Another Wrestling Question On Pointless

'They had a question about your wrestlers on Pointless this evening'

That was what one of my friends told me last night. I had to investigate immediately.

As I suspect some are aware, but some might not be, Pointless is a weekday evening game show on BBC One. The best way I can describe it is it's like a reverse Family Feud/Fortunes in that one hundred people have been asked the same questions. The aim in Pointless is for the quizzers to give answers that score the lowest amount of points. That's either by giving an answer not many of the 100 polled have given or - even better - a response no one has offered. The latter would be  'pointless'.

The couple who make it to the final round then get to answer a final question and hope that one of their three responses is pointless.

Pointless' WrestleMania-themed Question

Last night's finalists were given a choice of answering a question about 'Wrestling'. One of the categories was 'WrestleMania Main Eventers'. They had to give three names of people who starred in the closing match of any of the past forty-one WrestleManias. For what it's worth, and it is worth a lot to me (but that's another story!), they could have given any of the names who have headlined the Saturday night cards of two-night Manias. 

After conferring for their allotted one minute, the ladies opted to go with Jake Paul, The Undertaker and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as their three answers.

Jake Paul was an incorrect answer because he has never main evented a WrestleMania. Neither has his brother, Logan, who is the WWE star in the family.

The Undertaker, regarded as one of the main characters in WrestleMania history due to his lengthy undefeated streak, was not a pointless answer. Eleven members of the panel knew him.

Of the three names given, and considering he's arguably one of the biggest names in modern wrestling history, I expected Steve Austin to get the majority of points. Surprisingly, only one of the one hundred pollsters gave Austin as an answer.

ONE!!

As the contestants were making their selections, I wrote three answers of my own down. I went with Mr T (headlined the first WrestleMania alongside Hulk Hogan against 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and 'Mr Wonderful' Paul Orndorff), Sid Justice (main evented WrestleMania VIII and XIII) and 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase (WrestleMania IV).

Some WrestleMania-themed Pointless Answers

Once we knew the contestants had failed to find a pointless answer, Michael Ball - who was sat in the researchers' seat (or whatever it's called!) - showed a few of the pointless answers on the screen. Andre the Giant (WrestleMania III), Becky Lynch (WrestleMania XXXV), Kurt Angle (WrestleMania XIX) and Shawn Michaels (WrestleManias XII, XIV, XX and XXIII) were highlighted. However, Ball ran off a list of other names like Bianca Belair (Saturday of Mania XXXVII) and Ronda Rousey (WrestleMania XXXV). He also named all three of my selections and botched the pronunciation of 'Dibiase' as he did so. Fair. I'm sure I would have done the same had that name been new to me.

Wrestling questions have featured on Pointless a few times over the years. Most have been resulted in a lot of British wrestlers from history being acknowledged. 

The only Brit who would have been a correct answer, for last night's question, would have been Drew McIntyre. 

The Scot was in the main event of WrestleMania XXXVI, which was held inside WWE's Performance Center during the Pandemic. McIntyre won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar in the main event but also defended the strap, with a win over The Big Show, in a dark match immediately afterwards.

Curiosity has me wondering if McIntyre was a pointless answer or not. That's something I'm going to try and find out.

Stay tuned.

More About Pac

I'm watching last night's episode of WWE Raw as I write this post. It opened with a graphic of Pac (Benjamin Satterley), who wrestled for the company - under the alias of Adrian Neville - during the mid-to-late 2010s.

More news of the death came out last night. Pac was found parked up in his rental car outside a restaurant in Illinois close to O'Hare Airport. 

Law enforcement suggests there was no indication of foul play or trauma and the death didn't appear suspicious. 

William Regal's tribute to Pac

One of the things which struck me over the past day and a bit was a post William Regal wrote on TAFKA Twitter a fortnight ago. I had read it initially, but the words were far from my mind yesterday morning when I wrote the post.

Regal took to the social media platform to say he was on a plane returning home from Mexico and happened to have bumped into Pac on the journey.

The former pro wrestler, who now works in a senior role at WWE, had glowing words for Satterley. It stood out to me back when I first read it because Regal was writing about a person who worked for the opposition.

That, itself, should explain just how much of an impact Pac had with people both inside and looking in on the pro wrestling business.

Other words about Pac

There were so many posts and tributes written about Pac yesterday. I thought Newcastle United showed class by offering condolences. However, the words which really made me smile came from AEW referee - Bryce Remsburg - who wrote the following:

It was cool to read of Pac giving Newcastle United shirts to Remsburg's children (the photo evidence appeared in the post). I also found it brilliant that Pac gave those kids Kinder Eggs.

For those who don't know, Kinder Surprise is banned in the USA due to a 1938 law which prohibits non-edible products being concealed inside confectionary products.

I've been aware of that silly law for quite a while. Realising Pac was a Kinder smuggler brought a chuckle at this unhappy time.

'Pac Died...'

I woke up in the early hours of this morning with one plan: check out any direct messages on TAFKA Twitter, but ensure not to look at the main timeline to avoid the LA Rams versus Denver Broncos score.

Upon opening the app, one picture stood out. I had to stop.

Pac died...

That was the message my friend had left for me to read this morning. 

Stunned. That's the only appropriate word I could use to describe how I felt upon seeing that image. 

For those who don't follow wrestling - Pac was a British wrestler. He started his career in the early-to-mid 2000s and spent a few years working for NXT/WWE under the name Adrian Neville (or just 'Neville' by the end of his stint there). 

Upon leaving WWE, Benjamin Satterley returned to the Independent scene using his earlier name of 'Pac'. Then, in 2019 or so, he made his way to the number two US wrestling promotion - All Elite Wrestling. 

He last appeared on this past Saturday's AEW All Out show.

No cause of death has been revealed at this time.

This is the second tragedy to strike AEW in recent weeks. Former AEW talent - Andy Williams, who wrestled as 'The Butcher' - passed away following a medical emergency during an indie show on September 5th. 

A Funny(ish) Dream

I had a funny(ish) dream last night.

For some reason, I had taken a trip to London and was on my way home. Before I entered the station, I stopped off at a shop and came across a packet of crackers I was intrigued by.

They were Cheez-Its. In an untraditional blue and white bag. I looked at them and noticed they were a salted caramel flavour. I surmise they were a festive limited edition or something. 

Anyway, as I was inside the shop, a gang of males started hassling the shop assistant. I ended up performing a DDT on the ringleader and was then chased out by his toadies.

I didn't get to buy, let alone try, the Cheez-Its.

That was the bad news. The good: at least the DDT has become a significant finishing move again. It hadn't been since the days of Jake 'The Snake' Roberts.

57+ Years In The Making: Texas At Tennessee

Mankind was a little over six months from making a giant leap the last time the University of Tennessee played the Texas Longhorns.

They finally meet again today. This time with Texas sitting number one in the rankings. The Vols, on the other hand, are fourteenth.

Both are currently 3-0 this early in the season, so - to steal a line from boxing - someone's 0 is going to go.

It's a game I'm locked in for. Disney Plus has it listed, so I'll be watching it sans my Texas t-shirt because I forgot to put it in the wash in time. 

The US President is also scheduled to be in attendance. That's sure to highlight how big this game is historically.

The last time Texas and Tennessee met was in '69

As noted, this will be the first time in over fifty-seven years since the two sides opposed each other in college football. The Cotton Bowl game, from January 1st 1969, ended 36-13 in favour of Texas.

The Arch Manning-led Longhorns are currently five-and-a-half point road favourites. 

The spreadsheet's side and total for Texas' visit to Tennessee

For this special occasion, I have dusted off my spreadsheet to see its projections.

The results have Tennessee winning outright by five points. That's a 10.5 point swing. As for the total - it suggests taking Over 55 points. 

I'm not willing to bet against Texas, even though the spreadsheet firmly has them losing. My only bet will be on the game's total exceeding 55.

Texas @ Tennessee kicks off at 5pm BST today. Those in the UK can watch the game on Disney Plus.

The National Lottery Loses The Spirit Of Christmas

If you've regularly visited this blog for countless years, especially around Autumn, you're bound to have seen me hype up the annual National Lottery Advent scratch cards.

I play one each year, scratching off one window a day from December 1st through to Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately, I've made the decision not to buy one for Christmas 2026. Here's why.

The National Lottery's current owners - Allwyn - have made some drastic changes to the 'Christmas Countdown' theme.

As you can see above, this year's card offers players thirty-two chances of winning a £1 Million jackpot. On the surface, that's excellent, giving six opportunities more than previous versions of the £5 cards.

There's one of a few problems, however.

These cards were devised using an Advent calendar theme. There should only be twenty-four windows. Thirty-two 'windows', in this game, is losing the spirit.

Sure, I could change things up by scratching once a day from late November.

The design doesn't even look like a regular Christmas theme. For example, check out the cards I played in 2014 and even the previous version. 

This year's looks like a generic scratch card with a half-assed attempt to make it look somewhat festive using colours associated with Christmas and throwing a bit of decorations here and there.

Contrasted with every single Advent card I've ever played in my lifetime, it is shoddy.

This isn't the only change Allwyn has made to the traditional National Lottery business this year. 

A few months ago, the operator - who picked up the licence in 2024 - introduced a new way of playing the regular National Lottery. Players' numbers are now entered into two draws each Wednesday and Saturday.

Just like with this scratch card shake up, I found the new approach pointless. As did a family member who opted to stop buying tickets after being a weekly player since the first draw in 1994.

I could close by stating 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?' but that would mean I'd know how good or bad the National Lottery's business is doing right now. 

What I do know is this: Advent begins December 1st. Not November 22nd. 

'Uh Oh', Gremlins 3 Gets A New Release Date

Gremlins 3  has a new release date.

The third film is set to hit cinemas on October 6th 2028. That's eleven months later than what was announced last year.

This news was revealed in a teaser posted by Warner Bros. on social media overnight.

The seconds-short clip shows Gizmo's head visible from inside of a bag. He utters 'uh oh' in his famous Mogwai tone.

And that's it. For now.

The first Gremlins flick in thirty-eight years

Gremlins 3 will be the first movie in the franchise since 1990's Gremlins 2: The New Batch. The original was released forty-two years ago and is one of my favourite films. 

I loved Gremlins, but found its sequel to be a letdown. Despite that, I am keen to revisit the franchise after all this time.