2017 Pro Wrestling Thread

That's one of those things that, if Vince got challenged in court, that he'd probably lose. Thing is, though, that the one attempt in the early 2000s failed because the statute of limitations to file the lawsuit had run out. The merits of the case were never decided.

While the independent scene is doing well now, his current wrestlers don't want to burn any bridges and throw away a fairly-nice to rich income, which is understandable. So the status quo resumes,

But even with that, Vince has been awfully careful in the past few years to avoid any potential challenges (Punk, Del Rio, Mysterio) because, I think, he knows he would lose. And his business model would take a pretty big hit. It's one of those things that, like the NCAA with paying players, that he knows he'll eventually get dinged on, and is trying to hold out as long as he can against it.

 

Without understanding the particulars, I think it's insane that they're not employees for tax and insurance purposes. A public company with a corporate infrastructure should be able to deduct taxes and provide insurance without incurring crippling costs. Maybe the various states they perform in makes the tax issue a mess though.

 

The back-and-forth between Orton and KO...











Kevin Owens on Twitter

Kevin Owens on Twitter

 

I haven't watched wrestling in about 15 years, but didn't love the 30 for 30. Flair really is just an adolescent who doesn't seem to truly regret any of his decisions. I guess that is refreshing in a way, but it didn't make for compelling TV.

 

Flair's two-part interview on Steve Austin's podcast was a better look at his career and adult life. I thought the best parts of the 30 for 30 were on Flair's early life. Not a student of these things, but didn't know he was adopted, had never seen how big he was as a young man, and I hadn't seen the footage of his first match, as a chunky jobber.

 

I just finally found some time watched it last night myself. That match that was shown wasn't his first match, but it probably is the first footage of him in the ring that is still survives. His first match was a draw against George (Scrap Iron) Gadaski, who was a journeyman in the AWA who also would put the ring up at the shows. The match that was shown was against Chris Taylor, who was an Olympic bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling (he died in 1979 from cardiovascular disease; he weighed over 400 pounds). It was probably in Flair's rookie year, though.

They also seem to have played a little loose with the timing of his Nature Boy persona. They implied that he became the character after the plane crash, when in reality, it had happened the year before. Flair already was becoming a top star and working against Wahoo McDaniel before the crash.

I thought the show could have been a bit longer because there were some other stories that could have been explored about him. One was about the circumstances of his adoption. Apparently, he was stolen from his birth mother by an adoption organization in Tennessee that became well known at that time for taking babies from young single moms and either making them sign over rights, or telling them that the baby died and was already buried. (They later got busted for this).

Another story that was barely mentioned was Flair's mental breakdowns in the 1980s. In the first book, he told stories of how he was afraid to leave his hotel room because he was mentally fried by the pressure. This could have shown some added context to his behavior. Plus, he briefly brought up how he lacked confidence in himself, but that could have also been a little better explored.

All in all, though, it was a very good show, and the end, with his son dying, was very poignant.

 

Not a big deal, but it also made no mention of David's WCW career, even if it basically was as a comedy character.

 

Triple H, Angle, Cena and Shane. Glad to see them giving the up-and-comers a shot at SS.

 

That's it? That's what they go out on?

 

Most of the up-and-comers are in matches I'd much rather see than the 5-on-5 match.

 

Pretty much this.

Although you have some interesting storyline stuff with Trips, especially if he finds himself facing off with Shane.

 

Yeah, kinda out of nowhere. I think even the crowd was expecting something like a Smackdown run-in instead of that.

I did get s chuckle with Heyman going off-script and mocking the marriage proposal.