Dave Lagana interviews JBL, Heyman, and others regarding 9/11. Been a while since I listened to I Want Wrestling, though I have been meaning to listen for a weeks. This is a great one to get back into the groove on. Give it a listen!
http://iwantwrestling.com/2011/09/06/wwe911/
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Wrestling Today - Colt is Heading to Japan!
Its true, its true. I have been posting very little on this site lately. I feel bad, but honestly I have not been super interested in the world of wrestling in the last couple of weeks.
The WWE got what they wanted with the CM Punk angle, which was really awesome, and now everyone talks about the WWE again. The trouble is, I still don't have cable, and I still don't really give a crap about WWE programming.
The Magic: the Gathering side of my Blogject has been much more promising, as the wrestling world seems to be over crowded with plenty of people who love to talk about it.
For those that do not know, I write an article about Commander over at TCGPlayer.com and I have been on a few podcasts here and there relating to the game.
At first both sides of my nerd-dom, Wrestling and Magic, were living in harmony. Until the night of the ROH Sinclair show.
You see, I had bought tickets to the show, but then found out that I prequalified for a big 20K prize tournament the same night. Needless to say, I took the chance and tucked my ROH ticket into my wallet with a sigh.
Besides the reports that the Sinclair show was somewhat of a disaster, the major tipping point was the exclusion of Colt Cabana from the show. He was wrestling for JCW that night, but I feel that not securing Cabana, in general, was a big mistake on ROH/Sinclair.
Honestly, Cabana represents the integrity and future of the modern wrestlin business, and the fact that ROH opted not to keep him tied down in a contract worries me. I do not know the details of course, but Cabana was not only the most entertaining fellow in the company, but he is also a self-made business man.
Cabana mentioned recently that if no one in the states will employ him, he will go to England, which he already did, and now he is going on a tour of Japan- NOAH to be specific. It will be a bummer not to have him around, but I look forward to Japanese podcasts and a happier Colt Cabana on the other side.
He will be back in town on September 30th for AAW. I'll be there!!!!!
The WWE got what they wanted with the CM Punk angle, which was really awesome, and now everyone talks about the WWE again. The trouble is, I still don't have cable, and I still don't really give a crap about WWE programming.
The Magic: the Gathering side of my Blogject has been much more promising, as the wrestling world seems to be over crowded with plenty of people who love to talk about it.
For those that do not know, I write an article about Commander over at TCGPlayer.com and I have been on a few podcasts here and there relating to the game.
At first both sides of my nerd-dom, Wrestling and Magic, were living in harmony. Until the night of the ROH Sinclair show.
You see, I had bought tickets to the show, but then found out that I prequalified for a big 20K prize tournament the same night. Needless to say, I took the chance and tucked my ROH ticket into my wallet with a sigh.
Besides the reports that the Sinclair show was somewhat of a disaster, the major tipping point was the exclusion of Colt Cabana from the show. He was wrestling for JCW that night, but I feel that not securing Cabana, in general, was a big mistake on ROH/Sinclair.
Honestly, Cabana represents the integrity and future of the modern wrestlin business, and the fact that ROH opted not to keep him tied down in a contract worries me. I do not know the details of course, but Cabana was not only the most entertaining fellow in the company, but he is also a self-made business man.
Cabana mentioned recently that if no one in the states will employ him, he will go to England, which he already did, and now he is going on a tour of Japan- NOAH to be specific. It will be a bummer not to have him around, but I look forward to Japanese podcasts and a happier Colt Cabana on the other side.
He will be back in town on September 30th for AAW. I'll be there!!!!!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Amazing Red is Free!
Thats right folks, TNA ended their relationship with Amazing Red recently. The future is wide open for the young star and I hope to see him in ROH or Dragon Gate USA in the future. Good luck!!!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Colt Cabana in the Reader
Its a great little read, especially for those who don't know that much about him.
Colt in the Reader
Colt in the Reader
Friday, July 15, 2011
CM PUNK sits down with GQ and Cabana Back to WWE?
Howdy all, sorry I haven't been posting, been super busy with other projects.
As you all are probably aware, shit has been slightly interesting over at WWE with my fellow Chicagoan CM PUNK speaking his mind and giving voice to the voiceless, aka wrestling fans who watch WWE. He keeps the cards pretty close in the intereview, breaking normal WWE kayfabe but holding onto the unknown secrets of his departure.
There has been some speculation on Cabana coming back to WWE and this intreview definitely features Cabana a few times, much like PUNK'S recent promos. It would be ironic for Cabana to return to the E after finally making peace (somewhat) with the idea that he would have to go his own way.
Furthermore, the timing with Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli's possible entrance into the WWE and the ROH TV deal in general is shaping up to one interesting summer for wrestling.
Meanwhile, TNA tries to bail out the water on their sinking ship. The wrestling is there; the story and integrity are not. At least Kendrick took the Xdivision belt from Abyss, whose title reign is the most laughable period in the xdivision history (also the most cry-able.)
Check out Punks GQ article PUNK on GQ- Turning Chickenshit into Chicken Salad and Randy Ricci's report on Colt from http://nawf.com/blog/?p=13451
As you all are probably aware, shit has been slightly interesting over at WWE with my fellow Chicagoan CM PUNK speaking his mind and giving voice to the voiceless, aka wrestling fans who watch WWE. He keeps the cards pretty close in the intereview, breaking normal WWE kayfabe but holding onto the unknown secrets of his departure.
There has been some speculation on Cabana coming back to WWE and this intreview definitely features Cabana a few times, much like PUNK'S recent promos. It would be ironic for Cabana to return to the E after finally making peace (somewhat) with the idea that he would have to go his own way.
Furthermore, the timing with Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli's possible entrance into the WWE and the ROH TV deal in general is shaping up to one interesting summer for wrestling.
Meanwhile, TNA tries to bail out the water on their sinking ship. The wrestling is there; the story and integrity are not. At least Kendrick took the Xdivision belt from Abyss, whose title reign is the most laughable period in the xdivision history (also the most cry-able.)
Check out Punks GQ article PUNK on GQ- Turning Chickenshit into Chicken Salad and Randy Ricci's report on Colt from http://nawf.com/blog/?p=13451
Monday, July 4, 2011
CM Punk is Sorry (that You're a Homo)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Chikara- The Case of the Bullet Proof Waldo Report 6-24-2011- Matches 1-5 Up to Intermission
I arrived at the Logan Square Auditorium around 6:45, finding a pretty sweet parking spot right out front. Though the Auditiorium is easy to miss- there is a small sign above a door, completely dwarfed by the signs surrounding it, the long line of people leading into the alley was a tell tale sign that we had hit the right pace. I proceeded to the end of the line and waited for the doors to open at 7. The people were excited, there was an electricity in the air, with all sorts of marks discussing the upcoming matches and wrestling in general. We were all here to see Chikara- Case of the Bulletproof Waldo.
The line began to move a little after seven, and soon afterwards I had my seat in the second row, next to an action figure/dvd vendor’s table. These vendor’s would get increasingly drunk as the night goes on, offering free hugs with purchase. They advertised $2 grab bags with random dvds in it- hilariously, a little boy opened one and got a tiger-beat style tape from the nineties- my wife mentions she had those when she was a kid. Not only did this kid get a non-wrestling product, there is very little chance he will be able to contextualize anything. Its life little ironies that give it flavor. More on the kid later, he is a great example of why Chikara’s business model is pretty solid.
They begin the show, a self professed Chikara concierge starting things off by hawking the Sweet and Sour shirts they were selling; the profits apparently all went to charity. This shirt seemed to sell rather well, and if I had brought more than beer and ticket money I would probably own one now.
Now I will preface this next part with this- I am relatively new to Chikara- I have never seen a live show or a dvd of theirs, but I have seen the Dragon Gate crossovers they did so I was familiar with Quackenbush, Ophidian, and a few others. What I wasn’t expecting- Gavin Loudspeaker. ‘The Only Rock and Roll Ring Announcer in the Business’, Loudspeaker’s surname fit him well- the guy could blabber on and on and on. He had a post-American Idiot Green Day look (cough sell outs cough) which, by itself, was enough for me to hate him. Speaking rationally, I had to accept that this guy was one of the ways Chikara was trying to find a unique voice in the bloated American Indie scene. Much like a smark at a WWE show, I had to accept that I was not the target audience for what Loudspeaker was targeting. He started the show with a pretty lame acoustic song (don’t read into this too much I have a tendency towards music snobbery) and would enter the ring between matches to pimp the merch and announce the matches. You could also hear him on the balcony doing commentary. From someone who is more used to TV or ROH style announcers, it was a bit of a culture shock, though his incessant yammering did fill in the gaps of silence. If you have ever been to an ROH show, there are a lot of awkward lulls.
Last thing I want to mention- as a ‘family’ show, Loudspeaker implored the crowd to refrain from the profane (my words not his), and the audience complied, switching out naughty words for kid friendly synonyms. HOLY POOP! HOLY POOP! Ironically enough, it was the wrestlers who had the hardest time not swearing, but I can’t say I wouldn’t curse in response to getting kicked in the face.
Onto the matches of the night-
The first match was a 3v3 one fall match between the Batiri- Obariyon, Kodama, and Kobald, versus the Throwbacks- Sugar Dunkerton, and Dasher Hatfield, teamed with Matt Classic with referee PJ Drummond. Obariyon and Kodama of the Batiri look very similar- Chikarapro.com lists them at the same height and weight- and were difficult to tell apart. Kobald, on the other hand, dons a goblinoid mask that is actually pretty cool. Dasher Hatfield… well he is a baseball, or maybe a baseball player? This guy stretches Chikara’s mask-filled theme pretty thin, though as a wrestler was pretty entertaining. It is not hard to get a guy with a baseball mask over when Wrigley Field is right about four miles away. Sugar was a fast talking Globetrotter type, who thankfully does not wear a basketball mask. As for Matt Classic, I had heard so much about him from his ‘handler’ Colt Cabana but I was not prepared for the awesomeness that would commence.
The match began with Sugar taking on Obariyon (which is impossible to discern from Ovarian over the microphone,) though Dasher was quickly tagged in and spent quite a bit of time in the ring. To be honest, it was a bit difficult to pay attention to anyone else besides Matt Classic. From the moment he entered the ring, comically pulling up his tights more and more, to his persistent squats on the apron, Classic had the crowd (and myself, of course) laughing hysterically. Halfway through the match, Classic decided to begin his stair-stepping routine and walked the stairs for pretty much the rest of the match. In the meantime, Dasher had been getting hammered by the Dark Army Batiri, victim of the standard run of dastardly heelish tactics. He turns the tide with a huge Death Valley Driver and hot tags to Sugar. From here the match goes back and forth, some of the high spots include Dasher’s baseball style grandslam slide, a massive Backcracker from Kodama, and Sugar’s Lethal Combination style backbreaker/reverse STO move. At this point Classic decides he is ready to end the match and barges in, refusing to leave the ring even after he was tagged out, saying, “I was winning!” Classic takes out his frustration on his own team mate, allowing one of the Batiri’s green faced demons to hit a Blockbuster style diving neckbreaker on Classic for the pin.
It was a great opening contest and set the tone for the first half of the show. Mark my words- Matt Classic will be an international star someday, though he will probably go to the WWE and be given a stupid gimmick.
The scheduled match between the Portal and the Galli Luchadores was cancelled and two single’s matches were booked in its place- the second match of the night was one of these matches. This match would be Ophidian versus local wrestler Isaiah Velazquez with referee John Barber officiating. I do not know much about Velazquez, but he had instant heat with the crowd so I assume he is semi regular with Chikara. Ophidian wears his snake-gimmick well, his movement being very flowing and serpentine.
The match was very back and forth, the spots including a massive-pop producing tope from Ophidian to Isaiah and Isaiah’s Swinging Reverse STO which is very similar to Amazing Red’s. Ophidian tried to lock the Cobra Clutch thrice, the first two attempts reversed by backing the snake-man into the corner. When Velazquez tried to reverse the third clutch, Ophidian reversed the reversal and Velazquez hit the turnbuckle himself, allowing him to lock the clutch on the downed Chicagoan and then BRIDGE it out, which I had never seen before and looked particularly compromising, resulting in Velazquez tapping the canvas.
Ophidian was definitely the best of the masked gimmicks in Chikara, and if he took off the mask you could still tell he was supposed to be a snake.
The third match of the night was the Colony- Soldier Ant and Green Ant- competing against FIST- Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano with Bryce Remsburg. As I mentioned, I am relatively familiar with the Colony from DG, though for those who don’t know, the Ants sport antennaed masks, though Soldier Ant’s tights are camouflaged while Green Ant’s tights are, well, green. Gargano has a mohawk, while Taylor sports a shaggier cut. For the record, FIST stands for Friends in Similar Tights. SIGH.
The match played out like a classic tag match, the Colony playing the perennial favorites while FIST were the no good heels. Green and Gargano start the match and the pace is pretty steady, the teams trading tempo regularly. Of particular note is the most nefarious cheating of all- Taylor BIT Green Ant’s antennae! Who invited Mike Tyson? Taylor also managed to scream like a girl a few times. Like I said, great heel material here.
There was a lot of back and forth, with FIST (sigh again) nailing a superkick/hangman’s neckbreaker combination on Soldier, only to be answered by the Colony hitting the Ants Go Marching on Gargano, which is a really sweet double team neckbreaker/sitout bomb combo. Soldier Ant employed his ‘Chikara Special’ hold on Taylor only to be broken up by Gargano, FIST hits a wheelbarrow hold/dropkick to face on Soldier and Gargano finishes Soldier off with his Hurts Donut reverse STO from a full nelson.
The second match that replaced the cancelled Galli Lucha fight was the current Young Lions Cup holder Frightmare versus Hieracon. Booked as a special attraction, there were many falters in the flow of the match, especially on the part of Hieracon who was obvious not ready to take on such a terrifying opponent.
Frightmare was pretty entertaining, especially loved the scream that knocked Hieracon on his back, which he follows up seconds later with a huge cutter. At one point, Frightmare attempts a standing moonsault, which Hieracon dodges and quickly locks an arm-bar crossface on the spectral entity. The climax of the match is when Hieracon catches Frightmare from a whip and spins him about, ultimately hitting him with a Gonorrhea style neckbreaker. Hieracon goes for the pin, but Frightmare kicks out with milliseconds to spare. Hieracon gets greedy and sets ‘Mare up for another neckbreaker, but Frightmare reverses and runs him into the ropes, keeping a waste lock and rolling him into a pin, with a tight bridge for added leverage. The ref counts 1, 2, 3 and Frightmare steals it.
The fifth match of the night, officiated by John Barber, was “The Queen of Wrestling” Sara Del Rey versus the final member of FIST- Icarus. I am a big fan of Death Rey, especially since she lost the face paint. The fact that she is the favorite for the match makes it even better. Icarus, well Icarus was girlier than Sara. The tattoo on his back is wretched, resembling a crucifixion over half colored waves. Very bizarre.
Right out of the box, Sara dominated Icarus, delivering a series of massive beals from the corner. Icarus finally reversed her momentum, not by hitting a well time move, but by grabbing the ropes and crying, “get her away!!!!” They fight outside the ring, with a hilarious moment where Icarus curls up in a ball next to the stairs and Death Rey can’t find him. Icarus was so traumatized by his beating that he delivered some whimpy irish whips which Del Rey turns into a vicious axe kick to the poor little guys head. The woman’s hubris over took her and Icarus catches her with a spot on Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Icarus follows it up with Slice Bread #2/Shiranui for another near fall. Finally, the QoW beat Icarus with a clean pin.
Intermission- I sat and people watched for the intermission, I was tempted to go do the fanboy thing but there were a lot of people in a lot of lines. Next time I will bring my camera and get some good shots during intermission.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Podcasts of the Week- Claudio on AoW, Haas and Kevin Kelly on IWW
Lagana and Haas talk WWE, ROH, and life. Definitely check it out!
I Want Wrestling- Charlie Haas
Claudio and Colt talk about Claudio's very European upbringing, his moving to the USA via the Green Card Lottery and into the American Independent Wrestling Community.
Art of Wrestling- Claudio Castagnoli
Lagana also discusses ROH and the Sinclair deal with Kevin Kelly, as well as the upcoming Best in the World iPPV
I Want Wrestling- Kevin Kelly- Best in the World iPPV
I Want Wrestling- Charlie Haas
Claudio and Colt talk about Claudio's very European upbringing, his moving to the USA via the Green Card Lottery and into the American Independent Wrestling Community.
Art of Wrestling- Claudio Castagnoli
Lagana also discusses ROH and the Sinclair deal with Kevin Kelly, as well as the upcoming Best in the World iPPV
I Want Wrestling- Kevin Kelly- Best in the World iPPV
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
CM Punk on His Future with the E
Punk recently tweeted this-
"I knew I was gone at the beginning of the year. I just woke up one day and I knew. That's the way I work a lot of the time. I think it's creepy too, but it's really helpful. I knew I'd be history by July. Come say goodbye on July 17th. I promise to go out with a bang. Trust me. XxX"
Does this mean that Punk is leaving for another company soon or is it part of a WWE swerve job? We shall see.
"I knew I was gone at the beginning of the year. I just woke up one day and I knew. That's the way I work a lot of the time. I think it's creepy too, but it's really helpful. I knew I'd be history by July. Come say goodbye on July 17th. I promise to go out with a bang. Trust me. XxX"
Does this mean that Punk is leaving for another company soon or is it part of a WWE swerve job? We shall see.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Paul Heyman Talks TNA and Old Fogeys.
Interesting interview with Paul Heyman where he candidly discusses TNA and the old guys who are clogging up the roster.
Heyman on TNA
Friday, June 17, 2011
Former WWE Referee Jimmy Korderas on Both Art of Wrestling and We Want Wrestling
Strangely, this week both Dave Lagana and Colt Cabana had the same guest on their respective podcasts. Even more strangely, there is almost no overlap in either of the nearly hour long conversations.
What's more, Colt Cabana didn't know that Korderas would be on I Want Wrestling and he said he would have postponed it if he had.
Check out the 'Casts at
AOW 47- Jimmy Korderas
I Want Wrestling- Jimmy Korderas and Arda Ocal
What's more, Colt Cabana didn't know that Korderas would be on I Want Wrestling and he said he would have postponed it if he had.
Check out the 'Casts at
AOW 47- Jimmy Korderas
I Want Wrestling- Jimmy Korderas and Arda Ocal
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
'Til I Can't Go No More- Rare Interview with Rey Mysterio Jr.
Great interview with Rey Mysterio Jr, conducted by Peter Rosenberg. In this fifteen minute clip, Rey delves into his health and Edge's sudden retirement, his wrestling childhood, saying he was "born to be in the business." No doubt. He theorizes about a heel turn and whether he could actually pull it off and concludes with a weighty discussion about death and dealing with loss. Mr. Rosenberg is an extremely personable interviewer and there is no wonder he is allowed access to high profile 'superstars.'
Monday, June 13, 2011
Cutthroat MMA- Dylan 'the Killer' Kowalski* Takes Some Names
*I am arbitrarily giving Dylan this nickname hoping it sticks. Dylan has not yet endorsed this moniker.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
At A Loss for Words- TMZ- Jeff Hardy Tasers Matt hardy's Girlfriend while Matt Eats Grapes
The title says it all, though I took dramatic license with the grapes. It occurs to me that we didn't actually see her get tased but either way, what the fuck? Psychos with Tasers
You Almost Hit Me in the Nuts You Asshole!- Botchamania 175
Great Botchamania this week folks. The usual mix of missed spots and tears in the fabric of Kayfabe is accompanied by two new segments- one is the Michael Cole and Mick Foley commentation of Shea Stadium WWE 24/7 footage, the other being a Chimel Wildline, which is basically WWE Ring Announcer Tony Chimel fucking up his job over and over and over again while Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler try to help him get it right.
Botchamania 175
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Smarking Up- Step 2- Yes, I Know Wrestling is 'Fake'. So What?
Welcome Class.
I Will begin this lesson with a piece of evidentury anecdote. When I attended the ROH 9th Anniversary show in Chicago Ridge, I sat next this annoying guy who was sitting in my families seats when I arrived slightly late. Anyways, flash forward to the second or third match on the card, I can't recall which match but it is not important to this particular evidentruy anecdote. One wrestler delivers and connects with a super kick, the resulting 'pop' echoing through the arena. Everyone in the packed Fieldhouse went ooh! and ah! Everyone except Mr Grabby-seat next to me. He turns to me and says, "that fucker hit his own knee to make it louder. This is some bullshit!" I laughed, because I had noticed this long ago and approve of the sickening sound it helps create. What struck me was the guys indignancy. This honestly ruined the whole show for him as it is a relatively common trick in the biz (you can even see a lil knee slap on Sweet Chin Music,) and was used in most of the matches on the card.
This story resonantes with many people I have talked to about professional wrestling. Things like, "I like it when I was a kid but I can't get over how its fake." Personally, I have never found relevancy in this argument, as even a 'reality' show is often bending the lines of 'reality'. But none the less, this is a common complaint. Perhaps this will help.
First, let's get rid of the notion that wrestling is any sort of fake. It is not an in ring competition, true, but there is no safety net for these guys. To me this is a large reason to appreciate wrestling, even if you ahte everything else about it. The fact that a lot of the matches and promos are pre-discussed makes the sick shit they do to each other all the more compelling. It is not hard to understand why a UFC fighter beats the crap out of their opponents; however, they will not suggest to their opponents interesting and exciting ways to dismantle them. That would take someone insane. Or dedicated. Or Both.
Secondly, it is important to view professional wrestling as an art form. I don't think this should be a stretch- the term 'martial art' is pretty ubiquitous. Never will you hear, "South Park is so fake," or "I can't believe they used fake paints on this portrait." The beauty of this artform is that wrestling is not all about the actually physicality- in fact, some wrestlers have earned a living based solely on their ability to talk on the mic, cerebrally assassinate their opponent before they even lock up, or even just for the fact that the crowd just HATES them and LOVES to see them get their faces stomped. Now their is a threshold for all artforms, especially as a matter of taste. Fine, wrestling is not your cup of tea. I don't care for balet myself. And if we are considering Emo music an artform, fuck that too.
As an artform, the audience must participate with the artists, especially when it comes to the suspension of disbelief. We as an audience must supercede our knowledge that everything before our eyes is for the most part an act to truly enjoy the experience. There is a caveat to this- the artist must pay a lot of attention to this suspension of disbelief or they risk losing even a willing audience. In other words, there is a limit to how 'fake' anything can be before we will universally call 'bullshit!'
To me the WWE product is a good example of where a lot of the time they do not try as hard to suspend that disbelief, mostly indirectly by booking wrestlers that are not very good at the craft. Vince and Co knows that their target audience is children and their parents. Children, and by proxy parents, are easy to please.
On the otherhand, look at an indie promotion ROH or Dragon Gate. A lot of care is put into making it look as real as possible. This is partly because of their target audiences and such, but for a large part it is the result of years of hard work, training, and travelling. In other words, these promotions showcase passion. Passion is a very relatable, if not honorable, trait to convey. The passion shows itself in intense matches and constant creativity. The main issue the indies have is the often subpar production, especially when it comes to house PAs, and the difficulty of conveying complex story structure without a regular television show. Of course this will be changing soon for ROH (drool)
Getting back to the original evidentury anecdote, there is no reason to let a little thing like a knee slap ruin a good show. The wrestlers choose to amplify the sound of his kick, which is well within their artistic license. As a mark in the audience, just enjoy the fact that a guy got kicked in the face for nothing other than our pleasure, and he basically asked for it. Just cause its a 'fake' kick in a 'fake' wrestling match doesnt mean that kick didn't hurt like a bitch.
Next time- A Slave to the System- people who hate the WWE but still watch every minute.
I Will begin this lesson with a piece of evidentury anecdote. When I attended the ROH 9th Anniversary show in Chicago Ridge, I sat next this annoying guy who was sitting in my families seats when I arrived slightly late. Anyways, flash forward to the second or third match on the card, I can't recall which match but it is not important to this particular evidentruy anecdote. One wrestler delivers and connects with a super kick, the resulting 'pop' echoing through the arena. Everyone in the packed Fieldhouse went ooh! and ah! Everyone except Mr Grabby-seat next to me. He turns to me and says, "that fucker hit his own knee to make it louder. This is some bullshit!" I laughed, because I had noticed this long ago and approve of the sickening sound it helps create. What struck me was the guys indignancy. This honestly ruined the whole show for him as it is a relatively common trick in the biz (you can even see a lil knee slap on Sweet Chin Music,) and was used in most of the matches on the card.
This story resonantes with many people I have talked to about professional wrestling. Things like, "I like it when I was a kid but I can't get over how its fake." Personally, I have never found relevancy in this argument, as even a 'reality' show is often bending the lines of 'reality'. But none the less, this is a common complaint. Perhaps this will help.
First, let's get rid of the notion that wrestling is any sort of fake. It is not an in ring competition, true, but there is no safety net for these guys. To me this is a large reason to appreciate wrestling, even if you ahte everything else about it. The fact that a lot of the matches and promos are pre-discussed makes the sick shit they do to each other all the more compelling. It is not hard to understand why a UFC fighter beats the crap out of their opponents; however, they will not suggest to their opponents interesting and exciting ways to dismantle them. That would take someone insane. Or dedicated. Or Both.
Secondly, it is important to view professional wrestling as an art form. I don't think this should be a stretch- the term 'martial art' is pretty ubiquitous. Never will you hear, "South Park is so fake," or "I can't believe they used fake paints on this portrait." The beauty of this artform is that wrestling is not all about the actually physicality- in fact, some wrestlers have earned a living based solely on their ability to talk on the mic, cerebrally assassinate their opponent before they even lock up, or even just for the fact that the crowd just HATES them and LOVES to see them get their faces stomped. Now their is a threshold for all artforms, especially as a matter of taste. Fine, wrestling is not your cup of tea. I don't care for balet myself. And if we are considering Emo music an artform, fuck that too.
As an artform, the audience must participate with the artists, especially when it comes to the suspension of disbelief. We as an audience must supercede our knowledge that everything before our eyes is for the most part an act to truly enjoy the experience. There is a caveat to this- the artist must pay a lot of attention to this suspension of disbelief or they risk losing even a willing audience. In other words, there is a limit to how 'fake' anything can be before we will universally call 'bullshit!'
To me the WWE product is a good example of where a lot of the time they do not try as hard to suspend that disbelief, mostly indirectly by booking wrestlers that are not very good at the craft. Vince and Co knows that their target audience is children and their parents. Children, and by proxy parents, are easy to please.
On the otherhand, look at an indie promotion ROH or Dragon Gate. A lot of care is put into making it look as real as possible. This is partly because of their target audiences and such, but for a large part it is the result of years of hard work, training, and travelling. In other words, these promotions showcase passion. Passion is a very relatable, if not honorable, trait to convey. The passion shows itself in intense matches and constant creativity. The main issue the indies have is the often subpar production, especially when it comes to house PAs, and the difficulty of conveying complex story structure without a regular television show. Of course this will be changing soon for ROH (drool)
Getting back to the original evidentury anecdote, there is no reason to let a little thing like a knee slap ruin a good show. The wrestlers choose to amplify the sound of his kick, which is well within their artistic license. As a mark in the audience, just enjoy the fact that a guy got kicked in the face for nothing other than our pleasure, and he basically asked for it. Just cause its a 'fake' kick in a 'fake' wrestling match doesnt mean that kick didn't hurt like a bitch.
Next time- A Slave to the System- people who hate the WWE but still watch every minute.
Profound or Bust- Brian Kendrick on Art of Wrestling
I love this show in general but Kendrick is a whole different kind of cat. Of all the wrestlers out there I identify with Kendrick the most, whether hes talking about paying his dues, his con artist father, or being paid 300 dollars to masturbate, the guy just speaks to me. This cast also has the best one liner of the show so far- 'Sorry, I had some tokes before we started, where were we?"
http://tsmradio.com/coltcabana/2011/06/08/aow-46-brian-kendrick/
http://tsmradio.com/coltcabana/2011/06/08/aow-46-brian-kendrick/
Joanie Laurer aka Chyna on TNA and Porn
This is a great article I found on the Piledriver. Interestingly, Joanie feels that the release of her first video with Sean Waltman, One Night in Chyna, was an invasion of her privacy in all ways that it could be and the new movie is a sort of redemption on her own terms. Now to a normal person this is "confusing and sad" but after following Joanie for much of her career it actually makes sense for her, especially since she is certifiably crazy. If you don't believe me, watch the first season of celebrity rehab. Keep in mind this is not a judgement call on my part, just an explanation for her thought process.
With regards to TNA, she only did that as a one shot and has no real desire to commit herself to a wrestling relaunch.
It seems like the situation should be reversed, where the porn is the one shot and TNA is the career goal. What a wonderful world we live in.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/wrestling/blog/2011/06/qa_with_chyna.html
With regards to TNA, she only did that as a one shot and has no real desire to commit herself to a wrestling relaunch.
It seems like the situation should be reversed, where the porn is the one shot and TNA is the career goal. What a wonderful world we live in.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/wrestling/blog/2011/06/qa_with_chyna.html
Worst Article Ever
'According to Wikipedia'... nuff said..
http://www.trutv.com/conspiracy/celebs/wrestling/gallery.html?curPhoto=1
http://www.trutv.com/conspiracy/celebs/wrestling/gallery.html?curPhoto=1
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Lagana Talks with Goldstein on Tough Enough and Wrestling Matters
Great 'cast where Mr Lagana sits down with his old pal Andrew Goldstein for the second time on his show Formerly Creative. They talk both about the current season of Tough Enough and the TNA Wrestling Matters campaign for which Mr Goldstein is responsible.
Check it out at- http://iwantwrestling.com/2011/06/08/formerlycreative-toughenough/
Check it out at- http://iwantwrestling.com/2011/06/08/formerlycreative-toughenough/
Big Andy Wins Tough Enough; Travels Back in Time a Decade
I have been watching Tough Enough pretty regularly this season, especially so since I do not follow the WWE product closely and this was a good way to watch WWE programming without investing too much time. The show was decent, my interest waning after indie regular Matt Cross got axed for not making the other contestants look like tards. Can't say I am surprised it was Andy who won, Luke is deuche-tacular. Overall I like the format and the hosts/trainers a bunch so I am sure I will youtube up season 2.
We all saw the slap and the stunner coming, but that didn't take away from my sense of dejavu.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Live Review of ROH Show on 5-21-2011
My first review of a show. I posted it on the Piledriver http://nawf.com/blog/ a while ago so I thought I would bring it along. I plan to do more reviews of shows I physically attend so stay logged.
The show itself had alot more in ring promos complete with great matches. You could tell they dialled it up for the new bosses. The following is in no chronological or logical order.
Jimmy Jacobs showed up as Corinos sponsor to big pops only to be ushered out as an unwelcomed guest.
Corino hits the thumb in the bum submission hold on Mike Bennett. I think this move was originally designed as the counter for Rikishis Stinkface. The crowd hates bennett and loves Corino so its all very easy to swallow when Corino proceeds to suck his ‘dirty thumb’.
Todd Sinclair restarted the Generico v Hero match cause Hero is such a cheater and tossed out Truth in the Daniels v Cabana match before the bell cause Colt asked him nicely. I think they are angling for a referee face turn.
Edwards retained his title over Roddie, was a pretty great match. Eddie won by elevating his trademark achilles hold (single leg boston) and then stomped on the back of Rodericks head and neck over and over. Hes developing more of an identity as a wrestler, just needs to do somethign with that bland name or get a bad ass nickname or something. “Edward Edwards” is the only way we can make an entertaining chant. Chanting is very important to an ROH crowd.
Roderick as always performed perfectly and you would almost forget that he had no ‘for realsies’ chance of walking away with the belt.
Hero v Generico was another star, been a while since ive seen Hero in a singles match. This amtch was definitely dialled up to 11, both guys never disapoint. Hero won at first with a leveraged pin after the 12th (but still awesome) Rolling elbow. Hero walks onto the ramp, Todd Sinclair is told by someone (i think it was Silkin, who was rinside,) that Hero had cheated and he restarted the match. While Hero is throwing a heelish fit Generico hits his finish and pins for 3. OLE!
Davey Richards and Charlie Haas attempted a sort of wrestling thought experiment and gave eachother alternating pairs of german suplexes until both had hit roughly 12 on eachother. Haas, as it turns out, towers over davey and his sports entertainer physique made it tough for Davey to hit any clean throws. There was also a big blown spot for DAveys heart attack where They both kinda shrug and Haas hits the ropes again and they pull it off. Davey gives haas kick of death for win. very awkward match.
Benjamin v Claudio was was actually a good match, but had another one of those wierd repeating mess up. It stands outs to me because usually ROh moves on from a fuck up, im not complaining it was just odd. Overall Claudio is so fun to taunt during a match that his long submission holds were ok. Benjamin wins by retrying his charging turnbuckle suplex and pin.
Colt finally wins, beating Daniels whose game is thrown off when sinclair ejects Truth. Colt lacked the typical jocularity and instead he brought his warrior persona, hitting alot of big moves and finishing with the rope drop move hes been doing. It was a good choice for him to cut the comedy both because of the new boss and also because comedy just wont go well with the fallen angel gimick. Curryman on the other hand….
Homicide looks pretty hurt, he should take some time off before it gets serious. He went for the three amigos ealy in the match vs Michale Elgin and was clearly hurt more by the first suplex than elgin was. He couldnt finish a second. His match quality have been getting worse, you can tell the guys are taking it easy on him.
There was this wierd racial element to the ANX vs the briscoes match, mostly stemming from when they chain up Kenny Kings neck and hang him over the rope. Now I am not sensitive, just interesting information. We chanted “you killed Kenny” Not sure if that is the first time but I am sure it will become a staple. besides that it was a great street fight, contained to the ring. It is hard to keep track of who is face and heel in ROH sometimes but the face turn for ANX, whenever that happend, has deifnitely stepped up their game. Briscoes always kick ass, pretty much nuff said ya hear. Briscoes hit the doomsday device on Titus for win, i think that was finish.
Bravados wore pink diamonds on white trunks. Thats pretty much all i can remember from that match.
Overall good show, excited about a regular tv show supporting my favorite workers. A little worried that their may be changes to the actual product of ROH, such as PG mentality (bye bye Thumb) but ol’ Jim Cornette said it wouldnt cahnge and I think i trust him for now.
“CLEAN YOUR THUMB! CLEAN YOUR THUMB!”
The show itself had alot more in ring promos complete with great matches. You could tell they dialled it up for the new bosses. The following is in no chronological or logical order.
Jimmy Jacobs showed up as Corinos sponsor to big pops only to be ushered out as an unwelcomed guest.
Corino hits the thumb in the bum submission hold on Mike Bennett. I think this move was originally designed as the counter for Rikishis Stinkface. The crowd hates bennett and loves Corino so its all very easy to swallow when Corino proceeds to suck his ‘dirty thumb’.
Todd Sinclair restarted the Generico v Hero match cause Hero is such a cheater and tossed out Truth in the Daniels v Cabana match before the bell cause Colt asked him nicely. I think they are angling for a referee face turn.
Edwards retained his title over Roddie, was a pretty great match. Eddie won by elevating his trademark achilles hold (single leg boston) and then stomped on the back of Rodericks head and neck over and over. Hes developing more of an identity as a wrestler, just needs to do somethign with that bland name or get a bad ass nickname or something. “Edward Edwards” is the only way we can make an entertaining chant. Chanting is very important to an ROH crowd.
Roderick as always performed perfectly and you would almost forget that he had no ‘for realsies’ chance of walking away with the belt.
Hero v Generico was another star, been a while since ive seen Hero in a singles match. This amtch was definitely dialled up to 11, both guys never disapoint. Hero won at first with a leveraged pin after the 12th (but still awesome) Rolling elbow. Hero walks onto the ramp, Todd Sinclair is told by someone (i think it was Silkin, who was rinside,) that Hero had cheated and he restarted the match. While Hero is throwing a heelish fit Generico hits his finish and pins for 3. OLE!
Davey Richards and Charlie Haas attempted a sort of wrestling thought experiment and gave eachother alternating pairs of german suplexes until both had hit roughly 12 on eachother. Haas, as it turns out, towers over davey and his sports entertainer physique made it tough for Davey to hit any clean throws. There was also a big blown spot for DAveys heart attack where They both kinda shrug and Haas hits the ropes again and they pull it off. Davey gives haas kick of death for win. very awkward match.
Benjamin v Claudio was was actually a good match, but had another one of those wierd repeating mess up. It stands outs to me because usually ROh moves on from a fuck up, im not complaining it was just odd. Overall Claudio is so fun to taunt during a match that his long submission holds were ok. Benjamin wins by retrying his charging turnbuckle suplex and pin.
Colt finally wins, beating Daniels whose game is thrown off when sinclair ejects Truth. Colt lacked the typical jocularity and instead he brought his warrior persona, hitting alot of big moves and finishing with the rope drop move hes been doing. It was a good choice for him to cut the comedy both because of the new boss and also because comedy just wont go well with the fallen angel gimick. Curryman on the other hand….
Homicide looks pretty hurt, he should take some time off before it gets serious. He went for the three amigos ealy in the match vs Michale Elgin and was clearly hurt more by the first suplex than elgin was. He couldnt finish a second. His match quality have been getting worse, you can tell the guys are taking it easy on him.
There was this wierd racial element to the ANX vs the briscoes match, mostly stemming from when they chain up Kenny Kings neck and hang him over the rope. Now I am not sensitive, just interesting information. We chanted “you killed Kenny” Not sure if that is the first time but I am sure it will become a staple. besides that it was a great street fight, contained to the ring. It is hard to keep track of who is face and heel in ROH sometimes but the face turn for ANX, whenever that happend, has deifnitely stepped up their game. Briscoes always kick ass, pretty much nuff said ya hear. Briscoes hit the doomsday device on Titus for win, i think that was finish.
Bravados wore pink diamonds on white trunks. Thats pretty much all i can remember from that match.
Overall good show, excited about a regular tv show supporting my favorite workers. A little worried that their may be changes to the actual product of ROH, such as PG mentality (bye bye Thumb) but ol’ Jim Cornette said it wouldnt cahnge and I think i trust him for now.
“CLEAN YOUR THUMB! CLEAN YOUR THUMB!”
Smarking Up- Step 1- Know Your Role, Jabroni
I will begin the odyssey that is Smarkdom with the golden rule of Smarkitude- Know your role. How does one know one's role? Stick with the Casshole to find out.
Raven said it best- "Sure, you are a smart mark, but you are still a fucking mark." So true. None of us have walked in a wretler's shoes. None of us are at risk of serious death on a daily basis for the sake of entertainment. We are the fat little consumer that drink up their sugary sludge and cry for more, more, more!
On the otherhand, these guys are eating off our dime, so they better entertain.
A clear role relationship has been established- the wrestlers wrestle for our hard earned money. Promotions come to town with our favorite wrestlers, we pay to see the wrestler. "Our second favorite wrestler is on PPV? Lets check it out!"
In essence, the wrestlers don't owe the fans anything beyond the minute the show is over. Likewise, fans don't owe a wrestler anything the minute they think his product smells like poop.
Stone Cold don't owe me nothing, I don't owe Stone Cold nothing. Just the way we like it.
Raven said it best- "Sure, you are a smart mark, but you are still a fucking mark." So true. None of us have walked in a wretler's shoes. None of us are at risk of serious death on a daily basis for the sake of entertainment. We are the fat little consumer that drink up their sugary sludge and cry for more, more, more!
On the otherhand, these guys are eating off our dime, so they better entertain.
A clear role relationship has been established- the wrestlers wrestle for our hard earned money. Promotions come to town with our favorite wrestlers, we pay to see the wrestler. "Our second favorite wrestler is on PPV? Lets check it out!"
In essence, the wrestlers don't owe the fans anything beyond the minute the show is over. Likewise, fans don't owe a wrestler anything the minute they think his product smells like poop.
Stone Cold don't owe me nothing, I don't owe Stone Cold nothing. Just the way we like it.
Its Time to Smarken Up People!
Welcome to my inaugral post in my blog dedicated to the greatest spectacle known to man- professional wrestling. I know what you may be saying- isn't that stuff fake? Well, aren't all your favorite TV shows and movies 'fake'? Even 'reality' shows are full of it. So what is with all the negativity?
Professional wrestling (which shall henceforth be referred to as 'the biz') receives a lot of bad press, some of it deserved, some not. This blog will serve in that role to define what is true and false about wrestling and how to understand it from the point of view of a mark- aka a wrestling fan.
Now I will make no claims that I truly understand the biz, though I listen very hard to people who do. i am simply a mark, and a smart one at that. This is known as a Smark. As a smark, I can only truly speculate what is Kayfabe (biz speech for 'fake') and what is shoot (real). This speculation is a reward in itself, especially when your random guess makes you look like a prophet come again.
So what really entails being a Smark? This Blog will be a journey through Smarkhood through the eyes of yours truly, Cass aka Casshole.
Professional wrestling (which shall henceforth be referred to as 'the biz') receives a lot of bad press, some of it deserved, some not. This blog will serve in that role to define what is true and false about wrestling and how to understand it from the point of view of a mark- aka a wrestling fan.
Now I will make no claims that I truly understand the biz, though I listen very hard to people who do. i am simply a mark, and a smart one at that. This is known as a Smark. As a smark, I can only truly speculate what is Kayfabe (biz speech for 'fake') and what is shoot (real). This speculation is a reward in itself, especially when your random guess makes you look like a prophet come again.
So what really entails being a Smark? This Blog will be a journey through Smarkhood through the eyes of yours truly, Cass aka Casshole.
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