All posts by rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

Football

Super Bowl XLIX Prediction

super-bowl-xlix

We are now 9-1 for the playoffs (you know, the Steelers are my only loss here AND knocked me out of my Survivor pool earlier this season, shrug) with a chance for double digits! Personally, I dislike both teams for a multitude of reasons. New England because I’m a Jets fans and their two Giants Super Bowl wins made us Jets fans even feel worse. The Seahawks because of Pete Carroll, and their rumored P.E.D. use over the years. New England has had their big “cheating” scandal as well over the past two weeks with “Deflategate”. To be honest, it’s been overblown. Is it really shocking that the Patriots pushed the limits with the rules once again? The only thing that really made me wonder was the fumble data analysis. I’m not really here to write about the cheating scandals though…that can be for another entry. I don’t like either of these teams so all bias is out the window. Let’s get to win #10.

New England Patriots (14-4) vs. Seattle Seahawks (14-4)

My gut and betting lines seem to be favoring New England just a little bit. I assume this is because of their dominance over Indianapolis while Seattle had to pull off a comeback of epic proportions. If Packer coach Mike McCarthy knew what he was doing Green Bay would have won…and probably would have won easily. But he doesn’t and they didn’t. The thing is, we aren’t getting a horrible Russell Wilson game like that again. If anything, last week’s comeback was the kick in the ass Seattle needed.

Whether or not Seattle is as good as last year, I still think they are better than everyone else and it’s not as close as people think. Yes Green Bay took them to the limit, but think about it. Seattle turned the ball over five times and STILL managed to win the game. Russell Wilson had the worst three quarters of his career, and still Seattle found a way to win.

Interestingly, this Super Bowl is also a battle between teams with many eff-U edges. Marshawn Lynch is trying to prove that all the talk that Seattle may release him at the end of the season is ridiculous (he’s succeeded). Discussions after Week 4 centered around Tom Brady being benched for a 2nd rounder (Jimmy Garoppolo). New England has faced this “Deflategate” debacle. Richard Sherman always has a chip on his shoulder. I could go on and on here. Everyone has something to prove.

It comes down to this though. Seattle can stop 37 year old Tom Brady.

I don’t think New England can stop Marshawn Lynch.

Seahawks 29, Patriots 17

Pro Wrestling

Ranting About What the Hell Happened At the 2015 Royal Rumble

Does WWE hate their audience?

               I seriously don’t get it.

               How does it make any sense to put Roman Reigns over in the Royal Rumble?

           This isn’t the same thing as 2003 Triple H and his reign of terror over the RAW roster. Whether fans liked it or didn’t, HHH was an established top guy. There was logic there.

            This isn’t the same thing even as HHH beating CM Punk during the Summer of Punk (although that was pretty bad anyway).

         This isn’t even the same thing as last year’s Royal Rumble, where Batista infamously won the Royal Rumble and Daniel Bryan, the clear crowd favorite, wasn’t even in the match. At least you can argue Batista being the returning star with a movie and all.

     This is, for all intents of purposes, outright ignoring your audience. There’s no argument here. There’s just no way could anyone think, at the moment of the 2015 Royal Rumble, that Roman Reigns going over was the way to go. Nothing has led to a point where this would be a remotely good idea. Let’s be clear though, there is money in Roman Reigns…he’s just not READY yet. And there is someone who is more than ready. Someone who is perhaps the most popular wrestler since Stone Cold and The Rock. That person is Daniel Bryan. He is practically a license to print money. The fans CLEARLY want him up top. I mean 2014 pretty much showed that Daniel Bryan should be the future of this company if he was healthy. Even if he isn’t healthy for the long term that’s fine. Let him be the top guy when Roman gets ready. Roman Reigns could be, and if he improves should be the face of Wrestlemania 32. Reigns’ 2015 should be similar to John Cena’s 2004.

     Let’s talk about the Rumble match itself. When Daniel Bryan came in at #10 I was sold that he was winning. When he starting doing all of his risky moves, I was sold he was winning. Obviously Bryan, the former World Champion who never lost the belt, who made a big retirement tease to come back and enter the Rumble, who is the MOST POPULAR PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER IN THE WORLD, was going to be there at the end. It seemed logical that Bryan being #10 meant he was going to be in there in the long run. And if WWE thought he had a long match in him, that could only be a positive thing.

 Daniel Bryan lasted only 10 minutes and 11 seconds. He was eliminated in such a boring manner as well, just being knocked off the apron by Bray Wyatt. It’s gotta be one of the most surprising moments I’ve ever seen as a wrestling fan. If Bryan wasn’t winning, I still fully expected him in the final four. I mean why wouldn’t we? HE’S THE MOST POPULAR WRESTLER IN THE PROMOTION! HE IS THE FORMER WORLD CHAMPION WHO DIDN’T LOSE THE TITLE IN THE RING! I mean what the hell?

      The Royal Rumble was dead at that moment. It’s a shame because it was quite fun up until that point. Still…there was hope. Dean Ambrose or Dolph Ziggler. The fans could buy one of those two. Especially Ziggler. But two men were set to ruin that.

              Look. It’s 2015. Enough with the Big Show and Kane. I’m sorry but we have to move on at some point. I wrote on a message board last year that WWE has to move on and stop with all the part timers. The time has passed. It really has. Kane debuted in 1997 and Glenn Jacobs actually start in 1995. That’s 20 years! Big Show debuted in 1999. Enough! How are we ever going to truly care about this generation and future generations when we can’t get past the Kane and Big Shows of the world? I can understand The Undertaker. I can understand The Rock and Triple H. Those three need to stop too, but at least they were the cream of the crop. But we need to move on. The wrestling business needs to move on. It just has to. I mean there’s more time between Kane’s debut and today than Hulk Hogan’s first World Title and his DEPARTURE from WCW. That’s insane. In no way should I be seeing The Rock beat up Big Show and Kane on a Pay-Per-View in 2015. Those three were in the final four of the Royal Rumble FIFTEEN YEARS ago.

   Let’s talk about our winner. Roman Reigns. Now, I have no problem with Reigns, and as recently as Summerslam I was all for him getting a push. I’m still for him getting a push. He’s got a great look. I can see him becoming a great promo guy (despite the comedy we have now). He should be feuding with the likes of Luke Harper, Bad News Barrett, Cesaro and all of those guys for the IC Title in the next 10 months. Instead he’s jackhammered down our throats. It’s crazy. It’s one thing to force someone down our throats. But at least some fans take to it. Lex Luger still got cheered in 1993 (and when he got booed at the Rumble, Bret Hart got the belt). Diesel was still cheered in 1995. No one is cheering Roman Reigns. No one!

          If you have to get The Rock to help you not get booed out of the building and you still get booed, you shouldn’t be in the main event of Wrestlemania.

          If you cause the fans to cheer for a guy whose gimmick is that he worships Vladimir Putin, you shouldn’t be in the main event of Wrestlemania.

         I don’t get it. Anyone watching the Royal Rumble. From a neutral standpoint. Tell me how Roman Reigns was a better choice than Daniel Bryan. Because I don’t get it. I just don’t.

Pro Wrestling

2015 WWE Royal Rumble Preview

royalrumble2015

The 2015 Royal Rumble is upon us. I will be attending the event, my 2nd Rumble (2008 in MSG), even though my interest in the current state of the WWE is at an all-time low. A great Royal Rumble though and all of that can change. To be honest, we haven’t had a real crowd pleasing winner of the Royal Rumble since 2010 when Edge returned from a seven month neck injury and won. In 2011 Alberto Del Rio won, opened Wrestlemania, lost to Edge and won Money in the Bank. In 2012 Sheamus surprisingly outlasted Chris Jericho, beat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania and has had his career take a nosedive since. John Cena won the 2013 version just to set-up a rematch with The Rock at Wrestlemania XXIX. Batista made his return to the ring in 2014 to win the Rumble match, and pissed off the entire WWE Universe in the process. Fun fact here is that two of these Royal Rumble results cemented Daniel Bryan as a top guy, and yet he wasn’t apart of either of them (2012 because of what happened at Wrestlemania and 2014, which we will get to).

Let’s talk about the 2014 Royal Rumble. First, we’ll compare it to a scenario to a previous Royal Rumble: the 1998 version.

In 1998 there was clearly one man who was to win the Royal Rumble: Stone Cold Steve Austin. Any other situation would have made absolutely no sense. Business wise, logic wise, any of it. No sense whatsoever. Austin had to win. This was because of his anti-authority attitude that had been in place all the way back to the 1997 Royal Rumble. Austin was the most popular wrestler (really, in both major promotions at that time) in the WWF and a showdown with Shawn Michaels was where the obvious money was.

Daniel Bryan is perhaps the most popular wrestler since John Cena himself in 2005. The crowd has connected with him in an insane way that even CM Punk couldn’t accomplish in his 2011 run (matches in Chicago notwithstanding…and really this whole thing wasn’t his fault anyway). Bryan pretty much got his 2013 Summerslam World Title match because of his crowd reactions, and promptly beat Cena clean for the title. This led to a feud with The Authority when Triple H pedigreed Bryan and Randy Orton cashed in Money in the Bank to steal the title from him. Bryan would get close, but fail at regaining the title (except for one day) throughout the rest of 2013. The feud was clearly designed for Bryan to win the Royal Rumble and get one last shot at Orton, where he would ultimately win the title. Sometimes the obvious route is the best one.

Going back to 1998, imagine if The Ultimate Warrior returned and won that Royal Rumble while Stone Cold wasn’t in it? That would pretty much suck, wouldn’t it? Well we got the same thing in 2014 with Batista. And surprise surprise…it sucked. It did make it seem that there was a star in the making (who was already being pushed hard anyway) in Roman Reigns, as Reigns broke the elimination record and finished runner up to Batista. Still, the WWF had to rectify the situation, and Bryan got his World Title victory at Mania. And it was pretty awesome at that.

Austin vs. McMahon made the '98 Rumble obvious.
Austin vs. McMahon made the ’98 Rumble obvious.

Fast forward to 2015. We have a new obstacle in Bryan’s way, Diesel Power 2K15. I’ll explain in a moment, but first let’s go over why Daniel Bryan should be winning this match. For one, he’s still the most popular wrestler in the promotion. Now he has the injury comeback going for him. Bryan broke his neck and there were even retirement rumors for him throughout 2014, cutting short his title reign. How could there be any more money made than Bryan coming back in the Rumble and winning it outright? It’s a storyline that’s worked one way or another in 2001 with Austin, 2002 with Triple H, 2008 with Cena and 2010 with Edge. Once again Daniel Bryan is the clear path to an awesome Wrestlemania main event, where he could face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title in a version of the Wrestlemania X Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna title match. We even have our Lex Luger in Roman Reigns.

I have no issues with Reigns, but the writing team has screwed him over a ton. He still doesn’t have the workrate down pat either. He had his Diesel Power moment at Summerslam when he kicked out of Randy Orton’s super RKO. The Diesel Power moment refers to Diesel strongly kicking out of Shawn Michaels’ superkick at Wrestlemania XI. He’s just not ready yet. I do think Roman Reigns has the tools to be a huge star down the line. He’s just not there yet. WWE has constantly blown top face runs by pushing them way too fast. Best example is Sheamus beating Bryan in 18 seconds. There’s big money in Reigns, but if he’s pushed way too fast too soon, he will fall. The best thing for Reigns to do is to fight someone like Big Show at Wrestlemania. It worked for Cena didn’t it? If Roman Reigns wins the 2015 Royal Rumble…he will be booed out of the building as fans chant “NO! NO! NO!” They want Bryan. He’s the logical choice once again.

Fans did not want Batista to win the Rumble
Fans did not want Batista to win the Rumble

The other key component of the Royal Rumble is the WWE World Title Match itself. There’s an argument for any of Cena, Lesnar or Seth Rollins to win the title. I’m pretty much the only person in the world who isn’t a huge fan of Rollins and I don’t think he’s quite earned the right to defend the WWE Title at Wrestlemania yet (he too can get there one day though. I just think he won MITB because Bad News Barrett got hurt). I don’t see Seth Rollins having the name value needed to main event a Wrestlemania in a World Title match yet (this is one of the drawbacks of having only one world title, although it’s still better that way). That leaves Cena and Lesnar. If Bryan wins the Rumble, either one of these winning the title will be fine. Cena vs. Bryan II would be awesome, and I already outline why Lesnar and Bryan would be awesome.

The other matches on the card don’t have huge implications. Mizdow seem to be breaking up soon, so I assume they aren’t winning the titles back from the Usos. I don’t even know why The Bellas are back together and I really don’t care. It’s a shame as I was a fan of the Bellas right up until Nikki turned on Brie. The New Age Outlaws being back last year and winning the tag titles was good for nostalgia, but hopefully The Ascension gets the win they need as they’ve been treated like a joke since their call up to WWE. I think the Outlaws are going to steal a Mania payday though. I’m not sure how Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and Adam Rose became a trio, but their match against The New Day seems irrelevant.

As for surprise Rumble entrants, I’ve heard about a couple but I’m trying to keep this spoiler free. I’ll just write for those I am hoping for that in no way have been confirmed or I’ve heard about. RVD (I’m a RVD mark and its Philly), The Sandman, Raven, The Dudley Boyz (all ECW talents. Raven is by far the least likely and Sandman isn’t likely either. The Dudleyz wouldn’t shock me now that they are free from TNA.), and someone totally out of nowhere, like Flash Funk (he was from Philly, right? He also has a Philly ECW rep).

But none of this matters unless Daniel Bryan wins at the end. Do the ring thing WWE.

Football

NFL 2014-2015 Conference Title Game Predictions

Nailed all four games last week, even though it made me sad to see my prediction of Peyton Manning ring true. 7-1 this playoff season…only missing the opening round contest with Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Indianapolis Colts (13-5) @ New England Patriots (13-4)

It has been a great season for the Colts and the future is brighter than ever for Andrew Luck. But the problems Denver had last week just aren’t going to show up here. The Patriots seem ready to go and pulled out a classic against Baltimore last week. Tom Brady is ready. The Patriots do have two things that disappeared in the divisional round: a pass rush and a running game. As a result of the latter the Colts will score points. But it won’t be enough. I’m sensing pure statement game here as The Pats look for ring #4 and the 1st in 10 years.

This game reminds me a little bit of the 1996 NFC Conference Title game, with the Colts playing the Packers and the Patriots playing the Cowboys (with the added Broncos playing the 49ers). The Packers, led by young upstart QB Brett Favre, upset the 49ers the week before as Steve Young struggled. The Packers had all the momentum, but were taken down by the experienced Cowboys. Luck and the Colts are close…but they aren’t there yet.

Patriots 35, Colts 24

Green Bay Packers (13-4) @ Seattle Seahawks (13-4)

As I said last week, the Seahawks are football’s best team. I have another comparison to make here in regards to how I feel about this game, although it doesn’t work nearly as well as the previous comparison. First though, some history between these two teams: the Seahawks thumped Green Bay 36-16 in the opener this season. Seattle has been on a tear defensively for the last two months. The Panthers’ 17 points were the most by a Seahawks opponent since November 17. Seattle is really good and are the defending champions. This will be no walk in the park. Seattle is in top form.

The Packers barely survived Dallas last week in Lambeau. While the Dez Bryant non-catch hurt a lot, it didn’t necessarily mean Dallas was winning this game (Green Bay only has to score 3 at home with minutes to go? Okay). Still, as the national lovefest for Aaron Rodgers continues (not that its unwarranted) we keep being told how courageous and incredible it is that Rodgers is playing with an injured calf. And that is true! It’s also going to be a big reason why Seattle wrecks him this Sunday. The Dallas defense and Seattle defense are very different. Seattle is going to go after him. I don’t see an injured Rodgers beating this Seattle team. I don’t see Green Bay stopping Marshawn Lynch either after DeMarco Murray piled up 123 yards last week. Too many red flags here.

As for the comparison. This game feels a lot like the 2006 NFC Championship game. Seattle would be the Bears here. Packers would be like the Saints. A top flight offense led by a lights out QB against a great defense and running game. And while Aaron Rodgers is better than Drew Brees, the Seahawks as a whole are better than the Bears. Green Bay will keep this close for a while, but Seattle’s really too good right now.

Seahawks 38, Packers 21

 

Football

2014-2015 NFL Divisional Round Predictions!

Went 3-1 last week. That Ravens-Steelers game was always going to be the toughest to call.

Anyway, Divisional Round, let’s do it!

Baltimore Ravens (11-6) @ New England Patriots (12-4)

The Ravens won a frigid game in Pittsburgh where they shut down the Steeler run game (that was missing La’Veon Bell) and had Joe Flacco continue his run as one of the best postseason quarterbacks of all time (how crazy does that sound?)

Does that mean they are beating New England? Maybe…

The Patriots and Ravens have arguably been the two most successful NFL franchises of the past 15 years. The first notable battle between the two though actually took place during the regular season of the Patriots perfect run. The Ravens got close to being the only team to beat the Patriots during that regular season. Two years later the Ravens shocked the Patriots in Foxboro by beating up Tom Brady and having Ray Rice run all over them. If you told me the Bill Belichick-Brady era was over right there I would have believed you. That’s how bad it looked. Two years after that the Patriots and Ravens met again in the AFC Title game, where a missed field goal made the difference for New England. The very next year they met in the AFC Title game again, but this time took care of business and won the Super Bowl a couple of weeks afterwards.

You’ve got two of the best (if not the best) coaches in the NFL in Belichick and John Harbaugh. A surefire Hall of Fame Quarterback in Brady against one of the best playoff QBs there is in Flacco. And you have two teams that have a genuine rivalry going at it once again. It’s going to be a tough game of course, and it will help the Ravens that the weather will just be like it was in Pittsburgh last week.

Forget all the stats though. I think a fire was lit under New England’s ass this season after week 4. I think something happened to Belichick when he got asked if Tom Brady was going to be benched. I think something got to Brady. I don’t see this Patriots team going quietly. That and this is the best Patriots D we’ve seen in some time as well. Close as always, but I can’t help but feel New England is out for blood.

Patriots 24, Ravens 17

Carolina Panthers (8-8-1) @ Seattle Seahawks (12-4)

This is going to be short.

Don’t let the midseason distractions fool you. The Seahawks are still football’s best team. They were absolutely rolling at the end of the season. Once in their last six games did a team manage to score double digits against them (Eagles, 14). The Seahawks also have some wins against legitimately good teams: they beat Green Bay and Denver early on. They had a top 10 ranked offense and the best defense in football by traditional means. DVOA wise, they were top 5 in both. Seattle is the team to beat. Period.

The Panthers didn’t even look that great last week. Somehow the Ryan Lindley led Cardinals actually hung in the game for a while, even though they were led by Ryan Lindley. The Panthers are an okay team. Seattle is a great team.

I think Seattle wants to make a statement too.

Seahawks 45, Panthers 10

Dallas Cowboys (13-4) @ Green Bay Packers (12-4)

One of the more interesting statistics here: Dallas was 8-0 on the road this season, Green Bay was 8-0 at home.

I wrote last week that this is Dallas’ best team in years due to some convincing wins and overall great play from Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray. Officiating controversies aside, I thought it was impressive Dallas won last week against Detroit with Murray being held to 75 yards and a 3.75 average.

The thing is, Green Bay is just better than Detroit. Aaron Rodgers might have locked up a MVP award this season and his gutsy performance against Detroit in Week 17 just showed he’s at the top of his game. Overall the Packers are better offensively and defensively than Dallas, although neither has a particularly strong defense. Could Dallas rack up some points on Green Bay? Sure. But I think there’s a better chance Green Bay racks up points on the Cowboys.

Here’s what Dallas needs to bank on. Aaron Rodgers has a calf injury stemming from the game against Detroit in Week 17. It’s a cold weather game, which won’t help Rodgers. If Dallas can get to Rodgers, they may be able to turn this one in their favor. On their side, Murray needs to run the ball right through Green Bay’s defense. And Tony Romo just can’t make any big mistakes.

This would be a good game plan…but I think Aaron Rodgers is too tough to lose that way. Sure the calf is torn…but it was injured against Detroit too, right?

Packers 31, Cowboys 23

Indianapolis Colts (12-5) @ Denver Broncos (12-4) 

Come on, we all knew Andrew the Giant was taking care of business against the Bengals. There’s nothing else really to say about the Colts. I know football is a team sport, but if there was one guy in the NFL right now that is carrying his team it is Andrew Luck. I can’t imagine the Colts being a playoff team without Luck. They have by far the worst rushing attack in football. Their defense is suspect. And a lot of it doesn’t matter because of Luck.

The Colts got smacked in a similar Divisional Round game last year when Brady (and really, LaGarrett Blount) and the Patriots scored 43 and beat down the Colts before they had a chance to make anything happen. Same idea here right? The Colts are up against an aging but still great and legendary quarterback in Peyton Manning, and a running back that seemingly came out of nowhere in C.J. Anderson. The difference is that per DVOA, the Broncos were top 5 on both sides of the ball. Everything for this game points to Denver winning this one with ease.

But…

Well, what’s with Denver’s offense change? How are the Denver Broncos, with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time who was throwing 400 yard games with no problem earlier in the season, suddenly taking a rush first approach with C.J. Anderson? I understand that Anderson was looked nice…but what in the world? I think something’s wrong with Peyton. It might have just been a moment. We’ve all read the stories of his arm being weak. He’s 38 years old. He had serious neck surgery a few years ago. I can’t explain why the Broncos on offense are suddenly relying so much on C.J. Anderson. Maybe it was to rest Peyton. I don’t know. Combine this with the fact that Peyton Manning is one of the most inconsistent big game playoff QBs ever, and suddenly I think a real upset is in the making.

This is one of those perfect scenarios in sports. Peyton against his old team. His successor lighting the league up. I think we remember this game as the day Andrew Luck truly arrived and we know Peyton’s true best is behind him. Bold I know. But I think it’s time.

Colts 24, Broncos 21

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews the WWE 2003 Royal Rumble

Royal_Rumble_2003

WWE Royal Rumble 2003
January 19, 2003
Boston, MA

The Brand Extension is in full force.

The WWE has established their monopoly of pro wrestling in the United States at this point (TNA was still pretty new…although they’d never be a real threat anyway). Vince McMahon decided he needed to instill competition into the product and the Brand Extension was born. The Brand Extension allowed WWE to push new talent, although it would be shown a lot of them weren’t ready for the challenge.

One of them that looked more than ready was Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, who just dropped the WWE Title at Survivor Series was on his way to the massive face push that would make him the WWE’s top guy (Lesnar would be the Hogan on Smackdown, where HHH would be the Flair on RAW). In a post Austin and full time Rock world, WWE needed to create some megastars on top in the babyface mold. HHH showed he was a lot better off as a heel. Undertaker would never fit that mold. Austin was gone, Rock was basically gone. Goldberg wasn’t here yet. Angle was a heel at the time (although he got a shot at the face run later) and Benoit would never have the charisma to be that guy, although he got a shot later.

Still, the early days of Brand Extension provided interesting content on both sides for sure. Returning legends (HBK, Hogan, Flair), guys way too talented not to be in the main event but somehow not in it (Jericho, Benoit, Booker T), top guys who weren’t ready to leave the top (Taker, HHH) and top newcomers (Lesnar) were just some of the elements out there. I mean in that group I didn’t even mention Angle or Big Show.

Let’s see how the first Brand Extension Royal Rumble plays out.

The Card

Winner Gets in the Royal Rumble
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show

Story here: Lesnar dropped the WWE Title (and was pinned for the first time) to Big Show at Survivor Series when Paul Heyman turned on him. In actuality two things caused that change: Lesnar had injured ribs that WWE wasn’t sure of the extent of, and WWE was planning Lesnar vs. Angle at Mania and decided to switch the face/heel alignments, so had to make Lesnar a face. Of course, face Angle had to beat heel Big Show for the belt, which led to a weird Angle heel turn, but I guess that was the best way to make this happen. Angle would JOIN Heyman afterwards, and for some reason this didn’t turn Big Show face.

Back to the story, Lesnar then cost Big Show the title at Armageddon against Angle. So we got this match. I’m usually not a big fan of these type matches, as for a storyline like this it’s obvious Lesnar is winning this match AND the Rumble. There was one other option for the Rumble winner, which I’ll get into when we get there.

The way Lesnar would just suplex Big Show all over the place was ridiculous.

The way Show would throw Lesnar around was also ridiculous. While he obviously could, no one else did anything like that to Brock up to this point.

Big Show does a great, if not hilarious shocked face when Lesnar kicks out of the chokeslam.

Brock Lesnar pins Big Show in 6:29. Lesnar escapes a 2nd chokeslam attempt, and gets the F5! That’s so damn impressive and the crowd pops huge. Lesnar gets the pin and is in the Rumble. Good match, if only for how smooth Lesnar is in throwing around Big Show. These two had a strange chemistry.

Terri interviews Chris Jericho. She asks him about Jericho choosing #2 when he had the choice to pick any number. Jericho says because HBK was #1 Jericho HAD to be #2. This was setting up the Jericho-HBK feud.

Jericho sure got A LOT of mileage out of beating Austin and Rock the same night to become Undisputed Champion (as he should have).

RAW World Tag Team Championship
William Regal and Lance Storm vs. The Dudley Boyz

This would be the third Rumble in a row that the Dudleyz were in the World Tag Title slot. They are already 15 Time World Tag Team Champions at this point.

Regal and Storm were what was left of the UnAmericans. Test started being advertised by male genitalia. Christian became Jericho’s sidekick.

Regal still had the brass knuckles gimmick going at this point as well.

The Dudleyz actually weren’t stale here, as they were split up throughout most of 2002 due to the Brand Extension (that led to Reverend D-Von!). D-Von was part of the Big Show to Smackdown trade and immediately rejoined Bubba at Survivor Series.

One of the problems with the Dudley reunion was they didn’t change anything up at all. They literally acted like the same team they always did, moves and all.

Chief Morley comes out to argue about something, and Regal has Brass Knucks!

The Dudley Boyz wins the title when D-Von pinned Storm in 7:24. Regal has the Knucks…but gets the 3D anyway. D-Von picks up the knucks and nails Storm for the win. A good pop for the Dudley title win. This is a waste of Storm and Regal though. Match wasn’t anything special and pretty boring.

Nathan Jones promo! He escaped from prison in Tasmania! It’s like Nailz all over again.

Stepmother vs. Stepdaughter
Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie

Oh god. This storyline was Wrestlecrap from the get go. Dawn Marie fell in love with Torrie Wilson’s father, Al Wilson. This at first seemed like an attempt to have a fling with Torrie, which was “shown” at Armageddon. Dawn and Al continued their relationship and got married, but Al died on the honeymoon because of a heart attack as a result of too much sex or something. Then Torrie and Dawn fought at the wake. It was actually worse than it sounds.

I mean who the hell thought any of that was a good idea?

Torrie doesn’t fall on the Dawn Marie armbar. That could have been a broken arm right there.

Dawn Marie with a springboard clothesline! How about that. It didn’t look great though.

Torrie Wilson pins Dawn Marie in 3:36. Swinging neckbreaker for the win. Torrie and Dawn are not really wrestlers, so to expect anything more than a bad match would be unrealistic. We got that springboard clothesline so there’s that at least? At least this was short. Storyline is still horrid.

Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff meet backstage (where Bischoff was speaking to a still rookie Randy Orton). Steph tells Bischoff good bye, as Vince had given Bischoff 30 days to turn RAW around. Bischoff said he had a bombshell to save his job (which turned out to be Austin). Stephanie said she had a bombshell of her own (which turned out to be Hogan).

Sean O’Haire vignette! I still think he would have worked out if not for Roddy Piper’s involvement in the angle.

World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H© vs. Scott Steiner

Story: Steiner debuted at Survivor Series (as a face no less. Pretty sure that was the opposite of what the Big Poppa Pump character was about) and decided on RAW as his home. A part of the agreement was he gets a World Title shot.

The match actually has a solid start. Hard hitting from Steiner followed by a gorilla press slam. It would get worse though…

I hate Boston Crabs where the guy doesn’t sit on the back. That’s the point Steiner!

Steiner with a belly to belly suplex! He goes for the Recliner but Flair pulls HHH out.

Steiner is breathing HEAVY. He’s already exhausted.

Another belly to belly (kinda) from Steiner.

We get a weird Tombstone reversal sequence which ends with a botched HHH neckbreaker.

Steiner catches HHH coming off the top…for another belly to belly suplex.

Fans begin turning on Steiner….there’s ANOTHER belly to belly.

Another belly to belly. It’s clear Steiner has nothing else. Fans booing.

A sixth belly to belly.

Steiner goes for a double underhook suplex, and Steiner FALLS before the move is finished. Yikes.

HHH gets busted open by the leather part of the World Title.

ANOTHER BELLY TO BELLY.

Steiner doing his push-up taunt is like a NFL defensive lineman celebrating a sack when his team is down 30 points.

HHH tries to get counted out and DQed, but Earl Hebner won’t allow it. Steiner throws in yet another belly to belly while he’s at it.

Scott Steiner wins by DQ in 18:14. HHH finally uses the sledgehammer, forcing the DQ. Post match, Steiner destroys HHH and locks him in the Recliner. Crowd is dead for it. Match was historically bad, and has an argument for being the worst PPV World Title match ever. Scott Steiner was dreadful. There’s a reason he was a midcarder after this (although he did get a HHH rematch at No Way Out).

WWE World Championship
Kurt Angle© vs. Chris Benoit

We covered Angle’s story earlier. We’ll add here that this feud also involved the debut of Team Angle, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, which owned.

Benoit actually turned amidst all this as well, and became the #1 contender after being Big Show on Smackdown. Angle and Benoit were reluctant Smackdown Tag Team Champions back in October, and even had a match at Unforgiven as well. This was the end of Benoit the heel, as this face run would go through the rest of his career.

So, as all Benoit vs. Angle feuds go, it comes down to who’s the better wrestler?

Team Angle gets ejected quickly for trying to hold Benoit back.

Watching this match makes me feel that Steiner and HHH was in slow motion.

Benoit DDTs Angle on the apron! Nice.

Angle’s belly to belly suplexes are about 100 times better than Steiner’s.

This has been a non-stop action packed match from the get go.

Rolling Germans from Benoit…but Angle counters into his own!

Benoit re-counters!

I never got why Benoit did that snot thing.

Angle tosses Benoit off the top rope with a belly to belly!

Angle Slam attempt turns into the Crossface! Crowd is very into it. Angle survives though.

Benoit locks Angle into the Ankle Lock…but Angle reverses into his own Ankle Lock! THAT gets turned into the Crossface!

Angle counters a Crossface with an Angle Slam! Wow!

Another great false finish with Benoit countering a German with a victory roll.

Benoit gets a German…only it turns into an overhead release German where Angle lands face first!

Flying Headbutt 3/4th of the ring away!

Angle drops Benoit face first on the turnbuckles leading to another Angle Slam…but Benoit survives THAT too.

Kurt Angle retains by submission in 19:50. Angle counters another Crossface into the Ankle Lock. Benoit tries to escape, but Angle hangs on. Benoit does an amazing sell job here, screaming in pain. Angle grapevines the leg and Benoit is trapped, and taps out (makes you wonder why Angle didn’t always do that). I was blown away the first time I saw this 12 years ago, but it holds up today as well. Incredible match. This match was the match that showed Benoit could play an incredible underdog babyface, and he rode that all the way to winning the title at Mania XX (well, there was a haphazard team with Rhino in there). Just an amazing match. Benoit gets a standing ovation afterwards.

Kane and Rob Van Dam talk about how it’s every man for himself. This leads to a good spot later.

The Royal Rumble

#1 is Shawn Michaels. Jericho is supposed to be #2, but for some reason Christian shows up in the entrance way. Jericho attacks HBK from behind and beats the holy hell out of him. Jericho lays HBK out with a chair and HBK sells it like a million bucks. Chris Nowinski is #3, but he waits on the outside. Jericho beats on HBK a bit more then dumps him, to the horror of the crowd.

#4 is Rey Mysterio, and he owns Jericho for a bit. Nowinski finally gets in there to attack Rey from behind.

Edge is #5. Edge and Rey had been a team, so they natural work together. They eventually go at it though and there’s a false elimination that I think gets screwed up. I think Edge’s feet do hit the floor. No biggie though.

Christian is #6, for real this time. He tries to get on Edge’s good side to double team Mysterio. Edge spears him though.

Rey and Edge hit a double dropkick off the top to Nowinski, but the timing is off and I think Nowinski got hurt here as Edge’s leg lands on his face.

#7 is Chavo Guerrero. Good workrate early on for sure. Rey gets Nowinski out. Jericho gets out Rey. Great heat for Jericho eliminating HBK and Rey so far.

#8 is Tajiri. Crazy airplane spin on Chavo.

#9 is Bill DeMott. What a random push this was.

#10 is Tommy Dreamer. It’s Hardcore Rumble II! Dreamer accidentally legit cracks Jericho in the eye with a kendo stick, busting him open bad.

Con-garbage can lid-to on Dreamer! He’s gone by Jericho and Christian.

#11 is B2. Too lazy to super script here. He’s injured as John Cena turned on him on Smackdown. He lasts about 30 seconds. Jericho gets rid of Tajiri. Edge gets rid of Chavo. Jericho gets rid of Edge and Christian. Jericho is alone in the ring.

#12 is Rob Van Dam! A great near-elimination is in there, where Jericho barely hangs on.

Matt Strongly Dislikes Mustard. #13 is Matt Hardy! Hardy and Jericho double team RVD. Jericho takes a Five Star Frog Splash!

#14 is Eddie Guerrero. No reaction for Eddie…but boy would that change over the next year.

Eddie with a kinda botched Frog Splash there. Matt turns right on him and hits a Twist of Fate. Just in time for…

Jeff Hardy at #15! The Hardys did not get along at this point.

Shannon Moore tries to push Matt back into the ring with his feet. He then takes a Swanton for Matt! Shannon Moore was a great sidekick.

#16 is Rosey. Out goes the workrate.

#17 is Test. The Testicle marketing was just weird.

#18 is John Cena, and we get a whole rap on his way to the ring. He rhymes explain to ya and Wrestlemania. So there’s that. We get Latrell Sprewell and Mike Tyson references as well.

#19 is Team Angle’s Charlie Haas

RVD gets rid of Jeff when Jeff went to the top rope and RVD shoved him off.

#20 is Rikishi. Apparently he’s been in more Royal Rumbles than anyone else in history at this point. RIkishi’s spinning sell of the clothesline was already pretty good.

#21 is Jamal. Both members of Three Minute Warning are in there.

#22 is Kane. JR mentions no one has come close to Kane’s 11 man elimination record…even though the previous record was 10. He gets rid of Rosey on cue.

#23 is Shelton Benjamin. Both members of Team Angle in there now.

#24 is Booker T. This is the other possible winner I mentioned earlier. There were rumors he would win (which made sense since he eventually got the World Title slot at Mania against HHH), but Lesnar was the “safe choice”. In retrospect you had to do Lesnar for the story. But Booker was the dark horse.

Booker dumps Eddie!

#25 is A-Train. He immediately derails Cena, a precursor to the Tensai-Cena feud nine years later surely.

Shawn Michaels runs in and attacks Jericho, and it’s enough of a distraction for Test to eliminate Jericho. While this set up Jericho vs. HBK…what the hell was Test eliminating Jericho for? Weird choice there.

#26 is Maven. Not much to say here.

#27 is Goldust. It was pretty crazy Goldust actually got a full time run in 2002, but he wouldn’t last that much longer. He’d come back a lot later though. Charlie Haas eliminates him after about 40 seconds.

Team Angle surprisingly eliminates Booker T. Odd choice there too.

#28 is Batista with awesome music. He gets rid of Test and Rikishi.

#29 is Brock Lesnar! Team Angle double teams, but Lesnar sends them both out. Matt Hardy is F5ed onto them as well.

A-Train kills both Batista and Lesnar in one sequence. How weird does that seem now.

#30 is Undertaker. While the crowd pops, this was a pretty big disappointment. There were several promo videos about Taker coming back at the Rumble, but the first one hinted he could be the Deadman, and the second mentioned the Ministry. So there was hope he would be back in the Deadman character here.

Taker is the only man to have three #30 Rumble appearances I believe, ’97, ’03 and ’07.

Taker gets rid of Cena and Jamal. A great spot follows though, as Maven dropkicks Taker and immediately celebrates. Maven shocking eliminated Taker in this manner in 2002. Taker sends Maven out.

RVD, A-Train, Kane, Lesnar, Batista and Taker left. All the workrate didn’t make it.

RVD and Kane work together to get rid of A-Train. Then another great moment: Kane goes to slam RVD on Batista…only to toss RVD out instead! They foreshadowed this in their promo earlier.

Batista, Lesnar, Taker and Kane are your final four. Crazy final four considering what Batista would become later.

Lesnar and Taker almost mess up a hangman, and Taker almost goes over the top rope. Lesnar noticeably saves him.

Interestingly, Taker tombstones Lesnar here, but Lesnar’s head is obviously too high up. It’s interesting because the same thing happens at Wrestlemania XXX.

Taker clotheslines Batista out, then tries to convince Kane to double team Lesnar. Taker turns on Kane immediately (not a big fan of that either) and tosses him. Batista runs in with a chair but Taker takes him out and whacks him with the chair.

Brock Lesnar wins the Royal Rumble in 53:41, last eliminating the Undertaker. Taker says something to Batista, and Lesnar sneaks up behind him and dumps him. Taker shakes his head in disbelief and gives Lesnar props. I am not a big fan of this ending though and this only fueled the idea that HHH and Taker were holding people down (I’ve come to think Taker wasn’t really doing this though). Taker took out Batista twice, outsmarted his brother, and Lesnar could only beat him by a sneak attack? While there are certainly some good moments, the outcome was never in doubt and the Rumble itself, while fine, is mostly forgettable.

It’s rare that a Royal Rumble PPV is known more for the title matches than the Rumble match itself, but that is what happened here. HHH vs. Steiner is remembered for all the wrong reasons. Benoit vs. Angle for all the right ones. Having one of the worst World Title matches and best World Title matches back to back is quite the oddity. Steiner didn’t last too long as a main eventer and was a midcarder by Mania (and wasn’t on the Mania card!). Benoit eventually got to the top. So at least something went right there. The Lesnar win was expected obviously, but the finish was pretty weak. I love Undertaker, but that whole return was pretty weak as well, and there was no need to make everyone look bad there.

I’ll give this show a historical bonus though. Cena Royal Rumble debut. Randy Orton on PPV (his first time maybe? His first PPV match wasn’t until Summerslam I know that). Batista with his first top 4 Rumble finish (in fact, in every Rumble Batista has been in he ended up in the top 4). The Lesnar victory. These were small building blocks to the future.

Final Grade: B

Poker

Five Great Poker Hands

No rhyme or reason to this one. These are just ten televised poker hands I find quite interesting for one reason or another. I’ll write a bit about each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fasssBgF0kw

Doyle Brunson Makes a Big Fold Against Chip Reese – 2006 WSOP 50K HORSE Final Table

This blew my mind at the time, and still kinda does actually. Stacks are unknown, but both had to be fairly deep (I think Chip was a big chip leader) for this to play out like it did. Obviously they are playing No Limit Hold’em here.

Both are in mid position. Doyle Brunson makes it $70,000 to go, which is 3.5x the big blind (huge by today’s standards) with two queens. Chip Reese smooth calls with Kings, tricky, tricky. Norman Chad here makes a comment that Doyle should know Chip has Kings here, albeit sarcastically. David Singer as the button also calls with two sixes.

Flop comes 2-3-7 rainbow. Doyle makes it $220,000 (about a pot sized bet, again big by today’s standards, but this was the norm of the old guard). Chip min-raises to $440,000. Singer folds. Facing about 4 to 1 (he has to call $220,000 to win $924,000) folds! Again it was insane to see this at the time. No one at the table believe Doyle had queens.

This hand to me showed how important it is to know your opponent. When you’ve been playing someone for thirty years, I guess you pick up on things like this. Still insane to see someone fold Queens in that spot though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzm_krm_njc

Johnny Chan Perfectly Reads Huck Seed – Poker After Dark

I’m not sure which Poker After Dark it is (although I assume it’s a WSOP Main Event Champions episode, seeing as all five players here have accomplished that feat).

It’s five handed and Johnny Chan raises three times the big blind in second position with AA. Joe Hachem calls from the small blind with KQ and Seed from the big blind with 66. All reasonable so far. Seed flops gin: Jacks Full of Sixes. It gets checked around, which isn’t too crazy I guess. Hachem has nothing, Seed is trying to trap Chan (in hopes that Chan has a big pair or a Jack, he did raise pre afterall) and Chan could be slowplaying his Aces, risky as that sounds (hard to connect with 6JJ board afterall).

Turn is a three and now the hand gets a little weird. Hachem checks and Seed checks again, but Chan checks a second time as well. The river is a deuce and Seed makes a pot sized bet…to which Chan (and Hachem obviously) fold instantly. How the heck did Chan check-check-fold AA correctly on this board? I have guesses (probably incorrect because what the heck do I know about the playing tendencies of Huck Seed and Johnny Chan?!) but it’s probably down to some kind of live tell Chan picked up on Seed.

I learned here too to never get too attached to your cards. Johnny Chan picks up the moneymaker, AA, and loses the bare minimum!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQVTXZJWpo

‘Phil Hellmuth Makes a Great Call Against Hoyt Corkins – 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions

Not a lot of information here, but in the blinds Phil Hellmuth called the small blind with KT, and Hoyt Corkins made it $40,000 with QJ (not sure how big of a raise that is, my guess is that it was 5x, and he made it $40,000 more). It’s safe to assume about $112,000 is in the pot, based off of the pot size given on the river.

Flop comes 9-8-9 and Hellmuth checks in the dark. Hoyt checks back. I don’t think this check back is good particularly, which I’ll get into afterwards. The turn comes a 7 and Hellmuth bets $45,000 with his new straight draw. Corkins calls it and an 8 hits the river. Hellmuth checks and Corkins fires $60,000, making the pot $268,000 (according to the video). Hellmuth only has to be right a small percentage of the time here ($60,000 to win $268,000!), and he calls correctly. Hoyt says he thought he represented an ace the whole way. I don’t know if he would have checked the flop if that was the case, especially considering his aggressive nature overall.

There’s history here. Hellmuth lost to Corkins back at Foxwoods in 2003, complaining that Corkins was”Mr. Move All-In”. Corkins was similarly aggressive at this table as well, and I think that tipped Hellmuth off to what was going on here as well. Obviously not great analysis, but the best I can make given the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgti435OzUE

Gus Hansen calls all-in…with 10 high?! – WPT Season 1 Bad Boys of Poker (2003)

Even though poker may have passed Gus Hansen by (he’s been described as a very good player constantly taking on the great players), there is no doubt he provided a totally different strategy in regards to winning poker tournaments. Hansen’s success from 2002 through 2007 was ridiculous, with four major No Limit Hold’em Titles (three WPTs, the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event). It also led to him trying out different things, as this hand shows.

With four players left Antonio Esfandiari makes it $29,000 (blinds are $6,000-$12,000) in second position. Hansen makes it $100,000 to go in the small blind.  The Magician (Esfandiari for anyone who doesn’t know) moves in for $434,000. So, Hansen has to call $334,000 to win $559,000. Not good odds at all.

The crazy thing is Gus did call, obviously putting Antonio on the small pair he had or some A-x (10-8 suited isn’t that bad against, say, A-6). Of course, he would have to be right about Antonio’s range 100% of the time to make this play acceptable, and even then it’s questionable. What if the A-x was A-8? What if it was A-J? My guess here is Hansen made the original raise to $100,000 because he though Antonio was on a steal (which is fine), but when he saw Antonio think and think and then shove, he figured it wasn’t a monster hand at that point. Add into this that Gus knows that Antonio knows that Gus in 2003 was a lunatic, and that $100,000 raise didn’t mean anything (for example, he has 10-8 here!). But the call is still pretty crazy.

Of course Gus flopped an 8 and ended up winning the whole thing. Never be afraid to try things out is what i learned here. If you think it’s right, then go with it. Either you’ll learn you are wrong or you’ll discover something other players are lacking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZapeVYeUFo

Cory Zeidman gets lucky against Jennifer Harman – 2005 WSOP Main Event

Once again we are missing  a lot of information, but I assume here the blinds are 25-50, it’s Day 1 of the main event for sure. Harman makes it 200 with QQ. Zeidman calls with 98dd. Brady Davis calls as well with A6 off, but he’s irrelevant to the hand really.

It comes TJQ rainbow, which for the most part seems great for both Harman and Zeidman. Both hands are vulnerable though, but still. Harman bets 500 into about 600, and Zeidman quickly makes it 2,000. Harman looks pained as she makes the call. She probably has a clue at this point she could be up against a monster hand (or is acting, either one). The turn is the 10 of diamonds, giving Zeidman a gutshot straight flush draw to go along with this straight…but little does Zeidman know he’s up against Queens Full.

Jen checks and Zeidman bets a small $1,000 (a defensive bet if I ever saw one. He made it $2,000 to go last round!). Harman makes it $3,000 to go, prompting Zeidman to actually say “I think you might have Ace-King”. This right here tells Harman exactly what Zeidman has here (well almost, it’s either K-9 or 9-8). Remember, Zeidman showed a lot of strength on the flop too. He obviously wouldn’t be scared of AK if he had JJ or TT here.

The river is the 7 of diamonds, giving Zeidman the unlikely straight flush. Now perhaps it is impossible that Harman can check fold here, but is there really anything else Zeidman can have here? Just look at his demeanor change when that card hits. When Zeidman calls the all-in bet (after some unnecessary talk), Harman says she knew he had that hand. Honestly, I bet she did too.

It’s an interesting hand because if this was a deeper stack tournament, I think Harman can actually get away from this. It’s amazing that a player such as Zeidman, who would later win a WSOP Bracelet, exhibits so many tells regarding one hand.

Anyway, those are my random thoughts on some hands. I’ll perhaps do this again at some point.

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews the 2001 WWF Royal Rumble

Royal_Rumble_2001

WWF Royal Rumble 2001
January 21, 2001
New Orleans, LA

It’s over.

WCW didn’t really believe it to be so, but at this point it really was. The WWF vs. WCW war hadn’t really mattered to the WWF in over a year. WCW then proceeded to put on one of the worst years, if not the worst year, that a major wrestling promotion had ever put together. While WCW would have some strong moments in 2001 before its demise, it was way too little and way too late.

Meanwhile, the WWF was riding high. New stars such as Kurt Angle had really hit their stride. The WWF was also pushing the hell out of former WCW stars Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, and even taking chances with guys like Rikishi. The WWF had all of that talent while also having their mainstays be at the very top. Stone Cold, HHH, Undertaker, Kane and The Rock were still at the top of their games. While that wouldn’t actually remain viable forever (not enough top spots), at this point the WWF was simply rolling.

Then again, there was some small concerns. Ratings in December were low comparing to past years, and that’s with the ultra-hot Austin comeback. Shouldn’t be a problem on the Road to Wrestlemania though…right?

The Card

WWF World Tag Team Championship: Edge and Christian © vs. The Dudley Boyz

From 2000 on, it’s just safe to assume the Hardyz, E and C and Dudleyz were feuding with one another. The con-chair-to was an awesome move. Shame we won’t ever see it again, although it’s for the best.

I always thought the chemistry between the three teams was awesome…especially since the Dudleyz adapted to the WWF style practically instantly.

This whole match revolves around the Dudleyz having concussions. My how times have changed.

Edge and Christian miss the con-chair-to and D-Von hot tags Bubba! The crowd is very into all of this.

“D-VON! GET THE TABLES!”

The Dudley Boyz win when D-Von Dudley pins Edge in 9:59. Edge and Christian go for the Dudleyz’ WASSUP! Headbutt, but it’s reversed. Edge eats the 3D, and the Dudleyz win the title! Crowd pops huge for a very good opening match. Chemistry was just perfect with these teams.

Drew Carey is here! I think he’s promoting a PPV or something. He talks to HHH and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and promotes his PPV.

Crash Holly then threatens The APA about the Rumble. Good for a laugh.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chris Benoit © vs. Chris Jericho

Their entire promo video is just them beating the hell out of one another throughout 2000. Sounds good to me.

Benoit and Jericho just go at it right away. No time to waste here.

One of the most cringeworthy moments I’ve ever seen: Benoit goes for a tope…and Jericho whacks him right in the head with a chair. Worse when you think about what ultimately happened with Benoit. What a sick spot.

This is just hard hitting stuff back and forth, not a lot of flying. It’s an old school ladder match and it’s awesome.

Ridiculous ladder teeter-totter spot that got Benoit in the face. Jeez.

Walls of Jericho on top of the ladder!

Benoit misses a top of the ladder diving headbutt. Sick.

Chris Jericho wins the title in 18:48. Jericho nails Benoit with a chair, then shoves him off the ladder and over the top. It’s enough time for Jericho to grab the IC Title. Great great match. One of the best ladder matches of all time. It’s forgotten because of the Benoit deal. Hard hitting, great spots and a great crowd. 2/2 so far tonight!

Drew Carey hits on Trish Stratus…but here comes Vince! Vince isn’t happy…so he has Drew enter the Royal Rumble! When Trish says it would impress her…Drew goes for it!

WWF Women’s Championship: Ivory© vs. Chyna

Storyline here: The Right to Censor injured Chyna’s neck…and Chyna wants revenge.

It may have been fun to see Chyna destroy Ivory at the time, but in retrospect this killed the Women’s title until Trish revived it at the end of the year.

Ivory retains the title via pin in 3:32. Chyna goes for her cartwheel elbow, but goes down and holds her neck. Ivory pins her. Chyna is stretchered out. Really a glorified angle. Chyna would crush Ivory two months later anyway.

Drew Carey meets Kane. Kane should be afraid.

WWF Championship: Kurt Angle© vs. Triple H

Weird match here. HHH and Angle had feuded in 2000 in the love triangle storyline, but we got past that randomly in the last couple of months…and HHH had turned heel on Stone Cold. Suddenly HHH is the #1 contender causing Angle to think he’s against the McMahon family…but he’s still a heel and enlists Trish to help him, which infuriates Stephanie (well that and Vince’s flirtations with Vince). Still, both are heels, and the match actually feels like a backdrop of the Steph-Trish feud sadly.

As a result, except for some early “Angle Sucks” chants, the crowd really isn’t into it.

HHH works on the knee, even using a chair against Angle’s knee against the post. This makes Angle the face of the match then?

HHH with a strange Indian Deathlock. He had been using the Indian Deathlock in late 2000, notably against Benoit at No Mercy 2000.

Trish breaks up a Figure Four, leading to a Steph-Trish catfight…and the crowd goes nuts.

Razor’s Edge! Angle kicks out.

Moonsault from Angle! HHH survives though.

The crowd is on HHH’s side now.

Ref gets taken out…twice! HHH has it won…

Kurt Angle retains by pin in 24:16. Stone Cold comes out and beats the hell out of HHH…and hits him with a Stunner. Angle gets the pin. While this is a very good match, the Trish-Steph angle was distracting, and we didn’t even get remotely a good finish. I mean, I know Angle is a chicken-shit heel, but he really struggled to beat anyone during this reign…this match included.

The Royal Rumble

#1 is Jeff Hardy. #2 is Bull Buchanan.

#3 is Matt Hardy, pretty much ending the Bull Buchanan run.

The Hardyz oddly don’t wait for the next guy and go at it after dumping Bull.

#4 is Faarooq, who fends for himself pretty well for a minute before getting eliminated.

#5 is Drew Carey! Carey watches on the outside…and the Hardyz eliminate each other at the same time! Drew wins!

#6 is Kane. Kane slowly walks around the ring and Drew begs him not to hurt him. Drew hilariously offers money, but Kane says no. Kane is about to chokeslam drew, but #7, Raven saves him with a kendo stick shot. Drew eliminates himself.

It’s a Hardcore Rumble!

Al Snow runs in early and attacks Raven he confirms himself to be #8 shortly.

Raven takes a bowling ball to the nuts. Ouch.

#9 is Saturn. Interestingly, Saturn’s titantron has the same style that would be used for Chris Jericho’s Save.Us campaign later.

#10 is Steve Blackman as the Hardcore Division keeps coming out.

#11 is Grandmaster Sexay. It would be his last appearance until 2004.

Kane literally has a “fuck this moment”. Trash can shot knocks out Grandmaster. Blackman is next. Then Al Snow. Raven goes afterwards….then Saturn as well. Kane has cleaned house!

#12 is The Honky Tonk Man! He wants to sing his song. He does so, before Kane whacks him with a guitar and throws him out.

#13 is The Rock. Business has picked up!

#14 is The Goodfather! Goodfather never recovered from his RTC heel turn sadly.

And Rock takes out the Goodfather. That was fast.

#15 is Tazz, and he lasts less time than the Goodfather does. Kane knocks him out in about 5 seconds.

#16 is Bradshaw. He actually kicks some ass and takes Rock out with a clothesline.

#17 is Albert.

#18 is Hardcore Holly. Five guys in there now.

GETTING ROWDY! #19 is K-Kwik. Amazing that Killings never really got higher than this spot other than his heel run in 2011.

#20 is a Right to Censored Val Venis. It seems like we are just waiting for someone to clean house here.

#21 is William Regal. Test follows at #22, and dumps Regal.

Business picks up now as The Big Show returns and is #23. Show was last seen in July after being sent to OVW to lose weight (which he didn’t do, for the record). He chokeslams everyone in sight and gets rid of K-Kwik and Test. The Rock counters the chokeslam and out goes Show.

Big Show drags Rock under the ropes as #24, Crash Holly gets in. Big Show chokeslams The Rock through the Announcer’s table before leaving.

Undertaker is #25, and he and Kane clean out the ring…and DON’T attack one another (see Hardyz, it works!). Scotty 2 Hotty comes out in total fear, and is promptly chokeslammed and eliminated.

#27 is Stone Cold Steve Austin, leading to one of my all time favorite Rumble moments. Taker and Kane in the ring where Stone Cold comes down with no fear. HHH ruins the moment though by attacking Austin. Austin doesn’t make it to the ring. Rock gets back in and fight Taker and Kane.

#28 is Billy Gunn. Gunn gets some good offense in, probably the last good offense he’d get in until 2013.

#29 is Haku. Haku is the current WCW Hardcore Champion! You knew it was a death knell for WCW when the WWF didn’t even acknowledge that they stole Haku.

#30 is Rikishi. Rikishi sees Austin trying to get back to the ring and tries to take advantage, but Austin springs into action and attacks! Anyway, Rikishi, Gunn, Austin, Rock, Kane, Haku and Undertaker are the final seven.

Austin dumps Haku.

You can see there is a little Austin fatigue at this point. It’s not that Austin couldn’t be a top draw, but his out of nowhere attack of Rikishi would have gotten a huge reaction before. Now, it’s just something Austin did.

Rikishi superkicks Undertaker out!

Rikishi goes for a Banzaii Drop, but Rock knocks him over the top rope. Really bad showing from Rikishi here kayfabe wise. All that hype for #30 and he ended up lasting 5 minutes?

Austin, Gunn, Kane, Rock is the final four. One of these is not like the other.

Gunn hits Austin with the Fameasser…then Austin throws Gunn out just like that. Down to three.

Austin and Rock have locked eyes. These two went at one another at Armageddon the month prior as well.

Austin and Rock going at each other here was a huge deal. It was funny when WWE tried to replicate it with Orton and Cena in 2011.

Austin and Rock keep going at it and Austin even gets a Stunner. Austin tries to dump Rock, but Rock counters and tries to dump Austin. Kane comes from behind and tries to dump both, but only succeeds in dumping Rock (the record setting 11th elimination).

Stone Cold wins the Royal Rumble at 61:55, last eliminating Kane. Austin and Kane go at it, and Kane grabs a chair. Austin gets the chair though and whacks Kane a few times, before clotheslining him over the top for the win. Very good Royal Rumble. Had some slow moments…but clearly had its moments as well.

A really good PPV here. Only one match was lacking, and it only lasted three minutes. Everything else ranged from awesome (the IC Ladder Match) to very good (the WWF Title match). Historically this was Austin’s last great babyface moment of the Attitude Era, and Kane got a historical accolade that took 13 years to beat. Kane did kinda get wasted though after this.

Royal Rumble really had some good stuff. Comedy with Carey, Honky Tonk and Scotty 2 Hotty. Kane’s reign of terror. The hardcore part of the Rumble. The Austin-Rock staredown. The Big Show comeback (it got a good pop and he was a main guy always before this).

The entire show did provide good build-up for Wrestlemania as well. Can’t go wrong there.

Final Grade: A

Football

NFL 2014-2015 Wildcard Predictions

NFL Wildcard weekend is upon us. Let’s get right into it.

Arizona Cardinals (11-5) @ Carolina Panthers (7-8-1)

Your NFC South Division “winners”, the Panthers, have not lost in December after a seven game non-winning streak (six losses and one tie). They’ve only beaten one team with a winning record (Detroit), and that was week 2. While they’re obviously hot, it’s not like they beat the cream of the crop in these last four weeks. It is impressive though that they beat both New Orleans and Atlanta on the road by a combined score of 75-13.

Yet the Panthers are big favorites over the Cardinals. The Cards have been lost after losing QB Carson Palmer for a second time this season…and for the remainder of the season. While Drew Stanton filled in at least respectably, he went down as well and left the Cardinals with Ryan Lindley. To give you a perspective on Lindley’s career, it took him to his sixth NFL Start to throw his first touchdown pass. He had seven interceptions already. Even tossing his first two TD scores wasn’t enough to lead the Cardinals past the downtrodden 49ers in week 17.

Look, the Cardinals have a much better defense, a better coach (Bruce Arians over Ron Rivera for sure) and really probably a better everything else, but this quarterback situation is brutal. There were stories that the Cards were calling Kurt Warner to play for him. Kurt Warner! He hasn’t played in five years! And anytime your QB is so bad that your fans are clamoring for the return of Drew Stanton…you aren’t winning a playoff game. It’s a shame for the Cardinals season for sure, but that’s just the way it goes.

For anyone who thinks a losing team can’t win a playoff game, history is actually on Carolina’s side here. The 2010-2011 Seahawks won their division at 7-9 and then beat New Orleans 41-36.

Panthers 17, Cardinals 9

Baltimore Ravens (10-6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) 

Pittsburgh won the tight AFC North Division, a division that seemed to be going Cincinnati’s way all season long. Unlike the Panthers, who won all December games over subpar competition, the Steelers won all their December games against good competition, beating the Bengals twice and the 9-7 Chiefs as well. At one point the entire AFC North was close and it looked as if any of the four teams could win the division, but the Steelers won all their key games down the stretch, including a huge victory over the Ravens on November 2nd

The Ravens though, were no slouches toward the end of the season either, winning five of their last seven. They got a random career year out of running back Justin Forsett and Joe Flacco had what can arguably be considered his best career regular season. The Ravens also had top 10 offenses and defenses per DVOA, which shows a solid balance. John Harbaugh has this Ravens teams going for sure. A bonus too is that the Steelers will be without their star back Le’Veon Bell.

So why am I not sold on Baltimore? Well of their ten victories, they won one game against a team with a winning record, which was Pittsburgh in Baltimore during week 2. After that? They beat Cleveland at Cleveland, Carolina, the Bucs, the Falcons, the Titans, New Orleans, Miami, the Jaguars and finally Cleveland again. All of their losses came against teams with winning records. Not inspiring to say the least.

Ben Roethlisberger has also posted a career near 5K yard year. I don’t think he’s going down in one playoff game after that.

Steelers 24, Ravens 13

Cincinnati Bengals (10-5-1) @ Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

I could probably just write Andrew Luck vs. Andy Dalton and be done with it…but football doesn’t really work that way.

To be honest though, my confidence in each of these two QBs is what makes the result easy to determine. I mean, you watched last year’s playoffs right? Andrew Luck willed his team back from a 38-10 deficient to beat the Chiefs. The Bengals meanwhile got beat at home against the Chargers 10-27.

This year? The Colts are clearly one level below the elite, beating Baltimore, Texans and even the Bengals, but also had all five losses come against top teams (Denver, pre-Sanchez Philly, Pittsburgh, New England and Dallas). The Bengals even recently had a victory over Denver, but that’s amidst a lot of questions about Peyton Manning. The Bengals had a chance to lock up the division last week and in typical Andy Dalton Marvin Lewis Cincinnati Bengal fashion, they lost.

I just can’t not take a team quarterbacked by Andrew Luck here…in Indy no loss.

Colts 31, Bengals 10

Detroit Lions (11-5) @ Dallas Cowboys (12-4)

Two long suffering franchises (in Detroit’s case, very long) that have a chance to make a run in the NFC. This is Dallas’ best crack at a Superbowl appearance since they blew the 2008 NFC Divisional game to the Giants. As for Detroit, well, this is their first real chance since Barry.

I’m not sure what to make of this Lions team to be honest. If I told you before the season that your new coach would be Jim Caldwell and your megastar receiver, Calvin Johnson, would have an off year, would you think you would be 11-5 and heading to the playoffs? Of course not. So what’s changed? Well, Detroit suddenly has one of the best defensive units in football, and the best rushing one at that per DVOA. And with Ndamukong Suh leading the way and appealing his one game suspension, that defense is going to be the key to victory for Detroit.

On the opposite Dallas has the best rusher in football: DeMarco Murray. Tony Romo has put together his best season in what feels to be a last gasp to repair his reputation and prove he is in fact one of football’s best QBs. Overall I think this Cowboys team is just too good from top to bottom to lose to Detroit. It doesn’t help that Detroit still feels like an undisciplined team after Suh stepped on Aaron Rodgers.

The Cowboys have had some convincing wins this season and I’ll be surprised to see Detroit be the one to end it just like that.

Cowboys 23, Lions 16

 

Basketball

The Oversaturation of NBA’s Christmas Day Games

Shaq and Kobe provide a big XMas Day draw
Shaq and Kobe provide a big XMas Day draw

The NBA’s Christmas Day games are a tradition that dates back to 1947 in the old BAA. While throughout the 70s and 80s anywhere from four to seven games were played on Christmas, the late 80s ushered in an era where only top teams played…or at least teams with high market value. This article isn’t going to analyze anything about the XMas Day games. Instead, it will be a collection of scattered thoughts.

It’s too bad the NBA season can’t begin on Christmas

I know right? The NBA season starts at the very end of October/early November…and other than opening day no one cares about the NBA for two months until XMas. Why is this the case? The biggest issues for the NBA is that the NFL season is in full swing. The NFL of course is the king of American pro sports until Roger Goodell kills the league (might happen sooner than you think) and the NBA isn’t yet (or maybe ever) topping that. MLB sometimes really hurts the NBA as well. If the MLB postseason takes up those crucial last days of October/first days of November, it’s something else to talk about that isn’t basketball. And while they each aren’t nearly as big news wise, the NBA sharing ESPN space with the NHL and the NASCAR Chase doesn’t help.

It also doesn’t help that the first two months of the NBA season…don’t really matter. This is true for all of the major American professional sports other than football. 2014 was an especially lucky year for the NBA as they had two major stories going: LeBron’s return to Cleveland (and the Cavs “struggles”) and the injury plagued Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, other than LeBron’s literal return to Cleveland has him being back in Cleveland been THAT big of a deal these first two months? Not really right? Hell, even the ratings for LeBron’s return weren’t that great and even paled in comparison to his Heat debut four years prior (I do have a theory on this…which is people like to watch villains. Feel good stories are fine, but unless you’re Michael Jordan basketball feel good stories aren’t that big of a deal).

Do you know when the last time the first two months of a NBA season mattered? The 2011-2012 season! The lockout shortened year actually grabbed headlines before the season began (with the lockout and the Chris Paul-Lakers-Clippers-David Stern Veto situation) and had XMas day games that felt like they mattered. Why did they all feel like they mattered? Each game had either a situation attached to it and wasn’t tarnished by a team not performing as well as they should (you know, since they were all 0-0 at that point). For example: Carmelo lit up the Celtics and made it seem like the Knicks were going to be a real power (they were okay…although they had to be saved by Linsanity at one point), Chris Paul was making his Los Angeles Clippers debut against the Warriors with young Stephen Curry (who did not play well), the Heat and Mavericks had a Finals rematch, Oklahoma City took on Orlando in a game full of future (or even current) superstars (Durant, Westbrook, Dwight), and lastly Kobe and the Lakers took on DRose and the Bulls. All five games felt like big deals.  Does this happen in a normal season? I say no. Clippers vs. Warriors loses appeal as the Warriors still weren’t ready and Chris Paul would have made his debut two months prior. The Knicks might have been in their slump (they were 12-15 at one point). Maybe even Orlando vs. OKC gets tarnished as Dwight battled injuries all season. This all leads me to my second thought.

There are one too many games on XMas…which tarnishes the sifnoficance a bit

While in the 70s and 80s there were anywhere from four to seven games on Christmas, that changed to one or two games throughout the 90s. As a result, you always had a big time game on for Christmas (although, oddly never the biggest game, you’d think MJ would be there every year). I’m going to pick 1995 as a starting point here…and only pointing out how games were marketed. Injuries would just be bad luck.

1995 (2 Games): Rockets @ Magic (Finals Rematch, Hakeem and Drexler vs. Shaq and Penny), Spurs @ Suns (Robinson vs. Barkley)

1996 (2 Games): Pistons @ Bulls (Grant Hill vs. MJ, Pippen, etc…Pistons were 20-6 at this point), Lakers @ Suns (Shaq’s first season as a Laker, Suns were an odd choice though)

1997 (2 Games): Heat @ Bulls (ECF Rematch, Tim Hardaway and Mourning vs. Jordan, Pippen, etc.), Rockets @ Jazz (WCF Rematch, Hakeem, Barkley and Drexler vs. Malone and Stockton)

1998: Lockout

1999 (2 Games): Knicks @ Pacers (ECF Rematch, Knicks vs. Reggie), Spurs @ Lakers (Duncan, Robinson vs. Shaq, young Kobe)

2000 (2 Games): Magic @ Pacers (TMac vs. the defending EC Champs w/Reggie, ambitious because the magic weren’t quite there yet, but TMac was surely a rising star), Trail Blazers @ Lakers (WCF Rematch, Rasheed vs. Shaq, Kobe)

2001 (2 Games): 76ers @ Lakers (NBA Finals Rematch: Iverson vs. Shaq/Kobe), Raptors @ Knicks (Carter vs. Knicks…the overrated draw of the Knicks starts to show around this time though)

2002 (3 Games): Kings @ Lakers (Best rivalry at the time and WCF Rematch, Webber vs. Shaq, Kobe), Celtics @ Nets (ECF Rematch, Pierce vs. Kidd), Pistons @ Magic (TMac and Hill vs. Detroit’s D), this could be an example already of one game too many though.

2003 (3 Games): Rockets @ Lakers (Yao, Francis vs. Shaq, Kobe), Cavs @ Magic (rookie LeBron vs. TMac), Mavericks @ Kings (7 Game WCSF rematch, Nowitzki vs. Bibby, Peja)

2004 (2 Games): Pistons @ Pacers (One of the best rivalries at the time), Heat @ Lakers (the much anticipated Shaq vs. Kobe…Wade was there too obviously)

2005 (2 Games): Spurs @ Pistons (NBA Finals Rematch), Lakers @ Heat (Shaq/Wade vs. Kobe XMas rematch)

2006 (1 Game): Lakers @ Heat (Really pushing that Shaq vs. Kobe draw)

2007 (3 Games): Heat @ Cavs (Wade vs. LeBron…whole thing was wrecked though as this was Miami’s 15-67 season), Suns @ Lakers (Nash vs. Kobe), Supersonics @ Trail Blazers (was supposed to be rookie Durant vs. rookie Oden and Roy). This represented probably the weakest set of games of the last 13 seasons.

2008 would begin the five game setup we have now. Let’s go over these 13 season of XMas games though: don’t most of these feel like a big deal? The NBA smartly pushed their top teams and talents into these games, and also gave the younger stars a chance to shine. Let’s look at 2008.

2008 (5 Games): Wizards @ Cavs (A budding rivalry which was really LeBron destroying them over and over…LeBron vs. Arenas), Celtics @ Lakers (NBA Finals rematch), Hornets @ Magic (CP3 vs. Dwight), Spurs @ Suns (Another good rivalry, Nash and Shaq vs. Duncan, Parker and Manu), Mavericks @ Trail Blazers (Nowitzki and Kidd vs. Roy and if Oden is there somehow?). Wizards don’t belong here, and Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers is one game too many.

Each year would still have its monster games of course, but then also a 4th or 5th game which took the significance away from the Christmas games. 2009 had Lebron vs. Kobe…and for some reason the godawful Knicks vs. Wade and a bunch of nobodies. Let’s look at 2014’s games.

2014 (5 Games): Wizards @ Knicks (Wall vs. Carmelo?), Thunder @ Spurs (Durant and Westbrook vs. the legendary Spurs trio), Cavs @ Heat (Lebron returns), Lakers @ Bulls (Kobe vs. DRose), Warriors  @ Clippers (Curry vs. Blake and CP3)

The two obvious games that don’t belong? Wizards @ Knicks and Lakers @ Bulls. Lakers and Knicks combined records: 14-44. The Wizards are a fun up and coming team sure, but the Knicks are awful and most thought they would be as well. The Lakers too are the same way, and XMas day does not need the draw of Kobe (we didn’t see Wizards Jordan on XMas). Nevermind that it was a crapshoot we’d even get Derrick Rose playing. The other three are good choices. OKC vs. the Spurs lucked out (as long as Pop doesn’t bench anyone) since Durant and Westbrook are healthy. Cavs @ Heat was always going to be a big deal, even if the Heat aren’t anywhere near what they were and Bosh is out (it’s no different than Lakers-Heat in the mid 2000s). Golden State and LAC will be a great game. This is just two games too much.

I think I’ve had enough scattered thoughts about the NBA XMas day games. The NBA is still about a month and a half before they monopolize ESPN (post Super Bowl and All Star Weekend), and truthfully I can’t wait. And we usually get the ball rolling on XMas. I just wish 33% of the league wasn’t playing today. It would be a lot more special that way.