My favorite wrestler of the past decade and my favorite sports columnist of all time meet in Bill Simmons’ latest podcast, featuring “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. You can find the audio interview on Simmons’ landing page at ESPN.com or you can download it right here (here’s an iTunes link too!). I’ve already downloaded it and I can’t wait to listen to it when I get home. It’s like seriously wrecking my mind — Shawn Michaels and Bill Simmons!!!
THQ has announced that the award winning WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
The latest edition to the renowned fighting videogame franchise, has achieved “Greatest Hits” status in North America for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, as well as joined Nintendo’s “Player’s Choice” collection in North America for the Wii video game system.
The word on the street is that the writing in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 is even more spectacular. I’ll be hitting up Summer Slam 2010 to get a better idea of how the game is shaping up and to hit on Nattie Neidhart.
Congratulations to THQ and everyone that worked on SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 — particular the outstanding writing staff.
TNA is using several ECW originals for a “one more night” angle. One one hand, WWE did a terrible job with the ECW brand and ended up pissing on what made the original show so unique. On the other hand, going with this angle is another example of using old talent instead of creating new stars. While Tommy Dreamer delivered a passionate promo, if you hit the mute button you see a bunch of wrestlers that are way past their primes…and also Rhino.
What do you think of this angle? Is it just a bunch of old guys taking the spotlight away from younger talent? Or is it one more chance for the “real” ECW to shine after being tarnished by WWE?
Last week LeBron James pulled off one of the most thorough heel turns in the history of heel turns. He went from a basketball player that was loved by some and liked by most to one of the most hated people in the NBA. One of Bill Simmons’ readers compared it to Hulk Hogan’s heel turn at Bash at the Beach ’96. It’s a funny analogy, but it totally works. James’ heel turn is so unbelievable that it could pass for a WWE storyline. I’m pretty sure halfway through the season, Pat Riley is going to take out Erik Spoelstra with a steel chair, spray paint his back, and take over as head coach.
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, the World Cup finals, Jesse Jackson accusing Dan Gilbert of seeing LeBron James as a “runaway slave”, or BP’s efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Last week LeBron James pulled off one of the most thorough heel turns in the history of heel turns. He went from a basketball player that was loved by some and liked by most to one of the most hated people in the NBA. One of Bill Simmons’ readers compared it to Hulk Hogan’s heel turn at Bash at the Beach ’96. It’s a funny analogy, but it totally works. James’ heel turn is so unbelievable that it could pass for a WWE storyline. I’m pretty sure halfway through the season, Pat Riley is going to take out Erik Spoelstra with a steel chair, spray paint his back, and take over as head coach.
What are some of your favorite heel turns? Whether they’re from WWE shows, sports, videogame storylines, or real life, betrayals are powerful things. From Cain betraying Abel to LeBron betraying his hometown franchise, I want to know what some of your favorite heel turns in history are.
A friend notified me that my IMDB listing has been updated to include my writing credits for SmackDown vs. Raw 2011. Naturally, I went ahead and perused the listing. I was surprised to see that the motion-capture actors were listed. The entry noted that former WWE Superstar Paul London, my friend Austin Aries, and my favorite wrestler Claudio Castagnoli did mo-cap work for the game. This surprised me since I didn’t think that THQ and WWE would want the world to know that indie wrestlers were doing the in-game moves for current WWE talent.
According to IMDB, Aries did the mo-cap work for Evan Bourne, Chris Jericho, and Santino Marella. London portrayed Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. Castagnoli donned the capture suit for Edge and Jack Swagger.
Professional wrestler Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan in WWE) has posted a lengthy blog entry on his WWE release. He confirmed a lot of what has been speculated and gave his fans an update on his mindset. Here’s a clip:
WWE is very serious about adhering to their PG guidelines, and apparently my actions during the NXT attack on John Cena, namely choking announcer Justin Roberts with his tie and spitting in Cena’s face, crossed the boundaries of what is considered “PG.” Perhaps the choking was too violent or perhaps the spit was too demeaning. I apologized for both immediately following the incident; but I would be a hypocrite if I apologized for putting everything I have into the attack. I would much rather have gone too far than to come up too short.
As with anyone who gets fired from their job, especially when they feel its unjust, I am angry. Very angry. But I can’t fault WWE for how they handled my release. My contract contained a 90 day no-compete clause in the event I was let go, yet the WWE has graciously allowed me start wrestling again on any show that’s not taped for television or pay per view.
As a huge Danielson mark, I’m extremely bummed that WWE released him for an incredibly lame reason. He was my favorite part of WWE since Shawn Michaels retired. As someone that lost their job for a stupid reason, I empathize with Danielson (though he’s actually been making money since his release, unlike me — ha!). I hope WWE rehires him in the future. For now I encourage all of you to follow his blog and download some of his excellent Ring of Honor matches on PlayStation Network or Xbox Live.
YouTube has announced that it has expanded its partnership with WWE. This snippet from the official YouTube blog says it all:
Wrestling fans, have we got a body-slam of an announcement for you. Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that will bring full-length episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars and ECW to YouTube users in the U.S. on the WWE YouTube channel. In case that’s not enough pile-driving goodness for you, there will be even more clips from Monday Night Raw, footage from classic WWE matches, and videos from WWE Superstars and Divas like John Cena, Chris Jericho and Alicia Fox.
I’m sure all of you are thrilled that more Alicia Fox videos will be available online. *sigh* Could they have picked a lamer WWE Diva?!?
Seriously though, this is awesome news. Too bad WWE Raw isn’t part of the deal. That would make me think hard about cancelling my cable service (which I ultimately wouldn’t do because I’m a boxing fan).
You ladies and gents psyched for more Alicia Fox hotness (and full episodes of WWE programming)?!?
In case you missed last night’s WWE Fatal Four Way pay-per-view event, Sheamus is the new WWE Champion and Rey Mysterio is the new World Heavyweight Champion. I love that Sheamus has the strap again; he has a unique look and cuts fun promos (I love it when he calls someone “fella”). I’m not as jazzed by Rey Rey winning a belt. WWE could have done more with previous title holder Jack Swagger. Hopefully Rey is just a transitional champion.
In other news, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan in WWE) has launched a new web site. He was released from the WWE under murky circumstances and has several indie bookings lined up. I am tremendously bummed that WWE released Danielson for seemingly idiotic reasons. I’m also bummed that he never really got to show what he could do in WWE. Since Shawn Michaels retired, Danielson and Chris Jericho were the two main reasons I wathced WWE programming. Sadly, it’s down to Jericho.
In order to honor Danielson, I think I’ll download an excellent Ring of Honor episode on Xbox Live (they’re under HD Net). I believe there’s an excellent match between Danielson and my pal Austin Aries available. Thankfully a very kind and very smart reader hooked me up with Microsoft Points yesterday. I think this will be my second purchase with said points.
I totally missed this little tidbit — WWE has an official YouTube account! There are lots of great clips available. Here are two of my favorites from the last episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. Up above is a dance-off between Santino Marello and Vladimir Kozlov. It’s significant because it’s the most interesting Kozlov has been since joining WWE. Below is a great clip of John Cena getting the crap beat out of him by the cast of NXT season one. It’s awesome because any time Cena gets trashed is fantastic and Bryan Danielson rules!
During the season finale of NXT, WWE revealed the upcoming pros and rookies pairings for season two. They are:
There’s some interesting talent here. Right away I’m drawn to Low-Ki, who had some excellent matches in ROH and TNA. I’m curious to see how LayCool will try to put him over. Even though Percy Watson proclaims to be a ladies’ man, his character is clearly flaming. Harris and McGillicutty have big shoes to fill (especially McGillicutty).
NXT is actually my favorite WWE program at the moment simply because I don’t know what to expect each week. SmackDown and Raw have become so predictable. Outside of Chris Jericho’s excellent work, the shows are just kind of…there for me now.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the new NXT pairings when you have a chance.
