The Viceland Wrestling Documentaries

[J.T.]

10 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

I could have sworn WCW had a restaurant at some point or tried to jump into that world.

They did.  WCW used to run the Nitro Grill inside of some casino in Paradise, Nevada.   There were plans to create a chain of restaurants but shit happened.

Edited July 21, 2023 by J.T.

[Log]

1 hour ago, J.T. said:

They did.  WCW used to run the Nitro Grill inside of some casino in Paradise, Nevada.   There were plans to create a chain of restaurants but shit happened.

I think "but shit happened" may be the most succinct description of the fall of WCW I've ever heard.

[bobholly138]

Don't forget Jerry Lawler's Bar adn Grill on Beale street.

Food is ok. But so much stuff in there.

 

Also marked out for the mention of Olive Branch. Buddy lives up that way,works as Gio Savage.

[paul sosnowski]

The timeline doesn't seem to match up at all for me.

Devon Nicholson worked one squash match for WWE in 2005, losing to Heidenreich in 38 seconds on SD.    He worked one Sunday Night Heat match in 2006, losing to Eugene in 3:28.

He wrestles Abby for the first time in 2007, in a cage, which is the basis of the lawsuit.   Wrestles Abby maybe 3 more times between 2007-2009.

So please explain how and when the WWE was ever interested in Nicholson, and that the HEP-C cost him a WWE contract in 2009???

I also find it FN hilarious that for the last 4 years, Nicholson has apparently worked under a mask in Canada, under the gimmick The Blood Hunter.

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by paul sosnowski

[Elsalvajeloco]

I think the WWE thing is a red herring because I am not sure how that necessarily ties in other than the WWE is the big time so that's where the aspirations.

The point is if you try to work anywhere...TNA or this or that promotion over here where you can get work, having something that's going to get flagged on your blood work is going be a bitch. It doesn't necessarily have to be WWE. There are MMA fighters and boxers who cannot fight on regulated shows (i.e. not on Native reservations although that's changed a lot and less of a workaround) because they contracted something that will stop them from getting licensed. So they have to get fights at like some bar in Tijuana or find some unscrupulous place where they will take anyone. It's no different than indy guy like Hannibal doing basically the same thing. That's no excuse for Abby to be jabbing dirty razor blades into his forehead.

[Dolphman 3000]

9 minutes ago, paul sosnowski said:

So please explain how and when the WWE was ever interested in Nicholson, and that the HEP-C cost him a WWE contract in 2009??

Hannibal had worked in Puerto Rico against Primo, so I'm guessing either Carlito and Primo put in a word for him, or WWE scouts noticed him when they were scouting Primo

[paul sosnowski]

Hannibal was also doing violent matches in PR from 2005-2007 before he ever met Abby

[Elsalvajeloco]

5 minutes ago, paul sosnowski said:

Hannibal was also doing violent matches in PR from 2005-2007 before he ever met Abby

So are you saying he magically picked Abdullah out of the bunch, who just happened to also have Hepatitis C?

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, bobholly138 said:

Don't forget Jerry Lawler's Bar adn Grill on Beale street.

Food is ok. But so much stuff in there.

 

Also marked out for the mention of Olive Branch. Buddy lives up that way,works as Gio Savage.

I picked Olive Branch out of the sky, but if I ever move back to Mississippi, I moving to either Olive Branch or Horn Lake. Crime be damned. I am not moving back to terrible part (relative to the rest of Mississippi) that's just in the middle of nowhere.

[odessasteps]

I do agree with theory that it's possible Hannibal, given all the matches he did around same time as the Abby match, may have gotten it from someone. 

Again, unsympathetic characters abound in this episode. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

34 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I do agree with theory that it's possible Hannibal, given all the matches he did around same time as the Abby match, may have gotten it from someone. 

Again, unsympathetic characters abound in this episode. 

Based on what though?

It went to trial in TWO different countries. I ain't no legal expert, but what do you think Hannibal had the burden of proving? They don't award people randomly saying, "X did this to me on this date" and judges automatically rule in their favor. He would have had to pinpoint a specific timeframe he contracted Hepatitis C. There is no theory. Either they found Abdullah was the person who likely gave it to him or he had no case at all. It's very cut and dry. If that falls apart, then he (Devon Nicolson) would have lost automatically. The whole crux is built on I was able to find when I contracted this and here is how it happened. 

Now juxtapose that with how the WWE handle the concussion lawsuit. You got folks who have wrestled multiple decades (in WWF/E and elsewhere) who probably have no real evidence of when they were concussed other than a feeling or being checked out by a WWF or WWE physician who gave the all clear and they still felt certain symptoms. So the whole thing fell apart. All WWE argued was there is absolutely no way most of these people can prove when and where they got these concussions or that those injuries happened at a WWE live event or under WWE auspices like the training facility in Stamford. We can all safely assume there were dozens of head injuries that happened in WWF/E for multiple years that either went diagnosed or undiagnosed. However, if you cannot prove they happened, then there is no case.

If random people know Devon Nicolson had a career outside of wrestling Abdullah the Butcher, you don't think the people repping Abby had that same information? You think they went, "well shit...he may be right so we're SOL."

The only way Devon Nicolson would have won is if they found his timeframe, likely blood tests prior to his matches with Abby, and his recollection of those events was the most accurate. Until someone proves otherwise, that's what happened. Everything else is conjecture.

[odessasteps]

Conjecture, sure. That's why I said I could believe that theory.   

[Elsalvajeloco]

5 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Conjecture, sure. That's why I said I could believe that theory.   

Shit, we all remember when Dutch booked El Hepatitis as the top heel on the island and then they were able to sell out Roberto Clemente Coliseum every week. 

[odessasteps]

Dutch's pod is good for one PR story every week.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

7 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

You want to absolute lose your shirt? Get in the restaurant business. Keep in mind, Atlanta ain't exactly Olive Branch, Mississippi. There are places to eat every ten feet in every direction.  Atlanta is a place where if you're in the restaurant game, your word of mouth better be strong as hell to survive. There are way too many options. I only heard of the place cause I've been a wrestling fan all my life. I don't ever remember it getting rave reviews.

I ate at (read: was dragged to) Abby's in... 2012, I think? I remember it being on the level of mall food court level food.

[Elsalvajeloco]

19 minutes ago, Sparkleface said:

I ate at (read: was dragged to) Abby's in... 2012, I think? I remember it being on the level of mall food court level food.

That doesn't sound too bad, but for a major city, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

If I am tourist and can only eat at a certain number of places due to the amount of time I am able to be there, that food better be off the goddamn chain. This goes especially if I have friends who are natives or locals who go on and on about certain spots all the time.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

15 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

That doesn't sound too bad, but for a major city, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

If I am tourist and can only eat at a certain number of places due to the amount of time I am able to be there, that food better be off the goddamn chain. This goes especially if I have friends who are natives or locals who go on and on about certain spots all the time.

Oh, on my Atlanta tourist power rankings, it was right around the chili slaw dog I had at the Varsity. The one at the airport. So not very high.

Now Ria's Bluebird and Java Jive, those two are a different story. (Caveat: I really like breakfast food.)

[DreamBroken]

2 hours ago, paul sosnowski said:

The timeline doesn't seem to match up at all for me.

Devon Nicholson worked one squash match for WWE in 2005, losing to Heidenreich in 38 seconds on SD.    He worked one Sunday Night Heat match in 2006, losing to Eugene in 3:28.

He wrestles Abby for the first time in 2007, in a cage, which is the basis of the lawsuit.   Wrestles Abby maybe 3 more times between 2007-2009.

So please explain how and when the WWE was ever interested in Nicholson, and that the HEP-C cost him a WWE contract in 2009???

I also find it FN hilarious that for the last 4 years, Nicholson has apparently worked under a mask in Canada, under the gimmick The Blood Hunter.

 

In a previous documentary about it, He said it was after his 15th tryout that he finally got offered a contract and then has the letter from WWE rescinding the offer dated July 2009. 

[AxB]

I reckon he's hoping most people confuse him for Nigel McGuinness, who actually had a WWE contract offer that was rescinded due to having Hepatitis.

[odessasteps]

46 minutes ago, AxB said:

I reckon he's hoping most people confuse him for Nigel McGuinness, who actually had a WWE contract offer that was rescinded due to having Hepatitis.

Or Cowboy Bob Orton, who famously had Hepatitis during Randy's feud with Taker. 

[zendragon]

1 hour ago, Sparkleface said:

I ate at (read: was dragged to) Abby's in... 2012, I think? I remember it being on the level of mall food court level food.

I first heard about it I think in PWI and was always curious, I guess if I’m ever down south Big Poppa Pump Shoneys is still an option 

[Dog]

1 hour ago, AxB said:

I reckon he's hoping most people confuse him for Nigel McGuinness, who actually had a WWE contract offer that was rescinded due to having Hepatitis.

I thought that was because of his arm injuries, and he didn't get hepatitis until later.

[AxB]

Yeah, I think that's right. And he got Hepatitis B, not C. But still, there was a lot of sympathy for Nigel not getting the big career break when his contemporaries did, but it was long enough ago that people might have forgotten  enough of the details (like I did!).

[Curt McGirt]

2 hours ago, zendragon said:

I first heard about it I think in PWI and was always curious, I guess if I’m ever down south Big Poppa Pump Shoneys is still an option 

Isn't he still running that shit? Man, I loved Shoney's when I was a little kid for that "free" (as I thought) ice cream.

This talk is reminding me that there was a Road Report one time where a couple of us went to Abby's, who was that? I think Schneider was one? 

[elizium]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Isn't he still running that shit? Man, I loved Shoney's when I was a little kid for that "free" (as I thought) ice cream.

This talk is reminding me that there was a Road Report one time where a couple of us went to Abby's, who was that? I think Schneider was one? 

Old School John would always tell a story about being in town for a convention and going there. Abby wasn’t there that day, but Mrs. the Butcher gave them a ride back to their hotel