Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Ramblemania Rewind 25 - WWE Wrestlemania 25 (2009)

Date: April 5, 2009
Venue: Reliant Stadium - Houston, TX
Attendance: 72,744

The 25th iteration of Wrestlemania... often called the 25th anniversary of the Wrestlemania... which means there's a Wrestlemania Zero that took place in 1984 that nobody knows about.

It probably goes without saying, but Shawn Michaels and Undertaker truly stole the show here and even in their advanced ages, they still managed to produce a truly fucking awesome match that holds up rather well years later. See, I'm not always fed up with old guys hogging the spotlight and stealing the show - only old guys who can't go and have no reason to do so (hello, Terry). And if the show ended there, it would have been fine... but then you have the two World title matches. Surprisingly, Cena was in the better match, whereas HHH/Orton, not surprisingly, stunk up the joint. Seriously, leave it to Triple H to kill any good will left in the show on the final match of the evening. In either case, a massive let down in regards to the championship bouts.

The whole show in general is rather... meh. Better than I had originally thought of it, but still well below standards. Jericho vs. the Old Timers was surprisingly watchable thanks to Ricky Steamboat, who could still go at the time (don't get any ideas), but Money In The Bank was above-average at best and botchworthy at worst, the Divas Battle Royal was an affair best forgotten (and you wonder why Trish Stratus and Lita opted not to participate), and the rest of it didn't really stick out in my mind. In fact, the only other thing that really made this show special was Stone Cold Steve Austin's last hurrah where he just saluted the crowd and drank beer... that, to me, was more exciting and entertaining (not to mention a fitting closure to a great career) was better than anything the McSon-In-Law could crap out of his anus on this "meh" show.

Ramblemania Rewind 24 - WWE Wrestlemania 24 (2008)

March 30, 2008
Camping World Stadium - Orlando, FL
Attendance: 74,635

Apparently, this is the biggest Wrestlemania under the sun... I'm sure that'll be the case until Mania hits Saudi Arabia and then we can call THAT... never mind.

Anyway, Wrestlemania 24... a show that I don't recall all that much other than it was where Ric Flair had his last match... in WWE... and quite frankly, in hindsight, we kinda wished that it was his last match if his post-WWE career was anything to go by. Besides that, however... yeah, this was one of those shows where I was completely blanking out and I could at least recall something in the main event scene, but not this time...

But enough about that. How was the actual show?

Well...

Ramblemania Rewind 23 - WWE Wrestlemania 23 (2007)

Date: April 1st, 2007
Venue: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Attendance: 74,287

In 1987, Wrestlemania III took place at the Pontiac Silverdome and provided the template for every Wrestlemania going forward... even if it took us a few years to actually follow that template.

Twenty years after that landmark event, we have Wrestlemania 23, where the big headline event is the supposed "Battle Of The Billionaires" between then-WWE chairman Vince McMahon and future President of The United States Donald Trump. The battle would pit McMahon's chosen avatar - reigning Intercontinental champion UMAGA - against Trump's chosen avatar - reigning WWECW Champion Bobby Lashley - in which the losing billionaire would have their head shaved. No doubt there was an appeal in wondering which of these heads would meet the razor blade... well, for some people, at least.

The fact that Wrestlemania 23 is known primarily for THAT encounter above all else paints a pretty grim picture of the overall WWE landscape. And unfortunately, that branding has inadvertently tainted this show somewhat, given how the reputations of both men are somewhat tarnished in recent years. And I'm going to be honest; I wasn't too keen on revisiting this one for that reason alone. Watching the battle of two long-since disgraced individuals is about as appealing as watching a match between Jimmy Snuka and Chris Benoit in a Woman On A Pole match. If that very thought disturbs you, then good. I'm sharing the misery with everyone reading this thing.

In any event, I did watch the whole thing... and... well...

Ramblemania Rewind 22 - WWE Wrestlemania 22 (2006)

Date: April 2nd, 2006
Venue: AllState Arena, Rosemount, IL
Attendance: 17,155

Fun fact: The theme song for this year's Mania was Peter Gabriel's hit song, "Big Time." Which is a bit ironic because if there's anything that Wrestlemania 22 felt like the least, it was "big time."

I can recall this show not doing much for me back in the day. The card on paper was a bit lacking, they had just bumped the PPV price tag, and honestly, I was more excited for the returning Saturday Night's Main Event show that was taking place... which ended up being a bust, but that's another story, entirely. Now I do recall in the original Ramblemania posting saying that I felt this was a pretty good show in spite of the lack of anticipation, even if it did feature a couple things that bog it down a bit. This was also the first Mania after Eddie Guerrero passed away and... well, that's relevant in our Smackdown World title match, which is a three-way.


Ramblemania Rewind 21 - WWE Wrestlemania 21 Goes Hollywood (2005)

Date: April 3rd, 2005
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 20,193

Wrestlemania 21 Went Hollywood in 2005... which meant we got a bunch of WWE Guys re-creating classic scenes from classic movies in order to promote this Wrestlemania 21 PPV, which is emanating from the Staples Center in LA... not quite a big stadium setting and not only that, but these trailers - and there were some good ones - did the biggest mistake any movie trailer can do; they show off all the best parts and so by the time you watch the movie, you're going "That's it?"

I don't know where I was going with that, but in any event, we have Wrestlemania 21, which is notable for kicking off the next era of WWE by way of crowning two new champions who would carry the company for the rest of the 2000s. Just in terms of seeing new main event talent being coronated and established, this serves as an important show in that regard. It also helps that this show 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Review #1043 - Hat Trick (Atari 7800) (TAKE 3!)


A video review of Hat Trick for the Atari 7800... and as the title indicates, this is the third time this particular version is being reviewed. Why would anyone do this? That's a good question and maybe some day, I'll have a good answer for you, but until then, enjoy the video and let's hope there isn't an fourth take.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

AEW Revolution 2024

Normally, I'd be holding this off until after the Ramblemania business is done, by after finally watching the show this weekend (via replay), I'd figure that we'd get this out of the way now and be done with it. For context, this is the first AEW show that I've seen since All Out 2023. While I've been keeping privy of what's been happening on the programming, I've probably only watched a handful of episodes at MOST... and only bothered to post musings on ONE. (For those wondering, I may or may not post thoughts on tonight's Dynamite show, dubbed BIG BU$INE$$ and eminating from Bo$$ton... maybe.)

That is then and this is... well, also then. But let's get this one out of the way because I've got... far less to say than I thought I would.

Ramblemania Rewind 20 - WWE Wrestlemania XX (2004)

Date: March 14th, 2004
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 20,000

Yep... we have to talk about this show... and sadly, it's not just because of C**** B*****.

Ramblemania Rewind 19 - WWE Wrestlemania XIX (2003)

Date: March 30th, 2003
Venue: Safeco Field, Seattle, WA
Attendance: 54,097

(Note: This was the first Ramblemania post that I wrote after word broke of the McMahon lawsuit in January 2024. All the rest would follow afterwards.)

Wrestlemania XIX returns to America and baseball stadiums... which would've been the perfect time to bring back the Macho Man... or at least, have Sid show up and make an appearance or something... but yeah, this is a show that I don't hear people talk about all that much outside of maybe one or two things; it would be the show where Steve Austin would have his last match (until 2022, of course) and also the botched BORK LAZOR shooting star spot... and yeah, this is not as top-tier stuff as Wrestlemania X-Seven... I don't think anything came close to that, quite frankly. But XIX has its moments. And we're going touch on these fast, fast.

Ramblemania Rewind 18 - WWF Wrestlemania X-8 (2002)

Date: March 17th, 2002
Venue: Skydome, Toronto, ON
Attendance: 68,237

(Note: The following post was written prior to the McMahon lawsuit from January 2024).

The year was 2002. The year prior, the World Wrestling Federation had acquired all assets of World Championship Wrestling, along with the contracts of a handful of WCW talent. Although they got notable WCW stars such as Diamond Dallas Page and reigning WCW World champion Booker T, they didn't get any of the really "big" stars who were under contract with Time Warner, such as Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Goldberg... and guys like Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash.

Roughly a year after anyone would have cared, the original nWo (Hogan, Hall, and Nash) were brought in to spread poison throughout the WWF. Unlike in WCW, where the nWo damn near ran the company to the ground - both in storylines and in real life - the rogue organization was put down as quickly as the Brooklyn Brawler. Stone Cold Steve Austin scored a victory over Scott Hall in an undercard match (something that didn't please Austin and would be one of many factors that would result from his brief hiatus from WWE in a couple months), while the Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan (and got booed in the process) in a match that saw Hogan booted from the nWo and turned full babyface. And the nWo itself wouldn't last long either afterwards.

Wrestlemania X-8 eminated from Skydome in Toronto. It had Rock vs. Hogan in what was billed as an Icon vs. Icon match. Sadly, it'd be the only match on the card that was Wrestlemania-worthy and even that would eventually be repeated in a B-level PPV a year later. I will admit that going into this one, the show was largely a blank to me and I remember nothing about it. Even most PPVs have something that sticks to mind that isn't the main event, but in the case of X8, I recall nothing. Not a good sign.

Ramblemania Rewind 17 - WWF Wrestlemania X-Seven (2001)

Date: April 1st, 2001
Venue: Astrodome, Houston, TX
Attendance: 67,925

(Note: The following post was written prior to the McMahon lawsuit from January 2024).

For the first time since Wrestlemania VIII, Wrestlemania returns to a stadium setting - with the seventh iteration of the show being held at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston. If there was ever a sign that the WWF was doing hot business, this is pretty much the culmination. Their revenue was growing, their numbers were growing... it only made sense to go from the usual arena setting to a much larger venue.

And boy, did it pay off. The setting looked great, the crowd was monstrous and molten hot for the entire time that this show took place. And how did the WWF repay those 67,000+ fans for shattering a then-attendance record? With easily the best damned Wrestlemania card that there ever was... and I truly, TRULY believe that. 

Ramblemania Rewind 16 - WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (2000...duh)

Date: April 2nd, 2000
Venue: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA
Attendance: 19,776

(Note: The following post was written prior to the McMahon lawsuit from January 2024).

Despite early marketing referring to the show as Wrestlemania 2000 - hell, we got a couple video games using that name even - the show itself would simply be referred to as Wrestlemania. Not even Wrestlemania 16, but just Wrestlemania... because this is a reboot or something.

The WWF in 2000 was firing on all cylinders. A new influx of talent from WCW resulted in a group of workhorses that the company desperately needed, we had a new, dominant heel in Triple H as well as an insanely popular top star in THE ROCK to fill the void left by the absence of Stone Cold Steve Austin, and while numbers weren't hitting the peak of the Attitude Era, money was being made hand over fist, thanks to a late-99 decision to turn the privately-owned WWF into a publicly traded company... which ended up being a very smart move in hindsight. With two excellent PPVs preceding this one, there was no doubt that Wrestlemania 2000/16/whatever would continue the hot streak.\

Spoiler Alert: It didn't.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

I Couldn't Tell You How To Grieve Because I'm Not Sure How Myself

Today marks a month since Sacha left us.

I still think of her everyday.

I still shed tears.

I still miss her.

I have never been good at grief. I have never been good at managing emotions. I have a bit of a temper. Not the temper you see around these parts because that's mostly for show... but I do flare up over trivial things. And when it comes to the big emotional things... well, that's the stuff that overwhelms me.

You want to say that you're prepared for the day when a loved one passes. It's an inevitability. But the truth is you're never prepared. You're never sure how you're going to react until it happens and when it does finally happen, that's when you realize that you're not prepared. Especially if it's someone who's close. Especially if they're a constant part of your life.

In the days since she left us, I've been looking online for ways to cope with my grief. Every day, I wrote a little something to express my pain. Some of what I wrote can be somewhat distressing... but what I can tell you is that what's written on paper (or in this case, a online blog post) pales in comparison to the emotion behind those words. The feelings expressed in those posts undersell my actual emotional state at the time I wrote them.

I eventually got around to gather every video and photo that I had of Sacha on hand - scattered across multiple memory cards, hard drives, and my slowly falling apart Galaxy A5 - and I've been putting them together onto a single flash drive. Some of this stuff has graced this online space - whether it'd be videos made for the channel or the smattering of photos uploaded onto this blog... but a good chunk of this stuff hasn't seen the light of day. Hell, a lot of this stuff I've seen for the first time in years, practically covering her entire lifespan.

Some of that stuff eventually became part of the Sacha tribute video that I put together and posted a couple weeks ago... but there's a lot of stuff that's still on the cutting room floor. It's stuff that I would like to eventually share with everyone. It's the only time that I'm more than willing to open up a part of my life... something that I've resistant to do in the past because I'm more of a private person.

I want to say that this gets easier over time... but it doesn't. If anything, it becomes harder to bare.

Grief is a complex creature. It's not something that is easily figured out. It's not something that is easily resolved. It's a process. And sometimes, that process can take a long time to get over. Hell, chances are it's something you'll never get over. That's not a weakness or a failing. That's a sign of how much that loved one meant to you, of how much they've had an affect on you. There's no surefire way of handling grief, no one way to overcome that emotional burden. Everyone has their own way. Everyone has their own pace. Just because something works for one person doesn't mean it works for you. It's not a matter of "If I can do it, so can you" because nobody is wired the same way.

How each of us grieve is something that is unique to us. It's not something that has a straightforward answer nor is it something that's easy to figure out. Some folks find a way to grieve and eventually start to feel like their old selves. Others don't quite make it over the hump, but will often hide it as to not upset anyone else. Some folks need a helping hand in getting over that hump while others could and probably would prefer to manage it themselves. There's no singular right way to deal with grief and the only person who could truly figure this shit out is you.

However you get there... however long it takes... eventually, you'll get there.

Remembering your loved ones, remembering all the good times you had, and keeping that memory alive... however you do that... that's one way of showing how they affected you. Passing that love and care to others... that's another. Or maybe that's all the same thing.

Like I said, I'm not good at the grieving thing. Never was.

But I'm sure that sooner or later... I'll get there.

However long it takes...