Coffee Talk #51: Horrendous Moments in Professional Wrestling

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the sudden death of Brittany Murphy, how the NFL playoff picture is shaping up, or the U.S. government’s healthcare reform efforts, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

In Coffee Talk #45, Iceman asked for a column dedicated to the worst moments in professional wrestling. Here it is! As much as I love the “sport”, it has served up so many ridiculous storylines and scenarios, some of which made me question why I was a fun. At the end of the day, I’ll always love the violent soap opera that is professional wrestling, but I can’t forget its stupidity. Here are two moments that made me go, “WTF?!?”

Sid Vicious and Vader Send a Midget to Blow Up Sting’s Boat

Every now and then, I have to watch this old WCW video to remember that this actually happened. While Davey Boy Smith and Sting played volleyball on the beach, the heels employed a short person to blow up Sting’s boat. Forget the overacting by the heels or the unintentionally gay beach-volleyball scene — some WCW writer thought the heels would get heat by sending a little person to blow up Sting’s boat! It’s especially sad that the legendary Harley Race was used in this nonsense.

Robocop Saves Sting From the Four Horsemen

WCW had a number of lame celebrity angles over the years — Jason Hervey, Jay Leno, David Arquette, Dennis Rodman, Kevin Green, Karl Malone, etc. The worst of the bunch involved Robocop. Sure, this angle took place when pro-wrestling wasn’t up front about being staged, but what kind of moron would believe that a fictitious movie character would come to the aid of Sting? On the plus side, major professionalism points have to be awarded to Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, and Sid Vicious for pretending to be scared of Robocop and not bursting out in laughter.

Bonus: Shawn Michaels Oversells Hulk Hogan

Okay, this isn’t one of wrestling’s worst moments, but I love watching this clip and I wanted to share with you. Shawn Michaels bent over backwards to get Hulk Hogan over in this angle, even going as far as to turn heel. HBK was originally booked to win this match, but Hogan exerted creative control and put himself over. Annoyed that he gave up so much only to become a jobber, Michaels totally oversold Hogan’s offense in this match. It’s frickin’ hilarious. Not only did he make Hogan look silly, he also buried him on the mic on the following Raw. Hogan deserved it for being a prick.

What are some of your “worst moments in wrestling”? Please list them in the comments and let everyone know the reasoning behind your picks. I can’t wait to read your comments for this story!!!

Healthcare Bill Includes Tanning Salon Tax (That Will Add to WWE Superstars’ Expenses)

One interesting inclusion in the recently passed healthcare bill is a tax on indoor tanning salons. As some of you know, most WWE talent uses tanning salons so that they don’t look pasty on HDTV (current WWE Champion Sheamus is the exception, of course).

While taxing indoor tanning salons seems stupid and trivial, it will impact the lives of most WWE talent. Remember, these guys and gals are all independent contractors and they have to cover their own expenses. The tax increase will lead to higher prices at the salons, which will lead to higher expenses for WWE Superstars and Divas.

What’s the point of this post? Well, aside from pointing out an absurdity in the healthcare bill, I just wanted to post a photo of Sheamus. His whiteness is…dazzling.

Source

Japanese Man Marries Nintendo DS Character

A Japanese gamer has married a character from Love Plus, a Nintendo DS title from Konami’s Tokimeki Memorial series. Reuters has reported:

The man, who prefers to use his online moniker SAL9000, met character Nene Anegasaki while playing dating simulation game Love Plus.

They got married a few weeks ago, broadcasting their ceremony live on Japan’s version of video-sharing website Youtube.

The image of gamers has progressed greatly in the last decade. Unfortunately, some idiot marrying a Nintendo DS character will have the world thinking that we’re all losers that live in our parents’ basement. Thanks a lot SAL9000. Moron.

Thanks to N8R for sending this in!

Source

Radio Shack Hooks Up with Biz Markie for a Cute Commercial

Although Radio Shack’s effort to change its image by renaming some of its stores to The Shack is completely lame, its commercial featuring Biz Markie is pretty cool. Using a riff from his song “Just a Friend” and playing up the “Oh Snap!” lyric makes for a catchy and nostalgic spot.

Let me know what you think of the commercial when you get a chance. “Oh baby youuuuuuuuuu got what I need!”

Sunday Housekeeping

– Last week was another strong one for RPad.tv. Thanks to everyone for reading and leaving comments! It’s been two months and a few days since the site started. Sometimes it feels longer and even though I’m impatient with some of the things I want to do for the site, if I take a step back and give it some perspective, I’m proud of what it has become. So thank you!

– I’m messing around with the layout this week. Last time I asked about this issue, opinions were split on the matter. Let’s see how it goes. If it helps numbers, I’ll leave it. If the numbers are about the same and it bothers you, I’ll switch back to the old layout. Either way, let me know what you think.

– If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping, please consider buying something from Amazon.com through my site links. You can find gateways to Amazon in the right sidebar and in each individual story. I’m experimenting with a new ad vendor in some of the spots where the Amazon links used to be. I’m still trying to get into bigger ad networks, but let’s see how this does.

– I’m flying off to New York on Thursday to see my family for a few weeks. I’ll keep serving up content, but there will probably be a few slow days. My family has excursions to Manhattan and Atlantic City planned. I’ll bring my laptop and try to post some stories, but family time comes first.

– Again, thank you all for supporting the site by reading articles and leaving comments!

Blizzard Will Definitely Make Console Games Again

Blizzard is undeniably one of the best and most successful developers of PC games, with huge franchises like World or Warcraft and StarCraft. Gamers that play exclusively on consoles are missing out on Blizzard’s magic…but that will change one day. In an interview with Gamasutra, two company directors explained why Blizzard focuses on PC games and promised that it will eventually return to console gaming. Senior director Samwise Didier said:

We’re working on PC because it’s familiar to us and it’s relatively easy and it’s not changing formats every other year and there aren’t three different versions. Console, we have to worry about [those things].

The promise to return to consoles was made by production director J. Allen Brack, who said:

Continue reading “Blizzard Will Definitely Make Console Games Again”