Okay, so my updates have been scarce since returning home from school. So I want a way to beef up my backlog without wasting your time. I was at the Ring of Honor Manhattan Mayhem III show on Saturday and I wanted to write about that, but since my last entry prior to it was a wrestling related piece, I figured it's smarter to space things out. I know how frustrating it must be for non-wrestling fans to come here awaiting music and film insights just to hear about men in tights...so I present a quick new piece I will be posting from time to time "Bumpin" which will have me giving you a look into what I am listening to currently and some reasons why...
So without any further ado...
BUMPIN' 6/17/09
Mos Def- Black on Both Sides, The Ecstatic
I am so annoyed all the time by Mos Def's ego, he talks crazy in public and thinks he's the best GD person alive. And The New Danger was a waste of time, not to say it wasn't a good idea, it was just poorly eecuted (the comp I'm on has no key for the letter that follows W). But Black is a classic in my mind and is a frequent listen and while I told everyone I had no desire to hear Ecstatic, I purchased it with several coupons and discounts after hearing it wa recieving etremely (again, sorry) reviews. It's like classic Mos, so get on that if you haven't yet.
Sugar Ray- Greatest Hits
I missed the train on these guys back in the day and am just making up for it now. It's ridiculously fun and sing-a-long worthy. The vocal harmonies are also great.
Justice-Cross
Another one I feel I should've been into earlier. This album is awesome and fun and although it gets a bit repetitive, it's dance music so it's all good.
House of Pain- Fine Malt Lyrics
Everlast is the man and a while ago I picked up this album for like $5 and didn't think twice about it aside from "Jump Around" until about 6 months ago when I started really getting into it. Maybe it's because of DJ Lethal's Limp Bizkit affiliation (a brief obsession I had, no regrets), but I've been heavy into this album and it's really underrated. While Danny Boy (the one that's NOT Everlast, as you'll clearly hear when listening) can sound like an idiot, there's no denying that for a bunch of white Irish guys, the House of Pain can really kick some ass.
Rage Against the Machine- Evil Empire
Surprisingly, this album only has one huge hit on it. While it doesn't pack the same punch as their self titled album, the grooves are certainly great on this one. Wilk and Commerford (drums and bass for those unaware) really highlight Tom Morello's quirky guitar effect work which really highlights Zack's raps. A great album that often goes overlooked, as it's sandwiched in by the truly definable Rage albums.
See you later!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
WWE Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View Review
Before I begin let me say that I'm not 100% on the match order, but all the matches are there.
I’ve never written a review for a pay-per-view before so I’m going to do this as follows: Give my pre-show thoughts, rate each match individually, and then give my overall thoughts. Okay? Good.
PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS:
I was mildly interested in watching this show. The card was underwhelming, and the fact that WWE has cut so much “extreme” stuff like bleeding and dangerous moves from their now TV-PG rated programming really lead me to believe that this show was going to be a really weak representation of what “extreme” truly is. And with the recent release of Mr. Kennedy, I’ve been down on the company. So the odds were definitely stacked against the ol’ WWE for this event.
MATCH #1:
FATAL FOUR WAY for the UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
MONTEL VONTAVIOUS PORTER vs. MATT HARDY vs. WILLIAM REGAL vs. (c) KOFI KINGSTON
What urked me about this match initially is that somehow putting four guys in a match all of a sudden makes it “extreme.” They really didn’t let any of the guys show off their stuff, as each of these four truly are fantastic performers. Kofi hit a few good moves, Matt kind of bummed around, MVP was way over and Regal was very clearly the man to hate, regardless of his immense skill. I thought Kofi botched the finishing kick on Regal, but then I realized that Kofi’s finisher just sucks.
2/5
MATCH #2
NO HOLDS BARRED for the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Jericho vs. (c) Rey Mysterio
Should have been prior to the first heavyweight title match. This feud has been a fun one to watch, and while Jericho is playing the stereotypical angry-at-the-world heel right now, he was really selling his dislike for Rey as a whole leading into this match. But like so much of the WWE’s product in recent years, this didn’t live up to expectations at all. There were a couple of good moments, mostly Jericho jumping out of the way of Mysterio’s now overly clichéd cruiserweight moves and countering them. A great spot with Jericho hitting the Code Breaker against Rey’s West Coast Pop. The end of the match was good, and when I realized that Jericho was holding Rey’s mask I went crazy. This match is definitely a great way to re-ignite this fed and have Rey come off as a lot more menacing. Jericho seems to be used to rejuvenate stars that really need to get over stars that have faded over the years, and right now he is doing a fine job.
3/5
MATCH #3
SAMOAN STAP MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. Umaga
I had no desire to see this match. Up until last month I thought Umaga was garbage, and although he has definitely stepped up in the ring, I still think he’s not a good fit for Punk. But this match exceeded all of my expectations. I had no idea the point was to hit all four corners in succession to win the match, as the only strap matches I have seen have just involved guys chained together. Umaga definitely sold Punk as winning, which is good, as many big guys never seem to be able to put over smaller, more technical guys. Punk won with a good spot and solidified his place as the good guy...
2.5/5
MATCH #4
HOG PEN MATCH for the MISS WRESTLEMANIA TITLE
Santina Marella vs. Vicki Guerrero w/ Chavo Guerrero
Santino is by far the funniest guy in the WWE right now, and his stuff is generally good. But once this SantinA gimmick started, I really started hating the writing team. It’s stupid and it’s not over and it’s not making anyone involved in the feud look at all credible. A year and a half ago Chavo was in a great feud with C.M. Punk for the ECW belt, and now he’s been reduced to having mud thrown at him since his widow Aunt wants her honor defended. Where’s the honor in booking a Hog Pen Match?
.5/5
MATCH #5
EXTREME RULES MATCH for the ECW TITLE
Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger vs. (c) Christian
As I said in my pre-show comments, any and all remnants of “extreme” are more or less gone from the WWE right now and this match really nailed the coffin shut in my mind. The stipulation that if Dreamer lost, he’d have to retire clearly failed, as everyone had seemed to forget that was the case until a few weeks ago when they tried to re-ignite the feud between him and Swagger. The reason he was only ECW champion for like 15 minutes back in the comapny’s prime was because he doesn’t really work in the “main event,” and while he tossed Christian and Swagger into garbage cans, he definitely didn’t come off as all that extreme here. We’ll see how he does in the future, but this match didn’t give off it’s desired effect, and the crowd was not into Tommy at all, so that really took away from the ending of the match.
2.5/5
MATCH #6
CAGE MATCH for the WWETITLE
Batista vs. (c) Randy Orton
Cage matches suck. To non-fans they seem appealing, but to anyone who has watched wrestling for over a year, they know that there are only so many ways you can toss someone into a steel fence. And the match played out so poorly too, it was like neither men had ever watched (mind you, both have been in several) a cage match in their entire career. Batista winning, while dumb and illogical considering he has a torn tricep, really will open the door for Orton to do things aside from chase the belt, as his character really has a lot that he can do.
1/5
MATCH #7
SUBMISSION MATCH
John Cena vs. The Big Show
When I think of a great submission bout, these two men don’t even enter into my brain one bit. There are so many good technical wrestlers on the card who could’ve taken this and made it interesting, but they had to sell the fact that even though Cena has taken Show out a hundred times, he still had to win an uphill battle. And the finish was stupid, the fact that Cena used the ropes to get Show to tap is bogus, as in any match, when someone reaches the ropes the hold must be broken. It was predictable and lame, but recently, all of Cena’s work has been such.
1.5/5
MATCH #8
LADDER MATCH for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Jeff Hardy vs. (c) EDGE
The bit before this match about how these guys have been throwing each other off ladders for ten years was good and gave some true meaning to this match. And overall it was great. I’m not too big on Jeff Hardy to be honest, and judging him by a spot-fest ladder match is certainly unfair to the great technical guys like Regal and Finlay, but he entertained the hell out of me. Edge took the spots better than Jeff most of the time, and the bump that broke the ladder was really awesome. The way the match ended was great too. Jeff stuck Edge between rungs of the ladder, and Edge flailed around as Jeff snatched the belt. It was badass.
4/5
BUT WAIT...
MATCH #9
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. (c) Jeff Hardy
Me and my friends had jokingly foreshadowed Punk coming out to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase, but we literally went nuts when it actually happened. The music hit and Punk looked like he was ready to become a heel. Jeff was all battered and Punk was just smirking staring at him, it was tense. He quickly hit the Go To Sleep, but when Jeff kicked out it really seemed like Punk was actually going to lose, but thankfully they played it out realistically and Jeff couldn’t take any more of the fresh faced Punk after a second GTS. I was skeptical about how they would make Punk react, as he might apologize to Jeff and stay face, but when he started strutting around the ring playing the belt like it were a guitar, you could just tell how good of a bad guy he’s going to be.
3/5 (for a match, 5/5 for a shock)
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
The show was wildly inconsistent and way too short. There were four great matches, one of which was based entirely on shock value.
I’ve never written a review for a pay-per-view before so I’m going to do this as follows: Give my pre-show thoughts, rate each match individually, and then give my overall thoughts. Okay? Good.
PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS:
I was mildly interested in watching this show. The card was underwhelming, and the fact that WWE has cut so much “extreme” stuff like bleeding and dangerous moves from their now TV-PG rated programming really lead me to believe that this show was going to be a really weak representation of what “extreme” truly is. And with the recent release of Mr. Kennedy, I’ve been down on the company. So the odds were definitely stacked against the ol’ WWE for this event.
MATCH #1:
FATAL FOUR WAY for the UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
MONTEL VONTAVIOUS PORTER vs. MATT HARDY vs. WILLIAM REGAL vs. (c) KOFI KINGSTON
What urked me about this match initially is that somehow putting four guys in a match all of a sudden makes it “extreme.” They really didn’t let any of the guys show off their stuff, as each of these four truly are fantastic performers. Kofi hit a few good moves, Matt kind of bummed around, MVP was way over and Regal was very clearly the man to hate, regardless of his immense skill. I thought Kofi botched the finishing kick on Regal, but then I realized that Kofi’s finisher just sucks.
2/5
MATCH #2
NO HOLDS BARRED for the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Jericho vs. (c) Rey Mysterio
Should have been prior to the first heavyweight title match. This feud has been a fun one to watch, and while Jericho is playing the stereotypical angry-at-the-world heel right now, he was really selling his dislike for Rey as a whole leading into this match. But like so much of the WWE’s product in recent years, this didn’t live up to expectations at all. There were a couple of good moments, mostly Jericho jumping out of the way of Mysterio’s now overly clichéd cruiserweight moves and countering them. A great spot with Jericho hitting the Code Breaker against Rey’s West Coast Pop. The end of the match was good, and when I realized that Jericho was holding Rey’s mask I went crazy. This match is definitely a great way to re-ignite this fed and have Rey come off as a lot more menacing. Jericho seems to be used to rejuvenate stars that really need to get over stars that have faded over the years, and right now he is doing a fine job.
3/5
MATCH #3
SAMOAN STAP MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. Umaga
I had no desire to see this match. Up until last month I thought Umaga was garbage, and although he has definitely stepped up in the ring, I still think he’s not a good fit for Punk. But this match exceeded all of my expectations. I had no idea the point was to hit all four corners in succession to win the match, as the only strap matches I have seen have just involved guys chained together. Umaga definitely sold Punk as winning, which is good, as many big guys never seem to be able to put over smaller, more technical guys. Punk won with a good spot and solidified his place as the good guy...
2.5/5
MATCH #4
HOG PEN MATCH for the MISS WRESTLEMANIA TITLE
Santina Marella vs. Vicki Guerrero w/ Chavo Guerrero
Santino is by far the funniest guy in the WWE right now, and his stuff is generally good. But once this SantinA gimmick started, I really started hating the writing team. It’s stupid and it’s not over and it’s not making anyone involved in the feud look at all credible. A year and a half ago Chavo was in a great feud with C.M. Punk for the ECW belt, and now he’s been reduced to having mud thrown at him since his widow Aunt wants her honor defended. Where’s the honor in booking a Hog Pen Match?
.5/5
MATCH #5
EXTREME RULES MATCH for the ECW TITLE
Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger vs. (c) Christian
As I said in my pre-show comments, any and all remnants of “extreme” are more or less gone from the WWE right now and this match really nailed the coffin shut in my mind. The stipulation that if Dreamer lost, he’d have to retire clearly failed, as everyone had seemed to forget that was the case until a few weeks ago when they tried to re-ignite the feud between him and Swagger. The reason he was only ECW champion for like 15 minutes back in the comapny’s prime was because he doesn’t really work in the “main event,” and while he tossed Christian and Swagger into garbage cans, he definitely didn’t come off as all that extreme here. We’ll see how he does in the future, but this match didn’t give off it’s desired effect, and the crowd was not into Tommy at all, so that really took away from the ending of the match.
2.5/5
MATCH #6
CAGE MATCH for the WWETITLE
Batista vs. (c) Randy Orton
Cage matches suck. To non-fans they seem appealing, but to anyone who has watched wrestling for over a year, they know that there are only so many ways you can toss someone into a steel fence. And the match played out so poorly too, it was like neither men had ever watched (mind you, both have been in several) a cage match in their entire career. Batista winning, while dumb and illogical considering he has a torn tricep, really will open the door for Orton to do things aside from chase the belt, as his character really has a lot that he can do.
1/5
MATCH #7
SUBMISSION MATCH
John Cena vs. The Big Show
When I think of a great submission bout, these two men don’t even enter into my brain one bit. There are so many good technical wrestlers on the card who could’ve taken this and made it interesting, but they had to sell the fact that even though Cena has taken Show out a hundred times, he still had to win an uphill battle. And the finish was stupid, the fact that Cena used the ropes to get Show to tap is bogus, as in any match, when someone reaches the ropes the hold must be broken. It was predictable and lame, but recently, all of Cena’s work has been such.
1.5/5
MATCH #8
LADDER MATCH for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Jeff Hardy vs. (c) EDGE
The bit before this match about how these guys have been throwing each other off ladders for ten years was good and gave some true meaning to this match. And overall it was great. I’m not too big on Jeff Hardy to be honest, and judging him by a spot-fest ladder match is certainly unfair to the great technical guys like Regal and Finlay, but he entertained the hell out of me. Edge took the spots better than Jeff most of the time, and the bump that broke the ladder was really awesome. The way the match ended was great too. Jeff stuck Edge between rungs of the ladder, and Edge flailed around as Jeff snatched the belt. It was badass.
4/5
BUT WAIT...
MATCH #9
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. (c) Jeff Hardy
Me and my friends had jokingly foreshadowed Punk coming out to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase, but we literally went nuts when it actually happened. The music hit and Punk looked like he was ready to become a heel. Jeff was all battered and Punk was just smirking staring at him, it was tense. He quickly hit the Go To Sleep, but when Jeff kicked out it really seemed like Punk was actually going to lose, but thankfully they played it out realistically and Jeff couldn’t take any more of the fresh faced Punk after a second GTS. I was skeptical about how they would make Punk react, as he might apologize to Jeff and stay face, but when he started strutting around the ring playing the belt like it were a guitar, you could just tell how good of a bad guy he’s going to be.
3/5 (for a match, 5/5 for a shock)
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
The show was wildly inconsistent and way too short. There were four great matches, one of which was based entirely on shock value.
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