Gifts for everyone!

Hello all

Well here we are a week away from Christmas. As some of you may have already done, it is time to shop for gifts. I know that there are a lot of you out there who haven’t figured out what you should get that special someone for Christmas. What if that person is a wrestling fan, what then? Well luckily for you, I am here to let you know what to get that wrestling fan of yours. I will break down some of the items that every wrestling fan cannot do without. Trust me, as a wrestling fan, I know exactly what they would want. And I have to apologize; most of these things I am going to talk about are about WWE. I don’t really know much about the other organizations, beyond what I see on TV, and read on the internet.

1st let’s start off with the DVDs. There are plenty of DVDs. There is one for every Pay per View. If you have seen or have been to one, and you want to add it your collection, then I highly recommend it. There are also DVDs about the wrestlers and about certain situations. I just got the “Brett Hart vs. Shawn Michaels” DVD, and I loved it. I will be buying the new “Stone Cold” DVD (as if I need to say why), and I would also like to get the “Randy Orton” DVD. If your fan has anybody who is big star that he might be a fan of, there are plenty of DVDs for him. Some of my favorite DVDs that I own, are all of the WrestleMania, all of Stone Cold’s, both of Shawn Michael’s, Brett Hart’s, and the “history of” DVDs about the WWE championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the Intercontinental championship. As far as some of my favorite matches, I watch “Unforgiven” 2002, the WWE title, Hell in a Cell match, between the Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar. I also like “Unforgiven”, 2005, WWE title, “I quit” match between John Cena, and JBL. I like the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at Mania 25. And I like pretty much any Elimination Chamber match. If you have a DVD nut out there, that should help them.

Next are books. Books are always a great gift. Wrestling books are no exception. They take you deeper in to the world of wrestling a lot more than the DVDs do. I have read a few books and have learned a lot about some of my favorite performers. It is great to know exactly what they were thinking when they did what they did. How they felt leading up to their favorite match, or how they felt before they did the most famous, or infamous thing of their life. Or even what they were thinking when their world was crumbling around them as they were going through some kind of person turmoil. I have read the books of Stone Cold (naturally), Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, both of Hulk Hogan’s, and I am starting to read Eric Bischoff’s right now. I would also like to read the book on the history of the WWE championship, Brett Hart’s book, and the death of the WCW. If you know of any fans who want to know the ins and outs of the business, the real story, then buying those books would be the way to go. And if you get them on paper (not electronic), they will be pretty cheap too.
Last but not least is the stuff. I started off thinking about video games, then I thought about action figures, then I thought about the toy belts, then the replica belts, so I figured I would make this last part about all of them. Now, if you are not looking to spend all of your money, then I would not recommend the replica belts; not with a week before Christmas. Now if you had some time, then we can talk about it. So let’s talk about the video games. I have been a gamer for most of my life. Some of my favorite wrestling games were on the Nintendo 64. You have WCW vs. NOW revenge, which is awesome. You have WrestleMania 2000. But since most of us don’t have those systems, I have to say WWE Smackdown, has been the best wrestling game out there. TNA came out with a game, a few years ago. It was not good. I would not waste my time trying it out if I were you. Take my word for it. Now let’s talk about some of the action figures. They are coming out with some of the coolest figures you could ever want. Now they have them in event specific costumes. Meaning if you have ever seen a superstar in a special entrance, then most likely there is an action figure for that. From Mania 22 there is a figure for Rey Mysterio, and also one for Triple H. For the collector you would be buying for, they would love it.

So we I have given you plenty of options. Now you should be able to get something for that special wrestling fan out there. If you have a lot of money, go for the gusto. If not, go for an action figure, or book (remember people are not buying hard copy books anymore so they should be pretty cheap). I hope you enjoyed this little blog that is off of the beaten path. I will try to write a few more blogs this week, because like I said last week, I have a lot on my mind I would love to blog and get your opinions.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIINNNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hall!

Hello all

I will be doing something a little different this week. Since I did not write a blog last week, and I have some ideas just floating through my head, and because I would like next week’s blog to be a shopping guide for those of you who want to buy either yourself or your loved ones a wrestling themed present. And the week after that, I would like to do a yearend review, as I see it. I will be doing a few blogs this week. I will do one today, and maybe 2 more before the year is out.

With that said, let’s get started with today’s blog. I was watching wrestling a week or so ago, and something stood out to me, that made me want to know something. “Rowdy Roddy Piper” was in during the 1st segment. He was having a “Piper’s Pit” segment. His guest was John Cena. He was talking to Cena about the fans, and was wondering out loud to Cena, if the crowd’s lack of appreciation for him was starting to get to him. They went back and forth about it. Then Piper did something that started the wheels in my brain turning. Piper took off his Hall of Fame ring, gave it to Cena and said you will receive one of these someday. That got me wondering, this is a conversation we have in all other sports, but we don’t have it in this one. Well today let’s have it. And I mean a conversation, so let’s go back and forth with this. And I am not going to limit this to just the WWE. So let’s think about this, who are the future Hall of Famers.

I guess we will start off with guys who are not in yet, but are sure fire no brainers. I guess we could start off with a guy who has been the measuring stick for the WWE (and I will start with the WWE because they have been around the longest, and are the most credible), the Undertaker. Beyond him being undefeated at WrestleMania, he has long been the most respected man in the WWE. Taker is a 7 time world champion, a 7 time tag team champion, and has been involved in some of the more remarkable matches in WWE history. Ironic enough most of them have been “Hell in a Cell” matches. The 1st ever Cell matches with him and Shawn Michaels is my favorite match of all time. This was the introduction of Kane into the WWE, and it was a battle between to WWE staples. It was contested at the “Bad Blood” PPV. Of course we cannot forget the Cell match at King of the Ring in ’98, when he threw Mankind off the top of the Cell. Then there was the Cell match between him and Brock Lesnar, where believe it or not, Taker came up on the wrong end. Beyond Taker, there is another guy who has been with the company and has done everything one cold do; that man is Triple H. H has won the WWE Grand slam championship (which was all of the titles the company had to offer at the time he won them), he was the 2nd undisputed WWE champion, he is the 1st recognized world heavyweight champion in the WWE, and he has been the leader of some of the greatest factions in WWE history. Triple H is a no brainer. The next guy is known as a wrestling machine, Kurt Angle. Angle has done everything one could do in the wrestling world. He has won championships in college, the Olympics, at the world championship games, and in pro wrestling. He won an Olympic gold medal, is a 12 time world champion and has even been a MMA fighter. Angle is one of a few men to find success in both WWE and TNA, winning both world championships multiple times. If just these 3 men went into the hall by themselves it would be a star studded class.

Now let’s think of the guys who are pretty much there, but they are not quite the no brainers the others were. Let’s start off with a guy who could have been in the no brainer category, but I knew he would be better suited for this one, even with all of his accolades. John Cena. I am sure this will not be the most popular one, but it must be said. Let’s leave out the fact that Cena is a 10 time WWE champion (that is a record), a 12 time champion overall (one less than Triple H, and 4 behind Ric Flair), but let’s look at the fact that when Cena was given his opportunity, he ran with it. He grabbed a hold of that brass ring and never let it go. He has been everything a WWE champion is supposed to be. He draws big numbers every week. He is “Mr. Pay per View” (I coined that here at this blog), and he also gives a lot of his time outside of the ring. Like it or not, Cena is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The next guy I can think about is someone who came on during the latter part of his career, which just ended. He revolutionized the ladder match, even making the TLC match popular. He is Edge. Edge was a multi time Intercontinental champion, a 14 time tag team champion (record), and an 11 time world champion. He has had some of the best matches of his time, especially as the champion. Unfortunately his career came to an end after Mania this year, due to injury. But Edge has had a career that warrants hall of fame mention. And next we have someone who I am not really sure if he is still in wrestling or not. He left for a little while, and then came back, and now he has left again. His name is Chris Jericho. Y2J is a guy who has done it all in the business, and has done it on every coast. He was big in Mexico and Japan, before he made it big here in the states. He is the only man to wrestle in WCW, but win the WCW championship in WWE (I know that is confusing). He is also a grand slam winner, he is a 7 time tag team champion, a 9 time IC champ (record), and he is a 6 time world champion including, being the 1st ever undisputed champion in WWE history. Y2J has done everything one can do in WWE. He is not one of those guys that come to the top of your mind when you think of hall of famers, but he needs to be thought about when it comes to the hall. And speaking of guys who need to be thought about, there is a guy who I am not that fond of as a wrestler, but he has the stats to prove he belongs. Jeff Jarrett. I know he hasn’t won a world title since he has not been in charge at TNA, but you have to give him credit. He’s not just a former TNA champ, but he was also a 4 time WCW champ, a 6 time TNA-NWA(back when the NWA was a part of TNA) champion, and he is a 6 time WWE IC champion(even though his last time reign was ended by Chyna). So I think Jarrett deserves some credit for being the man that he has been in the business, and for helping start an organization that can compete head to head with WWE.

So I have laid out some names for you guys. I really would like this blog to be interactive. I would love for you all to tell me what you think. If you want to take one of these guys off, let me know, and tell me who we should add. I do think the 1st group is no brainers, but if I need to add to that list let me know. And of course I think the second list of guys belong, but if you want to add, let me know. Let’s keep this one going for a month, and see what names we can put in there. I won’t veto anyone; I will ask you to explain your choice though. So here you are, this one is all yours. Let’s make something happen.