WWE goes to the dogs

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Koko B. Ware and the British Bulldogs are among the most memorable WWE Superstars who were also pet owners. They brought their scaled, feathered and furry friends to work on a daily basis and fans formed a bond with these animals. 

Now WWE is appealing to pet owners everywhere. The company has announced a new partnership with Petmate. This new tag team will roll out a variety of items including toys, beds and leashes for your four legged family members. 

WWE.com sums up what each product will entail:  

John Cena chew toy

Toys

WWE Superstars are brought to life with printed canvas and rugged rubber chew toys, designed for tough tug play between you and your dog, or for two dogs to wrestle and tug together.

Beds

Beds

The WWE World Championship makes an appearance in the shape of a rectangular lounger for your pet to enjoy after a hard day of play.  Other pillow beds and loungers feature The Rock, the iconic WWE logo and Divas leopard print.

Austin 3:16 says I just walked your ass

  Collars & Leashes

WWE collars and leashes feature custom Superstar prints showcasing WWE favorites, such as John Cena, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. These adjustable dog collars are soft and durable, and feature patterns from your favorite WWE Superstars.

It's another creative way to market WWE. The company is probably the most family friendly it's been since the era of Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog and Hillbilly Jim. I can already see a current Superstar coming up with a pet gimmick in an attempt to monetize this new partnership even more.

Throwback Thursday: Piledriver the Wrestling Album

Piledriver on vinyl and cassette
Photo courtesy: My 1-2-3 Cents

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I've been inspired to start a new weekly featured called Throwback Thursday.  And since the WWE is talking about the 25 year anniversary of Piledriver: The Wrestling Album, I thought it only made sense to start the series off with that.

First, I can't believe it's been 25 years already.  I was a freshman in high school when the album was released.  Here's something else that's hard to believe, I still have the LP.  I'm a pack rat though, so people who know me may not be shocked by this.  When I was in college my roommate gave me a cassette version of it too.  I have LP and CD versions of the original Wrestling Album as well.  Man, I'm a dork.

No doubt the success of the Wrestling Album lead to the birth of Piledriver.  Cheesy as it may be, there are a lot of catchy tunes on it.  I think overall my favorite one is "If You Only Knew."  It's a compilation of all the WWF stars throwing a verse or two down.  Granted many (okay most) couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, I still find this song enjoyable.  It's faces and heels in the video in separate studios doing a "We Are the World" type chorus throughout.  I had forgotten the British Bulldogs are a part of this song too.

Vince McMahon makes his singing debut on Piledriver with "Stand Back."  It's another catchy tune that has been used to mock McMahon in recent years in his feud with son-in-law Triple H and his DX sidekick Shawn Michaels.

Jive Soul Bro by Slick

Slick's "Jive Soul Bro", although possibly borderline racist, is a fun song that many of his wrestlers used as theme music back in the day.  I also enjoyed Honky Tonk Man's self-titled hit as well as Jimmy Hart's "Crank it Up."  The interesting note on that song was that it was used by the Young Stallions and not Hart's team of the Hart Foundation.  The storyline was that the Stallions' stole the song and made it their own.  Yes, there was a feud (mini one) over the song.

Koko B. Ware sang the title track on the Piledriver album.  Honestly, that's probably his biggest claim to fame in the WWE.  I'm not knocking his ability in the ring, but Koko never won a title or a big match in my recollection.  The song was pretty good as well, but I thought the video was quite entertaining.  I remember staying up to watch its premiere on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event.

I definitely wore out the vinyl on that album, playing it constantly and for those too young to remember, back then you had to put a needle on the record and sometimes you'd get some scratching.  But there was plenty of white noise and popping as it played on my record player night after night.  The challenging part was when I would have matches with my LJN figures and try to play theme music for them as they entered the ring.  Kids today have it so easy with their iPods.

Look for more walks down memory lane each Thursday.  Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, @my123cents.  Here's a throwback memory from the YouTube channel too.  Enjoy.

Black History Month: Koko B. Ware

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

When I was a kid, I remember the flash and pizzaz associated with "the Birdman" Koko B. Ware.  He was probably the most popular lower mid card guy in the WWF in the late 80's.  But before Koko landed in the WWF, he was a nasty heel in the Midsouth, Memphis, and World Class regions.

Pretty Young Things with Percy Pringle

The first time I remember Koko Ware (there was no B) he was wrestling with Norvell Austin as the PYTs (Pretty Young Things)  The duo came to the ring sporting red Michael Jackson jackets.  But unlike their tag team name, they were far from pretty.  They were heels and wrestled the likes of the Fantastics, the Fabulous Ones, and the Youngbloods.  They held several regional tag team titles back then.

Koko eventually flew the coop and headed north to the WWF.  In 1986, he added the B. and a bird to his character.  Frankie the macaw became as popular as Koko himself.  Despite losing in his debut on Superstars (he and Paul Roma were beaten by the Hart Foundation) Koko was loved by the fans.  I remember watching the match and the reaction fans gave him.  After the loss, he dropkicked both Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart, much to the delight of the crowd.

High Energy with Owen Hart

Koko never really climbed the ranks, even though he was with the WWF for many years.  He was clearly a jobber to the stars, losing to Butch Reed at Wrestlemania 3 and was pinned by Bobby Heenan in a six man tag team match at Wrestlemania 4.  The British Bulldogs and the Islanders were also involved.  But like I said, Koko was over with the crowd.  His singing talent landed him the title song on the second wrestling album: Piledriver.  In 1992, High Energy was born, a tag team with Owen Hart.  The two wore some really outrageous gear, but never really achieved any success in the tag team ranks.

It really wasn't until Koko headed to USWA (still part of the WWF too) and won the heavyweight title there.  Looking back it seems like Vince sent a lot of his guys to USWA who he wasn't really using in the WWF at the time.  Koko beat Kamala for the that championship.  But neither man held any gold in the WWF.

Koko has since retired from the wrestling business, but was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.  It was a surprising decision I think to many fans, as some (myself included) have questioned why the likes Randy Savage, Rick Rude, and Jake Roberts hadn't been inducted yet.  But the WWE Hall of Fame is unique to say the least.  I'm not saying Koko doesn't have a spot in there, as he provided years of entertainment for wrestling fans.  Kids loved him, adults loved him too.

Wild Wrestling Federation

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
(Photos are from WWE.)

Part of the big boom of wrestling in the 1980's was the fact that Vince McMahon was trying to make the product more kid friendly.  If you think the PG environment today "sucks" (I do not), then you really would have hated the 80's.  This formula meant the use of all kinds of cartoony characters and larger than life gimmicks.  Real live animals also became a part of the show.

Perhaps the most famous wrestling animal (okay, he never wrestled, but you know what I mean) was Jake "the Snake" Roberts' pet python Damien.  When Jake arrived in the WWF in 1986, he was a dastardly dude.  He would knock out his opponent with the dreaded DDT.  Then after the match, he would open up his green sack and dump Damien onto his unconscious opponent.  Sometimes he would even stick the snake's head in the knocked out man's mouth.  The fans of course where horrified by these actions and would boo the Snake even more.

Andre doesn't like snakes

Then Jake turned baby face and fans would applaud the actions.  It seemed all of his opponents had a phobia of snakes.  This included the 500 plus pound Andre the Giant, who apparently was so afraid of snakes that he had a mock heart attack in the middle of the ring on a Saturday Night's Main Event back in 1988.  Then Andre eliminated himself from the 1989 Royal Rumble when Damien was slid into the ring by Roberts.  Others who were afraid of the snake included Big Bossman (who refused to retrieve the Million Dollar Belt from the bag, hence turning him face), "Ravishing" Rick Rude, and the Honky Tonk Man.  Earthquake was even so afraid of snakes that he delivered his patented splash to the bag containing Damien while Jake was tied up in the ropes.  Quake then served up "Snake Burgers" on an episode of Prime Time Wrestling.

Cobra attack!

It wasn't long after that incident that Roberts returned to his dastardly ways.  This time he sprung a snake attack on the Ultimate Warrior.  Then he held a cobra as it sank its "fangs" into the arm of a tied up "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  This action cemented Roberts as the most hated man in all of wrestling in 1991 and is still one of the most memorable things to happen on the old WWF Superstars show.

Snake vs. Dragon

Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat used fire to fight fire so to speak with Jake.  Actually it was reptile to fight reptile. Steamboat was feuding with Roberts at the time and he used a small alligator in some of his matches.  If I remember correctly though, the gator was only used briefly and mostly during just the matches against Roberts.  It's a good thing Skinner wasn't around when this feud was happening...

The Bulldogs, happy together

The British Bulldogs were my favorite tag team back then, and still remain in my top 5 of all time.  Part of their gimmick included the use of a bulldog of course.  Matilda was the beloved sidekick for this team.  She would chase evil managers around the ring prior to a match.  I can remember her nipping at the heels of Slick, Jimmy Hart, and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan.  And it was Heenan who took exception to this and he and his Islanders dog napped the pooch.  The dog was so popular that the WWF started a campaign for fans to send letters of support for the dog.  The company was also able to market a plush version of Matilda.

The kidnapping set up a feud between the Islanders and the Bulldogs and culminated with a six man tag team match at Wrestlemania 4, with Heenan dressed as a dog catcher to protect himself from the dog.  The heel team even went over that night, and the Bulldogs soon left the company.

Davey Boy and Winston

Then when Davey Boy Smith returned on his own in 1991, he brought a new pooch.  This time it was Winston, but I don't remember him being around too long.  However, there was an episode of Prime Time when Heenan nabbed him and it was all caught on tape.  DBS took care of business right there that night in the studio.

The Birdman

Koko B. Ware was much milder with his pet bird Frankie.  Dubbed the "Birdman", Koko came to the ring dressed in bright colors, just like his beloved mascot.  Fans would flap their arms like a bird when Koko came out and would celebrate with him when he won a match.  I don't recall anything bad ever happening to Frankie in terms of storylines, nor do I recall Frankie ever doing anything hurtful to anyone.  Sadly though, Frankie did perish in a house fire at Koko's home several years ago.

These are the animals that immediately came to mind when this idea was presented to me (thanks Chad).  I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten. Al Snow's dog Pepper during the Attitude Era ended up as dinner for the Big Bossman.  There were also Bad News Brown's sewer rats during his feud with Jake, but I don't recall ever seeing a rat.  And I recall someone riding a horse to the ring, at least briefly, but I don't remember who.

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