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Join Date: Sep 2004
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Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter #227 - 15/11/09 - Rebelling since 1982
____________________________________ Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter Issue #227 – November 15th 2009 ____________________________________  The Editorial Welcome, one and all, to this, the Rebel Issue. With this edition, some of our columnists will be looking at rebellion in their respective fields, be it moments of rebellion, people who were rebels themselves or, in some cases, people who are thought of as rebels, but really, they're just kidding themselves. Chriscare and Dusty Finish return with The Impact Zone and The Tap Out Chronicles respectively and, after all the "excitement" from two weeks ago, it's great to have them back on board. Decibella gets the chance to show us what she's got with her first proper Decibel segment, Darkstar drags Fiona kicking and screaming into Room101, Laffy fills us in on what it's like to be a Welsh rugby fan, Nimf shines her brightness on another member and TPIB recaps the recent goings on in WWE. But, my dear readers, that's not all, that's not even close. Mitch returns with a special edition of The Probe, a look back at earlier efforts, bringing back fond memories of a more innocent ti... AH, who am I kidding? It's all about the bitching. Movie Mayhem takes a look at rebellious acts, characters and people in the world of Hollywood and Inno pays his respects to, quite possible, the greatest rebel the sport of professional wrestling has ever know. Who is this man? You're going to have to read on to find out. To a man (and woman), we ask you to take a stand, fight for what you believe in and join us as we, the TWO Newsletter staff, incite the rebellion inside you. DC --------------------------------------------------------------- Meet The Team ---------------------------------------------------------------  1) How do you define a rebel? What, in your eyes, constitutes someone living up to the term? DC: In my mind, a rebel is someone who subverts the system, stands up for what the believe in and refuses to work within the system... for the right reasons. Anyone else is just a troublemaker. Kam: Someone who stands up for what they believe in, not following the norm. Nimf: To me, a rebel is someone who is just who they are, regardles of the consequences. Not included in that is anybody who intentionally tries to be rebellious. Decibella: A rebel, in my eyes, is someone who follows their dream, no matter how crazy it is, or how much they are persecuted or disrespected by all others, someone who pushes the boundaries, no matter what. Laffy: A rebel is a person who stands up for their own personal opinions despite what anyone else says. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Mother Teresa are good examples of rebels using peaceful practices to get their messages across. TMJ: Someone who goes against the perceived norms in any field or area of life because of a genuine distain for them and why they are as they are. TPIB: I define a rebel as someone who is an individual; a nonconformist, so to speak. A rebel does things their way without caring what anyone else says or does. Fiona: Like everyone else said, someone who goes against the tide and doesn't follow the rules. I'm somewhat of a rebel. Darkstar: Someone who defies authority, be that authority legal (governments) or on a more personal level, like defying parents. ChrisCare: Someone who pretty much lives by their own rules, and doesn't feel the need to answer to anyone other than themselves. Dusty Finish: Well, it used to be someone in a hoodie when I were a lad. Nowadays, if you shun the hood, you buck the chav trend. Inno: A rebel bucks the trend, chooses their own path. They use butter instead of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, they read The Beano where others read The Times - they like John Cena... 2) In history, there have been many, many acts of rebellion (some successful, others not so much), but which act of rebellion do you think has been either the most important or most influential in history? DC: Some acts of rebellion stick out due to their portrayal in the media (the Battle of Thermopylae or the Roman slave revolt led by Spartacus, for example) and, to me, are hugely important and influential (albeit altered for dramatic effect), but the one act of rebellion that really sticks out for me is the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The image of a lone student (pretty much) staring down the turret of a tank as three more roll behind it was etched into my mind, a powerful reminder in the power and strength of the human spirit. Kam: Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of peaceful resistance against British colonial rule. He inspired so many people around the world. Nimf: Hmmm, not an easy one for me, but I'll have to agree with Chriscare and say the simply act of sitting on a bus. Rosa Parks didn't set out to cause the "fuss" she did, she just wanted to get home. That simple act of "rebellion" changed the face of the world. Decibella: I would say Martin Luther King, standing up for all black people, no matter how his adversaries reacted, making a speech that changed the world. That, or Emily Pankhurst chaining herself to the railings of the government to get women the vote. Laffy: Not sure if it counts, but I think it does, so the fall of the Berlin Wall. The guards, when faced with the size of the crowds, opened the gates and hundreds poured through to be greeted by warm embraces from the West Berliners. Pictures of East Berliners with planks and hammers trying to knock down the wall followed. I thought it was one of the greatest things I have seen in my life. TMJ: The first that comes to mind is Martin Luther King campaigning as he did to give society hope for a multi-cultural acceptance amongst all men and women. It may not have been the most important in history, but it certainly has shown its results within our lifetimes and paved the way for the life we have right now. TPIB: I've got to go local and say that Abraham Lincoln abolishing slavery was one of the most historic rebellions. If you think about it, Lincoln could have done what politicians today would do; look the other way and do nothing. It qualifies as a rebellion because Lincoln stood up against slavery and all those that condoned it. Fiona: The Bay of Pigs. It brought us to the brink of nuclear war and it showed the world just how big America's balls really are. Darkstar: The rebellion of the English barons in 1215 that led to the creation of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is (was) the basis for the rule by constitution in the western world, it shaped minds and opinions and prepared people to have the desire for the freedoms that came later (and of course that led on to the Americans rebelling and getting their freedom). ChrisCare: The Rosa Parks incident is the biggie that comes to mind. Such a small act of rebellion that would go on to help completely change the world for the better. Also there's the rebellion that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Dusty Finish: Chriscare got there first, I noticed. Rosa Parks was the name that sprung immediately to mind. Inno: Jimmy Lynch in Turk 182. Go look it up.  -------------------------------------------------------------- Talk Wrestling Online Subscribers -------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to all the Talk Wrestling Online Subscribers: Anime_Otaku + BRM + Cathal + Chris2K + Darkstar + Dr. Zero + Drake + Fiona + Fletch + Gemsi + G2G + Gooneronastick + Inno + Jimmy Redman + JobberJoe + Joel + John Hancock + Laffy + Nemesis Enforcer + Omega + Reno + Saz + Shane O Mac + The.Icon + The Maxx + TMJ + Tommate2k9  Total Subscribers: 27 To find out how you can help support Talk Wrestling Online and become a subscriber see: * Talk Wrestling Online Subscriber Scheme * --------------------------------------------------------------- Talk Wrestling Online Stats ---------------------------------------------------------------  MOST ACTIVE THREADS IN THE LAST 14 DAYS: 1. How Are You Today? [General Chat] 2. Hogan signs with TNA [US Scene Forum] 3. The last film you watched? [Entertainment Forum] 4. XTV 5:31 BOOKING THREAD [TWO Stars > Help and Feedback] 5. Worst Match Ever. [US Scene Forum] 6. Childcare [General Chat Forum] 7. Music Club Round X Running Order and Reviews [Entertainment Forum] 8. WWE Survivor Series Discussion Thread - Nov. 22, 2009 [US Scene Forum] 9. TWO Community Newsletter #226 [Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter Archive] 10. The Results Thread 2009/10 [Other Sports Forum] MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS IN THE LAST 7 DAYS: 1. The Maxx 2. DC 3. Jung 4. Darkstar 5. Jimmy Redman 6. ShaolinHandLock 7. ShaneMcCutcheon 8. Nemesis Enforcer 9. Jay 2 the Funk 10. Nimf --------------------------------------------------------------- Forum Member's Picks of the Fortnight (McLovin) --------------------------------------------------------------- ~Website~ Zim Family Cockers. TheDef and I just adopted a Cocker Spaniel, well I did, so this website gives me lots of info on the breed and how to handle the crap he throws at us. ~Movie~ I wish that you asked me in a week so I could answer New Moon. But I will have to say GI Joe. I liked it a lot, but I never saw the show, so it was just a badass action flick to me. ~Album~ The New Moon Soundtrack. What can I say, I'm a Twilight nerd. I say that I listen to everything, but really I don't, these soundtracks bring more alternative music to my attention. ~Book~ This book came out a while ago, but I just re-read it last week and I love love love it; The Longest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz. ~TV Show~ White Collar - I just love that show. ~Videogame~ Lego Batman, which I just got for Def. I don't play many video games but, I like this one a lot. ~Sporting Moment~ Umm, I don't watch sports, but watching Def, Maxx, and Denton play Uno last night since Denton failed to mention that he didn't know what Uno is, was pretty classic. ~Celebrity Moment~ Kevin Smith twittering about sex with his wife. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Probe (TMJ) ---------------------------------------------------------------  The Probe: Reloaded Ok, I know what you’re going to say: you promised us a new Probe and your lack of new material is going to be the death of this newsletter. To which I say: if that means I’ll never have to read another Quote-Unquote Champagne Room Special, where’s the problem? Look at me being all rebellious. Take THAT, social establishment. Still, life often gets in the way of fun sometimes and this past month has been incredibly hectic between University deadlines and increased work hours in the run-up until Christmas. That’s not to excuse my absence from the newsletter of late, but you can appreciate that free time can be few and far between during this busy period. Thus, a brand new Probe will have to wait a few more weeks. When, exactly? Well, I’m not going to make any estimates as I can’t promise a thing. All I’ll say is, when it happens, it happens and you’ll be the very first to know. Far be it for me to short-change the audience though. As ever, when Plan A falls to pieces, Plan B takes over the reigns – a look back at some fond memories from Probes of the past. Jayden & Miss.T - Sept. 8th 2005 Quote:
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--------------------------------------------------------------- Movie Mayhem (DC) ---------------------------------------------------------------  The movie industry has had more than its fair share of rebels and rebellions. From characters, the actors and actresses who played them and the directors who guided them, Hollywood has been a beacon for those with a rebellious heart.  From the likes of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, a film considered to be the gospel of movie rebellion, through Paul Verhoeven, Lars Von Trier and Stanley Kubrick behind the camera, the silver screen has been a window to a great land of wish-fulfillment, where the average joe can "stick it to the man" and get away with it. Rebellion is usually reserved for the youngsters; Grease is, at heart, about a group of rebels finding themselves, while other movies, like The Craft and, more recently, Twilight, bedazzle their teenage audiences with their defiance in the face of peer pressure, overbearing officials and a myriad of other people "telling them what to do". When I was growing up, The Breakfast Club were my rebels. A rag-tag group of misfits, one from each branch of the high school social structure (maximising the potential of your audience connecting), stuck in detention one afternoon and not letting "The Man" (you'll be hearing a lot about him in this piece) grind them down. For those a bit older, the aforementioned Easy Rider inspired them, while, in the UK, Quadrophenia did more or less the same thing.  Two of my favourite actors of all time, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, were rebellious both in front of the cameras and away from the set as well. Newman's most iconic role, in my opinion, was the title character in Cool Hand Luke. The type of guy who just always came up smelling of roses when he fell in shit... and you could never hate him for it. Even when faced with "the end", he had a smile on his face and an attitude that could never be bent, never mind broken. McQueen also played a man incarcerated, but his character, Capt. Hilts (a.k.a. "The Cooler King"), was behind bars under entirely different circumstances; he was a prisoner of the Nazis ("hissssss"). The story behind The Great Escape is true, but McQueen's character is pure fiction. Some directors have been mavericks and rebels in their time, either by only working when they wanted to, not being buckled by the studio system, or by working alongside the studios and subverting them from within. Stanley Kubrick was notorious for doing things his own way, but the results spoke for themselves with hits like Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Oddysey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut (with gaps of seven and twelve years respectively between the latter three) being unmitigated proof that, despite being a recluse and sometimes taking well over 100 takes for a single scene (and then, more often than not, using one of the first dozen shot), he knew exactly what he was doing and today, more than ten years after his death, his films are still held in the highest regard. Other directors who were rebels in their own way include John Waters, considered the cult director, who shook the establishment to its core with disturbing and/or thought provoking material like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Hairspray (remade recently), Cry-Baby, Pecker and Cecil B. Demented. Still working today, he has two movies due for release next year; a sequel to Hairspray and Fruitcake (although little is known of this at the moment). One of the first directors to give porn stars straight roles in his films, this man is an icon who still scares the establishment at the age of 63. Paul Verhoeven has made some clag in his time, but he is also a man who wouldn't let the studio system change him. Three of his most famous, and most celebrated, movies are Robocop, Starship Troopers and Total Recall. All three of these films are action movies and, in their original scripts, that's all they were, but when Verhoeven got his hands on them, the sly digs and subverting crept in and they became action movies that really made you think at the same time. Robocop is a bona-fide classic, with the allegory of Murphy as Jesus Christ pushed to the point the studios almost cancelled the whole project. In Starship Troopers, at least on the surface, it's pretty obvious who the bad guys are... but delve a little deeper and the water becomes a little murky. I mean, is Earth under an unprovoked attack or are the "Bugs" simply defending their territory from an unwarranted invasion? Sounded familiar in 1997, sounds even more familiar now.  Other rebels within the movie business aren't as obvious. One of the biggest names in Hollywood is Johnny Depp, but he's also one of the biggest rebels in Hollywood too. Starting out as a clean-cut heartthrob in television's 21 Jump Street and making his movie debut as a clean-cut heartthrob in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Depp decided early that he wasn't going to go down the route of simply being a clean-cut heartthrob for the rest of his career and, instead, he was going to be an actor first and a celebrity second. After a few supporting roles, it was another maverick mentioned earlier, John Waters, who gave Depp his first leading role in Cry-Baby as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. Johnny is great as the alpha male of a misfit gang, misunderstood by the neighbourhood's parents and written off as a "bad 'un". He followed this up with varied roles in Edward Scissorhands (igniting his lasting friendship/working relationship with Tim Burton), What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Benny & Joon and Ed Wood. Not afraid to mix the bigger-budgeted studio fare with the more low-key productions, Depp starred in the vastly underrated Don Juan DeMarco (alongside another great movie rebel, Marlon Brando), the amazing Donnie Brasco, the sublime Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the fun Sleepy Hollow. The Ninth Gate was seen by about three people, Once Upon a Time in Mexico was his first full-blown action film and then it was on to his most famous role, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. PotC was a huge risk. The Haunted Mansion, the previous movie based on a Disneyland ride, had tanked and that, at least, had a preset premise that could be worked into a movie. Pirates was an even bigger risk, but with Depp channelling Keith Richards, swaggering his way into legend, the risk paid off beyond everyone's wildest expectations. Filling time between the sequels, Johnny featured in more downbeat tales like Finding Neverland while also revamping another rebel, Willy Wonka, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Continuing to yo-yo between blockbuster and low-budget affairs, he starred as another famous rebel, John Dillinger, selfishly helped to save The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and will collaborate with Tim Burton for the SEVENTH time with the eagerly anticipated Alice in Wonderland. Johnny Depp is, quite possibly, the current Hollywood rebel.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is also a rebel. Coming to America as a young Austrian who spoke little English, he became good friends with pro-wrestler "Superstar" Billy Graham and went on to dominate the bodybuilding world (winning a record seven Mr. Olympia titles). From there, he moved into acting, but met many obstacles. His accent was very thick and his surname was too long, too incomprehensible for US audiences, so he was overdubbed in his first film, Hercules in New York, and ordered to change his name to Arnold Strong. He won a Golden Globe in 1977 and decreed that he would become a megastar and people will recognise his surname wherever he went. Arnold, after rebelling against the "advice" given to him by those early movie moguls, went on to become the ultimate movie star, making more money than almost anyone in the business and defining a decade. Having conquered the bodybuilding and acting worlds, he threw his hat in the political arena... and conquered that as well. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the success story no-one thought possible and it all began with a heavy-accented Austrian deciding he was going to make it on his own terms. In the modern age, we're still lucky to have rebels within our midst. Guys like Quentin Tarantino, Bryan Singer, Chris McQuarrie, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Jason Statham, the HBO network, Diablo Cody, Sam Raimi and many more. We also need to be thankful and give praise to those who set the standard many years ago. Men like Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Sylvester Stallone (the amount of rebellious attitude he had to show to even get Rocky made is astounding), Sean Penn, Peter Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Spike Lee, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and countless names.  Every time you go to the cinema and think that the Hollywood machine is sterile and needs a good kick in the arse, remember that someone, somewhere, is poised to do so. "Damn the Man, Save the Empire" --------------------------------------------------------------- Quote, Unquote (Fiona) ---------------------------------------------------------------  It's been a full moon all week and it's been showing up all over the forum. Even our esteemed editor, DC, has decreed that this week's newsletter is all about REBELLION. Yep, that's right people, he didn't get enough last week, so we're at it again. In this edition of Quote/Unquote, I've taken a look at some of our more outspoken members and focused on some of the tiny little skirmishes (me being uber-pretentious) that took place over the last two weeks. First up, everyone's favourites, Belty and Goldsheldon, calmly discuss Hulk Hogan's return to TNA. Quote:
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--------------------------------------------------------------- Decibel (Decibella) ---------------------------------------------------------------  Here you go peeps, week two's piece. Hope you like it! It's very long... I hope not too long... Music is the release of the rebel in all of us. We can sing the way we want, dance like we don’t have a care in the world, scream along to thrash metal, bash our heads to rock’n’roll, and grind our hips to r’n’b. But who were the first of their time? Why were they rebels? Ones who were and didn’t know it  Elvis  Born in Mississippi in 1935, Elvis Presley sang black music with black people to a white audience. He had no notion that what he was doing, in the time he was doing it, would be considered wrong; he just loved to sing the Gospel. Oh, yeah, baby. His music then went on to be internationally renowned and he has had a number one hit in every decade since 1950 (freakishly even after his untimely death in 1977). His passion for Gospel caused a change in music, blurring and challenging the racial and social barriers of the time. Then, of course, we all know the hip swinging fandangle. TV camera operators were ordered not to tape him below the waist in order to ‘control the passions of the female viewers’. This, however, didn’t stop the women in the audience going crazy with passion for his deliciously grinding hips… Jerry Lee Lewis  Considered an ‘early pioneer of rock and roll music’, Jerry Lee Lewis began life in Louisiana where his parents mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano... and thank goodness they did. Without those gorgeous, talented, whizzing fingers learning the chords to create such genius as ‘Great Balls of Fire’, we would never have had our first rock and roll rebel. Sexy lyrics? Check. Faster beats? Check. Sweaty audience members going crazy over music they had never heard before? Check… but not at the beginning. In the beginning, the crowd simply gazed in wonder at this man who flew around his piano with the force of the Devil, creating sounds they had never heard before. Buddy Holly and his Crickets (see below) were testing the waters around the same time and it seemed as though they all bandied together to show the world what rock and roll was. Lewis was expelled from school for playing a ‘boogie woogie’ version of ‘My God is Real’ at his school church service and years later he was asked by an old friend, Pearry Green, ‘Are you still playing the Devil’s music?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘[only] I know I’m playing for the Devil and they don’t.’ Buddy Holly and the Crickets  Charles Hardin Holley, later known as Buddy Holly, was described by critic Bruce Eder as ‘the single most creative influence in early rock and roll.’ His success was cut short by the tragic plane crash of 1959, killing Buddy, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson). This inspired Don McLean to include the lyrics ‘the day the music died’ in his hit ‘American Pie’. Not only was Buddy influenced by early performances from Elvis, but he continued Elvis’ breakthrough with his music and won over a black audience with his Bluegrass style rock and roll. Buddy was the most self contained performer, playing all instruments himself before bringing in the Crickets to tour with him. He was dubbed as ‘the first rock and roll band’ (John Mueller). Glasses, geeky haircut, clean cut American boy playing bluegrass rock and roll? Fantastic. Mozart  Yup, rebels are not only from contemporary music. Show me a whiff of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s curly white wig and frilly collar and it makes me go weak in my music-loving knees. At the age of just 3, Mozart was showing signs of a prodigal nature. The Archbishop of the time wasn’t a huge fan of the ‘irreverent and lewd’ Mozart while he worked in his court, picking on him at every given opportunity for his prolific nature. He was putting other composers out of work. Mozart finally had a huge blow out argument with the Archbishop and resigned his post, later dying poor and being buried amongst unknowns. Still, to this day, no-one truly knows where his grave is situated. Biggie Small/Notorious B.I.G.  Starting his early teenage years as a high school drop-out selling drugs, Christopher Wallace got mixed up in backstreet gang warfare. He was caught on a road trip and spent three-quarters of a year in jail. On release, he started writing. He was shot at the age of 24 in a drive by-shooting. Live by the sword, die by the sword as they say. But he left a huge (no pun intended) hole in the world of r’n’b. Aaliyah  Now this is a cheeky one. It seems all good stars die young – Elvis, Buddy, Kurt Cobain… now Aaliyah. She turned out to be a wonderful hip-hop musician, churning out hits like ‘Rock the Boat’ and ‘Try Again’, but she also penned a song named ‘Age Ain’t Nothin But A Number’, a hit back at critics (and the police) about her marriage to R. Kelly. He was in his 20s, she was 15. Yep, folks, you read that right. Dirty old R. Kelly (Candy Shop, etc) married a girl who was just about out of her training bra. Adam and the Ants  Poor old Stuart Leslie Goddard. He was fantastic in his time, dressing as a pirate and prancing around doing the dance we all know (everybody… “prince charmiiiiing prince charrrmiiiing, ridicule is nothing to be scarrrred of”). In 2002, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after wielding a plastic gun in front of a pubful of cider drinkers… excellent. Ahem. Marc Bolan  As mentioned earlier, I love it when lyrics aren’t what they seem. I love it when you don’t really know what the band is trying to say. Like ‘lift up your skirt and fly’. Oh, actually, that’s fairly clear. BBC banned the single called ‘Desdemona’ which was produced while Bolan was with John’s Children. Top hats, feather boas, and silver makeup, Bolan claimed he noticed the glitter on his wife’s dressing table before a gig and thought ‘why the hell not’? Predecessor of the glam era, Bolan inspired other musicians such as David Bowie (see below) and shocked critics into loving him... through their gritted teeth. Ones who were… then weren’t  The Clash  Working class heroes spouting left-wing politics within their music to create some of the best lyrics of their time, had success bite them and they turned their back on their roots to become middle-aged rich “musicians”. Is it possible to become punk rebels and wealthy at the same time? Is it their fault? John Lydon  Why, oh why are you advertising butter? A man from one of the biggest rebel bands there was now wanders through fields and munches on crumpets. Just, please, no. I don’t even want to talk about it, it hurts too much. Sob. Ones who thought they were  The Beatles Now I’m not denying they made great music. Music to last an absolute LIFETIME and I adore Lady Madonna. The thing is, they were just doing what people had broken the walls down before them. They weren’t doing anything new. Now you may argue that they were using what they knew and making it better, that in itself is no small feat. The thing is, if I’m discussing rebels, they simply weren’t. Oasis  Lads, get over yourselves. Yes, yes you’re from ‘Manchestawww’ and you’re h‘-ard’ like, but honestly, I don’t give a flying one. Ironically, Oasis were essentially copying The Beatles, who were copying Buddy Holly anyway, so could they be any less original? Not really. Make up, stop fighting and please bring your microphone down so that you’re not stretching yourself out of normality Liam. Many thanks. Andrew WK  Oooo whoop a dee do. Smash yourself in the face and use it as your CD cover, Nuff said. Ones you think should be… but aren’t  Alice Cooper  The man who sings about poison? The man who smears black paint over his face and screams at everyone? Same guy who was upset that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake broke up? I LOVE Alice Cooper. I want his babies. He is dubbed the ‘nicest guy in rock and roll’. Aww bless him. Call me crazy, but I didn’t think that musicians in rock and roll were supposed to be nice? Maybe I’m just stereotyping. What the hay, I love him. Richard O’Brien You know, that Timewarp guy? The bloke who wrote about crazy (wonderful) men who create homo-erotic fantasies in the form of chaps in small gold underpants. Yep, same guy who wore long coats, created ‘Crystal Maze’ and played a harmonica. Love that old Kiwi. Little piece of random info, the character of Frank-N-Furter was based on Alice Cooper. Two of my favourite guys in one paragraph! Happy days. Richard is also a patron of the Five Stars Scanner Appeal, which helps the Manchester Children’s Hospital and he has many foundations to raise money for this. Little Richard Ah, Little Richard. That old "Emancipator of Rock and Roll"! Fantastically dubbed "The Architect", he flew into the 1950s, rolling with his contemporaries, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, and finally hit success with ‘Tutti Frutti.’ Now as I’m sure you’re all aware, rock and roll lyrics weren’t really about what they seemed. Well, ‘she knows how to love me, yes indeed’ is blaringly as obvious as ‘Great Balls of Fire’. Not to forget, he did actually raise an awful lot of money for the Paediatric AIDS Foundation with his rendition of ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ and he then went on to make an album of children’s songs in his own, inimitable style. The warm-hearted rock n roller later went on to express himself this way: "Entertaining is a way to spread joy, I’ve come to terms with that and with myself. You’ve got to do that before you can begin to help others." Gorgeous. Ones who thought they were… and are  Mousse T Horny? Sex Bomb? Music promoted for young children? Pretty rebellious if you ask me. The Sex Pistols  In 1977, they released ‘God Save the Queen’… the same year of the Queen’s Jubilee. The song was banned, pretty much guaranteeing its popularity. When the single reached number one, the charts in the paper began at number two, it wouldn’t even be shown. Brilliant. The band performed the song down the Thames, filming their video for its release – one of the few things they actually showed up for. David Bowie  Oh, this man KNOWS he’s rebellious. Not only does he wear cat suits on stage, throwing the women of the crowd into as much of a frenzy as Elvis did many years before, but he chameleons himself, well, pretty much every year. One of the first androgynous superstars, he wore a full dress on the cover of his banned album ‘Man Who Sold the World’. Another album was banned for having a certain area of a dog showing on the inside sleeve of ‘Diamond Dogs’. Love the Bowie. How could you not?? Ozzy Osbourne  Can’t have rebels without a splash of Ozzy. Bloke even chewed off a bat's head on stage. Yeah, OK, he didn’t realise that it was real, he thought it was plastic, but he still blinkin’ well BIT THE HEAD OFF A BAT. Madonna Madonna Ciccone knew she was a rebellious type from the day she was born. Cavorting in sexy outfits with half naked male dancers, she knew she was pushing the boat when she did the video for ‘Justify my Love’. Banned by MTV in 1990, the video featured a lot of things I can’t even begin to mention in a website suitable for a young audience. Funnily enough, it got to number one too. Gwar Originally influenced by punk rock, this band, created in 1985, were amongst the first who produced the thrash metal of its time. They donned devil masks, sci-fi inspired costumes and wrote obscene lyrics. Love the fact that, on stage, they reproduced humorous versions of political themes of the time. To be fair, there are so many I had to leave out due to length. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, U2, B.B. King, Bruce Springsteen… I could go on for a few days at least!  --------------------------------------------------------------- Member Spotlight (Nimf) ---------------------------------------------------------------   What's your name and how did you come up with it? The name is Shane McCutcheon and it comes from a favourite character in a TV show I really like; The L Word. It's about a group of lesbians and associated friends. It's just a fantastic show and Shane is one of my favourite characters. I was kinda stuck for a name and not sure what to put, thought of a few favourite wrestlers, MMA stars and things like that, but figured I couldn't really get away with calling myself "Fedor Emilianenko" on here, so plumped for a reference I figured most people wouldn't get anyway. How did you find TWO? Basically by putting the search "wrestling forums" into the internet. Have just started getting back into wrestling a little bit more recently and thought I'd have a look for some places to talk about it. Looked through a few sites and this seemed the friendliest of the ones it brought up. And what keeps you coming back? I've only been coming back for about two weeks so it's early days, lol. It seems a friendly place though and doesn't have anywhere near as much trolling as there seems to be on other forums (especially some of the MMA ones), plus I have a total addiction to checking the site every five minutes to see if anyone's replied to anything. Do you have a favourite wrestler? Least favourite? Favourite, right now, would be John Cena. He's an absolute star in every sense and one of, if not the, most talented guys in the industry right now. All time it'd probably be Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. Not very creative choices, I know, but there's a reason they spent so long on top - they were just better than everyone else. Least Favourite? Samoa Joe's pretty terrible in most ways really, especially these days. His matches aren't very good, he looks rubbish and he's not all that convincing an actor either. Oh, and I know he's not a wrestler, but Mike Tenay is an absolutely abysmal wrestling announcer right now. If you could change one thing about your favourite wrestling promotion, what would it be? Only one thing? I'm not even sure what my favourite promotion is these days. I watch a bit of WWE, and a bit of TNA. TNA's terrible at the moment, but I watch it anyway. If I could change one thing about TNA, I'd remove Mike Tenay and replace him with Michael Schievello. For anyone who doesn't watch HDNet Fights and some of the shows Schievello commentates on, you really should. Have you ever met any wrestlers? If so, who? No, I've only ever been to one live show and the closest I came was seeing Mick Foley getting snuck in through a side door while I was queueing to get into the building. I just saw the back of his checked shirt he always wears and then he was gone. Do you have a favourite 'novelty' character? Are we still talking wrestling? Oh, so, so many. People crap over a lot of stuff that, honestly, is entertaining and really good (at least until it's run its course). However, now you've said that I've got a mind-blank. Not exactly novelty characters as such, but the Dungeon of Doom and its war against Hulk Hogan always gets crapped on. Personally, I loved it and thought it was just incredibly entertaining every week. What fantasy match would you book if you could use anyone from any promotion in any era? I would have loved to have booked the Ultimate Warrior from his build-up to WMVI, against Goldberg from the height of his streak. I doubt I'd have made it much different to Hogan/Warrior, with two unstoppable forces colliding, but I think the atmosphere would have been insane. If you could be the referee for one match from the past, what would it be? I'd guess this is a pretty popular answer to this question, but it'd have to be Bret/HBK in Montreal. I can't think of any match where the referee has played such a role in the proceedings. I'd ref that match, I'd tell Vince I was doing what he wanted, and then I'd screw Vince and leave for WCW with Bret Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? Not a very exciting answer, but pretty much on a career path right now to be managing my own team where I work within the next two years. Five years might be a stretch for me to develop beyond that level, so that's pretty much where I'll be at. Not much else will change; I'll still have my friends, still be living in the same area, probably mostly still have the same interests. What's the stupidest thing you've ever done? Various drugs when I was younger. I'm always torn as a part of me thinks "yeah, I had a wicked time, it's just part of my past I should look back on and think of the good times", but it also set me back in life a fair bit and really nothing positive whatsoever came out of it. How about the most rebellious? Walking out of sixth form one day and just not going back. School wasn't ever really for me, I could achieve and was lucky enough to be able to do it without putting too much work in either, but I just hated the workload and could never focus on doing it. I kinda always knew that I could get by in life without it, still make myself successful in whatever I chose to do and, so far, I'm happy enough with where I'm at. Money was never a massive deal for me so having a stable life, with good friends, a job that keeps me out of trouble, and plenty of things to get interested in is enough for me. School played no real part in all that. Have you ever broken the law (don't worry,we won't tell!)? See previous answer to stupidest thing I've ever done. Apart from that, no, not that I can remember. Although, there are some pretty crazy laws out there that are quite easy to break. Oh, I prank-called people quite a bit when I was younger. Is that against the law? Some form of telephone harrassment or something? What 3 things can you not live without? MMA. I'm a total MMA junkie these days and I can't imagine not having hordes of fights to watch and an industry to get sucked into on a daily basis. My friends, again a fairly obvious answer, but I love them all. My computer, I used to wonder how I ever lived without a mobile, but recently I've had to go without one and it's been a strangely liberating experience. I really don't even want one. But computer, no chance, just none at all. Who are your top 3 posters and why? This is a tough one as I've not been here long enough to form much of an opinion. I spend most of my time talking to myself in the Fight Forum so from there Dusty Finish seems like a really good poster who gets involved and makes good points. Jung seems another good one from what I've read. I don't agree with all of the stuff he posts in the football threads but he always makes his points well. That for me's what it's all about really. We're not all going to agree, nor should we, but as long as someone's open minded and making their points well then that's all good for me. Third one, hmmm, Ladyhotrod. I think I've only seen one of her posts, but it was pictures of her with some Roddy Piper stuff. That's good enough for me. What about your bottom 3 posters? Again really tough as I've not been here more than five minutes. The worst ones I probably don't even really remember as I just see their short, not very well thought out and skip right past them. I've noticed a few people in some of the wrestling and football, threads try to make a point and just refuse to budge, even when someone else points an obvious hole in what they're saying. That can be pretty frustrating, but I can't even remember the names of the people. Sorry If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you'd buy? A house. Such a boring answer, but having my own house, with no mortgage, would make such a huge difference to my life. It's just such a huge piece of security that would really change things for me. If you could be the Admin for a day what permanent changes would you make and why? I really don't know. The only thing I'd prefer to see is more people posting in the Fight Forum, as it's my main interest. However, there'd be no point forcing people to post in there just because I like it. If it's not something they're into, what's the point? Outside of that, I'm really not sure. Okay, quick answers now: Fruit or vegetables? Fruit, if I must, but even that's not really something I'm fond of. Mash or chips? Chips. I can't handle mash at all, but I'm pretty much carb free, so the chips would have to be on a really really bad day. Rain or sun? Hard. I don't like it when it's hot, I prefer it when it's cool. But, I don't like getting wet either. Sun, I think. Cereal or toast? Don't really eat either, but cereal if I had to. Do you have anything you'd like to add? Just thanks to everyone for being friendly and cool and making me feel welcome. --------------------------------------------------------------- Field Of Play (Laffy) ---------------------------------------------------------------  For the first time in months, I had a Saturday afternoon free, an afternoon to do things rather than being stuck in an office. Why, when the work is piling up and the contract deadline is drawing ever closer, were we given a half-day? The reason could not be simpler - Wales were playing New Zealand at rugby. Why would the managers give us a half day? Because, in Wales, rugby is more than a sport, rugby is an institution, a way of life, a passion that breathes fire into every Welshman and continues to burn throughout their lives. From the age of three, when you are old enough to understand, parents teach their children the rules of rugby, they tell tales of the legends, Edwards, John, JPR, JJ Williams, Quinnell, Jenkins, players who have performed and beaten the greats, dominated and excelled in rugby and then place them in front of the TV and watch the first game as a family. From then on, you are hooked. Yesterday, sitting down before the match, I dared to believe, I dared to hope that, for the first time in FIFTY-SIX years, Wales could beat the All Blacks, that Wales could make their own history and become victorious. Was I being naïve, was I taking mind altering drugs? No, I was being Welsh. Every competition, every match the Welsh dream and believe this will be the day when Wales pull out a performance and announce to the world that they are world beaters. When Wales win, the euphoria is intense, people smile, shout, dance and talk to everyone. Normally, everyone you speak to had been in the stadium, they were there when Wales won. But when Wales lose there is an air of desperation, a glum realisation, almost like a fog of misery descends and for the next few days, people are down, upset, convinced we had been robbed and wondering when the next victory will come. But come next match day, Wales will believe once more and the passion and pride will come to the fore again. Yesterday, Wales started with intensity and speed, they restricted New Zealand and reduced them to a kicking game. With the scores tied 6-6 at halftime, Wales started to believe, 'Bread of Heaven' echoed around the stadium and pubs, trying to will the boys to victory. The second half started and along came the doubts. The All Blacks were stronger, quicker, had all the territory and possession, Wales either kicked the ball away or knocked on, giving the ball back to New Zealand. Ten minutes into the second half, the New Zealanders broke. Whether it was the amount of tackles made in the first half or whether they had not switched on from the half-time team-talk, three Welsh players missed their tackles and New Zealand came very closer to the try line. Five metres out, hooker Hore bludgeoned his way over, going straight through Hook and Halfpenny. Sitting at home, I was swearing at the TV, telling dad we had blown it, we were crap, the boys were not fit to wear the jersey, what were they thinking? This could have been our day, but no, like the years that had gone before, Wales were going to throw it away. A quick tap and New Zealand were back on the attack, edging closer, when a break from Williams and a neat pass to Martin Roberts put him clear and through onto the try line. The crowd was screaming, people at home were shouting at the TV as Carter floored Roberts. Initially, everyone was happy Wales had tried, but they were not able to break the defence until the replay. Carter had caught Roberts with a high flailing straight arm across his chin and the ref either ignored or missed the tackle. Wales was incensed; they showed their displeasure by booing Carter every time he got the ball. As the All Blacks attacked, Wales defended admirably, with minutes remaining and New Zealand holding on to the ball it looked like a convincing victory when Alun-Wyn Jones intercepted a pass and raced clear; running 40 metres up the pitch the young lock thought he was in but the tackles had caught up with him his legs started to go and he was treading water. Looking around, he tried to look for a supporting player, but hung on too long and his pass was caught... with Wales having a three-on-one overlap had the pass been taken. New Zealand scrum, Wales took one against the head and got the ball. They were attacking the line, but could not penetrate. Penalty for Wales while ten points behind. Calculating the options, they took a quick drop-goal and then a kick off with two minutes left to get the victory. Wales went for the lineout. Fine catch, the ball driven through dropout and a with another drop-goal, Wales could level the match. With the crowd urging the players on, the new hooker throws into the lines, noooooo he overthrows, All Blacks get the ball and clear their lines straight down a Welsh player's throat. Again the ball is passed down the line, Roberts, Shanklin, Williams all trying to break the mighty defence, all to no avail. Wales lose the ball, Carter kicks off the pitch and another defeat to New Zealand has occurred. But Wales were close so close, and one day, one day when the heavens align, Wales will be victorious. Until then, I will continue to dream, I will continue to shout and and I will continue to scream, trying to urge Wales to victory. Other Sports News This week the teams competing in the 2010 World Cup will be completed. Special mention should go to New Zealand, who qualified for the World Cup in an incredibly tight game again Bahrain. Striker Rory Fallon scored the only goal of the match, in the final minute of the first half, with a header from a Leo Bertos corner. Despite pressure from Bahrain, which included a 51st-minute penalty, New Zealand held on for an ecstatic win. Kudos should also go to Cameroon following a 2-0 victory over Morocco in Fez. Their qualification for South Africa 2010 sets a new African record of six World Cup appearances. Nigeria also qualified, winning 3-2 against Kenya's Harambee Stars. In Europe, Portugal, Russia and France won to give themselves the advantage to qualify. Portugal won 1-0 against Bosnia, Russia won 2-1 against Slovenia and France were 1-0 winners against the Republic of Ireland. Ukraine created the most opportunities in their match with Greece, but were left frustrated at not being able to break the 0-0 stalemate. Elsewhere, Uruguay beat Costa Rica 1-0 away from home in the first leg of their qualifying play-off. The 2010 qualifiers will be completed on Wednesday, when the second legs are played. LIST OF TEAMS ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR 2010 WORLD CUP HOSTS: South Africa AFRICA QUALIFYING: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon ASIA QUALIFYING: Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea EUROPE QUALIFYING: Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland SOUTH AMERICA QUALIFYING: Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA AND QUALIFYING: United States, Mexico, Honduras ASIA/OCEANIA PLAY-OFF New Zealand --------------------------------------------------------------- THE MaxX Files (Maxx) ---------------------------------------------------------------   --------------------------------------------------------------- Room 101 (Darkstar) ---------------------------------------------------------------  Welcome to Room101, the place where all the evils of mankind are stored, ready, should we require them as punishments… The rules for Room101 are simple; someone nominates 5 things that they hate, 5 things that would make the world a better place if they didn’t exist. I look at their nominations, their reasonings and should I agree, that thing will be put into Room101. If more than 3 of the 5 go in, then a bonus thing will be put in, even though I already rejected it. Should less than 3 go in, something evil will come back out… Strapped in the chair this week is Fiona. Fiona, tell us your hates and fears. Ventriloquist’s and their Dummies  This is what happens if you leave Megan Fox in the sun for too long. I mean, WTF is up with a man who sits there with his hand up a wooden dolls backside, pretending to make it talk? It’s just plain creepy. Once, I saw a movie where the dummy got possessed and went on a killing rampage, now the dummies just scare me and I can’t be around them. A friend of mine bought one in a box and I couldn’t go anywhere near it. Gave me the wig every time I went into that room. Well now, this is an interesting one. If you’d have stuck with just the wooden dummies I may have gone with your call, but, as a child of the 80s, I saw enough Pink Windmill (stop the sniggering now you pervs) to fall in love with things stuck on the hands of men (I said stop it!). Plus, with the resurgence of the art in a more adult way (Achmed anyone?), it’s taken the step needed. No, this stays OUT! Creepy Crawlies  This is a real picture, no photoshop used. Scary huh! I can’t stand bugs of any kind, beetles, spiders, wasps or any others. Not to mention the fact that they scare the hell out of me. It seems the smaller they are, the more scared of them I am. Can understand bees and other polluters, but as for the rest, ugh! Glad winter is here, as I can go outside and not be afraid one is going to land on me or crawl on me. It’s the one thing I hate about warm weather. It’s a real phobia with me. Much like when Jung tried to put in wasps, you have to remember the very important place a lot of these have in the eco-system. By choosing such a massive category, it's also lessening the impact. If you’d have said, for example, dragonflies, or spiders, or daddy-long-legs, then it would have been easier to convince me. No, as an overall category, there are too many creepy crawlies and insects that I would keep out for me to put them in en masse. OUT! Reality TV Shows  I wrote this before Queen week, but I bet they are shit again. I enjoyed watching the first Survivor and American Idol, now I just find they're boring. You would think that the people on these shows would actually have watched the ones before and got a clue on what happens. Survivor especially bothers me for some reason. Every time they end up wherever they’re supposed to be, it’s like a huge surprise that they don’t have fire, food or water. We’re on our 12th Survivor people, didn’t you watch the other 11. Prats. Again, as an overall category, I cant put this in. There are too many moments of mind numbing brilliance/idiocy for this to go in. Look at X Factor in the UK this year, the whole ‘Jedward’ thing is equal parts pure entertainment and a fantastic bit of social psychology coming to life. No, overall, reality TV stays. OUT! Bullies  The kid on the bottom, yeah that’s a young Chris Benoit. Now you know how it started. I have to deal with them everyday in my job and I would love to knock their blocks off sometimes. These kids think they’re better than anyone else and have the right to push people around. Most of them have issues of their own, and I know I should feel sorry for them, but when you have to make someone look bad to make yourself look better, I have no sympathy for you. Usually they have to grow up before they realize what it is their doing and, sometimes, they don’t learn even then. All too often these kids just don’t get any better. Is it bad upbringing, or are some kids just born bad? I honestly don’t know, but I do know that it sucks to be their target. I never was, but I had enough friends who were. To be a bully is sad, getting your kicks from making other people miserable is just shit. A bad taste joke is one thing, but this is another. IN. Politicians  This would have been a great campaign pic. ‘Vote for Tony, he knows where you live!’ The biggest bunch of losers and scumbuckets I’ve ever seen. They promise the world and deliver nothing. I don’t know how many times I’ve voted for someone because of what they’ve said they would do and every one has gone back on their promises. I know that it can’t be easy, but for God's sake, the guy we voted in last time went back on every promise he made and will end up with a nice fat pension for doing nothing. My Dad used to say “If someone can’t get a decent job, they’ll become a politician”, he was absolutely right. The politicians on the local level have been fantastic help whenever I have needed them, going out of their way when they really didn’t have to. But would a local councillor come under the same heading? I’m going to say no, not this time. In which case, lets throw the lot in!! Two faced, lying twonks deserve it. Even if they are trying, they failed. IN! That’s two out of five in Fiona. That means I have to release something evil from the bowls of Room101, like fear escaping from Pandora’s box. Live with it on your conscience, if you can. Goodnight. I have a pair of those Budweiser braces… --------------------------------------------------------------- Wrestling 101 Info Centre ---------------------------------------------------------------  Latest Wrestling 101 Blogs: > WWE: Too Many PPVs? > CBlog #50- Hulk Hogan, WWE Bragging Rights and Kofi Kingston --------------------------------------------------------------- The Wrestling Press --------------------------------------------------------------- THE WRESTLING PRESS is a free online magazine for wrestling fans worldwide. Featuring lots of great articles, interviews, competitions and photos - out every month.  Issue #4 of The Wrestling Press is out now. This includes: # HULKAMANIA - MAKING AN IMPACT Full report on Hogan signing with TNA # BE SURE YOUR SKITS WILL FIND YOU OUT Linda McMahon’s past bites her on the ass # DEFINITION OF A BAD GUY Reconditioning the fans # WWE FAMILY CROSSROADS All change for the McMahon’s # CHANGING WITH THE TIMES Wrestling trends over the years # BIGOTRY IN WRESTLING Racism and homophobia still an issue And much, much more... THE WRESTLING PRESS --------------------------------------------------------------- The Tap Out Chronicles (Dusty Finish) --------------------------------------------------------------- Author's note: Apologies to all for my unplanned absence last time out, which was due to some circumstances beyond my control. For those who read my last column and are interested, Carlos Newton beat Shonie Carter by unanimous decision and is now Warrior-1 Welterweight Champion.  You may have noticed Simon Cowell and some Irish twins causing a bit of a stir last week. The outrage-crying naysayers believe Cowell's clearly Eric Bischoff-inspired (controversy creates cash) vote-manouvering has somehow compromised the integrity of a show for which the cast is clearly set up to snare as many viewer demographics as is humanly possible, which ultimately translate into telephone votes (read: legal tender). I find it astounding that the general populous needed this to be thrust into their faces so hard, and after so long, in order for the penny to finally drop that The X-Factor is little more than one man's personal cash-cow. Ironically, these are likely the same individuals who have always sneered at that "fake wrestling" stuff. Big Brother is finally & thankfully packing it up; you'd be forgiven for forgetting it existed this last summer- the girls you work with who usually can't seem to shut about it didn't seem to be watching at all, did they? Remember looking at the heavens in dispair while watching Del & Rodney, once millionaires but now brassic again, moving back into Nelson Mandela House, whilst you fondly reminisced of chandelliers, iluminous paint, bent copper Roy Slater & archaic phsycic Elsie Partridge? And wasn't the whole point of Men Behaving Badly that Tony would never get to sleep with Deborah? In short, all of the above simply ran out of places to go long before plug was mercifully pulled.  Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter"- subtitled "Heavyweights"- appeared beforehand on paper to be the most fresh & invigorating outing for the sixteen-fighters-go-all-out-for-a-UFC-contract concept for a good few years. The ripsnorting first thirty minutes of the series premiere, featuring prolonged & tickling banter between charismatic coaches Quinton Jackson & Rashad Evans, a stirring talking-up of the UFC's rapidly improving heavyweight division from Dana White, and the controversial introduction of notorious street brawler Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson to the cast (and subsequent reaction of coaches & contenders) did nothing to dampen the optimism. Since then, to be blunt, it's been a complete wet fart of a season. If this is, as has been touted, the run that holds key to the programme's future, then all does not bode well. The problems with the TUF format have been apparent for quite some time. The most glaring can be qualified when looking at the very first series, a self-financed, eggs-in-the-basket venture for the then-cash haemmoraging promotion (partially credited for their overall upturn in fortunes) that debuted on Spike TV in January 2005. A commercial and artistic success, with the live finale drawing a very encouaging 1.9 Nielsen rating, it is astounding when stopping to examine the cast how many of those initial sixteen housemates remain prominent almost five years on. Forgetting even the four finalists (in the 205 & 185lb categories), Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck & Nate Quarry command respectable rankings in their respective weight categories within the UFC in 2009. Compare this to more recent Ultimate Fighters... Tommy Speer & Richie Hightower, anyone? How about Cale Yarborough and Jeremy May? Thought not. It certainly appears that the talent pool of unsigned fighters capable of competing at an elite level has been all but exhausted by the twice-yearly TUF juggernaught. Whilst the early seasons of TUF produced recent world champions in Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, as well as current and former top contenders in Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson, subsequent season winners have invariably fared somewhere between the levels marked "decent" and "shaky". I believe it's fair to say that our own Michael Bisping has been relatively well protected in his stints at both 205 & 185lbs. Nate Diaz appears destined to forever be a mainstay of the Spike TV freebie "Ultimate Fight Night" events, should he continue to win more than he loses. Ryan Bader has won a few in the Octagon, but has yet to truly turn in a performance that says "breakout star", while Efrain Escurado is in danger of becoming a forgotten man, a la Season 7 victor Amir Saddollah. Both Mac Danzig and Kendall Grove are surely one more defeat away from being wished well in their future endeavours... and these are just the big clear plaque winners! A clear indicator that the tag "Ultimate Fighter Season Winner" no longer carries the instant benefits of a careful build and a name on the marquee can be characterised by this weekend's UFC 105 event (which will have been and gone by the time you read this). Season 9 kingpins James Wilks and Ross Pearson may have made the main card of a numbered event, but it is on a free show, and their respective fights are the lowest two of the five on the live card. Furthermore, the Team UK top guns have been handed Octagon-proper berths opposite frenetic Jorge Gurgel trainee Matt Brown and wily veteran Aaron Riley respectively. This is a far cry from pay per view showdowns with the unheralded likes of Bill Mahood and John Alessio that awaited their early predecessors. It is becoming more and more prevalent with each passing soiree that the TUF guv'nors are ever more becoming just part of the rank and file. Although improving, it is borderline indisputable that the 206-265lb division is the top to bottom the weakest in Mixed Martial Arts. It is here that the current series has a running start over it's recent surroundees, but on early evidence, there doesn't appear to be much fresh blood on display this time round that will be able to hang with the Velasquezs, Dos Santoss, heck, even the Pat Barrys and Stefan Struves of the UFC Heavyweight division. As a collective, the preliminary fights have made this season so far, from an in-ring perspective, far and away the weakest in the history of the competition. Indeed, of the sixteen participants, only one man has thus far turned in what can remotely be described as an impressive performance, and while Justin Wren looked handy in taking out Hammer House man (and one of the early favourites) Wes Sims, he was this week eliminated by the unspectacular, workmanlike former IFL top dog Roy Nelson.  The strong ratings for the series so far may prove, this writer believes, a false dawn for Messrs White and Fertitta. Witness that, for in excess of six weeks, each episode's closing gambit has offered a teaser that the aforementioned, vanquished Kimbo Slice might, just might get a second crack at the crown: a shrewd move to capitalise on (the actually thoroughly likeable) Slice's not inconsiderable popularity this may be, but it reeks to high heaven of the proverbial primrose path. It's hardly a well guarded secret that Kimbo will clash with Houston Alexander in a catchweight contest at the series finale, so clearly he won't be involved in next month's final shake-up for six figure contracts and sundries. With the sport of Mixed Martial Arts constantly gaining popularity worldwide, athletic commissions sanctioning affairs where previously they were denied, and new, healthily funded promotions popping up on a near monthly basis, that diamond in the rough is becoming all the more likely to have been snapped up by another outfit- to the point where Zuffa now have to bring in the top prospects from King Of The Cage and elsewhere before the likes of Strikeforce do, in order to fill out cards for their ever increasing roster of events- before the TUF freight train can catapult them to superstardom. The producers recognised that the format has/had a finite shelf life as early on as season 4, which played host to a minor shake-up as sixteen UFC also rans competed for guaranteed divisional title shots. This met with a tepid response and only the immediate fortunes of James Wilks and Ross Pearson will determine whether The Ultimate Fighter's other departure from status quo (Season 9's Team USA vs Team UK) can prove more successful than Team Mojo and Team No Love did. With focuses shifting away from in-house interaction and more towards the training and fighting in the last couple of years (the exception that proves the rule being Season 8 and the spotlight that shone on the overly-unruly Junie Browning, that oft went too far and as such has not been granted a DVD release in this country), the magnetic attention of the viewership will inevitably drawn more towards what the hopefuls can do sporting six ounce gloves, as opportunities to relate to their personality traits become fewer and fewer. If Forrest Griffin loses his next fight, the fans will forgive him... and still love him. Lets say Brendan Schaub gets his hand raised next month in Las Vegas... does anyone honestly see UFC devotees affording him similar leeway in the future? The British public have seemingly been blind to the fact that the likes of Leona Lewis are few and far between amongst the Steve Brooksteins and Leon Jacksons of this world and it has taken an ill-judged, money-motivated stunt in the middle of a particularly lacklustre outing for The X-Factor to turn the masses against the glorified karaoke contest. With Zuffa seemingly milking the Kimbo Slice cow for all it's worth at present, it looks a risky game. Closer inspection may just show their followers that they're not quite turning out the talent in the manner they once did.  For those TUF virgins amongst the TWO readership... RECOMMENDED "ULTIMATE FIGHTER" VIEWING Episode Four, Season One The cabin fever-suffering cast are taken for a night on the town by Dana White. The alcohol flows and the green touch paper is lit between simmering mutual antagonists Chris Leben and Josh Koscheck. The hottest feud in TUF history reaches it's apex in this writer's favourite episode of any TV series ever! Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar (Season One Finale) An obvious pick, but it has to be done. A million miles from a technical doozy, but an unparalleled display of heart and determination from two unknowns, who, at that time, could've had no certainty where their efforts would even take them. Jorge Gurgel vs Jason Von Flue (Season Two Elimination Fight) As above.... just a gritty and dramatic, knock down, drag out three rounds of fighting! --------------------------------------------------------------- This Week in WWE (TPIB) ---------------------------------------------------------------  WWE Monday Night RAW November 9 2009 Results With thirteen days to go before Survivor Series, the 859th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you from the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. Fifteen-time professional boxing champion Ricky Hatton would serve as Guest Host in his home country. Match Results
The 179th edition of ECW on Syfy came to you from the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. In his home country, William Regal would get his final opportunity to win the ECW Championship from Christian. Regal's backup, Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov, were banned from ringside. Match Results
WWE Superstars November 12, 2009 Results The 31st edition of WWE Superstars came to you from the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England (RAW, SmackDown, & ECW Matches). Following their confrontation in The VIP Lounge on RAW, MVP would go one-on-one with Legacy member Ted DiBiase. In a rematch from last week's ECW on Syfy, Zack Ryder would face Shelton Benjamin. From SmackDown, Matt Hardy would face off with Hart Dynasty member David Hart Smith. Match Results
Nine days before Survivor Series, the 534th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. For the first time ever, World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker would go one-on-one with Unified WWE Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho in a non-title match. Also, John Morrison would defend the Intercontinental Title against the man who defeated him via count-out two weeks ago to earn the opportunity, Dolph Ziggler. Match Results
--------------------------------------------------------------- The iMPACT! Zone (Chriscare) ---------------------------------------------------------------  Face of the Month  Kurt Angle Going from one of the top heels of the company to the top face pretty much instantly is no easy task, but Kurt Angle seems to have walked seamlessly back into his old role and with his willingness to put Wolfe over and take an absolute battering, he’s managed to gain sympathy from the crowd (which is exactly what a good face needs unless he’s Goldberg). Heel of the Month  Desmond Wolfe TNA obviously have very high hopes for our mate Nigel and rightly so. A man who is most likely a complete unknown to most TNA fans has managed to get over as a top heel in a mere 3 weeks. TNA have a complete lack of top heels at the moment and Wolfe seems set on being the new top dog in that respect. Props to Angle for putting him over so well on his arrival. Knockout of the Month  Hamada (obviously) For the 3rd month in a row, Hamada picks up this award, simply because she is brilliant and so far above the rest of the pack, it’s real hard to fault her in-ring abilities, even in comparison with the men. She has adapted her Eastern style for American audiences well, making herself one of the biggest assets TNA has in showing the Western audience something they are unfamiliar with; very good women’s wrestling. Top 5… In desperate need of a character makeover  1. Suicide – A terrible character to tie in with a terrible game. We’ve forgotten about the game, lets move on here too. 2. Daniels – Looks like a personality-challenged waiter and, as such, is impossible to get excited about. 3. The Motor City Machineguns – Too laid back to ever be taken as serious threats. 4. Jay Lethal – Destined for nothing with his dated gimmick, let it go already. 5. James Storm – Was great as a heel, his character has become fairly bland as a face. Bound For Glory Review  The Wrestlemania of TNA, that’s what TNA wanted us to believe, and boy does that show you how much below the WWE TNA truly is. The production values of this show were shockingly bad, which simply made it feel like just yet another TNA PPV. All I learned from this is that TNA aren’t remotely in WWE’s league when it comes to, well, anything. X Division Ultimate X Match Only by watching this match all by itself can you truly appreciate it’s brilliance. Lots of very cool looking moves, lots of excitement, some absolutely sick bumps, it truly was a brilliant match. However, it was an absolutely appalling opener that, as per usual, burnt out the crowd, made the rest of the stuff happening on the show look unimpressive and killed the PPV before it had barely begun. You can’t put WWE style on the same show as Wrestling Society X and expect it to work, because it doesn’t. (Another point; Red waving several times for people to come on made him look very green for someone who’s been wrestling as long as he has). Knockout Tag Match Meh, this was vaguely better than their match last month, but that’s not saying a great deal. I was disappointed to see Lacey ejected early on as she’s very easy on the eyes, but instead we were made to focus on the wrestling of the Beautiful People. With Hamada and Alissa Flash doing all they can to show how good women’s wrestling can be, having these two useless bits of unappealing eye candy on yet another PPV is completely appalling. Legends Title Match This was an OK match, but really needed a good agent to bring out the best in these guys and I can’t imagine it had that. The match generally consisted of Nash and Young working against Super-Mex, but they never really stepped it up a gear and hit lots of finishers on each other (and when you’d already had the X-Division match, you expected that). Fairly predictable finish ended a match that really did nothing for any of these guys. Tag Team Titles/IWGP Titles match Matches between these teams have been done to death and this one was just another mayhem-filled mess, that may have been fun for Impact, but had no business being on a PPV. Having two set of tag team titles in TNA meant that it didn’t remotely matter who won and this match was just a complete embarrassment of a division that was once considered great. Knockout Title Match Very, very average match. By this point in the PPV, you really should be rewarded for still watching as it’s been fairly average/awful thus far. Really hard to care about anyone in this match and, again, it just doesn’t remotely show off the quality of the division. Tara is well past her prime, ODB is passable at best and Kong needs a speedy opponent to shine. TNA vs MMA Bit of a stupid title for this one as Joe has always represented an MMA style anyway, but never mind. This match was fairly solid, it wasn’t off the charts or anything, but it was booked well. Instead of rubbish Lashey match from last PPV, this one played to his strengths and felt more MMA (which is exactly how he needs to be booked). Lashley winning was inevitable, which obviously puts Joe in contender ship for the title(!) Abyss vs Foley Match of night right here! I’m joking, of course; this match was terrible. Lots of weapons and lots of violence, but a very poor match surrounding it, proving once and for all that under no circumstances should Mick Foley be allowed to wrestle anymore. Obviously, the big talking point of the match was that Abyss forgot to kick out. By continuing with the match, they pretty much jibbed off the whole show and broke any disbelief the audience had suspended. Very, very amateurish for a match where the outcome was meaningless really. Angle vs Morgan Easily match of the night. Angle made Morgan look like a star (don’t be fooled though, he’s still rubbish) in the ring and completely carried him to a great match. It almost seemed like the recreation of Lesnar vs Angle, but Lesnar being replaced by a complete goon. Angle proved here why he is deservingly the top of the TNA card and won the fans over with his performance. Sting vs AJ Styles Pretty average main event. I really thought these two were going to give it their all, but there’s just something about Sting and AJ which doesn’t click. This match, to me, was proof that Sting is past it now. He hasn’t “still got it”, as the TNA fans would have you believe, in fact, Sting barely had it in the first place when it came to in ring skills. He certainly doesn’t belong anywhere near the TNA World Title and if he does renew his contract, I really hope it's for even fewer appearances. So overall, a fairly rubbish PPV which completely disheartened my hopes for TNA. Luckily, they were smart and followed it up with the signings of Desmond Wolfe and Hulk Hogan to make us all forget this horrible night. Wrestlemania my ass. We’re The Champs TNA World Heavyweight Champion - AJ Styles (1) won from Kurt Angle in a Fatal Four-way, September 20th No Surrender TNA X Division Champion - The Amazing Red (2) won from Samoa Joe, October 8th Impact TNA Legends Champion – Eric Young (1) won from Kevin Nash in a 3 way, October 18th Bound For Glory TNA World Tag Team Champions – British Invasion (1) won from MEM, October 18th Bound For Glory TNA Womens Knockout Champion - ODB (2) defeated Cody Deaner to win the vacant title, September 20th No Surrender TNA Womens Knockout Tag Champions - Wilde and Sarita (1) defeated The Beautiful People to be crowned the first champs, September 20th No Surrender Next PPV Predictions  Looks like a fairly good PPV on paper, with most of the matches seeming fairly unpredictable... but here are my predictions anyway. Kong vs Tara Should be a fairly decent women's match here. I don’t think we’re going to see anything off the charts, but putting Kong in a cage very much plays to her strengths. Tara hasn’t been anything special since she joined TNA, so this is her chance to show us if she’s still got it or not. Winner: Awesome Kong Lashley vs Steiner I’ll be very very surprised if there is a match on the card worse than this one. Two roided-up dudes who aren’t capable of having a good match, put against each other! Brilliant TNA booking. If Steiner’s match with Morgan, or Lashley’s match with Rhino, is anything to go by, this match will be the shits. Winner: Bobby Lashley Angle vs Wolfe I can’t wait for this one, these two are going to steal the show. I’ve dreamed about this match for years, the styles of these two is going to gel perfectly and make this one hard-hitting wrestling match that everyone on the roster should be taking notes about. The result could literally go either way, Wolfe winning would give him instant main-event credibility, but Angle’s already taken quite a beating leading up to this one. Simply because TNA need a top heel, and its madness to book someone to lose on their PPV debut... Winner: Desmond Wolfe Six-Woman Tag Match For All the Gold If you like rubbish matches, then boy is this one for you. I have to admit, I’m quite looking forward to this because Lacey is going to have to wrestle and everything I’ve seen of her all points to terrible... so hopefully we’ll have a good laugh at her expense. Winners: ODB, Sarita and Wilde Rhino and Team 3D vs Morgan, Hernandez and Dinero I’ve actually quite enjoyed some of the Team 3D/Rhino stuff thus far (although the argument between Bubba and Rhino during Team 3D’s match with Hernandez and Morgan was fairly stupid looking as TNA's bookers seem to keep changing their minds about this one breaking kayfabe. Anyway, I’m not expecting much from this match except for The Pope to completely outshine everyone else and, in doing so, win over the crowd. Winners: (the guys getting a push) Morgan, Hernandez and Dinero X-Division Title I really don’t rate Red as a one-on-one guy. He’s great fun in multi-man matches, but he’s not great fun when it comes to in-ring psychology. I’m expecting lots of stupidity in this one, crazy moves and what not, but also a fair few screw ups. I’m hoping Suicide will cost Red the title, setting up the new tag team I’ve called “Being Killed in Some Way”, but this might not happen just yet, so… Winner: The Amazing Red Tag Title Triple Threat Could be a good one, I don’t really rate the Brits as a tag team yet, but Williams is such a talent and with the MCMG and Beer Money in there too, it has to be the match the TNA tag fans have been crying out for. Winners and new tag team champs: Motor City Machine Guns World Title Triple Threat There’s a lot of pressure on these guys, they’ve got the amazing X-Division match of yesteryear to live up to after all, but this time they need to up it because they’re headliners for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and with the current excitement about TNA’s future, all eyes are going to be on them. The problem, however, is that none of them really belong in the main-event scene at the moment due to bad booking and just not having the sheer presence that you need to be at that stage. Also Joe and Daniels aren’t remotely close to being that talents that they were 3 years ago. Plus AJ seems the only possible winner due to the big wins he’s had on PPV lately, as opposed to the big losses the other two have had. This will be a good match, I’ve no doubt, but don’t go expecting it to be legendary, because I just don’t think it will be. Winner: AJ Styles Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Impact Zone. I’ve not mentioned much about The Hulkster joining TNA, but that’s because, at this stage, whatever I say is only going to be speculation. TNA is a very exciting place right now in light of the news, with it creating potential for other big names to join who’ve previously turned down the offer. TNA have a lot of work to do in the next few months to prepare for his arrival (which I assume will be in January) and one of those things must surely to be to improve production values. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Carter is truly ready to step things up. Until next time Care fans. CC --------------------------------------------------------------- The Live Wire v2.0 (Inno) ---------------------------------------------------------------   “I respect you, Bookerman!” Given that our newsletter has a rebellion theme, I wanted to do a piece on a guy who I loved, but time and wrestling history have often overlooked, yet he was one of the true rebels in the business; Brian Pillman. Pillman was always a rebel of sorts. As a college American Football player, he was a stand-out for his position, despite being shorter and lighter than almost all his peers. Relying on speed and technique to get by, he ended up on the second team All American line-up - amongst his counterparts, one William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Despite playing to such a high college standard, he went undrafted to the NFL. He did briefly make it to the NFL, however, with his hometown Cincinnati Bengals, but his career petered out. He had a failed attempt to extend it with the Buffalo Bills and eventually ended up playing in the Canadian Football League for the Calgary Stampeders, a fateful destination, as he would meet Owen Hart and eventually end up training in the legendary Stu Hart dungeon. Making his debut as a wrestler for the Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion in 1986, he quickly built a reputation as a high flier. By 1989, he’d returned to America and began working with WCW, where he established a reputation for being a quality high-flier, incorporating Mexican-style lucha moves into his arsenal. Pillman’s matches with Jushin Liger and Barry Windham during this time were especially noteworthy. In 1992, Pillman tagged up with a then “Stunning” Steve Austin to form the Hollywood Blondes and became arguably the best tag team in North America, even headlining a Clash of the Champions against The Four Horsemen, who Pillman would later become a member of in 1995.  Up until now, Pillman’s story has been pretty much standard; ex-NFL star takes up wrestling to make ends meet, becomes quite good, finds his spot in the mid-card. Right? Wrong. The mid 90s is where Pillman comes into his own. It’s where “Flyin’ Brian” dies and “The Loose Cannon” is born. Superbrawl 6. Eleventh February, 1996. Brian Pillman vs. Kevin Sullivan in an “I Respect You” strap match; the loser would be the man who said “I respect you” to the other. Sullivan and Pillman start fighting, for maybe less than a minute… then Pillman grabs the mic and utters those four words “I respect you, bookerman” and walks away. Kevin Sullivan was not just his opponent that day, but was the booker for WCW at that point. Remember, this is in the fledgling days of the internet and ‘smart marks’ were few and far between. Bookerman was such an inside term that practically nobody would have understood it back then. Pillman had come up with this idea for him to be a loose cannon - to portray this insane, over the top lunatic. What made it unique was that Pillman wanted to base his character in reality - to work not only the people watching, but the guys in the company too. Wrestling lore has it that only Pillman, Sullivan and WCW boss Eric Bischoff were in on it. Pillman would bemuse his peers and fans alike with his bizarre behaviour, leading up to his firing in 1996. The plan was supposedly for Pillman to be “fired” go to ECW and build up some legit heat and return to WCW in a blaze of glory. Well, the plan was slightly different in Pillman’s mind. He’d decided that his career was nearly over and he needed one last big pay day. What better way to get that than to make himself the biggest talking point in wrestling, and then become a free agent, able to basically name his price? By working Bischoff and WCW to the point that they actually legally fired him (Bischoff under the impression that he and Pillman were working the whole angle together) Pillman became a free agent. He did go to ECW. Not for Brian Pillman a quiet, understated entrance, doing the all conquering hero act… no, he “invaded”, insulted and actually threatened to piss in the ring, even having a planted fan to beat up just so the notoriously smart ECW fan base would boo him out of the building. They did, and he duly worked a few dates and built a name for himself, much like former tag partner Steve Austin. Pillman’s days in ECW were numbered as he was never going to stay out of the limelight that the Big Two at the time offered - everybody knew it - but before he could leave, he was involved in a major car accident that would eventually lead to his ankle being surgically fused, putting a halt to his high flying and forcing him to adapt his style. He would return to the ECW airwaves in a wheelchair, still antagonising the ECW faithful, then signed a guaranteed deal with the WWF - one of the first to get such a deal. Pillman debuted and carried on his loose cannon ways, but would need more ankle surgery before his WWF in ring career could properly begin - Steve Austin would shoulder the on screen blame for the ankle injury - targeting Brian’s ankle with a steel chair in a move that was christened ’Pillmanising’, but even before Pillman was fit to return to the ring, he would participate in a memorable angle with Steve Austin, where Pillman would defend his home during a ‘live’ interview and threaten Austin with a gun, featuring one of my favourite ever wrestling moments - "Steve is a dead man walking, because when Austin 3:16 meets Pillman 9mm, I'm gonna blow his sorry ass straight to Hell!"  Brian would become an adopted member of the Hart Foundation, some said even of the Hart family, and feud with Austin some more, then move onto Goldust and Marlena - again blurring the lines between fact and fiction by referencing the fact that Pillman and Marlena (Goldust’s real life wife, Terri) had dated in the past. Pillman’s feud with Goldust was due to come to a head and he was scheduled to face him at the In Your House 18: Badd Blood show. Brian never made it to that match as he was found dead in his hotel room the day before the show. In my own humble opinion, Pillman was one of wrestling’s greatest talents, vastly underrated in the ring and out of it by fans. People including Steve Austin, Eric Bischoff, William Regal, Paul Heyman, Jim Ross and many, many more cited him as a genius. Pillman’s promos and delivery were way ahead of his time. His Loose Cannon character was the first to intentionally break kayfabe on TV and ushered in a new, darker direction for wrestling. The Attitude Era was foreshadowed by Brian Pillman. Even in the ring, in his injury free days in WCW, he was a true innovator, blending the American style with fresh foreign moves and wowing the crowd. Pillman was one of wrestling’s greatest ever rebels, but unlike so many, he could back up his rebellion with sheer unadulterated talent in a way that nobody before did, or has since. If you get a chance, check out the Brian Pillman: Loose Cannon DVD as a fitting tribute to a huge character, a great wrestler and a ground breaking innovator. --------------------------------------------------------------- On The Mic (ShaneMcCutcheon) ---------------------------------------------------------------  They can't all be beautiful people... Having just finished watching the excellent UFC 105, I logged onto this very website to see my first ever "notification". Even scarier, it popped up with a note saying I have a private message from Kam. Was this the same Kam that ran the website? Had I done something wrong? I was almost scared to open it. After tentatively clicking the "open in new window" button, expecting to see some warning about one of my posts, instead I was greeted with a rather friendly message asking me if I'd like to write a piece for this week's newsletter. How exciting I thought and instantly said yes. Well, you would wouldn't you? It took less than five minutes to realise I'd made a rather large schoolboy error. My brain ran at a thousand thoughts a minute, I have to write up UFC 105 for another site, Cotto/Pacquiao's on later, I won't get up until at least lunchtime tomorrow, hang on, what did he say the deadline was, what am I gonna write about, I don't even watch that much wrestling anymore, I'm sure he mentioned there was a theme to stick to as well, I really need to go re-read his PM..... you get the picture yet? And the point of that paragraph was in no way to foreshadow the lack of thought and quality in this piece of writing, nor was it to try and remove any blame from myself for something rushed and badly written. No really. It's just that, I've barely watched a lot of wrestling over the past couple of years, at least until recently anyway. Even now I'm a complete MMA junkie who sometimes watches Impact, or Raw, and the odd Pay Per View. What could I possibly talk about, and how would I be able to fit with the "rebellion" theme this time around? Well, here's my act of rebellion out of the way right here. I can't, and I won't. That's about as rebellious as this "On the Mic" gets. I toyed with the idea of writing a speculation piece around the potential for Shane McMahon's employment with the UFC and the perceived rebellion of Shane, joining an organisation that his father believes to be a rival. Such a piece would have required levels of research, planning, and thought that I could never cram into one solitary hour before the deadline. If I couldn't do such a big piece justice, I shouldn't do it at all. Instead, you get to read something I do know about and can talk about openly and freely without restraint. Women. That is of course, women in wrestling and what they've become today. Whether they wrestle; act as an interviewer; work as a valet; or work as one small part of a between match dance troop, they all have to be capable of one important facet of pro wrestling, the most important facet of all, making a connection with the fans. For some that comes naturally and is inevitable no matter what character, role, or storylines they're given. In the end it's going to happen. For others, even the best and most creative booking in the world isn't going to save them. Ok, twenty five minutes left, I need to hurry this one up before I get one of those threatening "Hello Shane, I'd like to play a game" audio clips sent to me from DC. So without further ado here's two of the most recent examples of female brilliance, and whatever the opposite of brilliance would be, in professional wrestling. June 13th, 2006 was a dark day for World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the day that the WWE created a third brand in their own new creation of the cult favourite, ECW. What made that day so dark for the WWE and their third brand was that it saw the debut of the most generic, untalented, clueless, naive, sexually retarded "Diva" the company has ever seen. It saw the debut of Kelly Kelly! There are plenty of generic looking blondes out there who take their clothes off for money and if you have a fairly hot body then surely it's not difficult to do so and get men hot in the process? It certainly was for Kelly Kelly. Her initial exhibitionist gimmick would have been fine for any woman who had even the slightest clue on how to dance and be sexy, Kelly Kelly however, had neither. Having Candice Michelle join her for a striptease one week only served to highlight just how useless she was. Anyone can stand there and take their clothes off in a robotic and unappealing fashion, but then not just "anyone" can really connect with an audience and cement their place in the hearts and minds of WWE fans for eternity. It would perhaps not have been quite so bad if we hadn't already seen the "generic, dull, blonde" thing happen already with Torrie Wilson. Kelly, I can honestly say this from the bottom of my heart, I didn't stop watching the WWE's version of ECW because it lacked the feel of the original ECW, I didn't stop watching it because it was full of WWE wrestlers who didn't know the first thing about "Extreme", nor did I stop watching it because it had horrible Mike Knox matches on it. No, Kelly, I stopped watching it after the first three episodes because of you. The debut of Kelly Kelly in ECW... The following year two young ladies who would have been more than capable of becoming nothing more than "generic, dull, blondes" debuted in Total Nonstop Action. Angelina Love and Velvet Sky made an initial "impact" based on their looks, most notably the posterior of Velvet, but as they grew into their roles and their characters developed they became one of the best gimmicks TNA had ever had on their show. Sure, they looked hot, but being sexy isn't just having an in shape body and a cute face. In many ways, that has very little to do with it. The Beautiful People moved like stars, they spoke like stars, they played their roles and despite being cast as uber heels they still made it absolutely impossible for you to take your eyes off of them. From the paper bagging, to the hair spray to the eyes, the ring entrance, the thrones, everything fit perfectly and the girls showed week after week that it takes much more than just a great look to really connect with the fans. The Beautiful People became not just an integral part of my reasons for watching Impact every week, they became the only reason I was watching Impact every week. It's little coincidence that since Angelina Love left and was replaced by a "generic, dull, blonde", I've not watched Impact in weeks. The Beautiful People... Would you like to guest host the next edition of 'On The Mic'? PM Kam -------------------------------------------------------------- Final Thoughts -------------------------------------------------------------- So there you have it, another issue of the newsletter in the proverbial books. I hope you enjoyed the journey and will be booking another ticket for a fortnight's time. A big thank you to all of the writers, for without them, the newsletter would be pretty thin on content. Things don't always go the way you want them to, no matter how hard you try, but don't let one setback stop you in your tracks. Sometimes it's the chipping away that brings down the biggest walls, so keep fighting the good fight and, in the words of one of my favourite unknowing rebels, Marc from Empire Records, "Damn The Man"! Let me leave you with these, my very own words of wisdom... The greatest danger to any establishment is the rebel, the rebel with a cause, for he knows no fear, knows no boundaries and knows no quit. Fear the rebel, because history tells us that the rebellion isn't too far behind. Newsletter Editor: DC  --------------------------------------------------------------- Contributors --------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to everybody who contributed to this issue of the TWO Newsletter:
NEXT EDITION: Sunday 13th December
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I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you. - Ghengis Khan Read Movie Mayhem in the Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter
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16-11-2009, 02:45 AM
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Getting ready for spring.
  
Join Date: Dec 2007
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That's one heck of a full newsletter. Just glanced through for now, but looking good. Welcome to Decibella great article for your first.
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16-11-2009, 04:16 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Good Newsletter.
 I don't agree that Suicide needs a gimmick change though.
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ShaolinHandLock: The #1 Kung Fu Movie Expert on TWO! |
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16-11-2009, 08:39 AM
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New Forum User
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Loving the newsletter too, brilliant theme
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16-11-2009, 11:34 AM
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TWO Senior Mod
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So you think the Pistols are still rebels, despite reforming purely to make money? Rotton was a rebel despite saying he only ever did the Pistols in order to make money. The Clash stopped being rebels despite sticking to their beliefs throughout (even giving up profits on albums to ensure they were sold cheaply so anyone could afford them) and not being after money... unlike the Pistols. And Ozzy is as far from a rebel now as you can get. He's a good little boy. I appreciate your column is your opinion, so dont take this as me having a go, just me throwing my opinions as to you being wrong on certain acts.
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TWO Senior Mod Tools of the modern vampire hunter, electric lights and cocaine.
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16-11-2009, 12:40 PM
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Chriscare > Than You Can't get enough of TNA?, Weirdo. But anyway, check out The Impact Zone in the #227th edition of the Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter |
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16-11-2009, 12:52 PM
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The lovemaster ohhh yeaah
Join Date: Dec 2007
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i disagree is recent outings as the pope where good and may not have happened if he was simple Kaz
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Jayfunk has sold his soul for a few golden coins and a smile. it could be worse, barely
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16-11-2009, 01:08 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2001
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Liked the newsletter a lot, loved the running theme, makes it such an easier read and flows really nicely.
Still not sure about the quote bit though. It just needs context. It started fine with an introduction to the Hogan thing...and then it just jumped to abortions! Surely the comments should come before a subject change, or else it's just complicated and doesn't make any sense. I also disagree with most of the choices on the musicians rebels thing. The Clash aren't rebels because they made a lot of money? Yet The Sex Pistols are...because they made even more by reforming? The Beatles did nothing new yet (the first few years were copying Buddy Holly, was A Day In The Life doing that?) Adam and The Ants were innovators? Ozzy the rebel who does anything his wife asks him to do like go on Paul O'Grady? Mousse T made records for children? Bit illogical, but it's opinions, so you can't be wrong and all that. Apart from that though, I really liked it.
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Turns Water into Funk Weekly Column: The Iron Jung! http://www.wrestling101.com/101/category/jung |
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16-11-2009, 01:58 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
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Chriscare > Than You Can't get enough of TNA?, Weirdo. But anyway, check out The Impact Zone in the #227th edition of the Talk Wrestling Online Community Newsletter |
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16-11-2009, 02:31 PM
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SPOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Barnsley District of Porntopia
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Really liked the Newsletter and it killed more time then usual to read as there was so much packed in there. Really well done to all involved!
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She is cruel, laughs at you when you are naked, but you keep coming back for more, and more! Why? Because she is the only prostitute I can afford. Play MMA Tycoon buy clothes from Nemesis Cage Clothing! News Reporter at Wrestling101 |
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Penguin Bashing
Japanese Baseball
Mumu
Zookeeper|
16-11-2009, 03:09 PM
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#11 |
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New Forum User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Stoke
vCash: 500
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Potay-to potah-to
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16-11-2009, 03:13 PM
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#12 | |
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TWO Senior Mod
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Yorkshire
Age: 29
vCash: 62
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Quote:
__________________
TWO Senior Mod Tools of the modern vampire hunter, electric lights and cocaine.
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16-11-2009, 03:13 PM
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#13 | |
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Bangor!!
Age: 31
vCash: 25
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Quote:
__________________
To be a pacifist you must to be willing to die for peace
BEWARE THE SYPHILIS!!! |
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16-11-2009, 03:16 PM
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#14 | |
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TWO Senior Mod
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Yorkshire
Age: 29
vCash: 62
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Quote:
Negative comments... what negative comments? Nobody said anything was wrong with her column, just disagreed on her opinions in it. Or is she immune from being questioned and challenged?
__________________
TWO Senior Mod Tools of the modern vampire hunter, electric lights and cocaine.
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16-11-2009, 03:19 PM
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#15 |
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Patrician in waiting
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Ankh Morpork
Age: 34
vCash: 62
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Gotta love this place sometimes. No really, you gotta. Everything ends up in war eventually...
__________________
Tear drops on the city, Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Seem like the whole world walking pretty, And you can't find the room to move Well everybody better move over, that's all I'm running on the bad side, And I got my back to the wall ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ // WrestleHolic // MonkeyHolic // eBay Stuff! // The Inno View // |
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