Top 25 Friday: A Wrestlemania Edition (part 2)

Alright, alright, alright! Let's finish this!

Wrestlemania XIV
I really wish I could remember the Shamrock/Rock and Dumpster Match a little better but absent that, I'm going to have to assume that Austin/Michaels was my favorite match on the show. The interesting thing about that one in retrospect was just how amazing it was considering what condition HBK was in that night with the back injury. The other interesting thing is the long-time story that Shawn started to balk about losing to Austin the day of the match and Taker had to pay him a visit, firmly telling him that he WOULD be "doing the job" all the while taping his fists. Yep. I'd be convinced.

Wrestlemania XV
Man, that lineup looks horrid. I don't know if anything on that show would have been watching except the Main Event. I remember the Hell In The Cell being awful. A couple of DQs in key matches doesn't help. This was at the heart of the Russo Era so I can recall the Hardcore and IC Titles being switched like... the week before the show, killing all the buildup for both matches. Weird. Let's just assume Austin vs The Rock was the only thing worth a damn at all although I bet Shane vs X-Pac was fun too.

Wrestlemania 2000
The one and only Wrestlemania that I was able to attend in person and it's widely remembered as one of the worst Manias ever. Sigh. Just my luck. Everyone, of course, remembers the Main Event as it was one of the only times the show ended with a heel triumphing - just killing the crowd. I recall the IC Title Match being pretty solid but without a doubt, the show-stealer that day in Anaheim was the Tables and Ladders match with Edge/Christian vs The Dudleys vs the Hardys. This was the precursor to the TLC match and it did a damn fine job of setting the bar. I remember cringing and roaring with every nutty spot and being absolutely stunned when my brother-in-law's girlfriend decided to go outside to smoke in the middle of that match. Ahhh, good times.

Wrestlemania X-7
Damn it! One year removed from one of the worst Manias, they knock it out of the park with arguably the best top to bottom show in Mania history. There is very little on this show that wasn't absolutely awesome. Even stuff like the Hardcore, IC, and Euro Title matches at the bottom of the card were fun. There's so many choices here but I think I've got to go with the TLC match. That hanging spear by Edge still is one of my favorite spots in wrestling history and it had just the right amount of craziness with Lita, Spike, and Rhyno getting involved. Just a fantastically fun match that I could watch over and over easily.

Wrestlemania X8
Another really fun show where the Main Event was completely blown away by an undercard match [or two.] I really want to pick Taker/Flair here because my memory of that awesome Arn Anderson spinebuster out of nowhere is so damn vivid.



But in the end, I've gotta go with that amazing Hogan/Rock match. It was just surreal to see with Rocky riding such a huge wave of popularity - he got booed! And the hated Hollywood Hogan, for at least that night, was the hero of the masses one more time. The match itself is nothing fantastic but the atmosphere makes this one a must-see.

Wrestlemania XIX
Oddly, I barely remember this show. There are certain things I remember - Brock botching the SSP, Piper interfering in Hogan vs Vince, Triple H going over Booker after all signs pointed the other direction. But my brain won't process if any of those were great. But I seem to recall HBK vs Jericho being amazing. I'm going with that one.

Wrestlemania XX
Goldberg vs Brock! Just kidding. Man, how bad did that match end up being? This is one of those shows a lot of people have gone out of there way to avoid talking about in the hype leading up to tomorrow's show. Why? Chris Benoit. A lot of people still aren't able to face the fact that they were once entertained by a murderer. I've chosen to try and separate the athlete from the person... key word is "try" because it's a difficult thing to do and I'm not always successful. The three-way with HHH, Benoit, and HBK was easily the best match on this show. I can vividly recall screaming at the television for HHH to tap out and being so elated when he did. Plus, you get the post-match embrace with Eddie and Benoit and it's just a money, money shot. The hard thing to separate on this one is that part of the reason you wanted Benoit to win so badly was because he seemed like a good person who just always got the shaft. FYI, at Booker T's fanfest this weekend, there was going to be a presentation about the Benoit situation where they talked about some of the results of the brain exam they've done on him after the fact. Should be interesting.

Wrestlemania 21
I don't remember being wowed by HHH/Batista and I recall Rey/Eddie being disappointing. That leaves MITB, Taker/Orton, and Angle/HBK. I'm actually going with Taker/Orton although my brain recalls Angle/HBK being outstanding. Taker/Orton had something special to it because for the first time in quite a while, you actually could believe The Streak might end that night. So, on all the near falls, there was a little something extra. The RKO Spot off the chokeslam was amazing. The Cowboy Bob interference was golden. And all of this was before Orton got REALLY good. My new wishlist for Mania Taker matches? John Cena and Randy Orton. Both of those guys would look to have SUCH a legit chance to end The Streak, the place would be coming unglued on every near fall. BOOK IT!



Wrestlemania 22
It'd be easy to go with the really good Cena/HHH Main Event or the very memorable Shawn vs Vince No Holds Barred match but in the end, you've got to pick Mick Foley's Wrestlemania Moment. Foley vs Edge in a hardcore match was EASILY the best hardcore match that Wrestlemania has ever seen and it rivals TLC for the best gimmick match in Mania history. They pulled out all the stops... who the hell would have imagined a flaming table at a Wrestlemania? Completely and totally my favorite match on the show.



Wrestlemania 23
The 20 year anniversary of Mania 3 should have had the Hogan/Big Show showdown. I don't care what anyone says - it really would've added something special to the show. Not to say it wasn't filled with special stuff. Vince getting his head shaved was very cool for one thing. But I've got to go with Cena vs Michaels as the best match on the show.

Wrestlemania 24
Gee, I wonder. There was one match that was destined to steal the show on this night and it did exactly that. Ric Flair. Shawn Michaels. Can it end any other way?



And that's that!

But "wait!" you cry - that's only 24 matches!

It certainly is. But now, I'm going to pick the match most likely to join this list in a little over 24 hours.

Shawn Michaels.

Undertaker.

Mark it down!

For the record, if we look back at the list, MY Mr. Wrestlemania results...

Honorable Mention:
Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, Steve Austin, The Rock, Christian, The Hardys, The Dudleys

5. Edge
4. Bret Hart
3. Hulk Hogan
2. Randy Savage

And the one and only Mr. Wrestlemania...

1. Shawn Michaels!

If I get time before the show tomorrow, I'm going to pop back in and do a little fantasy booking 'cause that's how I roll.

Top 25 Friday: A Wrestlemania Edition (part 1)

In honor of this weekend's big show, I thought I'd do a rundown of 'Mania past. Keep in mind that this list would probably change weekly... maybe even daily... but I went through each 'Mania and selected my favorite match from that show. Not necessarily the best match but my favorite. Also keep in mind that I haven't seen some of these shows in ages and I'm going off an admittedly dusty memory.

Enjoy!

Wrestlemania I
Honestly, with all the history behind it - Wrestlemania I didn't have very many matches to be all that nostalgic about. In fact, there were quite a few stinkers. But if I had to pick one, I'll go with the crazy spectacle that was the Main Event. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T teaming against Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff. You had Snuka in one corner and Cowboy Bob in the other. You had Ali outside the ring as a guest ref. There was Billy Martin and Liberace and the Rockettes. It truly was a WWF/E scene to remember.

Wrestlemania II
The match quality in the second 'Mania increased a bit even though the "feel" of the event was a bit off since it was broadcast from three separate arenas. While the Steel Cage Main Event of Hogan and Bundy was memorable for a couple of reasons - a] it was the only traditional cage match in 'Mania history [although I thought that was where Orton/HHH was heading a few weeks ago] and b] it was the blowoff to the nice little feud that started when Bundy busted up Hogan's ribs. It's also notable because I vividly remember seeing the results in my local paper the next morning with a picture of Hogan on the ropes booting Bundy in the chest. But even with all that nostalgia, my favorite match of the night has to be the Bulldogs winning the tag titles from Valentine and Beefcake. Even as a kid, I knew the Bulldogs were something special but I didn't quite realize how ahead of their time they were for several years to come.

Wrestlemania III
Now THIS is historic. This is the first Pay Per View I ever ordered and we didn't even get it at my house. My Aunts had to order it for me at their house while my grandpa dragged us out to Palm Springs to see the Angels vs the Red Sox in a spring training game. I didn't get to watch the tape until a week or two later although I couldn't resist sneaking a peek at the results in the newspaper the next day. I LOVE just about every match on the WM3 card so I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite but if forced to, I have to forgo the epic encounter between Hogan and Andre and go for one of the greatest matches of all time in Steamboat vs Savage. That was the match that made me realize there was more to wrestling than Hulk Hogan style matches. I was already starting to be convinced by the Crockett NWA shows and this just was the icing on the cake.

Wrestlemania IV
Ugh. This wasn't a good show. It was probably more memorable for the matches we DIDN'T get to see in the tourney like Steamboat/Savage II rather than the ones that we did. In the end, I guess I'd pick Savage vs DiBiase but even that wasn't anything I'm dying to revisit anytime soon.

Wrestlemania V
Alright, I'll admit it. I was a sucker for the Megapowers and their blowup. I was so anti-Savage that I'm surprised I didn't try to burn my Macho Man t-shirt - yes, I had that purple/pinkish shirt and wore it proudly to a house show that year with a Savage/Honky Tonk cage Main Event. So, Hogan vs Savage in the Main Event with Liz in neither man's corner? I'm sold. It didn't hurt that was a hell of a match to boot.

Wrestlemania VI
This one's kind of a no-brainer as I can only recall one match on the show being any good at all. Hogan vs Warrior was a million times better than it had any right to be and Pat Patterson is cemented in my mind as a wrestling genius because of it. And yes, I was rooting for Hogan in this one and to this day will slow-mo that three count at the end because damn it, Hogan got the shoulder up!

Wrestlemania VII
Well, it's definitely not the Hogan/Slaughter Main Event that suffers the indignity of being the only Main Event in 'Mania history to actually PUT ME TO SLEEP while watching it live. Incredible. No, the easy winner on this one was the magnificent Warrior/Savage "retirement match." My god, I didn't think it was possible to drag a better match out of Warrior than Hogan had a year prior but Savage did it and did it with style. Everything about that match is just golden from the Warrior's amazing jacket he wore to the ring that my friend Brian and I insisted we'd wear to school if we owned it to the surprise appearance of Elizabeth to the multiple flying elbows to the tearful reunion. Absolutely magnificent.

Wrestlemania VIII
Sadly, Wrestlemania VIII will always be remembered more for the match we didn't get - Hogan vs Flair - tan either of the really good matches we did get. I think I'd put Hart vs Piper a notch above Savage/Flair on that one. While Savage/Flair had that really great Liz angle going, Hart vs Piper just played out so beautifully. That spot where Piper is going to crown him with the bell and then tosses it aside because he doesn't want to win that way? Gets me every time.

Wrestlemania IX
This is one of the only Wrestlemanias that I can honestly say it took me years to actually see and I have very little recall of the show at all. I DO remember sitting at home "watching" it on Scramblevision and WTFng my head off during the Hogan post-match angle in the Main Event. But if I have to pick a match... uhhh... well... I seem to remember the Steiners vs the Headshrinkers being nutty. I don't really know though. Probably the Mania I've seen the least amount of times.

Wrestlemania X
This is really a two match show and you always see very split opinions as to which match was better. While I love Bret/Owen, I'm going with the ladder match simply because at the time, I hadn't seen anything like it and was absolutely amazed at the things those two men were doing to each other with that ladder. That was a star-making performance for both of those guys that night at MSG.

Wrestlemania XI
Weird 'Mania. There's not much to be excited about on this one since the I Quit match with Bret and Backlund was a turkey after it looked so awesome on paper. Diesel and HBK was solid as well but truth be told, I've got to go with the LT/Bigelow match. I just had absolutely zero hope of it being any good going in but in true WWE spectacle fashion, they "worked it out, dawg" into something very memorable.

Wrestlemania XII
Probably the 'Mania I've seen the second least amount of times. It was a long time before I ever saw this one either as I had a lot going on at the time and just never got around to seeing it for quite a while. I know that HBK/Bret takes a lot of heat for not being a very good Iron Man match but I remember liking it when I saw it. I'd definitely put it above anything else on this show which is generally considered notable because it had the Mania debuts of Austin and HHH.

Wrestlemania XIII
This is actually a show that I like quite a bit and I think it's more than the one match show most people see it as. I dug a handful of matches including HHH/Goldust as well as the Chicago Street Fight but in the end, it is without question Austin/Hart that takes the win. It's right up there in the list of the very best Mania matches of all time so it's an easy choice for this one.

I'll end Part 1 of this right here and pick up with Part 2 in the morning...

Mindlock

My brain is frozen and no amount of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook will unfreeze it.

With Wrestlemania just days away now, let's show a little love for the last WM in Houston, Texas - one of the best 'Manias of all time, Wrestlemania X-7

March 2009: The Month In Music

I skipped a Mixtape Of The Month for March because I never got around to doing the one on movie scores that I was hopeful of doing. But I will keep going with the listing of March's top songs according to my iTunes playlists!

In February, I added 120 songs during the 28 days. For March, that number dropped drastically to just 39 songs in 31 days. And I actually only managed to listen to 30 of those. To make the Top 5 for March, the song only had to be played in its entirety FIVE times.

Let's take a closer look!

Top 5 Played Of March 2009

Honorable Mention:
No Wedding Cake - Fol Chen

5. Voices Carry - Til Tuesday
Every once in a while, you stumble across a song on the radio or on TV or just rattling around your own brain that you thought for sure you had in your music library that you turn out not to have. Once you add it, it's all downhill from there.

4. God Knows - El Perro Del Mar
This song kinda... enchants... me. It has such a nice, sickly sweet melody that kinda draws me in with a 50/60s oldies vibe to it. The lyrics are just kinda... there. The vocals don't do a lot for me. But that damn melody keeps me listening to this song over and over again. I think I'd actually love an instrumental of this song.

3. Home Sweet Home - Carrie Underwood
This year's American Idol kiss-off song makes #3 on the list with a bullet. To some, the idea of Carrie Underwood covering Motley Crue makes them repulsed and swearing off music as a whole. To me, it made me not able to stand up for a little while ifyaknowwhatimsayin!

2. Saddle Up - The Boy Least Likely To
I'll be totally honest. When I saw this on the list, it was the only song in the Top 5 that I had absolutely no idea what it was. Now that I'm listening to it to remind myself... nope. Still don't remember it. But apparently it's inoffensive enough that I listened to it all the way through when I heard it several times this month. And as I'm listening to it now... I'm not even sure I like it that much. Weird.

1. Alone - Allison Iraheta
It's that time of year so I expect a few Idol songs to pop up on these lists over the next couple months. I think it was on the very first of the Top 13 shows when 16-year old Allison belted out this awesome version of Heart's "Alone" with just enough of the rock chick gravel growl to make me smile. Oh, and she got totally hosed by being stuck in the Bottom 3 this week. I was very harsh on her version of "Don't Speak" since... well, she kinda fucked it up and I've heard that song so many times done so well by No Doubt. Also, the weirdness of realizing she was actually about three years old when this song was famous... yeah. Weird.

And in the ever-growing running tally... The Top 20 of 2009 to date!

20. November Was White, December Was Grey - Say Hi
19. Stay Alive - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
18. People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case
17. Number One - Miss Fairchild
16. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson
15. Seattle - The BPA
14. Alone - Allison Iraheta
13. You You You You You - The 6ths And Katharine Whalen
12. I Was Never Your Boyfriend - Tigers Jaw
11. Let It Slip - The School
10. More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
9. The Good Old Days - The Lodger
8. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
7. Secret Heart - Feist
6. Come Saturday - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
5. Green Means Go - The Color Wheels
4. We Rule The School - Belle And Sebastian
3. Jai Ho - AR Rahman
2. Thank You Mario But... - The Mountain Goats
1. Latika's Theme - AR Rahman

I'll do the Seeqpod list shortly. Having some Internet issues right now.

I'm Still Sick! Well, Not Really But I Can Pretend!

Fine! I'll write something.

After all those days where my brain got to refresh, you'd think I'd have something of value to contribute tonight but I don't really feel like I do.

I did just read a kind of interesting thing about Wolverine on Ain't It Cool News.

Apparently, a very good quality studio workprint [their words, not mine - not sure what the hell that means] leaked onto the Internet for the Wolverine movie in the past day or so. So, all hell is breaking loose with people sending reviews off this print.

Good lord - what a nightmare this must be for Fox.

People are already highly suspicious of this movie's quality and somehow, someway a print has "leaked out." I haven't read any of the reviews and seem unlikely to but there seems to be only two possibilities here to me...

1] The movie's as bad as we all fear it is and a disgruntled Fox employee decided, "I'll show those greedy mutant hating fucks!" and tossed it out on the Interweb to KILL any chance the movie has at doing well. And "well" is a relative term here because for a movie like this, it needs to be measured in several hundreds of millions to be considered "well." That's Scenario #1 - and the one I feel is most likely.

2] Door #2 paints a rosier picture. Let's suppose for just a moment that Fox actually managed to create something that didn't stink worse than the shit on the bottom of a bowling shoe. Let's project that they know expectations suck for their movie and that buzz is in the shitter. Is it that hard to imagine that they'd leak it themselves to build the hype back up? Most of the people downloading it are fanboys who would run out to see it in the theaters anyways - especially if they like what they saw. Not so much of a stretch, huh?

That's one side of the story. The other is AICN's refusal to print reviews off the print.

Their official statement on it talks about the studios laying people off and piracy and all the key buzzwords to be "appropriate" on the topic... but then basically encourages people to say whatver they want in the "talkback" comments section. This strikes me a copout.

On the one hand, I think it's a noble position to say you won't post reviews of a pirated video. Good for you. If that's your decision, stick to it. Although, I'm sure a bunch of people will call them hypocrites because their entire success as a website is predicated on being able to get "the scoop" before the other websites, which basically requires people to rat out their employers and spill their guts about stuff that's not supposed to be public yet.

But I digress...

On the other hand... and you really need to read the article to get the full feel of this... but the section about how they can't/won't censor people in the talkbacks about it and the handwringing they act like they went through to reach that decision...

Just seems fake to me.

I love AICN to death and is at-least-daily stop for me but on this one, I think they're just doing a shiny bit of ass-covering.

Just the way I see it.

Almost Back

Feeling much better now but not all the way back to write a full post.

So, tonight... you get two choices...

We can either make fun of PC users specifically...



Or mankind in general...



The latter of these was inspired by Sunday night's Amazing Race and the fact that the Missus has never seen that clip. Enjoy!

Still sick

And now you can add irritated, annoyed, hurt, disappointed, and a few others.

No writing.