NintendoLogic

WWE has pretty much always used creative license for Rumble entrance intervals. If I'm not mistaken, there was a year in the 90s (I think 1995) where they kept the intervals consistent throughout and it was a total mess.

Can't wait to see TNA's Nic Nemeth make his Rumble debut.

Looks like we can rule out Ronda as a surprise Rumble entrant.

Some newz sites are reporting that Brock was supposed to fly in for the Rumble but plans might have changed in light of recent news. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see whether he shows up and what kind of reaction he receives if he does.

Maybe not shareholders, but corporate sponsors certainly could. Slim Jim pulling sponsorship of the Rumble is what ended up being the last straw for Vince.

The WWE board voted unanimously to remove Vince as chairman, so they clearly had some idea. However, the lawsuit alleges that they declined to interview this woman during their internal investigation. That would indicate that if they didn't know the full extent, it was because they didn't want to know. By the way, Vince's longtime predilection for stiffing people on money he owes them being the tragic flaw that leads to his downfall is almost Shakespearean.

Veterans telling younger wrestlers to slow down and the young guys not listening might be the biggest cliche in wrestling. Some traditions never die.

I would submit that others in the company knowing and approving of Vince's rapist tendencies vs. the victim being gaslighted into thinking they are is mostly an academic distinction in terms of impact on the victim. And yeah, all the public evidence points to Linda being almost as devoid of redeeming qualities as her husband. At least Vince never tried to overturn an election. And it's my understanding that they've been living apart for quite some time.

Jesus Christ. Just when I think my opinion of Vince can't get any lower...

What's Earthquake's dark side? He did die of cancer at a relatively young age, but that's more tragic than seedy. And I suppose there was the incident with Koji Kitao, but I don't see how that reflects poorly on Tenta. Honestly, Kitao would be a much more fitting subject of a Dark Side episode.

Being pro wrestling world champion should be like being president of the United States. You're only eligible if you're 35 or older. Those are the two most important offices in the world, so it stands to reason they should have similar eligibility requirements.

It may seem counterintuitive, but lowering ticket prices to boost attendance frequently has the opposite effect. In fact, Zane Bresloff turned house show business around for WCW by raising the price of tickets. The idea is that making an event more expensive makes it seem more major league. By the same token, raising the price of IYH PPVs was what returned the WWF to profitability in the mid-90s. The Veblen effect in action.

Apparently, a source close to top New Japan talent told Monthly Puroresu that Okada is likely WWE-bound and potentially starting out in NXT. I don't know how much stock to put in that, but the Photoshop of Okada in a Chase U hoodie is giving me life.

Prior to Saturday, the 49ers had never won under Kyle Shananan when they entered the fourth quarter trailing by 7 points or more. That makes Purdy the 1 in 1-30. For real though, the Ravens look unstoppable.

On the other hand, what was broadcast on TV wasn't necessarily representative of the product as a whole. My understanding is that the TV audience consisted largely of children and grannies and the network was concerned anything too rough would scare them off. Apparently, rival promoters frequently booked so-called all-in bouts and billed it as wrestling that was too hot for TV.

If controversy is an issue, there are plenty of long-dead wrestlers like Buzz Sawyer and Jerry Graham whose lives and careers are eminently worthy of the Dark Side treatment. I suppose the main issue there is lack of name recognition to modern viewers. Then again, they did do an episode on Bruiser Bedlam.

A few things: -The money issues aren't so much with Bushiroad as with the entirety of Japan relative to the US. Even if the yen wasn't in freefall, the rights fee explosion means the pay scale for major US promotions has skyrocketed well past what any Japanese promotion can realistically offer. The only way Bushiroad could compete would be if they're content with their wrestling division being a loss leader, which they clearly aren't. -Nakamura didn't just start using the mist out of nowhere. He stole it from Muta before finishing him off, which transferred the power to him. As far as kayfabe justifications for mist go, that's as good as any. WWE's isolationism and AEW's open-mindedness are both overstated. In addition to the aforementioned Nakamura, WWE allowed KENTA HIdeo Itami to work Marufuji's anniversary show and just had Charlie Dempsey wrestle for the Triple Crown. They also offered Daniel Bryan a deal that would have allowed him to work the G1. I'm sure they'd offer Okada something similar if that was a necessary condition. As for AEW, they do allow talent to work more with outside promotions, but they retain veto power and priority on dates. I doubt they'd sign Okada and then let him spend half the year in Japan. I mean, that's pretty much what HIkaru Shida does now, but that's more a reflection of the state of the AEW women's division.

AJ bet on himself not so much by leaving TNA but by turning down WWE's lowball offer and increasing his market value by becoming a star in Japan. TNA didn't really have a choice but to let him go when he did. There was no way they could afford his salary given their financial situation at the time and taking a pay cut would have been beneath his dignity.

Joe/HOOK felt like a poor man's Hansen/Kobashi and was a better All Japan tribute than anything Eddie Kingston has ever done. Joe's power walk after the uranage on the table literally made me laugh out loud. Count me in the pro-HOOK camp. He's obviously green, but he has athletic ability and charisma and is already a good seller. Luckily for him, Darby Allin is there to serve as a template for how to work as an undersized wrestler who gets beaten down but never says die.

Those guys were all heels, and all except Graham were transitional champions. Well, Superstar was kind of a transitional champion in that the date of the title switch to Backlund was set in stone from the beginning. The point is that they didn't need to look strong in victory because they were never intended to carry the ball long-term. The main examples of babyfaces ending long heel reigns that jump out to me are Backlund and John Cena. In the former case, there was some chicanery as Graham's foot was on the ropes for the pin. However, that was considered poetic justice with the way he won the title in the first place and also set the table for rematches. In the latter case, Cena won the title from JBL at WM21 in a short forgettable match. It was the rematch at Judgment Day, a classic I Quit match, that really legitimized him as a top guy. I guess the main takeaway is that the title change itself is less important than the babyface winning decisively later on down the road. As far as Cody being too old to be the heir apparent, with all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey. Advances in exercise science and wrestlers taking better care of themselves outside the ring mean they can remain viable main eventers well past the age of 40. Also, TV age is more important than chronological age. There are plenty of fans who don't seriously follow non-WWE wrestling, so Cody's return a couple of years ago may as well have been the arrival of a new superstar.

I had no idea that Tito Santana was ever in WCW.

Looks like X-Pac is confirmed for the Rumble.

I was actually going to post that we'd see how well my thesis regarding the fortunes of AEW and the Jaguars being inversely proportional held up now that the Jags missed the playoffs. That theory is obviously out the window if it just means TK has more time to shitpost on Twitter. The real irony is that tweet did more to get Jinder over than anything WWE could have done. By the way, was there really significant outrage over HOOK getting a title shot or was that a figment of TK's Adderall-addled imagination?

This showed up in my YouTube recommendations for whatever reason, so of course I had to watch it. I did find it amusing how like half of them were just one woman calling another woman a bitch. The WWE women's division in a nutshell.

First top three for 2024 with the caveat that I've only seen three matches so far this year. I also changed my 1992 and 2005 selections to be in accordance with my 2023 GME ballot and decided to use 1975 as a starting point.