Category: TV

Coffee Talk #92: Three Reasons Why You Should Watch WWE NXT

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Jaime Kennedy missing Jennifer Love Hewitt’s birthday, how the WrestleMania card is shaping up, or the Taylor Swift backlash, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As some of you know, WWE NXT debuts tonight. The show pairs eight WWE “rookies” with eight seasoned mentors. It’s a fun concept that should lead to some cool storylines, but I’m super excited for NXT for one reason: Bryan Danielson (now Daniel Bryan). Here are three reasons Danielson will make NXT worth watching.

1) You might be watching a legend in the making. Danielson has been one of my favorite indie wrestlers for years. Whether it was with Ring of Honor or Pro-Wrestling Guerilla, his matches almost always delivered. His technical skills are amazing — as good or better than 90 percent of the current WWE roster — and he can fly a bit too. When it comes to pure skills, he’s already one of the best in the business and hopefully he makes the most out of his WWE opportunity.

2) He might be the second coming of Chris Benoit. Remember Benoit in his prime? He had the perfect blend of mat wrestling and charismatic aggression. Fans didn’t care that his mic skills were below average and that he wasn’t the biggest guy on the roster. He connected with fans through outstanding skills that were utilized in an appealing fashion. Danielson has similar qualities, though he’s slightly better on the mic. I’d love for the WWE to push a guy with excellent mat skills, similar to how it pushed Benoit and Eddie Guerrero.

3) Danielson and The Miz are the perfect team. The pairing is genius. Anyone that knows wrestling understands that Danielson can wrestle circles around The Miz. They also know that The Miz’s mic work is extraordinary and Danielson can learn a lot from it. It will be fun watching The Miz try to teach Danielson how to be a “star”. It’s a nice clash of styles and personalities that should lead to some great television.

I’m not saying NXT is going to be the best WWE show starting today. I’m saying that it will be worth watching because it will be a chance to watch a star-in-the-making from his first day in WWE. It’s a loose analogy, but it kind of reminds me of watching Derek Jeter in the minor leagues and following his entire career to this day. With a bit of luck, Danielson will go from The Miz’s sidekick to WWE world heavyweight champion. He’s certainly talented enough.

Are any of you planning to watch WWE NXT?

Edit: Here’s a bonus clip of Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans. Danielson puts Jack over and does some cool comedic spots at a PWG show.

Analyzing the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV

Yesterday I was still recovering from DICE and having visitors over the weekend, which made me completely forget about the WWE Elimination Chamer pay-per-view. Thankfully, N8R reminded me about it. Let’s take a look at the booking and talk about it.

WWE Championship — John Cena Wins: I hate saying this because John Cena is a really nice guy and he works extremely hard, but I hate watching him wrestle. He is my second-least favorite “top guy” in WWE. I was extremely annoyed that he was booked to win the WWE strap at this PPV. I couldn’t think of anything worse until….

Batista Beats Cena for the WWE Championship: Mr. McMahon made Cena defend the belt right after the first elimination chamber match ended. Batista beat him for it. Ugh. Batista is awful. I want to like him because he’s half Filipino and his book was a 9.5 on the unintentional comedy scale, but he just sucks. He can’t wrestle. He gasses on the way to the ring because he suffers from asthma and his second wind lasts about 90 seconds. Unlike Cena, “Big Dave” doesn’t work hard and is, by most accounts, a dick. I was hoping it would be Batista/McMahon vs. Cena/Hart at WrestleMania, with no championships on the line, but it doesn’t look that way.

Chris Jericho Wins the World Championship: This was great booking. The world championship match came down to Jericho and The Undertaker. ‘Taker was about to win when Shawn Michaels appeared and gave him “sweet chin music”. This sets up Jericho vs. Edge and HBK vs. ‘Taker at WrestleMania. The mic work leading up to Jericho/Edge will be fantastic, while HBK and Taker will probably steal the show again.

And the Rest: That was a Gilligan’s Island reference. It worked (really). The rest of the PPV looked crappy on paper. The one highlight was The Miz talking about mentoring Bryan Danielson (now Daniel Bryan in WWE) on NXT. The Miz said something like, “Bryan may be an Internet legend, but when I look at him I see the first guy in line at a Star Wars convention.” Danielson is a damn genius in the ring, but he definitely needs help on the mic. The Miz should help him get over in a big way.

American Idol’s Kara DioGuardi Poses for Maxim, Says Dumb Crap

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi — also known as “the useless one” or “the horny cougar” — recently posed for Maxim. There’s no denying that she has a beautiful body, but this video interview shows that her moronic comments are real — she’s just as stupid and annoying in Maxim as she is on Idol!

Poll: What Was Your Favorite Super Bowl XLIV Tech Commercial?

[poll id=”24″]

First off, congrats to the New Orleans Saints on winning Super Bowl 44! Now that we’ve been bombarded by 52 Budwesier commercials (that still won’t make it a good beer), let’s discuss your favorite tech commercials that aired during the game. I’m disqualifying all the GoDaddy.com spots because I’m tired of Danica Patrick. Dante’s Inferno was the only videogame commercial I recall (I could have missed some). The choices in this poll are Google, Vizio, Intel, and Motorola. Let’s check out the videos and get to the poll!

Google’s ad was the most romantic and a lot of people were raving about in the Twitterverse. I thought it was cute…but that’s about it.

My personal pick is this Vizio ad, simply because Tay Zonday rules. “Chocolate Rain” forever!!!

Motorola promoted its upcoming Devour phone (a mid-level Android phone coming to Verizon) and MotoBlur with Megan Fox (with her circus-freak thumbs) in a bath tub.

I thought Intel’s commercial was lame, but it made drool for a MacBook with an i5 or i7 processor.

Stephen Colbert Busts Out iPad at the Grammy Awards

Stephen Colbert is awesome and funny…and apparently on the cutting edge of technology since he busted out an Apple iPad at the Grammy Awards two months before it goes on sale. Check out this video of the cute clip that boosted Colbert’s geek cred by a factor of (at least) five.

Conan O’Brien Gets $45-Million in Severance, Free in September

The latest late-night drama is over, as NBC has settled with Conan O’Brien over The Tonight Show. The ousted host will be free to pursue other opportunities after September 1, 2010. According to E!, “His severance deal is said to be worth roughly $45 million, and will include a $33 million payout both for NBC’s breach of his contract and 12 million thanks-for-playing bucks for his most senior staff members.”

I’m happy that Conan’s staff will be getting some money. Having moved from New York to Los Angeles less than a year ago, they were always the real victims in this whole affair. Hopefully O’Brien will share some of his loot with his junior staff too, since it will tough to find work until this Fall. On a side note, I’ve always wanted one of these giant severance packages. Too bad I’ve never had a job that’s important enough to warrant one (*cough* Bernie Stolar *cough*).

Where do you think Conan O’Brien will end up? Fox? Comedy Central?

Source

Flashback: Jay Leno’s Raves About Conan O’Brien in 2004

This 2004 clip of Jay Leno discussing Conan O’Brien taking over The Tonight Show in 2009 is funny when viewed through the retroscope. My favorite line was when Leno said, “There was a lot of animosity between me and Dave over who was going to get it [The Tonight Show]. And quite frankly…good friendships were permanently damaged. And I don’t want to have to see anyone have to go through that ever again.”

*snicker*

Conan O’Brien Tries to Sell The Tonight Show on Craigslist

Conan just keeps getting better and better while dealing with his crappy situation. Last night the disrespected host of The Tonight Show had his staff post a Craigslist ad selling the show. Here’s a picture of the ad, which was unfortunately flagged and pulled.

I love it! It’s comedy 2.0! Go #teamconan!!!

Conan O’Brien Making the Most of NBC Being Pricks

You have to love Conan O’Brien. Even though he’s getting the shaft from NBC and Jay Leno, he’s using the situation to entertain his fans. After joking that he was preparing for a career as a barista, O’Brien said:

Hosting The Tonight Show has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me and I just want to say to the kids out there watching: You can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it too.

It’s funny and biting at the same time — brilliant stuff! Go #teamconan!!!