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The National Basketball Association

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Hot damn this is turning out to be an exciting off season for the NBA!

My favorite sport is basketball and I have been following the NBA, and my favorite team the Phoenix Suns, for around 25 years. For me basketball is the most exciting sport to watch on television or in person and the skill with which these athletes perform is second to none.

The off season for any sport can be pretty exciting in regards to free agency, but the NBA is the one league where trades and free agent acquisitions seem to be the most common.

This is one of those years where the free agent list is pretty damn impressive. With the big three in Miami (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) being up for grabs and the regular rumblings of Kevin Love being up for trade, some big things are going to happen this off season which has the chance to make the 2014-15 NBA season one of the most interesting in a long time.

There are all kinds of rumors of what will happen this summer and where players will wind up and I cannot wait until things get finalized. My favorite rumor is the possibility of LeBron James coming to Phoenix. I have been a diehard fan of the Suns before Charles Barkley came to town and remain a fan even when the team is not winning. Even though they did not make the playoffs last season the 48 wins was exciting and gave us serious hope for a winning future. I know LeBron coming here is still a bit of a dream, but I cannot help but think he will have the best chance to spend the rest of his career winning NBA championships with the Suns and I desperately want that to happen. We have gotten close more than once, but have yet to win the ultimate prize in basketball.

The Arizona Diamondbacks winning the World Series in 2001 was great for the state, but for many years we were primarily a basketball town. For quite some time the Suns were the only major league team in the Valley. I feel winning that elusive NBA title would be the ultimate achievement sports wise for AZ.

The one thing I hate the most is waiting. I have zero patience and cannot wait for decisions to be made and names signed on the dotted line.

Here’s to a promising NBA season and I hope the Suns win big!!!

Costume Corner – An Introduction

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Hello, KCBlue here, as Cap mentioned, I’ll be here every Saturday posting about my adventures in costume making.  I will also be cross-posting this on my own blog, More-Like-Guidelines.

Adventures in sewing…

Here’s the deal, I love costumes.  I don’t know if it’s because of my love of old movies, or all of the books I read when I was a kid, or maybe my interest in history or quite possibly something else entirely.  I am sure it’s the result of some crazy combination of things, whatever it is, I really enjoy making costumes.

I can sew pretty well, I am not the best ever but I am definitely not the worst either.  My mother was an amazing seamstress, a fact that I’ve just only begun to appreciate in the last several years.    My mother sewed for the holidays, costumes at Halloween and dresses and decorations at Christmas and Easter.  She made clothes for herself  and the rest of us, including swim suits.  She also did a lot of sewing around the house, like curtains, tablecloths, bedspreads, dust ruffles and anything else that was needed.  My favorite was an elegant set of scalloped, sheer roman shades for the formal dining room.

When I was young, probably 7 or 8 years old, my mother taught me how to sew.  I wanted to make presents for family members for Christmas.  She started me on straight stitches and then a little zig zag.  That year I made fabric pouches that held individual tissue packets for everyone in my family for Christmas.  I wish I had a picture so that I could post it here.  They were super simple but I was very proud of myself.

After that, my mother went over how to cut out a pattern and properly pin the pattern pieces onto the fabric.  She explained how to match up the different pieces following the various match points, and dots.  Then I learned about clipping edges, sewing darts and a bunch of other stuff.  After that she just let me venture out and work on my own projects.  After that I learned a lot just bumbling my way along, I suppose at some point I should have asked her for more lessons and pointers.  I have some blind spots, like zippers, I am still in the process of learning how to put in a zipper.  I am very proficient in adding snaps, hooks and velcro though, so that’s a good thing.

The silver lining to all of  the trial and error is that I developed really good problem solving skills.  I’ve learned I can tweek almost any pattern, and at this point they’re more like guidelines really.  It is not rare for me to combine one or more patterns to create one piece or outfit.  Sometimes I end up using tissue paper or muslin to create my own patterns.

My biggest sewing project was my wedding in 2000.  When we were first talking about getting married I suggested we have a Renaissance themed wedding.  Luckily enough, my then fiance/now husband was all for the idea.  I made my dress, all of the bridesmaid dresses, my Dad’s tunic, a robe for the minister, as well as six other dresses.    Next week, I’ll go more in depth about the wedding.  Here’s a pic though, to tide you over.CC Intro

Costume Corner has been cross-posted from More-Like-Guidelines.

 

 

Spider-Man

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Hey there, guys! So, as you know from my father’s previous post, I’ll be doing Fandom Fridays from now on! I’ll be making my debut here with a review of the original Spider-Man trilogy.

Okay, let’s get started!

The original comic book character is a young adult, with a struggling freelance job, and a romantic life. Peter Parker works at the Daily Bugle, a fictitious New York newspaper industry, and sells J. Jonah Jameson, the head of the industry, his photographs of Spider-Man.  Peter Parker is a genius, he is witty even without the mask of Spider-Man, and he is obviously like a young adult- still learning, still growing, but mature enough to know the difference between right and wrong in controlled situations. Peter Parker’s first love is Gwen Stacy, but then she tragically dies and his new love interest becomes Mary Jane Watson.

Now, starting off with Mary Jane is overall a bad idea, since Gwen’s death is an extreme learning experience for him. Especially with how she dies. So having Gwen, one of the most important people in his life, join in the third movie just to be a plot device really wasted her character. And I disliked how Mary Jane had no character development through the entire trilogy.

I like how they started off the trilogy. I enjoy how they put in the wrestling career Peter had, and I love Bruce Campbell’s cameo. I don’t like Toby Maquire as Spider-Man, but I feel like he was good anyways. I feel like it was a good idea to start off with the Green Goblin, and even though he’s introduced in the fourteenth issue of Amazing Spider-Man, he is still one of the first villains for Spider-Man. I like how Willem Defoe played him, how you can see the insanity in him when he takes the serum. I enjoy how they wrote him too, how he had motive, but it wasn’t something that made you pity him.

I think it was a good move to go with Doctor Octavius next. I love how Alfred Molina played him, and I don’t know who else could play him like Alfred Molina did. I don’t feel like they handled the arms very well, though. In a real life situation, I could hardly believe that a crowd of people would just brush off four gigantic robot arms that happen to be attachable. And I really like Rosalie Octavius. I really dislike the whole I’m-Losing-My-Powers-Because-Of-Relationship-Problems thing in it. I do understand how they were trying to tell how much Mary Jane meant to Peter, but I feel like they could have handled it a bit differently.

I really didn’t like the third Spider-Man movie. I didn’t like Topher Grace as Eddie Brock, and as Venom it was worse. The entire movie has a big problem; there are way too many subplots and conflict. With Sandman, Green Goblin, Venom/Eddie Brock, the Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson love triangle, Harry Osborne, and the emo Peter Parker, there are way too many subplots. And Topher Grace as Eddie Brock was an odd decision.

I really like Harry Osborn and Flint Marko, but I don’t have much to say about them. I like how they had Harry not be vengeful against Peter by getting a concussion, and his death scene was very touching. I enjoy sympathetic villains, I like how Flint Marko has an actual backstory and serious motives. When he’s forming back into himself after his DNA is changed, the CGI on that part is amazing. It’s so touching, how he tries to grab his locket with his daughter’s picture in it. It has so much life to it, you can see the struggle as he forms. It was incredible.

I did not enjoy how they made Venom. I like the textures, and I do like the overall idea, but the thing about Venom is that, to me, the symbiote was using him as just a sort of base to create itself from. He has a very alien look to him. His tongue is unnaturally long, same with his teeth. But with the movie, it wasn’t very impressive. It just didn’t feel like it was enough. Having his face peel away so that Eddie can talk just makes Venom so much less like the actual Venom. The symbiote controls him, but gives Eddie the illusion of being a part of him. I do enjoy how Topher Grace performed with what they gave him, he truly is a good actor, this just wasn’t the role for him.

I think the first Spider-Man movie is the best of the trilogy, but it does go into a decline after that.

I’ll be reviewing Amazing Spider-Man next week, so do come back! Have a Marvelous weekend!

Original artwork by Gabriele Dell’Otto.

Changes

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For some time I have wanted to do a blog with my wife and daughter and I finally have that chance.

The Geek Registry is having a slight format change. I will continue to post Mondays on any topic that strikes my fancy that day. Wednesdays will continue to be about the world of professional wrestling. Fridays are now titled Fandom Fridays and my daughter will be posting her opinion on whatever strikes her fancy that day in the world of geekdom. My wife will be posting on Saturdays discussing costumes and costume making and giving her opinion on cosplay.

It has been my hope for a while to get my wife and daughter involved in this blog since they both enjoy writing and I hope we can not only enjoy ourselves but entertain anyone who reads the blog as well!

 

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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The Next Generation crew appeared in 4 movies with only one of them being a real standout with the other 3 being okay, but could have been much better. It would have been nice to have one more big movie for the TNG cast to go out with a bang but it was not meant to be.

Generations:

This was the movie that had a goal of successfully transferring the movies from the original crew to the new guys. It was a decent effort, but could have been significantly better if they could have gotten the entire original cast to participate. Due to egos and script conflicts it was not meant to be.

Overall, the movie was perfectly fine. Seeing Kirk and Picard going after Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell) was a blast and I felt that Kirk’s death was fitting, but it would have been fun to see him in maybe one more film even if it was nothing more than a cameo.

I liked the addition of Lursa and B’Etor into the movie and their death was appropriate and humorously done. McDowell did a great job as Dr. Soran and displayed just enough emotion to make you sympathetic towards him, yet still want to see him get his comeuppance in the end.

This was not the classic it should have been, but the movie was good for the most part and made me excited to see what they could pull of in the first movie featuring only the TNG cast which leads me to my favorite Star Trek movie yet…

First Contact:

YES! This is the best Star Trek movie in my opinion. It was practically flawless in the way it balanced humor with tremendous drama and tension.

The movie had great moments for the entire TNG crew with one of the standouts being Marina Sirtis’ drunk Troi scene with Zefram Cochran (wonderfully portrayed by James Cromwell) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Sirtis was fairly limited in what she could do with Troi in the television show so it was nice to see a different side of the character and actress.

Alfre Woodard’s Lily was perfect played directly opposite Patrick Stewart’s Picard. I really wish they could have found a way to make her a permanent addition to the franchise since I would have loved to see her character’s relationship with Picard blossom.

The Borg, along with the awesome Borg Queen played by Alice Krige, were great adversary’s for this movie and really made you feel that the crew of the Enterprise was in genuine danger.

This one falls in to the category of being not only a great Star Trek film, but a fantastic film period.

Insurrection:

This was definitely a step down from First Contact but it is not as bad of a movie as people would make you believe. The main issue of the movie was that it seemed more like a great 2 part television episode and not a film. I enjoy movies with moral messages from time to time, but would prefer to have that message not be so blunt in it’s delivery.

I really do not have a lot to say about this film other than it was cool to see F. Murray Abraham as the main villain Ru’afo and the final battle between him and Picard was pretty entertaining.

Nemesis:

The final TNG movie. Better than Insurrection, but not as good as First Contact.

This is another heavily criticized movie that I feel gets better with repeated viewings. The premise was a little bizarre with the clone of Picard (a very young Tom Hardy as Shinzon) seeming like a bad choice initially for the main villain, but I feel Hardy did a great job in the role and the feelings of deep violation was played masterfully by Stewart.

I also enjoyed the introduction of the Reman’s into Stark Trek lore. They were delightfully creepy and could have been a solid menace in future films.

The overall darkness of the movie seemed a little overwhelming at times, but was appropriate for the story.

This movie is better than a lot of people say and is definitely worth a watch.

There were a lot of rumors that they were going to do one more movie before the eventual re-boot that would have featured the TNG crew, Deep Space Nine cast, and some of the characters from Voyager together. That would have been incredible, but Nemesis tanked at the theaters preventing it from happening.

It would have been great to get one final big movie out of the crew, but what we got was fun overall and a great addition to my film collection.

Fallout 3

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With the new generation of gaming consoles in full swing many websites are discussing the best games of the previous generation. Fallout 3 is usually on these lists and for me it is the best game of that generation hands down.

I poured in well over 100 hours of game time and it was worth every minute. I purchased all DLC and combed through every inch of the in-game world and nothing left me feeling like I wasted my money or time.

RPG’s are one of my favorite gaming genres and Fallout 3 was truly a master of this game type. You start out by building your character’s skills in Vault 101 and it is done in a very interesting birth to adulthood sequence. There is a story path to follow but for the most part you can really do whatever you please and take as much time as you want in the seemingly endless areas of the game. There are so many things to find off the beaten path that it is wise to take your time and go through every little section of the game.

If you are obsessed with looting then this game will not disappoint. There appears to be an endless variety of weapons and other in-game knick-knacks that you can never truly find everything there is in the game.

If you somehow missed this game or do not consider yourself an RPG fan then now is the time to get this game for dirt cheap and find yourself quickly immersed in one of the most entertaining games ever.

Bethesda did such an amazing job that I sincerely hope that the eventual Fallout 4 for the current generation will somehow blow it out of the water which will truly be a monumental task.

I am keeping my fingers crossed!

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Beyond the Ring

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I say this week after week, but the greatest thing to come out for wrestling fans is the WWE Network (I will not stop until everyone subscribes!). I have been going through the WWE’s Beyond the Ring series which is a collection of the documentaries they include on their DVD/Blu ray releases. They feature topics on individual performers like Steve Austin, Edge, and Big Show (to name a few) and also on other topics like rivalries, WCCW, NWA, etc…They are regularly adding shows so it is safe to say we will eventually have access to all of the doc.’s from past home video releases.

I enjoy learning the behind the scenes stories of these performers who I have watched for years and getting an idea of who they really are outside of their wrestling personas.

Last night I watched the WCCW Beyond the Ring and even though I was aware of the Von Erich families’ tragedies there were some details I was not aware of. It was eye opening to learn about what happened during that time from various points of views from people who were actually there.

The Chris Jericho one was another fun watch since they showed footage from when he very first started and it was great seeing his evolution as a performer.

There are only a few of these specials I have not watched yet and so far I have enjoyed them all.

For wrestling fans this series is yet another reason why the WWE Network is a must buy!

Star Trek I – VI

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My favorite movie and television series of all time is Star Trek. I have an equal love for both the original series and The Next Generation crew. Last year I purchased all of the movies on blu-ray in their respective collections and was blown away by the quality of the blu-rays and the hours of behind the scenes info. for each movie. If you are a fan of the Star Trek movies and do not own these collections already then you need to stop reading and buy them now. Even if you have the special edition DVD’s you still need to pick these collections up to own these movies in the best representation possible.

This week I will concentrate on the Original Crew’s 6 films:

Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture

This is possibly the most maligned of all the Star Trek movies. In all honesty it is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It is really a decent start to the film franchise and had a lot of good moments. The whole V’Ger story line is interesting and when I first watched this as a kid many moons ago it was a genuine surprise twist. The movie looks beautiful on blu-ray and it is pretty cool to have the full 143 minute version, but at the same time that is my main gripe with this film. The movie is far too long. Once they enter the structure housing V’Ger the movie goes into slow down mode. They could have cut 30 minutes out of this part of the movie and possibly improved it many people’s minds. I was amazed that they spent so much time just slowly moving through the structure. Editing was the one major weakness in this film.

Overall, this was a good re-introduction to the franchise and paved the way for many more great movies to come.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

This movie was fantastic and holds up very well over time. It was exciting throughout and the over-the-top performances from both Shatner as Kirk and Montalban as Khan was perfect for the tone of this film. No matter how many times I have watched it over the years I still enjoy it immensely. The blu-ray transfer is incredible. The movie still retains that ‘grungy’ feel yet looks clearer than it ever has.

Even knowing the outcome of the third film it is still one of the most emotional moments in film history when Spock sacrifices himself to save the crew.

This movie is exciting from the first minute to the last and is definitely one of the best Star Trek movies, and one of the best overall science fiction films, of all time.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Another solid movie that does not always get the respect it deserves since it follows one of the best movies in the franchise. It is a little slower moving than the second film, but has enough big moments to keep your interest and found an intriguing way to resurrect Spock.

Christopher Lloyd’s Kruge was wonderfully off the wall which is usually what one hopes for from a Lloyd performance.  Robin Curtis as Lt. Saavik was a great casting choice. I am not a big Kirstie Alley fan and felt that Curtis performed the role perfectly.

Another good thing about this film was it paved the way for the fourth movie which was my absolute favorite for quite a long time.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Possibly the perfect Star Trek movie. It melded all the great sci-fi tropes that Trek established and added in the perfect amount of humor. After the dead seriousness of the first three films this was a wonderful ‘breather’ so to speak. There was genuine tension with the Earth’s future in balance, but there were enough lighthearted moments that you never felt weighed down by the drama.

The entire original crew had great moments in this film and the introduction of Catherine Hicks’ Gillian was a welcome addition to the franchise. It would have been interesting to see her in at least a small role in the next movie, but it was not meant to be.

For some people the ‘save the Earth” message may have seemed a little preachy, but I felt it was appropriate not only for the time, but also today.

Once again the blu-ray transfer is amazing. All of the movies in this collection look better than ever.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Okay, possible the only movie in the franchise hated more than the first one. For the longest time I enjoyed this movie and did not understand all of the negative reactions to it. Watching it again as an adult, I now understand the hate for this film. There were some good moments, but the script seemed disjointed and I really got the feeling that the cast felt the same way as was reflected in their performances. The whole finding God theme was a bit to ‘head-y” for a Star Trek film and the movie was less than 2 hours long yet seemed to go on forever.

I did not hate this movie originally, but after watching it for the umpteenth time I finally realized that it deserves the title of worst in the franchise.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

This was a fitting end to the voyage of the original crew of the U.S.S Enterprise. It was great to see the feud with the Klingon’s mostly put to rest by the end of the movie and the commentary on racism was very appropriate.

You could tell the cast really wanted to go out with a bang and they all put on wonderful performances.

One of my favorite characters from all of Star Trek is Christopher Plummer’s General Chang. He was simply amazing. His quoting of Shakespeare in the “original Klingon” added a sense of gravitas to the character and he was the perfect villain for this film.

This was a nice, emotional goodbye for the original cast and really set the stage wonderfully for the Next Generation cast.

The bonus features are seemingly endless for these movies and are worth spending more than a few extra hours watching every last minute of them.

If you love Star Trek you probably already own these or are at least planning too. Even if you are not a fan of the franchise but just like good entertainment, then these films are more than worth a view.

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Phoenix Comicon 2014

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Another Phoenix Comicon (held June 5-8) has come and went and as usual, my family and I had a great time.

Phoenix Comicon used to be a very small comic convention held in a Mesa, AZ convention hall and a few years ago they moved to the much larger Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. Since then it has grown to be one of the largest cons in America.

Last year they exceeded 55,000 in attendance and current estimates have this year’s attendance growing to around 70,000. This is both good and bad.

The good:

Lots and lots of vendors

They opened up even more of the convention hall than they did in 2013 and it allowed for an awesome selection of vendors. They have some bigger comic book companies there like Dark Horse, Aspen, etc..(no Marvel or DC, yet) and a ton of artists, comic creators, toy sellers, knife sellers, etc…I was able to add to my collection of Munchkin card games and did it at a reasonable price. The convention hall had just about any type of merchandise you could want.

Tons of Programming

We did not get to attend any programming this year, but PCC had it all. Movie/television actors, writers, comic creators, how-to’s for pretty much anything geek related, the list goes on…You should be able to find plenty of programming to keep you entertained throughout the weekend.

Celebrities

I am amazed by who they get to make appearances and sign autographs. Comic creator wise they had Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, Tony Moore, Andy Kubert, and many more. In regards to authors they had Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, and several others. For actors we met Mark Sheppard and John Barrowman. They also had Danny Glover, Bruce Campbell, Nathan Fillion, Adam West, and a ton more.

Now for the one bad thing…

The volunteers who handle the autograph lines

Year after year this is the one area of the con that seems to keep getting worse. Whether it is some guy who has no clue what they are doing or a person who is just plain rude, this is the one area that continues to deteriorate. It started well enough on Friday when we got in line for Mark Sheppard (from Supernatural and a super nice guy by the way). The volunteer working the line was polite and kept everything well organized. My wife even commented to them how great they did and it was much better than last year.

Then came Saturday. In 2005 my family and I went to our first San Diego Comicon, mostly to meet Bruce Campbell. At that con we were in a long line and it went smoothly. We got a great picture of my then 5 year old daughter and Bruce Campbell joking with each other with big smiles on their faces. We were thrilled he was coming to Phoenix this year so we took that 7 year old photo, had it printed as a nice 8×10, and planned to have him sign it. We got in line approximately 45 minutes before his signing time started. There were not a ton of people there yet and the volunteers were not allowing people to line up. I started to walk away and literally 30 seconds later the PCC volunteer screams for everyone to get in line on the side of the section. Suddenly, a mass of humanity moves past me. No big deal, I walk over to get my place in line and about 100 people deep they tell me no else can get in line. The original screaming volunteer decides to start yelling at everyone again (mind you, she was not talking loudly, she was screaming like she was mad at everyone there) and I could not make out every word she said, but the gist was only 100 people could get in line and the rest of us would have to come back tomorrow. My wife and sister-in-law tried to get things figured out, but to no avail. Long story not so short, we did not get to see Bruce Campbell. We kept getting excuses thrown us like “Bruce only wants 100 people in line” to “fire code regulations prevent us from having a longer line” which made no sense since everywhere else had long lines that were handled much better. The rudeness and ignorance of their autograph line volunteers is frustrating and prevented my family from getting the autograph we were most excited for.

One other thing regarding PCC volunteers. There was a girl at the con who looked barely 16 years old wearing an inappropriately skimpy costume. 3 volunteers who looked close to my age (30’s) were taking pictures of her and acting disturbingly pervy. These people may be working for free, but they need to better screen out the creepy and rude ones.

Overall, we had fun and will go again next year with the hope that the people who run the Phoenix Comicon will finally get the volunteer situation worked out because if they don’t, they will see their crowds shrink.

Despite these misgivings I still recommend checking out the con before it gets as big as San Diego 🙂

WWE Legends House

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As I have stated in previous posts, the WWE Network is the best $9.99 a month you could possibly spend as a wrestling fan. One of the best examples of this is the WWE Legends House reality show that is exclusive to the network. It was filmed a couple of years back, but the WWE could not find a network to pick it up which is those networks loss since it turned out to be one of the best reality shows out there.

It was a great way to see the real side of these legendary performers who most of us fans only know by their characters. It featured Jimmy ‘the Mouth of the South” Hart, Pat Patterson, Howard Finkel, Hillbilly Jim, Tony Atlas, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

There were personal conflicts between them in the beginning, but it was nice to see those issues fade in to the distance as they all got to know and respect each other over the course of the show. Without giving away the details, the final two episodes were very emotional and it was nice to see these larger than life characters reveal the real pains they have dealt with in their lives and finally try to move past them.

There were some slightly cringe worthy moments like realizing that Okerlund is a grumpy old pervert and seeing more of Finkel than any one cares to see, but overall it was clearly not a show that “staged the reality”.

The majority of today’s reality television shows are more scripted than people realize with the producers creating conflicts that were not there in the beginning between cast members. Despite the fact that pro-wrestling is scripted, the producers for the Legends House did not create conflicts like most reality programming and just let the wrestlers be themselves. It was refreshing.

If you do not have the WWE Network it is safe to say that a DVD set should come out at some point and I would heavily recommend checking it out. It was funny, emotional, and just plain cool to see what these larger than life men are like in the real world.