caley

The Hero release makes a ton of sense. WWE told him to get in better shape and he did...then he kinda stopped looking better...started looking worse. And stopped making a show that he was trying to lose weight and in a Vince McMahon/Triple H WWE, you can't do that. I mean, if your dream is to be in WWE, you've got to reconcile yourself to the fact that if you're not a specific character (big Bulgarian dude, massive hillbilly battler), you're going to have to at least make a show that you're trying to get into top shape, if not actually being in top shape. There was a story that WWE told him that he needed to be in better shape, and he refused to do the extra work to get into better shape. It's clear WWE HAD major plans for him, putting him into a program with Regal, putting him into a program with the Wyatts, and they felt he didn't work enough in the gym to reciprocate their attention. You can argue all you want that being ripped/cut has nothing to do with in-ring ability and, to a degree, you'd be right, but you can't argue that you don't have to be in shape to be in WWE. It's like modeling. If you want to model and you're overweight, it won't impact your ability to pose for photos or walk down a runway. If you want to model and you're overweight, most companies aren't going to hire you, because that's not the image you want. WWE is an image-based business, so if want to work there, hit the gym!

Haven't watched the whole episode yet, but that main was frikkin' fantastic. Harper just demolishes Ohno for the first 2/3rds then Ohno goes on offence hits some bombs, then Harper takes everything he has and just kills him dead. And Alex Riley (I think it was Riley) delivers the perfect line after the finish: "That was hard to watch." There might have been better TV matches this year, matches with more crowd heat, more moves etc. but I'm not sure I've enjoyed a TV match more this year than this (Although I'll concede the one thing that could cloud one's enjoyment of it is watching through a sorta 'smarks lens' as it's hard not to watch it as "Hey Harper, you're on TV, beat up this indy guy who thinks he's too good for NXT, take everything he has, but still beat him clean").

I came into wrestling as a kid and was never INTO Hulk Hogan (Though I did, and still do, think his WWE themes were BOSS) because I felt like he cheated way too much for a good guy. Of course, my favourites were Ultimate Warrior (a huge guy who had awesome music, runs around like a nutcase, how could you not?!), Jake the Snake (Based almost entirely on the DDT) and the Blue Blazer (After I went back and watched WM V). By the time Austin was around, I wasn't a kid anymore and loved a bad dude who got cheered for being a badass. I started to get sick of him around 1999/2000 when JR talked about seemingly nothing else all show long.

Also, was Sabin legit injured at the end, Christy Hemme looked genuinely worried there, which is too bad, as TNA kept filming from the reverse angle to get a shot of her butt. I actually kinda booed my TV at that point.

I watched most of the last stretch and was surprised to see a company that's supposedly for sale and looking for buyers, still feature a trashcan shot to the head and a thrown chair to the face in their main event. In light of all the concussion talk, it seemed, at best unnecessary; at worst, pretty goddamn irresponsible. I find it fascinating that Taz is still able to garner such a massive crowd reaction for a guy who hasn't wrestled in years and had his voice crack (twice!) in his big tough-guy moment with Bubba Ray. The swerve was pretty silly, though I'll admit I didn't see it coming as I thought they two guys were still in the ring and thought two other random A&8s guys had come down. I can't believe I came in somewhere in the 2nd hour and only missed...one match? Also, why is Dewey Barnes on my TV when Colin Delaney is out there?!

I'd love to see Kane, Director of Operations of WWE, do NHL-style suspension a la Brendan Shanahan NHL suspension videos. Kane standing there, saying "As the video shows, Big Show clearly strikes Randy Orton with a closed fist" would be a personal mark-out moment.

Oh God, I'd forgotten about Horny Mean Gene. I vaguely remember a promo where he talked about how he used to lust after Major Gunns but now she was just a bitch.

It IS possible, but it's weird. We're talking a family in Texas, taking in a heavily-accented frenchman in his twenties of half-Algerian ethnicity. The family was obviously devastated but it's kinda like a Japanese family taking in an Australian because they think it's their son. Great movie, though, I had it in my Top 10 of 2012. It plays like a really good thriller, even though it's a documentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTrTV-e7ZGg "Ah yes that is Hulk Hogan's signature look: blonde Chinese hair and skin of a hot dog."

Well you failed to factor in multiple Raw Rebounds, Big Show testimony and hype for next week's Raw.

I actually agree. Renee is really good, but sometimes when she wants to get in a point about fashion or hanging out or flirting with the wrestlers, she does so even if it's at a point when the wrestler in question is trying to/being decapitated by a clothesline and inappropriate. For someone who got her start hosting a smark-lite wrestling talk show, though, she's incredible. It's just the little things left for her to refine. I have no doubts she'll get there. I know exactly what you're talking about and agree, but your choice of words here make it sound like you're offering up some sort of grotesque compliment on their vaginas. I loved Cass/Enzo-Russev/Lafort, loved Breeze-Parker (Though I feel like Parker needed to get a lock of hair this week to really propel their feud). Such a fun show. Every week is good to great.

Korporate Kane was amazing, btw. I loved the way he got the chairs and threw them into the ring, I feel like he's The Authority's offensive coordinator. After weeks of having their 3-1 advantages blow up in their faces, they hire Kane to direct the offence: "No, no, he's a damn giant, you've got to get the chairs! Here. Here. Here! Now beat him with the chairs. Good, good. Now if he gets up, I'll try to set him on fire." I hope he doesn't wrestle for months, just coordinates for Orton and The Shield, then finally has to team up with Orton at a later date.

I've only watched the first half of this show (up to but not including the 6 man) but it seems like a hell of a lot of fun to me. That said, I'm skipping all the recaps and hype and it makes the show hum along, I would probably stop watching Raw if I couldn't DVR it. But, Harper-Punk was awesome, Orton-Big E. was awesome and that was quite a bump Khali took on the meathook.

From Up on Poppy Hill is such a wonderful little gem. Just this warm and gentle love story. Lots of terrific visual details that you would never get in a live-action film, but can be faithfully recreated in animation. I really loved it, just made me feel warm and happy all over. You don't get that very often, anymore.

"You guys who profess to be a fan of like someone who I do not like! Get out!"Seriously, why/how would this impact your enjoyment of their music in any way? It's not like they're re-releasing the old music with Justin Bieber redoing the vocals?! Actually, I'd probably like Metallica more if they replaced James Hetfield with Justin Bieber.

Dunno if anyone's read Bruce Hart's book (Picked it up for $1 at a book sale) (it's okay, so far), but he tells an amazing Terry Funk story. Apparently back in the 70s, or so, Dory Funk Jr. invited Bruce and his brothers to visit him down at his ranch, so Bruce, Smith and Bret Hart drove down there one summer. At the time, Dory was touring Florida, so Terry offered to show them around. He invited them to the wrestling going on that night which the Harts excitedly took him up on. En route, Terry offered Bruce some chewing tobacco, which Bruce had never tried before but not wanting to look like a little kid, gleefully took him up on. Bruce didn't know that you were supposed to spit the chaw out and kept swallowing, at which point Terry started cursing and apologized to the brothers that his air conditioning was on the fritz and now his power windows weren't working either. Being that it was the South in the middle of the summer, it got hotter and hotter in the car and Bruce, gleefully swallowing his chaw spit, got sicker and sicker and finally asked Terry to pull over where he "puked his guts out" beside the road. He said that when he got back in the car, Terry's smiled and his air conditioning and power windows miraculously started working again. Even better, was Terry then asked if any of the Harts wanted to have a hand in the night's matches, Bruce volunteered and Terry told Bruce that in the main when Boris Malenko put the face (I can't remember who it was) in his dreaded submission hold that Bruce should jump the rails, get into the ring and jump on Malenko's back. So, in the main, Bruce gets out of his seat, jumps the rail, slides into the ring and jumps on Malenko's back, at which point Bruce overhears Malenko say "Hang on, I've got some mark on my back". Malenko then gave Bruce a hard snapmare into the mat, wrapped his fist with his chain and reared back to pummel Bruce at which point Bruce began yelling "Kayfabe! Kayfabe!" in order to let Malenko know he was supposed to be running in, only Terry hadn't told anyone about it. So the police dragged Bruce out of the ring, handcuffed him and threw him in the back of cop car. Bruce says he remembers panicking about having to spend the night in jail in a foreign country and what he would tell his parents when he saw Terry Funk approach the police and was relieved, thinking Terry was there to save him. Only it was then that he heard Terry shouting to the police "You've got to lock him up and throw away the keys! He endangered the lives of everyone in the building!" It was only thanks to Lord Alfred Hayes coming over and vouching for Hart that kept him from being thrown in jail that night. Amazingly, Bruce and Terry became good friends, even after that!

I'd probably dump most of the roster, save for the cheap X-Division guys/anyone Spike is paying for/Aries/Samoa Joe/Hardy, sign all the Chikara guys, and basically run a league heavy on high-flyers, midgets, freakshows, masks, comedy, ridiculousness and hope that Youtube clips/Buzzfeed mentions/Facebook posts/showing up on something like 'The Soup' would bring me enough attention to run 4 PPVs a year, then do a Clash of the Champions-style show to brook the big gaps between PPVS. Something like February-May-July-October (Avoiding the big WWE shows, WM, RR, SS and SS) PPVs, with Clashes (Well a TNA version...dump that name, too) in early March, September, November and a special Christmas-themed big show in December. I'd probably also bring back the 8-sided ring, introduce a 6 man tag title, and fire Jeff Jarrett on live TV. Also, no heel commissioner.

In the last couple days I watched Everything Must Go: which was pretty good. I thought the big twist was silly and unnecessary, but Will Ferrell's actually always been a pretty solid actor and he does a good turn here, and it's got a nifty supporting cast: Laura Dern, Rebecca Hall, Glenn Howerton, Notorious BIG's son, Stephen Root and the always awesome Michael Pena. Plus, it had an uphill battle in gaining my appreciation as it's based off a Raymond Carver short story and Carver is pretty much my favourite author ever (A large part of why I dislike 'Short Cuts' is it's all based off Carver short stories, and I didn't like Altman's readings of them). Village of the Damned: This is the 1990s remake by John Carpenter and it's really just bafflingly...shitty. I'd watched 'Halloween' just a couple nights before and it's weird how far he'd fallen in about 20 years. This is just laughably bad, really. I mean, for instance, there's these 10 creepy kids born on the same day who hang out together and are just..you know, weird and evil, but it amazes me how quickly their parents just divorce themselves from them and want them dead. Weird origins or not, I'd think most people would be more protective of their children and willing to make excuses for them than the majority of these parents. The Others: Good creepy ghost story with Nicole Kidman as the mother of two kids who are deathly allergic to light and the servants who come to work for her. The big twist didn't feel like a cheat, at all, either. Good and creepy and atmospheric. The Fog: Pretty good John Carpenter chiller about a mysterious fog that rolls into a small town and wreaks havoc, killing some, annoying others and how it uncovers a buried secret of the town. Fun cast: Hal Holbrook, Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh. This is one of those movies where IMDB is really helpful because there are 2-3 scenes that are just not right and looking it up on IMDB you find out that they were added to the movie to make it "scarier" (The scene where Barbeau hides atop the building from two marauding ghosts, and the scenes of people being stabbed up close). Hotel Transylvania: was actually better than I was expecting. It's very much a silly Sandler animated flick full of farts and stupidity, but you know... A big part of the appeal is watching it and going "Hey, that's Kevin James!" or "Jon Lovitz?" I could've done with a little fewer songs but they were fairly short.

I was the ONLY one to vote for 'Tommy Boy' and 'Fearless'?! Philistines!

Since no one (not even me) needs to see my full list, here's my Top 30 I can't believe 'Tommy Boy', 'Fearless', and 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' didn't make the list!

This should be Henry's new gimmick. Rolls to the ring in a maybach.

Booo! Should be higher!

Weren't WWE looking into giving Mike Sanders a shot at doing commentary? I remember reading/hearing that once.

So bizarre. Apparently he came to practice today, told no one about charges or arrests or anything, then turned himself in a couple hours later. I am glad I don't moderate the main area of HF, that must be rife with off-colour "jokes", amateur lawyering, Russian "jokes", and Patrick Roy references.

Click the link, fascinating stuff. But the shortest 5 star match is 18:09. Mookieghana is the pro wrestling Nate Silver.