Wrestling Gets Interesting Again

Nigel McGuiness (aka Desmond Wolfe) may have made the biggest decision in wrestling since WCW and ECW went out of business almost a decade ago. During the high point of wrestling in the mid to late 90’s (the Monday Night Wars era) it was common to see wrestlers move from the WWE(F) to ECW to WCW and surprise the world. The time of instant Internet news was still years away, and most people only knew about what they saw on television. If a wrestler’s contract was running out, or if someone was let go, you didn’t know until you either stopped seeing them, or until they showed up in another company. There was no common knowledge of who was unhappy, who wanted to go to another company, or if an injury was legit or part of an angle. Once WCW and ECW folded and the age of instant online news grew there was nothing even the casual fan didn’t know about.

The WWE has owned the American wrestling world for almost a decade. If you didn’t make it there you either went to Japan, Mexico, small Indy federations, or were out of luck. When TNA and ROH started they were one of dozens of startup companies, but unlike most, they have lasted and become successful. TNA was the place where young talent got their chance and bigger names went to have a job and an easier schedule. As time passed TNA has become the place where wrestlers who wanted out of the WWE went. They have developed their own great talents, but the big names are mostly WCW, ECW, or WWE cast-offs. Ring of Honor was another company like TNA, but instead of storylines, it was a company were hungry wrestlers went to showcase their talent. The focus wasn’t on ratings it was putting on the best pure show possible. As a result most of the best talent has left ROH for more money in TNA or WWE. Recently the WWE signed Bryan Danielson (the best pure wrestler in the world in any company) and Nigel McGuiness (a tough bad guy talent and a mouth to back it up) perhaps the best two talents on the Indy circuit. The duo finished out their remaining schedule and had a final head to head match in ROH before reporting to the WWE.

TNA had their normal television taping last Monday and a newcomer attacked the biggest name in the company, Kurt Angle. The new wrestler was Desmond Wolfe, the man formerly known as Nigel McGuiness but without trademark blonde spiked hair. As soon as news of McGuiness’s appearance the Internet went crazy as to what happened with his WWE deal. Their official stance was that he had failed a medical test due to past injuries, but McGuiness and other sources confirmed that he had a WWE contract offer in hand, had met with the company, but never signed a contract. The ironic thing is that the Desmond Wolfe name came from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon but since it was never trademarked it was able to be used. Not only did the WWE lose out on a potential breakout star, but he went and signed with the closest thing to their competition, TNA. TNA had pulled off a free agent coup that hasn’t been since the Monday Night Wars days a decade earlier. For the good of the business perhaps this will be the catalyst that helps bring the WWE the true competition they need so that the industry can thrive once again.

Favorite Quotes

I love the Simpsons and I can relate to this exchange all too well many days...

Bart : We are going to die!

Lisa : We are all going to die sometime.

Bart : I meant soon!

Lisa : So did I.

When Cars Go Too Fast

Police in Italy are showing off their special police car: a
Lamborghini, which they're driving to Amsterdam for a demonstration for
Dutch emergency services. The car is the third of its kind donated by
the manufacturer, and is capable of pursuits at speeds of up to 325 kph
(202 mph). An onboard camera system can record images of speeders, and
a GPS-enabled computer system records speeds second by second. And
there's one other special feature: a "cold box" specifically designed
for human organs. (AP)

When you have a car that can go so fast that they need include a place for your organs

to go than you are asking for trouble

THIS is TRUE: 11 October Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com

The best thing you can do is a get a free or premium subscription to the weekly This Is True. The stories are amazing and it will astonish you every week. I can't wait to read my copy each week

DVD Review - X-Men Origins

With three kids and a job with odd hours, going to the movies isn’t a common occurrence. At times even watching a full DVD takes time (I got Hellboy II for Christmas and finished watching it in August). That being said it is time to review the latest movie I watchedX-Men Origins. DISCLAIMER – I never read comic books so if the movie and the original comic didn’t mesh I don’t really care. I am just covering the movie itself.

Critics seemed to despise the latest X-Men movie, but I didn’t know of a single person that saw the movie and didn’t like it. I was a bit skeptical about the movie, but I knew the action sequences would deliver. I wasn’t disappointed as the action was better than expected and the rest of the movie was nicely done. We got to follow Wolverine through his century and a half life and found out how and why he became the character he is. The story made sense and was nicely done, even setting up the beginning of the X-Men from the previous three movies. The only thing that was missing is more involvement from Gambit, and a wish he had been in the previous movies. As prequels go this was nicely done and didn’t require much time to get the viewer up to speed. I would defiantly recommend this movie, especially if you are one of the 47 people on Earth that haven’t seen any of the other X-Men movies.

Brain Enema Version 1

When you have a little bit to say about a lot of things I just get a Brain Enema

So Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize and I don’t have an issue with that. The rules are that the nominations have to be in by February (he had been in office for less than 2 weeks) and his promises of dealing with the other countries in the world were a drastic and more peaceful plan. Obama didn’t so much as win as Bush’s administration caused the world to hate us so much that anyone that was elected would have won the award.

Fred Taylor is hurt again, but should you really be surprised. He has his first fully healthy year ever and then is right back to his normal injury pattern. He has been killing my fantasy teams for a decade and he must be stopped. If he had stayed healthy he might have been one of the top five running backs in NFL history.

When an opponent travels to Virginia Tech they are leaving with a loss, it doesn’t matter who it is, VT doesn’t lose at home. There is no team that is coached as well in special team at any level, and no matter how good or bad VT is you always have to be afraid to play against them.

As much as I hated to see the Angles beat the Red Sox it was time. The Sox had owned the Angels in the playoffs and they were due. Throw a dog a bone every once in a while. The Sox were good but they weren’t a playoff team this year. While there might not have been a better team to be in the playoffs, the 2009 Red Sox were not a strong playoff team.

With the complaints about the NBA refs from last year is the league really prepared to go the entire year with replacement refs? I understand the reasoning but to lose the good refs you have is going to be horrible for the NBA.

The NHL is back! Just wanted to let you know, most people never get to see the games so you might have forgotten about hockey season.

It is nice to be undefeated in fantasy football, realize you need a running back to replace Fred Taylor and a quarterback because Aaron Rodgers and Phillip Rivers have bye weeks. Who did I pick up? Brett Favre and Michael Turner. I did okay.

Instead of a three division winners and a wild card winner in baseball’s playoffs can’t we just balance the schedule and take the four teams with the best records. Why not take the best of the best regardless of where they are located? Oh yeah TV ratings and merchandising. Never mind

Chuck Liddell is one hell of an impressive fighter in MMA but his best days are behind him. After watching Dancing With The Stars (my wife Tivoed in and I watched only Liddell) it is obvious that athletic ability doesn’t translate to being graceful. Liddell was painful to watch.

The AFC 50^th anniversary is a nice retro glimpse at the past, but the ref uniforms? They look like the mugged a barbershop quartet on the way to the game and stole their clothes. Let the teams use retro uniforms but keeps the refs with the normal zebra look.

The WWE is a rich corporate giant and the place where wrestlers go to become famous. That being said, Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate USA, and TNA all are more entertaining and have more wrestlers that can actually perform in the ring. While they might be the most charismatic people in the business, Nigel McGuinness and Brian Danielson are two of the best wrestlers alive today. Expect that the WWE will not let them show their talents and end up missing out on a huge opportunity. They did the same thing by passing or releasing Paul London, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Brian Kendrick, AJ Styles, Colt Cabana, Matt Morgan, Johnny Jeter, Daivairi, Brent Albright, etc, etc, etc.

People love to complain about customer service but most people would never want to do the job themselves. The next time you get a positive customer service experience take the time to thank them, compliment them, tell their manager, or something. Without customer service your life would be more difficult than you could ever imagine.

When it comes to home field advantage I will take any team in Colorado playing outside. Not only do you have the high altitude but snow and below freezing temperatures. Trying playing baseball or football when you can’t grip the ball because you can’t feel your fingers. That is an advantage.

Rush Limbaugh wants to head a group to buy the St. Louis Rams, and no good can come from this. Limbaugh proved he is a loudmouth that cares more about his image than running a pro sports franchise. His choices would be second-guessed based on his ESPN comments about black athletes a few years ago. The Rams can’t get much worse but they can do much better than Limbaugh.

UFC might not like it but MMA and wrestling do go hand in hand. Many of the skills are similar and there are countless moves that work in both genres. While the potential for injury in a wrestling match can be high, making a living as a developing wrestler and MMA fighter both pay little and require an immense amount of work and time. Ease up UFC and let your stars make a living.

Take back what I said about retro NFL uniforms. The Broncos look like they are wearing the rejected uniforms from Alabama and the Steelers. Not a good look even 50 years ago. They look too much like something you would see at a high school football game.

Sidney Crosby is good but overrated. Not only is Alexander Ovechkin a better all around player now that he is playing some defense and checking. Crosby isn’t even the best center on his own team, I would take Evgeni Malkin any day. Crosby is too soft and tries to do too much.

Anyone who knows me is aware of my man love for one specific football player. After getting released by the 49ers he is now leading the Patriots in sacks…Tully Banta-Cain

You Can't Help Anyone Anymore

THIS is TRUE: 4 October 2009 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com

Get your free weekly copy of the news that amazes us all

The first Sally Harpold knew there
was a problem was when sheriff's deputies showed up at her home in
Clinton, Ind., with a warrant for her arrest. But the evidence was
clear: four months before, her husband had gotten a cold, and she went
to the drugstore and got him some over-the-counter cold medicine. A few
days later her daughter caught the cold, so Harpold stopped at another
drugstore and got her some medicine too. Once the purchase paperwork
was matched up, authorities realized she had committed the crime of
buying 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient of crystal meth, but
also a common decongestant for runny noses. "The law does not make this
distinction," says Vermillion County Prosecutor Nina Alexander. "I'm
simply enforcing the law as it was written." State law limits purchases
to 3.0 grams in any 7-day period. Harpold was taken away in handcuffs,
and her local newspaper ran her mug shot on the front page with the
headline, "17 Arrested in Drug Sweep". She faces up to 60 days in jail
and a $500 fine. "It's unfortunate," said Vigo County Sheriff Jon
Marvel, whose deputies made the arrest. "But for the good of everyone,
the law was put into effect." (Terre Haute Tribune-Star)

Lisa Snyder lives near a school bus
stop in Middleville, Mich. A couple of neighbors need to head for work
before the bus arrives, so Snyder said she would be happy to keep an
eye on their kids until the bus arrives. But when the Michigan
Department of Human Services heard about it, they ordered her to stop:
watching someone else's kids makes her home an "unlicensed daycare
facility" in the state's eyes. To comply with its rules, she must apply
for a license to watch the kids -- even though she doesn't charge
anything. "It's crazy," Snyder said. "I'm just helping out a couple of
friends." She asked State Rep. Brian Calley for help, but when he
called DHS they told him to bug off. He has promised legislation to
deal with the problem. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Pictures To Make Your Life Better

Who Needs Honest Politicians?

Randy Cassingham's This is True: This is True's Current Weekly Issue

LIES, FALSEHOODS -- WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? "My campaign is not based on a
foundation of lies," said Antwon Womack, 21, a candidate for the Board
of Education in Birmingham, Ala. "My values are not lies. It's just the
information I provided to the people is false." Many key facts on his
campaign web site were li-- ...uh... false: his age (he said he was
23), his bachelor's degree in education and his title of "Dr." (he
actually dropped out of high school -- as a freshman), even his address
(he didn't actually live in the district where he was running) and
phone number. Womack said he was running for the Board "because I seen
a lack of leadership," but the revelation of his lies -- er, falsehoods
-- "is really going to hurt my political career," he said. Womack
announced he would drop out of the race "because when people read this,
there's no way I can win." But he reneged on that promise, saying that
two local politicians were supportive of him staying in the race. Both
denied supporting him and demanded he stop using their names. Womack
came in third with just 117 votes.

(Birmingham News)

THIS is TRUE: 20 September 2009 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com

Crappy Story

Randy Cassingham's This is True: This is True's Current Weekly Issue  
Four years ago, Gary Moody was found wearing waders,
 hip-deep in the waste pit of a ladies outhouse in New Hampshire's White
 Mountain National Forest. Moody said he was searching for his wife's
 lost wedding ring, but investigators didn't buy it and filed charges. A
 federal judge spared him jail, ordering him to get psychiatric
 treatment instead. Recently a camper in Maine, a few miles from the New
 Hampshire border, said that she went into a pit-toilet restroom and "a
 man popped up out of the hole leading to the waste vault," according to
 court papers. "The man [said], 'Sorry about that, I was getting my
 shirt.'" Sure enough, it was Moody, now 47, who faces three new federal
 charges. Moody admits he never got the ordered psychiatric treatment
and has waded in outhouses "on more than the two occasions when he
happened to get caught," an investigator says, but "expressed anger
toward society because of how he was treated after he was found in the
pit of a national forest outhouse in 2005," causing him to suffer
"extreme embarrassment." 
(New Hampshire Union Leader)
You can subscribe free by e-mail and get this delivered to you every week.