Author: M. Swift

Jimmy Hart is a manager with a long career starting in Memphis during the 70s. His First Family faction was one of those early proper factions. You know, where it wasn’t just a collection of wrestlers under one manager—a stable—but an alliance with a specific goal. The goal, in this case, was harassing Jerry Lawler because of course. Once he got to WWE in 1985, it was primarily to manage Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Later that year, Hart would go down a path that would make him a versatile manager. Jimmy Hart: The Canadian Whisperer There are three things that “The Mouth of the South” was known for in WWE. First was…

The inner workings and backstage stuff that goes into producing a wrestling TV show and PPV are fascinating. Every year, we hear horror stories about working in different companies whether it’s WWE, Impact Wrestling, or AEW. Recently, an ex-AEW production talent named Louie Benson shared his experiences with bullying in the company. However, from what Benson stated in a series of tweets, his work—which is difficult already and extremely time-sensitive—was made even more difficult by office bullying. A Rough Year In AEW Louie Benson’s work involved producing various video packages, graphics work, camera work—a ton of stuff to promote on-screen talent…

Test was a WWE superstar who really kind of breezed through the company. On one hand, he showed up at the right time during the Attitude Era. However, it was easy for him to lose whatever momentum he built up really quickly. Could Test have been salvaged? Career Breakdown Test came into WWE with the gimmick of a bodyguard or extra muscle. His on-screen debut saw him yeet a “fan” off the stage during Motley Crue’s rehearsal on WWE RAW. During the Attitude Era, he moved through tag team combinations and factions. Most notably he was heavily associated with The Rock as a member of the heelish Corporation faction. I’d say…

We’re pulling up to the Wrestling Salvage Yard this week and All Elite Wrestling’s Billy Gunn is on the board! “Mr. Ass”, “The Bad Ass”, “Billy”, “Kip Sopp”, “The Outlaw.” Gunn has had a bunch of names in a 35-year-long career. The ones above were just a few! Let’s go into Rockabilly’s career starting at the largest stage he reached and where things took a turn. We’ve been there before—WWE 1993. From Smoking Gunn to Billy & Chuck When Gunn came into WWE in 1993, it was as a member of the team The Smoking Gunns with “brother” Bart Gunn (Mike Barton). The tandem was big, strong, tough, and had…

It’s the end of the road for the first month of WCW Monday Nitro! Let’s find out what the Atlanta-based promotion has in store for us for the September 25, 1995 episode. Storylines On This Episode All you need to know about the stories in this episode is that challenges were thrown around everywhere. WCW is laying the groundwork for Halloween Havoc 1995. So, there’s Savage challenging Luger, Hogan and his broken neck challenging The Giant, and Arn responding to Ric Flair wanting to kick his ass. On the note of Hogan’s broken neck, his promo was shot in a “locker room” with the mood…

Even though the first three episodes of ECW Hardcore TV were mixed—only two was solid for wrestling and angles so far—I’ve been enjoying these early storylines. Storylines From This Episode The fourth episode features Hot Stuff International adding Don Muraco to its ranks. Muraco was a long-time rival of Snuka, a member of Hot Stuff International. Both were also among ECW’s earliest Heavyweight champions. This is a dangerous trio and the company’s first major faction. We also have Hunter Q. Robbins III issuing a $500 challenge: any team who can beat his Super Destroyers gets five Benjamins. Big money, folks. Finally, there’s the conflict between The Sandman and Rockin’ Rebel who tried to get a smooch from Peaches. Let’s tie up ECW Hardcore TV with…

Extreme Championship Wrestling had a different approach to the World Championship than WWE and WCW. Let’s get into what made the champions in ECW so special. Most ECW Champions Were Simply Relatable WWE and WCW’s world champions were like rockstars. Sure, we all cheered for them but they were on this elevated stage. Superheroes, horror movie monsters, behemoths, and superstar athletes made up their champions. ECW The Environment Was Key This isn’t to say that WWE and WCW didn’t have relatable champions. DDP was the People’s Champion in the original sense. He was like Dusty Rhodes in the 80s. Steve Austin was the beer-drinking dude who stayed in fights and raising hell across…

We’re still going through Extreme Championship Wrestling’s shows to catch up on WCW and WWE in 1996. It’s still February 1996 so it’s time for ECW Just Another Night. The version I watched was on the WWE Network which has the…bad substitute music and fancam quality. Warning, the stills for this review are bad. This show was released for home video with matches rearranged. Since I don’t grade matches in order, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get into ECW Just Another Night! Low-Tier The opening match saw Bad Crew defeat some scrub who was supposed to team with JT Smith. At this point, Smith had…

We’re knocking out the third and fourth episode of WCW Monday Nitro! The early shows have been very enjoyable overall so let’s see if the September 18, 1995 episode holds up. Storylines On This Episode The Giant really let Hogan have it at Fall Brawl 1995, breaking his neck after invading the War Games match! Mean Gene said that his “father” Andre the Giant would be disappointed in him. The Giant said that Andre was still alive, he would’ve joined him in crushing Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair and Arn Anderson are still beefing. With Brian Pillman in the mix, Flair is fired up to filet the former Flyin’ Brian! While pumping iron on…

The U.S 2020 Election has proven to be very nerve-wracking for Americans and the world. Let’s look at five WWE superstars past and present who ran for office. Before we continue, I’m focusing on U.S politics but yes, Ludvig Borga was in Finland’s parliament for several years in the 2000s. Also, Bob Backlund who ran unsuccessfully up in Connecticut as well as Rick Steiner who ran successfully in Georgia–but aren’t listed here. Jesse Ventura – Governor of Minnesota, 1999-2003 “The Body” was also the mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN from 1991-1995. During that time he was a color commentator for WCW. The former Navy…