WWE Night Of Champions 2009 - Preview & Predictions

This is the second year that this event has been going under the moniker 'Night of Champions' and is unique in that it is the one night when every single title is defended.

WWE Title
Randy Orton (c) vs Triple H vs John Cena
Orton & HHH have been battling over the Raw-brand title for seemingly forever and in order to make things different (read: stop the boredom) they have added Cena. The problem is that Orton has been portrayed as a very weak champion, and I'd be surprised if he retained. Triple H has been chasing the gold for months and so will probably pick it up. I wouldn't rule out Cena, but he just seems to be in here as he is one of their top guys and they had nothing to do for him.

The most interesting thing to come out of this would be for HHH to pin Cena or vice versa to set up a feud with those two which hasn't been done that much. But I'd doubt that as Orton being the heel will most likely do the job.

Honestly, I have zero excitement for this match given it has 2 guys I strongly dislike (Cena & HHH) and another that I'm very neutral on (Orton).
Prediction: Triple H to win the title

World Heavyweight Championship
C.M. Punk (c) vs Jeff Hardy
This has been one of the best feuds in all of wrestling this year, and a true testament of just how much better a show Smackdown is even though the terrible-more-often-than-not Raw is considered by company officials to be the A-show.

Punk is in the middle of a long-needed heel turn to freshen his character up a bit. He is doing a 'straight-edge' gimmick, which made him famous in the enjoyable Ring Of Honor promotion, where he preaches about how he is "better than you" as he doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. In real-life this is all legitimately true so there is plenty of underlying credibility here. Jeff Hardy has in the past being in trouble with drugs, and coupled with the crowd loving him along with him being a generally sympathetic character, makes him the perfect foil for this.

The best thing about this is that it is being allowed time to develop slowly with Punk cutting some great promos and Hardy playing his part well. The real beauty though is that similar to Chris Jericho's excellent heel turn last year, everything Punk is saying is the truth but the fans are booing him for it.

The match should be pretty good, and Punk should be ideally retaining. How is another matter. Hardy's contract is apparently up in 2 weeks, and if so, then Punk should be going over clean. If WWE can get Hardy to hang on for another month to their next big event SummerSlam, they could get away with a screwy finish here and then have something like a 'Loser leaves WWE' match with obviously Hardy getting beat.
Prediction: C.M. Punk to retain

ECW Title
Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Christian
Dreamer as a champion is a complete turn-off for me as he should not even be wrestling. He is old, slow, sluggish, pudgy, and just generally looks out of place on ECW, which is a show for mainly new, young talent to develop their skills. However, it would be better if he won the match.

Christian needs to get over to Smackdown, which has a worryingly low pool of main event talent. If Christian were to lose this match and stay on ECW, it would do no good. Arguably if he won the belt it would not do all that much given he has already won it once and that was all that was needed to re-establish himself since he returned to the WWE.

Right, fantasy armchair booking time - the match goes on early enough in the show, Dreamer wins via roll-up (to protect Christian), he extends his hand to shake as a sign of respect, but Christian beats him up and then just walks off turning slightly heelish (we'll come back to this in a moment).
Prediction: Tommy Dreamer to retain

Unified Tag Team Titles
Chris Jericho & ??? (c) vs Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Jericho and Edge won the titles at the last show after becoming a last minute addition. However, Edge unfortunately picked up a nasty injury at house show that leaves him out of action until the New Year. Jericho is allowed to pick a new partner, but for storyline purposes, it needs to be an upper-card guy who doesn't look out of place beside him.

This is where Christian comes into play. Him and Jericho have previous history both as a team and foes from years ago and it would allow him to eventually go over to Smackdown. The only other possibility I can think of as partner would be a re-debuting Chris Masters, who WWE recently signed back and will no doubt thrust him highish on the card. But to be frank, his run first time around was a bit of a flop and I'm in no hurry to see him back.

Legacy are a strange breed. They are clearly going to be big things much further down the line. But at the minute it is hard to take them seriously as they are Randy Orton's lackeys and more or less Triple H's own personal jobbers who he beats up whenever he feels like it.

I wouldn't expect a title change as they just could have had Jericho play up his own ego and take both of them on. Plus you can play up eventual tension between Jericho and his new partner. Interestingly all 3 confirmed people are heels, it's not often WWE does heel vs heel matches, but I wish they would do more.
Prediction: Chris Jericho and mystery partner Christian to retain

Intercontinental Title
Rey Mysterio (c) vs Dolph Ziggler
One of the other reasons Smackdown is such a better show is that they put focus on mid-card talent to help elevate them up to the higher echelon, for example Ziggler (and John Morrison). Raw doesn't do this, and if Ziggler had of stayed on Raw instead of being drafted a few months ago, he would have been lucky if he had of appeared on the show let alone get a PPV title match.

Ziggler has been improving vastly and is getting better in the ring all the time, and will probably pick up the belt sometime or later, but not here I feel. Mysterio is rock solid and this should be a good match.
Prediction: Rey Mysterio to retain

United States Title
Kofi Kingston (c) vs MVP vs Carlito vs Jack Swagger vs The Miz vs The Big Show
Everyone seems to be involved in something, except bizarrely the champion himself. So they just threw a bunch of mid-carders together. They haven't made clear the rules of the match but I'd imagine it is two guys in the ring and they can tag in anyone else with one fall to a finish.

Using WWE standard booking logic, Big Show definitely won't win as he was made uber-strong this past week by laying out all other 5 guys. Carlito is involved in a feud with his brother Primo so I doubt he'll win. MVP & Swagger are fighting each other that should not need the title. So that leaves The Miz and the champ. It's a coin toss, but I think there'll be a new champ.

The guys are all decent workers at the least, but I fear the scenario may be a case of 'too many cooks...'.
Prediction: The Miz to win the US Title

Women's Title
Michelle McCool (c) vs Melina
McCool won the belt because she is screwing The Undertaker...oh, after winning last time around is the official company message I believe. This is Melina's mandatory rematch. McCool is a poor wrestler and just plain boring as a character. In an ideal world Melina should have retained last time around, and again she should win here. But that won't happen. The problem then is that the only wrestler on Smackdown capable of having a good match is the excellent Natalya, but she like McCool, is currently a heel. Ahh, we'll see what happens.
Prediction: Michelle McCool to retain

Diva's Title
Maryse (c) vs Mickie James
Ugh, 2 Diva's matches on the same show. Is this some sort of punishment for sins past? If I wanted to see a couple of women's matches (that actually feature fantastic matches & talent) in a short space of time, I'd check out the sublime SHIMMER.

Anyway, Maryse is the epitome of why I hate WWE's attitude to women's wrestling. They hire models/ex-Playboy girls and then train them as opposed to getting proven women with a bit of indy experience - it's a case of looks first, talent second.

To her credit, Maryse is a good character, but is an awful wrestler. Mickie James actually has indy background but has regressed so much since these past couple of years and is quite sloppy at times. She is good, just not as good as when she debuted. She needs to win though to draw better wrestlers in (Beth Phoenix & Gail Kim).
Prediction: Mickie James to win the title

Overall
This does not look like the best show. I have no interest in the triple threat match, any match involving Tommy Dreamer is always a bit iffy, and the 2 Divas matches will probably be a mess. Hardy/Punk, Mysterio/Ziggler & the tag titles should be fine though. Expect a few title changes, there kind of needs to be in order to make this format of a show work.

TNA Victory Road 2009 - Results & Review

TNA's last outing, Slammiversary, was the best show that they put on in ages. So the hope here was that they would use that momentum and build upon it. They didn't...

Angelina Love defeated Tara to win the Knockouts Title
It was a bit of a strange way to open the show with a women's match, and the match didn't deliver all that much. Both girls are solid workers, but if they were given more time further down the card it would have been much better. The ending was awful whereby Tara missed a moonsault and got pinned, but she got her foot on the bottom rope which would normally break the count, however the referee didn't see it. Considering too that Tara only picked up the title 2 weeks ago, it was a farcical way to open the show.

Backstage in the locker room of the Main Event Mafia, Kurt Angle told us "Do not expect a quality main event match". Ouch. Imagine the folks that paid for this show actually hearing that. Then he tells his gang that "if you lose, you are fired from the Mafia", which practically gave away the results of the other matches. What a laughably bad opening to the show.

Matt Morgan defeated Christopher Daniels
Daniels had a legit knee injury going into this match and they played off it well, and he performed a bit better than was to be expected with an injury. There was a good story behind the match with Morgan working it over to the point where Daniels couldn't hit his trademark top rope finisher. Morgan gets the win he needed over an established wrestler to look like a proper upper card guy. Not sure what they are doing with Daniels, he has been in limbo ever since he returned which is disappointing.

Abyss defeated Dr. Stevie in a No-DQ match
Basically an extended squash brawl with carnage about the arena whereby Abyss dominated. He used a 'taser' at the end on Stevie which gave off smoke, but was terribly silly. This appears to be the blow-off to this feud, which in fairness has been pretty good.

Team 3D (Brothers Ray & Devon) defeated The British Invasion (Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
Those tag belts actually belong to the New Japan promotion and not TNA, so a title switch was always unlikely. It was a decent enough match, if not a little formulaic (bad guys work over a good guy, goodie makes the hot tag to his partner, then they clean house). Williams has always been solid and working with veterans can only help Magnus' development. There is room to go back to the well once more with these guys I feel.

Jenna Morasca defeated Sharmell
Well...erm, Morasca had a rather interesting ring entrance. Now let's never speak of this mess again in what will certain to be one of the contenders for 'Worst Match Of The Year'.

Kevin Nash defeated A.J. Styles to win the Legends Title
Ugh, Nash shouldn't even be wrestling. Really slow match and went on way longer than needed. Styles done his best, but not even he could elevate the quality. I'd like to think that they made Styles drop the belt in order to give him a serious World Title push, but I fear I would be giving TNA way too much credit.

Booker T & Scott Steiner defeated Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) to win the World Tag Team Titles
Ugh, Steiner shouldn't even be wrestling. Another boring match too. Dumb spot whereby Storm spat beer in his opponent's eyes and then the referee couldn't make the pinfall count as he was feigning temporary blindness even though he was nowhere near the incident. I honestly couldn't tell you what the plans are for Beer Money at this moment in time.

Samoa Joe defeated Sting
The finish was botched as Sting forgot what was supposed to happen. It was very noticeable too which made matters worse. The other point of note is that Taz made his TNA début as Joe's advisor. He came out and...done nothing. You think that they would have let him cut a promo.

Kurt Angle defeated Mick Foley to retain the World Heavyweight Title
Really boring match that never seemed to get out of first gear. Afterwards the Mafia all came out to celebrate with their titles.

Overall
This was a terrible show with TNA back to their bad old tricks of silly finishes and nonsensical booking. It was really bad to see the likes of Styles & Beer Money drop their titles to pensioners. Only the Daniels/Morgan & Team 3D/British Invasion matches came anywhere close to being decent. After the surprisingly good show last month, this one was a horrible mess. A huge disappointment.

TNA Sacrifice 2009 - Results & Review

Once again, results come courtesy of Online World of Wrestling.

Sacrifice would be May's show.

• The pre-show was again a nice bonus for everyone, especially as it featured some good talent.

• They actually built upon Young's unhappiness later down the line as he turned heel. Perfectly fine opener though.

• Monster's Ball was way too short. But seeing female wrestlers in a hardcore rules environment was something different.

• Frankie Kazarian is now under the Suicide mask allowing Christopher Daniels to be himself full-time. The finish was a bit lame though.

• Love retaining by heel means was fine as it kept her heat and protected the gargantuan Awesome Kong.

• Joe over Nash was thankfully the right result.

• For all the things wrong with TNA, and there are many, at least they put effort into their tag team (and Women's) divisions so that there is plenty of talent and depth there. These are some of the few areas where they out-do the WWE.

• Stupid finish to the 'I Quit' match.

• The main event was just downright dumb. They built it up well with everyone sacrificing something, but Sting getting the win and not getting the title is just ridiculous. Pretty average main event too.

Overall
It wasn't great. There were plenty of dodgy finishes which killed a lot of the fun in the show. Plus the ending to the main event was just inexcusable.

TNA Lockdown 2009 - Results & Review

Fallen way behind on these recaps, so I'll just give a link to the results from the excellent Online World of Wrestling website and just throw in a few opinions.

Lockdown was the April show, and is unique in that all the matches take place inside a steel cage.

• The pre-show match didn't really matter all that much, but at least it was something to get people in the mood for the main show.

• Suicide's dive off the cage was pretty cool.

• The women's 4-way was forgettable. I was hoping that the always enjoyable Daffney would pick up the win.

• 3-way tag team bout was a very fine watch. Plenty of good action there.

• Stupid TNA rules on making your opponent bleed before you can pin them. They love over-complicating things.
  

• They had to book the finish to the Knockouts title match on the fly as Love got accidentally concussed, but the referee and Taylor Wilde did a good job of covering it up. It didn't come across as too bad looking on TV. Love is a fine pick for champion, she has been one of the most consistently good acts for a while now.

• The tag title unification match was probably the most enjoyable of the night, mainly because the crowd were really into it. Winners were a bit obvious though.

• Lethal Lockdown usually delivers, but this one was a bit lacklustre for some reason. Even A.J. Styles annual crazy stunt was a bit of a let-down.

• I have zero excitement in seeing Bobby Lashley in TNA. I'm sure we'll get back to him at a later date.

• Main event was horrible given the combined age of the two participants was 93. Mick Foley just seemed to throw himself over the cage to the floor at the end. And quite frankly TNA giving him their world title is one of the most stupid decisions they have made, at least in recent times.

Overall
Lockdown is usually one of TNA's better shows of the year. But it wasn't as good as it could possibly have been. There was a general lack of buzz during the show, except possibly outside the Team 3D/Beer Money tag title unification match.

The Ashes - First Test Review

Cricket has had a bit of renaissance, well with us at least. The recent Twenty/20 World Cup had to be considered a success overall, with Ireland in particular once again punching above their weight. So much so that when the ICC draw up plans for the next few years, Ireland are going to be involved along with all the top nations. Fully deserved as we have been ever improving in recent times.

It also benefits that the World Cup was held in England so that most of the buzz is retained for the latest Ashes series which began last week pitting the hosts against Australia. And seeing as how this is a summer that is absent from from a major football tournament or the Olympics, The Ashes takes top billing in the summer sporting calendar, providing 5 five-day Tests spread out during the summer months. Since there's nothing else on, why not...

Two or so years ago Australia whitewashed England 5-0 to regain the Ashes, but shush, the British media don't make mention to that, they prefer to focus on England's narrow 2-1 win from 4 years ago.

Both sides were going into the contest in not the best form and the teams are much changed from 4, or even 2 years ago. So you had the impression that it was either going to be a case of 2 poor teams cancelling each other out, or either the scenario of each side trying to outdo the other and prove that they are genuinely the best. Thankfully from the basis of the first Test, it looks like it will probably be the former.

England won the toss and sensibly batted first and posted a remarkable score of over 400 all out, however Australia saw their target and raised it significantly posting a score of about 650 for only the loss of a handful of wickets to put them firmly in the driving seat. It was particularly impressive that 4 of their batsmen got centuries or more, something unheard of. Marcus North scored his very first 100 on his very first Ashes match, much to the chagrin of Englishmen everything.

Australia eventually declared and took a couple of England's wickets before a close of a day, a very smart move by their captain, the sublime Ricky Ponting. This left the Aussies with a full day to take 8 England wickets to win the Test. But they just couldn't do it, which resulted in a drawn game. Not even when it came down to England's worst two batsmen, 2 bowling specialists, who managed to stay at the crease for 40 minutes. Praise must go to middle-order batter Paul Collingwood who stayed in for 5-and-a-half hours. He was effectively the glue that held everyone else together.

Now, I am not a fan of England in any shape or form, not even in the slightest, but is was simply compelling viewing to watch them hang in there by hook or crook to do enough to secure a draw.

This Test was actually played in Cardiff, Wales due to the English board actually encompassing 'The England and Wales Cricket Board'. There were a few eyebrows raised - some in favour of taking the sport around the country and giving new places & fans an opportunity; some against as it will cost the club Glamorgan ages to repay all the loans they took out to bid and do up the stadium, and also that the venue took away the opportunity of traditional grounds like Old Trafford staging a venue. The pitch wasn't the best either as the bowlers did not get much out of it, but I guess it gave the batsmen to show off their skills. Ah well, six of one, half a dozen of the other. In the end, was it entertaining? The general consensus is "yes", and so it will ultimately go down as a success for staging it here. It was humorous though to see 15,000 Welshmen cheer on England.

It is rare that a team who post over 400 in their first innings don't go on and win, but Australia were in no mood to mess around. So this draw will feel like a victory for England and conversely it will feel like a defeat for Australia. It's set-up very nicely for the Second Test tomorrow which takes place at Lords, "The Home of Cricket". Before this all started, I had said to myself that I think Australia will take the series 3-1, that's still on the cards.

NHL Roundup - The Finals

Division 1

• Kilkenny defeated reigning champions Tipperary after extra-time. This was a fantastically enjoyable high-scoring match as both sides really brought out their top game for this one.
  

Division 2

• Offaly gained promotion to the top tier next year as they were able to defeat rivals Wexford by virtue of a solitary goal.
  

Division 3A

• The extra goal scored by Kildare was enough for them to beat Meath.

Division 3B

• London fully justified their place in the National League as they defeated Roscommon with 6 points to spare.
  

Division 4

• Sligo were victorious over Monaghan in a competitive final that went all the way to extra-time.
  

NFL Roundup - Final Word

Time to just reflect on this league campaign and to see how things all finished up. There were some very good matches throughout and the managers did give new talent a chance to shine. At the end of the day though, I don't think that anyone can have any complaints about their final league position.

The tables come courtesy of the official website of the GAA.

Division 1

Allianz GAA Football National League Roinn 1 Table

Team	Pld	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Kerry	7	6	1	0	114	83	31	13
Derry	7	4	1	2	101	81	20	9
Galway	7	4	1	2	106	92	14	9
Mayo	7	2	3	2	90	85	5	7
Tyrone	7	3	1	3	96	97	-1	7
Dublin	7	2	2	3	124	110	14	6
Donegal	7	2	1	4	86	99	-13	5
Westmeath	7	0	0	7	68	138	-70	0

Champions: Kerry
Relegated: Westmeath & Donegal

• Kerry end the campaign unbeaten with their 1 draw and 7 wins (including the final) and they should be favourites heading into the All-Ireland in the summer. The disappointing season for Tyrone was touching on previously. But it was even more so for fans of Donegal probably expected to do better than this. Westmeath just seemed out of their depth this year.

Division 2

Allianz GAA Football National League Roinn 2 Table

Team	Pld	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Monaghan	7	5	1	1	130	91	39	11
Cork	7	5	1	1	110	75	35	11
Kildare	7	4	2	1	115	88	27	10
Armagh	7	4	0	3	108	103	5	8
Meath	7	2	2	3	82	87	-5	6
Laois	7	3	0	4	96	116	-20	6
Fermanagh	7	1	1	5	87	106	-19	3
Wexford	7	0	1	6	78	140	-62	1

Promoted: Monaghan & Cork (champions)
Relegated: Wexford & Fermanagh

• In a bit of a strange twist, even though they finished second, Cork are named champions as they won that final one-off game. Those two sides should be a fine addition to Division 1 next year and it will give Monaghan in particular a chance to test themselves against the best. Wexford & Fermanagh had only just come up this year and so are going straight back down again.

Division 3

Allianz GAA Football National League Roinn 3 Table

Team	Pld	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Down	7	5	0	2	109	87	22	10
Tipperary	7	5	0	2	104	90	14	10
Offaly	7	3	1	3	89	107	-18	7
Louth	7	3	0	4	109	98	11	6
Roscommon	7	3	0	4	91	94	-3	6
Cavan	7	3	0	4	91	94	-3	6
Limerick	7	3	0	4	81	92	-11	6
Longford	7	2	1	4	76	88	-12	5

Promoted: Down & Tipperary (champions)
Relegated: Longford & Limerick

• Again the runners-up are crowned champions and this was an excellent campaign for Tipperary as they secured their second promotion in a row. Down as expected also go up a division. But just look how tight it was down at the other end of the table. You have to feel for Limerick getting relegated by virtue of having a worse points difference.

Division 4

Allianz GAA Football National League Roinn 4 Table

Team	Pld	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Antrim	8	6	2	0	167	77	90	14
Sligo	8	7	0	1	133	81	52	14
Leitrim	8	5	1	2	128	101	27	11
Waterford	8	4	1	3	112	87	25	9
Wicklow	8	3	2	3	153	102	51	8
Clare	8	3	0	5	144	105	39	6
Carlow	8	3	0	5	114	122	-8	6
London	8	2	0	6	82	146	-64	4
Kilkenny	8	0	0	8	42	254	-212	0

Promoted: Antrim & Sligo (champions)

• Sligo get the division trophey for winning that final match but the league table in this division is probably fairest of all most definitely the top 2 sides going up. Poor Kilkenny will just be glad that this campaign is finished.
  

NFL Roundup - The Finals

Division 1

• In a repeat of last year's final, Kerry got revenge as they defeated Derry to finish off their sensational, unbeaten league campaign.
  

Division 2

• Cork were just too strong for Monaghan and gave an impression that they will once again be serious contenders for the All-Ireland in the summer. Monaghan should not be too disheartened though, they had a very good campaign.
  

Division 3

• In what could be considered a bit of a shock, Tipperary were able to defeat Down to take the title by a single point. The match was so close that it ended up going into extra-time as a winner was unable to be found during the normal 70 minutes of play. Down will most certainly be disappointed to lose a big game that they should have won, but Tipperary's incredible season just keeps getting better.
  

Division 4

• Sligo probably would have been favourites before this match, but they needed 2 points in injury time to seal the win against Antrim. It sounded like a keenly contested game with both teams obviously wanting to pick up the win.
  

NHL Roundup - Week 9

Division 1

• Waterford won at Cork in a very high-scoring contest.

• Kilkenny had a narrow win over Dublin.

• Galway had a fine win away at Clare.

• Tipperary had a home win against Limerick.
  

Division 2

• Offaly had an easy enough win against Antrim, which saw them advance to the final.

• Wexford topped the table as they thrashed Carlow by 25-points.

• Westmeath had a good home win against Laois.

• Down produced a magnificent comeback to win by 9-points despite being 6-points behind at half-time against Kerry. This result meant that Kerry had lost all 7 of their matches.

Division 3A

• The fixtures had already been completed.
  

Division 3B

• London finished with top of the table with an impressive 100% victory record as they defeated Donegal.

• Louth were much too strong for Tyrone.

• Fingal had a fine win against Roscommon.

• Longford had the weekend off.

Division 4

• Again, all matches had been played.
  

NFL Roundup - Week 10

As Division 4 has an extra team in it, they played out their final round of games this past week.

Division 4

• Antrim had a win away at Waterford to top the table.
  

• Sligo had a narrow win away at Wicklow, although they were already guaranteed a place in the final.

• Kilkenny lost heavily yet again, this time to Carlow.

• Clare had a very easy win against London, defeating them by triple scores.

• Leitrim had the weekend off.
  

NFL Roundup - Week 9

Division 1

• Derry won to send them into the final, however this defeat got Donegal relegated.

• Dublin produced a terrific performance to secure safety as they destroyed Westmeath by 27-points. This result meant that the visitors had lost all 7 of their matches.

• Kerry were able to defeat Galway to end their campaign unbeaten. It was bad luck for Galway though as they miss out on the final due to points difference for the second year running.

• A draw would have been enough to keep both Mayo & Tyrone in Division 1, so rather unsurprisingly they drew. For Tyrone, it would have to go down as a bit of a poor campaign to only secure safety in the very last match. The manager tried out over 35 players in the 7 games, but the disappointing thing is that not many of them showed the quality that has become synonymous with Tyrone over the past decade. Hopefully things pick up during the All-Ireland Championship in the summer.
  

Division 2

• Monaghan secured their promotion with as they went to Laois and hammered them by a massive scoreline.

• Cork were very impressive against Armagh as they gained promotion with this win.

• Meath and Kildare drew.

• As did Wexford and Fermanagh and it was probably fairly unenjoyable for all involved as both sides had already been relegated.

Division 3

• Down had a narrow win away at Roscommon but it gained them promotion as they finished top of the table.

• Louth had a narrow home win against Cavan.

• Limerick lost at Louth which saw them relegated. Unluckily for them, 3 other teams had the same number of points as them, but they went down due to an inferior score difference.

• Longford beat Tipperary, but it didn't make much difference as they had already been relegated.
  

Division 4

• Sligo picked up a home win against Waterford to guarantee them promotion and a place in the final.

• Carlow came from behind to pick up a win at home against Wicklow in a high-scoring game.

• Leitrim finished up their campaign with a victory against Clare.

• London had an expected win against Kilkenny.

• Antrim had the weekend off.

NHL Roundup - Week 8

Division 1

• Kilkenny had a very easy day's work as they hammered Cork. This win more or less gives Kilkenny top spot in the table and earns them a place in the final against...
  

• ...Tipperary, who had a good win at Galway which helped to secure them second place in the table.

• Clare managed a draw at Dublin, but it was not enough as the result sees them relegated.

• Limerick had a narrow win at home to Waterford, but a decent one nonetheless.
  

Division 2

• Antrim produced a very good away win in Laois.
  

• Wexford scored 5 goals which helped them to a home win over Offaly.

• Down were comprehensively beaten at Carlow as their disappointing season continued.

• Westmeath secured a narrow 1-point win away to Kerry.
  

Division 3A

• No games this week due to there only being 6 teams in this division.
  

Division 3B

• London hugely impressed as they went to Longford and obliterated them by 38 points, scoring 7 goals in the process.

• Roscommon had a decent home win against Louth.

• Donegal beat Fingal by just 2 points in a very high scoring match.

• Tyrone had the weekend off.

Division 4

• Again, no fixtures this week for the aforementioned reasons.
  

WWE Wrestlemania XXV (2009) - Preview & Predictions

This is the biggest show on the WWE's calendar, so big that it gets a whole extra hour to play about with, making it a 4-hour show. This is the event that the company has been building towards since the Royal Rumble back in January. It should also be noted that they are doing their annual brand draft just one week after 'Mania so there is a good chance many of these feuds will continue, but we'll get to that later.

They have been billing this as the "25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania", which is obviously wrong. Yet no-one seems to have copped on or they have been saying it way too much that they can't be bothered fixing it. It's even on the official poster for crying out loud. Anyway, let's see what is in store this year.

The Card

WWE Championship
Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
(Additional Rules: If Triple H gets intentionally disqualified or counted-out he loses the title; If Triple H shows up with a sledgehammer he automatically loses the match and the title)
Triple H won the title at the last PPV and this is Orton's title shot for winning the Royal Rumble. The build to this match has been excellent and really personal. Orton systematically went beating through the McMahon family (owner Vince and his children Shane & Stephanie). Triple H then revealed the worst kept secret in wrestling in that he is married to Stephanie. Publicly acknowledging the marriage was an interesting move but it made sense given the set-up to this contest. Plus some of the events preceding this match (home invasions with a sledgehammer and man-on-woman violence with Orton beating up Stephanie) also pushed the boundaries of WWE's new PG rating. It was really rather funny that WWE are trying hard to promote their show as family friendly, yet they do stuff like that.

Realistically Orton should be winning this as he has had so much momentum and heat these past few months. But Triple H needs his day in the sun on possibly their biggest PPV ever, so he will be retaining and they will need something to make the majority of the fans 'happy'. And they can't really have this belt change hands for the 5th PPV running. It should be a fine match with most likely some interference from Orton's Legacy. But the problem is that overall it isn't terribly exciting as they have done this feud so many times before so it isn't exactly new.

Interestingly this is actually the Smackdown title, but Orton is on Raw and that is where most of the build-up has been happening. But the upcoming draft should change all this. So I reckon, Triple H retains, gets drafted to Raw which allows this feud to continue and Orton gets the title in the next contest.
Prediction: Triple H to retain

World Heavyweight Championship match
Edge (c) vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena
Conversely, this is technically the Raw title, yet Edge took it over to Smackdown when he sneaked a win last show out under bizarre circumstances. The build to this match has been embarrassingly bad, so the less said about it the better, but it was originally meant to be an Edge/Show match which would have been great as there was plenty of background to it and also it would have been something fresh. But Cena, who is meant to be a good guy, weaselled his way into this contest by blackmailing the GM and Edge's on-screen 'wife' Vickie Guerrero with perverted, voyeuristic material, and then proceeded to show it to everyone. It was simply awful. The addition of Cena has single-handedly ruined a perfectly good feud.

That said he looks a near certainly to win. Much like in the other match, it would give the fans a happy moment, plus he got a big loss and beatdown this past week on TV. Using the logic of 'reverse booking' whereby whoever looks weak going into a PPV usually picks up the win, it means there will probably be a new champion. However, again like before, I can see Cena getting drafted over with the title therefore leaving each of the main shows with a big title and also allowing this feud to continue.
Prediction: John Cena to win the title

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
This one falls into the category of 'dream match' and should be a great contest which in all honesty should be the main event. But I fear it may get buried down somewhere near the middle of the card so the crowd aren't burnt out when the two title matches come around. Anyway this one has developed nicely with both guys trying to get inside the other's head. Plus these two have rarely met in recent time so it is fresh and exciting.

The outcome is pretty predictable as The Undertaker has a win/loss record of 16-0 at Wrestlemania, but that does not really matter. It should be a thrilling bout and should well be match of the night.
Prediction: The Undertaker

Extreme Rules
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy
The two brothers clash in singles competition for only the second time and it is hard to know what to expect from this one, but it should be a very good match. The hardcore rules can only play to their advantage and I'd guess that ladders will come out and join the party. To his credit, Matt Hardy has done a pretty good job at getting himself over as a heel and his promos have been the strongest in a long time, perhaps ever. Jeff has been playing the sympathetic character as usual and it has all come together very nicely.

Except it should be far more intriguing than it has been. Something just isn't clicking here but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because everyone assumes Matt will be back as a babyface in a while, probably by the end of the year. It is unclear how long this feud will be drawn out too, you could get away with taking it through to the middle of the summer I think. Anyway I think Jeff will probably win to continue the theme of 'happy' victories.
Prediction: Jeff Hardy to win

Money In The Bank Ladder Match Christian vs. MVP vs. Fit Finlay vs. C.M. Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry
(Winner receives a main title shot they can use anytime they want over the next 12 months)
This is the annual spotfest which is usually just a good excuse for carnage to occur. But this is the 5th year they have done this, and the shine is starting to wear off. The anticipation is not as great as it should be especially given the luxurious prize that the winner receives. It has not been helped this year by some bizarre selections to be in this match such as Mark Henry, who weighs near 400 pounds. Although the image of him climbing a ladder is pretty amusing.

As for winners, well the two obvious candidates are Christian and MVP. Christian will most likely be getting drafted off ECW, the C-show, and him winning the briefcase will offer plenty of storylines. But I think it might be a bit too early for him yet as he has only just returned to the company. So I'll go with MVP; a solid mid-card guy, been around for a few years, good on the mike/promos, and he currently has the US title which should help him to be built strong as a main eventer.
Prediction: MVP to win

Tag Team Titles Unification Match contested under Lumberjack rules
(World Tag Team Champions) The Miz & John Morrison vs. (WWE Tag Team Champions) Carltio and Primo
So the powers that be have finally decided that having 2 separate sets of titles in unnecessary. Pity they are only about 3 or so years too late. But this move should be the start of creating a competitive tag team division, although that will take a fair bit of work yet as most of the teams are made out to be jokes at the minute. Plus I guess the champions will be free to float around any of the 3 shows so that kind of makes the ideas of separate brands (TV shows) surplus to requirements.

This feud has been excellent and it really showed what could have been done if creative had bothered to put a bit of effort into this area of the roster. Both teams have beaten each other a couple of times without one being able to gain the upper hand. Plus each team is now accompanied by one of the Bella twins (who fought and split), which has added an extra dimension to things. The TV matches have been very sound so hopefully they will take it up another notch here. The 'lumberjack' element is just that everyone who isn't on the card gets to go to ringside and potentially interfere. Unnecessary, yes, but it's a nice way to get the whole roster onto the show.

The Miz and in particular John Morrison seem set for big things and so they should be locks for this match. But I can see this feud continuing with Carlito & Primo eventually triumphing.
Prediction: The Miz & John Morrsion to win the Unified titles

Intercontinental Title
JBL (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Bit of an odd match as both of these two guys have been on the fringes of the main event bracket for a while, yet they are fighting over the mid-card belt. JBL only won the title a few weeks back and there has been very little effort put into the set-up of this match. Unbelievably so, they actually gave it away on TV this past week with Mysterio winning in a non-title match. Which means that JBL will be retaining. A few years back this would have been an 'excellent' match but the best we can hope for is 'good'. Should be fine though.

What is possibly more important is that JBL has promised a "historic announcement". All sorts of rumours have been going around from him retiring as an undefeated champion to him buying the Money In The Bank briefcase off the winner and cashing it in later on that night. I'd go with the former as the most likely as he is apparently struggling with back problems.
Prediction: JBL to retain

Handicap Match
Chris Jericho vs. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka & 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper with 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair and Mickey Rourke at ringside
(Additional Rules: The Legends only need to score 1 victory; Chris Jericho must defeat all 3 opponents)
This match is a complete waste of the excellent Chris Jericho and he has been on top form of TV, which unfortunately means he will have the indignity of losing to a bunch of pensioners. WWE like to have some kind of celebrity involved with Wrestlemania each year, which no doubt means that Rourke will get involved and punch Jericho, probably costing him the match.

WWE have a "Hall Of Fame" each year and this time around the incredibly awesome 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is the main entrant but he has been conspicuously absent these past few weeks so I'd guess he would show up here (or at some stage) and raise hell, especially given that 'Mania is in his home state of Texas.
Prediction: Steamboat, Snuka & Piper to win

25 Diva Battle Royal
The winner gets crowned 'Miss Wrestlemania', but no-one really cares about that. Or this match, as the vast majority of the swimsuit models, erm, I mean 'wrestlers' are not talented enough to carry off a passable 2 minute match on their own. This is going to be a complete waste of time. Oh well, at least there is no Playboy bunny lingerie bra & panties pillow fight match this year.

They are using up all the women they have on the roster (18 or 19) and then filling the rest out with past workers. It's hard to call a winner, and they really should pick some current female to give them a meaningful push which could harbour future storylines, but I say it'll be between Trish Stratus (a joint record Women's title holder who will probably show up for a one-off appearance), Beth Phoenix (an excellent, dominant wrestler [one of the few talented workers they actually have]) or Michelle McCool (is banging The Undertaker and he has tons of backstage influence).
Prediction: Trish Stratus to win

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
Well it's really hard not to recommend Wrestlemania as a general rule, and it should be pretty good. The card is solid and you would like to think that all the wrestler would be bringing out their top-game given how big the occasion is. Hopefully WWE will hold-off on the swerves, the only ones that spring to mind are shock appearance from Batista or even 'Macho Man' Randy Savage. So yeah it'll most likely be okay. But it just doesn't feel like like the show has been built-up enough. The excitement levels should be going off the the charts, and yet, they aren't.

NHL Roundup - Week 7

Division 1

• Kilkenny absolutely thrashed Clare.

• Dublin showed how much they have improved this term, but they still came away from Tipperary with a narrow loss.

• Galway had a very good win at Waterford.

• Cork secured a narrow 1-point win in a very exciting game against Limerick.
  

Division 2

• Carlow had a fine win away at Westmeath.

• Offaly put in a great performance as they beat Laois.

• Antrim narrowly beat Kerry in an enthralling game.

• Wexford had a very good win away at Down.
  

Division 3A

• Meath had a good win away at Armagh in a game that was an exciting high-scoring affair.

• Derry had a very comfortable home win as they decimated Wicklow.

• Kildare had a decent home win against Mayo.
  

Division 3B

• Roscommon had an easy win up in Tyrone.

• Fingal had a home win against Longford.

• Louth had a really handy win over Donegal.

• London had the weekend off.
  

Division 4

• Leitrim had a narrow win at home against Fermanagh.

• Sligo had an excellent win away at Cavan, beating them by more than double scores.

• Monaghan had a tight 1-point victory against South Down.

NFL Roundup - Week 8

Division 1

• I had the pleasure of attending Tyrone’s home victory over Derry in the Saturday evening game. It was probably our best performance since the opening game and it was a very exciting match, very cold mind you. Tyrone probably deserved the win and we even had the luxury of missing a penalty. Derry could have seen out the match though, and the referee was probably a bit more in their favour. Our penchant for strong finish continued as the scores were level but we got 3 points in the last 2 minutes to seal the win. So an enjoyable night overall and the job was done as our division 1 status is all but secured for another year.

• Dublin drew at home against Kerry, but they really should have won as they threw away a 5-point lead as the game was coming towards the final stages.
  

• Mayo produced a great victory as they won at local rival Galway by a single point.

• Donegal won at Westmeath and in the process relegated the home side who have lost all 6 of their games so far.
  

Division 2

• Monaghan had a great and perhaps mildly surprising win against Cork as they handed the visitors their first defeat of the campaign.
  

• Kildare had a very determined win away at Fermanagh, a result which relegated the Ulstermen.
  

• Wexford’s terrible campaign got worse as they were comfortably beaten at home by Laois, a defeat that saw them relegated.
  

• Armagh had a very tight home win against Meath.
  

Division 3

• Down had a very comfortable home win against Offaly, beating them by more than double scores.
  

• Limerick had a decent win away at Longford, who ended up getting relegated by virtue of this loss.
  

• Tipperary came from behind to win against Louth to secure an impressive and well deserved promotion up to Division 2 next year. This is Tipperary’s second promotion in 2 years which is an excellent achievement.
  

• Cavan had a very good win against Roscommon.
  

Division 4

• Waterford continue to make strides in the right direction as they defeated Carlow.
  

• Antrim made good use of home advantage as they had a fine win against Sligo.
  

• Leitrim had a huge win at Kilkenny, triumphing by a margin of 27 points.
  

• Wicklow had an expected home win against London.
  

• Clare had the weekend off.

NHL Roundup - Week 6

Division 1

• Cork fielded their strongest team to date and it paid dividends as they picked up a very good win at Clare. The turning point in a fascinating match came when Cork hit 10 points in 10 minutes.

• Dublin had a fine and mildly shocking win at home to Dublin to continue their good campaign.

• Galway had a narrow win at home to Limerick.

• Kilkenny thrashed Tipperary by a margin of 17-points.
  

Division 2

• Offaly kept their winning record going as they beat Down.

• Wexford emerged the victors in a tight enough game against Westmeath.

• Carlow had an impressive win at home to Antrim.

• Laois had a fine win away at Kerry.
  

Division 3A

• Meath and Wicklow drew in an exciting sounding game.

• Kildare notched up a home win against Derry.

• Mayo were too strong at home for Armagh.

Division 3B

• London had a home win against Fingal.

• Louth chalked up a handy enough home win against Longford.

• Donegal thrashed Tyrone with a 19-point margin of victory.

• Roscommon had the weekend off.
  

Division 4

• Fermanagh had a surprising home loss to Monaghan.

• Leitrim made use of home advantage to beat Cavan.

• There was a draw in the game between South Down and Sligo.

NFL Roundup - Week 7

Division 1

• Kerry kept their 100% record intact as they easily dispatched Westmeath.

• Derry and Galway battled to an exciting draw.

• Mayo needed a last minute point to secure a home draw with Dublin.

• Donegal recorded a deserved home win against Tyrone, although the visitors had the chance to snatch a late draw as a shot came back off the goalpost.
  

Division 2

• Cork had a very comprehensive win at home to Wexford, who have yet to pick up any points this year.

• Kildare missed a late penalty and it cost them dearly as they got beat at home by Armagh.

• Meath and Monaghan played to a draw.

• Laois won at home to Fermanagh in a high-scoring match.
  

Division 3

• 6 unanswered points in a row helped Louth record a decent home win against Longford on a very windy pitch.

• Tipperary had a very good win away at Roscommon, which sent them to the top of the table.

• Limerick had a vital 1 point win over Down which helped them move off the bottom of the table.

• Cavan will were left to rue a missed penalty as they lost away at Offaly.

Division 4

• Sligo maintained their maximum record with a home win against Carlow.

• Waterford picked up a good home win against Leitrim.

• Wicklow won at home to Clare.

• Antrim destroyed London by a large margin.

• Kilkenny had the weekend off.
  

NHL Roundup - Week 5

Both of these matches were rescheduled games from Week 1.

Division 3A

• Armagh came away from Wicklow with a 1 point victory.

Division 3B

• London had a fine win away at Roscommon, which took them to the top of the table.
  

NFL Roundup - Week 6

Division 1

• Derry bounced back from last week's defeat to pick up a very fine win away at Dublin in a game that they completely dominated.

• Kerry were too strong at home to Mayo, although they have a lot to thank forward Colm Cooper for as he scored 8 out of their 13 points.

• Tyrone picked up a win at Westmeath thanks to a last-minute goal in a very dramatic TV game. It was especially heartbreaking for the home side as they thought they had won it with a goal only 2 minutes from time, but it was not to be. I'm not sad for them though as we needed a win, of any sorts, to at least temporarily ease any relegation fears. There is still plenty of room for improvement though.

• Galway kept their winning record intact as they were able to get the better of Donegal.
  

Division 2

• Cork had a very comprehensive victory away at Laois as they beat them by double scores.

• Armagh were able to pick up a 1 point victory when they visited Fermanagh.

• A bit of a surprising result as Monaghan lost at home to Kildare, in what was a very exciting TV game on Sunday afternoon.

• Meath had a good win against Wexford, although the home side were very wasteful and that cost them bad.
  

Division 3

• Cavan needed a very late point in order to pick up a home victory against Limerick.

• Roscommon had a very respectable win away at Louth.

• Tipperary had an impressive win as they beat Offaly.

• Down had a handy enough victory as they came away from Longford with a win.
  

Division 4

• London made full use of home advantage to get a narrow win over Waterford.

• Leitrim had a home win over Wicklow.

• Antrim had an excellent win against Carlow and racked up a huge score in the process.

• Kilkenny suffered another heavy loss as they were annihilated at Clare.

• Sligo had the weekend off.
  

NHL Roundup - Week 4

All these matches were rearranged ties that had been called off in due to bad weather earlier in the competition (Week 1).

Division 1

• Galway were very poor at home and Kilkenny made them pay for it. The result will be bitterly disappointing for Galway as they would have been looking at this game in order to have a right go at the best team in the land.

Division 2

• Offaly had a fairly routine victory against Carlow.

• Antrim and Westmeath shared a draw. It will probably be a bitter-sweet result for the Ulster side as while they had home advantage, they were not at full strength as they had some key players missing.
  

• Laois had a decent enough victory at home against Down.
  

Division 3A

• Meath made it a really impressive 3 wins from 3 matches as they were able to secure a 1 point victory over Kildare.

Division 3B

• There was a cracking game between Donegal and Longford, as the visitors were able to come back from a large half-time deficit and score 3 goals, but it was not enough as the Ulstermen held on for a home win by 2 points.
  

• Fingal had a fine win up in Tyrone and they had 4 points to spare in that contest.

Division 4

• Fermanagh battled hard in order to secure a win at Cavan.

• Sligo had a very easy win at home against Monaghan.

NFL Roundup - Week 5

Division 1

• Galway continued their 100% start to the league as they went up to Tyrone and won. This was the TV game on Saturday night but it was a terrible and for the most part boring match, as the conditions were atrocious. There was heavy rain earlier in the day and throughout the match and if the match had not been on TV, it may well have been called off. Credit to Galway though, they played the conditions better and on the whole deserved the win. A few alarm bells will start to ring for Tyrone as this is their second home loss in a row and again they did not turn up at all in the first half. We can not afford a slip-up in the next game otherwise we may get dragged into a relegation battle.

• Kerry had a fine win up in Derry and they could even afford the luxury of missing a penalty. Kerry have gotten off to an excellent start and also have maximum points from the 3 games played so far.

• Dublin had a very good, and much-needed result as they came away from Donegal with a win. This sort of victory was exactly what they needed and the team will now be looking to kick on into another gear.

• Mayo had a handy enough victory when they hosted Westmeath.
  

Division 2

• In the early match, Meath had an expected win at home to Laois. It was so comfortable that the they could get away with not even scoring a single point in the second half. Laois were said to be poor though, as none of their points came from open play.

• Monaghan had an excellent win at Armagh and that victory leaves them as the only team win a 100% record in this division.

• Cork defeated Fermanagh in a result that many would have predicted.

• Kildare had a very comprehensive and deserved victory against Wexford. And this also means that the visitors have yet to pick up a single point so they need to turn things around fast.
  

Division 3

• There was a bit of a surprise result on Saturday evening when Down lost at home to Cavan. This is a poor result for Down as they would have been expected to win this game and they had home advantage too, plus this is a bit of a blow to their chances of getting promoted.

• Tipperary needed a late penalty to pick up the win, but it is a very fine victory away at Limerick who seem to be regressing.

• Roscommon made full use of home advantage as they saw off Longford with 2 points to spare.

• Offaly won by a single point at home to Louth to pick up their first win and will be using this as a boost to move in the right direction.
  

Division 4

• Sligo had a decent enough win over in London to make it 4 wins from 4.

• Wicklow absolutely annihilated Kilkenny in a game where they were always going to win, but probably not by a margin of 42 points. To make the result seem all the more worse, Kilkenny were the home team.

• Leitrim and Antrim battled to a cagey draw, although the Ulster side will probably be the happier of the two teams.

• Waterford had a very good win away at Clare and seem to be getting more confident with each passing game.

• Carlow had the weekend off.

NHL Roundup - Week 3

Division 1

• Reigning champions Tipperary continued their impressive 100% start with a fine win over Clare.

• Waterford gained some measure of revenge as they downed Kilkenny by a margin of 4 points.

• The usual disclaimer applies to Cork as they were thumped at home by Galway.

• Limerick had an important win at home to Dublin.
  

Division 2

• Offaly dominated their match against Kerry, winning by a massive margin of 24 points.

• Antrim beat Wexford in a very exciting match that produced a total of 8 goals. These are 2 teams that are in-between the top and middle tiers in terms of quality so each team would have had a lot to prove against one another.

• There were 8 goals once again as Down had an impressive win at Westmeath in what looked to be another enthralling contest.

• And to conclude this goalfest of a division, Laois had a decent win against local neighbours Carlow.
  

Division 3A

• Meath had a very good win away at Derry, who in their own right are a decent enough side. It probably would have been a bit of a shock for Derry to lose as while they are not good enough to be amongst the top sides, they can make a good nuisance of themselves against the second tier teams.

• Armagh edged out Kildare by a point and having home advantage proved to be key.

• The 2 goals proved crucial for Mayo as they have a very respectable win at Wicklow.

Division 3B

• London had a very good victory as they travelled over to Louth, and it is results like this that justifies their participation in this competition.

• Roscommon were firing on all cylinders as they chalked up a big win at home to Donegal.

• Tyrone got their first win of the campaign, albeit an extremely narrow win at home to Longford. But hey, we'll take them any which way they come.

• Fingal had the weekend off.

Division 4

• Home advantage proved crucial to Monaghan as they downed Leitrim by a single point.

• A good win for Fermanagh away to Sligo, and they scored 2 goals as well so that should give them a huge lift going into their next match.

• Cavan had a decent win at home to South Down.
  

NFL Roundup - Week 4

There were no scheduled fixtures this past weekend, but it allowed 2 teams to catch up on their postponed game from a few weeks back.

Division 4

• Leitrim had a comfortable enough victory at home against Carlow.
  

UEFA Champions League - Last 16 - Preview

After a break from the competition over the winter, things start back with a bang as we approach the business end of the season and there are plenty of tasty encounters to look forward to over the next 2 matchdays.

All the rounds from this one on are straight knockout format. Both sides play each other home and away with the team that has the bigger aggregate score going through. Let's run down the matches...

Inter Milan vs Manchester United
The reigning European champions have to travel to Italy in what is arguably one of the ties of the round. Both teams are top of their respective league tables going into this clash and are odds-on to win their titles this year. This also gives the opportunity for managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho to lock horns once again, although it is a bit of a concern that Mourinho has a far superior record over his rival. United also have bad defensive injuries going into the first leg.

But I'd take a score draw in the first leg as we should be able to beat Inter once we get them over to Old Trafford in a couple of weeks time.

Real Madrid vs Liverpool
Onto the other big game and oh how the fortunes have been reversed since the draw was made in mid-December. Madrid were in all sorts of trouble but brought in Juande Ramos as the new manager until the end of the season and he has changed things around with 9 wins in his 10 matches including a 6-1 victory at the weekend. Liverpool meanwhile were cruising at the top of the Premier League until their manager Rafael Benetiz lost the plot with his now famous 'Rafa's Rant' and they have been on a horrid run of form as of late.

So everything points to a comfortable win for Madrid then? Well, not exactly. Benetiz knows how to play in Europe and it was incredible the way he guided them to 2 finals in 3 years a few season back and he will have knowledge of the Spanish game given it is his nationality. It's a coin-flip who will go through.

Chelsea vs Juventus
Another fascinating tie as current Juventus manger Claudio Ranieri gets to return to Chelsea. Both teams have realistically very little hope in winning the league so they will probably be going all out here. Juventus are still are very good side; they beat Real Madrid both home and away in the group stages. However, Chelsea probably have that bit more strength in depth and will perhaps shade this game but on the whole it looks like another close call.

Arsenal vs Roma
These two sides have not had the best of seasons as they are well off the pace in their respective leagues, so they may as well be throwing everything they have got into this competition. It should be an open, attacking game as both sides like to get forward. Arsenal's main concern is that they have problems scoring coming off the back of three consecutive 0-0 draws, but if they can build up a good lead in the first leg at home, they might be grand.

Lyon vs Barcelona
Lyon have dominated the French league for years and are a very handy team, with a number of quality players. But this game looks a step too far for them. Barcelona have just been oozing class this season and are well ahead in the Spanish league. Okay, they lost their match at the weekend which was at home to their city rivals (Espanyol), but they have been averaging 3 goals a match this season. This should be an entertaining match and Lyon will make a good nuisance of themselves at home, but over the two legs Barca should be too strong.

Sporting Lisbon vs Bayern Munich
Some bad news was dealt to Sporting as one of their star players, striker Helder Postiga, was ruled out for both legs. Bayern were always going to be favourites and Sporting are facing a huge uphill task now. On the whole, this should be a comfortable enough win for the German side.

Atletcio Madrid vs Porto
Porto surprised everybody by winning the competition (with Jose Mourinho as their manager) a good few years ago but they are nowhere near as good as they were then. They are the top team in Portugal, but that isn't exactly the strongest of the league. Atletico can give a decent account of themselves and boast the very highly-rated striker Sergio Aguero in their ranks. This though is a tie that could go either way.

Villarreal vs Panathinaikos
The Greek side were the surprise package of the group stages as they ended up coming top of a group that contained Inter Milan, even beating them in Italy. Though I think Villarreal will be a bit too much about them; they can attack when they want to, but they can also defend and grind out resutls when is needed and four 0-0 draws against Manchester United in recent times is proof of that.

Predictions To Go Through To The Next Round
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Roma
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid
Villarreal

NHL Roundup - Week 2

Division 1

• The Saturday night game saw defending champions Tipperary win very easily against Cork. Although, bear in mind that this is a young and inexperienced Cork side so it probably doesn't reflect the bigger picture.

• Kilkenny only managed a 1-point victory at home to Limerick, with the winner coming 7 minutes into injury time. It was a tough break for Limerick but they can't feel too bad with themselves as Kilkenny are the best team in the country and beforehand would have been expected to win quite comfortably.

• Waterford had a good win away at Clare and they are a team I like very much. They have plenty of attacking flair and rarely resort to negative tactics. Perhaps they have underachieved in recent times and they will be desperate to bounce back this year after getting hammered in the All-Ireland final last year.

• The surprise of the weekend was Dublin racking up a massive 12-point win against Galway. But from the reports it suggests they fully deserved their victory and the margin of their win was in no way flattering.

Division 2

• Carlow continued to show that they are an up-and-coming team as they beat Kerry with a few points to spare on Saturday evening.
  

• Wexford are really impressing as they ended up with another very comprehensive win, this time against Laois. In the end Wexford ended up scoring twice as many points as their opponents in which looked like a great, open, free-flowing match.

• Antrim are the best team in Ulster and they proved that once again with a decent win against their provincial rivals Down.

• Offaly won away at Westmeath and the margin of the victory suggests there is still a gulf in class between these two sides.

Division 3A

• Kildare narrowly won their home fixture against Wicklow.

• Armagh and Derry shared a competitive draw in an all-Ulster clash.

• Meath won at home to Mayo, who have now lost their opening 2 games and need to turn things around quickly.

Division 3B

• London destroyed poor Tyrone by a margin of a whopping 34 points.

• Roscommon had a very easy outing away at Longford and would have made for good viewing for any of their travelling fans.

• Fingal had a decent win at home to Louth. It is worth noting that Fingal are not an official country, just an extension of the county of Dublin. I'm not entirely sure why or how they got a place in this League seeing as they do not compete in the Championship during the summer months.

• Donegal had the weekend off.

Division 4

• Monaghan had a comfotable win over Cavan.

• In an all Connacht clash, Sligo were able to win away at Leitrim.

• South Down had their second successive drawn as they and Fermanagh could not best each other. South Down are pretty much in the same boat as Fingal with regards to their participation in the League.

TNA Against All Odds 2009 - Results & Review

Entrance Video
They showed footage from earlier with people arriving at the show; the Main Event Mafia, minus Sting, entered via a Hummer stretch limousine, Team 3D came together in some form of pimp-mobile, and finally Sting arrived in a Lamborghini Diablo. The colour of it was a bit off, yellow and white, but it was still a gorgeous car and probably the prettiest thing we’ll see on this show.

The Matches

Alex Shelley defeated Eric Young to retain the X-Division title
Very good match to open things off with and it gives some hope that TNA will actually be putting an effort into making the X-Division seem worthwhile. Both men looked pretty good with Shelly hitting a lovely frog splash. Shelley won with a roll-up after sort of feigning injury. It was the exact same way he won the belt last month and made him look a bit weak. But a perfectly fine opener nonetheless.

Scott Steiner defeated Petey Williams
Williams came out still dressed as a Steiner clone which completely baffled me. This was a really slow and boring match and Steiner’s antics towards the crowd were more interesting. It could be viewed as a borderline squash match as Steiner pretty much dominated.

After he won the match, Steiner beat up Williams more before Samoa Joe appeared on the big screen, not live in the arena, and mouthed off to him. Joe had a pretend tattoo on his face that makes him look like a cheap rip-off of the WWE wrestler Umaga. That is not good. TNA completely dropped the ball on Joe last year and he needs some serious rebuilding but that new look is not the way to go about it.

Brutus Magnus defeated Chris Sabin
Magnus cut a promo before the match and I was pleasantly surprised as he spoke well enough. I was a little disappointed the opponent was Sabin; I was expecting a bigger name. The match was one of those throwaway contests but to his credit Magnus done pretty okay as he didn’t botch things and played a good heel. His finisher looks a bit weak but he could make something of himself if, and that’s a big if, TNA give him time and show a bit of faith in him.

Awesome Kong defeated ODB to retain the Knockouts title
At the start, there were a bit of unnecessary shenanigans whereby Kong’s associates came down with her before Jim Cornette shooed them away. Kong then squared off to Cornette and it was all a waste of time really, although hearing Mike Tenay saying Cornette was “goozled” almost made it worthwhile. No, I’ve not idea what he was on about either, but it was possibly the most sensible thing the commentators said all night. The match was pedestrian and a bit dull; Kong dominated, ODB had a small comeback, Kong then finished her with the Implant Buster. The problem they have now is that Kong has beaten all the babyfaces, so creative will have to do some thinking in order to come up with her next opponent.

Booker T defeated Shane Sewell to retain the Legends title
This was rubbish, nothing more than filler. Booker won with the axe-kick after wife Sharmell tripped Sewell up. The fact that Booker needed help against a part-time wrestler made him look really, really weak.

A.J. Styles came out after and beat Booker up for a bit. He then and cut a rather whiny promo which took the entire sting out of his appearance. A pity really, although Booker/Styles gives some hope.

Abyss defeated Matt Morgan
This was not a 'no holds barred' match as previously stipulated as the referee kept taking weapons away from both guys. That was rather lame and so the match was worse than expected. The ref took a bump for his troubles and then got hit in the head with a chair. Abyss won after a second Black Hole Slam when referee Slick Johnson ran down to make the cover. They fought in the crowd at the start which was cool but once they got into the ring it dragged big time. This feud will most likely continue for a while yet.

Beer Money defeated Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed to retain the Tag Team titles
Beer Money came down to the ring on a motorised keg of beer name the ‘Boozer Cruiser’. Ha, nice. They looked really good in this match too as they dominated aside from the mandatory brief comeback from the challengers. Jacqueline got involved as expected but Storm hit Lethal in the head with his fist wrapped in chain to secure the victory. A really fine match even if the dodgy ending was a bit unnecessary.

Sting defeated Kurt Angle, Brother Ray & Brother Devon to retain the World Heavyweight title
Horrible main event, although the crowd seemed to eat it up big time which was rather unfortunate. Angle was heeling it up big time trying to pin Sting at every available opportunity. But he nor really Sting couldn’t get into their grooves due to their vastly inferior opponents. Mick Foley handed Sting the title at the end, so at least they are doing something right in getting Sting away from being a heel. He is probably in the middle at the minute or a ‘tweener’, but it seems they are finally moving things along.

King Of The Ring or Jobber?
When the first contest is the best of the night, then you know your show is going to be in trouble. This was yet another rubbish event that was pretty much devoid of any interesting matches and a lack of big names that were absent from action (Joe, Styles, Rhino, still no Christopher Daniels). Looking at the bigger picture, there is no progress being made by TNA, none whatsoever and I dare say that if they are at a stage where they are putting Team 3D in a PPV main event singles match then they are actually regressing as a promotion.

NFL Roundup - Week 3

Division 1

• The Saturday evening game saw a very thrilling draw between Donegal and Mayo, although the home side can be somewhat disappointed that they let a 9-point lead slip and ended up conceding 2 goals in the second half. Mayo had a bit of a poor year last time around and so will be using this league to build themselves up to the levels of years gone by, and on this evidence they are on the right tracks.

• It really was a game of 2 halves up in Omagh as Tyrone, the home side, only managed 3 points in the first half, yet in the second period Kerry only got 2 points. I caught this game on the television and Kerry came racing out of the traps as they were most likely keen to avenge their All-Ireland loss in September and at times they were simply excellent. Both of their goals were very well taken and they could have had more if the Tyrone keeper had not made some great saves. Tyrone looked like a completely different team in the second half though as they picked themselves up for a very unlikely comeback and you felt that if there had of been 5 extra minutes then they probably would have won the game, they had that much momentum. While yes it was disappointing to lose at home, they will take some heart from earning back some respectability.

• Galway had a very good win over Dublin and this also made for an enjoyable TV game, even if the 3 goals in the first half kind of killed the game as a contest. The goals themselves were great as they just sliced the Dublin defence open and one of them was a very well taken penalty. Dublin to their credit did not give up but it was just too big of a mountain to climb.

• Derry had a very comfortable home win against Westmeath, but that was expected.
  

Division 2

• Laois had a bit of a surprise win in Armagh and this result will do them a world of good.

• And again in a bit of a shock, Fermanagh won down in Meath albeit by a single point. Fermanagh are a very hard-working and likeable team who always seem to put in maximum effort and it paid off greatly for them here.

• There was a draw between Kildare and Cork, a very enjoyable one it seems based of the reports. Although Cork will probably be relieved with a point, deep down they know that this is a game they probably should have won.

• Monaghan had a very good win at home to Wexford, racking in a huge score in the process.

Division 3

• Down enjoyed a very tight win over Louth to go top of the table at this early stage. Down are probably favourites to take this league.

• Limerick beat Roscommon with the very last kick of the match, which just goes to show that you have to concentrate right to the very end.

• Cavan endured a very disappointing loss at home to Tipperary.

• Offaly also needed a last-minute point but it could only snatch a draw at home to Longford. Offaly will rue that they missed a penalty though, it could have saved them all sorts of problems and would have helped them win.

Division 4

• Antrim had a good home win over Clare in the Saturday night match.

• Sligo had a massive win over Leitrim in a game that really should have been a lot closer given these two sides are round about the same level.

• Waterford easily beat Kilkenny in what must have been a bizarre match as both these counties prefer hurling.

• Carlow had an expected home win against London.

• Wicklow had the weekend off.