Boo Blog: The Brain, The Genius & Brother Hate

"The Genius" & "Brother Hate"

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Until listening to a recent episode of the podcast Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, I had forgotten about this gem. It's the Halloween episode of Prime Time Wrestling hosted by Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Each host dressed in costume for the holiday and hilarity ensued.

Heenan dressed as "The Genius" Lanny Poffo, Monsoon was Brother Hate but dressed like Brother Love and Piper did his best "Brain" impression. Heenan and Monsoon argue back and forth as their alter egos as Piper added some flamboyance to his portrayal of Heenan.  At one point Heenan calls Piper's costume a "roughed up Phyliss Diller."

"The Brain" knocked out Brother Love

The real Brother Love interrupts the show with a shouting tirade on Brother Hate, professing his love for all, including his benefactor "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Piper returns to knock out Love with a small pumpkin, not quite as extreme as the coconut incident with "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. But it was enough to render the Brother unconscious as Piper had a good time with him.

Rewatching this clip makes me miss the good old days of WWF programming. I was in high school during this era and working a part-time job at the time so in all likelihood I recorded this show and watched it when I got home. The duo of Monsoon and Heenan may very well be the best in the history of wrestling. Add Piper's insanity and the antics of Brother Love and you've got the perfect storm for entertainment. 

Summer of Flair

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Summer of 1991 I was in Florida on vacation. It was right before the Great American Bash and Ric Flair was set to defend the WCW World Heavyweight title against Lex Luger. I was watching WCW Saturday Night in the hotel room when a scroll went across the bottom of the screen, effectively saying Flair was no longer with WCW and would not be defending the belt at the Bash. I quickly wondered what was next for Flair, but hoped he'd be going to WWF.

The original Bash poster

Remember it was 1991 and there was no internet and no Monday Night Wars. Raw wasn't even a show at that point. The only live programming was the big four pay per views from WWF and the handful WCW was doing. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next.

A few weeks later as I was preparing to leave for college. I was casually watching Wrestling Challenge and when the show was coming to an end and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan whipped out Flair's WCW championship belt. He informed his broadcast colleagues the man who owned the belt was the real world's champion and could be coming to the WWF. Gorilla Monsoon asked "does the guy have a name?" Then jaws dropped everywhere, at least in my house, when Heenan said the belt belonged to Ric Flair. To my knowledge it was the first time WWF had ever acknowledged another wrestling company or wrestler who wasn't already on their programming.

Up close for a WWF house show featuring Flair

I'd long been a fan of Flair and news of him coming to WWF was more than welcomed by me. I love wrestling, but always preferred WWF to WCW. The Nature Boy was coming to "our side" and I was ecstatic. A few months later I was in the second row watching Flair battle "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in the main event of a house show on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. 

That moment with Heenan, the belt, Monsoon and Jim Neidhart is one of my favorite wrestling memories of all time. I still get goosebumps watching it and I've incorporated the audio of that into my podcast open. Part of what made it so special was there was no internet to spoil the surprise. But that's a conversation for another day.

Naming my monkey is driving me bananas

Name me...

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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A couple of weeks ago I started a contest to name the My 1-2-3 Cents monkey. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram friends and followers all weighed in. I narrowed down the choices to the four that seemed to be the most logical. 

I want to establish my brand and the monkey is going to become a big part of my marketing effort. My hope is to get on the site Pro Wrestling Tees by the end of the year with a variety of monkey shirts. To do that I need 5,000 Twitter and Instagram followers combined. I'm about 1,800 away from that as we speak. (Cheap plug: follow @kevinhunsperger on Twitter & @kevin_hunsperger on Instagram).

Long term plans include other merchandise featuring the monkey. My thought is if he has a name, it'll be even easier to brand. But here's my problem, even after talking with marketing and social media specialists who are not wrestling fans, fellow fans and just a random Snapchat sampling, I can't seem to seem to make up my mind. So I'm turning to you all again.

Gorilla Monsoon
Courtesy:WWE

The two finalists are Jitter (based off his appearance and the fact that the podcast I do is on the Jittery Monkey Podcasting Network) and Monsoon (named after the late, great Gorilla Monsoon).  I have reservations about both for various reasons. But I want more input from you.

So should the monkey be named

a) Jitter

b) Monsoon

c) None of the above, start over

d) Don't name the monkey

You can comment on this post, message me on Twitter (@kevinhunsperger) or on the       My 1-2-3 Cents Facebook page. There's also Instagram and Snapchat too (hunsperger). Thanks for playing (again).

Taking off the gloves: Ali belongs in WWE Hall of Fame

Some of the stars of WrestleMania

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Full disclaimer, I have no idea if Ali was opposed to going in or if there's some other reason for him not being inducted.

I'm not complaining for the sake of complaining with this post. It's something I've felt strongly about for a long time, even documenting here on the blog. Muhammad Ali should have been one of the first inductees into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame. 

For years, some fans have complained about the celebrity wing arguing that Donald Trump got in before "Ravishing" Rick Rude. A long time ago I accepted the fact that the celebrity wing and the wrestling wing are separate. And when you consider WWE is a sports entertainment company, it makes sense why they have celebrities involved.

Back to my original point... In 2004 when WWE really reintroduced fans to the Hall of Fame and inducted Pete Rose, the reasoning made sense. Rose's exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame was hot news at the time and his WWE HOF induction made headlines in main stream media outlets. The next year the principles from the first WrestleMania were inducted. Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff and Bob Orton were all a part of that original main event. Since Mr. T wasn't in that class, it would have been the perfect time to add Ali (or Cyndi Lauper).

Hogan and Ali
Courtesy: WWE

Every year WWE inducts at least one wrestler, manager or announcer posthumously. They've never done that with a celebrity. I can't imagine that they would either because the point of the celebrity has always been the appeal of someone fans don't normally see at these events being a part of the show. I could be (and I hope I am) wrong about that. Ali's daughter Laila has plenty of crossover appeal and could accept on behalf of her father.

Inoki vs. Ali

Ali's history with WWE and wrestling is quite rich. He was in a boxer vs. wrestler match in Tokyo against Antonio Inoki in 1976. The buildup to that included a confrontation with Gorilla Monsoon and in ring promos with manager "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Ali was the guest enforcer referee during the main event of WrestleMania. He worked as a second for The Snowman in Mid-South as he battled Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He also appeared at WCW's Halloween Havoc in 1994.

Ali and Andre, what a pair

So obviously he has been involved enough with the business and has a high profile stature that should have put him in ahead of the likes of Drew Carey and Snoop Dog. But maybe I'm sounding like the fans who gripe that the Bushwhackers are in but not the Midnight Express...

Happy (Greg the Hammer) Valentine's Day

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Happy Valentine's Day!  I came across some funny cards created by fans much more clever than I am.  Sorry I don't know the original sources for these, but the Neville one is my favorite.

Rumble Rambings: 1993

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm hoping (but not committing) to watch several Royal Rumbles leading up to the 2016 event and just posting random thoughts of the match.  I'm not doing these in any order.  Today I'm starting with 1993.  I decided to watch it because I hadn't seen it since it first aired 23 years ago.  This was also the first time the stipulation included a championship match at Wrestlemania for the winner.

I miss these two...
Courtesy: WWE

• I miss Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon as a team.  It's nice watching a show and the entire time the commentary team is focused on the action at hand.  No Network shills.  No "Royal Rumble is trending on Twitter!" comments.  The back and forth between these two was always magical.  Heenan's quick wit has never been matched, ever.  And Monsoon's responses were always great.  "Will you stop?!?"

Flair, Backlund and DiBiase
Courtesy: WWE

• Ric Flair was days away from leaving WWF and started the Rumble as number one.  The second entrant was another former champion: Bob Backlund.  Keep in mind Flair is about six months older than Backlund, but Heenan and Monsoon focused on Backlund's age and his comeback.  They weren't the only two to do that during Backlund's return.  I just found it funny how Backlund was a hero for being so "old" and returning, while Flair had just finished a run as champ.

Carlos Colon
Courtesy: WWE

• Speaking of age, when Carlos Colon hit the ring, Gorilla referred to the Caribbean champion as a "youngster."  He was older than Backlund and Flair and had been wrestling nearly 30 years by the time the '93 Rumble rolled around.  This was his first appearance on WWF TV I believe, so maybe he was a youngster to the company???

Introducing Giant Gonzalez
Courtesy: WWE

• I hate when a guy gets eliminated by someone who has already been tossed from the match.  In this particular event it was Mr. Perfect.  He got taken out by Jerry "The King" Lawler who had been dumped to the floor moments earlier.  But the biggest miscarriage of justice (a Gorilliaism) was when the Giant Gonzalez appeared out of no where and took out the Undertaker.  Gonzalez wasn't even in the match and was making his debut that night.  How does that work?  

• Typhoon and Earthquake collectively were known as the Natural Disasters.  The two had a run as tag team champions.  But for some reason when Earthquake entered the match he immediately went after his partner and eliminated him.  I'm certain nothing ever developed from this.  Just a weird moment in the Rumble I guess.

The final two
Courtesy: WWE

• How did "Macho Man" Randy Savage go from the second to the last man in the ring to working on the announce team at Wrestlemania IX?  Considering Savage's pedigree I still don't know what happened there (keep in mind he wrestled a year later at Wrestlemania X).  And while I'm on it, why was the 1989 winner, Big John Studd merely a guest referee at Wrestlemania V?
  

It's fun looking back on these now "classic" Rumble matches.  Until next time...

Throwback Thursday: To a Tee

Yes, this happened.
"Real men don't wear skirts!"

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

When I was a kid I had a few WWF t-shirts.  One was of the Junkyard Dog.  I'm guessing I was probably about 11 or 12 at the time.  Then I got an anti-Roddy Piper shirt. It was the height of his heel run and says "Real Men Don't Wear Skirts!" My parents brought it down to my house from storage and just for kicks I tried it on.  As you can tell from the pic, it's definitely working overtime.

The one shirt that has stood the test of time for me is my Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff one.  I got it for my 14th birthday in 8th grade. It was a little big on me then, and to this day it still fits.  It's been 25 years and I still wear it on occasion, usually just for videos as it is so thin now you can read the newspaper through it.

A fool for Old School

When my wife and I were dating, she took the shirt and said she threw it away.  Like I said, it is thin and full of holes and at that point was about 10 years old.  She didn't really trash it and was only hiding it to make me go on a wild goose chase for it.  So as a bit of revenge, I wore the shirt under my tuxedo shirt at our wedding.  I don't think she was too impressed with it though.

I don't really buy wrestling shirts anymore.  I do have a couple of hand-me downs from Chad and I bought a Wrestlemania 22 jersey to commemorate my first trip to the biggest show of them all.  Last year Chad gave me a "Will You Stop?" shirt from Barbershop Window.  I wear it quite often and people ask me about it all the time.  I will say that many of their designs are funny and I would love to add more to my collection, but as you've read in previous posts, I'm paying for a return trip to Wrestlemania and of course WrestleCon.

Nerd alert

I do wear the two different versions of the My 1-2-3 Cents t-shirt too.  That's done mostly as a marketing tool.  When trying to sell them failed, we started giving them away.  At the April Chikara show in Lafayette, Indiana Dasher Hatfield, Tim Donst, and Arik Cannon were all recipients.  During a recent interview on From the Rafters Radio, Donst said he wears his to the gym.  That impressed me.

Do you have any wrestling t-shirts?  Do you wear them in public?  What's your favorite?  Post here or on Facebook.

Raw Memories: #10 Brain Drain

Raw Moment #10:
Gorilla Monsoon fires Bobby Heenan
Photo from WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

For the next 10 days I'll be posting my favorite memories from Monday Night Raw as we count down to the 1,000th episode.  I am basing my list on the things that I still remember after all these years.  I did not go online to look up anything (other than the photos and videos).  My list may be obscure, but hey I'm not a "normal" person anyway.  I also have more than 10 moments that I wanted to share, so I'm going to write my 10 favorites and then 5 "honorable mentions".

I should also state for the record that I started watching Raw when it debuted, I was in college and it became a Monday night tradition for me to head down to the pizza restaurant on campus and watch with a few other fans.

My #10 memory comes during that first year of Raw.  It was December 1993 and Gorilla Monsoon "fired" color commentator Bobby "the Brain" Heenan.  The former manager was set to leave the company and his departure was one of the most significant to me.  No doubt Heenan is one of the greatest personalities in all of wrestling and to see him leave my favorite company was sad to me.  At the time I wasn't sure he was headed to WCW (this was before the internet), but when he did arrive there I did find some comfort.  But let's face it, I don't think he was the same Brain as he was in the WWF.

The night Monsoon fired Heenan, he gathered all his belongings and tossed them outside the arena.  Heenan was then tossed out after them and the door locked shut.  The camera stayed with the Brain as he tried to gather his items and started crying.  It was the end of an era in wrestling and the start of the big name stars heading to WCW.  Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and countless others would soon be following suit.

Honorable mention: This is your life.
Photo from: WWE

Honorable Mention:  I may catch flack for making this an honorable mention and not one of my top ten, but the "This is Your Life" segment with the Rock and Mankind has landed here.  I enjoyed the segment, and obviously the fans did too as it is still the highest rated segment in Raw history.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember this leading to any lasting results in the WWF at the time.

This was during the Attitude Era and honestly my memories of this time starts to get fuzzy as there was SO much wrestling on at the time I had a hard time remembering all the events that happened then.  But the bottom line of this story was that the Mankind was trying to get into the Rock's good graces and brought back several blasts from his past.  The Rock systematically ran down everyone Foley brought to the ring.  The segment came to an end with Triple H hitting the ring with a sledgehammer.

Stay tuned, more memories will be shared tomorrow.  Be sure to like us on Facebook and check out My 1-2-3 Cents on YouTube.

Birthday Smackdown

Mmm...chocolate

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

As a wrestling fan, I can't believe I've never had a wrestling themed birthday party.  Of course when I was a kid and still doing birthday parties, the marketing genius that is the WWF wasn't established yet.  So when I recently turned 39, my friends and colleagues with All American Pro Wrestling made that wish come true.

The taping for the season 2 premiere of AAPW Collision happened to fall on my birthday.  The front office staff and other volunteers arrived at the arena early that morning for set up.  By 1 p.m. we were able to take a quick lunch break and marketing director and Ring Posts blogger Adam Testa treated me to lunch at O'Charley's.  It was a nice surprise.

Of course on Facebook, the birthday wishes came flooding in too.  One friend from high school, Brian, included a video on my Facebook wall of the Rock singing happy birthday to Stephanie McMahon.  Even though I'm currently #TeamCena, the video made me smile.

Will you stop!

Another Facebook friend and fellow wrestling fan, Buffblogger, included a picture of the coolest birthday cake I think I've ever seen.  It's the late, great Gorilla Monsoon.  That too added to the enjoyment of my day.

Back to the Collision taping, as the wrestlers started arriving I was greeted with hand shakes, hugs, and happy birthday wishes.  Adam and I made the rounds making sure promos were getting taped and head shots were being taken.  Then it was finally showtime.  Executive producer Chris Hagstrom did his usual "pump up the crowd" pre show talk and introduced me.  I made my way around the ring slapping hands with the fans as they also wished me a happy birthday.  I went to sit down at the commentary table, when Chris called me into the ring.  He informed the crowd that it was my birthday and then called a group of the wrestlers and other staff members out from the locker room.  Head of security Aaron Heller (the Wrestling Roommate), presented me with an AAPW birthday cake as everyone sang happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday to me.  Thanks guys!

It was such an expected surprise.  I appreciate all the thought that went into making my day a little more special.  Getting to spend the day doing what I love was one thing, but then to have everyone recognize it and celebrate with me made it that much better.  I left my house at 7:45 a.m. and got home just after 1 a.m. the next morning.  I was greeted with handmade birthday cards from my kids, $5 in cash, and a homemade birthday cake that we ate for breakfast.

Yes, I'm 39 now and heading for 40.  Some might suggest it's time to grow up, but I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon.  I'm having the time of my life with AAPW, My 1-2-3 Cents, and the upcoming From the Rafters Radio show we're launching on March 29th.

Thanks again to the fans, friends, and family who wished me a happy birthday.  You guys are the greatest.

12 Days... Heenan's Gift

The real Dream Team

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Every year Prime Time wrestling had a Christmas special.  In it, Bobby Heenan usually ended up looking like a fool.  And he did it all so well.

In a previous 12 Days... post I shared one with Roddy Piper beating up a Santa clad Heenan because the Brain was letting the secret out.  In this clip, Heenan and cohost Gorilla Monsoon decide to exchange Christmas gifts.  But Bobby thinks he's getting hoodwinked and destroys his gift, only to be surprised that Gorilla had good intentions for his cohost.

When I go back and these old clips I really miss those days.  Heenan and Monsoon were the bomb dot com back then and worked so well together.  So for this final day of Christmas, enjoy this clip.

12 Days... Santa in the Pits

Seasons beatings...

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I'm guessing this was Christmas 1989 or maybe 1990, it was the holiday episode of Prime Time Wrestling with Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Roddy Piper.  Heenan was dressed up like Santa Claus and then proceeded to tell the viewers that the jolly ol' elf is a fake.  Piper and Monsoon both pleaded with the Brain to stop, but he kept going.  Eventually Piper snaps and goes to confront Heenan in the studio.

It's a move that surprised me back then.  I was a teenager and had long stopped believing, but this was still during the heyday of the PG era.  I wonder if the WWF offices got any complaints after that.  As I've been working on this series of blogs, I've found that almost every time Santa is involved, he's on the receiving end of beating of some kind.  Not every case, and I'll share some of those as the week goes on.

So check out this clip from Prime Time Wrestling.  Man I miss Heenan and Monsoon together...

Tuesday Night Titans

Lord Alfred Hayes & Vince McMahon on TNT (WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

This week WWE fans got an extra helping of LIVE wrestling/sports entertainment action.  WWE decided to air a Super SmackDown! on Tuesday night.  I'm not entirely sure why they did it, but I liked having it on instead of Friday night.

But I don't know about it being on every week on Tuesdays either.  Back to back nights of live wrestling might get a little tedious.  But for die hards, it might be just what the doctor ordered.

Who remembers the old Tuesday Night Titans show on WWF programming?  It had to be at least 25 years ago that the show aired.  The concept was simple, it was a talk show format.  Vince McMahon of course was the host.  Lord Alfred Hayes played the co host (he was the Ed McMahon to Vince's Johnny Carson)

Heenan & Monsoon (from WWE)

They did interviews on the show and showed matches in between.  The show was cheesy as well and if I remember correctly it eventually evolved into Prime Time Wrestling.  The format was different for this, with just Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan playing the hosts.  No studio audience.  They would just toss to matches around the country.  We'd also hear updates from Sean Mooney (who?) in the "Update Center." The main event was usually a couple of midcarders doing battle like Billy Jack Haynes vs. Butch Reed.  The rest of the matches were your typical squash ones.  Sometimes there'd be an epic tag team match.  Nothing fancy by any means.

Earthquake & his Snake Burgers

The show continued to evolve and went back to the studio audience concept in the early 90's.  Vince and Heenan hosted this time and they'd show matches and have wrestlers come on live.  I remember the British Bulldog coming out one night and confronting Heenan after he'd dog napped his beloved bulldog Winston. (Something Heenan and the Islanders did a few years earlier to Matilda).  And who can forget Earthquake's cooking segment that featured "Snake Burgers" made from Jake Roberts' pet Damien.  Later that show became a roundtable format that featured Vince, Heenan, Hillbilly Jim, Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, and others.  It's also were we first saw Jerry "the King" Lawler make his premiere.  Eventually, Prime Time Wrestling faded away and Monday Night Raw was born.

Christian vs. Randy Orton (from WWE)

The original intent of this post was to talk about Tuesday Night SmackDown, but I got distracted with a stroll down memory lane.  I don't really care which night of the week the show is on, but I do prefer the live show over a taped one.  Too many times people post spoilers that I end up reading, sometimes by accident (they tweet the results with no disclaimer, how rude!)

What do you think? Should SmackDown! be on Tuesdays?  Stay on Fridays?  Would you like the live shows to continue?  Post your thoughts here, on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Monkeying Around

Pictures from WWE & Chikara Pro

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I've gotten a fairly positive response when I tie together wrestling and pop culture, so I'm going to do it again today with the opening of the new Planet of the Apes movie.  Today we'll look at a few primates to make their way to the squared circle.

Probably the most famous is Gorilla Monsoon.  By the time I started watching wrestling, Gorilla had been long retired, but was the voice of the WWF.  Always wearing an interesting blazer with those tinted glasses, Gorilla kept fans informed of the action in the ring.  He and Bobby Heenan or Jessie Ventura usually handed the announcing duties together.  With Heenan, he co hosted Primetime Wrestling.  The two were comedy gold.  Jessie and Gorilla were the voices behind the first six Wrestlemanias. 

Jessie & Gorilla (from WWE)

The thing I liked about Gorilla's announcing was all the cool phrases he came up with.  "You can cut the electricity with a knife."  "They're hanging from the rafters."  and "This could be a main event in any arena in the country." were just a few of the Gorillaisms I enjoyed.  He also introduced us to the phrase "octcipital protuberus."  Nearly 30 years later, I'm still not sure what that is.

Gorilla of course had a life inside the ring too.  A big, burly heel.  A strong man.  Almost Gorilla like.  Now it all makes sense.  He made such an impact on the business that the area just between the backstage curtain and the entrance way has been dubbed "the Gorilla Position." 

In his later years, Gorilla served as WWF when Jack Tunney left the company.  One of the most memorable moments during his reign was when Vader attacked him.  It wasn't long after that Gorilla's health declined and in 1999, we lost Monsoon.  Sadly five years before that, Gorilla's son, referee Joey Morella was killed in a car accident.  No doubt Gorilla made a huge impact on the world of professional wrestling.

UApe does a monkey flip (from Chikara Pro)

Of course Chad would kill me if I didn't include something about former Chikara Pro star, USApe. I saw very little of him, but what I have seen it's basically a guy in a gorilla suit.  And of course to round out the gimmick, he's patriotic.  I'll give you one guess as to what his finisher was... Wait for it... the Monkey Flip.  Duh.  USApe is no longer on the Chikara roster, as he's listed as an alumni now.  I'm not sure that he's even wrestling anymore.  But fans seemed to go bananas for this hairy superstar.

Because I like to do this lists in 3's or 5's, I'm adding King Kong Bundy to the list.  I really couldn't think of another wrestler with a primate gimmick, but Bundy's King Kong monikor earned him a spot here.  Although I don't know with 100% certainty, but I'm guessing Bundy picked up the name in honor of the big screen ape.

King Kong Bundy vs. Hogan (from WWE)

He wrestled around the world, but is most famous for his run with the WWF in the mid 1980's.  Bundy was the anchor of the Heenan Family and main evented Wrestlemania 2 against WWF champion Hulk Hogan.  Bundy gained more noterity in the wrestling world when he bodyslammed and elbow dropped midget wrestler Little Beaver at Wrestlemania 3.  Even though he never won any titles in the WWF, Bundy was one of the best heels in the company.  I'd still like to see this big man inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame.

A similar argument could be made for this category with "King Kong" Bruiser Brody.  I recently wrote a post about him.  You can read more here.

So there you have it, it's a bit cheesy, but this was a fun post to come up with.  Go ape over our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.  Subscribe to all 3 please!

Where's the Mute Button?

A fan at Wrestlemania

By Kevin Hunsperger

Two months ago, I would have called for Michael Cole to be yanked off of WWE TV.  In fact back in February I wrote a blog called "Shut Up Michael Cole."  I've since had a bit of a change of heart.

While I'm not crazy about Cole as an announcer, I still maintain he would make an excellent manager. I loved the way he threw himself in front of Jack Swagger last week on SmackDown! and took the 619 from Rey Mysterio.  It was a classic heel manager move, helping out his man by any means necessary.

I really feel like either he or Jerry Lawler need to leave Raw after Extreme Rules.  Their feud is getting in the way of them doing the job they're both there to do, call the matches IN THE RING.  They spend more time bickering, and Cole spends more time putting himself over than the talent.  I don't like the revolving door of announcers on the show either.  I wish they'd find a team and stick with it.

While I'm on the subject, I hate it when they bring out a wrestler to do "guest" commentary.  It turns into an interview segment and the story being told in the ring is an after thought.  I miss the days of Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon or Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon.  Most recently, I miss the combo of Lawler and Jim Ross, but from the Attitude Era.

As I watch this match between Sheamus and Santino, I'm hearing Cole go on about being knighted and his attack on JR and the King.  I know Vince McMahon or a producer or someone else is probably encouraging this behavior, but enough is enough. To quote the late, great Gorilla, give me a break.

And to be fair to Cole, it's not just him who gets sidetracked, it happens a lot, but in most cases he seems to be the one taking things off course.  Just focus on the action and let us know what's happening.

Thanks for reading.  Check out new My 1-2-3 Cents website.  Also, like us on Facebook and watch the videos on YouTube.

Shut Up, Michael Cole!

Courtesy: WWE

Up until recently I considered Tony Schiavone the most annoying wrestling announcer of all time.  Really, I didn't have a problem with him until the Monday Night Wars really heated up and he made comments about Raw, the WWF, and Mick Foley.  He continued his bashing week after week.  I know he was doing what he was told, but it was annoying.  The hatred for the competition too far and let it ruin him (that's my opinion)

Now Michael Cole has won that honor.  I've never been a big fan of his, but now this new "heel" version of Cole is annoying as hell.  Again, I know this is a character, but I think he plays it a little too well.  He's over the top.

As an announcer, even as a heel, you're supposed to call the action in the ring.  Watch Raw from Monday, February 7th.  Whenever there's a "guest" announcer at ringside it turns into an interview and not calling a match. This isn't necessarily Cole's fault, but during that tag team match with the Miz & Ted DiBiase vs. Daniel Bryan & Jerry 'the King' Lawler, he wouldn't stop the Miz love fest.  We get it, you like the Miz.  You don't like the King.  Move on and call the match, which is what you're supposed to be doing.  I would think the "voice of the WWE" would know that.  Please JR come back.

Other observations on Cole, it's okay to have a heel announcer.  There have always been announcers pulling for the "bad guys."  Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan, and JBL instantly come to mind.  There was obvisiouly something different about them. They put over the heel without sounding like they had a school boy crush on them.  I've been watching some old school WWF DVDs lately and I miss the Jesse-McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon-Bobby Heenan match calling.  Even the Jim Ross-King stuff from the Attitude Era was right on.

Also having Cole be the mouth piece for the anonymous General Manager adds to this frustration.  Again, I realize this is a character, but I've seriously had my fill.  He can be a heel without being so obnoxious.  And the fact that's he's "calling" matches on SmackDown! and feels the need to argue more with the other members of the team makes it even more irritating.

I think Cole has taken his new role as the heel too far.  Jesse and Bobby never once made me want to fast forward through what they were saying or change the channel.  I can't say the same thing about Cole, can you?

As I sit here and watch Raw, Cole and the King are arguing over the Miz.  Call the freakin' match both of you.  This of course in my opinion is leading us up to King-Cole match at Wrestlemania.  Maybe Lawler will punch Cole's teeth down his throat and we won't have to hear him for a while...

A guy can dream right?  Don't sign me up to be a Cole Miner anytime soon.

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