Adios, Mamacita... R.I.P. Chyna 1970-2016

Woke up yesterday to the news that the "9th Wonder of the World", Chyna, had passed away.

We've lost far too many of WWF/WWE's finest, far too often, and almost always, far too young.

She began her career as the bodyguard for Triple H and was an integral part when he teamed with Shawn Michaels to form DeGeneration X. They were one of the hottest groups at the start of WWE's Attitude Era, and Chyna was there, front and center.

Soon she moved out of her bodyguard role and actually into that of a competitor.

Except Chyna was different, and her running roughshod over the other ladies was rather boring, so she actually was able to wrestle the men.

And she won.

She even won championships.

Sure, there was a bit of novelty to it, but she really was that good in the ring, and was rewarded for her efforts.

She was also teamed with Eddie Guerrero towards the end of her stint in wrestling and "Latino Heat" and his "Mamacita" brought out the best in each other and propelled them both to heights neither had previously enjoyed alone.

Chyna left wrestling shortly after that and has been battling her personal demons ever since. Her relationship with Vince McMahon and Triple H has been contentious over the years, but it seemed like there was a thawing taking place that might someday lead to Chyna being rightfully inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Sadly, it seems like that will be easier now that she's not around to screw it up by doing or saying anything else to damage her relationship with the company.

But she was Hall of Fame material and all wrestling fans know it.

Rest easy now, Chyna.

Hopefully Latino Heat was there in his lowrider to pick you up at the pearly gates.

Whatchoo Gonna Doo, Brother? "Scooby Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery"

Scooby Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery (2014)

Not Rated

Starring Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, John Cena, Triple H, Michael Cole, Kane, The Miz, A.J. Lee, Vince McMahon

Directed by Brandon Vietti

The Story:

Scooby (Welker) ends up winning a contest on a WWE video game and wins a trip to WWE City!  Shaggy (Lillard) an Scooby beg for the gang to tag along, bringing much persuasive evidence that they've never asked for anything in return and have always been used as bait to solve mysteries. 

Point: Scooby & Shaggy!

So they head to WWE City and meet the superstars.  But with a mysterious ghost bear plaguing the town, and Scooby apparently the prime suspect in the theft of the WWE Championship, it's up to Shaggy, Fred (Welker), Daphne (DeLisle) and Velma (Cohn) to clear their canine companion and lay the smackdown on the mysterious bear!

Hanna Barbera teams with WWE Studios to make a movie that's fun for the whole family.

WWE Wrestlers have been compared to cartoons over the years, so it makes sense to go animated.

Hook kids to the fun of WWE, and you might have a fan for life.

Worked on me.

:)

And the WWE offered up some of their best, A-listers John Cena, Triple H and even the Chairman himself, Vince McMahon!

Other wrestlers, like Sin Cara (who is instrumental to the movie) are shown but not given any dialogue.

The wrestlers do quite fine for themselves as voice actors, given the respective size and importance of their roles.  I would say The Miz comes out as the wrestler who seemingly has the most fun in the movie, and has the best lines.

But first and foremost, as the title suggests, this is a Scooby Doo cartoon.

Frank Welker leads the team, still as the intrepid Fred but now also pulling double duty as Scooby.  He is able to differentiate between the two nicely, and I like when the voices are distinct enough that you don't realize it's the same voice.

Lillard was perfectly cast as a live-action Shaggy when Scooby Doo came to the big screen years ago.  He does the memory of Casey Kasem proud as he brings Shaggy to life for a new generation.

While I mentioned in my Scooby Doo review that the main cast did voices for years, eventually they all get replaced.

:(

DeLisle has become the latest Daphne, and I was amused to see that Cohn has taken up the mantle of Velma since the early 2000s.  Yes, Natalie from The Facts of Life.

My childhood is converging as I am now an adult!

Overall, I thought it was pretty well done, and I'm looking forward to the next 45 years of Scooby Doo!

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Hey, I liked it.  I would watch it again. :)

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.

Thirty Years Of "Wrestlemania" Running Wild On You!

Every year, for 30 years, Vince McMahon has held a party around my birthday weekend.

For that, I appreciate my annual gift from the WWE.

This year with the WWE Network, I was able to see WrestleMania live for the first time...legally...

:)

I've purchased Royal Rumbles before, but otherwise, that's the only Pay Per View I don't want to miss.

Now, for 10 bucks a month, I get to watch every PPV and 1000s of other hours of PPVs and shows anytime, anywhere.

More stuff than I'll ever be able to actually watch, and I know for that, my wife is happy.

The night before, several superstars were inducted into the Hall of Fame, including 2 of my favorites from back in the day: Jake the Snake Roberts and Razor Ramon.

It was a long ceremony, with some rambling speeches, one by Mr. T that ended up getting called for exceeding the time limit.

Whoops!

:)

As for the program itself, it opened with Hulk Hogan coming down to welcome us to the Silverdome!

Only problem, brother, is that was the site of WrestleMania III, and we are actually at the SuperDome in New Orleans.

Stone Cold Steve Austin comes out to join him, and then the duo are joined by The Rock!

The first 30 minutes were worth the price of the admission alone.

Then a brutal contest opens with Triple H versus Daniel Bryan, the winner moves on to the main event against Orton and Batista.

Again, for those that say it's fake, find replay shots of the Daniel Bryan sized boot-bruise on Triple H's leg!  Yowch!

Great match, and the right outcome to keep the crowd happy.

The 30 Man Andre the Giant Battle Royal offered several great moments for superstars, especially Kofi and Cesaro.  Fun match.

And then it was time for...

The Streak!

The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar.

Let me just say, I never in my life thought I would see the Streak end, except when the Undertaker decided to retire.

I've never seen 75,000 people suddenly so quiet...

The stadium stayed that way deep into the championship match before Daniel Bryan finally willed the people to cheer again.

Chaos ensued in the no disqualification match as it was literally a mountain of Attitude Era shenanigans that conspired to destroy Bryan's chances.

Did he overcome?

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: It's one for the ages.  I'll likely revisit several matches again in the future.

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.

Time To Play The Game... "Triple H: Thy Kingdom Come"

WWE: Triple H- Thy Kingdom Come

Starring Triple H, The Rock, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Jim Ross, The Undertaker

The Story:

The WWE returns with another excellent documentary, this time chronicling the career of Triple H.

I've made no secret that I think Triple H is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time.

While The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the undeniable stars of the WWE during the Attitude Era, Triple H made an excellent foil for them both when they were not facing off against each other.

It's fun going back and watching his rise to stardom from very humble beginnings to where he is today.

I also make no secret that I find the criticism that he married the boss' daughter being the only reason that caused him to make it to the top, to be complete rubbish.

He was at the top before their relationship ever happened, and he has been far removed from the main title picture for so long now, it's not even remotely valid criticism.

The only thing it did allow, was for a smoother transition to the other side of helping run the WWE as his in-ring career winds down.

Which is really no different than what Vince McMahon has done for dozens of wrestlers who help behind the scenes after they hang up the boots.

Triple H just gets a bigger office.

;)

Great documentary, now available for streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd love to add this to the WWE collection side of the DVD library. :)