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WWE Signing Stokely Hathaway Is A Sign That Wrestling Managers Are Back
When WWE announces a new class of signees for its Performance Center in the Orlando area, the notable names tend to go public in advance. WWE infamously instructs its incoming talent not to tell anyone, but those wrestlers still have to finish up their independent dates before joining the promotion,...
Jushin Thunder Liger, Japan's Greatest Wrestling Export, Is Set For One Last Ride
On Thursday, Jushin Thunder Liger, inarguably one of the most influential figures in the history of the global wrestling business, announced his retirement at a press conference in Japan. The 54-year-old masked wrestler, whose real name is Keichi Yamada, will travel the world on a farewell tour slat...
Even With Chyna And The Honky Tonk Man In It, The WWE Hall Of Fame Is As Cynical As It Looks<em></em>
Last week, WWE announced that the D-Generation X stable would be the headline inductees at the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony over WrestleMania weekend in April. This week, The Honky Tonk Man was added to the lineup of honorees. If the WWE Hall of Fame is going to exist, it should have all...
Even With Chyna And The Honky Tonk Man In It, The WWE Hall Of Fame Is As Cynical As It Looks<em></em>
Last week, WWE announced that the D-Generation X stable would be the headline inductees at the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony over WrestleMania weekend in April. This week, The Honky Tonk Man was added to the lineup of honorees. If the WWE Hall of Fame is going to exist, it should have all...
WWE Called Up NXT's Top Stars With No Buildup Or Apparent Plan
For about as long as WWE has had a developmental system, that system has blatantly misused, if not outright squandered, tremendous wrestling talents. Steve Bradley was long considered the model wrestler in the farm system during its early days, the wrestler who everyone around him should aspire to...
Thirty Years Ago, WWE Admitted It Wasn't A Sport To Try And Dodge Regulation
It’s never been a secret that pro wrestling isn’t on the level, with plenty of stories on the subject going back all the way to the 1850s. The true reason it was a prearranged exhibition may have changed from fleecing gamblers to increasing entertainment value and maximizing box office revenue with ...
40 Years Ago, Antonio Inoki Maybe Possibly Almost Wrestled Against Idi Amin<em></em>
As a mainstream athlete, Antonio Inoki is probably best known for battling Muhammad Ali to a draw in an actual on-the-level fight—albeit one restricted by last-minute rule changes—after The Greatest backed out of plans to lose a traditional entertainment wrestling match. But Antonio Inoki is not a m...
Dean Ambrose Is Leaving WWE And Contract Season Just Got Much More Interesting
The biggest news in pro wrestling this week probably should have involved in-ring, canonical storyline fallout from WWE’s Royal Rumble weekend in Phoenix. And there was indeed news made there, or at least the set up for the next round between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, which will likely be pushed...
Twenty Years Ago, The Rock Beat Mick Foley About The Head And It Was Fucked Up
What still stands as quite possibly the most viscerally memorable match in the modern history of World Wrestling Entertainment took place 20 years ago this week at Royal Rumble ‘99. How much of a compliment that is depends on your perspective. ...
A.J. Styles's Weird Right-Wing Web TV Appearance Went About As Well As Could Be Expected
On Monday, the self-described “conservative comedian” Steven Crowder tweeted out the guest list for his online talk show, Louder With Crowder, which streams on the Glenn Beck-owned BlazeTV. There is no reason any person should care about this beyond the fact that, among those guests, was the WWE sta...
WWE Is Sexing Up Its Programming Again, But At What Cost?
WWE’s television programming has taken a sharp turn in the past week or so, or more precisely thrown it in reverse and slammed on the gas. The last time pro wrestling’s dominant promotion truly broke through to mainstream popularity was 20 years ago, and came largely on the back of vulgar, sexed-up ...
Cody Rhodes, The Khans, And Chris Jericho Made Their New Promotion Official, And It Could Be Big
The news officially arrived through a pair of statements, a rally outside TIAA Bank Field, and a subsequent press junket, but the Jacksonville Jaguars owners Shahid “Shad” Khan and his son Tony made their bold new foray into the pro wrestling business official on Tuesday. The name of the new promot...
"Mean" Gene Okerlund Was TV Wrestling Distilled Into A Single Human Being
“Mean” Gene Okerlund, the most iconic interviewer and one of the most well-known announcers period in the history of televised pro wrestling, passed away at the age of 76, WWE announced on Wednesday morning. No cause of death was given by WWE, although Okerlund’s son Tor later told the Associated Pr...
Impact Wrestling Is Stuck In TV Purgatory And Facing A Bleak Future
The long-beleaguered Impact Wrestling, which had been hunting for a new American TV deal, announcing a new destination last Friday. Starting on January 11, the two hour eponymous weekly Impact show moves from Thursday nights on PopTV (formerly the TV Guide Channel) to Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET on the...
How Did $5 Million Of Vince McMahon's Money Wind Up In The Trump Foundation?
On Tuesday, the New York State Attorney General’s Office announced that they had reached a settlement in their suit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation over its (prolific) self-dealing and other assorted misdeeds. Beyond the usual Trump-scented malfeasance in which the foundation engaged, one de...
As Ring Of Honor Closes The Book On 2018, A New Startup Wrestling Promotion Looms
Ring of Honor’s year-end pay-per-view event, Final Battle, will air live on Friday night from the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City. It’s become one of the biggest events in independent wrestling, but there’s more intrigue around it than usual this year, as it looks likel...
Dynamite Kid Leaves Behind One Of Pro Wrestling's Most Complicated Legacies
WWE confirmed on Wednesday that Tom Billington, the former pro wrestler best known as Dynamite Kid of the British Bulldogs tag team, had passed away at the age of 60. He leaves one of the more hugely complicated legacies of just about anyone who has ever been a part of this hugely complicated busine...
WWE Is Preparing For Global Domination And Everyone Is Finally Noticing
Over the course of the last few weeks, a crush of news on the WWE talent development front has changed how many fans look at the company. A Monday report from WrestleTalk revealed major changes to the contracts for WWE’s United Kingdom-based developmental talent; the new language specifically limite...
Seriously, How The Fuck Did Anyone Let Chuck Liddell Fight On Saturday Night?
Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya’s outfit, promoted its first mixed martial arts event on Saturday night at the Los Angeles Forum. It was built more like a boxing card than a traditional MMA one, with the main event getting almost the entire focus and the co-feature getting a polite bit of l...
If Pro Wrestling Is Art, Daniel Bryan Is His Generation's Master
Welcome back, Daniel Bryan....