Edge and Smackdown + The Title

All the years I've watched WWE, there have been two superstars who have always stood out on Smackdown. The first is the Rock. The second...Edge. I won't deny it. Edge is one of my favorite superstars. He is pretty good in the ring, but his mic skills and gimmick are always in the top of the WWE. I've always considered Smackdown to be his home and he needs to be the top star there. I don't care if he's a face or a heel. Edge needs to run Smackdown.

When Smackdown was getting dumbed down as the B show of WWE, I was happy to see Edge traded to Raw. There was no point having one of the best in the business on the B show. Unfortunately, his stint on Raw ended poorly. He faded to the back and didn't accomplish anything.

Now that Smackdown is getting bumped up to be an equal show, Edge has been traded back. What a perfect time. Thankfully the writers of WWE saw the potential of Edge and he is now the #1 contender. So now the question is, should Edge win the title?

The first thing to consider; this is Edge's first real run on Smackdown as a face. Every other run he has been a heel. Can he play a face well? How will the fans react to him now? He plays a heel well, but Kane is dominating as the heel of Smackdown. With three decisive wins over the Undertaker, Kane appears to be unstoppable. Should Edge be the one to end Kane's run?

I'm torn. Both Kane and Edge are somewhat misused veterans. Edge is a 9 time champion, Kane only two. Kane hasn't been champion in ten years. He clearly deserves a lengthy reign. With three PPV wins over the taker is that long enough? Edge's reigns have been short, lasting days to weeks. Even with nine title wins, his total time as champ is very small. So who needs the belt now? Clearly either one can hold it and hold it well.

To put it simply, Kane needs to win. As a champion he has beaten only one person, the Undertaker. If Kane were to win, it would help give him credibility, and could lead to a great rematch or feud. Kane won the title after money in the bank, beating Mysterio after a grueling match. His win is already questionable. Because of this, he can't beat the Undertaker and only the Undertaker. He needs to establish his championship run as legitimate.

What if Edge were to win? The last thing Edge needs is another short reign. Should Edge pick up the title, he needs to reign until Wrestlemania or beyond. But to be a good champion he needs a good heel to feud with. Obviously another match with Kane is in line. After that, there are few heels left on Smackdown. Jack Swagger? MVP? MVP is a similar size and well skilled in the ring. These two could put on a great match. The main problem is he isn't a heel. There are no heels on Smackdown. If WWE could make MVP a heel in two months, Edge could win and have awesome feuds. Frankly, MVP is missused too. He could definitely be a champion and can put on some good PPV matches, but it won't happen.

Anyways, I know I'm rambling. Bottom line, Edge should win, but he cannot. There isn't anyone for Edge to feud with. To make Smackdown legitimate, Edge needs to stay in the title picture but can't win now. Push MVP as a heel. Have Edge win at TLC. After all, he made that PPV. Let him reign til Wrestlemania. Win?

Ballast Point - Big Eye IPA

Today's review is of an IPA from a San Diego brewery. I was walking through my local Vons shopping center and came upon a display featuring multiple different beers made by Ballast Point. I have not heard much of this brewery to be honest. Being an IPA fan and wanting to sample different beers(especially local ones), I was drawn to a 22oz bottle of Big Eye IPA. It was priced at $4.19. That's definitely a reasonable price for a decent beer. It also claimed a whopping 6.8%% alcohol content. This isn't unheard of in an IPA, but still fairly strong.

You can easily identify a bottle of Ballast Point as all of their beers have a picture of a fish on them. Thankfully, fish is NOT an ingredient. Their IPA does not disappoint. It has a bold, strong flavor and you can really taste the hops. If you enjoy really mellow beer, this is not for you. If you want something that will excite your taste buds and make you wonder how they managed to pack that much flavor into a 22oz. bottle, you're in luck.

Big Eye is easily one of the best IPA's on the market at the moment. It is the full package; great taste, decently priced, and decent alcohol percentage. On a scale of 1-10, it would easily rate a 9.5. I will have to have another bottle before giving it a full 10, but it probably could be up there. Do yourself a favor and give this a try. Remember, it's the beer with a fish on it!

10-27-10 - Daily Deal - La Jolla Brewhouse

Just gonna share a link for anyone in San Diego looking to try a new beer or two, La Jolla Brewhouse has a special, 12 dollars for 25 dollars worth of food and beer. This doesn't apply to happy hour specials, but you can get a few drinks and a few appetizers for 12 bucks! I will be buying one for sure. I've never been here but I love new stuff!

http://dailydeal.signonsandiego.com/

Enjoy!

Barret Orton at Survivor Series

The stage has been set. At Survivor Series we'll see Barret vs Orton. The added stipulation to this match is that Barret will fire John Cena if he does not win the title. As far as I see, this a pretty clean cut result - Barret wins the title. However, it is never that clear cut. As far as I see it, there are four possible outcomes to this match.

1 - As above, Barret wins. Likely do to Cena hitting the AA or something on him. Pretty basic, but would work. Probability - Low. Barret is single handedly carrying the WWE on his shoulders at the moment (And I know not many people will agree with me on that one, maybe another article on that soon). I definitely think Barret would be a good champion, but he is likely too young for a clean win, especially with how dominant Orton is at the moment.

2 - Cena officially joins Nexus and turns heel. The way I see this one going down, Cena lifts up Barret for an AA. Cena sets him down, and instead hits one on Orton. Barret pins Orton. After the match the two shake hands or hug and Cena finally puts on a Nexus shirt. Probability - Low - I don't think WWE has the balls to turn Cena heel yet. They just might to counter the Jeff Hardy angle of TNA. I think a Cena turn would be bigger, but then the debate would be which was better, TNA's or WWE's. They wouldn't want to help TNA.

3 - Barret loses. Doesn't matter how he loses. It could end with another DQ even. The most likely result is someone running in to interfere, but the interference would cost Barret the title. At this point Barret goes to fire Cena and we end the show. The anonymous Raw GM now tells Barret he doesn't have that power. Cena tried, and he can't make magic happen. The GM frees Cena of his Nexus duties. We might even get to see the GM. Probability - Decent. It makes the GM actually like able for the first time ever, keeps Cena in the company, and keeps the belt off Barret for the time.

4 - Money in the Bank - That's right folks. The Miz cashes in the briefcase. The way I see this going down is Barret wins. Cena might even help Barret win. So Barret is champ and Cena is free. What better way for Cena to celebrate than by destroying Barret. And I mean completely lay him out. Three AA's, then a minute in the STF. What would be a better time to cash in Money in the Bank? I can't think of one. Now Miz isn't exactly a baby face, but he is probably more popular than Barret. Kids get to see Cena free and destroy Barret so they're happy. Older fans who like the Miz would be happy. So... Probability - High. This leaves a lot of people happy and sets up an awesome match for the next PPV, Miz vs Barret vs Orton vs Cena in a fatal 4 way match. The only downside is that the next PPV is TLC, and I'm not sure if a 4 way table match would work. Orton doesn't like ladders due to his shoulder issues. This would leave maybe a chair match, but I'd almost rather just see that match.

Either way, this match should be a good one. I hope they build up the PPV with some other good matches so that it's worth buying. This ending definitely has some potential and I'm looking forward to it.

Bragging Rights Thoughts and Review

First - This is not a results, this 100% my views. If you want results there are countless places. Second, I feel bad for anyone who bought this themselves. Even pitching in 10 bucks I felt dirty for this PPV. It was bad.

So our opening match, Daniel Bryan versus Dolph Ziggler. I know these two both are considered good, but I haven't seen much of it up to now. Bryan has a following on the internet and Ziggler supposedly is great, I just haven't seen it in the WWE. I'm not saying supporters are wrong, I just haven't seen it ACTUALLY IN WWE.

This match changed it. Great match, great back and forth. If these two could have matches like this every time, they are going places. I think the build up could have been better, but I will say that about literally every match. I'll just get it out my system now...Terrible booking.

I mean, this is a PPV. PPV as in PAY per view. There were only what, 4 or 5 matches announced? And the ones announced weren't all that impressive. Build them up slightly. Have some trash talking from the champions, my IC belt is better than your US belt. Maybe have one of them lose to a jobber early for some shit talking. Imagine if Dolph lost to say Chavo right after Hell in a Cell. Bryan could rib him on that for weeks. So while this match was good technically, the feud wasn't there besides the PPV theme.

So we move on. Now we have a tag match? For the titles? Everyone knows the tag division in WWE is terrible, but to throw a match together is just bad. And then we get to the opponents for the title. Cena and Otunga. There are just so many things wrong with this match and the outcome. Cena wasn't supposed to have a match at this PPV so he could stay focused to help Barret, why would Barret put him in this match now? Rhodes and Mcintyre are in dire needs of a push, having the belts does at least something with two characters with nowhere to go. Why take the belts off them now? What will happen to these two now? Does it hurt the tag team division even more when the announcers view and that of the average fan is Cena just won the belts 2v1? How can we take this division seriously with stupid stuff like this.

And why was this match not announced. Even saying Nexus will compete for the title would have garnered interest. Honestly I would have been curious as to how Nexus with gold would be. I would have wanted to see this match built, but sadly, thrown together to fill time. /sad.

The tag division is so easy to build up. It can lead to easier work on the wrestlers (each is in half the time), crazy moves that aren't doable 1v1, rivalries (beat up my friend, now I hate you), and so much more. Even something as simple as giving two underused people a team finisher would add a ton. My original example, Evan Bourne and Mark Henry. First I know Bourne is injured. But imagine this. This jobber team comes up with a real finisher. Something as simple as Bourne runs into a rope, Mark Henry throws him into the air and he splashes the opponent. Is it easy...sure. Would it as least feel like a tag finisher? Oh hell yes. This division is so butchered and needs help. This just pushes the tag division down further.

Dibiase and Goldust - I like both these guys in ring work. Goldust is so great he will help elevate Dibiase here. He is in my top 5 actual wrestlers and why he isn't used more is beyond me. Dibiase has pretty good ring skills and is doing well for a younger guy. This fued will help tons. Good match, lame ending. I would have liked to see it run longer, but good spots from both guys here. And again, this feud was seen on Raw for weeks. Why was this match not announced? I this is one of the better actual wrestling matches WWE can put out. Don't throw it out at last second.

To add to this, Goldust's finisher - AMAZING. I know, it's just a spin during a suplex, but watch it. It looks really hard to pull off and looks cool no matter how many times I see it. Whoever came up with that deserves a raise.

Layla vs Natalya - Nobody expected Natalya to win. Sadly, she didn't. And this Laycool gimmick needs to end soon. I mute my TV when I see them come out. They are both incredibly hot (Layla more than Mccool) but they sound retarded. Unless writing improves, drop their mic time. The one crazy part of this match - Layla had her legs around Natalya for a while and looked like she was dry humping the air. It was so incredibly hot, even the King was like WHOA. It was really hot, definitely NOT PG. If you recorded it watch that part. It was like a match saver, even though the match mostly sucked.

Kane and Taker - Why did Nexus interfere? A Raw stable cares about the Smackdown title? Why was Barret out there? Shouldn't he have been in back getting advice on how to beat Orton from Cena? Surely Cena would have some good tips for him? Or if that is too obvious, why didn't Barret order Cena to help the assault? Why a burried alive match now? Nexus involvement just seems lazy on the writers part. So many better results could have happened. Maybe Paul Bearer buries them both! Just an idea, but Nexus....come on...

So now we have the Bragging rights match. Smackdown vs Raw. This is like the all star match of baseball 8 years ago. Pointless. I guess you can get 14 stars on a PPV, but who cares? There's a trophy that will be seen on the PPV and maybe once on Smackdown? Seriously, anyone on creative should have come up with a stipulation for this match. It doesn't have to be great, winner gets an extra draft, winner gets a free pass to smackdown for a superstar each week. I actually like this idea, it could lead to more interbrand matches without saturating them or going to one roster. My point though, there should be something. A trophy is lame, boring, and worthless. Grats to Edge for winning! He's the man! I also liked the pop CM punk got from the crowd. He's so underused, hope this shows creative he's good.

And now we get to the main event, which is also the worst match of the night. Yes, Orton Barret ended worse than the women's match. And that's hard. "Cena you must help me win!" Great, we got 15 minutes of super Cena. The only good part of this match was when Orton RKO'd Cena at the end. I posted before that he should have RKO'd Cena on Raw, so maybe someone IS listening to me!!! There was so much potential for this match. Barret is good, but he didn't get to shine here. The ending was terrible. Too many spots with Cena. I seriously thought this match could have been match of the night, but it was the worst.

There is really no reason for that. How can you take two great wrestlers with arguably the best feud and best story going into a PPV and kill their match? I can come up with at least twelve better results for this match. I won't go into them all, but here's one. No nexus interference. Ref gets knocked down. Barret tells Cena to AA and STF Orton. He does. Orton kicks out, wins. Better all around, would have seemed closer. Or how about all the times Orton went for his drop from the ropes into the ring DDT? Cena couldn't have pulled Barret out once? Seriously Orton went for it 2 or 3 times... There is so much potential here that isn't used it makes me cry.

Overall, I give this a 3 of 10 stars. Terrible PPV. First match was good, nothing else worth even watching. Felt like a Raw. Random matches, bad stories....just....bad.

Tower 10 IPA Review

Recently I sampled the Tower 10 IPA made by Karl Strauss brewing company. The company is located in San Diego and claims to be the first micro brew. They had a few other 22oz bottles, but being from San Diego I decided to give a local one a shot.

Sadly, this beer was disappointing in comparison to my last two IPA's. Granted, the last one I had was from Stone's. Maybe I got a bad bottle, but this just didn't have the regular IPA blast one normally expects when opening a bottle. You know, that bitter, hoppy flavor on the first sip. It had a little, but was much closer to a dark beer or ale.

On their website they have the following to describe the bitterness:
"IBU- International Bitterness Units, a system of indicating the hop bitterness in finished beer. A light American lager may have around 10 IBUs, an English mild ale around 20 units, an India Pale Ale 40 or higher, an Irish stout 55 to 60 and barley wine 65-85."

I actually wrote the first part about it tasting more like an ale before reading that. So I may have purchased a bad bottle, or this beer may just be weaker than most. If you really like the strong IPA flavor, this beer is not for you. If on the other hand you want to venture into the world of IPA's and like ales right now, give this a shot. It is much more mellow than most, and may open new beer worlds to you!

6.5% alcohol by volume, not bad, gives a decent kick.

Overall, 2.5 out of 5 stars. I didn't hate it, but wouldn't buy it again.

Wade Barret's Title Belt

Heading into Bragging Rights Wade Barret has a chance to take the title from Randy Orton. There are numerous debates as to whether or not Wade Barret is ready to be champion or if Orton should even drop the title in the next few months. One thing is for certain, Barret will eventually be a champion. And I just came up with a wonderful idea.

Assuming Nexus is still around when Barret wins, the spinner belt needs to be changed for his win. In the middle, the standard WWE logo should be replaced with a blinged out Nexus logo. Obviously the next champion could go back to the old logo. Could you imagine how this would look?

Also try to imagine the heat put on Nexus when Barret orders Cena to carry around his Nexus Championship belt.