twiztor

they're fine. i mean, they're somewhat entertaining the first time. i haven't listened to this cd in well over 15 years, so most of the songs themselves, unless they were used as entrance themes, didn't retain space in my brain. But as soon as the album started and i heard the first Austin skit, they came right back to me. they did an OK job of breaking up the genres/sounds/vibes, but after the first one i found them largely groan worthy. But i absolutely would be down to hear Austin make a karaoke attempt.

would Vince allow him to be called "the Sheik" tho? i mean, this is the guy that wouldn't allow Shane Helm on TV under that name because there was already a Shane. And worried that people might confuse Steve Austin with Steven Regal.

WWE Superstars – WWE ORIGINALS 1. Steve Austin – Where's the Beer (Segment 1) (2:36) 2. Dudley Boyz – We've Had Enough (3:07) 3. Trish Stratus – I Just Want You (3:35) 4. Rey Mysterio, Jr. - Crossing Borders (2:52) 5. Steve Austin – Did You Feel It? (Segment 2) (2:01) 6. Booker T – Can You Dig It? (3:33) 7. Kurt Angle – I Don't Suck (Really) (3:05) 8. Lita – When I Get You Alone (3:27) 9. Steve Austin – You Changed the Lyrics (1:31) 10. Lillian Garcia – You Just Don't Know Me At All (4:09) 11. Eddie & Chavo Guerrero - We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal (3:43) 12. Chris Jericho – Don't You Wish You Were Me? (3:31) 13. Steve Austin – Drink Your Beer (Segment 4) (1:50) 14. Rikishi – Put A Little Ass On It (4:45) 15. Stacy Keibler – Why Can't We Just Dance? (3:18) 16. John Cena – Basic Thugonomics (3:14) 17. Steve Austin – Don't That Taste Good? (0:46) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC59E7F0446D5B74C https://www.discogs.com/master/571458-WWE-WWE-Originals Ring Introduction: Released in early 2004, featuring a good variety of the WWE roster, all performing original songs (hence the name). I knew a couple friends who owned this CD back in the day. Some of the tracks' names stand out in my memory, but only the couple songs that were used as entrance themes really hold any space in my memory. The Match: “We've Had Enough” is a pretty good early '00s rap song. Bubba's flow is certainly better than average while D-Von shows promise. If the chorus had been a little bit harder, and if it didn't kind of fall apart in the second half, this could have been really damn good. “I Just Want You” is a long-distance love song from Trish Stratus. It's a pretty stripped down sound, so relies heavily on the vocals to bear the burden. Trish doesn't really have the chops to do so, and the song is pretty middling. “Crossing Borders” I like the Latin-infused Rap sound here. Gives off a laid back feel. Rey weaves between English and Spanish pretty flawlessly while his vocals fluctuate between good to 'just ok'. It's not bad for a wrestling song, but that's about the most praise I can give it. “Can You Dig It?” has a funky undertone to the beat that I really like. Booker's delivery is adequate. It loses steam in the back end and really could have been like a minute shorter. “I Don't Suck (Really)” feels like a throwback to those early “The Wrestling Album” releases, where the song is more of a novelty than an actual song. Kurt is speaking his “motivational speech” heel talking points over the beat. There is a breakdown late in the song that leans more into a “rap” than a “promo”, and it is pretty awful. “When I Get You Alone” sounds like if “pop punk” and “boy band” had a baby, where it has the worst tendencies of both. Lita's vocals feel disconnected from the instruments, and she's not very good to boot. The chorus is actually really catchy, however. “You Just Don't Know Me At All” is better than I expected. We all know Lillian has a good voice, but it's emphasized here with almost everyone else being subpar. Very good song. “We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal” finds the right balance for me between a catchy song, a novelty song, and a good song. It also encapsulates the characters of Los Guerreros pretty much perfectly. “Don't You Wish You Were Me?” starts off with what I think is supposed to be a real punk rock start, but it sounds like a mess. But then the song settles into a pretty good groove and I like it. (I mainly remember this for the Stacker2 commercial that used to play constantly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVS4Qm3Mga8) “Put A Little Ass On It” sees Rikishi test the waters of soul singing. I wouldn't say it's good, but it certainly has its charm. The chorus is just ridiculous, and without the context of Rikishi's character, it would be baffling. Luckily, I have that context, so it is merely weird. “Why Can't We Just Dance?” is a terrible techno pop song. Completely vapid. “Basic Thugonomics” this song kicks ass. The Finish: So yeah, this bounces all over the place with genres, with very little rising above the level of “OK”. Again, very hard to score. So much of it was just acceptable, but the number of songs that I outright DIDN'T like outnumber the number that I DID like. So, with that, I bestow a rating of 2 ringbells out of 5.

was rocking out to Mudvayne in the car last night with the niece (her pick). I mentioned they're coming to the area sometime this summer. she got excited, so i looked up tickets.... 80 fucking dollars. for general admission. at a casino. outside... fuck. that.

the lockdowns only lasted for what? 5-6 months depending on circumstances? we're 5 years removed from that. i feel like this is something that people still point to (not singling you out @zendragon), while the vast majority of people, even younger, should have had the opportunity to move past this. i DO think the larger point is that younger people got REALLY used to not HAVING to go out, and their TikTok (and etc.) addiction only grew. i'm assuming this also plays into the so-called "loneliness epidemic" (i feel this is becoming too much of a catch-all also, but i digress). i haven't put a ton of thought into this, but when you get that immediate gratification of a dopamine hit every time someone hits that Like button, or when you're paying OnlyFans models for 1:1 interactions that seem genuine (despite being anything but), then i can see how you would feel like dating or maintaining IRL friendships or social gatherings are a lot of work for little reward. This is a major societal issue and the pandemic/lockdowns definitely fast-tracked it, but we're doing fuck all to neutralize it. (i typed all this out and then realized that the monthly wrestling thread probably isn't the place for this)

worse by magnitudes. wrestlers are real people. Wonder Woman isn't receiving messages asking for feet pics. She doesn't have a family that's going to run across creepy photos of her or blogs devoted to worshipping her. She doesn't have to deal with real life stalkers. although i would imagine that Gal Gadot is exposed to that to some degree.

he should have jumped Darby up near the summit to kickstart a feud. That IS where YET-TAYs live, right?

i think some of these are carryovers from Natural's post: Cody/Dustin Rhodes Cody & Dustin vs. Young Bucks Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks (most of the feud, but specifically the cage match) Britt Baker/Thunder Rosa No DQ Match (also the cage match, but more for Rosa winning the belt than the match itself) Moxley/Omega Exploding Death Match The excitement leading up to the first War Games Blood and Guts Owen Hart's family being involved again Hangman winning the big gold as the culmination of a story Danielson/Starks strap match one of the Young Bucks vs. FTR matches. i wanna say the second? i don't remember for sure which i liked best. FTR vs. Briscoes (i know that was technically ROH but i don't care) Jericho/Cassidy in the OJ Mimosa match or whatever it was called some of the big bad bumps: Darby through that plate of glass where you can see dozens of cuts immediately open. Moxley on the spiked club recently. and all the hilarious Dark Order skits from BTE

i'm not a joshi fan, and i don't personally know any in my real life. And haven't encountered anything like that here, which is really my only online interaction with wrestling fans. But if i could keep playing psycho-analyst, i would guess that it's a combination of factors, but the fetishization of Japanese women + tight/revealing clothing + body contortion. and then getting over defensive due to the perceived deviancy of liking something that includes the above? i know that if/when i have to preemptively add in clarifying remarks, it changes how i want to discuss said topic. also, i got a good kick out of this question being asked by "SEX MACHINE GUN"

that's awful. i'm thankful but also kind of surprised it doesn't happen more often. i know we joke about the "wrestling bubble" but.... I know, personally, that i was a nerdy kid in junior/high school. The wonder, and excitement, and larger than life presentation really drew me in. Adding in that it wasn't the ever-present mainstream presence (like, say, NFL, pop music, or the present day Marvel movies) really hooked me. It was MINE. I certainly went through a period where i was OBSESSED with wrestling. So i can easily see how this could lead to a hyperfixation on said sport/performer/celebrity. If that ultra focus continues, that's how it can lead to the mutants/neckbeards/mouth breathers. And that goes doubly so when that becomes more of the standard fan, rather than an outlier. It normalizes that behavior, which makes small aggressions a regular thing and larger aggressions (like the aforementioned attempted kiss) don't become THAT bizarre to you. semi-related, my initial thought is that it's a bit of a chicken/egg situation. Does this niche sport attract weirdos? Or has this sport become more niche to cater to weirdos?

no Foley match? there's an indie match from i wanna say 1993 vs. Lightning Kid that i remember really liking. haven't seen it in years, but i feel like i should rewatch that, as well as Sabu vs. SyxxPac from 3PW just to compare and contrast since they would be roughly a decade apart.

has AEW always had rope breaks in their cage matches? Because i agree with them being worked as regular matches, but aren't they inherently No DQ? (obviously the answer is yes, since Mox hit Joe with the briefcase in full view of the referee). But then why did the ref make Joe break the chokehold when Mox got to the ropes?

i did a bit more digging and came to the same conclusion (see edited post). Really, that just left me with more questions. Is this just a stupid PR move to get their name out there? i guess it worked on me.

just saw a post online, and i didn't do any research to see if this is real or not, but it said Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer has made an offer to buy Hooters. WTF. i know Hooters recently filed for bankruptcy, but how can a shitty third rate beer brand even come close to buying a whole franchise? i don't know how widespread this beer even is, but i do know that it's not available within 50 miles of any major city in my state. P.S. FHH edit: ok, i did more reading. it sounds like Real American, the company that owns the beer brand and maybe also the soon-to-be wrestling competition, is going to make an all cash bid to purchase the Hooters IP. Not the restaurant chain itself, essentially just the name and its trademarks. i cannot see a restaurant chain selling that, since they'd likely have to license their own name that they've been using for 40ish years. what a bizarre story. but i'm really kind of intrigued by this full court press that this "Real American" company is putting forth. who's providing the capital? what's the business plan? what is the end goal?

my feelings on Ironheart are pretty much the same as @Eivion's. i wasn't even going to watch the trailer, until i read this. the original Hood miniseries was phenomenal. I love it so much, but i don't think i've read any subsequent stories. But now i feel like i'm going to have to check out the show.

OSJ, i miss you brother. i can't believe it's been over 4 years. I wish i could hear you talk about Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe being eligible for the MLB HOF. i'm sure you have opinions on this big shift. i imparted some of your wisdom at work the other day to a new supervisor who was struggling on how to connect with their reports. I thought back to John's 5 words. "Can You Tell Me More?" I told this supervisor how much that phrase has helped my improvement in having meaningful conversations, and getting people to open up about their passions and interests. I hope they are able to run with it as well.

the hours DO match. i posted "16 hours ago" and your post was "edited 16 hours ago". We likely we making our posts/edits at the same time and they overlapped. I am not trying to play some "gotcha" game against you. i was asking a legitimate question and you got defensive quick. ... but since you want to get all high and mighty, how is your statement about Rich ("he is only good for taking news he got from others") different than what you're doing here? You claimed that you "first broke the news here about what Disney got years ago on this very board too", but you didn't break any news. You regurgitated what you got from somewhere else. Also, enough with the whole "I was right about this too" that you add to so many of your posts. You repost news 500 times a day but rarely have anything to say conversationally unless you're dismissing other peoples opinions and stating your own as facts. i'm over your 'holier-than-thou' defensive bullshit. blocked.

i didn't "use the old post", you edited it after i quoted it. (or at best, after i hit 'quote' but before i hit 'post'.) edit to add: i was asking a legitimate question. sorry if it didn't come across that way. i didn't know if Rich had posted something way off base, or if it was mainly a semantics thing you were taking issue with.

care to elaborate what you're referring to here? (the first part, not the face punching). Because, while it's true that Disney didn't buy Fox wholesale, they own a lot more than "properties and other things". The only recent post i see from him is a post about Gwenpool with a quote that says "Marvel's owner Disney now owns Fox". Again, not 100% technically accurate, but still largely true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquisition_of_21st_Century_Fox_by_Disney

i think Mercedes winning is the most likely scenario. Virtually a guarantee with how they've been teasing Toni/Mercedes already. That being said, i also think Hayter winning would be more interesting for the division at large, and for me personally. Hayter hasn't regained her aura from before she left, but i think it's right there, bubbling beneath the surface.

i have never heard anybody utter that phrase, but i'm sure now that i've read this post that i will start hearing it everywhere.

then don't put Hogan in that role? He was an attraction at that stage. WWE's biggest name, sure. He hadn't been a full time performer for a year. Put him 2nd from the top and have him beat a monster. Have Yoko convincingly win over a top face. It doesn't really make any difference anyway. These were non-televised, so only the live audience saw it. I wonder if WWE taped any of these shows? And i didn't say or imply that Hogan was asking for finishes to be changed. But it's not out of the realm of possibility that Hogan only agreed to go after he knew what the booking was. Again, not saying that's what happened, but Hogan certainly has a habit of getting his way.

all of those title fights sound pretty spectacular to me.

not exactly the same, but they've done "All In Week" or whatever at least once in Chicago already. Between that and Arlington last year, they should be aware of the dangers. I'm curious, if they get this to work out well and if it becomes a regular occurrence.

i guess Hogan will have to somehow live with the fact that he squashed Yoko to end the biggest show of the year. Maybe he'll have to cry into his millions of dollars. Or into his plate of Pastamania. I just looked. After KOTR93, WWE did a tour of Europe, with Hogan beating Yoko by DQ every stop along the way. That's the Hogan way. Put a guy over once, but only with shenanigans, then beat him for months. love the edit, BTW