DVD Review: The XWF Lost Episodes

When US wresltings number two organisation (well one for a while) WCW floundered and failed, a few key grapplers decided to take the WWE on at its own game and try to create their own wrestling league. So the XWF was born and even though it did not live for long this was a show that perhaps allowed many other companies to tackle the same thing (some to greater success over others).
The XWF was fronted by former WWE, WCW and many other promotions manager extraordinaire Jimmy 'Mouth of the South' Hart and Nasty Boy Brian Nobbs. Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan was along for the ride and so were a number of the industry's stars old and new.
This DVD is billed as the lost episodes for the short lived XWF series of recorded events and perhaps these are the best to view also.
From a talent point of view we have an all star list that any promoter would be proud of. The results are often surprising too, you can tell how the roster here hoped this promotion would work by the way some big names laid down for the pin fall loss.
Old school fans will love seeing Buff Bagwell, Marty Jannetty, Jimmy Hart, The Nasty Boys, Curt Hennig, Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan, Vampiro, Konnan, Jerry ' The King' Lawler, Jimmy Snuka, and even The Road Warriors all appear in matches and segments.
When you throw in XWF CEO Rena 'Sable' Mero, XWF commissioner 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, talking heads by rock stars Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Willie Nelson and other too and you have a show that entertains at many levels.
The XWF did something right, they left storylines to the background and let action speak for itself. The matches were exciting, the combatants were current and the concept worked well.
This may be a highlight reel for  a promotion that fell short of its expectations, but where else could you see some of the 80s-90s finest compete with some of the industry's best up and comers.
A special bonus on this three hour DVD is a unique interview with Hulk Hogan himself, but there is even a better bonus, because we get to see something I for have never seen. A match between the late Curt Hennig and Hulk Hogan.

The Lost Episodes of XWF is available now from all good retailers.
By Phil Allely

WWE Hall of Fame 2013 rumours

WWE Hall Of Fame 2013: The Rock, Mick Foley and more touted as potential inductees.

By Phil Allely

With WWE's WrestleMania only a few short months away many smart fans are beginning to think about what names the company may announce as inductee's into the hallowed WWE Hall Of Fame.

With WrestleMania hailing from the famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, it seems the WWE are planning to pay tribute to the venue and state.

This means the names announced for the HOF will inevitably be people from NYC, or ones who stole the show at an event held in the popular WWE venue.

Mick Foley is one of the top names being bandied about for the honour. Foley has been a part of many Mania matches and performed countless battles in the Garden. He has also been heavily pushing for his inclusion into the HOF. Foley has previously stated how he watched his first ever wrestling match at the venue.

Wrestler turned movie star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Who has returned to part time duties for the WWE is also high on the wish list list for inductees. His return to grappling has been a joy to behold and the man certainly dos warrant a spot at the HOF.

Sources also hint that The Nasty Boys (Brian Nobbs and Jerry Sags) and Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) may be receiving the nod too. Both have connections to New York (either through storyline or reality).

Rumour has it the WWE have reached out The Ultimate Warrior (Jim Helwig) recently, although Helwig is a bit of a loose cannon and the company may wish to forgo any potential awkward situations, and have considered inducting the late Owen Hart and Chris Benoit. Hart may never be inducted (even though he deserves it), due to the situation revolving around his death and his wife Martha's attitude toward the company where he sadly passed away. Benoit's name will come to a shock to many, he has however been featured in a few DVD releases and features of late. His in-ring career and success has long been over-shadowed by the infamous murder-suicde that saw Benoit, his wife Nancy and their child all perish.

Whilst these are all speculative at present fans across the globe have their list of wrestlers past and present they wish to see inducted into the HOF. Your reviewer fro instance would love to see the much-missed Randy 'Macho Man' Savage, manager extraordinaire Jim Cornette,the monster Sid Vicious and tag team legends The Rock n Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) grace the event too.

WWE Publish top 50 moments of 2012

WWE published article counting down the top 50 moments of 2012. Listed below are the top 10.

10: Ryback “Shell Shocks” CM Punk on top of the “Hell in a Cell”
9: John Cena grants his 300th wish for Make-A-Wish
8: The Shield’s debut at The Survivor Series
7: Jerry Lawler suffers a heart attack on RAW
6. The AJ Lee – John Cena storyline.
5: The 1,000th episode of RAW.
4: Brock Lesnar’s WWE return.
3: CM Punk becoming the longest reigning WWE Champion of the modern era.
2: The Rock defeating John Cena at WrestleMania 28.
1: The Undertaker defeating Triple H at WrestleMania 28.

Nigel McGuinss Interview Highlights

When he was 15 years old, Nigel McGuinness painted his face like the Ultimate Warrior and attended SummerSlam at London’s Wembley Stadium – a pivotal experience that solidified his dream to one day be a top wrestling star.

Nearly two decades later, he embarked on a retirement tour – the swan song of a 12-year wrestling career that was universally lauded by die-hard fans, yet always fell frustratingly short of mainstream success.

Although the London-born McGuinness is widely considered to be one of the most talented in-ring performers of his generation, a combination of bad timing and bad luck left his dream of WWE stardom unfulfilled and, eventually , abandoned.

It was a 12-year journey of emotional peaks and valleys that McGuinness has conveyed in a documentary released this month called The Last of McGuinness, which has earned resoundingly positive reviews so far.

“The response has been really amazing,” McGuinness tells WrestleNewz over Skype from his Los Angeles home. “The feedback has been so positive.”

So far, that feedback has been coming primarily from wrestling fans – many of whom likely contributed to the $32,000 Kickstarter campaign for the film, which reached its funding goal in just three days – but McGuinness hopes the film will have an even wider appeal.

“When people who aren’t wrestling fans see it, I think maybe I’ll get a different perspective,” he says. “I think there are a lot of good messages in it that apply to a lot of people, even if they’re not wrestling fans.”

McGuinness is currently in the process of shopping the documentary around to film festivals in the hope that its deeper themes will resonate even with audiences who might turn up their noses at professional wrestling.

When McGuinness began work on the film, he envisioned it as a chronicle of his retirement tour and an explanation of why he vanished from in-ring action in 2011 (rumors had swirled about concussions and infectious disease; we won’t provide spoilers here). Once the cameras started rolling, however, the project went in directions McGuiness hadn’t foreseen.

“I went on a very big emotional journey, not just a physical journey, in making the documentary,” McGuinness says. “I realized certain resolutions as I was making it, and I think it put me in good stead to move forward.”

During his wrestling career, McGuinness was in a perpetual tug-of-war with himself, torn between enjoying his many successes – he held the Ring of Honor World Championship, travelled the world, got national TV exposure in TNA and was immortalized as an action figure – and always yearning for more.

In 2009, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked him sixth in its annual PWI 500 rankings, putting him ahead of many of the wrestlers he once idolized. His talent took him to Japan’s famed Korakuen Hall and to a hometown show in Wembley Arena. He shared the ring with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and his other childhood idols.

Yet amid all the acclaim and stellar matches, a WWE contract remained his Holy Grail, and it always seemed just beyond his fingertips.

“I had a great, great experience in wrestling – travelling the world and meeting a lot of wonderful people. But I didn’t make a whole lot of money and I’m still not recognizable on the street, which, when I was a kid, was one of those things I really wanted. I always wanted more.”

Though largely inspired by Colt Cabana’s light-hearted Wrestling Road Diaries documentary, The Last of McGuinness has been described as a powerful tear-jerker by a number of reviewers – like a documentary version of Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.

But McGuiness isn’t looking for any sympathy. He insists that “life is good,” in large part due to the support and encouragement he received in making the film.

He is now pursuing other avenues of entertainment in California — dabbling in stand-up comedy, auditioning for acting roles and pondering his next film project.

“I’m here in Los Angeles, having a wonderful time, taking it day by day,” he says. “I don’t have to eat every three hours and go to the gym five days a week. If I want to eat pizza, I eat pizza. I’ve got a big belly and I don’t care – I’m keeping it. It’s all good.”

For the moment, he’s busy shipping DVDs of the film to fans who supported the project from the get-go, and cheered (or booed) him throughout his years in the ring.

“I wouldn’t have had a career without the fans – the real fans, who really understand the art form of professional wrestling,” he says.

“These people dug in their pockets. That’s what touched me. Some could only afford a few dollars, but they gave it to me because they believe in me and they believe in professional wrestling.”

Ricky Morton Interview HIghlights

One half of the legendary tag-team “The Rock N’ Roll Express” Ricky Morton joined Kayfabe Wrestling Radio Tuesday Night. In a nearly 30 minute interview, he discussed how the ‘Rock N’ Roll Express’ came together, facing the Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn), working for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett in Memphis back in the day and how he got started in wrestling, the differences with wrestling today, on moving to and working with the Crockett’s NWA promotion, being part of Starrcade ’85 and selling out two arenas for one event, the iconic match between the Rock ‘N Roll Express and the Andersons from Starrcade ’86 and that being named Steve Austin’s favorite match of all time, working different styles and the role of the babyface back in the day, his times as Richard Morton in WCW with the York Foundation and what as more fun: being Ricky Morton or Richard Morton, his upcoming match with Jerry Lynn vs Kid Kash and MMA fighter Josh Shockman at Crossfire Wrestling’s TV Taping and more.

On how the Rock N Roll Express come together as a team: “Well, I knew Robert real good; but in 1983, matter of fact this is our 30 year anniversary that Robert and I have been tag team partners, Jerry Lawler in Memphis, Tennessee put us together in 1983. We were, back then, were looking for a place; they had the Fabulous Ones in there and were looking for another tag-team, so he (Jerry) put Robert and I together and they came up with the “R N’ R Express”, the Rock N’ Roll Express, and that’s what we stuck with man.

Working for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett in Memphis and how he got into wrestling: “Oh, they were great. But you got to remember; we were back in the time when Memphis was real hot, that was after when Jerry and Jeff Jarrett and all of them came up there. Working for Lawler, you got to understand; not only working with Lawler, you had Bill Dundee too; they were two great, great thinkers, booker wise, for business. You got have to understand, you had to keep this territory going; you had to have new ideas. If you were working on top and you didn’t sell Memphis and Louisville and Evansville out, they moved you down the figurative spot.

That’s why I followed my dad’s footsteps; my dad was a referee there. He wrestled in the early days but he was a referee there in Memphis. You’ve got to understand, I’ve been in the business all my life; I broke into the business. I started when I was a very young kid, I’m talking back in elementary school, going with him and putting the rings up. But eventually I started in Memphis; I started out, first of all, with a promoter of the name of Nick Gulas in Nashville, Tennessee and then when I switched and went to Memphis and it was like going to the show, going the big leagues. When you stepped into the Memphis Coliseum, it was 10-12,000 people and that was every Monday night and working with these guys from all over; when you stop and look, some of the greatest stars that ever been in this business came out of Memphis, Tennessee because there you had to learn to carry the load, you had to learn what to do. You had Lawler, you had Jarrett and you had Bill Dundee and that was the main three that really ran that territory and kept it going, giving the people something to see every week and bring excitement to them. To me, it was a great pleasure to be there, you understand?”

The differences working back then as opposed to today: “Now-a-days, and I’m not taking nothing away from nobody, and understand these younger guys don’t have the opportunity to learn like we did and how sacred our business was too. You wrestled every night and you got into the programs and you were on a bicycle tape of the towns if you know what I mean by that; you went around from town to town and it wasn’t that you had the same match every night because you had to follow your TV shows and your shows were on a bicycle tape; it was a week late getting from Memphis to Louisville the next night. You might start an angle on Saturday with somebody that went to Memphis that Monday, but on that Tuesday, you had to wrestle from a week before that, which you shot on TV. And it was a great experience learning, not only that but watching how these guys ran these programs and kept them going. And another thing about back then, and I don’t know if you understand, the heel and babyfaces kayfabed; we didn’t even dress in the same locker rooms, so we didn’t have the time, like these guys do today, to go over every move of your match. When you went out, you called everything in the ring, you know, your finishes, well not the finish but every move you did. That was just the way it was back then with our business and I’m sorry that guys missed out, but business was different back then.”

What was more fun: being Ricky Morton or Richard Morton from this time with the York Foundation in WCW: “To tell you the truth, I’m Ricky Morton, that’s who I am and that’s who I’ve built my character off of for years. Robert (Gibson) got hurt, that’s what that was all about and I was lost in the shuffle. So, I had to keep a job, so they turned me heel and made me part of the York foundation. It’s not like I had a choice; I just needed to change a bit of character and it didn’t last for long because it wasn’t me and I didn’t stay in WCW much longer than that; that’s when Robert and I went to Smokey Mountain Wrestling and we toured. They only reason Robert and I weren’t together was cause Robert got injured and was out for about a year. So I had a lot more fun being Ricky Morton. We were just lost in the shuffle.”

The audio interview is available here.

WWE TLC Review 2012

WWE Live Show Review: TLC (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) 2012

WWE's TLC pay-per-view event is one that has a tendency to deliver greatly with its match quality and results. Even the lack of blood can't affect the violence that many of the wrestlers bring to the ring when foreign objects such as table, ladders and steel chairs become legal weapons. This year we were also treated to a few new faces, which helped create new feuds and elevate some often neglected mid-card talent. With CM Punk injured there was some re-jigging behind the scenes match wise, but perhaps it was for the best. WWE need his fresh and ready for his upcoming scrap with The Rock.

It was also nice to see the legendary Jerry 'The King' Lawler return to his commentary duties. Lawler seems to have recovered well after his near fatal heart attack (which occurred during a live raw show).

TLC kicked off with a (dark match) battle of the 'Santa's Little Helpers' In other words a diva encounter. This will of course probably make its way on to the DVD version of the show. Here we had a reasonable if not too exciting Diva's style scrap. Competitors were Alicia Fox, Askana, Naomi, Cameron, Tamina, Kaitlyn, Layla, Natalya and Rossa Mendes. The match was short and sweet, with Divas champ Eve Torres sticking her oar in to allow Namoi a shot at her title.

TLC started (proper) with a very reasonable tables match for the number one contender spot for the WWE tag team belts. The duo of Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara battled Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes in a fun battle. Cara is looking so much better in the ring now he is teamed up with fellow high flyer Mysterio. Rhodes Scholars on the other hand are a wonderfully fresh addition to the diminishing tag ranks. Rhodes and Sandow picked up the win after Cody caused Cara to plough through a table.

Your reviewer is not a hug fan of US Title holder Anonio Cesaro, but he can put together a pretty decent match with the right (talented) performer. The match however didn't really sizzle as much as we had hoped it would. Cesaro was able to overcome a few nice looking pin attempts by Truth and nailed a 'Neutralizer' to retain his gold.
Uk wrestler Wade Barrett has been making real strides in recent months to get one more big push for his WWE career. His match with Kofi Kingston here highlighted the fact that Barrett does have potential. Putting Kofi's Intercontinental Title on the line helped as well of course. Wade is a very good big man and has an aura about him, perhaps he will be William Regal's successor to the role of sterotypical British bad guy. Kofi did manage to fend off his European influenced assault and retained the belt.

Whether they are associated with Champion CM Punk The Shield are a welcome addition to the WWE roster. Their sneak attacks and N.W.O. Inspired storyline is something that may just inject some much need adrenaline into the WWE product.

The match here was a TLC one and The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose) faced off against the formidable trio of WWE Tag Team Champs Kane/Daniel Bryan and the fastest rising star of the year Ryback. This match was a brutal, tough and well-paced affair. Working with such talented opponents The Shield team were on perfect form. What was nice was that amidst the weapons based fun and games, we saw some new faces get their hands raised (over some more established acts). This angle by WWE may just work out very well for all concerned. The Shield pulled off a rather good win, to continue their progression.
The Divas returned next, with Eve defending her title against (pre-show match winner) Naomi. Naomi did show some impressive in-ring ability here. It was of course always going to be Eve's night and here she did not disappoint. Eve retained her glamorous belt as predicted.
As explained before a TLC PPV should really feature some blood. But you know what sometimes the spilling of claret is not necessary. The World Heavyweight Title match between champion Big Show and challenger Sheamus was a real barn-stormer. Sheamus seems to bring something out in show that we have not seen in a while and perhaps Show himself has grabbed this opportunity to highlight how valuable he is to the company. The match was violent, hard-hitting and worked to both men's advantage. Shows win maintains his grasp of the belt and Sheamus' loss does little more than make him a man we will root for next time.
Next up we saw an interesting battle. This was Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre taking on Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and Brooklyn Brawler. This was a nostalgic match for veteran fans, as longtime jobber the Brawler (Steve Lombardi) returned to the ring. Lombardi is a familiar face to anyone whoo who watches WWE biographical or special edition DVDs. He often pops us as a talking head on such releases. Lombardi never won a major title, but he did elevate many superstars to the enxt leevl and his simple style made him a minor league star. Brawler got his chance to shine on PPV in Brooklyn (of course) and even picked up a rare win.

Love him or hate him John Cena is one of the few real stars the WWE have available to perform at present. His act may need polished and a break from his main event appearances would help things. But with no one else ready to fill his spot or shift as much merchandise this is a picture we will have to expect for a while, the one of Cena in the main event.

The storyline featuring Cena/AJ/Vickie Guerro has been fun (even if it does echo a recent ill-fated TNA one). This match between Dolph Ziggler and Cena was a curious entry too. Ziggler could have as easily cashed in his 'Money in the Bank' title shot, but instead he offered it up in a match with Cena. This was a ladder match to remember. Cena took some stiff shots, Ziggler was a bump-machine (in the style of Shawn Michaels) and the outside interference proved to be beneficial to the pair. Cena in a rare moment for his character stared at the lights for the ever-exciting Ziggler. AJ did prove to be the thorn in Cena's side, but this was really all about raising Dolph to the next level. After all if he can beat Cena, this man may just be able to win the big one.

TLC 2012 was a very good event to round off 2012 for the WWE. The company may be floundering slightly talent wise, but things are looking up and after so many journos like myself suggesting it, there are now some fresh faces in the mix.

Here's hoping Punk can recover OK in time for his Royal Rumble encounter with a certain Mr Johnston.

Wwe.com

By Phil Allely

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