WWE has taught me to believe nothing I hear/read and little I see but, as noted, I am in agreement. I also loved Asuka’s reaction when she found out she was champion - such over the top craziness.
DX did a promo for NXT Takeover: In Your House, and it was meta.
HHH and Shawn started talking about the inaugural IYH 25 years ago, and Road Dog sprung up from behind the control console. “Where’d you come from?” asked HHH. “I was crouched down on the floor. You took on Henry Godwin, remember?” “Let’s not talk about that,” replied Hunter. They also referenced the Smackdown tribute fiasco to HHH.
They were wrapping up with their DX sign-off “If you’re not down with that, we got two words for ya!” Road Dog interjected “Pig crap! He pushed your face into pig crap!”
I get the feeling nobody else can goof on HHH besides DX.
I made a toon of Orange Cassidy in City of Heroes.
Not exactly the aloof hipster look, but close enough. He’s a Martial Arts Scrapper, the Master of Slough Style.
You take me back too many years ago. I was a great WWE fan up to my teenage. I remember watching the Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Undertaker under the sheets on my Laptop with the headphones on while hiding from my mom. As an adult, I’m no longer a fan but watch it once in while when I’m not too busy.
Shad Gaspard missing after being caught in a riptide while swimming off of Venice Beach on Sunday.
I hope Shad will be found alive and well, but I don’t hold out too much hope.
The search for Shad Gaspard has been called off, and he is presumed dead.
My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.
The body of Gaspard has been found as it washed up on a beach in Venice.
A very sad story, but at least the family has some closure.
Very sorry to hear this. Wrestling social media has been full of people I never would have guessed posting pictures with Shad - a very nice tribute.
This story from 2016 has also been posted a lot.
The last thing he did in this life was direct lifeguards to rescue his son.
Now there is a father.
My new future ex-wife, Shotzi Blackheart on a tank.
Another untimely death in the wrestling world - Hana Kimura, who worked ROH’s MSG show last year and was part of the first-ever women’s match at Wrestle Kingdom this year, is dead at 22 of an apparent suicide.
I know her mother from a chatroom we both visit and she was always very proud of her daughter, so I can’t imagine how much this is hurting her. It’s a shame that she went out so early before she had a chance to show the world what she was made of.
So apparently Samoa Joe is permanently replacing King on commentary?
Is this because he’s injured? Or too injured to wrestle anymore? I can’t imagine he’s willingly doing this, but what do I know
Joe’s had several concussions, I think the last two back-to-back. He might be having a hard time getting cleared.
Rumor is that Dominic Djijakovic is getting called up. He’s got the right look and great athleticism, but his promos make Ricochet sound like Dusty Rose. How long before he is simply called “Dom” officially?
Nah, it’d just be Djijakovic
Joe knows the business. He doesn’t get in his own way with diva ego.
NXT Takeover: In Your House was a thing. Overall I thought it was a pretty boring PPV, and given it’s short time (Barely 2.5 hours) it wasn’t much more than an extended NXT Taping. That being said, I can assume they put it together relatively last minute and for that they did a good job. Here’s the card:
Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart, Teegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai, Candace LaRae, Raquel Gonzalez: A pretty decent match overall. No one really stood out to me as the match had the usual beats a 6-person tag does. The only real memorable part for me was a “Everyone gets a top rope spot!” moment. I hate Shotzi’s stupid tank.
Finn Balor vs. Priest: I really, really miss the Finn/Demon dynamic. I love Finn, but he doesn’t have much of a character beyond “I was in WWE and did well”. He worked better for me as a “I am really good, but you don’t want to mess with the Demon” character. They should bring him back to WWE and go with that. Damien Priest is fine. He did well. He’s WAY taller than I always think he is. He did a spot where he had Finn, who was on the top rope, in a choke hold while flat footed in the ring. He also did a sick bump on the stairs where he overshot them a bit and landed right on the corner…ouch.
Kieth Lee vs. Johnny Gargano: This match seemed to drag for me. I like Kieth Lee a lot, but Johnny doesn’t do anything for me so I didn’t pay a ton of attention in this one. Best spot came when Lee body-checked Johnny through the plexiglass like they were at a hockey game. Cue the patented JG “Dazed and Limp” look. Lee won as he should have.
Dream vs. Adam Cole: The usual “street fight” type match. But I’m more mad about the result. I’m sooooooo over and bored with Adam Cole and the entire Undesputed Era. I understand that NXT has a unique problem of having so many good guys that you can’t have one win without seemingly burying another, but Cole has basically ran through the entire roster and for what? He’s hasn’t been “dominant” he hasn’t really won because of chickenshit heel tactics, he just wins. I hate breaking up tag teams/factions because I think the storylines are usually stupid, but it’s time to kill UE. They’re storylines are stale, I don’t care about them anymore and their constant winning has killed the title scene.
Chiampa vs. Karrion Kross: I am a part of a wrestling facebook group, and we spent the entire match trying to find a way to make Kross look less generic. I mean, all the tools are there, but there’s just SOMETHING missing. I think he needs more tattoos or a mask. Thoughts? He won, as well he should have to build his character. It didn’t hurt Chiampa at all to lose.
Charlotte, Io Sharai and Rhea Ripley: I don’t want to sound like smarky smark and the funky bunch, but what are they doing to Ripley? I don’t hate that Io Sharai won (anyone but Charlotte…what a pointless-ass title reign), but after building Ripley to be the Next Big Thing, and having her absolutely amazing title victory over Shayna Baezler…she’s lost in title bouts twice in a row. I’m sincerely hoping that Charlotte goes away and this leads to a program with Io and Rhea…but that’ll probably end with Rhea losing too. Either that or they’ll hot potato the title off of Io which makes HER reign pointless. I’m really hoping that there was some behind-the-scenes reason (aka VISA) for Ripley to lose at Mania, otherwise what are they even doing with her?
A bit of historical context for In Your House…
IYH was the first type of minor league PPV to air in the gaps between Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Royal Rumble. Todd Petengil, the guy who introduced the show, was WWF’s attempt to draw in younger audiences. He succeeded Gene Okerlund as host of the weekend wrap-up show, and his job was to be perpetual mark. He eventually faded away when WWF decided they needed to be more PG 13 to stay in business.
It sounded like William Regal was the voiceover for the ice cream commercials, channeling Lord Alfred Hayes. Hayes was the touch of class to keep WWF from looking totally boorish. He wore the powder blue tuxes with the frilly shirts, kind of Liberace lite.
I was skeptical about Johnny Gargano’s alignment change, but he’s mastering the weasel heel well. Unlike STC, his match with Keith Lee was my favorite. I was on the edge of my seat just as much as his babyface matches. He’s a ring psychology genius, able to look like he could cheat his way to victory over a dude twice his size. His promos with Candace versus Lee and Yim were epic. I can see him succeeding HHH as NXT uberguru.
Regarding Karrion Kross, I think his presentation package is beautiful, and his evil valet Scarlet adds a femme fatale presence that’s in risk of overshadowing him. Otherwise, he’s kind of a generic monster heel who doesn’t really display much personality beyond bugging his eyes. His “tick tock” motto is too derivative of horror movie psychos.
He was in LU for a hiccup before they expired, emerging as the mysterious leader of the Rabbit Tribe. He wore white and subdued his opponent with a blood-inducing Mandible Claw. I thought that angle looked much more menacing, and he definitely pulled it off. It wasn’t as cliche as his current angle. I think that’s the “it” factor he’s missing, the element of ominous mystery.