#please vote for duggan

[companion-showdown]

Who do you most wish had become a companion?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[adventure-showdown]

#vote City of Death for Duggan#the best one-off character who I’d pay to have return#please#Duggan is literally one of the most influential humans in history cuz of his fateful punch#violence was the answer#PLUS JOHN CLEESE CAMEO!!!!!#Doctor who#classic who (@azure-trash)

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

City of Death

Synopsis

While taking in the sights of Paris in 1979, the Fourth Doctor and Romana sense that someone is tampering with time. Who is the mysterious Count Scarlioni? Why does he seem to have counterparts scattered through time? And just how many copies of the Mona Lisa did Leonardo da Vinci paint?

Propaganda

even if your not a classic who fan, you have seen moments from this, “wonderful butler, he’s so violent”, “youre a beautiful woman, probably”, “if you wanted an omelette I’d expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames, and an unconscious chef”. The location shooting, iconic, the music, iconic, the plot, so iconic I was once watching something (non doctor who) that referenced it as a fake historical event. Dare I say duggan is the greatest side character of all time. Romana’s outfit, the design of scaroth, the implication time lords can fly. it’s not my favourite overall, but its damn near close, it deserves AT LEAST the semi finals, AT LEAST. If you’ve not seen it or any classic who, go watch it, its so good, one of the best of the era. Also, how could I forget, the most watched episode on broadcast out of all of doctor who, including new who. (yes it was because itv was off the air due to strikes, but im glad its this episode that holds the record) (anonymous)

Doctor Who and the Pirates

Synopsis

All aboard, me hearties, for a rip-roaring tale of adventure on the high seas!

There'll be rum for all and sea shanties galore as we travel back in time to join the valiant crew of the good ship Sea Eagle, braving perils, pirates and a peripatetic old sea-dog known only as the Doctor!

Gasp as our Gallifreyan buccaneer crosses swords with the fearsome Red Jasper, scourge of the seven seas and possessor of at least one wooden leg! Thrill as Evil Evelyn the Pirate Queen sets sail in search of buried treasure, with only a foppish ship's captain and an innocent young cabin boy by her side! Marvel at the melodious mayhem which ensues as we sail the ocean blue!

And wonder why Evelyn still hasn't realised that very few stories have happy endings...

Propaganda

DOCTOR WHO AND THE PIRATES MY BELOVED Just. A masterpiece of somehow very sad nonsense with an entire episode full of Gilbert and Sullivan songs, all about trying to stop a young woman from committing suicide. Of course it is. The subtitle is ""The Lass Who Lost a Sailor"" which makes me feel emotions (HMS Pinafore's subtitle is The Lass Who Loved a Sailor). (@mischieffoal )

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

My favorite cameos from X-Men 92 House of X:

Zaladane!  A very deep cut, looking like her X-Men cartoon self.  Is she really Polaris’s sister?  Marvel will probably never resolve that one.  (It would be kind of hilarious if she were Polaris’s sister by way of being another Magneto kid, though.)

Blob!  Looking good in that tux, Freddie.  Between this, Pyro popping up here and there, and the Avalanche and Toad cameos in the second issue, we’ve now seen all my favorite Brotherhood guys.  If we could just get a Phantazia cameo, things would be perfect.  Please, X-artists, Phantazia is one of the most 90′s Brotherhood members, she should be in this book.

Pyro and Darkstar, of course.  But I really love Adam X throwing a fit over there.

Darkstar again!  Some artist must really like her, and she is killing it in that dress.

Oh, and the new X-Men team for this series is:

It is weird to me that the 92 team was basically the same as in Duggan’s first run, except with Random and Feral taking the place of Synch and X-23.  Random is, well....random, but it’s nice to see my murderous girl Feral hitting the big time in her nice frilly dress.  (I would have mistaken her for Wolfsbane if not for the dress colors and the “gossip page” at the end of the issue.  Actually, Wolfsbane would have made more sense, but Feral is very, very 90′s.  Maybe she promised to eviscerate Sinister, and everyone voted her in for that.)

Also, I’m really glad to see Sunspot, Moonstar and Calisto on the Quiet Council.  Calisto being a Morlock representative frankly makes more sense than some of the current QC members.  Berto is the son of a wealthy and powerful businessman who is a Hellfire club member, and Dani was a leader in the New Mutants, and can represent the younger generation.  That kind of representation is sorely lacking in the current QC - Kitty is young but she’s old school X-Men, and Hope is more of a representative of the Five than any of the newer generations of mutants.

[sebastianshaw]

In your opinion, when did this idea of "Shaw is Emma's antagonist" thing start?

Because, obviously, it's not there even slightly in the early days. They used to just throw a Frost sister at Emma when they needed an "old rival" vibe for her, and Shaw would just pop up in anybody's story.

So is it all post-retcon or what?

Short answer: Yup. Long answer: Yup. It's not there in the 80s, when they're allies, it's never even mentioned in the 90s Gen X days, and while Grant Morrison *did* retcon Shaw as having been her mentor/lover in the early 2000s, he didn't make him abusive to her, nor is Emma angry at him, and Emma even expresses pity for him for thinking she loved him when actually she just wanted a cruel father figure. Morrison also made her be a stripper who learned everything about business from him, which is some absolute sexist bullshit. There's nothing wrong with being an exotic dancer but there's everything wrong with taking a capable intelligent woman who also happens to be sexy, and deciding "you know what she only became an intelligent successful businesswoman because of a MAN and she got there by being SEXY" which like. Pretty much sets the tone for the rest of my disgust with the later additions. Same for how Morrison's Emma claims she became "the dominatrix from Hell" because Shaw wanted it, went under the knife because he wanted it. . . basically her entire personality and appearance are now "my man wanted it" like just fucking really? Her hating Shaw comes in 2009, with Uncanny X-Men (second series) Annual #2, which establishes Shaw was not only in a relationship with Emma but also a dick to Emma in the Hellfire Club (neither of which we ever saw in the 80s, I frankly would have loved to see him try) and her backstory with Namor in said past, then in the present Emma faking Shaw's death and kidnapping him to put him on Utopia, with obvious hostility on her end, Shaw being STUPIDLY horny for her so he falls easily into her trap despite there having been ZERO sexual innuendo between them in the 80s *except* the time she was IN STORM'S BODY, and Emma saying she was going to be the queen he trained her to be. It gets expanded on in another flashback in 2011, wherein Shaw was apparently training three ladies, Emma among them, and as a test, asked Emma to choose who lived and who dies, and when she said she couldn't care which, he beat them both to death while Emma sipped wine. What was that about always helping other women, Duggan? But the one time, to my memory, we actually see Shaw violent with her is in X-Men Origins: Emma Frost, which came between these, in 2010, in which he introduces himself to her by slamming her face into her dresser for messing with his mind and then forcibly kisses her. So yes, all of the animosity between Emma and Shaw has been post-2009, which is the first time that it's "revealed" that Emma and Shaw DIDN'T have a good relationship in the Hellfire Club (and also makes that incredibly dumb "Emma's memory was wiped about the Sentinels!" retcon I mentioned) so that Emma would have a good reason to cheat on him with Namor then, which set up the Namor/Emma/Scott love triangle that was going on then in the present. Because DRAMA! Before that though? The worst thing between them was that after Magneto joined the Hellfire Club in the 80s, Emma ceased being partners with Shaw and started playing the men off each other, eventually leading to her, Selene, and Magneto voting Shaw out of the Club. I don't remember her exact reasons but it was politics/power, not personal. I'm certain he wasn't pleased with it, but curiously he never tries to get vengeance on her and barely mentions the incident after, being more focused on Magneto (wonder why) while she never mentions him negatively at all til, again 2009, when suddenly she hates him and we get the whole Namor story flashback. Admittedly, the OTHER reason she's giving for suddenly loathing him is that he funded Sentinels and Sentinels destroyed Genosha, so like, that's fair enough , but everything else is totes post-retcon.

ETA: Also he never even initiates any combat/antagonism with her TIL MARAUDERS. Even post-retcon, he only ever attacks her when she comes at him first. I’m not trying to defend him just that’s literally what happens, he’s meant to be her “enemy” but he can’t seem arsed to ever actually fuck with her!

[cantdance]

carlycrays replied to your photo “marvel writers and editors trying to decide what to do with loki in an...”

Oh, sweet summer child, you clearly don't know how this works. Loki literally can't stay dead. That's a canon rule. Also, while Marvel hasn't had the best track record with the transgender community, when have they made transphobic jokes at Loki's expense?

nothing has ever made me jump out of bed and race to my computer faster than seeing this message. what is it this weekend that makes people feel like they need to answer my joke posts with a novel telling me how dumb i am?

first of all, allow me to allay your fears. at this point i have read over 400 issues of the original 1966 thor series, and i am still working my way through the rest. ive also read several of the modern retellings of the old comics, journey into mystery (2011) with kid loki and all the tie-ins, loki: agent of asgard, both of the angela series, vote loki, jane fosters entire run as the mighty thor, loki: sorcerer supreme, infinity wars (2018), the current thor series, and now war of the realms. ive also read a little thing called the mythology, as well as a few other modern adaptations. so, to recap, thats easily around 500 issues of asgardian comics, as well as the originating material, and assorted other sources. i know what the fuck im talking about, and i am not your sweet summer child, you condescending ass.

beside that, i am a real human being deserving of basic respect, and if this were actually a case of me not knowing something, you could easily communicate that without being so patronizing. people do it all the time! there are tons of things that i dont know about. unfortunately for you, this is the one thing i know a LOT about.

as for when loki has been subjected to transphobic jokes, well, thanks for giving me an excuse to make a post that ive been meaning to make for a while now. let me start off by saying: loki is genderfluid, and i am genderfluid myself. this list contains things that i personally found to be insulting or uncomfortable. not every trans person may agree with me, but that doesnt mean it doesnt need further examination. this list may also not be exhaustive because im not going to spend hours trawling through comics at 10:30 in the morning no matter how badly i want to prove you wrong.

we all know that loki was officially recognized as transgender and bi/pansexual (depending on your preference i guess, i like them as pan) in loki: agent of asgard (2014). however, never once does anyone in the series use any of the actual WORDS to communicate this. never does anyone say “genderfluid” or “transgender” or “bi” or “pan” or “queer” or even “lgbt”. odin calls them “my child who is both a son and a daughter” which is very binary and not a great take on genderfluidity, but hey, odin right? this isnt part of the list, i just think its something that people need to talk about more.

anyway, after that is when the bullshit starts. i mean, ignoring how making loki a queer-coded villain from the beginning was scuzzy, ignoring the almost 50 years time where they did play that role, and ignoring the whole lady loki thing where they were pretty much portrayed as a man pretending to be a woman. heres the list:

vote loki (2016) issue 1 by christopher hastings and langdon foss

loki “turns into a woman” because it might do better in the polls. the reporter whose name i dont care to look up points this out because thats a totally acceptable thing to do when you see a trans person. after these few pages it never comes up again. lokis genderfluidity is being used for a cheap joke here. dont even get me started on how female-presenting loki is portrayed as being more clean and feminine than male-presenting loki, which is in and of itself a form of transphobia: that transgender women have to be ultra feminine to be accepted as the gender they are.

the mighty thor (2015) issue 3 by jason aaron and russell dauterman

loki summons a bunch of other versions of themselves for seemingly no reason, and of course all of them are presenting in a masculine way because lokis genderfluidity is only acknowledged when convenient. lady loki from dark reign pops up and says that since shes the only REAL female loki, its her job to fight jane as thor. now, im not going to sit here and unpack all of that for you, so please fire up your critical thinking skills and try to decide why exactly this is bad.

infinity wars (2018) issue 5 by gerry duggan and mike deodato jr

i went and scanned my physical copy of this just for you. here we see loki leading their team to talk to the child version of gamora who lives inside the soul stone. once they get there, emma says that she and ms marvel will go in alone because it “calls for a womans touch” and loki would just get them killed. in case youre missing the subtext, emma is saying here that loki cant do this, but a woman can, which means she is calling loki a fake woman, or at best, shes completely ignoring their gender and calling them a man.

these are just the three examples that stick out the most in my mind. its worth mentioning that the only time loki has “become a woman” (i hate using this phrase btw) is in those couple pages in vote loki, and the only time that loki has been actively called genderfluid was in squirrel girl (2015) issue 27. yknow, squirrel girl. the series that no one takes seriously and will insist isnt canon even though it is?

there is a very insidious form of quiet transphobia simply in the fact that no one at marvel will acknowledge lokis identity, much less say it out loud or use the correct terminology. in fact, ever since agent of asgard (the series that cemented lokis trans and pan-ness) ended, many writers including jason aaron and gerry duggan have all but ignored that it happened, erasing the progress that loki made as a person as well as their newly gained autonomy and, indirectly, the fact that they were ever confirmed as genderfluid and pansexual.

one last thing that i want to say is that while it may be a rule that loki never stays dead, subjecting a trans and gay character to repeated deaths for the sake of furthering plot is NOT a good thing. having the gay come back does not erase the fact that you buried them in the first place. being that loki is amab, this is extra sketchily tied to violence against trans women, which is a point that we all need to consider.

[dipulb3]

Florida Legislature passes elections bill that adds restrictions to voting

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/florida-legislature-passes-elections-bill-that-adds-restrictions-to-voting/

Florida Legislature passes elections bill that adds restrictions to voting

After days of contentious debate and last-minute amendments bouncing between chambers, the Republican-controlled state House and Senate came to an agreement and party-line votes approved Senate Bill 90 on the eve of Florida’s final day of the legislative session.

The bill, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday night he will sign, will create restrictions such as adding new ID and signature requirements for voting by mail, limiting who can return a completed mail-in ballot, expanding partisan observation power during ballot tabulation and creating additional restrictions for drop box use.

DeSantis said on Fox News Thursday night that he will “for sure” sign the bill.

“We’ve had voter ID. It works. It’s the right thing to do,” DeSantis said, adding that Florida’s 2020 election was “fair and transparent, and the reforms we have coming will make it even better.”

The bill is part of a Republican-led effort nationwide to restrict voting access at the state level in the wake of record turnout in last November’s elections. A tally by the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that 361 bills with provisions that restrict voting had been introduced in 47 states as of March 24.

In the last month, the effort to restrict voting has intensified as state legislatures begin to head into the final months of their respective sessions.

“This bill is just a vindictive way of trying to punish people for an election that some people just didn’t like at the national level,” said state Sen. Audrey Gibson, a Democrat, during one of several emotional debates over the legislation this week.

Perhaps the biggest changes in the bill involve limits and restrictions on ballot drop boxes, used by around 1.5 million Florida voters in the 2020 election.

The legislation cuts access to drop boxes by limiting their use to early voting hours unless they are located at election supervisors’ offices. All drop boxes must always be staffed in person by election supervisors’ office workers if they are in use. The bill also requires supervisors to set and publish drop box locations 30 days before the election. Those locations cannot be moved for any purpose.

The continued public fallout from the election overhaul bill signed into law in Georgia in March was frequently brought up by Democrats during debate, calling the Florida bill “revival of Jim Crow in this state.”

“That bill that was passed in the state just north of us sent us a message, and the response to that bill should let us know we should not be doing this,” Democratic state Rep. Michael Greico said during House debate, pleading, “Please do not Georgia my Florida.”

Florida Republicans, who have repeatedly acknowledged that Florida ran a successful and secure 2020 election, said the bill would provide “guardrails” to prevent anyone from “gaming the system” in the future.

“This is an incremental legislative approach to address these issues, similar to what we had to do to get the timeliness problem solved, to get the efficiency problem solved — we are now focusing on making sure that every vote is a valid vote,” said state Rep. Wyman Duggan, a Republican who is a member of the House Public Integrity & Elections Committee.

Republican Rep. Ralph Massullo took umbrage at Democrats’ accusations of voter suppression, saying, “I take some issue with the fact that we are trying to somehow restrict the vote. There are more ways to vote in Florida, and a longer opportunity, than just about any state in the nation. You all know that.”

Several of the most restrictive measures originally in the bill were watered down, but Democrats pointed out that what remains will likely have the greatest impact on low-income and older voters, voters of color and those with disabilities.

“I think it will target people of color. It will affect them,” Democratic state Sen. Randolph Bracy told Appradab.

“SB 90 is a blatant violation of Floridians’ freedom to vote and represents a direct backlash to last year’s record-breaking turnout,” said Florida State Director for All Voting is Local Brad Ashwell in a statement after the bill passed the House on Thursday night. “By erecting onerous barriers to request and return a vote-by-mail ballot, this legislature has made voting a test of stamina and resources rather than a statement of civic responsibility.”

During floor sessions, Democrats often called the bill an unfunded mandate, arguing it mandates more work that will likely require more manpower for election supervisors’ offices but does not include additional funding for them. The legislation also bans county offices from taking private funds to conduct elections.

People who want to vote by mail now must request ballots every election cycle, instead of every two cycles. An eleventh-hour agreement between the two chambers did grandfather in those voters who are already on the request list through the 2022 election.

Another measure of SB 90 that critics say will disproportionately impact low-income voters and voters of color is stricter limits on who can pick up and return a voter’s ballot on their behalf. The bill says a person can be in possession only of their own ballot, a ballot of their immediate family member and two others per election cycle. Immediate family does include grandchildren, but not other extended family members or caretakers. Democrats said their failed attempts to change the language from immediate family to household were to better represent immigrant family dynamics, which often include extended family members in the home.

Under SB 90, Floridians will be required to provide their Florida driver’s licenses, state identification numbers or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers when requesting mail-in ballots, changing their party affiliations or names.

Appradab’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

[cosmeticnews]

Rodan And Fields Enhancements Micro Paste Reviews

#cosmeticnews #janebrody #haircare #makeup #skincare #skinconcern #beautydevices

If the answer to that question is yes, then this could be the perfect time to experiment with microdermabrasion. In a nutshell, microdermabrasion is an innovative, non-invasive procedure that removes the surface layer of dead skin to give you a bright, smooth look.

Essentially this procedure is performed in a dermatologist’s clinic using sophisticated instruments to take off the dead skin. However, this can be expensive and time-consuming, and that’s where at-home products come in handy. One of this life saving at-home exfoliating products is the Rodan + Fields Enhancements micro-dermabrasion.

This is easy to use the product and will not only exfoliate your skin but will also offer other various benefits such as treatment and clearing of blackheads, minimizes the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and skin pores. This article reviews the above product so stick around and learn what makes it count.

Best Exfoliators | Best Exfoliating Scrubs

Rodan + Fields Enhancements Micro-Dermabrasion Paste Reviews

Rodan + Fields ENHANCEMENTS Micro-Dermabrasion...

Shop Now

(Last update on 2019-12-03 at 03:53 ,UTC)

Rodan + Fields is a skincare brand that was founded by dermatologists Dr Katie Rodan and Dr Kathy Fields. The two entrepreneurs first became famous in 1995 when they founded the acne treatment product known as Activ. The product became popular primarily due to the use of infomercials to advertise it. The founders later sold off the Activ brand and decided to concentrate on Rodan + Fields which they launched in 2002.

The company sells its products through the over 30,000 independent consults located across the US, Canada and Australia. These consultants predominantly sell through social media and earn a commission from each product sold.

The skincare products are divided into four broad categories Redefine, Reverse, Unblemish and Sooth. Redefine has anti-aging properties, Reverse is designed to even out the skin tone, Unblemish for acne break out while Sooth is for calming irritated skin. Their Enhancements Micro-dermabrasion paste is a powerful exfoliating formula that gently smoothens the skin and facilitates cell turn over.

Features

This best microdermabrasion product features salt and sugar as its main ingredients. The grainy particles will exfoliate your skin to get rid of dead cells. Also, these particles are suspended in a slightly waxy base that acts as a cushion to prevent over-exfoliating, which can irritate the skin.

Additionally, this oil-free scrubbing formula has vitamin C and E, which boosts hydration and help to eliminate free-radicals. The formula will not only help in improving your skin’s texture, but it also removes blackheads, reduces wrinkles and fine lines and decrease the size of skin pores.

Usage

The most attractive aspect about this about the enhancements micro-dermabrasion is its convenience and ease of use. You do not need any elaborate tools to use this product. For best results, it is recommended to use this exfoliator 1-3 times per week in place of your regular cleanser. The slight yellow base acts as a perfect buffer to prevent over scrubbing.

Massage the product between fingers to make it easier to work with. Apply on your dry face or body. The paste will hydrate your skin, giving it a youthful, glowing look. For a tenderer exfoliation, use on wet skin and gradually add water to reduce the intensity of the process. This is more so applicable if your skin is sensitive

Initially, the medicinal smell may be a big turn off, but it will not linger on your skin for long. The paste will improve the texture of the skin and enhance its appearance. You will be sure of a bright and smooth skin after a single application.

Side effects of the Roden+ Fields Micro-Dermabrasion

This product can be used by all skin types, but people with extra-sensitive skin are advised to be cautious when using this product. The fine particles used can irritate sensitive skin, causing redness or stinging. People with sensitive skin should use the exfoliant once in a week and discontinue use if they experience severe irritation.

You can do a test on a less sensitive part of your body and decide if this product is right for you. If you cannot withstand the irritation caused, it can be a good idea to shop for a milder alternative.

Pros

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Designed to offer a gentle exfoliating experience

When used regularly, this top-notch exfoliator boosts cell turn over-improving your skin’s tone and texture. Also, the feel of this paste is neither too abrasive to cause damage to the skin nor too smooth, which can render it ineffective. Its consistency is ideal for removing dead skin effectively.

Oil-free formula

This is good news for people who have oily skin. The exfoliator will not add extra grease to your skin and will not stick on the surface during scrubbing. Also, although the product is grainy, it features Dimethicone which gives it a pliable feel and prevents over-exfoliation.

The paste is thick

This means that a small amount goes a long way making it very economical. The product can last anywhere between 30-60 days while using it thrice per week.

Offers instant results

Those who tried this product observed that they experienced a cleaner, softer skin after just a single application. With continued use, users reported of a smooth baby-like face, even skin tones among other visible benefits

It is a multi-purpose product

This micro abrasion paste will not only exfoliate your skin but also offer other various benefits. These include treating acne, dryness, uneven skin tone as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and age spots.

The paste contains minimal chemicals making it a preferred choice for many individuals seeking to have a near-to-natural beauty regimen. Its non-irritating for most skin types save for extra-sensitive complexions.

Cons

Not suitable for sensitive skin

The grainy particles can be abrasive to the skin and therefore, should be used in moderation. Delicate surfaces can only receive their treatment only once in a week.

Has a strong overpowering smell

This can be a turn off during initial application, but the good news is that the scent does not last for long.

Does not rinse off easily

A user complained that the product sticks so stubbornly on her skin making it difficult to remove with water

It is pricey

Many customers lamented that the product is not affordable.

Customers’ Reviews

Majority of people who have used this product were impressed by its effectiveness and gentleness in removing the dead skin cells for a smoother and brighter appearance.

“This is in a very nice facial scrub. It is a little rough on my sensitive skin, so I use it sparingly and only once a week. But overall, I am happy with the outcome.”-L Duggan

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Read next: Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System 1 Kit 

In conclusion

Rodan + Fields enhancements micro-dermabrasion paste is a top-rated product that helps to get rid of dead skin cells and impurities gently. It features sugar and salt as well as vitamin E and C to ensure that they deliver optimum results that are pleasing to its users. The formula’s Dimethicone base cushions the skin and prevents over scrubbing which can lead to redness or itching.

This premium product is a must-have if you have decided to take your exfoliating routine a notch higher. It is tender and will leave your skin feeling clean, soft and supple. Follow it up with a quality moisturizer- your skin will be grateful for such a thoughtful gesture. Grab your microdermabrasion paste from Rodan+ Fields and bid goodbye to a dull and wrinkled complexion.

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The post Rodan And Fields Enhancements Micro Paste Reviews appeared first on Cosmetic News.

[maxwellyjordan]

Monday round-up

This morning the justices will begin the last week of oral arguments for October Term 2019 with telephonic arguments in two cases. The first is McGirt v. Oklahoma, which asks whether Oklahoma had jurisdiction to prosecute a crime committed by a member of the Seminole Tribe within the historical boundaries of the Creek Indian reservation in eastern Oklahoma. Ronald Mann previewed the case for this blog. Philip Duggan and Robert Reese Oñate have a preview at Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute. At Bloomberg Law, Jordan Rubin reports that Justice Neil Gorsuch, “who has sided with tribal interests in a string of decisions since joining the court, likely holds the deciding vote in a criminal case with roots in the infamous Trail of Tears of the 1830s, one with vast implications for criminal, tax, and regulatory power.”

The other case on today’s agenda is Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, which involves the scope of the “ministerial exception” to federal employment discrimination laws. Amy Howe had this blog’s preview, which first appeared at Howe on the Court. Kathryn Adamson, Jingyi Alice Yao and David Relihan provice Cornell’s preview. David Savage reports for the Los Angeles Times that “[a]t issue is whether those teachers and other employees at religious institutions should be viewed as ‘ministers,’ allowing religious schools to hire and fire them at will, bypassing anti-discrimination laws that prevent basing such decisions on race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or other impermissible factors.” At Education Week’s School Law Blog, Mark Walsh reports that “[a]dvocates and allies for two Roman Catholic schools in the Los Angeles area say it is a matter of religious freedom that such laws not interfere with the right of churches and religious schools to choose their ministers, which includes not just those who preach from the pulpit but also those who teach the faith.” In a video posted on his eponymous blog, Ross Runkel predicts “a clear-cut victory for the schools.”

Richard Wolf reports for USA Today that “President Donald Trump’s effort to keep his personal and corporate financial records away from congressional and law enforcement investigators comes before the Supreme Court Tuesday amid indications some justices may be reluctant to weigh in.” At Bloomberg, Greg Stohr reports that Trump v. Mazars and Trump v. Vance “could become the biggest cases involving Donald Trump as president, a pair of constitutional clashes that could insulate chief executives from investigations while in office and add an explosive new element to the 2020 election campaign.”

Court-watchers continue to react to last week’s unusual telephonic arguments. For The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin report that Justice Clarence Thomas’ “emergence during the court’s telephonic hearings served notice that he remains an active, if idiosyncratic, participant in the court’s deliberations.” Joan Biskupic writes at CNN that “the public attention to [Thomas’] baritone-voice presence comes as the 71-year-old justice has been — more significantly — building influence for his brand of conservatism.” In an op-ed at The Hill, Ryan Black and others write that the results of their recent survey “suggest the court made the right move in deciding to provide a livestream teleconference of its oral argument proceedings.” Commentary on the new format comes from Ian Millhiser at Slate, who worries that glitches like last week’s notorious flushing sound will discourage the court from “retain[ing] livestreamed audio when the justices finally return to the courtroom.” At PrawfsBlawg, Gerard Magliocca offers a historical analogue for the flushing episode. At Slate, Ashley Feinberg traces the sound to its likeliest source.

A Reuters investigative report by Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley and others present research suggesting that “the Supreme Court has built qualified immunity into an often insurmountable police defense by intervening in cases mostly to favor the police”; Hurley and Chung report here that “[t]he diverse opponents of qualified immunity have thrown their weight behind at least five appeals now awaiting the Supreme Court’s attention, each considered a potential means of removing or softening the doctrine.” At PrawfsBlawg, Howard Wasserman notes that “Justice Thomas called for reconsidering qualified immunity in his concurring opinion in Ziglar v. Abbasi; this will be a chance to see if anyone else wants to follow him down that path.”

Briefly:

In an episode of Slate’s Amicus podcast (via How Appealing), Dahlia Lithwick “is joined by veteran Supreme Court watcher Linda Greenhouse to unpack the new format for Supreme Court arguments, a teleconference carried live on C-SPAN, with a close look at the birth control case you might have missed.”

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Leah Litman writes that Kelly v. United States, in which the court reversed federal fraud convictions stemming from the “Bridgegate” controversy in New Jersey because the scheme did not aim to obtain money or property, shows that “by accepting the inevitability of corruption in politics — including at the scale of Bridgegate — we have shielded officials from accountability and made public corruption inevitable.”

We rely on our readers to send us links for our round-up. If you have or know of a recent (published in the last two or three days) article, post, podcast or op-ed relating to the Supreme Court that you’d like us to consider for inclusion in the round-up, please send it to roundup [at] scotusblog.com. Thank you!

The post Monday round-up appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

from Law https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/05/monday-round-up-485/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2019/09/u-s-falling-behind-in-global-race-to-develop-electric-vehicle-supply-chain

U.S. 'falling behind' in global race to develop electric vehicle supply chain

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is losing the race to extract & refine minerals used to make electric vehicles & should do more to spur domestic production, a bipartisan group of senators said on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) speaks with reporters off the Senate floor in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

The push comes as China has grown to dominate the market for lithium, rare earths, cobalt & other so-called strategic minerals used to make a plethora of consumer products, a dominance that politicians have said poses a strategic threat to the United States.

The Senate’s Energy & Natural Resources Committee held a Tuesday hearing in part to keep the topic fresh in the national dialogue even as attention begins to lurch toward the 2020 presidential campaign.

“China is consolidating control of the entire supply chain for clean technologies,” Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Alaskan Republican who is the chair of the Senate’s Energy & Natural Resources Committee, said. “The United States is falling behind … & allowing that to happening is a strategic mistake.”

The comments have become a kind of chorus for Murkowski, who so far this year has used her position as chair of the powerful committee to clamor for more attention to the topic.[nL2N22Q0ID

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Both Republican & Democratic committee members said they saw mining as crucial in order to deploy more solar, wind & other renewable technologies.

A typical wind turbine, for example, contains nearly 5 tons of copper, according to the National Mining Association.

“If we don’t start embracing this technology & growing with it, we are going to be left behind,” said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat of Nevada, the largest mining state.

Senators in addition said they preferred mining be done domestically given U.S. environmental laws, rather than in places with lower standards such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Let me be clear: I support mining, yet I believe we need to be doing it responsibly,” said Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat.

The two-hour hearing did not review any legislation, though several committee members have introduced bills to streamline mine permitting.

In an interview after the hearing, Murkowski said she has not talked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell approximately when her bill would receive a full vote, though she is not worried it will ultimately pass.

“Legislation works slowly here,” Murkowski said. “I don’t think the delay is being taken as a sign that we don’t have a policy.”

President Donald Trump in 2017 signed an executive order requiring a study of strategic minerals.

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Marguerita Choy

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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[companion-showdown]

#im in hell#my favourite side character of all time#or my unit pals#anyway i voted for yates#but please more votes for duggan#benton also needs support but as long as one unit member makes it thats less important

tags by @its-fine-to-skip-nine

Who is your Favourite Companion to a Companion?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[placetobenation]

“The revolutionary force for over 50 years in sports entertainment” was a clever tag line used in the mid 90s before every WWF show. For most United States wrestling fans that are still alive, it is a way of life. Greater by the day is the lack of variance in the answer of what wrestling an individual grew up on. For better or worse, WWE has been the standard bearer. Throughout that rich history, performers ranging from Nature Boys to Undertakers have graced the squared circle. Foreign legends have had extended runs and some of the most iconic figures in pro wrestling history have been aces of the promotion reaching unequivocal mainstream pop culture heights in the world of wrestling.

With such a large history to play with, discovering the beauty of Bob Backlund’s charisma or the connection of Bruno Sammartino to the MSG crowd was a new development throughout this project similar to rewatching The Godfather and On the Waterfront to rediscover the genius of Marlon Brando. WWE may not have always been YOUR promotion but for the better part of 50 years, it was THE promotion in the United States and transformed the pro wrestling landscape. This project serves to praise the individuals that best helped shape the vision of Vince McMahon Sr. and Jr. Place to be Nation is proud to present to you a ranking of the Greatest WWE Wrestlers Ever.

– Chad Campbell

Note: Results of this list are based on 118 ballots received between May and December 2017. Voters were asked to submit their list of the 100 Greatest WWE Wrestlers of all time and consider only their WWWF/WWF/WWE career. Ties were broken based on 1) number of ballots a wrestler appeared on and 2) high vote. 

Every wrestler who received at least one vote will be recognized in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned to Place to Be Nation as we reveal all of the honorable mentions right through the cream of the crop. Read the other installments, both written and audio, of this project here.

124. D-Von Dudley Total Points: 877 Total Ballots: 32 Average Rank: 75.6 High Vote: 34 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Jason Fastcade

Key Matches & Moments: Broke through with a tables match with the Hardy Boyz at Royal Rumble 2000; Won the WWF Tag team Championships for the first time at No Way Out 2000 defeating the New Age Outlaws; Testified; Was part of the three amazing ladder/TLC matches with Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz (WM 2000, SummerSlam 2000, WM X7); Testified; Joined the ALLIANCE and were important figures in the inaugural brawl at Invasion 2001; Was shoved aroiund the ring by his larger/louder brother; Found religion and introduced Batista to the WWF; Murdered Paul Bearer; Was part of a wild brawl to main event One Night Stand 2005

Staff Thoughts: The Dudley Boys were one of the most over acts the company had during the Attitude Era and their matches with Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz rank among some of the best in WWE history. What they may have lacked in technical skills they more than made up for with their huge trademark spots. The “Waaaaasssssup” drop and “D-Von getting tables” are about as over spots as you can have in professional wrestling. And yet both he and Bubba were able, and brave enough, to leave those behind to become despicable heels. Were the Dudley Boyz stale near the end? Absolutely. Was Reverend D-Von a raging success? Absolutely not. But these guys still get a monster reaction whenever they show up, DESPITE being involved in match where Paul Bearer was murdered by cement.

From the Voters: “Outside chance. One half of one of the most impactful tag teams of all time, and had enough singles matches to warrant at least low end consideration.” – Ben Morse, May 30, 2017

“Has a slither of a chance, though would be below Bubba (even though I personally prefer him to Bubba). Did lots of memorable stuff, and felt like a main event-level act at a time when the company was not short on those. Staled quickly though.” – Adam Russell, July, 2017

123. Sherri Martel Total Points: 931 Total Ballots: 29 Average Rank: 68.9 High Vote: 22 Low Vote: 93 High Voter: Bret Hart

Key Matches & Moments: Won the WWF Women’s title from the Fabulous Moolah in her debut match (July 24th 1987); Was part of the excellent women’s Survivor Series Match at the ppv of the same name in 1987; Held the women’s title for 15 months before shamefully dropping it to Rockn’ Robin; Joined forces with Randy Savage to form a duo more powerful Hulkamania; Cut a fantastic promo with Savage and Zeus around a cauldron; Cut another in fron of a steel cage in prep for the No Holds Barred PPV where she continually screamed “YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE I AM!!!”; Teamed with Savage to fight the Polka Dot Menace and Dusty Rhodes at WrestleMania VI; Through a bizarre error of succession was crowned Queen of the world; Turned on Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII which led to perhaps the most emotional moments in company history; Fell in love with Shawn Michaels; Recorded Sexy Boy and to prove there’s no justice in the world was not immediately given a recording contract; Fainted multiple times as Rick Martel and Shawn Michaels had the temerity to punch each other in the face; Was smashed in the head with a heart shaped mirror pretty good; Had a hot catfight with Luna Vachon and Rob Bartlett on an early Raw

Staff Thoughts: There are few things that scream wrestling (or scream anything for that matter) quite like the Sensational Sherri. Everything about her was legit. Tough as nails in the ring, a solid screeching promo and if you need to get a guy over to the next level you stuck em with the Sensational one. Her work as an in-ring competitor is solid enough on its own but her work as a second makes her a next level competitor. Look at who she managed: Savage. Dibiase, Michaels; all successful acts already ACTUALLY ENHANCED by having Martel with them. One of the things that impressed the most was how seamlessly she flowed between characters: you can’t get much more different than a screaming witch and a love sick girl and Sherri played both to a tee. Yes it was weird that she was in love with both Shawn Michaels and brother Rick but it was the nineties! A different time. Nirvana was running rampant and The Humpty Dance was taking the west by storm. Who are we to judge who she should or shouldn’t grab by the biscuit? It’s shocking looking back and seeing REAL AMERICAN Hulk Hogan beating her up, but when you think about it, you KNOW he was gentle with her, lest he face her wrath backstage. 

From the Voters: “I have her as a lock for the top half. Not super top half but she was so awesome in her role. Like the Brain before her, often better than the wrestlers in a match.” – Gool Ol’ Will From Texas, June 2, 2017

“Sherri is awesome. I wonder if she had any good matches as Women’s Champ? All-time great manager. Tremendous bumper. Lots of fun segments & great moments. I feel like she has to make my list based on everything outside of workrate. She’ll probably make it. Not that high, but she’s in consideration.” – Devon Motivator Hales, June 2, 2017

122. Harley Race Total Points: 945 Total Ballots: 39 Average Rank: 76.7 High Vote: 21 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: Nate Milton

Key Matches & Moments: Was crowned King of Wrestling upon his reappearance to the promotion in 1986; With Adrian Adonis and Randy Savage had an excellent house show six man tag against Roddy Piper, Junkyard Dog and Ricky Steamboat in early 1987; Beat no good liar Junkyard Dog to kneel after beating him soundly at WrestleMania III, the fact that he didn’t bow is a travesty of justice still unanswered to the day; Fought for the entirety of the 1987 Slammy Awards with Hacksaw Jim Duggan; Had the living shit beat out of him on a March 1988 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event by a ravenous Hulk Hogan; Finally put the question of lineage to bed in a solid match with Haku at the 1989 Royal Rumble

Staff Thoughts: Yes he had the couple of matches with Bob Backlund in the 70s but COME ON we all know Harley Race either as the perennial NWA champion or the god damn King of the WWF. Harley’s perm was never put out of place by that crown. NOT ONCE. His LJN wrestling figure was the pits, not only are his hands tucked into his tights but that coat was waaaaaaay to cumbersome and broke waaaaay to many toy rings. His run was short in the WWF mostly due to the fact that he was winding down his career, but despite that still produced a handful of fun matches and memorable angles. And his bumping… a fucking spot monkey bump machine! Was Hulk Hogan putting him through the table the first table spot on WWF TV? We’re not setting out to offend anyone but if you’re one of these people who cheer JYD for not bowing, you have no place in civilized society. We wouldn’t have King Bookah without Harley Race you monsters.

From the Voters: “Real good chance Harley makes my list. As I mentioned in a reply above, I really enjoyed the matches he had with Hogan. I also really love the way he sells. He makes every move look like it hurts like hell. A major knock on him is that he was around for a short period of time and that his best work was elsewhere.” – Matt Souza, May 29, 2017

“My biggest regret is voting for Harley Race in the GWE. He is so infuriating to watch, zero psychology. However, that Hogan Texas Death Match is not only the greatest Hogan match of all time, it is the best Harley match of all time (yes I have seen the Baba and Jumbo matches fromo 1979). Based on the strength of that one match, he makes it.” – Martin Boulevard, November 14, 2017

121. Alberto Del Rio Total Points: 975 Total Ballots: 42 Average Rank: 71.5 High Vote: 14 Low Vote: 98 High Voter: Trust Issues

Key Matches & Moments: Upon debut in 2010 had a solid feud with Rey Mysterio; Won the 2011 Royal Rumble in an uninspiring outing; Came up short in said Royal Rumble victory title shot against Edge in a solid outing at WrestleMania XXVII; Won the 2011 RAW Money In The Bank after tearing Rey Mysterio’s face off; Cashed in the MITB against CM Punk thus ruining SummerSlam 2011; Had an excellent encounter losing the title back to Punk in MSG at Survivor Series 2011; Feuded with Sheamus to mixed results throughout 2012; Won the World Heavyweight Title as a babyface from the Big Show to close out 2012; At Payback 2013 had a TREMENDOUS match with Dolph Ziggler, kicking him so many times in the head he turned himself heel; Walked to the ring at SummerSlam 2013 with two black eyes thus confirming the fact that he needed to fight his way to the building that evening; Underrated gem with Christian at SummerSlam 2013; Was an important part of the first every Andre the Giant Battle Royale at WrestleMania XXX; Returned after a hiatus in late 2015 and kicked John Cena into oblivion; Had a solid feud with Kalisto to round out his WWE Career in 2016

Staff Thoughts: When you get right down to it, Alberto Del Rio has a TON of good to very good matches throughout his fivish years career. He gets knocked a bit for winning the 40 man Rumble but can you really blame the guy when they bring him in at 38? Is it his fault that they chose to keep the title on Edge at WrestleMania XXVII? His character work was bang on from the start and his use of Ricardo Rodriguez as a personal ring announcer was sublime. His double turn with Dolph Ziggler is one of, if not THE purest double turns the company has ever done. It was accomplished entirely within the body of the match and based solely on Del Rio’s ring work and waaaaaay above average striking game. We tend to forget how great he could be when given the opportunity. His match with Christian is amazing, but it’s on a card with Danial Bryan vs. John Cena and CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar; Had Cesaro not bodyslammed Big Show out of the Battle Royale we may be talking about how Alberto helped hold that entire thing together. He was an above average worker capable of great heights but hampered with shoddy booking. Almost as though they didn’t always know what to do with this Mexican bad ass and his actual pushes tended to come a weird times. His face music still brings a smile to our faces, it’s a party! A party where guys get kicked in the head! He should have kicked whoever paired him with Zeb Coulter in the brain.

From the Voters: “He actually has a lot of good matches, and I loved the initial push and character. Was never the same after losing his title match in the Mania opener at Mania 27. In general I think he’s really short on big moments, and he was a bust as a top guy you could believe in. He is also hurt by the fact that a lot of his better matches were obscured by even better matches on the same shows. I can’t dismiss him, but he’s almost impossible to get excited about despite a solid resume of kayfabe accomplishments and lots of very good matches. He just felt like a huge after thought so often.” – Dylan Hales, July 7, 2017

“Thst stomp finisher was the worst. All the while his “kick to the fucking head” finisher was right there.” – Aaron George, May 31, 2017

120. Ken Shamrock Total Points: 978 Total Ballots: 42 Average Rank: 77.7 High Vote: 32 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: El Groino

Key Matches & Moments: Refereed the Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin match from WrestleMania 13; In the main event 10-man classic match at Canadian Stampede; Challenged both Bret Hart on Raw and Shawn Michaels at D-Generation-X for the WWF Title in his first year; Feuded with the Rock over the IC title losing to him at the Royal Rumble and having a victory reversed at WrestleMania XIV; Won the 1998 King of the Ring tournament; Feuded with Owen Hart in real fun Dungeon and Lion’s Den matches; Won the vacant IC title defeating X-Pac in the tournament finals; Joined The Corporation and won the Tag Team titles with Big Boss Man, making him a double champion; Was part of the convoluted four-way match and feud revolving around “sister” Ryan Shamrock for the IC Title at WrestleMania XV; Rescued Stephanie McMahon from the Ministry of Darkness earning Vince’s gratitude until it was revealed it was HIM ALL ALONG; Split from the Corporate Ministry and joined the Union, feuding with the Undertaker; Had a Lion’s Den Match with Steve Blackman at SummerSlam 1999

Staff Thoughts: His first two PPV matches were all-time classics (OK, so he was a referee and one part of a 10-man tag, but still.) He was part of the Corporation AND the Union (or UPYOURS at Foley tried so hard to make a thing in his promo). Ken Shamrock always felt like a really necessary if not vital part of a roster, the guy who never looks out of place and can have feuds with anyone in the upper mid-card range. He was a good robotic heavy goon for the Corporation. He was overshadowed by the Rock’s personality in their feud, but most get overshadowed by The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment (eventually). The matches with Owen Hart were pretty good, for the World’s Most Dangerous Man, too. Not a good promo and that likely limited how far he could go with WWF at the time. Check out this FYC podcast as the guys discuss Shamrock.

From the Voters: “I think he has a decent enough body of acceptable matches even if there isn’t one standout. My issue is he was such a bad promo.” – Jordan Duncan, May 30, 2017

“Ken could be on the outside looking in. The lack of promo skills hurt any push he might of gotten. He had the look of a potential WWF champion, but I think he was in the wrong era for him to succeed. With big characters and better promo guys his growth was stunted.” – Matt Rotella, May 30, 2017

119. King Kong Bundy Total Points: 999 Total Ballots: 47 Average Rank: 79.7 High Vote: 38 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Jesse

Key Matches & Moments: Debuted as a dominant monster heel insisting on a five-count for a pin; Defeated S.D. Jones in “nine seconds” at the first WrestleMania; Originally managed by Jimmy Hart but soon joined the Heenan Family and began teaming with Big John Studd feuding with Andre the Giant and a variety of partners; Attacked Hulk Hogan during his match with Don Muraco on Saturday Night’s Main Event, splashing and avalanching Hulk; Main evented WrestleMania 2 losing in a cage match to Hogan; Reformed his tag team with Studd and feuded with The Machines and receiving title shots against the British Bulldogs; Squashed midgets in the six-man match at WrestleMania III; Wrestled Hogan on back to back SNME winning one by countout; Returned in 1994 as part of the Million Dollar Corporation; Faced the Undertaker in a dreadful match at WrestleMania XI

Staff Thoughts: King Kong Bundy was a major player in the first three WrestleManias, with his “record” win, main event against Hulk Hogan and memorably flattening midgets (OK that may not have been major, but certainly was memorable). The match with Hogan was better than given credit for. He also had a monster heel tag team with Big John Studd, a unit featured in some big matches. However, that return and god-awful match against Undertaker at WrestleMania has to be held against him in some form or fashion. The guys talk more about Bundy on this FYC podcast.

From the Voters: “He is one who had the total package for a big man. He was a big man who sold well against others. Plus, he squashed midgets at Wrestlemania, what more could one ask for??” – Jeffrey Thomas, May 30, 2017

“Bundy is remembered for being involved in one of the greatest Wrestlemania moments of all time according to Scott Criscuolo when he crushed Little Beaver. Plus he had a good run with Hogan leading to his Steel Cage match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania II. But, to me he is not one of the better big guys in WWF History and think he will miss out on the top 1100.” – Matt Rotella, May 30, 2017

118. Big E Langston Total Points: 1,000 Total Ballots: 52 Average Rank: 81.8 High Vote: 45 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: Taylor Keahey

Key Matches & Moments: Defeated Seth Rollins in a No-DQ match to win the NXT Championship; Aligned himself with AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler, teaming with Ziggler to challenge Team Hell No for the Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania XXIX; Teamed with Lee losing to Kaitlyn and Ziggler at SummerSlam 2013; Won the IC Title defeating Curtis Axel and holding the belt for nearly six months; Competed in the Andre the Giant battle royal at WrestleMania XXX; Feuded with Rusev, including a very good match at Payback 2014; Formed the New Day with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, challenging for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 31; Turned heel and won the Tag Team Championship from Tyson Kidd and Cesaro at Extreme Rules 2015; Competed in the first ever Tag Team Elimination Chamber match; Lost their titles to the Prime Time Players at Money in the Bank, but regained them at SummerSlam 2015 in a fatal four-way; Unsuccessfully answered John Cena’s U.S. Open Championship in October 2015; Came out of a box of Booty O’s to face the League of Nations at WrestleMania 32; New Day captained the Raw team for the 10-man tag at Survivor Series 2016; Held the championship for 483 days breaking the record set by Demolition before losing the titles to Sheamus and Cesaro; New Day hosted WrestleMania 33; Moved to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shakeup and won the SmackDown Tag Team titles from the Usos at Battleground 2017; Feuded with the Usos and had very good matches at the SummerSlam pre-show and Hell in a Cell; Langston is a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion, a two-time SmackDown Tag Team champion, a former NXT Champion and former IC Champion

Staff Thoughts: Big E had a solid IC title reign and a good feud with Rusev, including the match mentioned at Payback. And that’s all before his run with New…Day…Rocks! New…Day…Rocks! And they certainly wouldn’t rock as much without Big E carrying a lot of the load in the matches. While the team was often more character-driven, their feud this year with the Usos produced excellent matches at SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell. And breaking Demolition’s record is a huge gold star for the team and Big E.

From the Voters: “That ppv match with Rusev was pretty fun. If you factor in his NXT run, keep in mind he was a former IC champ, and then recall that he’s part of the longest tag-title reign in a 50 year history, co-hosted a WM, and moves more merch as part of the New Day than almost anyone else on the roster, he’s a very strong candidate.” – James Proffitt, May 29, 2017

“It’s weird that for a guy who has been around since what, 2012? We’re still kind of waiting for his career to start. He’s a “not yet” guy, even though he’s been around for 5 years already. Strange case. Great in his role in New Day though.” – Stacey O’Loughlin, May 31, 2017

117. Jacques Rougeau Total Points: 1,039 Total Ballots: 39 Average Rank: 74.4 High Vote: 34 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: John D’Amato

Key Matches & Moments: Teamed with Brother Raymond to form the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers; Fought in the first ever match at a SummerSlam going to a draw with the British Bulldogs in what may have been the match of the night; Beat up the Dynamite Kid backstage in something most insiders like to call JUSTICE; Petitioned to become American citizens and with the help of Jimmy Hart became an All American Boy; Won a Grammy for a song of the same title (well deserved); Made a smooth transition from blue trunks to sweet blue and yellow bike shorts; Joined the RCMP to the chagrin of the actual RCMP; Shouted his name many, many times; Was positively amazing in the jailhouse match against the Big Boss Man at SummerSlam 91, his post match theatrics are the stuff of legend; They wanted the finger so he gave them a finger; Made love to a lovely man decked out in leather that same night; DEFEATED BRET HART FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE!!! In early 1992, lost said title to Roddy Piper in a great moment during the 1992 Royal Rumble; Returned in 1993 and won the tag team titles from the Steiner Brothers with partner Pierre; The Quebecers had a stellar match with Bret and Owen Hart at the 1994 Royal Rumble; The Quebecers produced hands down the greatest theme song ever sung by wrestlers about themselves.

Staff Thoughts: Look at who this man beat for titles! It makes no god damn sense. Jacques Rougeau was possibly the best smiling heel of all time; he would start every match with the biggest shit eating grin and outstretched hand; it was beautiful. A consistently solid in-ring guy it was no surprise that he was kept around seemingly forever even after the retirement of his brother Raymond. A slightly underrated promo guy who was capable of genuine comedy when the situation called for it. The Mountie should have failed. It was dumb. But Jacques screamed his damn name until we knew that he was in fact THE MOUNTIE! The Quebecers should have been laughed at out of the promotion, but they got their man! The image of them screaming at each other in french as they attempt to suplex Mable at WrestleMania X would bring a smile to the most jaded of wrestling fan. Rougeau was a throwback. A great tag worker who used his unique personality and strange acting skills to bump his way into our hearts.

From the Voters: “I want to dismiss him, but I do think his versatility and sneaky longevity make him someone to think about. He was in two very memorable tag teams that were very different stylistically. While he was much better as a heel, he and Ray were by no means a bad babyface team. The Rockers feud was good and had a great heater angle. Quebecers were a very good team for the era, though Jacques wasn’t the reason to watch the team. The Mountie gimmick was over as a heel. And I remember the stun gun angle being hot at the time. He was great at getting heat in every iteration. I’ve never been a fan, but he’s an interesting case” – Dylan Hales, June 30, 2017

“Makes it for me although likely as a near the bottom of the list guy. Former IC and Tag Champion and really made the Mountie gimmick work and got more longevity out of it then I think most would’ve as it was basically just created for the sole intention of providing a foil for Bossman. Also very entertaining and funny both in the ring on the mic. Not that it really matters but he also might have the best collection of entrance themes ever. Rougeau Brother, Mountie(2nd one anyway), and Quebecer themes were all awesome.” – Wade Ferrari, May 31, 2017

116. Jeff Jarrett Total Points: 1,047 Total Ballots: 43 Average Rank: 76.7 High Vote: 38 Low Vote: 96 High Voter: Trust Issues

Key Matches & Moments: Wore many suspenders; While in those suspenders (and a thick headband) helped murder the Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1994; Defeated Razor Ramon to win the Intercontinental title at Royal Rumble 1995; ”Sang” with my Baby Tonight; Had far and away his best match in the promotion against Shawn Michaels at In Your House #2; Fought Ahmed Johnson in a joyless affair at the 1996 Royal Rumble; Returned to the promotion in late 1997 and cut many bizzare shoot promos; Time traveled to early Central America to get his new tights; After all the bitching and moaning about his old character, he then rode a horse to the ring while Tennessee Lee spelt his name; Lost a fun hair versus hair match to X-Pac at the 1998 SummerSlam; Won the Tag Team Titles in early 1999 with partner Owen Hart and ran the divison for a few months; Defeated the Godfather to become the Intercontinental champion in May of 1999; Started beating women; Got his clock cleaned by Chyna in his final WWF appearance.

Staff Thoughts: There are few wrestlers as divisive as Jeff Jarrett. We will never forget how to spell his name but it’s certainly hard to get behind a character when you’re constantly told his motivation is to USE the WWF to get into country music. What kind of a moron uses wrestling to get into something else? The most successful guys who springboarded out of wrestling were Hulk Hogan who made No Holds Barred and Roddy Piper who made that god-awful music video. While a solid worker, there was always something a little phony in his work. Perhaps it was because that despite being closer to a cruiserweight he worked more of a big-man brawling style. Perhaps it was the 75 struts per match. Regardless, Double J was very memorable early on, and was strong enough to transition from comedy suspender guy to serious woman beater within a matter of months. His HUGE moments and matches may have been few and far between but you KNOW that when he nailed Moolah with that guitar, Wendi Richter pumped her fist and screamed “Take that you Spider Bitch!” So there’s that… Ha Haaaaaa!

From the Voters: “I am a Double J apologist, as Nick constantly reminds me. I thought he was a very good worker at a time when those were rare in the fed. He was never Bret or Shawn, but he was right in that next tier as a guy who could have a **1/2 or better match with most people on the roster. He was almost always over as a heel, threw great working punches, had an extremely successful character shift in 98 (after several failed ones, granted), and I happened to enjoy his woman-hating heel character, one that actually didn’t embarrass wrestling fans because most of us booed him.“ – Greg Phillips, June 1, 2017

115. Billy Gunn Total Points: 1,067 Total Ballots: 46 Average Rank: 77.8 High Vote: 43 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: Brad Faulk

Key Matches & Moments: Teamed with storyline brother Bart as the Smoking Gunns; Won the Tag Team titles against Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid and holding them until WrestleMania XI when they lost them to Owen Hart and Yokozuna, before regaining them a second time; After forfeiting the titles the Gunns won them from the Godwinns when Sunny turned on the pig farmers in favor of the Gunns; Would lose the belts to Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith causing Sunny to abandon the Gunns and Billy to break up the team; Defeated Flash Funk at WrestleMania 13 catching the eye of the Honky Tonk Man, who made him his protege Rockabilly; Gunn turned on Honky joining forces with the Road Dogg to form the New Age Outlaws; Feuded with the LOD winning the Tag Team Titles before moving on to Mankind and Chainsaw Charlie, who they locked in a dumpster and threw off a stage before facing in a dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV; Joined DX on the night after WrestleMania XIV; Won the Hardcore championship despite being involved in a multi-man feud for the IC Title, putting him in the Hardcore Title match at WrestleMania XV, because Swervz; Left DX to become “Mr. Ass” and won the 1999 King of the Ring tournament; Feuded with the Rock resulting in him losing a “Kiss My Ass” match at SummerSlam 1999; Reunited the NAO winning their fourth tag team titles and reforming DX; Lost the rights to use “Mr. Ass” in a match with Chyna against Right to Censor, so settled on “The One” Billy Gunn; Won the IC title from Eddie Guerrero and lost it to Chris Benoit; Formed the Billy & Chuck tag team with Chuck Palumbo, winning the Tag Team Titles from Spike Dudley and Tazz and introducing their personal stylist Rico; Chuck proposed to Billy and a wedding was set for SmackDown, only to have Billy and Chuck call off the whole thing calling it a publicity stunt and getting beaten up by Three Minute Warning; Returned to the WWE in 2012 with Road Dogg and won the Tag Team titles against Goldust and Cody Rhodes at the 2014 Royal Rumble pre-show; Teamed with Kane and Dogg to face The Shield at WrestleMania XXX; Reformed DX to aid Triple H in his match vs. Sting at WrestleMania 31; Gunn is a 10-time World Tag Team champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion; a two-time Hardcore Champion and a one-time IC Champion

Staff Thoughts: He’s an Ass Man, and man is he an ass of a performer. OK, he had three solid tag team runs with three very different teams. Some like the Smoking Gunns, who had decent matches, but were mostly the best of a bad lot in the tag division at the time. The New Age Outlaws were one of the most over acts in one of the hottest time periods for the company. They were fresh and over both before joining DX and as part of the stable, Gunn’s primary contribution to the team was telling people who weren’t down with sucking it to suck it. He then went on to win the 1999 King of the Ring tournament, making “Billy Gunning” into a verb. It was not a compliment. He went on to feud with The Rock in possibly his best match ever, which ended with his face in a rather large woman’s ass. The Billy & Chuck wedding angle was a big deal earning praise from LGBT groups, who clearly never watched wrestling and didn’t realize it would end how all wrestling weddings end: badly. Overall, Gunn has been involved in tons of significant groups teams and storylines. He’s been a big part of WWE during his particularly long tenure and they JUST…KEEP…BRINGING…HIM…BACK. But I digress, while he may not have always been a particularly good part of the story, he was definitely a big part of the story of WWE, nonetheless.

From the Voters: “His strength is longevity. Failed as a singles performer at every turn. Good tag worker. Silly Attitude Era gimmick in 99. That’s gotta be the worst Rock feud ever. The Chyna alliance stunk too. Too much bad, not enough good. Not gonna make it.” – Devon Motivator Hales, June 2, 2017

“Always been a Billy Gunn fan for some reason. One half of my favorite Teams of all time in the New Age Outlaws. Didn’t mind the attempt to make him a singles guy in 1999 even if it didn’t work out. Also can’t forget his run with the Smoking Gunns and later on with Chuck Palumbo. I think i might include him.” – Jay HInchey, May 28, 2017

114. John Morrison Total Points: 1,084 Total Ballots: 37 Average Rank: 71.70 High Vote: 42 Low Vote: 98 High Voter: Chad Campbell; Vince Male

Key Matches & Moments: WAS TOUGH ENOUGH!; Formed MNM with Joey Mercury and Melina and immediately became stalwarts of the Smackdown tag division; Were consistently a highlight throughout most of 2005 and 2006; Won the WWE Tag Team Titles in their Smackdown debut against Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio; Had the only bearable match at December to Dismember when MNM took on The Hardy Boyz, by bearable we mean excellent; Was very strong in the multiple team ladder match the next month at Aemageddon 06; Had another excellent outing with The Hardy Boyz at Royal Rumble 2007; Subbed for a murderer at Night Of Champions 2007 to win the ECW title against CM Punk; Their subsequent feud gave us a bevy of very good matches; Teamed up with The Miz and took the world by storm with their matches and Dirt Sheet segments; Had very strong feuds with Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and Sheamus; His ladder match with Sheamus at TLC 2010 is excellent as was his falls count anywhere match with Miz from Raw around the same time; Teamed with Snooki and Trish Stratus to defeat Dolph Ziggler and LayCool at WrestleMania 27; Was a major part of the Extreme Rules 2011 triple threat cage match with John Cena and Miz

Staff Thoughts: When we think of greatest wrestlers to have never won the WWF/E world title our minds usually go to Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart and Rick Rude but they should also pause a moment on John Morrison as well. The guy had it all: looked like an absolute STAR, still does actually, had fun and exciting matches and was OVER. His tag team pedigree is very strong. MNM is potentially a top ten team in company history and Miz & Morrison, while not as technically proficient, were nearly a main event act by the time they split. His singles run is littered with very good matches throughout as he was one of the more consistent in ring guys whether it be on PPV or TV. His moves looked crisp and if you could get past the fact that Michael Cole screamed parkour every six seconds, he really did move like no one else. Yes Starship Pain looked like a feather hitting someone but we’re in a post People’s Elbow world where the style of the finish is waaaaay more important than the impact. His weak point was clearly his promos but he also strikes us as a guy that probably shouldn’t have needed to be cutting promos to begin with. He was interesting enough on his own. In the end he brought something new and unique to every match he was in. No one else ever climbed the Elimination Chamber like Spider Man and splashed Sheamus from the top; SPEAKING of Spider Man, his near elimination where he jumped to the barrier and clung on like the webbed wonder is STILL one of the best near eliminations the Royal Rumble has seen. Kofi Kingston be damned, Morrison invented that act, along with TONS of other stuff and his contributions, while often forgotten are still felt today. You can bet if he walked back into the company today he would slide into the main event as Batista slid into bed beside his girlfriend. What a stupid reason not to push a guy. Especially a guy who had abs for daaaaaaaaaays!

From the Voters: “This guy can suck a fuck. I’d rather have Kofi as my perennial midcarder with shitty “exciting offence”. At least Kofi had more charisma than a plank of wood. To be fair, I did enjoy MNM, and I did like the idea behind the John Morrison character initially. And he has a handful of very good singles matches (vs Miz, vs Sheamus). But his offence sucks, his selling sucks, and his promos suck.” – Adam Russell, July 17, 2017

“Morrison vs Rey is one of my favourite ever matches. He’s got a load of good stuff from his singles run (vs Bourne, vs Miz, vs Punk, vs Edge, vs Jeff, etc.) and a great tag run on top of that. Comfortable inclusion. One of the worst promos ever though, sadly.” – Stacey O’Loughlin, May 30, 2017

113. Shane McMahon Total Points: 1,104 Total Ballots: 37 Average Rank: 71.1 High Vote: 39 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Cody

Key Matches & Moments: ONE, TWO… MIDDLE FINGERS is still one of the better swerves the company has done; Won the European title from X-Pac on an early 1999 Raw; Surprised EVERYONE by having a fun, competitive match with X-Pac at WrestleMania XV; With Test had the best match at SummerSlam 1999 defending his sister’s honor; Got murdered by Steve Blackman at SummerSlam 2000, falling nearly 100 feet, if you believe the commentators; Fought his father in a classic brawl at WrestleMania 17; Rumbled with Kurt Angle in a cringe-inducing yet amazing contest at King Of The Ring 2001; Defended the honor of his mother against Eric Bischoff and then had a crazed SciFi soap opera feud with Kane; Fought Shawn Michaels at the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event in early 2006; Kissed his father’s ass as Vince rolled his arms in a “Oh yeah keep it coming motion” at WrestleMania 22; Was hilarious in those sketches with Vince McMahon in the church; Is undefeated against God; Tried to defend his family against Randy Orton in 2009 but punched him poorly; Returned in early 2016 to a MONSTER reaction; Has nearly died in each of his matches since

Staff Thoughts: Like the Charles Dickens classic, it really is a tale of two McMahons here. Is it the best of times? The feuds with X-Pac, Test, Vince and Kurt Angle? Or is it the worst of times? The feuds with Eric Bischoff, Kane, Randy Orton, The Undertaker or Kevin Owens. Are we watching someone with a need to leap and put everything on the line to hang with the wrestlers? Or are we watching Shane hang move for move with guys like Kurt Angle and AJ Styles? Few men have such a disparity between their best and worst work. Shane is a sloppy worker. His punches are awful and it times he looks like the fakest faker that ever faked. Then at other times he’s flying through the air with pure grace; doing a flying elbow to the corner or jumping up and nailing a guy with a STEEL chair. He’s just so hard to pin down. His older heel promos were fine. His weird speech pattern upon his 2016 return is strange. What hurts him the most is that he’s often put on par with the guys he faces, as opposed to say his father who gets the living shit beat out of him no matter WHO he faces. It was ridiculous that he could hang with Randy Orton during arguably Orton’s peak. Add to the fact that he’s involved in one of the more panned WrestleMania matches of recent years, the Hell In A Cell with Undertaker; and involved in some of the worst moments of all time, getting his nuts electrocuted by Kane, it’s not difficult to see why many would leave him off the list. His whole career seems to be a contradiction though so by the same token it’s easy to see why someone would include him. High end matches, memorable character, moved the needle upon his return. It makes sense. If nothing else he taught us about the importance of having a good fake glass guy.

From the Voters: “He might have been considered surprisingly strong for a McMahon most of whose wrestling was done during Attitude, but at this point he’s had back-to-back high-profile WrestleMania matches that were downright embarrassing to watch. In between he did some decent pandering GM schtick on weekly TV and nearly died at the Survivor Series. This, erm, does not help his case.” – Glenn Butler, June 2, 2017

“As a worker he’s better as a chickenshit heel hiding behind the Mean Street Posse. Shane McMahon: badass is a character that needs to die in a fire. “ – Adam Russell, July 19, 2017

112. Chyna Total Points: 1,104 Total Ballots: 38 Average Rank: 71.95 High Vote: 38 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: Jay Hinchey; Boss Rock

Key Matches & Moments: Debuted at In Your House: Final Four and choked Terri Runnels half to death; The next month at WrestleMania 13 shook the shit out of her; Gave Mick Foley the most painful thing that had ever happened to him by slamming the cage door into his head at SummerSlam 1997; Founded D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Rick Rude; Low blowed many a man; Arranged for Mark Henry to have a sexual encounter with a transvestite; Was the first woman to compete the the Royal Rumble; Was briefly the number one contender for the WWF title in the summer of 1999; Defeated Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy 1999 to become the first woman to hold the Intercontinental title; Her matches with Chris Jericho at Survivor Series 1999 and Armageddon 1999 are probably the best of her career; Engaged in a tale as old as time romance with Eddie Guerrero; Competed for the women’s title and finally won it at WrestleMania X7

Staff Thoughts: Look don’t treat her like a woman. Despite the biology she stood toe to toe with most men in the promotion and never really felt out of place. There were some rough patches, but by the end she was more than holding her own and really did transcend her gender in a way no one else ever did. Don’t treat her like a man. Because she’s not a man. This fact alone really does make her quite the trailblazer. She broke many barriers that sadly few could also traverse. It can seen like we dismiss her influence due to the fact that her archetype didn’t breed future Japans, Mongolias or Cambodias to come into the promotion. There never was another woman quite like her, but it seems silly to assume she didn’t influence a large number of female wrestlers. Just treat her like you know her. All we REALLY know about her is how unique she was. Was she the greatest in ring technician? Nope. But tons of people on this list aren’t. She was certainly a better worker and more interesting at the time than guys like Mabel and Viscera, who were given a TON of TV time. In 1998, she was more over than most of the roster and all she did was moon the crowd once. Just treat her for who she aaaaaaaaaaaammmm! I still don’t understand that lyric but Chyna’s tale seems really tragic in retrospect. Had she maintained a better rapport with the company we’d surely have seen a few returns, a Hall of Fame induction and a recognition of her place in the industry: one of the more important female competitors of all time. Instead we have a short burst of greatness, followed by years of being ignored and then finally only being mentioned again once she had died. A shame. Chyna was cool and seemed like a genuinely decent person. We should remember the good moments: the matches with Jericho, getting pinned by Eddie Guerrero as he comforted her, that damn bazooka she brought to the ring. Remember she’s who finally got Triple H over.  Remember that moon.

To hear JT and Aaron discuss the case of Chyna check out this podcast

From the Voters: “If you’re including women on the list, I think you HAVE to find a place for Chyna. Name another woman not named Stephanie that had as much influence on WWF/E storylines for an extended period. Easily one of the most recognized stars from the company’s hottest period. Her work-rate was average at best…But considering this is a WWF/E list, you’re going to get a lot of people on it that were average in-ring and made up for it in other ways. Chyna’s one of the 5-10 most important women to ever work in this company, and she’d be a HOF’er if not for petty personal issues. I’d have her in that bottom-20 range… But she’s in.” – Nate Milton, July 12, 2017

“She may pass the non-wrestling fan test, but that’s hardly the only qualifier. She may get high marks in that aspect but not much else. Even when thinking of her high points, are any of them her moments alone? Usually involves a group of people.” – Jordan Duncan, May 28, 2017

111. Rusev Total Points: 1,105 Total Ballots: 43 Average Rank: 75.3 High Vote: 40 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: El Groino

Key Matches & Moments: Debuted on the main roster on the April 7, 2014 edition of Monday Night Raw, crushing Zack Ryder and starting a nearly year long undefeated streak; Had a solid feud with Big E Langston spanning Payback 2014 and Money in the Bank 2014; Had an excellent encounter with the Big Show at Hell in a Cell 2014; Had fun feuds and matches with Jack Swagger throughout his run; On November 3rd after Raw defeated Sheamus to become the WWE US Champion; At the 2015 Royal Rumble the crowd chanted WE WANT RUSEV, but in fairness that was because they had been shit on for the last hour; DEFEATED John Cena at Fastlane 2015; Drove a god damn TANK to the ring at WrestleMania 31; Gave Vince McMahon the best hug he’s ever had after splashing Roman Reigns through a table; WRENCHED Kalisto in half to win the US title back in 2016; Rusev Day… ALL of it

Staff Thoughts: Why in the HELL wasn’t RUSEV given the great Jinder Mahal push of 2017???? You want a great foreign heel? He’s right here! No one is mad at India! NO ONE. India is fine! Why not give a chance to a guy who has EXCELLED at everything they have put him in. Even the schlock. The League of Nations sucked… but Rusev kicked ass in it. His joy was palpable as he hung out with his lads and beat up the no good Americans he was facing. Sadly Rusev is a guy they just don’t know what to do with. He’s certainly on the list of guys whose career, as of yet anyways, hasn’t recovered from the “rub” of fighting John Cena. There are low moments like the Dolph Ziggler feud, but you can tell he was busting his ass to get over one of the dumber ideas in recent years. He’s a tremendous worker, whether in boots or barefoot, who is not afraid to take risks to create great little moments. Go back and watch his match with the Big Show and watch how he attempts to hear his heart before applying the accolade. Rusev is also an underrated promo. He can be the big scary heel but is just as comfortable being downright hilarious. There’s a vignette where he and Lana are talking about having cameras in their home; watch his face when he brags that the cameras pick up “everything”, it’s gold. Hopefully the company can come back around on the big guy. Not only from the perspective that he’s talented enough to be further up the card, but they give more time to guys they like. You give Rusev time and he’ll knock it out of the park. Every time. That’s why every day should be RUSEV DAY!

From the Voters: “Was on track to being one of the all-time greats before the Cena feud derailed him. Loved all his early matches, from Sheamus to Big E. Had a rebirth against Kalisto, but got sacrificed to Roman Reigns. They just don’t seem to know what to do with him if he’s anything less than unstoppable, which doesn’t give him a lot of depth. Dolph Ziegler feud was the nadir; not good at showing personality. High hopes his next push works.” – Ben Morse, June 2, 2017

“When I think about matches I WANT to see, Rusev is always a name that pops up. I want Rusev-Brock, Rusev-AJ, Rusev-Braun, etc.” – Jordan Duncan, June 2, 2017

110. Shelton Benjamin Total Points: 1,108 Total Ballots: 41 Average Rank: 74 High Vote: 24 Low Vote: 95 High Voter: Vince Male

Key Matches & Moments: With Charlie Haas formed Team Angle/World’s Greatest Tag Team and worked as excellent backup for Our Olympic hero; WGTT’s Judgment Day 2003 ladder war with Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri and their Vengeance 2003 matchup with Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman were both spectacular; Jumped to RAW in 2004 and turned heads by scoring a pinfall win over Triple H and later beating Chris Jericho for the IC title; Owned the Money In the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21; Will forever be remembered for jumping into a superkick during the 2005 Gold Rush tournament; Had fun matches as part of the reformed WGTT in 2006, including a ladder bout with the Hardy Boyz; Became the Gold Standard and had a US Title run on Smackdown

Staff Thoughts: You’re at your cool friend’s house and he’s awesome. He has the best toys, he’s super creative and fun; you don’t think you’ve ever met anyone so great…t hen his mom shows up and busts a move and you NEVER look at him the same way again. Shelton Benjamin was awesome. A wonderful stalwart of the mid-card for many years and yet he can’t shake the stigma of his damn Mama. Even when he dyed his hair gold all you kept thinking was “his mama is going to whip his ass for that.” For a guy who was consistently rated among the most underrated in wrestling he really seemed to have a lot of success. Multiple Tag Team Titles, multiple mid-card championship reigns. One might even suggest that he overachieved. Not to take anything away from his in-ring ability but as a character he left a lot to be desired. Sure, not everyone has to be flashy, but if you can tell us who his character was without describing his physical appearnce or moveset we’ll fly to your home and hand deliver a bouquet of You’re Better Than Mes. And don’t say “A guy who ain’t stopping!” Shelton was a pleasure to watch, excelled in ladder matches and in the end had a really solid career. A welcome addition on ANY roster, so long as his mama lets him come play.

From the Voters: “He was a guy you kept waiting to blossom into something big but it never happened. His best showing was probably in the inaugural Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Don’t see him making my list.” – Brian Bayless, June 2, 2017

“Great worker who was saddled w/some terrible gimmicks. If he were a little bit bigger (and dare a say a few shades lighter), he could have had a comparable career to guys like Hennig or even benoit. But since he didn’t, he doesn’t make my list. I guess there was some stopping him (now).” – Nate Milton, July 13, 2017

109. (The Man They Call) Vader Total Points: 1,111 Total Ballots: 47 Average Rank: 77.4 High Vote: 30 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Ian Goldsworthy

Key Matches & Moments: Debuted at the 1996 Royal Rumble and punched people into oblivion; The next night on Raw sent Gorilla Monsoon to the vet; CRUSHED Jake Roberts (among others) in the opening contest of WrestleMania XII; CRUMPLED Jake again at the 1996 King of the Ring; Scored a pinfall victory over then-champion Shawn Michaels during a six man tag at In Your House: International Incident; He and Michaels would have a great, yet gimmick ridden match at SummerSlam 1996; Had a PPV named after him and wasn’t included on the card; Fun sprint with Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1997; Was AWESOME in the IYH: Final Four main event, bleeding a gusher and carrying large portions of the contest; Was Ken Shamrock’s first ppv opponent at IYH: A Cold Day In Hell; Had a tremendous encounter with The Undertaker at IYH: Canadian Stampede; Vader bombed Goldust with Luna Vachon on his back at Royal Rumble 1998; Had no patience for Goldust in general; Was defeated by Kane at Over The Edge 1998 prompting him to declare himself a fat piece of shit

Staff Thoughts: If booked properly, we’re talking about one of the best big men in wrestling history as his run in WCW clearly showed us. Perhaps he came in a year too late, or even a year too early to the WWF; either way there was no way he was going to be given the ball for any extended period of time in 1996. Vader was a unique brand of big man, he could squash you like bug but could also sell his ass off and fly around the ring like a man half his size. His moves looked good, his punches looked legit, his punches WERE legit and Shawn Michaels should thank his lucky stars that Leon White is a decent person and didn’t decide to destroy him after his hissy fit in their main event. The less said about his return on 2005 the better but there’s absolutely no excuse why Vader isn’t already in the WWE Hall of Fame. It’s Time damnit!

From the Voters: “He likely won’t make my WWE list. His run was too short and too disappointing. It had some bright spots, but it was honestly a missed opportunity.” – Matthew Richards, June 15, 2017

“He’s a guy who’s stock is dropping the more I crunch the numbers. He still will probably make it, but he’s like the NCAA team that was really good until mid February and then the wheels start to come off but had enough early to still get them into the tournament.” – Brian Meyer, June 14, 2017

108. Tajiri Total Points: 1153 Total Ballots: 43 Average Rank: 74.2 High Vote: 30 Low Vote: 100 High Voter: Dave Musgrave

Key Matches & Moments: Excelled as William Regal’s innocent manservant; Helped Steve Austin through a very difficult time in his life; Defeated KANYON to win the WCW US title; Who betta? Tajiri betta!; Feuded with X-Pac over the respective Cruiserweight Titles; Forced Torrie Wilson to dress like a geisha; At Judgment Day 2003 won the WWE Tag Team Titles subbing for an injured Chavo Guerrero as Eddie Guerrero’s partner; Had an excellent match with Rey Mysterio at No Mercy 2003; Came back and had an impressive showing in the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic

Staff Thoughts: Tajiri is such an interesting case. Always way more over than his push, one of the best in-ring guys they’ve ever had, always credible due to his moveset and yet… if you look for his tippy top matches and moments there are very few to be found. He was a cornerstone of the cruiserweight division from 2001 to 2003, but sadly it was during a time where they seemed to be giving the guys less and less time with each passing PPV. His connection with the fans was astounding though. Perhaps moreso than any other Japanese competitor competing in the WWF, Tajiri understood what could be done with a subtle look and or movement. Vince Russo can say all he wants that foreigners can’t connect with the crowd but that just proves the fact that he didn’t watch a single Tajiri match in his life. He moved strangely, he acted strangely and his moveset… oh the moveset! The tarantula was awesome, the springboard flying elbow amazed every time. And those kicks. Right to the fucking head. You instantly believed he could beat ANYONE. You get hit with that kick you are done. Over. Point finale. One could only imagine how high he would have climbed had he been given the time.

From the Voters: “Though it’s hard to list lots of great matches, there was never a time where I thought I didn’t want to see a Tajiri performance. Even in throwaway bouts, he had a magnetism that made them still fun to watch, and HE was always worth watching. He’ll definitely place for me, could end up anywhere in the second half” – David Clare, June 4, 2017

“Good in the ring, fun character who can also go deadly serious. Had a longer run than you might think, hanging in there for about five years or so. Equally capable of playing the goofball babyface or the ruthless heel. He’s got a solid resume.” – Ben Morse, June 7, 2017

107. Jey Uso Total Points:1,183 Total Ballots: 38 Average Rank: 69.9 High Vote: 38 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Martin Boulevard

Key Matches & Moments: Teamed with brother Jimmy and had an alliance with Tamina upon their debut in 2010, feuding with the Hart Dynasty; Challenged for the WWE Tag Team Titles in the pre-show of WrestleMania XXVIII; Feuded with The Shield and The Real Americans over the Tag Titles; Had a real fun match with the Shield on the Money in the Bank preshow; Helped Daniel Bryan from getting assaulted by The Shield, resulting in them being put into an 11-3 elimination match, where Jey became the first wrestler to pin Roman Reigns in WWE; Challenged Goldust and Cody Rhodes and The Shield at Hell in a Cell and teaming with Goldust, Rhodes and Rey Mysterio vs. The Shield and Real Americans at Survivor Series 2013; Defeated the New Age Outlaws for their first Tag Team Championship on Raw in March 2014; Successfully defended titles in a fatal-four-way on the WrestleMania XXX pre-show; Joined forces with John Cena in feuding with the Wyatt Family; Lost the titles after 202 days to Goldust and Stardust at Night of Champions 2014; Regained the tites from Miz and Mizdow before losing them to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro at Fastlane 2015; Competed in a fatal four way for the titles at the WrestleMania 31 pre-show; Jey injured his shoulder missing about six-months; Feuded with the New Day over the WWE Tag Team Championship and later the Dudley Boyz; Drafted to SmackDown and turned heel and lost to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the finals for the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team titles; Feuded with American Alpha defeating them for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, becoming the first team to win both the Raw and SmackDown titles; Feuded with The New Day losing their titles after 124 days at Battleground and traded the titles back and forth; The matches with New Day were very good, in particular the Hell in a Cell match and the match at the SummerSlam pre-show; Defeated Sheamus and Cesaro at Survivor Series in an interpromotional match; The Usos are three-time SmackDown Tag Team champs and two-time Raw Tag Team champs and Kings of Day One Ish

Staff Thoughts: The Usos have been the standard bearers for the tag team division for years, always delivering solid performances, and sometimes delivering spectacular performances. Their feud with the New Day in 2017 was great with the SummerSlam and HIAC matches being highlights. They too are often are thrown into multi-team matches, making the match better, even if there is no feud to speak of. They appeared in the pre-show or WrestleMania six years in a row. With their longevity, string of good matches and recent run of high-end stuff, the Usos have a case for being an all-time great team. They seem to be continuing to improve if their last year is any indication. U and SO indeed.

From the Voters: “They’re a terrific, underrated tag team with a deeper resume of good matches than many teams. I’ll reserve judgment, but I think the lack of singles work and the lack of memorable moments hurts.” – Greg Phillips, June 1, 2017

“I wouldn’t have them in. I really enjoyed the Usos tag work in 2013-2014 but don’t view them as an all time great tag team. And when they wrestle the occasional singles match, I haven’t been incredibly impressed.” – Mike Eller, May 31, 2017

106. Jimmy Uso Total Points: 1,212 Total Ballots: 40 Average Rank: 70.7 High Vote: 37 Low Vote:  98 High Voter: Martin Boulevard

Key Matches & Moments: Teamed with brother Jey and had an alliance with Tamina upon their debut in 2010, feuding with the Hart Dynasty; Challenged for the WWE Tag Team Titles in the pre-show of WrestleMania XXVIII; Feuded with The Shield and The Real Americans over the Tag Titles; Had a real fun match with the Shield on the Money in the Bank preshow; Helped Daniel Bryan from getting assaulted by The Shield, resulting in them being put into an 11-3 elimination match, where Jey became the first wrestler to pin Roman Reigns in WWE; Challenged Goldust and Cody Rhodes and The Shield at Hell in a Cell and teaming with Goldust, Rhodes and Rey Mysterio vs. The Shield and Real Americans at Survivor Series 2013; Defeated the New Age Outlaws for their first Tag Team Championship on Raw in March 2014; Successfully defended titles in a fatal-four-way on the WrestleMania XXX pre-show; Joined forces with John Cena in feuding with the Wyatt Family; Lost the titles after 202 days to Goldust and Stardust at Night of Champions 2014; Regained the tites from Miz and Mizdow before losing them to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro at Fastlane 2015; Competed in a fatal four way for the titles at the WrestleMania 31 pre-show; Jimmy teamed with Zack Ryder against the Wyatt Family and  Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against the New Day while Jey was out with injury, The team reunited and feuded with the New Day over the WWE Tag Team Championship and later the Dudley Boyz; Drafted to SmackDown and turned heel and lost to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the finals for the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team titles; Feuded with American Alpha defeating them for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, becoming the first team to win both the Raw and SmackDown titles; Feuded with The New Day losing their titles after 124 days at Battleground and traded the titles back and forth; The matches with New Day were very good, in particular the Hell in a Cell match and the match at the SummerSlam pre-show; Defeated Sheamus and Cesaro at Survivor Series in an interpromotional match; The Usos are three-time SmackDown Tag Team champs and two-time Raw Tag Team champs and Kings of Day One Ish

Staff Thoughts: Did you know the Usos were Samoan? And the sons of Rikishi? You may have noticed the war dance and face paint (in honor of Umaga) and they may have mentioned in once or twice on commentary. Did you also know they’ve got a great case for one of (if not) the best WWE teams of all-time? With their longevity, always solid work and recent run of super work (feud with the New Day) they’ve got a great resume. Jimmy and Jey are always up for good matches (the multi-man and elimination matches in 2013 with Goldust and Cody and The Real Americans and others were fun) and their last year of work shows there may be more greatness to come in the future. They also took full advantage of Talking Smack and really blossomed as promos and characters during their ascension to top dogs of Smackdown.

From the Voters: “I’ve always liked the Usos and I remember being absolutely rapt when they finally won the tag titles. They were particularly good in the 2011-12 period when they found their feet as babyface tag workers. However, I can’t tell them apart to rate them individually.” – Stacey O’Loughlin, May 31, 2017

“I’ve come to the conclusion that they are probably the best all around team in company history. Also coming to the conclusion that if I can’t find a way to rate them, then I am throwing out all tag team work for consideration. I can’t in good conscience give cred it Michaels, Bret, Tito, et for tag work, and then throw out an all timer tag team because they’ve been a career tag team.” – Dylan Haes, August 31, 2017

105. Goldberg Total Points: 1,218 Total Ballots: 44 Average Rank: 73.3 High Vote: 34 Low Vote: 98 High Voter: Ray Miller

Key Matches & Moments: Debuted the night after WrestleMania XIX, spearing The Rock and immediately jumping into the main event scene; The Rock taunted him during The Rock Concert, before falling to him at Backlash 2003; Moved on to a feud with Chris Jericho defeating him at Badd Blood; Ran wild much to the crowd’s delight at the Elimination Chamber at SummerSlam, eliminating Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels and Jericho before being pinned by Triple H (much to crowd’s dismay); Defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven; Continued to feud with Evolution when Batista cashed in the bounty that Triple H put on Goldberg’s head; Retained the title against Triple H at Survivor Series; Kane was added to the Triple H feud; Goldberg lost the title back to Triple H in a three-way match also involving Kane after interference from Evolution and a chokeslam from Kane at Armageddon; Began a feud with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, escalated when Lesnar interfered at the Royal Rumble 2004 causing Goldberg to be eliminated; Goldberg interfered in Lesnar’s title defense against Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out 2014; The two met at WrestleMania XX in a memorable match, though not for the reasons hoped; Returned to the company in 2016 to resume his feud with Lesnar after 12 years, defeating him in 1:26 seconds at Survivor Series; Goldberg eliminated Lesnar in the 2017 Royal Rumble after a spear; Challenged Universal Champion Kevin Owens to a match at Fastlane with Chris Jericho accepting on Owens’ behalf, causing the two to split; Goldberg defeated Owens after he was distracted by Jericho’s music with a spear and a jackhammer; Lost the belt to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 in one of the greatest sub-5:00 matches of all time, which was also Goldberg’s first clean singles loss

Staff Thoughts: Goldberg’s WWE career was like his matches: high impact, low longevity. He had less than a two-year run, but it was all in the main event and title picture. Were the matches traditional workrate masterpieces? Nope. Do they stand out? You bet. Or at least they do when they are the hard-hitting heavyweight slugfests he had with Brock Lesnar. His first run, well, they left a lot on the table, and if they just put the damn belt on him at SummerSlam when the crowd was molten for him, who knows? As it is his, whether it was wearing Goldust’s wig or jacckhammering Lesnar out of his shoes, Goldberg’s career was made of more memorable moments than most and landed him just a bit outside the top 100. Listen to JT and Aaron break down his case further here.

From the Voters: “I was ambivalent on Goldberg at first. The podcast that JT and Aaron did helped my decision to put him on. Somewhere between 90-100. His initial run wasn’t great, but better than I remember it being. His most recent run was exactly how it should have been. He has always had the presence and ora of a mega star.” – Michael Schoen, August 21, 2017

“He made such an impact in two short runs. Over. Big moments. Hard to turn him away.” – Jason Sherman, May 29, 2017

104. Umaga Total Points: 1,233 Total Ballots: 54 Average Rank: 78.2 High Vote: 47 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Stacey O’Loughlin

Key Matches & Moments: As Jamal was one part of Three-Minute Warning, interrupting numerous matches and moments, including the Billy & Chuck wedding; Returned as Umaga in 2006 under the control of Armaaaando Alejaaaandro Estrada, defeating Ric Flair at Backlash 2006 in his PPV debut; Feuded with Kane, defeating him in a Loser Leaves Raw match and a match at Cyber Sunday; Umaga remained undefeated until he faced John Cena at New Year’s Revolution where he was pinned for the first time with a roll-up; Estrada claimed the loss was a fluke, setting up a rematch for the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing Match at 2007 Royal Rumble, where Umaga lost in an all-time great classic after Cena choked him out with the ring rope after the turnbuckle was removed from the ring; Selected as Vince McMahon’s representative in the “Battle of the Billionaires” match at WrestleMania 23, facing Bobby Lashley (Lindsey) who was the representative of future President Donald Trump; Umaga lost the match causing McMahon’s head to be shaved; Continued teaming with Vince and Shane feuding with Lashley, helping Vince win the ECW Title for Vince at Backlash 2007, defend the title at Judgment Day and continued aiding the McMahons when Vince lost the title in a street fight at One Night Stand; Umaga won the Intercontinental title but lost it to the debuting “fan” Santino Marella in the Milan Miracle when Lashley interfered; Feuded with Marella, losing by DQ at Vengeance before regaining the IC title; Successfully defended the IC title against Mr. Kennedy and Carlito at SummerSlam 2007; Attacked a returning Jeff Hardy leaving him laying, before eventually losing the IC Title to Hardy on Raw; Challenged Triple H for the WWE Championship at No Mercy but lost; Feuded with Batista, facing The Animal at WrestleMania XXIV; Reignited his feud with Hardy facing him in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand 2008; Began feuding with CM Punk, repeatedly stopping Punk from cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase; Defeated Punk at Judgment Day then spoke in English for the first time as Umaga challenging Punk to a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules 2009, which he lost in his last major match with the company

Staff Thoughts: Another short but impactful run, with “The Samoan Savage” having some standout matches and moments in the E. His Last Man Standing Match with Cena at the Rumble 2007 is an all-time classic and a match many think may be the greatest in WWE history, but his first match with Cena was very good too. The Samoan Savage gimmick shouldn’t have worked in 2006, but with Estrada as his mouthpiece and Umaga playing such a strong bulldozing heel, it did work. He was in the featured match at the highest grossing WrestleMania at the time, and had the highest buyrate until WrestleMania XXVIII narrowly edged it. Had a decent power match with Batista at WrestleMania XXIV, before eventually putting over Jeff Hardy helping him gain more credibility. He got the Samoan spike over, which was a feat in and of itself. The guys talk more about Umaga on this FYC podcast.

From the Voters: “Really enjoy both his Matches with John Cena, he and Jeff Hardy had good chemistry, and in the Battle Of The Billionaires. Another guy who moved around very well and worked good with almost anyone.” – Jay Hinchey, June 4, 2017

“About as good a monster heel as they’ve ever had, even though only for a short period. Just looked devastating in there, and could always keep his near-unbeatable aura even when he was getting beat. As well as the high-end stuff, it was just fun watching him beat guys up. I think he makes it.” – Adam Russell, July 14, 2017

103. Buddy Rogers Total Points: 1,235 Total Ballots: 26 Average Rank: 54.5 High Vote: 1 Low Vote: 96 Number One Votes: 1 High Voter: TheBestThereNeverWillBe

Key Matches & Moments: When Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers for the NWA title, Toots Mondt and Vince McMahon, Sr. withdrew their membership and formed the WWWF; Rogers was formally recognized as the first WWWF World Champion when he was presented the belt after “winning” a fictitious tournament taking place in Rio de Janeiro (of COURSE it did); Rogers’ official reign is listed as officially starting on April 25, 1963; Rogers reign was cut short after a mild heart attack, causing him to lose the title to Bruno Sammartino in 48 seconds; Rogers continued in a top spot defeating Hans Mortier in less than a minute with the figure-four leglock in Madison Square Garden; Teamed with “Handsome” Johnny Barend taking two out of three falls from Sammartino and Bobo Brazil, with Rogers pinning Sammartino in the final fall; Rogers retired before the scheduled rematch with Sammartino (tickets had already been printed with the match listed) and Gorilla Monsoon replaced him in the match; Returned to the WWF hosting the interview segment Rogers Corner until 1983; Was instrumental in turning Jimmy Snuka babyface and managing him during his feud with Lou Albano and Ray Stephens, before breaking his hip and retiring for good

Staff Thoughts: “The Nature Boy” was undoubtedly an all-time great wrestler, and his match in 1961 against Pat O’Conner at Commisky Park is an all-time famous match. Unfortunately that match and most of Rogers’ career took place outside the boundaries of this project (pre-1963.) However, Rogers status as an all-time great provided the credibility the newly created WWWF title needed. Rogers put over Sammartino strong, getting Bruno’s first title run off to a solid start. Rogers was the lowest finishing wrestler to receive a number one vote. As the inaugural WWWF champion Rogers historical significance cannot be questioned and helped lay the foundation for the company for the next 54 years and counting.

From the Voters: “The nature boy is one of the greatest but if anyone knows his best work was in the NWA . His match against Pat OConner at Comiskey Park was groundbreaking.” – Eric Boyd, May 30, 2017

  “He was handed the original WWWF title for winning a fictional tournament and then lost to Bruno in 48 seconds. He faded away after that.” – Todd Hall, May 28, 2017

102. Bubba Ray Dudley Total Points: 1,254 Total Ballots: 40 Average Rank: 69.7 High Vote: 23 Low Vote: 98 High Voter: Blaise Perrone

Key Matches & Moments: Teamed with “brother” D-Von as the Dudley Boyz, feuding with Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz throughout 2000 and 2001; The Dudleys won their first WWE Tag Team titles at No Way Out 2000 defeating the New Age Outlaws; Lost the titles to Edge & Christian in an excellent triangle ladder match also involving the Hardy Boyz at WrestleMania 2000; Were well known for using tables as weapons and began driving women through tables as part of their gimmick; Feuded with DX and drove Tori through a table at King of the Ring 2000; Continued their feud with E&C and the Hardys with the first Tables, Ladders and Chairs (TLC) match at SummerSlam 2000 in another excellent match; Won their second Tag Team Titles at the 2001 Royal Rumble and their third title at Raw in March 2001; Had another great TLC match with E&C and the Hardys at WrestleMania X7; Joined the Alliance in 2001 where they were part of the Alliance team in the main event of the InVasion PPV; During the Invasion angle the Dudleys became the first team to win the ECW, WWF and WCW Tag Team titles; Unified the WCW and WWF Tag Team titles by defeating the Hardy Boyz in a steel cage match at Survivor Series 2001; Feuded with Spike Dudley and Tazz, losing the Tag Team Titles; Challenged for the Tag Team Titles in a four-corners match at WrestleMania X8; Drafted to Raw splitting up his team with D-Von, Bubba teamed with Spike Dudley, competed in the Hardcore Division and challenged Triple H for the Heavyweight Championship; Reunited with D-Von and continued to be a staple of the Raw tag team division before being traded to SmackDown in 2004; Turned heel joining with Paul Heyman and kidnapping Paul Bearer; Faced the Undertaker in a handicap match at Great American Bash 2004, where they lost the match and Undertaker attempted to murder Bearer by burying him in cement anyway, in a dreadful main event; Became the muscle behind Spike Dudley’s “Boss” character during his Cruiserweight Championship run; Defeated Tommy Dreamer and Sandman at One Night Stand 2005; Was a surprise entrant in the 2015 Royal Rumble; Feuded with the New Day in 2015 over the WWE Tag Team Titles; Joined forces with Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno and battled the Wyatt Family at TLC 2015; Challenged the Usos at WrestleMania 32 and in a tables match the next night; Lost to Sami Zayn and Neville at SummerSlam 2016, Bubba was a 10-time Hardcore Champion, eight-time World Tag Team Champion, one-time WCW Tag Team Champion, one-time WWE Tag Team Champion

Staff Thoughts: The Dudley Boyz were part of the revolutionary tag team scene in 2000 andd 2001. The ladder matches and TLC matches at WrestleMania 2000, SummerSlam 2000 and WrestleMania X7 are all time classics and innovative matches. They were an important part of the Invasion/Alliance angle participating in the main event of InVasion (whether you think they were the best choice or not) and unified the WCW and WWF Tag Team Titles at Survivor Series 2001. Bubba had a so-so singles run when the team split in 2002 but it was certainly better than Deacon D-Von. As the Dudley Boyz reunited they showed diminishing returns, including that awful angle with Undertaker and Paul Bearer that made no sense. Bubba was a good promo and the Dudleys are perpetually over as long as D-Von will “…get the tables.” You can listen to the guys thoughts on The Dudley Boyz on this FYC podcast.

From the Voters: “He and D-Von are the one team to me important enough and with sufficient good matches that they both make it in by virtue of their tag work. That he had a few decent months as a single in 2002 plus his surprise Rumble appearance a couple years back are gravy.” – Ben Morse, May 30, 2017

“I think both have enough company and character significance to be in consideration. The lack of a singles run (brief during first split) holds him back. This is someone with 946 WWE matches to his credit. ”- Brad Warren, May 30, 2017

101. Junkyard Dog Total Points: 1,286 Total Ballots: 41 Average Rank: 69.6 High Vote: 25 Low Vote: 99 High Voter: Scott Butler

Key Matches & Moments: Defeated Greg Valentine at the first WrestleMania; Won the Wrestling Classic tournament in 1985 defeating Randy Savage in the finals; Had a fun and wild feud with Terry Funk in late 1985, leading to a real good tag match with JYD & Tito Santana vs. The Funk at WrestleMania II; Was often leveraged on the top of the card for tours around the country; Feuded with Harley Race winning by DQ at SNME in January 1987; Lost a rematch to Race at WrestleMania III; Grabbed them cakes

Staff Thoughts: Junkyard Dog missed tying for the top 100 by one point, so his popularity among voters was evident. This was driven primarily due to his charisma, as his in-ring work was never a strength and his promos were difficult to understand and often just about having fun. The guys talk about going from deadly serious promos elsewhere to fun promos in WWF in this FYC podcast. JYD did have enjoyable matches in his feud with Terry Funk and the Funk brothers at Saturday Night’s Main Event (where he was a regular, including dancing with his momma on Mother’s Day). He teamed with Hulk Hogan to take on Terry and Hoss at the May 1986 SNME in a fun match and teamed with Tito Santana to take on the same team at WrestleMania II. Lost to “The King” Harley Race, showing that he had no honor when he refused to bow to the King. He filled an important role as the second or third babyface in the company under Hogan. JYD held special appeal for children, which the WWF was targeting at the time, known for dancing with kids after matches, his appearance on the Rock ‘N’ Wrestling cartoon and his LJN action figure, he clearly made an impact on many voters who were fans of one of the hottest periods in company history. That, along with the fact that he encouraged them to “Grab Them Cakes” made the voters come within one point of naming him to the Top 100 list.

From the Voters: “JYD won’t make it for guys valuing workrate far and above every other metric. Objectively, regardless of whether or not I enjoy his matches, the popularity and impact he had matters. Very low on my list if he makes it but I can’t say no shot. I’m not making a my favorite 100 list.” – Jeremy Ray, May 30, 2017

“He sucked in-ring, but he was probably the most over guy behind Hogan and maybe Andre during a peak WWF era. Transcended the midcard and was one of the true headliners during Rock & Wrestling. He’s synonymous with 80s WWF for me and I give him the nod despite his deterioration.” – Ben Morse, May 31, 2017

[pwrestlingxpress]

PWHF Announces the 2018 Hall of Fame Class

As announced on Sports Guys Talking Wrestling on December 6th, 2017; the following will be inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum as part of its 2018 Class.  Unlike the WWE Hall of Fame in which candidates are apparently chosen by one person, the candidates are chosen by a committee of voters that consider the following:

You must either be no longer living or if you are must be at least 50 years old before the voting process begins

You must be in this business for at least 20 years unless your career was shortened by injury, illness, or death.  Voluntary retirement with less than 20 years is apparently not required and you must stay in this business for that amount of time from your very first match

In addition to that the following is also considered for a Hall of Fame candidate.

Your ability, achievements, and credentials in professional wrestling

Your performance skills

Your Participation in this sport

Your contribution to society outside of prrofessional wrestling

Your moral character and personal intergrity

After that a screening committee is selected who then vote on the following categories:  Pioneer, Television, Modern, Tag-Team, International, Lady Wrestler, and Colleague.  Effective this year, two new categories have been added and they are:  Referees and Executives.  Two wrestlers are selected from the Pioneer, Television, and Modern while one is selected from the remaining categories.  Last year, the hall of fame inducted 11 wrestlers overall.  This year, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum welcomes these 12 candidates into their Hall of Fame.

Starting of with the Pioneer Era, our first of two inductees started his career at a time when professional wrestlers would fight numerous exhibition matches.  In 1906, he gained national attention when he defeated Frank Gotch who avenged that loss 16 days later in Kansas City.  He started his career in 1895 and end it in 1919 - Fred Beell welcome to the Hall of Fame

Our next inductee - also from the Pioneer Era was someone who competed both at a college level and at a professional level.  Never losing a match in his amateur career, was one of the selectees to the 1936 Olympics but opted not to compete due to the mistreatment of Jews at its location during his time.  In his time as a professional, he won the Illinois State Championships in his first event,  was undefeated for an extended amount of time, was a 2-time AWA World Champion, and 2-time WLW Television Champion.  To a lot of the fans, this man represented the honest and clean style of professional wrestling; something that we rarely see these days. Nicknamed Ruffy, Ralph Silverstein, we welcome you aboard.

Our next inductee from the Television Era won multiple titles in Florida including the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Southern Championship 3 times. Also a promoter but being inducted as a wrestler,  Eddie Graham, we welcome you to the Hall of Fame

Our next inductee also from the Television Era is one of the many who was able to transition from the gridiron to the squared circle and one of the few who had a successful career in both.  During his in-ring career won multiple at least once with the exception of the NWF North American Championship and the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship which he won 6 times and 3 times, respectively.  Nicknamed "The Big Cat", Ernie Ladd; we welcome you to the Hall of Fame

Our next inductee is from the Modern Era and was one of the few wrestlers who represented the people.  In his career, he won a total of 15 world Championships including the WCW, NWA, and TNA World Titles.  He has widely been regarded as one of the greats in WCW history, Sting, we welcome you into the Hall.

The next inductee is also from the Modern Era in which this man really didn't need a title to show how good he was.  Despite that, he's one of the few to make history as he won the very first Royal Rumble back in 1988.  He has won numerous titles in his career most notably the WCW World Television Championship and the now-WWE United States Championship.  Known for bringing his 2x4 and his "Hooo!" catchphrase, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, we welcome you to the Hall of Fame, tough guy.  

Our next inductee will be a 2-time inductee at the same time as he'll be inducted as a Tag-Team and as an executive.  In his career, he was 1/2 of the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship while in his career as an executive was the one to scout fellow 2018 inductee Sting and the late Ultimate Warrior.  He's 1/2 of the Flying Redheads, Red Bastien, congrats on your double induction.

The next one is also from the Tag-Team division, joining up with Red Bastien as he was the other half of the Flying Redheads and won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championships in their career. Billy Rey Lyons, welcome aboard.

Our international inductee for 2018 comes from Argentina where in his career was the very 1st NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship, a belt which he won 3 times.  He also won the NWA Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, and Texas Heavyweight Championships at one point in his career.  He's also a fomer WWC Puerto Rico Champion.  Pampero Firpo, we welcome you to the Hall.

Our female inductee, trained by The Fabulous Moolah, twice wrestled her and was a contender for numerous women's title but was never considered a champion except for 1 time when she won the NWA Southern Womens Championship - the Georgia version in 1970.  Inspired to do this since she was seven, Toni Rose, we welcome you to the hall.

Our next inductee will be the very first referee to be inducted.  Though there's not much accomplishments, he'll be the first one of this new category.  Joe Higuchi, welcome to the Hall of Fame.

Our final inductee, trained the likes of many legends; some of which are in this Hall of Fame.  The list includes Hulk Hogan, Keiji Mutoh, Paul Orndorff, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and Ron Simmons.  In his managing career, managed a stable called the Yamasaki Corporation which consisted of Ric Flair, Barry Windom, Michael Hayes, and more.  Nicknamed "The Master of the Japanese Sleeper", Hiro Matsuda, welcome to the Hall.

There you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen.  Your Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2018.  Please stay tuned to their official website for information on the 2018 ceremony and how you can attend that ceremony.  Thank you all for your time.

[celtfather]

Strayaway Child #333

You can support Celtic music. Share this show. Then listen to great indie Celtic music from Chambless, Taylor And Muse, Heather Gilmer and Jeff Moore, We Banjo 3, Fiddlinda: Linda Relph, Devils Waterm Alex Sturbaum, Rogue Diplomats, Ryan MacNeil, Charmas, Dark Patrick, In Search of a Rose, Connemara Stone Company, Plastic Paddy, Kilmaine Saints, The Ugly Mugs. http://celticmusicpodcast.com/

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TODAY'S SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY... THE CELTIC INVASION OF THE ISLE OF SKYE I'm going to Scotland in 2018, and I want you to join me. We will experience the Isle of Skye, where the Bonnie Prince Charlie fled with the aid of Flora MacDonald after the defeat of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The Isle of Skye is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Some call it one of the most-beautiful islands in the world. You can join our small group of invaders as we get to Know the region through its culture, history, and legends. Subscribe to the mailing list to join the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/

NOTES

* Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. My name is Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic and Geek musician and podcaster. This podcast is dedicated to the indie Celtic musicians. I want to ask you to support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon.

Thanks to Hank Woodward who increased his per episode pledge this week.

An extra special thanks to my Celtic Superstars: Bryan Brake, Nancie, John Bilderback, Kevin Long, Annie Lorkowski, Derek Lineberry, Lynda MacNeil, John Sharkey White II,, Theresa Sullivan, Shawn Cali

* CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

I would greatly appreciate it if you would become a patron of the podcast. Whenever we hit a milestone, I bring you a two-hour special. Please sign up today at http://patreon.com/celticpodcast

THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC

0:34 "The Greenland Set" by Chambless, Taylor And Muse from Live at NTIF http://jilchambless.weebly.com

7:14 "Glen Cottage #2/Glen Cottage #1/Mick Duggan's (Polkas)" by Heather Gilmer and Jeff Moore from Traditional Irish Music

11:40 "Two Sisters" by We Banjo 3 from String Theory

16:24 "Strayaway Child" by Fiddlinda: Linda Relph from There & Then - Here & Now

19:39 "High Germany" by Devils Water from Treading the Marches

23:15 CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

23:36 "Soundcheck Set" by Alex Sturbaum from River Run Wide

28:27 "Mary Mac/Drunken Sailor" by Rogue Diplomats from Whiskey Picnic

31:38 "Combo Number Three" by Ryan MacNeil from Shuffle

34:08 "My Brother Sylvest" by Charmas from Songs of the Sea

36:35 "Morfa'r Frenhines" by Dark Patrick from Fainne Gael an Lae

39:01 CELTIC FEEDBACK

40:39 "London Days" by In Search of a Rose from Kind of Green

43:29 "Saorsa" by Connemara Stone Company from Back Home

47:11 "Beer from St. James Gate" by Plastic Paddy from Lucky Enough

50:08 "Long Shot Nag" by Kilmaine Saints from Whiskey Blues & Faded Tattoos

54:58 "Shall Ye Go Far" by The Ugly Mugs from The Ugly Mugs EP

VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20. It's easier than ever to do. Just list the show number, and the name of one or two bands. That's it. You can vote once for each episode help me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2017 episode.

I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK: What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to celticpodcast@gmail.com

James Slaven emailed a couple photos regarding the Thin Veil episode: "Hey, Marc! Great episode this week! Halloween is my favorite time of the year, and you outdid yourself on the song picks for this year's Halloween episode. Listened to it while baking my annual loaf of Barm Brack, the traditional Irish bread of Halloween, although without the bits and bobs inside, as no one eats it but me. I also found a Barm Brack drink recipe that I tried. Irish whiskey, egg, all-spice and more. Interesting! Not sure if I'll make it again. Keep up the great work!"

I got an anonymous text: "Good morning Marc from aboard the MV Coho as I head over to Victoria BC listening to the great pre-Halloween episode. Thanks for the great music and adding to the beauty of the trip."

Patty Bolan emailed a picture: "Hey! My name is Patty, and I've been playing traditional Irish music for most of my life. For the past three and a half months, I've been on the Pacific Crest Trail hiking from Canada to Mexico. I have under 500 miles, or about two weeks, left now. I've started listening to the Irish and Celtic music podcast, and it's so amazing finding new music while hiking and hearing familiar names and people I'm friends with. Here's a picture of me listening while coming down Mt. Whitney!"

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. To subscribe, go to iTunes or to our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/.

Check out this episode!

[touristguidebuzz]

Dr. Beach Top 10 List Is Great for Tourism — Sometimes Too Great

Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida, pictured here, was named the top beach in America by Dr. Beach last week and has made investments to ensure it maintains its reputation. Jim Mullhaupt / Flickr

Skift Take: Being named the top anything is usually exciting for any destination and comes with lots of free publicity. But as some tourism boards point out, reviews from travelers themselves often resonate more with consumers than an official ranking.

— Dan Peltier

Being named one of the top 10 beaches in the United States is an accolade any destination would be happy to accept as the summer travel season officially kicks off in the U.S.

Dr. Beach released his annual ranking of America’s top 10 beaches last week and it included some familiar names such as Florida’s Siesta Beach, which ranked number one for the second time since 2011, and Cape Cod, Massachusett’s Coast Guard Beach.

Many beaches that have earned spots on Dr. Beach’s ranking attribute that distinction in part to increased visitation to the beach and surrounding community. Top-ranked beaches also typically have investment and infrastructure projects in the works that add or improve amenities and help protect the beaches’ environments and wildlife.

Siesta Beach, for example, recently completed $21.5 million in renovations which included adding more parking, a playground and picnic area.

But with more publicity and higher foot traffic, beach management and tourism boards are balancing how to maintain their high standards and visitor experience while mitigating environmental impact and educating visitors on how to keep beaches clean.

Many locals who live in destinations with popular beaches also aren’t pleased with more visitors, even if it benefits their communities. “I get emails from people in Sarasota unhappy about the list,” said Stephen Leatherman, aka Dr. Beach. “I get hundreds of emails from people concerned about the rankings. Yes, it does increase the number of people who come and that does make some local people unhappy.”

“Siesta Beach has grown its staff and resources since it appeared on Dr. Beach’s 2011 ranking,” said Carolyn Brown, general manager of parks and recreation for Sarasota County.

“As we move into the July 4 holiday, we’re preparing our staff to let visitors know that they should leave no trace,” said Brown. “We always tell visitors to clean up after themselves. It’s a challenge during holidays but we’re doing our best to educate the public.”

But many travelers probably don’t know the meat of what it means to be the number one beach and don’t consider that it’s tied to the beach’s environmental efforts, said Erin Duggan, vice president of Visit Sarasota County. “But when they hear Dr. Beach I think they do recognize his credentials,” said Duggan. “I think it intrigues them if they’ve never been.”

The ranking is considered one of the most prestigious U.S. beach rankings as Leatherman considers some 650 public beaches across the U.S. He’s done the ranking for more than 25 years and judges beaches on 50 criteria ranging from how warm their waters are to how much parking is available to what color the sand is.

Dr. Beach, however, isn’t the only beach ranking of interest as some beaches that make the list also cite TripAdvisor, for example, as a driver of visitation because those reviews and rankings come directly from travelers.

Siesta Beach was also voted the top U.S. beach in 2015 and 2017 on TripAdvisor.

Balancing Beach and Environment

While many destinations invest their own time and money into maintaining their beaches, Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod in Massachusetts is maintained by the National Park Service. “Our number one issue that we’ve been working on for many years is wastewater infrastructure because the Cape doesn’t really have much of that,” said Wendy Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re acutely aware of those kinds of impacts. I think if we were open year-round I think you might see other overt efforts to try to pace visitation but we don’t enjoy it,” she said.

U.S. beaches, however, are typically cleaner and more environmentally friendly than beaches in Southeast Asia or Latin America, for example, said Leatherman. “The U.S. has really high water quality standards and worldwide, I think water quality has gone down a bit,” he said.

“Some beaches try to hide data and have the improper development of waste water management. There are a lot of development in some parts of the world that have decreased water quality and Spanish beaches are one example of this.”

Leatherman has been to all 650 public beaches in the U.S. and limits his ranking to American beaches because he hasn’t been to all of the world’s beaches.

A professor and director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University, Leatherman has penned more than 200 academic journal articles and has edited or written more than a dozen books about beaches. His rankings have appeared annually since 1991.

He said he’s “never found a perfect beach but has found a lot of great ones.” While aesthetics are part of the ranking, Leatherman’s ranking is more concentrated with the environmental health of the beach and quality of amenities.

“Some people don’t like to see buildings when they’re on a beach but others want to stay on a beach and have those creature comforts close by,” said Leatherman. Even with Siesta, I gave them a total score of 241 of 250 and the criteria is set up with rating the resources and what people expect.”

Using Dr. Beach in Marketing Campaigns

Duggan said Visit Sarasota County lets Dr. Beach’s ranking speak for itself but does capitalize on it.

“Last week we immediatly we created a little video about Siesta Beach on our Facebook page,” said Duggan. “Most of our marketing campaigns are also about beaches and they’ve always been the primary focus of our campaigns.”

The Eastham, Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, which helps promote Coast Guard Beach, consistently makes Dr. Beach’s ranking each year and puts up posters in its information booths to let visitors know that the beach has made the list, said Jim Russo, executive director of the Eastham Chamber of Commerce.

Being able to market yourself as a top beach destination and tag on Dr. Beach’s credentials doesn’t hurt from a public relations perspective. But many destinations also realize that managing the environmental impact from an influx of visitors becomes increasingly difficult when they make these rankings as visitors often leave behind more than their footprints.

[buckienaked]

Please #PayAttention People #Repost @neweradetroit ・・・ While Mike Duggan is in "New York" charging $1,000 a ticket for a campaign fundraiser 10's of thousands of people are without clean water in Detroit. Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) which took possession of Detroit's water in September of 2014 that supplies 1/5 of the world's fresh water and was known for having the best filtering system recently made an announcement last night stating in several articles that it wants Detroiters to boil their water because Great Lakes Water Authority says their may be a chance that the water has bacteria in it. GLWA water is distributed throughout the southeast region of Michigan including Wayne, Macomb and Oakland county. How does only Detroit, Highland park and Hamtramck where its majority black is affected? If you think this is a coincidence then I dont know if u are that sane. Btw you can thank Detroit's Mayor MIKE Duggan and your city council for approving to leasing the water for 40 years which also fired 900 employees. Brenda Jones and Mary Sheffield were the only ones who voted against it 7-2 vote. Gentification is more than just development #NewEraDetroit

[daleisgreat]

Top 10 and Worst 5 Films of 2014 through 2016

I meant to do this last year, but completely neglected it. When I ran my old podcast, one episode a year, my friends Matt, Jay and I would host our annual best and worst movies of the year episode. We did three installments for films that hit in 2011-2013. The podcast is not around anymore so I have not done it since, but I still have been keeping Word documents on my computer with a list of all the movies I saw each year and constantly update my top 10 and worst 5 rankings of the year. I meant to post the best and worst of 2015 as a blog, but as I said it just slipped past me and I will make up for it now with a triple best and worst list for 2014 through 2016. I had a whole extra year to catch up on Netflix and VUDU on 2014 and 2015 releases I missed so I have seen about 20% more films than I did than 2016. So hopefully that will excuse any glaring omissions that did not make my rankings. That said, I am still feeling pretty good about my 2016 list and there were only a handful of films that slipped by me that I have not seen yet. Movies linked on the lists will take you to my review of the film if you want to see my expanded thoughts on the film. One last thing before the lists, I want to give a shoutout to one of my favorite film critics, Scott Sawitz! I have discussed movies, wrestling and a ton more with Scott for well over a decade and have had the pleasure of having him guest host on my aforementioned podcast several times. I have always been a fan of his reviews and weekly column, Monday Morning Critic, over at Inside Pulse. His latest column is his annual top 10 films of the year I always look forward to. Scott has a twist on his rankings this year because he has been putting a ton of work into his weekly YouTube series, Confessions of a Super-Hero, weekly bite-sized episodic viewing all about what super-heroes do in their off-duty downtime. If you have a moment, please check it out! Now, onto the lists! 2014 TOP 10 10) Wild 9) Nightcrawler 8) Gone Girl 7) Equalizer/John Wick 6) Imitation Game 5) Interstellar 4) Guardians of the Galaxy 3) Whiplash 2) Captain America: The Winter Soldier 1) Boyhood Best Documentary – Life Itself

The two comic book films on the list ranked high with Marvel having a stellar year. Guardians surprised me because the concept just seemed impossible to pull off in live action with an animated tree and talking raccoon, but somehow Marvel did it and it kicked all kinds of ass. Winter Soldier was an awesome modern day follow up to The First Avenger. I seem to be in the minority of people when discussing Interstellar, and while I would rank it a notch or two under other non-Batman Christopher Nolan classics like Inception, I still very much enjoyed it that it made it into the midst of my top 10. Life Itself is an excellent documentary all about Roger Ebert in his final days as it documents his and Gene Siskel’s breakout rise as the go to film critics of the nation. Wild hit all the right nerves for me on Cheryl Strayed’s arduous journey of self-discovery. Nightcrawler shocked me at the lengths Gyllenhaal went to get the ultimate creep-o look down and his convincing transition from wannabe ripoff artist to the quintessential conman. I was expecting Equalizer to be a by-the-numbers action flick, but Denzel Washington proved me wrong by adding on many layers to it, and it is bizarre how John Wick came out within weeks of it and both were nearly identical plots, but both delivered in their own unique way. John Wick also gets my dubious award for best ever Kevin Nash cameo. Finally, props to Richard Linklater for delivering on his film that was literally 12 years in the making with Boyhood. Linklater is a risk taker with his ambitious projects, and he knocked another one out of the park with Boyhood getting my vote as best film of 2014. 2014 WORST 5 5) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4) Tekken 2 3) Pro-Wrestling Zombies 2) Amazing Spider-Man 2 1) Transformers: Rise of the Fallen 2014 saw many terrible films, I actually had nearly 10 films as being ‘worst 5-calibur’ material. The TMNT remake had a few bright spots and scene-saving moments from Will Arnett, but he alone could not save a film with so many gut-wrenching jokes and awful retconning of the TMNT lore I grew up with. I actually dug the first Tekken film as a kind of solid nonsense fighting tournament movie that was kind of faithful to the source material ala Mortal Kombat, but the sequel was this awful attempt at a mafia-crime-mystery-drama that failed on all levels. Pro-Wrestling Zombies was a very low budget zombie slashing film starring Matt Hardy, Jim Duggan and Roddy Piper, but with these wrestling legends it was not even enjoyable in an ironic way like most zombie films, and was just flatout bad. Amazing Spider-Man 2 shocked me because I legitimately enjoyed the reboot, and thought this would be another easy follow up with most of the same cast and crew returning. However, Spider-Man and Electro both cast painful jokes and banter throughout that did not exist in the prior film, and there were countless groan inducing moments. The latest Transformers film outdid the straight-up bad humor and moments throughout the entire wreck of a film. Michael Bay somehow found a way to make it a nearly insurmountable task to get through. 2015 Top 10 10) Southpaw 9) Ant Man 8) The Martian 7) End of the Tour 6) Mad Max: Fury Road 5) Revenant 4) Creed 3) Steve Jobs 2) Spotlight 1) Hateful Eight Best Documentary – Tie: Electric Boogaloo & Winning: Racing Life of Paul Newman

Yeah, I like my feel good boxing/sports films as Jake Gyllenhaal shined again this year in Southpaw and Creed surpassed my expectations with its contemporary take on the Rocky franchise. While the lighthearted moments from Damon seemed a little forced, I still very much dug his Mars survival story, but not as much I got immersed into Dicaprio’s and Tom Hardy’s intense wilderness survival adventure that is The Revenant. Fury Road marked the first Mad Max movie I saw and the bombastic costumes initially had me raising an eyebrow, but once the heavy metal guitar semi-truck graced the screen in its infinite glory I instantly went on board with the film and never got off. I recently reviewed Steve Jobs, and if you recall I absolutely loved its use of creative license to tell a nonstop dialogue juggernaut of three big moments in Jobs’ life. Spotlight is the perfect way to tell a slow building mystery film where investigative journalists gradually picked away at their biggest scoop ever. Finally, I am biased towards Quentin Tarantino as I view the man as being one of the absolute best at dialogue in films, and he delivered once again with countless another excellent script and scenes that stole the show in The Hateful Eight. The setting worked perfectly and I was on my toes waiting to see which one of the eight was going to make the first move in a powdered keg filled with characters ready to burst. 2015 Worst 5 5) Fantastic Four 4) Jupiter Ascending 3) Chappie 2) Ted 2 1) Pixels

I was surprised at how bad Jupiter Ascending turned out to be, and did not expect Channing Tatum to be the only decent part of that film. After the dud that was Sucker Punch and now Jupiter Ascending, I am cutting myself off from all future Wachowski-directed films. I am a fan of District 9 and its director Neil Blomkamp and felt burned by his latest film, the insufferable Chappie in numerous ways. I was anticipating bad things from both Fantastic Four or Pixels, but part of me forced myself to go to see how awful they ultimately were. Fantastic Four was mostly drawn out and dull, and had some very head-scratching moments throughout. I cannot remember the last Adam Sandler film I legitimately liked, does the first half of Funny People count? Any marginal hopes of a semi-decent film were squashed the second Kevin James popped up on screen as the dopey president of the USA. Practically the entire film was bad, but I will at least give it minor props for some pretty good use of the videogame CG in the film. 2016 Top 10 10) Purge: Election Year 9) Deadpool 8) Star Trek: Beyond 7) 13 Hours: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi 6) Captain America: Civil War 5) Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice 4) Hacksaw Ridge 3) Sully 2) Fences 1) The Accountant Best Documentary – ESPN 30 for 30: The ’85 Bears

The last two Purge films have turned into guilty Halloween pleasures like the old Final Destination films. Election Year kept up the same gritty, over-the-top tone and pace as Anarchy Reigns before it. Deadpool surprised me at not being a dud, and far exceeded my expectations with tons of great jokes, dialogue, action and unapologetically aware 4th wall-breaking references throughout. It has been awhile since I got wrapped up in an intense R-rated war film, and 2016 had two of them with 13 Hours and Hacksaw Ridge that both get high recommendations from me. I am a wee bit of a Clint Eastwood fan, but I will give him and Tom Hanks righteous props on how they somehow made Sully’s heroic emergency plane landing into the Hudson River a thrilling feature length film. Some of you who saw the list are probably baffled at why I rank the controversial Dawn of Justice over the much-loved Civil War, but the two ranked so close together I just might change my answer if you ask me any day of the week. If I am splitting hairs I did not care for the shoehorned Spider-Man extended cameo, and his dialogue has me worried that Homecoming is going to be filled with an equal, if not worse script than Amazing Spider-Man 2. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are sublime in Fences. The small, but mighty cast here delivered powerful performances, with Washington and Davis especially delivering in this dialogue-driven-tour-de-force about hard times for a family making ends meet in the 1950s. I did not know too much going into The Accountant other than it had what appeared to be a gimmick of an assassin with Autism. I could not have been more wrong as there is so much more going on with this film that it entertained me throughout its near two and a half hour runtime. Ben Affleck continues his streak of excellent performances, and I cannot wait to see how his upcoming solo version of The Batman turns out. Worst 5 2) Suicide Squad 1) Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

I have only seen two movies this year that qualify as “worst 5-caliber.” I could not get into Suicide Squad. The first third of the film played out like an extended trailer scored with worn out songs that I am use to only hearing off trailers. There were several WTF moments throughout, and add in the film felt compromised after audiences griped that Dawn of Justice was not lighthearted enough. DC/Warner Bros. responded by pasting in several post-production groan-worthy zingers that played more to the mainstream, but made me cringe. I am optimistic for the presumable sequel though, because I did dig Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s portrayal of fan favorite, Harley Quinn and I am even interested in what direction they take The Joker next. Halftime Walk usurped it as my worst film of the year however because of how unlikeable the cast is. About 20% of the film is war flashbacks that I actually liked, but the other 80% is the members of the military squad’s day being honored at a football game, and just being super dick-ish and incredibly un-empathetic throughout it. I know this is based off a book, but I do not know if something got lost in translation or if this was the desired vision of the film. Either way, it yields my worst of the year honors! Thanks for sticking with me rambling all this way, see you next year!