The Iron Yuppie

Great shot on Twitter from a night when Dennis was very much booked, delivering an Okada-esque dropkick

Ha, fair point. Buddy was also always kinda big, though. Plus he was hocking Burgerville. Hero'd been thin for over a decade, gets released and balloons. I wasn't sure if maybe he'd discussed on a pod? Just seems unusual.

I ask this not to be snarky or rude, but I'm legitimately curious: How does Hero/Ohno routinely put on 30-minute matches, which requires serious cardio, and put on SO MUCH weight in just a few years? He was svelte when he left WWE. Is there a story behind why/how he got so big? He's got to be pushing three bills; he might be over that since he's tall.

Multiple reports that Dennis Stamp has died after a long bout with cancer. Dennis is the goddamn star of BEYOND THE MAT.

A RAW low-point on par with the Katie Vick angle.

Illinois State watching the Big 12 Tournament, cursing long and loud, no doubt. If Cal beats Oregon tonight, there might be full-on aneurysms in Normal.

There's absolutely a glass ceiling for the mids. Not only will power-conference teams not play mid-majors on the road, but they'll purposefully avoid scheduling HOME games against mids that might be able to beat them at home. Last year's Stephen F. Austin team that made the tournament run couldn't finalize its schedule until three weeks before the season because it couldn't pick up non-conference games. Also, some of the bigger preseason tournaments, which might give a mid-major a chance at an upset, set up auxiliary brackets to relegate them to. For example, Battle 4 Atlantis has the name programs come to the Bahamas, and the mid-majors play each other in the "same" tournament, but in Florida.

Between the kicks and the giant jeans, it's obvious Big Mike wants to Be Like Mike.

*clears throat* THE ACC IS THE BEST CONFERENCE EVAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR

A new month, some new matches have made THE LIST! 1. John Cena vs. AJ Styles, Royal Rumble XXX, 1/29 2. DIY vs. The Revival, NXT, 1/11 3. Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews, UK Tournament, 1/15 4. AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin, Elimination Chamber, 2/11 5. Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair, RAW, 2/13 6. DIY vs. Authors of Pain, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 7. Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns, Royal Rumble XXX, 1/29 8. Braun Strowman vs. Big Show, RAW, 2/20 9. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 10. Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate, UK Tournament, 1/15

In the pantheon of god-awful WWE pay-per-views, I can't think of any worse than the 2004 Bash, save December to Dismember.

The Bret-Austin image will always be one of my favorite in wrestling history. Such an amazing match with incredible storytelling leading up to and immediately following. I may have to shell out the cash for Homage's just-released t-shirt. As for the above Sheamus-Bryan, that's one of the more laughable retcons in WWE history, to me. It's been credited for beginning Bryan's move into the main event and launching the Yes Movement because of the RAW crowd reactions the next night. I don't buy that at all. It'd be like attributing Austin getting white-hot in 1998 to facing Yokozuna at the Summerslam '96 pre-show.

Can we get this thread back to wrestling, please? Perhaps we can talk some TNA?

It's not Phil Collins-related, but the Ultimate Warrior vs. Phil Collins reminds me of this:

I don't get the snarky digs at CW Anderson here. I thought it was pretty well understood Heyman bounced checks, lied repeatedly and showed up on RAW one night without informing the talent. Why the stanning for Paul E.? The editorial head for UPROXX's wrestling coverage runs an indie in Texas. I tried watching one of the shows on YouTube, and in the first five minutes, the UPROXX guy/promoter (also ring announcer) cuts a promo on a heel manager that made the manager look ridiculous. Steph would have been proud. Same guy also wrote a LONG column a few years back that was basically a setup for the punch line "Stop booking Colt Cabana." Colt called him out on Twitter, and the guy claimed to be working a gimmick with the column. The fuck? In summation, UPROXX wrestling sucks. UPROXX in general also sucks for being clickbait, as Raziel points out, and for shuttering the formerly terrific Kissing Suzy Kolber website.

Legendary LSU basketball coach Dale Brown, being interviewed by the late, GREAT Craig Sager, on NWA.

I've found New Day annoying for a while now, so perhaps my judgment is skewed. However, in those weird few weeks of angles with Titus last month, New Day were clearly heels, bullying one guy 3-on-1. They really are toeing the line of coming full-circle back to heel.

Chalk up one more for Keith Lee. His match with Brian Cage surpassed everything I've seen of Trent Seven -- which isn't meant as a knock on Seven. That's just a damn good match.

It's a shame the traditional 5 doesn't have a place in today's NBA. Show looks like he could be the new Shaq at his current physique.

Macho by a nose. The Retirement Match from WM VII ranks in the Top 10 of my all-time favorite WWE matches, and the Summerslam '92 title match is pretty good. Those matches with Rick Rude were all pretty great, though. That cage match from Summerslam '90 is something of an underappreciated gem.

Let's see...In the 21st Century, Baylor athletics has been home to: - Carlton Dotson murder Patrick Denehy - Dave Bliss lied to investigators and attempted to coerce assistants into backing up his BS - Bliss paying for players' tuition out of his own pocket - Shawn Oakman's allowed to continue playing despite multiple arrests - Sam Ukwuachu transfer into Baylor under shady circumstances from Boise State - Phil Bennett tells boosters Ukwuachu will be on the field, as the latter's being investigated for rape - Art Briles denies, denies, denies 'til the bitter end - 52(!!!) allegations of rape by BU football players - Kim Mulkey saying the dumbest shit about the rape allegations (and ACTUAL CONVICTIONS!) imaginable. It's sorta amazing to me the Big 12 isn't taking a more public stand.

FWIW, Liv Morgan was rocking a pretty boss top that was a take on the Toon Squad jersey from SPACE JAM

I'm astounded that I can't find it on YouTube, since so much of TNA's library is up there. But there's a segment from 2006 where Jeff Jarrett has the ring decked out for a victory celebration, but an LAX-AJ/Daniels brawl spills in and destroys most of the props. Various others come out, and a giant melee ensues. Jarrett casually strolls out, fires off his own confetti cannons while everyone's brawling around him, and takes a swig from a bottle of champagne. It's pretty great. Reminiscing about that bums me out...TNA was getting good from late 2005 up to Bound For Glory 2006. I really thought it was on the brink of breaking out as a viable No. 2.

Goldberg b. KO in what I expect will be a smoke-and-mirrors abound kinda match. Charlotte b. Bayley b/c they hot-shotted the title change and they have to keep that meaningless streak in tact >:O Neville b. Jack in what I anticipate is an awesome, perhaps show-stealing match Club b. Cass & Enzo *I hope* because Enzo fucking sucks Braun b. Roman...I think. It seems like Braun's getting the deserved monster build. I think this match should be awesome, anyway. Braun's being bringing it lately, and Roman, for all his faults, always seems to come through in the ring. Joe b. Sami in a tremendous match, where Sami bumps like a madman and both guys come out looking better for it.