Coffee Talk Archives - Page 7 of 67

Coffee Talk #608: Your 2013 Movie of the Year

Now that we’ve discussed the 2013 game of the year, it’s time to talk about the 2013 movie of the year. There were a lot of nerd movies released in 2013: The Wolverine, Kick-Ass 2, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and more. Most of these movies were okay for me; I liked a lot of them, but didn’t really love any of them…except for one. Despite being panned by many longtime fans and despite getting shredded by butt-hurt science fundamentalists, I super-enjoyed…continued

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, Anderson Silva’s impersonation of Mr. Fantastic, hoping that Sierra breaks up with Alex, or the best type of donut, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

JJ Abrams’ reinvigorated the Star Trek franchise in his initial reboot and his fun take on the beloved sci-fi universe continues in Stark Trek: Into Darkness. I really love his modern twist on Star Trek; it’s fun, clever, and current. Thanks to some space-time manipulation, the new Star Trek isn’t beholden to the previous works. This has freed the new writers and directors, and I’ve been digging what they’ve come up with.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is fun and fast. It doesn’t confuse the audience with overly complicated science fiction. The cast is great and I could write a paragraph about each of the leads. Naturally, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are the top dogs. Those cats excel as Kirk and Spock (though I will always think less of Chris Pine for sleeping with the dreadful Olivia Munn). Simon Pegg is a wonderfully hilarious Scotty. Newcomer Alice Eve…is one of the sexiest humans that ever existed; she’s beautiful, she’s incredibly smart, and she has that alluring accent — just…wow.

A few of my friends have bagged on the actual science in Star Trek: Into Darkness, especially in the opening scene. To this I say, “Who gives a sh*t?!?” The opening scene was so much fun! The action and humor were fantastic. I don’t care that you can’t stop a volcano from exploding with a cold-fusion bomb and that you shouldn’t submerge a spaceship. That scene rocked and set the tone for the movie.

To sum it all up, Star Trek: Into Darkness was my 2013 movie of the year because of its clever writing, deft directing, strong performances, sweet special effects, and outstanding use Alice Eve.

Now it’s your turn! What was your 2013 movie of the year? Kindly share your feelings in the comments section.

Coffee Talk #607: Your 2013 Game of the Year

The good news for 2013 is that I played seven games in hardcore mode. By hardcore mode, I’m talking at least 40 hours per game. That bad news (for the purposes of writing this column, anyway) is that five of them were for consulting jobs, so I can’t really state opinions on those games. In a year filled with peak games for the last generation of consoles and two new systems released at the tail end of the year, my favorite game was for…wait for it…continued

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 crazy injury bug plaguing the NBA, the hottest female MMA fighter, or what makes Greek yogurt Greek, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’m talking about Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition, of course. As many of you know, I’m a huge mark for the old BioWare and this game in particular. When the original was first released, I spent hundreds of hours playing the game. With the Enhanced Edition, I spent dozens of hours reliving one of my favorite games ever, but with updated graphics, a pair of new characters, and updated gameplay features. And I loved every second of it. Yeah, it might seem totally dated to newer games, but for me Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition was sheer bliss. The writing, gameplay, and characters brought me so much joy in 2013 that it was easily my 2013 game of the year.

Naturally, I don’t expect any of you to have the same answer. That’s what makes us the unique snowflakes that we are. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear about your personal 2013 game of the year. I absolutely do! I’m excited to hear about the videogames that dazzled you in 2013. Kindly share your 2013 game of the year in the comments section.

Coffee Talk #606: Fire Jeff Smisek (Or United Airlines Sucks Now)

From 1998 to 2009 I did a lot of traveling on United Airlines. For several of those years, I had Premier 1K status (100,000 miles flown per year) and I’m close to Million Miler status. You know how some people say that they hate traveling? I loved it, and United Airlines was a big reason why. The company had great international service and an extremely generous frequent flyer program. These days, United Airlines is a shell of its former self and CEO Jeff Smisek is largely to blame.

The biggest reason why I was a loyal United Airlines customer was…continued

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, Colgate Salt toothpaste, enjoying the glorious humidity of Southeast Asia, or expensive DSLR backpacks, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The biggest reason why I was a loyal United Airlines customer was the Mileage Plus program. The company awarded its best customers with top-tier benefits. Complimentary upgrades — hugely important on international flights — were plentiful and easy to get. Jeff Smisek doesn’t believe in rewarding loyal customers with upgrades. He believes in selling them. Upgrades that were once available for free to top-tier frequent flyers on United Airlines are now sold to everyone, regardless of status. This makes upgrading much more difficult and more of a crapshoot (especially considering that you now have to buy a higher fare just to use an upgrade instrument).

But wait, there’s more! Jeff Smisek has also slashed benefits at every level of United Airlines’ frequent flyer program. The lowest level, Premier Silver, is next to useless. The once generous benefits to Million Miler status — which costs a lot of money to attain — have been slashed as well. Even the lofty Premier 1K status isn’t as powerful as it used to be. It seems like United Airlines is only interested in rewarding its Global Services customers, which is an invite-only program offered to customers the purchase several business class fares every year.

Essentially, Jeff Smisek is taking the short money by selling upgrades and giving benefits to those that get United Airlines credit cards. It looks great in the short term and I’m sure there are many United Airlines shareholders that are happy with his strategies. That said, I know a lot of travelers (I’m a FlyerTalk nerd too) that have left United Airlines for American Airlines or simply buying the lowest fare available.

While some of the changes are simply the cost of doing business, Smisek and his executive team are making things worse with PR gaffs. Smisek once promised several “changes you’ll like” to his customers. While there have been some improvements to United Airlines’ hard product (seats, entertainment), United’s soft product (food, service, etc.) has gotten much worse. United CFO John Rainey once called some United Airlines’ frequent flyers “over-entitled,” which was a tremendously stupid thing to say publicly.

In the last month, I’ve flown more than 21,000 miles on United Airlines and I no longer love the experience. Everything is worse. I hate seeing Jeff Smisek in the airplane’s promo videos; seeing his face makes me want to punch the screen. While I used to love flying United Airlines, most of the time it’s just “meh” to me (especially compared to my experiences on Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways) and sometimes I just hate it (getting downgraded after settling into my business class seat?!?).

While I’d love to see Jeff Smisek fired, I doubt it will happen any time soon. He’s bringing in the short money and Wall Street seems to like that. I’ll probably fly United enough to get Million Miler status. After that, I’ll probably fly American Airlines exclusively (been using AA most of the last two years for domestic travel). *sigh* I suppose this column was just about taking a stroll down memory lane and remembering how much I enjoyed traveling thanks to United Airlines. With its decreased benefits and mediocre products, the airline is turning me into one of those people that hates to travel.

Coffee Talk #605: Your Black Friday / Cyber Monday Loot!

Greetings from Hawaii everyone! I wanted to check on your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. What was on your wish list? What goodies did you walk away with? As for me, I’m still lurking. I really didn’t take advantage of any Black Friday sales, as I was traveling. I did pick up 240ml of vaping juice from my favorite e-liquid vendor, Ahlusion. The company had a Black Friday sale and I had a coupon that stacked with the discount. I walked away with…continued

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 best beach in America, playing with your favorite niece, or Spam hats, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Aside from that, I’m still searching for a television in the 50-inch range. There have been some tempting deals in the $500 price range, but nothing has jumped out at me just yet. Hopefully Cyber Monday will have a deal that steals me away.

So how about it ladies and gents? What Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals did you nab? Also, don’t forget about Amazon’s Cyber Monday week of savings in the sidebar (please!).

Coffee Talk #604: Do You Care About Curved Smartphones?

With the iPad Air, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nexus 5, there are some great products for tech nerds to buy this month. One curious trend — that I don’t get…at all — is curved smartphones. LG and Samsung believe that consumers want curved smartphones, respectively pushing the G Flex and Galaxy Round. While there have been curved smartphones in the past, the G Flex and Galaxy Round feature more aggressive curves. The idea is that curved smartphones offer better ergonomics for making calls and add new functionality with tilt functions. There’s a big chance that I’m missing something, but I don’t see…continued

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 glorious start of the NBA season, those damn Red Sox going from worst to first, or Google Glass version two, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With the iPad Air, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nexus 5, there are some great products for tech nerds to buy this month. One curious trend — that I don’t get…at all — is curved smartphones. LG and Samsung believe that consumers want curved smartphones, respectively pushing the G Flex and Galaxy Round. While there have been curved smartphones in the past, the G Flex and Galaxy Round feature more aggressive curves. The idea is that curved smartphones offer better ergonomics for making calls and add new features with tilt functionality. There’s a big chance that I’m missing something, but I don’t see tech geeks clamoring for curved smartphones. How about you?

While I understand the ergonomic aspect of curved smartphones, I don’t think it’s a feature users are demanding — particularly for the high-end market. The people that buy the latest and greatest smartphones generally use them more as mobile computers rather than mobile telephones. Looking at my mobile-phone usage, I spend dozens of hours using my phone as a computer and maybe 100 minutes a month as a telephone.

As for the tilt functionality, it seems gimmicky — at least as explained in Galaxy Round previews and hands-on reports. There’s some potential there, but right now the tilt features are cute novelties rather than convenient or useful additions.

So what do you think about curved smartphones? Is this where smartphones are headed? Or will the G Flex and Galaxy Round end up as cautionary tales? Do any of you want curved smartphones? Will they join the iPad Air, Nexus 5, PS4, and XBone as your November tech-nerd purchases? Kindly leave a comment and let me know.

Coffee Talk #603: Sports Jerseys, Bars, and Racism

After Vapetoberfest Saturday night, RPadholic N8R and I went to a bar to catch up with some pals from Vaping Ape LA. I was wearing a Yankee jersey for the day’s shoots and didn’t have time to change. The bouncer checked me out and asked the manager if it was okay to let me in. I had no idea what was going on. The manager scoffed at the bouncer and said, “This guy’s cool as sh*t. He’s probably never been in a fight in his entire life.” I still had no idea what was going on, until Nate explained it to me…continued

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, forgetting Japanese Kit Kats for a beautiful woman, people that have rats for service animals, or HTC claiming that its upcoming tablet will be disruptive, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Apparently it’s a thing that you can’t wear sports jerseys in bars — or at least nice bars in California. When I was a drunkard in New York, I spent most of my time in Irish pubs (dress code was never an issue). Since I’ve moved to California, most of my drinking has been at posh parties thrown by videogame publishers (wouldn’t wear a sports jersey to one of those) or dirty bars in San Francisco Chinatown (clothing optional). Nate explained that a bouncer friend of his said it was basically to keep certain African-American patrons out of bars. The thinking is that if an African-American wears a sports jersey to a nice bar then he must be some kind of gang banger. The manager essentially said to the bouncer, “He can wear a sports jersey in the bar because he’s Asian-American.”

While I was happy that I got into the bar so that I could see my friends, I couldn’t help thinking, “That’s f*cked up.”

I felt sheepishly ignorant that I’ve never heard of this sports jersey rule. Now that I’ve learned about it, I can’t stop thinking about how messed up it is. With that in mind, I wrote today’s column to see if you’ve encountered the “sports jersey deterrent.” Does it happen where you live? What do you think of the practice? Do you think it’s messed up? Or is it smart for bars to do this in order to keep out a certain element? Share your thoughts on sports jerseys, bars, and racism in the comments section (please!).

Coffee Talk #602: First-World Nerd Problems

I’ve read several stories about people that have dropped their mobile phones in the toilet. A few of my friends have suffered this calamity. As mobile phones have become more powerful and apps have become more compelling, this epidemic seems to be spreading. It’s very much a case of a first-world nerd problem. While I don’t use my phone in the bathroom, several of you RPadholic revealed that you do (remember this poll?). Still, it puzzles me. Is it really that difficult to…continued

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, being baffled by politicians supporting A-Rod, excited by your first potential Internet vaping stalker (and hoping that she’s a vampire), or Amazon’s rumored Prime mobile phone by HTC, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve read several stories about people that have dropped their mobile phones in the toilet. A few of my friends have suffered this calamity. As mobile phones have become more powerful and apps have become more compelling, this epidemic seems to be spreading. It’s very much a case of a first-world nerd problem. While I don’t use my phone in the bathroom, several of you RPadholics revealed that you do (remember this poll?). Still, it puzzles me. Is it really that difficult to avoid dropping your Android phone or iPhone in the toilet?!?

Then again, I shouldn’t judge. I’m guilty of another first-world nerd problem — one that involves tablets. I’ve always enjoyed reading in bed. Until recently, it was a fairly safe thing for me to do. Dozing off with a comic book or paperback in my hands was easy to deal with. Even hardcover books were relatively manageable. Then, the iPad (and Comixology) arrived. That’s when reading in bed became hazardous to my head. Over the last few years, there have been dozens of instances when I wanted to keep reading, but my eyes and brain were telling me to go the hell to sleep. I’d doze off and — boom! — my iPad would smack me in the face.

This first-world nerd problem is certainly embarrassing — I’d briefly wake up, feel stupid, and quickly fall back asleep — but at least I can own up to it. How about you guys and gals? Have dropped your iPhone in the toilet or smacked yourself in the face with your iPad? Are you guilty of any first-world nerd problems? Please share your stories in the comments section.

Coffee Talk #601: Your WrestleMania Dream Match

Looking at the current WWE roster, I was wondering what WrestleMania dream match is floating around in your head. It doesn’t necessarily have to be for WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. Any WrestleMania in the near future works for this fun game. Do you want to see a clash of giants? How about two masters of technical wrestling going at it? Perhaps you fancy a David-and-Goliath showdown. Whatever your WrestleMania dream match is, I’d love to hear about it. As for me, the answer is easy. I want to see…continued

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 Miley Cyrus media blitz, spending an hour researching the life and times of Kevin Sorbo, or Scarlett Johansson looking perfect without makeup, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’m a big, big fan of these two guys, going back to their Ring of Honor days as Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli. I’ve seen them have amazing matches together and I’d love to see them have an all-time great match at WrestleMania. They’re both wonderfully talented pro-wrestlers with diverse arsenals. Both are technically proficient, but have skills that complement each other. Danielson has the edge in high-flying maneuvers, while Claudio can pull off some power moves that few others would even think about trying. For a taste of how awesome a WrestleMania dream match between Daniel Bryan and Antonio Cesaro would be, check out this 2008 Ring of Honor clip below.

If you didn’t think that match was fantastic then I hope someone gives you a Ricola Bomb followed by Cattle Mutilation.

Sadly, it looks like this WrestleMania dream match is a few years away. While Danielson has been main-eventing WWE cards for some time, Claudio is being held back by Jack Swagger and Dutch Mantel as part of the “Real Americans” group. Hopefully he gets a chance to break out as a singles wrestler soon. He certainly has the ability. He just needs another opportunity. When that happens, I hope (but doubt) WWE creative brings back the, “Heyyyyyyyy!!!” gimmick. I miss that.

Anyway, what’s your WrestleMania dream match? Be the booker-man in the comments section (please!).

Coffee Talk #600: September Tech Awesomeness

September was an awesome month for tech enthusiasts. Major consumer electronics companies unveiled major devices in mobile tech, entertainment tech, and videogames. These product announcements, along with the upcoming releases of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, have Q4 2013 looking awesome (and expensive) for tech nerds. Here’s a summary of some of the big tech announcements. After you check ’em out, I’d love to hear your thoughts about these products, as well as any recently announced tech gear I didn’t mention…continued

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, anticipating the messianic return of Derek Jeter in 2014, inexplicably watching flash mob videos for hours, or the return of X-Factor USA, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: The best-selling e-reader has gotten even better. The (already awesome) screen and UI (that still needs work) have been improved. Amazon is killing this niche and the competition is dwindling. While it’s not as sexy as some of the other tech products that were announced this month, I’m really excited for the new Paperwhite. It’s cheap, easy on the eyes, and is backed by an immense library. Check out more details on the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite from PaulSemel.com.

Samsung Galaxy Gear: First off, I can’t think “Galaxy Gear” without thinking about “Galaxy Glue.” Tech pundits have been predicting the rise of the Smartwatch in 2013. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is the first release from a major smartphone player. While it does some interesting and useful things, I’m not sold on it. To be fair, I’m not big on the Galaxy S series, while a large portion of the world loves them. With that in mind, a smartwatch tied to a Galaxy smartmatch/tablet doesn’t work for me. That said, there are millions of Galaxy S and Galaxy Note fans, and I’m sure that a percentage of them will be high on the Galaxy Gear. I’m really curious to get your thoughts on this…and am equally curious to hear if you think that Apple will come up with a far more elegant smartwatch product.

Apple iPhone 5c: Tech pundits predicted that Apple would release a “cheap” iPhone available in colors. It was reasoned that the colors and low price would do well in China and India. The “experts” were completely wrong. It’s easy to say through the retroscope, but I never thought that was happening. Apple generally doesn’t do “cheap” anything. Instead, the iPhone 5c is a (very) slightly improved iPhone 5 that’s available in colors. It sticks to Apple’s strategy of using last year’s model as the mid-level choice, but spruces it up with colors. The kids (like RPadholic Tokz’s sister) love colors and there will be millions of people that buy this phone because it’s available in green, blue, yellow, etc. I’m not interested in this product personally, but am super-impressed by Apple’s execution. The profit margins on the iPhone 5c will be silly and the company will make a killing selling last year’s tech in new clothing.

Apple iPhone 5s: In the past, Apple has incrementally upgraded the iPhone every other year (iPhone 4s, iPhone 3gs, etc.). This year’s model is deceptively advanced. A lot of people are paying attention to the fingerprint scanner and many are dogging it. The camera is improved too, but that’s not what’s fascinating about this product. There’s a ton of potential with the iPhone 5s’ 64-bit architecture and M7 coprocessor. The jump to 64-bit is huge and I’m anxious to see how developers take advantage of the CPU/GPU power. The M7 is used to collect all kinds of motion data from the gyroscope, compass, and accelerometer. It will lead to a new wave of inventive location-based apps. While I’m completely bored with the form factor (Can I get a bigger screen already?!?), I’m intrigued by the guts of the iPhone 5s.

PlayStation Vita Slim: It’s like the PSP Vita, but slimmer.

PlayStation Vita TV: This is the Vita product that I want. It’s a set-top box that also lets you play some Vita games — think Apple TV, but with better games and worse media services. The Vita’s library is great, but it’s also completely ignored by people that don’t like mobile consoles. This sub-$100 product would give home gamers access to that underrated library. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Sony hasn’t announced plans for this product outside of Asia. The company says it has “no plans” for North American and European releases at this time, but hopefully customers in those regions will clamor for it. I want this now!!!

Coffee Talk #599: When Wrestling Used Real Music

There’s a whole generation of pro-wrestling fans that have no idea that wrestlers made their entrances set to popular music. That used to be one of my favorite aspects of pro-wrestling. There were certain guys that I liked or hated because I liked or hated their entrance music. These days, the vast majority of pro-wrestling entrance themes are in-house creations (with most WWE songs being penned by Jim Johnston). Back in the ’70s and ’80s, wrestlers (and management) picked popular songs that felt appropriate for their characters. Instead of paying for music licenses, the WWF/WWE started writing in-house songs that they could sell. It makes total sense on a business level, but I still miss wrestlers using…continued

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Let’s take a look back at some popular songs used as pro-wrestling entrance themes back in the day.

Hulk Hogan “Eye of the Tiger” — Even though I sometimes use “Real American” as my ringtone, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” is still my favorite Hulk Hogan entrance theme. It’s a high-energy song and it always got the crowd going. Plus, it’s a nice homage to Hogan’s appearance in Rocky III, which helped take his career to a new level.

Junkyard Dog “Another One Bites the Dust” — JYD was awesome. Queen was awesome. Ergo this pairing was awesome.

Kerry Von Erich “Tom Sawyer” — Lyrically, this pairing made total sense. Before he was “The Texas Tornado,” Von Erich was “The Modern Day Warrior.” Musically, it wasn’t the most riveting entrance them, but I love Rush and I was a mark for Kerry in the WCCW days.

The Road Warriors “Iron Man” — Before the WWE neutered them and made them the lovable Legion of Doom, The Road Warriors were — by far — the most bad-ass tag-team in the world. Using a bad-ass Black Sabbath song was an outstanding choice.

The U.S. Express “Born in the USA” — Another appropriate pairing, the tag-team of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo was pushed as a couple of all-American boys. Too bad they never turned into cowardly heels and used Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”

Jimmy Garvin “Sharp Dressed Man” — Something of an ’80s Gorgeous George, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin was a flamboyant wrestler that wore tacky robes and had an outstanding ’80s perm…that could almost pass as a ZZ Top beard.

Rick Rude “Smooth Operator” — The Ravishing One could do whatever the hell he wanted, which apparently included walking to the ring to a Sade song.

Bruiser Brody “Immigrant Song” — Wrestling marks know that Brody was one of the original “monster” wrestlers that has influenced today’s monsters. It’s a shame that he was murdered by a shady promoter before the big wrestling boom. Still, he’s a legend and using a legendary Led Zepelin song totally works.

Lord Humongous “War Machine” — Before Taz used this Kiss classic as his ECW entrance music, Lord Humongous used it in Mid-South Wrestling. For those of you not familiar with Lord Humongous, it was a masked persona used by several wrestlers, including the man that would become “Psycho” Sid.

Midnight Express “Chase” — Of course the Midnight Express used a track from the movie Midnight Express. It actually worked really well as a pro-wrestling entrance theme.

The Steiner Brothers “Welcome to the Jungle” — There are many wrestling fans that have no idea that Scott Steiner used to be the smaller Steiner brother. They probably didn’t know that they marched to the ring to this Guns n’ Roses song too.

Austin Aries “Personal Jesus” — Yeah, this isn’t from the classic era, but I’m putting it here because he’s a pal and the song fits. He didn’t like the idea of using Depeche Mode for his entrance music, but saw that it made sense for his Ring of Honor character. The crowd loved it too.

Anyway, those are just some of my favorite real songs used as pro-wrestling entrance themes. What are some of your favorites? Kindly list them in the comments section when you have a chance.