http://www.cheap-heat.com WWE, TNA, ROH, NJPW - Blogs, Reviews, Top Lists, Indy News & Results Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:35:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.1

http://www.cheap-heat.com/bro-case-of-the-immortals-wrestlemania-i/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/bro-case-of-the-immortals-wrestlemania-i/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2015 13:45:48 +0000 B+ Players CH Podcast bruno sammartino ECW Gorilla Monsoon Hulk Hogan Jesse Ventura Mr. T NJPW Pro Wrestling Roddy Piper ROH Vince McMahon WCW wrestling WWE WWF http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=13821 Media Player Problems? CLICK HERE for our NEW home at SoundCloud.com! Note: B+ Player Radio will be available through iTunes in the coming week. Since its inception in 1985, WrestleMania has gone by many nicknames including the "Granddaddy of Them All," the "Super Bowl of Wrestling," and of course "Showcase of the Immortals." We are […]

Media Player Problems? CLICK HERE for our NEW home at SoundCloud.com!
Note: B+ Player Radio will be available through iTunes in the coming week.

Since its inception in 1985, WrestleMania has gone by many nicknames including the "Granddaddy of Them All," the "Super Bowl of Wrestling," and of course "Showcase of the Immortals." We are just 32-weeks away from the biggest WrestleMania in WWE History; WrestleMania XXXII will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas on April 3 ^rd 2016. While there's always been some concern as to the legitimacy of WWE's attendance figures in the past, this event is almost guaranteed to break all pre-existing records. Join Mark Adam Haggerty of Daily Wrestling News and Gary Mastriano of Cheap-Heat for this one-of-a-kind podcast series featuring guests from all walks of life including comedians, musicians, and most importantly— professional wrestlers! We'll be back every Friday with an in depth look at each and every WrestleMania from the action in the ring, to the stories behind the scenes.

This week we're diving into the first leg of our discussion, and we're talking about the event that started it all— WrestleMania. Learn how closed-circuit television and celebrity appearances helped transformed professional wrestling into Sports Entertainment . This is an awesome show featuring seemingly unknown talents such as David Sammartino and S.D. Jones; established main eventers like Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper; as well as Superstars just starting out such as Matt Bourne, Brutus Beefcake, and Mike Rotunda. Share with your friends and shout us out in social media to have your voice heard on future episodes! Get set for our WrestleMania 2 show on September 4 ^th and then WrestleMania 3 the following Friday on the 11 ^th !

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http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-night-the-world-lost-owen/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/the-night-the-world-lost-owen/#comments Wed, 27 May 2015 00:41:29 +0000 Gregory Iron Blogs Wrestler Blogs Bret Hart Jesse Ventura Owen Hart http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=11988 This past weekend marked sixteen years since the tragic passing of Owen Hart. It’s one of those events in wrestling history that if you’re a life long fan of the sport, you remember exactly where you were, and what you were doing.   On May 23rd, 1999, I was just twelve years old. Because my […]

This past weekend marked sixteen years since the tragic passing of Owen Hart. It’s one of those events in wrestling history that if you’re a life long fan of the sport, you remember exactly where you were, and what you were doing.

On May 23rd, 1999, I was just twelve years old. Because my family was low, low,В lower middle class, we couldn’t afford cable. Yes, during a time period in which wrestling was it’s absolute hottest, with the World Wrestling Federation battling rival World Championship Wrestling for rating supremacy opposite each other every Monday night, I was without cable television. Internet was still in it’s infancy (and regardless, I didn’t have a conputer), so the only way I could keep up with what was happening on Raw and Nitro every week was through my friends at school, who would give me a detailed report Tuesday morning at school. If I was able to, I’d take $5 out of my bi-weekly $10 allowance, along with an extra $3 for a blank vhs tape, and give it to my buddy Shawn, who would tape Raw and Nitro for me.

Leading up to the May 23rd WWF pay per view, Stone Cold Steve Austin was set to defend his WWF Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker. Vince and Shane McMahon, along with The Corporate-Ministry, had been a thorne in Austin’s side for weeks. IВ needed to see this pay per view.

My pal Shawn was ordering the event. I begged my dad to allow me to ride my bicycle the few blocks to his house to watch the event, entitled “Over The Edge.” Dad objected, his reason being that I had to get up at 7 a.m. the next morning for school. In my mind, that reason sucked. I begged and pleaded, annoying my father to the point where he threatened to ground me for the next month if I didn’t shut up. I was disappointed. To avoid spending the next thirty days imprisoned in my room, I kept my mouth shut.

That Sunday evening, dad found something to watch that he felt would be on par with “Over The Edge.” It was a wrestling made-for-TV-movie airing on NBC, entitled “The Jesse Ventura Story.” I was sort of excited. I had always enjoyed The Body’s work, and his story was white hot, due to him becoming Minnesota’s Governor just a few months earlier.

If you have ever seen “The Jesse Ventura Story,” you know what a trainwreck of a film that was. The actor that played Jesse looked and sounded nothing like him. Furthermore, the facts were highly inaccurate. Even being twelve years old, I questioned why, for whatever reason, Jesse spent his whole wrestling career in WCW, commentating with Gorilla Monsoon— who has never worked at WCW. I wonder why, for some reason, guys wwre getting put through tables throughout the 70’s and 80’s, and why Goldberg, Kanyon and Raven were active members of the roster. The icing on the cake was Raven going into business with the evil promoter, who screwed a local wrestler out of a match that he was told he was going to win in his hometown, by putting him in a Sharpshooter submission.

Sound familiar? I’m not kidding… it’s in the movie.

The NBC original film went on for two hours, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. It seemed like an eternity. When the end credits began to roll, I was relieved that it was over. As I tried to read the names of the writers of that picture, so as to know who I should blame for such an embarrassing movie, the screen split in half, with the NBC 11 O’Clock News team cutting in to preview what was coming up next on the local news.

“ Coming up tonight on Channel 3 News , find out which WWF pro wrestler died live on pay per view during a stunt gone wrong. The details up next at 11.”

A cold shiver traveled down my spine. ‘A wrestler had died during the pay per view?,’ I thought. I was in disbelief. As I was mentally preparing to find out just which wrestler had passed, my dad put me in a playful headlock. I struggled to get free, and the more I struggled, the tighter he locked on the hold, to the point where my hearing became muffled. I saw the newscaster talking, but they were showing no photographs. By the time my dad released the hold, the story was over.

“What wrestler did they say died, dad?”

“Owen Hart. Said he fell from the rafters or something.”

I was so confused and saddened. When I was younger, I absolutely hated Owen. He actually main evented the first ever house show I ever attended, wrestling his brother Bret for the WWF Championship in Cleveland’s Richfield Coliseum. I tried to boo Owen out of the building that night because of how much I loathed him. As I was growing older, I began to understand just how good the bad guys worked to get you to truly hate them.В Not only was Owen a great bad guy, but he was an incredible wrestler, and I learned to appreciate more as the years has passed.

The next day at school, all the kids talked about was Owen passing away. My teacher, Mr. Lasecki, was a huge wrestling fan, and I remember him stopping whatever lesson he was teaching so that the boys in class could share Owen memories out loud. I thought that was really cool.

Owen Hart was a one of a kind wrestler. He’s one of the few guys that as more and more behind the scenes stories from the past come out, I’ve yet to read one bad story about Owen. He was a once in a lifetime athlete, but more importantly, he was a loving family man with an incredible sense of humor. Selfishly, I wish he was still around, so that we could have gotten more amazing matches and moments with “The King of Harts.”

Rest in power, Owen. You’ll never be forgotten.

-Greg

http://www.cheap-heat.com/legends-house-2-8-potential-names/ http://www.cheap-heat.com/legends-house-2-8-potential-names/#comments Sat, 21 Feb 2015 05:16:48 +0000 Mark Adam Haggerty Blogs Other Blogs APA Bradshaw Chris Jericho David Von Erich DDP Diamond Dallas Page Dok Hendrix Dusty Rhodes ECW Fabulous Freebirds Farooq Great American Bash Hall of Fame Hillbilly Jim HOF Jake Roberts JBL Jesse Ventura Kerry Von Erich Legends House Macho Man Michael Hayes Million Dollar Man Nation of Domination NWA Pat Patterson Randy Savage Ricky Steamboat Ron Simmons Ted DiBiase TNA Vader War Games WCCW WCW Wrestlemania WWE WWE Network WWF http://www.cheap-heat.com/?p=9876 Legends House 2: 8 Potential Names Written by Mark Adam Haggerty It's been one year since the world was first introduced to the WWE Network—a 24-hour streaming service featuring the best of WWE's current product as well as unfettered access to wrestling TV from yesteryear. Among the most popular content on the �Network is the […]

Legends House 2:
8 Potential Names
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty

It's been one year since the world was first introduced to the WWE Network—a 24-hour streaming service featuring the best of WWE's current product as well as unfettered access to wrestling TV from yesteryear. Among the most popular content on the �Network is the original material, including WWE Legend's House . Originally produced for cable television, Legend's House was the WWE's answer to the "Surreal Life" . Seven Hall of Famers and Hillbilly Jim converged in Palm Springs and proceeded to pull back the curtain like never before. Of course there were an enormity of activities to keep the Legends busy, but the real magic of the show came from the bond between eight brothers of the locker room. Since the show concluded, there's been talk of developing a second season, but the question as to who might make up the cast remains unanswered. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty and I'm here to make some predictions and suggestions as to who I'd like to see stuck inside the Legend's House .

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
Starting off our list is a man whose name was synonymous with the WWF during the late 1980s. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase was the top-drawing villain of his day, squaring off against the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, and Dusty Rhodes. He arrived in the WWE where he was outfitted with luxurious tuxedos, extravagant jewelry, and most precious of all—the Million Dollar Championship. Though never officially winning the world title, DiBiase did buy one from Andre the Giant, and even became the 1988 King of the Ring. Ted DiBiase retired from in-ring competition in 1994 and continued to work in the industry as a manager for such Superstars as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the 1-2-3 Kid, the Steiner Brothers, and the NWO. "The Million Dollar Man" would make a fine addition to the Legend's House based solely on his dynamic legacy, but a TV show needs more than famous wrestlers. Everybody involved needs to have a decisive quirk to set them apart—on the first season Tony Atlas was annoying, Roddy Piper was crazy, and Pat Patterson was gay. In addition to being a world-class wrestler, Ted DiBiase is also an ordained minister, and is said to be the one responsible for several wrestlers "finding Jesus." I suggest his calm demeanor could play greatly against some of the more explosive personalities in the wrestling business.

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat entered the wrestling industry in 1976, traveling the North American territory system while also learning to hone his craft overseas. "The Dragon" earned a sterling reputation specifically in the NWA promotions along the East Coast, and would eventually become an NWA/WCW Triple Crown champion when he won each the U.S., tag team, and world's heavyweight titles. Ricky had a brief stint in the WWF during the 1980s where he was met with minimal success. However it was a match from this time with "Macho Man" Randy Savage that helped make Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat a household name. Ricky returned to his roots and the WCW where he remained until the final days of his in-ring career. In 1994, the "Dragon" received his pink-slip via FedEx—from Eric Bischoff. Ricky has remained loyal to the industry but has only stepped inside the squared-circle on rare occasion, including a pair of bouts against Chris Jericho in 2009. Ricky Steamboat is an incredibly nice guy who won't do much to push buttons while living in the Legend's House. At the same time however, the former NWA champion has a dry wit about him, which could make him the straight man to some of the more outrageous members of the cast.

Michael “PS” Hayes
In 1995 the WWE hired a mustachioed color commentator with sandy-colored hair and a raspy voice. I was only 9-years-old at the time, so I had no reason to think this guy was anybody other than "Dok Hendrix"—boy was I wrong! The legend of Michael "PS" Hayes began long before his time in the broadcast booth, down in the murkiest depths of America in 1977. Hayes learned to work in his home state of Florida, and soon moved on to larger markets in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. Hayes and his running-mates dubbed the "Fabulous Freebirds" were proud of their Southern Rock routes and chose to wear the confederate flag no matter where they performed. The �Freebirds engaged in landmark rivalries with the legendary Von Erich Family, most notably against David and Kerry. Over the course of his illustrious 20-year run, Michael Hayes captured tag team gold on a number of occasions in every notable promotion—except the WWF. Hayes has garnered something of a notorious reputation behind the scenes in WWE where he currently works as head-producer. It would seem that every year around Wrestlemania, Michael Hayes gets drunk and says something racist. While I'm certainly not defending racism, I'd like to remind people that he's a sixty-year-old redneck from the Florida panhandle—I think we're lucky he keeps those remarks to himself as often as he does. Regardless, I think a man known to make as many faux pas as Freebird is made for reality TV.

Diamond Dallas Page
Don't knock yoga until you try it—Diamond Dallas Page is helping extend the careers and lives of legendary wrestlers and everyday people through his proven system of "DDP Yoga." Page is an inspiration in more ways than one; after debuting well into his prime, Diamond Dallas Page went on to have an extraordinary career which included every title in WCW as well as the WWF European and tag team championships. Now at the age of 58, Page is still active and in such peak-condition that he entered the 2015 Royal Rumble just last month ago, delivering a Diamond Cutter or two along the way. He is also the man who helped deliver Jake "the Snake" Roberts from "Death's Door" to the WWE Hall of Fame, a near impossible feat, accomplished by an unprecedented individual. Diamond Dallas Page is the most positive person on the planet, to the point where his energy is infectious and could benefit some of the other housemates who don't possess the same sunny disposition as Page. While most members of the Legend's House will probably find the WCW "People's Champion" endearing, there are bound to be a few grumpy guys unwilling to do yoga in the morning, making for some hilarious repartee.

Ron Simmons
There has still never been an African-American WWE champion, unless you count the Rock—which I don't think anybody does. But the first African-American world champion in WCW earned that honor on August 2, 1992 after defeating Big Van Vader—of course I'm talking about Ron Simmons. Unlike other names on the list, Simmons started wrestling after his football career was at an end. He debuted in 1986 and by the early �90s was known the world over as one-half of the dreaded tag team Doom. He and Butch Reed were managed by future Smackdown general manager Teddy Long, and held the WCW world tag titles before disbanding, leaving Simmons to try his hand at singles action. Following his title run and subsequent time with WCW, Ron Simmons moved on to ECW, but eventually arrived in the WWF as the "Modern Day Gladiator" Farooq Asaad. Farooq captained the fearsome Nation of Domination, one of the most revered stables in wrestling history, and alongside John Layfield formed the APA, an equally destructive tag duo. I think Ron Simmons would be an excellent member of the cast because he's a WWE Hall of Famer, he's renowned for his barrier-breaking achievements, and he's been known to drink a beer or two. Plus—if Michael Hayes is going to be around, they'll need somebody to keep him in line.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Every Legend's House is going to need a wild card, so unless Roddy Piper wants to return, we've got to find a replacement. Jake "the Snake" Roberts is a fabled character in professional wrestling, whose name echoes in the ears of those who don't even follow the sport. Jake, a second-generation wrestler, debuted in 1975 after being told repeatedly by his father Grizzly Smith NOT to become a wrestler. Jake signed with the WWF in the mid �80s amidst the "Rock �N' Wrestling" campaign. "The Snake" wasn't as family friendly as some of his contemporaries and made his presence felt through much darker means, including cryptic promos and threatening his opponents with fear—fear of his pet snake Damian . Although active for forty years in numerous promotions including WWF, WCW, ECW, TNA, WCCW, and others, Jake "The Snake" Roberts never won a major singles title. Jake is a very interesting character who's managed to defeat several demons, all the while still battling with others. He had some recent health issues, but the 2014 Hall of Famer appears to be getting better than ever. If you thought it was hard keeping "Hot Rod" locked up inside a house, imagine dealing with Jake Roberts. And plus—he'll probably bring the snake!

“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
Just like the Hall of Fame or Wrestlemania itself, Legend's House needs a couple of headliners to give the people what they want! And who better than the 3-time NWA world heavyweight champion, the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes? �Dream made his debut in 1968 and established himself as a cagey tag team competitor. Dusty was a long-time supporter of the National Wrestling Alliance, and remained under its promotional umbrella for most of his career. He made a brief appearance in the WWF during the early 1990s, feuding with the "Macho Man" Randy Savage and the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Dusty is accredited with creating some of the most spellbinding spectacles in wrestling including War Games and the Great American Bash. A highly decorated legend and WWE Hall of Famer like Dusty Rhodes has the potential to steal the show. He's never at a loss for what to say, and seems like he can offer up some poignant knowledge to his fellow cast mates once the final episode rolls along. The Legends are quite often asked to sing and dance and act outrageous—even at 69-years old, nobody gets "funky like a monkey" quite like Dusty Rhodes.

Jesse “The Body” Ventura
I dare say Jesse "The Body" Ventura would be the most entertaining cast member of Legends House: Season 2 POSSIBLE . Jesse started his wrestling career after serving his country during the Vietnam War. He received his training in his home state of Minnesota from the iconic trainer of superstars, Eddie Sharkey. Jesse Ventura's career would only last eleven years, but in that time he managed to create a legacy that would extend more than forty years. In 1986 Jesse joined the announce desk where he was most remembered by people from my generation; he served as color-commentator at the first several WWF pay-per-views such as Summerslam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and Wrestlemania. Jesse moved on to do the same type of work for WCW before leaving the industry all-together. In 1998 Ventura, now known as the "Mind," won the Minnesota gubernatorial election and served from 1999 until 2003. In addition to his public service and professional wrestling careers, the former Navy Seal is also an author, actor, and—oh yeah, he's absolutely insane. Jesse hosts a podcast every week where he describes his life living off the grid, without cell phones or computers, and ridiculing everyone who trusts in technology. I would very much like to see a show where Michael Hayes and Dusty Rhodes, two WWE employees required to carry cell phones, get lectured by the "Body" over government surveillance. Now that's good TV!

Whether you agree with me or not, I think I made some valid arguments as to why these eight individuals belong trapped together in the middle of the Southern California desert. I hope the WWE Network decides to order a second season of Legend's House, or at the very least, introduces a similar behind-the-scenes program to satiate my appetite when I'm not keen on Kayfabe. Until next time, this has been Mark Haggerty, reminding you to check out Cheap-Heat.com for all the latest and greatest news, columns, countdowns and coverage.