WrestleMania 13 HEAT

In 1997, I was at the peak of my love for wrestling – as a fan.  Stone Cold Steve Austin was heating up and on his way to super-stardom.  Bret Hart was on the verge of making his first heel turn in many years.  Ken Shamrock was being brought into the wrestling business for the first time ever.  And my new favorite wrestler, whom had defeated Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series ‘96, was defending his WWF World Championship against the undefeated (at WrestleMania) Undertaker.  And yes, I have to admit, my favorite wrestler in the WWF in 1997 was Sycho Sid.

This WrestleMania was being billed as HEAT.  The logo was cool, the theme was cool and I was very fearful that The Undertaker would dethrone Sid as World Champion.  I mean, come on… Sid had beaten HBK for the title at Survivor Series and then gained a victory of Bret Hart the next month.  Surely his luck was going to run out sooner or later.  I just didn’t want it to happen though.

The Ultimate Challenge

The date was April 1st, 1990. 67,678 in attendance at the Toronto Skydome were there to see one thing and one thing only. It’s what the WWF (they hadn’t gotten the F out yet) billed as the Ultimate Challenge. Champion versus Champion. WWF World Heavyweight Champion versus WWF Intercontinental Champion. Good guy versus good guy. All the stars were set to align that night and pit the Ultimate Warrior one on one with “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan.

I was STOKED.

I’m not here to review WrestleMania VI.  I’m not here to give my opinions of the matches or anything of that nature.  I’m here to talk about the single biggest influence for my love for the wrestling business.  The biggest match with the biggest hype… and folks, it lived up to every bit of the expectation.

I was only eight years old at the time.  But the build-up for the match was very simple – even an eight year old kid could understand that this match was something big.  Something that had never been done before.  And the promos were the greatest that I can remember.  Hogan and Warrior squaring off every television show cutting promos back and forth.  The promos were certainly great – but often times, you’d walk away from the television not really knowing what was said.

Warrior goes on about the galaxy and the power.  Who even knows what he was talking about?  But it was great.  Warrior having his back to the camera during his promos was great, as well.  Showing off his muscular back and teasing the Little Warriors, as he slowly turned to the camera to reveal his ever-so-popular face paint and 80’s band hairstyle.

New Five Starr Photos!

Be sure to check out the brand new photos posted in the Five Starr Photos section of the site!  John Coffin does a great job capturing all the action at the Riverkings hockey games.  And as always, Kooky Canuck is huge fun!  I may have pictures posted from my outing on Friday night at Kooky.  And NO – I didn’t take the Kookamunga Challenge!

Also, be on the lookout for my fondest WrestleMania memories, this week.  Also, I’d like to hear yours!  I’ll be digging into my memory bank to reveal my favorite WrestleMania moments throughout my childhood.  I’ll try to give you a fan-based opinion of those memories and not the “wrestler’s” standpoint.  I know I’ve said it here before, but I can’t look at wrestling the same as I used to.  But I can recall the things in the past that make me love the business now that I’m in it.

Be on the lookout for the WrestleMania moments and new pictures.  They’re being posted everyday!  And if you’re not a friend on Myspace… then, what are you waiting for?

I know, it’s Friday…

What does Friday mean?  Well, for many people in the working-world – it means HAPPY FRIDAY.  And for others, especially for the local wrestling websites (I guess mine counts, huh?) – it means that you won’t receive much traffic.  Why?  Simple.  From a poll that was done right here on this very site, many of you attend the local independent wrestling shows on the weekend.  Traffic’s down because people are out and away from their computers.  But before you leave town for the shows, I wanted to give my two cents on a few things.

-  I’ll be making my return – again – to Dyersburg Championship Wrestling, this weekend.  What’s on deck?  I’m  not exactly sure.  I’m on and off in that town… but when I’m there, there’s always a spark.  Hot Tag Wear.com will be in the house, as well.  I look forward to introducing the new merchandise.  I have some brand new stock to pick up and introduce to the world.  Check the site out HERE.

-  I will be at the Kooky Canuck tonight, paying a visit to one of the coolest joints in Memphis.  “Iron” Mike Kelly will be joining me, as we head downtown Memphis to take a look at their giant drinks.  Should be interesting.  For those of you who don’t know him – Mike Kelly is the PA announcer for the Mississippi Riverkings.  And yes, like me – he’s the freakin’ BEST at what he does.  Hands down.  Mike Kelly rules.

-  WrestleMania 25 is right around the corner.  LITERALLY.  This time next week, I’ll be headed to Houston, TX to get ready for the Hall of Fame Ceremony.  I’m glad to hear that Jerry Lawler is hosting that event.  He’s great when he hosts.  I look forward to that.  I’m sure there will be some very interesting after-parties involved, as well.  WrestleMania alone will be awesome.  I’m looking forward to Taker v Michaels.  And since it was announced this week, I’ve been hyped about Kid Rock!  This event will be great and I will have footage via the new Flip Video, as well as pictures for the site.  Be sure to check the Twitter that whole weekend.  I’ll be blowing it up!

That’s all I have for now.  Check back during the weekend for crying out loud!

Motley Cruz

One of my favorite wrestlers of all time is Motely Cruz.  There are many reasons for this.  I’ll share a few of those reasons.  But I mainly wanted to tell one of my favorite Motley stories.

I’ve been wanting to post this for several weeks.  In fact, I have wanted to post this ever since I heard Jason from “Off the Ropes” on 730 Fox Sports tell his Motley story.  His consisted of a “Mankind-looking guy” beating Jason’s head in with a steel chair.  Motley’s name later came to mind and they put him over on the radio.  I loved it!  Motely deserves a little just-due.

He’s one of my favorite wrestlers simply for the fact that I wouldn’t be in this business today if it weren’t for him.  Tasha Simone, his wife, played a huge part in that, as well.  But mainly Motley.  No one knows this because I’ve never told it before – but if it weren’t for Motley and his training, I would’ve quit the business very quickly.

It’s simple – When I left Don Bass’ wrestling school, I was scared to death of taking bumps.  There were certain bumps that I was scared to death of and if I didn’t learn to take them… and take them correctly… I would never make it in the business.  I was so small at 150 pounds – I would’ve been seriously injured.  Motley and his training at his school kept me from quitting the business.  He taught me many things – but the most important was teaching me to take bumps without hurting myself.  He helped me overcome that fear.

Bumping in the ring is no joke.  You can be seriously hurt if you don’t do it correctly.  You can be seriously hurt even if you DO do it correctly.  Motley helped me with that.  I am forever grateful for that.  And to all my haters and critics out there… just think – me still being in the business is partly because of Motley.  Blame him!

Enough about that – let me tell you the story!

Dunn’s Wife Speaks

Yesterday, I posted a few stories about my dealings with Steven Dunn.  I told a few stories about how he had impacted my career and how much of a true professional he was throughout his career.  Shortly after posting that blog, a comment was posted on that same story.  The comment came from Steven’s wife, Andi Doll.

First of all, I was reluctant to believe that it truly was her.  But an e-mail confirmed it, later in the day.  Apparently, with all the news and rumors flying around about Steven’s death, she wanted to clear a few things up.  I’m glad that she saw my blog – everything I said was a complete shoot.  And secondly, I’m glad that she posted her comments here.  It means a lot – especially, knowing the pain she’s going through right now.  I don’t know that pain because I haven’t had to endure that – but I can only imagine how hard it would be.

In my reply to Mrs. Doll, I told her that I would post her comments right here for everyone to see.  A few other sites have ripped this from my blog and posted it on their site.  But I’m posting for the simple fact that she wanted me to and I did know and like Steven Dunn.

Steven Dunn Dies

Man, I really hate to write this.  I had no idea he was still sick.  I heard a few years back that Steven was in a bit of trouble health-wise.  But I thought it had since passed and he was doing well.  For some reason, I even thought he was back in the ring.  I remember hearing that Reno Riggins was booking/running a show in Nashville – so I assumed that Steven Dunn was a part of that.

In the blink of an eye, the Mid-South loses another great worker.  I, like everyone else, remember Steve Doll and Steven Dunn.  I remember the bow-tie.  I remember the lips on the singlet.  I remember the WWF tag team.  I always thought it was cool when I’d see someone from the USWA appear on WWF programming.  I grew up on the USWA so it always felt like I was watching someone I knew when I saw them on the big stage.

I remember meeting Steve, maybe six years ago.  I was intimidated and rightfully so.  I was just a green-horn in this business and didn’t know a wrist-lock from a wrist-watch.  My partner and I were known as the Beale Street Posse and we thought we were over.  And we were, to a degree.  We had gotten fairly popular because of Memphis Wrestling’s television show.  So, we took several bookings that had us speaking to schools in Mississippi about drugs, wrestling and the dangers of both of them.  When we arrived, we saw Steven Dunn and immediately were awestruck.

The Axe Wrestler

As far as the movie The Wrestler goes – it told a very compelling and true story.  Very true, in fact.  Everything you saw in that movie was pretty accurate.  From the boys going over their matches in the locker rooms… to the locker rooms being nothing more than cramped-up, small storage rooms.  They were right – wrestlers love strippers… and even the part about wrestlers not being paid very good is absolutely true.

However, through all the true-to-life details that were included in The Wrestler – they missed one.  They missed one very crucial detail about wrestling:  Axe Body Spray.

That’s right.  Call me crazy.  Call me nutty.  You can call me whatever you’d like.  But the fact of the matter is this – more wrestlers use Axe Body Spray than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.  And no, I don’t use it.  And no, I can’t stand the smell of it.  And yes, that’s why I’m mentioning it here.  I want to put an end to Axe.  Please, I’m begging… stop using this stuff in my locker rooms.

I don’t mean to offend anyone.  But it’s inevitable.  Someone reading this blog will think to themselves, “I love Axe”.  But I’m here to tell you – it’s really not a cologne.  It’s really not a REAL deoderant.  And fellas, please do not go without a shower just because you use Axe.  Spraying Axe on top of stink equals MORE STINK.  You can’t cover body oder.  You have to BATHE it off.  Not SPRAY it off.  

March Madness 2009

How could I go on without posting SOMETHING on March Madness?  I mean, come on… whether you like college basketball or not – you still have to get a little excited about this time of the year!  I guess I get all wrapped up in it because I’m a Memphis Tigers’ fan and I also love fantasy football.  So, how does fantasy football factor in with March Madness?

Choosing your brackets!  DUH!

I’m not familiar with all the teams, obviously.  I only get to see the ones that are on television – and mostly the ones that play my Tigers every year.  But I still have a great time filling out a bracket.  It’s always fun to root and cheer for teams that you know nothing about just because you chose them in your bracket.  It’s similar to fantasy football in the sense that it’s out of your hands, once the selection is made.  Either the player performs or he doesn’t.  And either your team wins or they don’t.  I love it.

I won’t go through my entire bracket because you probably don’t care.  But what I will do is tell you my Final Four.  It goes a little like this:

More on Andrew “Test” Martin

Maybe you’re tired of reading up on this issue… but then again, maybe not.  I remember when I was at the gym and I heard about Chris Benoit’s death and tragedy.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  I wanted all the updates.  The more updates I got, the more information I gathered.  You get a little something new from every story.  I think this article gives you a really good look on the inside of what’s really going on with Andrew Martin and his death.

You can CLICK HERE to view the entire story – but I wanted to share a few very interesting things, as well.

This story really gives you great detail of how Andrew’s neighbor, Amy Patterson, saw Test dead and didn’t know it.  Not at first, anyway.  She apparently could see inside his condo.  How freaky is that part of the story?  You can see inside of a guy’s apartment and that’s how you found out he was lying in the same position for hours – maybe even a full day?  Geeze.  Talk about spooky!  If any guy in the world reported a woman dead because he could “see inside her apartment” they would label him as a peeping-Tom.