Tag: Pro Wrestling

Geekscape 515: The SDCC 2019 Preview With Matt Kelly!

by Jonathan

San Diego Comic Con 2019 is upon us once again! What is in store for all of us as we venture into “Nerd Spring Break”!?! Geekscape’s Matt Kelly joins us on the show to break down everything that’s happening at the Geekscape booth and what we’re looking forward to! Along the way we share our love for ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3, Matt dives into the gator horror film ‘Crawl’, I do my best to fix pro wrestling and we sing all the way to San Diego (well… kinda). This is a PACKED episode so enjoy! And see you at SDCC 2019!

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Geekscape 502: The Real Jay Washington Speaks Up!

by Jonathan

I first met comedian, actor and pro wrestler Jay Washington when we were both guests on Screenjunkies News. Since then, we’ve travelled in similar geek circles with Jay appearing recently on one of our LA Comic Con live episodes! But there’s a LOT more to know about Jay… so I asked him onto the show! Now, you can also hear about Jay’s tough childhood, losing both of his parents before he was 30 and how he almost died last year (honey doesn’t always make things better)! We’ll also talk a little about ‘Avengers: End Game’ and the upcoming slate of superhero movies! Enjoy!

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Looking For Themed Snacks For This Weekend’s Wrestlemania? Look No Further!

by Derek Kraneveldt

I am really excited for this year’s Wrestlemania.

Yeah, I had an absolute blast watching last year’s Wrestlemania 32 with some close pals (and enjoying the rest of the content that the weekend had to offer as well), but I really, really had no idea just how big of a deal it was.

It still floors me when I see the size of last year’s Wrestlemania crowd, and watching the WWE24 special about the spectacle really drives home the fact that the company and the WWE Universe completely take over the week for the entire city that the event is in, and the entire weekend for everyone else.

So this year, I decided to make a bigger deal out of it. I took a paid day off from work (it’s basically a holiday), I forced my fiancé to take one too, and we’re still having people over – this time however, we’re making a day of it and are having a ton of WWE themed snacks (and by themed I mean we’re just having regular snacks but we’re changing the names to loosely fit WWE superstars and special moves ).

Need some sweet, sweet snacks for your Wrestlemania party? Here’s what we have planned (with descriptions of each down below). Feel free to print these out (in full size here: Batch1, Batch2, Batch3, Batch4), label your snacks, and we hope that you have your own ULTIMATE THRILL RIDE TM this Sunday!

Sadly, I didn’t think of Cesaro Salad until I had already printed these out.

Here’s how the snacks break down:

Pop-Up Powerade – This is just Powerade… but with a new label.
Zigglers – Twizzlers… but with a new label.
End of Lays – Bags of Lays chips… with a new label (get the pattern here)?
Calf Crushers – I just bought a BBQ, so this is definitely just burgers.

DD-Peas – Snap Peas (mmmm).
Superman Punch – Fruit punch but way stronger. Believe that.
Booker Tea – Probably just iced tea.
Broccoli Lesnar – It’s Broccoli (and it’ll probably be dipped in Ranch otherwise it’ll be too dry).

Helluva Dip
 – This is the dip that’s meant to make the End of Lays a little less boring.
Vince McMahonwich – Sloppy Joes (Manwich brand so that the name fits)
Samosa Joe – Can you guess this one?
Alberto Doritos – Back to the white labelled standard snacks.

Triple H20 – This is bottled water… or tap water (it depends on how much I like you).
Coffee Kingston – Wrestlemania is long AF. You’re going to need this by the end of the night.
Beck’s Chex – Chex Mix, any variety (but probably the chocolate one because it tastes the best).
Rusev Crush – Another white labelled beverage, I’m probably going with Orange.

That’s what I’ve got (and I didn’t even look online for help). What kind of snacks will you be serving this weekend? Sound out below!

The images were taken right from the official WWE page, while the text template can be found here!

Changing the Questions: A Tribute to Roddy Piper

by Saintmort

My friend Will is moving to Los Angeles on Sunday. This afternoon I was having dinner with a group of friends when a got a text message, “Can you do the Hot Rod passing write-up?”

What? Hot Rod? He can’t mean Roddy Piper can he? He was just in the news like… two days ago. I saw Jonathan post a picture of his brother on a set with him. I listened to his podcast a few days ago. Hot Rod can’t possibly be dead. Not now. The wounds of losing Dusty Rhodes haven’t even healed yet.

I got back into wrestling two years ago. Prior to that I hadn’t watched it for almost two decades. While most kids my age have memories of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and D-Generation X… I have different memories. Having skipped the “Attitude Era” I grew up loving people like Hulk Hogan, Irvin R. Shyster and of course Roddy Piper.

Hogan was obviously my favorite. I was a child of the late 80’s/early 90’s… obviously I was a Hulkamaniac. But I also loved “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. It wasn’t until years later I found out he was the Bad Guy. I just knew he was a funny bad-ass who rocked a kilt and beat up people with coconuts.

Piper’s 40+ career contained countless accomplishments including 34 championship reigns, cult films, podcasting and countless WrestleMania appearances (including the main event in the first ever Wrestlemania). Piper broke new ground with his unscripted interview segment “Pipers Pit” which is still spawning imitators in the WWE even today.

Today the wrestling world lost a legend… a controversial, out-spoken man who was always changing the questions just when we thought we knew all the answers.

 

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper
4/17/1954 – 7/30/2015

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK: Tonight on ‘Lucha Underground,’ It’s Sexy Star vs. Pentagon Jr.!

by Eric Francisco

Once again, our friends at El Rey have hooked us up with another exciting sneak peek at this week’s Lucha Underground, featuring the one and only Sexy Star stepping up against Pentagon Jr.!

We’ve got exclusive stills from the episode at the bottom of this post, along with the clip right below.

Following the awesome Mask vs. Mask match against Super Fly, Sexy Star finds herself pitted against the monstrous Pentagon Jr. — with poor Melissa, the beautiful ring announcer of Lucha Underground still recovering from an attack sitting ringside. You can see the stress in her eyes.

This isn’t the first time it’s ever been done, and definitely not the first time on Lucha Underground, but you’ll notice that this particular match features a woman up against a man — an awful man, Pentagon Jr.

But I wouldn’t worry. Besides the fact that Sexy Star is more than capable of standing on her own, intergender wrestling has had a long and varied history.

Although rare, intergender wrestling became something of a novelty in the 1970s. It wasn’t mainstream because, I mean, obviously, but legendary funny man Andy Kaufman adopted intergender pro wrestling as one of his comedy gimmicks and became the “Intergender Champion,” a title he gave himself. After a string of staged segments where he’d wrestle women, Kaufman would go on to the now-classic feud against the Memphis legend, Jerry “The King” Lawler. You can find these segments on YouTube if you care to look.

For reasons I shouldn’t even have to flat out state, intergender pro wrestling never took off and became a part of the mainstream. They happened, but usually in extreme, absurd or chaotic storylines. It’s really not hard to see why either, the image of an intergender match can be extremely jarring and visually uncomfortable when taken too far — and this is wrestling, where everything is a few steps from too far.

But that’s what makes Lucha Underground so damn incredible. I reiterate, intergender matches have happened to varying degrees of seriousness, but in this week of Lucha Undergound it is entirely refreshing to see an honest-to-goodness battle between two stars no matter their genetics. This isn’t a trashy storyline involving baby mamas or infidelity. This is a blood feud, something that is truly inherit to pro wrestling and lucha libre.

I’ll never advocate violence against women, but in this week’s episode we see Sexy Star combat Pentagon Jr. in a genuine struggle of good versus evil. This is a contest of moral one-upmanship, the heart and soul of all of lucha libre. I can’t wait to see it.

Enjoy the exclusive gallery below and tune in to Lucha Underground tonight at 8:00 PM ET/PT on El Rey Network. Check your local listings.

Oh, and as a bonus, here’s Johnny Mundo getting a talking-to from a certain Alberto El Patron. I saw these guys wrestle at Madison Square Garden in 2011. I’m so excited to see them flourish in Lucha Underground!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OOgCMhY_00&feature=youtu.be

EXCLUSIVE: Preview Son of Havoc vs. Angelico on Tonight’s ‘Lucha Underground’

by Eric Francisco

Tonight is the premiere of Lucha Underground‘s milestone twentieth episode, and we at Geekscape have an exclusive look at tonight’s match pitting Son of Havoc against Angelico. Check out Angelico’s tenacity and Son of Havoc’s passion. This is why we watch pro wrestling, guys.

Besides the focus on lucha libre, I think one particular aspect that Lucha Underground has an edge over the competition are its frantic, kinetic camera angles. In just this minute-long clip, this is very apparent. I believe a cinematic eye is vastly underrated in modern professional wrestling, and yet pro wrestling affords that opportunity more than other, “actual” sports.

Lucha libre has a rich history in Mexican cinema. Decades before a certain guy from Miami layed the smack down in Hollywood, the lucha stars of yesteryear like El Santo, Mil Máscaras and Blue Demon were crossover sensations that ruled the ring and the screen. They were living comic book heroes, and they thrived and gave birth to a whole wonderful, bizarre subgenre of cinema. Among the many films produced in this era, Ladrón de cadáveres was a big success. Directed by Fernando Méndez, he would later revolutionize Mexican horror with the landmark El vampiro in 1957.

From Blue Demon’s Wikipedia page:

In three of his films, Blue Demon starred as the leader of a squadron of masked superheroes known as Los Campeones Justicieros (The Champions of Justice). Membership in the Champions included such legendary Mexican wrestling figures as Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Tinieblas, Rayo de Jalisco, El Medico Asesino, El Fantasma Blanco, El Avispon Escarlata and Superzan.

Before The Avengers, there was a time when masked wrestlers starred in movies that had them beat up demons and devils and lifted rocks to smash monsters. It was awesome, and I’m afraid in our cynical, too-serious mindsets we just can’t enjoy these stupid pleasures anymore. Even our superheroes brood too much today.

But about the cinematic eye, even the camera movement in those days didn’t take full advantage. That’s what makes Lucha Underground so exciting, it’s a weird blend of classic Mexican cinema with post-MTV reality style, faux cinema verite. These old formulas have been crafted to create something new, and that’s Lucha Underground.

Enough with the history lesson. Enjoy the clip and tune in to Lucha Underground tonight at 11 pm EST/8 pm PST. Check your local listings for El Rey Network.

Also check out the gallery we have for you below!

New Japan Pro Wrestling Launches Internet Streaming Service

by Eric Francisco

As the WWE Network struggles to cement its audience, arguably its biggest competitor and the internet’s favorite wrestling federation New Japan Pro Wrestling have launched their own WWE Network-style streaming service. Enter: NJPW World!

From NJPW World:

NJPW and TV Asahi jointlt started the VIDEO Streaming Service, named NJPW World, as from Dec. 1 !
Many Exciting Matches from the old time. like Inoki vs Hogan, Inoki vs Andre The Giant … Stan Hansen, B.V.Vader, Fujinami Choshu … to the recent ones are available, with the prive Yen 999 / month !

A monthly subscription costs 999 yen, or roughly $8.40 a month. Compared to the WWE Network always touting $9.99, that has gotta hurt.

NJPW is very popular with wrestling fans outside Japan (and their sheer numbers can be attributed solely to the internet, they would not have this reach in the tape-trading days of the ’90s), but owner Takaaki Kidani was still “blown away” by the number of foreign subscribers, according to 411mani via The Wrestling Observer. Because of this, an English-language version of the site may launch sooner than later.

It is entirely fascinating how much NJPW has become a legitimate competitor to the WWE in recent years. With TNA Impact Wrestling leaving the well-known Spike for the lesser Destination America, there is no wrestling organization that can go toe-to-toe with WWE. And yes, there is that spin that WWE does not consider other wrestling federations their competitor, it’s other TV shows. Which is just weird. I get it, WWE has characters going on journeys, but other TV shows have seasons and character arcs. WWE Superstars have feuds that mysteriously end. Disgruntled with the product, many wrestling fans have taken to New Japan Pro Wrestling, because even the indie federations just don’t satisfy like they used to. And let’s be honest, the golden age of the indies were in the mid-’00s when everyone rocked at Ring of Honor.

How about it, Geekscape? Will you guys be subscribing?

Geekscape 339: Live From Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo!

by Jonathan

Live from Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo, our very first LIVE Geekscape from a comic convention! And we’ve got a great one! Chris Gore, ex-WWE Diva Katarina Waters and pro wrestler Christopher Daniels join us on stage to talk about Batman VS Superman, Marvel Phase 3, if Gotham is worth watching and much much more! Is DC and WB just reacting to Marvel’s cinematic universe or is there a plan? How could it work? Are they saturating the market and is there an end in sight? Also, Christopher Daniels gets confused for a major comic book professional!

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Geekscape 337: Tommy Avallone Talks “I Am Santa Claus”!

by Jonathan

Director Tommy Avallone visits to tell us about his brand new documentary “I Am Santa Claus”! What do mall Santas do when it’s not Christmas time? This documentary tells you in fantastic human detail! And pro wrestler Mick Foley is one of the Santas! We talk about making the film, the process of documenting the Santa community and the controversy that the film has cause! Plus! News about DCs brand new films and Ben takes you on a visit to the SD Comic Fest!

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