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.

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.

Pick Your Smith's Song and the Current Disgruntled's Undisputed Champions

  *This blog post was started on April 6, 2022.

I think I am to the point that to determine that it was not the Grassroots "Devil Pupils" strain from NuEra East Peoria that has triggered my recent plunge into depression. Something just flipped Monday night as I was high and watching "Robot Chicken" to close my night. Suddenly I thought I was just bound for financial ruin which escalated to me questioning, "for what?"

If I cannot eat 10 boneless wings from Wing Stop (an Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy tradition) before calling it a Tuesday night because nothing seemed worth it, you know my head is fucked up. The day prior I finally received correspondence (three month late) from IDES in regards to my appeal of their decision that Marine Bank was not responsible for unemployment benefits when they fired me for writing about my life as a banker with no specific details about my them or their customers. There is to be an interview, probably between both parties, and I am just fighting for $606 that their bitterness is withholding from me.

I have a better job that takes their employees extenuating circumstances into consideration, pays better, and keeps the staff busy enough that being allowed (which Marine Bank management during downtime) to blog is not even an issue. But, Marine Bank took my savings because I told them how I thought their managers could do better for its employees. They are an overly sensitive management team in Champaign, and that is how we got here.

If you want to find out where I work, you need to listen to older episodes of "NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast". Like the blogs of MainEventOfTheDead.com, there are no indications of which episodes that I talk about this employer from any of the episode titles. Feel free to explore.

I bring up this drama that I thought may have triggered my downward spiral. Thinking about money made me think about coming up short. It has not happened, but I down an extra $100 each week since I do not have the means of making that with only one job. This leads me to ponder what is the point.

My podcast is not making me money. On top of that, finding guest is problematic and actually leaves me being jealous. Why is it that life never happens to me? No one has the time for the show while I always do. It almost seems like it would be nice to be able to leave my friends hanging because I have to.

At least my 2007 bankruptcy was over a woman who claimed to be Stacia Hardin's best friend's heroin addiction. It does not sound like she is clean, but she has at least got to start a family from me keeping her comfortable till she got knocked up. If I am a financial mess now, that just means a failure.

This makes me ponder how many of the scores of people directed to consume my Twitter (@catbusruss) notifications over my statement that semiautomatic firearms should be outlawed have taken the time to read my blogs or listen to my podcasts. They like trying to mock my photos or spread them to encourage me harm. I have only responded to two of these asshole just because they wanted to call my martial skills fake. It just means I got to be careful. I do not want them think they pushed me to self harm.

My dreams of Stacia are driving me crazy enough. Thankfully Eva and Skimble are looking after me, but what if Eva goes?

I meant to start this blog last night, but instead wallowed in my melancholy. It may have just been a good thing that I am typically exhausted on Tuesday's because of releasing my podcast late Monday night and trying to make something out of my weekend. Of course, the weekends just seem to be self indulgent, so again, what is the point? Especially after this evening's pleas for help were ignored.

Fortunately, I hate having AEW spoiled, so I had to watch tonight. Thanks Christian Cage and Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) for putting on an exciting match to get me back to the keyboard. The problem now is that I will not be in bed before 1 a.m., but I think my last tweet sums everything up. To put briefly, you just take whatever win you can get.

Not even halfway through #AEWDynamite and I got to thank @TonyKhan and company for a great show that has gotten me back on my feet during the worst depression funks I've been in recently. Pardon the hyperbole, but thanks for letting me claim to beat a Funk.

Sorry Terry and Dory Jr.

The Current Disgruntled's Real Wrestling Champions (April 6, 2022)

The 97th Disgruntled's Real World Men's Champion: 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page

(This reign began November, 13, 2021)

• Page is currently the number one ranked wrestler per Disgruntled Real Championship Wrestling.
• The wrestler that some may claim to be this champion is IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.

Look Back in Anger: The Women's Wrestling Power Rankings (and a Cody Hot Take).

 *This blog post was started on February 22, 2022.

It is tough to come up with a good excuse for not having posted anything beyond "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" in the past 20 days. I have had a Tuesday or Wednesday off the past three weeks from my soon to become full-time job, so I can claim that these were the ideal times to run errands. Still, these days off did not seem overly productive when it comes to the long term consequences. Until there was a job offer from my current employer, 2022 just felt like it was to be a rough year.

Things maybe changing. The deep hurting that I experienced watching "Foodfight!" came before I finally got to accept my job offer. My federal tax return has arrived, so I should be able to navigate my finances for the next few months. And it seems that I have the freedom to finally say that Marine Bank is responsible for the uncaring (and at least in one case, selfish) managers who came up with a bullshit reason to leave me panicking for nearly two months.

The bank can blame IDES for ignoring my appeal. If the state does not want to pursue the $604 the bank should have coughed up, I am hoping to bury its reputation. Of course, they may have the last laugh. It seems my retirement plan which was a lesser one than what Super Pantry provided me in 2009 needs a notary to be rolled over to my preferred bank. I only know one institution with free notary services, and they are the assholes who fucked me over for telling them to treat their staff better.

Too bad I cannot come up with a song title from the 1980's to state that feeling. I am too proud to be "Living on a Prayer" and I will not imply mastery of puppets for the Springfield-based profiteers I spoke of. "Janie Got a Gun" seems a little problematic. "Scary Monsters" could empower the awful salaried workers at their Champaign branches, but I think I have a Bowie title from that era to use.

And since I do not see these rankings below changing much from "For the Ladies: True Crime and Britt Baker", perhaps I should be upset.

The Disgruntled's Women's Wrestling Power Ranking (2/22/2022):

I guess this is just a testament to why there is only a sixth of women's wrestling content on televised professional wrestling. There have been four primary men's championship changes (Hangman > Omega; Lesnar > Big E; Lashley > Lesnar; Lesnar > Lashley) since these top three performers have won their championships. It is either there are too few women's wrestlers to make things interesting or the lack of depth is beyond apparent. You are going to get my best effort to make this appear interesting, but I think we have six more weeks of a static scene.

The Number One Women's Wrestler in the World:
Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.

• She is the current Disgruntled's Women's Real World Champion.
• She is the current AEW Women's World Champion.
• She is the only current Western, televised wrestling women's champion with a secondary title holder beneath her further cementing her importance.
• I do not see AEW allowing her to be defeated at this point in her current feud with Thunder Rosa.

The Number Two Women's Wrestler in the World:
Becky Lynch

• She is the current Smackdown Women's Champion (A belt that has been recognized as the Real World Championship).
• She will be challenged by Bianca Belair, the only other woman to win a WrestleMania main event.
• She has actually defended her championship at the last two WWE premium live events.

Only the Best in the World: All of 2021's Champions.

 *This blog post was started on December 23, 2021.

I had received a flu shot on Sunday. And my dentist told me to wear a night guard...again on Wednesday. It is difficult to see me not being in the best condition for next week's vacation. Too bad staying sterile seems to be necessary. What kind of trouble could that possibly get me in?

Christmas is going to be a small affair. My niece ended up with Covid. She is fine, but the quarantine is making it so my little sister's family will be cleared the day we leave for Florida. My little brother's family has called off coming down because his girlfriend/mother of his child is an ER nurse.

I understand that a nurse should not risk exposure when there are enough issues being brought into her place of work. My mom is of the opinion that she does not like our family or is just trying to control my brother, but she has always assumed that when it comes to the baby of the family. He was at least planning on coming down, but you never know what kind of messages the matriarch is sending. Needless to say, Yule Tide bar hopping amongst brothers shall not be happening either way.

Since I am bringing up a character from "Fight Club", I do not see comparing myself to Chloe being out of line. The end of the year is certain and all I want to do get laid for one last time.

Snapchat has provided enough reason that Omicron is a legitimate problem. Where have all the seemingly legit Premium Snaps have gone? How much does a bot maker earn for all the fake ones out there? Have I missed another calling?

Damn, this is going to be a difficult head trip to transition to wrestling. Since I do not post the "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast" drafts on this blog, it is tempting to walk away from this. But I gotta keep "MainEventOfTheDead.com" looking nice. I do not want to provide a reason for those to ignore my calls to produce my z-budget, pro-wrestling zombie comedy. "If the website is shit, surely the screenplay cannot be better," is an assumption I do not need.

What I do need are inquiries. If you want a treatment of my z-budget, horror comedy about a bunch of barely trained indie pro-wrestlers being tricked into fighting off zombies, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. I will also be happy to receive any advice on how to get this project out of developmental hell. Thanks.

As I stated, it is the end of the year, so might as well give you something related to it. No title bouts are scheduled until the fourth of January, so why not review the title changes that occurred in the world of Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling.

The Disgruntled's Real World Championships of 2021.

The Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champions:

The 96th Disgruntled's Real World Champion

AEW World Champion: Kenny Omega (2nd Reign)

He reigned from December 2, 2020 to November 13, 2021.

Omega defeated Jon Moxley for the championship.

Roman Reigns Is No. 5 and Ranting About the Judgmental

*This blog post was started on October 5, 2021.

Last night was dedicated to producing my podcast and laundry. I actually got all that done at a reasonable time, but when I start being productive, I think I might get manic. So all the sleep I lacked due to movie research this weekend still needs to be made up for.

At least that is my story for the headaches. In other words, further deep cleaning my apartment is not on the immediate agenda. The windows are still shut and the air conditioning is running. This is leaving me to prefer the seasonal change from Winter to Spring. I think I would rather deal with knowing when things are warm than waiting for the cold.

If only I could just place amateur wrestling mats on all the floors to remind me of the best times from high school. Why would I complain about near 90 degree temperatures? I did not complain about it back in the day.

That is saying something because weight cutting was never a problem for me. If anyone had a right to complain, it was I. It is ironic how the team I captained was always annoyed by me. They could have not made excuses and be supportive of the coach's agenda.

There were a few good teachers back at Morton High School. I guess I can never have kids because I would not know where to live so that they would be in good schools. Living in the city is what I like, but you know the schools are subpar. Living in the burbs, you know the entitled "old" families have brat kids. Living in the country, what education?

I suppose shit did not get bad for me till I was in fourth grade. Homeschooling might work out after the kids get the socializing established. Your real friends keep in touch. That seems nicer than finding that out after high school.

All this ranting really makes me wish that you could use hyperlinks with my online dating profiles. I would rather be judged on this than "Two Truths and One Lie" boxes.

If that does not turn them off, then the wrestling chat below will. It is better than me going on a rant about the "libertarian" next to me who is reinforcing their racist and transphobic prejudices via fringe video sites. Do I report what they are watching to YouTube just to make sure they know where their content filters are failing?

I guess I should not complain too much about them thinking that they should be allowed to judge people. My hometown will think that I did that in this post. My only defense is, I was just stating my experiences. If you have not had the same experiences than the people you are judging, are you in no position to judge?

Which allows me to go on and on and on about pro wrestling. The worst think you can say about me as a critic is that I am only a critic because I was a failed performer. Personally, I got a suitcase with a weekend's worth of gear in my trunk, so I do not want to use verb tense. Or at least just call me a wrestler who is failing. In the end, those who cannot do, teach.

Teaching is still an expression of passion. And I can go on to say that if people gave a shit about me and my passion, my pro-wrestling, Z-budget, zombie-comedy feature film, "Main Event of the Dead" would not be in development hell or I can at least participate in a wrestling scene where there are few who have put in the time to be true professionals. Downstate Illinois without friends makes me want to consider taking up auto-erotic asphyxiation.

With the scenario above coming off as a plea, I might as well make it official. If you want to help get "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. I would appreciate any advice on how to get the feature to a crowd-sourcing stage and am more than happy to send out a treatment of my script. Thanks for the consideration.

Obviously, I am just writing what is immediately coming to my mind with this post. That was not necessarily my intent, but now we have the party next to me watching anti-vax videos. It is just building up the angst. So how much fun do I think me taking up the old Apter Magazines format will be?

Lets find out.

 *This blog post was start on September 8, 2021.

FMK: Texas, WWE Talent, Tony Khan's Booking

I wish I could call it a slow news day, and maybe it is. The news is the same everywhere. Too bad it is all bad.

What is the appeal of Texas? The coastal regions may be appealing, but it really seems to be desolate otherwise. I am sure the irrigation has made the farming worthwhile, but who wants to do all that crop picking? Or I should say, which citizens want to pick all those crops?

I guess they have recently become the Delaware of the West, but is the public relations nightmares worth it for the penny-pinching liberals? Does Joe Rogan and Elon Musk want to keep having to answer these questions? A libertarian attitude cannot get you out of them. "It does not affect me" as a response leaves you coming across as racist and sexist. Fame does not afford you the typical white attitude.

NinetyForChill: The Podcast really needs those five-star reviews and subscriptions on Apple Podcasts. Podbean would be nicer for my visualization, but I get convenience for the audience is more important. You can see that I can rant up a storm. If that is my best quality, may as well get paid for it. I suppose Joe Rogan have more in common than a Tae Kwon Do skill set.

Obviously, as a pro-wrestling fan, it was a big weekend. Was it the best pay-per-view since WrestleMania 17? There are some excellent Royal Rumbles and a few Summer Slams. WrestleMania 30 worked out pretty well. The only thing that was lacking was CM Punk and a coherent women's match. And when it comes to AEW, aside from failing to blow up Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston, they have not missed. Lets not forget "All In".

The focus after the event was on how WWE will respond to all of their talent leaving for greener pastures. Mick Foley has sounded off about how he would hope for AEW's attention if he wore a younger man's clothes. Eric Bischoff states there is not much of a qualitative gap between both wrestling products. Tempest the Wrestler's review of NXT on WrestleTalk implies that it is primarily the land of the cruiserweight. Here is to hoping Biff Busick and Danny Burch are not receiving their walking papers after being booted out of a faction.

That leads me to understand why WWE puts on a facade that AEW it is much of a big deal. If they stick to not hiring indie talent, they are going to have an entirely different product. They are going to protect themselves by being apples compared to oranges. As long as AEW does not beat them in the ratings, Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard can stick to doing their own thing while AEW does theirs.

If that is the case, televised wrestling might get stale. I say that because the two different products creates a situation where no one is jumping to WWE. The women's division in AEW is the only thing similar to WWE, at least in terms of talent. Booking favors Tony Khan. When it comes to the men's roster, where is the crossover opportunity? Who would WWE hire from AEW?

If WWE were to sign Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, or CM Punk once their contracts ran up, they could say that they end up making all the decisions in the business. Cole is the only one in his thirties, so aside from initial crowd pops, how much use are you going to get from Danielson and Punk. Then you have casual WWE fans who know nothing of NXT. Cole is not a draw for them.

Malakai Black, Shawn Spears, and FTR were ruined by their main roster call ups, so it will take very big bags to get them to comeback. Chris Jericho, Paul Wight, and Dustin Rhodes are all over 50. Jake Hager and Wardlow maybe able to be sold as legit bad asses and MJF and Adam Page maybe too talented to deny. You can thrown in the Men of the Year but otherwise, there is no one I see WWE wanting to sign.

With WWE's aspirations to be like Disney IP, I think they are not worried about Sammy Zayn and Kevin Owens eventually leaving. This comes from everybody in the MCU having a pretty face, even if it is under make up. You can have some ugly heels and the Viking Raiders could serve as sidekicks, but it is going to be a solely cosmetic promotion moving forward.

And it is not like that cannot work. This was the WWF in the 1980s. If you wanted 60-minute broadways, go to the NWA. I wonder how things would have turned out if Bret Hart could have gotten to Georgia in that decade.

Of course, in the United States, all of the wrestlers were larger. Almost all of them would be considered heavyweights, so when a booker ran out of things for you to do, you could just go to New York until Atlanta could cycle you back through. With AEW not having many true heavyweights, and WWE not wanting cruiserweights, what happens when Tony Khan runs out of space on the card? Would he deny the pop of guys like Ricochet or Rey Mysterio would give his product?

I think Tony Khan has thought about that. This explains the occasional two plus hour editions of Dark and Elevation. These shows, talent that are not needed on Dynamite or Rampage can build up their records. When you have enough wins, why would anyone question you being placed on television? It is a great temporary fix, but as fans call on AEW to sign indie talents, you eventually have to let underused talent go. How do you avoid the inevitability?

Khan has not made many mistakes as a wrestling promoter. I cannot say that for his other sports endeavors (A Newcastle United FC supporter has to find clubs to pick on.), but perhaps his experience with Fulham FC and, to a greater degree, UEFA allows him the knowledge of the importance of partners and transfers. Hence why he is the Forbidden Door. If he keeps his relationships strong with Impact and NJPW, he has a place to put talent where they can be elevated or even elevate the promotions they are moved to.

But this is sporting business where there is not a union for the athletes, so I doubt this will always be the case. So guys will be thrown back to the indies. Will promoters be paying them what they are worth? Without the WWE level of exposure, will the performers get that brief period of four-figure shows? Are the indies still going to be strong?

I guess what I am worried about is that having two distinct products instead of competing products, we are going to end up with a scene that is not good for the wrestlers. Competition raises everyone's value. This leads me to think that Vince McMahon and Nick Khan realize that, so they are just trying to correct course. No competition, affordable talents (and Saudi blood money). It is the ultimate evil move which you would expect nothing less from the two involved. But on the bright side, at least it shows that they are still fans of wrestling. Too bad it is not all kinds.

Pinterest @adisnukic

THE BIG LIE: AEW Is For Everyone

 *Blog post was started on May 13, 2021.

There was a lot to like about the May 12 episode of "AEW Dynamite". It at least gave us a title change which means I may have to update the OCHO: The Disgruntled's Real Secondary Championship (Sheamus holds it, but if he were to lose it, I think Miro has the edge over Apollo Crews.). The Forbidden Door gave us a great match up for the IWGP US Championship (Jon Moxley's reign during a pandemic puts him behind Crews and Miro in claiming the OCHO.). Tony Khan showed his flexibility as a booker to get to the ideal championship match for his next pay-per-view. Who better than the Young Bucks to disband The Addiction/Bad Influence (With no Scorpio Sky, was it really SCU going into the bout?)?

Of course I am bringing up all the grand things to say that something really got under my skin. That segment was Cody Rhodes's patriotic promo to hot shot his bout with Anthony Ogogo. Is there anything wrong with patriotism? In the United States, maybe?

Rhodes promo went on to say the world looks down on us over our screwy election. What was screwy with the election? He says that foreigners like Ogogo fail to see how far this nation had come from there being slavery in the South to him marrying a black woman who he is expecting a daughter with. The idea that we should all be proud of that schools are not segregated anymore was suggested as well. This seems to imply that racism is over.

The promo wanted to imply that Ogogo was a hypocrite for coming to America to find the "American Dream" and not the "English Dream". I think he was hired by AEW because of his international celebrity, thus more markets to sell the product to. If Cody was offered to act on the West End in London, would he turn that down?

There was also a rant about Shahid Khan reviving Jacksonville's economy with Flex-N-Gate, but after visiting their website and looking for job opportunities, there were none in any of Florida or its neighboring states. AEW has definitely not done much to improve the life of Jaxsons. I can even say that going to full capacity for "AEW Double or Nothing" in the midst of a pandemic in a state that just trusts you will not have COVID instead of asking for proof is going to harm many of this city's citizens.

Cody Rhodes said that what make America great is the freedom to argue. The problem with that statement is that it does not require any intellect or compassion to argue. Chris Jericho had demonstrated this with his calls to reopen. The gender reveal for Cody and Brandi's daughter shows they are a little more about them than WE. To call this patriotism is a mistake. This is selfishness that you are having everyone try to relate to. Selfishness is bad.

There is a reason why patriotism in the rest of the Western World seems to lack importance. Oscar Wilde nailed it with "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious". Samuel Johnson beat him to the punch with "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". When you lack anything positive to warrant you actions, just proclaim them as the thoughts and acts of a patriot. Ever since the lock downs began last Spring, we have seen that.

That promo left me feeling like AEW is of the stance that everything is fine with the world as long as it is not affecting them. I cannot recall them addressing the civil unrest last summer like other sports. There were talents with BLM armbands, but no side was taken by the company. They may be hiring talents from all walks of life, but they are not doing anything to bring diversity to the audience.

It feels to me that the audience is the same one that ran me out of the scene back when I called out Peoria's scene for promoting babyfaces who sport the Stars and Bars. If that is their audience, why do anything to piss them off like speaking well of President Biden or shutting down their belief about a stolen election?

I find it difficult for me to be misremembering much of this. My personal DVR is filled with most of the episodes dating back to June when I moved to my current place in Urbana. Pardon me for not following more people than the amount who follows me on Twitter (@catbusruss). AEW's entire roster may have made the right statements, but that is a lot of content to scroll through.

It just feels like AEW is content with the audience just being rabid. If there is a woke portion, that is just incidental. This leaves me feeling like they are no longer trying to change the world. They got their success. As long as the video game goes off well, they will effectively rule the wrestling landscape at least from a domestic stand point.

If I can take solace in anything, it was the perceived knowledge that there was at least a woke Internet fan contingent. My live tweets calling Cody out for his mistakes received some likes. But, booking our way out of this means for Cody to trademark "The American Dream" moniker was not well received. My suggestions that the bout should end with Ogogo's fellow Englishman Marty Scurll coming to his aid worked up some keyboard warriors.

*May 17, 2021.

Wrestlecrap: Headlies: All Elite Wrestling Signs Joey Ryan’s Penis Druids

 

"Stop trying to make this pedi a thing." Was how @trollwrestle responded to my suggestion. He immediately blocked me when I responded to him. It was less of a headache than dealing with @TruePatriot112 who lived to get the last word in whenever I suggested that Marty Scurll maybe pro wrestling's Aziz Ansari, but at least the Patriot112 wanted to try and speak "sense" to me.

If anything, this reaction shows that there are at least two audiences for wrestling. Too bad they are both dedicated to letting us know how right they are. I was able to counter every argument to just be told that is what happens to people like Marty Scurll (Scurll claims to have had consensual sex with a partner who was of legal age [16 in the UK] but was jerk about it while the other party claims it was a sexual assault.) while other confirmed sexual offenders (predator Jimmy Havoc, asshole Sammy Guevera) are allowed second chances.

Once a pedophile and predator, always one regardless of the legality of the first accusation and the lack of evidence towards the second was the stance being brought up. Patriot112 also went of to bash Scurll's current girlfriend because she does not see him as evil. I wonder who knows him better.

I will not deny that I can come across as stubborn when it comes to some of my views, but if I am stubborn, it is usually a black and white issue. Promoting people who were proud that their ancestors fought for the right to own people is morally wrong. Telling me that believing the above may not allow me to be booked is wrong...and stupid (Just say we do not have any openings.).

Do I think Michael Elgin is a rapist? The testimonies of the parties and Elgin's past behavior have me leaning in that direction. Regardless of my thoughts on this, it is on its way to be resolved in the courts.

It will take a lot of rehab for me to become a Rich Swann supporter. Because I am a codependent person, believing that he manipulated his significant other into saying he did not commit domestic abuse is valid. My best friend committed violent acts towards me, but I did/do not see them as irredeemable. It maybe just an empathetic nature, but I can consider their state of mind when it happened. If his significant other is feels he is redeemable, my stance maybe a bit harsh.

When both sides said an event happened, it is just perceived by both parties differently, the lack of a body kind of leads me to say this is not "Rashomon". Both sides have been hurt by this issue be it trauma or finances. How much hurting do we want to continue? If Scurll is left out of the business, his passion was killed. If he stays, unless he can "Scarlett Letter" this situation, it will always be addressed because her trauma should be recognized.

AEW has taken the approach of rehabbing people who have done or said worse things than Marty Scurll's act. You can call what Scurll did pedophilia but I have screwed up my search history enough to say it cannot be considered that (I am just assuming that searching "age of consent" does not look good.). We cheered on Luke Wilson in "Old School" for doing what Scurll did. Do we just abandon people if they get caught? If that is the case, why is Guevera working?

A company that you have a working relationship made their world champion someone who may have blackballed a #SpeakingOut victim. How can you say that after Havoc and Guevera that Marty Scurll is too much drama too handle?

So is AEW for everyone? I would say no. It is for the same wrestling fans that have excluded those who are different than them. The people they deem untouchable come from an audience that wants to seem concerned, but they are just trying to prove they are not the moron who held up insensitive signs during the Monday Night Wars (I will not call it the Attitude Era) or chanted degrading things toward women.

 *Blog post was started on April 5, 2021.

Daniel Bryan, Will Ospreay, and Why Every Heel Should Be John Lithgow

Watching NJPW's Sakura Genensis at Ryokogu was probably the best way to start off this WrestleMania week. It was a solid card with great upcoming bookings lined up. And perhaps it will line up Kota Ibushi to appear at AEW Double or Nothing. With Cesaro versus Rollins and Zayn versus Owens this weekend, I think it is okay to be optimistic.

Thankfully for me, "Being the Elite" will be my Monday night wrestling fix, so Vince McMahon cannot screw the vibe up. It sucks for AEW that they cannot use Impact Wrestling as a lead in any further. This does make booking the first Impact after WrestleMania interesting. We know that AXS TV will never beat USA in the ratings, but if they book Kenny Omega, can he keep NXT under one million viewers.

Two paragraphs, both of them either hint or state Kenny Omega's influence on the business. He is obviously the heel with the most power. Sorry Roman Reigns. If only you did not have to share it with Paul Heyman.

Perhaps if Reigns would do some weaselly stuff. I know that is what Heyman is for, but the biggest news not directly involving the IWGP Cody-versal Championship (should I have called it the Tattooniversal) is Will Ospreay delivering an Os-cutter to his real life girlfriend Bea Priestley to show that the IWGP World Championship is worth more than his lover.

 

Turn and Face the Strange: Championship, Time Slot, and Philosophy Changes

 

 *Blog post was started on March 18, 2021.

Turn and Face the Strange: Championship, Time Slot, and Philosophy Changes

The thought of an obligatory wrestling blog is bugging me. If only NinetyForChill.com did not turn into its own thing, but the repetitive content was making it larger than my primary website, MainEventOfTheDead.com. Too bad "Main Event of the Dead" only works as a name for a wrestling card or screenplay. My web publications would be so much easier if it could serve as a podcast name.

As for the screenplay option, I have written a Z-movie called "Main Event of the Dead". It is a comedy about desperate indie wrestlers who end up taking a booking against reanimated competitors. If you have suggestions about how to get the project out of developmental hell or if you would like to read a revised treatment, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Thank you.

There really is not a lot to offer opinions about when it come to televised wrestling. I am doing my best to stay spoiler free in terms of the New Japan Cup, but there is a bit of catching up to do. Getting around to watching those events in a timely manner is nearly impossible, at least this week. In turns out I needed a rewatch of "Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead", so I think "Phantasm IV" and "Phantasm V" will need my attention for next week's Don Coscarelli's episode of "NinetyForChill dot Com - The Podcast".

And then I am cursed by referring back to previous episodes of the podcast. @QuidPro_Joe suggested that I give "Twilight" a chance. That will at least give me a chance to use my "Previously, on Ninety For Chill dot Com The Podcast" sound bite to give the illusion that the pod will be sophisticated. I think I need to dedicate the day I record to strictly British programming to further that angle. Unfortunately, we are in the midst of my 13-day work week.

Perhaps it is just a bad time to require a pro-wrestling blog. Every Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling page needs to feature at least one blog about what the blog's title promises.

 

 Roman Reigns [Wrestler] - Gossip Rocks

Current Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling's Champions:

• Real Men's Champion: AEW's Kenny Omega (defeated John Moxley)
  
• Real Women's Champion: AEW's Hikaru Shida (won from Smackdon's Bayler)
• Real Tag Team Champions: AEW's Young Bucks (defeated FTR)
• Poser Men's Champion: Universal Champion Roman Reigns (defeated "The Fiend Bray Wyatt) 
• The OCHO (WWE US, IWGP US, IC, TV, NA, XD, Nat, TNT) Champion: Intercontinental Champion Big E (won from AEW's Cody Rhodes)
  

"WWE Raw" is too long. Both of AEW's "Dark" shows are still too heavy on developmental talent to warrant their near two-hour lengths. "Impact Wrestling on AXS TV" lacks the presentation to keep me enthralled after the 8:00 pm (CST/CDT) paid advertisement from AEW. I will not watch "WWE Smackdown" because every Fox News ad they offer features fear-mongering narratives.

An ALL ELITIST Take on the Apparent Lack of Women's Wrestling

 *Blog post started on March 2, 2021.

Pardon this blog post if you get a downer vibe. My 41st birthday was a day prior, and there really is not too much good to say about that weekend. And this blog will expand the depression a week, but in general, my forties have been pretty lackluster.

Click on the read more to read my 41st birthday rant.

Thanks for putting up with the birthday venting. Better here than on Facebook last night. I suppose it was necessary to get to the reluctant wrestling blog I need to write. It is about celebrating, and how people demand it instead of working towards it.

I would like to think that I am not one who expects to be celebrated. With all of the shitheads I grew up with in Morton/Peoria getting chances to further enjoy life despite the reasons that warrant being labeled crap craniums, the thought of why I need to do so much to be believed in frustrates me, but I will take the time to figure out the more I need to do. Sadly, as my last NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast implied, working hard for something is not something that I am convinced the "woke" culture is up for.

The Poetic Critic and I were discussing how there are people who have just abandoned cinema pre-1975 because it was typically centered around the exploits of white men who exploited women and minorities. This art is not worth their time because in many cases, the artists were not great people...or the artist are right to tell you the MCU is not art.

I went on to discuss how I think it is Millenials and Gen Z white kids who want to appear woke without putting the work in. This means by saying something is wrong, they have made an effort to change the world. That is obviously not the case.

TPC was suggesting that the subscription streaming service pay walls make it difficult for today's youth to access the classics like the offerings of the Criterion Channel. In other words, they have an excuse to be ignorant of truly brilliant cinema. These kids might even claim that older white males hold their films so high compared to corporations whose films do not demand your attention, the films are only for the white elite.

What I am getting at is that these woke kids expect everything to be provided to them including cultural progress. If you do not give it to them, you are labeled a pariah. This is definitely the case when it comes to women's wrestling.

This rant stems from a Twitter spat between @GrandestWWEAEW and myself when they were called out AEW CEO Tony Khan announcing that BR Live was going to have a women's wrestling special featuring Thunder Rosa versus Riho. The person behind the grand Twitter account claimed it was disrespecting to women for not showing this match on AEW Dynamite. I applauded Tony Khan for providing me where to watch a show centered around Riho and Thunder Rosa. And I did say that anyone complaining about this just wants to write a pro-WWE narrative about their two women's segments a show making them the better company.

Now bare with me through out the rest of the narrative. @GrandestWWEAEW blocked me after my replies, thus a lot a paraphrasing.

This Twitter account claims that it is not about brand superiority it is about doing the right thing. I responded with doing the right thing is fixing the environments on the independent scene where promoters only focus of one female grappler and only book her matches instead of booking multiple women's bouts. After #SpeakingOut last year (And I will say it again, book Marty Scurll. He was twat towards a woman six years ago, but not a sex offender.) and the parenthetical, lots need to be done before we have a strong women's wrestling scene. If there is not a strong scene, women's wrestling is not demanding more television over the talent that AEW fans have anticipated since the company's inception.

My statement about the women's wrestling scene was blown off and retorted with NXT and Impact's strong women's divisions. I responded with these being necessities for those promotions. NXT is relying on male indie darlings, so the only product they can develop are women. Impact ruined their X Division to become WWE light, so the Knockouts (sexist) Division was the only thing that made them different that WWE. When it came to WWE's main roster(s), I pointed out that they are not any better than AEW's.

The response to me was that AEW has the money to hire free agents to fill out their women's division. I said if those free agents warrant FTR not being on, I see their point. But, AEW is not having a viewership problem, so there is no reason to spend money if there is not a problem. For a Twitter argument, I had given it two too many responses to their demands, so I left it there. There was a response prepared to show my support of women's wrestling, but I did not want to get into the, "Going to Shimmer does not make you a feminist" argument. Who wants to be accused of mansplaining...@GrandestWWEAEW?

My stance is, if you want great women's wrestling, go out and find it. When I was a teenager in the 90's, we did not have anime streaming services and Toonami was not as prevalent. If I wanted to see the best anime, I had to mow lawns and buy the tapes on my own. Satisfying my nerdom helped make the high school wrestling off season tolerable. Once anime became accessible, it lost some of the luster to me because it did not require research to get.

I am not saying that women's wrestling is more special because it is difficult to find as much as men's wrestling. I am saying that if I really want to see it, I will put the effort into it. And is it really a lot of effort to find it when the founder and president of the company tells you where to go? The content was free and encourages the viewer to give other BR Live content a try, but because you need to take sometime to try something new, it is anti-women.

I just do not think it is fair to complain about the lack of cable women's wrestling when there is more women's wrestling content than there has ever been. It almost sounds like those who complain think that YouTube is like a forest with no one around. They wonder if it is not on TNT, did the bout even happen?

Did they realize that AXS TV had Women of Wrestling? Where was that show's viewership if women's wrestling was so important to them? This all explains why Vince McMahon has not held "Evolution 2". WWE Network subscriptions paled in comparison to TV viewership. Since the true pay-per-view numbers and attendance was poor, the McMahons do not think there is a large enough audience to warrant a sequel.

Where were the demands for the Mae Young Classic to be aired on Raw or Smackdown.?

If you want to watch women's wrestling, watch women's wrestling. You do not have to imply that the Young Bucks, Cody, and Kenny Omega think of it as an after thought. The product is available to you, but if it is not as convenient as these fans would like it to be, they think it is not worth seeking out. These fans can increase the views of whatever women's content they watch on YouTube. Once you prove it is more profitable to replace a ranked men's tag team bout with another women's segment, it will be done. Unless you are going to pay AEW directly, it is not going to change.

Why are the people behind @GrandestWWEAEW not showing pictures of themselves in Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, and Penelope Ford t-shirts? They are not making an effort to pay for the change. 

 

Is Podcasting Greater than WrestleMania? What Will Happen When It Is Up Against the Cubs?

 *Blog post started on February 10, 2020.

I think I may need to quit following the Nine Inch Nails Facebook group. It seems "Everyday Is Exactly the Same." There is also the fear that the Marilyn Manson situation will take down Trent Reznor, but I digress. If I keep down that rabbit hole, we will get into my thoughts about Armie Hammer as a patsy to reinforce QAnon's thoughts that liberals are cannibals and how that will lead to celebrities actually eating people. If morons are going to believe hearsay as irrefutable facts, celebrities might as well start doing that because it is expected of them.

That little opening just lead me to spoiling "The Hunt". This comes after eventually giving away the writer/director's goal of "Paradise Hills" in my latest "NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast" episode (5: Welcome To the Friend Zone Biblical Style). Hit play down below for that.

Read more: https://html.com/media/#ixzz6jIeBsAn5

The point is, "I believe I can see the future, because I make the same mistakes". At least no one will confuse my quotations from this blog for being those of Johnny Cash.

It has been an exhausting few days. Sleeping in is not really a thing when you have cats. The podcast is requiring me to watch a movie each night. Between wrestling and "The Daily Social Distancing Show", the movie start times will take me into the wee hours of the morning. 

Getting to bed before 2 am is a challenge because despite the movies being under 100 minutes, pausing to take notes and many times the need to record my visceral take on a features can make everything a two-hour affair. But if I did not mention so many movies on the prior podcast, would it even have been 20 minutes (19) long if I did not add those reviews in post?

This exhaustion maybe hindering my enjoyment of WrestleMania season. I try my best to only have a big meal a day, and with my podcast being finalized during Monday Night Raw, it is easy to get through that evening with a the Great Value Glucerna knock off. I ain't got time to snack.

Am I watching much of Raw? Probably not as much as the McMahons hope. Not because of my attention being dedicated to my podcast, it is just difficult to know when to jump in.

I skip the first half hour because of the 20-minute opening promo. At 7:30 pm (CST), I tune in, but cannot recall seeing anything spectacular the last couple of weeks. That must be my official disapproval of the Retribution angle. When 8:00 opens with an effort to get Lacey Evans over, "Family Guy" is my cable destination. If there is a great story about the Griffins at 8:30 on TBS, USA should be glad that I can only take so much of Peter's laugh, so I will be back at 9:00 to spend the next hour frustrated. Randy Orton being your main event two weeks in a row does not restore confidence in the product.

I am starting to have more faith in the Impact product than WWE's. Their problem is that they are still relying on disqualifications and count outs to stretch out stories. Because of that, Impact still gives off a WWE light vibe. Tony Khan is not going to buy Impact, so we are not going to see a change in the booking style of Impact.

Once AEW can tour again, they will not need the interpromotional drama. If Khan's booking style has yet to rub off on Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, it is not. So I need energy to watch their product. Tuesday is usually an off campus trip for lunch, so a Glucerna should be my evening meal. But after a three midnight movie stretch, I lack the energy to make it through the broadcast without real food.

And of course, once I open up the box of Cheetos Mac 'n Cheese and put the water on the stove, the AEW content comes on. After the paid ad, I could have turned on "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End", watched Trevor Noah off the DVR, and be in bed by 11:30 pm. Was I supposed to just let the Cheetos pasta go stale and waste the water. The water mainly, yes, I have zipper bags for Chester's stuff. Regardless, waste not want not.

Which leaves me pondering about whether I eat the Wing Stop wings I was going to save for last night, tonight. Three-fifths served as lunch yesterday, I just left the other eight nuggets (Wings have bones.) in the bank's fridge. The idea was to snack on them last night. Tonight, my take on TGI Fridays Wings will be prepared (It is a sauce second to Gardner's Pizza and Wings.), but are 12 really going to hold me over?

AEW being more like a sport leads to sporting event eating habits. After you spend $7 on a hot dog, you might as well surrender your wallet and buy an overpriced pretzel. I would be so broke if I was a beer drinker at a ball park. That money is meant to be spent on comic books and used video games from the shops three blocks away. Unfortunately, the Ricketts's re-imagination of Wrigleyville may end up leaving me with high priced drinks as my only option.

And that is why I hate evening baseball on the Northside. Being from Downstate, to catch a game live, I am going to need to take a day. Why not play during the day any chance you get. There were only suppose to be 27 night games a year anyhow.

It is a great home field advantage when you catch a team playing on the west coast that needed to play into the wee morning hours only to have to play ball eight hours later. Most of the bars around the park stay open to 4 am anyhow.

The most recent reason for day baseball in Chicago is that mean my podcast will not take away from my enjoyment of the Cubbies. When the Cubs play while I am work, it sucks that I cannot watch them, but that is the hand fate dealt me. Evenings, how can I focus on producing my podcast and the greatest franchise in all of sports (I said greatest, not the best. I probably should have used beloved. Fuck the Red Sox)?

Does anyone have any pointers on maximizing movie viewing time to live a normal couch potato life? If you do, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. This is probably the simplest thing I will ask for advice on from my readers. Let us develop a report...

So that you will be cool when I am more aggressive about asking for your help with my low-budget, pro-wrestling, zombie-comedy feature "Main Event of the Dead". If you need a script treatment or have any pointers on getting the flick out of development hell, email russthebus07@gmail.com.

Audi Scott - Pinterest

"Sucker Punch": A Shot-on-Video Movie from 2008 and the The Start of 2021

 *Blog post started on January 7, 2021.

Tom Hardy | Sucker Punch (2008)

@isabelleanneq - Pinterest

Check out my review of "Sucker Punch" at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

So I was angry to the point where I did not feel much like joking. If that shit had to happen, why on my day off? Once AEW concluded, it left me feeling like I had wasted all the time before hand with that frustration. In other words, the pissed off conservative trolls were either too confused or too afraid to acknowledge they have been calling for an insurrection to engage me on Twitter.

Fortunately, gambling is not something that I plan to take up this year. I thought we had a chance for a quiet return to normalcy. Dr. Dre seems to be recovering from the brain aneurysm. Georgia went blue. It seems we just cannot have nice things.

My wishes for things to be quiet were pointless though. If things are quiet, then there is less on the internet for me to read. With less to read, more down time has been established. How do I spend my down time? Writing is the answer of course. When the rational world knows Trump should be removed from office, can I really add to it (beyonds recommending Twitter accounts that should be locked out like their leader's)?

Wrestle Kingdom 5: Night 2 was a solid card, but no surprises except for the promise that Jon Moxley will defend the United States Championship for a third time. Unless NJPW is going to work with AEW, thus allowing KENTA of the Bullet Club to return to Orlando and make a trip up to Jacksonville for the match. I suppose since Moxley is battling a Biz Cliz off shoot, Moxley does not have to look weak in defeat.

I do not want to make this blog (Main Event of the Dead) solely about the wrestling business. This must be an indicator that I should get to work on my next fictional project. If you have any ideas on how to move my pro-wrestling zombie comedy, "Main Event of the Dead", out of development hell or would like a script treatment, feel free to send them to russthebus07@gmail.com. That will at least give me some kind of distraction. It may be hard to write my idea for a television pilot on bank hardware.

Then again the "Main Event of the Dead" treatment I composed for Chicago's best wrestler was compiled on the Mark Twain's concierge computer, so perhaps I need to be daring for the sake of being daring. Of course, if someone from Peoria (or Chicago) were to claim my work, I have the copyright so I will get my pound of flesh. It is a catch 22. Write it on my laptop, neglect my cats for a few evenings, and then secure the copyright despite no one will buy copyrighted material. Write it on bank software but leave a trail for it to be stolen before I can sell it.

It seems theft is what all drama is based upon. The Trump base is trying to steal the election. Jon Moxley wants vengeance against Kenny Omega for stealing the AEW World Championship from him. I want to own my ideas, but you cannot sell intellectual property. If only I could come up with a Danny Ocean style crew to turn the negatives into positives.

Demonstrating my charisma is what I hope to start achieving. Tonight, I am going to try and gather a podcast based on NinetyForChill.com out of my former partner. She is pretty reserved, but tell her to drop her Etsy shop into the conversation, this might pay off.

If only I did not have to listen for customers. If it was like my old copy-writing gig, I could just listen to podcasts. That way, I could listen to all of my friends who have started podcasts and start to network with obtainable guests. It seems cheaper than paying for Patreons to secure them.

Unless everyone of the locals have Patreons. The pay walls just takes away the will to struggle to fame and fortune. There are no dues to pay, or at least anyone who is willing to pay for them.

Or perhaps it is all about opening a print-to-order T-shirt shop. It worked for Tony Khan. I wonder why he has not turned to making chic merchandise for the Jaguars. Bullet Club mash up with Jackson de'Ville, and the sales can get you those generational talents that this AFC South team so desperately needs.

*January 8, 2021.

The recording of the first "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast" seems to have went well. I was starting to partake of my whiskey collection during the recording, so needless to say I have not played the Zoom meeting back, recorded an intro, or began editing. Because of the alcohol, there was no way I was going to partake in the NuEra Hybrid that I have at home. Something needed to be done with the rest of the evening, and "Ninety For Chill: The Website" has been falling behind in content.

My original title for this blog was going to be "Theft: The Insurrection; The US Championship; The Podcast", so I thought a heist movie would be good to unwind to. Unfortunately, these movies tend to require a lot of detail, so finding one that was under 97 minutes did not go well. Netflix did mail me a 2008 feature called "Sucker Punch" that was about underground fighting in London. Since those films are about grifting, that seemed an appropriate subject as the Trump presidency comes to an end. Being incredibly ugly by being shot on video...possibly tape also seems fitting when the government was held hostage by a bunch of people who could not program a VCR.

If only the Capital Building had a clock out front flickering 12:00 a.m. at the traitors, the confusion could have slowed the siege down. And it would have kept those twats who objected to the certification from even showing up.

Check out my review of "Sucker Punch" at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes 

A Need for Chaos, How MMA Lead to...Dive, and Benoit Pro Wrestling.

*Blog post started on December 17, 2020.

I guess life is just boring. It could be doing my best to follow social distancing protocols. It could be me needing to lay off the booze to show my PA that I have been trying to be healthier. When I have been on my own for the past month, how else am I expected to create any excitement?

The lack of opportunities to socialize has been driving me mad. My latest tattoo ideas have been the cheery ode to Wax Trax Records's best German signee, KMFDM (Kittens Make For Deadly Minions) and one that will state "Fuck Serenity". It is not an anti-Whedon (I suppose that would be warrant the "FYR" idea idea I have been working on) just an expression of displeasure that my best friend's grave has the "Serenity Prayer" on a cross that was placed there.

This may stem from me not being religious anymore and the belief she was not faith dependent either. Perhaps she became that way after she tried to fight her demons, but she ended up succumbing to them anyhow. Where was the fucking power then you cloud-riding asshole?

What can be said is that I am longing for tangible chaos. My cats can only cause so much trouble. Some hairballs and a few spilled drinks is all I am getting. 409 makes those challenges too easy for me. The moment I became calm when I was trying to make sure my friend was safe was the moment when her illness took her. If there is nothing for me to fight for, what is the point of living? How long can one remain content?

I suppose that is not the perspective of a grown up. My only responsibilities are my cats and my bills. Grown ups have kids that they need to see to adulthood so that they may receive grandchildren to spoil. The point is, you are always working for something when you are a parent, so you shall not find many moments when there is not a fight. As someone focusing of creative and social goals, not being able to pursue any sucks.

Do I envy those who have surrendered their freedom to the young? I envy the tangible relationships with partners, but their path, no. Parenthood is something I think you must want. It is an easier path to immortality, but I know enough bastards who would like their kids to not know about their previous generation.

If we think about the memory element of existence, those without kids are trying to obtain memory on a grander scale. Or at least they better be. Then again, I suppose being the town drunk could make one known for a couple of generations beyond them. It might be why my family has never truly supported me in my wrestling exploits. That lacks something tangible for them as the most they got from it was me being mentioned in "Wrestle America" magazine.

Or they saw a few matches of mine in Peoria, and realized that I had not been trained by Norman "Apocolypse" Callaway to be memorable. I was his website designer, so he thought it was privilege for me to be allowed in the ring. He does not need to look cool and he is a mark for pursuing a career in the business anyhow. Learning anything memorable from him would be impossible and would also question why he was at the top of the card regardless if he had the pen. I could get personal with his life's decisions when I knew him, but I do not know the man now to see if it worked out.

Olivia Galindo @oliviagalindo·Pinterest

The top of the card is where the story is at, and that is why Next Generation Wrestling (and later Midwest Impact Pro) was not very memorable. Peoria could not come up with the original story lines to warrant long drawn out matches. If you came back, it was because of those on the undercard who questionably sold and relied on ...dive.

Why does the "Quit Diving!" argument come up in quadrennial cycles? Randy Orton seems to have mellowed out since 2016. Perhaps it was the MMA elbows from Brock Lesnar knocking the saltiness out of him. Lesnar seems to love to work with the flippy guys more than heavyweights. If Jon Moxley offered some more small guy offense, Brock may have gotten excited to work him at WrestleMania 32.

I did not want the Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling blog to become an AEW fan site (Unless the Impact and NWA involvement requires the DRCW sanctioning body to replace all these extra belts), but with AEW being the only indie style out there (Sorry Ring of Honor. You might want to start dropping ads during local news broadcasts on Sinclair.) that is always fresh (Crowd-free wrestling cannot be aired, look at the pre-Thunderdome ratings.). Because all the best indie talent is showing up there, you have to expect...dive and selling without embellishment. With that being established, can Jim Ross really be complaining about this style not being his kind of realistic?

With divisive electoral politics being pushed out the locker room, maybe Jim Ross needs to have something for the boys to get frustrated with. All of Orton's ...dive talk was before Trump's presidency.

Is AEW's style really realistic? I would say yes on most levels. The main events tend to be long drawn out wars. Every move counts so much more, so you do not see as many HIGH spots when compared to the undercard. Main event implies the best are competing, so they should also be the wisest. If everyone is wrestling the same style, their wisdom allows them to work around the flashy moves. Their challengers best be aware of that and save the big spots. Kenny Omega is a little too happy with his V-Trigger, but otherwise, a finisher is a finisher.

You know Kenny Omega is not going to win with one V-Trigger. He is going to win with the One-Winged Angel. Paul Heyman said it best on the Stone Cold Podcast. If you do not see some one kick out of a sparingly used move, the move is more valuable. All AEW has been doing is changing what moves are important. Jake Roberts is still working there despite the overuse of the DDT. If he starts bitching about its lack of effectiveness, then I arguing against it not being a finisher may be valid. Anyhow, no one hits a DDT like The Snake (or Raven).

Stay out of Eddie Kingston's ring JR.

Until you realize who the main eventers are and are not, then you realize where the flippy shit can occur. You should be expecting inexperienced performers in ANY sport to be trying to do too much. That is what make the sport exciting. There are a lot of moves that you do not want children hitting each other with, but it TV-14 so if your kid nails another kid with a Canadian Destroyer, kudos for his ability to shoot spike a child like that, but the fault falls upon you.

With that said about the Destroyer, it is an unrealistic move, so kicking out of that is acceptable on those grounds. But back to the concept of realism, as long as the team has one move which is more brutal than their others and it gets the win, is that not what the sport's structure was founded on?

Because of this, if you win the match after a dive to the floor, that would be bullshit. Thankfully, I have yet to see that happen. So why are we complaining Jim? Is it because we need that voice of dissent and Cornette is persona-non-grada?

Wrestling is spectacle on television. The dive into 13 people is spectacular. A few more punches thrown while the crowd coils up, bitching about realism can be made redundant.

My final argument for the current style is my fledgling love of mixed martial arts. When I spell out MMA, I realize my love may have been for No Holds Barred (which pro-wrestling needs to realize NHB does mean weapons should be barred). Once I started training as a pro-wrestler, my time to devote watching that sport was greatly diminished. That did not really matter because it was nothing like the sport I had grown up with.

Until UFC 4, Gracie vs. Severns, matches did not go longer than five minutes (at least fights that were aired). That is because real fights do not last longer than that. If you cannot game plan an opponent, you throw whatever you have at them and hope something sticks. The counter argument is that you can plan for any opponent with the internet, but every match on the card cannot be a methodical, slow-paced fight. Wrestling can guarantee that. MMA cannot.

Once the sport became about cross-training and considering judges' opinions, the sport lost its charm to me. Styles make fights. That is the same in professional wrestling. How is the super heavyweight going to catch the high flyer? How is Bret Hart going to get Yokozuna to tap out to the Scorpion Deathlock? Which is better: Flips or Fists?

I loved to watch Pride and Dream because of the showmanship and the undercards were going to offer you something totally different than the main event. If everyone is practicing the same style, every fight can end up being the same. In MMA, you cannot throw a different top rope move into each match to place a stamp on it.

In the end, it all comes down to the booker. If they place too many similar bouts together, you have a right to be upset and to change the channel (or unsubscribe to their streaming service). AEW has been able to avoid that with the exception of "Dark", but that is more of an issue of the large volume of similar matches. Right now, the state of Wednesday Night Wrestling is good. I would say thanks for the warning Mr. Ross of where wrestling can end up, but I think you are just nostalgic for the style you broke in with.

It is not necessarily nostalgia for a style. I think it might be a yearning to see the legendary matches again. Those are not going to happen. Let Steve Williams defeating Big Bubba Rogers be its own thing and do not expect performers 35 years removed from that try and replace it.

With that said, has anyone tried starting a promotion where the classic matches are recreated move for move? I think it may encourage newer fans who do not want to spend $9.99 to support a company otherwise funded by Saudi blood money (As a Newcastle United fan, it feels good that I am not a hypocrite with that statement.) might want to look back into the history of the sport if there was an event like that. They can find new performers to be inspired by...

Until they learn about the cancel culture moments. That does not stop me from proposing Benoit Pro Wrestling.