Honky Tonk Man's New Look & WCW Rings Re-Emerge: Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week

We all like a whinge from time to time, don't we?

Everyone does it, but I'm not sure anyone does it as much as wrestling fans.

There's as much complaining as celebrating half the time and, while sometimes it's not entirely justified, Peacock's handling of the WWE Network has resulted in a great deal of moaning that was definitely warranted.

Not only has it apparently been technically far from flawless, but eagle-eyed fans are beginning to notice cuts to classic content that is now deemed inappropriate.

Though a lot of the stuff cut was tasteless at the time and certainly does not play well today, this revisionism of history opens up a whole quandary of issues.

Because, look, while I don't necessarily want to revisit some crass segment, angle or match from back in the day, I still think it's wrong just to get rid of them completely when a disclaimer or something else could do the job.

History is history and, while I get Peacock's position, the whole process seems a little off and sets a bad precedent.

Many in the wrestling community seem to agree and this week's piece could have been ten of the stronger reactions to the disappearing footage.

Don't worry though, because it's not, and we have plenty of other interesting bits and pieces to cover.

However, there is only one place to start...

10. The Wrestling World Reacts To Peacock WWE Network Edits

WWE.com

RIP WWE Network 2014 - Too Soon

Alright, so calling recent recent events the 'death' of the WWE Network might be a tad melodramatic, but the transition of the service to Peacock (in the United States) has been far from smooth, or so it would seem based on what I'm reading from using the service in the USA.

Not only is there a depleted library as compared with the traditional WWE Network, but Peacock themselves are now in the process of removing questionable content that doesn't measure up to their standards.

So far we've seen the entire Roddy Piper versus Bad News Brown match from WrestleMania VI excised, as well as controversial segments like Vince McMahon saying the 'N' word in the presence of Booker T (from Survivor Series 2005) and the infamous DX parody of the Nation of Domination from 1998.

At this rate, those old Attitude Era episodes of Raw are going to be whittled down to Dan Severn matches, aren't they?

Anyway, it hasn't gone over well with many fans or wrestlers, either, and several superstars past and present have chimed in with a comment or a joke via social media.

Lance Storm tagged Peacock on Twitter and gave them permission to edit off any of his stuff from the dancing gimmick of 2003, while his ECW pal The Blue Meanie asked to be edited into some old Raws.

Brian Pillman Jr. joked that he didn't think any of his dad's racy old promos would make it to Peacock, while Stevie Richards drew parallels to his Right to Censor stable.

Those are just a few examples and it'll be interesting to see how people react as the service (presumably) continues to edit.

9. The Honk Abides

WWE.com

For a time, you couldn't load up your YouTube homepage without being recommended a video of the Honky Tonk Man shooting on someone or something.

After his wrestling days were done, the WWE Hall of Famer became one of the more entertaining and colourful personalities on the shoot interview scene.

It looks like those days may be over, however, because as well as selling off all of his old gear on Ebay, Wayne Ferris has now grown out his hair and has a huge grey beard. If that's not the look of a man settling into retirement, I don't know what is.

I'm not the first person to remark that the greatest Intercontinental Champion in history now resembles The Dude character (as portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the Coen Brothers' cult classic film The Big Lebowski), but he really, really does.

So from now on I think we should all refer to him as The Honk.

That or, uh, his Honkness or, uh, the Honker, or El Honkerino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing...

Honky Tonk Man / Twitter

8. Do NOT Vote For Big Dan Rodimer

WWE.com

Do you remember Don Rodimer, AKA Dan Rodman, AKA a contestant on 2004's Million Dollar Tough Enough who was then signed to a developmental deal before flirting with a main roster call up before ultimately getting released after a couple of years?

Of course you do!

Well, Big Dan (as he's branding himself) has gotten into politics and, while I think the term 'good politics' is perhaps something of an oxymoron, he's firmly in the 'bad politics' arena.

Having previously failed to make any inroads in Nevada, Rodimer is now trying his luck in Texas and is portraying himself as bull-ridin', yee-hawin', gun-totin' son of the Lone Star State.

Daniel Rodimer, it should be noted, was born in New Jersey and went to school in Florida.

Anyway, Big Dan has released a hilarious campaign video full of cliché and Tumpisms that is practically a 150-second meme. It looks like something that could very well have been taken from Borat, but I assure you it is not a parody.

I'd recommend you check it out if you fancy a chuckle but, if any Texans are reading, I'd consider your vote very carefully.

8. Do NOT Vote For Big Dan Rodimer

WWE.com

Do you remember Don Rodimer, AKA Dan Rodman, AKA a contestant on 2004's Million Dollar Tough Enough who was then signed to a developmental deal before flirting with a main roster call up before ultimately getting released after a couple of years?

Of course you do!

Well, Big Dan (as he's branding himself) has gotten into politics and, while I think the term 'good politics' is perhaps something of an oxymoron, he's firmly in the 'bad politics' arena.

Having previously failed to make any inroads in Nevada, Rodimer is now trying his luck in Texas and is portraying himself as bull-ridin', yee-hawin', gun-totin' son of the Lone Star State.

Daniel Rodimer, it should be noted, was born in New Jersey and went to school in Florida.

Anyway, Big Dan has released a hilarious campaign video full of cliché and Tumpisms that is practically a 150-second meme. It looks like something that could very well have been taken from Borat, but I assure you it is not a parody.

I'd recommend you check it out if you fancy a chuckle but, if any Texans are reading, I'd consider your vote very carefully.

7. KENTA & CM Punk Argue Over The GTS Again

WWE.com

Ah, this again...

Ring of Honor star Danhausen tweeted CM Punk a gif of him using the Go To Sleep/GTS from ROH's 19th anniversary show this week, thanking the Straight-Edge Superstar for the finisher and saying that he 'stole it'.

Punk responded 'You might wanna buzz the other guy because he seems sensitive about it. Fully endorsed over here though! Very kneevil'. 

The 'other guy' is, of course, KENTA/Hideo Itami, who invented the move and has previously taken issue with Punk's use of it.

Well, the New Japan standout saw Punk's tweet and replied with 'HEY This is “THE OTHER GUY”. I’m super excited to see anyone use Go 2 Sleep EXCEPT FOR YOU. GOOD NIGHT'.

Will these two just get it over with and kiss already?

6. Christian Is A Marked Man

WWE.com

Former WWE star Al Snow recently spoke with WrestleZone about his career, including his run with Steve Blackman as the Head Cheese tag team.

Snow hasn't seen his old partner in a while, but says that he's still in great shape and that he has very fond memories of them working together.

It was noted that Blackman was a serious fella, not one for horseplay or shenanigans, which not only helped their odd couple chemistry but also led to some funny situations backstage, including one with Christian.

According to the former European Champion, the Lethal Weapon was incensed that Captain Chairsma would constantly talk about not selling Blackman's offense, resulting in a funny running joke between Snow and Christian.

“Christian and I used to have a running joke that whenever we left, we went off the road and went back home that Steve’s hobby was stalking Christian, trying to plan how to murder him. One night in Pennsylvania, Steve was calling what he wanted to do in the ring. It was me and him against I think Christian and Edge or something and Christian kept standing there dead serious, wouldn’t crack a smile. Steve would say, ‘I’m gonna do blah blah blah’, and Christian would go, ‘Not gonna sell that’, and Steve would act like he didn’t hear it and he’d call something else, right? And Christian would go, ‘Eh, I’ll duck that’, and just blow it off like, ‘Pfft. Big deal'". 

And he did that like four or five times and then Steve would just turn to him and looked at him and goes, ”Yeah that’s real funny. HA! HA! HA!’ and walked off. And I went, ‘You’re going to die. You understand? He’s got a dark room in his house where he has pictures of you like leaving the store, getting in your car, going to the airport. He’s tracking you. He’s waiting for the right moment to finally pick his spot, and you’re going to disappear because you keep screwing with him". 

I mean, Blackman does currently work as a bail bondsman and once almost had his own bounty hunting show, so maybe it wouldn't hurt Christian to look over his shoulder from time to time.

5. Henry Godwinn Talks 'Taker's Boozy Retirement

WWE.com

As part of The Undertaker's retirement at the 2020 Survivor Series, WWE flew in his Bone Street Krew pals for the occasion.

The BSK - which consisted of Yokozuna, The Godfather, Rikishi, The Godwinns and Savio Vega and a couple of others - was so called because of their predilection for playing dominoes backstage.

The evening before the pay-per-view, the BSK boys got together for a big night with The Deadman and made up for lost time, since it was the first time they had all been together in the same place in many years.

Mark 'Henry Godwinn' Centebury recalled (as best he could) the events of that evening when he appeared on the Shining Wizard Podcast.

“Bruce Prichard had called me and said ‘Undertaker’s retiring. We’d like to get you guys down here'. I said you don’t have to ask me twice. I’ll be there.

It’s been 20 years since the whole BSK group had been in the same room together. I’d been with Papa (Shango), Rikishi, Savio and Phineas but as a group we hadn’t been together. So we flew down there and everyone was meeting that night. We had our Covid tests and everybody passed. 

So we went to the bar and Taker was gonna be there about 10:30, so we hung out. And then here comes 'Taker and that’s when all the sh*t began. Four bottles of Jack and about 100 beers later, Godfather and Taker were putting me to bed at 3:30. We put in twenty years in one night, so I’m good for another twenty”.

I can't wait for Savio Vega's retirement ceremony to headline Survivor Series 2040.

h/t Wrestling Inc.

4. What Happened To The WCW Rings?

WWE.com

This past week marked a significant anniversary, as twenty years have now passed since the final episode of WCW Nitro and the sale of World Championship Wrestling to WWE.

Plenty of wrestling personalities took to social media to mark the occasion, but one of the most interesting tweets about the defunct organisation was concerning the whereabouts of one of the old Nitro ring canvases.

As shared by the Twitter account WrestleMap, the canvas somehow ended up on the island of Trinidad and is still used by the promotion New Evolution Wrestling. Judging by the picture, the canvas is about twice the size of the ring they use and somebody is just asking to twist their ankle running on the thing.

If anyone knows how it got there, I'd love to know.

3. Elijah Burke Turned Down Spot In The Spirit Squad

WWE.com

Former WWE star Elijah Burke, who now wrestles as Da Pope, gave an interview with Lucha Libre Online that produced a few interesting nuggets, including the fact that he was once pencilled in as a member of the Spirit Squad before turning it down.

According to Burke:

"The opportunity was presented by Vince McMahon himself. And Vince McMahon told me along with the other original members of the Spirit Squad that we were going to make a lot of money because it was his idea. And he was going to push it obviously, because it was his own idea, his own creation. Vince got on a plane one day and thought to himself, ‘Ha! People hate cheerleaders, ha ha ha! I’ll get cheerleaders!’. And so, that’s what he did. He got some male cheerleaders, and he wanted me to be one of them. And I politely turned it down, as I didn’t think I could’ve did that role any justice".

While the decision to say 'no' to an idea pitched by the Chairman himself got him heat with some backstage, Burke believes it actually helped him in the eyes of his boss:

“[I got] a bunch of heat for turning it down by some of the boys who saw it as squandering an opportunity, you know, for telling Vince McMahon no. And Vince McMahon appreciated the fact that I was open, honest, and was man enough to say this it’s not for me. And Vince made sure that — he sent me back down to OVW and said, ‘We’ll bring you back when we have something for you'". 

Another interesting tidbit was Elijah claiming that his former tag partner Sylvester Terkay was discussed as an opponent for The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23 in 2007.

"It’s crazy, because that WrestleMania, the whole plan was for Sylvester Terkay and The Undertaker. And Pope was supposed to, obviously — and I had no problem with it! Young Elijah Burke riding the coattails of Sylvester Terkay. To go against the Undertaker. They brought Sylvester Terkay in specifically because Undertaker was and is a huge MMA guy. And so, Undertaker loved the physicalness and the legitness of the MMA. And he loves to bring that time of wherewithal, and create that same type of magic inside the wrestling ring".

It obviously never happened, as The Phenom successfully challenged Batista for the World Heavyweight Title on that show, but it's incredible to think how high WWE officials were on Terkay for a time.

h/t 411mania.com

2. Xavier Woods Signs For The Minnesota Vikings

WWE

Haven't you heard? Xavier Woods has signed for NFL team the Minnesota Vikings!

No, the trombone virtuoso isn't 'doing a Lesnar' and leaving WWE for pro football. It's actually someone who happens to have the same real name as Austin Watson's ring moniker and has previously played for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Vikings, acknowledging the connection, did claim that it was a 'New Day' when announcing his signing.

Woods (WWE) responded with a gif of Homer Simpson and Principal Skinner giving each other the nod.

Okay then!

Just waiting for Wayne Rooney to sign put pen to paper with NXT: UK now.

1. The Rock's Pat Patterson Tribute

WWE.com

The late, great WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson helped many WWE superstar's careers during his decades working behind-the-scenes.

Some of his favourites were Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and The Rock, each one of them championed by the first-ever Intercontinental Champion way before they made it to the main event.

Since his passing in December 2020, those three (including countless others) have paid tribute to Pat and shared stories of what it was like knowing and working with him.

The Brahma Bull had already posted an emotional Instagram post recounting his relationship with Patterson, but decided to pay tribute to his mentor again this week by dedicating an episode of his NBC sitcom Young Rock to him.

Following the episode, a picture of The Rock and Patterson talking backstage following a match was shown, accompanied by the message 'Dedicated to the trailblazing memory of Pat Patterson. My wrestling mentor. My family. I love you'.

Another classy gesture from one of wrestling's true good guys and as good a place as any to sign off for another week.

Enjoy your Easter!