 - from Dr. Keith Lipinski: Drugs and sex on 'American Gladiators'
- from Jeff Sheridan: Hulk/American Gladiators article in the 1/4 NY Metro
- Hulk/American Gladiators article in the 1/6 NY Post
Since www.nypost.com hasn't shown the link yet, maybe tomorrow? Anyhow
it's
on page 3 in their "NYP TV WEEK" section, here's what it says:
"NAKED GLADIATOR
Porn model among the jocks reviving athletic showcase
by Paige Albiniak
ON CRUSH, on Militia, on Hellga & Venom! On Stealth, on Fury, on Titan
&
Justice! Run up the
Pyramid, get through the Gauntlet, jostle in the Joust! Do whatever it
is
you muscle-bound, scantily-clad creatures do.
In these script-starved times, NBC is bringing back "American
Gladiators," a
syndicated cult classic that
aired from 1989 to 1996 & was distributed by MGM.
The show is off to a scandalous start. Like many a downmarket reality
series, the participents on
"American Gladiators" have plenty of baggage.
Alex Castro, whose gladiator name is Militia, has worked as a model
under
the name Elian Cortez for
adult Web site, Colt Studios. There, the bodybuilder & his buns of
steel
were prominently featured in
the 2003 "Butt Beautiful" calendar & on decks of nude playing cards,
among
other products. He's also currently featured, under his own name, on
MalePerfection.net, cavorting in an explicit video on
white bed sheets.
Castro's gay profile is apparently not going to affect the broadcast,
according to a industry sources.
Phone calls to Castro's representative were not returned.
He isn't the only 1 haunted by scandal on the show. Co-host Hulk
Hogan's
son, Nick Bollea [Nick bears Hogan's real last name], was arrested &
charged
with reckless driving with serious bodily injury
after crashing during a drag race against a friend, Danny Jacobs.
Bollea's
passenger, 22-year-old John
Graziano, suffered severe brain damage, & Hogan is accused of
purchasing
alcohol for his underage son. Hogan's wife, Linda, has since filed for
divorce.
When Hogan tried to discuss the incident with reporters on a December
conference call, a NBC
publicist forbade any personal questions.
But Hogan, 54, is free to discuss the show. "American Gladiators" pits
12
hard-bodied "gladiators"
against amateur athletes in all sorts of insane feats of physical
prowess.
Hogan will share hosting duties with Lalia Ali, the undefeated Super
Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World & a popular contestant on
"Dancing
With The Stars." The feats include the Joust, in
which 2 fighters perched on peaks 10-feet high & battle it out until 1
falls
into the water below. In
the Gauntlet, 1 man or woman must run 90-feet through a human chain of
Gladiators & crash
through a foam wall at the end. Contenders must also scale the Pyramid
while
facing 2 Gladiators.
The Eliminator is a timed obstacle course in which contenders dive off
a
high platform & swim under a flaming surface, among other tasks. The
winner
of the Eliminator also wins the competition &
$100,000.
While both Hogan & Lalia Ali have had athletic careers, neither felt
obligated to try their hands at the
"Gladiator" contests.
"I actually tried the joust, but I was just playing around with 1 of
the
guys that came to the show for an interview, so it was nothing
serious,"
says Ali, 30.
"But it was more challenging than I thought it would be. And that is
the 1
event that I thought that I would be good at because it is kind of like
fighting but there's a whole lot more involved there
with the balance you need & you got on this head-gear & this giant
stick."
"When nobody was around before the first rehearsal day, I was in there
with
a couple of the grips &
the electricians when they were just finishing up the big set," says
Hogan.
"I made an attempt to
climb to the top of the pyramid with my fake knee & my fake hip. And I
did
get to the top, but I kind of crawled up slowly. And once I got to the
top,
I was sweating like a dog."
Ali says she & Hogan both bring their own brands of candor to their
hosting
duties.
"I pretty much just tell it like it is," she says. "I've had the
audience
boo me a couple times. There
was 1 competitor, where anything that had to do with upper body
strength she
just didn't do well
on. At 1 point I told her, 'You know what? You need to just go do some
push-ups or some pull-ups.' And the audience booed me. And I said okay,
maybe I shouldn't have said that.
"But I just say what I feel at that time in the moment. I never know
what
I'm going to say."
:: GO BACK TO THE HOME
PAGE
:: DISCUSS THIS POST
ON THE FORUMS!
:: BUY WRESTLING DVD'S
THROUGH OUR STORE!
CLASSIC WRESTLING PPV'S!
INDEPENDENT WRESTLING!
BEST OF COMPILATIONS!
THE DIVAS/WOMEN OF WRESTLING LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN!
GET IT ALL ON DVD IN THE EPICENTER EMPORIUM!
Home |
News |
Editorials |
Interviews |
Forums |
Chat Room |
Store |
Divas |
PPV Results |
TV Results |
Shows |
Links
| Metal Epicenter |
Contact Us/Staff |
