It’s Summerslam day! WWE’s Superstars will set foot in the Scotiabank Arena to take part in one of the biggest wrestling events of the year. Oh yeah, and I’ll be there too!
Yesterday, I outlined my list of favourite wrestlers who are active right now. Today’s the big one! These are my all-time faves! Booyaka booyaka!
It’s SummerSlam weekend! Since it’s taking place in my back yard, of course my wife and I will be there! Though we’ve been to wrestling events together in the past, we’ve never done a pay-per-view together before, where the stakes are at an all-time high. I still vividly remember attending Wrestlemania 18 and I want the thrill that comes with a major wrestling event of that magnitude. Titles will change hands! Winners will be determined! And maybe…just maybe…Brock Lesnar won’t win again? I hope so!
To celebrate, I’ve made a pair of posts about favourites. Today is the list of my favourite wrestlers today. Tomorrow is the list of my all-time faves! No better time than the present, so let’s go!
When I think back to my summers in the early 90s, it doesn’t get more iconic than the Super Soaker brand of water guns. In an era where most water guns were little pistols that only shot in short spurts, the Super Soaker revolutionized childhood H20 warfare. With each one possessing a large reservoir and the ability to shoot a continuous stream at a long distance, this was the true beginning for the water guns arms race in my community.
During my formative years, the Woodbine Centre mall just outside of Toronto was the most magical place on Earth. Featuring an amusement park inside, I loved playing in the ball pit, sliding down the tall slide that starts three stories up, and riding on the park’s iconic carousel. Had to ride the horses that bobbed up and down, of course.
As a kid, my mom took night school courses in the area for a few years. Because the timing didn’t work out for my dad, brother, and I to go home, we hung out at Woodbine Centre instead. My brother was peak age for the amusement park, while we both got a kick out of playing at the arcade. This arcade is where I got my first taste of such classics as Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam.
Since those days of making regular visits, I’ve seldom returned. I’m rarely in the area and haven’t had a reason to go back. That is, until the mall’s Baskin Robbins got converted to Scoops Ahoy for a limited time. Re-themed to match the look of the ice cream shop prominently featured in Stranger Things 3, my wife and I made a visit to the mall that was a pivotal piece of my childhood.
This is my car, circa 2011. I took this picture of it before driving it off the lot for the first time. Not long after, I wrote a post about it. It’s not gaming-related, but buying my first brand new car was an event worth celebrating however I wanted.
What happened after that was…unexpected.
Not long after posting, traffic to that post took off. So much so, that it’s still one of my most most popular posts. On one hand, it droves me nuts that this one off-topic post took off, while so many of the gaming posts that I care a lot more about are more deserving of the eyeballs in my opinion. However, it also served a teachable moment with regards to what the numbers can (and can’t) tell you.
On June 9th, Steff and I will going on a trip to Europe! We’ll be enjoying the sights and sounds of London and Paris for a few weeks. Can’t wait to take a vacation!
That said, I can’t leave you alone! Tons of stuff scheduled to make it feel like I’m not gone at all!
Wishing you all the best while I’m out! We’ll catch up when I get back on the 24th!
When I graduated from middle school many moons ago, I didn’t put much thought into the world I was leaving behind. All I could think about was the summer ahead and the anxiety that came with high school looming. Meanwhile, the school carried on, grooming the kids of today into the adults of tomorrow. It never dawned on me what that meant until I found myself returning to the scene of my awkward adolescence.
My interest in professional wrestling comes in phases. In the early 90s, when I was an impressionable youngster who thought wrestling was real, I idolized the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, and Bret Hart. I cried when Shawn Michaels kicked Marty Jannetty through the glass, officially ending The Rockers as a tag team. After a few year hiatus, I jumped back on board thanks to the one-two punch of fantastic AKI-made Nintendo 64 games and some of the best stories and action during the Monday Night Wars. I was even in attendance for Wrestlemania X8, where I screamed my lungs out as Hulk Hogan faced The Rock in one of the most legendary bouts of all time.
After ECW folded into the WWE in the 2000s, I took a long hiatus. Oddly, it was my wife who pulled me back in a few years ago, as she went through a phase where she was deeply invested in the Total Divas reality TV show. When the opportunity arose for us to see her favourite wrestlers perform at a local event, I’ve been “sort of” following the scene again ever since.
I don’t talk about this much here, but I’m the biggest sucker for love songs. Even before I got to an age where my voice started to change, they always struck a chord in my soul to the point where they might have actually had a negative effect on my development as an human being. To this day, I have sappy tendencies and love songs will always illicit a strong reaction from me.
Since today is Valentine’s Day, and I don’t feel like making gaming-related content to celebrate it, let’s talk about love songs instead! It was going to be a list of five, but I couldn’t help myself and I added a few more. Here are a few that always get me in my feelings!
Behind the scenes, my wife and I have been working hard on moving from our current residence to the one we own now: a house! We’re excited for our new home and all the change that comes with it. Lots to say about the matter in future posts!
In Third Person 