Preview – SummerSlam 2012: Brock Lesnar Vs. Triple H

On August 29th, 1988 the first SummerSlam took place at Madison Square Garden. It became the 4th annual WWE PPV after WrestleMania, which began in 1985, Survivor Series in 1987, and the Royal Rumble which became a PPV earlier in 1988. The main event of the show featured the Mega Powers, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage facing The Million Dollar Man and Andre The Giant. Jesse “The Body” Ventura was the special guest referee.

We were right in the middle of what became arguably WWE’s best storyline. This was the first big show after Randy Savage won the WWE Championship. And Hulk Hogan was back after filming No Holds Barred. Savage hadn’t really teased any jealousy yet, though Hogan seemed much more into Elizabeth being the secret weapon of the match, taking her skirt off to reveal her bloomers during the match. They’d really get the story going by Survivor Series.

Nearly 25 years later, the show is still going strong. Only WrestleMania gets to have the number beside the name, but if SummerSlam did, this one would be the 25th show. This year’s show features Brock Lesnar against Triple H in a rare dream match. Though the focus hasn’t really been on a tangible grudge, it’s still a pretty darn big match and should be really well in the ring too. Most hardcore fans have a hard time believing that Triple H should win this match. Brock Lesnar is the former UFC champion and Triple H is a part time wrestler. If Lesnar drops this one after already losing to John Cena, it doesn’t set him up well to help draw at WrestleMania.

We’ve decided to preview the five biggest matches on the show. Daniel Bryan takes on Kane in a match that was originally built up because Charlie Sheen was making fun of Bryan and it was decided that Bryan had anger management issues, which is also the name of Sheen’s TV show. Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler face off in what is surely to be a pretty fantastic match. Sheamus defends his belt against Alberto Del Rio in an angle that has run its course. And CM Punk defends his belt in a three-way against John Cena and the Big Show.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho
Alan says:

I’m hoping for a real career performance from Dolph here. If these two get 15 + minutes and are encouraged to go out and put on a hell of a match, then I think we could get a real showstealer here. Jericho is a great opponent for Ziggler, as he’s that steady, knowledgable veteran that Dolph really hasn’t been programmed against. There really is only a handful of guys like Chris Jericho in the world right now. A combination of someone who’s been doing this for two decades yet still will work hard and try to be cutting edge in his performance. Guys like Kofi, Zack and Sheamus that Dolph typically wrestles are very talented no doubt, but they haven’t mastered their craft yet like Y2J. I’m really interested to see if these two bring out the best in one another because the potential is there for something special if they do. SummerSlam has always been a great event for a match like this with two guys just below main event level putting on a classic back and forth wresling bout. This could well follow that legacy. I think Dolph loses but will get his heat back in some way (perhaps by cashing in the MITB later).

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan
GG says:

With the possibility that many heels may very well win on this show, I think Kane wins the match. And Daniel Bryan is at the stage in his WWE career where he’s so good, it doesn’t really hurt him to lose. I think they’ll keep it fairly short for a Bryan match because they have bigger fish to fry, but I expect Bryan to be truly over with the crowd. If Charlie Sheen is involved, he can help Kane win the match. I think that if he’s not in the building, he should at least manage Kane through Skype.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus
Big D says:

I’m going to avoid getting into a “why should I care?” about this match rant because honestly, WWE storylines in 2012 have never meant less. However, what we have here is two pretty good workers who will hopefully be given enough time to have a good match. Sheamus has been super pushed since January and Del Rio has bounced up and down the card randomly. Sheamus already booted ADR clean, so this match is pretty pointless and an example of the shallow pool of talent, but again… I will refrain from complaining about THAT as well. Still, the match should be decent and since Sheamus is getting a big push, I originally predicted him to win BUT because they’re doing the whole “I want Del Rio” angle from Sheamus, that usually means it bites the babyface in the ass. I’m picking ADR to win and then feud with Randy into the fall.

John Cena vs. The Big Show vs. CM Punk
Cadillac D says:

Taking a back seat to Lesnar and Triple H, we get this three-way match that is going to have to do a lot to ensure it doesn’t become a throwaway. We know what is probably going to happen, but that may make things more intriguing.

What can the WWE do to make this match special? We know Punk is going to try everything he can to retain the title, even (gasp) resorting to heelish tactics. John Cena hasn’t held the title in close to a year, and failed to cash in the Money in the Bank against Punk due to Big Show, so he’s going to be a little desperate. And Big Show hasn’t done much other than look big and intimidating.

As for the match itself, we’re going to have Big Show look mean and throw guys around, then spend the majority of it recovering outside the ring. Punk and Cena can try to duplicate their decent match from last year’s SummerSlam, but they may have to work around a few wild cards. Daniel Bryan may make an appearance, as may GM AJ Lee. I doubt it, but at least it may make the match interesting.

Otherwise, the only thing this match has going for it is whether or not Punk will make a full heel turn, or continue being his current grey character. Cena’s character is boring, and would have been a lot more interesting if he was going into this match with a losing streak since WrestleMania. But no, we can’t have that happen. And then we have Big Show. Yeah.

It’s hard to pick a winner. I’d like to see Punk win and hold onto the title until Royal Rumble to face The Rock, but the WWE brass may be getting itchy palms with Cena.

Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
Duan says:

I’m sure there are a lot of people who will disagree with me here, but I’m 100% certain WWE get this one right. I know there has been a lot of discussion over whether HHH will take the fall, or if Brock is done serving his time yet, but at the end of the day, they (like everybody else) know what needs to happen here.

WWE are going to get their Wrestlemania payoff on the Brock deal and a win here is the only way that happens. His return has not been handled perfectly, and yes, this match could they have built up better, but they’ve got the rest of the year riding on it, and they’re not going to let it crumble to dust.

I understand why there are those with their reservations, but Lesnar is going over – money back guarantee. I think this one still ends up delivering big for them.

We’ll have play by play of the show live on Sunday.

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FGB Radio – UFC 150, TNA Hardcore Justice Recap, & SummerSlam Preview

Aug 13 2012

Jason Hagholm, aka @dadrrtywhyteboi (or dadrrtyTOUTboi) and I are back for the latest in MMA, pro wrestling, and boxing (though, not so much boxing this week).

We start off tangent immediately and discuss the end of the Summer Olympics and which events we enjoyed most. But we quickly get back on topic and talk about the top two fights at UFC 150, but maybe more importantly, how cold the sport seems. I personally didn’t like the main event between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson and we talk about why.

We quickly go into TNA’s Hardcore Justice and the ramifications of the main event between Austin Aries and Bobby Roode. And lastly, we preview SummerSlam which is this upcoming weekend. We talk about Brock vs. HHH, who we think will win, and why we’re worried. We talk about the rest of the matches that have been announced so far as well.

Thanks for listening!

Right click to download.

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TNA Hardcore Justice Play By Play – Bobby Roode Vs. Austin Aries

What, me watch a second TNA PPV in consecutive months? Well, last month’s Destination X was my third favorite wrestling show of the year, just behind WWE’s Extreme Rules and WrestleMania 28. And I have been paying attention to their ever improving television show since then. While they aren’t as hot as they were going into Destination X, this show should be pretty good too with several strong match-ups.

With the new stipulation in the title match where neither guy gets a rematch, you’d have to think Roode is getting his belt back, or else they may have booked themselves into a hole.

1. Gunner and Kid Kash vs. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez

It’s odd to see Chavo in the Mexican babyface role because I’ve seen him so often in the role of trying to help the Mexican babyface get over. The match was fine for the opener. It was an old school tag team match where the heels get the heat on the babyface (Chavo) for a long time until he can finally make the hot tag. Hernandez cleaned house including a running dive over the top rope. Guerrero hit a frog splash off the top rope on Kash for the pin.

Winner: Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez

2. Rob Van Dam vs. Pope vs. Magnus vs. Mr. Anderson

Pope was jumped by Aces & Eights before the match, injuring his shoulder. Anderson just called it a three-way dance. Winner gets 20 points in the Bound For Glory series with falls count anywhere rules.

Kind of a herky jerky match. RVD took a spill off the top rope early and to the floor. Anderson and Magnus beat each other up for a bit, but the match was clearly designed for RVD to hit all of his moves. RVD and Magnus were on the stage and RVD threw a chair at him and Magnus caught it and was hit with the Vandaminator.

Van Dam gets 20 points and is now in second place in the BFG series.

Winner:
3. Kazarian vs. Devon

I thought Kazarian might get the duke hear to put more steam on he and Christopher Daniels, but it wasn’t meant to be. Devon won a fine match with a spinebuster. There’s a theme here so far which seems to be to get the matches that most weren’t looking forward to out of the way first.

Winner: Devon

4. Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher

Match was everything you thought it’d be. Rayne cheated on her pin holding the ropes and Earl Hepner counted the fall and Rayne is the new Knockouts Champ. Right before the pin, Tessmacher had a pin attempt, but Rayne got her foot on the rope and Earl broke it up. I wonder if she wasn’t supposed to or she was supposed to do it late? It didn’t make sense the way it worked out.

Winner: Madison Rayne

5. Robbie E. vs. Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm

The match is a tables match with the winner getting 20 points.

Bubba tricked Robbie E. to get him the table and said they could work together since they were New York/New Jersey. When E. got him the table, he punched him off the apron. Looks like Robbie E. screwed up a spot. Storm and Hardy tried suplexing Bubba on the table and E. moved it, but not far enough as Bubba’s arm caught it and nearly broke it.

Yet another screw up — Hardy had Robbie E. on the table outside the ring and Robbie T. ran down. But T. was behind Robbie E. and Hardy still jumped to attack him, over the table Robbie E. was on. Kind of dumb psychology. E. had Hardy on the table and dove through it as Hardy moved. But I guess he’s still in the match.

Match was pretty much a cluster but it got better at the end. Aces & Eights showed up seemingly to save Storm. Storm looked to have the match in the bag as he hit Hardy with the Superkick and was ready to powerbomb him through a table, but Bubba kicked him, tossed him over the top and threw Hardy through the table himself.

Winner: Bully Ray

Um, I guess he’s not going to WWE?

6. Kenny King vs. Zema Ion

Pretty good match, but it didn’t flow well. King doesn’t yet have the charisma to get the crowd into him as a babyface in peril. Ion is getting better, especially at his heel mannerisms. He blocked King’s sunset flip attempt out of the corner and hit a backbreaker for the win. Finish came off a bit flat.

Winner: Zema Ion

7. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

Maybe Kurt will win the match since he’s an Olympic Gold Medalist and the Summer Games just ended?

This match is already nuts. AJ threw Kurt into the ropes, but Angle had to go under the ladder and once he hit the ropes, AJ pushed the ladder right into his face. That looked brutal.

I think Angle bit off more than he can chew. Joe had AJ up for the Muscle Buster and Kurt tried to give Joe and German Suplex. They mistimed it and Angle couldn’t get Joe up so Joe just fell on top of him and AJ flew over both of them. Joe and Kurt used Daniels as a suplex dummy. Daniels probably going to feel that tomorrow. They were also dangerously close to the ladder and it was freaking me out.

Joe and Angle were preoccupied with Daniels, Styles was out of the match. Joe had Daniels laying in between the rungs of the ladder and Kurt was on the mat, but AJ catapulted himself from the top rope onto the ladder and grabbed the win. Really good match.

Winner: AJ Styles

8. Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries

Austin Aries is really having fun being the champ.

The match wasn’t quite as good as their match last month at the PPV, but it was still good. Early on Roode was the technician, in the right place at the right time, and was dominating the match. Aries made his comeback and started to use his high flying moves, but was caught by Roode again. Roode was too smart. Near the end of the match, there was a ref bump, so there were two refs in the ring at the finish. Roode hit a Superplex, but Aries used his feet to cross-cross Roode’s feet and both shoulders were down. Both refs counted the pinfalls for each guy. Earl Hebner came out and restarted the match.

Roode had the belt in his hands and Aries went for a low tope. Roode hit him with the belt, but it was more a reaction than trying to use the belt since he would be DQd. He thought he had the win, but Aries kicked out. After he argued with the ref, Aries school boyed him for the victory.

Winner: Austin Aries

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Video – Brock Lesnar “Breaks” Shawn Michaels’ Arm

Aug 14 2012

The video is split into two parts. The first part is the faux contract signing which was odd in that Triple H was late to the building because of travel and thus, HBK was out there to represent him. The second was Lesnar attacking Michaels.

The show-long storyline was that Michaels was afraid of Brock Lesnar and didn’t want to see him, let alone face him as long as Triple H wasn’t around. Michaels was really brilliant in showing fear of a legit ass-kicker, which is the opposite of how Triple H has been booked in this angle so far. In just a few hours, WWE built up more interest in a HBK vs. Brock Lesnar match (and one we’re not getting) than they’ve done so far in weeks and weeks worth of build for Triple H vs. Lesnar.

Now, maybe Triple H shouldn’t cower to Lesnar, but he should show legitimate fear since the only time he’s really been in the ring with Lesnar, he was put in a kimura and his arm was “broken”. The story of this match should be that Triple H is trying to defend his company from an outsider, but he’s ring rusty and doesn’t have enough to do it. It should really come down to the Undertaker sending this outsider back to where he came from. Then again, they already screwed this thing up by having Lesnar lose to John Cena. Shit, now we’re back at square one.

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UFC 150 Preview – Frankie Edgar Vs. Benson Henderson II

Aug 10 2012

I was a huge proponent of the idea that Frankie Edgar should get an immediate rematch after losing his title against Benson Henderson. Heck, I thought he eked out the first fight. Edgar is a lunch-pail kind of former champ who doesn’t tout his own near greatness outside of the cage. He just fights his ass off inside of it. But part of why he’s under-appreciated is because he doesn’t tout himself. People will remember great fights, but they remember more the impression that a great fighter leaves and most of that is charisma-based. Benson Henderson has a lot of that charism that Edgar lacks. Who would be the better champion to push the lightweight division higher and higher? It’s the most competitive division in the UFC, yet, without a BJ Penn to bring the eye balls, the division hasn’t been a huge draw. Can Benson Henderson change that?

The two biggest fights on UFC 150 are lightweight fights and those are the ones we’ll talk about. One is a fight between friends. Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard should have a fun striking-based fight and they’d like to challenge Edgar/Henderson for that best fight bonus. Stevie J from Angry Marks along with the FGB crew share their predictions.

Melvin Guillard vs. Donald Cerrone

GG says: Cerrone by 3rd round submission

Both guys want to trade and give the fans a great performance. Neither guy has to win to keep his job. But when it gets down to the third round, I expect both guys to work hard to finish the fight. Guillard is susceptible to being choked out. His last three defeats are all from either rear-naked chokes or guillotine chokes. I think Cerrone sets him up in the third round and Guillard will tap out again.

Duan says: Cerrone by 1st round submission

We haven’t seen it so much lately, but for a guy who favours striking first, Cerrone has a near stunning ability to catch a guy cold in a submission. Guillard has always had major issues surviving opponents who attack for holds aggressively. His overanxious style makes him the perfect victim. I see this ending no other way than first round tapout.

Cactus Jim says: Cerrone by 2nd round submission

There’s not much that can be said beyond what my co-bloggers have already pointed out. Both guys can punch. Both guys can take a punch. Both have great cardio and both come to fight. If there is one discrepancy in the skills of each of these fighters, it’s that Guillard has proven susceptible to submission, chokes in particular. Cerrone has a demonstrated proficiency in this area with a number of wins coming in this manner. If Greg Jackson isn’t an idiot, and he’s not, he has built a game plan for Donald that involves exploiting this hole in Guillard’s game. Like a slimmer Adrian Adonis, Cerrone will put Guillard to sleep, but I’m guessing he doesn’t get the pleasure of slapping him out of his slumber after his hand is raised.

Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson

Alan says: Henderson by decision

There are many things in MMA which are clear as day and can’t be denied. For example – Frank Mir is going to gas, Ronda Rousey is going to win by armbar and Nate Diaz likes to talk trash during fights. Another one of these examples is that Benson Henderson is going to look even better than he did last time you saw him. Henderson is one of the premier athletes in the whole game. He has the legs of an NFL running back, the agility of a luchador, the speed of a cat and the strength of The Crusher, and every time he fights he seems to have this whole package put together ever tighter that the last time he competed. This guy is getting scary good. He beat Frankie Edgar in the first fight. It was close, but not close enough where Frankie Edgar’s claims of being the real winner should be met with anything but eye rolls (except on GG’s score card, ha!). Henderson was the dominant fighter, and I think he’s going to be an even better fighter in the rematch. Frankie is great, no doubt. However I don’t think his game is advancing at the level Benson’s is. He’s quite frankly, probably at the peak of his abilities and I don’t think that’s a level that’s going to be enough to win him this fight. Henderson also has an advantage in that he trains at high altitude which will be critical as this bout takes place in Denver. I see Benson bullying a gutsy Frankie to a very clear 5 round decision win.

Big D says: Henderson by decision

Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson have always been two of the most exciting guys to watch. I love Frankie’s in and out style that he used to beat Penn as well as that secretive explosive power, which he used to plow down Gray Maynard. Ben is a beast and extremely well rounded and has been the one guy, other than Faber and Aldo, who has made a huge splash in the UFC since the WEC merger. The last time they fought, it was really anyone’s match-up but this time, I think we’ll see a smarter, tougher, and rougher Benson Henderson. I predict a decision victory for Henderson after a tough, well-balanced fight.

Stevie J says: Henderson by decision

I want to say at the start that I have the utmost respect for Frankie Edgar and after watching him beat BJ Penn twice (once in a very close fight and once decisively) I feel he’s the real deal. Unfortunately I think Benson Henderson is a bad match for him stylistically and I don’t see him winning this rematch. Ben’s biggest advantage may be that he’s the human Gumby and can bend in any direction without being submitted, but an even bigger advantage is that his striking has improved in every fight I’ve seen him in going back to WEC, and it’s usually when people waste time trying to submit him that he punishes them on the escape. Edgar may not make that mistake in this fight, but he will be outstruck, outworked, and will ultimately go down in a five round decision.

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Video – Ronda Rousey Impersonates Herself For Sarah Kaufman’s Contest

Aug 12 2012

By reading Sarah Kaufman’s Twitter account, you’ll notice she’s having a Ronda Rousey impression contest with the winner getting two tickets to see them fight next week in San Diego.

Rousey video bombs the contest by posting her own video as Randa Roozie, the number one Sarah Kauffman fan. It’s silly, though there are some pretty funny parts including her putting an arm bar on a vacuum cleaner.

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