Wrestling fans: Make some noise!

Rah! Rah!

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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When I attended my first WrestleMania in 2006 I did so dressed as a member of the Spirit Squad. The cheerleaders turned wrestlers (sports entertainers) were a part of the Mr. McMahon-Shawn Michaels street fight. I'd never cosplayed for a wrestling event before nor had I gone and cheered as loudly as I did that night. Well, actually the Friday before Mania we got pretty loud at the Ring of Honor show, but I digress...

The point of this blog is to encourage wrestling fans to make some noise when attending live events. Don't be annoying with your fandom, like doing cat calls during a Hall of Fame speech or chanting "What?!?" continuously as someone is trying to cut a promo.

Jerry Travelstead meets Stride Pro Wrestling fans
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

I'm mostly talking about indy wrestling shows. Previous My 1-2-3 Cents podcast guests Dalton Anthony and Asa Gray have talked about this before on their show Pro Wrestling Unscripted on Podzilla 1985. I wholeheartedly agree with that squad. I've been to Stride Pro Wrestling shows and Cape Championship Wrestling shows where you can hear a pin drop. But fear not, it's okay to boo wrestlers you don't like and cheer your favorites. It's the voice of the fan that often helps dictate the journey for those in the ring.

Fans like Cape Championship Wrestling's Sexy Sarge
Courtesy: Tom Harness

The comments made can also have a stronger impact on those men and women in and outside the ring. Don't be a jerk (like launching personal attacks), but definitely make some noise. Stand up and cheer (don't block those behind you) and bring signs (again, don't block those behind you). There's nothing better as a fan (and ring announcer) than to hear the crowd getting into the action. Clap, chant and stomp your feet. We want to hear you because for most of those stepping through the ropes, it's the best way to get energized and ready to perform.

Heath Hatton fan (yes he has one)
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

Speaking of the before mentioned indy companies, both are back in action in the coming days. Cape Championship Wrestling's Homecoming 2 is Saturday, Aug. 26 at the Arena Building. Bell time is 7 p.m. And Stride Pro Wrestling's September Fallout is happening on Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Illinois Star Centre Mall. That action starts at 6:30 p.m.

Silver Anniversary

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I've been on an unintentional blogging hiatus the last couple of days, mostly because Chad has been writing up reviews of past Survivor Series events.  After a busy Saturday, I'm finally getting to sit down and share some thoughts from 1987.  It's hard to believe that Sunday will be the 25th annual Survivor Series.

I can still remember the first one like it was yesterday.  Well, almost like it was yesterday.  I was a freshman in high school and one of my classmates had ordered the pay per view.  He came to school that Monday after (remember it was on Thanksgiving back then) and talked about the event.  Bobby told me the unimaginable that Monday during lunch.  Hulk Hogan and his team went down in defeat to Andre the Giant's team.  You see, back then I was a devout Hulkamanic and the thought of Hogan losing to Andre made me sick.

I couldn't believe it.  I wouldn't believe it.  At least not until the following Sunday when the results were announced on Superstars.  But at least the Hulkster got some saving grace and attacked the Giant after his team lost.  I couldn't wait for the Survivor Series to come out on VHS.  Again, back then there was no Internet to provide the results and those of us without PPV capability had to wait for the WWF to release events on tape.

That first Survivor Series in 1987 laid the groundwork for what would become one of my favorite PPV concepts.  I loved the idea of the elimination matches, and I'm disappointed the WWE has turned the event into just another PPV.  It started off so unique, but has become so watered down.  It's a major bummer.  I've blogged and vlogged about that in the past, so I won't bore you again with those details.

Instead, I'm going to leave you with some Survivor Series fun facts.  Thanks to Chad for some of these.

*Glenn Jacobs is the only superstar to appear at three consecutive Survivor Series pay per views with three different gimmicks.  In 1995 he was Dr. Isaac Yankem.  A year later, he became the Fake Diesel.  Finally in 1997 the Kane gimmick caught fire and he's been the Big Red Machine ever since.

RIP: Andre, Perfect, Bravo, & Rude

*Harley Race is the only surviving member of his 1988 Survivor Series team.  Andre the Giant and Dino Bravo died in 1993.  "Ravishing" Rick Rude died in 1999 and Mr. Perfect passed away in 2003.

*Significant WWF debuts made at the Survivor Series include the Undertaker (1990), the Rock (1996), and the Goobledy Gooker (1990) (he counts, right?)

*The 1991 event was the first to feature a non-elimination tag team match.  It was the World title match between Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker.  Hogan lost the title after Ric Flair interfered.

*And on the flip side, the 1992 Survivor Series only had ONE elimination match.  The Nasty Boys and the Natural Disasters beat Money Inc. and the Beverly Brothers.

*King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow were on opposing teams at the 1987 Survivor Series, but were the sole survivors for their team at the 1994 event.

*I must admit I marked out when Team Legends: Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons, and Dusty Rhodes beat the Spirit Squad in 2006.  By the way, Dusty pinned Nicky (now Dolph Ziggler) in that match.  Simmons replaced Roddy Piper in the match and I don't remember why.  I think this might have been around the time of Piper's battle with cancer.  Arn Anderson was in the corner for the legends as was one of the members of the Spirit Squad for his team.

There you have it, some quick memories about Survivor Series.  The first five events are my favorites, just because they focused more on the whole concept of survival.  Events that came after that have stood the test of time too like Chad has mentioned in his last few blogs.  Anyway, we're just hours away from the 2011 installment, the 25th Survivor Series.  What are some of your favorite ones?  Post here or like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to leave your opinions.

All Dressed Up

Money Inc. & Chris Hero

I am a very fortunate man.  I have officially gotten the confirmation that I'll be attending Wrestlemania 27.  This will be the fifth one.  My friend Chad and I have attended 22, 24, 25, and 26.  And each year we dress up.

We're heading back this year with another friend, Travis.  So we are looking for costume ideas.  Here are the four previous ones.

Wrestlemania 26:
Without a doubt, last year was my favorite.  We dressed like Money Inc.  I think we got the biggest reaction from other fans on our duds.  Even ROH star Chris Hero, who we ran into after the show, commented and posed for a picture with us.

The Million $ Jacket

I have to give credit where credit is due and thank my mom for putting together the Million Dollar jacket.  She took one of my suit coats and added the gold to the labels and cut a couple of dollar signs out of cardboard and covered them with material.  She also made a gold cummerbund and a giant dollar sign for the back of the coat.

I had to borrow a clip on bow tie from a kid in the neighborhood, as I couldn't find one in the thrift stores around here.  The pants were just a pair of black dress pants that I have. I used a brown makeup pencil to create the beard as I am unable to grow one myself.   I bought one of the tag team titles, and borrowed the other one from a coworker.

I picked up Chad's white IRS shirt from the Goodwill store in town.  I like to find items at the thrift store as chances are we will never use the items we wear again.  The good thing about the jacket is that my mom made it so everything was stitched on and easy to remove.

Hogan vs. Piper

Wrestlemania 25:  To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania in 2009, we decided to pay homage to the main event of that inaugural event.  Well, at least half of it.  


That Hulkamania shirt I'm wearing I bought back in 1988 at Wrestlemania 4.  No, I wasn't there.  But my dad and I went to the Kiel Center in St. Louis and watched it on the big screen via closed circuit.  I held on to the shirt for all those years.  Never wore it.  Not once.  But in my adulthood now, I've worn it a few times.  


I borrowed the Hulkamania headband from a viewer of mine.  I wore a pair of yellow workout shorts for my "trunks."  And bought a fake moustache and spirit gum to secure it to my naked upper lip.  


It's hard to tell in the picture, but Chad is wearing a kilt.  He picked it up at a costume shop in LA.  And that's an authentic Hot Rod tshirt he's sportin'.

Feelin' horny.  (I'm Hornswoggle)

Wrestlemania 24:  As you can see this costume isn't very exciting.  We basically couldn't make up our minds on how to dress up, so we went with the Hornswoggle idea.  Chad was also dressed like the little leprechaun.  It's basically just leftover costumes from St. Patrick's Day.  That's really it.  


This is the only picture I have in the costume.  But someone there took a picture of us with a guy who was dressed like Triple H as the King of Kings, and his friends who were dressed like the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.  I wish I had a copy of it, because the Triple H was totally bad ass.  The guy could have passed as a stunt double.  Seriously.

We've got spirit!

Wrestlemania 22: Our first Wrestlemania.  We wanted to do something off the wall.  Another friend of ours, Jeremy joined us on this first adventure.


Chad came up with the idea to be the Spirit Squad.  We were able to pick up the shirt and pants at Walmart, so there wasn't a whole lot of work going into this costume either.


The hard part was coming up with cheers.  And yes we did.  I think we had a cheer for five or six of the matches.  Prior to the doors opening at the All State Arena, we walked around and "performed" for the fans waiting in line.  It was a lot of fun and I think people got a kick out of it.


And believe it or not, some people really thought we were the Spirit Squad.  I'm serious.  Several times we were stopped and asked if we "really them."  In fact, when we were walking around the Target store near the arena, we were followed by a group of teenagers who kept asking us if we were the Spirit Squad and if we were wrestling that day.  Definitely made for a memorable event.


So, Wrestlemania 27 is almost here.  We need to come up with something for the three of us.  Right now, we're considering Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, the Red Rooster, and the Brooklyn Brawler.  What's your suggestion?