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.

Non-Murderous, Undisclosed Desires and the Current Disgruntled's Wrestling Champions

 *This blog post was started on May 31, 2022.

Nothing seems to be going right in starting this post. I looked up songs by The Smiths to come up with a title for the personal part of the blog only to look at my previous posts to find that two posts ago was called "Pick Your Smiths Songs". That is a real kick in the teeth because "Suffer Little Children" would be fitting for the past week.

If it is any consolation for us Americans who have compassion instead of homicidal desires (Are these what Matt Bellamy was singing about?) and the need to defend their past, Twitter has not been too bad. Prior to Uvalde, I was still getting some gun nuts coming out of the woodwork in regards to my call for them to practice their aim instead of buying semi-automatic weapons. Those tweets were sent during WrestleMania weekend. Did those cunts just get out of Twitter jail and had to catch up on whatever those who are more careful in their echo chamber had to disparage?

They are probably just laying low right now because the cowards they voted for are taking the heat for the bullshit they would spout in their stead. If being in power cannot stop you from being an embarrassment, what can your anonymous ass do? Once the house passes their legislation, they will probably express their paranoia again because racist assholes like Rodney Davis had failed them, so red state senators cannot.

I thought I would get around to writing about my own struggles (like trying to find something to enjoy that is not dependent on the influence of others per my therapist), but after naming an incompetents racist, memories of his anti-woman stance come to mind. It has been so long since I wrote for the sake of writing, I did not get to express my anger over Roe v. Wade's inevitable overturning. Should I be writing just to get my rage out? If Mom cracks down on the therapy bills, that maybe my only option.

There is a part of me that thinks I maybe adding even more stress into my life by going to therapy. We are developing a good report, but can it help me? I think that I maybe focusing more on my problems, so that I will have them to talk about. Hence, my troubles seem like they are on my mind more now. With rent going up $60 and a credit card interest coming do, working short shifts with few friends leaves me focused on the lack of money. Sticking around before/after my shift was scheduled to begin/end may help the pocketbook, but it is only more time to think about how few pages are in it.

When it comes to finding outlets to be social, my big sister finds it in Twitter. With her personality, it is easy to see why. She gets to chat with fellow ignored souls. To cope with the assholes she had to endure, being ignored meant a good day. I suppose my problem is that I cannot stand just being ignored.

And the world's problem is not developing a thick skin where they can ignore silly statements. I have probably left people more upset by calling Johnny Depp menacing and claiming that people who ignore their dogs on walks to focus on their phones are closet cat people. People want to be heard, but not interacted with. How dare anyone make them think of the trivial (and occasional dim) things they have said.

Then you get assholes like @daykyle who want to remind me how Cody Rhodes return to WWE is improving rating for McMahon's promotion while the needle only moved once for CM Punk's return to wrestling. I guess this blog will piss him off. Maybe it will get him to write blogs because 280 characters cannot offer him an argument.

The Current Disgruntled's Real Wrestling Champions (May 31, 2022)

With that said, we already know who is going to be named the Men's World Champion. How is Cody going to top the CM Punk story? He is not going to be the guy to unseat the DRCW Interim Champion. Winning Money in the Bank and then cashing in after Roman Reigns beats The Rock is the only way I think his story can be better than what Punk's comeback has been.

He might get a brief reign before WrestleMania, but unless McMahon is going to make the turncoat their top guy and abandon the 10-year build of the Chris Hero stand in, it is not going to mean a damn thing. A reign where Roman just gets the belt(s) back is nothing more that a shallow means to claim that WWE has shown the upmost respect to The American Dream.

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

Time Won't Give Me Time: But Men's Wrestling to Rate.

I am currently a month ahead of my podcast schedule, but what has that gotten me? Perhaps the retail hours can be blamed. Thanks to Fite TV for letting me at least get my wrestling fix. When you do not get home till 8 pm, you will not have the time to play video games or watch those longer movies. 

The latter is not necessarily true. Redbox promo codes have given me the opportunities to catch up on all the fall movies that are not streaming. There will be a podcast for one of them in the future. Too bad "Last Night in Soho" does not fit the criteria. Do I know what I would do to edit that down? No, but it gives me a chance to rewatch the Cornetto Trilogy. Maybe I can make something out of the under appreciated "Paul".

Speaking of under appreciated, I ended up going on the worst Tinder date to date. It was a lot of trauma discussion from her unwanted beginning to being abused by every Western religion. She should be proud of surviving this, but it seemed that she wanted me to accept all of mine. Maybe I should have been more insistent that she listen to "NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast" or read "MainEventOfTheDead.com" to give her a clue of how I work. There is a part of me who wants to embrace all of my trauma, but not get over it.

To her credit, she wondered why I have been single for two years (let alone near decades with that status). She was quick to discuss wanting us to watch "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", so I thought I at least got a friend out of it. This may allow me the direction to find what I am looking for. I had to drive to Danville for this date, so after we paid our checks, she told me to "text" her when I got home.

She said text, but meant Tinder message. I get home, get comfortable, and got to find out that she had unmatched me. So much for feeling like the trip was worthwhile. Facebook sympathy and the chance to flip off the Freedom Convoy cannot warrant the gas.

And the irony, I have gotten the invite tonight to the girl I have been doing my best to flirt with (Probably why I am single. Talking up a game is tough.) to see her new place. Of course, I had to tell her that it was AEW Revolution tonight. If I have let wrestling take up so much of my time to this point, why should I change?

Change. Am I capable of that?

The Disgruntled's Real Men's Wrestling Power Rankings (03/06/2022):

It is five till 7:00 pm CST. I still have to air fry my guilty wings, so it will be interesting if I can get this typed up before any title changes at Revolution. Personally, there are not any championships that I would change tonight. This post should be right by the time the pay-per-view ends. Whoever wins the "Face of the Revolution" Ladder Match may make it. Otherwise, the post will be a sad look back on the WWE stalwarts being buggered by poor booking.

The Number 1 Men's Wrestler in the World:
AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page

• He is the Current Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion.
• He defeated Bryan Danielson in a title rematch after an hour draw.
• He defeated Lance Archer in a Texas Deathmatch for the AEW Championship.

The Number 2 Men's Wrestler in the World:
IWGP World Champion: Kazuchika Okada

• The IWGP Heavyweight Championship has represented the Disgruntled's Real Men's World Championship.
• Since defeating Shingo Takagi to win the title, he retained the championship by defeating Will Ospreay the following night, and defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain the championship in February.
• He is currently waiting on the winner of the New Japan Cup as his next challenger.

The Number 3 Men's Wrestler in the World:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Brock Lesnar

• The WWE Championship has represented the Disgruntled's Real Men's World Championship.
• He has won the WWE title twice since January 1st.
• He may unify and there for legitimize the WWE Universal Championship.

F4WOnline: Matt Cardona wins NWA World Heavyweight title

Like a Prayer: 2022 and the Championship Mayhem

Like a Prayer: 2022 and the Championship Mayhem
(A Weird Soundtrack for and Orange Cassidy Match)

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

As Mark Hamill tweeted, "Is it too late to resolve not to spend that as much time on the Internet?", I am envious. My bank job is forcing me to spend more time on the Internet, or should I say, my former bank job. If anyone has some awesome job offers that will pay $15 an hour at 40 hours, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Relocation is not an issue.

It took a few days to get into the Disney World Vacation, and the job loss is probably the primary reason. Usually it takes time in a crowd of strangers for me to feel alone, but this was the opposite experience. I may not have wanted to come home. The pay cannot be great and I lucked out in terms of the Covid risk, but to see great hospitality by the cast and hotel staff...and it feels like home. Curse my atheism.

Of course, the chorus sings "When you call MY name, it's like a little prayer." For someone with an ego, it feels right.

Fortunately, my retail job is taking care of me. It has been a hell of fight to get in the position to get funds that would cover the unpaid vacation, but the frustration goes beyond that. There was a hell of a lot of wrestling last week to catch up on, and the Samsung TVs (I am more of a Sony guy.) were not new enough to Airplay Fite TV. If only I knew my dad would bring his HDMI cable for his laptop to try and catch the Buffalo Bills. If only he knew that I could have resolved that for him. At least we got to see some the Rivermen hockey.

The worst thing about all the wrestling I missed, there was a lot of newsworthy moments. I am not in the mood for the real news right now, so lets try to make some sense about the wrestling scene before tomorrow's Dynamite.

The Disgruntled's Real Men's Power Rankings (1/11/2022)

The Number 1 Wrestler in the World:
Hangman Adam Page

• You can win the WWE Championship at a moment's notice, but can you go ninety minutes with Bryan Danielson?
• He is the current AEW World Champion.
• He is the current Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion.

Pinterest @KVASHI1967

*Blog post started on September 30, 2021.

I Miss Sunday Night Heat & More of the Best Men's Doubles of All Time.

Professional wrestling eventually brought the excitement to my week. Where would the business be if it was not for AEW?

In Japan of course. I kind of wish it was that way just to justify my NJPW World subscription. The G1 Climax tournament's A Block has kept me busy the past week, but now that the schedule is picking up, I ponder how many shows that I am behind. At least the B Block being filled with matches that are easy to recall (Tanahashi vs. Okada), means I will not have much to catch up on.

I guess my problem with AEW being established (before the Forbidden Door was open) was that NJPW was the one stop for the best wrestling in the world. My blog "The Disgruntled's $200 Wrestling War and Its Current Champions" told you how expensive wrestling fandom is, provided you are not an Xfinity customer. That price point was wrong because I did not include the approximately $10 a month for access to NJPW. But with all their gaijins moving back stateside, is NJPW now in the same boat WWE is? Do I really only need the service for Wrestle Kingdom?

The answer is that I need more friends who think the WWE is the end all be all. That way, I could just pull up some classic Okada and Great Muta to see if the reluctant can be saved. It is a lot easier than pulling out my indie DVDs.

Well, I say it is easier, but the lack of streaming apps and the joys of WiFi can make using Chromecast a chore.

Of course, the last person I was trying to sell that there was better wrestling beyond Vince McMahon's narrative was the most insecure asshole in Morton, Illinois. I knew that guy for 30 years before I had enough of his bullshit, so it maybe wise not to let people like that into my life. A WWE preference may be a red flag.

How can you even have a WWE preference now? After AEW established that you can run for two years and only have two disqualifications on TV, how can anyone support a promotion with a DQ finish and a ring malfunction that determined the outcome of you main event. At least AEW waits till the action had concluded to leave the crowd questioning their television production.

Jungle Boy versus Adam Cole and Sammy Guevara capturing the TNT Championship gave us the excitement that WWE withheld from us. With that said, is Sammy Guevara not only the TNT Champion, but the holder of the DRCW OCHO Championship?

The 154th and Current DRCW OCHO Champion:

(WWE and IWGP United States, Intercontinental, National, X Division, Television, North American, TNT)

AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara.

The TNT Championship is the premier secondary title because we know that it will be defended most often. Unless WWE goes back to having secondary shows for their brands, there is no time for four titles over two hours. If they had "Heat" and "Velocity", they would have championships that would be the focus of a brand's extra hour. They would also be able to use all the talent they have. I think it is the only way to justify maintaining the brand split.

Fox owns Tubi. Give the platform a show (Samantha Bee has made it clear there is no reason to know of the app, unless you have a movie podcast that requires a source of films to binge.). You just need to tolerate the conservative commercials and you can have your own podcast like the excellent "NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast".

 

Bad Taste: Peter Jackson, The WWE Intercontinental Championship, and Billy Corgan

 *Blog post started on October 16, 2020.

Check out my review for Bad Taste at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

My three day weekend cannot come soon enough. The Staley blog network (NinetyForChill.com, MainEventOfTheDead.com, Russ's Remnants of Anime, and Disgruntled Real Championship Wrestling) are scheduled out to early November, so it will be a nice change of pace to not keep stockpiling content. The biggest problem for my blogs right now is a dependence upon wrestling content.

And with that said, I may as well address recent championship title changes in pro wrestling. "Bad Taste" is in the title of this blog post, and that is the general consensus of what people think the fans of that industry have. My personal taste says we fans should lean into that more, but when I suggest the Katie Vick was a fun angle, that opinion maybe disqualified.

As a horror and occasional raunchy comedy fan, I respect when the creators take something further than what the audience considers far enough. If Triple H did not toss the brains at the end of the funeral parlor segment, my thoughts about the angle would be that it was in poor taste. Once that poor taste has been taken to the bad realm, the imagination of the audience has been destroyed. To gain that kind of control is something I admire.

Perhaps my opinion is not valid from a content creator stand point. I had met Billy Corgan once after an AAW show in 2011. My alcohol consumption was enough for me to stick my nose into a conversation in regards to a performer's height he was having with Scarlett (now with NXT). If anything, my in was trying to say she was tall enough at 5'6" if I was able to shit the bed in that night's dark match at 5'5".

Somehow it all devolved into a conversation between him and I about whether or not "The Hangover Part II" was superior than its predecessor. His opinion was that it was not. Mine was that because it took a bad movie to the furthest extreme, it was. I guess that means the reason he is or was (Running a wrestling promotion is usually a financial drain) making millions and I am struggling to get my B-Movie screenplay, "Main Event of the Dead" produced.

If you have any suggestions on how to get my pro-wrestling zom-com out of development hell or would like a treatment of the script to see if it worth any attention, email russthebus07@gmail.com.

Why is the Intercontinental Championship a part of the blog title? Because the recent Sami Zayn angle behind it was done in bad taste. How do you end up stripping a champion because of COVID-19, but Brock Lesnar was never rushed to defend his championships over the past six years?

It is great that Zayn won the title in the most despicable way. It is also great that he wiped out any meaning the Jeff Hardy and AJ Style's reign had. With Brodie Lee losing the TNT Championship, these two reasons suggest that the Intercontinental Championship is the most important part of the DRCW's Ocho Championship (Intercontinental, IWGP United States, WWE United States, Television, X Division, National, North American, TNT)

The 148th Disgruntled's Real Ocho Champion

AEW TNT Champion Mr. Brodie Lee (8/24/20 to 10/7/20)

Apollo Crews had lost the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley. This was a drawn out feud between Crews and the Hurt Business where the idea was to get Lashley further over by showing that he was better than MVP. Before this occurred, Lee destroyed Cody in three-minutes to become the TNT Champion. Cody had a wide variety of opponents while Crews had tag team matches.

As for Zayn's claim, Lee destroyed an opponent while Zayn was one of three opponents who had a chance to take the title off of a placeholder champion in Braun Strowman. Strowman did not seek a rematch, so the loss was insignificant.

The 149th Disgruntled's Real Ocho Champion

AEW TNT Champion Cody (3) (10/7/20).

It is tempting to declare Zayn as the champion because of the length of his reign, but again, he did not start his reign with a great win. Three-on-one handicap match against the champion versus a dog collar blood bath: Cody's title victory is the superior.

A blood bath serves as a perfect transition into how I finally got around to Peter Jackson's debut directorial effort, "Bad Taste". The prior night, I revisited the failed lesbian take on the already pretentious "Dead Poets Society", Canada's "Lost and Delirious". It ended up being a downer of a film on top of that, so I needed something to cleanse my pallet. "Young Adult" is still a disc that I need to open, but as a depressed writer, I did not think the feature was right to bounce back from patriarchal bullshit (The only valid thing about "Lost and Delirious outside a Graham Greene supporting role is that it took place in the current day, so making it about accepting teenage lesbians at an up tight boarding school a good premise.).

Your No Budget Screen Play

As I looked through my unwatched DVD's and Blu-rays, "Young Adult" was the only film under 97 minutes. Anything purchased on iTunes was either foreign or experimental, so I did not know if I had the attention span for those. So I turned to Amazon Prime's offerings, and "Bad Taste" beat out "Night of the Demons" as my choice to add to my 90-minute movie data base.

Was there really a choice between these two "classics"? It is an Academy Award winner B-movie versus the guy who directed the sequel to Charlie Sheen's "The Arrival". To director Kevin Tenney's credit, his movie called "Brain Dead" from 2007 did help inspire me to write my B-movie script, "Main Event of the Dead". Email russthebus07@gmail.com with any questions about my production.

Bad Taste

Check out the rest of review at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

The OCHO or the Disgruntled's Real Secondary Championship: Part 7

*Blog post started on August 24, 2020.

It is a good thing the alcohol and general exhaustion from my staycation kicked in last night because I could not finish "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". My need to stick to a schedule means I did not need to review it today. Hopefully, "AEW Dark" will not run too long because I do need something for a Wednesday post. I mean Thursday. Being away from a keyboard for a week can really screw you up.

Part of my inability to stick it through a two-hour flick was constantly checking IMDb on my phone to verify that I caught something in this trippy film. Then, I dove into some rabbit holes. My feelings toward Christina Ricci are more off than I originally thought. Her sexualized films are something I have avoided because she has always Wednesday Addams to me. It just felt creepy. Turns out, she is a half a month older than I.

Growing up is something I got to work on, especially with my efforts to be an ideal feminist. Quit identifying her as a child and let her be an empowered woman. Good thing Dakota Fanning did not star in any films that I would run out to see when she was a kid. That identity is something I do not need to correct. But am I denying her talent if I do not take her whole filmography into account?

So, the White Rabbit's trail was a real screwy one for me. If only the iPhone was never invented. It is just too easy to get distracted. Having to pull out a keyboard and waiting for the computer boot up takes more effort. Enough extra effort that I will just watch the movie.

That is the real reason I should be championing opening movie theaters back up instead of these unprecedented times leaving me with no place to take tea-totaling women out on dates. I just cannot skip to watching a flick at my place or yours. Movie theaters would be nice because I would just turn off my phone if there is a crowd. If there was not one, you cannot ask the projectionist to pause the movie so I can determine if that was actor was Flea or Ralph Fiennes.

Nick on Pinterest

Pausing is something I need to utilize more when it comes to watching pro-wrestling. How much AEW am I really absorbing when I am trying to send out my tweets to promote my blogs? If someone trashes The Squad, calling them out along by and all of their fellow douche-minded takes time. So what if I miss out on the 30-winner hashtag.

And of course the irony of DVR is that the NBA over run did not allow me to see all of the Saturday show when I came home from my retail gig. Nothing works in 2020.

Thus, I missed Mr. Brodie Lee ascension to the TNT Championship. If they book him right, he should be the most dominant champion in the business, especially after Roman Reigns surrendered his safety to run through The Fiend. Which is a great segue to what I hope is the conclusion to my title history of the Disgruntled's Real Secondary Championship series for The Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling blog.

I think there is only two years left to covered. If WWE hotshot booking can be avoided, this will should be brief.

The 141st Disgruntled's Real Six-Pack Champion
(Intercontinental/WWE United States/IWGP United States/ECW TV/ROH TV/X Division):

ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb (01/04/19 to 5/19/19)

Juice Robinson would have a fairly successful reign as IWGP US Champion, but he is not as physically imposing as Cobb who would go on to also win the NEVER Openweight Champion during his TV Championship reign. Also, New Japan's version of the belt would end up being victim to hotshot booking to get publicity by having Jon Moxley beat Robinson in his first NJPW match.

The 142nd Disgruntled's Real Sevenfold Champion:

NWA National Champion Colt Cabana (5/19/2019 to 7/12/19)

This is not because I just got a Matt Classic tattoo (I needed to balance the markdom of my CM Punk ink). Finn Balor was the IC Champ but would soon be sent to carry NXT's midcard. Rey Mysterio and Samoa Joe's feud for the WWE US Championship was poorly booked. Shane Taylor is not a draw. Anyhow, NWA and ROH had a working relationship at the time, so Cabana also being in ROH means he would outshine the other secondary champion.

The 143rd Disgruntled's Real Sevenfold Champion:

WWE United States Champion Ricochet (7/12/19 to 7/14/19)

I think putting a three-week push on this list is important as a statement of the missed opportunities WWE has had. The Intercontinental Championship was still held by Balor, but he too would lose his title on July 14. Shinsuke Nakamura's title reign was more about highlighting Sami Zayn as a heel manager, so the belt's importance was not apparent. James Storm was the man who defeated Cabana, but would in turn lose the belt back to him.

The 144th Disgruntled's Real Sevenfold Champion:

WWE United States Champion AJ Styles (4) (7/14/19 to 11/25/19)

The 145th Disgruntled's Real Ocho Champion:

NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong (2) (11/25/19 to 01/22/2020)

WWE had "to prove" NXT was a third bran, so the day before, Strong won a triple-threat match against the Intercontinental Champion and WWE United States Champion. Jon Moxley had to vacate the IWGP United State Championship because the Typhoon Hagibis.

The 146th Disgruntled's Real OCHO Champion:

NXT North American Champion Keith Lee (1/22/20 to 7/22/20)

The 147th Disgruntled's Real OCHO Champion:

WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews (7/22/20 to at least 8/24/20)

Cody only had one challenge in his quest to become the first TNT Champion. Apollo Crews was the only WWE secondary champion when AEW offered a new title. ROH is just now coming off of a hiatus due to COVID as is the NWA. Impact has yet to come up with an X Division Champion aside from Willie Mack who seem like they would fair well in exchanging the title for a shot at the Impact World Championship. If Moxley would have held the AEW World Championship going into Wrestle Kingdom 14, I might have determined him to be the OCHO.

How are we feeling about this DRCW Championship being called the OCHO. By the end of this list, we did get to eight championships, the same number as the J-Crown, but what would the crown's title be. The best I could come up with we the Deuce Crown. I ran it by a non-wrestling fan, and they liked the ode to "Dodgeball".

If the TNT Championship becomes the top secondary title, do we change the name to involve something hip representing nine? Do we just merge the United States or Television Championships together? It was so much easier with coming up with a name for the Disgruntled's Real World Championship. The only thing that could trip that up is if the Universal Championship ever reaches the lofty heights Vince McMahon things it can. Perhaps things can get screwy if the Double Championship becomes a permanent fixture in New Japan.

If there is anything left to do with this list, it is determine if the X Division Champions who successfully used Option C to become TNA/Impact World Champion can stake a claim at being the Disgruntled's Real World Champion. Who knows, I might have gotten an easy blog post out of this experiment.

No Spinner Belts (or Cigarettes) - The Disgruntled's Real Secondary Champion Part 4. 

The AWESOME Disgruntled's Real Secondary Champion: Part 6

*Blog post started on August 10, 2020.

Perhaps three post a week is too much. It is catching up to my output. On top of that, NinetyForChill.com (Should I go and sit on that Twitter handle?), officially has more blog posts than MainEventoftheDead.com, my primary blog that is meant to encourage assistance with the production of my zombie versus indie wrestler script (If you would like to see a treatment or offer ideas on how to get this project out of development hell, drop me an email at russthebus07@gmail.com).

This means that I will need to slowdown my viewing of "crappy" sub 138-minute flicks. I guess I have my anime expertise to fall back on and plenty of cartoons to watch, but change is hard. With anime being put out in season box sets, it will be easier to lose track of time. Nine to five (six) is my lifestyle now. Those all nighters would be ill-advised.

Things may slow down for me with my vacation next week. Checking out the old stomping grounds, my favorite bars included, should take up so much time, it will just be best to say, "Damn. Guess I will save those posts for next time." That will work, unless I throw in a fight with online trolls who suggest I leave the country, believe that the amendments after 10 did not change the Constitution, and/or are Islamophobic. 

Trying to be a bit healthier before my doctor's appointment tomorrow has left me going to bed early opposed to snacking and watching TV. Meaning if I get into a Twitter beef, there goes an evening. It will all be worth it when they willfully silence themselves by blocking me.

There are better victories to be had I know, but having just returned from my appointment with a lot to work on, this fight might be the only thing to keep food from my mouth. A better solution would be to take my writing home. The "doctor" (PA) suggested journaling, but my thoughts for the most part deserve to be heard, hence blogged.

It can add to my frustration since I have to do my damnedest to creatively identify someone as an asshole (who is not an conservative troll) without dropping their name. With that said, I might just have to refer to myself only by gimmick last name so when I break big, no one will track down Ma and Pa Stevens to tell them what was said about them. All that can be said about the appointment is the PA noticing I am stressed the fuck out.

There is no time to be stressed right now. If I want to relax and be forgetful next week, we got to get these blogs in the archive. With only six years left, lets return to my current distraction, the Disgruntled's Real Five-Star Championship.

The 121st Disgruntled's Real Five-Star Champion:(Intercontinental/United States/Philadelphia TV/Baltimore TV/X Division)

TNA X Division Champion SANADA (April 4, 2014 to July 10, 2014)

ROH slipped up when it came to booking Jay Lethal's second reign as TV champion. Lethal would eventually go on to win the World Championship. He would defend each title separately and subsequently lost the TV championship first. It leaves me feeling like the TV championship was just an afterthought.

SANADA would eventually lose the championship to Austin Aries who would surrender it to challenge for TNA's primary championship.

It is all a question of psychology I suppose. Can you build up a title only to let it slip and deem it unimportant when champion also holds a larger title? Or, do you distinguish that it is not equal to the world title but essential to becoming THE champion?