Don’t Be A Diva

April 3, 2014April 14, 2014 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

(It’s WrestleWeek on POP GOD! In celebration of Wrestlemania XXX this Sunday we’ll be looking at the intersection of faith and wrestling. You don’t have to be a fan to hop in the ring on this journey. Read on and see how this fake sport provides rich lessons for anyone who’s grappling with God.)

Wrestling has pretty much always been a guy thing in my life.

So when my fiancé started getting into “Total Divas”, I was kind of excited.

“Total Divas” is a reality show on E! which focuses on the women of the WWE, their romantic relationships with other wrestlers, and all sorts of other backstage drama.

At first I thought it was just a great way for my fiancé to get excited about wrestling so she wouldn’t give me crap for watching it. Maybe she’d even want to watch wrestling with me sometime!

Then, of course, I got sucked into watching “Total Divas”.

You might think as an obsessive wrestling fan that I would love watching anything associated with WWE. And “Total Divas” does entertain me sometimes.

But mainly “Total Divas” just makes me mad because of how fake it is. Continue reading →

The One Lesson Anyone Can Learn From Wrestling

April 2, 2014April 14, 2014 / Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

If I could sum up everything I’ve ever learned from pro wrestling in one sentence it would be this:

The face beats the heel.

In wrestling terminology there are two types of characters – faces and heels.

The face (short for babyface) is the good guy. Think Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, John Cena.

The heel is the villain. People like The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, Ric Flair, and Mr. McMahon were great heels.

Wrestling at it’s core is the story of a good guy versus a bad guy. Almost every single wrestling match in history consists of a face versus a heel. And the face beets the heel.

The heel may get the upper hand. He may vanquish a few good-hearted men along a path of destruction. But in the end the heel always goes down.

This is the cycle of wrestling, a never-ending story where the characters change but the outline stays the same each week. Continue reading →

What To Do When You Get Everything You Ever Wanted

April 1, 2014April 14, 2014 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

I remember when The Golf Channel launched in 1995. Living in Augusta, GA The Golf Channel came standard on our cable package. It was the first specialized network I remember coming on television, a channel devoted entirely to one sport.

As my parents watched The Golf Channel and I sat on the floor playing with my wrestling figures, I wondered if one day there might be a WWF Network.

19 years later my dream came true when the WWE Network launched (ok, my dream was one letter off).

The WWE Network is a 24/7 streaming video channel and on demand library. It’s a pretty revolutionary concept and is changing the landscape of the pro wrestling business.

For just $9.99 a month viewers get access to every major wrestling show of the past 30 years, plus every future pay-per-view event. Then there’s all the classic episodes of Monday Night Raw I grew up watching with the likes of Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, and Bret “The Hitman” Hart.

The catalog of programming is overwhelming in scope. It’s everything I ever wanted it to be and so much more.

So why am I not more excited about The WWE Network? Continue reading →

How To Be The Man

March 31, 2014April 14, 2014 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

(It’s WrestleWeek on POP GOD! In celebration of Wrestlemania XXX this Sunday we’ll be looking at the intersection of faith and wrestling. You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to hop in the ring on this journey. Read on and see how this fake sport provides rich lessons for anyone who’s grappling with God.)

There have been a lot of great talkers in the history of wrestling. It’s hard to pick out the best of all time.

You have to consider “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes:

Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage must be near the top of the list:

But to be the man, you have to beat the man. And the man nobody could beat at promos was Ric Flair: Continue reading →

Why I Love Fake Things

November 20, 2013November 25, 2013 / Alex Doriot / 4 Comments

I learned the truth when I was about 6-years-old.

I was watching a video in the bedroom while my parents had friends over. My father came in and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

He had to tell me the truth – the truth about wrestling.

“You know it’s fake, right? It’s all planned out and scripted,” he told me about the hulking superstars I had recently become obsessed with.

Funny, though. The revelation didn’t bother me. Even at a young age, I simply shrugged and went back to watching Randy Savage drop elbows. Continue reading →

The Street Fight For Your Soul

July 10, 2013July 11, 2013 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

What does your morning routine look like? It’s probably harder for you to think about than to actually perform.

Most of us sleepwalk through our mornings the same way every day, moving from bed to bathroom to breakfast table and out the door without fully waking up.

If you are able to conjure up your morning routine, think about this: at what point during your day do you start to think about God?

Is God even part of your morning routine? If your answer is no, you’re not alone. So many of us rush through our mornings trying to tackle the obstacles of the day without inviting God into our routine.

WWE

If you’re not spending time with God each morning, it’s like you’re walking into a battlefield without any armor. Because you are in the midst of a battle each and every day – a down and out street fight. Continue reading →

What’s Your Main Event?

June 19, 2013November 8, 2013 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

Everything must end.

So many moments on WWE Raw this past Monday pointed toward finality.

Daniel Bryan and Kane calling off their partnership. CM Punk and Paul Heyman ending their business relationship. Alberto Del Rio abandoning the fans. Mark Henry nearly retiring (before going back to being the most awesome man on the planet).

Nothing lasts forever in wrestling. No title reign. No undefeated streak. No partnership. No physique. No popularity. Nothing.

All manner of factors contribute to the fluid nature of wrestling. Constantly shifting storylines. Expiring contracts. Flip-flopping fans. Injuries. And, all too often, death.

The heroes and Hulks of my youth no longer stand tall. There are no Stones or Rocks which won’t be tumbled by time. If you enjoy something in the world of wrestling, enjoy it while it lasts.

God is eternal. We are not. Continue reading →

Mr. Imperfect

May 22, 2013May 23, 2013 / Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been plugging my way through the new WWE Blu Ray “Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart – The Dungeon Collection”.

The “Hitman” is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and this Blu Ray collects many of his unseen and rare matches.

A few nights ago I watched the chapter on one of Bret Hart’s greatest opponents – Curt Hennig, also known as Mr. Perfect.

Bret’s match against Mr. Perfect at Summerslam 1991 is quite possibly my favorite wrestling match of all time, so I was giddy to see a rare earlier match between the two.

Before the match Bret was interviewed about the first time he and Hennig ever met in the ring. The pair had a reputation as being the best two technical workers of their generation.

Their first match was eagerly anticipated by fans and fellow wrestlers alike. The boys in the locker room gathered around the curtain to see these two second generation superstars put on a five star match.

So it was much to my surprise to hear what Hart said next: Continue reading →

You Are A Wrestler

May 1, 2013May 2, 2013 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

Welcome to Wrestling School 101. You can be a professional wrestler today in just a few easy steps.

Don’t believe me? You have all the qualities. You don’t have to weigh 300 pounds and be in exquisite shape. You can be a wrestler right from the comfort of your couch.

And who wouldn’t want to be? Becoming a professional wrestler is an honor. Abraham Lincoln wrestled for fun back in his youth. It’s biblical to0 (we’re getting to that).

It’s quite simple: if you want to be a wrestler, all you have to do is know how to talk. Continue reading →

How To Win The Impossible* Ladder Match

April 24, 2013April 25, 2013 / Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

A lot can change in 50 years. Watching wrestling in the 1950s, you would think it impossible for the black and white sport of Gorgeous George and Verne Gagne to ever turn into this:

(Click Here if you can’t see the video above.)

The Ladder Match. Maybe the most dangerous match in all of wrestling. A championship belt is raised 15 ft above the ring. The only way to retrieve it is climb to the top of a ladder and unhook it. The first man to do so wins the championship. Before you grab the belt you can use the ladders around the ring as weapons and launching pads for insane aerial assaults. Continue reading →