sek69

Maybe, but Hunter is smart enough to know how to endear himself to the fans he was trying to attract to NXT. Always talking about being a fan of all the type of wrestling Vince dislikes, turning NXT into an indy dream fed with a WWE budget. Always being able to position himself as Uncle Paul who's looking out for all his "kids", that is until it became clear they are just being sent into the main roster meat grinder.

IMO Vince would never put Flair in a WM main event with Hogan in any timeline, guy spent the prior 5 years hammering it to his fanbase that WWF was the only promotion that existed. Putting Flair in a position like that would fly in the face of that, and frankly everything we've ever seen or heard about Vince would dictate he's just that stubborn to never do it just for that reason alone. Look how quickly the nixed plans for them doing a program after like one match in LA, it just seemed like he was itching for any reason he could find to not do it. He wanted Flair because he was the centerpiece of the only company he couldn't just steamroll, and just wanted him as a trophy like he did everyone else's top guys.

Vince clearly hasn't always given Smackdown his 100% attention at times, which even though he makes all the calls at the end of the day, makes it easier to create the narrative that he's responsible for all the bad and Heyman/Hunter/whoever is responsible for all the good.

People "separating the art from the artist" I would think. Plus, wrestling fans are in a somewhat unique position where a lot of people's entire concept of wrestling is due to Vince and his creations. It's not like real sports where if the owner of your favorite team is an asshole, it's something that existed before him and will exist after him.

Yeah at some point (probably when wrestling stopped being territorial) the fan stereotype changed from "poor, uneducated rednecks" to "incel neckbeard who is also probably poor and uneducated". Which IMO was just non fans realizing wrestling was popular in other parts of the country.

Orange Cassidy would be the only exception to my idea of babyfaces selling for jobbers being weird, since it fits his sloth gimmick for him to be in a constant state of selling at all time.

I think what is messing with people is that a jobber getting offense on a heel works better because it plays into wanting to see the heel get their comeuppance, and/or getting more heat for the heel by cheating to win to beat the jobber just to be a dick. A jobber getting anything more than basic offense on a babyface seems weird from a psychological standpoint.

Maybe I'm officially Too Old, I don't get how sending dick pics ever became a thing. No matter if dick is what you're into or not, who wants to see a rando one in your DMs? Like what's the play, do people think "hey once they see this, I'm sure to score a date"?

Wrestling opinions aside, dude also has a history of being unable to control his temper to the point of unprofessionalism, no matter if he's right or not in the reason he got mad. Like he was 100% justified at being pissed at Sinclair, but the way he dealt with it didn't help the situation at all and probably made things worse since I'm sure it made Sinclair less willing to invest in the company if loons like that were around. What ROH needed was a guy who liked wrestling but knew how to handle the suits, and for better or worse someone like Joe Koff was much better in that role.

I would expect when shows start up and companies are in the market to hire people, we'll see an increase in Revival type situations where people will just turn down all the offers WWE gives just so they can GTFO.

I get the impression Rick Martel feels like maybe he said more than he should have in that shoot interview, and doesn't want to draw any more heat his and/or his family's way. I was thinking of how he reminded me of Big Pussy from the Sopranos, big guy who was a family man but at the end of the day he was in the business he was in and there's normally only one exit plan.

Plus they are still bringing up Sara Logan getting her arm broke by Shayna (and reportedly were going to have her be on this week's Raw at one point). so maybe they're just being a shit company taking advantage of people who were just released with nowhere to go.

Imagine having a guy like Brodie Lee and deciding you don't have a use for him because he can't do a southern accent.

The funny part is one of the things WWE was blasted for was having a barber backstage as essential personnel. Guess Hunter didn't have time to get a cut when he was there.

The Dino Bravo episode was interesting for just how entrenched the mafia was in Quebec. As a dumb USA-ian, I knew surely that there was organized crime everywhere but I never thought of Quebec as a place so dominated by the mob people were afraid to talk about it 25+ years later.

The only problem is when people start playing the "thought police" card, 99 times out of 100 it's people complaining they can't be racist/sexist/homophobic anymore without being called out on it. Now yes, there are absolutely the performative woke crowd who try to hard to get people canceled, but honestly those are a small minority and shouldn't be used as a strawman to excuse bad behavior from the people crying "thought police".

I'm sure no one is being "forced" to violate protocols, just like no one was "forced" to get juiced to the gills in the 80s. They don't have to force anyone when they make it clear what happens when you don't.

WWE stating they follow social distancing guidelines outside of the ring when multiple WWE personnel are regularly posting videos of them backstage not socially distancing would be hilarious if it wasn't putting people at risk.

It was a reckless thing to do with someone who has an injury history, and as stated she should be the most careful worker on the roster now with how she's shooting her mouth off.

It was important for the NWA champ to be legit in case the local promoter was tempted to pull some shit, the champ was expected to be able to handle business. Other than that, there really wasn't any reason for guys to be legit other than the whole "wrestlers have to be the toughest guys in the room at all times" mindset which just screams "we're insecure because this is fake" to me.

Also I lol every time Zelina's NOO YAWK-ness comes out when she says Austin Theory's name.

The faction we didn't know we wanted but can't live without is here to save Raw.

Per the WO site, it was announced he passed away April 12 at the age of 70. He was in poor health since suffering a stroke last summer. Joe was really ahead of the curve in a lot of ways, Pro Wrestling This Week was the show to watch to catch up on t he territories back in the 80s, it was like PWI but in TV form. It's also an underrated wrestling "what if" to consider what could have been if he got actual funding for the GWF instead of getting conned by a 419 scam. Joe by all accounts was a major fan and a really nice guy, probably "too nice" for the wrestling business.

Wrestling's preoccupation with who's a legit tough guy (among fans and those in the business) has always been something that amused me. Like who cares if someone could beat everyone up for realsies when pro wrestling is the complete opposite of that. Beating up trainees would have come from trying to keep kayfabe by roughing up people trying to break in so they don't go to their friends and be all "this wrestling stuff is easy". I suppose it could be argued that guys like Stu were playing a role in keeping out the riff raff, but it sure seemed like it was also a perfect job for folks who liked hurting people.

Racing requires the stamina/endurance to drive a car for several hours wearing a firesuit and helmet in races that mostly take place in the summertime in the South. Plus you have to make split second decisions about when to pit and where your car can or can't fit on the track while going around 200 mph. IMO anything that involves legit competition is a sport. Some obviously require more skill than others, but the whole idea of sportsmanship is being a gracious winner and loser.