Below are links to some wrestling-related blog entries & articles that I found interesting during the month of June 2009.
- RasslinHick.com: Wrestling Territories: Past or Future? — An interesting history of wrestling territories.
- Indie MMA and Pro-Wrestling: Kurt Angle Off The Record — From Sept of 2008, but an interesting listen. For more interviews click through the YouTube link on the site.
- Musing of A Canadian Sports Chick: Raw Has Been Painful Lately — Agreed. I was sick of Santina on day 2. And Flair must really need the $$, the spotlight, or both.
- Heelzone: WWE Announces Release of Umaga and UPDATE: The Reason Umaga Was Released — I was going to say, “Hard to believe. That’s the second guy (following Kennedy) that got let go after recently returning to TV after an absence.”, but the updated story indicates that Umaga had a second violation of the company’s “wellness policy” and refused rehab.
- Indie MMA and Pro-Wrestling: ECW 1995 – Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs. Sabu & Tazz — A classic match including “he who shall not be named”.
- Wyldefyre723’s Blog: The Wrestler – A Different Perspective — Another take on the movie The Wrestler from someone with an inside perspective of the wrestling business.
- Hope Lies At 24 Frames Per Second: Another look at The Wrestler (2008) — Review of the movie The Wrestler after a second viewing.
- 450 Splash: More WWE Releases — Candice Michelle and Sim Snuka hit the bricks.
- 450 Splash: Bashir/TNA — Bashir supposedly signed a multi-year deal with TNA
- Ed Mayes: “I’m Not Booked”… — A clip from the wrestling documentary “Beyond the Mat“, where Dennis Stamp hopes for a booking from the Funks. Those in the biz can identify with the statement that “I’ve got to stay in shape because I never know when my next match is going to be…”.
- WrestleZone: Full List Of 42 Roster Cuts Made By WWE So Far In 2009 — Wow. 2009 has been an interesting year, and the last 4 weeks alone had several high profile departures (Umaga, Kennedy, Candice). Unfortunately, Bam Neely was one of those let go this year.
- WrestleZone: Full WWE Trade Results Revealed — WWE recently swapped some talent around between their three “brands”. This was not including the “draft” they had a few months ago.
As I run across things, I’m also going to be adding them to my Delicious bookmarks page (http://delicious.com/drdarindavis). You can also find the last 10 of them on the right side of the page towards the bottom.
Hello, I just wanted to say thanks for linking my article “Another look at The Wrestler”. As someone with a deep understanding of the industry, what were your thoughts on the film?
I liked it after the first viewing- good performances, good story. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the way the ending was handled (thought I had an A/V problem at first). Good, but not great, was my opinion at that point.
It wasn’t until I started reading reviews from people outside of “the business”, including the mainstream critics (e.g. Roger Ebert, etc.), that I really started to appreciate it. The whole atmosphere was done so well and so realistically that I never noticed it. Nothing about it ever stuck out as incorrect or exaggerated, so it went past me without a second thought. It was only after reading other people’s reactions and thinking about the various scenes that it hit home.
Working a show at a school (opening scene)- check. Having a promoter apologize for the payoff (“I thought the gate would be bigger…”)- check. Wrestling legends at autograph signings, hoping to sign some 20 yr old merchandise they still lug around with them- check. Calling everyone “Brother”- check.
Right down to the smallest detail, they got it right.