Monthly Archives: November 2015

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWE Summerslam 2013

WWE Summerslam 2013
August 18, 2013
Los Angeles, CA

YES!

YES?

YES!

Daniel Bryan is finally getting his moment.

We’re a year and a half removed from Bryan getting kicked in the face and beaten by Sheamus in 18 seconds. Ever since then fans all over the world have chanted YES! Louder and louder for Bryan. When John Cena announced he picked Bryan to be his opponent at for Summerslam the Barclays Center came unglued (trust me, I was there). Bryan has a chance to truly break the glass ceiling and follow in the footsteps of CM Punk. It was a hot storyline and a huge win over Cena that took Punk from jobber to the stars to top level star. It could be Bryan’s turn now. It SHOULD be Bryan’s turn now.

Speaking of Punk, he wasn’t happy. Punk had burnt himself out over the last year as the top guy and felt he was screwed out of the Wrestlemania 27 main event (I agree). He looked to take some time off, only to be asked to come back early (he wanted to be off till Summerslam, but he came back at Payback). Worse yet, he was upset that he had to job to Brock Lesnar because Lesnar was a part time guy.

Still, Summerslam had two really hot main events here with Cena vs. Bryan and Punk vs. Lesnar.

The Card

The Miz is our host and he hypes out main events. Why are we hyping main events when the show already started? Not sure.

Fandango comes out and the Miz mocks his dancing. Unfortunately, this was a good representation of why face Miz sucked.

No idea why Fandango was out dancing though. It’s not like he had a match.

We get the National Anthem too. No problem with that, but it seems like we’re wasting time early on.

Ring of Fire
Kane vs. Bray Wyatt

The Wyatts had just debuted and of course WWE put Kane against them. The Wyatts were an exciting new addition though, especially Bray.
I guess lighting someone on fire isn’t PG, so even though there is fire around the ring, the match ends by pin or submission. Oddly, Kane would be on fire next May anyway.

As with all Inferno matches, the match gets a lot of easy pops because the flames expand on all the big moves.

While funny at some points, the story of the match seems to be “how will Harper and Rowan get by the flames”, which sucks to be honest.

Harper and Rowan find their way in and destroy Kane.

Bray Wyatt pins Kane in 7:49. Sister Abigal (although it wasn’t called that yet) for the win. The whole Ring of Fire deal seemed pointless. Match wasn’t much of anything either. Harper and Rowan slam the stairs on Kane’s head in a way where there’s no chance it actually hit him. This would be the last we’d see Kane until he returned as Corporate Kane. Interestingly enough, Bray Wyatt may be one of the worst booked characters in WWE history if going by wins and losses (and how those wins were earned). I mean Kane pretty much destroyed him here. Not a good way to start the show.

Even Paul Heyman can make the story of David vs. Goliath seem interesting. And it’s a revisionist history nonetheless!

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow

Team Rhodes Scholars broke up when Sandow stole the MITB match where Rhodes had it won, then declared Rhodes the “holder of the case”. This feud was great for both, and while Sandow was buried a few months later it allowed Rhodes to become one of the most popular stars on the roster…but he never got a big push out of it.

Sandow with a great line before the match: “I’m going to send Cody back to his family of carnival acts.” He’s not wrong there.

Cody Rhodes busts out a Muscle Buster. Take that Samoa Joe.

JBL on commentary states that statistically Sandow will be the next World Champion due to owning the MITB briefcase. Poor Sandow.

Cody Rhodes pins Damien Sandow in 6:40. Cross Rhodes for the win. Really fun and fast paced, but too short for sure. If this went double the time we would have had a great match here for sure. This should have been the opener.

World Heavyweight Championship
Alberto Del Rio© vs. Christian

For both Wrestlemania and Summerslam in 2013, the World Heavyweight Title basically held the role of a midcard title. The World Heavyweight Title soon was merged with the WWE Title, so at least WWE was recognizing it. Anyway, the World Heavyweight Title was pretty hot in the months between Mania and Summerslam, as a red hot Dolph Ziggler cashed in MITB and won the title from Del Rio, but injuries and strange booking ruined that. Any popularity Del Rio got from his face turn in late 2013 died in the Ziggler feud, and people were sick of him as a heel.

Oddly, this match is being promoted as possibly Christian’s last big match. I actually don’t know when Christian retired as that was never made clear. While Christian’s 2011 run was fun, and he was still over in 2013, it was a little too late for fans to really believe he could be a top guy with a top belt.

This is when Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez were on the outs, which was the end of Ricardo (although there was a terrible feud with RVD involving him after this).

Pretty good so far. Del Rio has controlled, but he takes a huge bump to the outside that turns the tide.

Christian comes flying off the top and takes out Del Rio on the floor!

Backstabber off the turnbuckles! Really fun match so far.

Top rope hurricanrana from Christian! Fans really want Christian to win the title here.

We get a “This is Awesome” chant and the fans are right. This is awesome.

Huge pop for a spear from Christian, but he sells the injured shoulder!

Alberto Del Rio retains via submission in 12:30. Del Rio takes advantage of Christian’s injury and locks in the Cross Armbreaker (and put his hand on Christian’s eyes/face to lock it in which was a great touch). Really good match. I wish it was longer! Del Rio needs more opponents like Christian these days.

We get a Del Rio promo about Mexican fans needing a hero. Since we’re in LA, the fans get behind him. This was odd considering he was a heel at this point.

Brie Bella vs. Natayla

Basically a Total Divas commercial.

We get a JBL chant which tells you how much the crowd cares here. A Michael Cole chant follows…then a Jerry chant!

Brie Bella broke the Sharpshooter! There’s a spot I didn’t expect.

Natayla wins via submission in 5:19. Sharpshooter wins. Fans didn’t care for this obviously. No worse than any other Diva matches. Maybe a bit long.

Ryback bullies some cook in the back. There was an ill-advised heel turn.

No DQ
CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar

Story is this: Paul Heyman believes that the Best in the World was him and Punk, and that Punk ruined that by losing the WWE Title and losing to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Punk meanwhile tried to distance himself from Heyman. Heyman betrayed Punk at Money in the Bank and the next night brought out Brock Lesnar to punish Punk.

Off to a great start highlighted with a suicide dive by Punk! Crowd is clearly pro-Punk here.

Punk is hitting Lesnar at all angles with flying clotheslines. Great booking to allow Punk to get tons of offense in early on and not just get killed.

Lesnar is now destroying Punk. He puts a piece of table on Punk and jumps on it! Then a belly to belly on the floor. Great match so far.

Lesnar beats the crap out of Punk for about 5 minutes and it’s awesome. What a match.

Punk comeback time…although Lesnar almost gets an F5 out of Punk high knee. That was a creative spot.

Lesnar counters the Go 2 Sleep with the Kimora Lock! Great reversal!

Punk counters into a Triangle Chock! Great wrestling!

Lesnar counters with a running powerbomb and both men are down. What a match!

Top rope elbow drop with a chair from Punk…and Brock still survives!

One of the most creative counters to the F5 ever…Punk holds onto Heyman’s tie!

GTS…but Heyman breaks it up!

Punk nails the F5 into a DDT counter perfectly! Lesnar still kicks out!

Brock Lesnar pins CM Punk in 25:17. Punk knocks Heyman out and locks him in the Vise, but Lesnar beats the living crap out of Punk with a chair and hits the F5 for the win. There was only one thing I didn’t like about this match, which was that Punk kept turning his back on Lesnar to deal with Heyman. Other than that, this is a Match of the Year contender for sure. This was CM Punk’s last great match and it’s a shame WWE decided to waste him on Curtis Axel and Ryback after this.

Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee and Big E. Langston

Somehow Ziggler went from hottest young guy in the company to midcard fodder in the span of a few months. Worst part is Ziggler never would recover. This feud began when Ziggler broke up with AJ Lee.

Really…how did Ziggler at this point of his career end up in the death slot between Lesnar-Punk and Cena-Bryan? Baffling. Crowd is dead for this obviously.

Kaitlyn did have a great spear, that’s for sure and she levels AJ with it.

Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn win when Ziggler pinned Langston in 6:45. Zig Zag wins it. Nothing really notable here. Crowd’s just waiting for the main event here.

I admit Fandango interrupting Miz all night is a bit funny…but Miz disappointingly knocks him out.

WWE Championship-Triple H is the Special Referee
John Cena© vs. Daniel Bryan

After being pretty much the most entertaining performer in WWE since Wrestlemania 28 a year and a half earlier, WWE listened and finally gave Bryan the shot. The rest of the story after Cena announced Bryan as his opponent, Vince McMahon thought Bryan had to change his look to be a major star. This was the start of the B+ player angle.

Awesome monkey flip sequence early on.

Cena counters the surfboard by using his strength, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before actually.

Cena suplexes Bryan off the top of the steel steps, also an original spot.

Cena’s subtly heeling it up here, which only adds to the story that Bryan is the underdog.

We get some rolling German Suplexes, but Cena again uses his strength to get out of it.

Bryan begins to bust out the moveset with a front choke. While I thought the match did get a bit slow, it’s really picking up here.

Bryan superplexs Cena off the top rope, but hooks his legs so he doesn’t crash to the mat, which is brilliant. Flying headbutt follows up! Cena kicks out.

Cena hits his flying legdrop on a standing Bryan. That was awesome.

Another example of Cena’s strength, as Bryan goes for a top rope hurricanrana but Cena just blocks it and jumps down…then locks Bryan in the STF. Good storyline with Cena’s strength vs. Bryan’s wrestling here.

AWESOME clothesline from Cena that Bryan sells by spinning in the air. Wow!

Bryan goes for his top rope flip again, but Cena catches him for a AA…but Bryan counters that into a DDT!

Daniel Bryan wins the title by pin in 26:55. Bryan nails a flying dropkick (Shining Wizard) to win the title. Crowd was a little surprised there as this was the first time Bryan used it, but the fans are happy enough. Cena puts Bryan over clean. Another great match tonight…it would be match of the night probably any other PPV except this one because of Lesnar-Punk. Cena and Bryan shake hands and really Bryan couldn’t have been more put over.

During the celebration…MITB holder Randy Orton shows up…and referee HHH suddenly turns on Bryan! HHH pedigrees Bryan, and Orton cashes in!

Randy Orton wins the WWE Title by pin in :08. Pin is academic and Orton wins the title to close the show.

We had two or three great matches (depending on how you feel about Del Rio-Christian) and another really good one in Rhodes vs. Sandow. All the main events hit their marks for sure. There were some tough parts too…the Diva’s match was meh, Kane vs. Wyatt was meh and Ziggler was wasted. And then there’s this, despite how great the main events were nothing changed in WWE. In fact, historically this card practically meant nothing. WWE almost didn’t give Bryan his run on top…somehow we almost got Orton vs.Batista at Wrestlemania until the fans forced their hand. Despite the fact that Bryan had crazy momentum here they let Orton win their feud and moved Bryan down to a feud with the Wyatts. Punk feuded with Ryback and Axel, Heyman’s guys, which honestly was a huge step down from where Punk was. Lesnar should have been Punk’s end boss and instead Punk was just there to put Lesnar over. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter either since Lesnar’s feud with HHH killed his star power a bit…and Lesnar had to cheat in this one anyway (Lesnar would have to break Taker’s streak to get that star power back). Del Rio-Christian meant nothing as Del Rio dropped the World Title to Cena a couple months later, leading to Cena vs. Orton again. The only thing that seemed to matter was that HHH turned heel. What a waste.

Still a great show. Too bad WWE failed to capitalize.

Final Grade: A-

Other (DC, Marvel, Disney etc.)

RDT Reviews The Little Mermaid

Massive spoilers here…the film has been out for 26 years now.

Let’s talk history first. The Little Mermaid was THE film that began the Disney Renaissance. The first fairy tale animated film since Sleeping Beauty, Disney knew they had to do something different than what they did over the past 15 years to regain the critical success they had achieved earlier. To say they succeeded with The Little Mermaid would be an understatement. You know how it seems like Disney owns everything right now? ESPN? Star Wars? ABC?  Marvel? Well you can trace all of that back to the success of the The Little Mermaid.

Now just because The Little Mermaid made money; it nearly became the first animated film to gross $100 Million and sold 64% better than Disney’s previous film Oliver and Company, doesn’t necessarily mean it was a great film. Did it stand the test of time? Is it still a great film?

The answer is a resounding yes. This was my first viewing in probably over a decade and The Little Mermaid somehow is better than I remembered it…and I remembered it as being great in the first place. The Little Mermaid hits everything. The characters are awesome. The songs are timeless. The animation at times would probably be considered great for 2015 (if 2015 still did non-computer animated stuff) so I can only imagine how well it was regarded for 1989. Disney needed to hit a homerun here and it ended up hitting the ball not only over the wall, but out of the whole damn ballpark.

So let’s talk about our characters. We have Ariel, a 16 year old Mermaid. Within five minutes we already get great characterization regarding her. She’s rebellious. She doesn’t always follow the rules. We don’t get told this, we get shown this right away when Ariel doesn’t show up to a concert performance (and Sebastian, who we’ll get to, mentions she never comes to recital). It turns out she’s off exploring a sunken ship looking to add items to her collection of things from above the shore. Within five minutes, we know her motivations and we know the character. Awesome.

We have Prince Eric. Big bonus here as unlike some Disney films where the Prince is kinda just there, Eric has his own personality. He’s fun. He jokes around. His associate Grimsby makes a statue for him and he has no issue pointing out just how stupid it looks. He has a personality.

King Triton may be the best character in the film. He’s the King of the Seas and Ariel’s father. His actions towards Ariel could be considered overbearing, but at the same time older viewers (especially parents) may find them appropriate. He doesn’t want Ariel to go towards the surface or even remotely interact with humans, but not because he’s a jerk, but because he wants her to be safe. And everytime he gets angry with Ariel or puts his foot (fin?) down, he does it convincingly. But each time he looks away from Ariel you see the pain in his face (especially after he destroys some of her stuff). Those few frames of animation that show a pained Triton really established the character.

The last main character, Ursula is a sea witch who once ruled the seas. She is another really well done character. You could even make the case that she’s not completely evil until later on. Yeah, she “looks evil” and isn’t the nicest, but she made a fair deal with Ariel and she just wants the Kingdom for herself. It’s not until she interferes with the deal to make sure she wins where you can say she’s evil no doubt. Evil is a point of view after all.

The minor characters are all memorable as well. Flounder is Ariel’s friend and even he has a whole personality of his own (while Ariel is rebellious and a risktaker, Flounder is much more cautious). Sebastian provides tons of comic relief as a crab who is tasked to look over Ariel, and basically everything he does is memorable. Buddy Hackett’s Scuttle is also hilarious.

The songs are incredible. The three main ones: “Part of Your World”, “Kiss The Girl”, and “Under The Sea” are all timeless. “Part Of Your World” is especially incredible; you really feel for Ariel and want her to accomplish her goals.

Lastly, some of the animation is incredible. When I saw Ariel come to the surface while fireworks follow Eric’s ship I can’t help but think “wow”. There are tons of moments in this film like this as well.

Are there any criticisms? There’s one that’s debatable. The Nostalgia Chick pointed out that Ariel didn’t really learn anything. She wants something, there are obstacles, she overcomes them and gets what she wants. But I disagree. The sequence where she apologizes to her father about the situation she’s in I think is her realizing she went too far.

Pros:

+Every character is memorable and great.

+Animation is amazing.

+Songs are incredible and timeless.

+Father-daughter relationship with Ariel and Triton is really well done.

+Price Eric and Ariel actually take some time to fall in love and is also really well done.

+Ursula is a top tier Disney villain.

Cons:

-Did Ariel learn anything or did she just get what she wanted in spite of everything?

Film is amazing. No wonder the Disney Renaissance began here.

Grade: A+

 

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF Survivor Series 1987

WWF Survivor Series 1987
November 26, 1987
Richfield, OH

The inaugural Survivor Series was a big middle finger to Jim Crockett and the NWA. When Crockett announced Starrcade on PPV on Thanksgiving, Vince McMahon countered with Survivor Series and didn’t allow cable companies to air both shows (you can read more in my Starrcade ‘87 review).

The Survivor Series was the first non-Wrestlemania PPV (other than the Wrestling Classic) and set in motion the idea that the WWF would be offering multiple PPVs over the course of a calendar year.

The WWF was still hot at this point and while near the end, we were still in the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant feud that made Mania III a huge success. So did Crockett stand a chance? Not really. Let’s see how the first Survivor Series plays out.

The Card

Survivor Series Match
The Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Danny Davis, Ron Bass and Harley Race vs. Randy Savage, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat and Brutus Beefcake

Honky Tonk Man in a prematch promo says this is the greatest Survivor Series ever assembled. It’s the first afterall, so I mean, he’s right!

I wonder if Harley was ever embarrassed to be a King in the WWF.

It’s worth writing that wow is Elizabeth beautiful.

Savage has turned face and got a huge reaction. No surprise he’d be champ by Mania.

You know, say what you want about Beefcake (and I usually say a lot)…but he was over.

We lose both Duggan and Race to a double countout.

Beefcake nails Bass with the high knee and Bass is gone. This has been fun so far.

Shake Rattle and Roll takes out the Barber. Good storytelling with Ventura and Gorilla explaining how Beefcake needed to make the tag but didn’t.

Jake spikes Davis with a DDT and he’s gone. Danny Davis shouldn’t be going toe to toe with Jake anyway.

Savage is so active outside the ring, running all over the place, going to the top rope. It really adds to the match and his character.

Steamboat mocking Honky’s dance was quite a sight.

Savage drops the big elbow and Hercules is gone.

Team Savage wins, Sole Survivors: Savage, Roberts and Steamboat. Honky Tonk Man fights Savage for a bit before he gets beat down, and then decides to leave realizing he’s down 3-1. Fun opener that showed the Survivor Series format works for sure. Smart booking to have Honky left with all the IC Title contenders.

Survivor Series Match
Judy Martin, Leilani Kai, Dawn Marie (no, not that Dawn Marie), Donna Christanello and Sensational Sherri vs. The Jumping Bomb Angels, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin’ Robin and The Fabulous Moolah

Sherri had recently won the Women’s title from Moolah, which is the main story here.

I won’t lie, I don’t know most of these people. Marie, Christanello and the Angels are new to me.

McIntyre gets Christanello out with a nice victory roll.

McIntyre is pretty good, nice hurricanrana!

Robin takes out Marie with a crossbody.

I don’t know the names of the Angels, but one of them is awesome.

The other just did a flying armdrag off the top rope! Where were these two in WWF history?

Robin’s clearly not the best worker in the match. She’s botched almost anything and just botched a monkey flip.

Sherri takes Robin out with a vertical suplex.

McIntyre is good too. Spinning crossbody? That’s pretty cool.

The Galmour Girls take out Moolah with a double clothesline. Bit of a surprise, but her chain wrestling was pretty boring anyway.

McIntyre and the Jumping Bomb Angels left on one side? That’s awesome. This has been really fun so far.

Small screw up with the timekeeper as he rings the bell when one of the Angels bridge to get their shoulder up.

Velvet gets Sherri with a giant swing!

She gets Sherri with a victory roll! I assume that was the next Women’s title feud.

Crazy sunset flip. I feel bad I don’t know the Bomb Angels from each other. But they’re awesome.

Electric chair drop by Kai takes out McIntyre. Once again, a great story was told as the announcers focus on how McIntyre’s back was injured. It was also great psychology as McIntyre had been getting eliminations with all of these victory rolls. Down to the Bomb Angels and the Glamour Girls.

Kai is eiliminated by a crossbody.

Jimmy Hart even takes a bump to the outside!

Team Moolah wins, Sole Survivors: The Jumping Bomb Angels. Great clothesline for the win. Wow. I need to research more about the Jumping Bomb Angels because they are awesome. Apparently this set up a Women’s Tag Team title feud between these two teams. Anyway, great match! Maybe the best Women’s match I’ve ever seen in the US.

Survivor Series Match – 10 vs. 10
Strike Force, The Young Stallions, The Fabulous Rougeaus, the Killer Bees and the British Bulldogs vs. The Dream Team, The Bolsheviks, Demolition, The Islanders and the Hart Foundation

Let’s just throw all the tag teams in at once! This could be nuts.

Interesting rules: if one member of the tag team gets eliminated, the other is gone too. This is a cool concept that would be cool to see today, although there isn’t enough teams for that.

Zhukov gets eliminated by Santana, so the Bolsheviks are gone.

I don’t really like the pacing for this one. Too many quick tags and way too many guys involved.

Ax takes out Jacques when he missed a crossbody. We are at 4 teams vs. 4 teams.

The Demos get DQed when Smash shoves the referee away.

Strike Force get eliminated when Bret breaks up a pinfall by Santana on Anvil, then Anvil pins Santana? How weak was that?

No falls for a while, and we keep getting move after move. On one hand it’s awesome, non-stop action. On the other, there’s no real story being told, it’s just move after move.

Dynamite goes for a flying headbutt on Haku and hits it…but knocks himself out and Haku takes him out with a kick to take out the Bulldogs.

Roma gets Greg Valentine with a top rope sunset flip to take him out. That was nice. Best move I ever saw Roma do.

Down to the Harts and Islanders vs. the Bees and Young Stallions. This match really seemed like it was designed to get the Stallions over.

Bret gets eliminated when Tama knocked Jumping Jim over when he holding Hart…but he rolled through and got the pin. Down to the Islanders against Bees and Stallions.

Team Strike Force wins, Sole Survivors: The Killer Bees and the Young Stallions. B. Brian Blair puts on a bee mask and gets a sunset flip on Tama even though he’s the illegal man, and Jumping Jim puts on a mask as well. Sure, why not. I thought this went way too long and while it was mostly nonstop action, I could never really get into this. Still, I wouldn’t say it was bad.

We get to see how ”The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase celebrates Thanksgiving. He tells us money is the key to survival. He’s not wrong. We do get the hilarious moment where Dibiase tells a kid to dribble a basketball 15 times for $500, then kicks the basketball after the 14th dribble. Great stuff.

Ventura mentions that he’s never seen female wrestlers do the movies the Jumping Bomb Angels did. He’s right! They were awesome.

We get a Honky Tonk Man promo. For some reason we’re killing a lot of time before the main event.

Survivor Series Match
Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, One Man Gang, Butch Reed and King Kong Bundy

Crazy team Hogan promo. Hogan looked like he was in a trance at the end.

Huge cheers for Bigelow. Too bad he didn’t work out in his first stint.

Orndorff also gets huge cheers. Him and Hogan were feuding earlier in the year.

Hogan makes quick work of Reed and drop the leg for the elimination.

Hogan vs. Andre time…no, Hogan tags out to Ken Patera. Way to go Hogan.

Andre, great heel that he is, motions that Patera isn’t worth it and tags in Bundy.

OMG lands on Patera and gets rid of him.

Man Bam Bam is over. Huge cheers when Hogan tagged him in.

Surprisingly Orndorff is gone after Rude rolls him up and holds the tights.

Powerslam from Muraco takes out Rude. That’s a shame, Rude was the best worker here by far.

Big splash from OMG takes out Muraco. Hogan and Bigelow vs. Bundy, Andre and OMG.

Bigelow escapes Andre and we have Hogan vs. Andre!

OMG pulls Hogan out of the ring as h was beating on Andre, but Hogan takes out both OMG and Bundy. Hogan gets counted out!

This leaves Bigelow vs. Bundy, OMG and Andre.

Bigelow keeps fighting and hits a slingshot press to take out Bundy!

OMG misses a top rope splash (looked awful) and Bigelow gets the pin, leaving Bigelow vs. Andre.

Team Andre wins, Sole Survivor: Andre the Giant. Andre hits a butterfly suplex for the win. Everything from Hogan vs. Andre to the end was pretty bad to be honest, but crowd was definitely in it which is what matters. Match also seemed designed to get Bigelow over, and while it kinda worked Bigelow (backstage) wasn’t ready for that kind of push. Hogan comes back and takes out Andre to let the crowd go home happy.

Overall, this PPV was solid. I liked the first two matches a lot. The tag survivor match was quite long, but it wasn’t bad, and the main event did what it was supposed to. While the PPV meant nothing in the long run, it crushed Crockett’s NWA PPV. Somehow, the NWA show was worse quality wise than the WWF show, which was rare for that time and happened at the absolute worst time possible for the NWA.

Final Grade: B

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW/NWA Starrcade ’87

NWA/WCW Starrcade 1987
November 26, 1987
Chicago, IL

The NWA was in trouble at this point, mostly because of Jim Crockett’s heavy spending. The NWA looked to compete with Vince McMahon’s WWF and to do that, decided to finally get on Pay-Per-View. This was the first PPV for the NWA, and there were three huge issues that would eventually deem Starrcade ’87 to be a failure.

Issue #1: They abandoned Greensboro. Ric Flair wrote in his book about how Southern fans, especially in Greensboro, felt betrayed as Starrcade had been held in Greensboro every year. Crocket wanted the NWA to seem “big time”, which is why he wanted to hold the show in a big city like Chicago. Unfortunately, as Flair pointed out, the NWA came off as bush league as they weren’t even in the main arena.

Issue #2: Crockett wanted Flair to win the title at Starrcade. There were no top babyfaces that wanted to win the title from Flair and be that lame duck champion, leading to midcarder Ronnie Garvin getting the victory. While Flair was easily the biggest name that hadn’t graced a WWF ring in North American professional wrestling, Garvin was still a no body.

Issue #3: Vince McMahon pretty much squashed Starrcade before it even happened. At first, Vince decided to create Survivor Series and run it opposite of Starrcade. Obviously, Crockett didn’t want to do that, so he pushed the show up to the afternoon, thinking if fans watched both shows, they’d come to the conclusion the NWA show was better. Good plan, but Vince wasn’t having that either. McMahon told the cable companies if they aired Starrcade, not only would they not be allowed to air Survivor Series, they wouldn’t be allowed to air next year’s Wrestlemania. Cable companies obviously didn’t want to take that risk…Wrestlemania III was a huge money maker…which resulted in only five companies carrying Starrcade. Starrcade was dead in the water.

Did Crockett at least put on a good show? Well, let’s see.

The Card

Sting and the Fabulous Freebirds vs. Rick Steiner, Eddie Gilbert and Larry Zbyszko

At least the crowd is really into this. It’s odd seeing Sting as a midcard act, although it wouldn’t be long until he was on top.

It’s amazing what kind of shape Steiner is in in 1987.

Sting already steals the show with some great high flying stuff. Crowd is super hot for Sting.

It makes sense that Chicago would be hot for the Freebirds too.

The announcer makes it a point to tell us that 7 minutes have expired so far. Unfortunately, that means it’s likely we’re getting a time limit draw.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but watching this I would have guessed that Sting would become a huge star. Easily.

Sigh. This is definitely going toward a time limit draw.

Time Limit Draw in 15:00. Referee pulls up before the bell even rings. Really disappointing finish to the first match here. It seemed like Sting going over Larry Zbyszko made the most sense. Otherwise, the match was fun and the crowd was really into it.

Missy Hyatt nearly forgets her line.

UWF World Championship
Steve Williams © vs. Barry Windham

The UWF had invaded the NWA not too long ago, but this was at the tail end of that.

We get some mat wrestling after a fast start and the fans quickly turn against the match. Seems kind of unfair.

In one of the funniest spots I’ve seen in a while, Dr. Death tries a leapfrog and Windham doesn’t go low enough and heasbutts Williams in the groin. I sense that wasn’t intentional.

This whole “good sportsmanship” deal with Windham really isn’t helping. Bad booking there.

Windham goes flying out of the ring and slams into a ringside table. First exciting spot in the match.

Steve Williams retains by pin in 6:50. Dr. Death gets a cradle for the win. I’m guessing Williams got hurt? Nonetheless, match sucked, and the fans let them know. I have read that the UWF title wasn’t long for the world after this one.

Skywalkers Match
The Rock’N’Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express

A young Big Bubba Rogers and Jim Cornette are on the side of the Midnight Express.

A Skywalkers match is a Scaffold match. Usually, these are awful.

Big Bubba beats the crap out of Ricky Morton right away, and the Midnight Express have a two on one against Robert Gibson up top.

Morton comes back and takes out Bubba with Cornette’s tennis racket, then evens the odds up top. Smart way to get the crowd into this.

This isn’t that bad, but there’s only so much that can be done up on top of a scaffold. There’s just a lot of punching and choking and beating down on one another with the racket.

Stan Lane takes the first bump from under the scaffold. That had to be horrible for his knees.

The Rock’N’Roll Express win in 10:23. Eaton goes flying down afterwards. I mean, it was what it was, but it was good for a Scaffold match. Doesn’t seem like the best way to use the Rock’N’Roll Express though. Crowd was into it, so there’s that. Big Bubba goes up there and faces off with Ricky Morton. Morton takes a shot then runs away. Just an unnecessarily dangerous gimmick match.

For some reason, Jimmy Garvin basically hypes up the rest of the card in his promo. A Steve Williams promo follows and it’s not good.

UWF TV Title vs. NWA TV Title
Terry Taylor (UWF TV Champion) vs. Nikita Koloff (NWA TV Champion)

More from that UWF vs. NWA feud. Odd that this took place after the UWF World Title match.

Eddie Gilbert is at ringside for Taylor.

First five minutes focuses on how intimidating and strong Nikita is. That’s fine, but it’s not that exciting.

Watching Taylor here, my impression is that he’s a homeless man’s Flair. Although that’s really Buddy Landell’s role.

Nikita misses the Sickle and suddenly Taylor is in control. The Sickle is a running clothesline I believe, and Koloff slammed into the corner.

Taylor basically uses every heel move in the book to keep the advantage. Even a Figure Four with Gilbert’s assistance! See, he is the homeless man’s Flair.

Koloff unifies the titles in 18:58. Koloff gets his hands on Gilbert, and Taylor accidentally knocks him off the apron. Koloff nails the Sickle and wins. Match was a bit too long as we didn’t need Koloff to dominate the first 10 minutes. Match definitely picked up when Taylor took control. Not bad overall, but Starrcade really needs a show stealer at this point.

NWA World Tag Team Championship
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard© vs. The Road Warriors

Hawk and Animal are the hometown team here, and the crowd is hot for them.

The Road Warriors are dominating early on and it’s pretty awesome.

Blanchard comes off the top and Animal catches him perfectly with a slam. Wow.

The Horsemen finally get control when Hawk tries to press Blanchard but Anderson chop blocks him. There’s a similar story here as the last match, only this one is better.

Blanchard really beats down on Hawk’s knee as the Horsemen have found the hole in the Road Warrior armor.

Referee Tommy Young goes flying out of the ring, which was a sick bump.

Doomsday Device! The Road Warriors seemingly win the title as Earl Hebner makes the three count…but…

Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard retain by DQ in 13:27. Turns out Tommy Young saw Hawk toss Arn Anderson over the top rope (which was worthy of a DQ back then), and the Dusty Finish rears its ugly head. The Road Warriors winning the tag belts in their hometown on the biggest show of the year must have made way too much sense eh? Still, we had a good match here, which is something that was desperately needed.

Starrcade ’87 really needs to be carried by its main events.

We get a Nikita Koloff interview that I think is in Russian. Although I hear the words great wrestler. Man that was terrible.

Steel Cage Match: NWA United States Championship vs. Career
Lex Luger© vs. Dusty Rhodes

Luger was a member of the Horsemen here, although that wouldn’t last much longer.

Eh, it’s not really a career threatening match, if he loses Dusty couldn’t wrestle for 90 days. That doesn’t seem that bad and I don’t know why it’s being hyped like Dusty’s career would be over. Strange.

This has started off really slow, highlighted by Luger hilariously missing an elbow drop.

Dusty gets busted open (and obviously blades) after one shot into the cage.

Ugliest dropkick ever from Dusty.

Ugly DDT at the 15 minute mark.

Dusty Rhodes wins the title in 16:28. Luger goes to pick up a chair thrown into the ring by J.J. Dillion, only he stands there for a second so Dusty can DDT him on it. Luger was pretty awful at this point obviously. Half of this match was in an armbar. The blood was unearned and the cage was barely used. I don’t even know why Dillon knocked out the key keeper since he threw the chair over the cage anyway. This was pretty bad, but the crowd popped huge for Dusty.

Steel Cage Match: NWA World Championship
Ronnie Garvin© vs. Ric Flair

Garvin gets booed out of the building during his intro. He looks weird with the big gold belt.

There’s a huge Garvin sucks chant as well. Just like it made sense for Chicago to love the Freebirds, Chicago loves Ric Flair.

Gotta give Flair credit, he’s basically letting Garvin beat the crap out of him.

Two really cool near-falls near the end here, with Flair cheating to win (but Tommy Young catching him) and Garvin nearly stealing it with a roll-up.

Ric Flair wins the title in 17:38. Flair slams Garvin into the post of the cage and gets the pin. Really underwhelming finish. The fans pop huge for Flair. Really, Garvin never had a chance here. Match was decent but nothing special and it wasn’t the amazing main event Starrcade ’87 needed.

Crockett sold not too long after this. He just didn’t have the funds to compete where Ted Turner did. Many stars on this show left for the WWF over the course of the next year (Terry Taylor, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Big Bubba and Garvin come to mind immediately) as the NWA played 2nd fiddle for a while. Starrcade ’87 never had a chance from the beginning, but the card itself didn’t help either. There’s no excuse for an average show with weak finishes, especially when everything is on the line.

Final Grade: C

Other (DC, Marvel, Disney etc.)

RDT Reviews Shaun the Sheep: The Movie

I can keep this one mostly spoiler free.

Shaun the Sheep the Movie is a delightful film that hits its main goal, which is to be cute and entertaining. It doesn’t hold back, looking to make the audience laugh at every opportunity and succeeding in that respect. Shaun the Sheep the Movie is a silent film and as a result the visuals tell the story. The film succeeds in this respect as well.

All of the visuals in the film really hit their marks. Each character, from the random people in the city to every animal in the farm is memorable because of how they are portrayed on screen. Every moment on screen has value. This helps the main characters as well. Each main character, from Shaun to Bitzer to even the human main characters all are represented strongly based on how they act. You understand each character’s motivations.

In what works and works against the film is that Shaun the Sheep is quite simple. There’s not much of a lesson to be learned or moral. On one hand that’s good to have a simple movie. On the other, Shaun the Sheep doesn’t have much long term value.

Pros:

+Innocent and fun.

+Great visuals.

+Fun characters.

+Quite funny overall.

Cons:

-Very simple film.

-Some unnecessary music tracks in what was otherwise a really good silent film.

Grade: B+

NASCAR

The 2015 NASCAR Chase For Cup Finale…and a Good Bye to Jeff Gordon

And then there were four. Four drivers, each with a tremendous storyline attached to them that makes the 2015 NASCAR season finale enthralling. Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick each have a legitimate chance at the Championship. Let’s look at these four Championship contenders and how they got here.

           Martin Truex Jr.: Truex is easily the least accomplished of the four. With only three career victories to his name, the idea of Truex being a Championship contender is surprising. Hell, no one really had him even in the Chase much less in the Final Four. Furniture Row racing was a low budget team that came to the forefront when Kurt Busch had nearly worn out his welcome with NASCAR. Busch was able to give Furniture Row a good season which got them on the map. Busch bolted, and an at the time disgraced Truex joined. Truex of course was involved in the Clint Bowyer-Jeff Gordon-Ryan Newman Chase dilemma where Bowyer purposely spun out to give Truex a spot (which was overturned). Truex had a bad year in 2014, finishing 24th in points. He shockingly started with 14 top 10s out of 15 races this year and won at Pocono. He got to the Chase with pure consistency: 13th, 8th, 11th in Round 1, 3rd, 15th and 7th in Round 2 and 6th, 8th, 14th in Round 3. Fortunately for Truex, he’s done quite well at Homestead in his career, with 3 Top 5s, 7 Top 10s (8 Top 11s) in 10 starts there. If things go wrong for the other contenders a solid 5th can win the title. I don’t think he will, but expect him to finish as a runner-up in the standings. If you like underdogs, Truex is your pick.

             Kyle Busch: What a wild ride for Kyle Busch. He started the season with a broken leg, came back 12 races later and had to manage to both get a top 30 points finish and win a race. He won 4 races and got in the top 30 with races to spare. Unlike in the past, Busch did well enough in the Chase to have a shot at the end. 9th, 37th and 2nd in Round 1. 20th, 5th and 11th in Round 2. Finally, a strong 5th, 4th and 4th in Round 3. Kyle’s never really run well at Homestead, he has one top 5 in 10 starts (a 4th in 2012). But, I think this is Kyle’s time. Expect Kyle to be in the hunt as he’s starting third. He should be up front almost all day and might even take the whole race down. There has been a lot of inconsistent frustration with Kyle, but he’s put it all together this time. He’s my pick to win the Championship.

            Kevin Harvick: Seemingly the favorite for sure. Harvick of course won Phoenix and then this race last year to win the title. Harvick’s been great all year; 27 Top 10s is a pretty great number, but I can’t help but feel that his Chase that been a bit disappointing. He had to win at Dover to get into Round 2 (42nd, 21st and 1st), he outright caused a wreck at Talladega that if it has been three seconds later he’d miss the next round (as Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have probably won and took Harvick’s spot) with a 2nd, 16th and 15th. He did have a strong last round with an 8th, 3rd and 2nd. Still, I like Kyle’s momentum better for whatever reason. Harvick has been consistently great at Homestead throughout his career. A win, five Top 3s, 6 Top 5s, 12 Top 10s in 14 starts. So maybe I’m crazy for not picking him. Anyway, if you like the start of a potentially new dynasty, Harvick is your guy.

            Jeff Gordon: Like him or hate him, it is absolutely incredible that the great Jeff Gordon’s last race allows him to race for a Championship. It hasn’t been Gordon’s greatest season (far from it really), but he’s pulled the rich man’s Ryan Newman from last year with a 14th, 7th and 12th, followed by an 8th, 10th and 3rd. He outright won Martinsville and followed that with a 9th and a 6th. So he’s running well. I think we’re getting an 8th place which probably doesn’t win the title though. Gordon does have some Homestead credentials though. He won here in 2012, has 7 Top 5s, and 12 Top 10s in 16 starts. He’s the sentimental favorite, and a Championship win to cap off an amazing career where he’s arguably a top 3 NASCAR driver of all time (I could see arguments for 1st honestly) would be incredible.

I think Kyle Busch finishes 2nd, Truex 4th,  Harvick 5th and Gordon 8th . Before the Chase I picked Harvick to win this race, but I don’t quite feel it. I think Jimmie Johnson makes a statement with a win here.

One more thing. All NASCAR fans, whether they loved or hated Jeff Gordon, has to thank and respect him for what he did. He did in the late 90s with Tiger Woods did for golf, what Magic, Bird and Jordan did for the NBA. NASCAR became a huge deal because of Jeff Gordon. Gordon’s late 90s run was up there with the most impressive dynasties in any professional sport (Gordon from 1994 through 2001: 58 victories, four Championships (’95, ’97, ’98, ’01), a runner up (’96), three Brickyard 400s (’94, ’98, ’01) and Two Daytona 500s (’97, ’99). He ended up with a staggering 93 victories, added the 2005 Daytona 500, 2004 and 2014 Brickyard 400s. And maybe, just maybe he adds the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup. I know I’ll be rooting for him. Thank you Jeff Gordon.

Basketball

Top 100 Greatest Basketball Players Of All-Time: #40-#31

#40: Jason Kidd

New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd passes the ball against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter of Game 4 NBA first-round basketball Sunday night, April 29, 2007, in East Rutherford, N.J. Kidd scored 17 points and had 13 assists as the Nets beat the Raptors, 102-81, to lead the series three games to one. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Resume

NBA All-1st Team: 5x (’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ‘04)

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (’03)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 4x (’99, ’01, ’02, ’06)

NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 5x (’00, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’95)

NBA All Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’95)

NBA All-Star: 10x (’96, ’98, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’07, ’08, ‘10)

NBA Assists Leader: 3x (’99, ’01, ’03)

NBA Steals Leader: 1x (’02)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 16x (’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘11)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 12x (’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’06, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘11)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 3x (’02, ’03, ’06)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 2x (’99, ’03)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: (’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’06)

NBA Career Assists: 2nd

NBA Career Steals: 2nd

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 12th

NBA Career Win Shares: 30th

Starter for One NBA Champion: ’11 Mavericks

Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’02 Nets, ’03 Nets

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 43rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 28th

There’s a pretty lengthy plus/minus list for Jason Kidd.

Plusses: Regarded as one of the best defensive point guards in NBA history. Made everyone around him ridiculously better during his prime (see Kenyon Martin). His trade to the New Jersey Nets for Stephen Marbury turned the Nets into an Eastern Conference Champion (not a real title contender, as we’ll get to). One of the greatest passers in NBA history. His impressive steal and assist numbers are only second to John Stockton, and Kidd got the assists in an era that was pretty bad for offense (and he didn’t have a Karl Malone either).

Minuses: His defensive accolades somewhat overrated him on that end. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t really really good, but you never really heard the words “let’s put Jason Kidd on him to lock him down” like you would with Gary Payton. His defensive reputation carried him through the later 00s (although he still got a lot of steals). One of the worst outside shooters in NBA history, which is what held him back as a true top tier player. If it wasn’t for one of the weakest stretches of talent in NBA history and especially in the Eastern Conference, Kidd’s Nets would have never even sniffed the NBA Finals. Surprisingly not a big Advanced Metrics guy, although that’s because of his bad shooting. Lastly, was horribly outplayed by Chauncey Billups in Game 7 of the 2004 Semi-Finals against the Pistons (22 PTS, 7 AST for Billups, 0 PTS, 7 AST for Kidd). It also can’t be forgotten how badly Chris Paul embarrassed him in the 2008 First Round either.

Still, Kidd was pretty much the best point guard of the early 2000s. He was a selfless point guard who made everyone around him better at a time where it seemed no one was doing that, and he got to two Finals as a result. That’s good enough for the Top 40.

#39. Paul Pierce

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Resume

NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’08)

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (‘09)

NBA All-3rd Team: 3x (’02, ’03, ’08)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’99)

NBA All-Star: 10x (’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’08. ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘12)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’02)

NBA Top 10 Points: 5x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ‘06)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 5x (’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’05)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’02, ’05, ’08, ‘11)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 1x (‘08)

NBA Career Points: 16th

NBA Career Steals: 11th

NBA Career Win Shares: 21st

2nd Best Player on One Champion: ’08 Celtics

2nd Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’10 Celtcs

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 47th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 77th

Pierce is a tricky player to place. He never seemed to be iconic or anything, but was still good enough to nearly get a dreadful Celtics team to the NBA Finals in 2002, and later re-invented his game in order to co-exist with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to win his first NBA Title. Pierce went from being what seemed to be a selfish 25 PPG a game guy to someone who gave up shots and became a decent defensive player to win a title. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I can’t state enough with how much the 2008 NBA Playoffs helped Pierce here. With LeBron singlehandedly looking to defend his Eastern Conference crown and shock the 66 win Celtics in Round 2 (LeBron Game 7: 45-5-6), Pierce went toe to toe with him scoring 41 of his own. Pierce later helped in shutting down Kobe and won Finals MVP. Yeah, Garnett was the best player on the team, but Pierce willed them there.

The rest of his resume is pretty decent as well. Some good scoring years (at one time Kobe, McGrady and Pierce could be spoken about in the same breath) early on and now some good veteran years (Pierce’s shot against Atlanta in the playoffs last year was sick…too bad Nene can’t rebound). 39 might seem high, but Pierce’s career seems to be what basketball is all about.

#38: Allen Iverson

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NBA MVP: 1x (’01)

NBA All-1st Team: 3x (’99, ’01, ‘05)

NBA All-2nd Team: 3x (’00, ’02, ‘03)

NBA All-3rd Team: 1x (’06)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’97)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2x (’01, ’05)

NBA All-Star: 11x (’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ‘10)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’05)

NBA Steals Leader: 2x (’03, ‘05)

NBA Top 10 Points: 11x (’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’07, ‘08)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 10x (’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’08)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 3x (’05, ’06, ’08)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’99, ’01, ‘08)

NBA Career Points: 28th

NBA Career Steals: 12th

NBA Career Assists: 43rd

Best Player on One Runner-Ups: ’01 76ers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 37th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 40th

There’s generally two thoughts about Iverson. Either he’s an overrated shoot first/low percentage volume scorer or he’s perhaps the greatest and toughest (and fastest) guy ever to be on the basketball court. I generally go with the latter with a dash of the former. Like Kidd, Iverson peaked at a time where complex offensive schemes were at an all-time low in the NBA. Iverson was able to master hero ball and while his Advanced stats didn’t show it, the 76ers seemed to be a lot worse without him. His 2001 MVP case is a bit weak…it should probably be Shaq’s, but he proved he was at least somewhat worthy by dragging his crappy team to the 2001 NBA Finals (although they probably should have lost to Milwaukee). His Game 1 performance in those Finals give his career extra weight (48 PTS, leading the Sixers to the only playoff win against the 2001 Lakers) and the Sixers at least hung around in some of those games.

Like Kidd, Iverson probably maximized his potential and took advantage of his era. And like Kidd, when that era ended his usefulness as a top star did too.

#37: Gary Payton

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Resume

NBA All-1st Team: 2x (’98, ’00)

NBA All-2nd Team: 5x (’95, ’96, ’97, ’99, ‘02)

NBA All-3rd Team: 2x (’94, ’01)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 1x (’96)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 9x (’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02)

NBA All-Star: 9x (’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’00, ’01, ’02, ‘03)

NBA Assists Leader: 1x (’00)

NBA Steals Leader: 1x (‘96)

NBA Top 10 Points: 4x (’97, ’99, ’00, ‘02)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 9x (’91, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ‘00)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 9x (’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ‘03)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 7x (’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ‘02)

Top 10 WS/48: 2x (’98, ’00)

NBA Career Points: 30th

NBA Career Steals: 4th

NBA Career Assists: 8th

Role Player on One Champion: ’06 Heat

Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’96 Sonics

Starter on One Runner-Up: ’04 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 41st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 39th

A great What-If for Payton: What if George Karl switched Payton onto Michael Jordan earlier in the 1996 NBA Finals? Once that switch was made, the Sonics took two straight from the Bulls and had chances to get to Game 7. Not surprisingly, it’s Jordan’s worst Finals performance.

Unlike Kidd, Gary Payton with a destructive defensive player. He absolutely wrecked John Stockton in the ’96 Conference Finals. He slowed Jordan down significantly. He was one of the few non big men to win Defensive Player of the Year. If you made me make an all-time Defensive Team, Payton would be my point guard hands down.

He was a great offensive player as well, although he was exposed for needing a system that tailored to his game when he ended up on the 2004 Lakers (and had to “share” with Kobe). In a sense, he’s like Iverson that way.

There are two reasons why Payton never won a title as the top guy on his team. The first has to do with him. He was a coach killer and routinely sold players out. The second was bad luck, as his Shawn Kemp lost his mind and Vin Baker ended up as an alcoholic. Those are the only elite low post threats Payton ever had in his prime. If Kemp didn’t lose his marbles and Baker stayed healthy, perhaps the Sonics get back into the Finals and win a title. But we’ll never know.

#36. Patrick Ewing

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NBA All-1st Team: 1x (‘90)

NBA All-2nd Team: 6x (’88, ’89, 91, ’92, ’93, ‘97)

NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 3x (’88, ’89, ‘92)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’86)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’86)

NBA All-Star: 11x (’86, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ‘97)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 2x (’93, ’94)

NBA Defensive Win Share Leader: 3x (’93, ’94, ’97)

NBA Top 10 Points: 8x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 8x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 11x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘99)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’89, ’90, ’92, ’93, ‘94)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 2x (’90, ‘94)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 11x (’88, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00)

NBA Career Points: 21st

NBA Career Rebounds: 24th

NBA Career Blocks: 7th

NBA Career Win Shares: 35th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 9th

NBA Career Defensive Rating: 20th

Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’94 Knicks, ’99 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 40th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 37th

Arguably exhibit A for “player denied a Championship because of Michael Jordan”. Ewing was both overrated and underrated in different ways. He was overrated because at one time fans put him in that upper tier of NBA players, up there with Jordan, Olajuwon, Malone, Barkley etc., and he was never quite there. He was a good but not great offensive force, capable of putting up the occasional big game (like his 44-13-5-7 game against Boston in Round 1 of the 1990 playoffs…or even his 45-13 against Detroit one round later) but never consistently able to do it. He couldn’t pass well and although his rebounding totals are good, he was never great at that either. To be fair, Ewing lost his peak athleticism early in his career (hence the kneepads). Ewing was a very good player who was never great offensively. But you could build a title contender around him for sure. He was “New York popular”.

What’s forgotten about Ewing was that he was a destructive defensive player that happened to come at a time where Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson all transcended what being a defensive center meant. As a result Ewing doesn’t have the gaudy all-Defensive team nods. But if his career were a few years earlier, he would have done well dealing with Moses and Kareem (just like Olajuwon did in 1986).

But if it weren’t for Michael and Hakeem, Ewing would have captured the title at least once. Jordan’s Bulls took out Ewing’s Knicks in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996. In 1992 and 1993, the Knicks gave Jordan all he could handle (a seven game series in 1992 and a six gamer that the Knicks led 2-0 in 1993) and could have won the title (definitely in 1992). Of course, Ewing had his chance in ’94, but Olajuwon destroyed him, so there’s that (although if John Starks didn’t play horribly, the Knicks still win the title with Ewing).

There’s always the Bill SImmons “Ewing Theory”. The theory Is that the Knicks played better without Ewing than with him. And while that was definitely true in 1999 (when he got hurt and the Marcus Camby addition got them to the Finals), I doubt it’s true earlier. The idea behind it is that a star player gets a lot of extraordinary attention without winning anything and then someone leaves the team in some way. Everyone expects the team to fall apart, but instead they play even better. See TIki Barber for the 2007 Giants or even the Linsanity era for Carmelo Anthony (or that the Nuggets went 59-23 the next year without him). That fit Ewing perfectly. It’s a shame because it’s easy to forget that Patrick Ewing was really good.

#35. Kevin Durant

top100durant

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NBA MVP: 1x (’14)

NBA All-1st Team: 5x (’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’08)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’08)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15)

NBA Points Leader: 5x (’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Win Share Leader: 1x (‘14)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’14)

NBA PER Leader: 1x (’14)

NBA Top 5 Points: 6x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’10, ’12, ’13, ‘14)

Best Player on One Runner-Ups: ’12 Thunder

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): Not Ranked

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): Not Ranked

It’s not even close to too early yet for Durant. Durant’s already an offensive savant, efficiently leading the league in scoring for five years. His 2014 MVP campaign would be considered the 9th best via WS/48 in the three point era, only behind LeBron, Jordan and David Robinson. The 2012 Thunder were so good led by Durant that I thought there was a legitimate chance they were winning the title…and then Durant dropped 36 in his first Finals game and the Thunder stole Game 1. Durant’s 2012 Finals stats: 30.6 PPG, 6 RPG, 54.8% FG.

I’d rather have five elite years from Durant than 8 or 9 very good years from someone like Ewing.

#34. Dave Cowens

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NBA MVP: 1x (’73)

NBA All-2nd Team: 3x (’73, ’75, ‘76)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 1x (’76)

NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 2x (’75, ’80)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’71)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’71)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’73)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ‘80)

NBA Defensive Win Share Leader: 1x (’73)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 7x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’78)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’73, ’76, ’78)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 2x (’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 7x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’78)

Best Player on Two Champions: ’74 Celtics, ’76 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 31st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 44th

The big arguments in favor of Cowens are that he was the best guy on two title teams (and he had to beat Kareem for one of them) and his 1973 MVP (which probably should have been Kareem’s). Cowens of course had to contend with Kareem and Walton for any All-NBA nods, which is why he doesn’t have many of them. He bridged the Celtics from the Russell era to the Bird era, won a couple of championship and became one of the most popular Celtics of all time (although, he’s largely forgotten for whatever reason to anyone else). I can’t put him much higher than this as despite the two titles, it wasn’t like he got them by himself (Havilcek) and he wasn’t really in the best center of the 70s discussion.

#33. Steve Nash

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash of Canada hoists up his NBA MVP award prior to his team's second-round playoff basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday, May 8, 2006, at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix. Nash won the award for the second consecutive year.(AP Photo/Matt York)

Resume

NBA MVP: 2x (’05, ’06)

NBA All-1st Team: 3x (’05, ’06, ’07)

NBA All-2nd Team: 2x (’08, ‘10)

NBA All-3rd Team: (‘’02, ’03)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’02, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’10, ‘12)

NBA Assists Leader: 6x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’10, ’11)

NBA FT% Leader: 2x (’06, ’10)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 11x (’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘12)

NBA Top 6 FT%: 13x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’03, ’06, ‘07)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’03, ’05, ’06, ‘07)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 9x (’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ‘10)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 8x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’10)

NBA Career Assists: 3rd

NBA Career FT%: 1st

NBA Career 3P%: 10th

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 10th

NBA Career Offensive Win Shares: 14th

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 36th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 50th

Of anyone that benefitted from the 2004-2005 rule changes that barred hand-checking, Nash was #1. This rule transformed him from a very good point guard to league MVP. Had Mark Cuban and the Mavericks had the foresight to realize this, Dallas might have had a late 2000s dynasty (although Nash’s defense was always an issue).

How do we justify Nash being as high as 33rd? Here’s a lengthy pro-con list for Nash.

Pros:

 Was the 2nd best player on teams that won 53, 57, 60 and 52 games. Now if you want to give all the credit to Dirk Nowitzki that’s fine. But then he transformed the Suns and was the best player on teams that won 62, 54 (after losing Amar’e Stoudemire), 61, 55, 46, and 54 games. That’s pretty impressive. Before the 62-20 season, the Suns were 29-53.

Won two straight MVPs, and there’s a good argument to be made that he should have been the 2007 MVP over Nowitzki.

Dragged the 2010 Suns to the Conference Finals and was two games away from the Finals. The 2010 Suns were not considered a good team.

His style of play turned out to be the prototype for Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

Cons:

Could never get to the NBA Finals. While he wasn’t beating the Spurs in 2005, he had legitimate shots in 2006 (lost to Dallas in the WCF), 2007 (Robert Horry checked him into a table, which led to several Suns suspensions and is a classic Donaghy game) and 2010 (where the Lakers couldn’t stop him…but his team wasn’t talented enough).

On the all-time worst defensive players team.

His 2005 MVP should have gone to Shaquille O’Neal. His 2006 MVP can go back and forth. It was impressive that the Suns were just as good without Ama’re. But still, Kobe Bryant had an 81 point game, a 62 point game and dragged a horrid Lakers team to the Western playoffs. LeBron is also a solid choice for 2006 MVP.

While the Suns got a lot better when Nash joined…the Mavericks also seemingly got better, making the Finals just two seasons later.

For me, re-inventing the game from the point guard position is going to justify his high ranking. Yeah, he couldn’t beat Duncan, he couldn’t beat Kobe, he couldn’t beat Nowitzki. But he was really really good.

#32. Kevin McHale

top100mchale

Resume

NBA Sixth Man of the Year: 2x (’84, ’85)

NBA All-1st Team: 1x (‘87)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 3x (’86, ’87, ’88)

NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 3x (’83, ’89, ’90)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’81)

NBA All-Star: 7x (’84, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91)

NBA FG% Leader: 2x (’87, ‘88)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 1x (’88)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (’87)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 4x (’81, ’82, ’83, ’87)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 5x  (’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88)

NBA Career Blocks: 26th

NBA Career FG%: 12th

2nd Best Player on One Champion: ’86 Celtics

6th Man For Two Champions: ’81 Celtics, ’84 Celtics

2nd Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’85 Celtics, ’87 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 35th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 26th

Probably the 3rd greatest second banana of all-time behind Scottie Pippen and young Kobe. What makes McHale great is that he took a page out of the Chris Bosh and Pau Gasol playbook (well, they took a page out of his really) and gladly played a supporting role to a clear alpha dog in Larry Bird. His 1987 season showed that he could have been a legitimate 1st team guy year in and year out (Bird even thought McHale might have been the MVP that year), but he wasn’t wired that way and was glad to take a backseat to Bird (which frustrated Bird to no end).

McHale is probably the greatest post player of all time as well. 60% FG on just crazy different post combinations. In addition to that, he was one of the best defensive players of his era and a possible starter on the all-time defense team.

#31. Walt Frazier

BOSTON - 1973: Walt Frazier #10 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket against Dave Cowens #18 of the Boston Celtics during a game played in 1973 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1973 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)

Resume

NBA All-1st Team: 4x (’70, ’72, ’74, ’75)

NBA All-2nd Team: 2x (’71, ’73)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 7x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ‘75)

NBA All-Rookie 1st Team: 1x (’68)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’75)

NBA All-Star: 7x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’70)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 6x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’74, ‘75)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 2x (’74, ‘75)

NBA Top 7 Win Shares: 7x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ‘75)

NBA Top 6 WS/48: 5x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ‘73)

Best Player on One Champion: ’73 Knicks

2nd Best Player on One Champion: ’70 Knicks

Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’72 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 32nd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 36th

Regarded as one of the best defensive guards of all time. Also regarded as one of the best big game guards of all time (many would put him in the class with Jordan). In Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals he put up 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals against Jerry West and the Lakers. Also can’t be forgotten Willis Reed was hurt for that game (“Here Comes Willis!”).

Why is Frazier this low then? Wasn’t a great shooter so the lack of a three point line in his era helped. His career was pretty short as a top guy.

Still, of all the New York Knicks of all time, Frazier is probably the favorite and the player where fans knew they could win the title with him. And they did twice.

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews ECW November to Remember ’98

November to Remember ‘98
November 1, 1998
New Orleans, LA

There’s nothing special about ECW anymore.

I wrote that last time but it’s truer than ever at this point. Unfortunately for ECW, the WWF has mastered the extreme style and ECW just doesn’t have the talent to keep up. ECW did have enough talent to run good shows though, evident by their last PPV Heatwave ’98. It was easily the best PPV in company history. The momentum from the Taz vs. Shane Douglas feud and the budding popularity of Rob Van Dam has kept ECW afloat.

November to Remember is the Wrestlemania of ECW. Can Paul E. deliver a Wrestlemania-type show?

The Card

New Jack beats the crap out of Jack Victory in a parking lot. I never really liked New Jack outside of hid feuds with the Dudleys.

New Jack gets taken away, I guess he won’t be on the show tonight.

Another good venue choice. The Lakefront Arena looks bigger than the standard ECW arena.

Terry Funk shows up with a graduation cap on. A good surprise so far.

Funk for some reason turns heel by running down Paul E. and Tommy Dreamer. What a bad way to start. I mean what the hell?

He’s apparently angry no one invited him to the show. This sucks.

Super Nova and the Blue Meanie vs. Roadkill and Danny Doring

Doring and Roadkill don’t even get an entrance.

Terry Funk wanders back out here and he’s still bitching. Who thought this was a good idea. Honestly?

Nova and Meanie have a move called the “Super Duper Double Looper”. How about that.

For some reason Terry Funk gets on the apron and slaps Meanie, and Meanie lets him have it.

Funk legdrops himself through a table. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

The Blue Meanie and Super Nova win when Meanie pinned Doring in 10:54. Really fun finish where Nova hits a Frog Splash, Meanie hits the Meaniesault, then they hit the Blue Light Special (DDT/Inverted Powerbomb) for the win. Fun little match here that got a bit screwed up from the Funk thing. Speaking of Funk, he’s back and he takes out Meanie and Nova. Just ugh.

Paul E. comes out and gets Terry away from ringside.

Tracy Smothers vs. Tommy Rogers

Chris Chetti is with Rogers and Ulf Hermann is with Smothers. So this will probably be a tag.

Smothers looks really old for some reason.

This didn’t turn into a tag but since Ulf kept getting involved, Chetti fights him on the outside.

There’s a pin where Rogers’ shoulder is CLEARLY off the mat. What the hell is this?

Tommy Rogers pins Tracy Smothers in 7:51. Tamikaze for the win. Joey Styles makes it a point to explain that the move is the most imitated move in professional wrestling, which is a shot at the WWF’s Christian as it is the same as the Unprettier. Anyway, this was boring and really sloppy.

The Full Blooded Italians tease a break-up, but then Tommy Rogers get attacked.

Suddenly Mabel of all people with a FBI shirt comes out. Huh?

Mabel and Hermann beat the crap out of Chetti before Spike Dudley shows up. Dudley takes both out with Acid Drops, and a ref counts the pin. I guess the fans reacted to Spike.

By the way, if this is the Wrestlemania of ECW, the promotion should have just given up at this point.

Lance Storm vs. Jerry Lynn

Mikey Whipwreck and Tammy Lynn Sytch are our referees.

Part of the story here is that Sytch and Storm’s valet Tammy Lynn Bytch hate one another. Bytch is the future Dawn Marie of course.

Great wrestling sequence to start.

Sytch fast counts Storm of course.

We get a really fast paced solid match…until the gimmick gets involved…

So Bytch and Sytch go at it, to which Sytch strips Bytch. Whipwreck tries to get Bytch out and eventually hits her with a Whippersnapper (which she accidentally no sells, ha!). Then Whipwreck Whippersnaps Lynn, but Storm low blows Whipwreck and shoves him out. Sytch then makes the slowest count in the world for Storm so Lynn can kick out. What a way to screw up a good match.

Lance Storm pins Jerry Lynn in 16:48. The overbooking gets worse. Sytch nails Storm with a Whippersnapper. Whipwreck nails Sytch with a botched Whippersnapper (as Styles says it, it’s because he must have thought she low blowed him earlier). Lynn rolls up Storm, but Mikey reverses it and fast counts Lynn out so Storm can win. What a mess. It was good before all of that.

And now more Terry Funk. I love Funk, but he’s been horribly misused here. He says he’s gone forever and he’s sorry for making an ass out of himself.

ECW World Tag Team Championship
The Dudley Boys© vs. Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney

Axl Rotten is hurt, which is why we have Tanaka.

Masato Tanaka hits a nice plancha off of Balls’ back.

Balls heads to the top…then botches the spot by falling off. Mahoney needs to stick to just crawling and fighting.

Bubba Ray Dudley is doing planchas now. Cool I guess.

We get a huge chair showdown, to which Mahoney and Tanaka no sell some chair shots. The Dudleys telegraph the reversal as well and take Roaring Elbows into the chairs into their faces (which looks terrible). Referee Jeff Jones though fakes an injury and doesn’t count the Dudleys out. More overbooked garbage.

Tanaka survives 3D. Shame that spot is wasted here.

D-Von actually botches getting a table into the ring as he brings a wire with it. That was hilarious.

Tanaka and Mahoney win the title in 15:01 via double pin.RVD and Sabu come in and drive the Dudleys through a pair of tables. Man these finishes are a mess. Match was drawn out and bad. Another run-in finish. Just not good all around. Masato Tanaka is pretty much wasted here. They would hold the belts for like a week I believe.

For some reason we get the battle of the Triple Threat promo video a little early, as we have one more match before it. To be fair, Six Man Tag or not, the main event does feel like a big deal.

Justin Credible and Jack Victory vs. Tommy Dreamer and a Mystery Partner

And that mystery is Jake Roberts. In 1998. Yikes.

Jake didn’t even try with his attire. He looks like he’s about to go golfing or something.

We get a decent Dreamer vs. Credible match, then for some reason Credible tags in Jason. Jason isn’t a participant in this match.

Rod Price and One Man Gang run-in! What’s a match on this PPV without some kind of bullshit run in now?

Here we go with New Jack…we get John Kronus too. Usually clusterfuck commences.

Kronus hits the 450 Splash…and the ref was about to count Credible out there. The refs don’t even know what’s going on.

I wonder if Jake looked at all this and wondered what the hell happened to his career.

Mr. Wright flips in and botches the landing. Jake takes him out anyway.

Now we have Nicole Bass in there. Jake drops her with a DDT.

Tommy Dreamer and Jake Roberts win when both pin Credible in 12:26. Jake drops Credible with a DDT on the ladder for the finish. What a mess. What a damn mess. That’s all there is to say really.

God it’s Terry Funk again. He’s mad Dreamer picked Jake Roberts and not him. Awful. Dreamer turns his back on Funk and Funk lays him out. This absolutely sucks.

RVD really wasn’t that bad of a promo guy in ECW.

Taz, Sabu and Rob Van Dam vs. Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido

The main part of this story is Taz’s 15 month chase of the ECW World Title held by Douglas. Douglas has been hurt for months and is somehow still the champ. As a side note, RVD, Sabu and Taz have all had their problems.

This definitely was the top three faces against the top heel faction. As I said before, if it delivers it will be a worthy main event.

The Dudleys attack RVD and Sabu on the ramp. I can’t take this anymore. At least it made sense since RVD and Sabu attacked them earlier.

For some reason, Sabu spends the entire match as the face in peril. I have a few issues with this. One, this is a waste of Sabu. We don’t wait for Sabu in the main event to get beat down by three heels in a wrestling manner. Two, Taz is the one who has the real issue with the Triple Threat and the heat should be on him.

RVD makes the tag I think (so much for the hot Taz tag), but then after some brawling Sabu’s getting beat down again. For some reason Chris Candido puts Taz through a table on the outside but we don’t see it.

There are tons of botches here too. Sabu misses a slingshot legdrop that’s supposed to hit. RVD whips Douglas into the corner and Douglas expects to be hit with something and instead RVD attacks Bigelow. There’s a weird rolling spot where Douglas turns before RVD. Tons of bad stuff.

The crowd is dead for when Taz finally gets Douglas in the ring, and then RVD steals the crowd with a flip into the crowd.

Sabu, Rob Van Dam and Taz win when Sabu pinned Douglas in 12:57. Even the finish is botched. Taz locks Douglas in the Taz-Mission, but Sabu comes off the top with the Arabian Facecrusher (and really only hits Taz). He pins Douglas for the win. What a bad main event. Nothing clicked and it was full of botches. The booking set up Taz vs. Sabu in the future, but we haven’t even done Taz vs. Douglas yet. Which by the way, the crowd seems sick of Douglas overall at this point.

That’s the flagship PPV for ECW? Yikes. The Terry Funk stuff was embarrassing. Jake Roberts looked like he didn’t really care to be there. Mabel? Storm vs. Lynn and the opener is just enough to get me away from F. Barely.

Final Grade: D

Pro Wrestling

World Championship Injuries: A History of Injures and a Vacant World Title

With the unfortunate news that Seth Rollins tore his ACL and MCL last night, we have a vacated WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It isn’t the first time that the World Champion was forced to vacate a championship due to injury, and it certainly won’t be the last. Let’s look back at some unfortunate times where the Champ went down. I’m only considering WWE and WCW World Champions for this list.

Shawn Michaels – February 13, 1997

hbkinjury

                Shawn Michaels was in his 2nd reign as WWF Champion after holding onto the title for most of 1996. Michaels had pinned Sid in his hometown of San Antonio at the Royal Rumble. There was tons of controversy surrounding Michaels’ at the time. According to HBK in his book, a doctor told him his knee was damaged beyond repair and he’d need to retire immediately. No one in the locker room, especially Bret Hart, believed Michaels and thought it was HBK’s way of getting out of doing a job, presumably to Bret. To tentative plan was for Bret to extract revenge on Shawn at Wrestlemania XIII for the previous Mania’s loss. When Michaels forfeited the title on Thursday RAW Thursday, the Fatal Four Way Match at the upcoming In Your House PPV turned into a title match. Bret would win that, but drop the title to Sid the next night. HBK would be back in the ring by June.

Bret Hart – January 16, 2000

bretinjury

                At Starrcade ’99 Goldberg had kicked Bret Hart in the head, leading to a severe concussion. Bret continued to wrestle for a couple of weeks thinking it wasn’t too bad and he’d be fine. When Bret got himself checked out, the chairman of the NHL injury committee told him his career was over. Bret’s last match (at the time) was on Nitro against Kevin Nash. The WCW World Title wouldn’t gain any stability for a while. Chris Benoit would win the vacant title from Sid in a tournament, but he’d give the title up one day later and jump to the WWF.

Batista – January 13, 2006

batistainjury1

                While he battled through injuries throughout the latter half of his title reign, Batista suffered a torn triceps that forced him to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship that he held since Wrestlemania XXI. This led to a battle royal on Smackdown, where Kurt Angle would begin his last World Title reign, which would in turn lead to the Rey Mysterio World Title run. Batista would be back in mid ’06, and feuded with Mark Henry and Mr. Kennedy.

Edge – July 20, 2007

edgeinjury1

                Earlier in 2007, then-World Champion The Undertaker had a partially torn pectoral which led to the decision to have Edge win Mr. Kennedy’s Money in the Bank contract and cash in. At the time, Vince McMahon did not want Batista to hold the title. During an Edge-Kane program, Kane injured Edge with a chokeslam, leading to a torn pectoral. The decision was made to put the World Title on The Great Khali as he won a 20 Man Battle Royal on Smackdown. Khali would eventually drop the title to Batista. Batista and Undertaker would continue their war when Taker came back, and then Edge would get in the mix again.

John Cena – October 2, 2007

cenainjury

                Cena was in month thirteen of his WWE Championship reign when he tore his pectoral muscle in a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1st edition of RAW. The seemingly superhuman Cena’s injury was a shock to many…but he once again became superhuman when he returned quickly at the 2008 Royal Rumble. Unfortunately for Randy Orton, this cut short a feud that finally had Orton reaching that elite level of success he’d failed to achieve since his first World Title reign in 2004. While he didn’t get the clean victory of Cena, he did get a lot of help at No Mercy. The new plan had Orton be handed the title, only for HHH to beat him for it. HHH returned the favor cleanly in a Last Man Standing Match and gave Orton that big win.

Batista – June 9, 2009

batistainjury2

                Just two days after Batista beat Randy Orton for the title he was forced to forfeit the title due to a torn pectoral muscle. Orton would regain the title in a Fatal Four Way Match on RAW against Big Show, John Cena and Triple H. This would lead to Orton and Cena’s biggest rivalry in late 2009. Batista would return later in 2009 and turn on Rey Mysterio, leading to perhaps the most entertaining version of Batista we’d ever get.

Edge – April 12, 2011

edgeinjury2

                While the actual moment his injury occurred is unclear, Edge was forced to retire due to a neck injury. While he does grab his neck on the April 9th edition of Smackdown after he takes out Brodius Clay, Edge has stated that it was probably years of wear and tear on the neck and that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Christian would take Edge’s place in a Ladder Match at Backlash against Alberto Del Rio and win his first World Title…only to drop it to Randy Orton two days later (that went over real well with the IWC).

Daniel Bryan – June 9, 2014

bryaninjury

                Looking back, it’s still incredible just how over Daniel Bryan was in the beginning of 2014. While the fans forced WWE management’s hand (in the ring AND backstage) and Bryan got his Wrestlemania moment, it seemed that management (storyline wise AND backstage) wasn’t completely behind him as champion. At Extreme Rules Bryan’s first World Title defense was against a way past his prime Kane. Didn’t matter, Bryan was so good he tore the house down. Bryan would suffer a neck injury shortly afterwards that still plagues him to this day (it forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship this year). What a shame. John Cena would win the title in a special Money in the Bank Ladder Match…and then Brock Lesnar destroyed him for it afterwards.

Seth Rollins – November 15, 2015

rollinsinjury

                This leads us to Rollins, who had a hell of a year as World Champion since Wrestlemania. He injured his knee in a match against Kane in Ireland, leading to a tournament at Survivor Series 2015. He was scheduled to face Roman Reigns for the title at that event.

 

 

 

 

Other (DC, Marvel, Disney etc.)

RDT Reviews Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Big spoilers here. Of course, any prequel discussion invites comparison to the originals.

One thing that Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones didn’t have to deal with that Episode I did were outrageous expectations. Because Episode I’s reviews were bad to mixed, no one really expected Episode II to be much better. Unfortunately, this showed in the box office as well. I don’t think Episode II is awful or anything, but it has two things that really hold it back: it’s quite boring and Anakin and Padme’s love story.

Yes, Episode II for the most part is boring. All of the criticisms that many used against the prequels I see here. Too much political talk about war. Too much exposition. Not enough action. The title of the film is Attack of the Clones, but we don’t really see this attack until there are twenty minutes left in the film. There are some parts that work, but most of them don’t.

The main plot point of Episode II is that Padme (Queen Amidala) is the target of an assassination attempt. She mentions something about thinking Count Dooku is behind it, although we have no clue who Dooku is. This leads to a split up that’s similar in a way to how The Empire Strikes Back was structured. A grown Anakin Skywalker is left to protect Padme, while Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to find out information about one of the Queen’s attackers. Let’s be clear, the Anakin-Padme side is unbearable. Hayden Christensen is awful here, and Natalie Portman isn’t far behind. It’s not even that the actors do poorly, but the writing is a wreck as well. No one cares about Padme’s first kiss. No one wants to see the future Darth Vader having a picnic. Awful all around.

Obi-Wan’s journey to find out who the Queen’s attacker is does lead to some interesting scenes. When he ends up on the planet Kamino he finds out that the Republic possesses a Clone Army (which is boring), but confronts the bounty hunter Jango Fett (which was pretty cool). But most of Obi-Wan’s side of the adventure either shows the audience about the Jedi Order (where we meet the younglings) or get exposition about Count Dooku and the Emperor’s plan. I will say that the Emperor’s plan is well done, and Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku is a bright spot. Attack of the Clones is a smart film in this regard as Dooku doesn’t make it clear he’s a bad guy, he’s just someone who doesn’t believe in the Republic and even pretends to try to get along with Obi-Wan (which Obi-Wan has none of). All of this though isn’t enough to save the film.

There are three major action scenes. The first is a flying car chase which is fun. When the Clones attack that leads to another good scene. The final lightsaber battle is short and disappointing compared to what happened in Episode I, but seeing Yoda battle was pretty cool. Again, none of this is enough to save the film.

It should be pointed out there is a lot less Jar Jar Binks, which is good, but the return of the C-3PO and R2D2 pairing might have been a nod for old school fans, but it’s not memorable or anything here.

Pros:

+The actual attack of the clones was awesome.

+Christopher Lee as Count Dooku is a great choice.

+Jango Fett is pretty cool.

Cons:

-The attempted love story sucks.

-Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker was awful here.

-Pretty boring overall.

Attack of the Clones is still better than I expected it to be and I don’t think it’s much worse than A New Hope. Then again, I thought this was the worst ever at one time and found there was definitely some good stuff in it. I still wouldn’t go with “good” though.

Grade: C