10 Thoughts on Sports, Entertainment, LeBron James & Wrestling Kings

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In all but one city across America tonight, LeBron James turned heel by choosing the easy way out. He has now joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the new power trio in the NBA, and for this new age dream team on this historic night, there is nothing but blue skies and sandy beaches in their professional and personal futures.

So ‘The Decision’ has finally been made, and we can thankfully move forward from here. Before we do, however, I thought there was no better way to extend the discussion about the circus that has been the LeBron James saga than to look at some of the Kings of Sports, Entertainment and Wrestling that have captivated many of us over the years.

For the most part, I’ll let the video clips speak for themselves, unless I feel some extra explanation is needed, in this edition of 10 Thoughts:

10 Thoughts on Sports, Entertainment, LeBron James & Wrestling Kings

1. The King and The Duck: In the movie “White Men Can’t Jump”, Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes play basketball hustlers who team together to win some cash while talking smack to their opponents (and each other).

Their biggest challenge – stepping up in a 2-on-2 tournament to unseat street ball legends The King and The Duck. That’s right, long before Lebron James came alone, The King and The Duck were basketball royalty, until Woody and Wesley took their throne in this climactic scene:

2. The Burger King: With sly tricks and savvy moves, The Burger King has become a staple in the pop culture landscape. I especially enjoy seeing him put his football skills to good use:

3. King Kong Bundy: Too bad Bundy wasn’t used on this season of Half Pint Brawlers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3zfe-X2THQ

4. King Harley Race: One of the best ‘Kings’ in the history or pro wrestling, and no, I am not talking about Joe Mirto (God I miss local jobbers, and the Heenan Family faction, too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TabYl0pBoME

5. Jerry “The King” Lawler: Long before he was blabbering about “puppies”, Jerry “The King” Lawler was one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the world. Here’s one of my favorite clips that recaps the first part of his historic, well-documented feud with the late, GREAT, Andy Kaufman:

6. “The Macho King” Randy Savage: The Macho King was one of my favorite Savage gimmicks / heel turns during his WWF run, and I absolutely loved this coronation:

7. The King of the Ring Tournament: The King of the Ring tournament certainly lost its luster over the years, but none of us will forget one of the most memorable breakout pro wrestling promos of all-time, as uttered at KOTR by Stone Cold Steve Austin:

8. Triple H, The King of Kings: He’s been Hunter Hearst Helmsley, The Game, The Cerebral Assassin, and of course, The King of Kings. I’m talking about none other than Triple H, and while the King of Kings wasn’t the best gimmick in the world, it produced one of the most unintentionally funny entrances ever, as part of WrestleMania XXII:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO7x1MgBb4A

9. King Booker (pronounced “Book-ahh”): Long after he was G.I. Bro and somewhat before he was the most unintelligible member of the Main Event Mafia, Booker T actually found a sweet spot for his character when he became King Booker. I especially loved moments like the one shown below, when the King just couldn’t contain his formal mannerisms and resorted to old Booker-speak when he got angry:

10. And yes, King James himself: So here we are to the end of this edition of 10 Thoughts, and by now LeBron has announced to the world that King James will be relocating his castle to South Beach. However, last I checked, Dwyane Wade is already royalty in Miami, and so for now, perhaps it is only right that the King takes off his crown and relinquishes his throne to his championship-winning teammate.

After all, no matter what LeBron does in Miami, Wade will always have one more championship on his mantle than James, and so the King, by his own decision, has been usurped.

For the Cleveland fans who feel like they have been stabbed in the back, well, there’s always these memories, no matter how empty they seem today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eSThPrEt5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-9TAoPPgKQ

This has been 10 Thoughts.

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.