Farewell To A Legend: The Ultimate Warrior- R.I.P. 1959-2014

Don't you just hate waking up to find another piece of your childhood has passed on?

So it began yesterday when I woke up to find that WWE Superstar and Hall of Famer, The Ultimate Warrior had passed away.

The timing of it was surreal, as the world had just watched him get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Saturday night, come out during WrestleMania on Sunday, and then finally address the fans one last time on Monday at Raw.

And now he's gone.

Crazy.

But in a business like professional wrestling, unfortunately, we've had to bid farewell all too often and soon to the superstars that make us cheer on a weekly basis.

The loss of the Warrior, who legally changed his name to Warrior because... well, because the man was crazy and loved what he did for a living, is another moment of loss to the WWE.

The Warrior and the WWE weren't exactly on speaking terms with each other over the last decade.  The animosity was so great that the WWE put out a DVD in 2005 called "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" which basically was 90 minutes of everyone trashing The Warrior for being a selfish, spoiled tool.

Ouch.

It's rare that Vince will publicly go after someone like that.

Usually, he'll just change his opening logos and make you disappear as if you'd never been a part of WWE history (see the current Monday Night Raw opening and wonder openly...where is that Hulk Hogan fellow?).

But no, this time he spent money to create a product that openly criticized one of the 80s/90s biggest superstars.

Then, 2K sports made an agreement with the Ultimate Warrior to bring him in as a playable character in the video games.  The thaw had begun, the Cold War was ending, and much like he did with bringing Bruno Sammartino back to the company, Triple H worked on getting the Warrior back with the WWE where he belonged.

The rumors began to circulate that this year would be the year to bring the Warrior into the Hall of Fame... and then those rumors turned to reality.

Then the weekend of WWE triumph turned to tragedy, as his family is left behind, and the condolences of the millions of fans are sent to the Warriors' wife and daughters.

:(

However, the silver lining in this, such as it is, was that the fence that was destroyed between the Warrior and the WWE was repaired in time so that the Warrior  and WWE will be able to rest in peace.

Too often, like when Macho Man Randy Savage passed away, there wasn't that moment of closure that would have capped a career of entertaining the millions of fans.

For both the fans, and the wrestlers who entertained us.

I'm very glad that the Ultimate Warrior was able to take one more trip to the center ring and be acknowledged for the accomplishments that he brought to the business and the memories he gave wrestling fans everywhere.

He may not have been the best wrestler...

But he was a literal force of nature that was one of a kind.

Rest well Warrior, you will be missed.

Whatchoo Gonna Do When "The WWE Network" Runs Wild On You, Brother?

First the Marvel Universe comes to the big screen and doesn't suck...

Then a 24/7 WWE network launches...


It's like I found a magic lamp and got three wishes, but I couldn't make any wishes that would solely benefit me, nor could I cure any disease or cause world peace.

So yeah, that sounds about right!

:)

For those that are still reading, the WWE Network launched last Monday.

For 10 bucks a month, they are streaming on your tablets, phones, computers, Playstations, Xboxes...

If you can get a signal, it'll stream!

What are they streaming you ask?

Well for starters, every Pay-Per-View event in the history of the company is online.  I've heard rumors that about less than a handful of events are missing, but I'm sure they'll be added.

In addition, they've added PPV events from WCW and ECW as well.

Plus, they've got past replays of Raw, Smackdown, Main Event, Superstars...

There is the wrestling superstars of tomorrow with NXT.

They have original programming...

There is so much content it will literally blow your mind.

Plus, it works just like a regular channel, you turn it on and there is something already in progress playing.  You have the option to jump in and continue watching, or start over from the beginning.

Or go to the menu and choose from any of the items that I listed above.

The place is interactive and user friendly.

Oh yeah, I failed to mention that subscription to the channel brings each NEW PPV to your home, live when it happens.  That includes the Big Four: Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.  Plus the other 8 that round out the calendar year.

All included in the price of subscription.

So basically, for the price of ordering Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania once each year, you get all of this...

And much...much more.

Kid. Candy store.

I think you can smell what the Rock is cookin'...

The only downside I can see, is there is probably no way that the price remains this low in the future.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Infinitely rewatchable.  I'm in.

The Road To WrestleMania Begins Here..."WWE Royal Rumble 2014"

The Road to WrestleMania has begun...

Another year, and my son has figured out that since the Royal Rumble is my favorite WWE Pay Per View, he has managed to move his March birthday party to January and score this, WWE's most fun event of the year, for his party.

With the advent of the upcoming WWE Network, soon we will be able to enjoy every Pay Per View, every month, but for now, the occasion is still very special as this is the only one I've ever been willing to shell out the big bucks to order.

First things first, hopefully WWE will come up with some distinction between the "Free" Pre Show on YouTube and for those that actually pay for it on PPV or the WWE Network in the future.  The Tag Team Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Goldust and the New Age Outlaws was a great match that would have been great without that unnecessary commercial right in the middle.

Oh, and congratulations to the New Age Outlaws on becoming the SIX TIME Tag Team Champions of the World.

Oh You Didn't Know?

Nothing like getting in a time machine and reliving the Attitude Era on occasion. :)

But I won't be giving any other match results away.

If you want to learn who won, tune in to Monday Night Raw tonight, there will be plenty of mention on who the Undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion is as well as all other match results.

Or if anyone got quite the pop that Daniel Bryan received from the crowd in Pittsburgh, I think he even surpassed the reaction that Ben Roethlisberger received when they showed him in the crowd.

The matches:

Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan - A 20+ minute epic

Brock Lesnar vs. The Big Show - Destruction personified.  The poor steel chair never had a chance.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton - The latest in one of the better rivalries of the current generation of superstars.

Then finally, the reason we all tune in:

The Rumble Match

And as always, it was controlled chaos!

Kofi Kingston, as has become his annual tradition, found a very creative way to stay alive after his first elimination attempt.
And his second...


Surprise entrants ?  Yep, there were a few.

I still think the return of Batista should have come tonight, and not been advertised ahead of time.  That place would have come unglued.

The crowd did not necessarily go home happy though.

:)

Let's see how things begin to shape up starting on Raw tonight!



Final Grade: A-



See you next year on the WWE Network!

The Man Who Changed the Monday Night Wars..."WWE: For All Mankind: The Life and Career of Mick Foley"

Have a Nice Day!

The Story:

This is the story of Mrs. Foley's baby boy.  The man who grew up to be the wrestling icon known by many names, but forever linked as Mick Foley.

Wrestling fans will love this basic career overview.  Some things sweep under the rug if you've seen other DVDs/read books, but if you're going to have a well-made documentary on Mick, this is the one.

The man took a beating for our entertainment, and for that we applaud him to this day.

A very good retrospective with some wonderful insight from a plethora of wrestling greats throughout Mick's career.

The new documentaries from WWE are really pushing their products to the next level.  Very well made, and including a whole lot of company representation offering insight.

Much less fluff, much more heart behind the product.

It's like they finally realized that we already watch your product, we don't need something special to make us turn in.

We want something memorable to tie the careers of our favorite wrestlers into a well made package.

It's actually a joy to hear Mick recount how and when he SHOULD have retired from the ring... 

The man had as many farewell moments as he had differing ring personas.

This one is right up there with the C.M. Punk offering.

Available to stream instantly as of this writing on Netflix.

As a reminder, that's only the documentary, for the matches, you'll have to buy the disc.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Extremely high!  Naturally. : )  There was only one Mick Foley, and those of us who watched the Monday Night Wars will never forget him.

Live Event Recap "Monday Night Raw"

Let's get ready to ruuuuummmmbbbbbllllleeeee!!!

Oh. My. Goodness.

We had attended a live event last year, non-televised, and it was fun.

But with Raw... they turn the dial to 11.

I don't know how well the crowd did on live television, I have to watch a replay, but it seemed like we were into about 85% of it...catching our breath when we could.  It's hard to sustain that energy level for 3 1/2 hours as the voice goes out quick.


Okay, having watched it, and let's just put it this way:


The Raw microphones don't pick up nearly half the sound that the audience makes.  I suppose that's fair, as you really don't hear much of the action from the ring except for really loud moves, which is really weird compared to watching it at home.

Plus, the show goes on during commercials, and when people come out... say Rhodes & Sandow during commercial, we boooooo like crazy.  However, that doesn't make the show.

For example, Jericho came out, and welcomed us to "Charleston is Jericho".  We're screaming like crazy, and then he works the arena getting each section to cheer.  By the time we come back to Raw, or make it to the third hour... our voices are shot...it's exhausting.

But fun!

If you enjoy what the WWE does, I highly recommend going to a Raw taping if you ever get the chance.

It's great entertainment, and Vince McMahon puts on an amazing show!

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability Factor: Every Monday for 20 years whenever possible. :)