Remembering Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

My fondest memory of Bobby Heenan occurred on an episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling on Christmas Day of 1989. Heenan had lost a bet to Rowdy Roddy Piper weeks earlier, forcing him to commentate the entire show while wearing a Santa Claus suit.

I remember sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree as I enjoyed every ounce of “The Brain’s” humiliation. My joy turned to utter shock when Heenan reached his boiling point. He took off the red hat, white beard and revealed to every kid watching at home that Santa Claus is not real.

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Star Wars: Phasma (Book Review)

It’s safe to say that the chrome-plated Captain Phasma was highly underutilized in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Looking back on all of the hype going into the film, absolutely nothing was promised to the importance of Phasma. Still, the plethora of merchandise in her likeness, along with the fact that Brieann of Tarth herself, Gwendolyn Christie, was playing the towering stormtrooper all but guaranteed this amazing new character that we never got.

Force Friday II saw the initial launch for Star Wars: The Last Jedi merchandise. There were action figures, vehicles, clothing, puzzles, nerf guns, Funko Pops, and books as far as the eye could see. One of those items was one of the new canon novels written by Delilah Dawson appropriately titled, Phasma.

Captain Phasma’s origin story is told in an interrogation session where the Resistance spy Vi Moradi was captured by First Order captain, Cardinal. Cardinal dons crimson-colored stormtrooper armor with a left captain’s cape just like Phasma. Cardinal is convinced that his highly respected and feared colleague cannot be trusted and believes Vi has the proof he needs to bring her down. Continue reading “Star Wars: Phasma (Book Review)” →

Year One: A WWE Universal Championship Retrospective

Four champions and fifteen matches over three hundred and sixty-five days encompassed the first year of existence for the WWE Universal Championship. The big red belt has become WWE’s top prize after stumbling out of the gate upon its arrival.

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WWE Asked for My Opinion

WWE reached out to me today via my inbox and wanted to know who are my favorite WWE Superstars, NXT Superstars, and WWE Legends. I’m flattered that the E values my opinion. So, I moved my cursor towards the lovely “click here” button and gave them my two cents. Continue reading “WWE Asked for My Opinion” →

G1 Climax Breeds Stellar Matches, Bumps & Bruises

New Japan Pro Wrestling put on three absolutely amazing matches last weekend as a part of the G-1 Climax semi finals and finals. Tetsuya Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the block A and Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to win block B, setting up a Naito/Omega final.

Naito/Tanahashi was a great match that was overshadowed by a stellar third Okada/Omega encounter. Omega was in a must win situation and had to do it in less than thirty minutes. Okada, however, could advance to the finals with a win or a draw due to a one point differential in his favor.

Okada went into the match with an injured neck he suffered in previous tournament bouts. Omega targeted the injury right from the onset and was relentless in his attack. Okada fought him off with everything he had but with a little over three minutes left in the match, Omega hit the One Winged Angel for the pin.

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Can Nakamura Win at SummerSlam?

Two weeks ago, Shinsuke Nakamura beat John Cena, clean, with one Kinshasa after Cena couldn’t get it done with two Attitude Adjustments. While their initial outing was a fun time had by all, it will ultimately end up being one of two things. Either the first step in making a new star or an attempt to revitalize a diminishing asset. Continue reading “Can Nakamura Win at SummerSlam?” →

Examining the Bruan Strowman/Karen Jarrett Saga

I don’t normally like to write about wrestling stories like this, however, I don’t think anyone has heard one quite like this.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that eleven days ago, there was an incident at a bar in Nashville where wrestlers from both WWE and Global Force Wrestling (Formerly TNA) were there to watch Jeff Hardy’s band perform.

Reportedly, Karen Jarrett (GFW) approached Braun Strowman (WWE) and asked if she could get an autograph for her son. Strowman, not knowing who she was, vulgarly denied her request. Voices of Wrestling reported that Strowman’s alleged response was “F— your son.” Karen tore into him and said that she was going to tell her son’s father, who is Kurt Angle.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, it gets better.

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Is Tonight’s Cena vs. Nakamura Match a Mistake?

John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura will happen tonight on SmackDown Live and the winner will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at Summer Slam. This is an interesting turn of events because we’re getting a dream match on television as opposed to a pay-per-view event and everyone is wondering why.

Contrary to popular belief, not every first-time matchup is going to or needs to, occur at a major event. Raw and SmackDown are WWE’s two biggest revenue streams. Television content for the two programs needs to be solid in order for WWE to continue receiving rights fees from NBC Universal. Continue reading “Is Tonight’s Cena vs. Nakamura Match a Mistake?” →

Backdrops and Body Slams at Fenway Park

Sometimes, I think I know how special things are until I’m immersed in the splendor of the moment. Then I realize that I didn’t have a clue. This past Sunday I was the play by play commentator for the Wrestling All-Stars of New England show at Fenway Park. I was also given an extra duty at the last minute that I had always been eager to experience. Continue reading “Backdrops and Body Slams at Fenway Park” →

Kurt Angle, You Are The Father…Now What?

For the past several weeks, the mystery surrounding Kurt Angle’s big secret has been a focal point of Raw. On Monday night, Angle came to the ring and brought the alleged scandal to a close by announcing that former NXT and SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jason Jordan is his son.

Angle explained that he dated a girl in college for short time and got her pregnant, but didn’t know about it. The woman put the child up for a closed adoption, and Jordan wanted to know who his biological parents and hired a private investigator, which ultimately led to the reveal.

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