Match of the Day - Trish Stratus takes on her biggest fan at Wrestlemania 22

Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus - Women's Title match - Wrestlemania 22 (2006)

Some pre-Total Divas women's action featuring the obsessive fan turned deranged lunatic, Mickie James challenging the Women's champ, Trish Stratus. Not as violent as the last female wrestling match I posted but still pretty heated for WWE standards... so, not very violent at all.

This match however does include this spot by Mickie James which is super not PG (or safe for work) and has since been cut out from the match if you watch it on The Network from what I've been told.

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 Day - THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! TAP OUT! TAP OUT!

AJ Lee vs. Naomi - NXT Season 3 (2010)

As of today, AJ Lee is the current longest reigning "Divas" Champion in WWE. In honor of this, I present the best match of the final NXT, before it replaced FCW as a developmental territory: AJ Lee with her pro, Primo in her courner versus Naomi with her pro, Kelly Kelly. This match not only features great chemistry and other words that mean they made the match look good from both rookies, but also features some incredibly insane commentary by Michael Cole, and I'm not just talking his usual mundane Raw commentary either. I'm talking rib after rib on NXT itself, Tony Chimel the announcer, out of blue references, and of course, Cole's obsession with calling AJ's Black Widow submission hold a la Antonio Inoki, THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! etc.

AJ might have been eliminated from the contest soon after this, but she would quickly become the definitive breakout star of the show and earned her right to hold the Divas title once she made her way to the main roster. Plus, AJ's not a Total Diva, so they gotta give her something to keep her around... too bad I can't say the same for AJ's former tag team partner, Kaitlyn, who recently asked for her release from the company.

Song of the Day - BATH SALTS

Future Death - BATH SALTS from FUTURE DEATH (2013)

Reminiscent of a Zach Hill project that never was/never will be. Spastic drums, blazing guitar riffs, and distorted female vocals - oh my!


Also be on the lookout for Future Death's 2nd album due out early next year!

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Watered Down

Swearin' - Watered Down from Surfing Strange (2013)

New stuff from Philly indie rock/pop punk band, Swearin'. Swearin' is co-fronted by Allison Crutchfield, the twin sister of Waxahatchee and formerly P.S. Eliot and Bad Banana along with her sister. Allison's doing her own thing now with Swearin' and it sounds great. Here's a track from Surfing Strange entitled, "Watered Down".

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Apache sisters caballera vs. caballera match

Mary Apache vs. Faby Apache - Caballera contra Cabellera (Hair vs. Hair match) - Triplemania XVI (2008)

Speaking of AAA and hair vs. hair matches...

Apparently, this brutal sister feud stems from Faby Apache's relationship with Billy Boy and the Apache sisters' trainer and father, Gran Apache's distaste for Billy Boy. Mary Apache, siding with her father on the whole unworthy boyfriend busy with Billy Boy, takes on her sister, Faby Apache with her real life husband, Billy Boy in her corner in this physical hair vs. hair match. Like the Eddie/Chavo match posted previously, this hair vs. hair match does not end as a usual hair vs. hair match should.

Even without knowing the storyline behind this match, it's still a great fight. Check it out.

Theme results

Family Feud: Sister vs. Sister.

Song of the Day - HW:R

True Widow - HW:R from Circumambulation (2013)

The heavily addictive slowcore meets shoegaze brooding wrecking ball, True Widow have a new album coming out soon via their new record label, Relapse Records and this is their single, entitled, HW:R.

Get excited.

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Paper Thin

RVIVR - Paper Thin from The Beauty Between (2013)

The Beauty Between is RVIVR's new album released just yesterday after being pushed back for almost a year.

"Paper Thin" is currently my favorite track with "The Hunger Suite I. Go Away" creeping close behind.



You can grab the whole album for free (or by donation ;) ) at the Rumbletowne Records homepage or pay 10 punk dollars for it on their Bandcamp.

"Paper Thin" can also be heard on RVIVR's Belebend 7-inch along with the demo version of "Wrong Way/One Way".

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Goatman

Goat - Goatman from World Music (2012)

Goat are a psychedelic voodoo rock band from a very remote village known as Korpilombolo somewhere deep in Sweden. Rumor has it, of course.

These guys made a lot of best of lists last year and that actually how I heard about them. They even made Spin's top 20 metal albums of the year, too - though they aren't really a metal band at all.

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Ocean, Quick!

Real Kind - Ocean, Quick! from Hard Red Winter (sketch) (2012)



Real Kind is the humble moniker of Marissa Owens from my favorite place, Portland, Maine.

A more fancy and full version of Hard Red Winter will be available in April.

I think this version sounds great as it is, though. Just sayin'...

Facebook

Song of the Day - Devil Town (by way of cello doom!)

Correspondences - Devil Town from Christmas // Devil Town (2012)

Usually I wait to Wednesday to post covers but whatever...

Here's Correspondences (all-female cello-driven doom band formally of Portland, Maine) taking on Daniel Johnston (one of the most covered musicians of all time) and his all too familiar song for a lot of us living in devil towns with vampires as friends.



PS: I'm not sure why this song says it's by Lee (as in Lee King, the drummer?). It sounds like Correspondences to me and is on their bandcamp...

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Unbecoming

RAGANA - Unbecoming from Unbecoming (2013)

RAGANA is a female drum and guitar witchy black metal band from Olympia, Washington.

Unbecoming is the title track off their new record released last month.
 

It's intense.

Last.fm

Song of the Day - Bird Balloons

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - Bird Balloons from Ripley Pine (2013)

Former Maine-native Aly Spaltro AKA Lady Lamb the Beekeeper has herself a new album coming out via her new label, Ba Da Bing Records. This is "Bird Balloons", the snazzy single which is sure to impress. Listen up:


The release date for Ripley Pine is February 19th.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - Megumi Kudo the former kindergarten teacher retires Combat Toyoda

Hardcore Wednesday:

Megumi Kudo vs. Combat Toyoda - No-Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch - FMW (1996)

In what is said to be one of, if not, thee first female wrestling hardcore matches, Megumi Kudo (in the pink) takes on Combat Toyoda (the bigger one) in a deathmatch featuring exploding barbed wire rather than traditional ring ropes, and it's not a pretty sight.

For any of you at home who are unaware of this sort of "deathmatch"-type of match, it's essentially the most violent matches conceived, so take "Extreme Rules" and times the violence/weapons/bloodiness by 100%. This deathmatch in particular took place in Frontier Material-Arts Wrestling (FMW) founded by Atsushi Onita, the guy who brought the deathmatch-type hardcore-based wrestling to Japan after spending an early part of his career touring Memphis.

Japan always has a way of taking a good thing from America to the extreme whether it's hardcore-style wrestling, horror movies, reality shows, or music. So much so actually, that we go and copy them right back...

Unfortunately though, the copycats we make here in the states turn out to be The Hunger Games, Wipeout, and Combat Zone Wrestling.

Anyways, this brutal deathmatch has to be one of the most tastefully violent female wrestling matches I have seen. It has emotion, it makes sense, and it also features wrestlers - female wrestlers, I may add - that could actually wrestle. Combat Toyoda is by no means a "diva" and Kudo, who may look like a little pink power ranger, is one pretty face you didn't want to mess with... and this match proves it.

This match is also noted as Combat Toyoda's last match as she would retire right after this match. Kudo, the victor of this barbaric match believe it or not, would continue to fight in such matches until her retirement match in 1997 against Shark Tsuchiya in the longest titled match: a "No ropes 200V double hell double barbed wire barricade double landmine glass crush death match".

Also, Megumi Kudo was supposedly a kindergarten teacher before making her return to wrestling via FMW. I really don't know if this is true or not.