Mr. Pop Culture

Everything's Bigger in Texas - WM25 Predictions

2009-04-05T16:39:00.002-04:00

And once again, we come to Wrestlemania Weekend. It's amazing how far in the last few years Wrestlemania has gone from a simple PPV to an entire weekend celebration or more. It's a chance for the entire wrestling world to stop and witness something incredible, with the addition of the Hall of Fame ceremony and the Fan Axxess festival. Having gone to Axxess back before WM18 when it was in Toronto, it's a great thing and I highly recommend it for anyone who has an opportunity to go. I'm glad to see it's back in it's full glory instead of the half-assed version that they've done in the past few years. On with the predictions...

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Seems like of the field of eight competitors, there's only about two or three real options. My personal favorite is Christian, if for no other reason it's a chance to get him off ECW and onto one of the bigger shows. MVP's back on a winning streak, and could end up winning the match already with the U.S. title. Finlay, Mark Henry, Kane and Shelton Benjamin really don't have much of a shot at winning the match, nor does CM Punk for the simple reason that he won it last year and I can't see a repeat win. Kofi Kingston I think is going to be the big surprise in the match with the memorable spot ala Shelton's ladder walk from Wm21, but in the end smart money is on Christian or MVP. I'll go with MVP based on Vince's rumored dislike of Christian.

Winner: MVP

IC Title: JBL vs. Rey Misterio

The only real reason Bradshaw took the Intercontinental Title was to do something memorable at the show, and rumors are his retirement is imminent. He's had enough stroke to last as long as he has with the company, I see him retiring after the match as champion which has never been done before. Rey's simply in there to make sure it's a good match. Get back to the booth JBL, it's where you're at your best.

Winner: JBL

Miss Wrestlemania battle royal:

If rumored reports are to be believed, there's a total of 23 entrants confirmed for the match. The 18 current divas, plus returns of Victoria, Molly Holly (yay~!), Torrie Wilson, Jackie Gayda-Haas and Sunny (YAY~!) Candice Michelle was supposed to be in it but has a bad ankle, and apparently the rumors of Nidia returning were false, she's there just to visit friends. That leaves 3 spots undetermined, and my best guesses would be some combination of Trish Stratus, Mae Young and Santino Marella. Santino will likely be just a comedy spot, as would Mae, but you can't totally rule out the possibility of Santino actually winning the whole thing with the respect the division tends to get lately. And while a Trish win would certainly be deserving, I think Gail Kim's winning to put over her return to the company and to solidify her as a threat to Maryse and the tramp stamp title on Smackdown. Beth Phoenix could be a dark horse to win, as could Michelle McCool, but I think in the end this will be used to create a new top diva in Gail.

Winner: Gail Kim

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka:

This angle was originally designed to have Jericho face Mickey Rourke at WM, but for various reasons it fell through. As a result, it does somewhat feel like a third or fourth option, but I've tried to enjoy it as much as possible. With both Ric Flair and Mickey Rourke confirmed as being at ringside, it smells of total overbooking when it comes down to it. I have a feeling that despite Ricky Steamboat being inducted into the HoF this year he'll be the first legend eliminated, after a quick first couple of minutes as he's likely in the best shape of the three. Snuka will go next, leaving Piper to be the winner after Flair gets involved and Rourke knocks Chris out cold. The sad thing is, Steamboat hasn't wrestled at all in 15 years since his retirement, and has the most intrigue as we've seen the other two trotted out several times in the last number of years. I'd personally have preferred a straight one on one match wtih Jericho, even if it was only designed to last 10 minutes or less. I'm hoping Ricky has enough left in the tank to make this one enjoyable, and gets to leave a lasting impression.

Winner: Roddy Piper (with Snuka and Steamboat)

World/WWE Tag Title Unification Match: The Colons vs. Mizorrison

The Miz and John Morrison have been the centers of the tag team scene the entire year, and richly deserve to be the ones to unify the titles. As a result, Carlito and Primo will win the match, lumberjacks or not. The angle between the teams has been a good one though and has a surprisingly decent backstory, involving the Bella Twins. Hopefully it does continue past WM, and as Miz and Morrison will probably win the belts shortly after the PPV I have a feeling it will.

Winners: The Colons

Extreme Rules: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy

This is an angle that's also felt somewhat incomplete, probably stemming from the revelation of Matt Hardy being behind the attacks on Jeff simply for the sake of swerving the fans who had fully expected Christian to be the real one behind it. Still, the brothers have done a very good job of building up what they've been allowed to do, and it has a real Bret-Owen vibe to it. I think Matt absolutely has to win the match here or the fued is dead in the water, as most of the fanbase still thinks Jeff is head and shoulders better than Matt (which is part of what the fued has been built around). Still, because it's WM and Jeff's popularity has never been higher, I think he'll go over in the end.

Winner: Jeff Hardy

World Title: Edge vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show

Of all the matches on the show, I think I care about this one the least. A big part of that is because Edge and Cena have fueded off and on for the last 3 years, and putting Big Show into the mix is not a way to freshen it up. Nor is basing the entire thing around a love triangle with Vickie Guerrero. Cena is the Hogan of the new millenium, and hasn't won at WM since 23. He's due. And the way they like to handle Edge is to make him a dangerous, opportunistic threat until he wins a title, and then completely neuter him and make him unable to hang onto said belt. I like Edge, but 8 reigns already in 3 years is a little much when none of them last more than a month or two, tops.

Winner: John Cena

All I can hope is Cena stays on Smackdown after winning.

WWE Title: Triple H vs. Randy Orton

While I may care about the previous match the least, this one's the most dissapointing. Randy Orton was absolutely on fire going into the Royal Rumble but since his win, they've managed to turn it into yet another H/McMahon overbloated storyline where Stephanie is somehow the damsel in distress. Orton by all rights deserves to win the match, but the way the storyline has gone it's inconceivable that HHH loses this one. And like Cena, HHH is due as he hasn't won a WM match since 2003, amazingly.

Winner: Triple H

Main Event: Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

As many know, I'm far from being a big Undertaker fan. But there's no denying, this match should be the main event tonight and is the one most people are looking forward to. I'll put it plainly... this is probably your match of the night, but no way is the streak ending.

Winner: Undertaker, 17-0.

Now, let's see how predictable the 24TH ANNIVERSARY of Wrestlemania is.

Rumble Young Man Rumble IV - At Last, You're Home

2009-01-25T12:55:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I've gone eight months between postings here. I also can't believe this is the fourth year in a row I've done Royal Rumble predictions on this thing. Time flies, I guess. More of a catchup post later, but as we're seven hours and counting down to the Royal Rumble 2009 I'll move right along.

Anyone who's read this blog knows by now that the Rumble is my favorite event of the year. Even if they screw everything else up throughout the year, you can always look forward to an hour of entertainment with the Rumble match itself. Even a bad Rumble match is still usually pretty good (okay, maybe outside of 1995's thirty second intervals) and looking back years later can be entertaining (1999, I'm looking at you). On with the predictions:

Beth Phoenix vs. Melina, Women's Title:

Melina's return as a babyface has gone over spectacularly well, but as is the case with the women's division they only seem to focus on one storyline at a time and when it's over, the one who doesn't end up with the title gets shoved back down to placeholder status. Right now Beth is riding a wave of popularity, much of it due to Santino Marella, and with rumors that they want Trish Stratus back for a Wrestlemania 25 match this year, they'd be crazy not to put them together. I saw Trish's return during Christmas live, and she looked as good as ever in the couple of moments she and Beth squared off. Rumor has it they want Trish against Michelle McCool, who's the fakest diva they've ever had and is nowhere near deserving of a match with the legendary Trish. As much as I'd like to see Melina get even a short run with the title to break up the monotony, I think she's just here to feed Beth and then fall back for a Mickie James type non-push. If we can get Santino trying to do Melina's entrance again, so much the more awesome.

Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy, ECW Title:

The ECW title seems to switch at the most unexpected times, which is usually not welcome. But while I haven't seen a lot of Swagger he seems to be doing well in his position and a run as champion here could set him up for a bigger run later on. As for Matt, I think he firmly belongs on Raw or Smackdown and is as deserving of his brother to get a WWE title run. Matt was great for bringing visibility to the ECW title, rather than the other way around, but it's time V1 goes back to Smackdown, especially with what's rumored to be happening later this year (more on that soon). Swagger retains with some sort of cheating.

CM Punk vs. William Regal, IC Title:

I've enjoyed their series of matches over the last few weeks, and this past week's title win by Punk was one of the better tv matches in a while. They seem to be interested in pushing Punk, just not as a main eventer yet. Weird that he's already kinda had the Triple Crown (though in all fairness, the WWE title is really what makes it, not the World Title) but done it in reverse, from World to Tag to IC belt. Regal was doing well as champion, but Punk holding the belt probably leads to some newer fued options like Jericho (sigh) or someone from Legacy not named Randy Orton. Punk retains.

John Cena vs. JBL, World Title:

Well, at least he's not IN the Rumble. With the storyline ongoing with Michaels and JBL, I see it playing out one of two ways: either HBK costs Cena the title and JBL goes on to face Michaels at Mania in front of a Texas crowd, or Michaels costs JBL and they have a grudge match sans title. Either way Shawn is playing a major part in the outcome, and I learned long ago not to bet against SuperCena retaining a title.

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge, WWE Title:

Now here's where it gets good. Jeff's so not retaining the title here, which normally is a shame. But because this is almost definitely where CHRISTIAN makes his long awaited return to the WWE, I'll let it slide (also because Edge ups his title count, and the Rated R superstar is phenominal in the role of slimy champion). Edge wins the strap, thanks to Captain Charisma-ference. With any luck, 2009 will be the year that the Ring Boys trade the WWE around between the four of them (Matt, Jeff, Edge and Christian) and HHH can fued with Vickie G. all year as far as I care.

2009 Royal Rumble Match:

There's a few interesting options in the match to make it interesting, but I think Randy Orton is the odds-on-favorite to win the match. He's won me over in the last few months with his character, mainly because he really is that big of a douchebag in real life. But still, Orton is on fire and deserve the Rumble win. Outside of Orton winning, I just hope as I always do that there's one or two surprise entries in the match that are a genuine shock. Note: Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper DO NOT COUNT. Hey, maybe this is the the return of Braden Walker!

Sing, Sing A Song

2008-05-04T23:51:00.002-04:00

Ripped off from Mike and Gib's blogs, click here to find out what was the #1 song on the day you were born... or just about any other specific day. As far as the day I was born, "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer...

Yikes.

Karma is wonderful

2008-04-30T00:39:00.003-04:00

As I post this, the San Antonio Spurs have just defeated the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, eliminating the Suns on the same night that the Dallas Mavericks were also eliminated by New Orleans. Now I'm not usually one to believe in a higher power (IT'S ME AUSTIN! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG AUSTIN!") but to see the two teams that have bitched and complained about the Spurs for the past two years and generally thought they should have been handed the NBA Title on silver platters taken out on the same night in ROUND ONE is just too delicious. The idiotic trades for Shaq and Jason Kidd late this season make it all the sweeter, since both were done with the idea of beating San Antonio once and for all in mind.

I know I'm tempting fate by bragging like this, but quite frankly knowing that _allas and _'Antoni's team (cuz they don't play D... I've always loved that joke) are out and don't have a shot to win the championship is more than enough of a victory for me this season. I fully believe my team is more than capable of finally winning a second straight title and I'll be cheering them on the rest of the way, but I'm cheering even harder that guys like Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Mike D'Antoni and Mark Cuban are DONE for the year, and with the doom and gloom predicted, possibly for good.

Now one for the thumb, guys. One for the thumb.

Ric Flair Tribute (Fuel - Leave The Memories Alone)

2008-03-31T23:55:00.001-04:00

In honor of the greatest professional wrestler of all time and the fact that his storybook career has finally come to a close, here's the cool tribute video World Wrestling Entertainment has put together for, well...

The Man.

Wrestlemania the 24th

2008-03-30T00:41:00.003-04:00

Gauntlet's been thrown down, so here's my predictions for the 24th edition of Wrestlemania, coming to you live tomorrow night from Orlando and for me by tape delay (great tickets to a Raptors game is preventing me from seeing the show live... and sadly, I'm not broken up by it at all as long as I get to watch the show later the same night).

24 Man Battle Royal/Winner faces Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship: There's a laundry list of guys here taking part, and I could see about five realistically winning the battle royal to face Chavo later. Kane's nearing the end of his career and despite what people seem to think these days, is deserving of a final hurrah to cap things off. Mark Henry's not abysmally bad these days and now that the Great Khali has actually been world champion, Henry by comparison doesn't seem so bad. Khali himself winning would give WWE a bit of the international press they always covet. Tommy Dreamer is the sentimental favorite as always, and if by some amazing chance they let him win the ECW Title at Wrestlemania it would be one of the most satisfying 'Mania moments ever. And my longshot here is Kofi Kingston; the company seems to have taken a shine to him and a fued with Chavo could do wonders for Kofi. All depending on who he faces, I could see Chavo keep the belt at the end of the night against almost anyone, outside of probably Khali.

BunnyMania Tag Match - Melina/Beth vs. Maria/Ashley: Aye, there's magazines to sell. As most people have been writing, this is pretty much an excuse to use the women on the roster and show them off. In the last few years the Playboy covergirl of the moment has gotten a singles match with the champion, this year's a tag match instead. For that reason I see Maria and Ashley winning, hopefully once the match is over Ashley gets put back into that wooden crate next to the Ark of the Covenant and is never heard from again. Santino hijinks are a good reason to actually watch this match, the lovely Maria is another.

Belfast Brawl: The WWE has done a remarkable job of giving us a decent blowoff for the Hornswoggle McMahon storyline, since it really looked like it'd be Vince vs. Lil' Horny himself for a while. Both JBL and Finlay are tough brawlers and can make a simple fight look like a work of art. I have high hopes for this one, but I think Finlay gets the win after Hornswoggle makes his triumphant return and interferes. Worst case scenario is they redo the Christian-Jericho-Trish finish from WMXX and it ends with Hornswoggle slapping his father and making out with Bradshaw. "Anything can happen in the WWE" is their slogan for a reason, though.

Money In The Bank: With the result only up in the air thanks to a dumbass drug suspension by Jeff Hardy, I see two real favorites here. MVP and Chris Jericho have both been spotlighted somewhat in the build to the match, and MVP is the type of star on the rise they've given the match to in the past. Part of me thinks they'll give it to Jericho all so they can justify bringing him back by giving him a decent victory at Mania (and seeing as how he hasn't won one since WM17), although if that happens I have zero belief he'll succesfully use the briefcase. Kennedy Kennedy is a bit of a longshot, they don't seem to be as behind him as they were at this point last year. Shame. Bigger shame is Matt Hardy not taking his brother's place in the match, Matt is as over as almost anybody on the roster and deserves to take part if for no other reason than to rekindle the fued with MVP.

Brand Supremacy - Umaga vs. Batista: Aka the battle of guys who had nothing else going for them. Painfully obvious this is a thrown-together match under the cheap brand battle label, but it potentially could be a good match if Batista is as irritated this year as he was last year at his WM placement. I think Batista takes the match, but the bigger problem is what to do with him afterwards. He's completely used up his main event time on Smackdown, would just look awkward to go to ECW, and would be about the 3rd or 4th string babyface on Raw after Cena, HHH and maybe Michaels. Such is life when you're involved in almost EVERY PPV World Title Match for the better part of two years.

Boxing vs. Wrestling - Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show: The build to this has been interesting, to say the least. The initial fight at No Way Out was tremendous, but ever since people have been down on how Mayweather has acted and/or been presented. It's a shame they didn't go with the idea of Floyd being a heel and teaming with Show or MVP as initially discussed, because he's inherently dislikeable and hasn't come across all that well as the babyface in this fued. I think this one will be interesting for the sheer question of how this one will go down. I think Floyd will end up knocking Show out when all is said and done, but probably not before he gets his ass kicked quite a bit. Ultimately though, for the sake of his boxing career Mayweather has to go over here and maintain his reputation.

Flair's Last Stand - Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels: Smart money says this is Ric Flair's final match, to be retired by HBK. I think regardless of whatever stipulation this match has, there's no way Ric will stay completely retired forever. But for all intents and purposes this is probably it, and Shawn and Ric will no doubt make it one to remember. Shawn wins, but Flair goes out with a standing ovation.

Smackdown World Title Match - Edge vs. the Undertaker: This is Wrestlemania, and 15-0 won't turn into 15-1. It's a shame because Edge is simply THE heel in the business right now, but the WWE seems determined to make 2008 a do-over for Taker since his '07 title reign was cut premature by injury. I give the man props for his ring work these days, but Undertaker as champion yet again just does nothing for me.

Raw WWE Title Match - Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cena: Colour me totally uninterested with any of these three guys, but if I have to pick I'll go with HHH. Orton's been a solid heel champion since October but not exactly setting the world on fire; I enjoyed heavily Cena's sabbatical and could have used another few months break; and Hunter just feels like he's been ratcheted onto this match with a rivet gun for no real reason other than he's HHH. Trips is the most likely to walk out champion though, it's not like we haven't had eight years to get used to it though. Damn you Jeff Hardy for your suspension, winning MITB and cashing in immediately would have been the perfect capper to WM24.

On the plus side this year, I think WM has the chance to be another memorable event. None of the matches look like they'll stink up the joint and most could be pretty darn good. Add that to the sight of an outdoor show and possibly rain showers throughout the event, 24 could be a sleeper WM to remember. Don't like my picks? Check out Gib's, Mike's or Steve's for additional takes.

Rumble Young Man Rumble III - Escape From New York

2008-01-26T13:52:00.000-05:00

Time once again for that most favored time of the year, it's Royal Rumble weekend! And as anyone who's read this blog for the past couple of years knows, it's easily my favorite PPV of the year and has been for a long time. This year's edition is going to be extremely interesting on a number of fronts. Despite the usual predictions there doesn't seem to be a clear cut favorite to win the Rumble match itself this week, and at least one of the world title matches has a certain air of mistique surrounding it.

Also helping this year's show is the fact that it's taking place at arguably the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden. MSG almost always has a fun show (WM XX, Rumble 2000 , Survivor Series '96 and several Raws immediately spring to mind) and atmosphere, and this one should be no different. On with the card...

Jeff Hardy v. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship:
Hardy has been on absolute fire for the past six months or so, and in general since his return to the company in the fall of '06. The crowds absolutely bug out for the guy and treat him like a rock star, and his in-ring skills have progressed quite a bit from his spotmonkey Attitude days. Orton's carried the title fairly well since picking it up when John Cena went down to injury, and this entire fued has been booked exceedingly well since the start. Could be that it's the first title fued not to involve Cena or HHH in years, but that'll get me onto another tangent. The bottom line is this storyline has been tremendous, and I would have no qualms with it running right through to Mania. Logic and backstage rumor has Orton hanging onto the belt for HHH at 'Mania, and while I firmly believe that'll be what happens I just can't help but hope for a huge upset and Hardy coming away with the gold. Even if it's not a longterm run, the initial fallout would be huge and it would cement Jeff as a superstar forever.

Edge v. Rey Misterio for the World Championship:
Two years ago Edge's first title run came to an unsatisfying conclusion when Cena won the belt back. It took several months but Edge got another run... and promptly lost it to John Cena in a TLC match in Edge's hometown (side note: I was there and it was awesome, finish notwithstanding). Fast forward to post-WM last year and Edge pops up on Smackdown and steals yet another title, this time from Undertaker. Injury forced yet ANOTHER quick dropping of the title, but Edge came two months ago and quickly nabbed his fourth heavyweight championship. I absolutely LOVE the Rated R gimmick and most everything about Edge these days. I could do without the Vickie Guerrero thing, but picking up the Major Brothers and forming a stable with them as goons is tremendous. This current fued with Rey is just sort of there, but if nothing else the match stands to be great. And hey, it could be worse (read: Batista). Edge wins by shady means.

Ric Flair v. MVP:
It's not clear whether this match is actually for the U.S. Championship currently held by MVP (funny how they never mention who MVP beat for the title...), but the stips keep mentioning that it's a career threatening match so my guess is no. This storyline where Ric has to keep winning or he's forced to retire has been a little slipshot to say the least, and lacks consistency. I'm not saying he's got to be on every single show wrestling, but since the angle started there have been weeks where it seems like the angle is forgotten and Flair is nowhere to be found. Only to be dragged out when they have some time on the show to kill. There's no use complaining about how a Smackdown star has been getting matches primarily on Raw since the brand split is only useful when they want it to be. Bottom line, this has potential to be a great match as well, and MVP has shown himself to be one of the company's future superstars. A lot of people seem to be thinking that Flair wins here and the rubber match (MVP won back in June at Vengeance: Night Before Things Went To Hell) goes to MVP at Wrestlemania. I'd be for that _IF_ Matt Hardy isn't able to compete at WM, otherwise I'd rather see the Hardy-MVP blowoff finally happen and let Ric retire against someone else (Someone from Evolution?). But here, Flair wins and probably cheats to do so.

JBL v. Chris Jericho:
Amazingly enough, neither guy was on the roster two months ago. Jericho's return has been solid but unspectacular thanks to the booking, which is dissapointing to say the least. JBL's in-ring return was surprising, but let's face it... Bradshaw's strength has always been his mouth. I'd be in favor of him returning to the ring if it wasn't at Jericho's expense. Y2J was the hottest property in the company until the last PPV and since then he's been shuffled right back into the midcard. Which is a crime IMO, because Jericho should be one of the guys the company should spotlight with all the problems they've been having in the mainstream. As far as this match goes, I say JBL wins somehow, but the program continues to Mania where Jericho goes over. At least, I hope.

The Rumble Match:
Thus far the website lists 24 participants in the Rumble match. There might be obvious picks not included, but I'm not that observant so let's just assume there's at least one or two mystery slots available. You would THINK one of those would go to Big Show, who's the latest resigning surprise. Sure, if he doesn't win it he's just one of 30 guys... big deal. It's a huge surprise that most aren't expecting, and reinforces the "anything can happen" motto. Ron Killings might be another guy you could slot in there since he has a WWE past also, and is fresh off a TNA stint which means some national exposure (and two NWA world title wins, if you really want to scan the resume). I wouldn't put it past them to throw in a legend or two (other than Mick Foley, and god help us if it's Sgt. Slaughter) either. What's Bob Backlund doing these days?

I don't really want to predict this match, but once again I just hope for a surprise winner. It's usually pretty obvious who'll win, and this year the top candidates seem to be HHH and Undertaker, both of whom have already won Rumbles. I'm begging them to throw us a curve and have a non-obvious person win. I don't even care if they keep the title shot at WM or lose it afterwards, just stop with the repeat winners. Realistically I'll go with HHH given all that he had to do to qualify for the match, but if all were a fair world it'd be CM Punk winning and cashing in to face Edge (he DID just cost Punk the ECW Title afterall).

Surprise Rumble Participant?

2008-01-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

http://www.gerweck.net/news/1199944760.shtml

So it appears that the crack office staff at TNA Wrestling have let one of their top young stars slip through their fingers and allowed "Wildcat" Chris Harris to leave for the WWE, what I can only hope is effective immediately.

For those who don't know, Harris made up one half of America's Most Wanted, probably the best overall tag team to come down the line in the last 5 years. Multiple time tag team champions, effective as both a heel and a face, and initially it looked like splitting AMW up for solo runs would be a good thing. But constant lousy booking pretty much killed any momentum Harris had, and while his ex-partner James Storm had something of a comedy-angle (he's a drunk, you see) to fall back into, Harris was swept under the rug and given very little, if anything at all to do. To the point that he was somehow turned heel without anybody knowing this past December, and the couple of times he has appeared on television he was portrayed as a whining, sniveling heel by the announcers, which makes absolutely no sense to be out of the blue like that.

Now I know WWE likes to break their new talent down and rebuild them from the ground up for a few months before bringing them out on television, but aside from perhaps a new name I for one would be happy to see Harris introduced as a mystery entrant in the Royal Rumble in a couple of weeks. The Rumble is without a doubt my favorite PPV of the year, as it is for a lot of fans, but there's no denying that the last several years have somewhat lacked the intrigue by running the same tired "Babyface wins Rumble, Babyface wins championship at Wrestlemania" formula. Going backwards it has been Taker-Rey-Batista-He who shall not be named-Lesnar-HHH-Austin-Rock since 2000, and before that Vince McMahon himself was the last heel to win the Rumble (which ultimately ended up with Austin getting the title shot anyways). I'm certainly not proposing that Harris come in and win the Rumble, but adding some intrigue with some new fresh faces we've never seen before definitely couldn't hurt. At any rate, I'm going off on a tangent about the Rumble, and there's plenty of time for that later.

I'm just happy to see Harris move on to a company that might have better plans for him in their future (note the word might) and isn't been wasted. And hey, maybe Storm will get tired of playing second fiddle to Jackie Moore and we might one day see AMW tearing up the WWE's tag team division.

Deep Space 9 Dominion War Trailer

2008-01-07T13:04:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a chance viewing of the season 5 finale on Christmas Eve (let that be a lesson to anyone still wrapping gifts at 2am), my interest in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is back up. Particularly the last few seasons of the show, which I somewhat stopped watching when they originally aired. I found this video capturing the essence of the Dominion War storyline, and it's now that I can remember why I've often thought of DS9 as the best of the Star Trek series. Suck it, JJ Abrams.

Hope you enjoy it, and here's hoping the DVD season sets come down under 60$ soon.

You Can't See Me (until mid-2008)

2007-10-02T17:22:00.000-04:00

Well folks, the odds finally got him. After 3+ years of winning handicap matches and damn near every other match he's been in, with such a stranglehold on the WWE Title that people remember the days of HHH wistfully, John Cena was injured last night on Monday Night Raw with a complete pectoral tear. The word going around right now is that he'll be out between 6 and 8 months, and the injury was so bad that he was rushed into surgery sometime TODAY after being examined.

Now I'm not the type of guy who wishes injury on anyone whether I like them or not, but I have to admit I'm more than a little giddy at the prospect of more than half a year without the Dr. of Thugganomics. It's taken quite a while to get to this level of apathy, believe me. I was one of the ones who thought Cena got shortchanged at WM21 when he won the title rather anticlimatically in about 8 minutes, but he's made up for it since by constantly beating the odds and playing superman for basically the last 3 years.

I hope the guy gets well and can return to the ring, but right now all I can think of is just what the WWE is going to do to fill his spot. There's a few guys due to come back from injury that could possibly fill his spot, there's always Trips, but if they really want to set the fanbase on it's ear...

There's Y2J. Pull the trigger, and let Chris Jericho SAVE THE WWE.

New TV season starts early! CHUCK!

2007-08-31T21:58:00.001-04:00

So much like last year with Studio 60, the ads for this show have gotten to me and I decided to download a "preview" copy of the show a few weeks before it's supposed to debut. And damned if I haven't found a great show that in all likelihood will be cancelled before the end of the season (if my past history is any guide).

Having watched the first episode, this show has quite a bit going for it. A humorous spy setting (ala She Spies, another guilty pleasure), Adam Baldwin from the awesome cast of Firefly, a hot blonde, random electronics and gadgets thrown in, and a likeable nerd main character. 50 bonus points for managing to work the "Vicki Vale" joke into the above video.

Anyways, do yourself a favor and check out this show. While you can.

A bit of good news in the wrestling community...

2007-08-27T21:07:00.001-04:00

SUNNY LOST THE WEIGHT! Now shallow as it may be, hopefully this is the beginning of a feel-good comeback story. She's had quite the rollercoaster over the past few years (including losing her longtime partner Chris Candido very suddenly) and has talked about wanting to take the weight off, so good for her personally.

And as one of the trailblazing DIVAS of the Attitude Era, maybe the WWE will consider her for the Legends division. Hell, with the current product they could do a lot worse than hiring her to manage. They brought back SABLE, for god sakes.

You know you've screwed up when...

2007-07-30T23:31:00.000-04:00

...Rob Schneider is the voice of reason and makes complete sense.

"When Mrs. Lohan stops partying with her child, then I'll have an ounce of respect for her."

ROB SCHNEIDER.

Think about that for a second, people. The star of The Animal and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo... looking down on YOU. This may be the first sign of the apocalypse.

http://www.hollywood.com/news/Schneider_Questions_Dina_Lohans_Parenting/4491032

And 11 months later...

2007-07-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

The end of the 2006-2007 television season is finally at hand. And since Grey's Anatomy was the last show on the slate, two things pop into mind: Private Practice may actually be a more interesting show than GA, and I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone likes Christina Yang (Sandra Oh).

But hey, the next television season is only a month away. Sigh.

My summer so far...

2007-07-18T23:58:00.000-04:00

Well let's see... since the last post Jericho was resurrected, the blockbuster of the summer movie scene arrived, I finally dug into my full Media Center of shows from the past 8 months, have a new car, roommates have a new car, the House of DiMera is restored to glory... and I'm off for 4 days. Huzzah!

Firstly, CBS announced that Jericho would in fact be coming back next season thanks to a deluge of nuts from angry fans that weren't ready to say goodbye to Jake and the Gang. Many people have said it better, but the fact remained that Jericho was one of few shows that managed to catch on last year and the only reason for the drop in ratings was the poor management from CBS. Putting a rookie show on a three month hiatus in the middle of the season was a stupid move from the get-go, but luckily the Eye was at least smart enough to bring it back and give it a second chance. Of course now it's all up to the fans to get the word out and get new people watching, but at least it's got that second chance. Which is more than can be said for so many other shows I've enjoyed over the years (Drive, Reunion, Fastlane, etc.), which were either cancelled or retooled and made even worse than before (The Loop, I'M LOOKING AT YOU FOX). Speaking of shows I enjoy, thanks to the wonders of the HP Media Center PVR I'm finally coming to the conclusion everyone else in the free world realized months ago...

Heroes friggin' rules.

Early in the season last fall I realized that Heroes being on Monday nights was going to be a major, major problem thanks to conflicts with several other shows I watch (sue me, Raw is still a weakly sickness whether the quality is there or not...) So I started to record the show from about episode #3 on, throughout the entire season with the intention of watching it later in the year when there wasn't much else on. That pretty much sums up the last month and a half, and as of late I've been going through the episodes and damned if it doesn't hook you. I have no idea how people waited several weeks for episodes throughout the season, this show is great. While I'd still give the edge to Jericho as best new show of 06-07 (followed by Heroes, then Studio 60 but that's a personal guilty pleasure), I'm very glad I decided to record the episodes rather than give up on the show outright. On a similar note, I've rediscovered why I like Grey's Anatomy. For mostly the same reason as Heroes I recorded GA throughout the year too, and again I'm happy I did so, as bleak as the season's been it's still one of the top shows on television.

Now although it looks like very little's going to change next season as far as time schedule goes, I don't think I'll be banking these shows until the summer. I'll just have to work a little harder to keep up with the shows from week to week. Good lord I think I watch too much television.

To be continued.

Official Save Jericho YOUTUBE Campaign

2007-05-22T19:08:00.001-04:00

N.U.T.S.

Dirty team with a heart of gold

2007-05-17T01:35:00.000-04:00

I'll make this quick, because it's 1:35am and I have work tomorrow. Congrats to the Spurs, who never gave up when it was looking like it was real easy to do in the game and managed to close out game 5 like the champions they're very capable of being. I'm sure tomorrow will bring all the comments from Suns fans about how the Spurs barely beat them undermanned, and when Amare comes back SA has no shot in hell... but for right now, all is right with the world and I truly believe there is such a thing as karma. And how stupid did the TNT announcers sound when they chalked the early poor play by the Spurs up to SA "feeling guilty" about the suspension situation. Dirty but a heart of gold? I guess that means the SAS are Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman.

Close these idiots out on Friday, I've just about lost all respect for every last one of them. Bell's a thug, Nash is a flopper and a great actor, and their coach has absolutely no class whatsoever.

Okay, they're still better than Dallas.

More fun and games with SA-PHX

2007-05-16T14:12:00.000-04:00

So in the past couple of days since the incident with Steve Nash and Robert Horry, it seems as if the San Antonio Spurs have become the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys of the NBA, the team EVERYBODY loves to hate. This is especially true here in Canada, where the NBA stands for Nash Basketball Association.

I love how everyone's jumping to the defense of the Suns and how it's a shame that Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw are suspended for game 5 tonight, that they don't deserve to be sitting out and somehow it's because the league wants the Spurs to win the championship again. That's the most rediculous load of BS I've ever heard, the league wants NOTHING to do with SA even coming close to a championship and it's all due to money. Historically the Spurs in the finals have attributed to the lowest ratings ever, and considering how small the market in SA is to even suggest the NBA wants any championship round other than Lebron/Nash is crazy. The threat of a Detroit/SA rematch probably has several executives ready to jump off the ledge. My initial reaction to the suspensions was dissapointment, because the last thing I wanted to see was SA potentially win the series when their opponents weren't at full strength, thus giving anyone and everyone the opportunity to claim the Spurs as undeserving. But after the countless articles and opinions being put forth by some truly hack sportswriters, that opinion has changed.

The bottom line is this. Diaw and Stoudemire BROKE THE RULES. They came from the bench and charged onto the court during an altercation, which according to the rulebook is an immediate one game suspension. They knew this, and so did the Suns' coaching staff by the way they grabbed them and pulled them back. But regardless of anything else, they VIOLATED THE RULES that everyone else plays by, and deserve to be suspended because of their stupidity (or immaturity or whatever else you want to call it). I've heard several people voice the opinion that they didn't really do anything to escalate the fight... THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO. Stoudemire was charging right for Horry, and the only thing it looked like he had on his mind was a right cross to the jaw. If the coaches hadn't grabbed him and pulled him back, there would have been a full scale brawl. That's called INTENT, folks. And as for Horry's 2 game suspension, I support this too. He levelled Nash in the heat of the moment, no question. He also threw an elbow at another Suns player during the altercation to defend himself, worth another game for sure. But how about the constant 'hard fouls' that aren't called by the Suns' own Raja Bell? This is a guy who CLOTHESLINED Kobe Bryant in the playoffs last year and chalked it up to 'playing good defense'. Stoudemire, D'Antoni and anyone else from the Suns who wants to label the Spurs as dirty should take a good long look in the mirror first.

Now the really stupid part of this is that because of the NBA's ruling, this is all somehow the fault of the San Antonio Spurs organization. It's their fault that two of the Suns were idiots and knowingly violated the rules, and apparently will be "rewarded" for Horry's play. Being thrust into a no-win situation is hardly what I'd call rewarded. If the Spurs win tonight, and the series, they were helped by the league and are 'dirty'. If they lose tonight and the series, the dirty Spurs were rightfully vanquished by the noble and decent Phoenix Suns. For a team that's prided itself on class and not the usual thuggery you see from teams like the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers, it's complete BS. This series should have gone down as a classic for all the right reasons. Instead, it's been a series full of escalation, bad blood, and the Spurs' reputation being dragged through the mud in the press while everything they do on the court is scrutinized heavily. The Spurs play DEFENSE, it's what they hang their hat on, it's what's won them 3 championships since 1999.

Oh well, I guess that's what you get for being the measuring stick of excellence for the past ten years (and that's not bragging, the SAS own the best winning percentage of any team in the past ten seasons, playoffs and regular season). For years the label on the team was 'soft', but now everybody wants to go ahead and paint this team as 'dirty'?

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Random crap all falling at once

2007-05-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

So it appears that higher powers have seen fit to rain down upon me with quite a few little annoyances today. While it's not official until tomorrow, it appears as though CBS has gone ahead and given the axe to Jericho despite rumors of a second season for weeks now. One of the top new shows to come along in a while is sabotaged by the network thanks to a 3 month hiatus in the middle of the season, and yet absolute crap like Rules Of Engagement are allowed to live on. I can only hope that the talented cast from Jericho manage to find work on other shows I like, because that was one talented bunch of people (Jack Bauer versus Robert Hawkins, now THAT'S a season 7 for 24.)

In general, I'm used to shows that I like being cancelled after a season or less. I've had a lot of practice over the years, and this season is no different. I fought the urge to get wrapped up in DRIVE until the series premiere, and two weeks later the inevitable announcement came. People have talked smack about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip all season, but I held out hope as long as I could and just recently made peace with it's cancellation (which became official yesterday). But this one really stings. Early in the season, Jericho was mentioned in the same breath as Heroes as the top new shows of the season, and for once the ratings backed me up on it. But in its infinite wisdom, CBS decided to take the show OFF THE AIR for three months. OFF THE AIR. In it's first season. What did they think was going to happen after three months? And added to that, Jericho was left to die up against American friggin' Idol of all things! And then there's the manner in which it screwed with "How I Met Your Mother" and BARELY renewed it at the last second... once again, CBS ignores an actually funny sitcom (Yes, Dear... King of Queens... Still Standing...) and hypes the mediocre shows surrounding it on the schedule. Yes, I'm talking to YOU, Charlie Sheen.

Oh...

And how on earth could I forget the forearm shiver heard 'round the world? Robert Horry, all-round nice guy and San Antonio's "Big Shot Rob", delivers a hard foul on Steve Nash in the closing moments of game 4 between the Spurs and Suns, and the sports community is ready to tar and feather the silver and black. Granted, it was harder than necessary and a stupid move in the heat of the moment, one that deserved a game suspension. But at the same time, this entire series certain members of the Suns have bitched and whined and moaned that the Spurs are a dirty team. Well, congratulations, you got what you wanted. A dirty play, one that could change the balance of the series once and for all because now TWO Phoenix starters are also suspended for game 5, putting them at a severe disadvantage. Taking this at face value, yeah, the Spurs are probably going to be crucified by the average fan for this. But I watched the end of game 4, and what preceded the elbow was an absolute travesty by the referees to tip the scales to Phoenix's favor. Non-call after non-call, an 11 point lead erased and turned into a deficit, all of which boiled over and caused Robert Horry to put a little extra mustard on the foul.

Overall, I'm irritated that the series I was heavily looking forward to between two teams I have (well, had) great respect for has degenerated into the type of chaotic series I was expecting to have with Dallas in the WCF (thank god they choked at least, because after this series they probably would've picked the winner's carcass clean and fluked their way into a title). I'm irritated that the Spurs' character was called into question from almost the start of this series by a whiny, immature jackass who jumped directly from high school to the NBA and thinks he's the uncrowned king of kings or something. I'm irritated that the referees imposed their will YET AGAIN into a potentially make-or-break game the Spurs were involved in. I'm irritated that a Spurs player who's far too good to resort to these type of tactics went as far as he did, potentially tainting this series and playoff run as a whole. And I'm irritated that while the Spurs sure look like the favorites heading into game 5 thanks to the suspensions (2 PHX starters out, 1 SAS reserve out), I can't enjoy these NBA playoffs until this seedy series is over one way or another.

Sorry, just needed somewhere to vent after a really crappy day.

SHIMMER: Women Athletes - Change Your Perception

2007-04-12T23:35:00.001-04:00

I've seen some of their stuff before, but this is a tremendous video package that introduces just what SHIMMER is. Warning, no Divas in here. Just damn good wrestlers.

Wrestlemania Weekend

2007-03-31T12:50:00.000-04:00

Well here we go, it's time for the biggest spectacle of the year. The build for WM23 has been fairly well done, I'll give the WWE a bit of credit here. This whole Trump v. McMahon thing is a little overblown for my own personal tastes and Taker-Batista doesn't do much for me, but I'm mildly intrigued by those matches as well as Cena-Michaels. Here's the lineup, with predictions.

Battle of the Billionaires: McMahon vs. Trump (cameos by Bobby Lashley and Umaga)
The big story here is that one of the billionaires goes home bald, and while bait-and-switch is pretty common in wrestling I can't see the WWE not paying this off, likely with Vince getting a 'Kojak'. Lashley is currently the company's new pet project to take them into the next twenty years (I guess Masters, Dykstra, Dupree and the other attempts just didn't have it) and this will probably give him that huge WM moment that all the top stars seem to get on the rocket to the top. The real question is where do either Umaga or Lashley go from here; Umaga's the IC champion so a lengthy and dominating run through the Raw midcard I guess, but he's built as such a monster I can't see anyone else in the midcard beating him. And Lashley's ECW champion but he's had almost nothing to do with the brand the past two months, not to mention they really have NOBODY going after the damn belt.

WINNER: Bobby Lashley

World Title: Undertaker vs. Batista
From day one after Taker won the Rumble, I've said he's getting the title. There's no way Batista was going to be the guy to break "The Streak", and I'm still convinced nobody will ever break it. That said, Taker has been in amazing shape for his age and seems to be putting somewhat of an effort into his matches, even if he still buries everybody. Since he's been back from the injury Batista's been pretty boring, maybe a heel turn will freshen him up a little. Hell, put him back on Raw. It's where he wants to be anyways.

WINNER: Undertaker

WWE Title: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
This has a real shot at being match of the night, HBK steals the show so often it can't possibly be considered a surprise anymore. And Cena's fine for what he is in the ring, my one and only beef with the guy is that I'm BORED by him as the champion constantly. The superman comebacks, eternally fighting and beating the odds, it's all too contrived. I'd love to see Cena turn heel, but I can't see it yet. Shawn's in this to once again give credibility to Cena, but at this point I don't really think he needs it. Still, should be a great match.

WINNER: John Cena

Money In The Bank: Orton v. The Hardyz v. Mr. Kennedy... v. Finlay v. Booker v. Edge v. Punk
On one hand, you have damn near every guy I'm interested in thrown into this match, where they could have been spread around for some tremendous Mania undercard matches (Rated RKO v. the Hardyz for the tag titles? Punk versus Kennedy?). Plus even if he was in last year's match, I just don't buy Fit Finlay in a ladder match, nor do I Booker. At this point in their careers they shouldn't even have to be in this type of match. Still, this should be quite the interesting match halfway through the show, and might have a chance to steal match of the night from Cena-Michaels. We can be sure the Hardyz will start fighting with each other, Orton will somehow cost Edge (ending his own WM streak, dammit), Punk will get some loud cheers but probably be the first guy knocked out, and Booker will just be there. My real hope is that the MITB winner cashes in later the same night and surprises Cena, taking the WWE Title off of him. And that winner?

WINNER: ...KENNEDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Kane vs. The Great Kahli
Kahli will raise his arms and scream like a tool repeatedly, Kane will be the good loyal company employee and Vince will wet himself.

WINNER: The Great Kahli

Women's Title: Melina vs. Ashley
This is here purely to sell Playboys, and while Melina is capable of putting on a great wrestling match, Ashley is not. She's nice to look at, she's mildly competent in the ring in the right situation (read: Trish Stratus) but this is not it. The Lumberjills aspect of this means they can parade the rest of the Divas out, and that's not really a bad thing. I half enjoyed the 5 on 5 match from Smackdown, at least until Jillian ate the pinfall AGAIN. But still, if it means Maria , Michelle McCool and Jillian wind up on the show, then great. Still, the WWE isn't stupid enough to put the title on the covergirl. They didn't do it for Hemme 2 years ago, they didn't even book Candice a title shot last year, and they won't put Ashley over now.

WINNER: Melina

ECW Originals vs. The New Breed
This is a very schitzophrenic match. On one hand, I like the concept of the old guys against the new guys, and the NB stable is more convincing than it should be (particularly where Kevin Thorn is concerned). But this just smacks of the Invasion angle again where one side is getting 90% of the wins, and RVD is the only competent guy on his side. I'm not saying the brand has to be built around the old guys, but to constantly job them out to the New Breed and basically force Van Dam out the door to TNA is idiotic.

WINNER: The New Breed

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. MVP

The hot rumor is Benoit will jump to Raw soon, and I can't see him taking the title with him. MVP meanwhile has actually turned into quite a guilty pleasure, from the so-stupid-it's-funny shuffle he does in his entrance to the promos, I think MVP as US champion will do good things for Smackdown. Of course I liked the Boogeyman last year too. Sue me. Side note: Benoit back to Raw will be AWESOME, provided he's not wasted like he was the six months after he lost the world title to Orton in '04.

WINNER: MVP

And apparently they're going to run a battle royal as a dark match before the show and cram all the tag teams in there as a DVD extra. I can't stress how much I detest this idea, you have FOUR hours to kill. You can't do a 10-15 minute battle royal with all the guys you left off the show and televise it? Give me a break. Nitro, Cryme Tyme, the World's Greatest Tag Team, Londrick, Carlito... all these other guys aren't on the show because of it and we'll no doubt suffer through a good solid hour of recaps and repeated McMahon-Trump segments. Unbelievable.

So overall, I have a feeling this show will be the same as the last two years. A good show for what it is, but nothing truly memorable in the vein of Savage-Steamboat from WM3 or the Eddie-Benoit ending from WM20. Unless they use the MITB stip and have the winner cash in right then and there to shake up one of the world title matches, I think this year's event is going to be fairly predictable.

And click here for an actual recap of the show that somebody did three days before it airs. It's written in the Scott Keith rant style, and while I can't see all of it happening it's an interesting read.

Post-Rumble Thoughts '07

2007-01-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

Just got back from watching the show with family and friends, and overall not a bad show tonight. No real surprises to speak of since everything pretty well went as I figured it would. And all 30 Rumble participants were announced beforehand so there weren't any surprise entrants this year. In fact, I think I went 5-0 with my predictions.

The Hardyz d. MNM: Not totally sure if it was a fued ender, but it was your standard Hardy tag match with most of the big spots for both sides. I hope it continues to 'Mania with at least one set of the tag straps involved (or both for unification, but that's too much to hope for), but I could see this being it for the tag side of things. Nitro vs. Jeff over the IC strap will likely continue, because who else have they got (and think is worth pushing? Carlito? Meh.)

Lashley d. Test by Countout: Because nothing says EXTREME like a countout. Terrible match that did nothing for either guy, and I'll get on the bandwagon now and say I don't expect ECW to last the year. This was worse than Holly and Lesnar or Angle and Henry.

Batista d. Kennedy: A surprisingly decent match, and much to my delight they really managed to get Kennedy over with the match. He actually dominated for a good portion of it, and though Batista won the match cleanly he sure sold a lot for him and for a few seconds there I thought Kennedy might take the title. 100% better than that whole Taker fued did for Kennedy, and Dave's best match since coming back.

John Cena d. Umaga: I'll take my foot out of my mouth, I enjoyed this match. It upped the brutality and was fun all around, and though I never really thought Cena would come close to losing the strap the whole thing came together and was much better than I expected it to be. Weird spot near the end where Armando used a wrench to undo the entire top rope all for Umaga to use as a weapon, when he could have just as easily given him the wrench in the first place. Inventive finish though, with Cena choking Umaga out like that.

Undertaker wins the Royal Rumble: It pretty much came down to who I thought it would with Rated RKO, Shawn Michaels and Taker as the final four, but it was fairly entertaining all the way through. Gregory Helms managed to last longer than 1 minute in the match, a personal best for him. CM Punk, RVD, Benoit and Finlay all got a decent amount of time during the match. Sandman was embarrassed with a 10 second appearance or so. Taker came out as #30 and won the match, which at least made Steve happy that for once the 30th guy won the match. All it says to me is Taker got his win with the least amount of work; right up there with Stone Cold in 2001. But oh well, still an entertaining match as usual.

Quick Raw Predictions: Based on what went down tonight, I say the Hardyz take on Rated RKO for the tag straps tomorrow (based on Matt and Jeff getting eliminated by Edge and Orton) and win the belts with HBKterference to throw RKO more firmly in the world title scene. Cena vs. Umaga one more time for the fugly WWE title to blow off the fued once and for all. And terrible comedy from Vince McMahon.

Rumble Young Man Rumble Pt II

2007-01-27T01:44:00.000-05:00

Can't believe it's already come up around for the Royal Rumble 2007, but here we are a year removed from Rey Rey's fairytale victory and that stupid ass "spaceship" entrance for Cena. I mentioned last year that the RR is a favorite of most wrestling fans, standout years in particular for me being Benoit in 04, the entire 02 Rumble in general, and Flair's magical run in '92. Having reviewed a bunch of them in the last week or two, 2001 can be added to that list too. Hadn't seen it since the night it happened, but damned if I wasn't entertained. Not as good as the previous three listed, but a cut above most of the rest. Now, onto predictions for this year's event.

The Hardyz versys MNM
Long has the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) pleaded with the E to bring tag team wrestling back to the glory days. Well whether intentional or not, we may be in the middle of the rebirth these days. With a list of teams like the Hardys, MNM, the Hooliganz, Regal/Taylor, the Redneck Whirling Dervish, Cryme Tyme, World's Greatest Tag Team, now Deuce and Domino and even Idol Stevens/KC James if they were to return, it's a shockingly deep tag scene stretching from Raw to Smackdown. And if Rated RKO were ever to defend the belts against someone other than DX, there's no telling how hot the division could get. Although part of me is curious to see Shawn and "Sledgy" as champions...

At any rate, while Jeff and Nitro might be getting hot as singles competitors there's no denying that the fans are right into the fued between these two teams, which stretches across both brands. And unfortunately, I think that means the E is ready to conclude the fued because that's what they do, end things prematurely. And then god help Matt Hardy's career.
Winners: The Hardyz.

Bobby Lashley versus Test for the ECW Championship
As a sign of how far the new ECW has sunken, I suppose. I tried to give it a chance, I went in with every bit of optimism and every time I see the show now (which is getting more and more rare) I'm heavily dissapointed. And it's not even a knock on the two guys in this match, I don't have an active problem with either man. It's just that ECW could have been so much more as an alternative to Raw and Smackdown, and instead it's just become a third brand. Completely interchangeable for either of the other two shows, except it's carefully crafted to look cheaper and not as good.
Winner: Lashley, because god help the last remaining ECW diehards if Test wins the belt.

Batista versus Ken Kennedy for the Smackdown Championship
Ken Kennedy has been one of the most entertaining things on any WWE brand this year, and it's nice to see him getting an upper card position on one of the big PPVs of the year. That said, the ending is a foregone conclusion, and all I can hope for is that Kennedy is at least made to look somewhat competent. Which is more than they've given him the last few months against the Undertaker. Batista and Taker has been rumored for months now to headline 'Mania this year,
which will make KK the odd man out (and the way Vince runs things probably left off WM altogether). Since I'll take what I can get from this match, so long as Taker doesn't shoot lightning bolts from his hands _AGAIN_ I guess I'll be satisfied.
Winner: Big Dave.

Last Man Standing Match - John Cena versus Umaga for the Raw Championship
Goody, a rematch from earlier this month that I didn't want to see in the first place. I dunno what it is with these two, I buy Umaga as a threat after the buildup he's received and while Cena still bores me to tears as champion I see the logic on the belt on him at this point, I have absolutely no interest in seeing this go down. I do get a kick out of the WWE trying everything to paint Cena as the underdog when he's clearly not going to lose the title (including a storyline where he's going into the match with severe internal injuries), but this is probably the match with the least amount of interest for me. And yes, that includes Lashley/Test.
Winner: John "Superman" Cena.

30 Man Royal Rumble
I won't list everyone in this match, because www.wweroyalrumble.com does that quite nicely for me. And since the frontrunner this year seems to be the Undertaker, I'm not so much interested in who's going to win the whole thing as I am with seeing who mixes it up with who from different brands. The past couple of years I've really enjoyed seeing guys we don't normally see against one another squaring off. Benoit and Orton starting the match in '04 was incredibly fun (until they ran that pairing into the ground by Summerslam after Benoit jumped to Raw), and the brand face-off in '05 with total gangup on Muhummed Hassan was an awesome RR moment. Hopefully this year we get more of the same, although in the past year most of the big names have already made appearances on the other shows (Booker and Finley on Raw stands out in particular). I'd really like to see CM Punk last a while in the match and mix it up with some of the Raw and Smackdown guys, but knowing how the fed operates he'll probably get the "Hurricane" treatment and be gone before the next participant comes out.

Still, it's rare when the actual Rumble match is a total screwup (even 1999 has its moments) so I'm looking forward to it. I just hope they don't do the same script that they seem to be repeating each year, with the underdog coming in near the beginning and lasting through to the end. Then again, if Taker really is the favorite I don't see him in there more than 20 minutes TOPS. Just long enough to mow through anyone with a shred of heat.
Winner: Taker, although if anybody else has a shot in hell it'd be Shawn Michaels. Hometown, sympathy DX push, and one of the only credible challengers to Cena for WM.

So that's where things stand for me on the Rumble, cautious optimism for the most part. But if I see another 'spaceship', I'm leaving.

A Year Later

2006-11-13T16:18:00.000-05:00

You're still sorely missed, Eddie.

More Fun With Music

2006-10-28T22:56:00.000-04:00

Wow, three posts in a single day? Someone must have some free time. Anyways, having spotted this on Mike's blog today I figured I'd give this a shot.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

So here goes (now, courtesy of my even newer and trustier Zen Vision, pictured at the left):

1. Opening Credits - Elvis Presley "A Little Less Conversation"
(Either the movie's set in Las Vegas, or I'm gonna weigh 400 pounds by the end of this thing)

2. Waking Up - Cyndi Lauper "Time After Time"
(Strange choice, maybe this is an 80's movie.)

3. First Day At School - Peter Cetera "Restless Heart"
(So... I'm not a good student then?)

4. Falling In Love - Jewel "Where You Are"
(Okay, this kinda fits. Must be a hippie chick.)

5. Fight Song - Britney Spears "Toxic"
(A thirteen year old hippie chick.)

6. Breaking Up - Nelly Furtado "Maneater"
(Who can kick my ass.)

7. Life Is Good - Joanna Pacitti "Watch Me Shine"
(Kinda fits as well, but this is clearly turning into a teen movie. Probably starring Amanda Bynes... okay, not bad.)

8. Mental Breakdown - James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt "Somewhere Out There"
(Clearly it doesn't take much to put me over the edge.)

9. Driving - Roxette "Fading Like A Flower"
(Just how badly did this chick mess with my mind?)

10. Flashback - The Corrs "Summer Sunshine"
(Hmm, Las Vegas in the summer?)

11. Getting Back Together - Kelly Clarkson "Behind These Hazel Eyes"
(No guy is ever going to watch this movie.)

12. Wedding - Roxette "Church Of Your Heart"
(Couldn't have rigged this one if I'd tried.)

13. The Night Before The War - Robert Palmer "Addicted To Love"
(Must be a hell of a night.)

14. Final Battle - West End Girls "State Of The Heart"
(Is this a real war or another mental thing?)

15. Moment of Triumph - Jessica Simpson "Take My Breath Away"
(Why not, the movie to this point has been a chick flick.)

16. Death Scene - Futurama Mix "TV Party Tonight"
(My death WILL BE TELEVISED! Does this mean it's Iraq?)

17. Funeral Song - The Cardigans "Little Black Cloud"
(Finally, a little respect...)

18. Ending Credits - The Divinyls "I Touch Myself"
(... I'm so sad.)

R.I.P. Red

2006-10-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

Sad news this evening, according to ESPN's website Red Auerbach has passed away. While I'm at heart a Spurs fan now and forever, I've long been an admirer of Red's. The legendary coach who guided the Boston Celtics to so many championships that it's hard to keep track, including a never-to-be-repeated EIGHT straight titles from 1959 to 1966. His trademark end-of-game victory cigars were just one of many things that made the man greatness personified.

Rest in Peace Red, you will be missed.

Open Season

2006-10-28T13:27:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while, the gods smile down upon you. The Spurs finish the preseason with a win over the Mavs, a nice way to head into the regular season which starts on Thursday. I know this'll probably get Kyle all riled up, but it's time for the Mavs to wake up to the reality that last year's finals appearance was handed to them on a silver platter by a couple of bad plays from the Spurs in the dying seconds of game 7. I'll give them just enough credit that they rode that high into the Finals, but when they began to believe the ungodly hype around them it all came crashing down and they crumbled. Dirk's a good player, but he's no Tim Duncan. Avery's a good coach and one of the men who brought San Antonio it's first title in 1999, but the General's god status is on hold as long as he's with the other side.

The annual GM survey came out with the Spurs favored to win the title again, and at least they seem to get it. Tim's 100% healthy, something he wasn't for all of last season. Manu and Tony continue to improve every year, and while a year older the bench is still pretty damned impressive. Two newer, younger and more athletic centers will help (enjoy "Hands of Stone", Detroit) in Elson and Butler, not to mention the total theft of Bonner from Toronto. All in all, looks like it should be a fantastic season, capped off by the fourth championship in the past nine years.

Uh... April Fools!

2006-10-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's been a while. But I'm not that upset.

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Fun with music...

2006-04-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, Bob's blog is the one that prompted me to do this, but apparently it originally came from dtstratovarius. So props to Matt as well...

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 50 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So here goes, courtesy of my trusty Zen Player (very much recommended as an alternative to the almighty iPod).

1. You better watch who you talking to running your mouth
2. I can hear what you're thinking
3. America, America
4. Well there's been an accident (calm down)
5. In this life I've seen ev'rything I can see, woman
6. Whatta Man Whatta Man Whatta Man What a mighty good man
7. It's time to change, throw out the books and start again
8. After six hours of school I've had enough of the day
9. There's a place off Ocean Avenue
10. Believe me, Natalie
11. Now one fell asleep in the street and he never woke up
12. Think you're going nowhere when you're walking down the street
13. I never promised you a happy ending
14. Uh, oh oh oh
15. You make me happy, you are standing in the way
16. I'll soon be gone
17. Someone falls to pieces
18. You know, I don't know what it is
19. It doesn't really matter now you're gone
20. If I could tell the world just one thing it would be that we're all okay
21. You set my soul at ease
22. I know this place is where I am
23. Come my lady come come my lady
24. Gonna catch a flight to Nevada
25. I hear a song makes me think of a girl I used to know
26. Step by step, heart to heart
27. Lucky you were born that far away so we can both make fun of distance
28. Stupid Cupid you're a real mean guy
29. I'll never see any side of heaven
30. You can change your life
31. You don't know what it's been like
32. It's about life
33. This is my destiny only child
34. You and me, we have an opportunity
35. Goodbye love
36. I came I saw I kicked some ass
37. Hey yo Tex, looks like it's gonna be another one of them hot summers
38. I know you think that I shouldn't still love you or tell you that
39. Uh oh uh oh
40. Orion's arms are wide enough to hold us both together
41. No holding me back
42. We go deep and we don't get no sleep
43. Shoulda known the night I met you that you would be my doom
44. Another song to signify what's wrong
45. All the lonely nights I spend alone
46. Yeah, love it when the girls stop by in the summer
47. It was midnight, midnight at noon
48. ...and the road becomes my bride
49. Back in black, I hit the sack
50. Who do you think you are?

How to fix wrestling...

2006-02-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting here at work bored (long story short, the TV station I work for is airing the Olympics in practically round the clock coverage, which means most employees get this week off and our programming is pre-empted save for a one hour show between 6-7pm) and thought I'd toss in a DVD of Wrestlemania X7 to pass some of the time, specifically the main event between without question the top two modern era performers, The Rock and Stone Cold. While I've seen the match before once or twice, not to mention the live airing of it back in 2001, I've never fully absorbed the match or the atmosphere like I did today.

And damned if that wasn't one of the most entertaining matches I've ever watched. The entire night the company was working in rarified air with very few misfires on the entire lineup, the one match I refuse to sit through being that joke of a women's title match (Chyna v. Ivory for anyone interested). Everything else on the show is at least watchable, with the TLC match and main event simply in a class by itself. Anyone who laments over the state of today's wrestling should immediately throw on this PPV, you'll feel a whole lot better. The passing of time has given a bit of new perspective to the show, it's considered by many to be the pinnacle of the Attitude Era of the WWF(E) and/or one of the greatest single wrestling events of all time.

Rock and Stone Cold may not have been the greatest in terms of straight-up workrate (though Austin's earlier days he could hang with the best in pure wrestling ability), but as better people than I have said time and time again, they were simply the two biggest names in the modern wrestling boom period. Their first WM match (XV) was pretty good, and their last one (XIX) was more of a self-parody to be perfectly honest given Austin's state of health, but the X7 match is simply unbeatable. Unlike the way Steamboat-Savage is revered as the very best in the 1980's wrestling boom for the WWF, or the Flair-Steamboat series for the NWA in the 80's, Rock-Austin from Mania X7 will probably split popular opinion with one or two other matches, most likely Bret-Austin from Mania 13.

What puts this match over the top for me is the overall atmosphere, the big show feeling you get from simply the surroundings and the look of the arena. The three-storey 'tron, the stadium full of people with the cool blue lighting, it all combines to make for an unforgettable match. While Austin-Bret is technically superior for the wrestling, and historically could be more important since it led to Austin's scorching hot face run, WM13 was a total flop in nearly every match but that one. And frankly, it had less of that 'big feeling' of any other Wrestlemanias I've ever seen. Small arena, terrible card, and the crowd didn't really add much (Want to prove me wrong, Chicago? WM22's just over a month away. Surprise me.) to the show either.

Something else that really stood out to me in the X7 match was the announcing. Paul Heyman and JR didn't get nearly as much credit for their duration as the main announce team in 2001. It was before JR became a total self-parody, and Heyman added a sense of legitimacy and history that I haven't seen since, at least until Joey Styles came aboard this past fall (but that's a story for another time). Heyman somehow managed to play the heel announcer role while at the same time calling what he saw down the middle. I'm glad to see he's tearing it up as the OVW booker, but a big part of me wishes he'd come back up to the main show as the Raw GM if Bischoff is truly gone.

The bottom line to this post is simple. If the WWE really wanted to fix its problems with the current product, they could learn a lot by going back into their archives to check out this show. I fear it's a bit late for WM22 since they're stuck on auto-pilot with one of the first "top five match" cards I've ever seen for a Mania (rumored to be HHH-Cena, Angle-Orton, Taker-Henry, Vince-Shawn, and Edge-Foley which is the only of the five I have any interest at all in... IF I get the show at all), but as always I'll hold out hope that the E will right its course and sometime in the near future come back to being that "can't miss television" it once had.

It's pretty simple as I see it:

-easy, clear-cut storylines for EVERBODY, not just the top 4 guys on each brand.

-matches people actually want to see, not so-called dream matches that won't help either guy or involve 60 year old men.

-bring back meaning to the belts. Whether it means ditch some of them, combine them, have them transfer back and forth between shows, just stop using them as nothing more than a prop.

-if you use legends, USE THEM PROPERLY. Don't bring them back for the sole purpose of being humiliated (Hacksaw, two weeks ago), a punchline (Hawksaw, Royal Rumble) or to humiliate a current member of the roster (Rob Conway, WWE Homecoming). If they don't have a legitimate reason to be there (HoF is a GREAT way to use them), STOP INVITING THEM.

-No more Undertaker. I can't stress this enough. Give him a desk job. PR work. Road agent. Anything at all to get him off my screen and out of the ring, because every time I even hear the name it ruins the show for me. He's somehow evolved to the previously unheard of level beyond self-parody, all the way to "walking enjoyment euthenasia". He ruins any career he comes into contact with these days, he drags down every match he's in, and he hasn't been entertaining to me since his heel run in 2002 which in itself was a last gasp. No, that's not entirely true. His Summerslam 2004 match with JBL led to a great deal of entertainment for me... when the entire arena became more focused on doing the WAVE than the match going on in the ring. THAT was entertaining. I don't want to see him do the zombie situp. I don't want to see him do Old School. I don't want to see him shoot lightning bolts out of his hands. I just don't want to see him.

Well, wasn't expecting quite a rant when I started doing this. Not bad for a DVD that'll turn 5 years old soon.

Now THIS reeks of awesomeness

2006-02-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

Sometimes good things happen to good people.

A lot of people have heaped praise upon TNA Wrestling since it finally a got a national TV deal this fall, and I've got to agree. While the WWE will probably always remain the top dog in the industry given the history, the power, the money, etc. it's great to see an alternative to the status quo.

It's become more apparent than ever that Vince McMahon is pretty much running his television shows for himself rather than for the fans, which usually means the big roided up freaks getting the top spots in the company while the guys who can actually wrestle languish on the web-only shows or so far down in the midcard you wonder if they're even still with the company at times. Even when they have the opportunity to shake things up (EDGE) they somehow find a way to screw it up and go right back to the same boring direction (Cena v. HHH, feel the excitement~!) as always.

Which is why TNA is such a breath of fresh air. It's not a perfect company by any stretch, but more often than the WWE it seems to listen to what the fans have to say. Christian Cage has busted his ass for years in wrestling (side note: I was in attendance for his first WWE appearance ever, Breakdown in 1998) and never seem to get the chance to main event or even be a bigger part of the company. In fact, the last time the WWE came to Toronto, Christian's home town, not only did they not put him in a match but they even went so far as to have him attacked during his own interview segment and made to look pretty bad. What purpose exactly does having an already popular character get laid out in his hometown serve? It's stupid crap like this that makes Booker T hate going home to Houston.

So this past weekend, Christian Cage walked off with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and finally shattered that glass ceiling. Just another example of how TNA, though it might not be quite as wide a scope of the WWE, can be far more enjoyable to watch and ultimately provide that sense of competition that's been missing from pro wrestling for the last 5 years.

Cuz that's how he rolls.

And it was... Arrested Development.

2006-02-14T13:38:00.000-05:00

Haven't gotten a chance before today to say this, but wow. If this was the end of AD, what a phenominal way to go out. FOX can screw around with the show as much as it wants (part of me thinks the higher ups have a serious hate-on for the show and simply enjoy jerking it around) and it still brings the funny right up until the very end (Showtime...).

Two solid hours of undoubtedly the best comedy on television were enough to get me to skip the Olympic opening ceremonies (repeat anyways; CBC aired them live in the afternoon anyways) and anything else on that night. From the return of Franklin ("My name is Juuuuuuudge") to Lindsay being adopted ("I'm just not into older women...") to Lucille being the puppetmaster behind George Sr., if it was really the end it went out better than I could have ever expected. And if by some chance it manages to survive and moves to another network, so much the better.

Now people have complained that if it moves that it won't be the same show considering how it all wrapped up, but think about it... season one was all about George in prison and the finances frozen... they changed the whole premise in season two with George on the lam and the financial assets being unfrozen... and changed it again in season three with George under house arrest in the apartment, but essentially back with the family awaiting the trial. So what's different this time? I assume Lucille would be the one in jail or house arrest, the family still has legal woes except it's George who's free (and now established as not the brilliant mastermind, but the pawn).

As far as the Bluth Company being sold to Sitwell, meh. It was a legal agreement at best before the police showed up, and more Ed Begley Jr. = more funny. Gee, before AD who ever thought they'd be able to say that? Part of the brillance of AD was how the show evolved over time... does anyone really think the show would have remained as brilliant if George Sr. had simply stayed in prison for three seasons? Of course not. They used it as a plot device as much as they could have, then moved on to better situations.

The bottom line is this... if AD is over with, I'm satisfied with the way they finished out and will be getting season three the day it comes out on DVD. If it lands on Showtime or ABC, it's still got a ton of mileage left.

"Maybe a movie." We can hope, Ron. We can hope.

The power of editing, and Superbowl fever

2006-02-06T00:11:00.000-05:00

So for the first time in about three years I was able to sit and actually watch the Superbowl this year without being at work or having something else get my way. Pretty good game, and for a change I didn't have any kind of hatred or dislike for either side so I was guaranteed to see someone I liked win. Good for Pittsburgh, it's been too long without a world championship for a team that's been fun to watch as long as they have. And I have a feeling Seattle might be back to the big game sooner rather than later, they're mostly young. Kinda surprised that Heinz Ward won the MVP, but then again there wasn't really a standout player tonight. Nifty catch for a TD though.

Following the game though, a Very Special Grey's Anatomy. Very cool episode, continues to build up a lot of threads from earlier this season (Izzy & Alex, George and Bailey... and unfortunately the love triangle nobody wants to see, Meredith-Addison-McDreamy) although it's a little cheap to make it the first of two parts. Eh, it hooked me. :)

And had this link passed my way, thanks Katie. :)

Not really what I had in mind...

2006-01-30T23:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, a night later and Raw features Edge vs. Cena: The Rematch. Blindly I hope this is really the start of a fued where they trade the belt back and forth repeatedly, or at least once more so that Edge gets to keep it. And Lita nails Edge with the belt... on purpose? To cause a DQ, thus gaining him another title shot? Huh. Well on the plus side, nobody shot lightning bolts or rode a horsie to the ring tonight. I'll say this, more and more each week, the "Rated R Superstar" gimmick grows on me.

Well, tomorrow brings about the Academy Award nominations. Normally I don't get within 50 feet of any Oscar nominated movies, but a lot of the frontrunners and expected-to-be-nominated movies this year actually look pretty interesting. Caught Crash this past weekend, hell of a movie and very worthy of the SAG award it trumped Brokeback Mountain for. Let's hope it has a good showing tomorrow too.

Rumble thoughts... And that was not a friggin' spaceship!

2006-01-29T23:18:00.000-05:00

Well, hard to call this year's Rumble event. A very schitzophrenic show I'd say, some stuff was great and some stuff was just very... very... wrong. One complaint I had though, was the rumble itself wasn't the main event which makes the show seem like it's going on forever. I know they've had title matches after the rumble in the past, but the last I can really remember was '96 with Bret v. Taker. If they'd ended the show with the Rumble, I'd probably call it a great show overall. Anyways, here we go with the rundown:

1. Gregory Helms d. Kid Kash, Funaki, London, Nunzio, Noble to win the Cruiserweight Championship. THANK GOD they're finally putting Helms back with the cruisers, because it's definitely where he excels. Really good match, while it might not be on par with some of the top X division matches in TNA, for a WWE cruiser match it was very watchable. And I'm a Helms mark, so bonus points.

2. Mickie James d. Ashley Massaro. Trish was the ref here, and they're continuing the storyline between Mickie and Trish so it was more of a placeholder match. Still, considering Ashley has next to no training it was alright for what it was. Nasty looking powerbomb off the turnbuckles on Ashley for the pin, btw.

3. The Boogeyman d. JBL. Bwahahaha. I fully admit, I should hate the Boogeyman with everything I am, and yet for some strange reason he's kinda friggin cool. At least until the bell rings, because he's absolutely horrible as a wrestler. But he beat JBL, and beat him cleanly. So all is good, because while I don't detest JBL I'm still not very fond of the guy for anything other than a cheap laugh. And Jillian Hall without the face-cookie is actually pretty cute.

4. Rey Misterio d. Logic, Gravity, and Vince McMahon's pre-conceived notions to win the Royal Rumble. As usual, a very fun match from start to finish. Rey and HHH began the match, they did some comedy stuff early including HHH having each one of his last fued partners come out in a row and getting progressively worse (Flair, Big Show, Kane, etc.). I also came to a realization in this match, HHH when he's not actively trying to make himself look like the ultimate badass is still pretty damn entertaining. In the end it came down to the original two, plus Randy Orton. Rey with the fluke elimination on HHH, and then played possum to take out Orton. Even if it's built around dedicating the win to Eddie Guerrero (RIP), Rey earned this win and I sincerely hope he actually does go to WM to wrestle for the title, World or WWE. If this is a bait and switch and he loses the title shot between now at Mania, that's going to really suck. Especially if it's to facilitate what appears to be Angle's next fued.

5. John Cena d. Edge to win the WWE Championship. Why? WHY? WHYYYYY? And this is not from someone who hates Cena's in-ring abilities or his promos, or actively hates Cena at all. I'm bored with him, and giving him back the title does NOTHING to make me interested in watching Raw, the flagship. I truly don't get this. Edge wins title, ratings go up. People reacting. Cena barely starting to get his popularity back, Edge working the crowds really well, Raw with a surge of momentum... and we're right back to the same crap we were at before NYR except you've cut the legs out from under Edge and possibly destroyed him as a main eventer. This almost ruined the show for me... except something even worse was still to come. And what the hell was up with that stupid entrance?

6. Kurt Angle d. Mark Henry to retain the World Championship. Yes, Mark Henry main evented this show tonight. All I'll say is it took FAR TOO MUCH to finally beat him and put him down. But then, with the show drawing to a close and Angle celebrating in the ring...

THE LOCKER ROOM LEADER OF DEATH FELT HE NEEDED TO STEAL YET ANOTHER SPOTLIGHT. This makes TWO shows in a row I've ordered and had ruined after the main event was over by Mark Calloway (Survivor Series being the other) showing up to totally suck the heat away from a decent enough show. I've tried to semi-defend him in the past but this is it. The Undertaker needs to go away and retire for now, for good, and forever. All he does is ruin careers at this point, either backstage or forcing younger talent to put his broken down ass over in the ring. Randy Orton may have a list of legends he's killed on the back of a t-shirt, but Taker could fill the front, the back, both sleeves, inside front and back, and still be able to come up with matching pants.

Overall, I didn't mind the show tonight but Cena's 2nd title reign and the Undertaker's appearance have definitely tainted this one. Ugh.

Happiest Day Of The Year... Rumble Young Man, Rumble!

2006-01-29T18:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, based mainly on jealousy and the fact that Steve's updated his blog I feel the need to chime in here and update (six months since the last update... yes, I am lazy) tonight, just over an hour from the WWE's grandest event of the year, the Royal Rumble. A lot of wrestling fans will argue for hours over which show is their favorite each year, and even if Wrestlemania gets more press and is generally the larger show, the Rumble's almost always more fun.

In fact, quite a few of my favorite wrestling events of all time are Rumbles. 2004 for Chris Benoit's amazing victory and subsequent title push; 2002 for a stellar rumble itself with great action, huge returns, Chris Jericho as the Undisputed Champion, and the Pint Sized Powers of Pain (trademark Scott Keith) as tag team champions; 1996 has long been a favorite of mine, given that it bridged the end of the real Kliq years with the start of Steve Austin and what eventually developed into the Attitude Era; and of course 1992 with Ric Flair's triumph for the title in the rumble match (although it took me several years and the release of the Flair DVD to actually sit and watch the match in full). Hmm, seems like the really special Rumbles are even numbered years. Well now I'm really anticipating tonight's.

I'll check back in after the show with some random thoughts, although after a six month layoff I'm not deluding myself into thinking I have an audience of more than myself. :) Still, enjoy the show!

Summer Movies part 1...

2005-07-31T22:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I've had a chance to finally catch up on some of the big movie releases this summer season, with more to come in the next few days. Beware, I'm not the usual type that falls to the thumbs down side of things by default.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Highly enjoyable popcorn movie with lots of explosions, gunfire and tons of charisma between the major players in the movie (and I include Vince Vaughn there).

Fantastic Four: Didn't have high hopes after all the negative criticism on this movie, but I actually did enjoy it quite a bit. Jessica Alba's always a plus in my books, the Thing was portrayed better than I expected (not being familiar with the comic book I probably missed a few creative licenses with the character though), only had a couple of problems with the movie. 1) The guy playing Mr. Fantastic had ZERO charisma with anyone in the film, 2) how exactly did the Thing's transformation at the end of the movie happen, considering the circumstances they established it needed.

Return of the Sith: Not a lot needs to be said here, as I've agreed with just about everyone's basic thoughts of the movie... leaps and bounds better than the first two movies in the New Trilogy, still a little wooden acting from Hayden Christiansen although I found "NOOOOOOOO!" more in character than most. He did afterall JUST become Vader not long before that, I tend to believe that's the catalyst for Vader becoming the Uber Bastard we all know and love from the Classic Trilogy.

Bewitched: Meh, where to begin with this one? Outside of some decent acting by Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell (and good side roles by Kristen Chenoweth and Steve Carrell), this one left me cold for the major reason of a terrible plot. The premise sounded interesting, the tv remake within the movie remake, but it was totally all over the place and lost me several times. Taking liberties like Aunt Clara actually being Nicole Kidman's aunt rather than a character on the TV show really, and Uncle Arthur appearing to the Jack character against instead of being something on the show really dragged this one down. I tried to like it, I really did... that said, I wouldn't be opposed to Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman being paired up in a better movie.

That's it for now, more thoughts to come. And YeeHaw, Dukes of Hazzard out in less than a week.

And yet they keep The Simple Life...

2005-07-29T21:27:00.000-04:00

Somehow I missed the actual release date, but the first two seasons of the 2000-2002 series Titus have come out on DVD and I finally picked it up this week. And once again I fail to believe how FOX could cancel a show as wickedly brilliant as this, even though it's been demonstrated time and time again. In fact, I think 2002 alone saw them cancel Titus, Family Guy, Dark Angel, Greg the Bunny, Fastlane... in short pretty much every show I watched on the channel save for their Sunday night lineup.

The irony of Titus is that it had strong ratings all the way through it's run and was unceremoniously cancelled out of nowhere, while a show like Arrested Development has meager ratings and nearly suffers the same fate only to get an 11th hour reprieve. Don't get me wrong, AD is the most brilliant comedy on television today, but it goes to show you that FOX will cancel pretty much anything at any point, any time... except a star vehicle for Paris Hilton.

Wussies.

The beginning of the end of the beginning?

2005-07-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

Well, it's a day I didn't forsee coming. To join the ranks of the bloggers? Who really cares about my opinions, right? Blogs are for celebrities and angst-ridden teenagers, like Nirvana and Scientology.

But I guess if I'm going to live up to the name on this blog, I'd better have a blog. And without a blog, I'm not living up to the name. It's just one big vicious circle. Anyways, enjoy my little corner of the 'Net.