It’s very easy to look at a personality like the Iron Sheik and make some flash judgments about him. Like many wrestlers from the seventies and eighties,  he wasn’t just a character to the audience. The Iron Sheik was everything he claimed to be. Going head to head with Hulk Hogan, the Iron Sheik helped usher in the era of Hulkamania. He would turn one of America’s heroes against it when he took the real life G.I. Joe, Sergeant Slaughter and made him an Iraqi sympathizer. But by being so hated, he lead a generation of wrestling fans through an emotional journey. But that is only half of his story.

The Sheik is a documentary that debuted last month at the Hot Docs International Film Festival in Toronto that helps fill in all the blanks and brings to light many things that most people who are even fans of the Sheik may not even be aware of. The one that stands out the most that you’ll see in the trailer below is that while he was America’s biggest foe in the ring, he was in fact living the American dream that he escaped Iran to fulfill. Created by Iranian-Canadian twins Page and Jian Magen and joined by commentary from the likes of the Rock, Jim Ross, Jake Roberts, Mick Foley and over 25 celebrities, the Sheik’s story unfolds for audiences as they see there is more to this man than four letter word filled Twitter rants and spitting on the USA.

While you might be able to figure out a logical connection between former WWE stars John Morrison and Chavo Guerrero aligning with Rampage Jackson, things get a little more interesting when you consider the other half of this muscled menagerie is Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica and the Winner Twins. But it actually makes sense. One thing people don’t realize is that while the brutish brawlers, the prince of parkour and the youngest of the Guerrero are all former world champions, they all also have a weakness for sci-fi.

It only makes sense that they’d make their announcement at WonderCon, the sister con to the epic Comic Con International, later today. While we do know that it will go down in Anaheim, CA at 7:30 in Room 300DE, that’s where our information runs out. So far, Morrison, Rampage, Chavo and Hatch have all kept tight lipped about any further details.

Journeyman. Ham-n-egger. Enhancement talent. Call them what you will but a jobber is an essential part of the world of professional wrestling. Though not the most glamorous role, the jobber is required for growth in the industry. Especially during the debut or rebuilding stage in a wrestler’s career, they need to be placed in matches against someone who can make them look good. Many times, these enhancement talent are actually more talented individuals than the person they are making look better in the match. It’s one thing to throw someone around but it is a whole different level of talent to make that person throwing you around look like a more impressive specimen than they really are. For a time, there would be a number of matches on each televised wrestling program that involved jobbers

The idea for this editorial came shortly after catching up on Raw on my DVR. Despite being in the era where Raw has turned from a two-hour, weekly Lifetime movie for men into a three-hour Greek epic with Tout™ ads I’ve come to a realization: It’s cool to watch pro wrestling again.

No matter what “era” of wrestling you’re a fan of, there are a few recognizable details that pro wrestling needs to push it from relative obscurity to pop culture significance: fresh faces, exciting action, old favorites, and a household name to tie it all together. And only recently have the stars aligned to provide all four to the WWE Universe.

Those of us old enough to remember the Hulkamania era sometimes talk about the intervening years as if it were the Great War. And in some respects, it was. Once Vince McMahon’s Hulkamania bubble burst, it was on to the lean years of the New Generation. Stricter federal regulations and drug testing meant that lean was taken in the literal sense. The biggest stars of that era were either smaller, more technical workers (Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels) or naturally big stars (The Undertaker, Diesel).

As you may have noticed over the past few days we have posted some wrestling interviews from San Diego Comic-Con. This is our final “lost interview” from SDCC. Hope you enjoy!

Most people would know Shad best from his time at WWE as one half of the tag team Cryme Tyme. But this year, Shad wasn’t at Comic Con to promote wrestling. He was there to promote a graphic novel he has been working on called Assassin and Son. He also talks about how it has been a challenge for him breaking into the world of comics coming from a wrestling background. More can be found about Shad’s work on Assassin and Son at his website.

Check out the full interview with Shad from SDCC after the jump.

As you may have noticed over the past few days we have posted up some interviews from San Diego Comic-Con. We apologize for the delay but we had some video and editing issues that we had to work through and now they’re ready. Hope you enjoy!

Originally starting out in the WWE Diva Search, Layla worked her way through a stint as a member of Extreme Expose on ECW all the way to the Diva Championship. In the process, she became a part of one of the strongest pairings of WWE Divas in recent memory as one half of LayCool with Michelle McCool. This year, Layla made her Comic-Con debut at the Mattel booth. In our interview, Layla speaks to us about her progress with WWE in her six-year run with the company as well as her thoughts on Comic-Con being the pop culture event of the year. And even though we said we won’t hold her to it, we asked her who she cosplay as next year if she comes back to Comic Con next year.

Check out the full interview with Layla from SDCC after the break.

As you noticed yesterday, we will have some interviews with various WWE superstars coming out over the next few weeks from the last San Diego Comic-Con. Hope you enjoy them.

In our interview with Daniel Bryan, he talks about his first Comic-Con experience, shows how busy life on the road can be when he discusses finding out about his own action figures from the fans at the show and the excitement of the WWE being his first action figure being made. Daniel even gives us some insight in to just how popular his simple “Yes, Yes, Yes” catchphrase has gotten.

Check out the full interview with Daniel Bryan from SDCC below and stay tuned for more from The Flickcast.

Hey everyone, we have a few videos coming up over the next few days headed back to San Diego Comic Con with some interviews of various WWE Superstars. We apologize for the delay but we had some video and editing issues that we had to work through on them. Hope you enjoy!

One of the biggest character reinventions of the past year came from Brodus Clay. Originally just a monster who came to the aid of Alberto Del Rio during Del Rio’s war with Edge in 2012, Clay returned to the WWE programming in January of this year as the Funkasaurus Brodus Clay. Wearing a track suit and matching fedora, Brodus danced his way to the ring alongside his two Funkadactyls. Brodus talked to the Flickcast about being a long time comic fan. He also talked about the two sides of himself that come out in the ring during competition.

Check out the full interview with the Funkasaurus Brodus Clay from SDCC below and stay tuned for more from the Flickcast.

Hey everyone, we have some videos coming up over the next few days that take us back to San Diego Comic-Con for interviews with various WWE Superstars. We apologize for the delay but we had some editing issues that we had to work through. Hope you enjoy!

In addition to movies and comics, action figures have a huge presence at Comic-Con. It is only fitting that WWE would choose to send the Internet Champion Zack Ryder to Comic Con to represent the company at the Mattel booth. On Zack Ryder’s now famous YouTube show as well as his interview on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast, it has become public knowledge that Ryder is an action figure fanatic.

We got to talk to Ryder about his love of figures as well as his hopes for WrestleMania 29, set in his own backyard in New Jersey. Zack even gives us some insight into his thoughts on the Jersey Shore.

Check out the full interview with Long Island Iced Z Zack Ryder from SDCC below and stay tuned for more from The Flickcast.

As rough as the world of professional wrestling may be at times, there is a lighter side to it. It’s not all steel chairs, piledrivers and stitches. This is where the WWE Divas come in. Here you have a group of amazingly beautiful and athletic women who put their bodies on the line and take risks the same ways that their male counterparts do. One of the great examples of a woman building herself into that role is the WWE’s Kelly Kelly.

Five years ago at the age of 19, Kelly Kelly debuted on ECW where she danced as an exhibitionist. And then she continued dancing as a part of Extreme Expose. Eventually, stories developed for Kelly that allowed her to begin an in ring career that didn’t involve dancing. In our interview with Kelly at Comic Con, she talks to us about the change in her career and achieving something that many quickly discounted as even being a possibility for her, holding a championship in the WWE.

Kelly also talks about her first Comic Con experience, gives a sneak peek behind the scenes of being a WWE Diva and her long road to the top. Kelly has also had success outside the ring this year as she was named to the Maxim Top 100 too, the only WWE Diva to receive that honor while still at the company.

Take a look below to check out our full interview with Kelly Kelly and stick to the Flickcast for more still coming to you from this year’s Comic Con. The Con may be over, but our coverage keeps on coming!

WWE had an eventful first day at this year’s Comic-Con International. During their panel, WWE Champion CM Punk made a surprise appearance during the Mattel panel where the new head of the WWE, whom CM Punk referred to as a doofus during his already infamous shoot promo on Vince McMahon four weeks ago on Raw, was discussing the latest WWE toy line.

On the show floor, fans were treated to WWE Hall of Famer and legend, the Hitman Bret Hart and San Diego’s own Rey Mysterio doing an autograph signing at the Mattel booth. It has been a busy past week for Rey as on Monday night he defeated two men in order to advance in a championship tournament for the WWE Championship which Vince McMahon said he did not recognize CM Punk as champion as he was no longer a part of the company.

This upcoming Monday, the 619’s own biggest little man plans to take on the Real World alumni turned professional wrestler, the Miz. Both Rey and Miz have held a number of titles in WWE, including world championships, so the match looks to be something fans can really get behind on Monday night.

During our interview, Rey also mentions to us that this is actually his first ever Comic Con despite being a San Diego resident and how he has brought his kids to the show with him.

Take a look below at our interview with WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio below and stick to the Flickcast for more from the floor of San Diego Comic Con where way just might get a word tomorrow with WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly.

Yesterday in our San Diego Comic-Con Preview, we took a peek at Z-Girl and the 4 Tigers. Today we take a look at the Headlocked Chronicles. From Michael Kingston, Headlocked is the first ever comic that takes a realistic look at the world of professional wrestling. Unlike the WWE’s sports entertainment branded comics that place their superstars in the role of more traditional comic book super heroes, Headlock takes a peek behind the curtain at the inner workings of the wrestling industry.

In the first Headlocked miniseries, the Tryout, which featured covers from WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “the King” Lawler, Kingston told the tale of Mike Hartmann, a college theater major who falls in love with the world of wrestling and sets out on his own journey to become a part of it. Headlocked shows that the wrestling world is far from being all glitz and glamour as Mike goes through a pain filled try out where one of the old guard tries to weed out those he doesn’t feel deserves to be a part of the business.

Headlocked is an intriguing take on an original concept revolving around a world not many people fully understand. The pages of Headlocked are greatly reminiscent of some of my own experiences in an industry that is as drama filled behind the scenes as it is on TV. It is a great representation of the world of Wrestling.

At Comic-Con, Headlocked will be releasing a special $2 preview issue, the Headlocked Chronicles, which reprints one of Headlock’s original 5 page stories as well as a brand new 8 page tale and a ton of new artwork and sketches. Headlocked can be found at booth 1901.