Henry's World

Rascal has a chance at history this week, as after beating the tar off of Tug of War, he's staring down a ten-game regular season winning streak, a feat that has never been accomplished in the Dog League before. This week, as he stares down history, an old foe re-emerges in an attempt to halt his victorious path, as Emma will tangle with her brother in a titanic showdown.  Tug of War Current Record: (4-8, 8th Place) Getting Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders back provided a jolt to Tug of War on paper, but despite getting a big game from Eli Mitchell, the squad faltered, dropping their third straight game. This week, they expect to get back Amari Cooper, dropping Cole Beasley to open space, inserting Cooper and the Eagles defense into their starting lineup.  Week 13 Starting Lineup (vs Bark Force) QB Tom Brady RB Eli Mitchell RB Saquon Barkley WR Marquise Brown WR Amari Cooper WR Tee Higgins TE George Kittle RB Miles Sanders K Tyler Bass DEF Philadelphia Eagles Growlers Current ...

The Dog League celebrates Thanksgiving this week, with the playoff picture beginning to clear as four more games remain on the regular season schedule.  Growlers Current Record: (3-8, 8th Place) Growlers had the misfortune of running into the Rascal buzzsaw last week, as 156 points was barely enough to prevent from losing by 50. This week, they start Elijah Moore, fresh off the biggest game in his rookie campaign, in their flex spot, while the return of Cordarrelle Patterson could get him the RB2 spot, currently held by Damien Harris. Growlers makes a change at defense, dropping the Browns to add the Bears, and brings in insurance for the banged-up A.J. Brown, dropping Emmanuel Sanders to add Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.  UPDATE: With A.J. Brown ruled out, Growlers will hope Cordarrelle Patterson can play this week, adding him to their lineup.  UPDATE: Brown has now gone to injured reserve, and Growlers used his roster spot to add Brandon Aiyuk, who starts over Damien Harris....

The American wrestling business hit the doldrums in 1995, with both the WWF and WCW languishing through terrible creative decisions, unpopular championship runs, and growing apathy towards the profession as the days of packed houses and appointment television events seemed lost to a time gone by. But in just a couple weeks, both companies would be shaken to their core, as two of the most important nights in wrestling history occurred in an impossibly short amount of time. First, on June 23rd , "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was crowned King of the Ring, demonstrating a rougher, cruder side of his personality with the legendary "Austin 3:16" promo, and within days, his fanbase began to multiply. Then, on July 7th , Hulk Hogan did the unthinkable, dropping the leg on Randy Savage and forming the nWo in the process, an industry-altering lightning rod of a faction that brought WCW crashing straight into the era of cool heels, shoot names, and moody colors. In the midst of th...

It's been a constant debate for me, ever since I began this grand journey to chronicle every WWE pay-per-view ever broadcast as to whether or not I would keep up the reviews I wrote in the first few months of 2020. Those reviews were far below the standard of what I can write now, but they are a part of my blog's history, and I wasn't sure if they should vanish permanently. However, I've since come to the decision that it would be easier to re-review the shows I've covered before, so those have been tacked on to what I'm already covering.  SummerSlam 1992 is certainly a classic in the WWE's history, as the Bret Hart/British Bulldog main event still holds fond memories for many fans of the period, and maintains its reputation as one of the greatest SummerSlam matches ever. The top program also offers a curiosity as WWE's first foray into Hart Family drama, which come to consume large amounts of Bret's feuds and matches in the years to come. But by far...

2021 has continued to be dominated by Rascal and Rare Woofs, who easily maneuvered their way through a tricky Week 10, and with the rest of their competition falling away, it looks like it may be a two horse race to the finish. (Reminder: the Dog League is a custom fantasy football league run on NFL.com) Growlers Current Record: (3-7, 8th Place) Only Josh Allen and Darrel Williams showed up to play last week for Growlers, who were handed a humiliating loss to their fellow expansion team, Canine Comets, which dropped Growlers back to the bottom of the standings. This week, they have a mess at running back, with Cordarrelle Patterson and Damien Harris carrying in injuries, while Williams will likely have to deal with the return of Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Growlers will start Darnell Mooney in the flex, leaving Williams to bump up to RB2, although the lineup will almost certainly change if Patterson or Harris are cleared. The other lineup change came at kicker, as with Matt Gay on bye, Grow...

Reviewing wrestling, or an entertainment medium, with the benefit of years of hindsight is often a strange experience, as you enter possessing knowledge that those living in the past could never, and will never, understand. AEW's decision to push Jimmy Havoc made sense in November of 2019; he's a unique entity that had gotten the new promotion mainstream attention at All Out in the insane "Cracker Barrel Clash", and while he likely was never going to be world championship material or anything, you can absolutely find a spot on the card for the skills that he brought to the table. Of course, we know now that Havoc was a mess of a human being, and his wrestling career was destined to go down the tubes, which makes this episode of Dark an odd viewing experience, as Havoc occupies a prominent spot in the main event, in addition to joining Cody Rhodes for his weekly "From Undesirable to Undeniable" interview segment. I can't blame anyone for wanting to bail o...

One aspect of the product that AEW has a gigantic edge over WWE in the long form story-telling, as the new company has remained committed to the concept that just about every segment and every match that you see on TV will be setting up an important plot point for a later date. Nothing is done in service of a singular cheap pop, it's all meticulously planned, sometimes months or years in advance. On the very first episode of Dynamite, AEW chose to broadcast what seemed like a complete throwaway of a segment, as the Lucha Brothers and SoCal Uncensored exchanged some trash talk, ostensibly to preview the upcoming tag team tournament. There was no reason to suspect that AEW had a greater purpose with these few minutes of airtime, and with many other wrestling promotions, it would've stayed as filler, an entertaining interaction between two teams that could be referenced at a later date. But the Lucha Bros and SCU weren't just filling time on that night; they were setting up th...

Wrestling Dontaku is the most tenured event on the New Japan calendar, having begun life as an annual spectacle back in 1993. It occurs on Constitution Memorial Day in Japan, a holiday celebrating the signing of the new Constitution of the country in the aftermath of US bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, with the word "Dontaku" derived from the Dutch term for Sunday, "Zondag". Wrestling Dontaku went on an eight year hiatus from 2001 to 2009, and when it made it's return, Hirooki Goto, the New Japan Cup winner, was there to greet it in style, challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Goto came up short on that night, and his 2010 New Japan Cup win also didn't result in claiming gold, as this time, Goto was defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura at New Dimension. It's been three years since the return of Wrestling Dontaku, and Goto is once again picking up steam, capturing the Intercontinental Championship and a third New...

A wacky Week 9 saw one constant, as Rascal kept a firm grasp on his lead, and his challengers are beginning to fall away, with Tailwaggerz, Bark Force, and Leaping Girl all struggling. This may be his regular season championship to lose. (Reminder: the Dog League is a custom fantasy football league run on NFL.com)  Canine Comets Current Record: (2-7, 8th Place) The Comets finally got their second win last week, beating Bark Force thanks to a 30 point game from Nick Chubb. This week, they get back DK Metcalf and Chris Godwin, a huge boost that should immediately elevated their lineup. With Devontae Booker on bye, the Comets make Devin Singletary their RB2 this week, dropping Jeremy McNichols to add him, though the Comets could face a challenging decision if Zack Moss, who is also on their roster, gets clearance to play against the Jets.  UPDATE: With Chris Godwin a game-time decision, the Comets have benched him for Jerry Jeudy. They also have placed Nick Chubb on reserve, addi...

The New Japan Cup tournament began life in 2005, provided a more expediated experience than the G1 Climax, as a single-elimination affair that was all contained to the month of April. This, along with the decision to bar the IWGP Heavyweight Champion from competing, allowed for a more real sense of a "Cinderella story", as all it would take to earn a title shot was a few wins at the right time, rather than needing to keep consistency required to win a G1 block. In 2012, the final four came down to Hiroshi Tanahashi, looking for redemption after his loss to Kazuchika Okada two months prior, the stalwart Togi Makabe, the surging Hirooki Goto, who had won the Cup twice already, in 2009 and 2010, and the wildcard Karl Anderson, who had shockingly eliminated Shinsuke Nakamura in the quarter-finals, earning the biggest win of his career. It was clear that New Japan were beginning to invest in the "Machine Gun", as with Giant Bernard leaving for a return to the WWE under t...

The future of New Japan Pro-Wrestling grew cloudy following Wrestle Kingdom 6, as the buyout of all shares in the company by Bushiroad was announced, while the main event ascendance of Kazuchika Okada generated some headlines, though after his failure in TNA, it did make the roster look second-rate for Okada to come and immediately be named the top contender. There was no reason to believe a resurgence was coming, and while the promotion had been a staple of puroresu for many decades, it felt like it had run it's course. Fans had been there and seen it all with New Japan, and there just wasn't much a hook to win their attention back. They had no way of knowing the grand plans Bushiroad had in store, which begin to take motion on this historic night.  - The New Beginning 2012 comes to you from the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan, a former sumo venue that has become a spiritual home for New Japan in the years following this night. We are about two weeks removed from t...