professional Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
He (allegedly) tried to live the gimmick
Former WWE superstar Ted DiBiase Jr. has been charged in connection with the now-infamous Mississippi welfare scandal. As revealed in an unsealed federal indictment from the Department of Justice, the 40-year-old DiBiase Jr. was charged with the misappropriation of millions diverted from families in...
Each NBA playoff team's <i>Succession</i> character
Have we all recovered from that tear-jerker of an episode on Sunday? I mean to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves unravel in front of the world was absolutely heart-wrenching. Just kidding. I know the Timberwolves’ imploding was about as sad as [SPOILER ALERT] Logan Roy finally kicking the bucket late...
CM Punk is gaslighting AEW
Here we are again. The whispers have become a rumble. CM Punk is on his way (back) to AEW. Except this time, he’s kind of gaslighting his way there. Which is strange for someone who once hated leaks to the wrestling media so much he decided to start a fight over it....
Jeff Hardy and Darby Allin blur the lines for AEW, but not in a good way
The idea that the wrestling world and the real world are separate entities has generally been urinated on in recent times. With wrestlers and companies using social media to forward storylines and feuds, as well as the “dirt sheets” moving into their own industry with fans gobbling up whatever backs...
The Masters was supposed to be LIV’s big moment, but a Brooks Koepka choke turned it into their big disappointment
It’s the obvious joke, so let’s get it out of the way. The LIV Golf representatives at The Masters aren’t used to playing 72 holes! That’s why Brooks Koepka crapped the bed on Sunday and blew his lead, only to be passed by Jon Rahm, who won his first green jacket by four strokes! If only the Saudi-b...
Vince McMahon is in charge again, in case you couldn’t tell
The first hour of this week’s Raw was commercial-free and contained two minutes of actual wrestling. Brock Lesnar appeared in both the opening and closing segments, opposing Roman Reigns (if only for a moment in the end), culminating in a nonsensical heel turn. Then there was a rerun of a women’s ta...
I don’t know why <i>you</i> trusted WWE to do anything differently
We were just here. Not all that long ago. WWE doesn’t like you. We thought when Triple H took over creative, things would change. They decidedly have not, and it’s a wonder whether he’s actually in charge of creative anymore. Or whether he was yesterday, and whether he will be tomorrow (we’ll get ba...
Girls can talk trash, too
Depending on whatever echo chamber you’ve decided to inhabit on social media, the final of the Women’s college basketball tournament might sound very different than it does to someone else. I’m sure for all the genuine college basketball fans out there, and especially LSU fans, all there is is an ap...
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn crash the party
On a night and weekend that is meant to celebrate the sheer enormity of WWE–the bombast, the cultural reach, the money, the sheer scale of it all–it was two guys who made their names in various, darkly lit auditoriums and armories and bingo halls and whatever other seedy corner you might find indie ...
Cody Rhodes proves it doesn’t matter what you actually say
There’s a bit in my favorite stand-up special of all time, Suzy Eddie Izzard’s Dress To Kill, where she mocks most Americans for not knowing the lyrics to the national anthem but also advises them how to get around it. It’s mostly about how one looks and how one sounds, not really what is actually b...
AEW All Access doesn’t want us to know where the lines are
I’ll get my biases out of the way up top. I’ll never fully buy reality TV as “reality.” It’s hard for me to believe that anyone can act fully natural with a camera around, even if they say that after a while of being followed by them they forget they’re there. Goes for Hard Knocks, too. The conversa...
Who the fuck are St. Louis City SC and who the fuck do they think they are?
The pattern of a first-year MLS club is pretty well set by now. Team gets announced, we all joke about the league being a Ponzi scheme (still might be!), they begin play in a stadium that looks fun as hell in front of raucous crowds, and then kind of eat it for most of the season. Maybe they pick it...
Is the new Vince McMahon biography worth reading?
On one hand, mainstream interest in Vince McMahon, the “Walt Disney of wrestling” has never been higher: last year he retired in disgrace as CEO and chairman after allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. (He has previously been twice accused of sexual assault, and has denied all allegations of...
Kenny Omega and El Hijo Del Vikingo somehow, miraculously, overcome a lack of build to become the match of the year
The idea that there could be “smart” wrestling debate is probably high comedy to any non-wrestling fan, given the perception that they probably have for creatures like us (not all that inaccurate either). It’s becoming pretty farcical in the wrestling world as well these days, given the split betwee...
Carson Brière and James Reimer make it clear hockey is not for everyone
When millions watched a video of NCAA hockey player Carson Brière pushing a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, it revealed something. The same can be said for James Reimer’s overt decision to not wear a Pride jersey with his San Jose Sharks teammates. For decades, hockey’s toxic culture has been li...
The Great Debates tournament: Sweet 16
It’s Sweet 16 time. The primaries are over and it is time for the general election. In real-life debates, this is about the time when candidates would be making disingenuous retorts about each other’s bad-faith arguments....
The Great Debates tournament: Round of 32
Alright, things are heating up for those of you who understand the concept. The big-name debates largely rolled on with a couple of alliterative exceptions as Rest vs. Rust and Nature vs. Nurture were ousted. ...
Please stop belittling the onside kick
Every time the XFL or USFL tries to make a comeback, they debut a bunch of wrinkles to make the game more exciting. The epitome was the WWE’s XFL getting rid of fair catches in an attempt to spread the CTE around to all of its workforce. The latest fad is a rule in the spirit of make-it, take-it whe...