title: Bill Ayers

text: On September 23, 2010, William Ayers was unanimously denied emeritus status by the University of Illinois, after a speech by the university's board chair Christopher G. Kennedy (son of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy), containing the quote "I intend to vote against conferring the honorific title of our university to a man whose body of work includes a book dedicated in part to the man who murdered my father, Robert F. Kennedy." He added, "There is nothing more antithetical to the hopes for a university that is lively and yet civil...than to permanently seal off debate with one's opponents by killing them". Kennedy referred to a 1974 book "Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism," written by Ayers and other Weather Underground members. The book was dedicated to a list of over 200 revolutionary figures, musicians and others, including Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and sentenced to life in prison. Ayers denied having ever dedicated a book to Sirhan Sirhan and accused right-wing bloggers of having started a rumor to that effect. In an October 2010 "Chicago Sun Times" editorial entitled "Attacks on Ayers distort our history," former students of Ayers and UIC alumni, Daniel Schneider and Adam Kuranishi, responded in opposition to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees' decision to deny Ayers emeritus status.


title: Bill Ayers

text: Ayers worked with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in shaping the city's school reform program, and was one of three co-authors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant proposal that in 1995 won $49.2 million over five years for public school reform. In 1997, Chicago awarded him its Citizen of the Year award for his work on the project. Since 1999, he has served on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an anti-poverty, philanthropic foundation established as the Woods Charitable Fund in 1941. "The Wall Street Journal" columnist Thomas Frank praised Ayers as a "model citizen" and a scholar whose "work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints".


title: Bill Ayers

text: According to Ayers, his radical past occasionally affects him, as when, by his account, he was asked not to attend a progressive educators' conference in the fall of 2006 on the basis that the organizers did not want to risk an association with his past. On January 18, 2009, on his way to speak about education reform at the Centre for Urban Schooling at the University of Toronto, he was refused admission to Canada when he arrived at the Toronto City Centre Airport although he has traveled to Canada more than a dozen times in the past. According to Ayers, "It seems very arbitrary. The border agent said I had a conviction for a felony from 1969. I have several arrests for misdemeanors, but not for felonies."


title: Bill Ayers

text: In an interview published in 1995, Ayers characterized his political beliefs at that time and in the 1960s and 1970s: "I am a radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist ... [Laughs] Maybe I'm the last communist who is willing to admit it. [Laughs] We have always been small 'c' communists in the sense that we were never in the Communist party and never Stalinists. The ethics of communism still appeal to me. I don't like Lenin as much as the early Marx. I also like Henry David Thoreau, Mother Jones and Jane Addams [...]".


title: Bill Ayers

text: In 1970, "The New York Times" called Ayers "a national leader" of the Weatherman organization and "one of the chief theoreticians of the Weathermen". The Weathermen were initially part of the Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM) within the SDS, splitting from the RYM's Maoists by claiming there was no time to build a vanguard party and that revolutionary war against the United States government and the capitalist system should begin immediately. Their founding document called for the establishment of a "white fighting force" to be allied with the "Black Liberation Movement" and other "anti-colonial" movements to achieve "the destruction of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world: world communism".


title: Bill Ayers

text: In June 1974, the Weather Underground released a 151-page volume titled "Prairie Fire", which stated: "We are a guerrilla organization [...] We are communist women and men underground in the United States [...]" The Weatherman leadership, including Ayers, pushed for a radical reformulation of sexual relations under the slogan "Smash Monogamy". Radical bomber and feminist Jane Alpert criticized the Weatherman group in 1974 for still being dominated by men, including Ayers, and referred to his "callous treatment and abandonment of Diana Oughton before her death, and for his generally fickle and high-handed treatment of women".


title: Bill Ayers

text: Larry Grathwohl, an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated The Weather Underground, says Ayers told him where to plant bombs. He says Ayers was bent on overthrowing the government. In response to Grathwohl's claims, Ayers stated, "Now that's being blown into dishonest narratives about hurting people, killing people, planning to kill people. That's just not true. We destroyed government property".


title: Bill Ayers

text: On June 18, 2013, Ayers gave an interview to RealClearPolitics' Morning Commute in which he stated that every president in this century should be tried for war crimes, including President Obama for his use of drone attacks, which Ayers considers an act of terror.


title: Bill Ayers

text: During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, a controversy arose about Ayers's contacts with then-candidate Barack Obama, a matter that had been public knowledge in Chicago for years. After being raised by the American and British press, the connection was picked up by conservative blogs and newspapers in the United States. The matter was raised in a campaign debate by moderator George Stephanopoulos, and later became an issue for the John McCain presidential campaign. Investigations by "The New York Times", CNN, and other news organizations concluded that Obama did not have a close relationship with Ayers.


title: Bill Ayers

text: In an op-ed piece after the election, Ayers denied any close association with Obama, and criticized the Republican campaign for its use of guilt by association tactics.


title: Bill Ayers

text: Ayers is married to Bernardine Dohrn, a fellow former leader of the Weather Underground. They have two adult children, Zayd and Malik, and shared legal guardianship of Chesa Boudin, son of Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert. Boudin and Gilbert were former Weather Underground members who later joined the May 19 Communist Organization and were convicted of felony murder for their roles in that group's Brinks robbery. Chesa Boudin went on to win a Rhodes scholarship and was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in November 2019. Ayers and Dohrn currently live in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. His son Zayd is married to actress and writer Rachel DeWoskin.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter is a German happy hardcore, rave and techno music band founded in Hamburg in 1993. To date, the band has sold over 30 million records and earned over 80 Gold and Platinum awards. Scooter is considered the most commercially successful German single-record act with 23 top ten hits. The band is composed of lead vocalist H.P. Baxxter


title: Scooter (band)

text: Among their more well-known hits are "Hyper Hyper", "Move Your Ass!", "Friends", "Endless Summer", "Back in the U.K.", "I'm Raving", "Fire", "How Much Is the Fish?", "Ramp! (The Logical Song)", "Nessaja", "Weekend!", "Maria (I Like It Loud)", "One (Always Hardcore)" and "The Question Is What Is the Question?".


title: Scooter (band)

text: At the end of 1985, H. P. Baxxter and Rick J. Jordan met in Hanover, Germany through a small ad and founded the synthpop/new wave band Celebrate the Nun. While the lead vocals were performed by Baxxter and female vocals were delivered by Baxxter's sister Britt Maxime, Rick J. Jordan took care of the keyboards and sound engineering. The band released their first album "Meanwhile" in 1989. AllMusic wrote that "During the mid-'80s, numerous synth pop acts dreamed of becoming the next Depeche Mode. Celebrate the Nun could have been buried in the glut of Depeche Mode doppelgangers; however, top-drawer songwriting and consistently catchy hooks lifted Celebrate the Nun above the mass of wannabes". The single "Will You Be There" off "Meanwhile" peaked at No. 5 on the "Billboard" Dance/Club play chart on 23 June 1990, whereas the single "She's a Secretary/Strange" peaked at No. 12 on Dance/Club play chart on 8 December of the same year. Slin Tompson, who was the fourth person in the band's original line-up, left the band in 1990 to start a project on his own. In 1991, the band released their second album "Continuous", but this was less successful due to synthpop's declining popularity. Two singles were released off the second material, "Patience" and "You Make Me Wonder" both of which went without charting. Not finding the expected success in the New Wave arena, Baxxter kept working at the former Hamburg based Indie label (currently Edel Records) in the Distribution and Sales department where he met Scooter's future manager Jens Thele.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Soon afterwards, in late 1993, the former Celebrate the Nun members under the management of Jens Thele formed a remix team known as The Loop. The Loop became one of the top remix teams in Germany, releasing remixes for artists like Adeva, Holly Johnson, The Tag Team and RuPaul.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter started as a project in December 1993. Their debut single was a cover of René et Gaston's "Vallée De Larmes" (French for "Valley of Tears") and reached No.8 on the German official dance chart. In April 1994, Scooter played their first live show at "The Palladium" in Hamburg.


title: Scooter (band)

text: At first, "Hyper Hyper" was expected to be a small hit within the club scene, but it managed to reach the No.2 position on the German single chart, Media Control, eventually going triple gold for selling 750,000 units. "Hyper Hyper" also entered the top-5 in Switzerland, Austria and in Italy, meanwhile, entering the top-10 in the Netherlands and Norway. Scooter's third single "Move Your Ass" reached No.3 on Media Control's single chart after a few weeks of its release and managed to achieve a gold status for sales of over 250,000 in Germany. The single also gained similar success as its predecessor outside of Germany, it entered the top-5 in Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands, meanwhile, entering the top-10 in Norway and Italy. The follow-up singles, "Friends" and "Endless Summer" managed to enter the top-20 in number of countries including Switzerland, Austria and Finland.


title: Scooter (band)

text: The band maintained the initial technique of their sound throughout their second album, "Our Happy Hardcore", until the style became noticeably different with their 1996 single "I'm Raving" (from the third album "Wicked") as the tempos were down to 138 BPM from their previous tempos which were between the range of 160 and 190 BPM. The single reached No.4 in Germany and earned a gold certification for selling well over 250,000 units.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter's fourth album, "Age of Love", which reached the No.19 slot on Germany's Media Control album chart was the last album that featured Baxxter's cousin Ferris Bueller.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In 1998, Ferris Bueller (Soren Buehler) left the group to pursue a solo career (he later admitted that he had been suffering from depression for several years due to his then new time-demanding life as a pop star), and was replaced by DJ Axel Coon, who had been working with the band at the recording studio for some time already. Coon had also played live with Scooter in some occasions, covering for Rick J. Jordan. In June 1998, Scooter released one of their most popular singles to date "How Much Is the Fish?" which peaked at No.3 in Germany, the single also went gold selling over 250,000 units in Germany alone. Their fifth studio album, "No Time to Chill" reached the No.4 position on Germany's Media Control album chart, whereas it topped the album chart in Finland and earned a gold-award for sales of over 36,000 units. In the same vein, the album reached a gold status in Poland for sales of over 50,000 units.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In July 1999, Scooter released their first single "Faster Harder Scooter", from their sixth album, "Back to the Heavyweight Jam". While the single peaked at No.7 at home, it did quite well in Scandinavia peaking at No.3 in Sweden and No.2 in Finland, and the trio eventually picked up a platinum-award in Sweden for selling over 40,000 copies of the single. The second single, "Fuck the Millennium" was released in November 1999 which reached No.11 on Media Control singles charts and as its predecessor spent 11 weeks on the chart. The single as its predecessor did similarly well over in Scandinavia charting at No.3 in Sweden and No.4 in Finland, it eventually earned the trio a gold-award in Sweden for sales of over 20,000 units. The album, "Back to the Heavyweight Jam" just like the singles turned out to be a hit in Scandinavia, it entered the top-5 both in Finland and Sweden where it eventually reached a gold status for sales of over 40,000 units.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter released their seventh studio album, "Sheffield", in May 2000. "Sheffield" took another new direction containing 6/8 rhythms on tracks "Don't Gimme the Funk" and "Sex Dwarf". In late 2000, after their second single "She's the Sun", Scooter were awarded a Comet at the 2000 VIVA Comet Awards in the category of "Most Successful Dance Act".


title: Scooter (band)

text: The band's 21st single, "Posse (I Need You on the Floor)" was released in Germany on 21 May 2001 and it was the first Scooter single since "Endless Summer" to include a high-pitched-voice in the chorus. The single peaked at No.7 at Scooter's home market spending 13 weeks on the official single chart. Their eighth album, "We Bring the Noise", released in June 2001, included another single, "Aiii Shot the DJ". A limited edition version of the album included a cover of the 1978 City song "Am Fenster" as a bonus track.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In December 2001, Scooter released their 23rd single "Ramp! (The Logical Song)" from their "Best of" compilation album "Push the Beat for This Jam". While the single went platinum in Australia and Norway, it managed to reach the No.2 position in the United Kingdom, where it went gold for sales of over 400,000 units.<ref name="Scooter's UK albums/singles positions"></ref> The album itself, which was released on 7 January 2002 managed to reach a gold status in the UK, Sweden and Norway.


title: Scooter (band)

text: At the beginning of 2002, immediately after the release of trio's compilation album "Push the Beat for this Jam", Axel Coon left the band to pursue a solo career in DJing and remixing, and Jay Frog became the new third person. Jay Frog was already familiar with the band as he had occasionally covered for Axel Coon.


title: Scooter (band)

text: As a quick way of introducing the new member Frog to their fans, the trio released a second compilation album in November 2002, "24 Carat Gold". Scooter's 24th single, "Nessaja" was a cover version of the title track from Peter Maffay's musical "Tabaluga", and debuted at No.1 on the German official single charts. The single managed to reach a gold status in Germany for selling over 250,000 units. The single also did well in numerous markets including Austria, Norway and Denmark in all of which it entered the top-5, it also managed to enter the top-10 in Switzerland, Finland and the Netherlands.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter enjoyed a comeback within the UK charts, with six top-20 UK singles "The Logical Song" (UK No.2), "Nessaja" (UK No.4), "Posse (I Need You on the Floor)" (UK No.15), "Weekend!" (UK No.12), "The Night" (UK No.16) and "Maria (I Like It Loud)" (UK No.16) all charting within an 18-month period.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In 2003, the video for "Weekend!" caused a scandal with its scenes of topless dancers. The song reached No.2 on the German Media Control single chart.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In March 2003, Scooter released their next studio album, "The Stadium Techno Experience". The album climbed to No.7 on the Media Control album chart and was certified gold in Sweden, Norway and Hungary. The single "The Night" became the last to feature the high pitched voice effect and reached the top-10 in Germany. The next single from the album, "Maria (I Like It Loud)", was released in collaboration with hardcore producers Marc Acardipane and Dick Rules, reaching No.4 on the single charts.


title: Scooter (band)

text: "Mind the Gap" was Scooter's 10th studio album, which was released on 8 November 2004 in three different versions, basic, regular and deluxe. While the album peaked at No.16 at home and spent 21 weeks on the album chart, the trio's 28th single, "Shake That!" flavored with 1970s disco sound was released on 4 October 2004 in most European countries, the single entered the German Media Control single chart peaking at No.8.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Their 11th studio album, "Who's Got the Last Laugh Now?", featured a cover version of "Everlasting Love." The "Who's Got The Last Laugh Now?" 2006 tour was followed by the release of both the CD and the 2-disc DVD entitled "Excess All Areas", one of the DVDs containing the final Hamburg concert of the tour and the second containing every music video released so far.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 14 August 2006, it was announced that Jay Frog had decided to leave the band to pursue a solo career. Frog was replaced by Michael Simon, who had remixed some of Scooter's tracks while in search of success with his "Shahin & Simon" project. On 19 August, Scooter played at the Tufertschwil Open Air in Switzerland, where Simon debuted.


title: Scooter (band)

text: The single "Behind the Cow" was premiered at "The Dome 40" in Düsseldorf on 1 December 2006, and was released on 19 January 2007. The song and its lyrics are based on "What Time Is Love?" by The KLF. Their 12th album "The Ultimate Aural Orgasm", which includes the songs "The United Vibe" (cover version of Den Harrow's "Catch the Fox"), "Scarborough Affair" or "The Shit That Killed Elvis" (collaboration with Jimmy Pop, the frontman of American fun-rock-band The Bloodhound Gang), was released on 9 February 2007. The album peaked at No.6 in Germany and spent 16 weeks on the album chart. The second single released off "The Ultimate Aural Orgasm" was "Lass uns tanzen" which appeared in stores on 23 March. Despite the fact that the single peaked only at No.19 at home, it managed to stay on the singles chart for 18 weeks.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 10 August, Scooter released a new single called "The Question Is What Is the Question?", the release of which surprised many of their fans as they were expecting a third single from the current album rather than an entirely new material. The single peaked at No.5 on the singles charts with overall of 26 weeks on the charts. That was a record as none of Scooter's previously released singles had so far remained that long within the singles charts. The band released a jumpstyle cover version of classic 1970s track "How Do You Do" by Mouth & MacNeal. Scooter released their 13th studio album, "Jumping All Over the World", on 30 November 2007, containing all three singles ("The Question is What is the Question", "And No Matches" and "Jumping All Over the World"). A limited edition of the album contains a bonus CD including all Scooter's German top-10 hits, from "Hyper, Hyper" to "How Much is the Fish?" as well as a previously unreleased version of "The Question Is What Is The Question?"


title: Scooter (band)

text: In November 2007, the band made its debut tour of Australia, never having visited the country before despite their single "The Logical Song" peaking at No.1 there some 6 years earlier. Scooter performed at the famous Scattered rave party in Sydney as well as in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In March 2008, the group embarked on its first arena tour of the UK as part of "Clubland Live", appearing alongside other All Around The World acts such as Cascada and Ultrabeat. During this tour, Scooter performed a retooled version of "I'm Lonely" from "Jumping All Over the World"; the single was released in Germany on 18 April 2008. "The Question Is What Is The Question" was released in the UK the same week, charting at No.49. The band made international news in May 2008 when "Jumping All Over the World" unexpectedly entered at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart, replacing Madonna's album "Hard Candy" after just one week. It was Scooter's first No.1 in the UK and first album release there in five years. The album eventually ended up earning the trio a platinum-award in the UK for sales of over 300,000 units.


title: Scooter (band)

text: February 2009 saw the release of a Scooter tribute album entitled "Hands on Scooter", featuring artists such as The Bloodhound Gang, Status Quo, and Sido covering or sampling Scooter songs.


title: Scooter (band)

text: During the summer of 2009, Scooter announced the release of their next studio album, "Under the Radar Over the Top". On 14 August 2009, Scooter released "J'adore Hardcore", the first single from "Under the Radar Over the Top". "J'adore Hardcore" was based on Planet Funk's "Chase the Sun" and The Pitcher's "I Just Can't Stop". On 30 July 2009, during the video shoot for "J'adore Hardcore", Baxxter was almost a victim of a car bomb attack in Majorca, Spain. Michael Simon reported that Baxxter was alright and it was a very near miss. For their next single, "Ti Sento", Scooter collaborated with Italian singer Antonella Ruggiero. "Ti Sento" which peaked at No.10 in Germany, was released the day "Under the Radar Over the Top" was released. During the first week of sales, "Under the Radar Over the Top" peaked at No.2 on the German album chart. It was confirmed on 3 November 2009 that "The Sound Above My Hair" would be the third single from the album. The video premiered on YouTube on 12 November. The single was released on 27 November.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 9 February 2010 it was announced that Scooter would perform the official song of the 2010 IIHF World Championship. This song would be "Stuck on Replay", and it would additionally be released as the fourth single from "Under the Radar Over the Top".


title: Scooter (band)

text: The "Under the Radar Over the Top" Tour was announced before the album was released. The tour was a week long through several German cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, and Leipzig and one Swiss city, Zurich, throughout March 2010. This was the largest tour to date, and again featured the Sheffield Jumpers. During this tour, Scooter performed in front of a total of 40,000 people, and the Hamburg concert was the largest on the tour, with a sold-out venue of 14,000. This was followed by Leipzig, with 10,000 people attending the final concert of the tour.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Regardless of the tour, "Stuck on Replay" peaked at only position No.34 on the German singles chart, but remained on the charts for 12 weeks.


title: Scooter (band)

text: A week after the tour, Scooter announced in an interview with a Russian radio station that a live DVD, CD, and Blu-ray of the Hamburg concert would be released. It was eventually announced that Scooter's fourth live DVD would be released on 7 May, called Live in Hamburg.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 10 May 2010, Scooter announced another European tour to follow up the previous "Under the Radar Over the Top" tour, which would take place in December 2010, and be known as the "Stuff the Turkey X-mas" tour. It would tour through several German cities, such as Rostock, Stuttgart, and Dresden. At the same time, a very large concert was announced to take place in June of the next year, in Hamburg once again, at the HSH Nordbank Arena.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 29 June 2010, it was announced that Scooter would be headlining the "Clubland Live 4" Tour, appearing alongside acts such as Ultrabeat, ItaloBrothers, and Alex K. This would be Scooter's second tour of the United Kingdom. Interspersed among these dates were small concerts held at festivals such as Tomorrowland in Belgium, and in other places such as Iceland. However, on 6 October 2010, "Clubland Live 4" was cancelled, thus cancelling the band's second UK tour.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 15 April 2011, a re-worked version of Scooter's 1995 single "Friends" was released, entitled "Friends Turbo". It was the official theme for the German version of the Dutch film called "New Kids Turbo".


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter's fifteenth studio album, entitled "The Big Mash Up" was released on 14 October 2011 - two years since the release of "Under the Radar Over the Top" being the longest gap between two albums in the band's history to date. The first single from the album, "The Only One", was released on 20 May 2011, which peaked at No.45. In comparison with all of Scooter's previous first singles representing a new material, "The Only One" is the first to have charted poorly. The second single, "David Doesn't Eat" was released on 14 October 2011, the same day as the album. The third single from "The Big Mash Up", entitled "C'est Bleu", which features Vicky Leandros, was released on 2 December 2011. Both the second and the third singles charted worse than the first single, No.67 and No.77 respectively. Scooter's fourth single "It's a Biz (Ain't Nobody)" from the "Big Mash Up" was released on 23 March 2012. While the trio changed the sound of the song for a single release, it still didn't help it to chart higher than No.79 on the German Media Control singles chart. The album, however, did manage to enter the top-20 album chart peaking at No.15.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 7 September 2012, Scooter released a new single called "4 AM", which, so far, is available on a digital format only. Scooter released their 16th studio album, "Music for a Big Night Out" on 2 November 2012. The same day, the trio released their second single entitled "Army of Hardcore" from their latest material.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 15 October 2013, Scooter officially announced that their founding member Rick J. Jordan would be leaving the band at the end of the trio's "20 Years of Hardcore Tour 2014". According to the frontman of Scooter, H.P. Baxxter, in the years ahead, Phil Speiser (from Dirty Disco Youth or DDY) will replace Rick J. Jordan's, who will provide his skills on the drums, synthesizers, piano as well as sound effects.


title: Scooter (band)

text: While "The Fifth Chapter" officially began for Scooter on 23 May 2014, when they released their single "Bigroom Blitz", the Hamburg-based trio's studio album, entitled "The Fifth Chapter" was made available on 26 September 2014, emphasizing a completely new era for the band. Scooter's next single "Today" from "The Fifth Chapter" was released on 26 September 2014.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 4 January 2016, Scooter announced their eighteenth studio album Ace which was released on 5 February 2016. It includes their single "Riot" which has been available since 4 September 2015.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 1 August 2017, Scooter announced their nineteenth studio album Scooter Forever which was released on 1 September 2017. It includes their single "Bora! Bora! Bora!" which has been available since 26 May 2017.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 4 August 2017, Ukrainian prosecutors began legal proceedings against Scooter for their illegal performance at the "ZB Fest" festival in Crimea, as per Ukrainian law. However, according to H.P. Baxxter, they did not perform at the festival "to engage in politics there, but because we have a fan base there. We want to give them something."


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 6 December 2017, Scooter released their third and remade single from Scooter Forever, In Rave We Trust. And 25 Years Wild And Wicked was released on 15 December.


title: Scooter (band)

text: On 11 November 2018, During the 25 Years Wild and Wicked Tour, Speiser announced that he would leave the band at the end of the tour.


title: Scooter (band)

text: In April 2019, Scooter officially announced that Sebastian Schilde would be replacing Phil Speiser, after Speiser had been with the group since 2014. Their twentieth album, "God Save the Rave", was to be released in the winter of 2020 and include 15 tracks. The album's tour, the God Save the Rave tour, was originally expected to go ahead in the summer of 2020, but was postponed due to governments evoking pandemic laws. In December 2020, the album release date was postponed to 16 April 2021 due to pandemic laws again.


title: Scooter (band)

text: Scooter are known for giving very extravagant live performances, usually with dancers on stage performing certain styles of dances, such as Jumpstyle or the Melbourne Shuffle. These are accompanied by laser shows and pyrotechnics In concert, Scooter encourages crowd motivation, often having frontman H.P. Baxxter shout out certain phrases and have them mimicked by the crowd between songs, and having the crowd sing along to the chorus of many songs.


title: Bhima

text: In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima (, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The "Mahabharata" relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. After the death of Pandu and Madri, Kunti with her sons stayed in Hastinapura. From his childhood, Bhima had a rivalry with his cousins Kauravas, especially Duryodhana. Duryodhana and his uncle, Shakuni, tried to kill Bhima multiple times. One was by poisoning and throwing Bhima into a river. Bhima was rescued by Nāgas and was given a drink which made him very strong and immune to all venom.


title: Bhima

text: After the event of Lakshagriha, the Pandavas and their mother decided to hide from Hastinapura. During this period Bhima slew many Rakshasa including Bakasura and Hidimba. Bhima had three wives Hidimbi, the Rakshasi sister of Hidimba, Draupadi, who was married to five Pandavas because of Kunti's misunderstanding, and Valandhara, a princess of Kashi Kingdom. Ghatotkacha, Sutasoma and Savarga were his three sons.


title: Bhima

text: After the brothers founded the city of Indraprastha, Bhima went to Magadha and killed its mighty ruler, Jarasandha. Later Yudhishthira was invited by Duryodhana to play a game of dice, in which he lost. The Pandavas along with their wife, Draupadi, were sent into exile for thirteen years. During their exile, Bhima met his spiritual brother, Lord Hanuman. For incognito, the Pandavas chose the Matsya Kingdom to hide. There Bhima disguised himself as a cook named Vallabha. He also killed the general of the kingdom, Kichaka, as he tried to molest Draupadi. During the Kurukshetra War, Bhima alone killed a hundred Kaurava brothers in the battle. He was considered to have the physical strength of 10,000 elephants approximately.


title: Bhima

text: The word "Bhīma" in Sanskrit means "fearful", "terrific", "terrible", "awful", "formidable", "tremendous".


title: Bhima

text: Along with other Pandava brothers, Bhima was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru preceptors, Kripa and Drona. Specifically, he became a master in using the mace. Bhima's strong point throughout the epic remains his towering strength. He was so wrathful and strong that it was impossible to even for Indra to subdue him in a battle.


title: Bhima

text: Bhima was also renowned for his giant appetite – at times, half of the total food consumed by the Pandavas was eaten by him.


title: Bhima

text: Bhima, being as powerful as his father Vayu and was very happy that Vayu deva was his father because he was very affectionate towards him, he would get to have a lot of strength as he was born because of the blessings of Vayu and that Hanuman would be his celestial brothers as both of them are Vayu's children. He prayed to Vayu and idolized his brother Hanuman.


title: Bhima

text: He used to play practical jokes on the Kaurava brothers; he used to engage in wrestling bouts where he out-powered them with consummate ease.


title: Bhima

text: His repeated failures and fecklessness against Bhima angered Duryodhana so much that he wanted him dead. He hatched a cunning plot where he poisoned Bhima's food and drowned him in River Ganga. Thankfully, the Naga king Vasuki saved Bhima and also apprised him of Duryodhana's hatred for him. It is also Vasuki who bestowed him the immense strength of ten thousand elephants.


title: Bhima

text: Duryodhana with his counsellor Purochana hatched a plan to burn the Pandavas alive at a lac palace Lakshagraha at Varnavat that Duryodhana had built there (lacquer is highly inflammable). Thanks to prior notice from Vidura, the Pandavas managed to escape out from the palace with Bhima played a major role in carrying all five of them (Kunti and brothers) and escaping to safety. Bhima also barricaded the palace of Purochana and set fire to it, thereby ensuring Purochana became a victim of his own evil plot.


title: Bhima

text: Kunti and the Pandavas were living in "agyatavaasa" (living incognito) after they escaped from the murder plot (Kunti suggests they be incognito to avoid further problems from the Kauravas). During their stay at Ekachakra village (present-day Chakar Nagar, 35 km south of Etawah, Uttar Pradesh) they came to know of a demon, Bakasura, who troubled people by eating members of their village and their provisions. The powerful Bhima brought his might to the fore and killed Bakasura, much to the delight of the villagers and when Bhima killed Bakasura, it was confirmed that Duryodhana, Kichaka, and Jarasandha would be killed by Bhima. Bhima, Duryodhana, Jarasandha, Kichaka and Bakasura were born in the same cosmic phase. As a result of that, the first of these strong people to kill another, the other three would eventually die. Besides the renowned sages like Vyasa, only Krishna and Sahadeva knew this.


title: Bhima

text: At the time Bhima kills the demon Hidimba who was king of demons of the forest Kamyaka, he meets his sister Hidimbi; they eventually get married and have a son, Ghatotkacha. Hidimbi promises Kunti that she and Ghatotkacha will stay out of the Pandavas' lives and away from the luxuries of court. When Bhima killed the demon Hidimba, he became the King of Kamyaka for 5 years. In Mahabharata, the demon army from Kamyaka fought the war alongside Pandavas.


title: Bhima

text: Then the Pandavas attended the Swayamvara of Drupada princess, Draupadi. The Pandavas, led by Arjuna, were successful at the Swayamvara. With his brothers, he was married to Draupadi, who gave birth to a son, Sutasoma. At a later stage, Bhima also married princess Valandhara, the daughter of the king of Kasi, and had a son named Savarga. Among Bhima's three sons, Sarvaga (who later ascended to the throne of Kashi) did not participate in the Kurukshetra war, Sutasoma was killed by Ashwatthama and Ghatotkacha was killed by Karna.


title: Bhima

text: When Yudhishthira became emperor of Indraprastha he sent his four younger brothers out in different directions to subjugate kingdoms for the Rajasuya sacrifice. Bhima was sent out to the East, since Bhishma thought the easterners were skilled in fighting from the backs of elephants and in fighting with bare arms. He deemed Bhima to be the most ideal person to wage wars in that region. The Mahabharata mentions several kingdoms to the east of Indraprastha which were conquered by Bhima.


title: Bhima

text: After Yudhishthira succumbed to Shakuni's challenge in the game of dice, the Pandavas were forced into exile for 13 years, one of which was in anonymity. The exile period in the forests, saw the Pandavas come face to face with many rakshasas and Bhima played a crucial role in the epic in rescuing his brothers every time.


title: Bhima

text: Right at the start of the exile, in the woods of Kamyaka, the Pandavas encountered the demon Kirmira, the brother of Bakasura and a friend of Hidimba. A fierce battle ensued between Bhima and the demon, where the two equally matched fighters hurled rocks and trees at each other. Eventually, Bhima emerged victorious.


title: Bhima

text: Once in Badarikasrama forest, Draupadi scented the Saugandhika flower and was deeply attracted to it. The lotus species was not to be located easily so Bhima went in search of the flower and ended up at Kubera's palace. He was stopped in his tracks by the rakshasas called Krodhavasas, but he defeated them all and reached the lotus pond. He also slew the rakshasa Maniman a wicked demon, who had in the past, incurred a curse from Rishi Agastya.


title: Bhima

text: Being unused to the water of the pond, Bhima fell asleep on its shore. Later, the Pandavas arrived with Krishna and Draupadi in search of Bhima. They met Kubera who offered them baskets of Saugandhika lotuses and sent them on their way. Kubera was especially happy, as the slaughter of Maniman had relieved him of the curse too.


title: Bhima

text: During his search for the Saugandhika flower, Bhima saw an old monkey, lying in the path, whose long tail was outstretching the region. Bhima in pride asked the monkey to move the tail blocking his path. But, the monkey replied saying he's too old and had no strength to do that and requested that Bhima do it instead. Outraged at being commanded by someone inferior to him, he grabbed the monkey's tail with his left hand with intention of swirling him via it and sending him in the air and to his surprise he wasn't able to move it. So, he used both his hands and all his might but wasn't able to raise it. Defeated and surprised he asked the monkey for forgiveness with joined hands. The monkey revealed its true-self, Hanuman (his brother, as both were Vayu's children). Bhima received Hanuman's blessing in the form of increased strength. He warned Bhima of the path ahead, warned him of the prophesized war, blessed him of victory in all his endeavours and left.


title: Bhima

text: In another minor incident in the epic, Jatasura, a rakshasa disguised as a Brahmin abducted Yudhishthira, Draupadi and the twin brothers, Nakula, and Sahadeva during their stay at Badarikasrama. His objective was to seize the weapons of the Pandavas. Bhima, who was gone hunting during the abduction, was deeply upset when he came to know of Jatasura's evil act on his return. A fierce encounter followed between the two gigantic warriors, where Bhima emerged victorious by decapitating Jatasura and crushing his body.


title: Bhima

text: Along with his brothers, Bhima spent his last year of exile in the kingdom of Virata. He disguised himself as a cook named Vallabh (within themselves Pandavas called him Jayanta).


title: Bhima

text: Once during a great festival, people from neighbouring countries had come to the Kingdom of Virata. There was a wrestling bout where a wrestler from a different state, Jimuta proved to be invincible. Much to the delight of King Virata and his subjects, Bhima challenged Jimuta and knocked him out in no time. This greatly enhanced the reputation of the Pandavas in unfamiliar territory.


title: Bhima

text: Kichaka, the army commander of Virata, tried to sexually assault Draupadi, who was under the guise of a maid named Sairindhri. Draupadi reported this incident to Bhima. Bhima covered himself with silk robes. He slew him the moment he tried to touch him. Kichaka was crushed and slaughtered into a meatball by Bhima. Later Kichaka's allies plotted to murder Sairindri, but Bhima vanquished all of them.


title: Bhima

text: The archenemy of Virata was King Susharma of the Trigarta Kingdom, under the aegis of Duryodhana, waged a battle against Virata by stealing the cows in his kingdom. Bhima leads the other Pandavas and Virata and helped to rout the army of Susarma easily. Before he was about to strangle Susarma to death, Yudhishthira told him to spare him.


title: Bhima

text: By this time, the 13-year exile period was completed and the rivalry between the siblings was renewed.


title: Bhima

text: Before the battle had begun, Bhima suggested that Satyaki would lead the Pandava forces, as their general, but Yudhishthira and Arjuna opted for Dhrishtadyumna. The charioteer of Bhima's Chariot was Vishoka while the flag bore the image of a gigantic lion in silver with its eyes made of lapis lazuli and his chariot was yoked to horses as black as bears or black antelopes. He wielded a celestial bow named Vayavya- which was given by Vayu deva (Wind God), had a massive conch named Paundra and also possessed a huge mace whose strength is equivalent to a hundred thousand maces (presented by Lord Hanuman). Bhima distinguishes himself in battle several times throughout the war; some of Bhima's major engagements during the war include:


title: Bhima

text: On the 2nd day of the war, he encounters the Kalinga army. He slays Kalinga King Shrutayusha's son Sakradeva, and the two Kalinga general Satya and Satyadeva. He also kills Ekalavya's son Ketumat. He also defeated and nearly killed Duryodhana in wrestling but failed to kill him due to sunset.


title: Bhima

text: On the 14th day of the war, Bhima defeated Drona by smashing his chariot eleven times and penetrating the Kaurava formation in order to aid Arjuna in his quest to slay Jayadratha. Duryodhana sends a legion of elephants to check Bhima's advance, and Bhima thoroughly destroys the army, leaving a bloody trail of elephant entrails.


title: Bhima

text: Durmasena (Dussasana's son), on Duryodhana's order, attempted to stop Bhima. But Bhima in his bloodlust killed Durjaya by hitting him on the head. Bhima also defeated Alambusha on the 14th day. On the same day, Bhima and Karna fought several times. During one such battle Bhima while chasing Karna encountered Vikarna along with seven Kourava brothers. They were sent by Duryodhana to protect Karna. In the battle that ensued Vikarna was killed. Bhima greived Vikarna's death praising his noble deeds.


title: Bhima

text: The outcome of Bhima and Karna's battles changed each time. In the end Bhima was finally defeated by Karna but spared due to Kunti's oath. Thirty one of Duryodhana brothers were also killed by Bhima that day. Bhima slew Bahlika, the King of the Bahlika kingdom on the night of the fourteenth day.


title: Bhima

text: On the 15th day of the war Bhima attacked Karna in a group but he was quickly defeated and forced to retreat. Bhima's son Ghatotkacha was killed by Karna. Bhima saw the day as a failure as he failed to save his son from Karna. Later, he killed an elephant called Ashwatthama as a plan for killing Drona. Later Bhima along with Satyaki even saved Dhrishtadyumna from Ashwatthama covering his escape. They attacked Ashwatthama together before ultimately retreating from the battlefield after being defeated by Kripi Kumara.


title: Bhima

text: The 16th day of the Kurukshetra war is completely dedicated to Bhima. He dominated other warriors and became a hero on the 16th day of the war.


title: Bhima

text: Bhima was the only warrior who refused to submit to the invincible Narayanastra weapon launched by Ashwatthama on the 15th day of the war and was quickly defeated by it.


title: Bhima

text: On the 16th day of the war, Karna was appointed to protect Dushyasana from the clutches of Bhima. Soon Karna picked up a sword and rushed on to Bhima. Soon they engaged in a sword fight, when Bhima was about to stab Karna defeating him, Karna's son Banasena came in aid of his father. On seeing Banasena, Bhima got angered as his own son Ghatotkacha was slain by Karna. Banasena challenged Bhima and soon attacked Bhima with mace. Bhima brutally but fairly killed Banasena in front of Karna. Bhima killed Banasena by hitting him several times on the head, chest and abdomen. Seeing his son's fate; Karna grabbed a mace and attacked Bhima. Still, in anger, Bhima and Karna fought several times. But Karna eventually won in the end and Bhima retreated. Bhima asked Karna to take his son's body to perform funerals and later fight with Arjuna. Bhima had a fierce fight with Ashwatthama who repeatedly called him a coward because he slew an elephant. They hurled several powerful arrows at each other and the duel was witnessed by Hanuman, who is the son of Vayu like Bhima and Amsha of Shiva like Ashwatthama. The battle was so intense and astonishing that it was being witnessed by all the celestial beings aswell, eventually both of them fell unconscious on their respective chariots by the end of that terrifying battle. Later Bhima headed to kill Dussasana.


title: Bhima

text: Bhima defeated and brutally killed Dushasana on the sixteenth day of the war in front of Duryodhana. Bhima killed Dussasana by separating and cutting his hands from the body. Bhima beat Dussasana in the heart region. Bhima squeezed blood from Dussasana's heart and dressed Draupadi's hair. Bhima also drank the remaining blood.


title: Bhima

text: On the seventeenth day of the war Karna and Bhima engaged in several fights, at first Bhima fought hard, but Karna prevailed in the end, Bhima fled from the battlefield.Dhritarashtra and Gandhari's children were killed by Bhima.


title: Bhima

text: After 18 days of the war, Duryodhana went and hid under a lake. After given the option to choose the opponent & kind of duel, Duryodhana chose Bhima as his opponent & mace a fight as a duel. Bhima clashed with Duryodhana in a mace fight. Though Bhima had superior strength, Duryodhana started dominating. Lord Krishna knew that it is not possible to kill Duryodhana because Duryodhana's body turned as tough as a diamond with power in Gandhari's eyes. Krishna instructed Bhima to hit Duryodhana's thighs through gestures. Bhima did as Krishna directed & successfully broke the thighs of Duryodhana. Enraged at this sight, Balarama grabbing his plough paced to attack Bhima, but was stopped by Krishna. Krishna convinced his brother by narrating the unjust death of Abhimanyu and evils committed by Duryodhana.


title: Bhima

text: After the war, Dhritarashtra was enraged by Bhima's slaying of all his sons. When the Pandavas arrive at Hastinapur to claim the kingdom and pay their respects, Krishna, sensing his anger, placed an iron statue of Bhima in front of Dhritarashtra. When embracing Bhima, Dhritarashtra crushed the statue into pieces, but later realized his folly and apologized. He later hugged Bhima wholeheartedly.


title: Bhima

text: Yudhishthira appointed Bhima as the commander-in-chief of Hastinapur. Upon the onset of the "Kali Yuga", Bhima and the other Pandavas retired. Giving up all their belongings and ties, the Pandavas made their final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas.


title: Bhima

text: On the journey, the group, one-by-one, begins to fall. When Bhima tires and falls down, he asks his elder brother why he, Bhima, is unable to complete the journey to heaven. Yudhishthira explains his brother's vice of gluttony. In some versions of the story, Yudhishthira points out Bhima's boastfulness, pride, and battle-lust as the reasons for his fall.


title: Bhima

text: in Indonesia, bhima or Bima (Indonesian and Javanese: "Raden Werkudara" or "Werkudara" ) is a well-known figure in the world of wayang in Javanese and also Balinese culture. Bima is brave, steadfast, strong, obedient, honest and wise and considers everyone to be equal, so he is depicted as never using language (krama Inggil) or sitting in front of his interlocutors. Bima did these two things (spoke in Inggil krama and sat down) only when he became a Resi in the Bima Suci play, and when he met Dewaruci. He is adept at playing Gada (mace), and has a variety of weapons, including: Paku Pancanaka, Rujakpala Gada, Alugara, Bargawa (big ax), and Bargawasta. While the types of powers he has include: Aji Bandungbandawasa, Aji Ketuglindhu, Aji Bayubraja and Aji Blabak Pangantol-antol.


title: Bhima

text: Bima also has clothes that symbolize greatness, namely: Gelung Pudaksategal, Fertilizer Jarot Asem, Sumping Surengpati, Kelatbahu Candrakirana, Nagabanda Belt and Cinde Udaraga Pants. Some of the divine gifts he received included: Kampuh Cloth or Poleng Bintuluaji, Candrakirana Bracelets, Nagasasra Necklaces, Surengpati Sumping Fertilizer and Jarot Asem Pudak Fertilizers.


title: Bhima

text: Raden Werkudara or Bima is the second son of Dewi Kunti and Prabu Pandudewanata. But he was actually the son of Batara Bayu and Dewi Kunti because Prabu Pandu could not produce offspring. This is the curse of Begawan Kimindama. However, due to Aji Adityaredhaya being owned by Dewi Kunti, the couple was able to have children.


title: Bhima

text: At the time of its birth, its body is covered by a thin membrane that cannot be broken by any weapon. This made the couple Dewi Kunthi and Pandu very sad. At the suggestion of Begawan Abiyasa, Pandu then dumped the wrapped baby in the Mandalasara forest. For eight years the pack did not break and began to roll here and there so that the forest that had been lush became razed to the ground. This makes forest dwellers confused. In addition, the forest-dwelling jinn began to be disturbed, so Batari Durga, the queen of all spirits, reported to Batara Guru, the king of all gods. Then, the king of the gods ordered Batara Bayu, Batari Durga, and Gajah Sena, the son of Erawata, the elephant riding on Batara Indra, and accompanied by Batara Narada to come down and break the baby's wrapper. Before being solved, Batari Durga went into the wrapper and gave the baby clothes in the form of Poleng Bang Bintulu cloth (in real life, it is often found on the island of Bali as a dress for statues that are considered sacred (kain poleng = black and white plaid cloth), Candrakirana bracelet, Nagabanda necklace, Pupuk Jarot Asem and Surengpati Sumping (a kind of headdress). After fully dressed, Batari Durga came out of Bima's body, then Gajah Sena's turn to break the baby's wrapper. By Gajah Sena then the baby was hit by, was stabbed with its tusk and trampled underfoot. Strangely, instead of dying, the baby then fought back, after coming out of the pack. Once kicked, Gajah Sena immediately died and then died in the baby's body. Then the wrap from Werkudara was exhaled by Batara Bayu came to Begawan Sapwani's lap, who was then worshiped by the hermit as a mighty baby like Bima. Because Bima is the son of Batara Bayu, he has the power to control the wind.


title: Bhima

text: Werkudara, who has a large body, has a courageous character, is firm, has a strong opinion, and has a firm faith. During his life Werkudara never spoke softly to anyone including his parents, gods, and teachers, except for Dewa Ruci, the true god, he spoke softly and wanted to worship.


title: Bhima

text: During his life Werkudara studied with Resi Drona for inner training and soldiering, Begawan Krepa, and Prabu Baladewa for dexterity with the club. In studying Werkudara has always been the main rival for his cousin who is also the eldest from the Kauravas, namely Duryudana.


title: Bhima

text: The Kauravas always wanted to get rid of the Pandavas because according to them the Pandavas were only a stumbling block for them to dominate the kingdom of Astina. The Kauravas think that the strength of the Pandavas lies in Werkudara because he is the strongest among the five Pandavas, so that one day on the cunning of Patih Sengkuni who masterminded the Kauravas planned to poison Werkudara. At that time when Bima was playing, Duryodhana called him and asked him to drink until he was drunk where the drink was poisoned. After Werkudara fell unconscious, he was carried by the Kauravas and put into the Jalatunda Well where there were thousands of poisonous snakes there. At that time, Sang Hyang Nagaraja came, the ruler of the Jalatunda Well to help Werkudara, then Werkudara was given the power to be immune to anything and got a new name from San Hyang Nagaraja, namely Bondan Peksajandu.


title: Bhima

text: The mind of the Kauravas to get rid of the Pandavas had not been exhausted, they then challenged Yudhisthira to weigh in who would win Astina completely. Of course the Pandavas would lose because of one hundred and one against five, but Werkudara had reason, he asked his brother to leave a little space for him. Werkudara then took a few steps back, then jumped and stepped on the place left by his brother, just at that moment, the Kauravas who sat at the very end were thrown away. The Kauravas who were thrown to the other side of the country were later named in Baratayuda "Ratu Sewu Negara." Among them are Prabu Bogadenta from the Turilaya kingdom, Prabu Gardapati from the Bukasapta kingdom, Prabu Gardapura who is the companion of Prabu Gardapati as Prabu Anom, Prabu Widandini from the Purantura kingdom, and Kartamarma from the Banyutinalang kingdom. This story is packaged in a play called Pandawa Timbang.


title: Bhima

text: Not satisfied with their efforts, the Kauravas again wanted to harm the Pandavas through Sengkuni's cunning tactics. This time the Pandavas were invited to come to Amarta's handover of power and were given a boarding house made of wood called Bale Sigala-gala. The handover ceremony was delayed until late at night and the Pandavas were again drunk. After the Pandavas fell asleep, only Bima was still awake because Bima refused to join in drinking liquor. In the middle of the night, the Kauravas who thought the Pandavas had slept began to burn the guesthouse. Previously Arjuna allowed six beggars to sleep and eat in the guesthouse out of pity. When the fire broke out, Bima immediately carried his mother, brother, and sister into the tunnel that had been made by Yamawidura, who knew the cunning of the Kauravas. They were then guided by the white garangan who was the incarnation of Sang Hyang Antaboga. Arrived in heaven Sapta Pratala. Here Werkudara then met and married Sang Hyang Antaboga's daughter, Dewi Nagagini. From that marriage they had a son who would later become very powerful and an expert in war in the land named Antareja. After the Pandavas left the heaven of Sapta Pratala, they entered the forest. In the middle of the forest, the Pandavas met Prabu Arimba who was the son of Prabu Tremboko who had been killed by Prabu Pandu at the instigation of Sengkuni. Knowing the origin of the Pandavas, Prabu Arimba then wanted to kill them, but was repelled and eventually died at the hands of Werkudara. However, the younger brother of King Arimba did not hate him but instead put his heart on Werkudara. Before he died, Prabu Arimba entrusted his sister, Dewi Arimbi, to Werkudara. Because Arimbi is a rakseksi, Werkudara rejects his love. Then Dewi Kunti, who saw the sincerity of Dewi Arimbi's love, said, "Ouch ayune, this boy ..." (Oh, how beautiful this child is..!) Suddenly, the ugly Dewi Arimbi became beautiful and was then married to Werkudara. The couple finally had a son who was an expert in air warfare, named Gatotkaca. Gatotkaca then also appointed as king in Pringgandani as a replacement for his uncle, Prabu Arimba.


title: Bhima

text: While in the forest after the Bale Sigala-gala incident, his mother asked Werkudara and Arjuna to find two packets of rice for hungry Nakula and Sadewa. Werkudara came to a country called the Kingdom of Manahilan and there he met Rishi Hijrapa and his wife who was crying. When asked why, they replied that their only son had a turn to be eaten by the king of the land. The king of the country, named Prabu Baka or Prabu Dawaka, was fond of preying on humans. Without thinking, Werkudara immediately offered to replace the hermit's son. When eaten by Prabu Baka, it was not the body of Werkudara that was torn but the teeth of Prabu Baka were broken. This caused the wrath of King Baka. But in the fight against Werkudara, Prabu Baka died and all the people rejoiced because their king who liked to prey on humans had died. By the people of the country Werkudara will be made king, but Werkudara refuses. When asked what kind of reward he wanted to get, Werkudara said he only wanted two packs of rice. Then after getting the rice, Werkudara returned to the forest and later the hermit family was willing to become a sacrifice for the glory of the Pandavas in Baratayuda Jayabinangun. Meanwhile Arjuna also managed to get two packets of rice from the mercy of people. Dewi Kunti also said "Arjuna, eat the rice yourself!" Dewi Kunti always taught that in this life we should not accept anything from someone's pity.


title: Bhima

text: Besides Gatotkaca and Antareja, Werkudara also has a son who is an expert in underwater warfare, namely Antasena, the son of Bima and Dewi Urangayu, the daughter of Hyang Mintuna, the god who rules fresh water. The elders of Astina felt sad because they thought the Pandavas had died because they found six bodies in the burned-out guesthouse. The happy Kauravas then realized that the Pandavas were still alive when they took part in the contest for Dewi Drupadi. The Pandavas represented by Werkudara can win the competition by killing Gandamana. At the same time, Sengkuni and Jayajatra were also present who participated in the contest representing Resi Drona but lost. From Gandamana, Werkudara got the teachings of Wungkal Bener, and the teachings of Bandung Bandawasa. After winning the competition, Werkudara presented Dewi Drupadi to his brother, Puntadewa.


title: Bhima

text: After learning that the Pandavas were still alive, Astina's elders such as Resi Bhishma, Resi Drona, and Yamawidura urged Prabu Destarastra to give Pamdawa the Wanamarta forest, with the aim that the Kurawa and Pandavas would not unite and avoid civil war. Finally Destarastra agreed. The Pandavas were then rewarded with the famous Wanamarta forest. And with great effort they were finally able to establish an empire called Amarta. Werkudara also managed to defeat the younger brother of the king of the genie, Prabu Yudistira, who resided in Jodipati named Dandun Wacana. Dadun Wacana then merged into Werkudara's body. Then, Werkudara got the inheritance of Gada Lukitasari besides that, Werkudara also got the name Dandun Wacana. As the king of Jodipati, Werkudara had the title Prabu Jayapusaka with Crow Bongkol as his governor. Werkudara was also a king in Gilingwesi with the title Prabu Tugu Wasesa. When the Pandavas lost in a gambling game with the Kauravas, the Pandavas had to live as exiles for 12 years in the forest and 1 year in disguise. In this disguise, Werkudara disguised himself as a butcher or palace cook in the land of Wiratha with the name Butcher Abilawa. There he was credited with killing Kencakarupa, Rupakenca and Rajamala who aimed to rebel. In fact, he killed Kencakarupa and Rupakenca on the grounds that they both wanted to rape Salindri, who was none other than the wife of his sister, Puntadewa, Dewi Drupadi who was in disguise.


title: Bhima

text: Once Bima was asked by his teacher, Resi Drona, to look for Tirta Prawitasari or the water of life at the bottom of the ocean. Actually Tirta Prawitasari does not exist at the bottom of the ocean but is at the bottom of every human heart and the teacher's orders are just a trap planned by Sengkuni using Drona Resi. But Bima lived it in earnest. He searched for Prawitasari's water to the bottom of the ocean in the South Sea. On his way he met two large giants who were blocking him. The two giants were named Rukmuka and Rukmakala who were incarnations of Batara Indra and Batara Bayu who were sworn in by Batara Guru to become giants. After successfully killing the two monsters and after the giant changed back to its original form and returned to heaven, Werkudara continued his journey. Arriving at the vast ocean he was again attacked by a dragon named Naga Nemburnawa. With his claws, he tore the dragon's belly. After that Werkudara just stood still above the ocean. It was here that he met his true god, Dewa Ruci. By Dewa Ruci, Werkudara was then asked to enter the ear hole of the dwarf god. Then Werkudara came in and got a lecture about the meaning of life. He also saw an area that was peaceful, safe, and serene. After that Werkudara became a priest with the title Begawan Bima Suci and taught what he had learned from Dewa Ruci.


title: Bhima

text: Werkudara has also assisted in the coup action to be carried out by Prabu Anom Kangsa in the country of Mandura. Kangsa was the son of Dewi Maerah, the consort of King Basudewa, and King Gorawangsa of Guwabarong who was disguised as Basudewa. At that time Kangsa wanted to get rid of Basudewa's sons, namely Narayana (later to become Krishna), Kakrasana (later to become Baladewa, the king of his father's successor) and Dewi Lara Ireng (later to become Arjuna's wife named Wara Sumbadra). In the play entitled Kangsa Adu Jago, Werkudara managed to get rid of Patih Suratimantra and Kangsa himself was killed by Basudewa's sons, Kakrasana and Narayana. Since then the kinship between the Pandavas and Krishna and Balarama became closer. In Bima Kacep's play, Werkudara becomes a hermit to get the inspiration for victory in Bharatayuddha. While being imprisoned, Dewi Uma came who was attracted by the valor of the Werkudara. They then practice romance. Unfortunately, Batara Guru, Dewi Uma's husband, caught them. By Batara Guru, Werkudara's genitals were cut using As Jaludara which later became the heirloom of a pest repellent named Angking Gobel. From his relationship with Dewi Uma, Bima has another daughter named Bimandari. This play is rarely performed. And some of the puppeteers don't even know this story.


title: Bhima

text: In addition to the Ajian inherited by Gandamana, Werkudara also has Aji Blabak Pangtol-antol and Aji Taplindu. In terms of weapons, Werkudara has a mainstay weapon, namely the Gada Rujak Polo. In addition, Werkudara also has the Bargawa heirloom in the form of an ax and the Bargawastra in the form of an arrow. The arrows cannot be used up because every time they are used, the arrows will return to their owner. He had also met Anoman, Bayu's only brother. There they exchanged knowledge, where Werkudara got the Science of Age Division from Anoman and Anoman got Literature Science from Jendra Hayuningrat. Previously, the spirit of Kumbakarna, who was still curious and wanted to achieve perfection, also fused in Raden Werkudara's left thigh in Wahyu Makutarama's story, which made the Panegak Pandawa knight stronger. In the great war Baratayuda Jayabinangun Werkudara managed to kill many Kurawa warriors, including, Raden Dursasana, the second son of the Kauravas whom he brutally killed on the 16th day of Baratayuda to pay off Drupadi's oath that he would only bun and wash his hair after washing it with Dursasana's blood after the daughter of Pancala was abused when the Pandavas lose playing dice. Bima also killed Prabu Duryudana's other brothers, such as Gardapati on the third day of Baratyuda, Kartamarma, after Baratayuda, and many others. Werkudara also killed Patih Sengkuni on the 17th day by tearing his skin from the anus to his mouth to pay off his mother's oath that she would not bloat if she did not wear Sengkuni's skin when Princess Mandura abused Sengkuni during the distribution of tuning oil. This is also in accordance with Gandamana's curse that Sengkuni had framed to seize the position of Mahapatih Astina that Sengkuni would die with a skinned body.


title: Bhima

text: On the last day of Bharatayuddha, all of Astina's officers had died, only Werkudara's greatest rival remained, namely the king of Astina himself, Prabu Duryudana. This fight was refereed by Prabu Baladewa himself who was the teacher of the two students with the rules that they could only hit the body from the waist up. In that fight Duryodhana's body was immune and only his left thigh was not exposed to tuning oil, because he did not want to open the cloth covering his genitals which was still covering his left thigh when Dewi Gendari applied the oil to Duryodhana's body. Many people misinterpret this thigh by saying the left calf. Actually the correct one is the thigh because in Javanese wentis is the thigh, not the calf. Duryudana who tried to hit Werkudara's left thigh failed because in Werkudara's left thigh resided the spirit of Kumbakarna which caused Bima's left thigh to become very strong.


title: Bhima

text: Fortunately Arjuna from a distance signaled by patting his left thigh. Werkudara who was alert with his brother's signal immediately slammed his club on Duryodhana's left thigh, in two strokes Duryodhana was dying, by Werkudara, Duryodhana was then killed by smashing his face so that it was shapeless Baladewa who saw this thought Werkudara had cheated and wanted to punish him, but after Prabu Krishna's explanation of the fraud committed by Duryodhana and the curse of Begawan Maetreya finally Prabu Baladewa wanted to forgive him. When Begawan Maetreya came to Duryodhana and gave advice on giving half a kingdom to the Pandavas, Duryodhana just sat down and said, a priest should only think if the king asks for it, patting his left thigh. For Begawan Maetreya this was considered an insult, he then cursed King Duryodhana to die with a crushed left thigh.


title: Bhima

text: After Bharatayuddha war was over, the Pandavas came to see King Destarastra and the other Astina elders. It turned out that Destarastra still held a grudge against Werkudara who heard that many of his sons had died at the hands of Werkudara, especially Dursasana who he killed cruelly. When the Pandavas came to pay homage to Destarastra, Destarastra secretly recited the Aji Lebursaketi mantra to destroy Werkudara, however, Prabu Kresna who knew about it pushed Werkudara aside so that the stone statue was affected by the aji-aji. Immediately, the statue was crushed to ashes. Destarastra later admitted his mistake and he withdrew from society and lived as a hermit in the forest with his wife and Dewi Kunti. Some puppet standards say that Prabu Destarastra was killed before the Baratayuda war broke out when Krishna became the Pandavas' ambassador to Astina. At that time he was trampled to death by his sons who were running for fear of the anger of King Krishna who had become a Brahala.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English-American professional wrestling commentator, actor, and former professional wrestler who holds both British and American citizenship. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is a color commentator on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Wade Barrett.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Under the Wade Barrett name, he won the first season of "NXT" in 2010 and made his main roster debut on "Raw" later that year. He rose to prominence as the leader of The Nexus, a villainous faction composed of the remaining "NXT" first season rookies. He headlined five PPV events for WWE in 2010—SummerSlam, Night of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series, and —three of which saw him unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Championship. He later formed The Corre, a short-lived group with former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, along with Ezekiel Jackson in 2011. After they disbanded, Barrett would go on to become a five-time Intercontinental Champion.


title: Wade Barrett

text: In 2013, Barrett's ring name was changed to Bad News Barrett and he adopted the character of a man who took immense pleasure in breaking bad news to other people. In 2015, he won the 20th King of the Ring tournament, at which point his ring name was changed to King Barrett. He was notably portrayed as a villain for his entire WWE career, regardless of any other changes made to his character. He has not wrestled since leaving WWE in May 2016, though he has appeared in non-wrestling roles on the international independent circuit, such as a commentator for World of Sport Wrestling and a general manager for Defiant Wrestling under his real name. He returned to WWE as a commentator for NXT in August 2020.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Bennett made his acting debut in the action film "Dead Man Down" (2013) and has since starred in action films such as "Eliminators" (2016), "I Am Vengeance" (2018), and "" (2020).


title: Wade Barrett

text: Stuart Alexander Bennett was born on 10 August 1980 in Penwortham, Lancashire. He grew up in nearby Preston before moving to Wales with his family at the age of six. He was inspired to become a professional wrestler by his idol Davey Boy Smith, and named the WWF Intercontinental Championship match in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 between Smith and his other childhood hero Bret Hart as his favourite match of all time. He earned a degree in marine biology from the University of Liverpool, after which he went to work in a science lab and as a recruitment consultant while training to become a wrestler.


title: Wade Barrett

text: While living in Liverpool in his early 20s, Bennett has stated to have become a champion bare-knuckle boxer who would fight in various locations throughout Europe. He competed in a match in Budapest dubbed "The Battle of Buda" by the bare-knuckle underworld, in which he defeated a reputable opponent for a substantial cash prize. Later, while walking through an alleyway in search of a taxi to the airport, he was stabbed with an eight-inch knife by someone who attempted to steal the money. He has refused to elaborate on the incident for legal reasons, but has said that he seriously injured his attacker and escaped with the money despite significant blood loss. The attack left him with a 12-inch scar that stretches from his upper back to halfway down his right arm, and the punches he took during his bare-knuckle career left him with a disfigured nose, but he has expressed no regret over that period of his life. He incorporated his bare-knuckle career into his WWE gimmick at the request of Dusty Rhodes, being introduced to the WWE audience as a European bare-knuckle champion who had fought on the streets of Europe. His "Wasteland" move is named after the site of many of his fights.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Bennett decided to become a professional wrestler at the age of 21, and was trained by Jon Ritchie and Al Snow. He made his professional wrestling debut in June 2004, using the ring name Stu Sanders, as a surprise entrant in a 30-man battle royal held by NWA UK Hammerlock Wrestling. Sanders also performed at numerous Dropkixx Wrestling, Real Quality Wrestling and All Star Wrestling events, as well as wrestling in Wales for Welsh Wrestling. In June 2005 he beat Danny Beckwith for the Dropkixx IWC Heavyweight Championship. In 2005, he feuded with Nick Aldis and Danny Dexter in Dropkixx Wrestling.


title: Wade Barrett

text: After appearing as part of a security team on 13 November 2006 episode of "Raw" in Manchester, Barrett participated in a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) later that month. He had another tryout in 2007, and signed a developmental contract with them in October. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under his Stu Sanders ring name, where he defeated Ace Steel in a dark match. He later formed a tag team with Paul Burchill and the pair faced the Major Brothers in several matches. On 2 January 2008 Sanders and Burchill defeated Colt Cabana and Charles Evans in the final of a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. Sanders and Burchill held the title for nearly two months before losing it to Los Locos (Ramón and Raúl) in a four-way match also involving The Insurgency (Ali and Omar Akbar) and The Mobile Homers (Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver).


title: Wade Barrett

text: After WWE ended their relationship with OVW as a developmental territory, Sanders was moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) with several other wrestlers. On 6 May 2008, Sanders and Drew McIntyre, collectively known as The Empire, defeated The Puerto Rica Nightmares (Eddie Colón and Eric Pérez) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles back to the Nightmares at FCW's first TV taping on 17 July. The team broke up after the loss, and Sanders began wrestling under his real name before changing it to Lawrence Knight at 9 October FCW television taping. On 19 February 2009, Knight announced that he was the new FCW commentator, alongside Dusty Rhodes. He became colour commentator due to an injury, in which he tore his Latissimus dorsi muscle and required surgery. In August 2009, Bennett was renamed yet again to Wade Barrett, partially named for Wade Dooley. He described the character of Barrett as being an extension of his "dark side". He returned to in-ring competition in FCW in December 2009.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett competed on the first season of "NXT", with Chris Jericho as his storyline mentor. His first appearance for "NXT" was on the inaugural episode of "NXT" on 23 February, when he acted as Jericho's ring announcer. Barrett made his in-ring debut on the following episode of "NXT", defeating Daniel Bryan. On 13 April episode of "NXT", Barrett won the "talk the talk" challenge and was awarded his own custom made entrance theme. On 11 May, Barrett was ranked in first place in the Pros Poll. On 1 June 2010 episode of "NXT", Barrett won the overall competition and a WWE contract, by defeating Gabriel and David Otunga in the season finale.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 7 June 2010 edition of "Raw", Barrett was at the forefront of an attack by the "NXT" rookies, as they interfered in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, Luke Gallows, the announce team, the timekeeper and the ring announcer, Justin Roberts, before they destroyed the ring area and surrounding equipment. Cena in particular was heavily targeted by the rookies, who hit him with their finishing moves. On 14 June 2010 edition of "Raw", Barrett and the other rookies (minus Daniel Bryan) demanded full-time contracts from Raw General Manager Bret Hart, who instead fired Barrett and had the rookies removed from the building. Later in the show, the rookies attacked Hart and gave him until the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view to decide on their contracts. At Fatal 4-Way, the rookies interfered in the main event for the WWE Championship, costing Cena the match and the championship in the process to Sheamus. The following night on "Raw", Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced that a new 'anonymous' General Manager had been hired and the six rookies received WWE contracts (Barrett's contract was reinstated after he was originally fired the previous week). The group of rookies continued their path of disrupting main events, as they attacked both Cena and McMahon, who had been acting as the referee on 21 June 2010 edition of "Raw". On 5 July 2010 edition of "Raw", the group was named The Nexus. That same week, Barrett was absent from "Raw" as his work visa had expired and he had to return to the United Kingdom to apply for a new one. With his visa situation cleared up, Barrett returned the following week.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 12 July 2010 edition of "Raw", the Nexus (who were without Darren Young due to being injured in an attack by Cena the previous week) competed in their first match together and defeated Cena in a 6–on–1 handicap match after Gabriel hit Cena with the 450° splash. The following week, Barrett made his singles match debut on "Raw" by defeating Mark Henry. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the "Raw" roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Barrett was the final member of the Nexus but submitted to Cena, causing the Nexus to lose the match. After Young was exiled from the group for losing a match to Cena the night after SummerSlam and Skip Sheffield was injured at a live event in Hawaii two nights later, the Nexus faced Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Jericho in a five-on-five elimination match on 30 August 2010 edition of "Raw", which Barrett won by pinning Orton.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett received his guaranteed championship match from winning NXT at Night of Champions, where he was unsuccessful in a six-pack challenge match for the WWE Championship, despite eliminating Cena. The feud between Cena and the Nexus continued at Hell in a Cell on 3 October, when Barrett defeated Cena to force Cena to become a member of the Nexus. The following night on "Raw", Barrett, with the help of the rest of the Nexus, won a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, when Cena eliminated himself on Barrett's orders. Barrett received his championship match against Randy Orton at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view. After ordering Cena to help him win, Cena interfered in the match causing Barrett to win via disqualification, which meant that Orton retained the championship. The following night, Barrett was granted a rematch at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, and allowed to choose a guest referee. He chose Cena, stating that if Barrett wins the match and the WWE title, Cena would be allowed to leave the Nexus; however if Barrett failed to win the title, Cena would be fired. At Survivor Series, Barrett was unsuccessful in winning the WWE Championship from Orton after Cena pushed him into an RKO by Orton. Cena was fired as per the match stipulation after Survivor Series. Due to Cena's interference, Barrett received a rematch for the championship the following night on "Raw", but was attacked by the fired Cena, "costing" him the match, leading to The Miz to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Orton. After Cena attacked several members of the Nexus over the next few weeks, they demanded that Barrett re-instate him, or be exiled from the group. On 13 December 2010 edition of "Raw", Barrett agreed and rehired Cena on the condition Cena faces Barrett in a Chairs match at the pay-per-view, which Cena won after dropping 23 steel chairs on Barrett.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett made his first appearance since the TLC pay-per-view on 3 January 2011 edition of "Raw", where he confronted CM Punk, who had taken over the leadership of the Nexus in his absence. Punk gave Barrett the opportunity to regain the leadership, stating that if he won a triple threat steel cage match involving Orton and Sheamus to determine the number one contender for The Miz's WWE Championship, Punk would not only give up the leadership, but work for Barrett's Nexus. However, during the match, Punk came down to ringside, attacked Barrett as he was about to win and took off Barrett's Nexus armband, symbolically removing him from the Nexus, resulting in Barrett losing the match. At the television tapings of 10 January 2011 edition of "SmackDown" the next day, Barrett made his first "SmackDown" appearance since 1 October, this time by attacking Big Show. The following week, he was joined by Ezekiel Jackson and his former Nexus stablemates Gabriel and Slater, who had left the group the previous Monday for and the group named themselves The Corre. Barrett later qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but came up short after being the first man eliminated by Big Show.


title: Wade Barrett

text: At the television tapings of 25 March 2011 edition of "SmackDown", Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston to win the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania XXVII, The Corre were defeated in an eight-man tag team match by the team of Kingston, Big Show, Kane and Santino Marella. Barrett went on to successfully defend his championship against Kingston on 22 April 2011 edition of "SmackDown". On 6 May 2011 edition of "SmackDown", Barrett, Gabriel, and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group. On 13 May 2011 edition of "SmackDown", Barrett then challenged Jackson to a match for the Intercontinental Championship at the Over the Limit pay-per-view and Jackson accepted. At the event, Gabriel and Slater attacked Jackson during the match, resulting in a disqualification, but Barrett retained the title as a title cannot change hands via disqualification. He then defended his Intercontinental title against Jackson again on 3 June 2011 edition of "SmackDown". During this match, Jackson threw Barrett out of the ring, resulting in a countout, but once again, Barrett retained the title as a title cannot change hands via countout. Barrett then instructed The Corre to attack Jackson, but abandoned Gabriel and Slater, whom Jackson fended off. The following week, The Corre dissolved after Barrett, fleeing from Jackson, walked out on Gabriel and Slater in a six-man tag team match against Jackson and The Usos, causing them to lose the match. At Capitol Punishment, Barrett lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jackson, and failed to win his rematch for the title on 24 June episode of "SmackDown".


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 1 July episode of "SmackDown", Barrett was announced to be one of the participants for the SmackDown Money in the Bank match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, facing Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and Sheamus. The match was won by Daniel Bryan, sparking a rivalry between the two. At SummerSlam, Barrett defeated Bryan in a singles match. He then had a short feud with Sheamus, where he lost on three occasions.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On the 21 October episode of "SmackDown", Barrett dismissed his past allies as a "legion of parasites" and claimed that the only person he needed for success was himself. He vowed that the "Barrett Barrage" was only just beginning. Barrett followed this announcement by beating Daniel Bryan. The next week, he began a winning streak, defeating John Morrison, Trent Barreta, Sheamus, and Randy Orton in singles competition. In November, he began feuding with Orton, and both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series. Barrett's winning streak was broken on the 14 November episode of "Raw", when he was defeated by Orton via disqualification after Team Barrett attacked Orton. Team Barrett defeated Team Orton at Survivor Series, with Barrett and Cody Rhodes being the sole survivors of the match. On the 25 November episode of "SmackDown", Barrett competed in a fatal four-way match against Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Daniel Bryan to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Bryan won.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett continued his feud with Orton by attacking and distracting him during matches. On the 9 December episode of "SmackDown", Barrett and Orton were put into two Beat the Clock matches, with the winner choosing the stipulation for their match at . Barrett defeated Ezekiel Jackson in 7:53, but Orton beat Dolph Ziggler in 7:51 and chose a Table match. At TLC, Orton defeated Barrett after hitting the "RKO" in mid-air, with Barrett landing through the table. On the 23 December episode of "SmackDown", they brawled backstage, ending when Orton hit Barrett with the "RKO" onto a car. This led to a Falls Count Anywhere match the next week, where Barrett pushed Orton down a set of stairs before exiting through the door. Orton suffered a herniated disc as a result, taking him off television for a number of weeks. After Orton returned from injury in late January 2012, he eliminated Barrett from the 2012 Royal Rumble match. On the 3 February edition of "SmackDown", Orton defeated Barrett in a No Disqualifications match to end the feud.


title: Wade Barrett

text: At Elimination Chamber, Barrett failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship after being eliminated by Santino Marella. The following night on "Raw", Barrett suffered a partially dislocated elbow after Big Show threw Dolph Ziggler at him during a battle royal, and was taken off television.


title: Wade Barrett

text: In August 2012, WWE aired vignettes promoting Barrett's return, showing Barrett fighting at an underground fight club in an attempt to "reignite the flame". Barrett, with an entirely new look, made his return on 7 September "SmackDown", defeating Yoshi Tatsu. He then went on a winning streak, defeating wrestlers including Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, and Zack Ryder, among others. His first loss came on 8 October episode of "Raw", when he lost a non-title match to World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus via disqualification after Big Show interfered. Barrett suffered his first pinfall loss on 19 October episode of "SmackDown", in a Lumberjack match against Sheamus. At Survivor Series, Barrett was part of the winning team of Dolph Ziggler against the team of Mick Foley, where he eliminated Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston before being eliminated by The Miz.


title: Wade Barrett

text: The following night on "Raw", Barrett defeated Kingston in a non-title match to earn a match for the Intercontinental Championship. Barrett, still number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, received a shot at the United States Championship on 3 December "Raw", against champion Antonio Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth in a fatal four-way match, but was unsuccessful. Barrett failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Kingston at the pay-per-view. Two weeks later, on 31 December "Raw", Barrett defeated Kingston to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time in his career. Barrett made his first successful title defence four days later on "SmackDown", defeating Kingston in a rematch. Barrett entered the 2013 Royal Rumble match and was eliminated by the debuting Bo Dallas, but Barrett later returned to eliminate Dallas as well. This started a feud between the duo, with Barrett challenging Dallas to a non-title match the next night on "Raw", and Dallas pulling off an upset victory. During the month of February, Barrett and Dallas continued to feud with the two attacking each other backstage. On 21 March taping of "NXT", Wade Barrett defeated Bo Dallas for another successful title defence.


title: Wade Barrett

text: During the WrestleMania 29 pre-show, Barrett lost the Intercontinental Championship to The Miz, however, he would regain the title in a rematch the following night on "Raw". On 20 May "Raw", Barrett and Fandango were defeated by Chris Jericho and The Miz in a tag team match after Fandango left the match to dance at ringside and Miz submitted Barrett with the figure-four leglock. Barrett then lost an Intercontinental Championship match to The Miz by disqualification, after Fandango interfered, leading to Barrett attacking both Miz and Fandango post-match. On the next episode of "Raw", Barrett was defeated by Fandango in a non-title match after The Miz, who was special guest referee, gave Barrett a "Skull Crushing Finale". In June, Fandango suffered a legitimate concussion, removing him from the feud between Barrett and Miz.


title: Wade Barrett

text: At Payback, Barrett lost the Intercontinental Championship to Curtis Axel in a triple threat match, also involving The Miz. Barrett received his rematch for the title on the following episode of "SmackDown", but was again defeated by Axel. On 14 July at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Barrett competed in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was ultimately won by Damien Sandow. Barrett finally ended his long losing streak on 31 July "Main Event", when he defeated R-Truth. On 5 August "Raw", Barrett was to shave Daniel Bryan's beard at the orders of Vince McMahon as part of Bryan's "corporate makeover", but Bryan attacked and shaved Barrett instead. That same week on "SmackDown", Barrett lost to Bryan, but on the next "Raw", Barrett defeated Bryan after special guest referee Brad Maddox made a fast count on Bryan. Four days later on "SmackDown", Barrett was again defeated by Bryan in a no disqualification match.


title: Wade Barrett

text: After an absence from WWE television due to legitimate work visa issues, he returned on 2 December 2013 episode of "Raw" as Bad News Barrett, a persona he had previously assumed on "The JBL and Cole Show", but was still called Wade on occasion by commentators and backstage interviewers.


title: Wade Barrett

text: He made his in-ring return on 7 April 2014 "Raw", defeating Rey Mysterio in Mysterio's last WWE appearance until 2018. On 14 April episode of "Raw", Barrett defeated Dolph Ziggler in round one of the #1 Contender's Tournament for an Intercontinental Championship match at Extreme Rules and on 21 April "Raw", Barrett defeated Sheamus to advance to the finals of the tournament. He defeated Rob Van Dam on 28 April "Raw" in the final round of the tournament, earning a match at Extreme Rules for the Intercontinental Championship against Big E. At Extreme Rules, he became the Intercontinental Champion for the fourth time in his career when he defeated Big E. He then defeated Van Dam at Payback to retain his Intercontinental Championship. On 9 June "Raw", he competed in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship qualifying match for the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but failed after a Brogue Kick by Sheamus. However, Triple H put him in the Money in the Bank ladder match for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship contract on 23 June "Raw". The following night at the "SmackDown" tapings, Barrett separated his shoulder after he was thrown into the barricade by Jack Swagger, so he was pulled from the pay-per-view. Barrett's injury required surgery, ruling him out for months, thus WWE made the move to vacate the Intercontinental Championship on 30 June.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett returned onscreen in November at the pre-show of Survivor Series. On 29 December 2014 episode of "Raw", Barrett returned to action and defeated Cesaro. On 5 January 2015 episode of "Raw", Barrett defeated Dolph Ziggler in a 2-out-of-3 falls match to capture his fifth Intercontinental Championship. At Fastlane, Barrett retained his title against Dean Ambrose after Ambrose got himself disqualified. Ambrose then stole the Intercontinental title, but he would not be the only one to do so for the following weeks, as various wrestlers gained possession of Barrett's title belt, including R-Truth, Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, and Stardust. Of these people, Barrett was pinned in non-title matches against R-Truth, Ziggler, Bryan, and Ambrose within a month before and after Fastlane. Thus, a ladder match for the Intercontinental Title was made for WrestleMania 31, with Barrett defending against Ambrose, Harper, R-Truth, Ziggler, Stardust, and Bryan, who ultimately won the match. Barrett was scheduled to face Bryan for the championship in a rematch at Extreme Rules, however Bryan was not medically cleared to compete. Barrett instead faced Neville in a losing effort on the pre-show.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 28 April 2015 episode of "Raw", Barrett would compete in the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, where he defeated Dolph Ziggler in the first round. The following night on the WWE Network, Barrett would defeat R-Truth in the semi-finals before defeating fellow Englishman Neville in the final to become the twentieth winner of the tournament. Under the moniker King Barrett, he would go on to deliberately get himself counted-out to Neville at Payback. King Barrett participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, but was the first eliminated by R-Truth. At the Money in the Bank pre-show, Barrett lost to Truth. After his victory, Truth began referring to himself as "King What's Up" and wore a cape and crown to mock Barrett. The renewed feud accumulated to Battleground, which saw Barrett defeat Truth.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett then formed a partnership named "The Lords of Darkness" with Stardust, leading to a tag team match at SummerSlam, where they were defeated by Neville and actor Stephen Amell, when Neville pinned Barrett for the win. The night after SummerSlam, Stardust turned on Barrett for costing him the match, thus disbanding their tag team. After a short hiatus, Barrett returned on 28 September episode of "Raw", attacking Neville and Stardust.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 5 October episode of "Raw", Barrett helped Sheamus defeat Neville, after Barrett, who was on commentary during the match, distracted Neville long enough for Sheamus to take advantage. Barrett and Sheamus would then form a tag team, defeating Neville and Cesaro in tag team matches on both "Raw" and "SmackDown". At Survivor Series, Barrett took part in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match, alongside Sheamus and The New Day, with this team being defeated by Ryback, The Usos and The Lucha Dragons. The following night on "Raw", Barrett would help Rusev and Sheamus against Roman Reigns. On 9 November in Manchester, footballer Wayne Rooney slapped Barrett after Barrett talked trash to him repeatedly.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 30 November episode of "Raw", after interfering in Sheamus' WWE World Heavyweight Championship title defence against Reigns, Sheamus announced the formation of The League of Nations stable alongside Barrett, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio. On 14 January episode of "Smackdown", Barrett helped Del Rio to win United States Championship.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 7 March 2016 episode of "Raw", Barrett, along with Sheamus and Rusev, competed against Dolph Ziggler in a 3-on-1 handicap elimination match, where Barrett was the only member of his team to be eliminated. At Roadblock, Barrett and Sheamus unsuccessfully challenged The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship. On 14 March edition of "Raw", Barrett and the entire League of Nations attacked the New Day, after Alberto Del Rio lost to Big E and Xavier Woods in a Tag Team title match. After the attack, Sheamus issued a challenge to The New Day for a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 32. On 17 March episode of "Smackdown", Barrett suffered a loss against Kofi Kingston. At WrestleMania, Barrett's stablemates defeated The New Day after interference from Barrett himself. On 4 April episode of "Raw", Barrett and Sheamus challenged the New Day for the tag titles, but lost. After the match, the League of Nations blamed Barrett for being the "weak link" and attacked him, ejecting him from the group. This was his last appearance for WWE.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 6 May, WWE announced that Bennett had been released. Following his release, Bennett stated that he chose not to sign a new contract with WWE in August 2015, his contract was scheduled to end in June 2016, but WWE had agreed to an early release from his contract. Bennett then took a hiatus from wrestling altogether in order to focus on his acting career, but said he would return to wrestling when he felt the time was right.


title: Wade Barrett

text: After leaving WWE, he would work in no-wrestling roles. Throughout 2017, Bennett made appearances in WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW)\Defiant Wrestling, where he served as on-screen general manager. The following year, Bennett joined World of Sport Wrestling (WOS) as an on-screen executive and commentator.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Bennett appeared on Lucha Underground for its season four finale on 8 November 2018. Lucha Underground closed after season 4, therefore Bennett never got to appear for the company again. In December 2019, Bennett provided color commentary for the National Wrestling Alliance during their "Into the Fire" PPV event as well as "NWA Power" tapings.


title: Wade Barrett

text: On 26 August 2020 episode of "NXT", Bennett returned to WWE under the Wade Barrett name as a color commentator in a single-appearance deal. He would become an official member of the NXT commentary team the following week. On 17 September, Barrett announced in an interview with "Sports Illustrated" that he had signed a one-year deal with WWE to become a permanent member of the NXT broadcast team. On October 6, 2022, WWE announced that they had shuffled their commentary and interview teams, with Barrett moving to "SmackDown" to be the color commentator alongside Michael Cole.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Barrett had a small role as Kilroy in the crime thriller film "Dead Man Down" (2013), for which he adopted a New York accent. He starred as assassin George "Bishop" Edwards in the action thriller film "Eliminators" (2016) and had a leading role as John Gold in the action film "" (2020), which received primarily negative reviews; however, his performance received praise, with "Variety" noting that he has "sufficient comic chops to occasionally undercut Gold's macho with self-parody".


title: Wade Barrett

text: Bennett was granted an American green card in November 2014, before acquiring American citizenship in January 2021. He is an avid supporter of his hometown football team Preston North End FC.


title: Wade Barrett

text: Bennett was formerly in a relationship with American wrestler Alicia Fox, with whom he remained friends after they broke up.


title: Axel Witsel

text: Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel (born 12 January 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Belgian national team. Witsel broke into Belgium's first team as a right-winger, and can also play attacking midfielder, though his natural position is as a central midfielder.


title: Axel Witsel

text: He began his career at hometown club Standard Liège, making 183 appearances and scoring 42 goals while winning five domestic trophies. He was awarded the Belgian Golden Shoe in 2008. After a season in Portugal with Benfica, he signed for Zenit Saint Petersburg for a €40 million fee in 2012. Witsel won four honours during his time in Russia, before leaving for Tianjin Quanjian in January 2017. He returned to Europe with Borussia Dortmund in August 2018. With the Bundesliga side, Witsel won the 2019 DFL-Supercup and the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal.


title: Axel Witsel

text: Witsel made his senior international debut in 2008 and earned his 100th cap for Belgium on 15 November 2018. He represented the country at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020, helping them to third place in the 2018 tournament.


title: Axel Witsel

text: On 17 September 2006, a 17-year-old Witsel made his debut with Standard Liège during a competitive game against FC Brussels when he replaced Steven Defour in the 89th minute. Eleven days later, he made his European debut as a substitute.


title: Axel Witsel

text: During the 2007–08 season, at 18 years of age, he was a key member in the squad of Standard Liège, winners of the Belgian League title that year. During this year, he formed a very young midfield together with other Belgian talents Defour and Marouane Fellaini. In the following season, he scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in a two-legged playoff to decide the championship.