Card Subject To Change Review

PhotobucketHave you ever passed by a barber shop or a dry cleaner and noticed a poster for a local independent wrestling event? Out of the nearly 20 wrestlers that appear on the poster, occasionally you’ve heard of at least a few. Events like this are usually much more reasonable than going to a WWE event, and a lot closer, there may even be one this weekend at your local VFW hall. OK, so you won’t see John Cena, CM Punk, or Zack Ryder, but it will still be a lot of fun. Even as a lifelong, hardcore wrestling fan, the dedication of indy promoters and wrestlers never ceases to amaze me. What keeps these guys performing at these events? It’s definitely NOT the wrestlers paltry payout at the end of the night, it’s the devotion for the business.

Since the hype started hitting the Internet a couple of years ago for the indy wrestling documentary Card Subject To Change: Pro Wrestling’s Underground, I wanted to see it desperately. I went so far as to email the addresses listed on their official site to find out more info on the film or if I could somehow review it. I never heard back from them. You’d think a mere mention of The Sexy Armpit would elicit some sort of response after the several moments of snickering and confusion clears the air. I forgave the filmmakers since the operation was headed by a fellow Kean University graduate, Tim Disbrow. He directed, produced, and edited Card which is now streaming on Netflix. George “The Animal” Steele had his plush creature “Mine,” and Tim has his documentary. Creating a documentary that’s actually entertaining and not boring is quite an accomplishment and I have to hand it to Tim for producing a film with such reverence for the business.

Lots of places around the U.S claim to be exclusive hotbeds for professional wrestling. Actually, the truth is that aside from Madison Square Garden, the state of New Jersey has cultivated so many superstars and continues to have tons of indy wrestling shows all throughout the state. This made it easy for Tim to capture scenes with promoter Johnny Falco who runs shows all over New Jersey.

While The Wrestler illustrated the end of Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s career, Card Subject to Change shines the spotlight on a broader look at the indy wrestling scene. From the outset, Tim Disbrow’s film establishes that there are literally thousands of active professional wrestlers in the country, but probably only around a hundred are signed to full time contracts with the large companies. So DVR the glitz of Smackdown for one night and power up your Netflix. Update your status as “watching a documentary” so they think you’re very cultured and intelligent. Meanwhile you’ll be seeing the local exploits of some of the most well known indy wrestlers.

Appearing in the film are NJ’s Rob Eckos (now Robbie E. in TNA), the late Trent Acid, Kamala, Kevin Sullivan, the late Sensational Sherri in her last interview, ROH’s Rhett Titus (Also from NJ),

Necro Butcher (whom you may know from his appearance in The Wrestler), Corvis Fear, and Sabu among others.
At times, Card shows aspects of the indy scene that are far from glamorous. There are a few wrestlers interviewed who are no longer with us and some actually shoot steroids on film, but the train keeps rolling. The show must continue and every now and then you’ll come across a kid at one of these VGW halls with a dream who is doing everything in his power to make it big. He or she will be the one to look out for…the next one snatched up by the all mighty Vince.

TNA Wrestling Comes Back to Rahway NJ!

TNA Rahway NJ

Whether you are a hardcore McMahon disciple or you’re strictly into ROH and other indy organizations, the fact is that TNA Wrestling puts one hell of an awesome house show. Presently, the Nashville TN based wrestling organization has their show on the road and will be hauling it up to The Rahway Recreational Center in New Jersey on March 12th. The last time TNA came to The Rahway Rec Center in September, the air conditioning wasn’t working and the place was like a sauna. Words can’t describe to you the melange of smells wafting around that gym. I temporarily changed my name to The Sweaty Armpit that night.

Luckily they weren’t lying and the show they put on actually was full of non-stop action. If TNA could only capture that excitement and put it on TV, they would probably see a ratings boost. It reminded me of the old days of ECW, it was simple, no ridiculous pyro or lasers, just wrestling! Perhaps the reason why the Rahway TNA shows are successful has something to do with their association with the local Jersey All Pro Wrestling organization.

The best part about a TNA house show is that they actually follow the story lines and occasionally you’ll witness a title exchange. At the last show Elizabeth NJ’s Jay Lethal won back the X-Division title from Amazing Red in front of his hometown crowd! As Gorilla Monsoon used to say, the place went bananas! Mick Foley also showed up and ignited the crowd upon dropping some trivia that Randy “The Ram” Robinson from The Wrestler was from Rahway just before he confronted the team of The Shore (Robbie E. and Cookie). Unlike at WWE shows, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try and get autographs and maybe a picture with your favorite TNA star. And don’t be concerned about ticket prices either; starting at $23 bucks, they are very reasonable. It definitely beats listening to Michael Cole and watching The Miz.

Top 10 Other Meanings of G.T.L: NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 70

Photobucket

The Situation isn’t the only one who can coin original acronyms. Anyone can do it! Acronyms make it easier to remember names, companies, lists, and other stuff, but when the acronym has more than one meaning, that’s when remembering them all becomes a task. Since we are already familiar with Gym, Tanning, and Laundry, I have gathered together many of the alternate words that the letters G.T.L also stand for. Even TNA Wrestler Robbie E. formulated his own credo of G.T.W (Gym, Tanning and Wrestling.) Feel free to create your own! Here’s some from The Sexy Armpit:

Goobers. Trannies. Lint
Ghouls. Trix. Lauper
Gremlins. Tomes and TalismansLabyrinth 
Guidos. Wasabi. Licky Boom Boom Down
Gwildor. Torture. Labias
GaGa. Teeth. Lingerie
Grendel. Titties. Lube
Ghoulash. Tacos. Lime-aid
Go-Bots. Transformers. Lion-O
Tokka. Grover. Lurch

TNA Wrestling in Rahway, NJ



TNA Wrestling put on an unforgettable show at the Rahway Recreational Center on Saturday September 25th. I missed out on the TNA live event at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall several months back, so I wanted to be sure I caught the next one that came around. 
TNA’s live events are more personal than WWE’s. TNA creates an atmosphere that is more like a wrestling convention, think of it as a Monster Mania Con, or Chiller Theater of wrestling events. From autograph signings to photo ops you have plenty of shots at meeting your favorite wrestlers and knockouts. The highest ticket price was $50 dollars which is typically a less than average seat at a WWE event, but with the most expensive ticket at TNA event you will gain entrance an hour before doors open for a meet and greet with the wrestlers. Our tickets were $35 dollars and they were worth every penny.
Heel or face, all of the TNA wrestlers were personable and ready to sign your program or take a picture with you. To me, that is what people want, they the wrestlers to be accessible. Today’s generation especially, they document, take pictures, blog, and post on Facebook their every move, so TNA is way ahead of WWE in that respect. Many of WWE’s guys walk around after a show like snobby movie stars unless they are total babyfaces or just low on the card. 
Don West was presenting the crowd with all kinds of merch specials throughout the night. They made her an offer she couldn’t refuse, so Miss Sexy Armpit was sweet and bought me the special that included a TNA shirt, and a TNA bag with 4 mystery DVD’s for $20 bucks!  The t-shirt is awesome and I was happy to get the Christian Cage DVD!
Highlights of the night included Elizabeth NJ’s own Jay Lethal recapturing the X-Division title in front of his parents and the hometown crowd. His match against Amazing Red was the best, most exciting match of the night. There were tons of counter maneuvers and near falls all executed with the finesse that only these guys have. Also, we were lucky enough to get a preview of Robbie E. and Cooki, of The Jersey Shore inspired team, The Shore who will be debuting on TNA iMPACT in the next couple of weeks.
It wasn’t all sunshine and red ring ropes though. The guy they had wheeling around a cart selling TNA programs to the folks on line outside before the show was a total dick. I asked him if I could just take a quick look through the book before I purchased it and he replied nastily, “It’s a program, it’s got pictures of all the wrestlers in it!” NO SHIT, I know what a f*cking program is you ASSHOLE! I held back because I tend to loose it on people who state the obvious. This was a $20 book, not some little magazine filled you haphazardly pick up at a grocery store check out counter. I wanted to thumb through the damn thing first. He finally let me after I gave him a classic Armpit “Are you f*cking kidding me?” look. Even Amazon lets me preview a book before I buy it!
The worst part about the night was that there was no air conditioning! The gym in the rec. center was upwards of 90 degrees and extremely unpleasant. Everyone was sweaty and gross and there were various odors wafting around. Trust me, you don’t want fumes from some dudes hot dog burp going up your nose or God forbid, in your mouth! Luckily no one was farting by us, but for some reason whenever I go to an event, whether it’s wrestling or a concert, people think they can unload at will. BTW – that’s f*cking gross and you should cut that shit out. The action in the ring and all the various offshoot signings easily took my mind off of the tiny beads of sweat dripping down the sides of my head.

Introducing Robbie E. and Cookie: SHORE on TNA

Photobucket

I have no qualms about admitting that I’ve enjoyed TNA Wrestling much more than the crap WWE has been putting out for the last several months. There’s a bunch of reasons why I’ve basically jumped ship like Nash and Hall did when they went to WCW. If you can’t possibly comprehend why I feel this way, I’ll explain.

Foremost, the feel of TNA programming overall reminds me of how wrestling was when I first became obsessed with it. The roster is a crew of extremely talented individuals. Whether it’s the stellar tag teams, the X-division, or the ladies, they all have proven their talent and they didn’t need no stinkin’ reality show! Their new stars aren’t being forced down our throats either, they are genuinely making fans interested via awesome matches and cutting attention grabbing promos. TNA’s ranking system adds some legitimacy to the title race, while the unscripted promos are more natural and lend realism to the characters.

Since Hogan and Bischoff joined the company, TNA has been on a slow, but steady incline. There’s certainly a handful of veteran stars, but the focus is predominantly on new talent. Personally, I find it more exciting to watch wrestlers that come from the indy scene rather than those who have been scooped up after Vince fired their asses.

One of those wrestlers who has had an extensive run in several independent companies as well as occasional spots in WWE is New Jersey born Rob Eckos. Eckos, the former “Platinum Poppa,” was recently signed to TNA as Robbie E., a guido type character inspired by MTV’s Jersey Shore, which happens to be TNA’s direct timeslot competition. Do not judge him by his upcoming tongue in cheek take off on the Jersey Shore crew, Eckos is a profoundly talented wrestler who already has over 10 years of in-ring experience. An entry in The Top 10 Reasons to Watch The Wrestler on Blu-Ray here at The Sexy Armpit was that Eckos’ name was mentioned in it! I think it’s the coolest thing to be name dropped in one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of the best Jersey based films ever.

Robby E’s valet will be a send up of Snooki, aptly named Cookie, whose previous ring name was Becky Bayless, a spunky female wrestler also pulled from the indy scene. Make sure you check out TNA Thursday Night iMPACT! on SPIKE TV in the coming weeks to see the premiere of Robbie E. and Cookie!

Top 10 Reasons to Watch The Wrestler on Blu-Ray

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I may never get to own Randy The Ram’s extremely collectible ($300) action figure that rests on his dashboard, but there are other ways I’m able to relive the movie. I merely have to crank up Accept’s “Balls to the Wall” in my car if I want to get pumped up like Randy the Ram did en route to his comeback match. But think about this…”Balls to the Wall” in BLU-RAY!!! That doesn’t necessarily mean that if you don’t experience The Wrestler on Blu-Ray you’ll have to put your Blu-balls to the wall, but you will be missing out in a HUGE way. 


And now, coming down the aisle, from The Armpit of NJ, weighing in at 10 entries long, here’s the Top 10 Reasons to Watch The Wrestler on Blu-Ray!
1) You can witness Marisa Tomei’s boobs in all their blu ray glory. At 45 years old, Tomei looks way sexier than all the old, washed up, strippers who nobody buys dances from. Strip clubs throughout NJ would benefit from having employees look as good as she does in The Wrestler. What’s even cooler is that she’s a stripper who’s all into ’80s hard rock:

Cassidy: Fuckin’ 80’s man, best shit ever!

Randy: Bet your ass man, Guns N’ Roses rules.
Cassidy: Crue!
Randy: Yeah!
Cassidy: Def Lep!
Randy: Then that Cobain pussy had to come around and ruin it all.
Cassidy: Like there’s something wrong with just wanting to have a good time?
She’s a girl after my own heart.
2) If you have a good sound system at home, turn this one up to 11! The Wrestler features awesome headbanging tracks from GNR, Quiet Riot, RATT, Slaughter, Firehouse, and The Scorpions. Also, listen up for Slash’s guitar work on the musical score, and of course Bruce Springsteen’s brilliant title track. Pay a visit to Gears of Rock for more on the music featured in the film.

3) Watch Randy do the RAM JAM off the top rope right into your living room! It’s one of the coolest fictional finishing moves.

4) Find yourself in awe of genius casting. Judah Friedlander kills his role as Scott Brumberg, an indy wrestling promoter/convention organizer. The only way Aronofsky could’ve made this role more authentic is if he grabbed a real indy promoter from an east coast show and put him in the film. Go to a wrestling convention like Legends of the Ring or Signamania and you’ll see what I mean! Check out his Trenton Devils jersey! While it may seem subtle, or just an average cameo to some people, Friedlander’s performance is truly uncanny.

5) Listen closely for the roll call before the matches and you’ll hear the name of local NJ wrestler, and Sexy Armpit ally, Rob Eckos.

6) Among the bevy of independent wrestlers who appear in the film, JIM POWERS, formerly of the tag team The Young Stallions shows up! His Wikipedia entry claims he now resides in East Rutherford, NJ.

7) Soak up the gorgeous NJ locales. Here are some of the towns in NJ The Wrestler was filmed in: Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, Roselle Park, Asbury Park, Garfield, Keansburg, Lake Hiawatha, Hasbrouck Heights, Dover, and a Bayonne supermarket.

8) The Bloody Deli Meat slicer from HELL! That thing had a mind of it’s own! “Hey lady, you want some fucking cheese? Get your own fucking cheese!” Damn straight.
9) Randy the Ram’s cocaine fueled banging of a blonde bimbo in the bathroom will be even MORE amusing this time around…

10) There’s nothing quite like watching a guy staple a $5 dollar bill into his own forehead in high definition.