My Evening with TNA Wrestling

I won't lie to you, I'm going to have trouble getting through this one.

As a lot of you know I'm a long time wrestling fan. Part of the reason I enjoyed interviewing Hunter so much was because he and I are both fans of the squared circle, and we like to shoot the breeze about the sport whenever we see each other. Neither of us keep up with it as much as we once did, but you can't really blame us. Not only has the sport taken a sharp nose dive since WCW closed, but we're all grown men now with lots of responsibilities and very little free time to devote to it.

Well sir, I found myself with some free time on Saturday, so I decided to feed that occasional wrestling related hunger and attend the TNA Impact Live! show at the Show Me Center in my loving hometown of Cape Girardeau, MO. I don't normally watch TNA, but I'm quite aware of its superstars, as most of them are former WWE stars who defected. I got a pair of tickets from Hunter and 99.3 to attend the show, and I dragged my disturbingly agreeable fiancee Lindsey to the event. I met up with some old friends at the arena, and as we all piled into our seats I decided to write a blog about it when I got home.

As the show proceeded, I found myself struggling with a perspective to write from. Should I write it as a normal fan? As a "smart" fan that "knows" the business? Or should I write it as cynical and jaded Blogzilla 1985 Super Reporter Shannon Young (Esquire)?

I was even having trouble writing a title! I came up with three possibilities, based on my experience. They were -

A. TNA Wrestling Invades Cape Girardeau!

B. TNA Wrestling Tries to Put on a Good Show in Front of 250 People!

and

C. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN CHRIS SABIN WON'T BE HERE?!?

Yes, yes, yes. No, no, no!

So before the festivities of the night even start, the supremely hot Christy Hemme came out to get the crowd pumped. And boy, did she! She constantly had to pull her very short skirt down, which is both classy and charitable to us. She introduced some guy named Pat, who informed us that due to restrictions placed on them by the Missouri Athletics Board, certain wrestlers weren't allowed to perform tonight. We got a list of them, and I honestly believe more people weren't allowed to wrestle than actually showed up TO wrestle.

I could honestly care less about Garrett Bischoff and Jay Bradley. I'm indifferent to Wes Brisco, and I was only slightly bummed that Miss Tessmacher and Gail Kim would be unable to attend because of these sanctions. Then he tells us, all 250 of us that came to the damn show, that new TNA champ Chris Sabin would not be there. The crowd went nuts, as did I, since Sabin was the only one I wanted to see in the first place! Most of the crowd thought it was an angle at first, as it just seemed so damn odd and sudden. Once they started offering refunds, we knew we were all in for one hell of a night.

Years upon years ago, when I was a wee teen, I attended my first WWE event at the Show Me Center. I wanted more than anything to see Matt Hardy, as he was my favorite guy at the time. Wouldn't you know it, Matt was the FIRST wrestler out of the curtain and I went nuts. It's a favorite memory of mine.

Well thank God TNA was kind enough to not try to cheapen that memory for me by letting me see my current favorite wrestler - new champion Chris Sabin.

Quick random fact - Chris Sabin took his last name from Sabin from the most beloved RPG of all time, Final Fantasy VI. Or 3 in America, if you wanna be a dick about it. That's right, VI is better than VII! Deal with it, nerdlinger!

So, heartbroken and Sabin-less, I slunk down in my free seat and never quite recovered. The crowd was small, the talent pool was small, and the show never really caught on. It was a disappointment to be sure, but not for their lack of trying, I guess.

See, even though they had just ran over all of our puppies in the drive way, they then tried to treat us to Save-a-Lot brand ice cream to make up for it.

They announced that every single person in the arena who stayed for the full show would get a chance to meet and greet all of the superstars and knock outs backstage!

Fantastic news! I could always use more celebrity run ins for BZ85, as like most people in America, I'm a star fucker!

It was a bittersweet announcement though, as we then watched a show that only went one and a half hours, and featured a whopping eight superstars. Eight superstars!

Eight.

Superstars.

So you're telling me that, despite the fact your roster is deep with talent, you could only muster up eight people to perform? Look Dixie, I know our little crowd of like 300 people aren't exactly breaking box office records for you, but that's the best you could do? We literally only got five matches, with three of those matches featuring the same four people.

When I got home I checked the wrestling sites to make sure there wasn't another house show somewhere that they split the roster for. Nope! I guess the Missouri Athletics Board really screwed up their plans when they took away like 6 people from a roster of at least 40 or 50. Where were the rest of the talent? Do the math!

TNA Roster - 6 People = 8 Available Performers?

What the hell, Dixie! Where was Hulk Hogan? Sting? Austin Aries? ODB? Mickie James? Freakin' Eric Young?!!

All we got was Bully Ray, Devon, James Storm, Gunner, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, and Jeff Hardy. They were damn good and very entertaining, but come on! There were more characters to pick from in Wrestlemania Steel Cage Challenge for the Nintendo!

That was from the 80's!!!

It looks like the missing wrestlers were due to "licensing issues" with the performers in question. I have no idea what that means, but I'm not in that business so I'm waiting for someone from TNA to dumb it down for me (UPDATE - and it turns out, someone did! PWInsider has the scoop here). All I know is that we were all pretty upset with the sudden change, and it left a bad taste in my mouth considering it was my first experience with a live TNA show.

The guys that were able to show up did the best they could with what they were given, and I want to take absolutely nothing away from the amazing talents of everyone that wrestled tonight. James Storm, Bully Ray, and Devon were particularly entertaining and turned what could have been a complete disaster into a highly condensed but still damn entertaining program. I was ready to hate this night due to the lack of Chris Sabin, but these eight wrestlers made me want to give TNA another chance.

And considering how badly they screwed up their first chance, that's really saying something.

So kudos to the TNA talent for giving us a good show when everything was already in shambles for the 300 people that even decided to show up.

And boo to whoever it was that denied the crowd their promised card, and broke one old wrestling fans little heart.

Also some kids were probably disappointed too. Not only was their night ruined with the absence of some big stars, and Garrett Bischoff, but they couldn't even buy anything at the concession stands after the 90 minute event. The stands were closed down already and they were boxing it all up. I personally witnessed kids being turned away with money in hand for TNA merchandise, and I couldn't help but shake my head at what a catastrophe my first TNA show turned out to be.

Anywho, enjoy some pictures!

Gamers...what do you want?

   I'd like to take a break from working on the story I've started but can't seem to make progress on to write at your eyeballs. But first, here's a red panda:

Okay, enough of that.
 Here are some questions for you if you're a gamer: What do you want from video games? What is it you want the industry to turn out? What do you want to get from the products they turn out?
(Why do I feel like I've talked about this before? If I have, suck it up. I have dementia. Or Alzheimer's. Or...that Memento disease.)

If you frequent message boards about games or get into discussions in real life about them, there tends to be a few recurring ideas. One is that modern games are trying too hard to match Hollywood, creating more story driven experiences heavy on cutscenes and short in gameplay length.
There's also the idea that game difficulty has taken a huge dive in "too easy" territory.
Basically, to me, there SEEMS to be a divide between what gamers are getting from or expect to get from their video games.
To oversimplify this: Older gamers typically claim gameplay is king. Screw story as long as it's fun. Younger gamers are growing up with the kind of technology that allows stories to be told in ways that allow for more believable character performances and budgets that open the doors for a focus on writing. In other words, why should they CARE about shooting the asteroids? What's the point?

Here I am in the middle asking "Why does it have to be only one or the other? Why can't it be fun AND compelling?"

When I was just a young lad pushing a hoop with a stick down the road, I'd push it to my house where I'd go in and play PC adventure games AND NES/Atari/Commodore 64.
My initial experience with video games wasn't JUST side-scrolling platformers with no real story. Nor was it JUST humor filled PC games driven by puzzles, story,  colorful characters and interesting locations.It was both. I'm finding more and more things in life need context for appreciation and having experiences with two approaches to developing games at a young age helped.
So the evolution of gaming to the point it's at now is by no means a disappointment or even a surprise.


"Old school" gamers sound bitter and young gamers have been spoiled.

So back to one of the questions from earlier: What do you want from video games?


Lately I'm finding less and less time to play much but the last two new games I completed were Bioshock Infinite and The Last Of Us. I loved both of them and playing them both so close to each other has really made almost every other game seem like a giant pile of garbage.(I'm exaggerating for effect)

Bioshock Infinite

The Last of Us

The point is, both of these are examples of exactly what I personally want out of gaming at this point in my life. (I liked TLOU a bit better but for the sake of this point, I'll keep them lumped together.)(It must be great to be Troy Baker this year).
They're both story driven with interesting characters, mature without trying to force it(*ahem* Heavy Rain), they're fun, involve interesting universes all while both looking and sounding great. In other words, they don't really slouch anywhere. They put it all together in one fantastic package and when it's done right, you feel it when you're done. You think about what you played.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fascist. There's room for all kinds of games. As I get older my focus is just being narrowed. I'll still have time for skateboarding games, almost anything DC comics related, and anything that has a shred of innovation. But those will always kind of be around. There will always be room for sports games, superhero games and Bethesda will still be making Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. So I'm not talking about that stuff. We're good there. What I mean is what I want from the industry that will keep me sticking around. Keep me saying "Wow, look how far we've come." That's the kind of evolution that keeps me gaming. If people with the type of vision that Ken Levine has, those at Naughty Dog or even Rockstar weren't around, there's no telling how little I'd play games.
 I understand not everyone shares my views. That's fine. Hopefully developers are giving you what you want.

What I'm really saying is that character and story have a much bigger impact on what I play or enjoy than it seems other gamers my age, and I want to see the quality of that growing up with me. Sure, I don't want a broken game. But if I'm hooked into WHY I'm doing what I'm doing, it makes WHAT I'm doing more fun. I'm not saying I want ALL games to be serious. But the game industry has grown so much. The budgets have grown way too big for them to not have quality in all parts of their game no matter what the subject matter is.
(I know I tend to ramble so I just had to make that bold so my point isn't lost)
I guess what I'm saying is that games like TLOU and Bioshock Infinite represent the pinnacle of development team coming together under a director or writer's creative vision and producing great quality(there's that word again) in what they set out to do. The bar has been raised for serious narratives and the complete package of a product. What I want from video games is for every developer to keep raising the bar no matter what their vision is. Don't just churn out sequels that aren't much different in terms of quality from the last one. Don't treat all gamers like we're 14 year old boys. Gamers want to be taken seriously right? We'll achieve that by developers turning out stories and characters that even non-gamers can care about. Not by living in a bubble.


I hope that all makes sense. 

Now here's some more red pandas...

Fifteen on Friday

With the invention of streaming music on just about every device you have in your pocket, on your watch, and secretly implanted behind your ear, it's hard to find a reason to get excited about a radio station. 

Then there is Real Rock 99.3 in Southeast Missouri. Not only does it have the guy with the amazingly rocktastic voice doing ads (you know the one I mean, what the hell is that guys name?), but you have the one and only Hunter Hendricks at the helm of the ever popular "Shut Up and Rock" morning show.

Double H is no ordinary DJ. He knows his stuff, he's a long time gamer, and we fought the good war for many years at a corporation so evil we can't even legally say its name. Seriously, we can't. They have lawyers like we have crushed dreams. We've been compatriots together, friends together, and casualties together, and we still make time every morning to catch him on the radio.

Through all of the adventures and changes in his life and career, Hunter has remained a charming, accomplished, and interesting human being. And that's just the kind of person we created this segment for.

It's the RETURN of Fifteen on Friday - fifteen questions, one interesting person.


How did you get involved with the radio DJ scene?

Here's the Spaceballs "SHORT short" version: Back in my senior year of high school in '03, I was asked to commentate my alma mater (New Madrid County Central)'s basketball games for 105.3 KYMO. I knew next to nothing about basketball, but I caught on fairly quick, and the speaking part came naturally. From there, I got my Bachelors in Mass Comm and finished the radio program at SEMO, interned at River Radio in the promotions department, and got hired on at the end of that. So from there, the rest is pretty much history.

You've interviewed some pretty cool people on 99.3, who are some of your favorites and who do you never want to talk to again?

My all-time favorite interview was actually for 102.9 K103. I got lucky enough to actually have WWE's The Miz come into the studio. Most interviews are done via phone, but this was a rare exception, and not only was he a great interview, but he was really gracious about sticking around for pictures afterward.

Worst, though? No offense to the guy, but Jack Swagger was the most boring interview I've done so far. It seemed like he was really tired, which I understand, but he clearly didn't want to be on the phone that morning.

What is it like becoming a recognizable voice that everyone knows? Has the celebrity status gone to your head?

Ha! You'd be surprised, actually--most people are too nervous (or too unsure of their assumption) to actually say anything, and I've been recognized as much by appearance as I have by voice, I'd say. I'm flattered, certainly, and I've even signed a few autographs over the past five or six years, but as long as I'm continually fed peeled grapes and fanned with gigantic leaves, I'll remember my humble roots.

Do you listen to any of the music you play on your show, or do you feel queasy whenever it comes on outside of work?

Definitely still a fan. The Foo Fighters eat up a large chunk of my iTunes playlist, along with Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Soundgarden, etc. Still, though, there's something to be said for radio fatigue; when I'm away from work, I do find myself trending toward more soulful stuff--Sara Bareilles is a big favorite of mine--or the taste of my college days (The Starting Line, Motion City Soundtrack, etc.)

Most overplayed song on the radio right now and all time?

Right now, it's In This Moment's "Adrenalize." Good tune, but I'm singing it in my sleep lately. Of all time? I could probably live without hearing Metallica's "One" again.

You're a gamer, we're gamers, can you answer the big question? XBox One or PS4, and why?

I can answer that question, but it's going to be a cop-out answer of "both, eventually, and neither immediately." The last system I early-adopted was the Wii, and mine threatened to brick right out of the box, so I'm pretty much permanently scarred on buying anything in its first production run. That said, Sony's obviously got the PR upper hand at the moment, and Microsoft is trying to force me into a camera peripheral that may not even work in my relatively-small living room, so the first one on my shopping list will likely be the PS4.

Did you get a chance to check out E3? What upcoming games are exciting Double H?

I did! Honestly, I was really excited to see something (ANYTHING) related to Kingdom Hearts 3, but as far as impending games go, there are a handful on my list: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Splinter Cell: Blacklist are my current-gen picks, while Watch_Dogs looks like it'll be a must-buy for next-gen systems. However, the one that really has my attention at the moment is the farthest away, and it's going to require a new console, too: Super Smash Bros on the Wii U, of course.

You worked for quite a few years in selling games, has your views on gaming changed since being on the other side of the counter, and are you disappointed in the crop of gamers today?

 I wouldn't say I went through a total paradigm shift or anything, but yeah, it's different. When I was working in game retail, I would try pretty much anything that came across the counter, but I'm definitely pickier now, due in part to being busier as well. If I'm buying a game, I'm probably planning to keep it, at least for a while. As for today's gamers, my only disappointment is their insistence upon multiplayer, especially when it's unnecessary, and even if it's done well. I'll forever grieve over the Mass Effect trilogy not remaining a single-player epic throughout all three installments.

Shop at Gamestop or a hammer to the groin?

There's a "ball-peen" joke in here somewhere; I just know it.

We know you like to frequent the nostalgic game shops for those classic titles, do you prefer the retro stuff or are you more into the current gen scene?

In general, there are far more classic games that I remember fondly than there are "new classics," as it were, but this is the same problem you run into with music, or movies, or anything else in pop culture: the cream rises to the top, and years later, it's all you remember. That said, I love retro gaming, but in all honesty, I'm far more likely to pick up my 360 controller than my Super Nintendo one on a whim.

The war between Microsoft and Playstation is nothing new to old school fans of the gaming scene. Nintendo or Sega, where were your loyalties in the first console war?

I was kind of a gaming hipster (before it was cool, of course) early on, so Sonic was infinitely cooler than Mario to me...but even then, I recognized that the NES (and later, the SNES) had a better overall game library. My Genesis pretty much existed solely for the Sonic series and the superior version of Aladdin; otherwise, it was Nintendo all the way.

You're also a well known old school wrestling fan, do you still keep up with the current product?

I do, but admittedly, not as much as I once did. There was a time when I would've set an alarm to get up on the weekend and watch the Saturday morning shows, or I would go out of my way to find a friend who had UPN so I could watch Smackdown!--now, Monday Night Raw is about the only one that's regularly slotted into my schedule, and even then, it has to hook me in the first half-hour or so, or I'm out.

Wrestling's quality has been accused of declining since the era of the Monday night wars, is it still fun for you?

Sure, but again, not to the same degree was it was once before. I think a lot of that comes with age and experience; it's most fun for me now when I can't actively predict what's coming next. It's why guys like CM Punk and Paul Heyman jump to the top of my favorites list--they bring something intangible to the table that keeps me hooked.

Best wrestling game of all time?

Oh man, don't do this to me. Okay, I love the Smackdown series, but I spent the most time with WWF No Mercy and WWF Wrestlemania 2000 for the N64, and that was during the height of my wrestling obsession...and since The Rock (who is still my all-time favorite) was featured more prominently on the No Mercy box, let's go with that. Cliche`, but there's a reason for that.

Tell our fans when and where they can hear you, and give us a peek at the future plans of the great Hunter Hendricks.

Well, you can hear me hosting the Shut Up and Rock morning show on Real Rock 99.3 from 6:00 to 10:00 AM weekdays and Saturdays, and then I jump to 102.9 K103 for a little country from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM weekdays, including the All E-Quest Lunch Hour at noon. If you're outside our listening area, we're available online at realrock993.com or k103fm.com.

As for me personally, you'll just have to keep up with me to find out! I'm on Facebook at facebook.com/officialdoubleh, and on Twitter, I'm @DJDoubleH. As for gaming, my PSN and XBox Live handles are both RockstarDoubleH, but fair warning: I don't play online much, because I am a hermit and a killjoy. Maybe we can trade messages like virtual pen-pals or something.

So You Want to Be a Meatball Head? Odangos Made Easy!

You're a Sailor Moon fan, and you've always wanted to wear your hair like Usagi's but you're not quite sure how to make it work. There are several ways to pull it off actually, but the following tutorial is the easiest way I know.

I will say to start off that the longer and thicker your hair is the better the results will be. To wear odangos you're hair should reach mid way down your shoulder blades at a minimum. It is possible to do with shoulder length hair, but it doesn't leave much of a pony tail. When I use to wear my hair like this regularly, it was grown out well past my waist.


Items you will need:

• a hair brush
• a comb
• 4 hair bands (size will depend on the thickness of your hair. Thin or normal hair i suggest using small bands. For thick hair use medium or full sized bands.) If you can match the color of the bands to your hair or use clear ones.

• a mirror so you can see what you're doing (unless you're doing someone's hair, then it'd just so they can see ^_^ )

Mars Power, Make Up!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. But I'm not the type to wait until October to start planning my costume. No, being a cos-player it's open season year round for costume fodder. The cheaper the cost the better, so out of season is prime hunting time.

I recently I was made aware of an awesome sale through BuyCostumes.com. Being the Sailor Moon fan I am I couldn't pass up this Deluxe Sailor Mars costume, normally $80, for a mere $10. Compared to the cheaper versions of the Sailor Moon costumes the deluxe seemed like it would pass my nit-picking cos-play ways.