Movies, Hollywood, Entertainment, pro wrestling, Marvel Entertainment - Spider-Man, Thor, The Wolverine, Ant-Man...
The Media Man agency has another piledriver and bodyslamming look at the entertainment and pro wrestling industry. Time to explore the web of entertainment in wrestling and Marvel Entertainment with Spider-Man, The Wolverine, Thor, Ant Man and more.
Profiles
Movies Hollywood Wrestling WWE Marvel Entertainment
Disney
Spider-Man Inspired By Masked Luchadors...
In The Amazing Spider-Man Peter Parker is inspired to create a mask after winding up inside a wrestling ring surrounded by posters of masked luchadors. It is not the first wrestling connection in the movie franchise as in the premiere film released in 2002, Peter enters a wrestling tournament and squares off against a character portrayed by the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Spider-Man movie has strong ties to pro wrestling; "Macho Man" Randy Savage connection...
The Amazing Spider-Man was released during the Independence Day week and so far the flick has performed well.
The Spider-Man franchise is awesome, it is something else which has pro wrestling fans excited about the latest reboot of the superhero franchise.
In the original film, starring Tobey Maguire, we witnessed Spider-Man enter a pro wrestling match in order to win a sum of cash which would allow him to purchase a used car he thought would impress Mary Jane.
Initially, Peter Parker wanted to be called The Human Spider, but Bruce Campbell put a stop to that nonsense and sent him down to the ring as Spider-Man.
As if seeing the man most famously known as Ash Williams wasn't enough, we were treated to a second cameo within seconds.
Spidey was facing off against Bonesaw McGraw, who was played by the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
It was here where Spidey first faced off against a foe who put him through hell.
This cameo by the legendary "Macho Man" was warmly welcomed by wrestling fans who had missed Savage. The new film, featuring Andrew Garfield as the webby one has gone back to its roots and given Peter Parker another wrestling-based inspiration.
At one point in the film Peter Parker is walking away from a group of hoodlums he had just schooled when he falls through a roof, landing in the middle of a wrestling ring.
When he stood up and looked around he saw what provided him with the inspiration for his signature mask.
The small arena was filled with signs featuring Lucha Libre masks, one of which catches Parker's eye more than the others.
The mask is red with dark-colored designs surrounding the eyes, nearly an exact copy of Spidey's look sans the webbing all over the face area.
Director Marc Webb made a lot of wrestling fans happy by inserting another inspiration for Spider-Man which is based in the world of pro wrestling.
Wrestling fans and comic book fans have a large cross over audience which these film makers have smartly plugged into - further casting their own web, to help increase net profits of course.
Comics and pro wrestling have a few elements in common. They both feature people dressed in fancy outfits, have signature attacks / finishing moves, and have a good VS evil theme for the most part.
Both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi chose to use wrestling as a launching pad for Peter Parker is also another point that wrestling fans are high on.
This latest part of the Hollywood - pro wrestling connection has gone over well and may even lead to the wrestling themes been further cast out in the Hollywood movie web and the movie industry wrestles attempting to get back some of the glory and money it used to make.
Marvel Entertainment Movies: Amazing Spider-Man, Thor 2, The Avengers Et Al Boost Popularity Of Marvel Slot Games...
The Media Man agency reports that Marvel themed online slot games across the network, and featured at partner, PartyCasino.com , are boosting the popularity of the superhero themed online slot games. Bwin.Party currently offers The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, with more expected to soon hit the popular gaming and entertainment website destination.
Guardians & Ant-Man Films on the Way - 14th July 2012...
Concept art, logos, and new titles for the Thor and Captain America sequels!
Today at its Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Marvel Studios announced two upcoming films: "Guardians of the Galaxy," coming August 1, 2014, and displayed test footage for the very first time for "Ant-Man," to be directed by Edgar Wright.
With the announcement came the reveal of the first concept art for "Guardians of the Galaxy" by Charlie Wen, as well as logos for both films.
In addition, Marvel Studios announced the official titles to the Thor and Captain America sequels: "Thor: The Dark World," in theaters November 8, 2013, and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," in theaters April 4, 2014.
Check out all logos, plus the just-released "Iron Man 3" logo, and as always stay tuned to Marvel.com for more on Marvel Studios' upcoming slate.
The Wolverine produces 1500 jobs; Boost for Australian entertainment industry...
Australia's favorite son, Hugh Jackman's latest Wolverine film 'The Wolverine' has created 1700 Australian jobs and benefited 850 companies.
The motion picture, starring Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and shot on location across New South Wales and in Japan, is expected to be released next July and follows an improvement in Australian film and TV landscape, with the value of production rising 25 per cent in Australia last year.
The Arts Minister, Simon Crean, said The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold, and filmed not only in Sydney's Fox Studios but in NSW spots such as Oberon, Picton, Homebush and Parramatta, would generate more than $80 million in investment in Australia.
But there was industry consternation in April when the federal government announced the $12.8 million one-off investment in the film - the equivalent of boosting the usual 16.5 per cent location offset to 30 per cent.
The location offset is the tax rebate on the Australian spend of large-budget productions that do not satisfy the Australian content test for the producer offset.
The $12.8 million was required to secure the film and job opportunities, Mr Crean said, most of which were full-time, although the number included 600 movie extras.
Industry figures have called for a bigger location offset to be applied so that the film industry can get competitive in the face of a strong Australian dollar. Mr Crean is fully expected to take some broad proposals to federal cabinet's last meeting this year to help the film industry ahead of the anticipated release of the National Cultural Policy in the first quarter of next year.
He advised Fairfax Media it would be a "waste" if the National Cultural Policy was not released until the federal election, although conceded it was a matter of gaining cabinet support for greater funding.
"I've made it clear we should be looking to increase the location offset," he said.
Mr Crean said The Wolverine job figures highlighted the importance of investing in the arts as a key contributor to local and national economic growth.
"To date, The Wolverine has created over 1700 jobs across Australia since production commenced earlier this year, bringing a significant boost to communities, the local economy and the film industry," he said.
"The Australian jobs created as a result of investment in The Wolverine cover the full spectrum of the production sector to the people behind the cameras and in studios - the set builders, lighting technicians, editors and special effects artists.
"About 850 Australian companies from industries including hospitality, transport and catering goods and service providers have gained contracts as a result of the production."
Joss Whedon's 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Pilot Adds Two Agents...
ABC has found two more agents for its Joss Whedon pilot, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker have boarded the Marvel TV adaptation...
Joss Whedon's Marvel 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Pilot: Five Questions and Possibilities The project from ABC Studios is based on Marvel Comics' secret intelligence organization that has appeared in countless titles including Iron Man, Captain America and The Ultimates since being introduced in the 1960s. The military law-enforcement agency's moniker stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistic Directorate, which also has evolved over time in the comics.
Henstridge will play science whiz Agent Gemma Simmons, while De Caestecker will play Agent Leo Fitz, a technology guru. The duo spend all their time together -- mostly bickering -- and are masters of their respective fields at a remarkably young age.
Henstridge and De Caestecker join the previously cast Ming-Na, who will play top-notch pilot and weapons expert Agent Melinda May, and Clark Gregg, who reprises his role from The Avengers as Agent Phil Coulson. (full story at The Hollywood Reporter) www.thr.com
'Thor 2' plot details revealed by Disney...
In the sequel to last year's Thor, Chris Hemsworth's hammer-wielding hero will do battle with a villain called Malekith The Accursed, played by former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman is set to return as love interest Dr Jane Foster.
The official synopsis, as revealed by ComingSoon.net, runs as follows: "In the aftermath of Marvel's Thor and Marvel's The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos... but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all."
Thor 2 began shooting last month in Surrey. The ensemble cast also includes Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård.
Meanwhile, Captain America star Chris Evans recently revealed that he wants to make a cameo appearance in the new Thor movie. However, this has not been confirmed yet.
Original Thor director Kenneth Branagh has not returned for the sequel, which is instead being helmed by Alan Taylor from Game Of Thrones. Thor: The Dark World is scheduled for release on November 8, 2013.
WWE Keen To Work With UFC Fighter; Ties To C.M Punk And "Stone Cold" Steve Austin...
Various news media has reported that WWE is interested in working with 35 year old UFC fighter "The American Gangster" Chael Sonnen. There's been mixed reports on whether Sonnen will one day try his hand at pro wrestling, post MMA, following the lead of 'King Mo' who now wrestles in TNA Wrestling. Oh, did you hear... Batista may soon be returning to professional wrestling WWE style - watch this space, and be sure to check him out in the new flick 'The Man With The Iron Fists', where he plays 'Brass Body'.
Back to the talented big mouth fighter Sonnen...he has ties to WWE as he is mates with WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk was ready to accompany Sonnen to the Octagon for a fight several months back but that was nixed.
Sonnen is also close to WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin. Austin has been bringing Sonnen out to his Broken Skull Ranch in Texas to help him with strength and conditioning training.
Websites
Media Man Int
WWE website
Marvel Entertainment
The Amazing Spider-Man official website
Casino News Media
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
The Wolverine
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man News
Pro wrestling aka "sports entertainment", wrestling news, scoops, rumours, multimedia, movies, UFC and more.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Wrestling with face paint, bodyart and human statues; Ultimate Warrior, Sting, Jeff Hardy, Lord Tensai and more, by Greg Tingle
Profiles
Human Statue Bodyart Eva Rinaldi Wrestling Jeff Hardy Hulk Hogan Face Painting Sydney Australian Sports Entertainment
Pro wrestling is different things to different people, but it's widely accepted as one of the most popular forms of entertainment - especially for men and kids.
Every week millions of fans tune into television to watch promotions like the famous WWE and Impact Wrestling.
Pro wrasling may be as American as apple pie, but Australia is one of the world's biggest non U.S fan bases, and we back it up with impressive PPV buy rates via Foxtel as well as weekly top 10 number crunching for programs such as RAW and SmackDown!
There are many elements that make the pseudo sport exciting. The spectacular moves, the amazing bodies, the ring entrances, the storylines, the costumes and face paint. Say what - face paint! Yes, even most casual fans would have heard of the man they call Sting (currently with Impact Wrestling, but featured on the WWE website), Jeff Hardy, The Ultimate Warrior, and let's also include the recently renamed WWE super heel - villain, Lord Tensai (tattoos and bodyart galore). It also appears that current WWE champion Sheamus aka 'The Great White', uses a little white paint or some other substance on his chest area (you need to look closely, but check out the WrestleMania 28 footage and judge for yourself).
We think that Australian pro wrestlers might soon more readily adopt face painting as another way to help stand out from the pack.
Famous Pro Wrestling Stars With Face Paint...
Sting
The Man Called Sting. Icon or not, he has an impressive pro wrestling body of work and knows how to work the crowd.
He has the 'It Factor' and is almost as famous for his face paint, as he is his matches with fellow legend Ric Flair.
His red version of the paint during his time in the NWO Wolfpac was something to behold.
He even had previous face paint along the lines of Ultimate Warrior styling when he still had blond hair and more recently at Impact Wrestling with Joker type face paint. No wonder WWE seem to be making a play to sign Sting, or at least to have him officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The different changes have lent him to using his face paint as both intimidation and character enhancement.
Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
Considered by many as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, if not the greatest, The Road Warriors both had simple but awesome face paint.
Hawk and Animal had their Mad Max-inspired gimmick down to a science, spiked shoulder pads and all.
This face paint seems to be a combination of character inspiration and intimidation.
RIP Hawk. Ah, what a rush!
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy aka 'The Charismatic Inigima' might just be the king of the face paint in professional wrestling.
His use of face paint is pure character enhancement, but nobody has ever done it better.
He changes it frequently, and usually it comes up looking amazing. Most hardcore fans will tell you that Hardy's face paint has been better and more creative in Impact Wrestling than in the WWE. Maybe Hardy has more control in his current promotion, which is also a scary thing. Great paint, and well done on cleaning up your act Jeff, if we should believe the press.
The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior had some of the coolest face paint of all time.
Some have noted a dash of Batman themes in the mix.
Add the paint to the interviews, chiseled body and unique and crazy ring style, and this guy was one of a kind wacko (and successful). Will Triple H bring back the Warrior? Stranger things have happened, and Triple H has hinted via the WWE website and leaked elsewhere that he would be interested in getting a 1-2-3 over Warrior, so stay tuned.
Demolition
I can remember it like yesterday "I'm Axe and "I'm Smash" and we're going to kick your stinking teeth in". The them went something like "Here comes the Ax and here comes the Smasher. The Demolition is coming to get ya". Red, black and silver have never looked so good (or scary).
Like The Road Warriors, Demolition also employed a Mad Max-inspired theme in their gimmick.
Demolition seemed to use their paint as intimidation and character enhancement.
The KISS Demon
The KISS Demon was created with a licensing agreement with KISS the band. Supposedly the beginning of a stable that was to include wrestlers modelled after each of the KISS band members. Only The Demon came to pass, and it didn't last. Another WCW idea that went south. I would have trusted my marketing and promotion with KISS top brass Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley more than with the then WCW marketing department. How about you KISS Army fans?
The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian)
The Powers of Pain was a team that consisted of the Warlord and The Barbarian. Managed by Mr. Fuji, who for a few years was one of best managers in my estimation. Their face paint was fairly generic but nevertheless intimidating.
After the team split up, they both stepped away from using facepaint and each gained a new manager—Warlord being paired up with Slick and Barbarian joining Bobby Heenan.
The Missing Link
The Missing Link was a character not so unlike to that of George 'The Animal' Steele and Madog Vachon - a crazy man that needed a handler to bring him to the ring and keep him under control.
He would repeatedly smash his own head into turnbuckles during matches and use his head as a weapon (but in reality his forearm appeared to take most of the blow). Kayfabe!
His face paint seemed to be geared more towards furthering his character.
'Dewey' Robertson passed away in August 2007. RIP.
Yoshi Tatsu
Yoshi wrestled in WWE for some time before debuting the above look.
During a feud with Tyson Kidd, where he was written off of television for a few weeks, Yoshi debuted this look when he returned citing it as a tribute to The Great Muta and his Japanese heritage. You have to long his ring entrance music and video, but his win - loss record is not on par with the rest of his act. Maybe he would have had more impact 10 years ago. Sadly we will never know. Tipped to enter a feud with Lord Tensai at some point, judging by Twitter, or might soon end up being shown the door, thanks to new WWE talent coming in. We like your work Yoshi and hope things pick up for you whatever happens.
Kamala The Ugandan Giant
The Ugandan Giant wrestled mainly in the 80's and 90's and his gimmick was that of a head hunter. Slap that huge belly. Recently told some dirt sheets that he wasn't happy with his paydays and guys like Hogan were making millions. Kamala, you were never Hogan (but we get your point).
Vampiro
Was a very good wrestler, especially by old WCW standards.
He has mainly competed in smaller organizations and wrestled in WCW for awhile. Face paint was simple, but effective.
Bull Nakano
Competed in Japan for most of her career. Many fans from North America know Nakano from feuding with Alundra Blayze / Madusa in WWE and WCW.
Her face paint is fairly understated most of the time save for the crack like streaks down her face.
Nakano is understood to have given professional golfing a swing!
Papa Shango
The man that would go on to become Kama and The Godfather. A good gimmick (geared to kids).
His voodoo gimmick of causing wrestlers to vomit and ooze oily looking stuff out of their heads was only enhanced by his skull inspired face paint.
The Great Kabuki
The man credited with being the first to blow 'Asian Mist' into his opponent's face has pretty cool face paint. Almost looks like he was on the receiving end of the Asian Mist himself.
He held a series of retirement matches in 1998 and was always a very solid worker.
The Great Muta
The Great Muta has had many different styles of face paint throughout the years.
Mostly known in North America for his stints in WCW and short time in WWE, Muta has always been a top wrestler wherever he has competed.
Changed over to wearing a mask since shaving his head. Check out Muta VS Hogan which took place in Japan about 15 years ago. Classic.
Hakushi
The whole gimmick of Hakushi 'tatooing' his face and body with Kanji characters was very cool. Very good worker.
Goldust
Dustin Rhodes eccentric character has one of the coolest paint jobs ever. You have to love the Hollywood theme and intro, and how about the trademark promo "You will always remember the name... GOLDUST".
Umaga
The Samoan Bulldozer was awesome. Umaga's face paint appeared to be an extension of his tribal tattoo art that he had across the rest of his body.
Umaga used his face paint to enhance his character and as a source of intimidation to his opponents with it resembling war paint of certain tribes.
Sadly, Eddie Fatu passed away in 2009. RIP.
Damien 666
While the colours and styles of Damien 666's paint changed throughout the years, the number 666 has always emblazoned his forehead.
Wrestling for most of his career in Mexico, Damien uses his paint as a character enhancer as well as for intimidation purposes.
The Bogeyman
If any gimmick was perfect to have face paint associated with it, the Boogeyman is it. He made a few alterations to it throughout his WWE career, but all consisted of a blood red backdrop on to which he superimposed other weird things.
His apparent eating of worms added additional intimidation factor to the whole gimmick.
Others
Lord Tensai, a major heel (villain) in the WWE has heavy face and body tattoos and body piercings, most if not all of which are legit. A former name he wrestled under was 'Prince Albert' (look it up and draw your own conclusions). A tough and legit SOB with loads of talent. Give the hardcore fans more time and they should come around and back him up more in current WWE storylines.
So wrestling and face paint fans. There you have it.
Got a wrestling match or fancy dress party coming up? Why not contact face painting and costume specialists, Human Statue Bodyart, for more details about how you can bring your pro wrestler to life. Masks and other costumes and accessories are also available.
Thank you to the extremely talented pro wrestlers who keep entertaining the fans each week, and Sting, Jeff Hardy and friends... please keep wowing us with your artistic creations.
That's it for the wrestling and face painting unmasked news today, but stay turned for developments as the countdown towards AWF 'Australia VS The World' and WWE 'Over The Limit' continues.
*The writer is the business manager of Human Statue Bodyart, Eva Rinaldi Photography and the director of Media Man and Australian Sports Entertainment.
Websites
Wrestling News Media
Ultimate Warrior official website
The Hardy Show
Human Statue Bodyart
Human Statue Bodyart Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography
Music News Australia
WWE
Impact Wrestling
AWF
Media Man News
Wrestling News Media
Australian Sports Entertainment
Website Network
Media Man Int
Media Man
Media Man News
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
Australian Sports Entertainment
Human Statue Bodyart Eva Rinaldi Wrestling Jeff Hardy Hulk Hogan Face Painting Sydney Australian Sports Entertainment
Pro wrestling is different things to different people, but it's widely accepted as one of the most popular forms of entertainment - especially for men and kids.
Every week millions of fans tune into television to watch promotions like the famous WWE and Impact Wrestling.
Pro wrasling may be as American as apple pie, but Australia is one of the world's biggest non U.S fan bases, and we back it up with impressive PPV buy rates via Foxtel as well as weekly top 10 number crunching for programs such as RAW and SmackDown!
There are many elements that make the pseudo sport exciting. The spectacular moves, the amazing bodies, the ring entrances, the storylines, the costumes and face paint. Say what - face paint! Yes, even most casual fans would have heard of the man they call Sting (currently with Impact Wrestling, but featured on the WWE website), Jeff Hardy, The Ultimate Warrior, and let's also include the recently renamed WWE super heel - villain, Lord Tensai (tattoos and bodyart galore). It also appears that current WWE champion Sheamus aka 'The Great White', uses a little white paint or some other substance on his chest area (you need to look closely, but check out the WrestleMania 28 footage and judge for yourself).
We think that Australian pro wrestlers might soon more readily adopt face painting as another way to help stand out from the pack.
Famous Pro Wrestling Stars With Face Paint...
Sting
The Man Called Sting. Icon or not, he has an impressive pro wrestling body of work and knows how to work the crowd.
He has the 'It Factor' and is almost as famous for his face paint, as he is his matches with fellow legend Ric Flair.
His red version of the paint during his time in the NWO Wolfpac was something to behold.
He even had previous face paint along the lines of Ultimate Warrior styling when he still had blond hair and more recently at Impact Wrestling with Joker type face paint. No wonder WWE seem to be making a play to sign Sting, or at least to have him officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The different changes have lent him to using his face paint as both intimidation and character enhancement.
Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
Considered by many as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, if not the greatest, The Road Warriors both had simple but awesome face paint.
Hawk and Animal had their Mad Max-inspired gimmick down to a science, spiked shoulder pads and all.
This face paint seems to be a combination of character inspiration and intimidation.
RIP Hawk. Ah, what a rush!
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy aka 'The Charismatic Inigima' might just be the king of the face paint in professional wrestling.
His use of face paint is pure character enhancement, but nobody has ever done it better.
He changes it frequently, and usually it comes up looking amazing. Most hardcore fans will tell you that Hardy's face paint has been better and more creative in Impact Wrestling than in the WWE. Maybe Hardy has more control in his current promotion, which is also a scary thing. Great paint, and well done on cleaning up your act Jeff, if we should believe the press.
The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior had some of the coolest face paint of all time.
Some have noted a dash of Batman themes in the mix.
Add the paint to the interviews, chiseled body and unique and crazy ring style, and this guy was one of a kind wacko (and successful). Will Triple H bring back the Warrior? Stranger things have happened, and Triple H has hinted via the WWE website and leaked elsewhere that he would be interested in getting a 1-2-3 over Warrior, so stay tuned.
Demolition
I can remember it like yesterday "I'm Axe and "I'm Smash" and we're going to kick your stinking teeth in". The them went something like "Here comes the Ax and here comes the Smasher. The Demolition is coming to get ya". Red, black and silver have never looked so good (or scary).
Like The Road Warriors, Demolition also employed a Mad Max-inspired theme in their gimmick.
Demolition seemed to use their paint as intimidation and character enhancement.
The KISS Demon
The KISS Demon was created with a licensing agreement with KISS the band. Supposedly the beginning of a stable that was to include wrestlers modelled after each of the KISS band members. Only The Demon came to pass, and it didn't last. Another WCW idea that went south. I would have trusted my marketing and promotion with KISS top brass Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley more than with the then WCW marketing department. How about you KISS Army fans?
The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian)
The Powers of Pain was a team that consisted of the Warlord and The Barbarian. Managed by Mr. Fuji, who for a few years was one of best managers in my estimation. Their face paint was fairly generic but nevertheless intimidating.
After the team split up, they both stepped away from using facepaint and each gained a new manager—Warlord being paired up with Slick and Barbarian joining Bobby Heenan.
The Missing Link
The Missing Link was a character not so unlike to that of George 'The Animal' Steele and Madog Vachon - a crazy man that needed a handler to bring him to the ring and keep him under control.
He would repeatedly smash his own head into turnbuckles during matches and use his head as a weapon (but in reality his forearm appeared to take most of the blow). Kayfabe!
His face paint seemed to be geared more towards furthering his character.
'Dewey' Robertson passed away in August 2007. RIP.
Yoshi Tatsu
Yoshi wrestled in WWE for some time before debuting the above look.
During a feud with Tyson Kidd, where he was written off of television for a few weeks, Yoshi debuted this look when he returned citing it as a tribute to The Great Muta and his Japanese heritage. You have to long his ring entrance music and video, but his win - loss record is not on par with the rest of his act. Maybe he would have had more impact 10 years ago. Sadly we will never know. Tipped to enter a feud with Lord Tensai at some point, judging by Twitter, or might soon end up being shown the door, thanks to new WWE talent coming in. We like your work Yoshi and hope things pick up for you whatever happens.
Kamala The Ugandan Giant
The Ugandan Giant wrestled mainly in the 80's and 90's and his gimmick was that of a head hunter. Slap that huge belly. Recently told some dirt sheets that he wasn't happy with his paydays and guys like Hogan were making millions. Kamala, you were never Hogan (but we get your point).
Vampiro
Was a very good wrestler, especially by old WCW standards.
He has mainly competed in smaller organizations and wrestled in WCW for awhile. Face paint was simple, but effective.
Bull Nakano
Competed in Japan for most of her career. Many fans from North America know Nakano from feuding with Alundra Blayze / Madusa in WWE and WCW.
Her face paint is fairly understated most of the time save for the crack like streaks down her face.
Nakano is understood to have given professional golfing a swing!
Papa Shango
The man that would go on to become Kama and The Godfather. A good gimmick (geared to kids).
His voodoo gimmick of causing wrestlers to vomit and ooze oily looking stuff out of their heads was only enhanced by his skull inspired face paint.
The Great Kabuki
The man credited with being the first to blow 'Asian Mist' into his opponent's face has pretty cool face paint. Almost looks like he was on the receiving end of the Asian Mist himself.
He held a series of retirement matches in 1998 and was always a very solid worker.
The Great Muta
The Great Muta has had many different styles of face paint throughout the years.
Mostly known in North America for his stints in WCW and short time in WWE, Muta has always been a top wrestler wherever he has competed.
Changed over to wearing a mask since shaving his head. Check out Muta VS Hogan which took place in Japan about 15 years ago. Classic.
Hakushi
The whole gimmick of Hakushi 'tatooing' his face and body with Kanji characters was very cool. Very good worker.
Goldust
Dustin Rhodes eccentric character has one of the coolest paint jobs ever. You have to love the Hollywood theme and intro, and how about the trademark promo "You will always remember the name... GOLDUST".
Umaga
The Samoan Bulldozer was awesome. Umaga's face paint appeared to be an extension of his tribal tattoo art that he had across the rest of his body.
Umaga used his face paint to enhance his character and as a source of intimidation to his opponents with it resembling war paint of certain tribes.
Sadly, Eddie Fatu passed away in 2009. RIP.
Damien 666
While the colours and styles of Damien 666's paint changed throughout the years, the number 666 has always emblazoned his forehead.
Wrestling for most of his career in Mexico, Damien uses his paint as a character enhancer as well as for intimidation purposes.
The Bogeyman
If any gimmick was perfect to have face paint associated with it, the Boogeyman is it. He made a few alterations to it throughout his WWE career, but all consisted of a blood red backdrop on to which he superimposed other weird things.
His apparent eating of worms added additional intimidation factor to the whole gimmick.
Others
Lord Tensai, a major heel (villain) in the WWE has heavy face and body tattoos and body piercings, most if not all of which are legit. A former name he wrestled under was 'Prince Albert' (look it up and draw your own conclusions). A tough and legit SOB with loads of talent. Give the hardcore fans more time and they should come around and back him up more in current WWE storylines.
So wrestling and face paint fans. There you have it.
Got a wrestling match or fancy dress party coming up? Why not contact face painting and costume specialists, Human Statue Bodyart, for more details about how you can bring your pro wrestler to life. Masks and other costumes and accessories are also available.
Thank you to the extremely talented pro wrestlers who keep entertaining the fans each week, and Sting, Jeff Hardy and friends... please keep wowing us with your artistic creations.
That's it for the wrestling and face painting unmasked news today, but stay turned for developments as the countdown towards AWF 'Australia VS The World' and WWE 'Over The Limit' continues.
*The writer is the business manager of Human Statue Bodyart, Eva Rinaldi Photography and the director of Media Man and Australian Sports Entertainment.
Websites
Wrestling News Media
Ultimate Warrior official website
The Hardy Show
Human Statue Bodyart
Human Statue Bodyart Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography
Music News Australia
WWE
Impact Wrestling
AWF
Media Man News
Wrestling News Media
Australian Sports Entertainment
Website Network
Media Man Int
Media Man
Media Man News
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
Australian Sports Entertainment
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
WWE Declares Quarterly Dividend
Profiles
Movies Hollywood Wrestling WWE Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Entertainment
WWE® Declares Quarterly Dividend...
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE (NYS: WWE) announced that its Board of Directors today declared the Company's regular quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share for all Class A and B shares of common stock. The record date for the dividend will be December 14, 2012, and the payment date will be December 26, 2012. About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYS: WWE) , is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYS: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
If you have additional questions, please contact WWE Investor Relations via e-mail at investor.relations@wwecorp.com.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
Team Punk Vs. Team Foley Announced For WWE's Survivor Series PPV...
WWE has announced that Team CM Punk vs. Team Mick Foley in a traditional Survivor Series match will main event November's Survivor Series pay-per-view. Here are the teams: Team Punk: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio
Team Foley: Ryback, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Daniel Bryan
Survivor Series takes place on November 18th from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Hulkamania Online Slot Game Launches...
Keep checking your favorite online casinos for the slot game based on legendary pro wrestler, Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor and television personality. He is a 12-time world champion and the second longest-reigning WWF Champion of all time. Play as the greatest wrestler of all time in this 20 line slot game, and try to reach the 2 bonus rounds!
Australian casino king James Packer defends Sydney casino bid process; Entering virgin territory...
Tycoon James Packer has defended the way he and the New South Wales Government have gone about securing a second Sydney casino at a new harbour-side development.
Recently the New South Wales Government gave a preliminary tick of approval for the casino-hotel proposal at the Barangaroo site.
The Government says any new casino will not be allowed to start operation until 2019 because of an exclusivity arrangement with Star Casino.
And the project will not go out to tender - although Mr Packer insists he would have won any tender had it been conducted.
Recently Packer told a business dinner in Sydney that he was not just interested in making money, but wanted to build something "special" on the site at Barangaroo.
"I spent a lot of time in casinos as a kid with my dad, and I ended up thinking, f***, this must be a good business," he said.
"My dad was a lot smarter than I am and a lot more successful than I'll ever be, but he got his adrenalin rushes from going to a casino.
"That's the customer that we want. And there are a lot people out there who can afford it, and who you're selling adrenalin to, and they're happy to pay for that experience."
Mr Packer and his gaming company Crown Limited are having an especially good run of luck.
He says the latest project has been given the preliminary tick not because of lobbying, but because it is a really good idea.
This is more than just about money for me. My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something that is special.
"The Labor Party and the Liberal Party were prepared to look at this – or the Labor Party especially – in a bipartisan manner and Premier O'Farrell was willing to say 'let's just do it'," he said.
"There's three stages, and we've got to get through stages two and three ... Premier O'Farrell's made it very clear that we're not done and I don't think we're done, we're a long way from done, but we've had a very good day."
Mr Packer also defended his decision not to wait for a competitive tender process.
"The unsolicited proposal legislation was designed for good ideas and this is a good idea and we took advantage of the legislation that was in place," he said.
"So I think frankly if there was a tender it would be very hard to see how we wouldn't have won it."
So far, the gaming venue has been touted as one that would lure high rollers, especially international tourists, and it would not have pokies.
But Mr Packer says that could change.
"This is not an economic no-brainer," he said.
"You know, there has never been a casino in the world built for a billion dollars without slot machines.
"So we're entering virgin territory, and we're sitting there and saying we'll wait until 2019, as we should."
At the same time as promising to give Sydney an economic kickstart, he says he wants to be the one to leave a legacy in keeping with his father's.
"This is more than just about money for me," he said.
"I am a great believer in Sydney, this country has been incredibly kind to my family, this city has been incredibly kind to my family.
"My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something, you know, that is special."
NWA Response to Australia controversy...
The NWA professional wrestling organization issued a response to the incident that occurred in Australia over the weekend, where their champion Adam Pearce tossed the world title down and quit the organization. 411mania.com reported on Oct. 29 that NWA president R. Bruce Tharpe sent out a press release teasing a new champion.
"The NWA World Heavyweight Title has been vacated. The Board of Governors wish former champion Adam Pearce the best in his future endeavors. There will be a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion crowned on Friday, November 2nd in Clayton, New Jersey."
The entire situation came to a head when champion Adam Pearce defended his world title against Colt Cabana in a "Seven Levels of Hate" challenge series. Pearce said if he lost, he would leave the NWA forever. The series was tied at 3-3 and the seventh match took place last weekend.
However, the NWA had a falling out with their Los Angeles affiliate so Pearce and Cabana moved their match to Australia. Apparently, the decision was for Cabana to win the match and become the new NWA World Champion.
The problem is that the NWA is ran by a governing body and they decide as a voting body who the champion will be. They refused to sanction the match as a title match, therefore proclaiming they would not back Colt Cabana as their champion.
When the match ended, and Cabana won, both men took turns on the microphone to bury the NWA. Cabana said it was an organization ran by idiots who lived in the past and refused to represent them. Pearce tossed down the title saying that when they pushed out Cabana, they pushed him out too.
With both men leaving, it is unclear who the NWA plans to put in the match for the title in November.
bwin.party Gaming Platforms to Be Powered by Lightstreamer Real-Time Technology...
The Lightstreamer Technology Will Be Used by bwin.party, a Global Leader in Digital Entertainment, for Pervasive Live Data Delivery Over the Web
MILAN, ITALY--(Marketwire - Oct. 29, 2012) - Weswit, a global leader in real-time web solutions, today announced that bwin.party (LSE:BPTY), the global online gaming company, has re-selected Lightstreamer to power its world-class gaming and betting platforms.
bwin.party, which has millions of customers worldwide and pro forma net revenue in 2011 of EUR816.0 million, will progressively deploy Lightstreamer in its online poker, casino, and bingo product verticals.
Lightstreamer is a massively scalable solution for pushing live data over WebSockets and other web protocols, to millions of users. With a growing number of customers ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, the Lightstreamer technology enables the streaming of real-time gaming data and messaging across multiple channels and apps, including HTML5, Android, iPhone, iPad, and many other platforms.
"Lightstreamer was the clear scalable solution to handle the complex real-time data communication required by our state-of-the-art gaming products," commented Tod Martin, bwin.party's Group Technology Director. "We are confident the Lightstreamer solution will provide the highest quality gaming experience for our customers." "We are honoured that Lightstreamer will be part of bwin.party's online gaming platforms," declared Mauro Fantechi, Co-CEO and Chairman at Weswit. "Being deployed in such well-known, cross-platform gaming environments, our solution keeps confirming its value for the betting and entertainment industries, which are at the forefront of technological development and innovation."
"It is truly exciting to know that bwin.party has selected our Lightstreamer real-time web technology," added Alessandro Alinone, co-CEO and CTO at Weswit.
"Lightstreamer takes care of all the complexity of delivering real-time data over the web, reducing the technological risks and drastically enhancing the pervasiveness of games."
Lightstreamer is made up of a high-performance server, which routes the real-time messages over the web protocols, and a rich set of client libraries, which easily enable any application to send and receive live data in an efficient and reliable way. Lightstreamer can reach any desktop and mobile client, whatever connectivity the user experiences, passing through any kind of proxies and firewalls. Features include bandwidth optimisation, adaptive throttling, data conflation, delta delivery, and total control over the quality of service.
About Weswit Weswit, with its flagship product Lightstreamer, is a global leader in real-time web streaming solutions. Since the beginning, Weswit has been focused on real-time technologies aimed at making the Web a live environment, and superseding the traditional web paradigm, where any update had to be "pulled" by the client, rather than "pushed" by the server.
Weswit has provided Lightstreamer to a growing number of companies ranging from small size startups to Fortune 500 corporations, including top-tier financial institutions, as well as aerospace, military, energy, gaming, sporting, and entertainment companies. In 2012, Weswit has been recognized as a "Cool Vendor in Application and Integration Platforms" by Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.
Weswit has thousands of free users and hundreds of customers worldwide, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, NASA, Sony Music, Honeywell, SocGen, UBS, IG Group, City Index, ICAP, and Fixnetix. www.weswit.com www.lightstreamer.com
About bwin.party digital entertainment bwin.party digital entertainment plc (LSE:BPTY) is a global online gaming company, formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the Group also has licences in France, Italy, Spain and Denmark. With offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US, the Group generated total pro forma revenue of EUR816.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of EUR199.3m in 2011. bwin.party commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The Group's scale, technology and strong portfolio of games collectively differentiate its customer offer from those of its competitors. bwin.party is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which identifies companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
CALIFORNIA ONLINE POKER ASSOCIATION COLLAPSES...
They certainly had noble intentions, but the ride is over for the California Online Poker Association after several million dollars spend and a handful of failed legislative bills caused the organisation to cease its lobbying efforts.
COPA had poured a lot of money into ensuring that online poker was both legalised and regulated in the state, but after spending $1.2 million on its efforts in the first half of 2012 alone without making any headway, it was decided that the group must fold.
Despite outspending companies like Chevron and the California Teachers Association, COPA’s two-year run saw a handful of proposed bills fall through the legislative cracks as interest dissipated or the state could not agree on the financial rewards for those who were involved.
COPA’s operating agreement had stated that the organisation would dissolve if significant progress had not been made by January 2013, but the decision was made to pull the plug ahead of schedule earlier this month, with Ryan Hightower, the group’s spokesman, confirming: “The decision was based upon insufficient progress within the legislature towards the passage of an online poker bill.”
The San Manuel and Morongo tribe who had affiliated themselves with COPA, however, are not giving up the fight just yet and have stated that they believe it is only a matter of time before online gambling happens in California. If legislation does change after 2013’s proceedings, don’t be surprised to see the efforts of COPA and its partners reassessed in light of the new online climate.
Spider-Man Inspired By Masked Luchadors...
In The Amazing Spider-Man, which hit theaters Tuesday, Peter Parker is inspired to create a mask after winding up inside a wrestling ring surrounded by posters of masked luchadors. It is not the first wrestling connection in the movie franchise as in the premiere film released in 2002, Peter enters a wrestling tournament and squares off against a character portrayed by the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Spider-Man movie has strong ties to pro wrestling; "Macho Man" Randy Savage connection...
The Amazing Spider-Man was released during the Independence Day week and so far the flick has performed well.
The Spider-Man franchise is awesome, it is something else which has pro wrestling fans excited about the latest reboot of the superhero franchise.
In the original film, starring Tobey Maguire, we witnessed Spider-Man enter a pro wrestling match in order to win a sum of cash which would allow him to purchase a used car he thought would impress Mary Jane.
Initially, Peter Parker wanted to be called The Human Spider, but Bruce Campbell put a stop to that nonsense and sent him down to the ring as Spider-Man.
As if seeing the man most famously known as Ash Williams wasn't enough, we were treated to a second cameo within seconds.
Spidey was facing off against Bonesaw McGraw, who was played by the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
It was here where Spidey first faced off against a foe who put him through hell.
This cameo by the legendary "Macho Man" was warmly welcomed by wrestling fans who had missed Savage. The new film, featuring Andrew Garfield as the webby one has gone back to its roots and given Peter Parker another wrestling-based inspiration.
At one point in the film Peter Parker is walking away from a group of hoodlums he had just schooled when he falls through a roof, landing in the middle of a wrestling ring.
When he stood up and looked around he saw what provided him with the inspiration for his signature mask.
The small arena was filled with signs featuring Lucha Libre masks, one of which catches Parker's eye more than the others.
The mask is red with dark-colored designs surrounding the eyes, nearly an exact copy of Spidey's look sans the webbing all over the face area.
Director Marc Webb made a lot of wrestling fans happy by inserting another inspiration for Spider-Man which is based in the world of pro wrestling.
Wrestling fans and comic book fans have a large cross over audience which these film makers have smartly plugged into - further casting their own web, to help increase net profits of course.
Comics and pro wrestling have a few elements in common. They both feature people dressed in fancy outfits, have signature attacks / finishing moves, and have a good VS evil theme for the most part.
Both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi chose to use wrestling as a launching pad for Peter Parker is also another point that wrestling fans are high on.
This latest part of the Hollywood - pro wrestling connection has gone over well and may even lead to the wrestling themes been further cast out in the Hollywood movie web and the movie industry wrestles attempting to get back some of the glory and money it used to make.
Marvel Entertainment Movies: Amazing Spider-Man, Thor 2, The Avengers Et Al Boost Popularity Of Marvel Slot Games...
The Media Man agency reports that Marvel themed online slot games across the network, and featured at partner, PartyCasino.com , are boosting the popularity of the superhero themed online slot games. Bwin.Party currently offers The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, with more expected to soon hit the popular gaming and entertainment website destination.
WWE Keen To Work With UFC Fighter; Ties To C.M Punk And "Stone Cold" Steve Austin...
Various news media has reported that WWE is interested in working with 35 year old UFC fighter "The American Gangster" Chael Sonnen. There's been mixed reports on whether Sonnen will one day try his hand at pro wrestling, post MMA, following the lead of 'King Mo' who now wrestles in TNA Wrestling. Oh, did you hear... Batista may soon be returning to professional wrestling WWE style - watch this space, and be sure to check him out in the new flick 'The Man With The Iron Fists', where he plays 'Brass Body'.
Back to the talented big mouth fighter Sonnen...he has ties to WWE as he is mates with WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk was ready to accompany Sonnen to the Octagon for a fight several months back but that was nixed.
Sonnen is also close to WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin. Austin has been bringing Sonnen out to his Broken Skull Ranch in Texas to help him with strength and conditioning training.
Ric Flair may soon return to WWE; Next Monday on Raw?...
Various pro wrestling websites and "dirt sheets" are reporting that folks close to Ric Flair are stating that he will be returning WWE at the October 29th RAW from Charlotte, North Carolina. Many fans are of course hoping this rumour is true.
The general understanding is that he will be getting involved in the storyline with AJ Lee, Vickie Guerrero and John Cena.
Flair will be a most welcome addition to the roster which is thin on depth at the moment, with big name iconic wrestlers such as The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar nowhere to be seen. Lots of internet buzz about a potential return to the WWE from Dave Bautista, but nothing's 100% until it happens.
Hardcore and casual fans are excited about seeing Flair work with his modern day equivalent of sorts - Dolph Ziggler. How cool what that be? You can smell the improved TV ratings already.
WWE needs to pull a rabbit or two out of the hat, and the likes of Flair, Bautista, The Rock and The Undertaker are just what the doctor ordered. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is also strongly rumoured to make some WWE appearances in 2013, which may or may not result in a fued or match with CM Punk.
Lot's of rumors around and all up it should make a more entertaining that usual Raw, and new WWE program, Main Event, would also do well to see legendary wrestlers return.
Yes fans, there's a lot of buzz and excitement around at the moment, so let's hope that the WWE powers that be do what is required to get some legendary wrestlers back on the active roster.
One more thing for us Ryback fans, and there's millions - Feed Me More!
Websites
Media Man Int
WWE website
Marvel Entertainment
The Amazing Spider-Man official website
Casino News Media
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
Human Statue Bodyart
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man News
Entertainment, Hollywood, Movie and Gaming news; Human Statues, creative arts...
Movies, Hollywood, Entertainment and gaming - casino news; WWE, pro wrestling, James Bond Skyfall, WWE Studios...
The Media Man agency has another piledriver and bodyslamming look at the entertainment and pro wrestling industry, plus more hot updates from the casino, gaming, bodyart - bodypainting - creative arts world. Then there's our friends over at Marvel Entertainment and Comic-Con happenings. All this and more from our web of extreme entertainment.
Profiles
Movies Hollywood Wrestling WWE Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Entertainment
Everybody wants to dress up as The Avengers this Halloween...
Bring out the body paint and the robot outfit lying at the back of the closet: The Avengers are this year's most popular choices for movie-inspired Halloween costumes.
According to a poll of 1000 film fans by US website Fandango, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans, The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are the hottest movie-inspired outfits for the annual happening. Superheroes are not a big part of Halloween the world over, and Australia is no different.
Even Edward Cullen from Twilight doesn't even get a look-in in the top 10 list, and he's older than most of the comic-book-turned-movie-heroes. Vampires are now aged ok.
Here are the top 10 costumes based on 2012 films according to the poll:
For men:
1. Thor (The Avengers)
2. Iron Man (The Avengers)
3. Captain America (The Avengers)
4. Hulk (The Avengers)
5. Batman (The Dark Knight Rises)
6. James Bond (Skyfall)
7. Ted the Raunchy Teddy Bear (Ted)
8. Gandalf (The Hobbit)
9. Magic Mike (Magic Mike)
10. Wreck-It-Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph)
For women:
1. Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises)
2. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
3. Snow White (Snow White and the Huntsman)
4. Queen Ravenna (Snow White and the Huntsman)
5. Black Widow (The Avengers)
6. Red-Eyed Bella the Vampire (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2)
7. Effie Trinket (The Hunger Games)
8. Selene (Underworld: Awakening)
9. Merida (Brave)
10. Alice (Resident Evil: Retribution)
For those considering more classic costumes, Indiana Jones, Batman, Dracula, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Belle from Beauty and the Beast are top of the pile, according to Fandango voters.
Tempted to dress up and need some help? Australians can check out what's on offer from the team at Human Statue Bodyart - for bodyart, superhero costumes and much more.
'Avengers' tops Hollywood-inspired Halloween costumes...
What do Thor, Captain America and Batman have in common? (Hint: we're not talking about their spandex.)
All three characters, along with Iron Man and the Hulk, made the top five guys' picks in this year's list of the most in-demand movie-inspired Halloween costumes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Meanwhile, women picked Catwoman, who was seen this summer in "The Dark Knight Rises," as their No. 1 costume choice.
Katniss from "The Hunger Games," Snow White and Queen Ravenna from "Snow White and the Huntsman," and "The Avengers' " Black Widow rounded out the top five choices for the ladies.
The survey, conducted by Fandango, is based on more than 1,000 responses and also includes a "classic" costume category, with favorites such as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" and Indiana Jones.
The rest of the top costume picks are more varied, including heart-of-gold hunks ("Magic Mike"), heart-of-gold princesses (Merida from "Brave") and super-specific vampires ("Red-Eyed Bella the Vampire").
Marvel Entertainment Avengers costumes #1..
Considering Marvel’s The Avengers made over $1.5 billion at the box office this year we’re not too surprised to hear the superhero characters will be filling the streets this Halloween. Yes, they even beat Batman. Again.
Fandango surveyed 1000 moviegoers on which film-related costumes they’d be sporting on Halloween. “Among 2012 releases, Avengers characters took the top four spots with males, with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor edging out the other characters from summer’s box office hit for the No. 1 spot. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man came in second, followed by Chris Evans’ Captain America and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Batman was #5.
You can probably guess which female characters the women said they were most likely to dress as for Halloween but here are the stats. “Meanwhile, action heroines dominated the women’s choices, with Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman, also from The Dark Knight Rises, coming in at No. 1, followed by Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss from The Hunger Games. Rounding out the top five were Kristen Stewart’s Snow White and Charlize Theron’s Queen Ravenna from Snow White and the Huntsman and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow from Avengers.” Effie Trinket and Merida were also on the list.
When it comes to costumes not originating from the 2012 box office, men favored Indiana Jones while women chose Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
Happy Halloweening.
'Skyfall' debuts at No. 1 in 25 foreign countries, grosses $77.7M...
Sony Pictures is spying a hit in its latest James Bond film, as "Skyfall" debuted at No. 1 in 25 foreign countries this weekend.
The film, starring Daniel Craig in the 23rd entry featuring 007, collected an impressive $77.7 million overseas this weekend, according to an estimate from Sony, which is distributing the film internationally. "Skyfall," financed by Sony and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for just under $200 million, doesn't hit U.S. theaters until Nov. 9.
Of the 25 international markets the film played in this weekend, it easily did best on Bond's home turf, the United Kingdom. The picture sold $32.4 million worth of tickets there — the biggest opening of the year so far and 30% ahead of the opening for Craig's last Bond film, 2008's "Quantum of Solace."
Business was also strong in France, where the movie grossed $9.1 million, and in Russia, where receipts amounted to $8.6 million. The last installment in the franchise, "Solace," ultimately collected $417.7 million abroad — roughly 71% of its worldwide gross.
The strong international bow for "Skyfall" bodes well for its U.S. prospects, especially since early reviews have been exceptionally positive. As of Sunday, the movie had earned a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Bullet To The Head...
Sylvester Stallone stars in the new film from director Walter Hill.
Shot some time back, but having had its release put back to early 2013, Sylvester Stallone's next movie is Bullet To The Head. In it, he's playing a hitman who teams up with a New York cop, on the hunt of bad people. A simple enough set-up.
What gives us hope that Bullet To The Head might just turn out to be a treat is the presence of director Walter Hill behind the camera. Hill's CV features many favourites, such as The Warriors, 48 Hrs, Last Man Standing, Red Heat and the TV show Deadwood. Hopefully, he can inject the necessary quality into Bullet To The Head, too.
Hulk Hogan Settles Lawsuit With Bubba The Love Sponge, Bubba Issues Statement...
Hulk Hogan has settled his lawsuit with former best friend Todd Alan Clem, a.k.a. Bubba the Love Sponge. Terms of the settlement are confidential, however Clem issued a public apology to Hogan on his radio show this morning.
"I am now convinced that Hulk Hogan was unaware of the presence of the recording device in my bedroom," Clem said. "I am convinced [Hulk Hogan] had no knowledge that he was being taped...It is my belief that Hulk is not involved, and has not ever been involved, in trying to release the video, or exploit it, or otherwise gain from the video's release in any way."
Hogan's attorney, David R. Houston, stated that his client was "pleased" with Bubba telling the truth and apologizing.
Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker.com remains pending, and a hearing for his request for an injunction will be held next Thursday, November 8th. (Wrestling Inc)
WWE Studios and ABC Family Set Christmas Bounty...
WWE Studios and ABC Family today announced that they are partnering to develop an upcoming television movie, Christmas Bounty, for a 2013 world premiere during ABC Family’s popular “25 Days of Christmas” programming event. WWE Superstar, The Miz, is attached to star in a lead role.
Christmas Bounty is said to be an action-filled comedy about a former bounty hunter turned elementary schoolteacher. Determined to have a normal life, and keep her bounty hunter past a secret, she reluctantly returns home for Christmas to help save the family business by catching the one bounty that got away. But when her fiancé follows her home for the holiday, she struggles to hide her wild family business and a bounty hunter ex-boyfriend she thought she’d left behind. Written by Andrew Black & Vivian Lee, and James Berg & Stan Zimmerman, the movie is scheduled to go into production in early 2013.
“We are so pleased to partner with a tremendous network like ABC Family,” said Michael Luisi, President, WWE Studios. “25 Days of Christmas is one of the biggest cable programming events of the year and is the perfect release platform for this engaging holiday title.”
“ABC Family is the destination for holiday programming and is known for great original holiday movies. We’re thrilled to partner with WWE Studios and bring WWE’s passionate fan base to ABC Family and our wonderful 25 Days of Christmas programming event with such a fun movie,” added Kate Juergens, Executive Vice President, Original Series Programming and Development, ABC Family.
The Miz has been a devoted WWE fan his whole life, and most recently starred in WWE’s film The Marine 3: Homefront. MTV’s Real World alum Mike “The Miz” Mizanin competed on the fourth season of WWE’s reality show Tough Enough in hopes of winning a contract to become a WWE Superstar. After finishing as the runner-up, The Miz didn’t give up on his dream and continued to train once the show concluded. Now, his hard work is being rewarded as the reality TV Star with the frat boy looks, sophomoric humor and explosive intensity is living out his dream at the top of the WWE roster.
Comic-Con Staying In San Diego Until 2016...
The annual geek gathering and Mayor Jerry Sanders announced today that Comic-Con has extended its stay in San Diego one more year. Comic-Con had been contractually committed to remain at the San Diego Convention Center until 2015, and event organizers had indicated they might leave their long-time home if an expansion of the Convention Center did not occur. While building has not started, the city today committed to a $500 million plan. Comic-Con was started in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention. The July gathering now attracts more than 130,000 attendees and has proven an important marketing launchpad for studios and broadcasters. Comic-Con 2013 is scheduled to run July 18-21.
WWE® Declares Quarterly Dividend...
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE (NYS: WWE) announced that its Board of Directors today declared the Company's regular quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share for all Class A and B shares of common stock. The record date for the dividend will be December 14, 2012, and the payment date will be December 26, 2012. About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYS: WWE) , is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYS: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
If you have additional questions, please contact WWE Investor Relations via e-mail at investor.relations@wwecorp.com.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
Team Punk Vs. Team Foley Announced For WWE's Survivor Series PPV...
WWE has announced that Team CM Punk vs. Team Mick Foley in a traditional Survivor Series match will main event November's Survivor Series pay-per-view. Here are the teams: Team Punk: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio
Team Foley: Ryback, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Daniel Bryan
Survivor Series takes place on November 18th from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Hulkamania Online Slot Game Launches...
Keep checking your favorite online casinos for the slot game based on legendary pro wrestler, Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor and television personality. He is a 12-time world champion and the second longest-reigning WWF Champion of all time. Play as the greatest wrestler of all time in this 20 line slot game, and try to reach the 2 bonus rounds!
Australian casino king James Packer defends Sydney casino bid process; Entering virgin territory...
Tycoon James Packer has defended the way he and the New South Wales Government have gone about securing a second Sydney casino at a new harbour-side development.
Recently the New South Wales Government gave a preliminary tick of approval for the casino-hotel proposal at the Barangaroo site.
The Government says any new casino will not be allowed to start operation until 2019 because of an exclusivity arrangement with Star Casino.
And the project will not go out to tender - although Mr Packer insists he would have won any tender had it been conducted.
Recently Packer told a business dinner in Sydney that he was not just interested in making money, but wanted to build something "special" on the site at Barangaroo.
"I spent a lot of time in casinos as a kid with my dad, and I ended up thinking, f***, this must be a good business," he said.
"My dad was a lot smarter than I am and a lot more successful than I'll ever be, but he got his adrenalin rushes from going to a casino.
"That's the customer that we want. And there are a lot people out there who can afford it, and who you're selling adrenalin to, and they're happy to pay for that experience."
Mr Packer and his gaming company Crown Limited are having an especially good run of luck.
He says the latest project has been given the preliminary tick not because of lobbying, but because it is a really good idea.
This is more than just about money for me. My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something that is special.
"The Labor Party and the Liberal Party were prepared to look at this – or the Labor Party especially – in a bipartisan manner and Premier O'Farrell was willing to say 'let's just do it'," he said.
"There's three stages, and we've got to get through stages two and three ... Premier O'Farrell's made it very clear that we're not done and I don't think we're done, we're a long way from done, but we've had a very good day."
Mr Packer also defended his decision not to wait for a competitive tender process.
"The unsolicited proposal legislation was designed for good ideas and this is a good idea and we took advantage of the legislation that was in place," he said.
"So I think frankly if there was a tender it would be very hard to see how we wouldn't have won it."
So far, the gaming venue has been touted as one that would lure high rollers, especially international tourists, and it would not have pokies.
But Mr Packer says that could change.
"This is not an economic no-brainer," he said.
"You know, there has never been a casino in the world built for a billion dollars without slot machines.
"So we're entering virgin territory, and we're sitting there and saying we'll wait until 2019, as we should."
At the same time as promising to give Sydney an economic kickstart, he says he wants to be the one to leave a legacy in keeping with his father's.
"This is more than just about money for me," he said.
"I am a great believer in Sydney, this country has been incredibly kind to my family, this city has been incredibly kind to my family.
"My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something, you know, that is special."
NWA Response to Australia controversy...
The NWA professional wrestling organization issued a response to the incident that occurred in Australia over the weekend, where their champion Adam Pearce tossed the world title down and quit the organization. 411mania.com reported on Oct. 29 that NWA president R. Bruce Tharpe sent out a press release teasing a new champion.
"The NWA World Heavyweight Title has been vacated. The Board of Governors wish former champion Adam Pearce the best in his future endeavors. There will be a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion crowned on Friday, November 2nd in Clayton, New Jersey."
The entire situation came to a head when champion Adam Pearce defended his world title against Colt Cabana in a "Seven Levels of Hate" challenge series. Pearce said if he lost, he would leave the NWA forever. The series was tied at 3-3 and the seventh match took place last weekend.
However, the NWA had a falling out with their Los Angeles affiliate so Pearce and Cabana moved their match to Australia. Apparently, the decision was for Cabana to win the match and become the new NWA World Champion.
The problem is that the NWA is ran by a governing body and they decide as a voting body who the champion will be. They refused to sanction the match as a title match, therefore proclaiming they would not back Colt Cabana as their champion.
When the match ended, and Cabana won, both men took turns on the microphone to bury the NWA. Cabana said it was an organization ran by idiots who lived in the past and refused to represent them. Pearce tossed down the title saying that when they pushed out Cabana, they pushed him out too.
With both men leaving, it is unclear who the NWA plans to put in the match for the title in November.
bwin.party Gaming Platforms to Be Powered by Lightstreamer Real-Time Technology...
The Lightstreamer Technology Will Be Used by bwin.party, a Global Leader in Digital Entertainment, for Pervasive Live Data Delivery Over the Web
MILAN, ITALY--(Marketwire - Oct. 29, 2012) - Weswit, a global leader in real-time web solutions, today announced that bwin.party (LSE:BPTY), the global online gaming company, has re-selected Lightstreamer to power its world-class gaming and betting platforms.
bwin.party, which has millions of customers worldwide and pro forma net revenue in 2011 of EUR816.0 million, will progressively deploy Lightstreamer in its online poker, casino, and bingo product verticals.
Lightstreamer is a massively scalable solution for pushing live data over WebSockets and other web protocols, to millions of users. With a growing number of customers ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, the Lightstreamer technology enables the streaming of real-time gaming data and messaging across multiple channels and apps, including HTML5, Android, iPhone, iPad, and many other platforms.
"Lightstreamer was the clear scalable solution to handle the complex real-time data communication required by our state-of-the-art gaming products," commented Tod Martin, bwin.party's Group Technology Director. "We are confident the Lightstreamer solution will provide the highest quality gaming experience for our customers." "We are honoured that Lightstreamer will be part of bwin.party's online gaming platforms," declared Mauro Fantechi, Co-CEO and Chairman at Weswit. "Being deployed in such well-known, cross-platform gaming environments, our solution keeps confirming its value for the betting and entertainment industries, which are at the forefront of technological development and innovation."
"It is truly exciting to know that bwin.party has selected our Lightstreamer real-time web technology," added Alessandro Alinone, co-CEO and CTO at Weswit.
"Lightstreamer takes care of all the complexity of delivering real-time data over the web, reducing the technological risks and drastically enhancing the pervasiveness of games."
Lightstreamer is made up of a high-performance server, which routes the real-time messages over the web protocols, and a rich set of client libraries, which easily enable any application to send and receive live data in an efficient and reliable way. Lightstreamer can reach any desktop and mobile client, whatever connectivity the user experiences, passing through any kind of proxies and firewalls. Features include bandwidth optimisation, adaptive throttling, data conflation, delta delivery, and total control over the quality of service.
About Weswit Weswit, with its flagship product Lightstreamer, is a global leader in real-time web streaming solutions. Since the beginning, Weswit has been focused on real-time technologies aimed at making the Web a live environment, and superseding the traditional web paradigm, where any update had to be "pulled" by the client, rather than "pushed" by the server.
Weswit has provided Lightstreamer to a growing number of companies ranging from small size startups to Fortune 500 corporations, including top-tier financial institutions, as well as aerospace, military, energy, gaming, sporting, and entertainment companies. In 2012, Weswit has been recognized as a "Cool Vendor in Application and Integration Platforms" by Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.
Weswit has thousands of free users and hundreds of customers worldwide, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, NASA, Sony Music, Honeywell, SocGen, UBS, IG Group, City Index, ICAP, and Fixnetix. www.weswit.com www.lightstreamer.com
About bwin.party digital entertainment bwin.party digital entertainment plc (LSE:BPTY) is a global online gaming company, formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the Group also has licences in France, Italy, Spain and Denmark. With offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US, the Group generated total pro forma revenue of EUR816.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of EUR199.3m in 2011. bwin.party commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The Group's scale, technology and strong portfolio of games collectively differentiate its customer offer from those of its competitors. bwin.party is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which identifies companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
CALIFORNIA ONLINE POKER ASSOCIATION COLLAPSES...
They certainly had noble intentions, but the ride is over for the California Online Poker Association after several million dollars spend and a handful of failed legislative bills caused the organisation to cease its lobbying efforts.
COPA had poured a lot of money into ensuring that online poker was both legalised and regulated in the state, but after spending $1.2 million on its efforts in the first half of 2012 alone without making any headway, it was decided that the group must fold.
Despite outspending companies like Chevron and the California Teachers Association, COPA’s two-year run saw a handful of proposed bills fall through the legislative cracks as interest dissipated or the state could not agree on the financial rewards for those who were involved.
COPA’s operating agreement had stated that the organisation would dissolve if significant progress had not been made by January 2013, but the decision was made to pull the plug ahead of schedule earlier this month, with Ryan Hightower, the group’s spokesman, confirming: “The decision was based upon insufficient progress within the legislature towards the passage of an online poker bill.”
The San Manuel and Morongo tribe who had affiliated themselves with COPA, however, are not giving up the fight just yet and have stated that they believe it is only a matter of time before online gambling happens in California. If legislation does change after 2013’s proceedings, don’t be surprised to see the efforts of COPA and its partners reassessed in light of the new online climate.
Spider-Man Inspired By Masked Luchadors...
In The Amazing Spider-Man, which hit theaters Tuesday, Peter Parker is inspired to create a mask after winding up inside a wrestling ring surrounded by posters of masked luchadors. It is not the first wrestling connection in the movie franchise as in the premiere film released in 2002, Peter enters a wrestling tournament and squares off against a character portrayed by the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Spider-Man movie has strong ties to pro wrestling; "Macho Man" Randy Savage connection...
The Amazing Spider-Man was released during the Independence Day week and so far the flick has performed well.
The Spider-Man franchise is awesome, it is something else which has pro wrestling fans excited about the latest reboot of the superhero franchise.
In the original film, starring Tobey Maguire, we witnessed Spider-Man enter a pro wrestling match in order to win a sum of cash which would allow him to purchase a used car he thought would impress Mary Jane.
Initially, Peter Parker wanted to be called The Human Spider, but Bruce Campbell put a stop to that nonsense and sent him down to the ring as Spider-Man.
As if seeing the man most famously known as Ash Williams wasn't enough, we were treated to a second cameo within seconds.
Spidey was facing off against Bonesaw McGraw, who was played by the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
It was here where Spidey first faced off against a foe who put him through hell.
This cameo by the legendary "Macho Man" was warmly welcomed by wrestling fans who had missed Savage. The new film, featuring Andrew Garfield as the webby one has gone back to its roots and given Peter Parker another wrestling-based inspiration.
At one point in the film Peter Parker is walking away from a group of hoodlums he had just schooled when he falls through a roof, landing in the middle of a wrestling ring.
When he stood up and looked around he saw what provided him with the inspiration for his signature mask.
The small arena was filled with signs featuring Lucha Libre masks, one of which catches Parker's eye more than the others.
The mask is red with dark-colored designs surrounding the eyes, nearly an exact copy of Spidey's look sans the webbing all over the face area.
Director Marc Webb made a lot of wrestling fans happy by inserting another inspiration for Spider-Man which is based in the world of pro wrestling.
Wrestling fans and comic book fans have a large cross over audience which these film makers have smartly plugged into - further casting their own web, to help increase net profits of course.
Comics and pro wrestling have a few elements in common. They both feature people dressed in fancy outfits, have signature attacks / finishing moves, and have a good VS evil theme for the most part.
Both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi chose to use wrestling as a launching pad for Peter Parker is also another point that wrestling fans are high on.
This latest part of the Hollywood - pro wrestling connection has gone over well and may even lead to the wrestling themes been further cast out in the Hollywood movie web and the movie industry wrestles attempting to get back some of the glory and money it used to make.
Marvel Entertainment Movies: Amazing Spider-Man, Thor 2, The Avengers Et Al Boost Popularity Of Marvel Slot Games...
The Media Man agency reports that Marvel themed online slot games across the network, and featured at partner, PartyCasino.com , are boosting the popularity of the superhero themed online slot games. Bwin.Party currently offers The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, with more expected to soon hit the popular gaming and entertainment website destination.
WWE Keen To Work With UFC Fighter; Ties To C.M Punk And "Stone Cold" Steve Austin...
Various news media has reported that WWE is interested in working with 35 year old UFC fighter "The American Gangster" Chael Sonnen. There's been mixed reports on whether Sonnen will one day try his hand at pro wrestling, post MMA, following the lead of 'King Mo' who now wrestles in TNA Wrestling. Oh, did you hear... Batista may soon be returning to professional wrestling WWE style - watch this space, and be sure to check him out in the new flick 'The Man With The Iron Fists', where he plays 'Brass Body'.
Back to the talented big mouth fighter Sonnen...he has ties to WWE as he is mates with WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk was ready to accompany Sonnen to the Octagon for a fight several months back but that was nixed.
Sonnen is also close to WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin. Austin has been bringing Sonnen out to his Broken Skull Ranch in Texas to help him with strength and conditioning training.
Ric Flair may soon return to WWE; Next Monday on Raw?...
Various pro wrestling websites and "dirt sheets" are reporting that folks close to Ric Flair are stating that he will be returning WWE at the October 29th RAW from Charlotte, North Carolina. Many fans are of course hoping this rumour is true.
The general understanding is that he will be getting involved in the storyline with AJ Lee, Vickie Guerrero and John Cena.
Flair will be a most welcome addition to the roster which is thin on depth at the moment, with big name iconic wrestlers such as The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar nowhere to be seen. Lots of internet buzz about a potential return to the WWE from Dave Bautista, but nothing's 100% until it happens.
Hardcore and casual fans are excited about seeing Flair work with his modern day equivalent of sorts - Dolph Ziggler. How cool what that be? You can smell the improved TV ratings already.
WWE needs to pull a rabbit or two out of the hat, and the likes of Flair, Bautista, The Rock and The Undertaker are just what the doctor ordered. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is also strongly rumoured to make some WWE appearances in 2013, which may or may not result in a fued or match with CM Punk.
Lot's of rumors around and all up it should make a more entertaining that usual Raw, and new WWE program, Main Event, would also do well to see legendary wrestlers return.
Yes fans, there's a lot of buzz and excitement around at the moment, so let's hope that the WWE powers that be do what is required to get some legendary wrestlers back on the active roster.
One more thing for us Ryback fans, and there's millions - Feed Me More!
Websites
Media Man Int
WWE website
Marvel Entertainment
The Amazing Spider-Man official website
Casino News Media
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
Human Statue Bodyart
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man News
The Media Man agency has another piledriver and bodyslamming look at the entertainment and pro wrestling industry, plus more hot updates from the casino, gaming, bodyart - bodypainting - creative arts world. Then there's our friends over at Marvel Entertainment and Comic-Con happenings. All this and more from our web of extreme entertainment.
Profiles
Movies Hollywood Wrestling WWE Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Entertainment
Everybody wants to dress up as The Avengers this Halloween...
Bring out the body paint and the robot outfit lying at the back of the closet: The Avengers are this year's most popular choices for movie-inspired Halloween costumes.
According to a poll of 1000 film fans by US website Fandango, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans, The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are the hottest movie-inspired outfits for the annual happening. Superheroes are not a big part of Halloween the world over, and Australia is no different.
Even Edward Cullen from Twilight doesn't even get a look-in in the top 10 list, and he's older than most of the comic-book-turned-movie-heroes. Vampires are now aged ok.
Here are the top 10 costumes based on 2012 films according to the poll:
For men:
1. Thor (The Avengers)
2. Iron Man (The Avengers)
3. Captain America (The Avengers)
4. Hulk (The Avengers)
5. Batman (The Dark Knight Rises)
6. James Bond (Skyfall)
7. Ted the Raunchy Teddy Bear (Ted)
8. Gandalf (The Hobbit)
9. Magic Mike (Magic Mike)
10. Wreck-It-Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph)
For women:
1. Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises)
2. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
3. Snow White (Snow White and the Huntsman)
4. Queen Ravenna (Snow White and the Huntsman)
5. Black Widow (The Avengers)
6. Red-Eyed Bella the Vampire (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2)
7. Effie Trinket (The Hunger Games)
8. Selene (Underworld: Awakening)
9. Merida (Brave)
10. Alice (Resident Evil: Retribution)
For those considering more classic costumes, Indiana Jones, Batman, Dracula, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Belle from Beauty and the Beast are top of the pile, according to Fandango voters.
Tempted to dress up and need some help? Australians can check out what's on offer from the team at Human Statue Bodyart - for bodyart, superhero costumes and much more.
'Avengers' tops Hollywood-inspired Halloween costumes...
What do Thor, Captain America and Batman have in common? (Hint: we're not talking about their spandex.)
All three characters, along with Iron Man and the Hulk, made the top five guys' picks in this year's list of the most in-demand movie-inspired Halloween costumes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Meanwhile, women picked Catwoman, who was seen this summer in "The Dark Knight Rises," as their No. 1 costume choice.
Katniss from "The Hunger Games," Snow White and Queen Ravenna from "Snow White and the Huntsman," and "The Avengers' " Black Widow rounded out the top five choices for the ladies.
The survey, conducted by Fandango, is based on more than 1,000 responses and also includes a "classic" costume category, with favorites such as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" and Indiana Jones.
The rest of the top costume picks are more varied, including heart-of-gold hunks ("Magic Mike"), heart-of-gold princesses (Merida from "Brave") and super-specific vampires ("Red-Eyed Bella the Vampire").
Marvel Entertainment Avengers costumes #1..
Considering Marvel’s The Avengers made over $1.5 billion at the box office this year we’re not too surprised to hear the superhero characters will be filling the streets this Halloween. Yes, they even beat Batman. Again.
Fandango surveyed 1000 moviegoers on which film-related costumes they’d be sporting on Halloween. “Among 2012 releases, Avengers characters took the top four spots with males, with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor edging out the other characters from summer’s box office hit for the No. 1 spot. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man came in second, followed by Chris Evans’ Captain America and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Batman was #5.
You can probably guess which female characters the women said they were most likely to dress as for Halloween but here are the stats. “Meanwhile, action heroines dominated the women’s choices, with Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman, also from The Dark Knight Rises, coming in at No. 1, followed by Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss from The Hunger Games. Rounding out the top five were Kristen Stewart’s Snow White and Charlize Theron’s Queen Ravenna from Snow White and the Huntsman and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow from Avengers.” Effie Trinket and Merida were also on the list.
When it comes to costumes not originating from the 2012 box office, men favored Indiana Jones while women chose Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
Happy Halloweening.
'Skyfall' debuts at No. 1 in 25 foreign countries, grosses $77.7M...
Sony Pictures is spying a hit in its latest James Bond film, as "Skyfall" debuted at No. 1 in 25 foreign countries this weekend.
The film, starring Daniel Craig in the 23rd entry featuring 007, collected an impressive $77.7 million overseas this weekend, according to an estimate from Sony, which is distributing the film internationally. "Skyfall," financed by Sony and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for just under $200 million, doesn't hit U.S. theaters until Nov. 9.
Of the 25 international markets the film played in this weekend, it easily did best on Bond's home turf, the United Kingdom. The picture sold $32.4 million worth of tickets there — the biggest opening of the year so far and 30% ahead of the opening for Craig's last Bond film, 2008's "Quantum of Solace."
Business was also strong in France, where the movie grossed $9.1 million, and in Russia, where receipts amounted to $8.6 million. The last installment in the franchise, "Solace," ultimately collected $417.7 million abroad — roughly 71% of its worldwide gross.
The strong international bow for "Skyfall" bodes well for its U.S. prospects, especially since early reviews have been exceptionally positive. As of Sunday, the movie had earned a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Bullet To The Head...
Sylvester Stallone stars in the new film from director Walter Hill.
Shot some time back, but having had its release put back to early 2013, Sylvester Stallone's next movie is Bullet To The Head. In it, he's playing a hitman who teams up with a New York cop, on the hunt of bad people. A simple enough set-up.
What gives us hope that Bullet To The Head might just turn out to be a treat is the presence of director Walter Hill behind the camera. Hill's CV features many favourites, such as The Warriors, 48 Hrs, Last Man Standing, Red Heat and the TV show Deadwood. Hopefully, he can inject the necessary quality into Bullet To The Head, too.
Hulk Hogan Settles Lawsuit With Bubba The Love Sponge, Bubba Issues Statement...
Hulk Hogan has settled his lawsuit with former best friend Todd Alan Clem, a.k.a. Bubba the Love Sponge. Terms of the settlement are confidential, however Clem issued a public apology to Hogan on his radio show this morning.
"I am now convinced that Hulk Hogan was unaware of the presence of the recording device in my bedroom," Clem said. "I am convinced [Hulk Hogan] had no knowledge that he was being taped...It is my belief that Hulk is not involved, and has not ever been involved, in trying to release the video, or exploit it, or otherwise gain from the video's release in any way."
Hogan's attorney, David R. Houston, stated that his client was "pleased" with Bubba telling the truth and apologizing.
Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker.com remains pending, and a hearing for his request for an injunction will be held next Thursday, November 8th. (Wrestling Inc)
WWE Studios and ABC Family Set Christmas Bounty...
WWE Studios and ABC Family today announced that they are partnering to develop an upcoming television movie, Christmas Bounty, for a 2013 world premiere during ABC Family’s popular “25 Days of Christmas” programming event. WWE Superstar, The Miz, is attached to star in a lead role.
Christmas Bounty is said to be an action-filled comedy about a former bounty hunter turned elementary schoolteacher. Determined to have a normal life, and keep her bounty hunter past a secret, she reluctantly returns home for Christmas to help save the family business by catching the one bounty that got away. But when her fiancé follows her home for the holiday, she struggles to hide her wild family business and a bounty hunter ex-boyfriend she thought she’d left behind. Written by Andrew Black & Vivian Lee, and James Berg & Stan Zimmerman, the movie is scheduled to go into production in early 2013.
“We are so pleased to partner with a tremendous network like ABC Family,” said Michael Luisi, President, WWE Studios. “25 Days of Christmas is one of the biggest cable programming events of the year and is the perfect release platform for this engaging holiday title.”
“ABC Family is the destination for holiday programming and is known for great original holiday movies. We’re thrilled to partner with WWE Studios and bring WWE’s passionate fan base to ABC Family and our wonderful 25 Days of Christmas programming event with such a fun movie,” added Kate Juergens, Executive Vice President, Original Series Programming and Development, ABC Family.
The Miz has been a devoted WWE fan his whole life, and most recently starred in WWE’s film The Marine 3: Homefront. MTV’s Real World alum Mike “The Miz” Mizanin competed on the fourth season of WWE’s reality show Tough Enough in hopes of winning a contract to become a WWE Superstar. After finishing as the runner-up, The Miz didn’t give up on his dream and continued to train once the show concluded. Now, his hard work is being rewarded as the reality TV Star with the frat boy looks, sophomoric humor and explosive intensity is living out his dream at the top of the WWE roster.
Comic-Con Staying In San Diego Until 2016...
The annual geek gathering and Mayor Jerry Sanders announced today that Comic-Con has extended its stay in San Diego one more year. Comic-Con had been contractually committed to remain at the San Diego Convention Center until 2015, and event organizers had indicated they might leave their long-time home if an expansion of the Convention Center did not occur. While building has not started, the city today committed to a $500 million plan. Comic-Con was started in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention. The July gathering now attracts more than 130,000 attendees and has proven an important marketing launchpad for studios and broadcasters. Comic-Con 2013 is scheduled to run July 18-21.
WWE® Declares Quarterly Dividend...
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE (NYS: WWE) announced that its Board of Directors today declared the Company's regular quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share for all Class A and B shares of common stock. The record date for the dividend will be December 14, 2012, and the payment date will be December 26, 2012. About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYS: WWE) , is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYS: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
If you have additional questions, please contact WWE Investor Relations via e-mail at investor.relations@wwecorp.com.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
Team Punk Vs. Team Foley Announced For WWE's Survivor Series PPV...
WWE has announced that Team CM Punk vs. Team Mick Foley in a traditional Survivor Series match will main event November's Survivor Series pay-per-view. Here are the teams: Team Punk: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio
Team Foley: Ryback, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Daniel Bryan
Survivor Series takes place on November 18th from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Hulkamania Online Slot Game Launches...
Keep checking your favorite online casinos for the slot game based on legendary pro wrestler, Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor and television personality. He is a 12-time world champion and the second longest-reigning WWF Champion of all time. Play as the greatest wrestler of all time in this 20 line slot game, and try to reach the 2 bonus rounds!
Australian casino king James Packer defends Sydney casino bid process; Entering virgin territory...
Tycoon James Packer has defended the way he and the New South Wales Government have gone about securing a second Sydney casino at a new harbour-side development.
Recently the New South Wales Government gave a preliminary tick of approval for the casino-hotel proposal at the Barangaroo site.
The Government says any new casino will not be allowed to start operation until 2019 because of an exclusivity arrangement with Star Casino.
And the project will not go out to tender - although Mr Packer insists he would have won any tender had it been conducted.
Recently Packer told a business dinner in Sydney that he was not just interested in making money, but wanted to build something "special" on the site at Barangaroo.
"I spent a lot of time in casinos as a kid with my dad, and I ended up thinking, f***, this must be a good business," he said.
"My dad was a lot smarter than I am and a lot more successful than I'll ever be, but he got his adrenalin rushes from going to a casino.
"That's the customer that we want. And there are a lot people out there who can afford it, and who you're selling adrenalin to, and they're happy to pay for that experience."
Mr Packer and his gaming company Crown Limited are having an especially good run of luck.
He says the latest project has been given the preliminary tick not because of lobbying, but because it is a really good idea.
This is more than just about money for me. My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something that is special.
"The Labor Party and the Liberal Party were prepared to look at this – or the Labor Party especially – in a bipartisan manner and Premier O'Farrell was willing to say 'let's just do it'," he said.
"There's three stages, and we've got to get through stages two and three ... Premier O'Farrell's made it very clear that we're not done and I don't think we're done, we're a long way from done, but we've had a very good day."
Mr Packer also defended his decision not to wait for a competitive tender process.
"The unsolicited proposal legislation was designed for good ideas and this is a good idea and we took advantage of the legislation that was in place," he said.
"So I think frankly if there was a tender it would be very hard to see how we wouldn't have won it."
So far, the gaming venue has been touted as one that would lure high rollers, especially international tourists, and it would not have pokies.
But Mr Packer says that could change.
"This is not an economic no-brainer," he said.
"You know, there has never been a casino in the world built for a billion dollars without slot machines.
"So we're entering virgin territory, and we're sitting there and saying we'll wait until 2019, as we should."
At the same time as promising to give Sydney an economic kickstart, he says he wants to be the one to leave a legacy in keeping with his father's.
"This is more than just about money for me," he said.
"I am a great believer in Sydney, this country has been incredibly kind to my family, this city has been incredibly kind to my family.
"My dad was a larger-than-life figure and I think this is my chance to do something, you know, that is special."
NWA Response to Australia controversy...
The NWA professional wrestling organization issued a response to the incident that occurred in Australia over the weekend, where their champion Adam Pearce tossed the world title down and quit the organization. 411mania.com reported on Oct. 29 that NWA president R. Bruce Tharpe sent out a press release teasing a new champion.
"The NWA World Heavyweight Title has been vacated. The Board of Governors wish former champion Adam Pearce the best in his future endeavors. There will be a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion crowned on Friday, November 2nd in Clayton, New Jersey."
The entire situation came to a head when champion Adam Pearce defended his world title against Colt Cabana in a "Seven Levels of Hate" challenge series. Pearce said if he lost, he would leave the NWA forever. The series was tied at 3-3 and the seventh match took place last weekend.
However, the NWA had a falling out with their Los Angeles affiliate so Pearce and Cabana moved their match to Australia. Apparently, the decision was for Cabana to win the match and become the new NWA World Champion.
The problem is that the NWA is ran by a governing body and they decide as a voting body who the champion will be. They refused to sanction the match as a title match, therefore proclaiming they would not back Colt Cabana as their champion.
When the match ended, and Cabana won, both men took turns on the microphone to bury the NWA. Cabana said it was an organization ran by idiots who lived in the past and refused to represent them. Pearce tossed down the title saying that when they pushed out Cabana, they pushed him out too.
With both men leaving, it is unclear who the NWA plans to put in the match for the title in November.
bwin.party Gaming Platforms to Be Powered by Lightstreamer Real-Time Technology...
The Lightstreamer Technology Will Be Used by bwin.party, a Global Leader in Digital Entertainment, for Pervasive Live Data Delivery Over the Web
MILAN, ITALY--(Marketwire - Oct. 29, 2012) - Weswit, a global leader in real-time web solutions, today announced that bwin.party (LSE:BPTY), the global online gaming company, has re-selected Lightstreamer to power its world-class gaming and betting platforms.
bwin.party, which has millions of customers worldwide and pro forma net revenue in 2011 of EUR816.0 million, will progressively deploy Lightstreamer in its online poker, casino, and bingo product verticals.
Lightstreamer is a massively scalable solution for pushing live data over WebSockets and other web protocols, to millions of users. With a growing number of customers ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, the Lightstreamer technology enables the streaming of real-time gaming data and messaging across multiple channels and apps, including HTML5, Android, iPhone, iPad, and many other platforms.
"Lightstreamer was the clear scalable solution to handle the complex real-time data communication required by our state-of-the-art gaming products," commented Tod Martin, bwin.party's Group Technology Director. "We are confident the Lightstreamer solution will provide the highest quality gaming experience for our customers." "We are honoured that Lightstreamer will be part of bwin.party's online gaming platforms," declared Mauro Fantechi, Co-CEO and Chairman at Weswit. "Being deployed in such well-known, cross-platform gaming environments, our solution keeps confirming its value for the betting and entertainment industries, which are at the forefront of technological development and innovation."
"It is truly exciting to know that bwin.party has selected our Lightstreamer real-time web technology," added Alessandro Alinone, co-CEO and CTO at Weswit.
"Lightstreamer takes care of all the complexity of delivering real-time data over the web, reducing the technological risks and drastically enhancing the pervasiveness of games."
Lightstreamer is made up of a high-performance server, which routes the real-time messages over the web protocols, and a rich set of client libraries, which easily enable any application to send and receive live data in an efficient and reliable way. Lightstreamer can reach any desktop and mobile client, whatever connectivity the user experiences, passing through any kind of proxies and firewalls. Features include bandwidth optimisation, adaptive throttling, data conflation, delta delivery, and total control over the quality of service.
About Weswit Weswit, with its flagship product Lightstreamer, is a global leader in real-time web streaming solutions. Since the beginning, Weswit has been focused on real-time technologies aimed at making the Web a live environment, and superseding the traditional web paradigm, where any update had to be "pulled" by the client, rather than "pushed" by the server.
Weswit has provided Lightstreamer to a growing number of companies ranging from small size startups to Fortune 500 corporations, including top-tier financial institutions, as well as aerospace, military, energy, gaming, sporting, and entertainment companies. In 2012, Weswit has been recognized as a "Cool Vendor in Application and Integration Platforms" by Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.
Weswit has thousands of free users and hundreds of customers worldwide, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, NASA, Sony Music, Honeywell, SocGen, UBS, IG Group, City Index, ICAP, and Fixnetix. www.weswit.com www.lightstreamer.com
About bwin.party digital entertainment bwin.party digital entertainment plc (LSE:BPTY) is a global online gaming company, formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the Group also has licences in France, Italy, Spain and Denmark. With offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US, the Group generated total pro forma revenue of EUR816.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of EUR199.3m in 2011. bwin.party commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The Group's scale, technology and strong portfolio of games collectively differentiate its customer offer from those of its competitors. bwin.party is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which identifies companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
CALIFORNIA ONLINE POKER ASSOCIATION COLLAPSES...
They certainly had noble intentions, but the ride is over for the California Online Poker Association after several million dollars spend and a handful of failed legislative bills caused the organisation to cease its lobbying efforts.
COPA had poured a lot of money into ensuring that online poker was both legalised and regulated in the state, but after spending $1.2 million on its efforts in the first half of 2012 alone without making any headway, it was decided that the group must fold.
Despite outspending companies like Chevron and the California Teachers Association, COPA’s two-year run saw a handful of proposed bills fall through the legislative cracks as interest dissipated or the state could not agree on the financial rewards for those who were involved.
COPA’s operating agreement had stated that the organisation would dissolve if significant progress had not been made by January 2013, but the decision was made to pull the plug ahead of schedule earlier this month, with Ryan Hightower, the group’s spokesman, confirming: “The decision was based upon insufficient progress within the legislature towards the passage of an online poker bill.”
The San Manuel and Morongo tribe who had affiliated themselves with COPA, however, are not giving up the fight just yet and have stated that they believe it is only a matter of time before online gambling happens in California. If legislation does change after 2013’s proceedings, don’t be surprised to see the efforts of COPA and its partners reassessed in light of the new online climate.
Spider-Man Inspired By Masked Luchadors...
In The Amazing Spider-Man, which hit theaters Tuesday, Peter Parker is inspired to create a mask after winding up inside a wrestling ring surrounded by posters of masked luchadors. It is not the first wrestling connection in the movie franchise as in the premiere film released in 2002, Peter enters a wrestling tournament and squares off against a character portrayed by the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Spider-Man movie has strong ties to pro wrestling; "Macho Man" Randy Savage connection...
The Amazing Spider-Man was released during the Independence Day week and so far the flick has performed well.
The Spider-Man franchise is awesome, it is something else which has pro wrestling fans excited about the latest reboot of the superhero franchise.
In the original film, starring Tobey Maguire, we witnessed Spider-Man enter a pro wrestling match in order to win a sum of cash which would allow him to purchase a used car he thought would impress Mary Jane.
Initially, Peter Parker wanted to be called The Human Spider, but Bruce Campbell put a stop to that nonsense and sent him down to the ring as Spider-Man.
As if seeing the man most famously known as Ash Williams wasn't enough, we were treated to a second cameo within seconds.
Spidey was facing off against Bonesaw McGraw, who was played by the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
It was here where Spidey first faced off against a foe who put him through hell.
This cameo by the legendary "Macho Man" was warmly welcomed by wrestling fans who had missed Savage. The new film, featuring Andrew Garfield as the webby one has gone back to its roots and given Peter Parker another wrestling-based inspiration.
At one point in the film Peter Parker is walking away from a group of hoodlums he had just schooled when he falls through a roof, landing in the middle of a wrestling ring.
When he stood up and looked around he saw what provided him with the inspiration for his signature mask.
The small arena was filled with signs featuring Lucha Libre masks, one of which catches Parker's eye more than the others.
The mask is red with dark-colored designs surrounding the eyes, nearly an exact copy of Spidey's look sans the webbing all over the face area.
Director Marc Webb made a lot of wrestling fans happy by inserting another inspiration for Spider-Man which is based in the world of pro wrestling.
Wrestling fans and comic book fans have a large cross over audience which these film makers have smartly plugged into - further casting their own web, to help increase net profits of course.
Comics and pro wrestling have a few elements in common. They both feature people dressed in fancy outfits, have signature attacks / finishing moves, and have a good VS evil theme for the most part.
Both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi chose to use wrestling as a launching pad for Peter Parker is also another point that wrestling fans are high on.
This latest part of the Hollywood - pro wrestling connection has gone over well and may even lead to the wrestling themes been further cast out in the Hollywood movie web and the movie industry wrestles attempting to get back some of the glory and money it used to make.
Marvel Entertainment Movies: Amazing Spider-Man, Thor 2, The Avengers Et Al Boost Popularity Of Marvel Slot Games...
The Media Man agency reports that Marvel themed online slot games across the network, and featured at partner, PartyCasino.com , are boosting the popularity of the superhero themed online slot games. Bwin.Party currently offers The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, with more expected to soon hit the popular gaming and entertainment website destination.
WWE Keen To Work With UFC Fighter; Ties To C.M Punk And "Stone Cold" Steve Austin...
Various news media has reported that WWE is interested in working with 35 year old UFC fighter "The American Gangster" Chael Sonnen. There's been mixed reports on whether Sonnen will one day try his hand at pro wrestling, post MMA, following the lead of 'King Mo' who now wrestles in TNA Wrestling. Oh, did you hear... Batista may soon be returning to professional wrestling WWE style - watch this space, and be sure to check him out in the new flick 'The Man With The Iron Fists', where he plays 'Brass Body'.
Back to the talented big mouth fighter Sonnen...he has ties to WWE as he is mates with WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk was ready to accompany Sonnen to the Octagon for a fight several months back but that was nixed.
Sonnen is also close to WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin. Austin has been bringing Sonnen out to his Broken Skull Ranch in Texas to help him with strength and conditioning training.
Ric Flair may soon return to WWE; Next Monday on Raw?...
Various pro wrestling websites and "dirt sheets" are reporting that folks close to Ric Flair are stating that he will be returning WWE at the October 29th RAW from Charlotte, North Carolina. Many fans are of course hoping this rumour is true.
The general understanding is that he will be getting involved in the storyline with AJ Lee, Vickie Guerrero and John Cena.
Flair will be a most welcome addition to the roster which is thin on depth at the moment, with big name iconic wrestlers such as The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar nowhere to be seen. Lots of internet buzz about a potential return to the WWE from Dave Bautista, but nothing's 100% until it happens.
Hardcore and casual fans are excited about seeing Flair work with his modern day equivalent of sorts - Dolph Ziggler. How cool what that be? You can smell the improved TV ratings already.
WWE needs to pull a rabbit or two out of the hat, and the likes of Flair, Bautista, The Rock and The Undertaker are just what the doctor ordered. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is also strongly rumoured to make some WWE appearances in 2013, which may or may not result in a fued or match with CM Punk.
Lot's of rumors around and all up it should make a more entertaining that usual Raw, and new WWE program, Main Event, would also do well to see legendary wrestlers return.
Yes fans, there's a lot of buzz and excitement around at the moment, so let's hope that the WWE powers that be do what is required to get some legendary wrestlers back on the active roster.
One more thing for us Ryback fans, and there's millions - Feed Me More!
Websites
Media Man Int
WWE website
Marvel Entertainment
The Amazing Spider-Man official website
Casino News Media
Media Man Entertainment
Wrestling News Media
Human Statue Bodyart
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man News
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)