WWE Raw Wrapup 10/8/2012

#raw

Coming back to pro wrestling after missing two weeks used to be frightening - Who debuted, who left, who won, who lost?  Now?  There's a tag tournament going and nothing much else is critical since I've been gone.  Tonight we roll back in and see if I've missed anything!

John Cena opens Raw with his still bandaged arm from recent surgery.  Cena takes one week off and says it feels like a year...not for all of us.  Cena cracks jokes about Daniel Bryan and Kane being a demon and a goat, as well as Antonio Cesaro's nipple size.  He continues that he'd like to take AJ on a date and goes for the In-N-Out innuendo cheap pop.  Tonight, Vince McMahon gives a "State of the WWE" address, which actually is pretty big news.  Cena gets the crowd to cheer then says that the voice of the WWE has been stolen by CM Punk, which garners a strong CM Punk chant, amidst a chorus of boos from the younger fans.  John pressures Punk to choose him as his opponent at Hell in a Cell to make a Wrestlemania-level impact.  Next is a "Punk isn't a real man" comment to further push Punk toward choosing Cena as his opponent.  As Cena leaves, Ryback comes out and hits the ring.  A quick glance at one another, but no aggression between the two big men.  A quick recap of Ryback returning Jim Ross to the ring last week after being chased off by Heyman and Punk, followed by his opponents, Primo and Epico.

Match 1:  Ryback vs Primo and Epico
Winner:  Ryback via pinfall

Both Colons start in the ring, so this one seems to be Tornado rules.  Quick knockdowns and Epico avoids having Primo slammed on him.  Ryback throws Epico to the corner then takes a missile dropkick/Backstabber combo, followed by a backdrop of Epico onto Ryback.  The cousins stay on Ryback and the fans chant "Feed me more", backing him.  Epico slaps Ryback and gets tossed down for it, then Ryback hits the backpack chinbreaker and a pair of lariats.  Ryback grabs Epico and Primo for Shellshocked and lands it.   

Still the same act from Ryback, but at least now he's beating actual roster members...although he was doing that a while back too.  Like I've said, if I'm going to see a squash, this is how I want it - Over the top beatdowns of guys.  It's hard not to enjoy Ryback.

Match 2:  Brodus Clay vs R-Truth 
Winner:  Not the fans

R-Truth chases Little Jimmy into the ring and grabs a mic, saying he's sorry to Brodus.  Apparently LJ is going through puberty and wants to dance.  We are watching an imaginary friend dance.  Truth takes over and Vinny Mac gets on the Titantron to say that everyone should dance on up the ramp so he can give his "State of the WWE" speech.  I don't even.

Mr. McMahon struts on down to the ring like only he can.  Vince summarizes the previous segment and says there's also room for leprechauns, goat faced vegans, demons and luchadors.  Above all else, they have action.  WWE has the best against the best...cue CM Punk interrupting The Boss.  Heyman accompanies Punk, toting the WWE Title above his head.  Vince calls Punk's new yellow GTS t-shirt ugly (That's your merch, Vince!) and says that he takes offense to Punk disrespecting him.  Punk says he's upset that Vince said "best against the best" without mentioning him by name, which was a shot at him not stepping in the Hell in a Cell with John Cena.  Punk jaws at the crowd for disrespecting him, then asks Mr. McMahon if he respects his WWE Champion.  Vince respects Punk being WWE Champ for 323 days, but doesn't respect him being a "Paul Heyman guy".  Vince says he's not a "CM Punk guy".  Punk says he should be and throws a tirade in the direction of The Boss.  Punk says if he doesn't get the respect he deserves, he'll do what he did a year ago - Leave. 

Vince asks Punk if he thinks he's indispensable, and Punk, of course, says yes.  Punk says if it's not him, then who?  Vince says it's the WWE Universe that keeps the wheels turning.  Vince says he's been listening to the Universe, and the consensus is that someone needs to shut CM Punk's mouth.  Vince says Punk isn't at the caliber of HBK, Bret Hart, Steve Austin yet.  Punk takes exception to Austin and says he took shortcuts, like beating up a "clueless, inept millionaire".  Punk keeps pushing buttons and says that now Vince knows how he feels everytime he walks out.  Punk says Vince has been slapping him in the face for years, then paintbrushes him right off of his feet.  Punk leaves and Vince says he ought to fire Punk, but instead he wants Punk to fight him and learn something about respect.  The crowd goes happier and louder than they have in months with a huge "Vince" chant and Heyman says this went "the wrong way".  Punk assures him that everything will be fine.

Match 3:  Primetime Players vs Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara, Tag Team Tournament Match
Winners:  Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara via pinfall

Young and Cara start and Cara escapes an arm wrench with a quick lucha snapmare, then the rope flip arm drag.  Cara hits a hurricanrana, but Young hits a knee lift.  Cara makes a tag and Young gets lowbridged to the floor, allowing Rey to hit a senton on Young.  O'Neil runs interference and catches a dive from Sin Cara for his trouble.

Back from a commercial, O'Neil is in charge of Cara with a backbreaker for two.  Young tags in puts the luchador in a bearhug.  Young backs him into the corner, then elevates him to the top, but Cara fights off and hits a diving tornado DDT.  Rey tags in and hits the diving senton on Young, then knocks Titus off the apron.  Mysterio with a headscissors and kick on Young.  Titus gets in the ring and takes an enzuigiri, knocking him out.  Young hits the Gutcheck on Cara who isn't the legal man, which lets Rey land the 619 and Drop the Dime on Young to reach the finals of the tag title tournament.

Good, fun match.  Action came together fine, but (although I understand the "why) having Rey/Cara beat the PTP in this tournament really bumps them down the totem pole.  They established as such a strong team over the months and get bumped off by a random pairing.  It's a good way to demolish momentum built and earned, despite having their manager fired for a boneheaded move.  Wishing good things continue to come for PTP.

Heyman and Punk are in the back discussing tonight's potential fight.  Heyman reminds Punk that Vince can be obsessive about making them miserable if Punk wins this and Punk says he'll find a way to make it a win tonight.

Match 4:  Wade Barrett vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Champion), non-title
Winner:  Wade Barrett via disqualification

Wade Barrett is still in that "welcome back" phase of his return, and it's well deserved.  He's quite good at being that "I'll beat your ass just because" heel.  A tie up between the two Europeans starts the match and Big Show enters to possibly repay Sheamus for costing him a match on Smackdown (Brough Kicking Tensai).  The distraction allows Barrett to take a bit of control, but Sheamus lands a headlock takeover and keeps him pinned on the mat.  Wade gets to his feet and puts Sheamus to the ropes, but Sheamus runs him over for a one count.  Barrett pushes Sheamus to the corner and strikes his way away from Sheamus.  He puts Sheamus on the apron, who responds by jumping over the top rope with a shoulder block and another headlock takeover.  Barrett elbows his way out and Sheamus tries a short arm clothesline, but his opponent ducks.  Sheamus stumbles and Barrett gives him a boot to the gut to recover, leading to Sheamus delivering a vertical suplex for one.

Barrett kicks Sheamus in the chest and ends up on the apron, trying a shoulder block, which Sheamus ducks, then delivers a knee lift.  Barrett dodges a kick on the floor and drags Sheamus to the floor, leaving the World Champion clutching his leg.  Back from commercial, Sheamus lands a knee lift and a clothesline over the top, then gives chase.  Sheamus with a European uppercut, then whipping Barrett to the steel steps.  Barrett jumps up and over the steps and kicks them into Sheamus, then rolls the World Champ in for a two count.  Barrett with a chinlock that Sheamus quickly fights up out of, only to run into a knee from the Englishman.  Barrett chokes Sheamus in the ropes and wraps him in the ropes, delivering knees, followed by a boot to the head, leaving him on the apron.  Wade drags Sheamus back in for a near fall, then hops to the second rope, missing an elbow drop.  Sheamus lands a surprise clothesline out of the corner, then Polish hammers, a corner shoulder and a knee lift.  Barrett escapes a powerslam attempt and sets Sheamus up for a pumphandle slam which he in turn escapes.  Barrett ends up on the apron and takes the ten forearms to the chest, then Tensai hits the ring to avenge himself and he and Barrett beat the World Champion down on the mat.

Big Show watches from ring side as the two men stomp on the head of Sheamus.  Barrett holds Sheamus up, who powers out and hits a Brough Kick, then tosses Barrett out.  Big Show gets in, wanting WMD and Sheamus throws a Brough Kick which Show catches.  Show flips Sheamus over the top to the floor and it looks like he cracks his head right on the floor, as the camera angle showed his eyes wide open in surprise on the mat.  Big Show leaves and Sheamus gets in the ring "ready to fight" but looking woozy.

JR heads to the back after Sheamus, saying he's going to have a word with Mr. McMahon about his pending fight with Punk.

AJ is in the back and Punk shows up.  Punk asks AJ how she feels about the WWE Champion beating up an "old man" on her show.  AJ says if Punk is really the best in the world, he shouldn't be too scared to fight Vince, let alone John Cena.  Punk says that anything that happens tonight is on AJ's head. 

Match 5:  Tyson Kidd vs Antonio Cesaro (United States Champion), non-title
Winner:  Antonio Cesaro via pinfall

Cesaro vs Kidd should be a 15 minute spectacle, but in the WWE environment, it'll be about a two minute squash.  A tie up and hammerlock from Cesaro leads to Kidd stepping to the apron and back under to reverse it - Exactly why this should be a focus and not just a sideshow on a Raw.  Cesaro keeps the power game going and wrenches the arm of Kidd, who kips up and flips off the top rope to escape, then lands a victory roll for two.  Kidd runs into a boot face first in the corner and Cesaro lights him up in the corner, then stands on his chest.  Cesaro lands a double stomp on Kidd on the apron then deadlifts him for a gutwrench.  Cesaro locks in a cravat on the mat and Kidd swings to his feet to elbow out, kicking Cesaro and landing on the apron, but he ends up getting dropped across the top rope by the US Champion.  Kidd ducks a clotheslines and quickly hops on the apron for a kick and a baseball slide, then a roll up over the top rope for two.  Kidd hits a low dropkick draping Cesaro across the bottom rope and lands a big leg drop to the floor.  Kidd tries a springboard elbow drop, but Cesaro dodges, then hits Swiss Death and the Neutralizer. 

Ok, more like 4 and a half minutes instead of only 2, and exceptional action in that short time.  I don't know how talent guys in WWE watch this match and don't have a thought train of "PUT KIDD ON TV MORE".  Seriously baffling.  Both guys deserve more time to shine.  The match of the night shouldn't be 4 minutes long.

Match 6:  Dolph Ziggler and Alberto del Rio vs Team Hell No (Tag Team Champions), non-title
Winners: Team Hell No via pinfall

Bryan and Ziggler start and the show off gives an arm drag and a strut.  Ziggler with a headlock and a shoulder block, but runs into a knee from Bryan.  Bryan offers a tag to Kane and immediately reneges on the offer, which ends up letting Ziggler make a tag to ADR, then Kane tags himself in.  Kane with a top wrist lock on ADR and an arm wrench, then teasing Bryan with a tag offer, but staying in the ring.  Ziggler tags back in and runs into an uppercut from Kane, who continues with a snapmare and low dropkick.  Ziggler kicks the leg of Kane, then attacks him in the corner.  Kane blocks an Irish whip and puts Ziggler over the top to the floor and Bryan tags himself back in, delivering a knee to Ziggler on the floor.

Back from commercial, Ziggler has a headlock that Kane is fighting out of.  Kane avoids the Namedropper and hits Dolph with a big boot.  Kane tags Bryan in to hit a running forearm and the corner dropkick.  Bryan puts Ziggler up top and trying a frankensteiner, but Ziggler rolls through for a two count then a dropkick after ADR hits a cheap shot from the apron.  Alberto tags in and hits a jumping stomp then slaps on a chinlock.  Bryan explodes with a sunset flip, but ADR hits a huge kick to the face then tags in Ziggler who hits a neckbreaker and a jumping elbow for two.  ADR tags back in and hits a snap suplex for two on Bryan.  Del Rio with kicks in the corner which Bryan answers with his own.  Bryan whiffs another try at the corner dropkick, then Ziggler tags in to make a quick cover for two.  Ziggler with a chinlock and Bryan with a chin breaker, then dodging Ziggler flying at him in the corner, leaving both men on the mat.  Ziggler grabs the leg of Bryan and drags him away from Kane, tagging ADR back in to lay boots to him.  ADR hits a belly to back suplex and another chinlock.  Bryan elbows out but runs into a tilt a whirl backbreaker, but Kane breaks up the pinfall.  Ziggler tags back in punches Bryan, who returns the favor.  An exchange of rights, but Ziggler kicks the leg low to keep the control.  ADR tags in and kicks Bryan in the head for two, followed by another chinlock (That's three of this sequence so far).  Bryan up with elbows and ADR answers with a headbutt then comes up empty on a rush into the corner, wrapping himself around the ring post.

Bryan makes the tag to Kane to land rights on ADR, then clotheslines in two corners and ADR escapes a slam to tag in Ziggler, which Kane isn't aware of.  Ziggler avoids a Chokeslam and hits the Namedropper for a very close two, wanting to follow with the Zigzag, but runs into a side slam.  Kane heads up top and Bryan tags himself in, landing a missile dropkick, only for ADR to break up the pin then be tossed away by Kane.  Ziggler tries a schoolboy and Bryan kicks out then kicks him in the head, stumbling toward his own corner.  Kane tags himself in, lands a Chokeslam and wins it for Team Hell No.

Fun action and Bryan and Kane continue to argue over who is the Tag Team Champions.  ADR seems to do really well in these "random pairing" tag team matches and Ziggler shines every time he's in the ring.

JR and Vince are in the back discussing tonight's coming events.  JR is trying to talk Vince out of this fight and Vince has JR "call a match" for him, wanting to hear him call "McMahon!  McMahon!  McMahon!" before the actual fight.  That was entirely awkward.

Larry King NOW

So Larry King and his wife are on the stage to introduce a guest and The Miz comes out.  King poorly acts that he's not interested and the wife laughs.  Great.  Miz announces it's his birthday and wants King and his wife to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.  King says he has it on good authority that nobody cares.  King says he's replacing Miz with Kofi Kingston as his guest.  Kofi goes for a cheap "mention the town" pop.  Miz insults Kofi and King repeatedly and the wife throws water at Miz's face.  King tries to rally applause for this and the crowd doesn't care, then Kofi punches Miz and throws him off the stage.  Kofi is going absolutely ballistic on the stage and hits a huge jumping right fist off the stage.  Miz and Kofi fight to the back and Larry King signs off.

Ludicrous in the worst possible way.

Match 7:  Santino Marella and Zack Ryder vs Rhodes Scholars, Tag Team Tournament Match
Winners:  Rhodes Scholars via pinfall

Rhodes and Ryder to start and Rhodes with the early attempt at a suplex which Ryder flips out of with a couple of pinning attempts, then knees in the corner and a discus lariat.  Sandow tags in and lands a clotheslines and jumping knee for two on Ryder.  Sandow with a chinlock but Ryder immediately to his feet, but Rhodes is back in to keep pressure on Ryder, then a tag back to Sandow for his swinging elbow drop.  Rhodes tags in again and locks in a front facelock.  Santino distracts Rhodes who runs into a Ryder flapjack, allowing the tag.  Santino with jabs to Rhodes who throws in a quick jab of his own, but takes a hip toss from Santino followed by the headbutt.  Santino wants the Cobra and Sandow distracts, allowing Cody to hit a Beautiful Disaster for the win.

Ryder got eliminated by a cheap shot on the apron and basically disappeared, which was kind of weird.  Quick match confirming Team Co-Bro as a joke.

The Band hits the ring and counts of a beat down on Santino.  Slater keeps the beatdown on Marella then he air guitars while McIntyre headbangs and Mahal dances.  What a weird faction.

Heyman approaches Vince in the back and says that while Punk should not have done what he did earlier tonight, he can broker peace.  Vince asks Heyman if he knows when he lies or tells the truth.  Heyman says he doesn't want Punk to do to Vince what Lesnar did to HHH.

Match 8:  Eve Torres (c) vs Kaitlyn, Divas Championship
Winner:  Eve Torres via pinfall

Eve is still all smiles as she hits the ring and Layla still looks like the jealous bitch.  Major role reversal here.  Kaitlyn with an early hip toss and a diving shoulder block, then a snap suplex for two.  Eve with a forearm and kick, but Kaitlyn answers with a back body drop.  Kaitlyn with an off-kilter torture rack and Eve rakes the eyes to escape, then sweeps the hurt ankle.  Kaitlyn lands a backbreaker but continues to favor the leg.  Eve kicks the leg out of the corner then kicks it on the ropes and stands on the ankle mid ring, followed by a knee drop.  Eve DDTs Kaitlyn's foot then locks in a grapevine which Kaitlyn eventually taps to.

Eve won't release the lock and Layla gets in the ring to put a stop to it.  Eve asks if Kaitlyn is ok, but the eye rake and the extended grapevine show that she's still the heel in disguise.  At least they're getting back to having Eve show that deceptive side.  Hard to tell what they're doing with Kaitlyn here, as she seemed to have quite a bit of steam behind her before this ankle thing.

ADR is trying to figure out what to have for dinner and is read a Tweet by Josh Matthews that Randy Orton will be at Smackdown.  ADR storms off.  Terrible segment.

Larry King and his wife are walking in the back, approached by Daniel Bryan who says that people used to say King looked like an owl, so maybe he can help with the whole "Goat Face" thing.  Bryan says King does indeed look like an owl.  Kane appears and says that he has carried Bryan's goat face since they became Tag Team Champions.  Bryan is mad that Kane scared off Larry King; Kane thought it was Skeletor.  That last bit saved that segment, but King seems completely out of his element.

Heyman is brooding about what Vince will do to them...unless Punk can render him unable to ever make another decision.  So I guess the gameplan is "kill Vince".

Match 9:  CM Punk (WWE Champion) vs Vince McMahon
Winner:  No contest

Vince begins to make his entrance for the fight and Punk attacks from behind before he can make it to the ring, then delivers knees to the midsection on the floor.  Punk lays elbows into the collarbone of Mr. McMahon, then rolls him into the ring.  Vince hits a double leg takedown on Punk but Punk rolls him over and they throw punches back and forth.  After breaking apart, Punk lays him out with a kick to the head then mocks him.  Punk picks Vince up and tosses him to the floor.  Punk throws Vince face first into the announcers table then grabs the mic off of Cole's head and yells "what a maneuver!".  Punk lifts Vince to his shoulders and Vince elbows out, then shoves Punk into the ringpost.

Vince tosses Punk across the announce table and grabs a mic, saying he'll teach Punk about respect, then beats Punk over the head with the mic.  Vince drives a chair into the beltline of Punk, then tosses him into the ring.  Vince looks under the ring and grabs a kendo stick.  Punk retreats to the floor and asks Heyman to retrieve the WWE Title so they can leave.  Vince intercepts and decks Heyman, then takes the belt into the ring.  Mr. McMahon challenges Punk to come in and get his Title.  Punk finds a kendo stick of his own under the ring and gets in the ring for a kendo duel which Vince wins, leaving Punk cowering on his knees, but he's playing possum to land a low blow.  Punk grabs both kendo sticks and lays into Vince with them.  Punk tosses the weapons out and calls for the GTS, but before he can land it, Ryback heads toward the ring, chasing the WWE Champion off again.  Cena hits the entrance ramp to toss Punk to the Big Hungry who takes Punk up for Shellshocked, but Punk escapes, grabbing the WWE Title and hopping the rail to run away.

Vince says it's decision time for Punk - At Hell in a Cell, he faces Ryback or John Cena.  Punk answers Vince McMahon's demand next week on Raw.

Now that was a hell of an end to Raw.  Ryback just rocketed up the totem pole, we got Vince in action and Punk is running scared.  Great ending.

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Building A New PC

I can stop blogging about my terribly outdated PC components! Hooray! With lots of research and questions I finally nailed down the parts I needed and took the plunge on buying a new PC. My goal was to get the most out of necessary components for under $200. I do have a couple zombie systems already so it wasn't going to be a full build. I have 2GB of DDR3 ram, a bunch of hard drives at my disposal, and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive already so I only really needed the main parts. Finding a decent but easily upgrade-able set consisting of a motherboard, CPU, power supply and a mid sized case to fit it all in was the mission. To sum it up, its a success, but the full pricing with shipping included came in at just under $250. For what I got I think I did ok.

The Setup:

Motherboard- ASRock Intel B75 Pro3-M LGA 1155

• Intel isn't going anywhere, plus it plays nice with Linux.
• When the Ivy Bridge Core-i lineup drops in price LGA 1155 will be there.
• It has HDMI out, plus digital and analog surround sound support.
• USB 3.0 and 4 dimms for ram. 

CPU- Intel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz

• At $70, last year's sandy bridge processor is a steal on clearance
• At $70, its only $5 more than the 2.7GHZ G630 model...
• Integrated HD Graphics- Not sure how good that is supposed to be, but I wont be throwing down on a video card anytime soon unless its on a crazy sale. Integrated will have to do for now. 

Power Supply- Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W

• Shout out to @JssLifeLike of the GamesMenRPG podcast with the excellent advice on PSU purchasing. I don't know anything about them.
• Those boards don't work on water... you gotta have POWER!! 500W should be fine. 
• It got a golden hardware award and is green certified.... sounds awesome. 

Case- GIGABYTE GZ-F4HEB Black .5mm Steel ATX Mid Tower

• Refurbished for $17 from $40. The NewEgg commenters seem to think its a "new on sale" item and not actually refurbished. It was rated highly across the board despite being a bit flimsy, so ill take my chances for under $20.
• If I felt like I could put a window on the side of the case and add some lights and stuff.... there is nothing to lose with this cheap-o case. Pretty basic, no frills.
• It only costs $7 to ship as opposed to $20+ on heavier cases. Winning.

Well, that's pretty much it. I already have 2GBs of ram, a DVD drive and a harddrive, so I think I am pretty much ready to go. I just hope I have enough SATA cabling to get to everything in there. 

I will of course post more once I have competed building the system and putting it through its paces, installed Windows and Linux, and have later added more upgrade parts, etc... Ideally I'd like to make this a respectable gaming rig, but for now it just has to be a decent/current platform to work with. Yes, the decision may have been made mostly to play Torchlight 2 and a bunch of other indie games I've purchased over time that haven't been properly playable on my system... but its also been long overdue. 

As Usual: 
Follow me on twitter @BigRob029
Check out the Google Plus! Its pretty cool, especially since BigRob and MajorLinux are on it. If that isn't impressive enough, Enthus Reviews has its own social page too! Enjoy.

New and Improved:
Check out the GameEnthus Steam Community at tinyurl.com/SteamEnthus. If you would like to play some games on the master system with us, visit us and join up. 

ShoutOut!:
MajorLinux and Jsslifelike hooked me up this round and provided some awesome advice and helpful hints. Community driven epicness. Check them both out on Google+, as it is the preferred social network of smart people. You're smart, right?

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Clearly Comics: Watchmen

"This is the book that changed an industry and challenged a medium. If you've never read a graphic novel, start with WATCHMEN. And even if you have, it's time to read it again."

This quote can be found on the back of the Trade Paperback, and it could not be more correct. It's a statement that truly captures the essence of Watchmen, a statement of bold truth and a goal for all.

Needless to say, go read Watchmen. Or, thanks to the wonderful gift technology has given us, go watch it. I had already seen the recent movie, but I decided to read the graphic novel recently. Surprisingly, this is one book where the movie is roughly 95% true to the original. You have scenes and directions that mirror exactly what you've seen on the page showing themselves on the big screen.

When you first pick up the Watchmen, in page form, you get a blast of artwork that you would never expect to see in modern-day comics. There's a lot of two-tone colors, using solid colors with it's appropriate shade where necessary. The details are abundant, and throughout the book you can get a clear picture of exactly what is going on. It's almost like they wrote the script for the movie as they wrote the book!

So let's wrap up what Watchmen is all about: Someone killed the Comedian, a hero from the Vietnam war. Rorschach, another costumed hero and psychological detective, deduces that someone is killing and/or eliminating heroes. The story takes turns at developing several plots, such as Dr Manhattan, a scientific being with god-like abilities, claim a role of guilt in believing to have caused several people cancer and leaving the planet. As the story progresses, we find that the overall plot is to cause a large disturbance to divert the world attention away momentarily and avoid an overall Armageddon. The Comedian was the first to uncover the plot, as well as that Ozymandias, another hero, was behind it.

So what do we have as far as characters go?

We have the Silk Spectre, who is just a female human with training in various martial arts. We don't see much as far as raw power, just good looks and fighting.

We have Dr. Manhattan, is a man who was dematerialized and reconstructed after the events of Intrinsic Field Experiment 15. He has a wide array of abilities, including teleportation, cloning, electrical powers, telekinesis, psychic abilities, instantaneous growth and shrinking, and being able to deconstruct or reconstruct pretty much anything, including human bodies.

We have Ozymandias, who until the end of the movie we thought to have no powers at all outside of an incredible intellect. It is revealed he has super strength and speed as well.

There are Nite Owl and Rorschach, the first of which is the Watchmen equivalent of Batman. Complete with basement lair, gadgets and money. Rorschach is everything about Batman that Nite Owl isn't- the detective, fighter, and the one who continues to hunt evil as a vigilante. Rorschach, however, is clearly not worried about killing his enemies. Rorschach also has a psychological aspect to him, having his mask be a moving ink-blot test and prefers to make his enemies suffer through severe interrogation, both mentally and physically.

Lastly, we have the Comedian, who was killed at the start of the movie. The Comedian has two aspects, the first being a gunman who wields various forms of ranged weapons and has no restraint killing if it's his target. The Comedian is one of the few who work directly under the government, therefore not technically a vigilante like the rest. In the opening of the book and movie, we witness The Comedian being beaten, giving us light to the fact that he has a superior physical structure being able to take hits for a while, as well as an above average strength, clearly punching concrete and breaking it. The Comedian, in the past events of Watchmen, was also revealed to have raped the original Silk Spectre, and killed a Vietnamese woman in cold blood who had revealed to him that she was pregnant with his child.

 The last thing you'll probably want to know about the Watchmen is the simple concept of compare & contrast. While in the movie you have stunning visuals, the book gives you nostalgic pieces of art. Both the movie and the book pretty much have the same script, but with one minor tweak. Well, depending on your dedication, a very BIG tweak. See below:

In the book, the catastrophe that Ozymandias unleashes is a genetically altered squid/octopus. It is teleported into the heart of New York City, and with alterations to it's brain to replicate psychic abilities, wipes out a large number of humans due to the strain of the teleportation and the psychic backlash against those nearby humans. The creature is, unfortunately for it, killed from this strain, so it's not a monster-attack like Godzilla, but more like a psychic bomb. This is where the movie comes into play- there is no squid. Instead, the movie holds a plot where Ozymandias replicates the abilities of Dr. Manhattan to kill many more people in many more cities worldwide. The result is the same, in that the level of this catastrophe ultimately stops the wars and threats of nuclear holocaust, and humanity is steered towards salvation and utopia. 



 So where does the Watchmen sit? Somewhere near the top, of course. Take the time to go rent the DVD, and watch it, as it is well worth it. The Graphic novel has been reprinted dozens of times, and finding it now, especially with a movie release, should be relatively easy. And if you become a die-hard fan, be sure to check out the "Before Watchmen" series, currently in progress at your local comic book store.

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WWE Smackdown Lowdown 9/21/2012

#smackdown

Smackdown opens telling us that the main event is Sheamus and Randy Orton vs Alberto del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.  Another tag team main event with two rivalries combined...so lazy.

Edge is introduced; SyFy has a new episode of Haven on right after the show and he's part of it.  I'm sure there's something wrestling related behind the appearance as well.

Edge plugs his show but eventually wraps around to calling out how odd the Kane/Daniel Bryan dynamic is.  Edge begins to mention being a 12-time Tag Champion and Daniel Bryan interrupts.  Bryan says that "they" did not become Tag Team Champions; he did.  Bryan declares himself the Tag Team Champions and Edge settles him down and asks how he pulled it off.  Daniel Bryan says he's in control; an anchor; a rock.  Edge calls Bryan out on being "in control" and says "excuse me" which leads to Bryan calling HIM out on being married to Vickie Guerrero.  Lots of challenge coming out of Bryan, culminating in him telling Edge to go back to acting and retirement.  They end up in a YES/NO argument, prompting Kane to come out and put a stop to it.

Bryan and Kane argue over who is the Tag Team Champions.  Edge hastily breaks it up and the Tag Champs say he seems angry and want him to do some of Dr. Shelby's relaxation exercises.  Edge gets Bryan being at one with himself, but Kane?  He can't understand that.  Edge reminds Kane of their checkered past and Kane seems upset, wanting to rectify the situation now.  Kane spreads his arms and agrees with the crowd - They should hug it out.  And they do!  Bryan goes into a NO fit and Edge and Kane invite him in for a hug.  Before he can join, Damien Sandow comes out to stop the silliness.  Bryan sells an amazing look of sadness/being distraught that he didn't get his hug.

Sandow mocks and chastises the hugs as an abomination.  Edge interrupts the interruption, telling him to shut up.  Edge tells Sandow that he should fight one of the Tag Champs and he declines.  Edge puts it to the crowd, the Tag Champs fight it out while Edge discusses with the crowd and Sandow throws a fit, leading to a commercial.

Wildly entertaining, but twenty minutes into Smackdown and no matches annoys me at a principle level.  Sandow is a good addition to this mix.

Match 1:  Damien Sandow vs Kane
Winner:  Damien Sandow via pinfall

I guess they decided on Kane.  Sandow gets shouldered down and runs around the ring, trying to drop an elbow as Kane reenters, but misses.  Kane keeps control and rolls back in the ring.  Sandow elbows out of a corner, but runs into a big boot.  Sandow kicks Kane, who takes exception to it.  Sandow rolls to the floor and comes face to face with Bryan who reminds him who the Tag Team Champions is (that is grammatically correct here!) and he runs back in.  Sandow manages a headlock, but Kane delivers a belly to back suplex to escape, then a clothesline in the corner.  Sandow takes a side slam out of the opposite corner for two.  Kane heads to the top and hits the diving clothesline.  Kane wants a Chokeslam, but Bryan stands up and screams he is the Tag Team Champions, which distracts Kane.  Kane wants the belts, but Sandow attacks from behind with the Straitjacket Neckbreaker and picks up the win.  

The result is far more focused on the Bryan/Kane dynamic, instead of Sandow, but it's still a good sign for him that they let him beat Kane on TV.  And not via a roll up, mind you - He hit his finisher and pinned Kane.  Sandow just needs to expand the matches we see him again and he can begin a real build moving forward.

Kane is in the back and livid, throwing furniture around, looking for Bryan.  He finds Dr. Shelby instead.  Bryan literally pops out of a box behind Doc after Kane threatens to tear the beard off of his goat face.  They argue and Dr. Shelby says it's time for a trust exercise.  Kane agrees to not rip Bryan's beard off his face, which Bryan is happy about, and gives Kane his belt back.  Shelby will have Booker T book DB in a match tonight to make things right.  Kane whispers to Bryan that he is the Tag Team Champions and leaves as Dr. Shelby stops Bryan from responding.

You just can't appreciate the entertainment in this gimmick if you're not actually watching it.  So if you're not watching it, shame on you.

Alberto del Rio is in Booker T's office because it's time to confront him about reinstating the Brogue Kick.  Booker agrees that reinstating it right before the match may not have been fair, but ADR doesn't get another title shot without earning it.

Divas Champoion Eve Torres heads to ring side to join the commentary team for Layla's match.

Match 2:  Layla vs Natalya
Winner:  Layla via pinfall

Layla immediately pays more attention to Eve, but aggressively attacks Nattie.  Layla looks outside again and takes a discus lariat and a few boots for a two count.  Natalya puts Layla in an abdominal stretch.  Nattie yells "nobody cares about you" as the camera repeatedly focuses on Eve, so that's kind of funny.  Layla rolls Natalya up, who reverses and wants the Sharpshooter, but Layla kicks her off then counters a dragon screw attempt into the Layout; guess she's done with the Bombshell kick already.

A minute of action to push the Layla/Eve issue while continuing to make a joke out of Natalya, which is a damn atrocity.  Nothing of note at all here.

Match 3:  Alberto del Rio and Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Champion) and Randy Orton
Winners:  Sheamus and Randy Orton via pinfall

ADR and Sheamus start out with ADR being aggressive in the corner.  Sheamus immediately kicks out and hits a neckbreaker for one.  Orton tags in and dropkicks ADR as Sheamus holds him wide open for another one count.  Sheamus tags back in and ADR takes over in the corner and kicks away at the leg of the World Champion.  Into the opposite corner, Sheamus runs into an elbow but still hits a rolling fireman's carry.  Sheamus gets distracted by Ricardo and Vickie and Ziggler attacks from behind.  ADR hits a low dropkick and Ziggler tags in to drop his big elbow and lock in a chinlock.  Sheamus stands up with Ziggler on his back, but Ziggler keeps the hold.  ADR tags back in with a big kick to the back and a rear chinlock.  Sheamus stands up and throws ADR to the ropes - On the first try, ADR kicks him, on the second, he gets powerslammed.  Tag to Orton for a pair of clotheslines and a powerslam.  Orton hits the spike DDT and coils.  Ziggler attacks from behind but gets caught in a powerslam.  Orton wants a spike DDT on him as well, but ADR manages a Backstabber for a close two.

Ziggler tags back in to keep the pressure on the Viper, but he kicks out of a corner, only to run into an elbow and take Ziggler's jumping clothesline.  Another near fall and a chinlock from Dolph.  Orton stands up right away and hits a belly to back suplex to break it, leaving both men down.  Ziggler makes the tag first and ADR stops Orton from making his.  Big back kick from ADR and an elbow, then hopping to the middle rope, but Orton dropkicks him to the floor, leading to tags on both sides.  Sheamus with hammers on Ziggler, but he misses the knee lift.  Ziggler wants the Sleeper but gets tossed off, then misses the Namedropper and runs into the Irish Curse.  ADR runs in to help but ends up taking an RKO.  Ziggler grabs the MITB briefcase with bad intentions, but Sheamus Brogue Kicks him to put a stop to the shenanigans and the match. 

Good match between four guys we've seen a lot of lately, but a bit of change up on Smackdown is needed.  We see some permutation of this on a weekly basis.

Match 4:  Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes
Winner:  Cody Rhodes via pinfall

Bryan with European uppercuts to open, taking Rhodes down early, then jawing with the crowd.  That's enough distraction for Cody to hotshot Bryan on the top rope and stomp him.  Up now for a gourdbuster.  Bryan turns it around in the corner and kicks away at the midsection of Rhodes, who fights out, but Bryan flips over him in the corner and hits a running forearm, then the corner dropkick.  Bryan is about to get Rhodes in the Nolock, but Kane's pyro hits and he steps out on the stage, then sets off the corner pyro.  Bryan stands up to jaw at Kane and when he does, Rhodes gets up and hits Crossrhodes to beat half of the Tag Team Champions. 

By all rights, that should have been a long, entertaining match.  It continues things with the Bryan/Kane storyline, which is fine, because it's the single most entertaining thing on the show right now.  Just a tad disappointed that we didn't get more out of these two - Hopefully in the future!

Bryan is livid and looking for Kane, who he finds laughing.  Kane says to consider them even.  Bryan says Kane is jealous of Bryan's ability as a singles competitor.  Some jokes about basements and petting zoos go back and forth and the Tag Champs notice Sandow and Rhodes off to the side.  The champs take exception to tonight's opponents and challenge them.  Rhodes and Sandow walk away and now the Tag Champs argue over who they're scared of.  It keeps getting better and it just needs to keep going.

Match 5:  Brodus Clay vs Heath Slater
Winner:  Brodus Clay via disqualification

Before this one even starts, it's enough.  Do we really need to see Clay squash Slater this much?  We start with a dance off, then a big scoop slam for Slater.  A right fist to the gut and a knee lift from Brodus to keep it going, then Slater tries a crossbody, but ends up taking an exploder.  Before Clay can continue, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre attack from behind and end up delivering a double suplex, followed by a sliding lariat from Slater.  McIntyre picks Brodus up for the first Future Shock DDT on TV in a damn long time, and to put an exclamation point on the attack, Mahal slaps on the Camel Clutch.

Well that was unexpected.  If this would have happened a few weeks ago, Sandow would have been involved which would have been good for him.  And we all know you aren't allowed to be involved in two storylines at the same time, so the tag match takes precedence tonight.  A gaggle of self-proclaimed "under appreciated" superstars teaming up could serve as a good introduction point for Dean Ambrose, who isn't on the new iteration of NXT and has been traveling around for dark matches with the WWE crew.

Match 6:  Santino Marella vs Antonio Cesaro (United States Champion), non-title
Winner:  Santino Marella via pinfall

Santino tries a drop toe hold, but Cesaro doesn't budge, then delivers a European uppercut and a deadlift salto suplex.  Cesaro now with a cravat that Santino fights out of, landing jabs and a forearm, then the split and hip toss, followed by the saluting headbutt.  Santino reaches for the Cobra, which is distracted by Aksana yet again, leading to shenanigans with Cesaro throwing the Cobra away.  Aksana reaches for the Cobra as Cesaro is thrown to the ropes and takes a tumble in, hurting her leg.  Cesaro hits the pop up European uppercut/Swiss Death on Santino and pins him, but the ref is attending to Aksana.  Cesaro tells Aksana to get out of the ring and Santino cradles him from behind for the win. 

Cesaro is pissed and grabs a mic, telling Aksana (in five languages, of course), that they are finished.  Maybe this will give him the opportunity to not be reliant on her distractions for certain wins and be able to showcase his strength and skill in longer matches that he wins via wrestling and not Aksana-related cheating.  I think this will be for the greater good.

Match 7:  Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes vs Daniel Bryan and Kane (Tag Team Champions), non-title
Winners:  

All the tag teams in WWE surround the ring for this one.  A focus on the tag division, instead of four "main eventers" to end the show is a hugely welcome change of pace here.

Rhodes and Kane start it out and Rhodes gets caught in the corner, allowing Kane to strike away at him.  Rhodes quickly makes a tag to Sandow, who gets thrown into the ring by his hair.  Kane attacks aggressively, wanting to avenge tonight's loss.  Kane with a snapmare and low dropkick.  Bryan tags himself in and the champs argue about who will fight Sandow - It doesn't matter, as Rhodes tags in.  Bryan hits a drop toe hold and kicks to the chest, then a low dropkick for two.  Bryan teases a tag to Kane, but says No, leading to an argument, which Rhodes takes advantage of - He shoves Bryan into Kane who ends up on the floor as Rhodes hits a Disaster kick for two.  Sandow attacks Kane on the floor then tags back in to lay in huge elbows on Bryan in the corner.  Sandow tags Rhodes back in who keeps the pressure on, then puts Bryan in a hammerlock.  Elbows to escape, then a double crossbody in the middle of the ring.

Tags on both sides lead to Kane bludgeoning Sandow in the corner, but he kicks his way out, only to get DDT'd.  Kane wants a Chokeslam, but Sandow elbows out of it, then runs back into it off the ropes.  Rhodes gets in the ring and whacks Kane in the back.  Bryan grabs the chair before Rhodes can hit him again and Kane KO's Rhodes.  Bryan readies to hit Rhodes with the chair, but hands the chair to a smiling Kane, who hits Rhodes in the gut and back.  Bryan grabs himself a chair from the floor and he and Kane measure up for Sandow and take turns on his spine.  The production time tries to time the chair shots with camera angle changes, but dear god is it distracting and disrupting.  Don't ever do that again, WWE.

Kane throws some of the other tag team members on the floor into the ring and Bryan delivers chair shots to all of them, then Kane joins in.  Great way for the Tag Team Champions to make nice with one another.  Kane grabs the tag title belts and hands one to Bryan and they pose in the ring together.  They still argue about who is the Tag Team Champions, but that's fine by me.

That may very well be the best ending to a Smackdown in years.  Pretty good episode on the whole - Sandow gets a rub, we get some interesting development with Bryan and Kane (and the tag division on the whole, really), and even the Divas division gets some attention.  We need more Smackdowns like this!

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Dredd: How a reboot should be made

I can't tell you how pleased I am to write a review about a movie that I was sure to fail and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't. Doing research on this film I saw the original Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone. It was a travesty. It was very VERY loosely based on the graphic novel and removed all the mystique and grit from the iconic inked character. This movie felt like it was made by people who honored the source material. Dredd is a badass. Plain and simple. The Law is his guide and compass. So much so that when he says "I am the Law", you believe it. Karl Urban understood how Dredd needed to be portrayed on screen and he did it very well. The helmet was never removed and he was all about business. Getting called to a triple homicide inside the massive structure known as Peach Trees, he and his psychic trainee become locked in a fierce battle for survival against Ma-Ma and her gang which have effectively taken over all 200 levels of this complex. Lena Heady does a fantastic job playing the merciless Ma-Ma, who control the distribution and manufacturing of a drug known as Slo-mo; a drug which makes the brain see things 1/100th of the speed they are actually in.

 Gritty shootouts and stylized fight scenes made this movie worth every penny. I don't want to spoil anything for you but I will say this:  THIS MOVIE IS NOT A RIPOFF OF "THE RAID" OR "THE RAID: REDEMPTION". A lot of people thought that the concept of Dredd was ripped off from The Raid: Redemption, while in reality, the screenplay for Dredd was written before Raid was conceived. I am really hoping that they extend this into a trilogy, and if the feedback on the movie is positive enough, rumor has it that they will consider doing a sequel based on the origins on Dredd and a third movie to wrap up the arc.

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Live! WWE Raw Wrapup 9/17/2012

Welcome to coverage of WWE Raw, live after each match, here at The Geek Asylum!

CM Punk keeps his WWE Title after a controversial draw in his match with John Cena at Night of Champions.  The fallout is tonight.

Paul Heyman comes out to CM Punk's music to open the show.  Heyman witnessed history last night as CM Punk retained the WWE Title against John Cena.  Heyman calls Chad Patton (the referee from the main event last night) to the ring to review the controversy around the ending.  Chad agrees he made the right decision and Heyman congratulates him for it.  Next is iPhone footage of the ending of the match, showing another angle.  Heyman chastises the crowd for booing Punk's name even though he's earned their respect by remaining WWE Champion for 303 days.  John Cena takes exception and decides to make his entrance to interrupt.

Cena tells Heyman to shut up, but agrees that the right call was made.  Cena isn't mad about the call made; he's mad that Night of Champions ended in a draw.  He continues by questioning if Punk earned any respect by retaining in a draw.  Heyman says he did.  Cena says he wants to know who the winner would have been and even with a hurt ankle, he's willing to have a rematch.  Heyman says Punk hasn't arrived yet and he speaks on behalf of Punk - The voice of the voice of the voiceless.  Alberto del Rio makes his entrance to interrupt and tell Cena to stop crying.  Alberto never had a fair shot because of the Brogue Kick being reinstated.  ADR says he wasn't ready because of the change and that he is the man who deserves a rematch tonight.

AJ skips her way down and says maybe both of them deserve a second chance.  Tonight we get a "super" main event:  CM Punk and Alberto del Rio take on Sheamus and John Cena.  How very Teddy Long of you, AJ.  Heyman chases after AJ as she skips away, since he's not too happy about Punk being put in the tag match.  Interesting open...then we got the old WWE standard of the "mix a couple rivalries into a tag match", which decreases that interest a bit.

Quick update on Jerry Lawler:  A tout from Lawler tells us that he thanks everyone for their well wishes.  Jerry has flown home to Memphis and is healing up.  Like last night, JBL is heading to ringside to join Cole on commentary.  And as a bonus?  Good ole' JR Jim Ross is heading down as well!

Match 1:  Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs Epico and Primo
Winners:  Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara via pinfall

Primo rushes Cara but he responds with a springboard back elbow and tags in Mysterio for some poetry in motion in the corner.  Cara tags back in and a team snapmare and double kick for two on Primo leads us into the first mid-match commercial of the night.

Epico is in charge with a chancery on Cara and Primo tags back in to straight jacket Cara, but he throws him off.  Sin Cara tries to dive for Mysterio, but Primo catches him; Cara turns it into a tornado DDT, leading to tags on both sides.  Rey with a wheelbarrow armdrag, a low dropkick and a kick to the head for two on Epico.  Mysterio counters out of the corner to deliver a headscissors and then a tandem hurricanrana with Cara.  Cara puts Primo on the middle rope for a double 619 and Mysterio hits a senton on the floor as Cara hits the Swanton Bomb for the win.

Seems like they're trying to establish the masked men as a legit tag team, which is a good thing for the division.  Possibly leading to Rey "passing the torch" in some fashion?  Good idea all around.

Young and O'Neil attack from behind and Young delivers the Gutcheck and O'Neil hits Clash of the Titus.  The Primetime Players are not happy about having a title shot "taken" from them.  No barking, no dancing, no goofiness.  Time to make this team serious, but they absolutely need to retain their personalities otherwise they'll just be "another" team.

Match 2:  Beth Phoenix vs Eve Torres (Divas Champion), non-title
Winner:  Eve Torres via pinfall

Kaitlyn won't need surgery, but had torn tendons.  Eve offers a handshake to Phoenix and she's having no part of it.  Beth tosses Eve to the mat and delivers a knee to the gut.  Eve flips over Beth off an Irish whip, but Beth takes her down.  Beth grounds and pounds Eve and wants the Glamslam, but Eve kicks her way out.  Beth keeps pressure on her in the corner and Eve slips off her shoulder on an attempt at a snake eyes, then shoves her into the corner and follows with a school girl for the win.

Layla who was on commentary at ringside is mad that Eve is manipulative, even though she did absolutely nothing wrong in that match.  Lots of insinuating that Eve is the one who attacked Kaitlyn, but no real progress on that front.  Beth and Natalya seem to constantly be getting rolled up for losses and it's a bit baffling, but at least there seems to be a real story going on with the Divas division right now.

WWE Slam of the Week:  Tyson Kidd gets his ass kicked by Antonio Cesaro and Brodus Clay steps up.  Why not, I don't know, the second rope German suplex John Cena executed?


Match 3:  Brodus Clay vs Heath Slater
Winner:  Brodus Clay via pinfall

Cesaro is at ringside with Aksana.  I could swear I've seen this match many times...

Clay gets a dropkick to the knee and doesn't quite fall down.  Slater kicks away at the leg and then drops elbows on the collarbone out of a chinlock.  Slater now has a chancery on Clay, but he powers out, then shoulders him down and follows with a jumping forearm.  Cesaro distracts on the apron and Slater hits a snapmare driver on Clay for two.  Slater heads up top but dives into a headbutt and Clay finishes with a Splash.   

Same old match from Clay, but at least we got a new move out of Slater - Kaitlyn is using the reverse DDT, maybe it's time for Slater to keep the snapmare driver?

MizTV
Guest:  Booker T

Miz draws comparisons to Piper's Pit, Cutting Edge and the Highlight Reel, just like everyone does when they get their talk show segment on WWE television.   Booker T heads on out to join the festivities.  Miz mocks Booker and then says that he misses being in the spotlight.  "Boring" chants from the crowd until Booker snatches the mic out of the hands of The Miz.  Booker says Miz needs a new guest who is used to beating multiple challengers at once, bringing out Ryback.

Miz bails from the ring and Ryback throws one of the sofas in the ring at him.  Ryback throws the other one at Miz to finish up the show.  Why is Ryback so mad at Miz?  Kind of just an excuse to have Ryback throw couches, as far as I can tell.

Punk and Heyman are in the back and Josh Matthews asks if the WWE Champion is looking forward to teaming up with ADR.  Punk says this is just one more sign of disrespect.

Match 4:  Santino Marella vs Dolph Ziggler
Winner:  Dolph Ziggler via pinfall

Santino with a judo-style hip throw to open the match, but he answers with a huge dropkick.  Santino with a comedy spot off an Irish whip then a jackknife pin and an arm drag.  Ziggler fights right up and levels Santino with an elbow and a swinging neckbreaker.  As the crowd starts up a loud "Let's go Ziggler" chant, he lands the jumping elbow for two.  Ziggler grabs the Cobra and rubs it in Santino's face, saying the crowd laughs at him.  Santino fights back, but Ziggler hits a running right hand and tries Jericho's cocky pin for two.  Ziggler jabs away at Santino, who answers with jabs of his own, a split, a hip toss and the jumping headbutt.  Santino doesn't realize he's missing the Cobra and tells Vickie to give it to him.  Ziggler leaps and hits the Zigzag from behind, but stands Santino up, just to hit a second Zigzag for the win.  

Ziggler needs actual wins, but he sure as hell doesn't need to be beating Santino with the help of a distraction.  This isn't at all the way to make him a threat to the World Title.

Match 5:  Wade Barrett vs Justin Gabriel
Winner:  Wade Barrett via pinfall

Gabriel with a kick, a hurricanranr and a schoolboy early on but Barrett stops it with a mule kick.  Barrett with a knee on the floor and then dragging Gabriel into the ringpost rib first.  Barrett back into the ring and big punches into the midsection.  Now a backbreaker and elbow on Gabriel for two.  Barrett opens Gabriel wide so that he can punch away at the ribs and the head.  On the mat, Barrett locks in a seated abdominal stretch.  Gabriel fights his way out and delivers a drop toe hold onto the second turnbuckle.  Kicks from Gabriel, but Barrett answers wth a haymaker to the gut.  Barrett wants a pump handle powerslam, but Gabriel flips out and lands the eye of the hurricane and a quebrada for two.  Gabriel whiffs a kick and Barrett gives him an extra high pancake.  Barrett follows with a forearm with a Chris Hero-style ripcord pull and it's good for the three. 

The new finisher matches the gimmick quite well, but when you have Big Show using a right hook as a finisher, it's hard to buy it out of Barrett.  I guess we can go with a forearm, but strike finishes are touchy; sometimes they can get old quick.

R-Truth is throwing a birthday party for Subway and Jared is around, because it's the home of the original Subway.  Jared with a cheap pop and some sandwiches for Kofi and R-Truth.  Damien Sandow suggests a signature sandwich, but Jared gives him a meatball sub instead.  Ryder suggests one and gets fed.  Ryback walks in and demands to be fed more...he helps himself to a couple subs.  Well that was a huge waste of time.

Sheamus and Cena are talking shop and Cena says they need to make a statement tonight.  Sheamus says they will and then have a few pints.

Match 6:  Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs Daniel Bryan and Kane (c), Tag Team Championship
Winners:  Daniel Bryan and Kane via pinfall

Bryan and Kane argue over who is the Tag Team Champions and Bryan starts with Kofi.  Bryan falls for Kofi's double leapfrog back elbow and it allows Truth to tag in so the challengers keep control.  Bryan fights out of an arm wrench and goes to tag Kane, then yells NO at him.  Blind tag by Kofi and Bryan eats a boot from Truth and crossbody from Kofi for two.  Bryan tags Kane in forcefully and Kofi tries to pressure him in the corner, but Kane takes over.  Kofi leapfrogs Kane in the corner and then low bridges Kane to the floor.  Bryan tries to stop Kofi, but ends up backdropped over the rope right onto Kane.  The champs argue into the commercial break.

Kane has R-Truth in a bearhug and tries to fight out, but Kane puts him in the corner.  Kane rushes in, but Truth gets the boot up then dropkicks him.  Kofi tags in with a flying forearm and hits his chops and dropkick.  Kofi with punches and a flipping kick in the corner, then a diving crossbody for two.  Kofi levels Kane with a kick and hits the Boomdrop, wanting Trouble in Paradise.  Kane catches him by the neck, but Kofi slips out and tries a springboard kick from the top, diving into a right hand.  Bryan tags in before Kane can hit a Chokeslam.  The Champs argue and Truth tags in, then hits a pair of clotheslines and the Lie Detector forearm.  Truth follows with a sitout gourdbuster for two.  Kane boxes the ear of Bryan and tags Kofi back in, then slams Bryan then slams Kofi onto Bryan.  The Champion kicks out in two and Kofi tries a keylock.  Bryan fights out but runs into a dropkick for two.  Truth back in and a double team russian leg sweep for another nearfall.  Truth with a chinlock and Bran fights up, but Truth cracks him in the head.  In the opposite corner, Bryan hits a drop toe hold and then tags Kane.  Big Red hits a flying clothesline and a low dropkick.  Clothesline in the corner and a side slam.  Bryan tries to tag himself in again and Kane threatens him; Bryan drops him across the top rope, allowing Truth to hit Little Jimmy, but then he breaks up the pin.  Kofi and Bryan take a spill to the floor and Kane hits a Chokeslam and stumbles back to tag Bryan, who puts on the Nolock to retain the Tag Team Titles.

Bryan grabs both belts and declares himself the Tag Team Champions.  Kane gets to his feet and Bryan continues yelling in his face.  Kane takes the belts and says he is the champions.  Bryan says NO then decides to settle the situation a bit.  The crowd chants for them to hug it out and Bryan agrees.  Kane puts both belts on his shoulders and hugs his partner.  Bryan tries to swipe the belts, but only gets one.  The champs argue over who is actually the champs, even though they're both the champs.  They should tone this one down a little bit so that the crowd doesn't get burned out on it right away.  It's golden, it's hilarious and the tag team works - Don't squander this for a couple weeks of over doing it!

Match 7:  Randy Orton vs Tensai
Winner:  Randy Orton via pinfall

I guess Orton randomly flipping off the crowd before the RKO last night didn't affect him too much.  It was just another of those "what are you thinking, Randy" moments.

Orton stands toe to toe with Tensai early on, but gets shouldered to the mat.  Tensai pressures him in the corner and hits forearms to the back off the ropes.  Tensai pulls at Orton's face and he responds with forearms to the face.  Tensai hits a big powerslam for two.  Tensai drops a massive elbow for another two count.  Tensai decides on a bearhug and Orton tries to strike his way out.  Tensai headbutts him to the mat and stomps on him.  Knees to the back of Orton to keep the pain going and now a nerve hold.  Tensai won't let him escape from the hold and hits the ropes, only to run into a powerslam from Orton.  Tensai rolls to the floor and thrusts at the throat of Orton.  As Tensai gets in, Orton kicks away at him and sets up for the spike DDT, which he hits.  Orton coils and Tensai shoves the RKO off, but runs himself into the turnbuckle, which the Viper capitalizes on, hitting the RKO to win.  

Tensai held control for most of that one before a quick come back from Orton.  There's still no focus or use for Tensai, aside from "big guy who gets used to lose to smaller/younger guys" and Orton gets a win over someone who's irrelevant.  I guess that's comparable to Ziggler needing help to beat Santino.

Punk and Heyman are discussing AJ's abuse of her power.  Otunga and ADR walk in and say that ADR expects Punk to follow his lead tonight.  Heyman begs to differ.  Otunga says Punk looks like a bum.  Punk reminds ADR that he beat him for the WWE Title last year.

Match 8:  Damien Sandow vs Zack Ryder
Winner:  Damien Sandow via pinfall

Sandow declares Summer vacation over and is happy about the start of his favorite season:  Back to School.  Sandow tells JR that "slobberknocker" is not actually a word.  To further the point, Sandow has a vocabulary list for the crowd, which of course they are not happy about.  Ryder has a voacb lesson for Sandow, words one and two are "shut" and "up" respectively.

Sandow has Ryder in a headlock and shoulders him over, but then runs into a flapjack and gets clotheslined to the floor.  Ryder dives over the top to take him down.  Rolled back into the ring for a two count.  Sandow throws Ryder throat first into the rope, then pounds him on the mat.  Sandow drops knees on Ryder then puts him back into a chinlock.  Sandow hits his roll back russian leg sweep and the swinging elbow drop for two.  Ryder counters a suplex into a small package then hits a forearm, clothesline and a facebuster.  Ryder hits a corner forearm and wants the Broski Boot, but Sandow bails to the floor.  Ryder stays right on top of him and puts him back in the ring, but Sandow runs into double knees in the corner and Ryder hits the Broski Boot.  Sandow kicks out at two.  Sandow with a quick shot and the Cross Arm Neckbreaker to win it.

Usual Ryder offense and Sandow hits another neckbreaker out of nowhere for another win.  Still waiting on progression for this guy.  And Ryder for that matter.  This is the point in the show where it's two guys I really like but I'm 2.5 hours into it and getting burned out.  At this stage of the show, if I'm not being "wow'd", it's a let down, which is a testament to why three hours is a lot to ask of the fans, especially right after a three hour PPV the night before.

Match 9:  Sheamus (World Heavyweight Champion) and John Cena vs CM Punk (WWE Champion) and Alberto del Rio
Winners:  John Cena and Sheamus via pinfall

Punk holds the WWE Title over his head for about two minutes, leading into a commercial.  Big focus on Punk "forcing" respect out of people, even against their will. 

Cena and Punk start, but Punk immediately tags out to ADR.  Cena with a headlock takeover but ADR is quick to escape and lay in with kicks.  Cena hits a monkey flip out of the opposite corner and a back body drop.  As someone who criticizes Cena regularly for his repertoire, seeing him do a monkey flip is nuts.

Sheamus tags in and takes control with a firemans carry slam, then tags Cena back in.  ADR quickly tags Punk in, but Cena comes alive and bounces him out of the corner and hits a bulldog.  Cena wants the Attitude Adjustment, but Punk elbows out and bails to the floor.  Punk sneaks in and takes Cena down, then stands on his chest.  ADR tags back in and mule kicks Cena.  Punk hits a cheap shot on the apron behind the ref's back and Punk tags himself back in.  Cena fights out, but Punk tags him with a drop toe hold.  Cena scampers over and tags Sheamus in, so it's Champion vs Champion.  Sheamus takes it to the WWE Champ with a shortarm clotheslines for two.  Punk elbows Sheamus off and tags in ADR, who kicks Sheamus right in the head.  Del Rio ends up on the apron and Sheamus hammers on his chest.

ADR swings at Sheamus, but ends up taking White Noise.  Sheamus wants the Brogue Kick, but Punk runs interference, allowing ADR to hit a Backstabber for two.  Punk tags in and he and Sheamus go back and forth.  Punk wraps Sheamus up for a bow and arrow stretch, which Sheamus spins out of to try a pin.  Punk drags Sheamus back and ADR tags back in for another huge kick.  Sheamus fights out of a chinlock, but ADR puts him back down with a jumping stomp.  Sheamus catches a running ADR with the Irish Curse to get some space.  Tags on both sides and Cena runs wild on CM Punk.  Punk tries to kick to counter the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Cena gets wise and rolls him over for an STF.  ADR breaks it up but takes a Brogue Kick.  Punk gets rid of Sheamus and walks into an Attitude Adjustment.  The ref counts three while Punk's leg is blatantly on the rope.

Punk and Heyman are livid, and to be fair it IS a bad call.  They argue with the ref and cut him off as he tries to leave.  Punk follows the ref and continues telling him he's the worst ref he's ever seen.  Heyman reminds Punk not to touch the ref, which he doesn't, and the show ends.  I guess this rivalry heading toward Hell in a Cell is going to focus on ref shenanigans?

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Cartridge Chronicles: Kirby's Adventure

One of the strangest-looking, yet cutest badasses to ever hit gaming goes by the name Kirby. Another candidate of the successful gaming franchise club, Kirby’s Adventure's simplistic controls, awesome powerups, laid back gameplay, and great entertainment value have truly stood the test of time. By looking at Kirby one would think he was some character from a little girl’s television show, but this is not the case at all. Kirby is, in fact, one of the most unique characters in all of gaming.

The only way to describe Kirby is to say that he is a healthy combo of Mario, Pac-Man, and a marshmallow. He literally consumes his enemies and, depending on the enemy, adopts whatever weapon or ability they have. Some of his abilities include freezing enemies into blocks of ice and launching the block into other enemies and literally shooting lasers from his face. The game is just awesome and, unlike my previous review, Metroid, it can be beaten.

This is, admittedly, not one of the games that I had as a child. In fact, it was because of Andrew from here on the Geek Asylum that I have even played this game. I went to his house and he made me play it on the Wii via the virtual console channel. I was so enthralled with the game that we ended up playing it till 2am, where I had to call it quits because I was literally falling asleep with the controller in my hand. The next day I downloaded it onto my own Wii and that is how I came to possess it. It was originally released on the NES. I beat the game in one sitting and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

The toughest parts of the game are the boss battles of each world, of which there are seven. The only bosses that I had some real trouble with were literally an eyeball in a cloud, a tag team between the moon and the sun, and a cosmic vampire. I know what you are thinking, these enemies are even more bizarre than the Tick or Earthworm Jim’s. In truth, they are, but that doesn’t take away from the epicness of this game. And although some of the bosses take cheap shots and it will take more than one attempt to beat, you literally get unlimited continues so it is pretty much impossible to lose. I personally enjoy this feature because there is nothing more frustrating and rage quit worthy than a game over screen when you’ve worked your butt off for the last hour and a half.

In case you haven’t gotten the message, I will make it simple: BUY THIS GAME AND PLAY IT. I promise you won’t be disappointed. It is fun, challenging, and beatable. It also has a healthy amount of mini games like a claw machine for 1-ups and arena fights. It’s not expensive on the Wii so if you don’t have an NES there are no excuses. Harness the power of a cute pink marshmallow and dominate Dream Land. You will not be sorry and you will have fun doing so. And if you find yourself dancing along with Kirby when you beat a level, don’t feel bad, you aren’t alone. The tune is catchy and Kirby has some serious moves.

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LIVE! WWE Night of Champions 9/16/2012

Welcome to coverage of WWE's Night of Champions 2012 Pay Per View!

YouTube Preshow Match:  Battle Royal (Winner is number one contender to United States Title)
Winner:  Zack Ryder

Brodus Clay makes a full entrance for a battle royal, followed by Primo and Epico with Rosa in tow.  Justin Gabriel, Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Michael McGillicutty, Zack Ryder, Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, Heath Slater and Santino Marella fill out the rest of the entrance slots.

I think it might have served well to have a couple guys from NXT (excluding Mahal and McGillicutty) show up here to give NXT a proper link to WWE.  Cesaro came from there but no mention is made of it and it's a shame that NXT doesn't properly tie into the WWE programming.  Slater is out right away after showboating to start things off.  Clay clears house tossing out Primo and then giving Mahal an exploder over the top, followed by a gorilla press to Epico for a trifecta.  My personal choice Tyson Kidd gets powerbombed over the top by Tensai after he jettisons Gabriel as far as the entrance ramp.  The Funkasaurus gets tossed by the remaining men after fighting with Tensai.  Afer a few more eliminations, Santino pulls the Cobra out and drops Tensai with it, then Young, who he pins to no avail.  Santino tries to toss Young, but O'Neil gets rid of him and the Cobra instead.  The final four are Ryder, the Prime Time Players and Tensai.

PTP are still working together until Ryder gets rid of O'Neil.  Young tries to return the favor but ends up tossed.  Ryder tries a Rough Ryder but gets caught and as Tensai tries to powerbomb him over the top, he hurricanranas him, winning.

Pretty standard battle royal, a bit of goofiness from Santino and a win for Ryder.  I'm fine with Ryder/Cesaro but Cesaro NEEDS to have some "real" matches moving forward.  No more 2-3 minute semi-squashes.  Ryder will face Cesaro during Night of Champions for the US Title tonight.

Match 1:  The Miz (c) vs Sin Cara vs Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio, Intercontinental Championship Fatal Four Way
Winner:  The Miz via pinfall

Michael Cole reports on Jerry Lawler with good news:  He's doing much better and is going home to Memphis this week.  Tonight, we get the return of JBL on commentary!

Miz is not happy about the Fatal Four Way and wants to file an official complaint...always a fun gimmick.  Rey interrupts his catchphrase with his entrance, which is always a funny "insult", as if the wrestler is the guy who triggers the videos and music for entrances.

Rey and Cara clear the ring early and tease a face off but Miz and Cody each pick a masked man to fight and it's time to go to work.  Rhodes and Miz are working together, which is odd after Rhodes attacked Miz from behind and Miz expressed being pissed about it.  Sure that won't last long.  Another tease of Cara and Rey and this time there's kicks back and forth.  JBL dropping names for champions of Mexico and he's really the first person to properly give us Sin Cara's background.  Rey and Cara with some good headscissors exchanges, but Rhodes comes in to break things up.  Rhodes and Miz use Cara and Rey to have a back and forth game of oneupsmanship, and now they go toe to toe.  Rhodes ends up tossed from the ring and REy with a schoolboy, but Cara with a sunset flip to break it up and grab a pin on Rey for two.

Cara and Rey with tandem kicks to Miz's skull and Rey kicks away at Cara this time.  Cara takes a drop toe hold into the middle turnbuckle and Rey heads to the top.  Cara with a rope swing enzuigiri and now he meets Mysterio up top.  Rhodes tosses Cara away and hits the Beautiful Disaster, but Sin Cara kicks out.  Rhodes meets Mysterio up top now but Miz stops a superplex attempt and instead makes it a tower of doom, powerbombing Rhodes as he superplexes Rey.  Miz pins both men, who each kick out at two.  Miz chokes Rey in the ropes and then hits his snap DDT for two.  Rey slides out of the ring and Cara springboards in for a dropkick on Miz then hits a suicide dive.  Rhodes and Rey face off on the floor and Mysterio gets the better of the exchange with a headscissors and a senton off the apron.

Cara with a splash on Miz for two back in the ring.  Miz answers with his corner clothesline, but sits in the rope too long and takes a dropkick from Rey.  Rey hits an arabian moonsault but Rhodes breaks it up then counters the wheelbarrow bulldog, only to have the pin broken up by Cara.  Rhodes ends up on the second rope thanks to Sin Cara, who gets tossed away by Miz.  Now Miz and Rhodes are in the ropes and Rey hits a 619 on just Miz.  Rey hits the splash but Rhodes breaks it up.  Rhodes tries to pin but Cara breaks that one up.  Rhodes is incensed and takes it out on Sin Cara.  Rhodes goes for the mask for the first time and gets treated to a senton from Rey.  Rhodes quickly disposes of Rey, then takes an enzuigiri from Cara who pulls a spare mask from his tights to put it on Rhodes, but Miz breaks it up with the backbreaker/neckbreaker for two.  Miz wants a powerbomb, but Cara sneaks the mask onto Miz to get away.  Rhodes tries Crossrhodes on Sin Cara, but the now-masked Miz semi-blindly hits the Skull Crushing Finale on him to win it. 

No complaints - Very fun, interesting fatal four way with a lot of dynamic among the different styles.  Miz winning while kind of blinded strengthens his reign, as that wasn't a BS win for him at all.  Great open and a good way to spend 25 minutes of wrestling time. 

Eve finds Kaitlyn on the floor in the hall with a hurt leg; she was attacked while warming up and cannot stand up.  Eve says she'll figure something out...maybe she was the masked person who attacked from behind? 

Match 2:  Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (c) vs Daniel Bryan and Kane, Tag Team Championship
Winners:  New tag team champions, Daniel Bryan and Kane via pinfall

I don't think there's anyone watching this show that doesn't want to see Team Friendship win this tonight.  The dynamic between Kane and Bryan is incredibly interesting and more importantly, entertaining.

The challengers argue a bit before the champs enter, but that's more than to be expected.  JBL is the first to point out that Truth probably needs a trip to Dr. Shelby, what with the invisible friend and such.  Already more than worth his salt in his return.  Kane starts the match, much to the chagrin of Bryan.  Kofi starts off with him, even though he lost to him in two minutes this past week.  This is why matches like that are a huge mistake; why should we believe the champs will stand toe to toe?

Bryan tags in and kicks Truth, telling Kane that THIS is how he does it.  Kofi tags back in with a high cross body for two.  Team hip toss on Bryan and Truth hits his silly dancing leg drop for two.  Kane blind tags in and takes Truth down; Bryan gives a bit of a nod of approval for it.  Kane unloads on Truth in the corner.  Kane asks for and receives a good old fashioned tag from Bryan, who hits an axe handle and some kicks on Truth.  Bryan ends with a low dropkick for two.  A snapmare and low dropkick team move from Bryan and Kane who are now working together like a real tag team.  Another cooperative tag and Kane whips Bryan at Truth for a dropkick, but Bryan misses.  Kane stands his partner up and Bryan pushes him.  The crowd chants for them to hug it out and Bryan says they need to work together, calling for a hug.  Team Fire and Yes, Team Friendship, Team Hell No, whatever you want to call them, are back to being a unit.  In the interim, Truth makes a tag.

Kofi is in to run wild and hits his usual comeback, knocking Kane off the apron as he does it, then lands the Boomdrop.  Kofi wants Trouble in Paradise, but Kane trips Bryan and drags him out.  They argue on the floor and Kofi hits a baseball slide on Kane and flip dive on Bryan.  Kofi tries to springboard back in, but Bryan catches him in the Nolock.  Truth breaks it up but gets tossed out and slammed by Kane.  Bryan hits the corner dropkick on Kofi and Kane tags himself in, which Bryan is mad about.  Kane heads up top and Kofi tries a Frankensteiner, but Bryan holds his leg so that he can't get taken over.  Kane shoves Bryan, who gives him a forearm and shoves him off for a big Hell Splash on Kofi to win it!

With the amount of fighting between the new champs, I expected a crummy ending, but everything worked out perfectly for us fans.  Bryan and Kane argue on opposite corners over who is the new tag team champion.  You both are, so just hug it out.  Kane ends the argument by doing his fire summon, which is delayed by about a second or two.  Of all the times to have that delay, now was totally not the ideal one.  Kane storms off, but regardless we have new tag team champs as a result of an amazingly interesting match.  Two for two tonight, WWE!

Eve catches up with Booker T and Teddy Long and we find out that Booker T is going to reward Eve for her good work lately by having her replace the injured Kaitlyn.  I was JUST writing about how nice it was to see an up and comer on the show.  What a shame, but at least something came of the Eve brownnosing angle.

Match 3:  Antonio Cesaro (c) vs Zack Ryder, United States Championship
Winner:  Antonio Cesaro via pinfall

Cesaro says "unfair" in five languages, which is how he feels about the title match at hand.  This "canned" promo thing isn't doing Cesaro any favors as far as growth, but that's kind of WWE's MO as of late.  Cesaro needs to grow in ring and on the mic in the eyes of WWE and they're not really giving him the chance to do so.  Ryder goes into this one having already competed tonight.

Cesaro goes right to work, but Ryder fights his way out.  Ryder never got his rematch for the US Title, so this is a bit of a redemption story.  Ryder hits his flapjack and a dropkick for an early nearfall.  Audible "Claudio" chant from the crowd who know where he comes from.  Cesaro grabs a chinlock on Ryder who fights up but eats a clothesline for two.  Cesaro chokes the challenger in the ropes then hits a high jumping double stomp on him.  Ryder is out in two.  Now a vertical suplex and a float over for another near fall.  Cesaro cinches in a cravat before Ryder fights up to stand toe to toe with the US Champ, but ultimately gets the pop up European uppercut/Swiss Death from Cesaro for a nearfall.

Cesaro keeps the pressure on and drapes him over his back, but Ryder fights out and hits a facebuster, a back elbow and a clothesline.    Ryder ends up in the corner and fights out with a missile dropkick, leaving both men down.  Cesaro tries another vertical suplex, but Ryder flips clear over him and lands with a neckbreaker - amazing spot and picture perfect.  Cesaro rolls to the apron and then tosses Ryder to the turnbuckle.  Cesaro heads up top but Ryder crotches him, then hits a frankensteiner all the way to the opposite corner.  Ryder wants the Broski Boot, but Aksana drags Cesaro out.  Cesaro gets back in first and hits Ryder as he follows with the Neutralizer to retain.

Now that's just what I meant - Good back and forth, truly had people thinking Ryder could win and Ryder pulled out something he rarely uses (the frankensteiner) to cement the idea.  The replays of the Swiss Death should be solidifying that as a Cesaro signature in WWE.  We haven't seen it much with him on WWE TV, but it's always a sight to behold.  Three for three now.

ADR, Rodriguez and Otunga are in the back and the announcer says he feels much better, but the other two bark at him to put the neckbrace back on.  Ricardo does so, but with a grimace on his face.  Maybe Ricardo will finally realize what a jerk his boss is tonight.

Match 4:  Dolph Ziggler vs Randy Orton
Winner:  Randy Orton via pinfall

We've seen this one many times, but it's always a delight.  What would be nice here is to see Ziggler win to remind us he's actually a threat to the World Heavyweight Title, but a clean win from a smarmy heel is about as likely as The Rock showing up on a weekly basis.

Standard fare from both men to open, with Orton using the limb stomps pretty early.  Ziggler takes over and hits a neckbreaker for two.  Orton blocks a suplex attempt and counters into a rope bounce one of his own for a nearfall.  Orton ducks a clothesline and hits his backbreaker, then a pair of clotheslines and a powerslam.  Ziggler rolls to the apron (you'd think he'd learn by now!) and Randy wants the spike DDT, but he rolls inside.  Ziggler with a low dropkick and trying the Namedropper, but Orton with a powerbomb to counter.  I don't know the last time Ziggler actually hit that move.

Orton sets Ziggler on the top rope for a superplex, but Ziggler fights him off then hits a second rope dropkick for two.  The crowd is audibly split between the two men, showing the strong support for Ziggler.  Punches back and forth as both men stand up and Ziggler flys over the top rope to drape Orton neck first across it.  Orton with a big kick out as Ziggler keeps a bit of control.  Ziggler with repeated elbow drops and finishes with the jumping elbow for two.  Ziggler sets in for a chinlock and props up for the headstand, then bridges over Cattle Mutilation-style, which sells some extra pressure.  Ziggler drops and walks his body back around Orton to lock in the traditional chinlock.  Orton fights his way up and hits a belly to back suplex to break it up.  Ziggler fights out of the corner and hits his new jumping clothesline for another nearfall.  Back to a chinlock and Orton fights up again breaking out by headbutts and landing a dropkick.

Ziggler hits the jumping DDT this time, but another nearfall sends Vickie Guerrero into a frenzy.  Ziggler heads up top again and Orton slips in to crotch him.  Orton heads up and this time gets the superplex he wanted before.  Ziggler kicks out in two and another exchange - The crowd gives "boo" for Orton and "yay" for Ziggler strikes.  Boston is a wrestling crowd to listen to, WWE:  Strike while the Ziggler iron is hot!

Ziggler avoids another powerslam and hits the Namedropper, finally, but gets a very close two count.  Even JBL recognizes the Ziggler chants (to a point) on commentary.  Orton coutners a rushing Ziggler to the apron, wanting the spike DDT.  This time, Ziggler slips outside, but gets tossed to the barricade by the Viper.  Orton tosses Ziggler leg first onto the barricade and hits the DDT outside.  Ziggler's body looks like a chalk outline and by all rights he should be done, but Orton rolls him in, not wanting the countout.  Ziggler gets his foot on the rope at the last second to avoid the loss.  Orton starts to stalk Ziggler and coils in the middle of the ring; Ziggler avoids and cradles Orton who kicks out.  Ziggler tries the Sleeper, but Orton gets out and elevates Ziggler up and catches him for a DDP-style pop up RKO.

Great ending and amazing action, but I don't agree with the choice here - Ziggler needs real wins and he never gets them over anyone credible.  As usual, a Ziggler/Orton match is great, but Orton winning is a "send the kids home happy" moment, not a smart choice as far as moving foward, especially after hearing this crowd tonight.  Ziggler is primed to elevate and they just won't pull the trigger for some reason.

Match 5:  Layla (c) vs Eve Torres, Divas Championship
Winner:  New Divas Champion, Eve Torres via pinfall

JBL with a drop of Eve training in Gracie Jiu Jitsu, which she has barely incorporated into her repertoire in the ring.  It would be a big way to differentiate herself from the rest of the pack.  Layla with some hops back and forth over a grounded Eve; this happy go lucky stuff needs to go.  Eve offers a handshake and kicks the leg out from under Layla as she takes it.  Eve tosses Layla to the floor then into the ring apron.  Eve brings the action back into the ring and hammers away at the midsection of Layla.  Eve heads up top and chokes Layla in midair, then drops her.  Back to the hangman's chinlock and then the challenger shoves Layla to the mat and pins her for two.

Eve with a bodyscissors and Layla basically breaks down crying, then elbows Eve.  Bit of an over reaction there.  Eve switches to a headscissor, then rolls it over to bash Layla's head into the mat.  The crowd starts up an El Generico "ole" chant for some reason.  Eve wants a neckbreaker and Layla keeps it rotating to hit a DDT.  Layla kicks the gut and the side of the head of Eve then a facebuster.  Double springboard crossbody, but Eve gets under it and then hits her new neckbreaker for the win.  And clean.

Nothing wrong with the match, although they seemed to lose the crowd.  Good job by both women and hopefully we get some answer about who attacked Kaitlyn, since Eve is suspect #1.  Eve won this one clean, even if she may not have gotten the match in a squeaky clean fashion.  Good stuff.  Missed the first minute or so of this one, as I was being viciously attacked by a mosquito...

Daniel Bryan is walking around the back chanting that he is the tag team champions, meeting Dr. Shelby.  Kane comes in doing the same and the good doctor is about to break it up...until AJ approaches and ballistically stops them.  AJ asks what's wrong with the two of them - They've had breakthroughs and wins and still can't get along.  Dr. Shelby convinces Bryan to congratulate Kane and Kane storms off, only to come back in and dump Gatorade on all three of the others, saying he's going to Disneyland.  Absolutely whacked...and in the best possible way.  AJ wasn't very magerial in that one.

Match 6:  Sheamus (c) vs Alberto del Rio, World Heavyweight Championship
Winner:  Sheamus via pinfall

Jamie Dimon namedrop by JBL - Bet that's the first and last time we hear that name on WWE TV.

Booker T is coming out before the bell - Here we go with some chicanery involving this Brogue Kick angle.  Booker T has concluded his investigation and the Brogue is a go.  So the whole angle is a wash without even a single PPV match without it.  Sheamus Brogue Kicks Otunga off the apron to open this one up and ADR (actually called "ADR" by JBL) starts with some kicks.  Sheamus wants the Brogue Kick again but ADR bails to the floor.  Sheamus explodes out of the corner with a swinging neckbreaker after action makes it back into the ring, but ADR tries to take over.  ADR puts himself on the floor and Sheamus with a shoulder off the apron to the floor.   Alberto uses the announce table to his advantage and rolls the champ back in for a nearfall.

ADR ties Sheamus up on the ringpost and pulls on the arm from the floor, then a swift kick to the shoulder.  Alberto hits a mongolian chop from the top rope for two; maybe the first time I've seen that.  Sheamus approaches ADR near the ropes and ends up hung up in the ropes for a Cross Armbreaker.  ADR has to break since they're in the ropes, but he's still doing damage.  Alberto is back up top but Sheamus greets him with an axe handle, leaving both men down.  Back to their feet, Sheamus hits a pair of axe handles, a corner shoulder but can't hit the knee lift.  ADR wants the double knee armbreaker but Sheamus holds onto the ropes then hits the knee lift and a slam for two.

Alberto escapes to the apron and avoids the forearms to the chest, but Sheamus rams him into the turnbuckle and hops to the apron, bending ADR over the turnbuckle itself for the forearms.  ADR escapes a White Noise attempt and hits a Backstabber for two.  Del Rio with a big stomp on the champion and now wanting the Cross Armbreaker, but Sheamus counters with White Noise.  Sheamus heads to the corner, readying for the Brough Kick.  Del Rio ducks, shoves Sheamus into the corner and hits a step up enzuigiri but only gets a two count.  ADR jaws at Sheamus which just makes him mad.  Sheamus tries to fight but ADR ducks another Brough Kick attempt and lands the Cross Armbreaker which Sheamus tries to roll into the Cloverleaf, but ADR punches his way out.  Alberto low bridges Sheamus and traps his hand in the ropes, then proceeds to lay into it with kicks.  The ref gets Sheamus loose after ADR hits one more kick in.

Alberto finally locks in the Cross Armbreaker - I know Sheamus is Cena number 2, but it would do a WORLD of good for ADR to make him tap here.  Sheamus powers to his feet and deadlifts ADR into a weak power bomb to escape.  Del Rio dodges another Brogue Kick and once again rolls into the Cross Armbreaker.  Sheamus wants the bottom rope and teases a tap, but inches his way over and gets his foot on the rope.  Alberto throws a tantrum and tries a corner dropkick which Sheamus dodges, then hits a Brogue Kick to win.

It's not right that the most disappointing match thus far was the World Title.  Sheamus avoids tapping to multiple arm bars after having his arm wrecked all match, then hits his move out of nowhere, 1 2 3.  Cena booking 101 and nobody but the kids in the crowd enjoy it.  The action itself was fine, but a silly end to choose and a weak "banned move" angle make this the overall lowlight of the show so far.

Match 7:  CM Punk (c) vs John Cena, WWE Championship
Winner:   John Cena via pinfall

Paul Heyman greets us in the ring and says he's here to witness history - CM Punk is at 302 days in this WWE Title reign.  This is CM Punk's first main event since December.  John Cena enters with an anti-cancer themed shirt and gear, as that's the theme tonight.  I think most people expected pink jorts, so in a way, Cena didn't quite deliver.  This is one t-shirt I wouldn't mind seeing every kid and parent wearing; how can you NOT support the pink ribbon?

Punk poses with the belt for well over a minute in the middle of the ring before he hands it to the ref - Big focus on making it "all about him".  Cena tosses his shirt to the crowd and it's caught by (I believe) his dad.

Punk is wearing Yankee pinstripes on his gear to get in the head of the hometown hero.  Tense open with a long feeling out process.  Punk grabs the ropes off an Irish whip; he's in no hurry to throw down with John Cena.  Cena with an early suplex and rear waist lock.  Punk elbows Cena to the mat and throws knees to the midsection, then a headlock takeover.  Cena fights up and out with a back body drop, then rushes Punk in the corner; he dodges and Cena runs himself into the turnbuckle.  Punk with a kick and a quick cover.  Punk keeps the pressure on with more elbows.  Cena takes a whip to corner and after Punk showboats, he lands a DDT for a nearfall.  Punk with elbows to the collarbone and another cover and kickout.  Punk with a chinlock and Cena powers out then shoulders the Champion down.  Punk with a drop toe hold and bridge for a Muta Lock, but Cena fights his way out and ends up on the floor.  Punk suicide dives his way out and laughs as he looks at Cena's dad.  Punk throws Cena in and takes his time, which results in a Cena baseball slide.  Cena puts Punk on the wrong side of the barricade then gives him a fisherman's suplex back over.  Cena rolls the champ in and lifts him for an Attitude Adjustment, but Punk fights out and kicks him in the head.

Punk now tries a Camel Clutch but Cena stands up and Punk drops elbows on the neck again.  Punk with jabs and a runing right hand for two.  Punk slides out and heads up top then lands an axe handle.  Punk takes a lap around Cena, then lifts him for a GTS, but Cena fights out and lands a pair of shoulders - Punk coutners the spin out bomb into a crossbody and hits clotheslines, but Cena answers with one of his own for two.  Cena calls for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Punk puts his boot in Cena's throat as he drops the fist.  Now a neckbreaker from the champ for two.  Punk is on the apron, waiting for Cena to stand.  Punk with a crossbody, but Cena rolls through and throws Punk to his shoudlers for an AA.  Punk holds onto the rope and gets tossed to the floor.  Cena with a suicide dive and Paul Heyman is flabbergasted.  Punk gets rolled back in and swings at Cena, but he takes the spin out bomb and Five Knuckle Shuffle, which Punk coutners again, this time into the Anaconda Vise, as Punk screams "Best in the World" into the face of the challenger.  Cena powers his way out and locks in an STF.  Punk pops his head out and locks in a Crossface.  Cena stands up with Punk in tow and gives him a side slam to break the Crossface.

Strikes back and forth, but Punk stops it with a leg lariat and a knee in the corner.  Punk hits a clothesline as Cena runs out of the corner, then hits the Macho elbow for two.  Punk says it's time for Cena to go to sleep and stalks him.  Cena catches the knee on the GTS and locks in the STF again.  Punk makes it to the bottom rope to avoid losing, then catches Cena with a GTS for a very near fall.  Heyman and Punk are both beside themselves.  Punk with kicks to a grounded Cena and a clothesline for another near fall.  Punk slaps Cena then wants another GTS, but Cena drops down and hits the spin out bomb and Five Knuckle Shuffle, then the Attitude Adjustment, but the WWE Champion kicks out at the last second.

Punk rolls to the floor for some distance as Cena sits on the mat surprised.  Cena rolls Punk back in and heads to the top rope, but Punk avoids the leg drop.  Big kick to the head of Cena, who kicks out yet again.  Punk slaps Cena again and strikes away at him, then hits a knee to the head but still can't put him away.  Punk tries a moonsault but misses (literally missed - Cena barely had to move) and both men get up at the same time.  Punk hits another GTS and Cena kicks out again.  Punk wants Cena to get up again, and hits Rockbottom but Cena still kicks out.  Punk is losing his mind and Cena can barely move on the mat.  Cena hits a surprise AA, but Punk stays in the fight.  More finishers in this match than the rest of the night combined.

Cena lifts Punk and seats him on the top rope, then follows.  Cena wants an avalanche belly to back, but Punk elbows out.  Cena delivers a second rope bridging German suplex to pin CM Punk and I am ENTIRELY baffled.

Sudden ending via a move we've never seen out of Cena and a title change that accomplishes very little.  As Cena celebrates, the referee hands the belt to Punk - The shoulders of BOTH men were down on the mat and we have a draw.  Punk is ecstatic and Cena is livid that a title match ends in a draw.  Punk with a belt shot from behind to end the show standing tall.

A non-finish is about the only thing worse than a Cena win here.  What this means is that Cena is still the number one contender and will end up getting another shot.  Contrived ending aside, this was an ROH-esque match with both men hitting big move after big move after big move and kickout after kickout after kickout.  That's not a criticism, mind you - Just an observation.  What this match makes you realize is Cena has stuff in the tank he doesn't break out.  Cena suicide dives should become more common place as should his use of new moves on a fairly regular basis.  Didn't at all expect a middle rope German out of John Cena but we got it.

On the whole, a good show.  Not great, but serviceable.  Odd that the undercard was really the overwhelming shine for this PPV.  Sheamus/ADR did what everyone figured:  Reintroduce the Brough Kick and end in the Brough Kick.  All the tension and teasing for no payoff whatsoever and Sheamus introducing and cementing a new move, again, for nothing.  The undercard matches, including the Divas match, were all quite entertaining and the main event was quite frankly a great match with an eyebrow raising ending.  Cena/Punk will definitely continue on, but a sprinkle of someone else being involved would be nice to break up the monotony.  Paul Heyman was surprisingly uninvolved in this one, aside from amazing reactions to things, especially the Cena dive.

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