Michael Sweetser

My costume for the wrestler costume theme night is going to be off the hook. At least, if anyone could see me.

I’m so happy it made you decide to get tested. The SPECT scans I got (and that Daniel Bryan got) are not cheap but insurance can cover a lot of it, and it’s going to add untold productive years to my life. It’s a down payment on me. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

The career mode looks batshit insane and I can't wait. I'll take wacky over Zack Ryder Career Mode any day.

I continue my streak of being terrible at video games:

Believe me, I made all of the "no data/negative" jokes before and after the scans. ?

Go right ahead. Like I said, I don't want it to be a cautionary tale - I knew the job was dangerous when I took it - but I hope it gives people something to think about. I certainly am.

"Yet, thanks to my trusty safetysphere, I sublibed with only tribial brain dablage." One of my favorite Futurama lines isn't quite as funny anymore. So over the past year or so, I've been suffering from bouts of anxiety and depression, coming in and out in waves. Issues with work and home life have contributed but it was definitely something out of the norm. After urging from my wife and doctor, I visited the Amen Clinics in Bellevue this week to get treated for my ongoing ADHD issues and to get SPECT scans of my brain. What we found was far worse. What you see in this scan is multiple, cumulative TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) in my brain, clustered in the occipital and frontal lobes, but in multiple locations. Two scans were taken - this one, after I had engaged in mental activity, and one at rest. (The one at rest looks even worse.) In short, the bumps and head shots I took through my wrestling career have led to brain damage, and are the probable cause of my anxiety and depression. Most of the damage is to the back of the brain, which makes sense, as that's what would be impacted by standard bumps. There are a few in other places, and nearly all of them I can directly attribute to individual shots over the years. One was hard enough that it not only caused damage on the impact point, but on the other side as well, meaning my brain actually bounced - that was from a superkick by Scotty Mac in ECCW. (I did a promo line back then that I felt my brain actually bounce in my head. Guess I wasn't imagining it.) However, like I said on Twitter, data is beautiful and knowing is half the battle. Now that we know, I can be treated for it, and I began treatment this morning for all issues - I've started once again on Adderall to counter the ADHD symptoms, and on a low dose of Cymbalta to help with the anxiety and depression. Cymbalta also helps with issues with pain and neuropathy, which I've experienced in the past year due to possible degenerative disc issues in my neck, and a shoulder injury suffered in 2016. I will also be getting a volumetric MRI and a full spinal scan to help with those issues. But it scares me what kind of shape the brains of my friends that are/were full time wrestlers and take far stupider bumps than I ever did will be in at this point, or five/ten/twenty years from now. I was just a referee, manager and occasional wrestler, and I still ended up with noticeable, actionable damage. One thing is for sure - my wrestling career is definitely, definitively over. I may do commentary spots or appearances of that nature here and there as the itch strikes, but I will *never* take a bump of any kind ever again. This is my own decision, not the doctor's - I am medically disqualifying myself. Unlike Daniel Bryan, there will be no comeback, and honestly, I don't want one - pro wrestling in this area has changed to the point that I had already decided to walk away with my sanity, finances and health as intact as possible. This just makes it easier, in a way. But to make one thing perfectly clear: I don't blame pro wrestling for this whatsoever, in any way, shape or form. I knew what I was getting into, which is why I was careful about the bumps I did take (and the ones I *didn't*). I wouldn't change a thing and I don't regret any of it (well, maybe some of the people I associated with). You won't see me involved in a frivolous lawsuit blaming others for this. Hell, 99% of it was my idea to begin with. (I hate to pop everyone's bubble but nearly every fun angle, match and storyline I was part of was almost entirely my idea. Sadly, that includes the dumbass bumps, too.) I'd say this should serve as a cautionary tale, but it won't. The new guys never listen to those before them that tell them to take it easy, just like those that come after them won't listen to them either. But I know there's some current and aspiring wrestlers that might read this, so I'll just say - please be careful, and be smart. And if you start feeling "different", or especially if those around you notice something different, please, seek help. It's not there to judge you - it's there to help you get better. I should've gone to the Amen Clinics months ago - they have been fantastic and both the doctors and I are extremely optimistic of a significant, if not full recovery. I did more in my wrestling career than I ever would've dreamed possible. I had experiences I wouldn't trade for anything. It brought me out of my introverted shell and taught me so much, good and bad. Without it, I wouldn't have moved to Seattle, and I wouldn't have met the woman that would eventually become my wife and soulmate. I refereed a match with Kevin Nash in front of 1800 people, got punched by Ross Hart, booked guys like Christopher Daniels, Raven, Matt Borne and Fit Finlay for matches, was front and center in three fantastic stables and major angles, main evented in major matches, was carried out of a building kicking and screaming by a local women's tackle football team (Seattle Mystics represent), got to piss off more fans than I can count, main evented as a referee, a manager and a wrestler, transition for six months into a commentator, be the executive producer of a promotion and TV show in my own vision, had my own championship belts created (twice!) and even held two championships at the same time. And guess what? It was fun.

Not every place did (I was in Spokane, WA and saw the entire PPV including overage) but enough that they ended up replaying the lost minutes on Nitro and cost themselves a few million dollars.

Omega v. Penta and Scurll v. Okada were the only matches that weren't way too long and overbooked to hell. Whoever agreed to that fucking dick bullshit should be excommunicated from the business. Fuck all of that.

Shigella sucks. The emergency room failing to do a simple, obvious test, misdiagnosing me and leaving me bedridden for nearly two weeks sucks even worse. I wouldn't recommend either one.

Not to get things off topic but I can't see how the hell Defy is actually making money considering how much outside talent they're bringing in every show. Hopefully they're not spending themselves into oblivion.

Worst IWGP title match in at least two years. Ross and Barnett should be fired.

Taichi not being in while YOSHI-HASHI is is some kinda bullshit.

I'm not saying I deliberately and repeatedly ripped off this exact KO sell when I was a referee, but I deliberately and repeatedly ripped off this exact KO sell when I was a referee.

Tag title match was fun but Lorcan's nonexistent selling of big bumps took me out of it. Bobby Fish should probably be really concerned about his spot, because Strong is a far superior replacement in every way.

He is literally becoming Obadiah Stane, and I fucking love it. He has the air of the guy that is comfortable in the spot and confident it's his, so he doesn't have to bother with the bullshit.

Yet another quote: Success has many fathers, but failure is a bastard.

I'll go ahead and toss out the old line of "the same people booking the good shit are booking the bad shit".

Even if NXT isn't profitable, who cares? It's developmental. It's research and development. That shit never makes money itself, but if it can produce (let's say) one or two main event level stars per year, it'll make the money back in the long run in spades.

Agreed. To be clear, mine wasn't meant as a protest of any kind - I just wasn't interested in watching it after what was already a very underwhelming show compared to last year's G1 Special events. Honestly, had the card been announced with that main event prior to tickets going on sale, I probably would not have gone to begin with. I flew from Seattle into Long Beach, which is a very nice little airport.

I walked out on the Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks main event at the NJPW show this year. Why? It didn't interest me and I wanted to beat the traffic. If that makes me a douchebag, then I'm a douchebag.

From all reports, Cass went off-script when he beat up that little guy last week, after everyone up to and including Vince told him not to. He's lucky if this is the extent of it.

This will be an odd question since they're not remotely the same, but - if I loved Yakuza, will I like Persona 5?

The Ono Michio costume has been added to Yakuza 6, which now makes the game even better.

My insomnia-addled brain piped up that it wants to see Barry Windham vs. Stalker Ichikawa.