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lionlena · 1 year

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Hate run, love speed (Pedro Pascal x racing driver f!reader) part 1/?

Pedro Pascal x racing driver f!reader

Summary: You accidentally pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be Pedro. You hear from him that he's not a fan of racing and thinks drivers don't do much... Then he finds out you're a rally driver.

Warnings: swearing, small angst, mention of risk of accident and death...

A/N: I'm not an expert on car racing and rally drivers, but I've always dreamed of becoming one. So please don't take anything I write about racing and cars seriously. English is not my native language so I apologize for any mistakes. This is my first xreader so... I'm dying here.

Hate run, love speed

You knew you were already late and you shouldn't have stopped but... You had a soft heart. It was raining heavily and the man looked really resigned. He was standing on the side of the road near a black Audi Q 7 trying to hitchhike. You didn't even recognize him at first but the purple Los Angels Lakers t-shirt felt oddly familiar. You parked your car and waited for the passenger door to open. "Thanks a lot! My car broke down and my phone died." As soon as you heard that voice and saw those brown eyes, it took your breath away. Okay, you weren't some crazy fan, but... You loved this guy. His acting and character. His laugh and that feeling that he's just a good guy. "Play it cool, play it cool," you kept repeating to yourself in mind. Sure, you might have had nerves of steel on the track but not with Pedro Pascal. "Umm... No problem... Cars break down." It really sounded pathetic but Pedro just smiled and buckled his seatbelt. Then he extended his hand towards you and said: "I'm Pedro." You had to bite your tongue not to say: "I knooowww!" All he had to do was see the keychain on your car keys. Baby Yoda, Grogu swayed happily. "Y/N. Where did you want to go?" You say after little pause. "To the race track." "That's cool. It's close to where I'm going." It was a little lie but you didn't want to sound like a stalker and say, "I'm going there too." "Cool." He said with that cute smile. You continued on your way and couldn't help but ask the question that was nagging you. "Are you a racing fan?" "Ummm... Not really. I must go there on business." "Oh." "I don't understand racing very much. Sure you have to drive well and have a strong character but other than that it's not like other sports. You don't exercise and... You know." Okay, that hurt you. Though he had some truth, but only a little. It's not like you didn't have to exercise or sacrifice other things. Even family. You had to put aside thoughts about the baby. It wasn't a problem for you but still. You had to be careful, pregnancy would end your career. Besides, one bad day, a slippery road, a flat tire... And you could have been hospitalized or even killed. You were wondering how to answer him when your phone rang and the familiar name BEN flashed up. "I'm sorry, but I have to pick this up." "Okay, I'll be quiet," he replied. As soon as you pressed the green receiver in the car your coach's angry voice rang out. "Y/N where the fuck are you?!" "On my way, I'll be there in 5 minutes." You swallowed and prayed that this would end the conversation. But it wasn't your lucky day. "You should be at the racetrack by now! Why do I need a driver who drives around the city and not on the racetrack?!" You could feel Pedro's eyes focus on you. "Four minutes Ben." You hit the accelerator harder and the car sped up. "Three" you growled. "Save this tone for the race." Ben hung up and Pedro immediately snapped out. "Holy shit, I'm sorry... I'm really, really sorry. If only I had known you were a rally driver I would never have said all this." You looked at him for a moment. He looked really embarrassed. "Actually, do you know why I became a driver? I hate sports, especially running but I love speed." You smiled at him and winked. "That makes sense," he replied.

The parking lot around the car racing track was full but luckily the competitors had their spots reserved. You quickly jumped out of the car. "Okay Pedro, I hope you'll be fine, I have to run now." "Thanks again and sorry." You waved your hand. "You're welcome." Then you started running towards the players' entrance. You heard Pedro shouting: "Good luck in the race!"

oh god....you really hated running

Part 2: https://lionlena.tumblr.com/post/717038721131855872/hate-run-love-speed-pedro-pascal-x-racing-driver

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal headcanon #my writes

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melblur · 11 months

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Todays rip: 25/05/2023

DEARLY BELOVED...

Featured on: SECOND WIND ~ SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament Original Soundtrack VOL. 2

Ripped by Slime Girls

youtube

Though the hard work of the ripping team is what the channel is built upon, the direction it heads in is often decided by chance, a series of happy accidents that the community and creators take to drive the channel forward. There's no better example for that than Season 3's King for a Day Tournament - an event planned just to give the creatives behind the channel something to do whilst uploads to the channel were restricted for a month. Despite its haphazard nature, its popularity grew to make it one of the most defining parts of Season 3, with its sequel - the King for Another Day Tournament - effectively being synonymous with Season 4 as a whole. Rippers and audience have repeatedly worked in tandem in this way for the channel's future and its a huge part of its appeal to me.

Yet what really gets to me, is when full-on storylines are spun, just from how the audience interacts with the content. With Geno's unfortunate loss in the original King for a Day tournament, he became seen as the fallen hero of the channel, someone who longs for a place in the spotlight yet never given a proper chance to shine. Completely seperate from any of his canonical content on the SiIvaGunner channel, there came to be a sort of sorrow to the character itself, his fans knowing he lacked a realistic chance at winning the tournament yet rooting for his happiness althesame.

Through some twist of fate, with King for Another Day's massive list of guest contributors, Geno wound up with an arrangement from a creator more tragic than himself. Slime Girls, real name Pedro Silva, was one of the lead composers for Omori, and has effectively left online circles after admitting to having emotionally and physically abused past romantic partners. In their last posts online, they described further how they've been trying to make things right since, both seeking therapy for themself and donating a large part of their earnings to abuse victims worldwide. Its a situation we're very much in the dark on yet remains terrible for everyone involved, a battle with no winners.

Its a complicated subject to approach. Speaking personally, I really hope Pedro is sincere in their promises to better themself. And speaking as a SiIvaGunner fan, it upsets me that one of the channel's most arresting, beautiful pieces has such a tainted, complicated legacy tied to it. As a tribute to a character made icon by the fans, DEARLY BELOVED... made every fan stop to pay their respects. It was the perfect rip, with the perfect tone, at the perfect time, and the perfect emotional impact. I urge you, if nothing else, to listen to the video whilst reading some of the comments still up from the video's premiere in 2019. It hits different.

#todays siivagunner #siivagunner #siiva #king for another day #geno #super mario rpg #yoko shimomura #kingdom hearts #dearly beloved #omori #slime girls #vgm #Youtube

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7grandmel · 9 months

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Todays rip [First 30 Archive] - 25/05/2023

DEARLY BELOVED…

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: SECOND WIND ~ SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament Original Soundtrack VOL. 2

Ripped by Slime Girls

youtube

Though the hard work of the ripping team is what the channel is built upon, the direction it heads in is often decided by chance, a series of happy accidents that the community and creators take to drive the channel forward. There’s no better example for that than Season 3’s King for a Day Tournament - an event planned just to give the creatives behind the channel something to do whilst uploads to the channel were restricted for a month. Despite its haphazard nature, its popularity grew to make it one of the most defining parts of Season 3, with its sequel - the King for Another Day Tournament - effectively being synonymous with Season 4 as a whole. Rippers and audience have repeatedly worked in tandem in this way for the channel’s future and its a huge part of its appeal to me.

Yet what really gets to me, is when full-on storylines are spun, just from how the audience interacts with the content. With Geno’s unfortunate loss in the original King for a Day tournament, he became seen as the fallen hero of the channel, someone who longs for a place in the spotlight yet never given a proper chance to shine. Completely seperate from any of his canonical content on the SiIvaGunner channel, there came to be a sort of sorrow to the character itself, his fans knowing he lacked a realistic chance at winning the tournament yet rooting for his happiness althesame.

Through some twist of fate, with King for Another Day’s massive list of guest contributors, Geno wound up with an arrangement from a creator more tragic than himself. Slime Girls, real name Pedro Silva, was one of the lead composers for Omori, and has effectively left online circles after admitting to having emotionally and physically abused past romantic partners. In their last posts online, they described further how they’ve been trying to make things right since, both seeking therapy for themself and donating a large part of their earnings to abuse victims worldwide. Its a situation we’re very much in the dark on yet remains terrible for everyone involved, a battle with no winners.

Its a complicated subject to approach. Speaking personally, I really hope Pedro is sincere in their promises to better themself. And speaking as a SiIvaGunner fan, it upsets me that one of the channel’s most arresting, beautiful pieces has such a tainted, complicated legacy tied to it. As a tribute to a character made icon by the fans, DEARLY BELOVED… made every fan stop to pay their respects. It was the perfect rip, with the perfect tone, at the perfect time, and the perfect emotional impact. I urge you, if nothing else, to listen to the video whilst reading some of the comments still up from the video’s premiere in 2019. It hits different.

#first 30 archive #season 4 episode 1 #siivagunner #siiva #Slime Girls #super mario rpg #geno #kingdom hearts #yoko shimomura #omori #dearly beloved #Youtube #Bandcamp

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years

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Its 2:09 am

Welcome to “8 Questions with…….”

Imagine being a fan of a sport,band,soccer team for years and suddenly and quite unexpectedly you find yourself in the middle of the action,well if you are Nikita Breznikov,that is what happens when you go from a huge fan to becoming the manager of one of the grestest “heel” (bad guys) pro wrestlers in Nikolai Volkoff. So how does a 27 year police veteran go from busting crime to becoming a pro wrestling manager and later on,a solid character and still find time to write a very well received book about the history of pro wrestling in the years before it seemingly exploded into the public’s eye in the early 1980s? As a lifelong fan of wrestling,to be able to chat with Nikita and listen to some of his own stories as well as many others was a sheer treat. I found myself looking at his Facebook page and reading all the old programs,seeing so many names that I found watching growing up. Nikita’s passion for the history of the sport matches any fans of the so-called legitimate sports and the love comes out in his answers here and also his writing. I really am excited to share this interview with you all….so let’s go ask Nikita Breznikov his 8 Questions……

Please introduce yourself and tell about the current project you are working on.

I have been Nikita Breznikov since 1995 and upon entering the world of pro wrestling by managing the great legend, Nikolai Volkoff, we morphed into the world of acting. I was told by someone that doing wrestling documentaries was actually acting credits. That didn’t interest me as I was still protective of the business and did not want to expand beyond it.

Then one day we were offered a role in a movie called “Terror In The Pharaoh’s Tomb”. It caught my attention because the movie believe it or not had Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Lionell Atwill, Peter Lorre, Barbara Stanwyick and many other stars of past time. The producers were able to obtain permission to use footage of these actors and since the film was shot in black and white, the editing was in sync.

What also caught my attention was the fact that my character was Captain Siodmak. Now being a fan of Universal Monsters for all my life, I recognized that name as the man that penned The Wolfman, Curt Siodmak. One of the producers was surprised to learn that I did recognize that name and in fact the connection actually was a reference, as a tribute to the greater, more famous Siodmak.

From there I did a local cable show in Baltimore called “Top Of The Morning”. I first was a guest on the show, then when the director/producer Loretto Gubernatis, saw that I had the gift of gab, she invited me to be a co-host for one season. I learned a lot from her in the time that we spent together and I am grateful.

From there I worked with Darren Aronofsky on “The Wrestler” which we will address down the list of questions I see.

I also am a retired detective sergeant with 27 years experience with the Baltimore Police Department. That is a story in itself along with finding pro wrestling in the middle of it. At a point in that career I became the domestic violence coordinator and worked with many DV, sexual assault victims. I stay active in those fights working with multiple groups and sources to combat these attacks on women.I am now a published author, with my book “When It Was Real” about the WWWF in the 70’s and how it influenced, we, the fans lives. Actually there is a huge story in all of this.

I am also a prostate cancer survivor and passionately speak about preventing it via early BLOOD testing. Early detection helped not only save my life, but gave me a better quality of life. It’s easy, just a tube of blood, men don’t worry about the standard test, that’s a problem anyway if the prostate feels enlarged. Go for the blood test. Prostate problems are a varied degree, so proceed accordingly, but DO proceed. Ignorance won’t solve anything!

When did you become a fan of pro wrestling? Did you play a lot of sports growing?

I became a fan of pro wrestling in 1970, I was 9 years old. The kids at school were talking about it all the time, so I decided to see what it was all about and BANG! I was hooked from the start. Professor Tanaka was tearing up a jobber on TV. It was just as wild as anything that I had ever seen in my life. But the live shows, man the color, the excitement, that’s where the magic truly appeared, when you saw the TV stars so close that you could actually touch them. I did play lots of sports growing up, Baseball/softball, sometimes the softball was the only game in town. Whiffle ball in the streets when we couldn’t get to the park. I was a city boy so we played in the streets a lot. Rubber balls bounced off a brick wall and fielding them for hours was a ritual. Then we played a game called curb ball. You would bounce the rubber ball off a hard surface and try to get it over or past the opponent.

My best friend and I actually had a walk on major league try out. Man I crawled away, those guys were damn good. We also played a lot of football, both in the park and just throwing the football back and forth. We would play touch a lot in the street. My best friend had a great arm and I was super fast, so we were a natural pairing. But we were always active, boxing, wrestling, just always in some sort of motion. Something I fee that the thumb generation lacks. (The video gamers) We interacted with people. In the summertime, we would be outside until dark, who the hell wanted to be inside. TV was all reruns in the summer, so outside was the place to be.

What was your favorite wrestling promotion? Who was your favorite wrestler to watch?

My favorite, my only promotion available in the 70’s was the WWWF. I’m glad of it. We were entertained by, in my opinion the greatest talent in the world. Bruno as champ for most of that time, then passing the torch to Pedro, Superstar and Backlund. We were lucky.

My favorite wrestler was the colorful, exciting, just down right wild wrestler was the one and only Chief Jay Strongbow. I was fortunate to become good friends with Chief through the years. It was like a dream come true to get to know your childhood idol. Of course the parade of heroes and villains was an endless list of friendships as I became part of the business. It is a surreal experience.

But Chief as a favorite was not just someone that I favored, but many other fans were entertained by him as well. People who look back at his matches don’t get it. But if you lived it, you can’t imagine anybody not being swept up in the emotion of a Chief Jay Strongbow match of the 70’s.

How did you meet Nikolai Volkoff and form your friendship with him?

I met Nikolai by accident, on purpose. I was/am a tape (vhs at that time) collector of WWF matches 70-83. I was a sergeant in the patrol division of the Baltimore Police. I saw a poster in a 7-11 advertising a local show for a boys club.

Nikolai was featured on the card, so I decided to drop by and see if I could talk with him. Now I wasn’t a huge NikolAi fan, I favored the faces, but always respected and enjoyed his work. So I wasn’t interested in just a meeting per say. We did hit it off immediately and when I asked Nikolai about having any matches on tape, he said no but that he would love to have some.

I told him I could do that for him. He offered to pay but I told him it was me paying him for all the years of entertainment in the squared circle. From there we became friends, very close friends, like brothers.

My persistence at him to get in the biz finally yielded results with a cautious Nikolai agreeing to take me on as a manager. Later, years after I learned from him and many legends, that we would become a tag team from time to time.

Can you walk us through a typical day for a wrestler the day of a match?

Let’s proceed by driving, not flight connected. First you want to map out your route, gps may or may not be correct. You can’t risk mistakes. Get your gear, if you are lucky enough to have a travel partner, as I was, drive, drive and drive some more.

Get to the venue as early as possible. Heck I’m with the promoter or booker. Let that person know you are there and healthy. Those are both paramount to the show. Prior to the show, set up a table, sell some photos and do autographs, meet the fans.

Before the show starts, find who you are working with and go over the match. The promoter will have his finish, you work around that. Hang out in the locker room with the boys, then be ready by being in deck. Do your match, get paid and head back home.

What do you personally think of today’s wrestling and is there anything you would different to make for an improved show?

I do not watch today’s wrestling. How can I when I have my own vault of the classics. It’s like going from Opera to rap music. Music it still is, but a vast difference.

I can’t see wrestling, as my book describes “When It Was Real” could ever be viewed in that light anymore. Too many wagging tongues spoil everything, gotta be the first big mouth to tell. So how can you enjoy it other then…. just a performance? In the 70’s and early 80’s it was life and death to us fans. It ran that deep.

You can’t bring that back. Another comparison, like an aging beauty queen. It’s still her, but that which is gone can never be brought back.

How did jobbers approach their roles? Was there any resentment in being asked to lose on a nightly basis? (I always wanted to ask that!!)

As far as anybody not being happy with the promoters outcome of a match, sure you get egos from time to time. But by and large the workers know what the rules are and how things work. If you got enough sense to cross the street by yourself, you won’t cross the promoter. Suggestions can be welcomed, but prima donnas aren’t. You better be one big name to refuse to put somebody over or the angle will be a total “Business Killer”.

You wrote a great book full of fantastic stories called “When It Was Real”? How was the book recieved in the locker room? Were you seen as a pro wrestling version of baseball player Jim Bouton?

No Jim Bouton, my book focuses on what me as a kid, as a fan saw and how those matches effected us. And they did effect us, because, as the title says, “When It Was Real”. Because to us, it was real. I use the term “true fiction”. Some things are…..altered, some are brutally real. But each match on every card and that what we saw on TV was important to us, the fans. It meant something, if you hurt Bruno, Chief etc. you were hurting family Bastard, and you had hell to pay.

My book does not in any way compare, knock or disperse the Hogan era and what came after, but it was the changing of the guard. The old format died. Enjoy it, that’s what it’s all about. I just prefer pre Hogan era wrestling,

The book does not tell all, it tells nothing behind the dressing room doors, not as a revelation. There are some humorous stories, travel stories with Nikolai of course. But NOT anything to disrespect anyone or be controversial. I do go into the explanation of some angles, how they developed. But it’s focus, mission statement if you will, is a look into the squared circle from the eyes of a fan. Then a look through the eyes of someone who got through the door.

What led you into becoming an actor? Was this something you wanted to do or did someone talk you into it?

Wrestling begat acting. I had done a few documentaries. Actually the very first thing that I did in front of a camera was “Wrestling Then and Now”. I was only out of the hospital 10 days from prostate cancer surgery, I am a survivor. when the crew showed up at the door and we shot my and Nikolai’s segment. I still had a colposcopy bag attached to my leg as we shit it. Then a few months later I was shooting another documentary, had some surgery complications, so here I go again, colposcopy bag time again. But… the show must go on. There’s a funny story in there, but that is for another time. Someone told me “those are acting credits”. I didn’t care, I was only concerned with wrestling. Then back in 2005 Nikolai and I were approached to be in a horror movie called “Terror In The Pharaohs Tomb”. My character was Captain Siodmak, based on the man who penned The Wolfman. So bring a Universal Monster fan, I jumped at it. Look it up, it’s unusual and a fun piece. Shot in B&W so as to edit in the acquired footage of Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and a cast of greats.

Then Evan Ginzburg approached Nikolai and I about meeting with Darren Aronofsky In NY to help him with a project called “The Wrestler”. We met with Evan, Aronofsky and another producer, Scott Franklin. Johnny Valiant joined us and we laid out what this world of wrestling was all about. More below in question 12.

I then started to do some other roles. I moved at that time to the west coast, but was still traveling back east and actually was a co-host for one season for a Baltimore cable show called “Top Of The Morning”. That was directed and produced by a dear friend,Loretto,yes with an O, Gubernatis. She and her husband,God rest his soul, Lou, helped to mold me and showed me so much about what went on behind the camera.

I am a natural, coming from pro wrestling and a good talker, I just needed to be refined, technique, etc.

Then my next quantum leap in acting was meeting Livia Zheng, pronounced (Chung). We became friends after meeting at a directors class at the University of Washington.

From there the movie called “Brush With Danger” came to be. The movie, my greatest role, as Nick Thompson, was a huge success. From there we continue to work together and hopefully will be doing more projects in the future.

What do you enjoy about acting and has anyone recognized you from your days in wrestling?

In acting, you become someone else, the character. You get to put on someone else’s shoes and walk in them. If you do it right, the acting, you absorb the person and portray that in your performance. Yes people do recognize me because it’s my pro wrestling background that gets me into roles. I never, ever did traditional theatre. Not that I was opposed to it, but my background, training ground was pro wrestling.

In my humble opinion, and I had an argument with an LA theatre guru about this, but pro wrestling IS live theatre. It may not involve Shakespeare, but we certainly play out our own version.

What has been your most challenging part so far? Has there been any roles that you struggled with? Which part has been your favorite to play?

My favorite role of course was as detective Nick Thompson, in “Brush With Danger”. I put some of me into it, as learned by studying the Russian great Stanislavsky.

All roles are challenging because of all the reading/memorization that is involved. I not only need to know my lines, but also the person that is in the scene with me. I gotta know not only what to say, but when to say it and make it flow naturally. It’s not hard acting, kids do it, they are the best actors when they are pretending.

It’s the additional technical aspects, the mechanics of it that is the challenge. Like hitting your marks without looking at the actual spot. Having to get from a table and run and be aware of the light or mic just inches from your head.

You appeared in “The Wrestler”,how much did they right about the wrestling world at that stage?

“The Wrestler” was a good portrayal of life after the limelight. I hope that it served as a warning to people in many aspects of sports/entertainment, that the future will be here before you know. One day you turn around and it’s like, shit, that was fast, now what?

There is a favorite line of mine in the movie “Saturday Night Fever”. Travolta’s character wants an advance from his boss who declines for the boys own good. The response was “fuck the future”. The reply: “no the future fucks you if you haven’t prepared for it”. Nuff said.

A lot of wrestlers have met tragic demises after they left the square circle,in your opinion,why does that happen?

I appeared in a documentary called “Legends Never Die”…..seems like a hundred years ago. That movie was showing how many deaths there were in pro wrestling, probably the highest death rate in any other sport. Why? Drugs, abuse, who knows. You gotta walk in those shoes. Pain, and it is prevalent in wrestling, can break you. This is your chosen way of eating, paying the rent, you don’t work, you don’t get paid. So you gotta find a way to get one foot in front of the other and keep it going.

Sometimes we over medicate and the results can be disastrous. It’s not the desired result, but things can go wrong quick. Then it’s too late.

Who is the best performer today in your opinion?

That’s short and easy, The Rock, you can’t get better then the BEST!

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch you film your new film……but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide,what are we doing?

Well grab that Cheetah and tell him we are going to the beach. It’s bath time. Then we can take a tour of the Boeing plant and the Space Flight Museum. We can view and drive through the breath taking mountains. Then we can grab some fresh crab and eat til we fall asleep to beautiful northwest air.

youtube

I like to thank Nikita for sharing his fantastic stories,as I told him,I could have easily asked him 40 more questions without breaking a sweat. But we will have to save those stories for the next round. And yes,there will be another interview with Nikita coming soon. I like to thank Steve Joiner for setting up this interview as well!!

Nikita has various ways in which you can keep up with him and his career. We recommend following Nikita on his various SM platforms:

Nikita’s IMDb page

For Nikita excellent book on wrestling,please go here.

You can follow Nikita on his Twitter page.

If you wish to surprise a wrestling fan,you can get a personal message sent by Nikita vis his Cameo page.

Thank you all for your continued support and readership. I am very grateful and am really grateful. If you are a wrestling fan…..feel free to drop a comment on who you love to watch,both past and present.

8 Questions with……………….actor/writer/manager Nikita Breznikov Its 2:09 am Welcome to "8 Questions with......." Imagine being a fan of a sport,band,soccer team for years and suddenly and quite unexpectedly you find yourself in the middle of the action,well if you are Nikita Breznikov,that is what happens when you go from a huge fan to becoming the manager of one of the grestest "heel" (bad guys) pro wrestlers in Nikolai Volkoff.

#8 Questions With #acting #Baltimore #cancer survivor #interview #manager #Nikita Breznikov #Nikolai Volkoff #police detective #Pro wrestling #sports #writer #WWE #WWWF

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placetobenation · 7 years

Link

Making the Case for Adrian Adonis

My first exposure to Adrian Adonis was near the end of his WWF run in ’86-87 and I can’t say he left much of an impression on me as a kid. Even as I and my generation of young wrestling fans went to our video rental stores to check out as much wrestling as we could on tape, there wasn’t much I can recall of Adrian Adonis on those tapes. The conventional wisdom on Adonis is that he was a great worker who was saddled with a crappy gimmick near the end of his career as punishment for getting out of shape. I had only recently started to rethink Adonis and what I have found on him is really quite good. So I am here today to not only make the case for my he belongs amongst your Top 100 Greatest WWE Wrestlers of All Time but I am also going to perhaps get you to rethink your position on the “Adorable” gimmick and his late run in WWF. Using the NJPW grading system and some choice cuts I have found while doing research, I hope to convince anyone who is on the fence that Adrian Adonis deserves a spot in your Top 100 List.

Nuance

Adrian Adonis’ run with WWF was longer than most people remember. As best I can find, he had a few matches on and off in ’81, including a match in Portland, Maine with him and Jesse Ventura facing Tony Garea and Rick Martel which I doubt made tape but would have loved to see. Adonis appears occasionally in WWF, splitting time with New Japan and AWA through ’82 and ’83 until settling in WWF, more or less, with Dick Murdoch in ’84. I wonder if Verne Gagne wanted a piece of his New Japan deal like he allegedly did for Hulk Hogan. Aside from the occasion tour in New Japan, he stays in WWF until just after WrestleMania III.

It appears Adrian Adonis did come in with Jesse Ventura in ’82 but it would seem that many of those matches didn’t make tape. As singles run go, he worked most of the top talent in the territory at the time and was pretty high on the card. There are matches with him against Bob Backlund, Pedro Morales, Tony Atlas, and Andre the Giant. Upon coming back with Murdoch in ’84, they almost immediately became World Tag Team Champions and had a decent run with the belts. Even after the team with Murdoch was over, Adonis continued to work the mid to upper mid card until given the “Adorable” gimmick at the end of ’85 going into ’86.

The much maligned “Adorable” Adrian Adonis run of 1986 is mostly remembered for the Piper feud. But in all actuality, this may have been the highest he was working on the card since the ’82 run with Backlund and Pedro. Adonis had a house show feud in the Main Event with Hogan. He teamed with Savage on occasion in some pretty big matches. He was working Tito Santana, Junkyard Dog, and other top babyfaces throughout the year. The common perception is that this was the nadir of his career. In terms of position on the card and overness as a heel, it may have actually been his peak.

Here is one of the Hogan matches I could find and some of the promos.

I couldn’t find the segment itself clipped but the Flower Shop starts at 27:55. The time frame lines up with some of the Hogan vs Adonis house show matches during that summer.

Point being, as to the question of longevity, he had close to a five-year run with the company. For most of that time he was working against some of the top faces in a pretty good position or he was a Tag Team Champion. Also remarkable is that for someone who physical condition deuterated before our very eyes, it doesn’t look like he was sidelined with injuries through his entire run with the company. You would think that carrying as much extra weight as he was, he would have blown out a knee at the very least, especially when you consider how he bumped and that he liked to work a spot where he would get caught going up to the top rope.

For flexibility, you may deduct some points because he worked heel the whole time. He was quite over as a heel and I don’t think the fans of the era felt the need to cheer for Adonis, Adorable or Golden Boy. As for who he could work with, he worked with guys who had many different styles and could make their offense look like a million dollars just by how be bumped and sold.

I think he even got a pretty decent match out of Swede Hanson in ’85.

Intangibles are always hard to measure. I will say that from everything I have watched, the crowd loved to hate him. Sometimes that said more about the crowd than it did about Adrian, such as is the case with this Tony Atlas match in Philadelphia right after the change in character. Dick Graham and the Philadelphia faithful say some things about The Adorable One that wouldn’t be allowed in polite company in the current year.

Here is an example of how he could get the crowd turned against him. In this Pedro Morales Intercontinental Title Match, to start to match the crowd doesn’t really seem to give a crap about either guy. Even Kal Rudman goes off on a tangent, humorously mentioning John Facenda doing local radio news when he was a child. John Facenda, for those who don’t know, was the classic announcer for NFL Films highlight packages back in the day. Just think “Oakland Raiders” or “Green Bay Packers” in a deep voice and the image is coming to mind. I hope he had the same bravado when commenting on traffic accidents. No matter. In this match, Adonis gets the crowd into the match and has Cal Rudman besides himself by the end. Of course, the finish doesn’t do the rest of the match justice.

Jump Up Factor

Adrian Adonis’ undisputed biggest moment was working Piper’s “Retirement” match at WrestleMania III. This was what most fans remember when they remember Adrian Adonis. I find no reason to link to the match because I am sure everyone has seen it and it’s not hard to find. I will link to what I feel is a very superior match that they had in Toronto before WrestleMania III. With how much the referee lets go, it’s basically a Hardcore Match that somehow ends in a DQ. What exactly got Adonis disqualified is beyond me but it is worth a watch if you feel the Mania match was underwhelming. I couldn’t find the match isolated but this looks like a pretty good card that could go far in terms of research on other wrestlers. It starts at 33:43.

What I did not know is that the change in character to “Adorable” Adrian took place on Piper’s Pit at the beginning of ’86. I also didn’t know until now that he gave his old leather jacket to Piper. At a certain point, I want to say ’89, Piper started wearing a leather jacket basically for the rest of his life. Was this some sort of tribute to Adrian? A bit farfetched but Piper has always spoke glowingly of Adrian in shoot interviews. His omnipresent leather jacket could be interpreted as a tribute to Adrian and this moment.

Other big moments would include his tag title run with Dick Murdoch and his championship matches with Backlund and Pedro. I couldn’t isolate a storyline to the Murdoch/Adonis title run aside from that they were bruisers who held the tag titles and squared off with other bruisers like The Wild Samoans. Even the Backlund Matches didn’t seem to have a storyline aside from Backlund is the Champ and Adonis is willing to get into bloody brawls with Backlund to become the Champ. That being said, it probably is Adonis’ best match that I have seen.

I rather liked this match that Adrian Adonis has with Lanny Poffo.

I don’t know if this is a peak moment but it was quite remarkable. The ring falls apart in this match and the participants, including Adonis, have to figure out what they are going to do in this match with a broken ring. For as memorable as the Big Show fake ring breaks supposedly are, I think this is noteworthy.

There is a lot of good stuff in the North/South Connection title run. This match against Backlund and B. Brian Blair is probably one of my favorites. I do think it is sad that the crowd seems to have turned on Backlund but maybe it’s just my imagination.

One final match is from The Wrestling Classic Tournament against Dynamite Kid. The Corporal Kirchner match against Adonis is also on this clip if you feel like watching it. The ending of the Dynamite Kid match is a bit abrupt but I feel like Adonis did a good job keeping up with Dynamite Kid in the beginning and end of the match. It starts at 53:37.

Promo and Character Work

Adrian Adonis from ’82 to ’86 had a character that can best be described as a New York thug. He looked like the kind of guy who would snatch an old ladies purse or beat up a tourist in Time Square around this period of time. While in the early days, there wasn’t a ton of opportunities to show nuance in his character, given the nature of the product ’82, Tuesday Night Titans changed all of that. Mean Gene takes a tour of New York’s seedy side with Adonis and Murdoch. Adonis seems to be having fun with the segment and it helped add a little color to the character of the World Tag Team Champions. They also take a visit to Dick Murdoch’s ranch which is also fun.

The elephant in the room in terms of character work is the change from New York thug to Adorable Adrian. For starters, it was a change in character. Looking like someone who had just been arrested on Barney Miller had run its course. By 1986, Vince was looking for more colorful characters. At this period of time characters like Outback Jack and The Missing Link started showing up. “Adorable” Adrian Adonis was a pivot in direction that lead to the cartoon wrestling characters you would see later in the 80’s. Was Vince McMahon punishing Adrian for putting on too much weight? Maybe. But he did give Adonis a pretty big push for someone he was supposedly punishing. Of course, Vince’s own commentary in this Saturday Night’s Main Event Match with Paul Orndoff is pretty revealing.

Was the character offensive? I can’t tell you what you find offensive or not. Having watched the footage, I don’t find the character offensive so much as I find the reaction to the character offensive. Vince McMahon’s previous mentioned commentary along with clips I have linked to from Dick Graham, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Gorilla Monsoon, the announce team was not very tolerant of Adrian’s change in character. Jesse Ventura didn’t seem to have much to say about the gimmick aside from referencing their past as a tag team. From what I can gather, the Adorable character was pretty much a rip off of Gorgeous George. The bows, the preening, the ribbons, the mannerisms, all of it was lifted from Gorgeous George years prior. The makeup was probably a take on Boy George or any number of androgynous males who were on MTV at the time. In Adrian’s promos, the meat and potatoes of the character is that he was at a place where he felt comfortable to be himself, dress how he wants to dress, act how he wants to act, and he didn’t care what other people thought of that. It’s kind of a brave character when you look at the context of what Adrian is saying about himself and this change in directions for him. Of course, I would stop just short of calling it empowering considering how Vince, Dick Graham, and the Philly crowd react to this heel character.

In closing, here is some clips of The Flower Shop vs Piper’s Pit feud. It is some great character work all around from Piper, Adonis, Bob Orton, and Jimmy Hart. Even Don Muraco gets in on the act, although I am not sure he knew where he was. If I didn’t know any better, I would say this character was created specifically for a Skirt vs Kilt feud with Roddy Piper.

Workrate

I don’t think Adrian Adonis’ workrate can be called into question. The way he bumped, sold, and all around worked is spectacular. He moved so smooth for a guy his size. The matches I have linked to so far I believe tell the story. From the struggle in the Backlund title match, to keeping up with Dynamite Kid, to bouncing around for everyone and making their offense look like a million bucks. If I have any criticism, it’s that his offense is a bit lacking. His punches were really good. He seemed to like arm psychology in many of his matches and was quite good at it. As for offense, he has elbows, a sick looking DDT, the bulldog, and the sleeper. Modern audience may watch these matches, and the many more that are out there, and think that he really wasn’t much of a moves guy. I think that kind of misses the point of what wrestling was back then. I doubt you will have a video labeled Top 55 Moves of Adrian Adonis but that doesn’t really negate that he was an amazing worker with a top notch workrate.

Conclusion

There is the case for Adrian Adonis. The evidence this there to be viewed. There should be no doubt that he was an excellent worker. As for the Adorable gimmick, whatever you think about it, much like Dusty Rhodes and the Polka dots, Adrian Adonis made it work and got it over. Depending on personal preference, I believe you could rank him as high as the 60’s. Regardless of where you come down, I hope that the case I have laid out will convince some of you sitting on the fence that Adrian Adonis has a spot on your list.

– Michael DeDamos

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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