Tag: Hulk Hogan

What the World is Watching

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

James Martinez
 ItsAlwaysSunnyLogo“The Gang Wrestles for the Troops”
Season 5, Episode 7
10/29/2009
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been able to consistently find unique ways to have their group of drunken underachieving sociopaths exploit topics from the mundane to the taboo. Pro wrestling falls somewhere in between those two. Okay, maybe it’s not taboo (at least not since the Attitude Era) but when you mix in a healthy dose of jingoism and xenophobia you’re bound to rub some people the wrong way. Even Rusev and Lana’s schtick has made it into the mainstream news coverage. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia not only skewered the forever trite storyline of good vs. evil in the form of warlike foreign policy, but also lampooned the depressing, all-too-real, downward spiral most pro wrestlers’ lives take when they’re no longer headlining sold-out arenas.

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10 Count!

Wrestling-Themed Sitcom Episodes

James Martinez

raw_80s_open_effect02With the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards airing tonight, it’s only fitting that I take a look at the ten best wrestling-themed sitcom episodes in TV history. As in situational comedy. No one-hour dramas or animated shows. None of which feature Hulk Hogan surprisingly enough.

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10 Count!

All-American Attire

James Martinez

SamSwagger

Two 10 Counts! in two consecutive weeks? 100 views, here I come. Rather than honoring our Independence Day by taking out aliens and dragging their dead carcasses across the desert taking a look at some of the most patriotic moments or wrestlers in the history of wrestling, let’s take a real close look at the clothes they wore while wrestling in the name of the U-S-A. A patriotic close look. Continue reading “All-American Attire” →

What the World is Watching

Jackie Chan Adventures

James Martinez
jackie chan adventures logo“The Mask of El Toro Fuerte”
Season 1 Episode 3
9/23/2000
Due to the waning days of my adolescence, I was not hip to the action-packed cartoon series that was Jackie Chan Adventures. Given that most of the stunts Chan pulled off in his live-action movies were so damn awesome they blurred the lines of reality, real-life Jackie Chan was definitely better than the animated one anyway. I’d give the cartoon props for sticking to the unbelievable style of Chan’s martial arts, but then again, every action sequence/fighting scene in a cartoon already tends to stretch the limits of real world physics. I will give the creators props for attention to detail, like Chan’s broken English. Why else would this cartoon series be called Jackie Chan Adventures and not The Adventures of Jackie Chan? Early on in the first season of this series the creators introduced El Toro Fuerte, a character that I came to find out, after some clever sleuthing on IMDB.com, is actually a recurring character throughout the cartoon’s run. But seeing as I’m not going to review all ten-plus episodes that feature El Toro Fuerte, I figured I’d go with his aptly-titled debut episode.

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What the World is Watching

Mama’s Family

James Martinez

MamasFamilyLogo“Mama Mania”
Season 4, Episode 9
11/21/1987

While Mama’s Family will never make any top ten sitcom lists, or be revered for breaking any ground as a sitcom or, hell, for being an entertaining sitcom for that matter, it was still a sitcom I regularly watched as a kid. Which will tell you that I spent most of my childhood without cable TV. Upholding the long-standing tradition of working class/white trash family sitcoms, Mama’s Family also happened to have a wrestling episode that involved Harper matriarch, Thelma, and daughter-in-law Naomi competing inside the ring. The show also decided to go the much more realistic route of having their TV characters, that have never wrestled before, win their matches against seasoned pros. And yet, we still wonder why the WWE books celebrities the way they do.

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Ringside Cinema

Paradise Alley (1978)

James Martinez

Thanks to his Oscar win for writing and starring in Rocky, an untouchable Sylvester Stallone decided to become an auteur of sorts with regards to films about prize fighters and grapplers. Despite going all-out and not only writing, starring, but also directing, and signing the song in the opening credits, Paradise Alley was definitely no Rocky. This film pretty much explains why Stallone milked the hell out of Rocky. He was a one-trick pony. Nonetheless, not many Hollywood studios were lining up to make movies about pro wrestling. So, we can thank Sylvester Stallone for that. Also, thanks to Stallone, it’d be a long time before Hollywood warmed up to making another one. But I don’t want to rag on him too much seeing as he’s sensitive and all.

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10 Count!

Mustaches In Wrestling

James Martinez
Here at Cheap Pop Culture I’ve decided to honor this Movember by listing the Top Ten Mustaches in Wrestling. Like long glam metal hair and mullets, mustaches, and facial hair in general, are a wrestling fashion staple. Sadly, more and more wrestlers are doing away with the long hair and sporting a clean-cut Lou Thesz look. Mustaches seem to be going that route as well (beards and goatees however seem to be going strong). But just imagine what growing a mustache would do for wrestlers who desperately need a reboot like John Cena or how it would boost certain wrestlers to that next level like Cody Rhodes? The possibilities are endless.

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The Bundy 5

The Bundy 5: Scariest Halloween Havoc Moments

James Martinez

Seeing as Halloween is right around the corner what better way is there to celebrate this holiday than by taking a look back at one of WCW’s original pay-per-views, Halloween Havoc, and some of its shittiest moments. Granted, this list isn’t going to uncover anything you can’t find on the Wrestlecrap website, but given that this is a list post, let us relive these moments in ranking order.

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