|
|
|
|
|
Submitted by Hustle on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 9:57 AM EST
 Good lookin out for the graphics work, Noc "The perseverence of a rebel, I drop heavier levels.. it's unseen or heard, a king with words.. Can't Knock The Hustle, but I've seen street dreams deferred.. dark spots in my mind where the scene occured.. some say I'm too deep.. I'm in too deep to sleep.." Common brings us today's intro line. Good call, Bloodline. I'd say it fits quite nicely. Welcome back to The HIPE, all my readers and readerettes. If this is The HIPE, then I suppose that makes me The HIPEmaster, and you can hate it or love it, but the underdog's on top, and I'm gon' shine, homie, until my heart stops.. ya boy, Hustle, stepping straight back into the building once again. Thank you for comin out. You could've been anywhere in the world, but you're here with me. I appreciate that. Enough with the chit-chat.. I think it's about that time. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!! Everyone's favorite question-and-answer column is back again today. I mentioned before that I had something special planned for a future edition of "Ask Hustle", and I want to update everyone on that and say that the ball is rolling on it. There's no street date attached to it, though, but just know that it's coming. In the meantime, however, let's rock-n-roll with another edition of "Ask Hustle", shall we? What do you do when you're not watching wrestling or writing The HIPE? (Robert) Would it surprise you to hear that The HIPE takes up a lot of my time? Between coming up with ideas, processing those ideas in my head, actually turning those ideas into columns, doing picture searches for those columns, re-reading those columns, re-re-reading those columns, tagging those columns with the proper HTML coding, and finally posting those columns.. that's a huge chunk of my day that I spend working on these things. Then, take into account that I write something new every single day.. damn.. it's time-consuming, but it's worth it to give the people something to read, even if it's just to pass the time while they're at work. Real talk.. some of you have given me some really inspiring e-mails since I started doing all of this. I know I reply to each and every piece of feedback that I get, but know this again.. I appreciate the love. When I'm not doing something HIPE-related, I love listening to music, in case you couldn't tell from reading my columns. Whether it's looking for new songs/albums to listen to, trying to get column motivation, or just wanting to kick back and relax, there's always some sort of music involved in my life. It's just something that I was introduced to as a really young Hustle, and I've kept it with me all the way up until the current Hustle that is writing this column. Other than that, I'm a pretty spontaneous guy. Whatever comes up, if it sounds worthwhile, you can count me in. Doesn't matter if it's something simple like chillin on the couch and playing some NBA 2K9 or Madden 09 on PS3, ridin around the island and looking for some trouble to get into, hitting up the mall to kill some time, or watching some dumb-ass TV shows (Real Chance Of Love.. Scream Queens.. I see you).. I'm real laid-back and down for whatever's clever, Trevor. I'd like to think that the LoP'ers who were part of the 1st Annual LoPForums.com WrestleMania Weekend Wrestling (W)Extravaganza would agree with me on that one. Now let's see if we can get the 2nd Annual LoPForums.com WrestleMania Weekend Wrestling (W)Extravaganza organized so that we can get it poppin in H-Town next year. What are your favorite crowd-reaction moments in wrestling? (Shea B.) Well, in no real particular order, these moments immediately come to mind: - It would almost be irresponsible of me to not mention the entire Hulk Hogan/Rock match from WrestleMania 18. In a match with (arguably) the two most popular wrestlers of all-time facing each other, you just had to know the crowd would be hyped up, but that was an understatement of epic proportions. I can remember watching that match on pay-per-view, and I had goosebumps at the crowd's participation in that match, from the second they realized the match was next until both wrestlers had gone backstage after the match was over. You could tell, by the looks on their faces, that both Hogan and The Rock were amazed, as well. They'd pause every so often to just stop and soak in the crowd reactions, no matter who the crowd happened to be cheering for at that moment. - Another WrestleMania moment, but this time, we go back a full decade before Hogan and The Rock faced each other. I'm talking about WrestleMania 8, when The Ultimate Warrior made his return to the WWF, saving Hulk Hogan from a double team beatdown at the hands of Sid Justice and Papa Shango. The roof nearly blew off of the Hoosier Dome when Warrior's music hit as Hogan was getting mollywhopped in the ring. I'm half-surprised Warrior didn't get completely blown up during his approximate 9 mile sprint from the backstage area to the ring itself, but he made it, and the crowd ate up every second of it with a spoon. The spoon probably had the following picture on it, as well:  - When Goldberg defeated Hulk Hogan on Nitro to win the WCW World Title, there were just so many fucking people in the crowd that it had to come across well on TV. It was always a special event when WCW would hold shows in the Georgia Dome, and it was definitely a bigger crowd than we'd usually get for the shows during the Monday Night War. If you go back and watch the match (which you can do at the clip I will provide shortly), pay attention to the crowd, especially at the ending. When Goldberg hit Hogan with a Spear (the move, not the weapon), the crowd went crazy. When Goldberg then hit Hogan with a Jackhammer (the move, not the weapon), the went went "banana". When Goldberg pinned Hogan to win the match, the crowd went absolutely apeshit. Sure, Goldberg was the hometown boy that week, but it really says a lot about how over Goldie was as a face, as well as how over Hogan was as a heel. Here's the match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQeulEoYSZA - The Steve Austin/Bret Hart match at WrestleMania 13 had the most famous double-turn in wrestling history, with the fans being the driving force behind the move. Clearly, Bret was the face going into the feud, with Austin as the heel, but the fans just didn't see it that way. I've gone over it before in my "Hussie Awards" column, but the fans just related to the blue-collar work ethic and attitude that Austin had, and they started cheering for him more and more every week. It was just perfect timing that Bret's character was starting to change, turning him from well-loved heel into someone that was beginning to whine and cry a lot, giving the fans even more reason to "jump ship" and start cheering for Austin. The rest, of course, was history. - Although it was incredibly hypocritical, stupid, and full of false bravado, there's absolutely no denying how strongly the ECW fans reacted towards John Cena at One Night Stand 2006. You'll be hard-pressed to find such a one-sided crowd reaction in wrestling history as we got from Cena/Rob Van Dam. Sure, the crowd showed just how incredibly stupid they could be (chanting "same old shit" towards Cena when RVD hasn't changed his moveset since before Cena even got into the wrestling business.. chanting "you can't wrestle" towards Cena when RVD *gasp* can't wrestle.. etc), but at least they did so with passion. - One that might not get immediate recognition from a lot of people if you asked them this question would be when Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth (she would've turned 48 yesterday.. R.I.P.) reunited at WrestleMania 7. Allow me to paint a brief picture for those of you who don't remember, or who weren't wrestling fans at the time.. Savage had turned heel, leaving Elizabeth for "Sensational" Sherri (R.I.P.). Savage then went on to lose a Retirement Match to The Ultimate Warrior at WM7, and Sherri began berating Savage after the match, leading to her attacking him. Elizabeth, who hadn't been seen on WWF TV in over a year, was in the crowd, looking on with concern. Eventually, she had enough, and she climbed the guardrail, got in the ring, and tossed Sherri to the outside as the crowd popped for it. When Savage was able to get back up and found out that Liz had come to his rescue, even after he turned his back on her, he pulled her in for a long embrace, which just made the crowd go crazy. There are plenty of others, but again, those were the ones that immediately popped into my head. People that attend live shows, whether they're house shows, televised events, or pay-per-views seem to forget sometimes that they can make or break a match. They can easily take an average match and make it seem like it's really worth watching, just by their participation and how hot they get for the action. They can take a good match and make it seem like an absolute epic, five-star classic. Of course, the opposite is true, as well, as they can sit on their hands and turn a good match into something almost painful to watch for those at home. That's a lot of power. What do you think of the term "mark"? (Aussie Ben) I don't think the term has as much negative meaning as some people make it out to be. There was a time when people heard the term and thought about people who believe that everything they see is real. The young kids that think so-and-so really hates so-and-so because they fight on TV. People who thought The Undertaker really was a zombie of some sort. Yeah, those people. We all know people like that. We all used to be people like that, and some of us still are people like that. Now, though, the term is thrown around much more frequently than it probably should be, and because of that, the meaning has changed a bit. Now, you can be a "mark" if you're a fan of a particular wrestler or company. Like WWE? You're a "WWE Mark". Like TNA? You're a "TNA Mark", and I avoided the easy jokes about what else you could be. Hell, I've been called a "Cena Mark" more times than I can even remember. It's a nothing term in an era where the IWC has run most wrestling terms into the ground. Half the time, when someone calls you a "mark", they don't even know what it means, and they just come across sounding like a douchebag. Douchebags in the IWC? It's shocking, I know, but they're out there. Basically, what I'm saying is that I'm indifferent to the term, and everyone else should be, as well. Since you're a 49ers fan, what are your thoughts on Mike Singletary? (Frisco Kid) Although I'm a fan of Mike Nolan, I love the move to bring Singletary in as San Francisco's Head Coach. I've said this to a few people already, but if the players on the 49ers roster can't be motivated by Mike F'N Singletary, they don't belong in the NFL and should be flipping burgers somewhere. Hell, Mike Singletary motivates me, and I'm just a po' minority that writes a daily wrestling column on "teh intarwebz". Coach Singletary is the perfect man to take over the 49ers, as they're a team that has been underachieving recently. They're a better team than they've been coming across as. I'm not saying that they should be sitting at 10-0 right now, but they're a fringe playoff team, at least. A lot of their players are "soft", and again, if they can't be whipped into shape by Singletary, they don't belong in the NFL. Also, let me just say that I'm not one of those people who have been complaining about Singletary's antics since taking over the team. He was perfectly justified with what he did to Vernon Davis, as Davis shouldn't have placed himself before the team. Davis has all the potential in the world, and he should be dominating defenses all over the league, but he doesn't always seem like he's playing at full-speed. Hopefully, the incident can motivate Davis to be the player that everyone knows he can be. Don't even get me started on how much people have overreacted to Coach Singletary pulling his pants down in the locker room in front of his players. He was doing it as part of a point to prove that they were getting "spanked". It's not like he whipped his dick out and started masturbating in front of his players, but that's how people are treating it, saying how "shocked" and "disgusted" they are at what he did. Those people really need to calm down. All in all, I think the 49ers are headed in the right direction with Coach Singletary leading the way. They have some very nice building blocks to work with (Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, Vernon Davis, etc), and it's just a matter of finally solving their issues at Quarterback (whether they stick with Shaun Hill or bring in a proven veteran), adding another weapon or two for that QB to throw to, and going from there. It's a process, but it's also a progress. Do you think Batista being given the World Title was to stop the recent complaining he's been doing? (Smarmy) This question is a little dated now (my apologies for taking so long in getting around to it), but I'll answer it, anyway, because I keep having this conversation with people on AIM and through e-mails, so I figure it's time for me to get my full thoughts on this subject out in the open. This is merely how I've pieced things together, based on what I've seen with my own eyes. This isn't me saying everything I'm predicting is 100% FOR SURE what is happening. Again, just what I think. In the beginning, yes, I think Batista getting the title was to soothe his ego a bit. It was reported that he had been upset over the way his character was being booked, and then, all of a sudden, he was given the World Title. The title victory didn't make a lot of sense to me for two different reasons.. one, Chris Jericho was on such a roll before losing the belt, and two, Batista had just come off of 119 consecutive losses in title matches. It is what it is, though, and Batista was the champion. It was then announced that John Cena would be the man getting a title shot at Survivor Series, and later that night, Jericho won the title back in an even bigger head-scratcher than when he lost it in the first place. There were things that didn't make any sense, but this is what I think happened.. When Batista found out that Cena was going to be getting a title shot at SS, he probably also found out that Cena was set to win the match. He then decided to speak up and complain again, saying that he didn't want to lose to Cena, at least not yet. In an effort to, once again, make one of their biggest stars happy, the company decided to have Batista drop the title back to someone who probably had no problem in dropping the belt to Cena. Batista was probably either given word that he would be the man to beat Cena for the title sometime soon, or just that he'd be getting another title reign soon, no matter who was the champion. It just doesn't make a lick of sense to have Batista as champion, Cena as the man getting the next title shot, and you don't go ahead with the heavily-hyped Batista/Cena rematch, especially since the storyline reason for Cena's injury is that Batista injured him. It was the perfect backstory to Cena's return match, and it would do huge business at yet another "major" PPV. Now, we get Jericho/Cena, which is considerably less "marquee" then the other option. Just my two cents on the subject. What is your favorite book? (John G. Lowery) I don't read a lot of books, so my answer for this is a bit skewed. I do, however, like anything that either Dan Brown or John Case write. I believe I've read everything that either man has put out. My favorite book, however, is something more "simple" than those books. It's something that I read as a child, loved it, and still enjoy to this day, as it reminds me of simpler times in my life. Everybody needs something like that, whether it be a book, a movie, a song.. just something that they can use to take them away from tough times and help them think back to when times weren't so tough. Dr Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" is my all-time favorite book, and it will probably remain so until the day that I'm no longer here anymore. I haven't read it in a few months, and I should probably change that sometime soon, but it's just something that is beautiful in its simplicity. Sam-I-Am was really gangsta with how he handled things in the book. His buddy was one of those people who are afraid of change, and just couldn't handle trying anything new, no matter what it is. Hell, he was so afraid of change that he couldn't even expand his vocabulary beyond whatever was an easy rhyme for whatever it is he just said. Sam didn't quit, though, because he knew that life has an entire world full of things that people have yet to experience, but those things are all wonderful in their own way. Eventually, Sam got his buddy to try those delicious Green Eggs & Ham, and sho nuff, his buddy fell in love with their robust flavor. Seriously, folks.. don't be afraid to try new things from time to time. Take it from your good pal, Hus-A-Hus, who is just out here trying to change lives, one person at a time. Can you write a haiku about why you like Samoa Joe? I don't see the big deal about him. (John Doe) Have you seen the guy? He even knows Jiu-Jitsu Joe's gonna kill you Who is the one wrestler who should move up from FCW to one of the main WWE shows right now? (Matt) Honestly, before Eddie (now known as Primo) Colon got called up to the main WWE roster, I thought that he should be called up, along with his tag team partner, Eric Perez (now wrestling as Eric Escobar). They wrestled in FCW as The Puerto Rican Nightmares, and were the three-time FCW Tag Team Champions. I was impressed with both of them in the matches I had viewed online, and I felt that they could either help out the WWE tag divisions, or even go on to have singles success, should that be the direction the WWE booking team went with them. Now that Primo is on Smackdown, I still think that Escobar should be the next guy to move up. He'd make a good fit on the ECW roster, and he'd even be a nice addition to the Carlito & Primo team. Maybe he could even be a part of the Nightmares again, helping Primo turn on Carlito or something. I don't know.. I'm just thinking aloud here, really. I just think the guy is ready. He's got a good "look" to him, and he's got a really nice intensity to everything he does. Click Here For The HIPE & HIPRN Archives What Hustle Is Listening To Right Now: "Khaki Suit" by Damian Marley, Bounty Killer, & Eek-A-Mouse.. "Wish You Would" by Ludacris & T.I.. "One More Drink" by Ludacris & T-Pain.. "Call Up The Homies" by Ludacris, The Game, & Willy Northpole.. "Contagious" by Ludacris & Jamie Foxx Writer's Note: I want to take this time to send a shoutout to the crew of the USS CURTS, who I know are believers of The HIPE. Real talk.. I appreciate your support, but even more than that, I appreciate everything you folks do. I salute you, and I know the rest of my readers do, as well. Shea B, what's really hood? Get at me. Damn, another one is in the books already? This one went by rather quickly for me. Maybe I'm finally settling into a groove. Maybe I'm just putting out a shorter column. Either way, another edition is wrapped, packaged, and is now being shipped out for the masses. I really do supply the fiends. Believe The HIPE. It's real. My 50th column is coming up soon, but surprisingly enough, I don't think I have anything special planned for it. We shall see, however. I'll be back tomorrow.. same Hustle time, same Hustle page.. with another banger. Keep your peepers peepin for it. Until then, from the place where weather don't make no sense, 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 
|
|