Your Midweek Links: SummerSlam and College Football

Relive the HOSS FIGHT! through reviews of SummerSlam!
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's hump day, so here are a few links to get you through the rest of the week.

Self-Shilling:

- Hey, I wrote a review of SummerSlam. Yeah, it was on here, but I feel so strongly about it, I want you to read it again! Or for the first time! [Big Sexy Destiny: WWE SummerSlam 2011 Review]

- Me and Trey Irby of Wrestling Theory dish about SummerSlam, college football, CM Punk and why Lagana needs to slow his roll on TWP. [Episode 15: 1-2-3 Kid A]

- My Camel Clutch Blog piece, on how WWE should treat its tag division going forward so that the Kings of Wrestling (and others) aren't dead in the water before they even debut. [Rebuilding the WWE Tag Division Is Going to Take Some Work]

- My Fair to Flair piece from the past week, which could also be titled "My 20 year old wrestling fan self will hate me for writing this and wonder where I went astray" [Learning to Forgive Triple H]

- TWB didn't make the final list (BOO!), but the Camel Clutch Blog did for Philly's Most Valuable Blogger. Vote once a day, because Eric's good people and deserves some more recognition. [Philly's Most Valuable Blogger]

Wrestling Links:

- The top 24 matches in SummerSlam history, printed before Sunday. I imagine if this were being done next year, it'd have at least two if not three or four more additions to it from Sunday. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- Michelle Beadle and Gus Ramsey review SummerSlam... your argument, she is invalid, no? [ESPN]

- Scott Bowden's SummerSlam thoughts and a mini-tribute to Eddie Gilbert [Kentucky Fried Rasslin]

- Five Good Things about SummerSlam [Grapple Kingdom]

- Andre Harrison's look at SummerSlam [The Harrison Analysis]

- The SummerSlam main event podcast series, all 23 episodes. Why? Because all of them are good, that's why. [Wrestlespective]

- Best and Worst of SummerSlam... [With Leather]

- ...and also the Best and Worst of RAW! [With Leather]

- Diary of the worst segment of 2011. [Wrestling Theory]

- The AV Club is reviewing RAW now? Christ, maybe wrestling IS cool again... [The AV Club]

- Kevin Nash flashback: Pinning Bob Backlund in seconds for his first WWF Championship [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- Cameron Riley steals a blog topic that I had planned for tomorrow and writes about it excellently. Re: Jay Lethal beating El Generico in El G's first TV Title defense [Musings of a Mark]

- How to enjoy pro wrestling. Hint, it's not like the way Bryan Alvarez "enjoys" pro wrestling. [International Object] [EXTRA PODCAST LINK: Episode 29 w/ Mikey Llorin]

- Worst wrestling Twitter users, or, who NOT to follow. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Justin Henry on what WWE is giving you right now. Hint, it's a lot. [Wrestling News Source]

- More Justin Henry! The Summer of Punk is still going strong, folks. [Wrestling News Source]

- Beth Phoenix is a mighty fine plan B if you ask me. [Ring Belles]

- Money in the Bank, the new Royal Rumble? [Fair to Flair]

- The Titanic Taxonomy of Wrestler Names [Geekosystem]

- DDS interview with Reggie Bennett [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Linda Hogan says that Hulk and Brutus Beefcake were bangin'. Normally, I don't pay attention to what she has to say, but this is just too funny not to at least give the once over to, even if I don't for a second believe it. [Radar Online]

- Given some of the stuff Vince McMahon has tried to foist on WWE audiences, I'm shocked he didn't go for a hermaphrodite character to feud with the Women's Champion. LEGIT SHOCKED. [Diva Dirt]

- A mini dressed in a bird costume doing a top rope tope to the outside? YES. [Luchablog]

- John Cena doesn't associate himself as a heel or face, and that's refreshing. [Cageside Seats]

- Dutch Mantell talks with Dave Lagana. [I Want Wrestling]

- Colt Cabana's latest guest is Johnny Curtis. A great interview, just in case you wanted a reason to like him after not really being drawn in by how he's being presented on Smackdown currently. [Art of Wrestling Podcast]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

- AR Fox

- Rexx Reed

- Bryan Maddox

- "2 Cocky" Kevin Matthews

Non-Wrestling Links:

- This is a brilliant idea. SECesssion is something I can get behind, and will get more behind tomorrow on This Week in Off-Topic. Call this "homework" then. [Dan Shanoff]

- Speaking of SECession, a timeline of the action that sparked all this talk anyway, in MSPaint format. [Prevail and Ride]

- And SECession might not even be the biggest story right, seeing as The U is looking to be in deep shit. [Dr. Saturday]

- But enough about team-poaching and scandal, a look back on one of the true great coaches, stepping down after this season. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Meat shield? Could have used more meat, but it's cool, yo. [Epic Meal Time]

- Speaking of Epic Meal Time, looks like this photo recipe for 2 AM Chili was inspired by the spirit of our friends from up North. [Imgur Gallery]

- Review of Vince's Pizza, just in case any of you Philly Pholk or visitors want the 411 on where to get one of the best slices in the city [Doughboys]

- The Taxonomy of Hyrule. Essential for all Zelda fans. [The Uniblog]

- The worst failures in beverage history. Not listed yet, Slurm. Because it hasn't been invented yet, see? [Time]

- A cautionary tale for fans: Be careful your words when criticizing another player. [The 700 Level]

- Why is the only person who wants to give libertarian Ron Paul a fair shake in the media an ultra-leftist comedian? [The Atlantic Wire]

- Could you beat Kobe Bryant in a game of beer pong? [Deadspin]

- Speaking of Kobe, don't bug him at church [The Smoking Section]

- An explanation of sabermetrics, or at least a dissertation on where us baseball statheads come from, via Ryan Howard and a New York Times article that blasted him as "not elite" [Crashburn Alley]

- Jim Thome hits homerun 600, gets endorsement offer from condom company [With Leather]

- Workplace rage turned into profit [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- This .gif will make your day, unless you REALLY hate sharks. [F Yeah Sharks!]

- I'd like to see the pudding face on this guy, probably enough to last him his entire trip. [Afternoon Snooze Button]

- You wanna chat? Hold up, I'm on my phone... psych. [Wired]

- Your handy guide to the Next Food Network Star finale, whether you watched or not. [Food Network Humor]

- House of PUNTE, f/ Danny McBride casting a Presidential piece of homoerotic cinema [House of PUNTE]

- A plan on how to make the shootout less dreadful [Puck Daddy]

- Wait, you mean Aileen Wournos wasn't hot in real life like Charlize Theron? And 19 other summarily uglier real life folks than their actors portraying them [Unreality Mag]

- FUCK YO WEIGHT LOSS... you were funnier/better when you were fat. [Pajiba]

- Homemade NKOTB sweaters. In other news, the cracking sound you hear is the sixth seal of the apocalypse about ready to burst. [Craftzine]

- Scientists find a planet that reflects no light. [Gamma Squad]

- Woman forces 6-year old daughter to film her having sex. The sound you hear is of me wanting to go and beat the shit out of this woman. [Buzz Feed]

- Woman beats son for having Facebook page. In other news, I wish Matt Hardy's mom would beat him for having a Twitter account. [Insane Asylum Blog]

- Sometimes, the minor differences mean a lot. [The Oatmeal]

- America may have its flaws, but believe me... we have it real good here. [Cracked]

- Simmons' Summer of Mailbag [Grantland]

- Hunter S. Thompson didn't like Rolling Stone one bit. [Film Drunk] [EXTRA PODCAST LINK: Frotcast, Ep. 60]

- A Lewboski reunion! [Uproxx]

- Matt Ufford's on vacation this week, but don't worry, they got a suitable sex bag replacement for him and two days early too! [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Five minutes with CC Sabathia [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Fun with NBC's new show taglines [Warming Glow]

- Bleacher Report's honest new design [Sports Pickle]

Your Midweek Links: Don't Rush Punk, Yo

Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's hump day, so here are some links to help get you through the rest of the week!

Self-Shilling:

- The Wrestling Podcast with my buddy Tom Kingsmill! If you can get by the audio problems, it's a rollicking good listen. [Episode 12: I Am Not a Fashion Nugget]

- My Camel Clutch Blog piece this week, on why Cena vs. Rock should be sans title [John Cena vs. The Rock, No WWE Championship Required]

- My Fair to Flair piece, or what if we look at Money in the Bank as a resolution? [CM Punk's Happy Ending]

Wrestling Links:

- Everything's amazing and no one's happy... the story of the Internet Wrestling Community [Hitting the Mark]

- More on fans bitching about the angle being "rushed" [Fair to Flair]

- Even more discussion about Punk being "rushed", and in the interest of fairness, the verdict is that maybe it was too soon [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- Razor's RAW live blog [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- The Best and Worst of RAW for this week [With Leather]

- CM Punk can thank Shawn Michaels for being in his corner and helping him overcome Vince McMahon's bias against anyone he didn't create [I Want Wrestling]

- CM Punk and Chuck Tayler: Kindred Spirits [PizzaBodySlam]

- Bill Simmons' controversial picks for best theme music ever [Grantland]

- Madison Rayne has thin skin [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Maryse has a stalker. I'd make a joke about it being Brandon Stroud, but this seems pretty serious, in all actuality. [Diva Dirt]

- Trey Irby FJMing Observer Radio. God bless him for this, because transcribing the audio is a lot harder than just bolding stupid printed word. [Wrestling Theory]

- The Young Bucks respond to RVD talking shit about them. In other news, RVD talking shit about any wrestler should be a war crime. Dude sucks. [Cageside Seats]

- 10 questions with SHIMMER head honcho Dave Prazak [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- The EVOLVE Interview [Wrestlegasm]

- The Best of Tyler Black DVD review [The Harrison Analysis]

- Rocky confirms he'll be at Survivor Series. I don't care what you say, I'm psyched. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Another Rey Mysterio defender [Grapple Kingdom]

- I just ruined Barry Windham for you forever. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- Macho Man and ComiCon [Kentucky Fried Rasslin]

- K Sawyer Paul toots his own horn about predictions [Footnotes of Wrestling]

- The Miz is your #1 in the PWI 500 for last year [PWI]

- Things Cameron Riley missed over the weekend [Musings of a Mark]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

- Overview on QWEST Wrestling

Non-Wrestling Links:

- Best use of the periodic table ever [Buzz Feed]

- Dan Snyder fires official team blogger. Par for the course! [Mr. Irrelevant]

- No more lockout! Drew Magary doles out some FUCK YOUs in honor of said occasion. [Deadspin]

- Best.Facebook.Status.Ever [The Imgur Gallery]

- SAWCE FROM SAN FRANCISCO [Epic Meal Time]

- Precious, based off the Novel Push by JRR Tolkien [Videogum]

- Plugin tracks Facebook time. [Mashable]

- 13 Things You Didn't Know about Saved by the Bell [Unreality Mag]

- In defense of black humor, re: Amy Winehouse's death [Camel Clutch Blog]

- How to get your parents to buy you a video game if you're a girl [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- House of PUNTE featuring Chris Kluwe of the Vikings. Yes, he's their punter. Yes, he's being interviewed by Monday Morning Punter of KSK. HOW'S THAT FOR META, BITCHES? (It's also really good) [House of PUNTE]

- Vince Mancini of Film Drunk was at ComiCon. Here's day 2 of his photo diary, including more Slave Leia cosplayers than you can shake a stick at [Film Drunk]

- ComiCon toy roundup! [Topless Robot]

- ComiCon Corgi Friday Cosplay! [Warming Glow]

- Zoo with Roy realigns the American League [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- Review of Captain America: The First Avenger [Blast-o-Rama]

- The Summer 2011 State of the Web Address [The Oatmeal]

- 6 diseases that have become trendy, or why anyone who doesn't have celiac disease and demands gluten-free foods should be punched in the face [Cracked]

- Captain Canuck's getting his own film... uh, who? [Gamma Squad]

- Heisman promotional mailers! [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Matt Ufford's best mailbag in ages, and those are his words, not mine! [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Isaiah Mustafa vs. Fabio... in what, I'm not exactly sure. [Uproxx]

- NFL players thank the fans for enduring the lockout. Imagine how much longer and even more impassioned this video would have been if they had actually missed a game [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Even if Terrelle Pryor didn't leave school, he wasn't playing for Ohio State next year, it turns out [Dr. Saturday]

- 5 baseball trades that should happen [The Smoking Section]

- Ranking the best right wingers in the NHL for next season. That's a forward position, not a ranking of the top conservatives on Twitter in hockey. [Puck Daddy]

- Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari broke up. *sad* [With Leather]

Your Midweek Links: The People's Republic of North Dakota?

A state, territory or THUNDERDOME?

It's hump day, so here are some links to help get you through the week:

Self-Shilling:

- Episode 10 of The Wrestling Podcast. Me and Justin Henry talk shop about Money in the Bank, Destination X and other things. [Tyler Black Sabbath]

Wrestling Links:

- Introducing Cameron Riley's new blog! [Musings of a Mark]

- The Laurinitis boys... this is badass. [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- DDS interviews Kenny Omega [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- WWE misleading someone (in this case GLAAD)? No, get out! [Cageside Seats]

- Andre Harrison looks at Destination X. [The Harrison Analysis]

- Rey Mysterio clotheslining a woman. Your ar... ah, you know what comes next. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- K Sawyer Paul talks to Rachel Davies of Wrestlegasm about blogging, CM Punk and why she could be the only fan of Stephanie McMahon on the planet other than Stephanie herself or Triple H. [Aggressive Art]

- John Cena is untouchable [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Scumbag wrestling promoter reaches new, new low. [With Leather]

- Scott Bowden talks about Jerry Jarrett's new biography. [Kentucky Fried 'Rasslin']

- Dear Vince, this is what we want. [I Want Wrestling]

- Women's wrestling mid-year report card. [Diva Dirt]

- Razor's stream of consciousness, scribed-in-real-time thoughts about RAW. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- Impact review in handy-dandy Woo!/Boo! format [Fair to Flair]

- All about Talk Like Randy Savage Day [The Goozle]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

- Axl Rage

Non-Wrestling Links:

- North Dakota may not be a state thanks to loophole in their constitution. Inb4 the Tea Party invades and makes the secession official. [Newser]

- Patton Oswald makes really good five-second movies. [FilmDrunk]

- Comcast fucks over a dude over data caps, causing some salient inquiries into net neutrality. [Kotaku]

- Who gives a fuck, it's not ginger ale. [The Oatmeal]

- Florida's media guide looks like it was designed by a 12 year old. No, scratch that, I think pre-teens can work Photoshop better than that. Make that designed by a 62 year old then. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- This Week in Fuck You: You. Yes, you. Shut up about Netflix, you fucksticks. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Would you kill a stranger to save football? That, and other questions answered by Drew Magary in the Funbag this week. [Deadspin]

- The Critic, ahead of its time for more than just its humor. 10 things it almost perfectly nailed. [Warming Glow]

- Those Zorblaxians had it coming, bastards. [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- The top 20 minor Harry Potter characters, preemptive withdrawal treatment for youse guys. [Buzz Feed]

- Larry F'n Bowa's midseason report card. Related: Mike Meech of The Fightins will be the guest on The Wrestling Podcast tomorrow. [The Fightins]

- Mind-blowing map of the known Universe, just in case you want to feel insignificant. [Unreality Mag]

- Texting in 1911? TIME TRAVEL EXISTS! [How to Be a Retronaut]

- Teaster poster for The Dark Knight Rises! [Blast-o-Rama]

- Breaking news, the Philadelphia 76ers have been sold. [CBS Philly]

- The Song of Ice and Fire series (read: Game of Thrones) is one wordy-ass novel serial. [Gamma Squad]

- Rutgers football player paralyzed in a game is now walking. Heartwarming story. [Dr. Saturday]

- If the world ran off medieval technology today... [Cracked]

- Want to read some good X-Men trades? Here are 11 essential ones. [Topless Robot]

- Boring NASCAR race plagued by bad traffic. A double whammy. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Tyler Myers breaks the glass retorting to a Flyers fan taunting him. I ain't even mad. [Puck Daddy]

- Diablo Cody is writing the next Evil Dead movie. Nerd boners DEFLATE [AV Club]

- A song for departed Flyers rental forward Kris Versteeg. This isn't homoerotic in the slightest, by the way. At all. Not that there'd be anything wrong with it if it were. Just sayin'. [Flyers Goal Scored By]

- The 25 least valuable players in NFL. Somehow, there are no representatives from the Eagles offensive line here. [Grantland]

- The most unfair video game characters ever. Good list, although I would have put "cheating online assholes who call you a n00b on PSN..." oh wait, they're not characters, they're unfortunately real. [The Smoking Section]

- Did Tom Green invent planking? If so, I think flogging is the appropriate punishment. [Uproxx]

- Charlie Manuel tries to add Wilson Valdez to the NL All-Star roster. Hilarity ensues. [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- Handy flowchart on what to expect in a Little League at-bat. [Sports Pickle]

- Is Brandon Graham's injury more serious than thought? [The 700 Level]

- Fear Itself teaser [Comic Books and Whatever]

Randy Orton Puts Foot in Mouth

Criticizing her in-ring? Cool. Insinuating she's a slut? Totally not cool.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Via Cageside Seats

Randy Orton recently did an interview with a local rock station in Arizona where he made some hair-raising remarks. The one he's catching the most flak for is his insinuation that Kelly Kelly may be a bit on the promiscuous side:

Egged on by the two hosts, he makes some very unflattering remarks towards current divas champion Kelly Kelly after noting he worked a short romance angle with her in early 2009. ("I would be a method actor, and actually sleep with her," jokes host John Holmberg. "I could name a few method actors in WWE," Orton says. "Like, ten guys.") The disparaging remarks about who Kelly has or hasn't slept with continue throughout the show. Kelly has yet to directly respond to the remarks, sans a cryptic remark on Twitter which could be interpreted as a response to Orton: "The best way to fight stupidity, is by ignoring it."

On the surface, those some pretty heavy implications. These comments have caused a furor on the Internet, both by people outraged by the continual double standard about the number of sexual partners you can acceptably have based on gender and by people who think those complainers are taking things way out of proportion. I feel like I sympathize more with the former, but there's a lot of context here that we need to wade through before we start carrying effigies of Orton through the street with our local chapter of NOW. That isn't to say that what Orton said wasn't heinous, because it was. However, I'm not so sure he's the only one upon whom we should be heaping scorn.

First thing's first, there is an overt double standard in society about the acceptable number of sexual partners that each gender can have. That number for men seems to be infinite, while the number for women approaches zero. It's awful, heinous and it supports the culture of victim blaming in sexual assault cases where "she was asking for it" is an acceptable defense of a predator. This double standard seems to be more prevalent in the sports community, even moreso in the combat sports/sports entertainment community. I mean, look at how poorly women seem to be treated in WWE. That treatment has gotten better over the years, but in a promotion where babyface Jerry Lawler fat-shames heel Vickie Guerrero when Vickie Guerrero is not fat, there's still a lot of work to be done. And of course, who could forget the whole Joe Rogan/Maggie Hendricks hullabaloo where people were falling all over themselves to make excuses or defend Rogan's use of the word "cunt" as a modifier for Hendricks' justified calling out of a borderline sociopath who just happened to work for the same company as Rogan.

That being said, there is some merit to the argument that Orton may have been goaded, or that he realized his mistake and backtracked or that maybe he was just joking. For one, the actual wording reads like a joke. If you listen to the actual audio, the host, John Holmberg, keeps hounding and hounding Orton for salacious answers. This is his MO according to Arizonan and TWB superfan Joe O'Toole. Orton also tries to backtrack, and his tone is never really all that sure. There's an argument for mitigation here.

That being said, any mitigating factor, to me, is trivial at best and irrelevant at worst. It certainly does not absolve Orton of criticism. Whether he was sorry or not or whether he was goaded or whatever is irrelevant to me. It still speaks to a much larger problem in this double standard, or slut-shaming as I'll be calling it from here on out. It wouldn't be as big of a problem if it didn't affect people professionally, which I really feel it does. A woman has to feel shame for whom she chooses to share a bed, regardless of whether it's for a sinister motive or not. Regardless of any ulterior intentions, whom people fuck is their own damn business, and if they choose to share that business with you, you're a piece of shit if you share it against their will to an audience of strangers. So, for that to affect a woman professionally, especially if those relationships were non-career advancing, is beyond reprehensible. No one has the right to know these things, and now they're making an impact on the work environment?

Furthermore, those mitigating factors? They're out the window when looking at Orton's history. He has a history of anger issues and disrespecting other co-workers, ESPECIALLY women. I mean, do we remember his alleged bag-defecation? Yeah. When you're a repeat offender, you're looked upon with much more scrutiny than if you're a first-timer with a clean track record.

Then again, the truth is Orton is a product of his environment to some degree. This doesn't excuse him, but it means he isn't the only one whom we should be blasting. Again, going back to the fat- and slut-shaming in angles (hell, Impact's entire Knockouts division is built upon accusations of sleeping to the top) in both major companies and the general "boys club" atmosphere of wrestling, it can be hard to make changes. That doesn't mean the business is long overdue for a women's equality movement. Change has to start with the workers, especially as women wrestlers are starting to become more than just tits, asses, pretty faces and personality-devoid automatons built for nothing but boner fuel for the target audience.

And again, if Orton realized he said a dumb-shit thing and started backtracking, that's a start. However, he needs to train himself to not make those kinds of comments in the future. I don't know if you've noticed, but with the Vickie fat-shaming, John Cena making homophobic statements IN CHARACTER and then backtracking by saying the problem was us, not him, Michael Cole calling Josh Mathews a "faggot" on Twitter and a couple of questionable segments involving R-Truth, the WWE isn't exactly setting an example for being the friendliest or most accepting company for which to work. The WWE shouldn't be so accepting of these kinds of incidents, and they need to start cracking down. Whether you agree with it or not, sponsors don't generally like associating with companies that are seen as controversial in a bad way, or harboring unsavory characters.

However, I'd rather see change be made by the wrestlers themselves. I know that's a tall order, but instead of having to backtrack on the air or make excuses, maybe in the future, Randy Orton should not make those kinds of comments towards fellow co-workers, and most importantly, maybe he ought not to think those things either. Then again, I can't police a guy's thoughts.

Therefore, I'll just take him shutting his mouth and not insinuating that a female co-worker of his sleeps with everyone she can spread her legs for, okay?

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Your Midweek Links: I'M IN TERRIBLE PAIN RIGHT NOW

Sexiest mask ever... well after Mankind, of course
Photo Credit: Padje Mescall

It's hump day, so here are some links to get you through the rest of the week.

Self-Shilling

- The Wrestling Podcast! Last week's show featured Josh "PUNTE" Zerkle, who was an awesome guest and has a podcast of his own (which I pimp in the non-wrestling links). Check this one out though, because there's some great talk about Bret Hart, the "good ol' days" and of course, his work on blogs like With Leather and Kissing Suzy Kolber. [Episode 8: Yankem Hotel Foxtrot]

- My Fair to Flair piece on botching and why it ain't that bad. [Why Botching Isn't the End of the World]

- In case you were wondering, yes, that was a donkey punch by Alberto del Rio on Rey Mysterio last week. [Your Match of the Week, 6/19-6/25, Fair to Flair]

- A piece that I could have run on Fair to Flair but chose to submit to the Camel Clutch Blog for my own reasons. It's about whether to call pro wrestling a sport or theater. [The Case for the Classification of Pro Wrestling]

Wrestling Links

- Kick-Out!! Radio with Jeff Katz. I'm pimping this for three days straight because, despite what some commenters are saying, I really feel like this is an awesome idea. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- A1-Wrestling poster "Handsome" Padje Mescall went to a lucha show in England featuring Skayde and Cassandro and posted tons of pics. [A1-Wrestling]

- A comprehensive look at ROH's Best in the World [The Harrison Analysis]

- Good ol' JR is prescient about CM Punk's comments and talks about filming the sitdown interview between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for their upcoming DVD. [JR's BBQ Sauce Blog]

- Another take on Queen of Queens from friend of TWB John Hyperion. [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- The Wheelhouse looks at Kevin Steen. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Looking at the worked shoot via the CM Punk promo at the end of RAW [Grapple Kingdom]

- A look at Stan Hansen, aka THE MAN [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- I'm not the only one who refuses to pay tribute to Chris Benoit. [Wrestling Theory]

- The best satire is the kind that you have to do a spit take after reading because you think it's real. This is the best satire, Fake Vince going off on Punk for his promo on RAW. [Fair to Flair]

- Speaking of Fair to Flair, the podcast's sixth episode discusses more about why Kevin Kelly sucks. [Fair to Flair]

- Of course Jay Briscoe makes homophobic comments on Twitter AFTER I tell you to follow him. WAY TO MAKE ME LOOK LIKE AN ASS, REDNECK WRESTLER GAWD. [Cageside Seats]

- The Masked Man on Punk. [Grantland]

- More Punk, as he's straight up trollin' on Twitter. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- Nicole Matthews to do the reverse-SHIMMER migration. [Diva Dirt]

- KSP FJMs MM... err, I mean Mark Madden [Aggressive Art]

- And if that wasn't enough calling out bad journalism, Jason Mann gets in on the action too, only on a much bigger fish. [Wrestlespective]

- Obligatory Best and Worst of RAW column, because seriously, you need to read this every week. [With Leather]

Jamie Dobson Interviews

- Tim Arson

Non-Wrestling Links

- Lindy West fills in for Drew Magary on the Funbag this week. Holy shit, it's awesome. [Deadspin]

- Episode 80 of the House of PUNTE podcast, where I'm more than likely going to hell for losing my shit at Brian Stow jokes. Also, more talk about feces than you might be able to handle. And Brad Jackson talks Longhorn football. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- I'm pretty sure that there's no jury in the entire province of Quebec (or is it Ontario?) that would convict Muscles Glasses for snapping haters' necks after they stole burgers from fine-ass ladies. [Epic Meal Time]

- This year's Hockey Hall of Fame class has a distinct Maple flavor. [Puck Daddy]

- Warning: BEAR [Cracked]

- Quentin Tarantino is a foot fetishist? Color me not surprised. [Uproxx]

- Why the Royals may be the next AL team to make the leap from laughingstock to contender. [Grantland]

- How Ian Lapierre won the Masterson Trophy. [Flyers Goal Scored By]

- Mission: Impossible 4 - The Ghost Protocol teaser trailer... featuring Sawyer from LOST. [Buzz Feed]

- Commissioner of the Bush League gets called to Congress [Sports Pickle]

- Captain Kirk vs. Captain Kirk... although I thought they were in Star Trek, not Over the Top... [Unreality Mag]

- Review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Marty Day is a brave soul. [Blast-o-Rama]

- Yes, this is for a series that's been over since Sunday. No, I don't particularly care. [The Fightins]

- Self diagnosis becomes self-aware [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- The summer doldrums are here for sports. Unless you're B-Stroud and are a huge baseball nerd. Then this is the point where you tell Shanoff to shove it. [Dan Shanoff]

- Adam Savage of Mythbusters sings "I Will Survive" as Gollum. Your argument is invalid. [Topless Robot]

- Commentary on the state of the Wisconsin Badgers by a real live badger. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Danger Guerrero FJMs the shit out of someone who got butthurt over Go the Fuck to Sleep. [Danger Guerrero Tumblr]

- Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are good pitchers. Baaaaht... chu already knew that. [Crashburn Alley]

- Poor Eeyore. [Skull Swap]

- John Ratzenberger is the best actor in America, and other fun uses of the Rotten Tomatoes graph feature. [Film Drunk]

- Maybe the greatest ceremonial first pitch ever? [Bro Bible]

- T-Mobile girl to play Retro Girl in the Powers series. Spoiler alert: she's dead before the series even starts. [Gamma Squad]

- Funniest epic headline ever. [With Leather]

- Sports hipster clothing alert! 1990-91 Golden State Warriors tee available. Given that I was always a huge Tim Hardaway fan, I am intrigued by this. [The Smoking Section]

- The Tasmanian devil's genome has been mapped. What about Taz the Tazmanian Devil? Or Taz, the shitty Impact announcer? Not sure about those yet. [Wired UK]

- RIP Lorenzo Charles. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- No more "interim" tag for Luke Fickell at Ohio State. Does that put those Urban Meyer rumors to rest? Fuck no! [Dr. Saturday]

- Tennessee's legislature debates serious business [The Onion]

- How's this for funny? Michael Jackson voiced the crazy white guy claiming to be him on The Simpsons, but he didn't sing the "Happy Birthday Lisa" song. [Warming Glow]

- Rant about that awful-looking new Terra Nova show. [Comic Books and Whatever]

- Some hockey nuggets from TWB superfan Dave Cunning [The SDC Blogs]

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Vickie Guerrero Is Totally Not Fat, Pt. 25,193

Pictured: Not Fat
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Monday night, Jerry Lawler was at it with the fat jokes on Vickie Guerrero again. The outcry predictably came from Twitter, and yeah, it was like shouting into the abyss. That wasted breath was made compounded because in a recent interview, she stated the fat jokes didn't bother her:

They really didn’t bother me. Well, I guess they did to an extent, but not to where I was feeling bad about myself. It was who I was. We have beautiful women that work with us, and when I was in the locker room with them and we’re dressing and stuff, I would look at them and be like, ‘Oh, this is ridiculous. I’m going to change.’ I wanted to feel good being a part of their group and to live a lifestyle that was going to be promoted with the WWE. Now when they say the jokes, it’s like, ‘Whatever.’ [laughs] The jokes have helped grow my character to what it is. I just kind of roll with it and leave it behind me when I leave the arena. Again, there's the character and then there's the real person. You can't take what's going on at work personally.

Okay, so she does it for the character. I get it, it doesn't offend her much any more. The fact that she's feels an inkling of intimidation or shame is bad, but let's pretend that the shame is negligible. She's not offended by fat-shaming.

Well, I am, and I'm not the only one.

See, like Vickie Guerrero, I lost a shitpile of weight over the last year or so. I started out my journey at 336 lbs. I'm down to 265 lbs. It took a lot of work. The fact that Vickie lost all that weight, and quite frankly looks AMAZING, is a testament of will and should be commended. Instead, an old pervert calls her fat in order for her to gain heel heat. The fact that she's NOT fat is not only insulting to her, but it's insulting to our intelligence.

And in case you haven't noticed, Vickie can garner heel heat just by opening her mouth. She doesn't need to be fat-shamed. And if Vickie truly isn't offended by the fat jokes, she should be. Again, she worked hard. Fifty-two pounds is no joke. To allow Lawler (or really, Vince McMahon since the order probably comes from him) to call her fat belittles all the work she did to take the weight off.

It's especially asinine now that WWE is involved in this anti-bullying campaign. The face is the bully, and a woman who took off all that weight is now portraying the message that it's okay to insult people for being fat, even if they aren't. It's stupid.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Batista Wants to Walk for Miles Inside a Pit of Danger at Least One More Time

Via the Camel Clutch Blog via a Wrestling Observer audio interview

As Professor Farnsworth from Futurama says, "Good news, everybody!" Dave Batista has made known his intentions to return to WWE for one more run. Desire on his end is very much good news, since you can probably figure that the WWE would take him back in a heartbeat if it meant selling a few extra PPVs. Big Dave said he wants one more run and a retirement match to go out properly, and given the way he performed on his way out, as well as his run in the dissolution of Evolution, I'm not alone in saying those are words to our ears.

As referenced by the above picture, Batista has become somewhat of a popular Internet meme amongst wrestling fans. So even if his return is a dud in the ring, at least we'll get plenty more .gif material out of it. But I have high hopes, especially if he comes back and the first word he says is "SPOTLIGHT!"

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Your Midweek Links: Baaaahston Edition

Not the picture selected for Corgi Addict, but still, it's my doggie!
Photo Credit: Me

It's hump day, so here are some links to help get you through the rest of the week:

Self-Shilling

- Have you listened to Episode 5 of TWP yet? If not, WHAT THE SHIT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Especially if you're a PWG fan! [Episode 5: Paul London Calling]

- My dog made it to the Corgi Addict Tumblr page. Why? BECAUSE HE'S THE BEST DOG EVER, GAWD. [Obsessive Corgi Disorder]

Wrestling Links

- Fucked up story out of All-Japan Pro Wrestling. One wrestler beats the shit out of another one in the locker room (legit) while four others watched, and the victim is in a coma. Keiji Mutoh has to resign his presidency over this. [Cageside Seats]

- Even in announcing her hiatus, Kharma's still a game-changer. [Fair to Flair]

- Rosa Mendes apparently had a wardrobe malfunction last night in a dark match. The bad news? It was in a dark match. [Diva Dirt]

- Eric Gargiulo recounts the best jobbers from the 1980s WWF. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- DDS interviews Serena Deeb. [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Jesse Ventura shares his Macho Man memories. [I Want Wrestling]

- Shaq and WWE are a great fit. Seriously. [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- Classic promo alert: Bill Dundee's tall tale spun about Macho Man. [Kentucky Fried 'Rasslin']

- Warrior making a ton of random noises. [PizzaBodySlam's Tumblr]

- Obligatory Best and Worst of RAW for this week [With Leather]

Jamie Dobson Interviews

- Player Uno

- Sensational Scott Reed

- GQ Gallo

Non-Wrestling Links

- Bill Simmons launched a new site, Grantland. Here's one of the first articles, about LeBron James not measuring up in the Finals. [Grantland]

- Flava Flav had a $6M coke habit. Sounds low to me. [Warming Glow]

- Unreality's review of what I thought was Game of Thrones most important episode this season. [Unreality Mag]

- 25 Awesome Sand Castles... before the waves knocked them down, of course [Holy Taco]

- Meme alert: Things Fry isn't sure of. [Gamma Squad]

- How to make a successful movie [Pleated Jeans]

- Marty Day reviews Super 8 [Blast-o-Rama]

- Mountain West's new logo looks eerily familiar... [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Chloe Sevigny to play a pre-op tranny assassin on TV. I don't care what you say, it's not as embarrassing a role as having to blow Vincent Gallo on camera. [Screen Junkies]

- Hipsters are making fishing lures a fashion statement. They make it really hard for me not to hate them... [Film Drunk]

- HOW THE FUCK YA DOIN', GRADE SCHOOL SWIM TEAM? [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Dogs chase cats, AT-ATs chase dogs. [Skull Swap]

- Danger Guerrero gives us a peek in Domonic Brown's first day at Phillies High. [The Fightins]

- A look at how randomly NASCAR doles out penalties. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Nathan Horton gets laid out. Aaron Rome will sit until Game 7 (if necessary) for the late hit. [Puck Daddy]

- Wanna hear a voicemail from a butthurt patron getting kicked out of the Alamo Drafthouse Theater for texting? Of course you do! [Uproxx]

- Best comic book bars ever. [Topless Robot]

- Sixers about to get sold. [The 700 Level]

- A retrospective on Terrelle Pryor's abrupt end to his college career. Meanwhile, the bottom has really fallen out on tOSU, hasn't it? [Dr. Saturday]

- Ain't it true? [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- Alternate titles to current sports books [Sports Pickle]

- Y'know, if you follow the Phils, you'd think this article WASN'T in the Onion. [Onion Sports Network]

- Guy plays with his junk in front of teenagers at a Burger King... yep. [With Leather]

- 100 Funniest Brits [BuzzFeed]

- A rant about fan comics. [Comic Books and Whatever]

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Lanny Poffo: Savage Had Heart Defect

Via F4W Online

Lanny Poffo, brother of the late, great Randy Savage, has claimed in a recent interview that the former WWE Champion suffered from a heart condition known as ventricular fibrillation, which causes sudden-onset heart attacks. According to the interview, Poffo claims that Savage's wife, Barbara, was able to steer the car away from a head-on collision with a motorcycle after the heart attack came on. It's interesting to note that the medical examiner's report has not come back yet, so this is not confirmed, but then again, if anyone is going to know someone's medical history, it'll be a guy's brother and wife.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

18 Month Old Austin Aries Interview with Maybe Best Quote Ever about Wrestling

The man, from around the time of the interview

Dated December 1, 2009 from the Southtown Star Blog

I don't know why this interview is making the rounds on Tumblr now, but regardless of when it was posted originally, it's still salient. Read it:

People go to movies and they watch a great fight scene with Jackie Chan or a phenomenal fight scene without realizing these guys have five takes and 16 different camera angles. And here (with wrestling) is a live-action fight scene with drama and athleticism all rolled into one, and they kind of scoff at that. I can't understand why.

This is entertainment, but that doesn't mean there isn't competition going on within the matches itself, that there isn't compelling drama, good vs. evil. It's a lot of different genres rolled into one. It's acting. It's all these things. It's done live. It's like going to a live opera where they are putting on live fight scenes. Guys really get hit. Guys really fall. (People who think it's a) fake-out couldn't be further from the truth. I've got the X-rays and scans to prove it. If this stuff was fake, my spine would be in a lot better condition.

I don't think I could have said it any better myself.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Your Midweek Links: Kharma Police

Lot of Kharma links this week
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's Hump Day, so if you're having a little trouble getting through the midpoint, here are some links to get you through:

Self-Shilling:

- In case you haven't listened to it yet, here's The Wrestling Podcast's Randy Savage Tribute Episode, with Seth Zillmann of the A1 Podcast. [Episode 4: The Macho Man Who Sold the World]

- More Macho Man podcasting goodness, Jason Mann and I talk about the first SummerSlam main event on his podcast. [Wrestlespective Radio]

Wrestling Links:

- Rare Macho Man audio [I Want Wrestling]

- John Hyperion interviews Rachel Summerlyn. [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Stephen T. Stone takes his turn shouting into the abyss re: the WWE's booking habits. [Grapple Kingdom]

- Speaking of shouting into the abyss, Andre Harrison's five point plan to save TNA. [The Harrison Analysis]

- A review of Brock Lesnar's new book from David Bixenspan. It's not a good one. [Cageside Seats]

- Bruiser Brody abusing the son-in-law of Dick the Bruiser. [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- Trey Irby of Wrestling Theory guests on Fair to Flair with a piece about Kharma and feminism. [Fair to Flair]

- Speaking of Wrestling Theory, more on Kharma, as to why the Bella Twins' attacks on Kharma weren't as bad as some though. [Wrestling Theory]

- Even MORE Kharma, my blogging Bro-bby Heenan, PizzaBodySlam, with his reply to that thread on Tumblr. [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

- Common sense about Kharma's comments about Jim Ross on Monday. [Camel Clutch Blog]

- A month of Kharma in WWE: A retrospective. [Diva Dirt]

- Razor gives the THQ press release on WWE '12 the FJM treatment. [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- Best and Worst of RAW for this past week... maybe the best one yet. [With Leather]

- Jerry Lawler's recollections of working with and against Randy Savage [Kentucky Fried 'Rasslin']

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

- Johnny Gargano

- Justin Mane

- CJ O'Doyle

- Marc Mandrake

Non-Wrestling Links:

- While Jim Tressel finds support from a legendary golfer... [Dr. Saturday]

- ...he gets no such love from an actual, honest-to-God alumnus of the school he boned. [With Leather]

- I'd totally eat at a food truck called This Is Spinal Tapas [Film Drunk]

- To jack it to pictures of a hot coworker or not to jack it to pictures of a hot coworker? That is the question. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- Ever wonder what a "Canuck" was? With the Stanley Cup Finals upon us, I'm sure you have. [Puck Daddy]

- DC Comics rebooting ALL of their series this coming fall. I like this idea a lot, actually, although the only comic series I really read, Green Lantern, doesn't need one. [Topless Robot]

- Cracked Photoplasty: What if real life were like RPGs? [Cracked]

- You think our leaders say dumb shit? Queen Elizabeth's husband has been gaffing for 90 years now! [The Independent]

- The Phillies get a visit from Guy Fieri... [Zoo with Roy]

- I rarely link the same site twice here, but I think ZWR deserves it. How Charlie Manuel came about to let Wilson Valdez pitch in that epic 19-inning game... "Chu no my nayn?" [Zoo with Roy]

- Kevin Owen interviews Darryl Dawkins. Side note, why hasn't someone in pro wrestling adopted the nickname "Chocolate Thunder" yet? [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- The evolution of Super Smash Bros. graphics and a question about Nintendo's processing power [Unreality Mag]

- 40 songs about jackin' it. [BuzzFeed]

- Drew Magary has never seen a dead body. Why does that surprise me so much? [Deadspin]

- 25 Alternate Versions of Batman. Honestly, this list is missing Batman as a member of GWAR. [Gamma Squad]

- The upside to Jim Tressel getting the heave ho at Ohio State. Note: Jason Mann, Josh Zerkle, Pete Speer, Billy Dunlevy and other OSU fans, you probably aren't agreeing with this. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- George Lucas has 50 hours of scripts for a Star Wars TV show written. In other news, *FART NOISE* [Warming Glow]

- Did you miss Oprah's last show? Odds are, if you read this blog, you have. Fear not, because here's a recap for you! [Holy Taco]

- I don't know, if Clevelanders haven't committed mass suicide yet, I'm not sure LeBron winning a title would make them take the leap. (KIDDING PETE GAWD) [Sports Pickle]

- When PBS reports that Tupac and Biggie are still alive, that's when you know it's too good to be true. [Uproxx]

- Never invite your mother to dirty limerick night. [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- Back to Egypt for you, Sons of Abraham [The Onion]

- Why Scottie Pippen is full of poop in calling LeBron James better than Michael Jordan. [The Smoking Section]

- Link, made out of urls. This is so meta it's not even funny. [Buzz Brewery]

- The Atlanta Thrashers, remembered for... eh, they really weren't memorable for anything but getting beaten by teams, especially the Flyers. [The 700 Level]

- More Thrash-to-Winnipeg musings, a more radical expansion plan from Ryan Lockhard. [Flyers Goal Scored By]

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

...One Person Here Likes Hulk Hogan

Randy Savage had a bunch of appearances on the Arsenio Hall Show, and this one was actually right before WrestleMania V. Strange to see a heel yak it up on TV in the age of kayfabe, but seriously, heel or face, Macho Man was a guy you wanted to see and like. Hall actually played the interview exceptionally well, but then again, he always had a bunch of wrestlers on his show, and he knew how to tread with the kayfabe issues. Hosts today have it way easier with wrestlers to tell you the truth.

I cracked up in the beginning when Hall asked what made Macho Madness better than Hulkamania and Savage made the veiled dick reference with his title belt. Morgan Fairchild's reaction here was priceless too.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

George Steele on Why Savage and McMahon Had Heat

George "The Animal" Steele
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Via WrestleChat.Net

It wasn't a bar slap. It wasn't having relations with jailbait Stephanie. It was a feeling of betrayal that kept Randy Savage out of the WWE according to George "The Animal" Steele. On a radio interview with Busted Open on Sirius, Steele recounted Savage's jump to WCW and how McMahon felt about the whole ordeal:

That’s been said a lot of different ways, and there’s been a lot of different things said that are not true necessarily.

I think that what happened with Randy, when his career was winding down with the WWF, Vince McMahon just loved Randy. After all everything Randy had done and he took him under his wing, and he wantedRandy after the ring was over with for him, he wanted him to be our spokesperson. He was traveling with Vince all the time. Randy was almost like a son, they were really tight. And then one day, we were at a TV meeting, and we got word that Randy, without calling Vince, had left and jumped to the WCW. I had never seen Vince McMahon broken before, he was crushed. It hurt him big time and I don’t think he ever got over that. I think that’s the real problem to be honest with you. I heard all this other stuff that I think is garbage when it comes to Randy and relationships with daughters and all that stuff… I don’t think that’s anywhere’s close to the truth.

So yeah, just another case of wrestling rumors gone wild, because I think that if I were going to believe anyone, it'd be Steele. He seems like the honest type, and really, what would he have to gain about his candor?

Honestly, I think it's a shame that the two never fully reconciled if McMahon had that close a relationship with Savage at one time, but then again, it's not like McMahon never betrayed anyone. What could have been...

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!