Tag: wrestling

Even Chyna deserves better

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Every year, around my birthday, I kind of hold my breath for a five-day span going two days before and two days after the actual day.  As I’ve pointed out countless times in my life, a lot of bad things tend to happen near, on or around my birthday, and I really wish that such weren’t so often the case.  I think somewhere along the line of tragic events and deaths that tend to happen in April, along with my generally self-deprecating nature leads to the sort of stigma I have when it comes to my birthday.

Unfortunately, 2016 is no exception to the rule, and two days after my birthday, the world was tragically informed that Prince had died, due to god knows what, as to no surprise, the details are still kind of murky and nothing seems to be confirmed yet.  I’m not going to pretend like I was the world’s greatest Prince fan by any stretch of the imagination (lord knows we have social media where people can do that), and I would be one of many who would struggle to name a song other than Purple Rain, but I do admire the guy for the musical savant that he was, and was always in awe whenever I heard stories or accounts of him picking up any instrument and going to town like a pro, because that kind of talent is truly incredible.

But I’m not writing this post for Prince, because as I said, as much as I admired his talents, he really wasn’t that big of a part of my fandoms nor did I have any sort of meaningful connection to his existence.  Not to mention the whole rest of the internet has Prince eulogies and tributes covered.

I’m writing this post for the other person who had the unfortunate fate to call April 21st their last day alive, the person who will always be overlooked if not outright forgotten on this date in history.  Much like Farrah Fawcett passing on the same day Michael Jackson passed, or any other notable instance where one notable person died on the same day as someone who was on a whole other level of notoriety.

Joanie Laurer, better known as Chyna to wrestling fans, passed on April 21st.  The news of her passing was quickly swept under the carpet due to the passing of Prince, that was announced nearly 4-6 hours after hers made it to mainstream outlets.  There’s no denying that Prince was certainly a bigger star than a professional wrestler, but this is where people like me come in, to reminisce and share some words about a lesser-known human being in a lesser-respected genre, who deserves to be remembered for their good as well as their bad, as having existed.

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The leg drop really is a dumb move

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Over the last few days, I’ve been watching a lot of Hulk Hogan leg drops, in honor of his recent victory over Gawker.  Now, I’m still excited and happy over his victory over that shitty network of sites, but eventually I got to a point where I’d begun moving on, and watching all these montages of Hulk Hogan leg drops got me thinking about ultimately, the leg drop is kind of a dumb move.

Basically, a wrestler leaps up in the air and drapes their popliteal over their opponent’s head.  It’s basically like clotheslining someone, with your leg, and probably with less momentum, since they’re already flat on mat, and gravity probably can’t provide the same force as person(s) running at each other.

Sure, Hulk Hogan made the move famous, but there’s no denying that when you take the Hulkster factor out of the equation, it’s still a pretty mundane and lackluster maneuver.

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Finally truly respectable

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

If there’s one good thing about Wrestlemanias, whether you watch them or not, it’s usually the most opportune time for the WWE to make some changes upon it’s passing.  Throughout the years, belt changes have often come on or immediately after Wrestlemanias, including numerous iterations of the World title, the Intercontinental championship. all the times John Cena wigger-ized both the United States and the World championships.  But at long last, the most visually problematic belt of the bunch, the maligned Divas Championship was finally put to rest, replaced with the new and respectable WWE Women’s Championship.

This is a step in the right direction.  But a bigger step in the right direction is the WWE’s decision to finally scrap the whole notion of “Divas” in the first place, and anoint the women wrestlers with the same distinction as the male wrestlers – Superstars.

It’s not so much that I’m some ultra feminist, as much as it’s simply the fact that I recognize that women’s wrestling has come leaps and bounds from the days of Torrie Wilson versus Stacy Keibler cat fights or Sable versus Jacqueline piss breaks.  Those were Divas.  From AJ Lee, Paige, to the more current crop of stars like Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, and those on the way like Bayley and Asuka, calling any of them Divas isn’t as much of a disservice as much as it’s simply kind of insulting.  All of these women have proven that they can go, and it’s at last long overdue that they’re no longer denigrated by the title of Diva, and called the Superstars that they really are.

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QQing over wrestling

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’m sad because I’m missing Wrestlemania this year.

I’m not sad because I’m missing Wrestlemania this year, because the card looks putrid, NXT Takeover will inevitably be the better show, but Wrestlemania’s card looks putrid this year.  Nobody wants to see Roman Reigns win the world title, nobody wants to see Kevin Owens be in a match that includes the Miz and Zack Ryder, and the best match of the night very well is going to be the Divas title match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.  No disrespect to the hardest working women in ages, but the rest of the card is definitely not worth sinking five hours of time into.

I am sad because I’m missing Wrestlemania this year, because it’s pretty much the first time in over a decade in which I’m not going to be watching it with some of my closest and longest tenured friends, whom we’ve had something of a tradition of doing for the better part of almost the last two decades.  Prior to this year, the only two blips in the radar have been the times in which I actually attended Wrestlemania, which were cool in their own right, but paled in comparison to evenings of catching up, shooting the shit, stuffing our faces silly, and commentating on all the bad matches of the night.

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VOTE FOR RHYNO OR ELSE

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

OR ELSE YOU GET A GORE! GORE! GOREEEE!!!

If you’re a wrestling fan, I dare you to try and read the rest of this post without having watched that YouTube montage first.

Long story short: former professional wrestler, Terry “Rhyno” Gerin declares that he will be running for state representative of his hometown of Dearborn, Michigan.

All obvious professional wrestlers being meathead idiot jokes aside, I have to objectively say that Rhyno is no layup to be a complete flop in this endeavor.  In fact, I would venture to say that Dearborn, a community just outside of the maligned City of Detroit, probably couldn’t do any worse with anyone else as representative, and that what they might just need is a guy that seems to legitimately care about his hometown.

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I don’t know why people are looking forward to this

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

To no surprise, I think I have a difficult time connecting with the current iteration of wrestling fans.  I question their allegiances, why they pop so hard for certain things, and why they resent particular guys so much, regardless of just how obviously hard they work to better themselves and try and improve; for them.

With Wrestlemania creeping ever closer, it’s that time when storylines begin manifesting for the supposed grandest show of the year.  Naturally, in spite of The Steak having come to an end two years prior, it’s still very much a big deal that the Undertaker participates in Wrestlemania.  With ol’ Mark Calloway not getting any younger, every year is speculation about when his last Wrestlemania is going to be, and theorizing which of the current guard should be the guy that gets that ultimate rub and sign of respect from the Deadman, to be the one who “ends his career.”

Make no mistake, the Undertaker is going to lose his final match, whenever that may be.  He’s of an old guard that firmly believes that no one person is bigger than the business, and the only way to show respect for the business on your way out, is to go out on your back, and lose your last match.  Mick Foley lost his last match.  As did Ric Flair.  Shawn Michaels lost several “final matches,” as has The Rock.  Even Stone Cold Steve Austin, at least when it came to wrestling matches, lost his final match.

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I’m grateful to have witnessed Daniel Bryan

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

To those who follow professional wrestling, already have heard about the retirement of Daniel Bryan, the darling of the fake sport for the better part of the last three years. As far as professional wrestling is concerned, this is a massively huge blow to the industry, losing one of its more capable and popular performers over the span of the decade, but when it comes to caring for the well-being of your fellow human beings, it’s still the right call.

Honestly, when the initial news and tweets broke out, I was skeptical that it wasn’t a work (fake, for storyline purposes), since in the ever-changing and adapting world of pro-wrestling, this wouldn’t have been the first time a storyline was set up, utilizing social media and preying on the emotions of others to lay the groundwork for a swerve.

And there’s still a part of me that thinks that the door is not 100% shut, because if doors actually managed to shut permanently in wrestling, then we would have never seen things like Sting coming to the WWE, Bret Hart coming back after Montreal, and the countless times Hulk Hogan has come and gone.

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