WWE Reviews #6 - Wrestlemania 2000

            By the time Wrestlemania 2000 came along, the Attitude Era was in full swing. Unfortunately, this was not the best part of the Attitude Era. Storylines in the mid card were getting embarrassingly ridiculous, the women’s division was an insult and the main event was overcrowded with McMahon’s. The only one on one match was the women’s match and I have a hard time even calling this a match. The only 2 good matches were the triangle ladder match and the triple threat with Angle/Benoit/Jericho. Other than that, this felt like a B pay per view you would find in July, not Wrestlemania, your showcase of the year.

The Godfather and D`Lo Brown with Ice T vs Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan

            The event begins with a Ho train, not a good start. Ice T is the extent of the celebrity involvement at the show, not necessarily a bad thing. I`m not sure why this match happened, it just seems like something you would find thrown together in the middle of Raw to kill time. I`ve got to say though, Bull Buchanan is extremely agile for a guy his size. His leg drop from the top turnbuckle was something spectacular, maybe the best I’ve ever seen.

Winners: Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan

Hardcore Championship: Hardcore Battle Royal

            While the previous match was serviceable and decent to watch, the event quickly falls off the rails with this. They call this a battle royal, but it`s actually a championship scramble. There is a time limit. When you pin the champion, you become the champion and whoever has the last pinfall once the timer runs out becomes the actual champion. This match though is a terrible mess. It`s just people hitting each other with cooking sheets and punches. Most of the time participants don`t seem to know what the hell is going on. Totally uncoordinated. Bradshaw looks like he`s pissed off just being there so he`s extra violent with everyone. This is why the Hardcore Championship became garbage, it was matches like these that made it worthless. It mercifully ends after 15 minutes and a botched ending.

Winner: Hardcore Holly (new champion)

Test and Albert with Trish Stratus vs Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman) with Chester Mccheeserton

            Holy shit, look at Trish Stratus! Before she became a respected women`s wrestler and brought some prestige to the Women`s Championship, she was just eye candy. But boy, she sure did her job here. Oh yeah, and Al Snow and Steve Blackman have a little person in a cheese suit. Sadly Steve Blackman is wasted here. All I remember is how hot Trish looked and the little cheese guy being beat up at the end.

Winners: Test & Albert

Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: Dudley Boyz (c) vs Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian

            Now we`re talking here. This would be the beginning of an amazing series of matches between these 3 teams. They had such great chemistry and were able to create fantastic high spots. Unlike the hardcore championship match from earlier, this is how you book an extreme rules match. Do less but say more with it. Make sure to sell and give the crowd some time to register what happened. Everything done here was marvellously done. I`m looking forward to seeing their later matches.

Winners: Edge & Christian (new champions)

Cat Fight: The Kat with Mae Young vs Terri Runnels with Fabulous Moolah

            How did something like this end up on Wrestlemania? This wasn`t a match, it was an abomination. I`m not even sure what the rules were. I think if one of the women got thrown out of the ring they lost. Why is that the stipulation? Luckily we had Val Venis as the special guest referee. I feel bad for everyone in this. Moolah and Mae Young were legends who were capable of much better than this. The only point of this was to watch 2 chicks rip their clothes off. While this could work for a throwaway Raw match, it`s unacceptable that this made it to Wrestlemania.

Winner: Terri Runnels, but really we`re all losers

Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay) and Chyna vs The Radicalz (Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero)

            As stupid as this match sounds, it turned out much better than it had any right to be. Chyna could actually work. She had the strength to keep up with the guys and could move well. What could have been if she didn`t go down that weird path. Eddie Guerrero is great as his character. Latino Heat!!! The match worked well enough.

Winners: Too Cool & Chyna

European and Intercontinental Championship: Kurt Angle (c) vs Christ Benoit vs Chris Jericho

            This is the second great match of the card. Although it only lasted a little under 10 minutes, these 3 men put on a clinic. They are pros at this and it shows. Everything was perfectly timed and the matched flowed so smoothly. It was the first Wrestlemania for all 3 of them but they already looked better than anybody else on the card. Benoit made everything feel authentic, those chops looked devastating. There was a weird stipulation where the first fall was for the Intercontinental Championship and the second was for the European Championship. This is the kind of match you need at Wrestlemania. There`s not much more I can say, it just needs to be watched.

Winners: Chris Benoit (new Intercontinental Champion) and Chris Jericho (new European Champion)

Rikishi and Kane with Paul Bearer vs X-Pac and Road Dogg Jesse James with Tori

            Another damn tag match! This isn`t the Survivor Series, cut it with all the tag matches. The only purpose of this was to have Rikishi give a stinkface to Tori and Pete Rose. Yes Pete Rose comes back one last time to get beat up by Kane. Nothing to say about this. Rikishi danced and stuck his ass in people`s face.

Winners: Kane and Rikishi

WWE World Championship: Triple H (c) with Stephanie McMahon vs The Big Show with Shane McMahon vs Mick Foley with Linda McMahon vs The Rock with Vince McMahon

            While I do appreciate giving The Big Show and Mick Foley a chance to main event Wrestlemania, this should have just been The Rock vs Triple H. That was the feud of the time and it`s always best when Wrestlemania ends with a 1 on 1 mathc. The big problem with this match though is that it`s not even about the wrestlers or the championship, it`s about the McMahon family turmoil. This took away everything that was going on in the ring. There was more focus on Vince and Shane fighting then there should have been. The match picks up once it`s just Triple H and The Rock left but it gets ruined by a non sensical finish and The Rock losing. He still gives a Rock Bottom to 3 McMahon family members but that`s once again a Raw ending, not one fitting your biggest event of the year.

Winner: Triple H (retains World Championship)

Wednesday Night Ramblings - January 13 2016 - Let's go Cena or Cena sucks?

             John Cena has been a staple of WWE television for well over a decade. In that time many wrestling fans have turned on Cena, whilst others have stayed on his side. This created the “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks” chants you hear all the time. To each their own opinion, but where do I figure Cena to be?

                John Cena is a 12 time WWE champion. Therein lies part of the problem. Modern audiences do not like always seeing the same people on top. This isn’t the old days where Bruno Sammartino stayed champion for 7 straight years. The smart wrestling fan of wants to see a lot of people they deem better on top. A lot of people seem to think Cena only has 5 moves, which is preposterous. Of the all time greats such as Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock, none of them comes even close to what Cena can do in the ring. Historically, Cena is the best face of the company wrestler of all time. Another argument says that his promos are awful. Granted, when he tries to do the bad comedy, it is truly awful. But in recent years he’s cut back on those and delivered serious promos that are engaging

                Some have said that Cena has held people down in order to stay on top. The only way to know whether or not this is true would be to have been there, so I’ll chalk that up to the Internet making shit up.

                The final verdict for me is Let’s Go Cena, but with a condition. I don’t think he should be in the WWE world title picture. He’s won it enough and his being champion doesn’t bring anything new or exciting. Rather he should stay in the US title hunt. His open challenge has been one of the best parts of Raw and it delivered excellent matches. He also brings much needed prestige to a belt that hasn’t been important. Keep him working with the younger talent and he can always take the main event with the US title when need be.

Lego Jurassic World

Not Machine Compatible - 10G - Tried to use a hacker terminal as Alan Grant

Clever Goal - 10G - As a Velociraptor, scored a goal in the Jurassic World Petting Zoo

All I got was this T-Shirt - 20G - Created a custom character

Went and made a new dinosaur - 20G - Created a custom dinosaur

Family Reunion - 20G - Completed Eric Kirby

Pack Hunter - 10G - Set both free play characters as Raptors

Hello John - 10G - Set both free play characters as John Hammond

Is this how you make a dinosaur - 20G - Completed Breeding Facility

Do you think he saurus - 10G - Sneaked past a dinosaur using camouflage

We need more teeth -20G - Completed Main Street Showdown

Anybody want a soda? - 10G - As Dennis Nedry, threw a soda can at another character

The concept of attraction - 10G - Enabled attract studs Red brick

Building blocks of life - 10G - Built a LEGO object using Mr. DNA

Killer Instinct

Triple Trials - 10G - You have completed 3 trials

Stylish Orchid - 10G - You have unlocked a color for Orchid

Stylish Glacius - 10G - You have unlocked a color for Glacius

Sparring Jago - 5G - You have won a versus match as Jago

Graduation Day - 5G - You activated your first shadow

Stylish Thunder - 10G - You have unlocked a color for Thunder

Survival Jago - 5G - You have won a survival match as Jago

Stylish Jago - 10G - You have unlocked a color for Jago

Stylish Spinal - 10G - You have unlocked a color for Spinal

WWE Reviews #5 - Royal Rumble 1992

To be The Man, you gotta beat The Man, WOOO!!! – Ric Flair

            

           Prior to the 1992 Royal Rumble, the WWE World Championship had been vacated and it had been determined that the winner of the Royal Rumble match would become champion. For the first time in the events history, winning the rumble actually meant something. With the stakes higher than ever, every star in the company was now vying to win the Royal Rumble.

            

           The event starts with an awesome introduction from Vince McMahon naming everyone who will be in the rumble match. It’s very over the top and old school but I can’t help but love it. The announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan. These two have amazing chemistry together as announcers. Heenan in particular keeps saying hilarious lines, playing up to Monsoon as the straight man.

Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Kato) with Mr. Fuji vs The New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim the Anvil Neidhart)

            Right off the bat, branding your team as the new version of an older team is never a sure sign. Despite this, Owen Hart manages to shine in this match. For the time, he was pulling off some impressive aerial moves. In all this was a decent match with a good flow, great for an opener.

Winners: The New Foundation

Intercontinental Championship: The Mountie (c) with Jimmy Hart vs Roddy Piper

            How the hell did The Mountie ever become Intercontinental Champion? And he beat Bret Hart for it! Obviously he was just a transitional champion so they could get the title on Piper. The Mountie won it 2 days earlier at a House Show. I’ve got to say, Jimmy Hart is extremely annoying. That’s probably what they wanted, but he goes way too over the top with it. Calm down little man. This was a very short match that was not very good. Like I said, the point was just to get the title on Piper. At least his pre match promo was entertaining.

Winner: Roddy Piper (new champion)

Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau) with The Genius vs The Bushwackers (Butch and Luke) with Jamison

            This was a very, very boring match. It mostly consisted of The Bushwackers mugging to the crowd. It felt like the camera spent most of the match focusing on Jamison, who I just don’t get as a manager. He just stood there, quivering and looking dirty. This thing lasted an eternal 15 minutes before it finally ended. Oh wait no, there was a lame segment where they attacked The Genius after the match. Hahaha, hilarity (actually no, it was not funny at all).

Winners: The Beverly Brothers

Tag Team Championship: The Legion of Doom (c) (Hawk and Animal) vs The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) with Jimmy Hart

            This was watchable for the most part. The Legion of Doom could work and they made everything look like they killed their opponents. The 2 big guys from The Natural Disasters actually moved a lot better than I expected. The match ended in the LOD being counted out, lame. For some reason The Natural Disasters seemed to have forgotten the rules and got all pissed off they didn’t win the titles. I hate it when they do this, you should know the rules at this point.

Winners: Natural Disasters (by count out, LOD still champions)

Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Championship

            Before the match we get little promos from some of the rumble participants. Most are fairly good but Flair steals it. He brings so much intensity, you can’t help but believe him. Flair entered 3^rd and put on a clinic on conditioning. He spends over an hour in the ring, getting beat up the whole time. He does all the typical Ric Flair moves; low blow, begging, falling on his face, etc. It’s great to watch the legend in action. The ending was strange. The final 3 men were Flair, Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. Sid eliminates Hogan clean. Instead of being a sportsman, Hulk acts like a baby and tries to pull Sid out of the ring. Flair, always the dirtiest player in the game, takes advantage and throws Sid out, becoming the new world champion. Wasn’t Hulk Hogan supposed to be a babyface? What he did was a very heelish move. After the match, Ric Flair cuts another amazing promo with Bobby Heenan and Curt Henning. Just awesome, how a champion should be.

Winner: Ric Flair (new WWE world champion)

Book Reviews #9 - Killing Floor (1997) by Lee Child

            Whenever I am able to finish a book within 2 weeks, that’s a good sign. This book is that good. Killing Floor by Lee Child is the first adventure in the Jack Reacher series. The character himself is excellent. He’s a former Military Policeman who now just travels across the United States. In this book he ends up in a small town in Georgia where he has been arrested for a murder he didn’t commit. The book is excellently written and has great suspense. You find yourself trying to read as much as possible. I don’t want to give too much away, just read if you can, it’s a great book.

Score: 9/10