3/31/2012- The Night Before WrestleMania XXVIII- My Personal Thoughts

Hello everyone, I hope all of you are having a great weekend this weekend. This blog isn't your usual reading, but rather it will be all about the hype of WrestleMania 28 tomorrow night on PPV. No videos, no glamour. Just a man and his thoughts.

WWE
Tomorrow is WrestleMania. The "be all, end all". This is where story lines culminating to this event come together in this extravaganza. Overall, there will be 9 matches on the card. 1 will be streamed live on WWE.com & YouTube, while the rest of the card will air on PPV. Here is the card from bottom to top.

Pre-Show: Epico & Primo vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

This match in a nutshell was never promoted in the 1st place. This is there just to give these guys time to perform on the big stage without taking time on the actual PPV. Hence the reason why it will be streamed live on the Internet before WrestleMania goes on the air.

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres in a Divas Tag Team match

This match was also just another undercard match that didn't get too much hype on WWE programming. In fact, it didn't get announced on Raw or SmackDown at all, but rather on Extra (which Maria Menounos co-hosts). The announcement occured during a worked-shoot segment on Extra where Phoenix and Torres confronted Menounos and Kelly Kelly and decided to settle the score at the big stage. Don't expect too much from this match as it won't be taken seriously at all.

Randy Orton vs Kane

This rivalry between Randy Orton and Kane all stemmed from a Street Fight that took place on SmackDown back in July 2011. Keep in mind, that was when Kane was unmasked. After the fight, Kane shook Orton's hand as a sign of respect. After a brief hiatus Kane took, he returned with the mask and had a brief feud with John Cena. Once that was over, Kane had his sights set on Randy Orton. Kane explained the reason why he attacked Orton was due to what occurred in the Summer of 2011, as he didn't feel like he was a monster.

Overall, this could be a sleeper, but keep your expectations low.

Team Laurinaitis vs Team Long (Winner Takes over Raw and SmackDown)

The rivalry between John Laurinaitis and Theodore Long started at Elimination Chamber when Interim Raw GM  Laurinaitis announced that he has a plan to take over both Raw and SmackDown. Current SmackDown GM Teddy Long didn't take too kindly to what he said and thus the rivalry started over who is the better General Manager. Team Johnny's team consists of David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz. Team Teddy's team consists of Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, and Booker T.

Originally, Christian was scheduled to be part of Team Johnny, but due to an injury on Raw, he was replaced by Drew McIntyre. The Miz and Booker T became final picks, respectively on Raw to get them a spot at WrestleMania.

Cody Rhodes (c) vs The Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship

This all started after the Elimination Chamber when Rhodes was making jokes about how The Big Show has had embarrassing moments in WrestleMania history such as the sumo match with Akebono, boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr, etc. The Big Show decided to get revenge by taking out Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, and this time for the title on the line.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship

Last year's WrestleMania, the match between these guys was bumped off the card and was moved to a Dark Match. This year, the two are headlining for the World Heavyweight Championship on the line. During last year Money in the Bank PPV, Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase and was allowed to cash it in at anytime of his choosing. Originally, Bryan chose to cash in his briefcase at WrestleMania, but due to an attack by then- champion Mark Henry, he decided to change his mind. At the TLC PPV, minutes after Big Show beat Mark Henry for the World Championship, Bryan decided to cash in his title. Days after winning the title, Bryan showed villainous antics and abused his power as champion. Not too long ago, Sheamus won the Royal Rumble, and had a choice by choosing either facing the WWE Champion or the World Champion. After a few weeks, Sheamus chose the World Championship match.

CM Punk (c) vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship

Ever since the "worked shoot" promo, CM Punk has referred to himself as "The Best Wrestler in the World". This didn't sit too kindly with Chris Jericho, as he felt like people were copying him and not giving him any credit. Throughout the weeks, Punk and Jericho have been going at it, with Jericho making promos mentioning Punk's family problems. In my opinion, this could be the match that could steal the show if done correctly.

Triple H vs The Undertaker (w/ Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee) in a Hell in a Cell match

This rivalry between The Undertaker and Triple H is referred to as "The End of an Era" mainly due to the two performers being around since the early 90s and have pretty much done it all. The match is a rematch from last year's WrestleMania (and the 3rd meeting between them in WrestleMania history). After this rematch was set, Shawn Michaels was made the Special Guest Referee in this match. Michaels also had history with The Undertaker as he faced him two straight WrestleManias and one of them Michaels had to retire (as part of the stipulation).

John Cena vs The Rock

This match is a fan's dream come true, if you know what I mean. The Rock was an icon during the Attitude Era, while Cena has become the face of the WWE years after The Rock left for Hollywood. During a radio interview back around 2008, Cena criticized The Rock for not giving back to the WWE after leaving for Hollywood. Fast forward to 2011, The Rock made his return after a 7 year absence and made some remarks back to John Cena, one of which was calling him a "Fruity Pebble". At the main event of WrestleMania 27 last year, in which The Rock was the host, he interfered in the main event between John Cena and The Miz by giving him a "rock bottom". The next night on Raw, the two decided to settle the score at WrestleMania 28. Fast forward a couple of months, The Rock made his return match with his WrestleMania opponent in a tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series. After the match, The Rock once again "rock bottomed" Cena to close the show. The rivalry between the two has occured outside of WWE programming with the two going at each other via social media such as Twitter taking shots at each other. Also, weeks before WrestleMania, the two had a war of words against each other, making this rivalry heated.

That is all I have to say for now. I hope WrestleMania becomes a good show, but I will keep my expectations very low as last year's WrestleMania, WWE managed to mess up the main event. After WrestleMania, I will give the results of the match as well as my usual stuff. Enjoy WrestleMania everyone!

- NYCKNP



3/26/2012- Tim Tebow officially a member of NY Jets, Final Stop on the Road to WrestleMania, Bellator 62 results, MLB Spring Training

Hello everyone. I hope all of you had a great weekend. As may of you all heard last week, former Denver Broncos quarterback was traded to the New York Jets in exchange for 4th and 6th round draft picks. More details will be shared as you read along, so here we go!

NFL
A series of events have led to Tebow joining the Jets. It all started with Colts owner releasing Peyton Manning, which then led to him signing with the Broncos. After the signing, Tebow had to say adios to Mile High and pack his bags to the Meadowlands after a long day to complete the trade. NY Jets head coach Rex Ryan had said that Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez will co-exist on their new offensive plan, but it comes with a big price. The price is that Tim Tebow is a very polarizing figure, and if Sanchez makes one minor mistake, "Tebow" chants could possibly be heard in the 2012 season. Earlier today, Jets held a press conference for Tebow. Here are the highlights from the press conference:

Reactions to this decision that the NY Jets made have ranged from mixed-to negative responses. The questions people want to know for this upcoming season are:

• Can Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow co-exist?
• What is the future for Mark Sanchez with the New York Jets?

All I can say is, don't worry too much about this event. If you worry, things could go worse. I wouldn't worry about this since Yankees baseball season is around the corner and I'll be watching Yankees baseball during the summer and let all of the Jets stuff unfold come September.

MLB
Here is the Spring Training schedule for New York baseball this week.

Yankees

• 3/27: vs Blue Jays
• 3/28: @ Braves
• 3/29: vs Orioles
• 3/30: vs Phillies
• 3/31: @ Astros
• 4/1: @ Marlins*

Mets

• 3/26: Mets def Cardinals
• 3/27: vs Braves
• 3/28: vs Nationals
• 3/29: vs Astros
• 3/30: @ Cardinals
• 3/31: @ Marlins
• 4/1: vs Tigers (SS)

*- will be held at Marlins Ballpark during the afternoon

Bellator
Bellator 62 took place last Friday night emanating from Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, TX. Here are the results from the main card:

• Thiago Michel def Rene Nazare via split decision
• Brent Weedman def JJ Ambrose via submission at Round 2
• Rick Hawn def Ricardo Tirloni via KO at Round 1
• Lloyd "Cupcake" Woodard def Patricky "Pitbull" Freire via submission at Round 2

Here are the highlights from Bellator 62:

The main event between Woodard and Freire was critically acclaimed, therefore Bellator posted the full fight on YouTube.

WWE
Tonight is the final stop on the Road to WrestleMania. This Monday on Raw will be the final hype for the entire WrestleMania card. Here are the 8 matches scheduled for WrestleMania starting from bottom to top:

• Team Laurinaitis (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, TBA) vs Team Long (Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, TBA) in a tag team match where it's "Winner Takes All" for either Laurinaitis or Long regarding the WWE shows Raw and SmackDown
• Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos vs Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres in a Divas Tag Team match*
• Randy Orton vs Kane
• Cody Rhodes vs The Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship
• Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship
• CM Punk vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship
• Triple H vs Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match (w/ Shawn Michaels as special guest referee)
• The Rock vs John Cena

*- It was reported that Maria Menounos injured her ribs whilst participating on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. The match is questionable


That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week!

-NYCKNP
 

3/19/2012- Peyton Manning heading to the Denver Broncos, MLB Spring Training, Bellator 61 results, review of WWE SmackDown, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! Tomorrow is officially the First Day of Spring, and that means farewell winter! Here we go!

NFL
As all of you have heard, future NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning will be heading to the Denver Broncos. I will fill you in on some of the details if you haven't followed NFL free agency that much during the offseason. Around 3 weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts released Peyton Manning after a 13 year career with the team. Various NFL teams pursued Peyton, but after looking over the offers from other teams, Peyton decided to zero in on the Denver Broncos. With Peyton taking his talents to Mile High, the question is this: Is Tim Tebow out of a job?

MLB
Here is the schedule of the week for New York baseball Spring Training:

Yankees

• 3/20- vs. Pirates
• 3/21- @ Rays
• 3/22- @ Red Sox
• 3/23- SS vs Twins, SS @ Phillies
• 3/24- @ Tigers
• 3/25- vs. Tigers

Mets

• 3/20- vs Nationals
• 3/21- @ Cardinals
• 3/22- vs Astros
• 3/23- @ Braves
• 3/24- vs Cardinals
• 3/25- @ Nationals

Bellator
Bellator 61 took place last Friday at the Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana and aired on MTV 2. Here are the results:

• Brian Rogers def Vitor Vianna via KO at Round 1
• Bruno Santos def Giva Santana via unanimous decision
• Trey Houston def Jeremiah Riggs via submission at Round 1*
• Vyacheslav Vasilevsky def Victor O' Donnell via unanimous decision
• Maiquel Falcao def Norman Paraisy via unanimous decision

Here is Bellator 61's highlight of the night:

WWE
Last Friday on SmackDown kicked off with Christian hosting The Peep Show with Theodore Long and John Laurinaitis as the guests. During Christian's segment, Long and Johnny Ace offered their reasons why Christian should choose a side between Long and Laurinaitis. After hearing them both, Christian ultimately chose Laurinaitis with a promised shot at the World Heavyweight Championship match. After that, SmackDown was pretty much humdrum with a few highlights.

Impact Wrestling
I usually don't cover TNA/Impact Wrestling, but ever since Vince Russo left creative and David Lagana took over, the product has improved and I decided to give TNA one more shot. Last night was the Victory Road PPV, where the main event was Sting vs Bobby Roode in a no holds barred match. Here are the results from Victory Road:

• James Storm def Bully Ray to determine the number 1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
• Austin Aries def Zema Ion to retain the X-Division Championship
• Samoa Joe & Brutus Magnus def Crimson & Matt Morgan to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship
• Devon def Robbie E to become the NEW TNA TV Champion
• Gail Kim def Madison Rayne to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship
• Kurt Angle def Jeff Hardy
• Sting def Bobby Roode in a No Holds Barred match

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week!

-NYCKNP

3/16/2012- Andy Pettitte returns to the New York Yankees, review of WWE Raw, MMA Friday Night Fights

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week! And yes, Andy Pettitte came out of retirement to return to the New York Yankees. More details will be shared as you read along. Here we go!

WWE
This past Monday on Raw was The Rock Concert vs John Cena Rap episode. Raw kicked off with John Cena with a 1-night return of "The Dr. of Thuganomics".

After the rap, Raw went onto the rest of the programming. Overall, it was an average Raw, with the only standouts were John Cena's rap, The Rock's "rock song", and notable appearances by Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Psych's James Roday makes a cameo. Here are the highlights from Raw.

Also, it was announced during Raw that there will be a tag team match called Team Long vs Team Laurinaitis with the stipulation of "Winner Takes All". David Otunga will captain Team Laurinaitis while Santino Marella will captain Team Long at WrestleMania. Additionally, as announced on Extra yesterday, there will be a Divas tag team match with Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres squaring off against Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos.

During the week, Zack Ryder made a plea on his YouTube channel to have him added to Team Long.

Tonight on SmackDown, Christian will make his return to host "The Peep Show" with Teddy Long, and John Laurinaitis as guests.

MMA
Tonight is the "Friday Night Fights" as Bellator 61 will be airing as well as The Ultimate Fighter. Bellator 61 will feature a Middleweight Tournament taking place throughout the main card. Also, former WWE Tough Enough contestant Jeremiah Riggs will fight on the preliminary card. The Bellator prelims will be streamed live on Spike.com.

MLB
Just a few weeks before the Yankees start the 2012 regular season, they made a big announcement that Andy Pettitte is returning to the New York Yankees. Pettitte, who retired after the 2010 season, decided to come out of retirement and "sign a 1-year, minor league contract with the Yankees that will pay him $2.5 million", according to YES Network's Jack Curry. This means that he won't be joining the roster come opening day, but he could be called up from developmental sometime later this season. In my opinion, this is very good news for the Yankees as it was obvious last season that the Yankees missed Pettitte and needed depth in pitching.

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend!

-NYCKNP

3/12/2012- WWE Road to WrestleMania, MLB Spring Training, Bellator 60 results, The Ultimate Fighter: Live Season Premiere, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! There was a lot that happened this Monday regarding the Road to WrestleMania, as well as some newsworthy stuff during the NFL offseason. Here we go!
WWE
Last Monday on Raw kicked off with Shawn Michaels confronting Triple H regarding his WrestleMania rematch against The Undertaker, and told Triple H that he's the special guest referee in the match.

After the promo, the first match of the night was Santino Marella vs Jack Swagger for the United States Championship, in which Santino captured the title. John Laurinaitis almost reversed the decision, but since SmackDown GM Theodore Long was in charge of Raw that night, Long ejected Laurinaitis and David Otunga from the building.  Overall it was a good Raw, and the best part was the SAP audio option was back on my television. Which meant that I watched the matches in Spanish audio and kept the English audio for the promos, since Carlos Cabrera & Marcelo Rodriguez>> Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler. Here are the rest of the highlights from Raw:

Later in the week on SmackDown, Interim Raw GM John Laurinaitis took over SmackDown for the night and kicked it off with a rematch of Santino Marella vs Jack Swagger for the US Championship in a Steel Cage match.

Also, during SmackDown, the 2 GMs went at it in a match, and things weren't exactly the way it was planned.

Overall, SmackDown wasn't too special, but it did serve a purpose. Hopefully, it will pick up some steam going into WrestleMania time. Also, this Monday on Raw is a special episode where The Rock and John Cena will battle it out by singing. It's called "Rock Concert vs John Cena Rap". Here's a preview of tonight's Raw.

MLB
Here's the schedule for this week's Spring Training in New York baseball:

Yankees

• 3/12: vs. Astros
• 3/13: vs. Red Sox
• 3/14: @ Blue Jays
• 3/15: @ Nationals
• 3/16: vs. Nationals
• 3/17: vs. Astros
• 3/18: @ Orioles

Mets

• 3/12: @ Tigers
• 3/13: vs. Cardinals
• 3/14: @ Tigers
• 3/15: @ Marlins
• 3/16: vs. Tigers
• 3/17: vs. Braves
• 3/18: @ Astros

Bellator
Bellator Fighting Championships returned for Season 6, and the difference is that all of the fights for this season have been moved to Friday nights. Bellator 60 kicked off with the Featherweight Tournament as well as a Featherweight title fight between Joe Warren and Pat Curran. Here are the results of the main card:

• Alexandre Bezerra def. Kenny Foster via submission at Round 2
• Marlon Sandro def. Roberto Vargas via submission at Round 1
• Mike Corey def. Ronnie Mann via unanimous decision
• Daniel Straus def. Jeremy Spoon via unanimous decision
• Pat Curran def. Joe Warren via KO at Round 3 to become the NEW Bellator Featherweight Champion

Here are the highlights from Bellator 60:

UFC
UFC's reality show The Ultimate Fighter made its debut on FX, and the major things to point out are that all fights will be live every Friday night on TUF, no commentary will be present (rather the ambient sound of the TUF warehouse), and all the fights in the season premiere were only 1 round. Here are the results of who will enter the TUF house:

• Joe Proctor def Joe Rinaldi via submission
• Cristiano Marcello def Jared Carlsten via submission
• Sam Sicilia def Erin Beach via KO
• Chris Tickle def Austin Lyons via KO
• Andy Ogle def Brendan Weafer via unanimous decision
• Vinc Pichel def Cody Pfister via submission
• John Cofer def Mark Glover via unanimous decision
• Chris Saunders def Chase Hackett via unanimous decision
• James Vick def Dakota Cochrane via split decision
• Michael Chiesa def Johnavan Visante via submission
• Mike Rio def Ali Maclean via submission
• Justin Lawrence def James Krause via TKO
• Daron Cruickshank def Drew Dober by unanimous decision
• Jeremy Larsen def Jeff Smith via unanimous decision
• Al Iaquinta def Jon Tuck via unanimous decision
• Myles Jury def Akbarh Arreloa via unanimous decision

Ring Ka King
This weekend on the episodes of RKK featured the coronation of Brutus Magnus as the Ring Ka King Heavyweight Championship, as well as the power struggle between Ring Ka King Commissioner Jazzy Lahoria and TNA founder Jeff Jarrett. It also featured the RKK debut of Angelina Love. Overall, those episodes were okay, but nothing too special.

NFL
As many people found out in this offseason, there were a lot of newsworthy events:

• Peyton Manning officially released from the Colts after spending a majority of his career as a quarterback.
• Mark Sanchez signing a 3-year extension with the New York Jets, officially taking them out of the Manning free agency saga, and clearing up some cap space
• Brandon Jacobs released from the New York Giants
• Redskins trading up for the 2nd draft pick from the Rams
• Sione Pouha signing a 3 year deal with the Jets

Out of all the events, the Mark Sanchez deal has been the 2nd newsworthy story behind the Peyton Manning free agency saga. Overall, there were mixed reactions to Sanchez signing a new deal, but this tells me that Jets are developing a franchise quarterback and will work from the ground up to create a better 2012 season. Only time shall tell.

Outside of Sports
Earlier today, I met with guest speaker Joshua Garay, founder of TalentSplash.com at a Marketing Club meeting at Kean University. His website is about social networking with people who want to share their talents such as music, acting, art, etc. This website lets talents get noticed by others agencies as well. If you have any talent you want to share with the world, feel free to visit http://www.talentsplash.com/ to find out more information. Signing up is free.

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week!

-NYCKNP 

3/5/2012- UFC on FX 2 results, MLB Spring Training, WWE Road to WrestleMania, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! This month is March, which means It's time for baseball!!!!!!! Keep in mind that this month is only spring training so I won't be posting results for wins or losses with the Yankees and Mets. Rather I will give a "schedule of the week" since spring training will last for an entire month and there's a lot more I have to talk about. Here we go!

MLB
Spring Training commenced last Friday with the Yankees facing off against the University of South Florida, then started a series against Philadelphia. Here's the schedule of the week for the Yankees:

• March 5: Philadelphia
• March 6: Pittsburgh
• March 7: Tampa Bay
• March 8: Toronto
• March 9: Atlanta
• March 10: Atlanta
• March 11: Philadelphia (SS), Minnesota (SS)

For the Mets, their spring training starts today, so here is the schedule of the week for the Mets:

• March 5: Washington
• March 6: St. Louis (SS), Houston (SS)
• March 7: Miami
• March 8: Miami
• March 9: Atlanta
• March 10: Washington
• March 11: Miami

SS- split rosters

UFC
Last Friday (or Saturday if you are living in Australia), UFC had an "UFC on FX" event that emanated from the Allphones Arena in Sydney Australia. Here are the results:

• Constantinos Phillippou def Court McGee via unanimous decision
• Demetrious Johnson vs Ian McCall went to a majority draw*
• Joseph Benavidez def Yasuhiro Urushitani via TKO at Round 2
• Martin Kampmann def Thiago Alves via submission at Round 3

*- originally the fight was scored by the judges as a majority decision for Johnson, but after further review, the judges declared the fight a draw.

ROH
Ring of Honor had a 10th Anniversary iPPV yesterday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the promotion. The iPPV emanated from Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, NY. Here are the results:

• All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King) def Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin)
• "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett def Homicide
• House of Truth (Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong) def Amazing Red and TJ Perkins
• ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal vs Tommaso Ciampa went to a draw
• The Briscoes (Jay and Mark) def The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) to retain the ROH Tag Team Championship
• Kevin Steen def Jimmy Jacobs in a No Holds Barred Match
• Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole def Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly

WWE
Last week on Raw kicked off with a rematch of CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan. Although the match didn't start immediately due to Chris Jericho confronting Punk in a critically acclaimed promo, it was a good match that once again didn't get a proper ending.

After the match was over, it was a decent Raw with a few okay matches, and great promos.

Later in the week on SmackDown, Randy Orton returned to confront Daniel Bryan after a recent altercation before Elimination Chamber. The match, however went to no-contest.

Tonight on Raw, Shawn Michaels is scheduled to make an appearance, as well as The Rock. Also, SmackDown GM Theodore Long will run Raw this week while Interim Raw GM John Laurinaitis will run SmackDown this week. This occured after the 2 GMs went to blows at the start of Raw, and the WWE Board of Directors decided to have them "switch places" for one week.

(Note: I apologize if the videos don't play on the blog as WWE wants these videos to be seen on YouTube. All you need to do is click the link where it says "Watch on YouTube")

Ring Ka King
This weekend's Ring Ka King featured the RKK debut of TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett made an attempt to purchase Ring Ka King from Commissioner Jazzy Lahoria, which was unsuccessful. This led to a violent altercation, which led to Sunday's episode of Jeff Jarrett costing Matt Morgan his Ring Ka King Heavyweight title and the new champion to be Brutus Magnus. Stay tuned next week to find out what happens between TNA Outsiders vs Ring Ka King roster.

(Note: The stable between Sonjay Dutt, Brutus Magnus, Scott Steiner, and Jeff Jarrett doesn't have an actual name so I created a nickname for them)

That's all I have to say for now! Have a good week!

-NYCKNP