I wanted to share with you how a grumpy guy over 40 who’s fandoms was born before the turn of the century found a new community and fell in love with a movie trivia sports sensation.
I routinely watch The Movie Trivia Schmoedown with my family at least twice a week. It has become something that my daughters and I bond over. On car rides, they want to play and have me quiz them on films that they have seen. Balancing true stumpers with what they should know is tough at times, but it also builds their comprehension skills. It also gives me a great obsession to share my love of film with them.
My film obsession started at an early age. I was three when my parents took me and my younger brother to see The Empire Strikes Back in theaters. My brother wasn’t even 2 yet and cried throughout the movie. My mother had to bring him out to the lobby to calm him. I sat next to my father. The chair and screen were huge. My father towered next to me I was no taller than his elbow. He routinely checked on me, but my eyes were glued to the screen. When it ended, he asked me my thoughts? I asked him if it was possible that the bad man in the black suit was Luke’s dad. He responded that we will find out in the next one.
My experience with my daughters is very similar. Sometimes I show them questionable movies for their ages. Neither of them has completed their first decade of life yet. Recently we have watched Goonies, Ghostbuster (1984), and Jaws. Upon rewatch I realized there are several inappropriate language and scenes that I did not remember. One of the hazards of watching these movies on cable with commercials all of these years. Jaws should seem obvious, but after watching Ghostbusters with the foul language, the idea of a shark doing what a shark does was an easier road. They also believe the shark is the hero of the story as its only acting like a shark.
So how does the Schmoedown fit in?
As a self-professed film geek, I have always followed movie news and behind the scenes specials. Back in 2012, I was working for a social media marketing company. During a meeting, we discussed the merits of YouTube and studying influencers on the platform. I chose entertainment news for obvious reasons. First, I sought out people I knew. Coming of age in the ’90s there was no greater influence in my life than Kevin Smith.
I was an overweight kid from a suburb on Long Island who aspired to make films. It really wasn’t a far reach to relate to a guy from Red Bank, New Jersey. After seeing Clerks and reading the story of how Kevin Smith maxed out his credit cards to make it, I was in awe.
Watching Kevin Smith on his channel I was introduced to some great personalities. The first time I heard the name Jon Schnepp was on a Kevin Smith YouTube show. (Thank you, Schnepp, for coining the phrase sweaty and recreating the back of the comic book shop conversation experience) I also followed Kevin Smith onto other shows; most notably Screen Junkies Movie Fights.
It was on that show that I would discover The Schmoes. Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis. I continued down the rabbit hole and found the Schmoes channel, The Schmoes Live Show, Jedi Council, Movie talk and The Movie Trivia Schmoedown The Schmoedown was unlike anything I had ever seen. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine a show that merges so many of my loves in one place.
At the forefront was movie trivia. The trivia ranged from information found on the DVD art to sincerely deep cuts. The matches were competitive which played into my affection for sports. Like baseball and football, the outcomes were very much real and the games took a level of strategy and understanding to play. The last aspect was the most intriguing to me. The Schmoedown would also utilize a storytelling element not too dissimilar from professional wrestling. Now I have seen some pushback on the storyline dramatization element of The Schmoedown, but for my money, this was a major differentiator.
Suddenly I was discovering personalities that I would have never known before. My work-study was long over at this point, but I continued to follow The Schmoedown. Whether it was “The Outlaw” John Rocha paying homage to the Rock with a heelish (villainous) persona that oozed charisma or Mark “Yodi” Reilly balancing likeability with a rough and aggressive heroic streak comparable to the earliest incarnations of Superman.
One of the competitors who caught my eye was “Classy” Clarke Wolfe. I am a huge horror fan and watching Clarke on shows like Collider Nightmares reminded me of horror (or as I would learn from Clarke, genre) champions Vincent Price and Elvira. Clarke is the ultimate host and her knowledge and her passion for film was obvious from the get-go.
Clarke Wolfe is also a fierce competitor and she wears her passion on her sleeve. Clarke takes her losses hard and she is equally proud of her wins. She is very easy to root for. As both a singles competitor or with her partner Mark Reilly as the Wolves of Steel, I was always behind them. It helped having Rocha and Matt Knost and later the Patriots, JTE and Jeff Sneider as monster heels.
I primarily watched the show at night after everyone went to bed. It was my “Me Time” show. I would watch older episodes some nights and newer ones when they premiered. I watched the show grow over time. When William “The Beast Bibbiani” and Drew “The Godfather” McWeeny debuted, I jumped out of my chair. I had read articles by them over the years. They were legends in my eyes.
Around this time, I was sitting with my daughters at breakfast and all of a sudden, my oldest is sitting there and said, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! T’S TIME FOR THE MOVIE TRIVIA SCHMOEDOWN!!!” I asked her where she heard that, and she told me that she never would fall asleep right away and she could hear me watching it from her bedroom. I always tried to keep the volume low enough, but that deep throat on Kristian always breaks the glass. She asked me what the Schmoedown was and became intrigued after my explanation.
Knowing my girls would relate to the women competing against men and hoping it would inspire them, I let them watch a Brianne Chandler match. My girls fell in love right away. I posted about it on Facebook and Brianne was amazing. The girls love her to this day, and I am very appreciative for her generosity. My girls wanted to see more Schmoedown. I could not wait to introduce them to this new team, The Shirewolves. Rachel Cushing and Clarke Wolfe are superheroes in my girl’s eyes. Watching their matches with the girls are extra special. Whether they win or lose or even if they were to turn heel, my girls are with them. I have seen it first hand with Charlotte Flair in the WWE. In their words, “Daddy, we like who we like.” When the Shirewolves lost to the Odd Couple, the blow was softened because “We’re happy for Marc Andreyko. He really deserves to win a title.”
Wrestling has not pushed past the gender gap for them the way the Schmoedown does. They truly see it as an equal footing for men and women and that really resonates with them. On any given day they will give a list as long as the Schmoedown roster on who their favorites are. Before the New York Live Show in January, they had their favorites, but their VIP experience during the event has really opened their eyes.
My original plan was to go to Brooklyn alone as we were unsure if the girls would sit through an entire Schmoedown event. I was also unemployed at the time and I was trying to stretch every dollar. I had one general admission ticket that I had purchased when tickets first went on sale. During holiday break the kids begged to go to the Schmoedown and I scrambled on the Facebook page. Kristian Harloff and Brianne Chandler were a huge help in tagging me when somebody would say that tickets were available. I was able to secure VIP tickets through Schmoedown fans, Geoff Alterman and Nico Regoli. I am forever grateful.
The girls were so excited. They knew I used to make up signs for wrestling events and asked me to do that for the Schmoedown. They told me what signs they wanted to be made up and I added a couple of my own. We took the train into Brooklyn. It was very cold that day. I sent my wife and daughters to meet everyone in VIP since we only had three tickets. When the show started, and I joined them at the I was blown away by how kind everyone was. They were talking so fast when I sat down. Jay Washington, Jeannine “The Machine” Bryce, Rachel Cushing (their hero), Josh Macuga, Mark Ellis, and Kristian Harloff were all so kind and generous with their time during the VIP. During the pre-show, Josh Macuga melted this old fogey’s heart by calling out to the girls from the stage. He was as excited as they were, and I will never forget that. After the show, we saw we took a picture with everyone. At the time Mike Kalinowski was the Innergeekdom champ and he walked the title over for the girls to hold. They may root for Rachel, but they are always happy when Mike wins.
One of the things I try and instill with them with the Schmoedown is that we don’t root against anybody. We can have a preference on who we root for, but it takes a lot of hard work and preparation to play the Schmoedown and we are always happy for a player’s victory.
After the New York event I was watching Collider Live (As I do every day, whether live or on delay) and fell beside myself when I saw Kristian pull out the posters that we had made for the Schmoedown. He is one of the most generous and genuine people out there and he makes it so damn easy to get behind him.
Once I found a job, I was compelled to support whoever I could on Patreon. While I was unemployed, I cut my bills greatly and instead of resubscribing to services I barely use I decided instead to try and support those who help keep my spirits up during the most trying of times. It is my small way of saying thank you.
Through Patreon I have connected with the most amazing community. I have gotten really close with DJ Snaxx, David “the Spaniard,” Dollface, and Mattie Whitty to name a few. They even started up a fan league that has given me the opportunity to write questions, develop storylines, shoot cut scenes, and compete. Everyone there is terrific, and we are truly trying to pay homage to everyone involved with the Schmoedown.
Most recently we watched Schmoedown Collision III the weekend it debuted (one of the perks of being a Patron) and were blown away. It was truly a mega event and the finale had my daughter leaping out of her seat.
Collision III opened with The Manager Bowl. My daughters noted how competitive everyone was in the match. You compete as much against the questions asked as you do against your competitor. Eric Zipper finally had the opportunity to shine and push his score to something that more accurately represents his knowledge. Stacy Howard was solid as always and made the table work for the win. John Rocha continues to be one of the most consistent stars in the Schmoedown. Jeannine “The Machine” almost had the signature moment that has so far escaped her but is inevitable. Drew McWeeny won the day and continues his journey to make a statement in Season 6, the Magic Season.
Next up was the much anticipated Innergeekdom number one contender match. Rising from the fan leagues, Kevin Smets has been one of the most impressive rookies in Schmoedown history. Smets “the Smasher” is off to a fast start with 2 knockouts and a TKO. Zoe and Kara are huge Dungeonheads. Kara slaps on a hoody after almost every match and asks to record Facebook reactions. The match was everything it was billed as and more. When he fell in his first loss to Kalinowski we were heartbroken for him but equally ecstatic for Kalinowski. We have been talking about the preparation and pressure they both have had leading into this match. The girls even noted that Mike has the arduous task of preparing for mega-matches against The Founding Fathers and Jeannine “The Machine.” These competitors need a series of matches to settle this score. We can’t wait to watch Kalinowski vs Cushing on Livestream July 20th at Comic-Con!!!
The girls were so invested in the Paul Oyama vs Liz Shannon Miller match. They really want to see somebody new take on Dan Murrell. We all love Dan so much between his knowledge, sportsmanship, and genuine kindness. The kids were fast to point out how much better Miller did in this match. They are really grasping the idea that it’s the questions asked as much as it’s what you know. Oyama put a stamp on the legitimacy of fan leagues with his win and now gets to live the dream of taking on the GOAT.
The evening finished up with the much-anticipated rematch of The Team Champions, Roxy Striar’s The Odd Couple against the Shirewolves. You could cut the tension in my living room with a knife. The girls were exhausted, but they could not go to bed without knowing the outcome of this match. As Jim Ross would say, “this one is a back and forth slobber knocker!” When the Shirewolves finally emerged, victorious Zoe exploded out of her seat and did a dance. A very exhausted Kara said in a tired voice, “I am so happy for them. I’m going to bed now.”
Summer is just starting, and we are almost wishing it away so we can go and see everyone the August 31 New York event! I implore all fans to help support the Schmoedown any way you can. Whether it’s by Patreon or Liking, Commenting, and Sharing Schmoedown videos. Even the smallest efforts help grow the league and to some of us, this league is something we bond with our families over.
