattering way for him to go out and it's definitely most deserved RF: we're here today with easily the most influential figure in professional wrestling of all time, and thank you for *inaudible*. So obviously, first question, in 1993, you bought Greg Valentine back into the territory *inaudible*, umm, what are your memories of *inaudible mumbling*

I think the Lesnar contributions to the evidence provided makes it difficult to give the benefit of the doubt to the roster. I doubt it's the first talent he's attempted to sign/re-sign by using women in this nature. I think the clear evidence of Vince using them as proxies to act out his sexual fantasies gives rise to a reasonable concern that this isn't the first time it's occurred. There are far too many testimonies from those who either have been the top guy in the company or in a prominent office position that being the top guy involves being joined at the hip to Vince. Working out together, travelling together, booking sessions by the pool. That's a difficult thing to look past and think that offering Lesnar this woman was just a left of centre contract negotiation tactic that he'd never tried before. Should the DOJ rightly review this, I can see regular guests on the WWE jet being akin to how regular guests to Epstein Island being seen as complicit. Do I understand their motivations for remaining silent, not speaking out, not doing more? I'm sure they're varied, fluid and complex. Beyond that, not particularly. The long term acceptance of Grizzly Smith in the locker room. The recalling date rape incidents by Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty on WWE produced programs as wacky pranks. Numerous WWE angles and promos over the years with just a skerrick of truth to them played for entertainment.

The really scummy one for me (by association anyway) is Mick Foley volunteering with RAINN while almost certainly knowing this sort of behavior went on. All the stupid broken TV social media posts when they wouldn't push Daniel Bryan, but continued to take money and constantly come back after his hurt feelings subsided. Never spoke out about any of this. And you just know it was to try and cosy up to Tori Amos. He's a fucking creep, and that whole book (and the one before it where he just has an unhealthy obsession with Melina) is even more creepier today.

I always hoped we'd get one last classic Vince voiceover of the Rumble competitors. After reading the section about him naming sex toys after wrestlers in that context, I think I'd throw up.

Got written up by my boss yesterday for using my phone to take a photo of a client file to send to our administrator via WhatsApp to address an urgent issue. Pointed out that this is common practice, and that they've repeatedly knocked back my request for a work phone despite calls from clients at 2am and on Xmas Day, and that they have no issue with my personal device having logins to our payments system with a few bill under management. Find out from HR that despite my boss telling me I'm being made redundant in merger and should definitely look elsewhere that I was put on the retainer list weeks ago but my coworker on a contract and 30k less is not. Pieces falling together...

Also the 20th anniversary of Hulk being given the chance to get in on the ground floor of Netflix, but declined as he was too far along in negotiations with what then became the Foreman Grill.

*scene cuts to Vince's office as he furiously removes the DVD from the Netflix postal bag, wondering how this model is ever going to work for a Monday Night Raw platform, but also this Dane Cook guy is something*

I assumed Flair taking the majority of the match, Bruno comes back, gets the bear hug on and the lights go out to signal NYC curfew time, with only a few resulting deaths from the ensuing riot.

It's funny in the sense that Bruno as regional champion vs Flair the touring NWA World Champion would have been perfect for each other's style, but also that Bruno hated Flair having the same match night in, night out, and probably wouldn't have gone along with it. It would have been interesting to see if Bruno would have resulted in a better match being inserted into the formula he worked with Luger/Hawk/Koloff instead of those guys. I also saw that we had ostensibly a heel vs heel title vs title match between Graham and Race - anyone got a link to that one?

Agreed. There's also the wink wink referencing of a cage match by the commentary team that it's always going to be the next step in a feud, never the definitive conclusion, you're trained to expect a fuck finish in it. It's there to highlight a monster heel ripping the door off or the babyface jumping off of it. Nothing more. I miss the break in the show to construct the cage, as I felt like it built anticipation for what's to come, rather than there just be a random cage hanging above the ring at the start of the show only to randomly announce a cage match to no one in attendance's surprise.

Did Flair make many trips to New York around this time as champion? I'm assuming not (I know he had that draw with Backlund). I wonder if that was due to politics or how structured the territory was at the time of long term babyface champion, #2 babyface was heating up the next challenger, and #3/4 were thrown together in a random tag team, so there was never really any reason to bring him in?

How have we not had a Bunkhouse Stampede featuring all the hosses on the AEW roster only for it to be won by Orange Cassidy dressed as Woody from Toy Story?

Not sure when the ladder match jumped the shark but it absolutely has. Easily the worst thing of AEW is it's penchant for throwing guys out there in a multi man ladder match with the lowest stakes imaginable and telling them to go kill themselves despite almost all of them resulting in some form of serious injury. No rhyme or reason for these matches, just one spot lined up after another, just competing for a Sonic ring or a non descript shot at a mid card title at some point in the future, that they mostly go on to lose. Don't like that in WWE they became so entrenched in the main event scene because it was easy to move titles around with guys not having to take a clean pin on PPV, and subsequently most of the finished were tainted. Jeff/Taker was a favourite of mine. The first Shawn/Razor holds up against most of them thirty years later. Triple H/Rock was pretty good too. A recent one that was enjoyable was AOP vs DIY on an NXT PPV that gave the underdogs a decent shot in theory against the monster challengers who just wore everything they could throw at them and ran over the top. By contrast, I really love the Pure Title stipulations and wish that was used as a regular stipulation on TV, where guys can absolutely benefit from taking losses with an asterisk when their rope breaks run out.

As much as I love Steamboat/Rude, I also have a fondness for HHH/Rock 2000. I think it showed a willingness to learn from the issues with the psychology of the HIAC earlier that year and what people didn't like of Bret/Shawn and were able to be vulnerable in exchanging falls on transition moves like a DDT to get the crowd into it. The finish is absolutely awful however. By contrast, I feel like Brock/Angle is the most logical booking of one to a point where they killed the gimmick. If you're not going to drop an early DQ to weaken the guy with weapon shots and take two falls as a result and consistently hold that mini-break for the rest of the match, what are you even doing. It also happened to make for awkward TV. Looking through the Wikipedia page there aren't too many examples on there I like/liked. Bayley/Sasha I remember being good but haven't watched it again. Remember hating Rollins/Ziggler and Benoit/HHH. I don't think I could do Orton/Cena for an hour, and that NXT four way sounds my version of hell.

I'd argue Triple H/Rock was better than Rock/Austin. They went up the card together, they were seen as relatively equal to each other, there's varying heel/face alignments. Rock/Austin felt relatively one sided for the most part with Rock not really in Austin's league until Mania X7

I mean its not the worst Hall & Oates tribute band I've ever seen?

I think bringing in Cactus Jack around the same time he first left WCW in June 1990, and does the feud with Sting instead it's with Hogan (rather than pairing him with Earthquake), it would have been fun. But yes, also captivated by the idea of Sabu hitting an arabian facebuster on Hulk through a table, Hulk no selling it, hulking up, and Sabu cutting it off by throwing a chair at his head. Scott Hall would have been handy too. He feeds well for Hogan's offence, Hall's big spots are things you could see Hogan taking without making him look weak, hulking up whilst up for the Razor's Edge has way too much Christ-like imagery for it not to feed his ego either.

I've had Nitro on loop in the background while I sleep the last few nights. Eric Bischoff is the biggest exception imagonable to the saying that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. His hokey, insincere delivery on everything just undermines some absolute bullshit angles every time. He sounds like a total moron trying to put over every second angle as real, legit, unplanned and it's like a few months into the show kicking off and it's clear none of his announce partners want anything to do with it.

Saw Iron Claw last night. Pretty much agree with everything @Tabe said about it. The pacing felt like a Royal Rumble where the ring fills with midcarders and you're just waiting for a big name to turn up and clean house. Just kept building the narrative of Kevin winning the NWA title that really seemed irrelevant to the main story for way too long and then like an hour in its like, well, better start killing off Von Erich kids.

Only got an autographed 8x10 which I traded for a Jeff Jarrett Slapnuts t-shirt. The figurine is out of the box and I have no idea why I did that - I was 12 at the time, and my figurines promotion had long since bombed after headlining it with Ted Dibiase vs Ninja Turtle Donatello for way too long. I'll put it on Ebay and see what sticks.

June 2023 Wrestling Discussion - Page 21 - The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING - DVDVR Message Board (deathvalleydriver.com)

Yeah, fuck Davey Boy Smith