One of the biggest and best Wrestlemania's has come and gone and so it seems has the career of one of the all time greats. CCD sits down with Matt Ryan (Capitol Wrestling) and actor Anthony Noto (Alternate Realms) to talk about the entire WM week of events, the future and the end, of The Undertaker.
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Hello to all, and to all Hello... welcome to another adventure on the CCD Podcast. We make no excuses for our unbridled LOVE for all things Professional Wrestling around here, so since we are reeling from the latest installment of the Royal Rumble we figured we needed to have a WRESTLING ONLY episode! Jedi Rob welcomes Matt Ryan (the proprietor of the Capitol Wrestling promotion) and Steve Resk (owner of the SRG Universe) to the CCD Nerd Cave to chop it up about all things wrestling... the current state of the WWE, the fallout from this years Royal Rumble, independent wrestling and how it is surviving in this day & age, and much more! So if you are a big fan of anything that takes place in the squared circle... well, this is the episode for YOU!!!
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“Just when they think they got the answers, I change the questions.”
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper was a bad man. You didn’t have to watch him long to learn that; he’d tell you straight to your face. “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, it didn’t matter to the Hot Rod who you were, how good you thought you were, what you’d done in the ring, on TV, whatever. If you crossed his path, if you fell into Piper’s Pit, he would tear you a new one. Or he’d clunk you with a coconut; that worked, too.
Read more after the jump:
That sort of confidence comes with the knowledge that you can back it up. Most professional wrestlers are athletes, but only a few have ever been Golden Gloves boxing champions. Roddy was. He was also a black belt, too, in case you wanted another credential. What made him a master in the ring, though, was his psychology. Roddy Piper knew, better than nearly any man to ever grace the squared circle, how to get inside someone’s head. Ask the Sheepherders: how do you approach a man so crazy that he’s willing to smash a glass beer bottle on his head just to prove that he can? Ask the Guerrero family: how do you earn respect from a man so disrespectful he offers to play your ancestral home’s national anthem on the bagpipes… and plays La Cucaracha?
Roddy Piper came up in an era where titles didn’t change hands much. Looking at the reigns of the great champions of the ‘70s and ‘80s, there wasn’t much opportunity to secure a great run of glory at the top, but Piper would not be denied. In Jim Crockett Promotions, he was Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion twice, Television Champion twice, and US Heavyweight Champion once. Across the various other arms of the NWA, he won eight heavyweight championships, twelve tag team championships with ten partners, and even the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. When he finally joined the WWF, he won their world tag team championship with yet another partner, the legendary Ric Flair, and the Intercontinental Championship.
His legacy of gold, however, pales in comparison to his legacy of recognition by his peers. He was inducted into the Cauliflower Alley Club, was acknowledged by Pro Wrestling Illustrated as Most Hated Wrestler twice, Most Inspirational, Most Popular, and the winner of Match of the Year in 1985. They ranked him as the 17th greatest singles wrestler of the PWI years in 2003. Wrestling Observer voted him Best on Interviews three years running, Best Heel in 1984 and 1985, and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1996. He would join the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007. He was even tabbed by Vince McMahon to main event Wrestlemania 1, and the Nassau Coliseum card of Wrestlemania 2. On top of all of these, in 2012, the WWE announced their list of the 50 greatest villains in wrestling history. Given their ownership, they’d have been forgiven for selecting Mr. McMahon as the greatest villain, the prime motive force for the Attitude Era. Given the flash and dazzle of his 16 World Title reigns, they’d have been entirely justified to select Ric Flair. Given his position as the first true heel in history, the model for all others to look up to, they’d have upset nobody by naming Gorgeous George… but no. They considered the entirety of wrestling history, and they said that the greatest of all time… was Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Roddy Piper was many things in his career. A sneaky, underhanded heel, a supremely confident defender of the old school against the influence of celebrity in wrestling, one of the first wrestlers to become a movie star… but what he never was, could never be, was predictable. Roddy Piper always kept us guessing, and always kept us watching.
In the end, he changed the question again. Now, the only one left is “could there ever be another man quite like Roddy Piper?”
Editor's Note: This is my personal favorite Piper's Pit.... so I had to drop it in on the end of a great article from J.C.! Enjoy ~ Mike D
Our buddy Steve Resk and the gang over at SRG Universe have a brand new wrestling themed card game entitled 'The Supershow'. Since he was kind enough to throw us an assist on Episode #34 of the CCD Podcast we figured we would repay the favor with a little .5 episode where Joey Esq and Jedi Rob play each other in a Legendary Fighting Federation match! The results are an awesome podcast highlighting a fantastic new game that is bringing back old school social interaction and camaraderie one choke slam at a time!!! Check out some of the cool packaging and artwork from the game (courtesy of artist Nunoh) after the jump, as well as the episode. Please jump over to Itunes and Subscribe, Download, Listen and SHARE the podcast on all your favorite social media platforms!
Here are some pics:
The Official Show Card of the Legendary Fighting Federation
The CCD Podcast is quite diverse in the topics we tackle, and with Thanksgiving rolling around the corner the wrestling fans of the crew are starting to get the Survivor Series itch. So Jedi Rob, Joey Esq, and Steven Resk take a look back at the ups and downs of the Survivor Series over the years and tell some fun filled tales of the golden age of the WWE. Lot's of knowledge getting dropped on this one, especially if you are inclined to ponder the good ole days of wrasslin'. Enjoy episode #33 after the jump...
Oh, and check out co-host Steve Resk's cool ass wrestling card game Super Show over at Kickstarter by clicking here... and watch the trailer!!!!
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So the WWE's second biggest event, Summer Slam, has just come and gone... and we here at the CCD Podcast felt it was time to touch on wrestling with a whole episode! For any kids growing up in the 80s the WWF/WWE phenomenon was a huge part of their growing up, so Jedi Rob tag teams up with Joey Esq and Steve the Big Truck (making his CCD Podcast debut) and breaks down this years Summer Slam as well as recapping many of the great moments from Summer Slam's past. All in all a fun little trip that will bring you back to the times of the Hulkster, Sean Michaels, Brett Hart, Randy Macho Man, The Ultimate Warrior, Jake the Snake, Mega Bucks, Mega Powers, and so much more.... OHHHHHHH YEAHHHHH!!!!
Before we get into the podcast, let's take a look at some great wrestling themed art from friend of CCD Erle Tompkins:
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You know that saying "never judge a book by its cover" that is always thrown around so willy nilly? Yeah, I never really subscribe to that theory. I tend to be very observant of people on purpose... and I can usually figure out people pretty well. I have an especially keen 'bullshit detector' sense as well... one that very rarely fails me. I had made the acquaintance of a very talented artist, Erle Tompkins, a few years back and I must say that in this case I was completely off in my judgement. His cousin Frank introduced us, and we hit it off right away with geek talk galore (mostly about comic book movies). He told me he did some art, and I told him to email me. He never did... and I assumed that he must not be very talented. I would see him from time to time, and always it was pleasant to see him. But every time we chatted, still no email and still no artwork. So I just chalked it up to him being not all that good and getting cold feet sending it to me. This weekend I ran into Erle, and he pulled up an X-Men movie universe piece he had just finished working on. Although I was looking at it on a 5 inch I Phone screen, I instantly realized that my man Erle had something... and I couldn't wait to see more. I told him that he needed to email me this instantly, and that I wanted to see more immediately. I made him do it right in front of me so he didn't "forget" to do it later. I forced his hand... and I am able to write this article about his awesome art because of it.
See more after the jump...
Erle has a Tumblr that highlights his unique style of art, but it his interesting array of subjects that make his blog so appealing. He jumps flawlessly from the world of comics to the world of Wu Tang Clan. But he makes his most important contributions in the world he loves the most: Professional Wrestling. He re-creates old matches, particular poses and scenes, and iconic images from WWF, WWE, WCW and NWA fame. He hits on all the regulars, and even digs deeper to include lesser popular stars. And his trademark, at least in my opinion, has to be his "bloody" stuff... the pieces where he highlights the destruction of the human body in the ring. These pieces transport me back to the days of a child watching Saturday Night's Main Event, playing with my WWF Wrestling Superstar rubber figures. Man, these are great.
So in closing, sometime you really can't judge a book by it's cover. Er;e Tompkins is a soft spoken and nice kid, but I certainly didn't think he had the talent he actually possess. I am glad he finally shared it with me, and I am happy to share it with all of you. Make sure you hit him up at his AMA page, his Society 6 page, and check his Tumblr often for his newest works. Order up kids... and tell 'em CCD sent ya!!!!
My boy Johnny over at Freddy In Space keeps me in the loop about all things horror, especially when it comes to cool ass horror themed merchandise. But I am most upset with myself for overlooking the fact that my man Johnny was at Wrestlemania 29 this weekend and we didn't meet up!!! I am trying to get all my pics in order to make a Wrestlemania 29 post for CCD (hopefully by next Monday), but on my most recent trip over to Freddy In Space Johnny shared some awesome WWF/E wrestling themed t-shirts and posters from Electric Zombie. Now even though most of their merch deals with horror, the guys at EZ obviously love their old school wrasslin' and dig deep to come up with some horrorific versions of familiar wrestlers and events throughout the years. I love the Royal rumble poster, and the Brett Hart shirt is super boss. All in all, a cool ass line that coincides with a great event. Get over to Electric Zombie right now and order you faves, as well as much more horror merchandise that they have to offer. Check out my faves after the jump...
