Friendly Encounters: Jim Strong, John Witte, Dana Dixon and Ryan Andrews

Friendly Encounters is a weekly series about friends who have met celebrities.

This Friendly Encounter is a hodgepodge of worlds colliding.  The Chicago Bliss, Johngy's Beat, Resistance Pro and a photographer friend combined for a fun night.
The Chicago Bliss "invaded" RPro in the summer of 2014.  That was one of the most fun nights I ever had at RPro.  It was also a bit surreal.  I am happy to have had a hand in putting those two great organizations together.
Assistant Coach Ryan Andrews showed his support by arriving in Johngy gear.  Long-time convention colleague, photographer Jim Strong also wore the Johngy shirt.  That's a lot of orange and a lot of Johngy.  I snapped the photo below, which also included Assistant Coach John Witte and Bliss player Dana Dixon.
These are good people and I am proud to call them friends.  These are also people who have become friends with each other.  Worlds colliding, worlds meshing.

Jim Strong, Dana Dixon, John Witte and Ryan Andrews in Willowbrook, IL-July 2014.

On the Beat with Dana Lorraine of the Chicago Bliss

Dana Lorraine was a player on the Chicago Bliss teams that won the last two Legends Football League championships.  Dana decided to step away from the on-field action for this season, but she is not stepping away from the Bliss.

Dana will be involved in many aspects of the Bliss organization.  She will be doing some marketing and promotion, as well as some other "office" work.  As a former player, Dana will be an asset to the team's front office.  She can also lend a hand at practices.

In our interview below, we talked about Dana's time playing with the Bliss, along with some other fun topics, like if she will miss hitting people.  Dana might not be playing this season, but she will be very visible around the team.

This concludes our first round of interviews with the Bliss.  The first game of the season is this evening, against the Atlanta Steam.  Sat tuned here for more coverage all season.  For more information and updates, check out LFLUS.com or the Chicago Bliss Facebook page.

On the Beat at Resistance Pro's "The Mob Rules"

Every Resistance Pro Wrestling show is a fun event, but "The Mob Rules" was a special night and not because of the wrestling.  This night belonged to Emily Anne Lundvall.
Emily is a friend of RPro and a Special Olympian.  She recently won gold and silver medals and the folks at RPro decided to honor her with a special award presentation.  The applause for Emily rivaled that of any wrestler and brought chills to everyone there.  It truly was a wonderful night.

I was proud to get interviews with Kathy Lundvall, Emily's mother, and Aaron Hirthe, Emily's coach.  Each spoke of what this all means to them and Emily.

I got my first interview with "Simply Sexy" Shawn Blaze, a relative newcomer to RPro.  Hopefully this is the first of many as he climbs the RPro ladder.

Marshe Rockett has been climbing the RPro ladder for a while and he is poised near the top.  Special Correspondent Jonathan McMahon interviewed Mr. M80.

I also finally got an interview with "The Inspiration" Brady Pierce.  The strong, quiet member of Body Magic seems to have a bright future at RPro and we discussed plenty of topics.

RPro's very own Eric St. Vaughn took over the interview duties and landed Chicago Bliss coaches John Witte and Ryan Andrews, along with Bliss star Dana Lorraine.  The RPro-Bliss connection has been a fun one for all.  We are looking forward to celebrating their next LFL title at a future RPro show.

Lastly, I got a special interview with Justin King of King Cobra.  Justin gave me a rare calm look at his career to this point.  All was going well, until his brother Head Referee Robert King appeared.  Then things got real interesting.
I hope you enjoy these videos.  I hope you come to "The Real Thing" this Sunday.  You will not be disappointed!

On the Beat with the Chicago Bliss-06/23/2014

At Monday's Chicago Bliss practice, we landed interviews with three rookies.  Bridget McDonnell and DiA'ndra Frye have appeared here before, but we also got Dana Lorraine, one of the newest members of the Bliss organization.

All three rookies gave us their thoughts on the upcoming game in Las Vegas.  Bridget even gave a little happy dance because she will be in uniform for the game.  Congrats to her.  It is well-deserved.

All three athletes gave predictions on the game.  Obviously they are calling for a Bliss win, but they also mentioned victory margins.  Okay, I might have pushed that a bit, but they all eventually put numbers to the predicted win.  For the record, I am calling for a 14 point win.  I'm thinking 28-14.

This isn't about me though.  It is about the tough and beautiful women of the Bliss.  After you watch these three interviews, check out the ladies on their various social media sources.  Also check out the whole team at LFLUS.com and LFL360.com.