The SmarK DVD Rant for Bret Hart: The Dungeon Collection

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(It was pointed out to me to by the esteemed Andy PG that today is 4/10, or BRET HART DAY.  So here’s a repost of his last DVD set, the Dungeon Collection, originally written in 2013.)  

The SmarK DVD Rant for Bret Hart:  The Dungeon Collection

Hosted by Bret Hart, duh.

Read moreThe SmarK DVD Rant for Bret Hart: The Dungeon Collection

The SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 02.08.86

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The SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 02.08.86

Time for some more Crockett.

Taped from Charlotte, NC

Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Johnny Weaver

Read moreThe SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 02.08.86

Daily News Update – April 10, 2020

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Time for vacation!  And at least you know no one’s dying this time because I sure as hell can’t go anywhere.

DATELINE:  Sanity has finally prevailed as Dana White announced that UFC 249 is cancelled and all future events are postponed.  Well I guess sanity is relative with Dana these days.

DATELINE:  Money in the Bank has also officially been cancelled, at least as far as the original site in Baltimore is concerned.  They should put a Covid test in the briefcase and make the guys fight over THAT.

DATELINE:  NXT beat AEW in total viewers by a couple of thousand viewers as both shows were up over last week slightly, but still got killed by the news and other stuff.

Hurricane Beyond

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Hi Scott

In today's superhero-filled world, do you think a "Batman Beyond" style gimmick could work?

You have the Hurricane in play as manager/mentor, and a young vigilante under his tutelage.

It could be something that works really well to give a talented young CW a boost where they might otherwise not have anything to do in terms of story/gimmick stuff.

If it were to happen, who do you think would be a good fit for it?

Might as well be Ricochet because it's not like his career path could go any lower in WWE.  

Most foreign of objects?

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What’s the most ridiculous foreign object you’ve seen used in pro wrestling? I think my favorite will always been Hogan passing Nash a percolator of hot coffee to throw in Giant’s face at Souled Out ‘98. 
I think the legendary bag of popcorn used by Owen Hart and Mankind in their street fight (where the goal was solely to crack up Vince McMahon) will always win, but I haven't actually SEEN it so I guess it doesn't count.  There was the Spring Stampede as well where guys were thrown into hay and Tony Schiavone had to cover with "Hay can be very abrasive to the skin" in the lamest way possible. 

Honky Tonk Man Original Theme

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I don't know if you've seen this or not, but I found what I would consider one of the most rare things in pro wrestling. This is the original Honky Tonk Man theme.  In my opinion, it is much better than any of his other themes, and it screams of cheating heel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJdxMwgab0A
Yeah, I vaguely remember that one.  He actually used it at Wrestlemania 3 but you couldn't really hear it very well.  I dunno, for me his Piledriver theme is the definitive one for him. 

NXT UK – April 9, 2020

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NXT UK
Date: April 9, 2020
Commentator: Andy Shepherd

Wrestling has entered a new stage of the Coronavirus pandemic as a WWE show has officially run out of new material. For the foreseeable future, NXT UK is going to be nothing but Best Of shows. This could be interesting, but I’m not sure how long this is going to work given the promotion’s limited history. They’ve surprised me before though so let’s get to it.

Read moreNXT UK – April 9, 2020

The ESSENTIAL Thursday Night Thread: April 9, 2020

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I swear, I’ll be a spokeman for DayQuil if I get famous.  That KOs my headache every time.

BREAKING NEWS: UFC 249 and all other UFC events for the near future are canceled and shut down.  Experts attribute this about face to “someone finally realizing Dana White was clinically insane”.  White said he was ready to go but “things were taken out of his control”, which seems like a fancy way of saying “people finally realized I have more money than common sense”.

I can speak from experience (well, secondhand experience, anyway) that there are some wrestlers who should never be told by management “take all the time you need”.  Gargano and Ciampa appear to be in that category.

Hey, stick around after the jump for some Indie Prime Cuts!

Read moreThe ESSENTIAL Thursday Night Thread: April 9, 2020

My Review of My Dad is a Heel Wrestler

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Without no interest in WrestleMania last weekend, I instead spent my Saturday night in quarantine watching My Dad is a Heel Wrestler on NJPWworld. I was so blown away by it, I had to write about it. Anyone on the blog who has NJPWworld should definitely watch it.



Makes you wonder why WWE doesn't try to make good pro wrestling movies with their guys, instead of dumb stuff like the Miz as a bounty hunter or John Cena doing Marine cosplay for like a year.

Well my kid is pumped to watch the big Big Show show starring Big Show.  So I’ll probably review THAT.  

Crippled Hulk Hogan

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Hi Scott,

Recently I read something you wrote about Jerry Lawler doing so much with so little and compared that to Hulk Hogan, who has his body destroyed these days. Could you elaborate on that? Because it has kind of surprised me. I was under the impression Hogan worked an easy style, no high flying, dangerous stuff, and I thought he didn't wrestle that many matches (compared to someone like Flair). But still ended up this way. How come?


Because Lawler was smart enough to never leave his feet and Hulk landed on his hip doing the leg drop night after night for 30 years.  

Firefly Boneyard

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Opinions on quality aside, what are the odds they hold another Firefly Funhouse where The Fiend takes on Undertaker?

After seeing how meta they got with Cena, and the fact that Wyatt has been targeting people from his past, going after Taker to avenge that Mania loss and finally take the title of the New Phenom seems like a logical step.

Taker has a bunch of different eras he could move through, has his own “powers” to counteract whatever Fiend does, and proved he has some solid mini-movie chops in the Boneyard Match.

Does it happen?  Do you wait until next Mania or make this a Summerslam thing (depending on how the world is)?  And is the only way it’s meaningful is if Undertaker “loses” (whatever that looks like)?

Keep up the great work, stay health and safe!


I'm pretty sure they'll go there with the characters at some point.  In particular this Boneyard thing is a good way to keep Undertaker out of the ring if he can't perform anymore.  Hopefully they don't do it at a major PPV again, though.  

Dr. Death ?’s

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Hello Scott long time reader since your corporate days with Wrestleline lol

Hope you are well!

I watched the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Brawl for All and Dr. Death's run seemed to be one of the main themes

1. We know he was JR's boy, is that the only reason WWF/WWE's top brass thought so highly of him?

2. Would he have flopped in a top role if he would've gotten? Seems like he was past his prime by 98 and didn't really fit in the Attitude movement  

3. Is it true HHH eventually got the push that was envisioned for Dr. Death? 

4. Did Billy Gunn really get heat for knocking him out? 

Thank you!

1.  No, WWE had their eye on him for years and actually had made various offers in the past but he was making good money in Japan.  Unfortunately by the time he was available it was too late to salvage his career because he was shot.

2.  He would have flopped hard in 1998, yes.  Maybe as a one-off challenger to Austin it would have worked but as a main drawing card?  No chance.  

3.  HHH didn't get that push until late 99, long as Doc was gone.  So no.

4.  Bart Gunn did, yes.  

Sting in 2020

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So I’m here drawing Sting and my wife asks me what his deal is. So I explained Sting to her, and it got me thinking…if surfer Sting was never a thing, and he debuted now, wold he get over? He was never the best but he connected with crowds enough that I assume he would. What do you think?
Oh yeah man.  Sting came back in 2015 after basically being away from the business for 14 years (not counting Impact) and people still bought into him as a main event threat to Seth Rollins.  He's always had a natural charisma that you can't fake. 

Daily News Update – April 9, 2020

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Good morning!

DATELINE:  TMZ has a story on WWE continuing to do their tapings and how the company feels it’s TOTALLY COOL that they’re doing because they’re wearing masks and taking temperatures and stuff.  Well I’m sold.

DATELINE:  HHH would like reiterate that it’s a marathon, not a sprint in the Wednesday ratings war.  You know, because all the stuff they tried to win didn’t work.

DATELINE:  You can get a “This Is Such Good Shit” shirt from WWE shop now.  We’re through the looking glass.