Killing Time 039: Books and Tangents

Hey, readers. In this episode, we cover several books including Mick Foley’s “The Hardcore Diaries” and Edge’s “Adam Copeland on Edge.”

Wireless, never crashes, and excellent contrast ratios: Books! The Killing Time Crew covers several different books in today’s episode:

Books: subtitles without the pictures (or audio).

File Size: 9.6MB
Duration 20 minutes 56 seconds.
Direct Download: Killing Time 039

What’s that below this line? A full description of the stuff we covered? Crazy.

• “Snow Crash” by Neal Stepenson (Amazon.com Link}
  a possible future where the mafia controls pizza delivery with the main character named “Hero Protagonist”
• Mick Foley’s “The Hardcore Diaries” (Amazon.com Link)
  Follow Mick Foley as he tries to pitch an ECW idea to his boss over at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
• “How to make love like a Porn Star” by Jenna Jameson (Amazon.com Link)
• “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles (Amazon.com Link)
• “Ordinary People” by Judith Guest (Amazon.com)
• Tangent: Poetry Interpretation
• “Adam Copeland on Edge” by Adam Copeland (Amazon.com Link)
• Olivia Munn and the AppleTV

WrestleMania 23 Predictions (by Audrey).

WrestleMania Predictions (by my dog).

Instead of giving you a standard WrestleMania prediction column, I am going to shake things up. I asked my dog, Audrey, to chose the winner of each match of WrestleMania 23. How do you ask a dog to choose? Well, a simple and unscientific method was necessary. I took a memo pad, wrote the name of the competitors on opposite sides of the paper (I consistently placed champions on the left side of the paper). Then I placed a dog treat under each person’s name. Audrey sat and watched. I told her to “pick one.” The first one she chose, I figured was the one she picked. Let’s get to it:

Batista vs. Undertaker: Audrey’s pick — Undertaker. I agree with the dog. I think she picked a winner. Undertaker’s undefeated streak is something I don’t think will be broken — especially by someone as old as Batista.

John Cena vs. HBK: Audrey’s pick — John Cena. Another situation where I agree with the dog. This will be an excellent match because HBK will get the best out of Cena. Also, Cena can really tell a story. Cena is McMahon’s golden boy and should win. (I think Cena is undefeated at ‘Mania, too. Why should he start losing now?).

Lashley vs. Umaga: When I wrote on the paper “McMahon | Trump,” Audrey picked McMahon. I was shocked by this pick. I gave her another go. I wrote “Lashley | Umaga.” Then she picked Lashley. I figured she picked McMahon because she though McMahon would lose his hair. So far, I agree with every pick she made.

Money in the Bank: Audrey’s Pick — CM Punk (2nd Pick: Edge). This was a shocker. I took note of her 2nd pick because of the amount of competitors in this match. I don’t believe that CM Punk will win, but then again, I didn’t think that Lashley would be ECW Champion so early in his career. I figure Edge will win again because he’s got the 2nd most high profile WrestleMania undefeated streak.

ECW Originals vs. New Breed: Audrey’s Pick — New Breed. No one in my house picked the ECW Originals to win. I asked my wife about the match and she didn’t know 6 out of 8 of the competitors. I asked, “Do you think that the WWE will let RVD win in his home state of Michigan?” She answered, “No. New Breed will win, then.”

Melina vs. Ashley: I feel bad for a lot of wrestlers that are not on the card (Ric Flair, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Johnny Nitro, Kenny Doane, Chavo, Kendrick and London, Jimmy Yang, Greg Helms, and maybe William Regal) while Ashley has a championship shot. We all know that Mickie James or Victoria should get the title shot because they can actually wrestle. Audrey’s pick — Melina. I agree with Audrey, I think that Melina should win, but I think that Ashley will win because it will continue the feud to Unforgiven.

Kane vs. Khali: Audrey’s pick — Kane. I found this pick surprising since it is rumored that Kane is going to take some time off after WrestleMania. Maybe Audrey thinks that the WWE will let Kane have a win and then take some time off. I figure that Khali will win because the WWE always screws Kane.

Benoit vs. MVP: Audrey’s pick — Chris Benoit. I guess Audrey does not see a lot of title changes for this WrestleMania. I figure that Benoit is repeating his role as temporary U.S. champion (he lost the title to JBL last year, why not lose it again to MVP?). I’m picking MVP.

That’s it for WrestleMania Predictions. Even though it doesn’t seem like the best WrestleMania card ever, I think it will be a fun show where every wrestler performs their best. This is WrestleMania — the biggest PPV of the year. There will be some great wrestling, some great mania, and plenty of fun.

Quick Monday Night Raw Review:

Just got done watching a pretty good Monday Night Raw. The WWE has been doing very well leading up to WrestleMania — they go right back to basics. It’s odd how just creating competition (for a title or the Money in the Bank match) is a great way to create good wrestling matches.

The conflict within Rated RKO was interesting, but you knew that Edge was going to win once you saw the combatants in the Last Chance (Raw Only) Battle Royale. The battle royale match itself was quite good and Edge showed himself to be a very entertaining heel when he won. The match almost definitely cemented the Ric Flair versus Carlito showdown for ‘Mania as well.

The Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton match was also a fun preview of the Money in the Bank match. The DQ finish was a nice way of keeping both competitors strong and Hardy’s over the ladder legdrop was quite the sight.

I like the WrestleMania Reversal Matches. Granted, we only had one this episode, but it’s still a great concept.

The HBK-JBL (that’s a lot of initials) encounter was good for what it was — a device to get audio for the spectacular video package that will air right before Raw’s Main Event of HBK vs. Cena.

The Benoit-Cena match was very good and told a story as well. While I was hoping for a DQ finish or something other than Benoit losing cleanly, the ending was well booked with Cena using a take-down to get Benoit in position for the STFU.

The Battle of the Billionaire angle was pretty predictable, but was nonetheless entertaining. Vince’s yelling that he was symbolically shaving the heads of those who booed him was odd and showed that he was a bit demented and strange leading up to the WrestleMania match.

Also, it looks like the end of the Masterlock Challenge. I didn’t think that Masters was going to be successful against another brand’s champion (even if that brand is ECW). Lashley was believable as the first person to break out of Masters’ challenge (although my wife did ask why didn’t anyone just kick their way out – either by kicking low or stomping on Masters’ foot).

Melina’s angle with Ashley was served well via Candice Michelle. Melina’s a bit like the mean popular girl in high school — at least in the way she acts.

Overall, a pretty good show. Great ending with the announcement of the No Way Out rematch of Cena-HBK vs. Batista & Undertaker. Conflicts a plenty in that match.

ECW: Monty Brown Arrives

A week after CM Punk lost his win streak, he needed help from Kelly Kelly to beat Matt Stryker? Maybe he ate Vince’s donut or something.

Monty Brown has been sort of repackaged as Maqrquis Cor Von. This kind of feels like back in the 80s when the WWE would never acknowledge an athlete’s past. I remember “the newcomer Harley Race” back when Harley Race came to the then-WWF.

Too bad they saddled Monty with lousy music. I didn’t watch TNA enough to know if he used an armbar finisher – I always thought he used the Pounce as his finisher. Also odd is that when Monty Brown was signed by the WWE, WWE.com had a statement that Monty Brown had been signed. Why publicize the fact you signed Monty Brown then go ahead and rename him?

Lashley promo? Well, he can only get better. His promo included Lashley explaining how a Triple Threat match works – I guess since it SciFi that may be necessary. Lashley needs a manager.

Elijah Burke can cut one hell of a promo. He should be Lashley’s manager.

The Sandman and Burke had a sloppy match and the finish looked weak. Burke needs some more time in the ring.

Lashley retained the championship using a running powerslam? Powerslam? What year is this? Decent match, although Lashley and RVD seemed lost at times. Surprisingly, Test was the star performer of the match. His offense looked solid, his selling was rather well done.

Looks like Test is ECW’s Triple H. I remember back when Raw ended a number of times with Triple H over the fallen champion yelling that he would be champion. Now Test is doing the same.

This show could have been a lot worse. I only watched it since I read that Monty Brown was debuting.

WWE Raw: The Go Home Edition

Survivor Series is around the corner full of traditional elimination matches. It’s got the old school wrestling fan in me interested. The opening promo on Raw with all the teams meeting and showing that they are actually teams.

I quite liked the Royal Rumble reference by Shawn Michaels and was hoping that the resolution to all the wrestlers in the ring would be a Raw Royal Rumble similar to the SmackDown! Royal Rumble and the PPV. Just have all the wrestlers involved in one giant match. It’s a bit risky, but could have been a good 10PM main event.

VKM and his lovefest for DX? No scowl or anger for DX when announcing that DX will be in a match tonight? I guess all is forgiven since Vince gets to keep so much of the t-shirt sales. (Why not mention that every time DX shills for DX that they are effectively creating a revenue stream for Vince?)

Sabu vs. Umaga – quite the unusual match up.
Sabu with a good match and can easily withstand the loss. I still don’t think of Umaga as a main eventer, but some one has to be. Quite the grill on Umaga – maybe Cryme Tyme can still his teeth.

Masters vs. Lawler + Torrie Wilson
Wow, who writes Masters’ dialog? Carlito the rescue. Their old feud may return. Penis jokes? Par for the course. So Carlito is helping Torrie out of the ring and misses the Titantron image of Masters coming up from behind him. Lawler to the rescue? This is getting odd. What next? Will Todd Grisham save John Cena? Maybe.

Backstage segments:
Nitro and Melina + Grisham – bleh.
Kenny’s the break out star and he can actually talk. Ron “I was the first black WCW Champion, remember?” Simmons and Flair. Interesting.

IC Ladder Match – Why do they explain the rules? It’s not like a TNA Reverse Battle Royal/Tournament + Hot Dog Eating Contest no mustard allowed match.

Excellent spot with Nitro’s standing drop kick to Hardy on the top of the ladder. It’s one of the crazier ladder spots in recent memory (aside from Shelton Benjamin and his MITB match). After hearing some of the commentary on this match, I think Lawler and JR could be replaced with their video game counterparts and no one would know – just create a soundboard with their voices.

Jeff Hardy wins round three. I think this match proved a toughness to Nitro that I didn’t think he had in him. These two didn’t phone it in – very impressive ladder match. That could have been a main event match – maybe these guys will eventually be in that scene.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Spirit Squad Guy
Dusty heals faster than Wolverine out there. His leg was attacked the entire match, yet he can do his dance. Sorry, Spirit Squad guy.

Backstage: Rated RKO, Maria, and Cryme Tyme.
I’m not sure what the hell happened to the writing, but so far, it’s a good show. It looks like this week the WWE acknowleged the WWE Tag championships and the division. A future storyline with Rated RKO as champs with the face challengers Cryme Tyme? Nah.

Lita could have just had her rant without the blindfold match. So she’s leaving. The division gets smaller and smaller by the day. Considering there’s hardly a division, maybe Lita will just take the title with her.

Captains vs. Captains match.
The faces go over (terrible idea) on the tv show and it ends with an all out brawl. maybe there shouldn’t have been a clean finish and just the brawl.

Decent show overall.