Charles Barkley spoke out Friday about two recent instances of violence against people of color, condemning the death of Ahmaud Arbery while jogging in Georgia earlier this month and the death of George Floyd while in police custody earlier this week. Floyd’s death has sparked protests and rioting in Minnesota, once again bringing the subject of police brutality against people of color to the forefront.
NBA players like former Pacer Stephen Jackson, who considered Floyd his “best friend” and his “twin,” have spoken out about the incident, and Barkley joined the chorus of players hoping for better treatment of the black community and
Barkley spoke with Ernie Johnson on The Stream Room on Friday and shared his thoughts about the tragedy that’s unfolding in Minnesota and connected it to another death that drew nationwide outrage in recent weeks. He called the incidents “tragic” and explained his stance on discussing race with others.
“I’ve got to talk about a couple things that are breaking my heart…”
“I always feel uncomfortable talking about race because I think very few people have what I call a pure heart. What I mean by a pure heart I mean you have to go into a conversation I don’t have my mind made up, I just want to be fair and honest,” Barkley said. “I just feel sadness about the situation in Georgia: kid out for a jog, he ends up dying. No one wants to see a kid die. And that should never happen. There’s no excuses, that should never happen.”
With Floyd’s death in police hands, especially after footage of him pinned down while an officer kneeled on his neck, Barkley said the incident was particular troubling.
“The thing in Minnesota is really distressing,” Barkley said, noting the video is especially tough to watch. “Clearly the man is subdued. And like I say, I always try to give the cops the benefit of the doubt because I don’t have the courage to in their shoes. But man, that cannot happen under any circumstances whatsoever.”
Barkley said people who struggle with addressing these incidents need to be honest with themselves and support people of color who are asking for justice and positive changes to be made in the wake of tragedy.
“Some of these guys have to take a look at themselves and go ‘Yo, man, that ain’t right.’ I still don’t want those people out their rioting and things like that because that don’t help,” Barkley said. “I think the cops and the public got to get together, especially the black community, and say ‘How can we help somebody?’”
Johnson agreed and said it “defied all description and all sense” to see what was captured on video, and the terrible result of what seemed to be clear police brutality against another person of color. Barkley’s final message was that people need to put aside racial differences and restore justice in Floyd’s death.
“It’s just do the right thing. Let’s don’t worry about who’s black, who’s white, who’s jewish and who’s hispanic,” Barkley said. “Let’s just do the right thing.”
Barkley said his heart was “broken” for Floyd and his family and the community impacted by his death, a sentiment that’s been widely across the NBA and sports communities.
If we wanted to, we could highlight a new refreshing, summery cocktail every week until the season was a long-forgotten memory. From the negroni to the gin & tonic to the daiquiri, there seem to be more refreshing cocktails than scorching days on which to sip them. Still, we’ll try our damndest.
Since most of the country got blasted with ridiculously hot weather recently (with more on the horizon), we figured it’s time to prepare for the next heatwave. And whenever the thermometer nears triple digits we’re going to keep cool while drinking mojitos.
“The mojito is all about highlighting strong, sweet and sour, with a straight spirit, sweetener and fresh citrus and mint,” says Nicole Quist, beverage director at Bartaco in Aventura, Florida. “It’s also one of the most refreshing, rum-based cocktails you can mix up.”
When it comes to picking the right rum for the job, it’s best to avoid flavored or dark rums (unless you’re into that sort of thing). Light and drinkable is the name of the game here.
“With the mojito, I always go with a white rum so that the spirit is noticed without overpowering the delicate nature of the mint and citrus,” says Zack Musick, beverage director at Merriman’s in Hawaii.
Since we’re in the business of helping you craft better cocktails, we want to make sure you buy the right rum for this drink (here are some recipes, too!). To aide our cause, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best rums for a refreshing, thirst-quenching mojito.
Bacardi Superior. It’s like it was made for mojitos. It takes on the flavor of the mint and citrus so well and is light, crisp, and not too over-powering. The mojito is one of those drinks that is best kept simple. Bacardi Superior is readily available and perfect for the hot summer afternoons.
If I’m making a mojito, I use Tiburon Rum. It’s a Belizean rum that’s small batch and aged, plus super smooth with a fabulous Caribbean feel that’s sure to make any mojito a hit.
Caña Brava White Rum
Zack Musick, beverage director at Merriman’s in Hawaii
While going with a classic Cuban rum will hold onto the integrity of a classic mojito, I prefer to use the Panamanian rum, Caña Brava developed by the 86 Company. Caña Brava is modeled after the clean crisp Cuban style and will typically cost less than $30. To make this rum, the 86 Company partnered with master distiller, Don Pancho, a Cuban native who learned the “Cuban Method” of distillation through 35 years of experience before moving to Panama to continue the traditional methods he learned in Cuba.
Plantation 3 Stars Rum
Kenneth McCoy, chief creative officer at The Rum House in New York City
I use Plantation 3 Stars White Rum. This Caribbean blend of Jamaican, Barbados, and Trinidad rums is smooth, with flavors of sweet grass and coconut. It’s perfect in a mojito or a Daiquiri.
I know it’s unorthodox in the bartending world, but I prefer to use a sweet rum in my mojito, that way I eliminate using simple syrup or sugar. Any flavored Cruzan works for me, but my top choices are coconut or vanilla. Smooth and very flavorful.
Flor de Caña 4 Year Extra Seco Rum
Nicole Quist, beverage director at Bartaco in Aventura, Florida
At Bartaco, we love Flor de Caña 4 Year Extra Seco Rum out of Nicaragua, a Spanish style rum, and are proud to partner with a fair trade certified and sustainably produced, naturally aged rum. We shake up flor de Caña in the moment muddled limes, and the result is a pure, refreshing cocktail where the natural vanilla and clean citrus notes of the rum itself shine.
Havana Club 3-Year-Old Rum
James Simpson, beverage director at Espita in Washington, DC
The best Mojito Rum has to be Havana Club 3 Year. The rich sugar cane flavor and light oak is perfect for the citrusy minty cocktail. Bonus points if you can get a hold of the right mint species grown in Cuba [M. nemorosa].
Probitas White Rum
Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Yellowbelly in St. Louis
Probitas White Rum is my favorite mojito rum because it has a creamy texture and soft coconut tones without any sweetness. The best mojito rums should be crisp and dry. I think there are so many rums not to use in a mojito so I could really go down a rabbit hole there.
Charanda Urupuan Blanco Rum is great to use for a Mojito. It’s an amazingly complex, interesting rum that comes in at a great price. This half cane/half molasses-based rum hails from Michoacan, Mexico, and will blow you away with both savory and sweet notes.
Writer’s Pick:
Diplomatico Planas Rum
This un-aged rum from Venezuela is so silky and smooth you’ll want to drink it on its own. But, the underlying vanilla and coconut flavors are perfectly suited to be mixed with muddled mint, lime, and soda water to create the most refreshing mojitos imaginable.
Jucee Froot‘s star continues to rise as her brand of raunchy rap branches out into even more new avenues in the wake of her debut mixtape, Black Sheep. She won’t even let being on quarantine stop her as she uses the opportunity to shoot a trippy, sexed-up video for her new single “Eat Itself,” which features on the star-studded soundtrack to HBO’s Insecure after debuting in the second episode of the show’s fourth season.
The video, directed by SpikeZee and Foreign Skooly, is was shot by Jucee herself as she cavorts in her tub with colorful embellishments in the form of dancing cartoon fruit and video game-esque graphic transitions., Jucee flaunts her impressive collection of tattoos in a skimpy swimsuit while taunting a timid lover, “It ain’t gon’ eat itself.”
“Eat Itself” isn’t the first song Jucee Froot landed on a soundtrack. In 2019, she contributed to the soundtrack for Birds Of Prey with “Danger,” telling Uproxx that the departure “was something new for me… I’m real happy that I did it. I got new fans from overseas.” Keep an eye out for the Memphis rapper as her buzz builds — she’s got all the makings of a star.
Watch Jucee Froot’s ‘Eat Itself’ video above.
Jucee Froot is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Jason Momoa is peak Hawaii bro (so much so that he filed a trademark for his “Aloha J” trademark), but although he was born in the Paradise of the Pacific, he was actually raised in Iowa. Norwalk, Iowa, specifically, which is approximately 20 minutes away from the Waveland Cafe in Des Moines, where the Aquaman star visited on Thursday.
“What a great surprise today! Yes, that’s right folks, Jason came in today with his family to have some delicious breakfast!” the diner, which claims to have the “best breakfast” in Des Moines, Iowa (that’s like being the world’s smallest big-screen TV, but the photos do look tasty). “He downed the momoa (full hashbrown with a full biscuits and gravy right on top followed by 2 sunny side up eggs and a side of bacon) in less than 10 minutes!” Ten minutes? I could finish that in five, and I look like Super Bowl commercial Jason Momoa:
Thank you, Jason Momoa, for coming in during this crazy time and supporting us, it truly means a lot to every one of us! P.S. He even wanted to change in to one of our waveland shirts.
And in case you’re wondering, he wore a mask while posing for photos. My man.
Hey, you! If you want us to keep doing retro reports, share them around! And be sure to drop down into our comments section to let us know what you thought of these shows. Head back to a time long forgotten when WWE TV was fun to watch, and things happened!
And now, the Best and Worst of WWF St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: In Your House, originally aired on February 14, 1999.
Worst: Heat Runs Cold
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Before we get to Stone Cold Steve Austin blowing the Horn of Winter and waking giants from the earth, we need to talk about the pay-per-view’s unbelievably bad hour-long Sunday Night Heat Kickoff Show. Close your eyes and imagine a two-match show, the matches are Test vs. Viscera and Billy Gunn vs. Tiger Ali Singh, and they have a combined run-time of about three minutes. Now imagine that Shane McMahon’s trying to call those matches and read an advertisement for Silk Stalkings at the same time.
“OH MAN! BAD MOVE! THEN AT 9 A POOL BOY IS FOUND MURDERED, CAN TOM AND CASSY FIND HIS UNDERWATER KILLER? FIND OUT ON SILK STALKINGS, OH YEAH, THAT’S A BOY TEST! [voice lowers] maybe it’s Aquaman”
Yeah, the best episode of Silk Stalkings is the one where Aquaman got confused, ended up in somebody swimming pool, and murdered the pool boy. He hypnotized a bunch of pool floaties to drift over and kill the guy.
This will really shock you to read, but neither Test vs. Viscera nor has a finish. In 1999 WWF even TEST and TIGER ALI SINGH must be protected; if the fans see them get pinned once, poof, there goes all that good will and momentum for Test and Tiger Ali Singh. Honestly though, my favorite part of the entire show might be the aftermath of Test vs. Viscera, as the Boss Man runs in for a disqualification and the announce team decides to figuratively and LITERALLY “send it to the back.”
The hook to the second match, and there definitely is one, is Intercontinental Championship match special guest referee Bill Ass openly admitting that he wants and is expecting bribes. In response, Val Venis almost immediately pimps out Ryan Shamrock and sends her to the locker room to sit in Billy’s lap. I’m not sure where I heard this, but rumor has it Billy Gunn loves to love asses.
Because Tiger Ali Singh is maybe the worst actual wrestler who ever lived, he starts his match with Gunn by immediately bumping the referee (so fast Kevin Kelly can’t even finish saying “welcome to Sunday Night Heat”) and taking a Fame-asser. Guest color analyst Triple H comments, “Take that, put it in your cab and drive around with it!” One day that guy’s going to stand in the ring introducing NXT India with “ARE, YOU, READ-AYYY,” and everyone will clap and cheer.
But anyway, Val doubles down on his bribery by sliding into the ring and counting three for Billy, which … counts, somehow? (Ken) Shamrock runs in to attack Val for, you know, using his sister’s butthole as a bribe, and Billy makes the save. And then Billy attacks Val and points at his own dick a bunch. Choose your fighter:
Canadian porn star who won’t stop hooking up with the wives and family members of his co-workers, dumped a woman after he thought he got her pregnant, and sprayed another with a penis-colored Super Soaker filled with “cum” because she liked him too much and it stopped being dangerous
deranged, boot-licking MMA fighter who is so enraged by the sex life of his 19-year old sister that he screams at and punches everyone he sees
ass-obsessed man who asked for bribes and then attacked someone for bribing him
Skanks For The Memories
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The participants in the Last Man Standing match for the WWF Championship spend Heat reminding us that yes, the muscular Miamian who works here because his dad and grandpa worked here and football didn’t pan out en route to a job as the most beautiful and beloved actor in the world is very different from the dumpy New Yorker who wears a leather jock strap on his head, talks to a sentient sock he carries around in his sweat pants, and once jumped off the roof of his house because he loves wrestling so much.
Mankind’s plotline sees him getting unwanted pre-match advice from his trainer, Dominic DeNucci, as well as former WWF Champions The Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund. Meanwhile, The Rock interviews potential pre-match masseuses and lines them up in the hallway so he can call them, “the largest collection of female two dollar skanks the Rock has ever seen,” and threaten to smack one of them in the face, threatening to send her, quote, “to the Smackdown Hotel for stinking up the place.” I bet The Godfather was waiting around that corner to catch them all in a giant rabbit cage.
Near the end of the episode, Rock interrupts Mankind’s training to attack him while DeNucci, Backlund, and Sheik stand around and watch. Turns out the payoff to an hour of multiple, concurrent comedy plots is, “the pay-per-view’s up next!”
Worst: Careless Whisper
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Mr. McMahon opens Heat by reminding the audience that he’s technically 2-0 against Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1999, having eliminated him from the Royal Rumble and pinned him at the end of Raw Saturday Night’s corporate gauntlet. “Don’t make me have to go 3-0 on you, Austin, tonight. Austin, don’t disgrace yourself.” He’s giving Austin one last chance, Austin, to forfeit the cage match, Austin, and peacefully avoid being taken to the mixed-martial arts woodshed by Ultimate Fighter Vince McMahon. Austin.
Michael Cole, who has never seen a boot he didn’t want to lick, heads back to Austin’s locker room and asks maybe the dumbest question in WWE history: “Stone Cold, Stone Cold, will you comply with Mr. McMahon’s challenge tonight?” Austin, who can’t respond to ANYTHING without a rebel rousing declaration of toughness and a kick to the stomach, just shuts the door in his face.
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Cole: “I guess he hasn’t made up his mind!” Your question was so bad it made Stone Cold Steve Austin, the man who turned “what” into a catchphrase and became a meme because he couldn’t resist asking follow-up questions to Cameron about her terrible taste in wrestling, close the door on you without speaking. You are truly the Mike Adamle of Kevin Kellies.
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At the end of the episode, when you’re expecting some sort of resolution to the previous 55 minutes of storytelling, McMahon heads back out to the ring to accept Stone Cold’s begrudging acquiescence but is greeted instead by Drunk Shawn Michaels. Shawn doesn’t have much to say, he just wanted to come out here and subtweet World Championship Wrestling because he’s living Scott Steiner’s dream and hooking up with one of the Nitro Girls. “You know Vince, they say if you want to get someone’s attention, you should whisper. And believe me, there’s nothing more that Shawn Michaels would love to do 24 hours a day than Whisper.”
Austin shows up anyway, so Vince spits in his face. With like 15 seconds left in the episode and WWE Network already asking me to skip to next week’s show, Austin formally rejects the offer to forfeit and instead insists that, “you dumb son of a bitch. I’m not gonna wipe that off, because what I’m gonna do is use your damn blood to wash it off after the damn cage match, and that’s all I got to say.” The final segment in the pay-per-view pre-show is Shawn Michaels singing ‘I Just Had Sex’ while Stone Cold Steve Austin plans to use his face as a base to mix two of Vince McMahon’s bodily fluids.
Note: this is the only time Michaels has ever been cooler than Austin.
Worst: St. Valentine’s Day Assacre
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these Coppertone ads are getting weird
We finally move into the pay-per-view proper in time for the thrilling conclusion to Goldust vs. Bluedust, the story of a sexually manipulative Oscar statue who stole a crazy man’s mannequin head, used it for violence, and had it stolen back by the pro wrestling version of an animated Beatles villain who started dressing like him. Nobody’s the good guy here, if you’re wondering, but the match DOES involve bare ass spankings. I’m glad wrestling shows don’t do that anymore.
Goldust wins and then kicks Bluedust in the balls to loud cheers, because identity theft is a bigger crime than misusing your co-worker’s beloved insanity mannequin head.
Best/Worst: Mississippi River Blues
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Aside from everything that happens in and around the main event, this show might be remembered most, incredibly, for the Hardcore Championship match where Al Snow and Bob Holly fight their way into the Mississippi River. That’s a fun visual, especially in how it truly opens up the “falls count anywhere, and we mean ANYWHERE,” nature of the Hardcore Championship.
If you go back and watch it, though, it’s … well, it’s a Bob Holly vs. Al Snow match. They’re fighting for the Hardcore Championship that neither of them have, because Road Dogg got injured and the injurer apparently didn’t think to pin him and win a championship in the process. During the entrances, Michael Cole says Bob Holly had a “cup of coffee” with the Intercontinental Championship, which he must have meant literally because Bob Holly was never Intercontinental Champion. The match is a lot of walking and punching and walking and punching, WWF “brawling” style, and beyond the water the action highlight is Bob hitting Al with a big stick he found. If you let two Labrador retrievers fight for the Hardcore Championship, it’d be this match. Just a bunch of splashing and running around with sticks.
Bob eventually wins by wrapping Snow in a section of chain-link fencing that was just lying there rolled up on the banks of a river in the middle of the night, winning the Hardcore Championship and officially beginning his transition into Hardcore Holly. And after typing that, I’m legitimately surprised Val Venis never made an in-universe porno with Molly and called it “Hardcore Holly.” It would also be a pretty good name for a Christmas porn. I am very interested in telling you about this match.
Worst: Horrible Bosses
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During Sunday Night Heat, The Ministry of Darkness revealed their plans for the evening: kill a cop. Here they are talking about it while standing around a hobo fire, which is what goth kids do when they’re planning murders.
If Test vs. Viscera, Tiger Ali Singh vs. Billy Gunn, a Blue Meanie match, and Bob Holly vs. Al Snow weren’t enough to get you to check out this show, what about THE BIG BOSS MAN VS. MIDEON? ON PAY-PER-VIEW? Somehow it’s even more awful than you’re imagining, as the “boring” chants start about two minutes in and they keep going for another four. Boss Man wins because Mideon’s more of a hype man for an eyeball in a jar than a wrestler at this point, and after the match The Ministry gets their hobo fire heat back by beating The Boss down 8-on-1, Nailz-style, and carrying him to the back. Also probably Nailz-style. The Corporation just hangs out in the back like, “he’ll be fine, what’s the worst they can do? Carve pagan symbols into his chest and make him drink The Undertaker’s blood, thereby transforming him into a soulless creature of the night? He’ll still be better off than Test.”
This of course is all building to a Hell in a Cell match so terrible a disgraced prison guard gets lynched by vampires in the middle of a 20,000-seat arena at WrestleMania on the orders of an undead necromancer and it’s still boring.
Worst: Debra Would Like To Speak To Your Manager
(Ivory.)
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To catch you up to speed, a man who spent the past month being blackmailed for causing the miscarriage of a fake pregnancy is teaming up with his friend, a sex addict who recently vomited in front of his mother after touching a woman’s penis, to challenge for the Tag Team Championship against the champions: a white Canadian man who left a black militant separatist group to pursue his love of dressing up himself and others as a super hero he made up, an angry country music singer who just learned how to curse, and the beauty queen ex-wife of a Super Bowl champion who calls her boobs “puppies” and got so into how they look in a push-up bra that she can’t get through a match without taking off her clothes. To counter the champions’ manager, the challengers brought in a prostitute to keep the sex addict satisfied so he doesn’t get distracted by PG-13 cleavage and get hit with a balsa wood guitar.
In the title match, the managers get into an argument and that causes the same boob distraction everyone was trying to avoid, causing the exact same guitar shattering and loss. Ivory tries to rip off Debra’s clothes as punishment. As a bonus, the referee completely loses track of who’s supposed to be legal. It’s very good.
Best: The Subtlety Of Attitude Era Signs
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“Wait a minute … VENIS sounds like PENIS! GUYS, COME QUICK, I’VE HAD A BREAKTHROUGH” — somebody standing in the posterboard section of Michael’s like two hours before the pay-per-view
Worst: SLAP ME
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Everybody had, matching towels!
As we talked about earlier, a Canadian porn star challenges the older brother of the 19-year old he’s going to dump tomorrow for the Intercontinental Championship, refereed by a man who hates both of them and wears pink hot pants that say MR. ASS across the ass. It turns out that sex bribes aren’t as effective as on-the-fly macho decision making, as Ryan Shamrock’s butt isn’t enough to make Billy Gunn cheat for Val, but Shamrock shoving him once in the chest is.
Before I talk about that, though, I have to talk about the best part of this match, and one of my favorite audio botches ever. Kenny has Val in the ankle lock and is about to win the match, so Ryan helps Val make it to the ropes. Enraged (as per usual), Ken rolls out of the ring and yells at her about how “blood’s thicker than water.” He then loudly announces “SLAP ME” with the camera like right in his face, so she slaps him. If you’ve never seen it, here you go. I’ve been quoting it for 20 years.
Bill Ass gets between them and is like, “hey now, don’t punch your sister.” Shamrock shoves him, so Billy punches him in the face, rolls him back into the ring, and counts the fastest three you’ve ever seen to cost him the match and give Val Venis the Intercontinental Championship. YOU are the ones who are the penis suckers!
Best: At Last, Some Pretty Good Matches With Bad Finishes!
Hey, it’s a big step up from bad matches with bad finishes.
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Chyna and Kane versus Triple H and X-Pac is better than you’d think it’d be. Everyone’s motivated — well, X-Pac and Chyna are motivated … Kane is Kane, and pre-The Game Triple H’s top speed always seemed to be, “bored, but doing his best” — and while it never reaches those inexplicable Sable and Marc Mero levels of intergender tag team magic, it’s the first thing the live crowd reacts to in a positive way since Austin promised to moisturize with Vince McMahon’s juices like two hours earlier.
Unfortunately for everyone, Shane McMahon is on commentary, which is a death sentence for even the best matches. Shane could’ve been on commentary for Okada vs. Omega at Dominion and Meltzer would’ve given it **3/4. Shane gets involved, too, as X-Pac eventually goes after him and they brawl to the back. That leaves Triple H alone with Chyna, and he’s able to successfully knee and dick-point his girlfriend to death until Kane grabs him by the neck, throws him at the ground, and pulls her on top of him for the pin. I feel like this could’ve really easily set up Triple H vs. Chyna and Kane vs. X-Pac for WrestleMania, but the stars don’t quite align so we get Triple H vs. Kane and X-Pac vs. Shane.
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In the other big preliminary match, The Rock and Mankind break in the Last Man Standing concept with neither of them being able to stand, ending the match in a draw. This is achieved via the rare double chair shot, which The Rock sells by falling into the ropes and bouncing around like a weirdo, and Mankind sells by staying down and being hella grateful there aren’t 10 more coming.
More on the title situation on the next night’s Raw, featuring the Mankind vs. Rock mach nobody remembers.
Best: Steve Austin And Vince McMahon Give Us A Big Show
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Finally we’ve reached the titular St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of Mr. McMahon at the spit and blood-soaked hands of Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is the moment when Vince McMahon became VINCE MCMAHON in the eyes of a lot of fans, as he completed his transition from dorky NPC to evil boss to legitimate inhuman maniac who is willing to do pretty much any stupid thing he’d ask of a wrestler.
The initial interaction between Vince and Austin is that Vince wants to get Austin into the ring where a trap has been laid, and Austin wants to lure Vince OUT of the cage, presumably to thoroughly stomp wet mudholes into dry ones without fear of consequence for as long as possible. Austin achieves this by faking a knee injury, which lures Vince out and ultimately sets him up for one of the most painful looking table bumps you’ll ever see. Watch closely as Vince goes leaping off the cage wall, doesn’t quite make it to the table, and lands back-first on the edge. That’s the hardest part of the table!
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In a nice flip on the structure of the Mankind vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match where Mankind took a big fall off the cage, got stretchered away, and got back up to continue the match, McMahon falls off the cage, gets stretchered away, and Austin follows him down to pull him off the stretcher, carry him back to the ring, and continue beating his ass. The great thing here is that McMahon needs Austin to stay inside the cage so he can both win the match and spring his trap, but is getting beaten up so badly he can’t really DO anything but get bludgeoned and resorts to desperation middle fingers every time Austin’s about to leave. This give us the unforgettable image of Vince on his knees, covered in blood, doing those ridiculous McMahon Family middle fingers that nobody else in the world does.
So what’s the trap, you might be asking? ♫ WeeeEEEEEEeeell ♫ …
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McMahon guaran-damn-teed that no member of The Corporation would interfere in the match, so he gets help from someone who’s not yet technically IN The Corporation. Or the company, really. Meet Paul Wight, the briefly kayfabe son of Andre the Giant who was summoned from the depths of a haunted mountain to destroy Hulkamania, died by falling off the roof of an arena following a monster truck sumo battle only to be perfectly fine and execute a sexy double bear hug with a mummy, and then forget the whole “destroy Hulkamania” thing for a while to be Hulk Hogan’s nWo crony. Eventaully he becomes professional turncoat The Big Show, but here he’s just Paul, an enormous man with the uncontrollable hair of a lion who hid under the ring for like four hours to climb up through the ring canvas to get the bare minimum of a jump on Steve Austin.
Paulie’s plan is to pick up Austin and throw him at the cage wall over and over, which is a decent plan until you consider how filmy some of these WWE cages are. Wight lobs Austin into the cage, the cage wall swings open like a damn door somehow, Stone Cold wins, and The Big Show completely and utterly fucks the hell up in his debut, setting a dangerous precedent for the next 21 years of his career.
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And that ends the show. Stone Cold’s still headed to WrestleMania, Big Show debuted as a heel and is somehow already fumbling his way toward a face turn, and Mr. McMahon looks like this:
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Tomorrow night on Raw: The fate of the WWF Championship is decided in a ladder match, a new European Champion is crowned, and we’re officially on the road to WrestleMania XV: THE RAGIN’ CLIMAX, sex joke and apostrophe and all. It’s going to be fun!
Social distancing continues this weekend amid the global pandemic, and several new TV seasons are here for the binging. If nothing here suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.
The Vast Of Night (Amazon Prime movie, Friday) — Our own Josh Kurp loved this movie, calling it a “fun, genre-heavy, impressively acted, darkly-but-beautifully lit throwback that starts slow, but once you realize what going on, things begins to click like an old-fashioned remote control.” The story takes place in 1950s New Mexico, where two young people observe (and investigate) a mysterious frequency that descends upon their community. It’s a tense and entirely watchable movie, great for kicking off your weekend.
Space Force (Netflix series, Friday) — The Office duo Steve Carell and Greg Daniels reteam for another workplace comedy that bounces off the real-life birth of the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Services. The huge cast — including John Malkovich (!), Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Tawny Newsome, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Patrick Warburton, and Noah Emmerich — doesn’t find the spectacular material that it deserves here, but the show has some fine moments. Overall, the show works best when it’s not attempting to recapture the spirit of its predecessor.
Ramy: Season 2 (Hulu series, Friday) — Ramy, the critically acclaimed Muslim-American comedy series from Hulu (produced by A24), is back with “Hot Sheikh” Mahershala Ali, who joins the cast to give spiritual guidance to the title character. Naturally, we should also expect Ramy’s love life to rear its head again, given that the show often embraces horniness, all while Ramy attempts to find a manageable balance between his status as a 28-year-old millennial man and the tenets of his religion.
Defending Jacob (Apple TV episode, Friday) — The season finale for the Chris Evans-led series is here to tie a bow on proceedings, as the Barber family struggles to find a happy ending to their ordeal. A few more twists still remain, so tune in.
Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:
Friday Night In with The Morgans (Friday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton are back, hopefully with more insight intoThe Walking Dead.
Betty (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — This week, Kirt is turning to “alternative medicine,” if you know what I’m saying, as Skate Kitchen director Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack) brings back her O.G. crew for this funny and freewheeling series.
Stargirl (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — Courtney’s encounter with a member of the Injustice Society of America prompts Pat to give a history lesson. Meanwhile, Barbara’s just happy to see the two of them get along.
Billions (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Chuck’s plotting against Axe with some assistance, and Axe must face his past to move into the future. Oh, and Nico the artist is making some moves.
Killing Eve (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — The third season finale has arrived with multiple characters on the brink of life and death, along with Villanelle and Eve coming face to face again.
Snowpiercer (Sunday, TNT 9:00 p.m.) — The train’s black market receives focus from Layton and Till while Layton’s intents continue to evolve.
Supergirl (Sunday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — A pair of Obsidian contact lenses helps Alex visit a virtual National City, and William’s investigating Lex Luthor.
I Know This Much Is True (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Mark Ruffalo’s devastating portrayal of twins sees even more misery with Dominick struggling to recover from his accident while heavily medicated.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — An interrogation of Diego is the name of the game with Maria also tracking down Mateo.
Insecure (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Issa and Lawrence have a catch-up session on happiness, mistakes, careers, and all-around life matters.
After agreeing to a “temporary ceasefire” in April, Hugh Jackman has fired the first shot in restarting his long-standing “feud” with his X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star, Ryan Reynolds. While commandeering a photo of a child’s birthday cake on Instagram (damn, Hugh), Jackman couldn’t resist letting everyone know that Wolverine mops the floor with Deadpool.
“Sam celebrated his 8th birthday with dueling #wolverine and #deadpool cakes,” Jackman wrote in the caption. “I think it’s crystal clear who won the battle. Don’t you?”
As of this writing, Reynolds has yet to respond to the latest barb, but we’re sure it’s only a matter of time until he fires back at his long-time adversary. Then again, the actor might have been caught off-guard considering that, just a few weeks ago, Jackman told TODAY that he’d be giving Reynolds a reprieve out of respect for Blake Lively who’s trapped inside with the mouthy Deadpool actor:
“It is not over. But look, we’re in extraordinary times. [My wife] actually said to me, really, this is a time to rethink all that and maybe it’s time to build a bridge. I wasn’t ready for that, but then Blake [Lively] reached out. Blake and Deb have been brokering this thing and we came up with participating in the All In Challenge. We’ve been reaching out to Blake, we talked to her, ’cause can you imagine quarantine, stuck in the house with Ryan? It must be brutal for her.”
Not only did Jackman and Reynolds pause their “feud,” but they teamed up together and joined the All In Challenge by offering one fan a chance to run a lemonade stand for a day with the two actors, which sounds like fun — if they can get along.
On Friday, Lil Yachty shared his feature-packed album Lil Boat 3. The final installment in his Lil Boat series, the album boasts verses by big names like Drake, DaBaby, Young Thug, and ASAP Rocky. To reign in the record’s release, Lil Yachty tapped up-and-comer Draft Day for a video accompanying their joint track “Demon Time.”
In the visual, Lil Yachty links up with his childhood friend and fellow rapper along with some of their crew to have a good time. The duo posts up in Yachty’s bright red Jaguar sportscar, flaunts an obligatory stack of cash, and rides around with the top down, all while keeping up with each other’s fast-paced flow. “I look up to Mom and Mom only / I ran up a sack in some orange grey Saucony’s / My bitches give love, but I’m still feelin’ lonely / My heart got a space the same size as a condo,” Yachty raps.
Lil Yachty’s record arrives after the rapper attempted to keep himself entertained in quarantine through a series of antics. Along with jokingly selling a $500 roll of Bape toilet paper, Yachty began paying fans to enact dares live on camera. Yachty paid a fan $200 to shave their eyebrows on his Instagram Live stream and offered another $500 to do something much more unspeakable.
Watch Lil Yachty’s “Demon Time” video above.
Lil Boat 3 is out now via Quality Control Music/Motown Records. Get it here.
Around the country, bars, restaurants, distilleries, and breweries are either in the process of reopening or, at the very least, preparing to. Most are also currently offering pick-up, delivery, and curbside options to stay afloat. Sometime soon they’ll be able to open their doors to customers again (though whether they do or should is a different matter).
If/ when bars do reopen, they’ll be opening themselves, their staff, and their customers to a new world of regulations, safety precautions, dangers, and fears. What will the socially-distanced seating system look like? How many people can enter at once? Are masks required? These are tricky waters and people’s lives are at stake — surely, within that context, we can all manage to drink beer at home. Even from an economic perspective, a second wave of COVID-19 cases could lead to another full-blown quarantine. These aren’t choices to be taken lightly.
To get a better idea of just how complicated the prospect of reopening is, we’ve asked a handful of bar professionals to tell us how they’re surviving through the crisis and what their plans are for the future.
Cantu says that he and others in the distilling world have spent the past few months waiting. “Indianapolis has not given a clear description for when bars can reopen.” He adds, “Guidelines are in place for restaurants reopening, but we are behind the current state plan that has been administered.”
While he waits, he says his staff is ready to work. “Most of our staff is comfortable with reopening. We will be limiting the number of essential associates while the bar is open and operating.”
While they haven’t been able to have customers in their tasting room or bar area, West Fork has been open throughout the crisis as a bottle shop for pickups.
“We designed craft cocktail mixers for at-home cocktail development during this quarantine to pair with our whiskies,” Cantu notes.
The demand for liquor and at-home drinks has pushed the bottle shop to remain open seven days a week with a new online ordering platform.
“Balancing extra days with increased work and limited staff creates some resolvable issues from time to time. Our production team has also been working at capacity to fulfill liquor and canned cocktail orders for grocery stores.”
When they do reopen to the public, much of Cantu’s concern revolves around social distancing.
“The biggest worry is crowd control during service. Do we need more staff or to reconfigure responsibilities during service? The extra measures needed to be put in place and potential lack of business levels have also been topics of discussion.”
Cantu wants all visitors to read instructions before entering any establishment. “Many businesses have taken their own measures depending on staff levels and operation, so be aware of signs, be aware of your surroundings, and be courteous.”
Nate Simmons, bar manager at Garden & Grain in Pensacola, Florida
Simmons says that fear of the unknown is the hardest aspect of reopening a bar. “Just the unknown of what today brings,” he says. “Unknown brings anxiety. When are we opening? What’s next?”
He’s focused heavily on daily communication — upping his managerial and all-staff contact with Zoom meetings and group texts to help keep all employees on the same page. So far the biggest problem Simmons has faced is the ever-changing adjustment of hours for employees.
“We were pivoting our business model basically overnight from on-premise sales to becoming exclusively to-go,” he says.
Garden & Grain’s products changed, their top sellers changed, and their packaging changed. “But mostly the unpredictable juggling of schedules week to week has been difficult. Now, as we get back into the swing of things, we are now open later and adjusting to being comfortable with guests’ needs.”
Like many bars, breweries, and distilleries, Garden & Grain completely changed its business model to stay relevant. “We’ve been focused on to-go and virtual happy hours, and our community has supported us so much,” Simmons says. “We understand that this can’t go on forever. We are definitely ready to get back to full occupancy but we will balance that with the need to keep distance and keep our customers safe.”
Kurt Bellon, restaurant manager and beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis
Bellon, says that the biggest challenge is re-calibrating the business operations to adjust to the new challenges. These challenges are mainly centered around the supply chain. But he’s also anticipating a major adjustment period for the new expectations of his guests.
“It’s a good feeling to know that we can seek control on our side by implementing the most intentional and helpful strategies for reopening safely for our guests,” he says.
Chao Baan’s curbside service has been efficient during the lockdown so Bellon isn’t in a rush to change that. “We started offering curbside Thai cocktails to-go and they’ve been a huge hit with guests so while we are reopening to welcome our guests back, we were in more of a rush to implement curbside offerings at the onset to stay afloat.”
Overall, Bellon is most worried about the long-term timeline of the societal changes that bars will continue to face. “This requires long-term strategies now and thinking that still needs to be flexible enough to react to day-to-day developments that are still occurring.”
His goals for reopening are simple, “Consistent sales while also avoiding doing too much that could jeopardize any ability to deliver a safe and timely product. Safety and quality of product and service remain the top priority.”
Bellon says that Chao Baan is lucky to not have to worry yet about permanent closure. “But the unknown variable of the length of this period and long term shift in consumer behavior will likely affect any established business model’s feasibility going forward.”
Before customers return, Bellon wants them to know a few things. “You have to know the difference in the service steps and extra precautions we are talking as well as precautions that we expect of our guests.” He adds, “We’re all going to have to work together to achieve the common goal of keeping our diners and staff in a safe environment.”
For Hogrebe reopening is a slow process that definitely shouldn’t be rushed. “Our customers’ safety is extremely important to us and we want to make sure we are taking all precautions for that. We are lucky to have so much outdoor space that we can utilize and spread people out between.”
Like the others on this list, 200 South adapted to fit the current needs of its customers. “We have tried to be innovative and use our outdoor space to the best of our ability as well as modify our ordering areas so we can service people in an acceptable, socially distant way.”
Hogrebe says that the staff of 200 South has gone to painstaking measures to organize clean and dirty pens, and systems to sanitize properly — new ways to set up to be more efficient, new merchandise ideas to help drive revenue. She says that when customers visit, they should be prepared for things to be a little bit different.
“We have rearranged all our furniture, changed equipment around. Our staff is doing everything in their power to provide a great experience. Just… please be patient.”
Throughout all of this, Hogrebe says that the bar staff’s main goal is to stay positive. “We have held staff meetings to keep staff informed, hosted car washes to help staff make money, and found any way we can to continue to support our staff along the way while so many of them are not making any or only very little income.”
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