FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Greggulator on March 16, 2011, 12:09:12 PM
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A lot of wrestling chatter came up in the chat last night after Tom's discussion of The Bruise Cruise.
The late, great WCW promotion used to have a Bruise Cruise which was a cruise in which patrons could interact with their favorite WCW superstars. Perhaps this is where Sting learned how to use a zip line?
The following video also involves a boat. Evildoers Vader and Sid Vicious (along with managers Colonel Robert Parker and Harley Race) formed an alliance called "The Masters of the Powerbomb" and graciously offered Sting and Davey Boy Smith a chance to retire before a match.
Sting and Davey Boy ignored the request. So Sting, Vader and their managers went to the beach where Sting and Davey Boy were playing beach volleyball with children. Seeking revenge, the Masters of the Powerbomb hired a midget named Cheatum to place a bomb on a boat, which is nearly fatal.
Blast at the Beach (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qhJwIHZu8#)
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I loved wrestling as a kid. My best/worst/only celebrity sighting was seeing Sting at a Wendy's before a NWA live event in 1988.
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I loved wrestling as a kid. My best/worst/only celebrity sighting was seeing Sting at a Wendy's before a NWA live event in 1988.
Were any NWA people there? I wonder if they had a weird encounter with Sting, and maybe that has something to do with Fuck The Police.
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The following video also involves a boat. Evildoers Vader and Sid Vicious (along with managers Colonel Robert Parker and Harley Race) formed an alliance called "The Masters of the Powerbomb" and graciously offered Sting and Davey Boy Smith a chance to retire before a match.
Sting and Davey Boy ignored the request. So Sting, Vader and their managers went to the beach where Sting and Davey Boy were playing beach volleyball with children. Seeking revenge, the Masters of the Powerbomb hired a midget named Cheatum to place a bomb on a boat, which is nearly fatal.
Pretty cheesy for wrestling, but if the Masters of the Powerbomb were a rock band they would pretty much be gods for all of the above.
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The New Breed are the best forgotten tag team from the NWA. Their gimmick: They were from the year 2002 and were sent back in time to right the wrongs of the past! Their promos are the absolute most bizarre in pro wrestling history, which says a lot. I can't find it on YouTube, but there's one where they state that Dusty Rhodes is the president in 2002. They also came out to "Fight for your Right to Party". In a way, they foretold the future in the same manner that Network predicted how our media would one day be. Dusty Rhodes' interviews aren't too far from George Bush's circa 2002 and rap-rock was still an unfortunate part of mainstream music during that era.
Also, Chris Champion (1/2 of the New Breed) broke his arm. He worse a cast to the ring that was decorated with microchips.
New Breed Transformers Promo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfylZ-4cH04&feature=related#)
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Here's another New Breed promo. It must be seen to be believed. They have a talking robot named XTC1 who claims that the Rock'n'Roll Express are "minute slaveworkers" in the year 2002.
New Breed XTC1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3xyv28-mRo&feature=related#)
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WCW sure had a vision beyond what was happening at the time. But seriously, 1/2 their PPVs you hear Jim Ross passive-aggressively saying, "It's all about the wrestling here, no posedowns for the last 20 minutes." Yeah, but you guys had some TERRIBLE gimmicks.
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Locally speaking, there's a movie due out soon covering the story of Memphis Wrasslin'. It's called Memphis Heat(Website/trailer at http://www.memphis-heat.com/ (http://www.memphis-heat.com/) and blog at http://www.memphisheatthemovie.com/ (http://www.memphisheatthemovie.com/)), and the guys that produced it were previously responsible for the Memphis Garage and Frat Band history books and collections, as well as a couple of other books on local pro wrestling. So far it's only playing locally, but they're open to taking it anywhere that they think people would see it.
Memphis wrestling was a big deal for a few reasons. Not only did they innovate in feud and rivalry presentation by developing realistic personal storylines, but there were there a lot of people (both local and from other territories) that had some great feuds and matches in Memphis (Jerry Lawler, Randy Savage, Jimmy Valiant, Terry Funk, Jeff Jarrett, Bam Bam Bigelow, Rocky Johnson, and Rick Rude, for starters). The Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler feud was considered one of the greatest due to Kaufman and Lawler going to any length to make people believe that the hatred was legit, in spite of not having what wrestling people would call "good" matches.
Really though, if you know somewhere that would be into screening the movie, they have contact info on the blog site.
And as a bonus, here's something else legendary from Memphis Wrestling:
Jimmy Hart & The First Family - "We Hate School" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDzzx31xirQ#)
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Also, Chris Champion (1/2 of the New Breed) broke his arm. He worse a cast to the ring that was decorated with microchips.
Knowing that Chris Champion was part of this isn't a shock, he played a knock off Ninja Turtle named Cowabunga in Memphis before this.
Also, the best of the goofy Sting/Cheatum mini-movies is still THE WHITE CASTLE OF FEAR.
White Castle of Fear (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRsgDudT7D4#)
"Vader challenged me to A GAME?!"
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Roddy Piper is playing at the comedy club by me in May. I might go if I can get in free.
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I grew up near the WWF corporate offices in Stamford, CT. I used to see Hulk Hogan and the Mad Samoans at the mall a lot.
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My knowledge of wrestling is limited to the "Mass Transit Incident"
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Roddy Piper is playing at the comedy club by me in May. I might go if I can get in free.
Might see him in Atlanta as well. He did this show called Tournament of Nerds in L.A., where he judged which nerd represented a nerd idol the best. Someone represented Hulk Hogan, and Piper annihilated him. It was entertaining.
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The Andy Kaufmann/Lawler feud is a huge influence on my life. Andy Kaufmann was the first comic that I was completely obsessed with, and the Lawler stuff is the reason why. Breakfast With Blassie is one of the most ridiculous things ever filmed and is a must-watch. It also helped propel REM briefly to my favorite band status when they released Man on the Moon.
My favorite Memphis-based rassler of all-time is "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert's dad was a wrestler and he got into the industry that way. Hot Stuff overcame his smaller size and became one of the best heels in the history of wrestling. He was so great at being the Machiavellian schemer. Eddie's trademark was to help out a face, earn his trust, and then eventually turn on him for some sort of perceived slight. He also threw fireballs from his hand.
He was one of Jerry Lawler's biggest rivals but could never take away the crown from The King.
Behind the scenes, Gilbert was totally enigmatic. He was a booker in a lot of the leagues he belonged and was considered a genius. But his drug addiction and ability to disrupt locker rooms by sleeping with other peoples' wives always forced him out. His last match saw him wrestling against a trained bear in Puerto Rico. He died that night after a cocaine-caused heart attack.
Anyways, here's a clip of him running Jerry Lawler over with a car -- a formative part of my childhood. People in Memphis actually called the cops after they saw this happen. Memphis seems pretty awesome, even though the Grizzlies bore me to death.
Eddie Gilbert runs over Jerry Lawler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G27ssw7Np4c#)
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Reviving this thread just to post this video. I watch it pretty much on a weekly basis.
Booker T says Hulk Hogan is a Nigga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1o82BVKFp8#)
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Probably the most masculine song ever:
wcw american males theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyCwJ10QrHA#)
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Reviving this thread just to post this video. I watch it pretty much on a weekly basis.
Booker T says Hulk Hogan is a Nigga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1o82BVKFp8#)
I'm pretty sure this was just one of Mike's challenges back when Booker T was gunning to be Sting's protege.
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No amazing/awful wrestling moment tops the debut of THE SHOCKMASTER. This was part of the feud that entailed the earlier "Midget attmepts to blow up a boat in front of orphans" link posted above.
Sting and Davey Boy introduced their partner for the upcoming War Games match... The Shockmaster.
I won't say any more. This must be seen to be believed.
The Shock Master - THE FULL VERSION (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFFJnLW_2pU#)
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While wrestling certainly has its share of the absurd, there are actually plenty of performances in wrestling that are AWESOME.
This is one of my favorites. The Rock had an absence for a while and was making his return to Raw. Naturally, everyone wanted to cheer The Rock. But the Rock was returning as a heel. By the end of this promo, the entire nation of Canada was ready to destroy The Rock.
Just an amazing act of crowd baiting by The Rock. He has the crowd turn a complete 180.
The Rock in Toronto FULL PROMO! HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZPOq90fZRI&feature=related#)
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"And what an entrance by the ShockMaster." No wonder he was governor.
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Gregg, you happen to be a fan of Maffew's Botchamania videos? - http://botchamania.com/ (http://botchamania.com/)
It's pretty much a treasure of screwups in-ring and on mic. The only real drawback is the overuse of video game music soundtracks and covers, but on the whole it can be pretty fun to watch sometimes.
Speaking of botching - here's Scott Steiner talking and talking and talking some more.
Scott Steiner vs The English Language (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqT0quOMMBU#)
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Botchamania is pretty much required reading for any fan of awful wrestling.
Scott Steiner has provided me with so much joy over the years. For those who aren't fans: Scott Steiner was 1/2 of The Steiner Brothers, one of the best tag teams of all-time. At first, he was your standard lunkhead All-American from the University of Michigan. He had some of the coolest moves of his era -- including the "Frankensteiner."
Anyways, at some point he rechristened himself as "Big Poppa Pump" and "The Big Bad Booty Daddy." He's pretty much your average bodybuilding rapist type -- which, by all accounts, is his actual personality.
This is my favorite Big Poppa Pump interview. He for some reason starts talking about contract law.
WCW: Scott Steiner Discusses the Law (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WSAo5jQyLo#)
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One thing I'll always dig the Steiners for - their early 90's matches were more or less the gateway to Japanese wrestling for me. Every time there was a WCW/New Japan crossover card on US pay per view I'd try to get a hold of it, just to see Jushin Liger and Hiroshi Hase and Shinya Hashimoto. From there I got into Super J Cup Tournaments and All Japan Pro Wrestling. Even when I don't follow anything else in pro wrestling, I still keep an eye on good matches from Japan.
And wacky stuff too - Dramatic Dream Team has a wrestling blow-up doll.
DDT: Probably the best selling... ever... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qawVEKad6Qo#)
(I wanted to find the Florida Brothers videos but almost all of them are off of Youtube.)
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Speaking of Big Poppa Pump, has anyone seen his award-winning workout video? I think the girls in bikinis are supposed to represent steroids, which are noticeably absent:
Scott Steiner's Freak Show DVD promo.mov (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHcjmOtUSXM#ws)
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The Andy Kaufmann/Lawler feud is a huge influence on my life. Andy Kaufmann was the first comic that I was completely obsessed with, and the Lawler stuff is the reason why. Breakfast With Blassie is one of the most ridiculous things ever filmed and is a must-watch. It also helped propel REM briefly to my favorite band status when they released Man on the Moon.
My favorite Memphis-based rassler of all-time is "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert's dad was a wrestler and he got into the industry that way. Hot Stuff overcame his smaller size and became one of the best heels in the history of wrestling. He was so great at being the Machiavellian schemer. Eddie's trademark was to help out a face, earn his trust, and then eventually turn on him for some sort of perceived slight. He also threw fireballs from his hand.
He was one of Jerry Lawler's biggest rivals but could never take away the crown from The King.
Behind the scenes, Gilbert was totally enigmatic. He was a booker in a lot of the leagues he belonged and was considered a genius. But his drug addiction and ability to disrupt locker rooms by sleeping with other peoples' wives always forced him out. His last match saw him wrestling against a trained bear in Puerto Rico. He died that night after a cocaine-caused heart attack.
Anyways, here's a clip of him running Jerry Lawler over with a car -- a formative part of my childhood. People in Memphis actually called the cops after they saw this happen. Memphis seems pretty awesome, even though the Grizzlies bore me to death.
Eddie Gilbert runs over Jerry Lawler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G27ssw7Np4c#)
I guess it's the world's loss that Eddie Gilbert and Kevin Sullivan never formed a Mikado-themed tag team.
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I don't know the back story on these IPW promos, but there are a bunch of them on YouTube. Here is a sample of my favorites.
Best Wrestling Promo Ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISUHTo2NDs#)
IPW - Richie Rouge Can't Sqush An Apple (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkW3oc0LwTk&feature=related#)
IPW - Tony the Spider Speaks! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohAlaVd7mE&feature=related#)
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Finally, Hogan's response to Tough Enough (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/04/exclusive-hulk-hogan-training-little-people-new-show (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/04/exclusive-hulk-hogan-training-little-people-new-show)):
Hulk Hogan is stepping into a new ring, albeit this time with smaller proportions -- and RadarOnline.com has all the exclusive details.
The superstar pro-wrestler is taking on a new role in a TruTV reality show that’s in production now tentatively titled Micro Westling, which centers around the wrestling world of little people.
The Hulk (a.k.a. Terry Bollea) will be the man behind the wrestlers: “He’s the guy who inspires, recruits, trains and mentors them. He’s been involved in every step -- only this time it’s on a smaller scale,” his attorney David Houston tells RadarOnline.com exclusively.
“It will explore the fascinating world of wrestling on the scale of little people,” he adds. “It will show their extraordinary physical capabilities and the true strength of people of that stature.”
The show will also give viewers an inside look into what goes on day-to-day, how they train -- essentially “invading their world and learning about a whole different lifestyle,” Houston says.
After undergoing major back surgery late last year, the newlywed Hulk, who got married in December to longtime girlfriend Jennifer McDaniel, is back to full health.
“His health is exceptional,” Houston says. ‘He’s improved dramatically. He’s in better shape now than he has been in 15 years. He’s a remarkable athlete and I would not be surprised if he made a decision to get back into the ring and give wrestling another shot.”
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Haven't seen wrestling in a zillion years and didn't expect this to be such an entertaining/educational thread, keep it coming!
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The Steiners were a great introduction into really good overseas wrestling. It's a shame that they became such a joke because, legit, they were awesome. One of my favorite matches of all-time is from WCW's late, great "Clash of the Champions" -- a show that they would have periodically on TBS that was better than your average weekly show but not quite at the same level as a pay per view.
At Clash 19, WCW had some kind of tag tournament. The final match of the show (not the tournament) pitted The Steiners vs. The Miracle Violence Connection of Dr. Death Steve Williams and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy. It's pretty much seriously a legitimate wrestling match with a pre-determined ending. There's not one thing in this match that's faked. Just an awesome match.
Also of note: Chris Benoit made his US wrestling debut on this card, in a tag match w/ some guy named Beef Willington versus Jushin "Thunder" Lyger and "Flyin'" Brian Pillman. This was one of the matches that really introduced cruiserweight/aerial wrestling to the US and made wrestling a lot better.
Sadly, I can't track this down on YouTube.
WCW was such an awesome promotion. When it was bad, it was historically bad and amazing to watch unfold. But when it was great -- and it had some amazing stretches -- it absolutely destroyed anything the WWF did.
Speaking of which, this is a match I dug up on YouTube of The Steiner Brothers taking on Bret/Owen Hart when The Steiners were in the WWF. This is an AWESOME match -- one of the best tag matches ever, I think.
Hart Brothers vs. Steiner Brothers (Florence, SC 1/11/94) (1/3) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FPuVb6Bepo#)
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I can't believe we haven't posted about CM PUNK yet!
If you're not familiar with CM Punk, he's the wrestler that I think FOTs would like the most. His gimmick is that he's straightedge AND IS A BAD GUY! He's the whiny, sanctimonious straightedge kid you knew in high school/college who preached non-stop about his moral superiority.
Also: his theme music is some bad Converge rip-off. And he frequently slips in some hardcore references in his interviews.
This promo's great because CM Punk talks about how those who are sXe should celebrate Thanksgiving!
Cm Punk Straight Edge Heel Promo Vol 2.(Thanksgiving 2009) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcqapglffXI&feature=related#ws)
And here's one where he talks about how he doesn't need to make a New Year's Resolution because he's sXe.
Cm Punk Heel Promo on New Years Resolutions 1/1/10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObpNFuJpnM4
#ws)
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Greggulator: What's your take on ECW? While it went to the dogs once all the talent defected to the Big Two, it had a great run from 1995-1998. Paul Heyman offered a viable third choice and at one point his promotion was so successful that they were able to do pay-per-views and hold shows in venues other than bingo halls. While their main draw was their "extreme" wrestling, they had some great technical matches and during their peak featured a lot of guys who eventually went on to do big things -- a typical card might have included Dean Malenko, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Brian Pillman, and Chris Jericho. It was a promotion aimed at people who were "in the know," and their storylines were more sophisticated (admittedly, I use the word loosely) than those of the Big Two and sometimes dealt with the inner workings of the wrestling business. Their golden age was, I think, better than the stuff WWF and WCW were airing during that same period. When they rebranded themselves in '97-98, WWF stole a lot of ECW's gimmicks and storylines (see "Attitude Era").
Some thoughts on ECW:
-- Bragging about getting ready to defect to the Big Two was always a go-to angle for heels. I remember one match where Cactus Jack took off his shirt, revealing another shirt underneath it, which had Eric Bischoff's face on it with the words "I LOVE YOU ERIC" printed below it. The crowd was furious.
-- New Jack. Simply did not know how to wrestle. It was painful to watch this guy try to do a DDT. Most of his matches took place in the crowd and his finishing move was jumping off a balcony onto his opponent. Got in a massive amount of trouble for blading (a common practice in wrestling: the wrestler surreptitiously cuts himself with a razor to cause himself to bleed) an opponent who turned out to be underage.
-- Sabu. Gimmick: mysterious Middle Eastern man who spoke no English. Another wrestler who was basically a glorified stuntman. He actually knew how to perform some wrestling moves, but only hi-flier stuff like moonsaults. Participated in several barbed wire matches with Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, in one of which he was bleeding so badly the match had to be stopped. It was sad to see him get lost in the shuffle after ECW merged with WWF. Years after ECW went out of business, I was disappointed to find out that he actually knew English and had grown up in Michigan.
-- 911. Very tall guy who had a mullet and always wore a leather jacket. Would do run-ins at random in which he'd chokeslam everyone who happened to be in the ring at the time. From what I remember, the run-ins would have no relation to any storyline. I'm not sure he ever formally participated in any matches.
-- In a match between Terry Funk and Cactus Jack, Funk broke the chair he was hitting Cactus Jack over the head with. He called out for another chair. Everyone in the audience proceeded to throw chairs into the ring for about a minute, burying Jack and Funk. One of the best moments in wrestling history (video below).
Classic ECW Moment 1:Terry Funk Needs A Chair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re1unypDKAE#)
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In 1994/1995, I was a senior in high school. I was getting kind of sick of a decent amount of my friends -- they were all kind of preppy, honors students really concerned with SAT prep classes. I was kind of their token weirdo. They also listened to music that I came around to thinking was dreadful -- The Doors, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, etc.
But I had another group of friends that I started to hang out with more -- the skater kids that everyone thought were total druggies or whatever. These guys were more like me -- well-meaning screw-ups who liked doing things like throwing eggs at kids from other towns. And they also introduced me to bands like Minor Threat and The Descendents and Black Flag, and then we started going to the local North Jersey DIY punk shows where I got to see Weston and Less than Jake and the Bouncing Souls and Lifetime and Chisel and the like.
In 1994/1995, pro wrestling was at its absolute worst. The WWF was being dominated by Kevin Nash and The Undertaker and Sid Vicious -- all three big, giant stiffs -- and had evil dentists and "prideful" Native Americans amongst the lesser characters. Hulk Hogan was in WCW and was just the absolute worst -- he didn't turn heel yet and his stuff was as terrible as you'd think, brutha.
I found out about ECW through a wrestling newsgroup. I found out that it was on some low-rent cable channel in North Jersey. The first match I saw involved Sabu -- diving through the ropes into the crowd, laying people out on tables, etc. Then I saw The Sandman beat the hell out of someone with a Signapore Cane and a whole bunch of other things.
It might seem like a bit of a stretch of a metaphor -- but discovering ECW was pretty much like discovering punk and indie music.
I would be lying if I said that watching ECW in person wasn't a reason why I went to college in Philly. I saw ECW probably 25-30 times in person. Just the most insane, frightening, awesome stuff.
Aesthetically: You are are completely right. 1994-1999 ECW was just off-the-charts amazing. They introduced so many awesome wrestlers to the US -- guys who were great in Japan and Mexico but wouldn't get a chance in the WWF or WCW since they weren't bodybuilders. On top of the hardcore violent stuff, they also had some of the best "technical" wrestlers who ever lived. They gave Chris benoit his first big push. They gave Eddie GUerrero and Dean Malenko their first chances. They pushed Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. They introduced Rey Mysterio to the states.
They also briefly had Steve Austin. Austin was always pretty good in WCW as a kind of Ric Flair type. But they let him just go crazy on the microphone and it was mindblowing. He then went to the WWF and jumped from that character in ECW and became the biggest star in wretsling history, arguably.
ECW was just the best thing to happen in wrestling. The best storylines. They actually used somewhat cool music (they used to use Pavement and Beck for ring entrance music). Amazing characteres. And, at its best, it had the most piece-of-crap production values possible. It lost its flavor when its homegrown stars went to the big leagues and they tried to up their production values.
But going to see ECW was one of the most formative experiences of my high school and college years. My preppy friends -- all of them looked down on me for liking wrestling and then shaving my head and shopping and thrift stores. But my punk friends went to ECW and loved it. And, today, I'm going to the wedding of one of these guys and I guarantee we'll talk about ECW.
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Wrestling was simpler when I was a boy. If you don't watch much of this, at least forward to about 1:15 and give Jackie Fargo a chance to show you his patented strut. Tojo's gimmick was to pull out a wooden shoe and beat someone to a pulp with it, but I don't think it shows up in this clip.
Jackie Fargo & Tojo Yamamoto vs Phil Hickerson & Big Al Greene.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJVso15D1c#)
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I don't know the back story on these IPW promos, but there are a bunch of them on YouTube. Here is a sample of my favorites.
Best Wrestling Promo Ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISUHTo2NDs#)
IPW - Richie Rouge Can't Sqush An Apple (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkW3oc0LwTk&feature=related#)
IPW - Tony the Spider Speaks! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohAlaVd7mE&feature=related#)
For some reason I found myself watching these clips over WrestleMania weekend and while I liked them because they were bad I also found them kind of endearing. Here are guys who lack the size, skill, charisma, and talent to be wrestlers but they're not letting that stop them. I don't even mean that in a mean or ironic way- in 40 years Jumpin'Jeff farmer and Tony the Spider will be able to look back at their days as professional wrestlers. They had more success at than a lot of folks.
R
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PPW - Doug Gilbert shoot featuring Brian Christopher, Spellbinder, and Tommy Rich (full) - Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7d092vj9bY#)
This Doug Gilbert promo just makes me laugh. It has the best ending ever.
Crazy Japanese Wrestling With Invisible Opponent (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVM-qFeLPdw#)
And this here is wacky Japanese wrestling at it's wackiest.
THE GREATEST THING EVER! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pt2fD4Rr0w#)
But sometimes wrestling is at it's best when it's just two weird dudes yelling at each other.
And any wrestling fan here would likely enjoy Colt Cabana's podcast at- http://tsmradio.com/coltcabana/ (http://tsmradio.com/coltcabana/) He interviewsa variety of wrestlers. Mostly indy guys, but he also has had on CM Punk and Evan Bourne. The one with Cassandro is especially good even though I'd never heard of ther guybefore.
I could pretty much spend my whole day finding and posting wrestling video links but I'll spare you for now.
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NOTES:
1) The aforementioned wedding I was at featured a brief "Fargo Strut" contest.
2) I don't know a thing about the IPW stuff but I agree -- it's the same thing as guys in a crappy garage band just having fun that can have some laughs about this one day.
3) That Doug Gilbert interview is the stuff of legend. Doug Gilbert is the incredibly seedy younger brother of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, a boyhood hero of mine mentioned above. Dougie had some sort of contract dispute or perceived slight against the guy running Memphis wrestling at the time (who was in business cahoots with Jerry Lawler) and decided to burn that bridge. Lawler actually was charged with statutory rape right around then (charges were dropped) so that hurt. I'm pretty sure Dougie was right back in that promotion about five weeks later, despite claiming the owner smoked crack (which was, to be fair, probably true).
4) Colt's podcast is indeed awesome. He also does some stand-up comedy. He performed at a show I hosted that was a comedy tribute to pro wrestling last year -- he's a really great guy and super funny. He was briefly in the WWE and never got a chance to show his stuff.
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You want some insane Japanese wrestling? Check out SATIAMA PRO!
Satiama is a prefecture right outside of Tokyo -- sort of like Japan's North Jersey/Long Island. Satiama Pro is a homegrown wrestling promotion in Japan -- so homegrown, in fact, that it is held in the local elementary school gym and the ring is actually just a few mats. The hero is SURVIVAL TOBITA -- a local hero who is really into Japanese garage rock. The villains are a series of monsters who wish to do harm to the Satiama community.
His greatest rival: Mokujin Ken, aka Ken The Box. Mokujin Ken is based off a character from Mortal Kombat or one of those games. His backstory: the suburbs of Tokyo are becoming more sprawling and he's a tree that came to life to fight against suburban deforestization.
Here is the match that follows. It's one of the absolute best things ever:
Survival Tobita vs Mokujin Ken SPWC 23.08.1999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YHZNJVrRCo#)
Also: Here's Survival Tobita's poster!
(http://a4.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/121/6100ad405b744a8a97f6c4e4d5cc62b5/m.jpg)
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NOTES:
4) Colt's podcast is indeed awesome. He also does some stand-up comedy. He performed at a show I hosted that was a comedy tribute to pro wrestling last year -- he's a really great guy and super funny. He was briefly in the WWE and never got a chance to show his stuff.
I remember when Colt was in WWE he did some videos for WWE.com that were pretty funny. I was watching the Chris Jericho DVD the other day and it dawned on me that WWE just isn't funny anymore and Colt really could have helped them in that regard. Jericho was genuinely funny, Edge & Christian were genuinely funny and there was always a lot of real comedy that just doesn't exist anymore.
Re: ECW- I thought Raven in ECW was one of the greatest heels in wrestling history. Him and Stevie were just a great pair. He's another guy who was OK in WCW and the WWF, but once they let him do his thing in ECW he was just fantastic. Sabu certainly had his flaws as a wrestler, but I still loved him. The luchadores in WCW were so graceful that it could look cheoreographed and then in ECW you had Sabu just barrelling through things with no concern for his well being at all. ECW was like punk or indy rock in that if it hadn't come along the big 2 would have had no idea who to rip off or how to make their products more modern.
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RIP "Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney
That name probably doesn't mean anything to you unless you're a fan of indie wrestling. If you are, than his name means a lot.
Larry Sweeney performed in a lot of the better-known indie leagues in the country, most notably in Ring of Honor (probably the "third" league right now and known for placing an emphasis on athleticism) and Chikara (the most fun wrestling league ever -- a wacky lucha league started by a bunch of hardcore kids -- pretty sure the guys from Pissed Jeans had something to do with it -- from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. Chuck from Weston was one of their first referees, too).
Larry Sweeney was awesome right from the start. His character was that of an over-the-top old-school style wrestler who carried with him the "Texarkana TV Title" everywhere he went. He was too small to be a credible wrestling star, even in the indies, but he was so charismatic and such a great interview that he largely became a manager. He was always rumored to be making the jump to the WWE or TNA as a manager and Ric Flair was supposedly a huge fan.
I actually hung out with him once. A really good friend of mine is a wrestling referee in the indie leagues. One night about two years ago, we were going to just hang out and play Rock Band and then go out to grab a drink or bite to eat. There was a big wrestling show in Philly that weekend and Larry Sweeney came into town earlier than he expected, so he came over to the apartment where we were hanging.
I could see immediately why he was on his way to stardom. I was already a fan from watching his stuff on YouTube but, in person, I don't know if I've ever met someone so charismatic. My friend Rob said, "I've never wanted to join a cult, but if Larry Sweeney ordered me to drink Kook-Aid right now, I totally would." He was telling us these crazy stories about being a carnival worker in India, believing that he and his ex-girlfriend were reincarnated thousands of times, and just traveling the road as a wrestler. I also saw him put out cigarette ash on a cut on his foot since tobacco was a "healing plant".
We caught wind of this art kid party going on at some loft in Fishtown (which is sort of like Philly's Williamsburg, for a comparison) that was based around wrestling. They reached out to my friend to ref. I ended up actually wrestling that night, calling myself "The Richest Boy From Roxborough" and took on a guy with garbage taped all over himself -- a total dream come true to be a heel wrestler. Larry ended up taking on these two hipster girls but didn't tell them that he was ACTUALLY going to wrestle them -- they had NO idea what to make of him. But in the spirit of the business, he ended up losing to the girls and briefly lost his beloved Texarkana TV Title until he took it back via a technicality.
It was just one of those crazy nights that come out of nowhere. He was definitely out there. A couple of weeks after I met him, he started flaking out at shows and really worrying my friend and a lot of performers. He was bipolar and decided to stop taking his medicine because he got some advice from some "spiritualist" he met an airport, supposedly. He ended up doing really bizarre things, like videotaping himself wrestling children outside of a WrestleMania.
A few months back, he made a comeback. He got his crap together and was welcomed back with open arms -- he was just such a good dude and great talent that everyone realized he was sick and needed a break. But then word came out this morning that he lost his battle with his demons.
I feel like how a lot of more music-oriented people felt when Jay Reatard or someone like that passed.
Thanks, Alex (Larry's non-stage name) for giving me one of the best stories I'll ever have to tell.
Larry Sweeney Responds To Delirious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rZdgGJDpb0&feature=related#)
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I'm recently getting back into wrestling or should I say, Sports Entertainment.
Last week's Tough Enough had a wonderful moment during the elimination sequence.
Tough Enough - What is your favorite match? - Stone Cold Steve Austin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEChx8Gg6G8#ws)
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I'm recently getting back into wrestling or should I say, Sports Entertainment.
Last week's Tough Enough had a wonderful moment during the elimination sequence.
Tough Enough - What is your favorite match? - Stone Cold Steve Austin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEChx8Gg6G8#ws)
That was good. Poor girl couldn't even name a single other match.
And if WWE still used managers Larry Sweeney could have been this generation's Roddy Piper. He was never gonna get a shot as a full time wrestler due to his size, but have him manage another heel and people would have been begging to see him get his ass kicked. I've only seen him here and there on DVDs but his talent was obvious.
[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZtWs-mRPk][/url]
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So long, Edge.
We hardly knew ye.
Edge's Farewell Speech at Monday Night Raw 11.04.11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjeEvzwhfbQ#)
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So long, Edge.
We hardly knew ye.
Edge's Farewell Speech at Monday Night Raw 11.04.11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjeEvzwhfbQ#)
I remember watching his first match in the WWE. He came down through the crowd and "injured the neck" of the jobber he took out so that the jobber had to be taken out on a gurney.
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I've never been a big fan of Edge but his retirement last night was something pretty special. I'm always doubtful of retirements in wrestling -- Cena did a somewhat similar, earnest promo a few months ago after Wade Barrett fired him -- but last night felt very genuine.
I will say this about Edge -- although I was never a huge fan, he still had some really awesome moments. The "Five Seconds" era with Christian was pretty great. He was a great scumbag heel with Lita. I also loved the hardcore anti-ECW stuff he did with Foley. I also liked him blatantly using Vicki Guerrero during the past few years.
Now that I think about it, maybe I am a huge fan of Edge?
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These are the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Jacques and Raymond. I figure the FOT who venture into the wrestling thread may be entertained by these 2, who started off pretty inoffensively, but ended up turning heel (i.e., bad guys), and playing the "we're Canadian, but we just moved to Memphis and love the US" card. They'd bring out the smallest American flags (palm of your hand size) and wave them around patriotically with shit-eating grins. Good stuff. Here's their theme song:
Fabulous Rougeau Brothers Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn701jXWtkE#)
Lyrics posted in Youtube comments section:
From Montreal to Memphis/Parlez-vous Francais?
Tell all the girls/The Rougeaus' on their way!
We're not a pretty boys/We're not a musclehead
We hate that long-haired look/We like the preppy look instead
CHORUS: We're All-American Boys x4
We don't like heavy metal/we don't like rock and roll
All we like to listen to is Barry Manilow!
(a bunch of French junk I don't understand)/We love the USA!
CHORUS: We're All-American Boys x ∞
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The Rougeaus rule. Great goofball heels.
Here's a great video of the aforementioned Larry Sweeney in action. This is from Chikara, the lucha-esque league that's pretty terrific and is based in the Lehigh Valley and Philly. He has an arm wrestling match against a kid. Very similar to when Ted Dibiase punted that basketball away.
Chikara Comedy: Larry Sweeney Arm Wrestles A Little Kid!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZtWs-mRPk#)
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Sunny is remembered as the "original" WWF/E diva. The WWF made a ton of money by selling her sex appeal. But they totally missed the boat.
Before she was Sunny, she was Tammy Fytch. Her first promotion was in Smokey Mountain Wrestling, an old-school league that was pretty great during the mid-90s and had its base in Kentucky/Tennessee and other redneckish areas. Her gimmick was really brilliant: She was a spoiled, pompous, rich brat who worshiped Hilary Clinton.
However, that's not to say she wasn't generous! She had a bit called "Tammy's Tips" in which she attempted to give poor women makeovers so they could be more like her!
I think a lot of this is legitimately funny -- not just wrestling funny.
Beauty Tips with Tammy Fytch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv9MYLyc6as#)
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Random wrestling memory bubbling up:
My friend and I plotting out in our sophomore year of high school how we were going to enroll in the Samoan's wrestling school and live in a van with shag carpeting like Mick Foley did.
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Jacques Rougeau was always pretty underrated - not only was he solid in the ring but he had this great mind for working comedy into wrestling while still being effective at getting desired crowd reactions (more often than not, heeling it up). The Rougeau Brothers were great, but I actually thought his run as the Mountie was even better and incredibly hateable while still being hilarious at times.
And then he went totally ridiculous by goofing on his old gimmick:
the quebecers theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CY2XtuxoEI#)
I know he runs a school and a smaller fed in Quebec, but I kinda wish he'd get a managerial role in a comedy group. I'd even suggest Inter Species Wrestling (the group that more or less replaced the comedy side of IWS), but Rougeau has so much of a family friendly rep in Quebec that it wouldn't be great seeing him with Giant Tiger.
(Oh yeah, Giant Tiger needs to be talked about at some point.)
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Jacques Rougeau was always pretty underrated - not only was he solid in the ring but he had this great mind for working comedy into wrestling while still being effective at getting desired crowd reactions (more often than not, heeling it up). The Rougeau Brothers were great, but I actually thought his run as the Mountie was even better and incredibly hateable while still being hilarious at times.
And then he went totally ridiculous by goofing on his old gimmick:
the quebecers theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CY2XtuxoEI#)
I know he runs a school and a smaller fed in Quebec, but I kinda wish he'd get a managerial role in a comedy group. I'd even suggest Inter Species Wrestling (the group that more or less replaced the comedy side of IWS), but Rougeau has so much of a family friendly rep in Quebec that it wouldn't be great seeing him with Giant Tiger.
(Oh yeah, Giant Tiger needs to be talked about at some point.)
Yeah Jason, Jacques was always great. I remember entering my teenage years as a wrestling fan and finally seeing past the red and yellow, and really finding out what I liked and for what reasons. Jacques Rougeau became a constant pleasure. The Mountie was great, especially when someone like the Bossman turned the tables on him and sent him to prison (Summerslam '91, maybe?). But the Quebecers? Great team! The Rougeaus and the Harts had great matches, but the Quebecers were actual tag team title contenders during an era when WWF had Road Warriors, Steiners, Nasty Boys, etc. Pierre was a great athletic big man, who I remember landed some huge moonsaults. Fun stuff.
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Jacques Rougeau was always pretty underrated - not only was he solid in the ring but he had this great mind for working comedy into wrestling while still being effective at getting desired crowd reactions (more often than not, heeling it up). The Rougeau Brothers were great, but I actually thought his run as the Mountie was even better and incredibly hateable while still being hilarious at times.
And then he went totally ridiculous by goofing on his old gimmick:
the quebecers theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CY2XtuxoEI#)
I know he runs a school and a smaller fed in Quebec, but I kinda wish he'd get a managerial role in a comedy group. I'd even suggest Inter Species Wrestling (the group that more or less replaced the comedy side of IWS), but Rougeau has so much of a family friendly rep in Quebec that it wouldn't be great seeing him with Giant Tiger.
(Oh yeah, Giant Tiger needs to be talked about at some point.)
If I remember correctly the "goofing on his old gimmick" thing came about because the real life RCMP took some sort of legal action to put an end to the Mountie gimmick so that song was sort of a "go screw" to the real life Mounties.
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This thread has got me youtube-ing a lot of wrestling, I haven't watched this stuff since I was a kid. I now love The Osirian Portal.
Also, who else can envision a match where the wrestlers have bricks strapped to the tops of their heads and the winner is the one who can literally knock the other guy's block off? Get yourself a guy calling himself "The Zodiac Killer" and Tom Scharpling in a ring together doing that, maybe Tom wins by having Philly Boy Roy distract Zodiac Killer by throwing peanut chews at the back of his head.
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The guys in SomethingAwful's wrestling subforum stumbled upon a goldmine of comedy recently - NWA Mountain State (http://www.mountainstatewrestling.com/) from West Virginia. The most apt description is "Tim and Eric, Awesome Wrestling, Great Job!" The only known talent is The Maestro, Gorgeous George's grandnephew who was in WCW - his biggest claim to fame there was feuding with a guy that danced with James Brown.
Everyone else there registers high on the discomfort level in one or more ways, whether it's incoherent promos, fashionless ring attire, or painful looking ring work. But still there's a charm about the whole thing, as if everybody is in on the joke, but they can't entirely do what they want to exploit that, either because of their sponsorship deals with local businesses or because of their NWA affiliation. They have lots of full episodes on Youtube and on their website.
Not to mention, the best intro (and really, for the best part, you should just skip ahead to 0:47):
NWA Mountain State Wrestling 2009-2010 intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipfT0QhzRSI#ws)
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Is this an appropriate place to voice my displeasure in the downward trend in quality of WWE produced documentaries?
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Also:
Ultimate Warrior SYUCCUUUP! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYUqzcIExA#)
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Is this an appropriate place to voice my displeasure in the downward trend in quality of WWE produced documentaries?
As appropriate a place as any. The recent Jericho one was really good, but on the whole I agree with you. The Bobby Hennan one was lacking and even the extras could have been better. But the days when guys like Ric Flair and Bret Hart would get 2 hour documentaries and even guys like RVD, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit would get docs that clearly had a lot of effort put into them are gone.
Also,Colt Cabana appears this week on Sound of Young America. I haven't listened yet so I can't say whether it's any good, but I'm always happy to see wrestlers appear anywhere they don't normally appear.
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The guys in SomethingAwful's wrestling subforum stumbled upon a goldmine of comedy recently - NWA Mountain State (http://www.mountainstatewrestling.com/) from West Virginia. The most apt description is "Tim and Eric, Awesome Wrestling, Great Job!" The only known talent is The Maestro, Gorgeous George's grandnephew who was in WCW - his biggest claim to fame there was feuding with a guy that danced with James Brown.
Everyone else there registers high on the discomfort level in one or more ways, whether it's incoherent promos, fashionless ring attire, or painful looking ring work. But still there's a charm about the whole thing, as if everybody is in on the joke, but they can't entirely do what they want to exploit that, either because of their sponsorship deals with local businesses or because of their NWA affiliation. They have lots of full episodes on Youtube and on their website.
Not to mention, the best intro (and really, for the best part, you should just skip ahead to 0:47):
NWA Mountain State Wrestling 2009-2010 intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipfT0QhzRSI#ws)
Ha! Their announcer is a Joey Styles knock off. That makes me laugh for some reason.
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Ha! Their announcer is a Joey Styles knock off. That makes me laugh for some reason.
And their other announcer is the Nunchuck Master! Hoo-yah!
NWAMountainState.com - Web Promo Video - April 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViUxZYdreaU#ws)
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I really want NWA Mountain State Wrestling to be 100% irony free. Whatever the percentages, it's really great. I plan on spending all day at work getting caught up on my MSW history.
EL DIABLO~!
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If you haven't seen this yet and you haven't watched wrestling in ages, I can't recommend this enough. This began one of the best angles in history.
THE BACKSTORY: The WWE had this really crappy show called NXT where they pulled up a bunch of guys from their developmental leagues and had them compete for a spot on the WWE roster and a guaranteed title shot. The show was an absolute and total fiasco -- there was no rhyme or reason to anything that happened and it was completely ridiculous.
The winner of NXT was Wade Barrett -- this ultra-smug British dude who was mentored by Chris Jericho. During his first appearance on Raw, he struts down to the ring to distract John Cena, in true wrestling fashion. But then, chaos ensues as fellow NXT competitor Michael Tarver shows up at ringside and is then joined by the rest of the NXT crew, who go on a rampage like none other.
The storyline had some really cool Communist subtext. You have a peasant uprising from the NXTers who thought they were being humiliated by the bourgeois WWE roster. They bonded together and revolted and caused total chaos. But then its leader Wade Barrett became obsessed with his growing power -- he ended up enslaving WWE icon John Cena at one point -- and it morphed into an Animal Farm "Some NXTers are more equal than others" vibe with a counterrevolt led by David Otunga (who is Jennifer Hudson's husband).
The angle sorta petered out after a while but it was one of the best narratives the WWE ever told, IMO.
NXT Rookies (Nexus) invades RAW (HQ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVSUelir4Z0#)
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The Osirian Portal are amazing.
Otherwise, for me, it's all about 80s Stampede Wrestling. I'm going to school with a Hart right now, and getting some pretty great stories.
One of these days, I need to digitize a 6 hour best of Stampede Wrestling VHS tape I have, for nothing else, but to share with the world the majesty of the Jim Neidhart vs Iron Mike Sharpe Football Helmet Match, quite possibly the greatest match in the history of wrestling.
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I hosted a comedy show where Amasis from the Osirian Portal (that snake dude) tried to hypnotize people on Chat Roulette. Really surreal. Those guys are GREAT.
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This thread is making me so happy. My favorite indie tag team hails from "Somewhere Bad," Chad and Brad Badd...The Badd Boys!
CHIKARA: The Badd Boys promo [Throwing Life's Instructions Away] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxDonhk_cHs&feature=related#ws)
Also, I've heard of a third member coming soon...GLAAD Badd.
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Mark Henry races The Nexus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSvDKIc0ekw#)
seen this for the first time today.
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shannon moore and cm punk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egm5qOxo1vE#)
Since CM Punk was discussed on this week's Best Show. This just made me laugh and laugh when it first happened. Doesn't hurt that Shannon looks like he's about to cry.
Also, since Ted Leo mentioned Pro Wrestling Ilustrated (a sentence I never thought I'd type) it reminded me of this site that photosops old wrestling magazine covers-
http://prowrestlingdesecrated.blogspot.com/ (http://prowrestlingdesecrated.blogspot.com/)
some of the jokes are very inside, but also very funny.
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Tito Santana vs Red Rooster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tspCArJutZA#)
This is basically the Dumm Oaf- Tom Scharpling storyline brought to life. The thing is that Bobby Heenan was proven right. After they split up not only did Terry Taylor keep the stupid Red Rooster name, he actually started acting like a rooster and he couldn't win a match to save his life. Let's hope Dumm Oaf would have the common sense to stick with what works.
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Wrestling always handles world events with tact and poise!
John Cena Announces Osama Bin Laden is DEAD (Extreme Rules Tampa May 1st 2011) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkftxaRmiAk#)
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Wrestling always handles world events with tact and poise!
John Cena Announces Osama Bin Laden is DEAD (Extreme Rules Tampa May 1st 2011) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkftxaRmiAk#)
If not with tact and poise, then with hustle and respect on my sleeve.
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I could definitely see Tom being a great heel manager. I could see him riling up a crowd something good.
I'd pay money to see this.
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love that the Rock knew about Bin Laden before the rest of the world did. I hope he's included in all matters involving national security
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This is the first wrestling match that I ever watched -- with me and my brother in my grandmother's living room.
It's not a classic in any stretch of the imagination but it was just awesome to a kid. I couldn't believe Macho got away with using the knucks -- it was just such an epic thing in my mind that someone could get away with that. I even then thought it was awesome, though, and made me love heels.
I how complex his interpersonal relationships were. I loved that Miss Elizabeth was pure class and a sympathetic figure. And Macho was protective, but to a fault. I completely understood his side of the story when he turned on Hogan, who was totally out of line and making the moves on Liz. He probably shouldn't have thrown her on the floor but she should have gotten out of Macho's way when he was about to destroy Hogan.
Macho in his prime could hold his own with anyone.
Tito Santana vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBIWPvvEwKE#)
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Abdullah the Butcher's original wrestling moniker was Pussycat Pickens.
That's the only trivia I've got :P
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R.I.P. Macho Man. I haven't paid attention to wrestling since I was a kid, but I will admit to lingering feelings of affection, especially when I run across an old match on YouTube or somewhere.
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The greatest of all time. :'(
Macho Man on coke (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53hiHAkK6KA&feature=share#)
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I spent many a Saturday afternoon watching wrestling with my dad. Along with Ted DiBiase, and Jimmy Snuka, Randy Savage was one of my favorite wrestlers. He'll be missed.
[rant]That a schlub like Drew Carey is enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame and Macho Man isn't is an utter travesty. I just hope that they pay him a proper tribute on Monday Night.[/endrant]
:(
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I spent many a Saturday afternoon watching wrestling with my dad. Along with Ted DiBiase, and Jimmy Snuka, Randy Savage was one of my favorite wrestlers. He'll be missed.
[rant]That a schlub like Drew Carey is enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame and Macho Man isn't is an utter travesty. I just hope that they pay him a proper tribute on Monday Night.[/endrant]
:(
One of the all-time best wrestling rumors is that Macho got blacklisted from the WWE because he slept w/ an underaged Stephanie McMahon (Vince's daughter, for those not in the know).
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Macho Man Randy Savage freaking out! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfosfT8Ojbg&feature=related#)
Macho Man's look from this era reminds me of this:
http://youtu.be/hN9BhuzQjeU (http://youtu.be/hN9BhuzQjeU)
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The Randy Savage-Honky Tonk Man feud is why I became a wrestling fan. I watched it like everyone else did back then, but I didn't really care about any of it until I just got fed up with Honky Tonk Man and wanted to see Macho Man really kick his ass. I was a little surprised on my Facebook page to see how many people who were non-wrestling fans saw his passing as being worthy of note. I hope he gets some sort of tribute on RAW. Something more than the still photo and ringing of the bell.
Memphis Wrestling THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF RANDY SAVAGE ON TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaUx99Z_J50#)
I love this clip because Savage just comes across like a complete lunatic. The writers did not sit round and come up with the Macho Man character. It was Randy Poffo amped up to the Nth degree.
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I found out today that George The Animal Steele has a Master's Degree.
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I found out today that George The Animal Steele has a Master's Degree.
For years he wrestled during the summer while he taught school during the year.
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I think the best part about Randy Savage is how similar his face/heel personas were.
His most telling attribute as a face was how intense he was. But when something went wrong -- like when the whole Hogan/Liz thing broke down -- his intensity brought him over the edge and he became an unhinged lunatic. But then when he regained his senses you could tell he was a really good dude who just went nutty for a while.
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I was pretty disheartened after reading this (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Over-25-percent-of-the-performers-from-Wrestlema?urn=top-wp132 (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Over-25-percent-of-the-performers-from-Wrestlema?urn=top-wp132)):
Over one-quarter of the performers who took part in 1991's Wrestlemania VII have died, a wrestling website noted in the wake of the death of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
The Wrestling Observer newsletter discovered that 14 of the 51 performers at the event have died in the past 20 years, with many of the deaths attributed to drug use (link is subscription only).
The list of wrestlers who have died since 1991 include some of the biggest stars in the sport like Savage, Andre the Giant, Miss Elizabeth and The British Bulldog. Causes of death include suicides, murder and heart attacks, some the result of years of anabolic steroid use. Savage died last week after suffering an apparent heart attack behind the wheel of his truck. His ex-wife, Miss Elizabeth, passed away after overdosing on a variety of drugs in 2003.
Looking at the list is a sobering reminder of the realities of a make-believe sport like professional wrestling. Not all of the men and women listed played a part in their own demise; referee Joey Marella was the victim of a car crash that occurred when he was driving home from a match.
As wrestlinginc.com points out, none of the 44 starters from the Super Bowl played in 1991 have passed away and only two of 44 boxers who held a championship belt that year are gone.
At 58, Savage made it nearly a decade longer than some of his deceased colleagues.
(http://mit.zenfs.com/222/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-23-at-1.59.39-PM.jpg)
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I'm not sure which was better on Monday night: CM Punk's Macho Man tribute trunks or CM Punk taunting Bret Hart by imitating his move set.
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I'm not sure which was better on Monday night: CM Punk's Macho Man tribute trunks or CM Punk taunting Bret Hart by imitating his move set.
CM Punk seems like one of the only wrestlers who's actually a fan.
Though I did like R. Truth's whole "Little Jimmy" bit.
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R-Truth has been one of my least favorite wrestlers since I can remember but I love his heel turn with how bizarre he's become. "I want my son back!" Like all the stresses of not getting title shots have caused him this strange nervous breakdown where he's borderline psychotic. I also like that they're not going full-fledged, "I refuse to shuck and jive for you white people anymore" and are being subtle about it with him saying "Where's my little Jimmy?" The thing where he took the sunglasses right back from the kid he just gave them to was pretty great.
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And yet Ted DiBiase lives on. I guess being extremely rich really DOES make a difference.
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I never get tired of this:
I'm from Winnipeg You Idiot! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcSRpcXSQq8#)
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THIS IS WHY I LOVE PRO WRESTLING!
The Miz is one of the best stories in wrestling history. For those who aren't in the know: He was a goof on the Real World who wanted to be in the WWE. He was on their early addition of Tough Enough (their reality "be the next wrestler" show) and didn't win. But he kept at it and ended up getting in the WWE. He started off as an interviewer and, by all accounts, was a total laughingstock in the back who the other wrestlers harassed non-stop.
But he stuck at it and slowly got better and better. He's now arguably the best heel in the WWE and main-evented Wrestlemania.
Along the way, he -- in typical heel fashion -- hired Alex Riley (who was on their NXT show, which was a way to showcase newer talent and led to the original Nexus invasion) as his lackey. Miz had an "I Quit" match against John Cena at the last PPV which was essentially a 2-on-1 match in which their plan to have Cena quit (via a secret recording, which was used in a legendary I Quit match years ago between Mick Foley and The Rock) backfired. Cena rallied and Miz said I Quit as quickly as possible since he's such a chickenshit.
The next night, The Miz wanted a rematch. He did not get it. And of course, this wasn't his fault but it was Riley's. He verbally abused Riley and fired him in the ring. So Riley, who took Miz's abuse for some time, snapped and beat the crap out of his former mentor.
It's also a huge sign of their faith in The Miz. He showed he could hold the title and main event a PPV. But now they're using him to get a newer guy over.
It's just a great, time-honored storyline executed perfectly.
Raw: A fired Alex Riley attacks The Miz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCfOv1DWsHQ#ws)
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I never get tired of this:
In the same spirit there's this - the very end is what kills me here:
I hate you, Batista! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGOKAVPYZOw#)
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Preview of The Warrior's Upcoming Uncensored Video on Hulk Hogan. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XP4gWpyIww&feature=player_embedded#)
This is really worth watching in its entirety.
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Preview of The Warrior's Upcoming Uncensored Video on Hulk Hogan. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XP4gWpyIww&feature=player_embedded#)
This is really worth watching in its entirety.
Two favorite parts:
1. Warrior: "I bet I'm the only guy... who ever said no to doing your wife." Soundtrack: "BOOM"
2. "A guy with a flap of extensions... I don't know where to start."
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Hulk Hogan's understated
Randy Randall Savage impression is better than I expected it to be.
How would Ayn Rand feel about the Warrior's video?
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How would Ayn Rand feel about the Warrior's video?
Confused ("Who are these men?" "Why am I alive again?" ).
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I'll say this much for Warrior- he hasn't wrestled full time in well over a decade, but he appears to have done pretty well money wise. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan both worked for many more years and made much more money, but both are pretty well broke and have to work for TNA while Warrior sits around all day painting (those painting behind him are Warrior originals) and making bizarre anti-Hulk Hogan videos.
And based on what I know about Hogan I'd be surprised if he wasn't lying about making amends with Randy Savage.
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How would Ayn Rand feel about the Warrior's video?
Confused ("Who are these men?" "Why am I alive again?" ).
Zombie Ayn Rand, yeah. Imagine that one.
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The Wonderful World of Lucha Libre!
Kemonito Kick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRBoTcHOzOU#)
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Holy crap shoot interview tonight! Start around the 7:00 mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xja-TWxZBr0
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I wonder where this will rank on the list of all time great wrestling moments. Part of me thinks it will one day be mentioned in the same breath as the Montreal Screwjob since CM Punk is leaving the WWE in a similar fashion as Bret Hart did: mad as hell. The only real difference between the two incidents is that CM Punk is nowhere near as beloved as Bret Hart was so Punk's departure won't be as big a shock.
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That is a worked shoot but one of the best I've seen. Are WWE actually desperate enough to put something interesting on television?
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Sorry to get off topic now, but I have to post this sooner or later.
I remember watching this when I was 8 or 9 years old and around this time, I was starting to wonder if wrestling was fake. Apparently, the producers of "World's Wildest Police Videos" and "When Good Pets Go Bad" were wondering the same thing. Here's Captain Lou Albano and a lie detector:
Captain Lou Albano Takes a Lie Detector Test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLYzoJAsyck#)
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The CM Punk thing is awesome and is going to lead to one of the hottest main events ever. The next PPV is in Chicago and the crowd was already going to be pretty molten with Punk having the home field advantage. Now it's just going to be scorching with every smark in the world in his corner.
It was incredibly well done. It has shoot elements (mentioning ROH and Colt Cabana and the Steph/HHH thing) but it's still crafted in a way to make it a wrestling angle as it's essentially CM Punk being jealous of Cena for being on merchandised cups and in movies while he's not promoted at all despite his claims at being the best. It's not all that different from Batista's feud with Cena or even R-Truth's recent feud with Cena, except CM Punk's just absolutely fantastic in his delivery and the little specifics to make the angle scorching hot.
The WWE last year around this time also launched the Nexus angle. They've got a great concept for summer angles -- do something completely out-of-character for the build to SummerSlam. This makes a ton of sense, since it's the summer and people go on vacation and it's a good way to keep people's attention.
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Heaven help me, I actually want to pay for MITB.
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It must be especially tough for a guy with a Pepsi tattoo not to be on merchandised cups.
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From Wrestling to Porn
Chyna once slammed male opponents into submission. After a hard-luck few years, the pro-wrestling pioneer is re-entering the ring with a big adult-film release.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/28/chyna-porn-film-pro-wrestler-s-new-role-in-adult-films.html (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/28/chyna-porn-film-pro-wrestler-s-new-role-in-adult-films.html)
:(
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I saw a brief clip from the first Chyna tape years ago - my eyes have never recovered. I think it was through Fark, and it was upsetting even to them.
Steroids are noted for the horrors they perform on the male anatomy; they are no less horrifying - and somewhat more, uh, in your face - in what they do to women.
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I saw a brief clip from the first Chyna tape years ago - my eyes have never recovered. I think it was through Fark, and it was upsetting even to them
Torrenting it right now :-[ :-\ :'(
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I saw a brief clip from the first Chyna tape years ago - my eyes have never recovered. I think it was through Fark, and it was upsetting even to them
Torrenting it right now :-[ :-\ :'(
Sorry, dude.
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yeah, that's some rough stuff
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My two favorite Big/Sycho Sid Justice/Vicious videos:
Goldberg Crushes Sid's Car (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulMU7nnlFo4&feature=related#)
Sid Vicous- WHY ME? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN9fHMY76io#)
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Sid: LEGENDARY blooper (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4O-wDli0S4#)
Those are good, but this is Sid's all time greatest monent.
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Sid's one of the all-time best awful wrestlers.
However, CM Punk RULES EARTH! He did this during a commercial break at Raw. This is on par with anything Andy Kaufman ever did.
Raw 6/27/11 Ending CM Punk Sings Frank Sinatra "Chicago" After WWE Shoot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TdvGsy91ww#ws)
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Sgt. Slaughter & Camouflage ROCKS AMERICA - The Cobra Clutch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCAw3xs7U7w#)
As mentioned by Tom on this week's show. The song goes for about 1:40 before Sgt. Slaughter says a word.
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Sgt. Slaughter & Camouflage ROCKS AMERICA - The Cobra Clutch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCAw3xs7U7w#)
As mentioned by Tom on this week's show. The song goes for about 1:40 before Sgt. Slaughter says a word.
Why did the guy who wrote the music let his 9-year-old write the lyrics?
I had a question that I don't know the answer to, since I quit watching wrestling at all sometime in the late 80s (I think). Was Sgt. Slaughter one of the last "just a regular fat guy" wrestlers? Dusty Rhodes would be my model here.
I exclude any fat guys over, say, 6'3" (Big Boss Man and the like) from this question, because they were billed as giants.
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Speaking of wrestling songs from the 80's...
In the spirit of The Superbowl Shuffle and Get Metsmerised - only way more surreal.
Wrestlerock Rumble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOSFpzPlO4Q#)
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Macho Man Randy Savage Tribute Goes Horribly Wrong
Macho Man Tribute
And I’m not just talking about this guy.
Independent pro wrestling shows promoting one thing and delivering another is nothing new, especially when they’re run out of your local hockey complex and advertise shows featuring The Honky Tonk Man, but Florida promoter Dino Puglia has taken it to a new level. His Saturday night tribute show to Randy “Macho Man” Savage in New Port Richey, billed as a fundraiser for All Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, has suddenly become national news based on the fact that it not only milked the legacy of a popular dead wrestler, it milked two huge hospitals full of dying babies. The wrestling industry can get pretty shifty and unseemly, but holy sh**.
“I’ve stopped answering (Puglia’s) calls, and I don’t want to have anything to do with him,” said Savage’s brother “the Genius” Lanny Poffo, who had given his blessing for the event. “I thought it would be a good thing for my brother’s name, but I regret the outcome and would prefer to distance myself from the stench.”
Of course that quote is paraphrased, as the actual one rhymes and was written on the back of a frisbee.
The “fundraiser” never got permission to raise money for the hospitals, and the promoter says he didn’t raise enough money to cut a check to either charity. Why didn’t he raise enough money? It could have something to do with the fact that nearly half of the people he advertised for the show weren’t there, and some were never supposed to be. Poffo told Puglia that he was occupado elsewhere, but his face ended up on the poster. The Honky Tonk Man was photoshopped in before he was even asked to appear, and has posted a 15 minute phone conversation between he and Puglia on YouTube about false advertising wherein you find out the Honky Tonk Man refers to himself as “Honky Tonk Man” in real life. The situation turned into such an epic clusterf**k that the promoter FAKED A HEART ATTACK so he could leave the show. When you read Fred Sanford territory you know something is wrong.
Wrestler Big Vito LoGrasso, famous for wrestling in a women’s sun dress, shared his thoughts on the show with the St. Petersburg Times. If you think stealing money from children’s hospitals and faking heart attacks was as sad as this story gets, think again.
LoGrasso called the show “a rinky-dink operation.” There was no sound system, no bell to ring. In honor of the Macho Man, Puglia held marginally observed moments of silence, repeating “ding” into the microphone.
LoGrasso helped organize the event until he and Puglia had a falling out. Puglia blamed LoGrasso for many of the event’s problems, including the misleading promotions — which LoGrasso flatly denies. Puglia banned LoGrasso from the event, threatening to have him arrested if he showed up.
“He even deleted me from his friends on Facebook,” LoGrasso said.
5 Comments » BY: Brandon Stroud | TAGS: BIG VITO, DINO PUGLIA, FLORIDA, HONKY TONK MAN, JAY LETHAL, MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE, PRO WRESTLING, THE GENIUS, WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN, WWE
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Got to be careful round New Port Richey.
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I saw another story about New Port Richey today, but I forgot what it was. Anything else going on down there, Big F?
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I never really thought of it until now, but there is definitely more than a little Terry Funk in my mental image of Fredericks.
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I saw another story about New Port Richey today, but I forgot what it was. Anything else going on down there, Big F?
Yep.
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I saw another story about New Port Richey today, but I forgot what it was. Anything else going on down there, Big F?
Yep.
was it this?
New Port Richey pawn shop fights for 'Pawn Star' name (http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/july/276642/New-Port-Richey-pawn-shop-fights-for-Pawn-Star-name)
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I saw another story about New Port Richey today, but I forgot what it was. Anything else going on down there, Big F?
Yep.
was it this?
New Port Richey pawn shop fights for 'Pawn Star' name (http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/july/276642/New-Port-Richey-pawn-shop-fights-for-Pawn-Star-name)
You nailed it.
I feel certain there's couple of other things as well.
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CM Punk interview in GQ is a must read:
http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201107/cm-punk-wwe-wrestling-interview?currentPage=1 (http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201107/cm-punk-wwe-wrestling-interview?currentPage=1)
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From WrestlingNewsWorld.com:
On November 6, 2010, six pro wrestlers participated in "The Ultimate Ironman Match" in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest pro wrestling match. On July 12, 2011, Guinness announced that "Lightning" Tim Lutz, Mark Easterday (known as Sid Fabulous), Michael White (The DarkAngel), Logan Jones (Logan Cross), Brandon Overholser (American Kickboxer II), and Tom Crone (DJ Tom Sharp) had officially broken the previous record.
The men wrestled for twelve consecutive hours, beating the previous record of 11 and a half hours. The wrestlers rotated in and out of the ring throughout the match, but at least two men remained in the ring at all times. The previous record was set in the early 1900s. While many wrestling groups across the US have claimed to beat it, this is the only record verified by Guinness. White, Jones, and Overholser are from the Dayton area while Lutz and Crone are from the Hamilton area, and Easterday is from the Columbus area. They wrestled under the SWI promotion which is based out of Sidney, Ohio and run by Scotty Wright. SWI is affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
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Skipped Breaking Bad premiere to drop 50 bucks on pro wrestling AND I AM UNREPENTANTLY GLAD THAT I DID.
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Skipped Breaking Bad premiere to drop 50 bucks on pro wrestling AND I AM UNREPENTANTLY GLAD THAT I DID.
Glad somebody had the good sense I lacked. Just reading that Daniel Bryan won the MitB match was enough to make me wish I ordered it. Then again I really don't have $50 to spend on wrestling right now so it wasn't as bad a move as I make it out to be.
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SPOILERS!
I actually went to a bar and watched this with a friend. I haven't even contemplated doing that in maybe a decade, and I'm still a pretty big fan, obviously.
This PPV was just amazing. Every match but the woman's match was good on some level. The MITB matches are pretty full proof -- hang a belt from the cieling and let these guys go nuts. I wanted Wade Barrett to win the Smackdown one since he's such a great smug heel. But Daniel Bryant winning is awesome -- and Sin Cara nearly being killed was great, too. The Raw MITB was just absolute chaos and felt very WCW back when they had all those cruiserweights. Great stuff. Alberto winning was fantastic.
What else can be said about the main event? It had a bar full of jaded wrestling fans going nuts. That was seriously one of the best matches ever. It was so well organized, with CM Punk being the one who had to make the comeback. Cena kind of was heel-ish a bit during the match (my friend said he was wrestling like how the Yankees play baseball) but then when he decided he couldn't win without honor...
The end was just nuts.
The end just felt so triumphant. And it sets up an awesome story -- the punk rock individualist champion vs. the evil boss and his hired minions. It's pretty much Austin/McMahon Redux but so what? CM Punk's so frigging awesome.
I really can't believe the WWE Champion is some hardcore dude who x's up before matches. STREET BY STREET!
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If anyone wants a link for the PPV, send a PM.
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That was great.
Both MITB matches were spectacular, the Evan Bourne moonsault in particular. The only thing missing were spiders on the ladder.
Christian/Orton match was brutal. In a good way.
Loved the frenzied crowd, the "If Cena wins we riot" signs, and the juggalos in the crowd. Tomorrow night's Raw should be worth watching to say the least.
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I'm shocked they went with a lot of good, story/character decisions to finish up the matches. The Orton/Christian stuff was great, but John Cena doing the right thing even if it lead to his downfall was amazing.
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The Christian/Orton match was really good and has been passed by the wayside since Cena/Punk was probably one of the five best matches in WWE history. I loved the psychology behind it -- Christian knew he couldn't beat Orton the right way, so in true heel fashion he got under Orton's skin. And since Orton's a psychopath, he lost his mind and the belt. But then he got absolutely brutal revenge via the only announcer table to never shatter on impact.
SPOILERS FROM RAW
Last night's Raw, I thought, was really good. I loved that they kept Punk off of TV. The angle will only work if they give Punk a reason to come back. There's going to be a huge groundswell for his eventual return which will culminate with a pop not seen since the Austin/Rocky era.
Last night's card was super wrestling based, which was a major change (and something smarks have been wanting for years, showing another signal the company may be changing styles). The only non-matches were Vince's two segments (both required for the major plot points) and one from Kofi and one from Alberto Del Rio, who obviously needs to get heel heat since he's going to be a major foil for Punk/Cena since he has the briefcase.
I thought Rey vs. R-Truth was really great. R-Truth has unfortunately been lost in the shuffle since he was a really good act before Punk broke free. But he's not a transcendent character, so he has to stay down a tier from the main events for now. I hated R-Truth (not just his dumb rap persona, but also in the ring) but he's really getting his stuff together. Rey's also an all-time great performer and can hold together a match against anyone.
I loved they kept Rey vs. Miz for next week. That's a great hook -- it will be the main event next week (most likely) so you keep the interest for that going. I think Miz has a great chance to also break out as a face -- the more hardcore fans are already cheering for him, he's a great promo guy, and if he ends up doing his own twist on a CM Punk rant, there could be some magic.
As far as HHH being the new man in charge -- I like it. I think Vince might be the best heel of all-time (still insanely over after a decade) but the guy's in his 60's and can't take bumps solely because of his age. HHH is really over and has the kayfabe stature to handle the power broker role. He's also kind of come full circle from his original Hunter pompous blueblood snob character as the corporate overlord. Vince really pulled off being fired -- it had wrestling cheese ("I'm sorry, Pops) but his tears really put the moment over. It was a great send-off to one of the best characters ever. (And hopefully stays a send-off.)
I hope they'll go into a "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" direction with a power-mad, heel HHH pulling the puppet strings against Punk and everyone else who crosses his path. And Punk already called him a doofus (one of the best insults ever) and said the company would be in even worse shape when he took over.
There is, of course, the eternal worry that HHH will be more invested in his own status behind-the-scenes. He has a bad habit of burying dudes. Vince was never afraid of "showing ass" (parlance for making a fool of himself, even going so far as to piss himself) which made the dynamic work. Will HHH embarrass himself like that, since he never has before?
On the other hand, he has put over plenty of guys who needed to get over (Benoit, Jericho, the Rock, Austin, Foley, Cena). And they have magic with Punk right now, so...
It's a great time to be a fan. It's really rare you get to see a guy like Punk get to where he's now at, especially in a truly unique angle. And it's also great since he feels like a friend -- me and my friends had two primary loves: wrestling and punk rock. I love watching this all unfold.
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I was at the PPV Sunday. It was something else. We got in around 6 or so to the arena and they aired a promo for the Wrestlemania dvd. The second Cena's face popped up in that package, the crowd went berzerk and started booing. It was a good start to the night.
I think the MITB PPV has locked me in to watching at least Raw for the foreseeable future. Fantastic event from start to finish.
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Fantastic event from start to finish.
So this stuff is like Shakespeare?
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Fantastic event from start to finish.
So this stuff is like Shakespeare?
There are a number of similarities I guess(?)
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SPOILERS FROM RAW
Last night's Raw, I thought, was really good. I loved that they kept Punk off of TV. The angle will only work if they give Punk a reason to come back. There's going to be a huge groundswell for his eventual return which will culminate with a pop not seen since the Austin/Rocky era.
Last night's card was super wrestling based, which was a major change (and something smarks have been wanting for years, showing another signal the company may be changing styles). The only non-matches were Vince's two segments (both required for the major plot points) and one from Kofi and one from Alberto Del Rio, who obviously needs to get heel heat since he's going to be a major foil for Punk/Cena since he has the briefcase.
I thought Rey vs. R-Truth was really great. R-Truth has unfortunately been lost in the shuffle since he was a really good act before Punk broke free. But he's not a transcendent character, so he has to stay down a tier from the main events for now. I hated R-Truth (not just his dumb rap persona, but also in the ring) but he's really getting his stuff together. Rey's also an all-time great performer and can hold together a match against anyone.
I loved they kept Rey vs. Miz for next week. That's a great hook -- it will be the main event next week (most likely) so you keep the interest for that going. I think Miz has a great chance to also break out as a face -- the more hardcore fans are already cheering for him, he's a great promo guy, and if he ends up doing his own twist on a CM Punk rant, there could be some magic.
As far as HHH being the new man in charge -- I like it. I think Vince might be the best heel of all-time (still insanely over after a decade) but the guy's in his 60's and can't take bumps solely because of his age. HHH is really over and has the kayfabe stature to handle the power broker role. He's also kind of come full circle from his original Hunter pompous blueblood snob character as the corporate overlord. Vince really pulled off being fired -- it had wrestling cheese ("I'm sorry, Pops) but his tears really put the moment over. It was a great send-off to one of the best characters ever. (And hopefully stays a send-off.)
I hope they'll go into a "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" direction with a power-mad, heel HHH pulling the puppet strings against Punk and everyone else who crosses his path. And Punk already called him a doofus (one of the best insults ever) and said the company would be in even worse shape when he took over.
There is, of course, the eternal worry that HHH will be more invested in his own status behind-the-scenes. He has a bad habit of burying dudes. Vince was never afraid of "showing ass" (parlance for making a fool of himself, even going so far as to piss himself) which made the dynamic work. Will HHH embarrass himself like that, since he never has before?
On the other hand, he has put over plenty of guys who needed to get over (Benoit, Jericho, the Rock, Austin, Foley, Cena). And they have magic with Punk right now, so...
It's a great time to be a fan. It's really rare you get to see a guy like Punk get to where he's now at, especially in a truly unique angle. And it's also great since he feels like a friend -- me and my friends had two primary loves: wrestling and punk rock. I love watching this all unfold.
I definitely got "Miz is turning face" vibes from both the PPV (thanks for the link, Hardweek) where he came back limping and Rey got booed for stopping him from winning and especially at RAW where he won 2 matches clean with only one leg.
I've read some grumbling from people expecting Punk to be at RAW last night, but to me that would have killed the angle dead. Punk did exactly what he said he was going to do and now the fans are waiting to see what his next move will be. People seem to forget this is a storyline and we're in the early chapters. I do hope they find away to keep him present in the storylines, but he doesn't need to actually show up for a couple months at least. If they can hold off the HHH-CM Punk match until Mania that'd be fantastic.
You know they're on a roll when I'm even kind of digging Cena. The earnest "guy who does the right thing no matter what" character suits him and I especially like it when he doesn't even try to be funny because he just can't pull it off.
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Don't read the rest of this post if you don't want an eye-full of spoilers.
I guess on Smackdown, Daniel Bryant Danielson announced that he would officially be cashing in his MITB briefcase at Wrestlemania. If this pans out, could we be in for a Punk/DB match at Wrestlemania? It would be a wrestling classic.
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Don't read the rest of this post if you don't want an eye-full of spoilers.
I guess on Smackdown, Daniel Bryant Danielson announced that he would officially be cashing in his MITB briefcase at Wrestlemania. If this pans out, could we be in for a Punk/DB match at Wrestlemania? It would be a wrestling classic.
Another avenue is Undertaker comes back to win the WHC one more time in the Elimination Chamber, and suddenly it turns into wondering if Bryan has the nerve to go after him like that. If they spin it as Bryan not backing down from his promise especially because Undertaker retired the guy that first trained him (Shawn Michaels), they could build a great story out of it, no matter what the match result.
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It's been a looooooong time since I've noticed this many people old fans all stoked on the current product; it's actually kinda fun.
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It's been a looooooong time since I've noticed this many people old fans all stoked on the current product; it's actually kinda fun.
My brother hasn't watched pro wrestling (just MMA stuff) in a decade. He DVR'd Raw on Monday night because of how much there is right now. I have a few other friends who just peeked back into wrestling after the past few weeks. My Facebook conversations the past three weeks have largely revolved around CM Punk.
There's such a buzz right now. You never know when something's going to catch like wildfire. When it happens, it's great.
I really want to see Corporate Maven HHH at an analyst's day presentation in front of Wharton-bred analysts, talking about p/e ratios and the like.
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That's funny, totally the same thing here, a super long facebook message thread of cm punk youtube commentary "best of" clips and such for the past few weeks. I haven't been watching wrestling much the past few years (I've just been youtubing Santino clips), but I might actually start watching regularly again.
Also worth watching is The Rock's shoot on Cena last week. Classic.
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CM Punk Invades Comic-Con!
Seriously -- this is setting a new bar. They're actually using Twitter to add fuel to the fire. It's kind of oddly like the Studio 60 tweets.
CM Punk invaded comic con (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAvDqglbAE&feature=youtube_gdata_player#ws)
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CM Punk Invades Comic-Con!
Seriously -- this is setting a new bar. They're actually using Twitter to add fuel to the fire. It's kind of oddly like the Studio 60 tweets.
CM Punk invaded comic con (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAvDqglbAE&feature=youtube_gdata_player#ws)
I just came here to post this. It kind of reminds me of a new age version of the NWO angle. I'm a little curious about how they'll get this storyline over to the more casual RAW viewers who maybe don't follow wrestling on social media, but for those of us who do it's been fantastic.
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Raw was pretty great last night. I'm a huge fan of pandering to a given region like Triple H's Timmy's comment and CM Punk's Jack Tunney reference was the greatest thing ever. R-Truth and Miz were hilarious, Evan Bourne getting a push, these are good things...even with Kevin Nash.
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Raw was pretty great last night. I'm a huge fan of pandering to a given region like Triple H's Timmy's comment and CM Punk's Jack Tunney reference was the greatest thing ever. R-Truth and Miz were hilarious, Evan Bourne getting a push, these are good things...even with Kevin Nash.
Raw couldn't be more compelling. They're really extending the web of intrigue from what CM Punk launched with his first pipe bomb. I love how it's now brought Cena/ADR/Steph/Laurentis/Nash and now R-Truth and the Miz into it.
I'm guessing that the conspiracy people start to side with R-Truth and the Miz (since they're all heels) and that leads to those two versus the Ghan-Am Express (as someone on Twitter called them) for the belts. A tag division with established characters in it is great -- a great tag feud is so much better than a singles feud, since there's so many more people involved.
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word.
You know, as much as I groaned at Big Sexy's return, I like the persona he's using: a little unsure of his footing, a little self-aware of his age, and some bridled rage. I'll give him that.
The Ghan-Am Express is funny.
Is it just me, or does Jon Laurentis sound exactly like Super Dave Osborne?
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I'm guessing that the conspiracy people start to side with R-Truth and the Miz (since they're all heels) and that leads to those two versus the Ghan-Am Express (as someone on Twitter called them) for the belts. A tag division with established characters in it is great -- a great tag feud is so much better than a singles feud, since there's so many more people involved.
Apparently they were holding back the title switch for a few weeks, while the signing of The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero) was being finalized and they had commitments to wrap up, so things should start moving along in a hurry real soon as far as the tag division goes.
Oh yeah, here's a few minutes of Claudio and Hero fighting Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas last year.
Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. Kings of Wrestling - ROH Glory By Honor IX - HDNet Exclusive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0lnMF_2hPI#ws)
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word.
You know, as much as I groaned at Big Sexy's return, I like the persona he's using: a little unsure of his footing, a little self-aware of his age, and some bridled rage. I'll give him that.
The Ghan-Am Express is funny.
Is it just me, or does Jon Laurentis sound exactly like Super Dave Osborne?
He also looks a little bit like him. The guy does make for a great corporate stooge type. As Tom said about the Fox news anchor men, John Laurenitis looks like a vice principal.
I reserve the right to change my mind about Kevin Nash, but assuming he's not going to be getting a huge push as a wrestler I kind of like the guy and his current role as the monkey wrench being thrown into the works.
Kofi & Evan winning ther tag titles was about as blatant a "We're sorry we ignored tag teams for so long" message as you're gonna get. They more or less admitted during the match that Otunga and McGillicuty are shitty champions.
Unrelated to WWE, but I just found out that Chikara is going to be doing a show in my hometown on 9/17 and I'm pretty psyched to be seeing them live.
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I forgot about my other favorite bit from Monday: Cena throwing his shirt into the crowd and having it thrown right back at him. Punk doesn't miss a beat, going to the exact same ringside spot and tosses his shirt which is abosrbed by the crowd. Cut to Alberto killing himself laughing.
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Chikara RULES live. I really want to go to more live shows but Mrs. Ulator despises wrestling. I tell her that Chikara's different but she refuses to believe me. A really good friend of mine if one of their lead referees. If you end up going to this I will give you plenty of material to heckle him with.
Chikara secret: Some of the Pissed Jeans guys were involved in Chikara in their early days, as were a few members of Weston.
I kind of actually liked Otunga and McGillicuddy. They had some good heel faces and seemed to at least try to step it up a notch. They got the belts under Punk's leadership in The New Nexus but with the whole Summer of Punk angle they got forgotten.
The shirt spot was great, as was ADR's reaction. ADR seriously rules. My favorite heels tend to be conniving rich jerks and he's got that role down pat. His ring announcer's a great suck-up, too.
I couldn't figure out who Laurentis sounded like. It is, indeed, Super Dave.
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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life)
Insane, ridiculously detailed read about the monetary situation of Richard Fleihr, aka "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who has rung up a ridiculous amount of debt and court cases.
One of the most fascinating things about wrestling to me is how it blends fiction with reality. But what's crazier is when wrestlers get mixed up in that too and become their characters full-time. Flair fell victim to that, spending $5,000 a month on restaurant costs alone!
Nevertheless, Naitch (also the name of his dog which one of his ex-wives stole and renamed) will always be my primary boyhood hero.
I also love the brief mention of Ric Flair Finance in the article. Ric Flair Finance was one of my favorite "What the hell is wrong with wrestling?" things ever. Back in 2008 or so, Ric Flair lent his name to some shady mortgage brokers. The website advertised their "Figure Four Financing Plan". This brought years of joy to me and my friends. We were certain it was all a ruse to lure Sting into giving Flair his money only to be turned on once again.
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Chikara RULES live. I really want to go to more live shows but Mrs. Ulator despises wrestling. I tell her that Chikara's different but she refuses to believe me. A really good friend of mine if one of their lead referees. If you end up going to this I will give you plenty of material to heckle him with.
I'm definitely going. Got my ticket in the mail yesterday. This is the card in question-http://www.chikarapro.com/sep-17-2011.php
I'm hoping we get one or two crazy tag team matches added to the show (I'd like to see the Colony or the Ice Creams) but I know it'll be good whatever matches we get. The fact that they take the time to name each show kind of makes it a little more exciting because while you might see half ass a little spot show at a Boys and Girls Clun in MA you feel like the a show called The Odyssey of the Twelfth Talisman has to be special. I'm already concerned about spending too much at the merch table. I've been wanting to get King of Trios 2011 so hopefully I'll be able topick those up, get a t-shirt and be able to stop there, but I've been known to get carried away.
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i gotta say Grantland is one of my blogs to read after that Flair article.
for all the wrestlers that have passed away under the age of 50, the ones that are still alive might be worse off like Flair and Jake Roberts among others.
i loved Flair growing up and still do. There was a strong rumor years back from HHH and others that Flair could actually wrestle a match with his eyes closed - no exaggeration. The guy was solid and still took crazy bumps into his late 40s and 50s.
how long til all this debt trouble gets Flair killed or in jail?
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This isn't surprising. http://wrestleheat.com/ric-flair-threatens-lawsuit-scatching-tellall=11170 (http://wrestleheat.com/ric-flair-threatens-lawsuit-scatching-tellall=11170):
Ric Flair is suing the website who wrote a scathing exposé story earlier this week about the personal and financial hardships he’s put himself and his family through over the past 20 years. Despite the fact that most of the article’s facts were pulled straight from court documents the countless lawsuits that Flair’s been involved in (ex-wives, business associates, horrified flight attendants), Flair claims the Grantland.com investigative piece written by Shane Ryan falsely states that he suffers from Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy — a disease caused by years of alcohol abuse which often leads to heart failure.
The following statement was released by Flair’s representatives, Legacy Talent and Entertainment:
“Mr. Fliehr has declined to comment on the “Grantland” story published this week, as he has consistently with media inquiries regarding legal affairs. While the information gleaned from courthouse records may be credible, Mr. Fliehr is currently evaluating his legal options with respect to falsehoods in the story, specifically the untrue statement that he suffers from alcoholic cardiomyopathy. Our client understands that these allegations are part of the territory when you are not only famous, but a living legend. Ric Flair is a sports entertainer, which has been a lifelong passion that he still enjoys delivering to his fans today, along with his work outside of the ring with various charitable causes. We will be sure to advise Mr. Fliehr against running for County Treasurer and instead to continue entertaining his millions of fans all over the world as he has been doing for the past 35 years.”
The hilarious thing about all this: http://books.google.com/books?id=wMItEY4Z_SYC&lpg=PT439&vq=cardiomyopathy&pg=PT439#v=onepage&q&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=wMItEY4Z_SYC&lpg=PT439&vq=cardiomyopathy&pg=PT439#v=onepage&q&f=false)
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The hilarious thing about all this: http://books.google.com/books?id=wMItEY4Z_SYC&lpg=PT439&vq=cardiomyopathy&pg=PT439#v=onepage&q&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=wMItEY4Z_SYC&lpg=PT439&vq=cardiomyopathy&pg=PT439#v=onepage&q&f=false)
I'm struggling to think of when I've encountered a tale of a sadder sack than depicted here.
He is the face and voice of Carolina Hurricanes goals, screaming "Woo! Woo! Woo!" on the Jumbotron and getting the crowd into it. When I read this article, I said, "WOOO! Wooo! wooo! woo woo woo"
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Wait,Flair is considering running for county treasurer? What could possibly go wrong?
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I think he has a shot -- after all, running for County Treasurer and acting like an escapee from a mental institution are no longer two very different things:
Phil Davison, GOP Candidate, Delivers Stark County Treasurer Speech Fail goes viral Funny speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBl8Ddsaf4U#)
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does Kevin Nash know the striped shirt he has on makes him look like the Sandman from Spiderman 2?
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True Story: Kevin Nash played Super Shredder in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
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does Kevin Nash know the striped shirt he has on makes him look like the Sandman from Spiderman 2?
Sandman was Spiderman 3.
And I've always said Cena looks like Sandman. I think it's the mouth.
In any case. House show in Wheeling in a few days. Del Rio is wrestling Punk and then Cena (They're advertising it as Del Rio faces Punk with the winnerfacing Cena, with a picture of Cena and question mark beside him, as if the title's going to change at a house show in Wheeling, WV)
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good call. havent seen those films in yeeears....
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I made a point that everything Kevin Nash says sounds like an automatic response from a video game character, and my buddy brought up that he also looks like Error.
(http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3029/iamerror.gif)
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Bobby Blayze Talks About His Upcoming Match With Pupu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mlC7Kq7cc0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL#ws)
A few months ago somebody asked me to host a music festival in Newark, NJ. Somehow it warped into me turning into multiple wrestling personalities, including Bobby Blayze.
But you all should come, seriously: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118621501569020 (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118621501569020)
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A few weeks ago, Bob Mould spoke about his involvement with wrestling on The Sound of Young America. I had never heard anything about this previously - he was a "creative consultant" with WCW during 1999/2000...does not compute.
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Also compare and contrast the music videos:
Rock n Roll Express "I Love Rock n Roll" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JduC54l7T8#)
Bobby Blayze: The Music Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tr-Pq3wqJ4#ws)
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NWA Ric Flair & 4 Horseman Attack Ricky Morton in Dressingroom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bd1wPhWnCs#)
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The Brettster kindly asked me to participate in his rasslin' event. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out for us.
HOWEVER! I'm in a similar project called PRO MANIA. It's part of the Philly Fringe Festival. It's a bunch of us local comedy folks who love wrestling doing a wrestling show. We even got Tim Donst of Chikara to participate.
Anyways, here's the promo I cut as "Downtown" Darrel Keagan -- a New York City native who was born and raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the son of an attorney for Goldman Sachs.
Downtown Darrell Keagan invades Pro Mania (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns0kf467HFw#)
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And here's one other we put up.
downtown2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-LqOsWwJiU&feature=related#)
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Meet Bobby Blayze's opponent this Saturday night..."The South African Savage" Pupu:
Sweet Daddy Longlegs talks Bobby Blayze vs Pupu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHge1leVt9Q&feature=related#ws)
and watch as Pupu looks for a new mate:
Pupu's Night Out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SYbYmTi7aY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL#ws)
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TONIGHT!!!
Tito Santana on Bobby Blayze vs Pupu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOULokCFtXA#ws)
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ECW sabu video-stratosphere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIdRALGn2wg#)
Sabu might be my favorite wrestler of all-time.
FOR THE UNKNOWING: Sabu first became known to US wrestling fans after ECW started picking up steam on northeastern cable channels. The first time I saw him was on a Friday afternoon in my parents' basement. I was a senior in high school and saw that "Extreme Championship Wrestling" was listed on some weird cable access channel. I had heard about this ECW from my early dabblings on the Internet and from disgusting bloodied pictures in Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
But nothing could prepare me for ECW. And nothing could prepare me for Sabu.
The episode began with a shot of Paul E. Dangerously (an old favorite of mine) walking down the ring with his cell phone as some lunhead guy with a mullet (9-1-1) was wheeling somebody down to the ring Hannibal Lecter style. Then they showed him in action from various matches.
The only other person who has ever captured such a reaction from me the first time watching is GG Allin. Seriously -- after watching both guys, I really just had these thoughts lingering in my brain about the depravity of life. I knew wrestling was fake (and music is entertainment) but these guys were not fooling around.
More Sabu to come later.
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ECW sabu video-stratosphere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIdRALGn2wg#)
Sabu might be my favorite wrestler of all-time.
FOR THE UNKNOWING: Sabu first became known to US wrestling fans after ECW started picking up steam on northeastern cable channels. The first time I saw him was on a Friday afternoon in my parents' basement. I was a senior in high school and saw that "Extreme Championship Wrestling" was listed on some weird cable access channel. I had heard about this ECW from my early dabblings on the Internet and from disgusting bloodied pictures in Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
But nothing could prepare me for ECW. And nothing could prepare me for Sabu.
The episode began with a shot of Paul E. Dangerously (an old favorite of mine) walking down the ring with his cell phone as some lunhead guy with a mullet (9-1-1) was wheeling somebody down to the ring Hannibal Lecter style. Then they showed him in action from various matches.
The only other person who has ever captured such a reaction from me the first time watching is GG Allin. Seriously -- after watching both guys, I really just had these thoughts lingering in my brain about the depravity of life. I knew wrestling was fake (and music is entertainment) but these guys were not fooling around.
More Sabu to come later.
When I first saw Sabu it was around the same time the luchadors were popping up on Nitro. While I liked the luchadors because they were so graceful and smooth I found that I loved Sabu because he not graceful, but was not smooth. He just threw his body at guys and hoped they caught him. Like you say, we all know wrestling isn't real, but when you see a guy like Sabu you get a feeling you don't get watching guys like John Cena.
By the way, I saw Chikara live last night and holy poop, that was a fun show. It also featured the weirdest mix of people I've ever seen at a wrestling show. Everyone from hipsters to families to the typical type of fan you see at indy wrestling shows. There was even a blind guy there which struck me as quite odd.
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Wrestling needs more people who seem like completely dangerous individuals. The best part about ECW is that even a bunch of the faces looked like the kind of dude who would stab you for looking at a girlfriend at an askew angle at a bar. I completely believed (and still do to this day) that Terry Brunk is as much of a lunatic as the character he portrays. And if he's not, there's something even more unhinged about it.
I actually performed a show with Chikara's Tim Donst on Friday night. Great guy and a great performer.
Chikara rules in every way period. They've found a great niche for wrestling nerds/hipsters/familes/etc. I don't feel like I need to go to confession after I watch Chikara in person.
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Wrestling needs more people who seem like completely dangerous individuals. The best part about ECW is that even a bunch of the faces looked like the kind of dude who would stab you for looking at a girlfriend at an askew angle at a bar. I completely believed (and still do to this day) that Terry Brunk is as much of a lunatic as the character he portrays. And if he's not, there's something even more unhinged about it.
I actually performed a show with Chikara's Tim Donst on Friday night. Great guy and a great performer.
Chikara rules in every way period. They've found a great niche for wrestling nerds/hipsters/familes/etc. I don't feel like I need to go to confession after I watch Chikara in person.
Yeah, I could never imagine Sabu sitting around acting like a normal human. Even thinking of him dressed in real clothes is a stretch.
Tim Donst was at the show last night. Sadly him, Turas, and Jakob Hammermeir (who encouraged the crowd to buy BDK t-shirts because once the American dollar collapses it will be the only thing you own of any value) lost to the Colony, but he put on a great show.
One fairly small thing that Chikara did is that once the show ended all the babyfaces lined up in the lobby and as the fans were leaving they all just shook hands and signed autographs and just said hello and thanked the fans for coming. I realize it's the kind of thing that can only be done with relatively small crowds, but I thought it was a really nice touch. Also I couldn't but notice that I'm about 5'6 and I was about as tall as a lot of the wrestlers. When you're short you notice these things.
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Grantland has a new WWE related blog post
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7000826/wwe-conspiracy-theories (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7000826/wwe-conspiracy-theories)
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Greggulator - since you're from Philly, did you get to attend a lot of ECW shows?
being from Chicago, I wasn't able to go to any events until their first PPV here.
i did briefly work for RF Video though. I have a few stories.
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Greggulator - since you're from Philly, did you get to attend a lot of ECW shows?
being from Chicago, I wasn't able to go to any events until their first PPV here.
i did briefly work for RF Video though. I have a few stories.
I'd love to hear the RF Video stories. Unless it's really creepy stories about Rob.
I went to about 20-25 ECW shows. Most were in Philly but I went to a few in Jersey and elsewhere.
I have so many absurd ECW memories/stories. That place was truly one of a kind. If ECW was around today, there's absolutely no way I would go since it was borderline disturbing.
Some of my favorite ECW in person tales:
1) The first time I attended was my second weekend my freshman year in Philly. I had no idea where anything was. And this is 1995 Philly and not 2011 Philly -- 1995 Philly, the city was pretty much a craphole as opposed to today, when it's really awesome. The ECW Arena was also literally underneath the I-95 underpass. (Those old Public Enemy/Gangstas videos were filmed there.) So I was 17-years-old walking underneath an interstate overpass trying to find this place.
I got there a few hours early. I was doing my World History reading (leaning up against the arena) when I heard a bottle break. I looked up to see a shirtless man with a swastika tattoo on his arm, a patch over his eye while pounding a 40 with another 40 held in his sweatpants holster style. That kind of explains it all.
I took a cab on the way home after hanging out w/ some friends. The campus ATM machine was locked up so the cab driver had to take me to Broad & Olney at around 2:30 AM. This is one of the sketchiest corners in Philly. I was walking over people while others were asking me for money. (I did make sure to hide my PIN number.) On my way to the cab, this cracked out guy grabbed my shoulder. "DO YOU HAVE ANY MEAT I AM HUNGER." Welcome to Philly!
2) I actually went took a girl on a date to ECW. A bunch of kids on my floor my sophomore year were big ECW fans. This girl I was hanging out with a little bit used to watch it with us and was completely mesmerized by it. We ended up convincing our RA to let us take a school-owned van to the show. The girl I was hanging out with was sitting next to this methed-out biker dude who was hitting on her and grabbing her shoulder. I was thinking of saying something but I saw he had a knife so I let it slide. She started dating a guy named Tony Phatsacks (who wore a hat made of hemp and had an entire wardrobe seemingly made of 311 t-shirts) a few weeks later. YOU MAKE THE CALL!
3) At WWF show, people go to watch the wrestlers fake fight. At ECW, people go to fight the real wrestlers! Oh dear lord, the amount of times that happened. Spike Dudley was once thrown into the crowd and some dude started punching him. The ENTIRE ECW roster came running out and into the crowd and started fighting these guys. This happened about 8 rows in front of me.
4) ECW was never so good with the logistics. They had one entrance, which brought you through into this holding pen and then finally into the arena. It didn't matter if you had a ticket already or if you were buying a ticket there or trying to sneak in. That was how you got into the arena. As soon as the door open, everyone at once converged to get in.
I went one night in the summer when it was about 125 degrees outside. The throng was bigger and more insane than usual. It was just chaos. I'm not a big guy at all (probably 115 pounds at the time) and it got European soccer nuts in there. I was literally off my feet at one point -- you just got shifted around at the mercy of the crowd and tossed into the walls and had elbows tossed into your neck. The holding pen was roughly 450012 degrees. My friend Mike (huge FOT, too) is a bigger guy and he was off his feet, too, with his face shoved into a dyed-blonde rat tail (done possibly in honor of Lance Storm's haircut). We made it through but it was REALLY frightening. (It's the second closest time to death I've ever come at a wrestling show. The first features The Murder Junkies. But that's for another day).
5) In a lifetime of executing poor ideas without thinking them through, one of the worst was when there was some Japanese wrestler (no one memorable like Great Sasuke or Tajiri) who was a good guy taking on Jason, The World's Sexiest Man. Despite being the good guy, and despite the ECW crowd supposedly being "smart", people still started a U-S-A chant. So anytime after U-S-A, I would yell "SUCKS."
Some dude stormed down from eight rows back and got in my face. "IF YOU THINK THIS COUNTRY SUCKS WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE!" I don't know how I wasn't murdered by this guy.
At the same show, my friends and I were hecking the Eliminators, since we were big Dudley Boy fans at the time. Someone else said to us, "Hey, why don't you say that to his wife's face? She's right over these selling jewelry." Sure enough, there was Mrs. Kronus selling a gold necklace in the Elims logo, selling for $275.
6) This was at Asbury Park. I had this friend Ian who was a total scumbag but could convince anyone to do anything. He was like Bodhi from Point Break, if Bodhi was really into Stereolab and had a problem with painkillers. For some reason, we followed his lead in taking off our shirts while watching ECW. We were opposite the camera so for an entire episode of ECW TV, you could see me and a few other people shirtless.
The same card, we were right by the floor when New Jack jumped off from like 30 feet or however high through a table. My brother ended up claiming some of the table, which is the ultimate in ECW merchandise.
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Got to talk wrestling for a few minutes with Damian from Fucked Up on Saturday. Man, that guy is nice. I brought up the fact that I've purchased a ticket to attend Survivor Series by myself and how this gives me alternating pangs of both pride and shame.
One thing that came up, and this may be old news to those who participate in this thread, is the monstrously insane LAW podcast appearance by Teddy Hart. This in an absolute must listen. Teddy explains his ideas for a new wrestling promotion that include breakdancers, mechanized turnbuckles, and trained wrestling pets. It is the closest you can get to a JW call without it being such.
http://fightnetwork.com/news/wrestling/john-pollock-wai-ting-chat-w-teddy-hart/ (http://fightnetwork.com/news/wrestling/john-pollock-wai-ting-chat-w-teddy-hart/)
Do yourself the favor.
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One thing that came up, and this may be old news to those who participate in this thread, is the monstrously insane LAW podcast appearance by Teddy Hart. This in an absolute must listen. Teddy explains his ideas for a new wrestling promotion that include breakdancers, mechanized turnbuckles, and trained wrestling pets. It is the closest you can get to a JW call without it being such.
http://fightnetwork.com/news/wrestling/john-pollock-wai-ting-chat-w-teddy-hart/ (http://fightnetwork.com/news/wrestling/john-pollock-wai-ting-chat-w-teddy-hart/)
Do yourself the favor.
That was wonderfully entertaining. It really was Wurster-esque in how it started off slightly odd (trampolines would be weird, but I could almost see it working) before it went off into batshit insane territory with trained animals and trying to make retired breakdancersinto wrestlers and raising ringposts. It completely sounded like ideas a guy came up with when he was stoned. Which I'm sure is exactly what it was
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YOUR GUIDE TO SATIAMA PRO!
Satiama Pro was a bizarre, underground wrestling league in Japan from the late 90s. It's SPECTACULAR. Satiama is a prefecture that borders New York -- it's roughly the equivalent of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey from all accounts.
The league's main attraction was SURVIVAL TOBITA. Tobita was a Barry O-style ham'n'egger in various well-known Japanese promotions. But in his own league, he became arguably the greatest hero of them all.
Largely taking place in middle school gymnasiums, Tobita would star in the main event in his promotion. His opponents were a variety of monsters sent to wreak havoc upon the local population.
His most legendary opponent is Mokujin Ken, aka Ken The Box. Ken was a tree that was knocked down due to overdevelopment in Satiama who came back to life to get revenge on humans. His costume is amazing, as you will see in the video -- it's a cardboard box with leaves stapled on it.
Survival Tobita vs Mokujin Ken SPWC 23.08.1999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YHZNJVrRCo#)
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This was what Surviavl Tobita put on his T-Shirts.
(http://a3.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/profile01/150/0a8ad41c32194499989d2135b057a86f/p.jpg)
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My fave wrasslers are Andre the giant and King Kong Bundy, Andre because of his freakish size and voice, and Bundy because I knew I could never be really musclebound like a lot of the guys but I could be really really overweight like him one day...I never have gotten too 500lbs but there's still time.
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I thought Hell In A Cell last night was touch and go but the last match was really good and the PPV ended really strong. It made R-Truth and The Miz look better than they ever did.
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Not sure if this is a re-post, but this is a pretty sad profile of Ric Flair's decline -
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life)
Today the story is about a man known in the court system as Richard Morgan Fliehr, 62, born in 1949 and adopted by parents who raised him in Minnesota. That's what he was called this past April, when a judge ejected Fliehr from his Charlotte home because he couldn't pay his rent. That's what he was called in May, when he faced an arrest order for an unpaid $35,000 loan. That's what he's called on the paychecks from Total Nonstop Action, a second-tier outfit where he's still compelled to perform despite suffering from alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and where almost everything he earns goes toward old debts: lawyers, ex-wives, the IRS, former business partners, and anyone who made the mistake of lending him money.
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Scott Hall's history The Wrestler soon on ESPN E60 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p4IUva6B3I#ws)
It's like a less upbeat version of the movie THE WRESTLER.
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Here's the full 18 minutes:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn%3A7124904 (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn%3A7124904)
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Ultimate Warrior SYUCCUUUP! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYUqzcIExA#)
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Maximum Capacity at the gym!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdFSWNs1xE&feature=related#)
This is something to behold.
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The station to station to "Hard Time"'s ziggy?
WWF Wrestling Challenge Dusty's first appearance after losing his Sapphire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_swF9XKuzQ#ws)
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These guys must have an airstrip right in all their backyards for coke planes from South America to land in!
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WWE Raw 10/31/11 - Beaker Gives Santino an Energy Drink/Potion !!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHRsJugbSe0#ws)
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I went to see CHIKARA today at the old ECW Arena in S. Philly. It was a TOTAL blast. I can't stress enough how awesome it is in person.
The atmosphere is great. It's such a weird/awesome hybrid of rasslin' nerds, little kids and indie/hardcore types. They've really been making a push to brand Chikara as more than just pro wrestling -- they want it to be a comic book come to life. They've promoted the show a ton in the Philly Onion AV Club and the local alt.weeklies to go after the more hipster audience -- as they should, since it's something everyone would like in some way. It's such a DIY thing. A decent amount of the wrestlers were just kids from the Lehigh Valley who wanted to be wrestlers so they became wrestlers. Word on the street is that members of Pissed Jeans were (or maybe are) at one time performers under masks.
It's also great because it's family friendly. There's no cursing allowed. If you curse or act like an idiot, you get kicked out. It's the exact opposite of ECW, and that's not a bad thing at all! Wrestling doesn't have to be sleazy to be awesome. You could totally bring your kids/nephews and neices/etc. to it and not feel like you're making a life mistake.
The wrestlers are also great. A lot of acrobats and more cruiserweight moves.
Also: Colt Cabana was there. If you don't know him, check him out! He's an indie wrestling superstar who hosts "The Art of Wrestling" podcast. He also does stand-up comedy (I co-hosted a show with him once) and has been on The Sound of Young America. He really should be a huge star in the WWE but somehow he's not.
His match was great. He took on a guy named Archibald Peck whose gimmick was that he was the leader of a marching band. Peck came out with a valet who was his color guard girlfriend and a giant bunny mascont named Colt Cabunny. The Colt/Peck match was a masterpiece in physical comedy and a true honor to watch unfold. Just a masterpiece of seeing two performers knowing what an audience wants and giving it to them.
The main event was to crown the first ever Chikara world champion. Mike Quakenbush took on Eddie Kingston. It was EPIC. The whole roster (past and present) came down to surround the ring since it was so emotional. Before the match, a "Sweet and Sour" chant broke out in honor of the late, great Larry Sweeney. Larry's brother and best friend gave Kingston the title after the match. People were legitimately sobbing.
My favorite wrestler in Chikara is Ultramantis Black. His gimmick is that he's a preying mantis/religious cult leader complete with skull staff and ridiculous voice. I got one of his shirt's which is just awesome. It's the Black Flag logo but instead it says "Ultra" and "Mantis."
Seriously -- I can't stress enough how awesome Chikara is! If you ever get a chance to see it don't hesitate.
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I went to see CHIKARA today at the old ECW Arena in S. Philly. It was a TOTAL blast. I can't stress enough how awesome it is in person.
The atmosphere is great. It's such a weird/awesome hybrid of rasslin' nerds, little kids and indie/hardcore types. They've really been making a push to brand Chikara as more than just pro wrestling -- they want it to be a comic book come to life. They've promoted the show a ton in the Philly Onion AV Club and the local alt.weeklies to go after the more hipster audience -- as they should, since it's something everyone would like in some way. It's such a DIY thing. A decent amount of the wrestlers were just kids from the Lehigh Valley who wanted to be wrestlers so they became wrestlers. Word on the street is that members of Pissed Jeans were (or maybe are) at one time performers under masks.
It's also great because it's family friendly. There's no cursing allowed. If you curse or act like an idiot, you get kicked out. It's the exact opposite of ECW, and that's not a bad thing at all! Wrestling doesn't have to be sleazy to be awesome. You could totally bring your kids/nephews and neices/etc. to it and not feel like you're making a life mistake.
The wrestlers are also great. A lot of acrobats and more cruiserweight moves.
Also: Colt Cabana was there. If you don't know him, check him out! He's an indie wrestling superstar who hosts "The Art of Wrestling" podcast. He also does stand-up comedy (I co-hosted a show with him once) and has been on The Sound of Young America. He really should be a huge star in the WWE but somehow he's not.
His match was great. He took on a guy named Archibald Peck whose gimmick was that he was the leader of a marching band. Peck came out with a valet who was his color guard girlfriend and a giant bunny mascont named Colt Cabunny. The Colt/Peck match was a masterpiece in physical comedy and a true honor to watch unfold. Just a masterpiece of seeing two performers knowing what an audience wants and giving it to them.
The main event was to crown the first ever Chikara world champion. Mike Quakenbush took on Eddie Kingston. It was EPIC. The whole roster (past and present) came down to surround the ring since it was so emotional. Before the match, a "Sweet and Sour" chant broke out in honor of the late, great Larry Sweeney. Larry's brother and best friend gave Kingston the title after the match. People were legitimately sobbing.
My favorite wrestler in Chikara is Ultramantis Black. His gimmick is that he's a preying mantis/religious cult leader complete with skull staff and ridiculous voice. I got one of his shirt's which is just awesome. It's the Black Flag logo but instead it says "Ultra" and "Mantis."
Seriously -- I can't stress enough how awesome Chikara is! If you ever get a chance to see it don't hesitate.
If I were in charge of a cable network the first thing I would do would be to sign CHIKARA to a TV deal. If TNA can get ratings good enough to keep them on the air I have no doubt that CHIKARA would do well. They could get about the same rating as TNA with about 1/4 the budget. They're on to something special with CHIKARA. They just need to get more people to see it.
Speaking of UltrasMantis Black this exchange on commentary from an old CHIKARA show is hillarious to me-
Larry Sweeney: Ricochet hails from Paducah, Kentucky. That’s also the hometown of Miss Elizabeth.
UltraMantis Black: Ah, yes. And now she is dead.
Larry Sweeney: …………………….
UltraMantis Black: Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you.
It's that much funnier in his UltraMantis Black voice.
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Based on that pitch, maybe a cable network will offer you a job.
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Seeing Dave from Knoxville in this thread remionds me- the documentary MEMPHIS HEAT which is all about the heyday of Memphis wrestling is pretty awesome. Tons of great clips and great stories. While I knew he was a musician I had no idea that when Jimmy hart got into wrestling he was sort of a C-list celebrity type who sort of stuck around. Also having mainly seen Jimmy in the WWF I had no idea how good he was.
http://www.memphisheatthemovie.com/ (http://www.memphisheatthemovie.com/)
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Loved Memphis Heat.
Went to Survivor Series last night with great seats. My expectations were low, but I was grinning almost non-stop.
Marked hard for nearly all the faces getting booed, Show's Macho Man elbow from the top, Howard Finkel, Punk's title win, and the Rock's armdrags.
Enough with We Want Ryder, though.
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I went to Raw last night with my friend Mike, who was gifted free tickets at his job.
I kind of think everyone at some point in time should see wrestling live, in particular Raw. The production values are so insane. It kills any big rock show or sporting event I've ever been to. You never quite feel like you're watching a television show -- they have things planned out during the breaks to keep the crowd invested, etc.
The show itself was really good. I love CM Punk to an unhealthy degree and also really like Daniel Bryan since the show was largely about him. Zach Ryder is ridiculously popular. I thought he was an alright comedy act but they really have something with him. He's a lovable goofball who loves wrestling the same way the fans do and it shows. I'm not sure exactly what it is because I can't remember a comedy act wrestler getting over like he has but he was an absolute star. It was a great touch to have these guys coming in from the crowd during the main event that the Philly crowd ate up.
I was really surprised by Cena in person. I love the reactions that he gets but last night was a weird mix. It was mostly overall boos (no surprise in Philly) but a lot of it felt like "Please Just Go Away" more than "We Hate You And Want To See You Killed."
I almost splurged on the CM Punk "Best In The World" T-Shirt which is the only wrestling shirt I actually would ever wear in public, save for the ECF'NW shirt which was mandatory in Philadelphia from the years 1995 to 1999. But it was $30 and there's no way I could look my wife in the eye and tell her I spent $30 on a wrestling t-shirt. But, yes, I am kicking myself.
I was definitely the only person in attendance wearing clothing from Jos. A. Bank there since I went straight from work.
The best part of the show was going w/ my friend Mike. I go way back with him but he got married and just had a kid and now lives in the suburbs so I never see him. We used to go see ECW and watch wrestling on Monday nights pretty regularly back in college. It's weird feeling sentimental about wrestling but I did!
Anyways, last night was a total blast. If you ever get a chance to see Raw in person you have to do it.
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I went to Raw last night with my friend Mike, who was gifted free tickets at his job.
I kind of think everyone at some point in time should see wrestling live, in particular Raw. The production values are so insane. It kills any big rock show or sporting event I've ever been to. You never quite feel like you're watching a television show -- they have things planned out during the breaks to keep the crowd invested, etc.
The show itself was really good. I love CM Punk to an unhealthy degree and also really like Daniel Bryan since the show was largely about him. Zach Ryder is ridiculously popular. I thought he was an alright comedy act but they really have something with him. He's a lovable goofball who loves wrestling the same way the fans do and it shows. I'm not sure exactly what it is because I can't remember a comedy act wrestler getting over like he has but he was an absolute star. It was a great touch to have these guys coming in from the crowd during the main event that the Philly crowd ate up.
I was really surprised by Cena in person. I love the reactions that he gets but last night was a weird mix. It was mostly overall boos (no surprise in Philly) but a lot of it felt like "Please Just Go Away" more than "We Hate You And Want To See You Killed."
I almost splurged on the CM Punk "Best In The World" T-Shirt which is the only wrestling shirt I actually would ever wear in public, save for the ECF'NW shirt which was mandatory in Philadelphia from the years 1995 to 1999. But it was $30 and there's no way I could look my wife in the eye and tell her I spent $30 on a wrestling t-shirt. But, yes, I am kicking myself.
I was definitely the only person in attendance wearing clothing from Jos. A. Bank there since I went straight from work.
The best part of the show was going w/ my friend Mike. I go way back with him but he got married and just had a kid and now lives in the suburbs so I never see him. We used to go see ECW and watch wrestling on Monday nights pretty regularly back in college. It's weird feeling sentimental about wrestling but I did!
Anyways, last night was a total blast. If you ever get a chance to see Raw in person you have to do it.
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk- have they earned their beards? I say it's a definite yes, though if you go by Tom's controversial ruling on Mick Foley's beard you would have to say no.
I can't quite make up my mind about Zack Ryder- his videos are cute and all, but I'm just not into him as a wrestler. I also found Cena's blatant kissing up to him a few weeks back to be kinda ridiculous and was the moment when I officially became anti-Cena.
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Daniel Bryan and CM Punk- have they earned their beards? I say it's a definite yes, though if you go by Tom's controversial ruling on Mick Foley's beard you would have to say no.
I can't quite make up my mind about Zack Ryder- his videos are cute and all, but I'm just not into him as a wrestler. I also found Cena's blatant kissing up to him a few weeks back to be kinda ridiculous and was the moment when I officially became anti-Cena.
[/quote]
In all fairness, didn't Tom eventually say he didn't know enough about wrestling to determine whether or not Foley earned his beard? Also, I'm a huge fan of Mick Foley and I'd define his beard as a "Slob's Beard" or as a "Sloppy Beard". He certainly earned that beard though and is a perfect example of Slobs defeating the Snobs.
I'll refrain from the Ryder discussion right now because I worry that if I get started, I'll end up writing a 5 page essay about WWE Creative's treatment of the guy and how that relates to their current embracing of social media as well as their inability to understand or capitalize on popularity that they didn't generate themselves.
Also, are you saying that the moment you became officially anti-Cena was when he gave up his title shot at TLC to let Ryder get a shot at the US title? I thought that this was a totally smart thing for them to do in theory but they didn't really handle it well at all. I think it made Ryder look like a dickhead that he complained so much after the clean loss, and Cena giving up his WWE title match totally made sense in this situation since he'd only be one of 4 guys in a super dangerous match that doesn't fit his style at all. They could have put over the strengths of Punk, Del Rio, and Miz, while also putting over the danger of a TLC match and possibly made more money if handled right, but instead they just kind of made Ryder look like a jerk and Mark Henry look like a chump, while Cena still looked like a super hero by only needing to do his one big move to cost Henry the match against a pretty weak opponent. But for what it's worth, Cena is a Ryder fan in real life too.
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I was finishing up my Christmas shopping at the local crappy shopping mall and noticed a sign and folding table advertising Ted DiBiase and Virgil. I saw Virgil talking to two younger gentlemen but no Million Dollar Man in sight. I did see the gold dollar bill belt.
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THINGS IN WRESTLING WHICH ARE AWESOME RIGHT NOW:
Heel Champion Daniel Bryan being the best weasel in years. His stuff on Raw running down The Big Show for hurting AJ was gold. He's such a whiny, conniving jerk!
Broadus Clay, the next big breakout star. The crowd is already screaming "MY BAD" before he does moves. He's a comedy guy who actually has potential as a legit champ type one day because of his size. His Dusty Rhodes influence is pretty clear and an awesome guy to bite off of.
Chris Jericho, trolling the audience without saying an actual word.
CM Punk, naturally. I love that Punk's gimmick is essentially Jello Biafra. Everyone in power gets questioned and antagonized, which is what every 90s fanzine handed out at shows at the Coney Island High taught us. And it's great because Lauranitis is turning because of Punk being such a shit-starter. Lauranitis conned his way into the position and hung out with the heels but wasn't so one-sided against them. But now he wants to screw Punk because Punk keeps challenging his authority, thus proving Punk's complaints right all along.
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THINGS IN WRESTLING WHICH ARE AWESOME RIGHT NOW:
Heel Champion Daniel Bryan being the best weasel in years. His stuff on Raw running down The Big Show for hurting AJ was gold. He's such a whiny, conniving jerk!
Broadus Clay, the next big breakout star. The crowd is already screaming "MY BAD" before he does moves. He's a comedy guy who actually has potential as a legit champ type one day because of his size. His Dusty Rhodes influence is pretty clear and an awesome guy to bite off of.
Chris Jericho, trolling the audience without saying an actual word.
CM Punk, naturally. I love that Punk's gimmick is essentially Jello Biafra. Everyone in power gets questioned and antagonized, which is what every 90s fanzine handed out at shows at the Coney Island High taught us. And it's great because Lauranitis is turning because of Punk being such a shit-starter. Lauranitis conned his way into the position and hung out with the heels but wasn't so one-sided against them. But now he wants to screw Punk because Punk keeps challenging his authority, thus proving Punk's complaints right all along.
Spoiler from Daniel Bryan's promo on this week's SmackDown-
" He said he's not scared of anyone and A.J. said she loved him, which nobody has ever said to him before..and that he's "highly fond of her, as well."
The key to both Bryan and Jericho is that they've both been relatively subtle (at least as far as wrestling storylines go which are about as subtle as SONS OF ANARCHY.) Bryan's turn started when he cashed in his MitB briefcase when he said he was waiting until Mania which I remember actually had internet fans wondering why they were trying to make him look so heelish.. It's because they were planting the seeds for his heel turn.
Jericho just cracks me up. I love that he's getting heel heat without having to say a word. And his light up jacket rules.
I'm actually liking Laurenitis' role in the Punk feud. He comes across as such a middle management weasel. It's almost a punk version of the Austin-Vince feud. Punk should actually produce a anti-Laurenitis fanzine. The ammount of people who would "get it" would be relatively few, but those few would think it was awesome.
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THINGS IN WRESTLING WHICH ARE AWESOME RIGHT NOW:
Heel Champion Daniel Bryan being the best weasel in years. His stuff on Raw running down The Big Show for hurting AJ was gold. He's such a whiny, conniving jerk!
Broadus Clay, the next big breakout star. The crowd is already screaming "MY BAD" before he does moves. He's a comedy guy who actually has potential as a legit champ type one day because of his size. His Dusty Rhodes influence is pretty clear and an awesome guy to bite off of.
Chris Jericho, trolling the audience without saying an actual word.
CM Punk, naturally. I love that Punk's gimmick is essentially Jello Biafra. Everyone in power gets questioned and antagonized, which is what every 90s fanzine handed out at shows at the Coney Island High taught us. And it's great because Lauranitis is turning because of Punk being such a shit-starter. Lauranitis conned his way into the position and hung out with the heels but wasn't so one-sided against them. But now he wants to screw Punk because Punk keeps challenging his authority, thus proving Punk's complaints right all along.
Do you see Bryan keeping the title until WM28? I actually enjoyed Henry's monster heel title run and thought it kinda brought a dimension of legitimacy to the title that it had been missing for a while, i.e. you really need to know what you're doing in the ring to beat the champ. I do love Bryan as champ, and it's been so great seeing him and Punk as the top 2 guys (which I got to see live in Anaheim this week). The cashing in of the briefcase is making more and more sense to me; at first, I was so upset because it seemed like cashing it in at WM28 was just another thing WWE couldn't wait to do, so they rushed a title reign. I'm just not sure where this thing is going with Big Show. I suppose with the huge main event that's already set up and a possible Punk/Jericho double mainy might take pressure off WWE to produce yet another huge title match. Anyhow...predictions?
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I think Bryan will hold it until Elimination Chamber, but considering the magnitude of Cena v Rock, a potential Taker match, Punk v Jericho (or whatever the WWE title match ends up being), and the rumored Big Show v Shaq matches, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him as champion at Mania, especially since the World Title match between Edge and Del Rio was such an afterthought last year.
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My gut tells me he loses at Elimination Chamber, but it is true that the SmackDown title is enough enough of an afterthought and they might have enough planned that Bryan losing might sort of get put on the backburner until it's too late. It's hard to tell how much faith they have in Bryan. Do they see him as the real deal or do they view him as the guy who gets to hold the belt until Orton comes back?
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I feel like WWE needs to capitalize on CM Punk as champion and straight-edge superstar with a "punk 'n' wrestling" crossover. Imagine seeing groups like Fear, the Descendents, and the Adolescents ushering in a whole new series of punked up masters of the squared circle.
I think an interesting angle would be rival New York and London punk stables, just like the mid to late 1970s rivalry between groups like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads and the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, and the Damned. The WWE could get William Regal and Wade Barrett to run the London stable, while Zach Ryder could head up the New York equivalent. If anything is going to win over the 'Pitchfork generation' to the carnival entertainment of wrestling, it's this.
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I feel like WWE needs to capitalize on CM Punk as champion and straight-edge superstar with a "punk 'n' wrestling" crossover. Imagine seeing groups like Fear, the Descendents, and the Adolescents ushering in a whole new series of punked up masters of the squared circle.
I think an interesting angle would be rival New York and London punk stables, just like the mid to late 1970s rivalry between groups like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads and the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, and the Damned. The WWE could get William Regal and Wade Barrett to run the London stable, while Zach Ryder could head up the New York equivalent. If anything is going to win over the 'Pitchfork generation' to the carnival entertainment of wrestling, it's this.
Actually, the way to win over the 'Pitchfork generation' might be to have everyone wrestle in American Apparel and bring in Georgio the Human Carpet as a manager.
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I feel like WWE needs to capitalize on CM Punk as champion and straight-edge superstar with a "punk 'n' wrestling" crossover. Imagine seeing groups like Fear, the Descendents, and the Adolescents ushering in a whole new series of punked up masters of the squared circle.
I think an interesting angle would be rival New York and London punk stables, just like the mid to late 1970s rivalry between groups like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads and the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, and the Damned. The WWE could get William Regal and Wade Barrett to run the London stable, while Zach Ryder could head up the New York equivalent. If anything is going to win over the 'Pitchfork generation' to the carnival entertainment of wrestling, it's this.
Actually, the way to win over the 'Pitchfork generation' might be to have everyone wrestle in American Apparel and bring in Georgio the Human Carpet as a manager.
They could revisit the old bit where King Kong Bundy would demand a five count instead of just the standard three count whenever he pinned somebody, but this time, the guy would demand a 6.8 count.
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Both great ideas. I'd love to see the Human Carpet slyly trip up his wrestler's opponents during matches. If we're going with Pitchfork style ratings as pin counts, would an 8.5 or higher earn you 'best new wrestler' status?
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I think an evil hipster character would be the absolute best way to go. Daniel Bryan's friends with Kimya Dawson (who designs his t-shirts) so he's right there. He's also vegan. Imagine if Beat Happening (or, even better, MIT HAMINE!) recorded his theme music? That's insant heel heat to the Monster-drinking crowd which populates the WWE fanbase. But even better, it could usher in a whole new genre of hipster fans who would be attracted to wrestling ironically while having figures who serve as avatars for the natural Pitchfork-fan smugness who would then pretend to hate their hero.
CM Punk's already got the punk fans. I saw two "Best In The World" shirts at Riot Fest Philly. Bryan can go after the vegan indie/twee crowd. Wade Barrett has a tattoo which quotes Manic Street Preachers lyrics and also constantly talks up the Stone Roses, the Smiths and Elvis C. on Twitter. So he's a natural elite Brit-pop heel.
If they formed a hipster alliance, it'd be awesome if Wade literally stole the title from Daniel Bryan in homage to The Libertines' break-up.
Naturally, the stable should be called Animal Collective.
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Captain Lou (Featuring Aesop Rock) - Kimya Dawson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4OO7GVJU1k#)
Daniel Bryan singing back-up on a Kimya Dawson song.
Sort of on topic- has CM Punk ever had a proper punk song as his entrance music in the WWE? Much as I like "Cult of Personality" it seems like any number of punk bands would jump at the chance to record a theme for CM Punk.
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Fantastic! It's difficult for me to handle the thought of anything legitimizing Mit Hamine, though. Zach's recent calls, where he's shamelessly referred to his own songs as 'spectacular', as if he's somehow able to provide an objective opinion of his music, just about pushed me over the edge. That having been said, I'd love to see a backstage brawl at a 'live/work studio' or 'art collective'. Maybe the WWE could even create a new gimmick in the form of a baba ghanoush match? "The following match is for the WWTwee Championship."
Love the idea of the Animal Collective. I think it'd be amazing if on knocking out an opponent they took an absurd amount of time to meticulously silkscreen their logo onto his chest, sort of like the nWo and their spray paint cans back in the 90s.
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This could all easily go awry. WCW brought in the Misfits--I know I know, not Danzig-era, but still--and they even had that shameful Misfits character. I love the idea of some culture other than Monster Energy leaking into the WWE milieu, but gimmicks that far-fetched ultimately need to take a backseat to storylines and stuff. That said, I think these are all funny ideas.
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Agreed, but given that so many WWE angles already go horribly wrong on a regular basis(anonymous Raw GM and the 'Conspiracy', to name just a couple), I think almost any idea is as good as the next. I'm not seriously suggesting any sort of indie-rock storyline, but I honestly think that sort of gimmick could easily work with decent writing behind it.
Royal Rumble predictions? I like that this year there doesn't appear to be a clear frontrunner (although maybe I'm being completely ignorant). I'd love to see Wade Barrett win, but I almost think Chris Jericho is the best bet.
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I want Wade to win it, too. He's been a favorite of mine since The Nexus angle. He's a HEEL. JBL wrote something on his blog about how, when he was a heel, he didn't give the fans any reason at all to like him. He had no catch phrases, didn't say anything remotely close to a laugh line, etc. Barrett takes that to heart! He's just a total self-centered jerk (after a year or so as being the manipulative "leader of men" who made an entire stable do his bidding).
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I'm really glad he's finally been able to recover after the WWE let John Cena ride roughshod over the Nexus and make every member look totally weak. He's such a naturally gifted speaker, and he's put on some great matches lately with Randy Orton and Sheamus. I loved seeing him and Cody Rhodes outlast Team Orton at the Survivor Series. Anybody see this in the news today:
http://www.nme.com/news/metallica/61668 (http://www.nme.com/news/metallica/61668)
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I don't know why the Nexus story arc got so crapped on! I loved it so much!
It was essentially the WWE's Story of Communism through the prism of George Orwell and their rewrite of Animal Farm.
It was started as a peasant uprising (NXT scrubs) led by a charismatic figure (Wade). They ran roughshod over the company solely because of their unity and nearly destroyed the WWE's dream team. I don't mind Cena doing his miracle comeback at SummerSlam because he's the company ace and I'd expect him to beat some rookies in a one-on-one battle.
Then Wade took too much control and made the Nexus serve his aims. He gained absolute power and then ignored the original goals of the organization. This fractured the organization and Cena was able to pick them off one by one, since they weren't really any good unless they were unified with a purpose. (Like every Communist dictatorship.)
The WWE always buries hot newcomers for a bit to make sure they don't go all Brock Lesnar. Wade's come back strong -- he's incredible on the mic but is now really learning how to work in the ring. He's got a really unique style -- he's essentially a large technician.
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I never thought of it like that! Pretty spot on comparison, though. Like the Best Show, WWE is deep. I could definitely listen to Wade refer to himself as a 'leader of men' all day.
Somewhat related to communism or I guess just progressive politics, I also really enjoyed when the WWE seemed to be going for cheap 'Union heat' during the way too brief walkout angle, like "how dare these wrestlers have feelings or concerns?" That's why I'm also really fond of David Otunga's lawyer role. From the bowtie to his coffee mug, his character is just designed to be hated.
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What happened with Lesnar? I watched WWE only for a couple of years about a decade ago, and dude was untouchable then. He just seemed to disappear without comment, although I wasn't watching very closely. Just get too big for his boots? Eddie Guerrero became champion soon after, I think, which was incredible.
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Brock hated the travel. He supposedly quit after flying from the US to South Africa for an 8 minute match and then flying right back home. He was never a pro wrestling fan, either. That's pretty insane because, while he was in the WWE, he was awesome. He got it.
That thing where he threw the one legged dude down the steps in a wheelchair is one of the all-time awesome monster heel bully moves.
And, yes, Eddy winning the belt was awesome. One of the greatest runs in wrestling history. I think a case can be made that Eddy's the greatest wrestler of all-time. In fact, I might make a list at some point today of my all-time Top 10.
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Eddie is just about the only wrestler I can think of who actually learned how to be charismatic. Watch him in ECW and early in his WCW run and you see a guy with crazy talent who was pretty dull. Somewhere along the way he put it all together and became one of the best ever.
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If you can find it somewhere, EVERY rasslin' fan should watch this lucha PPV WCW put on a little before Eddie and Rey ended up in ECW. I think it was called When World's Collide.
Eddie was in a tag team called Los Gringos Locos with his partner "Love Machine" Art Barr. They were terrific and oozing with charisma. They both war American flag Zubaz pants and, on the way to the ring, would pantomime swimming to taunt Mexican fans since "all of them wanted to swim across the Rio Grande and work for Americans like us."
They had a match against El Hijo de Santo and Octogon at this PPV which was awesome. Eddie's dad and El Hijo's dad -- the original El Santo, who was like a god in Mexico, were legendary partners. Eddie and El Hijo became partners but faced some dissension. Art Bar got involved by attacking Eddie while wearing El Hijo's mask and then ran out of dodge. And then when Eddie came to, he assumed it was El Hijo and destroyed him.
The revenge match at this PPV was hair versus masks, which is the biggest type of match in lucha libre. And it's AWESOME and is one of the best matches of all-time in terms of in-ring action. And then when you add in that there are literally decades worth of back story coming into play, it's even more dramatic.
It took Eddie some time to put it together and learn how to act for an American audience. But once he did, he was just unreal.
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Also, I'm pretty sure the "Custody of a Child Settled Via Ladder Match" is the best.
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The WCW cruiserweight division really influenced my love of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho. Both captivating stars who could wrestle with the best of them. The LWO faction cracked me up too.
On another note, I'm attending a history conference on Vancouver Island at the moment and now thinking of writing a paper on Sergeant Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan in the context of the Gulf War.
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Also, I'm pretty sure the "Custody of a Child Settled Via Ladder Match" is the best.
It always kinda bugges me that Dominic looked pretty much exactly like Rey which made the claims that he was Eddie's son a little silly, but Eddie was such a prick that he really made the storyline work.
And who ever would have thought that Vicki would still be an on air character all these years later?
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VEGAN HEEL!!!
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The Punk/Bryan match was so good last night, that it has sent me on flights on fantasy booking fancy. Please indulge me.
Rock/Cena
Punk & Bryan retain at EC. Jericho's quest is to unify the titles. Title unification triple threat at Mania.
Sheamus chooses to end the streak. Sheamus and Taker hoss it out.
Orton gets hurt at EC. HHH wants him on the shelf. Rehash the McMahon/Austin angle. HHH/Orton.
Big Show/Shaq comes to fruition.
Henry/Brodus Clay hoss it out as well.
Cody Thodes/Goldust
Truth, Ryder, Kofi, Mysterio(?) vs Miz, Swagger, Ziggler, Barrett gives them all something to do.
Hero is apparently being given the chance to pass another drug test. Hot-shot the Kings of Wrestling against whoever the tag champs are at the time, perhaps?
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VEGAN HEEL!!!
I just watched this and immediately came here to discuss which one of you is a WWE writer and how do I get credit for the oncoming ANIMAL COLLECTIVE takeover?
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Brandon Stroud's best and worst of raw was faaaaaaannnntastic today.
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I just loved that the announcers had to mention that Wade Barrett was in his 'luxury skybox'. Not really sure what purpose that served, though maybe the writers are trying to build a disconnect between him and fans. Really enjoyed Royal Rumble and Raw. Sheamus winning was unpredictable enough that it caught me off guard. Vegan heel might have lawsuit potential, especially if Mit Hamin start getting referenced.
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I was disappointed in Rumble. My fervent hope was that Jericho would come out early, last all the way until he was the final 2, get the fans cheering for him, and then purposely eliminate himself by stepping over the top-rope. The heel heat would have been tremendous.
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I just loved that the announcers had to mention that Wade Barrett was in his 'luxury skybox'. Not really sure what purpose that served, though maybe the writers are trying to build a disconnect between him and fans. Really enjoyed Royal Rumble and Raw. Sheamus winning was unpredictable enough that it caught me off guard. Vegan heel might have lawsuit potential, especially if Mit Hamin start getting referenced.
I think the skybox was just a way to explain why Barrett didn't get involved in the match.
Watching RAW and realizing I was watching a match between a Straight Edge punk and a vegan struck me as incredibly bizarre in a "Who'd a thunk it?" kinda way.
Highlight of RAW was William Regal's throwaway line about how his kid spends his day locked in chains in his basement.
Also, I'm really digging John Laurenitis. His middle management weasel gimmick has a whole different spin than Vince's all powerful deal and he's great at it to the point where I'd be shocked if he wasn't really like this behind the scenes.
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Please indulge me.
Rock/Cena
Punk & Bryan retain at EC. Jericho's quest is to unify the titles. Title unification triple threat at Mania.
Sheamus chooses to end the streak. Sheamus and Taker hoss it out.
Orton gets hurt at EC. HHH wants him on the shelf. Rehash the McMahon/Austin angle. HHH/Orton.
Big Show/Shaq comes to fruition.
Henry/Brodus Clay hoss it out as well.
Cody Thodes/Goldust
Truth, Ryder, Kofi, Mysterio(?) vs Miz, Swagger, Ziggler, Barrett gives them all something to do.
Hero is apparently being given the chance to pass another drug test. Hot-shot the Kings of Wrestling against whoever the tag champs are at the time, perhaps?
You've got some great ideas.
Speaking of Brodus, is anybody else getting a little tired of the gimmick yet? I know blowing the whistle on the squash machine this early seems a big trigger happy, but the video packages they played before he came back seemed like they meant to get the squashing out of the way. Also, maybe the next Drew McIntyre match they set up, Teddy Long can just tell him he already lost even though the match hasn't taken place, so that we don't have to waste more PPV time on that dude.
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I'm getting a bit tired waiting for Brodus to develop a real feud, but I enjoy cartoonish wrestling characters, so I'm happy to see anybody who sort of fits that profile. I'm hoping for more feuds this year that don't involve titles, like Barrett and Orton. Am I wrong in thinking that in decades past some of the sport's biggest talents rarely held belts (DiBiase, Jake the Snake, Roddy Piper)? It's just my opinion, but I think the emphasis should be put off exclusively pursuing championships for a lot of the talent. I feel like a lot of the younger superstars like McIntyre and Swagger get a push and maybe enjoy a brief title run, but as soon as that's over with they're essentially ignored for months on end, rather than put in exciting non-title feuds that could do a lot to keep them relevant. You shouldn't be considered a failure if you don't manage to win the WWE Championship ten times in five years.
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I'd forgotten about the child custody ladder match.
It will never edge out my favorite (the football helmet match between Jim Neidhart and Iron Mike Sharpe), but it's up there.
Someone find me a clip of when the Kiss Demon debuted and the coffin got jammed. Please.
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I still think they have no idea what to do with Broadus. They just threw him out there as the Funkasaurus to see if it would stick or get booed out of the arena. It stuck, they're fine-tuning the details, and go from there. I think a feud versus Regal would be great.
Regal's on the short-list of all-time greatest. He was amazing as the snob technician heel in WCW and also had some ridiculously brutal brawls with Fit Finlay. But he is also a terrific comedy worker who isn't afraid to do ridiculous stuff which goes completely against his "dignified" persona. Against Broadus, he'll be able to put together a very good match while putting him over.
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Regal's on the short-list of all-time greatest.
He's on *A* list; I don't know about short-list. I can't see putting him in the company of Angle, Perfect, and Benoit, let alone Michaels, Flair, or Savage.
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I would definitely enjoy a feud between Brodus and Regal. I'm kind of thinking the WWE might build to Sexual Chocolate vs. the Funkasaurus, though, whenever Mark Henry returns from his injury/suspension. Or maybe a tag team? I think I'd be into either option.
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Regal's on the short-list of all-time greatest.
He's on *A* list; I don't know about short-list. I can't see putting him in the company of Angle, Perfect, and Benoit, let alone Michaels, Flair, or Savage.
Yeah, Regal's up there (and his book is one of the better and more honest wrestler autobiographies out ) but He's not an all time great in myopinion. He's great and one of the few wrestlers who can actually do comedy well, but he never got a chance to be a top level guy in either of the top US promotions (and again, if you read his book you'll see why) so I can't put him on the short list of all time greats. But his being steadily employed by WWE for so long is testament to what they think of his talents.
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European Uppercut > Swanton Bomb
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Just watched Andy Kaufman as the intergender wrestling champion of the world
And then threatening Jerry Lawler.
Classic.
Andy Kaufman wrestles a 327 pound woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1uQlB99WCuk#)
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Just watched Andy Kaufman as the intergender wrestling champion of the world
And then threatening Jerry Lawler.
Classic.
Andy Kaufman wrestles a 327 pound woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1uQlB99WCuk#)
This is probably the most influential comedy bit in developing my sense of humor.
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I'm from Hollywood.
This is a bar of *soap.*
"Mamfiss Tennuhsee."
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I like Brodus, and he obviously has talent even w/o the Funkasaurus gimmick, but when Cole starts spazzing over the raptor dance, it kinda kills it.
Speaking of Cole, I wonder what the glacial pace of his turn to Daniel Bryan's side was about. Lawler didn't like Bryan, Cole was still preoccupied about his being a nerd, and Booker T was still a fan. I really wonder if they knew exactly what they were doing with Bryan all along. It was kinda funny that when Cole finally embraced Bryan, Daniel just told him it wasn't about Cole, and that was that. So weird.
Do any of you read the pwtorch True/False/TBD column by Jon Cudo? Here's the most recent: http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/trufalsetbd/article_57759.shtml (http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/trufalsetbd/article_57759.shtml)
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Regal would have RULED if he ever got a main event push, which he couldn't get because of his addiction issues. But instead, he figured out a way to prolong his career by doing comedy work which didn't wreck his body.
He's more of a Jake "The Snake" Roberts type in that he could fit in anywhere on the card and get any angle over. Jake never did comedy work but he always got what needed to be done accomplished.
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1) David Otunga rules. I SAID IT. He's really found his niche as a comedy stooge there to get heel heat and then his ass beat in the stiffest ways possible. He's the new "Dancin'" Stevie Richards.
2) The Punk/Jericho bit was pretty classic. I loved Punk just trolling the troll by not saying anything and then making Jericho look like a total tool by having his back turned to him. I also loved that Jericho did a pretty serious promo and then floundered afterwards while wearing that brilliant, ridiculous jacket.
Seriously, is the WWE selling some form of Jericho's get-up yet? Because I would really spend a week's salary on that thing. Anyone know how I could make that, even?
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Otunga's coffee mug alone is priceless. Not sure if they dub in that slurping sound or not, but it's also pretty amazing. I love Harvard heat!
I enjoyed Punk/Jericho, but Y2J's disses against the other superstars seemed pretty spotty at times. "Before R-Truth said 'what's up?' I was saying 'shut the hell up!'" I'm wondering if the promo was written that way so some of the other talent didn't get offended.
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!!!
Sue Myrick Honors Nature Boy Ric Flair on House Floor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrAe21fi_4c#)
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Man, that Ric Flair article this year was even more depressing than the "T.O. Has No Friends to Bowl With" article I read this week.
Sue Myrick is only the third most loathsome NC Congressperson, but that's not really relevant to how loathsome she is. I am not one who thinks all Republicans or conservatives are stupid; it is true, however, that all NC GOP Congresspeople seem to be.
She announced today that she is joining her friend Richard Fliehr in retirement. Good riddance. Whooh.
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You'd think that formal recognition in Congress would be enough incentive to keep a wrestler retired, but I guess not. Is he finally done for good after his match with Sting last year? Maybe he'll get signed to a lucrative Legends contract and manage to stay out of the ring.
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Hahahaha. That video's great. I think that's awesome that Naitch is being honored on the floor of Congress. It's not any dumber than the things they're normally up to.
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Gregg! I tweeted this at you a few weeks ago, but it might have gotten lost in the shuffle (also I was sending it from my phone so it might not have worked properly). I figured I'd post it in this thread since it seemed appropriate!
I found this print in a shop here, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to buy it before someone else did :'(. It's by an artist that calls herself "Betty Turbo" from Portland. I'm kind of in love with it!
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g130/badgrammer/NatureBoy.jpg)
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Here is a link to her Etsy store (with even more prints!): http://www.etsy.com/listing/62402753/ric-flair-battles-a-giant-squid-for-the (http://www.etsy.com/listing/62402753/ric-flair-battles-a-giant-squid-for-the)
The Randy Savage/Ice Cream in Heaven one might be my fave.
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Here is a link to her Etsy store (with even more prints!): http://www.etsy.com/listing/62402753/ric-flair-battles-a-giant-squid-for-the (http://www.etsy.com/listing/62402753/ric-flair-battles-a-giant-squid-for-the)
The Randy Savage/Ice Cream in Heaven one might be my fave.
How did I not see this until now!!!!!!!!
MUST BUY!
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No worries! I have been meaning to re-send it, but I figured I'd just post it here! I am really kicking myself for not buying it when it was in my hands!
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That Flair print is outstanding.
RAW talk: So glad Khali is getting yet another microscopic push to justify his spot in the Chamber this month. Job Cody out to him, devalue the IC title even more (didn't know it was possible), and not fool anybody into thinking he'll actually win the strap. I love that Rhodes has held onto it as long as he has and that he brought back a version of the old belt, but those 2nd tier titles (Divas and tag titles included) are just decoration at this point. I hated Zack Ryder's reign as US champ, and Cena pureed the US title along with Swagger himself. What's the point?
I too am on board with Otunga. He's not even that terrible in the ring, really. The seed of a rift being planted between Otunga and Laurinaitis could be lovely if they let the heat die down a little between Punk and the interim GM.
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Oh. My. Oprah. Those prints are tremendous. Thank you so much for sharing. They're going on my Facebook wall!
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Oh. My. Oprah. Those prints are tremendous. Thank you so much for sharing. They're going on my Facebook wall!
Every so often I get some (I assume) good natured ribbing about posting too much wrestling crap on my Facebook wall so I'm sensitive about posting too much, but these are too good not to share.
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Also, I'm considering buying one of these-
http://barbershopwindow.com/fullziphashtag.htm (http://barbershopwindow.com/fullziphashtag.htm)
but at $55 with $10 shipping... I dunno. But I do need a good hoodie.
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I'm hoping for more #Heel merchandise from Ziggler. The hoodie's a nice start, though. I definitely think he's one of the most talented performers in the WWE right now, though he still hasn't really dished out his full promo potential just yet. He's so great at making himself and his opponents look good. Weird, but I feel like he's almost at his best on the mic during his segments on Zach Ryder's YouTube show.
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Ziggler is great. I think he'll be in the main event at WrestleMania next year. He's perfect at his spot right now of just below the main event. I wish they'd give him a catchphrase. My idea for him -- right before he goes for his finisher, he screams "I'M GONNA PUT HIM IN A BODYBAG" like some random Cobra Kai dude.
Daniel Bryan, smug environmentalist vegan heel who uses ownership of a Prius to get heat. DISCUSS!
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Just got to chime in here. If you're over the age of 14 and you're still watching "professional" wrestling, there is something seriously wrong with you. Please seek help.
There I said it. Someone had to say it.
Who will help me shut down the most embarrassing thread on the FOT board?
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Just got to chime in here. If you're over the age of 14 and you're still watching "professional" wrestling, there is something seriously wrong with you. Please seek help.
There I said it. Someone had to say it.
Who will help me shut down the most embarrassing thread on the FOT board?
Are we gonna have to call upon Dark Greggulator to cut a promo on you?
Sounds like somebody needs to take Tom's "Like what you like. I don't care." philosophy to heart. I realize that Tom's philosophy doesn't prevent him from mocking what he doesn't like, but it's the principle of the thing.
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Just got to chime in here. If you're over the age of 14 and you're still watching "professional" wrestling, there is something seriously wrong with you. Please seek help.
There I said it. Someone had to say it.
Who will help me shut down the most embarrassing thread on the FOT board?
Now I hope some pro wrestler adopts a "Ryan Gosling in DRIVE" gimmick as the ultimate Mike trolling.
"He's putting the mask on, this one's almost over!"
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"Please seek help." Nice burn! Speaking of fourteen, your peasant stock japes and jibes definitely fall into the realm of teenage comedy. Get good.
Tom put it best: why be ashamed of what you're passionate about, so long as it's not hurting anybody? Anything one person construes as art could just as realistically be seen as an embarrassment by anybody else. This idea that certain forms of expression are bulletproof or somehow more meaningful than others is a total fallacy to me. It's all more or less subjective, perhaps with the exception of Mit Hamin.
And speaking of the Prius, I just love the attention to detail that's being paid in establishing Daniel Bryan as a conniving vegan heel. Looking forward to seeing where all this goes. I'm hoping he retains at Elimination Chamber, but I'm not sure it's in the cards.
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I'm a married 34-year-old homeowner with a master's degree and a pretty good career in journalism. I generally have good taste in things like film and books. I know I should know better about wrestling. My wife reminds me every single day. But I don't care! I love it!
The reasons why I love it: It's fun! It's a live-action comic book where there are clearly defined good guys and bad guys who do ridiculous things to each other. I like the simple, alternate universe which exists. I like being able to suspend reality for a few hours each week.
Plus, where else can a vegan, Prius driving villain exist?
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I'm a married 34-year-old homeowner with a master's degree and a pretty good career in journalism. I generally have good taste in things like film and books. I know I should know better about wrestling. My wife reminds me every single day. But I don't care! I love it!
The reasons why I love it: It's fun! It's a live-action comic book where there are clearly defined good guys and bad guys who do ridiculous things to each other. I like the simple, alternate universe which exists. I like being able to suspend reality for a few hours each week.
Plus, where else can a vegan, Prius driving villain exist?
The National Review?
I actually like the "live action comic book" descriptor far more than the "soap opera for guys" label that other people tend to use. And if you actually get some smart, self-aware but genuinely enthusiastic people writing about it (like Brandon Stroud's 'Best and Worst' recaps for With Leather), it can be a fun thing to keep tabs on. But personally I have a hard time investing too much into it these days, less because of any "it's dumb and for kids" stigma and more because I have a hard time really being able to find any escapist fun in a business where so many people have died way too young and under such miserable circumstances.
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Just got to chime in here. If you're over the age of 14 and you're still watching "professional" wrestling, there is something seriously wrong with you. Please seek help.
There I said it. Someone had to say it.
Who will help me shut down the most embarrassing thread on the FOT board?
Are we gonna have to call upon Dark Greggulator to cut a promo on you?
Sounds like somebody needs to take Tom's "Like what you like. I don't care." philosophy to heart. I realize that Tom's philosophy doesn't prevent him from mocking what he doesn't like, but it's the principle of the thing.
AP Mike likes making fun of wrestling fans.
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We like making fun of AP Mike so it's all good. :)
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I just love the idea of larger than life, cartoon characters resolving their differences by cutting promos and engaging in over the top fisticuffs. Of course it's completely ludicrous that a 'dead man' and his horribly burned brother would decide to bring their dysfunctional sibling rivalry to the squared circle, but that's exactly what makes wrestling so appealing. And no, I don't think this thread is embarrassing at all to the Best Show or the Friends of Tom board. I think Tom's reaction to Dark Greggulator, and the support from much of the FOT community that his "shoot heard 'round the web" received really speaks for itself. Yes, I can certainly appreciate the reluctance to watch wrestling, given the brutal attrition rate in the WWE and other promotions, as well as any criticisms of its overall content, but the sacrifice and exertion the performers put into the sport never ceases to amaze me.
AP Mike would also make a great wrestling character/manager, so maybe we'll all win him over soon enough.
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I was just commenting on "like what you like". I think AP Mike does.
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Pro wrestling is simply better than pro everything else.
When asked last week why I neither watched nor cared about the Super Bowl, I simply responded with this: when Manning can make it rain blood from a lacerated sky mid-hail mary, I'll start watching.
Until then....
http://youtu.be/kUXNBfDaluc (http://youtu.be/kUXNBfDaluc)
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I always (or at least since I was 13) felt like watching wrestling was like watching the worst Broadway production imaginable. But it's OK with me that people feel otherwise.
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That totally makes sense, Dave. For me that's always been part of the appeal. Wrestling's such a bizarre carnival.
Anybody got Elimination Chamber predictions? I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Wade Barrett wins the Smackdown match. I think he'd make a good fit to face Sheamus at Wrestlemania, where he'd almost certainly lose the strap.
On the Raw side, I'll take Chris Jericho, who will briefly hold the title until CM Punk regains the belt at Wrestlemania. This would set up an epic night of babyface triumphs, which is what Wrestlemania is all about!
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Anybody got Elimination Chamber predictions? I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Wade Barrett wins the Smackdown match. I think he'd make a good fit to face Sheamus at Wrestlemania, where he'd almost certainly lose the strap.
On the Raw side, I'll take Chris Jericho, who will briefly hold the title until CM Punk regains the belt at Wrestlemania. This would set up an epic night of babyface triumphs, which is what Wrestlemania is all about!
On RAW, Kingston, Truth and Miz are pretty much guaranteed not to win. Ziggler has done some high-profile jobs recently, and usually before a champion wins a huge title, they often see a small losing streak. Ziggler could win this. I really hope either Jericho or Punk gain/retain the strap, though, because they're obviously headed toward a main event at WM, and having the title on the line would make it that much better. I mean, "best in the world" feud deserves the supposed "best in the world" title.
Unfortunately, for Smackdown, I think Bryan's reign comes to an end. Seamus probably would've picked the WWE title to challenge for if Bryan were to be the champion at WM, but they're holding off for something bigger. The only thing that seems to scream BIG at WM would be Orton vs. Seamus. I don't care too much for that main event, but it's 2 of the biggest stars at the biggest show. Makes sense.
That said, I don't think I'll enjoy Chamber too much. I totally hear what y'all are saying at Ziggler--everybody seems to say it these days--but I just can't get on board. Something's blocking me. He looks reckless a lot to me; like, do you guys ever notice when he goes to hit his finisher and his opponent holds onto the ropes? It looks dangerous. Ziggler is a male cheerleader. Ziggler is perfection. Ziggler is #heel. Ziggler is a show-off. Nothing sticks. There's gotta be a reason why.
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Did anyone else notice Wade Barrett taking a whiff of the rose in the breast pocket of his long coat on Smackdown this week? I thought it was a nice touch.
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It's hard to like "The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons, especially after some of the points Tom made about him on the air, but it's hard not to agree with Simmons on this:
From http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/249785-bill-simmons-blasts-triple-h-update-on-ortons-condition (http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/249785-bill-simmons-blasts-triple-h-update-on-ortons-condition),
"In a new mailbag piece published over at the ESPN affiliate site Grantland.com, Bill Simmons had the following to say when asked if the recent surge of Jeremy Lin in the NBA is the equivalent of CM Punk last year as opposed to the self-proclaimed 'King of Kings:'
'Does this mean Carmelo is going to be Triple H — the egotistical, overrated star who couldn't handle that something good was happening without him, so he interjected himself into the storyline and ended up throwing a wet blanket on all the momentum?' Simmons writes. 'I sure hope not.'"
I would love to hear The Greggulator's take on this, or anyone else who follows wrestling and basketball.
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I noticed the piece you mentioned on Bleacher Report a few days ago. I'm obviously no expert on backstage politics in WWE, but it seemed like a pretty compelling statement on the part of Simmons, at least based on what bits and peices I've gathered on Triple H over the years. CM Punk definitely lost a lot of moment after Triple H entered the picture, though thankfully he's been back on top since Survivor Series. I've also been kind of disgusted that Triple H is clearly positioning himself to face Undertaker again at Wrestlemania.
On another note, my girlfriend and I were at a concert last weekend where Edmonton group Born Gold opened for recent Pitchfork sensation Grimes. The singer of Born Gold was wearing a custom jacket, rigged up to an Xbox Kinect, that instantly reminded me of Chris Jericho. Weird!
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk290/yodaxv/Phone066.jpg)
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My good friend Dustin has been doing a radio show called "The Five Count" in Minnesota for 6 or 7 years now. The majority of his guests are wrestlers, hiphop acts from the late 80's and early 90's and people from old Nickelodeon TV shows (The Adventures of Pete and Pete, etc). I figured I'd post a link to his site archives here since it might be of interest to the FOT. I was a guest host off and on a few years ago and it was always pretty fun to work on. I believe it's finally going to be available in podcast form pretty soon.
He's interviewing Diamond Dallas Page this week: http://www.thefivecount.com/ (http://www.thefivecount.com/)
PS. I just realized I might be the only gal posting in this thread...
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CM Punk // Chris Brown
http://youtu.be/eBlNnJlgu8w (http://youtu.be/eBlNnJlgu8w)
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I read Simmons' thing, too. (I think he's pretty worthless at this point but he has some good takes here and there.)
The Summer of Punk angle fizzled because it blew up so quickly. I don't think they were expecting Punk to get all of the mainstream exposure he did so quickly -- he was on Simmons, Kimmel and was interviewed by GQ Magazine. They were REALLY getting there with awesome stuff with his retirement, with him taking pics of the title in his fridge and showing up at Comic Con to harass HHH.
But the WWE has shareholders and quarterly earnings to report and it makes them hard to take a long-term view to storytelling. Punk was hot and they thought his advertised return in a match against Cena would pops big rating. But, after the rematch, it went nowhere.
HHH is definitely interesting. I hate HHH when they're doing their occasional DX reunion. But I don't hate him outside of that -- he always gets a reaction. But the problem with HHH/Punk is that it didn't go anywhere. On paper, the ground was laid out perfectly and has some epic storytelling behind it. HHH becomes his father-in-law, trading in the denim jacket for a business suit and has to try and manage the new man-of-the-people who, in true punk rock fashion, hates any authority figure. HHH has to capitulate to Punk's demands to return and is humiliated and tries to get revenge.
The problem is that HHH wouldn't "show ass" as they say. And then the other problem is that they involved a terrible Kevin Nash for some reason and tried to make it this "Where do all the pieces fall" soap opera thing that ended up going nowhere.
If they kept it simple:
1) HHH recruits Del Rio to be the new corporate champion.
2) Punk upends Del Rio (after trading the title a bunch). Vicki Guerrero convinces HHH that Dolph is the next superstar and is cut from his image (after trading the title a few times).
3) Punk wins this feud, only to have to deal with HHH bringing in his old friend Jericho -- the old-guard defends its own.
As far as the Melo analogy goes -- it's not too far off the mark, especially if you equate JR Smith to Kevin Nash.
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All good ideas. Overcomplicating wrestling storylines just seems silly, but it's a pitfall the WWE keeps falling into lately, from the anonymous RAW GM to John Laurinaitis texting whoever's out there in the ether. I'm reminded of reading a great article on the late Chris Kreski, one of the writers present in the WWE during the Attitude Era, and his insistent use of storyboards. Apparently he always made a point of tracking where stories were headed, tried to interweave them where possible, and usually had an end result in mind. WWE creative could seriously use somebody with his direction right now.
Also, I love him to pieces, but what is up with the Rock? He can't seem to speak for even a few minutes without mentioning Twitter. He still has a potent dig every now and then, but he's definitely lost his ability to cut a truly memorable promo.
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Undertaker in flowchart form: http://4thletter.net/2012/02/the-flowcharts-of-destruction-undertaker-and-kane-explained/ (http://4thletter.net/2012/02/the-flowcharts-of-destruction-undertaker-and-kane-explained/)
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Also, I love him to pieces, but what is up with the Rock? He can't seem to speak for even a few minutes without mentioning Twitter. He still has a potent dig every now and then, but he's definitely lost his ability to cut a truly memorable promo.
Agreed. I'm hoping all he needed was 1 love fest promo to get him going for the homestretch. Whether they planned it or not, it's still insane how hard Cena owned him this past Monday.
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My only guess is that WWE is trying to give Cena an edge heading towards Wrestlemania in the hopes that the crowd will come back to him.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQGvvRhgr0&feature=player_embedded#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQGvvRhgr0&feature=player_embedded#!)
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Will Sasso is now thinner than Brock Lesnar.
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Anyone wanna be editor in chief of WWE.com? (Greggulator, if you weren't already employed, would you shoot for this?)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/wri/2950535596.html (http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/wri/2950535596.html)
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I would be all over that since it's more-or-less my line of work. However, I despise Connecticut and my wife hates it even more. And I also have a good friend who has told me some completely insane stories about working behind-the-scenes for the WWE. That place sounds like my worst nightmare.
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I follow Hacksaw Jim Duggan on Twitter and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. Anyone heard how Cowboy Bob Orton is doing?
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"C'mon CM Drunk, hand it over!"
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Josh Matthews looked ecstatic when CM Punk handed him that liquor basket.
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Absolutely no Words (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pquYAEfbBFM#)
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A strange look at Bray Wyatt: Raw, May 27, 2013 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDyQ1Qxtvg#)
THE WYATT FAMILY IS COMING!
This is the first promo from Bray Wyatt and his followers. For those not familiar, Bray has been tearing it up in NXT (the WWE's farm system and current home to Aiden English, aka periodic Best Show caller Matt Marquee). His character is the best gimmick in years. He's from the bayou and is a charismatic preacher with messiah delusions. His promos and interviews are completely nuts and spine tingling. Even though the character hasn't hit the bigtime yet, I would place it up there with anything in years. It's as good as a lot of the stuff from Raven (a clear influence on the character) and Mick Foley (the best ever at being delusional) and CM Punk (circa the sXe Society when he was essentially a cult leader).
What adds to it -- his theme music is "Breaking Out In Love" by Mark Crozer, who was formerly in The Jesus & Mary Chain. He cuts a lot of his promos with the music in the background.
If he looks familiar, Wyatt was previously known as Husky Harris and was in the Nexus for a few minutes. His real life name is Windham Rotunda. His father is Mike "IRS" Rotunda and he's named after his godfather, Barry Windham.
The two dudes with him are Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. They're just big monster dudes who carry out his bidding. Luke was in Chikara and a bunch of other indies as Brodie Lee and can work. The other dude Erick Rowan is really good at playing a mental patient exploited by a charismatic leader.
The WWE has been really solid lately, if you haven't watched. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) have been tearing up with crazy matches and promos.
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That Wyatt Family promo totally blew me away this week. Went back and watched some of his NXT appearances and was equally impressed. I usually try and watch at least Raw every week with a few friends and they were all pretty much in awe of Monday's promo. The Wyatt Family should have loads of potential. I could see it quickly delving into Manson Family or Ministry territory and becoming extremely dark, but that would be a nice change from the PG era.
The Shield continue to impress me, as does most of the midcard. The only downside for me with WWE lately is the constant limelight afforded to completely static and dreadfully boring characters like John Cena and Randy Orton. Ryback is a total snooze as well. How many times did he say LED during that exchange with Cena? Wake up, indeed.
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Ryback was better when he was limited to 3 catch phrases and 4 maneuvers. All the smart guy CM Punk stuff needed to be offset by something dumb. Ryback's first few months were monumentally DUMB.
Ryback jumped the shark when he repeatedly botched his finisher with Tensai and had to resort to a clothesline to end the match. Whattamaneuver!!!
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Another amazing Wyatt Family promo. These guys are epic. I think their first two promo videos are the best introductory video packages the WWE has ever done. And think about how many great packages they've done over the years. I think their debut will be off-the-charts.
I think they're saving Ryback. I agree they needed someone really dumb after the CM Punk smark stuff. But the smarks can't just let that happen so he had to overcome the dumb Goldberg chants. He still got over by just terrorizing fools but he didn't get as over as they thought he would. I actually love his meathook clothesline as a finisher more than the Shellshock.
I think they've saved Ryback by turning him into a total bonehead steroid goon heel. They used him in that role when he was in The Nexus before he went down with a broken leg. He was great as the psychopath giant who could take anyone out at anytime. That's the best way to use him. If they brought him in as a psychopath heel he would have gotten over with the smarks as a face and he could have turned then.
My only fear w/ Bray is he gets stuck with some HUSKY HARRIS chant or even a WAYLON MERCY thing from some stupid smarks. But I also think his stuff is so great that the smarter audience is already behind him.
Also: Daniel Bryan. WOW.
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Daniel Bryan has been on fire recently with last night's Ryback match possibly being a WWE career highlight. I assumed it'd be a squash to get over the "weak link" storyline, but it was a great performance and probably Ryback's best match. I'm wary of an impending heel turn for Bryan just because the crowd loves him too much. A Team Hell No split would be fine, but we don't need a heel turn.
I also read recently that WWE was thinking of going with Cena-Bryan for MitB and SummerSlam because they think he has the best shot of getting a "Match of the Year" type match out of Cena. But it's true- the midcard is far more interesting than the Cena and Ortons of the world.
The Wyatts are great. Genuinely creepy promos.
I'm also digging Big E Langston. He's kind of a musclehead, but he has charisma.
Greggulator- what do you think of the big Chikara angle? I admit that I've only read about it, but it sounds a little too much like one of those crappy shoot-work angles WCW would try to pull. I'm also not sure whether or not this incarnation of Chikara really is dead or not. Then again I'm talking about the angle, as are a lot of people, so they're doing something right.
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Happy Bray Wyatt debut day, rasslin' fans!
I haven't been this excited for the debut of a wrestler in I don't know how long. They haven't built up a debuting character this well since... Golddust maybe? The Y2J debut was one of the all-time great segments but that was also an "anticipated surprise" as opposed to a "we know who this dude is" promo.
I think Bray has "next Undertaker" level potential. The Undertaker's character could have very easily been a Botchamania gimmick but Mark Calloway or whatever his name is plays the role to perfect. His commitment (and Kane) made the gimmick work. Bray's cut of the same cloth. He's a terrific actor (as far as wrestlers go) and ridiculously compelling.
The WWE's New Class has some terrific character actors. I think AJ is the most talented out-of-ring performer they've had in ages. The only other diva (ugh, hate using that word) who was as natural in front of the camera was Trish and maybe Lita. They also haven't even begun to use Dean Ambrose yet, either. Titus O'Neil is also really natural as the jock douche.
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Very excited for Bray Wyatt, or Husky Harris as the arrogant Baltimore crowd felt necessary to call him. It's like some crowds want all the focus to be on them and how smarky they are, whether they're chanting "Albert" at Tensai or "Goldberg" at Ryback.
Nonetheless, Bray has an awesome gimmick, good wrestling ability and amazing promo skills. He even knows his Danzig:
http://youtu.be/xgjJKkpjXaY (http://youtu.be/xgjJKkpjXaY)
Also, here are some videos I made a few months ago. First, a Brock Lesnar tribute video set to Duquesne Whistle by Bob Dylan:
https://vimeo.com/60422731 (https://vimeo.com/60422731)
And a Triple H and Stephanie video set to Ty Segall's "Girlfriend":
https://vimeo.com/61766087 (https://vimeo.com/61766087)
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smarky
Wonderful portmanteau.
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Very excited for Bray Wyatt, or Husky Harris as the arrogant Baltimore crowd felt necessary to call him. It's like some crowds want all the focus to be on them and how smarky they are, whether they're chanting "Albert" at Tensai or "Goldberg" at Ryback.
Nonetheless, Bray has an awesome gimmick, good wrestling ability and amazing promo skills. He even knows his Danzig:
http://youtu.be/xgjJKkpjXaY (http://youtu.be/xgjJKkpjXaY)
The joy a certain kind of wrestling fan gets in revealing that they know a wrestler had another identity before his current one will never cease to amaze me.
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Chanting "Goldberg" when Ryback appears in the squared circle is something else altogether. You don't have to be some over-educated wrestlenet geek to call out that blatant ryp.
Allowing Ryback to articulate anything more than a three word catch phrase was a huge mistake. While a clothesline is about as stupid a maneuver can be, it was one too many. His repetoire should never have exceeded five moves. Of course anything can happen in the WWE Universe, and a return to Dumb Ryback could happen at any time.
While WAKE UP! SHUT UP. STUPID. FEED ME MORE! FINISH IT! are killer catchphrases (ones that I have added to my own personal lexicon) I think he should not be allowed to utter anything more than one-syllable words.
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The greatest wrestling promo of all-time? Yes. This is #1 and the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spNA7SiSFZg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spNA7SiSFZg)
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Yes. Of all time.
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That was incredible, but if an Ox Baker promo in support of an animal shelter can be considered wrestling, well then...
ox baker says "support your local no kill shelters" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB4HIQZpl0g#ws)
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http://www.theclassical.org/articles/selling-out (http://www.theclassical.org/articles/selling-out)
I've got an article about Darren Young up on The Classical. I'd love if you would read it!
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Word. Wrestling has been AWESOME lately.
The Cena/Bryan match at SummerSlam was essentially a reset button for the entire league. Daniel Bryan is our everyman hero. He's one of us. He's an individualist who floats on his own boat, listens to vinyl, is friends with The Moldy Peaches and excels at a creative class job. However, he doesn't fit the look the corporate masters want and he has to rage against the machine represented by HHH/Steph and their hand-picked golden child (but really gifted) Randy Orton, who has found his inner sadist. Bryan's like every indie rock band who was on the verge of breaking out in the 90s -- it's hard to make a living driving around in the van (or wrestling in armories), and to truly feel like you've made it requires a shot on a major label. But crapheads like Eve 6 look the part while Luna gets jettisoned to the back shelves.
I relate to this so well. I'm a finance journalist professionally. I had a great job working for an energy trade publication. But a lot of my co-workers had Ivy League degrees or spoke four languages and I'm some degenerate Ramones fan/comedy nerd from a no-name school in Philly. I've got no pedigree. But I busted my ass at crappy weekly newspapers and ate shit working as a secretary in grad school and was fired a bunch of times for being outspoken. But I made it and earned the respect of my peers by hustling and breaking my balls.
But I didn't get a promotion I wanted or as big a raise as I thought I deserved because I dressed casually and had a sense of humor and had a messy desk. I've got grown up responsibilities. I could continue to just be myself and complain about how unfair that all is. Or I could play that dumb game, wear a suit to work (despite working at a cubicle all day) and make a big show of cleaning off my desk when the boss walked past when he left for the day, legitimately headed to a yacht club on some occasions. I sold out in my own little way in order to make some more money. It sucked but I have to do what I have to do. But Daniel Bryan keeps his beard and his smile and gets to win. (Or at least, hopefully, will.)
This whole thing also allowed the Rhodes Family angle to develop. If you're missing out -- Cody Rhodes is Dusty's youngest kid. He's largely been a very good heel but turned face a bit ago and was floundering a bit. He lipped off to HHH and Randy (and also didn't invite them to his wedding) and was given a match -- he beats Randy, he wins the title but if he loses he's fired. He lost and was jettisoned. Golddust (Dustin Rhodes, Cody's brother) returned to try and save his job but also lost. The amazing Dusty Rhodes came back to try and get their job back but got punched out by The Big Show (who has essentially become an indentured servant to HHH/Steph) as a result. The Rhodes boys came back to get revenge by hopping the railing, dressed in black, to f up HHH's mercenaries in The Shield.
It all culminated last night when The Rhodes Boys, with Dusty at ringside, took out The Shield and got their jobs back. It was one of the best matches and moments in ages. So friggin' great.
They're having some awesome morality plays right now. CM Punk's trying to destroy his former father figure Paul Heyman who is just tossing out monsters (Brock Lesnar, Ryback) to get in his way.
It's so awesome.
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Thanks for sharing this, Gregg. It's a great article. I've lately managed to squeeze in a couple of wrestling pieces (the Sergeant Slaughter turncoat angle and the Akeem gimmick) into a pop culture history column I write in a Vancouver monthly, which has been really rewarding. I feel like it's taking hold again as a form of entertainment. Totally agree with you that the writing has a lot to do with it. I feel like for a long time the WWE just forgot how to pen a non-title feud, and as a result anyone not carrying the strap just seemed buried. Less is more. Stick to the archetypes.