Song of the Day - Now Kith

Free Throw - Now Kith from Lavender Town (2013)

Not sure why I slept on this band for so long... they have everything I love in a band: samples, references to my childhood (lots of Pokemon and Boy Meets World), and lots of that teen angst twinkly stuff. Hell, they even named a song after me... using an 'E'-less keyboard.


Last.fm

Match of the Day - The birth of the streak!

The Undertaker vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Wrestlemania VII (1991)

Only a few months after the fresh (yet dead) new competitor known as The Undertaker made his debut at Survivor Series, he was thrown into a match at the biggest WWF PPV of the year against Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. While challenging Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is never a walk in the park, you can see here that this was boot-era Jimmy Snuka and therefore lacked the "Superfly" powers that he once possessed.

'Taker would go on to win 20 more of these WM matches, and is looking for his 22nd win this Sunday against "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. Many people on the internet say that the only wrestler that can really put an end to the streak is Kane - who has failed two times already. I, on the other hand, believe that it takes someone who can tie the whole streak back together, and since Jimmy Snuka is well passed his glory days to return, it looks like it's up to another Snuka; it looks like it's up to Tamina "The daughter of Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka" Snuka to put an end to the streak!

Theme Week - Rasslemania Week 2!

Wrestlemania is a mere 6 days away which can only mean one thing - it's Wrestlemania week! The grandest wrestling event this side of the world is turning 30 next Sunday and with that comes 29 years of great material to watch and honor this week. 

I highly recommend watching these Wrestlemania moments on the WWE Network for best picture quality. If you are not from America or broke like me, the youtube/dailymotion/weird Japanese video players I will be embedding will have to do as usual...

Enjoy!

Song of the Day - Move Along

Salt Cathedral - Move Along from Salt Cathedral (2013)

A little pop never hurt nobody. Especially not the bouncy female-fronted pop that Salt Cathedral create.


Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Hokuto/Kandori Dreamslam showdown!

Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori - AJW Dreamslam I (1993)

Since it's Women's History Month, I've decided to feature one of my favorite female pro wrestling matches: Akira Hokuto versus Shinobu Kandori at All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling's first Dreamslam event as "Match of the Month". This is a brutal bout at my favorite speed for a wrestling match - out of control speed!

Just in the opening minutes of the match, LLPW's Shinobu Kandori, a judo expert with a bad attitude, target's Akira Hokuto's arm in hopes of twisting it right off. Kandori works on the arm until it is clearly out of commission. Hokuto's arm puts her in such a disadvantage that the chance of this match being a technical wrestling showcase goes right out the window. Instead, the match turns into a legit-looking fight. These two scrap it out with each other like two kids in the schoolyard... It's brutal, it's bitter, and it's far from pretty.

Once the match spills out into the ringside area, Kandori counters Hokuto's attempt at a piledriver on the announcers' table and tombstone piledrives Hokuto's head straight into the table leaving Hokuto donning the crimson mask. Not often does one see such brutality and blood in a women's wrestling match, especially not here in America, but this match brings it at full force. This match is a must-watch spectacle that clearly I can not give the justice it deserves just by using words. The only way to experience the power of this match is by watching it.

Match of the Debut - Hey yo! The Bad Guy debut

Razor Ramon vs. Paul Van Dow - WWF Superstars (1992)

In honor of Scott Hall getting clean thanks to DDP and his yoga system and can now be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Looks like they'll be renaming it the Scott Hall of Fame... or, more accurately, the Thank You DDP for Saving Jake Roberts and Scott Hall of Fame.

Anyways, here he is as "the Bad Guy" Razor Ramon, oozing machismo for the first time ever on WWF TV.

Match of the Day - Guerrero/Flair at King of the Ring '02

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair - King of the Ring (2002)

Only about a month before Eddie Guerrero took on The Rock in a match that has now been regarded as a "dream match that actually happened", Guerrero took on another wrestling for the first in WWE in the form of the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. It wasn't the first time that the two had wrestled before, they

 actually put on pretty good matches in their WCW days together, but this is the first and only time that these two masters of the ring squared off against each other in WWE.

What made this match so enjoyable has to be the different styles that Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair brought to the table. Flair, being the ring psychology veteran taking on Guerrero, a quicker and high-flying-based wrestler. I would argue that this difference of styles really echos the days of Flair vs. Steamboat which many consider the greatest rivalry of all time. Flair/Guerrero might not have any six star matches, but I think it's worth watching their matches if you are a fan of pure wrestling a la Flair/Steamboat.

Song of the Day - Your carpet is my ceiling

K.C. Milian - Your carpet is my ceiling from K.C. Milian EP (2004)

Happy first day of Spring!

Enjoy it with some laid-back post rock that's a little bit screamo with American Football-like trumpets.



Italian Football.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Nash/Hogan vs. Piper/Giant bat match?

Kevin Nash & Hollywood Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper & The Giant - Baseball Bat on a Pole match - WCW Spring Stampede (1998)

It's the first day of Spring and that can only mean one thing: A Spring Stampede match is in order for today.

This match here is from Spring Stampede 1998, the year I started collecting WCW action figures apparently because every wrestler in this match looks exactly like the plastic form of themselves I had when I was growing up.

Despite the rules of the match, a tag team pole match where anyone who pulled down the baseball bat could use it anyway they wanted, Vince Russo was not working for WCW at this time. Even with the painfully bad "bat switch" towards the end of this match, I must remind everyone, Vince Russo was not working for WCW yet.

If you don't know who Vince Russo is, look up the San Francisco 49ers match, or the Viagra on a pole match, or the leather jacket on a pole match, or the Judy Bagwell on a pole match. The man loved his object(s) on a pole matches. Except for the last one there on the list, the Judy Bagwell one, she couldn't fit on a pole so they used a forklift instead. 

Song of the Day - Just Because You Can't See My Invisible Force Field Doesn't Mean It's Not There

Dakota/Dakota - Just Because You Can't See My Invisible Force Field Doesn't Mean It's Not There from Shoot in the Dark + (2010) (originally from 2004)

Before there was Russian Circles, the post metal gurus, there was Dakota/Dakota, a math rock ensemble. I would have guessed Dakota/Dakota was a Don Caballero side project from the sound of them combined with their lengthy/unique song title chooses, but no, Mike Sullivan (guitar) and Colin DeKuiper (bass) were both in this band before jumping over to metal.



Last.fm

Match of the Debut - Finlay comes to Smackdown to fight

Finlay vs. Matt Hardy - Smackdown! (2006)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here's a very Irish debut featuring the seasoned veteran, Finlay in his first televised WWE match.

Match of the Day - The first time Big Show breaks the whole ring

Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE Championship match - Smackdown! (2003)

So here it is, the first time in the history of WWE that a slam was so powerful that it literally broke the ring.

To be quite honest, this was actually really awesome for my young elementary school mind at the time it took place. I remember going to school the next day, SD! was still on Thursdays, and telling everybody and anybody willing to listen. This was a big fucking deal. So, when I came back to wrestling after taking some time off to learn that this same exact spot was redone in 2011, I was furious! Now hear me out, when I say that the same exact spot was redone, I don't just mean that Big Show was in a match where the ring completely collapsed again, I mean Mark Henry (playing the role of Brock Lesnar) got Big Show up on the top rope and superplexed him in such a incredible fashion that the ring implodes.

Looking back on things now, I guess it makes more sense that Mark Henry could break the ring from superplexing Big Show since Brock Lesnar, a smaller individual compared to the 400+ pound World's Strongest Man, was able to in this match.

Theme results

Ring Destruction: The ring collapses. 

Song of the Day - Easy Green

A.M. Overcast - Easy Green from Extractions (2008)

Solo math rock project from Alexander Litinsky of Winnipeg. He's also in a band called Grand Beach.



Includes a little Battlestar Galactica, the original one with Dirk "Faceman" Benedict, sample to close this opening track.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - Abyss chokeslams AJ through the ring with the power of Hulkamania

Abyss vs. AJ Styles - TNA Heavyweight Championship match - TNA Destination X (2010)

While there have been good encounters between Abyss and AJ Styles ( i.e. Lockdown '05), this is not one of those encounters. No, this encounter is in the thick of Hulk Hogan's takeover of TNA in 2010 starring heel AJ Styles taking on face Abyss. During this glorious downward spiral of TNA, "the future of TNA" AJ Styles was put under the wing of wheelchaired Ric Flair, while Abyss, you know - "The Monster" Abyss - was given the powers of Hulkamania by Hulk Hogan in order to dethrone Styles of Fortune (TNA's try at the Four Horsemen, I guess) and eventually become champion. Abyss's Hulkster power-up included a new Real American mash-up theme, a few bits of ketchup and mustard on his attire, and Hulk Hogan's Hall of Fame ring. Yep, Hogan gave his ring to Abyss rather than pawning it for some quick cash. Silly Hogan... it's not like he can get another one. Oh, just you wait.

Abyss and AJ have a pretty alright match that could have just been done and forgotten about. Instead, Abyss with his new found Hulkamania powers takes a page out of The Big Show (who also once pretended to be Hogan) and Undertaker's book and chokeslams AJ Styles through the ring. Technically, AJ's body just collapses the ring, but as the camera mistakenly looks down at AJ in the hole we see that he is being cut through the mat by some mysterious scissor people that reside under the ring.

So that's it, right? Abyss chokeslams AJ through the ring and wins the belt for the sake of Hulkamania? Actually no; since AJ is sucked down into the abyss, hah, and was unable to return, the match was thrown out just like when a champion walks out of the match in a last ditch effort to retain their title. Abyss wins the battle and AJ Styles retains his title, but the nonsense doesn't end there. As Hogan himself comes out to celebrate with Abyss, Ric Flair gets wheeled back out to confront Hogan who had kicked him out earlier in the match. The wheelchair bound Flair is then dragged into the ring by Hogan's monster, gets sprayed by some pepper spray, and flops around on the mat for a while until Desmond Wolfe comes out to save him. Wolfe does not save Flair, instead he gets beat down by Hogan and Abyss, pepper sprayed, and finally, trips over the selling-like-it's-gonna-win-him-another-Hall of Fame-ring, Ric Flair into the hole in the middle of the ring. In one final act of total nonstop acting, Flair does his best Shawn Michaels impression from Summerslam '05 and overly sells a fall into the hole with the already buried Desmond Wolfe and AJ Styles.

Theme results

Ring Destructions: Abyss hulks up and chokelsams AJ "through" the ring.

Song of the Day - Anonymous

SSQ - Anonymous from Playback (1983)

80's music that sounds like music today that sounds like 80's music.

Featured in the visually-pleasing 1983-but-in-2010 sci-fi, Beyond the Black Rainbow.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The one where Taz and Bam Bam Bigelow go through the ring!

Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - ECW World TV Championship match - ECW Living Dangerously (1998)

In one of ECW's most memorable matches, the TV champ, Taz takes on the giant journeyman, Bam Bam Bigelow in a grueling brawl at Living Dangerously '98. The most memorable part of the match, of course, is the finish that saw Taz performing his signature Tazmission on a standing Bam Bam Bigelow which leads to Bam Bam falling backwards - sending both himself and Taz under him through the ring!

From what I've read, and heard on Jeremy Borash's ECW documentary, Hardcore Forever, Terry Taylor admits that he saw this classic spot at the time and brought it to WWF where it was redone in the form of Big Show chokeslamming the Undertaker through the ring in 1999.

Here's a better look at Taz and Bam Bam collapsing the ring:

Theme results

Ring Destruction: A big hole in the ring filled with Taz and Bam Bam Bigelow.

Song of the Day - Clotheslined

Special Explosion - Clotheslined from The Art of Mothering (2014)

A nice little indie rock track about getting clotheslined.



Something different from Topshelf Records.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Masada/Kasai no mat, glass pane, & gusset plate deathmatch

Masada vs. Jun Kasai - No Mat, Glass Pane, Gusset Plate Deathmatch Pain Limit finals - FREEDOMS (2012)

Here's another tournament match...

CZW's Masada and "The Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai know how to put on an ultraviolent, stomach curdling, how-is-this-stuff-even-legal?, bloody-ass deathmatch. If you don't like the sound of anything that I just wrote, please do not watch this match. If you love the sound of what I wrote above, you are one sick fuck.

To add to this weeks theme, and in good practice with Ash Wednesday/Lent's giving something up until Jesus comes back on Easter with chocolate eggs, this match gets rid of the mat or canvas of the ring. Instead of all that soft stuff on top of the ring, it is completely bare with only its boards intact... well, that is, until Masada decides to tear off some boards to create a gaping hole in the ring. Once Masada strips the boards, he places a pane of glass over the hole and then, if it's pretty self explanatory as to what he does next, Masada powerbombs Kasai through the glass and down through the ring to the floor, or whatever is under a ring.

Luckily, Kasai survives the drop with only a few minor scratches and some skin peeled off. Then he finishes the match, of course.

Theme results

Ring Destruction: The mat/canvas is removed to began with then Masada rips out some boards for added hardcore nonsense.

Song of the Day - Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Fats Domino - Mardi Gras in New Orleans from The Fabulous Mr. D (1958)

My favorite rendition of Professor Longhair's signature "Go to the Mardi Gras"/"Mardi Gras in New Orleans" number.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Kings of Wrestling's King of Europe Cup opening round causalty

Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli - Opening Round match - King of Europe Cup (2007)

Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli AKA The Kings of Wrestling battle one another in this opening round match for the 2007 King of Europe Cup. At the time, Hero was representing Combat Zone Wrestling while Castagnoli was representing Chikara Pro.

The match itself goes nice and smooth until Chris Hero slams Claudio Castagnoli with enough force to leave a big dip in the ring. For the rest of the match, Hero and Castagnoli must fight around this indentation in the middle of the squared circle. From there, like the mat itself, the match pretty much goes down hill and is all about how the hell are these two guys going to end the match without using the middle of the ring.

Theme results

Ring Destruction: The ring collapses in the middle.

Song of the Day - High School Field Trip to Murder Island

Bearcubbin'! - High School Field Trip to Murder Island from Girls With Fun Haircuts (2014)

Loop-happy math rock from the other Portland, Bearcubbin'! A must-listen for anyone that is a fan of music that doesn't go the way one thinks it will.



This is seriously awesome.

Last.fm

Match of the Debut - The Nexus hijack Raw

John Cena vs. CM Punk - Viewer's Choice WWE Championship match - Raw (2010)

The first big match between the WWE champ, John Cena and then masked CM Punk gets hijacked on Viewer's Choice Raw by The Nexus, an eight man gang featuring young upstarts from WWE's developmental territory, FCW as well as all being original contestants on the first NXT program.

While it was not totally chaos, the NXT rookies of the first season really shook things up for a pretty stale product that was WWE at this point. I remember watching this episode of Raw and thinking that something new was upon us. Of course, nothing really happened. The ring gets stripped, Bryan gets fired for chocking the timekeeper with his own tie, and then for weeks John Cena does that thing he always does; he overcomes the odds.

Still, the damage that the Nexus created from their ambush on Raw was pretty impressive for WWE standards. To bad they were pretty much destined to fail once they started feuding with Super Cena.

Theme results

Ring Destruction: Apron skirts ripped off, mat gets exposed, padding torn loose, and the ring ropes are loosened and taken down.

Theme Week - Ring Destruction

This week's theme is all about destruction not so much in the squared circle, but destruction of the squared circle. Whether it be kayfabe, a disaster, or just a shitty ring, every match will include some sort of modification to the wrestling ring. Example:

^This one was the result of WWE's 7 year rule; if something happened 7 years ago, it can just be done again and passed off as new.