Oldschool 101

Classic Wrestling GOLD

2006-08-14T22:18:26Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YWny5j_Cuc

The Exotic One, Adrian Street and one of his great music videos.

A real wrestling shoot

2006-08-11T16:53:20Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsHwFyY3jrk

This is one of the few legit "shoots" in wrestling. Interesting to see, but not as cool as it sounds. Mainly Brody no selling everything.

I'm a mini web celeb!

2006-08-09T13:55:56Z

Its been awhile since I posted, but there really hasn't been much going on. The main thing with me is that I am now writing a column for www.411mania.com. Check it out. Its called The Bullseye.

That's all I've got.

RIP ECW again

2006-07-05T15:57:41Z

You were my favorite promotion in 1995.

If there was any doubt about the direction of ECW, it was settled last night. 2 ECW stars squashed by WWE talent and the ECW title is jobbed to a guy who is pretty much the antithesis of everything ECW stands for. On top of that, Heyman turns heel and becomes EVIL AUTHORITY FIGURE #2,473.

Hey Paul, those "You sold out" chants weren't for the heel turn, they were shoots to you personally. Did you really expect Vince McMahon to let you do ECW the way you wanted to? You should've left it dead.

On the bright side, I think they effectively killed off the rest of the hardcore ECW fanbase, and the mainstream WWE fans are so brainwashed that they'll never accept any promotion that's not theirs. Hell, half of them reject Smackdown.

Slamiversay! or however you spell it...

2006-06-19T18:01:50Z

Another good choice for this month's PPV purchase as I gambled and opted for this instead of One Night Stand II. I think that this was possibly the best all around TNA PPV I've seen to date.

3D Vs. James Gang - Both teams are stale, but this was a decent garbage brawl. I like how LAX got involved when they crossed the border. Its a dumb storyline, but at least they are consistant with it. Grade: C+

Bobby Rude/D'Moore Vs. Rhino - Weakest match of the night, but it wasn't that bad. D'moore is impressive in the ring, but it was ridiculous for him to get as much offense as he did concidering that he's portrayed as a manager. Grade C-

*At this point, my friend Marchant, who watches no wrestling at all comes in. I'll provide his comments.

*March: "See? This is why I don't like wrestling."

6 Way X-Division Match - This match ruled. Marchant thought Sharkboy was funny and was impressed by Sonjay Dutt right off the bat. Dutt and Shelley have an awesome sequence with a lot of unique moves.

*March: "I've never seen that before. I think one of these two guys will win."

I inform Marchant that Sharkboy will be eliminated first because its TNA Law, and I am proven correct. We get to the end with Senshi going crazy with some vicious kicks to go on to win with a vicious double stomp off the top rope to Sonjay's head. Grade: A

*M: "I don't see how that didn't hurt for real!"

Nash Vs. Sabin: I thought Nash put forth a solid effort. I'm sure people didn't like Sabin losing, but Sabin bores me, so I don't care. Besides the story was told that it required Shelly's help to get him the win. Grade: C

*M: "There's no way Sabin will beat Nash."

AMW Vs. Dream Team - Not quite as good as last months much, but the crowd was volcanic for the end. Some manly woman debuts to take out Gail Kim. AMW finally loses the belts. This was good all around as it gives Daniels and AJ something to do other than the X-Division. Grade: A-

*M: Marchant was watching the Braves job at the time.

Joe Vs. Steiner - Pre match promo is awesome. Crowd is red hot. Steiner comes to work and blows away anything he did during his entire WWE run. Seriously, the guy was at the level he was during the waning days of WCW, not near what he could do back in the day, but still believable. The ending really hurt the match though as they botch a spot where Steiner was supposed to be dropped on the top rope by Joe. He just sorta landed on his feet and bounced off it. Add to that Joe finishing with a powerslam of all things and it was a weak finish to a good match. Grade: B

*M: "What a surprise, Samoa Joe won." He called it based on all of Steiner's trash talking.

Main Event - Pretty typical TNA main with crazy brawling and screwy finish. I had never seen King of the Mountain, so it was an interesting match. Having to hang the belt up is kind of pointless though. Jarrett wins and the crowd goes INSANE. Now again, I don't mind this, because it seems to set up Cornette being the new Sheriff in town and putting an end to this crap. If that's the case, then its a good last hurrah for Jarrett's cheating ways. If this is just another excuse to put the belt on Double J again, then forget it. Time will tell. Grade: B+

A very satisfying PPV. When you have non-fans interested in it, you know they are doing something right.

The Second Fall of ECW

2006-06-14T17:03:58Z

Last night was an embarrasing time to be a wrestling fan. I was on the phone with a friend of mine discussing just how bad last night's ECW premiere on Sci-Fi was bombing. RVD came out to mostly indifference and an alarming amount of boos. Cena's interferece saw a smattering of cheers. ZOMBIES, nuff said.

As we watched the car crash of a wrestling show, my friend made a great point.

"Its like NWO Nitro."

And that nailed it. NWO Nitro was one of the biggest bombs in recent wrestling history. Now a lot of its failure was due to half hour celebrations of Hollywood Hogan's greatness, but the main factor was that you had a heel faction completely running a show in WCW country.

ECW is doomed to fail as long as they tape it with Smackdown. There is simply no way to make it work. Whereas the Hammerstein Ballroom was filled with 18-30 year old hardcore wrestling geeks, a Smackdown taping has a mixture of fans of all ages, many who are casual fans at best.

Another problem is that THIS ECW is hardly Extreme. A striptease that is no more revealing than a WWE Divas special is hardly Extreme. A "hardcore" battle royal full of cookie sheets and trash can lids is hardly Extreme. The Big Show was the same old Show we've seen for 10 years. At least Kurt Angle showed a more vicious side with a choke as his new finisher.

Right now, ECW is in need of a major overhaul already. Some suggestions:

1. Buy or lease the ECW Arena. If the E did this, they would be guaranteed a responsive crowd each week. In addition, they'd probably save even more money than taping ECW with Smackdown, because they wouldn't have to move equipment each week.

2. Less interaction with WWE shows - Right now, ECW might as well not even be a seperate brand as much as they are crossing over with Raw. It defies the purpose of a seperate brand to have no boundaries.

3. More ECW talent from places other than Raw or Smackdown. There's already too much of a WWE vibe to the show with Big Show, Angle, and Edge. Get some guys that aren't associated with those shows like Masato Tanaka, Mike Awesome, Perry Saturn, or New Jack. There are also plenty of WWE guys who haven't been on WWE TV in awhile that could get a fresh start and make ECW seem unique like Lance Storm or Dean Malenko. Even Chris Jericho making a surprise appearance would change things up.

4. Sandman coming out to anything other than Enter Sandman = LAME. Just suck it up and pay the royalties. The WWE CD's are pretty good sellers. You can't tell me they couldn't cut some sort of deal with their record producers to get Man in the Box for Dreamer, Enter Sandman, and a few others.

5. Bring back fan weapons. Getting hit by an NES is no worse than getting hit by a cookie sheet, but its so much COOLER. Last nights battle royal would have been so much more fun with VCR's, kitchen sinks, and cheese grators.

Dream DVD's

2006-06-12T18:14:12Z

Here's something I'm gonna start doing. I'm gonna post a fantasy DVD. This week, it will be my dream Ghostbusters DVD. Now don't get me wrong, Ghostbusters has one of the best DVD's out there, but it is lacking a few things. Mainly a commentary track with all four Ghostbusters: Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murry, and Ernie Hudson. Add to that some of the pages from Ackroyd's original script.

ECW ECW E..C...snore

2006-06-07T17:02:15Z

Well, the E has officially made me not buy One Night Stand 2. That's an amazing feat considering last year's event was my favorite PPV of all time. Let's take a look at some of the many reasons they've dropped the ball:

-No Benoit Vs. Malenko: I would've bought the PPV for this match alone. Not exactly their fault since Benoit is having surgery...

-No new ECW faces: Sandman, Balls, Dreamer, RVD, Sabu...That's fine and dandy, but we saw all these guys last year. They brought Funk in, but they needed more to counter...

-Too many WWE faces: Ok, Angle's great, but he makes no sense for ECW. Even if you are talking about a "new" ECW, Angle just isn't the guy I'd go with. It makes no sense from a character perspective. And who is he wrestling? Orton???? Ok, so we have a match that has two guys that have never wrestled for ECW at an ECW PPV...that makes sense. Sabu fighting Rey is fine since Rey has a history, but RVD is facing Cena. Now, I think that RVD/Cena is an interesting match on its own, but when you add it to the the Angle/Orton match, its just making this too WWE.

-WWE Title matchs: Ok, does ANYONE believe that Vince is gonna let one of his champions lose to an ECW guy even though he owns it all. These is the same guy that put Dusty Rhodes in Polka Dots and dressed Terry Taylor up as a Rooster just to humiliate them, even though it cost him money. So what's going to happen?? You have the ECW guys job in both matches??? Yeah, that's gonna make the crowd happy. Actually, I see it going down like this. Rey will beat Sabu clean. RVD will beat Cena using something like a Van Terminator...something that would be illegal in a WWE match. Vince comes out on Raw and says it doesn't count. Paul E says screw you and gives RVD the ECW belt. Now this is probably the best way to go, but it totally cuts the nuts off of Cena as champion. Does the E want to do that after putting so much effort into building the guy up? I don't know.

Trogmoffy???

2006-05-24T18:39:24Z

Ok, here's probably the most random thing from my childhood. It was a movie that we watched in school when I was like in 1st grade. All I remember is a red monster, and I think his name was Trogmoffy.

I have tried googling and wikipedia to know avail. Does anyone know what the hell I'm talking about???

My newest interest

2006-05-22T19:40:52Z

Kites.

Yep. I'm diggin' the kites. They are fun and they don't take much physical effort. But I needed something outdoorsy to do. I've been buying some off of ebay. I've got this 25 foot cobra that's wicked awesome.

Location, location, location

2006-05-16T14:29:17Z

What a difference a state makes. Last week's California crowd responded like a dead fish to Foley's heel turn. This week, the crowd was red hot for his confrontation with Terry Funk. And why? Because they were in Texas, which has a connection to one of the pricipals in the angle, and also is traditionally a wrestling hotbed.

The rest of Raw was solid, if not blow away. The E actually seems to be getting away from their rigid heel/face structure and are letting guys be individuals. You see it with the way HHH, Cena, and Carlito have been booked.

Is it just me...

2006-05-12T15:11:48Z

...or is every Red Hot Chili Peppers song about California?

E3 Thoughts

2006-05-10T19:12:24Z

Ok, Nintendo has officially sold me on the Revolution (er..Wii...man that name sucks). Just a few reasons why:

-Super Mario Galaxy: Mario in space!
-Metroid Prime 3: Lots of wacky controller goodness.
-A new Duck Hunt game!!!!!
-Red Steel: A sweet looking shooter.

Add this to the downloadable games and this could be the system to beat.

PS3 going for $600 is already a hurdle to jump, but hey, they have all the PS1&2 games. Still, it seems like they a betting the farm on 2 things...the blu ray dvd player built in, and the new GTA game.

Now the blu ray thing is gonna be a coin flip on whichever format wins. If HDDVD comes out on top, then PS3 owners end up paying $600 for a Playstation with Beta.

And then Microsoft announces that they too will have the new GTA game. AND it will be released on the same day. Aaaaaand there will downloadable content for it through Xbox live that will add new features/missions to the game.

Oops.

Wrestling Bullets!

2006-05-09T15:03:43Z

-So Foley turned heel. I think this can make for a great angle if they let it. Unfortunately, I thought the segment was incredibly weak. First of all, why does the E insist on doing major matches and angles in California? The crowds are some of the worst in the US for wrestling. They were dead the whole night and didn't care about any of the ECW stuff. Now had they done the turn in Philly or Chicago, that would have been a different story.

-And dammit, is there a worse company for doing heel turns than the E?? Good Lord, they can't do a turn without milking it for weeks so that it has no shock factor left. Foley should have grabbed a mic and explained his actions right there. Or, he could have ended the show huddled in a back room of the building. This would've really played up his old Cactus Jack run in ECW. This is an area that WCW was really good at. They'd have a turn, and then explain it. Hogan explained his turn at Bash at the Beach. He didn't wait till Nitro the next night only to tell the fans he didn't owe anyone an explanation.

-TNA needs to stop doing PPV for a couple of months. At this point, exposure is more important than cash flow. If they would throw some PPV calliber matches on free tv, they might attract new fans. Instead Impact is basically becoming an infomercial for the PPV. The X Cup is good because it puts matches that matter on free TV.

-ANother idea for TNA: A Clash of the Champions type free show. Yes, they've had specials, but they were little more than double Impacts. A loaded free show would be another good way to show what TNA can do.

New Lost

2006-05-04T19:19:15Z

Finally got a new episode of lost after 3 weeks (they REALLY need to cut down on the number of hiatuses they are taking). Great episode. Michael does the MASSIVE HEEL TURN~! I totally didn't see it coming when he shot Ana Lucia...then Libby...then himself!

Can't say I'm sad to see Ana Lucia go, but I was becoming a BIT more interested in her. I hope Libby's not dead though...I really have enjoyed her storylines with Hurley. I think there's a chance she survived since she was carrying stuff.

So is Michael brainwashed or just being blackmailed. Hard to believe he'd kill someone for a flimsy promise to get Walt back, but then again, this IS the same guy who says, "MY BOY!" at least once an episode.

Also, the big ARG started lastnight with the Hanso commercial. For those out there who have no idea what I'm talking about, there was a commercial with a phone number. You call the number and you get clues to websites and other stuff about the island. Its a big game...an Alternate Reality Game...thus ARG.

And Infinite Crisis is overted

2006-05-03T20:30:19Z

Finally got the final issue today. Some great action in this one, but I felt it didn't really give us a good explanation of the world that was left.

I guess its an excuse for DC to revise continuity as they please and say "it was a result of IC". It would annoy me more if it wasn't such a fun read.

On the flip side, I'm considering abandoning Marvel completely of this Civil War crap. House of M was a drawn out bore and I expect nothing more from this one. In fact, the only Marvel book I'm currently enjoying is the Hulk, and he has nothing to do with Civil War.

Raw thoughts

2006-05-02T14:55:40Z

I caught most of Raw last night even though I flipped several times due to the Spirit Squad. The gimmick is just freakin' stupid. Its X-Pac heat. I can't even remember the last wrestlers that made me actively turn a show off. Maybe Hogan's face days in WCW...

That said, Raw had two of the best promos they've had in years.

Foley busted out a nice psychotic promo on Edge. I love the fact that he was satisfied with Wrestlemania because he started the downhill slide of Edge's career.

The other great promo was from Joey Styles. This reminded me of Heyman's promo during the Invasion. It was very shooty and parts of it I was surprised were allowed to be said. King also played his role well, starting off by playfully making fun of Styles to getting pissed when he got slapped. They should let Lawler go into full ECW hatred mode.

So, the ECW angle has got me interested, but still skeptical.

What I'm playing

2006-05-01T16:28:53Z

I'm considering this as a new column...let's see how it goes.

X-Box: The Warriors - I bought this this weekend. Great game, cool story. I like how it takes the movie and adds to it. I've reviewed the game here before, so I'll leave it at that.

Gamecube: Metroid Prime Echos - Not earthshattering or a huge departure from the original, but Prime was a great game so that's not a bad thing. I'm a little down on the whole "Mirror Universe" games...seems like a cheap way to get more gameplay out of the same areas. Still, there have been some great games with that theme, namely the SNES Zelda, Ocarina of Time, and Castlevania Symphony of the Night.

DS: Metroid Prime Pinball - I'm a sucker for pinball games, but they are a gamble. For every Pokemon Pinball, you get a Mario Pinball Land or Pac-Man Pinball. Fortunately, this game rules. The only downside two it is that the dual screen is a bit hard to get used to. Besides that, it does a great job of mixing classic Metroid with Pinball.

PS2: Guitar Hero - A fun game for those not coordinated enough to do DDR. Great selection of tracks. You get classics like Iron Man, and more obscure ones like Thunderkiss 65 by White Zombie which brings out the old ECW mark in me.

Ultraman on DVD!

2006-04-27T16:27:28Z

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5552

Yeah baby! I was a HUGE Ultraman mark back in the day. I haven't seen it in years.

Lockdown thoughts and the Return of ECW

2006-04-24T19:39:55Z

As promised, I bought Lockdown last night, even though I was weary due to all the card changes. Although I don't think it was quite as good as last month's PPV, it was still a great card.

-The opener was off the charts. TNA does a great job of getting the card energized right out the gate. Lots of crazy double and triple spots. I also like the storyline with Team USA and Alex Shelly.

-Low Ki was a great surprise opponent for Daniels and is a good edition to TNA. He was such a huge part of the early days of the X Division and there are plenty of stories to tell with him.

-The Flag match was the one match on the card I didn't care about (unless you consider the Konnan/Bullet arm wrestling a "match". This match surprised me. It was a lot of fun and the flag gimmick actually helped to differentiate it from the rest of the card.

-The arm wrestling was what it was. I think they realized that the crowd was dying and sped it up.

-The Xscape match was a disappointment. I called the winner and the order of elimiation. You know if Shark Boy is in the match, who's going out first and TNA is in love with Sabin. I don't know, he a good worker, but he just bores the hell out of me for some reason. And how many times are they gonna do Petey/Sabin?? People complained about the Samoa Joe/AJ/Daniels matchups being excessive, but these two have faced off way more.

-The World title match was a nice brawl and certainly better that last months Christian Vs. Monty.

-Sabu/Joe was as predicted, a glorified squash. This should've been an Impact match.

-Lethal Lockdown was solid, but nothing great. AJ's splash off the ladder through the table on the roof of the cage was a neat visual, but its not like it was any crazier than a splash off a ladder through a table on the floor. I think TNA would've benefitted more by having Rhino or Killings get the win for the team, but I guess they want to get their money's worth outta Sting.

Anyway, it was a good PPV with no bad matches, and two really good ones.

Now onto the big weekend news that ECW is coming back. I refuse to get excited about anything the E is doing. I'm like the dog that has a treat dangled in front of his face and then jerked away time after time. Sure, on paper it sounds cool, but they'll find a way to screw it up.

Still, turning OVW into ECW is a good start. Heyman will have a great pool of up and coming talent and with a little outside exposure from DVD or an online show, the E could have some ready made stars.

This will make you HAHMBUL!!!

2006-04-19T23:18:09Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4mzu5-NPFs&search=Iron%20Shiek

I heard this on Ron and Fez yesterday and almost wrecked my car...

Drool

2006-04-19T19:29:12Z

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060419/ap_on_hi_te/big_tv

Hostel Review

2006-04-19T19:17:57Z

So last night I rented Hostel. I'd heard mixed reactions from different people. Some enjoyed it, others despised it with a passion. I've come to discover that horror flicks are one of the most subjective genres. I don't trust reviews of them unless they are universally panned.

I thought the Saw movies were both fun horror flicks, but I know plenty of people that hated them. So I thought Hostel might be one of those movies.

Unfortunately it wasn't.

Hostel is essentially every horror movie cliche you've ever seen. Its basically The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Eastern Eurotrash instead of inbred rednecks.

I kept finding myself nitpicking the plot. Normally I am a huge movie appologist who tries to find the best in a film, but here I was wondering why characters weren't bleeding to death and how the conspiracy could have so many people involved.

It also doesn't help that the movie just isn't scary. There is only one scene that I felt was even slightly creepy. Sure Hostel is gory, but it didn't make me nearly as squeemish as some of the traps in Saw or the killings in Seven, both of which got away with showing a lot less to achieve the desired result.

So here's another thumbs down if you're still on the fence.

Words fail me...

2006-04-18T20:52:16Z

"What's the matter Shawn?? Does that offend you as a Christian??"

"No. It offends me as a WRESTLING fan."

-Eric Bischoff and HBK

I'm sure that the Phil Muschnik's are going to be screaming about how offensive WWE is for last night's angle the day after Easter. As a Christian, I found it to be one of the most offensive angle's I've seen in wrestling.

But it has nothing to do with morality.

Having "God" producing the same cheesy pyro that gave Undertaker and Kane the power to control lightning and fire is just unbelievably stupid.

As a fan, I've always seen a delicate balance between the goofy fun of pro wrestling and having my intelligence insulted. I LIKE colorful characters. That's what makes wrestling wrestling. But I also believe that wrestling is like any other artform in that there is a level of suspension of disbelief that shouldn't be crossed.

Angle's like this expose the business. Yes, 99% of the fanbase knows that its a work, but I would compare this angle to having a flying saucer land at the end of the Godfather. Yes, the Godfather is fiction, but that doesn't mean that there are no limits to telling the story.

Buried Treasure: Sanitarium (PC)

2006-04-10T20:00:27Z

I found this game in the bargain bin at an Office Max. Its pretty much your standard adventure point and clicker, but its got a great story. You start out as a guy in a car accident who wakes up in an insane asylum. The game proceeds through several levels that represent different personalites. In one, you are a little girl, in another you're a comic book super hero. Every other level takes place in "reality" with your character wandering around the asylum.

The levels all help you figure out the back story behind your character, but its not just handed to you. There's a lot of symbolism and metaphor.

Anyway, cool game if you can find it cheap.