Hau kola, my Little Braves. I'm sitting here on a plane, waiting to arrive for the biggest show ever in the history of this business...WrestleMania 25! I'm excited to be a part of it, Pre-Show Match or not. It'll be R-Truth, JTG and Shad (Cryme Tyme) vs. Jason Cooper, Jack Swagger and myself,Tatanka, in a big six man match to get the lucky fans who get to attend WM25 live all pumped up.
I'm not really too familiar with the other men participating in the match but that matters little. I will go out and give 1000% for all you fans out there each and every single time I walk that aisle, whether it be in a bingo hall, high school gymnasium or a capacity arena. I will always give my all and I will never do otherwise.
I've worked very hard to make my return to the squared circle and I am proud that WWE has given me the opportunity to do it here. The front office has been great to work with and they really seem to respect and understand what I want out of this stage of my career.
Titles don't matter as much as they used to to me at this stage of the game...though I wouldn't turn down any title opportunities that come my way, obviously. I'm more into simply making sure I give all my Little Braves the best matches I can. Period. If that means a golden belt finds its way around my waist, well then that's just a bonus.
I will see all of you in the arenas as I make a new name for myself in the WWE...a new name for a new warrior.
YIYIYIYI YI YI YI!
Well here I am once more, sitting on the laptop typing up a blog. I can't say I'm very comfortable at the moment as I'm sitting outside waiting for someone to open the doors so I can get into the arena we are meant to be wrestling in. So now I'm stuck outside on a hard bench, which really isn't helping my back. See what we do for you WWE Universe? Anyway I decided to log on to the computer to keep myself occupied whilst I wait for the door to be unlocked and I saw that you fans have been treated to quite a few blogs lately. So I decided not to feel left out and to do a blog of my own to tell the WWE Universe about what has been going on lately in the WWE.
At the moment I'm alone and sometimes this is how I like it...I can see Jeff Hardy every now and then looking quite serious so I presume he is doing something important but beside that it is just me at the moment. I have to say the anticipation has been gradually building for Wrestlemania and were are now only 12 days away from what should be one of the greatest Wrestling moments ever. I certainly can't wait and I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it and I've spoken to several other guys and they seem like they feel exactly the same. Yesterday I had the opportunity to catch up with a recent signee, Jason Cooper who finally has broken into the WWE after spending alot of time in the Indies. I know it has been said earlier by Jeff in his blog but this guy is going to be a star and he has all the credentials to become one. The other day I got to see him cut a quick promo whilst doing a house show and he was fantastic on the mic for a new guy (far better than me I must add, after looking at some tapes of my earlier stuff). He is also a good guy to talk to outside the ring and yesterday we got talking about video games (What? WWE Superstars can't play video games?) and eventually it led to the new Smackdown vs Raw Video Game which brings me to the next thing I would like to talk about.
Just this last Saturday a bunch of us WWE Superstars, myself, Cooper, Jeff and Chavo to name a few, got to go to a big press conference thing about the new Smackdown vs Raw video game. First we got a run down by some dude, Corey I think his name was...wasn't paying much attention to tell the truth and after that we got the opportunity to roam around, get interviewed by some internet nerds (they said they were from Gamingfling...or was it Gamingring? Again I can't remember) and the main reason I went and I presume the others, to play the game. Jeff and I got to have the first go and when we first got on to the game it lead you to some sort of tutorial screen which we skipped right past. After that the main menu appeared and whilst some things were blacked out, there was still a fair amount of things we could chose from. Jeff persisted that we have a look at the new Create a Diving Finisher first (Typical) but I managed to convince him to play a First Blood Match first. I chose to be myself in the game and so did he and then we were into it.
At first glance I could've sworn it was real life the graphics are that good and everything was so detailed, like my tattoo's and scar and Jeff's face paint and arm bands. It then got me thinking about the time that we had to go into THQ and get scanned and speak lines and even grunts into a microphone a few months back. I suppose that payed off as everything looks great. We then got into the actual match and whilst Jeff was trying his hardest to beat me I was more testing out the new things you can do in the game like moves on the apron and leapfrogging an opponent. The one new thing that I didn't like however was the new momentum halo instead of a HUD which got a bit annoying at times. At the end of the match I made Jeff bleed after two Assassinations (which look great!) and a chair shot to the head.
We then took a quick look at two of the new Create modes - Create a Diving Finisher where we ended up creating a move that consisted of several flips and then the Story Mode Designer. The Story Mode Designer was very in depth and you could do a tonne of cool cutscenes (there was even a Michael Jackson based cutscene, maybe based off the time Cena and Shane entered to his music on Raw) as well as making matches and who will win and lose them. Our time was stopped short however as Chavo and MVP kicked us off claiming we had been on it for too long.
Overall it was good fun seeing the new game and seeing myself in Video Game form and I will certainly be buying it when it gets released! I even tried enquiring whether I could get it early but that idea was turned down fairly quickly. Anyway I think someone just arrived with a key so I better be off or I'll be in trouble. I'll hopefully get to speak to you in another blog soon but I'm making no promises as Wrestlemania week I'm sure will be very hectic!
Until then, farewell and I urge you to buy the new Smackdown vs Raw 2010 Video Game (Yes I was told by THQ to plug it lol).
Yours truly, Assassin.
WRESTLEFREAKINMANIA BABY! WOO!
Holy shit! It's 13 days from the biggest show of the year, the granddaddy etc etc i'm sure you've heard those sayings so many times already so i won't bore you with them here. I'm not here for long, Assassin has just returned my laptop after a lenghthy period, checked my history to make sure he wasn't watching some messed up porn like Sergio claims he has on now and again, it wasn't thankfully, it was some dutch pop group called aqua (man they suck).
Anyway back to the important bit, Wrestlemania! I have to be honest with you, the nerves are starting to creep in, i see guys backstage, like Ric Flair, Michael Shane (ass), Suffering and Jeff hardy and they've got these huge matches on the card, i think to myself, i'm on the pre-show card and i'm almost crapping myself, imagine how they must be feeling! For them this is another step on the ladder to the top, to legendary status, for me this is the beginning, i want to look back a year from now, be on that main card, be an established WWE superstar and say, i started somewhere, i started at the greatest show ever seen, this is the beginning of a new era for me and the WWE.
We're at a house show in Texas as i type, i'm just about to have a match with Jack Swagger, i took a look out earlier as they were letting the crowd in, this place is jam packed! It's going to be one hell of a night! Mr Swagger is about to get his ass handed to him.
I'll no doubt do another one of these before Wrestlemania, i shall leave you with this image that i saw as i arrived this evening.
Jeff Hardy teaching Michael Shane how to put Make up on.
Peace.
Busy, busy, busy. That's what things are like in the WWE right about now.
We're right around the corner from Wrestlemania 25, the granddaddy of 'em all, the showcase of the immortals, the grandest stage of them all....the most nerve wracking experience of my life.
I've performed live on Raw in a main event match, I've performed at big PPVs like Summerslam and Survivor Series, hell I've performed at Wrestlemania on the undercard....but never have I performed in one of the five big matches on an event of this magnitude, never. With all due respect to Ric he's not a young man anymore, in order for our match to be the match I know it can be we're going to need Ric's quarter of a century in experience and I'm going to have to bare the brunt of the physical work. Don't get me wrong, I have complete confidence that Ric can and will put on a fantastic showing and wow the crowd but it will not be easy. Can we do it? Will we do it? You're damn right.
Things lately in the WWE have been quiet, a lot of the guys seem to be a bit down to be frank. I'd theorize that like myself they're all worried and stressed out about Wrestlemania, this is make or break time for an awful lot of us, this show could send some of us to heights we could have never imagined....or it could end in heart ache. We're feeling the pressure. You know what though? I guarantee you that when they hit the ring, be it Assassin, Sergio Griffon, Simmons, Hansen, Edge, anyone of them, that the moment they hit the ring all of that nervousness flies out of the window and every single one of them will give the match absolutely everything they have. They're all out to steal the show.
There's been some humor backstage though, Assassin is still a straight-edge virgin, Ryan Simmons is still an offensive cross-dresser and the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin himself has been backstage at a lot of the events. Steve appears to be going through a rough period in his personal life at the moment but he's just as good humored and entertaining as ever. His banter with 'Taker and Shawn is legendary. He's an assett to have backstage. As for a return......I don't know. Steve is pretty much finished with the business as far as I can tell but in wrestling one can never say never. Lord knows the fans would go absolutely ape-shit.
I wanna give a brief honorable mention to a guy called Jason Cooper by the way. Trust me, this guy is the shit. The dude has gone from more brands than Jimmy freaking Fatal (who is STILL a talented bloke imo) so he's never been given his time to shine but from what I've seen this guys got talent. I watched some of his TNA work which somehow got lost in the clusterfuck that is iMPACT but was impressive nonetheless. He's not a spot monkey who no-sells big moves like 99.9% of the X-Division this guy combines these flashy moves with a bit of ring savvy and an entertaining persona. From his mic work to his blogs, the guy has got undoubted charisma. Not to mention that he's a genuinely nice guy who's just been waiting for his chance to shine. I have no doubt that when he gets his shot after 'Mania he'll be a star. Who knows, this time next year I could be sitting here typing about Cooper/Hardy at 'Mania 26...never say never.
I've not much else to tell you my friends, I'm typing to you all from the magic of wireless internet in the back seat of a rental car, squeezed between the ample sized Morten Hansen and Suffering, Sergio Griffon having somehow commandeered the front seat while John Morrison takes the wheel. A diverse group to be sure. Travelling down this road gets lonely sometimes but having your wrestling brothers around you makes all of the difference. Be it Joe, Morten, Shane, I don't know where I'd be without them all. They keep me grounded, they keep me safe and despite all of the problems I've caused and had this year they've stood beside me and got me through it. I will forever be in debt to these guys and most of the others backstage, we really have to each other going as we cruise to the next show at 70 miles an hour. Wrestling is indeed an interesting business when 6'5 foot muscleheads (and not so 6'5 muscleheads) depend on each other for their emotional well-being.
I must away for now my friends, I'm hearing grumblings about the nearest grease bucket.....I must locate the nearest place one can obtain a nice healthy wrap. Tortilla bread = Life.
Later,
Jeff
The highs, the lows and how I got here!
14:28 pm Tuesday the 20th of December 1983 Oak park hospital Sacramento, that's where the roller coaster that is my life begun. First and only child of James and Eileen Cooper, Dad, C.E.O of Tratalic software inc, Mum a Nurse at the same hospital I was born, life was never a struggle for our family, I always had the best of everything, I was the never the boy who was bullied for the sneakers he was wearing or the pants he had on, when I was a kid all I had to do was point at something in a store and I had it there and then, though it was never my father who bought it for me, sure he paid for it but he was a busy man, he had a company to run he couldn’t waste time walking round toy stores when there was money to be made, so he said. I’m not going to sit here and diss the guy, I’ve had an amazing life and that’s most in part down to him, hell if it weren’t for my Father I wouldn’t be in this business today, My mother on the other hand was always there, I was her blue eyed boy, when I was born she never worked again, my father’s orders of course but she didn’t care, she was financially secure. She was the one who came to the ball games at junior high, who played soccer at the park, the greatest mother anyone could hope for. It was Friday July 30th 1990, a typical day, I went to school, last day before the weekend, in the middle of a lesson, my grandparents picked me up and took me home, they looked upset but didn’t say much on the drive back, I got home and Dad was there which was strange as he didn’t usually get back until 7 pm, he sat me down and told me that mum had died, he didn’t tell me the cause but I later found out she had a blood clot, I stayed with my grandparents for about a year after that, until one day Dad came to pick me up and take me home, he was a different man, he had appointed someone in his position to run the company. I always remember the day he sat me down, apologised for not being the father he could have been and promised me a fishing trip! He always made sure we had at least three a year, great times man.
As I began high school in 94 I had been watching Wrestling for about a year, the Wrestling business was just becoming a global entertainment, Hulkamania was going strong and I had watched many episodes of it with the old man, The Rock’n’Wrestling connection on MTV! I was a huge Hogan fan and had all of the merchandise, when he left after the steroid drama I was distraught but I kept watching as I had fell in love with the show, every little boys dream at the time to be a wrestler and to fight beside Hulk Hogan against Ted DiBiase and Irwin R Schyster at Wrestlemania IX in Las Vegas, that was one hell of a show, hell I still walk past Shawn Michaels, Taker and Tatanka and remember watching them go at it all those years ago, it’s awesome to think I perform on the same card as them these days, the day I share the ring with any of them will be the day I know I’ve really made. Going through high school it’s all us boys really talked about, we used to get into so many arguments about who would win up and coming matches and who would kick who’s ass if put in a match, there was a kid at school by the name of Josh, man I hated this kid, we got into this argument one day about who would in a match between Taker and Shawn Michaels, this was around 97, it all got a bit personal and being the way kids are he took a shot at my Mother, man I pounded that guy so hard he was off school for two weeks, my dad had to come to the school to discuss what had happened and I got detention for about a month solid.
After high school I got into American River College in Sacramento, taking a degree in Political Science, this is where my Wrestling career began really, Coach Paul branch was a tough guy to learn from but I owe him a hell of a lot, I went for six months undefeated on the freshman Wrestling team because of him and in my sophomore year I qualified for the State championships, I was the runner-up but my old man was so proud that he bought me my first car, A corvette woo! Although I enjoyed that style of wrestling I was always an adrenaline seeker, I used to watch guys like Rey Mysterio jr catch some serious air from a turnbuckle, the hardy boys flipping off ladders onto Edge and Christian, they’d say it set them free, flying through the air, a different high, we used to get a couple of guys together on the weekends and do some backyard matches, I was waiting for my match one day and thought I’d try some of these moves out, I was up against my good friend Brian, a stack of mats and a ladder is all we had but after that match I was hooked on the buzz of flying through the air and pulling off a big moonsault or a leg drop from a great height, it hurt like and you were sore as a you know what afterwards but the attention from the ladies made it all the more worth it. The last year of College I competed in the NCAA division but came second, as I left college I was seriously contemplating leaving my wrestling career behind and going a different direction, although I was good, I just couldn’t get to where I wanted to be and that’s the top! I had a long talk with my dad, I told him what I planned to do, he stood up walked over to me and slapped me across the face, “Don’t be so damn stupid son! Now you get out there and be the best damn wrestler you can be, make your mother proud!”
Two months later I joined Supreme Pro Wrestling in my home town ( I know it’s like I’ve never been out of Sacramento) working with guys like Mike Rayne and Sir Samurai, they did one show a month and the fan base was crazy, we used to do St Peter’s hall a lot and my old man used to come and watch the shows and we’d go for a beer with the guys afterwards, sometimes it was the hospital first then the bar. It was with SPW that I perfected the Shooting star press which I use as my finishing manoeuvre to this day, I say perfected because I botched it more than a handful of times, almost broke my damn neck doing it, almost exactly like Brock Lesnar did against Kurt Angle and I busted a guy’s ribs up too. I also invested some money into the company and whenever I’m home or near it I always pop in to see how the guys are doing, it celebrated it’s nine year anniversary in April so we had a huge hardcore show on, I was in between TNA and FCW at the time so I went down and took part, man did I get busted up but it kicked ass! Anyway we had this show on in November of 2007, we went out did the match it went great, it was a great night all in all but it was to get even better, as I was leaving the hall, someone taps me on the shoulder, I turn around and stood behind me is Jerry Jarret, he offers me a try out for TNA and of course I accepted it without even thinking about it. I jumped in the car and tore up the road until I got to my Fathers, I told him what had happened, I’ll never forget the look on his face man, he stood up gave me a huge hug and told me he was proud of me and that mum would be too. A week later after a dark match on Impact I was signed to TNA. I left SPW a 3 time SPW champion and part owner and apart from my blood sweat and tears I left some amazing people and I’ve been left with some amazing memories.
From then it’s been a whirlwind, back and forth, companies going bust, plans down the toilet, my life has been thrown around I once again contemplated leaving the business for good but luck struck a few months ago when I was resigned to FCW! I put my heart and soul into every match and it’s got me where I want to be and that’s on the flagship show of the greatest Wrestling company ever, as a small boy I dreamed of performing on TV, it may not be with Hulk Hogan but it is on WWE RAW! And I hope there’s kids out there dreaming to one day do what I’m doing and I hope they stick with it because there’s no better feeling than flying through the air in front of thousands of people in the arena and millions watching worldwide knowing that I’m not only making my parents proud but also myself. Cooper creates?
Cooper is creating a dream!
Peace!
Australians! Pythons and Wrestlemania!
We're on the road to Wrestlemania baby! woo! We're touring Texas at the moment, house shows galore. We've just arrived in Amarillo from Houston, 9 hours in Sergio Griffons clapped out Ford, would have taken 8 hours but Assassin can't hold his water. I usually get some sleep on the road but these two guys are hyped about Wrestlemania, we are all i suppose so they kept me awake. This will be my first wrestlemania competing and i've got some nerves but i just have this urge to get out there and show the world what Jason Cooper can do.
We were on the road for about 4 hours when we had to pull over for the third time at a rest stop, me and sergio wait in the car as Assassin uses the rest room, two minutes later the door flies open and Assassin jumps in the car as white as a ghost. A Python! A python! he shouts at the top of his voice. Apparently he goes into the rest room, closes the cubicle door and sits down, looks down at his feet as Python slithers into his cubicle from the one next to him, man i'd have love to have been there to see how quickly he got out of that cubicle.
A personal note here to my fans. I want to thank you all for your support over the years as i've gone from promotion to promotion but after a few meetings with Vince and Shane Mcmahon i feel i've got stability now and i'm sticking with WWE for as long as i can, i've officially been signed to the Raw brand so that's where all you Cooper fans can watch Cooper create controversy.
I'm starting to like these blogs and with Mania on it's way i'll be commenting on some of the big matches on the card over the next few weeks as we travel through Texas, YEEHAW!
They still say that right?
" Controversy creates cash"
You want ratings? You want asses in the seats and money rolling in then there has never been a truer word spoken than the title of Eric Bischoff's book.
Now i've been a fan of this business for as long as i can remember and it's had it's share of controversial individuals, The nature boy Ric Flair, Dr.Smackdown, The Undertaker and of course Shawn Michaels, just a small list but you get the jist. Now i look at half of them and laugh, i mean come on the only thing controversial about Ric Flair was his nancy boy robes and silver hair when he was in his thirties, the only thing controversial these days about naitch is the colour of sneakers on Michael Shanes feet coming out his ass.
Now i'm sat backstage at the Smackdown house show in San antonio and i look at some of the "performers" here and where is the controversy? I'll tell you where it is! It's on Raw with Joe "Suffering" O'brien, i can still picture it in my head as i'm sure many millions of you out there can, the new generation nature boy (how original) hanging by his scrawny ankles above the ring and Joe bathing in his blood as it dripped from his lifeless body! That was controversy! Michael Shane is Mr cool, walks the walk, talks the talk but have you seen him recently, no one has ever gotten under his skin like that. As you can probably tell i'm not a fan of his, i mean a guy who takes a girl like Mickie James out of the mental asylum just to nail her needs something more than an ass kicking. I have though always been a fan of Joe even back in his evolution days, he can play the mind games, get under your skin, bring you to your knee's and then take what he wants, the man is a genius.
I look at the Smackdown Roster and then the Raw roster and think, that's where the ratings are going to be and this is where the channel will be changed everytime it comes on the tv, once this Shane/Suffering thing blows over, we'll be left with the old man Nightmare fighting Mickey Rourke and the Rock raising his grey eye brow and asking us all the most asked question in this business, can we smell the contents of his incontinence pants? Some may see this as a negative but i see this as an opportunity!
FCW! ECW! TNA! ECW! FCW! From pillar to post, one match here another there, you have seen only sparks of what i am capable of and this is my time to step and and seize an opportunity that will shoot me into the lime light, show the fat, depressed, sad people that there is someone who will shock them on Smackdown and show the people upstairs that there is someone who will bring in the money and sell the merchandise. Controversy does indeed create cash but who will create the controversy....
Jason Cooper!