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Highspots Presents: Brian Kendrick & Paul London's Excellent Adventure, Disc One

This is a two-disc set that was released in 2010. This post only contains disc one as I will post the second disc tomorrow. Disc One runs for one hour and thirty minutes

The interview starts with both men passing around a joint, already stoned. They are also drinking.




The first question is about how they met. Kendrick said that they met in California while trying to make their way through the independent scene. London talks about growing up in Texas but believed that in wrestling, you have to be away from your element and move away. He wound up in UPW. He then talks about liking to surround himself with quality human beings who inspire to be something instead of lazy people. London is high as a kite right off the bat but coherent.


Kendrick talks about signing up with Shawn Michael’s Wrestling Academy and how it was from 9-12, three days a week. He talks about Rudy Boy Gonzalez, who would be there Monday through Saturday and Kendrick would show up an hour early and leave three hours late.


Kendrick then said that he went up Johnny Ace after watching London tear it up in his dark matches against Saturn and Matt Hardy and wanted him to be his tag team partner.


London talks about being trained by Ivan Putski but went to Shawn’s to learn more about psychology. Kendrick said they never knew each other while in Texas at Shawn’s academy.


Kendrick got his first big break after 9/11 when a wrestler named Mikey Henderson turned down a chance to go to Japan and wrestle for Zero-One out of fear over the terrorist attacks so Kendrick said he would go over. This was on less than two days notice too. He had to wrestle three matches in 40 hours and would do everything from drink protein mixed with water to jerking off in order to stay awake.


London talks about people making excuses for why their career never took off and saying that people in the Indy scene in Texas would never want to travel and stayed there as he didn’t care if he had to drive all over the country for no money as this is what he wanted to do and you have to go get it if you want to make it big. You also had to not take no for an answer and never want to settle. London babbles on for a bit here but his main point makes sense.


They talk about getting into Ring of Honor. Rudy Boy rented a van and they drove from San Antonio to Philadelphia in a van to take a chance on a new promotion. London said they were losing money at the time and he was actually at college full-time at that point but was skipping classes in order to wrestle.


They then have the first of several “Stoner Moments” when they talk about bullshit stuff. My guess is that these segments came about because they talked forever, mostly due to being fucked up, and when they got off topic, they would throw these in between. I am not going to bother recapping these.


Back to Ring of Honor, London said that it helped put himself on the map but that Kendrick was already known so it just enhanced him. Kendrick said he owes a lot to Gabe Sapolsky. London said that originally, he went up there as a standby but the week before the show he got put in a match. He talks about his first match was three minutes long but he was amped and he felt horrible because his friend, Chris Marvel, snapped his ankle after catching him after an Asai Moonsault. London said that the locker room was really supportive after he was feeling awful. This does lead them to talk about locker rooms being referred to as family, which they say is bullshit, but they still loved everything about RoH.


Kendrick talks about himself as a wrestler, saying that he can make shitty guys look good and tell some sort of a story in the ring but he was never going to be a guy that a company looked at as the star. He then tells a story while in the WWE when they were six months into their Tag Title reign, an agent approached them stating that Vince wanted them to get rid of their masks because he didn’t understand why they were wearing them and just found out they had them six months into their reign. Kendrick said that his wife made them and he felt horrible as he had to get rid of them. London said that John Laurinaits told him in the parking lot that they had to get rid of them.


London talks about his various tryouts with the WWE before he got signed. He said that they tested you a lot and during one of his empty arena tryouts, he could hear the WWE wrestlers laughing at them while critiquing their stuff. London said that TNA offered him a one-year deal at the time but he turned it down as he was still going to school and wasn’t sure he wanted to be there but Kendrick put in a good word for him and he was signed.


When asked about the most jarring differences between the Independents and the WWE, Kendrick talks about the shorter matches in the WWE than in the independents and how you can be under contract and not have anything to do when you show up for TV tapings. When that happens for a while, you lose your hunger and start to think, what is the point of being here. He brings up how Paul told him he sounded like a different person after leaving the WWE. Kendrick says that the WWE is not an evil company but that it just wasn’t right for him as they wanted different things and the independents give him more self-satisfaction as he can do more. London then talks about how when you sign a contract, you give your power away to the company. They talk about when you get to the WWE, there is a list of 10-15 guys and the shows revolve around them only. He then talks about at the beginning of his run, he had a series of matches with Jimmy Yang that were well received by everyone but when they made it to TV, they were all edited heavily. London then reiterates the fact that the WWE is not for everyone and then jokes about how unless Vince pays him a gazillion dollars he is not returning. London then said that Vince's balls would wind up in HHH's mouth, like they always do. This is the first of many instances throughout the shoot in which you realize that Paul London will never, ever work with the WWE again.


They both now talk about the list they mentioned in the above paragraph about the company revolving around 10-15 guys. They, along with Gene Snitsky (who they both liked), were taking a tour of the corporate office in Connecticut as part of the WWE's effort to show the wrestlers that they are working for them. Anyway, they are almost done with the tour of the building and they go into a room with Shane McMahon, who gives Snitsky a hug and offers him a cigar. He then blows off London and Kendrick, with Kendrick noting how they were treated like douchebags. After looking around the offices, they see all sorts of photos of different wrestlers and characters but did not notice any tag teams. Kendrick asks Shane what do you have to do as a tag team to get on the walls of the office and he told them that he has not cared about a tag team since the Legion of Doom. Kendrick then says he found out that the WWE is just a TV show and not a wrestling company.


After talking about how they were like the recurring characters of a TV show and learning that the actor who played "Boner" was just found dead, the interviewer then asks them about Chris Benoit. Kendrick said that he always got the vibe from him that he was crazy as London said they referred to him as being "tripolar," but they both liked him while they were in the company. Kendrick said that Benoit was very complementary of his work and London adds that when guys would ask Benoit on how to perform a move or hold, he would tell them to go ask Kendrick. They then talk about how Benoit and Bob Holly didnt think they were taking their jobs seriously because they were not always in the gym. Kendrick even recalls being in the shower after a show one night in Nashville when Benoit opened the curtain to ask him if he worked out that day. London said that Benoit and Holly took them under their wing early on, helping them out. After a month, Kendrick left, stating that they were lunatics and the whole thing was crazy. London said that by 9am, they would have worked out for two hours, eaten a huge breakfast, then do a ton of pushups with Holly and Benoit.


Now, they tell a story about Benoit at a Bob Evans. London and Kendrick were sitting on one side of the table and at the other side were Jamie Noble (who London refers to as "Mini Benoit"), Bob Holly, and Chris Benoit. Benoit orders an insane breakfast, demanding his steak be steamed, with Bob Holly asking for twice as much food. London said he ordered egg whites and and a small steak to not piss them off but Benoit made him get the big steak. When Kendrick ordered, he asked for pancakes and waffles with all sorts of syrup and as the waitress was taking the order, Benoit reached his hand across the table and pushed down the waitresses pad and made Kendrick order what he had and watched him as he ate everything on his plate. London said he valued these experiences though and unerstood some of what they were trying to teach them.


Kendrick talks about his time under a WWE Developmental deal in the Memphis territory. One day, Memphis was shut down and they were originally told that they were either going to OVW or HWA. Joey Abs was the first guy in and he was told that he was being fired, instead of getting reassigned. Shooter Schultz and the American Dragon (Daniel Bryan), go in next and they are fired too. Kendrick got fired too by a guy named Dennis Brandt, who had never seen any of them work before. A week later, after watching a higlight reel, Brandt called him up and said that he was pretty good but at that point, Kendrick was going over to Japan.


While Memphis, Kendrick said that William Regal, Tracy Smothers, and Bobby Eaton were all awesome and great trainers but that the Office didnt think that Tracy and Bobby were the office types.


London talks about his experience in OVW. He didnt want to be there and believed he was just there to appease the office. He also didnt think he would be there long and didnt want to be either. He was only there for about three months. He didnt despise his time there at all but just did not want to be in Louisville at all. He had one TV match against Aaron Stevens (Damien Sandow).


He then talks about the developmental system and how they trained everyone like robots and that everyone wrestled the same matches with the same moves. He disliked Rip Rogers, stating that he would just bury everyone and make people give him yogurt protein bars and if you did give that to him, you could sit out on a training session, prompting London to say "What kind of faggots are they training here." He then tells a story of Bob Holly coming down and ripping on everyone, which he said was hilarious. He tells a story of Jillian Hall trying to do 450's off the top rope with her gut hanging out when a few hours prior she sat out a training session citing an injury and after Bob called everyone over, he told her to cover up her gut and that he would never lay down for her 450. London said OVW was also his first experience of the ass-kissing side of the business. London did have some positives in OVW. He really liked Danny Davis and Kenny Bolin.


Next, they are asked about Michael Shane. They like him a lot but at first, London said he disliked him, which prompts Kendrick to say that he is an asshole but still likes him. London even added that he tried to get Shane booked but promoters would be hesistant due to stories about him being difficult. He said that when they worked for Ring of Honor, they hit it off and became friends. London is surprised that he didnt make it to the WWE and put him over for being able to throw great punches but again, Kendrick reiterates the fact that he is an asshole as to why he never made it into the WWF.


London tells another story while in Reno with Shane. At first, they got pulled over and almost arrested. After one of the guys they were with got shorted over pay, the came back drunk to the hotel room and London slammed a lamp on the ground. He said it didnt break and he felt like an idiot but as he was reaching to pick it up, Shane walks over and stomps the lamp.


They talk about being in Japan for a minute. The talk about how they are weird over there and very perverted. Kendrick says that he feels great over there because as a "short-dicked Irish man" the Japanese condoms are very small but at the same time the Magnums are American and way too big. London said that the Zero-One Promotion would always put the wrestlers in hotels right near Roppongi, which is a party district. Then after a while, they stopped that as all of the guys would take buses into town and go to all of the bars. London then speaks of the Japanese porn channels in the hotel rooms and all they censor penetration. He then talks about a wrestler named Tom Howard who came up to he and Low Ki to tell them about a "stomper bar," which is a place you would pay money for them to stomp on your nuts or even gerbils. Kendrick then said he got tied up once there and burned with candle wax while getting whipped, prompting him to say how he loves those "goofy gooks."


London then talks again about the WWE and how he said no matter how hard he worked, he never felt the reciprocation from the company. He remembers being excited just for the fact that he got to be in the Royal Rumble match, which was his favorite PPV. When it came time for him to be eliminated by Snitsky, he said he wasn't going to get thrown out in some lazy manner like most people did and wanted his elimination to stand out and he worked out the spot in which he got his head taken off by a clothesline and flipped off of the apron onto the floor where an ambulance took him to the back. He said when he got backstage, they asked him if he was alright and he said yes then they told him his elimination looked "too good" and that it took away from the match and London said he got heat over that spot. He said that he wasn't going to be like the rest of the "clones" and refuses to settle for mediocrity.


Now they are asked about if they had agents lay everything out for them or if they had freedom. London talks about how he usually had either Ricky Steamboat, Arn Anderson, or Dean Malenko as agents and liked all three guys but that the agents usually worked under the umbrella of the office and did not have much freedom at all themselves. He then talks about other agents that would lie to their face, like Mike Rotunda, that would never consider of even ask the office about their suggestions, even when he said he would speak up to the office itself. London says that it works better as a collaboration but that did not happen much. Kendrick is more diplomatic and said that the agents had to do their jobs but some were better than others at laying out things for you.


Next, they are asked if they had doubts after being told by Shane McMahon that he hasn't cared about a tag team since the Legion of Doom. Kendrick basically said that they were fucked anyway but thought they were getting over as a team. He also said the crowd responded to him as well but that when he asked backstage, they told him they heard it but it might not be a big as what they did so he could be wrong in that aspect. London said that over time, they got respect from the wrestlers and the agents for their work but at the end, most people in that company are powerless. At the end, both guys state that despite the fact that they were frustrated while in the WWE, others should try it out for themselves instead of listening to people who were bitter about their experiences.


The guys now talked about wrestling against Deuce & Domino and state how Deuce is the worst wrestler they ever wrestled with. They said he was a trash talker and would never even bump for them. For instance, London would fly across the ring and dropkick him in the face and still wouldn't bumpand just held on to the ropes. Kendrick says that Deuce lives off of his dad's (Jimmy Snuka) laurels but is dad was really cool. He then mentions how Snuka told him that when he first met him as a student he was going to kill him but at the end he said that they loved him and how they now bum smokes off of each other. London jokes that Deuce would make a better gay porn star than wrestler.


On working with William Regal & Dave Taylor, Kendrick first talks about how he trained under Regal while in Memphis and owes a lot to him. He got along with Taylor a lot too. London didnt have a problem with them but noted for some reason, whenever he went to dropkick Taylor he would always hit him in the ribs. London then joked how Taylor looked like Don Flamingo from "Mike Tyson's Punchout." London then says it was a pleasure working with hose guys who are veterans but would still bump for them and take everything they would give without complaining and even suggesting more from them. This leads to more bashing of Deuce who refuses to bump despite not having accomplished anything in wrestling himself.


They say the proudest accomplishment was getting a really good match out of KC James and Idol Stevens (Damien Sandow). They both say that KC James is awesome then talk about how after their PPV match against them, they were clapping when they came backstage from the gorilla position. Six months later, they had split up and James became an enhancement talent on the new ECW as James Curtis but was still under contract. One day backstage, Vince walks by and looks at James and said "look at this guy, sign him" then walks away. London tells another story about KC James when in England. There was a notorious rat over their called "Big Bird" who London said was nasty. Anyway, James told him how she wanted him to romance her and he did not want to do any of that so he told him that he went into the bathroom and took off her clothes only to come out and stick his cock into her face, which horrified her and she left. They then talk about how James was born twenty years too late and would have fit in the 1980's style of wrestling perfectly with his look and attitude.


Final Thoughts: I found this to be entertaining, although disc two is better and mostly all about everyone they worked with in the WWF. A lot of the interview strays off topic and the interviewer doesn't even attempt to lead them back to the topic at hand. Most of the rambling is probably due to the fact that they are high and drunk. London comes off a lot more bitter than Kendrick and as the this progresses (you can tell a lot more in the second disc), London gets a lot more fucked up. Still, they show a decent amount of insight and you can tell just how passionate they were about wrestling when they were starting out.

Comments

  1. Or non AJ divas who are pissed they got hit and quit

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  2. He has mentioned that he has struggled with insomnia his whole life. Another thing I can relate to him on.

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  3. Was there ever a manager who managed more shitty wrestlers than Harvey Wippleman? Hell, Well Dunn were the most skilled of all the wrestlers he championed, and they were so shitty they made Tekno Team 2000 look like the Hardys.

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  4. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANJanuary 30, 2014 at 10:40 AM

    The guy seems exceedingly unhealthy mentally/physically both. I wonder if Eddie Guerrero took off in 2005 if Farva would still be complaining about it.

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  5. Depends on your definition of a worker. Are you talking just straight wrestling ability or do you include being a performer in that? If so, then I don't know how you could say Mr. Hughes was in Sid or Nash's league with a straight face.

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  6. Ok, let's go over this again:

    Hogan is over 60 years old.


    He's had multiple operations on both knees, including a knee replacement.


    He's had multiple hip operations, including a hip replacement.


    He's had surgery on his back over 5 times, most recently in July.


    One description I've heard of him is that he can barely sit in a folding chair anymore.


    The guy physically just can't do it anymore. He's not dropping the big boot on anyone.

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  7. Is the title of this email supposed to be a joke?

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  8. Good work as always.

    "Kendrick noting how they were treated like douchebags." That's probably because they are a couple of douchebags. It's easy to see how they didn't last in WWE.

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  9. Yeah - for anyone over the last two days that thought CM Punk was a bitter whiner, he doesn't even *come close* to these guys.

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  10. You sure you don't want to rant about your life problems for a few paragraphs at the top?

    Good stuff as usual

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  11. I spent most of my college years up late, talking to people walking by the dorms because I couldn't fall asleep and I didn't want to sit in my room staring at the ceiling.



    The only thing that ended up helping my insomnia was working at a morning daily, putting the paper to bed. Being awake all night, then working from 4 p.m. to 2 or 3 a.m. pretty much drained me.

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  12. Of course not, he's just trolling

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  13. And where did the storyline go from there with HHH winning? That's right, the legendary Punk-Johnny Ace feud we'll all be telling our grandchildren about.

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  14. Yes!

    Yes!

    YES! YES! YES!

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  15. If he walked out on his contract while it had 6 months remaining during argueably the companies most important 3 month stretch, I'd call bull shit. So yes, if Eddie did it, it'd still be childish. You're completely missing the point. If he's injured, which I'm not ddisputing, you can still hang around and contribute in other ways.

    If we are gonna play that card, what if Orton pulled this shit. The overwhelming narrative would be "fuck this guy, he couldn't draw so he's being a baby and he went home."

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  16. Actually, I was going to say that Eddie *was* a guy known to throw temper tantrums and have a generally immature short fuse. For evidence of it on public display, check out the botched ending to his Mysterio match in the WWE. He might not have walked from the company but he had issues too.

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  17. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:06 AM

    My point was that he was exceedingly unhealthy, stuck it out and then he died. What Punk looks like right now is pretty similar to Angle's description of Eddie. Angle's angle, but I believe him on that one.


    I don't begrudge these guys anything. They're fucking circus animals and Farva's attitude proves it. "GO WORK YOURSELF TO DEATH, FOR ME.... FOR ME!!!!"

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  18. If Orton pulled this the overwhelming response would be "thank God he's off my television".

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  19. "I'll support anyone who tells Vince and HHH to go fuck themselves (if that's what actually happened)."

    Why? I understand that if say, the conversation was:


    "We'd like you to put over Kane at EC this month, and then the plan is to have a hard-fought loss to HHH at WM..."
    "Go f yourselves"

    but you'd still support him if the conversation was:
    "You have a concussion, and we can't let you compete tonight or for the next three weeks. We need to be careful with these things for the sake of your health"
    "Go f yourselves"


    ?

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  20. Or tell us how this review is going to be awful, or tell us some totally made up story that barely relates to the topic at hand?

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  21. I'm unsure as to whether the talk about grown-ups or the talk about money got you downvoted here. =)

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  22. There is a difference--they are just explaining how things were then. They aren't still with the company causing a scene backstage about their problems or yelling at stagehands. London and Kendrick are laid back cats.

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  23. People also fix typos whereas "forever busy with strip clubs and doctoring" Farva can't even be arsed to hit backspace real quick.

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  24. I was hoping someone would ask to have what I was having.

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  25. I don't get it... are you saying it should say Big Show instead?

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  26. Threadjack:

    http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/01/30/is-that-miracleman-or-randy-orton/

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  27. You don't give off much of a "Sally" vibe.

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  28. Bayless, I gotta say I love your review style, especially for these. I never look forward to these bc seriously, how exciting can reading a written review on a shoot interview be? I always end up reading these word for word tho since they are so concise and well done. Kudos.

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  29. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:30 AM

    They're independent contractors and it's at will employment. When they lay people off, they're breaking their word on them working up until a specific date. It is what it is. If he doesn't feel up to working, he doesn't feel up to working. I think your attitude towards this stuff in the past was similar to theirs, and it reaped great results. He looks and sounds like someone they should have pulled the plug on already.

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  30. Except that the heel carries most matches (hence why HHH was much better in his 98-99 babyface run than in his 95-97 heel run before he finally figured out how to REALLY work in 99-2000). I mean, how would heel Perfect have worked against a face larger than Bossman or Dusty...like, say, Tugboat?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg6Frd1tbpI

    Weird match, with no real "heat" segment, and just Perfect bouncing around, as noted above.

    That said, how about that bit with Bobby using the towel to snap McGuirk's butt?

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  31. The fact that Vince can do it doesn't justify the fact that talent can do it. Seriously, if Vince fired Punk on Tuesday this board (and I'm assuming yourself) would condemn him to hell. 2 wrongs dont justify Punks actions.

    Either way, that's a lazy rationalization for what punk did. "Well Vince could have fired him." So Vince was really gonna fire punk. If Ryder or Dolph did this, I'd probably be ok with it. Not punk

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  32. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:38 AM

    I don't think you understand what at will employment means, because that gives the employee and the employer equal power to cut ties.


    I just don't care, the guy looks sick, the guy sounds sick (he's going to his promotional appearances and going on about his MRI's and bloodwork and feeling sick for months, so I don't feel he has to stick around and dance for me.


    Everyone saw his epic performance in the Rumble, it's not like we're missing out on anything here.

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  33. I completely understand "at will employment" means. I also understand what contracts and expectations mean. Should he take some time off, sure. I'm on board with that. There a HUGE difference between quitting and taking time off. This is typical punk "I don't play well with other."

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  34. That's fair. CM Punk is a CANCER!! I agree.

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  35. He came off as more high and trying to be funny but also hd no clue as to why he didnt make it in the WWE.

    At the end of the second disc, he talks about Daniel Bryan, who just signed with them at the time of this shoot, and really has a lot of complimentary thing to say about him and seems to like a majority of the wrestlers too.

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  36. My only Hughes reference point is when he was Jericho's manager for 5 minutes.

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  37. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:49 AM

    Everyone signs a contract, no matter what you do. If he doesn't make his dates, he gets downsided and he owes them money. Big deal. It's not as if he can't get a medical.

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  38. Hughes problem was he sold for absolute shit.

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  39. Ok, that's fine. So the question is, why wouldn't he just take time off instead of quitting? It's a temper tantrum

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  40. Prince Devitt is awesome but I doubt TNA would be Willing to pay enough to get him out of Japan even if they have any idea to use him outside of wrestling an X-Division match with Tenay reading a list of his overseas accomplishments.

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  41. He had a really good missile dropkick that he would bust out.

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  42. Both Sid and Nash were better professional wrestlers than Hughes, in my view. I don't think it's close. They both had charisma and understood how to interact with a crowd.

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  43. I can't even think of a single, memorable Mr. Hughes moment.

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  44. Just wait till we get the Punk shoot interview someday.

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  45. Did he ever wear a fez? I remember him wearing a fez once.

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  46. Motivated Nash was actually pretty damn good. Unfortunately, motivated Nash wrestled about 10 matches total in his entire career.

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  47. Although the Dave Taylor as Don Flamingo is great, the bit I laughed at the most was when they describe how insane Chris Benoit was ("it was the blue eyes!") and they imitate his growl when he's ordering his food.

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  48. Sure it's already been pointed out, but the emailer wasn't saying Nash and Sid were better workers than Hughes, just that they were better at playing the bodyguard role than Hughes.

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  49. But was Hughes even a good worker? Did he have one memorable match?

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  50. I would love to see a shoot interview with Punk.Now seriously,he can't complain about these last couple of years he had.400+ as WWE champion,booked in tiddy top feuds.
    So if he comes out saying he was being wasted,well here's wrong.

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  51. But then we have to watch the Orton/Batista main event.

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  52. Never in history a crowd would chant so loud the word "BORING"

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  53. Half of them against a guy named Bret or Shawn.

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  54. You've set the bar SO high I can only be disappointed with this.

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  55. I'm conflicted, I really see your point about stepping out on a contract, frankly it's not a professional thing to do, but do we really know how he did it? It's like if Joe Schmo works as a middle manager, and gives his 2 week notice, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he just needed a sabbatical from the rigors of the road and from the WWE in general, and he literally couldn't handle being in it for a day longer. If that's the case, good for him for acknowledging his limits so he doesn't do something he'll regret or get himself even more injured.

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  56. That's a separate point.


    But no, he wasn't and no, he didn't.


    I call bullshit on Nash and Sid being terrible workers. They knew how to work, they just weren't very good at it.

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  57. [Throws away draft of tryout review]

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  58. But he quit as opposed to asking for time off. All accounts, and yes I'll agree they're speulative, have shown that he quit with 1 days notice. Seriously, with Punks track record, would you agree this is anything besides a temper tantrum bc he didn't get the WM program be wanted.

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  59. Have I got everyone's attention now?

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  60. Absolutely.


    However, I think Nash (being a smart operator and manipulator) realised that doing the barest minimum was necessary to ensure longevity. He didn't really *need* to do that much in the ring, he was massive, had charisma to burn and could inspire righteous indignation or mega pops depending on what was necessary.


    And blow his quad. He was very good at that.

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  61. You might be right, and if it turns out that was indeed the case, then I'll condemn him just like any wrestler that does that. Maybe I'm oversensitive now to wrestlers burning out and ultimately harming themselves or others now so I always want to support a guy who realizes it's time to go, rather than stay on and deteriorate.

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  62. Sometimes you just need a guy to walk down to the ring and powerbomb the shit out of somebody.

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  63. Well Kendrick was in the company longer. That's why London was more bitter.

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  64. They look like Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes were their wedding band.

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  65. I still don't get why they didn't just have him debut at the Royale Rumble. Having him on Raw deflated many people's hopes that he would be in better condition. Better to have him show up at the PPV and get some extra buys while they still could. I don't think he would have been booed nearly as much if it was his first time back in years. I think seeing him look bad on both Raw and the RR is fueling some of the backlash.

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  66. From Batista's point of view.. looking at how they treated Brock Lesnar when he came back, Batista would be an idiot if he didn't ask for a few concessions. The real fault is on the WWE for unifying the belts at the worse time and then having a situation where it's harder to put their most popular wrestler in the Main Event field.. but not impossible.


    If the WWE were putting on two championship match storylines right now.. most of this nonsense could have been avvoided.

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  67. Kinda sad that no one said Dolph Ziggler... a year ago, he would have been a real option. I wonder if he's too far gone for that to happen now.

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  68. Please keep the Miz far, far away from that segment.

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  69. Nash more so than sid.

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  70. No I guess they're bringing him back to be Bryan's bodyguard.

    #NotReallyBecauseHesDead

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  71. TOO SOON YOU INSENSITIVE BASTARD!!!

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  72. Great point. So he took over for slicks stable and got the warlord and a few other bums. He did manage sid for a short period of time and the farthest up the card he ever made it was giant Gonzalez.

    Were the Paul Jones army guys any good? Seems like they could give Harveys stable a run for its money in sucking.

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  73. What was his best non Shawn or bret match? And what was his best wcw match. Wow I'm struggling to think of one.

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  74. Louis Izzos post below made me wonder about something. What was kevin Nash's best WWF match that wasnt against Bret or Shawn? And what was his best wcw match? I honesty can't think of one.

    As far as the WWF didn't he have a decent match against Pierre Lafayette? I kind of remember a ***ish match between those 2. And Im pretty sure he had a good ppv with hall but I dont remember the show. As far as wcw goes I'm drawing a blank.

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  75. A better question would be which was the worst wrestling stable of all time:
    Hillbilly Jim's inbred family or the trio of Curtis Hughes, The Nightstalker and The Motor City Madman that ran less than rampant over WCW in 1990?

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  76. Another "brilliant" Vince Russo idea.

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  77. I love Ziggler and I want him pushed to Bryan levels, but sadly I don't think it will happen

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  78. Manny Fernandez and Rick Rude were members of the Paul Jones Army for awhile and they were a badass tag team so Paul would be disqualified from contention for that. The only manager I can think of more useless than Harvey would be Hillbilly Jim.

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  79. First match to comes to mind is versus Razor at Summerslam 94. They both had their working boots on that night.

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  80. Warrior beating him and goldust up and wearing the wig.

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  81. I wouldn't care if even hhh did it. Its their career/life.

    This is a completely different thing than you are talking about but I absolutely loath the university of Texas sports teams and fucking hated Ricky Williams with a passion. I actively rooted for him to be a bust in new Orleans and was thoroughly disgusted by him in that 30 for30, bit I actually jumped on his bandwagon for a bit when he retired after 5 years and every media guy and ex jock called him a loser and a pussy because he would rather do other things than have his knees, back and brains smashed into pudding. I was outraged when the dolphins tried to sue him for his signing bonus and the NFLPA just sat there. The only time I ever supported Ricky williams (before someone brings up the pot head thing Theres tons of pro athletes who get high without pretending to be a Buddhist monk or whatever the fuck he is this week) and it was because I was sickened by the backlash. Obviously this isn't what your saying (pretty sure you even said if this punk thing was injury based your opinion might change) but that post just reminded me of the only time I ever liked ricky Williams.

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  82. Curtis Hughes might not be great but the suck of uncle elmer brings that hillbilly faction down to the bottom. Was cousin junior terrible too?

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  83. That was the future Balls Mahoney he did that to. That attack happened in April 1996, Hughes didn't return until Royal Rumble '97 and he was paired up with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, he was never paired up with Goldust.
    And if I'm not mistaken, in April of '96 he was still working those awful AWF Warriors Of Wrestling shows.

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  84. Good call, thats the match I was trying to remember. It was really good. I still can't of hisbest wcw one though

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  85. Oh yes, every member of that family was 20 levels of atrocious.

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  86. So Punksutawney Phil was scared of being in Batista's shadow and retreated back into his ego. Guess we're in for 6 more weeks of Winter weather.

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  87. Maybe BatB or Superbrawl 97 (where he legit powerbombed Big Show, not the botched one a year later), but those are all tag matches that relied on drama and more sports entertainment-type action.

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  88. I only remember uncle elmer (who is the worst I've ever seen in either wcw or wwe, worse than Gonzalez, worse than Zeus, worse than yeti) and cousin junior. Were there more hillbillies I forgot about?

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  89. Cousin Luke, who also worked in the AWA for awhile and proved his awfulness in the WWF was no fluke while he was there. He was somehow worse than Rocky Mountain Thunder and that's an accomplishment.

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  90. Those pre-match video packages are invaluable when you go back and watch an old PPV and you can't remember what the issue/angle/buildup was. I'd be very surprised if they got rid of them.

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  91. I still just don't understand why you're still so bent out of shape about an employee resigning from his position.

    If he didn't breach his contract (they could fire him, he can quit, that's their deal), then he didn't do anything wrong. He performed on the last major project that he was advertised for, he left with plenty of time for them to move on to Mania without him (they hadn't started his Mania program), he had a one on one discussion with Vince (he didn't "walk out"), blah blah. I wrote way too many words on this yesterday.

    He's an employee with legitimate concerns (health, demotion, pay-cut) that did what was in his legal right, and he didn't do it at a time when it would especially screw them over.

    Any argument beyond that is you feeling he owed it to WWE... just because, well, just because.

    Let's all repeat it again: if he didn't breach his contract, then nobody is at fault. Employees are allowed to leave their jobs.

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  92. I still just don't understand why you're still so bent out of shape about an employee resigning from his position.

    If he didn't breach his contract (they could fire him, he can quit, that's their deal), then he didn't do anything wrong. He performed on the last major project that he was advertised for, he left with plenty of time for them to move on to Mania without him (they hadn't started his Mania program), he had a one on one discussion with Vince (he didn't "walk out"), blah blah. I wrote way too many words on this yesterday.

    He's an employee with legitimate concerns (health, demotion, pay-cut) that did what was in his legal right, and he didn't do it at a time when it would especially screw them over.

    Any argument beyond that is you feeling he owed it to WWE... just because, well, just because.

    Let's all repeat it again: if he didn't breach his contract, then nobody is at fault. Employees are allowed to leave their jobs.

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  93. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJanuary 30, 2014 at 1:34 PM

    Aces & 8s. S.C.U.M. only gets a pass because of Steen and Corino.

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  94. I'm going to say Hughes-Nightsalker-Motor City Madman, if only because you could possibly claim that the Hilbillies were meant to be "for the kids", while the other trio were meant to be potential money drawing threats to faces like Lex Luger. Also, Uncle Elmer liked to fuck midgets, which is worth a laugh.

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  95. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJanuary 30, 2014 at 1:36 PM

    Probably SS94. His best WCW match was probably his first one at BATB.

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  96. In what I think was his final match for the WWF during his first run, he fought Tatanka and lost. During the match, Tatanka knocked off his stupid wraparound glasses, which revealed to the world that he had beady eyes. That's the only highlight I can think of when I think of Mr. Hughes.

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  97. Aces & 8's were pretty bad but I would disqualify them because Bully Ray is a better worker than everyone in the hillbilly stable and the Big Cat/Nightstalker/Madman trio combined.

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  98. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJanuary 30, 2014 at 1:37 PM

    Nash was decent when he actually gave a fuck. Unfortunately, that was only about a year of his entire career.

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  99. Paul Jones' army wasn't bad per say, but they did have the feud with Jimmy Valiant that went on FOREVER, so they may win for most boring stable by virtue of that.

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  100. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJanuary 30, 2014 at 1:39 PM

    Yeah, but Aces & 8s had Garrett Bischoff. I'd say that cancels out Bubba Ray.

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  101. The Skyscrapers at least had a cool name.

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  102. I cant see at all how someone, even Scott would rather watch a Mr. Hughes match over anything Nash or Sid's done

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  103. Best non Bret/Shawn match that springs to mind is against Razor at SS 94 when he won the IC title.



    Best WCW match was probably the first one back at BATB 96.

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  104. He had Doom though, who was a solid team

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  105. Your wife Mrs Jones is a real trouble maker

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  106. Col. Red tops them all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddJFLgY8UgY

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  107. Cool name, badass music and a great finisher, they alone disqualify Teddy from the running and that doesn't even take into account Doom being a good team as well.

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  108. I saw the same question further up the thread & gave exactly these answers.

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  109. This isn't two wrongs making a right. It is both sides following the rules of the agreement that they both signed.

    Neither of them is wrong.

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  110. The problem with working with HHH is that HHH has a way of siphoning off most of your heat. For instance, a feud with HHH would do Daniel Bryan more harm than say doing a job to Santino. It's not just about doing the job, but HHH will also verbally bury you too.

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  111. Jobber, do you really feel he didn't breach? He must have...he took 5 weeks off less then a year ago. Plus he's quitting 6 months eaely. No way he met the required datea.

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  112. You're also assuming that Vince, coming out of that meeting, wanted Punk to stay on an just do promos.

    Punk came to him with major problems--- creative, PPV payout, his personal health. They weren't able to rectify those. It's as simple as that.

    A temper tantrum would have been walking out the day of the Rumble, or refusing to job a title. He quit his job before they spent TV time/money advertising/running his Mania program.

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  113. But isn't all he basically did was quit his job because he didn't like it anymore? Ultimately what's so bad about that?

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  114. "No way he met the required datea" There's zero that you know to back that statement up other than you want it to be true for your argument.

    Short of those 5 weeks, he's been on every Monday TV and PPV and headlined every weekend's house shows for almost 3 years. He's performed as many or more dates than anyone in that span.

    John cena missed 2 months recently--- is he in breach?

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  115. Who the hell are you to judge him? Free country, man.

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  116. He had a pretty decent streak match against Taker at Mania XII if I recall, and he was generally good against any other Clique member except Triple H. He nuts out a pretty sick diving spinning clothesline in an Action Zone tag match with Shawn against Razor and Kid.

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  117. Still, HHH doesn't see CM Punk on his level and I doubt HHH is doing his first job since the Authority angle began to Punk. The only guys I see HHH willingly lay down for are Undertaker, Cena, Orton and Batista. The usual suspects.

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  118. singles match?

    if not, his best WWF match outside of the ones against Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels would be that Action Zone tag match.

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  119. The 13th amendment might not get the same amount of press as the first two but let's all be glad it exists!

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  120. He kept his word. He did what was required in the contract they both signed.

    Breaking his word is such a bizarre statement to keep throwing out. He's doing what's allowed in his business contract that he signed with his employer. Anything beyond that is you feeling he needed to be a nicer guy to teh company.

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  121. What is the point of Hogan hosting WrestleMania? Yeah, that'll put butts in seats.


    Hogan should be seconded a guy to the ring or doing a guest ref bit or something. Host is stupid.

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  122. I just got this in an email you motherfucker!

    http://www.theentropyeffect.com/stranger.PNG

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  123. Well, not all of us, apparently!

    Kidding Farva my buddy my pal!

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  124. Thank you, I appreciate that

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  125. Give the fans something to chant CM-Punk and Daniel Bryan at in the opening of the show?

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  126. Yeah that one is awesome. He definitely contributed to the match too.

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  127. Aces n 8's was fucking terrible. If they aren't the worst ever they are at least the worst this century.

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  128. Los boriquas probably deserves to be on that list somewhere.

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  129. In some ways I agree, I had no problem with Punk doing the job back then. No titles were on the line and it was just a B-PPV show, it was the aftermath that did Punk the most harm as he was basically sent to the midcard again. Now, if they did this; HHH beats Punk at the B-PPV, Punk wins the belt a month later, HHH demands a title shot as he feels he should be the rightful champion for beating Punk, they eventually have their rematch at the main event of WM where Punk goes over, then bam, you created a big star that can draw.

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  130. Dungeon of doom was so bad it was almost good.

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  131. Stranger in the AlpsJanuary 30, 2014 at 2:02 PM

    I have not taken any action against you at this time. This is purely coincidental, and I wish you and your current vagina the best.

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  132. He did one with RF Video right before siging with the WWE and another one with Samoa Joe for the RoH "Straight Shootin'" series around that same time. I have both of these shoots

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  133. Did your attorney instruct you to make this statement? It sounded very legalese

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  134. Oh god that's right. I forgot about cousin luke! If hillbilly Jim never breaks his leg I wonder if we still get stuck with plowboy Frazier and the rest of that stable coming in?

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  135. Yeah BatB was his best wcw match I think. Good call

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  136. Why do you assume Vince wanted him to do that?

    If Punk came to him and said I'm injured, I have problems with my creative (job status), I have problems with the PPV payment system... why are you assuming Vince wanted him coming to TV and cutting promos for a match he wasn't wrestling in?

    If they're gonna work together again, it'd be more logical to keep Punk off TV completely and eventually bring him back for real, rather than him hosting "Punk's Pit" or something.

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  137. Punk was mostly an afterthought in the Rumble, as the announcers never once put him over or treated him as a favourite to win the thing.

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  138. Stranger in the AlpsJanuary 30, 2014 at 2:05 PM

    I have been instructed to silently shake my head "no" and get back to work.

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  139. for six bucks I would give it a shot.

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  140. Welcome to the internet. Judging is kind of what we do here.

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  141. I thought the Punk one ended up being due to a medical clearance thing; like, by the time he was cleared to wrestle Punk had already made nice with HHH and it wasn't really a hot feud anymore.

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  142. Just like how Austin never should have gone over Vince, right?

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  143. London is cool as fuck. I smoked with him and Kendrick, besides the crazy conspiracy theories it was a great time. London was wearing his space jumpsuit with a tag on it saying dolphin

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  144. These are my personal site highlight currently. Excellent work as always.

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  145. They, as well as others who have done shoots from this time period, give lot of insight as to how miserable you can get when you are lost in the shuffle of the midcard with seemingly no one in the company caring if you succeed or not.

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  146. On the main site, it said this post had 150 comments, and I was thinking, "most interest anyone has ever shown in London and Kendrick. That's all Bayless."

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  147. "He said when he got backstage, they asked him if he was alright and he said yes then they told him his elimination looked "too good" and that it took away from the match and London said he got heat over that spot."



    WTF?

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  148. I watched this one awhile ago, one of the more entertaining shoots. I like both guys but after years of wondering why they could never get a push it was pretty clear after I watched this....they just didn't seem to take it seriously. Benoit and Holly were praising their work and putting them over as the future of wrestling and trying to make sure they got there but they seemed uninterested. There's nothing wrong with it, like they say, it's not for everyone, but they didn't seem to take it as seriously as they had to to make it.

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  149. How does that even get posted? It'd be like going to the movies and the first thing you see is a 15 minute interview with the director talking about his personal life, before introducing the movie, which he warns you won't be very good because he's still new to directing, and then like 30 minutes later the movie starts...

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  150. I wouldn't call them douche-bags, although London can walk that line...but knowing what we know about how WWE works, politically, it's no surprise they didn't last.

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  151. I doubt these two were model employees, but I don't doubt them when they say everyone is powerless. It sucks to know that your spot is always going to be your spot. Once you've resigned yourself to the fact that you have zero upward mobility, it's hard to keep caring.

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  152. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJanuary 31, 2014 at 12:12 AM

    Shit, I love a good trainwreck.

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  153. Awww...poor, poor Kendrick and London, they're getting paid six figures to do what they love in front of millions of people, my heart fucking bleeds.

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  154. Six figures? I somehow doubt that. And even if they do, traveling expenses over the entire year probably significantly cut that to shreds.

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  155. That "How does a tag team get on the wall?" story is so, so sad and defines why I think pro wrestling can be so depressing to read about.

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  156. That is 100% on the mark for me. I have never gave any fucks about these two yahoo's but if it's a Bayless feature, Im checking it out...

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  157. Pretty sure the downwside on even the super low care guys is 100K.

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  158. she's awesome.

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