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Submitted by Mr. Tito on Tuesday, November 4, 2003 at 11:57 PM EST
NOTE FROM TITO: This is the Columnist of the Month from LOP Columns Forum. Each month, a contest is held between columnists and posters to determine who had the best month as a writer there. The winner gets one column posted on LoP as an award. This month's winner is Tinaali for her "XY Files". Please e-mail her and give her your thoughts on this column!!!
Vol. X A First For Everything I had planned on doing something special for the 10th installment of The XY Files but I didn’t think it would include getting on the main page. For once I am happy that my plans were screwed up. Being the only female columnist in the column forums for the past two months (until Hey You came along) has been fun. There were some people that I had to win over because they found it hard to take a gal’s opinion seriously about a male dominated sport such as wrestling. Knowing this has made me work harder to put out a quality column every week. This is why it means so much to be voted Column of the Month by my peers. To everyone that supported and voted for us, THANK YOU! Okay enough for the polite, girly, mushy stuff. That’s not what you came for right?? Good, because I try and stay the hell away from it myself. Let’s get down to some wrasslin’ talk. Lately it seems like almost everything you read concerning wrestling is so negative. Granted the WWE has been giving many wrestling fans a lot to be negative about. Because of this I have put myself on a mini-crusade to bring back the mark inside all of us that would go crazy every time one of our favorite wrestlers hit the screen. Sometimes we have to make it a point to look back and realize why we even started watching wrestling in the first place. So in this week’s edition we are going to do just that by reliving our favorite moments in wrestling. She Said… My favorite first was a couple days past my 11th birthday. It was March 31, 1985; a day that forever changed the face of wrestling. Everyone who was someone was there that day. It had the air of red carpet, movie award gala. The first WrestleMania ever to take place had just begun. There I sat with my mom and her friends waiting for the show to start. I will never forget how excited I was. For one it was cool to be hanging out with my mom and her grown-up friends. Two, she had made my favorite dip and bought my favorite chips. Last, how could you not be excited when you know you are about to witness such a monumental moment in history? Yes, history and not just wrestling history. This moment wasn’t just huge for the wrestling industry. It was the dawning of a cultural revolution also. This was the moment that took wrestling out of the arena and into the mainstream. All of my favorites were there- Junkyard Dog, Roddy Piper, Hogan, and Brutus Beefcake… How could I not be amazed? Sure, when I look back at some of these wrestlers now I feel silly because of how much I loved them. Do I regret loving them so much? Not a chance in hell. That is what being a wrestling fan is all about. He Said… 1982. The month escapes me. Age 10. My dad took me to my first house show at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (now called Mellon Arena). We had 15th row floor seats and the main event was Bob Backlund vs. the Iron Sheik. Sheik had to be at the time the biggest heel to date representing Iran with the memory of the hostage situation still fresh in our minds. I threw ice cubes at him from 15 rows back. Backlund won the match and I ran toward the ring to get a closer peek at him and the title. Bob hugged an old lady in a wheelchair while I patted his sweaty back. I washed my hand since. I think another favorite first for me is an interesting experiment in my budding raconteur-ship. Having a 7 year old stepson and a 2 year old of our own idolizing him gives you a crash course in trends passing you by. I just looked at Ali’s homeroom list and let’s just say I’m not a fan of trendy names. Time stands still as a bachelor. Say “I Do” with yourself strapped in for the g-forces because you have just entered life at mach speed. I was lucky to get out of high school just before the ‘white thug’ thing started happening. I swear if I had to deal with that in the 80’s, something along the lines of a Columbine would’ve happened. I graduated in 1990. In March of ’91 me and a high school buddy (a local indy wrestler today) drive from Pittsburgh to Daytona Beach the week after MTV was there. We come home a week later and like cockroaches, pimply-faced dorks in Raiders gear reeking of weed and Newports driving Honda CRX’s, come out of the woodwork and became the self-proclaimed kings of the mall and every corner near the mini-mart. White thugs are something I’ve had issues with for quite a number of years. It was a fad that I thought would go away in a year or so but in hindsight I wish I would’ve bought stock in Rockford Fosgate. It is the silliest thing that’s been going on far too long. But I have to hand it to John Cena for being the first convincing ‘white thug’ wrestler. He’s growing on me. Time to rock my Astros throwback jersey that I had in ’91. Perhaps it was I that started that trend. One of the things that I love is the fact that you can see an X Division wrestler get in the ring with main eventers and still have a high quality match. That is part of the charm of TNA. No visible politics. As a matter of fact it seems the only rumors you hear are who might pop up next in the ring and how great locker room morale is there. This is why I am concerned about all the “big” names they have been bringing in lately. Too many cooks spoil the soup and I see this happening if they get away from highlighting new talent. Instead they are concerned about getting the big names and forgetting about the political nightmares that come with certain seasoned veterans. A perfect example of this is AJ Styles. For those of you not familiar with this kid, he is one hell of an up and comer. If given the chance he could become a household name in the blink of an eye. TNA was doing a great of job of pushing him until Dutch joined. Now that may be coincidence but I don’t think so. Styles turned down an offer from the WWE to stay with TNA. If that doesn’t show loyalty then I must not know what loyalty really is. He just signed on to a one-year contract with TNA and the next thing you know he loses the belt to Jarrett. Umm yeah, that sounds like a great way to push this loyal man to the stars. If anything they just screwed up a great match for their PPV, Bound for Glory. The Jarrett vs. Hogan match has no need whatsoever for a belt to be involved. Their names alone are enough to garner interest. Styles has been calling out Sting the whole time he held the belt so do they get those two involved? No. Instead Sting gets involved with the vets and AJ is standing there with his waist empty. This is a big WTF moment. Instead of wasting Sting’s few appearances in matches we have already seen before, they missed a huge chance to get people involved with the lesser-known hard workers of the company. A Sting vs. Styles feud would have been incredible to witness. The people tuning in for the first time would wonder who the hell this kid is with the belt and why is Sting wasting his time wrestling him. Now we have two stellar matches for a PPV that is TNA’s chance to prove itself. Again I have to ask, WTF? Why waste a chance like this to let a loyal company man shine? Even if Sting won the belt, interest would be gained in a lesser known wrestler. Since Sting, as it looks right now, doesn’t plan on staying there a while he could have always dropped the belt shortly after. Personally I don’t think either Sting or Hogan should ever touch the belt. They have already had their chances to make a mark in wrestling history. Sure, use their name recognition to do some good for the company. There is nothing wrong with that. However, for the love of god, it is time to pass the torch. The reason why I have loved watching TNA is because they weren’t afraid of risks. There is no need to stop taking chances now. All I can hope for now is that the big names don’t rape TNA of its soul but as long as Dutch is calling the shots it looks like the good ol’ boy network is once again in full effect. Continuing with this week’s theme of favorite firsts, I thought it would be fun to see what some of my favorite columnists favorite firsts were (say that three times fast!) When I first came up with this idea I had no clue it would be so long but it’s worth taking your time to read. So, sit down and get comfortable. Relax and stay a while. Here are the results in no particular order because at The XY Files, randomness is king. TVDog has been making me laugh since I read my first edition of The Junkyard. He has since retired from that network but is making a comeback in The Station Break. I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this and am happy to report it is now online. That's an easy one. ECW's first ever "Stairway to Hell" match. January 10, 1998, between Sabu and The Sandman. It was an innovation in gimmick matches compared to all the crap we're forced to put up with today, and it was really motherlovin' violent to boot.” The next one up to bat is Winter, LOP’s coldest damn writer. Winter is the author of Let It Snow. Now it usually only snows once a week in the forum but lately there has been a blizzard of good works coming from my hardest fought for fan. My favorite first is probably Shawn Michaels winning the WWE title for the first time at WrestleMania XII. I've always been a huge HBK mark and it was really something special, to me anyway. The first TLC match was definitely something special. Never before had I seen action like it, and it probably signified the greatest period in tag team wrestling. XanMan is the one who keeps Putting the X in Wrestling but apparently that doesn’t keep him busy enough. He also writes another fine column called The Northern Star which is written from more of a personal perspective. Instead of a favorite event, he decided to share a funny story with us. Okay, how about the first time I got booed at a wrestling show? This was sometime in 1997, I believe, when WCW came here to Duluth, Minnesota. Two great things happened in the same match, which was Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho. We were in the 3rd row. The first was that when Eddie started choking Jericho, the ref said, "Do that again, and I'll disqualify you." Kevin yelled, "NO, DON'T DISQUALIFY HIM, REF!" The referee stopped his subsequent 3-count to look at us. It was classic. But, something even better happened just a few minutes later. The crowd started to chant "USA, USA, USA" behind a face Chris Jericho. Kevin and I looked at each other in disbelief, as NEITHER guy was from the USA. So, we did the only thing we could. We chanted "CANADA, CANADA, CANADA!" Nearly the entire arena booed us for that one. Loved every minute of it.” Pt2 is the author of Take Up Thy Wrestling Boots and Walk. He consistently brings his insightful views to the boards week after week. As a matter of fact, he has recently been dubbed as the Cal Ripken of the columns forum. He’s up to 47 straight hits and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The first time I saw Ric Flair in a match was at WrestleMania VIII. Living in the UK meant I didn't have much access to wrestling, and the only time that WCW was shown on terrestrial TV was in 1991, which was during Flair's absence. Every couple of weeks or so I would get to see one of WWE’s shows. In the build up to WrestleMania VIII, I saw the World champion, Ric Flair. Here was a guy that, at the time, was so easy to hate. He just had this "way" of carrying himself that said he thought he was the best. Anyone who saw the event knows that he was scheduled to take on "Macho Man" Randy Savage. The match itself is one of my favourites. I had missed the royal rumble (own it on VHS since), so I was hyped to see this World Champion who lasted over an hour to defend his title against one of the fan favourites. There has been something about Ric Flair that I have loved ever since I have been old enough to appreciate a good heel. He's like the Rick Rude's. I have to be honest, in my own limited wrestling experience, a lot of character traits have been based on the Ric Flair type character - because Flair shows you how to do it right. It's still not the original, but just by watching Ric Flair I learned how to get a reaction. But it wasn't just his character. Flair could back it up. And I think that's why he was so hyped. I can't remember a time before or since that I have looked forward to finally seeing a heel so much as I did going into WrestleMania VIII to see the "Nature boy.” And to be honest, I haven't been disappointed. Next stop, SteJ and his Crazy Train. Round and round the track he goes. Where will he stop? Only Ozzy knows! SteJ has to have one of the best rating systems for a PPV. His awards are always spot on. Anytime you are in the mood for a crazy ride to destination unknown, I highly recommend hopping aboard SteJ’s train. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the ride. My favourite first had to be the first time Chris Jericho appeared on Raw on August 9th 1999, the start of Y2J - not Y2K!!! At this time, Chris Jericho in WCW was not familiar to me. Then the countdown took place during the Rock's promo and Jericho showed the world why he is the Ayatollah Of Rock 'n' Rollah - and why WCW screwed up another chance to beat WWF. After that night, he became my number 1 wrestler, both on the mic and in the ring! Jericho brought a new breed of wrestling - and at that time was the only person that was trained by the late Stu Hart (RIP). Since then his promos outclassed everyone else’s, even the Rock! And it wouldn't be long until he got some kick ass matches! But I will always remember the first time Jericho appeared on WWF TV! You may remember Dubzilla and The Turnbuckle Tailgate as the August Column of the Month winner. He’s the Scott Hall of the forum. There is no easy way to describe his writing. All I can say is you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and in the end you will be bewildered and satisfied at the same time. My personal favorite first was the first PPV I attended, it was WrestleMania XIV at Boston's Fleet Center. It didn't matter where I sat (Balcony, Row 13 out of 15, corner parallel to the curtain entrance), I was at a WrestleMania. You could feel the electricity inside and outside the arena. People were buzzing, I was loving it. It was truly a day where I saw The Attitude Era come full circle and where I truly enjoyed being a wrestling fan. I highlighted my experience in an edition of The Turnbuckle Tailgate before the LOP Forums crashed over the summer. No matter how many times I go back down memory lane as a wrestling fan, I will always remember my first WrestleMania. I think every wrestling fan should get to attend an event of this magnitude in their lifetime. From marking out to LOD, to taking a piss during Taka vs Aquila, to laughing with The Rock and laughing at Pete Rose, to witnessing a classic ending to a great career COUGH COUGH, it was a night I will never forget. Last but not least we have the most recent graduate from the forums, Dumass, here to share his favorite memory with us. If you haven’t had a taste of Dumass’ original writing style then you really should make it a point to read his column, A Dumass Thought, here on the main page My favorite wrestling first was watching my first cage match in April of 1981. It was Stan Hansen vs. Bob Backlund for the WWWF Title. I never saw Bob be as much of a savage than in that match. He had Hansen bleeding in the first 3 minutes and of course; it's Stan ' The Mother Fucking Man’ Hansen. You never go wrong with one of his matches. Happy Birthdays to: 11/06 Ken Patera 11/07 Tony Schiavone 11/07 King Kong Bundy Thanks & Cheap Plugs: Thanks go out to all in the columns forum for making this possible ESPECIALLY TVDog, SteJ, Pt2, XanMan, Winter, Dubzilla and Dumass. There are just too many to name individually. Please support my fellow columnists by going to LOP Columns Forum. They are the future of LOP. Congratulations to: Jerry “The King” Lawler for the funniest damn quote of the week…“I think that’s gay. I’m, I’m not really sure.” (in response Rene Dupree’s sidestepping dance) Well that wraps up another therapeutic session of The XY Files where it’s cheaper than marriage counseling but twice the fun. Thanks for joining me on this wonderful ride into the unknown. Any comments, questions, rants, or raves??? Email me at Women.are.from.LOP@comcast.net. Feedback is a wonderful thing. Show me some love, dammit! Tina Co-starring…the Rick *NEW GALLERY* She's Still XTREME! Hot New Pix of Former WWE Diva BROOKE ADAMS!!!
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