Chris Paul

Hello People!

 

Well it’s been a while since I posted a proper blog. I said before I’d be writing twice a week, but that obviously hasn’t happened. 
 

As for my new website, it’s coming along nicely. Had a phone call with one of the designers last night and everything is going as planned. It’s getting me excited. Danny, Ryan, and I have already done some podcasts to get some sort of format down. The video end of things hit a snag, but it’s all good. We’ve got a pretty amazing idea that once it happens; I think people will like it. Why does all this shit have to be so expensive though?

 

Did anyone see the new trailer for The Dark Knight? That film will be incredible. All the people who doubt Heath Ledger’s ability to be the Joker, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. He’s being held to a high standard though. Jack Nicholson was the defining Joker in film history.

 

Enough crap, let’s talk wrestling and MMA.

 

For those that don’t care about UFC or MMA, you can skip this section, but you’re missing out.

 

TUF Finale & WEC 12/12

 

The Ultimate Fighter Finale was a phenomenal show from top to bottom. After a lot of speculation on the abilities of this season’s cast, they all brought their “A” game to the finale. The war between War Machine and J-Roc was one of the bloodiest, hard hitting fights I’ve seen in a long time. It reminded me of Huerta vs. Garcia, but with tons more blood. Just two guys pounding each other for three rounds until one can’t go anymore. I hope both of these guys get future opportunities in either UFC or WEC.

 

Anyone still doubting Roger Huerta? I’m not Mexican and I love the guy. He’s an exciting fighter, and I’d say he’s maybe one fight from a title shot. I’d really like to see him step into the octagon and face Kenny “KenFlo” Florian. Note from Danny Goodtimes: KenFlo is the worst nickname in MMA. I agree! Seriously though, after the whole Stevenson, Penn, Sherk dance is over, Florian and Huerta have to be considered next in line for a shot at the gold. Right now, I’d say the lightweight division is the most exciting division in UFC, hands down. Your thoughts?

 

The recent WEC show on VS was another hard hitting, exciting card put on by the little brother of the UFC. Three title fights on one card? How can you beat that? To start, Doug Marshall dominated Ariel Gandulla quickly. It was barely a match. I’d like to see Marshall in there with a more experienced fighter, but I know the light heavyweight division in the WEC is thin right now.

 

The most exciting fights of the night go to Faber vs. Curran and Pulver vs. Swanson. I had my fingers crossed these battles would lead to Faber vs. Pulver, and I think I’ll get my wish in April. Seriously, if you haven’t seen Urijah Faber fight, you’re missing out. The guy is non-stop action, his submission defense is mythological, and his striking is quicker than a fart on a first date. What?

 

All in all, the WEC is morphing into a much needed #2 promotion, even though technically it’s part of the #1 promotion. I apologize to any big IFL fans out there, but after watching this season, the IFL fighters are pretty much just paid amateurs. There are 4, maybe 5 guys in the promotion that are at UFC level. It’s fun to watch, but I mean the heavyweight division alone is kind of laughable. Where’s the endurance, or the cardio? These guys are gassing out in Round 2? Seriously? I hope the IFL pulls their shit together and comes back next year with some more quality teams and fighters. Otherwise, they shouldn’t be surprised if the shantytown network, the MyNetwork, pulls the plug.

 

UFC 79 is coming up on December 29^th and instead of doing quick thoughts I’ll just give my predictions for the televised part of the card.

 

Hughes vs. St.-Pierre – Is this a five rounder? I think it is, but I’m going with Hughes by submission in Round 3.

 

Liddell vs. Silva – The proverbial double edged sword match is upon us. One guy returns to glory, the other is royally diminished. I see Silva taking this one by second round TKO.

 

Machida vs. Sokoudjou – So many consonants. Not enough vowels. Sokoudjou by first round KO.

 

Palelei vs. Sanchez - I don’t know much about either of these fighters. Oh wait, Sanchez was the only guy to lose to Cro Cop in the UFC. That’s got to hurt. I’ll go with Palelei by decision in 3.

 

Clementi vs. Guillard – Wow, really? Clementi by decision in 3.

 

Let’s talk wrestling.

 

Coming off a huge 15^th Anniversary show and a solid Armageddon, RAW almost pulled out a belly flop last night. The first half hour was an abortion. No offense to abortions. I know USA exec Bonnie Hammer likes the Mr. McMahon character, but Bonnie is not a male in the 18-35 demographic. I am! So Bonnie and Vince, let’s chill with the whole Mr. McMahon has lost his marbles character. For half of the segment, I though Vince shit his pants with that face he was making.

Onto the positive things on RAW, who did Jeff Hardy buy flowers for to get this push? I’m a huge Hardy fan, but this sudden push is surprising to me. I guess I’m just waiting for it to fall apart for no reason, but I hope it doesn’t. Jeff, I know you don’t read this, but seriously, don’t fuck this up. This is it. You’re the less country-ish out of you and Matt. Don’t screw this up. You might get to headline Wrestlemania. Lord knows I don’t want Randy Bore-ton to headline that show. I’ll cry. I don’t like crying.

 

The rest of RAW was somewhat forgettable except for the top notch Ric Flair angle, and the tagging of Carlito and Santino. Santino is gold. Ric Flair is Ric Flair. Nuff said.

 

Over on Smackdown, Edge continues to be the best heel in the business. Two fake Edges? What a concept? An actual reason for the Major Brothers to exist? Brilliant! I hope Edge starts a new stable on Smackdown. Kenny Dykstra has nothing to do. He’s blonde. Have him grow his hair out and we’ll have three fake Edges. Have Maryse manage the Major Brothers. Blondes all around!

 

In other news, somebody hit Great Khali in the knee with a pipe and hope that he goes into Peter Griffin reaction mode. Ahh, ssssss, Ahh, ssssss, Ahhh. Then watch as he fades away.

 

TNA CHAOS

 

Well it’s hard to stay positive when watching TNA, but I’ll try. The best things about TNA right now are Christian Cage, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe. Jay Lethal is pretty boss too.

 

Here’s the thing. I mentioned it earlier with Bonnie Hammer. You have Jeff Jarrett, Vince Russo, and Dutch Mantel as the creative/booking team. That’s three men, all over 40 (possibly over 50?), booking a product aimed at the 18-35 demographic. You can knock that down to 18-30 if you’d like. So these three guys are going to create a wrestling product that today’s audience wants to see. Vince Russo had what maybe two successful years in WWE and now we’re getting Deal or No Deal rip-off segments? Let me be clear. I don’t want to see shit like that on a wrestling program. What’s next, rip-offs of American Idol? It’s garbage so get it off my screen.

 

TNA needs to focus on sense in their angles and storylines. Have them make sense. Don’t make them horrible comic book stories come to life. Christopher Daniels is fired? I’d love to have the ending of that storyline in front of me. Another holiday tournament where the winner where’s a costume is coming up? Am I hearing that right? Didn’t I say once a year!

 

OK, I’m going negative again. Here’s how I would have the Daniels storyline play out. How about someone like Johnny Devine or someone start a new Prophecy and call themselves the Fallen Angel. Put together a group with Skipper and Petey Williams or someone. Then have them start to cheat to win within the X-Division, or feud them with Shelley & Sabin. The whole time, the real Christopher Daniels is shown in the crowd every week looking on in horror as his gimmick and stable are doing terrible things. Run that angle for about four weeks, then have Daniels jump the barrier and beat the crap out of Devine, only to have security eject him. How to end the angle you say? I don’t know. I’m not getting paid for this.

 

I rambled a bit. It happens. One more thing, the ROH PPV, Man Up, is said to be incredible and the best PPV of the year. We’ll see! I’m going to wait to get it on DVD so I can own it and watch it over and over. And I’ll probably be attending the next ROH show in Jersey.

 

That wraps it up for me. Thanks for reading and stay tuned to this blog. Lots of good shit is coming in 2008 from my friends and I. I’m out.