Last night, while Dwyane Wade was kicking Ramon Sessions in the balls on purpose and then acting all offended that someone could even insinuate that he’d ever commit a dirty foul, LeBron James was distracted by the Charlotte Bobcats’ No. 1 fan (I assume) and former WWE and WCW champion Ric Flair. It turns out that Flair was sitting courtside as the Bobcats lost their 16th consecutive game with a 105-92 ball-stomping by the Miami Heat.

Apparently James was a huge wrasslin’ fan as a child, and the Nature Boy had quite the impact on his, specifically in that Flair possibly invented the baller lifestyle.

“When I was a kid, I loved wrestling,” James told the Associated Press. “He was one of the guys I loved, too. I think he’s one of the creators of what we call swag these days with the Rolexes and the stretch limos and all the girls and all that stuff. He’s one of the creators of swag.” (Via CBS Philly)

In case you’re wondering, the other creators of swag include Richard Nixon, Phyllis Diller and my dad, because he can totally beat up your dad.

But before we slide a little further into love with James, let’s just remember that he’s been on a non-stop PR tour ever since the Heat won the NBA title. He wants the common man and average American to love him, so of course he’s trying to relate to our love of cheap cell phone plans, colorful shoes and one of the most entertaining wrestlers of all-time.

You see, it starts with Ric Flair and then soon he’s like, “Hey, you know what was an awesome TV show? Perfect Strangers.” And you’re like, “Yeah, that was a good show, let’s do the Dance of Joy.” And then he hesitates while one of his boys drugs your drink and you wake up in a dumpster. Fool me once, LeBron. Fool me once.

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Pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, and especially Reddit submissions/up votes are appreciated. If you aren’t sending me a Christmas present, at least make my column slightly more popular with strangers!

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

- Next Tuesday is Christmas, so the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw will take a one-week vacation. I’ll still get up an open discussion thread for Christmas Eve, and we’ll pick back up formally on January 1.

- Smackdown is live tonight on the USA Network, so be sure to come back to With Leather and hang out with us in the Super Smackdown Live open discussion thread. I am probably not going to do a Best and Worst report for it, because I’ve already done two this week. If that makes you sad, go read the Best and Worst of TLC again!

- Thanks for a great year of reports, everybody. I couldn’t do this without the generous comments and feedback you guys give me. I love you all dearly.

Please click through to enjoy the last Best And Worst Of WWE Raw column of the year, for December 17, 2012.

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We write about a lot of stupid kids at With Leather — the little girl who held fish over a dolphin tank and stopped paying attention, kids who let soccer players wipe boogers on their faces, kids who don’t keep their head up at hockey camp and whimpery little baseball kids who cry to get what they want among them — so it’s nice to occasionally take a step back and remember that there are kids in the world who have it together, and could straight-up kickbox you to death.

Case in point: Reshat Mati, a kid who is 13-years old and good enough at murdering you that adults (adults!) call him THE ALBANIAN BEAR. You know, the kind of nickname you get when you’ve garroted somebody with piano wire in the background of an episode of ‘The Wire.’

From The Show PRODIGIES – They take you inside the gritty, adrenaline-fueled world of youth boxing and martial arts. Meet Reshat Mati, known as the Albanian bear. At thirteen years old, Reshat is already a world champion kickboxer, muay thai fighter and grappler, and a United States National Silver Gloves boxing champion. (via MMA TKO)

Also impressive is this kid’s collection of “like 22″ championship belts, including one that says NAGA NORTH AMERICAN GRAPPLING CHAMPION but is pretty clearly Ric Flair’s “Big Gold” World Heavyweight Championship:

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By way of reddit comes the kind of video only The Internet (capital letters) could produce. Almost four minutes of pro wrestlers from the 1980s and early 90s … well, I’ll let this describe it for me:

[Absolutely no Words] All except for Ric Flair at the end. We heard them yell, shout and scream. But, who ever pays attention when they take that deep breath before they shout it out? Nobody does except for me. Have fun.

Yep, wrestlers breathing. That’s a post. If I had to whip up a quick “Best And Worst”-style column about the video, it’d read something like this.

Best: The occasional use of non-WWF guys. Jimmy “Boogie Woogie Man” Valiant makes his With Leather debut! I met him at a gas station, once! Other bests include Ric Flair at 2:40 (all of it), The Ultimate Warrior sounding like he’s at lamaze class, and the The Artist-style ending.

Worst: How the hell is Rowdy Roddy Piper alive after almost 60 years of breathing like that?

We cover pro wrestling a little more than we should these days, because it turns out a lot of people want to read about fake fighting on legitimate comedy sports blogs and because more of us watched it when we were kids than we’d like to admit. Some of us still do, and have blogging jobs instead of working in an office somewhere and having the respect of anyone.

I’ve been looking for a way to follow-up on the WWF Legends Minimalist Poster Gallery from earlier this month, and pro wrestling personality/friend of the site Kyle Durden gave me a great idea … what’s more WWF and minimalist than actual pro wrestling promo 8x10s? Nothing, it turns out, especially if you find the ones from the late 1980s/early 1990s, after wrestling had been popular but before it got popular again. That’s a gold mine.

So here’s a look into the WWF promo photos gold mine. A preview of what you’ll find inside: Dusty Rhodes as a laughing garbage man, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake going from normal human being to crazy-eyed monster in four years and the Bushwhackers playing in somebody’s raked leaves. By the end of the gallery you may no longer be able to stand. That’s normal.

Let me know which ones are your favorites in the comments section below.

[all photos via ImageEvent]

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The annual Gathering of the Juggalos event in Illinois is a fascinating spectacle. While the Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope have led us to believe that they’re a pair of thugged out, gun-wielding psychos, it turns out that they’re actually two devout Christians trying to spread positive influence through their unique brand of rap music. Of course, their followers, Juggalos, end up interpreting that message in their own way, like domestic violence turkey legs, black market Four Loko, or blatantly selling LSD.

But the Gathering has also been a source of inspiration for a different demographic, namely celebrities at the end of their 15 minutes. Each year, the festival’s organizers release an infomercial to fill us in on the lineup, and there are always a few random celebrities that are begging for one last shred of acceptance. See: Charlie Sheen, MC Hammer, Tom Green, Gallagher, Coolio, Dustin Diamond, Vanilla Ice, Ron Jeremy, and, of course, Tila Tequila, who famously walked around topless during her electro-pop-garbage music performance that inspired the crowd to throw bottles, rocks, and poop at her face.

So who are this year’s Juggalo stars?

Master P, Onyx, The Fat Boys, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jamie Kennedy, and fresh off his release from TNA Wrestling and a domestic dispute, Ric Flair. I guess in order to be the best, you have to now throw feces at the best. Enjoy the 2012 Gathering infomercial after the jump.

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