Greggulator

I just wrote in a comment on the New York Times Facebook page that said ECW was wrestling’s punk rock. But Sabu was its Velvet Underground. Only a limited amount of people knew who he was at the peak of his powers, but those who did went on to become obsessives or indie wrestlers.

Epic stuff, Phil!

NY Times wrote an obituary!

To make this perfect ECW: Lou Gregory was Sign Guy Dudley for those who didn’t know.

Sabu is possibly my all-time favorite. Like everyone says: You can’t tell the story of wrestling without Sabu. I was lucky enough to have found ECW on sketchy TV channels that only showed infomercials in 1994. Him coming out in the Hannibal Lecter mask — I actually thought he was really insane, and I was 17. Sabu felt dangerous in ways nobody else in wrestling felt dangerous. It felt like every move he did could be the last move of his career. He could be sloppy as hell but that was great — it didn’t looked choreographed, it looked like an unhinged maniac doing insane shit that he should not be doing. Every time the WWE uses a table spot as a big moment in a match or there is some crazy dive to the floor — none of that happens without Sabu. And maybe others do that stuff “better” but no one made it feel more real. Because it was reckless and chaos. RIP Sabu.

The women’s tag match was so good. Loved that they sat down and saw the Steamboat/Dustin vs. Enforcers match from that Clash of Champions and decided to do a tribute. The women’s three way also ruled, not a lot of “one person hurt for an abnormally long time” match, it felt like a true one-on-one-on-one match. The four-way IC match was also golden. I’m excited for heel Cena trying to ruin wrestling.

Gable is so friggin’ great. Throws himself into everything and is also so smooth in-ring. He is so good at playing a goober. I also love how he’s changed his moveset just a bit now that he’s under the mask — that double moonsault thing last night does not feel like it’s possible except for someone like Simone Biles. The New Day vs. Raiders match would have gotten a giant “This Is Awesome” chant as a main event on Raw. That main event was exactly what is should have been. I love that Seth absolutely owns Roman in their biggest moments — he pulled the trigger when he ended The Shield, swiped the titles when he cashed in, took the bullet for Cody last year and now was in cahoots with Heyman to win the main event. Also, Roman’s look of betrayal walking up the ramp last night as the show ended is proof as to why he’s one of the best ever. He actually knows how to act and convey that type of emotion. Punk tried the same reaction and was fine for a wrestler. But Roman actually looked like he could be on some shmaltzy show. I mean, I’m not saying it was an Oscar level performance or anything. But the whole Bloodline crew really knows how to lean into so much of the emotional storytelling component better than anyone else who has ever done it.

I have to get caught up on Dark Side but is there really Foley Erasure going on? If he or Sabu and etc. want to do absolutely insane things they should not be doing to their bodies who am I to stop them? I don’t feel guilty or bad for liking that stuff. If it isn’t for you I get that and can respect that. But Foley was far more than a garbage wrestler. He is one of the best at playing a character in wrestling history. Dude was the best maniac indestructible heel… and then became an awesome underdog babyface in his stuff against Vader… and then went from being an incredible promo guy to arguably the best promo guy of his era in ECW… to adapting to WWE cartoony villain stuff and then weaving that into the Three Faces of Foley stuff and somehow managed to get tossed off the cage and also be the Mr. Socko guy in like 18 months from each other. He’s maybe the most creative guy in wrestling history.

Man, the KO news is real? It felt like a decoy. That it came off that way and not as a possible retirement speech really speaks highly of show great KO’s most recent heel run has been. KO is on the Mt. Rushmore list of “1B” dudes like Henning and Rude and a lot of others. He did everything well. One of the best workers of this century. We were lucky to have him from the moment he backstabbed Sami in NXT. Very fitting that his final match (for a long time) would be against Sami in Canada and was an absolutely fantastic brawl garbage match.

Adolescence is going to stay with me for a long time. Absolutely frightening look at modern Internet culture and the manosphere and what it is doing to kids. But it’s also one of the most shockingly well-done pieces of television ever made. The acting is just at a level that’s incomprehensibly good. The third episode especially. The kid playing the 13-year-old has never been in anything before and feels like he’s going to be a star for the rest of my lifetime. Absolute must watch.

Things I have watched lately: 1) Long Bright River on Peacock. As a Philadelphian, I am required by law and civic code to watch anything about life in Philly. Amanda Seyfried plays a beat cop in drug-plagued Kensington who is on the lookout for her addicted sister in the midst of the hunt for a serial killer. Started out like something I was going to love and then something I was disappointed in as I wanted it to be better to absolutely awful to something I enjoyed as a hate watch. It’s so bad with stupid plot twists, predictable plot twist, inexplainable plot twists, and more. The “Philly” stuff in it is also so weird. It has really local references but does not feel like it’s true at all to the part of the city it is about. Or that they even made an attempt to make things look like Philly while trying to make the setting a huge part of the story. Have to do more than stick a Jason Kelce jersey on a random family member during a holiday party. 2) Dope Thief on Apple Plus. Another Philly drug scene story. I only caught the first episode. Directed by Ridley Scott. It’s about two low level rip-n-run dudes (starring Brian Tyree Henry) who pose as DEA agents but then end up in over their heads. It’s so much fun. Reminds me a lot of Pulp Fiction, Fargo and Pineapple Express. Really pumped to keep this going. 3) Adolescence on Netflix. Four-episode show. UK crime drama about a 13-year-old charged with murder. Acting is at a high level even for acclaimed British crime dramas. I am only through one episode but man this is fantastic. Also, each episode is only one long shot. I would have had no idea unless I read it. I mean that as a compliment because so much “one take” stuff is just kinda masturbatory but this just adds to the claustrophobia and drama and intensity of what happens when a family’s life is turned upside down.

“I hope you get relegated to ‘Challenger Pro League Belgium’ where you belong!”

Man, what a great Raw. Punk and Rollins are far from my guys but I loved that cage match. The beginning of that match was golden with those guys just laying in punches and hard chops. Ir really felt like primal hatred at the start of the match before it built into WWE main event-style with two HOF-level guys just throwing big bombs back and forth. The end was great production. The crowd pop showed someone was coming (and we knew who it would be) but then Roman dragging Seth out to pummel him was gold. Great reference at the end with Roman smugly laughing as he saw Heyman rush to the aid of Punk while we got reminded about the favor. Great way to kick off that feud. Iyo might have stolen the entire show tonight. Rhea and Bianca would outshine 98% of the entire roster (both genders) and Iyo responding from their palm faces with slaps got the Garden crowd fully on her side. Actually, I lied. Chad Gable stole the show tonight.

This is why I loved the promo. You absolutely can see it that way. I don’t remember a promo where an uber confident babyface like Rhea reacted to losing clean. Usually that doesn’t happen since a heel is a heel. In kayfabe, it must suck to lose against a heel but if you’re losing to the numbers game or having someone turn on you, what can you do? And if you were the villain at some point doing the same thing to people, I think you just have to accept what happens and find a way to overcome the odds. But this was the rare babyface losing to a babyface match without any interference. How do you handle that? Rhea’s response to that might not play to her brashness… but I like that she’s not just shrugging it off. She’s shook and has to find her footing and she has to do so while dealing with being isolated and alone without her ride-or-die who is now on Smackdown while also having to see her ex and Liv running around together. I really love Rhea’s performance with this. It’s kind of Bloodline stuff where she actually has a little bit of depth and subtlety— I love her nervously biting her finger at the end. I mean, it’s not Oscar worthy or not, but it absolutely looks like she’s worked a lot on the acting side of wrestling. I also like that Bianca is going through something similar. She’s also a badass confident shit talker. She won EC but had to see her two best friends go at it in front of her first while she couldn’t do anything about it. Meanwhile, Iyo has Dakota and while her crew is injured, there was no division. This is going to be a really interesting three way feud. Really interesting set up.

Actually, it looks like they’re going that route with the story. Rhea kills it in this — really does a great job showing her vulnerability. We’re lucky to have her in wrestling because she has some chops.