StarBuck’s HeviSaurus characters a huge success

Posted: October 10, 2011 in Comics and Art
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There might be some of you out there that aren’t aware of the little fact that I am the visual creator behind the ultra-successful Sony Music children’s heavy metal act, HeviSaurus.

A few years ago, I was approached by the band’s founding father Mirka Rantanen to conjure up characters that would capture the imagination of kids from north to south and east to west.  I have to especially thank my artist friend and contemporary Toxic Angel, who tipped off Mirka about my artistic prowess in the comic sense of the said talent, and it was through Toxic that I landed the HeviSaurus gig.  Toxic Angel is also the guy behind the coloring and finishes of the underlying art that I create for the band, as seen below on the cover of the latest HeviSaurus album Räyh!, which is a real beauty all the way around.

HeviSaurus' 3rd album Räyh! is already a huge success, even though it just came out

My inked draft of the Räyh! cover, which was colored digitally by Toxic Angel

I just stopped by the Sony Music offices this morning in Espoo, Finland, here I got a gander at the new HeviSaurus plush toys and action figures.  Who would have ever thought that my drawings would spawn a whole line of merchandise that are selling like wildfire?!  Well, I have to say that I am one proud papa, seeing how well my character creations have been received.

HeviSaurus plush toys (from L to R): Herra HeviSaurus, Milli Pilli, Komppi Momppi, Muffi Puffi, Riffi Raffi

StarBuck movie update

Posted: October 4, 2011 in Music, Odds and Ends, Professional Wrestling
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This week we are filming final fight scenes for the upcoming 2012 StarBuck full-length feature documentary movie.  Below are some snapshots of the first filming day, as we shot at Suomenlinna (a small island off the coast of Helsinki, an old fortress and castle grounds).  The weather was absolutely horrible, cold as tarnation and rainy, in addition to considerable winds.

The fight scenes are between FCF wrestler Jessica Love and myself.  Director Oskari Pastila specifically wanted wanted Jessica as my rival in the fight scenes outside of the wrestling ring, as Jessica represents the complete counterpart to what StarBuck represents.  Jessica Love, for those of you who don’t know, is a tranny wrestler, who actually just officially changed his gender to a her.  Me on the other hand, I am a good ol’ redneck son of a gun, a throwback to traditional and staunch male and female roles in society.  I know, for some that sounds dated, but I could really care less.  However, the clash of Jessica’s and my personalities and what we represent makes for good movie material, and that is why we are fighting in the film.

There will be more news on the StarBuck movie to follow in the coming months, so stay tuned to my website here!

ALL PHOTOS BY JAN AHLSTEDT

Barbarian vs. Samurai, the fight for gold!

Posted: September 23, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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I have been blessed to have enjoyed such an incredible amount of success wrestling in Japan, where at the beginning of this year the readership of Weekly Pro Wrestling magazine voted me as one of the top 5 gaijin in their country for the 2010 period.

Last year, FCF Wrestling Champion Valentine lost our Finnish strap to former WWE US and Tag Team Champ “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri in May 2010 on the SMASH.3 card in Tokyo.  I would venture to the Land of the Rising Sun to recapture the FCF Championship at SMASH.6 on July 24 last year.  Tajiri would win the FCF Championship back from me at SMASH.10 on November 22, 2010 in the biggest event in SMASH company history at JCB Hall in Tokyo, before over 2000 enraptured fans.  Tajiri and I have fought each other numerous times over the past year and a half, both in singles and tag team matches, and our fights have always been very tight and even.

Now, on October 28 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, once again it has boiled down to the top two wrestlers in SMASH, as I face off against Tajiri one more time, with the new SMASH Heavyweight Championship Title on the line.  This match is the tournament final to crown the very first SMASH Heavyweight Champ, and I will do everything in my power to procure the coveted new Japanese title.

Tajiri, get ready – the Lord of FCF is coming for SMASH gold on October 28!  This will truly be the battle of the Nordic Barbarian against the Japanese Samurai – StarBuck vs. Tajiri at SMASH.22!

Crossfyre in Germany and Holland 2011

Posted: September 14, 2011 in Music
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I will be on tour in Germany and Holland with my southern blues rock band Crossfyre starting this Friday, Sept. 16 to Sept. 24.

Crossfyre tour schedule is as follows:

16/9 @ Urbar in Magdeburg, GERMANY

17/9 @ Barnaby’s Blues Bar in Braunschweig, GERMANY

18/9 @ Rockkneipe Jungfer in Arnstadt, GERMANY

23/9 @ Jazzpodium DJS in Dordrecht, NETHERLANDS

24/9 @ The Rambler in Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS

Possibly one more gig will be added to the tour.

More infos at: www.thecrossfyre.com

Gaining one, losing another

Posted: September 12, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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This past weekend in Hollabrunn, Austria on Saturday, Sept. 10, I fought a game fight against the challenger for my TopCatch European Championship, Michael Kovac.  Kovac is the man that I originally defeated for the vacant title on May 14 of this year in Wismar, Germany, and this past Saturday was his chosen date for the championship rematch in his own country.

I have fought Kovac many times over the years, and I dare say that we both represent the best that Europe has to offer these days, both being Top 10 continental talents in our genre.  Over the years, I have fought Kovac in countries like Japan, Finland, Germany and Poland in addition to this latest encounter in Austria.  Our matches have always been classics, and we most definitely match up well as a dueling pair.

This weekend in Hollabrunn, Kovac took it to me like never before, with a refined assault that caused much headache for me as the defending European Champion for the oldest office in Europe today, VDB Catch.  The physical war came to a crucial turning point when  somewhere around the 15-minute mark of the contest, Kovac attempted to hit me with his high-cross faceplant, which he calls the Kovacrusher.  I fought my way out of his grip, sliding down his back awkwardly due to the excessive sweat that we both were raining out at that point in the bout.  Due to the poor and disadvantageous positioning of the way that I came down, I twisted and sprained my right ankle upon landing.  I attempted a desperation superkick soon after, which just did not have the impact to do away Kovac, and after a brief albeit unsuccessful last rally, Kovac caught me with a top rope powerslam and then a top rope splash for the finishing pinfall to become the new European Champion after over 20 minutes of heavy action.

However, just two days earlier in Tokyo, I defeated Mexico’s Veneno in the semi-finals of the SMASH Title tournament to advance to the finals next month, where I will face Tajiri at SMASH.22 on Oct. 28.  This past Thursday night at SMASH.21 in Tokyo, Tajiri defeated Akira Nogami to advance in the tournament to the finals next month also.

I defeated Veneno after kicking out of his top rope back splash senton, which damn near crushed my ribcage as he landed full-tilt on my chest cavity, which for a moment had me thinking I had busted ribs.  I capitalized moments later and superkicked Veneno as he attempted a chop to the head off the second rope, and then I piledrove him mercilessly through the mat for the win after about 12 minutes of intense action.

As it stands, we have come full-circle from SMASH.10 last November to SMASH.22 and the SMASH Title tournament finals next month, with Tajiri vs. StarBuck once again taking center stage.

For all your wrestling news needs, GO HERE!

The Lord of FCF vs. The God of Mexico

Posted: September 4, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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This coming Thursday night September 8 in Tokyo, Japan I will be facing the very strange “God of Mexico” Veneno in the semi-final round of the SMASH Championship tournament at Korakuen Hall.

Veneno is like a cult leader, akin to Illuminati, and when he pulled the trigger and attacked me after my greatest career win to date over Japanese living wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu last month, Veneno sealed his fate.

Make no doubt about it, I plan on piledriving Veneno all the way back to Mexico and advancing to the finals to meet whoever the winner will be between Akira Nogami and TAJIRI, once the tournament finals are held next month in Tokyo.

Soudesune!

Crossfyre ignites the Engine Fest

Posted: August 26, 2011 in Music
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This coming weekend in Porvoo, Finland, I will be rocking the stage with my southern blues rock band Crossfyre at Night Club Soho on Saturday, August 27th at midnight.

Our gig will serve as the official afterparty for the Porvoo Cruising Engine Fest this weekend.

For an extensive piece (in Swedish) on our biggest upcoming gig to date on the Rock Legends Cruise in December this year, click HERE.

Crossfyre - photo by Jarmo Katila (www.jarmokatila.fi)

Check out our First Train to Texas video:

Ragnarök revisited

Posted: August 22, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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This past weekend in Hämeenlinna, Finland, I wrestled against FCF Champion “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä at what was dubbed Ragnarök as part of the Häme Medieval Fair.  Ragnarök wrestling paid homage to the Nordic heritage of our culture and past, as every match that the FCF talent took part in was tailored to recount classic battle themes of lore and legend.

Here are a few prime pics taken by photographer Marko Simonen from my bout with Ukonselkä on Saturday, August 20.  This match was a non-title showdown, which ended with Ukonselkä disqualified for blasting me with his championship belt as we brawled on the outside of the ring.

On Sunday, August 21, Ukonselkä put his FCF Championship on the line and retained his title after managing to pin me following his trademark pumphandle slam, which I kicked out of a fraction of a second too late.

http://youtu.be/UdFvWF-LdAQ

Battle of the Barbarians

Posted: August 18, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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I will be wrestling this coming weekend at the Häme Medeival Fair as FCF Wrestling presents Ragnarok: a wrestling tribute to the Medeival past of our Nordic heritage on Saturday and Sunday 20-21 August in the city of Hämeenlinna on the old castle grounds.

With every match throughout the day featuring wrestlers dressed up as some kind of Medeival character, my match will fittingly be a Battle of the Barbarians vs. FCF Champion “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä in a pair of non-title matches as a very special attraction at the event.  This means that I will not be donning my regular wrestling garb, but will be dressed more akin to Conan the Barbarian as I battle Ukonselkä in Hämeenlinna this weekend.

Also at Ragnarok, a Battle of the Thieves sees Valentine and Johnny McMetal square off once again; in a Battle of the Valkyries Jessica Love and old rival Aurora meet once again; plus it’s Ibo Ten with his special court jester against Kristian Kurki with his special court jester in a Battle of the Clans.

Ragnarok will most definitely be an event that you will not want to miss if you are in Finland, so make plans to be there this weekend in Hämeenlinna!

StarBuck vs. Tenryu makes history

Posted: August 13, 2011 in Professional Wrestling
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Returning from a grueling and very hot trip to Japan this past week, I carried my battle scars proudly after a major upset in defeating Japanese all-time ring legend Genichiro Tenryu clean with my spike piledriver at SMASH.20 this past Thursday in Tokyo.

The fact that this was not only the main event, but also before a sold-out Korakuen Hall audience that was as equally hot as the weather, only made this victory that much sweeter for Yours Truly.

The capacity crowd on hand could not believe their eyes when I hoisted the legend Tenryu up for my famous piledriver and drilled him head-first into the canvas for the resounding victory.  The noise that erupted from the audience after the pinfall was deafening in that single moment of time.

I must admit that this match was a surreal experience for me through and through.  Tenryu’s chops felt like they flayed the skin off of my chest and his punches rocked my jaw and blackened my left eye.  I indeed earned my victory over the legend Tenryu in the classic pro wrestling sense of the term.

Next up will be the semi-finals of the SMASH Title tournament on September 8th in Tokyo, after which I fly to Austria to defend my TopCatch European Championship against Michael Kovac on August 10th.  Before that however, I will be wrestling in Finland next weekend at the Häme Medieval Fair in Hämeenlinna on Saturday and Sunday, August 20-21 against FCF Champion Heimo Ukonselkä.

For photos of my huge match against Tenryu, click here.

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