Author: M. Swift

In this visit to the “Wrestling Salvage Yard,” we’re looking at the brief WWE career of Essa Rios, better known as Mr. Aguila. This is a brief one, folks and you’ll probably finish your coffee or your snack before we’re done. A Brief WWE Career After gaining success in Mexico and getting some polish with WWE partner IWA Puerto Rico, Rios returned to WWE as—Essa Rios in 2000. That’s right, he was actually in the company two years earlier when he was brought in as part of the new Light Heavyweight division at 19. At that time, he wrestled as…

We’re taking another trip to the late 90s-early 2000s indies with a 1996 bout between the Hardy Boyz. Now this one is of better quality than the 1997 match we featured before but it’s more of the same—which is more of a good thing than a bad thing. This Matt vs. Jeff match went down in late 1996 and possibly for Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling or the Heartland Wrestling Association. I only say “possibly” because it wasn’t unusual for indies to have their shows taped and aired locally—or just to have the match on tape. It’s dated December 1996 but…

The WWE Light Heavyweight division was frustrating. Get this: the company has a strong collection of North American high flyers and a few from Japan. Most of these guys have had world experience and they’re good to go. Then you have these guys–who are the same age as the International talent—from the U.S and Canada who are on the bleeding edge of high flying as 2000 nears. Not only that but your company starts your division pretty early. WCW has a small guy division? WWE has one the following year and it’s staffed. The early months of the title were…

The time before the brand split in WWE isn’t that far back as we’re in the sixth year of the split. However, there was a time before the original 2002 Brand Split when WWE simply worked even with a fairly bulky roster. Was it the product at the time? Could it have been that it allowed for long-running stories that were fast-paced and filled with excitement? Maybe it worked because writers could mess up at one part of a story but had more room to recover within that same week instead of “You better stick it next week”? I’d say…

The WWE Championship during the Attitude Era was a mess. If you really cared about the importance of the title during that period, you were wasting your time because it was hotshotted among a slowly expanding group of talent during the late 90s into 2001. WWE Championship Reigns in the Attitude Era Were Like the Most Extreme Game of Tag Ever However, if you think of the Attitude Era canonically as a period where the rules were at their most lax, alliances were made and broken very quickly, and getting the title off of one person and keeping it off…

The specifics of Mystikal’s first-degree rape charge as well as his other assorted felonies have come out throughout the day. This includes charges that weren’t included in initial reports. The Specifics of Mystikal’s Recent Rape and False Imprisonment Charges in Louisiana Booked into the Ascension Parish Jail just before 1 PM on July 31, 2022, Mystikal—born Michael Tyler—was hit with one count each for first-degree rape, domestic abuse battery via strangulation, simple robbery, and possession of both a Schedule 1 and Schedule 4 drug. There is also a felony charge for a Schedule 2 drug amphetamine, the only drug…

With the recent news of Triple H being made head of creative and Vince McMahon resigning, it makes me wonder when exactly did McMahon and executives know that the allegations were going to be a major, career-ending legal problem. When Exactly Did WWE Know That the Hush-Money Allegations Would Shake the Company? These kinds of issues are not uncommon nowadays. As a matter of fact, it’s an odd year if there is no news of some sort of sexual allegations coming to light. In 2022, companies should do an annual scrub of their roster to make sure there are no…

Oof, it appears you can be hit with a pretty hefty fine if you attempt to smuggle McDonald’s onto a plane in Australia. One passenger found this out when he tried to bring two undeclared sausage and egg McMuffins onto his flight from Bali to Darwin in late July 2022. Australian Passenger TAXED Almost $2K for Smuggled McMuffins After Contraband-Sniffing Dog Found the Undeclared McDonald’s – Ham Croissant Also Confiscated The fines are linked to controlling diseases from entering Australia—in this case: Foot and Mouth disease. So, there’s a zero-tolerance approach to even the most seemingly benign items in your…

Rapper Mystikal has been accused of rape again in his native Louisiana and was arrested on July 31, 2022. Obviously, this is nothing new for the “Shake Ya Ass” artist. Back in June 2003, he did six years after pleading guilty to sexual battery and extortion. Mystikal Arrested in Louisiana on First-Degree Rape and Other Charges After Being Scheduled for No Limit’s 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour – Held Without Bond In that incident, his hairstylist was accused of stealing roughly $80K in checks and forced to perform sexual acts by the rapper and his security guards. However, a video of…

In Key West, Florida a 70-year-old Steven Santana was arrested after stabbing another man—after he failed in performing a sexual act on July 29, 2022. The situation went down after Santana offered the victim a place to sleep in his camper. Florida Man Arrested After Failed Sexual Assault and Stabbing of Victim Prior to the attack, the two smoked marijuana and drank. Even though the two met that night, they hit it off enough that the victim was given a spot in the back of the camper and Santana took the couch. At 1:30 AM, the victim woke up to…