tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85128799797278368762024-03-13T09:20:17.241-07:00Everything's Better With BobBobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-19863230217080783362012-06-18T08:32:00.000-07:002012-06-18T08:33:02.706-07:00WWE No Way Out 2012 In ReviewFor years No Way Out was almost one of the classic line-ups of the non Big 4 PPVs along with Backlash, Judgment Day, Unforgiven, No Mercy and Armageddon. It got dropped in 2010 but two years later it makes its return as this year's June PPV that the WWE team can't seem to settle on (Fatal 4 Way was awesome, I demand that be reinstated) and on watching the whole show, it fell in line with the rest of the solid PPVs WWE has been delivering since WrestleMania. True we got a lot of stuff added last minute but overall it was a solid card with very good matches.<br />
<br />
<b>1) Sheamus* vs Dolph Ziggler (World Heavyweight Championship):</b><br />
I always make no secret of my opinion on having a show open with a world title match but considering this was literally put together one week before the PPV then it doesn't really warrant a high place on the card. I was looking forward to this match and I was pleased with how it turned out. Ziggler has restored my faith in him ever since his disappointing match against CM Punk at the Royal Rumble and he's more over than ever. I don't know whether WWE will do a face turn to accommodate this but I'm hoping not and they just get him to do properly despicable heel things because he hasn't really done anything in a while to give people reason to boo him. There was a really nice psychology to this match that maybe some people didn't pick up on - Ziggler went after Sheamus's neck. Now personally I know that back when he was wrestling in Ireland, Sheamus broke his neck during a match so with knowledge of that, it added a lot more to the match for me. The commentators could have drawn attention to the fact that Sheamus had broken his neck before and that would have helped get Ziggler over as opportunistic. The crowd was very pro-Ziggler as I expected which means WWE should really find heels that the fans don't actually like to feud with Sheamus (I realise Del Rio filled that role so I won't complain too much). With regards to management's stance on Ziggler, I have a feeling they had doubts in his potential as a world title contender after his lacklustre performance at the Royal Rumble so this was more a test for him than ever. And I think he fared much better against Sheamus than he did against Punk as in this match he and Sheamus were made to look like equals whereas against Punk you knew he had no chance of winning. I reserve what I said about Sheamus in my Raw Recap in that he makes a great face in peril and is able to make his opponent look strong in a way that Cena has never really got the hang of. And of course he sold that X-Factor off the top to perfection. I expected Jack Swagger to make an appearance in the match but here we just got Sheamus getting a clean win so I guess whatever story progression will happen on Raw with Ziggler somehow blaming Swagger for <i>not</i> being there. As I wrote in my predictions, if done right then a feud between Ziggler and Swagger has all the potential in the world. Really enjoyable and hard-hitting opening match. 7.5/10<br />
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Big Johnny was looking pretty snazzy in that suit of his and it's a real shame he didn't burst out in a rendition of "Candyman" or "Lollipop" to sway Vince's feelings. As an aside I feel Josh Matthews could have become a good wrestler if he'd stuck with it. But then again he likely wouldn't be the longest lasting Tough Enough contestant in WWE today.<br />
<br />
<b>2) Santino Marella vs Ricardo Rodriguez (Tuxedo Match):</b><br />
I was seriously hoping this would be the second last match on the card to give people a break between main events but alas, hope, dashed. I can't really comment on this spectacle apart from now knowing how the women felt when the Bra and Panties matches and Evening Gown matches were going on. And let's be fair, those were always over a lot quicker than this was. No Justin Bieber shirt for Ricardo this time but we did see a tiny bit of wrestling from our US Champion who hasn't defended his title in how long again? I guess it's just small relief that this "match" wasn't for the title. 1/10<br />
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The first of many AJ-centered backstage segments was nice enough and I guess we can count Matt Stryker as one of the men she doesn't want. The list had been looking rather small before last night.<br />
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<b>3) Christian* vs Cody Rhodes (Intercontinental Championship):</b><br />
Match of the Night as far as I'm concerned. I wrote back in my review of Over The Limit that I felt their last match felt rushed and put together at the last minute (and that was before I learned about Rhodes and his drug test mix-up) as well as looking forward to a rematch where I felt they could do much better. And lo and behold, guess who was totally right. Much like the opening World Heavyweight Championship match there was a great display of psychology only instead of the neck it was the arm this time. Rhodes proves why he is one to watch in WWE for the rest of the year and he is my pick to win the Money In The Bank briefcase. Though I did get a chuckle out of Christian punching and kicking at his face the whole time in the early moments, remembering what Rhodes's last gimmick was. Rhodes's offence targeting the arm was very crisp and well storied, he even made me wince and say "ouch" when he just bent Christian's elbow and stamped on it. Yeesh that can't have been too pleasant. Anyway spot of the match of course has to go to Christian's near perfect tornado DDT off the ring steps. My head actually went around and followed their journey through the air and down to the floor. Amazing sight to see. I also cringed (in a good way) when Christian rammed himself shoulder-first into the ring post. The end of this match really made it move from "great" into "excellent" territory with all the near-falls and false finishes, though as soon as the Killswitch was blocked I had a feeling Christian would win with the spear. I was very worried going into this match that the hot potato with the Intercontinental title would keep going on but thankfully Christian has broken the curse and kept the title for longer than a month. I don't expect him to hold it as long as Rhodes did last year but a good respectable reign would be nice as well as a fresh challenger that we haven't see before. I can suggest no one so I leave it up to the whims of the bookers. Once again, MOTN for all the right reasons. 8.5/10<br />
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<b>4) The Prime Time Players vs The Usos vs Primo & Epico vs Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel (#1 Contender's Match):</b><br />
What's the best option if you have PPV time to fill and one of your tag champs has a foot injury? Why add a number 1 contender's match to the card of course. I can't remember the last time we've actually had a match to crown challengers for the tag titles, mostly because the division has been wafer-thin for as long as I can remember. But now you see there is life in the division yet with four teams battling for the opportunity and even better you know that there are actually more teams around who weren't in that match. I'll admit it was very hectic starting off, as to be expected with eight guys out there and I was afraid it would go the same way as Team Teddy vs Team Johnny at WrestleMania but eventually some form of order was established with Justin Gabriel being the one getting worked over by whoever. I was surprised at the length this match got because I expected a quick five-minute spotfest but it was a lot better than that and felt important. It's almost as though with the Divas and the Tag Teams that while Raw and Smackdown are a bust in terms of match time and storyline development, the PPVs themselves are slowly becoming a good outlet for them and that's much better than NXT as here they are getting chances to reach the wider audience. Before I talk about the match some more, can I say I was extremely impressed with The Usos. How over were they during the match? Some of the faces today should take note and remember to actually try and involving the crowd in their matches if they want to get over. I feel The Usos could be really over if WWE gave them a push, judging from how the crowd was responding to them. Honestly I was pulling for any of the teams to get a win, with Tyson and Gabriel being my number 1 pick. I was itching for Tyson to get tagged in and he once again shows why he is one of the most underrated superstars on the roster. I'm a little sad he didn't get a better reaction but I'm sure they took note after that amazing Frankensteiner spot. If I'm being a little more honest, the team that won was the team I least wanted to. Both Darren Young and Titus O'Neil are still pretty green although they did perform well on this rare PPV spot and with AW behind them that gives them some possible storyline opportunities. Also does this mean a face turn for Primo and Epico? I mean, they got betrayed and usually this signals a turn of some sort in WWE. Not really sure about that though neither of them are good heels really so keeping them heel or turning them face wouldn't make much of a difference to me. Well as long as Rosa keeps her dancing going on at least. 6.5/10<br />
<br />
The second AJ backstage segment has her giving Daniel Bryan a peck on the cheek. I was afraid that would mean the match was up next but thankfully no.<br />
<br />
Triple H gets a video package for his promo when a simple replay would have done the job just fine. However his promo wasn't as long as I was afraid, it served its purpose and set up his match against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Call me crazy but I'm looking forward to it.<br />
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<b>5) Layla* vs Beth Phoenix (Divas' Championship):</b><br />
We had a war of words to start this match off, which I liked though I was expecting Kharma's music to interrupt them any second. It's almost as though they felt that, since the creative team had given them no story going into this match, that they would add their own. I felt it added a bit to the match though the comedy from Layla was a little jarring to watch. But then again that's what Layla is known and loved for so why not? She was able to make her comedy work in a fun babyface way thanks to Beth giving her something to play off. Unlike the Tuxedo match however, this one found a balance between comedy and actual wrestling as things got serious eventually. It was on-par with their last match and I noticed Layla was taking quite a few big bumps which left me a little worried for her wellbeing considering she's coming off an ACL injury. It seems like she's almost going the same route as Melina after her face turn in making her matches exciting with big moves and big bumps. Since Melina got crazily over then that's a direction I agree with her going in. That one spot with the move from the corner to counter the Glam Slam was a little sloppy but overall it was a nice match and another successful title defence for Layla. Though lord knows who she's actually going to feud with next since Kharma didn't return at the end of the match and I don't expect her to show up on Raw until the 1000th episode. Then again at this point I'd settle for Layla just being on TV for the next few weeks. 7/10<br />
<br />
And the final AJ-centred backstage segment takes us to the dark depths of the arena where Kane feels right at home and AJ gives him a big passionate kiss. Knowing that a kiss on the lips from AJ is especially bad luck to people, this is called foreshadowing.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">6) Hunico vs Sin Cara:</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Wahey, yet another match between the two of them that not only is a rematch from Hell In A Cell but two weeks ago on Raw. I'm just wondering how WWE plan to push Sin Cara if he can't talk so that really negates his feuding possibilities. However he's definitely been spending his time away from the TV tapings sharpening his in-ring skills because he has been pretty solid with most of his matches since he's returned. And this PPV match was a bit different from those matches he's been having. This wasn't just the typical "job to Sin Cara's flashy moves" ordeal that the likes of Curt Hawkins and Chavo Guerrero had to deal with. Sin Cara really had to work for his victory this time. It was a hard-fought and largely Hunico-dominated affair and that made the match feel a bit less like filler to kill time. Hunico delivered a really sick powerbomb to Sin Cara as well as dodging a lot of his signature aerial techniques. And all of Sin Cara's offence that connected looked very solid and was in turn sold well by Hunico. La Mistica is one of my favourite finishers in WWE right now because when it's done right it looks great, as it did here. I expected Sin Cara to get a PPV match though as always some actual build-up would be nice. Let's just hope Hunico isn't still the only person on the roster that'd be able to sell Sin Cara's moves. 6/10</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>7) CM Punk* vs Kane vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship):</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">This was probably the hottest anticipated match of the night as Punk has had the title for quite some time and with Kane being added into the feud it gave us a new possibility of who could end up dominating the division for the rest of the Summer. And that's not to mention wondering what AJ would do and who she would help win. Triple threat matches are always hit or miss, as a quick look at any FCW triple threat will confirm. The key to making a triple threat work is to tell a story with alliances in the ring and letting each person get their spotlight, instead of one face getting dominated by two heels etc. Here there was that as Punk and Bryan formed an unexpected alliance early on to take Kane out of the running. I was wondering whether Kane would be able to hang with these two talents and I can't say he did very well. There was more of the stuff that annoyed me in his WrestleMania match with Randy Orton in that he resorted to a brawling style with his weak looking forearms that were also very slow and therefore worked against him in the match. Here's an idea - if your forearms look bad then don't use them. Thankfully whenever he did actual moves they were fine and didn't hurt the match. I was able to overlook Kane's sloppy offence in favour of the story being told and the excitement over who would win. I didn't like that first spot where they kept trying to do the superplex and got stopped. It went on too long and looked like something went wrong, though Daniel Bryan's double missile dropkick was a thing of beauty. I did however love that Doomsday Device spot which was a pleasant surprise when I was expecting a Tower of Doom. If there's anything else that can be said about this match it's that it was really stiff. Definitely stiffest match of the night. Punk and Bryan were really going to town with stiff kicks and I loved it. I can imagine the two of them would wake up with some nice bruises the next morning. Now as for AJ's involvement at the end, she really came out of nowhere. At first I thought I saw Punk very obviously check to see if she was on the apron before shoving Kane into her and I thought it looked bad but judging from how he didn't check on her after the match and that smirk she was giving him as Kane carried her away, the two of them planned this out. This is very intriguing to me as it seems the two of them in cahoots to pull the wool over Kane's eyes comes across as pretty heelish, even for Punk's character. Perhaps AJ will continue to pull stunts like this in Punk's future matches, causing him to get sick of it and she ends up costing him the title in revenge. A solid match and great storyline possibilities to come out of it, hopefully we'll get some exciting follow-up on Raw tonight. 8/10</span><br />
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<b>8) Ryback vs Rob Grymes & Dan Delaney:</b><br />
What does it say about WWE when two jobbers who aren't even on the roster get a PPV spot when so many others who are deserving don't. And really, how does Ryback feel to pretty much be making a career out of being the piss break match between main events. His offence was new this time but I'm more than bored of the Ryback squashes now and I'd like to see him move onto a proper feud. Ryback vs Tensai, WWE, make it happen. 2/10<br />
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<b>9) John Cena vs Big Show (Steel Cage Match):</b><br />
I went into this match with low expectations and they were met. Despite WWE doing their best efforts to get me to give a crap about this match, I wasn't feeling it. It's a match we've seen too many times before and it's a formula that doesn't work. Put Cena in a steel cage with a monster heel and you get what you'd expect - many minutes of Cena being completely dominated with a few casual hope spots in there where he sells everything like he's just been run over. And then his Second Wind magically comes out of nowhere as usual. Cena has put on great matches against Punk, Rey Mysterio and The Rock and even put on a passable one with Kane but this was just bland, boring and unimaginative. Big Show as well can move well for a giant his size but putting them together does not create a winning formula. There were small flashes of brilliance in there but I still wasn't feeling the match. That being said, the end moments were a little better with other members of the roster coming down to try and stop him. I was actually excited when I knew it was finally going to be over and thankfully Cena wins and Big Johnny is history. He's been an on-screen figure for nearly a year and done almost nothing worth treasuring in your memory so now it's time to kill him off and bring in someone new. I like the idea of a heel GM so make it Eve instead. Dud of a match but nice ending and does create excitement going into tonight's Raw. 5/10Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-36584645042112866142012-06-16T14:07:00.001-07:002012-06-16T14:07:17.808-07:00WWE Predictions For 2012 - Part 2Well it's officially the halfway mark in the year since I made my predictions in January. And it's about time I took a careful look at what's going on right now so I can make my predictions for the next half of the year. Before we do that, let's take a look at my previous wishes and guesses to see if any came true.<br />
<br />
<b>Zack Ryder vs Kane at WrestleMania:</b><br />
Nope these two didn't make it to WrestleMania. Ryder got dropped from the Kane storyline completely and shunted into the Team Teddy vs Team Johnny match-up while Kane got an out-of-nowhere feud with Randy Orton for Mania. Although they did get a match on the pre-show for Over The Limit so I wasn't completely off right? <i>Fail</i><br />
<b>Alex Riley Heel Turn + Burial:</b><br />
The heel turn didn't happen but the burial did. Squashed by Brodus Clay on Smackdown, choked out by Tensai on Raw, knocked out by Big Show backstage. Thank the lord for NXT or else he'd be completely screwed. Hopefully we'll see something from him in the coming weeks. <i>Fail</i><br />
<b>AJ Own-Back on Daniel Bryan:</b><br />
Everyone expected this to happen and so WWE went in the opposite direction. AJ cost Bryan the title by accident, got dumped by him and went crazy instead. This Sunday's No Way Out PPV will clarify whether or not AJ and Bryan are done for good because I smell a heel turn. <i>Pending</i><br />
<b>The Miz Face Turn:</b><br />
Miz has not turned face but he's been buried week in and week out so you never know maybe he'll return from filming The Marine 3 and make the turn. Anything would be better than a dance-off. <i>Pending</i><br />
<b>John Cena Temporarily Heel:</b><br />
He didn't turn heel but he actually played the heel in his feud with The Rock. I mean at the WrestleMania match he lost and he was the heel figure in terms of working over The Rock and controlling the match. I'll give myself this one because I knew whatever the fans thought he wouldn't be heel after WrestleMania. <i>Pass</i><br />
<b>Undertaker/Triple H Retirement:</b><br />
It remains to be seen about Taker's retirement until next WrestleMania but he is 20-0 and has not been seen on WWE TV since then. Triple H has made a few appearances but has not retired, in fact he's due to work a program with Brock Lesnar heading into SummerSlam. <i>Fail</i><br />
<b>Divas of Doom Split:</b><br />
Yeah this happened but not in the way we were expecting. Natalya made a weird face turn where she was still kinda heelish then she went back heel after about a month (clearly to fill the void left by the Bellas) and the split amounted to Natalya working one tag match against Beth on Superstars. <i>Pass</i><br />
<b>Ted DiBiase Push:</b><br />
Aside from his feud with Hunico, DiBiase sadly did not get a push because he sustained several injuries to his shoulder and ankle though he said he's due to return in a month. I guess that rules out the MITB briefcase. <i>Pending</i><br />
<b>Kelly Kelly Heel Turn:</b><br />
Boy was I wrong on this one. Instead it was Kelly's BFF Eve that turned heel...and it was glorious. Plus it seems like Kelly is headed out of the WWE so she remains one of the few Divas to never turn heel. <i>Fail</i><br />
<b>Departures...</b><br />
Wow, none of my list actually got future endeavored which is a good thing. Tamina actually got a big push for the Divas' Championship but has gone back to competing on NXT. Jinder Mahal remains in jobber hell, Heath Slater annoys the hell out of us every week, Mark Henry is out with an injury and not expected to return for three months, Tyler Reks hit the jackpot and got a storyline and tag team so there's potential, Ezekiel Jackson is really just there and Evan Bourne suffered a foot injury that'll keep him out until October. However the departures and expected ones have been pretty shocking. The Bella Twins walked out after Extreme Rules and Kelly Kelly is said to be quickly on their tail. Even more shocking, Randy Orton might be fired too after failing a drug test. There have actually been very few releases this year which is surprising though they've managed to find a way to feature more people on NXT and with Raw going to 3 hours there's likely going to be more guys featured there.<br />
<br />
And so, my predictions for the rest of the year...<br />
<br />
<b>1) Eve Torres Will Become Johnny Ace's Replacement:</b><br />
I think it's safe to say that Johnny is on thin ice and not just in kayfabe. The fans don't care much about him, he fails at cutting promos and he's pretty much run his course as the GM. It's time for a fresh face in charge and who better than Eve? First of all, she's got legit heel heat. Second of all, she can cut better promos than Johnny, Vickie and Otunga. And third of all, when she has been put in charge of things she's been relatively fair. Unlike Johnny and Vickie who only make matches out of their own interests, Eve has made fair matches so that makes her a GM that would do what's best for the company instead of herself. You can overbook some storylines by having a heel authority figure so Eve would bring a welcome change to that. You could have Vince introduce Eve as Johnny's replacement on Sunday. If that doesn't happen then I predict he'll split the brands again and have Eve as Raw GM and Otunga as Smackdown's.<br />
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<b>2) MITB Winners - Cody Rhodes & Kofi Kingston:</b><br />
At the MITB PPV next month I expect Cody Rhodes to claim the Smackdown briefcase. Why? Well he's competed at the last two MITB events and seen a significant rise in notoriety since then. He's even had a feud with a main event star. He lost his IC title to Christian so now it's time for him to move onto bigger and better things. I don't see Sheamus losing the title to Dolph Ziggler on Sunday so it's likely going to be a heel that will claim the briefcase. Rhodes is one of the best heels in the company right now so why not give him a crack at this push? Officials seem to be high on him so stranger things happened right?<br />
I don't see Kofi keeping the tag belts because rumours of R-Truth's foot injury leads me to believe they will drop them soon and Truth will be taken off TV for recovery. Meanwhile Kofi could finally get that main event push we know he deserves. It should be one heel and one face that wins the briefcase and I can't see another face that could feasibly win it. Kofi is popular and if he was given a storyline (like this would lead to) then he'd be able to shake off some of his bland babyface routine.<br />
<br />
<b>3) Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger at SummerSlam:</b><br />
I said above that I doubt Ziggler will leave No Way Out as World Heavyweight Champion. In fact I think this last minute WHC match will be used to further the feud between Ziggler and his former partner. Judging by Raw it looks like the two of them are splitting up and it also has potential to be a slow burner. While Ziggler is fairly over he should not turn face as that would ruin his whole character. Swagger on the other hand is beyond saving as a heel so why not turn him and see if he fares any better? Have Swagger try to help Ziggler win the title but fail and cost him the match. Over the next few weeks he could try to make amends but eventually Ziggler turns on him. They escalate their feud by going for each other in the MITB ladder match and eventually face off at SummerSlam. I think this is a match that could be pretty exciting if WWE threw a good build-up behind it.<br />
<br />
<b>4) Wade Barrett Will Return To Feud With Sheamus:</b><br />
It was rumoured that Wade Barrett was poised for a huge title push before he was injured and that was back in February where he was expected to be out for 3-4 months. Now provided Sheamus has the lengthy title reign he deserves, the stage could be set for a great feud with Wade when he returns from injury. I mean, it's England vs Ireland which everyone knows will be an added spice to the proceedings. Wade is one of the best heels they have and I see him returning sometime in the next two months to spark a feud with Sheamus going into SummerSlam. Wade had MOTN at last year's show, can he do it again this year?<br />
<br />
<b>5) Kharma Feuds With Layla:</b><br />
When Kharma made an appearance at the Royal Rumble, fans everywhere were buzzing about when she would return. Many expected WrestleMania and others thought on the Bellas' last night on Raw. Now the prediction is for the 1000th episode of Raw. My prediction is this Sunday at No Way Out. I see Kharma returning to destroy both Layla and Beth Phoenix, maybe causing a no contest in their match. She will have a feud with Layla much akin to her one with Gail Kim in TNA. Layla has that fast-paced lucha style that will work well against Kharma's dominance, using hit and run tactics to try and get the upset. I'd have Layla win by DQ or countout in the first title match to prolong the feud and then have the title change hands in the second match. Kharma can dominate the other Divas, feuding with the likes of Alicia Fox, Natalya and eventually Beth Phoenix.<br />
<br />
<b>6) Daniel Bryan Heel Reign as WWE Champion:</b><br />
Daniel Bryan is insanely over as a heel right now, getting crowds to forget to chant "What!" and instead chanting "Yes!" every week. WWE would be stupid not to capitalise on this right now. This Sunday he gets his second opportunity at the WWE title and he doesn't even have to pin the Golden Guy CM Punk to win the belt. What direction the WWE title will go in depends heavily on Kane and AJ. Personally I sense AJ distracting Kane to allow Punk or Bryan to win. I think Kane is only there to take the pin because he's the odd one out in this storyline. I'd hope more for Punk to win here and for Bryan to take the title in a match at Money In The Bank. That's a very special PPV for Punk so it would make more sense for him to drop the title there. Unlike his World Heavyweight Championship reign, I see Bryan's reign lasting a long time, perhaps even until WrestleMania. WWE have realised now how over he is and so the potential for feuds is endless. Kofi Kingston, Christian, Jack Swagger, a face Miz, all those could and should happen.<br />
<br />
<b>7) Big Show's Heel Turn Will Amount To Nothing:</b><br />
Unlike Mark Henry who finally showed something with his big push last year, Big Show is not likely to actually go anywhere in his new heel role. WWE clearly don't want him near the title considering he had it for less than 20 seconds at the end of last year and his Intercontinental title reign lasted a measly four weeks. Where exactly can he go from there even if he defeats John Cena? Do we want him to feud with Punk, Bryan, Sheamus or anyone who has a title? Of course not. WWE will realise about two months after this Sunday that they can't do anything with him that hasn't already been done. He's been the unstoppable giant how many times in his career now so what makes this time any different? I predict by the end of the year Big Show will be doing nothing of note at all.<br />
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<b>8) Natalya Will Turn Face:</b><br />
I know she was face for about two weeks earlier in the year but switched back to heel because they had hardly any left when the Bellas walked out but I sense Nattie seeing the light before the end of the year. After all Beth Phoenix got her run at the Divas' Championship and I'm not crazy to see her chasing after it again in a few months, but Natalya has been out of the title picture for ages. She hasn't had a Divas' title opportunity since the battle royal where Beth won last August. As much as she is being misused, she is being booked a little better than she was at the start of the year. Afterall she's not farting anymore, she's gotten a couple of wins and she's no longer the one who has to put everyone else over. I demand to see a face Natalya getting a big title push against Kharma. They've worked together before so that would be a good move on WWE's part. I'm not saying Natalya should win the title as Kharma herself does need a lengthy reign, but if Nattie won the belt again then we could finally get that match against Beth we've been itching for.<br />
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<b>9) Maxine Will Get A Push:</b><br />
WWE seems really high on elevating Divas outside of the women's division right now. Eve has been promoted to on-screen authority figure, AJ has been given the storyline of a lifetime with CM Punk and even Aksana is getting something with Antonio Cesaro. Maxine is someone who is very well liked by the creative team, judging from how much exposure she gets on NXT and it's well deserved. She would make an excellent heel manager to act as a mouthpiece for a wrestler who can't talk. They could keep her with Johnny Curtis or pair her with somebody else but by all rights she should be featured because she is one of the best characters in the division right now. Who knows, she might even get to form a stable of her own. Hell maybe she could be Johnny's replacement.<br />
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<b>10) The Call-Ups Will Be...</b><br />
*Dean Ambrose - he's already working loads of dark matches and just needs to shake off the whole bad attitude thing but we could forseably see him on Smackdown before the end of the year.<br />
*Sofia Cortez - she's got 8 years of wrestling experience and the Divas' division is getting even shallower with three departures so far. Bring her into the fold if you're running out of women for Kharma to beat.<br />
*Richie Steamboat - people at FCW are really high on him and I can see why. He's coming along in the ring very nicely and I would love to see him make it to the main show by the end of the year<br />
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Well that's all I've got in my crystal ball so I'll see you guys again in December to check if this round of predictions was better than the first lot.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-11855273443069159692012-06-13T18:12:00.000-07:002012-06-13T18:12:07.376-07:00NXT Xtra - June 13th 2012Well whadda ya know I've decided to take time off from my busy schedule (insert air quotes) to recap NXT. Now unfortunately since WWE unceremoniously scrapped all storylines on NXT and turned it into Superstars with yellow ropes there isn't as much to write about in a recap like this as there would have been a few months back. But there is good news and that is that the New NXT is starting to air next week so we'll finally be getting storylines featured on Wednesday nights again...just involving completely different people than we're used to. But hopefully those people get some proper exposure on the new 3-hour Raw. But anyhow here is what is probably going to be the final NXT Redemption.<br />
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<b>Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins def. Derrick Bateman & Percy Watson:</b><br />
Hawkins pulls double duty this week though which match was better is no competition. Nice technical opening there with some variations in the typical chain wrestling you'd normally see. The faces were in control for really long, which I'm not sure how I felt about. I would have liked the first sequence of Bateman in then Watson in to have some back and forth stuff instead of just them in control. I expected Bateman to be the one isolated by the heels so I was surprised when he tagged out so quickly after being worked on by the heels. Watson livened things up with some real nice dropkicks and a creative way to get Reks and Hawkins out of the ring. I honestly thought things would be over back then but the match continued, which I'm grateful for. Again the faces were in control a lot and that's not a good thing. I'd have preferred to have Reks and Hawkins already working over Watson when they came back from the break. Nice turnbuckle spot to eventually take control and pretty standard heel stuff when it came to working over Watson. Surprisingly most of the stuff was clean and I was expecting some typical dirty tactics from them. Nice touch. Hawkins hit a really well done enziguri too. Now while the heat was well done, there didn't seem to be much psychology to it other than "keep Watson from tagging for so long", one moment they'd be working the back and another the neck. However the hope spots were well done and I really enjoyed Bateman's hot tag, busting out a flashy neckbreaker and another move I don't quite know the name of (you commentators are meant to help me cover for that sort of thing!). Good to see the heels win since the faces controlled a lot of this match and almost a clean finish too with only minimal cheating. Good strong win for Reks and Hawkins and good enough tag match. 7/10<br />
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<b>Kaitlyn def. Natalya:</b><br />
If Natalya had not defeated Alicia Fox a few weeks ago and Kaitlyn herself a few weeks before that then I'd be a little more annoyed about her losing this match. She is definitely the best wrestler in the women's division and should not be jobbing so often. I sincerely hope it's her that gets a push for Layla's title once she's finally done with Beth. Now then we had ourselves a really nice match here. I thought it was an improvement over their previous one and Nattie's bout with Tamina last week. It's funny to think that only a little over a year ago was when Kaitlyn started regularly wrestling on the roster and all we saw her in was two minute tag matches with the one-off Superstars thing. Now thanks almost entirely to NXT she's been able to work longer matches and develop herself. I'd say she can now be counted on to have good matches with just about anyone. She's worked well with Maxine and Tamina who are both as green as she is, and here she worked as well with Natalya. If you ask me, it looked like an even match-up. We had a fairly slow pace going on but it didn't sag. Natalya dominated as per usual though she also added a bit of comedy which I'm not sure is a good fit for her. That kind of thing only seemed to work on her when she was face and now she comes across as sort of a pantomime villain. I'd prefer for her to be more straight up evil than goofy. Kaitlyn looked solid with just about everything she did - dropkicks, crossbodies, various pins. There were a lot of near-falls that made this match entertaining. When I heard Kaitlyn won with a roll-up in the spoilers I was annoyed but in the match it wasn't too bad since it wasn't a school girl or small package. Solid Divas' bout and hopefully Natalya can find herself challenging Layla in the near future. 7/10<br />
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That Bo Dallas vignette didn't inspire much excitement in me. He's solid in the ring and pretty athletic but his voice is too robotic. Someone needs promo training which hopefully happens on the new NXT.<br />
The Richie Steamboat vignette was a lot better. It was short and to the point and he sounded very natural. He's one to watch on the new NXT.<br />
<br />
<b>The Usos:</b><br />
I find it really funny that when the Usos debuted they made it their raison d'etre to avoid the stereotypes associated with Samoan wrestlers and now...well...their entrance speaks for itself. Though the Wild Samoan is a much better character than "generic heels that don't want to be Wild Samoans" really. It's really weird to see Michael McGillicutty trying to do Johnny Curtis's weirdness because it is not natural. McGillicutty is going in quite the wrong direction in trying to give himself character if you ask me. The "verbal taunting" as Josh Matthews put it was more akin to the kids' taunts from Sleepaway Camp (read: the kid actors in that movie were baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad). At least he's got wrestling to fall back on because I think I preferred him when he didn't have a personality. The Usos on the other hand I can't say enough good things about. Their over-the-top stuff is believable and their chemistry as a team is better than anyone else on the roster. I was overjoyed when Johnny Curtis was tagged in so I wouldn't have to see the "Genesis of McGillicutty" unfolding before our very eyes. And when he was tagged back in he went after Jey Uso's right leg when it was the left one that was supposed to be injured. And you were on such a roll with the Tyson Kidd matches. Some creative stuff from Curtis and McGillicutty for the heat at the very least and that slingshot axe handle to the leg was one of my favourite spots of the match. Good use of quick tags too. There was definitely some sense of desperation in there that there wasn't in the other tag match, the feeling that Jey Uso really had to tag out and shake off the heels. William Regal said it best on commentary and this was tag team wrestling as it should be. Good match breakdown at the end and solid ending. Definitely the better of the two tag matches due to having better psychology and a teams that had better chemistry with each other. I feel the Usos could be really over if they got a push for the Tag Team titles. 8/10<br />
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So an average night on NXT. Nothing was bad though the show was a shell of its former self. I just hope all these guys and girls get opportunities to do stuff on Raw and Smackdown that has meaning other than appearing in pointless backstage segments and squash matches. As for the new NXT I can't wait because they have a nice group of talented guys and girls down there that I can't wait to see get proper exposure. Bobby out.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-60995628496032722842012-06-12T09:41:00.003-07:002012-06-12T09:42:21.406-07:00Raw Recap - June 11th 2012Hello all and welcome to my first ever Raw recap. I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time now but truth be told, Raw has sucked for the last who knows how many weeks and I found there to be a significant lack of anything worthwhile to talk about. However last night was a special 3 hour Raw and if that episode was any indication then the permanent switch to three hours can't happen soon enough. With NXT being merged with FCW that really leaves a lot of talent with nothing to do except the occasional match on Superstars. Last night, while we did see some pointlessly overlong segments we also saw plenty of time for other segments interspersed throughout the night. It shows that, while WWE will likely never stop giving main eventers too much time, with an extra hour at least it won't take away from other segments too much.<br />
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<b>Vince/Johnny/Sheamus open the show:</b><br />
I have to say it was good to see Vince McMahon back again. Triple H, the anonymous Raw GM and Johnny Ace have not been good substitutes for him. Is it me or is Johnny just not getting as much heat lately? It seems as though the fans have stopped loving to hate him and they're just indifferent to him now. Anyway this was the type of opening segment you'd expect to get when Vince was advertised last week to give Johnny a job evaluation. Sheamus appears on Raw once again but this time I don't have a problem with it since it does mean he isn't taking a spot away from the Raw guys. And did you hear the pop he got? While smarks may have been against him for the whole WrestleMania fiasco, he still has his fans and people in the crowd that want to see him. What I like about Sheamus's character is that he isn't just a straight-up anti-hero. That character is just done to death these days. Sheamus is a traditional face but with an edge to him. He has an attitude but he isn't just out for himself like Stone Cold, Randy Orton, Triple H or any other anti-hero you can think of. The delivery of his promo was fine though the actual lines could use some work. Someone tell the writers to stop forcing the wrestlers to use big fancy words since they won't sound right coming from most of them. As for the wheelchair thing, could Michael Cole overreact more? I thought something shocking was happening offscreen when he was having a fit but nope, kicking the wheelchair off the stage is apparently a shocking thing to do. Segment rating: 6/10<br />
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<b>Sheamus def. Tensai:</b><br />
Is Tensai officially a jobber to the stars now? Well not much can be said from two losses but it's a pretty big switch to go from squash matches to losing to the main eventers. I'll address that in a moment. This was a nice opener and for once Tensai didn't bore me. Some good back-and-forth action that the crowd seemed mildly interested in. And this match wasn't the typical "job to the champ" that we'd typically see Sheamus in. Much like his match with Ziggler last week, Sheamus really had to work for his victory. If you're a face champion then I think it's necessary for you to look somewhat vulnerable in matches. This was a lot different from say Cena's matches where he is dominated for nearly the whole thing before almost magically mounting a Second Wind to get the win. To me, Sheamus looked like he was fighting back the whole time while he was being dominated whereas Cena tends to go for the hard sell during the heat then to almost completely no-sell his beatdowns when he mounts his comebacks. In case you didn't guess, I preferred this match to Tensai's one with Cena last week. Now the after match segment was very good in my opinion. A heel doesn't have to win all the time to come across as a threat and an attack like that was much more effective than a squash match. Could we see a feud between Tensai and Sakamoto? Not likely if you ask me since there's such a huge size difference. We'll likely see one match, if that, before Tensai gets an actual feud. I'd like to see them start something with Ryback but I'll get to that in a moment. Combined rating: 7/10<br />
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The first of many backstage segments starts of with Vickie Guerrero kissing up to Vince and actually looking good while doing so. Also nice to see Teddy Long doesn't have to wear that apron. I expected them to remove Kane from the WWE title match and insert him into the No Way Out match but a Fatal 4 Way to crown the new challenger works well too. I'm wondering if this means that Teddy will be reinstated as General Manager if Johnny is fired (and he should be). While I like Teddy, I think they can get more out of him being abused by the higher-ups and then they could develop some kind of revenge storyline for him.<br />
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And just when I thought R-Truth had lost his edge. Backstage segments and mic time really are necessary to give faces character and Truth was almost as hilarious as he was when he was a heel. I've heard he has a foot injury so that's obviously why he was knocked out and Kofi was on in-ring duty last night. Sorry but I still don't buy Big Show's Knockout Punch and I'm not likely to.<br />
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<b>Layla & Santino Marella def. Beth Phoenix & Ricardo Rodriguez:</b><br />
And the two forgotten champions return to TV at last. Another good indication of how beneficial the 3 hours will be, Layla and Santino got time for separate entrances as well as a lengthy match. Despite the mixed tag theme the Divas worked pretty much the whole thing on their own. Layla showed she hasn't completely lost her comedic edge with what she was doing to Ricardo, though admittedly it is harder to work comedy into your matches if you're a face. She and Beth worked well together and the ending was well done with Beth taking advantage of the knee into the Glam Slam. A title match was announced for No Way Out so I guess there's their build up that will likely be that if they don't get something on Smackdown (and it's not likely that they will). This does raise questions for the title match since Layla has already pinned Beth clean so another match between them doesn't seem necessary if they just wanted to give Layla another title defence. Natalya would have been a better choice. However could we see the return of Kharma on Sunday, perhaps destroying them both to cause a DQ finish? Either way that's something to hope for. 6/10<br />
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I think this Santino/Ricardo comedy has run its course though it is a little sad for Del Rio that his ring announcer is a bigger star than he is.<br />
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I liked this next backstage segment. The idea of Otunga as GM could work but I think he works much better as the sucking up underling figure instead of actually being in charge himself. Going back to what I said earlier about backstage segments and mic time being necessary for faces, Kofi got to show some personality here and did pretty well. It wasn't a five star promo but certainly better than the man he was cutting it in front of.<br />
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<b>Daniel Bryan/Kane/CM Punk/AJ in the ring:</b><br />
Daniel Bryan's promos are just awesome. I can't believe how over the "Yes!" chants actually are and in a few years they'll probably have replaced those "What!" chants completely. Bryan's promo was good but I preferred Punk's. Just when I thought he might be getting a little stale, he delivers another juicy promo. It was good for him to maintain that he hasn't changed from when he cut his famous shoot last year. And he actually got the crowd chanting "goat face". We'll see at the PPV if those chants stick and whether or not he'll shave his beard to shake them off. Though it's a bit rich of Punk to call anyone goat face when his facial hair could probably trap a few flies on its own. Kane's promo was pretty good as well though not as good as the other two. AJ on the other hand fell flat a little for me. It was just her lines. I would have liked it better if she had said something more instead of just a one-liner for each guy. It was like there was a lot of build-up to what she was going to say and then my reaction was "that's it?" though it was rectified with the match set for later. That was something I wasn't expecting. Segment rating: 8/10<br />
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<b>Dolph Ziggler def. Christian, Jack Swagger and The Great Khali (Fatal-4-Way Elimination):</b><br />
Now this was a match I liked the set-up of. Once again we had time for entrances and a match that didn't get completely lost in a commercial break. Anyone could have guessed that Khali would be the first one out though I'm pretty sure all three pinning him at once isn't exactly a legal thing. All of them hitting their finishers on him to take him out would have worked much better. Still he was out pretty soon and then we got down to the real wrasslin. Before I talk about that, words cannot describe how god awful Swagger's hair is. When we get that inevitable Ziggler/Swagger match please make it a hair-vs-hair deal to do him a favour. Ziggler pinning Swagger was a surprise as for some reason I expected Swagger to make it to the end. The crowd was pretty divided when it came down to Ziggler and Christian, showing that while Ziggler's popularity might be growing, Christian is still a big fan favourite too. The interaction between the two of them was really great and I can't really recall that many singles matches between them, sans the Intercontinental title tournament on Smackdown way back in 2010. The finish I'm in mixed feelings about. I was expecting Cody Rhodes to do a run-in to cost Christian the match, thus setting them up for No Way Out but Rhodes was nowhere to be seen even after the match. On the other hand the finish itself was still well-done. Vickie was involved so as not to make the Intercontinental Champion look weak losing clean but she wasn't heavily involved which still made Ziggler look strong. Nice way to benefit from Del Rio's concussion and this title match with Sheamus is likely to be better than anything with Del Rio would have been though I'm still not forgetting Ziggler's disappointing match with Punk at the Royal Rumble. Hopefully if they give this a nice go-home segment on Smackdown then the title match can be exciting enough. However I only see this as a one-shot deal. I see a feud with Swagger on the cards after No Way Out, continuing through Money In The Bank and eventually climaxing in a match at SummerSlam. Del Rio will likely be slotted right back into the title picture when he returns from his injury so this is just to give Ziggler something to do until then. Hey, maybe he'll even win a MITB briefcase? 7.5/10<br />
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Natalya back on Raw? And not farting, praise the wrestling Gods. She was looking mighty fine as were a certain pair of Funkadactyls. They finally got to speak and they spoke well enough for two girls never given mic time. Anyway I loved the little dance but what I loved even more was Zack Ryder's fantastic WTF expression. I love great Raws.<br />
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<b>Ryback def. Willard Fillmore & Rutherford Hayes:</b><br />
Ryback is still stuck in squash match mode. This was a little more fun than his usual squashes, mainly because it was quick and to the point. I'm hoping that next week they start a feud between him and Tensai. Unlike say Big Show and Mark Henry who went into Money In The Bank last year for a hyped match, this could be a battle between two big guys I'd actually want to see. Those are two big guys that can really go. I was always impressed with Ryback from his work as Skip Sheffield and Tensai has been over to Japan so make it happen WWE. Ryback is a curious character in WWE since they're pushing him in a face role so Tensai is a suitable heel for him to feud with. Please WWE, make it happen. N/A<br />
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Hmm another tasteless joke at JR's expense. Done by a midget too no less. I was surprised it was this long before Cena made an appearance. Oh hello there William Regal, I guess air time is air time right?<br />
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<b>The Big Show def. Kofi Kingston (Steel Cage Match):</b><br />
Well this was the low point of the night. To be honest, this wasn't even needed. I don't see why Big Show had to go and make one of the Tag Team Champions look so weak. There's a fine line between booking someone to be dominant and just making everyone else look bad by comparison. This segment ran for about five minutes longer than it needed to. Kofi finally got some form of offence in towards the end and I'll admit I almost thought he'd escape the cage for a moment. I think that might have been a better ending since Kofi escaping a cage doesn't make Big Show look weak in any way. I reserve the last comment I made about Big Show and his Knockout Punch. Chokeslam, powerbomb, spear, any of those would be more believable. Overlong and pointless segment that made another champion look like a complete sucker. 2/10<br />
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<b>Sin Cara def. Curt Hawkins:</b><br />
It's such a shame that with NXT being done with that Curt Hawkins is reduced to stuff like this on Raw. Hopefully with the three hour format him and Reks can get their characters properly fleshed out in front of the mainstream audience. This was the standard job to Sin Cara that could really have been reserved for a local talent but still fairly enjoyable. Hawkins got pretty much no offence in but what else is new? He reversed Irish whips and threw a few punches and kicks but all of Sin Cara's moves were nice to see. He seems to have tightened himself up on his time off so I guess that's a good sign. I'm expecting Sin Cara to be added to a last minute match at No Way Out though who it'll be against is anyone's guess. Perhaps the elusive Damien Sandow? 6/10<br />
<br />
A cool backstage segment between Vince McMahon and Daniel Bryan. Never thought I'd ever see those two interact.<br />
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<b>Vader def. Heath Slater:</b><br />
Not much to say about this except Vader should have brought some scissors and done Heath Slater a favour. Anyway Vader was before my time though I'd heard all about him. Match went on for a bit too long though Vader looked solid out there. Slater does make an excellent butt monkey. 3/10<br />
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<b>CM Punk & AJ vs Daniel Bryan & Kane:</b><br />
God this was great. I was expecting it to literally be changed to a handicap match at the last minute but thankfully they kept it. We didn't see much interaction between Punk and Kane/Bryan that we haven't already seen before but the wrestling wasn't what we were here to see. I didn't expect AJ to get tagged into the match at all and of course I knew she wouldn't get offence in against either of the guys. I was wondering how they'd get around the "no hitting women policy" with the PG restrictions but there's the answer. A part of me went "she wouldn't really, would she?" but lo and behold she did. How long was she locked on there for? I loved how Kane just did not react at all and simply walked away silently. And there was me imagining that Punk would be jealous of something like that. I'm guessing AJ distracts Kane on Sunday long enough for Punk or Bryan to pin him. But then again can we honestly really predict what AJ is going to do next? 5/10<br />
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<b>Vince/Johnny/Big Show/Cena in the ring:</b><br />
Thankfully we had an ending segment that didn't go on for too long. I don't exactly see how Big Show should have anything to do with Johnny being fired. Is he going to threaten to hurt Vince if he fires him? That idea doesn't really make sense and they really shouldn't have brought the contracts into this. Cena's promo was meh, he hammed it up a little too much for my liking especially when we know he's capable of better. Now we have an added stipulation that Johnny will only be fired if Big Show loses. Honestly the match could go either way at No Way Out but I'd like for Show to lose just so we can be rid of Johnny already. They should have Vince introduce Eve as his replacement. She is someone who has potential as GM and there's a very good article on Bleacher Report explaining why. Look it up. The punch to Vince looked really bad at first and I didn't think it had even connected but when it was replayed it looked much better. I'm not sure if that's their idea of a good go-home segment for the cage match but I'm sure we'll get something on Smackdown. Segment rating: 6.5/10<br />
<br />
So all in all, I enjoyed most of Raw tonight. Plenty of guys and girls got time to wrestle, talk and do their thing. I think this 3-hour format will be a good long term thing indeed. Truth be told there was a lot of filler on the show but you can chalk that up to being a one-off special. With a regular 3-hour show then there will be a lot more recurring storylines to fill the space. After all, why start a storyline on this Raw when it obviously won't have time to be featured next week? No Way Out has potential to be a good PPV and hopefully all the guys and girls deliver.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-62820213621872983542012-06-09T18:25:00.004-07:002012-06-09T18:25:51.164-07:00My Top 10 Slasher Movie Death Scenes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm going to take a break from wrestling for tonight and revisit the buzz that got me blogging last year - films. More specifically, slasher films. For those not in the know, the slasher genre is the one where you have some killer stalking some hot young twenty-somethings playing teenagers with plenty of gore, titties and sometimes genuine frights. Honestly very few of these films actually scare me because they are very easy to predict. Watch Scream if you want a complete list of the rules (and then see them ironically not played straight). What we really watch slasher films for is to see how creatively our victims can be knocked off. I don't really look for buckets of blood because to me that's just a cheap way out. What a good death scene needs is suspense, shock and obviously a bit of creativity. A nice chase beforehand works just as well. As the title suggests there will be spoilers for each film so read at your own risk.<br />
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<b>10) Sleepaway Camp - Billy:</b></div>
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Sleepaway Camp is a 1983 straight-to-video slasher that was released as part of the big craze in the early 80s after the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th but is remarkably original in a few places, though with some terrible writing and appalling acting in some places (one could almost consider it a parody of slasher because of how bad some parts are). The deaths however are very unique and original and for me it was a toss up between this one and another scene where a character gets killed with a hot curling iron that makes her very sorry she's a girl. But most of what's in that scene is only implied so I went with this which is also pretty rare in that it features a male death. Most guys getting offed in horror films get taken out quickly, usually with shock deaths while the more suspenseful ones are reserved for the females. Right here however you have a character with virtually no development getting punished for throwing a water balloon at our poor sweet Angela. The killer decides to punish him by waiting for him to use the outhouse, trapping him inside with a broom and then tossing a bee hive through the window. As someone who is terrified of bees and wasps this scene was one of the most shocking things I'd ever watched. I loved it!<br />
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<b>9) Scream 4 - Olivia:</b></div>
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I love the Scream series and I actually loved Scream 4. It was the only slasher film I got to see in the cinema and it was also the only one I could feel genuine suspense from because I knew it wouldn't follow the typical horror clichés. I said before that suspense is key to a great death scene and Wes Craven really delivered with one of the best deaths in the series. Here we have our two young teenage girls Jill and Kirby sitting in their room watching a movie on TV while on the phone to their friend next door Olivia. They get a call from someone using the killer's voice who knows exactly what movie they're watching (on DVD too!). Although it appeared to me as one of the most clichéd scenes in horror movie history when I was in the cinema, I found the fear and suspense building up inside me and I was itching to see what would happen next. I think the words that gave everyone chills were "I didn't say I was in your closet".<br />
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<b>8) Halloween 2 - Karen:</b></div>
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While the first Halloween was a masterpiece and pioneer for all future slasher films, it didn't really offer up much in the way of elaborate deaths. Filmmakers didn't start getting creative until Friday the 13th but by the time the second Halloween was being made, John Carpenter and Debra Hill were riding that wave. Continuing with the whole "have promiscuous sex and be horribly murdered" theme that worked for pretty much every victim in the first film, this time they made it even more heavy handed. The Karen in question happens to be a nurse in the hospital the film takes place in and, not only shows up to work fifteen minutes late, but she abandons her station to spend some quality time in the jacuzzi with a paramedic. Oh and did we mention she's a nurse on a maternity ward? That's right, this woman leaves a group of newborn babies alone so she can take a dip. You know she's going to get punished big time. If Jaws scared you out of swimming at the beach then chances are this film will scare you out of going into a public jacuzzi late at night.<br />
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<b>7) Friday the 13th - Jack:</b></div>
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Yay, another male death has made it onto my list. And people said slasher films were misogynistic. Anyway what's funny about Friday the 13th is that the more creative deaths happen offscreen such as the one guy (I won't name him for fear of "spoiling" the film for you) who is found nailed to the door with arrows. But what's even more amazing is that back in 1980 audiences had never really seen a film like this before so there was genuine suspense. In the cinemas you had audience members shouting out "don't open the curtain!" or "don't go in there!" when Marcy is in the outhouse. What's probably my favourite death in the film goes to a young Kevin Bacon before his Flashdance fame. When I was watching it, it was only my third slasher film so I assumed that since Kevin Bacon was a star then he would be okay. I assumed the body from the top bunk would fall down on him and thus alert the teens to the killer. However what I didn't expect was for Kevin frickin Bacon to be the third character killed off. And apparently they used real sheep's blood which Tom Savini had to blow through the tube himself because the machine wasn't working. That's a really gross dedication to your art.<br />
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<b>6) Prom Night - Wendy:</b></div>
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Here we have a film that's mainly known for being one of Jamie Lee Curtis's series of slashers (nicely pointed out by Scream) though if you watch one of these expecting to see Ms Curtis bumped off you'll be disappointed since she always played the Final Girl who survived to the end. This is a film that builds its suspense up over a long time and the first death doesn't actually occur until about 45 minutes in. However it goes the full hog after that and offers up what is quite possibly the longest slasher movie chase scene. Now of course length doesn't always help suspense as a lot of the time you will just want the killer to go ahead and do it already. But here it worked out quite well and to me it was effective because Wendy in question was the typical high school Alpha Bitch that you hated. So when a scene makes you fear for that character's safety then you know the filmmakers have done their job.<br />
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<b>5) The Cabin In The Woods - Jules:</b></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Now when I first started watching The Cabin In The Woods, I wasn't sure exactly what kind of film I was actually looking at. I had been told it was a Cosmic Horror Story but to my amazement the first few minutes turned out to be a slasher with a twist. I can't really say much more about it without spoiling damn near the entire film. But let's just say I watched this first online with a really bad quality video so that only actually added to the terror. I mean, I hadn't even been expecting a death and it happened to a character I liked too. But poor Jules was shoe-horned into the role of The Whore and horror movie logic dictates that once she is corrupted she dies first. I will warn you, this death is particularly brutal.</span></div>
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<b>4) Final Destination 4 - Samantha:</b></div>
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Now of course the big debate amongst hardcore horror fans is over whether or not Final Destination can be considered a slasher film (okay so the "big debate" is one topic with three pages on the IMDb boards). It's a curious question since the killer is death himself/herself. Now the deaths in this series range from the creative and suspenseful to the downright campy and ridiculous. FD4 is no exception but for me it has one of the best death's in the series, which also happens to be the only good one in the film. It was a hard three-way decision between this, the infamous tanning bed scene in 3 and the gymnastics one in 5. But I decided by looking at it this way - I am not a gymnast anymore and won't be in a situation like that and I knew way before seeing FD3 that Tanning Beds were death traps. But I do go to the hairdressers every month or so. It's an unavoidable situation. The scene is so carefully set up with all the red herrings and possibilities, it's almost like it's in the wrong film since all the other deaths are so...well...half assed. Keep your eyes on this one folks.<br />
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<b>3) House Of Wax - Paige:</b></div>
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The 2005 remake of House of Wax is a film that gets a lot of unnecessary hate which stems mainly from having Paris Hilton starring in it. Paris even got a Razzie award nomination for Worst Actress for her role. What was her role? Why, Paige of course. Personally I didn't know who Paris was when I saw this film so I was able to watch it unbiased and I found nothing wrong with her performance. Nothing standout either but who gives standout performances in a teen slasher film? Oh, by the way, this was my first slasher film ever so I went into it knowing nothing about the rules or the formulas so Paige's chase scene kept me in suspense and made me into a slasher film fan. The filmmakers showed good awareness of building up suspense and knew how to do a proper chase scene. Not as long as some of the better ones but still very effective. And of course Paris's haters will just love watching her die on screen.<br />
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<b>2) I Know What You Did Last Summer - Helen:</b></div>
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Noticing a lot of blondes making this list? Yeah that's not a coincidence. The trope is called "Slashers Prefer Blondes" where the blonde characters in films like this rarely make it to the end. For some reason the blonde is always contrasted with a raven haired Final Girl, and heaven help the poor blonde if her best friend is Jamie Lee Curtis. Anyway back on track, IKWYDLS was one of the first slashers released in the wake of Scream's success that put a post modern spin on the genre and revived it. We have some really effective suspense built up over the first act and now we drive right into what is possibly the best chase scene in slasher movie history. Here is a character you can root for and that you want to survive so therein lies some of the suspense. Of course the rest is all just the filmmakers thinking of everything to possibly scare you.<br />
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<b>1) Suspiria - Pat:</b></div>
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Now here's another "slasher" that's seriously up for debate. While it's closer to the Italian giallo films and also quite close to a Tim Burton-esque dark fairytale, this 1970s gem definitely had a lot of influence over many future slasher films. If you thought Jules's death was brutal then prepare yourself. Here is one of the more effective "buckets of blood" type deaths. Dario Argento helps to work it in a way that the killing seems brutal unlike many Torture Porn films like Saw and Hostel where the death scenes undermine themselves by giving an almost "wasn't that cool" caption by the end. Style over substance really. But here there is style and substance blending together in a spectacular way. What makes this even more impactful is that this is the type of high octane brutal murder that you'd expect to see in the film's climax after a huge battle with the killer. But you see, this death happens about ten minutes into the film and lets you know exactly what kind of ride you're in for.<br />
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Big thanks to contestant Matt Cross who informed all of us that it was one year ago today that the finale of Tough Enough aired and Andy Leavine was crowned the winner. What a difference a year can make, huh? It was one year ago today that many of us were left speculating and predicting what the future held for the 13 contestants that didn't make the cut. I'm sure many people were expecting the likes of Martin, Luke and Jeremiah to all receive contracts and maybe have debuted on TV by now. Since it's now a year on from that let's take a look and see how things panned out. Since I covered a lot of details in my post back in December I'm only going to stick to things that have happened since then and if it's not headline worthy, I'm not going to mention it.<br />
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I wrote back in my December entry about Tough Enough of the winner Andy Leavine<br />
<span style="background-color: #7fd27f; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"Personally I also don't see him as a valuable asset to the company and I get the feeling he'll be added to the future endeavours list before the next season premieres"</span><br />
Well the next season hasn't premiered yet, no news on whether there will be one, and Big Andy has indeed been wished the best in his future endeavours in a move that pretty much everyone saw coming. His suspension aside, I feel as though he had nothing to offer WWE. I mean, what could Andy offer that other big guys like Ryback can't? Plus he was too green to appear on WWE TV at the time he won the show. Well the news is that he has actually plans to continue with wrestling. He's heading to Puerto Rico in July to work more matches. He has said of his FCW experience that he felt he was barely used and that he was only wrestling once every 2-3 weeks, so it seems Andy himself wasn't surprised when he finally got the call. I guess it is good when a performer realises that WWE isn't the be-all end-all for professional wrestling and there are plenty of other options out there. And he technically is a name now. So he can use the exposure he got from being on the show to go out and get himself more matches which will help him gain experience and improve. If he has a passion for the business then he should do just fine. And with his wife and kids at home, it's probably for the best he doesn't have to put up with the rigorous WWE schedule. Watch the match below and decide if there's something salvagable in him.<br />
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My next topic of conversation will be at completely the other end of the spectrum as this involves the first contestant eliminated - Ariane Andrew. Now if you thought her getting signed before the first episode had even aired was a doozy, wait for this: she's the first contestant to make it to WWE TV in a regular role and she also got to her second WrestleMania too. In case you didn't notice, she is one half of Brodus Clay's dancers along with NXT contestant Naomi. True she's not wrestling but I'm assuming she still trains down in FCW and I've seen that she's learnt something from her time there. Naturally having to train on the road isn't an easy task but if Cameron (as we must now call her) really has the passion for the business then she should fare okay. Hell she's already managed to snag more air time every week than most of the regular Divas on the roster. Funnily enough the dancing thing she has with Naomi was actually done in FCW before except her and Naomi were heel valets to Byron Saxton with a lot more ham acting and ghetto talk. If you're interested in seeing her actually wrestling, here's a match from a few months ago below.</div>
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Now onto the second contestant currently employed by WWE - it's another girl and it's the one who was already in FCW before the show started. Christina Crawford has indeed relocated to FCW and been featured regularly enough on the show as Caylee Turner. She got a singles match back in January and has been working as a heel at live events but rather annoyingly she's been relegated to ring announcer for the last few months. She shows some promise as a wrestler but none at all as an announcer. You can even tell how bored she is when she announces all the matches and it's probably taking all her self-control to not scream out "let me wrestle dammit!" though she was involved in an interesting angle a few weeks ago when there was the typical heels beat down the babyfaces segment in the ring and she got up from her chair to get involved, seemingly turning face. She's still ring announcing but she's been wrestling live events so with Summer Rae becoming the ring announcer for the new NXT (which is a much better fit if you ask me) she'll likely be returning to the ring. Here's her singles match below:<br />
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Now we have the third contestant employed by WWE and this one has really hit the jackpot. Ivelisse Velez (now known as Sofia Cortez) sustained a leg injury while the show was going on and was forced to be eliminated for her own personal safety. However Stone Cold said that the only reason he was eliminating her from the show was because of her injury so many took that as a sign of things to come. And now look at the results. It's safe to say that Sofia Cortez has been one of the most heavily featured FCW Divas of the past few months, second only to current Divas' Champion Raquel Diaz. She's got to have many matches on TV as a brash and aggressive heel and has proven herself as one of the most talented workers on their roster right now. She even got teamed with Pro Wrestling EVE and SHIMMER star Brittani Knight (or Paige as we know her now) as the Anti-Diva Army. It looks like that alliance is coming to a close as the spoilers for the new NXT have the two facing off in a match with Sofia turning face. From what I've seen of her on the indies, she is a much better face and can do all kinds of cool athletic moves that give me strong vibes of TNA's Sarita. And wouldn't this upcoming match with Paige make Sofia/Ivelisse the first Tough Enough contestant to debut on WWE TV in a wrestling role. I'm going to offer you two matches below, one being a singles match from FCW and the second an example of her face work from CSW.<br />
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And that wraps it up for the contestants who got contracts for the big E but there's one contestant who's like a dog with a bone when it comes to that matter. AJ Kirsch or Tumbleweed as some may know him has caused a big stir online with some strange cryptic videos posted on his Youtube channel. The series of videos, titled This Is #Raw appear to be in-character promos being cut on the various Tough Enough trainers and contestants as well as a general fancy way of telling the WWE "why haven't you guys hired me yet?". Anyone who's only watched AJ on the show will agree that promos are his strong point so take a look and see if this guy has a place in WWE.</div>
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But believe me, promos aren't the only things this guy is golden at. I find him to be pretty entertaining in the ring and certainly much more effective than many of the current crop of interchangeable NXT rejects (*cough* David Otunga, Heath Slater, Darren Young). The match featured below will interest Tough Enough fans because AJ's opponent is none other than fellow contestant Eric Watts who has shown a nice improvement in his ring skills if you ask me.<br />
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But that's not all for some juicy stuff from the Tough Enough contestants. Because you see that very show above featured another match as its main event, one which many fans would be ecstatic to see. 2nd place man Luke Robinson took on the big favourite Martin Casaus in a match that ended in a draw. According to Mr Casaus himself there is indeed footage of it though it has yet to be published. Naturally they received rave reviews for it. Until the footage becomes available we'll have to make do with some video promos they both cut to hype it up. For those who wondered how Martin would have fared in the Promo Challenge, there's your chance to find out. While he ain't no AJ Kirsch, he ain't Johnny Ace neither.<br />
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Since I worship the ground Matt Cross walks on (I have yet to actually walk on the same ground so this more of a theoretical and ceremonial approach) I'm going to include a bit about him here. True he did receive a tryout match with WWE ages ago and nothing's been set in stone or even hinted at but then again Ivelisse tried out in June and didn't get signed until November so there's always hope. I seriously believe Matt would be an excellent addition to the roster and if they were to start a new Cruiserweight Division (wishful thinking I know) I would personally start the Matt Cross equivalent of the "Ryder or Riot" campaign. Though there was one tweet I found interesting that came from him. A fan rightly asked why he wasn't in ROH or TNA and he said "there's only one contract I wanna sign". The dream came true for Ivelisse Velez so maybe the universe will be feeling extra generous and make it happen for Matt too.<br />
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The last tidbit of information concerns a certain pageant queen that we all know and love. Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was actually on hand during WrestleMania weekend and could be seen at Axxess interacting with fans and such. This lead to many wondering whether or not Rima would become the fourth female from the show to join FCW's ranks. As you've probably guessed by now, she hasn't and she pretty much confirmed that she hasn't been signed. And two months later it sounds doubtful. Rima hasn't exactly had a clean run with the law either but this ain't a gossip column folks.<br />
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So in closing I guess it seems that Andy Leavine wasn't, AJ Kirsch and Matt Cross could be, Rima Fakih won't be, Martin Casaus and Luke Robinson should be while Ariane Andrew, Christina Crawford and Ivelisse Velez definitely are Cameron Lynn, Caylee Turner and Sofia Cortez as well as Tough Enough.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-80170400468202551092012-05-26T17:48:00.002-07:002012-05-26T17:48:46.724-07:00Bobby Between The Ropes #3 - Standing Out From The Pack<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">From
some random online dictionary I Googled:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Unique
– definition 1: <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">existing</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>as</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>only</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>one</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>or</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>as</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>sole</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>example;</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>single;</span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;">solitary</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>in</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>type</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>or</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>characteristics:</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="ital-inline"><span id="hotword"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"><span id="hotword" name="hotword">a</span></span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">unique</span></i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">copy</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">of</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">an</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">ancient</span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"> manuscript.</span><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">definition
2:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">having</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>no</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>like</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>or</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>equal;</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span>unparalleled;</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span>incomparable:</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="ital-inline"><span id="hotword"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"><span id="hotword" name="hotword">Bach</span></span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">was</span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"> unique</span></i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">in</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">his</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">handling</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">of</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;"> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default;"></span></span></i></span><span class="ital-inline"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">counterpoint.</span></i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
haven’t been in wrestling for very long but I’ve been watching for as long as I
can remember, and anyone who’s watched enough of it knows that being unique is
by far one of the most important traits any wannabe big star strives to have.
In critical reviews and analyses of shows/wrestlers the word “generic” is known
as possibly one of the worst things you can be labelled as. And by extension “unique”
is definitely something that is taken as a compliment. If you’re unique, people
take notice for whatever reasons (and believe me, not everything unique is good
*cough* Shockmaster) and making the right people take notice is the key to
success in any business. So as a fledgling wrestler as part of what I
affectionately call the Fight Factory Next Generation, reading all about being
unique and stand out got me thinking. What do each of us bring to the table? How
do each of us stand out from the crowd? Who is unique and who is generic? After
careful consideration, I’ve decided that nobody is generic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yes
I’m about to spout the typical pre-school circle time statement that everyone
is unique. But, like the majority of things you learn in the first six years of
your life, that statement is pretty important. We ourselves are all unique in
our own ways and we know how and why. But that’s the tricky thing about being a
wrestler – you have to convince the crowd that you are unique and get that
across to them. For example, I’m a 20-year-old wrestler wannabe that also
writes novels and screenplays that sometimes likes to skip dinner and order
desert at the start of a meal. Do the crowd know that? Do they care about that?
Well I’m sure there’s at least one of them that does but that’s beside the
point. One thing our trainers are always stressing the importance of is to make
yourself stand out. I distinctively remember on my first day the NLW’s Jamie
Coleman gave everyone a talk on the importance of standing out where he said –
and I’m paraphrasing here – “get yourself a gimmick that you think will work. I
don’t care if you cover yourself in blue paint if you make it work”. A gimmick
is one way to make yourself stand out. Charisma and exceptional mic work is
another. And of course there’s always the good old fashioned athleticism. If
anyone has all three of those down, as well as the vast number of other
possibilities then they’re pretty much set. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But
in wrestling, what is unique? Most men our age are expected to look respectable
and have clean cut short hair. So therefore long hair is unique. But at the
same time long hair can also be generic because there are a lot of long-haired
generic guys out there. Tough Enough’s Jeremiah Riggs buried most of the FCW
guys being long-haired and generic, afraid to try and stand out (he also cites
this as the reason he clippered his head after his failed try-out there).
Tattoos are unique as well but then again a lot of wrestlers have them so you
could say that wrestlers without tattoos are also unique. Things go in and out
of style in cycles just like any entertainment business so one day something
will be stand-out but then eventually there will be so many stand-outs that the
one person that doesn’t try to stand out is ironically the one that does. With
gear, I remember someone saying that everyone goes for the red and black colour
scheme and everyone goes for fire motifs. In terms of entrance music, isn’t it
always hard rock or heavy metal unless there’s an exceptionally different
gimmick? So that gets me thinking even more on what each of us Next Gen guys
(and girls) bring to the table and how each of us are unique.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For
some, uniqueness is right there in front of them and easy to have. The Anj and “Dangerous”
Dave Forde are attractions in their own right without even having to do
anything. Watching either of them walking down the entrance ramp will earn them
a place in most people’s memory. They already look distinctive without even
having to touch themselves up. Others have to put a little more work in – the Rough
Stuff boys aren’t as distinctive looking (though Paul’s eyebrows and Bull’s
uncanny resemblance to Randy Orton are notable) though they themselves are
memorable thanks to their strong characters and impeccable ring work. The girls
have it easy – they’re a minority in a male-dominated sport – but each girl I’ve
seen manages to stand out from all the other pretty ladies whether it’s Katey
and her hair flipping-splits combo or Lucy and her bubbly and energetic
personality. And of course special mention has to go out to a certain little
guy in white trunks that I wrestled in my debut. Fun fact: Phil was following
him around for about half an hour on the day of the show trying to get him to
change his name because he didn’t think “Shadow” would work. The rest of the
guys backstage had a bit of a giggle and you can see our referee corpsing
magnificently when he enters the ring but then again at the same time, he got “Shadow”
chants at the next show when that gimmick got dropped. Other people backstage
talked about how much they liked how he had tried to stand out. Hell, half the
people I show my match to are fans of the whole Shadow thing now. At the end of
the day, it got people talking and importantly, it got him a few fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When
it comes to making myself stand out, I had my work cut out for me. I’m not
freakishly tall or freakishly muscular so I didn’t have the benefit of the
freak factor. I have mutant facial hair that grows itself back in the space of
three days so there was my first head start. I noticed there were a lot of
brown haired guys at the gym so I decided to bleach my hair, though the date of
the show got pushed back a couple of months so the effect was kind of lost by
the time I did debut. For the rest of my look, I actually didn’t cop on to the
Zack Ryder comparisons until I was already in the ring and I heard people going
“come on, Zack Ryder”. Funnily enough I’ve pretty much looked the same since
the age of 15 and I’ve had the exact character you see in the ring saved on
about three different Smackdown vs Raw games before I even knew who Zack Ryder
was. I already had all the stuff available in my closet somewhere so I just
threw my look together – I had a jacket that I liked the look of but I hardly
ever wore it so I decided to use it as my ring jacket, the bandana has always
been lucky so why not? The dog tags I wear normally so again no-brainer. Now
with the character itself, there was actually a lot of re-tooling done after I
started training. I actually had it in my head that I was going to be a heel. I
liked The Miz, Cody Rhodes, heel AJ Styles and loads of others that I thought I
could emulate perfectly. I decided I would start out as a heel. Then I actually
tried it – believe me it’s tougher than it looks. I began to wonder whether or not
it was really for me. Then I noticed something with the rest of the guys there.
Everyone wanted to be heels. These days nobody really wants to be a face. It’s
either a heel or an anti-hero and you’ll find classic babyfaces tend to be in short
supply. I decided “screw it, I want to be a face” and low-and-behold, there was
something salvageable in me. I hear a lot of people hate having to work as
faces and do so grudgingly but personally I love it. Just like with being a
heel, there’s an art to being a good face and I enjoy finding new ways to grow
and improve. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When
I decided to be a face it was time for me to sit down and watch tapes. To me,
the best babyfaces are the ones that look like they’re having a lot of fun in
the ring. I decided I’d make my matches fun by finding moves that I liked the
look of that I’d be able to pull off (so no handspring springboard moonsault
splash, though if Jordan is willing to teach me…). That Stratusphere was
probably one of my favourite moves to watch when I was younger and I’d always
been able to do a decent handstand and nobody else did it so there was another
move in my arsenal. Truth be told it’s gotten me a lot of stick from the
trainers but that gets counterbalanced by the memory of Kev McDermott shouting
out “no way” when I first did it and Sammy shaking my hand as I was climbing
out of the ring. A certain NLW Champion was visibly impressed with a video I
showed him of myself doing it. When it comes to working the crowd, we’re
advised against resorting to “come on, Bray” and clapping too much (it really
hurts the hands, a little known industry casualty) so I got struck by a wild
idea one night in a club. In the clubs where I come from, it’s customary for
the DJ to shout out “oggy-oggy-oggy” and the crowd to shout back “Oi-Oi-Oi”.
One night the DJ goofed and shouted out “Oi-Oi-Oi” and Bobby’s catch phrase was
born. When it comes to entrance music, Be Yourself has been my favourite song
forever so there was never any other choice – though I was briefly tempted by a
catchy little track titled Android Porn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This
blog certainly turned into quite the ramble didn’t it? I wasn’t sure if I’d be
able to talk that much on the importance of being unique. But at the same time,
being unique is almost exactly the same as wrestling skills themselves – some have
them right away while others will have to work harder to get there. But right
now I can proudly say that each of our Fight Factory Next Generation guys are
unique in their own way and each of them brings their own factor to the table
and without each of them we wouldn’t be complete. Hopefully the generation
after us can realise this and make themselves into attractions too. Thank you
for reading my opinions again for no good reason ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/392501_3919790950374_1147551400_3727279_1636378200_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/392501_3919790950374_1147551400_3727279_1636378200_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-61445758110479920542012-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:002012-05-25T13:10:09.160-07:00Why It's Time For The Miz To Turn Face<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/106/c46724d654a9465fa9e13201e2fc85cb/l.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="309" src="http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/106/c46724d654a9465fa9e13201e2fc85cb/l.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Exactly how many years ago now was it that some 21-year-old large ham called Mike Mizanin showed severe signs of bipolar disorder on The Real World and created some alter ego for himself known as The Miz? I'm no good at maths so I'll just say a lot. I've been following The Miz for almost his entire WWE career and to this day he remains one of my - what I fondly call now - Hindsight Picks. I see someone in their rookie days and think "I want them to go far, I want them to make it big". It's always a hit and miss deal because not all of my Hindsight Picks have made it so far (still waiting on that call from FCW, AJ Kirsch?) but it's a great feeling to see someone you remember from their rookie days finally become that big star you wanted them to be. John Cena and Trish Stratus are probably two of my most successful Hindsight Picks, but we're getting off topic. I remember Miz from his antics on the 4th season of Tough Enough that involved coming last in an arm wrestling contest and dry-humping Mae Young while wearing a santa suit. Yeah...despite that he was my pick to win and even though Daniel Puder claimed the fan support, Mike Mizanin got the last laugh and has now claimed the honours of most successful Tough Enough contestant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/prowrestling/images/a/a1/Miz.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/prowrestling/images/a/a1/Miz.png" width="257" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even though I do the same midnight vigils for Miz that I do for Sir Ian McKellen and Shawn Ashmore, I can admit his flaws because during his early WWE days as there were lots of them. Stammering his lines as host of the Diva Search, being visibly out of shape and not to mention clumsy and uncoordinated in the ring are among a few of them. And yet after my hiatus from wrestling was over, I returned to watching WWE in late 2009 and low-and-behold it was a different creature that went around calling itself The Miz. Much improved in-ring skills and amazing work on the mic stuck out to me as well as being able to elicit a reaction from the fans - which in PG-era WWE is no easy feat. It seems Miz's hard work finally paid off as he captured the United States Championship from Kofi Kingston and went on to hold it for an incredibly long time. I can't honestly say whether or not his full potential was tapped into as US Champion then because I only remember a feud with MVP and not much else. That's also because he found himself holding one half of the Tag Team titles along with Big Show in a move nobody saw coming. In just over a year, Miz had gone from laughing stock that got buried by a piss-poor program with John Cena to multiple title holder and bankable star. And nobody could have predicted what else the year 2010 would have in store for Miz as he would go on to claim the Money In The Bank briefcase in July and cash it in in November to win the WWE title. That's right, the kid who got laughed at on The Real World for saying he'd be WWE Champion one day went ahead and grabbed it for himself. Everyone saw those tears of joy as Miz realised he was finally at the top.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You might be wondering now what the point of listing all those achievements was. Or why I've veered off topic and ignored most of 2011. But bear with me now. Reading through all those accomplishments - 2-time US Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, 2-time NXT Pro, Money In The Bank winner, WWE Champion, WrestleMania main event - offers us one question: where does The Miz go from there? It seems that's a question that even WWE couldn't answer as while 2010 may have been the best year for Miz, 2011 may have been his worst. Losing the title was expected and it was done in a way I wasn't annoyed about. Yet he would be completely buried in a rematch with John Cena at Over The Limit and would spend the second half of the year pretty much doing nothing, sans a random pairing with R-Truth in a conspiracy storyline that went nowhere and made no sense. 2012 is almost halfway over and Miz has still yet to do anything of any note. Watching him relegated to jobbing to Brodus Clay, complete with dance-off at Over The Limit (which really isn't his PPV by the way) has made me realise that he's run into a brick wall. He has officially become stale. Some might argue that he became stale a while back but I always felt there was something he could have done in the Awesome Truth storyline. But when you go from main eventing WrestleMania to doing the Thriller Dance before a match against someone called "The Funkasaurus" that might be the very definition of falling from grace. Miz is struggling as a heel and it's safe to say that if something doesn't happen soon, there will be no saving him. What should happen, you say? The good old fashioned face turn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Miz as a face is an idea that fans have tossed around for ages. I've even considered the possibility as early as late 2009 when Miz was getting great reactions from crowds - cheers, not boos. But back then it would have possibly damaged his career considering he was one of the best heels WWE had to offer. But now I feel that Miz has done everything that is possible in his heel role. He's been champion, he's been to WrestleMania, he's been at the top of the division, the list goes on. I've seen little attempts to get him to do something different like the bizarre promo he cut after John Morrison's final match and that half-assed feud with R-Truth but it seems like none of them have taken off because he has already done everything he can possibly do. I felt a similar way with Sheamus when he was drafted to Smackdown last year. He'd already been WWE Champion twice (and US Champion) and I wasn't crazy about seeing him as a top heel on the Blue Brand. He hadn't even been in WWE as long as The Miz, nor was he as accomplished but he was stale and struggling all the same. Of course I couldn't have predicted that Sheamus would get a face turn or that he would be such a natural at it. Now look where he is - World Heavyweight Champion and rumoured to be groomed for Cena's spot in the company. We can say that Sheamus wasn't exactly booked the best before his face turn (Evan Bourne squash anyone?) and that the turn saved his career so I feel it's just what Miz needs to get back on track. There are some issues that should be addressed if Miz is to make a successful turn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, the upper card face scene is pretty depleted in my opinion. You have Cena and Orton who are both seemingly involved in their own storylines right now keeping them away from the title (which is a good thing) and while Smackdown has some kind of hierarchy, who would you say is on the totem pole after CM Punk in terms of faces? Zack Ryder would have been the one a few months ago but we all know how that turned out. Santino is the US Champion but again he's not really able to be taken that seriously in terms of rankings. Miz as a face could easily slot in there and fill that number 2 babyface role. Then when Punk eventually loses the title and whatever heel establishes himself as the new champion, therein lies potential for Miz to climb back up the ladder. Even if he gets moved to Smackdown in the draft he can still fill that role over there too since Orton really exists on his own in terms of character. Second of all and this is probably the biggest issue people would have with a face Miz, his character. We've seen it before when a popular heel gets turned face and eventually ends up stripped of all their spark and edge to become unbelievably bland (*cough* John Cena) but I feel The Miz can make his character work in a face role without compromising himself. I mean, The Rock was able to make his character work as a face and so was Cena at the start, CM Punk too. I don't know how much creative control Miz has over his character so it's up to whoever has control to make it work. Third of all, there's crowd reaction. Miz is known for being universally hated and drawing massive amounts of X-Pac Heat so the question is could he get reactions as a face? My answer is yes. I remember the first few months of his reign as US Champion and the fans were cheering him a lot. I even wondered if he'd turned face already and I missed it. Then there's Money In The Bank last year. Did anyone hear the reactions he got from the crowd as he ran down to the ring one-legged after supposedly dislocating his knee. I mean, Rey Mysterio got booed for stopping him getting the briefcase. Those two instances have made me confident that the fans can and will accept Miz as a face. In fact, if the turn is done right then Miz could become one of the most successful stars in WWE. There's a fourth point too and that's to do with representing the company. It's no secret that Miz is extremely well-liked backstage for his company man attitude and it's almost always him that does the talk show appearances, press conferences etc to represent the big E. The likes of Orton and Punk don't want to do those things. It makes a lot of sense for someone doing all those things to represent the company to big a big babyface. And funnily enough, Sheamus is the other big go-to guy for that kind of stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's pretty much something I felt I had to get off my chest. I'm not saying this is something that is going to happen or that it's what a lot of other people feel should happen, this is just what I think. Mike Mizanin is a great asset to the company and he's almost completely a homegrown talent and so, like my two most successful Hindsight Picks, I want him to have a full and accomplished career so that when he hangs up his boots I can say "yes, they did everything right with him". I'd love to see him main eventing more WrestleManias and hold more world championships. Whether or not he turns face, one thing is for certain - he won't get to do any of those things if he's having dance-offs with Brodus Clay.</span><br />
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<br />Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-33438616220949571732012-05-21T11:15:00.000-07:002012-05-21T11:15:05.897-07:00WWE Over The Limit 2012 In ReviewAnd we've come to the PPV that, despite its name and car motif promising all sorts of high intensity action, has a habit of being the epitome of a B-level show not unlike the old In Your House PPVs from the Attitude Era. Last night's however was a pretty solid show that I enjoyed, despite not having the best build up. We were treated to solid matches all around though the event did get marred slightly by an unimpactful ending. Let's take a closer look shall we...<br />
<br />
<b>1) Battle Royal To Crown #1 Contender For IC or US Championship:</b><br />
I actually think that opening a show with a battle royal is a good idea because if they're done right they can be exciting and unpredictable. This one was pretty unpredictable as you had both the United States and Intercontinental Champions at ringside with the wrestlers having a choice of which title to go after. This helped to eliminate any predictable outcomes for example if it had been for the IC title only then you'd know a face would be winning and vice versa for the US title. My picks to win were Alex Riley who is in desperate need of a push, or Tyson Kidd who remains the most underrated wrestler in WWE. My boy was on fire during the match and I'm pretty sure he was sending a message to the WWE writers on "this is what you could be giving the fans on TV every week" with his cool spots. I'm crushed both those two were eliminated but at the same time relieved that David Otunga didn't win. Not sure how I feel about Christian winning because on the one hand I want him to be a main eventer since he does deserve to be, but on the other hand he officially returned as a face which is something that desperately needed to happen. He was such a woeful heel last year and ended up getting buried completely so him turning face has thankfully salvaged his career for now. The battle royal was fun and it was a good way to kick off the PPV. 6/10<br />
<br />
<b>2) R-Truth & Kofi Kingston* vs Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger (Tag Team Championships):</b><br />
Vickie looked hot last night. I think it's great that once she had the entire WWE fanbase mocking her for her looks but has now thrown that off completely and proven that a woman her age can still look great. Her voice on the other hand...I had the volume at 6 on my TV when she was speaking and I was still afraid of waking up the people upstairs. This was a bit basic starting off and the stuff we saw was good but I felt as though I was watching the same match I had seen over and over when Kofi was last Tag Team Champion. And honestly, he and Evan Bourne made a much better team. Still I liked Truth's part in the match, even if I'm still royally pissed they turned him face again and killed all his momentum. I noticed they seemed to play up a bit of tension between Ziggler and Swagger when Ziggler tagged himself into the match. I wonder if they'll build something off this? I'm leaning more towards bad idea since this group could feasibly become a regular part of the tag division and it doesn't look like Ziggler is going to get that main event push he deserves any time soon. As I seem to say every time I review a Kofi Kingston tag match, things really picked up towards the end and the final few moments made this match jump from "decent" to "very good". My favourite spot would probably be Ziggler's Fame Asser through the ropes (though that Kofi/Truth double team was a close second) and I honestly thought they'd win the titles right there. That Trouble In Paradise really came out of nowhere and was a good finish. I wish they'd let Swagger take some of these pins though as Ziggler has been pinned cleanly a few too many times for my liking. They could keep this feud going and build towards a second match at No Way Out if they so desired but I guess only Raw will tell. 6.5/10<br />
<br />
<b>3) Layla* vs Beth Phoenix (Divas' Championship):</b><br />
Surprising to see the Divas so early on the card but in a good way since it means WWE actually cared enough not to put this down as the piss-break match. Beth has finally ditched the 50s waitress-inspired ring gear and gone back to pants, good choice there. If you ask me, this would be the match that decided whether Layla would be able to handle herself in the ring after her ACL injury. I'll be honest, the opening exchanges were very iffy and a bit slow moving. Layla moved a lot faster against Nikki Bella at Extreme Rules but the moves were all done well enough. She remained in control for a little too long and that had me worried it would turn out to be a squash match. However order was restored with Beth's knee-breaker in the corner. Layla should work on selling a bit more. The way she was selling her leg injury was almost a bit cartoonish, like the way she had been so goofy as part of LayCool. Aside from those criticisms, this has probably been the best match in the Divas' division since Eve and Beth tore the house down at Vengeance. The chemistry was there as the match went on and I think the near-falls at the end were really what made it. Beth countering the Face Lift into the Glam Slam and Layla countering that, only for that to be countered, was pleasant to see. The actual ending was a bit abrupt but a good enough effort from the girls. 7/10<br />
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<b>4) Sheamus* vs Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio vs Chris Jericho (World Heavyweight Championship):</b><br />
This was the match I was most concerned about watching because so much depended on the bookers making the right call. First of all, Orton is Orton and he does not need an out-of-nowhere title run again like he got last year. Second of all, Del Rio can not cut it as a World Champion without a proper feud to build him into it (and I don't call winning a MITB contract a proper feud). Third of all, Jericho just came out of a program for the WWE title so what does it say about the backstage politics if he wins this title with little to no build-up? Fourth of all, Sheamus is still a fledgling babyface champion and needs a long title reign. I was praying WWE wouldn't make the same mistakes they made when Randy Orton turned face in 2004. Thankfully not only did the right guy win but the match was a huge hit. Fatal 4 Ways are make-or-break in WWE and this one was brilliant. There was so much going on in the early moments that it's hard for me to remember a lot of specific stuff. That's definitely the mark of a match well-done anyway. I liked the way Jericho and Del Rio told a story with their alliances in the match and how Jericho was the one who would screw Del Rio first. That really fits into the way his character has been developed since he returned. Someone in their predictions mentioned something about Del Rio possibly turning face so you never know, they might build something off this since he didn't seem that especially dirty in this match. Not sure if he would be able to work as a face so I'd rather he stay heel. Randy Orton on the other hand most certainly seems to be turning heel. The return of that creepy demon face at the end of the match seems to signal that. I guess they might go for a Sheamus/Orton singles feud going into SummerSlam. I would advise against that as well because Orton is more popular than Sheamus and they should really pit their World Champion against a heel that the fans don't actually like. The closing moments of the match were complete chaos and I loved every second of it. I was literally on the edge of my seat when Sheamus was trapped in the Walls of Jericho and I was close to yelling at Del Rio for not running into the ring to break it up. And let's not forget that heart-stopping couple of seconds when Jericho grabbed the tights. Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that Del Rio was really going for the other guys' clothing during the match? I swear I must've counted about four times where he tried to pull down their trunks. And one more thing - hats off to my main man Ricardo for taking that sick DDT. Really fast-paced entertaining match. 9/10<br />
<br />
<b>5) The Miz vs Brodus Clay:</b><br />
I am relieved that Brodus has finally graduated from squashes into proper wrestling matches. Poor Miz, it seems like Over The Limit just isn't his PPV. Though I will say anything would be a step-up from the pitiful treatment he got at last year's show. That in-ring dance was right up there with that bizarre promo he cut with the Subway sandwich. I didn't enjoy this match as much as I did Brodus's one with Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules but it was still quite a good show. He stayed in control a lot longer than I would have liked because Miz only really got minimal offence in on him. I was very happy that the camera kept cutting to shots of the delicious Cameron and Naomi plenty of times. The match was pretty basic though I really did love that Super T-Bone Suplex. Brodus is a better wrestler than he's given credit for and now that he's being allowed to have longer matches he can get an opportunity to show this. There is something I really want to talk about though - what has happened to The Miz? Last year at Over The Limit he was buried completely in his WWE title match with Cena and this year he's even worse off. He's had potential to build himself back up the ladder only for WWE to seemingly shoot him back down. I guess having a dance-off and trying to play it straight really spells disaster. I think he needs a face turn more than anyone else on the roster. He's been a heel his entire WWE career and it's safe to say he's gotten stale and there are a lot more people that are filling his spot as the top heel leaving no room for him. I believe that this turn needs to happen now more than any other time or else he'll just become a laughing stock. I'm confident that if it's done right then the fans will accept Miz as a face and he can still carry that spark that makes him such a fascinating character on TV. 5.5/10<br />
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<b>6) Cody Rhodes* vs Christian (Intercontinental Championship):</b><br />
I'm not sure how I feel about Christian winning the Intercontinental title since if he lost then it would kind of ruin the momentum of him coming back as a face whereas now he's won and that's been another bit of hot potato with the belt since Rhodes won it back a month after Big Show only to lose it again after a month. But I will say that this face turn has almost rejuvenated Christian completely. That one little promo he cut backstage on Rhodes was better than every single heel promo he cut over the Summer which is really strange if you think about it. This match did feel like one that was put together on the fly but it was between two talented workers so there was still some solid action. There were times when you could tell they were calling out spots to each other but that doesn't bother me too much. The match was still nice and fast paced and this is an encounter I don't remember seeing before. No doubt Cody Rhodes will be getting a rematch so I look forward to seeing what they can do with a proper plan ahead of them. My favourite spot of the match was his moonsault press which doesn't always look as good as it can but here it looked flawless. The Killswitch at the end was a bit awkward looking too. I guess it will be good to have a face champion who isn't Big Show as we do have plenty of heels that are in need of a push. I honestly can't name any right now so I'll just sit back and let WWE surprise me. 7/10<br />
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<b>7) CM Punk* vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship):</b><br />
I expected AJ to make some sort of appearance at the PPV but I'm glad she was left out of the actual match itself. AJ's expression was a lot different than on Raw. Here she looks like she's definitely planning something, perhaps she intends to cost Punk the title in a twisted attempt to get Daniel Bryan to love her? I think they should go ahead and turn her heel since they are running out of heels for Layla to feud with. I couldn't wait to hear the crowd reaction for this match and I wasn't disappointed. Both Bryan and Punk are insanely over and I remember seeing a Ring of Honour match between the two of them where Punk played the heel and Bryan the face so it was good to see the roles reversed, as well as WWE actually producing a match of this calibre with their biggest title on the line. I'm not going to waffle on about it because it really was the Match of the Year. I'm sorry to Bryan/Sheamus and indeed the Fatal 4 Way earlier in the evening but this was everything I could have hoped for. Punk's various submissions like that Indian Death Lock into the surfboard and the Figure 4 Leg Lock were amazing to see, as were Bryan's equally impressive manoeuvres like that dragon sleeper surfboard. I don't really know what I can say about this match except that it was absolutely perfect and one of the best matches either man has ever put on in their careers. The end of this match does raise some questions and potential for these guys to feud all the way into SummerSlam, which I'd be overjoyed about. Since we've already had the awesome wrestling match we can now bring AJ into the fold and give this feud the added spice WWE didn't care to give it in the weeks leading up to this PPV. Amazing and intense match. 10/10<br />
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<b>8) John Cena vs John Laurinitis:</b><br />
I am hugely annoyed that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan couldn't close the show when you consider that the two of them together are certainly more over than Cena and Laurinitis not to mention they were fighting for the biggest title in WWE. This is the type of thing that would work on closing an episode of Raw, not a PPV. Even if it was a huge waste of time (seriously the match dragged on for way too long and there was still ten minutes of air time left when it ended) I still laughed my head off at it. It seems like Over The Limit is becoming the "Humiliation Conga" PPV since you had Michael Cole getting it royally last year and now Johnny too. It was funny that when anyone else puts someone in a painful submission and holds the mic up to their face it's some devilish and despicable thing but when Cena does it, it's played for comedy. Not much else to say about it apart from the comedy should not be the thing that closes a PPV. Big Show turning heel was predictable and uninspired, almost a Russo-esque shocking swerve. Big Show has flip-flopped between heel and face so many times whenever he turns it has no impact anymore. I'm not psyched to see him and Cena feud again because doubtless they'll be main eventing all the PPVs when you have fresh and exciting matches like Punk/Bryan and possibly Orton/Sheamus more deserving of the main event slot. A disappointing end to a solid PPV. N/ABobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-63619378881010003002012-05-20T16:06:00.002-07:002012-05-20T16:06:33.908-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #47Well it seems we've almost inexplicably found ourselves once again in that eventful week that has one TNA PPV on Sunday and then a WWE one the next Sunday, with a whole week's worth of build up to whatever matches are taking place. This week also happens to be the final edition of NXT as we know it as it's apparently all set to stop being taped along with Smackdown and instead has been taped three episodes in advance with FCW. Don't expect some Diva action until the third episode. Anyway let's get to business...<br />
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<b>Sacrifice - Gail Kim* vs Brooke Tessmacher (Knockouts Championship):</b><br />
So Brooke has ditched the average coats for a long personalised robe that goes with her ring gear. I like it and it suits her, even if it's been done loads of times before. I'm only just noticing Brooke's hair flip. I know she used to do that thing where she took her hair out of the bun but did she always hair flip? Anyway before I get to the in-ring action I want to say I'm happy Gail came down to the ring without Madison Rayne because that woman has a habit of commanding all the attention to herself whenever she's at ringside. Now for the match, I loved it. This was much better done than their non-title match on Impact and Gail's match with Velvet. Here Brooke is still very green so it actually makes sense to book her as an underdog whereas Velvet was a former champ and accomplished star so having her dominated so much didn't look right. Brooke however gave Gail a run for her money in the classic underdog way. Her hurricanrana was impressive - she jumped right into it a la Evan Bourne (come back soon bro). That was an interesting story to tell with Brooke constantly going for Eat Defeat and it was one I really liked. She'd beaten Gail with her own finisher before so she was trying to do it again, this time to win the title and add insult to injury. Gail's heat surprised me as well. In her matches with Mickie and Tara there was big move after big move to wear them down but here there was a lot of more basic stuff like clotheslines and more hit-and-run type tactics. I guess that makes sense considering Mickie and Tara are veterans so them being able to take all those moves during the heat is believable but with a rookie like Brooke it gives the impression that Gail thinks she'll be an easy win. However there was a bit of a drag during that part that wasn't there in those other matches, maybe giving Brooke a couple of extra hope spots could have broken that up a bit? When Brooke did regain control, I liked all of her offence. That X-factor from the corner is slowly becoming one of my favourite moves from her and I'm thinking maybe that needs a name too. The diving elbow drop was a nice touch as well because it's not a move you see women doing. I don't think I've ever seen a woman do that move before. The end was a bit out of nowhere and a bit of a copout and not really needed since the vast difference in experience means Gail shouldn't need to cheat to beat her. Though I will say that it was impressive she could get her feet all the way to the top rope. Really impressive and entertaining match. 7/10<br />
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<b>Raw - Beth Phoenix vs Alicia Fox:</b><br />
I've heard the news about the 3-hour Raw becoming a permanent thing and I can't wait. If the girls can get at least six minutes of time a week for their segments then I'll go to sleep happy on Monday nights. The match was what you'd expect it to be - short and one-sided. Alicia went for that nice headscissors she used on Natalya last week but sadly it got botched but it wasn't that noticeable. I'm just annoyed that they keep using her like this. She is too young and far too talented to be a jobber. Kelly would have made more sense since she was Layla's partner last week. I'm happy that Layla was scouting from the ramp this week because the commentary thing is really overdone these days. The after-match segment was a lot better and I like that Layla actually went and attacked Beth herself. It gave her a chance to show off more than just being the smiley-high fiving face most Divas graduate into. I know she hasn't played her LayCool character for over a year now but it's nice to see some of that feisty personality she's known for. Since she and Beth do have a bit of a history I'm expecting a lot of intensity in their match at Over The Limit. I've said it before but it has potential to be MOTY for the women if they get enough time and I'm sure they will since the majority of Diva PPV matches in the last few months have all gotten respectable time lengths. Overall rating: 5/10<br />
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<b>AJ Development:</b><br />
Hmm from one world champion to another? I had thought from last week's Smackdown that AJ would make a full heel turn but once again the WWE writers keep us guessing and that's a great thing. I can't see where this storyline is going and I also can't wait to see where it goes. Will AJ become CM Punk's girlfriend? If she does she can expect a big boost in popularity or even just crowd reaction in general by simply interacting with him. I mean, being paired with Zack Ryder did wonders for Eve (where the hell was she this week by the way!) so it's really great to see AJ getting to interact with these main event stars, not to mention being involved in a main event level storyline. Is this going to be all an act to try and scam CM Punk out of the title so Daniel Bryan will take her back? Not sure how I'd feel about that since you wouldn't want a title change overshadowed by something AJ did. For some reason I don't see her actually being involved in the match at Over The Limit, simply appearing in a backstage segment maybe. There's likely going to be a rematch between Punk and Bryan so that's probably where she'll appear.<br />
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<b>NXT - Maxine vs Kaitlyn:</b><br />
Wow, how many times have they worked together since Maxine got called up? Well it's likely this will be the last time we'll see these two square off in a lengthy singles match since NXT is getting a drastic re-tool and all the previous storylines apparently got dropped for this week's episode. But let's talk about the match. At first it seemed to be exactly what I was expecting from them - solid action and entertaining stuff but lacking a certain oomph. My favourite bout between them had always been the one from last October with AJ at ringside but I feel this one was very strong too. It was a very unique and rarely seen bit of psychology they went for. So rarely seen that a lot of people missed out on it judging from reviews of the match. Maxine spent the whole match working Kaitlyn's neck. Anyone else notice that all her moves were targeted towards Kaitlyn's neck area? I liked seeing that since it showed the girls thinking outside the box with their psychology and storytelling. I say this about Maxine a lot but she knows how to use her rest holds and how to break the monotony of something like a chinlock by addressing the crowd. She busted out a nice new submission hold that fans of Tara and Jazz will approve of - that definitely needs to be added to her arsenal and she finished off the sequence with a nice DDT that again worked into the neck psychology. What can I say about Kaitlyn? Every week she shows her improvement in the ring - her dropkicks, clotheslines and crossbody all looked so effective. It was also good to see the return of her great combination finisher. As for Maxine's new gear, I'm not a fan of it. It's too generic, I mean she had something good going for her with the leotard and the stockings but how many women out there go for the sports bra and long tights? It actually looked the same as Maria Menounous's gear from WrestleMania and some of Rosa Mendes's outfits. And not a bit fan of those bangs Kaitlyn gave herself either. 7/10<br />
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<b>Impact - Gail Kim* vs Brooke Tessmacher vs Velvet Sky (Knockouts' Championship):</b><br />
Wow, this gives me WWE Divas 2003 vibes with the title on the line on a PPV and then being defended the very next night on Raw. Gail's probably clocked some kind of record for most successful title defences with her belt. Anyway I expected this match and now it makes sense since Gail has used cheating to beat both Velvet and Brooke in their respective title matches though I expected this to be the next PPV match, which it could well be. You gotta love that Velvet was the crowd's pick to win, though I did hear a few fans gunning for Brooke as well. You really do have to love the violent marks in TNA crowds. This match was really fun and a lot better than the last couple of triple threat matches we've seen from the Knockouts. The opening moments were expected as well with Brooke and Velvet going after Gail. They told a good story, playing up their previous partnership with a bit of hesitation to wrestle each other. They went for some really good spots like that double submission. Brooke did seem to have trouble taking the Flying Dragon but not in a way that hurt the match. Loved that double roll-up attempt as well as Gail's double missile dropkick. The end was good, not exactly a clean win for Gail but not really a weak one either. I would like to see a rematch on PPV but triple threat rematches are really hard to do right and I'm not sure if they could do it well again. I'm wondering if they'll use the finish as a way to go back to Gail vs Velvet? Oh well, the next few weeks will tell us all. In other news it was good to see ODB finally back on television and even better to see her rough it up with the guys. Wouldn't it just be like TNA to have Madison turn out to have her crush on ODB? 8/10<br />
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<br />Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-82620348222815341762012-05-11T13:40:00.002-07:002012-05-11T13:40:29.386-07:00The Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #46What up folks and we're at the end of another week of wrestling again. This was a pretty eventful week with the girls in WWE managing to score matches on all the TV shows, not to mention a PPV match announced for Over The Limit next week. Elsewhere the FCW girls finally got a fresh match and the TNA broads have their own PPV to build towards this Sunday. It's likely to be a good one.<br />
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<b>Raw - Layla & Kelly Kelly vs Maxine & Natalya:</b><br />
This was an interesting pairing to see given that Kelly and Layla feuded twice before, but that backstage segment at Extreme Rules had them put their differences aside so them teaming together isn't that unbelievable. Weird that Kelly got an entrance of her own and honestly it wasn't needed since one entrance means a longer match. Even though it was another annoyingly short match, this segment felt a lot more successful to me than ones in recent weeks. First of all, Layla got mic time. True it was just a replayed promo from WWE.com but it's still giving her mic time and getting some sense of character on TV. Also there was build up for Over The Limit and I feel that having Beth on commentary was sufficient enough to promote the match. I'm expecting to see her properly return to the ring next week or maybe attack Layla post-match. The tag match this week was disappointing as usual but it just shows how shallow the Diva pool has become with the Bellas leaving. I mean a Smackdown girl and an NXT girl are the only active wrestling heels they have now. As I always say I really wish they'd give these girls at least something like 5-6 minutes for their segments. Then they could get a sense of character across and get time to tell a story. Maxine is one of the best characters in the ring and yet we couldn't see any of it in this match. Layla's moves looked nice but how can we really see her show off her stuff when she can only get in five moves in the one match? Anyway the Divas do tend to get decent time on PPV these days so here's hoping Beth and Layla can get a chance to tear the house down because you know they can do it. Disappointing match as always but some compensation. 2/10<br />
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<b>Eve's Promo:</b><br />
Now this is where the Raw Diva action tends to make up for the piss poor match lengths. Come to think of it, Eve's entrance here was probably longer than most of her matches on Raw this year. This was one of her better promos and it shows a good initiative by the WWE writers. Eve can't ride the heat she got for dumping Zack Ryder (who by all rights still deserves to chin the bitch on live TV in comeuppance) forever so they're having her insult another popular star. And I'm happy they went with insults that could actually offend as opposed to some ridiculous PG put downs we've had to listen to in recent years ("Batista you're a crybaby", "Miz you're a monkey flinging poo", "Vickie you're a power hungry witch"). And Eve, never take those glasses off again. Also, Cameron and Naomi also got to show the WWE Universe that they have voices by cheering for him in his match. Cameron even got frightened by The Miz (face turn, stat, he surely needs it).<br />
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<b>NXT - Maxine vs Tamina Snuka:</b><br />
Ah, Maxine makes up for the disappointing appearance on Raw. I loved her "niceness-through-clenched-teeth" promo and I'm sure everyone lol'd at "can I call you Tammy?" and I especially did at Tamina mouthing back "no you can NOT call me Tammy". Aside from that promo, I thought this match was a really strong showing from both ladies. I'd go so far as to call this the best match Tamina has had since she was called up. The opening was nice and fast paced and Tamina looked incredibly solid with everything she did. It's nice to see her improving after being stagnant on Smackdown for all of last year. Maxine impressed me with her acting in this match. It's one thing to play a heel but quite another to play a heel trying to pretend to be a face. This almost seems like an apology for her not getting to do anything on Raw. What I also love about Maxine is that she knows how to properly make use of her holds. That full nelson was a nice touch and it was good to see her continue to use that top rope guillotine. I enjoyed Tamina's comeback as well with how energetic she got. She's a big girl but she can fly when she wants to. Interesting way to set up Maxine's Dragon Scissors but I liked it. Nice to see Maxine get another win, especially since Tamina doesn't really need one right now. Another hilarious backstage segment too, though she got cleaned up after her match pretty fast. 7/10<br />
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<b>Xplosion - Sarita vs Velvet Sky:</b><br />
It's the return of Mui Caliente and her spastic robot salsa dancing, neither of which has been seen since Lockdown. This is also a rematch from their big feud back in 2010. Obviously a lot has changed since then, as a look at the first singles match they had will demonstrate. The chain wrestling at the start wasn't the best but really who honestly cares about opening holds in a match anyway? The rest of the action was really good though it seems to me that all Xplosion matches have the face in control until the commercial break and don't allow the heel to get offence in until it's over. Oh well, it's not a formula that'll keep me awake at night. Not sure I liked the idea of a springboard bulldog being used so early in a match. Sarita's offence was most just kicks and punches at the start but she kept me entertained by flirting with the ref. It's funny how she's embraced this Spicy Latina personality so much when she's not even Mexican. I marked out big time for that springboard splash which would be a fantastic regular move to see her do. I also liked that little front roll flip she did out of the corner. Velvet's comeback was standard but enjoyable nonetheless. In Yo Face is one of my favourite Knockout finishers going right now. A standard match but fun and good to see Sarita back on TV. Perhaps when Brooke or Velvet or whoever wins the title they can finally pull the trigger on Sarita. 7/10<br />
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<b>Superstars - Natalya vs Alicia Fox:</b><br />
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 11th match these two girls have had since their first on ECW back in 2009. Before now, Alicia had won five times and Natalya had won five which would make this the rubber match. Now then we are much more used to seeing Natalya as the face and Alicia as the heel since the only matches the other way around have been less than two minutes. So here it was great to see both of them work a full match with the roles the other way. What I love about Alicia is that even though she's peppy and smiley during her entrance, when the bell rings you get this aggression out of her that she carried over from her heel days. Her stomps and forearms are aggressive and they look realistic too. Her new babyface offence is getting better the more chances she gets to actually work. I loved the back roll into the headscissors as well as that cool spot in the corner which I will call "Ballerina Backfire" (ok I know her sister was the ballerina but come on). Like Maxine, Natalya seemed excited to get more time to tell a story and I was hoping she'd do that variation of the abdominal stretch we saw her use on Kaitlyn, especially since Alicia has great flexibility. Alicia even took a nice looking bump by getting shook off the ropes. The end was nice too and thank the lords Natalya wins again. As much as I hate to see Alicia losing so much, Natalya needed a win more than she did and she's now 6-5 in the lead. Even though the match was about four minutes it still felt athletic and impactful, which shows that these are two Divas who know how to make the most out of whatever time they get. 8/10<br />
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<b>Impact - Brooke Tessmacher vs Velvet Sky:</b><br />
A bit of a dream match-up coming up here. I've said that I expect these two girls to feud eventually so I'm wondering if this is a testing ground for a future program between Velvet and Brooke? If so, I doubt we'll be too disappointed judging from what we saw here. Face vs face matches are always good to see as you do often see one wrestler take on a heel role while still trying to maintain their babyface status. I expected Velvet to play the heel in the match but I was surprised at how back and forth it was. Neither woman really took on a heel role, even with Velvet in control towards the end. If you replaced Brooke with an actual heel in the match, I think it would still make sense. Naturally Brooke wins to give her momentum headed into the PPV and we get a nice post-match attack from Gail. I'm not sure but I'm leaning more towards Gail retaining at the PPV. It's mostly because Brooke has had a little too much momentum on her side with two wins over Gail so it seems a little too easy for her to just walk out of Sacrifice with the title. I'd prefer to see Gail retaining and then defending in a triple threat match because that looks to be where this is heading. I noticed Velvet didn't help Brooke during Gail's post match attack but since the announcers and the cameras didn't draw attention to it, I wouldn't make anything of it. I should note that when it came to crowd reactions, while the Impact Zone was divided, Velvet was getting a lot more cheers. 7/10<br />
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<b>FCW - Raquel Diaz vs Audrey Marie vs Paige:</b><br />
Yet another triple threat match and the second with an ill-thought out logic of not being for the title. Why would the champion be in a non-title triple threat match in the first place? Anyway you've probably seen enough to know that the words "FCW Divas Triple Threat" strikes fear into the hearts of Diva fans everywhere but don't be shocked - this one didn't suck. It seems that Audrey and Raquel learned from what made their last Triple Threat fail because instead of having a monotonous sequence of the heels dominating the face, they threw in some creative spots and told a story between the two heels as well. That triple headlock was a nice little spot that added to the storytelling. Audrey didn't get dominated as much as she did in the last one which was a good thing and the match was surprisingly back and forth. She should probably work on her screaming because when she was at the ropes it was more akin to "slapstick comedy" than "legitimate pain". She took a nice throw into the ringpost though. I don't think Raquel using the Gory Bomb on Paige was a good idea because you had her get up a few seconds later selling it like it was just a big move as opposed to a champion's finisher. A move like a DDT or powerbomb would have been better. I liked the ending with Paige pinning Raquel in the midst of the Three Amigos. I'm assuming this means they're going for a Paige/Raquel programme now. I'm happy about this because Paige is a very accomplished wrestler so working with Raquel will help the young champ to improve. I wonder if they'll leave it as heel vs heel or else turn one of them face? I'm more inclined to turn Paige face since Raquel is really onto something with her heel character and Paige can shine as a face as a look at any of her Pro Wrestling EVE stuff will demonstrate. Turning Paige face could also set up for a feud with Sofia Cortez or even some good matches with Caylee Turner who really should return to the ring as a wrestler by now. 7/10<br />
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<b>Smackdown - AJ vs Kaitlyn:</b><br />
Now this is a storyline I'm really happy to see. I was against Kaitlyn turning heel back in November now I think the Chick Busters breakup is well-timed, especially since the one turning heel is already proven well in that role. That being said, this storyline is a bit unpredictable. AJ certainly didn't act heelish at the start, she was heelish during the match and after it but she still comes across somewhat sympathetic with what Daniel Bryan said. I see them going ahead with the heel turn and instead having AJ direct her anger at Kaitlyn because Daniel Bryan showed interest in her. Not sure if they'll keep him involved in this storyline because her walking away does seem to suggest it's ending but that's a bit anti-climactic to me. I also wish they hadn't given AJ the actual win. The match ending in DQ would have been a much better move. Here's hoping we get a rematch with more time. Segment rating: 6/10Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-18323408761295897362012-05-06T18:34:00.002-07:002012-05-06T18:34:45.947-07:00The Fave Five #3 - Trish Stratus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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And now we're moving onto a wrestler in my Fave Five who actually is one of my top five wrestlers of all time and certainly my favourite Diva of all time. Yeah I'll cheer for Mercedes Martinez, Jessie McKay, Daizee Haze etc any time I watch them but Trish will always be my favourite wrestling female. She was truly the whole package - stunning good looks, excellent charisma, great comic timing, athleticism, a desire to be the best and an overall presence that made people want root for her. I present the top five moments in the career of the Diva of the Decade herself.<br />
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<b>5) Crossing The Boss</b><br />
Trish's first big storyline came in 2001 when she was placed into a notorious affair with Vince McMahon on screen. This involved all manner of steamy backstage segments and the inevitable feud with Daddy's Little Princess Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley which led to a surprisingly intense match at No Way Out. Vince turned on Trish soon after and decided he would degrade her as much as possible. First the poor girl had rummage dumped all over herself, secondly she had to strip to her underwear in the middle of the ring and finally she was made to crawl around the ring and bark like a dog for Vince. Trish has gone on record to say that she went along with those segments because she knew there would be a big payoff in the long run. And what a payoff it was - I mean how many people can brag that they got to slap their boss in the face on national television? This capped off Trish's face turn in 2001 and helped her become one of the most popular women WWE has ever known. It's so controversial that there isn't actually a clip of it on Youtube so I had to make do with this little part.<br />
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<b>4) Taking One For The Feud</b><br />
These days chair shots to the head are banned in WWE for good reason. But back in the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era they were all over the place so they had almost lost their shock value. However, the likes of one woman delivering a chair shot to another had never been seen on WWE television before. That night the Trish/Victoria feud started in a big way, first with an attack backstage, secondly with an aggressive match and thirdly with Victoria whacking Trish over the head with a steel chair to disqualify herself. With all due respect to Trish/Lita, to me it will always be Trish/Victoria that was the best Diva feud of all time. Given what is now known about chair shots to the head, I guess we can count ourselves lucky that Trish is still happy and healthy ten years later.<br />
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<b>3) The Ultimate Betrayal</b><br />
By the time the year 2004 rolled around, Trish was already one of the biggest stars in the WWE. She was perhaps the biggest babyface they ever had, even with Lita in action on the roster as well. But Trish had already done the underdog babyface routine for two years now so what was there left for her to do? Well she was entered into a romance angle with Chris Jericho that included a lot of complicated drama that isn't really necessary to explain in this entry but the stage was all set at WrestleMania XX for a match between Chris Jericho and Christian, Jericho sort of defending Trish's honour. Towards the end of the match Trish ran down to the ring to seemingly defend Jericho but accidentally caused a distraction that lead to Christian getting the win. After the match Trish entered the ring to apologize to Jericho...but shock! horror! She slapped him in the face and turned heel before our very eyes. WrestleMania XX is considered a disappointment by many but this heel turn was praised as being one of the high points of the night. It seems WWE learned from this by the success of Eve Torres's heel turn as her WrestleMania moment had big shades of this.<br />
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<b>2) Four The Record Books</b><br />
WrestleMania XIX will always be my favourite Mania for many reasons. And one of them is this. The best WrestleMania women's match ever. I mentioned earlier about the epic Trish/Victoria feud that started in 2002 and continued all the way into WrestleMania XIX. But there was also another element in the psychotic Jazz who returned to action in early 2003 and interjected herself into this feud. I watched this match live and saw Trish take her lumps, genuinely afraid for her health and well being but I was on my feet when she blasted Victoria with that Chick Kick to win the title back. It was truly a great WrestleMania moment and that title win marked Trish's fourth run with the belt, matching the record previously set by The Fabulous Moolah.<br />
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<b>1) Off Into The Sunset</b><br />
Diva departures are always a hit and miss affair. Some Divas get to go out in good ways and unfortunately a good few of them get really disrespectful farewells. But thankfully it was not to be so for WWE's Golden Girl. In 2006 news broke that Trish would be retiring from WWE after the Unforgiven PPV in September. Not only was that a scandal in and of itself, Trish reignited her classic rivalry with Lita whom she had also faced in her first WWE match. A special match was made for Trish's retirement - she would face Lita for the title in her hometown of Toronto, Canada. The crowd was on their feet the whole night with "thank you Trish" chants erupting everywhere. These two had delivered a brilliant match in the main event of Raw but had never actually had a proper PPV match. This was rectified here as they battled through an aggressive and intense 11-minute match that had a storybook ending as Trish locked Lita in the Sharpshooter and submitted her to win her seventh Women's title. She received a standing ovation from the fans, the announcers and even a teary-eyed Lilian Garcia.<br />
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<br />Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-40090657175073463022012-05-06T17:41:00.000-07:002012-05-06T17:41:25.523-07:00The Fave Five #2 - Billy Gunn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think I'm onto something with this whole Fave Five idea and I can't be arsed waiting for the next WWE release in order to write it - plus I have a feeling that kind of mentality will eventually turn me into a psychopath - so I decided to base my next Fave Five list on one of my favourite past WWE Superstars. Monty Sopp aka Billy Gunn, or Kip James for those who followed him in TNA, was one of the best all around athletes WWE ever had. He was one of those guys that could raise you up for a military press and also leap high into the air for a dropkick among other things. He had multiple Tag Team success but sadly never really got the push he deserved in singles competition. Here's my Fave Five moments/matches from the career of Billy Gunn.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) Holy Matrimony?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the most controversial angles in WWE occurred in 2002 (though that was eventually outdone by the even more infamous Katie Vick angle) when Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo morphed from a generic face tandem into a pair of ambiguously gay partners complete with bleached blonde hair, shiny red trunks and various other manly gay behaviours, also gaining a manager in the equally flamboyant Rico. The situation was cranked up to a new height when Chuck proposed to Billy in the middle of the ring...and Billy said yes! The two were all set to have their "Commitment Ceremony" on Smackdown. This whole angle received numerous publicity worldwide and everyone was talking about it. Billy Gunn himself even listed it as the number 1 part of his "Best of Billy Gunn" promotional video that hyped his 2004 return. The entire fanbase was buzzing over the supposed wedding ceremony that would take place. This being WWE it turned out even gay weddings weren't safe from the drama. The ring was set, the groom(s) were dressed for the occasion and there was even a minister. Though moments into the ceremony Chuck and Billy backed out of the deal and shocked the world by announcing that neither of them were actually gay and the whole thing was a publicity stunt cooked up by Rico. Of course this ended up being even more controversial than the fact of actually having supposedly gay Superstars because many Gay and Lesbian representatives had actually been told that Billy and Chuck *would* get married. It was one of the most bizarre and sensational storylines WWE ever came up with (though once again, Katie Vick outdid them) and because it broke all the way into mainstream, it might be what both Billy and Chuck are both remembered for.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) The One & Only...</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here it is, the one and only prestigious singles title Billy ever held. When he returned from injury in late 2000 he was repackaged as "The One" Billy Gunn and was groomed for a big singles push. It first started by being the last member of his team to be eliminated at the 2000 Survivor Series PPV and it ended by him claiming the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Eddie Guerrero on Smackdown. Unfortunately for him the bookers had no idea what to do with the belt and he dropped it three weeks later to Chris Benoit (who himself dropped it a few weeks later). But Billy G's fans can still cherish that moment when he defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the strap and what a match it was. Billy kicked out of both a DDT onto the title belt and Eddie's Frog Splash finisher. Then after a long and hard fought match he earned his only major singles championship. Personally my favourite incarnation of him was "The One", mostly for the catchy entrance theme, but he could have been a great singles star if the bookers hadn't dropped the ball as they have done with so many others. Though I do take comfort in the fact that the match he dropped the belt in just happened to be the best of his career.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) A Dangerous Ass Kicking</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before he eventually claimed the IC title in 2000, Billy Gunn got to have a proper shot at it once the year before when he entered into a feud with The World's Most Dangerous Man, Ken Shamrock (yes that one). He got his title match at the 1999 Royal Rumble and that match is only second to his bout against Chris Benoit at Armageddon 2000 as my favourite of his. Naturally being in the ring with Ken Shamrock is going to make anyone up their game and fear for their life so we saw an incredibly intense back-and-forth affair with Billy holding his own quite well against the much superior Shamrock. It's a really cool match to watch, which is why I added onto my list of Wrestling Matches To See Before You Die and of course two of my favourite spots include the facebuster off the apron and the kitchen sink countered into the school boy. Not much else to say about this one, except maybe it's strange that my two favourite Billy Gunn matches ended with him tapping out...</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Birth of an Outlaw</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chances are if you meet Billy in public and go up to him, you should never mention the words "Rock-a-Billy" or else you may wake up to find yourself breathing through a tube. But one good thing came out of the atrocious Rock-a-Billy gimmick - the end of it meant the start of something truly amazing. After a few weeks of being the prodigy of the Honky Tonk Man, Billy was propositioned by Road Dogg Jesse James to join him and form a tag team. Needless to say Billy smashed his guitar over the HTM's head and never looked back. He and Road Dogg formed the New Age Outlaws, one of the most successful and groundbreaking Tag Teams of the Attitude Era. They were initially meant to be a heel team but Billy clonking his mentor with his own guitar got them cheers from the fans so they were one of many heels who got cheered and turned into faces with attitude in that Era. The Outlaws held five WWF Tag Team Championships between them and Billy would go on to hold another five more with different partners (three times with his kayfabe brother Bart and twice with Chuck). And here's the moment where the magic started.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) King of the Castle</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seemed like 1999 was going to be Billy Gunn's year - a high profile feud with Ken Shamrock, a run with the Hardcore title, a match at WrestleMania and now the crowner - literally. The 1999 King of the Ring tournament had a whole crop of talented and deserving guys (and girl - Chyna competed in that tournament as well) all of whom would have made a great King. However it was Billy Gunn's night as he first defeated Ken Shamrock and Kane to advance to the tournament finals. There, now going by the crude alias of "Mr Ass" complete with ludicrous theme music and a habit of mooning his opponents, he faced his former DX ally X-Pac with the coveted King of the Ring crown at stake. After a surprisingly short match, Billy scaled the top rope and landed a diving version of his Fame Asser finisher to put X-Pac away and claim the crown for himself. Sadly this push didn't really go anywhere as he was defeated by The Rock at SummerSlam in a corny "Kiss My Ass" match and found himself stuck in the midcard ever since. We'll still have the memories though</span></div>
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<br />Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-20410318839446911812012-05-05T10:26:00.003-07:002012-05-05T10:26:33.816-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #45What a week it's been. WWE had their Extreme Rules PPV on Sunday and that show has always been something worth watching, the matches there often topping their WrestleMania predecessors. It's certainly been one of the more Diva-friendly PPVs in recent years, providing us with memorable moments galore. Not to mention the internet has been buzzing with a certain set of departures. Elsewhere TNA have a PPV of their own to build towards with a new and fresh match-up on the horizon. Should be a good one.<br />
<br />
<b>Extreme Rules - Nikki Bella* vs Layla (Divas' Championship):</b><br />
I was expecting there to be some kind of trick with Beth supposedly being injured. I know there's people saying it's a work but it definitely seems to be somewhat legit with how she's been absent from TV since the PPV, even from backstage segments. Let's start with the backstage segment, I felt that this sets things up for Beth to return as a face to TV whenever they plant to do so. She's never really been pushed for the title that soon after one reign so it may be a while before she's seen again. I'm guessing she could even find herself on Smackdown after the draft to keep her away from it for a while. Perhaps they will have her feud with Natalya who's seemingly remaining heel, just without the title.<br />
Now onto the match, I'm happy it was Layla instead of Kharma. I've said before that whenever Kharma returns, she'll have it easy. The fans will flock to her and it'll be memorable in its own right. Whatever she does, it'll be big. Layla on the other hand was someone who needed her return to be done right and I think in a way it was handled really well. True there was a quick "we want Kharma" chant but a lot of people also ignored that there was also a "welcome back" chant and a "let's go Layla" chant. Layla is very popular in her own right and this title win is a good thing. We all knew she'd be going after it eventually so why not cut out all the filler and start her off right where she left. She now has a few new Divas to feud with and I can't wait to see what they'll do with her. The match was pretty good as well, especially for one put together last minute. Layla looked so different in the ring from the last time we saw her and she now has a lovely fast paced almost luchador style of wrestling. And yet she makes it stand out from Kelly's waif-fu style and AJ's flippy/submission balance. I think if they plan to have Layla feud with Kharma then she has the right moveset to pull it off. After all, Layla is a former champion and dominated the division in 2010 so in kayfabe shouldn't she be able to hold her own against Kharma? As for the match itself, I loved it even if it was short. Nikki looked fine out there, she couldn't do much but she sold Layla's moves very well. Layla is a Diva who knows how to make a short match fun and exciting and that's what she did. My favourite move was probably her springboard crossbody as well as her pin that I will call the "Lay-Up" from now on. Only gripe is that we didn't see the Face Lift as well. 6.5/10<br />
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<b>Raw - Layla* vs Nikki Bella vs Brie Bella (Divas' Championship):</b><br />
Talk about Mood Whiplash. Thanks for the memories, Bellas. I guess people were expecting Kharma to show up on Raw and demolish them, which would have been a much better send-off, but nope we got this. I guess the only silver lining is that Layla got a successful title defence, so hopefully next week she can get a proper storyline or feud going on. Honestly though Eve's glasses were the highlight of the whole night. Anyone else see the resemblance between Eve and Brooke Tessmacher? Her promo was a bit bad but everyone has an off night. At least they're finding plenty of stuff for her to do. 1/10<br />
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<b>NXT Watch:</b><br />
No matches but some pretty good segments. Starting off, I had no idea JTG was even still employed but I guess I'm happy Alicia Fox is getting a storyline of her own at last. This is also the first time she's actually been paired with a black superstar in her career, unless you count her flirting with Booker T. Kaitlyn and Derrick Bateman were fun as always but Maxine and Johnny Curtis had me rolling around in stitches. I would love to meet whoever writes these NXT plots and campaign to have s/he promoted to writing for Raw and Smackdown. Hopefully more matches next week.<br />
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<b>Impact - Velvet Sky & Brooke Tessmacher vs Gail Kim & Madison Rayne:</b><br />
Predictable but a much better show than last week. It seems Velvet hasn't entirely been forgotten about which I am overjoyed about. Now with Brooke vs Gail set for Sacrifice it could mean that we graduate into a triple threat with Velvet involved. That would be a good direction to go in and it would be a lot more fresh than going back to Gail/Velvet. If Gail retains at Sacrifice then she should drop to Velvet in a triple threat match. It honestly wouldn't matter who got pinned but they could use it as an excuse to turn Brooke heel and make her feud with Velvet. Of course that would break up TNT but TNA do seem to flip flop on their tag teams these days anyway. And once Velvet has retained against Brooke they can also explore Brooke/Tara as a separate mini-feud to go along with whatever Velvet has to offer. The match was really fun and Velvet was looking great early on. It's funny how she and Gail have worked better in tag team competition than they have in singles matches. I'm actually in love with heel Gail right now and she continues to exude more personality than she's known for. She's always said she feels she's a natural heel and I'm inclined to agree with her now. Brooke was booked a lot better in this match than she was last week and the end was creative. I like the idea of robbing finishers because the likes of Stone Cold and The Rock used to do it all the time but you never really saw the women doing it. Good showing from the Knockouts this week. 7/10<br />
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<b>FCW - Raquel Diaz* vs Audrey Marie (Divas' Championship):</b><br />
Good lord, another title match between these two? Oh well, I've read spoilers for the next few episodes and they do offer up something new and fresh. That being said, I didn't like this match as much as I did the past two they had months ago. This one felt awkward and the exchanges were sloppy. In places it seemed like neither of them had any idea where they were in the ring and Raquel was stumbling around in a few places as well. The match did get a bit better as it went on but honestly the damage had been done from the iffy opening so I could really get into it. Raquel did keep me happy with her personality throughout the whole thing and she's slowly becoming as great a heel as both her parents. It was interesting to see her going for a Piledriver and Audrey's counter was nice but the end was bad. It looked awkward and improvised which is not a good thing. Hopefully more of Paige, Sofia Cortez and Caylee Turner in the weeks to come. 5/10<br />
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<b>Smackdown - Layla vs Natalya:</b><br />
I had hoped that Layla and Natalya would feud with each other but I guess there goes that idea. I had also hoped that WWE would see fit to give Layla more time to wrestle. I believe last week's match was longer than this one. However both Layla and Natalya are students of the art of telling a short story. Their chemistry was always amazing and now we get to see them wrestle with the face/heel roles reversed. The dynamic works just as well here and I'd love to see them properly feud again because I feel that given enough time and effort they could make an arena full of people stand up and applaud after a match. Layla's popularity was evident as she got a huge pop at the sound of her music and the crowd remained relatively interested while the match was going on. It's also nice that Layla wins her matches with more than just roll-ups. In other news AJ slapped Kaitlyn again but this time did not look remorseful for it. Is AJ turning heel? I wouldn't mind seeing that since we do have too many faces at the moment and AJ has been known to work well as a heel, judging from her FCW stuff. The idea of a Layla/AJ feud makes me excited too. The crowd cares about both women so it could be a nice two month programme. As an aside, perhaps we'll get a grudge match between AJ and Kaitlyn at Over The Limit. The PPV is in two weeks and this would be a much better match to have than a Divas' title match thrown together with only two weeks of build-up. Also we saw more of Aksana who seems to be turning heel as well, thus evening out the dynamic. I don't think Aksana is ready for a title push just yet but as always I'd like to see her take on a more regular wrestling role. I'm guessing they could take this pairing with Antonio over to NXT and feud with Kaitlyn and Derrick Bateman or else JTG and Alicia Fox. Or they could give Antonio a partner and make them feud with the Tag Team Champions. The possibilities are endless right now. 7/10Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-12355421300559418342012-05-04T08:15:00.000-07:002012-05-04T08:15:30.073-07:00Introducing The Fave Five #1 - The Bella Twins<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">Here’s
a nifty new concept I’ve just thought of. Inspired 50% by the Bella Twins
departing this week and 50% by one of Booker T’s pet catchphrases, I’ve decided
to compile a list of my “fave five” in relation to different former WWE
superstars and divas. These will be the five moments that stand out from their
career the most, including matches, promos and even random witty backstage
segments. So here we go, the Fave Five moments from the WWE careers of Nikki
and Brie Bella.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">5) Sister vs
Sister:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">Divas
getting a main event slot on any show is a shock on its own these days. After
all, Kelly Kelly main eventing Smackdown in 2011 (twice) was something special
but she was a popular Diva and involved in a storyline about the World
Heavyweight Championship. The Bellas however got a feud of their own in 2009
with tension teasing between them and each sister allying herself with a
respective Tag Team Champion. When the inevitable singles match between them
came about, the sisters actually got the main event slot on an episode of ECW
with the Colons and Miz & Morrison at ringside. Watching the match won’t
change your life in any way because it wasn’t a very good encounter. The action
was passable but it paled in comparison to the stellar Melina/McCool matches
going on at the same time. But still for any Diva feud to be given the main
event slot in a show is a noteworthy achievement and therefore earns a spot on
this list. Nikki said in an interview her dream match would be to face Brie at
WrestleMania. Personally I think that match now would be much better than the
ECW one because both of them have improved significantly since then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">4) Poking A
Pregnant Dragon:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">While
Divas getting a main event slot is a rarity, girls getting promo time is slowly
becoming more commonplace and the Divas seem to slowly but surely be getting
chances to let the fans know their characters. However back when this promo
happened, it was a different story. The Bellas had never really had the chance
to cut a proper live promo and here they got to do it with one of the company’s
top Divas. This was a heavily hyped segment where Kharma announced her
pregnancy to the live audience and then the Bellas got the chance to get a rub
off the outgoing lady. This was definitely the best promo either of the twins
ever cut during their career and they were getting amazing heat for it. It’s
too bad WWE never really followed up on this and allowed the twins to insult
more superstars, sans for that infamous fiasco with Kelly Kelly last year, as
they could have become proper despicable heels. It’s also too bad that Kharma
didn’t get to demolish them like she promised as that would have been a more
fitting exit than losing a 10-second title match on Raw.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">3) Vintage Twin
Magic:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">Diva
debuts are always a hit-and-miss ordeal. Some of them are good, some make you
want to tear out your eyes and juggle them with knives at the sight of the
trainwreck going on in front of you. Obviously this debut was the former. Brie
debuted alone on Smackdown in late 2008 against Victoria and confused fans
alike by pulling the switcheroo for the first time. At the time it was
genuinely a shocking occurrence and the fans loved it for being unique.
Naturally it got old real fast. But leaving the switch aside for a moment, the
actual ring work was impressive for a debut match. Brie showed a bit of flair
in the ring with some nice moves, which is also curious considering Nikki has
always been the more solid worker of the two. There was definitely potential
there in Brie but it’s up to you to decide whether or not any of it was tapped
into during her and Nikki’s careers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">2) The Forgotten
Heel Turn:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">NXT
Season 3 is largely remembered for being the most random and outrageous show
WWE has ever produced. The Bellas being actual pros on the show was outrageous
in itself (their rookie Jamie Keyes was the first girl eliminated) but they got
to have an especially good time once their rookie was gone. In a match against
Kelly Kelly and Naomi, Nikki didn’t seem to take too kindly to how Brie was
being treated and went absolutely apeshit on poor Naomi. I actually loved it.
It was a unique bit of storytelling having one partner turn heel during the
match and the team stay together with the dynamic going on. Nikki played a heel
for the rest of the season and showed how natural she was at it. Brie also
showed some newfound potential as well as the face playing off Nikki’s heel.
Though it did give a bit of Mood Whiplash when both of them were still faces
whenever they appeared on Raw alongside NXT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">1) Ding! Catfight!:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">The
Bellas got a storyline of their own at the end of 2010 where both of them
courted US Champion Daniel Bryan and made a bet to see which of them could
become his “first”. But in a twist worthy of Days of Our Lives, it was revealed
that he had been seeing Gail Kim all along (and that the twins did not know the
difference between a virgin and a vegan). Enraged, the Bellas turned heel and
had a monstrous catfight with Gail that the suits backstage loved so much they
immediately capitalised on it and gave them three more. Some catfights can look
awkward but all of these were just plain awesome, one even made it to PPV as
well. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not it’s a good thing that
the best moment of two WWE Divas’ careers is a catfight and only one actual
match made the list for the ring work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-19679797246969877732012-04-28T13:04:00.002-07:002012-04-28T13:04:12.398-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #44This was a week full of surprises for me. First of all, I had no idea there would be a three hour Raw which is always a good thing because it means the Divas get more time than normal. Second of all, I had no idea Extreme Rules would be this Sunday and I only know three of the matches that are actually happening - make of that what you will. Third of all, TNA's Open Fight Night was upon us which was sure to offer some big surprises. And fourth of all, there was a certain unexpected development in terms of championship gold.<br />
<br />
<b>Raw - Beth Phoenix* vs Nikki Bella (Lumberjill Match; Divas Championship):</b><br />
An 8-minute segment was a nice surprise especially since there was plenty of time for a match, both entrances and a small promo. Speaking of promos, Eve's are getting much better. This week was a step in the right direction and hopefully being in this new administration role will help her improve in that department. It's also a good idea that they've created a new role for her outside the division since we've got two Diva returns to accommodate and Eve herself is a heat magnet so this will help her be featured without stepping on anyone's toes. As a heel vs heel match it didn't offer much excitement, especially since most of the Jills didn't have anyone to cheer for. The match didn't seem that consistent either, simply transitioning from one move to the next which is likely the girls being so used to wrestling matches that go less than minutes that they're stumped when given more time than that. Of course the IWC is buzzing about the ankle injury - is it real or is it a work? Personally when I first saw the match, I thought it was a legit injury. It seemed like Beth and Nikki were calling the finish while the other Divas were fighting on top of them and Beth seemed like she had problems walking, especially with how Brie tried to get her back in the ring. If it isn't real then good job to Beth because she showed off some primo acting skills. Since a rematch has been booked for Extreme Rules, I guess it could be a work to take Beth off TV for a few weeks and recharge. I suspect she might be a little bit injured but not seriously so she just needs a bit of time off. I would have preferred a better way for her to drop the title but I guess it was a good direction they went in, her being injured and Nikki taking advantage of a distraction. In the interviews after this match, it seemed like Beth was very faceish with what she was saying so perhaps the plan is to return her in a face role to feud with you-know-who. As much as I think Beth is a better face than heel I still want to see that match with Natalya. 5/10<br />
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<b>Ring Ka King - Angelina Love's Wedding:</b><br />
And that's the season of Ring Ka King wrapped now and like any good season finale we have to have a wedding in there. It was cool to see them do a nice Bollywood style wedding and Angelina looked very nice in her sari though the traditionalist in me thinks she should have been wearing a veil. I just knew she'd end up going with the midget though I felt some shocking swerve coming on and thought she'd dump both of them on the spot. The wedding was a nice little segment though didn't offer much if you were looking for proper laugh out loud comedy or juicy drama. Fun little moment.<br />
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<b>NXT - Maxine & Natalya vs Tamina & Kaitlyn:</b><br />
Natalya's face-heel revolving door continues. While I know NXT isn't exactly mainstream programming, it seems like they might want to keep Natalya heel for when Beth comes back. Or else they just want to continue with her in a definite tweener role. I will say that I like that Natalya has kept her character fairly consistent with whichever role she's playing week by week so it's not a drastic change to see her heel this week. I mean Tyson's still a face so it's likely she'll be one again next week. The match was a nice length and I especially liked that Natalya and Tamina got to lead the teams to the ring. A little annoying that Kaitlyn was in the ring for 90% and Tamina only came in briefly at the end. The "heels" did a good job isolating Kaitlyn and I was happy to see Maxine using chops because you don't see Divas doing them that often. Natalya did a variation of the abdominal stretch which made it look a bit more effective. I also loved Maxine's top rope guillotine which looked very effective also and would make a nice addition to her moveset. I wonder if it was Nattie's intention to make Kaitlyn's body scissors especially suggestive because her...sounds (for lack of a better word) were quite close to Kelly's orgasm screams whenever she's in a hold. First Layla, now Kaitlyn, Natalya might be able to open a hall of fame for all the girls who have dry humped her on TV. I liked the first thing Tamina did when she got the hot tag but that was about it. I applaud her for trying to think outside the box when it comes to the traditional shine sequence but really the clothesline-dropkick formula works much better than whatever the hell she was doing. The Superfly Splash looked good as always and the crowd seemed really into it too. Relieved that it was Maxine who took the pin here. 6.5/10<br />
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<b>Impact - Gail Kim vs Brooke Tessmacher:</b><br />
First of all, someone explain the rules of the Open Fight Night to me again. I thought the point was that anyone could challenge the champion to a match. So why does Brooke need to fight in a non-title match? Or why does she pick a non-title match if she also has the option to challenge for the title? And what an awful promo from her at the start. Her delivery was weird and the lines could have worked but they just didn't. And why have we suddenly switched from Gail vs Velvet to Gail vs Brooke? Don't get me wrong, I like Brooke and all but Velvet's push should not be over so soon. I really hope this is just an interim or mini feud and they go back to Gail vs Velvet once this is done with. The match wasn't much either. I get that it was one-sided to sell the fact that Gail is a veteran and Brooke is a rookie but I could have seen some more offence from Brooke. Gail was very good with her posing and how vocal she was in the match. She's slowly becoming one of those wrestlers who is equally versatile as a heel and face. Didn't like the ending too much either. While that move was impactful, I don't buy it as a finish and a creative roll-up would have done the job much better. Hopefully the title match is better than this. 4/10<br />
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<b>Superstars - Kelly Kelly vs Maxine:</b><br />
Max is pulling double duty this week and getting a fresh opponent as well. It was interesting (not to mention downright shocking) to see Kelly actually wrestling at the start. True the moves didn't look as good as they could have but I appreciate the effort. What I also appreciate is how although Maxine uses a lot of rest holds, she switches them up so they actually look effective. For example, the first chinlock had Kelly bent across her knee and the second had her driving her knees into Kelly's back. If you're going to use the same rest hold twice in one match then that's what you should do to make it a bit more effective looking. Eve, take not of that. It was good to see her guillotine hold again as well, again switching it up so that she jumped into it instead of coming off the top rope. However in other places she seemed a little lost which I chalk up to her not having sold Kelly's moves before. She didn't feed into the corner after the clotheslines so Kelly had to drag her in there, as well as not feeding out when she got the handspring elbow into the K2. I had to lol at Kelly turning her stink face into a "stink chest". Solid 75% of the match though things got a little iffy towards the end. 6/10<br />
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<b>Smackdown - Nikki Bella vs Alicia Fox:</b><br />
I really wish Alicia wouldn't be jobbing so much. She's too young and too talented to be used as a jobber. I wish they'd given this spot to Kaitlyn or Aksana instead. Oh well, at least she's back on TV. The segment got a bit longer than the ones lately though of course more time is always welcome. Nice to see Nikki doing completely new moves - the chemistry wasn't there at the start but it showed as they went along. I especially liked the way Alicia sold the snapmare. The latter part of the match was much better as well with some crisp and solid fast paced action. Alicia looked so solid and I loved that spot with the Matrix into the mat slam. I'll assume the Bellas switching is to preserve Alicia's credibility. Anyway if the rumours of Nikki dropping the title before she leaves are true, I'm not sure how it'll happen. They might announce that Beth is unable to compete in the title match and have either Layla or Kharma return in her place. If someone has to get the title in their first match it should be Kharma since you'll have something to work with there. Or the Bellas might just be sticking around after all in which case their feud with Kharma will be a bit longer, which could be good as well. I suppose the Bellas could simply be paid per appearance when their contracts run out if they intend to keep them around longer. Either way there should be some thrills at Extreme Rules since it's a very significant PPV for both Layla and Kharma who have been gone far too long. 5/10<br />
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<b>AJ slaps Kaitlyn:</b><br />
A 30-second backstage segment warrants a separate entry here because I really love the direction they're going with AJ in this storyline. After last week there were a lot of questions and this week we got some continuation but still with more questions. She's very unpredictable right now. The question keeps being will she turn heel or not? She's slapping her best friend yet she looks like she regrets it. Is she turning heel or is she just going mad from Daniel Bryan's treatment of her? There's two possibilities I see coming out of this - Daniel Bryan gets impressed with her new attitude and they reform as a heel couple or else she properly turns on him this Sunday. I'm actually inclined to keep her out of the match on Sunday because they were robbed out of a WrestleMania match so I think this could be saved for a backstage segment or else wait until the next Smackdown. Oh and this is the first time AJ and Kaitlyn have actually interacted since Kaitlyn walked out on her back in November.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-59780575478502605672012-04-21T19:43:00.001-07:002012-04-21T19:43:54.735-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #43Ello ello ello old chaps and welcome to a special edition of the wrestling week, the majority of which took place in merry old England. I may not live there anymore but it's still very close to my heart so you can imagine how excited I get whenever WWE tours Europe. Chances are if I still lived there, I'd be seen at a lot more tapings. Now then the UK episodes of plenty of goodness in some areas and a bit of disappointment in others. Thankfully the wrestling that took place outside of England picked up the slack and delivered where most of the stuff was lacking. Oh and there was a PPV as well.<br />
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<b>Lockdown - Gail Kim* vs Velvet Sky (Steel Cage; Knockouts Championship):</b></div>
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Very disappointing match. Honestly, I much preferred their last PPV match to this one and even that wasn't a terribly good one. This felt more like a special title match you'd get on Impact and less like something people would be willing to shell out their money for. I watched the match several times and the cage was not used once. Judging from how Impact went this week, their feud *is* continuing and of course everyone's question was "how do you move on from a cage match". Obviously TNA's answer was "make the cage match completely boring and forgettable". If the Divas had gotten a cage match (we should be so lucky) you can bet they'd have big move after big move and all manner of impressive spots. The only actual contact made with the cage was when Gail missed her crossbody through the ropes. Excitement, girls! Also, the actual wrestling had its problems as well. Gail took control far too soon and just dominated about 75% of the match. Velvet opens with roll ups and all of a sudden Gail's got the power over her? The hope spots were uninspiring and the comeback nearly saved it from being a complete flop. I'll say the actual moves were done well and I did like Velvet's powerbomb off the top rope so the match wasn't a complete failure. Absolutely awful crowd though, they couldn't care less and that just hurt the match even more. Not necessarily a bad match, just very disappointing and not very memorable. 6/10</div>
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<b>ODB & Eric Young* vs Sarita & Rosita (Knockouts Tag Team Championships):</b></div>
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Forget striking twice, lightning didn't even strike once for the girls tonight. Are TNA so dead set against having Eric not wrestle the women? If so why put the belts on him and ODB? I get that it's normally men as the heels in intergender situations due to size difference and what not but I've seen women be the heels in intergender matches before and it worked. Sarita and Rosita can both use their lucha moves to counteract Eric's size but then tweak them so they aren't too faceish. That being said, the interactions between them and ODB were incredibly sloppy. This might be the worst match Sarita has ever had. It looked like they just went out there and freestyled everything, which they probably did since it was added on the fly. But that's no excuse really. Beth and Kelly delivered a solid match at TLC on the fly and Sarita and ODB are two of the top workers so there should have been some excitement. There were about five moves I actually liked the look of and the rest of the time I was disliking everything else and wondering when the match was going to take form. I'd like to see this team given another shot with more time to work, hopefully more notice and Eric actually getting in the ring and wrestling. 3/10</div>
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<b>Ring Ka King - Angelina Love vs Raisha Saeed vs Alyssa Flash:</b><br />
Yes you did indeed read that right. It's the "return" of Miss Raisha and by that I mean it's clearly a man underneath the burqua since Melissa is wearing her Future Legend boots tonight. The opening parts were really fun to watch, especially all the creative ways they got into pins. For example Raisha did a sunset flip on Alyssa while she was school girling Angelina who in turn then did a crucifix on Raisha to break that pin. And I never thought I'd see Angelina do a headscissors. It's almost as though this time in Ring Ka King has breathed new life into her as she was so stagnant on Impact after the Winter/Velvet storyline was abruptly dropped. However this match had its downfalls as many triple threats do when it's 2 heels/1 face. The parts where Alyssa and Raisha kept double teaming Angelina just dragged on and on. As always with this problem, a bit more story between the heels would have given some excitement to that part of the match. They eventually did go that route and the innovative DDT spot was a brilliant idea. The final exchanges of this match picked it up and were very nice to see, if a little abruptly cut off. There was more love triangle hilarity at the end with Romeo giving Angelina a dazzling diamond necklace and Indian Hornswoggle giving her the keys to a shiny new pickup truck. The plot thickens and we're still left wondering which of her suitors she'll accept the proposal to. Perhaps she'll take a third option and wed Raisha Saeed instead. You do have to love all this mad soap opera stuff when it's doled out in moderation. 6/10<br />
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<b>NXT - Maxine vs Kaitlyn:</b></div>
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These two are really churning out the matches aren't they? I was hoping for something more special for the UK episode, Natalya vs Maxine perhaps? Nonetheless I really enjoyed this match. They've had good ones and they've had bad ones but this thankfully was the former and almost as enjoyable as their great bout back in October. Kaitlyn looked much more solid with her moves than she did in the main event match and Maxine was her usual self, looking competent in the ring and oozing character. It's almost uncanny how far she has improved in the ring from her time as an NXT contestant. The commentary for this match was hilarious, especially Regal's non PG "more ups and downs than a bride's nightie". Maxine gets a win which is always good to see and her standing dragon sleeper looked much more effective than it has done in the past. I could have seen it continue for more time but as always what we saw was good enough. As for the aftermatch segment, who else wants to see Maxine and Johnny try to wrestle while handcuffed? 7/10</div>
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<b>Superstars - Kelly Kelly vs Eve Torres:</b><br />
And it's the match we were supposed to get at WrestleMania. First of all, a very vocal crowd. The UK crowds are always more enthusiastic than the US ones but having two women the fans normally would care about helped quite well. As always Kelly was very good at getting them involved and working them throughout the whole match. Eve however really should work on playing off the crowd a bit more. Since she is so hated by the fans she's guaranteed to get heat in her matches and the "Hoeski" chants. She should yell at the fans to stop and sell her frustration at the chants. Another thing I noticed is that Kelly hit the ropes a bit better than she normally does. Not excellently but an improvement otherwise. This did feel like a PPV calibre match and not like two women going through the motions on the show nobody watches. Eve is slowly improving her heel wrestling - she did resort to rest holds a little too much for my liking but she's headed in the right direction. It's good that she did have hard-hitting non flashy moves in her arsenal that could be used as a heel, and she can get away with the senton and the moonsault because they are so associated with her. She in turn sold Kelly's offence very well, particularly the hurricanrana. Kelly doesn't always seem to hit them well but the ones I've seen Eve sell have looked very clean. Kelly's clotheslines also looked very effective too. The end was iffy to me though. First of all, it looked like Eve countered the handspring elbow since she moved her own elbow up as if to block it but then she sold it anyway, and the pin on the ropes looked very sloppy. Still I enjoyed the match as both women were very over and delivered an entertaining show. 6.5/10<br />
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<b>Impact - Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Sarita & Rosita vs Velvet Sky, Mickie James, Tara & Brooke Tessmacher:</b><br />
Quite a lot to talk about on this week's Impact as the Knockouts managed to come off the heels of a dreadful Lockdown and produce a highly entertaining and entertaining match that utilised all eight participants in a nice way. I really like that they gave TNT a proper acknowledgement that they were returning to TV after such a long absence. I had to lol at Mike Tenay saying "Vel Vel" with a straight face. I mentioned before in another match with Velvet and Sarita that their timing together in previous matches was extremely patchy and slow but now Velvet has grown so much as a worker that she is able to match Sarita's style and keep up with her. Speaking of improvements, Rosita was looking especially polished here. She took a great bump at the start of the match and delivered an impressive spike hurricanrana. And that's saying something considering Mickie isn't exactly a five class worker. I was happy to see Tara and Sarita go at it because I can't recall if they've ever faced off properly aside from their tag feud last year. Though I refuse to believe Sarita would stay on the canvas for *that* long after a body slam. The absolute best part of the match was Brooke vs Sarita for two reasons - first of all it had three of the girls demonstrating a style of dance I have appropriately titled "Spastic Robot Salsa" and second of all the amazing chemistry. The counter of the tilt-a-whirl into the arm drag was so crisply done and Brooke followed it up with an equally crisp Mug Shot in the corner. Brooke and Gail seemed to work together really well also and it's certainly a fresh match-up amongst the Knockouts. I was honestly surprised when I went online after seeing the match and hearing people talk about a Brooke push. I don't see her getting one coming off this win. First of all, Velvet helped her get the win over Gail and secondly the entire focus was on Velvet when the match was over. While I expect Brooke might challenge Gail for the title at the Open Fight Night I think it'll just give Gail another strong title defence. As much as I love Brooke, it should be Velvet continuing to be pushed because this has potential to be feud of the year if TNA can keep it going and give them a better chance on PPV. Besides why push a girl who is active in the tag division? I know TNT are faces and therefore ill-equipped to feud with the current champs but really, killing the tag division for the sake of a singles push that won't go anywhere? Exciting night for the women anyway. 8/10<br />
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<b>Smackdown - AJ vs Natalya:</b><br />
What's this now? Do I smell an AJ heel turn coming on? It's doubtful but it could happen. Perhaps WWE intended for AJ to turn on Daniel Bryan and become massively over from it but annoyingly enough the fans are solidly behind Bryan despite WWE's best efforts to make him into a despicable heel and AJ isn't over enough to eclipse him in popularity. Perhaps they're rethinking their plans and turning her heel so they can become a proper power couple. That being said, everything is up in the air because Eve's storyline on Raw took a sharp U-turn from where it was supposed to be heading and she randomly became a heel and I honestly can't see where WWE would likely go in this direction. Though Natalya is clearly a face again. She showed genuine concern for AJ's mental state before the match started and didn't fight back like a heel would. It's almost funny that last year it was Nattie who did it to AJ so there's a nice little continuity nod there. The WWE.com video showed AJ looking remorseful for what she did but then again Eve looked remorseful for kissing John Cena and the writers swerved us the very next week. And Natalya tweeted photos of a nasty lump on her forehead from AJ's attack. Knowing WWE's "Beauty Is Never Tarnished" policy she'll likely be off TV until it's recovered.<br />
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And the other big development this week that took place entirely off TV is that Nikki Bella may be getting a title shot at Extreme Rules. Her and Brie's contracts expire the very next night so perhaps this is WWE's way of nodding them out the door. I'd like to see Nikki and Beth give it a go on PPV because Nikki is the more skilled wrestler of the twins and the two personalities of her and Beth could mesh well together also. Just wondering if Beth is turning face again as well? While I enjoy her as a face I still want that darned Beth/Natalya match which won't happen if they're both faces yet again. Perhaps Kharma will return the night after Extreme Rules and demolish both the twins, setting up a feud with Beth. Then maybe Kharma will feud with Natalya? Also WWE is due to return from the overseas tour and Layla is expected to return to TV when they are back in the States. Hopefully the last Raw before a PPV will give some excitement Diva-wise.</div>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-84289383150358146712012-04-21T15:12:00.000-07:002012-04-21T15:12:01.566-07:00WWE's Aksana - Wasted Talent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know at this point it's impossible to even mention WWE's women without going into long drawn out discussions about who's being misused, who's underrated, who deserves much better than what they're getting from the big E. There are an incredibly large number of wrestlers that are being misused now and there always has been in the past. After all, not everyone can be used properly. When it comes to WWE's women the obvious names for misuse would be Natalya who suffered a massive losing streak and juvenile farting gimmick until her recent face turn where she now looks to salvage her career. Others would include the Divas' Champion Beth Phoenix who can't seem to find her way to TV tapings despite being the longest reigning champion in WWE right now. Also there's Naomi, who wrestled circles around her fellow NXT rookies and yet was the last of them to be called up to the main roster and has been demoted to dancing for Brodus Clay. And of course Divas like Alicia Fox and Tamina who had their title pushes dropped before they even had time to take form. But there's one woman in WWE now that the majority of people don't realise is being misused. With the above girls, it's a different story because most people see them in the ring and have had chances to see what they can do. Natalya and Beth are recognised for their wrestling so in a sense they know they've "won" with the fans. But with a certain former fitness model from Lithuania, nobody is even aware of the talent that is going to waste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aksana is something quite unique amongst the current crop of girls. True she is one of many former models signed by WWE but she comes from a fitness model background, a familiar area for success amongst many female wrestlers such as Trish Stratus, Victoria/Tara, Torrie Wilson and the ever improving Kaitlyn. As such she has a much more muscular frame than a few of the statuesque stunners fans are always complaining about. Haven't you noticed those bulging biceps under all those tight catsuits and flowing dresses? In terms of body size she's actually quite close to Natalya and Tamina's build. She's also the first Caucasian brunette WWE have had since Brooke Adams got released I might add. And of course she's quite fair skinned in comparison to her tanned and tinted co-workers. And that's not forgetting her being the first Eastern European Diva WWE have had in ages (have they ever?). To me, Aksana stands out, and in wrestling that is a major deal. But I'm not here to highlight Aksana's beauty or her natural comedic timing which is fairly obvious to anyone who watches her backstage skits which is pretty much all she has done in front of the mainstream audience, aside from awesome catfights with Vickie Guerrero and Maryse. I'm here to give Aksana the credit for something no one else has yet - her wrestling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mainstream audience will naturally disagree and with good reason because of all the matches Aksana has had since getting called up back in August, only one has lasted longer than two minutes and the only one that did took place on the internet and featured her sticking to what she knew from her FCW days and coming off very heelish rather than the beloved babyface she's supposed to be. For those who don't know, when Aksana was in FCW she was a rather badass serious heel that was more aggressive than the cutesy comedic girl we're more used to seeing. Naturally an incredibly idiotic move on WWE's part to have her play a role in developmental that they didn't intend for her to play on TV. Personally I've seen her shine in the face role from her older FCW days before she was turned so I know that flair is in there somewhere and if she ever gets allowed to wrestle a long match again, she'll get to show off her skills. But so far she hasn't got a chance to show off her skills and already people are lumping her among the worst workers on the roster. The reason? One bad elbow drop in a one minute match that also happened to be her first on a live show. I'll admit it was an awful elbow drop but why write her off on one bad match. Here's a list of absolutely amazing wrestlers doing absolutely appalling moves:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is anyone about to question the wrestling ability of those above? Of course not. Botches happen to everyone. Yet there is a massive double standard at play here. When any of the above workers botch or someone else on their level, the attitude is "oh they just had an off day". But when someone like Aksana botches, she's apparently killing women's wrestling and "this is what happens when you put models in a wrestling ring". But unfortunately, all those people listed above have had the opportunity to put on show stopping matches ten times over. But poor Aksana has had five matches on TV and, as stated above, only one actually showcased her talents. Below is a Superstars match against Maxine where she shows she's gotten the moves down and it's the character she just needs to work on:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may be wondering how exactly I know Aksana is a talented worker when these are the only matches she's had on TV. For those who don't actually know, FCW has its own TV show and the developmental talent have matches and storylines featured weekly in order to prepare them for the big leagues. Aksana was featured heavily over the past year and showed remarkable improvement from her time on NXT. She was promoted to owning both the FCW Divas' Championship and the crown of Queen of FCW. Below are some matches where she does get to showcase what she's learned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A much better showing than her matches on the WWE roster no? And also bear in mind that in the latter two matches she is able to lead the match and carry the lesser experienced Audrey Marie and Cameron Lynn through the whole thing. You see in the first match she demonstrates a good showing in the face role so all she needs is to get a chance to show it off. She hasn't wrestled since February which is a real shame because she could have a lot to offer the women's division. She's an absolute powerhouse and could have great matches with the likes of Beth, Natalya and the recently heeled Eve. With the Bellas seemingly on their way out perhaps Aksana can finally get a spot wrestling regularly on TV every week. It's doubtful she will get to show off much of her skills if she's stuck in 2 minute matches on Raw so NXT and Superstars is the place she wants to end up. I enjoyed her part in the Teddy Long angle going into WrestleMania but I think it's time for her to become a proper part of the women's division. To those who would call her the worst wrestler ever based on that one awful elbow drop watch all the above matches which took place BEFORE that incident. She ain't Manami Toyota but she ain't Rosa Mendes neither.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Big thanks to <a href="http://aksana-daily.com/">http://aksana-daily.com/</a> for all the images.</span>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-21909339286139062232012-04-13T18:14:00.000-07:002012-04-13T18:14:43.641-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #42And it's that week when WrestleMania is over and done with and normally for the girls in WWE actual storylines can begin to develop. We were offered a special live Smackdown where we were guaranteed to see some follow up to Daniel Bryan dumping AJ as well as a match on the show where the girls actually get time. In other news, it's time once again for TNA to deliver the go-home segments for their upcoming PPV, not to mention a certain set of champions tying the knot on TV this week. Also, there's romantic drama over in Bollywood and down in FCW tapings have begun once again.<br />
<br />
<b>Raw Watch:</b><br />
Well there's almost no point in recapping this since it was one lousy backstage segment and it didn't develop into anything on Smackdown. I guess the only place for Eve to go now is to get a shot at the Divas' title. I'm not wild about that and personally I was hoping for some actual follow up on the Zack Ryder storyline. She's one-upped him twice and made a fool out of him. Where's his revenge? Shouldn't he give Eve some kind of comeuppance? WWE does like to stop and start storylines so with Layla being rumoured to return once WWE finishes its European tour it's likely they'll pick it back up if that's the direction they're going in. I guess all they need to do is find Eve a partner to feud with Zack. In other news Vickie Guerrero looked smoking hot and Cameron and Naomi danced as they always did.<br />
<br />
<b>Smackdown - The Bella Twins & Drew McIntyre vs The Great Khali, Natalya & Alicia Fox:</b><br />
Well Natalya is officially a babyface again as everyone knows only the good girls dance around with the Great Khali. Honestly as soon as I heard this was going to be a "Legends" special of Smackdown I knew it was going to be a dud. And of course it was - I mean I think Khali got more ring time than the girls. I'm just surprised that they chose to put these four girls on TV when none of them have been involved in any storylines recently. I might be reaching but it looks like I saw some tension between the Bellas after the match. I have a feeling since their contracts are expiring they'll split them and give them a grudge match at Extreme Rules, then have Kharma return to destroy them both. That'd be a fitting departure for them. Though I'd honestly much rather see Eve/Kelly or Beth/Natalya on PPV since the twins had a singles match before and it wasn't very good. 1/10<br />
<br />
<b>AJ on Piper's Pit:</b><br />
Now this was one of the three segments that saved the night from being a complete bomb. Last week I thought WWE had Daniel Bryan dump AJ a bit too soon considering they were in a very smarky pro-Bryan area and all their momentum was ruined. However this week I think they counteracted that by having AJ continue to go back to him. It's like Trish going back to Vince after he turned on her. This way it builds more sympathy for AJ as Daniel Bryan continues to degrade her and abuse her. Obviously it's PG television so he can't do that much to her but hopefully they'll continue to develop this storyline well. Judging by the crowd reactions (on a live show I might add) the fans seem to be swinging in her favour so this is a step in the right direction on WWE's part. AJ spoke very well and her acting is pretty consistent as well - she didn't ham it up or underdo it so this is something I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks. Segment rating: 7/10<br />
<br />
<b>NXT Watch:</b><br />
No matches this week but some great story developments. Maxine came down to ringside during Johnny Curtis's match and ended up leaving with William Regal. Then she pulled the crocodile tears trick on Kaitlyn and Derrick Bateman to get them to help her find Matt Stryker who was found tied up in the janitor's closet. This show is one of the most hilarious things WWE are putting out there and it's just great. It's the perfect place to look if you feel most of your favourites aren't getting used right on Raw and Smackdown. The segments they're doing are complete nonsense of course but that's why we all love them. In other news Titus O'Neil attempted to woo Tamina (who was looking pretty fine) by giving her the gift of a coconut tree. Tamina's character and speaking skills are really improving and I actually think she fits this face role just fine which is surprising to me since she's such a natural heel. Now since Aksana's storyline with Teddy Long has apparently been dropped move her onto the show and get her involved too.<br />
<br />
<b>Ring Ka King - Angelina Love vs Raisha Saeed:</b><br />
Surprised to be getting the second singles match so soon and if I'm being honest, I much preferred the one against Alyssa Flash. It had more time and the interactions were much more fun. This one was good as well of course but it lacked that fire and spark that the previous match had. Raisha didn't really get much offence in apart from the basic heel tactics and then suddenly Angelina got her comeback. It almost felt too much like a jobbing affair instead of the back and forth type of action it was supposed to be. Again, it wasn't a bad match but just not a very memorable one either. The good stuff came when the match was over as Angelina got not one but two marriage proposals. And in an interview after the match she revealed she doesn't know which to accept to but that she will be getting married in a Ring Ka King ring. I get the feeling she's going to go for the Indian version of Hornswoggle because that has so much more comedy potential. 6/10<br />
<br />
<b>Superstars - Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella:</b><br />
Yet another match between these two and yet a match that wasn't too bad. Obviously neither of these two are in-ring technicians but they produced a good enough match that pleased me. Kelly's character continues to baffle me with how heel like she can be - stomping Brie aggressively, using an illegal submission hold, attacking her at ringside. You know what, I like it. Kelly often gets lumped with the generic girls and called bland but to me she's anything but. She has a character in the ring and it's one I enjoy seeing. The exchanges here were switched up from what we normally see. Brie, *shock horror*, actually did new moves. It was a nice sidewalk slam and she too shined with her character. I get the feeling they're throwing the Bellas on TV every week to make the most of them while they've still got them but I stand by my theory of an Extreme Rules grudge match. The ending was refreshing - it's a little different from a typical roll up ending though I was surprising that actually got the win. On commentary Scott Stanford also put over a possible Divas' Championship match between Beth and Kelly. Oh what fun. 6/10<br />
<br />
<b>Impact - ODB & Eric Young's Wedding:</b><br />
This was single handedly one of the best segments of the year. It was hilarious, it moved a storyline along, got a couple of heels over and even moved me a little. And it was done all without a stupid shocking swerve. I know Russo is gone from TNA but I still had a feeling they'd swerve us and ruin the whole thing. But this segment was just brilliant in every way. I know I'm missing the point but ODB looks damn fine when she cleans herself up and she's got plenty going on in other departments. I was surprised to see Sarita & Rosita brought in because I thought their match was just a one-off. Are they properly feuding now? I can see TNA adding a last minute Tag Team Championship match at the PPV though I'd prefer for them to take things slow with this feud. A normal progression would be Rosita beating ODB in a singles match, then Sarita the next week and then maybe both of them beating Eric in a handicap match. Obviously I won't get too hung up on details because I love this duo and I loved this segment #MuiCaliente. Segment rating: 10/10<br />
<br />
<b>Gail Kim & Madison Rayne vs Velvet Sky & Mickie James:</b><br />
And we got a final go-home segment for Gail and Velvet's title match. While TNA haven't exactly upped the ante for this match I'm still looking forward to seeing it because of the proven formula of Gail Kim+steel cage = happy Knockouts fans. As for the tag match, this is a rematch that we saw back in November which I touted as one of the best Knockouts tag matches I'd ever seen. This one wasn't as hot as that but still pretty damn good. As always I love seeing Mickie and Velvet wrestle as a team because they have such great chemistry with each other. The heels didn't really control as much as I expected them to but I guess this match was all about putting Velvet forward as a strong contender. I was expecting Gail to pick up the win and use the classic momentum shift that wrestling fans all know and love but who could win this match is up in the air right now. If Gail wins then good because we can continue the feud. If Velvet wins that's fine as well. It should be a very entertaining and exciting match. 7.5/10<br />
<br />
<b>FCW - Rick Victor & Paige vs Aiden English & Audrey Marie:</b><br />
Is this the first mixed tag match in FCW history? I'm surprised it took so long for me to finally see one on the show. Anyway I like Paige's new gear and I also love how she's given herself a unique look that makes her stand out by keeping her skin pale. It really does make sense for her Anti-Diva Army tandem. I enjoyed the interactions between Paige and Audrey a lot more in this match than I did in their last match together. They flowed well together and Paige sold very well for her. It was also really cool to see Paige properly get involved and have interactions with the men. You don't really get to see heel Divas get physical with the guys that much. Also interesting that when the women were tagged back in, Paige was in control right away instead of the typical face hot tag sequence. I think that works because Paige is a newcomer to FCW and it's important to show her controlling her matches to put her over as a strong competitor. The run in during the match was a bit all over the place as the cameras were too focused on that when there was still a match going on. Maybe saving it for after the match was over would have been better. Sofia Cortez was used well in her role, not taking too much away from the match. Well, at least until the run in. Now this is a storyline I can really get into since it involves so many girls. I want to see Paige and Sofia in more singles matches and I'd like to see Caylee Turner return to the ring as well. 6/10<br />
<br />
Pretty eventful week on every show that wasn't Raw. But what else is new right? Two weeks until Extreme Rules and we have a certain set of twins' contracts expiring the night after the PPV while Lockdown is this Sunday and I'm sure Gail and Velvet will deliver a great contest. Who knows, we might get a second match added on at the last minute. Elsewhere wedding bells are ringing for another Knockout and the FCW Divas are getting in on the Anti-Barbie mentality that was so hot last Summer. Quite an eventful week I must say.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-6156895648395341552012-04-07T17:06:00.001-07:002012-04-08T16:03:28.926-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #41Phew, what a week. We passed the point of the 28th edition of WWE's biggest PPV of the year (though for the girls these days it's more of a roadblock) and we had to deal with all the fallout. Surprisingly for the biggest show of the year, Divas were packed to the rafters and, even more surprisingly, not all together. If I may say so, it's been one of the most successful WrestleManias in recent years in terms of the Divas. And over in TNA's neck of the woods, we've got a new #1 contender for a certain all cage PPV in a few weeks, not to mention some juicy action going on over in Bollywood too.<br />
<br />
<b>WrestleMania 28 - Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres vs Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos:</b><br />
Well well, WWE allowed an injured celebrity to compete in the ring. A non-wrestler at that. And they actually had her work a good chunk of the match. Personally I thought that was incredibly reckless and really stupid on their part. They could have Maria simply manage the team and announce someone like Alicia Fox or Natalya as her replacement and then have one spot with Beth. But nope, that's the direction they went with instead. I'm gonna get all the negativity out of the way early on and say that Maria looked exactly as you'd expect a non wrestler with broken ribs to look in the ring. She couldn't bump at all and there wasn't much else she could do either. Adding Natalya or Alicia could have made it a bit more impressive of a match. But that aside, the match wasn't completely bad. I've heard people calling it the worst Diva match of all-time. Really? Really? So were those people not watching WrestleManias 25 & 26? Maxine vs Kaitlyn? Tori vs Sable? Rosa vs...well anyone? Kelly Kelly's part of the match was good for me. She hit all her spots well and that's actually the best hurricanrana I've ever seen her do. She obviously trained hard for this match and delivered a picture perfect Molly-Go-Round to give herself a WrestleMania moment to erase her taking Vickie's "Cougar Splash" from memory. And yet I see people complaining that she didn't land properly or that it got botched. Seriously, the world will not implode if you admit Kelly did something right. Eve and Beth sold the offence well but of course couldn't do as much as they could if they'd had another wrestler in there but Eve gave us a nice WrestleMania-sized booty pop and Beth was clearly looking to Hawk Girl for her inspired headdress. The ending is what it is. I'm not happy about it but Maria didn't exactly pin Beth clean, what with it being a double team effort. And hey they got a video package as well, and their match time wasn't cut for it. I actually hear people complaining that this match should have taken a time cut to accommodate the WHC match. And yet they find no fault with Rock and Cena's entrances taking up 22 minutes or the HIAC going on for five minutes longer than it needed to. 6/10<br />
<br />
<b>Other Divas:</b><br />
WrestleMania 28 was a really good night for the girls as we saw nearly all of them on the show without being thrown together as Lumberjills or multi-tag partners. First of all, Rosa Mendes lead her team of Primo and Epico to victory in the Tag Team Championships match. I have yet to see it but I'm sure it was awesome. Secondly AJ played a vital role in the "match" for the WHC if you can call it that. It's funny, the title match was used as a prop to further this Daniel Bryan/AJ storyline and while it's disrespectful to the title, it still has a Diva in a prominent storyline. And then we have Team Teddy vs Team Johnny - the Bellas may have found their calling and I prefer their voices to Justin Roberts's any day. And Aksana and Vickie Guerrero gave us a nice WrestleMania-sized catfight. And finally Eve stole the show, and the spotlight as another Diva commanded all the attention for herself. It's really cool that her and Zack Ryder completely overshadowed the big hated heel finally getting in power. All the fans cared about was that she one-upped the big fan favourite. It's great to finally have a female heel in WWE who is actually despicable. While I'm not ready for another Eve Divas' title reign, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing where this storyline is going. And Lilian Garcia's rendition of America The Beautiful was fantastic.<br />
<br />
<b>Raw - Eve's promo:</b><br />
It really was silly of us to expect any sort of proper Diva action the night after WrestleMania. Really since when has the Raw the night after ever given us something actually worth seeing? Eve got to cut a good enough promo and I'll say her delivery is getting better and of course voicing her support for Johnny Ace will only make the fans hate her even more. Incredibly annoying that the Divas' Champion wasn't on the show as well but I'll accept the fact that WrestleMania is always a hindrance for the women's division and hopefully they'll give her some direction next week.<br />
<br />
<b>NXT - Natalya vs Kaitlyn:</b><br />
Wrestling fans rejoice everywhere. Natalya finally won a match. It's the first singles win she's gotten since she first turned heel after beating AJ and the first win she's gotten for herself since the Smackdown after Survivor Series. The direction they're taking her character in is a bit interesting to me since she is turning face but she played the heel in the match. It's almost like she hasn't completely turned face yet. Or they want her to be a wild card in the division. And thank the Wrestling Gods (JBL & Athena) that they've apparently dropped the farting gimmick. Also thank them that NXT finally gives the girls time to wrestle again. The match was very good and easily Kaitlyn's best match to date. I can see why Natalya was relegated to enhancement talent for quite a while as she does indeed seem to turn whoever she's working with into gold for the next few minutes. The vibe I got from Natalya's character in this match was that she was daring Kaitlyn to impress her, that she wanted to see what she's got. I would like to say that Natalya finally getting a win for herself means she's in line for a push against Beth but it really is all up in the air right now. Next week should give us a couple more answers. In the meantime, Kaitlyn is improving every time she steps into the ring and seeing her work with Natalya was a real treat honestly. And I'm glad they cut the part where Michael McGillicutty sniffed her underwear. Also, Alicia, Tamina and Maxine were on the show in entertaining backstage segments as well. 7/10<br />
<br />
<b>Ring Ka King - Sheik Mustafa Bashir & Raisha Saeed vs Romeo Rapta & Angelina Love:</b><br />
All you need to know is that Raisha is teaming with none other than Davari. Nonetheless a fairly good mixed tag match and a bit of a variation in the feud than it was with Mickie involved where they had a six-person straight away. It leaves them with a lot more to go on and if they do have a six-person then the story element of Zarovar (the Indian Hornswoggle) could likely come into play. We didn't see much interaction between Angelina and Raisha and the stuff we did see we had already seen in the singles match with Angelina vs Alyssa Flash, though the moves themselves looked nice. This time Raisha hits her finisher on Angelina to get the win for her duo. I believe Melissa has now racked up more wins in Ring Ka King than she ever did while she was on the TNA roster. A funny development in the storyline with the two men arguing over whose fault it was while Angelina is unconscious on the mat. Melissa must feel very flattered that they're selling the effects of her moves so hardly. 7/10<br />
<br />
<b>Impact - Mickie James vs Tara vs Velvet Sky vs Madison Rayne vs Winter vs Angelina Love (Six Pack Challenge To Crown A #1 Contender):</b><br />
I really loved this match. And I also love that TNA keeps getting creative when it comes to crowning a new #1 contender. While the gauntlet match was a bit of a mess and the battle royal went on too long this one was a thing of beauty. First of all, the women got plenty of time to work and tell a story as well as nobody being lost in the shuffle. Second of all, I liked the little interaction between Angelina Love and Winter. I was a little worried when they came out separately but never fear. Is it me or did Winter come across as the face in that? She was the one who didn't want to fight Angelina and ended up tagging out. That could be a different direction to go in should they eventually split the two of them up. The mini-match between Mickie and Angelina was passable but I really liked the blind tag spot with Velvet. The match breakdown was probably my favourite part and I honestly had no idea what move Winter would use, though that backbreaker was sick. I noticed pointedly that Velvet pinned Mickie to win the match and there was also a small bit of tension between them earlier in the match. Does this mean they'll continue with the Mickie heel turn? Personally I'm leaning towards bad idea right now. If Velvet ends up as champion I do not want to see Mickie pushed yet again even if is as a heel. True they are running low on competition right now since Winter, Angelina, Madison and Tara have all had recent pushes and I think the only non champions on the roster are Sarita and Rosita and we have seen Sarita/Velvet before. Watching this match made me realise there's very few fresh matches in the division right now and it could probably use some new blood. Anyway onto Velvet officially becoming #1 contender. I'm ecstatic about it and while I'll be happy if she wins at Lockdown, I also wouldn't mind them continuing this feud for a bit longer. Anyway TNA has delivered the goods recently and I look forward to seeing this feud unfold. 8/10<br />
<br />
<b>Smackdown - Beth Phoenix vs Nikki Bella:</b><br />
Well the champ got back on TV for this week afterall. I can't say I'm happy about what she was doing since she wrestled a one minute match and lost when she's supposed to be the dominant Glamazon. I can satisfy myself that it was a distraction finish and also that it wasn't a roll-up. Really an X-Factor is an effective move that could believably knock a big girl out for a few seconds and I'm happy that Nikki seems to be remaining heel. Chances are next time we see her she and Brie will be all chummy chummy like nothing ever happened. Are Kelly and Beth feuding again? I don't really think this is a long term thing. I think it's just to carry on from WrestleMania and it'll most likely be Kelly getting a title shot on Raw and losing to put Beth over once again as a big champion. At least I hope that's what'll happen. And even more of what I hope will happen involves Natalya getting a shot at Beth. Is anyone else just itching for Layla to finally return? 2/10<br />
<br />
<b>AJ Dumped:</b><br />
It happened a little sooner than expected and I think it would have been wiser for WWE to wait until they were out of Florida because the crowd really was behind Daniel Bryan. AJ isn't over enough to counteract that judging by the response she got so hopefully there will be more to follow in weeks to come. I want to say that the acting in this segment was great and AJ's knocked Eve's out of the water from a couple of months ago. She just has this amazing cutesy girl next door look to her that makes you want to rush out there and give her a hug. She spoke really well and that look on her face was perfect. She has that same quality that Kelly Kelly had that made you want to root for her and Torrie Wilson before them. Of course I'd really like to see big things happen for AJ since they could give her a Divas' Championship shot or else slowly build her back up and eventually have her be the one to challenge Kharma. I know I'm getting ahead of myself here but the possibilities are endless. Segment rating: 7/10Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-46527193325138808472012-04-02T08:34:00.001-07:002012-04-02T08:34:17.652-07:00WrestleMania 28 In ReviewAnd there we have it. That's another WrestleMania in the history books. A whole other year before we get to New York City for number 29. I gotta say this was a Mania I was really pumped for and I honestly haven't been this excited for a WrestleMania since it was time for 19 back in 2003 (which also happened to be my first one). Anyway there was certainly a lot of hype surrounding the main events, with the headliner receiving an entire year of build up to it not to mention two promising world title matches. But did the event live up to the hype? Well, we'll take a look.<br />
<br />
<b>1) Daniel Bryan* vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Championship):</b><br />
Yet another WrestleMania opening with a World Heavyweight Championship match. Only this turned out to be a complete insult to the crowd. Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had all the potential in the world to put on an entertaining match that would have gotten the crowd riled up. But WWE threw us a curveball and gave us a huge cop-out. Was timing the issue? Coz twenty one minutes went by from that Brodus Clay segment to Rock and Cena actually getting in the ring and the HIAC could have had a good five minutes knocked off it. Oh well, since I don't want to be overly negative, I will say I'm happy for Sheamus to be champion again and hopefully the rematch on Smackdown/Extreme Rules will hopefully be much better. And it certainly looks like AJ and Daniel Bryan are headed to Splitsville which is one small plus anyway. Funnily enough the third wheel of this match ended up taking all the attention for herself. N/A<br />
<br />
If you ask me, Johnny's mic skills are getting better. He certainly added some more personality this time and came across as a proper unlikeable douche. David Otunga's t-shirt reminds me of the old WCW action figures that came with a removable rubber shirt for various wrestlers. Too bad Team Teddy couldn't get a backstage segment as well.<br />
<br />
<b>2) Randy Orton vs Kane:</b><br />
They bump the world title's time but they give THIS all the time it needs? Sorry but Kane seriously can't go like he used to, which is strange considering I felt he held his own against Cena at Elimination Chamber fairly well. Sitting through about two minutes of weak forearms and slow exchanges bored the crowd and got them chanting "Daniel Bryan!" who again could have delivered a much better match with Sheamus than either of these two. I noticed a weird moment when Orton was in a chinlock and he appeared to be unscrewing something on his mouth. I thought he might have been blading or maybe he was taking a piercing out but it just looked odd. Anyway the match did pick up a bit as it got moving along, Orton surprising me always with his athleticism. If it wasn't for the WHC being cut I'd consider this the weakest match of the night. The ending made up for it though. I thought Orton might be trying a lucha-inspired top rope arm drag but that obviously isn't his style. The chokeslam from the top looked perfect, as did a few of Kane's other moves. It was just his brawling that was off. Decent match but would have been more at home on Raw. Still pissed that I didn't get Zack Ryder vs Kane. 5/10<br />
<br />
Gotta love it whenever Mick Foley makes an appearance though I'm wondering where Hornswoggle, Bob Barker and Peewee Herman were when this segment was being filmed. Would that be a Hall Of Fame sized "Damn" from Ron Simmons?<br />
<br />
<b>3) Cody Rhodes* vs Big Show (Intercontinental Championship):</b><br />
It was here that I noticed the theme of having the video package for the matches play after the first guy has gotten into the ring and it's a touch I liked. Though probably a bit boring for the guy already in the ring waiting for his match to start. I was wondering how these two would do and I'll say it was really strange to see the big guy as the face and the little guy as the heel. I spent much of the first half wondering if Cody would ever get some offence in but this was a fine match overall. Big Show may be a lumbering giant but when he wants to he can move pretty well for someone his size. I did have to lol at King mentioning his weight could shift from 15 pounds depending on what he has for breakfast. King I think you should take a trip to Weight Watchers yourself before you can throw all these fat jokes at other people. Funny how Big Show gave him the Stink Face when they had him and Kelly Kelly as BFFs for a while. Great display of psychology by the champ and I see those Yoga classes are really helping Big Show out. The mid-air spear was a thing of beauty though I'm sure Cody's boys are in ICU right now. Not sure how I feel about Big Show winning the IC title but it's nice that the belt got defended and properly showcased at WrestleMania and this match did help it feel a lot more important. 6.5/10<br />
<br />
The Divas on this early? Getting a *video package* as well? What is this? TNA?<br />
<br />
<b>4) Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres vs Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos:</b><br />
I'm sure coming out to Eve's music makes Beth cheery though obviously they went for the song that would get the bigger reaction. I love how WWE allows Maria to work a match with broken ribs simply because she's a celebrity. I'll get to her in a moment. Kelly's entire part of the match was very good - all her moves looked well and crisp (sans that pitiful attempt at hitting the ropes) and Eve in turn sold them well. Maria did look as awkward as you'd expect a non wrestler with broken ribs to look in a match like this. Nonetheless there was no botching and nothing on a level as bad as Jenna Morasca/Sharmell or Tori/Sable. I'll almost say that Kelly's entire part of the match made up for Maria's awkward part. She was channelling Molly Holly a bit with a nice Molly-Go-Round that looked perfect, as did the wheelbarrow bulldog to counter the Glam Slam. Sigh, Maria pins Beth, though Beth's been through this kinda stuff before with "Santina" and her career still recovered. Surprisingly decent amount of time given and not as bad as it could have been. 6/10<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>5) Triple H vs Undertaker (Hell In A Cell):</b><br />
I was excited to see Undertaker's hair and I have to say it suits him. It makes him look a bit more menacing. I was half hoping he'd knock Triple H out, take out the scissors and give him a much needed grooming as well. The early part of the match had me a little worried, mostly because Undertaker was in control almost completely and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to bump for Triple H too much. Obviously that idea went out the window with that spinebuster on the ring steps. That was probably my favourite spot of the match, as well as the Hell's Gate counter. It's funny to me that Undertaker is nearly always the heel in his matches yet Triple H was playing that role here. For a moment I thought we were seeing the old Triple H from the Attitude Era. I was very happy with Shawn Michaels's role in the match. When he was first announced as the referee I felt it was maybe overbooking it a bit but they told a very good story out there with him not getting involved for most of the early part, and therefore not detracting from the wrestling going on (take note, TNA). Once he did get involved he made the match that more interesting. It's almost like injecting glucose into a coma patient. As is to now be expected whenever I review a Triple H match, here's my stock line - way too long. I said earlier it could have had five minutes shaved off it and added onto the World title match. I'll give Triple H credit, there was no padding like his ladder match with Kevin Nash but it still just dragged on and on. For me it stopped being exciting and I just wanted it to end already. Thankfully it did end eventually and it still managed to be a successful match, even if it did drag on for too long. And the Undertaker is now 20-0. Perhaps it is time for him to retire? Oh and why was it a Hell In A Cell match when the cell was barely even used? Should have been Last Man Standing instead. 7/10<br />
<br />
Good to see the Hall of Fame inductees though this year's list felt a bit short. Gotta say Edge's hair will take some getting used to.<br />
Why the hell is Heath Slater on the WrestleMania card? No, why the hell is he even still employed? Again, WHC match time WWE.<br />
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<b>6) Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger) vs Team Teddy (Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Great Khali, Zack Ryder & Booker T):</b><br />
Can you say clusterfuck? Seriously you could have dropped about four of the guys from this match to make it a lot less cluttered. Axe Booker T, Great Khali, Drew McIntyre and Mark Henry and maybe the match wouldn't have felt like such a crowded affair. The Bellas are moving up in the world, going from guest host escorts to guest ring announcers. Happy to see Vickie Guerrero and Aksana at ringside too though Hornswoggle could have been demoted to one backstage segment. Naturally this match didn't get much of a chance to take any form and it was a lot of one guy in to do a spot then the other one and so forth. If there had only been four on each team then it could have worked. The first 75% of the match just didn't take form and couldn't even hold together, despite getting plenty of time. The breakdown at the end was much more promising what with Vickie and Aksana having another awesome catfight and the big rush with everyone hitting their signature spots. Ryder's last bit in the ring against The Miz was great and hey that's another Diva who's taken all the attention for herself tonight. They're really putting effort into Eve, having her outright nail Zack in the balls and be the one responsible for putting Johnny in charge. While this was a huge clusterfuck, it does set up plenty of story continuation for the following weeks - Eve and Zack, Johnny now in charge, what will become of Teddy etc. Will he go back to being a manager? Or will he just retire? Oh well, decent showing towards the end and some good window dressing at the very least. 5/10<br />
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<b>7) CM Punk* vs Chris Jericho (WWE Championship):</b><br />
The added stipulation of Punk losing the title via DQ lets us all know we're in for a pleasant few weeks/months/years with Johnny running the show. Anyway there's something that really stuck out to me in the early moments of the match - even though the feud was very personal Punk didn't go for a brawl but rather tried to wrestle. But still he told a story with that. Even though he was just wrestling, he still showed that he was out for Jericho's blood and that is something very few people can accomplish. I had a feeling this would be match of the night and boy was I right. I loved everything about this match. It was back and forth with some excellent exchanges, as though the two of them were just giving middle fingers to Kane/Orton and Triple H/Undertaker showing them how it should be done. I know Jericho hasn't been wrestling for as long as Triple H, Kane and Undertaker but he's not far off and the difference is astonishing. He can still go like he used to and he produced a five star match while those three were all struggling to keep up. Even though I knew there was no way in hell Jericho would be walking out of WrestleMania with the title there were still plenty of moments where I thought he'd actually do it. As much as I loved Punk's matches with Cena and Del Rio, this match surpassed either of those and will go down as probably the best match of his career. That spot with the Frankensteiner into the Walls of Jericho made me mark out hugely (I even thought we'd see a Styles Clash/Faith Breaker for a moment) as did the suicide dive, apron superplex and springboard Code Breaker. Call this a MOTY candidate because I don't think we can find something to top it. 10/10<br />
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Last year Brodus was Del Rio's manager and this year he gets a segment to himself that the crowd are actually into. Doubly hilarious that the first Tough Enough contestant to be eliminated was the first one to make it to WrestleMania. WrestleMania always gives us something fun and bizarre and the grannies in fat suits knocked Snoop Dogg's talent search from last year right out of the water. There's a sentence I never thought I'd type.<br />
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<b>8) The Rock vs John Cena:</b><br />
I said at the start the entrances and introductions for this match took 21 minutes in total, do with that what you will but I will insert my rant about the World title match once again and also mention that I went to the toilet, made myself a snack and had a browse through Twitter and Cena wasn't even in the ring yet when I came back. Anyway, once they actually got into the ring we got another MOTY candidate, though admittedly it paled in comparison to Punk/Jericho. I was really surprised to see such a technical opening since both of these guys are known for having their five moves of doom and not much else. It just goes to show that these guys can deliver the goods when they want to. Did anyone else catch Cena blatantly calling a spot when he had The Rock in a headlock. His mouth opening clear as day and not even bothering to whisper. You're in HD, remember? I have to say The Rock did look a bit lost in a couple of places and it seemed like Cena had to guide him through a lot of the early part which is understandable for someone who hasn't competed at WrestleMania in over 9 years. What was cool about this match to me is that Cena played the heel and Rock was the face. The Rock spent a lot of time in peril and there wasn't a lot of his trademark cockiness which is a touch I really liked. The best matches Cena's had recently have had him playing the heel (vs Punk and Rey) and this was a similar format. You had to love the crowd chanting "fruity pebbles" and "tooth fairy" and I was holding out for a "Kung Pao bitch" chant as well. I could have done without that little brawl on the outside but the rest of the match was solid enough and the end does raise a lot of questions - is Cena turning heel? I always assumed they'd have him as the face figure in this match but they went the other way and it could show signs of a possible turn. I wouldn't get my hopes up but Raw will give us some answers anyway. A match worthy of WrestleMania and miles better than last year's main event. 8/10<br />
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So many were hyping this up to be the best Mania ever and to me it didn't fulfil that prediction. The entire first half was composed of filler matches that had no meaning and didn't really deserve to be on the card. The main event matches made up for them but this show really did feel like a big letdown. Nonetheless it's always fun to experience WrestleMania live which I couldn't do last year and I had fun watching it this year. Perhaps next year they'll get it right by NOT cutting the World title match.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-46062212439907581482012-04-01T15:43:00.000-07:002012-04-01T15:43:36.559-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #40How fitting that the 40th entry here just happens to be the final one going into WrestleMania. I gotta say it's definitely a bit of a buzz to hear about Maria's injury. That goes to show why you shouldn't dance and wrestle at the same time. Anyway it does possibly open up a slot for another Diva to replace her - who could it be? Or perhaps Maria will simply have restricted ring time. Let's have a look at how the week built this up.<br />
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<b>Raw - Eve Torres vs Kelly Kelly:</b><br />
Hmm, the match that was supposedly going to be on the WrestleMania card before they swerved us by adding in Beth and Maria. It is weird to see Beth and Eve teaming together but I'm sure they'll go back to being frenemies once WrestleMania is over. I'll say it now that I'm not that impressed with Eve's wrestling. I'm sure she is still working on adjusting to wrestling as a heel especially when 80% of her moveset was suited to a face but that submission is the right way to go. Now she should just develop some proper hard-hitting moves that are unique for her, not going the way of the Bellas who just resort to rest holds and call it a day. Anyway the match was fine and Kelly worked well enough with Eve, also they got a respectable amount of time to work. It's a strange thing to have Kelly win, does this mean the odds are stacked in the heels' favour? I hope the heels do win because ultimately at WrestleMania the division shouldn't be overlooked. Just like at WrestleMania 24 when Beth and Melina went over Maria and Ashley. That being said the match should be good provided it has enough time and Eve and Maria polish themselves up a bit. 5/10<br />
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<b>Ring Ka King - Angelina Love & Raisha Saeed Catfight:</b><br />
As I expected, Angelina has now moved onto Raisha, after having her singles match with Alyssa Flash (which I'm still reeling from). Raisha was looking a bit like a hippie this week which is a Halloween costume I'd love to see someone attempt. There's something funny about seeing two trained and accomplished female wrestlers have a good old fashioned catfight but what better way to build to a match between them? Enjoyable segment anyway, if a little short.<br />
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<b>Impact - Madison Rayne vs Velvet Sky:</b><br />
Well it's about time. Not for another Madison/Velvet match since that was only two weeks ago but I seriously am psyched for this Gail/Velvet feud. I've been very critical of TNA over the past...well forever for their stupid hot potato with the title and their stop-start epilepsy with feuds and storylines but they've finally gotten their act together it seems. If they can up the ante for this feud then Velvet could really get the push she needs to finally become a star in TNA. She is very popular and they really dropped the ball with her by not giving her a proper singles push for the title or a long title reign like WWE did for Kelly. However now that can be fixed by making this a long running feud. True the next PPV is Lockdown and the sake of having a cage match as the first stop in the feud is a bit of an awkward situation as if Velvet loses, what do you build to from there? And if she wins, have they pulled the trigger on her too soon? Although Gail has had a long run as champion and gotten some clean wins under her belt against Madison and Tara, I feel there could be more done with her so I'd like to see Velvet feud with her some more. As for the match, better than the one two weeks ago. It was a bit shorter but it was to the point and it got the job done. All the exchanges looked so solid and really got me excited for this feud. Velvet's promo was fine as well, though we know she's capable of better. 7/10<br />
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A fairly uneventful week as NXT, Smackdown, Superstars, Xplosion and FCW were all devoid of Diva action. I've got big hopes for WrestleMania as, in addition to the tag team match, we're also guaranteed to see AJ on the show as part of the World Championship match. I don't know why but I really feel a heel turn coming along. I mean, Nattie's turned face now and they do need to even it up a bit. It seems a little too easy that AJ will turn on Daniel Bryan that I feel a swerve coming on. Either way it should be a good Mania moment. I also expect to see Vickie Guerrero managing Team Johnny and possibly Aksana on Team Teddy. I'm doubtful since she was strangely left off Raw this week. Perhaps she could turn on Teddy as well? As for the Bellas, I'm expecting a backstage segment to give them their payday or maybe they'll even find themselves at ringside for Team Teddy vs Team Johnny. I'm also expecting Maria to announce a last minute replacement for herself and just be the team's manager - introduce Alicia Fox, Natalya or a returning Layla. Whatever happens, it's sure to be an enjoyable WrestleMania.Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-84272709525651484942012-03-29T09:40:00.000-07:002012-05-27T13:58:13.823-07:00Bobby Between The Ropes #2 - Accentuate The Positive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well first of all I originally wanted to make this little entry a weekly thing, recording everything that happened during my wrestling training each week and then giving me a fun thing to look back on as I remember each and every detail. I did the same thing for my first year at college but then I remembered even I don’t have that much free time and I think I’d only just end up repeating myself. This entry has been in my head for a little while now and I seem to be reading an awful lot of online entries from Irish wrestlers such as Sean South and Danny Deans so I decided I’d offer up my own perspective. I haven’t accomplished anything yet so how about reading for no good reason at all?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don’t know what it is about society these days but it seems that every day we’re being taught that negativity is the way to go. Accentuate the negative and bask in the dark shadow of cynicism. Nearly every day when I actually listen to the radio I’m hearing about all the tragedies that are happening every day and seeing the same headlines on newspapers and magazines. I don’t mean to mock these legitimate bad things that are happening all the time but there are some days I just want to say “enough is enough” at whoever is writing all these tragedies. It’s getting to the stage where I feel like I’m listening to recaps of every soap opera in the country whenever the news is on. Even when my parents are having dinner it’s always talk about who’s dying, who’s in financial trouble, who’s being a dickhead. I’ve actually gotten into the habit of training them to keep that stuff quiet when I’m around by sticking my headphones in my ears whenever they even mention something negative. It works surprisingly well just in case your parents are the same. These days we’re taught to accentuate the negative in every situation. If someone gives us a gift we always say “you shouldn’t have” or “I can’t accept this”, or if we hear good news we always brace ourselves because we’ve been taught that bad news can’t be too far behind the corner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You might be wondering where I’m going with this but don’t worry, I’m getting there. As a writer who knows a thing or two about telling good stories, you know that stories do need darkness in them. Life without negativity would be boring. We do need something to fight and something to overcome so that the happy ending means something. Same thing with any half decent wrestling feud/match. But that also goes the other way around since life with all negativity in it would be even more painful and excruciating than if it was all sunshine and rainbows. And yet it’s like everywhere I look I’m reading the same sob story over and over again from different famous people about how they had to claw their way up from the brink of the abyss with no one supporting them, everyone telling them they’d never make it, how their life was so crappy, yadda yadda yadda. There’s thousands of people out there who literally tell the same story. Again, I’m not imputing what these people may or may have not gone through in their lives. I’m just rolling my eyes at how they’re actually where they are if every second of their pre-fame lives were as dark and angsty as they make them out to be. I have to laugh listening to “This Song Would Be Better” by Mike Aaron James who is a unique creature known as a non-angsty musician where he’s pretty much poking fun at the fact that he’s had a good life and a good upbringing and, by the laws of music, that means he can’t write good songs because he has nothing to angst about. I saw a similar thing in Krissy Vaine’s “Vainety Fair” column entitled “Who Believes In You”. I see the same above attitude in wrestling with constant stories where wrestlers talk about how people yelled at them they’d never make it, they were good for nothing and couldn’t do it. Perhaps these musicians and wrestlers are forgetting some of the positivity that actually went on in their lives in favour of all the dark angsty stuff that society has taught us all to embrace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now for my wrestling tidbits – I don’t believe in negativity. Well, at least not too much of it. In my book, you accept your mistakes, work on them and move on. When I was training, I never faced any severe negativity. I was terrified when I started that I’d have to endure some Bill DeMott clone yelling in my face calling me good for nothing and how I’d never get anywhere. Well, it’s been eight months at the Fight Factory and I’ve yet to have any kind of experience like that. There were times when I’ll admit I had a good training session and came out of it thinking I knew it all, then for the next one to completely quash that illusion. There was one session back in October that was probably the worst one I ever had to go through and I think my pet expression “biggest trainwreck since the Titanic” would be fitting here. I even strongly considered not going back because of how much of an ass I made out of myself there. But at the end of the crowner of screw-ups that day, Phil took me aside and said “everyone has a bad day. I’ve seen you when you’re on form, you’ve got good ideas so don’t let this get you down”, somehow I managed to be in a good mood when I left that day. And the next week I went to training on my birthday and got to have what remains my favourite match to this date. A guy on his first day then even came up to me and congratulated me on it. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As training went on I managed to become a little more dependable in terms of working in the ring. To me, it didn’t matter how the first 75% of the day went and if I could finish the session off with a good match then I’d leave the Fight Factory happy. That’s the mentality I keep to this day. And I’ve still never had to endure a verbal smackdown that would probably cripple me for life. My trainers know how to teach, if we make mistakes they don’t punish us by ordering us to do it ten times over. They don’t teach us to fear what they’ll do if we get something wrong. One session we were learning how to do some proper acrobatic stuff and I got to show off the one or two things I learned from my one month in gymnastics. Myself and Bull Riley managed to do the first part of the springboard arm drag that you see Tyson Kidd and Kelly Kelly doing regularly and Jordan pulled us aside and told us we’d be something big one day. Another time came at the end of the year when we’d gotten into the habit of developing our own moves during the lunch break and testing them out on each other, and we got to show the trainers everything. When we were all done, Jordan looked like he’d slept with a wire hanger in his mouth. Seriously, it’s moments like that I remember when I think of memorable training sessions. I don’t think of the umpteen times I’ve botched moves or screwed up. I remember my first match with Oliver on a show where the poor guy worked with an injured knee and we were worried we’d put on a bad match. But people who had seen it came up to us and told us it was good. It’s stupid to expect us to be Punk/Cena or Rock/Austin on our first show (though I will say I was more entertained than by anything Triple H has done since 2004). At the end of the day we had our first match on a show and it went well that I can proudly show it to anyone who asks to see me wrestle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So on my last note, I’ll leave you addressing all the “whatevers” in training right now whether it’s wrestling, music or anything else at all. Don’t dwell too much on the mistakes or screw ups. By all means recognise your flaws and mistakes but work on them, improve them and move on. Don’t mope that you can’t do a proper springboard moonsault DDT on your fourth training session. Focus on what you can do. On my first day the only thing I really did right was a flying crossbody but that was enough to get me pumped for my second day. Take criticism only when it’s constructive and allow yourself to be positive. Don’t go red when someone gives you a compliment (as I learned when Justin Shape told me I had a good training session once and I nearly fainted with the shock), take it graciously and look forward to the next one. Hope you had fun reading this entry for no good reason. Oh and you’re welcome ;)</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iVMTBlOPhIk/T3SQJPtpobI/AAAAAAAAA04/1lfJ5FyNhlA/s1600/423025_343012075741263_100000974195028_994535_818149648_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iVMTBlOPhIk/T3SQJPtpobI/AAAAAAAAA04/1lfJ5FyNhlA/s320/423025_343012075741263_100000974195028_994535_818149648_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-79832155236118203422012-03-24T14:53:00.000-07:002012-03-24T14:53:17.437-07:00Week In Review For Women's Wrestling #39And it's official. One more week to go until WrestleMania. Are you folks excited? Well probably not the ones who only watch the Divas but you gotta love that WrestleMania buzz even if you're not crazy about the matches. Well just to clarify on those who heard the FCW rumours, the territory is not actually closing though there are plans to take TV tapings out of Tampa. Triple H says more to be announced after WrestleMania is over. TNA meanwhile had a PPV this week featuring a match between women who were BFFs for all of five months. Should be a good one.<br />
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<b>Victory Road - Gail Kim* vs Madison Rayne (Knockouts Championship):</b><br />
You know what, this was a pretty good match-up. I wasn't expecting much but Madison really impressed me. From what I've seen in SHIMMER I know that she can wrestle in addition to comedy but in TNA she's not really found much balance between the two. Here she opted for proper wrestling and she was impressive with all these moves I had no idea she knew how to do. She pulled out big move after big move and that made things exciting. I expected Gail would play the face role in the match but thankfully she was clearly still a heel by the end of it. She and Madison worked really well together and their personalities just bounced so well off each other and that dynamic wouldn't have worked in a simple face vs heel match so put it down to both women having strong characters. Now I wonder what will happen after this as neither was on Impact this week but you all know I'm crossing my fingers that Velvet Sky will finally get the push she deserves. I'd actually like to see Madison and Gail stay together and then they can explore a proper break-up storyline later on. 7/10<br />
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<b>Raw Watch:</b><br />
None of the girls were actually on the show but more on that later. We finally have a WrestleMania match announced properly and all the points I made last week still stand. I'm hoping that WWE give us something for a go-home segment this Monday and I'm sure we'll all enjoy the match anyway. Here's hoping Maria has been spending the time she's not on TV in the gym learning the ways of the ring in preparation for her big match. Afterall, Sable was very impressive at WrestleMania XIV and she wouldn't even bump. Now for the good stuff - more Aksana and Vickie. That catfight was awesome and I loved every minute of it, so did the crowd too by the sounds of it. I don't really want to see a match since Vickie isn't a wrestler and Aksana is still getting used to the main roster but just let them have more catfights. I really want to see both of these women at ringside for Team Teddy vs Team Johnny so we can get a WrestleMania-sized catfight.<br />
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<b>Ring Ka King - Angelina Love vs Alyssa Flash:</b><br />
Yes! Yes! Yes! God I loved this match so much. It was definitely a dream match for me to see these two face up properly as they didn't really work together much back when Alyssa was first in TNA. Angelina works so much better as a face and it was great to see these two wrestling properly, just like the men. Angelina's looking much healthier lately as well. She showed off some nice technical skills at the start of the match and it was great to see her go fast paced against Alyssa who did well to ground her and work over her. Alyssa maybe could have gotten some more offence in but I'll expect another match with Angelina taking on Raisha Saeed this time so no harm done. The after match segment was all kinds of hilarious. Hmm, to accept a rose from a fully grown person or a giant teddy bear from a midget. I'm slowly becoming a fan of Indian Hornswoggle. 8/10<br />
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<b>Superstars - Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres vs Natalya & Tamina:</b><br />
Oh my well isn't this quite the episode of Meet The Odd Couples. Natalya working as a face it seems, though I wouldn't read too much into it just yet as she's still a heel on live events and after all Alicia worked as a face on Superstars once before she was properly turned on Smackdown. I think perhaps this is a sign they will be headed towards a Beth/Natalya program when WrestleMania is over since they did play up the storyline between them and the announcers did draw attention to it, not to mention that it was Tamina who took the pin. The opening tease between Beth and Natalya was great with all the playfulness. I definitely think Natalya now works much better as a face, having had a lengthy time to compare both personas. Eve is still adjusting to wrestling as a heel and it showed. Hopefully she doesn't go the same route as the Bellas and develops some of her own unique moves to use as a heel and keep herself interesting in the ring. That submission she used was nice and effective so hopefully she sorts herself out in time for WrestleMania. Tamina was quite impressive with her hot tag sequence and it was great to see her go fast paced. The crowd was very vocal for this match and hopefully with two bankable Divas and a "celebrity" in the WrestleMania match, WWE will see fit to give them plenty of time to work. Oh and bad landing for the moonsault but what can you do. 6.5/10<br />
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<b>Impact - ODB & Eric Young* vs Sarita & Rosita (Knockouts Tag Team Championships):</b><br />
Sarita and Rosita back on Impact, always a good thing of course. It seems Sarita has now hijacked Maryse's hair flipping and Rosa's dancing. You gotta love how she moves and how she's embraced this Spicy Latina character that TNA have given her (despite you know not actually being Latina). This match, like most of these, had more of a focus on comedy though ODB worked the most of it. I can see them eventually developing a rut here if they're dead set on not having Eric actually wrestle the girls. But they are over with the crowd and they are entertaining so I'll take comedy over champions who won't be featured any day. The action was good enough, I don't recall Sarita and ODB ever working properly together before. Well that's one of the four teams ODB and Eric can feud with out of the way for now. 6/10<br />
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<b>FCW - Audrey Marie & Kaitlyn vs Sofia Cortez & Paige:</b><br />
Not really liking the pairings here with the two veterans against two rookies. I think there should be one green girl and one experienced girl on each team. I like that Paige is keeping herself pale and therefore allowing herself to stand out from the pack. Kaitlyn and Audrey did a nice double team with the Irish whip into the arm drag and likewise Paige and Cortez did a nice double team of their own. The part with Paige in control didn't go as smoothly as it could have and her submission hold took a while to be locked in but it was great once she did get it locked. There was another strange moment where Paige got tagged and then just waited in her corner before quickly running over to cut Audrey off. Kaitlyn looked very solid and it was good to see the return of her cool finisher. She does a nice variation of the traditional Lotus Lock. A very interesting sight to see a 6-way Diva feud break out and it's good that Caylee Turner is working face again. I expect this to culminate in a 6-pack challenge for Raquel's Divas' Championship. 7/10<br />
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<b>Xplosion - Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky:</b><br />
Comparing it to the previous match these two had here on Xplosion as well as Angelina's show stopping match with Alyssa Flash over on Ring Ka King it didn't meet the high expectations. These two did share a chemistry as always but here I didn't like what was going on as much as in the other matches. I felt Velvet was in control for too much of the match and it made it feel almost like a squash match to put Velvet over as a title contender, rather than a back and forth affair between two strong competitors. It was almost like Angelina was the jobber here and that's not something I'd like to see. Comparing Angelina working heel in this match to working face on Ring Ka King, the face role is much better suited for her. Although she didn't really get to show off much in this as her timing was off on a couple of moves too. Nonetheless I still enjoyed it and as always note Velvet's big improvement in the ring, still hoping she will get the push she deserves. Good match but nothing special. 6/10<br />
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<b>Smackdown - AJ vs Brie Bella:</b><br />
Keep AJ with Daniel Bryan forever and make her wrestle on Smackdown every week if it means the girls get time to actually wrestle. I mean, the Bellas got a backstage promo and then an in-ring promo in addition to a match that also got plenty of time. I enjoyed this one a lot better than last week's one and I remember Brie and AJ having a nice little match together back on NXT. While she might not be the best worker, Brie has a very strong heel personality and she's able to use that to inject some excitement into the matches. Working with AJ who is a much better underdog than Kelly in my opinion helps as well. That headscissors into the arm bar was a nice move to see and would make a great permanent addition to AJ's moveset. The Bellas' promo after the match was nice as well though I doubt they'll actually split them. Interesting to see Nikki take Teddy's side when she's always the heel whenever they get divided. Also we saw Eve blow off Zack Ryder backstage again. Hmm, perhaps if she keeps doing this he'll eventually find another Diva who appreciates him. Someone classy, someone sensitive. Someone...Flawless? 7/10Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512879979727836876.post-15612965170425623092012-03-21T11:18:00.000-07:002012-03-21T11:18:43.860-07:0015 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2SbiLeCtp7c/T2obYrUwfMI/AAAAAAAAA0w/qgUkhaqbpwk/s1600/73442_1663738670477_1147551400_1876331_1918992_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2SbiLeCtp7c/T2obYrUwfMI/AAAAAAAAA0w/qgUkhaqbpwk/s320/73442_1663738670477_1147551400_1876331_1918992_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 – I Hate Being Called By My Real Name:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">This one’s probably obvious considering my Twitter username is completely different from my real one and yet it’s surprising that a lot of people I know don’t know how much I hate being addressed as “Rory”. To me it’s one of those things you just have to learn to live with like a bad birthmark or an unfortunate tramp stamp after an awesome night out but of course I saw history was full of famous people who couldn’t stand the horrible names their parents inflicted on them so I’ve actually been going by different nicknames for most of my life. I’ve had about six so far and I’m only twenty. The one I’m on now though definitely seems to be here to stay and thankfully it’s become a thing. I’m not wild about being called Bob but I’ll take it over Rory any day. If you think about it, the only people who say Rory these days were told so by a family member. Funnily enough I’ve said Bobby to many people yet they hear someone else say Rory and assume that’s what I want to be called. Well it could have been worse – if I’d been a girl I would have been either Saoirse or Lois. How have my parents not been contacted by Social Services yet?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">2 – I Despise Phones:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.productwiki.com/upload/images/amplified_telephones-400-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://images.productwiki.com/upload/images/amplified_telephones-400-400.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">This might seem like an odd one as well considering I never seem to stop checking my phone but I copped on in my teenage years that constantly checking your phone was a much better way to kill time than standing awkwardly staring off into space like a robot. I don’t mind mobile phones that much because they can be silenced and turned off. Plus, texting makes things a whole lot easier for me because I actually hate talking to people on the phone. It’s one of those things I can’t do and I avoid it at every opportunity. Plus if you live in a house with a gossipy mother who has an equally gossipy older sister then chances are you’ll be reduced to peeling off your own skin at the constant annoying ring that comes every five minute. If I ever move out of my parents’ house then odds are I’m not having a phone anywhere near my own house. E-mail, texting, Skype, Twitter, Facebook or how about seeing me in person is a million times more preferable to a friggin phonecall. If you ever do get a phone call from me then you know it’s important.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">3 – I Have An Amazing Memory:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://scotterb.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/memories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://scotterb.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/memories.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-IE">One side effect of a condition that’ll get much more detail in a later fact is that I have one of the strangest memories ever. I can be incredibly forgetful – such as walking into a room and forgetting why I’m there – but I can remember the weirdest amount of random little things. I can tell you what I was eating at my third birthday party. I can tell you about specific dreams I had when I spent a weekend in Paris. And if you’re a member of FFPW then chances are I can probably tell you what you were wearing on my first day. And for most people, I can remember the specific first conversations I had with them. That even goes for the random shop assistant I met three times with two years between each time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">4 – I Used To Have An Eating Disorder:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://breakyourshackles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/fad-dieting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://breakyourshackles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/fad-dieting.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">Getting a bit personal now but I’ll give you a hint – I lived. At age fourteen I wasn’t the skinniest kid but I wasn’t the chubbiest either. Unfortunately that was the age when I noticed the shape my classmates were in and that protruding gut started to give me a few sleepless nights. It didn’t help that my brother kept hurling all kinds of fat jokes at me and I had an unpleasant incident with a swim coach when I was fifteen and got told I was too fat to join the team. At the time I went down to about 6 ½ stone and kept that for about two years. I’ve gradually moved up to 8 ½ and I’m happy with that. I eat three meals a day with a couple of snacks in between and I exercise regularly. And hey, I don’t mind what I see when I look in the mirror. Of course that still doesn’t stop the mixed messages when my brother calls me a whale and my friends then tell me I need to eat something.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">5 – I Support Women’s Wrestling:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://miss-torres.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RAW_976_Photo_082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://miss-torres.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RAW_976_Photo_082.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">Again, probably very obvious to anyone who checks my Twitter feed whenever it’s time for Raw or Smackdown but there’s actually a bit of a story behind this. The first wrestling match I ever saw was two women – a throwaway WCW match involving a beauty who would eventually be known as Molly Holly in the WWE. At the time I didn’t care about these women and wanted it to be over so I could see Kevin Nash, Lex Luger and Hulk Hogan. Then the first ever WWE women’s match I saw was that famous one where Victoria whacks Trish Stratus over the head with the steel chair – I thought to myself “these girls are awesome”. When my wrestling obsession reignited, it was two women who got me appreciating the athleticism – Gail Kim and Alicia Fox to be specific. Nowadays as a thank you for properly rekindling my wrestling obsession I support those girls because lord knows management isn’t giving them much. And hey, I watched a SHIMMER DVD and it wasn’t half bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">6 – Evan Bourne Gave Me Hope For Men’s Wrestling:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebostoncrab.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Evan_Bourne_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://thebostoncrab.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Evan_Bourne_.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">Ah it’s the age old wrestling fan whining that proper wrestling has been dead since the Attitude Era and there’s nothing worth watching on TV these days. When I picked back up in 2009 I felt the same way. Nothing I was watching on Raw did anything for me and at this point I could see that Triple H, Undertaker, John Cena, Randy Orton and all those type of guys couldn’t wow me in the ring at all. And then along comes Evan Bourne in a famous Superstars match with Carlito. About two minutes into the match I close my laptop and am completely hooked. I then realised that it had been there all along – I just needed to look for it in the right places. So now on my must-watch list, we have Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd, CM Punk, The Miz, Primo & Epico and even further out on the indies with Matt Cross, Low-Ki and AJ Kirsch. Here’s to you, Evan. You always commanded my undivided attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">7 – I Can Do Many Different Accents:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">For those familiar with my daily activities, I’ve actually become used to being mistaken for many different nationalities. The list includes Australian, American, Canadian, Polish, German and Spanish. Oh and British as well, which is what I actually am. This probably has something to do with me having a fairly neutral voice which I’ve gotten from many years living in Ireland and being exposed to TV shows from around the world. I used to be very posh which was pretty annoying since I was surrounded by cockneys all day. Nowadays I can tweak my accent to imitate nearly all the English dialects including RP, cockney, Manchunian, Scouser and a bit of urban street talk which I’m still working on. For other countries I can do a neutral American accent and then tweak it slightly to fit a New York twang and then even more to sound Canadian. Of course I can do Australian no problem and since I know how to tell the difference between an Aussie and a Kiwi I should be able to master the New Zealand accent pretty soon. Sorry to the Paddies, but I have never been able to do an Irish accent. The closest I can manage is a Derry one and even that isn’t easy for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">8 – I Avoid Saying Words That I Hate The Sound Of:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">This one probably needs a little more explanation – there are some words that I hate the way they sound with my voice. As such, I avoid saying them which can actually be a bit of a pain because some of them are words that do come up in everyday conversation. I hate the way I say the word “party” for example and if I ever have to, I just quickly mumble it and hope the other person gets the gist. There’s also a wide range of weird Carlow expressions my friends use that I really can’t stand and I dislike them so much I’m not even going to write them up on here. You can guess that the Thesaurus is probably one of my best friends now. It can actually extend to people’s names as well. I had a friend in high school called Paudi and to this day I have never called him by his first name. At least not out loud anyway. I heard myself say it one day and vowed never to say it again. On the bright side it did lead to me creating a fun little nickname for him. Chances are if you’ve never heard me say your name and we’ve known each other for a while, it’s one of those words.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">9) I’ve Been Off The Booze Since Age 15:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://www.mangotribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/alcoholic-drinks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.mangotribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/alcoholic-drinks.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-IE">Okay this one is probably a lot more obvious since I’ve got straight edge in my Twitter profile description but perhaps people want a more in depth explanation. In short, I always dreaded the age when I’d have to start drinking. When I was a kid I assumed it was something everyone had to do. Afterall, all the men in my family were heavy drinkers and my dad actually gave me Guinness a couple of times when I was five years old. And so when I was fourteen I finally gave it a go and it was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. People told me it would get better if I just kept doing it and got used to it so I did it about three more times but it wasn’t long before I was completely sick of that kind of buzz. I never really made a conscious decision to stop and I just found myself in situations where I was refusing offers and the like. I knew your average crowd of 16-18 year old Irish teens would not accept an unbeliever so at first I pretended and then I even started making up stories about being allergic to it and a couple of times I even threw out an alcoholic story there. These days people are a lot more accepting but just to make sure, I don’t accept drinks from people if I haven’t seen them being poured.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">10) I Don’t Get Angry, I Get Even:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">From a young age, every single person in my family helped squash any anger urges that built up inside me. I’ve never been allowed to get angry once. My brother and father have enough of a bad temper between them so I guess a third hot headed male in the family would have been too much. Anyway, I quickly learned that getting angry doesn’t solve anything. You look like an idiot and you end up embarrassing yourself. My philosophy is that if someone has pissed you off in a severe way, get even and then move on. Case in point – a couple of girls I was friendly with invited me over for dinner one night and went around spiking every drink in the house as well as the jelly they were serving. I was furious of course but I got my revenge by taking a half empty bottle of vodka with me to the toilets and filling it up in my own little way. To this day I don’t know if they drank it but I haven’t associated with them ever since. I’ll be polite and say hello if they pass me on the street but I won’t get too close. After all, they might still have piss breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">11) Short Hair On Women Is My Deal Breaker:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.renoirgallery.com/paintings/renoir-young-girl-combing-her-hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.renoirgallery.com/paintings/renoir-young-girl-combing-her-hair.jpg" width="167" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">Every person has the one thing that destroys an attraction to the opposite sex (or same sex if that’s what you’re into). For some it’s a deep and emotional thing but for me it’s something shallow. Which basically means you can be late for dinner every day of the week and I’ll likely be okay with it but if you abruptly cut your hair short then I’m probably going to be running for the hills in less than a week. I have never found a woman with short hair to be attractive and it’s a philosophy that isn’t going to change any time soon. I’m not completely opposed to the idea so future girlfriends/wives/casual acquaintences, if you’re thinking of chopping all your hair off then please let me know in advance so I can prepare for the upcoming depression. But if you decide on a whim to get the chop and come home with it like that to surprise me then be ready for a surprise of your own. For those wondering, the shoulders is the shortest I believe a woman’s hair should be. I’m not completely opposed to pixie cuts since you can get the odd girl who’ll pull it off but to me The Bob is the ugliest hairstyle ever invented and not one woman on this Earth looks attractive with one.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">12) My List Of Phobias Are…:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"> Well women with short hair is a big one coming off from number 11 but I’m incredibly arachnophobic as I hate spiders with a burning fiery passion. They are disgusting creatures and I won’t hesitate to squash one if I see it (provided it’s small – the big ones will get a big girly scream as I run away as fast as my legs will let me). I’m pyrophobic as well which I only discovered when I lit a match for the first time. Then getting even more deep into it is my fear of large crowds. I have a similar reaction to someone who’s claustrophobic when I’m walking through a large crowd of people. Even if three or more pass me on the street, I’m likely to feel some form of anxiety. And heaven help me if they happen to be teenagers in school uniforms. Then of course there’s the average fears of wasps, loud noises, severe illnesses and my most recent one of vomiting. You’ll be surprised how many foods I eliminated from my diet because of my intense fear of throwing them up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">13) My Taste In Movies…:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">This does tend to shift depending on what time of the year it is but there are a few specific genres I seem to cycle through. For ages I couldn’t get enough of horror films. I love them for some reason and being scared is just one big thrill to me. I hate The Shining though, and won’t hesitate to vehemently explain why it is far from the best horror film ever made to people who suggest otherwise. I do like my sci-fi films but I’ve never actually seen Star Wars or watched Star Trek or the like. Aliens was my favourite film for years and Michael Biehn was my idol. Then of course there’s the fantasy films which I loved when I was a kid – Lord of the Rings remains the film that made the biggest impression on me. And I gotta have some epics in there but I like the odd drama every now and then. However I despise comedy movies with a passion. I don’t know why but to me, comedy is something best suited to a half-hour TV episode and not something you stretch out for 90 minutes. I don’t mind other genres with comedy in them but when comedy is the sole genre, the film is off my list.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">14) I’m An Insomniac:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://medicmagic.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Insomnia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://medicmagic.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Insomnia.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-IE">Again, could be obvious if you glance at my Twitter or Facebook page and see how many early morning/late night posts there are but chances are even if I don’t post anything, I’m still going to be on there for ages late at night/early in the morning. I’ve had insomnia ever since I was a kid and getting to sleep is the biggest challenge of the day (unless said day happens to be a Danny Butler training session). I’ve researched it and read all the reports on how it’s stress-related and all that but really the only way that’ll help me is if I turn off my brain for the night which of course is impossible (if it isn’t then please direct me). I have developed some ways of getting to sleep earlier such as not eating after 7 pm, staying away from lights late at night and doing stuff before bed to tire me out but it’s pretty rare for me to get a full good night’s sleep. However if I come home during the day and hop into bed, I’ll be out like a light pretty soon. Someone care to explain that?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span lang="EN-IE">15) I’m Autistic:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE">This one I’ve known since I was ten years old though I’d suspected that I wasn’t exactly a nice normal child for long before that. I have a condition called Asperger’s Syndrome where I have trouble functioning in social situations among other things. Anyone who’s met me recently will probably just think I need to cut back on the caffeine (which I probably do) but if you met me before the age of 17 you’d know something wasn’t right. It’s taken years of practice and hard work to get me comfortable out there in the wild and even then I’ll still have to plan out possible conversations I might have to have in the future as well as being terrible with eye contact. This condition is also what helps me have my freaky memory as well as my weird obsessions with things and my fear of talking on the phone. Sarcasm is something I have trouble understanding sometimes but as always I’m getting better the more time I spend in the wild. Talking online is a lot easier for me so don’t be surprised if I seem to be a better person to talk to when there’s a computer screen separating us.<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-IE"><br />
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</span></div>Bobby_says_hihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02062616371633631792noreply@blogger.com2