colonial

Netflix will premiere an American Gladiators doc of its own, a five-parter, on June 28. Remember the scene in the ESPN doc where Gladiators who declined to participate in the 30 for 30 were X-ed out? All of them will participate in the Netflix doc -- Nitro, Laser, Zap, Ice, Blaze, Tower.

Watched parts of the show last night ... missed the first and last two matches given streaming issues. -- I get what they were trying to do in the ladder match but all of the Arn schtick left me with a flat feeling. Too many blood capsules and Arn looked like Abadon's grandfather at the end. On the plus side, impressive highspots for a big man from Wardlow, and Christian can still go at 49. (Unfortunately, there were times were the moves took far too long to deliver. Most matches I saw seemed bloated -- trim five minutes they would be better.) -- Trios match over-delivered, starting with a Top 5 rap from Max Caster. Malakai Black is incredibly crisp in the ring -- his moves hit and his submissions are smart and snug. His moveset is what Marina Shafir should be without the clumsiness and awkward footwork. Anthony Bowens is an incredible FIP -- loved how he found ways to try and escape Malakai's submissions given the no rope break rule. -- Jade-Taya was probably Jade's best match that didn't feature Red Velvet. That "sliding German" from Taya was a great move, and I like the springboard/block rotation from both. I didn't mind the way Jade lost the title -- plays into the storyline of Mark Sterling and Jade being overly confident and you can start a redemption angle with Jade moving forward. (The fans also seemed to appreciate Jade's effort after weeks of silence) -- If KFC wants to bring back celebs playing Colonel Sanders, Jeff Jarrett is right there for the taking.

Link will not embed, but it appears Abadon returned to AEW tonight in a dark match, teaming with Willow and Skye vs. Emi, Nyla and Marina. There's an AEW Dark Elevation dream match for you ...

SWAT ended up being renewed after all. 13-episode final season.

YouTube sent me on a Gordon Lightfoot spoof run this morning ... SCTV - Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Written - YouTube (This and "Stairways to Heaven" are in the upper echelon of SCTV commercial spoofs) Burton Cummings as Gordon Lightfoot - YouTube (Burton Cummings of The Guess Who doing Gordon doing Rod Stewart and Roy Orbison!) (Apologies for link issues)

That State Farm shirt easily wins wrestling T-shirt of the year.

With Adonis you have his reputation as a legit locker room tough guy (you can bring in Spivey to talk about their locker room fight); the transformation from leather jacket-wearing NYC gang member to morbidly obese Boy George wannabe; his sudden departure from WWF in 1987 as he was starting his singles feud with Brutus; redemption work in AWA and NJPW; and his death in a car crash (there was one survivor -- curious if we will hear from him).

https://deadline.com/2023/04/dick-van-dyke-days-of-our-lives-drake-hogestyn-1235333355/ Very random TV news of the day .... 97-year-young Dick Van Dyke will guest on Days of our Lives this fall.

Films I walked out of: As a child ... Popeye -- I was six when the movie came out and it confused the heck out of me. Several kids and their parents walked out as well (according to my dad). I watched it in full in college The Pirate Movie -- My sister wanted to see it and the four of us (me, my sister and my parents) went to the theater. My dad and I left halfway through and we played air hockey in the lobby for the rest of the film. My sister still loves the film but I thought it was stupid. As an adult ... Just Visiting -- this was the American version of "Les Visiteurs" with Jean Reno. My then-girlfriend and I were the only ones in the theater and we walked out halfway through. Just ... unfunny. Christopher Robin -- my wife and I took my daughter to see this when she was seven. She got upset at a specific scene and wanted to leave, so we did. Sherlock Gnomes -- another film for my daughter when she was seven, this time with my wife and her parents. Me, my wife and her dad all walked out to avoid falling asleep 20 minutes in. We spent the next hour talking about insurance policies and pet care while my daughter and her grandmother watched the film.

Went to see SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE yesterday with my 11-year-old daughter. She thought it was good. I honestly couldn't care less -- laughed a few times and I appreciated the 90-minute run time -- but it wasn't anything memorable. Daughter later said she thought the two SONIC movies were better. My daughter also has the soul of a 35-year-old, complaining during the trailers and ads that "everything's a remake or sequel these days." (By "ad," I mean nothing more than a title card of a film expected to come out down the line). She did like the trailer for "Trolls Band Together." When I explained that's a sequel, she shot back, "But I like 'Trolls' -- that's different." Saw trailers for six films -- four as part of "Super Mario Bros." and two provided by the theater -- remember, the theater is in a 55+ community, so those two films are strictly for grown-ups ... FAST X TRANSFORMERS RISE OF THE BEAT TMNT: MUTANT MAYHEM TROLLS BAND TOGETHER BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER LOVE AGAIN (that movie with Celine Dion) My daughter liked the "Love Again" trailer because it was "not a sequel or a remake," but couldn't tell you a thing about it outside of "the woman sang very loudly." She also complained about "Book Club," saying it's a "film for old women" and she couldn't imagine "people buying tickets for it." As part of a reward for being part of the school's safety patrol, my daughter and other patrol members will be going on a field trip to said theater in May to watch the Julia Roberts film "Wonder." Conversation in the car ... Daughter: "And we're going to have a theater all to ourselves and we're getting snacks and a taco lunch!" Me: "Awesome." Daughter: "And you know what? There will be more people in our theater than the one showing 'Book Club'. But I think 'Super Mario Bros.' will do better." She's turning into a film critic.

The Friends of Trumpy Bundle [Limited to 200] (PRE-ORDER) – Severin Films Severin Films is releasing the director's cut of "Pod People" ("Extraterrestrial Visitors") later this month. Bundle includes a Trumpy plush and "I'm a Virgin" T-shirt.

Kim Mulkey looks like she does all her clothes shopping at Fred Blassie's estate sale.

Box Office: 'Dungeons & Dragons' Opens to $40 Million - Variety Finishing fourth at the box office is the new Biblical film "His Only Son," which is from the people responsible for "The Chosen." I have not seen this film and I don't know how good it is but, per IMDB, the actor fifth from the top of the cast list for "His Only Son" is Luis Fernandez-Gil, AKA Dario Cueto and Cesar Duran. Dario Cueto in a Biblical epic is something I didn't know I wanted ....

Enzo's apparently gone ... Real1/Enzo Amore released by MLW - WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results (f4wonline.com)

I watched the second half of GCW vs. DDT yesterday -- pretty much stumbled into the show while looking for something to watch ... -- I can now say I watched a Yoshihiko match live. The concept is different, but it's better as, say, a once every two months spectacle -- not a character who shows up and fights every day. The match was also about 7-8 minutes too long, but kudos to Radrick for making a passable match out of it. Honestly, GCW could have a field day if DDT let it control that 24/7 title for a few months (I know Janela had it during part of the pandemic and was "defended" backstage at Daily's Place -- got a kick out of those segments and I can see GCW doing something similar). -- BUSSY/Pheromones was .... something. Like the above match, it was something you could have cut by 5-6 minutes. -- The six-man had some good moments. Watase reminds me of a smaller Masato Tanaka, and "1 Called Manders" is an indy-riffic Stan Hansen. But the unprotected chair and weapon shots were uncomfortable to watch, and the camera folks had a bad habit of staying on a shot a few seconds too long. At least twice, there were shots where it was obvious a wrestler was getting ready to blade (Warner when he snuck his head under the ring, then Justice removing something under his wrist tape). Heard a lot about Chris Brookes and, after this match, I don't get it. He looked like AWA's The Blaster after being left in the dryer too long. The early LEGO spots were pretty funny. -- Enjoyed Akiyama/Endo vs. Homicide/Deppen. Deppen's "We Built This City" entrance was funny, Akiyama still looks fresh and strong in his 50s and Endo has a lot of promise in the ring. -- Janela/Ueno was fun. Janela focusing on Ueno's arm for the majority of the match was a different take on him -- he's honestly better out of AEW and focusing on GCW, other indies and the international scene. A few things didn't pan out for me -- Uena hit a tornillo on Janela, but it seemed the two just stood there afterward before realizing they had to take a bump. The frogsplash into a Fujiwara armbar was also a head-scratcher. -- Only caught the last minute of Higuchi/Starboy, which was Higuchi beating the tar out of his opponent.

Rick has been a member of the Cherokee County (GA) school board for 17 years. Haven't lived in that neck of the woods in four years, but I was taken aback at registering my daughter for kindergarten there back in 2017 and see his mug on a school board photo near the elementary school office. He's actually listed on the photo (as well as the county website) as -- ROBERT RECHSTEINER "RICK STEINER". (As an aside, when my wife was undergoing cancer treatment and my parents came to Cherokee County to help me take care of our daughter, they went to the school one day to have lunch with her. When they came back, my dad asked out of the blue about the school board photo and mentioned "that Rechsteiner guy" looked familiar to him. I mentioned we saw he and his brother wrestler the Midnight Express at the Meadowlands. He just looked at me, said "oh," and walked out of the room.) There had been some various scandals affecting the school board there over the years I lived in Cherokee County (I was there from 2012-2019), but few, if any, involved Rick. A few parents I knew who attended school board meetings said Rick generally said little, focused on work at hand and didn't "play politics." He got re-elected due to lack of opposition and name recognition. My daughter was only in that school district for kindergarten and the first three months of first grade (she moved to Colorado to finish first grade after her mom/my wife died) -- I didn't have any issues with her education there.

TROLLS BAND TOGETHER In theaters this November

Seeing some talk online that one of this year's WWE HOF inductees will be a referee, which would be the first time a full-time ref would receive the honor. If that's the case, would it be Earl Hebner getting the nod? Going back to Mick Foley saying "one of this year's inductees" wanted to introduce them, I'd have to think Hebner is the choice given his role as referee in so many Attitude Era main events. Others I thought were Mike Chioda (given his longevity in the WWE), Charles Robinson (he'd probably request Flair to induct him) and Danny Davis (who I'd get a kick out of as this year's "novelty induction.")

Chen Kenichi, the "Szechuan Sage" from the original "Iron Chef," has died at 67. ‘Iron Chef’ Kenichi Chen Dies at Age 67 - The Japan News (yomiuri.co.jp)

Former F1 champ Jenson Button will run three road/street races this year in NASCAR's top series -- COTA March 26, Chicago Street in July and Indy Street in August. He'll race in the #15 for Rick Ware Racing with Mobil 1 support. Kimi Raikonnen will also return to NASCAR for the COTA race, again with the "international" entry for Trackhouse.

Robert Blake has died at 89 ... https://youtu.be/bm5quRl4sD8

My daughter walked in during the PPA promo. She asked who "human Squidward" was. So it appears The Factory is no more. Perhaps the announcers could, I don't know, explain what's up? They were a faction for over 18 months -- perhaps say QT "graduated" them or something. Even jobber factions deserve closure

Train and Automobile were right there for the taking.

https://deadline.com/2023/02/fawlty-towers-reboot-john-cleese-camilla-cleese-rob-reiner-castle-rock-entertainment-basil-manuel-1235252175/ This ... doesn't sound interesting at first glance.

Charles Kimbrough, best known for playing Jim Dial on "Murphy Brown" and voicing Victor the gargoyle in Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," has died at 86. Here he is in a tire commercial with Andrea Martin ...