NintendoLogic

Not only can Liger still go, he looks like he's barely aged in the past 20 or so years thanks to the costume. I would suggest that Blue Panther losing his mask is what killed his chances of being elected to the WON HOF. With the mask, he was ageless. Without it, he was an old man who looked even older, which meant that he couldn't be utilized beyond a certain level.

NOAH unveiled their new logo. I don't know, it's pretty bland and doesn't really catch the eye. It seems more appropriate for a think tank than a wrestling promotion. And I understand the need for a rebrand, but at the same time, the current GHC champion is basically a Misawa tribute act.

Again, it would have been fine if the armbar had caused some lasting damage, like when Brock Lesnar was breaking people's arms with the kimura. The fact that it was treated like a regular wrestling hold is what killed it for me. Anyway, I know what the title for next week's thread should be.

Arn/Eaton vs. Valentine/Slater from Clash XX deserves some consideration. Two heel teams being dicks to each other for a little under six minutes.

I can't stand the use of wrestling moves in WWE post-match brawls and heel beatdowns. It takes me out of the moment and reminds me that I'm watching a fake pro wrestling fight. An armbar is a legitimate submission, but it's not something you'd do if you were trying to kick someone's ass in a bar fight. If Becky's arm wasn't going to be broken, they should've just had Ronda mount and pummel her.

Even if the process is totally bogus, it carries credibility by virtue of being the only pro wrestling hall of fame the general public is aware of. Plus, I recall reading somewhere that guys like Vader with real sports backgrounds consider it to be a big deal.

He tweeted from his official account three hours before he died. Death really does stalk you at every turn.

Firing someone for having a substance abuse problem without trying to send them to rehab first would be a terrible look for the company. For what it's worth, Dave said on the F4W board that there are about five different versions of the story going around, of which this is one. He also said that most of the talent backed Arn.

If Jacques Rougeau ever does get inducted, it'll probably be as The Mountie.

If true, that is absolutely a firing offense. And I can only imagine what kind of kompromat Alicia has at her disposal to have stuck around as long as she has.

I was reminded of this thread while watching R&Rs/Andersons from Starrcade 1986 and listening to a possibly drunk Johnny Weaver on commentary. Weaver was apparently quite the ladies' man who constantly had women throwing themselves at him when he was the top babyface in the Carolinas. This is the most flattering picture I could find of him: You want to talk about the wrestling curve, that's it right there. No wonder girls went crazy for Flair and Steamboat if this is what they were working with previously.

All bets are off after Rush jacked Chris Benoit's theme.

I can't imagine "your finisher is fake and I'd kick your ass if we were fighting for real" working under any circumstances. More people follow Ronda on Twitter than watch Raw.

I'm surprised El-P doesn't know about Three Men and a Baby given that it was a remake of Trois hommes et un couffin.

At the very least, he should have come to the ring in a Hawaiian shirt and Detroit Tigers cap. Then again, that may have been a bit too on the nose even by pro wrestling standards.

Baszler/Yim is worth going out of your way to see.

Ospreay's match with Fale should let us know how serious they are about pushing him as a heavyweight. To be honest, though, I'm increasingly convinced that the junior division is an anachronism. It really struck me when I watched KUSHIDA's match with Tanahashi. The IWGP heavyweight champion was barely larger than the former junior ace. And most of the company's top heavyweights are his size or smaller. Plus, current New Japan is more of an entertainment-based product, so there's no real need to try to maintain sports legitimacy. They should do away with the division or at least significantly lower the weight limit.

The problem is that Austin is such an iconic figure and the stunner is so closely identified with him that anyone else who uses it is going to come across as lesser in comparison.

I'd be shocked if Batista did one of the Saudi shows. He's enough of a star that he doesn't need WWE, and he's perfectly willing to tell them to stick it when what they're doing doesn't work for him. Plus, he seems like the kind of guy who would turn down Saudi blood money on principle. And even if he wouldn't, it would go over terribly in Hollywood.

This is going to pale in comparison to Ric's actual birthday party last Friday, which seemingly every celebrity you imagine would celebrate a wrestler's birthday attended. Also, there was this:

Lafayette getting the Bizarro World treatment. A billion-dollar corporation is run by children.

Think of it this way: how different would wrestling be today if they had never existed? With that in mind, the correct answers are Misawa, Jericho, Angle, Hardy, and Edge.

Mance Warner is wrestling LA Park on Saturday, so I decided to check out his match on the latest episode of Fusion. He could stand to be a bit less overt in wearing his influences on his sleeve, but it's pretty cool seeing a guy working a Bunkhouse Buck tribute gimmick in 2019.

The mistake is thinking that these trolls are expressing genuine opinions rather than simply getting their jollies from hurling anonymous abuse at celebrities, particularly female ones. The lesson as always: social media was a mistake.

The Mayweather match is the Misawa/Kawada of celebrity matches, but I have no real use for Show otherwise. The main issue is that the dominant but vulnerable monster doesn't really work as a weekly TV character. Either he's too dominant and kills off his opponents or he's too vulnerable and loses his aura. The ones who made it work, like Andre and current Brock Lesnar, were special attractions.