Daniel Bryan Comes to iPlay America!

Relinquishing the Intercontinental Title sucks. It will truly be upsetting if Daniel Bryan’s story comes to an end this year. There’s times in WWE when you don’t really know if they have a surprise in the storyline up their sleeve or not, but Bryan’s latest injury is apparently legit enough to take him out of action, possibly forever. Daniel Bryan’s WWE career wasn’t as long as his fans would’ve hoped, but it was filled with some stellar moments. If it’s determined that his career is indeed being forced to end, he’s left a great legacy in the indies and WWE behind him.

Fortunately for his fans, Daniel Bryan is still fulfilling his meet and greet engagements (YES! YES! YES!) One of these opportunities comes on June 28th, 2015 at iPlay America in Freehold, NJ. iPlay has become a recurring venue for WWE Superstar Meet and Greets and I think that’s awesome. I couldn’t think of a better place to meet these guys – it’s a freaking indoor amusement park! Tickets are mostly sold out, (NO! NO! NO!) but there are some left for parents who are accompanying their children.

Hulk Hogan’s Birthday and Meeting The WWE Hall of Famer at iPlay America

Super Posedown: The Sexy Armpit and The Hulkster 
at iPlay Americain Freehold, NJ

CM Punk once said: “…I have zero faith in Hulk Hogan as a man who’s what…60 years old and tries to dress like he’s 18 and he lives on the Jersey Shore…” While I can’t agree on the faith in the Hulkster part, I sort of agree that Hulk has been looking a little bit Jersey as of late. Or maybe some of us here in NJ have tried to look like him? The horde of Hulkamaniacs on line for Hulk Hogan Uncut at iPlay America in Freehold on August 2nd, 2014 were all donning their red and yellow while some wore black and white N.W.O t-shirts. Since today is the Hulkster’s birthday and there will be a bash for him on WWE Monday Night Raw tonight, let’s look back at the Hulk Hogan Uncut event I attended at iPlay last weekend.

Hulk was usually billed from Venice Beach, and later, Hollywood. California may have some beautiful weather and states like Hawaii and Colorado may have the happiest people in the country, but New Jersey has definitely got to be king of the quirk. If you believe what you see on TV, you probably think all we’re good for is fist pumping guidos at Jersey Shore clubs, but I’m here to tell you, it isn’t all like that. Where else can you run into perhaps the greatest professional wrestling icons of all time, go to a KISS and Def Leppard concert, and stroll around a Punk Rock Flea Market all in one weekend? Last weekend was surely a jam packed pop-culture filled experience and it all kicked off in huge way: a meet and greet with the immortal Hulk Hogan!

To me, nothing beats a weekend where I have absolutely nothing planned. It’s not that it makes me feel like the weekend is full of possibilities, it’s more that I know I can settle in for a couple of days of doing absolutely nothing and kicking ass at it. Many of us claim to be the best lazy f*ckers around, but daddy says I’m the best at it. That was my Vacation tribute.

Winning the championship of couch laying was not in the cards for me. I actually had stuff to do. I felt like it may have been too much, but it was fun stuff, so how I could I complain? It’s one thing if I had to go to some banquet hall and get dressed up for a family function, but it’s quite another that I was slated to go to a nearby cavernous indoor arcade to meet my childhood wrestling hero.

We made our way down Route 9 toward iPlay America in Freehold for Uncut with Hulk Hogan. The event included a Q&A session followed by a meet and greet for fans. I’d passed on two meet and greets with the Hulkster in previous years, but I felt like this was the one that I couldn’t miss. I already had tickets to see KISS later that night with Miss Sexy Armpit, so why not complicate the day even more and tack on another thing for us to do? Fortunately it was on the way down to Atlantic City and the timing worked out perfectly, so it was meant to be.

Accompanied by Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart, The Hulkster answered questions submitted by the fans and offered insight into some of his biggest career milestones. If you’re a fan and have seen WWE’s Hulk Hogan DVD collections, you’ve seen and heard much of the content here, but they did leak the fact that Hogan would appear on Raw in two weeks, which is tonight. That little spoiler was definitely an exclusive for us before it was officially announced by WWE.

The Hulkster was genuinely happy to meet with everyone. He flexed and smiled for photos with each fan and when it came time for The Sexy Armpit, I didn’t pull any punches, brother. First he said “Sweet shirt, brother!” in regards to my Thunderlips t-shirt from Barber Shop Window which is a parody of the classic Hulkamania t-shirt, but with the name of his Rocky III character in the same font. I blasted a “Thanks Hulk!” in reply, then I immediately asked him if we could do one of his iconic poses, one of my favorites from his ring celebrations at the conclusion of his matches. If Hulk said no, my second option would’ve been the Rip’Em hand gesture from No Holds Barred. Surprisingly I didn’t see anyone do that, where’s the love for NHB people?

I’m glad we took part in this event because Hulk was very cool. Often, meeting celebrities turns out to be a big letdown. After my very brief exchange with Hulk, I raked his back and then hightailed my ass out of there. I’m kidding of course, I raked his eyes.

This awesome experience all went down at iPlay America, which is a fantastic place for kids as well as adults. It’s basically an indoor amusement park with an arcade and an upscale Atlantic City casino atmosphere. If you’re in the ti-state area, it’s well worth it to pack the kids into the car and make the trip to Freehold, NJ.

I don’t even think the staff of iPlay had any idea of the onslaught of people that showed up to Hulk Hogan Uncut. I’ve read a few articles about this event floating around that basically referred to this as having “a nice little turnout.” That is a total understatement. I don’t have an accurate head count but a shit ton of people showed up to see Hulk and I’m almost positive that it was completely sold out. It’s not surprising either, considering all the exposure Hulk has been getting since returning to WWE TV this year.

In this case “…and today is his birthday” doesn’t refer to Jason Voorhees, but the Hulkster. Yes, today IS his birthday and Jimmy Hart’s spoiler that Hogan would be on Raw tonight was accurate, but what they didn’t mention is that there are rumors swirling of a possible N.W.O reunion tonight. Tune in tonight, brothers!

http://iplayamerica.com/
110 Schanck Rd.
Freehold, NJ 07728

The Immortal Hulk Hogan Comes to Freehold, NJ!

Hulk Hogan UNCUT is a special event coming to iPlay America in Freehold on Saturday, August 2nd, 2014.

New Jersey has had it’s share of Hulk Hogan moments, but this one will give fans a rare opportunity to be a part of a Q&A with the Hulkster as well as a meet and greet. I would’ve found out about this one too late if it weren’t for my sister shooting me a text about it. So, thanks to the Sexy Armpit’s sister, BROTHER! See what I did there?

For a guy who grew up a little Hulkamaniac, I’m pretty pumped to be a part of this intimate event with one of the greatest and most charismatic professional wrestlers of all time, WWE Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan.

I checked iPlay America out back in the fall with Dinosaur Dracula and although we only had the chance to play a few games, this place is like an Atlantic City casino, minus the actual gambling and cigarette smoke. There’s video games, rides, food and live events all within such a cool atmosphere. In the few years it’s been open, iPlay has quickly become a destination for concerts, comedy, UFC events, and other celebrity appearances.

General admission tickets for HH Uncut as well as two different tiers of VIP tickets are available now at the following link: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/617157?utm_medium=bks

Go here for the iPlay America Hulk Hogan UNCUT event page

iPlay America Event Center
110 Schanck Road
Freehold, NJ

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 112: Kal Penn Tweets His Tee During The Super Bowl

It was New Jersey’s first Super Bowl. You’d think I’d be glued to the TV. Nope. It took Radio Shack’s ’80s commercial and The Electric Mayhem Band starring in a Toyota ad to pique my interest, otherwise I spent most of the night on Twitter giggling at the amusing shit people were coming up with while poking fun at the train wreck that was happening merely miles away in MetLife Stadium.

Astoundingly, I somehow managed to scrounge some content out of such an awful game. One of the tweets that I kept on reserve (retweeted by @faceman802!) was from producer, actor, Obama team member, and Jersey guy, Kal Penn. He’s otherwise known as Kumar from the Jersey classic, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

Kal Penn proudly displaying his awesome t-shirt via a Tweet during the Super Bowl last Sunday

Presently, Penn, who also starred in Van Wilder and Superman Returns, works in the White House Office of Public Engagement, and he certainly engaged me with this tweet.

Penn was born in Montclair and later attended middle school in Howell followed by high school in Freehold Township. According to his Wikipedia page, during high school, Penn was involved in theater and the forensics team. One thing is certain, he hasn’t lost his Jersey sense of humor!

Sabrina The Teenage Witch Up In Here!

Sabrina The Teenage Witch House Freehold NJ

Screw you microfiche! There are just some things that you can only find on the Internet. For example, I stumbled onto a cool piece of trivia regarding Sabrina The Teenage Witch over at AJ Halliwell’s blog.

Blog author AJ investigated the whereabouts of the exterior of Sabrina The Teenage Witch’s house from the 1996 live action TV show. Spellman Manor is the name of the house where Sabrina resided. It was intended to be in a fictional town in Massachusetts although the actual house itself used for exterior shots is on East Main Street in Freehold, New Jersey!

Thanks to AJ for pointing out this tidbit and even mentioning that she purposely posted about it to make the info easier to find via search engines. She hails from Ohio, so it was fate that I came across it! When you’re done here, stop over to her blog!

There’s a lot in store for Sabrina The Teenage Witch. She has a new CGI animated TV show coming to HUB Network as well as a live action feature film that re-establishes Sabrina as a super-hero. Not sure how good that last part sounds, but I’ll definitely check out the TV show on HUB. For me, nothing beats the 1970 Filmation series.

Alyssa Campanella Is June’s Garden State Playmate

alyssa campanella

By now you’re probably sick of hearing about the winner of the 2011 Miss U.S.A Pageant, but how can I not throw my two cents in? The buzz around the blogosphere for Alyssa Campanella is on the brink of being out of hand and it’s only been a couple of days since Miss California won the Miss USA crown. Why would The Sexy Armpit hail Miss California as this month’s Garden State Playmate? Well because this fox is originally a Jersey girl, so screw you California!

alyssa campanella

Campanella is not your average beauty queen. Sure, much of the reason for all the buzz on Miss California is because she’s freaking HOT, but it’s also credited to her status as a “geek.” It seems as if the whole geek culture has officially arrived now that there’s a mega popular TV show revolving around it, (Big Bang Theory), and now even Miss U.S.A is a full fledged geek. Tons of blogs and news articles are concentrating on this bit of her personality. Fact is, she was brave enough to show her personality unlike many other contestants and perhaps showing that she’s a real girl, not a robot helped her win.

Campanella has been open about her passion for watching the Star Wars movies. Almost every headline I read about her winning the pageant has mentioned Star Wars. Even the official Star Wars blog featured a story on her! In addition to Star Wars, she loves hockey, history, science, space exploration, and watching cable shows like Game of Thrones and Camelot. So that does give hope to guys out there looking for a girl with similar interests. There are cool girls out there! She’s a geek’s dream girl!

Instead of just harping on her love of geek stuff, allow me to provide some of her vital stats. Originally from Manalapan, New Jersey, Campanella held a 4.0 GPA while she attended Freehold Township High School. She also graduated a year early and went on to win Miss New Jersey Teen USA in 2006. And in case you were wondering, Wikipedia notes that she’s originally a blonde and dyes her hair red.

The Miss USA pageant has been held for nearly the last 60 years. On a side note, Miss New Jersey has never won the title of Miss USA but with a little searching you might discover that some of the winners such as Campanella are not representing the states where they are originally from. So here’s to our own Miss Nerd Jersey, Alyssa Campanella!

Other information from her Wikipedia entry and an article on newjerseynewsroom.com