“The Avengers” assemble for stellar superhero team-up

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After years of solo stories, post-credit appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and enough speculation to fuel a comic con’s worth of nerdgasms, The Avengers have finally assembled for a 3-D spectacle that brings together some of Marvel‘s greatest heroes in ways they’ve never been seen before. And the fact that this ensemble of superheroes is directed by Joss Whedon only amps the geekdom up that much more.

Captain America (Chris Evans) prepares to suit up in "The Avengers." Photo by Zade Rosenthal

With the pieces all put in place over the past few years with The Incredible Hulk, both Iron Man movies, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, not much backstory is needed for The Avengers. Which leaves Whedon with the task of introducing the characters to each other and explaining how and why they have all come together. In steps Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the nemesis of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), to steal the powerful Tesseract, an extraterrestrial power source in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D., the government agency directed by Nick Fury (Jackson), which forces Fury to launch the abandoned Avengers Initiative.

Realizing the fate of the entire planet is at stake, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Dr. Bruce Banner (this time played by Mark Ruffalo instead of Edward Norton) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) agree to work together (reluctantly in most cases) in order to save the planet. Thor randomly shows up in a flash of lightning after they capture Loki, which leads to one of the film’s first big battle scenes as Iron Man, Captain America and Thor duke it out until they all realize their powers would be put to better use if they were combined rather than used against each other.

Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) join forces in "The Avengers"

With Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) under Loki’s control (not to mention that Loki is Thor’s adopted brother), the individual Avengers also have personal investments in this battle, which only adds to the suspense. Even though the story of a disagreeable group of heroes preventing the world from being taken over by alien forces is nothing new, Whedon is quite used to making otherwise tired concepts interesting again (remember what he did for vampires years before the Twilight craze and, more recently, for horror with The Cabin in the Woods?). And The Avengers has Whedon written all over it (quite literally, considering that he also co-wrote the script) with distinct egos, conflict amongst the team members and incredibly witty dialogue (he seems to have particular fun with the Captain’s wholesome anachronism, which makes sense considering Whedon’s best known for his clever stories about centuries-old vampires).

That being said, The Avengers also has a couple of the continuity flaws typical of most of Whedon’s previous works. For instance, it’s not clearly explained how Thor shows up, which is pretty important considering that the last time we saw him he was stuck on Asgard after the space bridge to Earth was destroyed. Nor is it explained why Banner’s Hulk goes from being an uncontrollable monster to being able to harness that rage (just when they need him the most, no less). But given the inevitability of additional sequels to all these movies, these are things that could easily be explained in subsequent Marvel Studios releases.

Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) smash in "The Avengers"

Until then, we’ll just have to be content with these heroes putting their differences aside long enough to stop the monsters attacking New York City through the portal Loki has opened from atop Stark’s skyscraper. Between the outstanding 3-D visuals (see it in IMAX if you can), the attention-grabbing dialogue, Alan Silvestri‘s bombastic score and just enough character development to keep the audience engaged, The Avengers is the big superhero team-up film comic book geeks and action movie fans alike have been waiting years to see. Now if only they can figure out a way to work Spider-Man into the next one (a post-credit scene proves there will be a next one, and another post-post-credit scene is added for an extra laugh), the universe will truly be a better place.

The Avengers. Directed by Joss Whedon. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson. Rated PG-13. www.marvel.com/avengers_movie/.

“Ring of Hero” recaps Chris Hero’s Ring of Honor career

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Before he was winning Superstar of the Week honors as Kassius Ohno in Florida Championship Wrestling, Chris Hero was one of Ring of Honor‘s most intriguing wrestlers, both in singles and tag team competition. And in one of the latest in a recent surge of releases spotlighting current and former ROH talents, Chris Hero: Ring of Hero features two discs with more than a dozen of his best ROH matches against the likes of Kenta, El Generico, Kenny Omega and Eddie Kingston.

Perhaps best known as one half of ROH’s longest reigning World Tag Team Champions the Kings of Wrestling  with Claudio Castagnoli (who made his WWE television debut as Antonio Cesaro on the April 27 edition of SmackDown), Hero arrives in ROH as anything but a hero on Jan. 14, 2006, taking on then-ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson as part of a Combat Zone Wrestling invasion. Though he fails to win the title, and is clearly not a favorite of the ROH fans, Hero proves that he’s capable of hanging with the best ROH has to offer. In fact, after several months of disrupting ROH shows while still part of the CZW roster and engaging in chaotic and bloody feuds with ROH stars like Samoa Joe and Adam Pearce, Hero inadvertently earns a spot on the ROH roster when he and Castagnoli defeat Austin Aries and Roderick Strong at Glory by Honor V on Sept. 16 to become the ROH Tag Team Champions.

The seeds are planted for a Kings of Wrestling/Briscoe Brothers feud as the two tag teams do battle at International Challenge on Dec. 22 and Final Battle on Dec. 23, with new manager Larry Sweeney assisting the Kings. But not long after their loss to the Briscoes at Final Battle, Hero rises to the top of Sweeney’s Sweet & Sour, Inc. faction, leaving Castagnoli behind in favor of singles action. Sweeney and his stable (Sara Del Rey, Tank Toland and Bobby Dempsey) become instrumental in Hero’s singles success, including a tap-out victory over Nigel McGuninness (considered by many to be the best wrestler in the world at the time) at Death Before Dishonor V on Aug. 10, 2007). But it’s at Survival of the Fittest 2007 two months later that Hero truly proves his worth by defeating Aries, Castagnoli, Strong, Rocky Romero and the Human Tornado to become “the fittest man in all of Ring of Honor” (as he states in a post-match Las Vegas celebration, where he and Sweeney also start a “Chris is awesome” chant). And Hero wins by using both wrestling skill (he makes Castagnoli pass out from the hangman’s clutch to win the match) and ring psychology (after Strong is paid off by Sweeney to help Hero, Hero pins Strong and takes the money back).

When watching Ring of Hero, it becomes clear just how much the ROH fans come to respect Heros work, even though he often resorts to dirty tactics to win. And just a month after his Survival win, he gets another shot at the ROH Championship at Glory by Honor VI. Hero once again makes McGuinness tap out, but the referee restarts the match because McGuinness’ foot was on the ropes and McGuinness goes on to make Hero tap out. Hero’s momentum carries over into 2008 as he and McGuinness whip the Breakout crowd into a frenzy as they battle inside a steel cage on Jan. 25. Hero proves yet again how innovative he can be as he puts McGuinness in a half crab while sitting in a steel chair for leverage. A bloody Hero almost wins the title yet again as he exits the cage door as McGuinness climbs the other side of the cage and makes it to the floor for the win.

From there we see another phenomenal display as Hero defeats Full Impact Pro Champion Strong at Battle for Supremacy on June 27 in a non-title match that sees Hero employing his signature rolling elbow, eventually earning him the moniker of “That Young Knockout Kid.” Hero also shows how agile he is when he’s Irish whipped into the barricade outside the ring, only to jump onto the barricade and hit Strong with a back elbow.

Courtesy Ring of Honor

Hero goes on to prove his worth against veterans like then-ROH Champion Jerry Lynn at Never Say Die on May 8, 2009 (where he comes up just short despite using his infamous loaded elbow pad) and with a victory over Lance Storm at Death Before Dishonor VII on July 25. Ring of Hero brings things full circle as Hero takes on Danielson in Danielson’s last ROH main event before heading to WWE on Sept. 18. The DVD includes Hero’s boxing training leading up to this big match, and after all these two men have been through since Hero’s ROH debut almost four years earlier, Hero is finally able to defeat Danielson.

Aside from showing exactly why Hero has earned his spot  as a future WWE star in the ring, Ring of Hero also includes several vignettes proving that Hero is just as astute when it comes to getting himself over on the mic (including some pretty funny stuff where Sweet & Sour tries to inspire the rotund Dempsey to get in better shape). Considering that Hero’s last ROH match was in January of this year, and none of the Kings of Wrestling’s most recent ROH success is included here,  there’s still plenty of great Hero footage to be seen. But with Castagnoli already on WWE TV, I can only speculate that ROH is saving some of these matches for a future Castagnoli or Kings of Wrestling release.

For more information, go to www.rohwrestling.com.

Alberto Del Rio talks about luchador tradition in WWE

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As a member of one of Mexico’s most recognized wrestling families, Alberto Del Rio was an accomplished amateur wrestler before joining the professional ranks. Adopting the name of his famous luchador father, Del Rio won many Mexican championships as Dos Caras, Jr. before removing his mask and touting his aristocratic heritage in WWE. Already a two-time WWE Champion, Del Rio is now the number one contender to Sheamus‘ World Heavyweight Championship. As we celebrate Mexico’s victory over a European powerhouse on Cinco de Mayo this Saturday, Del Rio looks to get under the pasty white skin of his European opponent on this Friday’s edition of SmackDown. What better time than now to share this recent conversation he had with Wrestling with Pop Culture about masked Mexican traditions and the recent Hall of Fame induction of his uncle Mil Máscaras?

Courtesy WWE

Last year at WrestleMania you faced Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. Since that ended up being his last match, how did you feel about Edge being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year alongside your uncle, Mil Máscaras?

It’s great for Edge, who was one of my biggest opponents. I respect Edge as a person, as a wrestler and as a friend because he’s a really good guy and I’m really happy for him. The same for my uncle. This is something incredible for my entire family and for my entire country because we don’t have too many Mexicans doing great things in the world. The fact that two of them are members of my family is amazing.

Before you came to WWE, you were a masked luchador. How do you feel Mexican wrestling traditions are upheld in WWE?

We all know that in the United States they don’t have the same feeling about the masks. But they still respect the fact that the Mexican wrestlers like to use them. We have guys like Rey Mysterio representing the Mexican luchadores, and he’s doing a great job, of course. I think I became the face for all the Mexicans and all the Latins around the world thanks to WWE.

When you came to WWE, were you asked to remove your mask and reveal this new persona or was it your choice?

When this company hired me, they told me that I have a perfect look and it would be great if I not use a mask because that way I will be able to sell my face or my emotions to the audience and that way become a bigger star. I spoke with my family and we all together decided that that was the best thing for me and my career. We all created Alberto Del Rio – Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, my father and myself.

For more information, go to www.wwe.com.

Chris Jericho discusses his future with WWE and Fozzy

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Though he’s accomplished pretty much all there is to accomplish in wrestling, Chris Jericho has come up short in his two recent attempts to take the WWE Championship from CM Punk. While the argument could still be made that Jericho is, as he likes to say, “the best in the world at what I do,” it’s hard to say what is next for him in WWE. But for someone who has transcended wrestling to find success with his rock band Fozzy, last year’s Dancing with the Stars and other realms of pop culture, it’s hard to imagine Jericho having a hard time bouncing back from these losses in some way. A showman in every sense of the word (have you seen the jackets he wears to the ring now?), Jericho is not lacking when it comes to entertainment value. With today’s announcement that Fozzy will be on this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Tour alongside the likes of Shinedown, Adelitas Way and In This Moment, we know Jericho will be away from the ring during August and September. But in this Wrestling with Pop Culture interview, he talks about his jacket, his band and his future with WWE.

Courtesy WWE

Since your return to WWE, you’ve been coming to the ring in an eleborately lit jacket. How much did Dynamo from The Running Man inspire your new jacket?

It’s funny because people say Dynamo and I guess David Hasselhoff wore a jacket similar to that when the [Berlin] Wall got torn down in ’89. But I didn’t know about any of those. The only thing that inspired me was the guy who made it has also done a lighted jacket for Alicia Keys. It wasn’t as extensive as mine, but I had the idea of this wall-to-wall spikes and studs, so we combined the two and that’s how it all came to be.

The jacket was kind of the culmination of the buildup for your return, following a series of mysterious vignettes over the course of several weeks. There seemed to be a good bit of intentional misdirection with those vignettes, implying that maybe they were signalling the return of the Undertaker or Kharma. What was the reason for all the mystery?

A lot of times you just put together some mysterious vignettes. Then it’s like, “Well, what do people take out of that?”. It’s not like we sat down and said, “OK, I want this to be that. Put this right here and put that right here.” You just have to do something vague, but with a point and a purpose. People take what they want out of it and they found a lot of clues that didn’t exist. There’s a lot of things that they’re seeing that aren’t really there.. It’s like the “Paul is dead” theory – Paul McCartney‘s dead, here’s the album cover, here are the clues. But there are really no clues, it’s just people’s imagination. People still ask me to this day, “Who was the girl?” There was no girl. It was just something we put in there to make it creepier.

Why did you have these creepy vignettes, then have this kind of goofy return where you came out with the jacket and didn’t speak for a few weeks?

I don’t know if goofy’s the right word. What it was was, the thing people wanted to see me do the most when I came back was talk. So what if I just don’t talk? What if I just do the exact opposite of what people want? What if I just keep smiling and leading cheers and never saying anything? How will people react? And each week people got angrier and angrier to the point that they were just like, “Screw this guy. Enough of this guy already.”

Courtesy WWE

I wanted something dark because the concept of it was tying into 2012 being the end of the world as you know it, because we’ve been hearing that for so long. As you drive down the road, different turns and things come up that you morph and move with it. I never planned on coming back with black makeup or anything. It was just something different to get people thinking and wondering, “What is this all about? What is the end of the world as you know it?” Which was me coming back and taking back what is mine, which led to CM Punk and all the other people that copied me.

So it wasn’t all that different from your WWE debut with the Y2J thing.

Well, that was the Millennium Man. So it wasn’t really the end of the world, it was more about me coming to save WWE. This time I was coming to take back what was mine and end it. Just something to get people talking.

I interviewed you a few years ago after a Fozzy show just days before you defeated The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin  to become the Undisputed WWE Champion. That’s one of many things you’ve accomplished in wrestling, but you’ve also accomplished quite a bit outside of wrestling. Is there anything in WWE or elsewhere you have yet to accomplish that you’d like to?

It’s not like I sit down and go, “There’s, like, 100 different things I want to do.” It’s all about what comes up and what interests me that I think I can accomplish. If you look at my track record, it’s all art. I’m an artist and I like being creative. When I was 12, I wanted to be in a band and I wanted to be a wrestler. Those were my two dreams and wrestling took off first, but I continue to play and write music. When Fozzy started in ’99, that was this other passion that I have. Now that Fozzy’s gotten to a higher level, you can kind of see lightning striking again. I’m very fortunate.

Dancing came from that, too. Dancing is creative, it’s show business. Writing is that, acting is that, radio is the same thing. If there’s something exciting and creative that I want to do, I’m going to do it. I’ve turned down a lot of stuff because I can’t do everything. So I just try and concentrate on doing the projects that I want to do. There’s also a certain standard of quality that Chris Jericho has established, so I have to make sure the people that enjoy what I do won’t be let down. I can’t halfass anything.

I ran into your Fozzy bandmate Rich Ward recently and he mentioned that you guys are working on a new album. When will that be out?

That will be out at the end of August and it’s the first record on our new label, Century Media, which is the first major label we’ve ever been with. We’ve kind of carved out this cool little niche where we play very heavy, but very melodic, music. It’s something a lot of bands don’t do now. It’s almost like Metallica combined with Journey or something like that. We’ve really gained a big fan base from that and we’re just continuing down that path and expanding upon that. I think people will be blown away by it. I know we are. We’re really excited about it.

Courtesy WWE

Fozzy originally had a back story about bands like Dio, Twisted Sister and Iron Maiden stealing your songs in the ’80s. Why did you decide to drop that gimmick and reveal who was really in the band?

It was just a fun thing we were doing at the time, almost like Pantera started out as a different band. After a couple of records, we realized we really enjoyed doing it and decided we should take it in a different direction. And that’s what we did. In the beginning the band was a cool, fun hobby. Then we did All That Remains, which was all our own stuff and our own personalities and characters and lives and that’s when it really started getting to the next level.

Having come up short on your two attempts to win the WWE title from CM Punk, what are you plans in WWE going forward?

I have a lot of ideas. That’s one of the reasons I came back was because I had this idea with Punk. I think people make a lot of judgments and read a lot of stuff on the Interweb that they choose to believe, but until you actually see what I have in my head you’ll just have to follow along and enjoy the ride. Don’t analyze it, just enjoy it.

For more information, go to www.chrisjericho.com.

Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes The Jagged Edge and Uhaa Nation

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On this week’s edition of Georgia Wrestling Now, Wrestling with Pop Culture, Team All You Can Eat’s Matt Hankins and “The Human Hand Grenade” dany only were joined by Georgia Wrestling History‘s Larry Goodman and wrestling photographer Harold Jay Tyalor. Our guests were The New Tradition Professional Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and Empire Wrestling powerhouse The Jagged Edge and WWA4 trainee Uhaa Nation, who has recently competed for Dragon Gate USA, Evolve, Combat Zone Wrestling and Full Impact Pro.

The Jagged Edge (photo by Jason Ventura)

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World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus prepares to defend his title

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When I last spoke to Sheamus, he was preparing for the Halloween edition of Raw with the Muppets. But after his controversial 18-second victory over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII for the World Heavyweight Championship, Sheamus now has much more serious things to think about as he prepares to defend the title in a 2-out-of-3-falls match this Sunday at Extreme Rules. But even with that rematch just days away, he takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about becoming World Champion, WWE‘s influx of indie talent and being related to a Muppet.

On Halloween we found out you and Beaker are actually related. How’s he been doing lately?

He’s done really well with that movie. He’s a big movie star now since The Muppets came out, so right now he’s riding high and has a bit of an ego. We’re kind of not talking at the moment. He’ll calm down in a couple of years and give me a call when he needs some money or something.

Speaking of movies, WWE Studios has been releasing a lot of movies starring WWE wrestlers. Do you think you’ll ever star in one of those movies?

Sheamus celebrates his Royal Rumble victory. Courtesy WWE

I’d like to think so, definitely. That’s something I’d love to do and I already had a hand in it before I came to WWE with a small role in The Escapist. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my schedule in WWE, I’d be very happy to do it.

You won the WWE Championship very early in your WWE career and now you are the World Heavyweight Champion. How do you think the two titles compare?

I think both titles have serious lineage and history behind them. Both are a great honor to hold. I held the WWE Championship twice and I’ve always wanted to be the World Heavyweight Champion. When I won the Royal Rumble in January, there was no doubt in my mind I was going to challenge whoever the World Heavyweight Champion was because it’s a title I’d never held.

You defeated Daniel Bryan for that title and the current WWE Champion is CM Punk. Both of them were celebrated indie stars who are now having success in WWE. There are several more guys like them coming up in WWE. How do you feel about this influx of indie talent?

I think it’s fantastic. These guys have a love for what we do and have watched it since their childhood, like myself. They’ve gone through the independents on their own and made a huge name for themselves. A lot of people don’t know that myself, Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre were also on the indies, so I think it’s great. If you watch Daniel Bryan, he’s a tremendous superstar and talent, just like Punk. They’ve created niches for themselves and it just shows that the company is going in the right direction. There’s a lot of exciting and hungry new talent coming through and it’s a make-or-break competition.

When you were on the indies in Europe with Barrett and McIntyre, how did WWE discover the three of you?

They do TV there twice a year and we had tryouts every six months. We kept our skill up, we kept our level up and we kept getting experience in the independents and we got signed in April ’07. It’s been a phenomenal five years and I can’t believe how much I’ve accomplished.

For more information, go to www.wwe.com.

Cody Rhodes sets his sights on the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships

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In my last interview with Cody Rhodes, the son of the “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes was confident he would defeat “The World’s Largest Athlete” the Big Show to retain his Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII. Not only did Cody lose the title to his much larger opponent, but he’s since gone on a losing streak thanks to Show‘s humiliating distractions. But having retained the Intercontinental title against challengers such as Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, John Morrison and Booker T, Rhodes cannot be underestimated as he looks to regain his title this Sunday at Extreme Rules. But in this quick interview with Wrestling with Pop Culture, Rhodes reveals his intentions to challenge for one of WWE‘s more prestigious titles in the near future.

Courtesy WWE

Having elevated the status of the Intercontinental Championship to its former glory, what are some of your post-WrestleMania goals in WWE?

It’d probably be best to look at them in the short term because I’ve been looking at things long term in WWE. I’ve been the Intercontinental Champion, I’ve done things that I wanted to do with that title and I feel like we’re still going somewhere with it. But I feel like this is the  year that I step into a different picture, I step into the World title picture or the WWE Championship picture.

You recently referred to the Ultimate Warrior when talking about holding the Intercontinental Championship while challenging for a bigger title. Is that something you foresee yourself doing?

I would love to. I talked about being a dual champion a few months ago and that would mean a lot for the Intercontinental title. I’m not sure if I can handle all that stuff. That thing in your bag is a pain, it’s heavy, it never makes it through TSA. I couldn’t imagine having two of them.

Who do you think would be worthy of further elevating the status of the Intercontinental title?

Honestly, it could be anyone from a young group or an older group. If it’s somebody from the younger group, I’d probably say it’s Justin Gabriel. I think there’s a lot for him to showcase that we haven’t seen. If it was somebody from the older group, I’d say it’s my brother, Goldust.

For more information, go to www.wwe.com.