I've decided to look at one of the aspects of wrestling I really love, that being the Indy wrestling scene in America. I probably follow this more than the mainstream (WWE & TNA) and it's mainly because it's pure wrestling, they are some of the best shows you will see and this seems to be a constant. Now this isn't gonna be a shot at WWE or TNA who still put on great shows but I truly love the indy wrestling scene. So in this blog I'm gonna look at the indy companies that I love and will recommend/review a show that would get you following the company itself.
IWA Mid-South
Now recently IWA MS has been going through a rough patch, after returning from closing they have promoted lots of shows however recently many of them have been cancelled/rescheduled. But nonetheless this is a company that got me hooked into the indy scene. IWA MS has been famous for making talent into superstars, guys like CM Punk, Chris Hero, Tyler Black and so many more have had legendary programs in the company. The shows can suffer from low attendance however the in ring quality is amazing.
When it comes to shows which you should watch there's a lot. Any Ted Petty Invitational tournament is worth a watch there are some of the best shows ever. I would also recommend We're No Joke which features Low Ki vs. Necro Butcher and A Rotten Farewell which was Ian Rotten's retirement show and saw Eddie Kingston win the World title in an amazing 4 way featuring Chuck Taylor, Mike Quackenbush and Chris Hero.
Combat Zone Wrestling
This company scared the hell out of me the first time I watched a match from it, mainly because it was my first look at death match wrestling which I am now a fan of. This company is a great mix of violence and great wrestling. Now when it comes to shows there a mixed bag. If you like the hardcore violence then Tournament of deaths and Cage of Deaths are the shows for you, however Cage of Death is also a great wrestling show which makes it a perfect balance. I would also recommend this years Tangled Web 3 which was an amazing show. This years Cage of Deaths is already looking like an awesome show and can't wait to see it. One of the best wrestling shows I've ever seen has come from this company the show When 2 Worlds Collide was amazing top to bottom, it had a crazy 6 man ladder match, an amazing arena wild brawl pitting Justice Pain vs. El Generico and a 'white hot' match which saw BLK Out & Necro Butcher vs. Generation Next, this is a show you have to see.
CHIKARA
What can I say about this company? It is a great mix of comedy, fantastic wrestling and great story line development. This year in particular has been amazing, the BDK storyline has been great to watch and interesting to follow. They do pull in the big names for one of weekend shows, including Manami Toyota this year! When it comes to shows you can pretty much pick any of them and you'll have a great show to watch. The King of Trios tournament is one of the biggest tournaments every year but it's also one of the best. The Young Lions Cup is also a great tournament for different reasons, it allows young rookies to make a impact and they do. This years tournament saw excellent matches from Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reily and the finals Frightmare vs. Lince Dorado. Seriously pick up any Chikara show from this year and you'll be hooked.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
This company has a Ring of Honor feel to it, by which I mean that every show is great from top to bottom. Now they do have a problem when it comes to their world champions as they haven't been able to keep one for long over the last year, they pick the best wrestlers but they are always busy working over seas that they don't have time for the company. Hopefully that's settled now with Claudio Castagnoli as champ. Anyways this company has one of the best rosters you'll find and they always make a impact in their matches. This company never uses talent that doesn't deserve a spot on the show, for example at the recent Seven show a match featured a wrestler called Brian Cage. At the beginning of the match the fans chanted 'Who are you?' at him but at the end they chanted for him to come back and chanted his name. PWG can make stars in just one night if they want. Since I've mentioned Seven I would highly recommend it, it features some amazing matches including Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards and a wild triple threat tag war which saw Paul London & El Generico vs. The Cutler bros vs. The Young Bucks. This is another company that you could pick up any show and fall in love with the company.
Ring of Honor
Finally we come to ROH, the top of the indy world. This is a company that has always put on some of the best shows you will ever see. Some of the greatest talent in the world is in this company and some of the greatest wrestlers ever have pasted through and left their mark. Now when it comes to shows to watch there are a ton, I could literally be here and fill pages of shows you should watch. But my personal favourites are the 100 show which features a wild 6 man tag pitting Chris Hero, Necro Butcher & Super Dragon vs. Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer. Any of there PPV/iPPVs are a great watch as well especially this years Death Before Dishonor iPPV which saw the Kings of Wrestling brawl with the Briscoes and an amazing main event which saw Tyler Black face Davey Richards.
Overall
Now didn't want to go into loads of details here so only hit some of the key points. The indy scene is massive and it can range from good to bad but the companies I've pointed out are some of the best companies in the world in my view, they deliver great shows one after another and they do have some great stories involved in it as well. Some of the greatest talent in the world in and many of them are gonna be the next big break out star and you can see why. I love watching these companies and I don't think that will change any time soon, as much as I like the mainstream companies to me I will pick a indy show over them any day of the week.
Friday, 26 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
Youshoot DVD series review
Last time I looked at Kayfabe Commentaries Guest Booker series, this time it's the same company but a different series. The idea behind the Youshoot series is that it's basically a shoot interview but all the questions are submitted by the fans. There have been a lot in this series and I haven't watched all of them but will review the ones I've seen and give a overall view of the series. So lets begin with one of the first ones they did.
Sandman
The name alone should let you know that this has the potential to be entertaining and it is. From the very first second you know that Sandman is drunk and through out the shoot he continues drinking. Now this adds to the shoot in the humour department however it effects it in many ways. One thing that happens a lot is that the Sandman forgets what he's talking about and has to ask the host (Sean Oliver), he's also hard to understand from time to time as he's slurring his words. So this does effect the shoot however the Sandman's honesty and outrageous stories more then make up for it. It's not the best and you probably won't watch it over and over again but it's still good.
New Jack
Speaking of outrageous we come to the next volume, New Jack. Jack doesn't hold back one bit and really funny because of it. However like Sandman he's hard to understand from time to time and seems to talk a mile a minute meaning that you can miss out some key facts of some of his stories. Now you do get the feeling that some of what he's saying is rubbish and it's said to make himself look good or in the right. This probably happens when he's asked about his infamous incidents e.g. Mass Transit, Gypsy Joe and the indy wrestler he stabbed several times. Jack goes into details about all of these incidents, not in great detail which is probably a good thing when it comes to how gruesome they've been described in the past. This is a great combination of funny and serious however Jack seems to spend more time insulting the people who have asked the questions to me and you nothing in an answer because of it. Like Sandman's it's worth a view but not repeated viewing.
Kevin Sullivan
One of the biggest names in the business and one of the most controversial superstars is in the next volume. The amount of subjects covered is huge from his in ring career, to his gimmicks, to his booking, to Brian Pillman and lots more. Sullivan shows that he doesn't have a ego at all, which you think he would have considering what he's done, and he shows a great amount of details about the backstage of the wrestling business. This is one of the DVDs where you will likely learn some details which you thought wouldn't be true so it's a great watch. The DVD takes a very serious turn near the end when the subject of Chris Benoit and Nancy is brought up, Sullivan answers every question and is even given a chance to just express himself at the end.
Jim Cornette & his lost Questions
This is 2 separate releases, this was done because after the 4 hour first volume was released many fans apparently emailed and asked where their question was during the shoot so they got Jim back to do another one. Now the first DVD set focuses around wrestling and his career because Jim Cornette has worked so many places this takes about 4 hours as he gets lots of questions from each company. The 2nd DVD is more about random stuff that fans wanted to know, just general questions really. Both are amazing to watch, Jim Cornette is one of the best interviewees in the wrestling business, he's always entertaining and the time flies by because of it. I've watched both shoots several times they are that great, I would easily recommend these to anyone. You could probably watch these everyday and still be entertained. And some of the best bits are him cussing people out, including a classic part at the end of volume 2 where he asks for just 5 minutes to express himself about Vince Russo and 25 minutes later he finishes. This is way I love Jim Cornette.
Dixie Carter LIVE
This is probably one of the worst DVDs in my view and is for a simple reason. Now either Dixie has deluded herself into believing the answers she's giving or she's giving them to make TNA not look like the waste land that it actually is. The fans hold nothing back and the amount of times WCW 2000 is brought up, Hogan & Bischoffs awful running of a company and Vince Russo's booking is great. A video is also shown where Jim Cornette asks about why Vince Russo is still hired there. The answers are awful and not believable, at one point she says that it's not Vince Russo's booking and she was gonna fire everyone except him from the booking committee. You can give it a view, you may learn something about TNA but Dixie not entertaining in my view and the rest of the series easily out shines this volume.
Bob 'Hardcore' Holly
Now I don't like what I've heard about Holly and I only watched this as it showed the fans really giving it to him about how awful he is in the ring and how he's a bully. Now Holly covers the bully issue several times and it sounds believable however my theory is, of course a bully would make up reasons for what he did and not see himself as a bully. So either what he says is true or I'm right and personally I'm shooting with me. But back to the DVD itself. It's not a bad watch, a lot is covered and like many others he holds nothing back, you get to see how badly WWE can treat some of it's wrestlers who are not the their 'main' stars. The shoot gets a little disturbing when during a game he's asked how he'd kick a guys as, they go through several, it starts with a very detailed and long account of how he would KILL Mr. Anderson and he does skip some names but nothings he says "I'd just cut their throats", now Holly that's not beating someone up that's murder and it was not nice to watch. This again is probably worth one watch but not repeated viewing.
Maria Kanellis
This is a great shoot. This really brings Maria out into a new light, many people would of stereotyped her as just another Diva search girl who was in wrestling for no reason but after watching this that view is changed. You get to see her true personality, something WWE never showed and gave her nothing after nothing after he 'stupid girl' gimmick. You also get to see a real knowledge and love of pro wrestling which again WWE never took advantage off, how different things would be if they took up some of her ideas. Now like the others Maria holds nothing back and goes into great detail about anything she's asked about. Some of the best bits are the section focused around CM Punk and a section on weird fans. If you didn't like Maria before this you'll likely end up falling in love with her at the end of it. I love this shoot and this is another one that you can watch over and over.
Overall
Lets start with the bad points, there's not a lot. The biggest downer of this series is actually the video submitted questions, not all of them though. Now you'll see a lot of familiar faces if you watch several DVDs which can be good, the guys from offthemarkshow.com usually submit questions that are good and can be funny, however one of the guys from the show the 'Hez' (I believe) express is really hard to understand and his questions are sometime skipped. Also there videos of guys trying to be funny which is dreadful and guys pretending to be wrestlers and doing promos which are meaningless in the long run and just take away from the shoot.
However that is the only bad point about this series. The fact that the questions come from the fans mean there usually great questions which you'd like to know the answer to. Another good point is the games that Sean Oliver plays with the guests, these range from the Hoe Bag, to name the object to 'F', Marry, Kill and more. This don't take away from the shoot and are really funny, they also show the true feelings of the people playing them. Also the games are rather specific to the interviewee so they do have a purpose and are placed in the shoot very well.
So overall I find the series hit and miss, as much as you have to see the shoots as they are good some don't deserve repeated viewing which makes you question if you should pay out for them. I'm 50/50 on them as 4 are worth repeated viewing while 4 are probably just a one off watch. So it seems that I'm undecided on it. The real test will be the most recent releases in the series which is Sean Waltman, which should be good, and the next one being shot, which I've submitted a question to, including the Iron Sheik. Anyways the series is a great watch, I love many of them and like some of the others. I only dislike 2 really so the series is good in my view.
If you've read this thank you for taking the time, feel free to leave me a comment on the link on Facebook or on here if you have a blogger account.
Sandman
The name alone should let you know that this has the potential to be entertaining and it is. From the very first second you know that Sandman is drunk and through out the shoot he continues drinking. Now this adds to the shoot in the humour department however it effects it in many ways. One thing that happens a lot is that the Sandman forgets what he's talking about and has to ask the host (Sean Oliver), he's also hard to understand from time to time as he's slurring his words. So this does effect the shoot however the Sandman's honesty and outrageous stories more then make up for it. It's not the best and you probably won't watch it over and over again but it's still good.
New Jack
Speaking of outrageous we come to the next volume, New Jack. Jack doesn't hold back one bit and really funny because of it. However like Sandman he's hard to understand from time to time and seems to talk a mile a minute meaning that you can miss out some key facts of some of his stories. Now you do get the feeling that some of what he's saying is rubbish and it's said to make himself look good or in the right. This probably happens when he's asked about his infamous incidents e.g. Mass Transit, Gypsy Joe and the indy wrestler he stabbed several times. Jack goes into details about all of these incidents, not in great detail which is probably a good thing when it comes to how gruesome they've been described in the past. This is a great combination of funny and serious however Jack seems to spend more time insulting the people who have asked the questions to me and you nothing in an answer because of it. Like Sandman's it's worth a view but not repeated viewing.
Kevin Sullivan
One of the biggest names in the business and one of the most controversial superstars is in the next volume. The amount of subjects covered is huge from his in ring career, to his gimmicks, to his booking, to Brian Pillman and lots more. Sullivan shows that he doesn't have a ego at all, which you think he would have considering what he's done, and he shows a great amount of details about the backstage of the wrestling business. This is one of the DVDs where you will likely learn some details which you thought wouldn't be true so it's a great watch. The DVD takes a very serious turn near the end when the subject of Chris Benoit and Nancy is brought up, Sullivan answers every question and is even given a chance to just express himself at the end.
Jim Cornette & his lost Questions
This is 2 separate releases, this was done because after the 4 hour first volume was released many fans apparently emailed and asked where their question was during the shoot so they got Jim back to do another one. Now the first DVD set focuses around wrestling and his career because Jim Cornette has worked so many places this takes about 4 hours as he gets lots of questions from each company. The 2nd DVD is more about random stuff that fans wanted to know, just general questions really. Both are amazing to watch, Jim Cornette is one of the best interviewees in the wrestling business, he's always entertaining and the time flies by because of it. I've watched both shoots several times they are that great, I would easily recommend these to anyone. You could probably watch these everyday and still be entertained. And some of the best bits are him cussing people out, including a classic part at the end of volume 2 where he asks for just 5 minutes to express himself about Vince Russo and 25 minutes later he finishes. This is way I love Jim Cornette.
Dixie Carter LIVE
This is probably one of the worst DVDs in my view and is for a simple reason. Now either Dixie has deluded herself into believing the answers she's giving or she's giving them to make TNA not look like the waste land that it actually is. The fans hold nothing back and the amount of times WCW 2000 is brought up, Hogan & Bischoffs awful running of a company and Vince Russo's booking is great. A video is also shown where Jim Cornette asks about why Vince Russo is still hired there. The answers are awful and not believable, at one point she says that it's not Vince Russo's booking and she was gonna fire everyone except him from the booking committee. You can give it a view, you may learn something about TNA but Dixie not entertaining in my view and the rest of the series easily out shines this volume.
Bob 'Hardcore' Holly
Now I don't like what I've heard about Holly and I only watched this as it showed the fans really giving it to him about how awful he is in the ring and how he's a bully. Now Holly covers the bully issue several times and it sounds believable however my theory is, of course a bully would make up reasons for what he did and not see himself as a bully. So either what he says is true or I'm right and personally I'm shooting with me. But back to the DVD itself. It's not a bad watch, a lot is covered and like many others he holds nothing back, you get to see how badly WWE can treat some of it's wrestlers who are not the their 'main' stars. The shoot gets a little disturbing when during a game he's asked how he'd kick a guys as, they go through several, it starts with a very detailed and long account of how he would KILL Mr. Anderson and he does skip some names but nothings he says "I'd just cut their throats", now Holly that's not beating someone up that's murder and it was not nice to watch. This again is probably worth one watch but not repeated viewing.
Maria Kanellis
This is a great shoot. This really brings Maria out into a new light, many people would of stereotyped her as just another Diva search girl who was in wrestling for no reason but after watching this that view is changed. You get to see her true personality, something WWE never showed and gave her nothing after nothing after he 'stupid girl' gimmick. You also get to see a real knowledge and love of pro wrestling which again WWE never took advantage off, how different things would be if they took up some of her ideas. Now like the others Maria holds nothing back and goes into great detail about anything she's asked about. Some of the best bits are the section focused around CM Punk and a section on weird fans. If you didn't like Maria before this you'll likely end up falling in love with her at the end of it. I love this shoot and this is another one that you can watch over and over.
Overall
Lets start with the bad points, there's not a lot. The biggest downer of this series is actually the video submitted questions, not all of them though. Now you'll see a lot of familiar faces if you watch several DVDs which can be good, the guys from offthemarkshow.com usually submit questions that are good and can be funny, however one of the guys from the show the 'Hez' (I believe) express is really hard to understand and his questions are sometime skipped. Also there videos of guys trying to be funny which is dreadful and guys pretending to be wrestlers and doing promos which are meaningless in the long run and just take away from the shoot.
However that is the only bad point about this series. The fact that the questions come from the fans mean there usually great questions which you'd like to know the answer to. Another good point is the games that Sean Oliver plays with the guests, these range from the Hoe Bag, to name the object to 'F', Marry, Kill and more. This don't take away from the shoot and are really funny, they also show the true feelings of the people playing them. Also the games are rather specific to the interviewee so they do have a purpose and are placed in the shoot very well.
So overall I find the series hit and miss, as much as you have to see the shoots as they are good some don't deserve repeated viewing which makes you question if you should pay out for them. I'm 50/50 on them as 4 are worth repeated viewing while 4 are probably just a one off watch. So it seems that I'm undecided on it. The real test will be the most recent releases in the series which is Sean Waltman, which should be good, and the next one being shot, which I've submitted a question to, including the Iron Sheik. Anyways the series is a great watch, I love many of them and like some of the others. I only dislike 2 really so the series is good in my view.
If you've read this thank you for taking the time, feel free to leave me a comment on the link on Facebook or on here if you have a blogger account.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Forgiving
I've had this idea in my head since Friday morning after my first lecture of the day was focused around the idea of forgiving people. However I didn't write it as I was busy Friday, Saturday and Monday, and to be honest I was in a complete lazy mood on Sunday. So I've got some spare time today and will write it up.
I have to say that the lecture about it was interesting but it lead me to think more about myself then the subject we're meant to be thinking about. You see the lecture started by asking who in the room is a forgiving person and I was one of the people who put there hands up. I believe I'm generally a forgiving person and I can only think of a few people that I just can't forgive and I feel that I have good reason to feel that way. Let me explain with a story about one guy. We were having a night out and a friend of ours brought a friend with them, so we proceeded to have a good night. However as the night went on this guy go drunker and drunker, my buddy who is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet trying to help asks what was up. The guy then went on to threaten him and smash a glass on our table, he then went out found a bridge and threaten to jump up or so I've been told. Now ever one can get drunk I'm not bothered with that but that behaviour is ridiculous to me. When I saw him next I didn't act friendly to him and pretty much try to ignore him as I wanted nothing to do with him however during the night he came to me and asked if I liked him, I was honest and said 'No, frankly you broke a glass that hurt my friend and threatened another one' he then went round the rest of our group and complain about the fact I didn't like him.
The point of this story is really just to demonstrate just how much it takes for me to not forgive a person. Now you can argue if the guy was a actual friend you'd be more forgiving however I don't think I would of been friends with someone like that. Anyways, there's only a few people who I can't forgive and in my view with good reason. Besides that I'm generally forgiving, my friends can do something that really bugs me and gets me cross however after a day or so it'll be old news and everything will be fine.
I also wanted to tell another story that a saw on a DVD documentary I have. The documentary was on Gary Ridgeway the 'Green River Killer'. While he was being sentenced for his crimes the victims relatives gave a impact statement, Ridgeway killed about 40-50 women. Now many were what you expected 'I hate you', 'I hope you get killed' and 'You've got what you deserve' etc. however there was one man who did something different. He came to the stand and said 'You've made it difficult to do what God asks and that's to forgive. However I will try and you are forgiven sir' in response Gary Ridgeway broke down and cried. This to me is amazing as I can't imagine ever being in that mans shoes and not be anything but angry, how can you forgive something so horrible? How can you look at someone who has killed someone you love so much and forgive them? This makes anything I can't forgive people for look petty!
At the end of all this I believe that you can forgive pretty much anyone for pretty much anything however I truly believe that some people don't deserve to be forgiven. Luckily for me the people who I think don't deserve to be forgiven I basically cut out of my life as they don't deserve to be in it.
If you're giving this a read, thanks a lot and let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.
I have to say that the lecture about it was interesting but it lead me to think more about myself then the subject we're meant to be thinking about. You see the lecture started by asking who in the room is a forgiving person and I was one of the people who put there hands up. I believe I'm generally a forgiving person and I can only think of a few people that I just can't forgive and I feel that I have good reason to feel that way. Let me explain with a story about one guy. We were having a night out and a friend of ours brought a friend with them, so we proceeded to have a good night. However as the night went on this guy go drunker and drunker, my buddy who is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet trying to help asks what was up. The guy then went on to threaten him and smash a glass on our table, he then went out found a bridge and threaten to jump up or so I've been told. Now ever one can get drunk I'm not bothered with that but that behaviour is ridiculous to me. When I saw him next I didn't act friendly to him and pretty much try to ignore him as I wanted nothing to do with him however during the night he came to me and asked if I liked him, I was honest and said 'No, frankly you broke a glass that hurt my friend and threatened another one' he then went round the rest of our group and complain about the fact I didn't like him.
The point of this story is really just to demonstrate just how much it takes for me to not forgive a person. Now you can argue if the guy was a actual friend you'd be more forgiving however I don't think I would of been friends with someone like that. Anyways, there's only a few people who I can't forgive and in my view with good reason. Besides that I'm generally forgiving, my friends can do something that really bugs me and gets me cross however after a day or so it'll be old news and everything will be fine.
I also wanted to tell another story that a saw on a DVD documentary I have. The documentary was on Gary Ridgeway the 'Green River Killer'. While he was being sentenced for his crimes the victims relatives gave a impact statement, Ridgeway killed about 40-50 women. Now many were what you expected 'I hate you', 'I hope you get killed' and 'You've got what you deserve' etc. however there was one man who did something different. He came to the stand and said 'You've made it difficult to do what God asks and that's to forgive. However I will try and you are forgiven sir' in response Gary Ridgeway broke down and cried. This to me is amazing as I can't imagine ever being in that mans shoes and not be anything but angry, how can you forgive something so horrible? How can you look at someone who has killed someone you love so much and forgive them? This makes anything I can't forgive people for look petty!
At the end of all this I believe that you can forgive pretty much anyone for pretty much anything however I truly believe that some people don't deserve to be forgiven. Luckily for me the people who I think don't deserve to be forgiven I basically cut out of my life as they don't deserve to be in it.
If you're giving this a read, thanks a lot and let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Guest Booker review
This is the first of my wrestling blogs, thought I would do this and share it in State of the Game and Can We Find 1 Million wrestling fans groups on Facebook just to express my views on something I love. So to start this I decided I would review a series of dvd's called the Guest Booker series which you can get from http://www.kayfabecommentaries.com/. The idea of these dvds is that they get a famous wrestling booker and gives them a scenario which they will rebook. I've seen a fair few of these so will keep the reviews brief and will not put many spoilers incase you go to watch them.
Gary Hart-Booking the Dallas Territory
The late great Gary Hart is given the job of rebooking Fritz von Erichs WCCW territory during the year where everything went wrong but in this case non of that happens. The dvd starts of looking into the Texas territory and looks into how Gary books. He does a pretty good job aswell, now it's nothing special but it's still worth a watch. The DVD shines during the 'Behind the Scenes' with some outrageous stories from the past including a truly epic one including the Missing Link. Overall this dvd is worth a watch.
Kevin Sullivan-Rebooking WWF in 1984
Kevin Sullivan is given the job of rebooking the WWF as if Hogan never came and he had his pick of talent from the territories at the time. Kevin picks a great selection of talent for his booking project. He books the entire year leading to a X-mas day Supercard. This dvd shows of the great booking mind of Sullivan and you can see why he has been used in a booking role so much. The only downside is that I find his selections a little odd e.g. he picks Superstar Billy Graham to be the Intercontinental champion. Anyways this is a great dvd.
Gabe Sapolsky-Rebooking the 'New' ECW
One of the best bookers still going today gets the chance to rebook the new ECW. Gabe is given the job of booking from the relaunch to the December to Dismember ppv. Gabe picks a selection of superstars from the old ECW stars, OVW stars and WWE stars at the time most of these would of been attentainable however the odd choices are Randy Orton and Ric Flair however Gabe explains every choice he makes when it comes to the selection. One of the things you'll find is the odd choice of the main event story revolving around Orton vs. Flair for the ECW title when Gabe books the rest of the card to show that it was different from WWE and was like the old ECW. Regardless of that fact Gabe does a great job and you can learn a lot from this DVD.
Jerry Jarrett-Rebooking WCW 2000
The legendary booker gets the job of rebooking WCW in 2000 from the fresh start they had (when WCW vacanted all titles). Jerry cuts down the locker room from 60+ to just about 25/30. He removes many titles and focuses on just 3 belts, he gives out great storylines from for all the titles and some more smaller story lines. He shows that he put alot of effort into it going past the supercard goal they gave him. This dvd really shines in the 'Behind the Scenes' segments as Jerry is very honest about many subjects and it shows that they were actually his idea. One of the things I found funny was that Jerry points out that his son Jeff is a better babyface underdog then a heel and when you think about it thats very true.
Raven-Booking Hall & Nash in ECW
Raven is not a booker but is seen as one of the great minds in wrestling and he's given a truly unique scenario to book. In this world Hall & Nash left WWE and went to ECW instead of WCW. The dvd starts off with Raven's view on booking and he points out one of the things that many of these bookers in the series does that if you're an active wrestler you shouldn't book as you'll either put yourself over or put yourself under because your booking. Thats just one of the many things you'll learn by watching this dvd. Now the title is a little misleading as Raven also adds Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman into his plans. It's a great dvd to watch and you can see how good of a booker Raven could have been if given the chance, this is a must watch.
Mike Graham-CWF/Crockett Merger
This is probably the worst dvd from a booking stand point. This dvd is more a shoot that explains the hostory of the Florida territory, his dad Eddie Graham and his booking style, the closing of CWF and his experiences in WCW including a great story of why Benoit, Guerrero etc. left the company. All Mike does booking wise is selected a roster out of both rosters for this merger, he explains his choice of why he would use the guys and why he would want them removed from the rosters. This is more of a look into how he books and how his dad booked, he doesn't create any storylines or books anything really.
Greg Gagne-Rebooking the Opposition Attempt
This is one of my favourite Guest bookers. Greg is given the job of booking Pro Wrestling USA (the combination of the territories to fight the WWE). Greg picks his roster from each company trying to select talent from each territory and not taking too much from one or another. He books a year of this and does a great job. What I love about this dvd is that he uses Sean Oliver aswell and both end up booking it, very early on in the process Greg points out that one man booking is no good you need more people to bounce ideas off hence why Sean becomes involved in the booking. Greg books a brillant card which would of been great if Pro Wrestling USA actually happened. I highly recommend this one.
Jim Cornette-Rebooking the Invasion
The tag line sums this up 'The most requested booker doing the most requested angle'. Jim Cornette rebooks the invasion angle, he books from just after WWE brought WCW which is around April to Wrestlemania of next year. He starts by doing all the first weeks promos himself and then goes from month to month developing the story. His final card would of been 5 hours long with a huge amount of matches. Just like any shoot involving Jim Cornette it's a must watch, without a doubt he creates an angle that would of lived up to the hype of an invasion angle at the time. Not only do you get to see how Jim books but he also shares some great stories at the start of the dvd. If have to watch this even if you don't like shoots or the idea of guest booker you should still watch this.
Overall
I love this series of dvds, each is unique and a great watch. It really gives you great insights into booking and bookers from the past. Go check them out, none of them would be a waste of time watching and you'll probably learn from them.
Gary Hart-Booking the Dallas Territory
The late great Gary Hart is given the job of rebooking Fritz von Erichs WCCW territory during the year where everything went wrong but in this case non of that happens. The dvd starts of looking into the Texas territory and looks into how Gary books. He does a pretty good job aswell, now it's nothing special but it's still worth a watch. The DVD shines during the 'Behind the Scenes' with some outrageous stories from the past including a truly epic one including the Missing Link. Overall this dvd is worth a watch.
Kevin Sullivan-Rebooking WWF in 1984
Kevin Sullivan is given the job of rebooking the WWF as if Hogan never came and he had his pick of talent from the territories at the time. Kevin picks a great selection of talent for his booking project. He books the entire year leading to a X-mas day Supercard. This dvd shows of the great booking mind of Sullivan and you can see why he has been used in a booking role so much. The only downside is that I find his selections a little odd e.g. he picks Superstar Billy Graham to be the Intercontinental champion. Anyways this is a great dvd.
Gabe Sapolsky-Rebooking the 'New' ECW
One of the best bookers still going today gets the chance to rebook the new ECW. Gabe is given the job of booking from the relaunch to the December to Dismember ppv. Gabe picks a selection of superstars from the old ECW stars, OVW stars and WWE stars at the time most of these would of been attentainable however the odd choices are Randy Orton and Ric Flair however Gabe explains every choice he makes when it comes to the selection. One of the things you'll find is the odd choice of the main event story revolving around Orton vs. Flair for the ECW title when Gabe books the rest of the card to show that it was different from WWE and was like the old ECW. Regardless of that fact Gabe does a great job and you can learn a lot from this DVD.
Jerry Jarrett-Rebooking WCW 2000
The legendary booker gets the job of rebooking WCW in 2000 from the fresh start they had (when WCW vacanted all titles). Jerry cuts down the locker room from 60+ to just about 25/30. He removes many titles and focuses on just 3 belts, he gives out great storylines from for all the titles and some more smaller story lines. He shows that he put alot of effort into it going past the supercard goal they gave him. This dvd really shines in the 'Behind the Scenes' segments as Jerry is very honest about many subjects and it shows that they were actually his idea. One of the things I found funny was that Jerry points out that his son Jeff is a better babyface underdog then a heel and when you think about it thats very true.
Raven-Booking Hall & Nash in ECW
Raven is not a booker but is seen as one of the great minds in wrestling and he's given a truly unique scenario to book. In this world Hall & Nash left WWE and went to ECW instead of WCW. The dvd starts off with Raven's view on booking and he points out one of the things that many of these bookers in the series does that if you're an active wrestler you shouldn't book as you'll either put yourself over or put yourself under because your booking. Thats just one of the many things you'll learn by watching this dvd. Now the title is a little misleading as Raven also adds Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman into his plans. It's a great dvd to watch and you can see how good of a booker Raven could have been if given the chance, this is a must watch.
Mike Graham-CWF/Crockett Merger
This is probably the worst dvd from a booking stand point. This dvd is more a shoot that explains the hostory of the Florida territory, his dad Eddie Graham and his booking style, the closing of CWF and his experiences in WCW including a great story of why Benoit, Guerrero etc. left the company. All Mike does booking wise is selected a roster out of both rosters for this merger, he explains his choice of why he would use the guys and why he would want them removed from the rosters. This is more of a look into how he books and how his dad booked, he doesn't create any storylines or books anything really.
Greg Gagne-Rebooking the Opposition Attempt
This is one of my favourite Guest bookers. Greg is given the job of booking Pro Wrestling USA (the combination of the territories to fight the WWE). Greg picks his roster from each company trying to select talent from each territory and not taking too much from one or another. He books a year of this and does a great job. What I love about this dvd is that he uses Sean Oliver aswell and both end up booking it, very early on in the process Greg points out that one man booking is no good you need more people to bounce ideas off hence why Sean becomes involved in the booking. Greg books a brillant card which would of been great if Pro Wrestling USA actually happened. I highly recommend this one.
Jim Cornette-Rebooking the Invasion
The tag line sums this up 'The most requested booker doing the most requested angle'. Jim Cornette rebooks the invasion angle, he books from just after WWE brought WCW which is around April to Wrestlemania of next year. He starts by doing all the first weeks promos himself and then goes from month to month developing the story. His final card would of been 5 hours long with a huge amount of matches. Just like any shoot involving Jim Cornette it's a must watch, without a doubt he creates an angle that would of lived up to the hype of an invasion angle at the time. Not only do you get to see how Jim books but he also shares some great stories at the start of the dvd. If have to watch this even if you don't like shoots or the idea of guest booker you should still watch this.
Overall
I love this series of dvds, each is unique and a great watch. It really gives you great insights into booking and bookers from the past. Go check them out, none of them would be a waste of time watching and you'll probably learn from them.
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Tattoo's
If you know me, or even meet me, you will know that I love the art of tattoos. I currently have 9 tattoos and although I've ran out of ideas will likely add on. Now onto the reason for this blog, all my tattoos have a certain amount of meaning to me and I just want to share what they mean to me as well as a recent addition that I haven't gone through with and unsure if I should just yet.
Lets start with what I got first and that's my heart wrapped in barbed wire on my right forearm which I got less than a week after my 18th birthday. Not that much detail behind the choice, I saw it and loved it. But like any first it has a special meaning to me. I knew ages before getting it that I wanted a heart with barbed wire involved as a tattoo and so that was the first one I got.
Now number 2, my red and blue yin-yang on my upper right arm which has gained meaning with my latest tattoo. Anyways I'm a strong believer in a balanced world, everyone has some good in them and some bad. Now my belief is that some have more good than bad and vice versa but the balance is still there. The tattoo has been called a pepsi symbol as if you turn your head sideways it might look look like pepsi symbol. It's a good thing I love pepsi hey. The addition to the yin-yang was my number 9 a purple rose that curves around it. I found the design online and thought it would fit my yin-yang perfectly plus the yin-yang was a bit plan and in your face. The reason for the choice is that roses are my favourite flower, was told that's weird for a guy by the tattooist at the time, and purple is my favourite colour. But there is another reason, when you combine the 2 the tattoo's tell a little message, if you have the right balance of good and bad then you can get something beautiful. This may be me adding more meaning for the sake of it but what the hell.
Number 3 is 2 vampires fighting over a heart which takes up the whole of my upper left arm. A little story on this one, I found a design that I loved and after my first year at Uni I decided that I should get something to remember it so I took my design and was told it wouldn't work as a tatt. So I told him what I liked and he designed me this and it looked amazing and was even better when tattooed, now he wanted to do a lot more including colour however after the first session cost me so much I decided not to continue. It looks awesome as it is and I think colour would actually ruin it. I can't describe it but its great in my view. On another note one boring day in the house last year I decided to name the vampires so the female is called Ryoko, after my favourite character from Tenchi Muyo, and the male is called Akinobu, a Japanese name that means Autumn wisdom.
We now come to my charm bracelet tattoo that was number 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The first symbol was a Ankh which is the Egyptian symbol meaning life. The next 2 were Japanese symbols meaning love and strenght, 2 very important factors in life in my view. The next symbol was the symbol for Omega which is Greek for the end but I had it for another reason, Omega is the lowest rank in a pack of animals like wolfs or lions. Now I take it as it maybe the lowest rank there but its still dangerous so you may be low in some eyes but your high in others. Now to the final part of it is the letters L.R.K.P which stand for Loose Raven King of Punk, I will explain as it's one of the questions I'm asked a fair bit.
The L.R.K.P. stands for the 4 idols of my life who have influenced a great deal. The 'Loose' is for Brain Pillman who was called the Loose Cannon, Brain spent a time in his life acting completely off the wall however he was a smart, funny and compassionate man he just hid it well. The lesson is taught me was that sometimes you just have to act and you shouldn't over think yourself and be impulsive. The 'Raven' comes from Scott Levy, who has the quintessential drug abuser, rocker look however he's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. This taught me that you really can't judge a book by it's cover, you have to get to know people before you can judge anything. The 'King' comes from Eddie Moore, he's a very emotional man and wears his heart on his sleeve. This taught me that sometimes it's a good thing to let your emotions get the better of you and to express yourself. The 'Punk' comes from Phil Brooks who is Straight-Edge, as silly as it sounds I learnt that you don't need to use drink to have a great time when your out, this is especially meaningful as I used to always drink when out with my friends back home as everyone was drinking however recently I spent entire nights without touching a drop and loved it just as much. Now they have all taught me more but those are the main reasons behind the tattoo.
Now onto the addition that I haven't got done. I recently wanted to add a JC underneath my letters. The JC comes from a man called JC Bailey who recently passed away, the story was so sad and meaningful in a sense. Let me explain, JC was known as a truly awesome person a truly nice guy who just loved what he did for a living, he was a professional wrestler. He made some mistakes and ended up in jail. He was in jail until December last year and it shows you how much he loved wrestling as he appeared on a show less than 24 hours after getting released. It was truly his year, he was getting the acknowledgement that he deserved as one of the best. I recently watched a interview with him and he explained that he made mistakes and he wanted to move on, settle down and start a family be completely clean and just enjoy life. This makes the fact that he died even sadder in my view. The whole thing meant a lot to me and so thought about getting JC tattooed on my, I'm still undecided at this present time as too whether or not I should get it, money is a issue as well but will make my choice in the near future.
Before I go there's one more thing that's on my mind and that's designing tattoos. I've designed tattoos for 2 people, one was for my friend Annabel. As much as I loved doing it it didn't test my creativity that much because she wanted something that was so simple to do, it didn't take me long to design her about 5 and she now has them. I don't know if she's got it done yet but she has them none the less. Now onto the first designs I did, I had just received a lot of money and decided to treat people who meant a lot to me. Me and my friend Sarah agreed to go the extra mile for x-mas present so as we talked we agreed that I would design and pay for her tattoo as a x-mas present. The design was originally a rose and heart design, after I showed her them she liked them but she changed where she wanted to get it and what she wanted. So after doing about 5 rose/heart designs she changed to a butterfly design. When we next met up which was a couple of months later (we didn't get it done by x-mas it was months later but that was expected) I had about 15 designs to show her. I loved doing them as each butterfly was special in it's own way and when I showed her she couldn't pick just one. She did make her decision and got it done, now I wished I was there when she got it done but we were in 2 different cities and she had to just fit it in when she could. Anyways the reason why I'm explaining this is that this whole thing means so much to me. To have someone trust me enough to design a tattoo that she'll have forever and to have her love it means so much to me, I put a lot of work into the designs because it was her who I was designing for. Not saying that I wouldn't of put that much effort into desiging other peoples tattoos but I consider Sarah one of my closest and best friends I have so I wanted it to be perfect. I'm so proud of it that the picture on my phone will be shown to anyone who will look. It meant a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to her.
If you take the time to read this, thank you and please let me know what you think. I know this is a long one but it was on my mind and wanted to express it. Leave me a comment either on here or on my facebook. Until next time.
Lets start with what I got first and that's my heart wrapped in barbed wire on my right forearm which I got less than a week after my 18th birthday. Not that much detail behind the choice, I saw it and loved it. But like any first it has a special meaning to me. I knew ages before getting it that I wanted a heart with barbed wire involved as a tattoo and so that was the first one I got.
Now number 2, my red and blue yin-yang on my upper right arm which has gained meaning with my latest tattoo. Anyways I'm a strong believer in a balanced world, everyone has some good in them and some bad. Now my belief is that some have more good than bad and vice versa but the balance is still there. The tattoo has been called a pepsi symbol as if you turn your head sideways it might look look like pepsi symbol. It's a good thing I love pepsi hey. The addition to the yin-yang was my number 9 a purple rose that curves around it. I found the design online and thought it would fit my yin-yang perfectly plus the yin-yang was a bit plan and in your face. The reason for the choice is that roses are my favourite flower, was told that's weird for a guy by the tattooist at the time, and purple is my favourite colour. But there is another reason, when you combine the 2 the tattoo's tell a little message, if you have the right balance of good and bad then you can get something beautiful. This may be me adding more meaning for the sake of it but what the hell.
Number 3 is 2 vampires fighting over a heart which takes up the whole of my upper left arm. A little story on this one, I found a design that I loved and after my first year at Uni I decided that I should get something to remember it so I took my design and was told it wouldn't work as a tatt. So I told him what I liked and he designed me this and it looked amazing and was even better when tattooed, now he wanted to do a lot more including colour however after the first session cost me so much I decided not to continue. It looks awesome as it is and I think colour would actually ruin it. I can't describe it but its great in my view. On another note one boring day in the house last year I decided to name the vampires so the female is called Ryoko, after my favourite character from Tenchi Muyo, and the male is called Akinobu, a Japanese name that means Autumn wisdom.
We now come to my charm bracelet tattoo that was number 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The first symbol was a Ankh which is the Egyptian symbol meaning life. The next 2 were Japanese symbols meaning love and strenght, 2 very important factors in life in my view. The next symbol was the symbol for Omega which is Greek for the end but I had it for another reason, Omega is the lowest rank in a pack of animals like wolfs or lions. Now I take it as it maybe the lowest rank there but its still dangerous so you may be low in some eyes but your high in others. Now to the final part of it is the letters L.R.K.P which stand for Loose Raven King of Punk, I will explain as it's one of the questions I'm asked a fair bit.
The L.R.K.P. stands for the 4 idols of my life who have influenced a great deal. The 'Loose' is for Brain Pillman who was called the Loose Cannon, Brain spent a time in his life acting completely off the wall however he was a smart, funny and compassionate man he just hid it well. The lesson is taught me was that sometimes you just have to act and you shouldn't over think yourself and be impulsive. The 'Raven' comes from Scott Levy, who has the quintessential drug abuser, rocker look however he's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. This taught me that you really can't judge a book by it's cover, you have to get to know people before you can judge anything. The 'King' comes from Eddie Moore, he's a very emotional man and wears his heart on his sleeve. This taught me that sometimes it's a good thing to let your emotions get the better of you and to express yourself. The 'Punk' comes from Phil Brooks who is Straight-Edge, as silly as it sounds I learnt that you don't need to use drink to have a great time when your out, this is especially meaningful as I used to always drink when out with my friends back home as everyone was drinking however recently I spent entire nights without touching a drop and loved it just as much. Now they have all taught me more but those are the main reasons behind the tattoo.
Now onto the addition that I haven't got done. I recently wanted to add a JC underneath my letters. The JC comes from a man called JC Bailey who recently passed away, the story was so sad and meaningful in a sense. Let me explain, JC was known as a truly awesome person a truly nice guy who just loved what he did for a living, he was a professional wrestler. He made some mistakes and ended up in jail. He was in jail until December last year and it shows you how much he loved wrestling as he appeared on a show less than 24 hours after getting released. It was truly his year, he was getting the acknowledgement that he deserved as one of the best. I recently watched a interview with him and he explained that he made mistakes and he wanted to move on, settle down and start a family be completely clean and just enjoy life. This makes the fact that he died even sadder in my view. The whole thing meant a lot to me and so thought about getting JC tattooed on my, I'm still undecided at this present time as too whether or not I should get it, money is a issue as well but will make my choice in the near future.
Before I go there's one more thing that's on my mind and that's designing tattoos. I've designed tattoos for 2 people, one was for my friend Annabel. As much as I loved doing it it didn't test my creativity that much because she wanted something that was so simple to do, it didn't take me long to design her about 5 and she now has them. I don't know if she's got it done yet but she has them none the less. Now onto the first designs I did, I had just received a lot of money and decided to treat people who meant a lot to me. Me and my friend Sarah agreed to go the extra mile for x-mas present so as we talked we agreed that I would design and pay for her tattoo as a x-mas present. The design was originally a rose and heart design, after I showed her them she liked them but she changed where she wanted to get it and what she wanted. So after doing about 5 rose/heart designs she changed to a butterfly design. When we next met up which was a couple of months later (we didn't get it done by x-mas it was months later but that was expected) I had about 15 designs to show her. I loved doing them as each butterfly was special in it's own way and when I showed her she couldn't pick just one. She did make her decision and got it done, now I wished I was there when she got it done but we were in 2 different cities and she had to just fit it in when she could. Anyways the reason why I'm explaining this is that this whole thing means so much to me. To have someone trust me enough to design a tattoo that she'll have forever and to have her love it means so much to me, I put a lot of work into the designs because it was her who I was designing for. Not saying that I wouldn't of put that much effort into desiging other peoples tattoos but I consider Sarah one of my closest and best friends I have so I wanted it to be perfect. I'm so proud of it that the picture on my phone will be shown to anyone who will look. It meant a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to her.
If you take the time to read this, thank you and please let me know what you think. I know this is a long one but it was on my mind and wanted to express it. Leave me a comment either on here or on my facebook. Until next time.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
First Blog!
It's been about 2 years since I've last done a blog and I think it's time for a change. For those of you who never read my MySpace blogs welcome and for those who have welcome back (I realise thats a select few but still).
Anyways theres a reason why I've now decided to start writing blogs again. That reason is my current living arrangement, over the past 3 years while at Uni I lived with friends but this year thats not the case. In my 4th year at Uni I've had to start again in certain terms and I'm living with people I don't know.That situation is neither here nor there but since I'm really living by myself because I don't interact with my flatmates I thought that I'd start this blog to express myself a bit. Now I know that my blogs have caused some friction in the past however that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. Which bring me to the subject of this blog.
Over the past year there has been some major changes in my life. Now these have all been good in my view. I've focused more on getting in shape which I've really needed to do, for example a few years ago I was drinking so much but now I'm hardily touching the stuff even going out with my friends back home, which is at least a once a week deal, I hardly drink. I've also been focused on going to the gym so much so that if I didn't have a gym membership I wouldn't know what to do with my free time. Anyways that has been a major factor in me growing in confidence and coming out of my shell more. The final change I've gone through is my attitude, I used to be focused on the negative factors in my life but now I'm always focused on the good. I haven't been in a truly bad mood in a year plus which I love. To me there's a lot more good in life then bad I find.
That sums up my first blog on bloggers. For those who read this I will update it as often as I can (hopefully once a week) and will cover other subjects that mean a lot to me. If your interested then plus check them out if not then hell just happy you've read this one.
Anyways theres a reason why I've now decided to start writing blogs again. That reason is my current living arrangement, over the past 3 years while at Uni I lived with friends but this year thats not the case. In my 4th year at Uni I've had to start again in certain terms and I'm living with people I don't know.That situation is neither here nor there but since I'm really living by myself because I don't interact with my flatmates I thought that I'd start this blog to express myself a bit. Now I know that my blogs have caused some friction in the past however that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. Which bring me to the subject of this blog.
Over the past year there has been some major changes in my life. Now these have all been good in my view. I've focused more on getting in shape which I've really needed to do, for example a few years ago I was drinking so much but now I'm hardily touching the stuff even going out with my friends back home, which is at least a once a week deal, I hardly drink. I've also been focused on going to the gym so much so that if I didn't have a gym membership I wouldn't know what to do with my free time. Anyways that has been a major factor in me growing in confidence and coming out of my shell more. The final change I've gone through is my attitude, I used to be focused on the negative factors in my life but now I'm always focused on the good. I haven't been in a truly bad mood in a year plus which I love. To me there's a lot more good in life then bad I find.
That sums up my first blog on bloggers. For those who read this I will update it as often as I can (hopefully once a week) and will cover other subjects that mean a lot to me. If your interested then plus check them out if not then hell just happy you've read this one.
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