Yeah, allegedly WWE knew of the site and didn’t mind the bikini and other risque stuff, but she went soft-core, was warned, but theoretically the site was making her more than her WWE contract. Nothing fully verified though (other than the firing).
I found this part of the article funny:
Zelina Vega was fired by WWE in November 2020 for launching an OnlyFans account that did not have provocative content. She was brought back by the company the following summer.
I wondered if they really meant “not have enough provocative content?”
yeah, there must have been some action going on I mean how many in the diva era ended up in playboy and such?
My understanding is that is was softcore porn, so yeah, some action was likely going on. Also, WWE during the Diva/Playboy era wasn’t courting the PG crowd. That’s comparing apples to oranges.
I’m not taking one for the SDMB team, but if someone else wants to clarify how risque the Mandy Rose stuff is in an acceptable manner for this board, have at it.
AEW Dark Taz/Excalibur moment of the day
I’m a couple days late, but it was a short episode anyway.
Trustbusters’s Slim J and Jeeves Kay vs. Eddie Kingston and Ortiz
Ex: Eddie Kingston, he’s coming out all fired up, because he recognizes that towel on Jeeves Kay’s arm, that’s the fancy towel at your grandmother’s house, you’re not supposed to use to dry your hands.
Taz: Yes, that’s a good point, I think we’ve all experienced that with Grandma. I agree. My grandma back in the day, she’s from Italy, and that’s how it was. But, she lived in New York, and Kingston and Ortiz, they understand you can’t touch the doily.
Ex: To this day, at 42 years years of age, I still don’t understand, why have towels in the rest room you’re not supposed to use and wash with?
Taz: It’s for showin’ and not blowin’. Speakin’ of guys that don’t blow their nose, there’s Eddie Kingston, lookin’ all gruffy.
Ex: (laughs) He doesn’t blow his nose?
Taz: And he doesn’t. It’s a sign of weakness. I respect that. I knew a guy that thought sneezing was a part of weakness.
Out of purely journalistic interest I paid $30 for a 1-month subscription to her site… and I’m still not sure. Turns out that on this kind of site, subscribing just gives you the opportunity to pay even more for “premium” photos, which are priced from $10 up to $150 per photo and don’t even provide a thumbnail to show you what you’d be paying for. I assume the naughtiest photos are the expensive ones, but that’s much more money than I’m willing to pay in the name of journalism. Out of the “free” photos a subscription gets you access to, the most salacious are some thong shots and the above-mentioned “covering up with title belts” photo.
There must be a lot of thirsty simps with hundreds of dollars to pay for softcore porn if this is more lucrative for her than wrestling.
@Smapti is my new favorite poster. I rarely buy merch, and never unless at a show. I may simp one particular wrestler, but no way I’d be “thirsty” enough to pay for even her OF or whatever, if she had one. Most I’ll do is not skip the commercials on her YouTube channel.
Most I’ll ever buy is a t-shirt or an autographed poster or 8x10, and in the latter case preferably if it’s signed right in front of me. (Well, that and Bull Dempsey’s singlet from Takeover London, but that, as per my previous explanation, was mostly an accident.)
In Mandy’s case, it’s really not worth it. I’m guessing most of her money, much like in the mobile gaming business, comes from the handful of “whales” with tons of disposable income to blow on personalized videos and things (apparently one of the services she offers in exchange for a generous gratuity is she’ll rate your dick pic) because they love the ego boost it gives them.
According to David Bixenspan, the particular photo that drove WWE to can her was of her and Tino Sabbatelli “naked together in a shower and at least simulating sex”. From the way that’s written I assume there’s at least some degree of implied penetration or at the very least some intense dry-humping, which definitely crosses the line from softcore into hardcore. At that point, it probably makes sense for WWE to cut ties since they’re marketing her to an audience that includes people too young to be viewing that kind of content.
I just watched the Las Vegas Bowl, and Pat McAfee was one of the announcers. He absolutely killed it. Florida fell behind 30-0, and by the time the Fourth quarter was almost over, they had the ball one last time and fought to get close enough for a field goal. McAfee piped up, and put over the field goal kicker as being hugely under pressure because “they’re about to break the 436-0 record Florida has in continuous games in which they scored and he’s the most important person in the universe right now!” They got the field goal and McAfee acted like they got the greatest victory of their career.
Bryan Danielson is a little pumped about AEW coming to Seattle in two weeks.
I had heard the same (given how wrestling sites work, everyone is probably sourcing from a single person). While I could 100% be wrong in my understanding, the line separating soft from hard would be simulated to actual. But again, what do I really know?
Took a picture with Johnny Hardcore and Taya Valkyrie at a House of Hardcore show, after jokingly berating them for not bringing any merch to sell (and talking to Johnny about his acting roles, which seemed to pop him). Also got one with Brian Cage when he was Impact champion for the same reason (he wasn’t as friendly as Johnny so I didn’t joke with him about not bringing anything). Moose got upset that no one was taking pictures with him. But I much, much prefer T-shirts.
Hey, everyone! Bronson Reed’s back!
He was one of the releases that made absolutely no sense when Vince was on his mass firing spree last year, and it’s good to see him make a return under the new regime.
I liked his entrance music when he was Jonah.
As I’m sure everyone here has read, seems HHH is less than thrilled with some of the returnees. Definitely could see Hit Row being one of them, as they are a shadow of their former selves without Swerve. They brought back Emma and jobbed her, so I wouldn’t put that on Emma, but who knows? Women’s division needs more dedicated jobbers no matter how you slice it, especially with Natty hurt. Teegan, Dakota, and Candace have no discernable personalities, IMO. Fine on the medium stage but not made for the big stage. Same could be said of Iyo, again IMO, but I know many would disagree. She’s better than the other two both in ring (significantly better in ring) and personality-wise, but she doesn’t have the “it” factor to get over long-term without English. Viking Raiders are in the same boat - great presentation, highly competent in ring. Maybe given time they could grow (like the Usos did, as they were bland for a long time), and dedicated teams that (hopefully) won’t be separated on a whim are a good thing. Lastly, Dexter has been just meh overall so far, but pairing him with Bronson (and letting Bronson go over) is perfect mid-card filler.
I know I’ve missed a few, and purposefully left Wyatt out. I just feel that most of what they’ve brought back just got a “s/he’s back” pop and are mid-card filler, and WWE already had misused mid-card filler in catering. Still, I’m happy for them that they are all getting regular checks again.
Karrion Kross hasn’t exactly lit up the skies either. They’re having him feud against Rey Mysterio, but Rey Rey has had his ass kicked by larger opponents for decades. What new thing can do they with this? Have Rey whine about how this is tearing up his family again? Or force Rey into a “win or retire” situation, like they did with a Kurt Angle angle?
AEW Dark Taz/Excalibur moment of the day
No appetizers today, but we get a double main course.
Angelico & Chaos Project vs. Jay Marte, Jarett Diaz, & Richard Adonis
Taz: What is Angelico doing hanging out with these knuckleheads?
Ex: Taz, that’s an interesting question, but I think I figured it out. I think it’s the mononyms, having only one name.
Taz: Yes.
Ex: Angelico, Luther, Serpentico, uh, Taz!? You could be a part of this group!
Taz: Uh, no. But I have an idea for these two. They should just call themselves “Sluther.”
…
Serpentico is tagged in.
Taz: There’s one half of Sluther.
Ex: Yes, that’s their tabloid name, when Luther and Serpentico get caught dining in public.
After the match, Tony Schiavone interviews the winners. Turns out Angelico and Serpentico are the Spanish Announce team, and with Luther included, they are known collectively as the Spanish Announce Project (SAP).
Jake St. Patrick and Sage Scott vs. “Pretty” Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth
Taz: “Pretty” Peter Avalon, he actually is a very handsome man. Kinda looks like a younger, roughed-up Burt Reynolds in the Seventies, like if Burt was at the bar, for like a full weekend, and went out to the hills, and hangin’ out and drinkin’ moonshine, and then was maybe hangin’ around a bunch of marijuana plants. They have a similar look.
Ex: Well, is it because the new beard, the new facial hair, I think really frames his face well, “Pretty” Peter Avalon.
Taz: Who’s he? Oh, Avalon? Oh yeah yeah, it does. Yeah it is. It reminds me of Burt. Reynolds, that is. Big Burt Reynolds fan here.
did anyone see the Gunther/ricochet match which has been described as a clinic in how to have a pro wrestling match on smackdown?
meet fred phillips lol
Next week I finally get to see AEW live, as they’re making their Seattle debut on Wednesday, followed by Portland on Friday for a live episode of Rampage. From this episode it looks like they’re setting up the local stars for some featured matches, with Darby Allin likely to challenge Samoa Joe for one of his belts, and Danielson maybe getting a title shot at MJF. (I believe this’ll be Danielson’s first time in this arena since his retirement speech in 2016, which I was also at, so that’s a cool little full circle.) Shane Strickland is also a Tacoma native and former local champion in DEFY, so hopefully they’ll be giving him something cool to do as well.
Anyone who’s been to a show before know what the format is? The time on the tickets is 4 PM for Dynamite and 6 PM for Rampage, so I assume we’ll be getting some matches before the live broadcast and possibly some after.
When I went this past January, they did the YouTube episodes first, then the Rampage matches, and closed with the live broadcast for Dynamite. Looks like they’re doing it in reverse for you.