Gen X Sports: Pro Wrestling's Most Heinous Villains

Sexiest Female Athletes, Flat-Belly Secrets AND Your "Phillies Karen" Defense Strategy

Author

Stephen Perrine
September 16, 2025

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🚨 Welcome to this week’s issue of Generation Xcellent. I’m Stephen Perrine, New York Times bestselling author and former top editor at Men’s Health and Maxim. And like you, I’m doing all I can to survive the moshpit of midlife. Thanks for joining me on the journey! (And as always, our content is 100% Organic Intelligence—written by guys like us, for guys like us.)

Stephen Perrine

- GEN X CULTURE -

Alamy

Pro Wrestling’s Most Heinous Villains

You can root for the good guys, but it’s the evildoers who make things interesting.

By Robert Tuchman

> When we were little kids, pro wrestling was just a weird collection of guys in old-timey bathing suits jumping on one another and calling poor Vince McMahon a “pencil-necked geek.” And when the going got tough, we could always count on Chief Jay Strongbow to launch into his war dance, summon his powers, and win the day.

Then things got weird. We’re not saying steroids played a role, but by the time we hit our teenage years, pro wrestling was a lot scarier, and so were the men who performed in it. Here’s our list of the most intimidating villains of the Gen X era. [And check out the sexiest female wrestlers of all time!]

8. Millionaire Ted DiBiase 
As an up-and-coming wrestler, he once endured four piledrivers in a single match, including one on the concrete floor of the WTBS studio that left the audience visibly weeping. But it wasn’t until he developed the “Millionaire” persona, with dollar-sign-bedecked suit and diamond-encrusted belt, that DiBiase really got into debasing others, including kicking basketballs away from little kids and paying a then-unknown Linda McMahon (now our Secretary of Education!) to lick his feet for money. Rappers everywhere should be duking this guy style royalties.

7. Big John Studd 
His unnerving gimmick was to bring a stretcher into the ring and ensure that his opponent left on it. He became a superstar, however, by being a frequent, and surprisingly effective, counterweight to Andre the Giant, who had 6 inches and 155 pounds on him. Their ongoing feud resulted in a bodyslam challenge in which Andre dropped Studd so hard, the entire ring collapsed.

6. Ravishing Rick Rude
In a sport festooned with enormous guts and questionable hairstyles, Rude rocked an 8-pack and a Chippendale’s style mustache. He would taunt male audience members by poking fun of their bellies and then making passes at their dates. Tried to cuckold Jake “The Snake” Roberts, until Roberts’s wife smacked him, busting Rude’s eardrum.

5. The Iron Sheik 
The only Iranian-born heavyweight champion, The Iron Sheik debuted in the WWF in 1979, to immaculate timing. He became the perfect villain as American hostages spent 444 days of captivity in the Iranian embassy—and the perfect foil for his patriotic nemesis, Sgt. Slaughter.

4. King Kong Bundy
Imagine a bathtub full of water with a dead body floating in it. Now imagine that tub tumbling through the air and landing on you. Such was the impact of the “Avalanche Splash,” from King Kong Bundy, a lumbering advertisement for the dangers of inbreeding.

3. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
Could actually play the bagpipes, in a tribute to his Scottish heritage. Piper started out as perhaps the greatest heel in wrestling, but he became so popular—especially after his acclaimed acting debut in the horror classic They Live—that he just became too hard to hate, and was pretty much forced into becoming a hero. “I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum.”

2. Vince McMahon on Steroids 
Once a scrawny business major who MC’d his dad’s local wrestling show, McMahon discovered steroids and became a villain in his own right—and not just in the ring. Give him credit for building a struggling regional business into a global phenomenon, with a hand in the UFC, the World Bodybuilding Federation and the XFL. But those of us old enough to remember will always miss that innocent, chronically terrified pencil-necked geek.

1. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan
July 7, 1996: The greatest “heel turn” in wrestling history as golden boy Hulk Hogan—who only pretended to be a bad guy in that Rocky movie—shocked everyone by joining Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in the ring and leg-dropping poor Macho Man Savage again and again until his neck turned into a Slim Jim. There is no hate like the hate you have for someone you once loved….

—Robert Tuchman, a media and sports entrepreneur, is a cofounder of Generation Xcellent and author of The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live.
🥚 IN AMERICA, WE CALL THIS “HALLOWEEN”

- FITNESS-

Adobe Stock

A Flat Belly Fast—at 45+

You won’t drop 15 pounds in a week, but with these 3 simple moves you’ll look like you actually did.

By Stephen Perrine

> Everyone once in while a Gen X man gathers up a deep breath, takes a long look at the world he’s made, and comes to a simple conclusion: Damn, I’m freakin’ fat.

I know, we’re supposed to be accepting of our shortcomings and all that. But those extra pounds are doing more than just fraying the holes in your belt. They’re also shortening your life. Indeed, Gen X men may be facing fewer years of healthy living than our parents did! (Which sucks, because there’s so much football on right now!)

Fortunately, you can make a stunningly rapid impact on your weight, and your health, with these three fast, belly-flattening moves.

Beat Belly Bloat with This One Trick. Much of what you’re seeing when you see a bloated belly isn’t fat per se; it’s inflammation, primarily in your liver. And one of the main contributors to that inflammation is a disrupted gut microbiome. In fact, research shows that the less diverse your gut microbiome, the more inflammation you’ll have–and the more bloating you’ll experience. The fast solution: Up the variety of plants in your diet. A study by the American Gut Project found that those who reported eating at least 30 different plants a week had the healthiest microbiomes. So don’t try to keep the doctor away with an apple a day. Stay healthy by having a different kind of fruit each day. And mix in lots of different vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans. Think plants aren’t macho enough? Consider this:  One study followed 3759 people over 12 years and found that those who ate the most leafy greens were stronger, faster and had more powerful legs than those who ate the least.

❝

THOSE WHO ATE THE MOST LEAFY GREENS WERE STRONGER AND FASTER THAN THOSE WHO ATE THE LEAST.

Drop Water Weight Fast. Carbohydrates that aren’t burned off right away are stored in the body as glycogen. But to store glycogen, the body needs water–every gram of glycogen stored in our bodies comes with three grams of water. If you reduce carbs, you not only begin to burn off the glycogen that’s stored, but you start losing that extra water as well. Try cutting all grains from your diet for one week–fruits, nuts and vegetables are still ok.

Stretch Your Flat-Belly Muscle. The more hours we spend sitting, the more our hip flexors–the muscles that run down the front of our hips and help us lift our legs–become shorter and tighter. That causes the pelvis to tilt forward–and makes it look like your belly is spilling over your belt. This stretch can correct pelvic tilt, making your midsection suddenly tighter and leaner:  

Place your left knee on a mat, with your right knee bent at 90 degrees, right foot flat on the mat. Reach your left hand up over your head toward your right shoulder and, as you do so, engage your butt muscles. Now lean farther to the right as you push forward with your left knee. You should feel a stretch in your left hip flexor, the muscle that runs down the front of your left hip. Hold the stretch for eight long breaths, then relax and switch sides to stretch the right hip flexor. Repeat on each side three to four times at the end of every workout. As you become more comfortable, extend the length of each stretch to about twelve breaths.

—Adapted from The Full-Body Fat Fix: The Science-Based 7-Day Plan to Cool Inflammation, Heal Your Gut, and Build a Healthier, Leaner You, by Stephen Perrine (St. Martin’s Press).

- FANTASY SPORTS -

Clockwise from top left: Alamy, prettyintense.com, @morgankissingbandit (Instagram), Alamy

Athletes We Wish We’d Drafted

Four legends who could have turned our fantasy draft into an actual fantasy.


> Gentlemen, let’s face it: our Ultimate Fantasy Draft is in shambles. We picked bruisers, speedsters, and guys who look like they were carved out of beef jerky, but we ignored the true game-changers. We whiffed on talent that could’ve taken us from playoff hopefuls to dynasty. Four glaring omissions stand out, and we’re here to eat crow, crack a beer, and confess our sins.

Danica Patrick
Danica is a 5’2” middle finger to every dude who thinks his Corvette makes him interesting. Drafting her would’ve been like snagging a nitro boost in Mario Kart: fast, unpredictable, and guaranteed to smoke your ass on the final lap. Plus, as the author of the sexiest workout book ever written, she would have made two-a-days something to look forward to. 

Natalie Gulbis
The LPGA’s answer to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. We left her on the draft board, and for what? Another linebacker with a neck thicker than a tree stump? Idiots. Gulbis would’ve been our ultimate clubhouse distraction, draining putts in the morning and draining confidence from every opponent dumb enough to underestimate her.

Anna Kournikova 
Yes, yes, she never won a singles title, but Anna was the human embodiment of appointment television. Every serve was a photo shoot, every match a sellout, every opponent already half-defeated before stepping on the court. Anna was Instagram before Instagram existed, and we blew it.

Morganna the Kissing Bandit 
The GOAT of chaos agents. Forget “mental toughness,” Morganna invented weaponized distraction. August 1969, Crosley Field: Pete Rose at the plate. Morganna vaults out of the stands, sprints across the diamond, and plants a kiss square on his cheek. Rose, furious, allegedly barked, “You crazy fucking broad. Are you out of your fucking mind?” Mission accomplished. She wasn’t a player. She was a tactical nuke in lipstick.

- MASCULINITY -

Snapchat

9 Gen-X Guy Comebacks to “Phillies Karen”

Showing gentlemanly restraint is one option. But sometimes, sowing chaos is the better way forward.

By Bob Larkin

>By now, you’ve probably seen the viral clip: a Florida dad at a Phillies-Marlins game snags a Harrison Bader home run ball, hands it to his son, and then immediately folds under the shrieking assault of a woman in a Phillies jersey, now canonized online as “Phillies Karen.”

The internet, naturally, declared him “Beta Dad,” accused him of killing American masculinity, and suggested he hit the dojo before raising children again. Some analyzed his body language like it was the Zapruder film of Wimpiness. 

When your child is being subjected to a sewer-pipe’s worth of verbal abuse, folding quickly might be the best option. But it’s also the most boring. So we’d like to offer some alternatives. The next time you find yourself in a Phillies Karen situation, there may be more creative ways to handle it—none of which involve unconditional surrender.

The Gladiator Games: Hold the ball high and shout, “Only one shall leave with the sacred orb of Harrison Bader!” Then toss it into the aisle like it’s Thunderdome. Instant melee. Beer cascades, nachos fly, and you and your kid watch the carnage like emperors in the cheap seats.

The Spontaneous E-Bay Auction: Whip out the phone and start the listing right there: “Phillies Karen’s Screech-Blessed Homer, Slightly Moist With Rage-Spittle.” Start at $499. Announce shipping is extra if you want it hand-delivered.

The NFT Flex: Shout, “This ball isn’t yours or mine, it belongs to the blockchain!” Snap a selfie, mint the moment as an NFT, and then watch Karen try to figure out how to download OpenSea on her phone before the inning ends. 

The Dad Toss to the Gods: Launch the ball back onto the field and scream, “None of us are worthy!” Both Karen and your kid look confused, but now the entire stadium hates you equally.

The Biohazard Defense: Lick the ball slowly and deliberately, like you’re auditioning for Fear Factor. Karen backs away, the crowd cheers, and your son learns a valuable lesson: possession is nine-tenths of the law. Saliva does the rest.

The Deepfake Diversion: Announce loudly, “This isn’t the real ball, it’s AI-generated!” Then mime throwing it while palming it like a magician. Half the section debates ChatGPT ethics while your son still has the souvenir.

The Greta Thunberg: Glue yourself to the ball with Gorilla Glue and chant, “No ball, no planet!” Suddenly the Phillies-Marlins game becomes the world’s most confusing climate protest.

The Travis Kelce: Toss the ball to the nearest camera and scream, “This one’s for Taylor!” Within hours, Swifties make it canon. Phillies Karen gets doxxed on TikTok.

The Gen X Flex: Light a Marlboro, crack a warm Rolling Rock, and mumble, “Lady, I’ve survived Reaganomics, Y2K, and dial-up porn. You think I’m giving you this ball?” End scene.

—Bob Larkin writes for The New York Post, Men’s Health, and other outlets.
🤖 THIS DEFINITELY WON’T RALLY THE TERMINATORS

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