Super Ape

I’m game. MY TERMS: Gotta be free on YouTube or similar as I currently have no streaming subscriptions, nor do I have any plans to get one. No WWE or any of its subsidiaries, acquisitions or “partners,” as I am a petulant child and will not let go of an almost-sixteen-year grudge. Beyond that? Anything goes.

Kevin Conroy will always be my Batman. Simple as that.

Reminder that wrestling news writers are “journalists” the same way that mall security guards are “cops.”

Someone pointed out to me how it feels like the people who have stuck with wrestling after the last boom period aren’t watching for the wrestling, but for the manifestations of the backstage drama therein, and to pick it apart and try to feel like we’re part of it. After the happenings of last night, I haven’t been able to refute it, and realized that if I spent money on that show only for the most talked-about part of it to run on a presser that runs for free on YouTube, I would be mad. In any case; what a shitshow. AEW definitely feels like it’s lost it’s magic, and who knows where this backstage mess will lead. Probably another late WCW situation.

We need Vince back. Kross couldn’t even get Billy Corgan to look in his direction and now he’s back. Who wants to step up and confess they framed Vince? Take one for the team?

As someone who both thinks the NFL is way too trigger-happy and inconsistent in the way it levies discipline, and wouldn’t be too upset if Goodell and co. straight up deleted Watson’s career, all I can think about is when Ray Rice got two games for being caught on tape (though he was released in the aftermath and I think never played again) and how Goodell wants to put his big boy pants on and show he’s not a punk.

That main event was a trainwreck in the best way, and I also appreciate Sammy Guevara's willingness to cheat death for my entertainment. But the most important part? Orange Cassidy using "Jane" as his walkout music once again.

I hate futbol.

Oklahoma City, Memphis, Austin.

Exactly. Take teams to places without NFL teams, and build new bonds between cities and their teams. Places like St. Louis, Oakland, San Diego, and New York. (as I make that joke I see that they dropped the NY team and are likely putting teams in Vegas [why?], San Antonio [good call], and Orlando [also a good call]).

Sad news out of the Delaware indie scene; former ECWA and Right Coast Pro manager Sebastian Night, real name Brian Recker, has passed away. He leaves behind a six-year-old daughter.

It’s the classic trap; a spring league is built on the assumption that Americans can’t get enough football, only to fall face-first into the harsh reality that Americans CAN indeed get enough football.

I really do think the XFL is going to be the best (and last) chance for an alternative or feeder league for the NFL to pop up. FCF has potential, but it’s tied up in crypto and NFT stuff so who knows if that survives the ongoing crash. And the USFL is the USFL. But other than that? After the AFL died and the remaining indoor leagues struggled to fill the void, I still don’t see much space for alternatives. You have college football, you have the NFL, and you have the CFL if you need summer football (they just resolved their strike!). And the XFL, if that lasts.

This is why I’ve just been pretending the lockout is still going on.

The USFL and XFL’s existences are something that I hope does well, but I don’t know how committed I’d be to watching. The USFL is a ghost town it seems every game, and the XFL’s network deal and Dwayne’s name/money behind it only makes me more resolute that if this iteration can’t survive, then no alternative to the NFL/spring football league can. They tried with indoor football for over 30 years until they finally gave that ghost up. Outdoor football has way more failures, and is the more mainstream version, so Rocky’s probably the best chance for an alternative, or even a feeder league, in a market with no room for one, lead by a league that has repeatedly indicated it has no interest in one.

Nah, it was a Japanese match, with no ring, and the dudes were grappling on the mat surrounded by like ten people towering above them despite sitting on chairs. I think they were using a toy WWE belt for the title.

I've been driving myself crazy trying to find a no-ring sleaze match in front of like 10 people. One guy was doing Shibata headbutts and they were wrestling over what looked like a toy WWE belt. Does anybody know anything about it? I know I'm not good with names, but I'm hoping this place will know.

That asshole stealing money from a team dumb enough to give it to him is just one of the reasons I will never forgive Rob Manfred and the MLBPA for coming to terms and ending the lockout.

Only really watched Austin/Owens, and I’m glad I did. In an era where many main events are micromanaged and look way too polished and choreographed, that match had enough grittiness and (controlled, of course) chaos to serve as one last swan song both for Austin’s career and the Attitude Era he flourished in. What’s more; the fact that Kevin Owens worked his ass off carrying this feud by himself for a month and got rewarded by being his idol’s last opponent, and got to do a motherfucking STUNNER to him just goes to show how much trust that place has in him. I have never tried to hide my feelings on WWE as a company, but I’m not above pointing out when they do good things, and this was a case of them underpromising (we thought Austin was gonna merk KO and that would be that) and overdelivering (a fucking MATCH), and good for them.

I’m friends with the woman running this account, and I’m really excited for what she helps create.

They’re still paying 50% of his salary and cap space. Fletcher needs to be fired and never allowed to hold a job in hockey again. For now, though, I’m a Panthers fan.

Any room on the bandwagon? I said I was gonna follow G wherever he went, and I stand by that.

There will never be another wrestler who personified pure coolness the way Scott Hall did. Thanks for the memories, Bad Guy. Rest easy.

It’s like the ownership either didn’t learn lessons from 1994, or are hoping on another home run chase to get eyes back onto the sport. As the MLB product has been boring as hell in recent years all I can think of is the parallels between baseball and cricket, and how cricket managed to evolve and thrive since the introduction of the limited-overs game.

At this point, WWE signing Vince Russo would probably be a lateral move at worst. Because this writing/booking is abysmal.