Professional wrestling, brought to you by pop culture and the make believe world of mass media.
“Dial M for Monkey: Rasslor”
Season 1, Episode 2
5/5/1996
One of the WWE’s most popular wrestlers right now, Daniel Bryan, is the personification of what it means to be a true underdog. And if we’ve learned anything from wrestling and every sports movie ever made, ever, is that people like a good underdog story. That’s why it only seemed fitting to write about a particular episode of the once-popular Cartoon Network show, Dexter’s Laboratory.
With WrestleMania XXX fast approaching, it only seems right to cover other companies (both past and present) who have(had) their own annual super shows. While not on the same scale as WrestleMania, these shows still delivered dream matches, feud blow-offs, and championship bouts that were just as exciting in their own respective country, territory, time period.
The Entire Series
November 23, 2013 – Present
The Lucas Bros. Moving Co. is an animated show on Fox’s answer to Adult Swim: the ADHD programming block. And it’s pretty damn awesome. To sum up the show in three words: Twins. Stoners. Wrestling.
The underdog gimmick has evolved so much throughout the years that it can be divided up into subcategories. Before, a wrestling underdog wasn’t much of a contender and had no real hopes of winning, aside from pulling off an upset or two. Now, the underdog can take the form of a smaller-than-average, but scrappy wrestler with a never say die attitude, to a loveable loser type who fares better in backstage skits, than inside the ring; to a talented wrestler who’s good enough to win, and can, but never gets a fair shake. This post will focus on those wrestlers who were consistently put in David and Goliath type situations (both figuratively or literally), and built careers out of being long-term Davids.
This week I take a look at a forgotten made-for-TV classic, Mad Bull, starring Alex Karras AKA the dad from Webster AKA the middle class Philip Drummond. It’s one hell of a cheesy movie, but by wrestling movie standards it’s probably one of the better ones out there. It also reveals to us that life is hard for a wrestling heel, especially in the 1970’s.
In honor of Black History Month, I decided to compile a list of the top black tag teams in professional wrestling history. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
“The Battling Bailiff”
Season 2, Episode 17
2/7/1985
Night Court was a workplace sitcom set in a Manhattan court room during the night shift, which centered on Judge Harry T. Stone and his rag tag group of work buddies. During this particular episode, one of the bailiffs, Bull, a character who was pretty much based on Lenny from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, feels unfulfilled with his life, especially after being made fun of by his coworkers for writing poetry, seeing as they think of him as a one-dimensional guy. So, he decides to take up pro wrestling after meeting a promoter inside the courtroom.
Continue reading “Night Court”
Don’t let the alternate VHS cover fool you, this is the same 1986 classic that stars Dirk Benedict from The A-Team and Donna’s mom from That 70’s Show.
Apparently the economic climate of the early to mid 90’s, was worse off than the one we’re currently in now. So much so, certain lower-tier to mid-card wrestlers had to supplement their income by taking up day jobs, or supplement their day jobs by moonlighting as wrestlers if you prefer to see it from that perspective. You can’t blame wrestling for trying this out. Comic books have always done it. Peter Parker is a photographer by day, Superman is a journalist, and Bruce Wayne is a billionaire. Yet, the guys dress the part when it comes to playing hero. You won’t catch Superman beating the crap out of Lex Luthor in a suit and glasses. Many of the wrestlers on this list decided to not only take up wrestling as a second job, but not bother masking their identity, and instead celebrate their first career choice by refusing to wrestle in professional wrestling garb. You figured after the first time he got yanked around by his necktie IRS would’ve learned his lesson. But nope, without his tie and suspenders the fans wouldn’t know what he did for a living. So, in celebration of Labor Day, let’s take a look at the top wrestlers with day jobs.
This month’s 10 Count will feature the top moments in which wrestlers took matters into their own hands and unleashed their frustrations on upper level management. With this past week’s revelation of The Corporation 2.0, us wrestling fans will witness another boss vs. employee storyline that made the Attitude Era and Steve Austin famous. Despite how many times it’s been rehashed over and over again, from taking on the actual CEO of the company to the assistant to the regional general manager of Raw; anytime a popular wrestler goes up against any figure of authority it’s going to generate instant heat. Granted, I really wish this storyline had been dropped out of the pro wrestling storyline rotation, considering that it spawned the never-ending turnover rate of meaningless General Managers. But this time it’s a fresh of breath air, considering the involvement of head honcho himself, Vince McMahon, and the fact that Daniel Bryan is a superstar on the rise and not an already established one. At least not in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Hopefully we’ll get a few moments in which Daniel Bryan will make the figureheads of the WWE look foolish and get a few Busaiku Knee Kicks in for good measure. I really hope he gets in a few Busaiku Knee Kicks.
Cheap Pop Culture 