Mat Monsters: Undersea Monsters
From mummies and Frankenstein’s monsters to Leatherface and Freddy, monsters show up all over the world and in nearly every ring. But how about sea monsters? Is that even possible — for a beast from under the waves to make it into a wrestling ring? Of course it is! We’ll start in the USA, where […]
Mat Monsters: Frankenstein’s Monster
Over the last few months, I’ve shared the legends of the squared circle’s Leatherfaces, an ersatz Freddy Krueger and more mummies than you can shake a snake covered stick at. Now, we’ve arrived at Mary Shelley’s creation — bet he uses a lot of Gold Bond Powder! As always, when wondering, “Where has a monster […]
Yor Hunter from the Future (1983)
“He is from a future world. Trapped in prehistoric times. Searching for his past. A hunter of incredible power and strength. In his quest for his origin, he and the woman he loves must fight hostile tribes. Battle deadly beasts. And try to survive the violent forces of a newly born Earth.” The first time I […]
The Sentinel (1977)
My teachers and guidance counselors in high school told me, explained to me, screamed at me: “You’ll never learn anything being obsessed with all of these horror movies!” I would argue that I have learned plenty — and 1977’s The Sentinel would be my doctoral thesis in “I Live My Life by What I Learned from 1970s […]
Mat Monsters: Mummies part 3
Over two installments, we’ve covered the world of wrestling mummies. But now, we’re heading to Knoxville, TN for what I believe is the greatest of them all — Prince Kharis! In the mid 90s, Jim Cornette ran a group called Smoky Mountain Wrestling, which presented “professional wrestling the way it used to be and the way […]
Mat Monsters: Mummies part 2
In our first mummy-centric installment, we covered the Mummies of the American South and West, as well as Argentina’s famous La Mumia. We’re not done yet! There are literally miles and miles of bandages covering tons and tons of the shambling and fighting Egyptian undead! Lucha mummies, Mexico, various If you aren’t familiar with Mexican […]
Mat Monsters: Mummies part 1
Across the world, monsters have made their eerie presence known in nearly every promotion, from Mexico’s La Gronda and Monsther to Japan’s Survival Tobita’s battles against creatures such as Ape Virgon, Automatic Warrior and Mokujin Ken (“Ken the Box”). For the first of two entries, we’ll concentrate on the bandage and dust covered mummies of […]
The Car (1977)
America. The late 70s. It was a very different time and place, to be sure. Fuel was scarce. Crime wasn’t. We weren’t yet in the grip of the 1980s Satanic Panic, but thanks to Manson, Son of Sam and Zodiac, we were darn close. And despite blockbusters taking over the cinema, there remained grimy little […]
Mat Monsters: Nightmare Freddy
From Argentina’s La Mumia to the real Chucky showing up in WCW to feud with Rick Steiner (oh man, wait until we get to that one), monsters and pro wrestling often go claw in hand. This episode, we’ll delve into the Bastard Son of 1,000 Copyright Infringement Lawsuits, Nightmare Freddy. Portrayed by Doug Gilbert, son […]
Queen Kong (1976)
From the lunacy of A*P*E* to Toho’s seminal King Kong Escapes — with a sideways glance at a Kong novelty record — I’ve been devoted to studying everything Kong related in celebration of the big gorilla’s return to the big screen. But 1976’s Queen Kong nearly broke me. Due to legal action by Dino De Laurentiis, maker of the bloated 70s […]
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