Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison has been pulled from the forthcoming WWE Breaking Point and yet the Great Khali vs. Kane remains on the card. Answers on a postcard for that one.
So, it looks as though Nigel McGuinness is following his Ring of Honor comrade Bryan Danielson to WWE. Good news for WWE and its fans but bad news for ROH. I actually think McGuinness has a better chance of getting over with WWE (the office more than the fans) than Danielson, due to being slightly bigger and a better promo, at least in my opinion. With the loss of Danielson and McGuinness, ROH has lost arguably its most over main eventers. Sure, Tyler Black certainly has the goods to step it up a notch and Austin Aries will always be a solid hand, but I get the distinct feeling that those two will be next on WWE's list of ROH talent to half inch. I bet Cary Silkin's regretting moving ROH TV to Monday nights now.
Apart from this, there's not much of note to talk about in the world of wrestling at the moment, mostly because I haven't been watching TNA and have only been watching Smackdown on the WWE side of things, which has been awesome it has to be said, mostly due to the majesty of CM Punk. CM Punk is quite simply the man. But this isn't a recent development. I recently downloaded 8GB worth of Punk matches from his indy days (stifle your shrieks; some of this stuff is hard to get if you live in the UK). Barring his performances in Ring if Honor, I'd almost forgotten about some of his other stellar matches, particularly his feud with Chris Heroin IWA Mid-South, featuring a 55 minute ladder minute match and a 93 minute two out of three falls match. Another hidden gem that prompted me to let out a little yelp of joy when it came on was the match from IWA M-S featuring Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddy Guerrero. I haven't seen this match for literally years, and it's all sorts of awesome. Check it out if you can.
I've also recently overcome another bout of writer's block. I'd managed to write one song in the past two months but, after a day and a half, I have another three. Thank the non-existent God for that. Writer's block is a terrible thing but sometimes I think it may be more psychosomatic than anything. Hardcore is a difficult genre to write songs for, even though it should technically be a piece of piss; four chords and a lot of yelling and the job's done. Alas, I hate knowing that I've written a song that sounds exactly like some other band's work, even though the majority of hardcore bands re-tread the same ground almost constantly. Don't get me wrong, I rip bands off bands left, right and centre but I prefer to be subtle about it. Instead of taking a song I really like and stealing from it, I take two songs I really like, take the best bits, put them together and voila a song is written. Some would say that I should possibly try and come up with a completely original idea of my own but where's the fun in that? I'm perfectly happy writing songs that have already been written several times before and hiding under my comfort blanket of mediocrity. It's cosy under here.
What a shameful lack of blogging in recent days. Let me rectify this with this essay. Firstly, some wrestling, then some rock, then some more wrestling and then a bile-filled diatribe.
So, Summerslam. WWE's second biggest event of the year apparently but we all know that honour belongs to the Royal Rumble. Looking at the card, it looked like it was going to be a fairly hit or miss but it was a good show it has to be said.
The opening match, pitting Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio against Dolph Ziggler, was a great opener, with Ziggler showing just how far he's come recently. Some great spots, including a sweet moonsault from Rey, and sound psycology (especially from Ziggler) all contributed to a fantastic bout. Jack Wagger (I remembered!) vs. MVP was fairly meh, but not bad. It just felt like it should have been better, and I'm sure we will see better matches from the two dudes as this fued rolls on. Chris Jericho & Big Show (or Jeri-show) vs. Cryme Tyme was actually pretty good. I said in my Smackdown recap on Pro Wrestling Ponderings that I, worryingly, was starting to like Cryme Tyme's work in the ring but, y'know, it's not that good. Panic over. The match is good though, as everything over the past few week featuring Jericho has been. He's the freakin' man right now, and there's not anyone who can touch him (apart for CM Punk perhaps). Heel or babyface, Jericho is always gold. The Kane - Great Khali match was as you'd expect: fucking awful. Kane's not bad but he relies an awful lot on being in the ring with a good opponent, and a good opponent Khali is not. Khali's timing is beyond bad, with him looking like he's working in slow motion, occasionally tossing out piss-weak offence. The worst thing about this match is the fact that it looks as though the feud isn't over, given that Kane went over. I have to sit through more insufferable shite from these two on Smackdown for the foreseeable future. Christ.
Right, this needs a new paragraph; DX vs. The Legacy. DX's entrance is ridiculous. Tanks, soldiers and more pyro than the live intro to "One" by Metallica. Over the top, yes, but it's pretty entertaining, even though the entrance confirms that, as far as the higher ups in WWE are concerned, Summerslam is DX's show. The match itself is pretty good, mostly because of the fact that the Legacy aren't completely buried, getting in plenty of offence and chucking in tons of old school tag team psycology, particularly the quick tags when Shawn Michaels was trapped in the corner. DX get the win obviously, but they made Legacy look damn good.
Christian vs. William Regal lasted nine seconds. Bollocks. I was really looking forward to this match and it ended before Regal had even taken off his robe, with Christian hitting the Killswitch and pinning him while he was de-robing. Oh well.
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena wasn't a match I wasn't particularly looking forward to as I'm sick of seeing these two together constantly in main events on pay per view and TV. This match is interesting though, mostly due to the fact that it's an overbooked mess. The match should've ended at the twelve minute mark when Randy Orton grabbed the ref and got himself delibrately disqualfied, thus retaining the title. But it doesn't. Instead it gets restarted. And then restarted again, with Lillian confusing the living piss out of me by making the wrong calls. When all is said and done, Randy Orton beats John Cena with the RKO. Correct me if I'm wrong but when matches get restarted, isn't that so the babyface can go over? I guess not. A total clusterfuck.
CM Punk vs. World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy in a TLC match was up next, and what a match it was. At least four stars, this was an awesome main event, with CM Punk now looking like a bona fide main eventer. Both men worked their balls off in this match, with some awesome spots and Jeff Hardy, in his penultimate appearence in a WWE ring, saying goodbye in style with a Swanton Bomb from a fifteen foot ladder onto Punk, through the Spanish announce table. Awesome. Punk wins the belt following that move and stands over Jeff Hardy celebrating. The lights go off. There's a resounding and familiar "GONG!" ringing out. The lights come back on and the Undertaker is now lying where Jeff Hardy was. This kicks ass! Taker chokeslams Punk and leaves. This was an AWESOME end to Summerslam, with the Punk - Taker feud beginning as the Hardy - Punk feuds ends. I salute you, whoever came up with this ending.
So after I revelled in the glory of the closing match of Summerslam for a few days, it was time to go and see the fairly recently reunited Faith No More. Arriving fashionably late meant I missed Oceansize who were on the supporting duties but by all acounts, I didn't miss much. Faith No More sauntered onstage into the unbearably hot Corn Exchange and opened with their cover of "Midnight Cowboy". Smooth. And then they kicked into "From Out of Nowhere". Suddenly I felt twelve years old again. The main set was pretty much flawless, with "Last Cup of Sorrow", "Midlife Crisis" (including a bizarre insertion of the "Eastenders" theme tune halfway through) "Epic" and "Ashes to Ashes" all being particularly fine moments. The strange thing was, the show didn't have that atmosphere that you get at shows by bands who haven't played for years. It felt like FNM had never left in some ways, which I guess could be considered a compliment. The other problem I had with the gig was the completely flat way it ended, with two encores (the second of which featuring a great performance of "Stripsearch") ending with "Pristina", not what I can consider to be a great way to send the crowd home happy. I know a lot of bands don't like playing the "hits" because they're sick of them, but the end of the set was crying out for "We Care A Lot". You could feel the crowd wanting, and expecting, it, but it wasn't to be. A shame, as that would have been the perfect close to the show. Still, it's Faith No More. They can do whatever the fuck thet want.
I also heard the news that Bryan Danielson has agreed in principle to a contract with WWE. This worries me for two reasons. The first of which is that he's the most well respected and prominant member of the Ring of Honor roster and with stories of bounced cheques and financial cutbacks eminating from the US indy, Danielson's departure could add further salt to the wound. Sure, Tyler Black, Nigel McGuinnes and Austin Aries are all popular and most certainly over but they're not Bryan Danielson, who is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best wrestler in the world and a large reason why people come out to see Ring of Honor. People who may think differently if he's not there anymore. The second reason is Danielson's size. At 5' 8" and 185lbs Danielson isn't exactly a large man by wrestling standards and, besides Rey Mysterio, small men don't generally get the push from the Vin Man. It'll certainly be interesting to see how this whole thing develops. Well, interesting for me at least.
Finally, I want to say a few words about U2. Please, don't navigate away from this page, I feel the same way about them as you do. My latest gripe with these Irish tosspots though (another to add to the list) is the Blackberry advert they've done that's all over the TV and the internet, hunting me down and finding me on last.fm and other sites of a musical nature. U2 are advertising Blackberrys. HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED YOU WHITE FLAG WAVING, CORPORATE FUCKING SHILLS?! It's bad enough that you've spent the last thirty years conning millions of people into thinking you're a good band, with Bono yelling vaguely in tune and The Edge (The Edge? Go fuck yourself) with his fucking delay pedal. When I'm in charge U2 will be first against the wall. In fact, I might blow them up with landmines. Fuck you Bono.
Phew, that feels better. Thanks for listening.
It was with great trepidation I began reading "Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry" by Matthew Randazzo a couple of days ago, having heard many reports that the book was sensationalist in the extreme and painted my beloved wrestling business in a wholly negative light. Well, it certainly is a morbidly compelling book, with grim tales from both America and Japan illustrating the sacrifices that hopeful young wrestlers have to make to get a shot at the big time. Strangely though, there were few revelations contained within the book, particularly for those of us who have followed wrestling closely for a long time. Indeed, in some ways, I expected far worse.
The book details Chris Benoit's life and
career with a narrative of the wrestling business in North America and Japan running
parallel, much like the structure of Bret Hart's book (although "Ring of
Hell" is about 400 pages shorter). Tales of rampant drug abuse, torture of
youngsters breaking into the wrestling business and infidelity abound in
Randazzo's book, although not quite to the extent that many people who have
reviewed the book would have you believe. Much of the information contained
within their book is pulled from various other wrestling books ("My Life
in the Cartoon World of Wrestling" by Bret Hart and "The Death of
WCW" by RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez in particular) so for those who have
already read those book, there's not much you don't already know in this book.
Benoit's physical and mental deterioration is detailed thoroughly however, and
goes a long way in explaining the actions of Benoit during the final days of
his life. His admiration (bordering on obsession) of the Dynamite Kid seems to
be the main reason for Benoit's passion and drive to succeed in the wrestling
business, with his small stature contributing to his mammoth insecurity and
rampant steroid abuse. Benoit's experience of training at the New Japan dojo
also seems to have helped nurture a cruel, mean streak in Benoit that later
manifested itself in Benoit's hazing of youngsters in WCW and WWF/E. The
stories from Japan are definitely the most eye opening part of Randazzo's book.
The Japanese take wrestling VERY seriously, that's all I say.
The main problem I have with "Ring of
Hell" is primarily the lack of named sources. Obviously wrestlers commenting
for a book that is predominantly about the negative aspects of the wrestling
business aren't going to want to be named but that amount of times a quote is
followed by the phrase "...a reliable source told me." detracts from
the credibility of the stories being told. Most of the quotes contained in the
book are made by former WWE writers that were only with the company for a short
time. Plus, as those who watch shoot interviews and read wrestlers' autobiographies
know, many pro wrestlers have axes to grind and love burning bridges, especially
when it comes to Vince McMahon so while it's fairly certain that most of what
has been written is probably true, you get the distinct impression it's been
exaggerated somewhat.
So, an interesting and compelling read
certainly (I finished it in a day) but one that should be taken with a pinch of
salt. It's one that's less about the wrestling business and more about the
unravelling of a human being who, through pushing his body to the limit and
abusing various drugs for almost 20 years, eventually lost his mind.
I'm going to finish this off with a quote from, author, Matthew Randazzo from an interview in the Charleston Post & Courier, written shortly before the book's publication in June 2008. After being asked why he became a wrestling fan, Randazzo said: "Since I became a fan as a small child, I would probably say it was the larger-than-life characters and epic good-versus-evil storylines. Today, my interest in the business is a sort of morbid fascination at how twisted, destructive and morbidly hilarious one of the great fascinations of my youth has become."
Sad, but true.
For more info on "Ring of Hell" and Michael Randazzo visit MatthewRandazzo.com.
As the sports entertainment inclined among you might have noticed, World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship TV show RAW has been hosted by several celebrity guests over the past few weeks, with Robot Chicken creator and actor Seth Green, ZZ Top, actor Jeremy Piven, Shaquille 'O Neal and, former wrestlers, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase and Sgt. Slaughter all having a bash at being the guest host. A different guest host every week is prompting me to run the full gamut of emotions while watching the show every Monday; from the greatness of Ted Dibiase's stint to the sheer, toe curling embarrassment of ZZ Top hosting and the two hours of annoyance I suffered at the hands of Jeremy Piven (not literally. He wasn't in my house cupping me or anything), it's truly been a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately it's been the sort of roller coaster ride that was perfectly pleasant for the first few seconds and then someone sitting a row in front of me threw up resulting in a chunky splash back, and leaving me covered in sick for the rest of the ride.
Now, I'm not suggesting abandoning the guest host idea for RAW (which doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon given the mainstream media coverage and slight ratings boost the idea has garnered). Neither am I one of the wrestling fans that just want wrestling and none of this "sports entertainment" nonsense. There are enough of those people on the internet already. But I read the list of rumoured guest hosts for the coming weeks and I can't help but despair. Freddie Prinze Jnr? He can piss off. Jerry Springer? That would be good if he sat the entire McMahon clan down and worked through their dysfunctional family problems with them but I don't see that happening. There is one ace in the hole however. Mike Adamle. Mike fucking Adamle. There's a ridiculous amount of potential for comedy gold when the ex-RAW general manager and cack-handed commentator returns to the show in a couple of weeks. Alas, one ripe banana does not a delicious fruit salad make.
Not wanting to chuck my love spuds on the barbecue, but could I suggest something that might make this guest host thing a little more bearable? Of course I can. Find guest hosts who are wrestling fans and understand the product. There. Simple. (Although, using those criteria Mike Adamle would be exempt from guest hosting). Don't get me wrong, a few of the guest hosts have indeed been wrestling fans (discounting Ted Dibiase and Sgt. Slaughter) but apart from perhaps Shaq and Seth Green, they've been painful to watch. I want to see celebrities with boundless enthusiasm, who act like I would act if I was presenting RAW; getting in the face of the heels and running about excitedly. With that in mind, here are my guest host suggestions for RAW in the coming weeks:
Kerry King (guitarist for Slayer) - Not only does Mr. King loves wrestling, he a legitimately scary man and could quite possibly kick some wrestlers asses. He would really have to. He should stand in the middle of the ring with his guitar and use the power of the riff to dispel the heels.
Killswitch Engage - Perhaps not offering the star power that WWE are after, but Killswitch Engage love wrestling (well, a couple of them do). Vocalist Howard Jones is built like a wrestler too. Bonza. Also, anyone who's seen the Killswitch Engage DVD knows Howard can take a bump.
Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day (cast/writers of awesome comedy series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") - This isn't just hope on my part, it appears to be the three of them will actually take part in an episode of RAW in September if their schedules allow it. The next season of "...Sunny..." features a wrestling-themed episode (that guest stars Roddy Piper) where the trio form a team called the Birds of War. Speaking to IGN, Howarton said: "If we do [go on RAW], our plan is to come on as the Birds of War. We may have a little bit of beef with somebody. We'll see. "
Now THAT's an idea.
Brighton based five-piece Dead Swans have spent the last three years building up a tremendous reputation as Britain’s finest hardcore representatives, with support slots with the likes of Alexisonfire, Gallows, This is Hell and Architects, bringing them to the attention of Bridge 9 Records, arguably the biggest hardcore label in the world at the moment. The result of this union twixt band and label is Dead Swans’ debut album “Sleepwalkers”, released this week.
Now, let’s be clear from the outset here: Dead Swans are not trying to reinvent the wheel with their debut. Upon first listen, Dead Swans appear to be wearing their influences, not just on their collective sleeve, but also on their T-shirts, jeans and shoes. Take a healthy chunk of Give Up the Ghost, a smattering of The Hope Conspiracy and a few meaty breakdowns and you’ve basically got the recipe for this album. Despite being somewhat predictable, “Sleepwalkers” is one fine record.
“Thinking of You” kicks things off in fine style, with some wailing feedback exploding into chunky riffs and ferocious vocals at breakneck speed. One thing is obvious: frontman Nick is a very, very angry man. Quite how he keeps his screams so dense and consistent is a mystery to me but it’s impressive stuff. “Ascension” and “Ivy Archway” follow in the same vein, with “Ivy Archway” in particular featuring some nice dynamics and the obligatory gang vocals (never trust a hardcore band that doesn’t have gang vocals on their record).
As the album continues, it begins to become difficult to notice where one song finishes and the others start but I find that to be one of the best things about this record. It’s not really a collection of 12 tracks, it’s an album that needs to be played from start to finish, as a complete piece of music. “Winter Overture” offers some respite from the unrelenting pummeling that “Sleepwalkers” dishes out, with the instrumental track almost veering into – gasp! – post rock territory. Don’t worry though, after a couple of minutes the 45 second-long aural beating that is “Hide and Seek” kicks in and we’re back to business as usual. From beginning to end this album is an uncompromising and visceral statement that will offer most people their first taste of British hardcore, a scene that, slowly but surely, is being rejuvenated.
Dead Swans have certainly stuck to the old adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” with “Sleepwalkers” but have also left some small clues that hint of more ambitious things to come, if the band decide to make a second full length album (let’s be honest, it’s never a sure thing in hardcore).
Now, someone pass me a banadana. I’m going to loiter on a street corner and look angry.
I'm getting real sick of Michael Cole's commentary gimmick. Seriously, he could be commentating on a wrestler's first match and five minutes in he'd be calling it "vintage". I think I'm going to write a song called "Michael Cole's Commentary Gimmick".
That's the main thought I took away from RAW this Monday and, while the above isn't really a compliment, Monday night's show was a pretty entertaining two hours. "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase was an inspired choice for guest host and he proved to be gold all night, particularly when he threatened to dress Cody Rhodes in polka dots "like his old man". Greatness. Apart from the Million Dollar Man's banter, we were also treated to a competitive match between Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase Jr, with the latter showing that he's positively months away from being a top caliber star, at least in the ring. A fantastic match was ended with an RKO from Orton leading to the the three count, but Ted Dibiase coming out of it looking like a million bucks (HA!). The VIP lounge was also a good segment, with MVP cutting a heartfelt promo about his real life incarceration. My enjoyment of the aforementioned promo was cut short however, when a disgruntled fan near a microphone nonchalantly yelled "Kick his ass!" halfway through it. Still, what you gonna do? Americans LOVE to yell. Jack Swagger's winning smile was also a pleasure to behold (although not for the King, who apparently not of a fan of Wagger's... I just mistakingly missed out the 'S' in 'Swagger' there. See that? I like Wagger. Better than Swagger. Rght, that's it. From now on, Jack Swagger will be reffered to as 'Wagger' throughout this blog. Learn to love it.
Where was I before the renaming of the All American American? Oh yeah, the VIP Lounge. A strong segment, it ended with Wagger running off like a pussy. That mischevious, cowardly Wagger. Wagger. Wagger, Wagger, Wagger. God, it doesn't get old does it? It makes him sound like a character from an Enid Blyton novel.... hmmm. Right, sorry, that's quite enough "Wagnanigans". I won't mention it again. At least not in this post.
We also got a good match between Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne, with Bourne picking up the win over the United States champion. I was susrprised by this, as the champion got pinned clean, but if this is the start of a feud between the two, which I suspect it will be, then I don't care. Let the good, running-about-jumping-off-stuff times roll. I also realised on Monday night that Alicia Fox was the wedding planner that Edge got up in, if you pardon the vulgarity. She's alright I guess. Gail Kim on the other hand, is awesome, as we'll all know her to be and it was great seeing her pick up the win over the Women's Champion, albeit in a tag match.
We then got the main event between HHH and John Cena. Now, I am a fan of neither man but I look forward to their matches. Following the tremendous bout they had at Wrestlemania 22, both Trips and Cena seem to have awesome chemistry. This match was no different, although obviously not nearly up to the standard of the Wrestlemania match but it didn't need to be. Following a run in by Rhodes and Dibiase and the match being announced as a double disqualification, the Million Dollar Man decided that the main event at Night of Champions will now be a triple threat match between Orton, HHH and Cena. Suits me. The match they had at Wrestlemania 24 was really good, if a little short.
So that was RAW and that was me writing about RAW. I haven't rewatched the ROH "Supercard of Honor" DVD closely enough to review it, but I will do it. You better believe I will. Oh, and the Steve Corino interview, I'll do that too. Till then...
Yours Wagger-ly,
J
Well, a time of change is our midst. Not just in the wrestling world (we'll get to that in a bit), but in my personal life. I'm moving home once again and, strangely, I at once feel incredibly happy but slightly sad. After all, this was the flat that Shields Up was conceived, formed and rocked every Sunday afternoon upstairs in. This is the flat where demos were made and albums were recorded. This was where we drank, smoked and laughed for the past year and a bit. Sure, there were shitty parties and a few bad times but what you gonna do eh? That's, quite literally, life. So I will be moving to an all together nicer place with my drumming chum and hetero life partner, Jak. Let the good times roll.
So, despite real life getting in the way, I've managed to start keeping up with wrestling again, and I'm doing fairly well. I've started writing the Smackdown review and recap for Pro Wrestling Ponderings which is great, as I HAVE to watch Smackdown now (which features more moments of greatness that RAW does on average) instead of falling asleep. It's updated a few hours after the show so check it out.
The big news this week is Edge's rumoured achilles tendon injury that he suffered at a house show in a match with Jeff Hardy. This poses a number of questions about the direction WWE will go in, once they return to live TV next week (this coming week's TV was taped preceding an overseas tour). He is currently a tag team champion with Chris Jericho so WWE are going to have to get the belts off them in a couple of weeks but the question is, who gets them? Brian Fritz speculated in his Flying Elbow blog for the Orlando Sentinel that the two likliest teams to pick up the belts are Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase (who were my pick to get the straps) or a option I hadn't considered: The Hart Dynasty. While this may be a case of two new guys getting pushed too soon, I think David Harry Smith and Tyson Kidd would be more than up to the task. They look good in the ring and the three of them (Kidd, Smith and Natalya Neidhart) look great together. I have no idea how good they are on the mic admittedly, but the Hardy Boys got over like crazy in the late 90's and hardly ever spoke. As long as they can exude natural charisma, it'll be a winner.
This may also be the time they elevate another guy up to the main event as well, even if it's just for a short run. Edge has just been an added to an "injured" list that all includes Batista,The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Jeff Hardy is also uncertain about his future and there's the possibility he might choose to go on hiatus rather than renew his contract. Chris Jericho is also pretty banged up, hence him being tagged with Edge, as both men needed to have a lighter load to carry in the ring. WWE needs some new guys to step up and this should have a positive effect on the younger talent as they strive to get noticed. I think the next few weeks should see some interesting developments within the current main event players and I think we'll see a bunch of lower card talent working really fucking hard.
I'll try and get the Steve Corino interview up soon and share my opinions on RAW and all that jazz, as well as review the ROH Supercard of Honor DVD, the show I witnessed live just a few months a go. Will it stand up on a repeat viewing? Found out soon! In the meantime, listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn. And weep. Because you will NEVER be that good.
Just read on the ifight365 blog that, troubled UK pay TV channel Setanta Sports has lost the rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championships and now is rumoured to be edging closer to administration.
The announcement was made by UFC this morning and follows the loss of TV rights to both English and Scottish premier league football games, some of which have now been picked up by ESPN who are in the running (along with cable TV channel, Bravo) to win the rights to broadcast upcoming UFC events.
In a statement posted on the UFC website this morning, UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: “Throughout the last few weeks we have been kept informed of the situation at Setanta and therefore we are in a position to ensure our UK and Eire fans will not miss any of this summer’s huge UFC events, commencing with UFC 100 in July.”
Certainly it will quite a coup for whoever is given the rights to
show to UFC 100 which will feature the much anticipated rematch between
Brock Lesnar
and Frank Mir. Bravo seems to the favourite, at least in my eyes, given
it’s prior involvement with the UFC and it’s reputation as basically
the British version of Spike TV in the US, which caters to a mostly male demographic and, like Bravo, shows the UFC reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter” as well as TNA Wrestling. Quite frankly, I didn't even know that we got ESPN in the UK so that probably means it costs money so my reasons for citing Bravo as the favourite are based more on hope than fact really.
UFC ended their statement by saying UK fans would not miss any of
the upcoming UFC events, with Setanta’s successor to be announced soon. Sweet!
Upon arriving at work on Monday, I was shocked to find out that Mitsuharu Misawa, a legend in the history of Japanese pro wrestling, had passed away. During a match that saw him team with Go Shiazaki against Akioshi Saito and Bison Smith on June 13th, Misawa was suplexed by Saito and lost consciousness before being pronounced dead. The Mainachi Daily News in Japan reported yesterday that cervical spinal cord damage as been ruled the official cause of death. I've decided to recap Misawa's awesome career, partly in tribute and partly in the hope that someone reading might go and check out some of his matches if they haven't already. Mitsuharu Misawa ladies and gents. Give it up.
Misawa made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1981 and from 1984 - 1990 he was the second generation of the Tiger Mask gimmick, which All Japan purchased the rights for from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). He was eventually unmasked by Toshiaki Kawada and then went on to defeat Jumbo Tsuruta in his first main event at the Budokan. This is widely viewed as a turning point in All Japan, with the win over Tsuruta resulting in Misawa being seen a major threat to the Triple Crown heavyweight title in the fans' eyes.
Misawa went on to dominate AJPW throughout the 90s, engaging in classic feuds witht he likes of Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and "Dr Death" Steve Williams. At the turn of the century, Misawa inherited the position of AJPW president, following the death of former president, Giant Baba. However, after disagreements with Mrs. Baba, Misawa left the promotion, taking many mainstays for the company with him, to form the awesome Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion, which has put on some of the finest matches you'll ever see. Misawa had several classic matches during this time, including successful GHC world title defenses against Takeshi Morishima, Takuma Sano and Samoa Joe (in a GREAT match).
In recent years, Misawa continued to work full time and travelled across the pond on occasion to wrestle for Ring Of Honor (specfically, the Glory by Honor VI weekend) where, on the second night, he defeated KENTA in another superb match. Misawa's 16 month GHC championship reign came to an end on March 2008 when he was defeated by Morishima, putting an exclamation mark on an already amazing career.
Just to put this in perspective for those who may reading this; in Japan, Misawa was viewed in the same ways the Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin were in the US and Europe. A true wrestling legend and an icon, Mitsuharu Misawa was regarded by his peers as a great worker and respected by the fans for his passion and work ethic. He will be missed.
I have interviews pending with former ECW, AWA, NWA and current WWC heavyweight champ Steve Corino and former three time NWA tag champ, Vito Denucci so I'll have their reactions to this news up soon for you all to read along with discussion about many other delightful wrestling tales. In the meantime, go and watch some Misawa.
And then go out onto the streets, and knife-edge chop strangers.
Having been sans computer for many a month now, I've found my wrestling viewing habits have changed somewhat. Unable to stay up to date with goings on in WWE, I've been forced... well, not forced, but pro wrestling is the equivalent of smack to me so, to avoid rocking back and forth in the corners of rooms, sweating and convulsing, I need to have my fix. A fix that has come in the way of spending an awful lot of money to get the stuff shipped to me from afar (the smack parallels just keep on coming). Indeed, the last WWE pay per view I saw was Wrestlemania, and that's only because I got on a plane and went to the fucking thing. While this is slightly irksome, it has given me ample opportunity to check out matches and promotions I'd only heard about previously. I've decided to share with you some of my latest discoveries, in the hope that you too investigate this crazy business a little further.
(I know what you're thinking; "Why don't you watch TNA? It's on basic cable in the UK!". I'll tell you why I haven't watched TNA recently. Because it MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. I'm almost wishing Vince Russo would just put something on a pole again. At least it's familiar territory.)
Ring of Honor - I love Ring of Honor. Having only been able to catch glimpses of ROH in the past (they're VERY good at keeping their stuff off YouTube and the like), I've gone veritably hog wild over the past year or so, spending wads of cash on DVD's of the group. Many people have criticised ROH for their high spot heavy matches and having about fifteen moves performed as the closing sequence to matches that, individually, would all be finishers in other promotions. As Bret Hart might say, they display "non stop non psychology". But Bret Hart appears to be slowly losing his mind and is the biggest mark for himself I've ever seen (don't EVER put a midget above him in a list of Canada's finest wrestlers, that's all I'm going to say) so I'll choose to gloss over that for the time being.
Ring of Honor is simply, outside of Germany perhaps, the finest pro wrestling you'll see in the Western world. Non psychology? Check out the Samoa Joe - CM Punk trilogy from 2004. Two hour long draws (the second of which was the first American match to get five stars in the Wrestling Observer in seven years) followed by a classic blow off to the feud. KENTA vs. Davey Richards is a more modern example of the company's greatness. I haven't seen this one on tape but it was the finest match (apart from HBK-Taker, natch) that I've ever seen and the crowd were incredible. I think that's half the appeal really. You can't fully appreciate ROH until you've seen it live. In many ways, it's probably the closest we'll get to the original ECW level of obsession in this day and age. There's many, MANY other examples of great matches in ROH, but I have neither the time or the inclination to list them here. Why not buy "Better Than Our Best"? It's only $20 and it's a fine example of the pant-soiling greatness the company can produce.
Dragon Gate - I came across Dragon Gate logically after investing in the series of DVDs chronicling the Japanese promotion's involvement with several Ring of Honor shows and what a discovery it was. Combining Japanese strong style, Mexican lucha libre and American pro wrestling, the company produces solid shows across the board regularly. The influx of American talent they use obviously helps (Matt Sydal, Jack Evans etc), but it's the homegrown talent of Shingo, CIMA, Genki Horiguchi et al that really make it go. Unfortunately, the only DVD that's widely available in the West is "The Best of Dragon Gate Vol. 1" and it's simply not the best of Dragon Gate; it's a few matches from a couple of shows, one of which is at the legendary Korukuan Hall. It's a good place to start though to familiarise yourself with the guys so why not pick it up? The DVD can also be found on the ROH website. Dragon Gate makes it's UK debut on Halloween of this year. Get a ticket and get excited. I am. I've had to put on rubber pants.
New Japan Pro Wrestling - Buy the "Super J Cup" and the "Super J Cup: Second Stage". And then send me money as thanks for me telling you to. Some of the finest pro wrestling you'll ever see, including Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko at their pre-WCW finest.
I think I'll leave it there for the moment. I have a ton of other stuff to write about but I'll save it for another day. After all, if you do check out all that stuff, you won't need any more recommendations from me for a while. You'll be off your tits with joy. And, I'd imagine, masturbating up a storm, because, let's be honest, geeks like us don't get laid.
