LIVE Raw thoughts

11:07 - The problem with this match is the reason I don't like when they involve the announcers in storylines. In a couple of weeks, Lawler will be announcing as if he never had any issue with Miz (like how Cody Rhodes gave Striker one of his t-shirts, to Striker's acclaim, despite the fact that they feuded on NXT). And as many have likely already noted, how could Lawler and Cole work together, for the next several weeks, without there being significant tension between them? Further, Cole's interference was a bit peculiar in the first place. He's watched Miz lose countless times. I understand this is a whole new level, but, to quote Miz, really?

Overall a fun show, but they painted themselves in a corner by even making that match.

11:04 - Somebody FINALLY gets their hands on Michael Cole and they waste the moment on Jerry Lawler?

10:59 - I must also wonder, why risk injuring your WWE Champion just weeks before a PPV in a stipulation match that we'll see once again at said PPV?

10:57 - It's strange hearing Cole taking such an anti-Lawler slant in his commentary right now.

10:51 - Odd that Miz still has his briefcase even after cashing in the contract.

10:41 - ya' know, Santino should really do a guy a solid and help out Morrison right now.

10:35 - Is it me or have Punk, Lawler, and Cole all been a little off their game today? Like they're particularly distracted.

10:26 - Wow, so Raw is basically three hours every other week now. Quick predictions, based on the commercials: Match of the Year - HBK vs. Taker (again!), Most Shocking Moment - HBK and Hitman embrace, Diva of the Year - LayCool, Superstar of the Year - Toughest to determine, but I think they'll go with Orton.

10:13 - By the way, I did check the photo gallery from the 2008 King of the Ring, and Punk DID wear different trunks for each match. He did black/white for the first round, black/blue for the semis, and blue/black for the finals:

http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/04212008/kingoftheringtournament/

Another reason why he rules.

10:03 - I loved Cena's Leslie Nielson tribute. Great stuff. And I have to say, his attack on Gabriel was one of the most extreme beatdowns we've seen in quite some time. And I'm glad they acknowledged the elephant in the room regarding Cena's ability to appear backstage without issue.

9:52 - I love how matter-of-factly CM Punk says, "Because he's Rey Mysterio! He steals cars on the side!"

9:47 - I'm disappointed nobody is going the Randy Savage route of wearing a different pair of tights for every match. In fact, didn't CM Punk do that?

9:34 - Did I just spy a beer pong table in the audience? I woulda sworn I saw a long table with red Solo cups on it.

9:31 - Add Justin Gabriel to the list of people who look cooler with a beard.

9:26 - By the way, I'm still pissed about AJ getting voted off NXT last week. What a load of crap.

9:22 - I guess the upside is we get Cole and Punk alone on commentary.

9:12 - So Lawler accuses Miz of being an underserving champion and then issues a challenge for the title when he hasn't wrestled consistently for WWE in over a decade? Further, nobody takes Lawler seriously, so Miz getting a victory over him doesn't mean anything to the casual fan. And why give away a TLC match when you have the PPV coming up in a matter of weeks? Why not sacrifice somebody like R-Truth in a standard match?

9:09 - Punk's facial expressions when King and Cole are bickering over Miz are just priceless.

9:05 - So who interrupts Miz's promo in Orton's absence?

8:49 - "Actually you're a Superstar, not a wrestler."

8:29 - I like the new Nexus t-shirt.

8:23 - Well I'll be damned, CM Punk was right:

http://www.wrestlingattitude.com/kotr.html

8:21 - Bret Hart won the King of the Ring again in 1993?

8:12 - By the way, my predictions based on this graphic:

http://www.wwe.com/content/facebook/kotr2010jpg

Del Rio over Bryan

Morrison over Rhodes

Jackson over McIntyre

Sheamus over Kingston

Next round:

Del Rio over Morrison

Jackson over Sheamus (only because I don't see them going heel/heel for the finals)

Finals:

Del Rio over Jackson to win King of the Ring

Of course, I will alter these predictions after each round.

8:05 - "Looks like he's dressed for court." Now THAT'S awesome.

I am here for my Raw LIVE thoughts, but as I'm not feeling great and can't really sacrifice taking time off work, I can't promise I'll be around for all three hours. But hell, let's see what happens.

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The Beer Pong Championship Belt!!

So a while back, over on CollegeHumor.com, I found this Beer Pong Championship Belt made using the Spinner WWE Championship belt. I liked it so much, I decided to make my own (shown above). But I made some improvements: Instead of cutting out the beer logo from the six pack, I thought coasters (of which I have a rather large collection) would fit better. I also decided to glue a ping pong ball to the edge of the cup, as if it's moments away from going in.

Now, I just need somebody to arrange a beer pong tournament (used to have an annual one during my college days). I'd even make a second one so that both champions have their own. Anyway, check out all of the photos:

http://s653.photobucket.com/albums/uu256/acaseoftheblog/Beer%20Pong%20Championship%20Belt/

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CM Punk is better than Matt & Jeff Hardy

While I’ve made my feelings on Matt Hardy pretty well known over the past couple of months, I never really had a problem with Jeff. I find him far more charismatic than he’s given credit for, and while his work is sloppy looking, his technical skills aren’t as far behind Matt’s as Matt likes to make people think. However, after watching his “shoot” on CM Punk, I now can’t stand Jeff either. Holy Hell, is there any family less likable than the Hardys right now? Are there any two individuals, in recent memory, that have destroyed the special and unique bond they have with their audience? Here’s the video, if you haven’t seen it yet:



Wow. Just wow. There’s Jeff, slurring his words and rubbing his red nose as he judges CM Punk for POSSIBLY taking Ambien to fall asleep at night. Yeah, and who’s the one who was charged with drug trafficking? And here’s a guy who just brought a kid into the world, and he’s talking about how CM Punk’s drug free lifestyle is “not right.” Mind you, he’s not talking about CM Punk being a jerk or being preachy….he’s talking about going out and having fun (i.e. not drinking or doing drugs). And this idea of Jeff “making” CM Punk is ludicrous. Before Punk feuded with Jeff, he became the first – and ONLY – WWE Superstar to hold the World Championship on all three rosters (he was ECW Champion on ECW, World Heavyweight Champion on Raw, and captured the World Heavyweight Championship on Smackdown against Jeff). He was also a two-time Money in the Bank winner. Clearly the front office had big plans for this guy.

I’m not discounting the important role Jeff played in Punk’s development. Quite frankly, I don’t think Punk’s heel turn would have worked against anybody else, except maybe Shawn Michaels. And even then, it wouldn’t have been as perfect a match. And Punk’s heel turn IS what made everybody open their eyes to the guy. But, to be honest, that had more to do with Punk. Hardy was a perfect foil, but Punk had the goods to make it work. This is like saying that Matt Morgan made Jeff Hardy.

And you’re giving the middle finger…..oh, how edgy!!!

And then you have Matt there stuffing his face with French Fries (but it was those intestinal issues that made you a fat piece of crap, right?) talking about how CM Punk is very dramatic and very emotional. Um, what? Is CM Punk the one who made numerous incoherent and erratic YouTube videos a week repeatedly complaining about everything that’s happened to him in the past year? And when your girlfriend cheats on you with your best friend, you’re a Grade A Chump if you sit there and listen to her when she complains about her new boyfriend. What a tool.

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-9

I apologize for the lateness of this column, but the time consuming nature of Thanksgiving preparation has really cut into my free time (which, unfortunately, is the only available time for me to write my reviews). But as the expression goes, better late than never!

I also want to thank comment posters Wally Kovacs, who has provided his fun insight in the past, and Dan Smith, for kick starting the discussion on this most recent episode. I’ll admit that my knowledge of Superman is pretty rudimentary, so these gentlemen seem to know quite a bit more about many of these characters than I do. As such, I’m going to trust their instincts, and if they’d like to elaborate any more on any of their thoughts, I welcome them to do so.

But, overall, I think the three of us seem to be in agreement that we wanna see Darkseid in the flesh – and not at the last possible moment. And we want to see him looking like a monstrous bad ass, not an EMT working Abercrombie model. I actually am pretty optimistic that we’ll see this, to tell you the truth. It’s the last season, and I think the powers that be realize that this is the time to lay it all out on the table. While they have been showing an admirable amount of restraint with certain things, they’ve actually delivered, big time, with a number of cool developments and introductions over these first several episodes. We probably won’t physically see Darkseid the first half of the season, but I don’t think it’ll be the final few episodes, either.

Anyway, in my review for last week’s episode, I noted that I’m eager and intrigued to see how the three main story arcs (Lex’s return, the Suicide Squad, and Darkseid) come together and intersect. We began to see that with this latest episode, as it turned out that Slade Wilson, leader of the Vigilante Registration Act, had actually been possessed by the darkness that has been unleashed by Darkseid. I was actually quite pleased with this revelation, because near the end, when Slade had Clark trapped, I couldn’t help but feel like they went over the top with his anti-hero stance. While his stance had always been a bit strong willed, it was at least based in something believable. By the end, he was willing to blow up entire compounds in order to eliminate a handful of individuals with special abilities. Even though one of them was fully human. But once we discovered that he was actually under Darkseid’s influence, his behavior became much easier to accept. And in the final moments of the episode, we also learned that Slade had survived the explosion (was it ever explained how Clark survived as well?) and was being reborn as Deathstroke.

Oh, and as a side note, there’s something about Clark and everybody referring to “the darkness” that sounds really hokey and cartoony. That’s another reason why I don’t want them to go all out with the possession route. When the characters verbalize it, they just sound so silly.

“Patriot” also brought the return of Aquaman. I’m sure this won’t be the last we saw of him, since I do fully expect a full out Justice League appearance sometime within the final episodes (that means we see Green Arrow, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Flash/Impulse, Hawkman, Star Girl, Cyborg, Black Canary, and any other heroes they introduce between then and now, fighting side by side), but this is the first time in a while that we’ve seen him for any extended period of time. And is it me, or was he a lot darker and generally less likable? I know that’s what they were going for, but considering that Aquaman doesn’t appear at the frequency of, say, Green Arrow, it’s tough to be forgiving when the hero is acting like a complete ass. And I know they tried to soften her up in the final minutes of the episode, but was Aquaman’s wife a bitch or what? Then again, I do love that somebody FINALLY brought up the fact that Lois has dated, like, every single superhero on the show.

I’m having a little fun at Aquaman’s expense, but truth be told I didn’t mind his appearance. Although it is a bit rough seeing him in a variation of the classic costume, when there’ a much cooler look to go with. C’mon, how awesome would it be seeing a long haired, bushy bearded, hooked hand Aquaman?

One side story that I found myself really enjoying is the way Clark and Lois are beginning to realize that just because his secret is out in the open doesn’t mean that they have a completely open relationship. There is still plenty that Clark hides from her – of course, under the motivation of protecting her – and until he’s ready to fully trust her, they’ll never reach that level of openness that Clark experienced when he went into the future. I also really, really loved the elevator scene between Lois and Tess, where they were both kinda testing the waters to see how much the other knows about Clark. That being said, I thought their final scene together, where Tess welcomed Lois to Watchtower with open arms, was a tad on the heavy side. It was just a little too….friendly. Even when neither of them knew Clark’s secret, they didn’t particularly like each other. And even before Clark and Lois had a relationship, and Lois was none the wiser about Clark’s abilities, these two actually brawled with each other.

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Watch Miz's WWE Championship Win

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LIVE Raw thoughts

11:02 - WWE Champion The Miz! Who woulda thunk it two years ago? Honestly, aside from Rob Van Damm's title win at One Night Stand, this was probably the cleanest Money in the Bank cash in we've ever seen.

10:59 - Loved Punk's "Well this looks very familiar." Although I feel like Miz won't succeed.

10:58 - Orton RKO's Barrett, retains, Miz cashes in.

10:55 - The irony of the announcers' discussion: Didn't CM Punk's first World Title reign end because he couldn't make it to the ring to defend the title? Further coincidence: Wasn't it because of an Orton punt?

10:43 - I'm not sure if Daniel Bryan will win the King of the Ring, but I do think he'll make it to the finals. In looking at a list of the competitors, how awesome would a Mysterio/Bryan finals be?

10:42 - Unrelated, but I kinda love this shirt:

http://www.80stees.com/products/Rather-Be-Playing-Pac-Man-T-Shirt.asp

10:30 - So does anybody get the sense that they're actually going to do what everybody was predicting last night? Between Cena laying on his face act REALLY thick, to Orton repeatedly complimenting Cena, to Orton guaranteeing that Barrett doesn't leave the building with the title, to Miz no-showing his match....it's got all the makings.

10:27 - Wow, are they finally doing what I suggested, like, over a year ago and reuniting John Morrison and Melina as an on-screen pair? It's about friggin' time! Although I have to say, for an ACTUAL couple, they just displayed some very awkward chemistry.

10:24 - FOUND THE SECOND TABLE LEAF!!

10:18 - "Now Nikki Bella" - Michael Cole. "UGH!" - CM Punk.

10:10 - I wouldn't have said this last night, but the dude is totally turning heel tonight.

10:07 - Ways you can tell WWE has been PG for a long time: Hearing Cena say "Sucks," "Bitch," and "Hell" are actually a bit edgy.

9:59 - How long before people read into the fact that Cena didn't mention Rock?

9:47 - I love the teases that Miz might cash in the briefcase. Remember when Edge finally cashed in his contract? He gave up a victory over Flair and purposely got himself disqualified. His logic? Why exhaust himself when he's cashing in his contract later? I see the same thing going on here. They want us to be thinking, "Maybe Miz is conserving his energy so that he can cash in his briefcase in the main event."

And Punk continues to be commentary gold. His remarks about Riley being under the influence were great.

9:40 - Maria, Beth, Rosa, and now Tamina....how many times are we going to do this Santino/romance angle? And what is with the numerous backstage pretapes in a row? And Randy needs to shave his head.

9:35 - Oh, in addition to Thanksgiving stress (I can't find the damn second table leaf!), I'm also going to be working on my Smallville column. A lot on the plate tonight!

9:30 - CM Punk's facial expressions during the commentary is worth the price of admission. And man, didn't we just have a 3 hour Raw last week?

9:15 - CM Punk as announcer = the greatest thing ever. That is all.

9:10 - In regards to Kyle's comments last night, I didn't see the PPV, but I heard both title matches failed to deliver. This is disappointing because: (a) Edge is really catching fire as a face, and this match would have gone a long way for him if he and Kane hit a home run and (b) the John Cena/Wade Barrett/Randy Orton angle has been on such an incredible roll -- especially after last week -- that it REALLY needed to be lackluster to get almost universal panning. As I said in my prior post, there were a lot of directions that the angle could have gone, and I don't think most people expected this. I am intrigued about where they're going to take this tonight, but a lot of people don't have that sort of patience.

One thing I do hope they do is follow up on this R-Truth thing. If nothing else, this could be Randy Orton's next feud. I don't particularly like Truth, but I am interested in his actions. He goes from trying to talk sense into Cena, to stirring the pot with Orton, to offering to do a hit on Orton in order to assist Cena. There's certainly something to that, and I hope they follow up.

9:02 - Yes, I am doing my Raw thoughts this week, and I'll provide my thoughts on last night's booking. Oh, I'll reply to Kyle's insightful comments in my prior post as well. Just off to a late start due to some Thanksgiving preparation stress.

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What's in store for Cena at Survivor Series?

So Sunday is Survivor Series, which will likely feature the climax of the John Cena/Nexus storyline – one of the better written feuds of recent memory. They have a lot of intriguing possibilities. One sees Cena helping Wade Barrett win the title, only to beat him to oblivion, allowing Miz to come in and win the championship. This could continue the Cena/Barrett storyline, or lead to another Cena/Orton storyline – albeit with a different dynamic than their past feuds – or a full blown Cena/Barrett/Orton/Miz blow out for the championship.

Here’s another idea: Barrett cheats to win, however Cena doesn’t see it. Cena counts the pin, allowing Barrett to win the title. This effectively ends the Cena/Nexus feud without turning Cena heel and without creating a significant rift between him and Orton. Then who does Cena feud with next? How about R-Truth, who has rather needlessly and harshly stirred the pot between Orton and Cena. At first Truth’s intervention made sense. But over time his comments have become increasingly antagonistic, almost as if he’s instigating problems that aren’t necessarily there.

The endgame most people are asking for, however, is a Cena heel turn. I’m not necessarily against this move, but I feel like the story didn’t reach that point yet. If Cena turns heel, what sense will it make? The only logical explanation is that he did it to save his job, which isn’t evil as much as it is selfish, and that isn’t necessarily a strong enough reason to hate the guy (not to mention that this would also leave Randy Orton the undisputed top face, despite being awfully self centered himself). In order for this heel turn to truly work, it needs to be monstrous and heartbreaking. And in order for that to happen, Cena has to have a sensible reason to turn against his beliefs. And that’s just not the story they’ve been telling.

Preferably, they would have had Cena put in precarious situations, only for him to slowly but surely realize that there’s a great benefit to having six or so people watching your back. But we’ve actually gotten the opposite story. On his own, Cena won the WWE Tag Team Championship. And due to Nexus politics, he lost that championship. A greater story would have been if Cena won the championship BECAUSE the gang is fighting on his side. And through it all, Otunga could be buttering Cena up in an attempt to overthrow Barrett as leader. In fact, Cena and Otunga can actually develop a bit of a friendship. Initially Otunga is using Cena for the reasons above, while Cena is manipulating Otunga in order to create a rift within the faction (which was his initial intention). But through time, they’ll actually start working together and relying on one another. This alliance could be the catalyst to him turning full blown heel.

I’d say there’s about a 50/50 chance that Cena turns heel on Sunday. If this does happen, I can’t help but feel like they missed out on telling a great story. A story that, in many ways, can only be told once.

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WWE Releases Six Superstars & Divas

This afternoon WWE.com announced that six Superstars and Divas were being released from their contracts. Many of them weren't surprising, per se, but they were probably avoidable.

Shad and Vance Archer, for example, were part of a tag team that were regularly featured on television. Yet once the teams split, each of the competitors were featured less than before -- and in this case, two of them were let go. With the tag team division already struggling, what was the point of breaking Cryme Tyme and the Gatebusters up? And I suppose the same can be said for the Dudebusters (one of which was released), although I'm under the impression they were still competing together.

Jillian isn't particularly surprising, since she won a grand total of two matches since her WWE debut five or so years ago, but I'm assuming this is just the end of her talent contract. I do believe she is now a trainer in one of the developmental territories.

Tiffany's release was expected, given that she was immediately taken off television following her arrest, and was never brought back when the charges were cleared. I'm disappointed, because I thought she was hot (and she has better mic skills than most Divas), but I guess I should be glad that she was paired up with my other favorite, Kelly Kelly (who remembers when I used to beg WWE to put these two together?) Hell, they even did a photoshoot together!

Luke Gallows, in my mind, is the most tragic figure in this list. He had a good thing going as Punk's right hand man in the Straight Edge Society. He slimmed down A LOT and really looked great. He even had an impressive and marketable look. Yet the team was split, seemingly for no reason (this was before there was any talk of moving Punk to Raw), and the writing was on the wall for him.

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Top Ten Cases: Favorite Jack & Kate Moments

FINALLY! Nothing earth shattering, but a fun trip down memory lane.

Yep, better late than never. Please ignore the brief silent moment during Moment #9. It passes.

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-8

So after taking a reprieve for several weeks, Smallville is finally back on track with its Darkseid story arc. And hell, they actually took a huge step forward this past episode by actually dropping his name (having only seen him in print, I’d actually always thought his name was pronounced “Dark-Seed” instead of the appropriate “Dark-Side”). But even though this was a highly enjoyable episode with a great appearance from the detestable Granny Goodness, to me the hour was highlighted by the two emotional parent-child moments.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-8"....

The first featured a fun guest stint from Teri Hatcher. Most of you know her from her gig on Desperate Housewives, but she truly came into prominence playing Lois Lane on the short-lived Lois & Clark. I have to say, the fact that Hatcher appeared on this little old CW series speaks volumes about the respect it has garnered over the past decade. Sure, she’s not Julia Roberts-level famous, but I truly believe she may be one of the biggest names that has ever appeared on this show, while still being regularly active in the entertainment industry (as in, currently starring on a highly rated drama on a top network). And while her appearance was brief, it was rather powerful. It also set the tone of how parents try to protect their children from seeing them when they’re vulnerable and weak, which ultimately creates a rift that the child must overcome. Granny Goodness believes that children should forget this heartache. Lois, Clark, and even Tess decide to confront it. And by overcoming this emotional obstacle, they each found a degree of strength and comfort.

Truthfully, Lois’ mother/daughter scene probably wasn’t my favorite of the three, but it did a fantastic job of setting the tone and framing the episode as a whole. And Teri Hatcher’s performance was pretty heart wrenching – I actually got a little teary eyed. The way she talked about how big, bad, tough Sam Lane was in denial and the realization that she wouldn’t be there for her girls during all of their significant life moments. It was quite touching. And, unsurprisingly, Erica Durance nailed her subdued part out of the park. And, as I already said, it shaped the rest of the episode with the message that our parents aren’t perfect. They make mistakes. The important thing, though, is that we accept them for their flaws and we don’t allow their insecurities to dictate who we become. Once we are able to do that, we can find peace with ourselves and our departed guardians.

The highlight for me, as one might expect, was Clark’s brief scene with Jor-El and Lara. The past few years I’ve noted how much more I enjoy Jor-El as the supportive father, opposed to his early portrayal as a borderline abusive and evil overseer. There was no real reason for Jor-El to be viewed in such a villainous manner, and I just thought the show worked so much better when he was seen in a more positive light. I remember smiling when he told Martha Kent that he made the right choice in leaving Clark with her and her husband. And I was happy when, at the beginning of last season, Jor-El reminded Clark that he didn’t need to deprive himself from his humanity in order to complete his training. And how could you forget about Clark’s touching scene with Jor-El’s clone? This is why I was so disappointed when he seemingly reverted back to his mean spirited ways at the beginning of this season. And so it was nice seeing a young Jor-El confess to his wife, with such candor, that so many of his own mistakes were based on his insecurities and ego, and that he knows Clark has the potential to be so much better than he is. While Jor-El’s actions may have contributed to the end of one civilization, Clark can grow up to save another one. It certainly brings new light to Jor-El’s current harsh behavior. And I truly do hope that this marks the end of any sort of hostility we see between Clark and his birth father.

It was also great seeing Helen Slater reprise her role as Clark’s Kryptonian mother, although her apparent ignorance of earth was confusing. Didn’t she visit the planet a few times during her lifetime? I seem to recall her and Kara visiting earth at the same time.

The final example of some repressed parenting issues revolves around the revelation that Tess is actually part of the Luthor family. When Granny Goodness revealed that Tess came from a very powerful family, you had to know this was going to happen. During the flashback scene, I actually thought we’d get a surprise guest appearance from the ultra talented John Glover, who portrayed Lionel Luthor. Although, this sheds an extremely creepy light on Tess’ infatuation, which was most certainly based on an intense sexual interest, with Lex.

I’m not going to completely overlook Granny Goodness, because she was great. There’s something so incredibly unsettling about an evil old lady. The way they deliver their lines with such composure, while acting all prim and proper, is just so incredibly devilsh – and Granny Goodness was no exception. And I loved the way she completely “no sold” (to use a wrestling term) the other two parts of Darkseid’s unholy trio (while they completely sung her, and each other’s, praises). More than anything, this episode made me really, really want to see Darkseid in the flesh. And I remain hopeful that they won’t take the Davis Bloom “Let’s make him some ordinary human before showing you brief glimpses of him as Doomsday” route. Nor do I really want them to take the “Let’s wait as long as humanly possible for Clark to fly” approach. I kinda wanna see Darkseid throughout the rest of the season. This is the end, folks, so there’s no need to hold back.

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LIVE Old School Raw thoughts....

11:14 - Now that was a fantastic conclusion to the show. It provided some legitimate intrigue, with people making logical arguments to support their positions. Piper correctly pointed out that Cena claims to respect those that came before him, but by simply handing the title over to Barrett, he's spitting in the faces of all of those Legends who never achieved the grand prize. Cena relented and admitted that even if he is "freed," he's not going to be the person he always claimed and strived to be, so it's not worth it. And Barrett FINALLY had Cena wear the shirt, and rightly brought up the fact that Nexus will negate any attack Cena makes post-match. And finally Orton realized that he can take out Barrett if he can't take out Cena.

In the end, all of the characters looked strong and/or intriguing. And, again, Cena was able to show a little edge. Bravo!

10:58 - Odd that they ended the Legends line up with two of the only ones that played heels tonight.

10:49 - Wow, how did Chris Masters sneak onto a PPV?

10:44 - I always find it awkward when the commentators are talking about a wrestler when he's standing inches away from the announce table.

10:38 - JR still has it. Boy does he still have it. These three could be a great commentating team. Allowing JR to call the match can let Cole just play his character.

10:34 - JR on Raw....this is a genuinely grand surprise. It'll be fun seeing JR commentating against this new Michael Cole character.

10:26 - Truth be told, Mae Young has played a bigger part in Raw's history than most of these Legends. It's nice that she gets this recognition. It still amazes me that she took that powerbomb off the stage from Bubba Ray when she was in her 70's. Apparently nobody told her it's PG now, though.

10:17 - Gotta say, Slaughter still moves pretty well considering his age.

9:47 - Okay, THAT Legends segment ruled!!

9:40 - A few months ago, Nexus was ruthlessly destroying Legends. Now they just stare at them with confused looks on their faces.

9:21 - By the way, odd that they didn't get Rikishi to appear. Unless he'll be a surprise post-match.

9:17 - That was another rough segment. And, shockingly, it revolved around a couple of Legends. It's possible to pull off the old school feel while still focusing on your current crop of Superstars. At the end of this episode, people will be talking about how cool it was seeing the blue ring apron and the classic logo. They won't be talking about how great it was to see Bob Orton again.

9:06 - I'm glad they allowed Cena to show a little edge by throwing a mostly unprovoked punch at Orton, but did anybody else think their exchange looked really, really weak? It barely looked like they were even hitting each other. It looked like they kept grazing each other until the officials ran in (the parade of refs and officials was a throwback in and of itself). I almost expected it to be revealed as a ruse.

8:58 - Wow, that briefcase is beat up, huh?

8:56 - Is Survivor Series really this Sunday? And they haven't announced any matches but the title matches? Have they not learned from December to Dismember?

Oh, and the wigs are a bit overkill. The point is to be old school, not cartoonish.

8:49 - Oh man, they REALLY missed out on comedy gold by not using the classic AOL "You've Got Mail" as the Anonymous Raw GM alert.

8:41 - Why has Michael Cole twice said it's 2011?

8:32 - That R-Truth is a bit of a shit stirrer, isn't he?

8:26 - Methinks this is when they'll finally pull the trigger on the Hart Dynasty split. And wouldn't the retro Survivor Series shirts be a little more appropriate?

8:22 - Imagine masked Kane? Yeah, that's a pipe dream. Anyway, why does the Hart Dynasty continue to get tag team title shots when they continuously lose? Also -- anybody else a little disappointed they're not whipping out the classic championship belts?

8:17 - What other Old School personalities of current WWE Superstars do you think we'll see tonight?

8:14 - LOVE that the refs are wearing the bowties!!!! Love the inset pre-recorded interviews. And Sexual Chocolate is back!!!

8:09 - I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the opening segment. And it actually brings up one issue I have with this special show in general: The Legends. The fact of the matter is, I think the concept of an Old School Raw -- with the classic visual look -- is enough to sell the show. I think THAT is enough to bring back some casual fans. The truth is, Legends like Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter, and the like appear frequently enough that their presence is not enough of a selling point. Further, guys like that -- and Cowboy Bob Orton -- aren't really from the Raw era. Which made Cole's Jesse Ventura reference even the stranger -- Ventura never commentated for Raw. Why not reference the much beloved Bobby Heenan? And really, this was the one night where they should have brought back the three man announce team, which was featured for much of the early Monday Night Raw days.

8:05 - Quick thoughts: I saw the photos on Facebook, so I wasn't surprised by the WWF block logo banners or the red, white, and blue ring ropes. Or the RAW lettered entrance. But they look really, really cool. I also got a kick out of the way they crossed the "Federation" out and replaced it with "Entertainment" with the classic open. And finally, I'm glad they opted to use present-day Superstars in the classic Raw video opening. And I love the fact that King is wearing his old school, classic outfit, with the ring jacket. And yay, he's actually wearing the crown!!

Check back here at 8:00 for my live ongoing thoughts for the highly anticipated 3-hour Old School Raw!

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5 Years Later

This weekend marked the five year anniversary of Eddie Guerrero's death. I thought I'd take this opportunity to provide a link to my "A Case of the Mondays" column, written the day after I received the news of his passing:

http://insidepulse.com/2005/11/14/44451/

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-9

It’s almost as if the writers of The Vampire Diaries read my review last week, because they specifically answered pretty much every one of my questions and clarified any issues I was confused about. Sure, the episode itself was filmed months ago – and likely written months before that – but still, I was impressed.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-9"....

This episode, which primarily focused on Elena’s personal interview with a vampire – in this case, her ancestor Katherine – we came to understand the full details of why Klaus and Elijah are after Elena (they need a human doppelganger), why Katherine needing the moon rock (it binds the curse), and why Katherine needed a werewolf (one needs to be sacrificed). As an added bonus, we discovered that Katherine turning Caroline into a vampire wasn’t some random act of villainy (there must be a vampire sacrifice as well), and we came to understand why she surrounds herself with witches (one is necessary to break the curse). And, of course, we learned why they want to break the spell, even though they all roam around in daylight anyway (if a vampire doesn’t do it, a werewolf might. And then they are bound by the spell while the werewolves are released from it). They really did cover all bases.

And through flashbacks, we came to learn a lot more about the psycho bitch vampire herself. Her family lineage is a secret because she had a child out of wedlock, and the baby was given up. We also saw the circumstances behind her betrayal of Trevor and Rose, although I do have to ask: Did Katherine honestly do anything wrong here? Sure, she was a little loose, but her relationship with Klaus seemed pretty innocent (on her behalf, anyway). And I don’t think she even used Trevor. He willingly told her to go to Rose’s cabin, without any provocation. Once she arrived, it was Rose who essentially kept her captive and openly stated that she would be turning her over to Klaus. And when Katherine attempted to take her own life, Rose refused to let her due to her concerns for her own well being. Rose didn’t offer Katherine asylum out of the goodness of her heart, so I don’t really see how Katherine used them or betrayed them. Katherine did what she needed to in order to save herself, which is the very thing that Rose was going to do with Katherine. Even worse, it was the very thing Rose and Trevor were going to do with Elena – an innocent girl who they were going to turn over to Klaus as a human sacrifice. And we’re supposed to sympathize with this woman? I don’t buy it.

It does also appear that Rose and Trevor ARE susceptible to sunlight, which was hinted at last week but not explicitly stated (with Trevor forcing the kidnapper to come close to the car’s window so he could attack and with Rose covering the windows of the mansion). I suspected this was the case, but hesitated to state so because Rose was practically bathing in the sun when she was covering the windows.

I will say this, though: I was actually quite taken aback by how ridiculous Nina Dobrev looked during Elena’s tearful scene with Stefan, yet how powerful she came across during Katherine’s understated emotional moment at the conclusion of the episode. It just goes to show you how a talented actress (and I do think she is one, I love her dark and twisted portrayal of Katherine) can miss the beat every now and again.

So the past couple of weeks I’ve talked about how Jeremy has been through so much crap with the women in his life that I don’t want to see him get screwed over once again. And what happens this week? The first step towards him getting screwed over. He asks Bonnie to hang out, and seconds later he’s interrupted by a warlock who hits it off with her. Then when they meet to hang out, she once again runs into the warlock. And then Bonnie proceeds to ditch Jeremy to have a heart with this other guy. Having said that, I do fully expect this guy (can’t recall his name) to turn out to be somewhat sinister –similar to his father (apparently) –leaving Jeremy to ultimately come to her rescue. Nonetheless, it was tough seeing him get hurt again, even though he took it in good stride.

All in all a fun, informative episode that was highlighted by an interesting dialogue between Elena and Katherine. This episode helped clarify some issues, and created that sense of urgency that I said was lacking last week. Overall, this hour earns two thumbs up.

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The Curse of the NXT Season One Pros?

Just a random observation....

Carlito - Released

Matt Hardy - Released

Chris Jericho - Taking hiatus from company

William Regal - Possibly retiring soon

Christian - Out with injury

CM Punk - Out with injury

Shockingly, this means that only The Miz and R-Truth are still actively and regularly competing on television. While the season one pros, for the most part, have been receiving the strongest collective pushes in years.

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-7

First off, congratulations to the cast and crew of Smallville for receiving a stellar B+ grade in a recent edition of Entertainment Weekly. Hell, a mention in the publication is pretty impressive – EW doesn’t tend to recognize you unless you’re a power player or have a vocal cult following (when was the last time “the best show you’re not watching” was actually a show nobody watches?), but to be regarded so glowingly is not something to scoff at. Congrats, and very well deserved!

Speaking of Entertainment Weekly, their reader’s mail section featured yet another person who believes that Tom Welling should be the next Man of Steel in the movie franchise. It’s a bit of a pipe dream, but it’s really too bad that the Smallville series can’t simply transform into the upcoming movie. I mean, you have a talented group of actors that have become their characters, and the story is already there. But, as I’ve said in a prior column, there’s no way they’re going to bank a multi-million dollar movie franchise behind a CW series.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-7"....

You know, it wasn’t until this episode that I realized how much Smallville has spread itself thin in the villain department. We’re, what, seven episodes into the season and we’ve already had a number of episodes building up Lex, Darkseid, and the Suicide Squad. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, because I am curious o see if these three courses interconnect – and the collision would likely be loads of fun – but I can’t help but wonder if this is a dangerous method. If I’m not mistaken, we haven’t seen or heard of anything Darkseid-related since the third episode. And the last Suicide Squad reference, I believe, was the second episode. More casual viewers (which includes those that don’t follow the comics – and therefore really have no idea who Darkseid is and where that story is going – as well as those who perhaps aren’t paying full attention) may completely forget about these villainous characters when they are reintroduced. I’m not saying they should dumb down their product (on the contrary – as I said earlier – I’m actually eager to see if and how these various stories come together), but I do wonder if they’re needlessly trying to squeeze everything in because it’s the last season.

Again, though, not a criticism. I’m going to wait to see how this all plays out before I officially make my judgment.

So this episode stepped away from “filler” territory and got back on track on building towards the season’s story arc – and they did this through a very entertaining Lane family reunion (which included Lois’ hot sister!) Of course, the Lanes attempted to place a wedge between Lois and Clark, but they ultimately failed. By the way, I was disappointed in Lois bringing up the fact that Clark’s father is dead, and thus he couldn’t possibly understand what she was going through. I’m not upset because it was cold – just that it was so lame and clichéd. First off, it’s not a fair argument, as Lois and Clark are essentially in the same boat. Their same sex parent is dead, leaving them only with their opposite sex parent. Thus, there’s a special need to bond with or protect that remaining parent. Likewise, Lois’ follow up that Clark is independent and on his own and thus doesn’t understand her situation was equally bad. I mean, we’ve seen Clark with the Kents far more times than we’ve seen Lois with her father (and they never gave us the impression that she’s visiting him off screen either). If anything, Lois should’ve gone with the “you’re adopted” approach. Then at least she would’ve had a leg to stand on.

Anyway, we also discovered that Sam is an advocate of the Vigilante Registration Act, earning him the ire of the Suicide Squad (which, in a strange way, is actually fighting “for” those with special abilities) and setting him at odds with his future in-law, Martha Kent (now that’d be a fun argument to sit in on). Sam ultimately relented on this issue – as well as his hazing of Clark – when the Blur saved Lois’ life. Side note, but I’m glad that they didn’t go the route of Sam slyly acknowledging that he knows Clark is the Blur. I mean, let his identity be secret from SOMEBODY! I also enjoyed the hinting at Clark and Lois getting married. Despite what I might have said in the introduction, I actually do believe certain things can be rushed for the sake of this being the final season. Maybe we don’t need to see Lois and Clark get married quite yet, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Clark pop the question.

Oliver, enough with the damn Chloe sobbing already. It’s getting unbearable. But I am glad that he (and the writers) brought up that elephant in the room – if everybody knows Oliver’s the Green Arrow, and everybody knows that there are more vigilantes out there, aren’t the people in Oliver’s life now at risk of having their identities revealed? I mean, I’m kinda shocked that people on the show – those not “in the know” – haven’t gone to Clark and talked to him about Oliver being the Green Arrow. Or that those who are obsessed with unmasking these guys aren’t following him around due to their known friendship.

Next week’s episode looks pretty kick ass, with Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane from Lois & Clark) appearing as, apparently, Lois’ late mother. And it also looks like we’ll meet Granny Goodness, which means more Darkseid build. And I’m down for that!

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My hellacious day at the DMV

So today I decided to get my license renewed, as it expires at the end of the month. At about noon I went to the DMV in Lodi, where there was a LONGGGG line out the door. The police officer (yes, police officer) outside informed me that it would be a two and a half hour wait to renew my license. I thought to myself, “No way I’m wasting my day on that line” and left, figuring I’ll try another DMV in the county.

This brought me to Oakland. I arrive at the agency, only to see that it’s closed for renovation. Gee, great. There was a note on the window that suggested trying Wyckoff.

So I went to the DMV in Wyckoff (which was right across the street from my first post-college job), and again there was a line out the door. And a police officer (yes, a police officer). He said that the wait would be about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. So I get on line and I begin texting friends to see if there are any other good DMV’s in the area. As I’m waiting, I find the line moving moderately quickly, so I decide to wait it out.

Well, part of me wishes I hadn’t. In the end, the entire process took a full two hours. There was a line to get into the building. Then a line to get a number so that you could be called onto the line to actually get your license renewed. This experience was so excruciating that the old lady on line behind me said, with all the sincerity in the world, that she wanted to die.

And for the love of God – why do they need to know if I’m paying child support in order to renew my driver’s license????

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Connie Mac's Irish Pub

This weekend I received my second Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt, and this month's lucky bar is Connie Mac's Irish Pub right here in New Jersey (Pennsauken, to be exact). According to the mailer they sent out, here's a bit of information the bar:

Inside the murky glow there's lots of space for the king of beast's favorite sport, whatever that happens to be. A fave Irish pub can draw quite a crowd, so unless you like getting nuts with your beer, you might want to avoid it around Saint Patty's Day. It's scary to think about the number of loyal Irish in Jersey and across the bridge in Philly.

Connie Mac's: http://www.conniemacs.com/

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-8

Alright, so this episode picked up right where the last one concluded, with Elena getting abducted. Thankfully, the show didn’t keep us guessing for all too long, as we quickly learned that she was taken by a couple of vampires, who planned to turn her over one of the original vampires as a bargaining chip of sorts. It seems that, as a doppelganger of Katherine, Elena is special, and that in some way – I didn’t quite understand, to be honest – she’s the key to overturning the curse that prevents vampires from getting a nice tan.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-8"....

Now, as I said, I don’t completely comprehend this Elena/doppelganger deal. Do they have to kill Elena? Do they have to drain her blood? If Katherine knew this, why didn’t she just do the deed herself? Wouldn’t this benefit her just as much as anybody? And what about the moon rock? One of the vampires said it binds the curse. So does it need to be destroyed in order for the curse to be fully lifted? And I’m still not quite sure why Katherine so desperately needed a werewolf – unless she, too, had hopes of killing the original vampires. What does everybody think (and no spoilers – that includes me not wanting to know what happens in the books, if at all relevant)?

I really enjoyed the interactions between Stefan and Damon this episode. I noted this numerous times last season, but I feel like the show works so much better when Stefan and Damon are on the same side. Sure, they’ve got issues (some might even say severe issues), and they both do things that the other doesn’t agree with, but at the end of the day they both realize that they’re all each other’s got. And so, I appreciate that their road trip bonding session remained amicable despite the fact that some potentially contentious issues were brought up. Yeah, Damon attempted to prod him a little bit, but he also knew when to back off (I also loved the way Damon casually drank the bag of blood, as if it was a Capri Sun). At the same time, Stefan kept things as mellow as possible, considering they’re talking about his brother being in love with his girlfriend.

Their final scene together, where Stefan apologized for his part in making Damon a vampire, was especially powerful and enjoyable for him. For one, Stefan’s explanation that he didn’t want to be alone for eternity, and that he just needed his brother, sheds a sympathetic light on Stefan’s actions (which is important, since he’s the “hero”). But what makes this reasoning even more tragic is that Stefan developed into a person who can and likely will find eternal love. Conversely, Damon’s soul deteriorated to the point that he’ll likely never experience such a thing. So, while Stefan essentially turned Damon so that he wouldn’t have to be alone for the rest of time, he actually doomed his brother to that unfortunate fate.

Their rescue of Elena was pretty well done, but does anybody else think that they defeated Elijah a bit too easily? Yes, we came to discover that he wasn’t actually dead, but even so, he didn’t seem to put up such a significant fight. I also found it odd that Katherine had built a tolerance for vervain, but one of the original vampires was still susceptible to its power.

There’s one thing that’s bothered me, though, and that’s that virtually every single vampire we’ve seen on this show can walk around during the daylight. Right now, we’re supposed to be emotionally invested in Elena being protected, because the vampires are so eager to kill her (I think) so that their curse is lifted. Yet the very vampires that are after her already have no issue being out in the sunlight. On True Blood, when vampires that are several hundred years old discovered a way to walk out in the sun, you could genuinely sense how much it meant to them. One character hadn’t seen the sun rise in over 3,000 years, so you could imagine his overwhelming desire to overcome this “curse.” I just don’t feel that sense of urgency here.

This episode also continued to build up the relationships of some of the revolving characters. Jeremy and Bonnie continue to grow close. While I enjoyed the way things went down, I’m REALLY happy the writers opted not to have them kiss during one of those quiet, tender moments. I wouldn’t mind seeing a slow burn here. Plus, Jeremy’s been so burnt in the relationship department already. We don’t need him screwed over again so quickly. This developing “relationship” – for lack of a better word – between Tyler and Caroline intrigues me as well. Caroline is actually beginning to grow on me (despite the fact that I refer to her as a highlight, her character actually irks me). I was particularly impressed with her scene with Damon, the way she pieced together Katherine’s involvement with Tyler becoming a vampire. She showed a lot of depth there – that she’s quick witted, perceptive, and surprisingly selfless. This was accentuated later on in the episode when she lied to Tyler about being the only vampire in town. I may end up liking this character yet!

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Don't hold your breath...

So the election is over and as most expected, Linda McMahon was unsuccessful in garnering the Senate seat in Connecticut. Though, it was a tight race. While I have no doubt that her political played a part in the PG rating and Stand Up for WWE campaign, I was rather shocked how often I read people say stuff like, “Man, I hope she loses so that we can be done with this PG era crap.” I’m sorry folks, but the PG rating isn’t going anywhere. And for the immediately future, neither is the Stand Up for WWE campaign.

To be honest, I don’t know if Linda’s desire to enter the political world was the precipice behind the decision to change the direction of their television program, but the PG rating has led to a highly lucrative licensing deal with Mattel – which, if I’m not mistaken, doesn’t expire until 2015 – so we’ve got another five or so years before we’re going to see a dramatic difference in their weekly content.

And while the media feedback was absolutely responsible for the inception of the Stand Up for WWE campaign, I do honestly believe that its intention was for public relationships, not an endorsement of Linda McMahon specifically (although that would’ve been icing on the cake, I’m sure). I would expect these commercials and videos to continue until her campaign is a distant memory. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it last until early 2011.

So, yeah, don’t expect huge changes just because the election is over. And honestly, what’s the difference? For years, I’d hear people complain that they just care about seeing good matches. And you know what? A PG rating shouldn’t impact that. And to tell you the truth, with what we know in this day and age, it is a massive health hazard having multiple Superstars bleeding buckets all over each other – especially when you consider the preserve drug use and ongoing affairs some of these people frequently carry on. Sure, we could do without stuff like Hornswoggle jumping through a painted black tunnel in the wall, but is that really any worse than Katie Vick? Or Mae Young giving birth to a hand?

And, yes, the Stand Up for WWE vignettes are a bit boring and longwinded, but the truth is that WWE does do some rather remarkable things for the community – much of which doesn’t get recognized. And I’m talking about stuff that goes FAR beyond simply looking for good publicity. If you don’t like it, I understand why. Just take an extra long bathroom break.

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