Kurt Angle Likes To Suck & The Origin Of The Titty Master: Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week
Wait, let me rephrase that...
Though WWE Hell in a Cell takes place this Sunday and would be a natural thing to talk about in this here introduction, it feels more pertinent to send good wishes to three very different wrestling personalities.
First, to Don West, the former TNA/Impact Wrestling manager and commentator who this week revealed that he has been diagnosed with brain lymphoma.
As someone who watched TNA in the very early days, I have very fond memories of West, an announcer that was always extremely enthusiastic and put in a lot of effort trying to get over the company's stars, storylines and overall product.
Considering he had no wrestling background prior to taking the gig, it's amazing how quickly he took to it. He really made a difference and deserves a lot of credit for his work in the promotion.
Secondly, to Antonio Inoki, the Japanese wrestling legend and cultural icon who is currently on the mend after emergency surgery. There were rumours that Inoki was on his deathbed not too long ago, but those have been quashed and, while he looks frail, the New Japan founder should make a recovery.
And thirdly, to Ed 'Brutus the Barber Beefcake' Leslie, whose wife Missy asked for prayers for as he deals with health issues including high blood pressure, shortness of breath and headaches.
The WWE Hall of Famer is a divisive figure and often the source of ridicule, particularly due to his seemingly never-ending list of gimmicks and aliases, but he was a big star and a memorable character and, at this point, is one of the few major league performers from that generation still kicking about.
A couple of Brother Bruti's contemporaries make an appearance in this week's Ten Things, which is, as ever, an adequate distraction from proper social interaction and a good way to catch up on the wrestling stories that eluded you this week.
10. The Kia Riding Economy Flying Son Of A Gun
This week, Cristian Ronaldo wiped a few billion off the value of Coca-Cola when he removed bottles of the soft drink from the podium at his press conference ahead of the Portugal captain's match at Euro 2021, telling those in the room - and many more watching around the world - to 'drink water' instead.
Well, former 16-time World Champion Ric Flair may similarly hurt the share price of Kia motors after a story surfaced this week that concerned the Nature Boy refusing to ride in one of their cars.
Podcast host (and Flair's son-in-law) Conrad Thompson relayed the story to Tony Schiavone on a recent edition of the What Happened When podcast.
"So we’re waiting, this car pulls up, window rolls down, says, 'Get in'. Ric starts laughing, 'Yeah. Get the f*ck outta here'.
And so the guy's like, 'No, seriously, I'm your ride'. He's like, 'I got a car coming buddy, thank you though, appreciate you watching'. And he's like, 'No, no. "So-and-so" [whoever the promoter was] sent me'.
And Ric's like, 'What?’. And the guy says, 'Yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to pick you up'. He says, 'The World Champion doesn't ride in KIAs so get a f*ckin' town car, get a Cadillac and come back'.
He's like, 'No, I'm not a car service, this is an Uber'. He's like, 'I don’t care what your name is, get out of here!'. So I was like, 'No, Ric, this is our car'. He's like, 'Conrad, I'm not getting in a f*ckin' Uber. I'm not doing it'".
I hope they acquiesced to his demand. You do not want to upset Flair on the road.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
