Tag: wrestling

Who would have guessed a pro-wrestler of the 80’s had violent tendencies

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Impetus: WWE legend Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka found guilty for third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for the death of an ex-girlfriend back in 1983.

My knee-jerk reaction to this story was the fact that a case that was 32 years old was restarted, ultimately leading to the arrest of Snuka.  32 years.  That’s insane.  I’m 33 years old, meaning that this incident occurred when I was just a year old.  While I’m still sucking my thumb and crawling around on the floor, Jimmy Snuka might have allegedly been assaulting women when he wasn’t fake-assaulting men in leopard-print underwear tights.

I’m obviously no expert in the legal system, but isn’t there supposed to be a statute of limitation or something?  Like, some things can fall so far back in the past, that they get to a point where they actually can’t be fired back up?  Not that I’m saying I didn’t want to see Superfly get arrested, quite the contrary, regardless of where they are in my memories, criminal activity should be rectified; but I just was puzzled that something over three decades old, was still fair game to reopen investigation.

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Wrestling gone Hollywood, and not in the PPV subtitle kind of way

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I came across this article that was taking odds on whom the next WWE star would be, that could break into Hollywood.  At first, I was kind of like “pffh no way” when they had ranked Seth Rollins to be the #1 choice to possibly make it onto the silver screens of Hollywood (and not just WWE Film productions), but then it dawned on me that frankly, I’d never actually given it much thought about who the next guy really could be.

Typically I watch wrestling, because I’m a supersmark that likes to think I’m smarter than everyone else when it comes to wrestling, but I’ve been kind of caught up in the cat-and-mouse game between the fans and Triple H, who is doing a damn admirable job of taking the predictions and perceptions of supersmarks like me that think we’re smarter than everyone else, and turning them in all sorts of less-predictable directions.  That being said, I’m not really thinking about the future endeavors (see what I did there) of the talent beyond what they’re doing on RAW.

But it’s an interesting idea, and upon giving it some thought, I took a little bit of time to actually think about who could follow in the footsteps of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the more recent emergence of John “John Cena*” Cena, who did some show-stealing in Trainwreck with Amy Schumer, actually acting, instead of being a stone-faced Marine or vigilante.  Especially since with the more recent partnerships the WWE has flexed with relevant and popular celebrities such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Amell, instead of the days of when they used to bring in people nobody cared about like Snooki, such crossover pots could actually be stirred.

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Some words for the fallen

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a rough stretch for the wrestling industry this summer.  Within the last 60 days, two iconic names of the business have passed away, in Dusty Rhodes and now Rowdy Roddy Piper.  Given the fact that the life expectancy for males in the United States is at roughly 80 years old now, it is accurate to say that at 69 and 61 years old respectively, both Dusty and Piper left the world too soon, which is pretty much the epitomal statement made whenever any wrestler passes these days.  The lifestyle of the business, especially back when those guys were touring towns, was quite self-destructive, and it would be a bigger surprise if the causes of their deaths weren’t aided in some way or fashion by drugs or substance abuse.

I didn’t write anything publicly when Dusty Rhodes died, but now that Piper has so quickly followed, I think it’s a decent time to put some words down, because ultimately, I felt the same way about both guys, and it’s quite easier to turn this into something of a post that I’m hoping has some substance to it.

The truth is, I was never really a fan of either Dusty Rhodes or Roddy Piper.  This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about their deaths, far from it; they’re both unfortunate and absolutely horrible for the families that they left behind, but at the same time, I don’t see any reason to pretend like I was ever a big fan of either wrestler when they were still active.  Nor did I see any point of waxing poetic about great they were in the business, because I frankly don’t agree to such as fervently as many other wrestling fans do.

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Stating the smarky obvious

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

On this past RAW, John Cena cut a promo where he basically said everything smarky wrestling fans like me already knew: the United States championship is way more valuable than the World championship.  The thing is, up until last night, those are the kinds of things that the WWE, much less the wrestlers themselves aren’t necessarily supposed to acknowledge, especially on live television.

Needless to say, I found it very amusing, and one of those “Oooh” moments, but the formula doesn’t change; if the WWE is allowing it to happen, then it’s very much no longer breaking meta, it’s now a storyline.

The thing is that everyone knows it’s true, be it fans, the wrestlers, and the WWE organization itself.  The U.S. title is way more prestigious than the World championship is right now.  It’s just more amazing that they’re acknowledging it so blatantly on live TV.  It’s almost as if the WWE is trying to one of those preemptive power plays, where bringing the awareness to the forefront strips the power of it in the background, where an opinion like this would typically ferment.

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A match worth watching

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the mind of WWE personnel whenever they have a televised match on one of their flagship shows that absolutely tears the roof off the building.  Is it either an “oh shit, I can’t believe we just gave that away for free” feeling, or is it a “we’re creeping towards stale programming, and we really have to throw the audience a bone lest they start bitching with gas” feeling, or somewhere in between?

It’s no secret that wrestling television shows exist primarily to sell wrestling products, such as the WWE Network, merchandise and other endeavors, and that there’s typically a wall or ceiling of quality that they’re typically allowed to display, so that they can keep the really awesome things in their back pockets for those willing to shell out the extra money to see them.

It’s also no secret that without restriction or boundaries, almost any two wrestlers in the locker room could put on a five-star classic on any given night.  Seriously, just because they’re portrayed as jobbers, or not even wrestlers on the flagship WWE shows doesn’t mean that they’re not actually capable of wrestling.  Just a few months ago, there was rumblings of basically a borderline mutiny within the WWE locker room, because the company’s own developmental territory in NXT was putting on way higher quality of a show, with “lesser-known” talent from what’s basically portrayed as the company’s minor leagues (it’s actually more of a holding pen).

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Thoughts on WM31’s main event

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I would never have expected Wrestlemania’s main event to have been as gripping as it was.  Honestly, I tend to temper my expectations for Wrestlemanias in general, but ultimately, I treat them like I’m watching RAW; skim and glaze through everything, but typically ignore the main event.

For the most part, all of Wrestlemania 31 was pretty formulaic, and nothing was really that big of a surprise.  I would have liked to have seen more Cesaro, Axelmania and Damien Mizdow, and it’s kind of an insult that both the tag team match and the Andre the Giant Battle Royale were put onto the pre-show, but whatever.

I had higher hopes for John Cena vs. Rusev, and was a little disappointed to see that they broke my theorized rule of Wrestlemania, which is needing to hit three finishing maneuvers before the match can be decided.  I didn’t expect much from any other match, be it the Divas, the Intercontinental ladder match, and definitely not Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt.

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What would happen if fans ran the WWE

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Impetus: Butthurt wrestling fans flood social media with their displeasure of latest WWE product, make major outlets like TIME actually think WWE is in trouble.

The WWE’s going to be fine.  They’ll weather the age of insufferable (social media) as they weathered the age of steroids, the age of reality, the age of competition, and every other age that they’ve ever had to weather.

As much as I hate to cite those obnoxious “Keep Calm” sayings, it actually rings true when it comes to wrestling fans, primarily those that only pay attention to the WWE; they simply need to keep calm and trust in Vince, because one way or the other, the company is going to survive this, they’re going to adapt, and they’re going to make it.

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