Making An Entrance!

Making an Entrance: The theatrical term entrance, is the appearance of a character on screen or stage.

Dude, imagine being able to bring an epic level of fanfare every time you turn up anywhere. It would be so much fun to add production values to real life like that. Heavy metal theme song, fireworks, flames, lighting effects and signature taunting would be epic. Surrounded by heavily muscled roman guards. I want that every time I enter a room. Forever.

No holds barred, motherfucker. Just such a spot-on way to indtimidate 50,000 people at once. Maybe on my 60th birthday my family can buy me this as a grand entrance. Or maybe they can set it up for the day I enter prison.

Or this:

The Irresistible Force vs. The Immovable Object

No, not the Omnipotence Paradox.... This was dubbed the "Biggest Mainevent in Sports Entertainment". Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant, WrestleMania III.

It was Wrestling's peak, a peak the WWE have only just barely managed to reach a couple of times since. This was Hulkamania, the entire country (America) got behind this balding, over-the-top, spirit-of-the-80s muscleman.

The most popular and charismatic wrestler of all time, deserved the most fearsome and credible of opponents. Andre The Giant, a 7-foot, awkwardly-clumsy ogre of a man, was widely believed to be undefeatable, due to his sheer size. The marketing and build up to the event was second to none, and for the event, I think the WWF broke every attendance and pay-per-view record (at the time) by a country mile.

The match, however - hasn't quite stood the test of time as well as the "mythology" of the event. Luckily, for the most part- the quality and athleticism of wrestling matches since has evolved well past the "acting" and "storyline" elements. But, I digress.

Here's a dramatized run through of the match - pretty impressive... Especially the ending - watch the crowd lose their shit. :)

Total Badasses: Bolo Yeung

Bolo is one cool motherfucker. A cult martial artist and powerlifter, Bolo is primarily known for playing the villain Chong Li in the Van Damme vehicle "Bloodsport". Bloodsport was made in '88, while Bolo was born in 1938 -- this means that at 50, Bolo played the primary "boss" in a wicked martial arts flick.

I wish I could do that when I'm fifty.

One of the coolest "factoids" about Bolo has to do with his escape from China's real-life Communist regime -- he actually swam from China to Hong Kong. Swam. Cool.

Apparently, at 71 years of age, Bolo still powerlifts weights every day for two hours.



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Total Badasses: Mariusz Pudzianowski

Being a "strong man" is a really cool thing to be, especially if you are "strong" as your profession, like Mariusz here is. Mariusz (also called "Dominator" and "Big Python"), a resident of Poland, has won the World's Strongest Man competition more times than any other individual, with five wins.

Apart from being strong, Mariusz also appears to have a "moral conscience", which is cool; he actually once spent some time in jail for beating up a local Polish mafia boss who he saw physically beating a young boy.

He has also competed in Polish Dancing With The Stars, which is a cool "contrast" to being strong.

The coolest Mariusz quote was from just before he was about to compete in his first ever MMA match; Mariusz, a trained boxer, was quoted as saying: "The left hand brings death, but the right one even I am afraid of." Totally badass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariusz_Pudzianowski

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