Wrestling Revolution's Slow Release Characters... Awesome

So yeah, for the last eight days, Jeff Katz has been rolling out character headshots for his Wrestling Revolution Project. I'm not going to lie; they're intriguing. The two most interesting ones to me belong to MVP's new character and to Dr. Luther, or should I say, Father Dante.

Photo Credit: Geek Week/Wrestling Revolution Project

That is creepy perfection. I can't get enough of it. If a single picture can get someone excited for a character, then this one is it. Holy crap. The other six pictures and quotes can be accessed from the right side of the page. I can't recognize a good bit of them... hell, it took me a second take for me to notice that Lord of War was MVP. That's a good thing if their goal is to reinvent guys.

Why JoshiMania Matters

Manami Toyota kicks Aja Kong in the FACE
Photo Credit: Nami/Dirty Dirty Sheets

I've been pumping up JoshiMania a lot, as have other blogs like the Dirty Dirty Sheets and Ring Belles. Some might say it's because that I'm a giant Chikara homer and I support them blindly. That is hardly the case. Don't mistake my fandom of Chikara for blind worship. If they ever do anything bad, I'll call them out on it. That being said, I think JoshiMania is important because really, it is important. That might sound redundant, but at the same time, it's necessary to point out the kind of event this is.

It's not measurable the amount of influence joshi wrestling has had on the greater world of this grand art we know and love. These women were innovative, more so than anyone else in the business for the last 20 years. Of course, it was because they had to be. They couldn't do the same thing everyone else was doing because if one can imagine any society where the world of sport is harsher to women than it is in America, it's Japan. That being said, the best innovation comes from necessity. It also bears out that nearly everything that these women were doing was picked up by the men in Japan, and we all know how much influence the American wrestling intelligentsia holds puroresu.

This event in many ways is a celebration of that influence, that importance. The woman warriors of the past will be there. Manami Toyota, Aja Kong and Mayumi Ozaki represent the past. The women they influenced will be there, wrestlers like Mio Shirai and Ayako Hamada. The women who represent the American descendents of joshi will be there, like Sara del Rey and Portia Perez. It's a commune celebrating women in wrestling, and the weekend will show exactly what women's wrestling is all about.

In an almost comical contrast, Smackdown last night showed the other reason why JoshiMania is so vitally important. The only match featuring a division known derisively in a way as the Divas was a mistletoe on a pole match. The winner of the match got a prize that wasn't to be revealed until afterwards. Mick Foley, the host of the evening, revealed that prize not as a Divas Championship shot, but a cash-in to be able to kiss the WWE wrestler of the winner's choice. In something almost as equally comical, tomorrow night on Impact, there'll feature a bikini car wash with the Knockouts. Both of these companies have their heads up their asses when it comes to women in wrestling.

That's why it's important that JoshiMania gets the due it deserves. Now more than ever, these women need to innovate out of necessity. They need to show to the growing legions of female wrestling fans that the best they can aspire to be in the wrestling world isn't a bimbo with implants who can barely run the ropes or someone who needs to doll up so they can pop boners rather than crowd reactions. Female wrestling fans need positive role models in wrestling. Kelly Kelly is a terrible female wrestling paradigm. You know who aren't? Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, Sara del Rey, Portia Perez, Ayako Hamada, Mio Shirai, Mayumi Ozaki, Gami, Kaori Yoneyama, Cherry, Toshie Uematsu and the rest of the women who will be here for this landmark three day event.

So yeah, if anyone asks why people need to support JoshiMania, it's because it's vitally needed in the world of wrestling. It's important, lest the WWE's version of what women's roles in pro wrestling should be continue to choke the life out of female wrestling.

Your Midweek Links: Joshi Joshi Joshi

Coming back to the US for JoshiMania, Manami Toyota!

It's hump day, so here are some links to get you through the rest of the week:

Self-Shilling:

- JoshiMania starts Friday, so if you still need a primer, John Hyperion and I will get you squared away in the last edition of The Wrestling Podcast [Episode 29: Death Rey Magnetic]

- In fact, check out the whole JoshiMania tag for as good a check-up as I can offer [Search Tag: JoshiMania]

- My Cageside Seats article, showing how ridiculous Dixie Carter's induction into an indie HOF is [The Indie Corner: Why Is WSU Inducting Dixie Carter into Their Hall of Fame]

- My Camel Clutch Blog piece on how awesome the day after Thanksgiving is for wrestling [Make Black Friday Your Wrestling Vegetation Day]

- I wrote a guest post for The Footbawl Blog about how much I hate people pumping up Tony Romo [Guest Post: Romo Reaction (or "The Skirt Steak")]

Wrestling Links:

- Major announcement re: Fair to Flair Quarterlies Issues 3 and 4 [Fair to Flair]

- My blogging Broma Bull reviews RAW [PizzaBodySlam]

- Mitch also says the funniest things on Twitter [PBS Tumblr]

- Another, quicker look at RAW [Hitting the Mark]

- The Best and Worst of RAW [With Leather]

- And catch the replay of WL's live Smackdown blog [With Leather]

- A 30 man Royal Rumble is being advertised this year. Rats. [Cageside Seats BONUS PODCAST Wrestling Aficionado]

- Mae Young is a broski? Wouldn't she be a sisski? [Diva Dirt]

- Punk offers his perspective on his SummerSlam return [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- .gifs of Dolph Ziggler doing his headstand [Wrestling Theory]

- More JoshiMania previewing from DDS, an interview with Sawako Shimono [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Kana drops the SMASH Women's Title to Tomoka Nakagawa [Ring Belles BONUS PODCAST Women of Wrestling Podcast #31 f/ Mike Quackenbush]

- Okori Wadsworth looks at the first of his dream matches [The Majesty of Wrestling]

- Is social media helping or hurting wrestling? [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Seven rap verses that reference Bob Backlund [The Smoking Section]

- International Object gets a new logo! [International Object BONUS PODCAST S2E2 w/ Brandon Stroud]

- So, you wanna be a booker... [Feminine Smark]

- "Nostalgia and wrestling go together like peanut butter and tuna fish" -- Rob Schneider's character from Big Daddy [Grapple Kingdom]

- A belated review of Turning Point [The Harrison Analysis]

- Naw, ain't that sweet, Lex Luger and his boss' matronly old wife [Wrestlespective
]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

No new interviews this week

Non-Wrestling Links:

- Farewell to Matt Ufford, who is stepping down from his post as managing editor of Warming Glow. Thanks for starting the blog, and thank you ESPECIALLY for Corgi Friday. [Warming Glow]

- The NBA is back. YAY! [Court Vision]

- Even more NBA lockout-ending celebration [Grantland]

- Struggling to make sense of said lockout [The 700 Level]

- How the Internet salvaged the NBA season and saved the NFL's [Deadspin]

- More locally, things to be excited for about the 76ers [Spike Eskin BONUS PODCAST Time's Yours Ep 14, on the Eagles' nuclear winter]

- The best action shots from Skyrim [Unreality Mag]

- Skyrim music videos [Topless Robot]

- Super Mario Bros.: The Opera! [Gamma Squad]

- A flop worthy of European soccer [Gifulmination]

- Josh Zerkle argues that Sunday Night Football needs a tune up [The Go Route]

- So Ndamukong Suh WASN'T the most embarrassing part of Thanksgiving this year for the NFL... [With Leather]

- Who's that? It's just the placekicker taking a leak on the sideline. [30FPS]

- The unveiling of the Stevie Johnson "Moves Like Jagger" Award [the Footbawl Blog]

- Peter King knows nothing about football, continues to write about it. As always, Drew Magary will be there to skewer him [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- An interview with Walter Payton's biographer [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- 30 UNDENIABLE facts about kids' TV [Pajiba]

- Commander Riker: Best in space! [Aggressive Art]

- "Mahna Mahna" was originally in a porno? Yep. [Film Drunk]

- Players, value vs. popularity [Crashburn Alley]

- Your new Boston Red Sox manager, Bobby Valentine [Baseball Nation]

- Should the Royals start Aaron Crow next year? [Fan Graphs]

- 11 anachronistic behind the scenes photos [Buzz Feed]

- Did ESPN help cover up a sexual predator at Syracuse? After calling down the thunder for Joe Paterno at Penn State for doing the same thing, they'll have a LOT of explaining to do if they did. [Wide Left BONUS PODCAST What Levy and Co. Are Thankful For]

- Eric Gargiulo ROCKED THE FUCK OUT at Anthrax and Testament [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Conrad Murray sentenced to 4 years [The Smoking Section]

- Rivalry weekend's biggest winners and losers [Your Best 11 BONUS PODCAST Solid Verbal]

- Photos from an Oregon road trip! [Campus Union]

- 22 new jobs for Rick Neuheisel [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- Everybody point and laugh at Old Navy for not getting founding dates on their University tees right [Dr. Saturday]

- My boy Jonny Castro got himself a pizza tattoo. [Doughboys]

- Rachel Davies conquered Toad in the Hole. No, that's not sexual [Cogyddes]

- Does Guy Fieri shave his legs? [Food Network Humor]

- The 5 fans who ruined sports. Not listed: Steve Bartman, because he didn't ruin anything, Cubs fans [Cracked]

- Slayer has never been so delicious [Skull Swap]

- Dad... mom.... [Imgur Gallery]

- Confirmation bias comic! [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- Should players take the heat for coaches getting fired? [Puck Daddy]

- Scott Hartnell as Yukon Cornelius... yep, totally fits [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- Siri is pro-life, apparently [UPROXX]

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

The Best Moves Ever: Toyota Roll

JoshiMania starts in about 60 hours or so, so for the second week in a row, we're throwing some joshi goodness in the best moves segment. This week, it's the unquestioned Japanese empress of my heart, Manami Toyota, busting out her titular rolling pin attempt, the Toyota Roll. I've seen this live. It's a fun move.

Instant Feedback: Daniel Bryan, Superstar

Forget the pandering opening segment. Forget the holiday party (although DUSTY RHODES! DUSTY RHODES! BAH GAWD, DUSTY RHODES!). Forget about the two segments (TWO) dedicated to Hornswoggle learning how to talk (although I thought it was inoffensive and cute). This show was all about one thing and one thing only.

Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry.

It almost felt like they made the show a dud to make the main event seem more important. Yeah, I know, that wasn't the case because this felt like an overbooked, overwritten RAW show, which might make sense given that it was a live show, and I'm not sure I want to give the writing staff that much credit. That being said, that's how the show played off to me. Bryan looked like a million bucks here, and Henry looked as much the part of the big bully as he should have, even with his bum wheel. It very much to me felt like a first match in a prolonged series, Bryan throwing his all behind his assault and coming so close. I really thought he was going to escape at the end. But then Henry pulled it out with a SUPER World's Strongest Slam. For a first match in a series, it felt really good.

That being said, I would have loved to have seen them get a few more minutes and have a few more things fleshed out, but I think that could be saved for their future encounters, as Bryan builds upon what he learns from battling Henry. Again, I understand not giving WWE that much credit in building upon this, but remember one thing. The road to WrestleMania rarely begins at the Royal Rumble anymore. They've been starting it sooner and sooner each year. I hope I'm not being too optimistic here, but it's hard not to.

Speaking of tempering optimism, yeah, when Nattie Neidhart came out smiling and waving with all the other Divas for that bullshit match, I should have known it was going to be a travesty. And lo and behold, the prize in that match was the right to kiss a big strapping man between now and Christmas. It's a good thing I'm going to JoshiMania Friday. Ugh.

Wrestling Six Packs: The Coolest People Who Could Be Behind "It Begins 2012"

Come back, Chris!
Photo Credit: WWE.com

WWE is attempting to go viral marketing a big return with a series of two Youtube videos. My fear is that it'll signify yet another boring return of the Undertaker, but then again, maybe it'll be someone interesting. Here are the six coolest people I can think of.

1. Chris Jericho

Jericho is the other "obvious" choice to be the subject of these videos, but can we admit right now that he's the cooler option of the right there options? He's been tweeting about how he'll never come back to WWE, but that could just be him being a character while preparing to come back as a character. While WWE has developed a lot of great characters in his absence and doesn't technically "need" him, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him back in the fold.

2. Colt Cabana

Wouldn't that be the ultimate in fan service? All the support Colt's gotten, from his newly-influential friend and from the small but vocal contingent, and he'd get paid off with a series of vignettes that would make him the hottest thing going. Of course, the biggest reason against these being for Colt is that he's a jovial kind of guy, and these are serious and creepy. Still, Colt Cabana in WWE? How cool would that be if his second chance was actually done right?

3. Sting

Yeah, I know, we've been down this road before. I'm not the biggest Sting guy, and there could be some issues with tampering, given that I'm not sure what his TNA contract is. That being said, it's history. The guy has never competed in WWE, and because of that has never been at WrestleMania. I don't want to see him go against Undertaker like most people inexplicably do, but there are other matches that'd be cool. Sting/Mark Henry would hark back to his feuds with Vader. Miz could learn a lot from a feud and match with the Icon. The options are there.

4. Batista

I miss Big Dave. I really do. He was just so awesome in his flame-out run that he left me wanting more. Some might say too little too late. I say better late than never. Haven't we all learned the same lesson with Henry? Again, the tone of these videos might not be on the same wavelength that'd work for Big Dave, but again, I'm not sure I'd care if he brought his spotlight back with him from his dalliance with MMA.

5. Sean Waltman

Obviously this is the biggest pipe dream of them all, probably bigger than Cabana, but at the same time, there are so many great matches possible for a motivated Waltman to have in WWE right now. If the guy could do a match where he got the absolute shit beaten out of him by El Generico on the indie level, I think he could do 8-12 minutes in the midcard of a PPV against CM Punk or Alberto del Rio or Dolph Ziggler. His redemption would be complete, and that'd be cool.

6. Trish Stratus

Yeah, it's not Trish Stratus. No way is it Trish Stratus. But it's not likely candidates, it's coolest candidates, and Trish Stratus coming back to fight the Divas of Doom and ushering in a new age of women's wrestling in WWE. But then again, as I type this, live Smackdown just aired a segment where the Divas wrestled for a chance to cash in Mistletoe in the Bank to kiss any WWE superstar they want between now and Christmas, so yeah, I fucking give up on ever seeing WWE being anything less than a sexist piece of shit organization.

But hey, it'd be cool if they weren't, and they gave this kind of treatment to Trish Stratus, right?

Know Your JoshiManiacs: The Living Legends

Toyota

JoshiMania is this week. As prefaced on here a few times, TWB is all in on covering it and making sure that it's treated like the event it is. Hopefully, these preview posts give the readers some insight onto how important and good this event is going to be.

Imagine living in a country where wrestling was accessible, but the biggest stars didn't appear all that much. There would be tapes available, but the biggest stars, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, didn't come over on tour. Hogan would have made one tour fifteen years ago, and Flair would have made his first appearances in the last eighteen months. Then imagine they were coming over on tour for a three-day event. For basis of conversation, imagine that both guys aren't complete shells of themselves anymore.

That's what Aja Kong and Manami Toyota coming over as the JoshiMania headliners means to fans of Japanese women's wrestling.

These are arguably the two biggest stars in joshi history, or if they're not 1 and 2, they're in the conversation with Akira Hokuto and the Crush Girls. For anyone who traded tapes in the mid-'90s and followed AJW, this is a huge deal. It's Woodstock, and Toyota and Kong are The Who and Jimi Hendrix.

Kong
Photo Credit: Nami/Dirty Dirty Sheets

That being said, despite the fact that both women are experienced to say the least, that doesn't mean that they'll be coasting on reputation. Toyota, in her appearances for Chikara, has been one of the brightest spots on every show she's appeared. Kong is reputed to still be going strong after years of working a high impact style. The fact that they're coming over still near the top of their game raises the game of this event It really punctuates the point that this is the crème de la crème of the joshi world.

Toyota will definitely raise the interest of Chikaraphiles everywhere because she has appeared for the company before, especially at their biggest yearly event, King of Trios. It's generally accepted that people know what they're getting with her. That being said, if Toyota is graceful as a swan, then Kong is as ferocious as a grizzly bear. I've featured her signature finisher, the Uraken, twice on here, and for good reason. It's a really vicious-looking strike. That's only a taste of what Kong can bring to the table.

Manami Toyota and Aja Kong are as legendary as they've been billed, not only by me, but by the people bringing them here. Their presence alone makes JoshiMania historic.

Toyota Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

RIP Patrice O'Neal

Comedian Patrice O'Neal died today due to complications from a stroke he suffered in October. He was 41 years old. O'Neal suffered from diabetes, which brought about his stroke. O'Neal was mostly known for his standup comedy. So, why mention him on a wrestling blog? Well yeah, he had a brief stint as a member of WWE's creative team in 2002. So yeah, it's pretty tangential to wrestling, but hey, it's just funny how much life is interconnected.

Anyway, 41 is WAY too young to die. Rest in peace, and my sincerest condolences to O'Neal's family and friends.

CM Punk's Tribute to Eddie Guerrero, in .gif Form

.gif Credit: Jenna Cooney/This Fire Burns Tumblr

And if anyone wants to doubt this was an intentional tribute to Eddie G, yeah, it totally was.

Daniel Bryan Vs. Mark Henry: An Appreciation

I want to see this more around WrestleMania time
Photo Credit: WWE.com

As certain smarky fans who hate everything the "typical" Internet fan likes and revel in their favorites failing to elicit a reaction from the crowd, last night's RAW must have been a thrilling moment. During the segment when Daniel Bryan and Michael Cole took turns dressing each other down, only to be interrupted by Mark Henry, the crowd started to chant "We want Big Show!" Forget that Bryan's comeback segments got a good amount of heat, fans would rather have seen a big guy! SIZE! INTERNET NERDZ SUCK IT HAHA!

That being said, there's something to be said about the fact that a feud between Show and Henry had resonated to the point where Henry speaking elicited a desire for the guy he was feuding with. It also speaks to the fact that this scuffle with Bryan is just a test run, which actually is okay. They're giving Bryan a shot to show what he's worth, both here and in his spotlight segments on Smackdown Friday, and he's totally knocking it out of the park. Everything he's done in the last two shows proves that he not only belongs in the ring, he belongs as a total WWE superstar.

That's why I hope that this teaser feud with Henry is a preview of things to come. Henry, like Bryan is now, has gotten a shot to show what he's worth this year. That shot has lasted for about six months now, and the results have been some of the best character work and storytelling that WWE has done all year. Henry has arrived. Whether it was fifteen years too late or whether it was undeserved (I roll my eyes at anyone who says someone's push is "undeserved", by the way), he's here and he's one of the best parts of the show.

I feel like those two things coming together would make one awesome WrestleMania feud. They've already teased Bryan cashing in his briefcase, but at the same time, they've taken the last two shows and put a story around it that works and makes sense. Bryan's intensity and elocution put over a perfect way to explain why he'd circumvent his conviction and seem like a hypocrite. It felt right.

That's why I'm not going to be said if tonight, the Bryan/Henry cage match ends with it being a device to continue the Henry/Show feud, or to segue Bryan off to a feud with Cody Rhodes. It's a nice diversion now, but it's served its purpose, as a teaser to get everyone psyched for a WrestleMania main event-level match featuring the World's Strongest Man and the American Dragon. Both are guys who are more than deserving to be called the best in the world at what they do, and a feud between them could and should headline in any promotion across history, especially in WWE right now.

Know Your JoshiManiacs: The Cleaner

Hamada
Photo Credit: Greg Davis/Dirty Dirty Sheets

JoshiMania is this week. As prefaced on here a few times, TWB is all in on covering it and making sure that it's treated like the event it is. Hopefully, these preview posts give the readers some insight onto how important and good this event is going to be.

In Pulp Fiction, Winston Wolf is known as a "cleaner". He takes messes, and he scrubs them so that the situation becomes just as good or better than it was before the mess arose. We saw this quality manifest quite literally in the movie, as he oversaw Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield needing to clean up their car after Vega accidentally blew the brains out of a passenger in their backseat. He was efficient, effective and he got the job done. With the planning of JoshiMania, Chikara needed a cleaner. They had some names who were booked but had to back out because of injury. However, they didn't call Winston Wolf. Their cleaner came in the form of Ayako Hamada.

Hamada may be the most recognizable name on any card for the sheer reason that she spent a good amount of time in TNA. She was also famous for being misused in TNA, which seems to be a common theme for indie and foreign wrestlers who land in the Impact Zone. Even in her limited time there, she showed a national audience how badass she could be. Simply digging a bit deeper into her archives would produce scores and scores more of evidence that she is an elite talent. Her matches in SHIMMER are the stuff of legends. As John Hyperion noted, one of the greatest matches in the promotion's history pitted her against Sara del Rey, and how about that, Ayako Hamada vs. Sara del Rey is the nominal main event for night 3 in New York.

So, it's pretty obvious to say that Hamada is efficient, effective and she gets the job done. What she also is is a bridge between the American indie sensibility and the joshi world. She was born and raised in the world of Japanese professional wrestling, and she's one of the most noticeable names here in the States. With that pedigree, I almost feel like she needed to be a part of this event, replacement name or not. Fans of hers from TNA will be able to see her unleashed, in her most primal and unrestrained form. And those who have never been exposed to Hamada will be able to marvel at one of the best that Japan has to offer.

Either way though, people will watch her and wonder why Chikara even considered bringing in anyone else instead of Ayako Hamada. Then again, that's the job of the cleaner. She's supposed to make the situation look just as good, or in this case, better than what it was before the need for her arose.

Addition by Subtraction, or No Nash and No Trips Make Us Happy

The Best and Worst of RAW dubbing this THE POOPIES face is the only positive of Nash's current comeback
Screen Grab Credit: Brandon Stroud

So yeah, RAW was spectacular last night. During the show, I got that feeling marveling at the things guys like CM Punk, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Alberto del Rio, Johnny Ace, John Cena, Mark Henry, Ricardo Rodriguez, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Randy Orton and especially Daniel Bryan were doing. It really was an ensemble effort. That being said, there was a distinct scuttlebutt on Twitter celebrating how good the show was because two people weren't there. In retrospect, a huge reason why RAW didn't drag much at all was because Kevin Nash and Triple H weren't there.

Looking back at WWE since the seminal PIPEBOMB moment, it seems that everything that went wrong with the company that didn't involve the Divas stemmed from Nash's involvement as a member of the roster. For a guy with a reputation of being "cool" with the mic in his hand, every time he opened his mouth, it seemed like a steady stream of hot garbage flowed. The absolute nadir of his current was that overly long and totally melodramatic beatdown of Triple H that sent the COO to the hospital and out of the consciousness of the storyline.

With that in mind, could WWE have realized that this feud doesn't fit in the new direction of the company? I would hope so. Watching the current crop of WWE luminaries go last night perform with the help of a couple of older stars to supplement their presence showed that the narrative really changed. No one cares about what happened in the mid '90s anymore. No one cares about the Kliq or guys arguing over issues that haven't changed since 1998. The times have changed, and while Triple H showed promise of being able to keep up with those changes in his first appearances as the COO, Nash just drags him down into the mire.

While many people like to deride WWE for dropping angles before their completion, I really wouldn't mind if we never saw Kevin Nash on WWE television in a non-nostalgic role ever again. His time has passed, and I'm not sure he can be used to help enhance the current story. Just put him in the Hall of Fame and be done with him and let guys like Punk, Bryan, Ziggler and the rest do all the heavy lifting. They're more than capable.

Instant Feedback: The Spirit of Eddie Guerrero Lives

Sometimes, WWE gets a little too cute with trying to build drama for a match. On the surface, there was no real reason for them to add in the "CM Punk loses the belt if he gets himself intentionally disqualified", unless we're really stretching out the heel solidarity meme. Then, the match between CM Punk and Alberto del Rio started winding into the homestretch. Ricardo Rodriguez tossed a chair to del Rio, who then tossed it to Punk in an attempt to frame him for an intentional DQ. Then, Punk tossed the chair back and played possum. With a smile on my face, I was reminded of one of the all-time greats. Yes, cheat to win Eddie Guerrero's spirit possessed the main event tonight, and it was breathtaking.

While I wouldn't go that far to describe the entire show this evening, I'd definitely say that tonight's show was one of the best episodes of the year. Rowdy Roddy Piper and John Cena owned the opening segment. The wrestling was on point, especially Dolph Ziggler beating Randy Orton in a fantastic match. The Miz DESTROYED John Morrison and sent him from WWE the way he should have been sent. Johnny Ace continued to be one of the most surreally surprising performers of the year, punctuated by his explanation of continuing to keep Brodus Clay from debuting. Just an incredible ensemble effort tonight.

However, with all the above happening, the unquestioned star of the night was Daniel Bryan. He came out and confronted Michael Cole, who did his best to smarm and belittle him, and with the intensity and fire needed for a WWE main event star, he controlled the microphone. He went out and admitted to the world that he was a hypocrite, but that he didn't care. The truth was that the crowd didn't care either. They supported him. They did a very good job covering for his lack of moral integrity, and this mini-feud between Bryan and Mark Henry has been one of the most refreshing stories of the year.

A Glimpse into the Future?

.gif Credit: I Love Wrestling .gifs Tumblr

As much as I hated the idea of Daniel Bryan cashing in his briefcase before WrestleMania, I admit that when I saw him with the title, I got super giddy. Seriously, bad writing and storytelling can't take away from the sheer moment of seeing one of my favorite active wrestlers with a prize that looks more than good on him.

In response to the tease and the lapse in Bryan's character, as always, WWE.com has the whole story with this interview. K. Sawyer Paul, among others, are really astute with the observation that one has to follow the entirety of WWE's media empire to get everything. It makes me wonder whether the same people who write the shows are responsible for these vignettes and videos, but then again, the unquestioned star segment of Smackdown this past Friday was Bryan jabbing with Wade Barrett in front of AJ. So maybe the rumors of Smackdown's improvement in writing quality ARE true...

Know Your JoshiManiacs: The (North) American Girls

del Rey

JoshiMania is this week. As prefaced on here a few times, TWB is all in on covering it and making sure that it's treated like the event it is. Hopefully, these preview posts give the readers some insight onto how important and good this event is going to be.

JoshiMania has a cavalcade of Japanese names announced thus far. They range from the familiar (Ayako Hamada, Manami Toyota, Aja Kong) to the esoteric (Cherry, Gami, Hanako Nakamori), but there are two names that stick out sore thumbs (among the female competitors... the male wrestlers are another story). They are Sara del Rey and Portia Perez. This isn't a bad thing. If anything, the two women probably feel honored to be the only North American females included in the JoshiMania proceedings. Then again, aren't they the ones with the most to prove?

Yes, del Rey took Chikara by storm in 2011, emerging from the shadows of the BDK to arguably become the most popular wrestler in the promotion. Perez took the bull by the horns in Texas, having herself a MVP-caliber year in Anarchy Championship Wrestling. They're in the discussion when talking about the best and most influential women wrestlers in America right now. So why would they have anything to prove?

Perez
Photo Credit: TexasAnarchy.com

Maybe that proving isn't to us, the fans. We know that del Rey and Perez are two of the best wrestlers, woman or man, in the world. They've done so much not only to advance the art of wrestling, but to obliterate the gender barrier and prove that the only thing that makes them different from, say, Eddie Kingston and El Generico is the genitalia. Maybe what they have to prove is to themselves.

While there are going to be a lot of fans who don't know what the visiting joshi legends and luminaries, the two Western women competing here do. It's no secret that del Rey's hero in wrestling is Aja Kong. While she's arguably the biggest name on the weekend, she's not the only big star. She's not the only one that casts a shadow that might feel intimidating to lesser competitors.

That being said, neither del Rey nor Perez are wrestlers I'd consider as "lesser" competitors. They're among the best in the world at what they do, and while they may not have the mystique as the other incoming female warriors, they're going to come out of this weekend looking better than they ever have. I expect big things out of Sara and Portia this weekend. They're great competitors, and great competitors rise to the occasion when called upon.

And oh boy, what an occasion this is going to be starting Friday.

del Rey Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Ted DiBiase's Movember Growth

What a moustache!
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Look at the 'stache on Ted DiBiase. Most guys can't pull it off, but it actually looks decent on El Hijo del Hombre del Catorce Millones Pesos Mexicanos. I wonder if this is permanent or whether it was his entry into the Movember movement. Movember is this thing where men grow moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness for prostate cancer, depression and other issues affecting males around the globe. Either way, it's a good look.

Cheerleader Melissa Is Ruthless

Via Kayfabe.net

Hey, remember when Jeff Jarrett dressed up in gi and taught kids how to do MMA as a flimsy cover to put them in submission holds and tap out? Yeah, we all thought it was cute, but as with most things Jeff Jarrett does, someone else out there does what he did so much better. I submit to you Cheerleader Melissa, giving a small child a Super Dragon-esque curb stomp. I'd say her form is perfect, but that kid has too much of a smile on his her face. Didn't his her parents teach him her ANYTHING about selling? GAWD.

ETA: Thanks to John Hyperion, I now know the child is none other than the daughter of Allison Danger and Ares, which makes her lack of facial selling of the move even MORE baffling. It also explains the t-shirt.

King Kong Mosca Is Still a Feisty Old Man

Angelo Mosca has had a pretty neat career. He was one of the guys in wrestling who was imported over from football when his playing career was over, and he actually had a good run as King Kong Mosca in the territories. He was also at one point an announcer for the WWF, earning himself an Observer Award for "Worst Wrestling Announcer". Dubious. Anyway, here's video of him showing his old heel antics at a Canadian Football League luncheon honoring old players. Watch what happens after he tells Joe Kapp to "shove it up his ass". Like a good villain, Mosca takes a beating... wait, what do you mean that wasn't scripted? What do you mean that was a legit ass-whipping? Ah well, watch anyway. It's great, it really is.

Sin Cara's New T-Shirt Is a Bit... Cocky

I don't mean to be a dick, but look at the middle of that shirt. It takes some balls to put a product out like that. Either that, or it was a real boner on WWE's part. Anyway, I hope the guy who designed it doesn't get the sack, because he would have gotten shafted royally. Honestly, I feel like everyone should just share a salami sandwich and forget about it. Schlong.

Breaking the Weekend Silence: DGUSA and EVOLVE Merge

Merging with EVOLVE effective now

Go to the Nov. 25th alert

Gabe Sapolsky had been promising big news on Black Friday for a couple of weeks prior to the day after Thanksgiving. Usually, Black Friday news means big DVD sales for indie wrestling companies. Yes, Dragon Gate USA did have a big half-off sale, but that wasn't the announcement. The news actually dealt with a merger, with DGUSA joining forces officially with EVOLVE.

This move sounds like a no-brainer to me. One, Gabe being the head booker for two promotions, even ones that run as sparsely as these two run, has had to tax him creatively. It doesn't matter what the workloads for each are; it can be exceedingly difficult to have two different creative visions in one's grasp and to keep them completely separate without either one suffering. Two, I'm not sure about the kinds of gates EVOLVE was getting in their most recent shows, but the fact that the company's most recent show was cancelled couldn't have been good for morale.

Three, as I stated before, I'm not sure what the EVOLVE concept was supposed to accomplish in concrete terms. As an arm of a company that has titles and interesting storylines, it might have some value. They also announced that there might be an EVOLVE title coming forth, and I think that could be good. Then again, if the promotion was going to stay separate, I still would have loved to have seen them go to an 18-22 month regular season and a one-weekend playoff extravaganza to crown a "seasonal" Champion. Ah well.

Given that my faith in DGUSA has been restored, I'm interested in seeing what role EVOLVE will play in DGUSA, especially since it said on the news release that EVOLVE will "bridge gaps" between Dragon Gate weekends. Maybe this is where the American talent will get their chance to develop more of a niche. Maybe this is where side stories will get developed. Who knows. However, I like where it's going.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Friday Five: Leftovers

In the spirit of the day...

1. Buy or sell: Survivor Series may not be the most important of the big four PPVs, but it's the most fun.

2. Compete the sentence: The greatest ECW (original) Champion of all-time was __________.

3. Has there ever been a swerve that has left you emotional to the point of tears?

4. What's your favorite variation on the cage match?

5. Will people look back at Bound for Glory 2011 as a turning point in TNA's history or just another event?

Future Endeavors 11/24 Power Poll: Survivin' the Series

A man of the people
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Welcome to yet another edition of the Future Endeavors Power Poll, a poll ranking wrestlers on a weekly basis based on how awesomely they performed or were portrayed on a Tuesday-to-Monday cycle. It is voted by a who's-who of wrestling bloggers, including my blogging San Antoni-Bro Spur PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. CM Punk (Last week: 5)
2. The Rock (1)
3. John Cena (2)
4. Dolph Ziggler (Not rated)
5. Big Show (NR)
6. Mark Henry (3)
7. Wade Barrett (8)
8. Cody Rhodes (10)
9. Randy Orton (9)
10. John Morrison (NR)

And now, my ballot:

1. CM Punk - He did the Lambeau Leap at Madison Square Garden. Next step, giving Clay Matthews the Go 2 Sleep at Lambeau Field? It could happen since he IS a Bears fan.

2. The Rock - I won't front. It was great seeing The Rock in a ring again.

3. Kevin Steen - How is Steen going to be ROH's most interesting personality despite not wrestling a single match in 2011? Does that say more about Steen or ROH? I'll leave that to the peanut gallery for comment...

4. Dolph Ziggler - I'm beginning to think his theme song is more shoot than character.

5. Michael Elgin - He gets bonus points for being the best wrestler ever to wear furry tassel boots.

6. Zack Ryder - I'm beginning to think that if Ryder isn't featured a bit more prominently, some of these crowds really ARE going to riot. Hope Vince has the UC Davis cops who are liberal with pepper spray on speed dial.

7. Cody Rhodes - The only reason I didn't rate him higher was because he sold out and got kneepads. FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU

8. Wade Barrett - Is the Barrett Barrage a real movement, or is it the name of some World Team Tennis squad?

9. Howard Finkel - Do I really need to explain this one?

10. The Miz - An aside, why did people rank John Morrison at all on their polls? Seriously, he's fucking awful anymore. Ziggler carried him. This is my biggest problem with the power poll. Voters scrape the bottom of the barrel for guys who might perform well in WWE, and folks who are dominant in TNA or the indies get ignored. Can anyone tell me why Morrison gets on more ballots than Steen other than exposure? Ugh, it's not like ROH is ACW or some other limited-release indie fed. I don't know.

What I'm Thankful For, The Wrestling Blog Edition

One of the many things I love about this artform called wrestling

• I'm thankful for all the people who read The Wrestling Blog and listen to The Wrestling Podcast.
• I'm thankful for all the commenters who leave thoughtful and insightful additions to what I write.
• I'm thankful for everyone who follows me on Twitter, is a fan of The Wrestling Blog on Facebook and who subscribes to TWB via RSS
• I'm thankful for Camel Clutch Blog, Fair to Flair and Cageside Seats, all three blogs who really don't need someone like me but want to have me aboard anyway.
• I'm thankful for my colleagues at those three blogs (Eric Gargiulo, Justin Henry, Brett Clendaniel, Dustin Nichols, Jeff Peck, K. Sawyer Paul, Jason Mann, my blogging Brontel Brontavious Porter PizzaBodySlam, Razor of House Kick-Out!!, Logan Stallings, Sergio Hernandez, Geno Mrosko) as well as Vince Morales, with whom I cofounded Heck Yeah Chikara! for being great bosses and/or teammates and for writing stuff that I'm more than proud to have my writing set next to.
• I'm thankful for the entirety of the intelligent wrestling blogosphere and the writers and podcasters contained therein, including but not limited to Dave McKinney, David Shoemaker, Brandon Stroud, Scott Bowden, Jennifer Lynn, John Hyperion, "The Black Cat" Juke Williams, Dre, Dylan Hales, Dave Musgrave (a lot of Daves, go fig), Trey Irby, Tom Warren, @typicalROHfan, Rachel Davies, Andrew Southern and Stephen T. Stone, for attempting to change the landscape of wrestling journalism and commentary for the better.
• I'm thankful for the people out there taking excellent photographs of wrestling action, people like Zia Hiltey, Scott Finkelstein, Vivi Cosentino and Greg Davis who put faces to names and bring art and illumination to the things that happen in wrestling that are worth preserving.
• I'm thankful for guys like Colt Cabana and Mike Quackenbush, who add to their already stellar in-ring contributions to the wrestling community with their commentary and stories on their respective podcasts.
• I'm thankful for Chikara Pro Wrestling, a company that operates in my own backyard and does more in 20 shows to further wrestling as an artform than some companies do in 200.
• I'm thankful for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, whose operations may be a country away, but whose DVDs keep me entertained and then some for the two-plus hours they run.
• I'm thankful for Bryce Remsburg especially, a guy who really doesn't have to do what he does for me, but who keeps coming onto my podcast anyway and chatting up various things, from Chikara to wrestling in general to macaroni and cheese.
• I'm thankful for all the wrestlers who interact with their fans, myself included, on Twitter, making us feel like we're part of their world, whether we deserve to be or not. These performers include but are not limited to Kevin Steen, The Batiri, Sugar Dunkerton, Sara del Rey, William Regal, Tim Donst, Jakob Hammermeier, Kana and Cliff "Super Domino" Compton.
• Finally, I'm thankful for pro wrestling itself. I'm thankful that this artform exists and has survived and evolved to the point where I just can't get enough of it. There really is nothing better on this planet in terms of entertainment.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Photo Credit: Zia Hiltey - Please visit her Flickr site to view her excellent photography from Chikara to everything else.

TWIOT: Happy Thanksgiving Open Thread!

Loogit that turkey! LOOGITIT!
Photo Credit: Me
Turkey Credit: Amanda Holzerman

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today is a day where we eat, watch football and spend time with the people that we love, or in some cases, people we are blood-related to and who generally annoy us. Thankfully, I have none of the latter people coming over the house today. The wife cooked that lovely bird above overnight, and now, we wait for everyone to come over.

I'm going to open up the comments for general well-wishes or for people to describe what they're having today along with their turkeys/turduckens/Tofurkeys. Traditional sides tend to be stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese ("Huh, is that a black people thing?" -- Pat Robertson, noted hypocritical bigot), biscuits and of course, cranberry sauce. Today's menu here includes two kinds of stuffing (giblet for everyone else, sausage for me), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, asparagus, corn souffle, stuffed shells (hey, we're an Italian family... DEAL WITH IT) and escarole soup. It's my favorite holiday of the year for a reason.

Comments are welcome on today's football games as well. We have a pretty good slate today. Green Bay visits Detroit in what is fixing to be the Pack's greatest test this year yet (provided Matthew Stafford doesn't make Charles Woodson or Charlie Peprah his favorite receiver). The mid-afternoon game will be a lot closer than most people expect (or at least I hope so) as the Cowboys (BOOOOO!) welcome the Miami Dolphins into JerryWorld. The Dolphins have been playing some inspired football lately, and they've gone from Suck for Luck candidates to fringe playoff contenders (fringe being the key word here). Finally, the late NFL Network game features the smoking hot San Francisco 49ers taking on the hot-and-cold Baltimore Ravens. This is the first NFL game in history where two brothers coached against each other, and it should be a good one, provided the Ravens' offense that spanked Pittsburgh and Cincinnati shows up rather than the one that sputtered against Jacksonville and Tennessee. In the only major college game today, Texas and Texas A&M ostensibly do battle for the last time for awhile. A&M moves to the SEC next year, and there's been a lot of administrative bad blood between the two schools. A&M feels like Texas was being a horde of greedy douchebags by creating their own network (read, revenue stream), and when A&M decided they weren't going to play in the same sandbox anymore as their big brothers, UT got butthurt. So the end of a long, storied rivalry comes because of conference superexpansion. I have no comment.

Today's also a pretty big day for parades. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is probably going on as we speak, and a bunch of other locales probably have their parades going on too.

I'll have a few more posts today in between getting ready and spending time with the family, but I won't be crankin' 'em out (not like I have the last month anyway, but hey, thus is life). Enjoy today, whatever you do.

Chikara Postseason Thoughts: Does Mantis Have the Best of Intentions?

It's just too perfect to be a complete resolution

Far be it from me to question the motives of the great and devious UltraMantis Black, but things seemed to have wrapped up a bit too conveniently at High Noon. Mantis and Hallowicked cornered Ares. They shooed Tim Donst from the ring, ensuring that the prize won would be Ares' precious family heirloom, the Eye of Tyr. The promise all along has been that Mantis would claim the Eye to release Delirious from his spell and return him to 'Wicked and Frightmare. This was set in motion at Cibernetico the night before High Noon, when in the titular main event match, Delirious turned on his owners and became a free man... err demon... err, whatever he is.

Completely happy ending, right? Yeah, well, that's what doesn't really make sense to me. Ever since I started following Chikara, there have been a scant few things that have remained constant. One of them has been that Mantis always has something up his sleeve. It just feels too convenient that he has in his possession the most powerful artifact known to the wrestling world. He already used it once, and that's what got Chikara into the mess with the BDK in the first place. Who's to say he wouldn't use it again?

That's where the argument comes in that maybe Mantis did change. He led the charge to expel the BDK, and he struck the death blow at High Noon. Right? Right? Well, that seems like there's a touch of revisionism. For the first couple of months, Mantis wanted nothing to do with the BDK AT ALL. He ran from them. Tried making peace offerings with them. IT was only when they stole Delirious from him and injured Crossbones that he had a change of heart. He didn't have his Temple anymore. He didn't have power.

Wouldn't the perfect plan to get that power back be to do the same thing that was done to him and the rest of Chikara? The BDK slowly infiltrated all levels of the company, burrowing into the Colony, gaining the trust of Mike Quackenbush, fooling Mantis out of the Eye, waging secret battles under the guise of friendly competition, with unwitting pawns like Bryan Danielson and Squire Dave Taylor used as weapons. So, in order to get what he wants, maybe he did the same thing, starting with renting the Batiri from Sinn Bodhi, thus unleashing them unintentionally into the Chikara wild, then by organizing the Cibernetico team and then finally gaining the trust of his Spectral Envoy teammates to help him fight a two-pronged war. It all just seems so befitting of the only man in Chikara who makes being evil look so damn good.

Then again, I could be reading too much into this. Maybe it's my imagination running wild on me, but I saw the way he looked at the Eye of Tyr after winning it. I saw the glimmer in his eye. It seems too perfect.

Besides, who wants to see UltraMantis Black as just a bit player in Chikara? Right now, his wars with the Batiri and the BDK are finished. He needs to stir things up. Otherwise, things would be very boring, and if there's one thing Chikara ISN'T, it's boring. The year 2012 might be a shock to the people who have come to expect this kinder, gentler Mantis, but to the real fans of our Evil, Insectoid Overlord, that shock will be a welcome sight.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

2012: The Year PWG Is Aiming to Completely Melt Faces

Pictured: Tozawa giving zero fucks. ZERO.

Via @OfficialPWG on Twitter

Read it and weep. On 1/29/12, at PWG's WrestleReunion show, the first match announced will be a six man tag. In one corner, El Generico, PAC and Masato Yoshino. In the other, Kevin Steen, Super Dragon and Akira Tozawa. If that doesn't elicit an instant priapism, then good Lord, what is wrong with people? Seriously, this match should give even women boners if they're fans of indie wrestling in general. I'm just flabbergasted here. Seriously, I'd just have been happy if PWG started booking Tozawa on the reg again. Seriously, go back and watch DDT4 from this year and tell me he wasn't the unquestioned star of that entire show. Man.

If there's one company that should be doing iPPV, it has to be PWG. They don't leave SoCal, nor should they, but they're a company that deserves to be seen live by everyone I think. Imagine the crowd at Money in the Bank from this year. Okay, now imagine it happening on every major telecast from the same company every time out. That's basically PWG and Reseda in a nutshell. But I digress, I guess 2012's WrestleReunion card will be another must buy on DVD.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, Chikara and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Your Midweek Links: Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Survivor Series in a nutshell
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's hump day, so here are some links to get you through the week:

Self-Shilling:

- Last week's podcast is a celebration of High Noon, with a smattering of other topics thrown in. Trey Irby's second guest run is a good one. [Episode 28: RKOK Computer]

- Last night's podcast is all about Joshimania, the art of joshi, the best female wrestlers in the world, why change won't come from the top down and the importance of wrestling photography. John Hyperion is a great guest, as always. [Episode 29: Death Rey Magnetic]

- My Survivor Series review. I liked it! [Pigeons Can't Talk]

- My six pack this week tries to set the record straight about dumb things people hold as truth [Wrestling Six Packs: Fallacious Statements People Believe]

Wrestling Links:

- A sweet gallery of Kana pics [Dirty Dirty Sheets]

- Belated props for High Noon [Wrestlegasm]

- Someone painted a wig-splitting portrait of Mark Henry. [Character Undefined]

- Survivor Series nostalgia, featuring Sgt. Slaughter [South Atlanta Wrestling]

- Why The Rock was important at Survivor Series [Fair to Flair]

- Razor's review of Survivor Series [Kick-Out!! Wrestling]

- Andre Harrison looks at Survivor Series [The Harrison Analysis]

- Was Punk winning and Rock appearing enough to save Survivor Series? [Kentucky Fried 'Rasslin]

- Five Good Things about Survivor Series [Grapple Kingom]

- The Best and Worst of Survivor Series [With Leather]

- Also, the Best and Worst of RAW [With Leather]

- The Masked Man writes about the "CENA SUCKS" phenomenon [Grantland BONUS PODCAST: Masked Man's podcast debut for the Grantland Network]

- John Cena as a rejected prince [Hitting the Mark]

- R-Truth's suspension shows a fatal flaw in WWE's Wellness Policy [Cageside Seats]

- Kevin Nash breaks canon [International Object]

- A vlog review of the OMG! WWE DVD. [Feminine Smark]

- Awesome poster for Super Domino vs. Great Power Uti [Wrestling Theory]

- Jason Mann and Brandon Stroud talk about the Black Scorpion angle [Wrestlespective Radio]

- Comic book storylines that would play out well in wrestling [Camel Clutch Blog]

- Texano, Jr. leaves CMLL [Luchablog]

- Highly-decorated and talented woman wrestler well-versed in lucha libre on the market? OF COURSE WWE isn't interested. [Diva Dirt]

- Kitteh 'rasslin is fun! [Youtube]

- Sting-facin'... like a boss [PizzaBodySlam Tumblr]

Jamie Dobson Interviews:

No new interviews this week

Non-Wrestling Links:

- Dan Levy and a cast of other writers, bloggers and podcasters on what they're thankful for in sports this year. [Wide Left]

- A handy chart comparing Thanksgiving as an adult and a child [The Oatmeal]

- Another handy chart, showing that sitcoms have Thanksgiving all wrong [UPROXX]

- Black Friday, overhyped to drive up sales? Naw.... [Cracked]

- The best of Food Network's Thanksgiving Live special [Food Network Humor]

- There are a bunch of Christmas movies, but what's the best Thanksgiving movie? [NBC Entertainment]

- ZWR checks in with their Thanksgiving favorites [I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay]

- Finally, a Thanksgiving food pyramid [The High Definite]

- It certainly does cut both ways [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]

- Funbag! [Deadspin]

- Your Favorite Team Sucks: The Buffalo Bills [The Footbawl Blog]

- 10 of the most annoying rules in the NFL, and what Josh Zerkle would do to fix them [The Go Route]

- Leaked ESPN Magazine photo of black Tim Tebow [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

- DeSean Jackson is a luxurious peacock [Spike Eskin]

- Of course The Muppets is awesome. [Pajiba]

- Yes, Sylvester Stallone is producing a Rocky musical. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Should there be a Best Comedy Oscar? [Unreality Mag]

- The trailer for Brave is out... all you Pixar marks get your engines revved. [Blast-o-Rama]

- Top 10 landmark moments in animation [Mental Floss]

- You stay classy, Mickey Rourke [Film Drunk]

- Castro and Plichter hit up Isabella's, which should be your new pizza stop next time you're in town for wrestling [Doughboys]

- Smoky chipotle bacon pimento cheese... asdasdfjhiauw... ahem, sorry, I drooled on the keyboard and that's what happened [Sarah Sprague]

- Everything you wanted to know about the new baseball CBA but were afraid to ask. [Baseball Nation]

- I KNEW Papelbon looked familiar [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

- Brief thoughts on the NL Cy Young Award [Crashburn Alley]

- Was Justin Verlander better than Roy Halladay this year? [Fangraphs]

- Impersonatin' Zooey Deschanel... ur doin it rite [Aggressive Art]

- The most brilliant thing ever [Imgur Gallery]

- Ron Artest has the right idea [With Leather]

- A fan of the NBA deals with the lockout by learning to live with the college game [Court Vision]

- The NBA borders on a nuclear winter [Grantland]

- Meanwhile, players are lining up to be the hoops intern at St. Joe's during the lockout [The 700 Level]

- Occupy Kanto! Stop police brutality on innocent Snorlaxes! [Buzz Feed]

- Insanely awesome Zelda fan art [Gamma Squad]

- Urban Meyer is headed to Ohio State. [Dr. Saturday]

- Problem, state of Texas? [Every Day Should Be Saturday]

- A photographical look at the Oregon/USC game from last week [Your Best 11]

- College Football week 12 in quotes [Campus Union]

- Did Penn State do enough? [Et Tu, Mr. Destructo]

- STOP THE PRESSES! First footage from season 2 of Game of Thrones is here! [Warming Glow]

- Someone actually told Sofia Vergara to get her boobs reduced for non-medical reasons. The letters "SMDH" have never been more appropriate. [The Smoking Section]

- .gifs from my favorite episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia [Skull Swap]

- Will there be a Booster Gold TV show? [Topless Robot]

- Do fans have the right to know about hockey injuries? I'd say yeah, because WHAT THE FUCK IS A LOWER BODY INJURY? [Puck Daddy]

The Best Moves Ever: Air Raid Crash

I misplaced my Flash drive so I'm not sure what was on the slate for this week. So, in the grand tradition of everything else in wrestling, let's do this week's best move on the fly, shall we? In honor of JoshiMania coming up in 10 days time and in last night's podcast, here's one of the baddest MFers in all joshi history, Mariko Yoshida, doing a move she innovated and that was co-opted all around the globe. You know it as the Air Raid Crash.

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 29: John Hyperion II (The JoshiMania Episode)

It's coming...
Graphic credit: ChikaraPro.com

Episode 29: Death Rey Magnetic

It's almost time for JoshiMania, and to talk about this seminal event for the year, I brought in a guy who's forgotten more about joshi than most people, myself included, will probably ever learn, John Hyperion of the Dirty Dirty Sheets. We talk all about the event as well as the roots, influence and art of joshi. These women definitely bring the passion, emotion and intensity to the ring the likes which most people have never seen. Obviously, we talk about Sara del Rey, Aja Kong and the incomparable Manami Toyota, but John lays some knowledge down about folks like Tsubasa Kuragaki, Mio Shirai (who turned down a marriage proposal in the most delightful way) and the soon-retired Kaori Yoneyama. We also talk about del Rey as a potential Wrestler of the Year candidate, the prospect of males wrestling on the three cards, women fans, better wrestling writing and how important photography is in wrestling journalism. This is a must-listen, especially for people may want to find out more about what good women's wrestling is all about.

Direct link for your downloading pleasure

Wrestling Six Packs: Fallacious Statements People Believe

To be The Man, you've gotta be... somewhat good, right?

People believe a lot of things, true or not. Some people believe the moon is made of green cheese. Others believe we never landed on it. Others believe that when it hits one's eye like a big pizza pie, that's A-MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Well, this isn't a lunar blog, or else there'd be a lot more links to Local H covering TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" on here. This is a wrestling blog. Fallacies have their way of making themselves ingrained into people's minds as fact. Here are six things that I feel need to be corrected in the minds of some people.

1. Ric Flair wasn't that good.

This one galls me the most. There's this insidious undercurrent denigrating The Man for various reasons. Obviously, not every wrestler, even the great ones, are going to be universally liked, but the attacks that have gone against Flair have been pretty absurd. They boil down to three points. One, Ric Flair did the same thing in every match, i.e. there's a formula. Two, Flair was overexposed. Three, Flair is ruining his legacy in TNA. Let's go through this point by point.

Ric Flair did the same thing in every match. - No shit, he did. You know who else does the same thing in every match? Every other pro wrestler who ever lived and who'll ever wrestle in this grand tradition. Yes, every match had Flair going to the top unsuccessfully, a Flair flop, the figure four, a nut shot, an atomic drop, stalling, styling and profiling and all the other Flair tropes. However, how many Flair matches, especially from his salad days in the '80s, can truly be said to be carbon copies of each other? The answer is none. The man was a genius in working the crowd giving them what they were expecting as well as being artistically relevant.

Ric Flair was overexposed. - False. Wrestling wasn't televised back then. Fans in Texas didn't see what Flair did in Memphis, and they didn't see him in Greensboro, who didn't see him in Tokyo, who didn't see him in Toronto who didn't see him in Portland and so on and so forth. If anything, Flair was a hot property, and was able to stay a hot property thanks to the territory system. In fact, I'd go even further and say that Ric Flair created more stars in pro wrestling in the '80s than any single wrestler in that era.

Ric Flair is ruining his legacy in TNA. - He might be, but really, does him slogging it out against Sting in 2010 ruin the magic of what he and that same guy created at the first Clash of the Champions? Even so, I can't even speak for the quality of that 2010 match because really, TNA isn't appointment viewing for me. I've heard it was actually somewhat good. Be that as it may, people don't remember Willie Mays and only focus on the run with the Mets. He's the fucking Say Hey Kid. Ric Flair is still The Man who went 60 minutes every night and was the, by God, World's Heavyweight Champion a record 16 times, WOO!

It's one thing to say that someone doesn't like Ric Flair, but to say he wasn't good, wasn't influential, wasn't important is a bald-faced lie.

2. Bruiser Brody's death was a tragedy.

This one might be a bit hairy. GET IT, HAIRY? BRODY HAD A LOT OF HAIR!

Anyway, I think people confuse the words "tragedy" and "travesty". What happened to Brody and with the subsequent trial of Invader Gonzalez was an utter travesty, a miscarriage of justice even. How the guy could stab Brody to death in the shower and get away with it because of cronyism and covering up everything is basically one of the greatest rapes of justice in history. That being said, Bruiser Brody was no saint.

The man was ruthless, often stiffing guys in the ring intentionally or strongarming promoters into giving him contracts by totally no-selling opponents and going into business for himself. He was unabashed about it as well. I don't want to say the man reaped what he sowed, because that would imply that he deserved to die for transgressions in the wrestling industry. That being said, he certainly wasn't careful to make sure that there weren't any weeds or pests in what he sowed. He went and fucked with the wrong promoter, and that wrong promoter at the very least turned the other way when one of his wrestlers stabbed Brody to death for trying to extort the wrong guy. That's not a tragedy. That's unnecessary escalation, but it's reasonable that in a carny business that hostile negotiations would be met with violence.

Again, I'm not saying Brody deserved it. No one should die over business dealings. However, Puerto Rico might be under US protectorate, but it might as well be as lawless as some of its Caribbean neighbors. Why anyone would screw with one of the island's most powerful men in Carlos Colon and not expect to be met with unreasonably disproportionate response is just foolish.

3. Rey Mysterio only got his shot at the World Championship because Eddie Guerrero died.

It'd be foolish to deny that Mysterio won the Royal Rumble and then the World Championship at WrestleMania as a makegood on Guerrero dying. However, if that was the only reason that someone would get that kind of push, then why didn't Chavo Guerrero get it? I honestly believe that Guerrero dying wasn't the reason that Mysterio was pushed to main event level, it was the excuse to put him to the next level. Since entering WWE, he was getting loud cheers and still wrestling in great matches despite the fact that his knees were already on the shot side. He also may have been de-pushed a little bit even after winning the title, but he was still in high-profile matches and feuds. There's no way that it wasn't noticed by upper management.

So, while Mysterio got his shot because of Eddie, it wasn't like it was the only reason. The fact that they've leaned on him for the better part of a decade speaks to how they feel about him, and I get the feeling they felt that about him for the longest time. They just needed an avenue to stick him in there despite the fact that WWE traditionally has a size fetish.

4. People don't like women's wrestling at all on a mainstream level, and won't ever like it.

If people keep getting fed shit, then people will continue to spit it back up. What most people think of when they hear the term "women's wrestling" are matches that don't last more than 90 seconds featuring shitty models doing awkward moves. Remember back to when the Divas of Doom angle started. Beth Phoenix got a MASSIVE reaction when she waylaid Kelly Kelly. It was unintentional, but there were fans in the crowd who wanted to cheer Phoenix. Of course, that reaction was nerfed in an attempt to try and get people to wag their tongues at Kelly Kelly again, but that moment, as small a sample size as it was, was enough to make me believe that it's not just the indie nerds who love SHIMMER like me who want to see the women get a bigger stage.

And really, wrestling is wrestling. I used to shirk at women's matches, but then I discovered SHIMMER and Sara del Rey and the Knockouts before they were turned to shit and so many other good women's wrestling. There's nothing keeping women from being presented as people worth our cheers other than stupidity and sexism. If good wrestling came from the Divas division, they'd be a really good part of the show.

5. WWE books to the smarks when they [insert radical booking decision here].

Some Internet fans love to pull out the "WWE books to the smarks" card at times usually when they're denigrating other fans for complaining about not liking what WWE gives them. Something like "HEY CM PUNK IS CHAMPION STOP COMPLAINING SMARKS!!!1" This grates at me for two reasons. One, it assumes that all Internet fans share some hive mind and think the same way. Yeah, there are guys that are universally loved on the Web, but the composite opinions are as diverse as can be. Secondly, it assumes that WWE actually books to the whims of the Internet. That's not true.

CM Punk didn't get pushed because "we" wanted him to. He's naturally gifted on the mic, can work a great match and is probably the most talented guy at working a crowd since The Rock (and some might argue he's better, although that remains to be seen). Bryan Danielson didn't get signed to WWE because the Internet clamored for it. He had some powerful connections, and when he got here, he continued to deserve his employment through connecting with new fans as Daniel Bryan. For as many times as WWE books favorably to what this skewed vision of the Internet is to some contrarian blowhards, they've ignored other fan favorites in favor of less palatable wrestlers. They do what they think is good for business, not what we here on the web think is. It's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, especially when Drew McIntyre is floundering on Superstars while Mason Ryan gets to do his human Claymation act at Survivor Series. *sigh*

6. Chikara is all nonsense and comedy.

Chikara's mission statement includes wanting to bring fun into wrestling. With that, there's the air about them that they don't take things too seriously. It's one of the things I love about the promotion. There's a good dose of comedy, but the thing is that it's not exactly a straight up comedy promotion. People actually do hate each other in character. There are a lot of really serious matches that stack up to what other, stiffer promotions put out. I'd put the final two matches at High Noon against any ROH matches in 2011 at all for emotion, tension and heat.

I think people look at the wrestling ants and the ice cream cones and the really ridiculous stuff and get turned off. Hey, it's not my fault that these people were never told by their parents never to judge a book by its cover, but hey, that's their prerogative. That being said, those who do get into it know that just because the wrestling ant feuded with the faux-viking doesn't mean that it was all goofy. Obviously, if people want ALL seriousness in wrestling, they can watch ROH. But really, the allure of wrestling is that comedy integrates seamlessly into it. Chikara does it best, and maybe for that, I feel like they get the rap that that's all they're about. I'm not sure that's any further from the truth than it is.