Nate's Totally Rad 90s Blog

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Twin Peaks - TV (1990-1991)

Image by ABC/Showtime via Pinterest

Hey guys, sorry for the delays this last week. I'm back on some medications I've been off of for a while and it's been altering my mood and I've been physically kinda blah. That's all just from readjusting though, so don't worry. I'm back today with my first TV review! I hope you enjoy!

When I originally decided to start this blog, I absolutely wanted to talk about television as well as movies. Today, it feels like those two mediums go hand-in-hand. Many shows are almost like movies with their budgets and production values. Actors famous from films will now do Amazon Prime TV shows. David Fincher was/is an acclaimed film director, but also was the mastermind behind the Netflix hit shows House of Cards and Mindhunter. But this wasn’t always the case.

Things were different back in the day, including the angles we'd sit at to watch TV

Image via Flickr

Back in the day, you might have some people get their start on TV before moving onto films. And you had falling stars transition to television after their box office appeal drops. If you look at the filmography of nearly anyone you can think of, you’ll see both TV and movie credits in their resume. But it’s a pretty solid fact that most actors and actresses and directors and such were either a film star or a TV star. Very few were known for both. That all really began to change in the 90s.

The first show I wanted to review for this blog was the animated series The Critic. It ran for two short seasons from 1994-1995 on ABC and then FOX. Jon Lovitz voiced the main character, a film critic, and the show poked fun at many movies and celebrities of the day, showing clips and trailers for fake movies Howard Stern’s End (parody of Howard’s End) and Speed 2: Speed Reading. I thought that, since this blog is a review of movies from this time period, what better show to start off with than this one? But I realized I needed to talk about another show first: Twin Peaks.

The obsession of America

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

In thinking about other shows in the next few months that I was going to write about: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even animated flair like Spider-Man: The Animated Series… I decided the first thing I should talk about was the show that helped transition into the type of ongoing narrative that these shows all had in common.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. The magical thing about Twin Peaks wasn’t in that it created any individual part anew. But rather how it combined certain things and, with sharp writing and acting, created something that had never before been seen on television. Twin Peaks was a phenomenon in 1990, and it’s hard to explain today. But I’m going to try.

Let’s start with the story. The show was created by notable filmmaker David Lynch and his partner, TV writer Mark Frost. At its core, Twin Peaks is a murder mystery. A young high school student, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) is found dead by a river, wrapped in plastic. The local police can’t make anything of it, so they call for help to the FBI and they send in Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). The show descends from there into a dozen different storylines. I don’t want to go into detail on them here, because half the fun of watching the show is seeing where it takes you. In one of the videos I’ll link below, Lynch describes Laura’s death as a tree with all these different branches springing out of it.

One of Lynch’s core storytelling tropes is the unraveling of the “American Dream.” You see that in his movies like Eraserhead and Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. You’re presented with a beautiful, picturesque, ideal version of American life. Then you see something shocking and disturbing. And suddenly, the layers start to come off, like an onion. And as they peel away over and over, you see that the onion was really rotten on the inside and you realize that, even though you might not have seen it on the surface, this onion was dark and disgusting underneath. Laura has been presented as a do-no-wrong, straight-A Queen of the Prom who loves to do charity work and loves her boyfriend and the further the authorities and characters investigate her murder, they see how dark her life really was. And the branches that come out of her tree get darker as well. Some of them are explained by ordinary criminals. Some branches are the result of more… supernatural activities. As Cooper and the police investigate, they get further and further swept into the unknown, a dark evil presence that resides in the woods and lives in a place called “The Lounge.” The show gets incredibly surreal at times, with The Lodge and its inhabitants using vague metaphors and exhibiting behavior and movements that are… a bit off.

Photos don't do this justice. These scenes are weird. Just watch the show...

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

Who killed Laura Palmer? That was the question on everyone’s minds. It was a literal watercooler discussion the next morning at work. There’s an urban legend that a huge fan of the show was none other than Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It’s said that he actually called up US President George HW. Bush and asked him to find out who did it. Bush contacted Lynch who refused to tell them. It seems a little far fetched, apparently since Gorbachev doesn’t even recall the show today, but I digress. Read about it here. The point is, America was obsessed with knowing who did it. And this is where Twin Peaks brought in the biggest change to television in the 90s: Long-form storytelling.

Now, “long-form storytelling” existed before this show. Soap operas had been a thing since the days of radio. Hell, books used to be serialized in newspapers back in the 1800s, that’s how many literally classics from people like Charles Dickens got their work out there. In the world of television, there were soap operas. There were prime-time soap operas like Dynasty and Dallas, the latter of which was famous for its “Who shot JR?” mystery. And there were shows like Hill Street Blues and Cheers that let storylines sizzle over episodes, but there was always a return to the basic status quo after an episode or two. Twin Peaks was one of the early shows to buck that and keep the show evolving and changing from episode to episode. Later shows, like The X-Files, created a fusion of the two concepts, so where you would have an ongoing storyline throughout the run of the series, but also individual stand-alone episodes. Twin Peaks though, every episode was must-watch, otherwise, you’d be lost in the flow.

The show can turn your brain to this. It's wonderful!

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

Sadly, the series ended after only 30 episodes and two seasons. The last episode airing on June 10, 1991. Unfortunately, while they were pushing for a third season, declining ratings caused the network to cancel the show. The sad truth is, the second season is good, but not quite as good as the first. The network forced Lynch to wrap up the Laura Palmer murder storyline early and he basically stepped away from the show until the end of the season. Sad, really, since the show ended on a huge cliffhanger and had many, many loose plot threads. But don’t let that deter you from watching that, especially since that would not be the end of Twin Peaks.

With a cliffhanger it would take over two decades to resolve!

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

Let’s talk about the cast. Twin Peaks has a huge, ensemble cast. Ready? Okay, here we go, try to keep up. In addition to Cooper and Laura Palmer, some of the other standout characters: Laura’s mother and father, Sarah and Leland (Grace Zabriskie and Ray Wise). There was Laura’s boyfriend, Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), and her two friends Donna Hayward and James Hurley (Lara Flynn Boyle and James Marshall). Leland Palmer was also the lawyer for businessman and the owner of the Great Northern Hotel, Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer), who works with his brother Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) and has a daughter, Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn). They are involved with a land-deal with a lumbermill owned by Josie Packard (Joan Chen) and her sister-in-law Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) and her husband Pete (Jack Nance). Let’s see… oh, there is also the Double R dinner ran by Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) who employs a young waitress, Shelly Johnson (Madchen Amick). They are both married to unscrupulous individuals, Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey) and Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re). Shelly is friends with Bobby Briggs and Norma has a past with Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) who is married to Nadine (Wendy Robie) and is also Bobby’s uncle. Then, of course, we have the local police force, led by Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz), and Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse). Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) is the station secretary. Assisting Cooper and the local police are FBI Special Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) and Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (played amazingly by David Lynch himself). Then there are the supernatural characters: Killer Bob (Frank Silva), The One-Armed Man (Al Strobel), The Giant (Carel Struycken), and The Man from Another Place (Michael J Anderson). Other important characters include psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tomblyn) and The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson). And we also had some small roles from Heather Graham (Norma Jenning’s sister, Annie Blackburn) and Billy Zane (John Justice Wheeler, involved in business with Ben Horne). And there are dozens of smaller characters I didn’t mention. And what’s amazing is they’re all important, some more than others sure, but you need them all for the story to work. And it’s easier to keep track of them and their relationships with each other than you might think. And really, except for a bad egg here and there, all of them play their parts well and do their characters justice.

There were a couple of other characters that I wanted to mention separately because I wanted to elaborate on them a bit more. Sheryl Lee was originally supposed to play Laura Palmer’s dead body and also some camcorder footage. The thing is though, she’s captivating. And Lynch recognized that. So what did he do? He wrote the actress back into the show with a new character, Laura’s identical cousin, Madeline Ferguson.

Again, a still shot doesn't do this justice. Watch the show, she's captivating in this small bit.

Image by ABC/Showtime via Medium.com

The same thing happened with the One-Armed Man, played by Strobel. The character was supposed to be just a one-off, but Lynch wrote him in after being so impressed by him. And of course, Killer Bob, Frank Silva… Frank was a set dresser and, at the end of the first episode, was accidentally reflected in the mirror of a scene where Laura’s mother was having a nervous breakdown. Lynch loved it and wrote the Killer Bob character for Silva to play throughout the run of the show. Don Davis plays Bobby Briggs’ father, Major Garland Briggs. He’s in the air force and ends up being important to the plot. I think it’s hilarious because there are three roles that I know this actor for. Twin Peaks (air force major), playing Scully’s father in The X-Files (navy captain), and being the leader of the Stargate project in Stargate SG-1 (army general). Literally, everything I can easily remember seeing him in, he’s been an officer in some branch of the military, but Twin Peaks was his first big break.

Speaking of first big breaks and the X-Files, David Duchovny shows up in this as well as a DEA Agent…. Denise Bryson. Duchovny plays a Transgender. In 1990 on network television. And if I’m honest with you, I think it’s handled extremely tastefully. Sure, at the time, it fit the overall “weird” vibe of the show. But it’s not played for laughs. When asked about it, Duchovny’s character explains that she had to dress in drag to go undercover and it really just felt natural to her afterward. And it’s not something that’s really… I mean, it isn’t completely ignored on the show, but it’s not like every scene is “Hey! Look! A man in a dress! That’s funny and weird and unnatural!” Most of the time it’s just… treated normally. Pretty progressive, especially for the time.

I think she's pretty, I don't care what anyone might say

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

The other big change Twin Peaks brought to television, beyond serialized storytelling, was it’s amazing presentation. For many, many years, films were shot one way and TV shot another. Two completely different styles. Lynch decided to use more of his cinematic style for Twin Peaks. The show looked like a movie. Using alternative camera angles, taking advantage of depth of field, color composition… really paying attention to what you were shooting. The music was composed by Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti. The soundtrack is still, to this day, considered one of the best in television history. Creative uses of music to convey feelings for different characters and moods. Combining the plot, acting, camera work, music, and using that to emotionally impact the audience. Again, these are not new ideas, and some of them had been used on TV before. But coming altogether, with this bizarre, long-form story, and you really have some combination unlike what had really been seen on TV at this point. Watch The X-Files, which came out a few years after, and you can see the influence of Twin Peaks plain as day.

Psych was another show Twin Peaks had a strong influence on, even having an episode called “Dual Spires” that was a tribute to Twin Peaks, containing many references to the show and having much of the original cast guest star in the episode. The Killing, Bates Motel, and Gravity Falls are other contemporary programs that have cited Twin Peaks as a reference. It was parodied by The Simpsons in the episode “Lisa’s Sax” as well as “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Saturday Night Live, Northern Exposure (which was filmed in Roslyn, Washington, near the Twin Peaks locations), and Sesame Street of all things have all done parody scenes or made references to Twin Peaks. The Sesame Street in particular one is hilarious, as Cookie Monster plays “Agent Cookie” travels to Twin Beaks and eats some “darn good pie.” He’s trying to find out why the town is called Twin Beaks and asks birds David Finch and Laura and doesn’t get a “darn fine answer.” And the Twin Peaks influences extend to video games as well, notably in Alan Wake, Deadly Premonition, Life is Strange, and the Silent Hill series. But also on Max Payne, Mizzurna Falls, and even parts of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Many bands have also written songs about the show, including “Laura Palmer” by Bastille and “North Bend” by Lovely Bad Things.

Twin Peaks references are fun to keep an eye out for

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

The show was originally going to be set in, and titled, North Dakota. Then they moved it to the Pacific Northwest and called it Northwest Passage, before finally going with Twin Peaks. The idea for the Laura Palmer murder sprang from the real-life unsolved 1908 murder of Hazel Irene Drew in Sand Lake, New York. You can see more about that here. Lynch and Frost met and became friends while working on a Marilyn Monroe biopic that was later shelved by Warner Bros. And it was Lynch’s manager, Tony Krantz, that convinced Lynch to do a show about his vision of America like he did in Blue Velvet. Lynch and Frost worked on the concept and pitched it to ABC in 1988. ABC greenlit the project and they filmed a pilot. An interesting note about the pilot is that they filmed an actual ending. The idea was, if ABC didn’t want to pick up the series after seeing the pilot, they could use it as a made-for-TV movie. This version did actually see a release in theaters and home video. Honestly, it isn’t all that amazing. But if you’re curious, it’s on YouTube, you can see the Alternate Ending here. I don’t recommend watching it unless you’ve seen the show already.

Actual screenshot from the alternate finale

Image via Flicker

The fictional town of Twin Peaks is in Washington state “five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the state line.” That would put it in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness. The shooting locations were mostly in Washington also, the towns of Snoqualmie, North Bend, and Fall City. Living in Portland, I am 3-4 hours away from these towns, and absolutely plan on making a pilgrimage to what is my own personal Mecca. Some locations were shot in Malibu, California, and some interiors in a warehouse in San Fernando, CA. In August 1992, Lynch decided to have the premiere of the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in North Bend. It was an exciting festival and some fans of the show thought it would be great to have an organized event there every year, thus Twin Peaks Fest was born. Every year, hundreds would congregate and they would have organized tours, meet and greets with various actors, and screenings of other David Lynch films. In 2019, CBS decided to move in and make the Twin Peaks Festival an official event, moving its location to Memphis, Tennessee. The festival was supposed to take place in April but was moved to Halloween weekend due to COVID-19. You can read about the announcement of the move on this website and also visit the old Twin Peaks Festival site for more info about the old event.

I mean, Memphis is great and all, I adore it... but Memphis doesn't have the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge in Snoqualmie, Washington, where the exteriors for the Great Northern Hotel was shot for the show

Image by ABC/CBS/Showtime via IMDB

There is so much I could talk about, there are literally books written on this show. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of Twin Peaks, here are some recommended YouTube videos and websites. The Take’s What’s So Great About Twin Peaks, WhatCulture’s 10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn’t Know About Twin Peaks, CineFix’s 7 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Twin Peaks, Angelo Badalamenti explains how he wrote Laura Palmer’s theme, Twin Peaks Stars Explain Why The Show Was A Cultural Phenomenon, Polygon’s Why Twin Peaks Doesn’t Need Jump Scares, ScreenCrush’s Twin Peaks - So You Think You Know TV?, Looper’s The Untold Truth of Twin Peaks, Lynch and Frost being interviewed by the BBC in April of 1990, and Lynch on Late Night with David Letterman on February 27, 1991. Phew. That's a lot, but it's all highly entertaining. If you really, really, really want to go down the rabbit hole… Twin Perfect has a 4.5 hour long video explaining the entire franchise, including the movie and Showtime series. You can see it here and his near 1.5 hour long “more evidence” video here. I haven’t watched them, I don’t want to watch 7 hours of someone telling me what a show means, but I thought their existence was interesting enough to include here. A great resource on the show is Welcome to Twin Peaks, very comprehensive news and fansite for the show, they have a lot of sections and it’s fun to poke around and see what’s on there.

There is more Twin Peaks after the two seasons aired in the early 90s. In 1992, David Lynch released a theatrical feature film called Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. It serves as both a sequel and prequel to the show but does not resolve the cliffhanger ending or any of the loose threads. Honestly, it isn’t that good. I’ll review it more in-depth at a later time. But it is required watching for the next chapter of the franchise, Twin Peaks: The Return. An 18-episode event that aired on Showtime in 2017. And boy, is it a trip. I’m not focusing on that today because, while these seasons are set in the same story, the presentation is vastly different. If Twin Peaks was unique for 1990, then The Return is unlike anything ever done on television before. I highly recommend watching it.

Literally my face when I heard about Twin Peaks: The Return

Image by ABC/CBS/Showtime via IMDB

There are also several, official, canon books. David’s daughter, Jennifer Lynch, wrote “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer” in 1990. The next year, we were treated to “‘Diane…’ The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper” which was an audiotape written by Scott Frost, brother of Mark, and narrated by Kyle MacLachlan. Awesomely enough, the recording was nominated for Best Spoken Word Album at the 1991 Grammy Awards. It lost to George Burns’ narration of “Gracie: A Love Story.” And, okay… fine. Burns reading about the love he shared with his wife can have that one. Also in 1991, Scott Frost wrote “The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes.” Finally, Lynch, Mark Frost, and Richard Saul Wurman write a parody travel guide called “Welcome to Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town.” Years later, we got two more books. In 2016, Mark Frost wrote “The Secret History of Twin Peaks” which actually clears up some of the unresolved plotlines from the show. Lastly, in 2017, Frost gave us “Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier” which bridges the gap between seasons 2 and 3 of the show.

The horses are not what they seem

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

Final Thoughts:

The show is for sure one of my favorite of all time. Groundbreaking and entertaining and something that I still think about years after seeing it for the first time. I can’t think of much more to say about it that I haven’t already waxed poetically about in the above talk. I guess I should add what I remember about the show when it was originally on the air. Not much. I was 8 when it debuted and had parents that were very strict with what I watched. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed or appreciated it anyway if I had seen it. I know my aunt was into it and I was aware of how popular it was. But I didn’t get around to watching it until years later. Remember, we didn’t have Netflix back then, I couldn’t binge it! My real earliest exposure to it was a Darkwing Duck episode called “Twin Beaks” where they travel to the mysterious town of Twin Beaks and find Bushroot wrapped in plastic. Darkwing has a dream where Launchpad tells him “The Cows Are Not What They Seem.” The episode honestly shares a lot in common with other creepy sci-fi, specifically Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Night of the Living Dead, but there are some strong Twin Peaks vibes here. It was one of the episodes that really stuck with me, since it was so odd and unusual and, honestly, a little bit scary. But anyway, I love Twin Peaks and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a quirky mystery.

Damn good show

Image by ABC/Showtime via IMDB

But that’s just what I think. Have you seen it? I know some of you out there have. If not, visit Just Watch to see where it’s streaming. And remember to watch the movie if you want to tackle the third season, which I highly recommend also. Leave me a comment down below about your favorite character or episode or song used in the show or anything else you’d like to say. And check back eventually for a review of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and down the road, when I do my Lit Fam 2010's Blog, I'll talk about Twin Peaks: The Return. So, I guess I'll see you again in 25 years. Meanwhile...

Next time, we’re gonna look at a cartoon and start working out way through Marvel’s 90s Animated Universe. Let’s check out Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-1998). Does this cartoon do the web-slinger justice? Or does Spidey get emo and dance again for the first time? Find out next time!

Thursday, May 14, 2020

WWF - January 1990

Image by WWE via WrestlingForum.com

Hello hello! That’s for checking this out. As I said when I came back, I want to do something different with this blog. I want to encompass many different things from the 90s, and professional wrestling is one of them. I love pro wrestling, I have since the 90s, and it’s my blog. I want to write about it because I love it and want to share that love. So let’s get into it!

In early 1990, if you were a kid, you had to pick between the two biggest names in the WWF. Were you a Hulkamaniac and support Hulk Hogan? Or were you a Little Warrior and get behind The Ultimate Warrior? Even if you didn’t watch wrestling, you had to choose. I was a Hulkamaniac, myself. I remember I had some trading cards from this era, with Hogan, Warrior, Andre the Giant, Macho Man, Miss Elizabeth, Big Boss Man, and some others. So I knew who these guys were before I actually started watching, years later.

There was a WCW at the time, but out in California… no one knew about or cared about WCW in 1990. Jim Crockett? The NWA? What’s that? Some of that southern’ rasslin’ they show on TBS. So for us, kids in the Bay Area in California in 1990… it was all about Hogan and the Warrior.

Hogan was on top of the world in 1990. We were all saying our prayers and eating our vitamins and believing in ourselves.

Image via Flickr

Before we get started, just for continuity sake, here are the various World Wrestling Federation champions going into January 1990:
WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant and Haku)
WWF Woman’s Champion: Rockin’ Robin
Million Dollar Champion: Ted DiBiase

And here’s a short glossary of wrestling promotions mentioned, but not abbreviated.
WWF - World Wrestling Federation
WWE - World Wrestling Entertainment
WCW - World Championship Wrestling
NWA - National Wrestling Alliance
Click here for a glossary of wrestling terms, incase I said something that doesn’t make sense to you.

Like I said previously, when doing these wrestling things, I’m pretty much just going to be using the WWE Network because I don’t have the time or feel like looking for every show that was aired on YouTube or Dailymotion. Some shows won’t be there anyway, so screw it. I got some of my info for this post from listening to episodes of two podcasts: Bruce Prichard’s Something to Wrestle and Tony Schiavone’s What Happened When.

There are only two WWF events from January on the WWE Network. Both shows were significant and important in the build towards Wrestlemania VI in April. We had The Royal Rumble pay-per-view and Saturday Night’s Main Event XXV. So let’s just get into them!

Image by WWE via IMDB

Royal Rumble
January 20, 1990
Orlando Arena in Orlando Florida
Live on Pay-Per-View
Commentators: Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura

Segment: Opening
Tons of opening promos, all quick and designed to get themselves over for the Royal Rumble match. An entertaining opening, I enjoyed seeing it, and a good way to get pumped for the show. We see our commentators, Schiavone and Ventura. Ventura looks ridiculous, wearing Mickey Mouse ears and a Disney sweater. Schiavone relates in his podcast that he got the chance to call this event at the last minute, due to Vince McMahon not feeling up to it.

The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau) (with Jimmy Hart)
This was a fun little opener to the show, but not a great match. The Bushwhackers were never known for their technical prowess. Jimmy Hart tries to interfere, in full sight of the referee and gets pulled into the ring by Luke for his troubles. Why no DQ? Maybe because half of the undercard had crap finishes. Also at over 13 minutes, this match went on way, way, way too long. I would have ranked it lower, but the crowd was super into the match, which helped my enjoyment of it a lot. I’ve never liked the Bushwhackers. Back in the day, they were known as the Sheepherders and were known as a violent tag team, who would blade and bleed all over the ring. Also, side note, this was Raymond Rougeau’s last match, he retired after this. Side note: Jacques Rougeau was recently featured on VICE’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on Dino Bravo. Who will be on this card a little later…
Winners: The Bushwhackers
Finish: Butch pins Jacques
Length: 13:35

Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius
The Genius opens up this one reciting one of his poems, insulting the crowd and Beefcake in the process. Fantastic promo, he gets so much heat from the crowd from this. Brother Brutus comes out to a huge ovation. The Genius prances around like he’s gay, which enrages this early 90s Southern crowd. The match is alright, Genius is pretty good, but Beefcake is just kinda there. The referee gets knocked out, Beefcake covers Genius and should have won, but there’s no referee. So he starts to do the only logical thing he can do and starts to cut The Genius’ hair. Suddenly, Mr. Perfect comes out from the back and attacks Beefcake. The referee gets up and sees those two fighting, so he disqualifies everyone. Um, what? Shouldn’t he just be disqualifying The Genius? Shouldn’t Beefcake pick up the win, since the referee saw Beefcake getting attacked? Nope. Wonky Booking existed in the WWF even 30 years ago.
Winner: N/A
Finish: Double disqualification
Length: 11:07

Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Ronnie Garvin
Submission Match
Oh man, I wanted to love this match, I really mean it, I did. Out of all the undercard matches on this show, this is the one with the guys with the most experience. Greg Valentine is a hard-hitting, sonofabitch veteran. Ronnie Garvin is likewise a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. They both have their submission holds, so seeing them go at it in a match like this should have been golden. So why only three out of five stars? Well. It’s a submission match. So why do both men keep going for pinfalls? Throughout the match, both competitors go for pin attempt after pin attempt after pin attempt. I didn’t keep a tally, but it was upwards of 4 or 5 times each. If you do it 2-3 times, total, that’s fine. But you mean to tell me, that the two biggest professionals kept forgetting what kind of match they were having? It took me out and made me mad. Which is a shame, because it was a good, stiff, hard-hitting match, and I liked all the rest of it. Lame that the pinfall attempts pulled me out.
Winner: Ronnie Garvin
Finish: Submission
Length: 16:55

Ronnie Garvin showing how I felt during the WWF was treating me in last three matches.

Image by WWE via RichOnWrestling

Segment: The Brother Love Show
Guests: Queen Sherri, Sapphire, Dusty Rhodes, Randy Savage
Brother Love berates the crowd and brings out the manager of Randy Savage, Queen Sherri, to berate them with him. Brother Love calls Sherri “royalty” and they call the crowd “peasants.” Speaking of peasants! They call out Sapphire, the manager of Dusty Rhodes, so Brother Love and Sherri can berate her live and in person. They insult her and Dusty until she can’t stand it anymore and attacks Sherri. Dusty comes out to the aid of Sapphire which causes Randy Savage to hit the ring. The segment ends with Brother Love taking a nice little bump to the outside, courtesy of Dusty. A fun little bit! Four of the most charismatic individuals in the WWF at the time and Sapphire, who might not be the most graceful, but seemed like a genuinely nice person. So she’s captivating in her kind of way. I enjoyed this.

The Big Boss Man (with Slick) vs. Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan is backstage before the match, cutting a promo where he yells and screams “HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” a lot. Boss Man has the confederate flag on his police uniform. He’s a police officer from Cobb County, Georgia, so of course he does. But it’s hilariously distracting. It was a different time in 1990. And what’s up with all these wonky finishes? This one ends with Boss Man getting DQ’d when he smacks Duggan with his nightstick. I wanted to like this match. It was a good, solid, hard-hitting contest. Boss Man moves around gracefully for a big man and takes some nice bumps. I’ve never been a Jim Duggan fan, never will, but he was pretty good in this one. But this is the second DQ finish out of four matches. At least the referee disqualified the right person instead of throwing up his arms and going “I dunno! LOL!”
Winner: Jim Duggan
Finish: Disqualification
Length: 6:13

Segment: Rapid Fire Promos
Before the Rumble match, they show a collection of backstage promos delivered in rapid-fire succession by most of the participants. I didn’t dislike any of them, though most of them were just big bulky men, screaming and yelling about how they were going to win. The best ones were from the usual suspects: Dusty Rhodes, The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Hulk Hogan. A group of guys known for their charisma. I was a bit underwhelmed by some others, specifically Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, who cut their promos alongside their tag team partners Marty Janetty and Jim Niedhart, respectively. But what can I say? These two wouldn’t come into their own for another couple of years. They showed up, did their job, and that’s it. I only felt underwhelmed because, watching this in 2020, and knowing what they would quickly become, it was a bit of a letdown. That’s something difficult I have watching this really old wrestling. Seeing guys acting like average chumps, in their early days, but I’m so used to seeing them as household names. But there was a great bit overall and served to get me hyped for the Rumble match.

The Royal Rumble
Participants (in order of entrance)
Ted DiBiase, Koko B. Ware, Marty Jannetty, Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, The Warlord, Bret Hart, Bad News Brown, Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant, The Red Rooster, Ax, Haku, Smash, Akeem, Jimmy Snuka, Dino Bravo, The Canadian Earthquake, Jim Neidhart, The Ultimate Warrior, Rick Martel, Tito Santana, The Honky Tonk Man, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, The Barbarian, Rick Rude, Hercules, Mr. Perfect
A lot to talk about in this match. This was the third ever Royal Rumble and the first one that was won by a big name, Jim Duggan and Big John Studd winning the first two. Ted DiBiase was the first one out, and lasted quite a while, spending almost 45 minutes in the match. He was the 18th eliminated. The shortest was, unfortunately, Shawn Michaels. Michaels was not a star yet, so he got destroyed by the Ultimate Warrior and eliminated in 0:12 seconds. See, Triple H was not the only member of D/X to get buried by the Warrior. Hulk Hogan and the Warrior each had six eliminations, tied for the most in this match. And that’s the big story here, those two. There is a point in the match where Hogan and the Warrior are in the ring alone together, and the crowd is losing their collective minds. The two biggest stars in the company, face to face for the first time. They go at it, no-selling each other’s moves, smacking each other around like only two big, beefy men can do. They criss-cross the ring and double clothesline each other! Who is the strongest? We don’t know! Eventually, other wrestlers come out. Soon, Warrior ends up being eliminated, but it takes Hogan, along with The Barbarian and Rick Rude, to do so. In the end, Hogan wins the Rumble by throwing Mr. Perfect over the top rope. It’s a great, fun match, as Rumbles usually are. And as much as I’m not a huge fan of Hogan or the Warrior today, feeling that energy from the crowd, even 30 years later, goes a long way to making the match and the moment with the two of them feel special.
Winner: Hulk Hogan
Finish: Hogan eliminates Mr. Perfect
Length: 58:46

Not a bad start to the decade for a man, who, just the previous year, literally murdered rival wrestler Zeus in the movie No Holds Barred.

Image by WWE via Sportsakeeda

Overall
I had average feelings coming out of this Rumble. I liked all the backstage bits, I liked the Brother Love Show Segment, and I enjoyed the Rumble match itself. The Royal Rumble is my favorite event of the year, and I love the match itself. And it was SO WEIRD (in a good way) to hear Toni Schivonne call a WWF Royal Rumble. He was an NWA/WCW guy from the early 80s up through the end of WCW in 2001, except for the one year between 1989-90 that he was in the WWF. But I liked it, it’s not only different, but I like him on commentary. It’s just a shame that the undercard was so underwhelming. Four matches, two ending in disqualification, one with tons of bullcrap pinfalls, and one that was way too long and featured the Bushwhackers. Overall, an average show, with some highlights. The big takeaway of the show was the Ultimate Showdown between Hogan and the Warrior in the Rumble. Who is stronger? Who is more powerful? All the kids across the country didn’t know! And, damn it, we needed to know! And we would find out, as this was all the beginning of the build for Wrestlemania VI, which is coming in just a few months, and features The Ultimate Challenge!

Who's the toughest of the two? We have no idea yet!

Image by WWE via 411Mania

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Can the 24-inch pythons and the rocketship co-exist?

Image by WWE via IMDB

Saturday Night’s Main Event XXV
January 27, 1990
UTC Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Pre-taped on NBC [originally taped January 3]
Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

The show starts with McMahon and Ventura standing in front of a green screen showing the crowd in the arena. Ventura is wearing a Florida Gators shirt, cuz ya know, they’re in Tennessee and the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee are rivals. Ventura also warns McMahon “Be careful, or I might start talking like Guns and Roses.”

Jim Duggan vs. Randy Savage (with Queen Sherri)
Duggan starts off cutting one of his “HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” promos before the match, telling backstage interviewer Mean Gene Okerlund that he can’t wait for this decade. I hope he likes having a janitor gimmick in 1999. Savage also cuts a promo with Sherri, with lots of insults to the “peasants.” Some local wrestlers carry Savage out to the ring on a throne. I should point out that Savage’s current gimmick is “The Macho King” which makes his royalty stuff make more sense. As far as the match itself goes, as I said in the Rumble, Hacksaw is not the best. But he’s good enough, especially working with someone like Savage. I wouldn’t say this match is a forgotten classic or a hidden gem, but I enjoyed it. Sherri holds Duggan’s legs down so he can be pinned.
Winner: Randy Savage
Finish: Pinfall
Length: 9:14

Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior vs. Mr. Perfect & The Genius
Another set of great promos kick off the match. The Genius has another poem he recites, about how lame Hogan is. Jesse Ventura is interviewing them, and sows the seeds of descent between Hogan and Warrior, stating that they will want to beat each other up. Hogan and Warrior cut a promo with Mean Gene, yelling and screaming about how powerful they both are. So here’s my thing. Why the hell is this match the second on the card? Why isn’t this the main event? Regardless. They go back and forth for a big. Then Mr. Perfect and The Genius isolate Hogan and keep beating him down. Perfect hits his finisher, The PerfectPlex on Hogan, but stops the count on his own to dish out more damage. See? That’s how you protect a finisher. Hogan makes the Hot Tag and Warrior comes in to clean house! Gorilla Press Slam to The Genius! Hogan blind tags Warrior back in. Leg Drop! Pinfall. Great finish to the match. The right guy got pinned, Mr. Perfect being undefeated at this point still.
Winners: Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior
Finish: Hogan pins The Genius
Length: 8:02

After the match, the bad guys come in and attack Hogan and Warrior. Hogan gets knocked out of the ring, so Warrior takes care of business and takes down The Genius and Mr. Perfect. Hogan gets back in, taps Warrior on the soldier, and gets a clothesline of his own! Oh no! Warrior has attacked Hogan by accident! Warrior goes to check on Hogan, most weirdly. He kind of lightly smacks Hogan on the forehead and rubbing him on the head, while also taking a couple of breaks to flex real quick. Hogan gets to his feet and shoves the Warrior away. The two get in each other's faces and yell and growl at each other. Spicy!

Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Jake Roberts
Cool little promos from Roberts and Hart before this match. The storyline for this includes Roberts having stolen Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Championship. He has the belt, along with his snake, Damien, in a bag at ringside. This is a pretty good match, Roberts and Valentine can go. The match comes to an end when DiBiase and his slave, Virgil, attack Roberts, resulting in Valentine getting disqualified.
Winner: Jake Roberts
Finish: Disqualification
Length: 5:16

Dusty Rhodes (with Sapphire) vs. Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan)
Pre-match promo: Rude: “Sapphire will be mine” Ventura: “I wouldn’t put my hands on that woman on a bet!” Rude: “Who said anything about my hands?” I think he means his penis. Anyway. Kinda funny for toilet humor. This was a good match. Dusty was over with the southern crowd. Good back and forth action. The referees end up tossing both managers out after a few minutes. But Sapphire ends up buying a ticket and coming out to ringside to sit with the crowd at ringside. Must have been a slow night if you could still get a ringside ticket from the box office after the show starts. I gotta say, I liked this match. Rude is a great charismatic heel and Dusty is just a ball of energy and excitement. They both know how to work a crowd. Unfortunately, the ending was garbage. Rude ends up confronting Sapphire at ringside, getting Dusty’s attention. They fight up the walkway and the referee counts them both out. Ugh. Afterward, Dusty celebrates in the ring like he won the damn match, and Sapphire comes in and joins him.
Winner: N/A
Finish: Double Countout
Length: 9:04

Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart and Earthquake) vs. Ronnie Garvin
Off. This one takes on a different dimension after watching the recent Dark Side of the Ring episode on Dino Bravo. I honestly didn’t know much about him before that and, seeing it, I can’t see Dino the same way as before. I don’t mean that just in a bad way, because of the nature of his death, but I also didn’t know how big of a star he was in Quebec before coming to the WWF. Before, I saw him as just another old school wrestler holding on to his career and out of his element. Now, I see a star. Also, Earthquake looks like he’s in his 40s, but he’s 27-years-old. Geeze. This match was short and sweet, but a lot of fun. It had two professionals who know what they’re doing. The crowd is into the match. There’s a great bit where Bravo keeps trying to drop an elbow on Garvin, but Ronnie keeps rolling out of the way. Jimmy Hart gets on the ring apron, Garvin grabs him and throws him out, but he’s okay because Earthquake catches him. Quake then starts shaking his finger and yelling at Garvin, but he has his hand on the ring apron, so Garvin stomps it. Hilarious. But oh no! Garvin has his back turned, Bravo throws him outside and starts celebrating. Garvin climbs to the top turnbuckle, flying cross body on Bravo, but Bravo rolls it up and pins Garvin. Holy crap. A clean finish!
After the match, Bravo and Earthquake destroy Garvin, leading him to be let out on a stretcher.
Winner: Dino Bravo
Finish:
Length: 3:19

After the last match, they start hyping the next big show, February 23, The Main Event. It’ll be a rematch from Wrestlemania V, Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Championship against Randy Savage! But that’s not all… the special guest referee will be… Iron Mike Tyson! The World Boxing Champion! And in my mind, watching this, I was shocked. “Wait a minute,” I said to myself. “Tyson was in the WWF for Wrestlemania XIV in 1998. He was there before, in 1990? Why have I never heard about it?” Well, there’s is a reason for that, which we’ll talk about next time when we talk about February 1990 for the WWF. Near the end of the show, Ventura says about Tyson “There are some people in this world who can take you.” Ahh, timing…

Overall
I wanted to like this show more than I did. Bravo and Garvin was a great little match, if over way too soon. Surprisingly, I was jazzed for Hogan and the Warrior's tag team match and the confrontation at the end. The crowd was electric for everything they did, which made it engaging to watch. But what I want to know is, why was the Hogan & Warrior vs. Mr. Perfect & The Genius not the main event? At first, I thought "Well, ya know, they ARE in Tennessee. Maybe they had Dusty Rhodes and Ronnie Garvin go on after them because this is the south. The crowd would be more familiar with Rhodes and Garvin, being that this was NWA territory, and they were big stars in the NWA." But then when I found out that this show was pretaped, not live, and when they taped it... Hogan and Warrior WAS the main event! So I don't know! This confounds me. Also, another negative is, again, I hate DQ and double count-out finishes. They dragged the show for me down into "average" territory.

Somewhere, deep down inside of my nostalga, still beats the heart of a little Hulkamaniac

Image by WWE via WWE Network News

This was certainly a fun little romp, especially watching in April and May of 2020, as I’m writing this. Outside in the Real World, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still wrestling going on with the WWE, but they are performing in empty arenas and it isn’t the same. While the matches today might be technically better, these older matches are more fun to watch because there’s a crowd. You don’t know how important that live audience is until it’s taken away from you. Which is probably why I’m more jazzed for some of this stuff than I would have been a year ago. Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior? I’m excited about that? What’s happened to me?

You can watch both of the shows I reviewed here on the WWE Network. Have you seen them? Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Next time, since there is no WCW content from January 1990 on the Network, we’re just going to go right into February for the WWF and talk about The Main Event and Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage. And the special referee being the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion…

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Misc Wrestling Stuff - January 1990

Other Events:
January 7 - FMW Battle Resistance – 1st Open Tournament

Births:
January 14 - Kacy Catanzaro, gymnast and future NXT wrestler

Deaths:
January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, former World Wrestling Champion (original version) and NFL Hall of Famer

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Tyson (1995)

Image by HBO via IMDB

They say timing is everything. Earlier today, Mike Tyson posted videos on his Instagram account, showing off some vicious training. It ends with him looking into the camera and saying “I’m back!” Watch this crap, dude! Apparently, at 53, Tyson is returning to the sport of boxing. What he’s going to do, I’m not sure yet, but I’m glad I decided to post this today instead of on Friday.

These days, in 2020, Mike Tyson is a bit of a parody of himself. He learned to stop taking himself seriously years ago and it’s paid off financially in his old age. He’s literally a cartoon character (Mike Tyson Mysteries in Adult Swim) famous for his face tattoos, his lisp, and being “tough.” But this wasn’t always the case.

In the 80s and early 90s, Tyson earned the nickname “The Baddest Man on the Planet” for a reason. He won a gold medal in the Junior Olympics in 1981 and 1982. When he made the move to a professional career, he went undefeated, 37-0, from 1985 to 1989. Most of his fights lasted between 1-2 rounds before the knockout. Coming into 1990, he was the WBA, WBC, and IBF Heavyweight Champion. He was a staple of the early days of pay-per-view, and along with the WWF events, helped establish the format as producing must-see sporting content. At 1.99 million buys, 1997's second Tyson vs Evander Holyfield fight is to this day the sixth highest-grossing PPV event in history. And there are plenty of other Tyson fights on this list from Business Insider.

He was intimidating and scary. It wasn’t just how hard he hit. Check out this video of him fighting Mike Spinks on June 27, 1988, defending the Undisputed World Heavyweight Title. Watch how he walks. How he moves. His body language. His aura. He’s the toughest man in the building and he knows it. That’s what not only made him a champion, not just a boxing legend but a mainstream household name.

I'm kinda legit scared Mike is gonna read this and then come after me

Image via Flickr

It’s hard to describe how big of a deal Tyson was in the 80s and 90s. Maybe this story will give you an idea. I have an uncle on my dad’s side. He’s a recluse, a hermit, and it has gotten progressively worse over the years. I haven’t heard from him in about eight years and I don’t expect to again. The number of times in my life that he has been the one to reach out and contact my side of the family has been… I’ll say probably around 10 times in my lifetime. It’s probably more, but that’s what it feels like. It was always a rare occurrence when he was the one to initiate contact.

At some point in 1991, one of the few times he reached out to contact us was regarding Tyson’s arrest for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. Iron Mike was arrested in July of 1991 and the trial took place in January and February of 1992. It was probably around the point of the arrest when my Uncle made the call. I’m not sure what prompted him to reach out over this. I think it was just the shock that this larger-than-life figure would do something like this, though it wasn’t as if Tyson was ever viewed at in the same light as, say, Mr. Rogers. Maybe it's sad that one of the times my Uncle reached out was to talk about Tyson. Hell, he even wanted to talk to ME about it. Maybe my Uncle was a sad and pathetic man who didn’t have his priorities in order. Or maybe it speaks to the volume that Tyson was in 1991, that my hermit Uncle broke radio silence to talk about him. Or most likely some of both.

Mike Tyson is an interesting character with many different layers. He raises and cares for pigeons. He knocks people out for fun and profit. And he was a petty thief and a rapist. He made millions upon millions and lost everything through poor life choices. And it’s all these different aspects that HBO’s 1995 movie, Tyson, explores.

The worst thing Mike Tyson ever did was not take this chance to knock out Carrot Top

Image via Flickr

The movie covers his life from a street kid on the run from the police, where you see him raising pigeons in a crowded apt in a bad neighborhood in New York City. He had a lot of run-ins with the law as a teenager, but he loved boxing and ended up being discovered by trainer Cus D’Amato. D’Amato trained him, treated him like a son. The movie shows his amateur career and then transitions into his professional fighting career. You see bits of his pursuit of and disastrous marriage to Robin Givens. The movie doesn’t hold back any punches on his complicated courtship with legendarily famous promoter Don King as well as turning on his old trainers to work with King and make millions upon millions of dollars. Of course, you also see Tyson losing the Undisputed World Championship to James “Buster” Douglas in one of the biggest sports upsets of all time, and the movie ends with his conviction at his rape trial.

Tyson could knock out Bill Cosby AND Khan without breaking his stance

Image by HBO via WendyShow

The movie is exceptionally well-acted. Michael Jai White is the spitting image of Tyson and, honestly, if I didn’t know this was a movie I would think some of the scenes were actually with Tyson. Cus D’Amato is wonderfully done by the legendary George C. Scott, who always brings the cantankerous old white man attitude. Paul Winfield, who I remember mostly for playing Captain Clark Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, is the sleazy and scheming Don King. Mills Lane plays himself but, sadly, does not say “Let’s get it on.” Two performances that were distracting for me were Clark Gregg, playing trainer Kevin Rooney, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who did Tyson’s childhood friend/trainer, Rory Holloway. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that they were distracting because they were bad, but it’s just distracting to see Phil Coulson Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Theo Huxtable interacting with Mike Tyson. The first time I saw Gregg, my initial reaction was “Are they going to ask Mike Tyson to join The Avengers?” Then I immediately thought of Tyson punching Thanos and screaming “I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN.”

Ha! You call that tough? I once turned into Ghost Rider!

Image by HBO via Pinterest

Everyone else in this movie is fine. Kristen Wilson as Robin Givens is fine. James Sikking as promoter and manager Bill Cayton is fine. Tyson’s two biggest opponents at the time, Mitch Green (Michael Jace) and James “Buster” Douglas (Duane Davis) are fine. No one in this is offensively bad or anything. Maybe distracting, but that’s my fault, not theirs.

The movie aired on April 29, 1995. I don’t have any budget information and, since it was a made-for-TV movie, there is no box office info. It’s based on a 1989 book called “Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Iron Mike Tyson” by former boxer and chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, Jose Torres. Production-wise, I think the movie hits. Everything is slick and professionally done. Not a lot of stuff that made me go “Wow, that’s awesome!” but no real bad shots or camera work or anything. Tyson was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 1996 for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. It would lose to The Tuskegee Airmen, another HBO film. Some of it was filmed on location at D’Amato’s boxing gym in Catskills, New York.

Remember Mike, there's no fighting in the boxing ring

Image by HBO via Microsoft

There is another movie called Tyson, an actual documentary released in 2008. I haven’t seen it, but it looks interesting. There is a biopic that will begin filming this summer called Cus and Mike, based on Montieth Illingworth’s book “Mike Tyson: Money, Myth, and Betrayal.” Anthony Hopkins is playing D’Amato and, as of right now, I couldn’t find out who would be playing Tyson, if it’s even cast yet. Nick Cassavetes is set to direct and the screenplay is by Desmond Nakano. Also, there is another, different trying to get off the ground is a different new biopic about Mike Tyson, starring Jamie Foxx as Tyson. Iron Mike himself is involved and apparently wants the project to be accurate. Legendary director Martin Scorsese wants to direct it. You can read a bit more about Cus and Mike here and the Jamie Foxx movie here.

But how does one replace Patton and Coulson?

Image by HBO via ClarkGreggReporter

I suppose my biggest disappointment with this movie is not the fault of the movie itself. It came out in 1995, around the time when Tyson was about to get out of prison. But the things he did afterward are so… he got weird, man. The face tattoos. The two fights with Evander Holyfield, the second of which he bites part of Holyfield’s ear off. Telling Lennox Lewis in an interview “I want to eat his heart. I want to eat his children.” Showing up on WWF’s Raw is War in 1998 to get into a showing match and brawl with Stone Cold Steve Austin and subsequent appearance at Wrestlemania XIV. His cameo in The Hangover. And of course, the cartoon. None of these things occur in the 1995 movie, because they hadn’t happened yet. I’m not going to lower the rating for that, but I wanted to make an observation about it.

Wilson sums up my feelings on this movie. Enjoyable but not exceptional.

Image by HBO via IconicGreats

Final Thoughts

I liked this movie, though it’s a little difficult to recommend. If you’re like me and you have a casual enjoyment stemmed from boxing of this era, you’ll probably enjoy this. Mike Tyson. Evander Holyfield. George Foreman. Lennox Lewis. Felix Trinidad. Oscar De La Hoya. Larry Holmes. It was probably seeing the video games and commercials for the fights when I was in my formative years, but I have a love and appreciation of boxing from this era. And I don’t at all consider myself a boxing fanatic. If this is you, watch Tyson. If you’re hardcore into boxing, you likely won’t get much out of this. The movie is pretty by-the-books, no huge revelations, and the character growth is less Raging Bull and Rocky and more akin to 90s melodrama. But I appreciate how it does include negative aspects of Tyson’s life, including things I haven’t mentioned like him allegedly grabbing the bottom of the 12-year-old cousin of one of his trainers when he was 15 and his really weird Barbara Walters interview, which you can see here, where his wife Gibbons describes all the abuse Tyson dishes out while he sits there, calmy and smiling, not saying a word. In the end, there’s nothing wrong with this movie. Nothing spectacular either. But I liked it.

Have you seen this movie? If not, you can go to JustWatch to see where it’s streaming. Let me know what you thought, or what you think of Tyson the boxer or Tyson the man. I’d love to see your thoughts about the movie and/or the person portrayed in the film down in the comments below.

Next time, let’s go back to 1991 and talk about a movie starring John Stamos in which he plays a WWII motorcycle instructor. Uncle Jesse stars in Born to Ride. Does this motorcycle movie show its tricks? Or does it run out of gas? Find out next time!

Tyson still looks terrifying today. Please sir, if you ever see this, please don't hurt me.

Image via WikiCommons