Technico Support

I’ve never listened to The Doors to cheer myself up or get pumped.

“The Heartbreak Kid” reminds me of my short stint at Suncoast in 1998. I made my “employee picks” section all wrestling themed, with the aforementioned film, plus Brian Bozworth magnum opus “Stone Cold,” and action pics The Rock, The Edge, and maybe The Road Warrior or The Godfather. I was a dork. I mean I still am, but I was, too.

I’m also kind of tired of how “I appreciate it” has been replaced by “ ‘preciate you.” I understand I’m nitpicky about language.

Or just completely get rid of it. It looked really bad last night and I’d love to know the ratio of time she’s pulled it off well vs times she botched it. And really, shouldn’t something called “Code Blue” be a chokehold?

That’s both funny and sad, but we have no emoji for that. I feel like he must’ve owed Dreamer and maybe Francine more…didn’t they keep the company afloat on their personal credit cards?

Yeah, that stuff isn’t really funny anymore.

Yeah, I meant 2000. Regardless, the idea that any Heyman contract was enforceable and worth more than the paper it was printed on in mama Heyman’s basement or the local Kinko’s is hilarious. And Heyman holding a guy to a “contract” while ECW was circling the drain is just straight up evil.

Related, Matt on We Watch Wrestling mentioned that Sabu was in line for a WCW contract very shortly before they went under, so he could have probably sat at home like Nash, made money and healed up instead of whatever he did post ECW shutdown, but Heyman somehow fucked up the deal for Sabu (threatened to sue WCW or something). So in summary, fuck Paul Heyman, may he spend eternity smoking turds in hell.

It's a fitting tribute to Sabu to see there are still wrestlers who can make people truly believe their gimmick. I really like the idea that MJF and Hurt Syndicate are fundamentally different in this way and MJF doesn't get it. The Hurt Syndicate will gladly wrestle every week, stand up and beat anyone in front of them because they're that good and they really like it, to boot, while MJF wants to connive his way to championships, cheat, and wrestle as little as possible. He sees the Syndicate as a means to an end, not partners, and can't understand that they clearly see through him. Pretty cool.

The whole thing with AZM pinning Mina to win the belt instead of Mercedes was likely because Mercedes will be jobbing to Toni, and they don't want her doing a job to someone else during the buildup. It's pretty obvious this wasn't some Hogan shit. I'm also rooting for Mercedes to win the Owen because I want Hangman to win on the men's side, and I don't think Tony would put both short-timers over originals/long-timers.

Random stuff about a great show. Hangman signs a kid's t-shirt and I wonder if the kid was a plant to show Hanger's ascent into the light side. That tag was awesome and I really enjoyed the slow burn from smiling and happy Hangman and Ospreay before the match, to almost hitting each other by accident BUT settling down to still win the match, to finally coming to blows. Just an incredible match layout. "You can't beat FTR! You could barely beat hepatitis!" JESUS I'll say it again: why does Daniel Garcia talk like that? That women's four way was incredible. I thought that was a 70s Pan Am stewardess jumping Mercedes. MJF/Hurt Syndicate was there. They tipped their hand with the "we accept him" swerve way too hard, teasing "let's give MJF what he deserves" and similar verbiage in the leadup that you knew it was going the other way. MJF is playing his part really well but at the same time, I don't understand his characterization. One week he's the Devil, a soulless mastermind heel, and then the next week he can't see that he's clearly being set up. I really enjoyed how he played that this week, but I don't get it in the grand scheme of things. If he's supposed to be a brash, tough talking fool, then keep it that way. Gowen and Ricochet was great. I really like AEW just bringing in random dudes because fuck it why not. The cage match was fine. I'm glad it was kept short-ish. No problem with the finish, as the faces actually did stop the Death Riders before Gabe Kidd interfered, which is a nice twist. I don't mind the Bucks at all. Speaking of characterization: their stooging is top notch. See: Matt, panicking, frantically hitting the button to raise the cage as soon as the tables turned. They are every chickenshit heel we've ever had, who acts like a badass when they're ahead, but then turns into Dr. Smith from Lost in Space (the original) when the odds aren't in their favor. @just drew says, "I still think they're homeschool wussbags pretending to be tough guys." YES! THAT'S THE GIMMICK. You're so close to understanding and, dare I say enjoying, The Young Bucks! I'm glad it's Anarchy in the Arena because Blood and Guts needs to stay a free TV thing.

Every time you guys say "cup of coffee" I hear it in Macho Man's voice.

I hear it A LOT. Yesterday it was Vitamin Shoppe. I just want to buy a bucket of protein powder and an energy drink. Don't hit me with that touchy feely bullshit. Maybe it's a regional thing.

I'm sure it's just me, but I feel like Josh Alexander needs new entrance gear. That long sleeve rash guard makes him look smaller and, combined with the head gear, he looks like a dork.

Lumberjack cafe matches can only happen in Northwest Territories Tim Horton's.

Yep! I know...I grew up in Baltimore and WWF would have monthly shows there (or close enough to monthly) that followed that formula. Also, the Hogan match would often happen before intermission so they could announce the next show's main and start selling tickets right then. Also so Hogan could get out of the building and into some Miller Lites, and maybe to the next town or across the international date line to get in his 382 days per year.

The whole "Hogan wins by DQ, everybody is happy" thing has me thinking about 80s WWF. I just watched a WWE YouTube house show where Muraco beat Hogan by countout. Finkel announced a rematch for the next show, no stips, no cage, nothing, and the fans went insane. That's what a draw Hogan was. He could have a shit match with a career midcarder, have it end in a fuck finish, and fans would rush the box office to see the same match, hopefully with a finish (but probably not, probably a DCO, and then a cage match the show after that) next month. AND it would happen on a garbage card with maybe one other star vs star match. 80's WWF was hotter than people who became fans later can even comprehend. The Cobra (George Takano) and Tatsumi Fujinami were on the same show, by the way, pulling off moves that nobody had seen before, blowing minds and looking like a couple of fucking time travelers. I'm surprised Takano didn't grab the mic and say, "maybe you're not ready for this yet, but your kids are gonna love it." I can't post a link but just Google WWE at MSG, April 22, 1985.

Hogan still gets announced as the winner, probably whips up on Yoko & Fuji, runs them off, and then poses. Everyone goes home happy. We weren’t far removed enough from Hogan’s heyday for that to not work.

MVP : jail time :: CrossFit Bros : Crossfit ie if you didn’t know MVP did time, just wait, he’ll tell you all about it.

Why did people working in stores start saying “welcome in” and why do I hate it so much? (because it’s redundant and the kind of fake cozy only a marketing type would come up with)

The shitty thing about that is that people were dying from ephedra supplements for years, but it took a baseball player showing up out of shape, to Spring training in Florida, after taking lord knows how much gas station crank, dying during a conditioning drill, in order for the government to take notice.

Seriously. I'm not a fan of GCW but terminally online goofs jumping on the garbage train and using this as ammunition is shitty. Not that Janela is doing himself any favors either, but I'm at least glad he tried to explain Sabu's regular kratom use a little better. But people are acting like evil mudshow wrestler Joey Janela personally drove to Sabu's hotel and shot him full of horse tranquilizer. I think I saw Sabu on TV before the magazines, weirdly enough. In the early 90s, my college's "dorm cable system" was actually just a homegrown solution built by a local dish provider. We'd get some weird-ass networks, man, and one of them was the Sunshine Network. Stumbling upon ECW at like 11 at night, during a time when WWF and WCW were both creatively in the shitter, was like finding a transmission from another dimension. It was insane in all the best ways and Sabu was a massive part of that. Just to echo what everyone else has said, the man was the last of his kind. RIP.

All these pathetic, scarcity mindset, "it's not enough for me to succeed...I need you to fail" motherfuckers. HHH, Nick Khan, whoever else...I hope they're as miserable as they seem. They're on top of the most profitable pro wrestling company that ever has been, most likely ever will be, and they're worried about AEW getting a minuscule slice of the pie. It's like Taco Bell getting up in arms about the old lady selling homemade enchiladas on Facebook Marketplace. Fucking pitiful and sad.

My local (-ish, 15 minutes, non-highway) Regal closed down in December. It was the last non-fancy theater close enough to me. All I have now are highway drives to two different, pricey "reclining seats and full menu" monstrosities. I just want to watch a movie, not have a "premium experience."

Yes, this. Thank you for posting. We’re pulling for you, Curt.