A Call for Podcast Guests and Honorable Ninety-Minute (or 97 min) Film Discoveries of 2020

 *Blog post started on December 28, 2020.

Find out about eight fun sub 97-minute movies at Main Event of the Dead.com and determine if this thought process can be translated into a B-movie comedy about pro-wrestling 

With the pandemic, there is no excuse for anyone to not have watched more films than any other year. My output for NinetyForChill.com was nearly doubled. So my promise of a best and worst list from last year can be fulfilled. The only problem that I have discovered with this is, because so many of the reviews are from my 2009/2010 notebooks, I cannot do a ranked "worst of" list. Believe me, that list will/would comprise of some of the worst features I have EVER seen. That list will/would (The best of will just get out by the end of the year) suffer because the decade between writing the reviews and transcribing them to the blog, the visuals may have slipped my mind despite the pain being quite prevalent.

I guess that means I am just doing better when it comes to picking flicks that will take away from my video game time. On the flip side, since I am enjoying "Cyberpunk 2077" on the PlayStation 4, maybe my cerebral taste buds have just been worn down. There is a sense that "Dr. Chopper" was better than a few of the 10-year old reviews from the past like "Skeleton Crew", "Moscow Chill", and "9 Dead". Those films had some budget when compared to the Costas Mandylor shot on VHS product, so I might have just been to mean to them.

Turning 30 was tough. At least I turned 40 in 2020. Everybody is suffering, so it is not all about the world not giving a shit about me. Anyway, revisiting bad movies just to say how much more awful they are to other wretched films would not be a good way to end this year.

As for how the year has worn on me, I think the body is holding up pretty well. The worst thing about last week was my vessel needed to recover from going back to heavy meals and booze as a reaction to my physical being cancelled (I am going to OSF to work on my body, not my brain, so talk should be cheap especially with Zoom waiving the 40-minute video rule. A copay is not worth a video conference). Trying to avoid a 2 a.m. Christmas morning political argument with my mom was a challenge, but manageable.

My only challenge beyond that is trying to find a PS5 to charge to my folks as per their instructions before Christmas. Receiving a check from them to spend as I feel is sending miss messages. If it turns out that I am double-dipping (like I succeeded to do to the "Wrestling Compadres Slamcast"...have they gotten over being WWE apologists yet?), that check the government is sending is meant to stimulate the economy instead of rescueing the poor. I would be doing my patriotic duty to buy a PlayStation with it. Or do true Yanks buy Xbox?

When it comes to new challenges, there is no reason that I cannot follow through on the resolution of starting my own podcast, at this time for NinetyForChill.com. My primary idea is to have a guest per episode bring a sub-100-minute feature to talk about and I brink one as well. This is going to be a brief one, so I suppose they should be similarly themed feature to get it in at under 97 minutes. If you are looking to have your voice be heard, drop me a line at russthebus07@gmail.com and we will roll from there.

And now I can be like everyone else and have a reason to be on Zoom. It is good to feel like you belong. Sadly, the movie selection for the best under 100-minute flicks this year will force out a lot of the lower budget fair. These honorable mentions are fine pieces of art, but I hate to say it: You are going to overlook acrylic painting when you see the artist move on to oil.

 

Read the rest of this blog and other stories at Main Event of the Dead.com and determine if this thought process can be translated into a B-movie comedy about pro-wrestling 

Religious and Technological Head Trips: "Angel Heart" and "eXistenZ"

*Blog post started on December 21, 2020.

Regarded as a horror classic by some, this is a mess of a picture, but to see how they sweep it up is worth a view. Brooklyn PI Harold Angel is hired by the aloof and religious Louis Cyphre to find a crooner who skipped out on his fame and fortune arrangement just before WWII. Every time Angel gets a clue, a brutal off camera murder follows. Why he would introduce a 17 year-old Voodoo priestess to it is barely comprehend-able, especially with “Fight Club” parallels.

 Check out the visceral movie review for "Angel Heart" by visiting MainEventoftheDead.com.

From 13 days of work in a row to three days off this week (including Sunday), I am still trying to get my bearings. Eva The Queen Kitty is looking after me, which is the reason I give for why people say she has a resting bitch face, so that leads me to think I am an emotional wreck. If anything, I feel like I am on Zoloft. There are no worries, but no motivation. Perhaps a trip to my folks on Christmas Eve will get me excited. COVID had already ravaged the residence, so it should be safe.

...

I have just inspired myself to write a "Funny or Die" replacing Tyler Durden and the Narrator with the protagonists from "The Karate Kid". An improv team is what I need to sell my subtle art of talking too much.

I guess it is now obvious that I am just spending too much time in my head. This is the reason for revisiting "Angel Heart", a flick I watched during the best times of 2004. My brain was a wreck then, and it seemed to work out fine. The dilemma for Sunday became trying to find a Redbox movie that was not a cheap psychological drama or horror. Ironically, when I was going through my unwatched iTunes, David Cronenberg's "eXistenZ" was among them. It just means that I trust those ideas when it comes from Canada's Master of Horror.

 

eXistenZ (1999, 1:37)

Check out the rest of review at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

A Need for Chaos, How MMA Lead to...Dive, and Benoit Pro Wrestling.

*Blog post started on December 17, 2020.

I guess life is just boring. It could be doing my best to follow social distancing protocols. It could be me needing to lay off the booze to show my PA that I have been trying to be healthier. When I have been on my own for the past month, how else am I expected to create any excitement?

The lack of opportunities to socialize has been driving me mad. My latest tattoo ideas have been the cheery ode to Wax Trax Records's best German signee, KMFDM (Kittens Make For Deadly Minions) and one that will state "Fuck Serenity". It is not an anti-Whedon (I suppose that would be warrant the "FYR" idea idea I have been working on) just an expression of displeasure that my best friend's grave has the "Serenity Prayer" on a cross that was placed there.

This may stem from me not being religious anymore and the belief she was not faith dependent either. Perhaps she became that way after she tried to fight her demons, but she ended up succumbing to them anyhow. Where was the fucking power then you cloud-riding asshole?

What can be said is that I am longing for tangible chaos. My cats can only cause so much trouble. Some hairballs and a few spilled drinks is all I am getting. 409 makes those challenges too easy for me. The moment I became calm when I was trying to make sure my friend was safe was the moment when her illness took her. If there is nothing for me to fight for, what is the point of living? How long can one remain content?

I suppose that is not the perspective of a grown up. My only responsibilities are my cats and my bills. Grown ups have kids that they need to see to adulthood so that they may receive grandchildren to spoil. The point is, you are always working for something when you are a parent, so you shall not find many moments when there is not a fight. As someone focusing of creative and social goals, not being able to pursue any sucks.

Do I envy those who have surrendered their freedom to the young? I envy the tangible relationships with partners, but their path, no. Parenthood is something I think you must want. It is an easier path to immortality, but I know enough bastards who would like their kids to not know about their previous generation.

If we think about the memory element of existence, those without kids are trying to obtain memory on a grander scale. Or at least they better be. Then again, I suppose being the town drunk could make one known for a couple of generations beyond them. It might be why my family has never truly supported me in my wrestling exploits. That lacks something tangible for them as the most they got from it was me being mentioned in "Wrestle America" magazine.

Or they saw a few matches of mine in Peoria, and realized that I had not been trained by Norman "Apocolypse" Callaway to be memorable. I was his website designer, so he thought it was privilege for me to be allowed in the ring. He does not need to look cool and he is a mark for pursuing a career in the business anyhow. Learning anything memorable from him would be impossible and would also question why he was at the top of the card regardless if he had the pen. I could get personal with his life's decisions when I knew him, but I do not know the man now to see if it worked out.

Olivia Galindo @oliviagalindo·Pinterest

The top of the card is where the story is at, and that is why Next Generation Wrestling (and later Midwest Impact Pro) was not very memorable. Peoria could not come up with the original story lines to warrant long drawn out matches. If you came back, it was because of those on the undercard who questionably sold and relied on ...dive.

Why does the "Quit Diving!" argument come up in quadrennial cycles? Randy Orton seems to have mellowed out since 2016. Perhaps it was the MMA elbows from Brock Lesnar knocking the saltiness out of him. Lesnar seems to love to work with the flippy guys more than heavyweights. If Jon Moxley offered some more small guy offense, Brock may have gotten excited to work him at WrestleMania 32.

I did not want the Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling blog to become an AEW fan site (Unless the Impact and NWA involvement requires the DRCW sanctioning body to replace all these extra belts), but with AEW being the only indie style out there (Sorry Ring of Honor. You might want to start dropping ads during local news broadcasts on Sinclair.) that is always fresh (Crowd-free wrestling cannot be aired, look at the pre-Thunderdome ratings.). Because all the best indie talent is showing up there, you have to expect...dive and selling without embellishment. With that being established, can Jim Ross really be complaining about this style not being his kind of realistic?

With divisive electoral politics being pushed out the locker room, maybe Jim Ross needs to have something for the boys to get frustrated with. All of Orton's ...dive talk was before Trump's presidency.

Is AEW's style really realistic? I would say yes on most levels. The main events tend to be long drawn out wars. Every move counts so much more, so you do not see as many HIGH spots when compared to the undercard. Main event implies the best are competing, so they should also be the wisest. If everyone is wrestling the same style, their wisdom allows them to work around the flashy moves. Their challengers best be aware of that and save the big spots. Kenny Omega is a little too happy with his V-Trigger, but otherwise, a finisher is a finisher.

You know Kenny Omega is not going to win with one V-Trigger. He is going to win with the One-Winged Angel. Paul Heyman said it best on the Stone Cold Podcast. If you do not see some one kick out of a sparingly used move, the move is more valuable. All AEW has been doing is changing what moves are important. Jake Roberts is still working there despite the overuse of the DDT. If he starts bitching about its lack of effectiveness, then I arguing against it not being a finisher may be valid. Anyhow, no one hits a DDT like The Snake (or Raven).

Stay out of Eddie Kingston's ring JR.

Until you realize who the main eventers are and are not, then you realize where the flippy shit can occur. You should be expecting inexperienced performers in ANY sport to be trying to do too much. That is what make the sport exciting. There are a lot of moves that you do not want children hitting each other with, but it TV-14 so if your kid nails another kid with a Canadian Destroyer, kudos for his ability to shoot spike a child like that, but the fault falls upon you.

With that said about the Destroyer, it is an unrealistic move, so kicking out of that is acceptable on those grounds. But back to the concept of realism, as long as the team has one move which is more brutal than their others and it gets the win, is that not what the sport's structure was founded on?

Because of this, if you win the match after a dive to the floor, that would be bullshit. Thankfully, I have yet to see that happen. So why are we complaining Jim? Is it because we need that voice of dissent and Cornette is persona-non-grada?

Wrestling is spectacle on television. The dive into 13 people is spectacular. A few more punches thrown while the crowd coils up, bitching about realism can be made redundant.

My final argument for the current style is my fledgling love of mixed martial arts. When I spell out MMA, I realize my love may have been for No Holds Barred (which pro-wrestling needs to realize NHB does mean weapons should be barred). Once I started training as a pro-wrestler, my time to devote watching that sport was greatly diminished. That did not really matter because it was nothing like the sport I had grown up with.

Until UFC 4, Gracie vs. Severns, matches did not go longer than five minutes (at least fights that were aired). That is because real fights do not last longer than that. If you cannot game plan an opponent, you throw whatever you have at them and hope something sticks. The counter argument is that you can plan for any opponent with the internet, but every match on the card cannot be a methodical, slow-paced fight. Wrestling can guarantee that. MMA cannot.

Once the sport became about cross-training and considering judges' opinions, the sport lost its charm to me. Styles make fights. That is the same in professional wrestling. How is the super heavyweight going to catch the high flyer? How is Bret Hart going to get Yokozuna to tap out to the Scorpion Deathlock? Which is better: Flips or Fists?

I loved to watch Pride and Dream because of the showmanship and the undercards were going to offer you something totally different than the main event. If everyone is practicing the same style, every fight can end up being the same. In MMA, you cannot throw a different top rope move into each match to place a stamp on it.

In the end, it all comes down to the booker. If they place too many similar bouts together, you have a right to be upset and to change the channel (or unsubscribe to their streaming service). AEW has been able to avoid that with the exception of "Dark", but that is more of an issue of the large volume of similar matches. Right now, the state of Wednesday Night Wrestling is good. I would say thanks for the warning Mr. Ross of where wrestling can end up, but I think you are just nostalgic for the style you broke in with.

It is not necessarily nostalgia for a style. I think it might be a yearning to see the legendary matches again. Those are not going to happen. Let Steve Williams defeating Big Bubba Rogers be its own thing and do not expect performers 35 years removed from that try and replace it.

With that said, has anyone tried starting a promotion where the classic matches are recreated move for move? I think it may encourage newer fans who do not want to spend $9.99 to support a company otherwise funded by Saudi blood money (As a Newcastle United fan, it feels good that I am not a hypocrite with that statement.) might want to look back into the history of the sport if there was an event like that. They can find new performers to be inspired by...

Until they learn about the cancel culture moments. That does not stop me from proposing Benoit Pro Wrestling.

AAW: Art, Wisdom and Other Things Randy Doesn't Understand

*Blog originally posted to MainEventOfTheDead.com in Sept/Oct 2016.

I think it is difficult to argue the statement that All American Wrestling provides Chicago with the best wrestling. It does not have the perceived outlaw persona of Freelance Wrestling or Resistance Pro, and that is because it does not need it. You buy a ticket, and you are rewarded with the best wrestling showcase the region has to offer.

AAW currently seems to have an over abundance of riches. It may sound foolish to say there is a downside to showing off the best, but the promotion seems to lack identity. The best wrestlers will inevitably get signed to exclusive deals. When that happens, the most talented members of the undercard should be expected to step up to fill the vacant roles. Unless you can just find main eventers from other territories which is what the promotion that developed Tyler Black is ironically doing.

AAW feels like a YouTube Wormhole that you can check out in person, instead of a team you come to cheer on. As pro-wrestling’s premier Cubs fan, I loved cheering on the team for 36 years as they developed into world champions. There were times that I wished ownership would just buy a title, but if that occurred, I would then be bitching about any time they did not win a title. That would make me a Yankee fan who is not from the five boroughs. To those fans, they are not your team.

Who can stand someone who does not think you need to work to win? As a jaded Gen-Xer, that may come across as a implied question about the younger generation, but the wrestling audience right now is millennials. AAW seems to have their fingers on the pulse of the audience, and the dollar makes anything tolerable.

Art is either a luxury or a gamble, and taste determines what you want. I am always trying to create, and the money I spent on failing to produce my motion picture “Main Event of the Dead (I am willing to send out treatments of the zom-com pro-wrestling screenplay. Send me an email at russthebus07@gmail.com)” shows that I like to gamble. This may leave me predisposed to be frustrated at the lack of AAW creative direction. But, the less work you put into make money, the wiser you are. So perhaps you can argue that RPW and FLW may provide better wrestling, but Danny Daniels and AAW demonstrate the wisest wrestling.

The Card:

Paco defeated Connor Braxton.

Jake Crist picks up the win from Myron Reed, Laredo Kid and Joey Janella. With all of the dives, did the AAW faithful catch all at least four Ace Crushers.

Trevor Lee steals one from Colt Cabana. I feel when you face Cabana, you should not focus on your own comedy style. Lee should have been bringing out his X-Division stuff for his opponent to work against. That brings out the best in Cabana.

Davey Vega & Alex Daniels score the fall against Detective Dan Barry & Lt. Bill Carr, and Trey Miguel & Stephen Wolf. This is where the show started to feel redundant. The crowd may have been thinking the same since “…Dive” was the only chant they brought to this match.

Keith Lee earns the hard fought win over Donovan Dijak. This match completed the Rip Roger’s Indy Equation. If “Both These Guys” and “Fight Forever” were not shouted in the first four match were expressed here. It is just proof that AAW’s booking is superb. Lee vs. Dijak was 20 minutes of showing how bumps are overrated. I need to rewatch Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn. Did Dijak have to suffer so many chops to get away from flat backs?

Michael Elgin teaches Former World Champion FKA Jack Swagger what the indies are all about. This match shows why all Indie shows need an intermission. Elgin is awesome which makes up for Swagger being behind the Indy curve. Better placement of the bout could have hid this better from the audience. If Swagger goes to NJPW and catches up with the style, WWE will regret how they let a wrestler with a football player structure leave the company.

AR Fox and Rey Fenix retain the AAW Tag Team Championship from Lio Rush and Shane Strickland’s challenge. I think this could have been the main event instead of another one of Sami Callahan’s brawls. If I was able to get away from the hospitality business more often, I might see that Callahan fighting a challenger all over the venue is not the only main event AAW has to offer.

This was Rush’s debut, so I understand his team not getting the win, but I am getting worn out seeing how the luchadors from Lucha Underground will not take falls. Bringing in a gearless Juventud Guerrera to do the favor for the holder of the “Bestest in the World” does not shake this vibe. But the money that Penta and Fenix bring to the promotion may be why every AAW show is otherwise loaded. I do not think I can win an argument of wisdom versus art.

 

"War, Inc." - Hitmen, Capitalism, and Comedy

*Movie review written in 2009.

 

 Aside from documentaries, Hollywood has never been in the mood to have capitalism bashed. Clive Owen's "The International" bombed. David Fincher's "Fight Club" was more about exploring anarchy with nihilism, narcissism and other psychosis of Chuck Palahniuk, so the concept of capitalism ruining everything outside of one self is abandoned.

One would think that comedy with a proven, cynical yet charming lead in John Cusack may lighten the mood when it comes to denouncing the foul nature of finance. Dumb the Iraqi invasion drama down a bit, and maybe you will come out with cinematic gold. The "War, Inc." $580,000 gross shows how Hollywood does not want to get that liberal.

Check out the movie review for "War, Inc." by visiting MainEventoftheDead.com.

Rose🌹 Irisch ☘️ - Pinterest

 

A Very Merry James Woods Weekend: "Vampires" and "Videodrome"

 *Blog post started on December 14, 2020.

  

Check out the visceral movie review for "John Carpenter's Vampires" by visiting MainEventoftheDead.com.

I suppose I am stretching out the weekend technically. This was probably watched on Wednesday, but I am in the midst of a 13-day stretch between both jobs, so time is kind of lost on me. "John Carpenter's Vampires" is almost an appropriate place to start as I am trying to use meal replacement shakes for 50% of my meals (I skip breakfast, unless I wake up before the alarm. Wendy's is killing it.). Sucking the blood out of someone felt like a reasonable means of recovering from the lack of sleep that "Cyberpunk 2077" led to.

...

If wanting to drain the employee who left with two opening to closing shifts is the only drama I have right now, things are pretty good. There was some hesitation about reviewing two James Woods movies because of the conservative moron he has become (I wanted to see the Democratic Party be destroyed after the Clinton impeachment trial, but I was an 18 year-old Mortonite. With experience, I learned who the bad guys truly are.), but everyone knows that the works of great directors should take precedence over the whom the producer believes will put butts in seats. Maybe this double-feature will let me get over my reservations and buy the Hades from "Hercules" Funko Pop. You cannot have Zeus without the douche.

And that reminds me, we need to bust our asses to get Tiny Lister into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. We must influence WWE programming some how. The WWE video arena must be conquered. Death to the McMahon family's Videodrome. Long with the new flesh.

Videodrome (1983)

Check out the rest of review at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

FMK: "The Velocipastor", "It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To", "Main Event of the Dead".

 *Blog post started on December 10, 2020. "It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To" review is from 2009.

 

 "The Velocipastor" is a film so set on being a B-movie, you admire its audacity to do so. It is a fun 70 minutes about a priest cursed by a Chinese dinosaur "tooth" who, a long with Carol the pre-med, pre-law hooker, takes on the challenge of Catholic drug-dealing ninjas.

 

"It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To": The Catalyst for "Main Event of the Dead".

I suppose some credit should go to Christopher R. Mihm's "It Came from Another World" and of course the Drunken Zombie Deadly Double Features where I saw these films. The point is, when you see a bunch of amusing pictures that were made by a bunch of friends gathering together to make a thing, regardless of how nonexistent a budget was, why would you not think that you could do the same. Thus, I went from writing an indie flick about blueprints for my in ring wrestling return to what I thought would be an ode to the fledgling Peoria's wrestling scene.

This idea was over at Richard's on Main St. (i.e. the middle aged). Too bad the Pekin kids and Southside stoners never went out to the bars. Social media was also something that was not a big draw for these types in the early 20-teens. The Facebook traffic picked up, but the people you wanted to immortalize would only respond to me if I was calling them out for being racist assholes or self absorbed and ignorant wrestlers (To be fair, you can accuse me of being self absorbed, but I have never gone out to ruin anyone's life or make them feel less for that.).

Needless to say, I do not think the word had ever gotten to them that there was a chance to be covered in pasty makeup and Karo Syrup. More importantly, their in ring skills were to be documented and viewed by lesser film festivals and top level indie wrestling promotions. How can you say no to promoting yourself?

That sums up the Peoria wrestling scene. It is all about friends doing favors for other friends. Who needs merit and effort when you just have to score some boys some weed, make the high ones chuckle, or just kiss ass to the biggest and most obnoxious marks? As long as you are not looking for a pay day or show ambition to make a name for yourself, you are in.

So where does my pro-wrestling zom-com stand. I am still offering treatments of the script and looking for suggestions on how to get "Main Event of the Dead" out of development hell. (email russthebus07@gmail.com). The pandemic is also hurting the project because I have no way of improving my skills or finding people who would want to get involved with this feature. Of course 2020 was the year I wanted to get away from the keyboard and find those like-minded people.

It is coming up on 10 years of trying to live and die by this script. If you want me to have a New Year's Resolution, I suppose I will get my pilot script out for an idea that has been rattling in my brain the past four years. Too bad I feel gratuitous nudity is needed. That idea prevents YouTube from allowing me those producer and director credits I have been craving.

If you do not have a budget, bare skin can make up for those shortcomings. Too bad I do not know how to add zombies into the pilot idea. It leaves me short of presenting a classic like:

"It's My Party and I'll If I Want To" (2007): The Review

Tom Savini's hard nipples, a comic book opening with an eight-bit motif, a budget that was seemingly solely spent on scary contact lenses, and an Elvira costume-sporting, ginger karate expert with stunt tits are what Scotchworthy Productions delivers with their Halloween-themed clusterfest, "It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To."

Sarah, a switchblade-wielding over achiever is down because it seems that all of her friends have forgotten her birthday. This is not the case because they are planning a wicked party for her at the abandoned Burkitt Manor. The mansion is infamous for the 15 murders that occurred there over the past 70 years. Little do they know that after Uncle Tom (Savini) turned the power on to the joint, evil has awoken.

"It's My Party..." story eventually gets all jumbled and, aside from the survivalism element, makes no sense once the action kicks in. Fortunately, there is plenty of gore to make all of the violence worthwhile.

Everything that Tony Wash's film has is over the top which is essential for an awesome B-Movie. Character generalizations, gratuitous nudity, and attempts to be clever: This picture knows what is is and wants to excel at.

Having not seen "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", this maybe the best no budget flick to have played Peoria (At least until "The Drunken Zombie International Film Festival" brought us the Soska Sisters' debut feature "Dead Hooker in a Trunk"). As long as you can deal with the low body count, "It's My Party and I'll Die if I Want To" has something for every fan of B-Movie horror. Rarely, do all the bloody pieces fit so well.

 

19 Awful(ly Funny) Horror Movie Titles - Buzzfeed

 

FMK: COVID-19, "American Ninja" Sequels, "Star Wars" Prequels.

*Blog post started on December 8, 2020.

A Text from Mom:

Dan Gable just got the Medal of Freedom from Trump. Neat

My Desired Response:

Well, he (Gable) got all the cartilage removed from his knees before he was 30, so great post career decisions can be questioned. You can say, "That was what the doctors recommended at the time." I will retort that you are demonizing Anthony Fauci for contradicting Trump because he would change his recommendations with further scientific knowledge.

James Gunn's "Slither" - A Cronenbergian Successor to "Gremlins"

At least she has yet to go off about the experimental Trump miracle cure that Dad and her received. I do not think she will acknowledge that this treatment may have possibly been what caused her husband's recent pulmonary embolism. When I spoke with Mom the day it occurred and after he had settled in and the emergency had passed, she told me that he said the hospital food was good.

...

After that kind of emergency, it is good to just rant a little. When my dad had a heart attack about 20 years ago, I panicked when I was awoken to meet them at the hospital, but as I drove over, my mind was coming up with snide remarks to kid around with. Of course I arrived first (I still think hearing that I drove like I was in Chicago as a complement during my time as a hotel shuttle driver.), so when Dad was carted in, I told Mom I needed a Coke. Dad is pretty appreciative of my humor, so he gave me a labored chuckle about me saying "If (some politician we despised or famous athlete) could beat this, you'll be fine."

Read the rest of this blog and other stories at Main Event of the Dead.com and determine if this thought process can be translated into a B-movie comedy about pro-wrestling 

"Me and My Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse" - A Mostly Positive "Oi, Oi, Oi"

SuperClash or the Invasion: Fear of Impact Wrestling. Fear of Becoming an AEW Blog.

*Blog post started on December 3, 2020.

I like to use the "Rule of Three" when it comes to titling blog posts. Perhaps that is just a need to feel clever. It is also a lifesaver when the posts are more observational instead of critical. Throw a "Fuck, Marry, Kill" implication about the topics, and it presents the illusion that everything will make sense.

I think having some really oddball to throw into a title as a means to spur interest. When the default is "Fear of Impact Wrestling and Becoming an AEW Blog", it is not going to encourage any of my non-wrestling-fan readers to check it out. What else do I fear right now? My parents' fate when it comes to COVID? That seems a little too soon to take a comedic spin on.

It sounds like they are doing fine. They are still driving my once infected sister to her job at the hospital. I feel like everything will work out for the best. But without any certainty of how things will turn out, making jokes is tough. The best effort came from my little brother's response to mom's recent positive test with how we will be avoiding "Rona House". My poetic brain replied to the message with the alliterative "Call it COVID Casa", but then the Patrick Swayze/"Family Guy" reference to the 1989 classic was apparent. Or at least I hope it was.

Humor is something that I must always have at my side. It is tough for me to be immediately humorous when coming off a significant day in pro-wrestling. Things were so much easier when it came to wit and grappling. My time as heel commentator in Peoria Wrestling when my wrist was broken or when I had to write articles for Next Generation Wrestling's website about their knock off WWE storylines. With the latter, wit was needed to make sure that we were not appearing to be a sample of WWE light. Thanks Paul Heyman and Joey Styles for showing me how to be hip.

All Elite is not my product, so unless there is crap wrestling, I cannot make jokes. That is a statement to the brilliance of the product. The only joke that has been made about the product is, "has anyone filled out a missing person's report for the AEW Women's Division". Is it really a valid comment when they have the top female performer in the Western Hemisphere and perhaps Japan?

 

The Current Undisputed Disgruntled Real Championship Wrestling Champions:

For those who claim "Championship Wrestling Champion" is redundant, remember that WCW and ECW would have to write it out the same way. Now I realize that Xtreme Professional Wrestling did one think wiser than Paul Heyman.

47th and Current DRCW Real Women's World Champion:

All Elite Wrestling Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida

(Reign began on October 25, 2020 from Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley)

 

I have a feeling the Sasha Banks will become the champion soon. With a character like Abadon as Shida's next challenger, a clean title defense would ruin her challenger. If Abadon fails to look strong, Banks is going to need a long reign to take the Real World Championship.

48th and Current DRCW Modern Poser Champion:

WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (2)

(Reign began on August 30, 2020 from Bray "The Fiend" Wyatt)

Nick Aldis's 700+ day reign as NWA World Champion and Drew McIntyre's indie credentials keep the Universal Championship from becoming a possible title for the best male performer in wrestling. Good on WWE for trying by always having the WWE Champion lose to the Blueniverse in the annual Champion vs. Champion bout.

150th and Current DRCW OCHO Champion:

(IC/US/TV/N. American/National/TNT/X-DIV)

WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn

(Reign began on November 9, 2020 from AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes)

He is currently the most interesting secondary champion to watch. With Darby Allin looking on to Sting or the FTW (older concepts), WWE has a chance to bring fresher and more legitimate match ups on Friday nights.

148th and Current DRCW Real World Tag Team Champions:

AEW World Tag Team Champions Nick and Matt Jackson, The Young Bucks (3)

(Reign began on November 9, 2020 from Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, FTR)

 

90th and Current DRCW Real World World Champion:

All Elite Wrestling World Champion Kenny Omega (2)

(Reign began on  December 2, 2020 from John Moxley)

 

olivia pierce - pinterest

Return of the SuperClash or The Invasion???

FMK: Movies, Wrestle Kingdom 14, Sleep

 

*Post started on January 6, 2020.

Thus far, there is still nothing new to complain about in 2020. Well, teaching children to play bad fundamental football (You knee in the end zone or signal for a fair catch. Play until the whistle.) at the Buffalo Bills' expense and the team I abandoned the Ditka-less Bears for being ruined despite a rule that was suppose to allow them to stay in the playoffs two years running, but I need to shake of my fandom for a sport that we should not encourage children to play.

My better quarter (Eva the Cat gets half) did not want (I prefer she did not.) to drive 30 miles just to get the rent money, so I am barely liquid, hence I could not get into too much trouble. It was nice when she was not around when I got off work so that I can get comfortable and tell her to enjoy the video game or pro-wrestling, but that has been the way it has been for the past four months. There is no reason to blame it on the new year...unless you want to add my third method of using the alone time, developing new Buffalo sauce recipes to stock my kitchen for the annual resolution of eating something Buffalo-related everyday of the year.

Manager's Husband: I was going to cut out bleu cheese for lent.

It sucks when the most obvious time to call someone a pussy during poker night is also the most inappropriate time.

All-in-all, I had a good weekend. We watched "Valerion: City of a Thousand Planets" on Friday night.

My first legitimate complaint of 2020. If I can run a website for $156.35 a year, the remnants of Europa Corp. should be able to be online and to recognize my digital copy redemption code, regardless the settlement for Luc Besson being Pepe Le Pew. At least that covers up Dane DeHaan's feature length impersonation of Keanu Reeves and the "Top Gun" Kelly McGillis/Tom Cruise-like chemistry he had with Cara Delevingne. "Top Gun" meets "Star Wars" would be a good way to describe the flick.

I watched Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night One live Saturday morning.

Not the results I would have gone with, but Okada versus Ibushi was able to keep me awake. When Osprey dropped the Junior Heavyweight Championship to Takahashi, it left me worried for ZSJ retaining the British Heavyweight Championship against SANADA on night two. Naito was the easy pick for the Intercontinental Championship and the three remaining LIJ members were vying for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. To leave SANADA without gold would look weird. Thank the queer gods for night two.

Saturday night was day job poker night.

It was fun getting reacquainted with Malort and I may have a better understanding of the thought process of my girlfriend as she outlasted the majority of players. If you include waiting an extra 10 minutes for her to get out of church, I might understand more than I wanted to.

I slept in Sunday and got an evening shift in at the retailer.

For not being on the schedule the past two weeks, it is just good to know that I still have that job.

Sunday night was devoted to Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two once the girlfriend said she did not want to do anything.

The abundance of single matches kind of took the luster of night one. We watch marquee ZSJ matches to see outrageous submissions, so a pinfall took all the wind out of his title defense. I left pumped for Moxley versus Suzuki. KENTA ruining the celebration after the redundant main event makes made me wonder if Wednesdays should be devoted to catching up on NJPW World content. It is going to be tough to keep cable after the rate jump.

Once Sunday ended, all of the doubts crept in. Well, they appeared before the retail shift, but I am tough. I could ignore them for close to half the day.

The doubts are about my seemingly stagnant relationship. I am the only one who does anything to care for the household. My beloved goes through the motions and only considers what affects her. If it does not bug her, it does not matter. Her living with me is just me spoiling her because I will take everything into consideration.

It is always new things that bug you. You have to tell me about them.

If you take the time to consider how something may appear to someone else, I should not have to tell you.

It makes me wonder if I need to change my relationship on Facebook, just so interested parties do not track her down. Maybe I am just self sabotaging myself. If someone looks her up on the social media platform, they are doing it to tell her how much of an asshole I am. When I have been coming to the conclusion that I am not a good person, would that be a bad thing? She needs to know.

Once work and wresting were done with, I was in a position to get six hours of sleep. I am welcomed by her snores and her undiagnosed sleep apnea facing my side of the bed. 20 minutes later of wondering why I am dealing with this, I no longer have half of the bed. Fortunately the guestroom's bed is firm. Unfortunately, Skimble the Cat followed, so my preferred company that I lowered the bed for was going to stay curled up in her throne.

As I got comfortable there, I realized that the two of us do not seem to have enough in common. If we did, it would not be a constant going to bed at different times and finding THE bed unbecoming. Again, if it does not impact her, she pays it no mind. Introducing her to new things seem pointless because she does not want to take the time to pay attention to anything she is not passionate about.

Inferno - Witches and the Sweet Vengeance for Drowned Cats

European directors tend to want to capture everything on film. Many times, they shoot to the point of boredom. Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" is beautiful, but it takes forever to get going. Nothing of notes happens in that film's first half. It is like watching a Monet dry. We appreciate it, but we want to load it on the truck now.

Italian horror and its godfather Dario Argento (perhaps the most subtle of the genre's directors) have similar tendencies. Argento is in love with his vision (He is never afraid to tell critics and actors that.), but the stories he offers to express it can be hit or miss. Fortunately, he would rather show a gimp being eaten by rats than a child on a carnival ride playing hooky. If only Truffaut would have had the child ground in the centrifuge's gears.

Check out the rest of review at "Ninety For Chill: A More Acceptable Runtimes

 

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