clintthecrippler

I think the big deal isnt that its "live wrestling on the Network" but that its the return of King of the Ring.

Now Cole just said "the finals of the King of the Ring tournament on Tuesday". Maybe first rounds are tomorrow on Raw. Or maybe they are making it up as they go along and do have any idea what will exactly air on Tuesday either, which if we are being honest is more likely.

They just casually dropped a reference to King of the Ring LIVE ACTION airing this Tuesday during a Network promo on the Extreme Rules Pre Show. Schedule is currently just listing a one-hour "WWE Network Exclusive" for 8pm on Tuesday. I cant imagine they would burn through an entire tournament in an hour or just do a four-man tournament. Maybe they're doing a 16 man tournament over the course of a few weeks on the Network? Could be a good month of original in-ring programming for the Network if thats the case.

Andre The Giant bumping like a madman...in 1987...for Otto Wanz

I am one of the biggest Farley fanboys there is but even I admit, if he followed up Beverly Hills Ninja with one or two more stinkers along the same lines, he would basically be in the same boat as David Spade and Rob Schneider, doing straight to DVD dreck but maybe also having voiceover work in the wake of Shrek's success. He certainly wouldnt be cast as the star in anything again. Oddly enough, I could see him succeeding though in a King of Queens style sitcom but set in Chicago. He had that extra likability that thrives in network sitcoms.

I know thats not whats happening, but I would love an alternate reality where the Vince and Warrior discussion is about that Rick Rude photo spread above them.

I always loved how the team name was called "The Cruel Connection" but they were too lazy to come up with individual ring names so in singles competition it was just "Cruel Connection #1" and "Cruel Connection #2" And not gonna lie, when I went to WrestleReunion LA a few years back and the PWG show had the Legends Rumble, I marked out big time for Cruel Connection #2 being a competitor. I am also reasonably sure I was the only person in the building marking out for that.

Eh, at least everything is spelled correctly on the XICW poster, and it's not listing a "former WWE star" that jobbed to Paul London on Velocity. That automatically right there puts it better than 95% of other indy posters/flyers.

First wrestler I really remember taking notice of - Andre The Giant. Five years old, I'm guessing late 83/early 84ish because I remember the afro. Wrestlers that made me want to watch every week - Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Was a huge A-Team fan, so yeah, I am one of the kids that started watching every week because of Wrestlemania I. Wrestlers that hooked me in to where wrestling was all I could think about as a kid and set the course to being a fan for life - Dusty, Magnum, the Rock N Roll Express, and the Road Warriors. Came across an episode of NWA Worldwide on local UHF station, and then also put together that there was a show on TBS at 6:05 every Saturday night that had those wrestlers on it. I always remained a Hulkamaniac, but even at eight years old I could tell there was a different energy to it from WWF. The comment I made to JJ Dillon the one opportunity I got to meet him: "The WWF made me like wrestling...the NWA made me love wrestling."

Even wackier is them referring to the name of the tag team as "CM Punk". Man, this really proves that NO ONE was watching Sunday Night Heat at the time. I feel like this match as well as the cluster surrounding his name would have been a bigger deal especially since he was still active in Ring of Honor at the time.

The Al Bundy fantasy booking reminds me how much of a mark I was for the Carnage Crew in Ring of Honor. I loved the gimmick that they were two guys that loved wrestling because it was the only time they could get away from their nagging wives and bratty kids.

Thanks for the hat tip on Wrist, good stuff, nice and filthy. And yeah, that Bat EP is great. Been digging most of the side projects the Municipal Waste crew have been tossing out there. I gotta time one of my trips back to the Midwest to see Dawnbringer or High Spirits at some point. I can't complain too much as I'm in L.A. and spoiled for awesome shows and tours, but it seems he never gets out here with any of those projects live. And speaking of getting out to the Midwest for awesome shows, I'm really bumming that I probably won't be able to get out to Hell's Headbash

Those Cirith Ungol demos were a frigging revelation. I've always been a fan, but that was one of the rare demo collections where I feel like those being out there on a wider level actively added to the band's recorded legacy. Seconding the love for the new Dawnbringer, but I'm beginning to fear that the sounds of all of the projects he's in is creeping together, and that as his vocals on Dawnbringer get a little more "rock" it's not as distinctive from the other stuff he does. Don't get me wrong though, as I do love me some High Spirits:

I am all set to buy tickets for all eighteen days of Battle of Los Angeles this year if Rockstar Spud gets announced as one of the competitors.

and a few more... Enslaved - "Thurisaz Dreaming" from In Times - business as usual compared to their last few albums, continuing their prog-black metal mashup progression. An Autumn For Crippled Children - "When Night Leaves Again" from The Long Goodbye - post-black metal in the vein of stuff like Deafheaven. Could totally be the next big thing in that scene if the right breaks happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7c5ZvO_C7c Midnight Ghost Train - "BC Trucker" from Cold Was The Ground - sounds like Kyuss and Clutch had a baby and then that baby took steroids Inculter - "Commander" from Persisting Devolution - Norwegian teenagers doing blackened-thrash ala Toxic Holocaust, nothing original but done really, really well

Here's some 2015 stuff I've been digging: Visigoth - "The Revenant King" from the album of the same name - awesome swords-and-sorcery metal with not a single tongue-in-cheek to be found. Riffs remind me of Amon Amarth at time but vocals are more clean in a lower Halford register: Volahn - "Natjir Ichik" from Aq'Ab'Al - Black Metal inspired by Mayan ancestry and imagery. Some pretty insane guitar work even for this genre. Night Demon - "Screams in the Night" from Curse of the Damned - new L.A. band but their sound is more NWOBHM worship Death Karma - "Slovakia - Journey of the Soul" from The History of Death & Burial Rituals Part I - tripped-out Czech black/death metal Aktor - "Too Young To Die" from Paranoia - Chris Black of Dawnbringer/Nachtmystium jamming out with dudes from Finnish prog-rockers Circle - more 70's in nature but still awesome nonetheless

Of course the WWE Network's vision of the Attitude Era begins with the night DX had their farce of a match for the European Championship. Bravo WWE...bravo.

Jumping Jeff Farmer has been a "bad wrestling promo" Internet meme for a few years now. I think that promo even made it to the Howard Stern show at some point, or maybe Opie & Anthony. Either way, still cool to see that there is always someone finding that hidden gold for the first time.

Caught a performance last night where they did a run-through of some sketches before they tape these next couple of weeks. Dudes haven't missed a beat and looking forward to the new show!

I'd be okay if they just looked through a bunch of IWA Mid-South videos from 2002 and hired anyone that isn't dead or in jail. The nerds and smarks can geek out over CM Punk and Austin Aries, while I mark out for Simon Sezz vs. Adam Gooch in a best of seven series.

Stupid drunk posting. Didnt put together you posted about a writer tryout, the story I posted was about a commentator tryout.

Never heard that story. I remember hearing a story that they found his blade scars hideous and just didnt want someone with a forehead like that being a talking head.

Very accurate. I am always a sucker for the moments where an American swear word enters a Japanese wrestling promo. One of my favorite moments is the FMW vs ECW tape where Ricky Fuji cuts a promo in Japanese but then ends it by challenging two ECW guys (Bubba Ray and Terry Funk maybe?) To a "Three Way FUCKING Dance!"

trying to think of a movie where it's basically "DIE HARD....but with a ghost" but blanking right now on whether it's actually been done or not. It sounds like it could be either really awesome or really terrible, but either way, completely watchable.

Some clarifications: -The Bob Backlund vs. Aldo Montoya match was not actually in Portugal. That was a joke from the YouTube poster. It was a house show in Quebec. The match does however feature Backlund doing stalling shtick that would make Larry Zbysko even say "that's a little much." Still a fun bizarre spend of 30 minutes of your wrestling viewing time. I think I remember reading the match went that long because Undertaker was late getting in for the main event from the town the night before. -The Andre side of the six-man trio is rounded out by two other European wrestlers, Franz Van Buyten and one of the myriad of wrestlers who have wrestled under the name Ali Bey. Mad Dog was short but he was never THAT short. Also, if Andre and Don Leo ever teamed, we would still be lamenting the death of the tag team division 45 years ago because no team ever afterward could potentially be as awesome. It would have been like The Road Warriors showing up in 1971. -The Road Warriors vs Lawler/Raschke is from Japan TV, but the match took place in America at one of the Meadowlands Pro Wrestling USA "Star Wars" shows from when that group tried to invade the Northeast. -Also, if you love jobbers getting beat the fuck up, by all means sit down with that Tazmaniacs squash match. Even The Steiners and The Samoans would say "hey, reign it in a little." Well, maybe not The Steiners.