As I mentioned before, Wrestlemania 27 was two weeks ago and I decided, with a bunch of the V1kM crew, that we would watch it and riff on it in podcast-form. This was nothing more than a hair-brained experiment, mostly because I don't really know if there's an audience that would want to listen to a bunch of nerds (some well-versed in wrestling, some not so much) talk about a 4-hour show they're watching that the people listening to can't even see. But hey, I guess it was worth a shot. To make it easier on you, the listener, I broke up the almost 4 hour recording into 5 easier-to-digest chunks, ranging from about 30-50 minutes each. But the recording itself isn't perfect. Far from it, actually. For starters, our buddy Will had the recording equipment but his tire unfortunately blew out on the way, so he didn't really make it until an hour and a half in. Luckily, he brought our stand-up comedian friend Jake with him, plus when Wrestlemania ended, there was a replay afterward so we just watched what they missed out on. So the podcast as a whole is kinda out of order. And as par for the course when it comes to V1kM podcasts, we get severely off track most of the time. In all honestly, Wrestlemania was just OK. I'd consider myself the biggest professional wrestling fan out of the group and I repeatedly lost interest throughout the show.
Anyway, enough talk. Let's get with the...well...talking. Here it is, us watching Wrestlemania 27 in its entirety.
Part 1 (Including CM Punk vs Randy Orton and Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler)
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Part 2 (Triple H vs The Undertaker)
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Part 3 (Snooki-Mania, The Miz vs John Cena, Not-So-Final Thoughts and America The Beautiful)
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Part 4 (The Rock Talks and Edge vs Alberto Del Rio)
blip.tv link - Download Link
Part 5 (Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes, 8-Man Tag, and Punk vs Orton again)
blip.tv link - Download Link
So there you have it. But Wrestlemania wasn't the only wrestling-related thing to happen lately. In fact, this past week has been kinda messed up. Not since the whole Chris Benoit incident has the wrestling business actually bummed me out this much.
For starters, I found out Monday that independent wrestler/manager "Sweet 'n Sour" Larry Sweeney had taken his own life after a long battle with bipolar disorder. Mostly seen as a wrestler in Chikara Wrestling and a manager in Ring of Honor, Sweeney was definitely one of the most charismatic guys on the indy scene, to the point where I would compare him to like a Bobby "The Brain" Heenan or a Jim Cornette for the Internet generation. Unfortunately, in recent years, Sweeney had started to stop taking his medication and his disorder got the best of him as he became visibly disheveled and would challenge fans to impromptu wrestling matches in parking lots. In 2010, it looked like he was getting his career and his disorder back on track as he made a few appearances in wrestling as the "Sweet 'n Sour" of old but obviously it was still a struggle that would end up overwhelming him. Not to try to compare my situation to his but as someone who struggles with depression (Dysthymic, to be exact), has contemplated suicide numerous times and had a friend who had also committed suicide, this particular death hits me pretty hard. But what hit me the hardest was the fact that he was only 29. I'm sure many of you don't even know who I'm talking about but Sweeney touched a lot of people, to the point where the news of his death was even trending on Twitter. "Sweet 'n Sour" will always live on, to me. Ain't no doubt about it, baby!
And soon after hearing that news, I found out that Edge was retiring as well. Since I was coming down from my post-Wrestlemania high of sorts, I didn't intend on watching Raw. That ended up being a mistake as I got online and found out that Edge was retiring out of the blue. I had always heard rumors that he was talking about it for a while but nothing so recent that I'd expect it to happen on Monday. I figure he would take some well-timed breaks and thought that guys like The Undertaker would retire before Edge, especially since he hasn't even hit 40 yet. But apparently, Edge had seen doctors earlier in the day and they told him that, due to complications from a broken neck years ago, he could easily become paralyzed or even killed if he continued wrestling. Of course, I was saddened mostly because it was so sudden, but now that the news has set in, I'm totally glad that he's willing to retire on top and, most importantly, with his health. I've kinda had a love/hate relationship with Edge. I thought he was awesome as he came up through the ranks but thought he kinda took the easy way up with the controversial relationship with Lita. I sided with Matt Hardy then but not so much anymore after seeing the kind of person he's become. In the end, Edge totally hit his stride by becoming one of the biggest heels in modern wrestling. But lately, I thought he was becoming a bit bland as a good guy, but mostly because he's just so good as a heel. In retrospect, I'm kinda kicking myself for taking him for granted recently. Still, Edge will go down as one of the greats in the history of the business.
And though it doesn't even compare to the previous two stories, I was also bummed to hear that Matt Cross was eliminated from Tough Enough on Monday as well. I kinda figured he wouldn't win but I thought he'd at least make it further than the second week. I guess it's not so much that he was eliminated that peeved me off but why he was eliminated. Cross was accused of not having charisma (which is debatable) but since he arguably has the most experience out of anyone (with the possible exception of the hot blonde chick from Puerto Rico), that shouldn't have mattered just yet. But the kicker was during the elimination process, where he asked "Stone Cold" Steve Austin permission to speak, much like you would in the military. But that cheesed Stone Cold off even more and he eliminated him on the spot. Think about that for a second. When compared to a prima-donna skank who disrespects the business by showing up late for practice and a general waste of space who has been nicknamed "Skidmarks", Matt Cross was eliminated for...having manners. That's right. "You're a kind and decent person. You don't belong in the wresting business!" What? I mean, from a reality television show standpoint, I kinda get it. If they're willing to eliminate arguably the most physically talented of the group this early on, then it tells the rest of the contestants to step up their game. Also, it shows that reality shows are definitely fake and probably scripted as all hell. But that's neither here nor there. I don't care if he's "too small" or "not charismatic enough", I think Matt Cross deserves a better chance to shine than 2 episodes of Tough Enough.
Anyways, that's it from me. I could talk about the news bit where a guy in Ohio wrestled while possibly having HIV, creating a lot of panic within the Ohio wrestling scene (which I'm not a part of because it only really exists in Cleveland and the Ohio Valley) but honestly, I'm too tired right now and I don't want to get into it. Plus I just watched Cabin Fever 2 so I'd probably confuse the two and accuse the guy of projectile-shitting HIV blood in the middle of the ring, and I don't want to do that.
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