title: United States of Europe

text: Volt Europa describes itself a pan-European, progressive movement that stands for a new and inclusive way of doing politics and that wants to bring change for European citizens. The party claims that a new pan-European approach is needed to overcome current and future challenges, such as – among others – climate change, economic inequality, migration, international conflict, terrorism, and the impact of the technological revolution on jobs. Volt says that national parties are powerless in front of these challenges, because they go beyond national borders and need to be tackled by Europeans, as one people. As a transnational party, it believes it can help the European people unite, create a shared vision and understanding, exchange good practices across the continent, and come up with working policies. Volt Europa is the first European federalist movement to have elected members in two national parliaments, namely in the Netherlands and Bulgaria as well as having elected one MEP from Germany.


title: United States of Europe

text: Following the negative referendums about the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, the former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt released in November 2005 his book, written in Dutch, "Verenigde Staten van Europa" ("United States of Europe") in which he claims – based on the results of a Eurobarometer questionnaire – that the average European citizen wants more Europe. He thinks a federal Europe should be created between those states that wish to have a federal Europe (as a form of enhanced cooperation). In other words, a core federal Europe would exist within the current EU. He also states that these core states should federalise the following five policy areas: a European social-economic policy, technology cooperation, a common justice and security policy, a common diplomacy and a European army. Following the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon (December 2009) by all member states of the EU, the outline of a common diplomatic service, known as the External Action Service of the European Union (EEAS), was set in place. On 20 February 2009, the European Parliament also voted in favour of the creation of Synchronised Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a forming a true European military force.


title: United States of Europe

text: Verhofstadt's book was awarded the first Europe Book Prize, which is organised by the association Esprit d'Europe and supported by former President of the European Commission Jacques Delors. The prize money was €20,000. The prize was declared at the European Parliament in Brussels on 5 December 2007. Swedish crime fiction writer Henning Mankell was the president of the jury of European journalists for choosing the first recipient.


title: United States of Europe

text: While receiving the reward, Verhofstadt said: "When I wrote this book, I in fact meant it as a provocation against all those who didn't want the European Constitution. Fortunately, in the end a solution was found with the treaty, that was approved".


title: United States of Europe

text: In 2012, Viviane Reding, the Luxembourgish Vice-president of the European Commission called in a speech in Passau Germany and in a series of articles and interviews for the establishment of the United States of Europe as a way to strengthen the unity of Europe.


title: United States of Europe

text: The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in 2014 that under his leadership Italy would use its six-month-long presidency of the European Union to push for the establishment of a United States of Europe.


title: United States of Europe

text: In December 2017, Martin Schulz, who was then the new leader of the German Social Democratic Party, called for a new constitutional treaty for a "United States of Europe". He proposed that this constitution should be written by "a convention that includes civil society and the people" and that any state that declined to accept this proposed constitution should have to leave the bloc. The Guardian's view was that his proposal was "likely to be met with some resistance from Angela Merkel and other EU leaders". On that day he also stated that he would like to see a "United States of Europe" by 2025.


title: United States of Europe

text: In 1992, Dutch businessman Freddy Heineken, after consulting with historians of the University of Leiden, Henk Wesseling and Willem van den Doel published a brochure "United States of Europe, Eurotopia?". In his work he put forward the idea of creating the United States of Europe as a confederation of 75 states that would be formed according to an ethnic and linguistic principle with a population of 5 to 10 million people.


title: United States of Europe

text: Some people, such as T.R. Reid, Andrew Reding and Mark Leonard, have argued that the power of a hypothetical United States of Europe could potentially rival that of the United States of America in the twenty-first century. Leonard cites several factors: Europe's large population, the scale of the combined Europe's economy, Europe's low inflation rates, Europe's central geographic location in the world, and certain European countries' relatively highly developed social organisation and quality of life (when measured in terms such as hours worked per week and income distribution). Some experts claim that Europe has developed a sphere of influence called the "Eurosphere".


title: United States of Europe

text: Assumptions about a potential full or near superpower status of a perceived Supra-national Euro state are hypothetical in nature and on the other hand contrary notions and arguments exist across a wide spectrum among analysts, experts and pundits.


title: United States of Europe

text: Some people think that the European Union is unlikely to evolve into a unified federal superstate, due to political opposition of some members. Norwegian foreign policy scholar and commentator Asle Toje has argued that the power and reach of the European Union more closely resembles a small power. In his book "The EU As a Small Power", he argues that the EU is a response to and function of Europe's unique historical experience in that the EU contains the remnants of not one but five past European orders. Although the 1990s and early 2000s have shown that there is policy space for greater EU engagement in European security, the EU has been unable to meet these expectations.


title: United States of Europe

text: Asle Toje expresses particular concerns over the EU's security and defence dimension Common Security and Defence Policy, where attempts at pooling resources and forming a political consensus have failed to generate the results expected. These trends, combined with shifts in global power patterns, are seen to have been accompanied by a shift in EU strategic thinking whereby great power ambitions have been scaled down and replaced by a tendency towards hedging "vis-à-vis" the great powers. The author uses the case of the EUFOR intervention in Darfur and Chad to illustrate that the EU's effectiveness is hampered by a consensus–expectations gap, owing primarily to the lack of an effective decision-making mechanism. In his view, the sum of these developments is that the EU – in the current situation – will not be a great power and is taking the place of a small power in the emerging multi-polar international order.


title: United States of Europe

text: According to Eurobarometer (2013), 69% of citizens of the EU were in favour of direct elections of the President of the European Commission and 46% support the creation of a united EU army.


title: United States of Europe

text: Two thirds of respondents think that the EU (instead of a national government alone) should make decisions on foreign policy and more than half of respondents think that the EU should also make decisions on defense.


title: United States of Europe

text: 44% of respondents support the future development of the European Union as a federation of nation states, 35% are opposed. The Nordic countries were the most negative towards a united Europe in this study, as 73% of the Nordics opposed the idea. A large majority of the people for whom the EU conjures up a positive image support the further development of the EU into a federation of nation states (56% versus 27%).


title: United States of Europe

text: In "The Old Earth", the third volume (1911) of Jerzy Żuławski's "The Lunar Trilogy", the USE is a communist state.


title: United States of Europe

text: In the fictional universe of Eric Flint's best selling alternate history "1632" series, a United States of Europe is formed out of the Confederation of Principalities of Europe, which was composed of several German political units of the 1630s.


title: United States of Europe

text: Science fiction has made particular use of the idea: "Incompetence", a dystopian novel by "Red Dwarf" creator Rob Grant, is a murder mystery political thriller set in a federated Europe of the near future, where stupidity is a constitutionally protected right. References to a European Alliance or European Hegemony have also existed in episodes of "" (1987–1994). In the "Spy High" series of books for young adults, written by A. J. Butcher and set around the 2060s, a united Europe exists in the form of "Europa", and Andrew Roberts's 1995 book "The Aachen Memorandum" details a United States of Europe formed from a fraudulent referendum entitled the Aachen Referendum.


title: United States of Europe

text: Since the 2000s a number of computer strategy games set in the future have presented a unified European faction alongside other established military powers such as the United States and Russia. These include "Euro Force" (a 2006 expansion pack to "Battlefield 2") and "Battlefield 2142" (also released in 2006, with a 2007 expansion pack). In "Battlefield 2142" a united Europe is shown as one of the two great superpowers on Earth, the other being Asia, despite being mostly frozen in a new ice age. The disaster theme continues with "Tom Clancy's EndWar" (2009), in which a nuclear war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, destroying the Middle Eastern oil supply, prompts the EU to integrate further as the "European Federation" in 2018. One game not to make bold claims of full integration is "Shattered Union" (2005), set in a future civil war in the United States, with the EU portrayed as a peacekeeping force. The video game series "Wipeout" instead makes a clear federal reference without a military element: one of the core teams that has appeared in every game is FEISAR. This acronym stands for Federal European Industrial Science and Research. In the video game series "Mass Effect" set in the 22nd century, the European Union is a sovereign state.


title: United States of Europe

text: In the backstory of the "Fallout" series, several European nations joined after the end of the Second World War, becoming known as the European Commonwealth. Heavily dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, the Commonwealth began a military invasion of the region in April 2052 once oil supplies began to run dry. This marked the beginning of the Resource Wars. After the oil dried up completely in 2060 and both sides were left in ruins, the Commonwealth collapsed into civil war as member states fought over whatever resources remained. It is not specified whether the European Commonwealth is a single federated nation or just an economic bloc similar to the EU.


title: United States of Europe

text: In the anime series "Code Geass," the EU (short for Euro Universe or Europia United), also known as the United Republic of Europia, is one of the three superpowers that dominate the Earth militarily, politically, culturally and economically. The political worldbuilding of the series partially resembles that of George Orwell's "Nineteen-Eighty-Four", with three superstates in roughly the same geographic positions controlling the world. Gundam 00 anime series featured the Advanced European Union (AEU) as one of the major power blocs while in Gundam SEED the Eurasian Union includes both European Union and post-soviet territories.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo (born 11 March 1976), better known by his stage name Black Coffee, is a South African DJ, record producer and songwriter. Coffee established his own record label Soulistic Music, released debut self-titled album "Black Coffee" (2005), which incorporated elements of R&B and jazz.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: His career began around 1994 and became prominent after participating in the 2004 Red Bull Music Academy, since then he has released nine studio albums, as well as a live DVD.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Throughout his musical career his accolades include: 8 SAMA, 4 DJ Awards, 2 Metro FM Awards, 1 Grammy award.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo was born on 11 March 1976 in Umlazi, South Africa. He later moved to Umtata, the town 29 km away from the home of Nelson Mandela Qunu village, staying at the Ngangelizwe township.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: On the 11th of February 1990, whilst celebrating the release of Nelson Mandela, he was involved in a taxi accident that left him with a brachial plexus injury resulting in him losing the use of his left arm.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: He majored in Jazz Studies at Technikon Natal, now known as the Durban University of Technology, before working as a backup singer for Madala Kunene together with then schoolmates: Mnqobi Mdabe (Shota) and Thandukwazi Sikhosana (Demor). Maphumulo, Shota and Demor later formed an Afro-pop trio called SHANA (Simply Hot and Naturally African) which was signed to Melt 2000, then headed by Robert Trunz.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: He was chosen as one of two South African participants in the Red Bull Music Academy in 2003, jump-starting him into the South African dance music scene. His first big break was when his song 'Happiness' was featured on the 'DJs at Work' album.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2005, Maphumulo launched his career with a remix of Hugh Masekela's 1972 hit Stimela. Later that year he released his self-titled debut album, and created his record company Soulistic Music. The album sampled songs of notable South African artists like Thandiswa Mazwai, Hugh Masekela and featured Busi Mhlongo, among others. He was well received in the country and was quickly lauded as a "rising star." His album, 'Black Coffee', was created using very basic music-making software. Maphumulo himself stated,


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: By Mid-2007, Black Coffee had become recognized in the South African DJ scene with tribal, vocal-laced beats. In the same year he released his second studio album titled "Have Another One", which featured "Wathula Nje," a remix of Victor Ntoni's 2004 jazz ballad "Thetha". "Wathula Nje" was later released in Europe together with "Even Though" featuring Bantu Soul through the European label Realtone Records on vinyl and on digital. The twelve-track album featured the likes of Siphokazi, Busi Mhlongo, and Kwaito sensation L'vovo. It also debuted a then 17-year-old high school producer from Eshowe Kwa Zulu Natal, Culoe De Song, who became the second artist to be signed under Soulistic Music. Maphumulo discovered and collaborated with Culoe De Song on an afro-electronic dub titled 100 Zulu warriors.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: During this period Black Coffee performed at the Red Bull Music Academy Lounge at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, alongside recognized DJs such as Little Louie Vega, Alix Alvarez, Frank Roger, Charles Webster, DJ Spinna and Osunlade.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2009, Maphumulo released his third album, "Home Brewed", featuring Ringo Madlingozi, Zonke, Hugh Masekela, Zakes Bantwini and others.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Between 2009 and 2010, new releases from Culoe de Song, Tumelo and Zakes Bantwini achieved gold and platinum sales.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2010, he tried to make it to Guinness Book of World Records when he performed for 60 hours non-stop at Maponya Mall, Soweto. He also won two awards in the categories of Best Urban Dance Album and Best Male Artist at the 2010 South African Music Awards.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2011, "Africa Rising" was launched at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It included a live band and 24-piece orchestra in front of an audience of about 8,000 people and was filmed for the "Africa Rising" DVD. That year saw four other releases including Culoe de Song's "Elevation", Sai & Ribatones "Here and Now," Boddhi Satva's "Invocation" and the label's "Soulistic Music Cuts."


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2012, the "Africa Rising" DVD and triple-CD sold double platinum in a space of a month. Maphumulo featured different artists on the album, such as Bucie and soulful musician Toshi Tikolo on the song "Buya."


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2013, he performed internationally at locations such as Southport Weekender, Panoroma Bar, Circoloco, Boiler Room. He also participated in music conferences like ADE and RBMA in Johannesburg. That same year, he was involved in notable collaborations with musical group Mi Casa and house duo Black Motion. He also became one of the key speakers on his friend Vusi Thembekwayo's tour. In South Africa, he was featured in November 2013 in the Destiny Man edition of Destiny.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: He began his first world tour in January 2015 at Circoloco, Mexico and it ended in August 2015 at Circoloco at DC-10. That same year, he released his fifth album, "Pieces of Me".


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: "Pieces of Me" was released in the second week of September and which was certified platinum a month after release by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA). It received criticism for its cover and title bearing a similarity to that of the 2011 album "Pieces of Me" by US singer Ledisi. Musically, the album was widely positively received, with some music critics saying that it was among the best music albums of the year. It went platinum in South Africa in October. On this album, he collaborated with Azola, Portia Monique, Ribatone, Nakhane Toure, Mondli Ngcobo, Kensy, NaakMusiq & Lungi Naidoo.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2016, he performed at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Ultra Music Festival. At the end of the year, he was ranked 91st on Resident Advisor's top 100 DJs list.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2017, he contributed to the beat of the song "Get It Together" on Drake's album "More Life", which was released in March 2017.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2018, he released a single where he collaborated with David Guetta that was titled "Drive" featuring Delilah Montagu. It was featured on Guetta's album "7". At the end of that year, he released a seven-track EP titled "Music Is King". The EP features Msaki, Samthing Soweto, Mondli Ngcobo, Karyendasoul, and Zhao. "Music Is King" was nominated for Best Dance Album, Album of the Year and won Best Male Artist of the Year at 25th South African Music Awards. In December 2019, he embarked on Music Is King Concert to promote his EP, performed at Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg on 14 and Kings Park Outer Field, Durban on 15.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: On 5 February 2021, Black Coffee released his seventh studio album, "Subconsciously". The album won the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In October 2021, he produced a remake of the single "Too Late for Mama" by Mpho Sebina, which was released on the extended play "Music Forever" .


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Maphumulo married actress and television presenter Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa in 2011. They have two children together and he has two more from a previous relationship.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: In 2014, the couple made news when Sunday World, a South African tabloid, reported that Maphumulo had allegedly cheated on Mlotshwa with a local model and that a woman from the Free State region was behind the allegations, and was demanding R100 000 from Maphumulo after coming into possession of a sex tape which verified her claims. In August 2018, the DJ admitted to the affair, which he explained was the result of "being young and being overwhelmed by fame".


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: The couple was involved in another cheating scandal in June 2019. This time stemming from an Instagram post by Cathy Guetta, the ex-wife of fellow DJ and collaborator - David Guetta, which lead to social media users alleging this was proof of further infidelity from the DJ. Following this, the couple did not immediately respond to the rumors; however, it was noticed that Enhle had removed all pictures of the couple together from her Instagram. Maphumulo later took to Twitter to deny the allegations whilst also commenting on the way on the "lynch-mob mentality" of the users involved in spreading the allegations.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: The couple separated in July 2019, with divorce proceedings beginning later that year. The divorce proceedings continued into 2020 and with them came further scandals. This included the publication of a leaked set of documents allegedly showing some of the financial demands being made by Mlotshwa.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: The now divorced couple made headlines once again in April 2021 when TrueLove, a division of South African media juggernaut Media24, reported that Enhle Mbali had filed for a protection order against her ex-husband alleging that he had assaulted her at her birthday dinner held at a home still shared by the couple. The allegations were made during a time of public outrage against the extremely high levels of Gender Based Violence (GBV) that were being experienced in South Africa. The report came following a statement from Mbali confirming that she was seeking a protection order and that, according to her, it was her "duty as a woman to not only fight for myself, but for every single woman in South Africa". She further went on to mention two widely known cases of alleged GBV, including that of Reeva Steenkamp, and that she wanted to help bring an end to these cases.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: The DJ immediately responded to the allegation in a series of Tweets in which he denied the claims of assault whilst also recounting the GBV he witnessed within his own household whilst growing up. He further implied that this was an attempt by Mbali to separate him from his children and "their" home. He ended the Tweets with one which explained that he, "as a law-abiding citizen", would be observing the demands of the interim order but would fight against the permanent installation of the order.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: On the 7th of May 2021, the DJ once again took to Twitter to share the news that the South African Court had ruled in his favour and set aside the interim protection order whilst also dismissing Mbali's case. In a since deleted video on Instagram, Mbali announced that she "would no longer protect" Maphumulo and would be speaking openly about the abuse she alleged to have suffered as well as further alleging that Maphumulo had also emotionally tormented their children. Mbali then announced that she would be a holding a press conference in which she would publicize evidence, text messages and "everything else that was lied about".


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: The press conference announced by Mbali would never materialize, but on the 12th of August 2021, the actor made an Instagram post teasing an upcoming production titled "Voice". This was released in the following September as a docu-series posted to her Instagram in which she recounted her life story. In an interview in February 2022, Mbali shared her reasoning for making and releasing the documentary, as well as expressing her disappointment in the South African Court system and that she believed it had failed her.


title: Black Coffee (DJ)

text: Apart from singles and remixes, Maphumulo has released the following albums and DVDs since 2005, all under his Soulistic Music banner.


title: Joe Lando

text: Joseph John Lando (born December 9, 1961) is an American actor, known for playing Jake Harrison on daytime's "One Life to Live" (1990–1992) and Byron Sully on the television series "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1993–1998).


title: Joe Lando

text: His first acting role was as a patrolman in "." He received attention for his role as Jake Harrison in the soap opera "One Life to Live", and went on to co-star in the popular drama "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" as Michaela Quinn's love interest, Byron Sully. He also appeared in the television series "Guiding Light" and starred in "Higher Ground", for which he also served as executive producer. He had a small part in the series "Summerland", and appeared in eight episodes of the TV series "The Secret Circle" as John Blackwell, the father of the main character. In 2014 he joined several "Dr. Quinn" castmates as they all reprised their roles for the "Funny or Die" parody "Dr. Quinn, Morphine Woman".


title: Joe Lando

text: He has appeared in various feature films, including "Seeds of Doubt" (1996) and "No Code of Conduct" (1998). He reunited with "Dr. Quinn" costar, Jane Seymour, in 2011 for Hallmark Channel's "Perfectly Prudence", and again in 2022 for Lifetime's "A Christmas Spark".


title: 50 Cent albums discography

text: American rapper 50 Cent has released five studio albums, ten mixtapes, two video albums, four compilation albums, two soundtrack album, 76 singles (including 26 as a featured artist), and 88 music videos. As of July 2014, he is the sixth best-selling hip-hop artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era with 16,786,000 albums sold in the US. 50 Cent signed to Shady Records in 2002 and released his debut studio album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", on February 6, 2003. The album peaked at number one in the US "Billboard" 200 and performed well in international markets. It features the number-one singles "In da Club" and "21 Questions" and also includes the singles "P.I.M.P." and "If I Can't". 50 Cent collaborated with American rapper Lil' Kim on "Magic Stick", which peaked at number two in the US.


title: 50 Cent albums discography

text: In 2005, he released his second studio album, "The Massacre". The album charted at number one in the US, as well as reaching the top ten on many album charts worldwide, and sold 4.83 million copies in the United States in 2005, the second highest sales count by any album that year. "The Massacre" includes the US top-three hits "Disco Inferno" and "Just a Lil Bit", and the US number-one hit "Candy Shop", which peaked in the top ten of many charts worldwide. A reissue of "The Massacre" produced the single "Outta Control", which peaked at number six in the US. In November 2005, 50 Cent starred in the movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", and recorded four singles for the film's soundtrack: the international hits "Hustler's Ambition" and "Window Shopper", and also "Best Friend" and "I'll Whip Ya Head Boy".


title: 50 Cent albums discography

text: In 2007, 50 Cent's third studio album, "Curtis", debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200, behind Kanye West's album "Graduation", after a much-hyped sales competition between the albums. Five singles were released from the album, including international hit "Ayo Technology" and "Billboard" hits "Straight to the Bank", "Amusement Park", "I Get Money" and "I'll Still Kill". In 2009, he released his fourth studio album, "Before I Self Destruct". Music critics described the album as a return to the darker, more intense style of music that 50 Cent exhibited on many of his early mixtapes. The album charted at number five on the "Billboard" 200 and peaked in the top twenty of several album charts worldwide. The album features two singles: the international hit "Baby by Me", which peaked at number twenty-eight in the US, and "Do You Think About Me".


title: 50 Cent albums discography

text: In June 2014, 50 Cent released his fifth studio album, "Animal Ambition". All of the songs on the standard edition of the album were released as singles prior to the album being delivered to the public. His shelved studio album, then-titled "Street King Immortal", was preceded by the release of the non-album song "Outlaw", which peaked at number eighty-seven in both the US and Canada, and a free download album – "5 (Murder by Numbers)" – on July 6, 2012. Four songs were released in promotion for "Street King Immortal": "New Day", "My Life", which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, "Major Distribution", and "We Up", but the songs were scrapped and the album has been delayed numerous times before officially being scrapped in July 2021.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: Conrad Channing Thompson (born July 27, 1981) is an American mortgage broker, professional wrestling promoter, and podcast host who presents and co-hosts numerous wrestling oriented podcasts, and promotes the Starrcast wrestling convention.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: Thompson's interest in podcasting began after meeting ECW wrestler Shane Douglas, whom Thompson met after pledging a significant amount of money to a crowdfunding drive for a documentary about ECW. After a positive experience with Douglas, Thompson later approached wrestling manager Jim Cornette with an offer of $1,500 in exchange to come to his house and tell stories for a couple of hours. Before long, word spread, and with Douglas and Cornette vouching for him, numerous wrestling personalities agreed to meet and be interviewed by Thompson.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: In 2013, Thompson met Ric Flair while he was appearing at a local event. Flair and Thompson hit it off, exchanged contact information and became friends. This led to Thompson occasionally travelling with Flair, meeting yet more wrestling personalities backstage at wrestling events. When CBS approached Flair about starting his own podcast, Flair asked Thompson, who had radio experience advertising his mortgage business, to co-host. Flair's show, called "Wooooo! Nation", followed a guest-driven format, and Thompson met many professional wrestling personalities during this time, including Bruce Prichard. Eventually, Flair tired of podcasting, and Prichard agreed to launch a new show with Thompson.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: "Something to Wrestle" eschews a more traditional podcast format, which Thompson describes as, "Be under an hour, don't curse, don't play music, don't play all your ads up front." Thompson calls these, "the standard rules of podcasting" and routinely disregards them on the show, explaining that, "I'm just a fan. But I also am the target demographic. If it's not something I'd listen to or be into, I don't do it." Typically the show revolves around a particular wrestling event or timeline such as a pay-per-view, memorable storyline angle or a wrestler's run in a certain promotion, with Thompson asking questions and Prichard giving his view on the subject. In 2018, Thompson and Prichard signed a deal with WWE to broadcast "Something else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard" on the WWE Network.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: Starrcast is a professional wrestling fan convention promoted by Thompson. The event typically runs for four days – from Thursday to Sunday – and features wrestlers, wrestling personalities and podcast hosts, interviews, fan activities, and meet-and-greets.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: On July 31, 2022 as part of Starrcast V, Thompson - under the Jim Crockett Promotions banner - promoted his first ever wrestling card with Ric Flair's Last Match, featuring his father-in-law wrestling in his final professional wrestling match.


title: Conrad Thompson

text: Thompson resides in Huntsville, Alabama, where he still operates his mortgage company. He married Megan Fliehr in 2018, becoming an in-law to Ric Flair and his children Ashley (Charlotte Flair) and David.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Uncanny X-Men, originally published as The X-Men, is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X-Men, a group of mutants with superhuman abilities led and taught by Professor X.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The title was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, met with a lukewarm reception, and was eventually cancelled in 1970. Interest was rekindled with 1975's "Giant-Size X-Men" and the debut of a new, international team. Under the guidance of David Cockrum and Chris Claremont, whose 16-year stint began with August 1975's "Uncanny X-Men" #94, the series grew in popularity worldwide, eventually spawning a franchise with numerous spin-off "X-books", including "New Mutants", "X-Factor", "Excalibur", "X-Force", "Generation X", other flagship titles like the simply titled "" (later "New X-Men" & "X-Men Legacy"), "Astonishing X-Men", "All-New X-Men", "Amazing X-Men", "Extraordinary X-Men" and "X-Men Gold".


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the series launched in September 1963, introducing in its first issue the original five X-Men (Warren Worthington III/Angel, Hank McCoy/Beast, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman, and Jean Grey/Marvel Girl) and their teacher, Charles Xavier/Professor X as well as their nemesis, the supervillain Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto. Although Lee would deny it, it was noticed by contemporary writer Arnold Drake, that the concept of the series emulated his own earlier series for National Periodical Publications's (Now DC Comics), "The Doom Patrol", in many respects. However, National's editorial staff did not support Drake's concerns.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Initially published bimonthly, it became a monthly with issue #14 (November 1965). Lee's run lasted 19 issues, and featured the X-Men battling villains such as Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants (which included the siblings Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch and Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver); the Sentinels, giant robots programmed to destroy all mutants, and their creator Bolivar Trask; and Cain Marko/the Juggernaut, Xavier's stepbrother transformed by a mystical gem and seeking revenge on Xavier.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The series was placed firmly in the Marvel Universe, with guest appearances by Namor MacKenzie/Namor the Sub-Mariner in #6 and the Avengers in #9. The jungle adventure hero Kevin Plunder/Ka-Zar and the Savage Land were introduced in issue #10. Roy Thomas wrote the series from #20-44 (May 1966-May 1968). Thomas and artist Werner Roth created Sean Cassidy/the Banshee in #28 (Jan. 1967). "The X-Men" #45 (June 1968) featured a crossover with "The Avengers" #53 (June 1968). After brief runs by Gary Friedrich and Arnold Drake – the latter of whom introduced the new X-Men Lorna Dane/Polaris and Alex Summers/Havok, and during which the series adopted a new logo designed by Jim Steranko – Thomas returned to the series with issue #55 and was joined by artist Neal Adams the following issue for an acclaimed run of stories. After a battle with the Hulk in issue #66 (March 1970), the title ceased publishing original material and featured reprints in issues #67-93 (Dec. 1970-June 1975).


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: "X-Men" was relaunched in May 1975 with "Giant-Size X-Men" #1, by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. The title featured a new, international team consisting of Scott Summers (Cyclops) of the United States, Ireland's Sean Cassidy (Banshee), the Japanese mutant Shiro Yoshida (Sunfire), and James "Logan" Howlett (Wolverine) from Canada, along with new characters Ororo Munroe (Storm) out of Kenya, the German Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), Piotr "Peter" Rasputin (Colossus) from Russia in The Soviet Union, and John Proudstar (Thunderbird), a Native American. The original plan was to continue "Giant-Size X-Men" as a quarterly, but instead original stories were printed in the book, again initially bimonthly.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Chris Claremont's first issue as writer, #94, featured all the original X-Men leaving the team with the exception of Cyclops. Sunfire also left, having agreed to assist the X-Men on one successful mission only. Thunderbird was killed in #95. Moira MacTaggert, a human ally of the X-Men, and later to be established as a former fiancée of Xavier, debuted in #96. Marvel Girl became Phoenix in issue #101. This was followed by the first Shi'ar space opera story. Cockrum was replaced as penciller by John Byrne as of #108. Byrne became co-plotter, and during his run the series became a monthly title again.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: For the remainder of the decade, the X-Men fought enemies such as Stephen Lang and his Sentinels, Magneto, Banshee's cousin Black Tom Cassidy and Cain Marko/the Juggernaut, the Shi'ar Erik the Red and the Imperial Guard, Arcade, Wolverine's former colleagues, the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, and MacTaggert's son Proteus. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Claremont and Byrne's run on "The X-Men" second on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The "Dark Phoenix Saga" in 1980 led to a change in the line-up of the team, with the death of Phoenix (Jean Grey), and Cyclops leaving the team to mourn her. Comics writers and historians Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson observed that "'The Dark Phoenix Saga' is to Claremont and Byrne what 'the Galactus Trilogy' is to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It is a landmark in Marvel history, showcasing its creators' work at the height of their abilities." The storyline also saw the introduction of recurring antagonists the Hellfire Club, and its Inner Circle consisting of Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, along with Mastermind, previously a member of Magneto's Brotherhood. Teenage mutant Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde/Shadowcat was introduced in #129 (Jan. 1980) and joined the X-Men in #139. Alison Blaire/the Dazzler, a disco-singing, roller-skating mutant, was introduced in #130 (Feb. 1980), but did not join the team, instead having a solo title.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: A new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Mystique, was introduced in the "Days of Future Past" storyline (#141-#142, Jan–Feb 1981) in which a time-travelling Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde/Shadowcat tried to avert a dystopian future caused by the Brotherhood assassinating Presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly. Byrne plotted the story wanting to depict the Sentinels as a genuine threat to the existence of the mutant race. He then left the series after #143, being replaced by a returning Cockrum, who in turn was succeeded by Paul Smith and John Romita Jr.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: By the mid-1980s, "The Uncanny X-Men" had become one of the best-selling American comic books, turning many of the writers and illustrators into industry stars and leading to numerous spin-offs and miniseries.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto was gradually revealed to be more complex: #150 established that he was a survivor of the Holocaust, and in #161 it is shown that Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier had known each other before Xavier had founded the X-Men. Anna Marie LeBeau/Rogue, a member of Raven Darkholme/Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, defected to the X-Men in #171 (July 1983). Raven Darkholme/Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants changed sides and became the government-backed Freedom Force in #199. Their first action was to capture Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto, who had begun associating with the X-Men during the "Secret Wars II" crossover. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto surrenders himself, but escapes after his trial is abandoned, he takes over the headmastership of the school after Xavier leaves for space in #200 (Dec. 1985).


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The Morlocks, a group of disfigured mutants living underneath New York City, were introduced in #169 (May 1983). Storm became their leader in #170. She was de-powered accidentally by government forces aiming for Anna Marie LeBeau/Rogue, and met Forge, a mutant with the power of invention. After Storm left the team temporarily to return to her native Africa, Nightcrawler became field leader.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The character Rachel Summers from the future dystopia presented in "Days of Future Past" had been shown to arrive in the present day in "New Mutants" #18, and then made appearances in "Uncanny X-Men" from #184 on and was revealed to be Cyclops' daughter.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Claremont attempted to write Scott Summers/Cyclops out of the series, by having him marry Madelyne Pryor in #175 (Nov. 1983); she gave birth to his son in #201 (Jan. 1986). The "X-Factor" series was launched two months later and featured the original five X-Men. This meant the resurrection of Jean Grey (performed by retcon, the character appearing from #101 having never really been her), and having Scott Summers/Cyclops abandon his wife and child. Claremont strongly objected to the latter, and was hostile towards the title until Louise Simonson became writer.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Artist Arthur Adams began a long association with the team by drawing "The Uncanny X-Men Annual" #9 (1985) and would serve as the artist on several of the "Annual"s in the next few years.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The end of 1986 saw the first crossover between X-Men titles, the "Mutant Massacre", which saw a large number of Morlocks killed by the Marauders, acting under orders from the mysterious Nathaniel Essex/Mister Sinister The late 1980s saw several other crossovers: 1988's "Fall of the Mutants" and 1989's "Inferno", which resolved the issue of Madelyne Pryor by revealing her to have been a clone of Jean Grey created by Sinister. The cast was shaken up, with the addition of Psylocke, the Dazzler, Longshot and Havok in early 1987, as well as the first appearances of NPR-TV reporter Manoli Wetherell in #226 (1988), new teenage mutant Jubilation Lee/Jubilee in #244 (1989), and Remy LeBeau/Gambit in "Uncanny X-Men Annual" #14 (1990). The X-Men left their traditional residence in Westchester County, New York, and lived variously on Alcatraz, Muir Island and in the Australian outback. The "X-Tinction Agenda" crossover, in which the X-Men, "X-Factor" and the "New Mutants" fight against the government of Genosha for mutant rights, was published in the fall of 1990.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The title became twice-monthly from 1988 to 1990 every summer, and helped to launch the careers of artists Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee. In 1991 another "X-Men" title was launched, titled simply ""; both titles were now published monthly. Claremont wrote the first three issue of this series, in which the X-Factor and X-Men teams reunited with Professor Xavier at the school. Claremont left Marvel after disputes with Bob Harras and artist Jim Lee (of "X-Men"). Claremont's final issue of "Uncanny X-Men" was #279, during the "Muir Island Saga", which is set before those events.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: After Claremont's run, the X-Men were divided into two color-coded squads, with a Blue team headlining the adjectiveless "X-Men" title, while the Gold team, consisting of Warren Worthington III/Archangel, Pitor "Peter" Rasputin/Colossus, Jean Grey, Robert "Bobby" Drake/the Iceman and Ororo Munroe/Storm, appeared in "Uncanny". This roster was later joined by Lucas Bishop, another refugee from the future. After Claremont's departure, Jim Lee continued as plotter, while John Byrne scripted from #281-286. Byrne was replaced as scripter from #287 by Scott Lobdell, who was fully credited as writer from #289. The "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover was released in the fall of 1992 and resulted in the outbreak of the Legacy virus, a mutant-specific plague which continued as a story element in X-Men comics until 2001.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Crossovers continued through the 1990s. The "Fatal Attractions" crossover of 1993 saw the X-Men battle Magneto again, and the "Phalanx Covenant" story of 1994 focused mostly on the techno-organic Phalanx. "Uncanny X-Men" briefly ceased publication during the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline in 1995, which dealt with an alternative present created by a time-travelling assassin killing Xavier; it was replaced by "Astonishing X-Men". Lobdell was writing "X-Men" as well from 1995.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Lobdell was replaced by Steven T. Seagle with issue #350 (Dec. 1997). He was replaced in turn with Alan Davis, as plotter, from issue #366 (Mar. 1999) to #380. Davis's run included "" crossover from #370-#375, in which Apocalypse sought the only 12 mutants, which also ran in his "X-Men" title, again being treated as a biweekly publication. As part of the Revolution relaunch, Chris Claremont made a brief return from #381 (June 2000) to #389, at which point he transferred to the new "X-Treme X-Men" title, as Grant Morrison took over "X-Men" (vol. 2) and that became the flagship X-Men title. From 2001, Lobdell made a short return, and then Joe Casey and Chuck Austen wrote runs into 2004. The title became bimonthly from 2003 to 2004.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The "" reshuffle of titles in 2004 led to Claremont returning to "Uncanny" with issue #444. The stories addressed the new status quo established by Morrison. Claremont remained until #473. His final story was "End of the Greys" in 2006, as part of the "Decimation" storyline, where the vast majority of mutants had lost their powers. He was replaced by Ed Brubaker, who wrote a 12-part epic space opera story "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire", as a follow-up to his miniseries "". After this, the title led into the "" crossover event, dealing with the first mutant birth since the Decimation.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Matt Fraction became co-author from #500, and sole author from #504. The entire X-Men team relocated to San Francisco – first to the city, and then, after the "Utopia" crossover with "Dark Avengers", to an island named Utopia in San Francisco Bay. The "" storyline focused on the return of the re-powered Magneto, and him coming to Utopia. The "Second Coming" crossover saw the return of Hope Summers, the baby from the "Messiah Complex" arc, to the present day, as a young adult; and the emergence of the "Five Lights", the first new mutants to have arisen (apart from Hope) since the Decimation. Nightcrawler was killed during this storyline and the Beast left in protest after his discovery of Cyclops' secret death squad X-Force.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The original series ended with #544 and relaunched as a new volume after the events of the "" miniseries, wherein half the X-Men, led by Wolverine, returned to New York, to found a new school. The new volume featured the Extinction Team, containing members of the X-Men whom Cyclops had retained to deal with potential threats to the mutant race's survival. Gillen's run led into, and crossed over with, the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline and finished with issue #20 in October 2012. The volume ended with Cyclops, who had become increasingly hardline during Gillen's run, in prison for his actions during that storyline. Gillen wrote a five-part epilogue, "AvX: Consequences".


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: As part of Marvel NOW!, a new volume of "Uncanny X-Men" was launched in February 2013 with an April 2013 cover date, written by Brian Michael Bendis, who is also writing another X-Men title, "All-New X-Men", and drawn by Chris Bachalo. It features Cyclops and remnants of his Extinction Team recruiting new mutants to help them prepare for what Cyclops believes to be an inevitable revolution, coinciding events of the first "All-New X-Men" story arc. This volume saw Cyclops leading his team to an abandoned Weapon X facility to train new recruits and prepare for impending war against the humans, who see Cyclops as a terrorist's due to his actions in "Avengers Vs. X-Men". Eventually, Kitty Pryde and the time-displaced X-Men join his cause after facing a team of X-Men from a dystopian future. It lasted 36 issues, with the final issue reverting to the legacy numbering of "Uncanny X-Men" #600.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: As part of All-New, All-Different Marvel, "Uncanny X-Men" was relaunched, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Greg Land. The relaunched "Uncanny X-Men" team features Magneto leading Psylocke, the Archangel, M, Mystique, Fantomex and Sabretooth, while a different team led by Storm will be called the Extraordinary X-Men. Cyclops's fate after Battleworld is shown to us in the "Death of X" miniseries (Cyclops was exposed to the Terrigen Mist and died from M-Pox).


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The tagline for the relaunched series is "Bigger threats require more threatening X-Men", and is considered to be a continuation of Bunn's previous work on the "Magneto" solo series. The series will deal with threats that arise as a result of a new, more dangerous world post-"Secret Wars". Summing up the team, Bunn states "They're upholding Xavier's dream, but they have no right to do so."


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Announced in August 2018, "Uncanny X-Men" (vol. 5) debuted November 14, 2018, with the weekly 10-part "X-Men: Disassembled" arc and follows on from the events of the "Extermination" miniseries. This incarnation of the team features Lucas Bishop, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock/Psylocke, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Robert "Bobby" Drake/the Iceman, Hank McCoy/the Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Lorna Dane/Polaris, Jubilation Lee/Jubilee, Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde/Shadowcat and Sam Guthrie/Cannonball as well as trainee X-Men Hisako Ichiki/Armor, Victor Borkowski/Anole, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Idie Okonkwo/Oya, Robert Herman/the Glob, Santo Vaccarro/Rockslide. Following the 10th issue, the series began focusing on a new team of X-Men featuring Scott Summers/Cyclops, James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine, Alex Summers/Havok, Jamie Madrox/the Multiple Man, Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Danielle Moonstar/Mirage, Xi'an Coy Minh/Karma.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: After this volume, all X-Men titles were cancelled and two intertwining six-issue miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman, called "House of X" and "Powers of X", began a weekly run in July 2019 and concluded on October of the same year. Shortly after those were completed, the X-Men series relaunched, with "X-Men" #1, accompanied by the other related teams' regular series, such as "Marauders", "X-Force", "Excalibur", "New Mutants", "X-Corp", "Wolverine", "X-Men: Giant Size", and reviving 1987's "Fallen Angels"; all part of the 2019 story arc "Dawn of X", which searches to unite all mutantdom and settle down as a whole species.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Like many comic book series, "Uncanny X-Men" had an associated double-sized "Annual" series, once in both 1970 and 1971, then regularly from 1979 to 2001. A second series of "Uncanny X-Men Annual"s began in 2006 as volume 2 issue #1.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: This is an article about the comic book, and thus the publication history, not the in-continuity history. As such, the above reflects the team roster for the book at time of publication. Similarly, this article only reflects the team roster for the X-Men team whose home is this publication.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: Until 2011, "Uncanny X-Men" remained Marvel Comics' only Silver Age title to retain its consecutive issue numbering since its conception, even during the early 1970s reprint hiatus. "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Avengers", "The Fantastic Four" and other legacy titles have all, at one time or another, restarted their numbering at #1, though all later returned to their original numbering. The final issue to be published under the original numbering was #544, published in October 2011 with a December 2011 cover date, which was followed by a new #1 the following month. In 2015, Marvel released "Uncanny X-Men" #600, following Vol. 3 #35, as a conclusion to the Brian Michael Bendis' run on both "All New X-Men" and Vol. 3.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: From issue #1-93 the indicia title was The X-Men. After the relaunch with issue #94, and up to #138, the article "The" was dropped from the indicia title, making it X-Men, but the article was added back in issues #139-141.


title: Uncanny X-Men

text: The title The Uncanny X-Men was first used in the issue #95 title block following the "Stan Lee Presents:" tagline, though the title did not appear on the covers or indicia titles yet. Covers begin displaying this title in #114. Beginning with issue #142 and up to #407, the indicia title was finally changed to "The Uncanny X-Men". Issue #408 was the first to use the indicia title Uncanny X-Men.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The Streak was a series of 21 victories for professional wrestler The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) at WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania. It began at WrestleMania VII in 1991 when he beat Jimmy Snuka, with the final win coming against CM Punk at WrestleMania 29 in 2013; the Undertaker was absent from WrestleMania X in 1994 and WrestleMania 2000, owing to injury. Overall, he defeated 18 men during The Streak, which included three bouts with Triple H and two each opposite Kane and Shawn Michaels, as well as a handicap match against A-Train and Big Show at WrestleMania XIX. This run of victories was described by sports news publication "The 42" as the "greatest winning streak in sport", while Sky Sports likened it to that of boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The Streak became the cornerstone of WrestleMania, with a potential win over The Undertaker at the event being described as a greater honor than winning the WWE Championship. For years, debate had revolved around who, if anybody, should break The Streak, with prominent wrestlers giving comment. At WrestleMania XXX in 2014, The Undertaker lost to Brock Lesnar, thus ending The Streak.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: WrestleMania is the premier annual event of the largest professional wrestling promotion in the United States, WWE. Formed as a counter to Jim Crockett Promotions' successful Starrcade event, WrestleMania I was broadcast to one million nationwide via closed-circuit television and pay-per-view. WrestleMania's widespread success helped transform the sport of professional wrestling and made WWE the most successful wrestling promotion in the world, prompting WWE to promote the event as the "Super Bowl of sports entertainment".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Born Mark William Calaway on March 24, 1965 in Houston, Texas, The Undertaker is a former American professional wrestler. He is currently retired for the final time from the WWE, where he had worked since 1990, making him the company's longest-tenured in-ring performer. Holding the streak for most wins at WrestleMania, Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1987. After wrestling for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean" Mark Callous from 1989 to 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) in 1990. In WWE, The Undertaker is a seven-time world champion, having won the WWF/E Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship three times, as well as the winner of the 2007 Royal Rumble. He is recognized as the fourth youngest WWF/E Champion in history, having won the championship aged 26 years, 8 months, and 3 days.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Early into The Undertaker's career, he would defeat various jobbers and other established stars in squash matches, leading to a match with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. The match at WrestleMania VII ended when Snuka's attempted springboard maneuver was countered as The Undertaker caught him, and he then hit the Tombstone Piledriver before pinning Snuka. The match has been described retrospectively as "incredibly important" for a match seen at the time as a throwaway match.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In mid-1991, The Undertaker allied himself with Jake "The Snake" Roberts in his feud with The Ultimate Warrior. However, during an episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event" in February 1992, The Undertaker turned face and defended Randy Savage's manager and wife, Miss Elizabeth, from Roberts's attack. Two weeks later during a "Funeral Parlor" segment, when berated by Roberts regarding whose side he was on, The Undertaker responded, "Not yours". The feud culminated in a match at WrestleMania VIII, where, after delivering his finishing move, the DDT, for the second time, Roberts went to the outside to attack The Undertaker's manager Paul Bearer. The Undertaker then delivered a Tombstone Piledriver to Roberts on the floor, before rolling him inside the ring and pinning him. Wrestler Bret Hart was critical of the finish, in particular Roberts' role, describing him as "sneaky" for receiving The Undertaker's finishing move outside the ring, preventing a clean victory for the younger wrestler. Calaway credits Roberts for providing him with advice and insight in his early career, while Roberts said he knew from the very beginning Calaway would become a superstar as The Undertaker.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In late 1992 and early 1993, The Undertaker had been feuding with Harvey Wippleman and engaged in matches with the wrestlers managed by Wippleman. During the 1993 Royal Rumble, Wippleman introduced Giant Gonzales. Gonzales then illegally entered the Royal Rumble match and eliminated The Undertaker. This set up a match between the two at WrestleMania IX, in which Giant Gonzales was disqualified when he covered The Undertaker's face with a cloth covered in chloroform. This was the only disqualification victory in The Undertaker's streak, as all other wins were obtained by pinfall, submission, or casket. Calaway has described it as the most physically and mentally straining match he ever wrestled, and is rated as amongst the worst matches in his career.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Throughout 1994, The Undertaker was sidelined through legitimate injury and missed WrestleMania X as a consequence. In the months that followed, Ted DiBiase, leader of The Million Dollar Corporation, introduced his own Undertaker, prompting a long-running feud between The Undertaker and the Corporation. King Kong Bundy would represent the Million Dollar Corporation when he faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania XI in 1995. The match, refereed by baseball umpire Larry Young, finished when The Undertaker first bodyslammed and then delivered a flying clothesline to King Kong Bundy before pinning him. The Undertaker never losing at WrestleMania was mentioned for the first time during Undertaker's entrance in this match.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: At the 1996 Royal Rumble, The Undertaker faced Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, but an interference by Diesel cost him the match. As revenge, The Undertaker cost Diesel his WWF Championship match at In Your House: Rage in the Cage. The two settled their feud at WrestleMania XII, which would be Diesel's final match at the annual event before leaving the company and moving to WCW a month later. Diesel lost via pinfall after The Undertaker delivered the Tombstone Piledriver.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In February 1997, Shawn Michaels vacated the WWF Championship 3 days before leaving the championship to be decided at the event in a four corners elimination match between The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Vader and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin". Hart won the match and the championship, but lost it to Sycho Sid in a match the following night on "Raw". While Hart and Austin continued their feud, The Undertaker challenged Sid for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 13. Hart interfered in the match at WrestleMania 13 by hitting Sid with a steel chair. The Undertaker followed up the chair shot by Hart with a Tombstone Piledriver to Sid before pinning him to claim the WWF Championship for the second time, his first reign in five years.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: At SummerSlam 1997, The Undertaker lost the WWF Championship to Bret Hart after an accidental attack by special guest referee Shawn Michaels, setting up a Hell in a Cell match between the two at . During the match, Kane was brought by Paul Bearer to cost The Undertaker the match. After being defeated by Michaels at the 1998 Royal Rumble in a casket match thanks to Kane, following which Kane locked The Undertaker in the casket and set it on fire, The Undertaker challenged Kane to a match at WrestleMania XIV. After Kane had kicked out of two Tombstone Piledrivers (the first man ever to do so), The Undertaker delivered a third to pick up the win over his (storyline) brother.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Late-1998 saw the creation of The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness, it reignited his pursuit for the WWF Championship. Along the way, he opted to switch targets, and aimed to take control of the entire World Wrestling Federation. In feuding with The Corporation, The Undertaker faced the stable's enforcer, Big Boss Man at WrestleMania XV inside Hell in a Cell. The first WrestleMania match to take place inside Hell in a Cell ended when The Undertaker executed a Tombstone Piledriver to Big Boss Man, who was then hanged from a noose with the help of The Brood and Paul Bearer. The match is regarded as one of the worst Hell in a Cell matches of all time.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In early 2001, The Undertaker found Triple H's statement of having "already beaten everyone in the business" as arrogant as the two had never met in a one-on-one match before (in fact, they had met several times on Raw is WAR in 1999). Following various brawls between their respective allies, The Undertaker and Kane held Stephanie McMahon hostage until then-commissioner, William Regal, gave them matches against Triple H and the Big Show at WrestleMania X-Seven respectively. Following a match involving a brawl through the crowd, The Undertaker finally pinned Triple H after using the Last Ride. This bout marked his first WrestleMania appearance under his "American Badass" biker persona.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: At the No Way Out 2002 PPV, The Undertaker faced The Rock amidst a rivalry between the two, but would lose the match when Ric Flair interfered, sparking a feud between the two which led to a match at WrestleMania X8. Fought under No Disqualification rules, The Undertaker beat Flair after delivering a Tombstone Piledriver, despite interference from Arn Anderson. After the match, The Undertaker gestured his number of WrestleMania wins. In 2020, Calaway revealed in an interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin that he had chosen to face Flair over Rob Van Dam after receiving the two options from Vince McMahon, citing Flair's legendary wrestling status. Also, according to Ric Flair, he mentioned that prior to the storyline feud between the two, Triple H told him that the Undertaker wanted to wrestle him.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In late-2002, Big Show kayfabe injured The Undertaker, who would make his return at the 2003 Royal Rumble. Although The Undertaker defeated Big Show at No Way Out, A-Train would attack The Undertaker, while newcomer Nathan Jones would aid The Undertaker. Just prior to their match at WrestleMania XIX, however, Jones would be attacked by The Full Blooded Italians on "Heat", turning the tag team match into a two-on-one handicap match instead. Jones helped The Undertaker win by delivering kicks to both Big Show and A-Train, and allowing The Undertaker to hit a Tombstone Piledriver on A-Train to get the pinfall win. This bout at WrestleMania XIX would be the final match The Undertaker would have under the "American Badass" persona.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Survivor Series 2003 marked the end of The Undertaker's Big Evil persona, when he lost a Buried Alive Match against Vince McMahon due to interference from Kane. Reverting to his former Deadman persona, The Undertaker would haunt Kane throughout various matches in vignettes in the build up to the match, before his eventual return at WrestleMania XX. The Undertaker defeated Kane for the second time at WrestleMania by executing a Tombstone Piledriver.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: As part of his "Legend Killer" gimmick, Randy Orton began seeking out The Undertaker, hoping to be the one to finally end the streak at WrestleMania 21. Orton would go as far as attacking his on-screen girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, and WWE Legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts, before The Undertaker accepted the challenge. The finish to the match came when Randy Orton attempted to execute a Tombstone Piledriver, only for it to be reversed by The Undertaker into one of his own. Speaking to Yahoo Sports in 2015, Orton reflected on the success of the match, saying "we killed it, I reversed the chokeslam into the RKO, everybody bought it, he beat my ass and that was it. He picked up another win at 'Mania and rightfully so because I think the WrestleMania brand and Undertaker go hand in hand".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: During the start of 2006, The Undertaker began his pursuit for the World Heavyweight Championship, held by Kurt Angle at the time. On an episode of "SmackDown!" that aired on March 3, Mark Henry cost The Undertaker the match as well as the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, he then challenged Henry to a casket match at WrestleMania 22. The Undertaker won the match when he put Henry inside the casket. In 2019, former WWE producer Bruce Prichard claimed that the initial plan set out by Vince McMahon was for Henry to win the match, with The Undertaker and other producers unreceptive to the idea. Kurt Angle claimed that Undertaker wanted to wrestle with him for a "5-star match" and let Angle break the streak, but this plan wasn't accepted by McMahon.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Having won the 2007 Royal Rumble, The Undertaker earned the opportunity to select his opponent for WrestleMania 23. With the option to wrestle Raw's WWE Champion John Cena, ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, or SmackDown!'s World Heavyweight Champion Batista; The Undertaker chose Batista, thus staying on SmackDown!.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The Undertaker used his signature moves Snake Eyes, Old School, and a flying clothesline early on, before executing a suicide dive to Batista, who then retaliated by performing a running powerslam through the ECW broadcast table. Batista put The Undertaker back in the ring and attempted a pin to no avail as he kicked out. The Undertaker recovered with a Last Ride and a chokeslam, but was unable to score a pin from either move. Batista then hit a spear and his finishing move the Batista Bomb, but The Undertaker stunned everybody by kicking out. Batista tried another, but was countered and The Undertaker hit a Tombstone Piledriver to win the World Heavyweight Championship.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The genesis of the feud between The Undertaker and Edge began on the May 11, 2007 episode of "SmackDown!", which saw The Undertaker successfully defend his World Heavyweight Championship in a draw against Batista in a steel cage match, after which The Undertaker was attacked by a returning Mark Henry; Edge capitalized by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the championship from The Undertaker. When The Undertaker returned later that year, he restarted his feud with Batista, leading to championship matches between the pair at October's Cyber Sunday, followed by a Hell in a Cell match at Survivor Series in November, with Batista emerging victorious in both, the latter due to interference from a returning Edge. The trio would have a Triple Threat match at December's Armageddon PPV for the championship, which saw Edge become champion. In February 2008, The Undertaker would prevail in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out to become the number one contender for Edge's championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Although The Undertaker entered the event undefeated to much acclaim, Edge had also never lost a singles match at WrestleMania. Edge described the match as "the biggest match of my career, bar none. The main event, against The Undertaker for the world championship, it doesn't get any better".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The match was full of reversals by Edge, including The Undertaker's signature moves Old School, the big boot, the Last Ride, and the Tombstone Piledriver, while hitting big moves of his own such as the Impaler DDT and the Edge-o-matic. The end of the match came when, despite Edge using a camera as a weapon, and interference from La Familia members The Edgeheads (Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder), The Undertaker performed his Hell's Gate submission hold after being hit with Edge's finisher, the spear. Edge would submit, and for the second year in a row, The Undertaker won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Edge later revealed in a podcast, that the original plan for the match was to be "Streak vs. Streak", as he was originally slated to win WrestleMania 23's Money in the Bank Ladder Match, but booking eventually shifted the win to Mr. Kennedy instead. Calaway's wife, Michelle McCool, revealed in 2020 that Edge refused the opportunity to break the streak.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: After defeating Vladimir Kozlov on the March 2, 2009 episode of "Raw", Shawn Michaels earned the right to challenge The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. The feud revolved around a "good vs evil" story, with Michaels being a born again Christian, and Undertaker a Lucifer type figure.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: During the match, The Undertaker attempted his signature suicide dive, but Michaels pulled a cameraman in the way, leaving The Undertaker to land awkwardly on his neck; the spot was said to have "added more drama and emotion to the match, and gave it an element of realism". The cameraman was portrayed by Jimmy Snuka's son Sim Snuka as a nod to The Undertaker's first WrestleMania match. The finish, described as "emotionally charged", involved The Undertaker using all four of his recognized finishers (Tombstone Piledriver, Last Ride, chokeslam, Hell's Gate) without managing to finish the match on any occasion; The Undertaker's "wide eyed look of sadness and desperation on his face" after Michaels kicked out of the Tombstone Piledriver was described as a "snapshot of the heart and passion that was on display at the spectacle". Michaels made a comeback, and eventually hit Sweet Chin Music, but The Undertaker kicked out. Soon after, Michaels attempted a top-rope moonsault, but was caught, and The Undertaker quickly executed a second Tombstone Piledriver to finally win the match. The match was described as "show-stealing" and an "instant classic", and was eventually hailed by many as the greatest bout in WrestleMania history.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The Undertaker initially rejected a rematch with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI, saying "a rematch at this year's WrestleMania will only result in more bitter disappointment for yourself", before Michaels retaliated by saying "I'll see you at WrestleMania. Your streak, your title, your soul will be mine". At the Elimination Chamber PPV, Michaels cost The Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship, coming out from under the ring and connecting with Sweet Chin Music and allowing Chris Jericho to pin him.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Towards the end, Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on the outside, leaving The Undertaker lay on the broadcast table, before performing a top-rope moonsault, breaking the table. At the end of a 24-minute match, after kicking out of a Tombstone Piledriver, Michaels slapped The Undertaker, leading to The Undertaker executing a jumping Tombstone Piledriver on Michaels. As a result of the loss per the pre-match stipulations, Michaels retired from professional wrestling, a moment described as "the end of an era".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In the lead-up to WrestleMania XXVII, Triple H vowed to do what his best friend Michaels could not: end The Streak. After a near-30 minute bout, in a match contested under No Holds Barred rules, and after both men kicked out of each other's finishing move, The Undertaker was triumphant when he locked in the Hell's Gate on Triple H; Triple H attempted to use a sledgehammer while in the hold, but was unable to do so before tapping out. Although victorious, Calaway legitimately could not walk out of the arena, and had to be stretchered to the back by paramedics.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The Undertaker made the challenge, as he wanted to redeem himself against Triple H from the previous year, where he had to be stretchered out of the arena. Triple H initially rejected before accepting for WrestleMania XXVIII. Contested inside Hell in a Cell, and refereed by Shawn Michaels, the match, billed as the "End of an Era" began with both men brawling in and around the ring. Shortly afterwards, with the steel steps inside the ring, Triple H hit a spinebuster on The Undertaker, who then managed to lock in the Hell's Gate, which was countered when Triple H lifted him up and slammed him on the steel steps. The match was littered with weapon shots, including 16 consecutive chair shots by Triple H, followed by a sledgehammer shot to the skull, all the while The Undertaker instructed Michaels not to stop the match.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: When being checked on by Michaels, The Undertaker locked him in the Hell's Gate, leaving him out cold. Replacement referee Charles Robinson ran down to the ring after The Undertaker hit a chokeslam on Triple H, but could only make a two-count, and was then on the receiving end of a chokeslam himself. Michaels recovered and hit The Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music followed by a Pedigree by Triple H, but this wasn't enough for the three count. Both men traded finishing moves for near-falls, before The Undertaker delivered his own series of chair shots for another two count. The Undertaker won shortly afterwards with a Tombstone Piledriver. It was praised as one of the greatest Hell in a Cell matches of all time, while Triple H thought it was one of his favorite matches of his career.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: In a controversial angle the week before WrestleMania 29, CM Punk's manager Paul Heyman, dressed as, and using the mannerisms of, the recently deceased Paul Bearer, came out to confront The Undertaker whilst flanked by The Undertaker's signature druids. As The Undertaker attempted to assault them, Punk, in disguise as a druid, assaulted him before pouring the ashes of an urn, purporting to be those of Bearer's, over The Undertaker. In a 2020 interview, Calaway said that he was initially conflicted about the angle, but realised that Bearer "would have loved it", with storyline brother Kane stating it was "the biggest compliment and that's the biggest tribute". Heyman has described it as intentionally offensive and controversial. Punk has spoken of his frustrations with the build of the match, saying that he was disappointed not to be presented on television as a legitimate threat to The Streak, feeling he was "just another guy".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: During the 22 minute match, Punk delivered a "Macho Man" elbow drop from the top rope onto The Undertaker, who was lay on the Spanish broadcast table. The Undertaker survived this, and, after Punk hit The Undertaker with the urn containing the alleged ashes of Paul Bearer, he still kicked out. The Undertaker reversed Punk's attempt to use his Go To Sleep (GTS) finishing move, and hit a Tombstone Piledriver to mark the final victory in The Streak.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: On October 23, 2010, after losing his UFC Heavyweight Championship to Cain Velasquez at "UFC 121", Brock Lesnar was confronted by The Undertaker, who asked, "you wanna do it?" The incident led to speculation about a WrestleMania match between the two, and was described by Fox Sports as the "genesis" of their feud. In a 2020 interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin following his retirement, Calaway said that the interaction with Lesnar at "UFC 121" was to "start a buzz." At the time, he said he did not know if Lesnar was going to return to WWE, but he wanted to position himself for a match with him just in case and that came later than expected.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: On the February 24, 2014 episode of "Raw", The Undertaker appeared for the first time since The Shield performed a powerbomb on him through a broadcast table ten months earlier, to answer Lesnar's challenge for a match at WrestleMania XXX, scheduled for April 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The Undertaker went into the match as the massive odds-on favorite, but after three "F-5s", Lesnar pinned The Undertaker in 25 minutes and 12 seconds to end the undefeated WrestleMania streak, silencing and shocking the entire crowd in the process. Calaway was legitimately hospitalized afterwards with a severe concussion suffered early in the match. Lesnar's music was not played for a few minutes while WWE cameramen continued to highlight the reaction of a stunned crowd, and his manager Paul Heyman would compare the crowds' reaction to when Ivan Koloff defeated Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Championship in Madison Square Garden in 1971. Heyman thereafter began using the victory to further promote his on-screen client and referred to himself as "the one behind the one in 21 and 1". Heyman later described himself as "giddy" at the prospect.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: The match has been described as having the most shocking result since the Montreal Screwjob. A great number of fans objected to the outcome; Justin Henry of WrestleCrap made an impassioned defense of the decision, arguing that it elicited an emotional response that reduced him and other viewers "to the most base-ishness of our fanhood". Questioned by Austin about his decision to end The Streak, Vince McMahon said it was done to make a big deal of Lesnar and that there were no other viable candidates for the role. He added that Calaway was shocked by the decision, but willingly participated since he wanted to give back to the business. According to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, McMahon made the decision to end the streak on the day of the show, believing it doubtful he would have any more matches. During an interview on the "Broken Skull Sessions" with Stone Cold in November 2020 following his retirement, Calaway confirmed that the decision to end the streak was made the day of the show, stating that he was still going over as of that morning. He also confirmed McMahon's opinion of there being no other viable candidate, but Calaway felt that Lesnar did not need the win as he was already a huge star. Jim Ross believes The Streak should not have been broken, as it was a unique selling point of WrestleMania.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Taking exception to Lesnar's boasting about ending The Streak, The Undertaker cost him a WWE World Heavyweight Championship victory at Battleground in July 2015, instigating a rematch between the two at the next month's SummerSlam. At that event on August 23, after a distraction and a low blow, The Undertaker gained his first televised singles victory over Lesnar when the latter passed out to "Hell's Gate". A Hell in a Cell match between the pair at October's Hell in a Cell, billed as their final meeting, was won by Lesnar after a low blow and an "F-5".


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Following The Undertaker's WrestleMania XXX loss to Lesnar, he had five more matches at the annual event against:


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: He won all but the match with Reigns, making his overall WrestleMania record 25–2. In a 2020 interview following his retirement, Calaway said losing the streak to Reigns would have made "a lot more sense" for the impact on their respective careers.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Shawn Michaels described The Streak as "phenomenal", and Stone Cold Steve Austin said it was "special"..


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: WWE has released various DVDs covering The Streak, including one for the 15–0 milestone in 2008, and a four-disc set to mark the 20–0 milestone in 2012. An updated version including the final victory over CM Punk, as well as the loss to Brock Lesnar, was issued in 2015.


title: The Streak (professional wrestling)

text: Video game "WWE 2K14" features The Streak mode, in which players can attempt to defend The Streak as The Undertaker. Alternatively, they can try to break it as any other wrestler in the game.


title: Slim Shady EP

text: Slim Shady EP is the first and to date only extended play by American rapper Eminem, released on December 10, 1997 through the Detroit-based record label Web Entertainment. Unlike "Infinite", "Slim Shady EP" helped Eminem gain the interest of CEO Jimmy Iovine (co-founder of Interscope Records) and West Coast hip-hop producer Dr. Dre, who subsequently signed Eminem to his Aftermath Entertainment record label, and served as executive producer on his major-label debut album "The Slim Shady LP" (1999).


title: Slim Shady EP

text: The EP introduces Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady. Since the EP was released before he was signed to Interscope and Aftermath, original copies are now highly valued. His lyrics are a marked departure from those found on "Infinite", featuring constant references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability, and over-the-top violence. Another departure was his exploration of more serious themes of dealing with poverty, his direct and self-deprecating response to criticism, and of marital and family difficulties. His flow is also noticeably different from "Infinite" where critics claimed he sounded too much like Nas and AZ. Eminem also began utilizing story telling on this EP. The production value of the music on the tracks — from previous collaborators DJ Head, The Bass Brothers, and Mr. Porter — was also noticeably higher than on prior album efforts. According to "Billboard", at this point in his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life".


title: Slim Shady EP

text: In 1996, his debut album "Infinite", which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. "Infinite" achieved little commercial success and was largely ignored by Detroit radio stations, such as WJLB (97.9 FM in Detroit), and in specific tracks Eminem raps explicitly about this problem, like in "Just Don't Give a Fuck" "If I Had" and "Low Down, Dirty". The disappointment from this experience greatly influenced his lyrical style: "After that record, every rhyme I wrote got angrier and angrier. A lot of it was because of the feedback I got. Motherfuckers was like, 'You're a white boy, what the fuck are you rapping for? Why don't you go into rock & roll?' All that type of shit started pissing me off." After the release of "Infinite", Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in a suicide attempt: all these troubles became main themes of "Slim Shady EP".


title: Slim Shady EP

text: The disappointment of "Infinite" inspired Eminem to create the alter ego Slim Shady: "Boom, the name hit me, and right away I thought of all these words to rhyme with it". Slim Shady served as Eminem's vent for his frustrations, and in 1997, he released the horrorcore extended play entitled "Slim Shady EP" simultaneously on cassette, vinyl, and CD. During this time, Eminem and his wife Kim Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood with their newborn daughter Hailie, where their house was burglarized numerous times. After being evicted from his home, Eminem traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the Rap Olympics, an annual nationwide rap battle competition. He placed second, and the staff at Interscope Records who attended the Rap Olympics sent a copy of the "Slim Shady EP" to company CEO Jimmy Iovine. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. Dr. Dre recalled, "In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I said, 'Find him. Now.'" Eminem and Dr. Dre subsequently began work on his major-label debut album "The Slim Shady LP".


title: Slim Shady EP

text: The cover depicts the opening intro as well as the first track, in which Slim Shady awakens Eminem and orders him to look in the mirror to see that he is "nothing without him". Eminem resists and screams in the background while Slim Shady yells back and laughs at Eminem's horror. By the second track, Eminem and Slim Shady become the same person. Eminem is also ordered by "Slim Shady" to look into the mirror, and the sound of glass breaking is heard, alluding once again to the cover. The art also bears a similarity to Black Flag's 1981 debut album, "Damaged".


title: Slim Shady EP

text: According to an interview with Zane Lowe, Eminem made 500 copies of the EP, but sold only slightly higher than 250. Though rare, reviews of the EP were generally mixed to positive. AllMusic gave the EP two and a half out of five stars without a written review. "XXL", despite originally giving the EP three out of five stars "L" rating, listed it on their "100 Most Essential Rap EPs of All Time – The Best of the Short & Sweet" list. Eminem was featured in the March 1998 edition of "The Source" magazine's (#102), "Unsigned Hype" column. The author of the column highlighted two tracks from Eminem's "Slim Shady EP": "Just the Two of Us", and "Murder, Murder".


title: Oh Jung-se

text: Oh Jung-se (born February 26, 1977) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series "Missing 9" (2017), "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), "Hot Stove League" (2019), and "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" (2020) as well as the film "Swing Kids" (2018). He won Baeksang Arts Award for Best Supporting Actor – Television two years in row in 2020 and 2021.


title: Oliver Masucci

text: Oliver Masucci (born 6 December 1968) is a German actor. He is best known internationally for the role of Adolf Hitler in the 2015 film adaptation of the satirical novel "Look Who's Back", Ulrich Nielsen in the Netflix series "Dark," Anton Vogel in "".


title: Oliver Masucci

text: He was born in Stuttgart, but raised in Bonn. His father is Italian, his mother German. The family ran several restaurants in Bonn. He has three children.


title: Oliver Masucci

text: Masucci played Adolf Hitler in "Er ist wieder da" ("Look Who's Back"), adapted from the book of the same name. Some scenes were unscripted and consisted of filming the reactions of people on the street to Masucci as he traveled the country dressed up as Hitler. Masucci was surprised to find that many people acted as if they were glad to see the Nazi leader. He has used the opportunity to speak out against racism. The role earned him a nomination as best actor in a leading role at the Deutscher Filmpreis in 2016.


title: Oliver Masucci

text: Masucci became famous for his 2017 to 2020 role as Ulrich Nielsen on Netflix’s German language time travel show "Dark". “‘For the world, of course, I became famous with "Dark". And that was pretty nice, because I have friends everywhere now. When I go to Rome, I get treated very well in the restaurants, and I get treated very well on the streets in New York. No one’s screaming and shouting, and I hope it will never be that way, because for the moment, this is quite nice,’ says Masucci.”


title: Oliver Masucci

text: Masucci portrayed German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the 2020 film "Enfant Terrible" directed by Oskar Roehler.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Victor E. Tayback (January 6, 1930 – May 25, 1990) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Mel Sharples in the film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974) and the television series "Alice" (1976–1985). The latter earned him two consecutive Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Tayback was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Helen (née Hanood) and Najeeb James Tayback. His parents were immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. He moved with his family to Burbank, California during his teenage years and attended Burbank High School, from which he graduated in 1947. He also attended Glendale Community College and the Frederick A. Speare School of Radio and TV Broadcasting.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Tayback served in the United States Navy before beginning his acting career at the age of 25. A lifetime member of the Actors Studio, he was a familiar face on television in the 1960s and 1970s, appearing on numerous series, including "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "", "Bonanza", "Here Come the Brides", "That Girl" , "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "The Partridge Family", "All in the Family", "Gunsmoke", "Fantasy Island", "Columbo", and "The Love Boat". He also appeared in many films such as "Bullitt" (1968), "Papillon" (1973), "The Gambler" (1974), "The Cheap Detective" (1978), and "All Dogs Go to Heaven" (1989), as well as more than 25 stage productions, including "Twelve Angry Men", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "Death of a Salesman", and "Brighton Beach Memoirs". He was the co-founder of the theater troupe Company of Angels.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Tayback's most famous role was diner owner Mel Sharples in both the film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974) and the television series "Alice" (1976–1985). He was the only actor in the original film to reprise his role for the rest of the series. For the role, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1978 and won two consecutive Golden Globe Awards in 1980 and 1981.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Tayback was married to Sheila Maureen Barnard (1932–2001) from March 16, 1963, until his death on May 25, 1990. They had a son, Christopher (born 1963), who is a business trial lawyer and former prosecutor.


title: Vic Tayback

text: Tayback died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in Glendale, California on May 25, 1990. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).


title: Vic Tayback

text: Putt, Jr., Barry M. (2019). "Alice: Life Behind the Counter in Mel's Greasy Spoon (A Guide to the Feature Film, the TV Series, and More)". Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. .


title: Waking Life

text: Waking Life is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. It is centered on a young man who wanders through a succession of dream-like realities wherein he encounters a series of individuals who engage in insightful philosophical discussions.


title: Waking Life

text: The entire film was digitally rotoscoped. It contains several parallels to Linklater's 1991 film "Slacker". Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their characters from the 1995 "Before Sunrise" in one scene. "Waking Life" premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and was released on October 19, 2001, where it received critical acclaim; however, it underperformed at the box office.


title: Waking Life

text: An unnamed young man lives an ethereal existence that lacks transitions between everyday events and eventually progresses toward an existential crisis. He observes quietly but later participates actively in philosophical discussions involving other characters—ranging from quirky scholars and artists to everyday restaurant-goers and friends—about such issues as metaphysics, free will, social philosophy, and the meaning of life. Other scenes do not even include the protagonist's presence but rather focus on a random isolated person, a group of people, or a couple engaging in such topics from a disembodied perspective. Along the way, the film also touches upon existentialism, situationist politics, posthumanity, the film theory of André Bazin, and lucid dreaming, and makes references to various celebrated intellectual and literary figures by name.


title: Waking Life

text: Gradually, the protagonist begins to realize that he is living out a perpetual dream, broken up only by occasional false awakenings. So far, he is mostly a passive onlooker, though this changes during a chat with a passing woman who suddenly approaches him. After she greets him and shares her creative ideas with him, he reminds himself that she is a figment of his own dreaming imagination. Afterward, he starts to converse more openly with other dream characters, but he begins to despair about being trapped in a dream.


title: Waking Life

text: The protagonist's final talk is with a character (played by Richard Linklater) whom he briefly encountered previously in the film. This last conversation reveals this other character's view that reality may be only a single instant that the individual interprets falsely as time (and, thus, life); that living is simply the individual's constant negation of God's invitation to become one with the universe; that dreams offer a glimpse into the infinite nature of reality; and that in order to be free from the illusion called life, the individual need only accept God's invitation.


title: Waking Life

text: The protagonist is last seen walking into a driveway when he suddenly begins to levitate, paralleling a scene at the start of the film of a floating child in the same driveway. The protagonist uncertainly reaches toward a car's handle but is too swiftly lifted above the vehicle and over the trees. He rises into the endless blue expanse of the sky until he disappears from view.


title: Waking Life

text: In a 2001 interview, Linklater estimated that the idea for the film came "before I was even interested in film, probably 20 years ago." For a while he felt the idea for the film "didn't quite work" calling it "too blunt, too realistic" stating that "I think to make a realistic film about an unreality the film had to be a realistic unreality". To create that visual effect, Linklater used an animation technique based on rotoscoping, in which animators overlaid the live-action footage shot by Linklater with animation that roughly approximates the images actually filmed. Linklater employed a variety of artists, so the movie's feel continually changes, producing a surreal, shifting dreamscape.


title: Waking Life

text: The animators used standard Apple Macintosh computers. The film was mostly produced using Rotoshop, a rotoscoping program that creates blends between key frame vector shapes, which also uses virtual "layers", designed specifically for the production by Bob Sabiston. Linklater used this animation method again for his 2006 film "A Scanner Darkly".


title: Waking Life

text: "Waking Life" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2001 and was given a limited release in the United States on October 19, 2001.


title: Waking Life

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 145 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The website's critical consensus reads: ""Waking Life"s inventive animated aesthetic adds a distinctive visual component to a film that could easily have rested on its smart screenplay and talented ensemble cast." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film four stars out of four, describing it as "a cold shower of bracing, clarifying ideas". Ebert later included the film on his list of "Great Movies". Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" awarded the film an "A" rating, calling it "a work of cinematic art in which form and structure pursue the logic-defying (parallel) subjects of dreaming and moviegoing," while Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" wrote it was "so verbally dexterous and visually innovative that you can't absorb it unless you have all your wits about you". Dave Kehr of "The New York Times" found the film to be "lovely, fluid, funny" and stated that it "never feels heavy or over-ambitious".


title: Waking Life

text: Conversely, J. Hoberman of "The Village Voice" felt that "Waking Life" "doesn't leave you in a dream... so much as it traps you in an endless bull session". Frank Lovece felt the film was "beautifully drawn" but called its content "pedantic navel-gazing".


title: Waking Life

text: In 2018, Richard Linklater addressed the potentially controversial inclusion of Alex Jones in the film. In an interview with IndieWire, Linklater states, "I just thought he was kind of funny." He notes that he never imagined Jones would one day be taken seriously and that at the time, he didn't think much of including him.


title: Waking Life

text: Nominated for numerous awards, mainly for its technical achievements, "Waking Life" won the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Experimental Film", the New York Film Critics Circle award for "Best Animated Film", and the "CinemAvvenire" award at the Venice Film Festival for "Best Film". It was also nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival's main award.


title: Waking Life

text: The film was released on DVD in North America in May 2002. Special features included several commentaries, documentaries, interviews, trailers, and deleted scenes, as well as the short film "Snack and Drink". A bare-bones DVD with no special features was released in Region 2 in February 2003. A Blu-Ray was released in Germany and the UK.


title: Waking Life

text: The "Waking Life OST" was performed and written by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra, except for Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2. The soundtrack was relatively successful. Featuring the nuevo tango style, it bills itself "the 21st Century Tango". The tango contributions were influenced by the music of the Argentine "father of new tango" Astor Piazzolla.


title: Morgellons

text: Morgellons () is the informal name of a self-diagnosed, scientifically unsubstantiated skin condition in which individuals have sores that they believe contain fibrous material. Morgellons is not well understood, but the general medical consensus is that it is a form of delusional parasitosis, on the psychiatric spectrum. The sores are typically the result of compulsive scratching, and the fibers, when analysed, are consistently found to have originated from cotton and other textiles.