LIVE Smackdown thoughts - November 29, 2011

10:36 - Sorry friends, I had some Internet issues. But I really enjoyed the Henry/Bryan match. Granted, I haven't seen any PPV's since Henry became champion, but I might go as far as to say it was Henry's best match to date. And Bryan looked fine in losing as well. Nicely done and great psychology.

9:46 - Relatively minor quibble, but I don't like Mark Henry coming to the ring with a t-shirt. Henry has an interesting build.....he's built like a house and strong as a horse, but he doesn't LOOK strong in the Batista or John Cena sense. So when he comes wearing a huge shirt, he just sorta looks fat.

9:39 - So since joining WWE AJ has had flings with Primo, Hornswoggle, and Daniel Bryan. And I'm jealous of all three of them. Oh, and Daniel Bryan's ring jacket is all sorts of awesome.

9:29 - I'm not saying that Sheamus should have squashed Hornswoggle -- since the audience is sympathetic towards the little guy -- but I'm also not sure how I feel about turning Sheamus into such a softy either.

9:26 - Michael Cole, of Hornswoggle: "If they're not careful, he could eliminate all four people." Excellently delivered.

9:02 - Wow.....John Morrison sure is going to look like a real wuss if David Otunga appears on Raw this Monday...

9:00 - Alright, who said what? That was an awfully long silent censor.

8:50 - Is there anything more dreadfully boring than those WWE backstage parties?

8:43 - Ever since Kofi abandoned the Jamaican colors and started modeling his attire after pop culture items, his coolness factor has risen significantly in my eyes (and I already liked him!) There's his Slimer and Stay Puffed from Ghostbusters. There's the Robin and Green Lantern trunks. There's the Stormtroopers pair, the U.N. one. Am I missing any other great designs?

8:28 - Out of all of the secondary Nexus/Corre guys (excluding Bryan), I honestly thought Justin Gabriel had the brightest future. He's got a great look, a unique but easy to understand accent, and he's got a style that the audience responds to. And with Mysterio and Sin Cara injured, and Morrison on his way out, why not take advantage of this talent?

8:24 - Here's a prediction I know WILL come true: That "Did You Know" is going to send fans into an uproar.

8:20 - Guess I was wrong. By the way, is it me or does Mick look a lot worse than usual? I don't know if it's his haircut, which doesn't really flatter the shape of his face, or if he's just put on a lot of weight, but his face looks really round.

8:17 - Prediction: There will be a spot where AJ has a chance to win, but can't reach the mistletoe.

8:09 - I like the Make a Wish battle royal idea. This reminds me of Team Bischoff vs. Team Austin, where Bischoff rewarded his winning team by saying he'd grant each member one wish. It lasted multiple weeks and was a clever device. Wouldn't mind seeing something like that again (on a grander scale than tonight).

8:03 - Referring to Daniel Bryan as "Tiny Tim"? Not doing him any favors....

8:01 - What the Hell, why not?

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(Sorta) LIVE Raw thoughts - November 28, 2011

9:30 - When they announced Morrison/Miz instead of Morrison/Brodus Clay, I figured they changed their mind on doing a total squash and decided to let Morrison go out with a spectacular match -- although losing. This seemed like a wasted opportunity to me.

9:26 - "Hey, you know that acrobatic guy? For his last match, let's severely limit his mobility." It's been nice, John. Wish things would've worked out.

9:17 - Yeah I I know that I said this wasn't going to be a full recap, and it won't. But I just had to comment on that opening -- it was fantastic. I don't know what they have planned for Cena, but this is a great way to develop his character. This isn't the first time they've explicitly referenced the boos, but this is the first time they've made it such a central aspect of the character and story. Cena's "Rise Above Hate" irks a lot of people, but it's good to know that it seems to be leading somewhere. Maybe Cena will snap and turn heel. Maybe he'll finally do what Piper wants, and he'll go off on the audience (perhaps turning into a Bret Hart type character, where he just hates a segment of the audience). Whatever it is they are planning, I'm eager to see what's next. I actually wouldn't mind if they took Cena out of the ring for a bit and just developed the angle behind the mic (give him a promo instead of a match at TLC). I'm eager to see where this is going.

8:21 - So there isn't going to be a formal edition of LIVE Raw thoughts tonight, because I'm not feeling very well and I have a lot going on this week for which I need to be healthy. However, there is one Pre-Raw topic of discussion I wanted to bring up. Over on WWE.com, there's a video of Johnny Ace in which he congratulates Punk on his title reign. Admittedly, I didn't watch the video (the character bores me to tears), but it did make me think of Johnny's promo last week where he said he has nothing against Punk.

Which brings me to the discussion: Did we learn nothing from the Triple H debacle? It's counter productive to Punk's character to make him an obnoxious jerk towards somebody who isn't outwardly against him. Much like with Triple H a couple of months ago, when Punk is an ass and the boss retaliates, it doesn't necessarily make the boss look like the bad guy. It makes Punk look like he's getting what he has coming.

Fans are already booing Johnny Ace. In all likelihood, they're NEVER going to cheer him. Plus, the natural progression of his character is to be a bad guy. What's with the resistance? The guy doesn't have the charisma of a Vince McMahon or Eric Bischoff, who can pull off the "gray area." Why not just turn him into an outright bad guy? Again, they're doing Punk no favors otherwise.

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My proud Twitter moment

I've been fortunate enough to have a few of my questions answered by celebrities on Twitter, which is really cool, but for the first time ever somebody actually got a real kick out of it! Somebody asked Lance Storm if he missed wrestling for WWE, to which he said, "Some parts yes, some parts no." I then sent a tweet to Lance saying "Some Parts Unknown?" He responded saying "Big Pop," which made me smile. The small things in life, folks.

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everybody enjoys the day and eats a lot of delicious food!

If you live in the New York City area, check out ABC news at 4:00 today. There MIGHT (big might) be a story on the firm I work at about our volunteer work this week.

Anyway, have a safe and happy day!

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LIVE Raw thoughts - November 21, 2011

11:05 - That was a really curious closing segment, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. Cena isn't typically shy about a large portion of the audience booing him, but it felt like an extra emphasis was placed on it for this promo. It's almost as if they wanted to hammer the point home that there are a lot of people that dislike him, which is an interesting decision (not a bad one, mind you, until we see how it plays out). And even his response seemed to have a bit of a short edge to it. Further, his actions of stirring the pot and then just leaving seemed unusual.

Regarding Miz and Truth breaking up, I thought it worked really well. It did seem a bit rushed -- I mean, in a matter of 2 minutes they went from tight and chummy to coming to blows -- but WWE has recently fallen into this trap where they take so long building up tension between partners that by the time one of them turns, the fans don't even care anymore. So I suppose this is the lesser of two evils.

Having said that, I think the concept of them breaking up happened way too soon. These two worked really well off of each other (and it was mutually beneficial, since neither was in the title picture). And if handled properly, this turn could've happened around the Rumble to build towards a WrestleMania match (and I do think people would have cared about the break up at that point). Perhaps most of all, I just don't think at this point in time, Truth can find success as a character if he's a face. His heel act has been BRILLIANT. His face routine was really, really bland. I don't think this was a great move for him at this point in time.

10:52 - Ha, it just occurred to me that Jonah Hill was supposed to be on the show. At least they're bumping him and not one of their Superstars. Unless you're Brodus Clay.

10:46 - I'm not upset that Barrett won, and it was a great match, but I hate how Kofi is used as enhancement talent in so many situations. Along with being a tag champion, he's also a really talented guy with a great upside.

10:32 - I'm glad Barrett brought back his long jacket. Much better than the overdone t-shirt entrance look.

10:23 - Interesting vignette hinting at Kane's return. I've said it before (and many others have as well) but I really think Kane needs to revert back to the mask. I actually wouldn't mind if they did a hybrid -- bald head, no shirt, but wearing the mask. One thing, though: Please, don't have him wear the last mask he wore, with the mouth section missing. I hated that mask, and it really took away a lot of the allure of him finally unmasking.

By the way, worth nothing that Kane seemed to be wearing the full glove he used to wear with the classic mask, and not the fingerless ones he wore later on (and now).

10:17 - Now that was a really great match. When I do my year end survey next month, Dolph has a legitimate shot at being the breakout star of the year. He began the year feuding with Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship, and since then he's really come into his own with some awesome matches against a variety of Superstars, and his personality has really come through. I wouldn't mind seeing these two feud legitimately in the coming months.

9:57 - Another new theme for Dolph?

9:51 - Looks like we're getting a Booker T/Cody Rhodes feud. I'm fine with that, as I like Booker and he's a talented guy. Plus, I'm sure he'll put Cody over and continue to make him look strong. My only issue is that there are plenty of people on both rosters that can't seem to break through -- so why not give one of them the shot? Like a Justin Gabriel, perhaps?

9:39 - I swear to God, if I see this Triple H/Nash segment one more time....

9:23 - Well, at least Ryder lasted longer against ADR than Morrison did. I don't have a problem with ADR going over clean, either. It was a competitive match, losing didn't hurt Ryder.

9:15 - An enjoyable Punk promo with just the right amount of snark. I'm glad he didn't harp too long on how there are people up top who are against him, because that potential story arc sailed away following the Triple H debacle. I'm also glad that they're not going to go the easy route and continue the ADR feud for another month (although they may). I was actually thinking about this earlier -- this has become such a repetitive crutch that it feels like these feuds never truly end, especially with such frequent title changes. From this point forward, why not say that the rematch clause is reserved for the live events following the title change? It would keep the main event matches fresh, and who knows, maybe it'll encourage some people to buy tickets to house shows.

9:04 - Good call starting the show with Punk. Right decision. Now, let us sit back and enjoy this promo.

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Survivor Series Predictions

I won't be ordering the show tonight. I might have been convinced to do so if there were a couple more traditional matches -- right now, it just feels like an ordinary PPV. The matches are incredibly tough to predict, if only because a lot of the decisions lately have been very questionable. I'll give it a-go, nonetheless.

WWE Championship Match:

Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk

I'd LOVE to see Punk take the title here -- and I'd say there's about a 50% chance that happens. I'm just not fully convinced. However, I don't see Henry losing his title, and I don't see Rock/Cena ending "happily." Even if Punk wins, though, I'm not sure he's going to get a super long reign. Which is too bad.

World Heavyweight Championship Match:

Mark Henry vs. Big Show

I see Henry retaining here. No cash in from Daniel Bryan.

Traditional Survivor Series Match:

Team Orton vs. Team Barrett

I see Orton and Sheamus as sole survivors.

United States Championship Match:

Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison

I see Zack Ryder getting inserted into the match, making it triple threat. If that happens, I could see them pulling the trigger and having Ryder win it. If it remains as a one-on-one match, Ziggler retains.

Divas Championship Match:

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve

I really like Eve, and she's probably the best option of all the babyface Divas, but I would keep the title on Beth.

Rock/Cena vs. Miz/Truth

There are a lot of options here, and I'm sure they'll go with the least inventive. Rock and Cena win, and Rock gives him the Rock Bottom afterwards. Some other possibilities: Rock abandons Cena, and Miz/Truth win; Cena abandons Rock, and Miz/Truth win; purely happy ending with the good guys winning and celebrating; Rock and Cena win, and Cena gives him an AA.

What do you think will happen? And will you be ordering the show?

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LIVE Raw thoughts - November 14, 2011

11:03 - To his credit, Boots to Asses is now trending. Then again, so was Mason Ryan at one point tonight.

10:53 - I'm looking at my Twitter page right now. Boots to Asses ain't trending.

10:46 - The size of The Rock disturbs me. Was he ever this big throughout his entire career?

10:37 - I still hope they'll add one more Survivor Series elimination match. There are still plenty of guys who aren't scheduled for matches yet. Ryder, Morrison, Bryan, DiBiase, just to name a few.

10:24 - Speaking of beards, I guess Orton's is gone now.

10:21 - Kevin Nash definitely looks better with the full beard. That thin goatee thing was creepy looking.

10:00 - So what, we don't take off our shirts when we wrestle anymore?

9:52 - I say this every week but ADR has the absolute worst looking beat downs. Nothing about his attacks look brutal.

9:51 - What a coincidence! My brother was wearing the shirt Miz is wearing right now, and I really liked it. Just today I was trying to find it (affordably).

9:48 - So they can't even fit in Brodus for a 3 hour show? Yikes....

9:43 - Told you.

9:40 - Natalya will lose. Natalya always loses. When you consider that Kelly is also on the cover of Maxim, I'd say that her chances are even slimmer. I do love Kelly, though.

9:31 - I am firmly willing to predict that Sheamus and Orton are the survivors of their team.

9:19 - So how many segments are they going to end with the participants explicitly stating that this has been a waste of time? I mean, I'm not really sure what the point of that segment was. I did get a BIT of a kick out of Foley's attempts at a good gesture continually backfiring, but quite honestly Cena and Foley don't have the history that Rock and Foley had to make the comedy of errors work.

Was the whole point to get Cena to give a rousing speech about how the fans can boo him? If so, we've already seen that a bunch of times before. And on top of that, the segment only gave the audience more reasons to boo Cena.

Rock coming in to Rock Bottom Foley was kinda funny and unexpected, though.

9:12 - How did I not know Bull had this accent?

9:07 - I suspect they're purposely going over the top here, but there's no way this music gets the audience supporting Cena.

8:54 - Doesn't wearing one of those balance bands over your wrist tape defeat the purpose?

8:50 - So, could Ziggler be doing double duty two PPVs in a row?

It strikes me as odd that WWE is so incredibly willing to anger their audience with this JR/Cole thing, with seemingly no plan to have it end happily (with JR getting his job back).

8:39 - I know I'm in the vast minority here, but I haven't necessarily been set on fire by the Rock since his return. Granted, I was NEVER a massive Rock fan -- more than any other main eventer, I felt he did as little as possible in the ring in order to get a reaction. Likewise, he relies on catch phrases more than most behind the mic. I am by no means discounting his talent or success -- both are immense. I just feel like, often, he does as little as possible to get a reaction.

Having said that, my issue with the Rock/Cena feud is the same as my issue with the Triple H/Kevin Nash feud. Very, very little of the issues have occurred on-screen. You're expecting your audience to know all of this backstage information. I wish they would show an old interview where Cena badmouthed Rock, because at the moment all we've seen is Rock and Cena talking about all the things they've said about each other.

8:28 - At least JR is doing the announcing, for now.

Hunico went from a potentially marketable Sin Cara impersonator to a stereotypical Konnan impostor. The Black Sin Cara gimmick had some potential, and I think they gave up on it WAY too quickly.

I'm also really disappointed that Cody has abandoned the mask. Sure, the shelf life may have been limited, but the Dr. Doom look was awesome. Cody is great, but there's not a whole lot about him that stands out. The mask set him apart and really let him shine.

8:21 - Usual spiel. Loved Punk, the rest was blah. Honestly, they should have ended it with Punk giving Cole the GTS and then pulling the announce chair out for JR. That would have made Punk a God to the audience.

Nice to see Foley again, by the way. My feelings on Mick as a performer has wavered over the years, but I think his talent is innate and I'm excited to see what he has to offer.

8:16 - Could this be the return of the CM Punk crazy beard?

7:59 - So Twitter has been advertising that the Cole Challenge would kick off Raw. I don't think the future is bright for JR. If they had planned on doing something as drastic as removing Cole from the booth and giving the position back to JR, I don't think they'd be so casual about postponing the match for several weeks. If Cole wins, nothing changes. He remains as the announcer and JR stays gone. So postponing it, if the end result is Cole winning, is a "no harm, no foul" situation. Not looking good for Mr. Ross, although I hope I'm wrong.

7:49 - We're about 10 minutes from a supersized Super Show. I'll do my best to keep this coverage going for the whole three hours, but I hurt my back today and my chair, while comfortable, is not quite as alluring as my bed. Plus I may need to run out for a bit.

How about a quick pre-Raw discussion? Christian is officially off of, eck, Team Barrett. Who replaces him? The easy answer is Epico or Primo, who have aligned with Hunico against Sin Cara. But do they want to waste a spot on people so low on the card? My bet is on Brodus Clay, who dominates in his "debut" match tonight, and immediately gets picked up by Barrett. What do you think?

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Family Guy: Why last night's episode wasn't (too) controversial

If you were watching my tweets last night, you'll know that I found last night's episode of Family Guy absolutely hilarious. I absolutely LOVED seeing the sleek, high definition animation interact with the crude drawings from the pilot episode. The meta references were great as well, like Brian bringing up Stewie's early unusual manner of speaking and Stewie remarking that the TV wasn't even plugged in. Plus, the glimpse into how animation may look in a few years was fun as well. I thought it was great -- one of the rare moments where Family Guy clearly dominated against the usually stellar American Dad.

Yet when I came online today, I was shocked to see a mini-uproar over the references to 9/11 (unfortunately, even Inside Pulse joined in on the act). Why? Why was this a controversy? First and foremost, the jokes that were made were relatively tame compared to what we're used to seeing (I mean, c'mon, a song about somebody having AIDS?) Secondly, I really think that people are missing the point regarding the whole 9/11 thing -- both on a comedic and philosophical level.

On the comedic level, the fact that Stewie and Brian were high fiving about 9/11 happening IS the joke. They discovered that something far worse happened when they prevented 9/11 (millions of people, opposed to thousands, were killed in a Civil War). In order to prevent that catastrophe, they had to allow the original to happen. Within the context of the show, 9/11 was the lesser of two evils, so yes, they were happy about it. But to the viewer -- who knows that this future Civil War is fake -- the dark humor is seeing these two characters cheering for an awful thing that really happened.

On a philosophical level, it's worth noting that 9/11 was the one thing that they attempted to prevent. For all the discussion about them making light of what happened, how about the fact that it was the one event that, if given the ability to go back in time, they would try to stop from happening?

Make no mistake about it -- 9/11 was a tragic event and many, many people lost somebody dear to them. But I honestly don't believe last night's episode was ABOUT allowing 9/11 to happen. It just feels like people are trying to find controversy where there isn't one.

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Top Ten Cases: Best Mustaches in Wrestling (Movember Special)

Enjoy!

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Inside Pulse Relaunch #7

http://insidepulse.com/

Today marked the relaunch of Inside Pulse (the website I contribute to) and overall I think it looks great. This is the most uniformed the site has ever been, in my view, which I actually appreciate. There was a time that I liked how each zone had its own identity, but now I think websites typically look more professional and "cleaner" when the appearance is more or less universal. Also, be sure to check out my author page (I'll get around to updating the graphics shortly):

http://insidepulse.com/insider/mattbasilo/

So, what do you all think of the new look?

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-9

Since none of my friends watch The Vampire Diaries, and I don’t frequent message boards (in order to avoid spoilers), I’m really not sure what the overall perspective of this season has been. But, for my money, the third season has been on fire! It’s really been one great episode after another, and even the “filler” episodes have provided some fun moments and/or interesting character development. None of the storylines have seemed rushed or illogical, and the character shifts have not only been fun, but they’ve also made me care more about each individual character. Am I alone here, or has everybody been enjoying the season thus far?

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-9"....

Alright, with that (straightforward) gushing out of the way, this week was the mid-season finale and it was a pretty explosive episode (and that would be gushing that isn’t straightforward). In its final few seasons, Smallville relied heavily on the “___ days/hours ago” manner of storytelling and it usually worked, even though it was entirely unnecessary at times. I was a tad worried this episode would fall into that category (I mean, why begin with Stefan on the phone with Klaus, only to flash back mid-discussion to the preparation for the phone call?) but looking back (ha!) it was actually a really fun, exciting way to tell the story. Yes, that initial example may have been a bit much, but not knowing how things were going to play out – and then fully understanding why things happened the way they did – made for a pretty thrilling hour.

Remember what I said in the introduction about how I cared about all of the characters? Well, that was an important aspect of this episode, as everybody played a part in the night’s events. And through it all, their motivations made sense, and you truly understood their nature. It quickly became obvious that Mikael is NOT a good guy. As Rebekah noted, he was the one who made the family into monsters, and he was the one who had mistreated Klaus throughout his life. And when push came to shove, he had absolutely no qualms about murdering Elena – an innocent, powerless girl who was on his side. For her part, Rebekah ended up being a relatively sweet girl who was willing to kill her brother, despite loving him, because she knew it was for the best (and for that matter, Elena staking Rebekah was a pretty shocking, bad ass moment). Tyler showed that he was still willing to do whatever it took to protect his friends, even though he was under the control of Klaus.

Probably my favorite character performances, however, were Stefan and Katherine. When Damon oh-so-casually mentioned that Katherine told him that Mikael feeds on vampires, I grinned ever so slightly, as it confirmed that she survived the attack. After hearing that, I did suspect her to play a role in the conclusion (and I loved that Mikael didn’t realize it was Katherine and not Elena). And Stefan continued his fun turn as a guy who doesn’t really give a damn, but still has a soft spot for his brother. And, like last week, it was his loyalty to Damon that led to Klaus’ survival (likewise, it was Elijah’s loyalty to HIS family that caused him to save Klaus last season).

In fact, the flashback between Katherine and Stefan, where their portion of the plan was revealed, was perhaps my favorite part of the entire episode. Since Katherine’s return, most of her scenes have been with Damon (which I’ve enjoyed), but her interaction with Stefan this episode was a lot of fun. I loved how Katherine disappeared from the party to wake Stefan, so that – unbelievably – she could knock him out of his senses so that they could save Damon. And in the car, she finally revealed to Stefan that there is a piece of humanity in her, and that she did truly love both of them. It was actually a really great series of scenes, adding a great deal of complexity to all of the characters involved. Actually, Stefan and Katherine as a bad ass pair that don’t give a damn (but kinda sorta do) could be a whole lot of fun over the second half of the season.

Well, that’s it for the mid-season finale. See you guys in January! In the meantime, be sure to visit my blog and, of course, follow me on Twitter!

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Wrestling Rushmore

Over on Twitter, somebody asked former WWE writer Seth Mates who he would include on his wrestling Mount Rushmore. I disagreed with Seth's answer (Vince, Undertaker, Cena, and Rock). If I was forced to choose, I think I'd go with Vince, Hogan, Austin, and Flair. Vince because he's the pioneer of wrestling and the only genuine constant. Hogan because he was the face behind the first wrestling boom, and at the end of the day he's THE MOST recognizable person in wrestling history. Austin because he rejuvenated the industry and brought upon arguably the biggest boom, pop culture wise. And then there's Flair, an absolute legend and perhaps the most respected wrestler ever by his peers.

It remains to be seen what impact John Cena will have on wrestling history, but I'm not sure how you could include him (or Taker or Rock) and not Austin and Hogan. What do you guys think -- who would be on your Wrestling Rushmore?

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LIVE Raw thoughts - November 7, 2011

11:08 - That was the right ending but an incredibly lame one as well. The kick looked weak, the camera barely caught it, and Truth holding down Cena's leg really shouldn't have had any impact on Cena lifting his shoulder. I didn't expect it to be clean, but it shouldn't have been THAT fluke-ish. I still don't feel like they've presented a story that leads us to think Cena truly needs Rock -- to the extent that they're putting their rivalry on hold.

11:02 - I hope Ryder doesn't eat the pin tonight. Again, it won't create suspense that Cena needs help.

10:47 - Gotta admit, that was pretty cool how they filmed the Rock/Cena teaming up Survivor Series bus, and then panned up to the Rock/Cena opponents against each other at WrestleMania banner.

10:41 - So are they ever going to mention that Punk and Otunga were both in the Nexus? And another bait and switch by putting off Brodus' debut?

10:37 - So why isn't Punk coming out? Shouldn't he still want to take out Nash?

10:35 - Further, why are people surprised that Nash attacked Triple H? Why wouldn't he? In storyline terms, Triple H sided with Punk over him, punched him in the face, and then fired him.

10:34 - No matter how many times you show me the replay of the Nash/Triple H attack, I still won't care.

10:25 - I wouldn't mind the Divas of Destruction retreating so often if they at least won most of their matches. Natalya almost always jobs and Beth loses just as much as she wins. Let these girls kick a little ass, so that the fans can rally behind a babyface Diva to take them down. I just don't see them as much of a threat at the moment.

10:17 - Why was AJ's music playing as Kelly Kelly was walking through the hallway?

10:14 - Is it me or does Jack Swagger look exceptionally tan tonight?

10:04 - Great segment with Punk. It occurs to me that, aside from that brief interaction with Nash, this is really the first time since Punk's face turn that we've seen him let loose on the mic against a heel. Think about it -- his victims up until now have primarily been Cena and Triple H, both babyfaces. It's refreshing seeing him against somebody where a segment of the audience doesn't have to wonder whether or not it's okay to cheer. Oh, and is it me, or does ADR have the worst looking beatdowns out of anybody in the main event/upper midcard scene? His attacks look awful.

9:51 - Over on Twitter, Gregory Helms just called the heel announcer routine "old" and I'm inclined to agree with him. One of my favorite commentating teams of the modern era was Michael Cole and Tazz, and neither of them explicitly played a heel or face. They were just two guys who sometimes agreed and sometimes didn't, and their views always seemed consistent and real. It's a routine that works and doesn't annoy or insult your audience.

9:42 - Still wondering why Wade Barrett is the captain of his team.

9:30 - Granted....my contacts dried out so I had to switch to my glasses, but I'm PRETTY sure I just saw John Morrison win a match! Wow! Let's hope this is a turning point for Morrison. I've been saying it all year, but John Morrison is a truly unique talent and unlike anybody else they have. Backstage politics aside, they're wasted a special talent.

9:15 - WWE gets a lot of criticism -- and trust me, it's well deserved -- but in the past year guys like Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder have really made a name for themselves. And guys like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Christian have had incredible years -- probably the best of their careers. That doesn't excuse their mistakes, but still...

By the way, we now have Morrison against Ziggler. A year or so ago Morrison was beating Ziggler consistently in their feud. Let's see how long he lasts before losing clean to Ziggler this match.

9:10 - A year ago -- hell, even a couple months ago -- would you have imagined Zack Ryder getting the hot save (with theme music) for John Cena in the opening segment of Raw? Great moment for Ryder and you can't help but be happy for him.

9:07 - I admire the fact that they're digging themselves out of their own grave regarding Cena beating Miz and Truth last week, but I can't help but wonder why they didn't just avoid that altogether when they had the chance.

9:01 (seconds later) - Yep, there it is.

9:01 - They're in England? Guess we'll be seeing the old school phone booth.

8:22 - Raw starts in less than an hour. I haven't read the spoilers -- nor do I plan to -- but I thought we might jump into a Pre-Raw discussion. WWE.com recently announced that a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match would happen at the upcoming PPV. Hopefully this isn't the only one. Anyway, it'll be Team Orton (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Kofi Kingston, and Mason Ryan) vs. Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Hunico, and Jack Swagger). Aside from the fact that they need to bring back those goofy team names (I hate these "Team Enter Last Name" names), I can't help but be surprised that Wade Barrett is considered the captain of his team. His push isn't even that strong, and up until a few weeks ago he was getting his ass handed to him by John Cena. As this alliance emerged, it seemed like Christian was the mastermind/instigator. Plus he's a former World Champion. And then there's Cody Rhodes. He's getting a pretty strong push as well, and he's the one who's feuding with Orton (the other team's captain). Barrett just seemed like a really strange choice, given the options. What do you all think?

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Friar Tuck

Just a few days after receiving my October shirt, my November shirt has arrived! And perhaps in tribute to everybody's favorite wrestler, this bar comes straight from Chicago! I wonder if I was there when I visited a couple of years ago. Anyway, here you go....

This 40-year-old neighborhood bar is literally a hole in the wall. It serves up a heaping helping of ye old atmosphere while celebrating the monk's holy-est water....beer. Dark walls are covered with photos of past patrons "tucked" behind Plexiglas doors. You'll discover decades of awesome bar going fashion like 70's bell-bottoms and beards and 80's mullets and mustaches. Beyond that you'll find a crackling fire and Friar Tuck himself raising his glass to the star of the show....a sheep. Many places have embarrassing birthday traditions and friends just love forcing them on you. You might say Friar Tuck holds the trophy for the best or most humiliating depending on your point of view. It's a very popular tradition to drink a birthday shot out of an inflatable sheep's butt while the whole bar sings happy birthday to you.

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

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 3-8

It feels like only a couple of episodes ago I was remarking that The Vampire Diaries resorted to flashback in order to tell their stories a few too many times. Yet, I have to admit, I really enjoyed this episode (although I was initially skeptical). In fact, it may have been the best flashback episode yet.

So, why was I skeptical? Well, when we saw Alaric going through the cave and realizing that the symbols represented everything they had dealt with, conceivably tying it all together, I couldn’t help but have bad Heroes flashbacks of my own. When the writing of Heroes really started falling apart, they seemed to discover something from their past that seemed to conveniently rewrite their own mythology. On a fairly consistent basis. Thankfully, The Vampire Diaries hasn’t experienced the same writing struggles, so this episode avoided that fate.

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Truth be told, I really liked the flashbacks because they provided a clear cut explanation about the origins of vampires (something I don’t think they did last season) and they managed to do it in a very personal manner. The original witch wasn’t just an ordinary person – it was the mother of Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah. And Mikael isn’t some vampiric vampire hunter – he’s their father. And vampirism in itself wasn’t some diabolical affront against God – it was a parent’s desperate attempt to keep his children and family alive. Until the reveal at the end, I wondered if they were going to realign the season’s story arc because Klaus was coming across as so sympathetic. I thought they were perhaps going to have all of them band together to take on Mikael. In the final moments, however, we learned that Klaus was actually the one who killed his mother, and that he had been psychologically keeping Rebekah and Elijah hostage for thousands of years. It was a really well told story, and for the first time I cared about these new characters as something more than just antagonists.

I often applaud this show for giving us odd or different pairings, but if there’s one twosome that’s always a homerun it’s Stefan and Damon. These two characters just bring out the best in each other, and this was really the first time we saw “bad” Stefan with “good” Damon, in a non-adversarial capacity. And it worked really, really well. When Damon told Stefan that he likes the edge, Stefan just needs to learn to stop falling off of it, I sensed that he wasn’t just “playing” his brother – I really think Damon would be in a state of bliss if Stefan was just like him. Yes, he wants Stefan to go back to his Boy Scout ways because he wants what’s best for him and for Elena, but I really do believe that Damon would be perfectly happy if Stefan was a dick who showed some restraint.

And I really did enjoy the fact that Damon’s life being in danger was what (kinda sorta) made Stefan come to his senses. While it was meant to sound somewhat tragic, I actually found it sweet when Elena remarked (possibly correctly) that Stefan’s love for Damon will be what saves him, not his love for Elena.

This was really a two story episode, so there’s not much else to say about the episode. Which is odd, because so much happened and I really did like it. Oh, I still hope that Katherine isn’t dead!

Anyway, next week is the show’s mid-season finale and it looks pretty thrilling. See you then!

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