Professional wrestling thread

Abdullah the Butcher has a baby boy named Viscera.

 

Lance Storm and Dave Meltzer were just on Outside The Lines.

Storm was very very good.

EDIT: For those who couldn't see it, he discussed the whole proliferation of pills in wrestling. Said when he started in the business, all the veterans kept telling him "you'll be hooked on pills in 6 months." He mentioned how WWE now runs a less rigorous touring schedule than they did in the Hogan Era, have medical personnel at every show and you can get treatment. But he feels the pills are the way a lot of guys go so they don't look "soft" by going to the doctors/trainers.

Oh, and there was a nice vintage shot of Meltzer from 94 with the feathered mullet.

 

It's actually now Big Daddy V. Get it right, Claws.

Quiet week in wrestling and the Great American Bash is shaping up to be quite a snoozer. Main event does have potential. I just don't see how Kane has earned a championship shot on a PPV, though. He's degressed so much in the ring that he's barely even watchable these days.

 

Oh, right, Abdullah the Butcher has a baby boy named KING MABEL!

 

EDIT: So he's gone from King Mabel to Viscera to this? Holy sweet Jesus.

 

Probably should go in the other thread, but the Benoit toxicology reports come out tomorrow afternoon.

I've got a feeling it's gonna be ugly.

You have to wonder, as folks call for government intervention, if that's what just kills wrestling in the U.S. I could easily see a scenario where the bureaucrats simply set up a long, costy screening process before each show that will make it too much money and trouble to put on a show.

I also think some kind of mandated, across-the-board testing policy would kill all the little organizations--from ROH on down.

 

A testing policy still hasn't worked that well in baseball. How would it work in pro wrestling?

 

I don't think it'd have to work, necessarily. I think those who advocate change could simply set up a system that's so complex and costly--perhaps requiring tests the day before a show, for example--that no one could comply or afford to comply.

Death by red tape.

 

I sympathize for ROH and the indies that do it right, but IF the result of Benoit was a stronger steroid policy, even if it comes at the expense of the little guys, I'll accept that. But my suspicion is that Congress won't get involved. And if there's more than roids in Benoit's results, which seems almost certain, that'll muddy the issue enough that it might not be a witch hunt against steroids, no matter how hard Nancy Grace beats that drum.

Meltzer, albeit ham-handedly at times, had a really strong column on his site Saturday, blasting WWE for trying to drown out the noise and hum a happy tune about how there aren't any problems whatsoever. Ken Kennedy's rant ... rant on his website was the tipping point, I think. Nobody's looking for an answer, they're either looking for a way to escape culpability (WWE) or a way out of the issue entirely (TNA and its non-comments).

 

Since indy wrestlers work for various companies--for instance, prior to TNA pulling Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Austin Aries, Homicide and others from ROH and the indies--they could work a ROH show one weekend, a PWG show in LA the next.

If Aries and the Briscoe Brothers--all three noted for having massive cases of bacne and for exploding physically--tested positive, they would have to be written off who knows how many shows.

 

I was in Dayton in June and Aries has shrunk noticeably.