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Hail

For the past months, I've been overly critical of the Twilight Saga and the franchise surrounding it. Against better judgement, I decided to follow the opinion of others like a mindless sheep.

However, I dislike not having an opinion of my own. Especially when it pertains to a trend. Out of sheer principle, I will always dislike trends with increased popularity.

The Twilight Saga turned out to be different on certain aspects. I took it upon myself (self-sacrifice?) to actually try and dabble into the series to get a non-conflicted point of view. It's easy to argue that it sucks, when you haven't even bothered. Ahem.

I read the first few pages of the first book a while back. I didn't read on, because I was severely disappointed with the way it was written. Stephenie Meyer may be a bestselling writer, fact remains that she can't write for shit. Along with the fact that the story is thinner than air, it doesn't make that a good story whatsoever.

Compare it to Jo Rowling's famous book series. She too has written a Septology of a story based on the age-old cliché of Good vs Evil. The difference here in lies that Rowling has gone out of her way to create a story around it, introduce interesting characters and unpredictable plot twists.

You may not be a fan of the Harry Potter series, but this is fact. Trufax, yo.

Now, Twilight, with a story that revolves completely around a love triangle. There's nothing in this series that just screams "interesting". Let's be honest, we've seen it all before.

Now, the movies is a different ordeal. Of course suffering from the same lack of interestingly fleshed out stories, it's still not too bad.

One can argue that based on her performances, Kristen Stewart's prior acting experiences involved a mirror and silly outfits. I think that's wrong. She didn't do too bad. Kudos to her for actually trying to translate a subpar story onto the screen convincingly.

Tech-wise, movies aren't bad. Principal photography is nicely executed, locations are great, acting in general is decent. Can't complain about that, story aside.

I'm not gonna say that watching one movie intrigues me enough to watch another one, but all in all, it was bearable. After all, who could complain about close up shots of Kristen Stewart every so often? Not me, anyways.

All in all, it could've been worse. Worse in like: the soundtrack for the next movie will be entirely composed by Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. Of course, there's still ethics to think of.

On to something else.

I've been watching very little wrasslin' as of late, simply because it bores me to the point of tears (I've been watching a twilight film instead of wrestling, go figure).

That's nothing new per se, after all.

John Cena re-using his joke about SOS looking like a jar of mayonaise is getting plain annoying now. Screw these limitations. It's getting ridiculous.

I was intrigued about these NXT rookies attacking everyone at random to make a statement (and to get deals) . It could've been very interesting if WWE HAD NOT BROKEN KAYFABE TWO FUCKING DAYS LATER TO SACK BRYAN DANIELSON BECAUSE HE VIOLATED THOSE FUCKING PG RULES!

This, I just don't understand. Firing probably the most well-rounded talent you have on your roster because he spat in Cena's face. Fucking hell, it was a planned spot, Cena signed a petition to bring him back! Just another situation that shows that Vince cares fuck all about the fans. If he did, we'd be seeing exciting matches with everyone that's on the roster getting opportunities, we would see John Cena get slaughtered by someone with more skill instead of the other way around.

But let Vince console himself swimming in all that money, while more and more fans give him the finger and just give up. And no, TNA is not a safe haven to go to. TNA is quite frankly in more shit.

Ah well, you dig a hole ... history taught us not to have Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan in one company. If TNA won't listen, their loss.

If I could give just one good piece of advice: buy CHIKARA DVD's @ www.chikarapro.com or www.smartmarkvideo.com

(There, Mr. Quack, I've now given you a wee bit of publicity.)

There, done.

~Delirious

currently listening: Amorphis - Skyforger

hmmm

hai

I admit, I've been glancing over wrestling matches again as of late. There's nothing wrong with that, in essence, despite claiming first that I've given up.

Seems like Vince earned positivo points in the last 2 months. Since my last spew, we've been blessed with a program called WWE NXT.

I'll say it, NXT is the best programming WWE has put on in roughly 8 years. Why? Because it's like Tough Enough but not entirely. When the quirks have worked out, this is probably the best thing going for the WWE.

Bryan Danielson is being booked nicely, despite losing 8 weeks in a row. Michael Cole is finally showing some personality ... the focus lies wrongly with people like David Otunga, but it's been more than we could hope for anyway.

Michael Cole is ridiculous, the first sign of an on air personality and it stems from a legit issue he has with "internet sensations". I'm thinking Michael Cole has an issue with constantly being annihilated by net critics for his poor performance. Don't act like it's the internet's fault, Mr. Cole. It's you. You indeed suck.

But anyway. I'm seriously enjoying NXT. Literally every episode so far. That's pretty unusual. It seems like those young guys are genuinely trying to be bigger than life and as such attempt to put on good matches. Especially now, when the routine of WWE's schedule has set in somewhat, we see more than decent matches being put on every week. That being said, I should make a mental note to myself to send Dave Batista a notebook, a pencil and a reminder to watch NXT every week.

The competitions being put on (keg race for example) are rather lame, but I can live with it. In the whole jist of things, it only encompasses a small amount. The same goes for the pro's.

I admit I was a little worried when I read the concept. I feared too much focus would go to the strife of the pro's trying to mentor a young coach, but so far, they've been acting like props, aside from the usual few such as Chris Jericho. I was a little worried as well about the Miz being put forward as Bryan Danielson's pro (I will not switch around his name) but a few weeks in, it seemed like a logical decision. I can imagine the creative team brainstorming. Choosing the Miz as a mentor for Bryan Danielson was brilliant decision simply because half the IWC hates the guy for getting a lucky break. They're throwing the ball in and the fans simply whack it out of the ball park. Feather up the ass of the writing team.

That's not the only good thing going on though. I'm personally a fan of Drew Galloway. Or as he's known now: Drew McIntyre. WWE's intercontinental champ has been making a fair impression on the "universe" as of late. Of course, people hate him too. I took the liberty of visiting youtube videos of him in action. As youtube is commonly known as a cesspool of marks and perceived smart marks alike, you can usually find the most insane and inaccurate comments right there.

I knew people were gonna bash the fuck out of him. He's a heel, so that's a good thing. Surprisingly though, I also saw a "constructive" comment from someone who had a genuinely acceptable remark.

"Drew's boring. He's got a small moveset. It seems like he can't wrestle."

Paraphrased for convenience. Alllllllllright, time to whip out Pro Wrestling 101.

I took the time to bother with this comment, because the explanation as to why is perfectly clear ... or at least to me.

Drew McIntyre *can* wrestle. Quite well even. People just can't seem to distinguish the various types of heels in the biz. There's three types of primary heels:

1) The dominant ass kicking machine: Takes no shit, is an asshole to anyone and anything but utterly destroys the poor face guy. (i.e. Mark Henry, Ezekiel Jackson, Vladimir Kozlov)

2) The cocky arrogant technical guy: One who raves about his technical superiority, which is usually but not always paired with a narcissistic perception. (i.e. William Regal, Montel Vontavious Porter in 2006 etc)

3) The chickenshit heel: Guys who rave about their ability but usually find a way to weasel out of precarious situations. They usually get themselves counted out during difficult matches, they use cunning ways of deceiving the ref into their advantage etc.

Drew McIntyre is a textbook example of #3. To that end, he does not need a big moveset, simply because he is forced to work matches in the manner described by #3. Weaseling and being cunningness is a far bigger part of his matches than actually doing moves. It doesn't take away that his finisher is one of the most beautiful DDT's I've seen in a long time.

for TNA, I'll be very short. They fired the Nasty Boys! YAY! They put Scott Hall and X-Pac in that place! NAY! You will never learn TNA. Enjoy your downfall.

In an entirely unrelated note: Volbeat is more than awesome, why haven't you checked them out yet? GO DO THAT NOW!

Kk, that's all from me.

bai

Delrihuzz.

I accidentally clicked the link and saw my last blog was dated back to November.

Ohai

Shit son, as the title says: I forgot all about this and really don't have anything to say.

I've left college, saw Hogan inject Hulkamania into TNA, which by all accounts is no more destructive than Vince Russo and a typewriter. In short, it means TNA is dying, they just don't know it yet.

If you've been following Total Nonstop Asshole for the last month and a half, you'll realise you've seen a LOT of people who had disappeared from TV screens a long time ago. Unsurprisingly, there was a reason for that. Hulk brought his buddies to TNA and as much as TNA employees and higher ups say it isn't so, Hulk Hogan's buddies are a bad business decision. The "Nasty Boys" in particular. All the same, I wondered how The Nasty Boys ever got their name. After giving it some thought ... I came to the conclusion that it must've been some random guy in the audience screaming something after their debut match.

"Shiiiit, son, that was NASTY, uhuh". Sounds about right.

I'm not putting all the shit in the TNA filing cabinet though. Over the past few months, I've been looking at the national wrestling business and more than once have I cared to raise my eyebrow in disbelief. Vince has now dropped a classic from the PPV lineup after a run of 23 years. He now ditched Survivor Series in favor of yet another pointless, themed PPV.

Strangely enough, Vinnie Mac claimed buy rates of the past years have declined resulting in him claiming that the show just no longer cut it. Sadly, none of the smart employees dare to stand up to Vince and say what the real reason is the buy rates have been declining steadily over the past few years. It's crystal clear for everybody, except that guy. I can imagine a guy standing up and saying the truth:

"Sir, I may have a viable theory as to why the buy rates are declining"

"Go ahead and tell me then"

"It's because of the shit you green light to put on PPV"

There's other factors of course. Off the top of my head, I'd say:

1 - repetition in matches. Having Randy Orton vs John Cena headline almost every ppv for 3 years straight does not get you fans. As much as I like Randy Orton ... you can't keep something like that fresh and enjoyable; Not in the least because the guy you're doing the program with is an uncoordinated piece of human garbage.

2 - taking away the edge. Seriously, Vince favors kids as the target demographic, under the guise of wanting to sell more merch. Bluntly stated, but not less true. Old, loyal fans are just giving up left and right. They were actually the ones that bought merch. Merch of stars they supported, merch of stars with a clear-cut personality that wasn't part of the mindless sheep we have today. Now we've got a PG rating shoved down our throats each and every week.

3 - Focus on the wrong people. Don't get me wrong, everyone deserves their attention. The problem is that talented workers are being jobbed out, to make room for pointless segments featuring Hornswoggle and Mae Young. Last monday (2/15/2010), Jerry Springer hosted RAW, which of course calls for a soap opera-esque bullshit segment. We had Kelly (the girl so nice they named her twice) announcing that she's a preggo. Out comes the wide array of possible fathers, luckily including Santino Marella. Of course, Great Khali and Hornswoggle come to collect a pay check as well. They announce some more bull, then tell Jerry Springer it's all a lie and assuring the people in a subtle way that they've just wasted 10 minutes of their lives. Out comes Mae Young, ready to perform for her ninth decade. She drapes herself around Springer, trying to dry hump his hips. This is getting seriously old, people. No pun intended.

This shows that the focus lies totally wrong. I've been looking at WWE from the sidelines (not even bothering with TNA any more) and I'm feeling the only thing worthwhile going on in the WWE is CM Punk's Straight Edge Society storyline. No, not even the Shawn Michaels vs Taker teasing is gonna draw me in. I've seen it before, and before was better.

I'm calling it as it is, I've given up on wrestling. Unless I catch wind of things getting better, I'll just randomly check out results and judge whether it's worth it. I've had my intelligence insulted long enough.

Oh, and if anyone plans to set the WWE headquarters on fire in protest, I fully give you my support. The dickwads won't even let me go onto their website anymore. Dicks now redirect me to another site. Of course, the retards redirect me to either the french or german equivalent of wwe.com. Of course, I can speak both French and German, but it's not my native tongue. Suffices to say that I was far from amused.

A hearty fuck off, WWE. More so than ever would I love for the E to go out of business and Hulk Hogan to get off the face of the earth. wrestling has cancer, and it doesn't look like it's gonna be healing any time soon. I'm sure that in a few years time, when Vince has kicked the bucket and the fruit of his loins have to save what's left of the empire he made so big on excellent decisions and brilliant marketing strategy. Yeah, good luck with that Steph.

~Deli

PS: Don't expect this blog to be updated more regularly. I could say I would, but I'd disappoint you either way.

who gives a shit about booking? and other assorted junk.

Hai thar

I've been hearing comments on how people refuse to watch TNA because their booking is confusing. Quite frankly, I agree. Nevertheless, that shouldn't be a reason not to watch TNA. Sure, booking is a cornerstone when it comes to pro wrestling, but I'd rather look past corny and uninteresting storylines and enjoy the work the guys and gals put on in the ring.

Vince Russo is known to own a melting pot full of bad ideas, and he's showcasing pretty much all of them. The comparison with the last years of WCW is never far away, with the exception of us not having to deal with Tony Schiavone and his definite lack of knowledge.

The sad thing is, all those people that have tried to cope with the storylines in TNA are all turning back to WWE, and frankly, it's not better there. Randy Orton and John Cena just had their 5 millionth match and (miracles don't happen) Cena won the strap for the millionth time. Now, Cena will be defending the defaced gold against . .. Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

There's a surprise. On SmackDown, Undertaker will battle Big Show and Chris Jericho. Who said RAW was the flagship show? Consistently, SmackDown has been receiving better grades when it comes to actual wrestling. RAW has been overlooking just that more and more. ECW has been heckled by the community for the defacation of the legendary status ECW had back in the day. And that since 2006. Undeservingly, since ECW has been putting on quality shows as of late, with a good talent pool. Christian, Burchill, Regal, Helms etc. are all there and making it shine.

The true talented ones on RAW are getting jobbed out (i.e. Matt "Evan Bourne" Sydal). RAW is shit and it has been for nearly 10 years. Still, people will rather watch an overblown soap opera than good wrestling with hints of an overblown soap opera. The only good change they have made so far is turning Batista heel. It's been a long time coming. Now give Kane a belt and fire Rey Mysterio and we're off.

Neither are likely to happen, but hey, there's always UFC for the disgruntled wrestling fans hopping on board of the bandwagon to Dana White's brainchild. Hey WWE, if even your VP of Global Media makes the jump, while he's a full blood family member, that means you gotta steer your ship away from the cliffs. Vince really is surrounded by morons and his megalomania won't help either.

All I could say is: "Get HDNet and watch ROH". Or visit www.smartmarkvideo.com and buy a few DVD's from indie promotions such as CHIKARA or PWG. You'll enjoy the programming where wrestling isn't the red-headed stepchild of sports entertainment. Or else ...

On another note, I'm pissed that there's still no PS3 DLC for GTA IV. looking at the X360 stuff makes my mouth watery. Nevertheless, I'm happy with my humongous black box that does NOT get RROD's every few months. Fuck you very much, Microsoft.

Ranetki is working on a new album. That makes me happy. Personal life ... does not. We can't have it all.

on that note, I'm out to endure more nagging and whining from the usual suspects.

bai

~Delrihuzz

tidbits

I realise my blog there yesterday was a little short of actual noteworthy content, and I'm not really planning on making up for that.

I figured I'd write something that would brighten your day. Another blog.

First some shout-outs: Hey ER.

There.

Right, people who have endured me on forums know that I'm rather addicted to music, usually of the metallic kind, which is likely to be heavy (if you lost me, it's Heavy Metal)

The music scene today is remarkable. You got a boatload of new and upcoming artists spewing the most uninspired crap. Not surprisingly, it's usually an assortment of beats, with total disregard for flow or anything. It lacks soul, passion, etc. The only thing it has more than great musicians is a marketing machine backing them up. Like Disney.

Disney has brought us much joy in our childhood. In our adolescence, they've brought us pain and misery. Personification of this all: The Jonas Brothers.

Apparently, more and more people share my view on this band. I happened to come across a "motivational" that pictured the Jonas brothers with the following subscript:

"SO FAR IN THE CLOSET, they're having adventures in Narnia". I loved it. Narnia is another one of those big money makers, but I'll let that one slide.

Seriously, these Jonas brothers are breaking hearts and record sales everywhere. Little girls drop into a coma and wake up moments later by their heartbreaking tunes that touch everyone so deeply. Since sarcasm doesn't translate well on the internet, let me say that was a textbook example.

You can write love songs every so often, or songs with absolutely no meaning. But to fill several albums with the same old formula? It's a feast of recognition, but the ladies love it, because that's what they know. For me personally, when it comes to music, I prefer browsing through specialised music magazines for reviews. I look at the genre, and then download ... ahem ... buy the album. Sometimes they suck, mostly, they don't.

Either way, I'd rather go for Hannawwwh Montanawww because Miley Cyrus will stop being jailbait in 2 years. Won't say the music is worth a dime, but at least she's nice to look at. As long as she keeps her mouth shut. I've watched her show a few times, and I swear that once I close my eyes when she's talking, images of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer cross my mind.

Milk Inc is another example. Dunno if anyone outside of Belgium has heard this mismatch made in hell. Let me give you the jist of it. They've been making the same songs for ten years, rehashing lyrics in a different order, rearranging a few notes here and there. They've been killing concert halls entirely and last Werchter was programmed as headliner against the legendary Metallica. I saw this as an act of disrespect towards Metallica. The guy (he looks like a horse) doesn't even play live, or he's some sort of magician. If he did play live, he'd be the only guy able to play "music", hold his hands in the air, asking the crowd over and over again to do the same.

Kate Ryan is a little more popular outside the Flemish region. But she's probably even worse. Okay, I take that back, they're equally worse. It's a well known fact that this woman can only get hits, once she's raped a cover of a prolific artist (Mylene Farmer, Desireless; do you know 'em? no, that's because they are good artists). It doesn't stop there. Besides being ugly, she fails at being stylish, and is arrogant at the same time. Winners combo.

I may sound like a disgruntled musician who has never been able to make it in the business. Let me burst that bubble. I'm not a musician, I never wanted to make it in the music business. I'll hand you "disgruntled". Enduring a top countdown is like having to read twilight while listening to Lady Gaga's CD on shuffle and repeat.

Oh yeah, Lady Gaga. Whether she's a hermaphrodite, doesn't matter. If she can impregnate herself, good for her. That pokerface song made me cringe and even radiohosts were petitioning to get it off the #1 spot. It was a ridiculously bad song. The next song was equally bad (I'm not gonna elaborate on "disco sticks", whatever that may be.) but I like "certain snippets" of Paparazzi. It's not half bad. I won't consider myself a fan of her/him either way (I still have a little sense of pride left).

I'm thankful that there are still artists who have sold out to the masses but can maintain their integrity and make the music they like. Metallica is one of them. Rammstein is another. There's no doubt in my mind that these are my favorite bands. Metallica made a semi-thrash record and Rammstein made one song that was a subtle, but huge 'FUCK YOU' to the mainstream mass. Especially with the videoclip. It was a necessity after they fell off the underground-wagon with "Reise Reise" (which was rather good) to "Rosenrot" (which was quite horrible). Recently heard "Pussy" and "Rammlied" and faith was somewhat restored.

Maybe there is a future for inspiring, soulful music where you can notice an artist has poured blood, sweat, tears and other bodily fluids (in some cases) into a song you'll love to love. I can only hope.

~ Deli

PS: Rachael Lillis is an ILF. Because she's not a mother, that makes her lose that M. Hell, she's like 31. wowzers.

PPS: I'll use different colors for each blog. Just to annoy you.

/needlessrant

It was the biggest party of the summer

Hey

Those of you who actually bother to read this know that I'm a wrestling fan. Yesterday, World Wrestling Entertainment organised its Wrestlemania jr event Summerslam (or as Jeremy Piven says: Summerfest)

I was mighty impressed with the card at first, even complimenting WWE on their booking. Mind, the card was far from complete, and didn't feature the endless repeat of Randy Orton facing off against John Cena.

I'll try to give my honest idea based on what I've read, not having seen the event.

The pre-show dark match was a 15-woman battle royal, with Chavo Guerrero as special referee. Fun, the women showcasing the little bit of talent they're gifted with. Ultimately Beth Phoenix, who probably has the most skill out of all of them gained the victory and of course the overall quality of the match had to be thrown out of the window.

We all know Vince and his desire to throw unnecessary (and by now greatly annoying) comical relief into every possible segment.

You might've guessed it, there's Hornswoggle. The biggest piece of useless garbage to grace a WWE ring since ... Gobbledygooker? Of course, the women are trying not to cringe when the "pint-sized superstar" comes out from under the ring and executes his Frog Splash (or tadpole splash, hahahahahahaha -,-) on Chavo, effectively burying him just a little more. At least not everyone saw it. Sheesh.

The show opens with DX announcing they're back. Cool, were it not that everyone already knew about it. They'd been pushing the zillionth return of DX for weeks on RAW.

The opening match of the PPV had a surprising turn that probably no one expected. Rey Mysterio defended the Intercontinental title against Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler, despite having the most ridiculous name in sports entertainment, is a young rising star, for whom I'm legitimately glad that he's getting the chance to shine. He's doing really well and seems to fit right in at the mid card.

Everybody expected Dolph to get the rub and take the title off Mysterio. It didn't happen. Mysterio was promised a lengthy reign for some reason. I don't like Mysterio much anymore. I was a huge fan back in the WCW days, but his gimmick of underdog ruined it all. That gimmick is on the backseat, in favor of no personality whatsoever so I'm starting to like him more now.

Mysterio retains and next is MVP vs Jack Swagger.

Both have been trading insults with Swagger hinting towards, or flat-out revealing the time MVP legitimately spent in jail. MVP countered that he learned to survive etc..

This match had the potential and they delivered a match I could expect from them. Technical, compelling and most prominently, one that made the casual, unknowing fans happy. MVP claimed victory and that was that.

Lawler and Cole plug all of the (D-List and up) celebrities in attendance at the front row. I don't know 'em, and I won't bother to list them.

Next up is a match I expect to be bad, despite the fact it features one of my favorite performers of all time. Jericho and the Big Show defending their unified titles against the Robbin' Hoods, JTG and Shad Gaspard. Collectively known as "Cryme Tyme". Everybody thought Cryme Tyme was walking away with the belts ... well, they weren't. Big Show got the knockout shot and the pinfall at the team of titans retained the belts. woohoo!

Then another tag match, this time the outcome couldn't be more predictable. Shawn Michaels and Triple H, together they are Degeriatric X, facing off against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, the Legacy. Nobody was surprised that DX won. Trips can't lose a meaningless match on PPV! He has a rep! fuck that big nosed ass hole.

Kane vs Khali is next. Bullshit match, good outcome. Glad to see Kane win. rest, pfff, why bother.

Then to the match I was most looking forward to, Christian vs William Regal. Those two are my favorite and joint second favorite performer and a match between them would be amazing. I emphasize "would be" as it definitely wasn't. Team Creative probably thought that having Regal wrestle a full match on PPV would be boring so they let Christian win in approximately 5 seconds

This could have been the best match on the card wrestlingwise, but they simply weren't able to deliver ANYTHING!

bah. This booking has Vince Russo's name on it. It's best the creative team sends the package back to Orlando so Russo can book badly again.

then the WWE title match. Randy Orton vs John Cena #434

Randy goes in as champion, Cena as the challenger. Have I seen this before? Yup, we haven't seen much else in the past 3 years. Typical Cena match. Orton dominates until the finish, where Cena hulks up, comes back with three moves and then locks in Orton in a watered down version of whatever submission it's supposed to be. Referee counts, and Cena wins... WAIT! REWIND! That's not what happened. A fan grabbed hold of the referee, distracting Cena and allowing Orton to hit the RKO ftw!

Orton retains and I knew it was set up. A fan that comes in right at the finish of a match, buttfucks the ref (as seen on the picture at WWE.com) which allows Orton to win. Of course it was a plant. And it was none other than Brett DiBiase, brother of Ted and son of Ted (and they're not inbred). Hell, it could've been Doink buttnaked. I love this kind of booking! Cena lost, and Orton retains the title and is safe for another month, I hope.

Last match on the card. Hardy is on his way out, out of the company that is, so Punk will obviously win. Since Jeff is out, Punk needs a new challenger. Wait for it, wait for it, there we are. The bell goes, and the arena turns dark blue. Surprise, it's the Undertaker making his first appearance since his classic match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. SmackDown is definitely the most interesting brand in WWE right now. That concludes Summerslam. An event with a boatload of potential, that was eventually mostly killed off by horrendous booking.

I'm Deli, and I don't know what I'm saying.

peace.

An horrifically late update.

O hey there

Long time no been here. There's no reason actually, I just didn't feel like updating.

Besides that, news in the wrestling world has been rather slow. Nevertheless, there are some tidbits I'd like to give my opinion on. As the top banner states, I will no longer limit myself to "professional wrestling" .. noooo, don't shoot me Vince, alright alright: "Sports Entertainment/Action Entertainment". Ahem, I'll also add my view on several items that are currently in media.

Nonetheless, first things first -> wrestling.

It seems to me that there's been something of a power shift within the locker room of the WWE. The recent release of Ken Kennedy for example. As we all know, Ken returned from an injury that kept him sidelined for a good year. His first match back and he supposedly botches a back suplex on Randy Orton. Orton complains to Vince and Vince fires Ken without question. Anyone who has seen the particular spot will agree with me that Randy had it coming.

I truly thought that a wrestler who grew up in the business knows how to react when an opponent attempts to connect a back suplex on you. I was obviously wrong. Randy Orton, whose father, uncle and grandfather worked in this business manages to topple backwards, right at the peak of the back suplex. The result is that Randy Orton falls head first onto the mat. Uh-oh, botch. Immediately after, Randy throws a fit (so he's not hurt, big deal then, Randy?) and finishes the match.

Two days later, the dreaded "future endeavors" message appears with a picture of the Green Bay Loudmouth accompanying it. The moment I saw it, I knew Randy had been throwing a temper tantrum.

I cannot believe (and this speaking as a fan of Randy) Vince would put trust in a guy who has been suspended, not only for drug use but for unprofessional conduct (TWICE!) and actually take advice from him when it comes to the job of another man. That's the second time Randy complained which resulted in an almost immediate release. Afa "Manu" Anoai, jr. being the first.

Whatever, onto the next. There's some title issues over there in the E. What is creative thinking?

It's a pay per view, Batista goes into the world title match injured as a challenger. Batista wins ... and forfeits the title the next day on RAW. Randy Orton, who entered the PPV as the champion gets the title. I seriously don't get the point in putting the title on Batista, only to have no fucking change at all. The same thing is happening on SmackDown. There's been a feud brewing between Jeff Hardy, whose small bit of talent was left in the flaming remains of his previous house, and CM Punk.

They started their feud when CM Punk cashed in his money in the bank opportunity, a chance he won at WM XXV. Jeff Hardy had just become the new world champion and Punk took the title off him immediately. Best thing that could happen. A few weeks later, Jeff Hardy beats Punk for the title and a new match is set for Summerslam.

Sounds perfectly normal, but it isn't. Jeff Hardy has notified management that he's leaving shortly. He refuses to sign a new deal, and wants to take a sabbatical. Yet he's been racking up title wins after title wins. It's saying much when Hardy himself was surprised that the upper echelon of stupidity wanted to put the belt on him. Top notch decisions. For fucks sake.

The only title picture that is somewhat normal is the ECW title picture. Being somewhat inferior to the other two, the belt has exchanged at an equal rate, but with a good reason and a nice feud surrounding it. Tommy Dreamer, famous for having a 30 minute world title reign won the title from Christian at Extreme Rules (formerly One Night Stand) and thus realised a life long dream (even though Tommy has been quoted as saying he wanted to have a career without titles. Continuity ftw). Night of Champions and Christian regains the belt.

There's a story behind the feud, and I'm liking it. Not only because Christian is in it (and he's recognised world wide as a 4-time world champion now!) but both Dreamer and Christian have managed to create magic by all their promo's and their matches.

All I have left to say is that John Morrison, Matt Sydal, Jake Hager and Nick Nemeth (I can't bear to write their WWE names ... Bourne, Swaggah and Ziggler resp.) are without a doubt a huge part of the future of the wrestling business. We can onmy hope that Vince won't screw this up by feeding them all to "the big tank filled with absolutely no talent" that is known as John Cena.

In the music world, there's been a heated battle between former bandmates. Bandmates who together formed Fear Factory, but obviously no longer are.

Christian Olde Wolbers (Belgium represent!) and Ray Herrera, guitarist/bassist and drummer respectively had formed a new band called "Arkaea" when Fear Factory was on sabbatical. They had done a sabbatical earlier on (2002 to be precise) where a change in the line up was into effect. Then guitarist Dino Cazares was thrown out and replaced by then-bassist Christian Olde Wolbers (COW). The bass position was taken by Strapping Young Lad-bassist Byron Stroud.

We're 2009 now. Fear Factory has been on sabbatical since '07. Now recently, vocalist Burton C. Bell and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares sat down with Blabbermouth to announce the reformation of Fear Factory. Woohoo! I can only applaud that. Wait a minute? Burton and DINO make the announcement. My biggest fear became reality. COW and Ray Herrera were no longer part of the band. Many figured it was because of Arkaea but an interview with Burton Bell later on shed a different light.

Apparently, Christy Priske, who has been FF's manager for some time was the subject of this conflict. Rumor has it, she is married to COW (according to Bell) but she's riding the Mexican cactus of Ray Herrera on the side. Bell refused to work with her any further, which is the reason why Ray and COW are no longer part of FF sadly enough. Dino takes Christian's place, Burton and Byron stay and the drums will be done by drumming legend Eugene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, Death, Testament). Fuck it, I want to hear this record.

Can't fucking wait. That's all. Ciao, and (hopefully sooner) 'till next time!