The MeeThinks Friday FreeThinks: 11.06.09

Posted by John Meehan on 11.06.2009

The Hulkster arrives in TNA... BUT WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?!?

Welcome back, all, and thanks for tuning in for the regularly scheduled week-end wrap-up of all things 'rasslin related. Quite a busy week in the world of pseudo-grappling, huh? Well okay, maybe there weren't any bona-fide ICONS coming out of retirement and signing on with the second largest wrestling promotion in North America (this week), but we've still got plenty of stuff to discuss nonetheless.

And hey -- Jim Neidhart is pretty much an "icon" in his own right, no?

"No," you say?

"Hahahahahahaha." We'll I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one, "baby."

No seriously -- Neidhart is the man.

Now then... onto the 'rasslin news.

Ooh -- but before we get started...

411 is Coming to Survivor Series
November 22 PPV to Eminate from Washington, D.C.

After talking with a handful of my fellow 'rasslin diehards in and around the area and on the world wide webs, I've decided that it might make for a fun night of fandom for those 411mania professional wrestling peeps in the Washington, D.C. area to get together, grab a beer, shoot the breeze, and wax philosophical on this pseudo-sport of kings as WWE hosts the Survivor Series two weeks from Sunday night at the Verizon Center.

So...

Prior to the show, we'll meet up at one of my favorite bars right down the street from the Verizon Center (Red Line Metro, Gallery Place/Chinatown). From 6 p.m. until show time, we'll throw back a few drinks, make some new friends, and talk wrestling. Then we'll split up, head on over to the arena for the show itself, and sit back and enjoy all that Survivor Series has to offer.

Date: Sunday, November 22
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fado Irish Pub (808 7th St NW)

Open invite to all 411 readers and Washington-area wrestling fans! Feel free to shoot Mee an e-mail, post away below, or help spread the word.

Sound like a plan?

Rock & Roll.

The SELL of the week goes to Jamie Noble, who received a viscious powerbomb onto the ringside floor from RAW's newest superstar in Sheamus, and proceeded to writhe and scream in total agony immediately thereafter until he was taken away on a stretcher. Noble has long been interested in helping fellow talent develop and mature, and his willingness to take (and sell!) such a brutal assault from RAW's new monster really went a long way in putting Sheamus over as a force to be reckoned with on Monday nights. Obviously the biggest concern is for Jamie's safety in all of this, but his performance this past Monday night did wonders to establish the credibility of what could soon be one of WWE's newest main eventers.

The TELL of the week goes to Lacey Von Erich, who delivered what might well be the single lamest finishing maneuver ever seen on TNA programming since the Jenna Morasca versus Sharmell fiasco. As a descendant of the famed Von Erich wrestling clan, Lacey has the pedigree and the heritage to tap into a wide array of wrestling holds. Unfortunately, she's decided to adapt her family's famed "Claw" finisher and twist it into one of the sorriest chokeslams ever televised. And this past week's iMPACT! broadcast didn't help hide the fact that she really has no clue how to make it in the ring.

Vance Archer - former TNA mainstay Lance Hoyt made his WWE debut this week, under the newly reChristened ring name of "Vance Archer." The ECW newcomer was described as "intense," and he made short work of local talent Logan Jones, pinning him in just under a minute's time. Obviously, there really isn't all that much to judge the guy by with so little to show for his WWE tenure thus far -- but MeeThinks it's certainly fair enough to say that he looked healthy, motivated, and impressive in what little we've seen of him thus far.

Hey -- it's certainly no worse than Twenty-Plus-Pounds of Braden "Knock, Knock" Walker.


Logan Jones - local talent Logan Jones made a one-off appearance on WWE programming this week when he was defeated by ECW newcomer Vance Archer. Jones reportedly trained under the late, great Killer Kowalski (much like Triple H), but he is not believed to have signed a long-term WWE contract at this time.


Jenny Brooks - local talent Jenny Brooks made a one-off appearance on WWE programming this week when she was defeated by Smackdown! diva Beth Phoenix in what appears to be the first step in a long-overdue rebuilding process for the once dominant "Glamazon." Brooks was announced as having been the sole female competitor to hold an ameteur wrestling victory over Phoenix, which lent her a modicum of credibility at the outset of the contest, but she was soundly dispatched by her much stronger and more well-established opponent. As of this writing, it is not believed that Jenny Brooks has been offered a long-term WWE contract.




None - In a welcome development, there are no new wrestler retirements, obituaries, or firings to report in the past seven days' time.




None - In a similar note of good news, there are no new injuries to report in the past seven days' time.




In this segment, I'll be firing off a handful of micro-commentaries at some of the industry's biggest stars and stories. Where appropriate, I'll even try incorporating some one-liners from the week that was in the 411 wrestling zone's comments section.

For those of y'all who aren't familiar with Twitter-style posting, the format is simple:

@Recipient's Name - 140 character message goes here. #MessageTopic

And before you ask: No, these aren't actual tweets.

FAKE TWEETS OF THE WEEK

@Eric Young - A Canadian champ renames a title belt at will? Deja' vu all over again! #WCWCanadianChampionship #100kgAndUnderChampionship #SaskatchewanHardcoreInternationalTitle

@Internet Wrestling Commenters - CM Punk has been saying "it's clobberin' time" for years. This is nothing new. #PayAttention

@Eric Escobar - Way to keep that momentum going strong, amigo. #DoomedToMidcardHell

@Rey Mysterio - Sorry, but invoking Eddie Guerrero's name is just as cheap for a face as it is for a heel. #DoubleStandard

@411Mania Editors - Bad new's. We don't pluralize word's with apostrophe's. #4R's

@Chris Jericho - Good thing you don't play for the Kansas City Chiefs. That kinda' talk will get you suspended. #F-Word

@RAW Guest Hosts - To borrow a line from Joey Styles, "I'm *beggin' you* to watch the product." #Kobe Johnson #Evan Braun #SummerFest #Obvious

@Ozzy Osbourne - Nice work hosting, but you totally should have re-hired Super Crazy and A-Train as RAW's dominant new tag team, "Crazy Train." #AyAyAy #MissedOpportunities

@Kofi Kingston Fanboys - A charismatic young black man getting a push on RAW? Yup, that'll last. #MVP

@Zack Ryder - Lovin' the giant zit on your forehead. There's a cream for that, you know. #Stridex




Ooh... speaking of Twitter:


Social Media and Professional Wrestling: Part II

Yesterday morning, my esteemed 411 colleague Chris Lansdell churned out a pretty fantastic piece on the benefits and uses of Social Media tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like as they relate to this wacky and wonderful world of professional wrestling.

Read the column here.

In a timely happenstance, yesterday afternoon, WWE issued something of a selective "gag order" on the Twitter activities of their performers -- discouraging talent from posting on social networking websites, particularly after midnight.

Anyhow --

Since Lansdell had been planning his column for a while, we had the opportunity to trade e-mails back and forth and add our thoughts on the matter well before it hit the official 411 airwaves. Regrettably, "real life" work got in the way and I was unable to get him MeeThinks prior to his deadline -- but I figure that now is as perfect a time as any to throw them into *my* column, sort of as a follow-up addendum to the fantastic piece he put together for yesterday's article.

Again, I'd encourage you to read his column here.

Now then --

I mentioned that "real world work got in the way" of my ability to chime in on Lansdell's column. But just what, exactly, am I talking about when I say "real world work" anyhow?

As fate would have it -- my 9-to-5 job deals almost exclusively with Social Media and emerging web technologies. And since I spend the better part of 40 hours each week monitoring my company's online "brand strength, engagement and identity" as the "Assistant Director of Media and Marketing" (don't let the title fool ya' -- the pay is terrible!), I figure that I'm probably at least semi-qualified to lend something of an informed perspective to all of this talk of "Social Media" and its offspring.

Let's face it -- it's not going away any time soon.

So here we go:

Speaking from the perspective of somebody who deals with this "social media" craze from the inside looking out, it's really no stretch to say that there are literally thousands of ways to approach this topic. But for the sake of the discussion of "social media and professional wrestling," I think it's fair to say that there are three primary ways to look at how this stuff works:

1) from a FAN's perspective
2) from a PROMOTER's perspective. And...
3) from a PERFORMER's perspective.

Since other 'rasslin news is relatively light this week, let's tackle these topics one by one.

Social Media from a Wrestling FAN's Perspective
For starters, social media sites are powerful tools for keeping a product (and a promotion) relevant, timely, and "user-friendly." From this "outside-in" approach (which is to say: "the side that end-users see"), Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are used by both major North American promotions to help deliver micro-press-releases, site news, video highlights, and programming notes. With a simple status update, both companies are able to reach their "fans" and "followers" instantly and in real-time. And coming from an "outside-looking-in" perspective, this is a fantastic way for fans to receive, trade, and exchange information as a promotion shills new products, pimps new progamming, and publishes pertinent stories and event details.

Internet message board junkies will be the first to tell you just how essential it is for new content to power online conversation. And to that same end, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest live and die by user-participation. People are posting? Your site is instantly relevant. People STOP posting? And you're old news in a heartbeat ('sup, MySpace?).

Thanks to this real-time discussion format, public images, burgeoning news stories, and upstart rumors can be both validated or destroyed in an instant. Fans are no longer satisfied with daily or weekly updates, and sites are forced to churn out new content by the minute as everybody rushes to get their say in on a certain topic the second it hits the news wire. Site credibility is gained and lost in direct relation to how fast and accurately a certain outlet can report on the next big story, and the faster a rumor can be verified or debunked, the more likely your audience is to tune their attention your way the next time a big story comes their way.

Sure this real-time reporting, fact-checking, and opinion-shaping can be both reactionary and dangerous, but it can also be a powerful tool for fan engagement. Fans aren't just "receiving" the news, they're re-POSTING it, and (effectively) "reporting" it. No longer must fans depend on promoters, performers or major news outlets to provide new content or give their side of a story. And since social media allows for real-time updating and fact-checking across the board, the hubs, sites or superfans that can churn out quality content and breaking news in the most timely and verifiable of fashions will always have an advantage and an audience.

You might even say that the "social media" craze pretty much gives the power back to the people.

But don't expect the promoters to take it lying down...


Social Media from a Wrestling PROMOTER's Perspective
Sure, social media tools help to put the fans back on the front lines of breaking stories and web-exclusive content... but that doesn't mean that "the big-wigs" must simply sit back and watch as their web-savvy fans (inmates?) go wild with this newfound power and start running the proverbial asylum.

That's why they've installed security cameras throughout the building, after all.

In this metaphor, however, promoters aren't relying on *actual* security cameras to "monitor their asylum." Instead, they've installed and monitor a vast and detailed network of secruity and tracing features across each of their social networking hubs.

Of course, they'll never come right out and say as much. And as end-users, we really don't like to think of it this way -- but the bottom line is that regardless of how "liberated" fans may feel while sharing stories, reposting videos, communicating directly with performers, and hyperlinking across the globe in this brave new world of social media freedom, "Big Brother is watching."

From an "inside-out" perspective, there are a TON of "super secret" tools that live inside of the seemingly friendly confines of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and (yes, even) the "WWE Universe" sites that allow each major promotion to keep tabs on just what and who within their company is getting folks' attention. More importantly -- and *why*.

If you're an owner of a Facebook Fan Page, you'll notice that there is a handy built-in "Page Insights" tracing tool that allows you to keep a closer eye on your audience. You can see when new users register, monitor what content is being reposted (and where and how), trace sudden spikes or drops in membership (and cross-reference them with onscreen happenings and the like), and make educated, long-term projections on just how quickly your brand will continue to grow in the days, weeks, and months to come.

But that's not all --

Third-party applications like Google Analytics and HootSuite are ridiculously effective tools to keep track of certain topics, trends, and discussions among a closed social media site's population. Thanks to these platforms, "company insiders" (read: company-employed nerds and numbers-crunchers) can literally generate daily reports on the day-to-day popularity and discussability of EVERY SINGLE PERFORMER on their roster.

Which star has the most fans? Which performer's popularity is rising or falling the fastest? What employee's web space is drawing the most unique hits a day? Etc., etc., etc. The possibilities (and the reports) are literally endless -- and there will be solid numbers to back up just about any permutation of data that your little heart may desire.

In short -- it's real-time Nielsen ratings for every single performer, angle, and storyline on your roster. You can track who's saying what and which talent is getting hot at any given moment. You can make adjustments when a certain angle starts to incur fan apathy. And you can trace longer-term trends of "real-time" stats to test just how strong the staying power of a given star may be even on those days when they are not being pushed to the top of the card and/or down their fans throats. And armed with this knowledge, you can adjust your promotional tactics and onscreen offerings accordingly.

By the same token, WWE's "WWE Universe" answer to Facebook is a great way for corporate execs to both monitor and disseminate content. Much like the WWE Magazine of old, it is powerful tool to introduce and connect their fans with the individual performers and storylines that the company's creative team is working so desperately hard to get over in the first place.


Ooh, and speaking of performers:


Social Media from a Wrestling PERFORMER's Perspective
As "independent contractors" (just ask WWE), professional wrestlers are and always have been in a business where they pretty much have to be their own biggest supporter. Whether it's in matters of onscreen image or backstage politics, this "carny" atmosphere lives and dies by performers ability to develop and maintain a strong and well-respected reputation. Social media websites are a fantastic way for performers to bring their "public image" directly to the consumers themselves.

How?

Sites like Twitter and Facebook are perfect stand-ins for makeshift "public relations offices." When you leave a company, join a company, get into a backstage scuffle, suffer an injury, make a trip to a new city, or visit an autograph signing, announcing that information via a social media network is an ideal way to put YOUR spin on that story before "the dirt sheets" get a hold of the tale and put their inevitable twist on the situation.

Sure your employer might curtail your "journalistic freedom" from time to time (simply because they, too, have an image to maintain) -- but this is a fantastic way to quite literally CONNECT with the fans and become a "people's champion" in the truest sense of the phrase. And to borrow (and bastardize) a line from Gladiator, connecting with your audience is crucial when you're looking to establish long-term success in a business where so many other performers come and go on such a regular and almost random basis. As the old adage goes: "win their hearts and you'll win their wallets."

Guys like Matt Hardy are living proof of this phenomenon. Even though he wasn't doing much anything of note at the time of his first WWE firing, his fan support was just so powerful (and vocal) that WWE had little alternative but to hire him back into the fold. And even though he continued to spin his wheels for the better part of three years before *finally* becoming semi-relevant in the main event picture thereafter, the guy ultimately ended up a bigger star than ever simply because he'd won the hearts of so many fans.


Long Story Short
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest might seem like little more than insipid ways to waste an afternoon at work. But each of these sites, when used properly, can become invaluable tools in strengthening brand identity, fan engagement, and audience retention across the board. Performers can develop a "cult-like" following of grass-roots supporters and watch their onscreen stock rise accordingly. Promoters can keep tabs on just which stars are generating the most buzz regardless of current storylines. And fans can use these "Web 2.o" technologies to make their voices heard, rally support for their favorites, and affect a real, positive change in the end product as a direct result of their actions.

Kind of amazing what you can do with a mere 140 character message, eh?

---

Follow Mee on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma






Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff - TNA's newest "hires"/"partners"/"business associates"/etc. have already created quite a stir among the wrestling faithful this week, as the WCW and WWF/E veterans were reticent to disclose just what, exactly, their official duties with TNA wrestling would entail. In some interviews, Hulkster was reluctant to mention much of TNA Wrestling at all. In others, he proudly boasted that he would be "the boss" of the company -- reporting to no one other than Dixie Carter's father himself. And in still other reports, Hulk and Bischoff have yet to even set foot in an actual TNA arena or meet one-on-one with any members of the company's roster or writing staff... thus leading many to wonder just WHAT, exactly, the Red and Yellow Express and Uncle Eric have up their sleeves when it comes to the future of WWE's biggest competitors.

MeeThinks?

Hulk is currently making the rounds in a desperate attempt to sell as many copies of his latest autobiography as possible. In addition, he's finalizing the details in regards to his upcoming tour of Australia, and he's been pulled in all sorts of backstage directions as the final details of his brand-new TNA contract are hammered out. It's no excuse for not having his story straight and/or downplaying his role in/with TNA, of course, but the simplest explanation here might just be the most logical.

"So why can't Hogan give fans and reporters a straight story on what his role in TNA will be," you ask?

Perhaps the answer is just "he hasn't yet been told."

If Hogan was indeed "running the show" from an official capacity, it's hard to believe that Vince Russo would have been kept on board the company's creative team for so much as a second longer than it took the Hulkster to stroll through the door and throw the guy out on his rear. Russo and Hogan have a well-documented history of bad blood, and one has to believe that if Hulk himself was given supreme booking authority over ALL of the company's matches, performers, and storylines, he'd have little use keeping a notorious enemy anywhere near the backstage dealings of the company he'd been brought in to helm.

Then again -- there's something to be said for "keep your enemies closer," ya' know.

Looking at the Hogan/Bischoff/etc. situation from an outsider's perspective, it's tough to tell just what, exactly, ANYONE has in store when it comes to their future and their roles within (and backstage in) the TNA organization. Regardless, the fact that Hogan and Easy E didn't come right in and overhaul the place like gangbusters seems to be a pretty solid indicator that for now, at least, they will not be given any sort of "supreme backstage authority" over the broader direction of the promotion in the near future.

(Again -- "for now, at least.")

Looking ahead, though...

Perhaps Hogan's backstage flip-floppery is actually a well-crafted hesitation to spill the beans on a storyline that could very well power TNA through much of the 2010 calendar year. After all, it's no secret that Vince Russo is a big fan of "worked shoots," and it would be pretty hard for TNA to have Hulk Hogan on their payroll and *not* include him in some sort of onscreen storyline as a result.

"But how," you ask?

Check out "The Developments" section below.




So four weeks ago, I compiled a season-long guide to the Monday Night Football matchups and attempted to venture an educated guess as to how WWE's ratings would likely fare against each game accordingly. Last week, I took the midpoint of the season as a chance to re-evaluate the latter half of the MNF schedule, and basically, I tried to size up the relative appeal of each Monday Night Football offering and anticipate what sort of effect it might have on WWE's audience as a result.

I've found that this helps us set reasonable, positive expectations for each new week's broadcast. And more often than not (I'm officially 8-1 on the year), the predictions have been dead-on. Rather than freak out every week RAW's ratings dip a few points here or ther, the goal was to give wrestling fans a good idea of what they're up against (based on the strength of the competition), and the hope is to save us from the typical "sky is falling" knee-jerk pessimism that is often so rampant among internet wrestling fans.

LAST WEEK'S PREDICTION:
WEEK 8 (Nov. 2): The Saints and the Falcons are each playing some of their best football in years, which means that this previously-unattractive Monday night offering should turn out to be a surprisingly big draw.

ACTUAL RESULT:
WWE Monday Night Raw scored a 3.4 rating, a slight drop from last week's 3.7. Raw's rating faced two main sources of competition in the form of Game 5 of the World Series, which drew upwards of 12 million viewers, and Monday Night Football, which scored a 8.9 rating -- a slight decrease from last week's 9.35.

BOTTOM LINE:At the season's outset, I didn't think that the Saints/Falcons matchup would draw nearly the audience of the previous week's showdown. And while the Nielsens did indeed drop accordingly, even I was forced to admit that the New Orleans/Atlanta matchup would indeed prove a heck of a lot more formidable half-way through the season than anyone could have possibly expected in week one.

Regardless -- RAW's ability to retain the vast majority of their fanbase against BOTH a fantastic MNF offering AND a hard-fought Game 5 of the World Series is proof positive that WWE's flagship show is still very much going strong in spite of stiff competition. Still, WWE will have to pull out all of the stops if they expect to keep their ratings solid against what should be a seriously attractive Monday Night Football offering.


NEXT WEEK'S PREDICTION: (cut-and-pasted from last week's column)
Week 10 PITTSBURGH at DENVER | Monday Night Football lucked out huge with this one, as Pittsburgh and Denver pits the defending Super Bowl Champions squaring off against the Cinderella Story of the year -- and that typically translates to some respectable ratings to boot. As such, November 9's matchup might even draw bigger numbers than the Saints/Falcons showdown from the week prior (which means bad news for RAW).




Hogan's Role in TNA Wrestling Remains a Mystery
Conflicting reports emerge on The Hulkster's duties with Orlando-based promotion

We talked about the backstage goings-on surrounding Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff above, but its no secret that there are bound to be some serious onscreen implications that stem as a direct result of their behind-the-scenes roles, WHATEVER they may be in the weeks and months to come.

That said, now seems like a perfect time to see how TNA might well be laying the groundwork for a Hulk Hogan onscreen arrival. After all, they practically rewrote last week's commentary track in order to hype his impending debut in just about every possible fashion available.

So let's see what else might be heralding the arrival of the Red and Yellow Express...

Anyone with an eye toward current TNA storylines can't help but notice that we've seen the seeds planted for what appears to be the early makings of an onscreen "conspiracy theory" among the TNA talent. In the wake of Bound for Glory and from the ashes of the Main Event Mafia storyline, it appears as if the new direction for TNA's booking year has gradually begun to introduce the shadow of doubt that something bigger than the organization itself might well be at play in the onscreen fates of some of its newest and most familiar talent.

Meanwhile, TNA's backstage "creative team" is helmed by Vince Russo. And if nothing else, Russo is well-known for being a longtime fan of "shades of grey" booking where traditional heel and face lines are blurred as "real life" drama worms its way into pre-scripted storyline developments.

Let's not forget that the TNA backstage crew also just so happened to acquire the services of one Hulk Hogan and one Eric Bischoff -- the two men widely regarded as the creative forces behind the single most financially successful professional wrestling angle of the modern era in the form of the new World order.

You remember: that rogue band of "outsiders" who blended real-life drama with onscreen storylines in order to convince fans that they were taking over that "little-promotion-that-could."

Gee, that's funny...

Exhibit A:
Rhino swears up and down that there is a broader conspiracy afoot backstage in the TNA ranks, and "they're all in on it." Two weeks later, and Brother Devon inadvertantly loses a match when a TNA referee calls for an early bell. Suddenly, Team 3D starts to smell a rat. Perhaps Rhino had a point -- just *what* is going on here? And *who* are "THEY," anyway?


Exhibit B:
Kurt Angle finds himself on the receiving end of a viscious string of beatdowns from this new guy named Desmond Wolfe. Even though the ROH faithful know full well that Wolfe is actually longtime independent darling in Nigel McGuinness, TNA fans are asked to treat the guy as a total newcomer with virtually no backstory whatsoever. His past accolades are only mentioned in passing, and Angle is forced to square off against this mysterious new challenger who he knows little about despite the fact that the newcomer seems to have him scouted down to a T. This disconnect in familiarity leads TNA announcers and even Angle himself to address Wolfe and his intentions directly -- saying that he doesn't know "who you are, what you call yourself, or who sent you," but that he's never one to back down from a fight.

Wait a second -- "who sent you," you say?

The plot thickens.


Exhibit C:
AJ Styles is riding high as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. But like most other champions before him, he soon finds a target has been placed on his back by virtue of his status as the company's top dog. Instantly, he's forced to fend off not one but TWO challengers in the form of Samoa Joe AND Christopher Daniels. But triple-threat championship bouts are hardly uncommon, and so he agrees to face both of these challengers head-on.

What AJ does *NOT* expect, however, is to be on the receiving end of not one but TWO weeks worth of backstage blindside assaults from a yet-unrevealed assailant. Even though the spoilers make it pretty clear just *who*, exactly, is behind these attacks -- the question remains: the guy who's blindsiding AJ has pretty much made a career out of being something of a hired gun. So why in the world would he suddenly go into business for himself?

In other words (ala Austin Powers): just *who*, exactly, does Number Two work for?

Given the onscreen developments, the backstage personalities, and the historical precedents that are converging in TNA at this point in time -- I would not be suprised in the least to see each of these forces come together in one, big storyline that culminates with the arrival of The Immortal one himself.

Though as Bobby Brain once so famously asked: "but whose side is he on?!"

To borrow a line from Shakespeare -- "something wicked this way comes."

Stay tuned.




Since the past week played host to Halloween, it's pretty hard for a die-hard professional wrestling fan like Mee *not* to give "random 'rasslin reference of the week" honors to the droves upon droves of costumed characters I encountered when parading through the streets of Washington, D.C. this past Saturday night.

More specifically --

I've gotta hand it to each of those Halloween diehards who went over and beyond the usual call of duty and actually decided to brave the All Hallow's Eve bar crowds while dressed up as their favorite professional wrestlers. Though I was bummed at the sheer lack of Papa Shango and Max Moon costumes -- it is always great to see a well-made pro wrestler costume gracing the typical Halloween crowd of ghouls and ghosts.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the actual costumed folk I encountered, so I've had to scour the web for close approximations of other homemade 'rasslin Halloween getups. Regardless, I'm still going to hand out "random' rasslin reference of the week" honors to each of the wannabe pro-wrestler outfits I happened to spot while bar-hopping on Halloween.



Here's to you, Halloween Hulk Hogan.


Raise a glass, Almost Ultimate Warrior!



And kudos to you, larger-than-life-sized Rey Mysterio!

Halloween is a great holiday no matter how you slice it. And as a wrestling fan, it is always a blast to see fellow aficianados donning the guises of their favorite grapplers from yesteryear on a night where it's perfectly acceptable to strut through the streets wearing little more than spandex and a bandana.

What wrestling-inspired costumes did YOU see this year?

---

And With That, I'm Outta' Here

That'll do it for Mee this week. If you're an AFC East fanboy (like yours truly), keep your eyes on Foxboro this weekend for what will probably be the biggest momentum-changing game of the fall calendar. Ooh yeah, and GO PATS! 'Till next time, enjoy the arrival of November and the promise of Thanksgiving right around the corner -- and always stay positive.

- Meehan

The National Domestic Violence Hotline : [phone]-SAFE.