Giant Gonzalez had a good look. And he'd make a bloody good action figure.

There is a part of me that misses the more cartoony aspects of WWF/E. Yes, I like the serious stuff, the JCP/WCW stuff. But I like a variety. I'm not saying we bring back Doink. And some gimmicks such as TL Hopper and Duke Droese did not appeal to me. However, gimmicks such as the Big Boss Man added something, I feel. I like how he would talk about law and order when dispensing justice.

Speaking of that, as a kid, I told my friend that the Mountie should have turned face and teamed with Big Boss Man. The team could have been called Law and Order.

Don't know if you guys have watched GLOW, on Netflix; great series, as a tv series; but, also, the best depiction of wrestling training and storytelling done The third season is up now, with the group about to debut as a performing show, at a Las Vegas casino (the fictional Fan-Tan). The opening show stars with the opening day, which coincides with the Challenger launch, that ended in tragedy.

Gina Davis plays an ex-showgirl who became entertainment director, who handles promotion of the show. We will see some personal upheavals, some major changes in characters and a few episodes that at least, in part, deal with LGBT issues of the day. There is an episode where everyone swaps characters that is pretty funny, as well as a Christmas Carol show, for the finale.

The series is inspired by the documentary about the original GLOW promotion, created by David McLane, former photographer and announcer for the 80s WWA, in Indianapolis.
McLane had the concept for a women's promotion, from some performers who work shows for the WWA, as well as the Peter Falk movie, All The Marbles. He found some backing and a tv producer and put together a pilot, after recruiting wannabe wrestlers. They were trained by Mando Guerrero, older brother of Eddie. They did the pilot, then moved to the Riviera Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, where they taped the shows, as both an attraction for the casino and a free venue for the tapings. Guerrero was only involved in the pilot and seasoned wrestler, Princess Jasmine, took over continuing the training, before others started handling the training. They were a combination of actresses, models, sports models, showgirls (Col Ninotchka) and dancers. They did 4 seasons of Hee-Haw-style skits and jokes, with rather wild, uncoordinated matches, as the experienced performers left early and you had barely trained performers training the next group. After the second season, there is a split between McLane and the producer and McLane is bought out. He went back to Indianapolis and started POWW (Powerful Women of Wrestling). Coming with him was one of the best performers, under the name Tina Ferrari, whose real name was Lisa Moretti, who would later work in the WWE as Ivory. POWW worked with the WWA and AWA; but, didn't last long. GLOW folds after 4 seasons, though they made additional appearances on married With Children, Family Feud (charity showdown against WCW wrestlers, including Sting, Luger and some others).

The tv show drew from the stories told in the documentary and you can see elements of the original GLOW girls in the characters. Col Ninotchka, the lead heel, became Alison Brie's character, Zoya the Destroyer. American became Liberty Belle, Hollywood became Melrose, Godiva becomes Brittanica, the Terrorist becomes Beirut, etc.... The character of Cherry Bang, a stuntwoman and B-movie actress, sort of fills Princess Jasmine's role, while the money man, Bash Howard, is a bit of David McLane, and a bit of the money man who owned the Riviera (and was married to Pia Zadora). Chavo Guerrero Jr did the training and wrestling choreography, which he was interviewed, originally, without knowledge of Mondo's role in the original. He appears in season two, as a wrestler, with Carlito Colon, who plays Kurt Jackson, brother of Carmen "Machu Pichu" Jackson. Carlito appeared in season 1 (and returns for an episode of season 3), along with Tyrus/Brodus Clay, as Carmen's brothers (she is the daughter of pro wrestler Goliath Jackson and her brothers wrestle as a tag-team, the Lumber-Jacksons).

Season 3 has some really good character stuff and we get more of Kia Stevens, aka Awesome Kong, a real pro wrestler in Japan, TNA and the WWE, Gayle Rankin, as Sheila gets some really meaty stuff this season, Jackie Tohn, as Melrose, gets to do more, as does Ellen Wong, who plays Jenny Chen. They expand on the attraction between Ruth and Sam, the director, as well as the relationship that developed in season 2 between new wrestler Yolanda (Cholo Junkchain), and Arthie (Beirut). Some of the LGBT stuff comes through their relationship, some through Bash (who is gay and closeted/in denial), and some from a drag show in the casino, whose performer gets involved with the women in several aspects and they help put on a drag show AIDS research fundraiser, that really brings it to focus (Season 2 also had Bash's best friend/butler, Florian, die of AIDS).

If you haven't watched it, give it a go; really good writing, humor, drama, characters, and a respect for wrestling that has long been missing in these kinds of things.

Season 1 is about introduction and training.  Alison Brie is Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress who longs for bigger and meatier parts.  A casting director turns her onto the GLOW auditions, where we meet the rest.  Her friend Debbie is a former soap opera actress, and new mother.  She ends up involved in the group, by accident.  We see Ruth finding her character and the finale has them taping their pilot.  There are real wrestlers involved:  Chavo Guerrero Jr (behind the scenes trainer & choreographer), John Morrison, Tyrus/Brodus Clay, Carlito Colon, Joey Ryan, Alex Riley and Brooke Hogan (who is neither a wrestler, nor much of an actress, as she demonstrates).

Season 2 has the group taping their shows, dealing with harassment from a network exec, divorce, and identity issues.  One episode features an episode is presented entirely as an episode of te GLOW tv show (fictional version), done in the style of the original; but, with better skits and acting (and wrestling).  New wrestler Yolanda is introduced, an openly gay stripper/dancer.  Chavo Guerrero Jr and Carlito Colon appear in the finale (Chavo plays "Chico Guapo.")

Season 3 finds the group in Las Vegas, putting on nightly shows, but always the same show (the original put on different matches, for tapings), until they change things up for their last show (Freaky Tuesday) and then a Christmas show (they get extended at the casino), where they do an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with Zoya as Scrooge, who faces the Ghost of Christmas Future (Carmen) in a match, where Carmen does some Undertaker stuff (since she represents Death).  Carlito Colon appears in an episode.

Some interesting parallels to the original GLOW, that came up, by chance.  The producers were unaware that Mando Guerrero had trained the original group, when they were interviewing his nephew, Chavo Jr, about the role of trainer/choreography.  Kia Stevens, who wrestled as Awesome Kong, had a connection to the original group.  Her mother worked as a minor actress and audience coordinator for tv game shows and had done a B-movie with Americana, the original GLOW champion.

The original performers have not been involved; but, Little Egypt has hosted a podcast, for Buzz TV, where each episode examined a pair of the tv episodes, with one of the other originals, plus cast members.  Guests included Americana, Godiva, Hollywood and David McLane, himself, who did not appear in the documentary, as he was afraid it was going to be a hatchet job and the producers couldn't convey what they wanted to present.  He adds quite a bit of history missing from the documentary, though he is such a huckster that you have to be really patient to listen to him (hated his announcing, in the WWA and on GLOW).  Kia Stevens got to meet Americana and remind her of her mother and she instantly remembered her and told her she had copies of the movie they did that could replace the one they lost in a fire. It was a really sweet episode of the podcast.  (You can see them on Youtube).  Netflix also has the GLOW documentary, which includes a reunion, participation by Lisa Morettie, Dee "Matilda the Hun" Booer, Mt Fiji (whose character Carmen is based upon), Little Egypt, Hollywood, Godiva, Americana, Suzy Spirit, Big Mama, and just about everyone of the originals (including Col Ninotchka).

Meh.....

Any Wrestlemania with Trump's involvement was terrible, which should have been a sign. the Casino venue was terrible, for presentation and Trump desperately needed a draw, as that place was sinking fast. The crowd didn't give a defecation and it killed any atmosphere for the card. The tournament wasn't particularly well booked, though at least Savage got his due, defeating Ted Dibiase. problem was, Savage wasn't allowed to win it on his own, having Hogan interfere for him, which tainted things. Mach vs Ted should have been fantastic, as Ted was probably the best worker in the business, capable of being both heel and babyface. He had been groomed ot be NWA World Champion and would have been perfect; but, he didn't seem to want it and didn't play the political games. McMahon wasted him with the gimmick he created for himself, keeping him as a source of personal amusement, rather than exploiting Dibiase's pure skill in the ring. dibiase had so many better matches in Mid-South and georgia, not to mention Japan, before his neck got messed up.

Savage wrestled 3 matches, which he could easily do and was in with great workers. His semi-final match was a throwback to his days as ICW World Champion, in his family's promotion. One Man Gang (the future Akeem) got his early start in ICW, as Crusher Broomfield, who was a stooge/muscle for Randy, until Ronnie Garvin won his freedom, in a match (they were redoing old Crusher Jerry Blackwell angles, from Knoxville, where Garvin came from, before ICW). Then, Crusher took on Savage in a title match over the course of an entire tv show....







Gang could move, for a guy his size and, in Mid-South, Dallas, Florida, and Mid-Atlantic, was portrayed as a dangerous monster. WWF started out using him that way; but, didn't do it very effectively. he was fed to Hogan, then dropped down the card. Big mistake. Akeem was a repackaging to do something with him, as the One Man Gang gimmick was killed. Incidentally, the One Man Gang name came from Ronnie Garvin, as that was his nickname in Southeastern and ICW. He only became the hands of Stone, when Crockett took over Georgia. Garvin's gimmick had been that he was, literally, a one man gang. He beat on everyone.

The WWF did not do tournaments well. The Japanese know how to do these thing and make them important. Vince never makes the tournament seem important; so, most matches are throwaways, except the final and whatever sets up the final (usually the semis, where an angle goes down). Southern promotions did them much better, also, as they built to a big finish, each match more important than the last. Even Southwest Championship Wrestling (Joe Blanchard's San Antonio promotion, where Shawn michaels got his start) did it better with their bogus World title tournament. they claimed invitations were sent to other promotions; but, it was just their current guys, using Terry funk's copy of the NWA belt. The finals had Adrian Adonis (before he was doing the Adorable bit) and Bob orton Jr, in a fantastic match between two natural workers. Adonis won and was presented the belt and the original NWA World title belt, held by Lou Thesz...

Just came across this, from the Canadian site, Slam Wrestling, with Jim Cornette and Jerry Jarrett, talking about the real "Mama" Cornette...



Shame jim looks nothing like his mother.

The King of the Ring is one of those things that I really don't care for.

Piper and Lawler was supposed to be a feud in 1983, in Georgia.  Lawler came in as a heel, while staying a babyface, in memphis, cutting promos on an absent Piper.  Piper responded the following week and you had the two best pure talkers in the business insulting each other.  Would have been great.  Then, Ole Anderson fired Piper, who was splitting his time with Mid-Atlantic and went there full time, for angles with Greg Valentine and ric Flair, before becoming the lead heel, for Vince.  Problem was, it was a bit too late, for Piper as a ring performer; plus, they didn't have that same level of build-up.

Lawler had a tough time, when he first came into the WWF.  There was a lot of bad blood with wrestlers who worked memphis, for peanuts, while Lawler, as part owner, got rich.  Steve Keirn, who bore the brunt of it more than anyone, as half of the Fabulous Ones, decided to give Lawler a special welcome and took a dump in Lawler's crown.  Childish, to be certain; but, it sent a message to Lawler that he had to earn people's respect there.  He did, though his own shady life interrupted that first run, as he aced charges of statutory rape.  he was acquitted, though there was evidence of witness tampering and plenty of unproduced evidence of Lawler's history with underaged girls.  One wrestler said he was involved with Stacy Carter, his later wife (The Kat), when she was 13.  That wrestler faced legal issues over an underaged girl and was a major drug user; so, he was a questionable source.  However, plenty have corroborated that Lawler had many encounters with girls under 18 and that Memphis was known for underage "ring rats" (groupies).