WWE Elimination Chamber

I had a great time at the WWE Elimination Chamber live show on Sunday. I was pretty close to the action, so that added to the excitement. I just hope they didn't capture me going apeshit when John Cena came out, presevered on DVD for generations to come. My favorite moments included my boy Chris Jericho winning the belt, the guys hilariously falling out of the cage and down the steps after they were eliminated, Maryse (!), John Morrison's sparkly outfit, and slapping hands with Jerry "The King" Lawler. I also witnessed the horrifying moment when the Undertaker was engulfed in flames. What a tough guy. I have no idea how he went to the ring and completed the match after that. What a pro. I would have howled like a bitch and ran to the dressing room. Anyway, pix of the event are below:

The opening fireworks

The Son-In-Law!

YOUR New World Champion!

Why, Shawn, Why?

My new dining room chair

Impact

Fun Impact last night. My favorite parts included the elevation of The Pope and the build to his main event against AJ Styles, the mention of green stamps, the returns of Daffney and Kazarian, the Samoa Joe kidnapping and Hulk Hogan saving Abyss. WWE has some solid angles leading to WrestleMania but this group does have enough fresh wrestlers and angles that could make the upcoming Monday night battle interesting.

(Photo from tnawrestling.com)

American Idol

What a terrible week for American Idol. They finally got down to 24 contestants this week. Of course they dragged out the process and that three hours of television seemed like six years. And some of the choices they made were absurd. It became almost comical how talented singers (read: black) got cut as the judges fawned over marginal talent that screwed up all througout Hollywood Week. It was ridiculous. I really hope this is the last year for the show.

News and Notes

Well, it's damn near official. Variety is reporting that TNA Impact will be going head-to-head with WWE Raw every Monday starting in March. They will be live every other week. Indeed, it's on, brother... Speaking of TNA, they held their annual Against All Odds show last night in Orlando. The Pope won the tournament to become the challenger for the World Title at the Lockdown PPV in April. Glad to see the promotion is behind him. Also, AJ Styles beat Samoa Joe to retain the World title. I read the results of the show and it seemed about average... Seducing Cindy (Margolis) was good once again this week. I called it that the last black guy was going this week. The token black always leaves on these type of "love" reality shows in the third week of the show. This is the second week in a row that one of the contestants called Cindy a "bitch" on the way out (it wasn't the black guy)... Why does the media keep calling this guy the "Chrismas Day Bomber"? That almost sounds happy, like he's carrying around a big bag of presents or something. They should be calling him something more appropriate like the "Draws Bomber"... Hollywood Nation favorite Kim Kardashian and her man Reggie Bush made an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show Friday night (the clip is below). The Roots hilariously played "Ebony and Ivory" as their entrance music. Check out her side profile during that entrance and I dare you to restrain yourself from not saying the word "GODDAMN!":

News and Notes

I loved the debut of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villians. I am firmly behind the Heroes. The Villians team has a chance to demolish the Annoying Scale between Boston Rob's accent, Russell talking non-stop and Coach being Coach. I'm hoping James, Cirie, or Amanda wins it. It's gonna be a tough reunion show if one of the forementioned villians takes it... WWE's Vince McMahon announced that he hopes to have the WWE cable TV network off the ground within the next year and a half. Can you even imagine such a thing? Classic footage around the clock? Time to get that work-from-home job... Speaking of wrestling, Impact was decent again. Sure, there are still plotholes you could drive a truck through but they have slowed down the product and are showing more focus. But where the hell is Beer Money? Less old guys and more Storm and Roode is a good thing.

News and Notes

I thought Ellen did really well in her American Idol debut. She had funny comments and stern criticism when it was needed. She's way less annoying than Paula Abdul. It should be a fun season. The only disappointment was that the girl who used to be on Barney and came out in the dominatrix outfit for her initial audtion got cut last night. No telling what kind of tricks she would have pulled out if she had made the final 12... Another great night for Bad Girls Club. Not only did one of the main sh!t talkers leave the house, but the other girls pelted her with water balloons on the way out. So great. And next week, it looks like Jay Leno Girl has a run-in with the police and might get booted. Aw, shucky ducky!

News and Notes

It was a fun Raw last night, ending with a surprise appearance by Bret Hart as he attacked Vince McMahon at the end of the show. Great ending. He was a little pudgy (I'm one to talk) but still effective. Vince was great while running away. I hope they do a tag match at WrestleMania so that Bret and Vince don't have to carry it. The rest of the show was good too. Straight Edge Society is the bomb. I just wish they had won the belts. Nice slow-build for Maryse vs. Gail Kim. And they kept the race car driver guest host to a minimum. Good job... Did anyone catch The Rock on Oprah last Friday? I never thought I'd see the day when wrestlers were on the Oprah show. It went so well, maybe she'll have another one soon. Hornswoggle? Jericho? The Black Pope? The possibilities are endless.

(Photo from wwe.com)

New Champs!

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, the new world champions of professional football. When I think back when I was little and they were the joke of the league every year, I never imagined that this day would come. Now they are the best in the world. Props to Drew Brees, Coach Payton, Kim Kardashian and the rest. Now if you'll pardon me, I ate enough chicken today to feed a third world nation for a year, so I must go lay down.

Impact

Say what you will about the "new" TNA, but at least Thursday nights are more interesting. I enjoyed the AJ Styles vs. The Pope match (although Pope pinning the champ made no sense to me). The aftermath was great with Ric Flair backing off of Samoa Joe and the back and forth between Flair and Joe. The Knockouts match was decent (why was Tara being blurred?) and the tag match was okay. The main event was wretched. Mick Foley should be saved for special occasions, not throwaway matches and Kevin Nash shouldn't be allowed near a ring. But like I said, at least they are keeping my interest. In addition to that, it was just announced that one of their biggest shows of the year, Lockdown, will be in the hometown of Hollywood Nation, St. Louis, Missouri. Not only that, but they are having a fanfest as well. Now I really wish Alyssa Flash hadn't quit. Anyway, here's the TNA bonus match for this week, Sarita and Taylor Wilde vs. ODB and Traci Brooks:

News and Notes

Gotta give credit where it's due; WWE came through on Monday with a great show-ending angle between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. I can't remember the last time I was on my feet in excitement over an angle. Looks like we might get Bret and John Cena vs. Vince and Batista at WrestleMania. As for the rest of the show, I missed the first hour because I was watching 24. Maybe it was just as well... Sorry to hear about the passing of legendary wrestler Jack Brisco. I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Brisco at the NWA Legends show in Charlotte in 2008. I was able to get his autograph and he couldn't have been nicer. He will go down as one of the all-time greats... Posh Spice was back on American Idol tonight. She didn't really add much this time. Wouldn't it had been fair to give one of the other girls a shot, like Scary or Baby? As it was, it was a largely uneventful show. Could have done without Bikini Guy. Thankfully there is only one more night of auditions (I hope)... For those who missed it, here's the clip of Pink's outstanding performance on the Grammy's. Peep it before The Man pulls it down:

The Grammys

It was music's biggest night and the superstars came out for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. It was a good show for about two hours, then it started to drag. When are they going to take the cue from MTV and shorten this thing to two hours? Anyway, the show was highlighted by a great performance from Pink (above) who got into some contraption and spun around while suspended in the air. It was incredible. They should have ended the show after that. Really, who is gonna follow some broad in midair with her full ass hanging out above the stage? It's unheard of in these parts. She was brave to do it and and she pulled it off flawlessly. Other highlights included Lady Gaga's duet with Elton John (she later sported a huge, goofy hat that only she could pull off), Beyonce breaking out into some Alanis Morisette, Rihanna showing up (and winning an award), and the Black Eyes Peas. Beyonce won six awards and deserved them all, especially after that Taylor Swift debacle at the American Music Awards. Speaking of Swift, somehow she managed to win the big Album of the Year award. Gaga and Beyonce were robbed.

(Photo from mtv.com)

Weekend Wrap-Up

You think you know him. Shout-out to my boy Edge, who drew number 29 and won this year's WWE Royal Rumble. He had been out for months with an achilles tendon injury, which he called the worst injury of his life. Glad to see him back in action and in the main event picture. Now on to the Elimination Chamber in that great wrestling city, St. Louis, Missouri. I read the results of the Rumble PPV and it seemed like a decent show. Sheamus retained the Raw title by DQ over Randy Orton (who beat up Legacy) and The Undertaker beat Rey Mysterio to retain the Smackdown title. Mickie James beat Michelle McCool to win the Women's title... I saw the Miss America pageant on Saturday (well at least the first hour). They're trying to make the show more exciting and I think they did a good job. Slater from Saved By The Bell as host, sassy-ass lines during the scripted intros, letting the viewers vote, and a judging panel with such diverse people as Vivica Fox, an American Idol finalist and that shithead Rush Limbaugh. I still wonder who won the thing. I would Google it, but what's the point... Speaking of broads, I also caught the debut of Seducing Cindy, a new reality show on the Fox Reality channel where newly divorced Cindy Margolis tries to find love. I enjoyed it-- mostly because her boobs were out for most of the show, but it was entertaining in other ways as well. Miraculously the 2Pac impersonator survived to the next episode... This week's Jim Cornette commentary from Who's Slamming Who is right here... I finally saw the Michael Jackson movie This Is It on Saturday. Great piece of work. That was gonna be a hell of show and I wish I had seen it live. Such a shame... Props to Hershell Walker, who won his MMA match on the Strikeforce show on Saturday. At forty-seven years old, he was in tremendous shape and submitted his twenty-years younger opponent for the victory.