WWE Extreme Rules Comes To IZOD Center

Posted on by sexyarmpit
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Tickets on sale Saturday 2/22 at 10:00 AM

It’s been the mission of every crowd at televised WWE events to try to one-up the rowdy RAW audience following Wrestlemania 29. Not only was that the same night that The Sexy Armpit’s article was shown on RAW, but it also reminded the crowd that they hold the power. After all, we are the fans and we’re the people keeping the WWE in business.

The 2014 Royal Rumble crowd last month was formidable, but people are still talking about the rambunctious crowd at IZOD. At least we’re good for something here in Jersey. Loud and obnoxious is in our DNA. The big question is, with the Extreme Rules Pay Per View coming to IZOD Center on May 4th, 2014, is WWE trying to make lightning strike twice? WWE sure as hell likes to go back to the same well pretty often. Look at sequel matches like HBK/Razor in the Ladder Match 2, and even most recently, Rock/Cena 2, why not IZOD CROWD 2?

Extreme Rules is one of the few of the “filler events” as I refer to them meaning anything not the big 4 that I actually enjoy. There’s usually some exciting and often insane stuff going on in the matches, but is Batista really their big selling point for this event? This guy gets ALL CAPS? Personally, I really hope the whole CM Punk thing is a big work. The WWE isn’t the same without him. One thing is for sure, Extreme Rules will need to be a superior show to make up for his absence.

Extreme Rules will be available on the new WWE Network and also Pay Per View. Until the option of ordering the event through your cable company ceases to exist, the term Pay Per View will remain, but it’s already becoming antiquated with the Network subscription model. Extreme Rules will eventually just become an “event.” Can the crowd in East Rutherford make it into a truly memorable one? That will be determined on May 4th!

www.SexyArmpit.com

Top 10 WWE Moments at Izod Center

Posted on by sexyarmpit
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The Meadowlands Arena has a minor amount of prestige, but it’s not in the same legendary league as Madison Square Garden is. With WWE releasing the collection of best matches from Madison Square Garden DVD/bluray collection soon, it’s a perfect time to look back at an article from the Bleacher Report that’s a couple of years old now. The article puts the spotlight on the Rodney Dangerfield of arenas, one that most likely will never receive the same DVD/bluray tribute that MSG is getting.

The Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ never really got much respect. I always felt that New Jersey got the shaft when it came to getting killer WWE/F events. It doesn’t make much sense either since the Meadowlands has always been a huge supporter of WWE. The arena indeed held WWE events and pay per views, but not many of them are considered classics.

As a guy who’s spent his entire life as a WWE fanatic, it’s a pleasure reading about all the great WWE moments that happened at the Meadowlands through the years. The problem is that the 10 best WWE Izod Center moments are probably, well, ALL OF THEM. The good stuff rarely happened in Jersey – they usually saved it all for the Garden, and rightfully so.

The tri-state area has always been WWE’s central location to run shows. I’ve read articles through the years in WWE magazine that barely acknowledge Jersey as one of the WWE’s hotbeds for live shows. Simply an outrage. New York fans will travel to Jersey for an event and vice versa. There’s also fans coming in from Pennsylvania and Connecticut as well, so it’s not a place that people despise going to. Just because the Meadowlands Arena building itself is not as prestigious or as historic as The Garden doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be a venue where big stuff happens.

Yes, it was certainly cool to have Wrestlemania 29 here in Jersey, not New York like most of the advertising materials would leave you to believe. ‘Mania wasn’t at Izod Center because Vince McMahon set his sights on stadiums for the big event long ago, so, Izod’s big brother, Metlife Stadium was home to the event. Izod settled for housing WWE’s Fan Axxess. We’ll take what we can get.

Back to the article I’m pointing you to at The Bleacher Report. It’s far from being a favorite site of mine, in fact, I can’t stand the site. Websites that presents every article as a slideshow and make you click NEXT to continue to the next part piss me off. It’s not the fault of the writers, because they do a bang up job, it’s just the site in general tries to be so elite and they come off as too mainstream for my taste. I prefer more fan-based coverage when it comes to pro-wrestling, not a football writer assigned to report on wrestling.

In this case, writer Robert Aitken does an excellent job putting together an in-depth look back at some of the most historic WWE moments that took place at the Meadowlands area, then known as Brendan Byrne Arena, later Continental Airlines Arena, and presently Izod Center. It’s all information that can be found around the Internet, but it’s nice to read it all in one spot. The article takes us from Saturday Night’s Main Event all the way through 3 Summerslams and various other events along the way. There goes the rest of my old school WWE content! This article pretty much uses it all up. Thanks Bleacher Report, you jerks!

Until I found this article, I thought I’d be the only one around to be compelled to write something like this, since Izod Center is not even a bastard stepchild of MSG, it’s more of a third cousin with a limp. I’ve actually attended many of the events that Aitken writes about and, if you are so inclined, you can also check out my column about WWE/WWF Event Cards from New Jersey, one of which I even made custom for the article! These posts highlights event card sheets from WWE house shows, TV tapings, and other events I attended through the years.

WWE comes to Izod Center on September 7th, 2013
For more info click here.

www.SexyArmpit.com

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 101: Trick or Treat!

Posted on by sexyarmpit
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Here, have some alliteration: Sam from Trick ‘r’ Treat is cute, cuddly, and a killer, but Sammi Curr from Trick OR Treat is a resurrected, revengeful, rock star. I have a special place in my heart for both of them, but let’s talk about the latter for a moment. Until recently, I was under the impression that the only real ties the 1986 horror film Trick or Treat has to New Jersey are the record company that Sammi Curr is signed to as well as the fact that star Marc “Skippy” Price is a Jersey guy. But as usual, there is another…

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This Trick or Treat t-shirt I got a few years ago was created in the style of a vintage tour t-shirt. More specifically, Sammi Curr’s 1986 “Songs in the Key of Death Tour.” The back reveals all of his fictional tour dates. Most impressive is the fact that he makes a stop at the Meadowlands Arena, which back then was known as Brendan Byrne Arena and presently Izod Center, 2 nights before playing his triumphant concert at Lakeridge High School in North Carolina. Naturally, Sammi took mischief night off to go egg some houses. The man needs to get some rest once in a while!

Trick or Treat has been one of my favorite horror movies since I was young. I watch it religiously every October, usually multiple times. I’ve discussed it several times here at The Sexy Armpit, and although there are only a few minor connections to The Garden State in the film, it’s a film that doesn’t ever get enough credit. This is why I try to bring it up as often as possible at the blog and in my everyday life. If you can’t fathom the appeal of Sammi Curr, you should feel his wrath! Stand up and be counted!

Check out the other Trick or Treat related Posts here at The Sexy Armpit:

www.SexyArmpit.com

WWE’s No Way Out From East Rutherford, NJ!

Posted on by sexyarmpit
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WWE’s next Pay-Per-View, No Way Out is emanating from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ on Father’s Day, June 17th 2012. The print ads and TV commercials for the event are done in an old-timey style and feature Daniel Bryan and his now ex-onscreen girlfriend, A.J. It will be a homecoming for A.J who is one of our past Garden State Playmates and hails from Union City, NJ. The poster pictured above is available from the WWE Shop via this link. The matches are listed below – as always, the card is subject to change.

C.M Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
John Cena vs. The Big Show in a Steel Cage
Shaemus vs. Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship
Christian vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship
Brodus Clay vs. David Otunga (Pre-Show)
www.SexyArmpit.com

Classic WWF/WWE Event Cards From New Jersey #8

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Damn, the WWE just doesn’t put on shows like they used to. Take note that Summerslam 1989 featured NINE matches on the card which included basically all their big stars. Of course, this wasn’t as much of a spectacle as Wrestlemania was back then, but still a lot of bang for your buck. Tomorrow, Summerlam 2011 will feature a mere 5 matches. And I don’t want to hear about how much better the wrestling quality is now, because at the end of the show, all that matters is how much was I entertained. I could care less if Daniel Bryan pulled off a near perfect surfboard maneuver. Hell yeah I want to see action, but moreover, I want to see controversy. I want Summerslam 2011 to be so damn good that it will make me want to call up my friends and actually converse with them over the phone – something I try my damnedest never to do. I’m hoping CM Punk pushes the boundaries even further this time.

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As a kid I remember being so surprised that Wrestlemania 4 was going to be live from Atlantic City New Jersey. The following year, Wrestlemania returned to A.C! You could imagine how much more shocked and pumped up I was to hear the announcement that Summerslam ’89 would be emanating live from The Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. That was back in the days when it was actually called The Meadowlands. Selling the name of an arena to make millions of extra dollars in revenue is obviously a smart way to monetize an establishment but The Meadowlands Arena is what it still is to many of us in Jersey, not Izod Center. Shit, I’d prefer Brendan Byrne Arena, after all, that’s the guy who had his name plastered on the arena for the majority of my childhood.

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I worshipped Coliseum Video as a kid. 
Their P.O Box was in Fairfield NJ!

Regardless of what the former home of the New Jersey Devils is now called, back then, having Summerslam take place live merely 20 miles away from me was a real kick. Seeing Hogan and Beefcake tag up was awesome, but actually, Summerslam 89 was just OK. Even back then when I was a kid who loved every bit of it, I didn’t think 89’s Summerslam surpassed the original previous year’s edition fittingly held at MSG. Although, lots of these young punk “smarks” as they are referred to, think Summerslam ’88 sucked. Well, this old school wrestling fan says they don’t know shit. And yes, I’m drawing the heat. See you at Summerslam?

www.SexyArmpit.com

Classic WWF/WWE Event Cards from New Jersey #1

Posted on by sexyarmpit

Welcome to ringside folks! It’s a slobberknocker here at The Sexy Armpit where we’re taking a look at the FIRST in a series of Classic WWF/WWE Event cards. An event card is the rundown of all the matches that take place at a house show, Live TV taping, or a Pay Per View. These cards are from events that I actually attended, and as we get into later posts in this series you’ll notice the quality of the cards diminish greatly. Nowadays you don’t see these match listings as much, since so many storylines change at the last minute, and occasionally a wrestler slated to appear gets replaced due to injury. But for now, let’s enjoy the classic days of the WWF as we take you down to Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura!

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It’s Monday June 8th, 1987 and the WWF Superstars have come to the arena formerly known as The Brendan Byrne, what is now known as The Izod Center. In possibly the shittiest main event in WWF history, former referee “Dangerous” Danny Davis took on George “The Animal” Steele as their feud continued. Could you imagine if it went the full hour time limit? George would have devoured all 4 turnbuckles by that time! Looking back, I have difficulty categorizing this as even a mid-card bout. It didn’t bother me because the excitement of being able to go to a live WWF event was overwhelming. When I was a kid I’d be happy watching two jobbers wrestle in the main event just as long as I was at an actual WWF show. I don’t think I realized I was getting ripped off, but I was still upset that I wasn’t able to see some of my favorites like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Not all the matches were specifically detailed but there was sure to be “other all star bouts” happening that night. It’s possible even they didn’t know what else was going to happen. “Who’s around? Do we have Hacksaw Jim Duggan? Throw him out there against Barry Horowitz STAT!”
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It’s Anybody’s Meadowlands

Posted on by sexyarmpit

I read a story in our local paper yesterday that Continental Airlines is ending their deal with the Meadowlands arena in East Rutherford. They will no longer have their logo on the top of the building. The NJSEA is taking bids from all different companies to see what company the arena will be named after next. It took ten years for people to finally start getting used to calling it Continental Arena and now it’ll probably be something whacked out like Iams Dog Food Arena, or The Marlboro Lights Arena. Wait, shouldn’t a beer company own it!?!

“Welcome everyone to the Budweiser Arena in New Jersey, we’ve got a great game tonight for you the Nets vs. the defending Champions San Antonio Spurs! This season it’s a bit different though, every game the inside of the entire arena will be filled with BEER! That’s 37,693 gallons of BEER, not even your grandmother could throw that back! How will the players play while submerged in BEER? We’ll soon see as we go court side for the tip…”

Soon the N.J Nets will play at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn N.Y. What’s with teams playing in different states? (The New York Giants play in New Jersey and now the N.J Nets will be playing in New York! I think it’s all scam to try to get people to take mass transit and pay tolls when going to the games.) $400 million over the next 20 years will give Barclay’s Bank the rights to plaster their name to the top of the building. I understand that teams need the revenue but I can’t stand the fact that the winning bidders never truly have much in common with a sports or entertainment event at all. It’s purely done for exposure.

I think the advertisers bidding should at least have to correspond to the events or the sports held there in some way. I don’t care if it’s Nike or Gatorade, but it just seems to make more sense than a bank. A Continental Airlines sign on the top of the arena made sense since Newark airport is not far away and if you’re flying over the arena you’ll see the sign. Having an airline adverrtise seemed like a good idea since players and fans use airlines to travel to games. To some extent, I’m ok with venues like the Verizon Center. Since many people around the world use cell phones or Internet service, they apply. Through their service, sports/entertainment information can be accessed and tickets can be purchased.

The NJSEA actually asked former governor and one time namesake for the building, Brendan Byrne, if he and his family wanted to place a bid. Luckily, he replied with a definitive “No.” I don’t know how much money he has but I doubt he’d be able to compete with even the lowest bid. After all, he’s got a freakin’ N.J state forest named after him isn’t that enough? What company do you think should win the bid?
www.SexyArmpit.com