Carbomb

This is where the whole "GOAT" thing goes off the rails a bit, to my mind. The criteria for judging are nebulous, because it's not really comparing like for like. I don't dispute that Volk has a claim to be the GOAT (though I still think that's probably GSP), but I think it might be overstatement to say it isn't close between him and Aldo. Both have comparable records, both having similar streaks, and both having become two-time FW champs, having regained the belt after losing it to someone who moved up a division. One thing to take into account when discussing Aldo is that he started fighting as a pro when he was 18, so despite being only a couple of years older than Volk, he's got so many more miles on the clock, especially when you take into account he grew up in the favela. One of the main issues with Aldo's record is his fighting long past his peak - but then, he was only in his early thirties when his decline started, so it would have been very difficult for the poor sod to accept being put on the scrapheap so soon. But if he'd retired after losing to Volk, or after the second Holloway loss, this conversation might have been very different, I think. As it is, he's got nine more matches than Volk does on his record, most of them losses. To be clear, I think Volk has nudged him aside for featherweight GOAT, but I don't think he's massively outstripped him yet. Still plenty of time for that to happen, though.

Wonder if they'll do Yan vs. O'Malley next? It's the one loss he has left that he can avenge.

Star Trek is my home franchise, but I always felt Koenig's best performance was as Bester. A superb willain. RIP Walter. A marwellous career.

Yeh, that was bloody terrifying at one point. The bits where the ghost of the axe murderer shows up in particular.

I've been playing this recently. It also has the added bonus of being nostalgic as fuck - throws me right back to my early 20s and uni years. It's got so much replay value, as well. The same game can be played so drastically differently depending on the bloodline you play as. I first played as a Tremere, which is a ton of fun for all the blood magic spells. Played as Ventrue, which isn't too different, but has its moments. Toreador is stupid but fun. I haven't yet got round to playing as a Nosferatu or a Malkavian yet - that's going to be bit mental. Might play as a Gangrel next, though. Least interested in Bruja, which is odd for someone of my politics.

Only performance I can think of at 135 that comes close to Yan's in terms of quality and surprise element is Garbrandt's against Cruz, but he'd been undefeated leading up to that, so it wasn't entirely surprising. If anything, it was Garbrandt's falling off a cliff after that that was the shock. I suppose the thing with Yan is that he'd already actually been champion before, and there's a tendency to assume that if someone's been knocked off the top, it means their best has gone, or the person who beat them is just always better. Add to that his string of losses, and, as you say, wand, it just seemed like he'd done an Anthony Pettis. Like you said, it's difficult to see a way for Merab at this point. Sure, he was out of energy, but would that affect Yan's ability to wrestle defensively against him? Khabib might be the only wrestler I can think of that had the kind of suffocating, gruelling wrestling where energy levels might make a difference. I hope not - Yan's a dick, and I'd like to see Merab win the trilogy. Now that I've said it, of course, go see Yan win by powerbomb or something.

Nice one, Bacon. Properly chuffed for you.

Capital punishment has been around for millennia. I think it's fair to say it's had a pretty long trial run. In terms of actual statistics, I strongly recommend reading Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt. Just using the numbers of it, he pretty much demolishes the argument for capital punishment.

To be fair, there's plenty to hate Sugar for outside of football anyway. I can't shake the feeling that United's been turned into Spurs In The North. Slowly, it's being turned into (if it hasn't reached there already) a banter club.

No noose is good noose.

I really enjoyed his song "Straight Tequila Night" - posted it in the Song of the Day thread. Very distinctive voice. Really need to listen to more of his work. RIP.

Numerous reasons why we shouldn't have the death penalty. 1. It cannot be undone if someone is wrongly convicted and executed. 2. Statistically, it's not a deterrent. 3. For me the most important: it dimishes us as a society. Killing people is wrong. How can we demonstrate what good and lawful behaviour is by perpetrating what we consider to be one of the worst crimes anyone can commit, morally or legally?

The mention of Chavo reminds me of Chavo Classic. Showed up for an angle, did better than people expected, got booked long-term, got the Cruiserweight belt, then completely flaked out.

See, with my sweet tooth, it's the Fruit Punch that's my go-to. That said, I do love the Black Grape and Pineapple ones. The Kola's nice, but I'm just not bothered about colas in general. Not a soft drink, but I really like grapefruit IPAs - Magic Rock's High Wire Grapefruit is delicious, and perfect for summer.

Aldi still do their rip-off.

Rice and soup is a classic. Get it a lot in Korean restaurants in particular. I don't know why I remember this, but @Vito once posted a recipe for savoury rice pudding, which was basically a tin of Heinz Cream of Chicken & Mushroom with rice in it. I've meant to give it a go, but never had the presence of mind to do it.

This always bugged me as well, especially as it was McMahon's project. You would have thought he would have either set things up so that it wouldn't end up pissing off the veterans, or at least protected the TE guys a bit better, in light of it being his idea. But, then, that presumes that VKM's motivation was anything other than trying to make cheap content and a quick buck off the reality TV trends of the time. Sounds like they should be posters on here

To be fair, that's what Ikea and Hyundai have been doing as well. The Mandela Effect thing confuses me, to be honest, because such a big deal was made of 1. Mandela finally being freed 2. His leading the ANC in the first post-Apartheid elections 3. His being president I didn't, until this thread, realise it referred to people thinking he died in gaol, because that is just absurd. I thought it was that people had thought he'd died a year or two after leaving office, presumably based on the simple phenomenon of him being quite elderly, and out of the public eye. Of course, as this is a wrestling forum, I suppose the most prominent example of the Mandela Effect is Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window.

Will that fucker ever be put away properly? Has he ever spent any proper time in jail, given how often he's been convicted? It doesn't seem like he's ever been out of the media. Farage, Yaxley-Lennon, Anderson, Tice - why won't any of these fucking turds just flush?

Sounds like an ex-girlfriend

I'd seen the books in the library too.

I remember some usage of "platty jubes" and "statey funes" on here. Can't remember who though.

"Menty B"? Fucking hell.

Streisandela Effect

Would it really cost all that much, though? As to whether or not it would have a return, I don't know how quantifiable that is, without doing a survey of fans. But it's all academic. As wand says, they're in their lazy era. I'll be rooting for Basharat wherever he goes, and I hope he goes on an record-breaking undefeated run.