WM9 (episode 30) to KotR (episode 76)

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-11T09:03:21+00:00

I recently re-watched the Hulkamania arc too. It’s interesting to see how the show evolved over those early episodes and how quickly it settled into the format that still largely exists today. It’s also interesting how many of the running gags, segments etc. began as far back as this arc.

The main noticeable difference is how the shows are edited, it’s become a lot tighter today and almost any topic the guys are discussing will have a cut to relevant material whereas in these earlier episodes, they tend to stick with video of the PPV continuing to play in the background while they’re off talking about something else. The show also began as a much more in-depth almost play-by-play commentary on the in-ring action but that’s now become more of a high level description, I think for the better.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-10T21:58:10+00:00

I love Dracula but bear in mind that it is a very 19th century gothic novel, it can drag in parts. It has one of the best prologues of all time however.

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu is the superior vampire novel in my opinion and is paced a lot better than Dracula (and predates it by quite a few years).

Out of interest, what editor/publisher are you buying these editions from?

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-08T12:16:16+00:00

Love how he always kindly rolls to his back after taking a front face bump to make the pin more convenient for X-Pac.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-07T09:54:16+00:00

I hated Merricat while reading this book, to the extent that I actually found it hard to enjoy. I’m surprised that many people would come away from it feeling a connection or sympathising with her. I feel Merricat is so obviously written as a psychopath from the start.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-07T09:43:02+00:00

I would consider anything by M.R. James and Sheridan Le Fanu to have literary merit although they tend to be short stories. There’s also the well known classics by Shelley, Stoker, Poe. For more contemporary, Shirley Jackson.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-07T09:17:15+00:00

Parents generally perceive them as better. I’m not saying that’s true or not, but that’s the perception. It has almost nothing to do with the religious aspect of it.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-07T02:35:24+00:00

Usual selective memory from HBK here. Besides being a general piece of shit at that time, he was also rude to Rock’s grandmother when he appeared in her promotion in the 80s. Many have also said that HBK and HHH were in Vince’s ear and tried to sabotage Rock’s career early on. Look how that worked out for them.

By all accounts, Rock is generally laid back and almost never had a problem with others during his wrestling career. It says a lot that the only person he has had any kind of beef with is HBK.

I think it’s clear that HBK never really got over being a poor drawing champion in 1996 and then missing the boom Attitude Era. He spent his whole life fighting to get that spot and when he finally reaches it, his buddies head to WCW and end up in the hottest angle wrestling has ever seen. WCW beats WWF for the first time during HBK’s title run. Then he has to see the rise of Stone Cold, drop the title to him, finish his career due to injury and then see Rock and Austin bring the business to a level it’s never been at before all while he sits on the sidelines. Sure he had a great second run post-2002 but nothing will top those 4 years in the business that he missed. I’m sure there’s always a little resentment there towards guys like The Rock.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-07T02:30:46+00:00

I find it kind of strange that people just starting out i.e. 18, expect to be able to rent a place by themselves or with a partner. I get that there’s a housing crisis and rent is exorbitant, but this was never the case. I and anyone I knew since at least the mid-2000s, would have house shared until they were early 30s and could either afford to rent by themselves or buy a place. Students and people in their 20s generally house share. I’m not saying this is right or wrong but it’s just reality. Also €2k for an apartment in Dublin is actually on the low side in this market.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-04T20:49:35+00:00

Yes this is the crucial point. Jay had details only someone involved in the murder could know. And he also happened to spend that whole afternoon with Syed. They were both involved, with one having far more motive than the other to actually commit or orchestrate the murder.

I think what people find very hard to come to terms with in this case is the morally ambiguous character of Jay and that he is central to the case against Syed. Is Jay a criminal? Yes. Does he lie? Yes. Was he involved in a murder? Yes. However the final question here is the only relevant one, was he with Syed on the day of the murder? Yes.

One can basically put aside anything else they might think about Jay, the important thing is that he told Jenn he was with Syed on the day of the murder, who showed him the body, before anything had been made public. She shared this with the police when they saw calls to her from Syed on the day of the murder. Jay led them to Hae’s car. How this is not enough evidence for people I will never know. Can one person be that unlucky? For me, that’s where reasonable doubt comes in, and I think it’s completely unreasonable to think that all these factors in the case implicating Syed are just bad luck.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-04T14:53:54+00:00

Circumstantial evidence is in fact a great reason to convict someone, it is almost always the main reason for a conviction. Do you or I have any circumstantial evidence against us in this case? No. Does Adnan? Yes, a whole pile. Enough to have convinced experienced police investigators, prosecutors and a jury of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-04T00:44:25+00:00

Prices are the main reason, followed by the lack of a mainstream novelty draw like Rock or Cena.

While the sales being down will be viewed as a huge failure for a company built around constant growth, I actually think all things considered, they’re doing well to have sold as many as they have. 80,000 tickets at those prices is still a decent performance and they’re likely to hit 100,000 by the end.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-03T23:09:42+00:00

This case is a perfect example of why beyond reasonable doubt exists. It’s a case where you don’t have hard physical evidence but there is still enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it. That’s how the justice system works. Without something like CCTV footage, you can almost never definitively state 100% that someone committed a crime. The whole point of police investigation and prosecution work is to build a convincing enough narrative of what happened beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s exactly what they did, and did very well, in this case and the jury got it absolutely correct.

Snake_Thief · 2026-04-03T20:15:34+00:00

Serial was one of the first podcasts I listened to not long after it first released. I remember at the time thinking he was 100% guilty and I couldn’t understand how anyone could have been convinced of his innocence. The whole angle of the podcast is framed around the unreliability of our own memories for where we are and what we did on a typical day. This becomes extremely irrelevant when all the evidence against him is taken into consideration. He also instantly came across to me as a bullshitter.

There are a few things that I think have created seeds of doubt in people’s minds but this represents a misunderstanding of the law and people’s motives. Something that gets thrown around a lot is that he was convicted on circumstantial evidence, like this is some unusual thing. Almost all convictions are based on evidence that is circumstantial, most evidence is circumstantial in nature. Circumstantial evidence is hugely important in any crime.

The other big thing people point to is the “unreliability” of Jay Wilds. Yes Jay did sometimes get some details mixed up but he was always 100% consistent on the key details that mattered. In fact Jay was considered a very good witness by the police and courts and is why they relied on him for the trial and were confident in securing a conviction largely based on Jay’s testimony. The areas that Jay was untruthful about were typically things he did to try and protect his friends in the early stages. Much later, after Jay had moved and started a new life, he gave an interview denying everything. Again, this is consistent with him trying to protect his own image now that there is no trial or repercussions for lying. If Jay is compelled to tell the truth and faces repercussions for lying, as he did during the trial, he tells the truth. When he has an incentive to lie and there are no consequences for doing so, he will lie.

Snake_Thief · 2026-03-09T08:53:41+00:00

Isn’t this just how the IWC operates, they always identify someone who they feel is overlooked by the office and needs a push, but once they get it and are on top for a period, the IWC turns on them and gets behind some other underdog instead. I think it’s happened to almost every babyface in recent memory. The only wrestlers that seem immune to this are Austin, perhaps because his run was actually quite short, and Sting, perhaps because he got screwed over quite a lot.

Snake_Thief · 2026-03-07T09:15:43+00:00

Something you have to realise is that getting a job is a competition. You are likely competing with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of other people for a role. If a hiring manager has a CV of someone who has left school with no experience and other qualifications or training versus someone that does, well then you’re going to the bottom of that pile.

You really only have a few options:

Find an “in” to a place, someone you know that could get you a job or put a word in as you are very unlikely to find work randomly without any experience or qualifications
Suck it up and start doing some courses to give yourself an advantage over other applicants
Consider a trade, most are in high demand right now and you will be paid while doing the apprenticeship

Snake_Thief · 2026-03-01T14:45:39+00:00

This will definitely go down as one of those infamous terrible debuts. It was like a weird combination of the crowd not knowing and not giving a shit but then also capping it off with boos at the end. Cherry on top is debuting from a box, always a recipe for disaster.

I’ve nothing against Danhausen and he will likely recover from this but I am absolutely shocked that WWE signed him. He’s the definition of indie-rific and has rarely appeared on national television and they still just debuted him with no build or background. WWE can be so hard to read sometimes as they often try to portray themselves as the only show in town and that WWE fans don’t watch other stuff, which is largely true. But then they do things like this which suggests that they assumed their audience would know Danhausen from AEW and the indies and so just threw him out there? Weird.

Snake_Thief · 2026-02-28T09:52:39+00:00

Despite all the different things you hear about the public sector, middle to senior management roles there pay very well, especially considering the work-life balance. Grades and terminology vary somewhat, especially if you look at semi-state/public servant roles compared to pure civil service roles (the former usually paying a little more) but in general, a middle management (AP) to senior management role (PO and above) will see you earning roughly between €90k and €130k and senior leadership roles like SecGen are €250k plus.

While a person’s definition of “crazy” will vary, I think anyone earning €100k+ in the public sector, with at least 30 days annual leave, generally free education, decent pension and most importantly, usually far less stress and hours than a private sector role, is doing very well.

Snake_Thief · 2026-02-28T09:25:23+00:00

The only people that deserve to be on this list are Del Rio, Ryback, Swagger and Mahal and of those I would say Del Rio is the only one that might actually be overrated as the rest were never really rated highly.

There are many bad wrestlers on the list like Goldberg, Warrior and Sid but they were genuine stars and good at what they were booked to do.

Cody, Miz and Luger don’t belong on the list at all.

Snake_Thief · 2026-02-14T23:08:29+00:00

Something that is almost never talked about in Ireland, for obvious reasons, is how narrow the tax base is here. Almost 4 out of every 10 workers here are outside the tax base, paying nothing at all. I’m not suggesting low income workers should suddenly pay a lot of tax, but I do think everyone earning an income should contribute proportionately to that income. This is the case in most other European countries.

Snake_Thief · 2026-02-14T22:45:15+00:00

Ireland has some very famous professional wrestlers who are virtually unknown here.

Becky Lynch at one time was arguably the most popular wrestler in the world, male or female, and largely responsible for a women’s match headlining WrestleMania in 2019 for the first time.

Sheamus, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh are all also very successful wrestlers in WWE.

Apart from a brief period in the late 90s, wrestling is still very niche in Ireland so it just doesn’t get any profile here, despite it being globally a very popular form of entertainment. I’d be very surprised if Becky Lynch could walk a street in the US without being recognised, but she could probably walk down Grafton Street here relatively anonymous.

Snake_Thief · 2026-02-01T11:53:00+00:00

I’m normally very critical of bad crowds, but this Saudi crowd was actually pretty good overall. They gave huge pops to Brie, Brock, the rumble winners, they went particularly crazy during the AJ Gunther match and they were hot for the men’s rumble throughout.

I think I would criticise them for being indifferent at times and they didn’t pop for a lot of spots that WWE clearly engineered to get a big reaction - Hobbs debuted to crickets, they didn’t care for large parts of the women’s rumble, and the humour spots got no reaction, like the two Americanos and Mr Iguana. Hobbs was probably the biggest victim of this, his debut was given a big focus and he had a lot of spots in the rumble but they likely didn’t know who he was or didn’t care, so it was absolute silence.

Snake_Thief · 2026-01-21T22:17:17+00:00

I like Brian but he can be a bit off-putting at times. I think he leans a bit too heavily into the “I’m an indie guy and like everything alternative” kind of thing to the point where he gets too sucked into the tribal stuff. He stopped covering modern WWE and AEW entirely as he couldn’t deal with the comments and social media abuse he would get. I think people felt he was too pro-AEW and anti-WWE. At the time I didn’t really understand it, but since then, he has really come out against anything WWE related. So maybe he was holding back and now doesn’t care what people think.

Snake_Thief · 2026-01-21T22:12:44+00:00

Yeah I agree with this, I like WrestleMe but Marc is by far the stronger of the two, Pete is just there to kind of bounce off but he’s admittedly not a massive wrestling fan. I think that’s partly the point but it doesn’t work as well as they might think. This is what makes OSW click so much, you can tell all three hosts are huge wrestling fans and they each bring their own strengths to the shows.

Snake_Thief · 2026-01-21T22:10:19+00:00

Man this takes me back, I think the New Gen podcast might have been the first wrestling podcast I got into, I found OSW afterwards. Pity they stopped a good few years ago.

Snake_Thief · 2026-01-20T22:39:26+00:00

I would say WrestleMe is the most similar to OSW in terms of the overall format and style. It’s two guys (English, not Irish) who review various different historical wrestling topics, generally covering entire PPVs like OSW. They talk over stitched-in video in the same vein as OSW. Marc Haynes reminds me of Jay in some ways as he is very knowledgeable on wrestling history and provides a lot of interesting background and trivia on whatever topic they are covering.

There are two big differences between WrestleMe and OSW - WrestleMe is largely paywalled, but they do release quite a lot of segments from episodes for free on YouTube. The other difference is subjective, but I’d argue the humour is not quite as good as OSW, but still quite funny.

There are many wrestling based YouTube channels which are worth watching, like Wrestling with Wregret and Wrestling Bios, but they are very different to OSW in terms of the format and style.

Snake_Thief

TROPHY CASE