Wrestling Undertaker Assets

Big Stoke holding court with Jaka, Faye Jackson, and MJF Photo Credit: TH Welcome to a feature I like to call "Best in the World" rankings. They're not traditional power rankings per se, but they're rankings to see who is really the best in the world, a term bandied about like it's bottled water or something else really common. They're rankings decided by me, and don't you dare call them arbitrary lest I smack the taste out of your mouth. Without further ado, here's this week's list: 1. Stokely Hathaway (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Big Stoke Doin' Thangs hit a new high this weekend as not only did he successfully lead one client over another in Philly, but he defeated Nick Gage in Worcester in a match that I'm sure had no interference whatsoever from anyone affiliated with him. Add that in to the BOMBSHELL revelation that he acquired the master tapes from Marvin Gaye's estate and will be featuring him on his new album, and you've got ...

Low Ki caused a stir in New Orleans, but it didn't warrant the dogpile Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein Saturday, the Chikara Wrestle Factory hosted a doubleheader featuring the home promotion in the first half and Beyond Wrestling in the nightcap. One of the matches on the second show was to feature Joey Janela and Penelope Ford against Wheeler Yuta and "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams, but Ford injured her hip last Wednesday taking a backpack stunner at one of those bar wrestling shows with no ring. Referee Bryce Remsburg chose a replacement from the hat, as is the custom in Chikara, or in this case, a show on Chikara's home turf. For those who don't know the gimmick, Remsburg will choose three names from the hat. The first two names are joke names of people who "aren't in the building" before getting the third name. The joke names in this case were DJ Hyde and Low Ki. Both names were taken not in the spirit of fun, but because the people involved had axe...

...THIS Fucking Guy, Part the Nth Photo Credit: WWE.com Four Men: arrive Announcer: Please welcome the Undisputed Era ! One: announces himself Everybody, Even You: ADAM COLE, BAY BAY! Full Sailors: receive them generally favorably   Un dis pu ted! clap clap clapclapclap ACBB: Relish this, relish all the gold.  Since the beginning NXT's tried to prevent this from happening, yet here we stand. Robert Fish, Esquire: WarGames threw us to the wolves, and so did New Orleans, but at every single turn we remain one step ahead dripping in gold. Roddy Strong: Why, Roddy, why?  Well, I don't want to pat myself on the back... the Others: do it for him Roddy: ...but I had an epiphany.  I did something for myself, and it was the best decision of my career.  All Pete cares about is the WWEUK belt; how long would it have been before he turned on me?  And why should it be Roddy v. the World when I can finally have some allies and take over NXT? Kyle O'Reilly: The days of ...

What a tag team! Photo Credit: Touchstone Television It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman , and wait for the call on Wednesday to ask your questions. Hash-tag your questions #TweetBag , and look for the bag to drop Thursday afternoon (most of the time). Without further ado, here are your questions and my answers: Which popular sitcom characters (any era) could most easily translate into professional wrestling stories (without worrying extensively about actors� physical attributes)? #TweetBag � Star of Savage (@StarOfSavage) April 25, 2018 Honestly, I feel like any sitcom protagonist could segue into pro wrestling and at least have the chance to be successful. What is pro wrestling, especially modern pro wrestling, but televised episodic storytelling with outsized characte...

The Bad Couple signifies that All In is for real Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein All In, Cody Rhodes' and the Young Bucks' attempt at drawing 10,000 people to a non-WWE wrestling show, added three new names to the talent roster, and all of them are eye-opening. The first two are a package deal, the Bad Boy himself Joey Janela and his partner in and out of the ring, Penelope Ford. The third is former Impact Wrestling star and Tough Enough alumna Chelsea Green. They may not be the biggest names in wrestling, although Janela has been the darling of WrestleMania weekend the last two years with his Spring Break cards, but they signal more of a daring direction for All In than any of the names previously announced, even the heavy hitters like Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. All In looked like it was going to be a standard Ring of Honor featuring the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling show with a few adjacent additions actually up until about a month ago. Stephen Amell and Tessa Blanch...

A hero. Photo Credit: News and Tribune Welcome to a feature I like to call "Best in the World" rankings. They're not traditional power rankings per se, but they're rankings to see who is really the best in the world, a term bandied about like it's bottled water or something else really common. They're rankings decided by me, and don't you dare call them arbitrary lest I smack the taste out of your mouth. Without further ado, here's this week's list: 1. James Shaw, Jr. (Last Week: Not Ranked) - The amount of mass shootings in this country is both staggering and grotesque, and rarely do good stories come out of them. The Waffle House shooter in Nashville still killed four people before Shaw heroically disarmed him with his own bare hands, so it's not exactly a perfect story. Then again, who really is prepared to deal with a naked psychopath opening fire in a public place? Not even a good guy with a gun could have prevented shots from firing, but...

Johnny, you cheeseball Photo Credit: WWE.com Reign In Power, Bruno Definitely Not Lloyd Braun In Voiceover Form: Last Week on the Leftovers: Kairi Sane made the pre-show great again by hitting THE Elbow on Lacey Evans, and Heavy Machinery and Tino Sabotelli and Riddick Moss got taken out by the War Machine Raiders. The Garganos: come out to raucous applause Johnny: (off mic but to the camera) I've got goosebumps.  Look!  (shows them) Full Sailors: Welcome back!  Johnny Wrestling! Johnny: Going into New Orleans, I dreamt of this moment and the goosebumps it's giving me right now.  It's...it's really good to be home.  I was defined by Tomasso for too long... Full Sailors: BOOO! Johnny: ...it'll happen when your best friend stabs you in the back, breaks your heart, costs you a championship and then a career. Full Sailors: BOOO! Johnny: Hell, I couldn't even say his name for the longest, I was so haunted.  But after 37 grueling minutes I've got my life back ...

A true wrestling icon Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling Illustrated via WWE.com Bruno Sammartino passed away today at age 82. The Italian-born, Pittsburgh-adopted strongman-turned-wrestler was WWE's first modern legendary figure, but he's known for his epic spurning of Vince McMahon today as he is for his run at the top of the company McMahon currently operates. He is without a doubt one of the most important figures in wrestling history, the archetype for Vincent J. McMahon's version of the then World Wide Wrestling Federation, and though he led a rich and full life, his passing signals a massive loss in the wrestling community. Sammartino was born in Abruzzi, Italy in October of 1935. He spent his childhood living in an active theater of World War II, spending part of it hiding in the mountains from Nazi forces. His family would move to the United States, Pittsburgh specifically, in 1950, where Sammartino recovered from his early life of living sparsely during wartime by taking...

BRYAN BACK ON THE GRIND Photo Credit: WWE.com Welcome to a feature I like to call "Best in the World" rankings. They're not traditional power rankings per se, but they're rankings to see who is really the best in the world, a term bandied about like it's bottled water or something else really common. They're rankings decided by me, and don't you dare call them arbitrary lest I smack the taste out of your mouth. Without further ado, here's this week's list: 1. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 1) - Honestly, I got a little worried when near the end of his first weekly television match since returning with AJ Styles, Bryan took a weird bump from the top rope on a back suplex reversal. It's okay, all of his fans are going to have moments whenever he takes a bad-looking bump like that, but it's all part of his comeback. Everyone's gotta adjust. 2. Ben Simmons (Last Week: 2) - Simmons in his first playoff game just dished 14 assists en route to a S...

After a rough start, Kapler's got the Phils on the right track Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman , and wait for the call on Wednesday to ask your questions. Hash-tag your questions #TweetBag , and look for the bag to drop Thursday afternoon (most of the time). Without further ado, here are your questions and my answers: What�s your opinion of the Phillies rebuilding project with where it is in the current state of the process, the moves made going into this season (Arrieta, etc), and how it will evolve in the future? � Shane Carnes (@ShaneCarnes) April 4, 2018 Firstly, BIG apologies for omitting this question last week. It was an honest mistake on my part. As for the question, I mean, it's been quite the first couple of w...

YES! YES! YES! YES! Photo Credit: WWE.com Welcome to a feature I like to call "Best in the World" rankings. They're not traditional power rankings per se, but they're rankings to see who is really the best in the world, a term bandied about like it's bottled water or something else really common. They're rankings decided by me, and don't you dare call them arbitrary lest I smack the taste out of your mouth. Without further ado, here's this week's list: 1. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 1) - It wasn't a bloodbath like against Takeshi Morishima or a five-star technical classic against Nigel McGuinness or an emotion-soaked underdog battle like against Triple H, but by god, Daniel Bryan back in a pro wrestling ring just felt right. It was like he didn't miss a beat at all. God bless. 2. Ben Simmons (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Joel Embiid out with a concussion? No fear, Ben Simmons is here to lead the way. The Sixers continued their winning ways thank...

Tune into Smackdown Tuesday to see more creative ways Nakamura can low-blow Styles! Photo Credit: WWE.com In TH Style, of course. You can still watch this for free on WWE Network as a new subscriber, but at this point, maybe just peep RAW and Smackdown this week instead? I dunno. Highlights: Seth Rollins became the final member of The Shield to attain Grand Slam status as he captured the Intercontinental Championship after curb stomps on both Finn B�lor and The Miz. Charlotte Flair ended Asuka's unbeaten streak and retained the Smackdown Women's Championship with the Figure Eight. Jinder Mahal outlasted Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev to win the United States Championship with a Khallas on Rusev. Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle bested Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, as Rousey tapped McMahon out with a cross-armbreaker. The Bludgeon Brothers won the Smackdown Tag Team Championships with an assisted avalanche sitout powerbomb on on Kofi Kingston. Undertaker finally answered John ...