TLC 2012 review

This PPV has had some real twists in its build, especially with the loss of CM Punk due to injury; the replacement match isn’t exactly mind blowing but am always happy to be proved wrong.

Match #1 – Tables match for #1 Contenders match for the tag team titles.

Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow

Go Cody’s stache!! I cannot stand Rey Mysterio, I like Sin Cara and I’m not such a huge Sandow fan either if I’m honest. With Cody being out injured this match hasn’t had much of a build but now Cody is back with his moustache, let’s hope we see some more of him on TV.

Team Rhodes Scholars wins after Rhodes pushes Sin Cara off the top rope through a table set up outside the ring. Not a bad match, except for the 5 minutes I couldn’t watch as the signal went on the feed I had downloaded, if that makes sense.

RECAP

The Shield promo. Not bad actually, I had yet to see it.

Match #2 – United States title match

Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. R-Truth

I love Cesaro, he is brilliant and anyone who doesn;t agree is just plain stupid, all you have to do is go back and watch any of his ROH or Chikara matches to see how good this guy is. R-Truth on the other hand is not quite so good, he was hot for about 5 minutes then somehow lost it which is a shame because he isn’t a bad wrestler.

Cesaro wins after hitting the neutralizer on R-Truth, was a good match, R-Truth looked quite strong in the match, but just fell at the last hurdle.

Matt Striker interviews Antonio after the match, he claims to be an international superpower and the best US champ in history, could very well be true.

BACKSTAGE

Josh Matthews interviews Dolph Ziggler (MR. Money In The Bank). Dolph complains that it isn’t fair that he has to put his money in the bank on the line and Cena has to put nothing on the line.

MIZ TV SEGMENT

Miz interviews the 3MB

REALLY! REALLY! REALLY!

(that is all)

Why is Ricardo Rodgriuez out here, then Alberto Del Rio comes out and gets beaten on by 3MB, is this a face turn????? This seems very confused!!

They challenge Alberto Del Rio and The Miz to find a partner to team together to face them.

BACKSTAGE

Team Hell No talk about Ryback. Bring back the YES! YES! YES!

Then Striker interviews Wade Barrett, he says he is confident about his match with Kofi for the IC belt.

Match # 3 – Intercontinental Championship match

Wade Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston (c)

I seem to be behind the bad guys this evening, I love Wade, the man is awesome, ok I do not like his finish, I prefer the Wasteland as a finish over the Bullhammer elbow shot. I have never been big on Kingston so it’s nothing new.

Kofi reverses the Bullhammer with Trouble in Paradise to get the pin on Wade and retain the IC title. Not a bad match but certainly felt the US title match was better to be honest.

SEGMENT

CM Punk is in the Skybox and he insults everyone. His new tshirt is brilliant, a parody of the Rock’s Boots to Asses t-shirt.

Match # 4 – TLC Match

Team Hell No & Ryback vs. The Shield

Team Hell No has grown on me, at first I didn’t like the fact they were taking two quite serious wrestlers and making them comedy characters but, its kinda working isn’t it?? Ryback is picking up some serious momentum, even if it is a little rushed and then you have the Shield who have all the talent they could possibly need and a platform to showcase it. A TLC match can generally go really well and will be good to see some good spots from all these men.

Some note worthy spots include Daniel Bryan being double suplexed off a table set up on the top turnbuckle, Ryback being powerbombed again through a table, Ryback double suplexing Rollins and Ambrose onto a ladder. The Shield get the pin after Reigns power bombs Daniel Bryan through a table. Really good match, very violent and a good result in the end.

Match # 5 – Divas Title Match

Eve Torres (c) vs. Naomi

OK!!! WHAT!!!

Eve is gorgeous and Naomi isn’t bad neither but I think she should stick to the semi lesbian dance routines with the other Funkadactyl, who I have learned is named Cameron. Good to know.

Eve wins with a neckbreaker, that no one cared about which is hilarious as it sadly wasn’t that a bad a match.

BACKSTAGE

Matt Striker interviews Big Show, he says he is gonna beat Sheamus.

Match # 6 – Chairs Match for the World Title

Big Show (c) vs. Sheamus

Haven’t paid much attention to the build up for this match as for some reason it is boring me, I like Big Show and I like Sheamus but together they just don’t click for me. Sheamus as the challenger is much cooler to watch then Sheamus as the champion I think. Big Show deserves to be the champion, he is such a massive human being that it makes sense to give the man the belt for a strong run.

Big Show wins after getting a MASSIVE chair from under the ring and smashing Sheamus with it, which was HILARIOUS!!! Not a bad match, what you expect from these two really.

BACKSTAGE

Cena and AJ talking in the back, she apologizes for everything that has happened and thanks him for being there. He says to hold off until he wins.

Match # 7 – 6 Man Tag Match

3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal & Drew McIntyre) vs. The Miz, Alberto Del Rio & The Brooklyn Brawler.

WTF is going on here, had Del Rio turned face? Why is the Brooklyn Brawler here? Half the crowd there don’t even know who he is!! OMG!! This is 2012 people!!

Brooklyn Brawler gets the submission victory after putting Jinder Mahal in the Boston crab. What happened here!!!??? I’m confused!!

Match # 8 – Ladder Match for the Money in the Bank contract

John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler has to win this, I will cry if he doesn’t, Cena doesn’t need the MITB case and Ziggler kinda does at this stage. Cena is just needing to stay busy till he gets to Wrestlemania, Ziggler is simply doing what Kane did last year, but hopefully this time the right person will win.

Oh wow, AJ pushes Cena along with the ladder over and this buys Ziggler time to climb the ladder and grab his case to win the match and retain his money in the bank contract!! Brilliant, proving that Ziggler deserves to be in the main event!

WOW what a PPV, pretty mad in places but quite good for sheer amount of matches thrown in there and is never a bad idea to have Ziggler in the main event. The next stop is the ROYAL RUMBLE! This will be great as I will be watching it live with my Tag partner over at Site of Shite and hopefully be lauching my own podcast too! Big things lined up for 2013 on the Genesis front I hope.

Catch you all then.

 

 

Survivor Series 2012 Recap

I’m so sorry for missing HELL IN A CELL out but my copy didn’t play and I eventually gave up on finding another copy.

Survivor Series is usually one that I watch at my good friend 12-Pac’s house (SITE OF SHITE) and it is a shame I couldn’t watch this there. This PPV has been built quite well in some aspects but awfully in others, the main focuses have been the WWE title match and the World title matches, as usual the Survivor Series match(s) have been left aside.

The WWE title match should be interesting and the main survivor series match should be pretty good too, however i’m not so sure about the World title match yet, Sheamus just really boring me as of late to be honest.

Match #1 Survivor Series Match

Brodus Clay, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio

VS.

Tensai, Primo, Epico, Titus O’Neill & Darren Young

This is shocking, described as a bonus match by Cole at ringside (with JBL!!! Oh and Jerry Lawler), basically meaning that they had no idea how to fill the time so they threw these guys into a match. Not a fan of a single guy in this match, the Primtime players had some momentum but quickly lost that after AW was fired. Brodus’s only saving grace is the two chicks who come out with him, same goes for Epico & Primo, Rosa Mendes is GAW-JAUS!!

Brodus Clay gets eliminated 1^st by Tensai. Tensai is then eliminated by Justin Gabriel. Titus O’Neill eliminated by Tyson Kidd. Tyson Kidd eliminates Epico (with the sharpshooter too). Rey Mysterio rolls up Primo to eliminate him. After a flurry of moves from all the team Rey Mysterio eliminates Darren Young.

Team Mysterio wins the match.

Segment

Kaitlyn is in the back, someone tries to attack her but she fends them off, Eve comes in and gets pushed over for her trouble.

Match # 2 – Divas title match

Eve (c) vs. Kaitlyn

Piss break time I guess.

Eve won. Justice prevails.

Segment

Mick Foley’s team are in the back, all arguing with each other, Foley gets them all to put their hands in the middle, except for Orton who just tells Foley he hates him and leaves. BANG BANG!!

Match # 3 United States Title Match

Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. R-Truth

Not such an R-Truth fan but very big on Cesaro, not sure about him ditching Aksana but nevermind, wonder where they are going to go with Cesaro as he seems to be floundering in the mid-card with no real story or path.  Haven’t really seen much of a build to this match, but lets face it other stories have been getting a tad more focus and for good reason too.

Cesaro hits the Neutralizer on Truth to get the 3 count and retain the US belt. J good move WWE, good move.

Advert for the TLC PPV

OMG, David Otunga in a PPV advert!! That was awesome, shame he got hit by a chair at the end lol.

Segment
AJ vs Vickie!! Ppfffffftttttt. AJ comes out and denies affair with Cena, she then shows Vickie with different people in photo shopped images. All pretty shocking really, isn’t this something for Raw rather than a PPV event...... Tamina Snuka comes out and smashes AJ.... no one really cares!!

Into an interview with Heyman in the back. Matthews asks what tricks Punk has left, Heyman tells him that Punk is the champ and 8^th longest champ in history, he slags off Cena and Ryback.

Match # 4 – World Heavyweight Title match

Big Show (c) vs Sheamus
Quite looking forward to this match to be honest, didn’t get to see their Hell in a Cell match, but from what I have seen the psychology of the match was pretty cool and the feud has continued quite nicely since then. Big Show has the ability and if booked right he could be a really strong champion for the smackdown brand.

Sheamus on the other hand has just become boring, he was just doing the same thing over and over again, became very uninteresting, so will be nice to see him get a refresh.

Big Show pulls the ref into a massive Brogue Kick, getting himself DQ’d, then Sheamus goes to town on Big Show with a chair. Not bad actually, I must admit, think I prefer Sheamus on the hunt rather than on the defence, seems to suit him. Crowd chant “one more time” as he hits the Big Show, thats your WORLD CHAMPION people, have some respect!! ;-). Then Sheamus makes Big Show beg him not to keep hitting him, Big Show pleads with him to stop, so Sheamus Brogue Kicks him instead and at least he kept his word!!

Match # 5 Survivor Series Match

TEAM FOLEY: Kane, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, The Miz (???) & Kofi Kingston

Vs.

TEAM ZIGGLER: Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, David Otunga, Damien Sandow & Wade Barrett

Ok, this match has changed since I last paid attention, it was Team Punk for a start, not Ziggler and David Otunga & Wade Barrett weren’t in the team as far as I could remember, obviously replacing The Miz and Cody Rhodes. Strange but never mind. This has all the makings of an awesome Survivor Series match, got some of the best talent in the company at the moment all together. J

Wierd to see a Miz face turn, guess it had been coming, he had become a tad stale, but look at John Cena, his SS face turn landed him where he is (THE MAN!!). Saying that we could probably do with an Orton heel turn at this point, he is VERY BORING!!!!

It’s Team Ziggler out first, followed by Team Foley. Kofi and Otunga start the match off. Sandow tries to walk out on the match but Kane grabs him and throws him back into the waiting Daniel Bryan, who tags in Kane, Kane hits the chokeslam on Sandow and pins him to make him the 1^st elimination. Kane and Bryan argue and Dolph hits the Zig Zag to eliminate Kane. Bryan locks the NO lock on David Otunga, he taps out and is eliminated. Barrett hits “The Bullhammer” on Kofi.... thought it was the Souvenir but never mind, and Kofi is eliminated. Del Rio locks in the Cross Arm breaker on Bryan to eliminate him. Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale on Barrett and he is eliminated after the pin. Del Rio hits an awesome Enziguri kick on the Miz and eliminates him.

Leaves Orton Vs Ziggler & Del Rio. Ricardo interferes and gets a Mr Socko Mandible claw for his trouble, ha!!! Del Rio goes for the cross armbreaker and Orton reverses and hits the RKO and pins Del Rio eliminating him. Orton goes for the punt kick on Ziggler, however Ziggler gets up and hits a super kick on Orton and gets the pinfall and Team Ziggler wins the match.

Brilliant match was very hard to tell how this was gonna go and the elimination order wasn’t as suspected!!

Match # 6 Triple Threat WWE Title Match

CM Punk (c) vs. Ryback vs. JOHN CCCCEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAA

This match has been built up and built up over the last few weeks, its a shame we know Punk is going to win really, its pretty much set in stone that The Rock will face CM Punk at the Royal Rumble. This match didn’t really need Cena involved in it to be honest, its really all been about Ryback vs. Punk really and its a shame, however I am reading that it may be Punk – Ryback at TLC next month.

Punk is the 8^th Longest running WWE champion in history, at this PPV he has held the belt for 364 days making him tied with Hulk Hogan, if Punk holds the belt till the Rumble PPV then he will have held it longer than Cena.

A bunch of NXT guys attack Ryback after he hits the Shell Shocked on Cena and put him through the announce table, Punk crawls in and covers Cena to get the pinfall victory and retain the title. A funny ending to be honest, it keeps the belt on Punk which is all the match was needed for.

Not a bad PPV really, shame we only got 6 matches!!! Which is a bit of a letdown in some ways, but you had enough star power and the matches went on long enough to fill the show.

I have a few other bits I’m working on at the moment, hoping to get them posted asap. I will catch you at TLC!!

WWE Night of Champions 2012

The build for the main title matches in this PPV have been really good, the C M Punk & Paul Heyman angle has some great potential and the banning of the Brogue Kick for the World title match has been a nice little twist to the story. Outside of that, the tag team title match has changed about 3 times but I have a feeling the Kofi – Truth vs Kane & Bryan match will be really cool. Then the rest of the matches have very little to no real build. Ok there are only the divas, intercontinental and US title matches and let’s face it they have very little impact. Then of course the Orton vs. Ziggler match which should be truly amazing to see.

Cole is joined at ringside for commentary by the WRESTLING GOD himself John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL). This will be a fun entertaining show I think with that addition.

Match 1 – Fatal Four Way for the INTERCONTINENTAL Championship

The Miz (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Sin Cara

All these guys are really good wrestlers, maybe Sin Cara could do with some more experience in a WWE ring but otherwise he too is very talented. With the 2 masked luchadors involved there could be plenty of high flying moves in this match and Cody not being a stranger to high flying moves himself. The Miz isn’t the so big on the high flying but is a great talker and has some really cool moves in his arsenal.

The Miz pins Cody Rhodes after hitting the skull crushing finale on Cody after Sin Cara covered Miz’s face with a mask. Quite a good match for a 4 way match, sometimes can be a bit bland but they had a pretty fun little match there. Good signs for the rest of the card.

Backstage

The Primetime Players are with Eve (DAMN FINE) complaining that they should be challenging for the tag team titles when a stage hand approaches and tells Eve that there is an emergency. She follows and it turns out that Kaitlyn has been attacked and hurt her ankle (go figure), Eve and trainer carry her off. May I just note how bad an actress Kaitlyn is right now.

Match 2 – Tag Team Championship Match

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (c) Vs. Kane & Daniel Bryan
I have the feeling this match is going to be hilarious. Would like to see the title change hands here as I feel Truth and Kofi are a tad stale at this point and could easily go onto other things as individuals. The Bryan / Kane dynamic is interesting and has been one of the most entertaining things on Raw as of late just for the comic value of it.

Some great double team moves from Bryan and Kane, then when things go south they hug it out, which is hilarious. JBL’s comments on it are also rather funny. Kane goes up for the clothesline but Bryan pushes him off onto Kofi and this allows Kane to get the 3 count and Bryan and Kane win the tag team titles. They begin to argue and the crowd is chanting “Hug it out”, Kane hits the pryo and leaves. Ok so this match just buried the now former tag team champs but it didn’t help this story line continue.

Backstage

Teddy Long and Booker T, are talking and Eve comes in, tells them that Kaitlyn is not going to be able to compete for the Divas title. Booker decides to have Eve challenge instead. Everyone leaves.

Match 3 – United States Championship Match

Antonio Cesaro (c) with Aksana (DAMN FINE) vs Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder won the pre show battle royal to gain this title shot, at least it gives Ryder the PPV bonus, I really like Cesaro and with Aksana being his manager I really can get with his character too. Ryder I’m not such a fan of, just can’t get into him at all, he simply doesn’t entertain me unlike Aksana. It is a shame that Cesaro cannot do a lot of the moves he used to use in ROH as they are either taken by other wrestlers or he simply isn’t strong enough to do them to everyone on the roster.

Cesaro hits the Neutralizer on Ryder to retain the US title. Good match for what it was and we get to see Cesaro retain the belt which is a good move.

 Backstage

Otunga & Del Rio in the back, Ricardo walks in and they shout at him for not having his neck brace on.

Match 4 – Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler with Vickie G

This is going to be brilliant!!! Just have that feeling. Two guys are are just amazing at what they do in the ring, both generally give a great show regardless of whether they are on the winning or losing end of the match itself.

Both guys really going back and forth in this match, both hitting their signature moves and really bringing all they have to the match. “Lets go Ziggler” chants in the building. Orton manages to hit the hangman DDT on the outside barricade, and soon after follows with an RKO for the win.

Really good match, certainly what you expected from these two guys, match was very fluid and both guys just looked great!! Ziggler as usual sold everything like he had been shot and Orton was just, well, Orton!! What else do you need?

Match 5 – Divas Championship Match

Layla (c) vs. Eve

In all honesty, I simply do not care, except for the fact that Eve is GAW-JAUS!!

Eve manages to win after a modified neckbreaker.

Backstage

Kane and Daniel Bryan arguing again, AJ and the Doc are there too, Kane ends up dumping a bucket of water over them all, declares he is going to Disneyland and leaves. Rather odd segment.

Match 6 – World Heavyweight title match

Sheamus (c) vs Alberto Del Rio

This has been built really well, with the whole David Otunga involvement, to ban the brogue kick from WWE. The sad thing is the angle is really faulty as the brogue kick isn’t the only move that Sheamus has used as a finish; he has used the high cross power bomb and on occasion used the cloverleaf, so it isn’t like they banned his only finishing move. However they have really gone for broke on this angle and are really trying to push it, which is a good thing as both these guys have had some great matches with each other over the last couple of months.  

Booker T comes out and says that he is allowing the brogue kick in the match, Otunga then gets drilled by the brogue kick leading to him being carried out by referees.  

Great part when Sheamus goes for the brogue kick but Del Rio avoids, pushes Sheamus into the corner and follows it through with an enziguri kick, was very nice. However this isn’t good enough as Sheamus hits a brogue kick to win the match.

Quite a shame they unbanned the brogue kick before the match, should have kept it banned and showed that Sheamus can win without it as he used to. Otherwise a good match, I am a big Del Rio fan, so I am sorry for the biased opinion that really he should have the belt at this point, deserves it after all the hard work he has put in to this feud.

Match 7 – WWE Championship

C M Punk (c) vs. John Cena

Brilliant build up to this match, some really good promos, segments and even matches. It will also be interesting to see how Paul Heyman gets involved. Not liking the heel turn that they are doing with C M Punk, think he could easily have stayed as a good guy, but I hope this leads to him facing the Rock at the royal rumble, I think I could forgive them then and I also think it would be a great match.

We start with Heyman in the ring funnily enough; he says he will be at ringside to watch the match, he says he is there to respect the champion. Then both wrestlers hit the ring and we have our main event.  It may just be the sound on the ppv itself but the crowd seem very 50/50, more so than usual and that in itself is quite interesting.

Cena goes out of his comfort zone and dives through the middle rope straight into Punk who was on the outside, quite refreshing that! Then Punk hitting the Rock Bottom on John Cena was certainly another shock. Cena hits a German suplex on C M Punk to get the 3 count for the WWE championship. Then however the ref takes the belt from Cena and declares that because both guys’ shoulders were on the mat then the match is a draw and C M Punk retains the title.

Cena argues with the ref and then turns around and gets smashed in the face with the WWE title by Punk.  A bit of a shite way to end the PPV but guess that pushes the heel turn more, with the poke at the Rock too I’m really hoping this leads to them having a match.

I quite enjoyed the PPV and I look forward to seeing what they do going forward. J

Catch you next time. Peace.

Expendables 2

What can I say about this movie, it is a HUGE cheesefest, the dialogue, the cast and the action combine to just make an awesome action flick that you should never take too seriously.

I could just go spoiler crazy here but will try to hold off, the film has some really good dialogue and some great fight scenes too. Let me give you a few reasons to watch this movie:

1.       Chuck “fucking” Norris

2.       Arnie

3.       VAN DAMME!!

4.       Cheesey stereotyped quotes

My personal review of Van Damme’s performance is this, as good as it was, for me anyway, it didn’t beat the ice cold refreshment of a coors light. ;-). Joking aside he was really good and looked in great shape too, a perfect bad guy, which to my knowledge isn’t something he is known for. The appearances by Arnie, Norris and Willis are really fun and not to be taken seriously, their dialogue is as typecast as it could possibly be and just makes this film fun despite an attempt at times to make it a tad too serious.

The only real disspapointmen for me were the lack of any “Universal Soldier” references and if there were I was too slow to catch them, since you had both the main characters in the movie and ironically on opposing sides in reverse. Other than that minor dispute I really really enjoyed this movie for what it is, a really cheese layered action flick.

Gym Time

Today I did my usual cardio workout of 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 15 minutes on the stationary bike. I try to spice up these workouts by using the virtual active trainer on each piece of equipment where you get a course to do based on an area in the world. This set up works by giving you a course to run, the course will have different levels of difficulty throughout until your work out is done and by god does it kick your ass on some stages.

I then followed this up with 3 circuits on the machine assisted weights (have yet to do free weights there), i do 10 reps on each piece of equipment in the gym and then go round again 2 more times after that. I find this stops me getting bored and also gives me more confidence on the equipment. I used varying weights on each machine and sometimes go lower than what i can do but crack out more reps to compensate.

My playlist for today in case you are wondering, ha.
1. Motorhead - The Game
2. Saliva - I Walk Alone
3. Downstait - I Came To Play
4. Art of Dying - Get Through This
5. Amaranthe - Hunger
6. Killswitch Engage - This Fire Burns
7. Disturbed - Warrior
8. Fozzy - Martyr No More
9. Saliva - Badass
10. Sick Puppies - You're Going Down
11. Drowning Pool - Sinner
12. Downstait - Here To Show The World.

Thought I would hate going the gym and was really reluctant to sign up, but I do quite enjoy going, its good when barely anyone is in there and you can just go use the equipment in peace. Just wanted to share this.

PROPER ROID ABUSE!!!!! ;-)

The Dark Knight Rises Review

One Word Review:

BAT-FECTION

Actual Review:

Positives:

The cast is amazing for a start, along with the main cast you get cameos by actors that have featured in some really cool TV series such as Desmond Harrington from Dexter, Josh Stewart from Dirt, Christopher Judge from Stargate SG-1 and Will Estes from Blue Bloods. The film also gets some great cameos from characters from previous films (sorry no Joker) which does add a level of comedy to the film. As usual the standard cast of Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman just work so well together and the inclusion of actors Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt who all bring such am amazing presence to the film.

The story of the film is very well done; it does conclude certain aspects of the previous films while introducing the newer characters to the story, the first 30 minutes of the film however does give some clues as to how the film will end. At work before going to see the movie a colleague and I were discussing the film’s end and to be fair, we were both wrong, the end was a real twist and leaves you wanting a fourth film and without spoiling it, there could be a fourth film, I just fail to see they could top this one. The film has a couple of really good plot twists and some really good fight scenes, however this film doesn’t have as much fighting as the Dark Knight yet you do not really notice.

All the action scenes in the film, from fights between Batman and Bane to the latest vehicle in the Batman arsenal a helicopter called “The Bat” chasing down commandeered “Tumblers”, are very well filmed and do not seem so fast in this film, making them much easier to watch as well as follow. Anne Hathaway gets to do some serious ass kicking in this movie which is never a bad thing as she looks FANTASTIC in the skin tight outfit with the rather deadly heels, serious check the heels out!!

Negatives:

You would think that this part would be empty but unfortunately it isn’t. As with Dark Knight and Batman Begins before it, there are moments in this movie where the camera just cuts to something else with little meaning or warning. This is obviously where they have edited the film down; I would have preferred it if they had just made this film into 2 parts and kept in the excess scenes as in areas you feel very rushed as long spaces of time have supposed to have passed between scenes in the film.

Bane’s eventual downfall is a real let down, well it was for me anyhow. The whole film had built this guy up to be this complete monster and a unstoppable bad guy, yet I felt his defeat was too quick and had very little meaning which was a real shame and the main part of the film I was remotely disappointed with. Also his role in the movie gets switched just before the end of the movie; he goes from being the big bad guy to not really being the main bad guy at all. When you watch it you will understand, but for me it was the only real let down.

Overall:

This movie was amazing, without a doubt the story was brilliant, the acting was brilliant, the cast and action were without reproach. I am pretty certain I will be spending much time over the next couple of weeks in the cinema with this movie. J. It does leave it open for another film while at the same time completely closing the story up, a very rare thing to see, this is a great ending to a truly great trilogy of movies.

Out of 10 I am going to give this film a good solid 9.5, and only because of the Bane negatives otherwise this would have been a 10.

Money in the Bank 2012

Haven’t been able to catch the bulk of the build up to this PPV but judging from the card it could be interesting, good to see the likes of Tyson Kidd in the World Title Money In The Bank match, yet quite disappointed to only see 4 men in the WWE title Money In The Bank match. The final PPV before Summerslam, this should be a good chance for WWE to set something up.

Match # 1 – World Heavyweight Title Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Christian vs. Santino Marella vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Tensai vs. Damien Sandow.

Not a fan of Santino, Sandow and nor am I completely sold on Tensai either, however should be good to see what Ziggler, Kidd and Sin Cara will bring to this match with their high flying antics. Had Ziggler not been included in this match then I would have given the win to Rhodes, but now I think it will be Ziggler’s night. Am surprised that WWE included Sin Cara in this match considering he hasn’t been back long from an injury caused at last year’s money in the bank PPV so will be good to see if he has the confidence to really show off in this match.

Seems Santino is scared of heights, yet the cobra isn’t. The crowd are really behind Ziggler in this match and they are certainly smart as he manages to climb the ladder to grab the briefcase. Certainly the right move to make, he should be in the title picture. The match itself was really good, Tyson got some good spots in and Sin Cara got himself killed by Tensai, it was also shocking to see how much damage Cody got to deal out too. I’m quite happy with the match and the result.

Backstage

Josh Matthews is with Sheamus, he says he is going to send Alberto Del Rio to the scrap yard.

Segment

The Miz is back to a “Miz is awesome” chant from the crowd. Tells everyone he has been away filming a movie, the Marine 3 by the way. He then adds his name to the WWE Titlte Money in the Bank match and says because he is awesome... blah blah.

This is great news, I was terrified of the WWE MITB match, 4 guys with only 1 guy who can really work, being Jericho, so is good that we got someone else in there too.

Match # 2 – World Heavyweight Championship Match

Sheamus (c) vs Alberto Del Rio

I love Del Rio, think he is awesome and have really enjoyed his more aggressive look over the last couple of months. I am a little tired of Sheamus as the champion now, would be nice to see the belt switch, but highly unlikely I think as WWE seem to really love Sheamus.

Del Rio automatically goes to work on the arm of Sheamus and very aggressive throughout the entire match. Sheamus however recovers from the onslaught and hits Del Rio with the brogue Kick for the win and he retains the world title.

Was an ok match, liked the aggressive assault from Del Rio but I guess this wasn’t his time but will give Sheamus Credit he was selling that arm. After the match Ricardo distracts Sheamus enough for Del Rio to strike and attack the champion.

Dolph Ziggler’s music hits and he runs to the ring to cash in the money in the bank, Del Rio distracts Ziggler long enough for Sheamus to recover and he launches a brogue kick at Ziggler knocking him out, so no cash in, so Ziggler still has his title match.

Match # 3

Primetime Players with A.W  vs. Epico & Primo with Rosa Mendes

The tag team champions are out at ringside on guest commentary, A.W is loud and annoying and on top of that Rosa Mendes is just HOT. Its good to see some solid tag teams being developed at the moment, ok, none of them are the quality of some of the older tag teams but they certainly have the potential to get there.

Epico and Primo win after Primo rolls up Darren Young. Primetime players talk trash to the tag team champions after the match but they back off.

A nice attempt to try and boost the ranks and level of the tag team division will be good to see if this pays off.

Match # 4 – WWE Championship match

C.M Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan with AJ as the Guest Referee.

I like the Punk / Bryan angle, but AJ is starting to wear on me a bit now, she seems to be bigger than the actual superstars and title in this feud. I bet Bryan and Punk have, well, you know!! I would!!

What can you say about these guys, both are awesome wrestlers and both deserve to be in the spots they have. The crowd are into both these guys immensely and they both get plenty of chants.

AJ gets knocked down quite early in the match and gets carried out by officials; she gets replaced by another referee yet does make a return later in the match to replace the ref that replaced her. Man that’s confusing. Both these guys have unleashed everything on each other from their signature moves to foreign objects like chairs and kendo sticks, then Punk backdrops Bryan from the top rope through a table and covers him for the win and retains the WWE title.

Match # 5

Tyler Rex and Curt Hawkins vs. THE RYBACK

Hey look its another smart price Goldberg PPV squash match. I guess I should be grateful now that they are using guys from the WWE rather than generic jobbers from local promotion.

Early on the tag team get a great advantage and have The Ryback taking bumps and he tag team hit some good double teams. Then of course Ryback recovers and clobbers them both, hitting the muscle buster on Tyler for the win.

Pffft. That is all.

Match # 6 – Six Diva Tag Team Match

Layla, Kaitlyn & Tamina  Snuka. Beth Phoenix, Natalya & Eve

HOT, HOT & hmmm vs. HOT, HOT & HOT

Since when has Kaitlyn been scary? Both Beth and Natalya acting like she some big scary monster who eats divas, wouldn’t that be fun. At least Layla has changed her music now, just a shame they given her Tiffany’s old music.

Layla pins Beth after hitting the neck breaker, a pretty standard divas match, shame we didn’t get to see much of Natalya.

Match # 7 – WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match

Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. The Miz vs. JOHN CEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNAAAAAAA

In many ways I think this will be my favourite match on the show, but I know that with Cena involved I will not like the outcome, we all know he is going to win. I would love Big Show to win this, think it would help recover some of the damage done to Big Show’s heel turn, after all he has lost pretty much every match he has had since turning heel.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a Kane fan, I LOVE Chris Jericho and I can tolerate Big Show and The Miz too. Cena I do like but not when he is in the WWE title picture.  This match will not be a high flyers dream but should still be good. Big Show dominates early only to receive a flurry of moves ending in Cena dropping Big Show through the announcers table with the Attitude Adjustment.

Big Show eventually recovers and has to bring in his own special ladder to hold his weight, the ladder is bigger than Big Show. Cena and Big Show are on top of the ladder and the case snaps from the chain to give Cena the case. John Cena wins money in the bank..... damn.

The match despite the ending was really good, everyone got some offense in with Big Show just looking dominant, my one negative was that Kane didn’t get to do much in this match really and neither did the Miz which is a shame.

Was quite a good PPV, didn’t bog the show down with too many backstage segments or interviews, this really made the show better for me, a little more wrestling and that can’t hurt a wrestling show can it? The next stop!! Summerslam! A major event, a long awaited DSC reunion, hopefully a special review for Summerslam.

NO WAY OUT 2012

I think it has been a good couple of years since this PPV has graced our screens, usually in February though; however this has been replaced by the ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV event. The card for this event on paper isn’t the most attractive of cards, another Big Show vs. John Cena match is not what the doctor ordered, even with the ridiculous story stipulation added, then we have the changes that occurred to the World Title match, with Del Rio being injured his spot was replaced by Dolph Ziggler which can be argued is the better choice at this time and then the WWE Title match with CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane, this match has the potential to be great or a real let down, so we will see. Triple H is said to also be appearing on the show and this will hopefully see the advancement of the storyline with Brock Lesnar.

Match # 1 – World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (C) Vs. Dolph Ziggler

Shocked to see this as the 1^st match of the night, really hoping this match gives Dolph the time to really showcase himself and prove that he belongs back in the World title picture. Love Ziggler as he just makes everyone he wrestles look like a million dollars, he should consider dropping Vickie as his manager at this point though and Sheamus, even though I do prefer Sheamus as a Heel.

Good reaction for Ziggler from the live crowd, Sheamus however doesn’t seem to be getting as good a reaction as he would usually get with some slight boos in there. Even a “let’s go Ziggler” chant from the crowd during the match. A couple of messed up spots and some fumbles from the announcers too, calling the “Fame-Asser” the “Zig-Zag” as an example, but some good spots including Ziggler hitting a top rope X-Factor on Sheamus. Loving how many moves that Finlay used to use are now included into Sheamus’s repertoire of moves.

Sheamus hits the “White Noise” aka the original “Celtic Cross” and then smashes Ziggler with the Brogue Kick for the 3 count victory. Actually a really good match, a couple of fumbles here and there but tremendous outside of that.

Backstage

Vinnie Mac is here, Johnny Ace stops him and says sorry about Big Show hitting Vince and Vince walks off. Oh Josh Matthews is there and tries to talk to Johnny Ace; he says he does his job with dignity even under pressure.

Match # 2 – Tuxedo Match

Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez
Really???? Really???? Really????

Do we really need this match or car crash on a PPV event, this means you paid to watch this match.

“BORING” chant from the crowd and I couldn’t agree more, I’m sorry but this didn’t work back in 2000 when Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco were doing it, so why would it work now.

Santino Strips Ricardo to get the victory...... my goodness.

Backstage

Matt Striker is with CM Punk and asks him what his relationship is with AJ, he says there is no relationship and that he is focused on retaining his WWE title. AJ comes in, wishes him luck and kisses him on the cheek, he then leaves. God she is hot!!!!

Match # 3 – Intercontinental Championship Match

Christian (c) vs. Cody Rhodes

Love both these guys, despite just how bland Cody has been and how little coverage Christian has been given, he has been given a new t-shirt though!! Shame it looks a bit sucky. I liked Cody when he had the protective face mask, he should have kept that a little longer I think and continued him as a psycho heel rather than the “Dashing” gimmick or this newer update of the gimmick. The recent return of Christian as a face was a bit abrupt but has been interesting and good to see him going straight into a storyline with a guy is also very good at his job.

A great tornado DDT from Christian on the outside, also a top rope hurricanrana to add to that, Cody focusing on the shoulder of Christian but they not really selling except on the announcing and Cody is still using Hardcore Holly’s moves in his matches as he hit Christian with the rope hung gut kick and then the Alabama Slam.

Christian hits a spear after ducking the “Beautiful disaster” kick to pin Cody and retain the championship. Brilliant match, I really enjoyed it, maybe even more than the opener with its multiple false finishes and it’s great to see Christian and Cody in action.  

Match # 4 - #1 Contenders Match for the Tag Team Championship

Epico & Primo vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd vs. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young vs. The Usos

Didn’t know the WWE had 4 tag teams anymore to be honest. Tyson and Justin just feel random in this match; never seen them actually tag up before, maybe on NXT or Superstars. Epico and Primo are a good team and with Rosa Mendes at ringside they are all the more likable. The Usos don’t get much coverage but from what I have seen they are getting some support, but with the lack of tag team matches that mean anything it will be hard to truly break out. The “Primetime players” as they are calling themselves are just 2 more rejects from NXT but at least they getting on TV and now PPV, which can only help them get their spots.

Gosh they need to show more Rosa Mendes, why is it that Jerry Lawler gets all the good views? :-/

Tyson Kidd hits a massive Hurricanrana on Primo into all the other wrestlers waiting outside resulting in a huge “Holy Shit” chant.

AW throws Primo back into the ring allowing Darren Young to hit a Gutbuster to pin Primo. AW joins The Prime Time Players.

Good match with some nice spots, shame that tag teams in WWE don’t mean that much because you have a good base for a fairly solid tag division.

SEGMENT

Triple H comes out and heads to the ring, not even remotely selling the “Broken” arm he received by Brock Lesnar. He says he became a wrestler because it’s all he ever wanted to do and also because he never wanted a real job, but now he has one, hilarious. He challenges Brock Lesnar to a match at Summerslam. Good to know that they are going ahead with Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar, it should be quite a good match and means that if Brock does win then he isn’t going over anyone on the main roster.

Backstage

Bryan is warming up and AJ interrupts, she tells him good luck and then kisses him on the cheek and leaves.

Match # 5 – Divas Championship match

Beth Phoenix vs. Layla (c)
Not really fussed about Layla other than her looks to be honest, think they should change her entrance music as it is just Michelle McCool’s entrance music. Beth is awesome and it’s a shame that there is no one who can give her a really good wrestling match currently on the WWE roster.

Layla steals Beth’s tiara and runs round the ring with it, ha!! Layla hits Beth with the neck breaker to get the pinfall victory and retain the Divas championship. Ok match, wasn't too interested to be honest.

Backstage

AJ finds Kane, she wishes him good luck and also kisses him on the cheek and then they make out.... there is something quite hot about it too. Kane then leaves, AJ looks shocked!!

Match # 6 – Hunico vs. Sin Cara

Just something I want to highlight now, is it me or has everyone changed their colour scheme to red and black??? Sheamus has, Cody Rhodes has and now Sin Cara has.

These two work so well together and I think they have been giving consistent performances on TV so they should do the same on PPV. Sin Cara pins Hunico after using his spinning face plant.

Very unusual, there wasn’t as much high flying from Sin Cara as usually expected some good moves from Hunico, these guys are very good at what they do and Sin Cara is improving with more action inside a WWE size ring.

Match # 7 – WWE Championship Match

CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

What can I say except “YES! YES! YES!” This match should be very good in theory but some would say that with the addition of Kane to the mix it could be a car crash match. I am a big Kane fan however and he has been made to look very dominant leading into this match. The story of this match with the involvement of AJ makes for a funny twist, looking forward to seeing how her involvement influences the match.

I am a huge Kane fan and have been since I started watching WWE back in 2000, love the whole “Big Red Machine” gimmick and how his character evolved slightly to make him different from the Undertaker, especially like him since his return with the mask. Daniel Bryan is just awesome, the whole “Yes” thing has taken off very well and he has embraced it. CM Punk is awesome too, wouldn’t say he was the best in the world but he is very good.

Great double team effort during the match by CM Punk and Kane, together hitting the doomsday device on Daniel Bryan. In this match Kane has taken more shots to the face then Jenna Jameson, he just keeps getting smacked. Shockingly just as Kane is about to tombstone CM Punk, AJ runs out and jumps on the apron only for Punk to reverse and throw Kane into her. This then leads Punk to connect with the GTS on Kane for the pin fall victory and retains the WWE championship.

Great match that had some great spots and the choke slam that Punk took from Kane was brilliant and he sold it like he had been shot. Brilliant match! Lots of YES chants and CM PUNK chants.

Match # 8 Ryback vs. Two Generic Jobbers

We have another Goldberg light squash match. The rumours are that the reason he just faces no namers is due to the fact no one on the roster wants to face him, they worried about him being so rough with people. The one good thing they are doing with him is that every match he does something new, even if it is just 1 move, it does add to the character... I guess. He obviously wants to face 3 guys as he keeps screaming “feed me 3”.

Ryback wins after about 3 minutes with the muscle buster. As my mate Jim says “Goldberg with fist pumping action”.

Match # 9 Cage Match

Big Show vs. John Cena
I think the stipulation for this match is that if Big Show wins then John Cena is fired, if Cena wins then Johnny Ace is fired. We all know that regardless of what happens with this match we all know that no one is getting fired.

I must admit that I never saw the heel turn coming for the Big Show, that’s what happens when you don’t watch RAW every week folks. The thing is all the stuff Big Show has said about himself since turning heel is pretty much exactly what Chris Jericho said when they formed the Jeri-Show back in 2009, good to know that WWE was paying attention. I do like the Big Show, love the potential you have in him to just be so dominant, yet we all know he isn’t going to beat Cena.

I also must be one of the few people in the 18 – 30 age bracket that actually likes John Cena; I think he has the ability to really pull a good match out of the bag when required to, if you don’t need to then why bother, right? Why take the risk of him being injured and then being off TV when he is your biggest earner.

The crowd is hot for this match from what I can tell, lots of “let’s go Cena” “CENA sucks” chants coming from the crowd. A run in fest with Brodus Clay, Kofi Kingston, Zak Ryder, Santino Marella and Alex Riley all running in to stop Big Show escaping the cage. John Cena escapes the cage to win the match and grabs Johnny Ace to hit him with the Attitude Adjustment, before he does though, Vinnie Mac grabs a microphone and tells Johnny that he is FIRED!! John follows this with the attitude adjustment through an announcers table.

We all saw this coming though didn’t we, I would imagine that Johnny Ace will return as Brocks manager I would assume when he returns to face HHH. My thoughts on this event are positive; I quite enjoyed the undercard matches with the exception of the squash match and the divas match. The World Title and WWE title matches were really good and the IC title match was also very good. Overall I really enjoyed this PPV. The next event is the MITB PPV event, hopefully Wade Barrett will be back by then and we can get some new talent in the upper card.

SOS MOVIE REVIEW - AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

"Never underestimate the entertainment value of, Hulk Smash."

A celebration of specialness, Joss Whedon's slick blockbuster "The Avengers" presents what may be the ultimate team: half a dozen Marvel Comics superheroes for the price of one.

Plot

When global security is threatened by Loki, “adopted” brother of Thor, Nick Fury and his team will need all their powers to save the world from disaster.

Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D, an international peace keeping agency, sets the Avengers Initiative into action.

The Avengers Initiative is a who's who of Marvel Super Heroes, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow all playing their part to restore peace.

 Review

You don't need me to tell you it's the culmination of a five-year plan that began with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury taking Tony Stark aside at the end of the first "Iron Man" to tip him off as to the "Avengers Initative." There is a bigger picture, he told him -- and here it is: The be-all but not (they're hoping) the end-all of the current craze for CGI-enhanced superheroics.
 

Firstly I should say that I was pleasantly suprised by the implementation of the characters whose individual outings where less than enjoyable to me! With the exception the Iron Man films which are awesome. The rest just bored me to tears. The most disappointing was The First Avenger's outing only beaten by two Hulk outings which where outshone by a video game made for the last generation of consoles.

 

With interspersing flip one-liners, a host of larger-than-life characters and the usual flurry of fight-and-flight scenes, the film is never less than amusing. Still, it's never more than amusing either. Marvel Studios has made it a point of pride to diverge from the grim severity popularized in the DC / Warner Bros Batman films. The lightness is fun but it doesn't offer much of a foundation on which to build an epic.

 

And let's face it, there's more than a whiff of opportunism about a project that pits a defrosted World War II hero, Captain America (Chris Evans), an inventor-industrialist, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the pagan lightning god, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a scientist with anger-management issues, Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and SHIELD agents Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) against the Norse god of mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and a legion of marauding aliens. In 3-D, which I was impressed by for the first time ever and easily warrants paying the 3D tax which seems to be tacked onto the already ridiculously high cinema prices.

 

The movie delivers the kind of pleasures usually reserved for fan fiction or playground stand-offs. Not surprisingly, Robert Downey Jr.'s flip, cynical Stark (Iron Man) gets a good measure of the movie's best lines, bouncing off Steve Rogers' (Captain America) boy scout idealism and Thor's guileless sledgehammer style (sometimes literally). Whedon also crafts a couple of choice scenes beautifully tailored for Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, a far more interesting character here than she appeared to be in "Iron Man 2."

 

The films secret weapon is most definitely The Hulk. Mark Ruffalo is the third actor to play Bruce Banner/Hulk in the past decade, and even though the soft-spoken star would seem to have the longest fuse (when we first see him he's tending to the sick in an Indian slum) he's immediately both more dangerous and more fun than either Edward Norton or Eric Bana in the same role. Whedon gives him a long build up.

 

For the first hour of the movie we're invited to speculate along with his new allies just how much havoc Banner's rampaging id might cause. Then the lead comes off!

If at this point you are still wondering whether or not to see this film? I have some words of wisdom that will help you decide!

Never underestimate the entertainment value of “Hulk Smash”.

That's probably the most important lesson to be drawn here, and one that clearly hasn't been lost on the filmmakers, who have reportedly signed Ruffalo to a six-picture deal.

 Beyond that, the movie wants us to believe that these action figures have learned to play nice and work as a team -- which is good news for humanity, but maybe not so promising for the inevitable sequels. A climax on the war-torn streets of Manhattan could almost be an extended outtake from a "Transformers" movie.

This movie pull no punches (hammers, shields or smashes) and is easily one of the best comic book films I have seen in a while. All we have to do now is see how Warner Brothers and DC Comics respond with The Dark Knight Rises coming to the big screen later this year.

 Verdict

If it's a Friday Night SmackDown you're after, "Avengers" gets the job done. The 3D is very impressive and if you wanted more reasons to go see the movie and pay the extra £2 I have two for you! "Scarlett Johansson's breasts"

 Beyond that there is enough entertainment value to keep both male and female patrons entertained as well as the young and the old alike. Funny all the way through and genuine with the 3D. Go see this film while you can

 10/10 mindless, hysterical fun with explosions and miss Johansson wearing a skintight cat suit! What more could you need?

 [Big Boss's Notes]

Must agree with the review, I only saw the film in 2D but I'm not a big fan of 3D. Scarlett Johansson's breasts and ass are certainly up there with the films main assets and she is phenominal. However a couple of my own thoughts:

1ST - During the big fight at the end of the film, where does Hawkeye keep getting them arrows from? He is firing and yet the stock doesn't seem to be running out. :-/

2nd - Who came up with Captain America's costume? Why couldn't they stick to the version they used in the FIRST AVENEGER or at least a similar version. The helmet just looks a tad ... well... GAY.