Scott Keith

This pedestal wrestlers put Undertaker on

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There are certainly instances where WWE and the wrestling industry as a whole can exhibit some cultish like attributes, but I could never really wrap my head around this enormous pedestal wrestlers seem to put the Undertaker on.  They'd do these roundtable discussions where people like JBL will say, with no hint of exaggeration or insincerity, that losing to the Undertaker meant more than beating others.  And then, most recently, Lance Storm on Twitter suggested that WWE promote Undertaker's eventual Hall of Fame induction for WrestleMania, and that Undertaker's “final entrance would draw more than any main event match.”

I understand he's respected, but it always struck me as odd how a guy who never really consistently put on great matches or consistently put people over has been so universally fawned by everybody…..even those who were in the industry before him.  So what's the deal?  Even if it is legitimate respect, it just seems strange that nobody else gets anywhere near this level of praise.

You got me.  Especially given that he wasn't particularly a team player himself for years and years.  Wrestlers look at things differently than fans, obviously. 

New Horsemen in AEW?

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Since FTR debuted in AEW, they haven't been shy about making connections to Arn & Tully, then this week Dax throws up the 4-fingers during their match and the announce team brings up Tully Blanchard scouting them specifically (which they obviously showed two weeks earlier).

Wondering if they are planning to align Shawn Spears and Tully with those guys. Let's say they go down that route as a first step… basically building a stable that leans on “fists not flips”, wouldn't it be interested to finish off the subtle Cody heel turn that's likely coming by having him turn on the Elite with he and Arn finishing off the group? Opens up a lot of natural opponents with storytelling options. Plus when the group inevitably gets tired of Cody's “Caesar” act, they'll can get a whole program turning him back into sympathetic babyface up against the odds.


Part of me says such a stable would be a little derivative but I do like the idea of another group for the Elite to feud with as they disintegrate slowly. Thoughts?
Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure Cody is going on full on psychopath pretty soon and breaking away from the Elite because they're not worshipping him enough. They've been planting the seeds for a while now.  I don't know about Spears being involved, but Cody, Dustin and FTR as the group managed by Arn and Tully?  That works.  

Lex Luger at Summerslam 95

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Was there a point to Lex interfering in the Diesel-Mabel Summerslam match?  Did Lex know when he was there that he was off to WCW the next week?  What were the WWF plans for Lex following Summerslam? 

Yes, Lex definitely knew he was leaving for WCW at the time.  There didn't appear to be much of a plan for him beyond “Bulldog turns on him”, which is probably why he wanted out of the company so badly.  

BoD Pandemic Apocalypse Reading Recommendations?

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Hey, Scott:

Hope you and the family are doing well and staying safe and sound. Couple of quick questions:

(1) I just watched the “Superman: Red Son” movie on DC Universe. I loved it, so I read the comic book(s). I loved it more! Can you or the BoD recommend any other “Elseworld”, alternate timeline, “What If…?” stories that are worth a read?

(2) On the subject of reading, are there any “off the beaten path” wrestling autobiographies that you or the little doomers can recommend? Something not from the WWE imprint, but still chock full of “good shit”.

Thanks, man.

1.  Yes!  All Star Superman is balls out great.  Gotham by Gaslight was the original Elseworlds story and it's a favorite of many.  I really enjoyed the Marvel 1492 stories, although quality levels varied wildly.  As a huge Deadpool fan, I also enjoyed the various “Deadpool Kills [x] Portion of the Universe”.  And although I hated Flashpoint, some of the associated spinoff series were pretty great, like the Batman one where Thomas Wayne became the superhero instead.  
2.  Yeah, I really liked the Bob Holly autobiography, for example.  If you want a wacky one, try the free PDF downloadable books from JTG called “Why Did I Write This Book” and “Why Did I Write This Book Too”.  It's a side of the business you don't usually hear much from.  And there's some cool stories about Shad Gaspard in there, too.  Also, I haven't read it yet because I just got in the mail yesterday, but the author of “Owen Hart: King of Pranks” sent me a copy and I'm looking forward to checking it out.  
https://www.amazon.com/Owen-Hart-Ultimate-Anthology-Greatest/dp/1704027659/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=owen+hart+king+of+pranks&qid=1593302808&sr=8-1
I also have the Al Snow and Hornswoggle biographies sitting in my review pile because Ross Williams was nice enough to send them my way and I SWEAR TO TONY KHAN I will read them someday, I promise.  But not today. 

Mankind vs Shawn 96

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Hi Scott

I've always felt that this match is a 5 star match if it had a proper finish and I think I recall you saying something similar?

Curious though – what kind of finish would you have put on the match to get that mark? It always seemed to me they booked themselves into a corner by booking the match in the first place?

What are people's thoughts on how this match should have ended?
I would have had Shawn hit a blind superkick and fall on top for the flash pin, at which point Mankind pops up like a serial killer and continues attacking, and then they can do the post-match brawl to quickly erase the loss and move on. Then you at least get a finish and you're not hurting Mankind. 

AEW and Tessa Blanchard

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With Impact firing Tessa Blanchard and with her seemingly on the outs with WWE with how that whole thing fell apart, if you're Tony Khan do you take the risk and bring her in, she's one of the top female talents in the US and could be that big time female star that AEW doesn't really have with Britt on the sidelines but you also take the bad with her track record and apparently she's kind of a head case, do you think it's worth the gamble to bring in Tessa?

Not worth it.  There's just too much heat and baggage right now.  Given how efficiently she's managed to burn her other bridges anyway, you can wait her out and probably sign her for way less in a few months.  

The Real Horror Show

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Scott,

Is it just not the best timing to subtitle a PPV the Horror Show right now?

The serious bigger picture is pretty grim.

I mean between the virus and the speak out movement, the industry on the whole looks like absolute shit right now.

Do you think there are wrestlers and fans as well that might never come back?

David Starr and Joey Ryan are probably never coming back, although likely not due to their own choice.  I think there's a strong chance that a lot of fans just stay away even when WWE starts up in a “normal” capacity again, because they've learned to skip the shows and watching three hours of anything every week is a big commitment.  I do find it amazing that wrestling is so low on the pop culture totem pole that there's a major outbreak of Covid and sexual predators in WWE and the mainstream media basically ignores it all. 

Sid Question

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We know that Sid has become an almost mythical figure among the IWC but one thing I have always wondered about. If he had put all of his time and focus into softball do you think he could have cracked The Springfield Power Plant starting lineup?

Only if he trimmed his sideburns.  

Rewarded for bad behavior policy for WWE?

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Hey Scott,

I've noticed a pattern of WWE wrestlers doing or saying shitty things but end up getting pushed anyways, and they rarely get called out on it. 

I can go back to Seth Rollins being a prick in real life and had that rash of dickish behavior online last year but kept getting pushed into his title reign. You also have Lars Sullivan being outed for being a racist piece of shit but despite some “sensitivity training” they proceeded with his push until his injury. Then, you have Braun Strowman who's said some horrible and idiotic things on his social media earlier this year just for him to end up with the world title reign.  Now, you have Matt Riddle. He's gone out of his way to be a piece of shit to Lesnar and especially Goldberg, but HHH actually was on record saying he had no problem with that. So he kept getting pushed in NXT.  It wasn't as egregious as the other examples until it's been discovered that WWE has apparently known about the sexual allegations against him for a while.  Yet, here he is, jumping to Smackdown and putting him over AJ Styles.  What in the actual fuck? Why are they rewarding bad behavior like this? Does character mean nothing to them?
I bet Lars doesn't feel like he got “rewarded” for his behavior.  Also I'm pretty sure that Lesnar and Goldberg don't need WWE protecting them from big bad Matt Riddle hurting their feelings.  As for the allegations, WWE was aware of them when they signed Riddle and nothing's come of them yet, so I'm not sure what you want them to do.  
Also the idea that “character” has ever meant anything in wrestling is LAUGHABLE.  Come on, man. 

ECW referees…

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Scott,

Earl Hebner and Tommy Young are usually up there as some of the best or most infamous refs in history, but where do former ECW refs John Finegan and Jim Molineux rank?
Who cares, they're referees.  In ECW no less.  They might as well not even be in the business. 

One more match

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Whose more likely to have one more match Punk, HHH or Undertaker?  And if you could book a one more match finale for each who would their opponents be?

HHH will 100% have another match, probably by the end of the year if we get crowds back.  The world would stop spinning otherwise.  I'd love to see him put his money where his mouth is and put over someone like Matt Riddle.  

Battle royales

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Hi Scott

I know you don’t rate battle royales, but do you have a favourite??
Yes, the one that I DID rate, the tag team battle royale from Dynamite where the Young Bucks earned a title shot.  Also if you count the Rumbles as a form of the match, there's many of them as well. 

GAB 90 re-review

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With Great American Bash coming back next week in some form, any chance at a re-review of Bach '90. Re-watched it recently and you've made note that you hate your old review

I could have sworn I had a more recent version of it.  Apparently not.  

Yeah, I can put it on the list, especially if the Network version is the full one and not the 2-hour Turner video version that I've seen a million times.  

Kurt Angle’s Bi-Polar Awesomeness

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Hey Scott—

Just got done with Botchamania 413, and one of the stingers at the end uses the hilarious segment where Kurt Angle sang “Sexy Kurt” with Sherri in the build to his WM match with Shawn.

It got me thinking: has anyone in the history of wrestling been able to transition between lovable goofy dork and “I’ll break your fucking ankle, Rock!” seriousness better than Kurt Angle?

Other than the Matt Borne version of Doink, naturally. 

HHH is really good at playing both sides of that coin as well.  I wouldn't say he's in Angle's league in either category or as a worker, but he can do goofy DX comedy and then turn around and become Serious Main Eventer Hunter pretty damn quick, like when he turned on Shawn in 2002.  

CONSPIRACY!

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Hi Scott, hope you’re well and safe.

 

So, Renee Young has tested positive for Covid-19 (hope she gets well soon)… and it all starts to fall into place.

 

Young is married to the AEW Champion, Jon Moxley, who debuted in WWE as part of the SHIELD.

 

SHIELD-ing is what people with pre-existing conditions have to do in this current GLOBAL pandemic.

 

GLOBAL force wrestling was a creation of Jeff Jarrett’s. Jarrett’s other famous creation was With My Baby TONIGHT.

 

TONIGHT TONIGHT is a song written by NWA owner Billy Corgan.

 

The NWA were the major enemies of TRUMP bootlicker Vince McMahon, who’s major nosebleed they inflicted on him was the scheduling of Clash of Champions against Wrestlemania 4 at TRUMP Plaza.

TRUMP’s major vow is to make AMERICA great (details of how unavailable at this point).

 

Lex Luger is the AMERICAN Original

 

Is this all therefore a ploy to go back in time to ensure that Luger wins at Summerslam 1993?

 

You really put in the work for that one.  However, the Trump line should have ended “(Citation needed)” for full points.