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| What a show Still via Dreamworks |
1. Noelle Stevenson (Last Week: Not Ranked) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power dropped its fifth and final season on Friday, and hoo boy, if you liked the first four seasons like my family and I did, you were in for a treat with how the show closed. Stevenson took a property that had started, like He-Man: Masters of the Universe before it, as a 22-minute toy commercial and gave it depth, heart, and emotion. The last season especially was just this paean to love that feels unmatched in any children's show, even ones higher on the emotional spectrum like Steven Universe. It was a celebration of all the things that make life worth living, and my daughter loved every second, which feels like is the biggest win. Thank you, Noelle. Thank you.
2. Smoked Pork Shoulder (Last Week: Not Ranked) OFFICIAL HOLZERMAN HUNGERS SPONSORED ENTRY - I cherish my weekends which is why I like to sleep in as late as possible on Saturdays and Sundays. Smoking a pork shoulder is worth getting up at the asscrack of dawn though, so I was up before 6 AM Sunday to put my hunk of meat in my electric smoker and let it go for almost half the day. America is a checkered country with a lot of problematic traditions, but barbecue is about as pure an expression of Americana that isn't somehow tugging at you to realize what a shitty country this has been throughout its history.
3. Fred Willard (Last Week: Not Ranked) - As if the hits ever stop, beloved character actor and one of the funniest men alive, Willard, died over the weekend of natural causes. Willard has popped up in a billion different movies, like Wall-E and Anchorman, but where you might know him best is part of the regular acting troupe in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries like Best in Show or A Mighty Wind. Willard was so beloved that he was caught masturbating in an adult theater and the outrage around it was non-existent, completely opposite to when Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens got caught for the same thing. Comedy lost a titan, man.
4. Maki Itoh (Last Week: 5) - Okay, which one of you degenerates showed her Borat?
5. Asuka (Last Week: 3) - There's a certain allure in being a quirky assassin, but even the most stone cold of killers should have a heart. I've heard people say Asuka should've misted Becky Lynch after the pregnancy announcement and award of the RAW Women's Championship, but really, do these people have severe wrestle brain to the point of not knowing where to put such beats in a story? Let Asuka be happy for someone who just announced they were having a baby! It's natural! Vince Russo really has poisoned an entire generation of wrestling fans, hasn't he?
6. Orange Cassidy (Last Week: 6) - You see that mask made out of his own jeans he was wearing? Pfft, no I don't care. It was cool. Or not.
7. Dennis Rodman (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Now that The Last Dance is over, it's clear that while Michael Jordan has led a charmed, interesting life, that the star of the whole thing was Rodman, who blew off practice during the NBA Finals to appear on Monday Nitro. I can overlook hanging out with Hulk Hogan to know that's what badass is. He had everyone clutching pearls because no one really knows what to do with a flamboyant Black man doing what he wants to do with his time, consequences be damned.
8. Hangman Page (Last Week: Not Ranked) - @dril may be an Internet powerhouse, but he crossed a line by messing with Cowboy Shit. You don't mess with Cowboy Shit. Hangman Page will getcha.
9. Mike Tyson (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Tyson not only was announced as presenting the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing to the winner of the Cody/Lance Archer tournament finals matches, he posted a video of him training for an apparent boxing comeback. It's no secret that my interest in the sweet science sort of rose and fell with Tyson's concurrent arc, so this is exciting news, even if just for nostalgic reasons. I understand if the fervor for Tyson isn't as high for others as it is for me. I think there also has to be a conversation about recidivism and prison rehabilitation and when to let people who seem to have rehabbed go of their debts. I think Tyson has rehabbed to the point where it's good he's in a good spot. I acknowledge he may have gotten there because of his degree of celebrity, but then again, ask Michael Vick, who has also objectively rehabbed himself and his life, about celebrity when people start yelling at him about being a dog killer.
10. Tony Schiavone (Last Week: 10) - Well wrestling fans, we're already out of time. Tune in next week for The Best in the World Rankings, here on The Wrestling Blog!
