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Two pieces of advice for all of you who are rushing off to order one: 1) Order one size bigger than usual, because your chest is definitely going to be swelling up with pride as you walk around wearing this. 2) Get two of them, because you'll definitely wear the first one out.

To me there is nothing more WWE than on the day of this, they decide to put on their Twitter a commercial with Drew McIntyre and Sasha Banks for Hefty Trash bags.

I am so Team QT after seeing that.

You should see his bus.

They still are. Every time I see this dude, I have the urge to go full Elaine Benes on him.

Absolutely worth a repost given the news today. Goddamn.

I mean the product they put on tv every Monday night has been trash. At this point maybe it's all they really know

- RAF

Throughout the trial, I kept saying, it’s nice to convict him but that’s just a quick sacrifice and does nothing to address the systemic issues in that department the made Chauvin feel like he could do what he did. So it’s nice to see the DOJ not letting them off the hook as they’re actually going to investigate the department.

After seeing Sam's training montage with the shield, my 4-year-old son was begging for me to get him one. So, I go on Amazon and find a little toy shield for him. I ordered it last Saturday, and it said it'd be in on Wednesday. It was torture for him waiting that long. Yesterday (Wednesday), he wakes up and the first words out of his mouth are, "My shield is coming today!" He checks the front porch before school, but it's not there yet. It times out perfectly, and is delivered right as he pulls in the driveway from school. We get it inside, open the box and there it is! Before we can even see what's happening, he runs to the front door, opens it and throws his shield outside. Then, he starts crying when it doesn't fly back to him. Poor guy. I know he was totally picturing himself throwing it and doing flips like Sam and catching it. He settled down after we explained that it's not made out of the same stuff as Cap's real shield, so it won't do the same things. He's cool with it now. He hasn't put it down since then.

Hi! I made a new wrestling crossword. There are circles in some of the squares, like last month, but it's a different gimmick with the circles. Click it if you want to click it!

If Mandy Patinkin was a Hoss Sorry, I'm rewatching Mr Show

Jesus. I had to read the whole thing to make sure Dave was being figurative rather than literal with the self-throat-cutting.

Sorry, not to belabor this argument but I do want to respond to @Eoae points very briefly. Wait so is the argument that the WWE doesnt' put pressure on male and female performers to maintain a certain aesthetic? Dave talks about guys physiques and looks all the time. The only issue he runs into is you can't rationally talk about women's wrestling anymore without people being incredibly sensitive. Like the Layla El example - when the company has a history of ageism for decades (and when Mickie James herself brought it up weeks ago) is it sexist for people to mention that the WWE has an issue with ageism? It seems to me that what's happening is that Dave mentions ageism and unhealthy pressure to maintain a certain body type that the WWE has fostered for decade and people think he's Bix'ing it by creating an issue that doesn't exist and then criticizing the company for it. In reality he's just highlighting the very real issue the company fosters on people. I mean, go look at the female performers over the last twenty years and look at how they looked when they are hired versus how the end up looking by the end of their run. Even better look at a lot of performers in NXT versus when they get to the main roster. Needless to say, there is nothing WRONG with breast implants or facial surgery or anything someone wants to do their body but it's totally naive to think the the company (really the industry) doesn't put pressure on these people to maintain a certain look that is much harder to maintain as they age. And that was why I brought up the work example. The general populace doesn't take steroids and undergo plastic surgeries to maintain a certain look to get ahead in their career. Wrestling, though, for decades has. Maybe the industry just attracts people who really love drugs and surgeries but it's more likely that there's unhealthy pressure put on them to BE that way. In fact, we know with the WWE there is. And all of that is totally fair game for Meltzer, us, or any other person to talk about.

Moxley and Kingston have more work to do.

Back in the early 00’s most indy wrestler’s gear would have been indistinguishable from a plastic trash bag.

I was thinking, "God, who would wear that ugly thing?" Then, I remembered, "Oh, the same guy who would have that logo on the chest tattooed on his neck."

I'm paraphrasing a certain US Senator here, but the verdict is just accountability for Derek Chauvin - it doesn't deliver true justice for George Floyd, his family, or countless others. That might be a hot take for some, but it shouldn't be.

Maybe this belongs in the hot take thread, but i dont see the big deal with the garbage bag stuff. Theyre good bags. Large, durable, waterproof, got the little tie gimmick on the end to close them up. As long as it wasnt pulled out of a dumpster then its just a fucking plastic bag.

My Hot Take is that the reason Koko B Ware named his version of the Brainbuster the Ghostbuster NOT because he was trying to capitalise on the popularity of the movie Ghostbusters, but because he knew that the two most high profile previous wrestlers who used the Brainbuster were both in the KKK. And KKK people in the robes look like ghosts innit?

Hot off the heels of the finale - Hollywood Reporter is... errr, reporting, that Captain America 4 has been greenlit.

I don't think "dental surgery" is the important part of the story. Dave commented that this was part of a Charlotte makeover, then segued from that into a discussion of how the company puts pressure put on female talent to maintain their looks as they age,. If I wasn't supposed to conclude that the either the company was either pressuring Charlotte to get surgery or that she's so insecure about her position that she feels she needs to go under the knife, then I have no idea what he was getting at. I don't think Charlotte angrily responds or we talk up the story if Dave says "Charlotte is having dental surgery and will be out a short time" then starts talking about Baron Corben or the company's quarterly earnings report.

Nothing to see here Just Vince McMahon pretending to have a phone call with Roddy Piper who apparently is in hell

It's probably worth noting that we've already spent more time discussing Charlotte's supposed plastic surgery than we've ever spent on John Cena's rumored hair transplant or any other male star's cosmetic surgeries (well, maybe Buff Bagwell's calf implants). I doubt Dave meant any harm, but this is a repeating pattern with Dave. On the one hand, he rails against Vince's obsession with youth and looks for the women. On the other hand, he occasionally comments on female's wrestlers looks, weight, cosmetic surgeries, etc. in such a way as to give the impression he thinks that those topics are fair game for him. Which I don't think they are. Another example: Around the time Asuka hit the main roster, Dave brought up her stomach. When Alvarez called him on it, his defense was something along the lines of "Oh, Asuka's never been ripped, but she has less definition than usual and Vince is going to have a problem with that." I think he might has actually said "Asuka has a gut", but it's been several years and I don't remember. I mean, the segment started out as Dave and Bryan discussing an Asuka match, and somehow took a right turn. Also, Dave never said Vince had an issue. He brought up something, then got defensive when called on it and used "Well, Vince is probably the one with the hangup" as a defense (it's also silly that anyone thinks Asuka is heavy because she's not extremely ripped like, oh. 0.1 percent of the population, but that's its own kettle of worms). I've joked before that Dave does a very good impression of a normal human being, but, honestly. I'm not quite joking when I say that. He can be very awkward and not particularly self-aware when the conversation gets away from in-ring in-ring matters.

Right. I never think Dave has malice. He just comes across as a guy who's not exactly socially adept or self-aware, and is incredibly literal with everything. Combine that with the fact that he's 61 and yeah, his discussion of women is not always the most nuanced or sensitive.

I'd have to go back and listen again, but I'm pretty sure he didn't say that. He said she's getting dental work and then segued into talking about how unfortunate it is that women have to go through this shit in general. As far as I can recall, he didn't say a thing about any further cosmetic surgery for Charlotte or even hint at it. Listeners may have made that inference due to his moving from one specific topic to something general but I'm pretty sure he didn't say that.

Every once in a while, I doubt my evaluation of Cody as a guy who's not too bright and is lacking in self-awareness. Then I see something that brings it all right back. Thank you, friend, for supplying today's moment of affirmation.

I can't believe I didn't know High Chief Peter Maivia battled James Bond in You Only Live Twice until today.

God damn, my birthday isn't until August.

So I'm assuming you all have noticed that Wenwu does not have the Mandarin's traditional power rings from the comics. It looks like the Ten Rings are the Chi Sau bands he wears around his forearms and I am guessing that the blue glow emitted by the bands is Wenwu charging up some sort of Dragon Ball Z special ability. I think I will be good with this as long as he has wacky powers like Lo Pan, Lord Conquer, The Battle Wizard, or any the other Kung Fu = Magic villains of yore.

Cheers @Technico Support, @J.T., @Log, @just drew and @twiztor for showing interest. I'll post that, the 20 Best AEW Matches Ever. I prefer Saturday PPVs as both are in the early hours of the morning GMT time and you have Sunday to catch up on sleep. AEW start at 1am and UFC main cards at 3am UK time. WWE PPVs usually start at midnight-1am Monday morning. You either book the Monday off if you're working or go in after only a few hours sleep which I've done a few times. Cheers, @eikerir! I'll do just that while feeling for those who'll be working the first Bank Holiday with pretty much everything reopened.

I thought nothing would top "Emo Facepaint Daddy" then we had that incredible JR/Tazz exchange: "That Arn Anderson-like...power...bomb." "It's a Spinebuster" "Yeah...it's a lot of things, Tazz." "Yeah but it was a spinebuster." then about half a minute later after Tazz had changed the topic JR goes "Spinebustah" ==== Loved Tay-Shida. They really beat the tar out of each other. Much nastier than I was expecting. Conti's repeated judo throws really popped the crowd and I was wondering if she shouldn't turn that into a repeating spot (a la the Cesaro swing or repeating Germans), it maybe would take too much to do TOO many but I could see a crowd popping big for her hitting a bunch of those in a row, maybe even better after a hot tag.

Oh shit, now I remember where I've seen the garbage bag routine from. *in my best Liev Schreiber voice* "On the next episode of WWE Hard Knocks, Raw pares its roster down to the final 53...." It's fitting cause when I think of a good, quality well ran outfit with integrity, I think of the NFL. Good to see WWE following in their footsteps.

Houston Methodist has become the first hospital in the country to order employees to get vaccinated or be terminated. Good. Hopefully, this starts a trend. One of the local hospital systems is considering this. They recently started making non-vaccinated employees wear a badge that identifies (in big red letters) that the person has not been vaccinated. I'm told at least a few people have gotten vaccinated rather than wear the scarlet letter.

The last few pages really highlight the importance of and need for more facepaint in modern wrestling. Look at Sting, man - visually speaking, he's like 85-90% the same dude as he's been since '97, just with sleeves. Like, if Abaddon's body holds up, she can probably work til she's in her 60s if she were so inclined

You Rang?

80s All Japan Women is the pinnacle of pro wrestling. The first two falls of this great as Judy Martin and Leilani Kai are absolutely awesome heels and Hotta and Hokuto are fresh faced babyfaces being beaten to death by the veteran American ass stompers. Then the third fall comes along. Kai is on the outside of the ring, laid low by Hokuto's highflying so it's two on one until Dump Matsumoto does a run in and it just turns into a fucking molten wreck of amazingness. Soooooo fucking good.

No fans will be allowed at all for the 25th, 29th, May 3rd shows. The other shows will still have fans.

Yeah but I'll also place better than even odds that she is. I mean, she does look a lot different after coming back from her hiatus. These are wrestlers. They're all liars.

The Dave/Charlotte thing kind of dovetails into what Mickie said about how in WWE once a woman hits a certain age they're put out to pasture. Charlotte is hitting her mid-30s and, well, historically this is the time they start to tend to phase out woman performers unless they maintain a certain look. Just look at the example of Nattie who is virtually unrecognizable from how she began and even then had to undergo work to even get hired in the first place. It's a touchy issue but it's not like Dave should avoid stating obvious acts unless you assume that it's convenient that just about every female performer WWE hires just adores plastic surgery and other cosmetic improvements. Next time y'all go to your office you should ask your co-workers when they're getting work done because it's just a totally routine deal for people. Re: trashbag gate. It's bad optics but, realistically, if they put people's jackets and clothes in there and ship them that's probably not as sinister as it looks. Could the WWE afford to pay extra and ship people's crap back in nicely packaged Fed-Ex boxes. Certainly, as well.

Has it been mentioned that Johnny Ace tweeted out the same, word for word, "heartfelt and very humane" response that HHH did? LOOOOOL maybe mix it up a bit so it's less obvious some intern in marketing fired that off while dropping a deuce, probably.

Who?

I liked all the non-Flag Smashers parts, and the title reveal at the end was very cool. I too was expecting a Sharon Skrull reveal, but now I’m wondering if she isn’t going to end up playing something similar to the Norman Osborne role in Secret Invasion as the bad guy who saves the day and gets more power because of it. That, or Sharon is a Season 2 thing and wouldn’t be featured much in the movies beyond “hey, how did this bad guy get these weapons?!?”

Good point! And I'll see if there are any Proud Boys/QAnon/Oathkeepers rallies around that time, since that jacket, with its prominent skulls and American flag motif, will fit right in!

Not only did they marginalize Sharon Carter in the MCU, they committed character assassination against her. And no, I don't approve if this is indeed Sharon. Other than that I enjoyed the episode. John Walker's not really a bad guy, he's just a meathead. Easily manipulated. The scenes with Anthony Mackie and Carl Lumbly were really good.

WWE just fired Mark Carrano, it was him. He was Senior Director of Talent Relations.

It's already been done and was actually pretty good