Bash at the Beach 2000 Incident: 20 Years Later

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Photo Credit: WWE

There are many incidents in the world of professional wrestling that is talked about to this day. From the Montreal Screwjob, to CM Punk walking out of WWE, and even the Owen Hart tragedy, These key moments are never forgotten from the old generation of fans, and the current generation once they do their research on these topics. One of these key moments happened in WCW on this day 20 years ago which has since been named the “Bash at the Beach 2000 incident” by the fans. It is time to revisit this moment that is not only talked about to this day, but also debated on which parts of this incident was planned or not.

WHAT LEAD TO THIS INCIDENT

Vince Russo returned to WCW in June 2000 after taking a brief hiatus. At this point, WCW was already in it’s worst year and the damage of the company itself left everyone uncertain. Vince Russo wanted to push the younger talent that has not had the chance to the main event status. He began this a few months earlier when he pushed for Jeff Jarrett to win the WCW Championship and he did exactly that. There was no problem with Russo doing this because the majority of the fans wanted to see more talent that they already had become main eventers and some of the talent they already had before Russo came to WCW left for WWE and became bigger stars. The only thing that was somewhat preventing this, was the big name talent such as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Sid were all still in the main event scene that year. You could imagine the politics going around backstage during this time with those bigger names over the mid to lower card names.

The week of the show, John Laurinaitis had a meeting with Hulk Hogan. John told Hogan that Russo wanted Hogan to lose to the WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett at the show. Hogan did not like this idea and called Eric Bischoff to talk to Russo about another idea for the match. The plan that was purposed was for Hogan to win the title, leave WCW with the Championship, have Vince Russo set up a new tournament to crown a new champion, and then have Hulk Hogan return at a later date as the “real” champion (Similar to how CM Punk and John Cena were both WWE Champions at the same time in the summer of 2011). Hulk Hogan as the real champion vs the current champion would have then be booked at either Fall Brawl, or Halloween Havoc at that year.

Vince Russo did not like this idea. But due to Hogan using his creative control clause in his contract, Hogan figured that Russo would not change that plan. Vince Russo stated on Kayfabecommentaries that his plan the entire time is that no matter what, Hogan was not leaving with the belt. Booker T was.

THE DAY OF THE SHOW

At the day of the PPV and about two hours before the show began, Eric Bischoff talks to Vince Russo the moment he arrived to the arena. Bischoff told Russo to talk to Hulk Hogan about the match. Hogan told Russo that he should win the WCW Championship because he needed the title again, or else he will not work the show in protest. Hogan then asked Russo what would happen if it was real that he beats Jarrett in a shoot. Vince Russo then told Hogan if it was real, then he would go out and cut a promo towards Hogan. Vince Russo then pitched the Booker T vs Hogan match for both WCW Championships down the line and Hogan liked the idea. But what was about to happen, was not what they expected.

THE MATCH

The match then started. Jeff Jarrett’s music played, but Vince Russo made his entrance followed by Jarrett. Hulk Hogan then made his entrance. As soon as the bell rang, Russo told Jarrett to lie down which stunned Hogan, the announcers, and even the crowd. Russo then threw the belt in the ring and walked off. Hogan then got a microphone and said that infamous line “That’s why this company is in the damn shape it’s in because of bull**** like this” as he put his foot on Jarrett’s chest for the three count. Jarrett left the ring afterwards as Hogan became the new WCW Champion. Hogan then left the ring to walk to the back. What happened next during the Sting and Vampiro skit, is that Hogan and Bischoff left the arena to go to their plane. Vince Russo returned to the ring to not only cut a scathing promo on Hulk Hogan, he fired him as well and rebooked the main event as Jarrett will now face Booker T. Hogan and Bischoff was not aware of the promo Russo cut until they landed at their location a few hours later. Booker T defeated Jarrett to win his first ever WCW Championship.

THE AFTERMATH

Everything that happened before Jarrett lied down was part of the pitched plan. The only people that knew about this, was Hogan, Vince Russo, and Eric Bischoff. This was an example of massive communication as nobody knew what was real, and what was not in that situation. Hogan then sued Russo for defamation which was settled a few years later. Hogan would never return to WCW. Vince Russo stayed for a few more months. Booker T would then win the WCW Championship three more times in WCW, and be signed to WWE after they brought WCW. It was in WWE when Booker T won his fifth WCW Championship. And Jeff Jarrett stayed in WCW until the end, but WWE did not sign him. But he eventually founded Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which is now Impact Wrestling. To this day, there are different versions of the story told by Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett, Booker T, and Eric Bischoff. Between the parties involved, it is up to you on which take of the story about the incident that you side with. I remember watching this show live on Pay-Per-View with my brother and cousin and they both had a hard time piecing out whether if this incident was part of the show, or not. This was, until the next day, we realized that Hogan was really gone from WCW. The way you can sum up this incident, is that it was a work, presented as a shoot, that then became a shoot.

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Amazon’s The Boys Season 2 Trailer Has Debuted Worldwide

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Amazon Prime Video has debuted the official teaser trailer for the second season of THE BOYS, the first three episodes of which will premiere on Prime Video on Friday, September 4, 2020. New episodes will be available each Friday following, culminating in an epic season finale on October 9. The eight-episode Amazon Original series will be available exclusively on Prime Video in more than 200 territories around the world, and is produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television Studios with Point Grey Pictures, Kripke Enterprises and Original Film.


The even more intense, more insane Season 2 finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.
The Supes of The Seven also include Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). Recurring stars in season two include Claudia Doumit, Goran Visnijc, Malcolm Barrett, Colby Minifie, Shantel VanSanten, Cameron Crovetti, PJ Byrne, Laila Robbins and Giancarlo Esposito returning as Vought boss Stan Edgar, among others.

Feuds of the Dead Week 2: Michonne vs The Governor

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Michonne and The Governor is the first feud in this mini series of Feuds of the Dead that was adapted from the source material. The feud in the comic was brutal and not all of it was adapted on the television show due to it’s graphic nature. But what we got on the show, worked and the fans of The Walking Dead loved it. Here is week two of Feuds of the Dead as I am highlighting the feud between Michonne and The Governor.

After Michonne found Andrea at the end of season 2, they traveled together in season 3. At this time, Andrea fell sick and Michonne given her pills and told her that they should continue walking. They then witnessed a helicopter crash in the forest and they both walked to the area where the helicopter crashed. They both seen dead bodies until they both hide behind bushes as The Governor and a few of his men checked on the soldiers. The Governor killed those soldiers, and as Michonne and Andrea were about to leave, Merle Dixon caught them and ordered them to drop their weapons.

They were taken to Woodbury as Michonne and Andrea were kept in a locked room. When The Governor came to see them, Michonne demands that they get their belongings back and to leave. The Governor tolf Michonne that they can sleep for the night. The day after, The Governor gives them a grand tour of Woodbury and Michonne is still not buying that it is a safe place as she wanted him to give back her sword. Michonne eventually does gets back her sword as she went into his house to retrieve her sword while the party at Woodbury was going on. Michonne wanted Andrea to leave with her, but she wanted to stay.

Michonne also killed all of the walkers that was used as the pets at his fight arena. After The Governor discovers this, he sent Merle, Crowley, Tim, and Gargulio to hunt Michonne down. Michonne killed Crowley and Tim quickly, but Merle shot Michonne. Merle was about to kill her, but he was attacked by walkers which gave Michonne a chance to leave. At this point, Michonne has given Rick Grimes and the rest at The Prison intel on how they will launch their assualt on Woodbury and to save Glenn and Maggie. While that was going on, Michonne and The Governor had a standoff as zombified Penny, the daughter of The Governor is put down by Michonne. This lead to the fight between Michonne and The Governor as these two fought until The Governor lost his eye due to Michonne stabbing his eye with a shard of broken glass.

A few days later after Michonne rejoined the group, The Governor and his group attack The Prison for the first time along with Merle. Michonne and the rest did their very best to kill the walkers that were pouring out from that truck along with the ones that were coming to The Prison. Michonne and the rest of Rick’s group plan to go back to Woodbury to rescue Andrea. The entire Prison was clear and The Governor and his group attacked The Prison again, but nobody was inside at all. Rick’s group arrived to Woodbury to try to rescue Andrea, but it was too late as Milton was killed by The Governor hours before and he bit Andrea before she put him down. Everyone waited outside the room as Andrea killed herself by a gunshot.

At the beginning of season 4, everything was calm and quiet at The Prison until the flu breakout began. At the same time this was happening, it was revealed that The Governor abandoned Woodbury and burned most of the town down, and went into hiding. He then meet Tara and Lilly as he stood with them for a few months. The Governor eventually went back to his old ways as he began to plan a takeover of The Prison. He captured Michonne and Hershel, and used them as leverage in order for Rick Grimes to give him The Prison. Rick wanted to work with The Governor, but that was not happening.

The Governor killed Hershel by using Michonne’s sword, and the all out assault begins after The Governor said his iconic “Kill Them All” line. During this battle, Michonne freed herself, and stabbed The Governor through his back with her sword as he was choking Rick. We thought that he would be dead at an instant, but it was Lilly Chamber to kill The Governor after Michonne saved Rick. That moment was the end of the feud.

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Interview: NOS4A2’s Mattea Conforti

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Mattea Conforti has made a name for herself within the last few years appearing in major television shows and movies such as Power, Gotham, The Olie and Moon show, and most recently, Frozen II as Young Elsa. Her acting career is really shining at an early age and Mattea has a bright future. Mattea also stars as Millie Manx, the daughter of Charlie Manx on NOS4A2 and here to talk about season 2 of NOS4A2 is Mattea Conforti in this exclusive interview.

Before we begin, how have you been doing since the pandemic started?

Mattea: “Well, things have been definitely kind of shaky from the beginning You know, figuring out what you’re going to do in your free time now that most of the world has been shut down. But, you know, me and my family, we’ve been working on making the best of what we have and we’re pretty grateful for all that we have considering our options right now.“

What do you miss the most before your area shut down?

Mattea: “I really miss acting and doing big shows. Now I think I never really realized how much I loved to do it until now because, once you realize that you have something and it’s gone for a little bit, you miss it a lot.”

You played as the younger version of Elsa on Frozen II and you were also part of the Broadway Play of Frozen as well. Since everyone knew that you were part of the broadway, how often did you have to hide that you were also part of the second film from your friends and classmates?

Mattea: “I wouldn’t say that long, but definitely quite some time just because it was so confidential. It was going to be a very big Disney film. So probably like about like a year, which isn’t really that bad. But it’s still hard to keep such a big secret from everybody. And I don’t really think anybody figured it out. If they did, they probably didn’t tell me just because, they weren’t allowed to say anything because they knew that they respected that. But I think we did a pretty good job of hiding it from everybody.”

From being on Frozen II and the Frozen Broadway Play which was targeted towards children, to being Millie Manx on NOS4A2 which is targeted for the older demographic, was it a hard transition for you to go from this character on Frozen, to being Millie Manx on NOS4A2?

Mattea: “It’s definitely a hard transition going from cutesy, innocent young princess, to Millie Manx who is hardcore, mature, and tough. But the emotions for both of them are definitely the same, in my opinion. They’re both very loyal and loving and they’re caring characters. When I usually talk to my friends about Millie Manx, they would be like ‘I would never see you as that kind of person’ just because I know in my life, people don’t really associate me with like like gory, danger, and hardcore. But they wouldn’t really expect me to be doing all that stuff.”

So far from what I am seeing, I like the second season of NOS4A2. What can fans expect for the rest of the season?

Mattea: “There’s definitely some moments in the show that I never really had to do before, especially in season two. The horror intensity level goes up so much and even to not just emotionally, but also physically for all the characters including Millie Manx. But without giving too much away, there’s definitely more dangerous adventures and crazy experiences that I get to do the season.”

The first time you seen Christmas Land, did you think for a second that this could actually be a real place to visit for a second? 

Mattea: “It’s different to see it in the warehouse where we were filming and from the big screen because, you see a couple of blocks with letters on them and some fake snow. And then you look on TV and it looks like a huge village of all these demon children. So I never expected that all of that NOS4A2 magic can make it look so real.“

Who did you like to work with the most on NOS4A2?

Mattea: “I was working with all of the people that played all the characters on the show because they all have such different acting approaches and they all have different experiences in acting and they all have done different shows. So just see how all of them work well with each other and see how they can bring their own elements to the table. It’s I think that’s the best part of being part of the show. So I love working with everyone! Also, I remember when I used to do school on set and we had a tutor, I would always dread going from scene to scene, then go to school right after because I wanted to do was just film and do my scenes. But I remember Zachary Quinto would kind of like help me with my schoolwork. We would talk out the books I was reading in English or he would kind of motivate me to go do my homework.”

The dynamic between Millie and Charlie are some of my favorite parts of the season so far, because Millie misses her dad and it is very relatable. How much how much input did you had when it came to the development of your scenes with Zachary?

Mattea: “Well, it’s hard to use my own input to play Mallie Manx just because my life and her life is just so different. But the relationship between her and her father I would say, is definitely the same and differing between me and my father just because we both love them so much. And Millie loved her father so much. And we both do anything just to, like, make them happy or to make them proud. But it’s different just because Millie Manx and her father connect on like a gory and a dangerous level. But me and my father, we can connect, you know, realistically like a loving way. You can definitely see that the relationship between them gets more emotionally intense. And Millie is going to discover a lot more about Charlie’s past and where she came from. So there’s definitely going to be a lot more intense moments between them. 

Before you got your role as Millie Manx, have you read the NOS4A2 novel to study the character and the source material?

Mattea: “I have not read it. I think I definitely would have been more scared to read it and it is a severally, very big book. My mom actually read it and she said it was a little bit similar to that. So it’s a lot similar to the show. So I could kind of go back and forth on that.”

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Movie Review: Thr33 Days Dead

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Thr33 Days Dead was released in 2014 after years of development. It was writen and directed by John M. Ware as he also stars in the film as well. I recently got the chance to watch the film and here are my thoughts of Thr33 Days Dead.

Before I mention the plot, I have to bring up the production. Now I know that independent filmmakers have a budget and limited space and equipment. I am watching this in my eyes of the year 2020 as this film was released in 2014, but I had to put my eyes of 2014 on and I spotted many production issues. The sound was in a high or low pitch from multiple scenes that I can count as I believe the sound mixing could have been fixed. I even thought at times that my Macbook’s sound was adjusting itself because I had studio headphones on while I was watching Thr33 Days Dead.

I also want to talk about the pacing. The outstanding number of jump cuts and transitions became an eye sore and was distracting. Especially the scene where they were trying to get away from a small horde of zombies in the forest. They succeeded on getting away, but the sequence of them killing the zombies could have been edited much better. It makes WWE’s directing of camera cuts during those The Shield brawls on Raw and Smackdown in that same year look like a masterpiece compared to this and there are times that I do not like WWE’s camera cuts. But one scene that had a small detail that I liked is when they were at the town when they were about to enter a store. A shooter was shooting down zombies while the three main characters were trying to enter that store before the shooter alerted them. This all happened on a split screen to the style of 24 and I am a huge fan of 24 so I liked that.

The plot is pretty straight forwards. Three childhood friends Jeff, Justin, and Patrick are out fishing, only to discover that the zombie apoclapyse has started. All three of them go from the fishing lake, to the city to realize that it is also overrun by the dead. During their adventure, they meet Valerie and Pete to continue their adventure and to protect themselves from the dead that are overtaking the areas. There are some scenes that were funny, some that had a small bit of tension, and some that are hard to watch. But the film ends on a cliffhanger and before that cliffhanger happens, it’s final sequence is similar to the final few minutes of Night of the Living Dead.

There was so much that I believe could have been either fixed, cut, or straight out avoided during the post production process. I think it is okay for independent filmmakers to have at least a few not so good movies in order to have a good learning experience. The project was ambitious as I can tell that the cast really did try to act out their scenes. Also, the number of extras for an independent film to this scale is something I took notice as not a lot of independent horror films has this many extras. It is good that they were extras and not just people digitally added in during post production too. Let me put it like this, All the ingredients were there, and the pot was ready. But the problem with those ingredients, is that blending them well together in order for the meal to turn out right did not happen because those ingredients were left on the pot for hours which sums up Thr33 Days Dead.

To give more context, The SyFy mini series Town of The Living Dead that showed the behind the scenes footage of the making of the movie and I believe that is the most interesting aspect of the entire thing. I also enjoyed the making of the film far better than the film itself. Especially the making of the boat explosion, the zombie baby that was born, and the many ways they had to get their tools and props for this film. I have never made a film before and I did not want to be too harsh because as I said before, everyone did their best effort for Thr33 Days Dead. But I could not skip the many flaws that I have seen. Also, former WWE Superstar Luke Gallows made a cameo in the film!

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Feuds of the Dead Week 1: Carol vs Alpha

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The Walking Dead has had many feuds during it’s first ten seasons. Some are memorable, and some are not so memorable. Whether if the fans liked the feuds or not, they were significant for the major characters, and everyone else surrounding those characters. Last week, I tweeted to everyone what feud of The Walking Dead would they like to see on this weekly miniseries Feuds of the Dead and Rick vs. The Governor was leading the poll, but Carol vs. Alpha won the poll. It is time to revisit the Carol vs. Alpha feud that ran from Season 9, to Season 10.

THE BEGINNING

On season 9, Carol was married to Ezekiel and they adopted Henry as their son. Carol and Ezekiel essentially became the king and queen of The Kingdom for a while. But as their paradise was blooming, the threat of The Whisperers were coming to the communities. The first member of any of the communities to meet their demise was Jesus as it happened at the graveyard. From that time until the fair, every community pact together to stop the threat of The Whisperers after being very disconnected with eachother for a while. At the day of the fair, Alpha infiltrated the fair in disguise and seen some artwork of Carol and Ezekiel as she remarked that she would like to meet “the queen.” Later that night, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and others were surrounded by Whisperers including Alpha and Beta.

When Alpha appeared, her machete was bloody and she showed Daryl the mega horde. In the morning, that same group seen Alpha’s border with heads on every pike as Alpha lured and beheaded members of each community. The last person to be revealed was Henry and Daryl did not want Carol to look at his severed head. After the winter storm, it is revealed that Carol left the communities as she took a boat to go to the sea during the time between the winter storm, to the season 10 premiere. Carol reuintes with Daryl, Ezekiel, and Connie. Daryl and Carol were catching up while they were alone until they were all interrupted by the satellite crashing down as everyone gathered together to put out the fire. After that, Carol and Alpha had a staredown as Carol was on top of the cliff, and Alpha was far below.

THE BORDER

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Danai Gurira as Michonne – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

At the first meeting at the same border that they seen the severed heads on those pikes, Alpha was telling Michonne that they are taking more land because she knows that they crossed her border multiple times. Carol was not hearing anything Alpha said since it will cut their hunting area. Alpha wanted Carol to repeat what she said and Alpha also taunted Carol about killing Henry. So Carol shot at Alpha, but Michonne smacked Carol’s gun from her hand away at the moment she pulled the trigger. The tension of this feud is rising at this scene alone. After they retreat, Carol declares that Alpha has to die. It is also here that Carol took medication that had a side effect that gave her hallucinations as she seen the ghost of Henry at an abandoned school while she also seen a shadow figure about to stab her. Daryl checked on her wellbeing at this time.

The feud continued as Alpha is strategically wearing the group out. Carol captured a Whisperer and interrogated him about the location of Alpha’s horde. Carol also tried to use Lydia as leverage to get to Alpha too. But before that, they had a heart to heart conversation before Lydia figured out the plan. The feud picked up again as Alpha lead Carol, Daryl, Magna, Connie, Kelly, Aaron, and Jerry into a trap which was the dark cave that had Alpha’s mega horde which was thousands of walkers. They got out the cave, but Connie and Kelly didn’t. Carol’s obsession of destroying Alpha and her horde also affected the group as Yumiko blamed Carol for all of them being in that cave to begin with. But Carol has a plan and I will get to that now.

THE END

Carol also battled alongside with everyone at The Hilltop at the time it was burning down due to the flaming arrows that were shot by The Whisperers during that battle. After The Whisperers won that battle, Carol’s grand plan comes to light. Carol’s plan involved Negan as she not only secretly released him, she made him a promise that if he kills Alpha, she will spread the word to the group and make sure that Negan will have a different view to the communities when she tells them. Carol did this as a backup plan to kill Alpha incase her original plan did not work. Negan did just that by luring Alpha into a shed to make her believe that Lydia is there. Negan rolled Alpha’s head to her feet as it was poetic as Alpha wanted Carol to look down at her and Carol did exactly that except that she is alive, and she is dead. But it was not truly over yet as She asked Negan why did it take so long for him to kill Alpha. Negan told Carol that he needed to get her trust before he could do so. Carol was then taunted by the conscience of Alpha as she would not get out of Carol’s head until Carol got the strength to get over Alpha as she killed a walker while she was trapped under debris. This is where the feud between Carol and Alpha ends.

Interview: Melissa McBride on Carol’s Showdown With Alpha, Traveling With Norman Reedus, And Working With Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and a Farewell to Danai Gurira

As Carol got her revenge, she questioned if it was worth it due to what happened during the road to get revenge on Alpha. Revenge stories always have a rough road as they are never sweet and straight forward to just getting revenge of one person or large group. You will lose people along the way and this is what happened to both Carol and Alpha. The difference here, is that Carol cares for her own people and Alpha does not other than Lydia. Carol and Alpha are very strong characters and When these two were first on screen together, I had a feeling that these two would have a showdown on the television show compared to the comic book series since comic book Carol was dead long before Alpha showed up. This feud has been a highlight of season 10 and it is also one of my favorite feuds of the series.

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