Big Z

This. In Cristobal's case, he chose to be a Man United fan, so we know that he is prone to poor decision making.

Not far fetched at all that United finishes outside the top 4. Chelsea, City, Tottenham, and Arsenal all look to have better starting elevens and the first three teams mentioned have better squad depth. If RVP plays at the level he has past two years and stays healthy, he may be able to steal some points away. However, if and when he gets a knock or two, that team is suddenly very average (at least for their stands) throughout the park. I have not even mentioned Liverpool yet, who probably do not have enough talented depth to maintain a top 4 standing all year, but look much improved and back closer to being a top class squad.

Well, at least before Gunners finally spend money later today, this video can be relevant along with funny: http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/gunnerblog-presents-thrift-shop-arsenal-deadline-day-remix-arsene-wenger-ft-ivan-gazidis/#.UiQYJIHu4sU.twitter

Potentially Milan and PSG. Also, City's on again/off again pursuit of El Sharwaay could be back on again. Not sure what need he fills (and only real need is CB), but his talent is undeniable and I figure that you find a way to make it work (and maybe sell a forward in January).

Do not do Brown for Patterson. Brown may not have a susperstar ceiling, but should finish in the 20 at WR in any format and in the 10-15 range in PPR leagues. Patterson is stuck in a crap situation, and I believe has a reputation for not consistently giving his best effort. No guarantee that he ever ranks as high as Brown has the past couple of years and should finish this year.

I thought Show's turn last year was predictable and forced, and thus do not want to see that again this year. Now, I think the logical conclusion to both the main angles at Night of Champions (Punk/Heyman and Bryan/Orton) involve interference from yet unknown sources to aid the heels. Cabana saving Heyman would be awesome, and be a great bridge to the eventual Punk/Lesnar rematch where Punk goes over. Bryan probably cannot win at Night of Champions, but obviously cannot lose clean and should not lose just because of HHH. A returning Batista aiding HHH/Orton would be awesome, and again would be a great bridge to when Bryan finally wins the title. I realize that both of those proposed ideas are probably long shots (if not logical), but that is how I would advance those storylines. Bottom line is that these are two of the best storylines at the top of the card in eons.

HHH had become very stale as a face, and the only recent matches of his that I really enjoyed were the two Taker Mania matches, but he has been awesome so far as a heel dictator. This feels right, and really what I was hoping would happen during the Summer of Punk.

Weird for Smackdown to be so angle heavy, and it almost felt like the 1A show tonight. I liked RVD's return, but he is getting stale again fairly quick and would be so much better off as a special attraction guy. Also, got to hope that Dolph can dovetail off this and finally get a run as the world heavyweight champion, as he is about the only guy that could make the scene fresh. Definitely agree with a Wyatt Family-Shield feud at some point, and Wyatts have to be the faces now. They would be unlikely allies of Daniel Bryan, but why the hell not? Even though they are not being subtle about it, I like that HHH is making Daniel Bryan fend for himself. It is building heat on Orton/H/Shield, while also helping to establish whoever decides to align with Bryan and buck authority. I did not love the genesis of the angle at SummerSlam as it was not original, but damn if they are not executing it about as well as possible.

I am hoping that with HHH in charge, they will be more of appreciation for the in-ring product while recognizing that there will still be a large entertainment influence. It will not be JCP from the 1980's, but a much more logical and entertaining product then the Attitude Era and the surrounding years trying to find that (even if the ring work was mostly better from say 2003-2007 then 1998-1999).

The new Helms one is much more serious because of his motorcycle accident while under the influence, but still a great listen and some cool wrestling tidbits thrown in. I cannot believe that Helms returned to the ring following that accident and already having a fused neck, and I think he is smart enough to be successful in a less physical venture.

Napoli in pot four is ridiculous. Anxiously awaiting the Bayern/PSG/City/Napoli group of death to fuck City over again.

The DVDVR league has always been my worst one, and now that I have finally fixed my keeper league team in my home league, time to atone for bad years in this league. I will not draft Darren McFadden, I will not draft Darren McFadden.

Brings up a question I had: are they gonna change Orton's music? Because that song is always gonna get a pop. They'd never do it, but I always thought that "HEY! nothing you can SAY!" was great smarmy bastard music. That would be unbelievable if they changed Orton's music back to that. The change to Voices properly reflected his change in attitude back in 2007, but now he is back to being HHH's chosen one and is more arrogant then psychotic (and I think could allow of an awesome reaction if/when he turns face again and Voices hits).

That's the thing, Toure is a great back-up plan in case crap goes wrong and one/both of your starting center backs are injured. He played perfectly fine last year, and City's issue last year was getting the ball in the other net (well that, and Mancini alienating half the locker room and outthinking himself in big moments). I can understand letting him go if you line up a younger replacement with more potential. Nastasic should be ready next week, but it would still be a mistake to postpone the addition of cover back there until January.

I think Cardiff finishes in the 12-15 range, but United and Chelsea likely get something out of their matches there. Got to get some cover at CB now, and Kolo Toure would not have looked have looked bad back there.

I think Dolph, Big Show (and by extension now Mark Henry) look to be aligning with Daniel Bryan/against the new Corporation. The handicap matches last week figure to set up this new alliance.

Also, Javi Garcia can add center back to defensive midfielder as positions he can not succeed at in a top level league.

The lasting memories from that SummerSlam '98 card are Austin-Taker, HHH-Rock ladder match, and the opener between D'Lo and Val Venis. Those were the three matches way over with the crowd, and looked like the foundation of the company going forward. The first four names become icons (Taker and Austin were basically there already), while the D-Lo/Droz incident happened and Val had too many character changes to ever rise above the mid-card. To further answer the question of who besides HHH deserves that push, D-Lo is really the only semi-credible alternative. The Radicals jumping ship, along with Jericho going sooner, were the biggest game changers in WWE putting away WCW for good. The WWE had by far the hotter main events from 1998 till then, but WCW always had a strong undercurrent of talent being mishandled and not properly utilized. And though the WWE midcard had some over acts at the time, in a lot of ways they turned out to be smoke and mirrors that were not sustainable. Once they acquired WCW's best potential talents and basically filled out the rest of the card with them, it was game-set-match (even though I held out small hope for a WCW revival up until their dying days).

I thought HHH was awesome until the quad injury in 2001, and deserved his spot at the top of the card. Now, he lost a few steps on the comeback and took time rounding into form, and probably not coincidentally business really slipped during that time. Still, he had enough good matches post quad injury to round out a strong career, and played a big part in putting over Benoit, Batista, and Cena at consecutive Wrestlemanias.

The ending made a ton of sense from a traditional wrestling standpoint. However, wrestling is at its best when it is pushing the bounds of past tradition. The most obvious examples are Stone Cold and the NWO, but I believe that most everyone's best wrestling memories/moments are strongly tied to seeing something different. In WWE, guys like Macho and Bret Hart winning the big title. In JCP/NWA, the Horsemen were unchartered territory. Evolution II may make a ton of sense from many angles, but Daniel Bryan is the man is the way I think things should go down. Daniel Bryan has become edgy and different, and fits the current hipsterish social trend. Evolution II may be a smart wrestling group, but I do not think it brings any new eyeballs in.

For a team that was universally predicted for 19th/20th and immediately drop back down, Hull showed some real fight in the second half against Chelsea. They still lack massive quality from the attacking spots, and I would recommend them trying to get Guidetti on loan from City. If they can add a couple of solid attackers, they may fight off relegation.

Great call on "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. He went from super entertaining to fairly bland after the character change (and hated Phantom of the Opera Rhodes because of that). I still think that there may be a big star in there, but at some point soon it needs to come back out. Rick Rude would not have been nearly the same if he dropped the Ravishing character early into his career.

I'm a big fan of surfer Sting. but it had gotten a bit stale by 1996. Crow Sting was awesome and came at the perfect time of his career.

I did not do AJPW, but here is my ranking of the other four. The only I did not like much was Texas, but that was because of the overexposure of the hypocritical Von Erichs (despite greatness of Freebirds and discovered treasure Eric Embry at the end of the run). 1. Mid-South: Some of the best wrestling ever, and great angles like Hacksaw-Dibiase and Dibiase-Murdoch to boot. 2. Memphis: Jerry Lawler truly is the The King of Memphis, with Dundee and Dutch as excellent co-stars. Awesome group of rivals for Lawler throughout, especially in the early and middle part of the 80's (Rude, Savage, Bundy, and a Flair studio match cameo). 3. AWA: Really good action for most of the set, even as the company struggled to keep up with modern production and presentation. Hell, In 1989, when the company looked like it was DOA, they featured solid action. 4. Texas: I cannot overstate how much I grew to hate the Von Erich characters. David, Kerry, and Kevin could go in the ring, especially when motivated, but they symbolized the hypocritical Christian conservatives that I loathe. The Birds and Eric Embry's run in 1989 make the set worth the money, but the Von Erichs are to me what Cena is today in his most ardent haters' eyes.

Three years ago (after World Cup 2010) I chose City, and 2012 was an incredible roller coaster ride with a thrilling victory to win the league. I have to come greatly respect Liverpool and their tradition, and the Premier League will be a better place when they get back into the top four (so long as it is not at City's expense). Obviously hate United, irrationally dislike Spurs, and not that fond of Chelsea or Arsenal. If you want a chance to root for a team that can win big, City or Liverpool are my recommendations. I also considered Newcastle, but that looks like an interminable mess until Mike Ashley sells the club. Swansea and Everton are two entertaining mid-table options, but the best you can hope there is a Cup run and maybe a European spot occasionally.