The best inspirational sports stories are the ones that take a sharp turn, right at the end.

A 77-year-old liquor store owner is in critical, but stable, condition at University Hospital after police say he was shot in the eye during an armed robbery Wednesday night.

The victim — Thomas Dotterer – not only owns the liquor store, he is also a baseball coach at Christian Brothers Academy and a member of the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.

Earlier, police mistakenly told NewsChannel 9 that Dotterer was listed in serious condition. (via News Channel 9)

How great is that? The guy gets shot in the eye and the info that he’s “in serious condition” is a mistake.

Listening to him talk is wonderful. He speaks candidly about the value of optimism, how all things happen for a reason and how to deal with such a violent, life-altering moment of cruelty. Then, in maybe the best swerve in local interview history, a guy who has a bruised, bandaged hole in his face reveals that BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD WITH A GUN AT HIS FAMILY’S LIQUOR STORE wasn’t the worst thing that happened to him this week.

I’ll let you discover that for yourself. Video is below.

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Hey, you! Be sure you’ve read The Best And Worst Of WWE Royal Rumble 2013 before watching Raw.

Tonight, on the WWE Raw Open Discussion Thread:

There will be no Day 435 for CM Punk’s WWE Championship reign. The Straight Edge Superstar’s near unprecedented run as WWE Champion ran into a brick wall at the 2013 Royal Rumble when Punk lost his precious prize to The Rock in a highly anticipated, hotly contested match that took both Superstars to the brink. Now that The People’s Champion has made good on his promise to claim the WWE Title once more, though, what awaits on Day 1 of The Rock’s new title reign? And with John Cena having won the Royal Rumble Match, earning a World Title challenge of his choice at WrestleMania, will that throw a wrench into Punk’s plans for a rematch? (via WWE.com)

Five-point preview:

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I stopped watching the show here. What a great night for everyone!

Pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, and especially Reddit submissions/up votes are appreciated. Pay-per-view reports take just as much time as Raw reports and get like, half the feedback, so help a brother out.

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

- Pics and GIFs courtesy of the wonderful Casey, aka THESTINGER. Come to National Pro Wrestling Day with us and give him a high-five for his time.

- I’m trying out the commenting badges on this report, so SHARE LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SHARED BEFORE, FRIENDS.

And now, please enjoy the Best and Worst of WWE Royal Rumble 2013, a thing that happened.

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Let's hope this works out the same way it did for Eddard Stark.

WWE Royal Rumble 2013 goes down this Sunday, January 27, starting with a YouTube pre-show at 7:30 PM EST. As always, the community of way-too-funny With Leather commenters will be around to indirectly live-blog the show and set you up with all the jokes you’ll need for Monday morning.

Here’s your full card, as we know it:

- Pre-show United States Championship Match: Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz

- Tag Team Championship Match: Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes)

- Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Championship Match: Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. The Big Show

- WWE Championship Match: CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock. If The Shield gets involved, CM Punk will be stripped of the WWE Championship.

- Royal Rumble Match

The 10 best comments from the open discussion thread will be featured in Monday’s Best And Worst Of WWE Royal Rumble 2013 report, so if you’d like to nominate a comment for top 10 status, please reply to it with a +1.

So let’s hear your predictions. Which titles are changing hands? Who wins the Royal Rumble? Who shows up in the Rumble as a surprise entrant? Will Brock Lesnar magically appear and save us from a Rock title reign?

Photo credit: WWE.com

I love the Royal Rumble. I think most wrestling fans do, it’s one of those things that it’s almost impossible not to get swept up in, and it’s always one of the most exciting and surprising things WWE does in a year. But as this year’s Rumble approaches this weekend and I find myself obsessing over how it works, I think there’s a pretty big flaw. Not in the event itself, but in the event as a storytelling tool that exists in the ongoing narrative that WWE is constantly building, tearing down, and building again.

The event itself is brilliant in just about every respect, and part of that is because it’s so much bigger and so different from the average wrestling match. It’s a departure from everything we think of as pro wrestling — the very idea of having to throw someone over the top rope to win is so compelling for that very reason. It’s the exact opposite of winning a match by pinning someone’s shoulders to the mat, and throwing 30 people into the ring isn’t just making it fifteen times bigger than a singles match, it allows for factions to form, teams to unite or divide against each other, and massive feats of strength.

The storytelling potential in the Rumble is incredible, too. Even staggering the entrances at two minutes apart creates the instant suspense of wondering who’s going to come out next, or for different factions to gain and lose the advantage as teammates and rivals hit the ring — and they make it such a long match that you can have entire stories play out in a single night. Remember when CM Punk and the Nexus owned the ring for half an hour, throwing out anybody who got in by sheer force of numbers? Or when John Cena made his surprise comeback and the whole arena lost its mind? It’s great.

So yeah, if anybody wonders why Pat Patterson’s in the Hall of Fame, there it is: One of the most inherently exciting and dynamic nights of the year, presented in a form that’s almost impossible to screw up. But there’s a catch.

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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!

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