sacreligious smackdown?
August 21, 2006 5:07 PM Subscribe
Can you smell what the rock of our faith is cooking?
posted by ColdChef at 5:43 PM on August 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by ColdChef at 5:43 PM on August 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
These guys have been around for years. But they only wrestle metal bars and handcuffs and the like. Wrestling each other would be too gay.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:59 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:59 PM on August 21, 2006
Does he come out bleeding from the brow and palms, or are the wounds re-opened durring the fight?
posted by Balisong at 6:09 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by Balisong at 6:09 PM on August 21, 2006
I've never liked the 'coming out bleeding' gimmic, it tends to undercut the efforts of the other Hardcore wrestlers out there. I will say that "The Armageddon Piledriver" is a great finishing move though.
posted by Grimgrin at 6:19 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by Grimgrin at 6:19 PM on August 21, 2006
Will this help people avoid the perils of the WWE's "McMahonism," perhaps? (And whatever happened to Brother Love?)
The staged or "worked" world that pro wrestling fans suspend disbelief to enjoy is one of absolutes. Clearly defined dichotomies--moral, ethical, cultural, etc.--structure the vast majority of kayfabe narratives. (As the Wikipedia entry for "kayfabe" points out, there is a role playing-style alignment system in place.) Perhaps an especially receptive audience for the kind of religious work that the fellows at WFJ want to perform?
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 6:42 PM on August 21, 2006
The staged or "worked" world that pro wrestling fans suspend disbelief to enjoy is one of absolutes. Clearly defined dichotomies--moral, ethical, cultural, etc.--structure the vast majority of kayfabe narratives. (As the Wikipedia entry for "kayfabe" points out, there is a role playing-style alignment system in place.) Perhaps an especially receptive audience for the kind of religious work that the fellows at WFJ want to perform?
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 6:42 PM on August 21, 2006
Ted DiBiase (who I remember Paul Bosch introducing every Saturday night at 10:00pm on Houston Wrestling while I was growing up,) and Sting have totally gone this route.
posted by Cyrano at 6:52 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by Cyrano at 6:52 PM on August 21, 2006
While the lyrics don't seem to be available on-line, the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz has been puttin' the Sleeper Hold on Satan for over fifteen years now.
posted by mkhall at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by mkhall at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2006
Please send all prayer request to someone from our contacts page.
I looked, but God doesn't appear to be among their contacts.
posted by owhydididoit at 7:43 PM on August 21, 2006
I looked, but God doesn't appear to be among their contacts.
posted by owhydididoit at 7:43 PM on August 21, 2006
That roster page: fine buncha kristchun boys. Wonder if they pummel each other with actual Bibles in the ring?
Man, there's some weird shit going on in Amurika...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:02 PM on August 21, 2006
Man, there's some weird shit going on in Amurika...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:02 PM on August 21, 2006
They don't offer a lot of info about what they actually do in the ring, but one of the articles they link has some amazing details:
Vaughn, the group's pastor, calls himself an "oddball" who has always searched for different ways to outreach. "If you spin that attitude with a Christian message," he says of wrestling, "it works."
Not completely. Many churches won't even consider letting them perform. Once, a disgusted group of deacons barred the troupe from ever returning after seeing a show, said James "Hunter" Barrett, the group's vice president and one of the show's stars...
And there's always the danger of a live performance going disastrously awry. During the Augusta show, that's just what happened: Blackmon got into a squabble with a spindly 17-year-old referee that soon got out of hand.
Before long, the two were really fighting, with the teen angrily cursing while Blackmon pounded on his back. Babies began screaming, organizers froze and the confused audience of 50 awkwardly looked on.
Soon, the teen's parents had ditched their posts at the concession stand and jumped in the ring to break up the fight, helped by confused performers who had long-since changed into street clothes.
Before the red-faced announcers dismissed the stunned audience, a panting Blackmon took the mic, blaming personal problems for the fight.
"I'm supposed to be a man of God and I wasn't," he said, kneeling in the center of the ring. "To show that I am, I want to get down in front of everyone and pray."
After an uncomfortable silence, he stretched face-down on the center of the ring and wept.
Holy shit. That sounds great.
posted by mediareport at 8:14 PM on August 21, 2006
Vaughn, the group's pastor, calls himself an "oddball" who has always searched for different ways to outreach. "If you spin that attitude with a Christian message," he says of wrestling, "it works."
Not completely. Many churches won't even consider letting them perform. Once, a disgusted group of deacons barred the troupe from ever returning after seeing a show, said James "Hunter" Barrett, the group's vice president and one of the show's stars...
And there's always the danger of a live performance going disastrously awry. During the Augusta show, that's just what happened: Blackmon got into a squabble with a spindly 17-year-old referee that soon got out of hand.
Before long, the two were really fighting, with the teen angrily cursing while Blackmon pounded on his back. Babies began screaming, organizers froze and the confused audience of 50 awkwardly looked on.
Soon, the teen's parents had ditched their posts at the concession stand and jumped in the ring to break up the fight, helped by confused performers who had long-since changed into street clothes.
Before the red-faced announcers dismissed the stunned audience, a panting Blackmon took the mic, blaming personal problems for the fight.
"I'm supposed to be a man of God and I wasn't," he said, kneeling in the center of the ring. "To show that I am, I want to get down in front of everyone and pray."
After an uncomfortable silence, he stretched face-down on the center of the ring and wept.
Holy shit. That sounds great.
posted by mediareport at 8:14 PM on August 21, 2006
$20 on Goliath.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:02 PM on August 21, 2006
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:02 PM on August 21, 2006
The Ultimate Warrior (who legally changed his name to "Warrior") is now a conservative commentator, who said "queering doesn't make the work work" and explaining that if everyone were a homosexual, the world would die out. He also threatened to sue Rich Kyanka after being featured as an "awful link of the day".
He later insulted two wrestling commentators, calling them "a queer" and "a cripple".
posted by bob sarabia at 10:17 PM on August 21, 2006
He later insulted two wrestling commentators, calling them "a queer" and "a cripple".
posted by bob sarabia at 10:17 PM on August 21, 2006
"work world work"
Still waiting on that edit button.
posted by bob sarabia at 10:19 PM on August 21, 2006
Still waiting on that edit button.
posted by bob sarabia at 10:19 PM on August 21, 2006
All their performances are in South Carolina, and mostly at churches. If that isn't preaching to the saved, I don't know what is.
posted by elmwood at 11:21 AM on August 22, 2006
posted by elmwood at 11:21 AM on August 22, 2006
Didn't WKRP have a radio televangelist who was a former wrestler? The Reverend Little Ed Pembrook?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:34 PM on August 22, 2006
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:34 PM on August 22, 2006
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posted by bigmusic at 5:27 PM on August 21, 2006