WWE Extreme Rules

>

Still having Wrestlemania hangover? Well we get WWE's next pay-per-view installment Extreme Rules.

This show originated in 2005 as the rebirth of ECW in a magical show in New York that saw the Dudley Boyz beat Tommy Dreamer & Sandman. In the 2006 show RVD finally won the WWE title, this was the last show that trully had a ECW feel to it. The 07 show was a forgettable one, but 2008 was a solid one that gave us a great ladder match between Edge & Undertaker that I had the chance to see live at the San Diego Sports Arena.

I have always been impressed and interested what WWE offers us in relation to the production and setup for the show. Stages used to be unique for every show and not the same one every month with different logos. This is a picture of the stage from my seat

The ladder match had some awesome spots that ended with Edge throwing Undertaker off the ladder to the outside of the ring through 4 tables. This is one of the final extreme matches Edge had, he unfortunately had to retire this month because of his recurring neck injuries (for a Edge tribute blog go here)

The stipulation was that if Taker lost he would be banished, so we didn't get to see him for a few months until SummerSlam

So lets get into the matches announced for this Sundays show

Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross vs Michael Cole & Jack Swagger
I'll start off by saying that I'm sick of this feud, I have no interest whatsoever in Cole and usually end up changing the channel; the only good thing to come put of this is to have Jim Ross back on commentary, even if it is for a couple of months. Also finally Swagger is getting some TV time which hopefully gets him a further push after this ends.
I have no idea how this will end as I expected this to be blown off at Mania but noooooooooo, we get another month of it. I don't care who wins as long as it end; I expect King and JR to pick up the W with help from Swagger who in the process will turn face.
Lawler and JR pick up the win.

Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio (Falls Count Anywhere Match)
I've been a fan of this feud from the get-go and was expecting someone to help get over Rhodes and Rey has been instrumental to get this done. Their Mania Match was a solid one that told a good story with the Dashing One picking up the win, therefore I expect Mr. 619 to get the W in this one to keep this feud going.
I hope they get 15-18 minutes to tell a good story, with Rey getting the win.

---SPOILER ALERT--- This match will be announced on SmackDown!
Michelle McCool vs Layla (Loser leaves Smackdown match)
I'll start off by saying I love LayCool and think they have been great in their role, whether McCool was given a head start because of her backstage relationship or not is irrelevant as she was given the ball and ran with it. Michelle has an injured foot so I guess this is a match that will be used to explain her absence, thus Layla will pick up the win (for the record, I find Layla to be the hottest diva today, her face, her body, her accent, THE WHOLE DAMN PACKAGE)
Layla wins this one in a 7-8 minute match.

Randy Orton vs CM Punk (Last Man Standing Match)
This feud has grown a bit stale even with 2 of the greatest SuperStars around. Orton will be moving to Smackdown and Punk is THE greatest heel in WWE today, bar none. With rumors going around that Punk won't resign with WWE this match may go his way to make him feel good, also a loss wouldn't hurt Orton as the people are really behind him.
I'm interested in seeing how violent the WWE allows this guys to be, no need for huge spots but some use of weapons could help the match and accentuate how sadistic both guys are -in their own way-.
Punk wins in a 23 minute (sounds like a good wish) show-stealing match

Alberto del Rio vs Christian in a Ladder Match for the WHC
This is quite a mystery and hard to call as we have ADR going to RAW because of the Draft and if he wins he would take the title and have both titles on Monday Nights, yet he is so overdue to win this match and the crowd may lose faith in him if he doesn't pick up the W. On the other hand Christian is a solid performer but has never been see as Championship material by the office so -I'd love to see him finally get the title- it's hard to believe they will put the strap on him.
Regardless of the outcome I expect these 2 to put on a clinic -along with the Orton-Punk match- I expect this one to steal the show. I'll go out on a limb and pick a winner
Alberto Del Rio gets the W, not sure how they will manage the title after that but that's for creative to figure out.

John Cena vs John Morrison vs The Miz in a Triple Threat WWE title Match
For some reason I'm not real interested in this match although I like all 3 guys. Cena takes a bunch of crap from most fans but you have to respect his commitment and hard work, I mean the guy is on the road close to 300 days a year, does media appearances left and right, is a great performer and always gets a reaction. Morrison is one of the best wrestlers around, his parkour is amazing, he gets a great reaction from the crowd but for some reason (maybe it's Melina and the stuff backstage with Trish Stratus) WWE decides not to let him be a real top guy. And finally, The Miz; this guys is a perfect example of what hard work and fighting for what you believe in is all about, that package before his Wrestlemania still gives me chills and I think he is a role model for anyone to follow.
With that being said, I don't care for this match. I expect R-Truth (a guy I could care less about) to somehow mess with JoMo, that leaves us with Cena-Miz  which I'd love to end with Miz picking up the clean win but I find it hard to believe they will go with that.
A good thing about this is that the winner is hard to predict, which is a testament to the Miz growing as a believable character. No one believed he'd go past a couple of week as champ, but here he is after beating Orton a couple of times, Cena at Mania (all have been with help, but it means WWE believes in him and makes fans think he can win any match which adds to the product).
Winner: I want Miz, I expect Cena.

The storylines are not that interesting but we have some matches that have huge potential and could be some of the best this year.
Hope we get an entertaining 3 hours and our moneys worth; I'll be back on Sunday night for a review, for now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

San Antonio trip, day 1 – Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs

I’ll start off saying that this game is somewhat of a bonus as the main reason of the trip was to see my Lakers taking on the Spurs… that being on Sunday, I thought I’d make the trip a couple of days early and enjoy the Spurs putting a whooping on the Heat (or at least that is what I hoped for).

Trip started off well as I made only an hour and a half from Monterrey to Laredo, the border crossing was only 25 minutes which is awesome, but then came the I-94 permit and its brutal 2 hour wait and 15 minute line to pay 6 freaking dollars. I’ll go on the record and say: “a 2.5 hour wait for a permit is BULL-FUCKING-SHIT… the fuck, I’m coming to spend money, to have a good time, NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT.

2 hour trip and I get to San Antonio and straight to the hotel (cheap Red Roof, yet never disappoints, best bang for the buck). Quick trip to the Riverwalk and off to the AT&T Center.

Parked pretty far but not too bad for 8 bucks, at this point it’s about 6:45pm (a bit less than 2 hours from tipoff), hoped they opened the doors 2 hours but nope. More standing around (that has been a trending thing today). So lots of standing around while I listened to a ton of “Lebron sucks” and “overrated” chants which I loved --- I think Lebron is one of the best players but a total asshole, more on that later---. This drums band starts playing and makes the wait a bit better, then comes a Spurs cheering squad and they start throwing t-shirts and I get one (day starts getting better). At 7:30 -1 hour before tipoff- doors open and we are in.

A quick tour around AT&T which is a pretty nice arena with a great atmosphere although the halls are not that big and are really crowded. Made my way up to my seat and picked up some buffalo wings and a coke (damn good combination). Got to my seat and munched my wings down.

The atmosphere was electric with tons of Lebron comments and chants. As soon as he steps on the floor the crowd is all over him. Out come Los Spurs (it was Latino night in the San Antonio, so we had El Heat and Los Spurs jerseys, along with a lot of Latin Music) and we get a huge pop by the sold out crowd. I can’t put into words the energy that was felt around the building. I found it quite funny that the song played right before the Heat introductions was one by Pitbull, it’s funny since he is from Miami (yeah weird me, but also weird they played a song that made the visiting team seem like the home team).

As always Manu Ginobili gets the biggest ovation during introductions, although the return of TP9 was well received. I can’t stress enough that the return of Parker is huge for the Spurs, although he did not look like himself from time to time he is a huge part of the team.

 The crowd was hot from the tip off and quick basket from Manu and the Spurs got the crowd hotter –If possible- going 8 for 11 from 3 point land in the 1^st quarter. So it we end the first 12 minutes with the Spurs up 36-12. The second quarter was a bit more balanced, mostly due to the Spurs lowering the intensity.

Side note:  how is it possible that in the AT&T Center my cellphone has no reception??? I guess all those bad comments about their service is true.

It ‘s not even worth the time to talk about the disaster the Heat are. For their talent level I expected so much more but you can see that they are horrible on defense: they rotation is brutal, lack of effort, poor coaching in general. On the offensive side you have 3 great players in Lebron, D-Wade and Bosh but they have no idea how to play as a team; individual talent will only take you so far but in order to win you must play as a team and have a good coach. I found it interesting that most Heat players talk to the assistants during time outs instead of Coach Spolestra, if they listen at all; most of the time the just wandered around, which I see as a sign of poor coaching, poor integration, lack of interest.

The game ended in a 30 point blowout by the Spurs, they hit 17 3 pointers (which is a team record, a nice thing to be part of live) and they handed the Heat their worst defeat of the season (which also was nice to see).

All in all it was a great day. Made it safely to beautiful San Antonio, had some great wings, some beer, saw on the greatest players ever (although I hate him off the court), got the chance to boo the hell out of him, and got to see the Spurs win big in what –in my opinion- was the hottest crowd I’ve ever been a part of.

Hope to see a Spanish edition of SportsCenter to hear the hosts say ESTA LEBRON or I WADE… a play on their names to make them sound like cursing. Funny if you speak Spanish, although I doubt they will show any good plays by El Heat –or maybe they will show that awesome And-1 play by Lebron with the 360 layup. (pics coming later)

After tonight’s game I can say: “Lebron take your talents, turn them sideways, shine them up real good, and stick them straight up your candy-ass” (Quote The Rock nevermore).

So tomorrow I got an off day -so to speak- so it’s off to shop, eat good food and enjoy San Antonio. Sunday I’m back to AT&T to watch my Lakers, this time showing no love for the home team (which I have a ton of respect as an organization and enjoy watching them) hoping to see another great game and a Lakers W.

MrKhakbaz out!!!