Faking It (on the Mat and at Your Job)

I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was 10 years old. Don’t get me wrong, I know that the results are predetermined, but I still admire the athleticism of many of the professional wrestlers. I have also been intrigued with the narratives and storylines that are so important in professional wrestling. An excellent professional wrestler needs to be a great athlete, but he also must be able to tell a story or have his or her manager tell their story in order to get over with the fans. Donald Trump has participated in a number of WWE storylines and skits in the past. He is still able to get over with his MAGA fans.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaking at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit, an annual gathering of education and learning leaders, where she mistakenly referred to AI (artificial intelligence) as A1 a number of times. I think that Linda, an owner of the WWE with her husband. Vince took a few too many “stunners” from Stone Cole Steve Austin at her old job. In a WWE skit, Linda once portrayed a comatose wife, (rather convincingly,) while her husband was portrayed hitting on beautiful Divas. It’s embarrassing that she is Education Secretary.

WrestleMania takes place this weekend. It is the biggest show for the WWE. Let’s see how well I do in figuring out the winners based on my interpretation of the existing storylines.

Match	Winner	Degree of Certainty
Jacob Fatu LA Knight	Jacob Fatu	98%
Jade Cargill Naomi	Jade Cargill	88%
Logan Paul AJ Styles	Logan Paul	60%
Drew McIntyre Damian Priest	Drew McIntyre	65%
Rey Mysterio El Americano Grande	El Americano Grande	52%
The New Day The War Raiders	The New Day	65%
Dominik Mysterio Penta Bron Breakker Finn Balor	Dominik Mysterio	51%
Bianca Belair Iyo Sky Rhea Ripley	Iyo Sky	51%
Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan Bayley and Lyra Valkyria	Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan	90%
Tiffany Stratton Charlotte Flair	Tiffany Stratton	51%
Jey Uso Gunther	Jey Uso	60%
John Cena Cody Rhodes	John Cena	70%
CM Punk Seth Rollins Roman Reigns	Seth Rollins	52%

WrestleMania 40 Predictions

I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was a 10 year old boy. I grew up watching all kinds of wrestling shows. I remember staying awake at midnight to watch Florida wrestling with Gordon Solie at midnight when I was in college. I am not a “mark.” I know the results are pre-determined. Pro wrestling has entertained me more than watching baseball, tennis and other major sports. So let’s pretend I am the “Booker” and choosing the winners for this weekend.

Card	Predictions
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins	The Rock & Roman Reigns
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch	Rhea Ripley
Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn	Gunther
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso	Jey Uso
Bianca Belair, Naomi & Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka & Kairi Sane)	Bianca Belair, Naomi & Jade Cargill
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio	Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre	Drew McIntyre
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles	LA Knight
Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley	Bayley
Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)	The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)
Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens	Logan Paul
Six-Pack ladder match for Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Bálor) vs. Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller)	Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Bálor)
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes	Cody Rhodes

Reading Between the Lies

If you’re smart, you believe half of what you hear. Brilliant is when you know which half.
Robert Orben

In my younger years I had a friend who was a great storyteller. He spun stories of his various adventures in travel, career and financial success and seducing women. His stories enthralled many a stranger or new acquaintance. My friend’s tales were entertaining and always showed him in a positive light. The sad part was that my friend was starting to believe in his stories. He could not differentiate between truth and fiction. He believed in his lies.

Lies and exaggerations are the verbal currencies of politics, business, advertising, culture and social media. The more outrageous and fanciful the lie or exaggeration, the more likely it is to spread and to be believed. Indeed, in politics, many campaigns spin fake news in order to stoke contributions and support.

Followers of professional wrestling are labeled as “marks.” Marks totally buy into the character branding of the wrestlers, the contrived storylines and rivalries and that the match results are not scripted. They have not understood that pro wrestling is entertainment, not sport. Great athletes performing choreographed feats of strength, agility, strikes and body slams.

Politics also has “marks.” They are known as “Trumpsters.” Donald Trump has worked with World Wrestling Entertainment in the past. He has participated in a Wrestlemania storyline and his casinos sponsored Wrestlemania events in the past. One of Trump’s Cabinet appointments was Linda McMahon who along with her husband Vince owned the WWE. January 6, 2021 was Trump’s political version of Wrestlemania. Trump promoted the event and his “marks” thought that they could overturn the results of a fair election process. Just like a “battle royale,” Trump’s followers battled Capitol police and even used not so hidden foreign objects just like “heel” wrestlers do to cheat in their matches.

George Washington purportedly said in his youth, “Father, I cannot tell a lie.” There is very little evidence that Washington ever said those words. It’s part of the myth around our first president. Sadly, no modern day politician could ever say that phrase with a straight face.

I have picked on politicians and their lies. However the business world is replete with lies, exaggerations and spin. One cannot trust the accuracy and integrity of quarterly corporate results, CEO guidance, product and service capabilities, mission statements and denials of corruption, regulatory malfeasance, sexual harassment and mismanagement.