December 2023 Wrestling Talk

[Zakk_Sabbath]

15 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

Eye guesth yuh guys aren't readeee fuh dat yettt. Butttt yer kids are gunna luv it, daddy.”

Cody's neck tattoo begins fading like the McFly kids in the Polaroid as he crumples to the ground

[zendragon]

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, Teflon Turtle said:

I'm glad to see this was brought up. From what I'd seen, not only is Okada's wife more famous than him, (and maybe it thus goes without saying) she also makes more money than he does.

On that topic, the rumors about Okada's salary have usually been that what he makes in New Japan is comparable to what the top wrestlers in WWE make. 

The icing on the cake that I haven't seen mentioned here yet is that Okada and his wife had a child last year. All told, I don't think he'd have a ton of incentive to move overseas unless he'd be offered a ludicrous amount of money or NJPW absolutely can't afford him any longer. I can only assume a big part of the reason why New Japan hasn't been offering foreign wrestlers contracts is so they can ensure their domestic stars can keep getting paid and won't go elswhere.

 

Suzuko Mimori's talent agency (which she's been with for around 15 years) is also owned by Bushiroad, so there's that too.

[John from Cincinnati]

33 minutes ago, zendragon said:

Doesn’t work with penne. 

[Curt McGirt]

Is Josef Samael still slumming it in MLW?

[zendragon]

yes and I believe he owns a piece of PCW Ultra 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Is Josef Samael still slumming it in MLW?

I forgot if I mentioned this already, but I ended up trying out more MLW after I caught that ECW Arena show real late the other week. Alex Hammerstone seems like a guy there who could be destined for more

[Cobra Commander]

wonder how things would have worked out in a universe where Hammerstone gets the Wardlow spot of being MJF's muscle and then feuding with MJF

[Infinit]

 

[Curt McGirt]

Can't watch that, feel braincells dying already

Hammerstone has all kinds of future whenever Court decides to finally answer his phone calls and let him go.

[Peck]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Is Josef Samael still slumming it in MLW?

I don't think I've seen him in MLW since the Contra days a few years ago.

[Cobra Commander]

the last MLW I regularly watched had Josef Samael invading the MLW headquarters once their backlog of matches taped before COVID ran out

[username]

Samael hasn't been in MLW for at least a couple years now.

[Cobra Commander]

Topanga wearing a Halloween Havoc 93 t-shirt next to Mick Foley: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Zx4tGJJzT/

Also, there's a photo of Mick with Ric Flair and the soon-to-be former Dolph Ziggler from the same convention. Tony's not paying Ric Flair, Ric Flair is paying Tony by recruiting Dolph Ziggler.

[Shartnado]

7 hours ago, zendragon said:

This is also something you need to be wary of when making spaghetti when you are way too tired to be cooking and continuously nodding off.

[Shartnado]

6 hours ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Doesn’t work with penne. 

I would imagine tagliatelle would also reqiure some unusual methods in order to work. I might be persuaded to pay to see someone try, though!

[Elsalvajeloco]

I am just about done with my 1994 rewatch based on the stuff I was planning to watch (still have to finish off When Worlds Collide, gonna dig up some Japan stuff, etc.). Right now, I am watching the ECW Hardcore TV episode from 12/6/1994. I don't remember it ever coming up that pre Loose Cannon Brian Pillman showing up at the ECW Arena (w/ Sherri Martel) to replace an injured Steve Austin. This goes especially when they're going out their way to bury WCW a good portion of time. Even in passing, they take a dig that although Ron Simmons became the first African-American to win the world heavyweight title he still wants to win the "real" world title.  I am guessing and safely assuming Bischoff just didn't give a shit since he admittedly didn't really follow ECW and certainly not this time period of the promotion. That said, I am only a few minutes in and they use audio of Pillman cutting a very much the same type of promo he would a couple years later. At this point of his career, he probably would have done better in ECW.

It's interesting that even though Heyman clearly has an issue with Atlanta, he has no issue with using their contracted talent. That's wild that their talent is showing up this frequently in ECW knowing what would happen the same next year and then into 1996 and it not be a mutual thing like SMW/WWF or USWA/WWF.

[Curt McGirt]

Wasn't it that Bischoff had to do talent exchanges because of lawsuits Heyman filed against Turner? 

[Elsalvajeloco]

19 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Wasn't it that Bischoff had to do talent exchanges because of lawsuits Heyman filed against Turner? 

I haven't heard that, but I dunno if it court can enforce a talent exchange and definitely one where it's one way traffic. At least 1996-97, WWF would bring in ECW talent. There was also that weird Raw at the Manhattan Center in 1997 that was basically an ECW show with WWF matches thrown in.

Funny someone should post that Foley picture with Danielle Fishel wearing that Halloween Havoc 1993 shirt cause I just finished the Foley is Pod ep on that show. Mick said on that ep he basically gave his notice to WCW far in advance, which is he showed up in ECW about two months before the loser leaves WCW match at Fall Brawl 1994 with Sullivan. However, for ECW to have access to Austin (he was hurt so he wasn't able to come in), Pillman, Funk (finishing up with WCW but still) and Sherri all the while you have Styles and Shane burying WCW is kinda bizarre. Finishing up the episode, Heyman cuts a pretty good promo but he's been dropping a lot of references to the Dangerous Alliance. Granted, a lot of it is to put over his own talent like Taz and Sabu but it sounds like he's working towards an angle with WCW talent.

To me, it sounds like ECW was still flying so below the radar outside of hardcore/smart fans and the Northeast that it's still being treated like basically an above average independent. I mean in truth that is what it was, but you totally wouldn't have that nowadays even there was a lawsuit like the MLW one. Mickie James under Impact employ got to be in the Royal Rumble as an "our bad" IIRC, but that's the exception to the rule. You weren't having two companies doing a talent swap.

[zendragon]

9 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

wonder how things would have worked out in a universe where Hammerstone gets the Wardlow spot of being MJF's muscle and then feuding with MJF

depends what wrestler he cosplays as

[Zakk_Sabbath]

2 hours ago, zendragon said:

depends what wrestler he cosplays as

Now, I don't know enough/haven't seen enough of the guy to comment on this adequately, but I'll say this: if I had to describe what I've seen so far using other folks, my kneejerk reaction is that he seems like a chimera of Shane Douglas and Jake Hager. How far off am I?

[Dolfan in NYC]

15 hours ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Doesn’t work with penne. 

Well, not with that attitude.

[Sublime]

3 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

 a chimera of Shane Douglas and Jake Hager. 

I know nothing of Hammerstone but this makes him sound like the most middling non-spectacular wrestler ever, perfectly fine but never get me to be too invested or paying to see. 
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but if you added some Mike Rotunda to the mix it would be 100% true.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

Lmfao the Cap'n out here catching strays

[Cobra Commander]

3 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

my kneejerk reaction is that he seems like a chimera of Shane Douglas and Jake Hager. How far off am I?

Yeah I remember Hammerstone sorta looking like if Shane Douglas had toxic waste dumped on him ala the Secret World of Alex Mack and mutated to become wide.