Fire

It's 3:27 am CET as I start writing this.

The firefighters are currently packing up their tubes and check if the building isn't in danger of collapsing. It most likely isn't but they'll have to tear it down none the less. The five fire trucks will be gone in about half an hour and my neighbors can now go back into their house.

Today was the 2nd time in 3 years that I had to call the firefighter because a building was burning. I can argue that it fortunately isn't my house this time but my neighbors', but believe me that there is not that big of a difference. Standing in front of a house and watching greyish-back clouds of smoke come out of the windows before they shatter and the fire starts leaking out of the black holes they left is something I never want to do again in my life.

So I plead all of you:

If you smell smoke, look after what is going on.

If you are not sure, still do an emergency call.

Don't be scared about doing the wrong thing - most of my neighbors thought there were drunken teenagers on the street when they heard the explosion and didn't do anything because they were affraid.

If you're inside a house that is burning, keep your head down. The smoke will be hot and therefore relatively close to the ceiling (at first) - keep out of it and try not to inhale it. Most victims of fires don't die from actual burning but pass away in their sleep because they suffocate from the smoke before they have time to wake up.

Don't try to save anything! You can take your cell with you, but that's about it. Leave everything other behind. It isn't wort dying for! Don't run inside to save some expensive painting or money (at least the ash of Euros can be traced in a burnt building). You can buy a new couch, a new TV, a new computer... but you can't revive your grandmother who died in the flames because she wanted to rescue her savings from the burning house.

If you do an emergency call: Where? What? How big is it? How many people are hurt / in danger?

It is important for the firefighters to know what is burning. Is it a chimney on fire, a camp fire out of control, a burning shop etc. It helps if you can tell them how big the fire is, if other houses are in danger of getting set on fire and how many people are in the building. If they have to go in that's the most important thing, to prevent that someone is left behind by the rescuers.

Call 112, 911, 900 or whatever the number is in your country. Save people by doing the right thing and turn your electronic equipment off instead of turning it on standby at nights.

If you don't, you may end like me: Standing here even after the last firefighter and policeman is gone, still looking at the half burned building only to make sure that it really isn't burning anymore.

10/25/10 Raw

Yesterday we got to see another episode of Monday Night Raw and I doing the review here, but before we come to this I have to say somethign about the whole Cena-Nexus that bugged we for a while now:

When you talk about John Cena nowadays (since he joined Nexus to be exact) the correct term when reffering to him should be CeNexusBitch. Why CeNexusBitch? The Ce of course comes from John Cena, while the Nexus part obviously states that he is now a member of The Nexus. Bitch because that is what he currently is: he bitch of Wade Barrett, who has to do everything Barrett says (therefore the absolutely exact term would be CeNexusWadesBitch but I am simply too lazy to type a name that long).

Fittingly Nexus started off this show. They came down to the ring with Wade Barrett in the front while Cena keept his distance and walked behind the group. He and Otunga are the new Tag Team Champions since Bragging Rights - even if Cena did most of the work and Otunga simply "was along for the ride" as Lawler put it. I loved how Barrett was treating Cena here, ordering him around with so much as a wink of his finger. John Cena plays the defiant part rather well, too.

"Why on earth would the Nexus help Kane?" that's what I wanted to know since I first learnt what happened at Bragging Rights, but Wade Barrett told the audience that this is none of their business and he won't say anything about it - that is WWEs way of telling us that they won't tell anything because they simply have no idea how to explain this.

After an "I quote" 8:04 minutes into the show, Miachel Cole only mentinos the words "Randy Orton" and the girsl start shrieking immediately. At least half of the 6 Million female viewers Raw claims to have every week watch the show only to see a half-naked Randy Orton. I'd vouch for that.

When Barrett announced that it would be Nexus versus Nexus for the Tag Team Belts I was like: "What the f***?!" but he saw the light in the end and told David Otunga to be a good boy and lie down for his stable. He complained but did as he was told in the end, thus giving the titles to Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel. It was a clever choice to not have them fight each other, because it would hav destroyed some of their strength as a group if they had done it.

"Excuse me!" screams echoed through the building and we all knew who was coming in next. Vickie claimed that Danile Bryans victory over Doplh Ziggler was illegal (doesn't she always?) and that there would be a rematch right now. I was fine with that, because after their match on Sunday night how could I not want a rematch? CM Punk joined the party before the bell rang and sat down at ringside beside Lawler to give us some comments on the match.

What exactly did Bryan do there in the beginning of the match? Is there even a name for it? That back arch honestly looked nothing short of a-ma-zing, the guy is super flexible and knows how to show it off in the best ways. Althought the crowd was about dead at his entrance Daniel Bryan really got them hyped up throughout the match. I have to say that the guy can sell a punch like few others. Ziggler hit him in the chin and he literally dropped like dead weight.

Through the whole match Vickie at ringside did the one thing she is absolutely perfect at: screaming like a bitch. She screamed even more when Dolph Ziggler lost, but the ref had nothing of it and declared Bryan the winner. We saw CM Punk on his feet, applauding with that certain look on his face that screamed "Feud!" but who am I to complain about a future feud between the American Dragon and Mr. Straight Edge?

We went backstage after that for about 2 minutes of guest host talk that I don't regrett having skipped. Still backstage there was another CeNexusBitch-Wade Barrett episode but hey, they work well together. Currently it is the first time since ... well, ever that I like John Cena's acting. Yes, it is predictable, but that doesn't mean that it is not good.

I clearly didn't miss them but it was time for the women's match then, apparently. It was LayCool vs. Mellina and Gail Kim. I didn't watch it. LayCool won, I just know it - there were two good female wrestlers in the ring against LayCool, so there was no chance in hell that they'd win. That's the truth when you talk about WWE women's division.

Next up was a little Miz-time. I usually like his promos and this one wasn't bad but still kind of ... boring. He talked about the loss of Team Raw and how they would've won with seven Mizes on the team. He is the Miz and people watch Raw because of him (what I can't deny). Suddenly there came Eve and I was stunned to say the least. She walked to the ring, she got a mic and she started talking - that's when I started to ask myself if I was really watching Raw here. Oh, and she bashed the Miz. Eve said Miz is ugly (what I can deny) and immediately Alex Riley jumped to help out his best buddy idol (not so secret) man-crush lover former NXT-pro - way to start the bromance ... and who gave R-Truth a mic, dammit? Big no-go here.

The GM told to ring the bell and the match was on with R-Truth vs. the Miz. Of course everyone knew that R-Truth had no chance in hell winning here but most of us just tried to pretend that they didn't know. The most interesting thing going on was the sidekick/valet/lover brawl outside the ring when Eve slaped Alex Riley right across the face after he attacked Truth behind the refs back. I don't have to mention that the crowd poped huge for this ... and why is Cole calling Alex Riley "A. Riy"? That sounds so damn stupid my ears hurt.

Our guest host who's name I fortunately never will know talked another 4 minutes which I strictly skipped. That's 6 minutes for the country music star already. If you count the 2 minutes of Sheamus vs. Santino Marella and another 3 minutes of Divas trash that's 11 minutes of crap so far. But, I dare say this: I kinda liked the Stand up for WWE clip. Some of the wrestlers really sounded like they meant what they said (Riley, Miz, Show). Personally I'm not exactly a fan of the campaign but i can understand why the WWE does it.

Another Nexus segment followed. Husky Harris and Michel McGillicutty finally got their N-shirts today - I won't ly, I honestly think that Joe Henning has no charisma at all and that there are people earning this spot way more than him, but let's just see what he does with it. Harris in an okay guy and moves rather fast for his size. David Otunga decided that he's still in Nexus, but that wasn't much of a choice for him.

CeNexusBitch entered the ring for the main event next with Wade Barrett on his tail and then the voices filled the arean. Cena and Orton met in the ring with Barrett standing in Cena's corner and later at ringside to give instructions.

The match felt strange to me. I always liked Cena vs. Orton, because no matter what people say, these two men can work great matches together. Heel Orton vs. face Cena was always good, because (at least in my mind) they have chemistry in the ring (something I never saw between Sheamus and Randy). I'm just not used to CeNexusBitch (who has to take orders from the heels) fighting face Randy Orton. Even writing that seems wrong somehow.

They had a good match but like I said it felt strange. Randy Orton was always the heel in a match with Cena, because no one can be more of a face than John Cena, it's as simple as that. The Viper has that whole sneaky from behind thing going for him and you can't deny that feels heelish no matter what.

Barrett medled a little, but Cena told him to stay out of his match and he actually did. Cena looked really pissed by the way when he screamed at his "boss". The finnish was predictable but at least helped to further the storyline between Nexus and John Cena. Contrary to the last few Pay-per-Views Survivor Series actually get's a build up here.

Over all it was one of the better shows of the year. There was only a small amount of crap and the matches were good with Bryan/Ziggler, R-Truth/Miz and Cena/Orton as main event. I'll need at least a year until a match between John Cena and Randy Orton will feel special to me again, but they still delivered a solid performance. I also like that there are storylines that lead into the next PPV and that it hopefully won't have some crappy last-minutes-we-have-to-fill-time matches.

Sign of the day

It's always nice when someone bashes the Miz. I like him, but some of those signs are hilarious.

Bragging Rights Preview

Today is the 24th of October, 2010. Forty-nine years ago Dave Meltzer, infamous editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, was born, nearly thirty-two years ago Straight Edge wrestler CM Punk came into the world (October 26th, 1978) and two years ago another "Bloody Friday" occured, with the world's stock exchange experiencing the worst decline in their history. The third of those facts is most likely only important to people who want to pursue a career as stock speculator and the creators of "Wall Street" while the other two may be interesting or one or two wrestling fans.

Okay, I'm getting to the point now. There it is:

In less then nine hours WWEs second Bragging Rights Pay-per-View will be held in Minneapolis, but first I want to add my two sentences on last Monday's Raw. I watched only the first twenty minutes or so but that was enough for me to decide that I didn't like the show. Teddy Long arguing with a laptop was not entertaining and the same can be said for the whole thing with the trophy. The crowd was understandably dead for the thing and when Miz talked about "that trophy and all Bragging Rights that accompany it" I was like: "What Bragging Rights?!"

Ezekiel Jackson is on Team Raw and I assume that's the equivalent of having Tyler Reks in the Smackdown Team. I have never seen any of them but okay, give the guys some screen time... Sudden Inspiration: Hornswoggle is the mascot for Team Smackdown, so is Alex Riley the mascot of Team Raw? Anyway, the big ? of Monday night was CM Punk with dark hair because he changed the color from dark to bleach blonde to dark in about three days.

Hilarious moment I have to add: Ater Miz and Big Show agreed on their one-on-one match, Team Raw retreated back up the ramp and what did we see in the ring? Swagger running around making the eagle.It was too good to be trues.

Bragging Rights: I don't like the concept of Bragging Rights, because like so many others I 1.) think that having three Pay-per-views in thirty-five (35) days is nothing short of plain stupid by WWE Management - 2.) Having Smackdown and Raw fight each other for two weeks of the year when their members are best buddies the remaining fifty is so dumb it has to hurt some people physically - and 3.) There are no f***ing Bragging Rights to win at this damn show!

I could go on and on about what I don't like about this PPV but essentially it will always be one of those three points. So that's all I have to say in the matter. We have a Daniel Bryan match in there and one that involves CeNexus - let's just hope that they deliver a good show ... because that's as good as Bragging Rights will get.


My predictions for who'll win at Bragging Rights: 

Wade Barrett (with John Cena) will win against Randy Orton. If it was Orton on Barret one-on-one Randy ortonw ould clearly win this one, but with Cena there it will be a win for Team Nexus. Orton will look strong because Barrett has to cheat for the win plus it will advance the CeNexus storyline.

Team Raw will beat Team Smackdown. Smackdown won last year so the "bigger show" has to win this time. This will promote the push of the Miz even further and get him closer to main event level.

Natalya will get the pin over Michelle McCool or Layla. I picked her at Hell in a Cell and I'm picking her again for Bragging Rights. The woman has earned this title - even if it isn't worth shit.

Daniel Bryan over Dolph Ziggler. Bryan lost two weeks in a row to Sheamus so I think he deserves that win ... and I'm not really high on Ziggler, to be fair.

Kane (with Paul Bearer) will burry the Undertaker alive, because we all know that Taker needs surgery on his shoulder better earlier than later. This feud brings money, so it will continue for a while.

Like for Hell in a Cell there are five matches announced. I was 4/5 at HiaC so let's see if I can pull that again. Have fun watching everyone, that's it from me for today.

Match of the Year (Update 10/16/10)

Here is the the updated list for my voting for the Match of the Year. The matches removed form the list will be listed below, matches printed bolt are still in (2nd round) and matches printed italic are newly added to the list.

My candidates for MotY thus far

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXVI (3/28/10)
Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne at WWE Fatal 4-Way (6/20/10)
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money Inc. at TNA The Whole F'n Show (8/12/10)
The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan at WWE Night of Champions (9/19/10)
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me at TNA Impact somwhere before No Surrender (9/5/10)


Other candidates for MotY
TV matches
2/12 SD - CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
2/23 NXT - Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan
4/26 RAW - Chris Jericho vs. Christian
5/17 RAW - Edge vs. Christian
8/09 RAW - The Miz vs. Evan Bourne
8/23 RAW - The Miz vs. John Cena

PPV matches
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me at TNA Destination X (3/21/10)
John Cena vs. Batista at Wrestlemania XXVI (3/28/10)
John Cena vs. Batista at WWE Extreme Rules (4/25/10)
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio at WWE Extreme Rules (4/25/10)
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio at WWE Over the Limit (5/23/10)
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money Inc. at TNA Victory Road (7/11/10)
D-Generation X vs. JeriShow at WWE TLC (12/13/09)
Daniel Bryam vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz at WWE Hell in a Cell (10/3/10)
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me at TNA Bound for Glory (10/10/10)


Matches that are Out
Rey Mysterio vs. The Undertaker at WWE Royal Rumble (1/31/10)
2/07 FCW - Daniel Bryan vs. Kaval
4/19 RAW - The Undertaker vs. Jack Swagger


PS: I have the sinking feeling that there are too many matches and too less time for this contest, but I hope I'll get it done by the end of the year nonetheless.

Match of the Year

Welcome to the next round of my Match of the Year column. This time I am going to review a FCW match between Kaval and Daniel Bryan and a match that was on Raw earlier this year between The Undertaker and Jack Swagger. The matches were picked randomly, feel free to post your opinion on them.


Kaval vs. Daniel Bryan at 2/07 FCW (ca. 9:00)

A match between Kaval and Daniel Bryan on FCW and people were surprised that it was good. Seriously, if it had been a match between Low Ki and Bryan Danielson on ROH everyone would have been surprised if it was bad. That said it was a good match. Wade Barrett was on commentary and did his job well, you really noticed how good of a talker he is there.

I was pleasantly surprised that the commentators actually aknowledged the fact that Kaval and Bryan had matches, lots of them, before they met on FCW. WWE never does it because admitting that their "performers" have a history past the company is an absolute no-go - they still casually advertise Mick Foley's new book and therefore TNA but that seems to be completely another story.

The match had had some great technical elements and both Kaval and Bryan showed some very innovative moves here. Daniel Bryan displayed incredible flexibility, especially when he did a back arch on his toes with Kaval pretty much sitting on his chest. Doing that needs a lot of strength in the legs and abs, let me assure you of that.

Furthermore we had a really nice spot when Bryan jumped from the turnbuckle on Kaval on the floor and Kaval got his feet up to hit Danielson in the chest/shoulder area. That lucked like it hurt a lot which also has something to do with the great selling Bryan did. The guy can sell like Jericho, Bourne and Shawn Michaels, and Michaels could virtually sell anything.

Over all there was a high display of flexibility from Daniel Bryan and some good looking, high flying, offense from Kaval who did a few great kicks combined with fast movements. Kaval wins the match with a Ghetto Stomp - the move is known as the "Warrior's Way" in WWE but I for the love of God can't memorize that name.

My opinion: These two guys showed that they are indeed "two of the best technical wrestlers in the world" as Wade Barrett so nicely pointed out. They however could have done better with a larger audience that could have gotten behind the match. This way it lacked the feeling that would have made it big otherwise.

Rating: ***1/4

MotY: Out. It was a good match for what it was, but no Match of the Year.

The Undertaker vs. Jack Swagger at 4/19 RAW (ca. 15:00)

The Undertaker and Jack Swagger played a nice story here. The young champion Swagger thinks he can take down the famous Undertaker, who is 18-0 at Wrestlemania. The crowd is behind Taker of course, chanting for him throughout the the match. "Swagger, you don't wanna get into a punching contest with the Undertaker.", truth said by Cole here.

Somewhere shortly after the start they were oustide the ring for a while, where Taker sent Swagger face first into the steel steps, who in return sent him shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Swagger continued to work on the Undertakers legs during the whole match, trying to slow him down. Taker of course had none of it and responded with his fists, an Old School and the mandatory Legdrop - Cole for once was actually right when he called that move ~VINTAGE.

At one point both of them were in the ring and exchanging blows and the crowd really marked out whenever Taker hit a punch on Swagger - that was probably a better reaction than Cena ever got. After that the Undertaker dominated the match, beating down on his younger opponent, but Swagger managed to break the count at 2. Pissed off, Taker teased the Chokeslam, but Jack Swagger actually fought out and was rewarded with a big boot to the face.

Swagger was on the offense for a shot time after that, even getting a near fall. He went for a jump from the ropes but was caught and ate a Chokeslam right away. Taker was really selling the leg after that, limping through the ring while Swagger was still on the floor. But it didn't help the then World Heavyweight Champion much, because Taker hit a Tombstone righter afterwards... and because Swagger is no Shawn Michaels he didn't kick out of that one - that's the win for the Undertaker. Hasta la vista, Jack Swagger.

My opinion: Anyone who thought that Jack Swagger would win here clearly never saw an Undertaker match. But it was still okay. They had some nice back and forth action and both man could show their offense. Taker sold the leg pretty well and the match had a good pace, too. It helped a lot that the crowd was so into it, because that sure gave the match a vibe that the Kaval vs. Bryan one didn't poses.

Rating: **1/2 - **3/4

MotY: Out. They delivered a solid performance, but it was nowhere near MotY.

10/11/10 Raw

First of all: This episode of raw was no spotfest, partly a botchfest and an absolute signfest. Never heard of that? I haven't either. But there was actually a forest of signs in the crowd, plus most of them were really good too (it's rare that I have to choose between two pics for the sign of the day, but for this show I saved nine).

Did I mention that I absolutely hate it that Cena is still wearing the purple crap? ... I did now and I could rant about it all day long. Honestly, he is a part of Nexus and you can barely see his armband under his t-shirt plus he still has his own entrance theme... that's utter bullshit!

Jericho is gone and it seems like Miz tries to be our new savior. I worship him as long as he shuts Cena up every time someone gives him a mic.

I am woman. That said I am allowed to say the following: Alex Riley looked better than The Miz today. The silver outfit just didn't fit him at all. That's obviously not his color, so please go back to something black with a blue/purple tie Creative. (And Miz' birthday was on friday by the way.) I however like Riley as the sidekick of the Miz, these guys have really good chemistry - a little too much at times, to be exact. 

There was a very good and very loud "What?!" chant when Cole quoted the GM. It was the first in about seven or so weeks that you didn't actually see the paper on the laptop.

Barrett lecturing Cena is always funny to watch. I assume it's because usually there is no one who tells John Cena what he has to do and gets away with it without being squashed in the process.

Count with me:
Ted DiBiase vs. R-Truth
John Morrison vs. Tyson Kidd
Santino Marella vs. Zack Ryder
Justin Gabriel vs. Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan vs, Sheamus
Evan Bourne vs. CM Punk
The Miz vs. John Cena

No, your eyes aren't playing trick on you, there were really seven (7) matches on the cared. And, astonishing as it was, the Seattle crowd was really into all of them. They cheered for the faces, booed the heels and brought on some really nice chants throughout the night.

The match between Morrison and Kidd was really good and could have been a lot longer, especially if you consider how much time Gabriel and Orton got. Apropos Justin Gabriel vs. Randy Orton - it was no spotfest, but a real botchfest. Why did they get eleven minutes and Jomo/Kidd only three? ...oh, and Randy Orton is the WWE Champion. I really forgot about that for a second - no joke!

Interlude: Whoever you are, anonymous guy holding that "Ask him" sign ... I love you! xD

Daniel Bryan really got one hell of a reaction from the crowd. It was to be expected, because Washington is his homestate, but they had some great "Let's go Bryan!" chants. Bryan and Sheamus had a very solid match, Danielson did a lot of his signature moves and the crowd poped for all of them. He lost but looked good throughout the match. Sheamus did a great running Irish Backbreaker.

Some may think of this as unnecessary information, but the font on Bryans boots isn't some crappy make up thing, but the actual Kanji for dragon. Compare for yourselves: 龍 (ryû) and

Evan Bourne lost to CM Punk, but that's because he is going out with a shoulder injury. Rumor has it that he has to undergo surgery and will be off for several months. So it's rather logical to let him lose to Punk who needed this win after Big Show wiped the floor with him on Smackdown so many times. As expected their match was one of the best of the whole evening.

Divas interlude: Natalya talked, then LayCool came in and I went out.

You can't let tweener Cole comment a match between John Cena and the Miz. One moment he is hyping Miz and the next he is hyping John Cena - it simply doesn't work and irritates the viewers more than anything else. It was admittedly to be expected that the match would be no DQ but really, who does still think that Creative would let anyone win clean over Cena if they can prevent it? Yeah right, you know it.

There was really a party going on in the ring at the main event. Riley interferred, Husky Harris and Michael McGilicutty showed up to beat Cena for a little bit and Barrett didn't miss out his chance to pummel him some more - verbally at least. I am a sucker for the whole Barrett/Cena storyline, because someone actually shuts John Cena up and (for the time being) gets away with it. Let's hope that there will be a lot more of Barrett tormenting Cena in the next few weeks - they not only have great chemistry, but also make for an entertaining storyline.

I liked this episode of Raw better than most, mostly because there were more matches and less stupid talk and guets hosts in it. Yes, the matches weren't all great but we got some really good action and that's more than Raw offers it's audience usually.

Sign of the day

There were so many ... let's see if someone finds the one in this picture that had me lol like crazy.

And here are the best of the others:

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did - I love the Jericho quote!

TNA Bound for Glory

The Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me did a really great opening match.

That said, the PPV sucked.

Jeff Hardy turned heel.

Kevin Nash is retiring after the next episode of Impact.

And that was all you needed to know.


PS: Sunday was the 10/10/10 - 101010 binary code - that gives forty-two in decimal numbers (if you are an ITler you most likely laughed about that).

10/04/10 RAW

It's Raw time again. They'll have to start building feuds for Barrgging Rights this episode because it is in ... another three weeks (?). Nobody get's how Vince McMahon can be so dumb as to hold three Pay-per-View in forty-six (46) day but I'm done ranting about it. I won't buy any of them anyway, so why bother?

The crowd reaction to Barrett was medicore at times, he got a few "You suck!" chants but nothing big. Then it was time for Cena and what happened ... he wore no Nexus gear! Damn you, CeNexus! A Nexus armband an that's it - what shit is WWE trying to pull here? Argh, that really pisses me off! Cena looks like a big, lost child by the way, his too big shirt and jean shorts don't help in the matter either. It's the best acting I've seen from John Cena in a long time, though.

That's what I wanted to see ... and what I got to see. Disappointing.

When Cena had to team up with Tarver it was clear that he wouldn't help him win the match, but he again showed a nice defiant behavior that even had me grin a little at times. After Tarvers did the job he acted somewhat heelish with the way he beat him down. There was one spot where the camera was pointed so that you couldn't see his eyes. It gave him that certain "Viper look" - listen to the voices John!

The GMs decision that Cena has to obey Barrett was necssary because otherwise he would've destroyed them in two or three weeks.

I skipped the Divas match and the Legendary plus Jackass 3D advertisement in favor of some food and was back in time for the interview with John Cena (should've skipped that one too, but whatever). Josh Matthews had a point though when he said, "You are either Nexus or ... you're fired."

Daniel Bryan can sell a beating, we already know that, but was that beat down from Sheamus really necessary? ...of course it wasn't. There are enough jobbers out there who could've done the job.

"And Michael Cole, you have been the personification of stupidity since 1997." that was clearly the line of the day. That's why you have to love Edge. And because of, "Why am I arguing with a computer? We’ve gone from Stone Cold Stunning Mr. McMahon on Raw to Edge arguing with a computer!" of course. It's the same as Jericho's classic "Of course you have an e-mail!" "Just shut up and read it!". I already miss the man.

The segment with the Miz, Alex Riley and Edge was about the most entertaining part of the evening. Edge owned Miz (and Riley), by the way - "But he is awesome ... at tapping out to Daniel Bryan."

Afterwards Miz dragged Riley out of the arena like he was his baby - and suddenly Edge's reference wasn't that far-fetched anymore.

I skipped about another seven minutes of Divas and Ted/Maryse/Knoxville highschool storyline, but was right back for the piece with them and Goldust. It was mildly entertaining at least. Okay, the thing with the belt was hilarious. Give it to Goldust, the guy may be a freak, but he is a freak who can be funny.

Cena coming out with Nexus for the Battle Royal gave the whole thing a nice touch. He played his role well when he stood guard dog for Barrett during the whole match and walked out for him at the end.

All in all it was an okay show. They actually got me interested in the CeNexus storyline (if only because of the possibility of Cena turning heel). Let's see what they make of it next week.

After Hell in a Cell

Hell in a Cell took place last night and the reviews so far tell me that it was a fairly good Pay-per-View. I most likely won't watch it until the end of the week because even yukou, tudou and friends aren't that fast with uploading WWE stuff, but I'll share some of my thoughts about the PPV with you here.

Bryan Danielson Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison was the opening match (different reviewers have very different opinions about that) and everyone agrees that it was good match. What else did you expect? Danielson is a first class worker, Morrison showed that he can wrestle without botching his finisher in the last few weeks and Miz can have **** matches with the right people (Danielson).

I didn't, don't and never will care about any match between Randy Orton and Sheamus. It supposedly was a solid match but this guys just don't have it in my opinion. They could throw each other from the cage and I still couldn't care less - whatever people say about Orton vs. Cena, at least they had chemistry in the ring!

Alberto Del Rio was on that PPV. To me he has no charisma, is annyoing as hell (in a "fuck-you-I'd-rather-see-Christian-vs-McIntyre-for-the-513th-time-than-have-you-talking" way) and also incredible overrated. Have we seen a really good match from him so far? Have we seen a really good promo from him so far? Is he anything special? No, no, and again - NO.

Edge apparently was the face in his match with Swagger and in a beatdown with him and Alberto Del Rio. That's a bad idea. Edge does not work as a face, we've seen it earlier this year. They'd rather turn CM Punk - because yes, he is better as a heel than as a face, but as a face he is still better than about 90% of the employees of WWE.

Who agrees with me that Edge won't apologize to the GM tonight?

Barrett and Cena seems to have been a better match than expected. Barret kicked out of the STF, what is a miracle in itself. I'm actually seeing forward to watching this.

John Cena joined the Nexus after he lost the match - and WWE's website is promising that Cena will show up tonight in full Nexus gear! I so wanna see that. No grape ape anymore!

I guarantee that today's Raw will have a higher rating than last weeks show. Children and women (grow up, girls!) all around the world are freaking out because Cena had to join "the bad guys", if that doesn't mean ratings what does?

There was a women's match. The better wrestler won. She didn't get the title. Enough said.

Paul Bearer turned on the Undertaker like many people here on the Internet predicted. It was a wise move and better than having Taker wipe the floor with Kane after he won the last Pay-per-View match they had. Kane has rarely had that much momentum.

I predicted 4/5 of five matches right. Natalya won, didn't get the title however. Cena lost via interference from outside (not clean) and - like I predicted - didn't turn heel.


PS: Creative finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel - The Miz is no longer wearing white. Bryan's new ring gear looks nice, though.

Hell in a Cell Preview

It's the 3rd of October, 2010. Twenty years ago West Germany and the GDR were unified into the Republic of Germany, nearly thirteen years ago (October 5th, 1997) the character of Kane made his debute in the WWF and three years ago George Bush signed the bailout of the U.S. financial system worth $700 billion. Two of those facts don't matter to the average wrestling fan, but they make for a nice history lesson. The third fact of course is essential to every wrestling fan because the debute of Kane started what is one of the most well-known feuds in wrestling history. Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Kane and a Cell - I think we all know what happened.

In about ten nine hours those of us who bought Hell in a Cell or manage to find a working live stream will be able to watch how this feud will probably end where it started - with Undertaker and Kane in a cell. It's actually the first Hell in a Cell match that features only Taker and Kane against each other. Paul Bearer will be there with the urn of course, holding it high in hopes of a win for The Undertaker. Sheamus and Randy Orton will be there too, also competing against each other in a HiaC match.

Everything seemed fine until I mentioned Randy Orton and Sheamus, because does that match really belong in a cell, and for no apparent reason that is? I say no and I'm probably not alone with this opinion. In nearly thirteen years since that first match with HBK, Undertaker and Kane there have only been nineteen Hell in a Cell matches, that's a very small number in WWE standarts.

When a Hell in a Cell match was announced in the past, it was always a spectacular event. The Cell usually meant the end of a long and grueling feud. The Cell meant wrestlers bleeding all over the ring and doing stunts you usually didn't get to see. The Cell meant bad blood, matches to the limit and moments that made you cringe (Mick Foley). Will Randy Orton vs. Sheamus give us any of this? ...of course it won't. The "highlight" of the "buildup" for their feud was Sheamus giving the boot to Orton on Smackdown - two  f***ing days ago!

It's obviously not the fault of either of the two competitors. They can get out only so much of a match that is doomed not only by Creative but also by the PG rating of the WWE. Because - everyone knows it - Hell in a Cell was, is, and will never be PG. A match like this can't be PG, it's an impossible task.

That is probably one of the reasons I am not as excited about Undertaker vs. Kane as I could have been under other circumstances. I don't believe that the WWE will be able to provide a special match under the current conditions. I even doubt that they will, by some miracle, end up on top of the cage - and that tell's more than enough about how interesting this macth will be...

Another thing that bugs me about the Hell in a Cell PPV is the whole thing going on between John Cena and the Nexus. The stipulation that was introduced to their match is actually something I really liked. I liked it until I saw that and once again was reminded why everyone thinks this company is as stupid as it is.

I present you the official posters for Bragging Rights and Survivor Series:

So, one way or another, Nexus will win this thing. From how I know WWE, they'll pull some DQ-shit and manage to have Nexus winning the match without having Cena lose it. He will either the forced to join our friends in black and yellow or the stipulation will simly be sweeped under the table. A heel turn for John Cena? Not until hell freezes over or the rating are below 2.0 (and if that happens even a heel-Cena can't save them anymore).

My predictions for who'll win at Hell in a Cell:  

Natalya over Michelle McCool simply because she is the better wrestler of the two - which in turn means that Nataly won't win because Melina was the better wrestler too and see what happened to her.

Daniel Bryan will have the pin over John Morrison. There is not much to say about that match, because everyone knows how it'll end. They're protecting Miz here - that's the only reason Morrison is in this match in the first place.

Randy Orton will win against Sheamus. I hate Orton's current character, but he's over with the crowd and ready to step into is upcoming feud with the Miz for the WWE title - but he has to hold the title to do so, therefore a win for the Viper.

The Undertaker will win against Kane.With the way they hyped Takers new strength thanks to Bearer and the urn there is now way he'll lose this one. Kane got the last win at a PPV, which alone is a wonder in itself.

Nexus will be victorious in their match with John Cena. They'll make it out alive. I don't know if Cena joins them (not likely) but as I said before there will absolutely be no heel turn.

Let's see if my predictions are more precise for Hell in a Cell than they were for Night of Champions were I only managed to guess 4 out of 7 right - did anyone get all 7 right by the way?


PS: There are only five matches on the card so there will be a lot of talk this evening, probably one long promo from Miz, one from Kane and one from Nexus. But there are worse things than that, because Miz, Kane and Barrett at least can talk. The other Nexus not so much but just hope that someone is clever enough to not give them a mic tonight.

10/01/10 Smackdown - live

So that it is, the live premiere of Smackdown on Syfy. I like that the show is live now, especially because of the date it's on. It's nice for the European fans because we can actually watch it live now (8pm East Coast is 1am UK and 2am in middle Europe) - that makes Smackdown more appealing than Raw in some ways.

The first thing I noticed was the black ref. I haven't seen one before. Why was every wrestling-referee I saw until today white? I'm really curious about it.

MVP and Ziggler start the show off in a match for the Intercontinental Titel. Why is MVP suddenly in a IC title match? ... it dioesn't matter, because 5 minutes into the show the Nexus come down to the ring and take both of them out. My clock showes 2:07 when Cena joines the party after they beat up Big Show. He is usually quiet - no talking from him at all. Strange.

Apropos Cena: Wade Barrett mentiones once again the stipulation for the Cena vs. Nexus match at Hell in a Cell. if Cena loses he has to join Nexus, if he wins Nexus are disbanded. It's and interesting stipulation ... it was an interesting stipulation until I saw this poster. Now I know that Nexus either win (unlikely) or that the match will end in a double countout or something similar (most likely).

They announce The Nexus vs. The Big Show and Kane vs. John Cena (with the Nexus as lumberjacks) for later. CM Punk vs. the Undertaker is also advertised. The last match got my interest, the other two obviously didn't. Kane may be good on the mic, but even he can only do so much against SuperCena.

Next is a 4-on-4 Divas battle. LayCool and team are up against Natalya and team. Nataly wins with the Sharpshooter and that is the best part of the actual match. Outside of the ring Hornswoggle chases Layla around the ring only to get a boot to the face my Michelle McCool.

After comercial Jack Swagger + mascot enter the ring. Swagger cuts a promo but get's interrupted by Edge (thank good!). After some talk Edge goes to attack Swagger who hides behind his eagle mascot. Edge thinks about it and no one is really surpried when the eagle is layed out after one well-aimed punch. Swagger runs and Edge spears the eagle.

Big Show vs Nexus can't be considered a match. They beat him up and Justin Gabriel hits the 450 Splash. Twice. The announcers (Josh Matthews and Matt Striker are joined by Michael Cole) are shocked. I am not. Gabriel has black hair by the way - a week ago it was light brown and two weeks before that dark brown. Decide on a color, man!

The bell rings and we all know who is coming next. Undertaker Baul Bearer and then The Undertaker. As expected Taker wipes the floor with Punk in a few minutes. They advertised "Undertaker vs. Kane in a Steel Cage at HiaC for the first time". Without words.

Up next is Alberto Del Rio - ring announcer, golden car and all. He mocks Rey Mysterio by bringing up a Chiuaua ("little Rey") with a black mask and goes as far as kissing the dog. On cue Mysterio's music hits and he is not amused by what Del Rio did. He attackes Alberto, who bails and leaves Rey in the ring with his announcer who promptly eats a 619 from an angry Rey Mysterio.

Randy Orton decides to grace Smackdown with his presence tonight. The crowd likes him but he's had better reactions in the weeks before on Raw. His opponent for tonight is ... "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. Rhodes is accompanied by the other half of the Tag Team Champions, Drew McIntyre. Their team still has no name - will there ever be one? Cody obviously doesn't win. Randy does. With one RKO to each of the Tag Champs. But Sheamus comes form behind and actually manages to lay out Orton. I was mildly surprised.

With 11 minutes left on my clock Kane and Cena start their match with Nexus outside the ring. If you expect a particularly special or exciting match you better look the other way. Cena get's beat up by Nexus the moment he hits the floor. A round of punches later they throw him back in. After the Comercial Cena gives a Five Knuckle Shuffle to Kane - a part of me wants to weep having to watch this. Kane leaves the ring next, but Nexus keep their distance. Not for long though and Gabriel pays the price for that. Cena get's out of the ring too and there is a big brawl outside.

The bell rings and the arena becomes dark.

When the lights are back on Kane is in the ring with the Undertaker standing behind him. Undertaker chases Kane into the crowd and the exchange blows (one crazy fan stands too close wih his digicam and meets the stairs when Kane falls back against him). They go back in the ring rather fast where Kane goes for the Chokeslam on Taker but Paul Bearer is standing in the corner with the urn and suddenly Undertaker manages to overpower his brother and give him a Chokeslam of his own. Kane bails from the ring after that and The Undertaker's music hits. Hell in a Cell goes of at 4:00 sharp.

Final thoughts: Today's Smackdown was more similar to an usual episode of Raw than it was to an usual episode of Smackdown. There was less wrestling but more angels and more people in general. The whole show seemed a little bit rushed to me, like they wanted to include too many wrestlers in too less time. With Cena, Orton and Nexus on the show there were simply too many main eventers. That ensured that the matches where short and looked pointless. It was okay to watch, but I really hope that Smackdown goes back to the show with the great wrestling it usually is next week.