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  1. Past hour
  2. They had about 12 brain cells to rub together between them.
  3. Just had a "fight" with Hiccup. He's a big rawboned bastard of a cat, and loves to have a bit of a go. We were worried at first, because he starts huffing and puffing, but apparently that's a sound they make when they're absolutely having the best time.
  4. Week 38 fixtures Premier League Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace Manchester United 2-0 Burnley Newcastle United 2-0 Sheffield United Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Luton Town Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea (20:00) Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Arsenal (Sunday 14:00) German Bundesliga RB Leipzig 0-2 Borussia Dortmund (14:30) Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 Union Berlin (Sunday 14:30) A Primeira Liga Porto 2-0 Sporting (Sunday 20:30) Maltese Premier League Naxxar Lions w/Stinky Dad 1-2 Valletta (Sunday 13:00) All games take place on Saturday and kick off at 15:00 unless stated. Times are listed in BST.
  5. Today
  6. Four and a half minutes of flag shaggers talking absolute shit. The first woman is beyond parody, I thought it was a sketch from Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. One guy bascially references being arrested for saying you’re British. Jesus fucking Christ indeed.
  7. 3am start at the new arena that isn't even in the city centre & is charging ÂŁ9 a pint. I dread to think how much cocaine is gonna be consumed inside. I was planning on going when I thought it might be at the MEN & at a decent hour.
  8. Takes some Russian madness to bump the thread, have a watch of this... https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6FZPwLpWLe/?igsh=aTc4MDUzNXdua3Zj
  9. I hope Odyssey Jones gets drafted again, without having debuted after his last drafting.
  10. Me and Mrs Panhead went to UFC 204 in Manchester and that was the same with the start time. We ended up booking with National Express to get home because the trains didn't start until later. There was a bloke next to us that slept through Gegard Mousasi vs Vitor Belfort, but the arena was absolutely rocking for Bisping vs Henderson. But yeah, I thought they'd drawn a line under that nonsense with UFC 286.
  11. Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior - Wrestlemania 6 As a kid we didn't have Sky and little to none of my mates watched it either. When I was maybe 7 years old the local video rental shop shut down not long after a Blockbuster opener across the road and they sold all their ex rental VHS for 50p each. My Mum let me get a WWF Colisseum Home Video with that match on it. I was never into comic books but that match must have been what fans of those imagine Batman vs Superman to be. It was such an unbelievable spectacle and I was hooked. Sting vs Big Van Vader - WCW unknown Still without Sky my wrestling fandom was restricted to magazines, figures and the occasional VHS picked up at car boot sales. However WCW Worldwide was on ITV Saturday afternoons and it was must watch for me every week. I have vivid memories of a Sting vs Vader match across two rings - to this day I don't know what the event was but the two rings, Sting's colourful attire and Vader with his mask and power were absolutely mesmerising. HHH vs Cactus Jack - Royal Rumble 2000 I fell away from wrestling around 10/11 and football took over. As I went into secondary school I missed the peak years of the monday night wars. I still didn't have Sky and again none of my friends were wrestling fans. Then by chance I sat infront of two lads in maths who were talking about wrestling and the Royal Rumble being shown live on Channel 4 that weekend. I stayed up and it blew my mind. It was worlds apart from how I remembered wrestling to be. The entire show was fantastic with that topping it off for me. I'm still to this day best mates with one of those two lads from maths. Many a fantastic memory of watching wrestling together, going to shows together ranging from FWA to Wrestlemania, our backyard days and he went onto flirt with a real career in wrestling having matches against the now Finn Balor and Jake Roberts amongst others. ECW Living Dangerously 1998 I can't narrow it down to one match but after RR on Channel 4 my interest was sky high again. I was back at the car boots hoovering up every bit of wrestling stuff I could find. I don't remember having ever heard of ECW and when I saw the VHS on a table with barbed wire and New Jack then the names of Al Snow, Taz and The Dudley Boyz on the match listing who I was now familar with from RR and Sunday Night Heat, I gave it a go. I watched the entire PPV absolutely glued to it and ECW immediately became my favourite promotion. Nick Mondo vs Wifebeater - CZW TOD My peaked interest in wrestling coincided with the explosion of the internets availability and popularity. I became aware of the UKFF and an entire new world of wrestling. I checked out CZW which was popular at the time and this show and match in particular blew my mind.
  12. I like to think I’m catching up, but I still don’t know who half those faces belong to.
  13. The Match That Started It All OK, I’ve told this story a dozen times. My mate Simon was into the WWF - trading cards, tapes, Superstars on his Game Boy, a small collection of Hasbros, everything. I didn’t get it, my dad had told me it was fake, and despite my primary interest being cartoons about robots battling for the future of Earth or talking turtles, this meant it was a waste of time watching. Simon handed me a tape from his sisters video shop one day and said “Just watch it” with wisdom beyond his years - we were still in Cubs, for context. The tape was WrestleMania VI. I’ve also recounted how the colours, music, overall presentation etc made me realize early on this was something I was going to enjoy. And by the time Demolition made their entrance, it wasn’t getting switched off before the end. I’ve probably shared that watching the Harts smash the Bolsheviks I decided Bret “Hitman” Hart was the coolest cat alive, and might even have known then that he was going to be my favourite. Ultimately (no pun intended) it’s possible that if the show hadn’t delivered a memorable main event, that it might have been a fun one off viewing that at least stopped me taking the piss out of Simon for watching the fake fighting. Instead, it put an exclamation point on three hours that changed the course of my life* forever. (1) Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior To understand the impact this match had, it's worth pointing out that as a video shop tape, it came in a video shop box so I didn't know what "WrestleMania VI" was going to involve until I pressed play. The opening had Vince McMahon immediately do a voiceover so iconic in my brain that I reckon I can recite it verbatim ; “Upon the examination of the galaxies of space, images begin to appear. Images of strange and powerful forces. But of all the forces in the universe, the two most powerful…. HULK HOGAN….. and THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR…. prepare to explode! Champion vs champion, title for title! It’s the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, it’s WrrrrrestleMANIAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” ... you're going to have to tell me if any of that isn't correct. I was absolutely SHOOK when I saw this ; I knew from all the trading cards and toys etc that "Hulk Hogan" and "Ultimate Warrior" were two of the biggest characters and immediately I learned that they indeed had wrestled each other, and I was going to see it. When Gorilla informed me that the Hulkster was putting his title up against the Intercontinental title, I didn't really know what it meant, but it sounded like each man had a prestigious belt, and just like happened in the boxing, this was going to be for both. Without knowing anything about the WWF, I knew this at least SOUNDED like a big deal. With that powerful intro, midway through the tape there were duelling interviews from the men involved. I say interviews, but really they were monologues. First Mean Gene introduced Hulk Hogan, "the greatest World Wrestling Federation Champion of all time", who gave a typically Hogan promo ; "You know something, Mean Gene? You don't have to remind me and my Hulkamaniacs that at Skydome we're gonna face the Ultimate Challenge, brother. When we crossed the border from the United States of America to Canada, I was hovering over Skydome, brother. I saw what was beneath me, man. I saw the greatest arena of all times, where the Ultimate Challenge will take place and as we landed brother, nothing but stark raving Hulkamaniacs were there to greet me at the airport. Nothing but positive vibes, man. Hulkamania is running wild like it's never ran before! But the Ultimate Warrior, you must realize that when you step into Skydome, when you feel the energy that's gonna run wild throughout the arena, those are my people. That's my energy, brother. And Ultimate Warrior, this is where the power lies, man, and the power of the Hulkster, the largest arms in the world and once I get you down on your knees, Ultimate Warrior, I'm gonna ask you one question, brother. I'm gonna ask you: do you want to live forever? And if your answer is yes, Ultimate Warrior, then breathe your last breath into my body. I can save you. My Hulkamaniacs can save you. We can turn the darkness that you live in into the light! We can save all your little Warriors with the training, the prayers, and the vitamins, but I got to prove one thing to all my little Hulkamaniacs out there, it's not whether you win or whether you lose, the only thing that matters is what kind of winner you are or what kind of loser you are and Ultimate Warrior, I sure hope you're a good loser, brother. Whatcha gonna do at Skydome when the largest arms in the world and Hulkamania destroys you?!!" .... I mean, Jesus Christ. Immediately they cut to Sean Mooney with the Intercontinental champ who scowled "YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A NORMAL!!" before ejecting Sean and going on to growl, without a microphone required in his face ; "Hulk Hogan, I must ask you now as you asked me. Do you, Hulk Hogan, want your ideas, your beliefs to live forever? For Hulk Hogan, in this normal world, physically none of us can live forever. But the places you have taken the Hulkamaniacs, the ideas and beliefs that you have given them can live through me, Hulk Hogan. That is why I breathe. That is why the Warriors have come. Hulk Hogan, there are ones that question where you are taking them. Do you no longer want to walk or step into that darkness? Hulk Hogan, the darkness I speak of is nothing of fear. It is about the beliefs...of accepting any and all challenges at the cost of losing everything, Hulk Hogan. You have lived, Hulk Hogan, for the last five WrestleManias for this one belief. Now, Hulk Hogan, I come to take what you believe in further then you ever could. I come, Hulk Hogan, not to destroy the Hulkamaniacs and Hulkamania. I come, Hulk Hogan, to bring the Warriors and Hulkamaniacs together as one as we, Hulk Hogan, accept all the challenges with all the strengths of the Warriors and the Hulkamaniacs together. Hulk Hogan, the colors of the Hulkamaniacs are coming through the pores of my skin...and Hulk Hogan, when we meet, Hulk Hogan, I will look at you and you will realize then that I have come to do no one no harm, but only, Hulk Hogan, to take what we both believe in to places it shall never have been!" ... I mean, I nearly misinterpreted Warrior as a villain here, such was his treatment of the inoffensive Mooney and shouty scariness. But his words sounded like he wanted to create a new and better world for both his followers AND the Hulkamaniacs if one of them was going to fall (and clearly he was suggesting Hogan was going to fall) so.. maybe not? But... fuck. The tape cut to The Rockers making their entrance but... Jesus wept, I doubt I thought about much more than the main event collision for the next ten minutes or more. You know that South Park where they do the wrestling pastiche and it's all about the orphan lost in the woods or whatever, nothing to do with matches, and people are saying "This is the best wrestling I've ever seen?" It's the truth! Here were these two massive blokes telling me their story and we were still quite a few minutes away from the actual match coming on. When the match itself came, I was off the charts excited. Presentation was amazing. Both wrestlers entering on their own power without using the little carts immediately them both seem a bigger deal than everyone that had come before. 65,000 Canucks making noise and waving giant cardboard Warriors, Hogans or waving banners, the way Fink boomed "the Intercontinental Champion" and then "the WORLD Wrestling Federation Champion" made me feel both prizes were worth fighting for. The call was fantastic right from the start with Monsoon pointing out the Warrior running to the ring, Jesse Ventura convinced that was a mistake and that the wise experienced head of The Hulk took his time. That would continue throughout, with both debating experience for Hogan vs youth for Warrior, comparing the use of weardown holds by each (a chinlock by Hogan, a bear hug by Warrior). The action would be considered basic by today's standards but for two blokes never lauded for "storytelling..." this match told you a story. They used the test of strength, which in most matches ever I think of as a colossal waste of time, but here it looked like a genuine tussle. The two men traded big bombs and fought for who was stronger and who could wear the other down. There are multiple things in this match which were intensely dramatic for me, as my first main event, that I'd never quite see the same again. The ref bump was completely unexpected and I didn't have a clue what was going to happen without a ref. Hogan did a reasonably short leg injury bit, and again I was on the edge of my seat. Hogan's elbowdrops looked like they'd kill you, a belly to back suplex from him looked as impressive as the moves that ended several of the other matches on the tape, Warrior's double axe-handle off the top was sold by Hogan like they were lethal. I'd later come to learn that a Hulk Hogan match would tend to follow a formula, but this was a true back and forth. The foreshadowing shot of Hogan on the floor clinging onto Warrior's foot as Jim just stands there breathing in the adulation from his fans was incredible, and when he pressed Hogan over his head I lost my mind. The last minute of the match is a treat, even without knowing (as I didn't) how Hogan's finishing sequence usually goes down. I was exhausted and bewildered when Warrior won, and as long as the celebrations and fireworks and closing shots of Hogan going down the aisle in the little cart seemed to last, I simply didn't want it to end. I just didn't want "WrestleMania" to be over and have to go back to reality. I suppose, in a way, I never did! Between intro, interviews and match itself it played out more like a movie than a wrestling match. Does it hold up today? Probably not. But it's remained one of my favourite matches, even long after I discovered indies, Puro, "workrate" and a bunch of other stuff that doesn't matter compared to telling a simple story like Hogan and Warrior did. * This is not an exaggeration. Wrestling directed me to travel and to friendships, one of which moved me from the Midlands to the North West and led me to a particular job offer, and it’s at that job I met the woman I’m marrying in a few weeks time.
  14. Some of the draft rules have been announced. Accompanied by full roster shots. I draw your attention to Paul Ellering looking like he’s about to murder your entire family.
  15. Q Acoustics are fantastic, I put a 5.1 system together with them at Christmas and I’m so happy with the sound quality. Listening to music on the main 5040s is great and the smaller 3010s make great satellites as well as decent bookshelf speakers for music.
  16. The results went into the original post on Sunday night, then a very significant table update soon followed. Defending champion MVP RULZ has taken the lead, having not even looked in contention for much of the campaign, but he seems to have come into form at just the right time. Two of his nearest challengers are within three points, with Stinky in fourth still having his second D2D turn to come, so it could be a very close title race. At the other end, Chutney Spoon remains adrift by 30, but top scorer Vegeta moves clear of the bottom two. If he can repeat that performance in the FPL Cup final in a couple of weeks, he'd at the very least deny the new leader The Double. He also got the only bonuses of the round, with the randomly selected 'wildcard' fixture ending up as match #9 at the Mestalla. Nobody else went for a Betis away win, whereas he managed to guess the scoreline spot on. Elsewhere, victories for Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Rangers and a controversial five-goal thriller in El Clásico all proved fruitful, but the huge margins of victory for Brentford and Burnley meant they were good for one-pointers at best. The 'points deduction derby' at Goodison Park turned out a mixed bag of picks, whilst the incredible comeback by Cov that took their tie to penalties sadly, for the purposes of this competition, meant it was a dud outcome. Right, the next card – including the last D2D of the season – should go live at the top of the thread in a jiffy.
  17. Is the 5th WCCW Parade of Champions available in full?
  18. EDIT - (For the benefit of Chest, John Barnes was a footballer who did a rap in a shit song and this is a play on words)
  19. These are amazing. Get them in my local Yank food shop. Great with a sandwich.
  20. Nathan Jones was great. Awful, obviously, but great. Had the look and had a weird sort of charisma to him. I'm not convinced that they couldn't have worked around his shortcomings and still had something if he'd have stuck around. Although he probably wasn't worth the bother. There's a (better) universe out there where he's a special appearance megastar.
  21. Big fan of Swerve going full Father-Ted-wins-the-golden-cleric. And now, onto the liars…
  22. Shamelessly C&P, "Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling's Revival" Then in 2008, Hollywood movie star turned WWE scriptwriter Freddie Prinze Jr. sat the former FWA and All-England Champion down at a SmackDown TV taping, and gave him some life-changing news. "They were going to put me in a big storyline with The Undertaker. I was going to lead a gang of X-Men style mutants. Every week, I would send one of these guys after The Undertaker. After he had beaten them all, he would eventually face me at WrestleMania 25. It was f****** incredible. Freddie was really excited about the idea, he'd cleared it with Stephanie McMahon and she loved it." On December 13th 2008, Hade made his debut on SmackDown, cutting a shadowy, sinister and cerebral speech. It was supposedly the first of many to set up his mega-money feud with the legendary Dead Man, one of the biggest superstars in American Wrestling of the past 20 years. As far as I [writer Greg Lambert] was concerned, my old buddy performed extremely well for a debutant, showing all the verbal confidence and charisma I'd always known he possessed in abundance. But then? "Then they told me they were putting the storyline on hold. I went home for Christmas, and within a week I had been let go. They fired me." Hade's is the most frustrating story, and a perfect example of the fickle and unforgiving nature of the wrestling business and especially its market leader, the global beast that is World Wrestling Entertainment. He left British Wrestling and seemed to have it made in American Wrestling. But in the end, American Wrestling chewed him up and spat him out. Vansen was always a survivor though, with a "que sera sera" attitude to life which served him well after this heartbreaking rejection. "Nobody ever gave me a reason why I'd been released, but there is one story that keeps doing the rounds, and I don't know if this is true or not, and that is Vince McMahon saw me backstage and thought I was way too small to be hanging with The Undertaker. But I wasn't devastated. When Freddie first told me about The Undertaker feud, although half of me had fireworks going off inside, the other half thought: 'Hang on a minute, this is too good to be true, you're not at WrestleMania yet, boy!' So when they said they had nothing for me, I decided to shrug my shoulders, have a cup of tea, and move on." Shawn Michaels ended up taking Hade's spot as Taker's Mania opponent, not a bad substitute at all. Meanwhile the South City Thriller quit wrestling altogether and went to seek his fortune in sunny Los Angeles, the ideal home for his Hollywood looks. The real-life Hadrian Howard still lives in LA and has no intention of coming home, or returning to the squared circle, any time soon. "I'd been wrestling for ten years and kind of gone as far as I wanted to go. I didn't want to work on the American independent circuit and wait for WWE to come along, pat me on the head and give me another go. So I thought I would be my own boss. I've done some acting in commercials, small film roles and appeared on Days of Our Lives, and I run a head-shot photography business as a sideline. I have my own flat in LA, I'm 20 minutes from the beach, the sun is always shining and you can't beat the women in California. I'm living the American Dream!"
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