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.

WWE No Way Out 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo
No Way Out is unfortunately scheduled in-between 2 of the WWE's 'Big 4' PPVs of the year. It is only 3 weeks after the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania follows in the first weekend of April. Also they can't really afford to shake things up too much with this show as they will need to build the champions/challengers up strongly ahead of their flagship event.

So No Way Out is regarded as nothing more than filler. In order to combat this, for the second year running the show is centred around a gimmick match, in the form of the Elimination Chamber. This is a huge steel dome with 2 wrestlers starting and then 4 others coming out of glass pods situated inside the ring every 5 minutes. These matches are usually pretty good, especially if you have the right mix of people in them. The problem is, the card is light on matches, yet there will be 2 contests fought inside the Chamber. To me that is overkill. By the time the second one comes around the excitement won't be there, but hopefully they will have the sense to space them out.

The Card

Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship
Edge (c) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Koslov vs. The Big Show
This is the Smackdown title, which is the B-Show, but it should be the main event as it has much bigger names in the contest. And it should be a very good match. You can rule out The Undertaker winning the title as there are plenty of other options for him at Wrestlemania. Koslov too can be ruled out as he still looks a bit dodgy at times and switching the title from one heel to another would be strange. They have been teasing Big Show getting involved in something with Edge for a while now and he is in the midst of a babyface turn, but it is unlikely he will win the title. Jeff Hardy definitely won't win it back again after only just dropping it last month. Which leaves Triple H as the only likely contender, but I'd be sure they are saving that for 'Mania.

What is interesting is how they will book this one in regards to making guys look strong. Koslov has been portrayed as very dominant throughout his career so I'd guess that he might get a big elimination in the form of The Undertaker, who can get rebuilt easily enough. Big Show might be made to look weak enough as he has very little momentum. Jeff Hardy will probably get screwed out of it by his brother Matt, which would be fine as it keeps Jeff sympathetic and gets heat on Matt. Triple H most likely will be made to look especially strong, because that's how he will decide on things. He might even eliminate 2 guys all on his own.

So it'll come down to Edge against Triple H or Jeff Hardy, with Edge sneaking a win somehow. Which is fine enough with his gimmick being he seeks out opportunities to win. Should be very entertaining.
Prediction: Edge to retain

Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Mike Knox vs. Kofi Kingston
This is the chamber for the flagship show, Raw, but strangely it is considerably weaker. This one is much easier to call since Mysterio, Kane, Knox & Kingston will most definitely not win due to them either being directionless for the past while or that they are mid-card talents. So that only leaves Jericho, but they been setting him up with something else for 'Mania and him winning, while awesome, would be really odd.

It's going to come down to Cena and Jericho with Jericho unfortunately putting the champion over yet again. Plus Randy Orton has a shot for a title at 'Mania and he needs a babyface to fight with, so Cena is going to retain. I have low expectations for this one due to the bizarre choice of talent that got chosen to be in the Chamber.
Prediction: John Cena to retain

ECW Championship
Jack Swagger (c) vs. Fit Finlay
These two have had a couple of good matches over the past month or so and I am fans of both of them. So I am really looking forward to this contest. Swagger only got the title a month or so ago which means he will probably retain the gold.

Now it is worth mentioning that Christian made his highly anticipated return this past week as a member of the ECW brand. This was strange because it was a surprise, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Christian is far better than being on the C-show, yet at least for the moment it allows the opportunity to re-establish himself as a singles guy without being lost under the presence of Cena or being known as his on-screen brother Edge's lackey on either of the other shows. He came out and confronted Swagger, so it looks like them two facing off for the title seems likely in the near future.
Prediction: Jack Swagger to retain

No Holds Barred
Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon
This is more or less Shane getting revenge for Orton kicking his father in the head a few weeks back. I'm expecting a crazy match and one which should be very fine indeed. Orton is solid enough and in the past Shane has given it his all in these types of contests, which usually results in at least one major, insane spot.

There should be weapons galore and possibly run-ins. I wouldn't rule out Vince returning and screwing either side out of the victory, or even his daughter Stephanie doing the same thing. But Orton will be winning here as he needs to get built up strongly if he is to look like a credible challenger for the title.
Prediction: Randy Orton

All Or Nothing
Shawn Michaels vs. JBL (If Michaels wins, he is free from JBL's contract/If JBL wins, he owns Michaels name & likeness)
Yes, those are some pretty stupid stipulations. But then again, this whole storyline has been dumb. Hopefully this match will see the end of their program but I doubt it. The bout will probably be decent, though Michaels will have to do most of the heavy lifting. It makes sense that Michaels will win seeing as how he has been treated like crap for months by JBL. Plus it would allow them to have a rematch at 'Mania in Texas, making it an all-Texan affair. If JBL wins, I just don't know how they will pull off him owning Michaels' image. Unless he ends up making Michaels advertise all sorts of rubbish just so that he can get the money from it, but that would just be silly.
Prediction: Shawn Michaels to win

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
Well, this card appears to be lacking in depth and it wouldn't surprise me if they threw on an extra match to bulk it out a bit. Maybe a women's match or something just as filler. Of the matches, Orton/McMahon and the Smackdown Chamber will probably be the two standouts. However, it all looks really predictable which makes it slightly unappealing. That is of course unless WWE continue their hard-on for the technique of 'bait-and-switch' in order to create some unexpectedness. But that would probably be counter-productive seeing as people need to look credible and there needs to be some stability leading up to Wrestlemania. On the whole, it probably won't be essential viewing.

Hiddink In At Chelsea

A few days ago, Chelsea appointed Guus Hiddink as their manager until the end of the season. This is a very sound decision. Hiddink has a proven track record of success and is indeed a great manager with a lot of tactical know-how and he has been very good at man-mangaging players in the past. Which should come in useful as there is apparantly a rift in the dressing room. Hiddink has also come out on the offensive in saying that Chelsea can still win the Premier League title. You can't fault him for saying this as he had to instill a bit of optimism into the club, team and fans; but really it does look unlikely.

One potential problem is that Hiddink is also currently manager of the Russian national team and so is performing two tasks at once. Although this should not be a major problem as Russia only have 2 World Cup Qualifiers between now and the end of the season, and they are playing teams they should beat quite comfortably. Plus Hiddink has been in this situation before, with PSV Eindhoven and Australia, so he knows how to handle things.

Like I said, on paper it looks a good appointment and Hiddink is a manager I really like and it will be intersting to get a closer look at his tactics and managerial techniques. But of course I am hoping he does not do too well and knock Manchester United off the top of the league or even in the Champions League, if they meet there.

NHL Roundup - Week 1

In a similar vein to the NFL, the National Hurling League plugs the gap between the Winter pre-season and when the All-Ireland series starts in the Summer. Hurling is probably the fastest played sport in the world requiring tremendous skill. If a game turns out to be good, it usually makes for fantastic viewing. They brought in a new, simpler league format this year and more on how the competition is structured can be found here.

Division 1

• Tipperary began the defence of their title with a good win away at Waterford in what sounded like a very impressive display from the champions.

• Limerick narrowly won at home to Clare. In terms of scoring, this was probably the match of the weekend and Clare showed great spirit coming back from a huge deficit at half-time, but it was not enough.

• Cork are not known as the 'Rebels' for nothing and usually cause a ruckus at this time of the year and it is the same case this time around. From what I understand, the senior players have all refused to play and so they have had to field a fringe/youth team or risk being thrown out of this competition and the All-Ireland itself later in the year. Anyway, this was a very good display from them even though Dublin eventually won the match. Dublin are seen as a side that are that hover between the top and second tier so they will take something from this victory, and scoring 4 goals away from home is great.

• The game between Galway and Kilkenny got called off due to the weather.

Division 2

• The only game to go ahead was Wexford getting an expected win at Kerry. Wexford are probably favourites to win this division.

• The other 3 matches were all called off.
  

Division 3A

• Derry beat Mayo in a tight, scrappy game. The result was probably expected seeing as Derry had home advantage.

• The other 2 fixtures did not happen.

Division 3B

• All 3 fixtures got postponed.
  

• Louth had the weekend off regardless of the weather.

Division 4

• South Down and Leitrim shared the spoils. Draws are fairly rare in hurling as there are usually more points scored and the game is more free-flowing than gaelic football.

Postponed Matches

• Here's a full list of all the games that got called off due to the poor weather conditions.
  

So overall it was a slightly muted start to the NHL, even though some of the bigger games delivered fascinating contests.

NFL Roundup - Week 2

The only teams in action were the ones from Division 4, presumably because there are 9 teams in that division compared with 8 in the rest and therefore they need an extra weekend to run through all their fixtures.

Division 4

• Waterford, who are mainly a hurling county, can be very happy with their draw away at Wicklow. They were winning too coming into the final stages of the game and this result will give them a massive boost. Poor display by Wicklow though.

• Kilkenny getting hammered by Antrim was very much expected.

• Sligo had a narrow win at Clare, but a good one nonetheless.

• The game between Leitrim and Carlow got called off due to the bad weather.

• London had the weekend off.

Axe Falls at Chelsea & Portsmouth

I woke up to hear and then read the news this morning that Tony Adams had been sacked as the manager of Portsmouth after only 22 games in charge. Not a massive shock, but a mild one I felt. Sure they have been doing poorly recently and are sitting above the relegation zone. But they have had some terrible luck recently and his hands were tied during the Winter transfer window as the club had to sell, yet he couldn't use any of the money that was brought in. It just seems to be an unfortunate case that he came to a top job too soon and perhaps still had more to learn. He possibly had too much on his plate too. When he was mainly a defensive coach earlier on in the season, Portsmouth's defence was solid enough, but some of the displays recently have been absolutely shocking, so there must have been some neglect of those duties. The worrying thing for the fans is that they will now be on their 3rd manager this season and it will need to be a good appointment as surely survival is the only objective at this stage.

So I go out to class with that on my mind and what a difference a few hours make, because when I return home to hear news that is shocking.

This afternoon, Chelsea also sacked their boss as it was decided by their Russian owner that Luiz Felipe Scolari, someone who won the World Cup with Brazil, was deemed surplus to requirements after only 7 months in the job. Now Chelsea have had a fairly poor season, particularly their home form, but the board have ideas above their station if they think that a new guy can come in and thrust them up to the top spot in the league. They still have the Champions League to play for and honestly, they should be throwing all their eggs in that basket. If Scolari had of won that trophey then he might have got some stay of execution. Why not wait until the end of the season and evaluate things then?

Various names have been touted as replacements such as current West Ham boss & Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola (still a bit unproven), Avram Grant (a guy they sacked in the summer he led them to a whisker of a domestic and European Cup double; great decision that was to let him go then) and Guus Hiddink (a very good boss, but current manager of Russia). It is simply a sensational turn of events.

It all reminds me of that now famously laughable quote by that useless turncoat of a current Chief Executive Peter Kenyon when he stated that 'in a few years Chelsea will be the best team in the world'. He was a guy that left Manchester United (my team of choice) for Chelsea a few years back when the rich Russian billionairre entered town. I'll hold back my chuckles for a moment while we just compare things on the very slim chance Kenyon comes across this...

Last 2 Seasons - Trophies Won
Manchester United - 2 League Titles (with another very likely), 1 European Cup, 1 World Club Championship
Chelsea - 0

TNA Against All Odds 2009 - Preview & Predictions

Opening Promo
TNA are just off the back of a largely successful tour of Ireland & the UK (2 shows in Dublin and nights in Manchester, London & Glasgow). Their live shows are always well received, more so than any of the WWE ones based on various accounts. This is presumably because on the live shows, TNA actually gives time to matches and you don’t get any of the rubbish segments you get on the TV. Just a pity TNA can’t transfer that success into their TV shows which would give their product a much needed boost.

The Card

TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
"The Icon" Sting (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon
This continues the Main Event Mafia/Frontline feud with Sting & Angle representing the Mafia and the other guys fighting for the Frontline. Honestly this looks a terrible main event. Team 3D (Ray & Devon) should not even be in the main event, let alone a singles match as they are rubbish. They obviously aren’t going to win so it leaves the other two guys. They have been teasing tension between Sting & Angle and I’d expect that to continue. Angle will probably pick up the title here, just so that his ego can get that extra bit bigger. And hopefully Sting will be made to sensibly turn babyface.
Prediction: Kurt Angle to win the World Heavyweight Title

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Beer Money (c) vs. "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed
This is effectively the challenger’s rematch, although they bizarrely had to win a match on one of the TV shows in order to receive this shot. It’s pure guesswork who will win; I don’t expect the champions to drop the belts after only a month...but then I didn’t expect Lethal & Creed to drop the belts after only 3 days last time around. The match should be fine and Beer Money should win, possibly through some cheating as they could draw this feud out for another month at least.
Prediction: Beer Money to retain the Tag Titles

TNA X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Alex Shelley (c) vs. Eric Young
It seems TNA are finally starting to take the X-Division seriously again, which is a very good thing. This should be a very fine match. Young probably deserves a good run with the belt as he has been screwed out of it a few times over the past couple of months, but I don’t think he will get it here. Shelley will be playing the heel and his partner Chris Sabin will most likely be at ringside and could possibly get involved, which isn’t exactly necessary (read: expect it to happen), so I say Shelley will retain somehow.
Prediction: Alex Shelley to retain the X-Title

KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Awesome Kong (c) vs. ODB
This should be different from your usual women’s contest as both of them are of a slightly bigger build, so the match will probably be a bit slow in places and could possibly be a bit of a slugfest. Kong is good and ODB is fine enough, so I’d expect it to be decent at the least. Kong is said to be carrying knee and back injuries so hopefully it won’t impact the match too much. Her associates have also been banned from ringside and we are possibly due a title change. So everything points to an ODB win and I’m going with that.
Prediction: ODB to win the Knockouts Title

LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Booker T (c) vs. Referee Shane Sewell
The Legends Championship really has no meaning as Booker T just brought out the belt one week and declared himself the champion, but TNA have sanctioned it as an official title anyway. What’s to stop other people doing that as well, I don’t know. Sewell was pretty basic last time out but Booker should be winning this easily and more importantly cleanly. But no-one really cares about this match and it is such a waste of Booker T.
Prediction: Booker T to retain the Legends Championship

GRUDGE MATCH
"Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams vs. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
This match is a part of the Frontline/Mafia story. A few months back, Williams used to be a lackey of Scott Steiner and trained under him, even changing his appearance to look like Steiner. But that all got done away with when Steiner joined the Mafia and they beat up Williams, who recently returned and cost Steiner a match. Hence this contest between the two. Steiner should be winning this; a loss against a smaller, albeit very talented wrestler will hurt him. But this won’t be a classic and again, there is very little interest to be had in this one.
Prediction: Scott Steiner to win

NO HOLDS BARRED
'The Monster' Abyss vs. "The Blueprint' Matt Morgan
As expected, these turned on each other. Although they probably made the wrong call in making Abyss the babyface, as he has been quite useless in that role for the past few years or so. Since weapons are allowed, it will probably take this contest up a couple of notches and it could get pretty violent. Not really sure who will get the win as this feud will probably roll on for a few months yet, so I’ll just randomly pick Morgan.
Prediction: Matt Morgan to win

OPEN CHALLENGE
‘The Modern Day Gladiator’ Brutus Magnus vs. ???
Magnus made the challenge on Impact this week, but TNA don’t have it up on their online preview so it’s unsure whether or not this will take place. It doesn’t matter as TNA will likely screw him up before he really gets started. This is a really risky move too as Magnus has only had 1 TV taping and a handful of live matches under his belt. They seem to have painted themselves a corner with this one; if the opponent is a jobber then it will be a waste of time or if the opponent is good and Magnus loses, it will hurt his credibility severely. I’d guess the opponent is A.J. Styles who has been on every PPV since November 2004 and he would get a workable match out of him but Styles would pick up the win. Or it could be Rhino and they might give Magnus the rub. They could also use the Suicide character, but the less said about that the better. Hard to call this one, that is if it even takes place.
Prediction: A.J. Styles defeats Brutus Magnus

Last Man Standing or Counted-Out?
The card for this show looks really weak on paper and not many matches stick out as being terribly exciting. So it’ll probably be a poor enough show. The main event is quite frankly a joke and the matches involving Steiner & Booker T will be a complete waste of time. There are also some big names absent from the card; A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe (though I’d expect him to show up) and even Rhino (who has been on his biggest push in years). Christopher Daniels is still in limbo somewhere. It looks as if TNA are writing this one-off which is simply a disgrace. If they don’t even care about it, why should the casual fan make any effort to?

WWE Royal Rumble 2009 - Results & Review

Catch up with the preview if needs be and then get back here because “the road to Wrestlemania begins here”. Ugh, I feel like Vince McMahon now. I need a wash.

Entrance Video
They showed a really nice highlights video recapping the past Rumble winners and how big an achievement it is to actually win it. They then replayed Randy Orton kicking Vince hard in the head.

Raw commentators Michael Cole & Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler greeted us and they used their ‘quiet voices’ as there is was serious matter to be dealt with. They told us that nothing has been disclosed about McMahon’s condition...except he has at least a concussion. Yes, quite. Fireworks then go boom!

The Matches

‘The All-American American’ Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy to retain the ECW Championship
Really solid match to open things with and it was given time which was a bonus. Swagger played a good heel by at one stage waiting outside in order to waste time and catch his breath back. There was some good psychology as Swagger worked over the arm of Hardy nicely and the commentators played that up to good effect. Hardy hit a terrible looking moonsault for a near fall but Swagger won with a Gutwrench Powerbomb. Very fine showing from Swagger in his PPV debut. Afterwards Matt Hardy looked really despondent as he sat on the ring steps for a wee rest. Wonder what he was pondering?

Melina Perez defeated Beth Phoenix to win the WWE Women’s Championship
Well, this surprised me. It was a clean victory too after a roll-up and there was absolutely none of the outside interference that was expected beforehand. The match was sound, I actually wouldn’t have minded them give it a bit more time as these two work well together. Phoenix looked really strong, so while the loss was big; it didn’t hurt her credibility as much as it should have done. Really crazy part where Phoenix bent Melina’s leg back up so it was touched her head and then used Melina’s own leg as a weapon against her opponent. It was something you would expect to see in SHIMMER, which instantly made it awesome. The problem with the title change though is that Melina is short on credible challengers, but there is value in this feud yet.

John Cena defeated JBL to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
The match was what you expected; slow, boring and dull. All the focus was on what Shawn Michaels would do from ringside. What he did do, after a referee got taken out, was plant a Superkick on both JBL & Cena before throwing JBL on top to get the pin. But a second referee came running down and Cena kicked out at two (like they always do with the new ref) before he quickly won with his finisher. Michael’s actions made me a bit more interested in this story, which is more than I was expecting.

Edge defeated Jeff Hardy to win the WWE Championship in a No-Disqualification Match
Hardy came out in some silly facepaint that made him look like an alien. Before the match Vickie Guerrero came out and announced it was now a no-DQ match. Chavo Guerrero accompanied Edge to the ring for some bizarre reason. Oh wait, he is just carnage fodder as Hardy jumped off a ladder sending both of them through the announce table. It was more dangerous than it looked as the ladder buckled at the very last second. Hardy hit his finisher but Vickie came in and broke it up. Matt Hardy then came down and grabbed a chair before striking his brother in the head with it! Ahh, so that’s what he was thinking earlier. Matt sold his betrayal brilliantly with no emotion while the crowd didn’t know how to react. Edge then covered for the easy win.

The problem I feel with the heel turn is that Matt was insanely over with the crowd and ECW is really short of babyfaces now as he was transferred to Smackdown to be on the same show as Jeff. Also while they are on the same show, Matt will NEVER be the better of the two as Jeff does more high-risk moves which the fans eat up. Even so, really solid match, Matt’s heel turn was a surprise (typical ‘bait and switch’ by WWE though as everyone was expecting Christian to appear) and Edge has the title again, so I’m happy.

Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble match
They set the time limit so that a new guy entered every 90 seconds. Triple H was due to be #1 but for some strange reason Rey Mysterio and John Morrison started things. MVP came in at #4 and was pretty good. He is in the midst of a babyface turn which is something different; I’m not entirely sold yet but he played his role well in this one. Vladimir Koslov entered at #6 and was on fire, eliminating a few guys. He quite frankly looked awesome. But then Triple H came in and dumped him out. Damn. Randy Orton then entered after followed by Ted DiBiase, who immediately teamed up as part of their ‘Legacy’ faction. Chris Jericho came out at #11; lots of big guns in early. Orton went crazy dropping everyone with his finisher. Triple H threw out the tag team champions, The Miz & Morrison, further showing that WWE don’t care about their tag team division. Mysterio also went out but used people as stepping stones to stay alive which was pretty nifty. Cody Rhodes then entered to complete Legacy.

Bong! The lights go out and the crowd went mad and The Undertaker made his way down to the ring. The ring was pretty packed as there were barely any eliminations. At #25 there was surprise entrant...Rob Van Dam! The arena went absolutely nuts, and rightly so. RVD put in a really good showing of himself overall getting all his trademark moves in. The final entrant was The Big Show. But there was 15 people left in the ring which is way too many at this stage. Eventually it got down to The Legacy, Big Show, Triple H & The Undertaker. Show & ‘Taker fought on the apron before Show got knocked off by Orton and then he pulled ‘Taker down to the floor. They then fought and I really hope they don’t do these two guys in a feud again. So the final four were Legacy and Triple H. If you can’t see how this one ended then you need your brain checked. Triple H dumped DiBiase & Rhodes before being tipped over by Orton who celebrated as fireworks went off and Legacy posed in the ring.

The fun and randomness of the Royal Rumble was there and I really liked how Orton held up Rhodes’ & DiBiase’s arms with him at the end. But there should have been more people thrown out earlier, it just got too clustered in the latter stages.

King Of The Ring or Jobber?
This was a very solid PPV, none of the matches were below their expectations and Edge/Jeff Hardy probably took it up another notch than from what was predicted. I’ve no problems with any of the winners to be honest so the booking was spot-on. It was an entertaining watch on the whole with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. A fine start to the year then for the WWE.

NFL Roundup - Week 1

No, not that NFL. This is the Gaelic football National Football League that fills the gap between pre-season and the beginning of the All-Ireland Championship at the start of the summer. The league has taken on greater significance in the last few years as many teams use it to sort out what will be more or less their final squads and to analyse the fitness of their top stars as well to see how youngsters have fitted into the team. Also the teams in Division 4 are forbidden from taking part in the latter stages of the Championship, unless they pull off some spectacular results when those games come around. So there is an emphasis to do well for all the teams involved.

Division 1

• The first game was on Saturday night down in Croke Park where Dublin hosted reigning All-Ireland Champions, Tyrone. This also coincided with the 125th Anniversary of the GAA and there were video packages and fireworks after the game. I caught the second half of the match and it was a really good game. The tempo was of a very high pace as both sides wanted to get off to a good start and perhaps get a mental edge as there is a good chance that these two sides could meet again later on in the year as the Championship draws to a close. Dublin scored a good goal but Owen Mulligan scored an even better one. They were trading scores at one stage before Dublin had a 1-point lead in injury time, however Tyrone knocked over 3 in a row to win. The Tyrone forwards were absolutely sensational which was simply a joy to watch. The whole package of the match and celebrations afterwards were just superb and a fantastic way to kick things off.

• Galway won as expected away at Westmeath.

• As did Kerry, but what a disappointing and long journey home for Donegal as they would have had to travel practically from the bottom to the top of Ireland.

• Derry produced a shock in winning at Mayo. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep this up, but if they do then Ulster will be all the more competitive later in the year.
  

Division 2

• Cork’s win over Meath was perhaps a bigger win than some may have expected. But Meath are going through a transitional stage and on the basis of this result, they have not settled on a strong enough team yet.

• Monaghan are a team that seem to be improving each year and their win at Fermanagh would be testament to that. It sounded like a great game too.

• Armagh racking up a huge score will probably silence the doubters, at least for a bit, who seem to write that side off as being too old. Wexford only scored 1 point in the second half is simply disgraceful, and they were the home team too. I wouldn’t have liked to have been in the dressing room after that one.

• Laois are a team that seem to have regressed in recent years and their loss at home to Kildare would surely have hurt.
  

Division 3

• Roscommon winning handily enough against Offaly was expected.
  

• Cavan’s loss at Longford was possibly a bit of a surprise. Cavan are a steely enough team who on their day can pose a stern challenge to anyone, but obviously this wasn’t their day.

• Down's victory at Tipperary was a good one and they will probably be up near the top of this division; they are too good for it.

• Limerick had a disaster at Louth, but they are more of a hurling county. And Louth on their day can give a real good account of themselves.
  

Division 4

• The only draw of the day was between Antrim and Wicklow. Antrim though, cannot have been happy with conceding 3 goals at home.

• Clare’s win at Carlow could be considered a shock
  

• London threw away a handy lead to Leitrim which would have given them a rare win
  

• Sligo hammered Kilkenny by 25 points, but expect to see the ‘Cats’ on the end of many heavy defeats as they focus all their attention on hurling and are the best in the country at that sport.
  

• Waterford had the weekend off
  

I’ll leave you with this fact. There were more people inside Croke Park than there were inside the Superbowl. And they probably got a far better match too.

Heroes returns

The mid-season première of Heroes kicks off tonight in America, with the BBC hopefully starting it up again in a couple of weeks. This is them getting fully into Volume 4, 'Fugitives', which as the name suggests sees them all on the run as they are hunted down by the government.

On paper, it does not sound terribly exciting with the cast having to go about their normal lives without drawing attention to themselves. Obviously it is not going to stay quiet for long. Although it would be extremely unlikely, more so than usual, if they were able to somehow ultimately take down the government. More than likely this block of episodes will see the heroes trying to lay low, but some sort of event/emergency will occur and they will be forced to save the day to avoid ending up on a massive guilt trip. The government could possibly try this technique to flush them out. Some big fights will ensue and they will probably broker some sort of deal so they all don't end up in prison. Or none of the above could occur, that's just what I think this volume will be like in my head.

But they really have to hit the ground running. The show took a lot of criticism, deservedly so, for the complete mess of Season 2 and while the first few and the last few episodes in the first batch of Season 3 before its break were good, it just dragged in the middle.

The show needs to cut down on the time travel big time. There is too much jumping about, it just mainly feels like a deus ex machina. Some killing would be nice too. As in making deaths actually stick. It's a running joke that pretty much all the cast has been killed and brought back to life. Which is terribly annoying and it also cheapens the effect of death as a plot device when you are expecting them to show up alive and well in a few episodes time. Personally I'd start the culling with Mohinder, Claire, Tracy & maybe Peter for starters, but that's just me.

I really hope they do more character driven episodes as well. They really haven't touched upon that since 'The Company Man' episode way back in Season 1, which is arguably their best ever episode. Simplifying or reducing the number of storylines would be nice as all too often it seemed like they were trying to fit too much into a single episode and lots of stuff got lost or missed out on the chance to be developed further.

Personally I feel that Heroes needs to hit this 'volume' out of the park to avoid cancellation. Ratings were declining in America and general interest in the show is probably at an all-time low. There is also the fact that it is one of the most costly shows to produce and in these dark economic times, the network may just decide enough is enough in an attempt to save a fair amount of cash. This could possibly be the last roll of the dice for Heroes and they need to come out all guns blazing. It really does feel like it's sink or swim time for this show.

Another Epic Contest

Why can’t all Sunday television be as exciting as this? I’d gladly sit through a Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal 5-set classic for 52 consecutive weeks. Their contest on Sunday morning was not as good as their previous meeting, almost amazingly, back at Wimbledon but it was definitely up there as one of the greatest finals, of the modern era at least. There just seems to be something when these two square off against each other that they really bring their top game. Perhaps it’s not wanting to show weakness to your arch rival or just that there is so much at stake with a Grand Slam on the line.

In all honesty, the Australian Open needed a match of this calibre to close out the tournament after an extremely poor and one-sided women’s contest. Where is the value in a final when the first set only lasts 22 minutes? But full credit to Nadal for ultimately triumphing. He had a day’s less rest than Federer, not to mention his semi-final lasted around 5-and-a-quarter hours which was the longest in the history of the Australian Open.

For Federer though, it will be an extremely hard defeat to take and it was evident in his speech after the match when he had to take a moment to collect himself. He was favourite beforehand and he almost certainly had more energy going in due to the extra rest day, but he lost. In fact, Rafael Nadal is the only person to have beaten Federer in Grand Slam finals and that will no doubt start to niggle at him if they were to meet again. Federer will need to regroup, but unfortunately for him the next major is the French clay courts at Roland Garros, which is Nadal’s speciality. And currently, for Federer to win that one would be considered a fairly big shock.

TNA Genesis 2009 - Results & Review

Got a bit of free time so I can catch up on some fun things, although whether TNA falls under that bracket is highly debatable. Anyway let’s not waste any more time, catch up here if you need to.

Entrance Video
They opened with a video package highlighting the Frontline/Main Event Mafia feud. It played up the Frontline as underdogs while putting across how dominant the Mafia are. These videos are generally pretty well done, but usually fill you with false hope.

The Matches

LAX & Eric Young defeated Jimmy Rave, Sonjay Dutt & Kiyoshi in a 6-Man Tag Team Elimination Match (Order of elimination: Young by Dutt, Homicide by Rave, Kiyoshi by Hernandez, Dutt by Hernandez, Rave by Hernandez)
This is the match that was announced late, but then got changed from what was originally billed. If it wasn’t obvious beforehand who would win, the heels got a group entrance and the faces got their own ones. Sonjay Dutt has really been wasted by TNA. He won a rather lengthy feud with Jay Lethal and bagged the girl, yet Lethal goes on to capture a tag title. Sheer madness. But we’ve come to expect this sort of stuff from booking.

Cool spot where each man took it in turns to jump over the top rope to the floor onto each other. Hernandez was left with 3 vs. 1 but beat everyone up. He is a guy that could be a top main eventer in a few years if given a bit of work and time. The match was given time and was a surprisingly passable opener.

Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin to win the vacant X-Division title
Great match. They were countering each other and throwing out all sorts of crazy moves. Shelley hit a somersault leg drop off the top rope and later Sabin hit a springboard DDT. They kicked out of each other’s finishers. Shelley pretended to injure himself and then rolled up Sabin to pick up the win. Bit of a dodgy finish, sure, but it kept both men looking strong.

This match was probably the best X-Division showing in years, not since A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels were mixing it up has there been a showing of this quality. It gave some focus back to the division and gave TNA a great opportunity to make something of that area of the roster once again. But I doubt they will make use of that chance. Anyway, just check out the video.

Shane Sewell defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir
Sewell wasn’t awful in the ring which was a nice bonus; his moves were basic enough but he didn’t screw them up. He used a figure-4 leg-lock which drew lots of “Wooooos” from the crowd given the show was in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ric Flair’s hometown. Bashir got into a shoving match with referee Earl Hebner and went to punch him but got a slap in the face instead. Sewell then won with a Sunset Flip in an altogether hugely forgettable match. Bashir needs to get away from fighting referees; it’s stupid and makes him look really weak when he is on the losing end.

Beer Money, Inc defeated Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed (c) and Matt Morgan & Abyss to win the TNA Tag Titles
Alright match with the highlight probably being Morgan jumping off outside on everyone. Jacqueline kept getting involved on behalf of Beer Money and ended up in a spitroast position (I’d urge some caution if you were to Google it) before eventually getting thrown out. Finish came with Storm throwing the tag belt into Roode to use but Abyss caught it and accidentally decked his partner Morgan, which lead to a stare-down between the two after. Beer Money eventually covered to win back the gold, but it’ll be interesting to see how long they are kept together as both guys have the chops to be main event stars.

The booking was terrible; how you can expect the crowd NOT to cheer for the heels after they overcome four babyfaces and also Lethal & Creed’s pathetic 3-day reign doesn’t exactly give them a vote of confidence. I’m actually amazed though that it took TNA a lengthy 4 matches to overbook a finish; I think that’s a new record for them.

ODB, Roxxi & Taylor Wilde defeated The Kongtourage (Raisha Saaed, Rhaka Khan & Sonjournor Bolt) in a 6-Woman Tag Team Match
The planned title match between Awesome Kong & Christy Hemme was called off as both had injuries. The stipulation was that whoever scored the pin would be the #1 contender for the title, which immediately gave away that the babyfaces were going to win. This was way over-booked and a straight singles match, say between Saaed & Roxxi would have been far, far better. Saaed had some groovy new ring attire, a black and red full-body suit. Not as nice as her cheerleader outfit but cool nonetheless.

Pity the match wasn’t as slick as it turned out to be sloppy and terrible. Bolt has not impressed me one bit and Khan still looks out of her depth. Saaed done the job yet again (sigh) as ODB rolled her up with an inside cradle. Awesome Kong came out and destroyer the babyfaces after. Pity this didn’t happen as the start of the match and we would have been saved from this rubbish.

Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett in a No-DQ match
Great match with both guys coming out all guns blazing. Jarrett threw beer on Angle, who later retaliated by busting Double J open with the ring bell. Ding! Ding! Don West on commentary sounded like he was going to explode. They brawled up to the stage and then off it as Jarrett received an Angle Slam from the stage down through a table. They then traded finishers and chair shots before Angle won with a roll-up.

Afterwards he proceeded to damage Jarrett’s ankle with repeated stomps and chairs shots and I was shouting out for Christopher Daniels to come out and beat the crap out of him, but it didn’t happen. Regardless, TNA need to be hitting these heights every month if they are to be taken seriously.

Sting defeated Rhino to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Title
We go from that, to this?!?! Now, they had a story running through the show, which was quite annoying as it often took focus off matches that were taking place, whereby Rhino had got beat up by the Main Event Mafia and had only just shown up very late in the show. Now this was because Sting had only said a few days before the show that he was carrying an injury, so it was wrote that he had to have an easier match. Now this was only revealed days after the event so on paper it did not make Sting look a credible champion at all, as he had to defend against a weakened opponent.

Also the crowd ended up cheering for the bad guy Sting (who inexcusably broke his character), and booed Rhino. Honestly they should just go ahead and turn Sting face, it makes sense. Sting won with the Scorpion Death Drop in a thankfully short match. The one was a failure from start to finish.

TNA Frontline (A.J.Styles, Mick Foley & Brother Devon) defeated the Main Event Mafia (Booker T, Scott Steiner & Cute Kip (sub for Kevin Nash)) in a Hardcore match
The other story they had running through the show was that Kevin Nash had been hospitalised with a staph infection. This though, was legitimate but left the writers in a bit of a pickle. They could have gone with the story that the Mafia took Devon out of the match in a response to what they believed was a hit on Nash. But no, they went with getting a replacement in Cute Kip. Cute. Kip. A guy whose most famous gimmick in years was turning gay and wearing pink chaps. Cute Kip. What a mind-numbingly awful decision that was, and it was obvious as the crowd totally crapped on it. Such an unbelievable choice for TNA to make.

Halfway through the match, everyone was fighting on the outside and the referee counted everyone out, therefore making it a no contest. The stupidity just keeps on coming. But General Manager Jim Cornette came out and restarted the match; however Booker T reminded him he didn’t have that power, which made Cornette look like a complete chump. Mick Foley stated that as the majority shareholder he DOES have the power, so he restarted it under hardcore rules. All of this nonsense was totally unnecessary. The only real thing of note was Styles hitting a springboard splash from the ring to the outside sending Kip through a table. Foley then later got the win after a DDT on a chair to Scott Steiner. This was a complete mess.


King Of The Ring or Jobber?
A jobber is someone who goes out and loses on a regular basis, just to explain that term. This show was mainly rubbish and so fell into the latter category which is amazing considering they had two matches over four stars in quality. But take those out and it was truly awful with one of the worst heavyweight title match and main event in ages. Fair enough, TNA had some problems with injuries (Nash, Sting, Kong & Hemme) that screwed up things, but it was no excuse for the amount of rubbish that was served, along with the customary over-booking & nonsensical creative decisions. If this an indication for the rest of the year, TNA are going nowhere in 2009.