You let your wife pose nude for playboy, move to LA and become a party animal and you're labelled a prat, and that's the game...
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Jul 2, 2021
So it's official: the New Day are the greatest tag team in WWE history!
Well, according to the recent multi-part WWE Network countdown that is, anyway.
And while I'm sure some (particularly long-term fans) may have an issue with them taking the top spot, there's really no need to. Because, you know, it's an arbitrary WWE list and all, and also because, why not New Day?
One of WWE's best acts of the last decade, the interchangeable trio of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E have completely dominated the tag scene since their formation, winning the titles on multiple occasions and having some grand matches along the way.
More than that, New Day have been consistently entertaining and typically make whatever they're given work. A force for positivity and a tight unit outside of the ring, they are examples to all would-be WWE groups.
Personally, I'd have liked to have seen 1-2-3 Kid & Bob 'Spark Plugg' Holly included, but it was a fine countdown and New Day are as worthy as anyone of being called number one.
If you followed WWE's Top 50 Tag Teams and like ephemeral lists of things, then you're in the right place with Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week...
WWE.com
Former WWE Women's Champion Sable was the first of the company's so-called Divas to pose for Playboy, kicking off a years-long relationship between the two sides that saw Chyna, Torrie Wilson, Christy Hemme, Maria and Ashley Massaro also bare all for the magazine.
It was an astute bit of cross-promotion and certainly helped raise Sable's stock, enabling her to become even more popular with the Attitude Era's key male 18-49 demographic.
The decision to pose for Playboy was one that Rena Mero and her then-husband and fellow WWE star Marc had to make together.
As the Marvelous One revealed to the It's My House podcast recently, it was a 'horrible' decision that led to a bad time in the couple's life and relationship:
"At the time it was a discussion that her and I had that we decided to do that. Horrible decision. You look back on life and you say, 'Oh my God, what was I thinking?'. But, what's done is done. You move on. You make mistakes in life and hopefully, those mistakes become learning experiences. It was not a good decision to make for our life, our marriage, our family, and everything else.
Next thing you know we’re at the Playboy parties all the time with Hugh Hefner. We eventually got an apartment right in Hollywood and it was just not a good time in our lives. I don't want to sound like I’m bitter at all because I’m not. All the paths I took in life, good and bad, they led me to where I am today. I couldn't be happier or more content with my life.
Obviously when you talk about these things you rehash memories and things you went through at that time. But all those different paths I took, making mistakes — and thank God they became learning experiences in my life. I feel I'm a better person because of those decisions and choices I made back then that I've learned from and grown from, and can maybe help or steer other people in the right direction".
Man, it's really big of Marc to feel at peace with his former life of being married to Sable, going to Playboy Mansion parties and living in Hollywood.
Sounds like hell.
WWE.com
WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi was a featured panelist at the recent Steel City Comic Con and spoke about a number of topics related to his long and illustrious career.
One of the more interesting notes coming out of that appearance was his reflections on the Armageddon 2000 Hell in a Cell match, a six-man WWE Title affair which also featured champion Kurt Angle, Triple H, Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker.
Talk about esteemed company, eh?
Though he was in there with some of the biggest stars in the history of the industry, it was actually Rikishi who stole the show by taking a huge bump backwards off the cell, onto a flatbed truck.
When discussing the nerve-wracking stunt, The Bad Man had this to say:
"Let me tell you how that match there, for me, you know when we — that bump is so iconic, it's so seen all over the world every time this Hell In A Cell pay-per-view is advertised, every time I watch that bump, that fall off the top of the cage onto that steel flatbed, you know when the time came for what we call a walk-through, the walk-through is like, 'We're gonna see where you're coming from here to here' and during that time during the walk-through, that same flatbed when it came out the first time, there was no steel railings.
There was no steel railings here, but during the live show when they came out, there were steel railings here. Now, you're trained as a professional wrestler, during a live show - is to adapt. The show goes on. I already knew I had to take that bump. That was the money bump, but when it came out and I seen those railings, in my mind, I'm good, but if I don't hit my mark on that flatbed, I might as well say — I wouldn't be here today to talk to you.
So when that time came, you know, 'Taker had grabbed me in the chokehold and I just paused for a minute because I didn't know if this was gonna be the end of me or am I gonna make it and the last thing I said to him, I said, 'Tell my family I love em'.
Thankfully, Rikishi nailed the landing and walked away unscathed.
Another interesting aspect of that bump is that, according to the man himself, he still receives royalties whenever WWE decides to air the footage:
"So Hell In A Cell for me, I love it because 'till today, every time they show a Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, I get residuals because they show me falling backwards off that cage from Undertaker".
Mick Foley must be raking in at least five figures a year then, considering how much play his infamous King of the Ring '98 cell bumps get replayed.
WWE.com
Matt Hardy recently revealed on an Ask Me Anything Twitch stream that one of the reasons he and Jeff were brought back to WWE in 2017 was due to Vince McMahon asking why fans were chanting 'delete' at events.
This was, of course, one of the catchphrases of the incredibly inventive and unique Broken Matt Hardy character, which became a cult favourite in Impact Wrestling.
Naturally, Vince doesn't have time to watch, well, anything other than WWE TV (and Dave Chappelle gigs, as it turns out) so he didn't get the reference.
Matt also said during the stream that while he and Jeff did speak to Vince ahead of returning, they primarily negotiated with Triple H.
When Jeff went down with an injury, Matt got an opportunity to play 'Woken' Matt Hardy, which saw him team with Bray Wyatt. Part of that process was sitting down with the CEO and explaining exactly what it was, an interesting experience per the current AEW performer:
"I remember pulling up to the building one time and I had no idea. Bray Wyatt, who we were buddies before that and we really bonded and gelled as friends, but I remember pulling up to television that day and Bray Wyatt pulled up and he said 'Hey man, are you excited about tonight?'. I was like 'Why, what's tonight?'. He's like 'You haven't heard? We're starting the whole Bray Wyatt, Broken Matt Hardy thing'. I was like 'We are?'.
Then I remember walking in and Michael Hayes said 'Hey, Vince needs to talk to you, he's got 30 minutes chiseled out for you and he wants you to explain the whole Broken Matt Hardy lure and how'd you come up with this and tell me about the character and what's going on'.
That was definitely one of the most interesting 30 minutes I ever had, especially telling him the whole idea of the essence of Broken Matt Hardy going from one body or vessel to another body over time. Explaining that to Vince McMahon was one of my favourite memories of all time. I remember there was a lot of 'Hmmm, okay', and I know in his mind he's going, this son of b*tch is crazy. I had to sound like a mad man to him, an absolute madman. It was cool, it was fun and Vince really did stay open minded.
He let me do Broken Matt on WWE T.V. and on top of that they had said we’re going to get some sort of compound deletion fight. He stayed true to his word, we really had to fight and work hard to do it.
Vince gave it a shot and for that I commend him and thank him. I have nothing but love and a lot of respect for Vince McMahon".
Oh to be a fly on the wall...
WWE.com
Ken Shamrock was a recent guest on the Kurt Angle Show podcast, The World's Most Dangerous Man sitting down for a long conversation with the Olympic gold medalist that touched on his life and careers in both pro-wrestling and MMA.
And, yes, the two discussed Ankle Lock technique.
Shamrock signed with WWE in 1997 and, despite not having a lot of pro experience, adapted very quickly and became a star during the nascent Attitude Era.
Part of that success may be attributed to Bret Hart, who took the time to provide Ken with some key advice:
"I remember going into this thinking I had to get to a place where I could focus on….because I couldn't do it in a shoot gym. It just wasn't the same. I had guys to work with, but that was MMA. I needed pro wrestling and somebody that was better than me. I needed education and some guy I could respect. I remember Bret Hart reached out and somebody said [I should go train with him].
I remember contacting Bret, and Bret said come on up. I went up there and it was Stu [Hart]'s birthday. He put me in so many submission holds, man. It was like his birthday present [laughs]. So, for like an hour I was getting submitted by his dad. That was my first experience. After that, I remember getting in there and working and him saying to me, 'You've gotta be you. Guys are gonna want you to go through these different pro wrestling things because they're comfortable with it. They're gonna try to get you to do those things, but you've gotta stand strong and say that's not what Vince wants me to do'.
He said do it respectfully and also make sure I go in there and shake everybody's hand and let them know they're in charge of putting the match together. So, basically giving them the control over the match because they had more experience than me and I’m here as this guy that's learning. I needed to approach it as so, yet standing firm to where I was getting my stuff over. Bret explained all that to me".
Add another one to the 'Good Guy Bret' column.
WWE.com
Nice to see WWE came to their senses and brought Samoa Joe back in both an on-screen and backstage capacity.
The Samoan Submission Machine spoke with Out of Character with Ryan Satin, discussing (among other things) his time working with Brock Lesnar.
Joe called his feud and matches with The Beast Incarnate a highlight of his career and gave some insight on what it takes to work with the elusive Lesnar.
"I think if you're in this industry, Brock is the type of match you should be seeking out. When you get into this industry, you should be gunning to work with the top, top guys. Brock was the top, top guy. When I was given the opportunity, I did my best to make the most of it every time I was in the ring with him. It's important. You've got to have kind of a goal post and a bar of excellence that you maintain. It's easy when you'sve got guys like Brock, guys like Kurt Angle, guys like Roman. You push yourself because they push.
That's the kind of energy you've got to have when you're out there with Brock. He probably won't respect anything less than that. If you don’t show up saying you're going to try and kick his teeth in and you're coming after him, he ain't trying to hear it. You've got to keep that energy with him. That's kind of what I'm alluding to. You've got to match that intensity. You can't walk into this kind of half-assed and going 'oh I hope this works out. How are you sir? Can't wait to get out there and get after it'. You've got to just go get it. Brock has no qualms about getting into it with anybody. It makes for a nice combination".
It would be remiss of me if I didn't remind everyone that the titanic first meeting between Joe and Brock took place on a show called Great Balls of Fire.
Great. Balls. Of. Fire.
WWE.com
Former WWE superstar Cameron got her start in the business by being a contestant on the 2011 reboot of Tough Enough.
She was eliminated during the first episode, with host Steve Austin and judges Booker T, Bill DeMott and Trish Stratus surmising that she didn't have a real passion for the business.
That might have been because, when asked what her favourite match of all-time was, the future Funkadactyl replied 'Melina versus Alicia Fox', something that stunned Stone Cold and has lived on ever since as a meme.
Cameron - who most recently wrestled a match for AEW under her real name Ariane Andrew - spoke about the infamous moment on the Wrestling Inc. Daily.
"It's something that I said, and I stand with what I said at the time. I was new to wrestling. It's crazy how there's so many people who are in WWE, and still today, who were never wrestling fans, but somehow, some way for me saying that that's my favorite match, I get so much sh*t. And you know what? I'm gonna own it because at that time, that's where I was at, and that's who I resonated with.
When I watched that match and being new to wrestling, I really liked that match. Come on, there's so many amazing matches that have been out since that, but I feel like if I say that, then it's gonna be like, 'Oh, well, you're trying to make up'. So you know what, I'm not gonna say that's my favorite match of all time now, but at that time, that's what I was feeling".
I have it on good authority that Ariane's new favourite match is Lacey Evans versus Charlotte Flair.
WWE.com
Whatever happened to former WCW star Lodi?
I bet you've spent an age thinking that very same thing, haven't you?
Well, ponder no more, as the man most famous for his tag team with Lenny and being a member of Raven's Flock is still active on the independent circuit and works as a personal trainer.
The man behind Lodi, Brad Cain, appeared on the Wrestling Inc. Daily to discuss his career, including how he, like many from his era, has battled serious substance abuse issues.
After a career littered with serious injuries (which resulted in three separate neck surgeries), Lodi turned to pills to deal with the ever-present pain and realised he had a problem:
"It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life and my drug addiction, and my pill use, was absolutely obscenely out of control. You know, you've heard all the numbers of all the guys. Before I got into the wrestling business, I'd heard some of these guys taking this many pills, that many pills, doing this much of this, and this much of that. It was almost one of those things where it's like, that guy has to be embellishing that can't be true. Then you get caught up in it and realize you're taking 40 pain pills a day. Like, how did it get to that point? Breaking that addiction was hard.
I was just talking with a client this morning, just talking about the hell it was to go through that for a two week period, where when I got clean from the pain killers and stopped cold turkey. I remember I was home trying to get sober, and there was a two-week period where I was hot, I was cold, I was sick, I was throwing up, I was hot, I was cold, there was this gambit of emotions. It's not something I would wish on anybody".
The consequence of his former lifestyle means that, should he require pain medication these days, he cannot take it:
"Because of my past history and because of my addictive nature, it has forced me to, with my injuries since then, I refuse to take any pain pills. I don't take any medications. After my neck surgery in 2017, the morning of my surgery I got into an argument with a nurse. She was giving me my prescriptions for when I left and she was like, 'You've got to take your oxycodone, you have to take your whatever'. And I told her, 'Mam, I can't take that. I have an addiction issue and I just have to get through it'.
People are like, you can take it for pain, but I can't separate the two. Too many people it has been one pill and then next thing you know they go back down that path. I don't want to ever go down that path again. People are like, 'I feel so sorry for you because you can't take anything for your pain'. And I'm like, again, self-inflicted. I have myself to blame, not anyone else. And I bear that".
It's nice that Lodi came through it and is still doing what he loves today. Also, checked him out on Twitter. He is absolutely yoked.
WWE.com
Look, you can't go a week without hearing something from Vince Russo, OK? It's just the way it is.
This week, the former WWE, WCW and TNA writer/performer spoke about his thoughts on the WWE Hall of Fame, specifically whether or not he would accept the honour of induction should it be bestowed up him.
Speaking on the It's My House podcast, Vinny Ru had this to say about it:
"Number one, I don't think they ever in a million years would reach out to me. That's number one, 'cause I have been, way, way, way too outspoken concerning how I feel about the company and the product and certain people there.
So that's number one, they would never come calling. Number two, I would have absolutely no interest, I would say, 'Thank you but no thank you'. I don't need to be validated by Vince McMahon to consider my life worthy. I need to be validated by my wife, by my dad, by my kids, by my friends. That's who I need validation from, not not Vince McMahon.
I'm happy for guys like Bischoff, Cornette, guys like Prichard. They live the wrestling business, they eat, drink, sh*t, you name it. But wrestling, it was a job to me. I was not this freaking wrestling mark that got my dream job. Today I hate wrestling. I hate talking about wrestling. The only show I watch is Raw, because I get paid to watch Raw".
It's gonna be such a freakin' cool swerve, bro, when Russo is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2022, bro!
He is a former WCW Heavyweight Champion after all.
On a serious side note, I thought Russo came across very well in the recent Vice documentary on Chyna. He gets a lot of stick (and deservedly so) for some of his contributions to wrestling, but it's clear he's a good guy deep down.
WWE.com
Speaking of former WCW Heavyweight Champions, Diamond Dallas Page talked about his misguided WWE debut on a recent addition of the Angle Podcast (not to be confused with The Kurt Angle Show).
Page himself had wanted his first programme to be a 'People's Champion versus People's Champion' feud with The Rock, but he was instead brought in as the mysterious stalker of The Undertaker's then-wife Sara.
He didn't want to do the stalker thing but relented after being talked into it by Vince and Shane McMahon.
In retrospect, he wishes he'd stuck to his guns and asked for a storyline with The Great One instead.
"In WCW, I fought for everything. If I'd have been in WCW mindset and Vince said, 'We want you to stalk Undertaker's wife', I'd have looked at him, looked at her [his ex-wife, Kimberly], looked back at him, and said, 'Vince, are you looking at my wife? I'm gonna stalk some other cat's wife? And everybody knows she's my wife?'.
What Vince McMahon taught me: you can never be afraid to walk away from the table. I had all the coins, I could've got to do whatever I wanted to. I just wouldn't have done it. That would've been my skew today. 'No, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it until it’s perfectly laid out'".
Twenty years later, it's still absolutely incredible to think that Dallas opted out of his guaranteed, big-money AOL Time Warner contract and signed with WWE, only to get destroyed by The Deadman and pinned by his wife before becoming a corny motivational guru.
WWE.com
Much has been made of the story that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson had seven bucks to his name when he was signed by Jim Ross to a WWE developmental deal in the mid-90's.
Hell, the Brahma Bull even named his production company, Seven Bucks Productions, as a reminder of his once-perilous financial predicament.
Not too much is known, however, about the fact that Johnson wanted to leave WWE when he was struggling as a rookie, due to the fact his seven bucks had become merely twelve.
WWE Hall of Famer and former Four Horseman JJ Dillon relayed the story of how he helped The Rock out and convinced him to stay with WWE, back when he was working behind-the-scenes for Vince McMahon's organisation.
Discussing it on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Dillon had this to say:
"Rock, he was going to get the push of his life, but he couldn't see at that point how really big that opportunity was going to be for him. He had everything. He was multiracial. He had the size, he had athletic ability. He had everything. And I came up there and he said, 'Can I talk to you privately?'. I said, 'Yeah'. He said, 'You have connections everywhere. I'm asking you to help me get out of here and find a place for me to go'. So I listened to him and I said, 'There’s more to this story than what you're telling me. You need to kind of trust me and open up to me and tell me what's going on in your head, what's really, really troubling you?'".
After talking about it a little bit, he reached into his pocket and he had a $10 bill and a couple of singles. And he said, 'This is all the money I have to my name. I've never been in a situation where everybody talks about this great potential that I have. But for me, I have 12 bucks in my pocket and that's eating away at me'. I said, 'Well, I'm glad you opened up to me and told me, because that's something that can be an easy fix'.
So, I don't know where we were, I said, 'Go up to the box office and pull $200 and I'll sign for it and I'll work it out'. They cam to me and gave me $200 in cash. I called The Rock over and I shook his hand and palmed him $200 in cash. I said, 'Now you've got money in your pocket. You can eat, you're okay This is just a little speed bump in the road. I couldn't do justice to the business by allowing you to just not take full advantage of this opportunity because you are just caught in a position where you don't have any cash in your pocket and we've all been there'. He gave me a big huh and that was the turning point for him. Just having that money in his pocket so that he could eat and do what he wanted.
I just was in the right place at the right time and knew the right thing to do".
Man, just think about how different history might have been if JJ had instead called up a friend at WCW or something like that.
As for who plays JJ Dillon in the movie on The Rock's life? I dunno why, but for some reason I'm seeing Don Johnson?
Anyway, until next time!
