Reasons Alex Wright Is Better Than Finn Balor Right Now

Essentially The Same Guy. Same Jacket, Same Type of Trunks, Only One Is Better

There are a lot of fans that are not going to agree with what I’m about to say. In fact, I tested this notion in an online forum and generated so much IRE, I couldn’t help but laugh. People are irrational in who they cheer for and who they like. What did I do? I simply commented on the fact that Alex Wright and Finn Balor are wearing the same thing to the ring, and are similar wrestlers. As the comment count rose, I realized, Alex Wright is better than Finn Balor.

That’s right.

Alex Wright, is far better than Finn Balor right now, and there are several reasons why. Here are 5 of the many reasons why Alex Wright from WCW is far better than Finn Balor thus far.

Beating Legends In Their Prime

First and foremost, Alex Wright received a nice push in the mid to late 1990s in WCW. At first, he didn’t get a lot of attention, but with wins over the likes of TRIPLE H before he jumped to WWF, and wins over Chris Jericho, William Regal, and Ultimo Dragon, you can definitely make a case for the fact that Wright was able to put on a show, get the fans behind him, and work with some amazing talent. Even though he looked like a skinny European guy, he was able to do a lot in the ring, which was impressive. He also went over some amazing talent for the WCW Cruiserweight title and Television title alike. He would even get some good tag matches in towards the end of WCW’s run, but of course Facebook groups and smarks aren’t going to agree.

Getting Over With The Fans

Believe it or not, he was getting over with the fans. Even the dancing fools gimmick was over. I know, he’s not as over as some of the other stars of wrestling, but when he would come out, he would get a lot of reaction, especially with some of his better matches. Not only that, you’d be surprised by how much fan interaction Disco Inferno would get. I know, insane. Kaz Hayashi as well, lots of cheers, and it was fun to watch them do their thing in the ring.

A Leather Jacket and Short Trunks

Who wore it better? Who did it first? Some people want to compare Goldberg to Steve Austin when it comes to wearing the same thing, but I don’t buy that. The two had distinctive physical appearances, and were far and away difference. Alex Wright and Finn Balor are similar. Finn is a small guy, and it’s laughable that he would go over Brock Lesnar, let alone not get injured. Wright is not a huge guy, he’s tall, but he was never huge. The two share the entrance of a leather jacket, and short trunks. At least Alex Wright could talk on the mic without sounding like he had marbles in them.

A Killer Dropkick

Finn Balor has a great move set, but he relies heavily on dropkicks. He is fast in ring, and he can do a lot, but those dropkicks are familiar. Oh right, Alex FREAKIN Wright had one of the best arsenals of dropkicks in the game. Don’t remember them, do you? Yeah, because wrestling fans are either very young, or not willing to admit that some older talents in WCW were quite good. Wright had a killer dropkick, and could mat wrestle the likes of William Regal. Yes, THAT REGAL!
Until Finn Balor amasses more wins, and clears the marbles from his mouth, he’s just another bland, white, small wrestler. He’s not a draw, he’s injury prone, and he’s not going to go far without the Demon Gimmick. Outside of that Demon Gimmick, he’s one dance move away from being Alex Wright.

This topic is the main reason why I left RBR wrestling Facebook forum. It got out of hand quick. People get their panties in a bunch when you don’t agree, and then when you help get conversation going, you’re called an idiot, dense, and even the hosts don’t realize the good of conversation. If you’re going to start a group, you may want to have conversation flowing, instead of just random posts with NO ONE commenting. Oh well. I unsubscribed, they can go to hell for all I care.

That’s two major podcasts that have butt hurt listeners. Smart Wrestling Fan, and RBR Wrestling, two podcasts that can’t take a joke, you can’t disagree with, and will block you if you have ANYTHING to say about how they may be wrong about someone.

Just wait, I’m brewing my own podcast, and I’ll welcome as much commentary from the listeners and fans as possible. And will not get butt hurt if someone doesn’t agree. What is wrong with the internet wrestling community? GTFO!

One last thing. SHOUT OUT TO SUPLEX CITY LIMITS! They get it. They totally get it!

Top 11 Bill Goldberg Matches of All Time

Top 11 Bill Goldberg Matches

A long time ago, I posted the Top 3 Bill Goldberg matches, and they stand as some very strong matches. But after so long, I’ve managed to watch a lot more wrestling, and thanks to the WWE Network, I have been able to get back to some of the older matches that I saw, didn’t see, and forgot about. With that in mind, I am going to attempt a top 10 Bill Goldberg match list here, because we all know that this Sunday on PPV and WWE Network he will get pummeled into submission by Brock Lesnar, aka Bork Lazer. So here we go, the best of Bill Goldberg according to your local idiot, and wreddit banned writer, me.

11. Bill Goldberg vs. The Giant WCW Nitro December 1998

Bill Goldberg wrestled a much more agile Big Show. He was called The Giant, and he was great. Goldberg was not just plowing through The Giant on this night. He faced off against The Giant and was getting beat down fast. Goldberg was getting pummeled, and even got hit with the Chokeslam, and despite that, Goldberg still found a way to bounce back. The best part of this match wasn’t just that the Giant was chopped down, but that he picked him up and hit the jackhammer, and the crowd went ballistic. This match’s winner was to go and face Kevin Nash at Starrcade 1998.

10. Bill Goldberg vs. Saturn WCW Spring Stampede April 1998

Saturn did quite well against Goldberg if you ask me. He even put the big man in the Rings of Saturn, which I marked out huge for. He was able to wiggle his way out, and eventually overpower the flock’s lieutenant at arms. In this quick on, Goldberg contrasted well with Saturn’s crisp offense. Kidman got involved at one point, and got thrown into Saturn which was a nice touch. Goldberg also did a few more moves here than usual. The crowd really makes this match. They were so hot, that when things started to really turn around, they were completely in awe. Saturn’s timing is great, the middle rope turning leg drop was classic Saturn. This was NOT a burial, and I loved it.

9. Bill Goldberg Vs. Raven from WCW Nitro April 1998

The night before at Spring Stampede 1998, you’ll find that Raven took on DDP in one of the best U.S Title matches in the world. The night after, Raven was put in against Bill Goldberg. In this match, Raven tried to leave the match completely, and was pushed back into the ring by the fans! Goldberg and Raven put on a show, even if the match was somewhat short. The crowd was going insane, the Flock came in to interfere, and Goldberg managed to win the United States Championship, and rock the WCW even more. The crowd goes absolutely nuts here, and the match was one of the highlights of Nitro for me, ever!

8. Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash Starrcade 1998

This was not a burial. You have to remember that leading up to this match, Goldberg was starting to get booed. People were getting tired of his nonstop super hero persona. Nash booked himself to win, but not clean. It wasn’t clean at all. They threw the sink at Goldberg and it was Scot Hall with a tazer that caused Goldberg to lose the title, and it was great if you ask me. The crowd went nuts for the whole thing, and the next month, Goldberg and Hall put on a show for sure. This was a good one, not a great one, but good enough for this list.

7. Goldberg vs. Bret Hart WCW Starrcade 1999

Despite what people say about Hart’s concussion, if you look at the match, it wasn’t like a Ghetto Blaster or anything. Goldberg went for a standard savat kick, and Hart didn’t catch it. I firmly put the blame on the size of the WCW rings. If this match happened in WWE, Goldberg would have more room to throw that kick, and Hart wouldn’t have taken it off the corner of the head like he did. Furthermore, just a half step slower and the kick could’ve been ducked and Hart could’ve chop blocked Bill onto his back. Whatever the case is, this was a good match leading to the ending, which was weird. I loved this one, and had the VHS copy, and this match still holds up well for me.

6. Goldberg vs. The Rock WWE Backlash 2003

Goldberg showed up and immediately feuded with the returning Rock. The Rock and Goldberg did a good job putting on a match for WWE Backlash 2003. I was excited, and the rest of the WWE universe was excited too. This was a great showcase of fast paced wrestling, and psychology used by the Rock. Then again, a paper bag would look great against the Rock, right? Good match, and great way to introduce Goldberg to WWE.

5. Goldberg vs. Triple H WWE Unforgiven 2003

Goldberg and Triple H in a single match? Yep. Not only did this match go longer than most of the matches on this list, it was perhaps one of the harder hitting matches that Triple has been in. Triple H knew how to make Goldberg look strong, and therefore he was thrown through a lot of big power moves, similar to when he fought Steiner and got suplexed a million times. This was a better paced, faster moving match, and Goldberg wasn’t made to look weak. Triple H introduced the Sledgehammer, Jim Ross made this match sound so great as well. Triple H was busted open, the crowd went nuts for the finish, and it was a good overall match if you ask me. Triple H really led Goldberg to one hell of a world heavyweight title match. Jim Ross’s calls made this even better, great stuff folks.

4. Goldberg Vs. Scott Steiner WCW Fall Brawl 2000

When I first heard about this, I was surprised. I ended up watching it and was delighted by the way that this match went. Scott Steiner and Goldberg beat the holy hell out of each other in one of the stiffest matches that I’ve seen. This was stiff, it had a lot of hard shots, and Steiner and Goldberg both gave it as much as they took, and they didn’t back down. Steiner’s end WCW run was definitely one of the highlights for me, as he was made to look like a serious monster, and he took out some seriously credible dudes. This wasn’t a bad match, and I think it was a highlight on the show.

3. Bill Goldberg vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Title July 1998

Regardless of whether or not you think that this was a mistake to put it on free tv, this was one hell of a match. Goldberg wasn’t just going to roll through Hogan. Hogan got a lot of back and forth here. He even hit the leg drop, and was all over the challenger. You have to remember that DDP, Hennig, and Karl Malone were a distraction for Hogan on the outside. But the place went absolutely insane when he picked up Hogan for the jackhammer and won the world title. You haven’t seen an explosion quite like this one, even in WWF. The crowd was absolutely insane, and the match was really good to watch. I miss the era where the fans would throw crap into the ring. This really made Goldberg amazing in my book.

2. Bill Goldberg vs. Scott Hall (Stun Gun Match) Souled Out January 1999

This was not a squash. I thought it was going to be. You have to remember that just 1 month ago, WCW Starrcade 1998 led to Goldberg’s first major loss against Kevin Nash. You have to remember that in this match, Goldberg had a bad wheel, with a knee brace on. Scott Hall targeted the knee, and this match lasted quite a bit for the main event. Even so, there was a lot of back and forth, with Goldberg selling the left leg quite well at times, and then sucking it up to do power moves. Hall was a psychological beast in this match, and it led to one hell of a finish. There was a blood, there was interference from none other than The Disco Inferno! Scott Hall was climbing up the ladder at one point and the crowd was going nuts because he got the Stun Gun, but that is not how you won this one, you had to zap your opponent. The best part about this match was how the finish occurred. Goldberg threw the Stun Gun (stick) into the air, and hit Scott Hall with a huge spear, and eventually won this match. You have to hear the crowd erupt when he finally hits Hall, the guy that cost him the title, with the spear and the stun gun! Holy crap, this was good. After the match Bam Bam Bigelow showed up to set up the next feud, but this match was a lot better than people remember.

1. Goldberg vs. DDP Halloween Havoc 1998

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this match? This is one of the best matches that Goldberg has ever had, and even though they did it again a year later, this is the one that really had people believing that anything was possible. DDP nearly had Goldberg beat, and the crowd was all over the place. I know the original broadcast went over, but I had the VHS tape and it’s on the WWE Network. You’re going to be stunned by how good this match is, and it definitely had the fans completely split at how good this one was. The whole event was great, to be honest.

Brown Shoeman Looks Weak Against Shane McMahon

Brown Shoeman Is Weak Versus Shane McMahon

This past week on Raw, Brown Shoeman was in the ring and caught a beat down from Shane McMahon, as he was taken out of the ring. Now, the logic of this is absolutely stupid.

Brown Shoeman is Wreddit’s poster child. They love him. He can do no wrong. I got called a stupid idiot on that board so much, I finally quit and walked away. So much so that I’m now writing all my lame ass opinions on this blog, since the internet wrestling community doesn’t really like me, like the rest of the world.

There’s a reason why I’m a loner with no friends, but let’s get back on topic.

Brown Shoeman has been booked to be a monster, no problem. However, when he gets tossed out of the ring by Shane McMahon, a non-wrestler, he looks weak. He should be the “monster”, right? Not the guy that can easily be taken out by a few shots, and then out you go buddy.

I found that to be weak.

All monsters will eventually get buried. Mark my words people, Brown Shoeman will get buried sooner than later, just like all the monsters that the WWE has tried to create beforehand. At one point or another burials occur, and it’s going to be great for me to see it happen, especially after Reddit’s wrestling area basically threw me out.

Sometimes I wish I had friends that liked wrestling, instead of just writing this blog that no one reads. Perhaps a podcast, but then again, it’s a lonely life for people without a popular opinion, isn’t it?

So here you go, if you're going to buy WWE crap, you can do so by clicking here and helping this blog start a podcast. If not, oh well.

Wrestling Is Fake...

We’ve all heard this one, some of us more times than others. But the nanosecond we openly admit to being a fan of wrestling we get the inevitable miscreant who thinks they are shattering our world with their intellect telling us, “You know wrestling is fake, right?”.

I had no idea!!! Are you going to tell me Santa Claus isn’t real? The Easter Bunny? If you tell me the Tooth Fairy is not real I’m going to burn this motherfucker down right now.

The Irony of the Stupidity

The WWE and wrestling in general, at one time, did go to great lengths to try and convince you everything you saw in the ring was real. Their job was to convince you there really is a place called “Parts Unknown”, “Death Valley” and various other fictional locations that matched up with a wrestlers gimmick. To their credit, they did a great job….because kids and teenagers believed it while the adults just enjoyed the entertainment value of it all. Oh and the bodies….my oh my some of them bodies.

Breaking News: That’s what the hell wrestling has ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT!

Let me make a few presumptions here that are more than likely true of these “wrestling is fake” people. My guess is they are HUGE followers of boxing and the UFC….aka real fighting. I would also venture a guess they have no less than half a dozen television/cable shows they watch religiously (Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black, etc). So it would stand to reason they know the difference between what’s real and what is scripted and can appreciate the entertainment from both, right. RIGHT?

Ever since WWE got “the F out” and became a publicly traded company, they have not made much of an effort to convince anyone with a working brain stem that their entertainment is not scripted. Peruse some of the programming on their network or on Youtube and you’ll see “good guys” and “bad guys” hanging out together, doing stuff together that if you were to believe the storylines, should never happen. The WWE is very much on board with people knowing the entertainment…..let me say that again, ENTERTAINMENT, is scripted with match results already predetermined. Just like ANY entertainment show on television today that doesn’t involve the “reality” genre….and even half of those are scripted but that’s a topic for another day. One of the great differences between WWE and wrestling entertainment overall is if a character is not connecting with a crowd and takes away from the flow of the show they are repackaged, relocated, replaced and sometimes even dismissed from the company. How many shows do you watch with an absolute trainwreck of a cast member or two that you have to put up with because they are under contract and therefore will continue to be in every episode no matter how horrible they are?

There Is A Reason For This Warning

When you break it all the way down, professional wrestlers are stunt men and women with scripts. That’s the bottom line. The moves they pull off in the ring and outside of it are nothing short of mind boggling sometimes and while choreography definitely has its place in the developing of matches, there are some moves that simply cannot be faked. Like…..jumping off the goddamn Hell in a Cell cage. Getting put through tables. Getting thrown off of ladders, out of a ring and landing on something about as cushy as a yoda mat. Fake landings? I think not. In the almost 30 years I’ve been watching wrestling I have seen every conceivable injury you can imagine happen to these men and women of the squared circle. Many of them come back from injury, some never do. There is nothing fake about the action that results in some of the most life altering injuries you will ever see. How many times do you think the action heros of the movies ACTUALLY jumped off of anything? How many times do you think they ACTUALLY landed on the pavement or grass or out of a plane and into the water? Zero. Between paid stunt men and women, green screens and ten foot tall landing cushions, I’d venture a guess that not even so much as a fingernail is broken in most scripted action scenes on television or the movies. But wrestling is “fake”?

The Self Inflicted Cognitive Dissonance and Where It Comes From

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s, before the WWE and wrestling in general became the mainstream entertainment juggernaut that it is today, it was common to hear most people deride wrestling as “fake fighting among guys in tights”. Why? Because it just hadn’t evolved yet, it was very much an overlooked and marginalized form of entertainment because it only appealed to a very small subset of the population. But it’s that very same mentality that has carried over into modern day judgement of wrestling because….here’s the kicker….they don’t actually WATCH the shows, might even be afraid they’ll like it and as such it’s “easier” to just follow the ever-dwindling crowd and say wrestling is fake as they sit down to watch their recorded, scripted TV shows full of green screens and stunt people. In short, I believe these “wrestling is fake” troglodytes WANT to watch, like and enjoy wrestling but because there are still more people saying it’s not “real” and therefore not “cool”, they can’t allow themselves to give it a try but rather just talk shit to those who do watch it. Because, you know, it makes them better than you.

Next week I'll be talking about....well.....you're just going to have to come back and see. Until then, I'm Irreparably Jaded and I know this article is a week late because....you know.....LIFE!

From a fantastic four to a dirty, filthy, CHEAP dozen...current generation to blame?

Once upon a glorious time, WWF/WWE had four major shows a year. The shows where magic happened, old rivalries were settled and new ones were born, legends and memories were made. The events were known as Pay Per Views and we got four spectacular ones every year. There was Summerslam in August, Survivor Series in November (it was actually ON Thanksgiving Day), Royal Rumble in January and of course the granddaddy of them all, Wrestlemania in April. All of the storylines, angles, face/heel turns and sometimes even new talent converged on these events and it was worth every penny of the price, every time.

But now? We have 12, count ‘em 12 events a year. Some as little as three weeks apart from each other and with the introduction of the WWE Network, they can’t even be called PPV’s any longer. You know what I call them? With the exception of the four main shows, it’s just RAW with a different name. That’s it.

The Immediate Gratification Factor:

Without even getting into the greed aspect of this on WWE’s part, let’s look at this from the big picture. What is a company’s primary objective? To make money. How do they do that? By giving their customers what they want. At some point in the last 15-20 years the message was delivered to WWE that fans wanted more big shows besides Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summer Slam and Survivor Series. So the WWE delivered. Why not? Not only are they giving fans what they want but they tripled the opportunities to sell merchandise at big events every year (from four big shows to twelve). Then the fans told them they wanted to see a new champion every few months….so now we see the WWE title change hands more times in one year than it did for all of the the 70’s and 80’s combined. I didn’t agree with the split brand titles because I feel it took away from both champions equally. One company, one guy. Same goes for the Women’s division….one company, one woman champion and THANK YOU for getting rid of the “Diva’s” title. What a joke that was. But I digress….

Degradation and Disintegration of Storylines:

For those of you old enough to remember or have educated yourself on the history of the business versus just eating the slop dumped in your bowl each week and thinking it’s great….think back to the storylines of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Epic, weren’t they? Well, many of them...not all. Why do you think they were so great? So memorable? Yes the talent has a lot to do with it as do the writers. But the primary reason, in my humble opinion, is those storylines thrived because of the same reason anything else ends up good, lasting and memorable: They were given the TIME to develop. We didn’t see the two people scheduled to fight at the PPV anywhere near each other in a ring during the weekly shows unless it was to screw with the others match or otherwise fan the flames of that rivalry. These days? If you JUST watch RAW or Smackdown every week, you have pretty much seen the big matches at the big events already. How many times in the past two weeks did Styles and Reigns cross paths prior to their match last night at Extreme Rules? How about the rest of the card? Every single week there were physical altercations involving the combatants of just about every single match last night.

Where’s the anticipation? 

Once upon a time, opponents generally wouldn’t get a hand on their opponent until the actual event or during the “send off” show prior to the actual event. At this point, there is literally nothing to look forward to….or pay for….during these events formerly known as PPV’s. Nothing. The WWE is so desperate to seize the moment when anyone becomes organically “hot” (I think they are still baffled how that happens), they will put someone in a major storyline or even the WWE title picture *cough* AJ Styles *cough* if they think it will sell a few more tickets that particular week. But aside from that, if you follow the “behind the scenes” stuff, you already knew Rollins was coming back last night and with the heat Reigns has been getting (I can’t wait to hear it on RAW tonight), there was no question Rollins was going to come back as a “face” and attack Reigns after the match. Styles never had a chance of winning last night simply because he’s only been in WWE a few months and is already showing signs of wear and tear. Popular as he may be, they aren’t putting the belt on him and ruin the encounter we’ve all been waiting for since Rollins put that chair to the back of Ambrose and Reigns some time ago.

A plausible solution that will never happen:

I’m not one to complain about something without offering a solution. I’d just as soon keep my mouth shut and stew about it internally. So I’m not about to advocate abolishing the eight extra shows and going back to JUST the main four. I recognize a need for a few more shows and understand this represents more money for the performers as well. So my suggestion is simple...cut the shows in half. Seriously. In doing so, you can still appease those who need to see results from a feud quickly but you also give yourself time to build a credible storyline that make people even WANT to watch the big show.

My Suggestions:

Royal Rumble: One of the main four, leave it alone.

Fastlane: Abolish it. All this does is put a massive pothole on the “Road to Wrestlemania”.

Wrestlemania: No comment needed...

Extreme Rules: This would be a good show if we weren’t in the “PG” era. But I’ve never been a fan of wrestlers shredding and destroying their bodies week in and week out thus shortening their careers and in some cases, their lives. Abolish it.

Payback: Another waste of time. Glorified RAW. Get rid of it.

Money In The Bank: I’d not only advocate keeping this one but making it matter again. Unless the talent has “earned their stripes” in the locker room and is gold on the mic AND in the ring, they should not get this briefcase. Especially those who just happen to be a “flavor of the month” with fans.

Battleground: For what? Abolish it.

SummerSlam: Staple show….gotta keep it.

Night of Champions: I love this concept but the show should be ONLY title matches. Save the rivalries for…..

Hell in a Cell: Even in the “PG” era, this can still be a good show if written correctly with well developed storylines. You don’t need blood or big spots to make these matches good….how about the “hell” of being locked in a cage with someone who can’t wait to get their hands on you?

Survivor Series: The 4th and final staple show of the year. But this show has to go back to it’s roots. Four on four. That’s it. Vince and the writers need to get all of their lust for mixed tag matches out on this show and stop ruining the weekly shows with that garbage. The novelty of it is dead and rotting.

TLC: With the Hardy’s gone, Edge and Christian gone and the Dudley’s enjoying one last run, this show needs to be dumped as well.

There you go. Seven shows instead of twelve. Plenty of time to develop convincing storylines AND develop good matches. Should WWE do it? Hell yes. Will they? Ohhhhh heeeeeellllllll no.

Next week I’m going after the intellectual troglodytes that love to tell you “wrestling is fake”. You won’t want to miss that.

Until then, I’m Irreparably Jaded and I got other shit to do now besides educate you.

John Cena is never turning heel, neither is Roman Reigns...and you have only yourself to blame.

Every other month or so we hear “rumors” and “sources close to the WWE” say a John Cena heel turn is imminent. Every WEEK we hear the same about Roman Reigns. But week after week, PPV after PPV, the swerve never happens...and it’s not going to. Why? Because that’s actually NOT what’s best for business.

The business reality of WWE

Ever since the WWE went “PG” due to Linda McMahon’s failed attempt at politics as well as when WWE Corporate went public, their sole purpose has been to generate revenue and expand their market presence in the world of entertainment. To their credit, they have done a great job but it’s come at the expense of losing the “support” of fans that have already surpassed puberty. Those of us who remember an era other than the Attitude Era. Now I use the term support loosely because while the “old school” wrestling fans have become disenchanted with the current product, one fact remains: We’re still watching it. We’re still subscribing to WWE Network. We are still buying their products and they are still selling out arenas all over the world. So….why the hell would they turn their two biggest “faces” in the company? It makes ZERO business sense, that’s why.

John Cena is the Hulk Hogan of his generation, plain and simple. Roman Reigns, despite his family lineage and the company’s best laid plans to elevate him, may never truly reach his potential as long as mic work is part of the job. The man has absolutely ZERO charisma and like Big Cass says, YOU CAN’T TEACH THAT. The WWE’s next big heel is only going to happen organically. Personally I think Seth Rollins is a natural and Kevin Owens is right up there with him. Here’s hoping Vince doesn’t ruin either of them with one of his asinine ideas later on and then fire them like they did something wrong *cough* Damien Sandow *cough*.

What makes a good heel turn?

Do you remember the greatest heel turn in the history of the business? I do. I still remember it fondly because it changed the entire industry. Bash at the Beach, 1996, the biggest face in the history of wrestling makes the heel turn no one expected (I don’t even think the commentators knew it was coming), Hulk Hogan comes in, turns heel and creates one of the greatest stables (which eventually got watered down) in history with the nWo. This of course spawned DX and the Monday Night War really took off. Now why did that heel turn happen? Hogan was already the biggest name in the business, Nash and Hall were there and the trickle of talent coming in from WWE was already quickly growing to a steady stream. Why the bombshell? Because it made perfect business sense. Hardcore wrestling fans would continue to watch WWE and WCW (watch one, record the other back in those days) but the WWE loyalists would not bother watching WCW and just write off Hogan, Nash, Hall, etc as old guys past their prime basically doing the same shtick somewhere else. Unless….they weren’t. Turning Hogan heel was probably the single most ballsy, business savvy GENIUS move pulled off up to that point and since then. Ultimately it also lead to the eventual demise of WCW because the wrong guys were given “creative control” and basically took the politics they pulled in WWE and amplified it tenfold. But the heel turn decision was made because it really was best for business and if WCW had competent management calling the shots behind the scenes, we might still have two major competing brands….and I’m not saying WWE would be one of them, either.

The innovator is now the cancer: Vince McMahon

Once upon a time, albeit through incredibly nefarious actions, Vince McMahon innovated an entire industry and set it on a path to develop into the massive conglomerate that it is today. But too much of anything can be bad and Vince got too much credit and too much power in his creation of what is now called “sports entertainment” almost single handedly so he refuses to release the iron fist of influence he wields over everything seen on WWE broadcasting. If you truly think HHH has final say on NXT operations or that Stephanie has final say on RAW and Smackdown programming then you must believe that control of RAW was really on the line at Wrestlemania this year when Shane fought the Undertaker. We see how that played out, don’t we? The reality is Vince has been creatively out of touch almost since the beginning. The nWo is almost directly responsible for the existence of DX. All of the various wild storylines during the Monday Night War was essentially designed to out shock people away from WCW.

Hell, do you remember the Stone Cold Steve Austin heel turn? That was PURELY to get even with a company he already bought for the shock of turning Hulk Hogan...and he couldn’t even get that right. By the way, who is your favorite XFL team? Oh….right. Vince McMahon no doubt has one of the better business acumens than most have and he certainly deserves his share of credit for what he’s created. But one imperative trait that he never developed (I speak past tense because at his age, he’s beyond the point of change), he never learned to truly delegate. If in no other capacity, he should have done so from a creative standpoint. Hire some real writers, give them guidelines to stick to because of the whole PG nonsense and let them do their thing. No more fucking New Day’s. No more fucking Adam Rose and a dancing bunny. No more fucking Oddities. Stop changing the tint in ring lighting for an ENTIRE MATCH for people. Do you realize how hard that is to watch? I call it a bathroom break match.

But you know why we will continue to see these creative defecations in WWE for as long as Vince McMahon draws oxygen on this earth? Because WE KEEP WATCHING and hoping for more. As long as he doesn’t NEED to, he’s not approving any relevant heel turns. We get to watch Kane and Big Show switch back and forth, that’s all we’re getting and we should be grateful for that. Right?

*flips table*

Next week I will get into the proliferation of what was once known as Pay-Per-Views….until then I’m Irreparably Jaded and in respect to this article, I’m as fucked up as you are.

In Case You Missed last week's article by Irreparably Jaded, it's right HERE

10 WTF Moments WWE Raw 5/9/2016 By Professor Dune

Hello out there on the internet, here I am, your Professor of Pro Wrestling, with a new set of WTF moments from WWE Monday Night Raw. This was a stinker of a show, and if you disagree, well then you’re under the age of 25, and you should be sprayed with Rick Martel’s Arrogance fragrance.

10. You Never Call The Action Magul! – JBL

Not sure if JBL went off script here, but it was a highlight moment as he got mad, and just went nuts on Michael Cole. At certain points, you can even here Byron and Michael ask JBL to calm down on the mic.

9. Let’s Go Roman CHANTS

This was NOT piped in. The crowd was going insane, and were chanting “Let’s Go Roman”, to the tune of 10,000 plus fans.

8. Booing Aj Styles

The world has certain turned, as Aj Styles was legitimately getting booed against Roman Reigns, holy crap.

7. The Club

They are not the Good Brothers, they are THE CLUB. Now, I love a good Club Sandwich, but this club, still reminds me of 1992 Nasty Boys.

6. A Potted Plant Is More Over Than Dean Ambrose

I was going to say hell no, then Jericho put up a lot of tweets and MEMES that shows the fact that yes, Dean Ambrose isn’t as over as a damn house plant!

5. Stephanie McMahon tells Jericho that nothing can drive a wedge between her and Shane McMahon. Then later Shane McMahon says that their relationship isn’t that good!

WTF, seriously, WWE what a lackluster attention span.

4. Summer Rae is going to be visiting Space Mountain as she states on Twitter.

Seriously, Summer Rae with what I can only assume is a fallatio reference on Twitter.

3. Rusev Gets Rolled Up by Sin Cara

Last week we got a strong Rusev, and this week, he’s getting rolled up by a lucha-jobber. So much for eating Kalisto’s heart. Looks like you’ll get NOTHING. NOTHING!

2. A Distraction Roll Up In The Semi-Main Event!

Anderson rolls up one of the USOS thanks to a distraction roll up, and Roman Reigns claims he saw it, and that he’s going to make Anderson pay. Nope, Nope, Roman you were on the floor idiot, the camera shots all confirm. Moron.

1. An Elimination Occurred during a commercial break?!? What the Hell?

There you have it, 10 WTF moments that I, Professor Dune spotted this week. Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging. Oh, and You’re Welcome!

Oh, and one last thing, Jericho's jacket isn't worth that much, it's worth more! $25,000 Dollars! Holy Crap. This is a feud over a jacket and a potted plant, a new era right? Yeah.

Chris Jericho - Would you please GO. THE. HELL. AWAY.

The Skinny

Do you remember Chris Jericho’s big WWE debut? He was one of the bigger names coming over from WCW and aside from getting fed to the Rock right out of the gate, (“Who in the blue hell are you?”), Jericho established himself quickly as a fan favorite. Eventually, much to my surprise and chagrin he proceeded to defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock to become the first ever Undisputed Champion.

Now I understand the goal was to start elevating new names to the main event scene because let’s face it, we had our fill of Austin vs Rock, Rock vs HHH, HHH vs Austin. They gave Jericho his shot and as evident by him soon dropping those belts to a returning HHH, it was clear Jericho just wasn’t quite the draw Vince had hoped he would be. Whether or not HHH already had Vince’s ear to ensure getting the belts off Jericho is a story for another day, but the fact remains Jericho was never seriously in the title picture again.

The Upshot

Over the years Jericho has come and gone, come and gone, come and gone as he tours with his band and then comes back to wrestle for awhile. Just like with the Rock and his movies, and the fans eat up the returns every time. But each time he returns, he does so with an even more obnoxious variation of his character. From the pompous jerk-wad with gratuitous use of large vocabulary to calling himself the best in the world at what he does (which he has picked back up) to trying to be the one to “save” CM Punk from himself as he accused Punk of being a phony in the straight edge lifestyle…..and my God that damn blinking jacket. But here’s the prevailing theme with each return: It’s always to build up new talent. Great concept but I think that ship has sailed two returns ago.

Last I checked, since he first returned from the long hiatus he was on, Jericho hasn’t really gone over in any major feuds, he hasn’t held any major titles for very long (even by WWE standards), he doesn’t even get good storylines anymore. So much so that he’s recycling his old heel characters and running with that. While it’s true, at his age (45) he’s kept himself in damn good shape and he can still “go” with most of the roster and maybe that is all the building Vince wants Jericho to do...get the new, young talent a win over a big name. But is that really helping anyone? Look at his current feud with AJ Styles who came IN hot with just as much talent.

The Bottom Line

The first time Jericho returned from his initial, long hiatus, the buzz lasted months. Any feuds he was in were near main event status. His reputation had preceded him and let’s face it, he had and still has one of the better entrance themes/acts. But with each return, the buzz dissipates a little faster. Months turn into weeks. Weeks have turned into a couple episodes of RAW and then he’s just another veteran name on the roster. He’s not Brock Lesnar or The Undertaker but I believe he deserves that kind of veteran respect.

Which begs the question: When will he stage a return we can actually give a damn about? I just don’t think he has that in him anymore and thus isn’t doing the new, young talent any favors. As an in-ring talent, his days of relevance are long behind him. So unless we’re going to get The Highlight Reel (and ONLY that) from Jericho, I ask that he please…. SHUT THE HELL UP.

Until next time, I'm Irreparably Jaded....and I'm the guy you WISH you were.

MCW Spring Fever Tour Frederick Stop 3/19/16 Results and Review

In an effort to bring more voices into this blog, I now present you with Patrick King. Here is his rundown of the MCW Spring Fever Tour stop in Frederick. Keep coming back for more articles, reviews, results, and writing from me and the rest of the crew.

So my wife and I attended this event. Why wait until the video was posted on MCW’s Rage TV streaming service to review the show? Well, there’s a very simple explanation. I paid good money for those tickets and wasn’t going to spend my time writing notes. I was going to have a good time. Besides, and this is definitely secondary, by waiting for the video to be released, I could see the backstage segments and the commentary. A classy way to do things, I know. With that in mind, here’s what you can dig on if you check out this episode of Rage TV:

Backstage Segment: Rayo and Bruiser

Bruiser is the franchise of MCW, having held their main title six times. I suppose he isn’t in any major storylines right now, so they’re sticking him with Rayo, who is a skinny Peruvian lad with a soccer player gimmick. I’ve certainly seen weirder gimmicks than a soccer player turned wrestler, but that didn’t make it any easier to wrap my head around. Rayo’s thing right now is that he’s a young upstart being paired with a veteran, someone he doesn’t want to disappoint.

When we see Rayo backstage, he’s going over a bunch of potential team names. They’re all very silly, of course. This team is playing on a rather hilarious juxtaposition of the big surly brawler and the young, much smaller, upstart.

Such is the nature of indie wrestling, I suppose, but for me the funniest part of the backstage segment was when special guest Tommy Dreamer walked backstage to check his cellphone, saw that a segment was being shot, and instead of walking back out, turned his back to the camera and finished whatever he had to do on his phone.

Guns for Hire (Bill Collier and Paul Jordane) with Kevin Eck vs The Hell Cats (Sexy Steve and Jimmy Starz)

The Hell Cats are a fun group. But they’re average sized dudes and look tiny next to Collier and Jordane, who have apparently been built entirely from brick and concrete and are about seven hundred feet tall. Basically, the gimmick for Guns for Hire is that they’re supposed to beat the shit out of MCW’s tag teams, to take them out before they have a chance to challenge the MCW tag team champions the Ectourage, who are, as you might expect, also managed by Kevin Eck. The Hell Cats have a basic good timin’ stoner kind of gimmick. Yeah, I can be pretty dense sometimes. I didn’t realize the whole stoner connection until the crowd started chanting, “THC! THC!” and I was wondering why even little kids were chanting about getting high. But my wife pointed out that those were the Hell Cats’ initials and I just sort of mumbled, “Ha, yeah, duh. I get it now.” I am not a bright man sometimes.

This was a classic high-flyers, speedballs vs brute force brawlers kind of deal. It was a nice juxtaposition. There was a hilarious part early in the match where Collier challenged Sexy Steve to a test of strength and held his arm out, but Steve was too short to reach his hand and had to try to jump to get to it.

Kevin Eck reminds me a bit of Bobby Heenan. He wears a WWE jacket to the ring. His character is an arrogant know it all who’s billed from Stamford Connecticut, which, of course, is where the WWE headquarters is located. Eck legitimately used to work for them, having been part of their creative team at one time. He is, of course, responsible for plenty of interference and dirty tricks that are sometimes successful in getting his team over. In this case it worked and Guns for Hire left with the victory.

Nice match. Good opening. It was fun watching Collier and Jordane manhandle the Hell Cats while they responded with speed and ingenuity.

Jeremiah vs Phoenix Fury

Phoenix Fury is a masked luchador, and I feel like it’s a good thing for any promotion to have at least one luchador on their roster. Fury is definitely a fan favorite, especially with the kids. Which makes sense, considering that luchadors are basically superheroes and villains come to life. Fury has long curly hair coming out from the back of his mask, which makes me wonder if the guy has a mullet, which would be freakin’ awesome.

Jeremiah has a holier-than-thou preacher thing going on. He’s great at talking the crowd into a frenzy. These guys are both very talented. They’re both graduates of the MCW training center which, if for no other reason, deserves a lot of props for graduating Lio Rush, the current Ring of Honor Top Prospect Tournament winner and, at only twenty-one, one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Very nice back and forth momentum with these two. Fury executed plenty of dives, and hit a flawless tornado DDT while Jeremiah tried to wear Fury down with a series of submission holds. It was a quick match, with Fury finally going over. Definitely no complaints here. I dig the occasional luchador match.

It didn’t last very long, but it did what it needed to do.

Appalachian Outlaws (Hoss and Bo Nekoda) vs Bruiser and Rayo

The crowd went crazy for Bruiser and Rayo. Bruiser’s a big guy, as you might expect, and Rayo is a smaller guy whose cardio is dialed up to eleven. They work great together, but you can tell this is all a temporary thing, maybe to get Bruiser out of the main event scene for a little while while Black Wall Street member Drolix chases the title. I still think the soccer player gimmick is a little weird. Reminds me of the New Generation era in the WWF, where everyone was both a wrestler and had an outside occupation. But then again, I wasn’t exactly the target audience for Rayo. One of the commentators described Rayo as Bruisers “little buddy,” which sounded rather condescending.

The Appalachian Outlaws are pretty convincing, as far as redneck gimmicks go. They look like they haven’t bathed in weeks. Maybe they haven’t. They’re managed by Colonel Callahan who came to the ring with a plastic soda bottle into which he spit gimmicked tobacco. At least I hope the tobacco was gimmicked. Because later in the match, it got used. Yuck.

It was nice to see how well Bruiser and Rayo work together. They’re definitely having fun with this this pairing. Rayo has great conditioning. He started the match out with a nice fast pace. The Outlaws did a lot of double teaming on Bruiser, because it’s his immense power they have to worry about.

Yikes. So apparently Bo Nekoda has a move called the “Snot Elbow.” Gross.

The match ended when Callahan handed Hoss his tobacco spit bottle. Hoss spit it into Rayo’s eyes, which allowed Bo Nekoda to roll him up for the win. Well, if you want to make heels really hated, this gross-out stuff really works. Also, kids, never put another man’s tobacco spit in your mouth. It’s definitely not sanitary and your lips will probably rot away. Seriously, that was some sick shit.

As they walked back to the dressing room, Bruiser argued with Rayo, teasing a tag split. This pairing definitely isn’t going to last forever, but it’s certainly fun to watch.

Jason Kincaid vs Brandon Scott

Jason Kincaid is probably best known for his work in NWA Smoky Mountain. Very good wrestler. He actually lost to Lio Rush in the first round of the ROH Top Prospect Tournament. I haven’t seen it, but I’m sure it was great. Maybe I should make a note of that. Anyway, this was Kincaid’s MCW debut. I hope he comes back soon. Though I live in Frederick and MCW mostly holds cards in the Baltimore area, which is about 45 minutes away, I still consider MCW my local promotion.

Brandon Scott, a former MCW Rage TV champion, was the perfect partner for Kincaid. Both were wonderful technical wrestlers. They really knew how to build a match. They started off slow, with some nice mat wrestling and built to a real breakneck speed. I was a bit annoyed at the audience when they started chanting, “This is boring” at the start of the match, but by the end they were chanting, “This is awesome.” And it was. This was the best match of the night. I guess you could call it the show stealer. Yeah, I think it was the show stealer.

Both Scott and Kincaid were about evenly matched in terms of technical ability, which is why it made sense to put them together. Kincaid went over, to a massive explosion of cheers. The two performers, both baby faces shook hands in the middle of the ring. It was a real treat to witness this match in person.

Backstage Interview With Ken Dixon

Dixon is a former Rage TV champion, the secondary MCW title. Later in the evening, he’s going to have a match with Billy Gunn, of Attitude Era fame, who currently holds the belt, capturing it off Dixon a few months ago. Although Gunn is a pretty frequent MCW special attraction, he’s not on the roster, so you definitely got the feeling going into this card that Dixon was going to regain his title, but it was still pretty cool to see these two guys go at it.

Dixon was interviewed by Tara, a beautiful redhead who also occasionally also does ring announcing. Dixon displayed some pretty typical tough heel bravado, bragging that he’s going to win the title back. My favorite line from his promo: “I hold a flashlight and you’re out of batteries.” Haha...what?

Ecktourage (Eric Chapel and Dirty Money) w/ Kevin Eck vs Punk Rock All Stars (Shaun Cannon and Drake Carter)

The Punk Rock All Stars have long, spiked hair. They definitely need a lot of hair product for that look. I wondered how long it would take for sweat to make the product useless, causing the hair to go limp. As it turns out, the answer is, well, about until the end of the match. The Ecktourage are great wimpy heels. At one point, one of the Punk Rock All Stars delivered a chop to Eric Chapel and he shouted, “He hurt my booby!” The match ended as Kevin Eck distracted the referee as Chapel threw one of the tag belts into the arms of Shaun Cannon. Chapel tossed himself to the mat just as the referee is done with Kevin Eck. Seeing Cannon with the belt and Chapel lying on the mat, he assumed the worst and disqualified the Punk Rock All Stars. Injustice!

Well, the ref might not have seen what happened, but general manager Phil Stamper saw the whole thing. He comes out from backstage and tells Kevin Eck he’s suspended for thirty days. Normally this wouldn’t really matter, since MCW puts on one, maybe two shows a month, but they were in the middle of the Spring Fever Tour and had several other stops that month, so effectively Eck was banned for the remainder of the tour. While Stamper was admonishing Eck, Chapel had some great lines. He shouted things like, “We don’t cheat, we improvise,” and, “Calm down, Jesus loves you.”

This match was fun. The Punk Rock All Stars are about as high energy as you would expect from a tag team with that name.

The Ecktourage added some nice comedy. All was right with the world.

Billy Gunn vs Ken Dixon

Ken Dixon and Billy Gunn are two very big dudes, plus Gunn is in his 50’s so, as you might expect, this was a brawler match. It was slower paced, more old school. There were a lot of hip tosses, bodyslams and a good portion of the match took place outside the ring.

Ken Dixon was accompanied to the ring by the Dixon Line, his security team, who, as you might expect, double teamed Gunn a few times. One of the Dixon Line guys tried to interfere in the match but Gunn punched him out and the crowd popped huge. But the interference distracted Gunn enough that Dixon was able to give him a low blow and take the victory.

Like I said before, I expected this to happen. It’s one of those things with special attractions. If they win a title, they’ll lose it pretty soon thereafter because maybe they only have one or two more nights booked. Some promotions even find a way for the special attraction guy to win and lose the title in the same night. Still, it’s almost definite that Billy Gunn will return to MCW at some point. He seems to have a great relationship with the promotors and has appeared on their cards several times over the past few years.

Backstage Segment: Bruiser and Rayo

Rayo felt terrible about losing the match (though, to be fair, I’m not sure what he could have done after being blinded by gross tobacco spit). He figured the tag team needed to dissolve. He decided that he needs to burn all their clothes to, I guess symbolically destroy their relationship. Bruiser came out of the showers wearing nothing but a towel, and saw that Rayo was about to burn Bruiser’s boxer shorts. He stopped him and asked Rayo what the hell he was doing. Rayo explained his guilt and Bruiser basically said, “You win some, you lose some.” Rayo was so happy that they’re still going to be a tag team that he jumps into Bruiser’s arms and gives him a big hug. This prompted the alpha man Bruiser to yell, “Get off me!”

Despite the slight whiff of homophobia in that segment, it was funny enough. Is Rayo some sort of mad stalker? Will this turn out to be a Fatal Attraction scenario? Maybe Rayo will snap and go full Backlund. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with this angle.

Six Man Extreme Rules Match: King Ryan McBride and the Dixon Line (Rob Locke and Joe Keys) vs Black Wall$treet (Chuck Lennox and Drolix) and Tommy Dreamer

Extreme rules! Nice! Well, lots of kids in the audience, so I assumed it was going to be a PG type affair, obviously no blood.

I’m fine with that. It really just means a lot of brawling and very little wrestling. But it turned out we got both brawling and wrestling when King McBride got on the mic and told the crowd to “take a knee.” I’ve got to admit, I don’t like “king” gimmicks.

They’re all the same. But whatever, it was pretty funny when McBride said that the match was no longer going to be extreme rules. Instead, it was going to be “King’s rules, which means all rules apply.” Well, yes, a bit weird that wrestlers get to change match stipulations, but we’re gonna roll with it.

So with extreme rules out the door, we got a good five or ten minutes or so of wrestling. The dramatic force behind this match was that Drolix, a former MCW champion, was chasing McBride, the current champion, for an eventual payoff match. So here we were furthering the feud without having them go one on one quite yet. Plus we get Tommy Dreamer, too.

Speaking of Dreamer, at about the midpoint in the match he grabbed the microphone and shouted, “Screw this! Extreme rules!”

Okay, so wrestlers definitely get to change match stipulations. At least in this match.

So a brawl broke out. Very PG. Stop signs, garbage cans, etc. A cluster of bodies. Hard to follow at points. Tommy Dreamer let fans chop Joe Keys, pulling him around the guardrail outside the ring. A young fella of about five straight up punched keys in the chest, which made everyone crack up. The commentators laughed, talked about the devastating heart punch the kid delivered.

Eventually, Drolix suplexed McBride onto a stop sign, getting Black Wallstreet the win and giving the crowd the payoff they expected.

Good match. Everything you might expect from a PG extreme rules match.

The card was a nice mix of styles. High flyers, technical wrestling, a nice dash of comedy. That Jason Kincaid and Brandon Scott match, though. Wonderful stuff. That was enough reason in itself to check out this card.

MCW Spring Fever Tour, Frederick, 3/19/16 is available for rent or download at

https://www.mcwragetv.com/

Patrick King is an essayist, short story writer, screenwriter, critic, and novelist. You can purchase his novel here. 

Damien Sandow Was Fired Because of Each and Every One of You

One of the things that people forget about the WWE is simple, it’s a business. No matter how you want to praise or hate it, it’s a business and it has a lot riding on what they do. This includes promoting, demoting, and firing individuals that they feel aren’t going to help them create the platform that they want to promote. Now, while there’s a lot of rage in regards to Roman Reigns as champion, the company has done something that every wrestling promotion needs, and it’s create someone to hate. Where would WCW be without the absolute insanity of 1996 Bash At The Beach. Let me ask you this before I move forward, how much trash was thrown into the ring when Roman Reigns won the WWE Title? Now, how much trash was thrown into the ring when Hogan cut that blistering promo and told the fans to stick it? The contrast is huge.

Follow The Money

There are a lot of reasons why companies hire and fire people, but in the WWE, chances are they don’t fire people that are making them a lot of money. Was Damien Sandow making them a lot of money? Probably not, and while I cannot cite figures, I can say this much, no business fires someone that makes them money. With that in mind, consider the amount of money that was spent on Damien Sandow merchandise. If Sandow’s merchandise did in fact sell out every time it was put up online, introduced into the arenas, and people were constantly asking for it, chances are that they wouldn’t have let him go. This is directly related to the “business” of running wrestling for the WWE. They are in it to make money, and if Sandow’s merch aligned with the amount of fanfare he received online and in the pops at events, then we would be having a different conversation right now.

Did you buy these shirts?

Of course you didn't.

Do you really believe that the WWE Executives scoff at merch sales? What if 300,000 of these shirts were sold? If each Raw building has 15,000 in attendance, then it's feasible that 300,000 shirts sold shouldn't be a huge issue. Plus, how many internet wrestling fans are there? If each one bought 1 shirt, Sandow would still be employed.

Where Were You?

There are two questions that need to be asked, and the first one is simple, where were you? Seriously, where were you when Sandow needed support? Did you spend a lot of money supporting his cause? Beyond cheers and boos, was anyone buying the shirts, were they wearing them at the arenas? Was there a buzz for this guy outside of the roars of the crowd in recent months. The WWE runs shows all over the country, Sandow was most likely booked on a lot of shows, was there insane amounts of uproar for him? I can’t say. But what I can say, is that despite all of the boo hoos that I see online, I don’t see a lot of people pointing to the fact that he wrestled twice this past week on WWE programming. Now, either the WWE edited the reactions, or perhaps the internet wrestling community really wasn’t that into Sandow, like they think.

Who’s Next?

The final question remains, who’s next? I’m already seeing a lot of articles talking about how WWE really missed the ball with Sandow. But I would like to say different. I’m blaming the fans. If you put your money where your mouth is, and you bought a TON of Sandow merch, perhaps you can sit down. Everyone else whining and moaning about how he wasn’t used, or that WWE executives are dumb, stand up and realize you’re the problem. The next favorite of yours is going to get fired, and chances are it’s because they aren’t generating revenue for the business model of WWE. Part of that model is simple, merchandise sales. Simple as that. The NWO would’ve tanked if NO ONE ever bought a simple t-shirt. It’s not rocket science.

Oh, and one last thing, You’re Welcome!

Ryback and Adam Rose Post Huge Updates About Their Jobs With WWE

Ryback left Raw last night, in the same way many other stars have done in the past. He posted a huge rant on his blog via Tumblr here. However, in case it gets taken down, I have decided to post it here for you to read. This is all Ryan Reeves aka Ryback, I did not edit or change his words, these are posted for reference as I'm not sure if the WWE will take his posts down etc. 

Today I sit and fly home and for the first time in years feel absolutely free. I will start by saying I did request to be taken off of WWE television until myself and Vince could get a yes or no on a new deal. This has been going on since my IC Title run and had been nothing but a major strain on my life as all I ever wanted to do was work for WWE. I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports it isn’t over money or a bus that stuff was settled a while ago. It comes down to a major problem I have with not only WWE but wrestling in general.

Wrestling is pre determined, we as performers know before we go out to that ring or perform a backstage scene who is winning and losing etc or have a general idea of what we are going to say. It blows my mind how in a sport which is pre determined from a company standpoint winners are paid so much more than the losers. Every single person who works for WWE from top to bottom is absolutely just as valuable as the next. The winners cannot win unless the losers go out there and agree to lose to them.

It blows my mind that in this day and age though we still adhere to this formula. Obviously things have always been this way, but does that make them right? Times have changed and our goal as humans should be to evolve and learn from our past and the past of others so we could make this world a better place. Why is it a guy who is told he is going to go out and lose and does everything he is told be paid not only less, but much less than said winner over a period of time. Every single performer for WWE sacrifices the same amount of time from home and their families and every single man or women goes out and does what they are told. Looking at this formula though losers turn into what fans like to call jobbers and their value decreases in the companies eyes and before you know it they get released. For what? For doing exactly as they are told!

Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk, but why make the guy who is told to and agrees to lose earn less and sacrifice spots in big pay per view match ups etc. This is one of the major problems with wrestling and WWE today. Most guys take great satisfaction in helping making other talent, the bitching and the moaning we always hear about stems from the fact they know they are ultimately over time going to make less and live in fear of being released.

I am proud to say I have never gone to change a finish and have gladly took pride in helping put over other talent. Hell look at my pay per view record of 12-26 and you will see that has been the pattern of my career. I have always been confident in my ability and work ethic to being my best every day and ultimately always felt that by doing good it was the right thing to do. Personally seeing my money go down over the years though even though I was working as much as ever and being denied magazine covers and other projects as well as watching my role diminish no matter what I did or how hard I tried takes its toll on a human. Being told no matter how hard I work or how good I get doesn’t always pay off is something I fucking refuse to ever believe in my life. I am a creative being and to be restricted time and time again is no way to live life. There is nothing I cannot do and I know no matter what comes of this situation I am going to be just fine. It isn’t soley about money, it is about commitment. Commitment to a guy who fucking cares and who loves this more than anything in the world and wants to know that his passion his efforts and his determination to constantly improve is going to be recognized and taken care of.

WWE may very well release me, which if it is the case so be it. If we can work things out a lot needs to change as I am not living in fear and creatively cannot continue to live a life that limits me creatively. I have many other interests and passions and have been very smart with my finances over the years. I thank every WWE superstar from top to bottom for their sacrifices and for working with me. The world is an amazing place and there is more than just a WWE universe there is The Universe and I will prove one way or another over time I am the greatest big guy in the universe!

Adam Rose Fights Back

Now, on another note. Pun intended, Adam Rose has posted his doctor's note for the Wellness policy suspension, and that's a big one too. Both Ryback and Adam Rose are bucking the trend of just taking whatever WWE pushes their way, and well good for them. 

“I am writing this letter on behalf of Adam Rose (Ray Lappan – DOB 7/20/79), whom I have treated since 4/30/15. The [illegible words] signs and symptoms of ADHD, determined through a very through psychiatric exam on 4/30/15. He takes Adderal XR, which is an FDA approved treatment for ADHD, and we have followed all standards of care protocols throughout his treatment, which has gone very well. He takes his medication as prescribed and is compliant with my treatment recommendations.”

The New Day: Vince McMahon’s latest insult to your intelligence...and you’re eating it up.

And now, ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you a new weekly column. The writer of this column goes by the pen name, Irreparably Jaded. I put out a search for writers, and here is one brave soul that has answered the call. With that in mind, here you go, enjoy a new update to this site to fill in some of the editorial gaps left by myself (Sir Jorge), as we transition to a more serious tone.

Gone are the days of teams like Demolition, The Nasty Boys, Legion of Doom, Edge & Christian...hell, even the Hardy’s and the Rockers. Now we have mismatched wrestlers and fellow superstars getting paired together in blatant attempts to salvage what is nearly an extinct division: tag team wrestling. Sure we have the Dudley Boys again as a nice relic from the Attitude Era but how much longer can we really expect them to be relevant? Another year or two (if we’re lucky)? Once they inevitably get their last title reign (something I’m sure they were promised when they agreed to return to the company full time), I’m sure they’ll hold the belts for a few months, drop them, and quietly fade into the sunset. All in time for them to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Possibly as early as next year.

Where Have The Real Tag Team’s Gone?

A Real Tag-Team

As far as traditional tag teams go, we have the Usos, The Ascension (well, one half), and most recently Anderson and (a new and improved) Gallows. Can you name another traditional tag team on the main roster right now? Then of course you have The Wyatt Family. But as potentially legendary as they may be, they are more of a stable now. A great stable mind you, but a stable nonetheless. League of Nations? Also a stable, that Alberto Del Rio was recently quoted as saying they were only brought together so they could all be on the WrestleMania 32 card, so they will be breaking up soon anyway (and news sites claim it’s official).

The Death of The Shield, Dawn Of A “New” Idea

After breaking up the Shield, that left fans with very little reason to even pretend to care about the tag team division. In fact, The Wyatts vs The Shield was the ONLY kind of tag team wrestling people enjoyed. But Why? Well besides a good storyline, something WWE is very uncomfortable with developing these days, they also worked VERY well together. Like teams USED to do once upon a time.

Vinnie Mac’s Money Machine: Tag Team Edition

Thus the wrestling defecation known as The New Day began assaulting our airwaves. To be honest, as soon as I hear one of their voices boom over the arena, I change the channel. I don’t care what they’re wearing, who they’re wrestling or what they’re doing. But during WrestleMania 32 I more or less had no choice, so I proceeded to let them inflict their act on my senses.

Thankfully I had beer at the ready. From the first image of a box of “Booty-O’s” to the trombone to the chants of “New Day Rocks” (“Yes” movement, anyone?), all I could think of was damn how the bar for acceptable tag teams has plummeted. The worst part? The crowd was ALL OVER IT!

This tag team appeals to the lowest possible I.Q. of the population. Give the idiots something to chant and they’ll love you. That’s PG Era Wrestling 101 right there and it seems to work. Personally I find their entire act offensive on multiple levels but that’s a topic for another day.

Here’s hoping NXT is developing some good tag teams and Vince actually allows them to stay together long enough to create a legacy. Because this PG Era practice of sell the most merchandise, tickets and WWE Network subscriptions without actually offending anyone is slowly making WWE antiquated and outmoded and thus expendable to fans with a functioning brain.

- Until next time, I’m Irreparably Jaded, and you’re definitely not. Idiots.

Roman Reign's Is The Laughing Stock of WWE Champions - With Video Proof

How would you refer to the World Champion in the WWE? Would you ever call the man on top a laughing stock? Well, we already know Roman Reigns is getting booed out of buildings across America, and of course in my home, he gets booed out of the living room. My wife, however, likes him, but that’s because she’s not even a casual wrestling fan, she’s more along the lines of a, dutiful wife that lets me watch wrestling, or at least tolerates it a few times a month when there is a pay per view.

Roman Reigns Is A Laughing Stock

There, I said it. Why? Well, it turns out that he was the brunt of a serious joke for wearing “daddy” jeans in a PSA. I’m never going to be that kind of dad, but hey I’m an idiot. I’ll always have my sag tight, sag right, you know, you know how us player’s role. (Sarcasm in place) Anyways, he was made fun of on the Chris Hardwick show that no one watches. But then again, I’m talking about it, aren’t I?

Roman Reigns sucks, even though I wrote about how I don’t hate the guy here.

@midnight with Chris Hardwick

The Death of Chyna

Let’s not pretend that we were all big Chyna fans. We weren’t. There’s a lot of disingenuous fans out there mourning her death, that not two or three weeks earlier were making fun of her, and her downfall. Podcasts of all types have been singing her praises now, but when Triple H was asked about her going into the hall of fame on the Stone Cold Podcast, he and others said no, for what she did.

Now they love her?

No.

No sir.

Chyna was in fact a beast in the ring. But behind the scenes, she was a woman, and a very sweet person. If you read her book, you would know that all she wanted was love and acceptance. Then Stephanie McMahon swooped in, stole her boyfriend, and ruined her life. She never recovered.

Chyna really died of a broken heart. It’s a human story that no one seems to talk about.

This is a sad death, and one that I wanted to at least make a note of. Chyna, was a human being, and a great performer. But sometimes, in this life, there are situations that are right under our noses, and well they break us. They broke her. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H’s social media response were stupid, filled with crocodile tears and saving face for what they did.

Oh well.

RIP Chyna, look, you were loved. Just listen to the masses, they love you, now that you’re gone. My apologies for not being able to convince people when you were alive. Mad respect, RIP, hope you and the rest of the dead wrestlers out there are having a ball.

4 Major Reasons I Don't Hate Roman Reigns Right Now

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns - SRC wwe.com 

Right now there are a lot of pundits that absolutely hate Roman Reigns. They are booing the crap out of him, they are absolutely hating WWE and all the booking decisions, and it’s starting to get annoying. Every podcast seems to have something snarky to say, and they don’t see the good. So this time around, when Raw came on Hulu, I paid attention to the booking, and took a second glance at the FELLA! Bad joke, I’m sorry. There are no less than 4 major reasons why I don’t hate Roman Reigns right now, and you may be shocked. I wasn’t a fan of his when he got the snot kicked out of him at WrestleMania. But now? I’ve had a change of heart, or should I say, hart?

Vastly Improved Arsenal

When he first came out and started to wrestle as a single man, he had a limited arsenal. He had bad timing, and was figuring out the ring a bit. He was trying too hard at times, didn’t sell anything all that well and it seemed force. However, right now, as of December 2015, he has improved a great deal. His timing is better, he has ring awareness, he sells a bit better, and he knows how to capitalize on the hot tags, and work with in ring psychology. I know, shocking. After watching his performance on Raw, however, I can say that he’s way better than he was at WrestleMania, even.

Taking Beatings Left and Right

No matter how you see it, no matter what you think, Roman Reigns is taking beatings. Sure, this is professional wrestling, but he is taking on a herculean task out there of trying to get over with a crowd that absolutely doesn’t want him. I know how that was in the past, because you saw the same thing happen with Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Ring Master? Really? What about Stunning Steve Austin? He didn’t come out to major heat or major praise until he proved himself. A different time, yes, but still, sometimes you have to just take beatings and keep going.

The Roman Empire Gimmick

I love the notion of the Roman Empire gimmick at this point. It’s a good point of reference, and it works against The League of Nations stable. In keeping with the notion of an empire, look out for Roman Reigns to possibly get a stable of his own going, and eventually win a title with help. Remember, Eddie Guerrero beating Brock Lesnar at “Now Way Out”? Well, look for that to happen with Roman Reigns next year, possibly in February, if they book things the way I think they will.

Die Rocky Die Sign - SRC WWE.com

They Can’t Have Roman Reigns Die A Slow Death Because of the Fans

Remember “Die Rocky Die”? I was one of those guys that was booing the crap out of the curly haired, smiley faced Intercontinental Champion. Then out of the blue, he became a serious leader. The Nation of Domination lead by the Rock really did a huge jump after Faarooq left. I’m not saying Roman Reigns is going to go the same route, but eventually they will turn him or the fans will jump on board.

Mikey Whipwreck vs. Kidman WCW Uncensored - SRC wwe.com 

I’m on board. Roman Reigns has taken enough abuse. He got the crap kicked out of him hard style against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. He took some serious bumps at Money In The Bank. He has taken out Big Show a million times, has taken down the Wyatt Family, and you know what? Why not give him a shot at the glory, only after Dean Ambrose gives him a fighting chance. If you don’t believe that Roman Reigns can possibly get a big win. Just remember Mikey Whipwreck. He lost every match for years, then out of the blue, BOOOM he wins a match and the place goes nuts. Then he shows up in WCW and puts on a showcase against Kidman, but maybe I’m just old.

Simply put. I don’t hate Roman Reigns. He’s got an upside, you just wait and see.