Back in the Saddle: A Fine Song Title for the Disgruntled's Real World Champion(s) of Wrestling

*This blog post was started on February 1, 2024.

Lets see if I can at least get my blogging back on track. It seems my life or at least my mind is more of a mess than pro-wrestling. I better get right into the title histories right now.

The Current Disgruntled's Real World Champions of Pro Wrestling
Title Histories from September 24, 2023 Forward.

The 104th and Current Disgruntled's Real World Champion (Men)
AEW World Champion: Samoa Joe (2nd Reign)

His second reign began after defeating DRCW Real World Champion/AEW World Champion MJF on December 30, 2023.

Samoa Joe is a surprising champion. This is a bit ironic because there has not been a more legitimate looking heavyweight champion than him in the past 20 years. Brock Lesnar is now persona non grata to the business, but his reigns after his return to the business seemed very artificial. Kurt Angle should have solely put over Joe instead of being used to try and make TNA look like a competitor to WWE.

The biggest advantage to Joe as the champion is that whoever beats him will be a made man. Who cares if Cody Rhodes finishes his story? Roman Reigns is not going to be around to chase for the championship. Is there anyone in WWE right now who makes you legitimately fear for Cody's title reign?

Tony Khan should be declared the best booker of 2023 because he managed to course correct wrestling for all of those who knew the importance of the Ring of Honor style.

*This blog post was resumed on February 8, 2024.

I suppose I am pretty busy between Thursdays. It was my long night at the secondary job was Wednesday, so blogging was not my top priority. Friday was the eve of #FreePubTrivia's Tournament of Champions in Wrigleyville, so saving my energy was the goal of the night. Sunday and Monday were devoted to dealing with the sense of alienation and futility of existence that was featured in the prior blog post.

Of course, we can save the current head trip for next time. Though my memories from my wrestling career could lead to triggering events. Fortunately, I do not actually know any of the people who will be written about on a personal level.

It was a good thing to establish that Seth Rollins is not the Disgruntled's Real World Champion.

As an aside, I ended up composing this blog under the wrong blog (ninetyforchill.blogspot.com). This means that I copied the HTML to put this blog in the right location. Unfortunately, the original draft was deleted before I realized that I did not copy and paste the title. Thus, Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" was not my original choice.

The 52nd and Current Disgruntled's Real World Champion (Women)
WWE's Women's World Champion: Rhea Ripley

Her reign began when Toni Storm defeated the AEW Women's Champion Jayme Hayter on May 28, 2023.

So, perhaps I am losing my credibility at least when it comes to talking about wrestling. WWE is not a product that I go out of my way to see. If *title/name redacted* did not need Peacock to catch the Buffalo Bills in December, I would not have watched the Royal Rumble.

I will fully acknowledge my tribalism. Personally, it is something that I think is necessary. If there are not rabid supporters on both sides demanding that their beloved product remains on TV, there would be no noise. No noise, no interest from the media conglomerates.

All I can say about women's wrestling is that AEW was a little too concerned with getting pops than building a strong champion. They did not want a heel to win the title from another heel in London, so they put the belt on Hikaru Shida to trade it back and forth with Saraya. And then it ended up back on Toni Storm to get over her new character.

As for WWE, Ripley is the most influential person in the best faction. There have not been many spectacular defenses, but she has left a mark. When it comes to the Smackdown side, I think they are lost since they are not focusing on their top athlete, Bianca Belair. Iyo Sky and Asuka are great champions, but they are only there to give Bayley a moment.

The 48th and Current Modern Poser Champion:
WWE Undisputed Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

His second reign began on August 30, 2020, winning it from Bray Wyatt.

The 155th and Current Real World Tag Team Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions: ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin)

Their reign began when they defeated The Rascalz for the Impact World Tag Team and DRCW Real Tag Team Championships on October 21, 2023.

This is a tough one to figure out. The build to Sting and Allin versus The Young Bucks makes the Bill/Starks reign worthwhile. I think it made sure we knew that Bill, the former Big Cassidy, was a force to be reckoned with and Starks will be treated as a top AEW guy. They were a frankenteam, but they were a fun team and actually allowed for more focus on the experimental American trios divisions.

The problem is that the Judgement Day first reign and FTR's most recent reigns ended on the same night. And, they both lost them to Duos instead of teams.

Chris Bey used his "Feast or Fired" to gain him and the partner he defeated the Motor City Machine Guns with another shot at the Impact Tag Team Championships. It was not a surprise cash in. They issued this challenge at Bound for Glory, and they were successful 16 days after issuing the challenge.

The 154th Real World Tag Team Champions
The Impact World Tag Team Champions: The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz Trey Miguel)

Their reign began when Big Bill and Ricky Starks defeated FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Champions on October 7, 2023.

This blog was resumed on February 25, 2024.

Let me get this typed and see what I need to recap. I last worked on this blog nearly three weeks. There was definitely the time to finish this off, but that was paid vacation from my primary employer. You bet I was going to sleep and drink as much as I could. Until B-Fest, my Letterboxd (cmdarth) demonstrates how much (or how little) that I accomplished.

But, it is good to take a break, and then be told I owe the Feds $400. It is a pain to correct that for next year (My secondary employer telling me that it would be easy to do from home proved false.). My research suggests that my accountant may have been wrong, but I do not want to argue with the guy footing that bill. And, to make a one percenter pay taxes...I do not feel too butt hurt.

All I can say that besides getting my Bluesky (@catbusruss.bsky.social) account set up (fun content, but not as friendly as Mastodon), I have this years promoting of "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast with CatBusRuss" figured out. If Reedpop would have communicated better, I may have gotten a panel set up for the show.

I was about to call that my only loss recently, but a good man was murdered by a coward with a gun. Brandon Hardway, let alone anyone, should have suffered like that. If you want to take a life, you better have the dignity to put your life on the line. We need stop giving the gutless a means to destroy with risk.

Please quit voting Republican.

Manic Monday: @CMPunk (bka CM Skunk) & The Current Disgruntled's Real Pro-Wrestling Champions

*This blog post was started on September 4, 2023.

I know, the title is a simple association. My attempts to be Penn Jillette clever can be weak at times. But, if you have read "Sock" by Jillette, his little pop song references can be too subtle for their own good.

It is a bit ironic to use the word manic in the blog post title for myself. My head feels like it screwed on fairly well right now. I say that as I wonder if I sent the wrong emoji to a girl that I have been chatting with the past week from Bumble. She has COVID right now, so obviously, to get immediate responses should not be expected. Ghosting has not occurred with this lass, but, has the corona virus ever been used to get out of a date? Times have only been made weirder since the Trump administration killed the study of infectious disease.

These odd times might be getting to me. If I do something that comes off as stupid, I can see a customer losing their cool and insulting me as a customer service representative. Being "felt sorry for" because I wear a mask and am triple boosted by a moron from Tuscola, Illinois (Wouldn't you know that the big city Angie Zindars group up near and Marissa Embry found work), who does not know how to read receipts expecting me to wait patiently on really got on my nerves recently. It makes me consider wearing my lanyard that has my keys to the building around my neck. "Ask me my pronouns," would at least make that cocksucker (Jillette says this word either represents an awful man or an awesome woman.) genuinely uncomfortable.

To be insulted, $25 an hour seems to be a fair wage. That is the price of a lap dance at Big Al's in Peoria, my preferred strip club. Sadly, my friends from that industry can attest to the treatment they receive.

I wonder if I still have any friends in that industry. Perhaps my attempt to out grow Peoria has finally concluded. There are rumors that I have been chasing down about good friends who are still in the industry, but the last couple of visits, there are hardly any girls dancing on stage (Two shows in one hour was the rate last time.). To the Al's credit, a double Johnny Walker Black on the rocks only costs $12 before 2 am on Sundays.

I have kind of scattered my mind talking about employment. But after this weekend in wrestling, the transition between my employment and that industry is fairly easy.

Pinterest @nsvos92

The Current Disgruntled's Real Pro-Wrestling Champions

Title Histories from April 16, 2023 Forward.

Before I get going, I kind of wish that Cody Rhodes would have defeated Roman Reigns back at WrestleMania XXXIX. If I would have known that asshole CM Punk would try to claim that he was undeservingly stripped of the AEW World Championship, he may have been able to claim the DRCW Modern Poser Championship.

I was working (obviously) on Saturday, September 2, when CM Punk was terminated from All Elite Wrestling. Not wanting to deal with the crowd (and maybe not spending money so extravagantly), resulted in me deciding to watch the show from home. If my little brother was more forthcoming that he was attending the show, my decision would have been different. No date for Monday (which she has since responded to this morning's text), energy was not something I would need for today.

When I found out that was his plan, we discussed Punk a bit. Basically, I determined that he was the most insincere person in the wrestling industry, dating all the way back to 2011. Returning to WWE after the pipe bomb promo essentially ruined indie wrestling until the Bullet Club was formed. Lets face it, it was Being the Elite starting in the middle of 2016 that made Americans look for WWE alternatives. Maybe Jeff Jarrett started that ball rolling in 2015 by allowing for the American broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom 9, but having dealt with a friend who just would not put the effort to find indie wrestling, I do not give that much weight.

Punk should have stayed away from WWE until he worked somewhere else. WWE could not afford that. Punk knew this and took a payday and headaches for it. He was right to walk out of WWE, but he had no intention to put in any effort to save the business like he implied when returning to WWE in the first place. If anything, "The Art of Wrestling" podcast was an attempt to burn television wrestling down to benefit the UFC. When he realized he had to pay to do that, it resulted in him throwing his best friend under the bus.

I did not care if CM Punk ever returned to wrestling. Was I happy that he did? Yes. It showed how influential AEW was becoming. But did I feel like it was a slap in the face of all the indie talent he spat on when I was very active in the business? Yes. Did I expect him to continue doing that? Yes. Did I want him to be the face of the company? Fuck no.

He was a man who thought the business should revolve around him. Great matches is the reason that I watch AEW Collision. A man who has never been humble a day in his life deserves no eyes on him.

After all of this venting, I guess it is a good thing that Reigns went over in April's main event. We can forget that the Real World Championship ever existed.

Time (Clock of the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship) and the Disgruntled's Real World Champions

  *This blog post was started on April 16, 2023.

It is funny. As I typed that time disclaimer, the number pad on my new HP laptop was not used. I guess that I have played around with my Chromebook enough that I do not need the extra inches. If only the ladies would agree to that.

Resisting cheap humor like that can be tough. I am confident in my equipment, but have to swing at softballs. Lets get off away from my joys of using double entendres. We are here for wrestling chatter that have been lacking from my writing since the new Reign of Terror had started.

Try and focus Russ. Quit being impressed by having a PC with speed to optimize your Spotify playlists. But mentioning Spotify, their Spotify for Podcasters product (formerly Anchor) has been working out fairly well. You have to be careful with the Apple app (nearly over wrote...well I did...one of my episodes, but was quick to restore it), but quality is there and easier to connect to other podcast apps.

That should be enough of me bullshitting about my life without mentioning much of it. Anyhow, I need something to fill in the space of my podcast blogs, so best save it for then. But speaking of podcasts, it was "Wednesday Worldwide" on The Ringer Network (also a Spotify product), that put further emphasis on a need to write this blog.

For my sanity sake, and to coincide with the upcoming WWE Draft, they may be better served to break up The Ringer Wrestling Show feed. There is only one must listen to podcast, "The Masked Man Show". As long as Peter Rosenberg is hosting "Cheap Heat" instead of Stat Guy Greg, that show is solely for WWE shilling. It is bad enough that The Ringer give Ariel Helwani a platform. But, to the Wednesday crew, I can appreciate their hot takes on the other shows' hot takes. Of course, if their take about Roman Reign's was correct, I would not constantly allow my 2Do app on my iPhone to keep the reminder to write this blog.

On "Cheap Heat", weeks before WrestleMania 39 (perhaps even before the Elimination Chamber), Bryan Diperstein made the comment that the length of Roman's reign does not matter. Since Brock Lesnar held the Universal Title for over 500 days to spite CM Punk (Who deserved it, but that was not Vince McMahon's place.), I whole heartedly agree.

As a kid who grew up on Hulkamania, I can see the counter argument, but that reign also made professional wrestling what it is today or, at the very least, put it in a position to be that. Once the one day title reigns became a thing, WWE titles are just props.

I think we all know that Triple H (hopefully just him) wants the 1000-day reign, but when you have a part-time champion (like Lesnar was), we should all know that the legitimacy of the title is fake. Sadly, the least appreciated team of The Ringer dropped the ball and challenged the reasonable to create their own hot take.

The problem with this blog will be that his reign is still continuing. It should not be surprising since Cody Rhodes, the man who tried to usurp WWE's reign on the business, lost on the grandest stage of them all. I really need to pay for NJPW pay-per-views to help them reinstate Wrestle Kingdom as that stage.

Again, WWE decides to just tell the Disgruntled Wrestling fans to shag off. Because of this, I am not afraid to declare these champions regardless if they have built the resumes greater that Stamford's product.

The Current Disgruntled Real Champions of Professional Wresting (As of April 16, 2023)

The 103rd Unified Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion
AEW World Champion:
MJF - Maxwell Jacob Friedman

His reign started on Jan. 4, 2023 when Switchblade Jay White was defeated by Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

The problems with ranking MJF's title reign above Reigns was he lacks the big televised wars. His feud with Punk was great, but when it came to winning the title, we knew he would walk away from his first challenger Ricky Starks in what I think was an under-booked affair.

Nobody expected him to lose without at least one pay-per-view defense. We were all frustrated that it was going to be Bryan Danielson because what good would the championship do for the challenger. But, the feud was brilliantly booked and his 65-minute iron match was awesome. More importantly, none of Reigns's defenses can match it.

The 50th Disgruntled's Real Women's World Champion
Raw Women's Champion: Bianca Belair

Her reign began on September 4, 2022. She was awarded it from AEW World Champion Thunder Rosa vacating her title.

We are definitely in the "Belair Wins LOL" era, but there is no one that is as athletically gifted as she is in the ring. Her WrestleMania matches (I have not seen 39) were or close to the best that the shows had to offer. The problem is that her story has no adversity. As long as she is champ, the Raw Women's division lacks interest (unless they do something great with the tag team titles).

If they are working towards Rhea Rhipley as her next Mania opponent (Bayley needs to leave WWE because she deserved a Mania angle with Belair.), we should have another banger, provided she is not the champion.

The 48th Modern Poser Champion
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

His second reign began on August 30, 2020, winning it from Bray Wyatt.

The length of his reign is only there to cover up the fact that as a performer, he does not really work. I would say creative deserves the credit for interesting television (not interesting enough for me to dedicate time to it), not his in ring ability. If he did not have Paul Heyman, he would not be worth anything.

The 152nd Real World Tag Team Champions
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

Their reign began on April 1, 2023 when they defeated The Bloodline: Jimmy and Jey Uso.

I really want to put FTR in this spot, but the means a Gunns title reign. They are nowhere ready for that.

It would be easy to declare Zayn and Owens the Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles Champions, but that would ignore their history of breaking into the business together. They are essentially brothers, so they are a true team, not two guys holding the straps.

The 159th OCHO: The Secondary Champion
Ring of Honor World Television Champion: Samo Joe

His third reign began on April 25, 2022. He was awarded it from AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky.

He is coming up on a year. It is a pity that he will probably never get to another Real World Championship, but his existence as champion keeps ROH relevant. He might get back there once Eddie Kingston dethrone Claudio Castagnoli. It would be great to give Mark Briscoe win this belt in his rematch.

The 166th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles Champions: GHC Tag Team Champions: Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba

Their reign began when they defeated Takashi Sugiura and Satoshi Kojima on February 12, 2023.

Kitamiya has held the GHC Tag Team Title with four other partners, thus a good hand to support other talent.

The 167th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles Champions: Impact World Tag Team Champions: Ace Austin and Chris Bey

They were awarded the championship on April 16, 2023, when Kitamiyan and Inaba lost their GHC championship to Takashi Sugiura.

Austin and Bey defeated the Motor City Machine Guns to gain the title. That will put you ahead of most team 6 out of 7 days a week.

It is about midnight on April 16th, and it feels like a very productive day. I got to see "John Wick: Chapter 4", got my parents tech needs resolved, and wrote a blog. This shows me that I have no excuse when it comes to writing blogs.

So, anime next week? Or, how about a movie podcast? If you want to record one with me, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com with a movie, director, actor, or theme. Just try to focus on sub 100-minute movies to fry up a slice of gold.

New Year's Day: Easy U2 Reference, Difficult Championship Declarations

 *This blog post was started on January 5, 2023.

Right now I am trying to get caught up on the wrestling scene. I am still a bit ashamed that I missed AAW Wrestling's year end show. It is tough acknowledging that I am getting older, and of course today I realize year 43 is less than two months away. This leaves me to ponder if I am going to have the strength to handle all the events I am taking time off for.

This month is Joe's on Weed St's Trivia Tournament of Champions. Next month is B-Fest. The line up has not been issued. AAW in running back in their base building in Berwyn after B-Fest closes. That will be a challenge to sneak into the venue like the good old days. After the raffle at B-Fest, the features were very much skippable, so I might be able to swing it.

But, what if ThePoeticCritic wants to come along? When will I get to be the indie mark that I fancy myself as?

I guess I need to get into better shape to be able to manage this frantic life. The lease does not run up till May, so moving to the Windy City is not the ideal shortcut. If I got up there, everything would be nearby. With that, the drives home will not be that depressing. There is no time to sulk about my loneliness.

It feels like a pipedream, but if a friend who I never met in person can get people like myself to help with spur of the moment moving expenses, maybe there is hope. And there is always cashing out my retirement. I am in retail and not retail management. What is retirement?

So, that is where my head is at. Aside from seeing my current funds dissipate this week to pay them bills, there is no real pressure on me. I suppose I should just appreciate that. Perhaps I can resolve to write something every week beyond my blogs to promote "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast". It would be considered more appropriate than eating something Buffalo flavored daily or partaking in Snoop Dogg's philosophy (Smoke Weed Everyday). Then again, quit being so judgmental. If I will not let a god tell me how fucked I am, why am I doing that?

The Current Disgruntled's Real Champions of Professional Wrestling (As of January 3, 2023):

Let me be upfront. I am writing this as the preshow of Wrestle Kingdom 17 is playing in my peripheral. That is my biggest getting old moment of the past two weeks. Skipping a trip to Chicago for wrestling due to a hangover, that could be considered a fiscally wise move. Failing to watch WK17 because of the joy of sleep sounds kind of pathetic to me. Again, quit being such a harsh judge.

Please believe me, I made my best effort to watch it live. My workday for January 4 would start at 7:30 am. The January 3 agenda was to leave work, make dinner, smoke a bowl, and go to sleep. I was in bed at 6 pm. If I would have slept uninterrupted to wake up at 1 am, that would be seven hours of quality sleep. Too bad I woke up at 10 pm.

Another bowl was partaken, and I probably went back to sleep around 11:30 pm. I guess I was still stoned by 1:00, so bed sounded better than Omega vs. Ospreay. WrestleTalk said otherwise.

We are just getting through the match rundown for WK17. Honestly, kind of a lesser all around card than usual. Or, it only being one night limited the opportunities to be on the main card. Did we need the Keiji Mutoh match on the primary card? Jushin Thunder Liger was limited to the preshow. Give me LIJ challenging The House of Torture for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

I love the sheer amount of championships in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This means to be on the Tokyo Dome show, you have to be of championship caliber. If UFC can have 12 championships (excluding interim belt holders), why complain about eight in AEW (14 if you include ROH)?

Pinterest @MyDarthPrince

Spellbound: The Wizard and the Disgruntled's Real World Championships

*This blog post was started on November 2, 2022.

This blog post should serve as evidence as a proper, productive day. Oil change done, fat thawing out to fry up some wings therefore ending my four-day chicken fast, and my health benefits for the next year have been fulfilled. Hell, it seems I managed to stop Eva the Queen Kitty from licking her allergic wounds. What protein should she change to from chicken?

As I say that, she is taking another go at her scabby backside. It is like I am ironically writing that in to fruition.

If you want to know where my head is out, you best check out the blogs at MainEventOfTheDead.com. Hopefully, those rants will lead you to NinetyForChill: The Podcast.

But, with my Eva observation, I may as well bring up another coincidence. Driving to get my errands done, my iPhone decided to play Siouxsie and the Banshees instead of "Scream Drafts: High School Horror Mini Mega Draft". The song was "Spellbound". Spells are magic, and witches and wizards are masters of that. Here is hoping by the time I finish this post, the Disgruntled's Real World Championship maintains an association with wrestling's warlock. Otherwise, Alanis Morissette may as well have wrote this.

The Disgruntled's Current Real Champions (11/06/2022):

The 101st Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion:
ROH World Champion Chris Jericho (3)
Reign began September 21, 2022.

So I had my issues getting back to the keyboard since the last Dynamite. My trivia excursion was a success on Thursday. As for Friday, it was difficult enough having the energy to make it to Rampage after the successful trivia night. Saturday was dedicated to paying my bills and then visiting my folks. That maybe a common theme with Mom heading to England, and Dad may enjoy the company.

After all of this, it is quite the relief from a blogger standpoint that Colt Cabana failed to defeat Jericho on Wednesday.

Do I have a bias against the WWE? Yes. If I did not, I would not have this blog maintain. AEW has had the best product from their inception until the Triple H regime took over. When I only have so much time to watch professional wrestling, do you think I would change my focus because Hunter is rearranging the board while maintaining the same pieces?

You can argue that Roman Reigns is currently the biggest star in the business. That is to WWE's detriment. He is rarely on TV and takes every other pay-per-view off. Turning him into a movie star will not help your company. WCW worked because of Hogan's failure.

Chris Jericho has defended his championship in less than two months enough times to equal half of Reign's challenges in the past two years. And with the number of defenses, he is the most active world champion.

You can say the AEW World Championship is more important, but it does not have the history of Ring of Honor and Moxley is focused on drama. This is a blog about praising wrestling over narrative. I am an indie wrestler. With a show a month, the wrestling better be good. Jericho is doing that biweekly and still delivers the drama.

The 49th Disgruntled's Real Women's World Champion:
AEW World Champion
Thunder Rosa (Her reign began on March 16, 2022)

Hammer to Fall & The Honorable Disgruntled's Real World Champion

  *This blog post was started on September 11, 2022.

It seems that time flies. I know, that is a common theme when it comes to my blog posts. Time management may be the real issue. But it was my mom's birthday yesterday. Was I not supposed to head to Morton, Illinois to celebrate the beginning of her 70th year? My latest tattoo was finished (And started, I am a simple man with the desire to be covered in nerd culture like a race car is covered in advertisements.) on Friday. If I am in the area, why not visit the cranky boomer and rewatch the last half hour of "Bohemian Rhapsody"?

Because, when you eat Old Chicago as your only real meal on Friday to be followed by Avanti's as Mom's birthday dinner, your body will punish you. Especially after they bought McDonald's to feed ThePoeticCritic, so after those McNuggets, what was I going to eat when I got back home? Ramen is not a way to stop my caloric intake for the day. Fried food was not an option, so a run to the border was made.

It may not be time management. It is probably my diet. We know that by the time this post is finished (If I am being optimistic), there will be a half hour lost to the restroom. And I still need to watch tonight's episode of "House of the Dragon".

Just install a chip inside me Tim Cook. I have to return my Apple Watch tomorrow since it was not receiving all the notifications that my phone was, but I dug the activity functions. But it cannot tell you how to manage bathroom stall time. Thus, being left like the villain in "I Saw the Devil" does not sound too bad. Leave a transmitter in my bowels to tell me when the chow will demand to vacate.

What is there to fear? Lee Byung-hun kicking my ass daily? I have been itching for some non-personal violence for a long time. Lee never cripples Choi Min-sik. He needs his opponent to be able to resist the next day.

And boom, I can now try to transition into a wrestling blog. Do you know who has no respect for the art of fighting?

Phil "CM Flunk" Brooks.

If he did, there would not have been a melee that resulted in a reset of all of Tony Khan's booking plans. It sucks because I would have loved to see him be obliterated in the ring the next time he tried to unify the Undisputed and Interim championships. You cannot get two comeback stories. Punk is not John Cena.

Now I am further inspired to watch "The Girl on the Third Floor". If Punk was going to turn into John Cena like the Red Sox became the New York Yankees, the bastard best be able to act. Otherwise, they shoot horses. He has no value to any media production.

Of course, I am ignoring the comic books he has written. Time management as a first shift employee has been more than established as not being my strong suit. At least CM Flunk cannot be accused of turning into the St. Louis Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs. They had a good six year run, but it is over. We maybe losers, but not sore losers. From what I could tell, we were not sore winners. Only teams that feel five letters are too many to describe knickerbockers become that.

After Moxley was allowed to establish doubt in the newest Southsider (As a Cubs fan, I have too much respect to call him a Cardinal.), I was given content for the Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling blog. Unfortunately, a second redemption arc has made it more troublesome. A week and a half belt swap without a legendary trilogy like Flair and Steamboat means that the AEW World Championship is not the championship in wrestling. A new Disgruntled's Real World Champion needs to be determined. Is it now a time to acknowledge the poser Roman Reigns?

The Current Title History of the Disgruntled's Men's Real World Championship:

The 98th Disgruntled's Real World Champion:

AEW World Champion CM Punk (3rd Reign was from May 29, 2022 to August 24, 2022)

The 99th Disgruntled's Real World Champion:

AEW Undisputed World Champion Jon Moxley (2rd Reign was from 8/4/22 to 9/4/22)

If I see 2029, I will probably need to create a new title history from 2019 forward. Hind sight may take away Punk's reign because we know it was not a great one. Injuries only allowed for one chance to defend the championship which was unsuccessful. At least Jon Moxley had three title defenses as Interim Champion which is more than what could be said of any other champion at the time with the exception of...

The 100th Disgruntled's Real World Champion:

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli (His first reign began on 9/4/22).

The DRCW Interim Men's World Champion, Switchblade Jay White, has yet to defend his title for a second time while Castagnoli has defended his title three times. I think age before beauty allows the former Cesaro the top prize in pro-wrestling. If Tony Khan wants to be cute about championship recognition, he should make ROH the sanctioning body for AEW, provided that he cannot get ROH off the ground as either a touring or televised promotion.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - They Live. We Podcast with Gregory Carl

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 81: "They Live". We Podcast with Gregory Carl (and provide more "Rowdy" movie content).

They Live. We Podcast with Gregory Carl

August 16, 2022

We come to the conclusion of Cool Movies Darth and Gregory Carl's conversation about Roddy Piper's starring debut, "They Live". The two being pro-wrestling fans, means their conversation will inevitably focus on the wrestling business, but they go down some intriguing rabbit holes. Fresh off attending Fan Expo, CM Darth suggests the concept that Kevin Smith is the modern day John Carpenter. Gregory is a fan of "Tusk" and "Red State", so is this suggestion that ridiculous?

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

The two of us pick up after my attempt to give the respect that Al Leong deserves. With that said, I think this actor just needs his own major studio distributed starring film. It maybe too late for that. Danny Trejo got "Machete" when he was in his sixties. Leong has just turned seventy. Do I have a bad ass Asian-lead action script in me?

This serves as a nice transition to some of the wrestling chatter that the host of "The Mud Show" and I partake in. I suggest a formula on how to integrate pro-wrestlers into motion pictures. After suggesting several wrestlers who can make the transition to cinema, Gregory suggests a remake of Sonny Chiba's classic "The Street Fighter". Sorry, Jon Moxley. The premise calls for Al Leong. Can this be Quentin Tarantino's 10th movie?

Another interesting concept that we discuss (It was teased on the Podbean feed.) is whether or not Kevin Smith is filling the void left by John Carpenter. I suggest that they have the same style of direction. Their biggest concern is protecting their stories. Gregory immediately refers to the awesome horror movies Smith has directed ("Tusk" and "Red State") and even pitches a dramatic sequel to the first film in the once promised True North Trilogy.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - Russhausen Presents the @C2E2 Experience

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 80: Russhausen Presents the @C2E2 Experience ("Star Wars" Panels, MCU Worship, and Nerds Know???).

Cool Movies Darth has returned home from C2E2 with all of the festivities (that he attended [Sorry Cosplay Ball]) documented for you. Was it better than Fan Expo Chicago? Who did he come to see? Did he do much to promote the NinetyForChill: The #Podcast? Cosplay's premier "Captain N: The Gamemaster" may finally be getting the nerd recognition he deserves. Or is he still pumped from the Danhausen photo op?

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

When you dedicate your spare time to creative efforts (podcasting, blogging, etc.), it can be tough to really...I mean really...enjoy yourself. I do not know if I have three to four day cons in me, but I did enjoy most of the weekend. It is just the little things like a hotel without snacks and Reed Pop having an app that was only intended to get my Facebook information. That is better than Fan Expo charging an extra hundred dollars to enjoy everything, but this is not the Meta nerds appreciate.

Since I was using valet parking, I did not unload all of my podcasting equipment. This lead me to document the first two days with the Podbean app. It works pretty well as long as there are no Apple iOS updates. Perhaps the ease of recording will inspire me to move on in creating a Patreon. What can I do for you that is worth five-dollars a month? Let me know at russthebus07@gmail.com.

The format of this podcast episode might be a little odd. I had released bonus episodes for day one and day two of the convention. These episodes will be available below. Because of this, this episode opens with me discussing day three and concluding the convention. If you listened to the bonus episodes, feel free to skip everything after Crowley's request for "a woo-hoo."

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - You Listen. "They Live"...with Gregory Carl

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 79: You Listen. "They Live"...with Gregory Carl (We came here to chew bubble gum and podcast. Thankfully, we were all out of bubble gum.).

You Listen. ”They Live” with Gregory Carl

August 2, 2022

It only felt fitting to spend SummerSlam Weekend covering a movie starring the greatest heel in professional wrestling history, Roddy Piper. Gregory Carl from "The Mud Show" returns to "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" to provide all the praise to perhaps the best feature starring a wrestler, "John Carpenter's They Live". This is a film so awesome that Cool Movies Darth suggests that it may have encouraged WWE to go into the movie business and resulted in CM Darth deciding to buy it a third time for all the possible special features that only Shout/Scream Factory can offer.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

It seems that I will never get the scheduling for my podcast figured out. Because Gregory and I nearly chat about the movie for two hours (We were definitely bullshitting for more than that.), I felt it maybe wise to split the show into two parts. But C2E2 is this weekend, and of course I want to podcast about that convention.

Perhaps putting these episodes two weeks a part is a good idea. In other words, the numbers for my second part of "The Producers" were not what I hoped. If we listened to the first part of the recording, what is really going to change in the second? Well, I cannot promise me exposing all the sultry details of figuring out sex in "They Live" part two, but that is what you got last week.

Gregory and I are two retail employees who love pro-wrestling. This means we have a lot more in common with each other. Hence, these episodes should be more focused on the subject matter.

"Second Wind" for an Underemployed Pro-Wrestler & The Current REAL World Champions

 *This blog post was started on July 26, 2022.

I hate my obsessive compulsive nature. Not because it seems ridiculous to place things in order (How else are you suppose to look good?), it is because it makes me do things when I do not have the energy to. My next shift starts at 7:30 am, after a day off of course.

That is the start of the nine-day work week. Between work, "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast", a goth night on Thursday, and prepping for C2E2, writing does not feel like it should be a priority. But, discipline is something I can claim to have.

I have the second season of "The Boys" on in my peripheral in hopes of concluding the third season by the time of the next convention. That is not the discipline that I speak of. "Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling" has been used as my template for the podcast blogs since I am trying to balance the total number of posts on that blog and MainEventOfTheDead.com. Since DRCW is formatted to have three posts on the homepage at one time, there needs to be a wrestling-related blog amongst them.

As I have said previously in blogs (I have ended up writing four posts in the last three days.), wrestling has not had much for me to write about. Everyone has an opinion of Vince McMahon leaving the business. Mine is, you are suppose to get out once they give you the 40 years of service ring. It will be interesting with Triple H taking over creative, but he only gets the toys that Nick Khan wants him to play with. Thus, for a website about arbitrary rankings, I have little to write about.

But, we just had a company (Ring of Honor) change two championships this past weekend. Since my last Real Championship Wrestling blog, the AEW tag team championships have changed twice. Do these change the Real World and Tag Team Championships? No, but it does mean there maybe new Men's Doubles Real World Champions.

The Disgruntled's Current Real World Champions of Professional Wrestling
(As of July 26, 2022).

But before I get to that, it is nuts how I watch television. It has been easy to watch the "Star Wars" series(s) and "The Boys". These are two things that Ally of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy did not get into. "Star Wars" was not for her since Grogu was not as lovable the old school Yoda. "The Boys" because, despite she does not mind (and maybe encourages) my use of CUNT, the outrageous and hilarious, paradoxical violence is too much.

It is just a coincidence that the show came on near our break up. I guess trying to say maybe there were too many c-words flying in my household. This is why she needs to take Skimble in when she and her fiancé get that condominium. There is a chance that I am a bad influence on the little guy.

Sorry for the tangent. My therapy session got cancelled. I did get to use the time to converge my PS4 into my PS5.

To sum it all up, the break between "Westworld" and "Stranger Things" is probably a year longer than the time I have been broken up from Ally. This is my excuse for not being up to date on their fourth seasons. I will give Netflix credit. "Stranger Things 4" was the talk of FanExpo Chicago 2022 (and the workplace).

As for HBO, there has been little chatter about the new adventures of Dolores. Thus, I feel like a shitty fan. If I am not watching "Westworld", who is? It does not sound like a bad thing to martyr myself for. The things I have let happen to me in the wrestling business means I have had dumber ideas.

The 98th Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion:
AEW World Champion
CM Punk (His third reign began on May 29, 2022)

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - "The Producers" (1967) & the Accompanying Explicit Nonsense

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 78: "The Producers" (1967) & The Accompanying Explicit Nonsense (Michael Dubois ought to be in psychology [on the listening side].).

The Producers 1967 and Accompanying Explicit Nonsense

July 26, 2022

Michael Dubois and Cool Movies Darth pick up where they left off with their discussion inspired by Mel Brooks's debut feature, "The Producers". The conversation starts with  exploring Zero Mostel's portrayal of Max Bialystock and his pension for seducing pensioners to fund his films. This leads into CM Darth's salacious adulthood, satirical takes towards parents, and "Star Wars" fandom. It only seems appropriate to attach a review for "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" to this podcast.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

I am big on squatting usernames/handles. This weekend I added @CoolMoviesDarth to my inventory of Twitter handles. The other five are @russthebus (I really should offer to sell that.), @MainEventZombie, @NinetyForChill, @CmDarth, and of course @catbusruss.

It seems that I was unaware of a default setting when I set up my latest account. When I started tagging people in my tweets, the immediate options included my aunt and uncle. One must go into their privacy settings to disassociate your contacts from being suggested as users to follow. This mean, use your email address instead of a phone number to start an account.

I bring this up because, despite I do not think I should feel shame in anything that I say on the podcast, there are people who may get offended who will panic, and tell people who will make my life tougher if they got this second hand. Not lose my job bad like the petty asshole Marissa Embry (Who I believe works at First Bank Tuscola), but familiar headaches and judgements. This episode divulges at least three stories that might trigger those feelings, especially since I just laugh them off.

After replaying the rest of the recording, it leaves me to wonder what I will have to talk about when I see my therapist later today. I like talking about myself, but I hate reruns (As I rewatch "Game of Thrones Season 4" in my peripheral.).

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - "The Producers" (1967) - A Guide to Punting Proud Boys

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 77: "The Producers" (1967) - A Guide to Punting Proud Boys (And Michael Dubois's Dream of Holographic Gene Wilder).

The Producers 1967 - A Guide to Punting Proud Boys

July 19, 2022

Michael Dubois returns to NinetyForChill: The #Podcast to continue their tribute to the late great Gene Wilder with 1967's "The Producers". It only seems fitting to revisit Mel Brook's motion picture debut in honor of his recent 96th birthday. This feature is Cool Movie Darth's favorite from the auteur, but Michael would have preferred Nathan Lane's presence. What the two do agree on: We need more mocking of the Far Right via cinema.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

So...I am not waiting till the last minute to get this post completed. What is another lost day off? "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" is in my library. There will be a day when it will finally be played.

To my credit, I have at least figured out how to make these blog posts relatively concise. There is a chance that I will be ably to enjoy the rest of this Sunday. Too bad it has to be cut short since my early shifts always seem to come the day following my scheduled days off.

Sleeping in is something my cats graciously allow me. The result is I responsibly only get 10 hours to fuck around. Do employers consider that some people like to stay up late and do stupid things with their time? Sorry that I have chose not to procreate. Somethings you do not have to out grow.

It is having late nights that allow me to find and truly appreciate classic cinema. This is especially true when you lived with a girl for the better part of four years who did not like Mel Brooks. You would think that Ally from Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy would appreciate all of the musical numbers. Thankfully Michael Dubois does.

The Wrestler: My lost @ICCHarbinger Movie Review

*Blog post was started on July 24, 2022. The file this blog is based on was last modified on April 23, 2009.

Mentally, I am thoroughly exhausted. It was stated in the last blog, "Imagine We Had VHS: Ultraviolet: Code 044", that two-day weekends were not a foreseeable luxury. As it turns out, after my therapy-dedicated July 26, my schedule consists of nine straight days featuring three 10-hour days (two of which are back-to-back). With a podcast to record before C2E2, needless to say, my depression seems warranted for a change. There is some Ally drama, but that will be saved for my therapist.

To make matters worse creatively, wrestling's championships sure feel static. I know we have a new AEW Interim World Champion (so no better than the current Disgruntled's Real World Championship) and the most dangerous champion in women's wrestling lost her title (but I do not display much respect for Money in the Bank cash ins), but it does not change the top REAL WORLD champions. I want to alternate between anime and wrestling when it comes to topics for "MainEventOfTheDead.com", so I seem stuck.

And with seemingly no immediate call for "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" guests (emphasis on seemingly), I have yet to catch up on a lot of movies. This lead me trying to rearrange and straighten up my apartment. There was a TV to recycle and a PlayStation 4 to sell (just in case I am on the verge of bankruptcy two: electric boogaloo), needing a third entertainment center in a one-bedroom domicile seemed excessive. Thus, the old hard drive from my Vista PC that I was using to rip Redbox DVDs (the good olde days) was moved over to this slow Lenovo. Serendipitously, my first ICC Harbinger movie review was found.

Lets see if the proofreading this copy and pasted post will inspire me to overcome this story being way too personal to me and finally give the home media release (which I have bought twice) a complete viewing. That is a tough task because I think I can manage to binge two season of "The Boys" before C2E2. Priorities.

The Wrestler: A Film that Demands Recognition

alternativemovieposters.com: "The Wrestler" by Ignacio

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - Silent Bob’s Project Mayhem: Fan Expo Chicago 2022

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 76: Silent Bob’s Project Mayhem: Fan Expo Chicago 2022 (Standing outside for hours with no encouragement).

Silent Bob’s Project Mayhem: Fan Expo Chicago 2022

July 12, 2022

Cool Movies Darth was able to binge "Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi" in 48-hours to prepare for Fan Expo in Rosemont, IL. Did he have the energy to thoroughly enjoy the reskin of Wizard World (and Chicago Comic Con before that)? There was Carl Weathers, Ron Perlman, Boyd Holbrook, and a bunch of Hobbits, but since there is only one "Return" (and it is not "of the King"), CM Darth was dedicated to the Kevin Smith content. Was he willing to put up with the challenges and lack of encouragement to get his Bluntman and Chronic Funko Pop! 2-Pack autographed? Here is his story.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

It is kind of weird to have the lack of pressure to watch movies right now. Dare I say, it is a nice reset. Am I relaxing? Probably not enough. C2E2 is just around the corner, so I will have to get my binging spectacles on at some point. There is "The Boys" and "West World" to get to.

Granted, I have yet to see "West World" have much of a presence at either C2E2 or Wizard World/Fan Expo. HBO lacks a presence at the cons anyhow. COMIC CON San Diego will have occurred by the time I go up to Chicago proper. Is there much to get excited for the first weekend of August? If there is no Quentin Tarantino (which you know there will not be), what can top Kevin Smith when it comes to anticipation?