cabbageboy

Yeah, Lillian screwed up an announcement of someone having a tag belt when it had just changed hands on a house show. And even Adamle said "Jeff Harvey" on his first night on the job. But Michael Buffer, a veteran announcer who worked for WCW numerous times, saying "Bret Clark" is the worst announcing mistake ever.

I was about to post that Syracuse isn't any good without a suspended Devendorf, but then I checked the box score and he did in fact play in that game. So the Cuse just straight up lost to Cleveland State. Anyone else starting to think the Big East was wildly overrated to begin the season? Even the top tier teams like UConn have had bizarre struggles (beating Buffalo by 4?). Pitt has looked like the best team thus far. Evansville beat WKU the other night by 32 points, so U of L getting waxed by Western just looks hideous right now. It will be a tough week for the Cards...first on Thurs. a game in Cincy against Ole Miss in the Big East/SEC challenge. That one shouldn't be all that tough, but there's the bizarre quick turnaround Saturday afternoon in Vegas against Tubby Smith's unbeaten Minnesota. That one could be interesting.

I have no idea what that Kelly/Kane/Miz stuff was all about. Was she just throwing a random guy to the wolves to get Kane off her case, or was there more to it? The lack of direction for Jericho at this point is a bit troubling. In fact it looks like his current direction is the fact that he is going to be buried by Stephanie and have no direction. Not really sure who will end up as the Rumble challenger on Raw, but it probably won't matter since it's a filler match anyway since the Rumble will be the draw.

Predictions~! Thursday INDY @ JAX: There is absolutely no excuse for the Colts to not go down to Jacksonville and get this win. It will be tough as it tends to be in the Colts/Jags rivalry, but the Colts are playing to get into the playoffs. Indy by 7. Saturday RAVENS @ COWBOYS: Poor Baltimore, they had that tough loss to the Steelers and now have to turn around and play at Dallas. Basically an elimination game of sorts. Dallas by 4. Sunday SF @ STL: There are plenty of fun games this weekend, this is not one of them. The Rams are awful, Niners have improved, so I'll take SF by 10. PIT @ TEN: I've been skeptical of the Steelers but the Titans are hurting a bit with Haynesworth out most likely so I think the Steelers will go on the road and secure home field. Steelers by 5. CIN @ CLE: Wow, crappy game #2. Bengals at least are down to a 2nd stringer and not a 3rd stringer, so I'll say Cincy by 7. NO @ DET: Well, the Saints do suck on the road and the Lions can bring it at times. Ah who am I kidding? Brees isn't going to lose to these scrubs. New Orleans by 9. MIA @ KC: This is like a mirror universe game, with the Chiefs always finding ways to lose and the Dolphins usually find a way to win. I'll go out on a limb and say the Chiefs pull an upset here by 3. ARI @ NE: This could be a fun shootout, or it could be the Cardinals phoning it in again on the east coast. I vote for the latter. Pats by 14. SD @ TB: The Chargers still have some slight hopes of making the playoffs. Can't see them having any after this one. Tampa badly needs this win at home. Bucs by 10. BUF @ DEN: Denver is a baffling team but the Bills are totally out of it now and the Broncos have no excuse not to win here. Broncos by 6. HOU @ OAK: Feel the power of the mighty Texans! Houston has managed to sneak up to .500 and a win here would assure them of an 8-8 finish. Texans by 12. NYJ @ SEA: Okay this is a curious game. Seattle plays people tough at home and the Jets seem to suck on the west coast big time. But with it all on the line the Jets have to win this game, and I'll take NY to win it here. Jets by 2. PHI @ WAS: The Redskins look to be flat out done and the Eagles are starting to get on a roll. So why is it I think the Redskins muster up some futile last ditch effort? Eh...not happening. Philly by 7. ATL @ MIN: Oh, man. The Falcons need this one big time. Vikings need this one big time. I bet they will start Tavaris Jackson and he'll revert back to mediocre form, and the Falcons find a way to win it. Falcons in OT by 3, much like in a more famous game in Jan. 1999. CAR @ NYG: Giants are struggling but Carolina has yet to prove they can beat anyone of note on the road. Undefeated at home, .500 type team on the road. Giants by 9 to secure home field. MONDAY NIGHT MURDER GB @ CHI: Bears need this one for whatever chance they have left at the playoffs and the Packers are done at this point. Bears get revenge by 13.

Pipes, believe me I know about how big of a douchebag Bobby Petrino is. Still, there was a pattern at U of L before he even went to the Falcons. He negotiated with Auburn behind everyone's back, then begged forgiveness once Auburn kept Tommy Tuberville. He flirted with LSU the year after that when Nick Saban left, but he was shamed into staying and they hired Les Miles. Then he flirted with the Oakland Raiders after that, then finally left for Atlanta. In regards to Luger, he maybe left WCW for the WWF in early 1992 and spent a whole year screwing around in the WBF. Then he went back to WCW in Sept. 1995. Unlike Petrino he didn't have multiple valid contracts he was blatantly not fulfilling.

I'll believe Jeff main eventing WM when I see it. This was a guy who got suspended earlier this year for WM, after all. Would they really keep the belt on him till then?

For what it's worth I enjoyed Transporter 3 more than the new Bond movie, regardless of how lame the chick is in it. At some point (say after the 3rd Craig movie) there will probably be a "Statham for next Bond" movement, but while he rules I don't think he's right for Bond at all. On boxofficemojo.com it said this new Day the Earth Stood Still had a budget of 80 million. If that's the case they should make quite a bit all things considered.

They really had to give Jeff the title at some point or else run the risk of fans giving up on him ever becoming champ. I didn't watch the PPV tonight since I figured there was no way they would get the belt off Edge so soon and that Hardy should wait until WM to get it. Either way I would expect Edge to get the belt back fairly soon with Christian and Tomko showing up to reveal themselves as the guys who attacked Jeff. Considering what has been set up on SD recently Kozlov might be the yearly filler Rumble challenger. Anyone else puzzled by the Batista/Orton booking? Considering the winner here is likely to get a title shot soon it (and Batista/Cena II is likely saved for WM) I would have expected Orton to win in screwy fashion to set up Orton/Cena for the Rumble.

Let's have a look at the predictions: New Orleans at Chicago: This is a really tough call and the loser here is likely done. Both teams are 7-6 and flawed, so when in doubt go with the home team. The Bears can still maybe win the division. Chicago by 6. (Bears did what they had to do and won in OT. 1 for 1) EARLY Tampa Bay at Atlanta: A few weeks ago I had Tampa pegged as taking 2 more losses, at Carolina and at Atlanta. Falcons are basically in a must win situation here. Atlanta by 7. (See above, Falcons flat out had to have this at home with a tough game at Minnesota next week. 2 for 2) Washington at Cincinnati: The Redskins have fallen back to earth really hard but still this is the Bengals here and they'll figure out some way to scratch out a win. Redskins by 4. (Wow, stick a fork in the Redskins at this point. They are done. 2 for 3) Tennessee at Houston: Houston is playing really well right now but they have yet to truly knock off a major team. It'll be closer than the first game, but the Titans can't afford a loss here with the Steelers and Colts looming. Titans by 7. (Houston finally got a big win to get to .500 and this was a costly loss for the Titans. 2 for 4) Detroit at Indianapolis: The Colts have a real shot at finishing 11-5, if not 12-4. Who knows if they will simply squash the hapless Lions or whether it will be another tight win. Colts by 10. (Another tough win for the Colts...they just specialize in that this year. 3 for 5) Green Bay at Jacksonville: Here's a battle of two disappointing teams. The Jags just look DOA at this point and the Packers are at least competing in their losses, so I'll take Green Bay by 3. (This one could have gone either way, Jacksonville managed to win it. 3 for 6) San Diego at Kansas City: The Chiefs constantly lose tough games, but yet the Chargers are the epitome of a team that can't win a close one this year. Still, SD is barely alive for the division. Chargers by 8. (The Chiefs are just a hard luck team, they find ways to lose every week. 4 for 7) San Francisco at Miami: The Dolpins are actually in the driver's seat for the division but they still don't strike me as being worth a crap. Niners are playing well right now so I'll reluctantly take the upset. SF by 4. (Dolphins managed to scrape by for another week, but let's see if they too can beat the hard luck Chiefs. 4 for 8) Buffalo at N.Y. Jets: The Bills are reeling right now and the Jets desperately need to get back on track after two bad losses. Jets by 9. (Well, the Jets did at least win here but who knows if they are totally back on track. 5 for 9) Seattle at St. Louis: What did the world do to deserve this? I'll stand by the opinion that the Rams are the single worst team in the league, since they don't even compete most of the times. Seattle by 6. (The Rams did compete at least, but the Seahawks figured out a way to win. 6 for 10) LATE Minnesota at Arizona: Hmm....this is tricky. The Cardinals clinched the division so will they just pack it in and gear up for later, or will they go all out to have a potential tiebreaker over the Vikings for playoff positioning? I'll say Cardinals by 7. (Didn't see this coming at all. For those who saw this game did the Cardinals basically phone it in due to clinching? 6 for 11) New England at Oakland: Yes, the Pats struggled to barely win at Seattle last week but that's still a tough place to play. The Raiders are just flat out bad. Patriots survive again by 10. (Wasn't really a contest. If the Pats can somehow get into the playoffs they could be dangerous. 7 for 12) Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Oh yeah! Forget Cowboys/Giants, this is the game of the week. If you want physical, vicious football, this is the game. The NFL should harness the testosterone in this game and bottle it for mass consumption. Ravens by 3. (I still don't know about that TD at the end there, didn't seem like the ball ever crossed the goal line. Massive win for the Steelers though, they can still get home field with a win over the Titans. 7 for 13) Denver at Carolina: This is a seemingly easy pick with Denver traveling cross country and the Panthers being unbeaten at home. So why is it I am feeling a Panthers letdown here vs. a puzzling Broncos team? I'll take Denver in the shocker of the week by 1. (Okay, this was a crappy pick through and through. 7 for 14) SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL N.Y. Giants at Dallas: Honestly, I have no idea what to think of this. Giants are in the playoffs either way and have clinched the division, and can actually afford to lose here and still get home field. Dallas if they have any manhood left will find a way to win here. Cowboys by 3. (Cowboys won a bit easier than this, as the Giants desperately need to get it going. 8 for 15) Ugh. Not an especially good week. Seems like every close game went the other way.

Bret was a broken man in WCW. Some of it was him not being used properly but he didn't help matters by just dogging it and not having memorable matches. Vince got just about all out of Bret that there was to get by 1997. Booker vs. Christian isn't something I recall being actively horrible but mostly uninspired. The problem with that feud is it's two guys who both need to be somewhat carried to something above average. Put either guy in with someone better than them and you get a solid match...put them against each other and it's mediocre.

I'm not sure why anyone would be baffled as to how Slash would be more successful than Axl. Let's face it: Axl Rose has always sucked as a singer. Listening to him shriek in over the top fashion is the price one paid to hear an otherwise hard rocking band (circa 1987-92 or so). Take the rest of the real GNR away from Axl and what do you really have? An untalented vocalist who can be a fair songwriter at times, with a bunch of makeshift musicians. Add in a near 15 year long gap between albums and Rose declining into nutjob status and it's no shock this album has tanked. Meanwhile Slash and Co. recruited Scott Weiland (an actual solid rock singer) to make a couple of albums and were relatively successful.

They are wasting R-Truth to be sure. What is it with WWE making the streetwise black guys on the roster monosyllabic? Cryme Tyme mainly says "Money, money, yeah, yeah" and little else. Truth mainly just says "Wassup?" Ron Simmons obviously just says "DAMN!" With Simmons his bit is an ironic joke anyway, but anyone who remembers Killings in TNA knows the guy can cut a good promo. Watching this show tonight I had the thought that Shelton and MVP need to start tagging. Shelton is just soooo dull as a singles wrestler. He just doesn't have any charisma. Meanwhile MVP is jobbing out to everyone under the sun and needs a new direction. That direction could be Shelton throwing down the gauntlet to team with him and snap the losing streak. Much like with Miz and Morrison these guys could compliment each other. Morrison has the look and wrestling talent, Miz had more charisma and mic skills (in a douchebag sort of way). Shelton has more in ring talent at his best, but MVP can bring the mic skills. I might be half tempted to watch Armageddon if I thought Christian and Tomko might show up and do a run in on the main event.

1. MVP/OROY/DROY/COTY. Who you got in the discussion? MVP: Kurt Warner or Adrian Peterson. I would almost lean towards Peterson though. If the Cardinals could win one, just one, major game away from home I'd go with Warner. So he's got the NE game to prove he's MVP caliber this year. OROY: Matt Ryan. There are others out there but he's clearly the frontrunner unless the Falcons go in the tank. DROY: I dunno, no one is clear cut here. Mayo is good enough. COTY: Mike Smith. The Falcons franchise was in utter turmoil and Smith has turned this team around, though they did also draft Ryan (and Harry Douglas), signed Michael Turner, etc. I don't take Sparano all that seriously since he's mostly just an extension of Parcells on the field. 2. What is the most disappointing team in the league? Jacksonville. Sure, some will say the Chargers but without Merriman their D has suffered and this team just felt on the downside once they started losing. But Jacksonville? These guys have lost to the Bengals this year for crying out loud. The Jags played their perfect game at Indy this year where they dominated time of possession 2 to 1, ran the ball all day, and still needed a last second FG after a lame pass interference call to win by 2 points. 3. Many teams are already thinking about the offseason. The Seahawks, Niners, Rams, Raiders, Chiefs, Lions, Browns, Bengals, and Browns are all hopeless. Pick a team or two (or all of them) and turn them into winners this offseason. The 49ers have looked mostly solid ever since Singletary took over. I'd just sign him to a contract and see what he can do with this team. Oddly enough I don't even think they need all this help at QB that others have mentioned, since Shaun Hill has really been playing well of late. 4. How have you felt about the officiating this season? Eh, it's been largely okay aside from the notorious Ed Hochuli fiasco that doomed the Chargers. Oh and the silly ending to Chargers/Steelers, but that's more gamblers who would be pissed than fans. 5. Kick someone in the NFL right in the dick. Who are you picking and why? Jerry Jones. Has anyone ever assembled a more toxic array of headcases?

Haha, yeah the Curry Man firing and video package is one of the funniest things TNA has ever produced. Obviously this will lead to the return of the Fallen Angel, though I have to admit I almost prefer Daniels as Curry. Just wondering but who is Suicide? Is it Kaz? As far as the other cases go, it's easy enough to rubber stamp Homicide in as X champ since he'll likely beat whoever wins the X tourney. Hernandez is a more intriguing scenario though. There's potential for him to be a title threat, but are people quite ready to buy into that yet? Both members of LAX have a chance to change the way these MITB briefcases are used. They don't seem the sort who would want to be punks and cash in on someone after a match, or when someone was beaten up by someone else, etc.

I have only fleeting memories of other kids watching in the late 80s when I was in grade school. There were some but it was something that I was just interested in, not something I noticed a bunch of people watching. There was interest in the Hogan/Andre match from The Main Event at school though. I would always find a few others at school who watched wrestling. In 7th and 8th grade there were a few others in midlde school that watched, enough to where I could talk to others about early Raw shows. In HS there were also a couple, maybe not so much in the dreary 1994-95 period but by 1996 there were definitely more people talking about wrestling. By the time I was in college I did definitely notice more casual fans, what with all the shirts around campus and all. But it was mainly just talking to a couple of people about wrestling, only this time the net was around and I started looking for news online around the time of the Montreal Screwjob.

In the year end awards I listed Snitsky as the worst wrestler of the year. Perhaps that was a bit harsh, but the guy just offered zilch at this point and even his ironic popularity faded a long time ago. He had that hilarious initial angle with Kane and Lita and then after that he was basically useless.

Ah well I did at least enjoy Stallions/Conquistadors from this show and the main event was fun as well. They did book the same lame countout for Houston/Davis and Strike Force/Islanders though. I've always thought that if guys were making every attempt to get back in the ring the ref needs to let it go and stop the count at 9.

Thing is, WCW being disorganized is a major reason why the NWO worked so well for a while. These guys were unified, while WCW had guys who were feuding amongst themselves already and thus weren't prepared. It was the entire point.

BEST OF: A. Performer Of The Year - the best overall combination of someone who can back it up in the ring but can entertain on promos. 1. Chris Jericho 2. Shawn Michaels 3. Edge B. Wrestler Of The Year - the wrestler who can best work a technical match. Though part of "working" is the ability to entertain a crowd (this is why Hulk Hogan can never be called a bad worker - bad mat technician yes, but the man could work a crowd), this is meant for those who may not be over with Casual Joe, but Hardcore Henry says he's the greatest of all time. 1. William Regal 2. Fit Finlay 3. Evan Bourne C. Entertainer Of The Year - while everyone is eligable of course, the idea here is that just because all their matches are about * or less, you find them to be a guilty pleasure or hilarious or what not. I already know who the winner is but we'll go through the motions. 1. Santino Marella 2. Great Khali (he's hilarious) 3. James Storm D. Tag-Team Of The Year: 1. Miz/Morrison 2. Beer Money 3. LAX E. PPV Of The Year: 1. Wrestlemania 2. Summerslam 3. Lockdown F. Match Of The Year: 1. Jericho vs. Michaels, Ladder 2. Flair vs. Michaels, WM 3. Angle vs. Joe, Lockdown G. Best Television Show Of The Year: 1. ECW (SD is too dull, Raw is inconsistent, Impact is too much of everything) H. Smart-Mark Out Moment Of The Year: 1. Punk cashes in the MITB on Edge. I. DVD Of The Year: 1. Wrestlemania J. Feud Of The Year: 1. Jericho vs. Michaels K. Angle Of The Year: 1. Part of the feud of the year, when Jericho punched HBK's wife. L. Non-Match / Segment Of The Year: 1. See above. M. Female Of The Year (either for wrestling ability or because you find them hot, I don't care): 1. Beth Phoenix 2. Awesome Kong 3. Gail Kim N. Announcer / Colour Commentator Of The Year (one or the other): 1. Jim Ross WORST OF: A. Least Entertaining Wrestler (Don't use the "Best Of" classifications, this is for the person who you hate to see in the ring because you find no redeeming entertainment value with them - it probably goes without saying they can't wrestle): 1. Gene Snitsky 2. Rhaka Khan 3. Randy Orton B. Worst Interviews/Promos/Non-wrestling Segments: 1. Vickie Guerrero (by herself, not with Edge...she's channel change material by herself) C. Worst Tag Team Of The Year: 1. Highlanders D. Worst PPV Of The Year: 1. Survivor Series sucked pretty hard, but it's fresh in my mind. E. Worst Match Of The Year: 1. HHH vs. Kozlov (vs. Edge?) from Survivor Series. F. Worst Television Show Of The Year: 1. OVW (I gave up hope on it after WWE dropped them) G. 2008's "Embarrassed to be a Wrestling Fan" Moment: 1. Angle threatening Jarrett's daughters...ugh. I. Worst / Most Disappointing DVD Of The Year: 1. Mr. Perfect (just didn't have that much to it) J. Worst Feud: 1. Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. ref Shane Sewell. K. Worst Angle: 1. The rambling Orton/Cody/Manu stuff prior to Legacy being formed. Just tedious. L. Worst Announcer / Colour Commentator (one or the other): 1. Michael Cole in a landslide. M. Worst Non-Match/Segment Of The Year: 1. Cheesy Abyss promos in the nuthouse (Mankind ripoff stuff) N. Worst Female Of The Year 1. Rhaka Khan

I don't buy it for a second that wrestlers don't get fed up with being jobbed out and leave regardless of the money. Why go through the injuries and travel if the company has no intention of pushing her? The past few months I've felt sorry for Victoria watching SD, seeing her lose to Maria and other chicks who have zero concept of how to work a match. This isn't like MVP where he's been jobbing but may well have been told this is an angle that will lead to him getting a push down the road. Victoria is in her late 30s now and WWE has no intention of pushing her at this point, so it's probably time to retire. As far as Black Widow custom cars goes I haven't seen her around but it's not usually very busy and no one is hanging around. Pretty sure she sold the pizza place to open the car shop.

As long as Kurt Warner is still healthy and can go the Cardinals should be fine next year. The Niners are somewhat better but I would wonder if Singletary will burn them out at some point. Seattle's days of contending are over for now, and the Rams are horrid. Atlanta is the future of the NFC South with Matt Ryan and Michael Turner. Tampa is built on old talent (Garcia, various guys on D) that will eventually decline, the Saints could be okay or could be a constantly frustrating team, Panthers are solid. I already mentioned in the predictions that Miami seems like a fraud this year. Sure, 8-5 is a good record but a +9 differential? The Dolphins have beaten garbage teams like Oakland and Seattle by 2 points (at home no less) and barely survived the Rams by 4. Miami is a very mediocre team and I am bewildered that so many people seem to think they will win the division. Given their close calls already would it shock anyone if they dropped one to the surging Niners this weekend? Or lost next week to the hard luck Chiefs on the road? And even if they win those two they still have to finish in the frigid NYC area against the Jets. When it comes to the AFC East I'm inclined to say the Pats will still somehow win the division. They have no tiebreakers over anyone but they won't need it if they go 11-5 and the others are 10-6. Miami is likely to drop one more to finish 10-6 (still a great improvement though over 1-15) and the Jets are dubious on the west coast and have that scary trip to Seattle left. The Pats meanwhile? Should beat the hideous Raiders, the Cardinals next week have little to play for since they've clinched and suck on the east coast anyway, and then the fading Bills to close the year.

The show sounds like it has some good action and I do like the MEM vs. Frontline feud so far. At least the Frontline guys are starting to win a few matches. However, there is one thing in those spoilers that TNA seriously needs to stop. That would be constant use of death threats by so many guys. First it was "Joe is gonna kill you" and now Angle basically says he's going to kill Jarrett at the PPV and that his daughters will be orphans. It reminds me of that Scott Hall Torch interview from a while back where he noted how bush league TNA came across because of this type of thing. What's even stranger is Angle rambling about wanting to kill Jarrett in a promo where he does a tribute of sorts to Owen Hart. This reminds me of a bit in Foley's first book where he said how wrestling threats need to be believable, as in Ken Shamrock saying "I am going to make you tap out or else break your leg." But saying stuff like "I'm gonna fucking kill you" is stupid and no one buys it.

I didn't mind the Tatanka/Martel feud really. It at least established Tatanka as a star on the roster back then and the matches weren't too bad. But then I've always found Tatanka underrated. And at least it wasn't for a belt. Years ago I remember railing against that Edge/Regal series as being nightmare level bad. It was just dreck on most levels other than the Power of the Punch being involved. I'll explain why it sucked: Edge was a blank slate back then. He had zero discernable ring style and just went with whatever his opponent did. If it was someone like Angle or Eddie, those guys did their thing and the match was compelling. But Regal is a largely slow paced, technical wrestler and needs Benoit or someone to force some drama into the match. In the end it was a guy who liked a slow, technical pace vs. a guy who had no real style at all. The irony of the whole Regal IC "Power of the Punch" angle is that it was Rob Van Dam and not Edge who eventually figured out the brass knuckles and countered it at WM 18, and thus won the IC title. Even worse for Edge is that after months of awful matches with Regal RVD stepped in and had a fun match with Regal at that WM. Wanna know why? It was an actual contrast of styles, with RVD's wild high flying against Regal's slower technician.

Please, enough with Kozlov. He had one of the worst matches at Survivor Series in the post Steiner days of WWE. Since HHH just lost the belt there's no point putting it back on him, Jeff is still a dubious pick for the obvious reasons, and Edge/Kozlov makes no sense as a heel vs. heel title match. Let him have the ECW belt and Matt can chase for a while, but keep him away from meaningful main events.

Doesn't shock me at all. She had been jobbed out so hard on SD that there really wasn't much left for her on the roster. And I'll also mention that she has the Black Widow car customizing shop right down the road from me, so she's likely going to run that full time.