I Try Asda's Easter Gooey Chocolate Spread

I bought an Easter-themed spread from Asda the other day.

I had a feeling the Easter Gooey Chocolate Spread would remind me of Cadbury's Creme Eggs. 

Bad assumption on my part. It didn't.

By the time I had spread the product over my toast, the 'yolk' (yellow part of the spread) had vanished. I was left with.. well, I was left with chocolate spread.

And that's all it was. Chocolate spread which looks prettier when you look at its jar. 

It's pointless. Buy regular chocolate spread instead.

Wales Out Of World Cup Contention

Wales have boycotted the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

I kid.

They won't be off to the Americas for this summer's tournament following their elimination in a qualifying playoff last night.

After going 1-0 up, and holding the lead, they ended up letting Bosnia-Herzegovina score in the closing moments of regulation. 

With the game still tied after extra time, penalties decided Wales' fate.

Just like in the game itself, Wales were ahead at one point but ended up losing momentum at the most imperfect time.

And that's that. 

For two to four years.

25 Years Ago Tonight.

25 Years ago tonight.

That's how long it has been since the last episode of WCW Monday Nitro aired on TV.

I was quite bemused, the other day, when it dawned on me how long it had been since the infamous episode of WCW's flagship programme went off the air for good. 

That week's instalment aired a few days after Vince McMahon's Titan Sports bought out the WWF's main competitors.

McMahon appeared on Nitro via a live link up from where the WWF was filming WWE Monday Night Raw.

It was quite surreal to see the two shows merged at certain points during the night. Especially in the closing angle which had Vince McMahon brag about owning the competition only for Vince's son - Shane - to appear live from the WCW ring to announce that it was he who had purchased WCW from under his dad's nose.

The simulcast ended with a fuming Vince and a happy Shane mere weeks before the pair would do battle against each other at WrestleMania XVII.

All an angle. Obviously.

I think it's safe to state that the world of professional wrestling has never been the same, good and definitely bad, since those few days in March 2001.

A Couple Of Heroes, A Couple Of Links

Yesterday was quite a day for a couple of my heroes from the past.

As noted in the most recent post, I realised it was Peyton Manning's 50th birthday. I wrote about how he is my favourite American football player ever and linked to the post from over twelve years ago when I shared my experience of receiving his autograph in the mail from the GOAT.

Another bit of news from yesterday was wrestling-related.

Sid Eudy, who worked for some of the top promotions during the 1980s into the early 2000s will be posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in a few weeks.

Sid Vicious, Sid Justice or whatever other name he would be known as, was one of my favourite wrestlers back in the day.

I wrote a huge blog post about Sid shortly after his passing. I think that highlights just how much of a fan I am.

I obviously welcome the news of Sid being honoured during WrestleMania Week. It'll be nice for his family to experience it all. It would have been cooler to have seen Sid take the stage himself, though. I'm not pointing fingers. It could have been a combination of reasons why WWE didn't choose Sid sooner. It could have also been a choice Sid made to not accept any earlier invitations.

Yesterday's couple of news items aren't just linked by me being a fan of both men. Another thing I thought was cool about the coincidence of them both are linked to a certain building.

Sid headlined Indianapolis' Hoosier Dome for his match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VIII in April of 1992. Manning is also tied to that stadium because that's where he began his pro football career as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts.

Sid Justice at the Hoosier Dome in 1992

18 Turns 50

I didn't have a plan for today's post, when I was sat at my laptop this morning. I concluded I would wait until later in the day. See if something in the news inspired me.

Well, look what we have here:

Peyton Manning is 50 years old today.

If you've followed this blog throughout its entire twenty-plus years, you will - without a doubt - know that Manning is my favourite American football player of all time.

One of my favourite possessions, as a sports fan, is the signed autograph Manning sent to me twelve years ago. You can read all about it IN THIS POST.

Backstage Pass By David Sahadi

If I were to rank the opening titles of WWE Monday Night Raw, from its entire thirty-three year history, high at the top of such a list would be the late-1995 open which had a ring set up on the roof of WWF's then headquarters - Titan Towers. The action-packed intro saw the top stars of that period wrestle in the abnormal setting.

Speaking of peculiar surroundings - the intro from a few years after that, with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin walking into a derelict warehouse accompanied to the sound of sirens before the Raw is War theme tune fully kicks in, would be right up there close to the 1995 sequence.

Both of those intros came from the mind of David Sahadi, who worked for the World Wrestling Federation between 1992 and 2003 as one of the main behind the scenes personnel on the production arm of the company.

Sahadi has recently published a book about his life and career in the crazy world of professional wrestling. 

Backstage Pass: Tales from Behind the Squared Circle covers Sahadi's early roots working for NBC Sports right through to his recent gig working as an executive producer for Court Bauer's Major League Wrestling.

As a huge fan of the WWF/E's content from the 1980s right through to this very day, I found the pages of Sahadi's time working for the McMahon Empire to be the most intriguing.

Before reading the autobiography, I came across a few Good Reads and NetGalley reviews which suggests Sahadi comes across as boastful of his career achievements. One went so far as to point out that he bragged about people crying at some of the videos he produced for the then WWF.

I feel it necessary to add something to those suggestions after reading Sahadi's book for myself.

Yes, I did find that Sahadi boosted himself up at certain points in his book. However, there are moments which capture a humble Sahadi. The main example is how he expresses his deep love for his father. You can see the man just by the tribute he shares of his times with his father. Those struck me.

As for the part about how Sahadi appears to make people emotional - the part in the book which highlights that the most is when Sahadi recounts Vince McMahon's reaction to the video the director produced in 1998 which contained a plethora of old school wrestlers from an age earlier. Filmed mostly in black-and-white, the promo has the old school wrestlers talk about their days contrasted with the styles of the new period. 

It truly is one of my favourite wrestling adverts ever, so I was fascinated to learn that it was Sahadi's idea. 

Sahadi writes that Vince McMahon broke down in tears after first witnessing the video. This reader wasn't in the room, but - I have a strong opinion the author was not using licence when he painted this scene of McMahon's reaction.

I believe it happened considering the people in the video are from Vince McMahon's father's era.

Another fascinating part of Sahadi's story is how he witnessed the rise of Dwayne Johnson from a humble third generation wrestler having left college football to pursue a career in the WWF to becoming a Hollywood star.

The professional relationship between the wrestler and director didn't end well.

Sahadi details how Johnson became difficult to work with once he became a movie star. Sahadi felt disrespected by The Rock's lax attitude to getting a film project shot in the limited time he was available.

Following his departure from WWE, Sahadi eventually found employment from then opposition: TNA Wrestling.

Sahadi shares his experiences with TNA. He was there for a lot of the biggest moments in that company's history.  Going from memory: the Hard Justice 2006 fire, Kurt Angle .vs. Samoa Joe, Hulk Hogan's TNA era, the failed Monday Night Wars II experiment, the Vince Russo controversies and more are all spotlighted in this memoir. 

I've grown used to reading professional wrestling content from wrestlers, promoters and others within the industry. With Backstage Pass, it was unique to read about the topic from the viewpoint of someone who worked in production.

A professional wrestling autobiography with a view from a different lens, if you will.

⭐⭐⭐/5

Thanks to ECW Press for giving me an advanced reading copy of Backstage Pass: Tales from Beyond the Squared Circle. The title was released on March 10 2026.

Order Backstage Pass by David Sahadi from Amazon UK

Riding Coke's Nostalgia Train, I Try Cherry Float Coca-Cola

Look what I tried last night.

It's the new offering from Coca-Cola to the UK market.

Cherry Float absolutely intrigued me, when I first learned of the flavour''s existence. That's because Cherry Coke is my favourite version of Coca-Cola. I also enjoy Vanilla Coke. So, it was more than a win-win to see that this flavour is doing the rounds in this country of ours.

Upon opening the can, I sensed a smell of cherries very unlike the strong cherry aroma those who take whiffs of Cherry Coke upon popping open a can or twisting a bottle get (I hope you know what I mean). 

The best way I can describe the aroma is it was like glacé cherries. Yes, it was like those. A rich, mature cherry scent.

It didn't last long, however. Vanilla came along and overpowered my sniffing senses.

Drinking from the can offered a similar experience.

On the first sip, I sensed the cherry. On my second go, I caught the vanilla. That cycle repeated many times. 

Cherry.

Vanilla.

Cherry.

Vanilla.

To be fair, it was quite an experience. A collision of my two favourite Coca-Cola flavours in what seemed like a fair rotation. 

Coca-Cola states that the drink 'blends bold cherry and creamy vanilla' and is 'designed to mimic a nostalgic ice cream soda fountain drink'.

I can't answer for the nostalgia part of that mission statement. I can when it comes to the vanilla flavour being creamy and especially for the boldness of the cherry.

This a winner. 

Will I try it again? Of course - I bought an eight pack. But, even if I had only one sample can, I would go out of my way to have more.

It was a refreshing collision of tastes. I hope it sticks around for a while.