HOW MANY DOINKS DOES IT TAKE...

Wow, are we really only a week away from Wrestlemania 27? The days are just flying by aren't they? It's been a pretty eventful month for wrestling fans (well, maybe not for TNA fans), but the long wait is almost over. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Hall of Fame ceremony, especially since the Road Warriors are rumored to be the next inductees. I don't know why Jake "the Snake" Roberts and Arn Anderson are not among the inductees (as of now anyway) this year, but it should still be a good show. Anyway, enough rambling, let's get to the post.

For those of you new to wrestling, no, Chris Jericho didn't have an early WWF stint as Doink the Clown. This was actually part of the March 26, 2001 episode of Monday Night RAW, a historic night in wrestling that saw the first, and only, simulcast between WWF RAW and WCW Monday Nitro (Vince McMahon had bought WCW a mere two days prior after Turner Broadcasting cancelled all WCW programming from their networks). The reason Jericho was dressed as Doink was so that the WWF could cross promote two of the matches for the upcoming Wrestlemania 17. The first, obviously, was a bout between Chris Jericho and William Regal for the Intercontinental Title, an awesome match that opened the show and had Jericho take the crown. The second match in question was the infamous Gimmick Battle Royal that was won by the Iron Sheik (for more info, check out the March 2010 posts).

As for Doink, a few people have played him over the years. The first was Matt Borne, who began portraying Doink in 1992, having just come off a run in WCW where he was known as Big Josh, a lumberjack who carried an ax with no blade and was escorted to the ring by dancing bears! (Only in wrestling can going from a lumberjack to a clown be considered a step up.) Sadly, Borne had some issues and was fired. Steve Lombardi (the Brooklyn Brawler) and Steve Keirn (Skinner) stepped in until Ray Apollo was brought in in early 1993 to play Doink. In 2002, Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) donned the grease paint for a match on Smackdown against Chris Benoit and most recently, Lombardi played Doink in an eight man tag match on RAW last summer. With Chris Jericho's lone appearance, that makes six men who have all been Doink over the years. Hopefully, this'll give everybody a better understanding of how much it takes to be Doink the Clown (And please, no e-mails about Doink's midget counterpart, Dink. Nobody cares about him!).

Well, that's all for now. I hope to be back next time with some new comics as well as some April Fools Day fun to get everybody ready for the coming month. Until next time, I'll catch y'all later!

MIKE AND MINDY, CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE!!!

Hey crazy heads! After years of scraping and saving I finally got a new computer! These last couple years have been pretty good to me work-wise, to the point that I'm actually starting to make a comfortable living. So now, I can finally update weekly, regardless of my work schedule, and without having to bother people to see if I can use their computers. To put it simply; I have moved into the modern age!

Anyway, you people don't read this blog just to read about my personal life, not that I actually post anything personal. You come for comics and wrestling, so let's start the show!

Gee, and I always heard that gas-powered appliances were more efficient.

It should be noted that I got a few e-mails after my Ultimate Warrior post a few weeks back, bringing to question one of pop culture's greatest urban legends: that the Ultimate Warrior is dead. I'm gonna go ahead and douse this flame and tell you that the Warrior is alive and always has been. There has only been one warrior, and as previously mentioned, his name is Jim Hellwig. The rumor probably started around 1992. He had just come back to the WWF and had lost some of his muscle mass and no longer feathered his hair. It was enough for fans to think that it was somebody else under the face paint, and the rumor quickly started. It picked up more steam in 1995 when WCW brought in a Warrior clone called the Renegade after they couldn't sign the real Warrior. Fans initially thought that it was the Ultimate Warrior, but quickly realized that the Renegade was actually worse in the ring, so fans once again thought that Hellwig had died. Thanks to this great tool known as the internet, what once was a silly little rumor has blown up into an urban legend complete with theories and conspiracies. So, for what I know won't be the last time, the Ultimate Warrior is alive. He's clinically insane, but alive none the less.

Well, that's all for this week. I'm excited for the future of this blog, not to mention the future period. Life is good people. Don't ever waste it. Until next time, I'll catch y'all later!

CLAPTONMANIA!!!

Hey folks! Mad's Maddest Reject is back after a busy couple of weeks. Sadly, no new comics this week due to some computer issues, but Mike and Mindy will be back next time with an all new adventure, as well as a very wild Mushroom to get everybody in the mood for Wrestlemania!

In the meantime, try to enjoy this classic footage of Eric Clapton performing She's Waiting at Live Aid (1985). I'm posting this because I worked his concert last Sunday and am still stoked that I got to be on it. Clapton is one of my all-time favorites and I was praying that I'd get the call for this show. Luckily, God came through, and I now have a story to tell the grandkids someday.

For the good many of you that weren't born yet, Live Aid was a concert put on in 1985 to help raise money for famine relief in Africa. Performances took place in both the U.S. and England and featured virtually every big act of the day, with U2 and Queen in particular stealing the show (Phil Collins also pulled off quite a feat, opening the show in England, then hopping on a Concord jet to perform in the U.S. as well). All in all, a true benchmark in music history.

Well, that's all for this week. I promise that the delays between posts will be ending soon, and that this blog will be truly going weekly in the very near future. Until next time, I'll catch y'all later!