Are the best wrestling Villains truly on the mic?

One of the reasons I have always loved wrestling, happens to be the commentators.  It's something I would honestly love to do myself, just once even.   But, I think part of the reason I love the commentators so much, is they can say anything and get away with it.

In other words, if you're in the announce booth you're probably there because you're an excellent heel. Sympathetic to the troubles and disrespect that the big bad in the ring is subject to from fans. (I'm waiting for the day The Shield take over Smackdown's announce booth for the night. Just one episode, don't make me beg.)

Bobby the Brain Heenan, Cyrus, Joel Gertner, Tazz, Michael Cole,  all known as much for pissing people off as they are for anything else, and all with the simple use of their voice.

When I get into conversations with other fans, everyone asks me who my biggest influence growing up was, and my answer is always Bobby the Brain Heenan.   Hands down. I loved the way he could manipulate a microphone more so then anything else he ever did in an actual ring.

I first started to watch ECW on tv because I was a fan of Raven, I continued watching because of Joel Gertner.  I loved anticipating who would be the baseline for his jokes every week.  And who didn't have a laugh fest every time he'd ball up his fists and give a silent open mouthed laugh in the style of a two year old?   Dude, priceless.

JCW is as much known for having 3D and Gweedo (the wrestling on air persona of Violent J, and Shaggy 2 Dope) as they are for helping bring guys like the late Trent Acid to a wider audience.  Those two pulled no punches when calling a match. And created stories within stories within inside jokes each episode. Sometimes expanding on a character.

Currently, NXT has William Regal as the center piece for the mouth pieces, but I've yet to see the WWE really put stock into bringing the next generation of announcers into the forefront.  Michael Cole has been carrying the Monday and Friday night shows on his back now for the last few years. Brad Maddox and Josh Mathews could, if given an honest shot, become the next generation of voices to carry fans into the next few decades.

This is one thing, I'm sorry to say, TNA is short on. We have Tazz as colour commentator, but no one else on the Impact announce booth crew (say that three times fast) seems to be as charasmatic. Nor do I see anyone jumping in any time soon.  This would be an excellent use of Christopher Daniels or Austin Aries between matches, as they are both wicked on the mic.

I've actually been on the receiving end of a mouth full of nasty comments from Cyrus at autograph signings and live events, even when he's off he's on. But that doesn't change the fact I think he's one of the best microphone masters around.

When we think of a really great match, we think of the wrestlers, but when we think of a really great episode, many of us remember the one liners and the catch phrases at just the right point in a match, as much as who was in the ring itself that night. Guest announcers for matches, can make or break the concentration of the regular announce crew, adding to or taking from what normally could have been a really great commentary.  A great announcer can jump script and steer a sinking segment into smoother waters, while others flounder in their notes.

Usually, its the villains who end up saving the segment.


Love Ardeth Blood

What I would like to see on WWE

It's another Tuesday, which means it's a morning after Raw.
One of the top stories is that the Shield will be going up against Team Hell No and Undertaker next week.

Well, the way I see it, most people are banking on the Shield getting their first loss.  And given the fact the creative team doesn't seem to have any balls when it comes to making the Undertaker loose, I suppose that's what the outcome will be. 

Which will piss me off to the end of time.

Unless, the Shield manage to play a game of keep away and cause the Undertaker, and the others to be counted out.
If the Undertaker and Kane are kept out of the ring long enough by say Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, that would give Seth Rollins the chance to pin Daniel Bryan. 

I could live with that.

Or, there is the idea that Jon Cena will come running in and cause a DQ, where no one will win. And therefore, the Undertaker turning on Cena.  

I could live with that too.

If by chance, my favourite vengeance demons-vampiric werewolves (yeah I'm still in Buffy the Vampire Slayer mode) do get that pin, it would be nice to see Seth Rollins do so. 

And maybe just maybe see Rollins choose one hair colour... I don't know, I'm partial to the dark side.

Love Ardeth Blood

Highlights for WWE Raw for May 28th 2012

We open with Big Show coming to the ring. It's official, he's gone Heel.
He ranted for the whole time he was out there about Cena and how he's got him in his view finder.
 
First match was between Albert Del Rio and Santino.  This has more to do with getting the ring announcer out of that role and into the role of an active wrestler.   This was over in thirty seconds, with Del Rio slapping on his arm breaker.

We then went backstage and saw Alex Riley for the first time in months. Too bad he got shoved into the brick wall by Big Show.

The second match of the night was a tag team match for the belts.  Kofi/R-Truth vs Swagger/Ziggler.  This wasn't much of a match either, R-Truth got the pin over Swagger and got the win, keeping the belts.
Could this be the long awaited end of Ziggler and Swagger?

Then more of Big Show beating up the guys in the back...

Then Laranutis Lauranitus Larunatis John what's his face was trying to say he has become the most popular wrestler in the company now.  CM Punk then came out to inform the crowd he's the new face of the WWE 13 videogame.
Punk had a match against Daniel Byran. and in the middle of it, Daniels' ex girlfriend came out to the ring dressed in Punk's gear... oh god do they really need to write that storyline?  Bryan got the win sort of with a bit of a cheat because he used the exposed turnbuckle.  Then Kane came down and used a steel chair on Bryan. Then Punk got his hands on a chair and used it on Kane.

Next match, Christian vs Miz.  Cody Rhodes was on commentary for this. Christian got the win.
Miz was still standing in the ring nearly five minutes later after the commercial break, ranting about how he's been dumbed down from A-Card to D-Card, but was interrupted by Orton who took him out with one hit.

Then to Dolph Ziggler and Vickie in the backstage area watching Orton on the monitor saying he wants out of the tag division.

The next match was Otunga vs Sheamus. You know, I've said more then once over the last three and a half years, that Sheamus has a great smile that just brightens up the room. Sheamus got the win.

The main event was Brodus Clay vs Big Show.  Now, I would have thought that either Sheamus or Punk whom are the two title holders would have been the main event, but that would make sense. Big Show made the comments about how Clay's gimmick being crap then speared Clay outside of the ring. I don't think the bell even rang, as they never got into the ring.  R-Truth and Kofi came to the ring to help Clay but Big Show just swatted them away like flys before destroying the announce booth. He used the side of the booth as a weapon then.

Week of May 12 2012 - Highlights and Thoughts

This is a bit of a quickie for the two  major companies for the week.

Start with WWE Raw-  The return of Paul Heyman was cool, but the fact he was there to represent Lesnar, not a happy.  I think I know where they are heading with this storyline and it gets a major thumbs down from me.

 CM Punk and Laurinaitis... they work well off each other. This is a feud that has many more months of promise for it.  Not too sure why they decided to thrown in Cena?

Smackdown-  The whole Sheamus vs Orton vs Del Rio vs Jericho... what do I think about that?  I think that there are too many players in this game.  Jericho and Orton should be off in another round and let Sheamus vs Del Rio hold the hour.   But that didn't happen, instead all the ingredients were tossed into the pot together.  Now, at their next ppv it's going to be a big 4 way match.   Dude, that is just too predictable and not necessary.   You all know this means that Orton will get the win over someone and take the belt.  And no I don't think that it would lead to a very interesting feud between Orton and Sheamus down the line, I think it would be a mistake.


Now, on to TNA Impact...  Where do I start?  I've been covering TNA on my personal blog most the time, but felt I would add just a snapshot of thought on it here...  I feel like they are grasping at straws right now.   Teasing the fans for the last 4 and a half months with a major life altering issue with A. J. Styles only to have it be what they showed this past week; too much like a bad soap opera and I know bad soap operas...

I really hate the fact that the main events are being given to RVD and Hardy over and over and over.  It's just old news on a deja vu loop.

I am loving the push that Austin Aries has had.  He's a lighthouse in the fog.  I was a big fan of his few years back when he made his other runs in TNA, and think that now he's finally getting the respect he deserves.

I just wish that this Zema Ion character would go away.  That or upgrade his gimmick, cause he's doing nothing to keep my attention.

And that's the view from my sofa this week.
Love Ardeth Blood

Highlights for WWE Raw 4/30/2012

This is the night after Extreme Rules

Seems that they are going to humour Lesnar with the "changing" of the title of Raw to include "starring Brock Lesnar"    that's just bogus man.
Then Triple H came out and set the record straight that this demanding crap is just that, total crap. 

Lesnar then attacked Triple H and it looks like he broke his arm.   Bye Bye Lesnar!
That was difficult to watch and WWE would be wise not to replay that too much.

They announced a beat the clock match for the number 1 contenders for CM Punk's belt.
It started off with the Miz vs Santino. Miz got it with a 4 minutes and 18 seconds.

Diva's title match, triple threat- Layla, Brie and Nikki Bella.  Layla dropkicked the twins and rolled one up to keep the title.

Next beat the clock match - Jericho vs Big Show.  The clock ran out with Big Show out of the ring and Jericho sliding in as it was running out.  No one won this. 

Next up was Brodus Clay vs JTG.   Clay won this without much effort.

Next beat the clock match - Randy Orton vs  Swagger.  Orton got the win with 2 seconds on the clock. He set the new time to beat at 4minutes 16 seconds.

Tag team match- Primo/Epico vs Kofi/R-Truth.   Kofi got the pin and the win for the tag team belts.  This should be an interesting new tag champs.  Let's see if they can keep the belts for awhile.

Another match in the beat the clock- Kane vs Khali.  No contest, both men failed to beat the clock. Kane did however deliver a choke slam after the time ran out.

Final beat the clock match- Daniel Bryan vs Lawler.   Bryan won by a tap out and beat the clock at 3minutes and 21seconds. {if I did my math right} there was 1minute and 55seconds left on the clock
This means that Daniel Bryan will go one to the next ppv to be the #1 contender.

The ending was Cena coming to the ring to discuss the ppv last night and the events of the show so far tonight.
Laurnitis then came out to make comments about everything as well. Then Tensai came out and they continued to break Cena's already injured arm.

That was just wrong, sick and wrong...

Highlights for WWE Raw for April 23 2012

This was a 3 hour show tonight.

We opened the show with Edge.  He came to the ring to rant at Cena.

The first match of the night then was between Jericho and Kofi.  Jericho put Kofi in a very harsh looking walls of Jericho for the win. He then went on to talk about CM Punk and their match at the next ppv.

Next up was R-Truth vs Tensai. This match was just to show Tensai as a monster. He won with no trouble.

After that, there was a tag match with Alberto Del Rio/ Cody Rhodes vs Khali/ Big Show.  This was mostly for a chance to stick it to Rhodes after what he did on Smackdown last week when he injured the knee of Khali.  At one point Rhodes went after Big Show's knee as well. Big Show got the win on Rhodes with a choke slam. This was after Del Rio left.

Next up a divas match. One of the Bella twins vs Beth Phoenix.  Nikki Bella became the new Diva champ after Beth fell breaking her ankle.

Then they brought CM Punk out to test if he'd been drinking... then gave Jericho a five minute beat down

Next up was Sheamus vs Mark Henry. Daniel Bryan was the guest ref.  Henry won by a quick count by Bryan.

Next was a tag match between Santino/Ryder vs Primo/Epico.  Santino got the win,

Then a match with Brodus Clay/Hornswaggle vs Dolph Ziggler/Swagger.  Ziggler messed up Hornswaggle for a few minutes before getting tossed across the ring.  Clay tagged in, as did Swagger but the match was called because Vickie got into the ring.

The end of the show was just Cena and Lesnar talking about the ppv on the weekend.

Highlights for WWE Raw for April 16th 2012

We opened with a match between CM Punk and Mark Henry.  This was for the title.
Punk was taking a lot of damage because this a no DQ match.  He then took a major risk and jammed Henry outside the ring.  Punk then continued to send kick after kick to the upper back of Henry, before Henry tossed him hard into the railing.
Henry then got Punk into the ring and was standing on him. Punk ended up resorting to a steel chair. But he only got a two count.  Henry then got the chair and turned it on Punk.
Punk went off the top rope but was caught in mid-air but somehow got a kick to the jaw of Henry.
He then went off the top turnbuckle with the chair and managed to get the win and kept the belt.

Next up - Santino vs Otunga for the United States title. They started with a tie up then Santino went for a go behind. Otunga turned it around quick, with a few stomps from the top rope. He went for a couple of covers but only had near falls.  He then kicked Santino in the jaw before going for another cover.  Santino had his foot on the rope and then turned it around with a headbutt and used his cobra to get the win keeping his title

Next up-  Zack Ryder vs Kane.  Kane kicked Ryder into the announce booth, then tossed him around like a doll, slamming him back first into the ring apron. Finally in the ring, Kane used his choke slam to end the match quickly.  There was no bell so was this even an official match?

Next up-  Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston.  Bryan seemed like he had it undercontrol until Kofi got in a few kicks. Then Daniel turned it back in his favour by working on the left arm of Kofi. He went for the cover but only got a near fall, before going back to work on the left arm of Kofi. Kofi used his leg strength to get out of the way of Bryan, and went for a high risk off the top rope to the outside.
Back in the ring, and Bryan kicked the ropes while Kofi was leaning on them. He then stood on Kofi's chest before kicking him in the chest while in the corner. He went for a cover but only got a two count.
Kofi managed to get a few kicks of his own in then went for his boom drop. He missed though with his trouble in paradise.  Both were on the top ropes, with Kofi going for a frogsplash and missing. Bryan got the label lock forcing Kofi to tap.

Next up-  Brodus Clay vs Dolph Ziggler.  Dolph went for a drop kick and failed.  Clay then tossed him across the ring, and was quickly thrown out by the ref because of interference.

Next up-  Khali/ Big Show vs Primo/Epico.  Khali was smacking around Epico for about two minutes. Then Primo and Epico grabbed the titles and started to leave but Big Show sent them back into the ring. Khali continued to chop them, and both men were choke slammed and Big Show got the win.

Next up-  Cena vs Tensai. They started by exchanging fists before Cena got his face planted in the turnbuckle. Tensai then stomped on Cena before giving him a headbutt. He shoved Cena into the far corner before delivering another kick to Cena's chest. He whipped him into the far corner again.
Cena rolled out of the ring.
Cena hit Tensai with the steps as the manager kicked him. Back in the ring, and Tensai went for the cover but only got a two.
Tensai ran at Cena but missed hitting the turnbuckle.  Cena lifted him and tossed him before going for his trademark moves.  But Tensai stopped him with a chop to the throat.
Tensai had him in an arm-bar on the mat, but Cena got the STF on him. But Ortunga ran into the ring and got slammed.
Tensai with the green mist and the cover for the win.

Highlights for Raw for April 9th 2012

Back to having guest stars, with the three actors playing the Three Stooges in the new movie remake.  {that's another rant for another blog doing a remake of the stooges}

But the show opened with John Laurinaitis who came down to the ring and blah blah blahed for a bit, showing footage from last week.  Then introduced Brock Lesnar.   snore
John Cena then came to the ring and smashed Lesnar in the face.  An old fashion fight broke out causing the entire locker room to come to the ring.  Now, normally that would not even raise an eyebrow cause it happens all the time, but this time, some of the guys were only half dressed in pieces of their ring gear and pieces of their real clothes, and Cena was left looking like he should be an extra on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

There was nothing to do next but go to a match after the commercial... Brodus Clay/Santino vs Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger.   Vickie, I don't know how I feel about that dress, I do however wish Brodus Clay would give up the gimmick and just wrestle.  Brodus Clay got the win over Ziggler

The second match of the night was R-Truth vs Codey Rhodes.   The Big Show came out in the middle of the match to distract him. This gave R-Truth a chance to get the upper hand, and the win over Rhodes.

Tensai vs Yoshi Tatsu. Was the next match, and it wasn't much of one. The ref had to stop the match giving the win to Tensai.  bored now

CM Punk came out to the ring a few minutes later to address the situation from last week where Jericho had broken a bottle of whiskey over his head.  Personally I think this Jericho plot is a bad storyline idea. 
Punk then had a match against Mark Henry.  This was a title match, which ended really fast as Punk used a monitor to bash Henry over the head getting a DQ.  That helped him keep his title.  Jericho came down to the ring then, with two cases of beer. Punk managed to retaliate for a few seconds before getting a codebreaker from Jericho.  Jericho then poured beer all over Punk.

Next up was Zack Ryder vs Albert Del Rio.  Del Rio was looking like it didn't even cause him to break stride.  And it didn't take him long to make Ryder tap out to the arm-bar.

Then the actors playing the Three Stooges came out to the ring, Will Sasso  was dressed like Hulk Hogan... um... dude the gimmick got booed. And I'm so not a fan of him... the wrestler, fan of Sasso but I think that was just... um... bad idea.  This was Kane's cue to come to the ring... just a crap segment.

I did not care to see Lesnar back... moving on. The review of the cage match from Wrestlemaina between Undertaker and Triple H... interesting that he chose to wear the Hellraiser style trenchcoat. There is a naked actor somewhere wondering why his Pinhead costume is missing.

Main event - David Otunga vs John Cena.  Otunga ended up having to tap out.  Lesnar then ran in with a low blow. 

If you're looking for a rating or something tonight on the show... it would get a letter grade of C- or a star rating of only 2 stars.  I think if the crew spent more time thinking about the direction of things and less time having everyone breaking their thumbs on twitter it would have had a better chance. 

I'm just waiting for Wade Barrett's arm to heal and for him to be able to make his return. The next couple of months will be long as we wait.

What I thought of WWE this week

I'll start with NXT. 
Another Rookie got eliminated this week.   Conor O'Brian.    I want another recount!  Damn it!
Then at the end of the show, they bring back Derrick Bateman.  Are you trying to piss me off?  You traded Conor O'Brian for that piece of crap?

If you saw Raw this week, then you saw what looks like the end of CM Punk. 
On NXT, they announced that because of his little rant he's been suspended indefinitely.  Um, how does that work? I mean, wasn't he leaving anyway? So all WWE has done is take away his last match ?  Was there a real point to that other then you know, getting his name in more headlines then it would have been to begin with.   So I suppose a kudos to you.

And then we had the announcement of Chavo quitting.  This was a semi-shock.  One of the best natural talents in the business and he was not being used proper.  I do not blame him for bailing.  Would have made sense to stick out the last few episodes of NXT, but that's from a fan's point of view. I have no idea what might have been going on behind the scenes.

And again, I ask  Does anyone know what happened to Husky Harris?  one day he's part of the New Nexus, next day he gets a boot to the skull, then poof.

Raw Highlights for April 4th 2011

So this was the big show after Wrestlemania 27.

I was not completely impressed.  No, I did not see WM27.  I'm poor, I can not afford ppvs. 

Raw opened with Triple H coming to the ring to hint at the idea that a new feud is now going to emerge between himself and Undertaker, after the fact he lost and the Undertaker is secure with a 19-0.

From there, we had Cole come out banged up to the nines with a horrible red outfit on.  Bad choice there Cole, bad choice. Stick to your suites please.  He waxed poetic about his win the night before too.

Match #1  was a rematch between Lawler and Swagger from the other week. Swagger got the win originally with his ankle lock but the ref reversed the decision when he would not let it go after the bell.

Match #2 was a tag team return match as well between Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio vs CMPunk/Cody Rhodes.  This was the longest match of the show by the by.  Orton got the pin on this one.
Orton won his WM27 match the night before against Punk
Rhodes won his WM27 match the night before against Mysterio.

Stone Cold then came out to introduce the crew of the New Tough Enough.  This was interrupted by Miz and the Bore-Spore Alex Riley.   Miz I see was still the champ meaning he won his WM27 match as well.  Of course, this broke down rapidly with the Bore-Spore getting a stunner, which ruined his tux.  Cole then got a beer poured over him in his little cubicle.

Match #3 was Alberto Del Rio vs Evan Bourne.  Del Rio got the win on this one.  
He lost his WM27 match the night before.

Match #4 was Dolph Ziggler/Vickie  vs John Morrison/Trish Stratus.   Morrison got the win here.
Was interesting to see that when Vickie came out to the ring, she ripped a new one into LayCool for having lost their match the night before to that reality star.
Can't wait to see how that is going to turn out. Will we see a feud between Vickie and Layla?

Match #5 was Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan.   Sheamus got the win. This had been for the United States belt.  You all know I have a bit of a lust for Sheamus, but dude, so not digging the new red/white/blue gear. It just seems wrong to me. 
Then the Raw debut of Sin Cara.  As he came down to the ring to make himself known to Sheamus.  This is a feud that could have some interesting elements if played out right.

The show closed out with Cena vs the Rock talking at each other in the ring. Then doing something that had me scratching my skull... Cena vs the Rock at WM28.  Yes you and I did not have corn in our ears, lest I did not you might have.  They are letting us know a full year ahead of time what the main event will be. 
My question is Why?   What the hell are they going to do for a full year with these two?
Big mistake I think.  Seriously.  A full year?  By the time we get to next year's WrestleMania we'll have seen way too much of these two. There is just no way they can make a silk purse out of that sow's ear.

Then the Corre tried their best to scare up some trouble on the Rock and Cena but got their hairdos handed back to them.   I say it that way because, you guessed it,  Wade Barrett's hair did not move.  He got slammed, shuffled, bottomed and a few slaps and that Jughead Jones comic book hairdo did not move a millimeter. None!  Someone needs to hide the hair gel in their locker room.  Just once, I would like to see Wade Barrett come to the ring with hair that has some life to it.

What's WWE's Plan?

Every year at some point they put together two wrestlers who are going to battle each other for the belt, as a tag team to have them wrestle for the tag belts.
And usually, they win much to both wrestler's shock. That leaves them having to defend the tag belts and wondering if they can trust their partner.

So it was no shock to see them do it once again this past Monday on Raw.  This time Miz and Cena won the tag belts after defeating Gabriel and Slater who had just won them the night before at the ppv.  Cena seemed happy, Miz seemed smug. 
Wade Barrett of the Corre then slapped down the old faithful rematch clause and we were all treated to another twelve minutes of what was actually a really interesting match. 

Then, instead of sticking to the usual game plan WWE has with this foes for partner storyplot where they would be tag champs for the next month or so until Wrestlemaina,  the Miz screwed Cena out of the belts.

Well, even I was sitting there watching the show yesterday (it was the replay as I never get to see anything when it originally airs) wondering what they did that for? 
Was it just to shake up the same old same old, or does WWE have something else in store down the road?

I understand that they are really making a point to have the Miz be the most hated champ. {I also happened to notice they really made it a point earlier in the show to drive home the idea that Alberto Del Rio is a Heel even though he's really getting a lot of fan backing as of late. And for one reason, Del Rio is one of the best wrestlers going.} And this move would cement that.  Was this just a chance to add a bit of spotlight to the still on-the-respirator-tag division? Or is there something even more diabolical up the sleeves of creative?

Having the belts on Gabriel and Slater in the end... only one step above where they were the night before. 
Having Cena and Miz hold the belts for a few weeks... would have been an interesting way to roll into Wrestlemaina.

Smackdown for Feb 18th 2011- Highlights

I thought it was time for a new icon.


This was the 600th episode of Smackdown.  It's been on air now for 12 years.

Match #1 was a 12man tag with members from both Raw and Smackdown.

• Edge
• Randy Orton
• John Morrison
• R-Truth
• Rey Mysterio
• John Cena

they went against

• CM Punk
• Sheamus
• Wade Barrett
• Drew McIntyre
• Kane
• Dolph Ziggler

Edge got the win for his team over Ziggler. This was after Mysterio had 619ed both Ziggler and Barrett. Wow. Not even the 619 could knock loose the hair gel from Barrett's Jughead Jones hair style.

Then Vickie came out to the ring, with her footage from few weeks ago telling Edge that he's been sort of stripped of the belt, saying Dolph Ziggler was the real champ and then fired Edge.

Match #2 Was a Diva's tag match.  Layla/Maryse vs Eve/Beth.   Layla got the win

Match#3 Kofi Kingston vs Miz.    The Miz got the win with a distraction from... Alberto Del Rio of all people.  I'm sort of shocked that the Bore-Spore Alex Riley behaved himself. But he was looking spiffy in a white tie.   Riley I mean.

Match #4 was Gabriel/Slater vs Santino/Kozlov.  This got a large DQ when the rest of the Corre interrupted.  Then the Big Show came out and cleaned house.

We ended the show with what was suppose to be the handing over of the belt to Ziggler, but what happened was that Teddy Long came to the ring and told Vickie he knew it had been her all this time who attacked him. He then re-hired Edge

Match #5- Edge vs Ziggler for the title.  Edge got the win and was once again named the champ.
Teddy Long then fired Ziggler.

I have to wonder what that storyline is setting up for?

I know the ppv is tonight, and I know the promos for the Undertaker have been saying 2/21/11  which would be tomorrow.  So I am guessing that means the Undertaker will be switching over to Raw.

2010- How I felt TNA vs WWE stacked up

I used screen capture for this post

Spudguns!  You all know that I am Team TNA.  And more specifically Team MotorCityMachine Guns!    Even before they were officially a tag team I was 100% behind both Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin.  I'm a tag team addict to say the lest.
So, you would think that I would love every second no matter how bad it was of TNA's shows.  Well, not so fast there.  You also know from my silly posts over the years (those of you who read my main blog) that I refer to my addiction to wrestling like a relationship.  2010 had me not feeling the love from my team and nearly asking for a divorce.

I actually found myself enjoying WWE more in 2010.  Mostly because of Season 2 of NXT, Raw having Sheamus, and Smackdown having both Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.  I also thought the announce team of Josh Mathews and Todd Grisham and Matt Striker to be more comforting then having to listen to the ones over on TNA's Impact. Not to mention the badly done interview styles of Jason Hervey .... I kept waiting for someone to force feed him a stepped on chocolate bar like in Monster Squad now that would have been funny!

The year of 2010 started off with the return of the Monday Night Wars.   Jan 4th and to say the lest, it sucked goat balls.  It was down hill for TNA for months.

TNA's scores:
* Seriously, the only hot spot was indeed the Best of 5 that MotorCityMachine Guns!  and Beer Money Inc had during the summer for the belts.
*I did like the storyline Abyss was given of being off his handle.
*Putting the TV title on Douglas Williams was brilliant as well.
*Letting Jay Lethal be Jay Lethal and giving him back the X belt. 

WWE's scores: 
*NXT Season 2 was fabulous. It brought up some interesting talent.
*Putting CM Punk on the announce team for Raw was also a score as he brought both a grounding to the booth and some long over due comedic verse.
*Nexus in general was brilliant, giving a chance to make some of the Heels have a reason to turn Face for a few months.
*Alex Riley, or as I have been calling him, The Bore-Spore, has shown that he's got what it takes to become a major talent.
*Alberto Del Rio came out of almost nowhere and just dominated the scene. I haven't seen a Heel with that kind of in ring skill in years. The fact they made him a Pro for Season 4 of NXT shows he's got the goods, and I'm betting his Rookie will be on Smackdown soon.
*KnuckleHead  the movie.  Oh my god.  I can not remember the last time there was a movie released with a WWE wrestler in it that was good.  This might actually be a first for them in that regard.
* The PG era.  Most likely the most brilliant move they've done in over 20 years. It forced them to cut back on the crap and actually increase the wrestling and therefore push the guys who actually have the skills and talent to wrestle.
*Moving Edge to Smackdown, strong bold flavour there.
*Putting a belt on Dolph Ziggler. He's one of the most solid wrestlers in the business at the moment. Brilliant, simply brilliant move.
*Bringing in Daniel Bryan.  You just can not hate this guy, he's too good.  It's also nice to hear the WWE giving on air credit to guys who have been in the business for years in other companies.
*Sheamus.  The first time I saw Sheamus over a year ago on Raw I was hit by lighting. I remembered some of his indie stuff that I had seen online, and having seen him on in a documentary. All I have to say is what took WWE so damned long to get him? He's a Heel you love to hate and has the talent, the mic skills, the look the voice... sorry bit of a drool fest here for him. 

WWE's Failures:
*Kaval is one of the most talented wrestlers around, but yet they fail to use him for anything other then jobber of the week.  He should have been given a bigger push.
*Micheal Cole and his damned computer.  Stop it. Just dump the computer stuff and shut Cole up.
*Edge and Kane's comedy soap opera.  That was just alot of wasted time.
*The Tag Team Division.  It is a mess. They're going to need to do a hell of alot more clean up still with this.
*Cody Rhodes and his dashing crap. Just drop the gimmick and wrestle

TNA's Failures:
*Reaction. It's like it just did not have it's identity in place until the last four episodes.
*Changing the TNA belt to fit Jeff Hardy's personality. Frealing stupid frealing move. Just bad.
*Bringing in Jeff Hardy. I understand you wanted to pull fans from the other company but I don't like him. Nor do I feel you have been using him properly. If you were going to build things on his name, then you should have done it differently, and made him more independent from any factions.
*Robbie E and Cookie.  Just bad. You should have left them as Orlando's gay-bi-fruit flies. They are just annoying now.
*The whole thing between Flair and Lethal.  It was just pointless. Jay Lethal needed a push I understand that, but dropping him into that gimmick right after letting him be him again after what; nearly four years of being Macho Man, it was too much sugar coated crap ontop of sugar coated crap.
*London Brawling. Miss Matched at best. That's a fashion don't ontop of a bad mistake.
*A.J. Styles as the mini Flair. It was not even laughable it was that bad an idea. And don't even get me started on the Flaired version of Styles' robe.
*Not having JB doing interviews backstage this year.  When fans think of the VOICE of TNA they think JB
*Hulk Hogan. It was just... I'm not even going to waste my breath complaining other then to say ... frealing stupid putting that old goat on air.
*Taking Shark Boy off air.  Fans love him, bring him back to Impact!
*Mr. Shelley, Mr. Sabin... getting rid of the red pants. 

That's how I felt about our love affair this past year. Every relationship has it's rough patches, so here's hoping the romance gets better in 2011. Kiss Kiss Noise.
Love Ardeth Blood

Pssstt... Riley what's in the case?

Since it's the holidays, I thought I would post something light.

I made a comment last week about how Bore-Spore Alex Riley was still carrying around the old red beat in Money in the Bank briefcase that had belonged to the Miz.   Well as of the Christmas Eve episode of Smackdown,  Riley was carrying a brand new silver briefcase of his very own.
I want to know what's in it. 

I know when Riley started out, his main gimmick was "The Varsity Villain."   BUT cause I'm who I am, I think my Bore-Spore is actually a secret geeky-nerd.  
Yes indeed I do.   So I think, like all good little geeky-nerds, what he's got in the shinny silver case is in fact 100% geek approved. 

Item #1 - An autographed photo of William Shattner. 

Item #2- A mixed CD of old 80's heavy metal bands

Item #3- A well worn copy of  Save the Assistants by Lilit Marcus

Item #4- Empty mini bottles of whiskey that you get on flights (oh come on it was a ready made joke)

Item #5-A rejected design for an Alex Riley tee that simply says "Bore-Spore" in a blood red splatter on an off white that reminds you of those old Hammer horror films on the front and A-Rye on the back

Well, that's what I think he's got in that shinny new case.

Anyways, hope everyone has a safe New Year.  See you all in 2011

Raw for Dec 13th 2010-Highlights

This was the Slammys.   A very god damned painful waste of time. I really do not see the point of doing an award show every year, can't you just do them up in a special edition of the WWE Magazine and not waste my life.

Where do I start.... CM Punk saying "chillax"  Oh my god! The last time I heard someone said chillax, they were a drunk 20 year old girl with rings in her face and green hair.  Punk, please don't say it again, please.

Next on my chopping block would be David Arquette.  Dude, you were funny for about 90minutes back in 1992 as Benny in the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie and I can see that on dvd. This reminder that Arquette once held the WCW title for a day was just sad. And what was with the Corey Feldman wannabe voice you were doing? 

Wade Barrett... I see you still haven't gotten over your desire to be Jughead Jones.  Come on, I know I'm not the only one out there who wants to see some lift in that hairdo.  I'd also like to see what the tattoo on his shoulder is, why can we never get a close up on that?  In a few years time, when Barrett finally goes Face it's going to be the biggest turn ever.  Dude's got talent. I could totally see Wade Barrett being movie material, not just action flicks either. He had a match against Big Show. Which BS won by count out.

Back to Punk. He won the Despicable Me award. And he was happy about it...odd. Punk, love the short hair hate the beard. Shave your jaw. Two weeks ago when the haircut was fresh it was a hot look, this week it just looked dirty.

Kofi Kingston/Daniel Bryan. vs Dolph Ziggler/DiBiase.  Kofi got the win over Ziggler.  I thought that DiBiase had been the legal man? Did I miss a tag? I'm really tired of the feud between Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler.  It's gone on for long enough.

Mark Henry vs Cody Rhodes.  The Jekyll and Hyde thing Rhodes has is as tired as that stubby nose of his.  Rhodes won.

Back to Wade Barrett... he came out when a slammy was won by Cena and took the award headed to the ring and teased the audience for a few minutes. Then Cena made his way through the crowd to the ring. Nexus surrounded the ring and Barrett rehired Cena. Then hit Cena with a chair.

Why is the Bore-Spore Alex Riley carrying around Miz's used Money in the Bank Briefcase?  You know there is a dirty dirty joke in here....
Miz had a match against Rey Mysterio.  Alberto Del Rio came out to the ring disrupting the match helping Miz get the win.
I actually feel sorry slightly for Bore-Spore Alex Riley having to carry the dead meat weight of Arquette in their handicap match.  They went up against Randy Orton.  I actually do remember David Arquette in his wrestling movie Ready to Rumble and I have to say I wish I didn't as it is the single bad movie that has tainted all wrestling films that have followed in the last decade. (The Wrestler  finally fixed that bad mojo) The Bore-Spore Alex Riley was holding up really well against Randy Orton in this one, I'll have a few things to say about him in another post later.  Orton won this match but ended up getting a face full of the briefcase.

The return of Christian was a sweet touch. Giving Edge the award for killing the computer few weeks ago was brilliant!

Sheamus came out in the King of the Ring black robe with his Herne the Hunter (The Green Man, Odin, Cernunnos, Pan, Bacchus, etc) crown and wand, looking like he was having a blast.  He had a match against John Morrison.   Now, I've adjusted the controls on my tv screen but does Morrison look a little off colour to anyone else?  There seems to be an unnatural tint of orange to him. I'm guessing it's the fake-bake that most of the guys douse themselves in.  This was a double dq as they both hit the ref.

Edge went up against Jack Swagger.  Edge got the win with his spear.

The Quote of the year.... went to the large piece of crap Cole.  I was hoping that CM Punk would have gotten it for the diet soda line the other week.
Seriously,  CM Punk what would it cost me to have you rip Cole's vocal cords out through his nose with a fork?
Superstar of the year went to Cena.  How predictable. Cena then went against Otunga.   Cena got the win with a submission.

If Miz is the champ...

Does that mean that the Bore-Spore Alex Riley is the first lady?  Well, just saying, that if he's under a "personal services contract"  unless he suddenly shows up with a certificate in Butler School Charm, it sounds more like a ...well you get where my filthy mind sits.

So that was the main event this past Monday on RAW.  Sort of.
It was suppose to be Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett.  Which it was, much to the shock and horror of Barrett who thought he'd won by default after his crew, the Nexus had given Orton the five minute beat down. But Orton hobbled to the ring on his now injured right knee and still managed to slap the hair gel out of Jughead Jones... er Wade Barrett to keep the title.  Then Miz came down to cash in his Money in the Bank case for a shot, pinning Orton and becoming the new champ. 

Speaking of Barrett,  seriously dude the hair.  Fix the hair cause you're a fairly hansom slab of maleness, it's the only thing holding you back from the photo ops.

So, with Miz now in the drivers seat of RAW, what does this mean?

Will Miz be able to hold on to the belt if Barrett, who clearly is the latest flavour of the month, decides to pick on him?  Could this open up a nice secondary feud between Miz's tag partner the Bore-Spore Alex Riley and say either Husky Harris or Michel McGillicuty, who was against him in NXT season two, given that both Harris/McGillicuty are Nexus now and the Bore-Spore is Miz's unofficial tag partner?   OR could the Bore-Spore turn on Miz and go for the belt himself? 

We could see a decent feud between Miz and Sheamus for a few weeks. I just can not seem to get into the idea at all of a solid Miz/Orton feud. Lest not at this point in time. 

Does this mean we will continue to be tortured by the very annoying high pitched wail of asskissing that Michel Cole does over the Miz? Maybe the new RAW announcer CM Punk will do the rest of us a favour and rip Cole's vocal cords out though his nose with a fork. 
I feel sorry for Punk having to sit there with those two boobs every week.

Speaking of photo ops, after Sheamus had won his King of the Ring qualifying match and was hanging off the ropes on the apron and the camera zoomed up to see the smirk on his face, I was thinking that would make a great magazine cover. 
Even though the Smackdown choices have not qualified yet,  my money is on Sheamus for King of the Ring next week.  Which is a 3 hour show. 

Death of the Tag Teams

Well only for WWE anyways.   It's the talk as of late for fans.  It has also been the topic of a few other spoiler sheets and pro-wrestling articles.   The end of the tag team division for the biggest company around. 
I'm not shocked either.  No one is. 

The second Nexus took the belts, the nails were charged into the coffin lid.  Now, this week's episode of Raw, saw the end of the Hart Dynasty.  Tyson Kidd walked away leaving Smith to the wolves.  Honestly, as sad as I am to see the only legit tag team in the company crumble, I'm sort of glad too.  Kidd has more talent then Smith, I don't care who his family is, Smith was the weak link.

As far as Nexus goes,  Slater is the weak link. Toss him, I'll feel better.  And talk about belts that are needing a make over. God those things are ugly. I don't care how new or expensive they are, they hurt my eyes.

Can anything save the WWE's tag division at this point?  Nothing is really coming to mind.  Team Uso might, if you gave them someone of their training to feud with.

Here's what I would do if it was me in the writing room,  wait till Evan Bourne returns from surgery in a few months and either have him join Nexus therefore replacing Slater by teaming him up with Gabriel or kick Gabriel out of Nexus letting him team with Bourne. 
And I can't stand either of those guys. I just think they would make a glueable (cohesive) team. They have the same style and speed, not too sure on their heights but Gabriel looks to be closer to Bourne's height. 

Miz and Bore-Spore Alex Riley make an impressionable image.  I would have Miz cash in his Money in the Bank contract and loose, opening the door for an official tag team with his unofficial tag partner the Bore-Spore.

Let's turn to the darkside for a moment, this new dude Tyler Reks.  I could see him teaming with Drew McIntyre and forming a solid team.

 All I can say is that I've been a tag team fan for decades and have been disappointed greatly in the last six years by WWE's tag division.  Either step it up or just drop it for a year until you get some real tag team talent.

Raw for the week of Nov 8th 2010-Highlights

We opened with Cena reading an intro for Wade Barrett. Then the camera swung around to the announce booth and we see Josh Mathews on the mic.  THANK GOD! finally someone who is worthy to listen to. Barrett needs to do something about that Jughead Jones slicked back comic book hair. I mean seriously, how much gel is in that? I always find it funny when you hear cheers for someone who most of the time is booed. But, given they were in England, it made for an interesting noise to hear half the crowd cheering Barrett.

Can I have your attention please I received an email from somebody of no importance  and I quote... this gimmick is tired and boring. Just expose the general manager already. 

The Hart Dynasty vs Usos.  Usos win.  

Goldust vs DiBiase. Goldust won.

Cena vs David Otunga. Cena won 

Tea Party with Santino and Sheamus. Which turned into a match.  Sheamus won by a dq when Santino went for a low blow.

Team Orton (Randy Orton/Miz/R-Truth/Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry) with the Bore-Spore Alex Riley in their corner  vs Team Nexus. (Husky Harris/McGillicuty/Slater/Gabreille/Barrett) and Cena as the special ref.  Otunga came down mid match for Nexus corner.  Barrett's team got the win because Miz and the Bore-Spore Alex Riley turned on Orton.

Your Match of the night.... isn't really a match. It's the Tea Party with Sheamus.  I wonder how long they thought about the ginger tea joke, which got a smirk out of Sheamus. When the camera swung around to get the close up, it looked like Sheamus was trying not to laugh. Of course, all the jokes were about his skin tone and hair colour. Then of course, Santino spilled the tea on Sheamus, well more like tossed the tea pot at 90 miles an hour. Now, I have to admit, Sheamus holding up the hem of his shirt to show us his belly had my attention. 

Now, if you've been reading me this last year throughout the internet, you know I've been very vocal about liking Sheamus.  I think he's beautiful as well as being talented. So few weeks ago when they started the feud between Sheamus and Santino, my reaction was oh god who did the poor guy piss off behind the scenes to be dumbed down to mid-card status  Then I remembered having seen old footage of Sheamus in his indie days, and the humour that he laced the footage with.  But, it seems to be more of a set up for a feud with John Morrison and Sheamus.  I don't understand why they have to go through all this extra crap with Santino if it's going to lead to a Sheamus vs Morrison in time?  Why not just skip on to Morrison vs Sheamus? 

Raw for Oct 25th 2010

We open with the fact Smackdown won on the ppv Bragging Rights, as Nexus takes to the ring. Cena and Ortunga are the tag champs.

Match #1 is a tag match between Nexus members.  Barrett forces Ortunga to lay down letting Slater and Gabrelle win the belts.

Match #2 we see Dolph Ziggler vs Daniel Bryan in a return match from the ppv. Bryan won.

Match #3 Miz vs R-Truth. Miz won

Match #4 Sheamus vs Santino with Santino winning.

Main Event of the night was John Cena vs Randy Orton. Cena got the win with a Nexus dq. 

Your match of the night .... Ziggler vs Bryan.

Ziggler went for a go behind, getting Bryan to the mat.  Bryan then tried for a leg lock but as unable to secure it. Both men to their feet, Bryan off the ropes with a shoulder block on Ziggler then a stomp to the face of Ziggler. He followed this up with a hard kick to the gut. Bryan went for what at first was looking like the sharpshooter but was quickly turned into a surfboard. He smoothly in midmove made it a modified chin lock. Ziggler managed to get out of it but Bryan delivered a forearm to the jaw or so I believe as the camera had moved to CMPunk at ringside. Ziggler came back with an elbow to the back of the neck knocking Bryan to the mat, he quickly followed up with a small package but this only gave him a two count. Ziggler then with a side headlock as the two struggled to their feet. Ziggler in total control to this point, as he went off the ropes, letting Bryan leap frog over him; delivering a drop kick on Ziggler. Bryan then went for a cover in the corner but only managed a near fall. Ziggler fought out and gave him a stomp followed with a hard punch. Bryan returned the favour with a head scissors take down tossing Ziggler out of the ring before unleashing a fabulous suicide dive. Back in the ring and both men are trading blows. Ziggler tossed Bryan off the ropes  only to get a clothesline from Bryan for his trouble. Ziggler then in the corner as Bryan can charging at him landing a double drop kick, once again going for a cover but still only getting a near fall. Bryan then added a series of rapid fire kicks before landing another beauty of a roundhouse on Ziggler.  Back in the corner for Ziggler who received a forearm shot then a hurricanrana from Bryan, which Ziggler was masterfully able to turn into a roll up.  Still only getting a two count. Ziggler went for his trademark sleeper hold, but Bryan countered it, only to walk into a super kick. Ziggler once again for a cover, but still only a near fall. Ziggler then attempted his trademark zigzag but missed letting Bryan go for another roll up which Ziggler somehow reversed. At this point they started to trade blows again from the mat, Bryan ending up in the corner where upon Ziggler used a scoopslam suplex. Ziggler again tried his sleeper but they were too close to the ropes and Bryan was able to slip out of it slapping on his lebell lock for the win.

CMPunk came out to ringside for this match, to sit on mic.  I have to say, Punk went up a few levels in my eyes by his commentary.  And I am loving Punk's hair.

Smackdown Highlights for Oct 22nd 2010

Team Raw was on the show this week to help promote the ppv this weekend, Bragging Rights. 

 The first match of the night was a 6 man tag, Team Raw (Jackson, Miz, Sheamus) vs Team Smackdown (Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio)  Team Smackdown ended up getting the win 

Second match of the night, Jack Swagger vs Santino with Swagger getting the win. 

Match number three gave us Ablerto Del Rio vs John Morrison.  Alberto Del Rio won.

Match four, Edge vs CM Punk. This ended up being a dq because Miz and his Bore-Spore Alex Riley got involved. This then lead to each member of both Teams coming into the ring one by one using their finishing moves on each other, coming full circle with Edge spearing Punk. 

The main event was Kane vs Randy Orton in a champion vs champion match.  Orton managed to secure a win with the help of a distraction from Undertaker.  Undertaker then came from under the ring pulling a screaming Kane down through a rip in the canvas, disappearing into the darkness. 

And your match of the night.... Morrison vs Del Rio. 

They started with a collar tie up, Morrison in the corner, Del Rio landing a high knee to his chest. Del Rio then with a hard punch before slamming Morrison face first into the top turnbuckle. He followed this up with a snapmare. Morrison finally got into the match with a baseball slide catching Del Rio off guard before using a double leg take down. Morrison then proceeded to attack Del Rio with a series of punches and a running knee to the jaw of Del Rio. Morrison went for a cover at this point but only got a two count. Del Rio managed to get things turned around to his favour with a simple trip up, sending Morrison face first again into the ring post. Del Rio added a back breaker before slapping on a modified camel clutch on Morrison. Morrison was able to fight out of this, but found himself tossed across the ring. Now in the corner, Del Rio was able to kick Morrison in the spine, setting him up for a side suplex. Del Rio went for another cover, but once again only got a two count. He continued to work on the spine of Morrison for the next few minutes, managing again to put Morrison in a camel clutch move. Again, Morrison fought out of it, getting Del Rio in a roll up but only landing himself a near fall. Del Rio went charging at Morrison, missing and landed on his neck in the corner stunning himself and giving Morrison a breather. Del Rio then walked right into a series of short clotheslines from Morrison.  Morrison then used his scissors kick. From out of nowhere, Del Rio slapped on a Northern Lights suplex going for another pin but only getting a two count. This was followed up by a series of shoulder blocks in the corner, setting up for an enzuigiri that missed as Morrison ducked. Del Rio landed himself hard on the mat giving Morrison the chance to ready himself for starship pain. Del Rio got his knees up just as Morrison made contact. Both back to their feet, and in one smooth swing, Del Rio used a standing roll over turning it into a cross arm breaker submission forcing Morrison to tap out.

It will be interesting to see what kind of new feuds will develop after this week's ppv. Honestly, I've seen enough of Undertaker and am personally hoping that Kane manages to bury him. The wild card will be the new guy Tyler Reks, whom really has not impressed me at all. And Dolph Ziggler vs Daniel Bryan... that's got the potential to be something big, if they bring Bryan over to Smackdown after Bragging Rights.