A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 4-15

So The Vampire Diaries followed up last week’s fantastic episode with another stellar one.  There is one thing I always commend this show for, and that’s that it has the characters ask and answer the questions we’re all thinking.  In my last review, I wondered if Jeremy was still wearing his protection ring, and if it would bring him back to life if he was.  Within the first several minutes of this week’s episode, Elena answered that question and Stefan (separately) answered it.  It seems like a fairly obvious thing, but a lot of shows don’t even put that minuscule level of detail into their dialogue and stories.

Continue reading "A Case of the....  The Vampire Diaries - Episode 4-15".....

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LIVE Raw thoughts - February 25, 2013

11:09 - I went into the match knowing Cena would win, so the result didn't really bother me.  But holy hell, did it make me wish that WrestleMania was Cena vs. Punk.  That match was SPECTACULAR!  And it wasn't all Punk.  Cena showed, once again, that he has the ability to be awesome in the ring.  And how about that hurricanrana?  And Punk looked great too.  He kicked out of an AA and escaped the STF numerous times.  Awesome stuff.  These two have incredible chemistry with each other.

11:02 - Cena breaking out the Batista Bomb was all sorts of awesome.

10:49 - Am I the only one who finds Cole and Lawler repeatedly referring to John Cena as "John" really awkward?

10:38 - So do you think Undertaker will return this match?  If so, a bit strange that WWE would (ONCE AGAIN) spoil their own surprise by showing the Tout just before the match.  What is with them insisting upon ruining their own surprises?  Don't keep telling us that we're going to miss something big.  Make us afraid that we're going to miss something big.  The difference is doing unexpected things at unexpected times, even if it runs the risk of some people missing it.

10:31 - Why is John Cena talking like Martin Luther King Jr.?

10:21 - This recent Jack Swagger push depresses me because it just shows how easy it is to make somebody a legitimate threat and main event player.  So why are they so resistant to the people that fans react to naturally?

10:07 - I loved Seth Rollins' Peter Griffin fall.  But based on this angle, it looks like this whole Sheamus/Wade Barrett thing is just a diversion.  Looks like we're going to see the predictable Orton, Sheamus, and Ryback vs. Shield.  Which is significantly less star studded than Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback. And based on Orton's treatment this past year, it's really no more impressive than Jericho, Sheamus, and Ryback.

And considering the announcers went on and on about how obsessed Ryback is with the Shield, wasn't it odd that he was the one person who DIDN'T come out for this?

9:46 - Ah, Cody loses again.  Drives me almost as crazy as this Kofi job stream.  Speaking of Kofi, maybe he should consider getting a severe knee injury.  Might get him a push.

9:44 - I still get a kick out of the "Cody is a grown man and he can grow a mustache if he wants to" line.

9:36 - I cringed when they announced that Sheamus would be doing an Oscar Snubs segment, thinking it was just going to be an obnoxious Sheamus comedy skit.  Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.  For one, Sheamus was actually pretty humorous.  And second, it was used to continue the build for his feud with Barrett.  Here's my one wish, though:  I DESPERATELY HOPE THIS IS A WRESTLEMANIA MATCH.  Here's hoping this isn't a "hey, let's pass the time doing this" angle (like Great Khali vs. Mark Henry).  Keep the build going and let them finish it off at WrestleMania.

The question remains, though:  What happens with the Intercontinental Championship?  Sheamus seems above the title (although grabbing a secondary title after a World title isn't that unnatural anymore), so should Barrett drop the title?  In an ideal world, I'd have him drop it to Kofi, and then have Kofi defend in a multi-person ladder match at WrestleMania (filling the role of spot fest and "get as many people in one match" all at once) with Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, and R-Truth.  Or just a normal four-way.  Or add Christian, Dolph, and Jericho, depending on how things play out.

9:20 - And I'll repeat (and rephrase) my comment from earlier:  What's the WrestleMania plan for Orton?  How about Cesaro?  Presumably Miz, I guess.  But I feel like 90% of the roster are completely directionless going into the biggest show of the year.

9:11 - My other issue with this "We the People" angle:  It's polarizing.  Which means that a portion of your audience is not going to support your babyface.  Frankly, there are probably a lot of people out there who DON'T agree with ADR's notion that America belongs to everyone and that anybody should be allowed to come here as long as they have a dream.  It was actually a pretty weak come back, to be honest.  And wasn't Zeb's character established as being Native American?  Which means he WASN'T descended from immigrants.

I will say this, though:  I'm PSYCHED for Old School Raw!

9:05 - I have my fair share of issues with this storyline (like, for example, that the World Heavyweight Championship is YET to be mentioned), but I do love the way Zeb condescendingly rolls the "R" in Alberto Del Rio.

8:54 - The Great Khali is one of those guys who the company constantly tells us we SHOULD be impressed by, but he hasn't been treated as such in years.  Everybody defeats the Great Khali.  Why should I be impressed that Mark Henry did?

Speaking of Mark Henry, what's the WrestleMania plan for him?  I say put him in there with Ryback.  THAT would have a big match feel to it, like the British Bulldog vs. Warlord.  Better than another rehash of Ryback + Partners vs. the Shield.

8:48 - Donald Trump is as deserving as any other celebrity inductee (except for Mr. T).  And hey, maybe this'll mean that they'll drop money from the rafters at WrestleMania.  I'm all for that!

8:44 - I was listening carefully to Punk's language to see if he'd drop any hint that he's going to be facing the Undertaker at WresteMania.  I didn't really catch anything.  His remarks about being an icon and God is more a shot at HBK than anything.

8:32 - While that match wasn't a squash, it did provide another reason why I'm not AS psyched about WrestleMania as I normally would be (again, considering the circumstances).  There are a lot of guys I really want to get behind, but they're treated like jobbers and jokes.  There's Dolph Ziggler.  There's Kofi Kingston.  There's Daniel Bryan.  There's even Zack Ryder.  And so far, ALL of those guys have been used to enhance the stories and feuds of guys who aren't as popular, aren't as talented, and have less of a shelf life.  I said it last week, and I still feel this way:  It saddens me that Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan were used as fodder to build the story for Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio.  And right now, guys like Ziggler, Kingston, and Bryan don't even have a clear direction for the biggest show of them all.  That makes no sense to me.

8:14 - Really enjoyed that opening segment.  For one, I love the fact that Heyman didn't back down and act afraid of Vince McMahon -- a grandfather with a replaced hip.  EVERYBODY always has to cower to him.  Not to take away from his incredible physical presence, but sometimes it's ridiculous (and awfully petty).  I'll never forget the time Eric Bischoff not only acted afraid of McMahon, but openly admitted that McMahon was going to kick his ass.  Here was a guy who was more than a decade older than him, and your martial arts master was afraid?  And McMahon was the heel in the situation!  So I was glad that Heyman showed some backbone (and only begged off when McMahon had a weapon).

The subsequent Lesnar and Triple H run ins were expected, but still handled well.  I'm not thrilled to see the match AGAIN, but if that's what they insist, then I should at least try to enjoy the ride.  The battle was even, and hey, Triple H actually looks kinda bad ass with the buzz cut.  But what the hell was up with his pants?  Was his ass sweating or something?

7:54 - Alright, we're about five minutes away from what is being hyped as a stacked Raw.  We have Punk vs. Cena, Heyman vs. McMahon, and based on this weekend -- likely the return of the Undertaker.

I've been pretty critical of the past couple weeks of Raw, mostly because nothing about this upcoming WrestleMania feels monumental.  It doesn't feel like there's a shake up.  It feels completely by the books.  And that's dpressing -- because I desperately WANT this to be a huge WrestleMania (I'm going, after all).  Hopefully things begin taking shape (and it's a shape I like) starting tonight.

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 4-14

In my previous review, I asked if anybody knew if Rebekah would be cast in the proposed Originals pilot.  Latest reports indicate that, yes, she will!  This is good news as far as I’m concerned, as she’s the character that viewers could certainly sympathize with and get behind (along with Elijah, who I understand will also be on the show).  I’m eager to see what this series has in store for us.  Again, I’m hoping it becomes the Angel to The Vampire Diaries’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Continue reading "A Case of the....  The Vampire Diaries - Episode 4-14".... 

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The New WWE Championship

There's a pretty detailed backstory on the new WWE Championship (which I've warmed up to over the past 24 hours) over on WWE.com:

http://www.wwe.com/inside/the-making-of-the-new-wwe-title-26092146

There are also some exclusive photos of the new title:

http://www.wwe.com/inside/new-wwe-championship-photos

The championship surely isn't perfect, but like I said, I've warmed up to it a bit.  Perhaps knowing the thought process that went into it helps (such as the fact that they actively decided not to include an eagle or globe).  And seeing more detailed photos (as well as the replica on WWEShop.com, which has superior side plates) gave me a new appreciation as well.

The real test will be to see how it looks around somebody's waist (like CM Punk, for example, who wore the title instead of carrying it on his shoulder).

Overall, what do you guys think?

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LIVE Raw thoughts - February 18, 2013

11:06 - My joke comment on Twitter, regarding the new championship, was "We waited 8 years for that?"  I was joking, since it IS superior to the Spinner belt (mostly because it fixed my biggest complaint about the Spinner title....that it said "Champ" instead of "Champion"), but there are still some big problems with it.  The first....it's kinda bland.  It's literally just a giant WWE logo with "Champion" written below.  No eagle.  No globe.  No name plate for the champion (I hate how all the new titles have eliminated this feature -- I loved it).  And unless i was viewing it wrong....there didn't even seem to be any main plate.  Just a gold frame on the black strap.  But, again, it IS superior to the prior title, and a change was desperately in need.  It was better without quite being a step in the right direction.

With the addition of the Brahma Bull side plates, I'm wondering if this is just going to be a customized Rock belt, with another new title debuting after Mania.

By the way, I really do want Rock to turn heel for his match with Cena.  The build needs to be something different than the last couple years we've gotten from these two.

10:53 - I'm actually about to mention this in my latest review of The Vampire Diaries, but changing up somebody's typical wardrobe can go such a long way in making somebody look fresh.  When you think back to classic Rock, you think of the sunglasses, the dress pants, and the gaudy shirts.  Yeah, he wore the warm ups on several occasions, but my point still stands.  A big issue, for me anyway, is when I look at a photo of a wresting event and I can't tell which one it's from.  Hold on, I'm about to end this rant.  Rock is about to debut a new title.  All will be forgiven.

10:46 - Gotta say, if they're trying to make Bryan look like the jerk here, they should have had him make a bit of a bigger production when he came out.  Maybe play his music or something.  Or have him come out yelling "NO!"  Maybe even on a mic.  Have him do something to actively distract Kane.  Instead, he just kinda walked out.  Yeah, it was a violation of their gentleman's agreement, but it didn't come across as diabolical or anything.  Yet the announcers are all like, "What the hell is wrong with Daniel Bryan?!?!?!"

By the way, I still don't agree with this WWE mentality of saving the Rock for one segment.  The dude is a huge star and he's been appearing virtually every week -- often on both Raw and Smackdown,  You're centering WrestleMania around him.  You have this rare opportunity -- why not plaster your show with the guy?  Put him in backstage segments.  Have him interact with other stars.  Having him come out at the beginning of or end of every show -- wearing the same warm up pants and t-shirt -- giving essentially the same promo, can get old.  There's tons they could be doing with Rock, yet they seem to be doing the bare minimum.

10:35 - Do you remember Triple H vs. Kane at WrestleMania XV?  It was an upper midcard match that felt BIG because it was the culmination of a long-term story that featured many twists and turns.  Triple H had never won a World Championship and Kane hadn't held the title in years.  Yet the match had this big, important feeling to it.  Now, think back to Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit at WrestleMania X-Seven.  It was another upper midcard match, but it felt a bit empty.  WrestleMania was right around the corner and it was as if somebody said, "Oh crap!  We have nothing for Angle or Benoit!  Let's just put them in a match together!"  It almost feels like this entire year's card is like that.  Aside from Rock/Cena, what matches have that Triple H/Kane feeling?  Del Rio/Swagger had absolutely no story prior to last night, and it's hardly a high caliber match.  Your other rumored big matches -- Punk vs. Undertaker and Triple H vs. Lesnar -- haven't even begun to be built yet.  Orton/Sheamus/Ryback vs. the Shield WOULD feel big, but we've seen too many variations of that already (one variant that was bigger than the above match).  Daniel Bryan vs. Kane COULD have that feeling, but unfortunately they've both lost so often that the match loses a bit of its luster.  I just feel like something big needs to happen.  And soon.

10:28 - Kofi Kingston deserves so much better than this.  He's a truly unique talent who has a great presence and charisma.  Why are they so against pushing him to the next level?

10:24 - Poor Kofi.  I'm sure he'll now have to lose to Damien Sandow, who has no direction right now either.

10:18 - I will say this for them:  Their handling of the Shield has been damn near flawless.  But who's the team that eventually overcomes them?  This whole Sheamus, Ryback, and "X" thing could get old.  What's the WrestleMania end game?

9:49 - Did Vince McMahon just get the first season of The Office on DVD or something?

9:48 - Brad Maddox being named the Assistant to the Managing Supervisor is the best thing on this show so far.

9:41 - I knew it was coming, but it still annoyed me.  It saddens me that going into last year's WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan was either getting cheap wins over main eventers and upper midcarders, or clean wins against the rest of the midcarders (and even a couple upper ones, like Kofi Kingston).  And now?  He's losing matches to build that very match.  Against a guy who is less talented in the ring, less talented behind the mic, and less over with the audience.  But oh, he's taller.

Random observation, but has every match ended in a submission?

9:29 - Remember how I said there was something wrong with sacrificing Dolph Ziggler for a Jack Swagger match?  Well there's something equally wrong with sacrificing Daniel Bryan for an Alberto Del Rio match.  Why are we sacrificing Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler to build Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger?

9:15 - Remember when I said "what are they waiting for?"  This is the first Raw after the last PPV before WrestleMania (you follow that?)  This is the time we should be spending towards making the matches people will want to see at WrestleMania.  Instead, we have the Intercontinental Champion blatantly plugging his movie with a guy who doesn't have a chance of facing him cutting him off?  And then they don't even both writing an end to the segment.  They just kinda break the fourth wall and say "what's that?  We're out of time?  Okay."  Just awful.

I'm going to WrestleMania this year and I desperately want to love the show.....but there really aren't any matches that make me feel like "hey, this is the culmination of a story I've been waiting to see the climax of."  No big turns.  No breakout moments.  Nothing, really.  And their biggest match, sadly, is a repeat of the year before!

9:06 - There is something severely wrong when you're sacrificing Dolph Ziggler to build a match for Jack Swagger.  Having said that, the whole bit with the Money in the Bank contract did get my attention.  Very clever.  However, they're REALLY not doing Ziggler any favors by repeatedly having him lose clean to the champion.  It just accentuates the point that he's only champion because of the huge advantage he received.

8:58 - I feel like they've painted themselves in a corner with Dolph Ziggler.  The past couple of months he's been so closely tied with the World Heavyweight Championship that without being in the title match, he seems left out in the cold for WrestleMania.  I suppose a match with Jericho seems possible, but that "feud" hasn't really been all that focused on (other than Ziggler occasionally mentioning it).  WrestleMania is a little more than a month away.  I wish they would just get to building all of THOSE matches.  What are they waiting for?

8:48 - Oh great, now it looks like they're going to feed Daniel Bryan to Jack Swagger.  The whole World Heavyweight Championship scene has been truly baffling.  Two to three months ago, could you have possibly imagined that the World Heavyweight Title match at WrestleMania would be......Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger?  Here, Sheamus got this monster push, winning the title in record time and then going on and having a strong reign.  He lost it to Big Show of all people, who then went on to lose it to a freshly turned Alberto Del Rio (out of no where).  Then Sheamus disappeared from the title scene altogether, despite carrying the scene for the better part of the year.  And then, out of nowhere, they give JACK SWAGGER the title shot?  Didn't they learn anything from the last time they rushed Swagger too quickly into the main event?  The following are far superior (and realistic) options:  Randy Orton (as a face or heel.....and I hate Orton), Sheamus (face vs. face), Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, and hell.....even CM Punk!

Has there ever been a bigger disparity in star power between the World Heavyweight and WWE Championship WrestleMania matches?  I really hope SOMETHING happens to liven things up a bit, because I have zero interest in this match.

8:43 - As promised, I'm back!  First and foremost, I loved the opening of the show.  Both Cena and Punk made all of the right points and maintained the right tone.  My one point of contention is that Cena has beat Punk a bunch of times....even once (that I can think of) during the Summer of Punk.  At least when Cena mentions his win/loss record against Punk, he qualifies it as never winning in 'big matches."  That complaint aside, it was great.  And I really liked that they held it off until next week, so that there's plenty of time to build the match.

I even really liked the Ryback/Sheamus backstage segment, because it (a) made the loss matter, and (b) it created a little tension between Ryback and Sheamus (which was especially important for Sheamus, who too often comes across as Cena-like in his happy go lucky attitude).  The insertion of Jericho was unexpected, since I don't see how he's going to play into the Shield feud going into WrestleMania (Randy Orton seems like the more obvious choice).

The Mark Henry stuff was fine for getting him re-established going into WrestleMania, but are we really going to do a Khali feud?  Honestly, it feels like everything is being thrown together going into WrestleMania.  Outside of Rock/Cena and the Shield stuff, will ANY match have a multi-month backstory to it?

Hated the Cesaro/Miz match because they did that thing that drives me crazy....having a champion lose a non title match to the challenger in order to make him #1 contender.  Plus, the figure four AND the tap out looked weak.  They're both to blame for that.

7:59 - It's coming....but I gotta go pick up a prescription!  I'll catch up on DVR!

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episodes 4-12 & 4-13

Apologies, friends, for the lateness of these reviews.  This is my busy time at work, which means I don’t always get to watch the episodes live.  And this past week we were hit with the blizzard, which slowed things down even further.  But here are the reviews for the past TWO episodes of The Vampire Diaries.

Continue reading "A Case of the....  The Vampire Diaries - Episodes 4-12 & 4-13"....

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Twenty Thousands Leagues Under the Snow

Get it?  Because it's about the Nemo storm

Anyway, I live in Northern New Jersey -- about 20 or so miles from New York City -- and we got hit pretty hard.  I'd say about a foot or so.  Thankfully, the past few winters haven't been too bad.  We've gotten maybe one or two big snowfalls each winter, to the extent that I usually didn't even bother starting up our snow blower.  This time, however, that snow blower was going to be a necessity.

What resulted, in regards to the snow blower, was a combination of Murphy's Law and a comedy of errors.

I checked -- the thing had gas.  But for whatever reason, I couldn't get it started up.  I kept tugging and tugging the cord, until it happened:  The cord completely tore off.  I'm looking at this snow blower, now impossible to start, and then the driveway (which ended in a giant wall of snow, caused by the plows) and I wondered what the hell I would do.  And then I saw a message engraved on the top that read "Electrical Start Up."  I had never noticed it before, but upon inspection I noticed that there was indeed an electrical outlet on this thing.  How have I never noticed this before?  So I grabbed the extension cord, hooked this thing up, and after a couple tries got this thing started VERY easily.

So there I am, for about two hours, walking through the driveway and walkway with the snow blower attached to this giant extension cord.  I had the cord over my shoulders at certain points because when I'd go in reverse, I didn't want the blades to catch the cord.  After about two hours, I went a bit too far and the extension cord detached.  And that's when I discovered that you don't actually need to keep the blower hooked up -- it just needs to be plugged in for the actual start.  Boy, did I feel a bit foolish there.

Basically, I ended up learning two great lessons.  The first is that you can just plug the snow blower in and hit a button to get it started, instead of dealing with the insufferable pull cord (which is now no longer an option anyway).  And the second is that you can just unplug it once it's started, and walk around freely.  Suddenly, using the snow blower isn't even a hassle!

Unfortunately, though, my driveway gets absolutely no sun.  So while my neighbors across the street have beautifully clean driveways, there are still patches of snow and ice on mine.  That's unfortunate.  But I did reward myself after an entire morning of snow removal (and that's no exaggeration -- it took several hours even with the snow blower AND a few hired Middle School kids helping out) by having a cold beer in the snow:

I hope all of you stayed safe!

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LIVE Raw thoughts - February 4, 2013

11:12 - Cool ending, where the faces got the best of the Shield without the Shield looking weak.  Plus, I like when the entire roster bands together against a common enemy.  However, I don't like the idea of doing Cena/Ryback/Sheamus against the Shield at Elimination Chamber.  For one, Sheamus should be in the Elimination Chamber match.  And secondly, the threesome of Cena/Ryback/Sheamus is more star studded than Orton/Ryback/Sheamus, which seems like a natural for WrestleMania.  So why make WrestleMania look like a silver medal against Elimination Chamber, in regards to the Shield tag match?  They're starting at the top.

There seems to be a fair amount of negativity towards the show on Twitter, but I enjoyed this episode FAR more than last week's show.

11:10 - See, like they did it.

11:07 - Random observation, but I don't like how the Shield walk from the crowd together.  I wish they would flank from different directions.  People who stand in the ring unsure of what to do as all three of them walk slowly through the crowd is ridiculous.

11:01 - Wait.....did Big Show really pend that long eating that small dish??

10:47 - A lot of people argued that Jericho should have won that because of his less-than-stellar win/loss record during his last run, I think they went with the right decision.  They're not wrong....but at the end of the day, CM Punk is going up against the Rock for the WWE Championship at the next PPV.  And Chris Jericho isn't even booked.

10:22 - Piggybacking of off of my earlier comment on the fact that so many people are directionless, a big cluster match seems likely.  Money in the Bank probably won't happen, so what's on the line?  We don't have dueling GM's -- and that was used last year, anyway.  So what would be the storyline purpose of a big, multiperson match?  I think Antonio Cesaro vs. a face Jack Swagger is a great story for the U.S. title, but that leaves the Intercontinental Championship.  How about a big ladder match?  Wade Barrett vs. Miz vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow vs. Christian or R-Truth (whoever is healthy)?  I think that works just fine.

10:10 - This show is much, much better than last week's Raw Roulette.

10:06 - Gotta love the WWE logic that because Mr. McMahon isn't physically available, he apparently can't fire people.

10:01 - Why does everybody hit every single syllable of Brad Maddox's name?

9:48 - I'm having a conversation on Twitter right now about the World Heavyweight Championship, specifically:  What will the match at WrestleMania be?  Some thought it could be the Big Show vs. Ryback.  The rumor at one time was Sheamus vs. a heel Orton.  Then perhaps Alberto Del Rio vs. a heel Orton.  Now there's speculation that it could be Alberto Del Rio vs. a returning Mark Henry.  Honestly, I don't know.  It just seems weird to me that Sheamus received such a major push going into WrestleMania last year, and then won the title in a completely dominant fashion.....and then looked super strong throughout his reign.  Then he suddenly lost the title, lost the rematch, and it doesn't look like he's even going to be in the title picture at this year's WrestleMania.  And just as suddenly, ADR was PUT in that role.  The entire forecast for that title seemed drastically different even just two months ago.

We're a couple months away from WrestleMania and outside of Rock/Cena, nothing seems too set in stone. Punk vs. Undertaker is pure speculation.  Triple H vs. Lesnar seems likely, but certainly isn't confirmed based on what we've seen on TV.  But what about Sheamus?  Ryback?  Orton?  Miz?  Ziggler?  Kane?  Bryan?  Mysterio?  Kingston?  Cesaro?  Barrett?  Jericho?  Nobody seems to have much direction at all.

9:38 - I still love the shot of the Shield emerging from the darkness and surrounding Brad Maddox.

9:30 - I was pleasantly surprised by that entire segment.  They gave Daniel Bryan a clean win, which was awesome.  Then Mark Henry made his return in a surprising segment.  I was worried when they had Daniel Bryan getting disposed of so quickly and easily, but then when they had Mark Henry absolutely dominate Rey Mystero AND Sin Cara, that suddenly didn't seem too bad.  Oh, and I liked Sin Cara's new blue/white mix attire.

9:19 - Oh, and lest we not forget them considering the Great Khali for the Elimination Chamber match, while jobbing out Kofi Kingston as well.

9:16 - Jobbing Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler in order to build interest in an Alberto Del Rio/Big Show feud?  Jobbing Daniel Bryan and making Kane look strong?  Yep, this company sure has their finger on the fans' pulse.

9:01 - While I LOVE Cody's new mustache "Groomed for Greatness" t-shirt, I REALLY hope we're not seeing Cody Rhodes join the legions of guys who come to the ring in their WWE Authorized t-shirt.  He was one of the few guys who consistently wore a ring jacket (even though it didn't always match his trunks).  Oh, and why are they feeding ADR guys like Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes?  Same logic as Barrett/Sheamus and Cesaro/Ryback....why throw away matches that can be built into something legitimate?  Plus, stop jobbing Cody.

8:59 - I still think it was a terrible decision to take the luxury cars out of Alberto Del Rio's entrance.  "Hey, let's make this guy a mega over babyface by taking away the one thing that set him apart!"  Brilliant!

8:48 - Over on Twitter, one of the people I follow -- @TheHistoryofWWE -- wondered if Vickie Guerrero was a situational babyface/heel (that is to say, a heel or face depending on who she is interacting with), but said that the last strong one was Ric Flair in the 80's.  I disagree, I think we've seen many in the past decade or so.  Here are the examples that immediately popped into my head:  Chyna, who was a heel when escorting Triple H....but a face in her feud with Jeff Jarrett.  During the Raw/Smackdown Survivor Series feud, the Big Show and Kane were faces on Raw (with Big Show attacking Triple H in defense of Ric Flair) and heels on Smackdown (blindsiding Rey Mysterio and Batista).  And even during JBL's WWE Championship reign on Smackdown, Kurt Angle was a heel when against Big Show, and a face when put against JBL.  And there are tons more.

8:24 - These Cesaro/Ryback matches remind me of when they had Wade Barrett fight Sheamus in a series of matches on Raw, Smackdown, and Main Event.  I don't get it.  Like Barrett/Sheamus, this is a fresh match between two carefully protected competitors.  Like the previously mentioned pairing, one person is properly legitimized (Sheamus/Ryback), while the other is being built up effectively (Barrett/Cesaro).  The former is not really in a position to be losing, while the momentum of the latter would be damaged by a loss.  Further, as I said, the match is fresh!  And you're having them fight numerous times a week on television, without even giving them a proper feud.  In a few months or a year, people would probably pay money for a Ryback/Cesaro or Barrett/Sheamus PPV match as a culmination of a feud.  This just damages that freshness.

8:18 - Welcome to February, everybody.  I'm a little late to the show, as I missed the first ten minutes of the show, but I did catch the tail end of Punk's promo and the premise for tonight's Raw Active vote.  Right now, I think I'd vote for Punk/Jericho, since we never really saw a face Jericho vs. heel Punk match.  But I also don't want either guy to lose.  Oh, and how absolutely brutal are those Michael Cole Raw Active tutorials?

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American Horror Story: Asylum - Season Two Review

I was an avid fan of FX's American Horror Story during its first season, and I was incredibly intrigued by the anthology premise where many of the same actors would return for a second season, except playing different characters in an entirely different story.  Well, season two -- which focused primarily on a 1960's mental asylum -- has now come to a close.  Since many of you may not yet be caught up, click the link below for my spoilery thoughts on the season as a whole.

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