The Unknown Poster

Sean Hannity should probably get a lawyer right away.

it was a laughably shameful display by the GOP throughout. If they applied the same standards and displayed the same faux outrage to Trump that they did Cohen, he'd be toast. *Gasp*, Cohen might write a book. Trump is raking in millions from being President.

Saw that on a wrestling board (Luke's son is Jungle Boy, who is signed to an AEW deal). Sad.

Yup and the one consistent thing about Trump is he routinely accuses his opponents of things he's done. Major projecting. lol

This week's wrestling news (courtesy of Mr Meltzer among others): - he confirmed Arn Anderson's firing from WWE and that the incident that precipitated it is being kept really quiet. Arn and Vince didnt get along. Cody Rhodes was very complimentary of Arn so AEW might be a soft landing spot for him. A lot of WWE wrestlers were very upset at Arn's firing. - Bruce Prichard is basically back as Vince's right hand man which is probably an indication Vince wants to 1) improve the product & 2) have an ally close to him. Whether Prichard CAN improve the product is yet to be seen but he's very smart, though has done little since being fired from WWE in 2008 and is seen as a con-man and yes-man by many. Bruce has been back basically since January but just started full time with last week's RAW. RAW was better and Bruce might inject some better long form story telling, less scripted promos and less awful announcing. - In the latest example of LOL Impact, Jeff Jarrett has a $4.8 million lawsuit against them for destroying his master tapes of the GWF shows. JJ gave the tapes to Anthem (Impact's parent company) when GWF and Impact were merging and JJ was given points in the new company. Then JJ was fired for drinking issues, went to WWE rehab and joined that company. JJ asked for the tapes back and for impact to stop airing the GWF shows on their streaming service. Impact replied by saying they destroyed the tapes "through the normal course of business". Which is absurd. JJ is going to win this one. He probably could have sold the tapes to WWE. - Batista's deal was newly signed this past week but had been worked on for a little while (I'd assume that when they booked the Flair party, they knew what the outcome was). Its a bit odd Batista is the heel but he seems to prefer that. It was either going to be Hunter or Undertaker as his opponent but Batista wanted Hunter, assuming Hunter is medically cleared by then (which, presumably, he will be). - There is a rumour that the plan is Vince's changing of matches will lead to a power struggle angle between him and Hunter/Steph (which they sort of tried to do before). The rumor is Vince would replace Seth with Roman against Brock and Hunter would interject and put Seth in a three way with Bryan & Kofi as well as put Becky back in the women's match. Vince would then be revealed as the one who brought Batista back to take out Hunter and their match would have a stip where Hunter wins, he gets control of WWE, but if he loses, he's out. Thats actually a lot of real story telling, which is lacking lately, so I like it. And again, if that's Bruce's idea, good on him. - Owens was supposed to be bryan's WM opponent and Kofi the opponent at Fastlane PPV this month. But it sounds like they decided to strike while hot and go with Kofi. - Kurt Angle is also scheduled to work WM and so is Cena but plans havent been finalized which is really, really late this year. - Bucks vs Pentagon & Fenix is on for Double or Nothing. - Omega gave an interview where he said that to a lot of guys Wrestlemania is the culmination but to him, Wrestlemania was the New Japan Tokyo Dome show. And that WWE had one thing he really wanted - a program with AJ Styles. He said wrestling to him is about his art, not his money. (As an aside, I saw a lot of local guys talk about Kenny's decision before he announced it and one dipshit summed it up by saying "You made your art, now go make your money", which shows a complete lack of comprehension of Kenny. - Sunny is back in jail after a DUI and failure to pay previous fines. - Indie wrestler who did mostly "deathmatch" matches, announced he was HIV positive and has been so for years. He doesnt think he caught it doing double blood matches but says he could never know for sure. - WM 36 is likely heading to Tampa. Minneapolis was the Plan B yet again... - WWE picked up the option on the Hardy's so they are WWE for another year - Vince desperately wanted Undertaker pulled from Starrcast (the AEW convention) but thus far, he is still scheduled and Starrcast applied for a trademark for the term "Dead Man Talking" which might be a talk show at the convention or an on-going podcast or both. That would be something else, an Undertaker podcast. - Reigns told fans at a recent signing that he will convince Ambrose to stay with WWE - Steve Corino is confirmed as bumped up from NXT to main roster as an agent. He was in charge of most of NXT's house shows (he was a booker for ROH previously as well). Steve is a super smart guy and this continues to rapid hiring of main roster agents all of a sudden. - Flair had his real 70th birthday party in Atlanta and the guests included: Among the names there included Charles Barkley, Evander Holyfield, Dennis Rodman, Todd Gurley, A.J. Styles, Paul Levesque (no Stephanie), Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Shane McMahon, Edge, Beth Phoenix, daughter Ashley (Charlotte), Andrade, Tony Schiavone, Conrad Thompson, Brad Nessler, Ricky Steamboat, Michael Hayes, Fit Finlay and Shane Helms - Flair's wife Wendy (Fifi the maid) suggested Bradley Cooper should play Ric in the Hulk Hogan films. Which is actually pretty good. But Flair is unlikely to be in it as their paths barely crossed until 1991. - Nikki Bella won an award for "best actress in a reality TV show"...huh?

Dave Meltzer provided some info from a lawsuit filed against the AAF and the info is....something else! Robert Vanech filed suit claiming the idea for the AAF was his and he wants 50% ownership and acknowledgment as creator. He detailed the original plans. The documentary about XFL which was a romanticized version, made by Charlie Ebersol was designed to kick start the new league. The plan was NOT to create a new league but to BUY the XFL rights from Vince for $50 million (wtf). Further, they intended to sell TV rights to Vince to air on the WWE Network (huh). They met with Vince and he decided that if other people thought the XFL was worth $50 million and that a spring league was a good idea, then he should do it himself. Vince rushed his press conference early with no plans so as to beat the AAF presser. And while Vince made a big deal at that presser that no players would kneel during the anthem, they recently talked to Colin Kaepernick about playing for the XFL. But Kap wanted $20 million and that was that... XFL should be announcing their TV deals shortly and the hint is that there will be 4 games per weekend and all of them will be nationally aired with 2 on network and 2 on wide distribution cable. AAF's plan was to go into markets that did not have the NFL so they'd be the big football draw. XFL's plan is to go into major media markets where they can draw more money for TV rights.

Yup. And its possible its also Mueller being incredibly focused on his assignment. Its possible he delivers a report that is damning in many ways but not so in the collusion aspect as far as directly tying Trump. And thats that. And yet, every step that Mueller took that pointed to some other criminal matter that didnt fall under his direct assignment, he handed to the SDNY. It would make sense. ofcourse, Mueller was given broad leeway to prosecute any other crimes he uncovered in the process (same thing with the Clinton investigation when Bill was pres, but that looked so partisan). Mueller might be avoiding the partisan aspect by saying, look, here's my report about Russia. The tax evasion and everything else, not my area, but SDNY nails them, And you notice Trump doesnt try to mess with the SDNY like he does Mueller. No one messes with the SDNY.

Thats sort of the really dumb part. Let's assume Trump was doing the Moscow project because he assumed he'd lose and it was too big of a deal to pass up. I can accept that. Its sort of disingenuous to your supporters, but we can accept he never expected to win nor wanted to win and that his primary focus was money money money so he kept running the operation. Why lie? Its not like supporters would turn on him if he said "sure, Im doing business in Russia. Its what I do." But he or someone close to him was **** scared of admitting that. In retrospect, it stinks because it provided motivation for him to be indebted to Russia. But had he just admitted it, I doubt anything changed and he doesnt have the stink of a cover-up. IF he criminally conspired with Russia to impact the election, which is very possible, that's a different matter. But that fact is true or false regardless of the outcome (he might have just felt no one would care had he lost). But it almost doesnt make sense other than your point that he couldn't help himself. If he didnt want to win, why help rig the election? Because like everything else, he has to push the false narrative of being the best and winning at everything.

And I think its a brilliant move, perhaps orchestrated by Mueller. SDNY is involved to cut off the Pardon aspect. And it also isnt prone to allegations of bias which Mueller is, though he shouldn't be. I read someone suggest SDNY is doing the heavy lifting on serious criminal matters where Mueller will in effect, to the political aspect (ie. his report will be fuel for an impeachment, but SDNY will be fuel for criminal prosecution of people up to and perhaps including Trump).

Oh for sure, I mean the part of that its investigating things that have not been discussed. if I understood that exchange by Cohen and the Rep correctly.

The JWR situation is an easy one, I agree. JT should quit. If he doesnt, the Liberals get trounced next election anyway. I think the Cohen testimony implicating Junior was new, wasnt it? His statements about SDNY having criminal investigations into Trump that have not been heard about *could* be new...

Well, two points to your post. Someone made a post in the Canadian politics thread which is a great point and dovetails into what many have said here for awhile, that political perspective often clouds judgement. I was at the dentist last week and it was an experience I've had a few times. I had the TV on CNN and the dental assistant commented about how awful Trump was so we talked about it for a few minutes and then she surprised me by saying "not that our PM is much better, I just dont like him." I've heard that a lot. The Cohen testimony was explosive. And bad for Trump. But a real example of the lack of accountability among the GOP. I think only one Republican expressed concern, the rest carried Trump's water in attacking Cohen. They didnt dispute what he said though. If they are so outraged by liars, how can they support Trump? It was jaw-dropping really. Cohen comes across very credible within the context of a convicted liar. No man has ever been more compelled to be honest then a guy going to prison for lying to congress, not yet sentenced, and called before congress again. He's incredibly motivated to come clean. And he defended Trump on several issues, a couple of key ones in fact. He's implicated Trump directly in the campaign finance felony. And watching the GOP defenders on the news after try to pooh-pooh that...its a campaign finance violation that was designed to steal the election. Not all finance violations are created equal. He implicated Trump Jr and the Trump CFO. The CFO is cooperating so thats a big deal. He implicated Junior and Ivanka in the Moscow Trump Tower deal. And Congress is very likely to want to call them in for questioning which is going to be world war 3. And perhaps most interestingly, Cohen declined to answer questions about other criminal acts because they're being currently investigated by the SDNY. The SDNY may end up being more explosive than the Mueller report. Perhaps by a long shot, in fact. And in the end, what sinks Trump might not be the acts, but the cover-up (just as it was for Nixon).

This actually sounds hilarious...sort of similar to the fictional Seinfeld reboot from Curb:

Then why’d you let him go???! Lol Very nice words.

Yeah Im guessing he's getting less bookings. Which makes sense. He's 66 years old. I did see he was willing to take wrestling bookings again which...yeesh. I dont know if he "needs" the money so much as he wants to make money. He genuinely seems to enjoy working and being on the road. The legends contract can be decent. I think it's $10,000 but then even if WWE does nothing with you, it will boost his own bookings. But being friendly with WWE can create more opportunity. Guest appearances, talking head gigs for those documentaries they do, merch sales etc. He passed up the HOF a few times...I remember one, I think WM was in Arizona where HTM lives and they wanted him and he declined because he was working tons and didnt want to answer to WWE on anything. Im sure we have some vignettes with Elias to look forward to. I always had a great time with Honky and he was nothing but professional and easy to work with. I think we had him in ten times.

Looks more like trying to find some even lines rather then traditional 1-4. Other then 3 being the "checking" line. hayes probably started with a lot less ice time than he was getting in NY and will increase as he gets acclimated. Probably juggle some guys around and find the best options,.

Vince has tons of money. As the Forbes article details, he has a lot of stocks, bonds etc. Because he makes a lot of cash. Millions and millions per year cash from salary, bonuses, dividends, investment income. Does he keep half a billion in small bills under his mattress? Probably not. But he easy access to loads of cash. He sold shares to invest in the XFL which is a normal thing for rich business people to do. He still owns more shares than anyone else. Billions of dollars worth. He's going to be okay. Plus, WWE is doing a stock buy back and Im sure he'll end up gaining plenty of stock options. He's 73. This is a bucket list thing for him. His wealth is not completely tied to WWE because while Im sure he's pretty smart about money, he surely has a lot of even smarter accountants and money managers. He didnt blink when spending, what, $50 million on Linda's political career? $100 million on the XFL? He's fine. WWE stock actually increased a lot since his sell off and will continue to do so with the new TV contracts so his wealth continues to grow. WWE has virtually nothing to do with the XFL other than sharing some office people and the owner of the XFL is the CEO of WWE. They are separate entities unlike the first go around when the XFL was owned by the WWE and NBC. If Vince isnt wealthy, I wish I was as unwealthy as him.

Look on the bright side. Jets will get some big players back in time for the playoffs, well rested and ready to go.

Vegas. Well, cool enough. A marching band and six fans met him at the airport.

Vince sold shares for $100 million to invest in his XFL company which is separate from wwe and financed by Vince personally. WWE has always paid a dividend and Vince is the largest share holder. He was paid tens of millions per quarter for years and years. He’s said he could invest half a billion. His personal fortune isn’t just wwe stock. He has tons of cash (or at least he was paid a ton of cash, what he did with it after, I don’t know). EDIT: Here's a good article on the McMahon fortune. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2018/06/20/the-mcmahons-who-run-wwe-and-trumps-small-business-administration-raked-in-at-least-100m-in-2017/#6cad92d3254e So in 2017 alone, Vince made $12 million in dividend payments. He's received those large payments every year since WWE went public. Plus, over $3 million in salary as CEO. The article states he made $2 million in income from non-WWE investments in 2017 as well. Dude has plenty of money. :-)

That was a pretty darn good raw. If that is Prichard’s influence, more power to him.