2008 RSPW Awards

Author’s Note:  In it’s 19th year now, the RSPW Awards are the Internet’s oldest awards recognizing excellence (and anti-excellence) in Professional wrestling.

For the official awards check out:

http://www.rspw.org

I didn’t submit my ballot in time to make the official awards count, but here are my picks for the year 2K8.

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Best Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year.  This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,  interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

**2008**: Chris Jericho

2nd:  Shawn Michaels
3rd:  Kurt Angle

2K8 was Chris Jericho’s Year.  With Cena and Batista in and out with nagging injuries Y2J was given the ball and
scored a touchdown — again and again with it.  The end result?  Two title reigns, the feud of the year
with Shawn Michaels and “Superstar of the Year” recognition at the Slammy’s.

Runner-up awards go to Shawn Michaels (WWE’s other “go-to guy”) and Kurt Angle for maintaining those top
spots on Raw and TNA respectively.  In sum, no one has better matches, cuts better promos and serve
there promotions more reliably then these 3 gentlemen.

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Best Tag Team

Award Description:

To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year.  This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

**2008**: John Morrison & The Miz

2nd:  Beer Money – James Storm & Robert Roode
3rd:  Motor City Machine Guns – Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin
4th:  LAX – Homicide & Hernandez

As far as WWE is concerned Morrison and Miz were definitely the top tag team of 2K8.  Thrown together ad-hocly they gelled both in and out of the ring quickly cementing themselves as the most entertaining heel duo since Edge and Christian reeked of awesome at the top of the decade.  No tag team delivered the goods in the WWE better than Miz and Morrison in 2K8 (of course no teams were really pushed) so as they would say, “Be jealous!!!”

Runner-up awards go to TNAs top teams:  Beer Money, LAX and MCMG.  What Miz and Morrison were to WWE in 2K8 Beer Money was for TNA.  While not pushed as heavily as Beer Money, both LAX and MCMG are awesome as always.

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Best Heel

Award Description:

To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This person should bring out the fans’ wrath. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year.

**2008**: Chris Jericho
2nd:  Edge
3rd:  Santino Marella

2K8 was Chris Jericho’s year.  After he was neutered with a mediocre push with the “Save_Us” campaign fate intervened and Jericho was handle the heel ball and he scored in spades.  Jericho’s often done his best work as the smarmy, cocky heel and 2K8 proved that.  With huge money promos week-in and week out and a feud of the year against Shawn Michaels Jericho’s top-level heel work propelled him to two title reigns and Superstar of the Year recognition.  After a slow start and a heel turn Jericho finally did “Save_Us” toward the second half of 2K8.

Runner-Ups:  Edge remains one of the WWE’s top heels and sidelining injuries aside the man always returns to reclaim his top heel spot of Smackdown.  Money promos and money matches and his “guy you just love to hate” personality aside Edge is the money man on Smackdown.

Santino Marella continued to blossom into one of Raw’s most charismatic heels in 2K8.  After flopping as an in-ring performer in 2K7 Marella found his niche on the mic and quickly evolved into one of Raw’s most entertaining performers with his unique brand of comedy from Santino’s Casa to the Honk-A-Meter.  Marella continues to be a weekly highlight on Raw and takes #3 in my picks for Best Heel of 2K8.

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Best Babyface

Award Description:

To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.

**2008**: Jeff Hardy

2nd:  John Cena
3rd:  Matt Hardy

2K8 was Jeff Hardy’s year of destiny.  Primed for success in 2K8 Jeff brought his game to the ‘A’ level and the ‘E’ was finally ready to hand him that ball and the fans were ready to see it.  Fate intervened as Hardy’s demons seemed to be making one last ditch and Jeff dropped the ball before Mania.  Things went further down hill with his home burning down in real life but he came back with a vengeance upon his return.  Jeff Hardy has seemingly conquered his inner-demons once and for all and has finally seemed to fulfill that top star potential everyone’s seen in him from Day One — and the fans are ready for it!

Runner-Ups:  Love him or hate him, the Dr. of Thuganomics continues to bring the goods week in and week out.  Sidelining injuries aside John Cena is “The Man” in WWE make no doubt and continues to epitomize the “Gold Standard” of the Babyface.

Matt Hardy, much like his brother Jeff, too had his banner year in WWE.  Always noted as a true workhorse and a “go-to guy” Hardy finally got his much overdue reward in 2K8 securing the ECW Title and defending it against all-comers as the true fighting champion he is.  Matt’s a lot like Chris Benoit in the sense that everyone knows how great he is but for whatever reason does not necessarily obtain the same recognition as the “top guys” from the office but much like Benoit, Hardy’s excellent work is not completely unnoticed.  Let’s continue to hope Hardy continues to rise up further to the top in 2K9 and avoids Benoit’s sad fate…

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Best Worker

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall.  In 1998, it was recombined into one.

**2008**: Chris Jericho

2nd:  Shawn Michaels
3rd:  Kurt Angle
4th:  AJ Styles

Even with a few years worth of ring rust upon his return, Jericho continue shows what a product of the old territory system can do in the ring as he worked circles around just about everyone in 2K8 with big profile matches.

Runner-Up Awards:  Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle are here for obvious reasons being the “go-to guys” in their respective promotions.  Joining them this year is AJ Styles.  While booked as a goofball for a majority of the year in the TNA AJ continued to show in the ring why HE was the top guy in TNA for so many years at its outset.  Thankfully, they are seeing fit to push him as thus again in the new MEM vs. Frontline storyline.

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Best Flyer

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two:  North American and Non-North American.  In 1998, it was recombined.

**2008**: Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal)

2nd:  Jimmy Wang Yang
3rd:  Kofi Kingston

Evan Bourne burst onto the WWE scene in 2K8 and simply amazed with his aerial prowess doing stuff people haven’t seen ever.  Sadly his awesomeness caught up with him putting him out with an injury late in the year but he’s still the shizzle!!!

Runner-Up mentions go to Jimmy Wang Yang who is also ever-awesome in the sky and to other newcomer Kofi Kingston who’s vertical leap just amazes.

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Best Technical Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994,
this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

**2008**: Kurt Angle

2nd:  Shelton Benjamin
3rd:  William Regal

My picks are Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin and William Regal.  They’re three bad @$$ mat technicians who in a different life and time could’ve made a pretty decent living as legitimate MMA guys who do have the legitimate mat cred to back everything up.  Angle’s an “Olympic Gold Medalist who won the it with a broken freakin’ neck” for crying out loud

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Best Brawler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most convincingly. This award would go to Frank “Bruiser Brody” Goodish if he were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American
and Non-North American.  In 1998, it was recombined.

**2008**: Awesome Kong

2nd:  Undertaker
3rd:  Vladimir Kozlov

I gotta agree with the masses who voted in, Awesome Kong shined in 2K8 as the monster woman’s heel who just DEVASTATED all-comers.  She was booked as a monster and convincingly hung with the men during that one storyline.

Taker takes 2nd place for obvious reasons.  Coming in 3rd is newcomer Vladimir Kozlov who FINALLY MADE IT TO TV after a year or two on the sidelines.  Booked as the “Moscow Mauler” Kozlov convincingly beat the crap out of everyone he crossed paths with in 2K8 and came across as a legitimate threat to the top.

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Most Favourite Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason.

**2008**: Chris Jericho

2nd:  Matt Hardy
3rd:  Kurt Angle

Anyone who knows me knows how much of a mark I am or Jericho, Matt Hardy and Angle.  I’ve always been a Jericho mark (proclaimed as thus at my wedding) and people know Matt’s always been my favorite Hardy.  They also know I worship the ground my Olympic Hero walks on

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Most Improved Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all facets of the sport in the past year.

**2008**: Jeff Hardy

2nd:  Miz
3rd:  Morrison

I’ll say it again, 2K8 was Jeff Hardy’s year of destiny.  He came back strong in 2K7 reinvigorated and motivated and turned in stellar performance after stellar performance.  He was primed for the big win at Wrestlemania before his demons made a last ditch effort to claim him. After sitting out he came back stronger and finally won the big one at Armageddon to close out the year.  No one improved more than Jeff Hardy in 2K8.

Coming in 2nd and 3rd place respectively are Miz and Morrison.  I’ll admit to not being a very big fan of the Miz (you can read my previous years ballots) but I’ll give the guy his due, he totally stepped up his game in 2K8.  Miz is more a promo guy than an in-ring performer but he improved in both aspects this year.  He’s transformed to a solid entertainer much like Santino Marella.  Miz became a “good promo” to a “great promo” and a “so-so” wrestler to a “decent” wrestler.

Morrison’s story in 2K8 parallels that of Miz.  Morrison shines more in the ring than on the mic and thus complements Miz well.  Like Miz, Morrison stepped up his game in 2K8 improving from a “good” wrestler to a “great wrestler” and a “decent promo” to a “good promo.”

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Most Overrated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a wrestler’s push is.

**2008**:  Batista

2nd:  JBL

Sad to say, but Batista to me is quickly becoming a “Lex Luger” of sorts.  I was and still am a “Big Dave” fan but it seems to me he may have peaked that year he won the title from Triple H.  2K8 seemed to book Batista into a “choker” role of sorts.  Despite title shot after title shot he couldn’t get the job done against Edge nor the Undertaker.  He got drafted to Raw and won the belt from Jericho for all of a week before losing it.  It doesn’t seem the ‘E’ has a whole lot of faith in Big Dave anymore and it’s to both their detriment.  Batista’s still a main-eventer but it seems like Luger before him he’s booked half-heartedly and comes off as a choker as a result and becomes exposed as a result.

JBL, what can I say?  The guy shoulda stayed in the commentary table where he truly excelled.  JBL can still go of sorts (his promos are always money) but his “spot” could be better served bringing new guys up.

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Best Wrestling Gimmick

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past year.

**2008**: How you say…Santino Marella

2nd:  Charlie Haas
3rd:  Festus

Santino’s fricking brilliant!!!  Nuff said.

Runner-Ups:  I LOVED Charlie Haas “imitation” gimmick.  It’s fun and entertaining (though a bit sad for Charlie as it just signals he’ll NEVER go anywhere and creative has no faith in his own personality) and I get a kick out of it each week.  Festus is fun too.   It took a while as I was just WAITING for a heel to ring the bell to get him back into ‘tard mode to score the beatdown victory (thanks to Miz and Morrison for pulling the trigger!!!).  The gimmick is awfully lame and silly but it has its entertainment value — for now.

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Best Wrestling Move

Award Description:

To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you’ve seen this past year. This should probably be a “finishing” move or something really spectacular.

**2008**: Evan Bourne’s shooting star press

2nd:  Beth Phoenix’s Glam Slam chickenwing facebuster
3rd:  Awesome Kong’s implant buster

Bourne’s shooting star press and his way of hitting is truly awesome to see and was the most refreshing thing on TV in 2K8.  Same can be said of Beth Phoenix’s Glam Slam chickenwing buster and Awesome Kong’s Implant Buster.  These two powerhouse women have some of the coolest and most innovative moves out of anyone in the business today.  It’s a shame not more attention is given to either women’s division in REALLY developing it.

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Best Match

Award Description:

To be given to the best wrestling match you’ve seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall.  In 1997, due to lack of participation on both the NA and non-NA sides, it was recombined.

**2008**: 03/30/08: Ric Flair (career) vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania)

2nd:  03/30/08 CM Punk v. Chris Jericho v. MVP v. Mr. Kennedy v.
John Morrison v. Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin (Money
in the Bank ladder)

Best Match honors DEFINITELY need to go out to Flair’s retirement match.  It was truly a historic moment and a true classic.

Runner-Up mention goes to the Money in the Bank match.

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Best Feud

Award Description:

To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American.  In 1996, due to lack of participation on the non-NA side, it was recombined.

**2008**: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

2nd:  Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair
3rd:  Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong

Jericho vs. Shawn takes feud of the year.  No feud delivered better matches or promos than these two.

Shawn vs. Flair takes #2 as it was just such a historic storyline in general.

Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong turned in some of TNA’s best matches of 2K8.  Hopefully the ‘E’ uses Gail and doesn’t waste her.

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Worst Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the name athlete who was the worst overall wrestler in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, and the charisma of a rock should describe this person.

**2008**:  Chris Harris aka Braden Walker

2nd:  The Great Khali
3rd:  Black Reign

What the HECK happened to Chris Harris?  Here’s a guy who was amongst TNA’s top homegrown talent, someone who had the look and feel of a potential future main eventer who had some small pushes toward that direction in TNA.  He leaves TNA for the greener pastures of the WWE and when he makes the TV screen he’s all bloated, out-of-shape and wrestles subpar matches.  WTH????  Sure the gimmick they gave him SUCKED but how on earth does he go from the bad @$$ Wild Cat to what showed up on my TV in July.  Did the guy enjoy the high life of the WWE catering service a bit too much???  This was probably the saddest story of 2K8…

Great Khali and Black Reign take runner-up mentions.  Sadly, I think Dustin Rhodes has seen his best days in the business as an in-ring performer already.  Black Reign to Dustin was much like Braden Walker was to Chris Harris…

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Worst Tag Team

Award Description:

To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe this pair.

**2008**: Black Reign & Rellik

‘Nuff said.

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Worst Heel

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn’t work well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn’t get over.

**2008**:  Sting

Sting will NEVER make a convincing heel.  WCW tried it and it failed.  TNA’s heel turn is much better but I think people just love Sting too much to sustain it as a legitimate heel run.  The guy gets some boos for his promo work but he still garners a strong pop.

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Worst Worker

Award Description:

To be given to the name wrestler whose workrate is so low it’s barely measureable.

**2008**: The Great Khali

Not much of a worker but I must confess I’m actually digging the “Punjabi Playboy” gimmick.

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Most Deteriorated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self.

**2008**:  Chris Harris aka Braden Walker

2nd:  Dustin Rhodes aka Black Reign

What HAPPENED to these two guys?  Both were pretty darn good workers at one time.  They just seemed to lose discipline/motivation and let themselves go.  So sad…

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Most Underrated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this award should have the most ability with least push.

**2008**:  Christopher Daniels

2nd:  Paul London

Now, I enjoyed Curry Man but what the hell?  Christopher Daniels is a true TNA Original and one of THE best workers on the planet.  Where the HECK is his push?  He’s buried “fired” two years in a row from TNA’s stupid Briefcase Match concept.  WTF???  I sincerely hope Daniels comes back with a HUGE push in his old “Mr. TNA” gimmick in the MEM vs. Frontline storyline in 2K9 but somehow being TNA I know better than to hold my breath.  What a waste!!!

Off the London and Kendrick team I actually loved London’s work waaaaay better than Kendrick’s.  London CARRIED the Cruiserweight division on Smackdown for several years and in my opinion carried the London/Kendrick team.  Of course, London doesn’t get as much love seeing as “Spanky” was HBK’s prized pupil and London pissed off McMahon by speaking his mind several years back so London winds up unemployed and Spanky gets the big push.  Gotta love politics!!!

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Worst Wrestling Gimmick

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the past year.

**2008**:  Booker T’s new accent

Don’t get me wrong, I do find it mildly entertaining, but Booker’s “African King” but is pretty darn stupid.  “In my country…”  Ple—-ase.  Everyone KNOWS he’s from Houston, TX.  Texans may have a reputation for thinking they live in their own country but they sure don’t speak like they’re from Africa.

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Worst Wrestling Move

Award Description:

To be given to the move that is the worst thing you’ve seen this year. This shouldn’t be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler – the move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move should probably be a “finishing” move or something that was meant to be spectacular.

**2008**:  Mr. Kennedy’s Mic Check

2nd:  Miz’ Reality Check

Kennedy shoulda stuck with the Kennedy Assassination which was a BAD @$$ move!!!  The Kenton Bomb was pretty sweet too.  The Mic Check sucks…  Have his injuries caught up with him to where he needed to use a less taxing move?

Miz’s Reality Check is kinda lame but oddly effective.

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Worst Match

Award Description:

To be given to the worst wrestling match you’ve seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible.

**2008**:  04/21/08 “Barack Obama” v. “Hillary Clinton”

It wasn’t as atrocious as “Donald Trump vs. Rosie” but it’s pretty darn close.

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Most Disappointing News item

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn’t believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were bummed out for a while.

**2008**:  Joey Styles replaced as ECW commentator by Mike Adamle

2nd:  WWE suspends Jeff Hardy & William Regal shortly after starting major push
3rd:  Bobby Lashley quits WWE

Nothing signaled through true nail in the coffin of ECW as when Joey got replaced by Adamle.  Every last bit of the old ECW died when Joey Styles left the broadcast table.  More on Adamle later…

Jeff Hardy and Regal getting suspended after the start of MAJOR pushes was just sad on so many levels.  Two guys who worked hard to beat demons on the cusp of great things become their own worst enemies and cheat themselves outta due pushes is just so sad.  Fortunately Jeff got his in the end and it seems Regal’s delayed push is coming back now.  Hope they don’t screw things up again.

Lashley quitting is another sad example of wasted time and effort.  I was a HUGE Lashley mark as I just LOVE guys who are the real deal.  Lashley, like Lesnar before him, came in and got a HUGE push.  2K7 was Lashley’s year for sure.  Sadly though things didn’t work out apparently as blink and he was gone in 2K8.  A guy who was a surefire hit who got a major investment poofed.  FAIL.

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Most Obnoxious Personality

Award Description:

To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be anybody involved in the wrestling biz.

**2008**:  Vickie Guerrero

Of course, I think she’s SUPPOSED to come across as obnoxious to which she deserves an Emmy as I just can’t stand seeing her on TV.  Give the woman credit though, she’s succeeding in place of her great husband Eddy and continuing to put food on her children’s table in place of him.

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Best Second

Award Description:

To be given to the manager who outperformed their peers at ringside and behind the microphone in interviews.  This award was discontinued after the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006.

**2008**:  Ezekiel Jackson & Matt Striker (tie)

“Big Zeke” to me is the money player between himself and “The Brian Kendrick.”  It could very well play out like Shawn and Diesel a decade and a half ago with the big silent muscle eclipsing the cocky heel.  I know **I** for one who NEVER want to cross a guy like Big Zeke in real life.

Striker is a GREAT mouthpiece.  During his run as Big Daddy V’s manager I was a big Striker mark as he just reminded me of guy’s like Bobby the Brain, Jimmy Hart or Mr. Fuji.  Striker’s not much of a wrestler but he truly his a niche on the mic be it an interviewer, manager or broadcaster.

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Best Announcer

Award Description:

To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and entertaining comments while pushing his product.  “Ring announcers” don’t qualify here.  As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced.

**2008**: Jim Ross

2nd:  Mike Tenay
3rd:  Michael Cole

No explanation needed

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Best Colour Commentator

Award Description:

To be given to the colour commentator who provides the most insightful and entertaining comments.

**2008**: Matt Striker

2nd:  Mick Foley
3rd:  Tazz

LIke JBL, Striker is an AWESOME broadcaster.  It’s just too bad Striker’s stuck down in ECW and doesn’t get as much exposure…

Foley was a great Color guy for Smackdown during his brief summer cup of coffee in the broadcast booth.  It’s too bad things didn’t work out but I do think TNA is using him better.

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Best Interviewee

Award Description:

To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager.

**2008**: Chris Jericho

2nd:  Edge
3rd:  John Cena
4th:  Santino Marella

Jericho has been GOLD on the mic since his return.  He was always a great promo but I think his work with Second City during his time off totally took his game to a new level.  He has been MONEY with his heel promos and does a solid job of both selling the storyline and riling the crowd at the same time.

Edge has always been a money promo as is Cena (I miss the rapping).  Santino is just comedy gold on the mic!!!

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Best Angle

Award Description:

To be given to the best angle you’ve seen in the sport this year.

**2008**:  Ric Flair retirement angle

2nd:  Chris Jericho/Shawn Michaels retirement angle
3rd:  Santino Marella IC reign with “Honk-a-Meter”
4th:  CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank
5th:  Kurt Angle forms Main Event Mafia
6th:  John Cena makes surprise return at Royal Rumble

Flair’s retirement Angle was awesome.  In hindsight I do agree with a lot of the critics who said they missed a lot of opportunities with the Angle but it was what it was and for this old wrestling soul I’ll always love and appreciate the Nature Boy and the classy send off he was given.

Jericho and Shawn produced ***** matches and promos all year.  Santino’s “Honk-A-Meter” was a weekly highlight throughout the Fall.  Punk cashing in MiTB to make Edge his bitch was a true mark out moment as was Cena’s Royal Rumble return (one of the TRUE swerves in a nearly impossible to swerve Internet age).  Angle forming in the MEM is probably THE BEST storyline TNA’s come up with in YEARS which is near on par with the original nWo storyline.

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Best Organization

Award Description:

To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can’t miss.

**2008**: WWE
TNA
ROH

Nuff said

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Best TV Show

Award Description:

To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories.

**2008**: WWE RAW
Smackdown
TNA

Nuff said

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Best Major Show

Award Description:

To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories.

**2008**: 03/30/08: WWE WrestleMania XXIV
01/27/08 WWE Royal Rumble
10/12/08 TNA Bound for Glory

Nuff said

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Best Promotional Move

Award Description:

To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.

**2008**: WWE airs a tribute to Ric Flair the night after WrestleMania

2nd:  WWE rehires Chris Jericho
3rd:  WWE gets Clinton, McCain, Obama to cut WWE-tailored promos
4th:  WWE makes CM Punk World champ
5th:  WWE starts web shows “Dirt Sheet” & “Santino’s Casa”
6th:  WWE backs the comedic stylings of Santino Marella

Flair’s Retirement Ceremony was one of the most classy things I’ve ever seen in a business that is noted for being anything but.  This probably doesn’t count as a “promotional move” of sorts as this usually refers to something that changes the business in terms of hiring/firing talent or giving someone a push but I’ll go ahead and agree with the rest of the voters on this.  Temporarily this DID spark a spike in Flair merchandise so it does kinda count and the fact that it was just, “the right thing to do” was just awesome.

Jericho coming back on was a much needed move.  The E was in a nadar of having legit top stars and someone with Jericho’s cred to fill in a top spot was much needed.  They botched his return a bit by putting him in upper midcard but cream rises to the top and in the end Jericho took top star honors for his heel run.

WWE’s Smackdown the Vote campaign continues to position the company as a responsible corporate citizen and getting the top three candidates to tape segments was an awesome move.  McCain going through all the major catchphrases was the shit!!!

Punk cinching the World Title was a solid move as well but I didn’t like the way they job him out of it later with no return match.  WTF?

WWE’s (or is that Shane-O-Mac’s and Joey Styles?) move into new media was sweet with the debut of web shows like the “Dirt Sheet,” “Santino’s Casa” and “Word Up.”  For longevity and business growth new media is the way to go!

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Worst Announcer

Award Description:

To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comments while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the TV when he/she is announcing. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced.

**2008**: Mike Adamle

Now, believe it or not, I’m a BIG Mike Adamle fan.  I grew up watching him on American Gladiators and when I heard he got picked up by the E I was ecstatic as a person with his resume and background would be a can’t miss in the broadcast booth (hence his BIG salary as he DOES have a legitimate broadcast pedigree).  Of course, life is known for its surprises and as it often does turn out — some things just don’t work out.  Adamle proved incompetent in his knowledge of the product and things were a bit of a trainwreck.  Cest La Vie…

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Worst Interviewee

Award Description:

To be given to the person who gives the worst interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager.

**2008**: Mike Adamle

2nd:  Great Khali

Nuff said.

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Worst Angle

Award Description:

To be given to the worst angle you’ve seen in the sport this year. It may be the worst because of taste or because of execution.

**2008**: JBL reveals that Finlay, not Mr. McMahon, is Hornswoggle’s father

2nd:  CM Punk loses title without wrestling
3rd:  Kurt, Karen, AJ love triangle

The Hornswaggle Angle was actually very entertaining as far as I was concerned but the momentum all died with the Finlay/JBL swerve.  I suppose it had to end somehow.

Punk losing the title without being pinned (or being offered a return match angle) blew chunks and just shows they weren’t all that serious in his push but I appreciate the gesture of giving him a short run — I guess.

The Kurt, Karen and AJ story was just STUPID on so many levels…  I’m so glad they’ve turned AJ back from being a hick lackey to the legitimate star he was before all the former WWE guys came in.

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Worst Promotional Move

Award Description:

To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.

**2008**: WWE hires Mike Adamle

2nd:  WWE takes World title off CM Punk, doesn’t allow feud with Chris Jericho
3rd:  WWE buries MVP
4th;  TNA wastes a year of Christopher Daniels’ career doing Curry Man
5th:  WWE replaces Joey Styles as ECW announcer with Mike Adamle

The hiring of Adamle looked great on paper but as with anything else you never know what you get till you try it and this just didn’t work out.  That’s life.

Punk being jobbed out of the title was bullshit but in a land of Cena, Batista, JBL and Jericho Punk was lucky to even get the title when/how he did.

MVP being buried is just anti-good business.  MVP is a money star who’s over with the fans and was built up as a legit star.  The guy apparently makes a mistake behind the scenes and is JOBBED for months on end when he could be making money for the promotion.  Riiiight.  Hopefully MVP can come back from this after his “punishment” is over and go on to be the Main Event star he’s meant to be.  Hey, it worked for Triple H right?

Same deal with Daniels.  I enjoyed Curry Man but Daniels is a superstar who was just WASTED in that role which is just a reflection of TNA’s piss poor creative team.  I hope they get things right in 2K9.

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Boston Legal Finale: “Made in China” & “Last Call”

If you’ve read me for a long time you will know that one of my favorite guilty pleasures on television is (or I suppose was) David E. Kelley’s “Boston Legal.”  I have long been a fan of Kelley’s writing and how he ingeniously intertwines humor along with important social issues most of us are not even aware of.  I was simply devastated this past summer when I learned Boston Legal would be taking its final bow this year.  I became even more distressed when I learned the season would be abbreviated and would be ending with a half-run in December!!!!

Alas…my beloved Boston Legal aired its finale this past Monday but in true David E. Kelley fashion it went down swinging!!!!

Why did I love Boston Legal so much?

1.  Quirky Characters:  From the quirky main cast to the quirky recurring guest characters, Boston Legal just had the most hilarious characters from the lascivious name partner Denny Crane to the sarcastic Alan Shore to the quirky Jerry Espenson to the revolving cast of quirky judges (Judge Brown was my favorite) Boston Legal had a literal managerie of ingenious characters.  They were a total hoot, that’s what they were *nod to Melvin Palmer*

2.  Tackling the Issues:  Much like it’s predecessor The Practice, Boston Legal and Kelley were not afraid to tackle the key issues of the day and never failed to educate me on things I was not aware of.  A vast majority of the cases brought up on the show tackled very relevant issues that more public policy debate should occur around.  Sadly enough, I doubt that really occurs.

3.  Hilarious!!!  Boston Legal had a great knack of “Breaking the 4th Wall” with the characters poking fun and making many a “wink wink nudge nudge” to the audience.  My favorite 4th wall moments were the ones where Kelley and the cast would basically give ABC the FU for relegating it to the “B” line-up, especially toward the end of Season 5.  Carl Sack espousing Boston Legal’s awesomeness for marketing toward the “Over 50 demographic” in the second to last episode was gold

So…my thoughts on the Final Episode?

1.  Crane, Poole and Schmidt becoming financially insolvent in the world financial crisis was gold.  Very much plausible.  The firm being bought out by the Chinese and being renamed “Chang, Poole and Schmidt” sucks!!!

2.  Denny and Alan arguing before the Supreme Court and winning Denny’s right to try out an experimental Alzheimer’s Drug was gold!!!  Perfect way to end the series.

3.  Denny and Alan marrying each other to pass out Denny’s estate was interesting.  Just another example of how Boston Legal was on the cutting edge of social issues.  The whole gay marriage thing and it’s legal debates are awesome stuff.  Homosexual lovers?  Nah.  Committed “life partners” who sincerely love one another.  Sure.  Denny and Alan definitely do have a legitimate love for one another.  Who’s to say they can’t marry one another if the law allows same-sex marriages.

4.  Jerry and Katie.  Right on Jerry!!!  Jerry Espenson was one of my favorite characters on the show.  He was the “lifetime loser” who never got a break because he was deemed, “too weird” by others.  I know the feeling.  The guy ends the series by finally making partner, standing up to a bully and bagging the girl.  Perfect ending!

I’m a bit saddened not all of the previous cast made their way back for the finale.  It was nice to see Edwin Poole at the Thanksgiving episode prior to the shows end but what about other former alums like Brad Chase, Jeffrey Coho, Clarence Bell, Lori Coulson, Claire Simms, Tara Wilson or Sally Heep?

In all, I’m very bummed my Denny Crane has tried his last case and been put out to pasture but I’m sure we’ll see old Shat in a Priceline commercial soon enough.

Denny Crane!!!

Movie/DVD Review: Step Up 2 The Streets

Quote: “The best part of the Streets is not what you got, it’s what you make of what you got.” – Andie West

Film: Step Up 2 The Streets
Starring: Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, Adam Sevani, Will Kemp, Cassie Ventura
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Originally Released: February 14, 2008
Watched: October 17, 2008 via Netflix
Ebert Rating: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 24%
My Netflix Rating: *** (Liked It)
Wikipedia Entry

Synopsis

Andie West is an aspiring street dancer from the rough side of town. Her mother dead and in the care of an “aunt,” her “family” is the 410, the city’s top street dance group/gang who are ruthless both in competition and in lifestyle. Heading down the wrong path and about to be shipped off to other family due to “behavior problems” family friend Tyler Gage (making a reappearance from the first film) helps Andie secure a spot in the prestigious Maryland School of Arts where she is linked up with top notch dance instruction and hooks up with the “right crowd.” Disowned by the 410 Andie organizes her new “family” at the MSA to take on the 410 in “The Streets,” Baltimore’s biggest street dance competition. It’s on as the 410 and the MSA Crew battle head to head in the Streets — both figuratively and literally.

Thoughts

This film is a lot like porn in the sense that it’s more about the “action” than the “story.” The star of the movie, like in Step Up, is the dancing and this film lacks no shortage of dance. I would go so far to say as that the film’s storyline is driven and plotted around the dance scenes as opposed to the story driving the dance (again, like porn). In other words, if you watch this film be prepared for amazing dance sequences instead of compelling storytelling. Of course while sparse on storyline, the film does have a positive message about the power of dance to bring people of different types and backgrounds together as Andie so eloquently puts it at the end of the film in her speech at the Streets competition.

DVD Features

Being a music and dance movie, the DVD features on this release rule 8X over with the addition of the music videos from the soundtrack. Other than that it’s the list of usual assorted features you come to expect n these things. Here’s the listing of gems on this release:

1. Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary track by Director John Chu): 8 deleted scenes (approximately 16 minutes worth of footage)
2. Music Videos:  “Low” by Flo Rida feat. T-Pain, “Ching-A-Ling/Shake Your Pom Pom” by MIssy Elliott, “Killa” by Cherish feat. Yung Joc, “Hypnotized” by Plies feat. Akon, “Let It Go” by Brit & Alex, Outtakes from the film to Cassie’s “Is It You”
3. “Through Fresh Eyes: The Making of Step Up 2” – 12 minute “behind-the-scenes” featurette.  Director John Chu talks about making the film and his own personal background in film.  Interesting to note how much YouTube and MySpace played a role in his research of dance styles.
4. “Outlaws of Hip Hop:  Meet the 410″ – 5 minutes.  The actors who play the 410 talk about their love of the dance.  It’s all about the love of the dance
5. Robert Hoffman Video Prank – 2 minutes.  This was pretty lame…

The Verdict

This movie was alright. The storytelling wasn’t really there as it was basically the “King of the Streets” vs. the “Upstart/Outcast” group for bragging rights. The real reason to see this film is for the sick dance sequences which this film has in spades. Of course that is not to say the film doesn’t have a good point to learn from. Andie says it best at the end of the film that it’s about the love of the dance as that’s a commonality that brings everyone, regardless of background, together. Amen to that.  Sign me up for lessons!

Is the DVD worth the purchase? If you love hip-hop then I’d say most definitely. The music videos from this DVD release set it apart from others. Of course you could probably find these videos (and hundreds like them) on YouTube but that’s beside the point. If you’re not much into hip-hop, dance or music then stick with the rental.

Movie/DVD Review: “Step Up”

Quote: “I’m fighting for something that’s real for the first time in my life!” – Tyler Gage

Film: Step Up
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Mario, Drew Sidora, Alyson Stoner, Rachel Griffiths
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Originally Released: August 19, 2006
Watched: October 25, 2008 via Netflix
Ebert Rating: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 20%
My Netflix Rating: **** (Really Liked It)
Wikipedia Entry

Synopsis

Tyler Gage is a street punk who along with his homies Mac and Skinny gets into trouble. After being caught breaking into and trashing the Maryland School of Arts with his homies, Tyler is sentenced to perform community service there. Tyler meets and slowly befriends MSA student Nora Clark, a MSA senior who is relentlessly preparing for her big performance in the school’s “Senior Showcase” in hopes of landing a spot in one of the numerous dance companies who attend the event to recruit star performers. Tyler brings a bit of the “street edge” to Nora’s refined ballet/modern dance technique and Nora’s culture “refines” Tyler’s hard street smart/hard luck edges. As the paint-by-the-numbers story dictates they slowly fall in love. Is it enough to get Nora to the top? Will the socio-economic and class divide stunt their love before it grows? Can Tyler escape the allure and problems of the streets? Watch more and find out

Thoughts

Sure, the film was formulaic but it was fun. The story was nice and the dance choreographer rocked my socks off I must say though, it was really sad toward the end of the movie (no spoiler here) but the message of “staying outta trouble and redeeming oneself” is a message that resounds loudly and is definitely one that the type of people who will see this film (the young and impressionable) definitely need to hear. The big formulaic ending caps off a nice film. All in all, it’s a great film with a great story and a great message.

DVD Features

Being a music and dance movie, the DVD features on this release rule 8X over with the addition of the music videos from the soundtrack. Other than that it’s the list of usual assorted features you come to expect n these things. Here’s the listing of gems on this release:

1. Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary track): 7 deleted scenes (approximately 4 minutes worth of footage)
2. Bloopers: 1 minute 37 seconds worth of footage. Some funny stuff but an equal number of “lamers.”
3. “Making the Movie” – 4 minute mini-featurette that takes us behind the scenes. It’s not the best of these I’ve seen but it’s alright.
4. Audio Commentary track with Director/Choreographer Anne Fletcher, Hip-Hop Choreographer Jamal Sims, and stars Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan
5. Music Videos: “Step Up” by Samantha Jade, “(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me” by Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole, “Say Goodbye” by Chris Brown, “Get Up” by Ciara featuring Chamillionaire and a Soundtrack Promo
6. Dance Contest: “Contest” – 4 minute video featuring highlights of the judging and contest process (via MySpace) for dancers getting into the Step Up film and music videos, “Contestant Montage” – 3 minutes of footage, “Winner Videos” – 5 videos, 13 minutes of footage altogether

The Verdict

This movie was good. The story and message were good but the real star of the movie is the dancing. It’s definitely worth a watch. Is it “must see?” No, not at all but it’s definitely not a time waster either. If you’re looking for a nice diversion to unwind to this fits the bill nicely.

Is the DVD worth the purchase? If you love hip-hop then I’d say most definitely. The music videos and the contestant videos from the dance contest set this DVD release apart from others. Of course you could probably find these videos (and hundreds like them) on YouTube but that’s beside the point. If you’re not much into hip-hop, dance or music then stick with the rental.

Episode Review: Heroes – “I Am Become Death”

Quote: “You always sucked at tug of war.” – Ando to Hiro while breaking out of prison.

This was a great episode as a ton of storyline was pushed forward and groundwork for the rest of the season was laid out. For those of you keeping track of the storylines here we go…

Storyline Tracker

Peter, Sylar and Claire: Future and Current Peter travel four years back to the future where Current Peter sees a world full of super-powered beings. Future Peter tells Current Peter they’ll need Sylar’s Intuitive Comprehension ability to figure out the complexities of restoring the timeline. Future Claire and the Future Haitian show up and kill Future Peter and Current Peter barely escapes. Peter seeks out Future Mohinder for assistance and finds him fully morphed into something “not quite human” as he screwed up the formula. Through him Peter finds the fully domesticated Future Gabriel and his son (???) Noah. After the shock wears off Peter convinces Future Gabriel to teach him to access his power. Future Claire, Future Knox and Future Daphne show up to kill Peter (tracked with the help of Future Molly) and in the midst of a super-rumble young, innocent Noah becomes a victim of the assassin squad. Future Sylar goes nuclear and destroys all of Costa Verde in his anger and grief. Captured post Nuke, Peter is tortured by Future Claire till Future Nathan intervenes. Now possessed of Sylar’s insatiable quest for knowledge Future Peter almost kills Future Nathan and teleports back to the present to confront Present Sylar on how to control the ability.

Parkman: Still in the African wilderness with the Precog Shaman, Parkman dons the “Rap Music Spewing Walkman of Precognition” and partakes of God’s Herbs to open his Third Eye where he sees Current Peter’s Future scenario play out before him. He sees his marriage to Daphne, the child they have together and their raising of Molly Walker. He sees Sylar going nuclear and the Shaman’s vision comes true as Daphne, though escaping the blast to return to Matt, dies in his arms as she “wasn’t fast enough.”  Parkman comes to after his vision, consults with the Shaman and then follows his “Totem” (the turtle he first saw upon wakening in the desert) even deeper into the African wilderness.

Mohinder and Maya: Mohinder continues to devolve as he slowly succumbs to the base emotion of anger. He turns Maya away and intervenes in a neighbor’s domestic despite kicking his neighbor’s @$$ at the beginning and end of the episode

Nathan Petrelli & Tracy Strauss: Tracy tracks down the doctor who “created” her and learns of her other triplet Barbara. She learns that she and her sisters were genetically endowed with their powers at the behest of a “Company.” Disturbed she pleads with the doctor to remove her powers but he claims that he was made to “forget.” Grief-stricken she attempts to turn herself in for the death of the news reporter but she continues to lose control of her powers. She resigns as Nathan’s Chief of Staff and attempts suicide. Parallel to this Nathan continues to receive political advice from Linderman’s Spirit while asking for God’s. The Higher Power advises him to save Tracy. They reveal their powers to each other and finding her soulmate in Nathan, Tracy shares a passionate kiss with him. Fast forward 4 years to Future Peter’s world we learn Nathan in this timeline becomes President as well, this time with Tracy Strauss (or maybe Barbara, lol) as his First Lady.

Hiro & Ando: Hiro and Ando remain trapped in Level 2 and patch up their differences as they attempt to escape (to MUCH comical effect). Their attempt is thwarted as they are caught by The Haitian. Angela Petrelli intervenes and shares with them the danger the world is in at the loss of the formula the Nakamura clan guarded as it is the formula that gives people powers. She frees them to find the one person who knows how to track down the formula — the buried alive Takezo Kensei/Adam Munroe.

Thoughts

I LOVED this episode. We learned a ton and got some great action scenes as well. So it seems it was NOT Mohinder’s doing that gave everyone in the world “Black Market” powers but rather the long-buried/guarded Formula the Company developed that gave Nikki/Tracy/Barbara (and who knows who else) powers. Who’s attempting to put the formula back together? Commercials for tomorrow’s episode seems to indicate that it just maybe Papa Petrelli’s doing…

Question Threads:

1. Why do future Claire and company consider Peter to be an Extremist/Terrorist who needs to be killed/stopped at all cost? What the heck did Future Peter do??? How did Claire become so cold? What will happen when Current Peter next meets the current Claire?
2. It’s been two episodes since we’ve seen Elle. What’s up with her? Apparently the writer’s don’t know either as the Sprint commercial/contest asks for our input (1. Track down Sylar, 2. Take care of the Company or 3. Go to college).
3. Future Sylar domesticates and has a son. (???) Who’s the mother???
4. Who’s trying to put the formula back together? Is it Papa Petrelli? What does Adam Munroe have to do with it?
5. Armed with Sylar’s Intuitive Comprehension powers, Peter in theory now has the power to change the timeline, provided he can control his “hunger.” The question still remains though, SHOULD the timeline be tampered with?
6. How the heck do Daphne and Parkman wind up together? Where is Molly NOW? How much longer till Parkman gets back to America? Will the Shaman stay with him?
7. Where is Knox currently?

Tune in tomorrow. Heroes airs at 8:00 p.m. HST on NBC.

Movie/DVD Review: “The Love Guru”

Quote: “Mariska Hargitay” – Guru Pitka

Film: The Love Guru
Starring: Mike Meyers, Jessica Alba, Romany Alco
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: June 20, 2008
Watched: October 9, 2008 via Netflix
Ebert Rating: *
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 14%
My Netflix Rating: *** (Liked It)
Wikipedia Entry

Synopsis

Guru Pitka (Mike Meyers) is the #2 guru is the country spreading the Hindi wisdom and gospel of love. Down on her luck hockey team owner Jane Bullard (played by Jessica Alba) enlists Pitka to help her star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) refind his game winning mojo following a rough divorce.

Thoughts

The story of the movie was horrendously cheesy and not overly entertaining. Despite that the film did have a good share of LOL moments. Admittedly most of the gags were cheesy but the film does retain some entertainment value. Verne Troyer (he of Mini-Me fame) co-stars in the film as the hockey team’s coach. Another added bonus of the film, the music rocks as Meyers and crew do cover a wide variety of “money” songs (“More Than Words,” “Working Nine to Five,” “The Joker.”) One part in particular I did like about the film was some of the Guru Pitka’s teachings. While I’m sure Meyers meant many of them in jest, I did find a lot of them to be somewhat on the money and profound. To note:

1. Bible = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
2. Intimacy = Into Me I See
3. Nowhere = Now Here

DVD Features

The DVD contained the following set of standard features, all great and fun:

1. “Mike Meyers and The Love Guru: An Inside Look:” 9 min featurette behind the production.  Standard stuff with the cast giving their thoughts on the film and the producers talking about the film’s overall concept.  The cast looked like they had a ton of fun filming this
2. “One Helluva Elephant:”  5 minute 46 second featurette on the production behind the elephant sex scene.  Yup…
3. “Hockey Training for Actors:” 8 minute featurette on getting the actors prepped for the hockey scenes
4. Deleted and Extended Scenes: 11 deleted/extended scenes and 1 alternate ending
5. Bloopers: 3 minutes 50 seconds worth of production bloopers. Pretty funny
6. “Back In the Booth with Trent and Jay:” 5 minute reel of outtakes of the hockey announce team
7. Outtakes and More: 10 minutes worth
8. Theatrical Trailer
9. Previews

Overall the DVD features were probably better than the actual film itself, believe it or not

The Verdict

This movie was definitely “below average” and could probably use a “Self-Help” guru of its own. It wasn’t Meyers best outing but it has its moments.  Is it worth watching?  I’d say it’s a “flip a coin movie.” It’s not a total disaster per se and has some entertaining qualities but you won’t miss anything if you never see it.

Flip A Coin if you wish to watch but Save Your Money and pass on the purchase

Episode Review: Heroes – “One of Us, One of Them”

Quote: “Popcorn?” – Hiro Nakamura

Heroes Season 3 Episode 3 for me was a bit of a mixed bag. Don’t get me wrong, the episode was just as fun and entertaining as any other but there were bits that were somewhat disappointing for me (I’ll get to that in a bit). Perhaps my expectations are too high? On the plus side we got quite a bit of questions answered. On the down side I’m of the opinion the writer’s have perhaps closed off some interesting possibilities for the future by neutering some of the potentially interesting villians we met. Anyway, here we go…

Storyline Tracker

Hiro and Ando: Batman and Robin journey to Germany to hunt down the Nakamura Clan’s secret formula that Catwoman (Daphne the Flash) stole. In some pretty hilarious scenes they confront both Daphne and the returning Haitian. Internal animosities flare up between our two bff’s which lead to a malfunction at the junction and capture by our favorite big, spooky Black dude of Power Negation abilities. Nemesis Daphne makes off with both halves of the formula for the big pay day. Hiro and Ando are locked up on Level 5.

Parkman and the Shaman: Parkman’s spiritual journey continues in the African wilderness with the mysterious African Precog Painter. Seemingly this Precog only has (third) eyes for Parkman’s future as all the works we see are of Parkman’s life and times. That’s kinda creepy imho… Like with Mendez, we see the Shaman go into the “White-Eyed Zombie Zone” as he paints Parkman’s future. In the capstone to this storyline for this episode Parkman partakes of some (presumably) funky herbs and (presumably rap, j/k) music off the Shaman’s “Walkman of Insight” and enters the “White-Eyed Zombie Zone” himself thus opening his Third Eye to the infinite knowledge of the Universe. Lesson: Wanna see the future? Drug yourself up and listen to rap music

Claire: Wanting to learn how to fight Claire asks her birth mother Meredith to train her. She gets more than she bargains for as Meredith humbles her and advises her that “there’s nothing wrong with being just a 17 year-old girl.” Claire has other plans…

Peter Petrelli: Current Peter remains trapped in Jesse’s body and once revealed to Knox and Flint gets the Smackdown layed on him until he trigger’s Jesse’s power. Future Peter appears and frees Peter and takes him to the future to show him why he’s done what he’s done.

Tracy Strauss and Micah: We get our “Where’s Nikki” questions answered as Tracy Strauss tracks down Nikki and Micah to the New Orleans home Micah was last seen in last season. Tracy sees Nikki’s remains lying in state in her coffin and Micah thinks his mom’s returned from beyond for a sec. Through his power of Technopathy Micah researches Nikki and Tracy’s birth records and reveals they have the same birth date, were born in the same hospital and delivered by the same doctor. Tracy tracks down the doctor who reveals that he “created” her. Lesson: Ali Larter apparently will always have a job because even if Tracy Strauss bites the big one later this season or next season there’s apparently an army of Super-Bowered Nikki/Tracy clones to fill in the gap.

Sylar and Bennett: Bennett recaptures Flint and Jesse with Sylar’s help. Recidivism is Sylar’s middle name though as he can’t help himself and kills Jesse to take his power. Flint winds up locked up in Level 5 and Sylar gets returned to his cell as well. Knox makes a getaway.

Thoughts

The episode was fun. The interplay between Hiro and Ando and Bennett and Sylar respectively was hilarious. See “Lines of the Night” below. My biggest gripe with this episode was the way the writer’s treated the villains he’d seen built up over the last few episodes. To note: Magneto (The German) was killed off by his own partner Knox. Tell me an electromagnetism-wielding bad guy wouldn’t have ruled to see develop? (Hey, it worked for some OTHER super-hero franchise out there). Black Bolt (Jesse) was dispatched by Sylar after being built up last episode (“You don’t want to know what Jesse can do” – Noah Bennett). With the theme of season three being called “Villains” we are now down two. I sure hope Level 5 has more baddies to be tracked down as I just feel we kinda wasted two potentially interesting baddies. Not that we lack a Rogues Gallery between Daphne, Adam Monroe, Parkman’s Dad, the still-at-large Knox and the semi-rehabbing Sylar.

Question Threads:

1. Why is the Shaman so in tuned to Parkman’s life? Who is the woman shown that Parkman (or his dad???) is carrying? Whatever happened to Molly Walker?

2. What will become of Micah next now that his mom and dad are gone? Whatever became of his cousin Monica?

3. So it seems Nikki, Jessica and Tracy were part of a cloning project. How many more of them are out there?

4. So it seems Daphne’s boss now has this formula that can destroy world. What exactly is this formula?

5. Angela’s vision: has she been successful is changing things to avert it? Surely her manipulation of Sylar is part of it? Is she really Sylar’s mama?

6. No Mohinder or Maya this week?

Lines of the Night

Ando to Daphne: “I know what you’re trying to do. Hiro is my best friend. We will never leave each other’s side.” (turns to look at Hiro who has left to chase after the Haitian.) “Hiro???”

Ando to Hiro: “Quick, she’s getting away. Stop time.
Hiro: [tries to stop time but can't]
Haitian: [grabs Hiro and Ando
Hiro to Haitian: “Popcorn?”

Sylar to cop: “We’ll need some coffee.”
Sylar to Bennett: “You like decaf, right?”

Next Week

Current Peter sees the Future.

Episode Review: Heroes – “The Second Coming” and “The Butterfly Effect”

Quote: “Stop punishing me for something I haven’t done yet” – Ando

Good times are ahead as with no writer’s strike in the way, Heroes has graced us with its return for a 3rd season.

NBC treated us to a triple dose of Heroes love with a 1 hour “Countdown” special and two-hour premiere featuring two episodes of Heroes goodness: “The Second Coming” and “The Butterfly Effect.”

Storyline Tracker (spoilers if you haven’t watched it yet)

Nathan: In the titular storyline of the premiere, post assassination attempt Nathan sees the Power of Christ compelling him to raise from the dead to Spread the Gospel. He also starts to channel Cole Sear and starts to see dead people as Linderman makes his return from Season One. Nathan is propositioned by the debuting Tracy Strauss to become the newly appointed junior Senator of New York.

Mohinder: With the help of Maya’s genes he develops a serum that gives the average person powers. He injects himself and turns himself into Spider-Man apparently. The side effect? He becomes a major mac daddy and scores himself some hot Latina love action from Maya.

Hiro and Ando: Discontent with taking over his father’s corporation and feeling the need for adventure Hiro learns of his family’s role in protecting the world from a dangerous secret falling into the wrong hands. He finds the secret only to have it stolen from him by a super-speed toting femme fatale (doh!!!). Morever, he heads to the future to see what happens only to see yet another Post-Apocalyptic world where a super-powered Ando kills him (???).

Sylar: Back to full power Sylar acquires the one power he’s dreamed off — Claire’s regenerative abilities. He embarks on the hunt again to take more powers but is taken down (mishappenly) by Mr. Bennett and Elle and is detained by the Company.

Elle and Mr. Bennett: They take down Sylar. Bennett gets ready to go after the Level 5 escapees. Elle finds herself on the unemployment line with a nasty facial scar courtesy of Sylar.

Matt Parkman: Exiled by Future Peter to the Sahara Parkman comes across yet another Precog painter and has a hilarious encounter with a turtle.

Peter Petrelli: The season opener reveals it was Future Peter who comes to take out his brother to stop an Apocalyptic Future from happening. Like in all his incarnations Future Peter is one bad mofo and he locks away current Peter in the body of one of the Villains on Level 5.

Claire: Following her encounter with Sylar Claire no longer feels any pain when injured and starts to question her own humanity.

Question Threads

While addressing questions we’ve had, like any other good storyline we are left with more questions to ask and an equal amount of questions unanswered:

1. Is Nikki Sanders and Tracy Strauss the same person? They look alike. They act alike. Nikki Sanders was last seen in a burning building at the end of Season 2. You could make a strong claim that Tracy Strauss is yet another one of poor Nikki’s 8 million personalities aside from the fact Tracy has a different power (cryokinesis). So, are they two different people or has Nikki manifested two bad @$$ powers? If they are different people, where is Nikki?

2. Where are Micah and Monica? (Last seen escaping the same burning building Nikki was in).

3. What makes Claire so special? Sylar told her she was special and could never die. Future Claire was also very caught up in her “specialness” before attempting to blow Peter away.

4. What’s the deal with Linderman and Nathan Petrelli? Is Nathan plain crazy and just “seeing” things in terms of Linderman or is Linderman’s spirit legitimately following and guiding Nathan from beyond?

5. Who is this mysterious precog African Shaman who’s taken Parkman under his wing?

6. What is this mysterious secret formula the Nakamura clan has guarded for years? Who does the mysterious speedster work for that wants it?

7. What are these two futures we’ve seen: the future that Future Peter comes from and the one seen by Hiro? Are they related? Can they be prevented? SHOULD they be prevented?

8. The Level 5 villains? Mr. Bennett says they can destroy the world and make Sylar look like kindergarten in comparison. Angela Petrelli saw a future where they’ve basically killed all our Heroes as we know them. That’s spooky. Just who are these baddies? What are their powers and what are their intentions?

9. What happened to the villain (Jesse) whose body Peter is inhabiting? Is he dead? Does Peter still retain his own powers within that guy’s body?  Bennett told Claire you “don’t want to know what Jesse can do.”  Just how bad is Jesse?

10. Mr. Bennett was locked up on Level 5 with the rest of the “Villains.” What does that say about Bennett’s “dangerousness.” lol

11.  With Bennett going after these baddies the Haitian can’t be far behind from making his return.

12.  Is Angela REALLY Sylar’s mama???

Lines of the Night

In a wink-nudge to Season One, the writer’s forever dispelled how it is that Sylar’s acquired other people’s powers through this brilliant exchange when Sylar captures Claire to take her power.

Claire (with head ripped open): “Are you going to eat it?”

Sylar: “Eat your brain? Claire that’s disgusting.”

Another awesome exchange came at the expense of Parkman who’s on the verge of dying in the African wilderness:

Disembodied Voice seemingly from the turtle: “That plant there, it will give you water.“

Parkman (awaking, dying of thirst): “Thank you turtle!!! You saved my life!!!“

Shaman: “Why are you talking to a turtle?“

A final hilarious exchange comes between Hiro and Ando as they attempt to track down the speed vixen:

Ando: “Does Batman put Robin in danger when he sets a trap for Catwoman?“

Hiro: “Sometimes. To teach him a lesson.“

Ando: “Stop punishing me for something I haven’t done yet!“

Hiro: “Don’t kill me and I won’t punish you!“

Coming Up Next

Heroes is back Monday’s just got a lot more fun. Can’t wait till tomorrow’s episode

Episode Review: Knight Rider – “A Knight in Shining Armor”

Quote: “Michael Long? Sounds like a pornstar.” – Zoe Chae

After the success of the 2008 film pilot, Knight Rider is back on air in it’s 3rd and most successful tv revival to date.

Show Premise

For those of you too young (oh my god…) to remember the original 80’s Knight Rider series it was
the show that forever put David Hasselhoff on the map. The series, in both incarnations, basically follows the story of a guy with a really cool car and team of back-end supporters fighting to protect the everyday common person and save the world from the bad guys.

New World, New Knight
If you missed both the pilot movie and the season premiere, the new series follows the adventures of Mike Traceur who in the storyline is the estranged son of Michael Knight. Traceur is a former Iraq War vet who gets recruited to carry on his father’s legacy and is awarded a new version of K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand).

The Producers of Knight Rider seemed primed to make this go around of Knight Rider a success where other syndicated sequels have failed. The new K.I.T.T. is about 80X cooler from the original as it’s able to morph itself into different vehicles through the power of nanotechnology. Capitalizing on the success of other successful spy/government ops shows like Alias and 24 the series has included a colorful cast of supporting characters in the opps room including Paul Campbell as Billy Morgan and Smith Cho as Zoe Chae whose quirky characters, interactions and lines seem ready to take on Alia’s Marshall Finkman and 24’s Chloe O’Brian as show stealers.

Quips of the Knight (paraphrased):

Exchange 1:

Billy Morgan: “I hold advanced degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and chemistry.“

Zoe Chae: “I speak 9 different languages. We should make a baby.”

Exchange 2:

Mike Traceur: “My father’s real name was Michael Long.“

Zoe Chae: “Michael Long? Sounds like a porn star.“

Mystery Man

Another interesting take the story writer’s have taken with our new Michael Knight? He’s a man of mystery as parts of his past seem to be blocked from his memory. In the season premiere Knight comes across different opps in the field who know him but he has no clue who they are or how they met. A former Iraqi War vet K.I.T.T.’s scan of his service records indicate tons of classified files and gaps in service records stretching weeks or months at a time with Traceur having NO CLUE as to what happened. Man with a mysterious past and missing memories? Hey, it’s helped Wolverine’s longevity for 30+ years.

I won’t get into too much depth as to the episode itself but all I can say is that hopefully this Knight Rider incarnation gains good traction and doesn’t blow out its tires like so many other revival attempts of the past.

Buckle in for the adventure as Michael Knight and K.I.T.T. ride off to save the world once again – 2K8 style.

Movie/DVD Review: Redbelt

Quote: “There is no situation you can not escape.” – Mike Terry

Film: Redbelt
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Randy Couture
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Originally Released: May 9, 2008
Watched: September 19, 2008 via Netflix
Ebert Rating: ***
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%
My Netflix Rating: *** (Liked It)
Wikipedia Entry

Synopsis

Self-Defense Brazillian Jiu-jitsu instructor Mike Terry falls upon hard financial times and finds himself caught in a sick web of deception far beyond his control and is forced to enter an MMA tournament to desperately come up with the cash he needs. What’s a man to do in his situation? The right thing, of course.

Thoughts

The film itself told a nice story about always doing the right thing, no matter what. Terry’s character is very admirable and despite all the chaos going on around him he always chose to do what was right — not what was popular. For that I give the film a thousand kudos. The actual storytelling was a bit hit or miss as the layers of plot got a little tricky to follow. The action sequences were pretty cool although I miss my Jet Li and Jackie Chan styled fighting but BJJ is a bad @$$ system in its own right which (as seen in the film) can easily dislocate an elbow or choke a person out in seconds.

DVD Features

The DVD contained the following set of standard features, all great and fun:

1. Commentary Track with David Mamet and Randy Couture
2. “Behind the Scenes of ‘Redbelt’” Documentary: 19 minutes. Standard behind the scenes documentary featuring thoughts from the production staff and cast.
3. “Inside Mixed Martial Arts” Documentary: 18 minutes, 52 seconds. History of BJJ, UFC and NHB competition.
4. Q&A with Director David Mamet: 26 minutes. Publicly moderated interview with David Mamet
5. An Interview with Dana White: 16 minutes, 52 seconds. Dana White talks about the early days of the UFC, the challenges in getting UFC on TV, how and why MMA has gone mainstream and the necessity of being a well-versed fighter who knows a little bit of every style.
6. Fighter Profiles: 4 minutes, 11 seconds. Profiles of the martial arts legends in the film including: Renato Magno, John Machado, Dan Inosanto, Randy Couture, Ray Mancini, Enson Inoue, Rico Chiapparelli
7. The Magic of Cyril Takayama: 4 minutes, 36 seconds. Magician Cyril Takayama talks about his life in magic and his role in the film.
8. Theatrical Trailer
9. Previews

The Verdict

The film tells a great story. It is possible to maintain your dignity and integrity in the face of adversity when it is easier to go with the flow. The fight scenes are great and so is the story. The storytelling is alright. Overall, it’s a film worth watching for sure.

Is the DVD worth buying? If you’re a MMA fan I’d say it’s a must-buy. The interviews with Dana White and the documentaries on MMA are great and well done so if you’re a MMA person definitely go out and buy this. If you’re not a MMA person then I say flip a coin.

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