The 25 Baubles of Pop Culture! Advent 2022 Day 17

I will not lie. I have an affinity for the pomp and circumstance of pro wrestling. Yes- I've grown out of my die hard devotion I've had towards those warriors of the squared circle. But, I still have favorites too. So when wrestling showed up as today's subject on that random generator, I wasn't too upset about the selection.

Let's start with my Trinity of all-time favorite wrestlers. First in my heart was the one that every kid who grew up in the 80s was a devotee of. I'm talking about Hulk Hogan. Who doesn't lampoon the Hulkster's famous routine when Rick Derringer's Real American comes on the jukebox or radio? For my Hulk ornament selection is this porcelain bauble bearing a classic photo on Hogan, along with his signature. It's so cheesy, especially because on the back of the ornament, there are a bunch of generic poinsettias. No WWF logo. No proclamation of Hulkamania. Just some red flowers that look more like what you'd see hanging from your grandma's tree. 

#2 on my list of favorite wrestlers of all-time is the 8th Wonder of the World. Yes- I am talking about Andre the Giant. Interestingly enough, there does not appear to have ever been an officially licensed ornament of Andre by the WWF or as it is now referred to, the WWE. (Vince McMahon- you need to fix this oversight!)  I found it odd but I couldn't find anything officially licensed bearing his likeness. I then turned to the Etsy route. Even doing that I could only find 1 ornament and that one doesn't even have his face on it!

Instead, this ornament from a website called Pixel has Andre's hand literally encapsulating a can of beer. The image is taken from a 1981 article about the wrestler that appeared in the pages of Sports Illustrated to show just how freakin' massive Andre was!  FYI- he stood 7'4", weighed 540 pounds with a size 56 shoe and 16 inch long hands!

#3 on my list of all-time favs is the Macho Man, Randy Savage. I really used to hate him. But during Wrestlemania IV, he turned from heel to face and won the WWF Championship. Again, I went the Esty route. However, I didn't do it because I couldn't find anything officially licensed. It's because the craft made ornaments looked better. 

The Macho Man was known for his signature phrase 'Oooh, Yeah!' Only, I wasn't a fan of how Savage looked on the ornament. Thinking the one I selected looked like a better image, I also like this bauble because orange is my favorite color. 

Now we look at an officially licensed ornament that I am a fan of. It's this pair of rubber gingerbread decorations that at one time could be found on the WWE web store. There's literally dozens of gingerbread versions of everyones favorite wrestlers. Out of the bunch, I went with a pair devoted to the tag team known as the New Age Outlaws. Aren't Bad Ass Billy Gunn and the Road Dog so adorable that you could just bite their heads off?

I want to share this set of 6 ornaments. It's not that anything about them are screaming to become a part of my tree. I share them because the set was available on a store that really caught my eye. These sparkly globes are available for sale from Hogan's Beach Shop. Yes! Hulk Hogan owns a souvenir shop down in Clearwater Fl, along with another store in Orlando. 

Finally, I can't look at wrestling ornaments without devoting as least 1 look at the world of Mexican acrobatics known as Lucha Libre. I selected this set of 4 hand-blown glass tree hangers. I've always loved the costumes and the masks look like Sugar Skulls. Sure, two of these ornaments are exact replicas of each other. But they all have different colored outfits and so fun looking!

SummerSlam 2017 Special

Writers: Box Brown, Ryan Ferrier, Aaron Gillespie
Artists: Derek Fridolfs, Kendall Goode
Published by Boom! Studios

Epic Battles

Next to Wrestlemania, SummerSlam has been the WWF/WWE’s top showcase. Some epic battles have happened over the years at the event. Hulk Hogan & the Macho Man Vs. Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant. Bret Hart Vs. The British Bulldog. And who can forget when the Undertaker fought the Undertaker?!

 The annual summer match-up is just a couple of weeks away. This year’s going to be a big one as it’s the 30th anniversary. In celebration of the event Boom! Studios has teamed with the WWE to bring fans the 2017 Summer Slam.

Major Talent

   The special gives background ‘stories’ to some of fans most beloved wrestling team-ups. Andre the Giant biographer Box Brown chronicles the class struggle between the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and elitist Macho King Randy Savage. D4VE’s Ryan Ferrier examines the twisted psyche of Mick Foley right before a match with the Undertaker. Looney Tunes’ Derek Fridolfs brings back those insane Australian wrestlers, the Bushwhackers. Then modern era grappler, Seth Rollins, in given nightmares by Lady Death’s Aaron Gillespie.

    Overall, these stories weren’t bad. The Mankind/Mick Foley story was a bit spastic but so is Mick Foley. I didn’t quite understand everything going on with the Seth Rollins story. But that's because I don’t really keep up with wrestling that much any more. But the stories set during the 80s and 90s were fun trips inside a scrapbook of SummerSlam memories.
 
  The artwork was pretty decent. Daniel Bayless, Rob Guillory, Fridolds, and others do some amazing work making these wrestling legends come to life. I only wish that Box Brown was allowed to give Dusty Rhodes and the Macho Man story his distinctive artistic touch. But hey, only getting the story by Box Brown is better than no Box Brown at all.

A Pessimistic New Day

   There was one story that I absolutely hated. Titled ‘The New Day’s Optimistic Odyssey’, it features the trio of wrestlers call ‘The New Day.’ My reasons were multiple. First of, all this was part 5 of a series. Okay, I get that but where are the other 4 parts to be found? So, right away, I didn’t understand anything that was going on. Why are there unicorns and marshmallow cereal everywhere?

    Secondly, and this is coming from my godson- the New Day’s gimmick is considered incredibly racist. My godson is African American and he’s told me that he and his friends had to stop watching WWE due to the New Day. He says it’s because of how the WWE portrays this stable of black gospel singing wrestlers as ‘stupid and dumb.’ I think the word he was going for was ‘stereotypes.’ But if it’s a good enough reason for my godson to not like, it’s good enough for me too!

Money Trouble

      Lastly, let’s talk price. The book retails for $7.99. In the past couple of years, I have shelled out eight bucks for holiday specials. But not for only 42-pages of material!!! It’s a special, I get it. So I could maybe pay $5.99. But eight bucks? If this was a 64-page or 72-pager, I could do it. But this price is just way too steep for me.

I suspect this one is going to wind up in bargain bins pretty soon and that's a shame. It's a decent collection of wrestling themed stories. But that price tag is going to put quite a few fans off of getting it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.