The Thread Killer

I had a nice back and forth with Sabu via Twitter when I asked him about Dave McKigney. He can't spell to save his life, but he is actually pretty pleasant to fans on Twitter, as long you are respectful to him. He comes across as legitimately appreciative of fans. When I told him I used to drive down to Buffalo from Toronto because it was the only way to see ECW live, he actually thanked me. The first indie show I ever went to with Sabu on it (he fought Scott D'Amore and the show also featured a pre-WWF Edge and Christian as Sexton Hardcastle and Christian Cage) the promoter told me that Sabu would not speak with fans at all or sign autographs (not that I wanted one.) Back then he never cut promos or appeared out of character. His snarky and dickish behavior towards fans was pretty legendary at one point, no doubt modeled after his uncle's attitude towards fans. He eventually softened his stance on autographs, as he was selling autographed pieces of a broken table at another indie show I went to a couple of years later. Now he does podcasts and shoot interviews all the time, gives autographs, poses for pictures, answers questions and interacts with fans on Twitter. His attitude regarding interacting with fans has really changed over the years. Hell, he gives fans high fives on his way to the ring now. When he first broke in, if you touched him, he would literally attack you. I know the main reason he has mellowed out is for financial reasons - he makes money selling autographed merchandise now, but I get the impression he is generally a more relaxed person now. Perhaps because of the copious amount of pot he smokes. For the record, yes...I was the high vote for Sabu in the GWE.

What?! What the hell are you talking about? This Woken Matt Hardy stuff is gold. Gold, Jerry. Gold! I think him working against Wyatt is perfect, since it was obvious that somebody on the WWE writing staff was blatantly stealing stuff from the Broken Universe with the Wyatt Compound and the whole Wyatt/Orton feud. (In order to cover up the fact that it was a rip-off, they cleverly disguised their thievery by, you know...taking out the parts that were entertaining and good. But still.) I saw a rumor online today that this is leading to a fight between Bray and Matt at the Wyatt compound. Can you imagine what that will look like if Matt gets that kind of backdrop for his goofy antics. We may well see another dilapidated boat.

I agree, I found Bruce's take on the Katie Vick stuff to be really interesting. I listened to the entire Jake Roberts episode, and found it a bit of a letdown. Bruce couldn't give any insight to the recruitment and signing of Jake to the WWF, since Jake got there before he did. Aside from that, it was a lot like the New Age Outlaws episode which I also found underwhelming - it was basically Conrad reading a list of dates and events and Bruce throwing in the odd tidbit here and there. The episode had it's moments (especially if you enjoy the goofy banter between Conrad and Bruce, which I do now) but there was nothing new or interesting presented about Jake Roberts. That can also be attributed to the fact that, let's be honest - for a guy with a ton of skeletons in his closet, Jake Roberts has a lot of information about him out there. There was Beyond the Mat, during which Jake aired most of his family's dirty laundry, then there was Pick Your Poison, the WWE DVD project they did on Jake including a detailed documentary, and then just recently there was The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts. If you've seen those three movies (like I have, as I assume most hardcore fans will have as well) then there is very little about Jake Roberts we don't already know. Or if there is, I don't think we'll be finding it out...and I'm not sure I'd want to know. Anyhow, the Jake episode is okay but it's unremarkable. I am looking forward to the Steiners episode (although I don't expect anything critical, as Bruce is good friends with Rick Steiner) and I am not really looking forward to the Edge episode at all. As much as I like Edge as a personality and podcast host, I didn't enjoy his career at all, and I don't see much there that would make for an interesting show anyhow. The Goldust episode could be good, if he wins the poll.

Man, you guys must be seeing something I can't. I've always looked at him as a guy who is pretty much where he should be in his career, hovering on the fringes of the mid-card. I admittedly didn't see the match with Joe from last week, but I generally find O'Neil to be quite boring - his matches unremarkable at best, and his promos can be cringe-worthy. Some of that you can write off as WWE scripting promos, but still. I still don't know exactly what the mythical "it" is that wrestling insiders go on about, but whatever "it" is....Titus O'Neil doesn't have it, in my opinion.

I remember listening to a Prichard podcast (I can't remember which one, I want to say the Vader themed episode but I might be wrong) where he claimed Jim Johnston could be a bit of a pain to deal with sometimes. As I recall, Prichard claimed that Johnston would get criticized for his music sounding too "samey" and that he didn't take feedback particularly well when he was asked to go back and change something. Then again, this is Bruce Prichard. He himself freely admits that he had such a terrible relationship with all of the production people that it ended up getting him fired in 1991, so he might not be the best source.

I actually believe that within reason, Hogan and Flair have become friends (or the Pro Wrestling business equivalent of "friends") after years of highs and lows. I saw an interview with Flair where he said one of the first calls he got after Reid died was from Hogan. He didn't specify what Hogan said but he got choked up just talking about it. I don't doubt that Hogan and Flair have developed the ability to appreciate each other on a personal level after all these years, and respect what the other brought to the sport. And yes you're right, it does Hogan's legacy no good for him to deny his peers credit. I prefer him working people with effusive praise, over Bret Hart still whining and taking shots at people after all these years.

Incorrect. Please refer to the following photograph: Alexa looks hot. Mandy Rose looks incredibly hot. The other girl (whose name I forget) is trying to look look like a female UFC fighter. Paige looks like a painted corpse. Therefore, you are wrong. Again.

If Bryan stuffed Bix in a locker, then JR must have given him an atomic wedgie when he got out.

I thought Paige's makeup was pretty comical on Monday when I saw her. Normally I don't notice stuff like that (or care if I do notice) but I thought they were trying to introduce her as the long lost daughter of Paul Bearer or something.

I can't remember the date or even the opponent, but I remember one match I saw with Larry Zbyszko when he was AWA champ during the dying years of the promotion on ESPN. He stalled so damn much - bailed out of the ring and wandered around ringside jawing at the 17 fans in attendance, then rolled back into the ring, went to lock up, and then repeated the whole damn routine - that I just stopped watching the match. I don't know if it was a habitual thing for him, but if it was then he deserves the reputation he got. That was some boring-ass shit. Doing that for up to five minutes (which is what he is claiming in the interview clip posted above) is ridiculous. That's not ring psychology it's wasting time. It's another thing if the wrestler tries that and their opponent goes after them. I've seen Kevin Owens do that (although I still hated it.)

Does that mean there will be two MITB matches, one for each brand/championship, or does it mean the match will be for members of both brands, so whoever wins can cash in against either brand? I think that would be more interesting. More importantly, why do I care?

Based on his WWE career since his arrival in NXT, I think this is pretty much the best we could expect for him and from him. And 205 Live is in desperate need of some new faces. In other news, The Bludgeon Brothers made their debut. The name is goofy, their costumes are goofy, but they may have some legs as a big, ass kicking tag team. It's nice to see Luke Harper on TV in any capacity at this point, and Rowan won't be exposed as badly in a tag team, I think. If creative doesn't give up on them after two weeks (like SD tends to) then they might have a chance as a decent team. Or...they might end up like the Colons, who I had totally forgotten were even in WWE at all, until I saw them tonight as lumberjacks for the main event.

I'd be inclined to agree with you that it's the second option. I remember when Lawler was on Stone Cold's podcast a few years ago he talked about the problems he had with Carrey during the filming of the movie, and it didn't sound like any work to me. But then again, with something involving Andy Kaufman and pro wrestling on top of that, who could ever truly say?

The opener was good, but it wasn't great. I didn't hate it or anything, but there appeared to be some sloppiness.

This match is pretty good, but unfortunately Booker thinks he's being paid by the word, apparently.

FUCK! I really don't know how this is going to work. I'm sure Byron Saxton's input will be even more integral to the product than it usually is.

I'm here. Nice to be noticed! Glad you made it brother.

Oh wait a minute...is there going to be a FIVE man broadcast team?

Will the refs on this show be orange too, or is that just an NXT thing?

Where's Mad Dog, C.S., CM Funk, Ricky Jackson, WingedEagle and MoS? DAMMIT I'M NOT WATCHING THIS CRAP BY MYSELF. At least TG is here. EDIT: Oh, hammerva is here too. And FMKK. Good. We need the PWO WWE PPV thread crew for this show.

Those Raw/Shield shirts are ridiculous.

This is the first WWE PPV that I have watched with no buildup at all. I stopped watching Raw and Smackdown during the buildup to TLC, I just couldn't take it anymore. I read the wrestling news, I've seen a couple of highlights on YouTube, and I've had the pre-show on in the background this afternoon, but I've seen zero of the television leading up to this show. And based on the clips of that Stephanie promo I just saw, I made a very wise choice. Damn she's terrible. And I may actually tap out during this show. I have very little motivation to watch this. I guess I want to see The Shield vs. The New Day, The Bar vs. The Usos and I am mildly curious about AJ vs. Brock, but I don't think AJ has a prayer. The rest I couldn't care less about. I'm basically watching it because it's on.

He's never addressed that rumor that I'm aware, and I highly doubt that rumor was true. You should check out the documentary "Jim & Andy" that just came out on Netflix this past Friday. The basic idea is that Jim Carrey was doing the whole "method acting" deal while filming that movie and thought he actually was Andy Kaufman. There is a ton of backstage footage of Carrey harassing and taunting Lawler during the filming. (Ironically, that wouldn't be what Andy actually would have done, since he and Lawler were actually friends.) Of course, the whole thing could all be a work. Who knows. The only certain thing you can say after seeing that film is that Jim Carrey needs to be seeing an entire team of psychiatrists.

I think Mauro is getting worse. I swear, during War Games he was screaming so much I thought he was either on speed or off his medication and going into a manic cycle live on the air. He's fucking terrible.

As opposed to the method WCW used in 1999, which was telling people there was a PPV, but not bothering to mention any of the matches that were going to be on the show. Or in a couple of hilarious cases...advertising the show after it had already happened.