Roller Derby: Death-defying dames on a skate track.

The high contact sport of Roller Derby has seen a resurgence in the past decade. What once started as endurance races in the mid 1880s has evolved to the DIY, full contact, counter-culture sport of today. 

 Thanks to a New York TV deal back in 1948, Roller Derby broadcast helped increase live attendance and sell out Madison Square Garden. By the late 1950s and during the 1960s, the sport was broadcast on several networks, but attendance for matches was dwindling. Fast track some odd 20 years and America sees the 1989 debut of RollerGames, which presented the sport with more theatrics and storylines.

Roller Derby would have its last tv run with 1999's RollerJam on Spike TV, but it was obvious that the sport had it's influence in the 1975 film, Rollerball, 1998's Futuresport, and the 2002 Rollerball remake.

The majority of today's derby leagues are all female with a punk/rockabilly feminist aesthetic. Soccer moms and lawyers are putting on their knee-high socks, Dead Kennedys t-shirt, and helmets and pads for a rock-em and sock-em good time.

2009 saw Roller Derby put in the spotlight again with the film Whip It, written by Shauna Cross, basing it on her novel Derby Girl.

The film had good critical reception and helped the sport expand its fan base. The film also perfectly showed the culture of the sport and it's DIY or die attitude.

On August 8th, I'll be attending my first Roller Derby match as two local teams to my area, The Acadiana Roller Girls and The Cajun Rollergirls, continue their rivalry. This is all for a good cause, as the teams are collecting school supplies with the local United Way  and hope to "stuff" a school bus with supplies.

Wrestling Society X Episode 4

Episode 4 opens with musical guest Clipse and fans with no rhythm. Tonight has the return of The Human Tornado and a tag team challenge match. 

Not this Tornado.

Kane's pyro goes off and it signals the first match of the night, Matt Sydal with Lizzy Valentine vs. Scorpio Sky.

Sydal is out first and Lizzy blows a kiss to the camera while commentary puts over that she's a flirt. Sky is out next for this flippy flop match. Scorpio Sky, better known to some as WWE's Harold from their anger management segment.

Sky tries to give Lizzy a promo pic of himself, but she crumples it up and tosses it aside,leading to a shoving contest and the opening bell. Highspots ensue and this shit is tooooo fast to call.

A moonsault reverse ddt leg guillotine gets a two count for Sydal and Lizzy dances as her man is in control, which is short lived in these frantic paced matches.

It took six damn minutes for someone to finally hit an outside dive,I was expecting the match to open this way. Commentary plug that there's no crash mats and it's just a concrete floor and that means another pic of Bill Watts.

Close enough.

Sydal picks up the win with a belly to belly moonsault

and holds Sky down on the mat as Lizzy writes hater on Sky's back with her "Lizzstick".

Keeping It Gangsta break out their blinged out ladder and issue an open challenge to any team in WSX. KIG was CZWer Ruckus and Babi Slymm.

That 70's Team answer the challenge and Ryan has to get oiled up for the match, but that doesn't stop Ruckus from razzling and dazzling.

Slymm gets tagged in and has to deal with the quickness of The Disco Machine, Ryan's partner, which catches him off guard.

Disco breaks out his own ladder and gyrates to Ruckus. Ryan's ass eventually comes out and it takes him toooo long to cover it back up. Ruckus gets back in and cleans house for the ridiculous finish.

Ryan gets a disco ball busted on his balls and then a huge flipping leg drop. 

Main event time as The Human Tornado is set to take on El Hombre Blanco, but there's no Tornado!

 

6-Pac kicks El Hombre out of the ring and calls out Vampiro, who gets Pearl Harbored by Ricky Banderas(TNA's Judas Mesias) 

Banderas throws a fireball at Vampiro, which got WSX in hot water with MTV, a channel that use to have a show where guys were literally being hit in the balls for real.

Episode 4 ends with a Raiden-eyed Banderas!

Within The Woods: Evil Dead prequel

Sam Raimi's 1978 short film, Within The Woods, was a prototype for The Evil Dead. Raimi wanted to test the waters and see if he could stir up the interest of potential investors for future full length films. What he started was a legacy that's still going strong to this day.

This short was "presented" by Robert "Rip" Tapert, a friend of Sam and Bruce Campbell, he'd go on to produce the majority of Raimi's work, co-found Ghost House Pictures with Sam, and marry Lucy Lawless. 

The film opens with that familiar POV shot of lurking through the woods and waters, it ends on the house where all the horror is set to take place.

A very young Bruce Campbell tells his girlfriend that this area use to be Indian territory. I'm watching a terrible quality version, so pics and gifs might be hard to make out, but the gist of the story is two couples go to a farmhouse and eventually some demonic shit goes down.

Bruce and his girl take a walk in the woods and explain they're on a curse Indian burial ground; Not a hell of a lot has been happening.
Bruce unearths an ancient dagger while digging out a pit for a hotdog roast.

Flames pop out of nowhere and cut to the second couple playing Monopoly and listening to Sister Sledge.

Bruce's girl wakes up alone and goes searching for him through the whistling winds of the woods.

It's night time now, still no sign of Bruce,but his girl made it back to the house. At some point, she stumbled across dead Bruce in the woods,so I guess that answers that question.

Bruce is back, baby! He stabs the second girl through the neck and wants them to "join us!"

Evil Bruce: You have violated the ancient ways and so must die!

Bruce gets stabbed before he could finish and a brawl ensues that sees him get stabbed some more and then having his head smashed in.

PTSD sets in as she rocks back and forth in the corner, her friends dead, her possessed boyfriend killed by her, pretty shitty day if you ask me.

There you have it folks, the humble beginnings of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. I'd say that this film is only for the die hardest of fans and better left read about than viewed, it was great to see where they started and I can't wait to see them going back to the franchise with the upcoming Ash vs. The Evil Dead series.

Flair v. El Dandy: David has his doubts

I know how hard it can be to not live up to the same expectations as your father. We're both in the same line of work and I use to cringe sometimes when a coworker would tell me that they've worked with my dad before, it's one reason why I'm in college and looking to change professions, and like me, David Flair didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps.

David Richard Fliehr is the second child of 21 time World Champion Ric Flair, which are some pretty big shoes to fill, shoes that David had no intention of filling. Instead, he wanted to pursue his lifelong dream of wanting to be a state trooper.

One way or another though,David would step through the ropes and into a WCW ring. His career was more soap opera drama than actual wrestling, thanks to the writings of Vince Russo. He started off helping his father, turned on Ric, eventually reuniting, then going crazy and introducing Daffney and Crowbar, turning on Ric again, patching things up...again, and finally, getting powerbombed out of the company.

He had some brief stops on the indies, OVW, and TNA, his wrestling career can be best summed up in his infamous titantron.

David lives a regular life now, he's married and runs the Seal Wire Company in Shelby, North Carolina. So if you need a big spool of copper or steel wire, David Flair is your man!


Today I'll be watching Flair's 5-24-1999 Nitro match against the man, the myth, the one who allegedly banged Lita in Mexico. Former member of the Latino World Order, winner of the Lou Ferigno lookalike contest, he's a jam up guy and a serious professional, he is El Dandy!

Flair is accompanied by Ric, Torrie Wilson, and Arn Anderson, he looks apathetic as his dad hotdogs down the aisle with Torrie, combined with his choice of wrestling in pants and dress shoes, and he really looks like he doesn't want to be there.

Wilson booty. Just cuz

Match starts and Flair pushes Dandy down to the mat, he has a little flurry of offense, nearly falling down upon delivering a shoulder tackle.

Then IT happens. Flair take a drop-toe hold like a tree falling down and bumps on his knees like Kane. The most basic of exchanges keep the match going until the finish.

Ric distracts the ref while Arn spinebusters El Dandy and then David applies a sloppy figure four for the win.

Then Ric thrusts his crotch towards the crowd and the camera zooms in to get it out of frame.