There comes a time in every person’s life when hard resolve and absolute resolution becomes a must.
No matter what kind of relationship is in question – be it family, romantic, vocational, what have you – the truth will hurt, but it will also set you free. And after the hurt things get better, much like removing a malignant tumor.
We live in a society of convenience that disparages us from being direct and to the point, in a vain attempt to please everyone by being politically correct.
Man, I’ve grown to hate that word: Political correctness. You shouldn’t stand out, make an impact, have any rough edges nor should you dare to offend anyone by actually voicing your personal belief and opinion for the record. However, as we all should know by now, this PC approach only muddies the waters and makes them unfit to consume in any way, shape or form.
Remember the days of black and white? Ohh, that’s a nasty one, ain’t it…?
It’s ass-backward to think in such retro terms these days. Everything is much more convenient when it’s all a various shade of grey. Let sleeping dogs lie, as the saying goes.
But society becomes ill when there are no absolutes and no one stands behind any rock solid principles and no one has concrete standards. It’s like the foundation is missing from ones house, and as the winds of life blow the whole darn shack risks toppling over.
Hard Resolve is much like garlic. It stinks, it’s bitter and other people around you can’t help but notice that you have it all over you. But its health benefits are well documented and founded in scientific proof. As a matter of fact, garlic stands as arguably the world’s oldest known medicinal and culinary herb, packed with antioxidants that can help fend off cancer, heart disease and the effects of aging. Yeah, Hard Resolve and garlic have a lot in common and the ”common agent” in both is something called action.
Take action now and endure the immediate sting and momentary discomfort rather than letting the situation – whatever it may be – disintegrate into a pile of waste that could have been avoided. Hard Resolve is the answer to this, folks.
We all screw up in life, given fact. We all miss the mark, many times and often before succeeding. But the fact that we screw up isn’t at all important. Read that again: Failure is NOT important.
Recognizing the failure immediately and fixing your course, robbing the failure of any firepower to affect your life a moment longer is the key. Once again, in layman’s terms, the key is taking action. Hard Resolve.
Letting sleeping dogs lie doesn’t change a damn thing. Sweeping dirt under the carpet will only have you cussing and cursing on the day that you stumble. Leaving the moldy spot in your loaf of bread will only contaminate the whole package. Cancer unattended to will kill you.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately in terms of modern food and the constitution thereof. It’s no secret that over the course of the past 10 years our world’s food production has undergone a tumultuous change in the face of increasing supply and demand.
Genetically manipulated food production is the norm of the day. Sadly enough, that means less substance and more volume to fill up your gullet. When raw food products like vegetables and fruits are made nutritionally deficient, our bodies get fooled and we eat more bulk to make up for the empty feeling. Going organic means spending a hefty dime more that most people simply cannot afford the luxury of, even though it can be argued that eating organic foods only would most likely equal eating less per serving because you’d get filled up faster with more substance per food article ingested.
I have personally made a life choice to buy organic foods whenever my budget allows a bit of leeway, which believe me is not often. That said, this past week I bought myself 3kg of pure stock bull meat, 5kg of cow’s intestines including tongue, liver and heart and ground lamb straight off of a rural farm. Truth be told, if I could buy all of my food produce straight from a farm I would do so. Sometimes circumstances and one’s budget don’t allow for such, but nonetheless making the choice to do so whenever possible is a step in right direction for one’s overall health.
No bullshit, know what you are putting on your plate!
I am certain that the decline in overall health in the western world is by and in large due to the nutritional deficiencies of our food. The astounding increase in various diseases over the western hemisphere should have everyone on notice, but for some strange reason most people are willfully ignorant. A staunch bitchslap upside the head of our society is direly needed to wake the slumbering masses up to the reality that by the time the 30-somethings out there get around to retirement, their spines and innards will be gelatin unless something changes – BIG TIME.
Don’t be duped, if there is one thing that each and every one of us should invest in, it’s our health. To quote Brad Pitt from the movie Fight Club, “You are not your fucking khakis”. All of the “stuff” won’t amass to a damn thing if your health goes. So the smart ones out there will put their health first before they lay any money down for material goods of any kind.
Mind, body, spirit: that is what we are. No way around it, no denying the facts.
If you want to be well, you must resolve to pay the price. There ain’t a fucking Camarro in the world that is going to compensate for diabetes or for the loss of a bodily organ. We can cross the finish line of this race of life as a broken, heaving mass, or as a winner who finishes the race and crosses the finish line at the end with their heads held high.
Me personally, I’d rather resolve to pay the price to be a winner because life is short and as Brad Pitt once again coined in Fight Club, “It’s ending one minute at a time”.
It’s been a hectic week for good ol’ StarBuck, I tell ya. Last Monday I flew out to Tokyo to take part in SMASH.15 at Korakuen Hall on March 31 and as soon as I got home to Finland I hit the tour bus to wrestle in Kuopio, 5 hours north of Helsinki on Sunday, April 3.
At SMASH.15 I downed DDT roster wrestler Yoshiaki Yago in 11:18 with my famous jumping spike piledriver after a spirited duel where Yago tried (unsuccessfully) several times to get me to submit. For a comprehensive gallery of action photos of my match against Yago, click HERE.
At FCF Wrestling’s Savon Selkäsauna on April 3, I lost a very hard-fought battle against Finnish wrestling veteran Stark Adder in about 20 minutes of classic & solid, old school wrestling. I thoroughly enjoyed wrestling against Adder, who is one of my favorite opponents, simply due to the fact that our styles mesh so well against each other. Adder pinned me with a hard-earned backslide surprise victory out of nowhere.
Stark Adder in a very uncomfortable chinlock (photo by Marko Simonen)
Some disappointing news also: My match in Malta on April 16th was canceled due to the war in Libya, as the airspace over Malta is not considered safe. Malta would have been my 17th country in pro wrestling, but the IWS promotion said the event would be rescheduled. Former WWE wrestlers Carlito, MVP, Kaval and also Tajiri were on the card scheduled for April 16th, so I’m not the only one who is disappointed in the cancelation.
It’s been one heck of a great ride for me over this past year, working with Japan’s fastest rising promotion SMASH since the spring of 2010. We were able to establish FCF Wrestling as a prosperous unit in the SMASH arena, and many of my students from Finland have been able to make an impact in Japan, as have their top names equally made an impact in Finland. Now, one year into the making of a new promotional powerhouse in Japan, I can look back on my contributions to their business and smile with contentment, knowing that indeed we have made professional wrestling history.
SMASH gave me the platform to wrestle in Japan, a career goal that I have had since I broke into the business in Canada back in 1992. SMASH also gave me the ball and used me to the best of my abilities as a main event talent in their market, and I think I can speak for both sides when I say that we have both enjoyed considerable success during the promotion’s ascension to prominence.
I am ever grateful to both Mr. Sakai, the president of SMASH, and to creative director Yoshihiro Tajiri, both of whom have made possible my success in their country. As many people know, Japan is held to be one of the few promised lands of pro wrestling worldwide, and to “make it” there means to make it for real.
On March 31 at SMASH.15, the promotion’s first anniversary show, I hope to make the company and fans of Japan proud for inviting me to be part of their historical moment at Korakuen Hall.
And all I can say to my opponent Yoshiaki Yago is prepare to be piledriven, like every opponent before you has been spiked head-first into the mat, signaling another victory for the lord and master of FCF – StarBuck.
Due to the catastrophes that hit Japan earlier this month, all wrestling events in the country were postponed or canceled, including SMASH.15, which was originally slated for March 18 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. I was originally scheduled to face former ECW World Champion Tommy Dreamer, but due to the rescheduling of SMASH.15 to March 31, Dreamer’s US schedule did not allow for the re-booking.
Thus, SMASH announced at their press conference on March 23 in Tokyo that I will be facing DDT wrestler Yoshiaki Yago, who is also a professional kickboxer at the first anniversary card for the company, SMASH.15.
Here is a look at Yago – who is like a Japanese wrestling Elvis – for those who are unfamiliar with him:
In the world of professional wrestling, what we term as the “money match” is the make-or-break match match that any event is sold on. It is the main event, THE match that people rank above others in value, for which they will fork out their cash to see the outcome of. Perhaps they will pay to see how the match unravels, or delivers, because the sales pitch on paper at least promises big things with much vested emotion, and thus the fans buy into it.
The money match is integral to the overall market appeal and value of any show. At this year’s WrestleMania 27 for example, WWE clearly is marketing The Undertaker vs. Triple H as THE match of this year´s greatest spectacle in their world of “sports entertainment”, “on the grandest stage of them all”.
Let´s break down the money match in light of this year´s WrestleMania to understand the reasoning behind the topic.
First of all, for fans to vest great emotion and interest into any said rivalry, there MUST be a definitive, larger-than-life appeal to the main match that in the end, sells the show. If fans do not have enough vested history between themselves and the wrestler(s) involved, they will not perceive the big match to be worth the top spot it is granted. Therefore, at this stage of his career and character development, The Miz vs. John Cena cannot be expected to carry THE show at WrestleMania 27, even though that is the RAW brand´s top match. Miz does not have enough character depth to go on all levels against John Cena, who WWE has established since 2005 as their brand carrier to the public. Neither can Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio, less than a year into his WWE tenure, be expected to carry THE show, for the very same reasons that Miz cannot carry the show (speaking of Del Rio’s character).
The ONLY Trump card for this year’s WrestleMania that Vince McMahon and his WWE have left in the storage tank at this stage of their ballgame is Triple H vs. The Undertaker. Both men are identified as pillars of the WWE trademark, brand and company image, and have been profiled as upper echelon talents over the past 15 years of WWE business. And you must remember, that perception IS reality, especially in the world of professional wrestling.
The reasoning behind Triple H vs. The Undertaker as the money match behind Wrestlemania 27 is thus very simple, and easy to understand. Only top tier talent is reserved for main event roles, and WWE´s revolving roulette of the upper card is mighty thin indeed. Edge, Randy Orton, Triple H, The Undertaker, John Cena and Rey Mysterio are the hallmarks of WWE as it currently stands. The only added proof anyone should require for my argument is found on the covers of nearly every single issue of WWE Magazine, the company’s own direct printed propaganda tool. These elite members have been profiled as main event players over a long period of several consecutive years, and thus the fans perceive them as the top dogs in the yard. The fans also have a long history with these wrestlers, and the success of these men have much to do with how the fans have bought into them, time in and time out. These wrestlers have not only been given the ball, they have carried the ball, over and over again, successfully. In addition, these top tier players have sold monumental amounts of merchandise, and continue to do so.
Just below this aforementioned top six fall the semi-main eventers, stars such as The Big Show, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio and yes, even The Miz, some of which do not have enough time served at the top (read: staying power) to really crack the very upper level, while others simply have not been profiled as the very top dogs in the WWE yard. Close but no cigar, as the saying goes.
Then consider the WWE veterans who have 10 or more years of WWE exposure and experience, but who have not been profiled by their company as top-of-the-card names, nor are they merchandise gangbusters in and of themselves. Men such as William Regal, Goldust, Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, Christian and Kane (who only recently, almost out of necessity, was raised to main event status after years of drifting in the mid-card). These names will not draw or have a fighting chance at being in the money match at WrestleMania, due to the fact that they have not been profiled as main event players. They have their place on the undercard, or perhaps even in the semi-main events, but they are not perceived nor bought as main event stars to headline a big card.
Thus, simply by looking at the facts and the WWE roster as it stands currently, the ONLY big money match with larger-than-life appeal, taking all factors into consideration, is Triple H vs. The Undertaker. Sure, it’s a match that has been seen before, but that said, it hasn’t been featured – as in all the bells and whistles and build-up hype – for nearly 10 years. That said, Triple H vs. The Undertaker is still relatively fresh, albeit recycled. The same old coming of the same old cavalry in different packaging, and I’m pretty sure they are going to deliver in the ring, baring injury or mishap, once April 3 rolls around.
However you want to put it, The Streak of The Undertaker at WrestleMania has become one of the hallowed sales pitches of every ‘Mania since WWE really began pushing his string of victories a few years back. Vince McMahon understood that The Streak could easily be turned into a draw and an angle for every year’s biggest show of the year, and so it has become a WrestleMania staple. In truth, I would wager that Undertaker’s Streak will continue up ’til next year’s WrestleMania 28, leaving the “Dead Man” to retire from active competition with his head held high, and WWE gracious for the 20 plus years that The Undertaker has given them. Just my two cents worth, but food for thought nonetheless.
So coming back to the money match concept, WWE really had no other match of colossal magnitude to offer as the highlight bout of WrestleMania 27 other than Triple H vs. The Undertaker, with the single exception of John Cena vs. The Undertaker, which I believe is being reserved for next year’s event.
WWE’s veteran star power is waning and dying out. The Undertaker and Triple H truly do represent the last of their kind in WWE – the veteran top dogs of the time-tested battlefield – and thus they deserve their spot in this year’s money match.
It can be argued that WWE has failed to deliver the kind of emotion and build-up that would be expected of THE highlight match at the biggest show of the year, and much of this has to do with the half-spirited promos of both Triple H and The Undertaker, neither of which I can fathom to understand, given their standing and respective characters. Truly, both men have failed to exude the kind of passion and emotion that would incite an audience to really care on the WrestleMania level about their match, and both men almost seem to be phoning in their promos leading up to the big show, or otherwise failing where they both have succeeded in the past.
Putting this critique aside however, the point remains that on the top of each card – be it WWE or any other wrestling promotion out there – the fans pay for the main match aka the money match. Especially casual fans will not pay to see the undercard, and this is also true in the UFC.
Sure, every wrestler and match has its place on the card, but not every match sells the event. The match that sells every event is the money match orchestrated for each show, and without a meaningful money match, an event is almost doomed to fall flat and fail, at least in some respect.
Malta will be my 17th country in the professional wrestling industry, come April 16. IWS will be promoting the event, and I have been both an IWS Heavyweight Champion (2006-2008) in addition to IWS Intercontinental Champion (2005).
Due to the enormous tragedy that has hit Japan over the past few days, both in terms of the 8.9 scale earthquake and the nuclear reactor ruptures at Fukushima, the SMASH wrestling organization that I wrestle for had to cancel their first anniversary show, SMASH.15 on March 18. The new date has been rescheduled for March 31, 2011 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Obviously, there is much disarray and rebuilding to be done, and everything else takes a backseat to the tragedy that has occurred. I can only pray that my friends and comrades are alright, and in due season SMASH will resume its wrestling schedule.
In the meantime, please support the fine people of Japan however you can. Soudesune.
I’d like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the Japanese people, many of which enthusiastically support me as I compete for Japan’s SMASH wrestling organization, in their time of duress and trial after yesterday’s powerful earthquake. My prayers go out to you, and to the many friends that I have made in your great country.
I can honestly say that the most passionate wrestling fans in the world are found in Japan. Over 2010, the wrestling fans nationwide across Japan took StarBuck into their hearts, and even voted me amongst the top 5 foreign stars in their country in the wrestling industry. On several occasions, the Japanese wrestling fans have presented me with personal gifts, from Katana swords to artwork to food products, and this is something that I will never forget. I am completely sincere when I say that I truly love the Japanese wrestling fans, because they have showed so much love to me.
Stand strong, Japan! Take heart and persevere, because that is what winners are made of.
This past week, Japan’s red-hot SMASH promotion released a surprising main event for their one-year anniversary show, SMASH.15 at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on March 18.
The top of the bill at SMASH.15 will feature my Japanese FCF protege Hajime Ohara, who will go up against the departing KUSHIDA, who is bound for New Japan Pro Wrestling from April onward.
The bad blood between Ohara and KUSHIDA started back at SMASH.1 in March 2010, and has been building steadily over the course of the latter half of 2010 on through the beginning of 2011. Both Ohara and KUSHIDA have been touted as the future of SMASH, and now that KUSHIDA is moving on to another promotion, this is Ohara’s last ditch opportunity to bury the hatchet with his adversary.
The ill feelings between Ohara and KUSHIDA really came to the fore when Ohara jumped ship from under allegiance to TAJIRI over to my side with FCF at SummerSmash 2010 last August in Helsinki, Finland.
In September 2010 at SMASH.8, Ohara teamed with FCF’s Jessica Love and Kagemanguro to face TAJIRI, Akira Shoji and KUSHIDA. During that bout, the action between Ohara and KUSHIDA got out of hand, as both men tried to tear each other apart. Due to the six-man nature of the match, the issue was left unresolved, as TAJIRI went on to pin Kagemanguro.
At SMASH.9 in October 2010, Ohara beat the living daylights out of KUSHIDA after his match with then-OVW Champion Mike Mondo, making a very personal statement thereby. Ohara would go on to team with Jessica Love and former FCF Champion Heimo Ukonselkä at SMASH.10 to face ex-ECW/WWE star Super Crazy, Isami Kodaka and KUSHIDA in a hardcore six-man match. KUSHIDA would end up pinning Love, once again leaving the issue at hand with Ohara unresolved.
At SMASH.13 in January 2011, Ohara teamed up with Jessica Love once again to do battle with KUSHIDA and Canada’s masked marvel, Mentallo. In this tag team encounter, Ohara blasted KUSHIDA with his charging forearm dive strike, gaining the pin in the process. Arguably, KUSHIDA was not happy with the way things ended in this match, and so SMASH booked another tag team match at February 2010’s SMASH.14 event, where Ohara teamed with FCF’s hottest rookie in Finnish history, Kristian Kurki, against KUSHIDA and Japanese rookie Yuji Kito. Ohara would prove his dominance over newcomer Kito, pinning him in convincing fashion with his diving forearm strike once again, leaving KUSHIDA with his bitter taste of defeat from SMASH.13.
At SMASH.14, KUSHIDA shocked SMASH and his mentor TAJIRI by telling that he had been offered a contract with New Japan, and he had decided to jump ship. Thus, at SMASH.15, the company’s 1st anniversary event at Korakuen Hall on March 18th, SMASH made the call to book KUSHIDA against Ohara in their long-awaited singles showdown.
This time, everyone can be guaranteed that there will be a definitive winner, mano y mano – no ands, ifs or buts about it – and you can be damn sure I will be pulling for my esteemed protege Hajime Ohara all the way in this one.
KUSHIDA and Ohara have come full-circle since SMASH.1, and one year later at SMASH.15 all the questions will be answered.
starbuck.fi 