So Long Cinderella

Cinderella to Zipper Face

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Ten years ago our family was complete with the birth of our daughter Brooke.  She was born a month before Halloween and that first year she was a plump little pumpkin.  Obviously she was a month old so she didn't have a say in the matter.

Lil' Eeyore 

That next year she was a white rabbit to our oldest son's magician.  Then she donned an Eeyore costume her brother wore on his first Halloween.  Then we got into the princess phase.  Two years she went as Cinderella followed by a year as Ariel from the Little Mermaid.  A cowgirl, cheerleader and devil made it into the mix too.

Zombie girl

Last year she changed course and went from adorable character to walking dead.  I'm not going to lie, when she announced she wanted to be a zombie I was a bit hesitant.  I think the biggest issue for me was my baby girl was growing up and I wasn't ready.  Then a few months ago she announced she wanted to have a zipper face with blood oozing and I cringed.  I tried in vain to talk her out of that decision.  But I was happy she was still choosing to dress up.

Zipper face & friends

Her best friend was going as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz so I suggested she be the Scarecrow or even on of the witch's flying monkeys.  I got a big fat no.  My wife and I dressed as Sadness and Anger from the movie Inside Out and thought we had her hooked on the idea of being Disgust, but she rejected that too.  So with days before the big night of trick-or-treating, I picked up a zipper face kit at Walmart.

Even moments before I opened the kit I asked her again if she was sure that's what she wanted to be and she said she was.  She changed into a monster costume she wore from a previous dance recital and was ready to start the transformation.  It didn't take long to tell she was very happy with the process. Yes it's another sign that my kids are growing up, but I had fun helping create the new look for my daughter.  While it may not be the thing all 10 year old girls would do, it's what she wanted and being different is never a bad thing.

Boo: Brains! Brains!

Epic! (from WWE.com)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

When WWE renewed its interest in ECW and brought the company back to life, I wonder if the plan was to kill it off from the start.  I say this half joking, but when you look back and how the show was booked and some of the insanity that ensued, I think you'll agree with me.  Case in point: the Zombie.

I understand that ECWWE was airing on SyFy, the network of the paranormal.  On those early shows, there were all kinds of Halloween type gimmicks, or so it seemed.  Vampires like Kevin Thorn and Ariel, the monsters like Viscera, Kane, and Mark Henry squashed opponents left and right.

The Zombie came out the ring, moaning on that premiere episode.  At first, it seems like Joey Styles and Tazz are taking the guy seriously, but it doesn't take long for them to change their views.  Of course, the Zombie climbs into the ring and is handed a microphone and tries to cut a promo. It's awesomely bad.  Click here to watch.

Sandman offers a beatdown (from WWE.com)

Then cue the Sandman's music.  He makes his way out to the ring, beer in one hand, kendo stick in the other.  He beats the crap out the Zombie with the stick and pins him after a White Russian Leg Sweep.  The whole ordeal was only a couple of minutes.

That was the first and last time fans were subjected to the Zombie.  He was played by Indy wrestle Tim Roberts.  As far as I can tell, he hasn't wrestled much since that ECWWE stint.  Roberts did some time in Puerto Rico as well.  So the Zombie had a brief, but somewhat memorable run with WWE on a night when ECW rose from the dead too, but was eventually double tapped by Vince McMahon and NXT.