Thursday, February 20, 2020

Twitter Request Line, Vol. 286

Yeah, Savage would've had the fan support if the feud happened today
Photo Credit: WWE.com
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 280 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:

It's hard to say, because even though in the time between his face turn and the Saturday Night's Main Event where Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back, he was a model citizen. But the thing about today's wrestling is that fans have longer memories, and thanks to the Internet and social media, they've all gathered into one place and can disseminate information, that Savage used to be so abusive to Elizabeth, and maybe they were hiding it. I mean, Hog... wait, Hogan? Yeah, he's not sympathetic at all. They'd be behind Savage today.

There are accounts that just tweet gifs of people from the territories doing banal moves and then commenting "now THAT's how you do a drop toehold" or some shit. Yet, sometimes, they'll post a gif of a dude doing a side headlock and really cranking on it and it looks better than a lot of submissions nowadays. I wanna say Buzz Sawyer was one who did it, but like, I would love to see someone bring back a wild cranking side headlock that they use as a near-submission move. Every match has to have restholds, but do the restholds have to look sedated? I would even buy a side headlock as a finish. It's not the move, it's the execution.

I wouldn't say full babyface. In certain situations, they are. If you recall in World Championship Wrestling, Ric Flair was still a shitbag heel when he faced off against anyone who wasn't in the nWo, but when he went against that faction, he was the good guy. I feel like the Yankees are in a sweet spot where if they go up against the Sox or Astros in the playoffs, they'll be a nationwide fan-favorite. This team is pretty likable too, so I'd say they might get support against teams like the Cubs and Cardinals. They're no longer public enemy number one. But if they go up against a plucky underdog like the Padres or Reds in the World Series? Yeah, they're the Evil Empire again.

The concept is solid, because with a burrito, you get flavor compression and a better chance for you getting all the flavors in the sandwich in one bite, depending on how thick the burrito is. That being said, the roll is one of key parts of the construction, because it provides texture. The beef (or chicken) is chewy, the cheese is creamy, and good cheesesteaks provide a crunch into a more pliable chew than the beef. It's hard to say how the tortilla will interplay with the rest of the ingredients. I guess the only option is to try one.

I think you're seeing promoters finally get that fact in 2020. Yeah, Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque don't really know how heat. I think it's also notable that there's significant backlash to MJF when he starts mining the lowest common denominator. People are getting it. The only ones who want racism and sexism and transphobia in play are the dinosaurs like Jim Cornette and his ditch-dwelling followers. Guys like Jay White and Chris Jericho and even Dakota Kai show how you can mine heel heat without going low.

The fact that it was in Portland and not Orlando means there was still material left to be mined. I know I've said this before, but when NXT moved Takeovers from Wednesday night at Full Sail to Saturday/Sunday and on the road, it marked the end of its salad days. There was always something special of every show coming from Full Sail with a familiar crowd and certain aesthetic. NXT on the road makes it main roster light. It might have the superior wrestling and characterization, but it feels like a piece was lost when they decided to tape/televise away from Orlando.

I would say N from Generation V, but he was more a villain. Honestly, while there have been good rivals, like Serena or Wally, the last great rival, perhaps the only great rival, is Silver. Yeah, I said it, Gary Oak/Blue is merely good. Silver is perhaps the best part of his games, well, second best after DAH GAWD Tyranitar. Seeing hi going from stealing a Pokemon to becoming a true rival is one of the best arcs in any game. They really lost the thread by having recent rivals be hapless chucklefucks.

Oooh, this is a meaty yet difficult topic.

5. "Chic n Stu" - What System of a Down does is make metal become catchy. One of their biggest earworms is this lead track off their rarities collection, Steal This Album!. "Chic n Stu" is as catchy as the ads it is speaking out against. You will sing "pepperoni and green peppers mushrooms olives chives" to yourself before realizing "hey, that's how they get me to buy shit I don't need!"

4. "Cigaro" - Look, I love any song that starts out with the line "MY COCK IS MUCH BIGGER THAN YOURS."

3. "Aerials" - I liked System of a Down before this song was released as a single/radio track, but this was the song that really made me love them. It drives, has soul, and once again, it's catchy despite having an underlying depressive mood.

2. "BYOB" - This one just comes right out and drops a bomb on you with the bouncy verses and their biggest intensity on the chorus. It hits just as hard today with warmongering in Syria and Iran as it did back when it was yelling about the Iraq War.

1. "Deer Dance" - "Deer Dance" is the platonic ideal of a SOAD song, catchy, sing-songy verses, a chorus that blasts you, content matter that is both eternally relevant AND the exactly correct position. As long as there are jitbag cops pushing the weak around, there'll always be a band like SOAD to push back against them culturally.

Guy Fieri is definitely the one I did the biggest 180 on. I used to think he was corny and overly bombastic for no reason, but then I realized that honestly, gimmicks are gimmicks. I'm a wrestling fan, right? What he's doing is pretty awesome. Putting the spotlight on little eateries for people to check out instead of the big box chains is as close to a public service as one can do on a corporately-owned television network.

My best guess is that their spandex tights are just that, tight. You get a wedgie if you have more square inches of fabric than you do buttcheek, right? I've seen wrestlers get wedgies and you can tell that the tights were just a little too big. Maybe they wore their bulking tights during their cutting cycle. I don't know. But really, you try putting on a just-right pair of spandex tights, yoga pants, or even underwear and see how much wedgie you get. You won't.
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