Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes Trevin Adams and Phantom Troublemaker

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To evolve one must look outside his usual frame of reference. This week on Georgia Wrestling Now, we look south of Georgia to discuss this weekend’s Evolve events in Florida. Wrestling with Pop Culture, Georgia Wrestling History‘s Larry Goodman and Joshua Von Wheeler talk to World Wrestling Network‘s Trevin Adams about his involvement with these Evolve Internet pay-per-views, as well as his behind-the-scenes role with Dragon Gate USA, Full Impact Pro, Shine Wrestling and more. Later in the show we hear from Monstrosity Championship Wrestling ring announcer and Needless Things‘ Phantom Troublemaker about the numerous Dragon Con panels he will be part of this year. And he promises a surprise or two exclusively for GWN listeners! We also discuss upcoming events in Anarchy Wrestling, Deep Southern Championship Wrestling, NWA Atlanta, Southern Fried Championship Wrestling and more. Listen live at www.blogtalkradio.com/psp every Monday at 7 p.m. and call 347-324-5735 for questions or comments.

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Phantom Troublemaker tells us what the EFF is going on at Dragon Con

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Photo by Harold Jay Taylor/Headlocks and Headshots.

Phantom Troublemaker runs a blog called Needless Things that covers wrestling, movies and other aspects of pop culture. He also hosts a Needless Things Podcast (as part of The Earth Station One Network) in which he interviews puppeteers, wrestlers and other interesting people in the entertainment industry. Wrestling fans may recognize him as a member of the DCW Hooligans, a rambunctious group of fans who have found unity in their love of Dragon Con Wrestling, or as the ring announcer for Monstrosity Championship Wrestling, where he’s able to make the otherwise laborious task of raffling off prizes a fun endeavor. Considering my love of DCW and MCW, the fact that I cover many of the same aspects of pop culture with Wrestling with Pop Culture and that I interview wrestlers each week on Georgia Wrestling Now, one might even question if Phantom Troublemaker and I are the same person, especially since we are rarely seen together and he only appears in public while wearing his signature luchador masks. The fact that we both have been avid Dragon Con fans and attendees for a number of years might only strengthen such a claim. But I can assure you we are not the same person and to prove it I’m going to talk to him on the Aug. 4 edition of Georgia Wrestling Now about the numerous Dragon Con panels he will be part of this year (most of which I will also be attending, as further proof that we are just two guys that wear a lot of similar hats, or in his case masks). And with Dragon Con only a few weeks away, I decided to find out more about what the EFF he will be doing this year.

You’ve been attending Dragon Con for many years and have made the transition from attendee to panelist in recent years. But this year marks your first year being officially involved with Dragon Con. Explain this transition from being a fan to being involved with the event.

Ever since I’ve been going I’ve been covering it in one way or another. It started like anybody else, just taking a bunch of pictures and showing them to everybody you know. To an extent, that’s how journalism starts, I think. You just want to share information. That’s what it was for me. I went down there and took a ton of pictures of all the cosplayers, which back then “cosplayers” wasn’t a term. A few years ago, when I started Needless Things and started writing about it, I’d do full recaps afterwards and eventually got to the point where I started doing pre-coverage where I’d write things leading up to Dragon Con. I’d try to interview people involved with the show and, as I got involved with The ESO Network, I started making more connections to the point where I started to know people who actually worked with Dragon Con. Last year I was granted media access and covered it in a professional capacity (I don’t like to use the word professional in relation to myself).

This year, thanks in part to my involvement with MCW, in part to all the work I’ve done on panels for various conventions and in part to people just knowing who I am a little bit more, I’m an attending professional, which is not a guest. I don’t sit in the famous-people room, I don’t necessarily sign things – although if a titty is presented, I will sign it. Or if you want to throw your dong out there, I’ll sign that. I’ve got no standards. Attending professional, which means if somebody says, “Hey, I need a masked dork on my Swamp Thing panel,” I am at their disposal. Currently I’m scheduled for eight panels, including the two late-night specialty panels I’m running.

Before we get to that, when did you first become officially involved with Dragon Con panels?

Photo by Jay Hornsby/Belligerent Monkey.

My first panel was in 2012. I sat in on 1982: Best Movie Year Ever for the American Sci-Fi Classics track. I’d never done anything like it before. I love talking and I love talking about nerd stuff. When I do a good job at something, I’m not shy about saying it. And I did a great job. I blew everybody away. After the panel everybody was like, “Hey. That was fantastic. What else can you do? Come back next year and do more stuff.” Aside from the first real MCW show I did, it’s probably one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever been through in my life.

How did you get to do panels before becoming an attending professional?

This is something a lot of people don’t know. If you go to a panel, the people that are sitting up there talking are also fans. All you have to do is go talk to those guys and be like, “Hey. I love this thing you just talked about. What else are you talking about?” If you go to Dragon Con this year and you see a panel you’d want to speak about, you can go talk to somebody and get on that panel. It happens all the time where they’ll have three or four panelists scheduled and somebody gets too drunk, somebody gets double scheduled on panels, all kinds of things can happen and they may need somebody and that somebody could be you. If you’re a fan and you’re good at talking, you can be on a panel. You just have to have personality and knowledge. You don’t have to have any special connections. Granted, I was with the ESO Network at the time, so I did have kind of an in. But now I know if you’ve got charisma and are at least a little bit entertaining, get in there and ask. Like I say with everything in life, if you don’t ask you don’t know.

You’re doing eight panels this year, one of which can be previewed on Aug. 5 at the Red Light Cafe. What the EFF are you doing this year at Dragon Con?

Until four or five years ago, I was unfamiliar with the concept of erotic fan fiction. Call me naive. I just didn’t know there were such depths to our society. But if you go online you can find stories that fans have written about Wolverine and Jean Grey getting it on – graphic depictions of Wolverine butt sex. But it gets worse than that. There’s stuff out there like Lucius Malfoy skull-fucking his son Draco. There’s a whole spectrum of thoroughly disturbing fiction that fans of different levels of mental sickness have produced on the Internet, usually under false names. I wouldn’t know anything about writing under a false name.

When I first discovered this, I thought it would be really fun to get together at Dragon Con one night with some friends and everybody bring their own selections of fan fiction – whether it was Batman and Robocop having sex or Watson giving Sherlock Holmes an enema – and we read them out loud. It’s challenging to read these without laughing because a lot of the people that write these don’t have the best grammar. They’re not skilled writers, obviously, or they wouldn’t be writing Snorks porn. So I thought it would be fun to just sit around with pals, read these and maybe have an adult beverage or two. After working with the American Sci-Fi Classics track for a couple of years, I pitched the idea to Gary [Mitchel] almost as a joke. “Hey. We should do a game show where people have to read erotic fan fiction.” I figured at best the response would be, “Oh, that’s kind of funny. But we couldn’t do anything like that. That’s gross.” Instead, Gary said, “That’s fucking amazing. Done!” I still kind of didn’t believe it was going to happen. Then Joe [Crowe], who runs the American Sci-Fi Classics track with Gary, said, “Here’s the deal. You want to do your game show. You want to show your movie (I’ll get to that in a moment). Saturday night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the room is yours. Whatever you want to do.” That blew my mind. They’re putting a tremendous amount of faith in me to draw people in and run the room.

So I’m doing a game show called Whose EFF Is It Anyway?, co-hosted by Miss Lady Flex of Le Sexoflex, the sexiest band in the mother-fucking world, straight out of Buttlanta, Georgia. Please visit www.lesexoflex.com and download everything you can. They are incredible and they are the band that brought you the eponymous Dragon Con theme song “Marriott Cock Squat”. So it’s basically like The Gong Show: we’re going to bring people up out of the audience. We want it to be right, so we’re doing a dry run of the game show Aug. 5 here in Buttlanta at the Red Light Cafe. Doors open at 7:30, the show begins at 8. Myself and Miss Lady Flex will be on stage, we’ll have three judges and we’ll be drawing members of the audience up on stage to read selections of erotic fan fiction. This event is sponsored by Inserection and Stardust, which are adult-themed stores that have tobacco products, dildos and sexy lingerie of many different forms. We’ll have prizes from Stardust and Belligerent Monkey, my friend Jay Hornsby who is fantastic and does a lot of pop culture stuff, but does not paint penises. The art provided by Belligerent Monkey will be family friendly. We’ll have lots of prizes, we’ll have lots of fun and if you come out on Aug. 5 you’ll get to see the formation of something that I think is going to be pretty spectacular.

Before we started this interview, you told me about some wrestling erotic fan fiction you had come across. What else can you tell me about that?

This is something I’ve been peripherally aware of since I discovered erotic fan fiction. There is a community of folks who write fan fiction about wrestling. There’s the standard portion of this community that just does stories about maybe AJ Lee and John Cena having a romantic relationship and their struggles behind the scenes working for WWE and maybe a love triangle develops with Roman Reigns or something along those lines. There are a lot of female writers of that stuff and they’re just really expanding on the soap opera aspect of professional wrestling.

So this is completely different from fantasy booking?

No, it’s not even fantasy booking. This is like fantasy backstage booking. They barely even cover matches. They’re worried about the drama aspect. It almost makes sense that this kind of thing would be out there. Of course, like anything else, there is a seedy underbelly of wrestling fan fiction and that is wrestling slash fiction, which I found out today, nine out of ten wrestling slash fiction stories star Randy Orton. It’s just a thing. I didn’t even look for Randy Orton stories. My big goal is to find something with Mick Foley and The Rock. Although Hulk Hogan would be good, Macho Man would be good, a pairing of the two would be great. But Randy Orton came up time and time again. My favorite story that I found today, and I’m still in the midst of research, is one where John Cena gets Roman Reigns pregnant. It was enlightening, really. The reason I’m looking for wrestling-oriented fan fiction is for a very special surprise that I don’t want to announce here, but I can tell you if you’re a fan of Georgia Wrestling Now you know these guys and you’ll be very excited when they show up Saturday night at Dragon Con. We have surprises planned for the Aug. 5 show as well, but the Dragon Con show is the one where we’re going to blow it the fuck out of the water.

Well, I’ll let you wait until the Aug. 4 edition of Georgia Wrestling Now to reveal some of those secrets. Tell me more about the movie screening that will follow your gameshow.

This is the second portion of my Saturday-night activities at Dragon Con. Honestly I think I’m going to be spent after Whose Eff Is It Anyway?. But I will struggle through in order to share one of my most beloved movies of all time. It’s a Canadian masterpiece called THINGS. No, not The Thing. THINGS: All caps, all red, always. It is a very, very low-budget movie. It’s the most incompetently-produced movie I’ve ever seen in my life. Your life will literally be changed after you see it. I know a lot of movies make that claim. Citizen Kane, supposedly the greatest movie of all time. It will change the way you look a the world; Schindler’s List, enlightening and will show you a whole different side of things; The Passion of the Christ. I will put THINGS up against any of those movies as a life-altering experience. I’ve shown THINGS to people over the last 15 years time and again and I’ve had people leave the room, I’ve had people leave my home, because of watching THINGS. It’s an experience like nothing else and Joe and Gary, sweet, innocent fellows that they are, are letting me expose Dragon Con to THINGS. I’m very excited about the possibility of ruining so many lives in one night. First is going to be the fan fiction, which I guarantee people are going to be upset about that, then THINGS afterwards. I might put myself out of business, quite frankly. It’s going to be interesting to see if Phantom Troublemaker has to make a heel turn after Dragon Con.

Before all that, of course, is Dragon Con Wrestling and the DCW Hooligans.

The DCW Hooligans will be in full effect once again at Dragon Con Wrestling Friday night at 7 o’clock in the Hyatt Centennial Ballroom. We will be representing in our purple T-shirts. You will see all 430 of us now. Something like that.

Are you a founding member of the DCW Hooligans?

This has never been stated before. Technically I am not. While I had been enjoying Dragon Con Wrestling for a couple of years, it wasn’t until I hooked up with my buddies Ryan, Jay and Pete – they had been attending together for a while and I reconnected with those guys. While I am certainly the catalyst for us becoming the group that we are now, those guys were watching DCW as a group for a couple of years before I was around. Then I started writing my recaps of it and we started really making a concerted effort and making the T-shirts and everything. I put the name on it, but those guys were the heart of it. We take up a whole section now. You’ve been there with us the last couple of years, you’ve seen how ridiculous it is. And you’ve seen that the guys that actually run the DCW show fucking love us. It’s a great experience.

When does your official Dragon Con attending professional experience begin?

Saturday is the beginning of my official panel presence. I don’t have my full schedule, but I can tell you right now – and this is the first time that this has been announced – Saturday morning (and this is probably a terrible mistake) I’m going to be part of a panel called D20. What that is is the American Sci-Fi Classics track is creating an enormous pair of 20-sided dice. One die will have topics on it, the other one will have panelists on it. All of the panelists that work with the Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics track are going to be in the room, they’re going to roll the dice and pick panelists and topics. Then we’re going to do five-minute speed panels. It’s going to be ridiculous because chances are most of us are going to be hungover and it’s entirely possible that I’m going to get a topic that I don’t know jack shit about and have to talk about it. So this is one of those random chance things and this is what makes the Sci-Fi Classics track so great is that they’re willing to take chances like that. This could be terrible. It may not be entertaining at all. But at the same time it could be an entertaining train wreck. It’s going to be memorable regardless of the quality. These guys are willing to take chances like that and Whose EFF Is It Anyway and they’re letting me show THINGS. They’re willing to do things for the sake of fun and that’s what makes the track so great.

Immediately after that I’m doing a Transformers panel where we’re going to be talking about the 1984 movie and the toy line in general. Then I’m doing a She-Ra panel because this is, in some weird way, the 30th anniversary of She-Ra even though She-Ra didn’t come out until 1985. Mattel is calling this the 30th anniversary. I don’t get it, but Mattel owns her so I guess that’s what they’re going to do. So I’ve got three panels in a row in that room right after my biggest night of drinking. It’s going to be rough. Whose EFF Is It Anyway? is Saturday night in the same room, then we’ll start the showing of THINGS. Sunday morning is my big panel on ’80s toys where I’m going to be discussing how important gimmicks were to toys in the ’80s. I’ll be sponsored by Billy’s Toys and we’ll have a shit ton of toys there not only for display but for sale. So if you’re looking for Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Air Raiders, StarCom, Inhumanoids, we’re going to have all that stuff sitting there on the panel table for you to look at. We’re going to have a great time. Last year it was one of the highest-rated panels at Dragon Con, five out of five stars. It was a really, really great time, so I’m looking forward to this one.

Last year I hosted a panel about Masters of the Universe, the 1987 live-action film and the guys kind of surprised me by having William Stout on the panel, who is a very well-renowned artist who did design on the movie. He was absolutely fantastic, a wonderful talker and had lots of great stories about the movie. You can find the podcast of that and my other panels if you go to www.needlessthingssite.com and search for Dragon Con. William Stout is coming back this year and I get to work with him again on Sunday night. We’re going to be sitting down and talking about Conan the Destroyer, which he worked on in the same capacity as he did on Masters of the Universe as a production designer. Just like Masters of the Universe, lots of people malign Conan the Destroyer as being inferior, but the production design is beautiful. The castles, the sets, everything is just gorgeous. William Stout is a fascinating guy and this is another panel that was a surprise to me. I guess he had a good time last year and wanted to work with me again, which is very rewarding.

www.needlessthingssite.com

Rockstar Spud prepares for X Division Xtravaganza, British Boot Camp 2 and more

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After winning Total Nonstop Action Wrestling‘s British Boot Camp in 2012, the undersized Rockstar Spud has evolved from wrestling underdog to being a major part of Impact Wrestling each week as the Chief of Staff for TNA President Dixie Carter. Honing his skills in Ohio Valley Wrestling (where he is a former OVW Television Champion) last year, Spud was added to the main TNA roster late last year and remains a fixture on TV and pay-per-view. As part of the One Night Only pay-per-view X Division Xtravaganza debuting Aug. 1, as well as the upcoming British Boot Camp 2, Spud has plenty to talk about, as always. In a recent media conference call, here’s what Wrestling with Pop Culture and others had to ask the unlikely wrestling star.

You were the winner of the first British Boot Camp. What have the past two years been like for you since winning that competition?

It’s been an absolute whirlwind, to be honest, since I’ve been brought up to television. I’ve had two weeks off and I honestly don’t know what to do with myself. It’s been nonstop for me. I’m living the dream. British Boot Camp was absolutely everything that it promised to be. It was an amazing time for myself, Marty Scurll and The Blossom Twins and it’s one I’ll never forget. I recently saw the finale from the first season for some advertising they’re doing and it just brought back all the same emotions I had that day when they told me I was the winner. It’s amazing. It’s everything I dreamed it would be.

I was at OVW for a year just learning so many elements of professional wrestling, which was amazing. Then to be brought up to the roster and to be in the position I am, it’s just been amazing. I’m main eventing live events with Ethan Carter III, I’m main eventing television and I’m in main story lines on pay-per-views. I honestly couldn’t be happier with life right now.

British Boot Camp 2 is about to start and there’s a lot more competitors in this edition. What would your advice be to the wrestlers taking part in the new British Boot Camp?

I don’t envy any one of them because of the amount of talent there is in the country, and the talent that’s already been announced so far and how good they are. The person that wins this series is really going to be an absolute superstar to stand out above everybody in the country. I was against three other people on the show. These people have got an unlimited amount of people they can potentially be against. Just capture the camera and entertain and if you’re a character that people are interested in, a character that people find entertaining and a character people want to watch, your journey’s going to continue. I’m looking forward to watching the process and seeing who’s going to step up because they don’t realize what an amazing opportunity this is. It’s such a small window in the pro wrestling business for a company to even look at someone. It’s an amazing opportunity, especially in our country because we rarely have TNA come over and look at our talent. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m sure everyone in the U.K. is as well.

You wrestled for so many years before entering British Boot Camp. What did you get out of that experience and how did that help ease your transition into TNA in the United States?

With regards to British Boot Camp, I had been wrestling for nine or ten years on the independent scene across the world. You pick things up as you go along, but it’s obviously a slow process because you’re not wrestling every day of the week; you have to go back to your normal job to pay the bills, then wrestle on weekends. But at the same time, you’re also wrestling people that are on the same experience level as you. So you’re not going to be picking up those intricacies as often as you would if you were wrestling more experienced talent, or being trained by more experienced talent. When I went to OVW, I was wrestling every day of the week, performing three or four times a week and it was constant wrestling. So it was able to sink into my mind as it was my job now and I was able to devote 24/7 to it. That was the real difference. Everything I learned at OVW after British Boot Camp, I really attribute to my success going into TNA.

Since making your debut on camera, you’re a natural on camera. Was there any initial intimidation with working with Dixie Carter, your boss, in front of the camera and off camera?

Absolutely not. The only times I’ve been nervous about being on camera with Dixie is when I’m going to save her from a near-death experience. At points like that I have to be here because I’m literally saving the woman’s life. I was born a hero and this is what I was born to do. There’s never any intimidation because I taught myself to be comfortable in front of a camera. That’s what pro wrestling’s about. It’s not about how great a technical wrestler you are or how great an athlete you are, if you can engage an audience to feel a certain way about you through the television screen where millions of viewers are. There was never any concerns with that. Like I said, any time Dixie’s in peril, that’s when I fear for my life because if I can’t save her I’m going to be in dire trouble and probably will lose my job.

You’ve worked in many promotions around the world now and have had an amazing time in TNA. What does the future hold for Rockstar Spud? Are in the position you imagined, both creatively and as a talent in the company, or do you picture yourself taking a different route in the future?

I’m a professional wrestler, so my job is to turn up and do exactly as I’m told. When they tell me to do certain things, it will be done the way Rockstar Spud would do it. We did our shows in Florida, we did our shows in New York, we did our shows in Pennsylvania and every day I just want to work. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings and what they’ve got for me tomorrow. It’s a challenge every day and I just want to knock it out of the park. I want to be a guy the company can rely on and someone they can put absolutely anywhere and know I’ll be able to do a good job for them. I just want to be an asset, and I feel I’m going to be an asset, to this company going forward. With their constant faith in me, which is always greatly appreciated, I’ll continue doing this to the best of my ability.

What are your thoughts on working with Team 3D, Tommy Dreamer and Rhino as we saw last week on Impact?

Well, I didn’t come out of the match how I walked in. There was a lot of limping, a lot of pain. But I wouldn’t have changed a damn thing because that was one of the best moments of my career so far. Watching the people you grew up watching, seeing them walk down the aisle with you or against you, I’m very obliged to be in TNA and to be able to do these little things that my close friends at home who aren’t in the wrestling business will understand. While they were going out drinking and socializing, playing football and different kinds of sports, I was at home watching professional wrestling, emulating these people and admiring these people. So to be in the ring with them is a real honor. It’s even more of an honor to know I beat these people on national television.

How were you brought into your current role on TV as Dixie Carter’s right hand man instead of competing full time?

I was in OVW and they said, “We’re bringing you up to television. You ready to go?” I put the suit on, put the bow tie on and away we went. It’s been a whirlwind ever since. If you can see anybody else being Chief of Staff that’s not me, I would be very surprised because I feel that I’ve owned the job and it’s mine. No one will be taking the Chief of Staff away from me.

Physically you don’t fit the mold of the typical professional wrestler, so you were a bit of an underdog in the first British Boot Camp. You’ve clearly found success in OVW and on Impact Wrestling. Given that you’re not the biggest guy on the roster, what would you attribute your success to and what attracted you to pursue a career in professional wrestling?

I’m not going to give you the sympathetic bullshit story that everybody will give you. When I was growing up I identified with pro wrestling because I enjoyed the larger-than-life characters, the lights, glitz and glamor as everybody does. But I was also told at school that I was too short to do absolutely every spot that I loved. I was too small for football, cricket, rugby – you name it, I tried it and was too small. When I first started wrestling and was told, “You’re too small for this,” I actually was like, “No, I’m not.” I actually believed I could make a difference in pro wrestling being small. I’ve never shied away from my appearance. Obviously I have to look after myself athletically and cosmetically, but I never shied away from the fact that I am 5-foot-4, I am 150 pounds. There’s one thing you can never take away from me and that is that my personality is the personality of someone that should be 7 feet tall, 500 pounds. That was the one thing that I was like, “I just need someone to notice this.” And that’s what British Boot Camp was. The right time, the right people, the right opportunity and the right situation – it really was that case with British Boot Camp. You do judge a book by its cover with me. I’ve had many, many pro wrestlers that have been around the business for years that have said to me, “When I first saw you I didn’t see anything in you.” The more that they experienced watching me or being in the ring with me, they understood more and more, which is a complete blessing. It’s so nice to here that. So I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and as long as people are watching and paying their money to see us, that’s all that matters to me. I just want people to come see TNA, come see Impact Wrestling, whether they want to cheer Rockstar Spud or they want to boo him, as long as they are paying money to see him that’s all that matters to me.

What will your role be in One Night Only: X Division Xtravaganza and British Boot Camp 2?

In the One Night Only pay-per-view I will be in the qualifiers for the Ultimate X match. I believe I will be facing Sonjay Dutt, who is a gentleman I’ve crossed paths with for many years in the U.K. and coming in and out of TNA. But I’ve never stepped in the ring with him, so we shall see. As it’s going to be Sonjay Dutt and Rockstar Spud, you’re guaranteed to be entertained.

In regards to the British Boot Camp process, I can’t actually say what my involvement will be or if there will be involvement from me. But I don’t think you can have British Boot Camp without having the original winner, Rockstar Spud.

The United Kingdom has produced a number of wrestling greats over the years. Did you watch footage of any of these people? Who did you grow up watching and possibly emulating later on as you became the pro wrestler you are today?

Believe it or not, British wrestling had passed me by by the time I became a fan. I became a fan instantly when I first saw a picture of Hulk Hogan with the Hulkamania bandana and the American flag draped over him. That was when I became a fan of pro wrestling. I’ve watched World of Sport many a times. … They really, really made you believe it’s competition, with the rounds and everything like that. It’s something that was really ahead of its time. Because of the lack of channels back then, that’s why they drew millions and millions of viewers every time. As a student of pro wrestling, I watch World of Sport regularly just to look for little intricacies that I can pick up, maybe adapt my character, especially being diminutive like I am – there’s a lot of crawling through the legs, there’s a lot of haha. So there’s little things that you’ve probably never seen in the U.S. that I’ve incorporated into my character that you think’s revolutionary. As a student of wrestling and a student of entertainment, I just try and put little intricacies here and there.

The six-sided ring was recently brought back to TNA at the New York tapings. What has that been like for you?

Great! There’s more room. When I was watching TNA as a fan, I always thought the six-sided ring gave TNA an identity where as soon as you watch it you’re like, “Oh! That’s different. What’s over there? Let’s have a look.” That’s what always drove us to TNA because as fans you like what’s different. If something’s different you’re going to want to take a look at it and go, “We’re used to four sides.” Then you see the X Division jumping around like Mexican jumping beans and you’re like, “Wow!” It was just so impressive to watch. I think the six-sided ring brings an identity to our company and our company needs that identity. I think it’s a wonderful thing. I’ve got no problem with it. In fact, I enjoy it and embrace it.

You mentioned your suits and bow ties earlier. Where did the idea for these suits come from? Is that your normal attire outside the ring or did you adopt that as part of your persona on TV? Where do you get them? Are the custom made?

I actually do dress like this 24/7 outside the ring, believe it or not. People know who I am whenever I walk through an airport. So there you go. The suits were not an idea put into my head. I’ve personally been given free reign, which I love about TNA, over the direction of my character in regards to the look, the way I present myself and the way I perform. This is me. I am a jerk in and out of the ring. I throw my weight around like I’m 7 feet tall whether I’m in or out of the ring. I have a place called OppoSuits that sends me them specifically because the know how the Chief of Staff likes to dress. And a place called Loudmouth Golf who’ve made clothing for numerous celebrities all over the world. They’ve sent me some little numbers as well to wear on Impact. It’s been great so far. I’ve got some special ones coming up for the New York tapings in August, so watch out for those. Every week on Impact you know it’s going to be something different for Rockstar Spud. You never know what I’m going to turn up wearing next.

www.impactwrestling.com

“Guardians of the Galaxy” soars to summer sci-fi success

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WWE’s Batista as Drax the Destroyer. Photo courtesy of Film Frame.

For the second week in a row a blockbuster action flick starring a professional wrestler hits theaters. Last week it was The Rock in Hercules (read my review here). This week it’s the latest Marvel big screen adaptation Guardians of the Galaxy co-starring Batista as Drax the Destroyer. And since we like to talk wrestling so much around here, let’s go ahead and get something out of the way. Despite the negative reception he received from fans during his recent return to WWE, Batista is one of many reasons that Guardians is likely to become this summer’s biggest hit.

Unlike most Marvel movies, Guardians is not an immediately recognizable name to many. Sure, the die-hard comic fans and Marvel devotees are probably going into this movie with a vast knowledge of who the green-skinned heroine Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the overgrown talking raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and the cybernetically sexy supervillain Nebula (Karen Gillan) are. For the rest of us, a slimmed-down Chris Pratt is the unlikely hero Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), Michael Rooker is the blue-skinned baddie Yondu and Vin Diesel is Groot, a towering anthropomorphic tree similar to The Lord of the Rings‘ Ents. (Actually, one of the oft-used moments of comic relief in Guardians is Diesel uttering the phrase, “I am Groot,” the only three words in his vocabulary.)

Photo courtesy of Film Frame.

Lack of familiarity does little to hinder Guardians, however. In fact, I think it actually benefits the film as it offers the same kind of excitement that movies like Star Wars and The Fifth Element did the first time around. This mystery (as well as the action and comedy) are what keep the audience guessing with Guardians. Why is Quill snatched up by a spaceship at the most tragic moment of his childhood? Why does he constantly listen to hits from the ’70s on his cherished cassette player while fighting aliens? How does he end up teaming with a ragtag group of prisoners, all of which coincidentally have their own issues with Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Ronan (Lee Pace)? How is Rocket able to understand what Groot says even though everyone else just hears, “I am Groot”? Figuring it all out is a huge part of the appeal here.

Karen Gillan as Nebula. Photo by Jay Maidment.

Great characters are often the driving force behind a good story, especially ones set in fantastical lands in faraway galaxies. While it obviously has awesome effects, impressive space battles and all sorts of cool creature costumes, Guardians is filled with amazing character development. Pratt’s comedic timing and sarcasm quickly establish Quill as a lovably womanizing space bandit with natural charisma despite his adolescent demeanor. Saldana’s cold delivery shows us that Gamora is a no-nonsense warrior whose only concern is preventing Thanos and Ronan from carrying out their evil plans. Batista obviously has the physical attributes of the musclebound Drax, but he’s also able to bring out the unintentional comedy of Drax’s literalism (he’s unable to pick up on jokes and metaphors, making for some hilarious confusion), as well as his emotional pain, the driving force in him seeking revenge against Thanos. And that’s not even mentioning the depth of secondary characters portrayed by John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro.

In short, despite not being as popular as the X-Men or The Avengers, Guardians will easily become another part of the Marvel film franchise. The casting is impeccable, the character development is great and the action is amazing. It’s great to see somewhat obscure comic book characters getting the same treatment as the bigger superheroes, and the fact that Guardians ties in to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe means we will likely see even more of these characters on the big screen.

www.marvel.com/guardians

Madeline Brumby talks monsters, makeup and more at Monsterama

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Photo by Ashley Anthony.

The Monsterama horror convention makes its debut in Atlanta Aug. 1-3 and brings with it a cadaverous cadre of horror legends and underground favorites. Featuring the likes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast‘s C. Martin Croker, Big In Japan writer Timothy Price, Monstrosity Championship Wrestling’s Professor Morté and Hammer scream queen Veronica Carlson, Monsterama is not likely to disappoint fans of horror films, comic books, literature, art and theater. But Monsterama also features a new generation of creatures ready to rise from their proverbial coffins. One such vixen is Madeline Brumby, who played Edna Marco in the cult favorite Dear God No!, danced as a Go-Go Ghoul in the Silver Scream SpookShow and has helped stave off the undead at Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, among other spooky endeavors. As she prepares for a weekend of scream queens, monster makeup and other atrocities, she takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about her burgeoning horror career and what her role will be at Monsterama.

What exactly is your role at the inaugural Monsterama?

I just got involved pretty recently when Anthony Taylor asked me to be a guest, which I was excited about. He’s one of the creators and organizers of Monsterama. I have the opportunity this Friday to host a panel with Veronica Carlson, who was a Hammer star and a scream queen. We’re doing a panel talking about acting in horror films and what that was like. I’m really interested to hear what she has to say since she had quite a career that went on for many years. She did all sorts of productions for Hammer and was quite a striking looking woman. She was definitely in the prime time for horror films.

She obviously has a much more storied career than you’ve had at this point. I’m guessing you’ve drawn inspiration from quite a bit of her work. What do you anticipate when you host this panel with her?

Madeline Brumby (right) as one of Dracula's brides in the Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra's production of "Dracula". Photo by Stungun Photography.

Madeline Brumby (right) as one of Dracula’s brides in the Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra’s production of “Dracula”. Photo by DornBrothers.

I’ve definitely admired her. I imagine she’ll probably have a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that will be interesting about how her career started, how she fell into that kind of path. I fell into the horror path kind of by accident. It’s not that I had anything against it, it just kind of went that way. It seemed to be the thing that most people were trying to do independently. That’s how I found Dear God No!. I’m curious how she got started and that’s what I’d like to ask her about.

Tell me a little more about how you ended up in Dear God No! and the horror industry in general.

I was scrolling through auditions and casting calls and things like that and I stumbled across an audition log for Dear God No!. It was well written and the person who wrote this call was obviously intelligent, knew what they were writing about and there weren’t misspellings. Every single answer was posted for questions that all actors and actresses are looking for. Do you get paid? How long does it shoot for? What is the actual role? What is expected of the character? It said Edna Marco, kind of young, slightly abused female, some nudity required. I was like, “Sounds interesting. I’ll submit and see what happens.” Jimmy Bickert responded in, like, ten minutes. So, I was like, “Oh, OK. I guess they’re really looking for somebody. Maybe the script is great or not so great. Or maybe he really does like me.” It’s hard to tell when you’re young and not too familiar with how independent projects work. I didn’t know if it was some weirdo. I auditioned and got the role and that’s how I fell into Dear God No!.

I understand you had a career in biology prior to that, but were you already doing any acting before Dear God No!?

I was. I got my biology degree from Georgia Tech. I finished up with school and decided I did not want to pursue a field in medicine any more. I was much happier doing performing arts, being on stage or being in front of a camera. I had done a science fiction project, I had done drama projects, I had done small commercials and was just on the hunt for other projects until Dear God No! came along. That just changed everything. It was such an interesting group of people that were really pushing for the success of the film. It got me involved in a completely different world of people that was super awesome for me. I’d always liked horror and it just made a world of difference for me and my career.

Was that how you ended up working with the Silver Scream Spookshow and Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse?

Photo by Jonny Rej.

I ended up falling in love with [horror artist/special effects expert] Shane [Morton]. At the time I was not involved with the Spookshow. Then the Spookshow kind of reassembled a few months after Dear God No! was filmed and I was invited on to the Spookshow. I’ve always loved doing children’s theater and shows for kids. I enjoy their genuine response to theater, so I was really on board with that. Through Shane, I’ve certainly met all sorts of interesting people and learned a totally new skill set, which is doing makeup. I’m also helping with a panel at Monsterama with some other folks doing makeup.

That was actually my next question was how will Dear God No!, the Spookshow and AZA be represented at Monsterama?

There is going to be a Spookshow. We’re showing The Valley of Gwangi and there will be a fun Spookshow just before that. We’re also showing Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse: The Movie at 11 p.m. on Friday. I’m helping with several makeup panels. It should be a really fun convention if you’re into literature, if you’re into film or if you want to see how to do some cool makeup.

Are there any other guests you’re excited about seeing at Monsterama?

I am excited about seeing Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price. It will be really interesting just to say, “Hello” to her and find out what it was like growing up with Vincent as her dad. She just seems like an interesting person and she’s been a huge supporter of her father.

www.monsteramacon.com

Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes Mickie Knuckles

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