The Bearhugs own “Head of the Table”, Greg Wilson, share his random thoughts from the latest week in wrestling.
We Need to Talk About Ric…
Kicking things off by talking about the biggest news story of the week. Dark Side of the Ring returned for the second part of its third season with an episode focusing on the “Plane Ride from Hell”. If I was being honest, I wasn’t totally hyped for it as it seemed like this story had been done to death and the bulk of the information has been online since the incident happened. But this may go down as one of the show’s most standout episodes, especially in terms of the conversation it has struck up since it aired.
The bulk of the conversation centres around Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer. Flair’s involvement in the plane ride saw him strutting up the aisle wearing nothing but his robe. It’s a story that has made the rounds many times and WWE even made light of it in cartoon form for the Story Time series on the Network. In the episode we got the account of Heidi Doyle who was one of the serving flight attendants. Doyle alleges that at one point Flair cornered her on the plane and tried to get her to touch his penis. Dreamer comes into the story as he ended up looking really bad when during the episode, he tried to pass off Flair’s actions as “Ric being Ric.”
First of all, Tommy… no. Just no. We all know yourself, Ric and pretty much everyone in that plane ride come from a different era but those type of actions were not acceptable then and they sure as hell aren’t now. Stuff like that was too easily brushed off back in the day but now we are in the era of #SpeakingOut and #MeToo it’s time to pay the toll. By Doyle’s own account in the episode, she believes Flair wasn’t going to rape her but his actions are still inexcusable. I also believe Flair wouldn’t do someone that kind harm but given the image he has cultivated for himself over his multiple decade career, I’m willing to bet he has made quite a few people just as uncomfortable as Heidi Doyle.
Now is the time for Flair to take control of his actions, apologise and try to make amends for any past sins. But it seems Flair will be willing to fight this. During his recent interview on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, Flair said he was aware of the episode coming out and that he didn’t care who he would have to bury, he would be giving his own version of what happened. I hope he owns up to this but I’m willing to bet this is far from over. As for Dreamer he also needs to apologise. The fact he basically tried to blame “cancel culture” just made him look more tone deaf when paired with his other comments. People being mad at sexual assault is not on the same level as being mad at you for having two ponytails you f*****g tit.
The days of “boys being boys” is long over. It is not an excuse anymore. And so is the outdated, toxic masculinity of “back in the day, men were men”. Comments the Undertaker made on The Joe Rogan Experience along these lines resurfaced following Dark Side of the Ring. In case you missed it, here is what he said:
‘I just think the product is a little soft. There’s guys here and there that have an edge to them. But there is too much pretty and not enough substance, I think, right now.’
Discussing the Attitude Era: ‘In that era of guys, too, those were men. You into a dressing room nowadays and it’s a lot different.
‘I remember walking into my first real dressing room, and all I saw were some crusty f***ing men. Half of them had guns and knives in their bags. S**t just got handled back then. Now you walk in, there’s guys playing video games and f***ing making sure they look pretty. It’s evolution, I guess. I don’t know what it is, but I just like those eras, man. I liked when men were men.’
No disrespect Mean Mark but if I was a wrestler, I would much prefer entering a dressing room to hear “I made it to the next level on Super Mario last night”- than - “Went to a bar last night, got drunk and shot someone”. It’s just another sad moment for wrestling following the latest episode. I don’t even want to get into the reaction some people have had on Twitter… I’ve not even touched upon other aspects of the show such as RVD’s comments and the alleged actions of Brock Lesnar. I would just say do yourself a favour, check it out for yourself and make your own conclusions.
Big E Wins Big
Moving on to more positive news, Big E successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to beat Bobby Lashley and become the new WWE champion. It definitely stands out as one of the top WWE moments of the year. The pop Big E received when he won was incredible and the reception he received on Smackdown was also tremendous. I hope he has a long reign and excels as a champion, it has been well deserved for a talent people have loved for many years. It is also great to see WWE pushing more black champions in the big title picture. Especially as the whole of wrestling has arguably been lacking in that area for… well, forever.
WWE has made great steps in the last few years of diversifying its main event scene. The last 2-3 years alone have seen the likes of Kofi Kingston, Roman Reigns and Lashley all have strong reigns with the big belts. Fingers crossed this continues and other companies follow suit. One complaint you can level at AEW is that their main event scene needs a bit more diversity. It is still heavily dominated by white men and all three of the world champions they have had so far have been in that same bracket. Of course, the company is only 2 years old at this point and with the wealth of talent they have I’m sure this will be addressed.
My one worry with Big E’s success is I hope it isn’t fleeting. It’s been no secret that him winning was rushed forward to this week as a way for the company to retaliate against the big waves AEW has been making lately. Nothing wrong with that, after all this is once again a war for ratings dominance. But we have seen WWE do this before only to rip the belt away just as quickly. Big E’s talent, charisma and popularity with both fans and the powers that be, should hopefully ensure this is not the case. But then again it depends on what McMahon’s mood is week by week.
NXT 2.0 Launches
The new era of NXT began this week and it is a mixed bag for sure. I think everyone was worried in the coming weeks since its announcement. Especially as a lot of the reports indicated Vince and Bruce Pritchard would be taking control, it would be going back to being more developmental and it was looking to not sign “midgets” as they put it. It seems as if a lot of this true but then also not entirely.
For starters, I quite like the presentation of what they are going for. Yes, the logo does look like something Nickelodeon would have regurgitated and they have basically stolen the explosion of colour from Dynamite. But the overall staging and lighting of the arena was good. It seems they are not quite done with the old guard just yet as Tommaso Ciampa was crowned the new NXT champion which hopefully indicates the old names aren’t on the chopping block as previously reported. Plus, given time, some of the new talent could be on the way to being big stars.
But just as equally it looks like a lot of the reports have got it right. It seems like McMahon is making a big push to only want big boys in the brand which will massively kill what made NXT exciting. What was once the freshest wrestling product could quickly become out dated if they think all fans want to see is big man wrestling. I can’t speak for everyone but these days most wrestling fans have moved on from the jacked-up colossus’ that made up the WWE from the 1980s-2000s. They still have their place but speaking for myself, when I watch a wrestling show I want diversity. I not only want big man matches but I also want the more flashy/speedy style that is associated with the “indies”.
Then there was the eyerolling attempts at humour that WWE has been massively failing in for a while. I can tell Vince must have been rolling on the floor when they decided to reveal that Dexter Lumis middle name is Gaylord. I’m not afraid to be proven wrong and I hope that is the case with this relaunch. But if this first episode is anything to go by it is looking like a rocky road ahead.
AEW Builds to New York
After several weeks of rocking the wrestling landscape it felt natural for AEW to have a bit more of a reserved week, especially as they are gearing up for another huge one. Next week the promotion arrives in New York for their Grand Slam editions of Dynamite and Rampage. This week was all about setting up the New York shows and they did a tremendous job. AEW really is on top at the moment and it only looks like they will keep going up. I mean, just look at both cards for next week’s shows:
Dynamite Grand Slam
· Brian Pillman Jr vs MJF
· Malakai Black vs Cody Rhodes
· Sting & Darby Allin vs FTR (with Tully Blanchard)
· Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. (with Rebel) vs Ruby Soho – AEW Women’s Championship
· Kenny Omega (with Don Callis) vs Bryan Danielson
Rampage Grand Slam
· Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus)
· The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho & Jake Hager) vs Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page) (with Dan Lambert)
· CM Punk vs Powerhouse Hobs (with Taz)
· Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer) vs Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston
· Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) and Santana & Ortiz vs Hardy Family Office (Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) and The Butcher & The Blade) (with Matt Hardy and The Bunny)
· Anna Jay vs Penelope Ford
Need I say more? This is the great thing about AEW adopting the model of four PPV’s a year. You get PPV quality episodes of it’s weekly TV. If you combined both those cards that would easily be a show you could shell out a couple of coins to watch as a Full Gear or Revolution. But instead, we get it on TV practically for free! It’s going to be another brilliant week for wrestling. Like I said last week, damn does it feel good to be a wrestling fan.
Grod Has a Shirt!
Ending this week by announcing our very own Garrod Winter has a t-shirt to buy! Funnily enough, myself and a bunch of his other mates had a hand in making it during one of his Twitch streams. It’s unique, quirky, stylish, funny, cute – what more could you want out of a t-shirt? Grab yours now as it is only available for a limited time! Plus, it helps support one of our boys who does some great streaming content. Give him a follow on Twitch and also pick up a shirt before it is gone forever! I know I will!
This has also got us talking about making some merch for the pod. With our first-year anniversary coming up we were thinking of getting a couple of shirts made anyway but if the demand is there, we do have a ton of ideas for cool designs. Is this something you would like to see? Let us know wherever you fancy leaving a comment.
Pick up a Shirt here :
Subscribe to Garrod's Twitch here:
Make sure to tune into this week’s episode of Wednesday Night Paw where the podcast boys begin their look at the G1 Climax. Starting with taking a look at the History and Legacy of the event. Tune in 15/09 at 6:30pm GMT on Twitch.
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