07-10-10 ACE

I haven't been to an "independent" show since I was ten, so my feelings about the ACE show were mixed. Obviously, the main reason I went was to support Bryan Danielson, but there were other guys that I knew were great like Christopher Daniels (ROH) and guys that I heard were great like Mo Sexton. When I saw that Danielson would be up against a guy who appeared to be twice his size on the advertisement for the event, I automatically knew it'd be a job, especially since it was for a title. Oh well, right? Regardless of the job, I'd be able to see Danielson wrestle, pick up his shirt, get some good pics and maybe even talk to him a little. So..

We got there around 6:40, were like 10th on line and got in around 7:30ish. Yes, doors were supposed to be open at 7 and technically they were.. so kudos to you ACE, no false advertisement there. Almost the entire time we were outside, this one guy was pacing back and forth, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I knew there would be some crazies, but when I realized he was one of Danielson's crazies, I felt scared for his own safety if he were to have blew off this fan in any way that night.

After we get to our seats, we get up to see Danielson and of course, my brain turns to mush and I can't speak. It wasn't until he asked what my name was that I said ANYTHING and in retrospect, I feel really rude considering Daniels was really nice to me and I was too shy to say anything back. Now if you're reading this blog, you know I'm not usually like that. It was just one of those moments.

The show started and it was announced that the main event would now be a Fatal 4-Way to include Mo Sexton and Daniels. A few matches came and went.. some that were interesting.. some that made the crowd chant "END THIS MATCH!" In between matches, the people who had their own merch tables would come out and talk to fans and the atmosphere was really great. No one was rude and none of the fans were killing each other to talk to the wrestlers.

The main event was amazing. I got to see Cattle Mutilation in person as well as the most talented wrestlers to fight all night in the same match. In the end, Dan Maff retained his championship and Danielson expressed how Sexton should have been named champion.

Throughout the entire event, Danielson was amazing and very kind, even when I was a complete spaz and probably came off as creepy. I am preparing something special for the next time I see him as a thank you for being so great. He was great about us throwing ties at him, and he even put one on and at the end of the night, I took that same tie home.

Now, enough of the mushiness, here are some pics:

WWE RAW Results 06/21/10

1) Chris Jericho vs Evan Bourne
Winner: Chris Jericho via Codebreaker

2) Natalya vs Tamina
Winner: No contest

3) John Morrison vs Ted DiBiase Zack Ryder
Winner: John Morrison via Starship Pain

4) The Great Khali & Eve vs Primo & Alicia Fox
Winner: The Great Khali & Eve via Punjabi Plunge

5) John Cena vs Sheamus
Winner: No contest

News:
* Vince McMahon announced that Bret Hart is no longer the GM of Raw and that a new, secret GM has been appointed. McMahon blamed Hart for the NXT Rookies interfering in the main event at Fatal 4-Way. The new GM then proceeded to hire all 7 NXT (season 1) Rookies.
* The name "Nexus" has been thrown out as a very probable new name for the "NXT 7."
* Ted DiBiase fired Virgil and hired Maryse in his place.
* Rob Zombie has been announced as next weeks guest host.

"The NXT 7"

Somewhere along the line of a visit to the bad idea factory, someone coined the name "The NXT 7." Yes, only seven because my favorite "Rookie" was kicked out of the agenda for "taking thing too far." The grudge I've been carrying for WWE only got heftier upon the release of Daniel Bryan and given time to sulk over it, I've become even more appalled by the way they treat people who aren't necessarily legends. Yes, the way Bryan strangled Justin Robets with his own tie was a little much.. but only a little much by WWE standards. Yes, WWE is in fact has a TV PG auidence and must keep its audience in mind.. but when did HHH hitting people with sledgehammers become strictly PG? Yes, WWE had different rules back then but the principals are still the same. Why treat one man diffrently? Because of the fan base that would be lost if our beloved "Cerebral Assassin" were to get the axe. This isn't to say that the WWE didn't get an enourmous amount of support for picking up Bryan for NXT in the first place, but they surely lost all those fans upon his release. The point of this ramble? I want Bryan back because he deserves to be back. He deserves more than to just be discarded.

I slightly appreciate the way the writers had Wade Barrett explain the missing NXT Rookie. Barrett explained that Bryan was sorry about what happened and that they had no time to deal with someone with a conscience. I applaud the fact that they wanted to have the last mention of Bryan be a positive one.. but it was not realistic at all and any avid follower of Bryan already knew why he was let go.

Nevertheless, we all knew that the season one Rookies would , in fact, be heard from even after being eliminated. The fact that they were allowed in the area for the season finale, the fact that several of them said "this isn't the last you've seen of me" upon leaving the competition and the fact that together they have the charisma to become to next NWO is a storyline that NEEDS to be milked for all it's worth.

And that's exactly what's going on.

I don't blame the cashcow that is Vince McMahon at all. He saw an opportunity and he took it. So now season one of NXT is running around acting like wild animals by trashing the backstage area, kidnapping Bret Hart, jumping John Cena and interrupting main event matches in hopes of acquiring their own contracts.

Newsflash: we all realized that they all have contracts already or else they wouldn't be allowed on the show! Clearly, in the case of Santino, he is in fact signed with the WWE but they didn't use him a lot.. but he was still signed which made it possible for him to make appearances even when he didn't have a match. Vince McMahon isn't trying to let anyone on camera if they aren't supposed to be.

WWE might just be for the naive and the children at this point.

NXT: Season II

Meet your new NXT Rookies:

Rookie: Alex Riley
Pro: The Miz

Rookie: Husky Harris
Pro: Cody Rhodes

Rookie: Kaval
Pro: Lay-Cool

Rookie: Lucky Cannon
Pro: Mark Henry

Rookie: Eli Cottonwood
Pro: John Morrison

Rookie: Michael McGillicutty
Pro: Kofi Kingston

Rookie: Percy Watson
Pro: MVP

Rookie: Titus O'Neil
Pro: Zack Ryder

What makes some of these Rookies special? Lineage.
* Michael McGillicutty is a third-generation competitor as the grandson of Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the son of "Mr. Perfect" (Curt Hennig).
* Husky Harris is also a third-generation competitor as grandson of "Blackjack" Mulligan and the son of "I.R.S."

What makes others stand out? Height (or lack of).
* Kaval is the smallest rookie and IMO following in the steps of Daniel Bryan. They both wrestled in the indie circuit long before coming to NXT and they both appear to be underdogs. Oh yeah, the both lost their first match and both seemed to be having some sort of issues with the Pro(s).
* Eli Cottonwood stands extremely tall at over 7 feet tall, making him byfar the biggest NXT Rookie this season.

And those who just don't fit in anywhere else? A strange gimmick.
* Alex Riley is the self-proclaimed "rare breed" who isn't afraid to love everything about himself.. even to the point of making everyone else sick of it.
* Lucky Cannon's name comes from a near-death experience that taught him to live life to the fullest.
* Percy Watson is the alway-annoyingly-excited Rookie of season two. Apparently, he loves to party.. in case none of us realized that already.
* Titus O'Neil seems to be the outcast of the bunch so he might play on the loner status for a while.

Do any of these Rookies remind you of other WWE Superstars/NXT Season 1 Rookies?

Who do I have high hopes for?
My personal favorites thus far are Michael McGillicutty, Alex Riley and Kaval.

Falling behind.

You are about to be bombarded with information you probably already know in the form of several blogs. I could throw them all in to one blog, but I figured they all deserve their own space. So what will I be updating you all on? NXT, my fave "ex-rookie", last nights PPV & what you can expect tonight on Raw. If you got lost in the jungle which is WWE , don't worry, I'm about to explain everything that's happened.

Skeletons

I've been a Hawthorne Heights fan for years (and by years, I mean I liked them when they were still "A Day in the Life") and I can say that if you're not afraid of change, buy "Skeletons."

I could never dislike Hawthorne Heights because they've had my heart for years. JT could just sit on stage saying "blah blah blah" and I'd still pay to get in and stand on my feet for an hour listening to him. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who are afraid of change. I like this new album but as every album since "If Only You Were Lonely" has made it very clear that everything will change eventually and so will this band.

The first song that I heard from this new album was "Nervous Breakdown" which was the first song on the album to make me say "whoa.. what?" It was different but the whole album is different. A few songs might remind you of older sunday and a few songs might just blow your mind. They've come a long way from Fragile Futures.. but..

I miss Casey dearly and it is still strange when I hear screaming in their music (End of the Underground).. but it was bound to happen. I remember about Casey passed away the band encouraged the audience to do the screaming because they knew none of them could take Casey's spot and I always respected them for that.. but the truth of the matter is not even the audience could fill the void.. even though it does bring you that much closer when you're all screaming your lungs out together.

Even still, this album is worth a listen to. Nothing can stay the same forever and I will always love this band. They are always worth the November treck in NYC, moshers and standing times.

If you want to make up your own mind about it, listen to the album here. As usual, I encourage you to support the artists and buy the music at your local music store or via iTunes.

Quick update..

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately.. it seems that Spring Break kept me very busy. Roz and I gave the radio station a face lift so now it looks amazing!

What's been going on in NXT? It was announced about two weeks ago that the person who comes in last place in the second Pro Poll would be sent home and that this would continue until we had a winner. Rumor has it that there will ultimately be two winners (let's keep our fingers crossed for Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel!), but I'm not sure if that was confirmed yet or if I just read that little bit of information on Daniel Bryan's twitter. Anyway, as far as the rookies that I blogged about in my first NXT post, I was pretty close at their positions in the first Pro poll!

First Pro Poll - March 30, 2010:
8) Darren Young
7) Michael Tarver
6) Skip Sheffied
5) David Otunga
4) Heath Slater
3) Justin Gabriel
2) Wade Barrett
1) Daniel Bryan

WWE Universe (Fan) Poll:
8) Michael Tarver
7) Skip Sheffied
6) Darren Young
5) Wade Barrett
4) Heath Slater
3) David Otunga
2) Justin Gabriel
1) Daniel Bryan

Not only was it announced that the winner of the overall contest would win a contract with WWE, but that the winner would be able to challenge any WWE Champion for a title shot at an upcoming pay-per-view. Unless I misheard, the pay-per-view that the lucky rookie gets to strut his stuff at is Extreme Rules. The weird part about this? Extreme Rules is a little over two weeks away (April 25). If NXT intends on eliminating people every week, how will they get down to the final two in two weeks? I hope this was a mix up because the shows Wikipedia says that the fifth and final elimination round will take place on June 1.

If you just became incredibly confused, I understand completely. But if you know how it is possible to find a winner before Extreme Rules when the next Pro Poll isn't happening until May 11, please let me know.


As far as tonight's show is concerned..

--SPOILER ALERT--
* "Keg" challenge:
Winner: Heath Slater (won the main event of the night.. vs Kane)

* Daniel Bryan vs Darren Young
Winner: Darren Young

* David Otunga vs Wade Barrett
Winner: Wade Barrett

* Justin Gabriel vs Michael Tarver
Winner: Justin Gabriel

* Heath Slater vs Kane
Winner: Kane (Did you even question this?)


Poll:
Who's the badder guy?
Skip Sheffield & Michael Tarver have both vowed to turn their characters around and become the bad guys.. you know, because good guys never win. I would like to mention that Daniel Bryan is a good guy and while he has yet to win a match, he won both the Pro Poll and the WWE Universe Poll.