This is the first of my wrestling blogs, thought I would do this and share it in State of the Game and Can We Find 1 Million wrestling fans groups on Facebook just to express my views on something I love. So to start this I decided I would review a series of dvd's called the Guest Booker series which you can get from http://www.kayfabecommentaries.com/. The idea of these dvds is that they get a famous wrestling booker and gives them a scenario which they will rebook. I've seen a fair few of these so will keep the reviews brief and will not put many spoilers incase you go to watch them.
Gary Hart-Booking the Dallas Territory
The late great Gary Hart is given the job of rebooking Fritz von Erichs WCCW territory during the year where everything went wrong but in this case non of that happens. The dvd starts of looking into the Texas territory and looks into how Gary books. He does a pretty good job aswell, now it's nothing special but it's still worth a watch. The DVD shines during the 'Behind the Scenes' with some outrageous stories from the past including a truly epic one including the Missing Link. Overall this dvd is worth a watch.
Kevin Sullivan-Rebooking WWF in 1984
Kevin Sullivan is given the job of rebooking the WWF as if Hogan never came and he had his pick of talent from the territories at the time. Kevin picks a great selection of talent for his booking project. He books the entire year leading to a X-mas day Supercard. This dvd shows of the great booking mind of Sullivan and you can see why he has been used in a booking role so much. The only downside is that I find his selections a little odd e.g. he picks Superstar Billy Graham to be the Intercontinental champion. Anyways this is a great dvd.
Gabe Sapolsky-Rebooking the 'New' ECW
One of the best bookers still going today gets the chance to rebook the new ECW. Gabe is given the job of booking from the relaunch to the December to Dismember ppv. Gabe picks a selection of superstars from the old ECW stars, OVW stars and WWE stars at the time most of these would of been attentainable however the odd choices are Randy Orton and Ric Flair however Gabe explains every choice he makes when it comes to the selection. One of the things you'll find is the odd choice of the main event story revolving around Orton vs. Flair for the ECW title when Gabe books the rest of the card to show that it was different from WWE and was like the old ECW. Regardless of that fact Gabe does a great job and you can learn a lot from this DVD.
Jerry Jarrett-Rebooking WCW 2000
The legendary booker gets the job of rebooking WCW in 2000 from the fresh start they had (when WCW vacanted all titles). Jerry cuts down the locker room from 60+ to just about 25/30. He removes many titles and focuses on just 3 belts, he gives out great storylines from for all the titles and some more smaller story lines. He shows that he put alot of effort into it going past the supercard goal they gave him. This dvd really shines in the 'Behind the Scenes' segments as Jerry is very honest about many subjects and it shows that they were actually his idea. One of the things I found funny was that Jerry points out that his son Jeff is a better babyface underdog then a heel and when you think about it thats very true.
Raven-Booking Hall & Nash in ECW
Raven is not a booker but is seen as one of the great minds in wrestling and he's given a truly unique scenario to book. In this world Hall & Nash left WWE and went to ECW instead of WCW. The dvd starts off with Raven's view on booking and he points out one of the things that many of these bookers in the series does that if you're an active wrestler you shouldn't book as you'll either put yourself over or put yourself under because your booking. Thats just one of the many things you'll learn by watching this dvd. Now the title is a little misleading as Raven also adds Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman into his plans. It's a great dvd to watch and you can see how good of a booker Raven could have been if given the chance, this is a must watch.
Mike Graham-CWF/Crockett Merger
This is probably the worst dvd from a booking stand point. This dvd is more a shoot that explains the hostory of the Florida territory, his dad Eddie Graham and his booking style, the closing of CWF and his experiences in WCW including a great story of why Benoit, Guerrero etc. left the company. All Mike does booking wise is selected a roster out of both rosters for this merger, he explains his choice of why he would use the guys and why he would want them removed from the rosters. This is more of a look into how he books and how his dad booked, he doesn't create any storylines or books anything really.
Greg Gagne-Rebooking the Opposition Attempt
This is one of my favourite Guest bookers. Greg is given the job of booking Pro Wrestling USA (the combination of the territories to fight the WWE). Greg picks his roster from each company trying to select talent from each territory and not taking too much from one or another. He books a year of this and does a great job. What I love about this dvd is that he uses Sean Oliver aswell and both end up booking it, very early on in the process Greg points out that one man booking is no good you need more people to bounce ideas off hence why Sean becomes involved in the booking. Greg books a brillant card which would of been great if Pro Wrestling USA actually happened. I highly recommend this one.
Jim Cornette-Rebooking the Invasion
The tag line sums this up 'The most requested booker doing the most requested angle'. Jim Cornette rebooks the invasion angle, he books from just after WWE brought WCW which is around April to Wrestlemania of next year. He starts by doing all the first weeks promos himself and then goes from month to month developing the story. His final card would of been 5 hours long with a huge amount of matches. Just like any shoot involving Jim Cornette it's a must watch, without a doubt he creates an angle that would of lived up to the hype of an invasion angle at the time. Not only do you get to see how Jim books but he also shares some great stories at the start of the dvd. If have to watch this even if you don't like shoots or the idea of guest booker you should still watch this.
Overall
I love this series of dvds, each is unique and a great watch. It really gives you great insights into booking and bookers from the past. Go check them out, none of them would be a waste of time watching and you'll probably learn from them.
Sunday 17 October 2010
Saturday 16 October 2010
Tattoo's
If you know me, or even meet me, you will know that I love the art of tattoos. I currently have 9 tattoos and although I've ran out of ideas will likely add on. Now onto the reason for this blog, all my tattoos have a certain amount of meaning to me and I just want to share what they mean to me as well as a recent addition that I haven't gone through with and unsure if I should just yet.
Lets start with what I got first and that's my heart wrapped in barbed wire on my right forearm which I got less than a week after my 18th birthday. Not that much detail behind the choice, I saw it and loved it. But like any first it has a special meaning to me. I knew ages before getting it that I wanted a heart with barbed wire involved as a tattoo and so that was the first one I got.
Now number 2, my red and blue yin-yang on my upper right arm which has gained meaning with my latest tattoo. Anyways I'm a strong believer in a balanced world, everyone has some good in them and some bad. Now my belief is that some have more good than bad and vice versa but the balance is still there. The tattoo has been called a pepsi symbol as if you turn your head sideways it might look look like pepsi symbol. It's a good thing I love pepsi hey. The addition to the yin-yang was my number 9 a purple rose that curves around it. I found the design online and thought it would fit my yin-yang perfectly plus the yin-yang was a bit plan and in your face. The reason for the choice is that roses are my favourite flower, was told that's weird for a guy by the tattooist at the time, and purple is my favourite colour. But there is another reason, when you combine the 2 the tattoo's tell a little message, if you have the right balance of good and bad then you can get something beautiful. This may be me adding more meaning for the sake of it but what the hell.
Number 3 is 2 vampires fighting over a heart which takes up the whole of my upper left arm. A little story on this one, I found a design that I loved and after my first year at Uni I decided that I should get something to remember it so I took my design and was told it wouldn't work as a tatt. So I told him what I liked and he designed me this and it looked amazing and was even better when tattooed, now he wanted to do a lot more including colour however after the first session cost me so much I decided not to continue. It looks awesome as it is and I think colour would actually ruin it. I can't describe it but its great in my view. On another note one boring day in the house last year I decided to name the vampires so the female is called Ryoko, after my favourite character from Tenchi Muyo, and the male is called Akinobu, a Japanese name that means Autumn wisdom.
We now come to my charm bracelet tattoo that was number 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The first symbol was a Ankh which is the Egyptian symbol meaning life. The next 2 were Japanese symbols meaning love and strenght, 2 very important factors in life in my view. The next symbol was the symbol for Omega which is Greek for the end but I had it for another reason, Omega is the lowest rank in a pack of animals like wolfs or lions. Now I take it as it maybe the lowest rank there but its still dangerous so you may be low in some eyes but your high in others. Now to the final part of it is the letters L.R.K.P which stand for Loose Raven King of Punk, I will explain as it's one of the questions I'm asked a fair bit.
The L.R.K.P. stands for the 4 idols of my life who have influenced a great deal. The 'Loose' is for Brain Pillman who was called the Loose Cannon, Brain spent a time in his life acting completely off the wall however he was a smart, funny and compassionate man he just hid it well. The lesson is taught me was that sometimes you just have to act and you shouldn't over think yourself and be impulsive. The 'Raven' comes from Scott Levy, who has the quintessential drug abuser, rocker look however he's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. This taught me that you really can't judge a book by it's cover, you have to get to know people before you can judge anything. The 'King' comes from Eddie Moore, he's a very emotional man and wears his heart on his sleeve. This taught me that sometimes it's a good thing to let your emotions get the better of you and to express yourself. The 'Punk' comes from Phil Brooks who is Straight-Edge, as silly as it sounds I learnt that you don't need to use drink to have a great time when your out, this is especially meaningful as I used to always drink when out with my friends back home as everyone was drinking however recently I spent entire nights without touching a drop and loved it just as much. Now they have all taught me more but those are the main reasons behind the tattoo.
Now onto the addition that I haven't got done. I recently wanted to add a JC underneath my letters. The JC comes from a man called JC Bailey who recently passed away, the story was so sad and meaningful in a sense. Let me explain, JC was known as a truly awesome person a truly nice guy who just loved what he did for a living, he was a professional wrestler. He made some mistakes and ended up in jail. He was in jail until December last year and it shows you how much he loved wrestling as he appeared on a show less than 24 hours after getting released. It was truly his year, he was getting the acknowledgement that he deserved as one of the best. I recently watched a interview with him and he explained that he made mistakes and he wanted to move on, settle down and start a family be completely clean and just enjoy life. This makes the fact that he died even sadder in my view. The whole thing meant a lot to me and so thought about getting JC tattooed on my, I'm still undecided at this present time as too whether or not I should get it, money is a issue as well but will make my choice in the near future.
Before I go there's one more thing that's on my mind and that's designing tattoos. I've designed tattoos for 2 people, one was for my friend Annabel. As much as I loved doing it it didn't test my creativity that much because she wanted something that was so simple to do, it didn't take me long to design her about 5 and she now has them. I don't know if she's got it done yet but she has them none the less. Now onto the first designs I did, I had just received a lot of money and decided to treat people who meant a lot to me. Me and my friend Sarah agreed to go the extra mile for x-mas present so as we talked we agreed that I would design and pay for her tattoo as a x-mas present. The design was originally a rose and heart design, after I showed her them she liked them but she changed where she wanted to get it and what she wanted. So after doing about 5 rose/heart designs she changed to a butterfly design. When we next met up which was a couple of months later (we didn't get it done by x-mas it was months later but that was expected) I had about 15 designs to show her. I loved doing them as each butterfly was special in it's own way and when I showed her she couldn't pick just one. She did make her decision and got it done, now I wished I was there when she got it done but we were in 2 different cities and she had to just fit it in when she could. Anyways the reason why I'm explaining this is that this whole thing means so much to me. To have someone trust me enough to design a tattoo that she'll have forever and to have her love it means so much to me, I put a lot of work into the designs because it was her who I was designing for. Not saying that I wouldn't of put that much effort into desiging other peoples tattoos but I consider Sarah one of my closest and best friends I have so I wanted it to be perfect. I'm so proud of it that the picture on my phone will be shown to anyone who will look. It meant a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to her.
If you take the time to read this, thank you and please let me know what you think. I know this is a long one but it was on my mind and wanted to express it. Leave me a comment either on here or on my facebook. Until next time.
Lets start with what I got first and that's my heart wrapped in barbed wire on my right forearm which I got less than a week after my 18th birthday. Not that much detail behind the choice, I saw it and loved it. But like any first it has a special meaning to me. I knew ages before getting it that I wanted a heart with barbed wire involved as a tattoo and so that was the first one I got.
Now number 2, my red and blue yin-yang on my upper right arm which has gained meaning with my latest tattoo. Anyways I'm a strong believer in a balanced world, everyone has some good in them and some bad. Now my belief is that some have more good than bad and vice versa but the balance is still there. The tattoo has been called a pepsi symbol as if you turn your head sideways it might look look like pepsi symbol. It's a good thing I love pepsi hey. The addition to the yin-yang was my number 9 a purple rose that curves around it. I found the design online and thought it would fit my yin-yang perfectly plus the yin-yang was a bit plan and in your face. The reason for the choice is that roses are my favourite flower, was told that's weird for a guy by the tattooist at the time, and purple is my favourite colour. But there is another reason, when you combine the 2 the tattoo's tell a little message, if you have the right balance of good and bad then you can get something beautiful. This may be me adding more meaning for the sake of it but what the hell.
Number 3 is 2 vampires fighting over a heart which takes up the whole of my upper left arm. A little story on this one, I found a design that I loved and after my first year at Uni I decided that I should get something to remember it so I took my design and was told it wouldn't work as a tatt. So I told him what I liked and he designed me this and it looked amazing and was even better when tattooed, now he wanted to do a lot more including colour however after the first session cost me so much I decided not to continue. It looks awesome as it is and I think colour would actually ruin it. I can't describe it but its great in my view. On another note one boring day in the house last year I decided to name the vampires so the female is called Ryoko, after my favourite character from Tenchi Muyo, and the male is called Akinobu, a Japanese name that means Autumn wisdom.
We now come to my charm bracelet tattoo that was number 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The first symbol was a Ankh which is the Egyptian symbol meaning life. The next 2 were Japanese symbols meaning love and strenght, 2 very important factors in life in my view. The next symbol was the symbol for Omega which is Greek for the end but I had it for another reason, Omega is the lowest rank in a pack of animals like wolfs or lions. Now I take it as it maybe the lowest rank there but its still dangerous so you may be low in some eyes but your high in others. Now to the final part of it is the letters L.R.K.P which stand for Loose Raven King of Punk, I will explain as it's one of the questions I'm asked a fair bit.
The L.R.K.P. stands for the 4 idols of my life who have influenced a great deal. The 'Loose' is for Brain Pillman who was called the Loose Cannon, Brain spent a time in his life acting completely off the wall however he was a smart, funny and compassionate man he just hid it well. The lesson is taught me was that sometimes you just have to act and you shouldn't over think yourself and be impulsive. The 'Raven' comes from Scott Levy, who has the quintessential drug abuser, rocker look however he's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. This taught me that you really can't judge a book by it's cover, you have to get to know people before you can judge anything. The 'King' comes from Eddie Moore, he's a very emotional man and wears his heart on his sleeve. This taught me that sometimes it's a good thing to let your emotions get the better of you and to express yourself. The 'Punk' comes from Phil Brooks who is Straight-Edge, as silly as it sounds I learnt that you don't need to use drink to have a great time when your out, this is especially meaningful as I used to always drink when out with my friends back home as everyone was drinking however recently I spent entire nights without touching a drop and loved it just as much. Now they have all taught me more but those are the main reasons behind the tattoo.
Now onto the addition that I haven't got done. I recently wanted to add a JC underneath my letters. The JC comes from a man called JC Bailey who recently passed away, the story was so sad and meaningful in a sense. Let me explain, JC was known as a truly awesome person a truly nice guy who just loved what he did for a living, he was a professional wrestler. He made some mistakes and ended up in jail. He was in jail until December last year and it shows you how much he loved wrestling as he appeared on a show less than 24 hours after getting released. It was truly his year, he was getting the acknowledgement that he deserved as one of the best. I recently watched a interview with him and he explained that he made mistakes and he wanted to move on, settle down and start a family be completely clean and just enjoy life. This makes the fact that he died even sadder in my view. The whole thing meant a lot to me and so thought about getting JC tattooed on my, I'm still undecided at this present time as too whether or not I should get it, money is a issue as well but will make my choice in the near future.
Before I go there's one more thing that's on my mind and that's designing tattoos. I've designed tattoos for 2 people, one was for my friend Annabel. As much as I loved doing it it didn't test my creativity that much because she wanted something that was so simple to do, it didn't take me long to design her about 5 and she now has them. I don't know if she's got it done yet but she has them none the less. Now onto the first designs I did, I had just received a lot of money and decided to treat people who meant a lot to me. Me and my friend Sarah agreed to go the extra mile for x-mas present so as we talked we agreed that I would design and pay for her tattoo as a x-mas present. The design was originally a rose and heart design, after I showed her them she liked them but she changed where she wanted to get it and what she wanted. So after doing about 5 rose/heart designs she changed to a butterfly design. When we next met up which was a couple of months later (we didn't get it done by x-mas it was months later but that was expected) I had about 15 designs to show her. I loved doing them as each butterfly was special in it's own way and when I showed her she couldn't pick just one. She did make her decision and got it done, now I wished I was there when she got it done but we were in 2 different cities and she had to just fit it in when she could. Anyways the reason why I'm explaining this is that this whole thing means so much to me. To have someone trust me enough to design a tattoo that she'll have forever and to have her love it means so much to me, I put a lot of work into the designs because it was her who I was designing for. Not saying that I wouldn't of put that much effort into desiging other peoples tattoos but I consider Sarah one of my closest and best friends I have so I wanted it to be perfect. I'm so proud of it that the picture on my phone will be shown to anyone who will look. It meant a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to her.
If you take the time to read this, thank you and please let me know what you think. I know this is a long one but it was on my mind and wanted to express it. Leave me a comment either on here or on my facebook. Until next time.
Saturday 9 October 2010
First Blog!
It's been about 2 years since I've last done a blog and I think it's time for a change. For those of you who never read my MySpace blogs welcome and for those who have welcome back (I realise thats a select few but still).
Anyways theres a reason why I've now decided to start writing blogs again. That reason is my current living arrangement, over the past 3 years while at Uni I lived with friends but this year thats not the case. In my 4th year at Uni I've had to start again in certain terms and I'm living with people I don't know.That situation is neither here nor there but since I'm really living by myself because I don't interact with my flatmates I thought that I'd start this blog to express myself a bit. Now I know that my blogs have caused some friction in the past however that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. Which bring me to the subject of this blog.
Over the past year there has been some major changes in my life. Now these have all been good in my view. I've focused more on getting in shape which I've really needed to do, for example a few years ago I was drinking so much but now I'm hardily touching the stuff even going out with my friends back home, which is at least a once a week deal, I hardly drink. I've also been focused on going to the gym so much so that if I didn't have a gym membership I wouldn't know what to do with my free time. Anyways that has been a major factor in me growing in confidence and coming out of my shell more. The final change I've gone through is my attitude, I used to be focused on the negative factors in my life but now I'm always focused on the good. I haven't been in a truly bad mood in a year plus which I love. To me there's a lot more good in life then bad I find.
That sums up my first blog on bloggers. For those who read this I will update it as often as I can (hopefully once a week) and will cover other subjects that mean a lot to me. If your interested then plus check them out if not then hell just happy you've read this one.
Anyways theres a reason why I've now decided to start writing blogs again. That reason is my current living arrangement, over the past 3 years while at Uni I lived with friends but this year thats not the case. In my 4th year at Uni I've had to start again in certain terms and I'm living with people I don't know.That situation is neither here nor there but since I'm really living by myself because I don't interact with my flatmates I thought that I'd start this blog to express myself a bit. Now I know that my blogs have caused some friction in the past however that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. Which bring me to the subject of this blog.
Over the past year there has been some major changes in my life. Now these have all been good in my view. I've focused more on getting in shape which I've really needed to do, for example a few years ago I was drinking so much but now I'm hardily touching the stuff even going out with my friends back home, which is at least a once a week deal, I hardly drink. I've also been focused on going to the gym so much so that if I didn't have a gym membership I wouldn't know what to do with my free time. Anyways that has been a major factor in me growing in confidence and coming out of my shell more. The final change I've gone through is my attitude, I used to be focused on the negative factors in my life but now I'm always focused on the good. I haven't been in a truly bad mood in a year plus which I love. To me there's a lot more good in life then bad I find.
That sums up my first blog on bloggers. For those who read this I will update it as often as I can (hopefully once a week) and will cover other subjects that mean a lot to me. If your interested then plus check them out if not then hell just happy you've read this one.
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