Well, it's been a while since I've done a wrestling review (or any review, for that matter), so I decided that today I'd watch a few matches and review them right here. So, here's a post about the pride and joy of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, none other than Lance Storm. Lance Storm is a wrestler that I always thought was better in theory than in execution. By that I mean Storm was a guy that knew all the holds, was very athletic, could cut a decent promo and was versatile in many different styles. But for whatever reason, when I watched Lance Storm, he didn't come across as a guy that was a top-notch talent, despite what his reputation on the internet might have been. I mean, it wasn't like he was terrible or anything, but he was rather forgettable. But maybe I'm wrong and I should have been on the Lance Storm bandwagon years ago, so let's begin this review with Storm getting a shot at the WCW Title.
Match 1: Lance Storm vs. The Rock, Monday Night Raw, August 20, 2001
This match took place the night after Summerslam and is the first WCW Title defense for The Rock, who had won the title the previous night. Earlier this episode, Lance Storm interrupted a Rock interview and kicked a little person impersonating Booker T in the face. Lance tries to attack early, but that doesn't work and Rock gets a two count after a Samoan Drop. The two do an exchange of missed clotheslines, then Storm hits a superkick that sends The Rock flying out of the ring. Storm moves quickly to roll The Rock back in and goes for the cover, but Rock kicks out at two. They exchange some blows, then Storm comes off the top with a clothesline that gets another two count. Storm stomps away on The Rock, then foolishly charges into a Rock spinebuster. Man, this match feels rushed. Rock hits his trademark punch combination, then follows with a DDT for a two count. The two brawl in the corner for a few seconds, then Rock hits the Rock Bottom for the three count. Post match, Rock brings the little Booker T impersonator out, who can barely climb up the stairs. Little Booker tries a People's Elbow, but he trips over Storm. So Storm gets back up, Rock spinebusts him back down, and on the second try Booker gets it as right as he was going to get it, which is still subpar even for a midget. Then Little Booker does a Spinarooni and everyone is happy. Well, not me. Match was way too short and the post-match stuff was embarrassing. I'd give it a 0.8 out of 5.
Match 2: The Unamericans (Lance Storm and Christian) vs. Booker T and Goldust, WWE Tag Team Title Match, Summerslam 2002
Storm and Christian are the champions at the time. Booker comes out to a huge reaction, while the Unamericans come out with the American flag upside down because, you see, they're Unamerican. Goldust and Christian start, and Goldust goes to work early, hitting a butt bump and then an uppercut from the ground to get a two count. Storm is tagged in, but takes an arm drag and atomic drop for his efforts, then Goldust tags in Booker T. Booker continues to run roughshod over Lance, with a sideslam and a knee drop that gets a two count. That great American patriot Goldust is tagged back in, but a cheapshot from Christian and a thumb to the eye by Storm gives the Unamericans the advantage. Storm throws Goldust over the top rope, which would have been a disqualification in the NWA. After Christian works him over, he rolls Goldust back in and Storm gets a two count. The crowd chants 'USA' to try and Goldust back into the match, but the Unamericans use quick tags and underhanded tactics to keep Goldust isolated. Storm misses a dropkick though, and Goldust gets a quick two count. He tries to get to Booker, but Christian cuts that off. Front facelock by Christian, but Goldust forces his away into the corner and backdrops Christian. Tag to Booker, but the ref didn't see it so it's not allowed. Meanwhile, he doesn't see the other team make a tag but allows it anyway. I don't know about you, but I hate that spot as it makes no sense and makes the ref look like an idiot.
Anyway, a clothesline gets two for Storm, and the Unamericans continue their isolationist tactics. But Goldust fights back, catapults Christian into Storm on the outside and then rolls Christian up for a two count. Double clothesline, and Goldust and Christian are down. Before Goldust can get over to tag Booker, Storm goes over and trips Booker off the apron, forcing Booker to lose his cool and give chase. That's the same tactic I would use while playing a tag match in any Smackdown game. Christian is able to get Goldust away from his corner, and Storm sneaks in a chair. Actually, two chairs, and Storm and Christian attempt a Conchairto on Goldust, but luckily the big golden patriot ducks, and follows with a double clothesline. Finally, Booker gets the tag, and he starts wailing away at The Unamericans. A missle dropkick on Christian almost gets a three count. Booker and Christian each try their finishers to no avail, and Booker ends up delivering a flapjack to Christian. Storm tries a leaping heel kick, but Booker ducks and the ref ends up taking the blow. Booker gets both Unamericans with the Scissors kick, then follows up with a Spinarooni and a Harlem Sidekick to Christian. But the ref is down so that's all for naught. Storm comes in with a belt, but he's quickly taken care of by Booker T and Goldust. With the ref still down, fellow Unamerican Test (and a former Tag Team champion with Booker T), comes in and flattens Booker with a big boot. Christian covers, and the ref recovers to administer the three count. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either, so I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5.
Match 3: Lance Storm w/Tammy Lynn Bytch vs. Rob Van Dam w/Bill Alfonso, ECW Television Title Match, Guilty as Charged 1999
Before the match begins, Storm says something about not having to compete in a previously scheduled match with Spike Dudley and Jerry Lynn, so he challenges RVD to a match for Van Dam's TV Title Out comes Van Dam, and after a two minute entrance, he's ready to go. The bell rings, and nobody does anything for a minute and a half before the two do a basic exchange of holds that ends with both men at a standstill. Storm backs Van Dam into the corner, firing away with shoulder blocks and chops, before whipping him into another corner. But Van Dam reverses it and eventually monkey flips Storm to the other side of the ring. Storm backs into the corner while Alfonso keeps Van Dam hydrated by handing him a water bottle. Quality managing there, Fonzie. A thumb to the eye by Storm, but after a few blows, Van Dam gets the advantage back with a dropkick and a two count, followed by a snap mare which also draws a two count. Storm reverses an Irish whip and rolls Van Dam up into a single leg crab. So Alfonso goes over to the other side of the ring and starts messing with Bytch (yes, that's what she was known as at the time, so that's what I'll call her here). That distracts Storm, who grabs at Alfonso. However, he's in perfect position to take an apron leg drop from Van Dam. RVD gets thrown into the guardrail, but rebounds and then sets Storm over the guardrail to deliver a corkscrew legdrop from the apron, which RVD connects on. Back in the ring, RVD hits a double-underhook lifting facebuster for a two count. He whips Storm to the ropes, but Storm does a leapfrog and then lands a superkick to Van Dam for two. Storm traps Van Dam in a corner and delivers a series of strikes, including a dropkick to a seated RVD. Out of the corner, Van Dam tries a springboard manuever, but gets dropkicked out of the ring into the guardrail. Van Dam oversells a baseball slide by flying over the guardrail and landing eight rows back. In the crowd, Storm is whipped into the guardrail, backdrops Van Dam over, but Van Dam catches himself and does a somersault dive off the railing onto Storm. Van Dam tries to slam Storm on the floor, but Storm counters with a inverted DDT, which is a stupid move to do on the floor since you land on your back before your opponent, causing both participants to take damage. But Storm ignores that, and while RVD attempts a springboard off the guardrail, he gets dropkicked back into the crowd by Storm. Storm then follows with a dive from the top rope, over the guardrail, and onto Van Dam. While Joey Styles tries to sell the notion that Storm is in control, Van Dam does his own brand of selling by joking with the crowd. Ok then.
Back in, RVD tries for a springboard move out of the corner, but Storm catches him again and crotches Van Dam. Back Suplex is attempted, but Van Dam flips over on his feet and catches Storm with a leg drop before he can get up. Van Dam follows up with a drop toe hold and a Surfboard. Instead of holding him up, Van Dam kicks him off and catches Storm with a rolling senton for a two count. Storm is whipped into the corner, but he catches Van Dam with a springboard back elbow and gets a two count. Storm then does a cartwheel clothesline which Van Dam just shrugs off to catch a chair tossed by Fonzie. RVD tries for the Van Daminator, but Storm dodges the blow and ends up tapping RVD in the head with it. Unfortunately, Storm picks the chair back up, and gets caught with a Vandaminator. Storm sells the heck out of the move, but he was playing possum as he caught Van Dam with a low blow and nearly got a three count from a small package. Van Dam catches Storm with a spinning heel kick which "almost cut Lance Storm clean in half", according to Joey Styles. Like hell it did. Van Dam goes for another Van Daminator, but Storm ducks and the chair goes into the ref's face. Storm follows with a Van Daminator of his own, but the ref is out. Fonzie brings in a chair, which Storm takes away, but all that does is allow Van Dam to come off the top for a Van Daminator into Storm's face. Storm kicks out at two. Back up, RVD hits a crappy looking clothesline and goes for the Five Star Frog Splash, but Storm moves. Storm goes for a powerbomb, but RVD reverses into a rollup. The two men do a nice exchange of holds before Van Dam hits a German Suplex with a bridge, which is enough to get the three count. Ten years ago, I probably would have told you that this was a great match and these two men are what wrestling is all about or whatever. However, while there were a few solid spots, the match was hurt by RVD's indifferent selling and Storm's weak chair shots. Still, it was rather decent, so I'll give it a 2.35 out of 5.
Match 4: Lance Storm vs. Triple H, WWE Smackdown, May 21, 2002
Before the match, Storm gets on the mic and says that, despite Triple-H's victory over Chris Jericho in Hell in a Cell, he's nothing but a barbaric animal, and Storm will teach him a lesson like only a true technical wizard can do. Storm sets out to teach Triple-H a lesson by taking two hard clothesline and a high knee lift. But Triple-H's knee is all bandaged up from his last match, so the big dummy ended up hurting it after the move. Storm hits a jawjacker and some punches, but Triple-H follows up with a driving knee to the face, this time using his good leg. Storm reverses an Irish whip and dropkicks HHH down to the mat. Storm shows off his technical wizardry by attacking Triple-H with a series of punches, kicks, and other various blows. Even Tazz, on commentary, notices how Storm's actions differ from his words and calls him a hypocrite. It's effective, though, as Storm has re-opened Triple-H's headwound and nearly gets a three count. Storm lands a clothesline from the top and gets another two count. Storm continues to pound away, but Triple-H has had all he can take so he starts firing back with blows of his own. Storm misses a Stinger Splash, and HHH then lands a neckbreaker, followed by a spinebuster that gets a two count. Storm ducks a clothesline and lands a superkick, following up with a Canadian Mapleleaf on Triple-H's bum leg. But Triple-H gets to the ropes. Storm hits another superkick, and climbs to the top rope while the ref checks on Triple-H. HHH, ever the ring general, pushes the ref into the ropes, knocking Storm off. A Pedigree follows, and Triple-H holds Storm down for the three count. All in all, not a bad TV match and probably my favorite of the four. I'll give it a three out of 5.
So, what did I learn from all this Storm watching. That Lance Storm should never pick up a chair in a wrestling ring again. Other than that, I stand by my previous statement, Storm's a decent to good wrestler who got about as far in wrestling as he should have been. He had a nice career of producing matches that were neither bad nor great, just in the middle. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this post or about Lance Storm in general, or you have ideas for future post, then please feel free to send them to me either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label WWE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WWE. Show all posts
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Canon Book Review: Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps
Last week, I picked up Dancing With the Stars contestant Chris Jericho's second book, Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps. Jericho's first autobiography, A Lion's Tale, is regarded as one of the best wrestling books ever written (I'd say it's the best, but that's just my opinion), and many people were eagerly waiting for his second book to drop. Undisputed picks up where A Lion Tale's ends, with Jericho making his debut promo for the WWF in 1999. From there, Jericho details his first run in the WWE, as well as the trials and tribulations of making it in the music business with his band Fozzy and his foray into acting.
While Jericho came into the WWE with a lot of fanfare, things didn't go to well for Y2J when he first arrived. Jericho details the struggles he had with adapting to the WWE style and the politics of the WWE locker room. Jericho also had a feud with Chyna that wasn't exactly a career highlight for him, and even got vehemently berated by Vince McMahon, who said that Jericho wasn't worth the paper his contract was written on. Eventually, Jericho would adapt and become one of the biggest superstars in the industry. In Undisputed, Jericho details some of the classic matches he had with superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, The Rock, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Triple-H, among others. Jericho also delves into the backstage shenanigans of the WWE locker room, including his complicated relationship with WWE head Vince McMahon and his backstage fight with Goldberg in 2003 (in which Goldberg comes across as a bit of a wimp).
The other part of the book is about Jericho's metal band, Fozzy, which actually started out as a joke before rising to semi-prominence in the world of heavy metal. Fozzy's evolution from a gimmicky cover band to a legitimate metal band with their own material is covered in great length in Undisputed. In many ways, Fozzy's tribulations are quite similar to the same problems that Jericho had when he first became a wrestler, as Fozzy would sometimes play a gig in front of sparse audiences that didn't exactly have the warmest reception for Fozzy. But Fozzy did have their share of highlights, including stealing the show in front of 25,000 people at a metal festival in Germany and opening for such bands as Motorhead. I've heard some criticism over all the focus on his music career instead of his wrestling career in this book, but personally I found all the tales of Fozzy and the music industry quite entertaining, and it didn't take away from the book at all.
Readers of A Lion's Tale will know that Jericho has a great sense of humor, and that humor is on full display here in Undisputed. There are many, many instances where I laughed at some of the crazy stories presented here in this book, and it helps that Jericho is not someone who takes themselves seriously. Also, much like his fellow wrestler Mick Foley (who has never beaten Jericho in a wrestling match, as Jericho points out many times in this book), Jericho is not afraid to drop a name or two, and the book details all sorts of celebrity encounters Jericho had. From meeting big-time stars such as Wayne Gretzky (who called him Jeff Jericho) and Bruce Willis, to talking about ring ropes with Jon Lovitz and punching former pitcher Scott Erickson in the face, Jericho recounts each of these encounters with a sense of amusement. Jericho's attempts to break into Hollywood are also recounted here, including his appearance as a contestant of Celebrity Duets, where he was the first voted off. Hopefully, that's not an omen for his upcoming Dancing with the Stars stint.
While most of the book is filled with humor, Jericho also delves into some of the personal struggles he's gone through over the years, including his drunk driving arrest and the deaths of his mom and his close personal friends Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Jericho devotes an entire chapter to his mother in the book and it's a very poignant part of the book. He also devotes an entire chapter to the Benoit murder-suicide and how he dealt with the feelings of such a shocking event. While Jericho was one of Benoit's best friends and a man who considered Benoit a mentor, he also paints a realistic picture of Chris Benoit the man, who was a little eccentric at best. It's a very interesting and revealing look at the feelings Jericho was dealing with after the unspeakable tragedy committed by one of his best friends.
Overall, Undisputed is a worthy successor to A Lion's Tale and will probably go down as one of the best wrestling autobiographies out there along with Foley's Have A Nice Day and Bret Hart's Hitman: A Life in Tights. If you are a fan of wrestling and looking for something to read, I suggest you pick up this book as soon as possible. I'd give it a 9.25 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
While Jericho came into the WWE with a lot of fanfare, things didn't go to well for Y2J when he first arrived. Jericho details the struggles he had with adapting to the WWE style and the politics of the WWE locker room. Jericho also had a feud with Chyna that wasn't exactly a career highlight for him, and even got vehemently berated by Vince McMahon, who said that Jericho wasn't worth the paper his contract was written on. Eventually, Jericho would adapt and become one of the biggest superstars in the industry. In Undisputed, Jericho details some of the classic matches he had with superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, The Rock, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Triple-H, among others. Jericho also delves into the backstage shenanigans of the WWE locker room, including his complicated relationship with WWE head Vince McMahon and his backstage fight with Goldberg in 2003 (in which Goldberg comes across as a bit of a wimp).
The other part of the book is about Jericho's metal band, Fozzy, which actually started out as a joke before rising to semi-prominence in the world of heavy metal. Fozzy's evolution from a gimmicky cover band to a legitimate metal band with their own material is covered in great length in Undisputed. In many ways, Fozzy's tribulations are quite similar to the same problems that Jericho had when he first became a wrestler, as Fozzy would sometimes play a gig in front of sparse audiences that didn't exactly have the warmest reception for Fozzy. But Fozzy did have their share of highlights, including stealing the show in front of 25,000 people at a metal festival in Germany and opening for such bands as Motorhead. I've heard some criticism over all the focus on his music career instead of his wrestling career in this book, but personally I found all the tales of Fozzy and the music industry quite entertaining, and it didn't take away from the book at all.
Readers of A Lion's Tale will know that Jericho has a great sense of humor, and that humor is on full display here in Undisputed. There are many, many instances where I laughed at some of the crazy stories presented here in this book, and it helps that Jericho is not someone who takes themselves seriously. Also, much like his fellow wrestler Mick Foley (who has never beaten Jericho in a wrestling match, as Jericho points out many times in this book), Jericho is not afraid to drop a name or two, and the book details all sorts of celebrity encounters Jericho had. From meeting big-time stars such as Wayne Gretzky (who called him Jeff Jericho) and Bruce Willis, to talking about ring ropes with Jon Lovitz and punching former pitcher Scott Erickson in the face, Jericho recounts each of these encounters with a sense of amusement. Jericho's attempts to break into Hollywood are also recounted here, including his appearance as a contestant of Celebrity Duets, where he was the first voted off. Hopefully, that's not an omen for his upcoming Dancing with the Stars stint.
While most of the book is filled with humor, Jericho also delves into some of the personal struggles he's gone through over the years, including his drunk driving arrest and the deaths of his mom and his close personal friends Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Jericho devotes an entire chapter to his mother in the book and it's a very poignant part of the book. He also devotes an entire chapter to the Benoit murder-suicide and how he dealt with the feelings of such a shocking event. While Jericho was one of Benoit's best friends and a man who considered Benoit a mentor, he also paints a realistic picture of Chris Benoit the man, who was a little eccentric at best. It's a very interesting and revealing look at the feelings Jericho was dealing with after the unspeakable tragedy committed by one of his best friends.
Overall, Undisputed is a worthy successor to A Lion's Tale and will probably go down as one of the best wrestling autobiographies out there along with Foley's Have A Nice Day and Bret Hart's Hitman: A Life in Tights. If you are a fan of wrestling and looking for something to read, I suggest you pick up this book as soon as possible. I'd give it a 9.25 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A New Project for The Canon Review
So for Christmas I got the WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment. It's actually quite a good book, filled with profiles and full color pictures of just about every superstar in WWE history up until about 2008 or so. Yes, it's missing a few wrestlers like Luther Reigns, Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon, but overall, it's a very detailed and informative look into WWE history. If I had to review it, I'd give it an 8.7 out of 10. However, that's not really the point of this post. The point is that I will be undertaking a new project in which I watch at least one video of every entry in this book. That includes wrestlers, tag teams, pay-per-views, whatever. To accomplish this, I have set a few guidelines for me to follow.
- I will be using Google Video to search for videos, and the video I watch will correspond with the page number that the subject's profile can be found on in the encylopedia. For example, Ahmed Johnson appears on page 9, so I will type in Ahmed Johnson and go down to the ninth video.
- In some cases, the subject will not have enough videos to match up with the page number. For example, Xanta Claus is on page 361. Well, Xanta Claus does not have 361 videos on the web. In this case, I would subtract the number of videos listed from the original page number. Let's say Xanta Claus has 228 videos (he doesn't, just using a random number here). Well, I would subtract that from 361, getting 133. Which means I would watch the 133rd video on the list.
- If I happen to type in a term and the corresponding video has nothing to do with the wrestler, I will then divide the number in half and continue to do so until I can watch a relevant video of the subject. That way, I won't end up watching a stupid v-log about Jeff Hardy just because the maker of the video typed in a bunch of names in order to get more hits.
- I will not limit myself to just WWF videos, but I will try to watch just wrestling videos. In the case of say, a Dan Severn, I might watch one of his UFC matches, but I will not be watching John Cena in a scene from the Marine or something like that. Also, if the video I get is just an interview, well, that's the video I will watch.
Well, that's that. I won't be doing this every day, maybe two or three times a week at most, with each post featuring around 15 videos or so. Hopefully, I'll be done with this by the end of the year, and have my first post on this project sometime tomorrow. Also, there will continue to be other posts on The Canon Review, like movie reviews and all the other stuff that has made this site the most popular site named thecanonreview.blogspot.com in the world. If you have any questions, then feel free to ask them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. You can also, as always, suggest a future review for the site by using the same methods of communication as described above. Now, here's Ken Patera dropping some knowledge on all you folks.
- I will be using Google Video to search for videos, and the video I watch will correspond with the page number that the subject's profile can be found on in the encylopedia. For example, Ahmed Johnson appears on page 9, so I will type in Ahmed Johnson and go down to the ninth video.
- In some cases, the subject will not have enough videos to match up with the page number. For example, Xanta Claus is on page 361. Well, Xanta Claus does not have 361 videos on the web. In this case, I would subtract the number of videos listed from the original page number. Let's say Xanta Claus has 228 videos (he doesn't, just using a random number here). Well, I would subtract that from 361, getting 133. Which means I would watch the 133rd video on the list.
- If I happen to type in a term and the corresponding video has nothing to do with the wrestler, I will then divide the number in half and continue to do so until I can watch a relevant video of the subject. That way, I won't end up watching a stupid v-log about Jeff Hardy just because the maker of the video typed in a bunch of names in order to get more hits.
- I will not limit myself to just WWF videos, but I will try to watch just wrestling videos. In the case of say, a Dan Severn, I might watch one of his UFC matches, but I will not be watching John Cena in a scene from the Marine or something like that. Also, if the video I get is just an interview, well, that's the video I will watch.
Well, that's that. I won't be doing this every day, maybe two or three times a week at most, with each post featuring around 15 videos or so. Hopefully, I'll be done with this by the end of the year, and have my first post on this project sometime tomorrow. Also, there will continue to be other posts on The Canon Review, like movie reviews and all the other stuff that has made this site the most popular site named thecanonreview.blogspot.com in the world. If you have any questions, then feel free to ask them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. You can also, as always, suggest a future review for the site by using the same methods of communication as described above. Now, here's Ken Patera dropping some knowledge on all you folks.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Canon Book Review: Countdown to Lockdown
Before I begin this review, I'd first like to plug my good friend Sonny Bone's new website, http://www.axebombermag.com. The website is the result of all of the positive feedback from the digital magazine Axe Bomber Magazine, and instead of waiting three months to release another issue, it has been decided by the powers-that-be that a website would be more prudent. That way, any breaking news on wrestling video games and other related topics will be covered right away. Already, there is a preview of the newly announced Fire Pro wrestling game for the XBox 360 to be released in the near future. So check it out, and be on the lookout for new articles, including some by yours truly, relating to wrestling video games at axebombermag.com.
Now for today's review. Recently I was fortunate to get my hands on an advance copy of Mick Foley's 4th autobiography, Countdown to Lockdown. I'd like to thank my friend Dickson S. for providing me with a copy of the book. See, Dickson works at a TV station, and the station was sent an advance copy of the book a couple of weeks ago. For whatever reason, they gave the book to Dickson, who then proceeded to give me the copy of the book so I could have the rare opportunity of reviewing something on this site before it was released to the public. So thanks again, Dickson, and I hope you enjoy this review of Mick Foley's Countdown to Lockdown, which will be available in stores on October 1st.
As previously mentioned, this is the fourth biography written by wrestler Mick Foley (Have a Nice Day, Foley is Good, and The Hardcore Diaries being the other three). This book is written in a similar style to The Hardcore Diaries in that a large portion of the book is a journal detailing the buildup and events leading up to a big match. In this case, Foley is chronicling the events leading up to his big steel cage match with his old rival Sting at TNA's Lockdown 2009 event in Philadelphia, PA, the home of many a Mick Foley classic match in the past. The book differs from The Hardcore Diaries in that, this time, Foley seems to have complete support from the TNA creative team, as he's able to offer suggestions and basically carry out the angle with Sting the way he sees fit. Because of that, Foley seems to be more upbeat than he was while writing The Hardcore Diaries. However, Foley also struggles with self-doubt over his physical condition and whether or not he can deliver a high quality match with Sting in the main event of a TNA pay-per-view.
In between journal entries, Foley writes about the events that took place between the completion of The Hardcore Diaries and the writing of this book, including Foley's announcing career, which eventually would lead to his departure from WWE due to a series of disagreements with Vince McMahon. Also, Foley details his charity work and his travels to Mexico and Sierra Leone, his family's venture into reality television (which, unfortunately, never aired), and his celebrity encounter with Tori Amos, whose music has been a constant source of inspirtation to Foley. Also, Foley tackles serious subjects such as the large amount of wrestlers dying young and the use of steroids in wrestling and sports.
Throughout the book, Foley writes about the conflicts he had with Vince McMahon and the WWE brass. To his credit, Foley often takes the high road when dealing with the events that led to his resignation with the WWE, choosing not to bury Vince and the WWE. Unlike some other wrestlers, Foley does not use his book as an opportunity to settle scores or bury other people he may of had a problem with. Well, he did kind of go off about his old dog Pom Pom, although in that case I could definitely see why. Like his last books, Foley is not afraid to drop a name or two, which can get annoying at times, but heck if I had met a bunch of famous people I might do the same thing.
Overall, Countdown to Lockdown is not a bad read by any means. Yes, it's not as good as Foley's Have a Nice Day, and to be honest, the book is kind of hard to get into at the beginning, at least to me. But as a whole, the book is an entertaining read that will interest any wrestling fan and will provide readers with laughs as well as something to think about. Overall, I give Countdown to Lockdown a 7.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this review, then share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
Now for today's review. Recently I was fortunate to get my hands on an advance copy of Mick Foley's 4th autobiography, Countdown to Lockdown. I'd like to thank my friend Dickson S. for providing me with a copy of the book. See, Dickson works at a TV station, and the station was sent an advance copy of the book a couple of weeks ago. For whatever reason, they gave the book to Dickson, who then proceeded to give me the copy of the book so I could have the rare opportunity of reviewing something on this site before it was released to the public. So thanks again, Dickson, and I hope you enjoy this review of Mick Foley's Countdown to Lockdown, which will be available in stores on October 1st.
As previously mentioned, this is the fourth biography written by wrestler Mick Foley (Have a Nice Day, Foley is Good, and The Hardcore Diaries being the other three). This book is written in a similar style to The Hardcore Diaries in that a large portion of the book is a journal detailing the buildup and events leading up to a big match. In this case, Foley is chronicling the events leading up to his big steel cage match with his old rival Sting at TNA's Lockdown 2009 event in Philadelphia, PA, the home of many a Mick Foley classic match in the past. The book differs from The Hardcore Diaries in that, this time, Foley seems to have complete support from the TNA creative team, as he's able to offer suggestions and basically carry out the angle with Sting the way he sees fit. Because of that, Foley seems to be more upbeat than he was while writing The Hardcore Diaries. However, Foley also struggles with self-doubt over his physical condition and whether or not he can deliver a high quality match with Sting in the main event of a TNA pay-per-view.
In between journal entries, Foley writes about the events that took place between the completion of The Hardcore Diaries and the writing of this book, including Foley's announcing career, which eventually would lead to his departure from WWE due to a series of disagreements with Vince McMahon. Also, Foley details his charity work and his travels to Mexico and Sierra Leone, his family's venture into reality television (which, unfortunately, never aired), and his celebrity encounter with Tori Amos, whose music has been a constant source of inspirtation to Foley. Also, Foley tackles serious subjects such as the large amount of wrestlers dying young and the use of steroids in wrestling and sports.
Throughout the book, Foley writes about the conflicts he had with Vince McMahon and the WWE brass. To his credit, Foley often takes the high road when dealing with the events that led to his resignation with the WWE, choosing not to bury Vince and the WWE. Unlike some other wrestlers, Foley does not use his book as an opportunity to settle scores or bury other people he may of had a problem with. Well, he did kind of go off about his old dog Pom Pom, although in that case I could definitely see why. Like his last books, Foley is not afraid to drop a name or two, which can get annoying at times, but heck if I had met a bunch of famous people I might do the same thing.
Overall, Countdown to Lockdown is not a bad read by any means. Yes, it's not as good as Foley's Have a Nice Day, and to be honest, the book is kind of hard to get into at the beginning, at least to me. But as a whole, the book is an entertaining read that will interest any wrestling fan and will provide readers with laughs as well as something to think about. Overall, I give Countdown to Lockdown a 7.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this review, then share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Canon Book Review: The Hardcore Diaries
Before I begin, I would like to mention that my new side project, The Western Movie Project, is up and running. We've already had one review on our first movie, Raging Bull, and more are to come in the very near future. So, if you want, check it out and tell us what you think. Now on to today's review, which is Mick Foley's third autobiography, The Hardcore Diaries. In case you are unfamilar with Mr. Foley, he is, or was, a professional wrestler who wrestled under the names Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love. Foley is a three-time WWE World Champion, and wrote two previous autobiographies, Have a Nice Day and Foley is Good. Both of his previous autobiographies spent a week as the number one bestseller on the New York Times Bestseller List. I have read both of Foley's previous autobiographies, and they are great reads, probably two of the top five books about wrestling that I've ever read. The Hardcore Diaries was released in 2007, and for whatever reason, I just wasn't terribly interested in picking up the third book when it first came out. But eventually I got it real cheap off of amazon.com and, after only four months, I finally cracked it open and finished reading The Hardcore Diaries in about three days. A few thoughts about the book:
- The Hardcore Diaries is based primarily around the buildup and the match that Foley had at One Night Stand, 2006, where he teamed up with Edge and Lita against Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty. The book is written in diary form and details each step in the storyline, from Mick's pitch to the WWE creative team to the various interviews and promos building up the match to all of the problems Mick had with the creative team constantly changing his ideas and finally concluding with the match itself. When the book begins, Foley is full of hope and vigor, and his writing shows it, as he is very positive and upbeat. As the events progress, doubts begins to creep in and Foley starts to lose hope, and his writing reflects that very much, so the last half of the book is basically Foley wallowing and pity and wondering just where everything went all wrong.
- The main storyline of the book, while interesting on it's own, really is not enough to justify 375 pages worth of material. So in between entries in his diary, Foley sprinkles in tidbits on what he had been up to in the five years since his last book came out, which, apparently, is really not a whole lot. Sure, Foley's been traveling around the world and doing charity work, and that's all well and good, but it's seems as if 1/4 of the book is dedicated to Mick Foley meeting famous people like Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. That's all well and good, but after the 15th or so celebrity encounter it gets kind of tiresome.
- On one hand, Foley is quite willing to criticize the WWE when he disagrees with something they're doing, even the big names like Triple-H and Vince McMahon, which is quite unlike most WWE published biographies (Ric Flair's book might as well have been a 500-page love letter to Vince McMahon, for example. On the other hand, it seemed as if he was only critical of the WWE whenever they disagreed with one of his ideas. If the WWE let Foley do what he wanted, than he was quite complimentary of Vince and company. Maybe that's just human nature. Anyway, I am glad that the WWE did not edit out the most scathing parts of Foley's criticism.
- I must say, Mick Foley is a man that really likes his pornography. Heck, he spends a lot of the book talking about appearing on a radio show hosted by a famous female pornstar and about his relationship with said pornstar. He also devotes a lot of time and energy to detailing his relationship with various 'divas' such as Melina, Candice Michelle, and Trish Stratus. That probably did not go over too well at the Foley household, I'm guessing.
Overall, I would say that a lot of parts about this book, such as Mick detailing the events leading up to One Night Stand, and his description of his 2004 feud with Randy Orton, is entertaining for wrestling fans. Although some readers did not like Foley's constant talk of his charitable contributions or his family, I found those sections to be interesting myself. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in The Hardcore Diaries, to be sure, but I have two main issues with the book. One, the book, being in diary form, is not in any sort of chronological order, so it's hard to follow what exactly Foley is talking about from chapter to chapter since he skips around so much. The other issue is, well, the book's material itself is not particularly memorable. The buildup to Foley's match at One Night Stand was full of rather unremarkable moments (mainly due to the fact that the WWE seemed to have little faith in Funk or Dreamer, but still) and so, what you end up with is a story about an angle which very few people would find remarkable in any way. The match at One Night Stand was rather memorable, and Foley's promo on the show before One Night Stand would rank amongst one of the best of the decade, easily. Other than that, this is a book about a wrestling storyline that isn't exactly Foley's best work, which isn't necessarily his fault. It's a daring idea, but perhaps it would have been better for Foley to just write a third autobiography in chronological order instead of what is basically a 370 page blog.
Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh. After all, this is not exactly a bad book, and a lot of it was quite enjoyable. But overall it seemed to be missing a certain spark, if you will. I'll give The Hardcore Diaries a 6.45 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this post or ideas for future posts, than send them this way either by commenting or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- The Hardcore Diaries is based primarily around the buildup and the match that Foley had at One Night Stand, 2006, where he teamed up with Edge and Lita against Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty. The book is written in diary form and details each step in the storyline, from Mick's pitch to the WWE creative team to the various interviews and promos building up the match to all of the problems Mick had with the creative team constantly changing his ideas and finally concluding with the match itself. When the book begins, Foley is full of hope and vigor, and his writing shows it, as he is very positive and upbeat. As the events progress, doubts begins to creep in and Foley starts to lose hope, and his writing reflects that very much, so the last half of the book is basically Foley wallowing and pity and wondering just where everything went all wrong.
- The main storyline of the book, while interesting on it's own, really is not enough to justify 375 pages worth of material. So in between entries in his diary, Foley sprinkles in tidbits on what he had been up to in the five years since his last book came out, which, apparently, is really not a whole lot. Sure, Foley's been traveling around the world and doing charity work, and that's all well and good, but it's seems as if 1/4 of the book is dedicated to Mick Foley meeting famous people like Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. That's all well and good, but after the 15th or so celebrity encounter it gets kind of tiresome.
- On one hand, Foley is quite willing to criticize the WWE when he disagrees with something they're doing, even the big names like Triple-H and Vince McMahon, which is quite unlike most WWE published biographies (Ric Flair's book might as well have been a 500-page love letter to Vince McMahon, for example. On the other hand, it seemed as if he was only critical of the WWE whenever they disagreed with one of his ideas. If the WWE let Foley do what he wanted, than he was quite complimentary of Vince and company. Maybe that's just human nature. Anyway, I am glad that the WWE did not edit out the most scathing parts of Foley's criticism.
- I must say, Mick Foley is a man that really likes his pornography. Heck, he spends a lot of the book talking about appearing on a radio show hosted by a famous female pornstar and about his relationship with said pornstar. He also devotes a lot of time and energy to detailing his relationship with various 'divas' such as Melina, Candice Michelle, and Trish Stratus. That probably did not go over too well at the Foley household, I'm guessing.
Overall, I would say that a lot of parts about this book, such as Mick detailing the events leading up to One Night Stand, and his description of his 2004 feud with Randy Orton, is entertaining for wrestling fans. Although some readers did not like Foley's constant talk of his charitable contributions or his family, I found those sections to be interesting myself. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in The Hardcore Diaries, to be sure, but I have two main issues with the book. One, the book, being in diary form, is not in any sort of chronological order, so it's hard to follow what exactly Foley is talking about from chapter to chapter since he skips around so much. The other issue is, well, the book's material itself is not particularly memorable. The buildup to Foley's match at One Night Stand was full of rather unremarkable moments (mainly due to the fact that the WWE seemed to have little faith in Funk or Dreamer, but still) and so, what you end up with is a story about an angle which very few people would find remarkable in any way. The match at One Night Stand was rather memorable, and Foley's promo on the show before One Night Stand would rank amongst one of the best of the decade, easily. Other than that, this is a book about a wrestling storyline that isn't exactly Foley's best work, which isn't necessarily his fault. It's a daring idea, but perhaps it would have been better for Foley to just write a third autobiography in chronological order instead of what is basically a 370 page blog.
Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh. After all, this is not exactly a bad book, and a lot of it was quite enjoyable. But overall it seemed to be missing a certain spark, if you will. I'll give The Hardcore Diaries a 6.45 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this post or ideas for future posts, than send them this way either by commenting or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
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