Wrong son-in-law. Conrad Thompson was the promoter of Ric Flair’s ‘final’ match, but he’s as carny as one can be and if there is a payday in it, he might try to get another performance out of Flair. Ric Flair’s For-Reals-This-Time Final Match. And if that doesn’t kill Flair, The We-Really-Really Mean It This Time Final Match of Ric Flair.
I’ll put this here instead of Café Society since I think it’ll receive more attention in this thread.
Anyone interested in seeing a movie about the Von Erich family? I’ll admit, Zac Efron looks the part.
Jesus, there’s going to be so much death in that movie.
yeah Jim and brian mentioned it in one of the podcasts a while back and for once Jim said he wouldn’t mind if they skipped some parts of that saga as he knew some things that he hoped wouldn’t make it to the screen
I’m not as familiar with the Von Erichs as some others here, so I read the family Wiki page. Oof, that does not make for a very uplifting movie.
I remember watching WCCW and they had some awesome stars in addition to the Von Erich brothers: Bruiser Brody, One Man Gang, Kamala, Great Muta, the Freebirds, the Midnight Express w/Jim Cornette, Gentleman Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez, Jimmy Garvin and Precious, etc. Their quality steadily went downhill when other feds started poaching their talent, the ones that didn’t die from drug overdoses.
Kerry went to WWF and a couple of the brothers died, and Bill Watts drew a bunch over to UWF. They tried to keep from going under by merging with Memphis Wrestling and making Jerry Lawler their Hulk Hogan, but he only appeared a couple times and otherwise had their midcards wrestle WCCW main events, Jeff Jarrett in particular. I guess they didn’t elevate Kevin because he was dealing with so much family tragedy.
They eventually made a pot-bellied Eric Embry their main babyface. Percy Pringle (before becoming Paul Bearer) did his best to put Embry over by kayfabing a letter-writing campaign to keep Embry from being “fired,” but you can’t expect a pig to look good in lipstick, as Corny’s mama would say.
WCCW didn’t fall as spectacularly as WCW, but it was still sad to see them go.
If memory serves, Stunning Steve Austin and The Dingo Warrior (Ultimate Warrior) got their first big breaks in WCCW. And no, I don’t consider The Blade Runners tag team (Sting and Dingo/Ultimate Warrior) either ones big break.
Also, an Eric Embry anecdote…
Back when I was young enough to not yet have figured wrestling out, I was watching a Florida Championship Wrestling match (channel 47, a Spanish language station, in NYC). Gordon Solie also did the announcing, in addition to Georgia Championship Wrestling. Embry was up against Dory Funk Jr., and he executed the very first enziguiri I ever saw, and he got Funk square in the side of the head. I was, “Wow, no way that was faked!” surprised. I was still a year or three (or six - I was pretty young) before getting a better understanding, and 20 years before even learning of dirt sheets, which were mailed back then. And no, Solie did not call it by its name.
I remember after wccw and the awa folded ESPN had joe pedicinos " gwf" on for a few weeks until that fed folded
Years later it was discovered joe was taken in by an early version of the Nigerian scam Jim C was approached to join the fed and said everything looked so fake he didn’t take them up on it … they had like a big segment about a month ago on one of the podcasts after someone read foleys first book and sent in a letter asking about it
According to his bio, Embry lived in the Sportatorium and also had booking duties. Just like Baker Mayfield in those Progressive commercials.
Tonight on Raw, Johnny Gargano explained that the reason Dexter Lumis has been stalking the Miz, attacking him, and interfering in his matches week in and week out for months is… because Miz paid him to do it after Lumis got released in April, because he figured having a stalker would get him publicity, but then Miz stiffed him on the bill so now Lumis is going after him for real.
That’s a completely absurd angle that falls apart if you think about it for more than ten seconds… but it’s also 100% in-character for Miz, what with his being an egotistical and not too bright B-movie actor who fancies himself a Hollywood megastar, so I’ll allow it.
Anyway, here’s the card for Crown Jewel;
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Logan Paul
- Last Woman Standing match for the Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
- Undisputed Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. the Brawling Brutes
- Steel cage match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
- The Judgment Day vs. Bullet Club
- Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
- Braun Strowman vs. Omos
I mostly skip the Saudi blood money shows, but I have Saturday off so I’m going to watch this one because I really want to see Logan Paul get the piss beat out of him and/or see WWE make the worst booking decision since putting the world title on David Arquette by having him go over Roman.
word in some of the dirt sheets is probably not at Saudi, but in the next month or two, the usos will get jealous/tired of Sami zayn. One of two things is going to happen 1 he’s going to screw something big up probably a match of some sort or they’re going to turn on zayn and roman or all 3 are going to turn on zayn …
Wow that miz/Loomis thing is such a Vince angle I’m surprised they still did it but supposedly trips still has to finish all the writing/angles up to WM so all the big changes are supposed to be after next spring
I feel so out of touch. I still don’t get why Logan Paul is so over in Saudi Arabia.
MBS knows who he is and thinks paying him a shitload of cash to have him fight in Saudi Arabia will build prestige and bring in tourist dollars. What the peasantry wants really isn’t his concern; they’ll like what he tells them to like.
“Hi. I’m Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. When I’m not ordering the dismemberment of dissident journalists, I watch Logan Paul’s antics on YouTube. And you will too.”
That’s real low-hanging-fruit speculation, not even worthy of being called reporting. It’s obvious things will come to an end eventually, but right now there are a ton of ways it can end.
And nothing will happen in Saudi. Sami (rightly) does not do Saudi shows. Saudi shows usually suck overall anyway. Just a Raw show with longer matches and no commercial breaks during the match (plenty between the matches).
Will Brock still be flying on Vince’s personal jet? Does Vince let HHH fly on it for Saudi shows? These are the important questions!
Every wrestling angle falls apart if one thinks about it for more than ten seconds. Still, I enjoyed the explanation, but thought they took too long with it. Probably could have cut 2-3 minutes.
News this evening is that Saudi Arabia is expecting Iran to launch a military strike against them within the next few days.
Crown Jewel is still planned to go on as scheduled, because that’s capitalism for you.
AEW Dark Taz/Excalibur moment of the day
Something about Uncasville CT must have a calming effect on Taz. He was largely sane today.
- John Cruz looks like Al Pacino from Dog Day Afternoon.
- Ex calls Dante Martin using a Half-and-Half into a Flatliner for the win. Taz says it used to be called a Half Nelson. Ex says he misspoke, and Taz says he misspoke because Ex misspoke.
- Taz’s birthday party was held without him.
- Tony Schiavone can go to hell!
AEW Interim Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs Diamante
Referee warns Diamante to watch the hair.
Ex: We heard referee Paul Turner tell Diamante “keep it clean, keep it off the hair.”
Taz: That’s why I shaved my head when I wrestled.
Ex: You know why they do that in the military? It’s a Roman tradition, so you don’t get your hair pulled back and your throat slit.
Taz: You’re a know-it-all.
AEW is finally announcing some west coast dates. Aside from the Seattle Dynamite in January that I already have a ticket for, they’ve announced a live Rampage and Battle of the Belts taping in Portland for the Friday afterward, which I’ll definitely be looking to get a ticket for, and an LA show the next week. They really do need to widen their tour circuit - they’re going to oversaturate the market if they keep running Chicago and New York and Boston over and over again 5-6 times a year.
The main event of Crown Jewel was a lot better than I expected. Logan Paul really is a good wrestler even if he is a POS human. He won over the Saudi audience big tjme, and I have to admit even I was rooting for him by the end.
A writer for the Wrestling Observer that I know from another board is predicting that Wargames will be the Bloodline vs. Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Jake Paul, and those two guys from their entourage. (I initially didn’t realize those were the same guys who got out of the limo and was confused as to why the Usos were suddenly attacking two audience members.) Jake is an even bigger piece of shit than Logan is, so maybe he’s an even better wrestler? Guess we’ll find out.