d-d-d-dAz

That picture of Damian Priest. Good grief.

Historically, i've had very tricky bouts of anxiety. My earliest memories of struggling were panic attacks relating to a fear of mortality as a child. Recent years I seem to have had really bad flare ups around specific, diffuse issues; but i'm turning 40 in 6 months and all those issues seem to have built to send me back to my childhood, and I feel just completely overwhelmed by waves of existential dread. Just a real sinking feeling in my stomach, heart palpitations, panic rising. It's really quite awful, and I hope it'll pass as it's utterly unbearable. Sorry, I appreciate that isnt as serious as the stuff in this thread but I just need to get it off my chest as it's really hard to talk to someone about it and be taken seriously. Everyone gets old, I know. I need to get over it, I know. But that doesn't make it feel any less awful right now.

They could put on a re-run of Fast and the Furious on the big screens or a resurrrcted prime Ali v Foreman and the crowd would still be feral. If Frank was at the wheel, they'd put on (admittedly very exciting) low cost British tear ups. The Americans and Netflix might not settle for it, but I think it'd be a shame if the main card wasn't made up of rematches between Brad Foster v James Beech Jr and Shabaz Masoud v Liam Davies. It's the traditional way.

There is virtually no incentive to pay well for an undercard, other than the vanity of the promoters. It's sold out. The streams/PPV will do well. The cynical move is just put a load of bin men in against security guards and save the cash. You could headline somewhere else with Wilder/Opetaia and make some more money.

So, clearly awful not just that Cody's involved, but that the WWE are so cosied up to a hideous administration. My eye is more drawn to Rey Mysterio, though... I mean, come on man. You're parents were poor Mexican migrants, you've built a career on your Mexican heritage... just, I really don't want to judge anyone for how they process their own lived experience... but fucking hell. Also, you know your administration is absolutely toilet if you're country is one of the homes of professional sport (if not 'the' home), and the only body you can get to officially endorse your children's 'Health and Wellness' scheme is a bloody wrestling company. 'Kids, kids, kids... finish that set, then head over to the bathroom and the Doctor will fill you up with some of the good shit, then neck a bottle of Jack, down some painkillers and we'll go again tomorrow.'

@Onyx2 i dont know whether this is a ringing endorsement or the kiss of death, but that breakfast looks top notch.

I could have lived without seeing 'Handsome Steve' doing his best to become 'Forgetful... Steve?'. Mate, the only way you'd look a billion dollars is if you got uglier. You've got the whole world at your feet. Absolutely no need for you to be doing silly bollocks. Someone get prime Orton to give him a ring, and have him point out that the beauty of looking like God's attempt at drawing a wrestler is you can do the absolute bare minimum and still be a star. Bumps are for normal mortals.

It's exceptional that all the 'journalists' and pundits reporting this, with an often completely un-subtle anti-Matchroom position, are the usual bought-and-paid-for suspects. Coppinger is never a phone call away from Turki (and formerly Bob), Glaser never more than a whatsapp away from Queensberry. It's a little bit harder to defend Eddie now the fight has been moved, but fuck it. A contract is a contract, and a Dana is a dickhead. War Hearn (never thought i'd say that).

Eddie and Matchroom look to have won. It's being reported that Joshua v Fury will take place at the Principality in Cardiff on Friday December 4, with a 1am-2am ring walk time for US broadcast. Not Wembley, but Cardiff has a roof which will come in handy in December. Friday fights aren't for me though..

The issue i'm having with this season is, it's got a bit of every element that can make Taskmaster occasionally difficult to watch. It's got people I don't particularly like (Lucas for being awful, Nina Conti for being rubbish, Ayoade for being a letdown); it's got too many convoluted tasks with little payoff and, the thing that can save it isn't there; there doesn't seem to be much warmth between the contestants as a group. Actually, i'd go a step further and say too many of them aren't naturally funny in an off the cuff setting. Only Chloe is a panel show regular stand up, and I think it shows. They're great, and I think it's a shame they're not on with a better group. If I was trying to be objective, i'd say Ayoade is maybe the funniest so far, as an individual, but a) meh and b) his act might have laughs, but it sort of fucks this format when you need the awkward hermit Moss character to be part of a group. Like I say i'd love to see Chloe on with other stand-ups they could bounce off.

I suspect you'd just brandish a crumpled, faded copy of Seth Rollins' headshot and you'd just have time to yell 'BEWARE THE ARCHITECT...' before fading back into your own timeline.

🎶 CITY 'TIL I CHOOSE! I'M CITY 'TIL I CHOOSE! I THINK I AM, I'M FAIRLY CONFIDENT I AM... I'M CITY 'TIL I CHOOSE! 🎶

Considering the largesse of the millionaire and billionaire class, it feels mad to begrudge ordinary people a couple of hundred quid on singing along to their favourite britpop anthems. There are a lot of reasons to hate the Oasis reunion, but i'm not sure one is it being an emblem of a bourgeois upper class moving ever further from the starving lower classes. They're just shit.

He's about the right age, to be fair.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdXuWEzsMvC/?stkn=MWkxbXQ1eWNzbmo0Yg== The year is 2026, and I'd be quite happy with a World Title main event scene that featured Penta and Ludwig Kaiser. Wonders never cease.