The Favre Mess

I'm just about tired of hearing about this Favre/Packers situation. In my opinion, Favre should have stayed retired, gone into broadcasting, rapping, filming Something About Mary 2, or anything. Why take the beating and the negative press? Just go out on top and ride off into the sunset with class. And what is this with him having to be re-instated by the league? Did he come out on the short end of a Loser Leave Town Match? Was he suspended for hitting a referee with a steel chair? Because that's what it sounds like to me. Hopefully they will deny him re-entry into the league and he can go on about his business. Regardless, football starts in about four weeks! I'm stoked.

(Photo from packers.com)

Rams Training Camp

My favorite NFL team is in a bit of turmoil as the star running back, Steven Jackson, has yet to report to the St. Louis Rams training camp. He is holding out for a new contract. Management has stopped negotiating with him until he comes to camp. I heard on the radio yesterday that he is keeping in contact with the coach via text message. They did not add the phrase "like two hos". Great, glad to hear text messaging is going on. Are they posting on each other's My Space page too and adding each other as friends? I hope this thing gets resolved soon.

WTF?

Mike Adamle is the new Raw GM? Is this the best they could come up with? You could have heard crickets in the crowd. He is rumored to be making in the $300,000 range, so I guess they had to come up with a significant role for him and he sucked as an announcer. I just hope he doesn't start making the wrestlers compete in The Joust and The Eliminator. Other notes:

Congratulations to Stephanie McMahon, who gave birth to another daughter yesterday. Thankfully it was not a son or he would be pinning Chris Jericho by this time next year. Not that one of the daughters won't be doing that soon anyway... I heard on the Wrestling Observer audio show that Freddie Prinze Jr. is now a writer for WWE. Wasn't that clown in Scooby Doo just a couple of years ago? Is he still married to Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Shouldn't he just stay home and bang her, rather than go through the aggravation of dealing with the WWE creative team system?... Good to see William Regal back, after his suspension for violating the wellness policy. I noticed he was wearing a shirt, I guess so he won't have to violate the wellness policy again... Another good interview by Jericho. It's nice to see his character take a more serious turn. I expect the Y2J character to be back by December though.

(Photo from wwe.com)

Elite XC Show

I'm a casual MMA fan so I watched the Elite XC show on CBS Saturday night. I enjoyed it. Not as much as I Love Money, but I enjoyed it. A couple of brief notes:

- I actually enjoyed the women's match the most. How stupid would Cris Cyborg had felt if she had been celebrating, returned to the ring, then gotten knocked out? Luckily for her, she finished the job. How hot was Gina Carano (above) during the interview? Speaking of hot, where has interviewer Karyn Bryant been all this time?

- I guess all of that blood was on the mat from one of the prelim matches. Does Elite XC own a mop? Or a paper towel? That can't be healthy.

(Photo from elitexc.com)

I Love Money/Brooke Knows Best

It was another great episode of I Love Money this week, highlighted by Rodeo getting hit in the face with a flying chicken. Members of the green team attempted to throw the challenge, but the plan backfired and they all ended up on the block. In the end, Mr. Boston and his annoying voice were sent home, thus Brandi C. (who was called an "idiot") and America's favorite saracastic skank Megan (above) were both thankfully spared.

Over on Brooke Knows Best, I actually made it through the entire episode. I got my first glimpse of the new roommate. I see that they hired a pretty decent looking broad to play the role. In this episode, Brooke had a crush on a surfer and invited him to their party. She also invited her ex-boyfriend to generate some artifical reality show tension. The most shocking part to me was that Hulk Hogan's daughter's ex-boyfriend was a black guy, which is karma for that whole Hogan/Kidman fiasco in the dying days of WCW. And even crazier, he was named "Stacks" and the last time I saw a black guy named Stacks was when Samuel L. Jackson was getting blown away in Goodfellas.

And more importantly than all that, I still can't figure out if this broad is hot or not. At one point in the show, she pulled her swimsuit up to form a makeshift thong and I didn't exactly look away. On the other hand, I keep thinking that if you put a mustache on her, she looks just like the guy who beat the Iron Shiek for the WWF title in 1983. The jury is still out.

(Photo from vh1.com)

TNA Spin Cycle

Here's another edition of the TNA Spin Cycle. This time it's announcer Don West, Karen Angle, Matt Morgan and James Farrior of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is my favorite show besides I Love Money:

Kid Friendly?

Move over Sesame Street and Hannah Montana-- you've got some new competition. As I mentioned yesterday, WWE, who at last check still employs the lovely Maryse (above), did indeed announce yesterday that they plan to produce their three main weekly shows to achieve a PG rating. Terrible idea. If Steve Austin comes back, is his catch phrase now going to be "Heck Yeah!"? Will DX ask for two words: "Stow It!"? Are they going to have Maryse wearing a potato sack every week? It's a sad day.


(Photo from wwe.com, you can check out Maryse's "Summer Skin" photo set here)

Brooke In Playboy?

According to the New York Daily News, Playboy has made an offer to Brooke Hogan to appear nude in their magazine... and she didn't say no (yet). Oh man, I don't know about this one. I already feel uncomfortable just talking about it. This is kind of like the time Debbie Gibson appeared in Playboy. I couldn't even look at it. Alright, I looked at it. But I felt bad afterwards. Stay tuned for more information on this important situation.

(Photo from vh1.com)

Dancing Queen?

According to a report at perezhilton.com, Dancing with the Stars is negotiating to get the one and only Kim Kardashian for their season that starts in September. How phenominal would that be? I'm ready to declare it the greatest season ever already. Plus, I still have the weird feeling that Ric Flair is going to be on this show as well. I've heard no inside information, but it just makes too much sense. If they could get those two, the only way that the show could be better is if they brought on ten Flavor of Love girls to round out the cast.

WWE Notes

Decent show on Monday, highlighted by the interview that Chris Jericho gave. And seriously, it is your fault that he put Shawn Michaels out of wrestling. It appears that they are sticking with C.M. Punk as the champion. Now that William Regal's 60 day suspension is up, I wouldn't be surprised if he is back as GM shortly.

Going into SummerSlam, it looks like we are perhaps headed to John Cena vs. Batista, Punk vs. JBL (please get this man out of the ring), Triple H vs. Great Khali (good lord), Edge vs. Undertaker and something involving Kane. I'm also intrigued with Jenny McCarthy's upcoming appearance on Saturday Night's Main Event. Maybe she will pin Santino or something. This is actually a step down from her movie with Larry The Cable Guy.

I read on wrestlingobserver.com that WWE is supposed to be sending a press release today that all WWE programming will now be rated PG. I find that one hard to believe. What about my boy, the R Rated Superstar? No more live sex shows after his title wins? What about Maryse? She is at least an R rating herself! I hope this doesn't lead to Duke the Dumpster and The Clowns coming back.

I Love Money/Brooke Knows Best

Close call on I Love Money this week as one of the hottest contestants, Megan (above), almost got the boot. Luckily she wore a barely-there swimsuit to the elimination ceremony, which surely saved her ass. Smart girl. Thankfully in the end, one of the interchangeable clowns from I Love New York was sent home instead. Disaster averted.

Over on Brooke Knows Best, Brooke and her roommate were trying to find a third roomie. The scripting was so silly and she was really looking like Thunderlips-era Hulk Hogan so much, that by the ten minute mark, I could take no more. I will give it the old college try again next week.

(Photo from vh1.com)

WWE Great American Bash Results

Back in the glory days of the NWA, The Great American Bash used to mean Nikita Koloff and Magnum T.A. in the best of seven series, Ric Flair defending the title for 30 days against 30 different opponents, the Rock and Roll Express and Midnight Express in a street fight, and half-filled outdoor stadiums. But now we have the sanitized WWE-version of the GAB. Not quite the same. Results from last night's pay-per-view show:

- In the opener, Hawkins and Ryder became the new WWE Smackdown tag champs by winning a four-way over former champs Miz and Morrison, Finlay and Hornswoggle and Biscuit & Gravy.

- Shelton Benjamin beat Matt Hardy for the U.S. title.

- Mark Henry beat Tommy Dreamer to retain the ECW title. Colin Delaney turned against Dreamer. That should make for an exciting little eight month feud on Tuesdays.

- Chris Jericho beat Shawn Michaels when the ref stopped it because HBK was taking too much punishment. Jericho later came out and declared that HBK's career was over due to a detached retina.

- Michelle McCool beat Natalya to become the new WWE Divas champion.

- C.M. Punk and Batista went to a no-contest when Kane interefered.

- JBL beat John Cena in a street fight match.

- Triple H beat Edge to retain the Smackdown world title. Vickie and The Hot Little Wedding Planner went at it near the end.

- The show sounded better on paper.

Kardashians On DVD

I haven't posted anything about Kim Kardashian in awhile. Looks like Kim is coming back to DVD-- and this time she will be vertical. I saw the above photo, which is the box cover for the upcoming Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Season One DVD. Let's see, according to the placement on the cover, the show is starring (in order of importance): Kim Kardashian, Kim Kardashian's Ass, Bruce Jenner, then the rest of the family. It's just funny how they position her ass so prominently on the cover. But then again, that's what the industry calls "marketing".

(DVD available for pre-sale at amazon.com)

The Dark Knight

I got back today from an extended weekend trip to Chicago, where I did indeed contribute my $7.50 to the record breaking box office total of The Dark Knight. I really enjoyed it. The story was good and everyone in the cast gave a great performance. And best of all, I was still able to get to sleep. I also caught Chris Rock while I was in town (for the second time this year) and of course he was nails. I managed to stay up late on Friday and catch the wedding reception of Edge and Vickie Guerrero (delayed in Chicago due to a stupid baseball game). I have no idea why they didn't show the actual wedding. Vickie was so happy when she pinned Cherry. Too bad that was all dashed with the viewing of the hidden footage of Edge and The Hot Little Wedding Planner making out. I will even begrudingly admit that Triple H played his part well. I think it's way too early to break up the Edge/Vickie act but we'll see where it goes.

I Thought It Would Last Forever...

Brace yourself: Bret and Ambre didn't last. Citing busy schedules, Bret Michales and Ambre of Rock of Love 2 have broken up. On the heels of that, VH-1 has announced plans for Rock of Love 3. The new season will be a bit different; instead of being in a mansion, this time they will put an all-new cast of skanks on a tour bus and set up challenges in each city. The winner will then "date" Bret for two weeks before being dumped so that they can move on to Season Four. This thing is beyond absurd at this point (and I'll still be watching every episode).

(Photo from vh1.com)

Slobo Ilijevski, 1950-2008

I was sorry to hear about the passing of Slobo Ilijevski at the age of 58. Most people reading this will probably have no idea who he was but to guys my age who grew up in St. Louis, he was one of our most beloved St. Louis sports heros. Slobo was a goalkeeper for the St. Louis Steamers soccer team of the MISL in the 80's. He was the most exciting goalie in the league because not only did he make unbelievable diving stops in the net, often he would venture out far from his goal area and take the ball down the field, sometimes past the mid-field line. I was a huge fan of his too. In fact, I named my pet turtle "Slobo" after him. And when he crawled away, I named the next one "Slobo II".

(Photo from stltoday.com)

Last Night's Raw

What a stupid ending to last night's Raw. I guess JBL ran over John Cena with a car. Well, rest easy-- we didn't witness a live murder on TV; wwe.com is reporting that Cena was "grazed and escaped the attack". Thank goodness! They would have had to cancel the match on Sunday.

Other than that, it was a decent show, although I'm still salty that they cut Kelly Kelly's segment short.

TNA Victory Road Results

Results from last night's TNA Victory Road pay-per-view show in Houston, TX:

- Alex Shelley won the 12 Man Elimination X Cup Match. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun match that went about a half hour. Great opener.

- Gail Kim beat Angelina Love. Good match, but honestly the best part was the Beautiful People's ring entrance. Is there anything funnier then when Angelina points to her bum and says "here it is, boys"? As for Velvet Sky, when she puts on her jeans, they fit. Amazing.

- Sonjay Dutt beat Black Machismo. Kinda lame. The love triangle continues.

- LAX beat Beer Money. Twelve fans were around the ring and whipped Storm and Roode whenever they went to the floor. Decent match.

- Taylor Wilde beat Awesome Kong to retain the Knockouts Title. Good match. Afterwards, Abyss saved Taylor from a post-match attack.

- Volador Jr. won the Ultimate X Match. Good match with some dangerous spots including Kaz doing a legdrop off the top of one of the structures. This victory gave Team Mexico the victory in the tournament.

- Kurt Angle and Team 3D beat Christian Cage, Rhino and A.J. Styles when Angle pinned Styles after interference from Frank Trigg. Good match. Trigg cracks me up. It appeared that D-Von hurt his ankle.

- I think the main event ended in a no-contest-- or Booker T is the new TNA Champion. I guess we will find out on Thursday. At the end, Samoa Joe was beating on Booker T and half the city of Houston came out to save him and Joe promptly destroyed them all. Sharmell was in the ring pleading with him to stop. Finally Sting came out and Joe followed him to the back-- but about halfway up the ramp he ran back and returned to beating on Booker. Sting came back and told him to stop. Joe gave him the finger and said "F*** You!". Sting beat up Joe with the bat. Booker covered Joe and Sharmell of all people counted to three and they left with the belt. To be continued on Impact.

(Photo from tnawrestling.com)

VH-1's Celebreality

I caught the early editions of I Love Money and Brooke Knows Best this morning on VH-1. On "Money", members of the green and gold team battled to try to knock each other off of a giant bed that was suspended over water. How someone didn't die on this challenge, I will never know. The Green Team won, so team captain Destiny sent Nibbles (who Chance hilariously said looked like a coyote last week) packing. In the process, she kept the drama queen tag team of Pumkin and Toastee (who faked a knee injury). The disgusting Mr. Boston got a massage from Megan. Fun show. Looks like some major Heather drama is coming next week. You knew it wouldn't be long.

On the debut of Brooke Knows Best, it was kind of like an old episode of WCW Nitro; the airtime was dominated by Hulk Hogan. The plot of this week's show was that Brooke had so much turmoil in her family that she decided to move out on her own. Wow, how could a teenage girl with no job and a flop CD afford such an expensive apartment overlooking Miami Beach? I'm guessing from all of those shitty WCW pay-per-views that her old man main evented in the 90's that I helped to foot the bill for. That's my house, yamp! The stuff went down in 1997 and I'm still bitter over it. Anyway, it was basically the Hulk Hogan show as we saw him quiz her gay roommate, help her shop at Target and secure the house. I think I'll stay with this show for at least another week.

(Photo from vh1.com)

Week In Review

Here's a couple of items from the last week that I need to touch on:

- Regarding Jesse Jackson's comments about wanting to cut Barack Obama's nuts off, did he say how he was going to go about this? Scissors? One of those Japanese cooking knives? Garden shears? Also, how many people is Obama going to have to denounce before it's all said and done? It was Jesse and Bernie Mac this week; who's next? Cosby? Chappelle? Michelle?

- I watched the documentary portion of the Ric Flair DVD set. It was excellent. They skimmed over some portions of his career more than I would have liked, but it was still very well done. I still hate how WCW (and Hulk Hogan's punk ass) squandered away some of prime years. Have your popcorn and your crying towel ready, especially for the last thirty minutes.

- Congratulations to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who allegedly had their twins today. Alright Angelina, celebrate a little, enjoy the moment, and let's get into the gym tomorrow to get that baby weight off.

- WWE came to terms on the release/quitting of former WWE Diva Search and Playboy covergirl Ashley Massaro, under mysterious circumstances. It was just a couple of months ago that Rolling Stone magazine ran an article about high end escorts and named Ashley in the story. Because she was so extremely nice to me when I met her last May, I will forego the requisite "stripper pole/back on the street corner" jokes that I am so fond of and just wish her the best.

Rock's New Woman?

The I'm Not Obsessed website has posted a photo of The Rock with his alleged new girlfriend (above). Glad to see that he has rebounded and is back in the dating arena. Oddly enough, she kind of looks like his sister.

(Photo from imnotobsessed.com)

Program Reminder!

Don't forget, tonight is the series premiere of "Brooke Knows Best" on VH-1 at 9PM CST. Expect cameos from Daddy Hulk and her crazy mother, along with much contrived madness. In the meantime, VH-1 posted these photos for our enjoyment to promote the show. I don't think there has been a bigger online debate about if someone is hot or not since Sarah Jessica Parker. The jury is out for me: in some photos she looks hot; in others it looks like she is about to legdrop Big John Studd.

(Photos from vh1.com)

Title Change on Impact

Awesome Kong finally lost the $25,000 fan challenge and the Knockouts title last night on Impact, as Taylor Wilde (sounds like a porn name) upset the champ and took the victory (below). It was a good little match and the rest of the show was decent too. Do you think when Talia Madison was working indies last year she ever dreamed of the day that she would be main eventing and teaming with Kurt Angle?

(Photo from tnawrestling.com)

Say It Ain't So!

According to a report at perezhilton.com, Mariah Carey has a new tattoo on her lower back. It's a butterfly that says "Nick". Baby, you're a grown ass woman going on forty! This kind of stuff should have stopped at about 18. She's an A-List entertainer, not some Rock of Love groupie! At least she's smarter than her husband Nick Cannon, who allegedly has a giant "Mariah" tattoo across the top of his back. The laser removal doctors must be salivating. A giant back tattoo? This guy has set new levels for being sprung.

Flair DVD Update

I did pick up the Ric Flair DVD earlier this week, although I've only had a chance to see some of the interviews and a Flair/Roddy Piper match from 1992. In one of the interviews, Flair went off on Buddy Landell and said that Flair had spent more on spilled liquor than Landell made all of last year. They also had two of my favorite Flair interviews of all-time: the infamous Space Mountainettes interview and the one where he said something along the lines of "That's why this suit cost a thousand dollars, that cost two hundred (pointing to the announcers) and I don't know what that cost, I'd be ashamed to wear it". It already paid for itself. More updates as I watch more of it.

Mimi On The Cover of Elle

Mariah Carey made the cover of Elle Magazine and you can read the accompanying article right here. Meanwhile there were reports online last week that there is already trouble between her and Nick Cannon (shocker). Since there was only a courtship of a couple of weeks, they are now getting to know each other and allegedly Nick is staring to find out that she is as crazy as a horse with no neck. Holmes, you could have found that out by reading Hollywood Nation.

(Photo from elle.com)

Out Today!

Don't forget, the new Ric Flair DVD is out today. Damn, I knew I should have taken today off. There is a documentary covering his career, a bunch of matches and lots of interviews on this three disc set. I guess I will pick it up after work. I'll have a report up later.

Cool Like Dat

The latest issue of Ebony magazine lists the top 25 coolest brothers of all-time. Those on the list included Billy Dee Williams, Prince, Samuel L. Jackson, Jay-Z, and Barack Obama. Those just missing the list included: Rudy from Fat Albert (#27), Uncle Anderson (#32), and myself (a disappointing #194).

(Photo from ebonyjet.com)

Do You Smell What Kim Is Cooking?

She has conquered the fields of reality TV, sex tapes and big asses, so what's next for our beloved Kim Kardashian? Why, a perfume of course! According to online reports, it's due on the shelves in May of next year. Umm, I bet it smells like red beans, rice and fresh cornbread.

I Love Money

VH-1, you fiend! Why do I ever doubt them? They have done it again. Tonight was the season premiere of VH-1's latest reality show, I Love Money. Former contestants from Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and I Love New York all in a house together? Check. Alcohol? Check. Hot girls like Hoopz and Megan walking around in bikinis? Check. Sass? Check. Dumb ass midgets? Check. $250,000 on the line for one winner? Check. A host that looks like the son of Donnie Simpson? Check. Add all that up and what do you get? Reality perfection. Tonight's premiere was an hour and a half long and I wished it could have gone longer. The premiere was great and the previews looked even better. How could you miss with the cast that was assembled though? How could anything with Pumpkin, the midget from I Love New York, Rodeo and Brandi not be great? It's gonna be a heck of a season. During the show, they showed promos for upcoming shows like Brooke Knows Best, New York Goes to Hollywood and shows featuring Puff Daddy and Luke from the 2 Live Crew. Can we just crown VH-1 as the greatest channel ever and get it over with?

(Photo from vh1.com)

TNA Spin Cycle

Here's another edition of TNA Spin Cycle, this time with Jim Cornette, Frank Trigg, Roxxi and Kaz. According to wrestlingobserver.com, they are considering making this a series on Spike TV. I sure hope so; I could watch this for hours. Check out Roxxi's hoop earrings-- ya jinglin' baby!:

More Raw Notes

(Better late than never). A few more notes from Monday's Raw that I forgot to comment on after the title change hoopla... Triple H leaves and immediately a new guy gets elevated. Coincidence?... Cody Rhodes might finally break through. Ted Jr. has been solid thus far. Not many tag teams for them to face though... Vince's edict to feature more blacks continues to roll. Kofi Kingston is a champion on the number one show, Mark Henry is a "world" champion, Cryme Tyme is hanging with John Cena, the wedding planner has been added on Smackdown (and is slated for a more prominent role soon), and D-Lo Brown and Ron Killings were brought back. How long until this Michael Hayes controversy dies down and they all get jobbed out? At one point it was rumored that when Hayes came off of his suspension he would have to address all of the black wrestlers in a meeting. I would have paid cash money to sit in on that one. And additional money if someone would have cut off the lights and brought in a brick... How about that Katie Lea Burchill?... Michael Cole is still terrible. Let the "Ross Returns to Raw" countdown begin... Tonight: Impact!

Pam vs. Jessica Feud

A couple of weeks ago Jessica Simpson wore a t-shirt that said "Real Women Eat Meat", kind of taking a shot at vegeterian Carrie Underwood, the ex of her boyfriend Tony Romo. Well yesterday animal lover Pamela Anderson called Jessica a "bitch" and a "whore". Such language! I know Jessica can be annoying and dumb, but a bitch? She seems kind of nice. A whore? Is she really out selling it on the streets? It looks like there is only one way to get this resolved: Vince McMahon should step in and get this set up for SummerSlam. And with the sad shape of both of their careers, I'm sure they would jump at the chance to be on a highly rated show. Seriously, like pro wrestling would be beneath these tramps! Pam is hosting parties and Jessica is now better known as Ashlee's less hot sister. This ain't 1995; they would jump at the chance. Vince, come out of your fake coma and get this done!

(Photo from baywatch.com*)

* (Pam doesn't really look like that anymore but this is how we at Hollywood Nation choose to remember her)

New Champ!

Now that's how you make stars! In a surprise move, WWE pulled the trigger on a young talent and made C.M. Punk the new World Champion on last night's Raw show. They set it up so well too. After Jim Ross came out to give his Farewell To Raw speech in front of his hometown crowd, Edge interrupted and had his flunkies escort Ross out. Batista came in and beat him down, which led to Punk cashing in the Money In The Bank briefcase to get his immediate title shot. They waited so long to ring the bell that I was sure Edge would get out of it, but Punk hit the Go To Sleep and won the belt in about ten seconds. And just like that, you have a fresh main event picture. What took you thick-headed bastards so long?

(Picture from allposters.com)