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“Wrestling with Demons”
Season 3, Episode 12
2/01/2001
Proving why The Undertaker has been so successful for all these years, comes another show dealing with the occult that somehow manages to work in pro wrestling as part of the plot. Side note: “Wrestling with Demons” should’ve been the title of the Jake “The Snake” Roberts documentary.
The Royal Rumble is upon us once again to help make Roman Reigns look even stronger. Last year, I took a look at the best #1 and #2 entrants. This year, I decided to showcase the top ten final four competitors. Because as fun as the Rumble is, everyone knows the best part is when it’s down to the last four wrestlers.
2015 wasn’t the greatest year for wrestling legends in terms of breaking news stories. Two of the greatest entertainers, Dusty Rhodes and Roddy Piper, passed away. Jimmy Snuka was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter of his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, 32 years after the fact. And, even though former Hulkmaniacs thought it impossible, Hulk Hogan was able to further desecrate his legacy and contribution to professional wrestling by adding to his already long list of personal failures and embarrassments his dropping of the n-word. Multiple times. Seriously, you would’ve thought it was one of the Hulkamania commandments after “take your vitamins.”
Thankfully, this site focuses on wrestling in pop culture. So even when it’s bad, it’s not going to leave you depressed and questioning everything you kayfabe believed in. And luckily, 2015 was a good year for pro wrestling within the canon of pop culture.
Continue reading “2015: The Year of Wrestling in Pop Culture”
After three months of inactivity and real life getting in the way, I’m back with a new 10 Count! and what better way to celebrate the Halloween season than with a look at wrestlers masquerading as other wrestlers, be it for revenge or… yeah, it’s usually for revenge. These aren’t alter ego gimmicks, like The Yellow Dog or Mr. America, but one-time performances that resulted in a surprise unmasking post match. So read on, take your fill and let the spectacle astound you.
With the 2015 Royal Rumble upon us, I’d be a fool not to make this month’s 10 Count! Royal Rumble related. With so many lists out there I figured I’d take a look at the top 10 first two Rumble entrants. These guys usually help set the tone for the Rumble. It’s even better when the two guys have some sort of backstory. This is a marquee WWE event, second only to WrestleMania, so you need to start it off with the right pair of wrestlers because, no disrespect to D’Lo Brown, are you seriously going to give a shit when the first two entrants are D’Lo and Grand Master Sexay?
Many might think Larry the Cable Guy’s foray into the world of wrestling was something new that only happened a couple of Raw’s ago in order to promote his movie, Jingle All the Way 2, which “co-stars” Santino Marella. But before he started unnecessarily making sequels to movies that shouldn’t have been made in the first place, Larry starred in the “comedy” Delta Farce which, unlike Jingle All the Way 2, was actually released in movie theaters. But more importantly, Delta Farce had a wrestling scene. Or, more specifically, a lucha libre scene. Unfortunately, it doesn’t involve Larry bumping all over the ring or working a cable guy gimmick.
Not long ago on NXT, the Vaudevillains introduced the Full Sail University crowd to the mini Lucha Dragons. Unfortunately, they left a lot to be desired of as far as lucha libre minis go. They were pretty much small guys in Nacho Libre masks and Lucha Dragons t-shirts. And even though Hornswoggle has done an okay job portraying smaller versions of Heath Slater and The Miz (although defeating the purpose of Damien Mizdow), he has a lot to learn when it comes to mimicking his much larger counterparts. Here’s a few WWE mini wrestlers who got it right.
In keeping with the theme of having themed Art of Gimmickry posts, today’s post will feature the Native American gimmick in honor of this past Thanksgiving Day. While few actually achieved national prominence, the reason why the Native American wrestler has been a staple in the media’s representation of stereotypical wrestling gimmicks is because back in the day it seems every damn territory had someone working a Native American gimmick. Whether they actually belonged to a tribe or not.
With Brock Lesnar having dominated John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 in a way nobody has ever done, and in a championship match no less, it’s only fitting The Art of Gimmickry explores the bad ass character. It’s safe to say that the idea or gimmick came about during the late 90’s, specifically around the Attitude Era. But not because of guys like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was more of an anti-hero than a one-man wrecking machine. What really helped inform the creation of the bad ass gimmick was the rise of the UFC.
Wrestling fans love to know about celebrities who actually enjoy watching wrestling. It makes them more like us! However, we don’t care for the ones that were somehow coerced into being at a WWE event, despite getting awesome front-row seats, for the sole purpose of reminding non-wrestling fans how mainstream and culturally relevant WWE is. Nor do we care for the ones that are guest hosting Raw for the simple reason of pimping out their latest movie/show. No, we like the ones that actually watch on their own accord and are fans of the product. Whether they’ve just gotten on the bandwagon or have been fans for years. It’s even better when those fans happen to be comedians. Especially, when you consider the several parallels between the lives of professional wrestlers and stand-up comedians. Plus, it helps to have a sense of humor and a healthy dose of self-hatred when watching wrestling. Which is why it makes sense that comedians would be legit wrestling fans. And here’s a PWI 500-ish ranking of them.
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