Category Archives: wrestling

Sports Crush: Carmella

It’s been awhile since we added to our ‘Sports Crush’ list.

We’ve written over a dozen ‘Sports Crush’ posts since we launched AmericasWhiteBoy.com. We have spotlighted a ton of WWE Divas (Becky Lynch, Mandy Rose, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan and others). The readers keep viewing those posts, so we will keep delivering new female wrestlers like recent WWE’s Carmella.

Carmella (Leah Van Dale) was a Laker Girl in the NBA and cheerleader for the New England Patriots. She is a second-generation wrestler, as her father was an enhancement talent in the 80’s and 90’s. She made her debut in NXT as the valet for Big Cass and Enzo Amore. She has now outlasted both of those guys and has a prominent role on Smackdown Live.

Check out why we are crushing on Carmella with our picture gallery, and a very special .gif.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 64

I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.

The lineup for WWE Elite series 64 is a pretty underwhelming set. Many in the lineup have been peg-warmers at retail in the past and the one ‘first time elite’ in the set is of a guy who has lost 200+ matches in a row.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 64 Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Samoa Joe, John Cena and two Curt Hawkins elites (yes, there’s a chase version).

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 63

The lineup for WWE Elite series 63 is a mix of new and old. You have a guy like Shelton Benjamin that was well overdue for an elite, hot sellers like Shinsuke Nakamura and then a couple that may have a hard time selling, even during the holiday season.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 63 Dusty Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Kane, Dean Ambrose and two Shelton Benjamin elites (yes, there’s a chase version).

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 62

The lineup for WWE Elite series 62 is a huge improvement over Elite 61. You have three first-time elites (Dude Love & AOP) and a WCW flashback Sting in a new attire.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 62 are Dude Love, Authors of Pain (Akam & Razar), Sting, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns.

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Will WWE Performance Center Feed the Indies with Talent?

The WWE Performance Center is the most high-tech wrestling training center in the World. The New Japan Dojo and other wrestling schools may have a higher success rate, but WWE has a ton of talent down there, but only a few will reach stardom.

On top of the WWE’s attempt to sign inexperience athletes they can mold into ‘sports entertainers’, they have been signing nearly every available indie wrestling star. Their latest coup was signing indie darlings Matt Riddle and Keith Lee.

NXT television was once a place where young, inexperienced talents could get some exposure and learn on the job, since character development is a huge part of WWE today. Now, NXT television consists of talents who have hundreds of matches under their belt and experience wrestling in front of thousands of fans.

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Toy Crazy: Summer 2018 WWE Funko Releases

We covered some upcoming Funko releases late last year. Those figures are already in my collection and look fantastic. Funko is set to release even more pop vinyl figures this Summer.

We have reviewed a lot of Mattel’s WWE Elite figures, but Funko has also released solid figures in the past. I’m a big collector and you can see some of my collection on my Instagram, @vintagetoybob.

I’ve plugged another site in a few previous Mattel/Funko posts, but if you’re looking to order Funko figures, I’d trust DCtoys.net. I’ve bought from the seller before and he is highly reputable. The best of the best for sure. You can use code ‘FREESHIPPING‘ for free domestic shipping.

Here are some pictures of Funko’s Summer 2018 WWE POP! vinyl releases.

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CM Punk Should Have Never Fought in UFC

This isn’t breaking news, but professional wrestling and mixed martial arts are two very different things.

CM Punk had his second MMA fight of his career…and it was really, really bad.

Mike Jackson, a former Golden Gloves boxer and MMA journalist, handed Punk an embarrassing loss at UFC 225. Punk gassed out after the first two minutes of the fight. Jackson then spent the rest of the fight just playing with him. He could have finished Punk at any point, but it was almost as if he wanted to show the world how inept Punk was as a fighter. Punk was doing things BJJ white belts wouldn’t even do in practice. He was over-matched, completely gassed and was just getting his face beaten in.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 60

The lineup for WWE Elite series 60 has been known since this Spring. We’ve already seen up-close pictures as they were on display at a few toy shows early this year. There is something for everyone in Elite 60. This lineup is a step up from the weak Elite 59 set.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 60 are Andre the Giant (Giant Machine), Elias, John Cena, Triple H, Kofi Kingston and Triple H.

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20 Women Wrestlers WWE Should Sign Right Now

The WWE needs a lot of talent. They have dozens of females training at the Performance Center, but they need some women that are ready to step in the ring right now.

I posted a list of male indie wrestlers WWE should sign a month ago, but I needed to list with women wrestlers. There are so many elite women wrestlers that need some of the spotlight.

The WWE raided the independent scene for female talent to stock NXT over the years. You would think the talent base would dry up, but as soon as someone like Candice LeRae or Nixon Newell is taken away from the indies, new faces take their spot and become stars.

This list was well over forty at first, but and I narrowed it down to 20. The list is no particular order…and I even added an extra bonus name at the bottom.

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The 25 Best Wrestling Entrance Theme Songs of All-time

Great entrance music can help make a superstar. The wrestler will need to back up the hype in the ring and on the microphone, but a great entrance song can go a long way.

Let’s use Bobby Roode as an example. He had a great career in TNA, but that promotion started to die off as Roode was finishing up there. There’s no doubt he would have received a good pop upon his first appearance, but his WWE entrance theme made him look like a damn superstar. It also shows the fans that they were putting ‘the machine’ behind the wrestler, so they will push them as far as they can go.

NXT has been the starting point of some of the songs on this list. I want to credit Triple H as he’s a fan of harder music and no doubt had the final say on the music. I am just thankful Vince doesn’t have his hands in NXT or every guy would be coming out to Flo Rida or Florida Georgia Line songs.

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25 Indie Wrestlers WWE Should Sign Right Now

The WWE keeps raiding the independent scene for talent to stock NXT with experienced workers. You would think the well would run dry of new guys, but they keep emerging. New talented wrestlers keep making a name for themselves by wrestling for independent promotions all over the world.

If you’re expecting this list to be full of New Japan talent like Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks or even Cody Rhodes, you’d be disappointed. New Japan isn’t an indie promotion in my eyes. If so, Kazuchika Okada, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito would top the list. NJPW have so much homegrown talent that I decided to not include those guys on this list. I did add a few gaijins (foreigners) who work for New Japan (as well as otehr promotions), but they’re not the tippy-top guys.

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50 Unbelievable Photos of Andre the Giant

Every time I see a photo of the great Andre the Giant, I just stare at it. My eyes go from one side of the picture to the other and just wonder what it would have been like to be him back in his day.

Andre the Giant was born in France as Andre Roussimoff. He was always listed as being from ‘Grenoble in the French Alps’, but the new HBO documentary put that claim to rest. Grenoble was a ‘worked’ hometown as Andre was really from a town outside of Paris.

Due to Andre having acromegaly, many of his features were enlarged (especially his head, hands and feet). His pituitary gland produced too much growth hormone and many with this condition suffer from other issues that lead to a shorter than normal life expectancy.

We list some photos of Andre the Giant that you may have never seen before. We tried to picked many that were rare, as we didn’t see many of these before we did a deep dive to find some new pictures of Andre the Giant.

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