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THE REAL ROCK N' WRESTLING CONNECTION!

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Punk N' Wrestling N' Power-Violence

Back around 1999 when I first had this idea of covering "Rock and Wrestling" I started putting together images that were similar between the two. The first image is one such example with a rare photo of Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart in a 1982 Ozzy t-shirt (from the "Speak of the Devil" tour, no less). Plus Japanese & WCW star Akira Hokotu with a hairstyle that looks a LOT like "The Hunter"-era Debbie Harry.


Next we have a flyer I made for a late-90's DIY punk show in Menlo Park, CA with a couple of my friends bands (namely Slobber, On Mars & Anti-Core. This show was at a short-lived feminist bookstore in Menlo Park. The store was run by two women who were the "small business tyrant bosses" of my friend Brooke (bassist / backing vocalist of On Mars). This is NOT because they were feminist rather they just didn't believe in Brooke's commitment to the movement and would often scold her for not knowing certain authors, etc.  Anyway, the store was a bit behind El Camino near Stanford and uh...the Arby's I guess. The show was fun but the time Anti-Core played it got REALLY rowdy which was maybe a mix of people bringing in wildly spraying 40-ozers, some weed and occasionally knocking stuff off shelves along with cans and bottles along the floor. Moreso, it might've gotten a bad rap just from there being some wild Redwood City power-violence scene dudes there. I mean they were usually fun to have at shows but the authorities aka: Brooke's bosses eventually found out about the gig and threatened to call the cops about 2 songs into Slobber's set and I don't even think On Mars got to play.


I also did some non-wrestling flyers earlier a few months before which promoted shows a few of my Redwood City friends (namely Mike from Slobber and Mike Redwood who was later drummer of Redwood City bands Hammer Horror Classics, and Whores of War plus singer of S.H.A.T. More recently he's fronting Portland sludgeoids, Fallow). Mike R'wood was also someone who I went to every Slobber show and a couple of Spazz shows with and a really funny and cool dude. At this time I had a shitty ad sales job for a local publication in Palo Alto (which shall remind nameless). So, like the good fellas at Street Fight Radio would say, it was high time for time theft and so I spent a bunch of time on the clock sketching out, copying and pasting punk gig flyers and writing stuff for my 'zines (when I didn't have to take 300 fucking phone calls and do spreadsheets). Although, this flyer with Abdullah the Butcher was done on my lunch break which I now had added ten minutes to as the copy place was a block & 1/2 from my office. 

Since this was the Summer of 1997 and the Internet was still pretty new - I had to explain to people who The Madman of The Sudan was. Though, all of the kids really liked it whether they were big wrestling fans or not.  Abdullah I thought was a perfect fit for the chaos of punk and hardcore shows I started seeing then. Namely Poison Idea, Spazz and based on the fact that there was a band called Godstomper on the bill as Abdullah represented in kayfabe-ness - a blood mad warrior from the Sudan* who didn't follow the American way of god, blind consumption and nationalism. Anyway, S.U.C.K. stood for Suburban Underground Conspiracy Kids which was led by Deb - a girl from Palo Alto High School and they coordinated a few shows like this on the Peninsula, Deb also had a punk/hardcore/power-violence show on KZSU on Monday afternoons. Her show was made up of her hosting along with about 10 of her friends. So whenever backannoucing or PSAs came around it often sounded very chaotic as one person would start talking and you could hear maybe 6-7 others rather loud in the background. Though, I guess that was part of the show's charm and moreso that these kids were doing something outside the usual Poser Alto bullshit of sports** and potential grooming for Ivy League and Stanford Business School yuppiedumb. 

 Deb & the Conspiracy Kids also put out a 7" compilation with more melodic bands***  like Jacob Ham who's singer Sean played with Mike from Slobber in the chaotic "Anarcho-Dada-ist noise" act, Anti-Core. A few years later Sean played in Magic Bullets with Phil of Terry Malts. Plus, Phil was one of the kids back in '97-'98 that would hangout at KZSU during Deb's show.  Granted, I don't even remember what the other bands on this comp sound like aside from maybe melodic and/or poppy punk but wasn't quite the Lookout! Records/East Bay style either. I can tell you though Jacob Ham did a solid cover of The Smiths'  - "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before". This despite me not being a mark for Johnny Marr & Morris C. 



Also, the 976 on this flyer was feuding with another 976 - this one from Redwood City and arguably the TEMPLATE for the mid-late 90's power-violence bands in the City of Climate Best by Government Test. I witness this feud in person the first West Bay punk show I saw in early '97 during a hastily put together show featuring Slobber, Misanthropists, Happy Hour, Model American and The Janitors (which might've been Janitors Against Apartheid but I didn't catch that part of the name) and you'll see more from my old zine Marketing Ploy (Vol. II/ No. 1, Sept. 1997). Admittedly, I dunno if that summary of 976 West Bay vs. 976 East Bay (who I can't find any info on save my old zine) was entirely accurate as previously to that night I hadn't even heard of 976 West Bay minus some random sticker I once saw in Palo Alto. Said sticker had a copied image of a lady from a late-night adult phone line whose prefix was 976 which was hella common circa: the GHW Bush/Dan Quayle years.  their band name and "Anyway, the West Bay 976's discography CD I eventually reviewed for KZSU many years later and it was a total ripper!  Oh yeah - my zine's page starts with the tail end of my review of a killer show Unsane/Kiss It Goodbye show in San Jose from a few weeks before. 



HOLY SHIT! STOP THE SHOOTING STAR PRESSES! I just found THIS video of 976 with a pic ABDULLAH THE FUCKING BUTCHER vs. THE ORIGINAL SHEIK on the cover!!! 
PRAISE THE ROCK n' WRESTLING GODS! 



Lastly, I can't forget about Spazz's contribution to the punk n' power-violence n' wrestling connection. For starters their now classic "La Revancha" album features a AAA-era Konnan on the cover. Plus, the opening song is about Pinche Peach from Brujeria fighting in the Cow Palace and some references to "Macho Man" Randy Savage and (I think) Zach de la Rocha. 



Plus, the back cover of Spazz's split 7" with Monster X had an image of a straight-edge luchador who's name I'm not sure of but it kinda looks like a very swole Rey Mysterio Jr. or maybe it's his dad Rey Sr.?



ENDNOTES: 

* OK, technically Montreal. [Very Samuel L. Jackson voice] Kayfabe! Do you speak it motherfucker?!? 
** Yeah I watch & follow some sports that aren't pro wrestling but doing sports in high school can really suck, no pun intended. 
*** This wasn't anything like Agents of Satan or Devonte Hynes either. 



Thursday, July 23, 2015

Punk & Wrestling - One part of many

(*Road Warrior Hawk voice:*) Weeeelll I'm BACK!

I'm here to lay down some serious knowledge from the crazy world of Arthur Brown pro wrestling and punk rock. I'm gonna be doing a similar thing for the forthcoming zine outta one of American's top rock n' wrestling cities, Chicago! The zine "No Friends" is  (*Baron von Raschke voice) "from the genius mind from the bands Autonomy, Chinese Telephones and current MRR columnist, Ray Suburbia. So, look for that soon.

ANGRY & WILD
Today I was reminded of the Angry Samoans by some friends who I recently got to know at this year's punk/garage/budget rock showcase, Burger Boogaloo Fest in Oakland. Coincidentally enough, some people at the fest I saw included Johnny Legend who supports the holy trinity of rock, wrestling and B-movies. He was there along with Jello Biafra who himself was once involved during the Bay Area-based Incredibly Strange Wrestling. And jeez, I wish I had taken of photo with them!  So, anyway, I was telling my friends that the Angry Samoans were inspired by wrestling's Wild Samoans, Afa & Sika.  Afa & Sika are from the family with the longest branches in the squared circle the Anoa'i family. In 1984 I saw the Wild Samoans take on the likes of Tag Team Champions Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis who were sort of "The Odd Couple" of mid-80's WWF given the NY leatherman look of Adonis and Texas redneck vibe of Murdoch.

 

 BACK TO SAMOA
 Getting back to the Samoans   Kenji Shibuya becomes an investor in the Angry Samoans in the video below. Shibuya was a star in the NWA territories of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the 50s and 60s. According to his stats on Online World of Wrestling he teamed with Mr. Saito aka: Masa Saito who worked in the "big three" AWA/NWA/WWF in the 70's & early 80's. Shibuya is here getting annoyed by the be-mulleted Angry Samoans manger, Sterling Brown by throwing salt in his face.



 Now the question is who did this FIRST Kenji or Mr. Fuji? Fuji made it (in) famous as he was more in the spotlight during the 1980's and early 90's WWF. And sure, Fuji did inspire a song by Pennslyvania "wrestle-violence" band, The Ultimate Warriors. Yet another wrestling connection with this band is the one member who didn't go onto Pissed Jeans, was none other than vegan, SxE Chikara Wrestling star, Ultramantis Black who often does his t-shirt designs in tribute to Cro-Mags, Gorilla Biscuts, Jawbreaker, The Smiths, Black Flag and even Venom!*

"LOSER LEAVES KRQO" or OTHER GIMMICKS
In 1981 the Samoans uh, as in Angry had garnered some major controversy from their anti-Rodney Binghemimer  song "Get Off The Air" with lyrics like   Rodney was a big tastemaker in the L.A. new wave and punk scene and was host of KROQ-FM's "Rodney on the ROQ" fame. The song lyrics went:
He can't read baby he can't talk
He's LA's favorite punk rock jock
Glitter bands and Bowie's cock
Are his ideas of new wave rock
and
Get off the air, get off the air
You pathetic little queer, you don't impress me
Get off the air, you fucking square
Due to the heat they got from this single and their lack of being booked at local shows, the Angry Samoans became the Queer Pills. Under this new gimmick they recorded a 4-song EP with American punk classics like "Stupid Jerk" and "They Saved Hitler's Cock" - the latter title a variation of the B-Movie "They Saved Hitler's Brain". To further take the piss they called their label "Homophobic Records" and the catalog number as Homo 02. This is odd considering the label never released anything else but again they likely made this  an joke as "Oh Too Homo"? This gimmick only lasted a short time and by 1982 they had recorded their 2nd and arguably their best record, "Back From Samoa" as Angry Samoans. While this album does have another controversial song called "Homosexual" it was more to do with hypocrisy of rich dudes who were secretly gay but presented themselves as an "upstanding straight-arrow". Granted the song does take a jab at Darby Crash in a way but the lines "Homosexual/we love you" and "Homosexual/make it last" sound pretty positive. It seems like the song would be more about Larry Craig and a lot less about out WWE wrestler** Darren Young.

Contrary to rumor the band wasn't homophobic they were however, just a reflection of the time in the punk scene - especially in L.A. where certainly there was a lot of homophobia yet also hypocrisy around it i.e. - see Darby Crash's story. However, they Angry Samoans weren't at all like the jocky dudes that showed up a bit later beating people up at Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies shows.

Now here's Sheiky Baby calls out that discount Rambo mofo, Corporal Kirschner by callin' him a punk before their match in My-ammee. Is there a band that's sampled this yet? If not, GET ON IT!



* ENDNOTES:

* I still need that Venom shirt but every time I look it's sold out. Ugh!  Ultramantis' double DVD is totally worth getting though. Check it out here. http://ultramantis.firstpress.net/order/merch.html
** Yes, I said "wrestler" not "sports entertainer" fuck you WWE marketing weasels!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Before YouTube There Was Pro Wrestling This Week

Welp, it's been awhile since I've posted here but I've been telling friends about this incredibly GREAT show from the late 80's, "This Week In Pro Wrestling" with Gordon Solie (Georgia/Florida/Jim Crockett-era legend) and Joe "The Round Mound of Sound" Pedicino (also from a variety of Southern territories). This aired from 1987-88 and I believe I saw it on KICU one of the independent TV station in San Jose. This was like watching YouTube clips 2 decades before it existed. The show highlighted loads of wrestling action from across the U.S., Canada and the Japan.

The previous incarnation was called "Superstars of Wrestling" which featured highlights from all the territories as well as Japan and Mexico. It aired in Dallas and Birmingham. "Superstars" was hosted by Pedicino, his future wife and co-commentator/radio producer, Boni Blackstone and the excellent named ring announcer, Rhubarb Jones.




Some highlights:

* A young Paul E. Dangerously/Paul Heyman getting dissed by Gordon Solie.
* A young Jeff Jarrett working with some mid-level worker (for 1987 Memphis, anyway) named Billy Travis vs. late-era AWA stars Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka who were later managed by Paul E.
* Very liberal and pre-copyright use of Eddie Murphy's synth-soul hit "Party All The Time".
* Female wrestler, Misty Blue Simmes with a silly run-in on the legendary editor/writer of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bill Apter.

Misty Blue Simmes looks like the wrestling version of every rocker girl from my high school.

More highlights: 
* The Continental match with the very punk and Alice Cooper influenced Chris Colt up against 'bama fan fave, Wendell Cooley whilst Buddy "Who's the REAL 'Nature Boy" Landell babbles on. 
* Curt Henning vs. Wahoo McDaniel having a GREAT "chop-fest" in the AWA. This is well before Henning moved to the WWF and became Mr. Perfect. Though, Henning was deep into his heel run which also included a great match at the Cow Palace
* Wrestling Ninjas! Or Portland-area wrestling ninjas. By 1987 it seemed like every territory had at least one ninja wrestler. It was part of the unwritten rules of 80's kayfabe.
* Portland heel Rip Oliver delivers the softest-ever chair shot to Mike Miller's back but Miller sells it well.

I've also found another episode of the show with the full intro and of course more of "Party All The Time".  Aaaaaand:
* Footage from Puerto Rico with the Terry Funk & Dory Jr. Funk vs. the Invader & Mil Mascaras.
* Great, heelish commentary from manager and G. Gordon Liddy understudy, Gary Hart.
* Your answer to the question "when are we gonna see a good, clean scientific match?"
*  The "Australian Tag-Team" match from Central States (Kansas City)  has a lady in the crowd yelling "bull-shit!" over & over. Gawd how I love how hardcore some of the fans were back then. (And yeah some fans still kinda like that but it's not really the same post-kayfabe).
* Bill Apter & Pro Wrestling Illustrated's editor Craig Peters give ya updates on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper going to Hollywood (where he was off to work on "They Live").
* Hacksaw Duggan vs. Iron Sheik from a little place called the WWF.
* Lest I forget a young, Zubaz-ed, Rick Rude in World Class Championship Wrestling vs. discount heel, Eric Embry. 

Anyway, this show was the wrestling equivalent of what I experienced in the metal and punk scenes. People circulating tapes and info on bands or in this case, wrestlers from all over. Hence, once again the magic of rock and wrestling lived on.



Sunday, November 24, 2013

EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING – A VISUAL LEGACY by guest blogger Kevin McCaighy



  
Hey readers of thee 'Pit - since last time I've been to the excellent yearly convention WrestleFest in Newark (CA) where I met Colt Cabana, Terry Funk, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. The article below is from my friend and very knowledgeable wrestling fan Kevin McCaighy. Kevin is the mastermind of Salt - the UK's only zine that covers wrestling AND the way, way out there areas of music - ranging from Royal Trux to Brody's Milita to Xasthur. Plus he's interviewed comic artist Renée French and John Lister - author of "Turning the Tables" a book on ECW Additionally, he's written for Rockarolla and The Quietus. Enjoy his review and history of ECW's "Unreleased Vol.1" and "Unreleased Vol 2. (Hmm...suddenly I got a mash-up image of Sabu making like Ozzy on the cover of Sabbath's "Volume 4" in my head).

Looking at the vast tape library that WWE has at its disposal is akin to viewing a mausoleum. One could say that the legacies of Vern Gagne, Bill Watts, Ted Turner, Fritz Von Erich and so many other wrestling promoters form a set of urns that populate the mantelpiece of Vince McMahon Jr; the action captured on those videotapes merely ashes that the company commemorates with an ad hoc series of DVD box sets whose release seem arbitrary at best. It was the turn of Paul Heyman and Extreme Championship Wrestling to receive this treatment last year with “ECW Unreleased Vol. 1”, a low key offering that was clearly intended to test the now still waters of a wrestling fan base that once clamoured for those three initials. Coming as it did at the closure of WWE’s licensing deal with Silvervision here in the UK, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect from this set. Having been an ECW fan, but one both out of place and out of time (I didn’t even hear about the promotion until it folded in 2001), I have had a hell of a lot of catching up to do. Despite the vast amount of attention given over to ECW and its history since its collapse, working one’s way through its eight year history still takes a degree of dedication and deduction that only confuses matter further. The Deltavision VHS tapes I was buying in the early years of the last decade were heavily edited pieces of ECW action, with no discernible narrative from one tape to the next. A tape like “Extreme Warfare” would show action from 1994 (Benoit breaking Sabu’s neck) without explaining the leap to 1996 (Tommy Dreamer’s feud with Prime Time Brian Lee).


 Sandman goes through the crowd at 1PW's "Cruel Twist of Fate" show in the UK in 2005

“ECW Unreleased Vol. 1” does benefit strongly from a clear, year by year structure and concise and insightful links from the former ‘voice of ECW’ Joey Styles, leading off with the infamous Shane Douglas vs. Too Cold Scorpio NWA title match that lit the blue touch paper for Eastern Championship Wrestling to become Extreme Championship Wrestling, and concluding with a fine three way tag team title match from the last Pay Per View “Guilty as Charged”. In taking this selected walk through the history of the promotion, several things are lost straight away. First of all, the lack of music licensing means that it is impossible to view anyone’s true entrance with their actual ECW music. The Sandman is deprived of “Enter Sandman”, Tommy Dreamer of “Man in the Box”, RVD of ‘Walk’, and so on. Secondly, the audio has been altered at various points to eliminate swearing from both fans at ringside (who can clearly be seen mouthing obscenities) and from commentary: during the bone-crunching collision between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka (November to Remember 99) Joey Styles’ line “my mother’s going to hate for this, but….holy SHIT!!!” is omitted completely. How do I know this? Because the line was there when the match was featured on the ECW compilation “Extreme Evolution”, which, along with its predecessor “Path of Destruction” remain the best compilations of ECW ever assembled.

These compilations were released at the tail end of the company’s existence, and still showcase the promotion at its brutal and pioneering best. Most the material from these compilations has been issued on other DVDs but you have to work very hard to find them. The clutch of title matches on “Vol. 1” is notable for the fact that they were hardly the point during certain periods of the promotion’s history. Douglas’ NWA title win is pretty vanilla without the promo he gives afterward – in fact Too Cold Scorpio carries him completely throughout, as does Bam Bam Bigelow during their title match from 1998. To me, Shane Douglas was not a credible face in that he couldn’t sell consistently enough to keep a match competitive. His win over Bam Bam seems like a fluke from this vantage point, even if the Pittsburgh crowd is going wild in the background. Likewise, his title battle against Tazz from 99 is only really watchable for the amazing blitzkrieg run-in by Sabu. I have to say it: Tazz? I never picked up what he was putting down. I could never buy into his hard man, shooter persona or his MMA-based move set. Having seen the worked shoot matches he put together with Paul Varelans and Chris Jericho,, I can safely say that I was completely underwhelmed and would concentrate on other parts of the ECW that didn’t involve him. Of course the match at “Barely Legal” was a classic: that was all down to Sabu, who I regard as one of the all-time great workers, not just in ECW, but of any era of wrestling. He remains one of the great phenomenons of ECW, a terrifying aerial specialist who also possessed tremendous mat wrestling skills alongside a fierce sense of psychology, and who could also sell like a demon. His tag team with RVD gets an outing against the Japanese team of Shinzaki and Hayabusa from the brilliant “Heat Wave 1998” PPV, a thrilling tag war that ranks as one of my favourite matches in ECW history.                                                    

Little things occurred to me whilst watching “Vol. 1”: Mikey Whipwreck looked a lot Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club during his tag reign with Tajiri; the chairshot he gives Cactus Jack at the close of Jack’s bout with Shane Douglas might be the most sickening ever thrown in a match involved Mick Foley; and that Mick Foley was dead wrong about the lack of female fans in ECW. The more you watch, the more of them you see, especially at Arena shows. The match from the Elk’s Lodge in New York featuring a heel Jerry Lynn with Cyrus as his manager is a treat both for Lynn’s pissed off heel persona and for Joey Styles and Joel Gertner’s hilarious interaction on commentary.

For in-ring action, the highlights of the set are Chris Jericho’s stunning New Japan-style match with Too Cold Scorpio (which was Jericho’s last ECW match before moving to WCW), a crisp Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero TV title match and the fantastic first meeting between Jerry Lynn and RVD from the ECW Arena. It was bizarrely only shown in sped-up highlight from on RVD’s “One of a Kind” set – a strange omission that makes “Vol. 1” all the more essential. It clearly sold well enough for WWE to commission a follow up, which was only recently released.

Former ECW: World Champion Mikey Whipwreck
 
                                   
Jeffery Lee Pierce of The Gun Club

For “Vol. 2” Joey Styles is joined by Tommy Dreamer for some amiable links and stories, giving much needed context to the unfolding action, and the archives have been well and truly mined for extreme treasure. There are some real gems, like the extraordinary sight of Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson in an ECW ring, tagging with Sabu and Terry Funk respectively in a heated battle that raises the Arena roof. Similarly, viewing the legendary Steiner Brothers in a team with Eddie Guerrero against the team of Malenko, Scorpio and Cactus Jack is a treat for veteran wrestling fans. There are misfires that are only notable for their place in ECW history (Dreamer vs The Tazmaniac, Douglas vs. Al Snow in a risible title match), but even the “debacle” of Tazz’ shoot fight with Jericho is rescued by the super-heel antics of referee Bill Alfonso at ringside; despite being handcuffed to Tod Gordon, he still influences the outcome like a true bad guy should. The best inclusions by a mile are the astounding six man tag by teams from Michinoku Pro in match described as a “Barely Legal teaser”, which is just as staggering a collision as their celebrated match on that milestone PPV, and a hugely enjoyable Three Way Dance between Jerry Lynn, Tajiri and Super Crazy that first featured on “Path of Destruction”. Styles and Dreamer are effusive in their praise of the recently retired Jerry Lynn, as well as Steve Corino and the man who arguable possessed the archetypal ECW gimmick, Mikey Whipwreck. Even Tazz is worthy of kudos for his part in a three way dance for his (completely bullshit) FTW title against Sabu and Bam Bam Bigelow, holding his own with two wrestling giants in a captivating 30 minute draw.

 There is a market for ECW on DVD; this review is clear proof of that. So what is it that is so irksome about these releases? Consider these facts – the only complete ECW Pay Per View on DVD (“Barely Legal”) was given away as a bonus disc with “One Night Stand” 2006. That much of the context of ECW’s original run, be it aural in terms of music, or oral in terms of abridged commentaries, have been edited and/or excised by WWE in order to suit its own version of what ECW was. That long running storylines that formed the backbone of the company appear in WWE-dominated anthologies (Raven vs. Dreamer, Sabu vs. Tazz) and aren’t given their own boxed set treatment. That many workers who made names for themselves in ECW have yet to appear on any of these DVDs at all. To that end, here are a few matches I would like to see included on “ECW Unreleased Vol. 3”: 1) Raven vs. Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy (November to Remember 97) 2) Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible (Anarchy Rulz 2000) 3) RVD and Sabu vs. The Eliminators (November to Remember 96) 4)Taz vs. Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka (Anarchy Rulz 99) 5) Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull No.2 (The Doctor Is In 96). ECW is over, but it is far from dead and buried.

The outpouring of sorrow for its demise is visible through the new documentary “Barbed Wire City”. Film-makers John Philapavage and Kevin Keirn have forged something really special with this film, a heartfelt and revelatory homage to the promotion that they and thousands of wrestling fans took to their hearts forever, those three letters still embody their sense of what was possible in wrestling. My own brush with ECW came in late 2005 at a 1PW event called “A Cruel Twist of Fate”. I was fortunate enough to meet The Sandman, and watched him turn back the clock with his patented “Enter Sandman” entrance through an ecstatic Doncaster crowd. I saw him wrestle a terrific three way Extreme dance against Tommy Dreamer and Raven; I was so caught up in the atmosphere I can’t even remember who won.


Tommy Dreamer is about to take Sandman through the express lane to hell while Raven looks on from the far left corner.

At the end of the evening Raven came out in a dressing gown to sign autographs – the only wrestler to do so. I even got to shake hands with one of my wrestling heroes in Jerry Lynn earlier in the day. Even though I was never able to visit the ECW Arena during its heyday, that same energy was there for one night in the North of England, and I was fortunate enough to experience it. It’s through watching these matches that I am able to relive that night. ECW may only be memories now, but what a great set of memories they truly are.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

All I'm gonna say about this

"It's professional wrestling with ties" - comedian Dana Gould on political debate in the U.S.

   


 Whereas the squared circle shows much more civility.

 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Not the Prince of Darkness



http://www.scoopweb.com/Kevin_Sullivan

Sure his name is fairly common & his likeness comes up in a few instances but I'm still imaging every article to be about a Boston-accented, spark-plug bodied mystical speaking guy in proto-corpse paint.

Y'know this fella:


h/t to Atomic Elbow's excellent: professionalwrestling tumblr