Category Archives: Pop Culture Ponderings

“WWE 2K15” slams sports entertainment gaming into the next generation

I have a strange relationship with wrestling games. I have never been great at them. However, at the same time, I find myself addicted to them when a new installment drops. When a new WWE title comes out, you usually know what to expect. You may have a new roster, new create-a-wrestler options and some sort of single player story mode; but not a lot changes from year to year. This is why I was very excited to get my hands on the first sports entertainment game on a next-gen console.

I received my copy of WWE 2K15 on PlayStation 4 and my first impression was great. For my first match, I chose Bray Wyatt and my opponent was John Cena. As soon as the entrances started, I knew that the graphics were a massive jump up in quality from the previous games on last-gen consoles. The whole look and feel of 2K15 is a huge accomplishment for capturing the intensity of a real match. The best thing about 2K15 is how it showcases what we have to look forward to graphically with the next-gen wrestling games.

As impressed with the graphics as I was, I couldn’t help but realize how much was missing this year. The CAW mode is not what it used to be. There are not many options for your look and there are no options at all for creating a diva, arena, finisher or title. They also removed one of my favorite features, which was being able to have my wrestler come out to my own custom music. Maybe I should not have expected as much since the visuals have improved drastically; but it is disappointing that we can’t have it all with the first venture into the next generation.

There are two main single player modes this time. The 2K Showcase features famous rivalries and requires you to perform historical objectives in order to progress. This is very similar to the Attitude Era mode on WWE ’13. However, the story and the cut scenes are not quite as engaging. The Career mode is an exclusive to PS4 and Xbox One. Career mode has been popular in sports games for years, but I was pretty happy that this feature made its way to WWE games. In this mode, you start out with your CAW character in the WWE Performance Center. Your goal is to work your way up by making various decisions and winning matches to eventually become the superstar you know you want to be. The Career mode feature is my favorite addition to the franchise.

Overall, I have enjoyed my experience with WWE 2K15. The graphics and the gameplay are top notch, and I never noticed any huge glitches besides a couple of weird moments where the computer would seem to get stuck running in place. The roster is dynamic and fun and, as usual in these games, it really shines when playing with friends. The creation options are limited within this installment, but if that is not a deal breaker for you, I highly suggest picking it up. I give WWE 2K15 a solid 7 out of 10.

wwe.2k.com

“Amaluna” celebrates womanhood through athletic artistry and music

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Miranda’s water bowl performance symbolizes her transition into womanhood.

Female performers are often central to the stories being told at Cirque du Soleil shows. But they have never been more celebrated than they are in Amaluna, which premiered in 2012 and features a cast of 70 percent women, with an entirely female band. A coming-of-age story told through music, dance, juggling, acrobatics and other amazing athletic performances, Amaluna follows Miranda as she not only begins her transformation into womanhood, but encounters her first male romantic interest when Romeo’s ship crashes on her island during a storm. Her transition is made complete during a spectacular performance in an enormous water bowl under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess (and Romeo, who eventually can’t help but join her in the water). But there are many other important steps in Miranda’s growing process, which is a more tangible narrative than most Cirque shows told through some of Cirque’s most interesting acts to date. Rowenna Dunn, who has been Cirque’s touring publicist for eight years, tells Wrestling with Pop Culture what inspired Amaluna and where some of its more interesting acts were discovered.

I got to see the show during its opening weekend in Atlanta and noticed that it is a largely female cast with an entirely female band. Why was the decision made to do such a female-centric Cirque du Soleil show?

This is actually the 33rd production we have produced, and Cirque celebrated its 30th anniversary in January of this year, which was a pretty big milestone for us. Every time they create a show they try to come up with something different and something new for our existing fans as well as for our new fans. We’re changing with the times and keeping up to date with technology and things like that, so our shows that have been produced in the last couple of years are obviously much different than the show that were produced years ago. When the idea came up for this show, Guy Laliberté, our founder and owner, decided it was about time to really showcase women, their strengths, their acrobatic skill and their virtuosity. Traditionally with all of Cirque’s show, the ratio of the cast was about 70-80 percent male to 20-30 percent female. That wasn’t necessarily a conscious effort, that was just the way it fell. When this show came about, a conscious effort was made to really seek out these amazing female athletes, acrobats and artists to create the show. Similarly for the band, it’s the first time we’ve had a 100 percent female band.

The central story is a coming of age for Miranda as she becomes a woman.

Part of creating this show with a bit of a different twist and an emphasis on showcasing the strength, beauty and grace of women, we brought in Diane Paulus, who is a Broadway director and the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard. She was brought in to bring a bit stronger narrative and more theatrical elements to the show. A lot of our shows aren’t necessarily telling a linear story, but in this case it was decided to have a very strong storyline. She drew upon a lot of classical influences, Greek and Norse mythology, a bit of a spin on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. That’s why you see Cali the lizard and Prospera, a female spin on Prospero. Diane has directed a lot of opera, so she drew from that background as she was creating this show, as well. It’s a linear storyline with a beginning, middle and end, but it is still very whimsical and open for interpretation.

You mentioned Cali, the male lizard character who seems to be Miranda’s protector. But he becomes a bit overprotective when she meets Romeo. Cali’s performance really stood out, even though this show is so female-centric.

Viktor Kee portrays Cali, Miranda’s overprotective pet, in Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna”.

He’s been her only pet and only companion on the island, so he sees Romeo as a threat when he arrives on the island. He’s been with the company for about 15 years and he created the role of the juggler on one of our other shows, Dralion, and has worked for a few different productions. That role was created with him in mind, so he was approached directly to say, “Hey. We’re creating this show and we have this storyline we’re putting together. We have this cast of amazing acts. How would you feel about creating this character?” With a lot of other disciplines and a lot of other theatrical performances, you might have somebody who would just do their main act on the stage and they’re not really doing much else throughout the show. But in this case Viktor Kee, who plays Cali, was really integral in creating that role and very invested in creating that role. You see him on stage for about 90 percent of the show. He’s pretty much on stage or in the audience or somewhere visible, in character, even when he’s not the main act.

The other act that was interesting to me was Lara Jacobs Rigolo and her intense stick balancing routine.

That’s our Balance Goddess. It’s demonstrating balance when Romeo is falling in love and trying to see if it’s going to work. That act was actually performed just as it was brought to us. We have a few different ways that we cast for our shows. We go out and find existing acts and existing pieces that we think would fit well into one of our existing shows, or maybe we have a bank of candidates we might draw upon at a later stage or use to replace an existing act. With that particular act, Lara’s father created it. So I guess he woke up one day and thought that was a good idea to start balancing those palm fronds one upon another and created a very beautiful and very lyrical act. So he was contacted by Cirque du Soleil to say, “Do you know any girls who know the act or can audition for it?” He said, “Yes. My daughter can learn.” She hadn’t actually done it before that point; he was the only one in the world that could do that particular act. So he flew to Montreal from Switzerland. She was actually in New York at the time, so she also flew to Montreal. He had about two or three days to teach it to her. He also taught it to a few other people who were auditioning for the act. She still had to audition and eventually won the role. I think there are two or three other people in the world who know it now. We actually have another girl who works in rotation and comes in and performs the act sometimes. He was charged with creating the act and maintaining the integrity of it. Cirque du Soleil said, “Wow! That’s beautiful. We want to integrate that into this particular storyline.” Alternatively, we will go to a lot of athletic competitions across Europe and around the world to draw upon the talents and skills and invite people in to create an act either in house or workshopping it together with another group of athletes.

I was actually going to ask how Cirque goes about discovering all the unique talents involved with its shows.

Lara Jacobs Rigolo plays the Balance Goddess in Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna”.

They go through days and days and days of views on YouTube, which is obviously the way of the future. But that one was pretty incredible and I know the creative team for this show drew a lot of inspiration from amazing female athletes, artists, acrobats, dancers and performers. So they have people that will send in videos of themselves for casting, but we do castings as well. Usually in the U.S. it’s a few times a year, we might go to Australia once a year, we might show up in a couple of different places across Europe. So it’s a lot of going through videos, seeing what’s trending on social media, seeing what new and different acts are popping up around the world. We’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is the 33rd production we’ve produced, so it’s very important to not just show the same old tricks.

Where can people see Amaluna over the next few weeks?

We’re in Atlanta through Nov. 30 then we head to Miami, which is a nice place to spend the winter months. We’re in Miami until the end of January, then we head to Houston. We have a little bit of a break after that before heading to Europe.

www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/amaluna/default.aspx

Mick Foley discusses one-man shows, Georgia history and being Santa Claus

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Wrestling fans know him as the Hardcore Legend whose extreme antics included losing an ear in a match, being thrown through a table from the top of a cage by the Undertaker and using a dirty sweat sock named Socko to help him win matches. Others are more familiar with Mrs. Foley’s baby boy, the flannel-wearing intellectual who writes best-selling memoirs, supports good causes and dresses up as Santa Claus. When it comes to his Hardcore Legend: An Evening with Mick Foley one-man shows, you’re likely to hear about all these things and more as Foley recounts various moments from his life and career in candid detail. Currently on the Southeast leg of his comedy tour (including performances on Nov. 14 at the Superstars of Wrestling fan fest and on Nov. 16 at Atlanta Improv, 56 E. Andrews Drive NW, Atlanta, 678-244-3612, www.theatlantaimprov.com), the WWE Hall of Famer talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about wrestling, comedy and his new film I Am Santa Claus.

When I saw you perform at The Punchline last year, you had just become an official Santa Claus. And I’m not certain how to properly phrase that.

I had just graduated with a degree in Santa Clausology from the International University of Santa Claus.

Well that time of year is approaching and you’re the producer and one of the stars of a new documentary called I Am Santa Claus. What can you tell me about that?

It’s a project I began as a subject in that intended to follow Santa’s ambassadors around to find out what they did during the rest of the year. My role in the documentary was going to be the rookie, the guy who’s dabbled in that world but never really plunged into it. I got a chance to plunge into it and I loved it. When I did emerge, as long as we’re going with the plunging motif, I really loved the idea of being in that chair and being in that suit and doing it every year for the foreseeable future.

Is there anywhere in particular you’ll be doing the Santa thing this year?

It’s a hobby for me. I can kind of do it wherever I want to. So I’ll be on stage with my friends in Puss N Boots, Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper, actually singing as Santa on Dec. 11 in Brooklyn. Then I’ll be doing a lot of things behind the scenes, like making visits for a group called Christmas Magic, which helps make the magic of Christmas morning possible for families with very limited means on Long Island. And I’ll be doing a book signing with my son Hughie for a Christmas story he wrote. So I’m all over the place. I’m doing a few photo sessions and a bunch of appearances for good causes.

You tend to draw an audience of wrestling fans for your comedy shows for obvious reasons. But tomorrow’s Superstars of Wrestling show will consist of an especially concentrated group of wrestling fans. Do you expect that show to be much different from a show at a comedy club?

The fan fest signing and meet-and-greet is right after my show and there’s no extra charge for that. I’ve done a couple of other shows at fan fests and you get the really passionate fans, which is great because they’ll get all the subtleties. Of course I’ll work in some special material just for those guys. And it’s fun to come to an area like Rome or Atlanta where I have history. I think I last wrestled at the Alpharetta Auction Barn in 1994, about an hour away from Rome. Of course I lived in the Atlanta area for five years. So I’m excited about it. I love doing it and I think people get that within the first ten minutes that I’m on stage.

How different is your show from one night to the next? If someone goes the show in Rome as well as the show in Atlanta, will they see similar sets?

I try to make them largely different. I might have a couple of core stories that I include both nights. I’ll go out of my way, especially since they’re only about 70 miles away, to make sure they are different shows. I’ve done weekends at a club where I’ll do four different shows over two days and the owner will be like, “No one does that!” It goes back to my days as a wrestler and thinking I’d be disappointing one or two people who may have driven 300 hours if I didn’t do something special. I’ll even ask when I’m doing the late show, “Anyone here from the early show?” One person will raise their hand and I’ll go, “I’m doing an entirely new show.” It’s just a point of pride with me.

Speaking of your history in Georgia, do you have any favorite memories from your time wrestling in Georgia?

Yeah. One of the stories that I do tell on the current tour is about getting the call from WCW for the big tryout. When I arrived, I was under the impression I’d be getting a promotional push from the company only to find out that my opponents for that evening were the Steiner Brothers. I momentarily contemplated quitting the wrestling business until finding out they actually had a unique idea for me. It’s a fun story and it’s always great to tell the story in the city of its origin, in this case Atlanta. But I’ll have plenty of material for the fans in Rome and Atlanta. Every night we do a Q&A, which means every night we get different questions and the potential to take off in different ways.

I was a big fan of your work in WCW, particularly the matches you had against Sting. Do you have any favorite moments from your feuds with Sting?

Oh, yeah. Sting was one of two primary opponents that put me on the map. It was Sting in WCW in 1991 and the Undertaker in WWE in 1996. Without those two rivalries, you and I are probably not having this phone call. When it comes to Sting, the big moment would be busting out of the box on Clash of the Champions and dropping the finest elbow of my career – an elbow that was so good that I specifically asked for it to be included in the Santa Claus documentary.

Any speculation on what his role might be in WWE?

I have no idea. I don’t know if he’s going to wrestle or if he’s just an ambassador. But he’s clearly a big iconic figure and a great gain for WWE.

You’re also involved in Blanc/Biehn Productions‘ Hellevator Man coming out in 2015. What can you tell me about this film?

I did one of my shows in the Los Angeles area, drove out at midnight, shot until 6 a.m. and was back on the road. That was really just my chance to work with Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, who had helped me find my way to The Artie Lange Show when I had no idea where I was. She saw this very confused-looking guy and guided me to the show. I looked her up and sent her a nice message and she had no idea who I was. She had no idea that this guy she had helped out was this noted wrestling figure. I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t acted in a while, but I look forward to doing more acting projects, especially Santa-related projects, in 2015.

Hellevator Man doesn’t appear to be a Santa-related project.

No, it’s a horror film. I do have another project coming out called Dixieland. It’s a really cool independent film that stars Riley Keough, who is Elvis Presley‘s granddaughter, and Chris Zylka, who was in the last Spider-Man movie and I believe [will portray] Venom in the upcoming Spider-Man movie. He’s such a big fan of mine and got such a kick out of me playing myself in a dream sequence at a strip club with Elvis’ granddaughter.

You always seem to be working on something new. Do you have any other books or movies coming out anytime soon?

I just started getting some thoughts of doing a memoir about my experiences as Santa, one of those heartwarming 20 to 30,000-word mini memoirs as opposed to the vastness of Have a Nice Day!.

You recently appeared on Raw, just before the Hell in a Cell event. Do you have any plans of being on WWE TV again anytime soon?

I don’t know when I’ll be on the main show, but I imagine I’ll be doing something in the future. I believe WWE will be airing my one-man show special on the WWE Network in 2015. That will forever answer the question of, “What does he do?” Because 90 percent of people who think enough of me to put their hard-earned money down to come to my show have no idea what to expect. So it’ll be a real relief, knowing that the shows outperform people’s limited expectations, to just have something out there for people to go, “Oh, I see.” My feeling is that people will be much more inclined to come watch it live.

www.realmickfoley.com

Wyatt Cenac brings “Brooklyn” Netflix special to live audiences

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Photo by Eric Michael Pearson.

In his new Netflix special Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn, Wyatt Cenac‘s observations of somewhat strange things that take place in his neighborhood are familiarly funny to the Union Hall audience. But when he takes these stories to other towns on the Wyatt Cenac Live in Brooklyn in ___(insert city name here)___ tour, audiences will likely agree that odd things happen pretty much anywhere. It just takes a certain type of perspective to find the humor in it all, which is what Cenac has provided as a writer for King of the Hill and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The tour runs Nov. 13-23, but first Cenac talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his special and how it might relate to people outside of Brooklyn.

Your recent Netflix special features stories and observations that are very specific to your home town. On this tour, will you be telling similar stories that are specific to each town in which you’re performing?

Yeah, it’s about Brooklyn. But I would argue that a lot of the things are relatable in any city that you live in. Just a weird experience [such as] seeing somebody bring a kid into a bar, I don’t think that’s a particularly Brooklyn thing. For me, part of doing the special is just talking about, yes, this is the place that I live. But I also think some of the shit in it is sort of relatable to any major city that has an artsy part of town where you see weird shit. As far as this tour, I’m just telling jokes about things from my life and things that I’ve seen.

I enjoyed the puppetry aspect of the special. Is that something you incorporate into your live shows?

No. That took a team of very talented people and it would be very expensive to try to take on the road. That was really more just for the visuals while watching the special. Watching a special on TV, you’re kind of seeing the most watered down version of it. The best version of seeing standup is actually being there. The second best is just listening to it. Seeing it on your TV, at any time you can check your email or do anything else and you’re just listening to it. So I felt like adding those elements with the puppets was a way to add some visual jokes that would keep you visually engaged with the special.

The Barclays Center comes up in your special. WWE held its TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event there shortly after the arena opened in 2012, and has since returned there. Any chance you’ve attended any WWE events there?

No. I haven’t been to a pro wrestling event in a long time. I think the last time I went to one was when I was living in California because I had an agent at the time who was a big wrestling fan.

Do you happen to have any wrestling jokes or stories you can share with me?

When I was younger I watched a lot more wrestling, but I don’t watch it as much now. Every now and again I’ll get a few tweets directed my way whenever John Cena and Bray Wyatt are in wrestling matches against each other. The hashtag #WyattCena will come up and it’s a very strange thing because I’ll see tweets directed at me that will say things like, “Why is #WyattCenac trending? Oh, it’s not him. It’s a wrestling match.” That’s the one connection I have to it at this point in my life. One of the highlights of my time at The Daily Show was getting to meet Mick Foley. He’s a very nice guy.

A very nice guy who also now does standup. What was that experience like? Have you ever considered doing a comedy tour with him?

We met twice and didn’t really get to spend a ton of time together. Once he came in right before we were shooting and we talked him trough what we were doing. He was happy to help out and was really nice. The next time I saw him, The Daily Show went to D.C. for the Rally to Restore Sanity and he was there. We never really chatted too much beyond that and I’ve never had a chance to see him do standup. He was entertaining the idea when I met him, but it was after my experiences with him that he started doing the tours.

In addition to The Daily Show, you also worked on King of the Hill. What were those experiences like for you and how does working for a TV show compare to doing standup?

They were both great. They’re both very different in that it takes about nine months to make one episode of King of the Hill versus The Daily Show, which takes about nine hours. So I learned two very different ways of making something: a fast one and a much more drawn out process with animation, which I’ve always been a fan of. They differ from standup because standup is my own thing, it’s my ideas that I can take out and see how they work. Working on someone else’s show, it’s their show, so you have to be able to write for somebody else. To do things for yourself is a little more satisfying creatively.

Tell me about the film you worked on with David Cross.

I shot a film that David Cross directed called Hits. I’m not sure when it’s getting released, but it went to Sundance this year and got a lot of good attention. So hopefully it will be out soon. And I’m doing these tour dates for the new special, and we’ll see what the New Year brings.

Wrestling comics are “Headlocked” with Michael Kingston’s creation

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Professional wrestling and comic books seem like they could easily have been cut from the same ring canvas. Yet when attempts have been made to take the action and pageantry of the squared circle to the pages of comics, fans have typically tapped out. Inspired by these lackluster attempts at making comic book heroes and villains out of real-life superheroes and bad guys, Michael Kingston takes the opposite approach with Headlocked, the story of a college thespian who decides to become a professional wrestler. Released in July of this year, Headlocked: The Last Territory exposes the gritty and gruff inner workings of the indie wrestling world as an outsider tries to break in in hopes of eventually making it big. With contributions from some of the top talents in wrestling and comics, the book has become an underground hit on the comic convention circuit, as well as amongst wrestlers and wrestling fans alike. The second volume of The Last Territory is scheduled for release next July and features the creative talents of an entirely different set of wrestlers, writers and artists, as well as some returning talents. And you can even help make the next book a reality by contributing to the Headlocked Kickstarter campaign between now and Nov. 4, with multiple exclusives and incentives depending on how much you’re able to contribute. Here, Kingston talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about how Headlocked came to be and what the next book will offer.

Based on what I’ve seen in the Headlocked books, you obviously have a lot of knowledge about the inner workings of professional wrestling. What is your background and how did you obtain all of this behind-the-scenes information?

I have a chemistry degree. I’ve been a wrestling fan and a comic book fan my whole life. I’ve studied it, talked to people, watched stuff, read stuff – since I was 8 I’ve been fascinated by it. Same with comics. I like to think I can look at something and figure it out structurally, how stories are written and whatnot. I’ve read a lot of books and just tried to come up with a story I thought people would like. I guess I don’t have the most storied background.

That actually makes the whole thing even more interesting to me because you just figured it out on your own. Even though the wrestling industry has been exposed a great deal, some of the details you get into in these books are beyond what most fans are aware of and are things only people involved in the business are aware of. So the fact that you’ve studied wrestling to that degree is interesting to me.

It’s a tricky line to walk because you want to tell an entertaining story, but you don’t want to offend the people in the business. It’s tough. You’re trying to serve a couple of different masters. I want the book to appeal to wrestling fans and I want the book to appeal to people in the wrestling business. I also want to make it accessible for people who don’t know anything about wrestling. It’s not the easiest thing in the world for me to write and it takes a little while to work through some of the scripts and conflicts and stuff. So far, I couldn’t be happier with the way it’s been received by everybody.

I first heard about Headlocked when I was talking to Ring of Honor‘s Matt “Sex” Sells at the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con in May. Then we had Shane Helms as a guest on Georgia Wrestling Now on Oct. 6, just before his appearance at the New York Comic Con, and he mentioned his involvement with Headlocked. I’m curious how all the different wrestlers and artists came to be involved with your project.

“Headlocked” creator Michael Kingston with artist and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler.

When I started the book it was just me and my creative team, who are all freelancers – my artist is from the Philippines, my colorist for the first book was Canadian – and I just paid them all to work on the book. I met Shane and Rob Van Dam separately at San Diego Comic-Con. They were just walking around as fans and came across my table. They both bought copies of the book when I just had a preview book, then they both reached out to me separately to tell me they really liked what I was doing and asked if there was anything they could do to help. Jerry [Lawler] was an interesting one. I just emailed him through his website and it was such a long shot I forgot I had done it after I did it. One day I got an email back and I expected it to be from the webmaster, but it was really from him. He said, “Send me some books and I’ll take a look at it.” So I sent him some books and he called me up and said, “Sure, I’ll do it.” He’s done three covers for me and we’ve done a ton of conventions together. Since then, a lot of the wrestlers who like comic books will be at shows and come find me. When I was doing one of my first shows with Jerry, Christopher Daniels came up. I went up to Christopher Daniels and introduced myself because I was a big fan, I’m a huge fan of Ring of Honor, and he said, “Oh, man. I’ve been dying to meet you.” It really kind of blew my mind that anyone would really know what I was doing at the time. That’s how it snowballed. Ken Anderson came up to me at San Diego Comic-Con one year and was like, “Hey, can I do a piece of art for you?” A lot of the guys that like comics like what I’m doing and realize how difficult it is to get any kind of traction in either world without being supported either by WWE or a top-five comic book publisher. The guys who have other skills like to showcase that they can do something other than wrestling. I think that’s kind of why we all get along so well is because we don’t really talk so much about wrestling, we talk a lot about comics.

Jill Thompson came over to my table. She likes wrestling and was interested in the book. It’s just grown from there. My whole intention for writing the book was that there’s never been a good wrestling comic, ever. I thought I would try to do something some fans would like and want to read. I’ve been a fan of both of them since I was about 8 years old and it just blew my mind that nobody’s ever made a wrestling comic that I really enjoyed. I guess I enjoyed Spider-Man’s Tangled Web that dealt with the stories featuring Crusher Hogan. But in terms of a series, no one’s ever done it in a way that I found satisfying. All the wrestlers have been supportive because they see what we’re trying to do and where we’re going. So I feel like I’ve been super, super fortunate that they’ve all been so generous.

The only ongoing wrestling comic books I can think of are the World Championship Wrestling ones Marvel did and the Chaos! Comics ones based on the Undertaker, Stone Cold and other WWE wrestlers. WWE had its own comic book a few years ago. Do you know if that still exists?

Yeah. There’s one that Mick Foley actually writes. I was talking to him about doing a story for my book and he said, “Maybe for the next one.” I don’t care if I ever make a dime off this book, honestly. I have a job that pays my bills and I love doing this. I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences and I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people I really admired growing up. Everybody that’s doing the book loves wrestling, loves comics and loves art. It’s a passion project all the way around.

You’re working on the next chapter of the Headlocked story and you’re funding it through Kickstarter. What else can you tell me about the next book and the Kickstarter campaign?

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T contributes artwork to “Headlocked”.

The way the campaign is structured, people who are just finding out about it can pledge for any book in the series. So if you just want to get the first book you can do that. It’s totally accessible to anybody, no matter what their experience with the book is. We have Booker T and Tony Atlas doing artwork for it and John Morrison, Frankie [Kazarian] and AJ Styles are doing stories. Caylen Croft from the Dude Busters is doing a piece of art and Jill still does our credits pages. Ben Templesmith is doing a piece for it, as are Ramon Villalobos, Box Brown and Jamal Igle. So we’ve got a real all-star lineup. We just announced that Ron Funches, a comedian from Undateable on NBC, is doing our introduction. He’s a huge wrestling fan and there’s a show on Comedy Central called @midnight that he’s won more than anybody else. Judah Friedlander wrote the introduction to the last one. We try to get guys from outside the business that are passionate about wrestling to do our introductions.

The next book will be ready in time for the 2015 convention season. Will you be making any convention appearances between now and then?

I’m going to Pro Wrestling Syndicate to sell books on Halloween night. I’m probably doing the Magic City Comic Con in January in Miami.

www.headlockedcomic.com

Bogey bugs out about Netherworld’s Season of the Witch and Spliced

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Netherworld is the type of place most of us go to encounter ghouls, ghosts and other ghastly creatures to get into the spooky Halloween spirit. Or, for other types of wayward souls and wandering spirits, it’s a good place to find monsters with similarly sinister sensibilities for scaring people. As enchantresses cackle and creep in Season of the Witch and the Mangler continues his underground genetic experiments in Spliced, a weirdo named Bogey wanders the areas in between in hopes that his pets will make some new friends. Only problem is, not many people want to pet his hissing cockroaches! And I can’t help but wonder if he has anything to do with that giant roach I encountered inside Netherworld before conducting this interview. As strange as he may be, however, Bogey is still one of the more approachable of the Netherspawn. Which is exactly why Wrestling with Pop Culture decided he was the safest person to talk to about this year’s Netherworld haunted house.

How long have you been involved with Netherworld? Where did you come from and how did you come to be involved with these ghouls?

Well, I’ve been here at Netherworld for about two and a half years. Before that I worked at a big scientific lab. They had a whole buncha Madagascar hissing cockroaches that they would study, and ol’ Bogey took care of ’em. Can’t tell you which one, though. Last time I did, I got myself in trouble. There was all kindsa hubbub ’bout how the law said I can’t talk about the weird experiments and stuff they were doing in there to get themselves shut down and I had to hide out for a while. There’s not a lot of places a guy like me with a big colony of bugs in tow can go. For some reason, people think me and my babies are creepy. Then it clicked – maybe we can find a home where the other creepy things live. So I came here to Netherworld. They seem to like my babies, and these weird monsters haven’t eaten me yet. So I figure we must belong here. Fine by me. I fit in better with these freaks than those smarty pants scientists anyway.

You spend most of your time wandering around outside with your pets. Explain your fascination with these roaches. Why do you think people tend to be repulsed by you and your pets when you approach them?

The Maddies, as I like to call them, are basically my kids. Not like these nasty-ass roaches that run around in your kitchen. These roaches are clean. They’re sweet. They’re cuddly. They’re perfect. Those sleek shells, their cute little faces – what’s not to love? Hell, it’s the bugs’ world. They just let us live in it. Anyway, one night I was hanging out with the colony and I realized that there was a whole bunch of people waiting to check out Netherworld. So I said to myself, “Self, you should take the bugs outside and introduce them to these folks.” The bugs like people, so I figured they could make some new friends. Now I wander around in the lot trying to get people to pet the babies. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they tell me they’re gross or freak out. For the life of me, I can’t understand why. I don’t like it when people badmouth my babies or act all scared of them. That’s when I have to get a little nasty with ’em and insist that they pet the roaches. It usually ends up in a lot of running and screaming.

The Mangler is back at it this year with Spliced, his latest endeavor. He seems like a guy you might have spent some time with. Do you have any sort of relationship, working or personal, with the Mangler? Have you ever been part of his underground experiments?

That guy kinda gives me the creeps. Reminds me too much of those brainy weirdos I used to work for. He’s always up to no good, just like they were. I let him use my babies in his experiments a couple of times. He promised he wouldn’t hurt them, but I found out he was splicing them with people he snagged and was trying to make bugmen or something. Sucks to that! I steer clear of him as much as possible. If you go see the whole Spliced thing he has going on, I’d suggest you stay far, far away from him.

It’s also the Season of the Witch at Netherworld. I’ve taken a stroll through the witches’ realm and saw some frightening things. What do you think these witches are up to, especially when it comes to The Dead Ones who ruled Netherworld last year? Do you have any ties to them or any of their minions?

Those crazy witches seem to think that if they let all of the beasties loose and make the world as horrific and scary as possible, The Dead Ones might not wanna set up shop here after all. I dunno if that’s gonna work, but if it keeps them away, I say, “Go for it!” I’ll just be here with my babies watching the whole thing go down. They say roaches will survive the apocalypse. Maybe they’ll let me hang around, too, seeing as how I feed them and all. The only folks out of the witches’ crew that I hang out with are the Sawyers. They’re the ones up there running around with chainsaws and throwing people in cages. Ralphus, the big one, that’s one sadisitc bastard. People say we look alike, but I don’t see it. His little sister Lyla might even be nuttier than him. We’re more or less on the same side, though. So we’re cool. I just wouldn’t want to be one of you on their bad side.

The Sawyers look awfully familiar. I think I’ve seen some of them at some of the indie wrestling events I’ve been to.

Then you go to some weird wrestling shows. Like I said, they’re bloodthirsty freaks. So they like those death matches. You know, barbed wire and thumbtacks and stuff. The sort of shows IWA Deep South does. I think Ralphus even makes weapons for ’em. As far as wrestling goes, I like it all, man. Since I spend all of my time hanging around with monsters, I really dig Monstrosity Championship Wrestling. It’s cool to see my kinda sickos mixing it up in the ring. Honestly, though, I’m happy any time folks are beating each other between the ropes. I dig the violence. You know, maybe I do have a little of Ralphus’ sadistic streak in me after all.

The Netherspawn emerge for about a month or so each year. Where will Bogey crawl away to once they’ve gone back into hiding after Nov. 8?

I’ll be right here in the bowels of the building looking after my roaches. Being the bug daddy is a full-time gig. While the Mangler’s in there doing God-only-knows what, and the witches stir those cauldrons of theirs, I’ll be protecting the colony and hanging out with my best six-legged buddies. That’s why, before the crowds die again, I have to make as many of you as possible pet my babies!

www.fearworld.com

Chambers of Horror’s Dr. Splatter discusses Operation Phoenix, MCW and other depravity

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Dr. Dieter von Splechter (better known to us dumb Americans as Dr. Splatter) is the sick and twisted mind behind TORTUREco, an exclusive organization that offers its members the most extreme experiences in pleasure and pain. Each October, TORTUREco’s Chambers of Horror facility opens its doors to the general public, allowing a peek into the perversions that take place within. After literally going underground last year, it appears that Chambers of Horror has found an unlikely supporter this year in the form of the United States government. Those brave enough to venture inside will witness the chaotic creations of Operation Phoenix, which many suspect to be a cover for the Project TCO138 super soldier project. On Oct. 15, when Chambers of Horror and Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse team up once again to present Monstrosity Championship Wrestling, rumor has it some of these creatures will be battle tested against MCW’s top competitors. In what I think is his first public interview ever, Dr. Splatter talks to (and berates) Wrestling with Pop Culture about the TCO138 rumors, MCW and other attractions taking place at Chambers of Horror this month.

First off, great job on this year’s attraction. After what happened last year at Chambers of Horror, I didn’t think things could get any more intense. But you’ve sunken to extreme new lows this year.

I’ve seen your pathetic so-called “blog” and you say I’ve sunken to an all-new low? Ha! No, but let’s be serious now, you do suck.

President Barack Obama has made many questionable decisions during his time in office. But Operation Phoenix could be his most controversial act yet. How did this collaboration come about and how do you respond to the rumors of its ties to a super soldier project called TCO138?

Obama and I go way back. He actually used to be a client here at TORTUREco. Jesus fucking Christ, the things he would do! He once made an entire trench coat out of ass cheeks. It was quite breathtaking, really. Michelle knitted me a scarf made from dried ligaments one year for Christmas. As far as the rumors go about a super soldier project, well that’s a tight-lipped project. But I can say I do love my Obama checks. And so do the ladies at the Clermont Lounge.

I had a chance to speak briefly to Major Hank Hammer, the man appointed to oversee this your project, recently. All he would tell me, however, is that the president is a very nice guy. Why the secrecy?

Dr. Splatter makes some sort of deal with Major Hank Hammer and a former TORTUREco client.

They think of me as somewhat of a black sheep in the political social circle jerk. They believe my tactics and actions in the past would leave a bad taste in the people’s mouths. They haven’t tasted the load I’m about to drop in their mouths, so we’ll see how long this secrecy lasts.

A collaboration between TORTUREco and the U.S. government seems like one of the most unlikely partnerships in human history. And after my recent visit to Chambers of Horror, I can’t help but question the true intentions of everyone involved.

Let’s put it this way, I like money, blood and the sound of screams echoing through hallways. Any sketchy behavior or threats you may have experienced during your visit were sincere.

Not quite as odd, but still a little strange, was the recent partnership between you and Professor Morté’s Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse at a Monstrosity Championship Wrestling event. The two of you will join forces again on Oct. 15 as MCW makes its Chambers of Horror debut. What can wrestling fans, TORTUREco members and everyone else expect at this event? Will we see some of these super soldiers and other creations in action?

What you will see Wednesday night is some of the most horrible displays of sick and twisted depravity. There will be plenty of monsters and creations galore! It’s going to be a blood bath!

Given what has taken place at Chambers of Horror over the years, I would imagine underground fight clubs have certainly been part of the depravity that goes on. Have you had prior involvement with professional wrestling in this form?

Professor Morté and Dr. Splatter form a somewhat unlikely alliance at MCW. Photo by Harold Jay Taylor/Headlocks and Headshots.

Through our various TORTUREco entities that have popped up throughout Europe, we have definitely delved into many underground scenes that are questionable to the masses. In those days we would have some of the biggest, bloodiest brawls that would make Brad Pitt roll over and spit out the cock he has buried in his ass.

Finally, TORTUREco has other entertainment scheduled throughout the month for those taking tours of the facility. What can you tell me about upcoming Splatter Cinema screenings, band performances and whatnot?

On top of the MCW event, we also will have performances from the ghastly and gory Casket Creatures this Friday with DJ Rev. Andy blasting the tunes between sets. Every Tuesday we will be playing late-night movies such as Hellraiser, Pumpkinhead and Halloween III. Also check our Facebook page for other events and performers such as Capt. Stab Tuggo & Maybelle, who are some truly sick and twisted people.

www.chambersofhorroratl.com