In honor of WrestleMaina 27 tonight I figure it’s finally to share wrestling phoot I’ve had in my collection for years. It was back in January of 1994 when I was still living in Michigan. I went to a wrestling show at Taylor High School and was looking foward to a great show considering who was supposed to be there. There was quite the cast of stars that appeared at the show including the Junk Yard Dog, Ivan Koloff, Greg Valentine, Kevin Sullivan (w/ Woman), Virgil, Al Snow and Sabu. The last two weren’t know at the time but would steal the show. Also scheduled to appear was the Honky Tonk Man (HTM). 

Since the HTM was supposed to be there I brought along an acoustic guitar in hopes that maybe he would sign it. I even went up to Greg Valentine during an autograph session with the guitar and craked a smile, he used to team with the HTM and “play guitar” too. For whatever reason the HTM didn’t make it to the show that night.

For this show I ended up in the front row thanks to some great connections and saw probably one of the best independent wrestling shows of all time. I wish there was a recording of this somewhere but this was long before everyone had video camera in their cell phones, or even cell phones for that matter.

One of the last matches of the night was a tag team match featuring Kevin Sullivan, The Barbarian, Greg Valentine and Virgil. During the match Virgil was thrown out of the ring and in front of wear I was sitting. Kevin Sullivan came over to my seat, grabbed my guitar and smashed it twice over the back of Virgil, thus destroying it in the process. The crowd went crazy and I was in shock that the guitar I brought was smashed into pieces. Luckily for me, a photo was taken at the right moment.

Kevin Sullivan smashes my Guitar over Virgil as Madusa looks on

After the show Kevin signed what was left of my guitar. Even if that incident didn’t take place this was probably one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, there were rumors that night and afterwards that some of the wrestlers may not have gotten paid for their work which is another story. I wouldn’t want these guys chasing me down for money, I no longer have a guitar to defend my self.

Charlie Sheen’s first night of his  Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour in Detroit didn’t go as planned. Many reviews have come and right now I haven’t seen too much on the positive side. Maybe he took Detroit too lightly, but people don’t mess around up there. This was the first town to basically boo William Hung off the stage during a Detroit Piston basketball game. No they aren’t mean fans like Philly fans, they’re just not going to tolerate something they don’t like.

Check out these different stories and perspectives of Charlie’s first night on tour; Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, and Entertainment Weekly (Complete with a timeline). Not a night of winning.

You may not have heard of Rebecca Black but you may have heard her song Friday which the kids are loving now a days. Well even if you don’t know the song you’ll enjoy this version perfored on Jimmy Fallon with Stephen Colbert and a few special guests. This will put a smile on your face any day of the week. Enjoy!

Here's the link to watch the video.

If you love The Who’s Baba O’Riley, you need to check out this version by the Blue Man Group with Tracy Bonham on lead vocals.

Ric Flair down and out for the last time

The one things about a retirement match in wrestling is that it doesn’t all mean that the wrestler will retire. Before WrestleMania 24 Ric Flair was given the stipulation that the next time he lost a match he would have to retire. Flair went on quite a streak beating a handful of wrestlers, however he was to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24. It was one of those moments that I could say I saw this match.

As a wrestler in the 80s and 90s Flair was quite the competitor in the ring sometimes wrestling for an hour a night on a number of occasions. At this point Ric was nearly 60 his days of being a superstar in a ring were coming to an end.

The match between Shawn and Flair was pretty good and full of dramatics. In the end, Shawn prevailed and Flair had to retire. The ovation that Flair had at the end of the match was amazing and seemed to go on for quite awhile. Ric would make a number of appearances again for the WWE but never as a wrestler.

This is my favorite time of the year the beginning of the baseball season. It seems odd to be starting on a Thursday time year, and even though it’s Spring on the calendar it’s still winter in many places.

Last year I did pretty good in my picks in the 2010 season as I predicted all the American League playoff teams. I will admit though, I had no idea the Giants would have the type of year they would have. That’s what I love about baseball when a team can come out of nowhere and win it all.

National League:

In the East it should come down to two teams the Braves and the Phillies. I don’t see the Mets or Marlins doing too much this year. Washington is about two years away from playing better ball. The key for Philadelphia is health and how well their line up holds up as it’s one of the oldest in the league.  The Braves have returned and should take the crown.

In the Central. The Reds have a shot at repeating this year but the Brewers seem to have constructed a team that can get into the post season. The Cards are already affected by injuries to their pitchers. I wish the Pirates would be better, just not their year and it’s not the Cubs year… again. Brewers are in it to win it.

In the West. This one is a toss up. San Diego was so close to winning the division last year but San Fran got hot, won the division and then took the Series. They should still be a strong team. The Dodgers should be good too and the Rockies can’t be counted out. Diamondbacks are a couple years away from being back. Look for the Padres and Giants to head into the Playoffs.

American League

East: The Red Sox should take this division. The Yankees don’t have the starting pitching to get them through the season. Tampa lost a lot of key players and while they have probably the best team in the Interinational Leauge, not everyone there is ready for the majors yet. Baltimore and Toronto should have better seasons. The Yanks will put up a fight but Boston invested a lot to not be good this year.

Central: If not the the Miguel Cabera incident at the beginning of Spring Training I would say the Tiger’s would have been a lock for the division. They are still a very good team and should make the playoffs if they don’t fade in the second half. The Twins and White Sox will be contenders as well. Cleveland and Kansas City won’t have the best of seasons. The Twins will win again but not without a fight from Detroit who should be a Wild Card team.

West: This is a three way race with Oakland, Texas and the Angels. Pitching will rule this division which will probably mean Texas will fall just short this year. Oakland is the better team right now but this division and the Central will be the funnest ones to watch this year.

Picks:

AL: Red Sox, Twins, A’s; Wildcard: Tigers

NL: Braves, Brewers, Padres; Wildcard: Giants

World Series: Braves over Red Sox

We’ll see how I do come October.

Say what you want about Britney Spears. You have to give her some credit here. She actually filmed a bit for Jackass 3  but her part was left out the movie. It’s a pretty funny scene that is worth a view. Warning: not for the faint at heart and don’t try this at home or at construction sites.

#21. McAfee Coliseum home of the Oakland Athletics

Times visited: 1
Date: 7/7/07 vs. Seattle (L: 4-0)

This story actually starts on 7/6/07 when I arrived in San Fransisco after a very long flight from New York City. It’s a long flight to begin with but for those on the plane with me, we had the honor of sitting on the runway for two hours before taking off. This was not a great start for the All-Star Trip to San Fran. It was nearly Midnight on the West Coast by the time the plane landed and I went down to baggage claim to get my stuff. I waited and waited and after 20 minutes I heard what I thought was my name paged over the loud speaker. I inquired about the name and didn’t find out it was my name they called. I was the lucky person who’s luggage hasn’t arrived yet. After filling out some paperwork, I arranged for the airline to drop off the luggage at a hotel in Oakland I was planning to stay the next night, I took a cab to a hotel near the airport to rest up for the night.

The next day I ventured into San Fransisco wearing the same clothes from the night before. I took the bus into town and was just in awe of the city. It was such a beautiful city and there’s was so much to see. It was nice to see some of the items on the bus route where I wanted to go and what parts of town I wanted to avoid make planning so much easier.

Since the All Star festitives didn’t start in San Fransiso until the next day I went to Oakland on Saturday to see the A’s play. I took the subway into Oakland and upon my arrival, quickly changed hotel plans. There wasn’t much around the hotel I was staying at and I didn’t want to waste a night in Oakland. Luckily, the place where I was staying in San Fran had an opening for that night so I changed hotels. I even notified the airline that was I staying at a new hotel so they can take the luggage there.

I made it to the Coliseum to watch Oakland play Seattle. In this game Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez put on the pitching clinic as the Mariners easily won. The Coliseum is a huge stadium, it’s built more for football than baseball and has more foul ground territory than most ball parks. It was very easy to get around this stadium which I liked. The one thing that this place lacked though was personality on the outside. This may be because the Stadium is shared with the Raiders.

After the game I checked into the hotel in San Fransisco. Still no luggage. Sunday came and still no luggage, I hit the thrift stores and drug stores to add to my wardrobe. After attending some of the All-Star Festivities Sunday night I came back to the hotel and still no luggage. I called the airline and found my out my luggage had indeed been delivered… to the hotel in Oakland.

Hanging out with Rob Scheinder

Finally on Monday morning I hopped on the subway and picked up my luggage in Oakland. I learned my lessons when you change hotels make sure you can still get your luggage on time or you’ll be spending part of your time shopping at thrift stores. I did end up with a nice shirt though.

WrestleMania 24 with "Hogan" and "The Warrior"

This weekend is one of the greatest sports weekends of the year. It’s the beginning of the baseball season, you have the final four in college and it’s also the weekend of WrestleMania. This year, WrestleMania 27 will take place down in Atlanta featuring nine matches and the return of The Rock who will be hosting the event. I have been lucky enough to attend to WrestleManias. I was at WM23 in Detroit and WM24 in Orlando. Both were quite the experience.

The energy, the crowd and the people who come to this event to have fun, make this a great time. Whether or not you’re a wrestling fan, its fun watching the crowd. Even if you don’t know who the Undertaker or J0hn Cena are, there are some people who come dressed as these wrestlers. Think of it as going to see KISS or a Star Trek convention. Those who do it for fun and not taking the whole thing too seriously are the best to talk to, hence the picture up above. Of course all of this is coming from a guy who has worn dog suits at wrestling shows.

Best tip I can give you. Next time you head out to a wrestling show, get some pictures with the people who are all dressed up. It’ll be well worth the memories.

I will share a few of my favorite Wrestling stories this week from my experiences at various shows throughout the years.

This really doesn’t need a description does it? It’s a Richard Simmons Airline Safety video. If doesn’t make you feel safe about flying, I don’t know what well.