NintendoLogic

Her track record as a trainer needs no introduction, so I'm sure she'll be a tremendous asset as a player-coach.

Deathmatch wrestling and moronic fans: name a more iconic duo.

Update: Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Jushin Liger/Kensuke Sasaki (WCW, 12/29/92) Despite a godawful Philly crowd more interested in directing homophobic abuse at Douglas than the action in the ring, this manages to be one of the best tag matches in WCW history and an excellent companion piece to the tag title match at Starrcade the previous day. Liger and Sasaki don't quite go full Southern heel, but they do unleash just about every double-team maneuver in the book, including a spike piledriver and a Hart Attack. Some quality arm work from Steamboat and Douglas in the early going, including Steamboat doing a running splash on Liger's arm and Douglas standing on Sasaki's arm in a top wristlock and then bringing his weight down. Ironically given the future enmity between the two, the Douglas-in-peril section begins when he gets thrown off the top rope Flair-style. This may be the best US work of Liger's career, as he brings both the high-end offense (he nearly takes Steamboat's head off with a spinning heel kick at one point) and the character work (kicking Douglas' hand away when the reached for his corner and then talking trash to Steamboat on the apron in particular standing out). Speaking of Steamboat, he works his heart out while waiting for the tag, cheering Douglas on like an overexcited Little League dad. They both come together when Sasaki has Douglas in a Boston crab and Steamboat and Douglas are standing side-by-side on the floor, Steamboat exhorting Douglas to make the ropes and Liger yelling at him to give up. I got a kick out of Douglas running in to break up a pin only to immediately eat shit when Sasaki sidestepped his dropkick. I thought the ending worked really well because Steamboat had been left for dead on the outside and he and Douglas had taken so much punishment that a surprise pin was the most plausible way for them to pull out the victory. They also did a great job of making it look like Sasaki didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. ****1/2

According to Dave's bio, Misawa and Kawada got into a fist fight backstage at some point after they both had become stars. Neither one went down and it eventually got broken up, but Misawa's face apparently was in worse shape. Echoing everyone else's praise, this is incredible stuff. That Kawada soup anecdote is depressing as hell.

Speaking of the Bulls, the latest Observer says that AEW is looking to trademark the phrase First Dance (presumably a takeoff of The Last Dance). The plot thickens. It'd be even more incredible if Samoa Joe were part of this. But he decided he'd rather wrestle Karrion Kross in NXT.

It was also Ricky Steamboat's WWF theme.

No one's going to unseat Roman. That's the whole idea behind his current push. They're trying to make him the top babyface by having him kill off all the other babyfaces until the fans basically have no choice but to cheer for him. I don't think it's going to work out the way WWE hopes it will, but getting Roman over is the goal and everyone else has to be sacrificed along the way.

The sad thing is that more network involvement would likely make the show even worse. Recall that the 24/7 championship came about because USA was pitching ideas to improve ratings for the third hour of Raw. All the ideas were terrible, but Vince new he had to use one of them and the 24/7 title was the best of the bunch. Also, it was reported a while back that USA was pushing for NASCAR and NFL-themed episodes of Raw.

Also, Vince loves to bring former enemies back into the fold. Levesque is more the type to hold grudges, but he seems to have lost much of his power. Like I said in the AEW thread, there's a good chance WWE is leaking this as a preemptive strike after being unable to come to terms with Punk. If AEW signs him, they'll have spoiled the surprise. If they don't, it'll be a letdown. It's a win-win for them.

Fightful is reporting that CM Punk is in talks to return to the ring and WWE higher-ups think AEW is his most likely destination. That's obviously huge if true, but you have to consider the source. It's likely WWE sources who are leaking this since AEW runs a tight ship when it comes to keeping surprises under wraps. It's entirely possible they have no idea how close Punk and AEW are to an agreement and they're putting it out there because they couldn't come to terms with him on a deal. If it happens, they'll have lessened the impact by spoiling the surprise. If it doesn't, it'll feel like a letdown.

I'm increasingly convinced that WWE was only ever really interested in Scarlett and the promise of a huge push to Karrion Kross was a Trojan horse to get her to come along.

Edge is the main example. The funny thing is that it wasn't even intended to elevate him, just get over the MITB cash-in concept. That's why he lost it right back to Cena. But he actually drew ratings as champion and became a made man. And like it or not, the Heist of the Century at WM31 played a big role in elevating Rollins. The main thing to keep in mind, though, is that they were both heels. It's not really possible to spin cashing in on a weakened opponent as a babyface move, which is why the MITB concept is so terrible. Not only does it devalue the titles, it creates a bias toward heel champions.

Why not? Roman's already beaten Cena. And Cena being in a title match makes no difference because he's an actor now. If anything, Roman avenging his title loss by sending Cena back to Hollywood makes for a more compelling story.

Is there a compelling reason for Edge to not win tonight? If Roman wins, he'll have run through everybody. The only other main event babyface left in the company is Drew McIntyre, and Lashley's beaten him like a drum. Having Edge as champion would at least create some fresh matchups. And it might be nice to have at least one babyface champion in the company to put some smiles on faces.

So it looks like DBS Jr. is officially back in the fold. And he's just as bland as ever.

His contract expired last year. WWE let it happen because they figured it made no economic sense to use him during the pandemic and he was out of everyone else's price range. According to the latest Observer, there are those in the company who think Reigns/Lesnar has the potential to be a big program due to the Heyman connection and they don't want to dilute it by bringing Brock back to job to Lashley. There are so many problems with that idea I don't even know where to begin, but that's the thinking. In other news, Mandy being moved to NXT was apparently a trade with Aliyah being sent to Raw. She's received six years of the best wrestling training imaginable, so she's sure to knock 'em dead on the main roster.

Darby (kayfabe) injured his leg against Angelico on Elevation. They kept playing it up on commentary, so I expect it to factor into the coffin match.

I believe it is for the men, but Sasha and Bianca beat them to the punch at Mania. I recall it being made a pretty big deal of. EDIT: Actually, scratch that. Booker T and Lashley had a title match in 2006.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. For real though, loading a guy up with bells and whistles to get him over on the developmental brand only to strip it all from him and force him to sink or swim on his own on the main roster is a peak WWE move.

He had been in rough shape for a while due to dementia. His son posted a video of him a month ago where he looked 20 years older than he was and appeared to have no recollection of his wrestling career. At least his suffering is over.

Never mind all that soccer shit, Brock Lesnar has a goddamn ponytail now.

Spending the first sixteen minutes of WOR after Conor McGregor broke his leg talking about roller derby might be peak Meltzer.

Eddie Guerrero/Tajiri vs. Team Angle on 5/22/03 is right up there with the best Smackdown matches. The best match in Raw history is either Bret Hart vs. 123 Kid or the quad tear match. What's the best match in Impact history? I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I feel like there are some obvious Samoa Joe or AJ Styles matches I'm missing.

PWInsider is reporting she tore her ACL training at the PC. What the fuck kind of training are they doing there that causes someone to completely blow out their knee?

Nothing Cornette has said about AEW can be rationally construed as incitement to violence. There's no way he can be held responsible for the actions of a guy who's clearly off his rocker. He's been saying far worse things about Vince Russo for decades, and there have been no attempts on Russo's life that I'm aware of.