Given all of the chaos that is happening around the world and here in the U.S. This past Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony was just as bad in not just its presentation in trying to appeal to a fickle generation of idiots who don’t know a good film if it came out of their ass. It was also in trying to make things exciting which was the opposite while the decision to announce winners in several technical categories on Twitter was an awful decision. Having flavor-of-the-month celebrity guests in the show to appeal to that fickle crowd didn’t help matters as the attention should be on the people who contributed to their part in cinema. Just as things were already bad enough, one bad joke from Chris Rock that brought a horrible reaction from Will Smith just destroyed everything and ended up overshadowing everything else. Even though Smith apologized for what he did, it wasn’t enough as it just exposed him as not just a fucking asshole but also someone who basically outed himself as a cuckold since there’s rumors that he and his wife have an open marriage while they’re also part of a narcissistic family with two of their kids being a bunch of spoiled, no-talent assholes and the idea that they might be Scientologists which is bad news.
With so much that is happening as I just got the news a couple of days ago that one of my longtime family friend’s dog just died as I loved that dog. His name was Jack and was such a good dog. He will be missed as is Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters who died abruptly during the band’s South American tour as it is just devastating for not just the band but for so many who knew him and played with him as I don’t think the Foo Fighters will be the same. It may be a started by Dave Grohl after Nirvana’s dissolution but Hawkins was the rock n’ roll spirit that made that band so great and the only drummer who was an equal to Grohl in the instrument in terms of feel and passion. I wouldn’t know where to rank among the greatest drummers ever but he definitely belongs in that list because he was damn good in that instrument. We will miss you Taylor. Thank you for loving life and music as much as we do.
Another major loss this year in the world of professional wrestling is Scott Hall though his death shouldn’t have been surprising if it had happened years ago considering that he and another wrestler in Jake “the Snake” Roberts were both in the running of a death pool for wrestler deaths a decade ago as they were becoming known more for their drug and alcohol abuse. That all changed in 2014 as both men became sober and were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as Roberts has so far maintained his sobriety despite recent health issues in his attempts to quit smoking but is still alive and well. For Hall sadly, the pandemic disrupted his sobriety as he fell off the wagon on-and-off as he struggled to be sober and then earlier this month. He broke his hip and was sent to a hospital here in Marietta, GA near my home where a blood clot did him in as his passing is still devastating. He was one of the guys that made me love pro wrestling ever since the early 1990s when he left WCW to join WWE as “the Bad Guy” Razor Ramon as I thought he was Cuban unaware that he had a career in the AWA in the 80s tagging with Curt Henning.
Though he began his WWE run as a heel, there was something about Razor Ramon that I found appealing in not just the fact that he can work with so many different wrestlers including Sean Waltman as the 1-2-3 Kid whom he put over in early 1993 on an episode of RAW. It was the fact that he just had this charisma about him from the way walked to the ring as if he owned the building while wearing these gold chains and having a toothpick in his mouth and would flick it at you if you disrespect him. He was winning the fans over and it was in the fall of 1993 is where I started becoming a fan of his as it was during this battle royal where the last 2 men would face each other the next week on RAW for the vacant Intercontinental title due to the fact that Shawn Michaels was suspended at the time. The amount of talent in that ring was a showcase for this post-Hogan period known as the New Generation which did focus more on in-ring work, work rate, and making good matches.
Hall was among the pillars of that period along with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, pre-babyface Diesel, the Undertaker, Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, and Yokozuna (before his severe weight gain in 1996). That battle royal which featured a lot of that talent in that time showcased this transition of the old guard vs. the new guard where the last six men in the battle royal were Hall and Randy Savage as the babyfaces going against the heels in Rick Martel, Adam Bomb, and the Quebecers. It was down to Hall, Martel, and the Quebecers where Hall would eliminate the Quebecers and the match was over and pandemonium happened. As a 12-year old kid watching that match, I was over the moon when Razor was one of the last two and to see him and Martel ready to just kill each other despite all of these referees and agents trying to stop them. I was like “let them go! Fuck next week! Let’s do it now!” A week later, the match for the IC title happened and it’s one these gems in WWE’s history that often gets overlooked as it’s a classic match that told a story as there’s a lot of holds and power moves. The ending had Razor win the match and the moment he put on that IC belt on his waist. I was like “damn! That looks good on him”.
Hall may be one of these great wrestlers to never win a world title but holding the IC belt from 1993-1996 in four different reigns I think is more than enough as he helped make that championship feel important back then. It was the workhorse championship but it was more about who made that championship as guys like him, Curt Henning, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Chris Jericho from the late 80s to the early 2000s was a title that everyone needed to have to feel important. Hall’s time in WWE is something many shouldn’t overlook as the matches he had with Martel, Bret Hart, Sean Waltman, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, Goldust, and most of all, Shawn Michaels are among some of the best work during a period where WWE was trying to find itself in the post-Hogan era.
Hall should also be noted as an influential figure for what he did in WCW in forming the nWo and had a good run during that time as part of the Outsiders with Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman although it would be his own personal issues that would cause his career to slow down. During this period where everyone was given tribute to Hall, there were things about him that I didn’t know including a brief stint working in Japan in late 2001 where he put over an unknown young talent whom Hall would tell everyone this guy would be the next big superstar. That young man that Hall put over was none other than Hiroshi Tanahashi who would become a massive superstar and paid tribute to Hall by doing the Razor walk to the ring while also acknowledging Hall’s influence in the business and stated that one of his all-time favorite matches is the WrestleMania X ladder match for the undisputed Intercontinental Championship between Hall and Shawn Michaels which is a fucking classic as is their 1995 rematch in SummerSlam. It is sad that he is gone as friends, families, and those he influenced are going to miss but he did leave a parting word in his Hall of Fame speech that says a lot about who he is.
1. The Batman
Train Again
Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts
Moon Knight (pilot)
Wrestling Match of the Month: CM Punk vs. MJF in a dog-collar match at AEW Revolution
This has been a hell of a month in professional wrestling with some shocking events in New Japan Pro Wrestling with Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa of the Guerillas of Destiny being kicked out of the Bullet Club as it’s a decision that I am not happy with. Especially since Tama is a founding member leaving the Bullet Club under the leadership of Jay White who brought back Doc Gallows and co-founder Karl Anderson back to the fold with Bad Luck Fale also turning on G.O.D. The other big shock is Gedo turning on his longtime friend Jado who had been voicing his own issues with White as he and G.O.D. have been fortunate to find some allies in Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. The New Japan Cup also happened with Zack Sabre Jr. winning his second cup as he is someone that deserves a title shot as he is one of the best technical wrestlers working today.
The NWA is also starting to get interesting as the championship month back in February between Trevor Murdoch against Matt Cardona was an amazing match with Cardona becoming the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion as it’s only added to his now growing reputation as he’s also been winning titles in other companies and has become the most hated wrestler in the independents in the death match scene. Now he’s taking part in a feud with former NWA world champion Nick Aldis that now involve their respective spouses in Chelsea Greene and Mickie James that is also happening on Impact. It is proof that there’s so much happening right now in professional wrestling that showed that you don’t need flavor-of-the-month celebrities or stupendous buzz-words to sell an event. You just need talent, buzz, and doing the work to make things happen. AEW, New Japan, Impact, GCW, NWA, AAA, and anywhere else that loves professional wrestling. Plus, fuck sports entertainment as that shit is for pussies.
Top 10 Re-Watches
1. National Lampoon's Vacation
© thevoid99 2022
That's a great match of Scott Hall's you shared! Lovely tribute. It's a shame he went after going in for surgery. I hate when that has complications.
ReplyDelete@Brittani-Thank you. That was the match that made me a fan 4 life. People tend to overlook that New Generation period but that was an education for me as that was what made me love pro wrestling as I had WWE and WCW at that time but I was more into WWE as I felt it was more of a big league and the guys had the roster they had was solid. Bret, Shawn, Razor, Waltman, Diesel, Undertaker, Yokozuna and Owen. Those were my boys. It still makes me sad that things like this during surgery is what really killed them. That's what happened to my dad after his surgery as they stapled part of his stomach and the staples got loose as all of that shit that he was being fed got to him. That fucking sucked.
ReplyDeleteI feel for Hall's friends and family and a fucking blood clot is what did him in. At least he's no longer in pain as I could see him right now reuniting with Curt Henning in a tag match against Owen Hart and Brodie Lee. BOOK THAT SHIT GOD!