Saturday, May 21, 2011

Boxing Preview 5-21-11

Jean Pascal (26-1-1) vs. Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2)

How do you not want to see this fight? Jean Pascal, ranked #2 in the light heavyweight realm according to boxrec.com. Bernard Hopkins is #1. The last time these two fought, it was a draw. This is a crazy huge fight. Pascal is on more of a tear than Hopkins, winning 5 out of his last 6, as opposed to Hopkins' 4. Both are pretty even. I'm going to go with Pascal to win this one. This is a man fighting in his home province.

Chad Dawson (29-1, 1 NC) vs. Adrian Diaconu (27-2)

The battle of the fighters Pacal has beaten. You have Chad Dawson, very well-known for his fights with fighters like Antonio Tarver. Diaconu is a Romanian boxer residing out of Montreal. The fight is going to be in Montreal, so Diaconu gets the hometown edge. Diaconu has lost 2 of his last 5, while Dawson has only lost 1, the first of his career. This loss will be good for Dawson, because it will make him hungry and spur him to take this victory away. To Dawson goes tonight's victory.

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Ruff State of the WWE – Post Extreme Rules

So I’m trying to put my thoughts together of last night’s Pay-Per-View and where we are with the WWE.
1. Originally, I was pretty upset with the draft. All my favorite guys moved shows (which I don’t understand why I was upset; I do watch both shows.), and I thought they just made changes to make changes. I reserve judgment until I see everything they’re doing creatively. What we need is an influx of new talent. And we need to start making some newer stars.
2. The CM Punk-Randy Orton match was really good. They made a good extreme match without getting too bloody. While I respect the blood spilt by the ECW originals, it isn’t always necessary. It was creative for them to find “extreme” matches without being too TV14. There was a lot of drama built in this match. I did like the kendo sticks. There hasn’t been a lot of those in the past. So I didn’t get a car fender, taser or skillet. I got a really great story that Randy Orton ended up winning. Punk must be on his way out. And Orton is built up as the top face on Smackdown!
3. Kofi-Sheamus turned out to be the scene-stealing match of the night. I had a hard time with this match. I love Kofi, and I love Sheamus (Team Pasty White!). There was some really nice drama built up here around the tables. Kofi was a good athlete and really shone in that spotlight. Sheamus didn’t lose anything by losing to Kofi. Time for him to excel on Smackdown!
4. I liked Michael Cole coming out to the ring in bubble wrap. That was the best part of the match. For Cole & Swagger to win that match drove me to temporary Atheism. I find it quite insulting that they couldn’t do a Sin Cara match of some kind or Drew McIntyre or ANYTHING other than this match. Jim Ross is not an in-ring talent. If I want to watch untrained wrestlers doing their stuff in the ring, I’ll find YouTube backyard matches.
5. Cody and Rey tore the house down with their match, quite literally and figuratively. I did not want Rey to win. Rey hasn’t changed a single thing since ’03. I am very bored with Rey. I really don’t like Cody “Toothpick Legs” Rhodes, but he’s fine for what he is. Rhodes really should have gone over. I decided after this match that Atheism wasn’t working for me either, so I joined the Raelians. Why not?
6. The Lay vs. Cool match was really good, matter of fact, one of the best divas matches I’ve ever seen. And then we had the debut of Kharma/Awesome Kong. I actually like the name (Don’t judge me.), and from I’ve seen of her, I hope she draws millions.
7. I had one problem with the Christian-Alberto del Rio match. First of all, both guys gave everything in this match. The bump Del Rio did onto the ladder was the most emotionally-inducing WWE bump I’ve seen since Orton on the thumbtacks against Foley. My problem with this match was this. This wasn’t Christian’s title reign. This was Edge’s title reign with Christian substituting for him. This was Chavo Guerrero Jr. after Eddie Guerrero’s death all over again. What they should have done is let Christian win and then have Edge to come out and celebrate later. How long is it until Christian gets to hold this title by himself?
8. I am in love with R-Truth. He is the best thing on WWE television. I also think his athleticism is very underrated, so a feud with John Morrison will make me very happy. They need to shorten his mic time though, but let him go. Give him the mic and let him go Bubba Ray Dudley on the crowd.
9. I have no idea what happened during the Main Event. That was when I heard that there was going to be a presidential announcement at 9:30 (my time). While we all speculated that President Obama was going to congratulate Christian, sure enough, by the time the President walked to the podium (and if he were walking with any more swagger, his name would have been Vincent K. McMahon), it was to announce that Osama bin Laden had been killed. So my mind was anywhere but that ring. You must forgive me for my neglect.
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