WWE Hell in a Cell Reaction

Pre-show:

John Cena comes out and addresses the "scandal" between him and AJ that cost her the GM job. Anyway to get John Cena on WWE programming I guess. I wasn't really paying attention because this angle doesn't really interest me, but maybe RAW tomorrow will change my opinion.


Hell in a Cell opens up with a damn good intro which could've been better without Show and Sheamus in it, but I digress.

Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio

Orton and Del Rio kick off Hell in a Cell with a average match. Not one of their best encounters, but it was still solid, yet sloppy. Del Rio was the aggressor telling a story and really going to work on Orton's arm selling that point. The match ends with Del Rio scaling the top rope, but landing into an RKO. Pretty sick spot. Orton picks up the win.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match 
Daniel Bryan & Kane vs Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow

Great tag team match between two great teams. Sandow & Rhodes did the traditional tag team wrestling with quick tags, teamwork and everything in between. We saw some great ring action with Daniel Bryan and Damien Sandow who seem to work well together. But let's get to the meat of the matter. The end of the match sees Kane going completely ballistic and hammering away on Sandow and Rhodes so furiously that the ref has to call for the bell. Kane and Bryan seemed to "self-destruct" during the match as well. So, Kane and Bryan lose the match, but they keep the titles because of the disqualification. Didn't think they would go this route. The feud between these two teams is going to continue, but does this mean Rhodes and Sandow are going to capture the tag titles soon, or is this just something WWE came up with so that Kane and Bryan don't get old?

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Kofi (c) vs The Miz

So far, this match is the Match of the Night. It was fast pace, back and forth and so fluid. Miz and Kofi have tremendous chemistry in the ring with each other and despite having no story going into this one, this match was great. In the end, Kofi hits Miz with the Trouble in Paradise for the win retaining the IC Title. I really do hope the IC Title launches Kofi's career. He deserves it. I feel like this is just the beginning.

WWE United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (c) vs Justin Gabriel

Well what do you know? The United States Champion does have a match..

GREAT match. Wow. I never really watched much of Justin Gabriel in singles competition, but on a pay-per-view stage, this kid can GO. By go, I mean he's a great wrestler and phenomenal athlete. Despite the crowd being dull as dishwater since the opening of the show, these two guys put on a great match. I already know how good Cesaro is in the ring, but Gabriel is so agile, making him so mobile and his moves look so fluid, especially working with a guy like Cesaro, they can make each other look good. But getting off that, Cesaro picks up the win the Neutralizer and retains the US Title. What I noticed is that he didn't have Aksana at ringside? Cesaro isn't the best on the mic, so he needs some sort of mouthpiece.

Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs The Primetime Players

Nothing really special. Haven't seen PTP in a while, and they're really trying to push Mysterio and Cara as a legit tag team as the new school version of Mysterio and Guerrero, but those are HUGE shoes to fill. Better yet, their teamwork reminds of Brian Kendrick and Paul London. Never heard of them? Of course not. Look them up and educate yourselves.

Getting to the match, I didn't pay much mind to it. I've seen these teams wrestle before and this really was nothing new. Maybe this should've been.....I don't know....a #1 Contenders match? But nonetheless, it was an enjoyable match. Mysterio and Sin Cara get the win.

On another note, Cara took what looked like a sick bump to the outside landing on Titus and he looks to have injured himself.....again. But he got up and celebrated with Rey. I guess we'll know more later.



While we have some time, let's recap so far. 3 title matches, all 3 Champs retained, the crowd sucks which further proves how some crowds can affect a pay-per-view. You would think after WrestleMania 27, WWE would know Atlanta crowds are bad WWE crowds. But meh. At this point, Kofi and Miz had the Match of the Night so far. The only thing, on my mind at least, is the WWE Championship match.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (c) vs Big Show

Well, I was wrong on two things:

1) I actually liked this match. It didn't go as long as I thought. They made it short and sweet. Well, sort of. A good portion of this match was DOMINATED by Big Show. I mean pure domination. Sheamus got beat down to the point where he had welts on his chest. This match told a great story of how dominant The Giant really is. It took a while for Sheamus to get his offense going, but when he did, the match really picked up. Sheamus got Big Show up for the White Noise move, and even kicked out of Big Show's KO Punch which FINALLY woke the crowd up a little bit. But he didn't do it again. Sheamus geared up for the Brogue Kick, but Show hit him with the KO Punch in mid-motion and won the World Title.

2) I was wrong about Big Show and the World Title. Upon Big Show's return to the WWE, they were really pushing the fact that he's a Giant and since they don't want him carrying the WWE Champion, the World Heavyweight Championship seems more his game right now because who's going to take him down? Obviously, Sheamus is going to want revenge and has a rematch clause somewhere, so this feud isn't over. And no Ziggler cash-in, so we'll still have to wait on that.

Good match. Really surprised me. Hope Big Show has a good reign with the World Title this time around.

Triple Threat match for the Divas Championship
Eve (c) vs Layla vs Kaitlyn

Despite the crowd being dead as usual, this match was pretty solid. Even though the division has been so bad, there have been some good divas matches. In this match, Kaitlyn really shined. We know how good Eve and Layla are, but Kaitlyn had some pretty good ring time in this match and showed people what she can do and she's improved in the ring in the last few months. But even after all that, Eve retains the Divas Title. Not too surprised there.

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Championship
CM Punk (c) vs Ryback

This was it. The Main Event. The Big Fight. THE MATCH. CM Punk vs Ryback for the WWE Championship. After the well done video package highlighting their feud, CM Punk makes his way out first, followed by Ryback. This match had a great big fight feel and they really sold the fact Punk was staring death in the face. The match started the way I figured. Punk was avoiding Ryback until he finally got caught and beatdown. He waited for the right distraction and pounced on the opportunity. This match was moving at a slow pace which was just fine for me. In a match of this magnitude, you didn't need to rush anything. This match told a good story that Punk needed to do more than usual to take Ryback down. Punk needed to depend on multiple weapons to bring him down and for short amount of time was in control of the monster Ryback. You can't make Punk look like a complete rag doll. The man is the WWE Champion so it was only a matter of time until he started dominating for a little bit.

And now, we come to end of the match. Punk was hitting Ryback with a Singapore cane, but Ryback had enough, grabbed the cane and tossed it out of the ring. He did the usual moves which included his meat hook clothesline. He got Punk up for the shell shock, but was stopped and low blowed by.......wait for it..........THE REFEREE. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, the referee stopped Ryback and dropped him with a low blow. Punk rolled him up and the ref fast counted Ryback's shoulders down. Punk wins and retains the WWE Championship.

But wait, there's more! Punk and the crooked ref try to get out of the Cell, but the referee outside was fumbling with the keys and couldn't unlock it in time. Ryback got up and he made both men pay. The referee took quite a bump. Ryback brought him into the ring and tossed him outside the ring right into the Cell. Punk climbed to the top of the Cell to get away from Ryback, who followed. I was going through every possible scenario in my head of what they were going to do up there until I remembered that WWE is PG so, instead of somebody flying off, or going through the Cell, the best we got was just a simple shell shock onto the top of the Cell. The show ends with Ryback literally with his foot on Punk's chest doing the "Feed Me More!"



Ok, so Brock Lesnar didn't show up. Let me get that out of the way right now. But this match did what it had to. Punk kept the WWE Championship and Ryback's character wasn't damaged. As a matter of fact, after his actions after the match, his Monster character grew immensely and looked every bit as strong as he did before the match. It looks like WWE did create that new star that they wanted.

Now, I bet people are going to complain about the screwjob ending. This tells a few things. First of all, people were going to complain no matter how that match ended. Second, WWE backed themselves into a corner and had no clue how to really end this match, and that was the best they could come up with. But the ending really isn't as bad as people are saying. Let's be honest, did any of you see the referee screwing over Ryback? Better yet, did you call it a few weeks ago? If you did, you can either see into the future, or you're a damn liar. People are always saying that the one thing WWE doesn't have anymore is unpredictability. I certainly didn't predict the referee getting involved. If you didn't like how it ended, then please enlighten me on how you would've ended the match given the complications going into it.

I don't like the referee screwjob either, but I give them points on the swerve I guess. CM Punk needed to win and Ryback couldn't become the WWE Champion. Like I said in my last blog post, I don't think he was ready, but I also said him winning the title down the road won't mean as much if he were to win here.

Overall, this show was ok. I wasn't really expecting a stellar show, but it wasn't bad. Miz/Kofi had the best wrestling match of the night, the Show/Sheamus match shocked me not only by the way the match went, but with Show winning the World Title, and Punk retains his title, Ryback is still the Monster. Everybody goes home happy. The only problem I had was the crowd. They were AWFUL.

I'll score this show a C+. The only reason I tuned in was to see Punk vs Ryback and while that match didn't disappoint me, I can't say the rest of the show filled me with joy either. Today's new WWE PG fans are going to remember Ryback standing over Punk on top of the Cell for quite some time. It would be interesting to see how they follow up with this. Do they go back to Punk/Cena or is Ryback going to get his rematch?


Feel free to Comment.



By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

CM Punk vs Ryback: Final Thoughts and Analysis

Well.....this is it. This is the ONLY match that I am looking forward to tonight. Because let's be honest, this WWE Championship match is selling the pay-per-view. Wrestling wise, there's gonna be some great wrestling. No doubt about it. But as far as storylines go, as always, there's not a lot of intrigue in any match on the card besides CM Punk vs Ryback. I'm not invested in the other matches, and this card has been so rushed and so poorly built, the wrestling and this match is the only thing that can save it. But I will be fair and give my predictions on the rest of the matches before I address the BIG one. I'll make them short and sweet.

They tried so hard to build a story between these three divas, but because the division has become so horrible and storylines cease to exist with the divas, it's hard to be invested in this. Eve is somewhat over, Layla isn't, and Kaitlyn is just fluttering around. I would say give the title to Kaitlyn since she got "taken out" at Night of Champions, but I see Eve retaining.

The match is going to be great, but there's no story. Why does Del Rio hate Orton? Why does Orton have to fight him? Why do I even have to care about this match? There has been no story built to make me invested. Orton wins, and Del Rio continues to flutter around just like Kaitlyn.

They've worked extremely hard in re-building the tag team division and even harder building credible tag teams. They have two winners right here. Kane and Bryan dominated the end of August and all of September with their chemistry, but does it end here? I don't think so. I like this team of The Rhodes Scholars. I'm a fan of Cody Rhodes, and an even bigger fan of Damien Sandow. But Bryan and Kane are way too over to not win.

This is another match that's going to be fun to watch, but again no story, no investment. They started out good building one up on Miz Tv a few weeks ago, but they haven't carried it and extended it. Kofi won the title on WWE's Main Event for god sakes, and since there's been no promo exchanges and no storyline progression to make me care. The Miz didn't do much with the IC Title when he had it, and Kofi will probably do even less. Kofi just won it, so he's gonna retain.

Oh boy...*sigh* I don't know where to start with this one. You talk about a match that I absolutely do not care about. The only thing they've done to somewhat build this match up is the Brogue Kick vs Big Show's KO Punch. While that's a starting point, that's not a good enough reason to make me care about this match. Sheamus' title reign in general has not been interesting and his character doesn't help that much either. What can you say about Big Show. He's been doing this for a long time. There's not much else he can do to make me care any more. Obviously Sheamus is going to win, cause what reason is there to put the title on Show? Maybe unless Dolph Ziggler comes out to cash in the briefcase? That's a factor worth mentioning.


Antonio Cesaro will defend the United States Championship against.....oh wait. The United States Champion doesn't have a match on the card. Go figure.

And for all the little kids, age 8 and above, John Cena will be on the pre-show. Even when he's not on the card, we still need to see and hear from him.


And now onto the MAIN EVENT. The match that will sell this show: CM Punk vs Ryback for the WWE Championship. This match has got a lot of people talking. WWE will once in a while get back that shock value where you never know what's going to happen, and they've done it again with this match. People may have an idea of what may happen in this match, but they don't know for sure. We don't know which way WWE is going to go with this one. We really don't. And that's what makes this match so appealing.

But I'm gonna break down this match, scenarios and give my final thoughts on what'll happen.

You cannot harm CM Punk's current title reign. If not for the fact that The Rock has a WWE Championship match waiting for him at the Royal Rumble, then by all means, I would say Ryback would be the new WWE Champion tonight. But if you keep the title on Punk until the Rumble extending his current reign past a year, his match with The Rock means a lot more that way if Punk were to lose tonight and regain it at Survivor Series, or at TLC. Punk's 1-year title reign vs The Rock pretty much sells itself.

Ryback cannot lose clean. Ryback's character since his debut has been a MONSTER. That's what he does. He comes in, destroys his competition, and leaves. You cannot have your Monster lose clean without any type of interference because that makes him look weak. CM Punk's title reign has certainly made him the alpha dog in the WWE, but he cannot beat Ryback clean. Same reason why Goldberg never lost a clean match. To beat a Monster, you're going to need a little help. You can't do it on your own. Ryback has gained so much momentum in the last few weeks and if he loses clean, you take all the wind out of his sails. But at least if takes a mounted effort to beat him, you know the Monster still is strong because it took a lot to put him down.

And also, for some odd reason, this match is inside the Hell in a Cell. So you can forget about ending the match on a DQ, or any sort of countout or double pin nonsense to keep the title on Punk like they did at Night of Champions. There MUST be a winner.

Can Ryback work a long match? The biggest problem with Goldberg was because he was so dominant, he was used to the short, quick matches, but when the matches got longer, you saw that he was average at best, but got better as his career moved on. Ryback's matches have not even exceeded 5 minutes. And you can't have a 5-10 minute Main Event Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Championship. That just won't do. This match has to go 15 minutes or longer.

Do you take the chance? Is this the night where you make a new star in Ryback? A lot of people, myself included, have complained about Cena constantly being the main event because there's nobody else at "that" level. Now due to Cena's injury, there's a new face in the main event. Do you pull the trigger and give Ryback the title? All these months of hype and squash matches won't mean jack if he doesn't win the WWE Championship. But is Ryback the superstar of the future? Is he ready? Can he carry the WWE as its Champion? Can WWE survive the backlash if Ryback turns out that he's not ready? Will Lesnar interfere? Will Cena have a role in this match? You only get one shot at this sort of thing. If Ryback wins the WWE title somewhere down the road, it won't mean as much. If you're looking for that moment to make a new star, it would have to be tonight.

Ryback can't lose, CM Punk can't lose. If Ryback is going to get beat, it's going to take numbers. I said it before, if Ryback is going to lose, Brock Lesnar will be the reason, unless WWE pulls something completely out of left field. If CM Punk loses, then you have a star for the future, but you have to think about the booking going forward and how things will be when The Rock comes back to hype his Royal Rumble match.  Recently, WWE has never thought of the long term effects of some things.

I say CM Punk is going to retain the WWE Championship. CM Punk's title reign has been very good, almost a year now. If you want his match with The Rock to have that extra something, he needs to keep the title and milk his reign for all its worth so when he faces The Rock, it's BIG. Ryback has to lose, and I hate that it has to happen, but I just don't think he's ready to be the WWE Champion.

Tonight is the night. Do you have your WWE Champion end the unbeaten streak of the Monster that you've pushed so much, or do you look toward the future and make this Monster the Champion and prove that you don't need John Cena on the marquee every pay-per-view? Tonight is going to answer A LOT of questions. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Week 7 Wrap-Up and look ahead to Week 8

We're almost at the end of October, and we're starting to learn a lot about these teams. Let's go through a few of the games.

Seattle 6

San Francisco 13

If there was any doubt that San Fran was still the class of the NFC West, this game should've quieted down the critics. Russell Wilson and Seattle isn't ready to dethrone San Fran in the NFC West. That defense still continues to make The Niners look strong, but Alex Smith needs to change how he does things. It's not necessarily him, but the offensive coordinator in charge. They're trying to make Alex Smith into Joe Montana. That's not his game, he proved already twice this season, that The Niners can't win games on his arm alone. He's just a game manager, nothing more, nothing less. Last season, he wasn't throwing the ball 50 times, he was just making the small plays to get his team over the hump. They gotta evaluate things cause they have to travel to Arizona Monday night.

Baltimore 13

Houston 43

I mean, this complete domination by Houston. Baltimore couldn't move the ball and they couldn't stop the Texans offensive attack. Not to mention, the defense was all over Flacco all day long. With the Ravens losing, Ray Lewis, Ledarius Webb, Haloti Ngata, and maybe Ed Reed, The Ravens are on the verge of collapsing.

But then again, I just think Baltimore had a bad day and Houston had a really good day. Nothing more, nothing less. The Ravens are on their bye next week so they have time to figure things out. Houston feels pretty good about themselves going into their bye week as well.

Washington 23

New York 27

In one of the more entertaining games of the day, RG3 took on Eli Manning in a great division battle. And to be quite honest, RG3 didn't disappoint. The Redskins, in my opinion, outplayed The Giants, but where they messed was on turnovers. Too many turnovers, too many mistakes that could've given them the win. Not like Eli played better himself throwing 2 picks, but he threw the game winning TD to Cruz for a 27-23 lead with under a minute to go.

The Redskins now know that they can beat The Giants but they can't these mistakes in doing so. They need to shape up because they have a tough challenge at Pittsburgh this Sunday. The Giants have a crucial game against The Cowboys.

New York 26

New England 29

I'll hand it to The Jets, they fought valiantly. I thought they would for sure get blown out, but their defense helped them out a little bit and kept it close. But Brady proved just why he is the man. When the game went into OT, Brady led the Pats down the field from their 20 in about 3 or 4 plays. Sanchez on the next drive got sacked and fumbled the ball giving The Patriots the win.

The Pats continue to prove their overratedness. The Jets defense isn't as good as it used to be when Rex fist started, but they still held Brady in check. Sanchez simply has nobody to throw to. The only trustworthy receiver he has is Jeremy Kerley and now that Keller is back, he'll get more help, but still needs more. Stephen Hill dropped a pass in the fourth that could've given the Jets a first down and a chance to probably win the game. The New England defense again surrendered a lead in the fourth quarter. The Pats pack their bags for London to take on......The St. Louis Rams. That should be fun to watch. The Jets have a strong division foe in Miami coming to town. 

Pittsburgh 24

Cincinnati 17

Down 14-3 on the road to a division foe, The Steelers made just enough plays to come back and get the win. Even when Big Ben threw a pick and fumbled the ball, The Steelers still didn't give up. The Bengals played solid football balancing their passing and rushing game, but it still wasn't enough. They pretty much dominated the first half, but after that, Pittsburgh took control and tipped the game back in their favor. Their defense may be old, but they still found ways to win. The Bengals are growing, but they're still not ready to take down Baltimore or Pittsburgh.

Things to learn from Week 7:

1) So far, Houston looks like the best team in the AFC. After them, the rest of the teams are struggling to find their identity. Most of them are either 4-3, or 3-4. Not bad, but not good either.

2) Arizona isn't who we thought they were. They've got one last shot to prove their still alive in the NFC West with a game at home against San Francisco.

3) The Saints and Packers are slowly getting back on track. Brees is determined to turn this team around, but I still don't believe they'll make the playoffs. The Packers are determined to prove they are still an elite team.

4) I'm still not sold on the Vikings. They're 5-2, but they've only played one division game against a Detroit team that clearly isn't the same team from last season. The jury is still out on Minnesota until they play Green Bay and Chicago.

5) Cam Newton and The Panthers are in quite a slump. Cam looked great last season, but it's not looking too good for him this season. It doesn't get any better for him playing at Chicago on Sunday.



Matchups to watch in Week 8:

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets

The Dolphins aren't the same team The Jets earlier in the season. Miami has gotten better, but playing on the road makes this a tough test. Nonetheless, with the AFC East looking so wide open, this is a must win for both teams.


Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

Unbeaten Atlanta goes on the road to take on The Eagles. This smells like a trap game. Philly, coming off their bye and with all their problems, are looking to do anything to get a moral victory to keep themselves relevant. They fired their defensive coordinator after blowing another fourth quarter lead to Detroit. The Falcons maybe a heavy favorite heading into this, but with a new defensive coordinator and an offense that can combat Atlanta's, this could be a trap. Then again, I could be wrong, but this is just a gut feeling. Vick needs to watch out because the Falcon's defense has been playing extremely well this season.


Washington Redskins at Pittsburgh Steelers

RG3 vs Big Ben. Two guys that can move out of the pocket and make plays with their feet. But who's mobility will help them out in this game? Playing in Pittsburgh is always tough, but with RG3's performance in New York, I can't see them getting blown out. It's going to be close, good game. Both these teams are looking to make some headway in their divisions.


New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

I think is THE game of the weekend. This is such a crucial division match. On opening night, in New York, after the ring ceremony and all the hype and fanfare, Dallas marched in and beat The Giants. But can they do it again? Eli Manning and The Giants have beaten Romo three straight seasons in Dallas' new stadium, if that means anything. The Cowboys NEED this win for themselves. If they sweep The Giants, I predict that they just might win the division. The Giants already lost to Philly, but I feel like Dallas is the more prominent threat here. Giants fans may think they have in the bag, but I wouldn't be too sure about that. It's hard to predict, but with all due respect to RG3 and Michael Vick, the winner of this game wins the NFC East.


New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos

Now, THIS is going to a good one. So many storylines heading into this one: Peyton Manning vs Drew Brees for the first time since Super Bowl 46, and you know Peyton still wants his payback from that. After what Drew Brees did to the Bucs, can the Denver defense stop The Saints' offense? Can Denver win a game without spotting the opponent 20 points and have to rely on another comeback win? Can The Saints handle the altitude at mile high? All this and more equal one hell of a Sunday night game. If The Saints want to make the playoffs, they need this win, and with a 3-3 record, The Broncos also need this win.



San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals

The Niners already put down Seattle, and now they face Arizona. The Niners can take full command of this division with a win here. If Arizona wants to remain relevant and prove that they are who we thought they were, they need to win this game.


Pretty much the theme of Week 8 is must win. For most teams, is must win to keep themselves relevant and staying alive hoping to make the playoffs. We'll see just who wants it more this Sunday.

Punk vs Ryback: My thoughts

CM Punk vs Ryback for the WWE Championship has been set in stone for WWE Hell in a Cell. Before I comment on the match itself, I just wanna make some quick points about last night's RAW.


1) The Sheamus/Big Show feud is boring. Sheamus is boring, Big Show is boring, there's been no build, and no story. Yet, it's inside the Hell in a Cell. I remember when Hell in a Cell was used solely to put an end to feuds.

2) AJ has had 3 months to win me over as RAW GM, but she hasn't. Her character has gotten boring to me too. She can't control her show, her delivery on the mic takes away from certain promos, and I just can't take her seriously.

3) If they're really going to push Rhodes and Sandow as a legit tag team, give them some mic time. This is just telling me that they're only together to job to Bryan and Kane at Hell in a Cell.

4) Miz vs Kofi. Tonight was a good start to what could be a good feud if built up correctly.

5) Antonio Cesaro is exceptional athlete, but sometimes I forget he's the United States Champion. Maybe if he.....I don't know......DEFENDED the title sometimes and actually had somebody to FEUD with, rather than beat down Jobbers all the time, I'd be more invested in him.

6) Nobody cares about the Divas anymore which is sad. It's like nobody even cares about this division anymore and the crickets during the divas match last night only continues to show how far the division has fallen.

7) I thought this hugging nonsense was through. I guess not.


Ok, now let's get to Punk vs Ryback. The contract signing to end RAW pretty much went down like this: Cena gave up his title shot to Ryback and Ryback dropped Punk. All this because John Cena had to have injury on his shoulder. They've done a good job working Ryback into this story. His staredown with Punk a few weeks ago was intense.

I think this match will work and will draw in a lot of people. The pops for Ryback have gotten bigger and bigger each week and every moment he's in the ring with Punk is must see. But what kind of match is this going to be. The monster has to dominate, but this is the WWE Champion we're talking about. He shouldn't be destroyed. It makes the mechanics of this match very interesting.

But now that this match is set, what do you do? Who wins? There's no DQ or count out finish to be done here because the match is inside the Hell in a Cell, so somebody has to win. CM Punk has to leave Hell in a Cell the WWE Champion. Here's why:

Ryback CAN NOT be pinned clean. That's out of the question. His momentum will die right there. If CM Punk beats Ryback, Ryback loses A LOT of steam that he picked up during this feud and then what? People won't take him as serious and he's only going to go down from here. Also, let's be honest, Ryback is not ready and not established enough to hold the WWE's top Championship. I don't care how over he is, he's not legitimate enough to hold the title. The only way Ryback loses the match without losing any momentum is if Punk has some help. And by help, I mean somebody interfering on his behalf and costing Ryback the match.

You can't put the belt on Ryback either. If WWE are really pushing for CM Punk to face The Rock at The Royal Rumble, you can't kill the champ's momentum and drop the belt to Ryback only to regain it later. The booking there makes no sense and a loss to Ryback will only kill CM Punk's credibility as Champion. You've gotta make Punk look as strong as possible so that when he does face The Rock, it's a BIG moment.

The only other scenario they do now is, if healthy, add Cena to the match. If Cena isn't 100% ready to go, make things really interesting and make Cena the guest referee.

Either way, if it stays Punk vs Ryback, Punk HAS to win. The only way that happens is if somebody interferes and that somebody will be Brock Lesnar. Lesnar costs Ryback the match, Punk retains the title, and nobody loses any momentum.

Lesnar doesn't half to interfere for Punk. You forget Punk is aligned with Paul Heyman. So is Brock Lesnar. Keep that in mind.


Feel free to Comment.


By Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

NFL Week 6 Recap and Week 7 Preview

Another weekend of NFL Football in the books, and it's time for the weekly recap and a look ahead to Week 7.

Denver 35

San Diego 24

Peyton Manning and The Broncos were down 24-0 at halftime due to numerous mistakes on special teams, and miscues on the offense. The defense dominated as well returning a pick for a TD on Manning. This was looking at last week all over again. But then, they played the second half.

The Broncos outscored the Chargers 35-0 in the second half. Manning came out and took command of the offense throwing 3 TD passes, the defense adjusted and picked off Rivers 4 times including a Pick 6. Peyton Manning completes the biggest comeback of his career and Rivers and the Chargers have the biggest meltdown I've ever seen.

Peyton makes The Colts look more foolish everyday and now the Broncos sit atop the AFC West.

Oakland 23

Atlanta 20

Whether you want to believe it or not, the Falcons may just be the best team in Football. They just find ways to win. Ryan throws 3 picks in the first half and down 3 with 18 seconds to go in the game, Matty Ice leads his team down the field allowing Matt Bryant to kick the game winning FG. The one thing that stands out about this team now is that their defense has gotten extremely better from last season. They make the big plays, force turnovers, and force pressure. Even when their offense is slow, their defense now has the ability to bail them out. At 6-0, these Falcons are tough to beat.

New York 26

San Francisco 3

Where do I start, The Niners were just beat down. Nobody runs on The Niners, but the Giants ran all over them. Their defense came up big and picked off Alex Smith three times and showed the world their win in the NFC Championship was no fluke. Smith tried to do too much, they didn't run the ball enough, and got embarrassed in their own home town. With Seattle coming in next week, they need to get their act together. 

Dallas 29

Baltimore 31

The Cowboys ran for over 200 yards on the Ravens defense, Romo and Dez had big games, and they still lost. Their offense in the end couldn't get it together and had bad clock management which cost them a game winning FG. The self destruct in Dallas is on. I don't think they should've lost that game. Dez dropped a 2 point conversion that could've sent the game in OT, and there isn't a doubt that Dallas would've lost.

But the real story is the loss of defensive players on the Ravens defense. First, they lose Suggs and they lost Ray Lewis and Ledarius Webb. Three players that make their defense as good as it is. They only go as their defense takes them. I won't be surprised if they start losing games now.

New England 23

Seattle 24

The matchup between the best defense in the league and the best offense in the league didn't disappoint. Brady and company looked like they were moving the ball just fine leading 14-10, but then it was 17-10, 20-10, 23-10, so the game was never really out of reach for Seattle. Russel Wilson went off and played like a vet making plays in the fourth quarter coming up clutch throwing 2 TD passes and giving his team the 24-23 lead. The Seattle defense finished New England off by dropping Brady and forcing a fumble. 

Things to take in from Week 6:

1) Houston is an overrated team. The first good team they play, they get 40 dropped on them.

2) The title for best team in the NFL is currently up for grabs between the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, and the New York Giants.

3) The NFC West is the most competitive division in Football with some great defense being played. San Francisco is still the class of the division, but if any team can challenge them, it will be Seattle.

4) Peyton Manning proved that he's still got it and that the AFC West is all but his.

Matchups to watch in Week 7:

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

The two best defenses in the NFL going head-to-head. I said it before, if any team can dethrone San Francisco, it's Seattle. Either The Niners will rebound in a big way, or Russel Wilson and the Seahawks will prove they are for real and knock off San Fran in their home stadium. First place for the NFC West is up for grabs as well.


New York Jets at New England Patriots

Another battle for first place. The Jets currently have the top spot in the AFC East, but unfortunately for them, they have to travel to New England to face Tom Brady and the Patriots. It's not going to be easy. The Patriots are going to be looking to rebound and it's not often that New England loses 2 games in a row.


Washington Redskins at New York Giants

The Redskins swept The Giants last season and now their team is even better. The Giants always struggle against The Redskins and RG3 and Co. are looking to take command of the top spot in the NFC East with a win. The Giants are looking to continue their path to the Super Bowl again with a win.   It'll be interesting to see if RG3 will run on The Giants.


Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans

After the beatdown Green Bay laid on Houston, they're looking to rebound. I would say Ravens have this easy, but with the losses on defense and the fact that they allowed over 200 yards on the ground, if the Texans run the ball with Foster, it could be a long day. Flacco might have to win the game with his arm. The Texans defense isn't as unbeatable as previously thought. Should be a good one.


Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals

Both teams are coming off loses and are looking to gain some momentum in the AFC North. I say Pittsburgh is a better team than Cincinnati, but I don't know if they'll win this game.



With four to five pivotal division games, we're going to see a shift in the balance of power in the NFL this Sunday.


Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

NFL Week 5 Wrap-Up and Week 6 Preview

This won't be the usual NFL reaction blog post that I always do because it's a little late in the week to go in-depth with Sunday's games. So, I'm just gonna wrap-up the week really quickly and summarize the week that was.

Things to take in from Week 5:

1) Through five games, Houston may just be the best team in Football, but they aren't unstoppable. Denver did so in Week 3, and the Jets proved that last Monday night. They're the only two teams Houston hasn't blown out.

2) The NFC West maybe one of the toughest divisions in the NFL. People can talk about Seattle's defense all they want, but I think San Francisco has the best defense in the NFL. Their only bane is that their rush defense isn't magnificent, but they have a deadly defensive line. Arizona is still lurking around there as well so this should be an interesting race.

3) Denver's defense needs to be fixed ASAP. Lucky for them, the AFC West is a winnable division, but if they expect to go far, or even get to the playoffs, this defense needs to get fixed. 

4) The Indianapolis Colts have one impressive football team. Coming back from 18 down and defeating Green Bay in exciting fashion is something to be proud of. The jury is still out on whether or not they can challenge Houston for the division, but they don't play each other until December so it's not a topic to talk about right now.

5) Good teams find ways to win: Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans and New York come to mind. 

- Pittsburgh could barely move the ball in the first half, but they came back to win against Philly in the last seconds. 

- Same thing with Pittsburgh applies to Atlanta, and once they got their act together, they got it going like they only know how.

- The Saints were down 10 in the 3rd, but there wasn't a doubt they wouldn't win, and they came back to win.

- The Giants were down 14 in the first quarter against The Browns and ended up winning by 14. 

Matchups to watch in Week 6:

New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

A rematch of the NFC Championship game. The Niners will be out for redemption and The Giants will be out to prove that beating them was no fluke. Should be a classic. The Niners have more offense than they did last postseason, and The Giants will be without Nicks again, should be interesting to see.

New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks

The Patriots lead the league in total offensive yards. The Seahawks are statistically the best defense in the league right now. Something has to give. Seattle has always been a tough place to play. New England should keep that in mind.

Green Bay Packers at Houston Texans

Aaron Rodgers vs The Houston Texans defense. We already saw how Rodgers struggles against a tough defense like San Fran. Houston is every bit as physical. The game is in Houston in Primetime. I don't like Green Bay's chances. 

Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets

Andrew Luck takes The Colts to New York to face The Jets. This is a very intriguing game. It's Luck's second road game and this is the same team that beat Green Bay. I think they pose a matchup problem for The Jets. The Jets can't defend the run as good as they use to and with Revis out, I think Wayne is a bad matchup for someone like Cromartie. Besides, Luck has a few weapons to spread the ball around to. A win on the road against a team like The Jets could be something BIG.

Sanchez is throwing to a whole new group of receivers. No Holmes, or Keller. The Jets need this win for themselves. They're struggling to find their identity and win against The Colts could be the thing they need to get back in the AFC East race. A loss is something I don't think they can recover from.

Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore Ravens

Dallas needs to bounce back after that poor showing against Chicago. Baltimore defense isn't as good as Chicago's but Romo is still in trouble. I think Romo will have a bounce back game, but they won't win. The Ravens are a better team than The Cowboys.

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers

Monday Night Football in San Diego. This is just all bad for Peyton Manning. For starters, it's in San Diego, Peyton Manning struggles against The Chargers, and his defense can't stop a nosebleed. Brady and The Patriots moved the ball at will against Denver. This is a division game, so Denver's defense needs to come prepared to contain Philip Rivers and Ryan Matthews. If they play like they did against New England; allowing 17 yard runs on 3rd and 15, not getting off the field on 3rd downs, not defending slants and underneath passes, and not tackling they're going to get blown out. Without question. Look at Peyton Manning's last appearance on MNF. Nuff said.



Week 6 is going to say a lot about some teams.


Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

NFL Week 4 Reaction

Last night ended Week 4 of the NFL Season and through the month of September, the division leads look like this: 

AFC: New England, Baltimore, Houston, & San Diego

NFC: Atlanta, Arizona, Minnesota, Philadelphia 

The AFC looks like the usual suspects except San Diego because Peyton Manning and The Broncos haven't gotten off to the best start. But in the NFC, Arizona is 4-0 and Minnesota leads the division when everybody else had them dead last. 

Let's get to the games and we're gonna start with the game of the day in my opinion.

Miami 21

Arizona 24

I was going to go with Atlanta and Carolina, but I just loved this game a lot more. Unbeaten Arizona at home with a 3-0 record hosted Miami, and it was supposed to be easy, right? Wrong. 

Miami opened up a 13-0 lead with their defense led by Cameron Wake dominated Kevin Kolb and Co. early on. Miami took the lead into halftime, but when the third started, Arizona quickly responded with a TD in the second half and another one in the fourth quarter. The action was nonstop because on the next play, Ryan Tannehill launched a bomb to Hartline for 80 yards to take a 21-14 lead in the fourth. Hartline had over 250 yards receiving and Miami was looking to end the streak of Arizona.

But Kolb and The Cardinals weren't about to lose their first game yet. Kolb went down the field and mounted an impressive drive to end the game with a TD to Andre Roberts to tie to the game and send it into OT. In OT, Arizona's defense took command and allowed Kevin Kolb to drive his offense down the field and allowed the game winning FG. Great game, great ending. Miami played great and Tannehill had over 400 yards passing, but Arizona took control and came back to go 4-0. They are definitely one of the biggest surprises of the season and with St. Louis on the schedule next week, they have a chance to go 5-0.

Carolina 28

Atlanta 30

If there was any doubt that Atlanta is the best team in the NFC, this should answer it. They came back from 10 down against a determined Carolina team at home. But I feel like a portion of the blame should be on Cam. On 4th and 1, he fumbled and blows the chance to end Atlanta's streak. But this game comes down to the defense. Carolina is up 28-27 with a minute left in the fourth quarter and Atlanta has the ball at the 1. On the first play, Atlanta launches a 58 yarder down the field that falls right into the hands of Roddy White. As a defense, you can NOT allow that kind of play to happen. As soon as I saw that, I knew it was game over. Matty Ice kept converting and they set up the game winning FG to end the game.

Atlanta goes to 4-0 and they look like the real deal. Their defense has gotten extremely better and can compliment their offense and their team has learned to blow out the good teams and scramble to win the close games as well. The Falcons look the best in the NFC, but then again, it is early. They go on the road to face The Redskins next week. The Panthers have to rebound and host Seattle.

New Orleans 27

Green Bay 28

0-3 New Orleans on the road against Green Bay. Green Bay started off the game playing like the Packers that we all knew. They jumped to 21-7 lead on the Saints and it looked like it was going to be a long day. But Brees and Co. were determined to fight back. Brees found Marques Colston in the endzone to cut the lead to 21-14 heading into the half. 

In the third, down 21-17, the Saints knocked Aaron Rodgers out for one play and Graham Harrell came out. All he had to do was orchestrate a simple handoff, but fumbled at the goal line. Saints scored on the next drive to take the lead back. Late in the fourth with Brees and Co. down 27-28, the Saints had the chance to stop Green Bay on third down, but Rodgers made an amazing throw fitting it in a tight window to end the game.

Saints drop to 0-4 and Green Bay goes to 2-2. The Saints offense played well, but once again their defense allowed way too many big plays and when they could've stopped Green Bay, they couldn't. The Saints' defense needs some work because the offense can't do all the work. The Packers rebounded from that controversial ending against the Seahawks and won. Green Bay goes on the road to face Indianapolis coming off their bye and The Saints host The Chargers. Their defense better get their act together or else Rivers will torch them. But in front of their hometown on Sunday on Primetime, I expect them to play BIG.

Philadelphia 19

New York 17

Philly has had a good record against The Giants as of late, and tonight looked like it was going to change because Philly hasn't been playing like Philly. After leading 13-10 in the fourth, Eli throws a bad interception to start the fourth quarter. Philly grabbed the lead 19-17 late, and a pass interference call on Ramses Barden backed up Giants kicked Lawrence Tynes and he missed what could've been the game winning FG.

The big story going into this was could Philly's offensive line protect Michael Vick, and they did so impressively as they only allowed one sack. The Giants played a mediocre game. Eli's costly interception in the beginning of the fourth quarter was a serious game changer for The Giants. Eli led his team down the field, but in the end, they couldn't get it done. They obviously miss Hakeem Nicks because without him, Cruz is their offense and they can't be totally dependable on Barden and Dixon, who is a returner turned receiver.

The Giants host The Browns next week. They're already off to a mediocre start and they should bounce back here, but I highly doubt it. The Eagles go on the road  to face Pittsburgh. If they play the way they did against New York, they should have a chance, but then again Pittsburgh is a hard place to play.

Honorable Mentions:

San Francisco - They went into New York and beat The Jets DOWN. I mean 34-0. They clearly have bounced back and did so without breaking a sweat. They host the Bills next Sunday which should be easy work.

Chicago - I had The Bears winning last night's game, but not the way they did. Their defense picked off Romo FIVE TIMES! Not to mention Cutler played one hell of a game. Bears go on the road to face Jacksonville Sunday.

St. Louis - Jeff Fisher is starting to make a BIG difference to this Rams team. Their defense may have faced a rookie QB, but they are getting the job done. They have a HUGE division game against 4-0 Arizona this Thursday. 

New England - Down 21-7 in the third, The Patriots rack up 35 unanswered and win 52-28 over Buffalo. They are ready for Denver coming to town next week.

Denver - Speaking of Denver, they showed how their offense really rolls putting up 37 on Oakland. Their defense allowed 6 points, but then again, it is just the Raiders. They better have their act together because Tom Brady is poised to put on a repeat performance like in the divisional playoff game last year. If they play like they did against Houston, Brady might put up 50 again.

Minnesota - They got a good team up there in Minnesota and made a statement taking down Detroit on their homefield and grabbing the division lead. With Tennessee coming to town next week, they can put a stranglehold on that top spot.

Dishonorable Mentions:

New York - They scored 0 points, allowed an insane amount of rushing yards, Sanchez can't move the ball, and now they lost their best receiver in Santonio Holmes. Their offense is horrible, and I think it may be Tebow Time in New York. The Jets host the Houston Texans next Monday. May god be with them.

Dallas - I mean, what can I really say here. Romo threw five picks, a couple weren't his fault, but Dallas got embarrassed point blank. Dallas is off next week so they have time to get back to the drawing and fix their team cause that was bad.

Tampa Bay - The Bucs had the game in their hands, but they allowed RG3 to march down the field with ease and allow their kicker to kick the game winning field goal. Freeman and Jackson did their job and mounted a great drive to give their team the lead, but their defense let them down. Freeman is a quality QB, but his team won't be going anywhere if his defense can't close out close games. The Bucs also have a bye so they have time to work these kinks out.

Detroit - Definitely not the same team from last season. Their offense isn't as explosive and their defense lacks that aggressiveness they had last season. They better shape up if they wanna get back to the playoffs. The Lions also have a bye week this upcoming Sunday. They better shape up if they want to get back to the playoffs.

Feel free to Comment.



By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete


Also, I didn't plan on blogging about the MLB Playoffs because Baseball season hasn't really been that interesting to me as of late. If you guys want us to blog about, let us know and we'll keep you up to speed as the playoffs start this weekend.