The "Macho Man"

[VIDEO] If you've followed this blog over the years I'm a huge wrestling fan. Unfortunately, I have never seen a PPV produced by any company including the recent Wrestlemania which I understand is one of the highest grossing of all time for the WWF - err sorry WWE.

Anyway during the course of Wrestlemania weekend, the Macho Man Randy Savage had been inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame. I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves in that business as he definitely left an impression not only within pro wresting, but also with the public. Most people know who he is and what his catchphrases are.

Regardless, thanks to his tragic death in 2011 many fans were denied the one thing he should have had. Savage just like Hulk Hogan or even Ultimate Warrior should have had one run more run with WWF - err WWE. In the case of Warrior he made one more appearance on Monday Night Raw last year before his untimely demise not long after having one more moment with his fans.

Seriously though Hogan had one more run with his fans in the early 2000s and although it was clear that he didn't have the moves that he used to it was cool to see Hulkamania return to where it truly belonged. It truly belonged in the WWE Universe and the Macho Man belonged there as well. For whatever reason it didn't happen.

For a lot of past WWF - err WWE - superstars there were some issues that kept them from returning. Hogan had his issues with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and so did Warrior in addition to even Savage. These are issues that at some point had to be addressed and all parties can move forward because it's best for business. So for Hogan and Warrior those issues were addressed and who knows if they ever were for Savage before his death.

BTW, this article from the Tribune before Wrestlemania is about the local roots of Randy Savage who had been born Randy Poffo had grew up and went to school in the suburb of Downer's Grove. It's amazing how many classmates he knew and in some cases they had no idea he had become a huge WWE Superstar.

When I first got to see the Macho Man, Savage was the "Macho King" with the late Sensational Sherri as his manager. I remember the storyline where his former manager and ultimate love interest the late Miss Elizabeth had a courtship and they were married. Apparently him and Elizabeth were a couple in real life although ultimately they divorced later. And while she followed him to WCW later, I wasn't sure what her purpose was in WCW as most of the time she didn't seem to affiliate with Savage.

Anyway I'm glad Savage is getting his recognition now, however, sad that he isn't with us to have one more memorable moment with his fans. I do hope you enjoy this video of Macho Man apparently in connection with a video game that was likely taped in 2010 or early 2011. He's aged, but he's still the Macho Man Randy Savage. That's why I got a kick out of it.

So the wrestler who shows up in the WWE finally speaks...

[VIDEO] On a previous edition of Monday Night Raw the vigilante Sting made his comments to the WWE Universe. He set up his match with Triple H in terms of what he saw happened in WCW and how that promotion ultimately died.

Well Sting was referring to the authority in WCW - which included one Eric Bischoff - who aligned themselves with the nWo or the new world order. The nWo consisted of such former WWE superstars at least back then as Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and even Hulk Hogan. The new world order was the dominate story line in WCW for most of the late 1990s.

Of course Sting was speaking in terms of storyline. What happened with WCW and it's ultimate purchase by WWE and it's closure was a lot more than we saw on our TV screens. At some point I stopped watching  because it attempted to imitate the competition and I could watch the real deal. So perhaps one issue back then was the creative team.

Beyond the reality I did like how Sting set up his Wrestlemania match with the WWE's new authority with Triple H and his wife who just so happens to be the daughter of one Vince McMahon who basically establishes that universe. BTW, Sting already had run-ins with H as on two occasions matches had been interfered with which resulted in the authority being removed from power and resulted in returning three other wrestlers back to the WWE roster.

But then when you consider Sting in his current gimmick where he resembles that dark superhero the Crow, he always was a vigilante. He had to face the nWo as the franchise player of WCW and even had to change his persona from more of a surfer Sting to a much more darker character. The character who challenged the nWo and the decline of WCW.

How will that storyline finally unfold...

Old TV nostalgia...

[VIDEO] Last night before I went to bed for some reason my interest led to me the old sitcom Roseanne. Then it hits me how much TV I watched with my mother. Roseanne was one of her favorite programs.

Then I remembered other series that she liked such as Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Cagney & Lacey, Simon & Simon, Golden Girls or even M*A*S*H. SO basically TV series of the 1980s and early 1990s. Well by the time I became aware of M*A*S*H it was the 1990s and in reruns.

Ah, M*A*S*H...well some of the series listed above I'm not sure you can count me as a fan. Been years since I've ever seen Roseanne aside from the intro you see above. Also been years since I've seen M*A*S*H, and that's a show that over the years I've often seen in reruns over and over again.

Funny thing is that I've essentially became a fan of the movie MASH which in some respects the TV series of the same name was based - actually both were based on a novel. My mother unfortunately would say she hasn't been able to get into the movie and likely remains a fan of the series.

Either way this posting is one of nostalgia. The shows of the past that we now see in reruns were once popular and enjoyed long runs when they originally aired. Now it's like where has these shows been?

Early in the last decade some of these shows I became a fan of because they were rerun on some of these cable networks especially LA Law. Dallas - another of my mother's favorites programs - I became a fan of because reruns once aired on the network that ultimately became Spike.

Even though there's some good TV on today - save at least for any "reality" based programming. Now I miss the shows that sort of made up my childhood and at least before I started taking command of the remote. Although some of those shows were very adult for me it hits me that it's been years since I've actually seen them on TV.

Out of hibernation...

[VIDEO] Well we finally have our warm temps here in Chicago and artistmac talks about that. The snow that fell on Super Bowl Sunday this year is finally melting. Hopefully the cold temps that kept our young people out of school for at least 4 days within the past two months are nothing more than a memory.

Even better daylight savings time has passed as of this Saturday and then in the next week or so the first day of spring. It seems we've had a miserable winter this year and the end is only around the corner!

#Selma 50 years later

From @jeffmason1: The Obama family and Bush family join marchers to cross Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge. pic.twitter.com/NuMMx4F3XS
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) March 7, 2015

Over the weekend there was a lot of news out of Selma, Alabama commemorating a famous civil rights march that started in that town (which also spawned a major motion picture based on those events 50 years ago). The bridge that was largely a symbolic epicenter of that event was host to a 50 year anniversary march which featured two Presidents of the United States.

I got to find out why former President George W. Bush decided to make his way to Selma with his wife Laura Bush. It certainly was a cool gesture as I truly believe the fight for civil rights back in the 1960s or even today is a just bipartisan cause.

Partisanship with civil rights in my mind has no standing in the demonstrations of 50 to 60 years ago. A segment of the population back then were being denied their rights and it was unacceptable. Most people who saw how civil rights activists were treated on their TV screens back then realized the same thing, hopefully.

So I've been seeing complaints that President Bush had been cropped out of the pic with President Obama. The uncropped pic you see above and the cropped pic you may have seen via the NY Times.

Now I'm not going to add onto the speculation to why this occurred. The question is was it partisan. If it was then I would say petty because I truly believe civil rights was right regardless of any political leanings. So if this was merely partisan then the cropping was certainly petty. Although the photograph claims this hadn't been intentional at all.

I recognize that many may not like President Bush whose administration lasted from 2001 to 2009 mainly because of his execution of the War on Terror. At the same time a Republican former president and a sitting Democrat president - who also happens to be Black - marching at a commemoration of a 50 year old event should be good press. It only shows that no one party or ideology can say they are the party of civil rights.