Hooks

When Triple H commented that no one could walk down there to do anything to Edge because his ability to fight like a man was long gone (paraphrased of course), the fantasy booking in my mind had Edge saying "Well even if you tried walking down here you'd probably tear a quad." But overall, yeah, this show was about Goldust. He really needs to share the location of the fountain of youth he found, because goddamn, that guy is firing on all cylinders.

I'm 38. I've got nothing else to add to make this post interesting I guess, but yeah, I'm 38. So there's that. Oh, and hell, I don't remember how long I've been lurking here. Maybe since......I dunno, 97? 98? I know it was quite a while before I registered, and even then I don't post a lot, but I sure do love the hell out of reading stuff on here.

I wanna ask who those girls are, but I'm afraid the answer is just gonna come back as "Rats". As someone mentioned earlier, the small brunette is Crazy Mary Dobson. She's 20 and engaged to Madman Pondo. And whole some have scoffed at that, I've worked with them and am friendly with both of them, and they are just the most awesome couple. Those two love each other like crazy. She hasn't been wrestling long but she's been all over midwestern indies, to Scotland and Mexico I believe, and she's currently on a tour in Japan. I'm not sure exactly where but I know she was recently on a Zero 1 show. She's scheduled to be back in the States this month and then I believe she's headed back to Scotland shortly after that. She has really busted her ass and she's pretty talented, not to mention she's a real sweetheart. The girl with her......I can't for the life of me remember her name but she teams with Crazy Mary.

Halfway through the season, she'll be replaced by Sandy Duncan and nobody will notice. That gets a slow clap from me. Well played, indeed.

This TOTALLY sucks that this happened man. Just awful. But man, does it make me a dick to say "keep us updated" not only because of our concern for your health, but because this story is just crazy enough to be interesting? Please believe, I'm not making light of your health issues. You're an awesome dude and one of my favorite posters here. But goddamn, this story is fascinating. I'm really hoping it ends with "and then they figured out who did it and arrested the fucker."

I remember watching Seven with commentary, being really excited to listen to Morgan Freeman talk. I learned that when Morgan Freeman isn't reading something awesomeand isn't playing a character, he can, in fact, be dull as dirt. He rambled on and on and on about nothing.

I can't speak for EXTREMELY recently, but back in March I worked on a show Dustin was on, and I know he had a booking or two I heard about before then and after. And I can with 100% honesty......he was in great shape and was very friendly with both fans and all of us in the locker room; no ego at all. After the show was over and the promoters were taking care of money, getting the building cleared, etc, Dustin sat in the back with us (one of the promoters was driving him to his hotel) chatting and laughing and was just completely awesome. And here was a guy who could have easily phoned it in during his match because the crowd would have popped for him regardless. But he went out there and busted his ass. I mentioned that to him in the back.....how he could have gotten by with coasting and how much I respected that he gave the fans a good show. He replied "Thank you brother......hey, I'm being paid to be here, I'm not phoning it in, man, I'm doing my job." He was an absolute treat to work on a show with and he thanked the promoters for being so professional and treating him well. This in contrast to a show I did a few years ago that Jeff Jarrett was on, where he legitimately did not speak to, look at, or even come near anyone who wasn't Raven, Al Snow, Road Dogg, his "handler", the booker, or the other people in the match with him. A 6 man tag match where he barely got in the ring and was paid entirely too much for doing nothing.

"I hate when WWE hot shots angles!!!!!" "I'm so angry that Daniel Bryan didn't come to the ring and whip ass on the corporation literally one night after they revealed they were in cahoots to screw him!!!!" To me, it's building perfectly. Storyline wise...........he's said all along he's good enough to make it to the top on his own. He did just that at Summerslam. It was stolen from him by the people in charge. He came to confront those people tonight. He was repeatedly beat on by a dangerous three man stable........and held his own against them until getting blind-sided......then STILL attempted to get in the ring and confront the owner, the COO, the COO's wife, and the new champion. He literally will not stop fighting for himself. He knows what he has earned and he knows he is good enough to beat the very best because he beat John Cena in the middle of the ring one night prior. He isn't being built up as a Stone Cold; a rebel who flips people off........he's being built up as the guy you just can't kill even though everyone underestimated him and thought they could. And it's a character he's great at playing. Give it time. Even if there are horrible booking choices along the way, Daniel Bryan has more than proven that he can make ANYTHING they have him do be awesome. And really, it's one of the best slow builds of a character they've done in a long time. And frankly, long ago I think there was an assumption amongst people that he would never be more than a utility guy and jobber to the stars.........a steady hand they would use to elevate other people. But goddamn, they've done amazing things with him, and we're clearly looking at him heading to the next level. An entire fanbase, who is trained to like a certain type of wrestler, has embraced him because they gave him a chance to shine and he has. Daniel Bryan will be just fine.

This is probably the best topic on and board of any type on the internet. I could look at pictures of people's pets all damn day, and I love hearing people talk about their pets. I'm just such a softie for pets and animals. Hell, I have a tattoo of our old family dog, and two tattoos of my cat.....one of them drawn by an 8 year old.

My sweet little girl Monkey. She's basically the best thing that has ever lived. And here we are having some quality time........ And her being completely indifferent to Curtis Axel vs. The Miz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em0dVXX51kw I think this is probably my favorite angle of all time. Jake is SOOOO amazing at this time. He comes across as so crazed and sadistic yet totally in control of everything. The camera guys did a great job here conveying the chaos of what's going in the ring. Elizabeth and Piper on the outside losing their minds. Just perfect. The referee that tries to stop Macho from getting in the ring and eventually grabs his leg is Roger Ruffen, a guy who worked as a ref for the fed for quite awhile (he can also be seen reffing Piper vs Bret at WM8) He is a long time wrestler and promoter and runs very successfully here in the Cincinnati area. I worked for him for about 4 or 5 years. I had a good laugh with him once basically accusing him of single handedly getting Macho Man bit by a cobra.......he grabs the leg which distracts Randy long enough for Jake to blindside him. Interestingly, he said for all the time he spent working there, that the only extended conversation he ever had with Vince McMahon was that night before this, as they were all together going over the segment.

Let's wrap this whole thread in a neat little bow and declare now that whoever wins the March Madness pool gets a Ribera replica jacket. I have no idea why I sat and watched this gif roughly 4 dozen times before scrolling past it. I know this adds nothing to the conversation, but goddamn, it mesmerized me for some reason.

I love Aubrey Plaza to the point where I'm one address away from possibly hiding outside her house. I'm a fan. But man, did I think this movie was bad. I can appreciate a silly sex romp comedy, and dumb comedy in general, but it just felt so thrown together and was just ugh. But I couldn't pull myself away from Aubrey. Safety Not Guaranteed, however, I highly recommend.

Also funny...........from different guys I've known who had tryouts or dark matches, etc, WWE has AMAZING catering......just tons of great food. But when portrayed on TV, it's a small table with a loaf of bread and some mayo and cold cuts.

It really depends on the state. There aren't many states anymore that require wrestlers to be licensed, but I believe Missouri is one. Two others are Kentucky and Virginia. Most of the other states that have commissions only deal with the promoter end of things, with some of the toughest being Oregon & Maryland. For the most part, states that have commissions at all have them as remnants from the old days, when there was actual money involved, and wrestling promoters went along with the commissions to help kayfabe - the idea being that wrestling must be legit if it is overseen by the government/elected officials. Keep in mind, in the old days, the commission helped the established promoters protect their territories, and to run outlaw promotions out of business. There was no "indy wrestling". So, as the '90s moved along and states went from having a territory running multiple shows within their borders multiple times a week/month, to the WWF/WCW running a few times a year, most commissions lost their teeth. But then when the late 90s boom period brought about a massive increase in indywrestling, some states still had their commissions in place, and it quickly became a source of revenue with very little work. For example, in a state like Pennsylvania, the boxing commission & the wrestling commission are the same thing. So, they implement a ton of rules on wrestling promoters that make very little sense, but help generate revenue for boxing. For example, the commission gets 10% of the gate, in addition to a license fee for each show. If they send a representative to the show, you have to pay them a $200 fee, so they can collect the 10% in person. You have to have a ringside doctor for the entire card, but he is not required to provide medical treatment, he is only there to "stop the match if one of the competitors is unable to continue". The doctor's fee is NOT covered by the state, nor are they provided by the state. Between Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Central PA & Erie events, there are 5-10 wrestling events these fees are collected for every week. On the flip side, the commission pays for and provides boxing referees, judges, and medical personel, with only 4-5 professional boxing events each year. Ohio is a very hands-off commission - they require promoters to be licensed, and to obtain license for each event, as well as having a surety bond & spectator insurance. The OAC often published information regarding shows in the state, and often they will grant show licenses to folks without promoters licenses, or licensed promoters will not obtain show licenses. The commission has made it clear that they do not even want to deal with wrestling, and they want the wrestlers to patrol the business themselves. However, unless the state legislature grants them a bigger budget or abolishes the commission, they can't really do anything either way. Really, there is no clear answer. A commission doesn't weed out the crap, it doesn't help protect the wrestlers, it does nothing to help the business, because it is too much work. Honestly, most of the strict commissions are strict because they WANT there to be few shows, so they do not have to deal with it at all - I'm looking at you Virginia. I can say this for KY. When I started working in KY back in 2000 you had to fill out a form and pay $10 to get a card in the mail saying you were a licensed wrestler. The form was pretty silly... most of it was basic biographical info, although there was a section for "how long have you been a professional wrestler" and something like "explain why you feel you should be granted a license." I always figured nobody looked at any of that stuff and just cashed the check. The sucky thing was EVERYONE has to be licensed in KY in order to get in the ring. That means wrestlers, refs, managers, ring announcers, etc. Back in the day, you had to have a separate license for everything - so for example I reffed and managed, so that was two different deals. I also covered my butt by having a wrestler license "just in case." I was out $30 every year. Finally they changed it a few years ago to where its $20 a year for a license that covers everything. The KY commission is weird though. They were very "hands on" 10 years ago. The two big rules were no brawling in the crowd (there had to be some sort of barrier between ringside and crowd) and no blading. Now they pop in every so often, maybe drug test a few guys, make sure everyone has their card... that's about it. This is the first year in several years I haven't sent off for my Kentucky license because I'm not working for any companies that run in Kentucky right now. It always felt like rolling up a 20 dollar bill and throwing it out the window. The promotion I DID work for that ran in KY once a month though, they did everything by the book, including writing down everyone's license number each show, etc. (They do everything by the book, this company,.....permits, insurance, even having guys sign for pay and giving out ax forms at the end of the year if someone made enough........no coincidence that they have been running successfully in this area for longer than anyone else around here has even hoped to.) I don't work for them anymore, but highly respect them............the only reason I'm not mentioning the name is the same reason I'm not naming a specific name here in the following story; because I'm not trying to drag anyone through the mud. But as Kaptain Kayfabe mentioned, they occasionally do pop in and drug test randomly at shows. And sure enough, I have seen a guy fail a test for having pot in his system, and it turned into a big hassle for him. He was stripped of his license and in order to get it back so he could wrestle in KY again he had to pay a fine and actually make an appeal in person to get it. If I remember right, all things considered, it cost him a several bucks and kept him out of the ring in KY for a least 2 or 3 months. That was the only issue I ever saw come up. As I said, this company did everything by the book, and as a result, the commission guys were always very friendly and never stayed for more than a half hour or so and probably stopped in once out of every 7 or 8 months, if that. They just happened to test this guy who happened to fail, and they enforced a rule. (A rule I find dumb, but a rule nonetheless.)

I will try to wear wear pants at least half the time that I'm reading things on here.

I just now saw that the board was back. I don't post a lot, but it is ri-goddamn-dicilous how much I read this board........which I didn't realize until I couldn't check it several times a day. Good to be back!