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Wrestling Game asked:


This is the 15th “Balistik Blabber” article and in case you just joined the bandwagon, I’m your host Wrestling game, bringing wonderful and sometimes awful memories of ex-WWE stars back into the spotlight! To my regular readers, thanks again for all the support! Your suggestions for this article are always appreciated!

I promised you something “awesome” for this week’s article… and after researching the history of this guy, I am elated to say he is more than just “awesome”; he could very well be EPIC. I bring you one of the most agile heavyweights to grace the ring.

MIKE AWESOME!!

Nowadays we see a lot of “power” wrestlers doing lots of “power” moves like chokeslams, sidewalk slams and powerbombs. Unfortunately, most of them stick to just those moves causing critics to label them Joe-”5-moves”-Wrestler or something like that. Then we have Michael Lee Alfonso~

The cousin and childhood buddy of Horace Hogan, Michael and Horace were impressed at the success of Horace’s uncle Hulk Hogan during the 1980s. Before I continue, I just want to point out people don’t seem to think this 2nd degree connection makes Mike and Hulk Hogan related but oh well, you decide~ After training under Steve “Doink 2″ Keirn, he started wrestling for Steve in Pro Wrestling Federation (PFW) in 1989. After that he wrestled for the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) for awhile and suddenly got a big break appearing in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for the first time as…

A LUCHADOR!!!

As “The Pro”, he basically jobbed but that is irrelevant. The following year (1990 to those not doing their math), Mike was on his way to Japan to work for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)!!! He used the name “The Gladiator” and began wearing face paint as part of the gimmick.

Standing 6 feet 7 inches, this guy was a sight to behold in Japan! Even more surprising, he was fast! He could run, he could jump, he would even do planchas and top rope maneuvers! It was in this fashion he made an impact in the company! It was here he would begin his monstrous feud with Japan’s rock-headed Masato Tanaka and carry it over to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)! Working between FMW and ECW from 1990 to 2000, he got his first major title victories. These include the “FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship” together with Rick “Big Titan” Bogner in 1993 and then the “FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship” against none other than the company’s top performer HAYABUSA in 1995!!! After the match the two warriors embraced and showed respect for one another, truly a classic match… and it is now YOUR assignment to find and watch this match on YouTube! It’ll be worth your while trust me~

Mike was forced to vacate the title due to an injury but later recaptured it in 1996. In a grand victory over W*NG Kanemura later that year he unified it with “FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship” making him a double-belt champion! The guy was ON FIRE as he added the “FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles” to his record the following year and thus making him a triple-belt champion!!!

Just a random story during his stay in Japan: he got in trouble with the Yakuza! To those who don’t know, the “Yakuza” is Japan’s version of the “Sicilian Mafia” or the “Chinese Triad”. It happened in one FMW show where some Yakuza were beating the crap out of his friend Sabu (!) and he made the save. This forced Mike and the rest of the foreign talent of FMW to hide out in their lockers because the other members of the Yakuza were waiting to do evil things to them in the hallway! Thankfully, FMW veteran Atsushi Onita was able to grant them safe passage out of the arena and into safety!

Soon after the fall of FMW, Mike returned to ECW (1998) for his second run, along with Masato Tanaka to continue their hellacious feud. With each man picking up the victory after every other match they had, it seemed neither man would be the clear cut winner… until that year’s “August Heat Wave” PPV where Tanaka got the win at the end of Mike’s second ECW run. It would be on his 3rd time with ECW would he earn its top prize in a slobber knocker of a 3-way dance. Fighting against Taz and Tanaka, Mike would end the bout with his signature “AWESOME BOMB” on Tanaka to become the “ECW Heavyweight Champion” in 1999! The gold keeps on pouring with the attainment of the ECW World Tag Team Titles with Raven in 2000!! It seemed like everything was going Mike’s way until that faithful April of 2000… Mike jumped ship to WCW while still the ECW champ, causing mayhem between the 2 companies! Before things got ugly with legal mumbo jumbo, a compromise was reached and Mike Awesome relinquished his title to Taz and continued on with WCW which would lead to one of his most embarrassing gimmicks ever… “The Fat ***** Thriller” and then later… “That 70’s Guy”… I’d like to skip the details but that wouldn’t make this a “fair” look into his career so instead, I’ll summarize: both these gimmicks were “so-so” compared to his “neutral character”. Thankfully, being the great wrestler he is, he still managed to put up impressive matches with these gimmicks. These matches include a grudge with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse. Other highlights of this time would be when he Awesome Bombed Hulk Hogan through a table (seriously, not a lot of people got to do that) and also when he threw Chris Kanyon off the first level of a three-level steel cage. Oh yeah, did I mention that “That 70’s Guy” got a talk show segment called the “Lava Lamp Lounge”? Check this one out; he looks like a certain “Shame”.

After nearly a WHOLE YEAR of having these gimmicks, he finally dropped them and became “The Career Killer”. Surely you get the point just by reading those three words? It got changed to “The Canadian Career Killer” when he joined “Team Canada” with Lance Storm and Elix Skipper (I miss these guys…). Together they did great, except one time when Mike lost to Konnan in a “Hair VS Hair” match, costing him his mullet~ In 2001, WCW was finally purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (GASP! THE WORD THAT MUST NOT BE SPOKEN!!!) thus officially tying him to the biggest wrestling company of the country. He was put into the “Invasion” storyline and even got his first title, “The WWF ******** Title” (how befitting) when he attacked Rhyno who had just beaten Test for said belt. This was the only decent push he had until he lost the title to Jeff Hardy. Not happy with how the WWF runs things and completely livid at the intense backstage politics, he was extremely (no pun intended) overjoyed when he was fired. After the release, Mike went back to the indies, even appearing on Total Nonstop Action (TNA), and then for “Major League Wrestling” (MLW) in 2003. Here, he became MLW champion for 10 minutes after beating All Japan Pro Wrestling’s (AJPW) Satoshi Kojima. It wouldn’t be until 2 years later we would see him again facing his long-time rival Tanaka on the 1st “One Night Stand” PPV. Although Joey Styles and some of the fans seemed to **** him for his past actions, the crowd still cheered both men and gave a standing ovation to its finish: Awesome Bombing Tanaka to a table outside the ring, followed by a slingshot plancha and the pin.

In the following year of 2006, Michael Alfonso announced his retirement from professional wrestling. He wanted to be with his family and said that the only thing that would bring him back to the ring was a “decent pay”, something he claims he rarely gets. It seemed like a pretty good end to a high-octane wrestling career…

Sadly on February 17, 2007, Michael was found lifeless in his Tampa, Florida home. He was 42 years old and survived by his wife and two children. Why it had to end like this we may never know but wherever he is, I can assure you he’s still as awesome as he was when he was in the ring giving us great wrestling entertainment!

Thank you Mike… rest in peace!

Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you all on the next issue of “Balistik Blabber” to see which ex-WWE talent will be remembered!



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Scott Miller asked:


When I was 19 I got my start on the radio in Creston Iowa, they didn’t have a full time opening, but I desperately wanted to work on the radio, so I was a part time salesperson and part time on air personality.

What I really wanted, was to be a sportscaster; one day I overheard two guys talking about this radio station that had broadcast high school wrestling. Sounded interesting, so I decided that our radio station should broadcast an upcoming high school wrestling tournament. I convinced my boss that this was a great idea and we sold every available commercial in less than a week. Advertisers loved the idea, I made a little money on the advertising sales and what was more important to me, I got to broadcast the event.

About 2 weeks before the tournament I called the guy that had already broadcast high school wrestling and asked him how he did it. That makes sense doesn’t it? You don’t have to know how to do everything that you want to do in life, just find somebody who has already done it, and do what they did!

When he told me what he did, I started to panic. What I didn’t know was that he didn’t really broadcast the entire two-day event! He just did a few reports, live from the tournament. Well that may have worked for him but we sold so many commercials the only way we could get them all in was to broadcast live for about 18 hours! I told the guy what I had to do, since we had sold so many ads - I asked this guy, that had been in the radio business for years what he would do and he said, - look for another job!

I was in a pickle and I knew it. If I went to the station manager and told her that I couldn’t do it, I knew I was toast, my incredible broadcasting career would end right there in Creston Iowa. So I did the only thing I could think of, I started to figure out how to do something, that to my knowledge, had never been done before. I was going to broadcast high school wrestling on the radio for 18 hours.

The funny thing is, we did it, and it was awesome. I needed help and believe me I asked for it. I didn’t know that many people in Creston, but I asked for help from everybody, I had to, if this thing didn’t happen I could lose my job.

Some people, actually ALMOST EVERYBODY that I talked to said it couldn’t be done, that I was crazy for even thinking about doing it and that nobody has ever done such a thing before. Who did I think I was?

Looking back almost 30 years later it still blows me away that when faced with what most people would consider insurmountable odds, I didn’t beg for my job, I figured out how to do my job to the best of my ability. Some would say that because of ignorance, I overheard something and didn’t really have the whole story, because of that ignorance on fire, I’m a young guy and I can do it attitude, I attempted to do something that had never been done.

What would have happened if I had all the facts? If I had talked to those guys and said who did it and how did they do it, - I wouldn’t have even tried.

When faced with those same circumstances what would you have done? What would you do if faced with those circumstances right now? What seems impossible in your life right now? Have you been told that you couldn’t do something? Did you accept what somebody else told you?

Sometimes we have too much information from too many sources and sometimes those sources don’t know what they’re talking about.

If I had gotten all the information before I went to my boss we would probably have done a few reports and nothing groundbreaking would have occurred. It really is amazing what you can do, when you don’t know, you can’t do it.

There are things that you would like to do in your life right now that you probably won’t even think about doing because somebody has already told you that it can’t be done! Why do we listen to those people?

Make it a habit to surround yourself with people who lift you up. Don’t concern yourself with what negative people have to say. Believe! Have faith. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t know you can’t do it.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Yoshi Kundagawa asked:


Shuai Jiao is probably the world’s oldest martial art. In modern Chinese, its name is used to refer to any wrestling sport. Outside of China, though, it means the ancient Chinese and Mongolian wrestling styles. Legend has it that Shuai Jiao is descended from a sport called Jiao Di, where the contestants wore helmets with horns on them and tried to head **** each other. I don’t know about you, but I bet getting hit by one of those hurt! In 2687 BC, the Yellow Emperor’s army even used Jiao Di to gore rebel soldiers.

Jiao Di didn’t keep its horns, though. In the Qin Dynasty, it combined with the grappling sport called Jiao Li turned into a public sport for amusing the Imperial Court, and recruiting the best fighters for the Emperor’s bodyguards in the process. I bet you didn’t know that some contests could last a while week and have over a thousand wrestlers involved. Wrestling in some form or another was taught to soldiers for all of China’s history, but it wasn’t called Shuai Jiao until 1928 when the rules got standardized for competition. Now it’s popular among the Mongols, and is taught to police and soldiers in China and Taiwan.

Now, when the Emperors were using Shuai Jiao to pick out the best bodyguards, fighters did their competitions bare-chested. Now training is done in a heavy cotton jacket for better protection. However, it’s important to know that in Shuai Jiao, you don’t try to get a hold on your opponent’s clothes. Instead, you grab his muscles through the clothing and use that to throw him. The jacket you wear if you’re learning Shuai Jiao has another use, too. It helps you control and throw your opponent by being close fitting and having short sleeves. You generally wear Chinese martial arts pants when learning how to do Shuai Jiao. You can practice barefoot, but a lot of people wear wrestling boots.

Although Shuai Jiao is the oldest martial art, it’s split up into a bunch of different styles. In different regions of China, they practice Shuai Jiao with a little bit of a different flavor. So Beijing has its own style. Other major kinds of Shuai Jiao are Tian Jin, Mongolian or Boke, and Bao Ding, as well as a lot of minor variations in different provinces. You’ve got to expect that a martial art that’s been around for thousands of years would have a few different ways of doing things.

Since Shuai Jiao developed from combat techniques on the battlefield, it doesn’t beat around the bush. The grappling techniques it uses are no nonsense and practical, and they get your opponent on the ground as fast as possible. However, almost every martial art has some philosophy thrown in, and Shuai Jiao isn’t an exception. The advanced fighter uses the principles of Yin and Yang to balance and complement each other. Shuai Jiao has been around for a long time as a fighting discipline, and it looks like it’s here to stay.



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Wrist Exercise asked:


Who would think that 4 minutes a day a few days a week would make such a difference but the Gripstik Regimen only requires that. Specific movements using the gripstik can lead to vast improvements in strength and flexibility. Go to http://www.gripstik.com for details on the exact workouts.

Adjustable tension control allows you to tailor your strength training routine to achieve your desired goals. Whether you want to increase grip strength, speed up rehab, relieve stress caused by repetitive motion or loosen up just before the next big event, Gripstik forearm exerciser can help. No whirring sounds. No batteries. No magnets. No herbal remedies. Just your willingness to focus four minutes a day several times a week will help you achieve your personal goals.

Some of Gripstik Grip Strength training benefits include:

Isometric tension of all the forearm exercises increases grip strength, reduces stress, tones and sculpts targeted muscles, reduces the onset of arm pump when used as a stretching aid prior to activity and reduces discomfort caused by repetitive motion disorders.

Here is a list of some satisfied customers who use the Gripstik Wrist Exerciser:

-Bill Collins: 5 time World Arm Wrestling Champion and Captain of TEAM USA Arm Wrestling

Read up on Bill’s tips to Arm Wrestling Training at http://www.gripstik.com/arm-wrestling.html.

-Brandi Profitt: Nationally Ranked Professional Rock Climber

Read Brandi’s review of Gripstik at http://www.gripstik.com/rock-climbing.html

- Larry Eastman: MN State Racquetball champion in Singles and Doubles

Read Larry’s Top 10 Racquetball Training Tips at http://www.gripstik.com/racquetball-equipment.html

-Joe Day and Curtis Brown: NHL Players

Read Frank Burggraf’s (Burggraf Skating and Skills On and Off Ice Training Centers) Article on Training for Hockey Success at http://www.gripstik.com/ice-hockey-training-equipment.html

- Joe Stansberry: USGA Champion and PGA Champions Tour Player

Read Joe’s review on how the gripstik helped him when he was ailing from carpal tunnel syndrome at http://www.gripstik.com/therapy-carpal-tunnel.html

For more reviews and testimonials go to http://www.gripstik.com/Strength_Training_Home_Exercise_Equipment_testimonials.html



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Steve Dubin asked:


It is the fastest growing sport since NASCAR and giving professional boxing a run for its money, but what exactly is Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)?  Some say that it is the sheer violence and ferocity that surrounds the sport of MMA that has spurred controversy as well as impressive TV ratings. 

USMMA, located at 316 Hartford Avenue in Bellingham, is hosting an open house and workshop, “What is an Ultimate Fighter?”, to introduce and demonstrate the sport of Mixed Martial Arts on Saturday, September 20, from 10AM – 1PM, at its Bellingham training and yoga center. As the fastest growing sport, especially among young people, there is much to be learned about MMA such as the athleticism involved and the real fighters and their stories.

Critics, including prominent politicians and concerned parents, have called for a ban on the sport.  Presidential hopeful John McCain refers to it as “Human Cockfighting”.  As many as 35 states have hosted sanctioned MMA events proving that there is no questioning the sports popularity. 

SpikeTV was the first cable television network to showcase the sport with “The Ultimate Fighter,” reality series.  Fans of the sport can easily tune in at almost any time and view a fight and it is taking off like wildfire outselling pay-per-view sales of boxing matches 10 to 1.

“It’s not just one of those cult sports anymore. It’s really become mainstream,” said Tom Hafers, CEO of the United States Mixed Martial Arts (USMMA) program, in Bellingham, MA. “We are passionate about Mixed Martial Arts and are excited to share it with everyone interested in its explosive growth,” he said.

USMMA is home to International Ultimate Fighting Champions including co-owner Jorge Rivera, also known as “El Conquistador”, and several other emerging MMA stars like Mike Campbell.  Campbell was recently chosen for the reality show “TapouT” on SpikeTV.

Just what is this sport all about?  The goal of the workshop hosted by Hafers and Rivera, is to introduce Mixed Martial Arts with a brief presentation and hands-on demonstration.  In addition to demonstrations, attendees will have the honor of meeting Ultimate Fighting Champions.  They will answer questions for anyone wanting to learn about MMA or their fighting experiences.  Light refreshments will also be provided. 

The event, located at the state-of-the-art padded training center, will focus on the various mixed martial arts programs including: 

§  Mixed Martial Arts:  Mixed Martial Arts is a compilation of combat skills involving Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Thai Boxing, Wrestling, Kickboxing, Judo and Boxing, in what is quickly evolving into one of the most popular sports in the world.

§  Thai Boxing:  Thai Boxing, the national sport of Thailand, is a martial art that involves striking with the hands, feet, elbows and knees. Known as the “Art of the Eight Limbs,” Thai Boxing equips practitioners with the ability to execute strikes from eight different points, giving them a greater arsenal of defense techniques in contrast to boxing and kickboxing. The sport is widely practiced throughout Southeast Asia and is quickly gaining popularity in the United States.

§  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, known as BJJ, is a martial art rooted in ground fighting and submission wrestling. First developed in Brazil by the world-renown Gracie family, BJJ promotes the belief that a weaker individual using proper leverage and technique can successfully defend his or herself from a larger, stronger opponent.

§  Boxing:  Boxing is often called the Western martial art, but it is more accurately identified as a martial sport. It probably originated in ancient Greece or Rome, as there is evidence that the Greek pankratium (also spelled pankration) competitions included a boxing­like event. The pugilistic sport then spread to most every Western country, and in the early 20th century it became a popular spectator sport. Boxing techniques have played an important role in the development of modern kickboxing, since they are often judged as being more effective than the hand techniques of the Asian martial arts. The techniques are now being added to the curriculum at many schools that teach eclectic martial arts.

§  Judo:  Judo was intended to be a martial sport derived from jujutsu. Created by Jigoro Kano in the 1880s, it enjoyed much popularity as its practitioners routinely defeated students of other martial arts. Kano created the Kodokan Judo Institute in 1882 as the governing body for the sport. Later, it was adopted into the curriculum of Japanese public schools. Judo became an Olympic sport in 1964, when the Games were held in Tokyo. Judo training emphasizes throwing an opponent to the ground by grasping his body or uniform. Once down, a variety of chokes and joint locks may be used to effect a submission. Two important parts of judo training- character development and morality-make judo a preferred martial art for children to practice.

§  Wrestling:  Wrestling is a combative sport that probably originated in ancient Greece and Rome. It is practiced in various forms in most cultures of the world (sumo in Japan, ssirum in Korea, khok in Armenia, Sambo in Russia, etc.). It formed the basis for the Japanese martial sport of shoot fighting, and many of its techniques are similar to those of judo.

 

The United States Mixed Martial Arts Training Center, located on Hartford Avenue in Bellingham, focuses on elevating the physical and spiritual well being of students through Mixed Martial Arts and Yoga. This is accomplished through a four-pronged approach to reality self-defense training centered in total body wellness. 

The state of the art, 4 thousand-square foot training facility is complete with a 2 thousand-square foot padded MMA training floor equipped with heavy bags and conditioning equipment, a 15 hundred-square foot yoga studio, locker rooms, showers and a juice bar. To contact USMMA, call 508-966-5006 or visit their website at www.usmma.org.

 



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Jon Murray asked:


Sometimes in life we need to take a step back, ignore our hearts and go with our heads. UFC 68 on March 3rd, in Columbus Ohio is one of those times. The main event on the UFC 68 card is Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia vs Randy “The Natural” Couture. Tim Sylvia stands 6′8″ and weighs in around 265 pounds and is 30 years old. Randy Couture is 6′1″, 205 pounds (probably 10 or 15 heavier for this fight and is 43 years old. Almost everyone I know wants Randy to defeat Tim Sylvia, but they are thinking with their hearts, not their heads.

I am also guilty of wanting a couture victory. Sure, Randy, do it for us old guys. Show those big young lads that there is still a little steam left in the over 40 crowd. Recapture your glory and go out on top as champion of the UFC heavyweight division. I’m positive that Randy thinks he can do this and he certainly has the background for it. Randy is a 3 time Olympic wrestling alternate. He’s won the UFC heavyweight title on two seperate occasions and also won the UFC light heavyweight title defeating Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfor along the way.

Here’s my best 5 reasons why I don’t think Randy Couture will be able to win (despite my intense desire for a Couture victory).

5) Striking - As much as I **** to admit it, Tim Sylvia is a great striker. He’s shown this by defeating Ricco Rodriguez, Tre Telligman and Andrei Arlovski twice. You can talk about lucky punches all you want, but when these things happen over and over again, you’ve gotta give Tim Syliva his due.

4) Weight - At 270 pounds, Tim Sylvia will likely out weight Randy by 50 pounds or more on fight night. If Randy attempts to come in heavier to counter this advantage he might find his timing off and speed advantage reduced. Randy Couture will have a hard time pushing Tim Sylvia around the ring and if Tim gets on top of Randy, it’s going to be tough work to get him off.

3) Strength - Tim Sylvia is an animal, a mountain of a man and he’s incredibly strong. This is the strength that comes both naturally and from his intense training program at the Miletich camp, run by UFC great Pat Miletich. While Randy is strong for his size, and very talented, Tim Sylvia should be able to out muscle Randy Couture in most situations.

2) Height - Tim Sylvia is too big for Randy. Jeff Monson is a good wrestler and an excellent ground fighter, but he had a lot of trouble taking down Tim Sylvia, and when he did get Tim to the ground, he basically could not reach Tim’s head to punch while he was in Tim’s guard. It’s anyone’s guess why Jeff didn’t lean back and attempt a leg lock or heel hook, especially as Tim Silva’s been caught before in one of those by former heavyweight champ, Andrei Arlovski.

1) Age - It’s a simple as that, over time we all slow down, even Randy Couture. Muscle doesn’t recover as well in training and putting on new muscle gets harder with each passing year. Sure Randy is pretty much super human, entering the eco-challenge and competing at the top level of mixed martial arts and wrestling for most of his life. However, we all slow down.

The Randy Couture fans out there, of which I am one, will tell you that Randy’s superior conditioning, wrestling ability and take downs will be more than enough to counter and physical advantages that Tim Sylvia has. That’s wishful thinking. On fight night, I’ll be rooting for Randy Couture, cheering on the old guy, but in my head I know that’s just a dream.

Take it easy, and keep watching the fights!



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

MCStylin asked:


I can remember back to the early good days of wrestling. Back when wrestling really started to explode and take off in its World Wrestling Federation (WWF) days. It was when Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage and Andre the Giant were wrestling. Gimmick wrestlers like Iron Sheik, Million Dollar Man and Nikolai Volkov were there as well. There were diverse characters who stood out and each had a story to tell. And they each came to the ring with powerful and different theme music which made them easily identified and cheered or jeered.

Hulk Hogan has perhaps the most famous of wrestling songs with “Real American”. According to info found at Wikipedia, Hogan originally used the Survivor song Eye of the Tiger which was from the Rocky movie’s soundtrack. Hogan of course had made a cameo in the Rocky 3 movie. Hulk later started using the tune we all know, “Real American” as performed by Rick Derringer. The song became synonomous with Hulkamania and fans everywhere continue to cheer to it. Somehow fans can’t help but feel goosebumps when that tune comes on, whether they are at an arena or watching a WWE event at home. It’s classic and timeless music we identify with a wrestling legend.

Other very famous pieces of WWE music have been used with The Macho Man Randy Savage and Ric Flair. These two entrance themes are borrowed classical music making them even more recognizable. The Macho Man used the very famous music of Pomp and Circumstance, which is heard year in and out at graduation ceremonies. Ric Flair uses the well-know Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30 by Richard Strauss. The piece was inspired by a Friedrich Nietzsche book and was also used in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001.

Over the years WWE has brought forth many more popular wrestlers, each with distinct music and theme songs. There’s the famous entrance of Stone Cold Steve Austin, complete with glass shattering to start the tune off. There’s The Rock’s famous entrance song which features the bravado and smooth yet cocky funk of the People’s Champ. Undertaker’s famous bell toll followed by his eery organ music that could be heard in a funeral parlor. John Cena is one of a handful of superstars to record his own music for use as an entrance theme. There’s many more including the current theme music for wrestlers like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Batista and Rey Mysterio..

It’s the music that makes WWE just as good as the in-ring wrestling action. The music pumps up the fans and gets them ready for the action. It also gives us an identifying trademark for each wrestler, just as symbolic as their finishing moves. The WWE music will always live on, long after wrestling careers end.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

RoiceKrueger asked:


I remember the exact moment I learned the principle of preparing for luck.

I was on the wrestling team. Now, if there’s one thing I can tell you about any sport, it is that wrestling is probably the sport that has the least luck. There are only two people out on the mat, so you cannot blame it on your teammates, your mother, your father, or your coach. And guess what? There is no weather because we do the whole thing indoors, so you can’t say, “It was raining” or “It was snowing.” It makes sense to say wrestling is the sport with the least luck.

On our team were two world champions; one of them had been a world champion five times. We also had five people who were national champions, and most of them had been national champions five years in a row. It was an amazing team. One of these wrestlers was a guy by the name of John.

John had never been defeated in any high school wrestling competition that I could remember, because he was a national champion. There was nobody locally who could touch him.

He would go out, pin them, and go home. The next match he would do it all over again: pin them and go home.

One day, we went for a match with our biggest perennial rival. John went out on the mat, and about a minute and 30 seconds into the match he tried to execute a particular move. He rolled over, and his opponent caught him halfway through his roll. He was pinned instantly!

The match was over.

I remember on the bus on the way home, one of our teammates tried to comfort John by saying, “Oh, he just got lucky.” And John said, “That’s so stupid. The opportunity presented itself, and he exploited it.”

We used to have this big sign in our wrestling room that the coach had put there: “Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation.”

John’s opponent was prepared to exploit this opportunity. The odds of beating John were not strong, and he knew it.

But he paid attention for the right opportunity to present itself, and he defeated and pinned a five-time national champion.

In other words, the real message is “Be prepared!” It’s not just finding the opportunity; you have to be prepared to seize it.



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Bob Cline asked:


When the Roman soldiers threw their slaves, criminals, and undesirables into the Coliseum then turned the savage man eating lions loose upon them, everyone knew what the gruesome outcome was going to be.

However dreadful it was, it was the basic beginning to the man vs. beast mythology that has followed for over two thousand years. Many a circus advertisement or circus poster from the mid to late eighteen hundreds showed a circus performer in a Roman Gladiator outfit as he wrestled a lion, or even stood with one foot on the lion as the marked conqueror of such a vicious beast.

As the development of a circus became an original idea, simple feats of bravery were considered to be exceptional behavior and held in awe and amazement by all that witnessed such a circus act. It is this form of bravery that allows us to document the beginning of man and the wild circus animals together in the same cage at the same time. Van Amburgh is given due credit as being the first animal subjugator in America as he entered a den of man eating circus Lions and returned unscathed. These were usually the cages the circus animals remained in. The circus performer then entered this den of dangerous denizens of the damp, dark jungle to stand or even sit in the same cage with these animals during a parade or as the main attraction. The attraction of circus animals and humans together was thrilling to say the least.

While lions and tigers were the most commonly used circus animals due to their size, colors, and availability to acquire, a wide variety of animals were used in the circus acts or caged displays including leopards, bears, and other feline creatures. By the late 1800’s, a new turn of events was taking place with the evolution of this animal and man encounter moving to a huge portable animal cage that the animals could thus enter, move around, and return to their holding dens. This became know as the Steel Arena as these portable cages were made from all steel fabrication and weighed a ton creating a large arena to work in. The combining of the wild animal and the circus performer under the big circus tents was becoming an amazing attraction.

The European influence was new and spellbinding as visitors to the great shows at Coney Island or the Chicago and St. Louis World’s Fairs saw these great circus animals entering this huge steel cage and actually doing something in a form of a performance by getting on pedestals and holding still in various formations to the circus performer reading a newspaper while sitting in front of them. People were gasping in terror as they witnessed these remarkable circus performers enter into a steel cage filled with five or six dangerous animals, work with them and a couple made actual hands on contact with the animals before returning to the relative safety associated with being outside of the caged arena.

By the early 1900’s, American trainers were becoming involved in huge ways with the presentation of these wild animal acts. Some of the premier animals trainers like Louis Roth began by training their own act then moving on to train more acts that other people ended up performing. These performances were not confined to just lions and tigers. There were complete acts with as many as 15 Polar bears, Spotted and Black leopards, jaguars, and then the most incredible displays of all, the mixed acts.

Circus Animals were all captured in the wild as were all Zoo animals back at the turn of the century. So to have a jungle bred animal that is full grown and never been around a human before, then to have a person brave enough to work with them was purely amazing. The Circus performers who entered the great steel cage took their lives into their own hands every time they did. The lions and tigers were generally described as hating each other and kept the hair on everyone’s neck standing straight up until the trainer was out and the last animal was securely put away again. People were standing in long lines to buy their circus tickets.

One such young man, named Clyde Beatty was a young kid from Bainbridge, Ohio working at cleaning up around the animals on a circus when he got the chance to go in the great steel cage. He never looked back. After over forty years of battling the deadly combination of lions and tigers together in a fast and thrilling journey that included as many as 40 animals at one time, Clyde also found the time to appear in Movies and commercials and owned his own Circus. His legacy was infamous and his name so well known that for 40 years after his death, his name was still on the title of the circus.

At the same time as Clyde Beatty was establishing himself as a true circus performer and master of the steel arena, another man, Terrell Jacobs, the Lion King, was already well established in the great cage filled with over 50 of these dangerous circus animals under the big circus tents. The ability of one man to go in with 50 mortal enemies, perform with them in manners we never thought of as possible, and return safely brought the crowds to their feet every time he had finished his circus act. The Circus Clowns always followed to bring joy and laughter to one and all and to give everyone a moment or two to slow their own hearts down again.

Men weren’t the only circus performers entering the steel arena daily. Lucia Zora on Sells-Floto was in the cage before the 1920’s with her hugely appreciated circus act as well as working her circus elephants. Other women followed but no one took more risks, and understood her animals more than the legendary tiger trainer, Mabel Stark. She knew her animals well and even raised a few of them herself. Standing in front of her massive circus animals is one thing but Mabel took her exciting circus acts to new heights when she started to wrestle a tiger daily. Two and three times a day. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would have as many as three circus acts with wild animals all at the same time.

The greatest displays of animals working together were the mixed acts where more than one species was working at the same time. Many of the acts incorporated several species of animals. Alfred Court was instrumental in the utilization of mixed breeds by having Leopards and Dogs together or the large groups with lions, tigers, polar bears, great Danes, leopards, and cougars all together at one time. Making it even more interesting was a circus elephant, horse, or combination of both in the great cage with a lion or tiger riding on top of the elephant. The early 1960’s saw a beautiful mixed act with Leopards, wolf hybrids, and a zebra.

In an effort to always make a presentation better than ever before, more exotic animals were introduced to the performances such as the amazing snow leopards or cheetahs. Just in the past 40 years, we have seen the arrival of a white tiger to US soil. This magnificent animal has reproduced many times through the ages to allow the genetics to now offer the White tigers with stripes, white tigers without stripes, the Golden Tabbies, a white tiger with gray stripes, the regular colored tigers, and reports from China of a bluish / grayish tiger. The Circus has offered circus acts with these white tigers and a mixed variety of these colors as these beautiful circus animals showed off the natural beauty.

The 1973 Endangered Species Act took note of the loss of animals in the wild and prohibited animals to be removed from the wild for commercial purposes any more. Zoos and Circuses could not obtain animals from the wild so captive breeding programs have supplied all the animals in the circus in the United States since then with most of the feline family or “Big Cats” generally only living 18 to 20 years. Sadly extinction is forever. Of the eight subspecies of tigers in the wild, The Bengal, Siberian, and Sumatran tigers still exist with the other five considered extinct now.

To read more about these incredible circus animals and the circus, look in our circus books and circus DVDs at http://www.thecircusworld.com



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Michael Greeves asked:


Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full, contact sport which includes techniques such as striking and grappling. This sport can serve as a workout that helps improve many different areas of your body. There are different styles in mixed martial arts and the stand-up style helps improve your punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing and footwork techniques.

Striking

A strike is an attack with a part of your body or with an object such as a weapon. Punches, kicks and headbutts are all forms of strikes. Although, headbutts are prohibited in many MMA organizations because of the amount of harm it can cause a person. Your back, hips, forearms, shoulders, wrists and fingertips can also be used for striking in some martial arts. Judo and wrestling are sports that do not employ striking.

Grappling

Grappling is controlling an opponent without the use of striking. You would use gripping and handling in order to control your opponent. There are various hold attempts such as grappling holds and choke holds.

Sprawl-and-Brawl

There are various nicknames for the different styles of mixed martial arts. The sprawl-and-brawl is a stand-up fighting method that focuses on striking and avoids ground fighting. Ground fighting is when both combatants are on the ground in hand-to-hand combat. In a sprawl-and-brawl, combatants use sprawls to defend against takedowns. The sprawl is executed by scooting your legs backwards in order to land on the upper back of your opponent undertaking the takedown. A takedown is a term used in combat sports and martial arts for a technique that off-balances your opponent and brings him or her to the ground. In a takedown, you should be the one that lands on top.

Sprawl-and-brawlers are usually boxers, kickboxers, Thai boxers and full-contact karate fighters. They are trained in wrestling and try to avoid takedowns and keep the fight standing. This style is very different from regular kickboxing styles. The sprawl-and-brawler must adjust his or her techniques to incorporate ground fighting and takedown defense.

Stand-Up Grappling (Clinching)

In stand-up grappling, two combatants start fighting from a stand-up position. The aim and purpose of this style varies depending on the combat sport or martial art you want to do. Stand-up grappling can be offensive such as it is in wrestling or Judo, but it can also be defensive as it is in Aikido.

Stand-up grappling revolves around throws and takedowns. A throw is another martial arts term for grappling where you cause your opponent to be off-balance or you lift your opponent up and toss him or her to the ground. In some sports, the fight is over once the combatant has fallen down.

For MMA, some fighters train in multiple styles with multiple coaches or train in teams. Some important parts of an MMA fighter’s training include flexibility, speed drills, strength training and energy system training.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta