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Submitted by Hustle on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 8:30 AM EST
 Good lookin out for the graphics work, Noc "I'm drivin muthafuckaz hysterical with a touch of this twister, stylistic mixture.. what I create pulsates, there is no escape.. annihilate your mental mindstate.." One of the most underrated MCs of the last decade-and-a-half brings us our latest intro quote. Kurupt, of Tha Dogg Pound, is who I'm referring to, for those not hip to it. How he hasn't received more mainstream attention, I'll never know. Anyway, welcome, one and all, to something special. Welcome, one and all, to history. Welcome, one and all, to the very first edition of.. Believe The HIPE. As you can tell in the link that you clicked to get to this point, I'm stepping my column-writing game up to the next level and posting something new every single day. Chances are, this is going to wind up being the dumbest decision I've made in.. days.. but I'm going through with it, anyway. I'm in a league of my own. Before I go any further with this column, I want to congratulate the Philadelphia Phillies for winning the 2008 World Series earlier this evening. Props to the players, the city of Philadelphia, and the Phillies fans. Extra props to the "Flyin Hawaiian", Shane Victorino, for representing Hawaii and representing it well. With that out of the way, I think it's about that time.. shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!! People are always asking me questions and trying to get my opinion on various things. It isn't always about wrestling, either, as my readers see my interests and they ask questions about sports, music, and whatever else they can formulate in their heads. Because of that, I decided to ask people to send me questions for "Ask Hustle", so I can drop knowledge on everyone, because I'm a mere man that is trying to change lives, one person at a time. The response was incredible. I received so many questions, and am still receiving them, that I'm going to make this a regular thing. I have so many questions that I could probably post an "Ask Hustle" every single day of the week, but I'm still going to be bringing you "regular" columns, rants, and whatever else I can come up with. Keep sending in those questions, though. If you've sent something in and don't see it in this column, keep checking back on a daily basis, because I could post another one of these at any time. Also, if you don't let me know what name you'd like to be credited as, your question will be listed as being sent in by "John Doe". Just letting you know. Let's open it up.. What are the most overrated finisers in wrestling today? (John Doe) Personally, I don't think there's a more overrated finisher in wrestling right now than the Canadian Destroyer. As a matter of fact, there may not be a more overrated finisher in wrestling history than the Canadian Destroyer. Sure, the move looks fancy and all, but if it were any more choreographed, Petey would be wearing a top hat and tuxedo while performing it, and Debbie Allen would be alongside calling out steps. Again, it looks cool when performed properly, but if your opponent has to do just as much as you do to make the move work, there's something wrong. I don't hate the move like some people do, but I just think that Petey is far too talented to be getting by on something that isn't "legit".  Another finisher that I feel is highly overrated right now is the Batista Bomb, for the simple fact that I can't even remember the last time he hit it cleanly on someone who wasn't 220 pounds. I'm not saying he should be able to lift 600 pounds above his head, and do it easily, but it's been ridiculous in the last several months, probably from WrestleMania (where he came close to seriously injuring Umaga by performing the move as he lost his balance) and on. Perhaps it's the fact that Batista is on the verge of turning 92 years old, or perhaps there's some sort of an injury he's going through that we don't know about, but whatever it is.. it's not pretty. Why do you think some people dislike John Cena so much? (Skaos3010) Because they're not very intelligent. That's probably not the answer you were looking for, is it? Alright, I guess I can get a little more in-depth. Honestly, there is a variety of reasons why John Cena is disliked by certain people. The same goes for every wrestler, really. Some people dislike him because they wish he had a Dean Malenko-like moveset. Some people dislike him because he's a cracker that doesn't act like your average run-of-the-mill cracker. Some dislike him because they crave acceptance on the internet, and they want to do the "in" thing. A lot of the hate for John on the internet has to do with that last thing that I mentioned. If you read various columns or browse various message boards, you'll see a lot of talk of people saying they change the channel whenever John is on TV, whether he's wrestling, cutting a promo, doing a run-in, or whatever else he could be doing. That's fine and all, except for the fact that those same people then critique his match or his promo afterwards, proving they kept watching, even though they firmly stood their ground earlier and said they wouldn't. There are also people that will attend live WWE events and boo John Cena while they're WEARING CENA MERCHANDISE. I've seen it on various episodes of Raw and Smackdown, as well as different PPVs, and I got to see it up close and personal while attending WrestleMania this year. People get caught up in the live atmosphere, and they do some strange things. I'm guilty of that myself, as I found myself "marking out" for people that I normally don't cheer for when I watch them on TV (Triple H, Edge, and Batista, as well as Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens in Ring Of Honor). If that takes place, I know the same goes the other way around, and I know that a live crowd can definitely alter the way you react towards a certain wrestler. For everyone who dislikes Cena because of a legitimate reason, I salute you. You can't hate the guy because he wins all the time.. he's not the one who books the matches. You can't hate him because he doesn't have 900 moves in his repetoire.. first, when you're as good of a brawler as he is, you don't need that big of an arsenal, and two, you shouldn't even be watching WWE in the first place because damn near everyone on the roster has a "smaller" moveset. You CAN hate the guy for being "stale", but you CAN'T hate him for that if you continue to cheer for The Undertaker or Triple H.. they've been doing the exact same thing in their act for far longer than Cena has been doing his thing. If the guy just flat-out doesn't entertain you, that's perfectly fine, but a lot of you need to stop making up bullshit reasons that don't make any sense or that make you look like a hypocrite. Finally, while I'm already discussing Cena Haters, I have a favor to those of you that do e-mail me and leave me feedback. Can you work on your spelling or your grammar so that you don't look like you should be on the end of a leash when you're out in public? Seriously, people like to hate on John's fanbase for being nothing but little kids, but why is it that the people hating on Cena are the ones that have nothing higher than a 4th grade education? Unless.. *gasp*.. they're hating because it's the "in" thing to do. Exactly. What is your current Super Bowl prediction, based on what has happened in the NFL so far this season? (Vic Allen) It would be extremely difficult not to put the Tennessee Titans in the Super Bowl right now. They have a proven formula for Super Bowl teams.. good defense, good running game, a Quarterback that doesn't throw their games away, and great coaching. Kerry Collins has done a good job stepping in for Vince Young, in my opinion. The term "game manager" used to be a negative thing when it came to describing Quarterbacks, but not anymore. No, Kerry isn't out there throwing for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns every week, but the Titans don't need him to for them to be effective. Chris Johnson and LenDale White are forming a spectacular "Thunder & Lightning" backfield, totaling 953 yards and 14 touchdowns thus far. That suffocating defense is only giving up a little over 12 points per game, giving their offense freedom to win games even without a top-notch effort. The early favorites to win the AFC.. San Diego, New England, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, etc.. have either been extremely disappointing thus far, or are suffering through numerous injuries to key players and are like Jekyll & Hyde on a week-to-week basis. Teams like Denver, Buffalo, and Baltimore have all had good starts to their seasons, but there are too many question marks with each team for me to call them legit contenders at this point. Pittsburgh has the same type of team that Tennesse has, in that they use a great defense to help them win games, while their offense isn't exactly going to be winning any type of awards. The difference between the teams is their running games, with Tennessee averaging 38 rushing yards per game more than Pittsburgh, giving them the 4th most rushing yards per game in the NFL, while Pittsburgh sits at 18th. Once Willie Parker gets healthy, he can help Pittsburgh in that area, but the Steelers need better play from their Offensive Line, who is giving up far too many sacks and not opening up enough holes for their Running Backs to run through. Because of that, Tennessee is my pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, based on what has happened thus far.  The NFC is a bit more difficult to predict right now, because everyone's favorite at the beginning of the year, Dallas, is a complete mess right now. Tony Romo is out with an injury, and I understand that, but he's not part of the defense that is giving up far too many points so far this season. They're on pace to give up 368 points this year, which is absolutely ridiculous for a team of their stature. The fact that they're in the toughest division in the entire NFL doesn't help their cause any. The Philadelphia Eagles are in last place in the NFC East with a 4-3 record, which would be enough to be tied for the lead in 3 other divisions. Leading the NFC East right now are the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who have looked impressive so far in defending their title. The Giants are similar to both the Steelers and the Titans, with their running games leading the way on offense, as well as a defense that simply gets after the ball. What works in the Giants' favor, though, is that QB Eli Manning airs the ball out better than either Kerry Collins or Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger do. That gives the Giants an advantage, in my opinion, over other NFC teams, so they're my pick, at the moment.  Tennessee Titans VS New York Giants. Country VS City. There's my prediction for the Super Bowl as of the end of October, and guess what.. I'm not gonna tell you who I think would win. I'll leave that for you to decide. What made you decide to start writing wrestling columns? (John Doe) I was already a poster at LoPForums, and I hadn't thought much about writing any sort of column, but then I was notified that the Columns Forum would be holding a competition, and that the competition would be geared towards newer writers. I didn't pay it much mind still, but I had a few more people come to me and say that I should think about giving it a shot, based on my posts, and how I didn't struggle with words or anything that would be a hurdle in the world of column writing. I threw my name in the hat, after thinking about it for a while, and that was that. Admittedly, I lost in the first round of the competition.. to fellow main page writer, SUPERFAN, no less. I had no idea what I was doing at the time.. my column was far too short, didn't have enough wrestling-related content, and was all over the place creatively. Not that it would've made much of a difference, because my opponent was (and always is) on top of his game. The better writer won, without a doubt. I want to say that was a year ago, but for some reason, it seems like a year isn't long enough, so it might be in the range of 13, 14, or 15 months ago. I'm sure someone will step in and inform me of exactly when it was, though. I was promoted to the LoP main page damn near 9 months ago, and here I am now, pushing columns like weight. Fun times to be had by all. I'm new to RoH, so whose matches should I start watching first? (Michael Valentine) That all depends on what type of wrestling you prefer. Obviously, if you like technical wrestling, you'd want to start with one of the more technical wrestlers, etc. Since you didn't tell me anything about your preferred styles of wrestling, I guess I'll just list some of everything to help you out. If you're looking for something more technical, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone any better than "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. He calls himself the "Best In The World", and he just might be. He's been with the company from the beginning, so there's several years worth of his matches to look for, but if I might make a recommendation, I'd say to just begin with anything during his RoH World Title reign from September 2005 to December 2006. Nigel McGuinness would be a fine choice, as well, especially considering that he's the current RoH World Champion and he continues to have great matches against various contenders. If you're looking for something more along the lines of a good brawl, look no further than Jimmy Jacobs or The Necro Butcher. Necro hasn't been involved with RoH for all that long, but he's one of the best brawlers on the planet right now, if not THE best. The man can dish out a stiff ass-whooping like no other, and he can take one just as well. Jacobs, on the other hand, is absolutely insane, and yet a complete genius, all at the same time. He's 5'7" and 170 pounds, so he SHOULD be out there, flipping and flying around the ring, but instead, he shows a different disregard for his body, and he wrestles like the 2008 Bruiser Brody. He seems to think that he's the size of Brody (6'8", 290 pounds), that's for sure. If you want tag team wrestling, you're in luck, because RoH puts out some spectacular tag team matches. Whether it's Jay & Mark Briscoe, Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black, the current RoH Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico, or any of the other tag teams that wrestle for the company, even on a temporary basis, it's hard to go wrong. The last couple years in RoH have been absolutely fabulous if you're a fan of tag wrestling. I could've went into specific matches you could look for, but then I'd be writing that section forever, and it would take away from everything else here. There's just so many matches that I could recommend to RoH no0bz, all of which I personally stand behind. Hell, just for fun, I'll provide a bit of a bonus for you, anyway.. If you don't already have one, go sign up for a free DailyMotion.com account, and go visit DailyMotion.com/Co1d for your RoH fix. You'll be able to spend weeks of your life watching all the different matches he has for view, but you need to add him as a friend on the site for you to actually watch a lot of it. It's worth your time, folks. Trust me. What was your favorite subject in school? (Tom) Well, for a while, it was English, because it was one of the only subjects that I was good at, and that could keep my attention for longer than a few minutes. Surprise, surprise.. I wasn't the greatest of students back in my school days. It's not that I couldn't do the work, it's that I wasn't ever in school to get the work in the first place. As you can tell, though, I enjoy creative writing of any type, and I got to do that a lot in English class. It also helped me practice my handwriting, to the point that I currently write like a girl. Real talk, my handwriting is far prettier looking than it should be, considering the fact that I have a dick hanging between my legs. However, Drama probably would be the answer to this question, even though I only took it as a Senior in High School, and for a semester in College. Damn, a class that I can act wild and crazy, and instead of getting in trouble for it, I get positive grades for it? Fuck it, sign me up, and put me down for two. Remember how I said that I rarely attended school? The following is how my Senior year went, and this is with absolutely no exaggeration at all. For reference, Drama class was during 4th period.. Monday's class schedule was periods 1-4. Tuesday's class schedule was periods 1, 2, 5, and 6. Wednesday's class schedule was periods 3-6. Thursday's class schedule was periods 1-3. Friday's class schedule was periods 4-6. On Monday, I'd stay at home for most of the day, and I'd show up to school just in time for lunch so that I could hang out with my friends. After lunch was 4th period, so I'd go to Drama class, and then school would be done for the day. There was no Drama on Tuesday, so I wouldn't go to school that day. On Wednesday, Drama would come right after the morning break, so I'd show up to school an hour or so late so that I could hang out with my friends during the break, then go to Drama class, and then ditch school and go home early. No Drama on Thursday, so no Hustle in school. On Friday, I'd be in school right on time, since Drama opened up school for the day, and then I'd just ditch school and head home afterwards. I would plan my entire school week around that single class. That's how much I enjoyed it.  Kids, let me give you this bit of advice.. don't do as I did, do as I say. Go to school. Seriously. Sure, I had fun in most of the times that I ditched. I'll never deny that, but in the long run, it cost me so much, and I had to completely bust ass towards the end of the year to even graduate on time. Don't let that happen to you. What has been the song of the year so far? (Cooter) My answer to this came down to two songs, really. Of all the songs I've heard that have come out in 2008 (I'm not saying I've heard everything, though, of course), Lil Wayne's "A Milli" and Slipknot's "Psychosocial" stood out above the rest. I know that a lot of "underground" fans will be upset that my choices are "mainstream" songs, but part of my criteria was the impact that the songs had on the music world as a whole. "A Milli" came on strong and took the rap world by storm. Lil Wayne's dominance of rap in 2008 was clear, and when "Tha Carter 3" began to leak, people immediately took notice of "A Milli" as a track to look out for. At the time, "Lollipop" was Weezy's single from the album, but the swell that began to rise because of "A Milli" forced it to become an actual single, as well. The real impact of the track can be seen in the mixtape world, as damn near every rapper alive used the beat to freestyle over, or to do their own unofficial remix of the song. Hell, DJ E.Nyce has an entire mixtape filled with nothing but different versions of the song, 28 in all, and that's nowhere near the amount of versions that I've heard with my own ears, let alone all the versions that are out which I haven't heard yet.  "Psychosocial" was something that I've been waiting for from Slipknot for a while now. I'm not claiming to be the biggest Slipknot fan alive or anything, but I was looking for something different after Slipknot's previous album. When the self-titled single from "All Hope Is Gone" dropped, it was a promising start for me, as it was booming and in-your-face grind from start to finish. When the next single dropped, and I heard "Psychosocial" for the first time, I was blown away. It wasn't thrash-y or grind-y like a lot of their other songs, but it was still steady and pulsating, and it still took me back to some of their older stuff. I don't have long hair, but when the hook comes, and Corey's just yelling "Psychosocial!" over and over, it makes me wish that I did so my headbanging would be top-notch.  It takes a lot more for me to fall in love with a metal song than it does with a rap song, so for that reason, I'm going to say that "Psychosocial" is my pick for 2008's Song Of The Year, and one of my favorite songs of the last several years. What drew you into wrestling? (airwaves) Well, I remember watching old NWA TV when I was really young. I probably wasn't quite four years old at the time, and if I was, it wasn't by much. The very first memory I have of anything from that era was a Ric Flair promo, followed by a Ric Flair match. While I don't remember exactly which promo and match it was, I just remember being awestruck at how over-the-top the guy was. He yelled, he made funny faces, he had flashy clothing.. what more could a youngster like myself have asked for, really? My attention was his, and it was all his. A year or so down the line, I remember being at my Uncle's house as he and my cousins (all older than me) would watch old WWF pay-per-views. I remember watching the 1987 Survivor Series, WrestleMania 4, and other events from that era, and what hooked me into THAT product was Hulk Hogan. It's a little weird, but "Real American" may be the first non-school taught song that I ever learned all the words to and could sing along with. Without a doubt, ya boy, Hustle, was a Hulkamaniac through and through. As I grew older, I was still a huge Hulkamaniac, and I loved the "show" that was the WWF, but I was already beginning to appreciate the wrestler that Ric Flair was. I wasn't yet six years old when Clash Of The Champions debuted, but I watched it on tape the day after it aired (having watched WrestleMania 4 live, which went head-to-head with the Clash), and even then, I knew the Ric Flair/Sting match was something special. Sting appealed to more people of my age and demographic, but I was never a huge fan of the guy. Instead, I cheered for Flair, regardless of the reaction I got from my family members, who were squarely in the "face = cheer, heel = boo" line of thinking. Flair's following matches and feuds with the likes of Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Great Muta, Barry Windham, etc all helped form the fan that I am today. Ric Flair's flash and.. well.. flair, as well as Hulk Hogan's showmanship, are what initially drew me in to the wonderful world of professional wrestling, and it's been an amazing 22+ year journey. That brings an end to the first of many editions of "Ask Hustle". This was really fun. Seriously, guys, your questions are great, and I'm glad that I'm getting such an amazing turnout for them. Keep them coming, and I'll keep on answering them. Again, don't worry if I didn't answer your question(s) in this edition.. yes, I got them, and yes, I will be answering them. Believe The HIPE, ladies and gentlemen. That does it for the very first daily edition of my thoughts, opinions, and snide remarks. Keep checking back every morning for another edition of HIPE.. it might be another "Ask Hustle", it might be a rant, it might be a column.. that's a bridge that I will cross daily when I reach it. I hope to have two different sets of new, snazzy banners soon (one for "Ask Hustle", and one for the whole enchilada.. airwaves & Noc, get at me, if you haven't done so already). I shall be back tomorrow.. new Hustle time, same Hustle page.. with HIPEv2, so keep your eyes open. From where the block is hot, and so are the women.. I bid you farewell. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa. "I'm exceedin expectations, you barely meeting quota.. I give it to em straight, you cut it with baking soda.." Hustle HIPRNFeedback@gmail.com 
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