Cuban Linx

Golden State must be allergic to having a successful NBA team. Two years ago they come pretty damn close to sneaking into the playoffs, so that offseason they seemingly do all they can to ensure they stay crap, last year they're more competitive than they should be for most of the season, but i guess they're still too good for managements liking so they trade one of their few bright spots last year in Dampier for less than nothing. They'll still probably be better than some Eastern Conference playoff teams, but in a conference where nearly everyone's gotten better Eduardo Najera and Christian Laettner aren't exactly the answer.

Another pretty much guarenteed pick and certainly a welcome one to add to an increasingly loaded lineup. The only shame about so many great talents in the tournament is that some damn good guys will have to be eliminated in the 1st round, a strong case can be made for nearly all the guys named so far to go pretty deep into the tournament.

Mark Teixeira hits for the cycle, Scott Erickson doesn't suck for one day at least and the Texas offence is back in full swing. After seemingly being on the verge of letting the A's and Angels start slipping away in the AL West the series' against the Devil Rays and Indians have sparked the Rangers back to life, 5 wins straight and 1/2 a game back from Oakland. One more game with Cleveland and then 3 games against the Royals should hopefully keep this run going for a little while yet.

I wouldn't have minded him main eventing a Smackdown PPV or something against Eddy for the belt (since Guerrero is responsible for RVD's best match at Judgment Day '02, though Bradshaw's ended any thought of that), but he's been basically going in circles since early 2002, isn't nearly as over as he once was, has character has zero depth and i can't even a remember a match of his in the last one or two years that stands out from any other by-the-numbers RVD match he rolls out every show. Major effort will need to go into Van Dam to get him in any position to take up a real main-event role, though with the WWE's recent trend of just shoving mid-carders in top roles with no prior buildup who knows.

Hooray for main eventing the dark matches.

Redman - Blow Your Mind

Looks like there were a few other matches not mentioned yet, All Money Is Legal taking on Azrael and Pinkie Sanchez, a three-way dance between Ghost Shadow, Spiral and someone else, and the obligatory CZW students match with Merc/Cory Kastle/Niles Young facing DJ Hyde/Sean Bishop/Jon Dahmer. No word on who won those matches, not that i imagine a great deal of people care. Chri$ Ca$h also got involved in the Tables match with the H8 Club to even the sides against Blackout. Also booked for the 9/11 show is an Ian Knoxx/Adam Flash rematch, inside a Steel Cage.

Acid Bath - Cheap Vodka

Justice Pain came back at the last show 'Best of the Best 4', collecting a $5000 bounty for running Trent Acid out of CZW, and now looks to be back full-time. EDIT: One more result, Blackout defeating the H8 Club (Gage/Hatred version) to retain the tag titles. And a clearer description of the Homicide/Messiah aftermath:

What looks to be a full set of results from the CZWfans board: Justice Pain d. Derek Frazier Bobby Quance won the 4-way over Jay Lethal, Arik Cannon, and "Spyder" Nate Webb, who was filling in for Roderick Strong. Adam Flash d. Ian Knoxx with The Last Call off a ladder in the ring through a table on the outside. Sonjay Dutt d. Jimmy Rave Alex Shelley d. B-Boy Chris Hero d. BJ Whitmer, with Whitmer apparently bleeding a ton. Homicide vs Messiah apparently goes to a no-contest after what was shaping up to be a very good match. Justice Pain comes out wanting in the match, with Wifebeater coming out as if to attack Pain, before jumping Homicide instead and reforming the original H8 Club with Pain, Homicide calling out Pain at some point in all this. Matches made for future shows are M-Dogg 20 & Jimmy Rave facing Sonjay Dutt and the returning Amazing Red next month, and Homicide & Messiah taking on the H8 Club (Beater/Pain version i'd assume) at some point in the future as well.

Megadeth - Hanger 18

Courtesy of Dave Prazak, the 17th and 18th men announced for the TPI: No surprises here, Danny Daniels was always going to be in it, and Double C being a Hero trainee and having past IWA:MS appearances doesn't shock either.

I'll jump in Thugg's league, the more Fantasy Football the better sez I.

Good to see a review of the actual Hero/B-Boy/Homicide vs Punk/Whitmer/Joe match, i've seen plenty of pimping of the show in general and Mickie/Martinez but nothing specific on that match until now. The show should be in my hands any day now so i'll be eager to finally see the show for myself.

Rats, with no more Ricky Williams that means i can't try and trick people into trading someone good for Indianapolis Version Ricky Williams anymore.

If only Ryan Drese could pitch every game for the Rangers. With Nick Regilio and Scott Erickson due to start the next two games Texas are really going to have to lay on the run support to have a chance in the remaining Yankee games.

I'm pretty sure Couldy wrestled Rockin' Rebel, losing in around 2 minutes to a leg drop. There's zero chance it'll make the tape/DVD though.

Hopefully Texas can salvage something from the Baltimore series, especially with three games coming up against the Yankees. The Rangers are still just 1.5 games down on Oakland but are in real danger of falling back to third in the division with their vaunted offence struggling and their starting pitching holding on by a thread.

Velvet Underground - Heroin

3375 is my best. Try hitting the plane and getting the paper in the basket with the same throw, i only managed to pull it off once, though unfortunately it's not worth any extra points.

The main events just finished, with Austin Aries defeating American Dragon 2 falls to 1. Aries made Dragon submit to the Cattle Mutilation in around 45 minutes for the 1st fall, Dragon pinned Aries after turning the Cattle Mutilation into a pin at about 65 minutes total for the 2nd fall, and the deciding 3rd fall Aries pins Dragon with the 450 Splash, the match length finishing somewhere between 75 and 80 minutes.

Well you don't have to worry about Acid winning the Title as Joe retains, results for the show other than Aries/Dragon are:

I should job to Spike on every PPV.

Raekwon The Chef, Method Man, RZA, Masta Killa & Ghostface Killah - Wu-Gambinos

This one's very close to me, though this is the first i've ever heard about it.