Hardcore Homecoming

I was absolutely shocked to see a double-DVD of this event while shopping this weekend. My experience in Toronto has been if it's recent and non-WWE, we just don't get the videos (though, through a combination of trips to the U.S., mail order and a generous few of you out there who have sent me DVD's to review, I've been doing okay). But here was this one and I snapped it up instantly.

I'm not completely done watching it yet (there is a ton of content here in addition to the June event itself), including a generous portion of the "Forever Hardcore" documentary (which I was planning on getting, and may very well do so now); Blue Meanie describing the JBL incident; and a ton of pre and post show interviews. And the video quality is pretty damn good, all things considered.

The card itself has been dubbed my many as superior to WWE's One Night Stand, held the very same weekend. Going into this, I really doubted it, given the lower production values, fewer big ECW names, etc. But I have to say, I've been really, really impressed with what I've seen so far. Actually, one of the best "big" shows I've seen this year, One Night Stand included.

Anyways, I will probably write up a review, eventually, but just wanted to say if you happen to see this for sale somewhere, grab it.

Most Random Story Ever! EVER!!!

So this weekend, I had one of the funniest nights in a long time, fueled by plenty of alcohol and a pair of very strange coincidences.

After an initial round of drinking after work, I had plans to go out with my brother and two other friends to visit a friend who is promoting a Hallowe'en show at Toronto's El Mocambo club. My brother calls me, oh, around 10:30 or so, says to wait at a certain street corner. So I do, but in the process of them manuevering crowded downtown streets, we end up being a bit later than we would have otherwise.

After parking, we take a different route than we normally would for no real reason. I should point out my brother is now wearing a Satan mask on his head. And as we're walking up to the ElMo, we pass another club (in actuality, a bagel restaurant with a stage set up in the rear) and someone calls over to me.

Well.... this is the strangest thing. It was a guy who I used to be best of friends with when I was 13 or so. We had a band together, even went to a recording studio at one point; we were very serious about our music. He's still very much into it, and has in fact made a career out of it. So he says "I didn't know you were riding with Satan these days." And I say "You remember my brother?" and he unmasks. Anyways, I'd thought this was the funniest thing in the world; I was also still very much smashed at this point.

The friend invites me to check out his band a bit later on that night (yes, at the bagel store) and I say I'll try to swing by; I'm still laughing like a hyena over whatever, and we go on our way.

Head to the ElMo to hear the main band, Wasabi Collective (they ain't bad) and about 90 minutes into their set, I ask my friends if they want to come with and hear my friend. Only my brother elects to, so the two of us head over to "The Bagel."

While we're waiting for the band to start, my brother and I just start reminscing on random people we used to know 5, 10 years ago and at one point, the conversation turns to a pair of brothers who used to work for me. So of course, who do we bump into on the way out, but one of the brothers!!! It was the strangest, most random thing. This led to the biggest giggle fit I think I've ever had, and after 7 Keith's and a couple Lakeports, I just couldn't stop laughing.

During the course of our conversation, this guy mentions that he's friends (and works for) one of the guys in the band. Which one? Take a guess. These guys, from completely different parts of my life, are good friends with each other.

After that, we head back to El Mocambo (with me donning the Satan mask for a few choice dance moves) before retiring for the evening. Just some really freaky shit....

Latest ITR

In Development...

Those awaiting the WWE Films debut of John Cena as "The Marine" might not have to wait till the direct-to-video crap-a-thon is released to get a dose of the Master Thespian. OOur Very OOwn Intrepid Invetigative Reporter, the Canadian Bulldog, was recently up at Titan Towers and spied some very interesting things that hinted at an all new division of WWE. Promotional posters, pilot scripts, and even an intriguing Video Trailer all seem to suggest WWE's about to get into the sitcom business. Among the nine projects unearthed by Bulldog, there are roles for just about all your favorite WWE stars. Get the EXCLUSIVE~! scOOps in Bulldog's very latest Inside the Ropes.

Happy Satireversary

Check out Matt Hocking's four-year milestone of the Raw Satire. Someone we know pretty well may have a guest cameo or two. In any event, hilarious stuff....

Arrested Development Season 2 DVD

As I expected, this was definitely a worthwhile purchase.

Now, unlike, the season one DVD, I'd already seen all the episodes, because I'd been hooked on AD by then. But even if you've seen everything before, they're definitely worth revisiting!

Over the past year, I have successfully converted numerous people to the ways of Arrested Development by showing them the first season. If you've never seen the show before, you HAVE to see everything in chronological order to truly appreciate what a fantastic show this is.

So Season Two is more of the same. There are tiny jokes here and there you may not "get" unless you've watched the preceding episodes, and then there are some that come to light later on. Amazing contininuity.

Otherwise, a little light on the extras (a few deleted scenes here and there, a fairly lame bloopers reel and I think three guest commentaries), but all in all you're buying this for the episodes.

Weekly Tease for ITR

Okay...

I know I say this a lot, but this week's column is shaping up to be one of my best efforts ever! EVER!!! Okay, at least the best in the last few weeks....

I will have a little help from an old friend, someone who hasn't been seen in the column since a few months back. Just saw his contribution, and it is utterly hilarious.

Stay tuned this Thursday on OO for full details....

New Depeche Mode album

Finally.

I've been waiting since the 2001 dud "Exciter" CD to see if Depeche Mode could ever return to their darker, synth-heavy "Black Celebration" era of way back then. I think I've found the album.

"Playing The Angel" is certainly not their best effort, though I would say it's possibly the best since "Violator" and that was, what, 15 years ago (I'm getting old). One song in particular, "John The Revelator" is addictive. I've probably heard it a good 10 times, and I only picked up the CD the other day.

So I'm very excited for Mode again. They've been my faves (along with The Cure) for probably decades, and I'm looking very forward to seeing them in concert in December here in TO.

Latest ITR

Best Stories Never Told

All fans recognize WWE's official website as truly the greatest and most trustworthy source of honest and accurate information about all things professional wrestling. Ahem. But sometimes, even a bastion of journalistic integrity like WWE.com gets a story too hot to share with the audience at large, and has to quash it before it sees the light of day. But our very own Intrepid Investigator, the Canadian Bulldog, knows not of "journalistic integrity" and has used all resources at his disposal to hack into Shane McMahon's private file of Rejected WWE.com Stories. Bulldog shares his finds in an outstanding new Inside the Ropes.

Tease for this week's ITR...

Throughout the years, wrestling's higher-ups have prevented certain controversial stories from being printed. Sure, things have been more relaxed these days, but who's to say others haven't tried in the past?


Check out OO Thursday night for details.

Chicago

Got in last from my trip night, and although it was almost entirely work-related, still did get a chance to tour the city, at least the downtown core of it.

Stayed at The W Hotel (no relation to the website), and it is without a doubt the hippest place I've ever stayed at. You walk into the lobby and think you've stepped into a nightclub. I mean, there's a bar right there out in the open, music, dancing, cool furniture, fancy lighting, you name it. And the whole hotel sticks to that theme. The amenities are incredibly cool and my suite was very trendy. So top marks for the hotel.

Walking around the downtown core, I couldn't believe how friendly people are (must be that Midwest hospitality I've heard so much about). I mean, even in crowded city streets with people asking for change and cops and traffic accidents, people were still ultra-friendly. And the streets were kept remarkably clean. What a contrast to Toronto, which I would still think is pretty tame by the world's urban center standards.

Got to sample the famous Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza at a couple of places, including Giordano's (which was okay, but certainly not worth the 30-minute wait) and Lou Malnati's (which was fantastic). Also got watch both of the Chi Sox games (not at the stadium, but in local bars), which was interesting to see in front of a hometown crowd.

And finally, Millenium Park. One of my work contacts insisted I check this out, and in my last hour or so there, I did. For those who haven't been (I believe its only about 18 months old), it's definitely worth seeing and looks like it would be a blast in the summer. Just a really nice use of space over what used to be train tracks.

Next time, I'm definitely going for more than 48 hours. An awesome city!

Latest ITR

Goldberg?

One of the hottest stories of the past week or so has been WWE's desire to replace Jim Ross as their signature announcer. And as everybody knows, the original plan called for replacing Good Ol' JR with.... Goldberg. The deal might not be done, but the Canadian Bulldog figures there's no reason to wait until Goldberg takes JR's old seat alongside Coach and King: he's got a very special sneak peak at just how Goldberg's RAW debut may sound. Plus, there's lots of Bulldog's other EXCLUSIVE~! news, a ton of feedback from TNA fans about last week's excellent TNA beginners' guide, and lots, lots more in a brand new Inside the Ropes.


ITR

Book Review - The Death of WCW

Ever since it folded, WCW didn't get the type of obituary it deserved. Part of that, I'm sure, was because while it officially died quickly, the WWE purchase of its assets and tease of a "new" WCW kept it on life support for an unnecessarily long time. But still, the promotion never got its just due. ECW has been immortalized through this year's One Night Stand and Hardcore Homecoming shows, while WCW is barely remembered by most.

That's why I found this book so fascinating (and I know the book was release a WHILE ago, just found it here in Toronto for the first time, though). WCW is wrestling's greatest untold story. One of the biggest successes in the business and likewise, one of its biggest failures. I'm not sure if the group deserved a better death, but damned if it didn't deserve a better obituary.

R.D. Reynolds of Wrestlecrap and Bryan Alvarez of Figure 4 Weekly are both tremendous writers and are able to conjure up said obit over the course of the book. If you weren't one of the fortunate/unfortunate ones that watched WCW from its humble beginnings to its untimely demise, this is the book for you.

The authors are often hilarious in their own subtle way, giving tons of information out on attendance, buyrates, television ratings and backstage gossip. Never before has such a complete chronology been put together in one place, showing you what WCW had and what they could have been and most importantly, how they lost it.

A couple of minor criticisms. Unfortunately (for me), I had heard a lot of the stories before, probably through the Internet, the newsletters and just by generally watching the product. As well, it would have been nice to have more "outside" comments from those who were with WCW at the time. They do have some quotes from Bobby Heenan and The Shark, which is good, but to tell a truly balanced story, they needed someone who was in a position of power to say "Wait. The only reason we did that was because....". It didn't have to be Eric Bischoff, either. Surely the authors could have spoken to someone at Turner, Kevin Nash, Terry Taylor, Vince Russo... anyone who could have defended the other side.

Yet these are minor problems. This book is custom-built for wrestling historians, and there days where I think the McMahons may want to buy themselves a copy. I'd definitely recommend it.

Tom Cheek

Just heard that longtime Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek died on Sunday.

To those of you who don't follow the Jays, he was the personable and charismatic radio announcer for much of their run. He broadcast a record 4,306 consecutive games, only taking a break the day after his father passed away a year or so ago. Then came the news last summer of his brain cancer and even though his passing was inevitable, it didn't make the news any less sad.

I will remember COUNTLESS ocassions, listening to his voice in the car, in the backyard, and sometimes I'd just turn the sound down on the television to hear the calls of "Tom and Jerry" (Jerry Howarth) on The Fan.

Rest In Peace, Tom. A true Canadian institution.

No Mercy Recap

So even though I wasn't initially going to even WATCH this PPV, I got called in to duty to pinch hit on OO. Let me know what you think of my first-ever attempt to recap a pay-per-view.

No Mercy

Latest ITR (Sorta)

Total Nonstop Answers

Do you suffer from a nagging sense that there's a wrestling show on TV you don't watch? Are you terrified to even pick up the phone or collect your mail because it might be somebody who wants to talk about NWA-TNA? Do you lie awake in bed at night, worried that somewhere there's a guy named AJ Styles having ***** matches that you're not seeing? Well, then for just three easy installments of ZERO DOLLARS, Canadian Bulldog and Matt Hocking can help you out. They have collaborated to get even the most clueless newbie up to speed in a special ItR:
A Beginner's Guide to NWA-TNA.

ITR

Programming Notes

Tomorrow's column on OO "should be a good one," to quote someone out there. A collaboration between myself and someone else you should all know pretty well, and a bit of departure from the same old, same old.

By the way, what's with all the blogvertisements lately? You know what I mean -- "I just love your blog. Check out my hair loss blog at...." etc. Weird how there's been an increase in that.

Tons of Television

Wow, I don't think I've watched that much television in a long time. Between taping things and a slightly off-kilter television schedule, there was a good four hours of Must See (to me) TV. Which sucks when you have to wake up at 5:30 for work the next morning.

Arrested Development wasn't the show's strongest effort so far. Don't get me wrong, there were a few laugh out loud moments (Tobias' business card, for example, and Super Dave as George Sr.'s surrogate). But a lot of it seemed... I don't know, tamer than usual. Scott Baio was almost too much of a straight man character, while Charlize Theron simply isn't funny. Still, I am HOPING this is not the last episode; that would be a terrible shame.

Raw Homecoming I really enjoyed, with the two main matches (Angle/Michaels and Edge/Hardy) as close to perfect as you're going to get on television. The HHH turn, though more than a tad telegraphed, made for some enjoyable television, and give Flair all the credit in the world: for someone his age, he is doing great in and out of the ring these days.

I would have preferred Austin not stun Linda (it just didn't make a whole lot of sense), but the rest of the segment was watchable enough. It's always great to see guys like Foley and Piper on the mic, and I'm assuming this means Mick is going to SmackDown. The Hogan segment was actually a bit short, but served its purpose.

The other retired guest stars were a nice touch (hey, they found a way to make a Rob Conway segment interesting!) and didn't take away from the show at all. And of course, the thought of a SmackDown-Raw feud is nothing to sneeze at, after three years of keeping the brands pretty much separate (in terms of cross-promotional feuds). I enjoyed the show, overall.

Lastly, caught TNA iMPACT (missed the Saturday airing) and was pretty impressed. The wrestling, obviously, was top notch and since I've last seen the show (back when they were on Wednesday PPV's), the look of the program has greatly improved. Sahadi's videos are tremendous and the crowd looked into the show.

Only a few complaints. First and most importantly, the sound was terrible. The crowd noise got extremely annoying after a while and didn't mix with the announcer/wrestler dialog very well. I'd get someone to work on that ASAP, and it really was a big annoyance. Also, I would seriously consider shifting Don West and Shane Douglas's roles. West would make a fine Mean Gene wannabe, but as a color commentator, he's (still) the pits. Douglas, on the other hand, looks goofy as a backstage interviewer, but would probably take to the heel commentator role.

And I think The Dud...er, Team 3D, needed a better introduction to TNA than they got. Why couldn't AMW have called out "any team in the back" or something? Or just had them cut a promo calling themselves the greatest team in TNA? Then you could have done the Nash-Jarrett confrontation in a separate segment and had TWO big promo segments instead of one.

Yet these are minor things. I really think that if TNA keeps at it, they will start to gain a following...

Cinzia Hart Don't Live Here Anymore

I don't know how this keeps happening, but the names "Cinzia" and "Hart" now bring the most searches of any name to this blog. 102 people have come here looking for Cinzia, and another 102 for Hart.

Just to reiterate: this site has NO information on "Cinzia Hart", Bret Hart's wife, other than the dozen or so times I have explained this far. Of course, putting all of these words in one sentence will just make it easier for search engines to direct people here, but whatever. Again: NO CINZIA HART INFORMATION HERE! SORRY!!!


However, the search engine inquiry that takes the cake: "word undertaker team vs brock lesnar nazi". I have NO idea (a) Why someone would look that particular phrase up and (b) how it led people here, but c'est la vie...

Unofficial ITR Publicist

Stoopid Mad Props to "Gimmick Man" Matt Bishop for apparently getting "BANK ON IT!!!" over on the Fox Detroit morning news. Thanks, and the only thing I ask is that next time, you show a copy of the book as well (Because stupid lousy Borders all of a sudden won't let place copies on THEIR shelves....)

Contest Winner!!!

Congratulations to ITR reader Bill Ladimer of ??? (send me your address, please)for winning the first annual "Cheer Me Up and WIN, WIN, WIN!!!" contest.

I'm waiting to get the okay on this, but Bill composed for me a great Bulldog-esque illustration of "The boys in the back" responding to my book, which was just the sort of belly laugh I needed. A book is on its way to your home, Bill (once I figure out where that is).

And thanks to everyone else who submitted something. Much appreciated!!!

New DVD Review

With Mick Foley slated to return to WWE to embark upon making some All New Memories, it's a perfect time to look back on the earlier chapters of Mick's amazing career. The Canadian Bulldog reviews and rates a full half-dozen home videos, spanning from Mick's earliest matches to his post-retirement Commissioner antics.

Foley Is Great -- The Definitive Guide to Mick Foley on Home Video