A 'shocking' new auction to help Lane Austin

You could soon own this figure

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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A couple of months ago I held a contest on the My 1-2-3 Cents YouTube channel to increase the subscriber base. Anyone who subscribed was entered to win the WWE Elite Shockmaster action figure. My buddy Chad Smart (of Positive Cynicism) picked it up at Comic-Con a couple years ago. Long story short, an old friend and former colleague of mine, Michael Roth won the prize. 

However, Michael has donated the Shockmaster figure back to the My 1-2-3 Cents prize vault. With the Stride Pro Wrestling Lane Austin Benefit Show happening tonight (Saturday, April 7 if you're reading this after the fact), we've come up with a new way for people who can't be at the show to donate. 

When you make a $5 donation via PayPal you will not only be helping Lane, but you'll also have the opportunity to own the Shockmaster figure. On Monday, April 16 all those donors will be put into a randomizer and whoever is picked will receive the action figure. So if you want to be involved, make that donation via PayPal to kevinhunsperger@gmail.com. Every penny donated will go to help with Lane Austin's medical expenses. 

Lane Austin and me at a Stride Pro Wrestling show
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

For those who haven't seen the previous posts, Lane is Stride Pro Wrestling's senior referee and has been hospitalized recently due to complications from type 1 diabetes. His medical bills are mounting as he faces treatment three days a week for several hours at a time. That's also limited his availability to work. So let's come together and help a great guy. 

No bull, Bronson is back

Bull Bronson is back
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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In December, Bull Bronson surprised Stride Pro Wrestling fans by making his return to the company. That night he helped Woodlawn School Athletic Director Jan Peterson battle members of the DR Party. It seemed it was a one-time return appearance for Bronson, but General Manager Sam Hunter tells me he has signed Bull back to a full-time contract.

Spade flies onto Bull and others
Courtesy: Jason Wilkey

The big man is wasting no time making his presence known in Stride. He has challenged current heavyweight champion Jay Spade to a match this Saturday night. No Love Lost 2 goes down at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion. It will be great to see this match as I don't recall them ever wrestling each other one on one. I remember Spade did battle Bull in a multi-man match at AAPW's Main Event in 2012. Bronson won that contest.

Spade vs. Matheus
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

However, a lot has happened in the last six years. Spade has come a long way and is one of the hardest working and most dedicated men on the Stride roster. He and Joey O'Riley enjoyed a run as tag team champions and at that same show in Woodlawn, Spade did the unthinkable in beating Roger Matheus for the Stride Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. A month later he retained after Matheus went nuts and got disqualified. 

Spade will need to harness that same drive and determination he used against Matheus, as Bull is just as big and as brutal as the former champion. I have no doubt each man will bring their A game to the show this Saturday. Bell time is 6:30 p.m. and tickets are just $10 for adults and $5 for kids. See you there. 

Go figure... Superstars on my wanted list

Shockmaster action figure

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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The summer of 1985 I purchased my first wrestling action figure. To my knowledge, it was the first time such toys had been offered. It was the Hulk Hogan LJN. My brother got "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Andre the Giant, "Big" John Studd and the Iron Sheik were the other three characters in that first series and would be added to the collection before summer ended. I built that collection and was way too old to be playing with wrestling "dolls" when I bought my last two in 1989. I was entering my junior year in high school and randomly found a "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Slick figures at a store in Canada while on vacation with my family.

My WWE WWF LJN, Hasbro, Jakks collection

A couple years later, WWF partnered with Hasbro for a smaller version of Superstars. I bought another DiBiase figure, but kept him in the package and hung him on my bedroom wall. Fast forward 15 years and when I met DiBiase for the first time, he autographed the box for me. In between that first purchase and meeting the WWE Hall of Famer, I had picked up several other Hasbro figures in the box at flea markets and on the discount shelf at various toy stores. They've all remained in the packaging, except for a few. Excessive heat in my storage space for them damaged the package and they've become free. Now they along with a handful of Jakks Pacific figures are on display in our bonus room.

The new WWE Isaac Yankem figure
Courtesy: Dalton Anthony

That's my history with the figures. I've seen at Comic Con in San Diego a whole new line of Elite figures will soon be sold. Plus there's the exclusive Comic Con figure this year, Isaac Yankem. A new friend of mine, Dalton from Podzilla 1985 & Cape Championship Wrestling, has acquired one of these, which is pretty cool. Chad has a Shockmaster figure from last year's show still in the box too. We are hopefully going to be giving that away in the future.

Bobby "The Weasel" Heenan

I'd love to add the Bobby Heenan in a weasel costume to my collection. Since I'm a huge Von Erich fan, I'd also like to get the Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich figure too. And up until today, I thought the company had produced a Roddy Piper WrestleMania VI figure with half his body painted black. Turns out that was a custom figure I had come across online a few years ago.

What's your figure collecting history? Who is on your "must have" list?

Friday Fail: A Shocking Debut

Shockmaster's debut

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

 I'm doing a new feature each Friday here, based loosely on a segment we do on the newscast I anchor, called Friday Fail. In that weekly feature we look at stupid things that people (mostly criminals) do.

 The Friday Fail here on My 1-2-3 Cents will of course feature something from the wrestling world. Yeah, it's similar to the WWE's YouTube show "Are You Serious?", but I plan to find stuff that they haven't done yet.

 That being said though, the first one is actually one of my favorite bloopers of all time. The wrestler known as Tugboat and Typhoon in the WWF had jumped ship to WCW in 1993. His debut was much hyped as he was to appear with Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Davey Boy Smith in a War Games matchup against Sid, Vader, and Harlem Heat. "Shockmaster" was to make his debut during a "Flair for the Gold" talk show segment. He barrelled through the wall, but because he was wearing a storm trooper helmet spray painted with glitter paint, Shockmaster's vision was limited. He apparently got tripped up on the debris and came tumbling through, and his helmet bounced right off his head.  He scrambled to get it back on and then got up quickly, but stood awkwardly for a few seconds.  It was a site to behold. 

This all happened live during a Clash of the Champions show.  No retakes, and you never know what's going to happen on live TV.  Shockmaster's momentum was killed before it ever really even started. I am going to assume that his fall from grace (if he had any at that point) was to blame.  If you listen closely you can hear mumbling.  I'm not sure if it's the commentators or the wrestlers on the set.  Allegedly Booker T and Davey Boy Smith dropped the f-bomb after the incident, but it was edited out later.

Years later, WWE spoofed the incident with DX, Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson, and Santino Marella.  It's obviously not as funny as the original.  But really, what is.

 What are some of you favorite fails in wrestling? Let us know here or on Facebook. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter. We're @my123cents, @kevinhunsperger, and @chadsmart.