WWE

Julian’s Thoughts: What Makes a Good Wrestling Theme Song?

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

A good wrestling theme needs one key thing: it has to be recognizable right away. If a theme doesn’t have a strong opening, it can fall flat. Glass shattering, a big guitar chord, “If you smell…”, the list goes on and on. Having a good theme is essential. These days, everyone in WWE has a good theme, but that wasn’t always the case.

Themes like what X-Factor had, Test’s 2nd theme, and David Flair’s WWE theme, just to name a few, are examples of bad themes. A couple of those songs improperly and suddenly change tempo. David Flair’s theme was just the same generic guitar riff over and over, ad nauseum.

Suffice it to say, keeping the same tempo is pretty important. Test had a great theme, for example. Then they took the opening and slapped it on another song. Just like X-Factor’s Uncle Kracker theme, the whole thing changes tempo to become slower for no reason, not to mention the lazy edit of pasting “X-Factor” over “that fact” without even *trying* to remove the original lyrics. If you can’t, for some reason, then you leave it alone and *don’t do the edit*. Changing the tempo *can* work if the transition is good. A good example of this is Doink the Clown’s heel theme. While it retained the same opening, it stepped down into a slower, dark theme. Not only does the theme fit the character, the tempo shift from the opening is done well.

Next thing, the theme has to fit the wrestler. For example, Triple H’s main theme is “The Game” by Motorhead. The Triple H character is a very hard-nosed, tough-as-nails fighter type. The song features heavy guitars and ideal vocals. Adding in his Evolution and “King of Kings” themes and you have the Motorhead trifecta, a band that Hunter was very close with. These songs suit the character perfectly like the themes do these days. The X-Factor theme is another good example of a theme that doesn’t fit the workers who are using it. Uncle Kracker’s “Whatchu Lookin’ At” does not make a good theme where and how they edited it. It doesn’t fit the combination of power and speed that X-Factor was supposed to represent.

Finally, the theme should prepare the crowd for what they’re about. This is a little like fitting the wrestler but, since themes are for the audience, it’s good to prepare them for what they’re about to see. WWE does a really good job of this… these days. Take Randy Orton. His original theme suited his character well. Egotistical and boastful. Now, his character is more stealth than anything and his current theme suits that. Vance Archer used to have a theme that was far too fast for a big power wrestler. It would be better suited for a cruiserweight or somebody who does a lot of aerial attacks or “flippy stuff”. Vance should have a much slower theme. Not slow since he isn’t a slow, methodical character. Something like “Wild Child” from W.A.S.P. is good for him.

So, it needs to quickly be recognized, the same tempo, fit the wrestler, and prepare the crowd. Not too much to ask, right? These days, in WWE, they seem to understand. What themes do you think are good and what do you hate?

Follow me on Twitter @julianexcalibur

Follow me on Instagram @jaxocalibur

Battle to Survive: Brock Lesner vs AJ Styles

Rob Leave a Comment

WWE upcoming Survivor Series is happening on Sunday, Nov. 19 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. With that being stated, we here at Alternativemindz would like to pit the most “current” contestants against each other in complete and total toy supremacy.

Even as this is being written, the card is not yet finalized, but with what we currently know we can set up a battle for survival.

So for this list, we will only pick a single, cross brand match and see if the toy victory can match the actual outcome on November 19.

However, to make this work I didn’t just want to pick the best figures in the line, I went with the purpose of actually seeing if you, the potential customer, could buy the figures legitly on the current toy shelf.

So, I set out on a toy hunt to find these figures. It soon became clear that I needed to just focus on one match and the World Championship would be the figures I’d go with.

So, my journey was to find Brock Lesnar (Universal) vs AJ Styles (WWE) together in the same store at the same time.

Could I find these two in a single store together? The hunt began first attempted at my local toy shop in Brooklyn, NY. Unfortunately, they didn’t have AJ styles or Brock Lesner. Honestly, they had No WWE wrestlers at all.

Sparing you the week long attempt, I was finally able to track down both AJ and Brock in a single store.

Now the Tale of the Tape can begin.

How it works is we pick each figure’s flaws or positives and have them compete against each other. Basically, we line up the packaging, the likeness the articulation, and the scale to declare the winner.

Tale of the Tape Part 1: Packaging

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar versus Smackdown lives WWE world champion

Brock Lesnar’s packaging is considered special as it represents WWE Network spotlight. What makes this package any different than the standard toy is the WWE Network Spotlight title displayed at the top of the package and it’s shaped exactly like a standard package, nothing more nothing less.

Smackdown Live Championship AJ Styles comes packaged in a standard red packaging with a clear image of AJ Styles himself. The packaging is exactly like Brock’s so, in this regard, they both cancel each other out. No one wins anything in this round. No winner, no loser, so it’s a draw on packaging.

As we take the package and open them up, Brock Lesnar’s figure is wearing a Suplex City shirt, which is different from his standard figure that would regularly have no shirt. As for AJ Styles, since his figure is the standard one, he comes shirtless but wears his blue pants and his signature “Phenomenal 1” boots.

Tale of the Tape Part 2: Likeness

How does the Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles figures look in actual sculpt. Brock Lesnar, we all know, is the Beast Incarnate, so is figure should look mean, determined, and angry, just like Brock Lesnar always looks like, but the figures face looks kind of complacent. He’s not angry, he’s not bitter, he’s not ready to deliver you to Suplex City. It’s kind of standard. Does it represent the wrestler? Yes, yes it does. Mattel sculpted a look that you know when you see this toy that this is Brock Lesnar. As for the AJ Styles figure, AJ is a guy who’s very charismatic. He’s been in the business for almost 20 years. His figure should represent a man who’s been there, done that, yet has the face of youth. Well, the figure does capture a young-looking face. Unfortunately, the young-looking face looks like that of the famous YouTuber Sean Long instead,

Image courtesy of Sean Long

looking nothing like AJ himself. AJ’s figure has a mouth open ready to yell and scream and be angry, very uncharacteristic of the actual wrestler. It does have AJ’s trademarked hairstyle, but it really doesn’t look like him at all. Round 2, likeness goes to Brock Lesnar.

Tale of the Tape Part 3: Articulation

Brock Lesnar’s articulation and AJ Styles’ articulation are exactly the same. There is nothing special or unique about either of these figures. They are both standard, super basic. That would work for Brock Lesnar, who is more of a grounded UFC style professional wrestler,

but AJ Styles is a high flyer. He’s an innovator. He is unique in the professional wrestling ring. He does the Pele kick.

He does things that most wrestlers don’t and that includes Brock Lesnar. If you’re playing with these toys, they should represent the wrestler. So, unfortunately, once again the point goes to Brock Lesnar with articulation.

Tale of the tape part 4: Size Comparison

Brock Lesnar is a beast, he’s over 6 foot something inches tall. AJ isn’t he is a small wrestler, but these two figures almost share the same exact size. This is a gripe with Mattel personally when wrestlers are depicted being all the same size as toys. It seems like they aren’t trying to make a new sculpt and wrestlers come in all shapes all sizes. That’s what makes them so special and unique. I don’t want to give the point to Brock Lesnar in this one so I’m calling this a draw since they are exactly the same.

With the final tally coming in to 2 to 1 for Brock Lesnar. Unfortunately, AJ Styles, you lose your match against the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar.

Being the Smackdown Live Champion is a great honor. AJ Styles is carrying his title like he has earned and deserved for so many years. His work in the business from TNA to New Japan and now in the WWE has earned him all the accolades in the world, but as for an action figure, his is lackluster. It does nothing to be considered “phenomenal,” and with that you have to give it up to Brock Lesnar. As simple as a figure is, it represents who he is and how he wrestles and what he does, it’s simply conquers.

Rhode Island Comic Con is one more week away.

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

One of the biggest events of the year is the annual Rhode Island Comic Con, a celebration of pop culture, Comics and video games and it is one week away where it will begin on Nov. 10-12 in downtown Providence.

Having filled both the Rhode Island Convention Center and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Comic Con is expanding again, to the adjacent Omni Providence Hotel, where it will use at least one of the ballrooms.

The press relations manager Susan Sores, has estimated that it will attract over 100,000 people for the three days the event will take place and myself and Fidelina Roman will cover the show and bring you the latest news from Rhode Island Comic Con for the days that we will be there.

The show will also have panel discussions with many of the stars of TV and movies such as The Walking Dead, Star Wars, Stranger Things, Luke Cage, The Power Rangers, Star Trek and much more.

There will also be autograph and photograph opportunities, Gaming (video games and table top), kids activities, collectables and toy vendors too.

Rhode Island Comic Con will have a film festival for the first time this year called Geekfest and it will have its own panel, screening and awards.

It is the biggest show of the year in the smallest state of the United States and it will attract a huge widespread of fans and cosplayers.

Follow us on twitter @julianexcalibur @AltMindz

Follow us on Instagram @jaxocalibur @alternativemindz @linabella09

Positively Living with Diamond Dallas Page review

Rob 1 Comment

By Chris Vint

Bang…Self High Five…He’ll help you help you! Those are just some of the catchphrases we have heard from DDP and DDP yoga which is now a worldwide phenomenon. But, do we know how the man called Diamond Dallas Page started his journey into professional wrestling? Well this documentary does an amazing job of telling us!

DDP was quite the athlete at school and needed to be as he had one huge obstacle he later overturned later in life…he had ADD and couldn’t focus on reading or writing. Football and hockey were his main interests. That all stopped when he was hit by a car and flew 42 feet which took out part of his knee, he was only 12 years old. 

Not allowing anything to hold him back his next sport of choice was Basketball. While also going to wrestling school once a week he unfortunately tweaked his knee again. So he decided to enter the “bar” business with Norma Jeans. While doing radio work for his bar he soon found himself as a manager in the AWA but his “clients” couldn’t wrestle  – a sharpe contrast to what he became later with WCW. 

Greg Gagne phoned to invite him to the NWA and started in 1988. Eric Bischoff wasn’t a fan of DDP due to his loud and over the top persona. Working with Dusty Rhodes and through Luke of Bushwhackers DDP became rhythm and blues driver at wrestlemania 6 and would later return to the same arena to fight Christian at Wrestlemania X8. He had  a try out at the WWE for a commentator in 1990 to replace Jesse Ventura. He didn’t get the job and then decided he didn’t want to be an announcer or manager but he wanted to be a wrestler!

Going  to the power plant at age 35. Lot of people didn’t think he would make it because most Wrestlers started out much younger. He was put on tv after only 3 weeks of training and had a lot of gimmicks before we finally got the end product of the DDP we know and love now.

  • In 1995, Page got an award for most improved wrestler of the year from PWI. And 2 years later, he worked with Randy Savage and said his promos in that feud were the best he has ever done. It was called the Feud of the Year for 1997. Page said that Randy Savage elevated him to be a top guy. 

Page and Malone vs Hogan and Rodman. Malone stayed with Dallas and trained in the power plant – biggest grossing PPV in WCW history. One of the first celebrities that WCW would have in their time. 

Page’s professional wrestling career forever changed when he was in a 4 Corners Match featuring Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting. Against all odds, Page emerged victorious, which he couldn’t believe that he was the one to win this match against 3 of the best of all time.

In 2001, DDP came to WWE and did the stalker angle, the Positively Page gimmick, “He will help you like you.” Right here is where his career would end but this wasn’t a horrible situation in Page’s eyes because he ended his career working for the company he always dreamed he’d be.

After Page’s pro wrestling career was over, it was time for him to set the world on fire with Yoga! AJ Styles, Mick Foley, Goldust, Steve Austin and Chris Jericho are some of the WWE Superstars, like so many others, who have used DDP Yoga. Two best known for being “helped” are Jake Roberts and Scott Hall.  Wow, the transformation between these two icons alone is a testament to DDP.  From drug and alcohol addiction, these two changed their lives around thanks to Diamond Dallas Page. He even got them inducted in the Hall of Fame (thanks to DDP yoga)!

One day, DDP gets the call from HHH to say he’s going in the Hall of Fame and gets quite emotional about it. To be honest so did I with seeing how much he had grown over the years and how much he has done for people like Scott Hall and Jake Roberts (who he said helped him get into the wrestling business).

Available on blu-ray and DVD from 27th of March. You can head to WWEDVD and pre-order your copy today. I highly recommend you do so! Click here to order – https://www.wwedvd.co.uk/diamond-dallas-page-positively-living-order-p-12294.html?osCsid=ffb521d03af6b83d21c2b16563578573

Who survived the survivor series?

Rob Leave a Comment

In all honesty… the fans but just barely. In what was suppose to be one of the last big “event”shows of the year ended up reeking of Vince’s last minute booking changes.

The show started off at 6pm eastern time with an hour pre-show which featured Absouletly forgettable matches.  

The round table format (to me) has run its course. It’s time to interject new life into the preshow maybe interviews and unique video segments (not like Broken Matt Hardy) but something you would see done on Sunday Night football.
Survivor Series was always one of my favorite PPV to watch, with that unique spectacle of so many “teams” fighting each other it was sure to be a fire bed of action and suspense.At the very least  you were sure to enjoy a great brawl somewhere down the line up.

Unfortunately these past few years have been very lackluster as have most PPV’s in general. (yet,to Vince I’m a cycnical smark adult fan who supposedly isn’t the “Key demographic” for buy rates and subscriptions) I understand it is extremely tough to put together a big hit show every month but try to trust your talent and feel the pulse of the fanbase.

The highlight I was most waiting for was Raw vs Smackdown women’s division to finally have the four Horsewomen in the ring again. (we know how well that all turned out)

Also, having no Canadian wrestler come out on top really was a smack to the local fans collective faces.

Miz vs Sami was a great match but Vince really thinks its funny to keep rehashing the Montreal screwjob.

As promising as most of the line up seemed to be it all fell flat with bad endings and weird eliminations.

The cruiserweight match was dry and not very fulfilling.I feel they are missing the true point of the Cruiserweights. These matches should honestly be spot fests.

Then we get to the “Main attraction” Brock vs Goldberg.

Reports from the wrestling observer:
Goldberg dominate him last night in order for him to go over strong. There was also a decision made internally to keep the match short because Goldberg was not in the best of shape in time for his match and had a nagging shoulder injury which the company did not want to risk aggravating further. It was felt having a short match in the fashion it went down would shock viewers and leave them talking.


Knowing how well NXT is doing it feels shortsighted not to trust your talent and allow them to give you the matches the fans pay to see.

The match of the night was Raw vs Smackdown and it was well put together due to the talent in the ring. Why not just have AJ vs KO already?

Agree or disagree? Leave a comment amd subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram and Twitter

The True Story of the Royal Rumble Review

Rob Leave a Comment

by Chris Vint! 

“Every man for himself” was a phrase I always remember Gorilla Monsoon saying in the earlier Royal Rumble matches. 

The Royal Rumble in 2017 will have been around for 30 years and now we have a way of looking at some of the memorable matches and moments throughout the years.

Pat Patterson was the brains behind the Royal Rumble match and it wasn’t until he mentioned it to Dick Ebersol at NBC who thought it was a great idea for TV and that’s how it started! 

No doubt if you are a wrestling fan you have some Royal Rumble memories and I’m going to hopefully cover some of them in my review! 

In my eyes the best Royal Rumble was in 1992 where Ric Flair won the vacated WWF world championship. The only time the championship was up for grabs….until 2016 when Triple H becomes the 14 time champion!

The Royal Rumble started giving the winner title shots from 1993 onwards and 13 times the winner has won the title at the grandest stage of them all…Wrestlemania!

What makes the Royal Rumble special? Unpredictability is the big factor here! How many returning superstars have garnered a huge response from the crowd? In 2010 Edge returned to action after a horrible injury…the crowd reaction was insane and better yet Edge won the royal rumble that year. Very much like Triple H did in 2002. Coming back after tearing his quad and headlong Wrestlemania X8 with Chris Jericho was a personal highlight for me! 

With the internet now it’s very hard to keep anything a secret but some of the returns like Chris Jericho in 2013, John Cena in 2008 and this years surprise entrant was the pick of the bunch. Finally after many years of wondering “When will he come to WWE?” AJ Styles made his debut to the sheer delight of the crowd!

The Royal Rumble had 30 entrants (yeah we won’t talk about the 40 person one they did once) and you’ll have some superstars face off that you haven’t seen for a long time or not seen at all! Hulk Hogan faced off against The Ultimate Warrior in the 1990 Royal Rumble which was something to savour. Then in 2007 we had The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels as the last two competitors…wow. This was before their Wrestlemania matches but again, this made you lick your lips with how awesome this was! 

You’ll notice I said entrants above. That’s because in 1999 Chyna became the first female competitor to enter the Royal Rumble. She eliminated Mark Henry which is no mean feat! Beth Phoenix and Kharma would be two other females who would enter the Royal Rumble match years later.

This blu-ray set gives us a fascinating insight into the Royal Rumble and hearing from Superstars past and present is very much welcomed. It is also great to see Roddy Piper talk about his time in the Royal Rumble before he passed. As always, the blu-ray set gives you some added extras.

If you want to know more, head to https://www.wwedvd.co.uk/true-story-royal-rumble-p-12287.html?osCsid=c78f89a99103cd009c717b6f92b0cb11 and place your pre-order.  


This for me was a good watch and I loved hearing from the older superstars and saying to myself “oh I remember that” or “i forgot about that”. It’s not as strong as the True story of Wrestlemania and i would have rathe that this set had more structure rather than going from 1988 to 2016, back to 1993 and just jumping year to year. If you’re new to wrestling or a lifelong fan, there is something here for everyone!

That’s it from me, I’m off now to stand and point to a Wrestlemania sign! 

The Hell In A Cell concept and match has been ruined

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

There used to be a time where the Hell in a Cell match actually meant something. A Hell in a Cell marked the climax of a big story, a match where big scores needed to be settled once and for all. A match where it was guaranteed something ‘big’ will happen, a lot of blood will be spilled and (in kayfabe) potentially a career would end in front of our very own eyes. Just the mere mention of ‘Hell in a Cell’ brought fear.

We all know the events of King of the Ring 1998, and whenever the match is mentioned, it’s that match that springs to mind, the match which could easily have killed Mick Foley. The match that made Mick Foley famous. Mick Foley now advocates two women to perform in that match, and does so with a smile on his face… Where in the blue hell is the story-telling? Have they completely eradicated his past? It’s simply unacceptable.Another Hell in a Cell that springs to mind is the ‘Armageddon Hell in a Cell’. Now, to most, this match is famous for Rikishi plummeting down from the top of the cell, and although that is famous for a good reason, to me, the match reminds me of the build-up, where Vince McMahon would plead with every competitor not to go through with the match as he was worried sick they wouldn’t be able to return to action after it. This was a brilliant piece of story-telling, and really put over how dangerous this match was.


I’m not going to go through each match and it’s great build-up, most of you know full well how big it was. Lesnar/Taker’s 2002 build-up was great, Triple H’s matches with Nash and Michaels were great, repeated brawls ending with Bischoff’s screaming of “HELLL IN A CELLLL!!” was brilliant. Randy Orton fearing for his life in the build-up to his Cell encounter with Taker. Even a few years ago we had Triple H and Undertaker (as well as HBK) really putting over the effects of HIAC in the build-up to Mania 28. I could go on and on and on.


Lately, the match is build-up like a normal steel cage match, just with a roof on top. It’s awful, and totally unacceptable. It began way back with the likes of Cena and Orton treating it like any other ordinary match and this continued with the likes of Punk, Del Rio, Bryan, Sheamus etc. but lately it’s ten times worse. This year’s build-up has been nothing short of rubbish. Rollins and Owens’ rivalry has had nearly no mention of the Hell in a Cell structure, and more so on Jericho’s trunks – Rollins and Owens should be concentrating on their own careers’ rather than promoting comedy. Sasha Banks takes the biscuit, though, she SMILES and on the verge of tears with HAPPINESS when talking about being inside Hell in a Cell… The likes of Undertaker and Kane had an tad bit of fear about stepping inside there and here we have Sasha Banks doing the complete opposite.


All the fear this match has brought is all gone. It’s a sham, and should be left alone. They should just replace ‘Hell in a Cell’ with ‘Steel Cage’, because that’s how it’s built up as.

follow me on twitter @julianexcalibur 

WWE Superstars Take It to the Streets With New Racing Toys

Rob Leave a Comment


​WWE Superstars Take It to the Streets With New Racing Toys

 

Playmates Toys Introduces WWE Nitro Sprints and Nitro Machines featuring John Cena,

The Rock and Other Superstars to Rev Up Playtime for Fans

 

El Segundo, CA (September 12, 2016) – Playmates Toys, a leader in the action figure category with nearly 50 years of experience in creating innovative products, has partnered with WWE to launch a new line of racing toys that take the action out of the ring, called WWE Nitro Sprints and Nitro Machines. The collection, featuring popular WWE Superstars, is available now exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide.

 

WWE Nitro Sprints are mini, motorized figures that are stylized in WWE Superstar signature ring gear and feature a unique 2” flywheel. Each figure comes with a signature vehicle, allowing fans to rev up the mini figure, drop into the vehicle and send racing into action. The WWE Nitro Sprints include the following Superstars:

·         WWE Superstar John Cena with the CENArator

·         WWE Superstar The Rock with Bull Bruiser Truck

·         WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar with Beast Bike

·         WWE Superstar Undertaker with Night Hearse

 

WWE action is also expanding beyond the ring with the introduction of WWE Nitro Machines. The fast-rolling, die-cast vehicles feature iconic WWE Superstars bursting out of the top of the cars. Each 1/55th scale vehicle is ready to race and the WWE Superstar is permanently attached to the vehicle. The WWE Nitro Machines collection includes the following:

·         WWE Superstar John Cena in Muscle Monster

·         WWE Superstar The Rock in Bull Machine

·         WWE Superstar Undertaker in Reaper Hearse

·         WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose in Wheel Asylum

“Playmates Toys is thrilled to partner with WWE to bring the action from the ring to the streets with Nitro Sprints and Nitro Machines,” said Karl Aaronian, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Playmates Toys. “We designed the figures and vehicles to represent the personality of each Superstar and we anticipate that fans will enjoy the play experience of racing their favorite wrestlers.”

 

About Playmates Toys

With a history of nearly 50 years, Playmates Toys is today among the most well-respected and innovative marketing and distribution companies in the global toy industry with a proven history in the creation of imaginative products as well as the development and management of profitable, long-term brand franchises. Key brands include TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, one of today’s top-selling male action brands. From its offices in Hong Kong and California, Playmates designs, develops, markets and distributes its products in over 60 countries worldwide. For more information,

 visit

http://www.playmatestoys.com 

http://facebook.com/TMNTPlay.