New topic
Printable
I guess you're just not a Randy Orton fan. Even when he was heel i thought his whole viper persona was hilarious and entertaining. Before he was kinda of bland with the Legend killer bs but that whole viper thing with the tatoos and the crazed look raised his game to a whole new level. It's the same thing that's making R Truth better now instead of prancing round the ring like Mr Bojangles with that corny ass What's Up rap. Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
I agree with you on Truth. I love his new character
They beat ShowKane that same night Show got ran into with that car and got his leg "hurt". And you're right, they're the absolute WORST. There's no way they should be champs over The Usos, who are genuinely the only REAL tag team in WWE now (which is another very sad fact).
BTW, I finally saw the Legends Roundtable nWo, and Michael Hayes needs to GO!!!!! Not just from that episode either, but from other Roundtable episodes too!! He interrupts way too many times, and he just thinks he's oh so cool. But Nash (or others) would start getting into a point, and he jumps in with his point or question that then completely derailed the original point. I was glad to hear them actually talk about favored nations, though, which I thought wouldn't get any explanation on WWE TV. They also should've asked Nash about his time as the booker in WCW and how several other wrestlers always said that he only looked out for himself and his friends and that that was part of the reason why they went out of business. Make his ass sweat up there on that panel, sheesh! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I agree, Hayes needs to be replaced. What did you think of JR? I already said it but I sensed some bitterness coming from him because he offers great insight on a lot of topics.
I think they should've gone more in depth but they kept getting sidetracked about why WCW didn't work in the long run "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
This was posted on John Cena's twitter....
[img:$uid]http://28.imagebam.com/download/od3L4ZqCl2RzRI69fdp-gQ/14291/142900689/x2_776f661.jpg[/img:$uid]
With this caption :"Had many requests for that pic. Was gonna take it down but...fudge it. Hope whoever asked for it...enjoys it
http://twitter.com/#!/JOHNCENA
[Edited 7/31/11 22:53pm] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
"
JR was all right. I could sense some of that bitterness too, especially when talking about how he accepted less money to get away from WCW and work for WWE. But I think overall he has more to contribute to the series than Hayes. I guess I never really was a big Michael Hayes fan to start with, especially in light of all of the racist rumors about him, but he's really gotten on my nerves on the couple of episodes I've seen of this. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Ooooookay, what the hell was this about??! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Why is he posting that?Do you guys think it's time for thread #3? "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
nah let it keep on until we can't anymore hehehe man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I was thinking this too, but it can probably grow a little bit more before doing that. 30 pages would be the ultimate MAXIMUM! Lol! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
VERY lame ending for Raw. Dueling theme music??? *facepalm* This was essentially the same ending as last week's Raw, and who DIDN'T see this coming, regarding the match at SummerSlam determining the one true champion?! Trips could've just said that at the beginning of the show and saved himself some time. There was no big "mystery" involved in his "decision".
It was funny to hear Punk mention Trips in bed with Steph and burying ppl in the process. But Trips was right. He's been hearing jokes about his wife for years, so it wasn't a big deal for him. The only thing diff about it is it was actually said on TV. And, someone get "Ace" some water or get him off the mic. I thought for sure his ass would get GTS'ed or AA'ed, but maybe they'll wait to do that at SS, too.
I hope Truth and Miz get together and try to topple the new HHH regime. They would be GOLD together, plus it would ensure Truth doesn't get completely buried.
I'm glad my future baby mama, Beth Phoenix, is getting pushed again! And as a heel at that! Excellent!!! I wonder if her boyfriend at the moment Punk had anything to do with that. Hmmm... | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
i felt cm's talk with HHH was heading towards blows lol but punk once again put it out there what's been said about HHH burying people with his influence with stephanie. ask mr anderson/kennedy
as 4 the ending ..those cheering for punk were the wrestlers and those rooting 4 cena were the sheep
and i was happy about beth winning and it's about time cause she represents the wrestlers too imo
and how many times do i have 2 tell u that she's my woman and u can rosita hehehe man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Oh, I've heard you, but I ignore that like I ignore Punk being her supposed "boyfriend". Not for long, Punk. Not for long. You'll believe me and leave her alone when you see her shopping for toddler clothes with a couple of little Alexes runnin' around. LMAO!! But, if I had to give her up, I'd gladly take Rosita (or Sarita)!! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I felt the ending was lame too, and why didn't they change the belt? They've had the "Cena Toy Belt" since what, 2005? Time to change it up again. Hell, I'd like for them to make a revamped version of the eagle belt from the early 90s, but that's just my opinion "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
i'll see u on maury cause they will be my babies man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
You're gonna have your babies named Alex?! Man, she must really be in love with me! LMAO!!
Off to Maury we go then, bruh! I'm already packed!
Why don't you just take Angelina Love? You know you want it!
In all seriousness, I wonder if Beth is gonna to get the push/storyline that Kharma was gonna get before she got pregnant. Cuz, wasn't she supposed to have something for or do something to KK too? | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
hence i have and continue 2 have a concern with them signing Kharma because she's like beth, a housewrecker and can bring the thunder. all they have in the womens division on wwe is powderpuff girls with nothing but fluff. as in with any of the male wrestlers that have WRESTLING skills they get played off as heels. so i fear for beth being pushed up but dumbed down 2 possible lose 2 a face like kelly kelly. hopefully i'm wrong cause how sweet would it be at summerslam 2 have punk and beth win! then we go backstage for the aftersexparty then i kick punk out then u try and come in and she says ..oh not him ..i like u better L4oa he can have angelina love :llol: man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I legit LOLed on that one, dude!!!
You know, another one that caught me eye is Natalya. She's def got some GOOD thickness to her, AND she's hella cute. I can't believe she fucks around with Tyson Kidd (or at least used to). You talk about looking like a frog!
But my #1 will always be my babies' mama, Beth. You never forget the mother of your children!
| |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Okay, here we are, less than 2 weeks away from SummerSlam, and there are what 2-3 matches confirmed for the card?? This is either their 2nd or 3rd biggest PPV, and nothing's come together yet!! Of course, we're getting Punk/Cena II and Boreton/Christian XXXVII and Phoenix/KK, but what else is there? Truth and Morrison? Yawn. Sheamus and Henry? Double yawn. Kofi and ADR? Triple yawn.
It's like they've blown their wad on the whole Punk angle and have really spent almost no time on undercard feuds. Plus, it seems all the buzz that was created by Punk about a month ago is now gone, and we're back to standard feud fare. That's probably because he came back too early, but with a card as underwhelming as this one for one of their biggest PPVs of the year, I ALMOST can't blame them. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
natalya is another one with skills but gets held back for the fluff instead.
and i tell u man, ODB looks like she can hurt a brutha lol man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Yeah, Natalya can actually wrestle, and I think it's a damn shame that she's playing nursemaid to AJ and Kaitlyn (as fine as her ass may be)!
Gail Kim's another one who should be at the top of this Divas division. Ever since she re-signed with WWE ater going to TNA, it's almost like they're punishing her leaving in the first place. She has zero visibility and jobs all the samn time. Yeah, they can actually be THAT petty in that locker room/front office. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
oh damn i forgot about gail kim see THANKS WWE FOR PUSHING REAL TALNET BEHIND AND GIVING US THE BULLSHIT U HAVE BEEN GIVING US man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
fixed! [Edited 8/3/11 4:00am] "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
lol i don't have no qualms with u having a piece ..just be sure 2 invite us along for 4way match lol man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Yeah, but only AFTER me and Gail's one-on-one match!!! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
http://www.chicagoreader....lText=true
The grapplerIndy pro wrestler Colt Cabana fought his way to the WWE, only to find that the real path to success was to build a mini media empire of his ownBy Tom BreihanSlideshow Logan Square Auditorium isn't a huge room, at least compared to the mega-arenas that host Wrestlemania or Summerslam. But on a Friday night in June, it's just big enough for an indy pro wrestling ring, with four rows of chairs on each side, plus a few more on the venue's stage. All told, the space fits a few hundred spectators, along with a simple lighting rig and a few merch tables scattered in the corners. At the start of the night, the line of wrestling fans that wraps around the building and into an adjacent alley buzzes with a punk-rock level of devotion. After the doors finally open, one of those merch tables gets a bit more traffic than the others. The man behind the table is Colt Cabana, né Scott Colton, a 31-year-old Chicago-based pro wrestler, short-lived WWE personality, and occasional stand-up comedian who's been building a mini media empire around himself. Later in the night, he'll disappear into the locker room to don a spandex singlet and slap on some baby oil. But right now, in his baseball cap and his well-worn wrestling academy T-shirt, he could pass for a beefier, more spray-tanned version of your average fan.
Behind his table, Cabana is doing brisk business. One young man tells Cabana he's never seen him wrestle but that he drove three hours from Michigan tonight because he's a fan of Cabana's weekly podcast, The Art of Wrestling. ("I hope I dazzle you," Cabana offers.) A dad buys his two kids masks of Matt Classic, a character that Cabana sometimes portrays. One fan gives Cabana a ziplock bag full of "I ♥ Colt" buttons. Another asks Cabana how his bike ride over was. (Cabana had said on a podcast that he'd ride his bike to the show; he ended up taking the bus instead.) Over the course of the night, it seems like almost everyone in the venue approaches Cabana at some point, often with money in hand.
A particularly popular purchase is the DVD The Wrestling Road Diaries, a self-financed documentary about a trip to independent wrestling shows that Colt took with a couple of friends, one of whom is now the midlevel WWE star Daniel Bryan. Cabana sells out of the DVD before the match starts. Another is a T-shirt that reads "I [Star of David] Colt"; Cabana tells me how he couldn't keep that one in stock after his best friend C.M. Punk—currently the reigning WWE Champion—wore it on a recent episode of Monday Night Raw. Cabana's got an app on his phone that lets him run credit card transactions. He keeps selling his wares until a few minutes before showtime, when he finally heads for the locker room.
If you've seen Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, you've encountered one vision of independent pro wrestling: old, broken-down pieces of meat destroying their bodies by performing in dingy venues to tiny crowds, trying to capture the feeling of being stars regardless of whether they ever had a run at the top. Listening to Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, though, you get an entirely different picture of the same world.
Every Thursday, Cabana uploads a new episode centered on a conversation with a fellow wrestler or industry figure, usually someone with whom he's shared locker rooms. And though sad stories show up on the podcast—consider, for instance, Canadian wrestler Tyson Dux, who blew out his knee the same day he was supposed to sign with the WWE—the main impression you get is of a fascinating world filled with upbeat characters.
Since Cabana is both a fellow wrestler and a lively interviewer, his guests tend to let their guards down and commence with some genuinely entertaining anecdotes: Austin Aries discussing the time he punched out a fan in the front row, Mad Man Pondo telling of a dalliance with a midget porn star, Excalibur talking about how he learned Japanese just so he could translate the text in a Japanese wrestling video game.
Cabana sticks mostly with his independent wrestling peers on the podcast; you'll rarely hear a big star mentioned. "I think having a Triple H or a Vince McMahon wouldn't be as cool as having a Luke Gallows or a Domino," says Cabana, sitting in a Wicker Park coffee shop a few days before the Logan Square Auditorium match.
For fans of independent wrestling, the obscure names Cabana drops are anything but obscure. These fans love the indy circuit all the more because they had to work to find it; no company is shoving it down their collective throats.
"What makes The Art Of Wrestling so great is the fact that Colt comes off as a genuinely nice person," says Damian Abraham, front man of the Toronto punk band Fucked Up. "I also love seeing how his existence as an indy wrestler mimics the life of an indie band."
Like an indie band, Cabana leads a road-heavy, hand-to-mouth existence that takes him to some strange places: a mostly Inuit town in the arctic north of Canada, a kingpin-controlled drug town in Mexico, the Gathering of the Juggalos. In the Insane Clown Posse's Juggalo Championship Wrestling federation, he plays a bad-guy character named Officer Colt, a police officer determined to arrest any Juggalo he can find. (He feuds with a drug-dealer character named the Weed Man.) At this year's Gathering, he'll wrestle and do stand-up comedy.
A self-described comedy "fanboy," Cabana drew on influences from that world when he hatched his many outside-the-ring enterprises. The Art of Wrestling is directly inspired by WTF, the celebrated podcast from stand-up comic Marc Maron, in which Maron has fairly intense conversations with comedian peers. "In terms of a business standpoint, I was listening to Marc Maron very early," says Cabana. "He'd be talking about doing these local shows that he wasn't getting paid for. He was this poor guy; he's been in comedy for so long and he's got nothing coming back to him. A year and a half later, he's one of the most talked about people in the world of comedy."
Cabana is hoping for similar results from his own podcast, and he says he's already starting to see some. "Slowly, because of the podcast, I'm making more money," he says. "People are buying my stuff, I'm getting booked at shows to wrestle where I've never been." In addition to stand-up, physical comedy is important to Cabana's stage persona. Plenty of his wrestling moves verge on slapstick—windmilling his fist like Popeye before punching a guy, or backing up butt-first into the corner. He describes his character as "a happy-go-lucky guy who makes the best out of what he's doing. He wants to laugh and have a good time at his job, which happens to be fighting dudes in rings."
In other words, his in-the-ring character isn't all that different from his out-of-the-ring one. Cabana came up with his wrestling method partly by studying an old-school British wrestling style known as the World of Sport. "They had this amazing comedic style of wrestling that wasn't making fun of wrestling, that was adding to the wrestling," he says. "I developed this character that has a great sense of humor. That started evolving, and I realized people were taking to that." It's a crowd-pleasing wrestling style, but it's also one that displays Cabana's devotion to the art and the history of his chosen profession. Cabana considers a match with the 67-year-old Welsh World of Sport star Johnny Kidd to be a career highlight. Only the most feverish American wrestling fans would recognize that name.
Cabana's comedic expression isn't limited to his podcasts and wrestling. With comedian Marty DeRosa, Cabana produced online video sketches and a DVD series called $5 Wrestling in which he and DeRosa comment on video of some truly awful local wrestling matches, Mystery Science Theater 3000-style. And Cabana's documentary The Wrestling Road Diaries, a two-and-a-half hour amble through the east coast and midwest that Cabana sells on his website and hand-to-hand at his merch table, is based on The Comedians of Comedy, a documentary about a group of alternative comedians (including Patton Oswalt and Zach Galifianakis) touring indie-rock clubs. In Road Diaries, Cabana and his friends crash on couches, shop at thrift stores, and generally clown each other whenever possible. If the movie can be said to have a plot at all, then a roadside watermelon-eating contest is a key plot point. It's a weirdly absorbing, absolutely entertaining viewing experience.
The Logan Square Auditorium show is hosted by Chikara, a Philadelphia company known for its colorful costumes and characters. Grapplers wrestle under cartoonish lucha libre masks, posters and DVD covers boast comic-book graphics, and ring announcer Gavin Loudspeaker opens the show with a song about this being Chikara's first time in Chicago in three years. Chikara makes a point to be family friendly, and fans comply by chanting "holy poop!" instead of "holy shit!" after the more spectacular moves. Chikara's version of pro wrestling would be right at home in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Cabana fits in beautifully.
In the opening match, Cabana wrestles as his masked Matt Classic alter ego. Matt Classic is essentially an inside joke for wrestling fans, a 1950s-style grappler beamed into the present. His move set consists of slow-paced, outdated maneuvers (abdominal stretches, airplane spins), and Loudspeaker introduces him as being "from the smoky arenas of yesteryear." The character gives Cabana a chance to impersonate a noir-era tough guy, and he does it with theatrical verve. In Chikara, Classic is part of a group called the Throwbacks. He teams up with Sugar Dunkerton, an Afroed 70s-style basketball player (at one point, he repeatedly dribbles an opponent's head into the canvas), and Dasher Hatfield, an old-timey baseball-themed character with a mustache painted onto his mask (he runs around the ring's corners, slides into an opponent's face, and argues with the ref over whether or not he was safe). The trio takes on the Batiri, a demonically face-painted team who look and act like what might have happened if a Norwegian black-metal band played villains on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
The Batiri end up winning, but it doesn't much matter. The entire point of an opening match is to get the crowd riled up, and this crowd loses its shit for everything Matt Classic does. Cabana is beloved among Chicago's indy wrestling fans, and it's not just because of the podcast. He's been wrestling in front of these folks for a long, long time.
Colt Cabana's first wrestling match was 13 years ago. Growing up in the well-off Chicago suburb of Deerfield, he never entertained any other career path. "I had to go to college because my parents made me, but all I wanted to do was wrestle," he says. "I figured if I did go to college that I should play college football because [announcer] Jim Ross talks about it on WWE television; that seems like something that you need on your résumé." After a year of studying and playing Division 1A football at Western Michigan University, Cabana was miserable; football interested him way less than wrestling. So he started training at Steel Domain, a Chicago wrestling school, balancing those studies with his course work. Twice a week for three years, he made the two-hour drive from Kalamazoo to Chicago and then back again. During his time at Steel Domain, Cabana met and bonded with another student, C.M. Punk. "He's a punk-rock kid with tattoos all over him who knew everything about the music scene," says Cabana. "I was this Jewish kid from the suburbs. He always would joke that we'd never be friends in high school. But the love of wrestling brought us together"
E-mailing from a WWE tour of Australia, Punk recalls their early days training together: "I was guarded around him because he was a total jock. The rate he picked up anything he was taught almost made me jealous, but I realized this guy was just like me. He loved wrestling. He wanted it as bad as I did, and the wacky odd couple of independent wrestling emerged."
Cabana eventually graduated college with a marketing degree. But during most of his time in school, Cabana was traveling with Punk to small-time wrestling shows throughout the midwest. He'd cram in his entire class schedule between Tuesday and Thursday so that he could wrestle on the weekends and rest up on Mondays.
"We'd meet up at ten in the morning at the Jewel in Calumet," Cabana remembers. "We'd drive down seven hours to Kentucky, wrestle our match, make friends with the guys in the locker room, and the promoter would give us our gas money so we could get back. Maybe we'd make ten bucks."
While Cabana was still in college, he and Punk linked up with Ring of Honor, a Philadelphia-based wrestling start-up that employed many of the best independent wrestlers from across the country. Between Ring of Honor and other small-time companies, Punk and Cabana were eventually able to make enough money wrestling to scrape by without day jobs. They'd travel around to high-school gyms or rec centers, wrestling against each other, or wrestling together as a tag team. Then, in 2005, Punk signed with the WWE.
"I'd always hear about these other assholes that were football players or who just didn't do what we did, and they'd get signed and make a lot of money," Cabana says. "I knew the heart that we put into it, and the sacrifice. When I heard that people like me were going to make a lot of money and be successful, I was ecstatic. Even when [Punk] was World Champion and I was wherever I was, there was never any jealousy."
A few years later, Cabana would get his own shot with the company, but things wouldn't go so well. After signing with the WWE in 2007, Cabana spent two years in the company's developmental system, first in Kentucky and then in Tampa. There, he'd wrestle four times a week and work with the company's trainer. But as far as Cabana can tell, the developmental system wasn't there to make wrestlers better; it was to keep them on retainer until a WWE writer could find a role for them. "I was just another guy in their system," he remembers. "It was a very negative vibe. You start doubting everything about yourself as a wrestler. All the confidence you ever had gets beaten out of you."
To make things worse, he was making less money in developmental than he'd been getting on the independent circuit. "I was investing in my future. I said, 'I'm going to take the hit on money here because I know I'm doing the right thing. In four years, I'm going to be on global television. I'm going to be a big star.'"
That didn't happen. The WWE creative team, it turned out, wasn't sure what to do with Cabana. They inexplicably gave him the name Scotty Goldman, and he didn't last long. "I don't look like [WWE star] John Cena," he says. "I don't have these giant muscles. But I do have a natural charisma. Wrestling needs to be different, and I have a way different style than all these guys. I wasn't given a chance to shine like that. So next thing you know, I get four matches, I lose all of them, I get thrown out of battle royals, and I get fired."
After wrestling on WWE television a grand total of six times, Cabana was released from his contract. The very next day, he wrestled for the independent California company Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. "Those first few months were depressing," Cabana remembers. "I grew up watching the WWF; it's all I wanted to do. They told me that I wasn't good enough. Me knowing that that was a lie—that I just didn't get the right opportunity—was fucking heartbreaking. I had to move back with my parents. It was awful."
Via e-mail, Punk calls Cabana's treatment in the WWE "tragic." "At times, I think the people who love wrestling are punished. He's a guy that would and could do anything. For anybody to say, 'We have nothing for you' to him is laughable. I speak my mind. Our system is broken, and the proof is letting a talent of Colt's caliber slip through the cracks." That was two years ago. Once Cabana reacclimated himself to the indy circuit, he rebooted his career and rediscovered the joy of it. "I've made more money now than I've ever made before," he says. "I've wrestled more than I've ever wrestled before. My creativity levels are as high as they could be. [I'm] 31 years old, two years out from being fired by the WWE—where most people would've given it up. I'm at the peak of my career in my mind."
Something else recently happened to boost Cabana's profile. Three nights after the Logan Square Auditorium show, Punk ended an episode of Monday Night Raw with a furious rant, packed with insider references, about everything that's wrong with the WWE, slamming WWE chairman Vince McMahon and his family and verbally reducing the entire company to smoking rubble. For wrestling fans, it was an electric moment that quickly built into the most absorbing and unpredictable pro wrestling storyline in years.
Midway through the rant, Punk talked about winning the championship and leaving WWE with it. "Maybe I'll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling," he fumed. "Maybe I'll go back to Ring of Honor." Then he turned to the camera, waving and half-smiling, and said, "Hey Colt Cabana, how you doing?" Within a few minutes, Cabana was trending on Twitter. Within a week, he was selling "Hey Colt Cabana, how you doing?" T-shirts. "Having the platform to say things on live television would be a total waste if I wasn't trying to help my friends," Punk says. "It'd be one thing if he sucked, but he's a goldmine. I believe everybody needs to witness his brilliance."
Sitting outside Bucktown-Wicker Park Library two days after that episode of Raw, Cabana marvels at the effect of those six words: "There's a lot of people who weren't exposed to me before that will be exposed to me now. It's not like I went out and bought a Porsche. My apartment's still messy, and I still own a bicycle. It's all still the same. But it's cool to know that there's going to be some more people that know who I am."
The shout-out didn't stop there. In subsequent weeks, Punk kept mentioning Cabana in his wild-eyed rants against the company. And when Punk won the WWE title from John Cena on July 17 at Chicago's Allstate Arena and, in an inspired storytelling twist, took the belt with him as he "quit" the company—Cabana was sitting in the front row. When Cabana's face appeared onscreen during the match—Punk had paused in the action long enough to high-five him—the crowd chanted Cabana's name.
All of this has led to rampant online speculation that Cabana will re-sign with the WWE. For now, though, he's is still on the road, wrestling at least a couple of times a week. "My goal is to go back to WWE," Cabana says. "I'd like to be successful and get a real opportunity. But the reason I'm doing podcasts and comedy and trying everything out is that I just can't wait for them to say, 'Hey Colt, we like you now'—which a lot of wrestlers do. They wrestle, but they're not making moves; they're just hoping they'll be picked. I can't afford to do that."
"I'm extremely proud of him," says Punk. "Fired on a Friday, booked on Saturday. He hustles like nobody else I know. I honestly can't say I'd have the stomach for it after making it to the WWE. However, it boils down to his love of wrestling. It's his art. It's his livelihood. He's proven to be a talent that can transcend wrestling."
Back at Logan Square Auditorium, Cabana wrestles a second match later in the night under his usual moniker. He takes on a hulking, shaved-head brawler named Eddie Kingston, and the crowd is completely behind him from the moment he makes his entrance. After a hard-fought match, though, he eventually succumbs to Kingston's finishing move, the visibly brutal "Spinning Backfist." Emerging from the locker room a few minutes after the match ends, still in his spandex, Cabana looks legitimately shaken, and it's hard to tell whether he's actually hurt or he's still selling the move—or a combination of the two. "He got the best of me," Cabana mutters. Then it's back to selling DVDs and autographed 8 x 10s. As the evening ends, many of the Chikara wrestlers, in full regalia, line the narrow stairway to shake the hand of every departing fan. It's a dizzying sight—all these guys dressed like comic-book superheroes, humbly and directly thanking the people who just dropped $20 to watch them perform. Cabana, however, isn't among them. He still has T-shirts to sell. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
SMACKDOWN SPOILERS (to be aired on 8/5):
| |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Jeremiah from Tough Enough goes the hell off!!!!! Lol! This dude's got one hell of an ego, but I appreciate his moxie for at least standing up for himself.
http://www.aroundtheoctag...m/?p=11154
Jeremiah Riggs is a good dude with a bad attitude
ATO caught up with Jeremiah Riggs earlier today and talked to him about what he’s been doing since he was on WWE Tough Enough this Spring. What started out as a routine interview quickly became a platform for Riggs to get everything off his chest about what’s been going on with his attempt at becoming a WWE Superstar.
I was informed yesterday that the WWE isn’t going to use me.
Two weeks ago I was invited to go to Tampa to tryout for FCW and from what they gathered they loved my personality but they said I was only average in the ring and said I have a bad attitude and carried myself like I had something to prove. I told them that if I’m average I’m doing pretty damn good considering I had only done this for two months. If I can get to average in several weeks imagine what I can do in a few months. And of course I’m eager to prove myself. I was surrounded by guys who had done this for several years and they were all wondering who this new rookie was. I had to show them I belonged.
If I’m average the pecking order starts behind me. Compared to me none of those guys are as cut up as me. My physique puts them to shame. Maybe I do have a bad attitude. I don’t give a f–k. I went on their TV show and ran circles around everybody with no experience. Andy wasn’t the star of the show. I was. Hell I won challenges they didn’t even show on TV. I got all the camera time and I got the biggest reaction when I was on RAW. You know why? It’s because I’m me. I’m not a clone or a sell out. People recognize that. That’s why CM Punk is so hot right now. He is his character. He’s just being himself. But I do it and I have a bad attitude.
John Morrison was there at FCW and he walked up to me and shook my hand and told me that he thought I won the show. Just about all the guys said that. Ted DiBiase told me I won it too. His dad, the Million Dollar Man asked me why I wasn’t on TV. John Cena even tweeted me saying he thought I won.
The third day I was there I was doing promos and the only direction I got was to have fun with it and they would send it up to Vince for him to see. One guy did a promo about having sex with a goat and one of the girls was really nasty with hers so I went out there with all guns blazing. I cussed on my first one and said I wish Vince McMahon would’ve slapped me because I would’ve kicked him in the nuts. They pulled me aside and told me I couldn’t cuss. So on my next one I decided to really have fun with it. I didn’t cuss but I did a promo about how I couldn’t cuss and counted on my hand how many words I wasn’t allowed to say as I said them to myself then threw the mic over my shoulder and laughed as I walked off. I thought it was hilarious. All the boys did too. Just about everyone there told me they had never seen anything like that. I was doing crazy CM Punk stuff before he made it cool.
After that I got called to the back and Dusty Rhodes jumped on me and told me I couldn’t do that and chewed me out. He went to walk away and I told him to get back over here because I wasn’t done talking to him. He walked back over and I thought he was going to piss in his pants because he was acting so nervous. I told him that I would do whatever they wanted me to do but no one said I couldn’t cuss or throw the mic. I was just having fun with it and being me. I think it kind of threw him off because no one there stood up for themselves. I wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over me. I said what I had to say and we were cool. A lot of the boys thought I got sent home and were surprised when I came back the following day. They were even more surprised when Dusty went out of his way to walk over to me and shake my hand. I’m going to stand up for myself and I think they are afraid of that.
90% of those guys are vanilla. They are all the same. Long hair, pony tail, boring as can be. The day I left Tampa I shaved my head because I didn’t want to be anything like them. I’m Jeremiah Riggs from Vicksburg, Mississippi. I’m not going to be a clone. All of their promos sounded the same. They are boring and play it safe. People are afraid of the truth. What do they want in a superstar? I don’t need a character. I’m Jeremiah Riggs. I don’t need a new name or gimmick. The WWE has a shitty developmental roster. No one stands out. They are all scared of failure and half of them have been there for years. They are all the same and do the same stuff. Sure, they have a few guys that have potential but they are all clones. But I’m not going to be just like everybody else. What are they going to do send me home? You can’t scare someone who ain’t afraid. Johnny Curtis told me a lot of the boys didn’t like me because I was doing the stuff they wish they could do but were too afraid because they were all kissing ass trying to get ahead. The day I got there they pulled me in the office and asked me what I wanted out of the business and I told them I wanted to make money. I told them I don’t have to be in the WWE to be happy. I told them I wasn’t going to kiss their ass and tell them it’s been my lifelong dream because it hasn’t. I want to make money to support my family and give them the life they deserve. I told them I wasn’t here to be at the bottom of the card and make hillbilly money. I would do whatever it takes to get to the top. I looked at it like a week’s vacation in Tampa on the WWE. If they didn’t see it in me I told them I’d shake their hand and leave. And yesterday when I was told the WWE wasn’t going to sign me I thanked them for the opportunity.
By the end of my week there Dr. Tom (Pritchard) liked me. He told me he got it and I’m just being me. He kept saying “I’m Jeremiah Riggs from Mississippi and I’ll whip your ass. I don’t give a f–k.” He’s right. I’m not going to change or be something I’m not. He said he used to be a lot that and saw a lot of himself in me.
I’ve had offers from other promotions and I have had offers to go back to MMA. Hell I turned down a good paying fight after I came off Tough Enough because I wanted to give the WWE a shot. I would like to pursue pro wrestling because I think I showed in the short time I was on the show that I could be very good at it.
I’ve been a fighter and a had a good career. I won 5 straight and fought for Bellator and Strikeforce. I was on the Ultimate Fighter a few years ago. I’ve been on reality TV like David Otunga. I’m marketable. Who has all the Twitter followers? Did you hear the pop I got on RAW during the finale? I got a bigger reaction than Luke or Andy. The Miz told me I hit a homerun when I said ‘I’m from the Dirty South’ in Atlanta when I was on RAW the night the show debuted. Cena even walked up and shook my hand and said ‘Great Job’. CM Punk shook my hand to and said ‘Way to Go’. People know I’m real and what you see is what you get. I’m an entertainer but I’m no sellout. That night on RAW the only guy who got a bigger ovation than me was Steve Austin. He’s a Hall of Famer and I’m just in the hall.
What made Steve Austin, The Rock, and CM Punk such big superstars? They speak their mind and buck the system. I know this may hurt my chances of ever making it in the WWE but what are they gonna do? Fire me? They aren’t ready for someone like me.
He’s changed man. He thinks he is somebody because he was the big man on the show. I guess Hollywood went to his head. Sure he had a mediocre wrestling career and found new life on Tough Enough. I don’t give a shit. I’ll whoop his fat ass. He’s no better than me. If I was to shoot on him who is going to stop me? Andy sure as hell ain’t. I’ve rolled with some badass heavyweights like Jon Madsen and Scott Barrett. Seriously, what is Bill DeMott going to do to me? All he could do about it is write another chapter in his sorry book about how he got run over by Big Rigg when he gets his arm out of the cast. I lost all respect for Bill. If he only knew what the boys say about his fat lazy ass he wouldn’t even come to work. I’m sure he will read this and put something on Twitter about it. I don’t care. He might have Twitter muscles but I’m the real deal. He said I was green? The only thing green on me was the shit stain on my boot I stuck up his ass.
Hell, Andy the dude that won the WWE contract is a big pussy too. He is still in FCW. He’ll be in FCW the rest of his life. He had a developmental contract with the WWE before the damn show aired. He’s boring and a big f—ing baby. He cried the whole time we were doing the show about his wife and his kid. He did it all for pity. We pity the weak.
I got a little boy at home but you got to make sacrifices if you want to make something of yourself. I thought about my little boy the whole time we were shooting but I didn’t whine about it. I used it as fuel. I want the best for him so I had to step it up and show them I belonged. Earlier this year my mom had heart surgery. My dad is deployed right now and is overseas so I’m supposed to take care of things on the farm. Her surgery was actually the week before my last fight. I should’ve backed out and stayed at home but that’s not how I do things. I drove to Nashville and trained for a few days before the fight when I should’ve have an 8 week camp and still got the win. I fought on January 29th in Nashville and on February 2nd the people from Tough Enough were at my house in Vicksburg filming behind the scenes stuff. Two days later I was flying to Los Angeles for 5 weeks. Now talk to me about sacrificing.
I’m not trying to run down everyone from the WWE. I have a lot of respect for John Cena, Triple H, the Miz and all the guys who were cool to me and took time to help me out. Hell, Ted DiBiase is one of my real good friends. I really enjoyed working with Dr. Tom and Ricky Steamboat at FCW. Even though Dusty and I got into it I think he’s a legend and a pretty cool cat. Steve Austin is like a big brother to me. Same with Booker T. I love those guys.
Things are still looking up for me. I still get offers to wrestle and fight all the time. People know who I am. If you want to hit me up I’m on Twitter @JeremiahRiggs. I’m maxed out on friends on Facebook but I do have a fan page. If you have interest in booking me hit up my manager allen@mmamonsterfactory.com. The WWE thing was a speed bump. I’m still gonna go 100 miles an hour and you hadn’t seen the last of me. It ain’t personal. It’s all business. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Damn he put it all out there with guns blazing! but I can see why they didn't like him
I do agree with him on Andy. He's lame and I don't see him making a big impact. Matter of fact, why didn't they just have people who've been in FCW do Tough Enough? It's kinda a slap in the face, isn't it? There's people in FCW who have wallowing in development for years but these guys who have no experience and some who don't have any interest in the business get a shot on this show? "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I always thought NXT was the show to "help" out the FCW guys. I think, like you said, that's indeed a slap in the face for the viewing public that they have a reality show for people wanting to work for WWE, and they hire people who actually already have a developmental contract with them. They pretended like everybody was a fresh face from off the street, and that's the part I never liked.
He sounds like he's his biggest mark by all the name dropping he did. "Cena, Morrison, Punk, Steamboat, DiBiase, and everybody else came up to me to say I should've won!" Oh give me a break. And, he had Dusty Rhodes almost about to pee in his pants?? Yeah, okay dude. Sure you did. He told him to get ass his back over to him and talk because he wasn't finished talking to him yet?? He supposedly spoke like that to a HOF veteran like Dusty??? Riiight. As great a read as this was, he needs to sit his ass down some place.
The WWE doesn't want to risk having a possible cancer like him in the locker room, and his attitude is probably what ultimatly did him in. It wasn't because he wasn't "cookie cutter", but just because he seems like he thinks he's hot shit. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
i do appreciate him speaking his mind and i remember him being scolded for doing MMA stuff, but 2 say he was cutting promos b4 cm punk? man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |