Wrestlemania XXX Reaction

Written by Roger Malcolm I’ve watched Wrestlemania every year since Wrestlemania XXI when the Armed Forces Network (AFN) aired it for free in 2005.  I had missed out on the first 4 Wrestlemanias as a kid.  I got my start with Wrestlemania V when the Mega Powers Collided, with Hulk Hogan challenging Macho Man Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Title; Wrestlemania VI when The Ultimate Warrior challenged Hulk Hogan for the title; Wrestlemania VII when Hulk Hogan challenged and battled Sgt. Slaughter for the title; and my final as a child, Wrestlemania VIII at the Hooiser Dome, when  Hogan defeated Sid Justice by disqualification.  Lame.  At least Wrestlemania VIII had Bret Hart challenging Roddy Piper for the IC title, and Randy Savage challenging Ric Flair for the WWF World Heavyweight title. Since then I’ve watched Wrestlemania I through XIV after acquiring the Wrestlemania boxset on VHS.  There are always great moments at every Wrestlemania but there’s not one Wrestlemania that I consider my favorite overall, as Survivor Series and Royal Rumble have always been my favorite events, especially from the late eighties through the early nineties.  However this all changed on April 6, 2014 when I watched Wrestlemania 30.

Wrestler Turned Actor: Best Bit Parts

Written by Roger Malcolm

Sometimes it’s just better if a wrestler does a small role before tackling a lead, such as Hulk Hogan did in Rocky III as Thunderlips.  It is perhaps the king of all wrestler-turned-actor bit parts, so with that said I won’t be selecting it on my list, as I’m already mentioning it.  However, I do believe Hogan would have been better off sticking to this approach for his film work or just having stuck with this role alone and not continued acting anymore at all.  Since his roles in No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando, and Mr. Nanny were so poorly received, I don’t know how he ever climbed the ranks to land a recurring role in the Thunder in Paradise series of films and TV show.  Though it’s probably a safe bet why he doesn’t still have acting roles in films.  Hogan really did transcend professional wrestling and all the wrestlers turned actors surely have him to thank even if it’s just for setting the bar so low for the acting transition.

Top 10 Pro Wrestling Video Games

Written by Roger Malcolm

One of the most unfortunate drawbacks of being a pro wrestling fan is the absolutely awful video games that have been made that we wrestling fans force ourselves to play trying to achieve the smallest amount of fun in all the layers of bad programming throughout the years.  Knowing this to be true, I have spent years tormenting myself with bad game after bad game, finally coming to a point where I feel I couldn’t be used and abused by all these horrible games anymore than I already have.  These days I still play the occasional pro wrestling game, only I am much more specific on which I spend my time.  I started with 8-bit graphics going through 16-bit to 3-D polygons all the way to text-based and back to 2-D sprites!  That’s right, I’ve went from the 80’s 8-bit graphics on the Nintendo Entertainment System through all the flashy 16-bit button-mashers on Super Nintendo and 3-D graphics of the Playstation, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube.  Only to end up playing a text-based pro wrestling game on the PC (with the only visual art being the animated stills of the wrestlers, belts, and logos) and a 2-D sprite-based graphic engine on the PS2/PSN/Dreamcast.