"Aw, you promised me a teenage girl."

It’s hard to believe that people could have ever thought this was a good idea, but in 1966, there was a TV series entitled Europe’s Big Top Circus Stars Live from the Hippodrome – AKA The Hippodrome Show – and it featured big TV and movie stars of the day serving as “Guest Ringmasters” of a televised circus. In fact, stars like Merv Griffin, Tony Randall and Jack Carter played host for this brief series that is described by IMDB as such:

Spectacular variety series featuring the whole nine yards, jumping dogs, trapeze acts, brass bands, vaudeville as well as contemporary singers and musicians. Hosts were the same but different line ups or episodes were made to suit each country.

Right off the bat, my attention is piqued with jumping dogs, but is that all that they do? Maybe I’m spoiled in this Internet generation, especially with my incredible research team and tireless fact checkers, but if all those dogs did was jump, then I don’t want to hear about how awesome the 60s were anymore.

But the reason that I bring this not-necessarily-sports-news up is because a friend sent me a video last night – it’s an old one but I’d never seen it – featuring Woody Allen boxing a kangaroo in front of the Hippodrome audience. Specifically, this is from the third episode of the show’s 11-episode run, and Allen’s show also featured something called the Dubsky’s Football Dogs. That certainly sounds a lot more exciting than just “jumping dogs”. Unfortunately, there’s no video of those dogs, so you’ll have to settle for a scared kangaroo and a delightful ending.

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Only in 1945 would the British army finally provide soldiers with Umbros.

I’ve always thought that life would be so much easier and happier if countries settled their differences on the sports field rather than in war. Obviously, it would have to be an American football field, because we’d get wiped out in everything else, but for the sake of this post, we’ll just generalize sports. Like, imagine if instead of medals, the Olympics were played for land. We’d all be barons and dukes, reaping the spoils of athletic competition!

Anyway, if you’re still young enough to remember your high school and/or college history classes, then you’re probably familiar with the Christmas Truce of 1914, which is famously regarded as one of the last true moments of humanity in war. It was immortalized in the 2005 film Joyeux Noël, starring the delightful Diane Kruger, and last year the Premier League created the Christmas Truce Tournament for kids from across Europe.

Now, though, war historians are thrilled because an actual letter from Staff Sergeant Clement Barker, one of the British soldiers who was fighting at Ypres against the Germans before soldiers from both sides agreed to this temporary truce, has surfaced, offering further insight into this inspiring moment.

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We’ve made no secret in the past that us gentleman at With Leather are huge supporters of women who believe that pole dancing is a sport. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of women across the world who currently compete for state, regional, national and international championships in pole dancing, and I think that’s fantastic, because it totally validates all those times that I’ve gone to “competitive pole dancing” clubs for “research”. And now, I’m proud to “report” that pole dancing is making the lives of many children better as well.

Fifty-one students at Newcastle University, in an effort by the school’s pole dancing club, broke the Guinness World Record for consecutive hours of pole dancing earlier this month, after they exhibited their athletic skills for an amazing 30 hours, raising $1,500 for charity in the process. And while that may not sound like a lot of money for their efforts, perhaps next year they’ll provide an ATM for the people in attendance.

So is that easy, ladies? You know, pole dancing for 30 hours?

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According to the Sword Swallowers Association – which I swear is safe for work – Ian Brown is a relative newcomer to the world of sticking dangerous blades into one’s esophagus, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not trying to figuratively carve his niche. Brown only recently decided that he wanted to partially ingest weaponry, yet he already holds the United Kingdom’s record for Most Curved Swords Swallowed at Once with a whopping two. And now, as if to tell the world that he is the king of curved swords, Brown has laid claim to the world record for longest sword swallow, as he held two blades in his throat for 13 seconds. Eat your heart out, Sasha Grey.

The attempt actually broke Brown’s previous record of 8 seconds, and while you’d think that a guy would get all Little Junior Brown for having that much metal in his mouth for that long, this Brown says it ain’t no thang but a METAL POINT TOUCHING HIS DIGESTIVE TRACK.

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Pre-taped pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, what-have-you are greatly appreciated. Let your friends and wrestling pals in on the jokes, or at least the big long-winded paragraphs about women’s rights!

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

- I had a big weekend, so if you’re the type who only checks With Leather for the wrestling reports, please take an active interest in my non-wrestling life: You can check out the teaser trailer and posters for my feature film debut in ‘Summer League,’ then visit my gallery of sports from Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012, featuring me as an Air Sex Championships judge and as the YES-chant-starting host of a Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest. Fun times.

- I may (may) need someone to fill in for me on the Survivor Series report, so if you’re an Internet or real life person of note and are interested, shoot me an e-mail at MrBrandonStroud@gmail.com.

Anyway, please click through to enjoy the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw for November 5, 2012.

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Tonight, on a very special and totally-not-on-tape Monday Night Raw:

Their Hell in a Cell Match had all the makings of a classic pay-per-view battle. The self-proclaimed “Best in the World” WWE Champion vs. the undefeated and hungry newcomer, Ryback.

But Ryback — and the WWE Universe — were robbed by a WWE referee named Brad Maddox, who will finally explain his shocking actions on tonight’s Raw.

As the WWE Universe continues to buzz about the stunning pay-per-view ending — and Ryback continues to rage — here are five things to look for as Raw emanates from Birmingham, England. (via WWE.com)

1. Something great will happen, despite the fact that nothing even passably good has ever happened on a pre-taped England Raw since time f**king began.

2. You will read the spoilers, then try to watch the show anyway but give up at some point during the (I’m assuming) Miz versus Kofi Kingston match and play Scramble With Friends, or whatever your phone does that isn’t “watch wrestling”.

3. Brad Maddox will speak. His opening sentences: “I was in FCW for a while, and there’s this guy named Dean Ambrose down there. Man, I can’t wait until that guy debuts! Does anybody know when that’s supposed to happen?”

4. We will probably not find out what happened to Hunico, but maybe another announcer will say something cryptic. My theory: Hunico got caught pretending to be Chavo Guererro in TNA.

5. John Cena will say “bangers and mash” at least once, because he thinks it’s funny.

As always, my 10 favorite comments in tonight’s WWE Raw Open Discussion Thread will be featured in tomorrow’s (pre-taped and super boring) Best And Worst Of WWE Raw column. To nominate a comment for top 10 status, please reply to it with a +1.

Enjoy the show, everybody.