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Happy 30th Birthday WrestleMania III!

This is the biggest week of the year for wrestling fans as Vince McMahon’s titan of a company, WWE hosts its 33rd annual supershow, WrestleMania from Orlando, Florida. While I know Geeks of Doom doesn’t always cover wrestling; (I’d quit my job and write full time if it did), one cannot deny the crossover appeal of pro wrestling, pop culture, and geek-based entertainment.
This is an industry that has spawned its own film company, and created some of the biggest stars in the world. Look no further than the highest grossing star in Hollywood right now, Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. The Rock headlined wrestling’s Super Bowl 5 times and featured in some of the events greatest matches. Last year in Dallas, Texas at Cowboys Stadium, they set an indoor attendance record with 100,000 packed in, and wouldn’t you know who showed up with a flamethrower to commemorate the event… it was The Rock.
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Andre The Giant Documentary From WWE, Bill Simmons Coming To HBO

It was always a bit strange that no one had made a movie about the fascinating and sometimes heartbreaking life of wrestling legend and The Princess Bride star Andre the Giant.
In May of last year, we found out that this might change with word that a movie was finally being developed. The biggest challenge with that project, of course, is finding someone to actually play the giant.
Now comes word of another Andre project that’s on the way and doesn’t have to worry about casting someone to play the larger than life figure. It’s been announced that the WWE, HBO Sports, and Bill Simmons are teaming up to make a documentary simply titled Andre the Giant.
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SummerSlam: Stephen Amell & Neville Vs Stardust & Wade Barrett
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After months of taunting, sending threatening tweets, and dueling over social media, the time has finally arrived. Stephen Amell, the star of The CW’s hit show Arrow, got in a WWE ring tonight for a match with his arch rival Stardust, as part of a tag team match on WWE’s mid-summer spectacular, SummerSlam. This all started when Amell, a known wrestling geek who regularly exchanges WWE title belts in his fantasy football league, attended an episode of Monday Night Raw back in May. When Stardust (Cody Rhodes, son of the late-great Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes) got in his face, the feud was on. The two have been battling over social media ever since, and Stardust has been making cryptic comments on WWE programming about needing a “heroâ€. A few weeks ago, Amell had a front row seat again on Raw. After high flying wrestler Neville defeated King Wade Barrett, Stardust attacked, and got in the face of Amell, who charged the ring for a brawl, and later issued the challenge. Tonight… was the match!
Check out the coverage and the tweets (including video) below.
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Arrow’s Stephen Amell On WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’

Stephen Amell is no stranger to fighting supervillains. For three seasons on The CW hit show Arrow, Amell has dealt with nefarious foes like Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), and Ra’s Al Ghul (Matt Nable). But he ain’t never met anyone like WWE superstar Stardust, aka Cody Rhodes. After months of warring on Twitter, Amell showed up as a guest star on Monday Night Raw in Seattle, Washington, to confront the painted face wrestler. By 10:30pm, Amell was in the ring having security pull him off Stardust, and soon the match was made for WWE’s mid-year blockbuster event, Summerslam; this year emanating from Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center.
Watch the confrontation video (around minute 1), and Amell get his match in the videos below.
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Roddy Piper & ‘They Live’: A Retrospective
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If someone penned a biography of me, it would be called “Pro Wrestling and Horror Movies.” Okay, maybe it would have a more clever title, but you get the idea. Someone who linked those two geek subgenres was “Rowdy†Roddy Piper. I was 5 years old when I watched Piper defeated Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania III in what was billed as his last match. So a year later, when I saw Piper was the star of a movie, I needed to see it. The film was John Carpenter’s They Live, a sci-fi action thriller that to a young kid, was about ugly aliens and CURSING! As I’ve gotten older, They Live has grown into an outright cult classic, with themes much deeper than my 6-year old brain could understand. And with the unfortunate and untimely passing of Roddy Piper on Friday, at the age of 61 from cardiac arrest, it assures They Live will live on forever, for both pro-wrestling and horror movie fans.
Rather than write a review of a near 20-year old film, let me simply point out some of the reasons They Live earned its cult status:
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“Rowdy” Roddy Piper Has Died At The Age of 61

For the better part of the last 40 years, Roderick George Toombs was known to the world as “Rowdy†Roddy Piper, the bombastic, loudmouth, straight shooting, dastardly, wrestler, and movie star. Nicknamed the Hot Rod, Piper was at times as big a star as Hulk Hogan, and is beloved by cult movie watchers for his turn in John Carpenter’s sci-fi classic They Live. The WWE hall-of-famer died in his sleep at his Hollywood home on Thursday from cardiac arrest, and was found on Friday.
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WWE’s Stardust calls out ‘Arrow’ on Smackdown!

The war between WWE wrestler Stardust (Cody Rhodes) and Arrow star Stephen Amell heated up on SyFy’s Thursday Night Smackdown last night. Stardust is currently having a string of matches with Neville, a high flying British wrestler who comes out wearing a cape, and who uses a top rope finishing move called the Red Arrow. In the video, Stardust appears on the screen to distract Neville, and sends a not-so-veiled threat to Amell’s TV superhero alter-ego.
Watch the video and check out the Twitter banter below.
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WWE’s Edge “Spears” Into ‘The Flash’ Season 2!

Life is good for geeks! If you’re a joint comic book/pro wrestling geek like me, life is VERY good. News broke this week that Adam “Edge†Copeland will be joining the cast of The CW’s hit show The Flash for season 2 as Atom Smasher. This Atom Smasher will be a villain – different from his DC Comics counterpart. The character has super strength, and the ability to grow to enormous sizes. He will certainly be a match for Barry Allen (Grant Gustin).
Check out some of the tweets about this and the WWE below.
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Tags: Adam "Edge" Copeland, Cody Rhodes, DC Comics, Grant Gustin, Monday Night Raw, Stardust, Stephen Amell, The CW, The Flash, Warner Bros TV, WWE
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Is ‘Arrow’ Star Stephen Amell Ready to Rumble this Summer?

Things have gone pretty well for Stephen Amell lately. His hit CW show Arrow just finished a successful third season, and he was cast as Casey Jones in the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel. But a new role has presented itself… professional wrestler! On the May 25th episode of WWE’s Monday Night Raw, wrestler Stardust, a heel (bad guy) was getting into the faces of several ringside fans. One was Amell, and a twitter war has since broken out between the two.
More on that below.
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Interview: Diamond Dallas Page Talks ‘Shark Tank,’ DDP Yoga, Weight Loss, and Wrestling

Diamond Dallas Page is one of the toughest guys to ever lace up a pair of boots and step into a wrestling ring. An underdog champion in the truest sense, Page is the kind of guy who makes the best of any situation and rises to the top of whatever industry he’s a part of.
A former WCW/WWE champion on multiple occasions, Page started wrestling at the ripe age of 35 and didn’t hit his prime until the age of 40. He was winning matches when wrestling was at its peak – back during the now-famous Monday Night Wars. Nowadays, he’s revolutionizing another industry. Yoga. Yoga? Really? Oh hell yes really. DDP has taken a timeless practice and added in his own personal flair and, by doing so, he’s developed a literally life-saving workout.
I had the opportunity to chat with DDP following his appearance on Shark Tank.
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