Sunday, December 31, 2000

Yokozuna

The wrestling world was shocked this week when the death of Rodney Anoai, known throughout the world as Yokozina, was announced last Monday. For me it has overshadowed all other wrestling news.

Many of the newspapers and other media here in Britain have been very respectful to Anoai, with regards to himself, his profession, and his family. However, we've had the usual tabloid idiots spouting their crap, saying that it was his well known fear of spiders that killed him. Some also made fun of the fact that he was a wrestler, treating wrestling as nothing more than a kid's cartoon.

No Mercy 2000 Preview

Welcome to The Two Sheds Preview (okay, I know you've heard from me already this week, but hey! It's WWF pay-per-view time again!)

This will follow a slightly different format from my usual columns. I've got the old Two Sheds crystal ball out again, dusted it off, and shined it up real nice in an attempt to predict what will happen in just over 24 hours time at No Mercy. And after much negotiation, yours truly has got Monday off, missing our new weekly staff meetings, so, with a couple of tins of Red Bull, a big bag of cheese puffs, and a bar of Galaxy chocolate, I'll be sitting on my sofa, trying to stay awake, watching the action as it happens. But enough of this. What does the crystal ball tell me today.....

The Ass Man Cometh

And so the Ass Man cometh. Rikishi, the former cannibal and fake Arabian who failed to "make a difference" has stepped forward from the bleached blonded identity parade, left Too Fools behind, and announced himself as the man who squashed the rattlesnake with the aid of a car, and all in the name of his fellow island inhabitants.

British Television's Two-Faced Double Standards

As many of my fellow Brits know, Bravo has recently begun to show WCW Nitro on Thursdays at 10pm. This is a positive move for WCW in this country. It no longer clashes with Raw, and ison the same channel that gives us ECW (although in a somewhat limited capacity).

Random Ramblings

Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of The Two Sheds Review. I'm going to write about a couple of things, one is to do with wrestling (sort of) and the other has a slight, long past connection with wrestling.

On Saturday, 7th October, the last major sporting event at the historical Wembley Stadium, when England play Germany in a World Cup qualifying match, will take place. Wembley Stadium is known the world over. It is the home of the FA Cup Final, the League Cup Final. It has seen many memorable sporting events there. The infamous Stanley Matthews cup final. The so-called "white horse" final. Henry Cooper floored Cassius Clay there. In 1985, Live Aid began there. Many great bands over the years have played there, and English footballs's last great moment, the 1966 World Cup Final, and THAT Kenneth Wolstenholme sentence, will always be associated with Wembley.

Oh, and Summerslam 92 was there as well.

Acting Wrestlers

Firstly, I would like to thank Jordan and everyone at Powerbomb for publishing my article last week, and for letting me use it as a form of therapy. And I'd like to thank those who supported what I had to say.

And now, some sad news. The Wrasslin Analysis, the other email newsletter I wrote for, has sadly closed it's doors. I am very saddened by this news, because, although I only worked on it for a short time, TWA was the first email newsletter I wrote for. Luckily, the editor, Mr. TWA (or Michael to us who know him) is in the process of becoming the editor of another email newsletter. More news when I have it.

My First Daily Smackdown Column

Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Two Sheds Review, here in the hallowed pages of the Daily Smackdown Newsletter. Some of you may know me from my work on various wrestling fanzines and newsletters, so to all of you, I say hello!

To those who don't know me, and are probably wondering who the hell this guy is - well you're probably really wondering where the f#+k am I going to get some bloody petrol at the moment - let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am 28 years old, and I have been watching wrestling for as long as I can remember.

Summerslam 2000 Preview

Welcome everyone to The Shed. Before I go on, I'd just like to say that I'm keeping The Sheds Poll open for a while longer - sadly, I only received THREE votes - so please, I'm begging ya! The question was - Who do you think has made the easiest transistion from wrestling to acting?

And now.... THE TWO SHEDS PREVIEW In this segment, I will preview the matches at Summerslam, giving my views on them. This will be followed next week by The Two Sheds Review. So here goes.
 

Random Ramblings Part 2

Hey everyone! With Summerslam just around the corner, here are my views on this upcoming spectacular, and a few other things in the wrestling world. I know this is my second column this week, but hey! I've got a lot to say! And unlike a certain other wrestling newsletter, whose columnists just seem to spend their time insulting each other, I'm going to talk (mainly) about wrestling. So here goes.....

The Rock v Triple H - again! Okay, I know King Kurt has been thrown into the mix, and this is nothing more than a ploy to turn Triple H from a heel into a babyface, but come on! Couldn't the bookers come up with something more imaginative?

Gordon Solie - one of the true announcing greats has been lost to us. Rest in piece.
 

Mark Callaway - On the Undertaker's Last Ride

Congratulations to everyone and everything to do with TWA! Happy 200th! A good job done by all!

And congratulations to Emma! Have fun at Nottingham University!

And now, down to business. This week - MARK CALLOWAY - ON THE UNDERTAKER'S LAST RIDE.

I think it would be fair to say that in all of my years of watching wrestling, all these years watching technical wizards, monstrous powerhouses, high-flying marvels, that The Undertaker is probably one of my all time favourites. Having been misused by WCW (where have I heard that before), Mark Calloway came to the WWF in 1990, and became the most lethal force to ever enter a McMahon ring - The Undertaker. With Brother Love as his manager, the Undertaker totally destroyed Koko B. Ware, Dusty Rhodes and The Hart Foundation.

Random Ramblings

Hey folks! How is everyone! A few words to Sam Jerry, of Rounding the Squared Circle fame - the TRUE inspiration to last week's column. Sorry Jordan, you should have told me! And a big hey to Junkpile!

Hogan v Russo - Work or Shoot?

Hey everyone! How are things? Well, this is my first "proper" column for TWA, so before I go any further, I'd like to thank a few people - James Ellis at Stunner, Nick Allen at Tombstone, James Gallagher at The Main Event, and a special hi to Junkpile - you truly are the man!

Now, ever since the Great American Bash, it seems like every wrestling writer in the world (except Luis in New York) has been writing about the Hogan/Russo thing. I know I'm a bit late, but hey, I'm new to this rag, so cut me some slack!
 

The Radicals - Where Are They Now?

As I write this, just a few days before Fully Loaded, I thought I would take the time to ask where four men who got the wrestling world talking a about six months ago were doing now. So let us begin....

Owen Hart - One Year On

I thought that now would be a good time to look back on the tragic events of one year ago - the tragic death of Owen Hart.

Wrestling has lost many starts over the past year or so - Rick Rude, Louie Spiccoli, Bobby Duncum Jr, and Gorilla Monsoon, to name but a few.

However, Owen's death hit home because we saw the events played out as they actually happened, from the fatal fall to when Jim Ross broke the news to the world.

My personal views, written a few days after the events, were published a few months back, but now, a year on, how has Owen's death affected the wrestling world?

The Complete United Kingdom Wrestling Alliance

Wednesday Rampage Week 1
    With the Norwich Corn Exchange filled to capacity, Two Sheds, the Chairman of the UKWA board came to the ring to a rousing reception. Taking the microphone, Sheds thanked the crowd for attending this inaugural event, and promised top notch wrestling action. He said that the tournaments to crown the first UKWA champions would culminate in their first pay-per-view event, The New Age.

The Two Sheds Review Awards 2000

It's a cold December night here in Cromer, as wrestling and local celebrities gather at the Anglia Court Hotel, overlooking the North Sea, for the first, annual Two Sheds Review Awards, sponsored by the Mads Timm Appreciation Society.

Whodunnit?

As Doctor John Watson came down for breakfast on this warm September morning, he entered the study and found his friend and colleague, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, reading a letter that had just arrived.

Sunday, October 22, 2000

WWF No Mercy - TV Review

It's 3:53am Monday morning here in Britain. I've been up since 7:40am yesterday morning. I've done full days work. My old knee injury is starting to hurt again, and I am utterly knackered! But here I am. No Mercy finished about five minutes ago, and with it still fresh in my mind, here is my review. I will be showing my prediction for the matches, so we can all see if the old crystal ball was working or not. So here goes.

Sunday, September 24, 2000

WWF Unforgiven - TV Review

Greetings, and welcome to another insalment of The Two Sheds Review. Following on from my preview of Unforgiven last week, I will follow up with this review of this past Sunday's events. Readers of my column in The Main Event fanzine will know that in these particular columns, I grade these matches in the order I liked them, starting with the least liked and moving up. However, unlike in The Main Event, mainly because I have more space here, I will also show what my predictions were last week, showing if the old Two Sheds crystal ball was working or not. So here goes.....

Sunday, August 27, 2000

WWF Summerslam 2000 - TV Review

Welcome to another edition of "Sheds". As promised, I am following up last Saturday's Two Sheds Preview with my Two Sheds Review. Readers of my column in The Main Event fanzine will know that in these columns, I give a review of a WWF pay-per-view, giving a couple of lines opinion of each match. Recently I changed the style to where I started to grade each match, starting with the match I liked least to the one I liked the best. However, here in TWA I will be offering a little more. I will be showing my prediction for that match, to see if the old Two Sheds crystal ball was working or not. So here goes....