EVENT

As of a couple of months ago, I'm back with Celtic Wrestling in a remote and multimedia based role.

Posted on the left is the event flyer I recently produced for their upcoming Big Bang 6 Fundraiser show in aid of  Isabella's Wish To Walk

I will be producing more advertising in the future, with the prospect of recording DVD release match commentary maybe on the horizon (still ironing that one out). It's great to see my favorite welsh Wrestling group active again.

BELT

These were taken in 2005 - a couple of days after I first co-won the tag championship of the indy promotion I used to wrestle in.

Sure, the belt I am holding is a solid-replica (not toy) of a WWE tag title (with added stickers on), but the accolade of being a tag-champ all the same. Those were selective fun times I care to remember.

BODYSLAM

I’ve been having a bit of a blast on WWE All-Stars recently.

The game is a recent Fathers Day gift, so I could have something play on the X-Box besides Duodecad and Lips.

I like how this game presents an exaggerated approach to wrestling with an arcade attitude and over the top looking wrestlers. I’m won over at being able to play as old favourites like Hulk Hogan, Jake the Snake Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior again in a video game and pitting them against the stars of today in glorious fantasy warfare!

Great fun!

CRYPTIC

Shown on recent WWE programming. I say it's Sting!

We'll all find out on February 21st.

LARIAT

Amazing...

GUERRERO

Wow. It's been 5 years today already. Seems like yesterday I was hanging out with a few of the guys from wrestling training when the sad news of Eddie Guerrero's passing came out of nowhere. It was really shocking.

Been watching a couple of Eddie's old matches online to reminise the good times. I miss his comedy personna and tidy wrestling ability. Eddie took 'Lying, Cheating & Stealing' and managed to revert these obvious heel traits into a great babyface gimmick, a gimmick that made us laugh at the expense of the bad guys.

Missing you always, Latino Heat.

VIVA LA RAZA

Eddie Guerrero 1967-2005

UMAGA

Thoughts on Umaga.
Did someone say 3 Minutes!?

I was looking through WWE.com last night after watching the very well executed Extreme Rules PPV to look at the highlight photos and see what would be on tap for RAW.

I then came across a random but shocking news piece on the site announcing that WWE had released Umaga from his employment.

“From WWE.com:

World Wrestling Entertainment has come to terms on the release of SmackDown Superstar Umaga as of today, June 8, 2009. WWE wishes Umaga the best in all future endeavours.”

I don’t get it. Umaga was one of the top heels and one of the best characters going, especially in a current period in WWE where it seems the good guy ratio is overlapping the bad. Allegiance aside, Umaga was a solid hard-hitter and brought out the best in a lot of the faces he feuded with.

When Umaga first came into WWE in 2006, he was frizzy haired and somewhat a little generic - The whole Samoan savage thing had been done before. It also didn’t help that he’d already been established from two previous TV incarnations, Jamal (WWE) and later as Ekmo (TNA). The best thing about Umaga at the time of the character starting out was his charismatic Cuban manager Armando Estrada who was a great spokesperson and mouthpiece.

Umaga as a character really came into fruition when his move set was altered from just relying solely corner moves. Moves like the Samoan Spike, Samoan Drop and the Sidewalk Slam variant were both very good highspots and brought Umaga more into a better centre of focus. Umaga became a much more watchable ring warrior when he broke free from mainly trapping opponents in the turnbuckles.

As well as sorting out the moveset, the image improved. Umaga got rid of the troll hair and replaced the do with tribal dreadlocks and shaved patterns, he also acquired better henna face tat designs and better ring gear. Umaga looked more fearsome and his image complimented his in-ring toughness.

Umaga had some great wars against some of the most credible stars including DX (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), John Cena, and Jeff Hardy. Umaga had also got off to a great start when his first WWE feud pitted him against Ric Flair where he gained his first major victory. Many other victims followed after Ric Flair. Umaga was also a brilliant nemesis for Triple H for the better half of 2007.

So what about Umaga’s appeal? He did big moves, looked nasty in a stylish way, and had presence. Watching Umaga destroy people and scream out his Samoan war-cries was like watching Taz the Tasmanian Devil but only much more extreme.

What started to go downhill for Umaga was the separation of himself and his manager (who drafted to ECW). The dynamic had been broken in half and both forcibly had to branch out on their own. A soulless feud with Bobby Lashley (representing Donald Trump) accumulating at Wrestlemania 23 was about as wholesome drinking Somerfield Basics tea.

Now that Umaga is gone, he will certainly leave a gap that needs filling. At least towards the end of his WWE run he got to speak some English, although that debatably not a good thing. Hopefully Eddie Fatu can pick up somewhere on the Indy circuit, maybe go back to TNA or reunite with Armando Estradra. Perhaps a fantasy bout against Samoa Joe is now a possibility… The 90 Day No Compete clause will probably help sort something out for the future.

Umaga will be missed.

TRIPLE

- THUNDERA
- SITUATION
- ASLAN


THUNDERA

Yesterday I went out with my associate in his new car (a car which looks like Chase of the Throttlebots/G1 Transformers) to Bristol city centre (or Broadmead as us true Bristolians call it) on a mission to acquire the Second Season of Thundercats on DVD.

The HMV staff were a little crafty as they had a copy of the S2 pt 1 disc set on display for £22.99 and cunningly hid the reduced £15 copies on a lower shelf section. We got the £15 copy in the end.

Thundercats season 2 is a big deal here in the UK. For season 2 was never aired over here, or more accurately the BBC could not be arsed to air it. You could say that Season 2 is like a gap in the childhood of anyone who grew up in 80’s Britain. The nearest Blighty ever got to seeing Season 2 was the release of the Thundercats Ho Movie on VHS.

So Season 2 will mark new Thundercats, Ma-Mutt, new Thundera (Third Earth was cool though!!) and a new villain faction called the Lunatacs (Who I hear are nastier than the Berserkers ever were). I’m going to need some time to sit aside and be immersed in it all. 65 unseen episodes of Thundercat goodness can’t go wrong well 30-something to start with until the acquisition of part 2 is made.

I need not go on about how great Thundercats is, an 80’s cartoon that hasn’t aged very badly, a toon that was a milestone for toons today and a toon that practically started Toonami.

So yeah Season 2 goodness. Going to love every minute of it I hope.

===========

SITUATION

I am in talks with Celtic Wrestling management over my quitting the promotion last Friday. Things could be resolved…

I may have acted rash, but with good reason.

I cannot go into details yet, but I am still on very good terms with the guys and gals at C/W and there is still a good relationship going.

I will keep you guys updated on this one.

===========

ASLAN

I went to see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian today: A great film with a load of sword swing, claw slashing action. Very good sequel. I can’t wait for Voyage of the Dawn Treader with the return of Reapacheap and the introduction of Eustace! :D. The character who I felt sorry for the most in Caspian was the poor Minotaur that held up the gate as it looked like he was hit in a certain place with an arrow . I’d love to say more but I know people from church will be reading this and are making a trip to see this tomorrow, so sorry kids, no spoilers from me  And NO THROWING POPCORN (when the ushers are looking).

Zip and Star’s Birthday tomorrow with mine the day after.

Check you all later

===HERO/KEN.

WEEKEND

First off, if any of my American Transformers fan friends can help me with the acquisition of this beauty I would be really grateful. I am sure this is one Megatron item that will have no trouble getting past customs. LINK
Christmas in July!!!

As far as the weekend goes, I had a mixed up one at that. This weekend was all about less highs than lows but I am getting over some stuff and having to move on.

Quitting Celtic Wrestling was heartbreaking.

It winds me up that it seems in all circles anywhere only the inner elite clique are allowed an opinion (no matter how illogical it is) whereas the rest of that circle are name-called and shunned away. Anyone who hung out on the C/W forum today will know what I mean - when a good mate (Bassey) started a little farewell thread for me which sadly had to be deleted.

I need to cheer up more… The Dr Who finale was awesome, Guitar Hero 3 was fun and I hope to start watching the complete Life on Mars (the original UK version) on DVD later on.

My 31st birthday is this upcoming Thursday so I need to be in high spirits for then.

===HERO

PUNK

Last night’s edition of WWE RAW restored some of my faith in WWE programming when out of the blue the most tidy, slot-filling story twist happened.

And of course I am referring to a Pepsi Twist here LOL.

CM Punk who won #1 contendership briefcase at Wrestlemania 24 this year cashed in his title shot and put the now previous champion Edge in his place and snagged the championship belt after a vicious GTS (Go To Sleep) to the head.

Edge had previously caused The Undertaker to be banished from the WWE (although I reckon he’ll be back at Summerslam) and along with La Familia gave the Smackdown locker-room an unfair power struggle, with Edge as the champ along with the General Manager Vickie Guerrero in his back pocket (and probably his front pocket too :P).

So yeah, Edge for a long time now had been asking for a comeuppance, so lo & behold CM Punk was the man to bring it.

I’ve liked CM Punk for a long time ever since his pre-WWE days on the indy scene. I even had the pleasure of meeting Punk back in early 2005 when I was with *certain promotion* and commentated for the match he was in.

Punk is a drink free, drug free, straight-edge superstar whose only addiction is competition and sometimes a splash of Pepsi . Punker is also a GI Joe fan too, but I won’t hold that against him.

But yeah… CM Punk as Champ on RAW.

Bloody good!

I hope things continue to get better.

OWEN

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the tragic death of Owen Hart.

I didn’t actually watch the WWE: Over the Edge 1999 PPV at the time as I was working a harsh twilight shift job for Tescos. I only heard the heard the news from a friend the next day in passing.

I can’t say I was Owen Hart’s biggest fan not that I hated him either; the guy was an excellent in-ring performer and a great underdog babyface that transitioned into a very nasty heel as he progressed in wrestling. I can think far back and seeing Owen wrestle as ‘Brono’ Owen Hart on ITV WoS Wrestling and other moments such as beating Skinner, High Energy, Winning the 1994 King of the Ring and also his eventful turn on big brother Bret, a change which changed his career forever.

During 1999 Owen was on the verge of a face turn and gave the fans a comedy angle to laugh about when he returned to wrestle under his old Blue Blazer gimmick. The Blue Blazer was funny and nothing more, this was comedy packaging wrapped around a talented wrestler who was otherwise taken seriously, a character that unexpectedly lead Owen to his death. Owen was due to take on The Godfather for the Intercontinental Championship and tragically his high flying ring entrance backfired when his rope harness failed. I can only try and imagine the horror of the fans who were watching this event at the arena to have seen an in-ring death like this. I can only imagine the other wrestlers carrying on with the show despite what had happened and having to cope. I also don’t think I can even imagine the horror felt by Owen Hart’s family watching at home.

It would seem Wrestling especially has seen a lot of fallen comrades over the last few years especially in premature circumstances. Last year for me saw a few of my best liked grapplers head up to that big squared circle in the sky before their time. 2007 was a sad year especially. Bam Bam Bigelow, Crush, Mike Awesome and Chris Benoit; all who were favourites of mine had all died prematurely, these all were workers I admired and inspired to be like (even Benoit at one time).

Owen Hart’s death particularly was something that could have easily been avoided. I could go into chaos theory about this but bereavement is something I don’t like to delve to into. I much prefer to talk about what that person did in their lifetime and reflect on their impact they had on those and places around them.

Now I said Owen was not one of my favourite wrestlers but I recognised how good he was and maybe I should have recognised more during his lifetime. You ever see the guy cut a promo? His heel stage when he spoke reminded me so much of Johnny from Karate Kid part 1. Another thing I should have mentioned earlier in the list of memories was the feud with Ken Shamrock which I thought was something truly hard hitting and even involved the use of the infamous Hart Family Dungeon. Wrestlers don’t leave that Dungeon the same as they came in.

From what I also gather Owen was a well liked person in the locker-room and well known for his fun pranks and ribbing on others. Owen was a family man too with a wife and two children aside from being the baby brother of the Hart siblings. The RAW episode that aired after Over The Edge was one of the most tear jerking pieces of television I had ever watched. Just watching that episode was evident of how well liked the man was by everybody.

So I will close now and hope that this blog has turned a few heads and has hopefully encouraged a few other grappling fans to reflect on the life and career of Owen.

“I’m not a nugget!!”

Owen Hart
May 7th 1965 – May 23rd 1999

SELECTION

A pick and mix selection of goodies from the world of myself.

I don’t know where to begin…

*cue the Murder She Wrote theme and I start typing*

I finally hammered the Essay of Doom on the head this week, only the essay wasn’t actually about Doom although I rambled on for 4,000 words about video games being made into movies. I mainly covered Super Mario Brothers and Resident Evil.

I recently acquired the complete series of Spaced which I think was a void filling investment. I will ramble about this rather excellent series in another blog entry, but I certainly will state that watching this makes me want to graduate fast from university and grab the world by the balls and make some of my own stuff.

This week also marked the 60 Day Suspension of William Regal from the WWE. Whatever he was exactly suspended for, my opinion on the guy doesn’t change. I am certainly disappointed to hear of the news but I look forward to his eventful return to TV.

===Other thoughts processing… ===

Zack turning heel on the Bones Season 3 finale was a shocker!

Smallville season 7 finale was by far the weakest cliff-hanger ending so far of the series. Despite that I have high hopes for season 8. Doomsday!!!!

Scotty 2 Hotty seminar on the 7th. Looking forward to that.

TF:Animated Prowl and Lockdown on their way from Hong Kong.

I need to do some clothes shopping soon. I am shrinking out of everything.

Exam to repeat next month. I hope I take it to the cleaners this time (not literally mind).

===HERO/KEN

REGAL

I am really stoked to see on TV Steve 'William' Regal getting the character push in the WWE he so justly deserves. First off being the General Manager of RAW, then the 2008 King of the Ring and thirdly being used in top level feuds against stars like HHH and Mr Kennedy.

I grew up watching Regal on ITV World of Sport Wrestling, as well as Fit Finlay and Robbie Brookside. I've been watching wrestling since I was 6 so you can guess how long I have been watching Regal plus other classic British stars and wrestling in general.

Regal was the first wrestler I shook hands and stood in a wrestling ring with. I am talking here about a time around 17 years ago when All Star Promotions ran shows fortnightly at the Colston Hall in Bristol. The occasion was a tag team main event which involved The Liverpool Lads (Regal and Brookside) VS Doc Dean and some other dude who I forgot. At this time the Liverpool Lads were well over with the crowd as a babyface tag team whilst Doc Dean was a much hated heel and also a former Liverpool Lad himself (His storyline is basically similar to that of Shawn Michaels betraying Marty Jannetty and ending The Rockers). Basically the Liverpool Lads scored the win and the arena went nuts, so much so a few of us kids stormed the ring to congratulate our heroes.

It was very cool that later on Regal joined WCW and even though he was a heel he was in a good position to represent the UK in the USA and teach some of them ‘yanks’ a thing or two ;) There was even a time when Regal made the mighty Bill Goldberg work for his pinfall as opposed to being part of a cliché of a 3 minute match opponent. Regal refused to job so easily like many others did and it got him in trouble. At least Goldberg got took to school British Strong-style that was the main thing.  That match is viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POjGbzOYDOg

There is many other Regal stuff I could go on about, but I just don’t have the time and energy to spit it all out in one day. Regal is the man and that’s what matters.

Now in this present day, William Regal is ruling the WWE with an iron fist and is definitely the main in charge despite a current anti-UK vibe on WWE programming (well last weeks RAW was definitely anti-UK). I hope the character push will last for a long time to come.

All hail King Regal! Rule Britania!

INSPIRED

Last Fridays Celtic Wrestling event left me feeling in good spirits. Not only did I return to some announcing work but I have future stuff in the pipeline such as my interview and involvement with The Best of The System DVD, some possible appearances for Welsh Wrestling Organisation and... a few other things I won't reveal yet.

It's good to be back.

SYSTEM

They were the baddest heel stable in Welsh Wrestling history, constituting of Johnny James, Chris Recall, Elpsycho, Tyler Browne and Thunderbolt Tommy Dean (and the passive members too). This one time badboy group gave Celtic Wrestling a good shaking and marked some of the meanest power struggles within the promotions.

So yeah… Word came about that a Best of The System DVD is in the works. About damn time I say!

I am in talks of having an interview and some input into this project as I announced, commentated and edited a lot of the System’s matches and in-ring anarchy.

I was never a big fan of heel stables in wrestling since they seem 10 a penny these days and a little cliché. The System however had a unique presence and strong character base like a rock group in some ways, they were a heel stable with a purpose as opposed to being a heel stable for the sake of it.

So far a few Youtube videos have made it to the web. Here is what they are so far (enjoy!):

Best of The System trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlu9dGiigE8

Chris Recall shoot video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CELzd4HZ7mI

Thunderbolt Tommy Dean shoot video: (watch out for colourful language)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUeSUOQQSp0

AFTERMATH

An entertaining night of hi-octane wrestling action on TV has left me with 4 hours sleep but happy about the outcome.

Wrestlemania 24 turned out better than I expected…

The only match that literally put me to sleep was the Big Show VS Mayweather bout. I am fan of Big Show and would have liked to have seen him in a program I cared about. Apparently Show was supposed to be the heel in that encounter, but that was hard to tell especially when Floyd Mayweather entered the area with his huge rudeboy posse (not very babyface like eh). Still, I hope the rumoured post Wrestlemani a program with the Undertaker will happen.

Speaking of The Undertaker, his match with Edge was a real thrill to watch with so many surprises and near pins pulled out of the bag. This definitely deserved the main event slot and really ended the show on a really high note with The Undertaker expanding his streak to 16-0. As for Edge, he has proved to be best Wrestlemania opponent yet for The Undertaker and really came close to crushing a lot of fans hearts. Although the Undertaker is now the World Heavyweight champion what mattered more was that his streak was kept intact. The credibility of Smackdown has risen for the time being.

Ric Flair VS Shawn Michaels played off well although things really started to slow down a bit when Michaels landed really badly out of the ring onto an announce table. Thanks aplenty to Shawn and Ric for still putting on a highly entertaining and pure wrestling match which had a unique Highlander-ish ending to it.

Summary of Wrestlemania thoughts:

Kane as ECW Champion! I hope he will be used better with this reign.

Bunnymania = Waste of time. Santino sold Snoop Dogg’s punch more than he did Lawler’s, in fact he did’nt sell Lawler’s punch very well at all. The Diva stuff, well…

Belfast Brawl, I wish Finlay had won that one.

Money in The Bank: Loads of sick bumps and a good return of Matt Hardy. The push of CM Punk begins! Looks like he’ll be fed to Kane or jump a brand to be fed to someone else. I hope Shelton Benjamin is okay from the really sick bump he did, in fact he should have won it IMO.

Batista VS Umaga: This had potential but something just wasn’t there.

The HHH, Cena, Orton 3 Way: Not bad, and a surprise to see Orton win. Orton’s Wrestlemania loss streak has been broken whilst HHH’s hasn’t.

That’s it for now.

MANIA

Tonight is Wrestlemania 24 and I may be staying up to see this.

I wish I could be more excited about this show but I am not. Aside from the Ric Flair VS Shawn Michaels bout and Undertaker VS Edge I don’t really have much enthusiasm for the show itself. I would be watching this even based on curiosity alone. The missus is buying the event from Sky Box Office and we are likely to be watching it in HD over at the in-laws where the house has thicker walls and we can shout and yell more than we can at our own non-HD TV place.

The Big Show VS Floyd Maywether I have no full interest in, although I do like the Big Show and am glad to see him back in the ring. I think this program was poorly built up from the word go and during that build up there was confusion as to who the actual heel and face in the feud was. I still have no idea who the heel and face in this encounter will be. I do hope this bout will mount more than the daft sumo match from a few years back.

Ric Flair VS Shawn Michaels has a lot of hopes from everybody behind it. Many expect this possible ‘retirement’ match for Ric Flair to be the show stealer. I can’t agree more. I have high expectations for this bout and I hope it would be slotted in the main event instead of the HHH/Cena/Orton three-way match. Michaels VS Flair will be a golden classic no doubt! I just hope that if does end in tears it will be happy tears at least. Ric Flair’s retirement is on the line after all.

The 24 man ECW Battle Royal is being given the elbow towards dark match territory and yet the Divas match still remains on the main broadcast. I think the Divas bout will be a waste of space but yet most promoters believe sex appeal sells better than wrestling, so I can see the logic in that to a degree.

Whether I end up watching this live or acquiring the show the next day I am hoping this show will be good. As it is Wrestlemania I am sure there will be plenty of huge surprises and possibly some high jinks from TNA Wrestling who are also staying in the same town over this weekend.

Currently I am not that excited but I hope to be as the show looms closer.

Here's hoping Taker leaves the Citrus Bowel Arena 16-0!

BLADE

Props to Alex Shelley of TNA Wrestling for refusing to 'blade' for a match. According to an ICW report, Alex has been known to have never bladed in his wrestling career and is also known to have said he would never do.

This refusal of blading is said to have caused some heat in his direction. Personally I think that self harm is a very personal thing and whether you in a paid occupation you still have the human rights to say no.

During my own previous wrestling stint I was also against the idea of blading. I am morally against that kind of thing... and hey! it leaves a scar.

If wrestlers want to blade job fair enough but I think it should be down to choice. And if that choice is a no the match they are in should be altered.

We all can't be Corino after all :)