The Thread Killer

Based on his reputation for shooting his mouth off, and not being afraid to burn bridges and upset people, if CM Punk did a podcast where he gave his opinions about the product and reviewed the weekly shows, he could make six figures easily. Cornette makes a small fortune from his podcasts. Cornette has repeatedly claimed that he makes more money now between his memorabilia business and podcasting than he ever did working in the actual “wrestling business.” Even the Conrad Thompson shows that can get more than 300,000 weekly downloads are guaranteed moneymakers. It’s basic business. If you can guarantee X number of downloads, the advertising agencies will guarantee a set weekly income. Especially if you get on with a platform like Westwood One. The podcasting bubble is going to burst eventually, and I’m sure any initial interest in a CM Punk podcast would die off at some point, but between podcasting and autograph shows and signings, he could make a good living easily.

Glad you mentioned that. I was going to ask you, having been there live, what the crowd reaction felt like for LA Knight. On TV it sure comes across like he is crazy over. But I know WWE has been sweetening crowd reactions on TV for sometime now. Then again, I don’t think they would boost his crowd reactions deliberately, because this was not something they planned. This whole deal with Knight has been happening kind of organically.

I have to be honest, I watched Payback basically just to see LA Knight (YEAH!) vs. The Miz and I am not going to lie, I was pleasantly surprised at how great that show was. I don’t know if it’s because creepy old Vince is not around due to his “medical leave” or what the reason is, but WWE has really tightened up on their creative. They actually managed to make a match with two guys who have been around forever, in Nak and Rollins compelling. That is no small feat. That Tag Title match especially blew me away. Good shit, pal.

This match has hugely overdelivered, IMO. These guys must have studied Cactus Jack & Max Payne vs. The Nasty Boys or something.

How did Owens not break his tailbone on that swanton through the table?

Yeah…why couldn’t they do these kind of video packages for Nakamura all along? They’ve actually made him interesting, finally!

AEW has a “Discipline Committee?!” They are clearly doing a bang up job.

Wait until you see who won the tag team Battle Royal on Rampage and are now getting the ROH Tag title shot at All Out. Like I said earlier in this thread, it would have made perfect sense from a storyline standpoint for The Kingdom to win the Battle Royale and get the shot…especially after the promo they cut on Adam Cole on Wednesday. It seemed like the perfect set up. Instead, The Kingdom weren’t even in the running, and we get MJF and Cole fighting enhancement talent on the pay-per-view. Just brilliant booking.

And if that preview graphic is to be believed…The Kingdom aren’t actually IN the Battle Royale because of course not, why would they be?

If The Kingdom win the Battle Royale on Rampage and get the shot at the PPV against Cole & MJF for the ROH Tag Titles, that could actually be pretty good. I marked out for Bennett name dropping Ted Reeve arena in Toronto…the dumpiest arena in the entire Greater Toronto Area.

You mean you don’t want to pay to see an 8 Man Tag with FTR & The Bucks vs. Bullet Club Gold? But that’s a dream match and not at all like a random match you could see any week on free TV!

I figured there would be a problem as soon as Perry basically called Punk out during his match with Hook with that whole “Real glass…cry me a river” shot. I didn’t think it would happen right away, of course.

Anyone remember a few years ago when the snarky consensus on Joe was that he was washed up, all done and needed to retire? Yeeeaaahhh.

Since they’re obviously not going on last, I think this is very smart placement for this match. Get the crowd while they’re molten and before they inevitably get burned out.

That Hook/Perry match delivered. Way better than I expected.

My dog’s name is Cheeky, so I guess that means I’m team Daddy Ass too, just like my Bruv @Dav'oh. (I’m Canadian eh, so I hope I used “Bruv” properly?)

Did Kevin Dunn film that LFI vignette? Holy jump cuts.

I guess AEW is the latest promotion stop Zicky Dice’s “Get fired from every Pro Wrestling company in existence” tour.

The Jim Cornette tribute to Funk is now on YouTube as well, as is the special edition of Mick Foley’s podcast covering his friendship with Funk. Obviously, both of these guys knew Terry Funk very well, and both of these tributes are well worth a listen.

This is tragic. Way too young, and with a young family. Sounds like he was loved and respected behind the scenes as well. He was a unique character and really managed to stand out in WWE during an era that seemed so safe and samey. RIP.

When I wrote the aforementioned column about Terry Funk, and how he was the greatest of all time for 411 years ago, I must have gotten a couple of hundred responses. 90% of them were positive. A few of them were from younger fans, who really did not know anything about him, and only knew him as a Chainsaw Charlie, (which was just depressing.) I remember distinctly that I got exactly ONE response from somebody saying they did not like Terry Funk. Specifically, they blamed him for ending the career of Mr. Pogo during some sort of accident in FMW through “negligence.” I don’t remember having heard, or read about that incident anywhere else, but this particular individual was quite irate that people loved Funk so much, since he blamed him for shortening the career of Mr. Pogo. In all my years as a fan, that is about the only person I ever remember having something bad to say about him. Of course, there have been people who have criticized his cartoonish over-selling, but that is a mild criticism at worst.

Hard to find words strong enough to express what Terry Funk meant to Pro Wrestling and to me as a fan. I don’t think anything any of us can say, can really measure how much he meant. One of the first columns I ever wrote for 411 during my tenure as a writer there, was my column laying out the case for Funk as the greatest of all time. I was so happy I got to see him wrestle live, up close and personal when he fought Sabu on June 6, 1999 in Toronto. His final match in Canada. One of the few Pro Wrestling T-shirts I ever proudly wore in public was the infamous “Funk U” shirt, and I went through more than one of them. He is a fucking Legend and we’re never going to see anything even close to him again. Rest in Peace, Funker.

Chad Gable is a hell of a wrestler but this stupid “THANK YOU!” and “Shoosh!” gimmick are both beyond stupid. First Shorty G and now this. Just let the poor guy wrestle.

Who knows if any of this is true, but apparently the incident happened on July 27, Wheeler found out he was being charged on July 28 and he did inform Tony Khan. Apparently you cannot be barred from entering the United Kingdom if you have a charge pending, they will only get into that stuff if you have a conviction on your record. So it’s entirely possible that a Tony Khan knew about all this when they announced the tag title match and they are still planning on going ahead with it.

Apparently it was a “road rage” incident. Which will undoubtedly disappoint the many people on Twitter, who had already decided that it was a domestic abuse situation. Despite the fact there was no evidence whatsoever of that.