Pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, and especially Reddit submissions/up votes are appreciated. I need to make dollars to keep this job, and links to my stuff showing up on places not run by me create DOLLARS. Create MILLIONS OF THEM.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- The RSPW Awards are going on right now, and for the first time ever, I’m going to be voting/writing about my votes for it. Go participate/look at it/whatever! It’s one of those longtime things I’ve wanted to do, alongside “bring back DDT Digest” and “have CRZ not be a dickhole to me once.”

- As I mentioned last week, I’m going to be in the house for National Pro Wrestling Day in Philadelphia on February 2. Many of the core Wrestling Bros will be there, including Impact columnist Danielle Matheson, The Wrestling Blog’s Tom Holzerman, site favorite THESTINGER, Jojo motherf**king Bravo and more, so if you’re anywhere near Philadelphia (or if you live in Texas like me and like wrestling more than other stuff) get there and hang out with us. It’s going to be the BEST.

Until then, please click through for the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw for January 21, 2013. The Rock is on this episode!

Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, what-have-you are immensely appreciated. It’s Christmas, and if you aren’t going to send me presents, you can help make my column slightly more popular. Also, send me presents.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- Reminder: If you live in the Virginia/Tennessee area, I will be attending the NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling show on the 14th of December, so if you know who I am, come by and say hi. I’ll also be at the ACW show in Austin that Sunday, because of course I will be.

Now, please click through to enjoy the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw for December 11, 2012. The title to a Best And Worst column has never been more appropriate.

Pre-show notes:

- Our comments were down by like… 80 last week (and it was a good week!) so prepare for NONSTOP DEMANDS FOR YOUR COMMENTS, LIKES, TWEETS AND SHARES. Help a brother out, all I do is give you free entertainment and make you click five-seven times.

- This Sunday is ACW’s Prom, so if you’re interested in filling in for the Best and Worst of Over The Limit and have some sort of resume (like being a nationally touring comedian or having played Dr. Cube in Kaiji Big Battel) that would make me go “oh wow okay” or some ridiculous amount of Twitter followers that would trick me into believing the first half is true, shoot me an e-mail.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- Continued thanks to Casey/THESTINGER for helping me out with gifs and pictures. Be sure to visit his gifs Tumblr. We’re gonna be doing a thing soon, so support him now.

- Don’t forget to check out the Raw Deal at TJR Wrestling. John’s perspective is easier to enjoy than mine, and contains 100% fewer Excel Saga references.

- Info about our live show:

Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-show notes, written on my forearm in sharpie to make a point:

- Don’t be afraid to leave a comment on this report. We’ve build a great community of intelligent, funny wrestling fans and you should be a part of it, because seriously, you aren’t gonna find it anywhere else.

- Big thanks again to Casey/THESTINGER for helping me out with gifs and pictures. Be sure to visit his gifs Tumblr for the stuff I didn’t use, especially the one of Dusty Rhodes emptying garbage into a garbage truck. Special thanks to teens on the Internet for that one Hayley gif.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- If you’re going to be at Wrestlemania this year (or in Miami for Wrestlemania weekend, at least), make sure you let me know so we can find each other in the darkness a la The Green Mile and say hi.

Please to enjoy the Best and Worst Of WWE Raw for March 6, 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey there, friends!

- As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, Brandon took the week off in order to celebrate his girlfriend Destiny’s birthday. I know some of you might not think it’s a valid reason to skip out on writing jokes about pro wrestling, but it’s something I totally understand. I know when I celebrate the birth of a DT, writing is almost a logistical impossibility. Y’know, on account of the violent, involuntary shaking and the formication paranoia. Keep a vigilant eye out for those silverfish, Brandon!

- Anyway, my name is Justin O’Connor. I’m not Brandon, but I’m a lot like him. Well, in the same way Mega Bloks are a lot like LEGO. I might not be what you wanted, but I’m “close enough,” and since your parents are inattentive monsters you’ll have to just suck it up and find some use for those awful brown and green pieces. Like, say, attempting to swallow them until you get the toys you asked for in the first place. Or until the school places you under precautionary care and you’re not allowed to open a carton of chocolate milk without adult supervision.

- What I’m getting at is if you guys squint really hard and skim through the pop culture references fast enough, you might be able to delude yourselves into not being able to tell the difference. If that doesn’t work, you’re probably best off treating this week’s column like a regular Brandon column; except you just found out he’s underwent severe head trauma and now everyone’s just being polite by telling him how great he’s doing “in spite of his condition,” between giving one another “holy sh*t” eyes. Trust me, it’ll be easier for everyone involved.

- I don’t have any personal stuff to plug, so you’re off the hook this week. Not really though. Leave a comment.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s tell some jokes about pro graps!

Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-show notes:

- Hey, you, person reading this column. Register and leave us a comment. When you’ve done that (or possibly before), click that “like” button over the banner image and/or share this with everyone you have ever met, including your half-siblings and that one weird guy at work who found out you like wrestling and won’t stop trying to ask you about it. He’d love this column.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- SITE NEWS #1: We’re going to be running a TLC predictions contest on Friday where you can drop a comment and win $250 bucks. It didn’t work out so well for us with Vengeance (thanks a lot, Mark Henry breaking the ring) but I’ve got to give that purse to somebody. Be sure to check back throughout the week for that.

- SITE NEWS #2: Next weekend is my girlfriend Destiny’s birthday, so I’m not going to be around for TLC or Raw reports. Thankfully I’ve got a lot of funny ass friends, so SB Nation and Baseball Feelings writer Bill Hanstock will be filling in with a Best and Worst of WWE TLC 2011 report and Progressive Boink and The Best and Worst of Smackdown Live-Blog’s own Justin O’Connor will be filling in on Best and Worst of Raw. They’re awesome, so read those and support them.

- All internal gifs are courtesy of Jerusalem at Punchsport Pagoda.

- For further Raw reading, please consult UGO’s The Good The Bad And The Ugly and John Canton’s The WWE Raw Deal. They have slightly more positive outlooks on the show than me, but my report has pictures of A.J. (read mine first)

This show was three hours and killed me four minutes in, so I apologize in advance. Click through to enjoy The Best And Worst Of The Slammy Awards.

Read the rest of this entry »