Tha O Show

ALERT: Dan-e-o's "Serial Killer" Has Been Released!

2012-01-27T01:25:00.007-05:00

Dan-e-o's first single of 2012 is out now! Inspired by the hit TV series "Dexter", Dan-e-o's brand new banger, "Serial Killer" is putting ALL MC's on notice!

Produced by Charisma for Urban Bounce Productions, "Serial Killer" is the first of many new singles to come from Dan-e-o's forthcoming album/mixtape project entitled, Dope.

Click the artwork above to download "Serial Killer" for FREE and feel free to pass along the news to everyone you know! ALERT: Dan-e-o's "Serial Killer" has been released!!

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

"Tha O Show" Postponed

2012-01-25T17:50:00.009-05:00

Hey O-sters! Sorry to have to deliver a "NO" this week. But due to circumstances beyond our control, Episode 249 of "Tha O Show" will have to be postponed until next week.

Loyal O-sters know that Tha Fam-O-ly has had a lot on its collective plate of late. Both Dan-e-o and Voodoo Drew are preparing the releases of their respective group albums in the coming months. Not to mention, both Perfeck Strangers and So Sick Social Club are busy rehearsing for upcoming concerts.

Tha team is also preparing a HUGE celebration for the monumental 250th episode of "Tha O Show" that is scheduled for just a couple of weeks from now. And we'd like your help! We'll explain in a sec...

Over the course of the past five years, "Tha O Show" has brought its listeners TONS of guests from the pro wrestling, MMA and music world to both educate and entertain. The candid interviews on "Tha O Show" are like none other on radio, television or the internet.

Add to that the crazy impromptu musical numbers and all-around hilarity that makes "Tha O Show" so unique, and you got yourself an incomparable product. BUT...none of it would be worth doing without a planet of O-sters to support the cause.

So, we'd like to dedicate Episode 250 to you! Here's how you can help: Who would you like to hear as guests? What segments do you want to hear included? Should we bring old ones back? Or create new ones altogether? Call Tha O Phone at 414-44-OSHOW and get "O-sters With Something To Say" started back up! OR leave a comment below!

And be sure to stay tuned to ThaOShow.com for the release of Dan-e-o's brand new single, "Serial Killer" later this week!

Don't forget to follow Tha Fam-O-ly on Twitter:
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@SOSICKSOCCLUB
@Ocrystalbeth
@thaoshow

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

My Problem With Flair

2012-01-21T22:45:00.002-05:00

When I heard that The Four Horsemen were being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame for the class of 2012 I thought it was a cool idea. The only problem was that there was no way in hell that Ric Flair would be there. He’s an employee of TNA. Not in a “Oh, he wrestled once and is an honorary member of the roster” kind of way. He is there.

So imagine my surprise when an interview popped up with him stating that he would be there to accept the induction. This wasn’t a rumor. He is going to be there on WWE programming while still as an employee of TNA.

As much as I loved Ric Flair growing up and throwing up the four fingers and shouting “Woooooooo!!!” in my dirty ass bathrobe, its pretty fucked up that he’s going to be there. Why? Because he is a goddamn employee of TNA! How does that look to everyone still working there?

Remember when one of the Highlanders was spotted in the Impact! Zone? He got fired. Before anyone gets their fingers ready to write me a strongly worded message, no, I am not comparing Rory (or was it Robbie?) to The Nature Boy. I’m just saying that its wrong for WWE to bring in a TNA guy while he is still employed by them.

You know what I would’ve done if I was in charge of TNA? I would have seen or heard about The Horsemen being inducted, contacted Flair, and said “No way you’re going there.” If he put up a fight I would have burned his contract.

Doing this says to not only Flair, the rest of my roster, and WWE, but to the wrestling world that we, TNA, need to be shown proper respect. They don’t owe Flair shit. They brought him into TNA after he bounced out of Ring Of Honor when he saw dollar signs. TNA gets nothing from him going to WWE to get an award.

Yes, I know its Ric Flair. He’s one of the best to ever step foot in the ring. You have no idea how big a fan I was of his growing up. I cursed this man’s name when I couldn’t roll over and reverse the figure four leglock as a child. But TNA gets absolutely fuck all out of this. They look like chumps. That is unless Flair wears a TNA shirt while accepting his reward.

Which will never happen.

Introducing The All New Daniel "Dan-e-o" Faraldo

2012-01-20T01:00:00.004-05:00

Photography courtesy of Total Productions Photography.

Dan-e-o's new single "Serial Killer" gets released next week! Stay tuned for the FREE DOWNLOAD!

Tha O Show: Episode 248

2012-01-19T12:00:00.002-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a SICK and EXTREME edition of "Tha O Show"!

Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club join tha O-riginal Brothaz of O in Tha Sick-O Zone for Episode 248 while "BCS" Frank Fronte is away this week.

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os & NOs"

"Tha Black Prophet"

"Tha Round Table" with ECW Original, "The King of Old School", Steve Corino!

AND "Sweet Nothing" by So Sick Social Club featuring Onyx, Psych Ward & Bishop Brigante!

Check out the music video for "Ghetto" by Perfeck Strangers HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@Ocrystalbeth

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 247

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a BANGIN' edition of "Tha O Show"! And it's a day early!

The returning "BCS" Frank Fronte and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club join tha O-riginal Brothaz of O in Tha Sick-O Zone for Episode 247 while Crystal Beth is away this week.

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Donnie VS. Danny"

"Tha Os & NOs"

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.

Tha return of Snakeblood!

PLUS hear the guys weigh in on the re-debut of Brodus Clay. the continued comeback of Chris Jericho, the Hall of Fame announcements and the rumors of Bellator and TNA working together!

"Tha Round Table" with former WWE Tag Team Champions, The Headbangers!

AND "Stop Schemin' (Remix)" featuring Common dissing Drake!

Check out the music video for "Ghetto" by Perfeck Strangers HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@ipromisemusic

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha Complaint Box

2012-01-10T01:52:00.001-05:00

I just…I don’t know. I just don’t know what to say. So after all of the false starts Brodus Clay made his debut on Raw tonight. He is now known as Funkasaurus Brodus Clay. Why did this happen? Who thought this was a good idea? Who is this for? I’m really asking the O-sters. I know that I’m not in the demographic that WWE is aiming towards. But can anyone really enjoy this new gimmick?

When I saw Clay after an O-ster mentioned him on NXT I checked him out and wrote an article talking about how much I liked this big ass mofo. I liked his moves, his look, and the fact that when he got clipped in the knee he screamed in pain. Black singlet, tattoos, Mohawk. Worked fine for me.

His new look is an abomination. If you took every member of Run DMC and somehow managed to combine them with King Kong Bundy, Tazz, Kool Aid Man, and The Godfather you would get his new look. Its not cool. It screams “future endeavors.” Which sucks because, like I said, I liked the guy. I cant take him seriously at all now.

Now I know there are some people saying, “Dante, what the fuck are you talking about? The kids will dig this new Funkasaurus” or “People are talking about it like they did with Y2J last week.” To which I say kids don’t know shit plus you should stop cursing in front of them and I will not get into what I think about Jericho this week. The only thing I liked about Clay’s debut were dancing next to him. The one on the left is a butterface but what can you do?

I know that there is a time and place for fun and silliness in wrestling. I watch CHIKARA. They have some pretty crazy stuff on there but it fits. WWE has been having guys getting attacked by monsters that come from under the ring, guys having nervous breakdowns, and a guy that told one of the main men running the show he would beat him like a bitch. Want comic relief? There’s Santino and Zack Ryder.

Don’t take the one guy that isn’t a jacked up juice beast and looks like he is a monster that has moves and looks legitimately threatening and have him come out dancing to Rikishi’s old routine.

Tha O Show: Episode 246

2012-01-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a very ROYAL edition of "Tha O Show"!

Crystal Beth joins tha O-riginal Brothaz of O for Episode 246, while "BCS" Frank Fronte, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Royal Touch are missing in action from Tha Sick-O Zone this week!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os & NOs" complete with hockey, WWE and MMA talk!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D. featuring more MMA jabber.

"Tha Round Table" with a favourite of Tha O Family - Former WWE Superstar, Tiger Ali Singh! Tiger joins us not just to discuss yet ANOTHER of the amazing accomplishments by the Tiger Jeet Singh foundation over the holidays... but also to let everyone know about his trip to Japan last weekend and how he left the great Antonio Inoki laid out in a pool of his own blood in front of a sold out MMA crowd!!

AND "Ghetto" by Perfeck Strangers!

Check out the music video for "Ghetto" HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@ipromisemusic

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Raw Still Isn't Jericho

2012-01-03T13:23:00.001-05:00

Chris Jericho made his return to WWE on Monday Night Raw yesterday. People were speculating on whether or not it was The Undertaker, Y2J, or even Brock Lesner. After showing another one of those student films that looked like something from The Ring he came out. This should’ve been awesome. It could’ve been awesome. But it wasn’t and the reason why is because of something I’ve complained about before.

Fans need to know everything.

People like being “the first.” People will comment on blogs and threads on messages boards just to say “First!” That’s it. No thought, no opinion, no ideas. They just want to be first. People were posting pictures of Jericho where Raw was being taped. “Me! I found him! Shower me with praise!” Imagine what it would’ve been like if you had no idea that he was gonna be there.

Imagine if he didn’t have a Twitter account were he could attempt to trick people into thinking he was done talking about wrestling. The “Y2J!” chants killed the moment as it was happening. Jericho has returned multiple times and each time its some sort of countdown. If he had just shown up I would have been more surprised. The camera actually panned over a sign that said “Y2J” before he was even shown. Come on!

When Jericho was last in WWE people were bored with him. They complained about him being stale. They complained about his finisher. They complained about every new tag team he formed. When he left I was fine with it. And by “when he left” I mean when Randy Orton punted him into retirement. There is no reason he needed to come back.

As much as I like him he isn’t going to save WWE. He cant get revenge against Orton because Orton is hurt. Would I like to see him face CM Punk? Yeah. 25 year old me would. And why would they even feud? Because they don’t like each other much? Yeah, that sounds compelling.

This is the same Christmas present with different wrapping. For as much as fans say they want new stars to be built because they are tired of the same guys being at the top they sure as hell do get excited when people they forgot they hated return.

One thing I try to keep in mind that I applied to comic books and will apply to wrestling since I’ve been watching wrestling longer than I’ve been reading comic books is this: If I can think of it sitting at home, it shouldn’t happen on TV.

Tha O Show: Episode 245

2011-12-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a very special NEW YEAR'S EVE edition of "Tha O Show"!

"BCS" Frank Fronte is at Tha Sick-O Zone for tha party that is Episode 245, while Crystal Beth, The Notorious T.I.D., Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Royal Touch are ALL missing in action!

Tha O's, however, are a-plenty!

On this week's show you'll hear...

Tha return of "Donnie VS. Danny"

As well as the return of "Tha Black Prophet"

"Tha Os & NOs"

"Tha Round Table" with former WCW/WWE/TNA Superstar, Diamond Dallas Page!

AND "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro Fresh-Wes & DJ MelBoogie!

Download "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie. Free HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@Ocrystalbeth
@big_kish
@MaestroFreshWes
@djmelboogie
@RealDDP

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha Raw Report

2011-12-27T03:36:00.003-05:00

Before I get into WWE, I have to give credit where credit is due. Huge O to Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints for breaking the record for passing yards in a season. For a guy whose career was seriously in question following a torn rotator cuff and a kick out the door from the San Diego Chargers, it's nice to see him thrive like this. As big as that O is, an even bigger No goes out to all the analysts who want to shortchange Brees' record, citing how passing is so much easier in today's NFL. I know there have been major changes to the game since 1984, but if passing is that much easier, why did it still take 27 years for someone to break the record?

Now on to "Raw". For starters, I'm not buying into Laurinaitis as the GM. As much as I enjoyed making CM Funk jokes when he ripped off Punk's entrance to begin "Raw", I can't help but be bored when he's on my TV. He gets so much heat without even trying. Normally, that's a good thing, because if you get heat without even trying, you tend to make a great heel. But that's the problem. He genuinely does not appear to be trying. For a guy who is as hated by WWE crowds as Johnny Ace, he should absolutely be an over-the-top tyrant on a total power trip. But I don't get that vibe from him. Instead, I get the vibe of a clueless schmuck who kind of wants to abuse his power but doesn't have the balls to go all out. I can't help but wonder if that's by design, given his reputation backstage, but if that's the case, it's a stupid idea. Let him become a tyrant and it will add a lot to the product, as well as to Punk's character.

Speaking of Punk, it's hard to imagine a better way for a heel to get heat than to pin Punk in Chicago. I'm one of many people who believe Ziggler is a big part of the future of WWE, and while I don't think his time has come to be the WWE Champion, I think it's smart to at least have him in a title match every now and then until he is ready. If he looks good, even in losses, that will help elevate him and make him look more legit when he finally does win. And we've all seen what happens when WWE puts the title on someone with no build-up beforehand (see: The Miz).

Speaking of The Miz, he was assaulted by a returning R-Truth tonight. Truth continued to play up the psychotic gimmick. I don't know how well that will work with him as a face, but I'm at least interested in seeing where it goes, because I was actually pretty entertained by his rant last night. Maybe it's because I'm a terrible person, but to me there's entertainment value in a character who just acts batshit crazy all the time. His Little Jimmy rants started to grow on me after a while when he turned heel earlier this year.

Kane cut one of the better promos of his career last night. However, following the Kane/Cena confrontation, I'm convinced that Cena will not turn heel. I know it's another golden opportunity, and it would make sense and would make money, but it seems like we say that at least once per year ever since 2006. There have been too many chances to do it, and it's now to the point where WWE can tease a Cena heel turn all they want, but I don't buy into it anymore. Of course, the irony of this is that the booking on Cena has become heel booking anyway. He never loses, to the point where it's a huge deal and the crowd comes unglued when he does lose. Sounds like how a heel gets booked, doesn't it?

I'm sure that ultimately, Cena will choose to "rise above hate" and bury Kane in a feud. Would I like to be wrong? Of course. There's so much money to be made and so many new programs to be created by turning Cena heel, just like when Batista finally turned heel in late 2009. It's just that I've seen this kind of situation enough times before to feel like WWE will, once again, fail to pull the trigger.

Lastly, some quick hits. Booker T looked impressive in the ring last night. He's still got a ton o gas left in the tank. Also, there was a Tyson Kidd sighting on "Raw" last night. Here's hoping this means a feud with Zack Ryder in the near future.

Raw Results:
*Booker T def. Cody Rhodes
*Zack Ryder & Eve def. Tyson Kidd and Natalya
*Big Show def. David Otunga by DQ
*John Cena def. The Miz by count-out
*CM Punk def. Jack Swagger
*Dolph Ziggler def. CM Punk; Ziggler is #1 Contender for WWE Championship

Tha O Show: Episode 244

2011-12-22T12:00:00.003-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back from another one-week hiatus with a very special CHRISTMAS edition of "Tha O Show"!

Crystal Beth and "BCS" Frank Fronte are along for the wild ride that is Episode 244, while Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Royal Touch are missing in action from Tha Sick-O Zone this week!

Tha O's, however, are a-plenty!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os & NOs" complete with "Dexter", NBA and WWE talk!

A unique first-time installment of "Big Daddy Donnie Has Mall Rage!"

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D. featuring more "Dexter" talk mixed in with a little MMA jabber.

"Tha Round Table" with former TNA Superstar, Shark Boy!

AND new the single "Against All Odds" by Promise of Perfeck Strangers from his solo album, Awakening.

The debut music video from Perfeck Strangers - "Ghetto" is out now! Check it out HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Download "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie. Free HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@ipromisemusic

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Deeply Discussing Dexter

2011-12-20T12:13:00.003-05:00

Where do I even start? 'Dexter' season finales always deliver the goods and this season was no different. From start to finish it twisted and turned and had you wondering which direction they were going. The best thing about the show though, is its amazing ability to do what wrestling did for us years ago, get us emotionally involved in the characters and everything that happens to them.

This season has by far given us the most amount of loose ends going forward. First off we have the state of the department. Deb let Travis Marshall get away, Matthews is forced to retire, Batista is trying to transfer Quinn and LaGuerta pretty much has free reign over everything right now. Given that 'Dexter' has signed off on two more seasons I think it looks like season 8 will be the last one and I really don't see a huge shake up in the homicide office, but things are definitely going to be awkward moving forward.

I also see Masuka's intern, Lewis playing a much bigger role in the next couple seasons. Since I got behind on my 'Dexter' this season and didn't get to write an article every week I didn't get a chance to share how much I've 'O'ed for the way Lewis has progressively gotten creepier and creepier. From the first time he said he was working on a game about homicide and finally seeing the actual game and from him deleting the eBay sale of the hand to him having the prosthetic hand to him drawing lines on the palm and sending it to Dexter. Vince McMahon should watch because that is exactly how you build a proper heel, dude has me creeper out and intrigued. I might be more excited about the Lewis storyline than I am about the ending.

An ending which was executed perfectly. From Travis showing up in Dexter's apartment and looking like he may kill Jamie and Harrison to him showing up at the pageant and the extremely tense chase that actually had me legit stressing out on my couch feeling sick at the thought that he might just kill a tiny child. Anyone who watched Travis walk with Harrison and sing him songs only to lead him to a roof where he planned to sacrifice him without feeling an intense hatred needs to see a doctor.

But of course Dexter makes the save and gets Harrison home safe before anyone even noticed he was gone. Then Dex being the ritualistic killer he is decides to set up his kill room in the church the cops have tabs on and the church Deb EXPECTS HIM TO BE AT. The dialogue between Dexter and Travis was such a great display of the contrast between the two. Dexter being the agnostic that he is and Travis being the devout Christian he is, both certain that the other is completely wrong. Amazing stuff.

Then like last season, we see Dexter making his final kill and we see Deb closing in on the kill room. One half of me is thinking "Oh shit, she's gonna find him." The other half of me is thinking that we're being shown two different times and that Deb is walking into a Travis-less room where Dexter is just going through his normal forensic work. But alas, Deb catches Dexter in the act.

"Oh God." What a perfect ending for this season. I only wonder how they can continue for two more seasons with Deb knowing about Dexter's dark passenger. One thing Dex and Deb have in common is that neither has the ability to let a crime go unpunished. While Deb may have let the Jordan Chase killers go last season I don't think she has the ability to let Dexter continuously kill people without being brought to justice. And let's face it, Saran wrapped, kill tools in hand, dressed in apron and mask, Dex can't exactly claim it was a one off. I refuse to watch a season of ' Dexter where Deb helps him kill. I also refuse to watch a season where Deb turns a blind eye. Luckily, I think they'll refuse to produce either of those scenarios so I'm really excited to see how this situation plays out. So this is the end of enjoyable television until next September. Happy holidays Osters!

Dan-e-o On "V-Mix" Today!

2011-12-20T07:22:00.000-05:00

OMNI TELEVISION's "V-Mix" will be featuring veteran Toronto lyricist, Dan-e-o in the third of a three-part interview tonight at 4:30 PM EST.

This week, Dan-e-o will talk about "Kama Sutra" - his most popular YouTube music video to date - and his new venture as part of the duo, Perfeck Strangers.

Check out "V-Mix on Omni TV" on Facebook!

Give Us Your O's!

2011-12-19T13:59:00.002-05:00

If you weren't at The Guvernment for the EPMD concert in Toronto last night, then chances are you were taking in one or more of Sunday's O-mazing television broadcasts. So...we'd like to hear from you, O-sters!

What was your "O" of the evening? The shocking season finale of "Dexter"? A crazy moment from WWE's TLC PPV? "Survivor" perhaps?

Fill us in by leaving a comment below and be sure to let us know what you'd like to hear Tha O Show staff discuss on this week's episode!

A Letter To Tha Nation

2011-12-15T10:34:00.012-05:00

Dear Loyal O-sters of Tha Nation of O,

It is with regret that we must, once again, inform you that this week's episode of "Tha O Show" will be postponed until next week! As you have likely noticed from recent episodes, the schedules of the members of Tha O Show Staff have only gotten a lot busier lately.

Big Daddy Donnie has been tied up with a number of professional commitments while Dan-e-o and Voodoo Drew have been putting in work on multiple musical projects. Even Frank Fronte has been steadily on the grind searching desperately for a life! Tha crew is working hard!

Once again, please know that much of the work that is causing episode postponements is to build a bigger and better brand of "Tha O Show" for your listening enjoyment. We trust that you understand and wish our heartfelt thanks to you die hard O-sters who have helped to keep the show going for nearly six years strong.

We hope that you can take some comfort in knowing that tha team is preparing for two BIG upcoming episodes to celebrate both Christmas and the new year! So do stay tuned!

In the meantime, your support for our endeavours is always appreciated! The new Perfeck Strangers single, "Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! If you haven't yet, buy it HERE!

Until next week...

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter:
@thaoshow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@MightyMonolith

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 243

2011-12-08T20:00:00.011-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are finally back from another one-week hiatus with a very CUNTROVERSIAL 243rd edition of "Tha O Show"!

Along with Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, Crystal Beth and the returning Royal Touch, Tha Sick-O Zone gets all out of CUNTROL!

This week, both The Notorious T.I.D. and "BCS" Frank Fronte are M.I.A. (Majoring In Anal?). Feel free to leave your assumptions about what that also may stand for in the comment section below!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os & NOs" complete with NFL, NHL and WWE talk!

A very special edition of "Tha Round Table" with former WCW/WWE Superstar, Perry Saturn! Perry is very open an honest about his fall from grace, his 2 and a half years living on the streets, and his plan to return to the top.

AND new music from Jus Randy including his latest single and video "This Is War". Buy his new album InfoBahn on iTunes HERE!

The debut music video from Perfeck Strangers - "Ghetto" is out now! Check it out HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Download "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie. Free HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@JusRandy

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha Rock And Wrestling

2011-12-07T16:53:00.003-05:00

Why all the hate for The Rock? For months now it seems that a lot of fans and more puzzling wrestlers have been hating on The Rock. When he was off filming movies people talked about him. When he wanted to be known in those movies as Dwayne Johnson people got mad. They said that he forgot where he came from and who made him famous. Well, damn it, I’m here to defend the Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment! Because I am sick of you sons of bitches talking trash about him.

Have you actually seen any of The Rock’s films? He does a nip-up and The Rock Bottom in his movies. This is a message to his wrestling fans. In every interview he did wrestling was brought up and it wasn’t like he said “Yeah, wrestling is a part of my life that I want to forget about.” He couldn’t if he tried seeing as how his father Rocky Johnson, uncle Soul Man Ricky Johnson, and grandfather “High Chief” Peter Maivia were well known wrestlers. He comes from a legacy of wrestling but doesn’t rub it in people’s faces. I mean, yeah, his name is a combination of his father and granddad but whatever.

At first it seemed that John Cena started with the hatred. Then CM Punk and Randy Orton jumped on the bandwagon. It gets attention, I’ll give them that much. Hating on something that is popular is a great way to get the fans talking about you. But when this kept going on and on I started to wonder what was the real issue. Was it jealousy? Is it because The Rock got out of wrestling before suffering a permanent injury or died? Is it because he knew when to get out? Or maybe its because he doesn’t need wrestling?

I’m just gonna come out and say it. They sound like marks. I hate using terms like that but it just so…fitting. “The Rock arrives and doesn’t talk to the boys and gets in the ring then leaves.” What I see is “The Rock arrives, gets the loudest cheers I’ve heard in a wrestling ring since he was last there or Stone Cold showed up, entertained the crowd, and they couldn’t wait for him to return.” I may be stretching a bit but that’s just how I saw it. I have a crazy theory that I wanna share with all the O-Sters.

The Rock is grooming John Cena.

Here me out! I watched their match against R-Truth and The Miz. After the match The Rock called Cena back into the ring to get a reaction from the crowd. Of course the booed. He did this a few times while saying things I couldn’t hear. You may recall that The Rock used to get the same reactions, if not worse, than what Cena gets. The Rock used to smile for the kids and high five fans. He was Cena. Then he turned heel and was hated. Then he was eventually became loved for being entertaining. Maybe, just maybe, he is going to do the impossible.

Make grown ass men cheer for John Cena.

Dan-e-o On Omni Television's "V-Mix"!

2011-12-05T21:28:00.005-05:00

OMNI TELEVISION's "V-Mix" will be featuring veteran Toronto lyricist, Dan-e-o in a three-part interview that begins this week! If you missed "V-Mix" this past Sunday at 7:30 PM EST, Ontario viewers can catch the replay on Tuesday, December 6th at 4:30 PM EST.

In week one, Dan-e-o sits down Deejay Ra to discuss his long-standing involvement in Canada's hip-hop scene. He also reflects on his contributions to the culture and gives his opinions on freestyling and DJing.

In week two (Dec. 11), Dan-e-o will be put on the spot by Deejay Ra to recall a verse he wrote 20 years ago, and discuss his long list of releases to date.

In week three (Dec. 18), Dan-e-o will talk about "Kama Sutra" - his most popular YouTube music video to date - and his new venture as part of the duo, Perfeck Strangers.

"V-Mix" airs Sundays on OMNI TELEVISION at 5:30 PM PST in British Columbia, 6:30 PM MDT in Alberta and 7:30 PM EST in Ontario!

Check out "V-Mix on Omni TV" on Facebook!

Tha O Show: Episode 242

2011-11-24T11:00:00.006-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a STRATUSFYING 242nd edition of "Tha O Show"!

And "BCS" Fronte, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Crystal Beth are all in Tha Sick-O Zone for another dope dose of O-some goodness!

Royal Touch? Calling Royal Touch! Anyone seen Royal Touch? Ah well...

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os & NOs" complete with new mini-segments within a segment, "F.M.C." and "C.O.N."!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D. complete with MMA and "Dexter" talk!

Tha long awaited return of "Tha Black Prophet"!

A very special edition of "Tha Round Table" with 7-time WWE Women's Champion and Toronto homegirl, Trish Stratus!

And the new banger "Jose" by Spesh K featuring Dan-e-o from the new mixtape, BSH - The Warm Up Show. Download it free HERE!

Be sure to listen right until the end of the show to hear some bonus material!

The debut music video from Perfeck Strangers - "Ghetto" is out now! Check it out HERE!

"Ghetto" is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Download "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie. Free HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@ThaOShow
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@TrishStratusCom

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O, DTV, PSTV and SSSC on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 241

2011-11-18T12:10:00.003-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are finally back with a KILLER 241st edition of "Tha O Show"!

"Black Cocksucker" Fronte, Royal Touch, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and the returning Crystal Beth are in Tha Sick-O Zone to bring you an insane episode of tha show that makes you "O"!

The best damn tag-team on the planet is also in the house! You know...the guys who'll probably KILL you? Asylum and Burns of The Flatliners are in the studio...and things go crazy! This is either the best...or worst show ever!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Donnie VS. Danny"!

"Tha Os & NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

"Tha Round Table" with The Flatliners!

WORLD PREMIERE! The debut music video from Perfeck Strangers - "Ghetto" is out now! Check it out HERE!

"Ghetto" which is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Download "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie! Download it free HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Perfeck Strangers "Ghetto" Video Release Party TONIGHT!

2011-11-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

Don't be a stranger!

Come to Perfeck Strangers' "Ghetto" Video Release Party! Wednesday, November 16th @ Toby's Famous Eatery, 411 College St. (East of Bathurst) in Toronto!

FREE ADMISSION! Music by DJ Law! Giveaways! Video Screening!

Presented by EasPark Productions & Urbnet Records.

Check out the "Behind The Scenes" footage HERE:

The new "Ghetto" single is available on iTunes now! Buy it HERE!

Like Perfeck Strangers on Facebook and follow the group on Twitter!

Two Can't-Miss AngryMarks Interviews Up Now!

2011-11-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Before checking out today's CHIKARA iPPV, check out these interviews!

#1. Jakob Hammermeier of the Bruderschaft (BDK) talks about Sara Del Rey's challenge at High Noon.

Also includes a special interview with NWA World Heavyweight Champion 'Scrap Iron' Adam Pearce.

Check it out HERE!

#2. Mike Quackenbush interview from exactly two years ago to the day in 2009.

He will be challenging to become Grand Champion of CHIKARA at the iPPV today.

Check it out HERE!

Tha O Show: Episode 240

2011-11-11T01:00:00.002-05:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are finally back after a one-week hiatus with a PERFECK 240th edition of "Tha O Show"!

And although the crew is celebrating the release of new music from Dan-e-o and his new group, Perfeck Strangers, this week's show is actually anything but perfeck!

In fact, along with "Black Cocksucker" Fronte, Royal Touch and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, tha crew embarks on their most racially-charged and wild episode perhaps in the history of tha show that makes you "O"!

Perhaps, that's what happens when there's no women in Tha Sick-O Zone, as the boys go it without Crystal Beth this week. Be SURE to listen to the very end of this week's show to hear some bonus material (recorded secretly BY Drew before the show started) that will help tell the story of how the show took the turn that it did this week!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Donnie VS. Danny"!

"Tha Os & NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

"Tha Round Table" with former ECW Original, C.W. Anderson!

A musical tribute to the late hip-hop legend, Heavy D!

You'll also hear the brand new cut, "Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie! Download it free HERE!

AND the crazy new banger from Perfeck Strangers, "Ghetto" which is available for just 99 cents on iTunes! Buy it HERE!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha ROH Review

2011-11-10T20:14:00.001-05:00

Perhaps the best part about the Ring of Honor TV show is that everything on the show serves a purpose.

It's easy for the viewer to follow the major stories. And along those lines, it's easy for a new viewer, or anyone who has missed a show or two, to get caught up.

At the start of each show, they usually recap the major event of the previous show.

They use video packages throughout the show to both recap, and further, the major storylines.

And they use backstage promos to hype the upcoming matches for TV and iPPV.

On this week's show, the 3 major stories were:

- Eddie Edwards was announced as the No. 1 Contender to Davey Richards' ROH World Title, and will face Richards at Final Battle.

- Kevin Steen made his return to ROH TV in a video package, announcing that he is suing Jim Cornette for keeping him out of ROH.

- Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team defeated newcomers Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a Proving Ground Match. After the match, the Briscoes came down to the ring to speak their minds to the ROH Tag Team Champions.

It's that simple. No convoluted 20-minute promos to try to digest. No throw-away, meaningless matches. No jobbing out of the mid-card.

It's a refreshing one-hour of TV that flies by. I look forward to the show every week.

Other thoughts on the show ...

- Jim Cornette kicked off the show in the ring announcing Final Battle's main event. Edwards came down to the ring and said that more than anyone else, he knows what it takes to get ready for a match against Richards. (Edwards also teased that he has a new head trainer that will be helping him train for his match at Final Battle. It'll be interesting to see how that affects the storyline going forward.)

Richards came out to shake his partner's hand, and to ask Edwards to team up with him on next week's show to face Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin. Edwards accepted, but added that it was he who became World Champion before Richards, and that Edwards plans on being World Champion again.

In sum, this opening promo did a good job of promoting a fight between friends, while also showing that there may be some underlying jealousy reaching the surface.

- "Inside ROH" continues to be a strength of the show. This week, it was used as the vehicle for Kevin Steen's first appearance on ROH TV. Steen cut a fantastic promo (fast-forward to the 3:00 mark) that displayed his frustration in being out of ROH for nearly a year, and also dropped hints at possible matches we could see down the line (Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards, for example).

Steen said that he's not going away no matter what Cornette says; that he belongs in the best wrestling organization in the world, ROH; and that he's coming after Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs, El Generico, and the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. When he becomes ROH Champ, Cornette will have to admit that Steen belongs in ROH.

The video is campy too, coming off like one of those cheesy lawyer ads. It also includes the greasiest looking lawyers you'll ever see. It's must-see stuff.

- The second part of the "Inside ROH" segment included Bennett's rationale for walking out of the TV Title main event from 2 weeks ago. Bennett said that the match should have been stopped when he was pounding Lethal towards the end of the time limit. He wants a re-match, with a different referee.

- The main event between WGTT and newcomers Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander was good. As expected, Haas and Benjamin won the match with 'Wrestling's Greatest Finisher'. Despite the loss, it was a good first showing for Coleman and Alexander, pushing the match to within 2 minutes of the time limit.

As I stated last week, the rules of Proving Ground Match are that any wrestler(s) from inside or outside of ROH can challenge one of the champions (World, TV, Tag Team). It's a non-title match with a time limit. The challenger(s) receive a future title shot if they can win the match, or take it to a draw.

It's an interesting concept in that it justifies the champions wrestling without defending the titles, while giving ROH the opportunity to introduce new wrestlers to the company, or give not-yet established wrestlers a chance in the spotlight.

"Vapors 2012" OUT NOW!

2011-11-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

"Vapors 2012" by Dan-e-o, Big Kish, Maestro & DJ MelBoogie

FREE Download! (Full DJ Pack):
VAPORS 2012

Courtesy of MelBoogie Media:

The classics never go out of style. When three emcees from Toronto get together to collaborate on a track for the love of hip hop, only goodness can come out of it. In 2010, when Dan-e-o was visiting Kish in L.A., the two were taking about future collaboration projects. While reminiscing about their favourite old school tracks, and memories of Concert Hall shows, Kish suggested to Dan-e-o that they do a cover of Biz Markie's "Vapors".

After reconnecting with Maestro while he was in L.A., Kish had found the perfect third emcee to round out the track. The only missing piece was a DJ. Maestro suggested his sister, DJ MelBoogie, and the rest was hip hop history.

This project was done out of love for the music, but even more that that, the track marked some firsts for this team: "Vapors 2012" is the first collaboration between Maestro and Dan-e-o, along with being the first collaboration between Wes and his sister MelBoogie. For Kish, this was only the second song he'd recorded after a 15 year hiatus.

To compliment the song, Kish asked phenomenal artist, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, who did character design for the animated "Spider-man" series, create some artwork to accompany the release.

For More Info on this Artist, Interviews and Drops:

Email: melboogiemedia@sympatico.ca

Special thanks to DJ Craig Brooklyn, TJ Habibi and Sean "Cheeks" Galloway.

Worked To Death

2011-11-06T10:59:00.002-05:00

After many years of wanting to know every single aspect of a wrestlers life and getting bits and pieces over the years I realized that we have gotten to the point where the difference between what is real and what’s not has gotten so blurred that not only do I not care when it is real, I still doubt it. In the past few years the biggest stories to garner attention were when The Nexus tore the ring apart and when CM Punk went on his little tirade. Both of these incidences made me ask “Wow, is this really happening? Is this real?” Of course in each case there was no decent follow up and sooner rather than later is was evident that is was a “work.”

Wikipedia describes a work as “…an event booked to happen, from the carnival tradition of ‘working the crowd.’” This applied at least in my case. I thought The Nexus were actually pissed and decided to wreck shit on live television. It made sense that they would so when they did I sat shocked at the amount of damage they could do. When CM Punk said the things he did everyone was talking about it. He had said so much that many had thought and ended up leaving the company as champ.

As we know things went back to normal way too fast in both cases. I’m sick of being tricked into “worked shoots.” Its old now. Yeah, when the New World Order started it was cool. When wrestlers start feuds over Twitter its not. I thought the point of wrestling was for guys to get in the ring and play a story out. Not have it going over social media. When Daniel Bryan got fired for choking someone with his tie I thought it was real until ROH’s locker room started getting tryouts and heading to FCW before he was brought back. Yeah, conspiracy theories by Dante. I still think he was sent there to get new talent.

Having wrestlers call each their by their real names isn’t as shocking as it was when Vince McMahon called The Rock by his real name. I’m tired of real life drug issues being used to make storylines like TNA is doing with Jeff Hardy. I used to watch wrestling to get away from real life. I’m not gonna go to a movie about Angelina Jolie adopting babies. That’s not interesting to me. Stop bringing real life into the ring. Kurt Angle’s divorce? Nope. Know why? The payoff will never live up to the hype. If you get in the ring with someone who is now married to the wife of your kids the last thing you’re gonna do is throw them into the ropes for a clothesline.

Wrestling has “worked” itself into a corner. You cant have things appear to be real but stop matches when there is blood. If someone is known for drug use you shouldn’t get into the ring with them. There needs to be a point now where the show starts with a match and ends with a match. Not someone saying shit that is obviously fake or with Paul and Phil arguing.

Tha ROH Review

2011-11-02T12:59:00.005-04:00

It's been a few weeks since an ROH Review has been posted on tha site, so let's get up to date.

The main story from the past few weeks involved figuring out the No. 1 Contenders for the ROH Tag Team Championships. Two weeks ago, on the last show taped in Chicago, the Briscoes defeated the All-Night Express, seemingly earning the shot at Final Battle in December. However, since the Briscoes used a low blow to get the pinfall, Jim Cornette said that neither team would be awarded the title shot.

On last week's show, Cornette announced -- with the Mark and Jay Briscoe in the ring -- that the two teams would face each other one more time (on this week's show) to finally figure out the No. 1 Contenders.

The Briscoes delivered their best promo since ROH returned to TV on that show. Even though the Briscoes are portrayed as heels, it's obvious that they're crowd favourites. The Briscoes vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team is the match that most ROH fans want to see.

The re-match between the Briscoes and ANX was the main event of this week's show, and it was a good one. It was a back-and-forth match that ended with Jay coming off the top rope to give Mark an assist in hitting Rhett Titus with a hurricanrana for the pinfall.

As I've written in previous reviews, the Ladder War 3 match at Death Before Dishonor between these 2 teams remains the forgotten match in their rivalry. I don't understand how the main event of the most recent iPPV (and a match that should have had a huge effect on the most important storyline over the last month of TV) can be ignored.

Other thoughts on the (past few) show(s) ...

- Two weeks ago, in his first match on ROH on Sinclair, Eddie Edwards defeated Michael Elgin in the main event.

Edwards may be getting a re-match with former partner Davey Richards at Final Battle in December. It was announced on this week's show that Edwards and Jay Lethal are the final two candidates being considered for the World Title shot.

Both contenders were the focus of this week's "Inside ROH" segment. The video package not only did a good job of building up the two contenders, but did an even better job of putting over the World Title, Davey Richards, and the Final Battle show itself.

- In the main event of last week's show, Jay Lethal made his first TV title defence against "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett. Like Lethal's match with El Generico, this one went to the time limit as well. Although Lethal wanted this week's match to continue, Bennett walked away.

I'm glad there wasn't an overtime period, as ROH needs to firmly establish their time limits. If they keep giving more time to TV title matches, then what's the point having the time limit at all?

The way it played out made sense, with Lethal appearing like a fighting champion, and Bennett appearing like the heel looking for an easy way out.

- Having not read the spoilers, my guess is that Eddie Edwards will be awarded the shot at Final Battle. There are unresolved issues between the American Wolves, whereas there are no issues between Richards and Lethal.

Cornette could also say that although Lethal has had an impressive run so far in ROH, he needed an overtime period to defeat El Generico, and he didn't put Mike Bennett away within the time limit on last week's show.

Both Edwards vs. Richards and Lethal vs. Richards would be great matches, but my guess is they go with the re-match from Best in the World.

- Another potential top contender for Richards' ROH Heavyweight Championship -- but who is not in the running for a shot at Richards at Final Battle -- is Roderick Strong. Strong defeated Kyle O'Reilly (a member of Team Richards) on this week's show in a competitive and entertaining match.

Strong has made an open challenge to any wrestler in the world to face him at Final Battle.

- After the match, Strong and fellow member of the House of Truth, Michael Elgin, laid a beating on O'Reilly. Davey Richards came down to make the save, but the numbers game caught up to him as well. Finally, Eddie Edwards came down to even the odds, and Edwards, Richards and O'Reilly were able to clear the ring of the House of Truth.

Afterwards, Jim Cornette came down to ringside and said that Strong, Truth, and Elgin will each be fined $2500 for their post-match shenanigans (my words, not his).

Angles like this are so rarely done on ROH TV, that it makes each one more meaningful. It was simple, but effective.

- The Kevin Steen storyline also continued while Cornette was ringside. After announcing the fines, some of the fans started chanting for Kevin Steen (as has happened on previous shows as well). Cornette cut a great promo in addressing the chants, saying that ROH will not be doing business with Kevin Steen.

- Tomassa Ciampa's push continued this week. He defeated Alex Silva in a mostly one-sided contest. Ciampa and Lethal remain the only two undefeated members of the ROH roster.

- Top to bottom, this was the best episode of ROH on Sinclair. The opening match and post-match angle were great; the slow build on the Kevin Steen storyline continued with a great promo by Jim Cornette; the Final Battle hype was impressive; and the main event delivered.

If you're getting frustrated with the nonsensical booking on "Raw," and the rushed storylines on "iMPACT!", then I highly recommend you check out ROH.

Announced for next week's show is Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs. Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman in a Proving Ground Match.

A Proving Ground Match is where a wrestler(s) from inside or outside of ROH challenge one of the champions (World, TV, or Tag Team). It's a non-title match with a time limit. The challenger(s) receive a future title shot if they can win the match, or take it to a draw.

We'll also learn who will be facing Davey Richards for the ROH World Title at Final Battle.

"Tha O Show" Postponed Until Next Week!

2011-11-02T12:12:00.004-04:00

Dear Loyal O-sters of Tha Nation of O,

It is with regret that we must, once again, inform you that this week's episode of "Tha O Show" will be postponed until next week. As you may have noticed from recent episodes, the schedules of the members of Tha O Show Staff have only gotten busier lately.

Not to mention, tha crew is in the midst of what is hoped to be the final stages of the studio renovations at Tha Sick-O Zone. Tha crew is also finalizing improvements of the studio's phone system.

Please know that all of the work that is causing episode postponements are for a unified purpose: to build and bigger and better brand of "Tha O Show" for your listening enjoyment. We trust that you understand and wish our heartfelt thanks to you die hard O-sters who have helped to keep the show going for nearly six years strong.

As always, in the absence of a weekly episode, you will NOT be left empty-handed (or empty-earred?!). Your bro, Dan-e-o as been HARD at work on a number of new musical projects. A few of them are being released this month!

Download Sep & Khan Soulo's "The Nightmare Project" FREE from WhoIsSep.com. The new EP includes the MONSTER cut, "In This Town" featuring Dan-e-o & Grimace Love, as heard on Episode 239 of "Tha O Show".

Also, released TODAY is Spesh K's "BSH - Warm Up Show" which includes the BANGER "Jose" featuring Dan-e-o. Download it HERE for FREE!

As you may have already heard, Dan-e-o's new POWER joint with Toronto hip-hop legends Big Kish & Maestro Fresh-Wes drops in about a week!

AND the HUGE debut single and video from Perfeck Strangers, entitled "Ghetto" is due this month as well! Toronto O-sters, stay tuned for details on the "Ghetto" video release party! Like the group on Facebook to get first-hand info!

Until next week...

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter:
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@MightyMonolith

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 239

2011-10-27T12:00:00.010-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a HAUNTED 239th edition of "Tha O Show"!

The crew including "Black Cocksucker" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club are all in Tha Sick-O Zone for a wild and crazy Halloween edition of tha show that makes you "O"!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Donnie VS. Danny"!

"Tha Os & NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

"Tha Round Table" with a favourite of "Tha O Show" in former WWE referee, Jimmy Korderas.

AND "Black Cocksucker" Frank Fronte VS. Crystal Beth in a rap-off!

You'll also hear the brand new cut, "In This Town" by Sep & Khan Soulo featuring Dan-e-o & Grimace Love from the new The Nightmare Project EP. Download it FREE this Halloween from www.WhoIsSep.com!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@JimmyKorderas

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 238

2011-10-20T15:00:00.004-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are finally back with a SINN-FUL 238th edition of "Tha O Show"!

After a one-week hiatus, tha crew including "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Royal Touch are all in Tha Sick-O Zone for a wild and crazy "REMIX" edition of tha show that makes you "O"!

Unfortunately, no Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club or Notorious T.I.D. this week. BUT...

On this week's show you'll hear...

A "REMIXED" version "Tha Os And NOs" containing a new segment-within-a-segment known as "Donnie VS. Danny"!

A new and long-missed installment of "Big Donnie Has Road Rage!"

A couple of doses of "What Would Donnie Do?"

AND "Tha Round Table" with a favourite of "Tha O Show" in former WWE Superstar, Sinn Bowdee a.k.a. Kizarny!

You'll also hear music from So Sick Social Club, Mr. Blake and Top Team - the new duo of Nish Raawks & Lyve!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Deeply Discussing Dexter

2011-10-17T20:05:00.002-04:00

I have to admit, 'Dexter' is drawing out my inner mark. Three weeks in and still no ridiculous high spots. My inner mark is shitting on this season so far. But then I calm myself down and look at this season from the writers' standpoint. Season 4 was end to end crazyness, season 5 started with perhaps the biggest 'O' of 'Dexter' history when Lumen witnessed Dexter in mid kill. The show has to slow down before the fans become too accustomed to a highspot every week. The one problem I do still have with this season is that with no real highspots I feel like there hasn't really been a ton of depth either and it kinda feels like they're throwing a couple episodes at us until the season really starts.

That being said, I'd rather watch this season of 'Dexter' than any season of anything else so 'Dexter' at it's worst is still pretty damn good, they've just spoiled us with a ridiculous previous 2 seasons. Also, being slow doesn't mean that there's been nothing going on. Because on a second watch of this week's installment I picked up a lot that I either missed or just didn't think about the first time around.

This week we were introduced to Dexter's serial killer scrapbook. And also to the serial killer that inspired him to become what he is today, The Tooth Fairy. The way Dex goes about getting his information and using and positioning other people to put himself into situations where he can get what he needs is always so good. He smoothly finds a way to find out which retirees are from Oregon, gets the receptionist to step out of the room and finds his man. Flawless. As smooth as Dexter is with collecting and verifying his evidence, he's equally sloppy in how he deals with his victims. Dexter never fails to underestimate other serial killers. From the Ice Truck Killer, to Doakes, to Lila, to Miguel Prado, to Trinity, to Jordan Chase, and others that I'm not mentioning for the sake of keeping this article within a readable size.

Dexter's biggest mistakes are always made when dealing with other serial killers. He throws together a fake name and back story and just kind of assumes that everything he's looking into about his target is not being reciprocated. However, as sloppy as he gets and as deep as he digs himself into these holes, he always stays calm and finds a way out. He lets the other guy think they're in control and think that Dexter is rattled and incapable of fighting back and once their guard is down, the Dark Defender pounces. Tooth Fairy thinks he's figured Dexter out, puts a gun to his head and tells him to drive, Dex appears rattled but car crashes his way out of it and saran wraps that old wrinkly motherfucker.

On that note I'll segue into another aspect of this season that I'm really digging. Brother Sam really interests me, though I'm surprised that he and Dexter haven't gotten closer than they are. I'm also surprised -and a little disappointed- that Dexter hasn't used Brother Sam as a way to find out how Christianity could suit Dexter with his lifestyle being.... well.... the way it is. I have no doubt that throughout the season we will see Dexter reach out to Brother Sam to teach him how to embrace his spiritual side. They're doing a great job though of giving us enough of Brother Sam for us to like him and to know basically what he's about while at the same time not completely revealing the cards in his hand so we don't know if in the end this is a guy Dex needs to align himself with, distance himself from or a guy who needs a slice mark on his cheek. Either way; I'm eating up the Brother Sam stuff, but hey, who doesn't like everything Mos Def does?

Keeping on the subject of religion and keeping with positives about this season, how fucking good is Edward James Olmos? 'Dexter's villain casting is second to NO ONE. Christopher Nolan and his Dark Knight trilogy ain't got shit on 'Dexter's bad guys. Olmos is creepy as fuck but at the same time you look at him and think 'seems like a pretty nice guy'. If that's not what they were going for with Professor Gellar than I dunno. To Travis he comes across so genuine, so intelligent, so spiritually enlightened, so caring. And really portrays that to us as viewers, but at the same time lets us as viewers simultaneously see him objectively as a creepy, psychotic, controlling weirdo that is trying to act out what he believes his God would and should do to sinners. I know we don't see nearly as much of him each episode but to me he's approaching John Lithgow good. If he can get THERE, I don't know. But I'm enjoying Gellar and to a lesser extent, Travis.

I have to transition from a huge O in Edward James 'O'lmos to a NO for Masuka's intern. I know Dan hyphen E hyphen O is feeling her, but I can't back my fellow bro up on this one. Her face bugs me. Her voice bugs me. Her body doesn't. But her character also bugs me. With the show introducing so many new characters so fast this season, we need to know what they're about and really I have no clue with this bitch. She's a hoe, but only sometimes. She likes Masuka, but she might just be using him to steal shit. I dunno, with so many unfamiliars I want to just be able to cling to a couple of them and know what they're like and if you want to throw a curveball later in the season, I'm okay with that, but give me something to hold onto until then. With Brother Sam on the fence between good an evil, Travis obviously not being his own person, Deb, Quinn, Batista and LaGuerta all going through changes I need someone to cling to as a constant. Maybe the whole point is that Dexter's world is being flipped around him, even Harrison is changing and growing and Dexter is also in our shoes with nobody to ground him. I'm actually buck down with that, so I retract my NO.

Now that I think of it, everyone's world is being disturbed and flipped. As LaGuerta tries to establish control both above and beneath her, Matthews does whatever he wants and it's apparent Deb is going to do the same. Though with Deb standing her ground against LaGuerta and against Quinn she's also having her world rocked and trying to figure out what she's supposed to do and what she wants to do as Lieutenant is proving to be really tough. I think it's only going to get tougher when the big, black, super solve rate, Mike Anderson dude gets a Doakes-like inkling about Dex and Deb has to decide between her job and her brother. Because let's face it, black people don't like Dexter. In that case, Dex needs to watch Brother Sam.

So no high spots (except for the horseriding corpse army that ended this week), but if you calm your inner mark you'll find the highlights of the show and realize that you don't need a car crash, a witnessed murder or a 'Hi, Dad' every episode, because 'Dexter' is a great fucking show without that. So until next week Dexterians, remember, if your name is Dexter, all black people want you dead. Avoid them at all costs.

Deeply Discussing..... Wrestling?

2011-10-15T13:15:00.004-04:00

I hope nobody minds, but since the bros took a week off their usual steez, I figured I would too. Not to be a copycat, but just because I haven't had a chance to write my Dexter piece and I've been thinking a lot about wrestling lately. Like most wrestling fans I've lately been in a real strange place with my relationship with wrestling itself. I'm really falling out of love with it and I'm trying to figure out why. I've tried ROH, I've tried Vintage Collection and it's really not working. I fast forward everything wrestling and I think I've figured it out. So I thought I'd share my conclusion with the Nation of O and see if I can't offer an insight into why you may also be losing touch with the sport you also once loved.

A good heel can still be a good heel in today's business. All the points in JBL's blog () about being a good heel are all completely valid in wrestling today. Very few guys stray from being the 'cool' heel, but the guys who do draw heat and really do a good job at being a legit heel are still missing something. It has nothing to do with how good he is at being a heel. It has nothing to do with how good of a worker he is.

The fact of the matter is that the crowd is supposed to HATE this heel. Whether or not this heel is intentionally being booked as a heel or if he has the John Cena effect and even as a face he gets booed is completely irrelevant in regards to the point I'm going to make. Think of some of the wrestlers you hate right now. Whether it be The Miz because you're Big Daddy Donnie, or it's R-Truth because he's greasy as fuck or if it's Cena because he's shit and can't wrestle. The point is you hate this guy and he's a heel; to you at least.

For rest of the article I'll use Cena as our 'heel' because let's face it, most people over the age of 8 are not Cena fans. As a viewer, what do you want to happen to this Cena? We want to see him off our TV screen because we hate him. We want him to be edgier and do freestyles again because we liked that. But we hate him because he's always on our screen, he has annoying theme music that we hate and he won't go back to being cool and likable. Exactly the type of response the you wants from a heel. The problem lies within what us, as the viewers want as a solution to our hatred towards this heel. We want him gone. We don't want to see him lose, we don't want to see him get beat down. We want him gone. This is the problem with wrestling.

I'm not laying the blame on the company or the fans or the workers themselves, because it doesn't matter whose fault it is. But why do we want him gone instead of beaten up or to see him lose his matches? Let's jump to other facets of life to figure this out. Take two sports teams that hate each other, being a football fan I'll use the Packers and the Bears (but you use whatever sport you're familiar with). Packers and Bears want to pound on each other every chance they get. They want to see the other team get hit hard and get hurt and just get abused. They also want to see the other team lose as many games in a season as possible. Every loss for the Packers is a win for the Bears and vice versa. And as a fan of one of those teams how would you feel if the NFL just got rid of the opposing team that you've hated since you began watching the sport?

Now let me use one more example. Let's use the UFC. There has to be a fighter that you can't fucking stand. Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Chael Sonnen, Rashad Evans, take your pick. I'll use Koscheck because I think he's a piece of shit. So the UFC announces GSP vs. Koscheck 3. As a viewer, what are my thoughts? Are they, "Fuck, I hate Koscheck. I don't even wanna see him fight, I wish Dana would fire him and put GSP in with Jason Miller"? Probably not. I'm probably thinking more along the lines of, "Tremendous. I get to watch GSP pound this douchebag's face again."

Herein lies the problem with wrestling. We don't feel about our wrestling villains(again, intentional villains or not doesn't matter) the same way we feel about our MMA villains, our sports villains, our movie villains or even our real life villains. We're supposed to want to see the villain fail. Lose. Get beat. Get beaten up. Get a taste of his own medicine. Get humiliated. Instead we want to see him just disappear.

This article already went much longer than I had expected so I'll stop here and I'll come with a part 2 where I'll get into what I think the reasons, factors and possible solutions are. As always I love to hear what everybody thinks. Everyone still in love with wrestling, everyone who's already fallen out of love with wrestling and those like me who're still weighing the pros and cons of divorcing wrestling. Let me know what you think.

Tha ROH Review #3

2011-10-13T14:02:00.007-04:00

For the third week in a row, the main event of ROH TV delivered.

Davey Richards and Roderick Strong had a 20+ minute match for the ROH Heavyweight Championship that started slowly, and then picked up after the commercial break.

The finishing sequence saw Davey apply the anklelock in the middle of the ring, while Strong's manager, Truth Martini, distracted the ref. Davey got rid of Martini by throwing him over the top rope, but this gave Strong the opportunity to hit the Sick Kick, and apply the Strong Hold (Boston crab).

Richards was able to reverse the Strong Hold, and after a series of strikes and kicks, re-apply the anklelock, forcing Strong to tap out.

The timing was a little off at the end, with Strong tapping out too early, not allowing anticipation to build to the finish.

But overall, the match was really good. And once again, it's the type of match you don't get a chance to see on WWE television.

Other thoughts on the show ...

- While the main event delivered, the rest of the show was lacklustre. This was the weakest of the first 3 shows.

Audio issues negated the effectiveness of the opening segment promo with the Briscoes and Jim Cornette. At one point, we could hear someone on the headset (presumably a producer). Even more distracting was that throughout the promo, the audio was seemingly coming from the house mic. It was indy-show quality.

- Once again, Death Before Dishonor IX was treated as if it never happened. The Briscoes said they've beaten the All Night Express every time they've faced them, and neither Cornette (more forgiveable since the match hadn't happened yet at the time of the tapings) nor the announcers (less forgiveable because this could have been fixed in post-production) mentioned that, in fact, ANX beat the Briscoes in their most recent battle.

Yes, the last iPPV was a bit of a lame duck show, and their buys were lower than previous offerings, but it's still a continuity error that one wouldn't expect to see from ROH.

Still, I'm confident that before they face each other on next week's show, they will at least mention the iPPV and the Ladder War 3 match, and possibly show a highlight package to catch the TV viewers up to date.

- The All Night Express vs. The Briscoes will be one of the main events on next week's show. After this week's main event, Kevin Kelly said there will be a Double Main Event next week, but did not announce the other match.

- Tommasa Ciampa got the Mike Bennett treatment this week. Following a video package that included comments from Cornette, Ciampa, and manager Prince Nana, Ciampa beat Andy "Right Leg" Ridge in convincing fashion.

However, I didn't think Ciampa's video package was as effective as Mike Bennett's was last week. Maybe it's because he's too much like Bennett, yet lacks the natural charisma that Bennett has.

They have very similar gimmicks -- both being relatively new to the promotion, having unique managers, and good looks. ROH has to be careful about promoting the two wrestlers in such similar ways.

- We got our first few hints on TV of the continuation of the Kevin Steen storyline. Corino began to talk about him while calling the Ciampa vs. Ridge match with Kevin Kelly, but Kelly cut him off before he could mention Steen's name.

Then later, while Nigel McGuinness was interviewing a fan at ringside as to who he thought would win the main event, the fan instead starting chanting, "Bring back Kevin Steen!"

- I'm interested in seeing next week's show. It'll be the first time the new ROH TV will be outside of Chicago Ridge, Illinois. The next 3 weeks of TV were taped at the Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky, supposedly a great venue from which to film TV.

"Tha O Show" Postponed Until Next Week

2011-10-12T14:40:00.005-04:00

Sorry O-sters! Due to circumstances beyond our control, this week's episode of the show will be postponed until next week.

Big Daddy Donnie and your bro, Dan-e-o regret any inconvenience that this may cause your week as we know you look forward to your regular dose of O's each Thursday.

In the meantime, tha crew would greatly appreciate your patience and support...

Visit our online store to buy "Buss Juice (Part 3)" for just 89 cents!

You can also pick up the "Buss Juice Trilogy" EP which contains all three mp3s for just $1.99!

While you're at it, grab "Tha O Show Themes" EP containing all FIVE different theme songs for only $3.99!

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter:
@Daneo10
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Tha Classics Part 6

2011-10-11T13:03:00.002-04:00

Back in 1997 to me there was nothing hotter in wrestling than when Raven arrived in WCW. I had heard of him from wrestling magazines since I didn’t get ECW at the time. When he popped up sitting in the front row I was like “Finally! I get to see this guy wrestle for once.” Little did I know that I was speaking way too soon. I also didn’t know that I had seen him in WCW years ago under a different name, Scotty Flamingo. Yeah, turned out this was the same guy!

Raven was an free agent and would just chill in his seat as they tried to get him to sign. Eventually he started gathering The Flock. The standout members were Billy Kidman who became just Kidman. Perry Saturn (another I hadn’t gotten a chance to see in ECW at the time). And the biggest shock was Scotty Riggs who became Riggs. Raven tried to get him to join The Flock and after being droptoe held onto a steel chair and losing an eye he eventually joined. yeah, there were other guys like Lodi, Reese, Sickboy, and Horace but I didn’t care about them.

Raven had some awesome feuds with guys like Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Benoit, and Bill Goldberg. Damn, the Goldberg feud was amazing! Not sure if many young fans even know it but at one point crowds booed the shit out of Raven whenever he came out. No music for a while. Just his introduction and climbing into the ring and sitting in the corner. Sometimes he wouldn’t even wrestle. He’d grab one of The Flock and chuck them into the ring instead.

Back to Raven versus Goldberg for a second because I want to point something out. Listen to that crowd. How often do you hear crowds like that during a wrestling match anymore? Not never. Unless its HBK or John Cena or someone. When Raven had the US Title and faced Goldberg the crowd was electric. I know that term gets thrown around a lot but in this case its more than appropriate. Held under Raven’s Rules, which meant that anything goes, you knew The Flock would interfere.

At this point Goldberg was 74-0 during his streak. One of the most shocking things about this match was the fact that Raven did a damned dropkick in the opening minute of the match. I don’t want to sound like I’m some kind of professional in terms of wrestling besides watch it for almost 30 years, but damn Raven sells like a machine! When he gets tossed into the guard rail I thought he was dead. At one pint Raven tried to leave and ends up getting tossed back towards the ring from the crowd!

Many point out the New World Order and the appearances of WWF/WWE wrestlers showing up as shocking or cool moments. Mine was when Raven showed up and made me love wrestling even more than I already did at the time. CLICK HERE to watch his match against Goldberg.

New MP3 Packages On Sale Now!

2011-10-07T19:30:00.002-04:00

O-sters! Tha O Show is proud to present the release of THREE new mp3 products in our online store!

Firstly, the highly-anticipated "Buss Juice (Part 3)" commemorating Big Daddy Donnie's most recent birthday is finally available! The mp3 is on sale for just 89 cents!

In case you missed out on picking up the first two versions of this hilarious series, you can now do so by buying the "Buss Juice Trilogy" EP which contains all three mp3s for just $1.99!

Finally, you may also now pick up "Tha O Show Themes" EP. Containing all FIVE different theme songs used to open "Tha O Show" over the past five years, this mp3 package is only $3.99!

Do the math, O-sters! You're saving money AND rockin' out to some O-some tunes at the same time! Click the links, support "Tha O Show" and prepare your mouth to "O"!

Tha ROH Review #2

2011-10-07T17:09:00.002-04:00

ROH decision-makers should be constantly telling themselves -- "we need to differentiate ourselves from WWE."

So far in its 2-week return to TV, ROH has succeeded in doing that in a number of ways.

The most important way the company is differentiating itself from WWE is by putting an emphasis on the in-ring action. Sure, WWE occasionally has great matches on PPV, and even more rarely on TV, but ROH is doing a good job of focusing each show around the main event match.

On this week's show, the unquestioned highlight was the main event of El Generico vs. Jay Lethal for the TV Championship. It was the type of match (both in the time allotted and in the spots they were allowed to do), that you'll never see on WWE TV.

The match went back-and-forth, establishing both guys as credible champions (although I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to fully look past Generico's silly gimmick).

In the end, the time limit expired, and Jim Cornette added 3 minutes in order to find out a winner. The crowd was into every move down the stretch and popped huge as the two wrestlers started laying into each other at the start of the overtime period.

After ducking a second Yakuza kick from Genrico, Lethal landed a superkick, and then hit the Lethal Injection to win the title.

Taking the title off of Generico so soon -- he won it from Christopher Daniels in June at the Best in the World iPPV -- shows that Lethal is going to be a big part of ROH going forward.

Other thoughts on the show ...

- Expect much of the same kind of action from next week's main event of Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. On this week's show, a video package was used to show the differences between both men, and that Richards is trying to defeat Strong for the first time in his career.

- I think it's safe to say that at 36 and 39 years old, respectively, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas are never going to turn into guys who can deliver great promos. With that being said, their in-ring interview with Jim Cornette that opened the show was OK, and both guys showed a good amount of intensity in demanding a match with the Briscoes, Jay and Mark.

However, in another example of the show feeling dated, no mention was made of the All Night Express beating the Briscoes in the Ladder War 3 at Death Before Dishonor IX. So technically, Rhett Titus and Kenny King should be next in line for a shot at the titles. One of the announcers should have said that.

- The 'Focus On' segment featuring "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett set him up as a cocky heel who wants to use professional wrestling as a springboard to a career in Hollywood. (He said he was going to be like The Rock, only a better wrestler.) Cornette put him over as a future champion and star, but said the worst part is that Bennett knows it too.

Bennett picked up a victory over Jimmy Jacobs in the only other match on the show. Bennett won with 'The Box Office Smash,' a variation of 'The Rock Bottom'. I thought Jacobs got too much offence in on Bennett, but it was a decent match.

- There was a little less of Kevin Kelly on this week's show, which was a good thing. Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are already better than any commentating team in WWE and TNA (not saying much, right?), but there was just too much of the former WWE announcer last week.

It seems like Kelly will be doing most of the backstage/vignette interviews, with Cornette doing the in-ring interviews and vignette promos, and McGuinness interviewing the fans for their thoughts on the outcomes of certain matches.

- Aside from the main event, the other highlight of the show was a video package used to explain the origins of Eddie Edwards' nickname, "Die Hard." Edwards said that coming back months earlier than expected from a gruesome elbow injury helped endear him to ROH fans.

For the second week in a row, ROH has done a good job of using video packages to establish Edwards as the No. 2 babyface in the company.

Tha O Show: Episode 237

2011-10-06T11:00:00.009-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with another NASTY edition of "Tha O Show"!

Tha whole crew including "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club AND Royal Touch are all in Tha Sick-O Zone for a very unique 237th edtion of the show that makes you "O"!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

In addition to a slew of NEW segments including...

"What Would Donnie Do?" where Big Daddy Donnie takes on the role of WWE booker, in an effort to clean up the mess that is the on-screen product.

"The Frank Fronte Donut Eating Challenge" which is just what it sounds like.

AND "Guess What Race?" - a DJ Royal Touch cuntcocktion where an actual crazy ass news story is read aloud, and the members of tha crew have to guess the race of the person the story is about!

Of course, also on this week's show is "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Tag Team Champion, Brian Knobbs of The Nasty Boys!

You'll also hear music from the Irs album, Welcome To Planet Irs.

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o, and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Deeply Discussing Dexter

2011-10-06T10:45:00.001-04:00

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Quite arguably the 'Show of O'-- and unarguably the best show on TV--, 'Dexter' is finally back. With that said, I have to express my frustration with the first episode of the season. I love the way the show puts together the preshow package to refresh our memories. But I hate how they have to recap the same shit in the actual episode. I felt like throughout the whole episode they spoonfed shit that anybody who watched the previous seasons would know. I know each season gets new viewers and they have to be brought up to speed, but fuck that. If you're jumping into a new series, why would you jump in 5 seasons in? Go pick up the first 5 on DVD and run them for the next week or two to catch up. Minor gripe, but since I hardly ever have 'Dexter' complaints I figure I should get it out of the way.

On to the good. 'Dexter' is such a smartly written show and the characters are all so deeply layered and really evolve from characters to real people. Masuka has always been and will always be the creepy, perverted, inappropriate little weirdo at Miami Metro. But I love that they showed us that beyond being 'that guy', he's still a smart fucking dude that does his job well and is someone that future forensic analysts can learn from. They also showed us that his pervyness takes a backseat to his job. This added layer to characters isn't just arbitrary and just to make the show more realistic, it's this aspect to the show that really makes us as viewers connect with everyone on the show. If Masuka only ever makes inappropriate jokes and thinks about sex, we look at him as a character and not as a person that we can actually care about and when the writers accomplish that is exactly when hookups, promotions, demotions, marriages and deaths really hit home with viewers. All of which I think we'll see this season.

I'd be remissed if I didn't bring up the whole religious undertone to not only the episode, but what is apparently stretched throughout the entire season. I really like the idea of having a religious theme and bringing it into not only Dex's world but the world of 'Dexter'. Showing us everyone's religious views and driving factors in life is definitely a way of adding depth to each character and we've already seen Batista's view on his religion and also that he really seems to be unable to explain what he REALLY believes or why he does. Having Dexter talking to different people with varying strengths, twists and driving factors in their religious beliefs should really let him see how 'normal people' experience life. And by the end of the season I think we'll see Dex really start to think about his beliefs and find that he actually does believe in certain religious concepts and bring him one step closer to realizing he's not just a monster with a Dark Passenger that takes over, but a real human being with a Dark Passenger he can learn to subdue.

Who would think that a show about a serial killer could get so deep? So before I lose everyone's attention by going on about how deep the show is I should probably mention how many hottaz there are already. It's like they realized that Julie Benz was gone and they dropped the really hot Spanish cop from last season so they went out and stocked their jubbie (Dan can correct me if I spelled that wrong) roster. Masuka's hot blonde assistant for Crystal Beth, Batista's sister for Dan, Tricia from the high school reunion for anyone with eyes, because she was hyyyyyype, I wish THAT was Masuka's intern. And let's not forget they got Colin Hanks as eye candy for Frank.

Speaking of Colin Hanks, I really like that angle already. He comes off as a really confused, easily manipulated young kid that would walk through walls for the creepy old dude. 'Dexter' casts hands down the BEST villains. Week one and I'm already scared of this guy. I can see either Colin Hanks or this guy working at the school where Dexter is thinking about putting Harrison in and Dexter getting religious advice from him and almost getting in a Trinity-like situation again. I'm also sensing some type of power struggle between Dexter and Edward Olmos over Colin Hanks. Either way, it's gonna be dope.

As always I'm gonna throw out my predictions for the season and I wanna know what the Bros of O and all the Osters see coming as well. As for me, I see Batista getting shafted for the Lieutenant job and maybe a new character taking over the spot. I also don't see the whole Deb and Quinn marriage going through. Personally, I'm really liking Deb so far, she seems really nice and caring and genuine this season. Which scares me, because the last time I felt like that Dex found Rita in a bathtub. So I'm gonna go ahead and sadly put Deb in my Dexter Death Pool via snakes in the stomach. Legit, we should do a Dexter Death Pool. Anyways, only three more days til the next episode so hopefully this holds everybody over until then. Osters as always hit up the comments with your predictions or thoughts on anything I may have missed.

Tha ROH Review

2011-10-01T11:50:00.006-04:00

"As a viewer of TV shows, I always like shows more when I just feel like the people in charge have a plan. You can just tell sometimes, 'Oh, there's a plan there. They have an idea for how this is going to unfold.' ... It always makes me feel secure and happy when I feel like there's a plan at work."

- Michael Schur, co-creator of NBC's "Parks and Recreation"

"Parks and Recreation" is one of my favourite shows on television, and it doesn't surprise me that one of the main decision-makers involved with the show feels this way about TV.

Now ... replace 'TV shows' from the above quotation with 'professional wrestling'.

I want to feel like investing my time in a product is going to pay off in the end. That's why I no longer routinely watch WWE, and why I never watch TNA. WWE's creative plans change all the time and TNA's plans are stupid. You are very rarely rewarded for investing in their products.

(Look no further than the CM Punk storyline -- it's made fools of those wrestling fans who got excited about WWE again. I doubt too many are sticking around now.)

In Ring Of Honor, on the other hand, Jim Cornette oversees booking and creative. He has a long-term plan for the company and its new TV show. It's the main reason why I'm all-in on ROH.

So even though ROH's debut episode on Sinclair wasn't spectacular, it was a solid and straight-forward one-hour wrestling show.

The show started with Kevin Kelly in the ring introducing the new colour commentator for ROH, Nigel McGuinness. The crowd popped huge for McGuinness' return, so he came off like a star. But it would have been nice to get a video package recapping for newer viewers why his return should be viewed as such a big deal.

The opening match was Future Shock (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly) vs. the Bravado Brothers, Harlem and Lance. It was what you would expect -- a fast-paced, competitive match with plenty of high spots.

Perhaps ROH should have kicked off their show with a match that included more established stars, but at the very least, they showcased two young teams that are part of a deep tag team division. If there's one thing that a fan unfamiliar with ROH would have taken away from the first episode is that tag team wrestling matters in ROH.

After the match, they aired a brief Davey Richards promo, hyping future ROH live events. It was definitely an old-school-style promo, and really, the entire show had an older feel. In large part, the show is being used as a promotional tool for live events, iPPVs, DVDs, and the re-designed ROH website.

Next was a lengthy recap video of the Best in the World iPPV from June 2011, focusing on the 4-Team Elimination Tag Team Title Match and the ROH World Title Match. The video was probably a minute or two too long, but it did do a good job of promoting their top stars without having them wrestle. It was also a good way to promote their iPPVs, because the event was arguably the best show of 2011.

However, it also brought to light one of the issues with taping television so far in advance before it airs. Technically, the most recent iPPV was Death Before Dishonor IX, so it would have been more timely to show a recap video of that show. In fact, there was no mention of the more recent iPPV on the entire show; as a result, the episode felt dated.

Next was a video package on the Code of Honor, which Cornette explained as being a self-imposed rule used by most members of the roster, that shows respect and fighting spirit between opponents.

This segued into a promo by Jay Lethal, during which he mentioned that he was going to be himself in ROH, and not pretend to be anyone else like he did somewhere else (he didn't mention TNA by name or his past gimmicks). He said that the way to the ROH World Title is through the TV title, which means he's going to beat El Generico next week.

In the next segment, they once again showed highlights from the 4-Team Elimination match from Best in the World, focusing on the Briscoes beatdown of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. I think the idea was to play this in tandem with the Briscoes promo that followed, in order to introduce the charismatic team to a new audience. But by this point the episode was dragging on a bit, and I'd seen enough from Best in the World.

The main event of The World's Greatest Tag Team vs. Kings of Wrestling didn't match their previous encounters, but it was a good TV main event. Haas and Benjamin retained their titles in a 15 minute plus match. This is likely the last we'll see of the Kings in ROH, as both are rumoured to be on their way to WWE. Claudio Castagnoli, in fact, has already started in Florida Championship Wrestling, under the new name of Antonio Cesaro.

Overall, the show had its strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, the production values aren't on par with WWE and TNA, but they don't need to be. The audio was the main technical issue, in my opinion, in that it failed to truly capture the atmosphere of an ROH crowd.

There was also WAY too much of Kevin Kelly on this show. I thought he did a good job, but he is not only the lead announcer, but also the backstage interviewer and he does the voiceovers on the video packages.

Still, I enjoyed the show. There were good opening and main event tag team matches; the return of Nigel McGuinness was a nice surprise; and they did a good job of using video packages to put over the company and its wrestlers.

Even if there won't necessarily be something that blows me away each week, I'm confident that there is a 'plan' in place that will deliver a pay-off in the end.

On next week's show, the announced main event is El Generico defending the ROH TV Championship against Jay Lethal. Some reports say that it was the best match of the inaugural TV tapings, and they did a good job of promoting it at several points during the debut show.

For those who don't have a Sinclair affiliate in your area that broadcasts the show, ROH TV can be viewed every Monday on rohwrestling.com if you sign up to be a Ringside Member for $7.99 per month. (Becoming a member involves many other benefits besides getting to watch the show several days before the rest of the internet audience.)

If you're cheap like me, the show can be viewed for free every Thursday.

Tha O Show: Episode 236

2011-09-29T11:00:00.002-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie is re-joined by your bro Dan-e-o who is back from his mini-tour. And he's brought the "Dan-e-o Curse" with him!

Fighting through the technical glitches in Tha Sick-O Zone is Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and the returning Royal Touch!

Absent this week is "Fatty" Frank Fronte (O!) and Crystal Beth (NO!). It's a crazy week. Get ready, it's Episode 236 of "Tha O Show"!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

"Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar, Bushwacker Luke!

AND music from Monolith, including Dan-e-o's favourite song, "Bring It Back" by Nish Raawks!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@MightyMonolith
@nishraawks

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 235

2011-09-23T21:17:00.001-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie is joined by an old friend this week as your bro Dan-e-o is on tour rockin tha mic this week.

Taking Dan's spot is BDD's original co-host, Notorious T.I.D.! If you've never heard Donnie and Tid team up for an entire episode, you're in for a few laughs on episode 235!

As if that wasn't enough, "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club are all in Tha Sick-O Zone and joined by everyone's fav in studio guest - Rico Montana!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

A live version of "Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

Tha Black Prophet

and "Tha Round Table" featuring former TNA X Division Champion, Shawn Daivari (aka Sheik Abdul Bashir)!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show Comes This Friday!

2011-09-22T17:05:00.001-04:00

Sorry again O-sters! Due to Big Daddy Donnie's birthday and Dan-e-o's performances with Monolith and Perfeck Strangers this week, the 235th episode of "Tha O Show" will be delayed by one day.

Although Dan-e-o is scheduled for more shows in Oshawa, Ottawa and Montreal this week, Big Daddy Donnie and the rest of tha crew will be back in Tha Sick-O Zone tomorrow with a surprise that is bound to make you "O"!

In the meantime, check out some of Monolith's performance from last night HERE!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ
@MightyMonolith

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 234

2011-09-16T13:00:00.002-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a NASTY 234th edition of "Tha O Show"!

It's the last show before BDD's birthday...so you know what that means! Big Daddy Donnie Birthday Bash!

Tha whole crew including "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club AND Royal Touch are all in Tha Sick-O Zone to celebrate with the big man. And you're invited to join in on all the hilaritociousness!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

"Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Tag Team Champion, Jerry Sags of The Nasty Boys!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show Comes This Friday!

2011-09-14T23:32:00.004-04:00

Sorry O-sters! Due to scheduling conflicts, the 234th episode of "Tha O Show" will be delayed by one day.

Be sure to tune in Friday for the Big Daddy Donnie birthday bash edition of tha show that makes you "O"!

In the meantime, download the new Phase 2 Collective EP, Devastating for FREE HERE!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha Movie Review: Warrior

2011-09-11T14:27:00.002-04:00

I know I have not written a movie review on Tha O Show in a very long time but I had to for the film Warrior. I think a lot of you will enjoy it and come out of the theater cheering and/or hyper. But hopefully not thinking that you are now an MMA expert. That would be tragic.

Due to the anniversary of September 11th 2001 and a generally slow box office this movie will probably not get the praise or box office totals it deserves. Warrior is one of those types of films that come out once in a great while. Luckily The Fighter from last year came out and made boxing movies seem relevant. This one focuses on MMA (mixed martial arts) and I believe that even if you’re not a fan of the sport, fighting movies, or violence that you will still see this movie and like you. Hell, you might even shed a tear or two. There are spoilers below.

The film stars Joel Edgerton (Smokin’ Aces, Stars Wars Episode 3, King Arthur) as Brenden Conlon. He is a school teacher by day and a fighter by night. He keeps this all secret from his wife and two daughters by telling them that the bruises he comes home with are from handling rowdy patrons. He is about to lose his home and even with his day job and the fighting and his wife’s job working at a club they are barely getting by. After being suspended he decides to fight in a world tournament for $5,000,000 which his wife does not agree with.

Tom Hardy (Bronson, RocknRolla, Inception) plays Tommy Conlon. He is a former Marine and current alcoholic and junkie. One day after returning home from seemingly disappearing he trains at a gym where he knocks out one of the best fighters in the world in less than thirty seconds.

Their father is played by Nick Nolte (Hotel Rwanda, 48 Hours, Tropic Thunder) who is a recovering alcoholic who is looking for forgiveness from his sons. When he meets Tommy after years of not knowing where he was their conversation is very intense. It feels like you almost should not be hearing it its so uncomfortable.

The fighting in this film is very realistic. During the tournament Tommy knocks out multiple opponents in a few seconds before leaving the cage and heading back to his dressing room ignoring all interviews and fans. Brenden is considered an underdog and washed up but manages to continue winning by sheer toughness. Just like in real MMA fights some of them last rounds and others last moments. Former WWE Champion and current Impact! (formerly TNA) wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle has a great role as Koba, a Russian fighter who is considered the best in the world. Yeah, let the Rocky 4 comparisons begin…

The brothers do not get along and have not spoken in years so you know when they finally get in the cage against each other there will be no holding back. Their fight is brutal. Each of them is fighting for a different reason one no less noble than the other. There is nothing like hearing the sound of a shoulder being separated in surround sound I’ll tell you what.

This was a far better and emotion driven movie than I was expecting it to be. Many times I was on the edge of my seat and cheering. Nick Nolte put in an amazing performance and I would be shocked if he didn’t get a nomination for many awards. Tom Hardy is officially the man. His ability to give “dead eyes” is haunting and when he fought I waited for someone to die. Joel Edgerton was great and you got to like him so much that you cheer for him throughout the movie. See this if you can. You will not be disappointed.

Check out my movie reviews and more here at danterants.blogspot.com

Tha Sin Of Cara

2011-09-10T02:01:00.004-04:00

So I just watched a match from last week’s Smackdown. Or was it the Raw Supershow? Whatever. I specifically wanted to see the Sin Cara/Daniel Bryan match since I heard that it was good. But honestly I wanted to see if I could see the difference between the wrestler Hunico and Sin Cara. After a moment the answer was a resounding: “Of course! Do you think I’m blind?!”

After the suspension of the original Sin Cara aka Mistico he was replaced by a FCW wrestler by the name of Incognito/Hunico. Oddly enough he also wrestled as Mistico. Damn, this is getting confusing. Its like explaining the Summers genealogy in the X-Men books to someone who doesn’t know who Cable is. I have known of Mistico for years and thought his stuff from Mexico was pretty cool. A lot of flash and high flying moves, but no one I would ever expect to see in WWE.

So you can imagine my surprise when he was brought in with a name change. I immediately ran down the list of people he could face. Chavo. Tyson Kidd. Uh…Chavo. When he debuted and went after Sheamus it took me off guard but that quickly faded as I saw how badly he was adapting to the WWE style. His match against Primo Colon was embarrassing. After being written off for Wellness Policy violations I thought he was done for sure.

Enter Sin Cara Dos!

There is a 3-inch and 35lb. weight difference between the two. Don’t think that is much? People fight to lose 35lbs. for months and some guys cant get laid because of 3-inches. You figure out if I’m talking about height or in their pants. While watching the Sin Cara Dos match against Bryan I am sadly happy to say that I don’t want Sin Cara Uno back.

I know there are plenty of people that don’t like the idea of a different guy wrestling under the same name and mask as another, but come on. It’s a character created by WWE and if they wanted to put D-Lo Brown under that mask they could. That visual actually made me laugh. Hunico/Sin Cara’s moves are cleaner. He looks like he could actually stand a chance against more superstars. And he speaks English. Sorry. I know its not fair but to have a guy that’s small, masked, and doesn’t speak English well? That’s a recipe for future endeavors.

But I could do without that Smurf light during the matches.

Tha O Show: Episode 233

2011-09-08T11:00:00.006-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a DEVASTATING 233rd edition of "Tha O Show"!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club AND the returning Royal Touch, tha boys are back to deliver a dazzling dose of O's once again!

On this week's show you'll hear...

Tha return of Horsetooth Killah with a sick "freestyle"!

Tha crew firing up some "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!"

"Tha Os And NOs"!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D.!

A long overdue rante from "Tha Black Prophet"!

"Tha Round Table" featuring a favourite in The Land of O, "The King of Old School" Steve Corino! Corino was on the CWI tour recently with Big Daddy Donnie and is involved in a cool story line that leads into ROH's Death before Dishonor on September 17th.

AND music from the new Phase 2 Collective EP, Devastating. Download it for FREE HERE!

Don't forget that "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger
@RoyalTouchVJ

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

"Tha O Show Theme 2011" Is Out Now!

2011-09-05T14:17:00.002-04:00

"Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale!

The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Buy "Tha O Show Theme 2011" NOW!!

And while you're at it, pick up some other O-some classics like "Guzzlah", "Buss Juice", "Buss Juice (Part 2)" and "Thick and Nice (Ode To Lufisto)"!

Tha Boyz Who Cried Wolf

2011-09-02T22:44:00.006-04:00

Over the last few years we have experienced the many ups and downs of The Hardy Boys. From public relationship issues, to drug issues, to seemingly mental issues. When I used to look at The Hardy’s I would say to myself “These guys broke the ‘Marty Janetty Curse.’" You know, how if there’s a tag team that splits only one of them will be really successful.

This changed when Matt debuted his Version 1 character and blew up. All of a sudden people began to realize that he wasn’t the boring brother that didn’t take the risks that his wilder and more popular brother Jeff did. Matt Hardy was pretty damned entertaining. He came so close to winning the top title only for something to happen be it personal issues or injuries. There were some cracks in his armor but he was a Hardy and we’ve seen the Hardy’s get knocked down and get right back up.

Jeff stayed Jeff which was the problem. I don’t know how many message boards responses I have seen in regards to his career that said things like “What a waste!” and “He’s been given too many chances!” And I agree. When TNA brought him back (again…) after his drug problems I considered them enablers. And then there was the match with Sting. Yeah. That one. Jeff stumbling to the ring looking lost and disgusting anyone that ever enjoyed his career and wanted him to get better.

As of the posting of this article Matt Hardy is defending his recent actions and Jeff is awaiting trial for possession of 262 damned Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, and an amount of powder cocaine. If you had told me this is how their careers turned out 10 years ago I wouldn’t have believed you. These guys were just too damned good to end up like this. Recently Matt posted a video on you tube in which he wrote:

"Goodbye world. My time here is almost complete. I only have a few hours and minutes. I loved you all. Regardless of how you felt about me. I'll miss you all. September 23, 1974 - August 31, 2011."

As someone who has watched wrestling for damn near 30 years my response to this was two words. No, not “Suck it.” They were “Fuck you.” Fuck you for doing this to fans. No, not me. But all of the kids who still see you as the superstar you used to be. And fuck Jeff for taking the ball and shitting on it. These guys busted their asses to get where they are and they disrespect wrestling in general with their nonsense. With all the deaths we hear about every year in wrestling the last thing fans need is someone writing a suicide note online only to say it wasn’t just that. So you were just being a dick then? Awesome.

Almost everyone knows someone who has attempted to kill themselves or someone who has succeeded. Maybe even some of you that are reading this has tried yourselves. There is usually a cry for help that people don’t see or ignore. Matt Hardy has become “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” At some point a real incident, not something to rebuild his character, will happen and people will think its part of a game that only he is playing. He’s almost 40 years old. Time to grow up. Jeff is a little younger than him. Look at whose setting an example for him. Its just sad.

So I don’t leave this on a bitter note, I watched a special from National Geographic called Slammed that follows three wrestlers in the indies. It was pretty cool. It featured Danny Inferno, a guy trying to get back in the game. Shiima Xion, a young up and comer trying to get into Ring Of Honor. And a local NWA performer JD Smooth. You can find it on Youtube to see how ROH’s farming process is done. Its very cool.

Tha O Show: Episode 232

2011-09-01T02:00:00.001-04:00

O-sters! They're BAAAACK! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o return with the long-awaited 232nd edition of "Tha O Show"!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, tha boys are back from the first two-week vacation in the history of tha show that makes you "O"!

On this week's unique show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"! with plenty of shit talk, and musical freestylin' madness!

"Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Tag Team Champion, Headshrinker Samu!

AND "Stand Clear" from Dan-e-o's See No Evil, Hear No Evil album. Download the track from just 89 cents! Buy the album for just $9.99!

BREAKING NEWS: "Tha O Show Theme 2011" is FINALLY available for sale! The recently remastered track written and produced by Dan-e-o and featuring Voodoo Drew on guitar is now ready to be downloaded for just 89 cents in Tha O Show's online store!

Don't forget to get your tweet on!
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew
@PerfeckStranger

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha Super Review

2011-08-31T13:15:00.002-04:00

This is a super-sized week for WWE, with "Raw" and "SmackDown" Superstars appearing live on both shows. So what better way for Tha O Show to cover it than with a 2-for-1 Super Review of the live editions of "Raw" and "SmackDown." Let's start with "Raw," which ended with the abrupt announcement of a new main event for Night of Champions.

"Raw"

I give WWE credit for trying to draw out the 'Who sent the text?' story that involves Triple H, Kevin Nash, CM Punk, John Laurinaitis and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. By drawing it out, they're trying to build interest, and keep the fans guessing. The story is getting just a little confusing, though:

- To start "Raw," Triple H announced that Punk would face Nash at Night of Champions. But at the end of the show, Triple H told Punk that the Board of Directors have instead booked Triple H vs. Punk.

So who actually has the power in WWE? Any time an angle starts to resemble "The Network" angle in TNA, that's not a good thing.

- Unbeknownst to Triple H, Nash was signed to a WWE contract by Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis.

- Nash admitted he lied about getting in a car wreck -- or John Laurinaitis lied for him -- but didn't lie about getting the text.

- Nash told Triple H that he needs to stop hiding from behind Stephanie, yet needed to be restrained by Triple H when Punk said essentially the same thing about Triple H.

Aside from all of that, perhaps my main concern with the storyline is with what this story is and isn't doing for CM Punk. Punk's character is getting away from what should be his main focus -- that either Nash or Triple H, or both, cost him the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. I don't recall him ever mentioning this in any of his promos. Instead, he's spending most of his time making some snide remark about how Nash walks, or how Triple H wears Stephanie's panties.

Not to mention, I'm not sure this story is doing a good job of getting Punk more over than he was when he was working with Cena. Yes, he's involved in a major storyline, but he's also become intertwined in the same sort of thing that he was railing against in his shoot promo earlier in the summer. Punk has become part of the system he hates, and it hurts his character's credibility.

Moreover, at least to me, Punk's character is becoming less likeable by the week. Punk's 'pipe bomb' line at the end of the first segment was particularly annoying, and his fake-puking routine was over-the-top too.

Here's hoping that the babyface and heel roles in this program will become more clearly defined after Triple H and Punk wrestle at Night of Champions.

Let's also hope that Punk comes out a bigger star than he was before.

Other thoughts on tha show:

- Kevin Nash cut his best promo since returning to WWE for this CM Punk angle, in what was supposed to set up Nash vs. Punk at Night of Champions.

However, to end the first segment, the heat was quickly shifted back to Triple H-CM Punk, with Punk telling Triple H he wears Stephanie's 'panties'. It seemed counter-intuitive at the time, but makes sense now that we know the actual match is Triple H vs. Punk.

- CM Punk burying Nash for having old knees, and for forcing the fans to change the channel when he's on the show goes against all the rules of wrestling promos. Both guys have buried the other to the point that if they ever do wrestle, it'll mean nothing.

What does a win do for Punk? He's beaten an old man with bad knees.

What does a win do for Nash? He's beaten an 'indy-riffic' guy who needs to hit the gym.

- I O'd when I heard Nash come out to the old nWo music. It was weird, though, hearing that music and not seeing Hollywood Hulk Hogan air-guitaring his way to the ring.

- Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler had a great match. Although he lost clean to the RKO, Ziggler was very competitive, and had some near falls. As I wrote a few weeks ago, Ziggler is quickly becoming one of my favourite acts -- he's a bumping, selling machine.

And perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but that Ziggler was allowed to use the superkick (better known to Shawn Michaels' fans as the Sweet Chin Music) against Orton, is maybe a sign that they are getting behind his character.

- Jim Ross adds SO much to "Raw." During the Ziggler-Orton match, he put over the history of managers having multiple clients, as well as Ziggler's ability, and the U.S. Championship. It's very refreshing, especially since we're so used to hearing Michael Cole burying the talent every week.

- Speaking of commentary, perhaps Jerry Lawler's comments about Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga are leading to a program between the three after all. If not, having the King tear apart the former Tag Team Champions every week makes no sense at all.

- The Alex Riley video was a nice way to put him over, but I still think he's better suited to be a heel at this point in his career.

- Do we need to see (or more accurately, not see) another movie with Triple H playing a convict just released from prison? WWE Films writers are less creative than WWE Creative.

- Why did Mark Henry and Christian come out to interrupt John Cena's promo? So they could tell him that they were going to be the next World Heavyweight Champion, which has absolutely nothing to do with Cena?

It was such as obvious and non-creative way to put Henry, Christian, Cena and Sheamus together for the main event tag team match.

- A cheap win for Sin Cara (who appears to now be played permanently by WWE Developmental wrestler Hunico, not Mistico) over Jack Swagger was hardly a good way to build up Cara for his World Heavyweight Championship match against Alberto Del Rio on "SmackDown."

(Of course, as we found out Tuesday night, that match didn't happen anyways.)

- Triple H announced that "for the foreseeable future," the Superstars of "SmackDown" will also appear on "Raw" for what will be called the "Raw SuperShow." This appears to be the end of the brand split -- and perhaps it's also a hint that "SmackDown" could be permanently moving to Tuesday nights live on SyFy.

I'd love to see the permanent move to Tuesday. I know DVR is changing the way people watch TV, but a lot of people still don't own them (myself included), and from talking to some people who do, watching "SmackDown" during a busy weekend is not always doable.

Having the show live every Tuesday will increase its importance in the eyes of fans, and make it more of a must-see TV show.

So ... how did they do on the first-ever live "SmackDown"?

"SmackDown"

Randy Orton vs. Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Steel Cage Match, which peaked with Orton winning after giving Christian an RKO off the top rope, was the highlight of a decent show on Tuesday night.

The commercial breaks made it harder to get into than their previous PPV outings, but it was still a really good match.

And even though these two have had SEVERAL matches against one another since April, the crowd was still into all of the false finishes. It's a credit to both performers that they've been able to work together for so long, while maintaining fan interest.

In my opinion, Christian is the best overall performer in WWE. He can do it all. I think he's the best worker in WWE, and only CM Punk is on par with him when it comes to cutting promos.

I don't think Orton is going to have as much fun working with Mark Henry.

Other thoughts on tha show:

- The Triple H-CM Punk contract signing was one of the stronger parts of the show as well. It was more focussed than previous promos between the two. The main issue was that Punk doesn't think Triple H is better for WWE than Vince McMahon, and that Triple H thinks Punk is more selfish than he is letting on. And they both want to kick the other's ass.

I could have gone without the "I'm going to kick your skinny fat ass" line (for reasons I've stated before), but it was still an entertaining and intense segment.

- I'm confused as to who is responsible for making the Punk vs. Triple H match. On "Raw," I thought Triple H said that the Board of Directors booked the match, but during the contract signing, both Punk and Triple H said that Hunter made the match.

- Yes, Booker T said that "with limited skills," Cena has dominated the WWE. WHAT THE FUCK, Booker! Aside from J.R.'s return to the booth, between Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T, the announcing in WWE is worse than it's ever been.

- It was sort of nice that they called back to the Cena-Wade Barrett feud from a year ago. We're just supposed to forget that it was a one-sided feud, and that Barrett has been wallowing around in the mid-card ever since.

- If Mark Henry is the No. 1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, then shouldn't he be facing Orton in the Steel Cage?

- Did I miss something? Wasn't Sin Cara supposed to face Alberto Del Rio? Did they even try to explain what happened?

- After pinning Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara shook Bryan's hand and appeared to be leaving the ring. Instead, he turned around and kicked Bryan in the face.

I can't see the Sin Cara character being heel long-term, so I expect the original Sin Cara (Mistico) to return to feud with Hunico, who is currently playing the character.

- Daniel Bryan has been losing way too often since winning the Money in the Bank briefcase.

- Natalya and Beth Phoenix have made Divas matches watchable. Both women are great workers, and deserve to have decent opponents to work with.

- Sheamus appears to be catching on as a babyface, something I wouldn't have believed a month ago.

- I feel sorry for Great Khali. He looks like he's in constant pain and discomfort. And I also feel bad for anyone who has to work with him.

Can The Jays Contend in 2012?

2011-08-24T18:22:00.014-04:00

Ever since Colby Rasmus was acquired a few days before the July 31 trade deadline, and top prospect Brett Lawrie was called up to the big leagues, Blue Jays fans have gotten an up-close glimpse of the future.

In making those two moves, the Jays shored up two positions long-term for the team. Centrefield and third base look to be in good hands for the foreseeable future.

What also happened is that many fans are now looking forward to next year. And many fans -- myself included -- are asking themselves: can the Blue Jays contend in 2012?

Let's take a position-by-position look to see what holes the Jays need to fill next season:

3B

Lawrie, the Jays top position prospect, has amazingly performed up to the hype during his (admittedly short) less-than-one-month stint with the team. He's shown both patience and power at the plate, as well as an improving defence at the hot corner, a position he was moved to only at the beginning of this season.

It's certainly too soon to say, but he looks like a guy who can hit in the middle of the line-up for this team. The Jays are set at 3B.

SS

Shortstop is another position about which the Jays do not have to worry. Arguably, Yunel Escobar has been the Jays' second-best hitter this season, behind MVP candidate Jose Bautista.

Along with Rasmus and Lawrie, Escobar is another player that Toronto G.M. Alex Anthopoulos acquired because of perceived 'character issues' with their previous teams. Escobar has had a fantastic 2011 season, and was signed to a team-friendly contract extension earlier this season, that contains club options until 2015.

2B

I've been working on this article for the past couple of days, and big surprise, before I post it, news comes out that the Jays have acquired 2B Kelly Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for 2B Aaron Hill and INF John McDonald.

Hill has struggled this year (more on that in a bit), and McDonald -- although very popular in Toronto -- is also very expendable as a 36 year-old utility infielder. With that being said, Anthopoulos and McDonald both expressed interest in the veteran infielder returning to the team next year.

Johnson has struggled this year too, hitting .209 with 18 HRS, but he's certainly been more productive than Hill. Johnson is also someone that Anthopoulos has been rumoured to have an eye on for awhile.

I'll be interested to see if Johnson is part of the 2012 plans at 2B for the team next year. Perhaps the rest of August and September are a 'try-out' of sorts for Johnson, to see how well he plays and to see how well he fits in with his teammates (although truth be told, how well he plays means a hell of a lot more than how well he fits in).

Most certainly, second base is the major position of concern for the 2012 Jays. Hill has been a major disappointment in 2011, especially considering that he hit 36 HRs in the 2009 season. But 2010 and 2011 have been dreadful for Hill.

The problem with filling the position is that the free agent market isn't great for 2B. Orlando Hudson and Marco Scutaro, two former Blue Jays, will hit the market, but neither of them will fill the position long-term (a long-term guy isn't necessary, of course, but preferable). Perhaps Johnson is the answer.

The wildcard in this is highly-paid SS prospect Adeiny Hechavarria, who was just promoted to AAA Las Vegas a week ago, and with the trade of Hill and McDonald, could be called up to the big leagues when major league rosters expand in September.

Anthopoulos has said that Hechavarria will play a full season in AAA before being called up to the main team, so he's likely not a candidate for 2B in 2012. However, the $10 million contract Hechavarria signed with the team might pressure Anthopoulos into getting results from him at the big league level. Hechavarria is definitely a name to keep in mind.

My prediction, though, is that the Jays will offer Johnson arbitration (in hopes that he declines, and that they'll net a compensation round draft pick ... but also being comfortable with paying him about $6 million if he accepts a one-year deal), while Anthopoulos aggressively looks at the trade and free agent markets for an upgrade at 2B.

1B

Adam Lind had a hot start to the year, but has cooled off quite a bit since the All-Star break. As of August 24, he's hitting .263/.307/.458/.765, with 22 HRs and 73 RBI. He's signed to a long-term deal that has team options that could run the contract through 2016.

In all, Lind has been OK this year. You want better production at the plate from a first baseman (especially one who is hitting 4th in the line-up), but he's also done very well for himself defensively.

I have a feeling that Lind could be used as trade bait this off-season, either in an effort to upgrade at 1B, or another position. I just don't think he can be counted on long-term. That he hit .237/.287/.425/.712 with 23 HRs and 72 RBI in 2010 plays into that as well.

Perhaps his reasonably-priced contract would be viewed as valuable around the league.

Trading Lind would also open up a spot on the roster for either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, the two biggest names on the free agent market this off-season, both of whom play 1B.

However, given that both will likely demand multi-year contracts nearing $200 million (or more), I doubt Anthopoulos views either signing as money well-spent. They are both long-shots for the Jays, but the money is there if Rogers and Anthopoulos choose to pull the trigger.

DH

After a slow start to the season at the plate, and a dreadful start in the field at third base, Edwin Encarnacion has been the Jays best hitter for the past month or so. He's gone from a soon-to-be-released guy, to a player who is almost certainly going to be back with the club next season.

The team-option on him for next year is only $3.5 million, and he's certainly worth that. He can play first base as well, and WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, he can play a little 3B as well.

Encarnacion's season, then -- as well as his ability to play multiple positions, and having a team-friendly contract -- make Lind expendable in a trade, if Anthopoulos sees fit.

C

Because Jose Molina currently projects to be a Type B free agent after the season (meaning that the Jays will receive a compensation round draft pick if Molina turns down an arbitration offer from the team and signs elsewhere -- which he would likely do because he's had a great year in a limited role), Molina is probably not back with the club next year. I imagine Anthopoulos values a draft pick more highly than one more year of Molina being the back-up catcher for the Jays.

I expect Anthopoulos to acquire another veteran catcher to back-up J.P. Arencibia, in order to give Arencibia another full season behind the plate. Brian Jeroloman, who was just called up from AAA Las Vegas, could also be a back-up option to Arencibia next year.

So far this season, Arencibia has hit 19 HRs, which is great power to get from this position, not to mention from a rookie backstop. Hopefully, his other batting stats will start to match his power stats.

If not, the Jays other best catching prospect, Travis d'Arnaud (acquired in the Roy Halladay trade) is an option for the 2013 season. Anthopoulos has said that d'Arnaud will get a full year at AAA Las Vegas in 2012, so he's not an option with the big club in 2012.

Arencibia could be a major trade chip for the Jays too. Especially if they rate him lower than d'Arnaud (which many scouts do), and they think there is a one-year free agent option that can help them in 2012.

LF

Eric Thames' bat is coming around again. Overall, I've been impressed with Thames, who turned himself from a fringe-prospect a year ago, into the guy Anthopoulos chose to keep with the big club instead of Travis Snider, when making room on the roster for Lawrie.

His defence is troubling, though, and I think Snider has more upside. If Anthopoulos decides it is a contending year in 2012, I think it's possible that neither Thames nor Snider is manning left field for the Jays.

However, if it's not a contending year, I'd like to see Snider be given a FULL year at the big league level. He's never really gotten a fair shake since he was called up for the first time in August 2008 by then-GM J.P. Ricciardi.

CF

He hasn't blown the roof off the Rogers Centre since being acquired in late-July, but Rasmus has proven to have a lot of range in CF, and his smooth swing is finally producing results.

Without any other viable option -- Rajai Davis will likely be the 4th OF next year, and CF prospect Anthony Gose is not ready for the big leagues -- Rasmus will be given ample opportunity to reach his full potential with the Jays.

Barring injury, he'll certainly be the starting CF for the Jays in 2012.

RF

Arguably the best hitter in baseball, Jose Bautista is locked in to play right field for the Jays until 2016. He's not going anywhere. Enough said.

Rotation

Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, and Brett Cecil are the only locks to be part of the rotation next season. And even in saying that, I think it's possible that any of those guys (although Romero is the least likely to go), could be part of a larger trade. That's just the way Anthopoulos operates -- he's willing to talk to any other GM about any of his players. He likes getting dialogue going.

After these starters, it gets a little dicey. Carlos Villanueva deserves another look, and will certainly be brought back. The question is whether he's used as a starter or a reliever. I could actually picture him being brought back with a chance to win the job as closer next year, given how well he's pitched this season.

Kyle Drabek, the centrepiece of the Roy Halladay trade, was expected to be a part of the rotation for this season and beyond, but he has struggled this season, and has struggled even worse in Las Vegas since being sent down to the minors.

Drabek cannot be counted on to be part of the rotation in 2012. The same can be said for another top pitching prospect, Henderson Alvarez, who has looked OK in 3 major-league starts. I doubt he plays into 2012 plans, unless he has a fantastic September and Spring Training next year.

Although this could be said for any position on the team, I expect Anthopoulos to look at trade scenarios, and search the free agent market, for help in the rotation.

Bullpen

Expect to see a lot of new faces in the bullpen next season.

I do, though, also expect to see Casey Janssen and Jesse Litsch back. They're under team-controlled inexpensive contracts, and both have done well this year out of the bullpen, when healthy. As I said above, I expect Villanueva back as well, likely in the bullpen. Shawn Camp is another guy who could be brought back, as he would likely accept arbitration if offered by the Jays.

Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch are possibilities too, but I doubt they'll be back. Rauch is more likely to accept an arbitration offer (although the Jays may not offer one considering it would cost $4 millon plus to keep him around), whereas I think Francisco would decline such an offer in hopes of finding a multi-year deal elsewhere.

I think Anthopoulos is smart enough not to get involved with a long-term deal for a free agent closer -- Heath Bell and Jonathan Papelbon are two examples. Relievers are so up-and-down, that very often those long-term deals come back to bite you (see: B.J. Ryan).

Much like this past off-season, I expect Anthopoulos to offer one-year deals (with team options) to two or three free agent relievers, hoping that one or two of them will catch on.

It's better than blowing $60 million (just throwing a number out there) on Papelbon.

Conclusion

The American League East will always be challenging with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the division. Their respective owners are willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in order to contend for a championship every year. Good for them ... but bad for the fans of the other teams in the division.

The Tampa Bay Rays, too, have found an efficient way to be competitive as well, while spending far less money than New York and Boston.

The Jays are following the Rays model by acquiring high-upside talent at a low cost (See: Rasmus, Escobar, Morrow). They've developed a young core at the major league level, with some veterans sprinkled in. They also have one of the top 3 rated minor league systems in baseball.

Help may soon be on the way in the form of an additional Wild Card spot as well. Most assume that 2 wild card spots per league will be incorporated for the 2012 season. This means that potentially, 2 wild card teams could come from the A.L. East, with 3 playoff teams coming from the division in total.

This is great news for the Jays, obviously. If the Jays team as it sits right now is very similar to the 2012 team, I don't think they can leap-frog the Yankees or Sox, so that second Wild Card spot becomes all the more important.

However, if Anthopoulos does make upgrades at 2B, SP, LF and either 1B/DH, then I definitely think the Jays can contend in 2012. (It might be a lot to ask, I know. But I think Lind, Arencibia, Thames and Cecil are perhaps their main trade chips in an attempt to upgrade these positions, in addition to minor league prospects at lower levels in the system.)

Based on the moves he's made so far, I believe that Anthopoulos will make the right moves this off-season for the Jays in 2012 and beyond.

The Rock Involved In NBC Wrestling Project

2011-08-23T17:01:00.003-04:00

In what could turn out to be one of the biggest pieces of wrestling news to come out in 2011, The Rock has signed on to be the executive producer of a one-hour fictional NBC drama, based on the wrestling scene in the 1980's.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has committed to doing a pilot for the show. Well-known Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer will also be an executive producer.

Here are some of my initial, random thoughts on the story:

- This seems like the real deal -- NBC is a major broadcast network, and Bruckheimer (and Rock too) are major players in Hollywood. Of course, pilots get shelved and aren't picked up all the time, but considering the names attached to the project, this seems legit.

- It's WAY too soon to jump to conclusions, but considering that cable networks -- HBO, FX, AMC, etc. -- have the best dramas on TV, I'm feeling like cable would be the best home for a show like this.

1980's wrestling? There will be a lot of stories untold due to the restrictions of being on a major network, instead of a cable network.

- How will Vince McMahon feel about The Rock being involved in this project? Is WWE affiliated with the project in any way? After all, NBC recently showed a WrestleMania replay, and two have done business in the past as well -- XFL, Saturday Night's Main Event, etc.

- I'm excited overall about the project, acknowledging that we don't know much about it. Drama and the 1980's wrestling scene go hand-in-hand. Hell, wrestling and drama go hand-in-hand.

Tha O Show will have more on this story as it develops.

Tha Champ Is Who?

2011-08-23T12:48:00.002-04:00

Sitting here thinking about wrestling as I do less and less each passing month and I was recalling a conversation I had with a co-worker about champions. We were discussing CM Punk’s feud with John Cena and the rushniciousness of the entire thing. Then we started talking about Smackdown. He asked me about the champ and I went blank. No, I didn’t go blank.

I went fucking blank.

Like, I couldn’t even begin to recall who was the champ or who had it before whoever had it then. I had to do some Inception, Total Recall, Matrix, Momento type shit and think back to what people bitched about months ago.

“Okay, The Miz. No one likes him and he was brought up often She he has to be involved, right? Oh, and Cena! Cena for sure. Okay. Hmm. Wait, CM Punk had a feud with Rey-Rey at some point in time. Right? Oh! Rey just won the belt! Shit. He lost it to Cena. But Alberto Del Rio has it now. But didn’t Punk have it? Damn it all!”

I went online and checked this nonsense out. There have been four champions (Punk, Mysterio, Cena, and Del Rio) in less than a month. Read that again, O-Ster’s. In one month four different people have held what is allegedly one of the grandest prizes in sports entertainment. I was also following the wrong show.

I have written articles bitching at fans about bitching about wrestling. But I’d be hard pressed to defend this right here. There is absolutely no reason for this many champion switches in less than a month. And who is the biggest victim in all this? No, not the fans. Stop being selfish.

Alberto Del Rio.

I like the guy. He’s athletic. He’s a dick. And his finisher doesn’t require prayer before attempting. Should he have won the title back at Wrestlemania? Yes. Should he have waited until he was on Raw before getting the belt? No. This guy looks like a star. He moves like one. You could put him on a late night talk show and have an intelligent looking wrestler. Not like HHH who looks like Conan stuffed into a tuxedo (which is a terrible film by the way) or The Miz who looks like a goober in general. So just like with my past failed relationships, I will blame WWE for the fact that I had to figure out who the hell was champion on one of their shows and not myself.

Oh, and Christian apparently had the belt. This is what happens when I spend too much time watching El Generico and KENTA videos on Youtube.

Tha O Show: On Tha Road - Episode 2

2011-08-20T11:20:00.002-04:00

It took a while to post this... internet access and free time has been scarce. This was recorded on Thursday night after show number one of the tour. This one hour of fun features Big Daddy Donnie, Rico Montana and Xpac.

It is currently the morning of the third show, and we will be posting more of these road diaries tonight or tomorrow.

Send feedback directly to bigdaddy@thaoshow.com

Tha O Show: On Tha Road - Episode 1

2011-08-18T08:02:00.002-04:00

Alright O-sters, this shit is a bit different! As you all know, "Tha O Show" is on vacation until September 1st, but Big Daddy Donnie, while on tour with CWI Wrestling in the Maritimes is working to produce little mini updates throughout the next week and a half!

In this first installment, BDD spends 15 minutes updating all of you on his first 18 hours in Newfoundland. He also answers the question that has been asked a couple thousand times this week by CWI fans ... "What's the status of Kevin Nash".

Check this out, and as the week progresses, there will be more of these mini episodes with members of the roster, management - hell maybe even some fans!

Send feedback directly to bigdaddy@thaoshow.com

Shades of Gray - Louis vs. Cook

2011-08-17T17:53:00.000-04:00

This week's post includes a discussion on a parallel between C.M. Punk's original work-shoot promo from the June 27 episode of "Raw," and a recent episode of the FX comedy, Louie. Yes, I really think there is one. Don't believe me? Then read on, sucka!

For those who don't know, over the past few years, there's been an 'internet war' between fans of comedians Louis C.K. and Dane Cook. Louis' fans claim that Cook stole a bunch of Louis' jokes.

Here's a video that plays three of their jokes back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

In the scene from the show (here's a 1-minute version), Louis and Cook have it out over the accusations. It's an intense scene during which both comedians air their grievances with one another.

And there truly is tension between the two comedians. Although he never really publicly complained about it, Louis was upset that Cook -- in Louis' opinion -- stole his jokes. (The YouTube video from above seems like pretty good evidence too.)

Cook, on the other hand, was upset about the bad publicity he got from the accusations, and that Louis never defended Cook in public.

However, like the Punk promo, you can't call the Louis-Cook scene a 'shoot' (in the wrestling sense). Louis allowed Cook to defend himself passionately on his show. Louis created, writes and produces Louie, and in a television rarity, Louis has complete creative control. Nothing gets on the show without his approval.

Similarly, Vince McMahon allowed Punk to air his grievances with WWE live on "Raw" back in June. Punk's promo wasn't a shoot either.

That isn't to take anything away from either Punk's promo or the scene from Louie. I just think it's interesting that one of the best shows on TV (Louie) and "Raw" are both garnering mainstream recognition using similar means.

Taking a real-life issue and turning it into on-air entertainment often results in the most riveting television. It's not new to wrestling by any means, but when done well (and done sparingly), it can help invigorate the product.

Other thoughts ...

- Speaking of FX programming, it looks like they're adding UFC to their already packed line-up.

The Fox-owned cable network already includes awesome shows such as Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Archer, and Sons of Anarchy. Maybe UFC isn't a perfect fit on FX, but hey, good programming is good programming. And to be fair, the target audience is generally the same.

UFC will also now have major shows air on a major U.S. broadcast network: Fox. The most important question, perhaps: How will this affect their PPV numbers, by far their biggest revenue source?

- I hope you're sitting down. (I know, I know, but you could be standing while reading this on your iPad or something, right?)

Anyways, there was another heel turn in TNA. At HardCore Justice, Kurt Angle swerved(!) Sting by taking him out with a steel chair. Angle then won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

This comes only a month after Mr. Anderson turned heel and joined Immortal. And it comes only a week after Mr. Anderson turned back babyface and left Immortal. Confusing as shit, right?

All of this back-and-forth turning speaks to why many wrestling fans cannot get invested in the TNA product. The characters are inconsistent and very little of the story-telling makes sense. Sure, they get about 1.5 million to 2 million people watching their TV show most weeks, but only about 0.5% (approx. 8000) of those people purchase PPVs.

How embarrassing is that?

- Speaking of TNA PPVs (seques are sorta my thing), the Bound For Glory poster was released online earlier this week.

Putting on my detective hat (it's always close by), the poster seems to be hinting that RVD will face Kurt Angle for the World Title, meaning RVD will win in the Finals of the Bound For Glory Series at No Surrender.

The poster also seems to hint at a match that includes some combination of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting.

Or, as is often the case with PPV posters (especially TNA posters), it could mean nothing.

- However, Ric Flair made his return at last week's TV tapings to challenge Sting to a match, perhaps giving credibility to said poster.

Yes, it's 2011, and their last match was on the final episode of "Nitro" back in 2001. Still, I'm admittedly interested in seeing these 2 legends have one more match.

Some gossip claims that the match will take place at No Surrender -- perhaps we'll find out on Thursday night, if that's when Flair's promo airs on Spike.

According to the spoiler reports, the stipulation for the proposed match is that if Flair wins, Sting must retire. (I always say there aren't enough retirement stipulations these days.)

If Sting wins, then he gets a match with Hulk Hogan, which would presumably headline Bound For Glory in October.

If that's the direction they go in, I hope Hogan is healthy enough to have one more match.

I have no knowledge of his condition -- only he knows how he really feels -- but risking his long-term health for one last match (on a TNA show, no less), is not worth the risk.

Tha Raw Report

2011-08-16T00:35:00.003-04:00

Aside from two great main event matches, the best part about SummerSlam was that WWE made you want to see what was going to happen next. They prompted their audience to ask:

How will John Cena and C.M. Punk react to being screwed?

Why did Kevin Nash interfere?

Did it have to do with his friendship with Triple H?

Did Andrew Gray correctly predict that Nash would align with Triple H as the Anonymous G.M.?

And aside from the great main event on "Raw," the best thing about Monday night's show was that WWE didn't answer all of the questions in one night.

We saw how Punk and Cena reacted to being screwed, but most importantly, we still don't know the true story of Nash's involvement at SummerSlam.

"Raw" started with Triple H taking the blame for Cena's loss, and the C.O.O. said he was going to apologize to Cena later. Next, Triple H said that although he invited Nash to SummerSlam, he had no idea that Nash would get involved in the main event. He invited Nash to "Raw" in order to tell the truth about what happened at the PPV.

When Nash came out later in the show, his promo didn't click. He was trying to remember his lines, and the "What" chants from the crowd weren't helping him out.

His explanation for powerbombing Punk was that Triple H sent him a text, asking him to take out whoever won the main event.

The exchange with Punk was entertaining though. Punk came out and clearly bested Nash in their promo battle (which he should have). Nash really only started clicking when he mentioned that Punk is benefitting from the work that he and Scott Hall put in back in 1996.

Nash also called Punk "indy-riffic," and called him out on his size a couple of times.

Obviously, if Nash was going to be given time to 'shoot' with Punk, you knew he'd mention something about Punk's size. It's his M.O.

But it was still dumb. As good as Punk has been over the last month or so, Punk is not yet firmly established as an elite-level star, and Nash's comments hurt Punk's credibility.

If you remember, Punk's first work-shoot promo on the June 27 "Raw" came out of nowhere. Punk was not being pushed at the time.

Moreover, both of Punk's recent PPV victories have been tainted ones. At Money in the Bank, he was inadvertently aided by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis distracting Cena. And at SummerSlam, Triple H counted to 3, even though Cena's foot was on the ropes.

That criticism aside, overall, the continuation of the Punk-Triple H-Nash story was well done, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the story develops. I also think that over time, if given the opportunity, Punk's in-ring work and mic skills will firmly entrench him as an elite-level star.

Other thoughts on the show ...

- Alberto Del Rio cut one hell of a promo to start "Raw," his first as the Undisputed WWE Champion. He generated great heat from the pro-Rey Mysterio crowd in San Diego, calling himself the champion of the people.

As I said earlier, the main event was great, and the false finishes had the crowd at the edge of their seats. It's obvious that Rey Mysterio and Del Rio have developed a good chemistry together since Del Rio joined the main roster.

The WWE Champion has improved by leaps and bounds as well. I wouldn't be surprised if these two headline the shows at the upcoming tour of Mexico in October.

Hopefully, Del Rio is still WWE Champ by the time they go to Mexico, and he has a long reign with the title. But WWE doesn't like having the title off Cena for too long.

Another thing on Del Rio and Rey: I really liked how WWE helped build toward the main event by showing highlights of Rey's previous title victories. It heightened the significance of the main event.

- This is nitpicking, I know, but I could have gone without Cena delivering the promo at the end of the show. I think it would have been great just to have him save Rey, and then deliver the promo next week, building anticipation for what he would say to the new Champion.

Not to mention, the crowd wasn't really on Cena's side when he was talking down Del Rio. They were still pissed that Rey didn't win the title, and was laid out on the outside of the ring. Cena wasn't put in a great spot there.

- Shouldn't Cena have been more pissed off at Triple H for screwing him out of the title, than at Del Rio, who simply used his rightfully-earned the Money in the Bank briefcase? Del Rio didn't even pin Cena!

Cena's twisted logic didn't help getting his promo over with the crowd either.

- John Morrison and R-Truth had an entertaining and stiff brawl in their Falls Count Anywhere match. The highlight may have been a sick-looking front bump that Morrison took on the outside of the ring, leading into the commercial break.

The final spot was silly -- why did Morrison need to awkwardly suplex R-Truth into the chair when he could have just sat him there? But otherwise, the match elevated both guys.

- Another rib on J.R.? How is Vince still entertained by that shit?

- You know, if Vince actually got behind tag teams, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne would make a great team.

- Speaking of shitting on the tag team division, how about Jerry Lawler calling David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty the "bland leading the bland." Ladies and Gentlemen ... Your tag team champions!

- Cole, too, did his part to put-under a talent. He ripped on Swagger for his botched gutwrench suplex attempts on Alex Riley. He could have tried to explain that Riley was working hard to block the move, or something along those lines.

I thought announcers were there to put over the wrestlers.

- Oooohhh shit! Michael McGillicutty wears a do-rag now!!!!!

- Could we be seeing a new managerial stable being formed on "Raw"? Or is Jack Swagger just trying to steal Vickie Guerrero away from Dolph Ziggler?

Tha O Show: Episode 231

2011-08-11T09:47:00.003-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o hit you with a BAD ASS 231st edition of "Tha O Show"!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, tha boys return with more a fun-filled installment of tha show that makes you "O"!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

The Notorious T.I.D. with "Tha Pit Stop"!

AND "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn!

This is the LAST episode of Tha O Show for the summer! The team is taking their first vacation in 5 years, as BDD heads out to the east coast with CWI Wrestling.

The plan is for BDD to update this site with mini interviews / reports / updates from tha road. It's like Tha O Show ... with less.

We will be back with the whole crew on September 1st!

Don't forget to get your tweet on!
@RealBillyGunn
@Daneo10
@VoodooDrew

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Shades of Gray

2011-08-07T01:27:00.006-04:00

That's right, Shades of Gray is back! Oh wait ... you have no idea what it is? Well, it's basically a space that allows me to talk about some of the main topics of the week in pro wrestling (and sometimes sports too). Here's hoping I can post these on a semi-regular basis ...

Triple H Is Back!

As I briefly mentioned on Friday, Triple H is once again the focal point of WWE programming.

As you all know, Triple H made his return to WWE TV on the July 18 edition of "Raw," right in the middle of the red-hot CM Punk-John Cena storyline. Even though my first thought was, "Oh, here's Triple H, trying to insert himself into a hot angle," I gave it a pass because the segment with him firing Vince McMahon was actually quite compelling.

McMahon, in particular, was fantastic. We witnessed a rare bit of subtle acting, from a man known more for some outlandish mannerisms (big gulps, huh?)

This past week's show, however, did nothing to alleviate my worries about where this main story is going. For one, it seemed like more focus was put on CM Punk vs. Triple H (a rumoured future match), than on Punk vs. Cena, which is, you know, the re-match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam next Sunday.

But the worst mistake is that Triple H's character hasn't changed at all ... except he's wearing a suit. He's still the same Triple H who has to one-up all of the other wrestlers (Punk and Cena mostly) ... even though he's a babyface! Triple H told Cena not to call him Hunter (Cena backed down), and he called CM Punk "skinny fat" and "overrated." What a way to put over your SummerSlam main event!

The result is that we now have 3 main babyfaces, all of whom are receiving a fractured response from the audience.

All of a sudden, a once hot program has gone cold.

Other thoughts ...

- The Anonymous G.M. has become now that Triple H is in charge.

My fantasy booking dream: Kevin Nash is revealed to be the Anonymous G.M., and he and Triple H form a heel (and I stress heel) authority team on "Raw." Punk meanwhile, will form a renegade group to defy them, made up of Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, Colt Cabana, and possibly some other former ROH talent.

That way, Triple H would be playing the heel role that he should be playing, and CM Punk can return to being the renegade that he was when the angle started.

Fantasy booking ... gotta love it.

- You'd be forgiven if you forgot that TNA has a pay per view this weekend. It's called HardCore Justice and quick ... without looking, try to name 3 matches on the card. I'll wait ...

Here's the final card, courtesy of www.hardcorejustice.com:

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Kurt Angle vs. (c) Sting

TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Mexican America vs. (c) Beer Money

X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Austin Aries vs. (c) Brian Kendrick vs. Alex Shelley

SIX MAN TAG TEAM MATCH
Fortune vs. Immortal

KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH
Winter w/Angelina Love vs. (c) Mickie James

BOUND FOR GLORY SERIES MATCH
Rob Van Dam vs. Crimson

BOUND FOR GLORY SERIES MATCH
"The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Devon

Bully Ray vs. Mr Anderson

KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Rosita & Sarita vs. Tara & Ms. Tessmacher

Overall, this appears to be one of the weaker cards TNA has put out in a long time. Angle and Beer Money, though, are so great that I'm sure they'll have good matches. The X-Division Championship match should be entertaining too.

- Speaking of the BFG Series, the idea is great in theory, but obviously, TNA is screwing up the execution.

The main problem, amongst others, is that not all 12 wrestlers are having the same number of matches or the same type of matches, and not everyone is facing the same people for the same number of times. Confusing? Fuck ya it is!

In other words, some wrestlers are at a disadvantage. RVD, for example, has had 6 BFG Series matches so far, whereas Gunner has had 14! How is that fair?

There isn't enough time left before No Surrender to make up for the differences either.

- Ok, I'll say one nice thing about TNA: James Storm cut a great promo two weeks ago on "iMPACT!" Both Storm and Beer Money partner Robert Roode have all the tools to be main event players, if just given the chance.

Too bad the focus continues to be on guys like Sting, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff.

- Congrats to Tyson Dux on getting #120 in this year's PWI 500 list. If it were a shoot, then he'd be ranked higher, but it's still great recognition of a top-level talent. And ya ... Mason Ryan is ranked #119. Ugh.

- I've become a huge fan of Dolph Ziggler over the past couple of months. He's a bumping and selling machine. His work with Kofi Kingston was great, but he'll certainly face a greater challenge as it appears he's heading towards a program with Alex Riley. Ziggler is slowly being given more mic time, while Vickie Guerrero handles most of the promo work.

- ROH announced this week that their next internet PPV, Death Before Dishonor IX, will take place on September 17 at the Manhattan Center in New York City. It seems like an odd time to have the show. The show will air live the week before the debut of ROH TV on Sinclair, but after the first few weeks of TV have been taped.

I've promised myself that I'm going to do all I can to avoid ROH spoilers.

- Does anyone believe Daniel Bryan will actually get the chance to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 28? I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see Vince McMahon giving him one of the top spots at WrestleMania.

ROH: Tha True Alternative

2011-08-05T13:07:00.001-04:00

Fans of professional wrestling, mark September 24th on your calendars.

There is finally a weekly alternative for fans of pro wrestling.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, the WWE product has been stale for years. In particular, I believe, the start-then-stop pushes of so many would-be stars (Jack Swagger, Ted Dibiase, R-Truth, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and countless others) has led to many fans refusing to invest in the product.

Sure, WWE was briefly rejuvenated with the CM Punk angle, but has now reverted back to "The Triple H Program." Triple H is now the main star who constantly one-ups all of the other Superstars ... where have I seen this before?

As for TNA, they stopped being a decent alternative a long time ago. Well, let's be fair. TNA is an alternative in this way: it's so bad that it's completely different from any other wrestling product.

ROH, on the other hand, has slowly built a devoted audience, and improved their product every year of their existence. In particular, they improved creatively when Jim Cornette joined the company in 2009.

Very smartly, ROH does not over reach. They utilize a pretty simple model that has transformed them into the best value in pro wrestling.

They produce around four $15 internet PPVs per year that showcase some of the best wrestling in the world, and oftentimes, the culmination of their major feuds. Then, the results of those matches naturally lead to the subsequent matches at their house shows and the next iPPV. What a crazy concept!

They run semi-regular house shows in their most devoted markets, and sell DVDs of the iPPVs and house shows at their online store.

You can now add weekly TV to the other ways (iPPVs, DVDs, house shows, etc.) in which you can consume the ROH product.

Sinclair Broadcasting purchased ROH from Cary Silkin in May, and then announced that a weekly show will be broadcast in several U.S. markets on 40 Sinclair (Fox, MyNetwork TV, CBS, ABC, and NBC) affiliates. (I believe the Buffalo Fox affiliate is available in Toronto and other Southwestern Ontario cities.)

Perhaps more importantly -- especially for those who live outside of the 40 Sinclair markets -- is that the show will also be available worldwide each week on rohwrestling.com.

The first TV tapings will take place on August 13 in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, and will begin airing on the Sinclair stations on September 24.

What wrestlers can you look forward to seeing on the new TV show?

ROH has assembled a fairly diverse roster that is deep in tag team talent, but pretty lean when it comes to main-event level singles wrestlers:

Charlie Haas
Shelton Benjamin
Jay and Mark Briscoe
Davey Richards
Eddie Edwards
Roderick Strong
Mike Bennett
El Generico
Steve Corino
Kenny King
Rhett Titus
Michael Elgin
Tommaso Ciampa
Adam Cole
Kyle O'Reilly
Lance and Harlem Bravado*

(*I included only those announced to have signed contracts with Sinclair Broadcasting. Here are some fairly major names who could potentially play big roles in the company if they sign with Sinclair, or if Sinclair decides to utilize non-contracted workers on their TV:

Jay Lethal - He appeared at their last iPPV (Best in the World 2011) and is booked for the first ROH TV tapings against El Generico for the ROH Television Title. However, Lethal is also involved with the TNA-connected All Wheels Wrestling project, and may want to keep his options open before signing with ROH.

Kevin Steen - He is currently involved in an ROH storyline where he is banned from the company. He is the current PWG Champion.

Colt Cabana - Although he too wrestled at Best in the World, Cabana recently stated in an interview that it's his goal to return to WWE. In addition, CM Punk's recent references to him on WWE TV, as well as Cabana's dark match at Tuesday's SmackDown tapings, make it seem like a WWE return is imminent.

Homicide - He wrestled at Best in the World as well, but signed an exclusive contract with the Urban Wrestling Federation. He could be available once that contract expires.

Rhino - He wrestled Homicide at Best in the World, but has not signed a contract with ROH.

The Young Bucks - The tag team is available after being recently released from their TNA contracts. I expect we'll see them in ROH at some point.

Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero - It's been widely reported that the Kings of Wrestling are close to signing with WWE. They will, however, wrestle Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin for the ROH Tag Team Championships at the inaugural Sinclair tapings on Aug 13.)

Is all perfect in ROH? Of course not. As I said, their roster is not flush with top-level singles talent, and a few of their major names have not signed new contracts.

However, ROH are constantly scouting for new talent, and I am confident they will bring in guys who can contribute. Not only that, but over the past year, they've brought in several young talents, and have slowly built them up (Mike Bennett and Michael Elgin are two of the best examples). And I think most ROH fans would now consider Eddie Edwards a legitimate main event player after his recent run with the ROH Heavyweight Championship.

It will also be imperative that these wrestlers and characters are not only introduced to viewers who may be tuning into the ROH product for the first time, but are made to look like stars. (I believe this may be one of the reasons non-contracted performers are being brought in to work with the Tag Team Champions and TV Champion on the first set of tapings. Don't be surprised if the Kings of Wrestling put over Haas and Benjamin, and Lethal puts over Generico.)

Other issues? A wrestling fan normally accustomed to watching WWE may be turned off by the production values. Certainly, the ROH on HDNet production left a lot to be desired. The iPPVs, too, are not technically slick, but they have improved which each one. Hopefully, with Sinclair invested in the product, the quality of TV production will improve.

ROH is peaking at the right time. They set their all-time records for attendance and iPPV buys with Best in the World 2011 back in June. Moreover, the announced card for the first TV tapings in Chicago Ridge, Illinois on August 13 is impressive.

I'm all in on ROH. I want a wrestling product that makes sense, tells long-range stories, and has great wrestling.

Finally, it appears that that's not too much to ask for.

Tha O Show: Episode 230

2011-08-04T19:00:00.002-04:00

O-sters! You are in for one HELL of a show! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o hit you with a GENIUS 230th edition of "Tha O Show"! And, like last week, this one is LOADED with controversy!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte and Crystal Beth, tha boys return with more HEAT! For those who may be new to "Tha O Show", tha crew does not consider it a "wrestling show" as much as they do "Locker Room Radio".

In other words, it's a two hour (give or take) forum to pretty much shoot the shit about whatever they feel like.

Yes, professional wrestling and MMA serve as a foundation for the show's content...but "Tha O Show" is so much more! The (sort of) milestone 230th episode is proof of just that!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs" featuring thoughts on everything from the comic book world to Major League Baseball and the WWE.

The Notorious T.I.D. is back with "Tha Pit Stop" to discuss (among other things) StrikeForce and UFC! But in this week's segment, tha bros of "O" return to the theme of in-house heat!

This week's controversial segment weighs in on the alleged prejudice in the reporting of this past weekend's Caribbean Carnival in Toronto. Overt race-osity or an over-reaction? O-sters, you decide!

AND "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar, "The Genius" Lanny Poffo!

Don't forget to get your tweet on!
@thaoshow
@Daneo10

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Delayed, But On Tha Way!

2011-08-04T13:03:00.005-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen of Tha Nation of O! Today's 230th episode of "Tha O Show" is NOT one to be missed! The only thing is...you'll have to wait until later this evening to check it out.

We apologize for the delay in getting the show up as we know that many of you look forward to your Thursday morning fix of O-tasticness. But, as always, Big Daddy Donnie and Dan-e-o will happily refund you in full for any inconvenience this may cause you.

We promise that Episode 230 will be worth the wait. It's yet another HEAT filled episode containing one of the biggest and most controversial debates in the history of "Tha O Show"!

You'll also take in spirited versions of "Tha Os And NOs", "Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D. and "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar, "The Genius" Lanny Poffo!

Don't forget to get your tweet on!
@thaoshow
@Daneo10

Tha O Show: Episode 229

2011-07-28T13:09:00.001-04:00

O-sters! OH, YOU DIDN'T KNOW?! Well, yo' ass betta call somebodaaayyyy...to find out about the annual Caribana episode of "Tha O Show"!

Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o hit you with a BUMPIN' and musical 229th edition of tha show that makes you "O"! And this one is LOADED with controversy!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and the returning Voodoo Drew and Royal Touch, tha boys put the band back together to get things heated up. And we do mean HEAT!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs" featuring some not-to-be-missed in-house beef between Fatty Frank and everyone else - but mostly BDD! Air your dirty laundry boys. It's very cathartic.

The Notorious T.I.D. is in with "Tha Pit Stop"! and some words of advice for Frank as well as thoughts on Strike Force, Overeem, Fedor, Hendo and more!

AND "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar and current CWI competitor, Road Dogg Jesse James! Road Dogg will be a big part of CWI's East Coast Invasion Tour! For more information, go to cwiwrestling.com.

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 228

2011-07-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with a HARDCORE edition of "Tha O Show"!

Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte and Crystal Beth, tha boys deliver a legendary 228th episode of O-tastic O-someness!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs" with plenty of talk about the heat! We mean both the weather in Toronto AND WWE's new direction!

The return of "Tha Black Prophet" as well as the return of The Notorious T.I.D. with "Tha Pit Stop"! Both men have been known to spit fire and neither hold any back any punches. The Prophet is in rare form, and Tid ... well, he's always a dick!

"Tha Round Table" featuring hardcore legend, top-selling author and all-around amazing dude...Mick Foley!! Foley has JUST BEEN ADDED to CWI's east coast tour!! Foley will be at the Harbour Station Arena in St. John, New Brunswick on August 26th! For more information, go to cwiwrestling.com

AND in celebration of Monolith member Black Cat's wedding this weekend, tha boys drop the Irs joint, "Strictly For The Heads"! Can you spot BDD in this video?? He's in there somewhere!!

Get your tweet on!
@realMickFoley
@thaoshow
@Daneo10

Be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Money In The Bank Delivers

2011-07-18T01:28:00.004-04:00

Let's wind the clocks back to December 31, 2010. If you had told me then "Hey, the best pay-per-view of the year will be a B-level show in July", I would have thought you were drunk (and hey, it would have been on New Year's Eve, so you probably were). Nonetheless, here we are on July 18, 2011, and I will flat out state that Money In The Bank was, hands down, the best WWE pay-per-view of 2011. And the main event will run away with Match of the Year honors. More on that later.

As a disclaimer, I do have to state that, because of prior commitments, I was not able to catch the "SmackDown" MITB match. To that end, I can't say much about the match, other than I'm very sad that I missed the Sheamus/Sin Cara powerbomb spot (from what I heard and still photos, it looked very O-worthy). I was also surprised by their choice to give the briefcase to Daniel Bryan. This does lead me to believe that he will be the first to cash in the briefcase but fail to win the title, because it really is too soon to put the title on him. I will also give WWE credit for not having him attempt to cash it in last night. More on that later.

There was a divas match. Does anyone care? Moreover, when's Kharma coming back?

I didn't expect Big Show vs. Mark Henry to be a stellar match. But I think their feud has been solid, save for Henry's stumble last Monday on Raw. I also think that this match helped to bring back some of the steam that Henry lost. It wasn't a particularly pretty match, but it helps build Henry. Let's face it, from a storyline standpoint, Henry pretty much picked up and threw Big Show around at will. So there's the biggest guy in the company, and Henry is having his way with him. Additionally, he put a chair around Big Show's leg (leg? ankle? knee?) and splashed into it. So he's big, he's powerful, and he destroys people if he feels like it. Congratulations, that is a monster heel, something that "SmackDown!" (which is generally a little more gimmick and character based than "Raw") could certainly use on their roster.

The one gripe I do have, other than Henry's offense not looking particularly crisp, was the chair spot. What the hell was Henry trying to hurt? When he first got the chair, I assumed he was going after Show's knee (which was a focal point during the match), but then he slid the chair halfway up Show's shin, and afterwards, there was a lot of mention about his ankle. So...what exactly was Henry trying to do, and what the hell did he actually do? It would help his cause if there was a clearer answer to both questions (moreso if it was the same answer).

I enjoyed the "Raw" MITB match, although the spot at the beginning with the short ladders seemed a little out of place. I popped for Evan Bourne doing Air Bourne off of the 20' ladder onto all the other competitors. It was a nice change of pace for how the "human pyramid" gimmick in the MITB match usually happens (you know, where every guy in order of how big they are does a splash from the top rope onto the other wrestlers). I also popped for Jack Swagger locking the Anklelock on Kofi Kingston while Kofi was climbing the ladder, and for Mysterio using the ladder to hit a 619. You know a pay-per-view is walking on water when I'm even praising Rey Mysterio, because I'm pretty sure that, in the four and a half years I've written for this site, I have never once O'd for anything he's done.

Speaking of popping, I know that Chicago is a heel town, but damn. When Miz came back out from his "knee injury" and started climbing the ladder, that may have been the biggest pop of the night that wasn't directed at CM Punk. Between Miz coming back and almost winning, and the crowd going bananas for it, I wonder if Donnie threw something at the TV at that point. I suspect he won't have very kind things to say about Chicago come this week's show.

Even with as little respect as WWE generally has for the tradition of masked wrestlers, I'm really surprised that the commentary did such a piss poor job of highlighting what ultimately was the final "spot" of the match. Del Rio, in a last ditch effort to keep Rey Mysterio from securing the MITB briefcase, reached up and yanked the mask off of Rey Mysterio's head. Now, this may or may not have been a blown spot, but what it looked like to me was, the second the mask was ripped off, Mysterio stopped trying to get the briefcase and covered his face. Ultimately, Del Rio pushed him off of the ladder, then climbed back up the ladder himself to win.

So let's review. Mysterio has what WWE likes to put over as a "guaranteed title run" in his hands, and literally gives it up because he doesn't want to be seen unmasked. He gave up a championship to avoid his face being seen. Taking into consideration that WWE is currently promoting a DVD about Mysterio, and the fact that he's a masked wrestler, why was this not made a much bigger deal by the commentators? Oh, right...because piss on wrestling tradition, we're not wrestling, so says WWE.

Orton and Christian put on a solid match, although I think it's a telling sign that you're making a wrestler too powerful when I called at least half a dozen spots of "Okay, Orton's gonna hit the RKO out of nowhere and it'll be over". Props to WWE for playing on my jaded cynicism by putting so many spots in that match where Orton has, in previous matches, hit the RKO from an identical spot. Instead, in this match, he went for a DDT, a powerslam, pretty much anything but the RKO. That neckbreaker he performed near the end of the match was a nice spot as well. Admittedly I haven't been watching much WWE lately, so I have no idea if he's started using that move regularly, but if he hasn't, he should.

I thought the ending of the match was well done. Christian spitting in Orton's face, only to have Orton completely snap and get himself disqualified with a really well executed and well sold kick to the groin. It's great booking, in my opinion. Christian has not been able to beat Orton by out-wrestling him, so why not outsmart him and get him to beat himself? Hopefully Christian is given a little longer of a reign than his first time with the belt.

The Orton meltdown continued post match, with Orton doing one damn good George "The Animal" Steele impression while delivering two RKO's to Christian on the Spanish announce table. It seemed like the stage was set for Daniel Bryan to come out and cash in. He didn't, and I'm glad he didn't. As mentioned earlier, I think it's way too soon to put the title on Daniel Bryan (if you ever do), and on top of that, if you're going to have someone finally fail when cashing in (which has to happen eventually...not often, but every once in a blue moon somebody has to fail), I think Bryan makes a logical choice.

Originally, I had predicted that Sheamus would win MITB and then cash in on Christian after he won the title. Sheamus would, in the process, turn face (before you snicker, how many main event faces are on "SmackDown!")? and feud with Wade Barrett over the title going into SummerSlam, while allowing Christian and Orton to continue their feud within a new context. However, with Christian winning the title, their feud will continue and stay fresh in the wake of the title changing. My scenario was probably a little too radical to play out anyway.

Of course, the main event last night was what the WWE Universe, and indeed, a good chunk of the "real world" was buzzing about. The "If Punk leaves Chicago with the title" was worded so that I believed some sort of chicanery would prevent Punk from leaving with the title (likely via a MITB cash-in). Again, WWE played on thisk jaded cynicism. More on that later.

As for the match itself, with all due respect to his hour-long match in England, and with all due respect to his TLC Match with Edge (it was in Toronto, in case you forgot), this may have been the best match of John Cena's career. It was easily the best match in WWE this year, and probably even in several years. I would even rate this as better than Shawn vs. Taker, simply because, as incredible as those two matches were, I never really believed that Shawn was going over. This match, however, I was back and forth, up and down, literally marking out with every big spot and every two count. I went from swearing up a storm and saying "I'm done with WWE because Cena's going to win" to jumping up and down with elation when Punk countered, back to anger when Cena countered. This match absolutely brought out the mark in me, and kept me completely guessing right until the end.

And the counters were done so well that it really added to the back and forth feel. John Cena sets Punk up for the FU. Punk reverses and sets John Cena up for the GTS. Cena blocks it and locks in the STF. Punk counters and locks in the Anaconda Vise. Cena counters and hits the FU. Punk kicks out at two. Just that span of moves brought more emotion out of me than anything that WWE has done in recent memory. And that was pretty much the story of the entire match. Hopefully WWE was paying attention last night. For years, they've been putting out "sports entertainment matches". Last night's main event was a wrestling match. Notice how much more the crowd was into the wrestling match?

In the closing minutes of the match, Vince tried to re-enact the Montreal Screwjob by having Johnny Ace tell the timekeeper to ring the bell while Punk was in the STF. Cena, seeing what was going on, released the hold and gave a stiff clothesline to Laurinaitis (possibly some form of punishment for failing to re-sign CM Punk). Cena then stared down McMahon for a moment before walking back into the ring and walking right into the GTS. Again, it's been a long time since I've popped that hard for anything WWE has done.

After the match, my jaded cynicism once again kicked in and led me to believe that either Bryan or Del Rio was going to cash in. Vince even got on the headset and told Alberto to cash in then and there, and I was sure that WWE was going to piss away everything they had built over the last month. And then Punk kicked Del Rio's head off the instant he got into the ring, and I popped hard. The show went off the air with Punk leaving through the crowd and entering the concourse as Vince stood on the ring apron, ready to cry.

People will forget visual spectacles, but they will never forget emotional experiences. Last night's match was an emotional experience for everybody who attended the event in Chicago, and who watched around the world. Again, I hope WWE took notes, because if they can continue to put out pay-per-views of this caliber, they will see their viewership drastically increase in the near future.

Tha Results:
*Daniel Bryan def. Sheamus, Sin Cara, Wade Barrett, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater in "SmackDown"'s Money In The Bank Ladder Match
*Kelly Kelly def. Brie Bella to retain Diva's Championship
*Mark Henry def. Big Show
*Alberto Del Rio def. Rey Mysterio, Alex Riley, The Miz, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, and Evan Bourne in "Raw"'s Money In The Bank Ladder Match
*Christian def. Randy Orton by DQ to win World Heavyweight Championship
*CM Punk def. John Cena to win WWE Championship

Tha O Show: Episode 227

2011-07-14T13:26:00.003-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are back with Episode 227 of "Tha O Show".
Along with "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Crystal Beth and Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, tha boys bring you another O-tastic experience!

On this week's show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"! with plenty of talk on the red-hot CM Punk story and a whole host of other topics ...

A Money In The Bank PPV preview ... just like we used to do, back in tha day!

"Tha Round Table" with former WWE Superstar, Robbie MacAllister!

AND by request of Big Daddy Donnie, "Homies" by Insane Clown Posse!

Be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Tha O Show: Episode 226

2011-07-07T09:13:00.000-04:00

The vacations are done and the crew is back together in full force for the first time in many weeks!! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro Dan-e-o are joined by the entire fam-O-ly.

The model of consistency is in the house - Crystal Beth ... and yes, "Fatty" Frank Fronte has returned from Orlando! Voodoo Drew is back from Ottawa and DJ Royal Touch is .... well, he's here!

On this week's unique show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

Tha return of Tha Pit Stop with our boy Notorious T.I.D. ..... Tid and the boys talk about last weekend's UFC show and specifically the performance of Tito Ortiz! How'd he finally get that win? Tid has a theory!!

"Tha Round Table" features a household name! WWE Hall of Famer, The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase!

This week's episode IS a banger!! Check it out now!!

Tha O Show: Episode 225

2011-06-30T11:49:00.000-04:00

O-sters! Back from its one week hiatus is the best damn internet radio show...on the internet. It's tha show that makes you "O"... it's "Tha O Show"!

Back from vacation is your bro Dan-e-o who rejoins his O-riginal Bro of O, Big Daddy Donnie for Episode 225. Along with Crystal Beth, tha boys hold it down this week without Fatty Frank Fronte , Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, OR Royal Touch! Apparently, they're all on a Three-Waycation!

On this week's unique show you'll hear...

"Tha Os And NOs"!

"Tha Round Table" with former ROH owner, Cary Silken!

AND by request of Big Daddy Donnie, Dan-e-o's "It's Over" from The Art of Lyricism: Dan-e-o's Finest.

Be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

Gettin' Punk'd

2011-06-28T13:42:00.002-04:00

Yesterday on Monday Night Raw CM Punk set the internet on fire. His tirade against WWE, Vince McMahon, The Rock, and the state of wrestling was something to behold. I don’t watch wrestling regularly anymore so when I read about this and watched the video I was super interested. CM Punk said aloud, on national television, during WWE’s flagship show what many had thought but were too afraid to say for years.

And then it was ruined by the fact that Raw taped two shows and it became obvious that this was part of a larger storyline. But that wasn’t the only thing that ruined it. The fans ruined it as well. On message boards, Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else wrestling fans gather.

Terms that were once inside verbiage were thrown around like Bella Donna on a bang bus. “Was that a shoot?” “Is it a work?” “What kinda mark would believe this work was a shoot?” Oh, shut up. Everyday fans who use these terms as weapons against people who are actual fans kills things.

Do you sit and watch films with your younger siblings and say things like, “Oh, that part isn’t real. Don’t be such a mark! Dinosaurs cant talk.” Its fucking entertainment! You don’t win special prizes for saying something is real or not. Just sit back and try and enjoy it. But there’s the problem. People no longer watch wrestling to enjoy it. They watch it to complain.

If wrestling was the way fans really wanted it wrestlers would be dead or crippled. Praise when they come back too soon from a concussion. Get mad when they want to spend time with their families. The right guys don’t get pushed and there’s no new guys so when their guy does get pushed they can complain how he changed and that they need to bring back the older guys because the new ones suck. There’s no happy medium so I suggest WWE change nothing.

There are very few things I actively do just to complain about them. Seeing Ryan Reynold films is one for example. But not something I have watched for damn near three decades. If something upsets me I try my best to not be around it. If you can watch something as good as that tirade by CM Punk and instead of clapping, hating him more for being such a bad guy, or because he said what people have always wanted to then ask yourself this:

Why in the fuck are you still watching?

This Week's Show Postponed

2011-06-23T12:51:00.001-04:00

O-sters, due to scheduling conflcts with multiple members of the show (namely Donnie & Dan-e-o) as well as renovations happening at Tha Sick-O Zone, we have been forced to postpone this week's show. We are planning to bring you a banger next week.

Tha Concussion Discussion

2011-06-18T12:22:00.002-04:00

About a week ago Randy Orton suffered a concussion during a match while in Spain. The upcoming pay per view Capital Punishment, featuring him, was in danger if he was still hurt by then. To Orton’s credit, he kept fans updated on his progress. Hogan, Warrior? This is how you use twitter.

“About to take an Impact test. It will determine if I can be cleared to fight Christian, after receiving a concussion. Wish me luck.” - @RandyOrton

Orton later tweeted that he had indeed passed the impact test and was cleared to wrestle this Sunday. Uh, yay? Should I be happy that he can wrestle a week after suffering a concussion? There are many forms and stages of concussions but they all have one thing in common.

They are fucking traumatic brain injuries!

With all of the things we now know and are still learning about concussions is it smart for Orton to wrestle so soon? To me, no. Orton is one of the few last wrestlers I have enjoyed watching in the past years. It sucks that he got hurt and it sucks even more that he’ll be back in the ring. This isn’t for Wrestlemania. Its for a random ass pay per view with a bad name in the middle of the year!

This “the show must go on” bullshit needs to stop. HHH continuing after tearing his quads. Austin wrestling after damn near being paralyzed. Dozens (if not hundreds) of wrestlers continuing after suffering brain injuries. I get that wrestlers are supposed to be bigger than life and almost superheroes, especially if you own WWE All Stars, but come on. Fucking rest.

If I planned on ordering the show and found out that the card had changed because someone I liked got hurt I like to think I would wish them well and to take their time coming back. But most wrestling fans don’t think like that anymore. We have this cutthroat mentality where we want them to go on no matter what. Its partially our fault as fans and the wrestlers faults as well. If you keep pretending that you cant be hurt and then get hurt people will feel no sympathy. If you get a concussion and come back next week but hurt your shoulder and vanish for longer then people get pissed.

Orton was knocked out in the ring. In boxing that’s the end of the fight. In MMA you’ll probably stand there pissed as your opponent gets a bonus for knocking you unconscious. Football, basketball, baseball? Shows over. In wrestling, or “sports entertainment”, it means you keep quiet about it or get tests and come back to face the same guys who accidentally KO’d you. Wrestling is acting. If Robert Dinero got knocked out on set shooting is done for the day.

This is another problem and a topic for another article. Wrestling isn’t called wrestling. Its entertainment. But in entertainment when people get hurt they get time to rest. But if these entertaining wrestlers rest they fear getting replaced. Orton is in a position and has so much “it” that he cant be replaced. So I would like it if he just sat this one out. But you all know how these sports entertainers are.

Tha O Show: Episode 224

2011-06-16T14:44:00.001-04:00

Episode 224 is a menagerie of madness! Your bro Dan-e-o pulls a LeBron James this week and is MIA! Actually Dan is on gaycation for the next two weeks, but NOT TO WORRY, the rest of the fam-o-ly is all here to hold it down!

Big Daddy Donnie is joined by Fatty Frank, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club, Crystal Beth and the returning Royal Touch... and Touch is PISSED about the diss track Frank released two weeks ago. Sparks will fly!

On this week's show you'll also hear...

The return of Notorious T.I.D. in the Pit Stop and the return of Tha Black Prophet

"Tha Os And NOs"!

And a chat with an old friend of tha show making his first appearance on air in the land of O - Sean Morely, better known as former WWE Superstar, Val Venis!

Sean discusses many things including ScriptDanger.com, Edge's retirement, Christian's heel turn AND .... he reveals HOW he paid back two former WWE World Champions for a rib they pulled on him ON TV! Sean has NEVER shared this story with anyone privately or publicly other than the two guys who were right there with him.

Even the victims of this rib didn't know that Sean had ribbed them at all! UNTIL NOW!

All that PLUS another smash hit from So Sick Social Club to close tha show!!

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

All X-Division PPV: “Tha X Factor?”

2011-06-15T11:23:00.000-04:00

Looking at the history of TNA / Impact Wrestling as a whole, it’s a very popular sentiment among fans that their greatest achievement is the X-Division style where “It’s not about weight limits, it’s about no limits.” Initially featuring talent such as AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, Amazing Red and most importantly the Flying Elvises; the X-Division would go on to do more for the business today than most people would think. The X-Division would go on over the years to show new workers to the world that embraced the fast paced aerial and technical side of wrestling, a division where it was all about performance and not necessarily high spots.

Competitions such as the Super X-Cup would bring in international talent from AAA/CMLL in Mexico, Dragon Gate/New Japan in Japan and talent from several Canadian promotions, mainly Border City Wrestling. Doing very similar to what WCW did when bringing in the lesser known cruiserweights. It took a style of wrestling that had a niche audience to bringing it more mainstream presence.

So now Impact Wrestling is rumoured to be having an all X-Division PPV next month titled Destination X. An interesting idea since the X-Division is insanely popular however looking at them having their own PPV also hits the nail on the head when asking “Can these guys and this concept draw for a PPV on their own?”

Featuring current X-Division wrestlers aswell as bringing in former X-Division talent that will promises to feature an X-Division Title match aswell as an Ultimate X Match. So it’s time to really ask yourselves…”Will this draw?”

Let’s look at why this may draw…

Fans often criticize TNA… sorry Impact Wrestling…for their lack of in-ring performance featured on their shows but now that “Wrestling Matters” this already tells the fans that this PPV will be very heavy on work rate and talent that the viewers believe to be good workers. You can debate the merits of the X-Division being classified as wrestling but the fact is the majority of fans believe that to be the case.

This next point is kind of my own personal theory, but with all of the promotions that embrace the Junior Heavyweight style across the world, like DDT in Japan which is one of the only promotion where attendance is growing, Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE in North America ran by Gabe Sapolsky that’s gaining a larger fan base over time, it seems like the style is the new hottest thing in wrestling. The biggest factor why they aren’t bigger than what they are now is because it isn’t being exposed to a large enough audience. If Impact Wrestling can promote this PPV heavily like they did with Hardcore Justice, it could be a great way to expose to this intriguing style to a wider audience.

Now why it may not draw…

Maybe the X-Division fans is still considered a niche audience. When marks like I spend more time on the internet discussing pro wrestling, perhaps my vision of what the majority of the fans want is skewed. Not saying a lot of the fans do not enjoy the X-Division style but maybe a lot of them haven’t known what the style was when it was more prominent on the cards.

The X-Division has always been considered its own entity on PPV or even TV tapings. When you listen to Tha O Show and hear Donnie talking about the psychology of a show, the X-Division has always been used to fire up the crowd, but what happens when every match on this PPV will be fast-paced action and the crowd gets burnt out early? It may turn fans way from this extreme style of wrestling.

Personally I believe it’ll draw sufficiently well based on the fact that it’s different. Even with the company playing up the “Wrestling Matters” campaign, this could have plenty of people believing that this will be the turning point for Impact Wrestling. Slammiversary was a step up from their latest PPV’s in my eyes and I see the company doing better.

Now one thing I wanted to address which is Abyss as X-Division Champion. Most people are shitting on the idea and I’m not too keen on Abyss as champ either, but if the pay-off is to have an X-Division guy take the title away from Abyss like Kendrick and signify the rebirth of the X-Division, I think it’s one of the best things booked in not only TNA Wrestling but in all of pro wrestling in general.

So O-Sters, if you love the X-Division style and support work rate in general then order the PPV. I’m the kind of person that’ll stream a PPV if I’m not sure whether it’ll be good or not however if you really want it to succeed…pay for it. Grab some of your buddies, split the cost at someone’s place and enjoy it.

The Chopping Block: UFC 131

2011-06-11T03:27:00.003-04:00

This Saturday UFC hosts their second event in Vancouver, British Columbia featuring a heavyweight clash between heavy hitters Junior Dos Santos and Shane Carwin with the winner being first in line for heavyweight title.

While some are looking to further their way in their respective weight classes, others are fighting to keep their UFC career alive – These are the combatants I will take a look at in this article.

Michihiro Omigawa [12-9-1]

It might seem a little strange that a consensus top five featherweight fighter would be facing his exit from the organization with a defeat but this is a reality for Omigawa.

Omigawa made his return to the UFC in February where he was out-wrestled by Chad Mendes which snapped his five-fight winning streak.

The Japanese sensation also had a stint inside the UFC as a part of their lightweight division between 2007 and 2008 going 0-2 with decision losses to Matt Wiman and Thiago Tavares.

If Omigawa is unable to get past the Team Punishment product Darren Elkins that would be four losses in as many trips to the octagon which would likely send him back to Japan.

Joey Beltran [12-5]

A vicious TKO stoppage of former octagon favorite Houston Alexander got him a foot in the door and if he’s on the receiving end of one this time it will be the end for “The Mexicutioner”.

Beltran has gone 2-2 inside the UFC with his past two performances ending without him having his hand raised.

Beltran has expressed in interviews that the UFC brass have made it clear that he is only still contracted because of his exciting fighting style and his willingness to put on a show for the fans.

However, no matter how much the office likes you or how much the fans love you three straight is three straight and that would be the end for Beltran.

And that wraps us up for this edition of the chopping block, only two men that need to fight to keep their octagon careers alive this weekend – Be sure to catch all the action beginning at 6PM ET/ 7PM PT on Facebook, Youtube or Xbox 360 Network.

Tha O Show: Episode 223

2011-06-10T09:09:00.000-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro, Dan-e-o return with a BANGIN' birthday edition of "Tha O Show". It's number 223!

This week, Dan-e-o celebrates another year of life by giving YOU, tha O-sters, a present! A new theme for "Tha O Show" is FINALLY here!

Of course, "Fatty" Frank Fronte, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Crystal Beth are all in the house to celebrate with the birthday boy as well!

On this week's show you'll hear...

Tha brand new 2011 version of "Tha O Show Theme"!

"Tha Os And NOs"!

A chat with actor Sean Kaufmann and producer Michael Sousa from the upcoming comedy, Anything Goes!

AND "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE/WCW Superstar and YRG guru, Diamond Dallas Page! Get prepared for the BANG!

Plus, Dan-e-o gets a little too much party and gets white boy humored!!!

Follow Tha O Show on Twitter:
@thaoshow
@Daneo10
@RoyalTouchVJ
@VoodooDrew

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

5 Round Non-Title Fights: A Step In The Right Direction?

2011-06-10T05:40:00.002-04:00

In one of the biggest changes in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC president Dana White made the official announcement at the UFC 131 pre-fight press conference that from this moment on all title bouts signed will be five rounds.

“From this day forward, as we speak right here, right now today, every fight that is a main event that is not a title fight will be a five-round fight,” said White. “For Spike and everything else.”

However, this will exclude bouts that have already been signed including the light-heavyweight clash between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis and the UFC on Versus main event of Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle.

The UFC officials made the decision largely to prevent the fans that drop 50 bones to purchase their pay-per-views leaving disappointed when a main event doesn’t live up to the hype after fifteen minutes of action.

And 2011 has been a year for events ending like that, of the five events UFC has put on with non-title main events four of them have finished with a inconclusive winner. Most notably BJ Penn and Jon Fitch’ draw and Quinton Jacksons lackluster decision over Matt Hamill.

The decision has seemingly split the crowd with some in favor of the decision, while others dead against it.

The way I see it, having an extra ten minutes of action just raises the chances of the superior fighter leaving with their hand raised.

To go for 25 minutes you need cardiovascular fitness that you simply don’t need in a three round affair, a solid wrestler can maintain top position for two rounds and do enough to squeak out a decision in a typical three round bout however it’s not so simple with the additional 10 minutes.

Plus, what do we ultimately want when we watch a fight? A clear cut winner, you want one combatant to knockout or submit the other and this allows them more time to get that conclusion.

Now that the UFC has branched out further allowing their preliminary bouts to be streamed between Facebook, Youtube and the Xbox 360 Network time isn’t as much of a factor.

In the past, having an additional ten minutes of a fight lessened the amount of fights we were able to see on the card but with all these outlets to view the fights we are able to see them all and increase the chances of getting a clear cut winner.

The main argument against the five rounders has been whether or not it takes away from a championship match – Ultimately nothing is being taken away from a title fight because you’re not leaving with a title if you get your hand raised.

Deep down we are all fans of the sport, how can we have a problem with seeing high level athletes fight 25 minutes?

Clay Guida: What Comes Next?

2011-06-05T01:52:00.001-04:00

Last year Zuffa LLC made the formal decision to collapse the UFC’s sister organization, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) thus merging both lightweight divisions and adding two weight classes to the UFC.

When the doors were finally closed Anthony Pettis shocked the world capturing the WEC lightweight title and the natural next step for “Showtime” was to unify both 155-lbs titles inside the UFC.

However, when reigning champ Frankie Edgar and top challenger Gray Maynard fought to a draw at UFC 125 it threw all their plans out the window leaving Pettis to either sit on the shelf for the better part of a year or to take another fight in his octagon debut.

The charismatic lightweight opted to take a fight with fan favorite Clay Guida from tonight’s UFC Ultimate Finale 13 card at the Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

But “The Carpenter” didn’t come to be a stepping stone for Pettis or anybody else – For the following fifteen minutes Guida implemented his game plan to perfection relentlessly searching for takedowns and sticking to Pettis like glue to take a unanimous decision and spoil Joe Silva’s plans.

With a win over the consensus number one contender for the ten pounds of gold currently residing around the waist of Edgar it has to put him firmly into the title picture at 155-lbs.

However, the lightweight title situation is a tangled web at this stage with Edgar and Maynard expected to complete their trilogy later this year and fighters like Jim Miller and Ben Henderson knocking on the door of contendership.

Tonight’s win marked his 29th victory in his mixed martial arts career and is currently riding a four fight win streak with Takanori Gomi, Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis on his career hit list.

Next time we see Guida in the octagon it will have to be against another high level lightweight and with Ben Henderson and Jim Miller already tied up he could be matched up with Melvin Guillard provided that he gets past Shane Roller at UFC 132.

Guillard is currently riding a wave of four consecutive victories with his last victory being over rising star Evan Dunham where he collected a knockout of the night bonus.

Guida just collected the biggest victory of his career and at 29-years of age and nearing the end of his run so his time is now to push to the top of the 155-lbs ladder.

Tha O Show: Episode 222

2011-06-03T09:16:00.004-04:00

O-sters! Big Daddy Donnie and your bro, Dan-e-o return with a TRIPLE DOUBLE edition of "Tha O Show". It's number 222!

"Fatty" Frank Fronte is back. But it appears as if Royal Touch is on a gay-cation this week! However, Voodoo Drew of So Sick Social Club and Crystal Beth are in the house to help deliver tha Os!

On this week's show you'll hear...

A new "joint" by "Fatty" Frank Fronte who decides to respond to last week's version of "Gaycation"! Royal Touch (a.k.a. Bolos) is going to be PISSED!

"Tha Os And NOs" featuring NBA, NHL and WWE talk!

"Tha Pit Stop" with The Notorious T.I.D. featuring UFC and "Dexter" talk!

AND "Tha Round Table" featuring former WWE Superstar and member of Tha Fam-O-ly, Tiger Ali Singh!

Tiger joins tha crew to talk about TigerFest 2011 which happens tomorrow - Saturday, June 4th at 5 p.m. in Milton, Ontario as part of the Milton Street Festival. Go to tigerjeetsinghfoundation.com for more information.

All that PLUS a bonus freestyle from Dan-e-o addressing the race-osity going around Tha Sick-O Zone!

Follow Tha O Show on Twitter:
@thaoshow
@Daneo10
@RoyalTouchVJ
@VoodooDrew

AND be sure to subscribe to CHANNEL O and DTV on YouTube!

The Chopping Block: UFC Ultimate Finale 13

2011-06-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

The thirteenth season of the highly successful “Ultimate Fighter” series has come to a close and we are set to crown yet another winner, not to mention a lightweight bout that could change the face of the 155-lbs division.

But while combatants are looking to move their way further up the ladder to achieve their goal of being a Champion, others are fighting to keep their octagon career alive; these are the fighters I will look at in this article.

Ken Stone

Stone is the first of the night to step up to the chopping block when he faces former title challenger Scott Jorgensen.

Stone made his Zuffa debut on the final WEC event where he was amongst the bigger talking points for all the wrong reasons, Stone was slammed to the mat by Eddie Wineland who followed up with several strikes to his lifeless body which is one of the scariest finishes I’ve seen in my time following the sport.

Jorgensen will be looking to make an example out of the American Top Team product and if he is successful that will be two losses in as many appearances for the company.

Shamar Bailey & Ryan McGillivray

With the UFC being packed to the rafters with talent right now it’s clear that when these two standouts from the past season of TUF face off that the loser isn’t going to leave with a contract.

Bailey was once the favorite to take the contract at the end but his hopes were de-railed early in the season and McGillivray has the heart and desire to be a mixed martial artist but is that enough?

When these two welterweight prospects enter the cage they will be fighting for survival and whoever wants it more will leave with a victory.

George Roop

Roop is said to be a favorite amongst the Zuffa office but his string of disappointing performances could prove to be his exit from the organization.

And to make matters worse, he has to face one of their best rising prospects in Josh Grispi.

With a defeat this would have to be the end for his run this time around, he would have won one bout in five trips to the cage since his WEC debut in 2010.

Clay Harvison & Justin Edwards

Much like the 170-lbs tilt between Bailey & McGillivray these two find themselves on the hot seat as well with only one entering the already stacked welterweight division.

Harvison looks to fight his way into the UFC for his father and brother who have recently passed away and Edwards looks to continue his unbeaten professional record, whoever leaves with the losers share of the purse will likely be exited from the company.

Ed Herman

Herman is the only fighter on the main card with his head firmly on the chopping block and it’s because he’s been defeated in three of his last five fights and hasn’t fought since 2009.

Herman made a name for himself inside the UFC for always bringing the action in his career leaving with a fight of the night and submission of the night bonus for his troubles but his biggest problem has always been his inconsistency.

He faces Tim Creuder of “Ultimate Fighter” fame who also hasn’t competed for over 24 months and both men should bring the fireworks and if “Short Fuse” winds up on the losing end of it then it should result in a pink slip.

Punch Drunk Predictions: UFC Ultimate Finale 13 - Main Card

2011-06-03T08:27:00.004-04:00

We move over to the televised portion of this Saturday’s event headlined by Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem and a lightweight scrap between the final WEC lightweight champion and fan favorite Clay Guida.

We open up the Spike TV broadcast with more welterweights from this past season when Chuck O’Neill [8-3] faces Chris Cope [4-1].

Both Cope & O’Neill were the semi-finalists on the past season of TUF and are getting the opportunity to make up for that with the loser likely exiting the organizations.

The bout boils down to neither man wishes to take this bout to the mat so we should have an extended striking battle which I feel favors O’Neill who is the more technical boxer and should be able to drop Cope later in the bout and follow it up for a TKO stoppage.

We move on to middleweight action as Ed Herman [19-7] faces Tim Creuder [12-3] in a do or die bout.

Despite being notable names inside the UFC neither man has competed in the UFC since 2009 due to lingering injuries for both combatants.

Herman has been on a rough patch of his career before his knee surgery which had him lose three of his last five bout.

Creuder on the other hand last fought in a fight of the year performance against Nate Quarry and since then has had to pull out of four straight fights.

Considering there’s been such a large layoff for both men it’s somewhat hard to predict but I’m going to lean toward Herman. “Short Fuse” Herman is a skilled boxer who should be able to bring the action to Creuder and win a decision in a possible fight of the night winner.

We move on as Kyle Kingsbury [10-2-1NC] squares off with Fabio Maldonado [18-3] in the light-heavyweight division.

Kingsbury is on quite a tear in the 205-lbs division having won in his past three trips to the octagon including a fight of the night performance against Jared Hamman.

Maldonado enters the UFC with quite a bit of hype behind him having won competed mostly on the Brazilian scene stacking up a 17-3 record before getting his UFC debut where he dispatched of the Brit James McSweeney in the third frame.

Although most predict Maldonado to take care of Kingsbury early in the bout I am going to give the edge to the underdog here. I feel that Kingsbury is a solid wrestler; he can take this bout to the floor and control it from there. It might not be pretty but I feel that Kingsbury will leave with his hand raised.

In the co-main event of the evening we determine the next “Ultimate Fighter” when Ramsey Nijem [4-1] faces Tony Ferguson [12-2].

Nijem was one of the first men on the series to stand out after his act of stripping for his house mates but when the bell rang inside the octagon he was able to show a completely different side to him.

Ferguson entered the series with the most up-side of the group and I feel that hasn’t changed with his dominate performances to make it to the finals.

Ferguson has been my pick to take the series from the start and I will stick with him, I think he is a much better striker than Nijem and if he’s able to use his reach to maintain distance and pick his shots it could be a long night for Nijem.

In the main event of the evening we see Anthony Pettis [13-1] put his #1 contender’s status on the line against Clay Guida [28-11].

If Pettis’ career were to end tomorrow, he would go down in infamy for having the best highlight showing following his springboard kick off the side of the cage dubbed the “Showtime kick” that sealed the deal for him in his WEC title scrap with Benson Henderson.

Pettis is currently riding a string of victories with his only defeat coming by way of a split decision to Bart Paleszewski which was loaded with controversy. Outside of that, he has been perfect beating notable names in Danny Castillo, Shane Roller and the above mentioned Henderson.

Guida is on quite a streak of his own having won in his last three trips to the octagon with two of those victories with a submission of the night bonus.

Pettis rightfully should be facing the UFC lightweight champion in his UFC debut after securing the WEC lightweight title on their final event however due to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fighting to a draw at UFC 125 it left him having to take another fight before facing the title carrier, whomever that may be at the time.

And he drew an opponent that could tip over the apple cart and spoil his debut inside the elite 155-lbs division.

We all know the Guida game plan, he will look to stick to you like glue – Use his clinch work, take it to the mat en route to a hopeful submission but I don’t see him being able to do so with Pettis.

Pettis is an unorthodox striker who always looks to bring more and more highlight footage with his flashy kickboxing which is hard to predict. I feel Pettis can keep it standing and win a close split decision after doing that little bit more.

All the action kicks off this Saturday night from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada; be sure to follow me @justinfauxmma for my live thoughts.

Punch Drunk Predictions: UFC Ultimate Finale 13 - Preliminary Card

2011-06-03T07:19:00.004-04:00

Another season of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” has wrapped up once again and it’s time to see who gets the six figure contract, as well as a lightweight tilt which could shape up the 155-lbs rankings.

But before we get to the business end of the card we have six bouts which won’t be making the live telecast on Spike which I’ll take a look at in this piece.

To open up the night of action we see bantamweight’s looking to prove a point when Reuben Duran [7-3-1] squares off with Francisco Rivera [5-1].

Both men were looking to begin their year in a big way with victories inside the UFC’s newly formed 135-lbs division but both ended up leaving with the losers share of the purse on their first outing.

Rivera at this stage in his career isn’t ready for this move up in competition in my opinion and the only thing he brings to the table is power in his right hand that could signal the end for Duran with four of his five victories coming by way or knockout.

However, Duran is relentless with his takedowns and will have little time getting it to the floor where he has the clear edge.

Duran is a four-time Grapplers Quest champion and should have little trouble dispatching of Rivera once it hits the mat, I’ll say opening round submission for the jiu-jitsu ace.

Speaking of bantamweight’s with something to prove, Scott Jorgensen [11-4] is looking to make an example out of Ken Stone [9-2].

Jorgensen was one of the most notable bantamweights in the WEC after five straight victories including two fight of the night bonuses he earned a shot at the title in the final WEC event.

The champion, Cruz dominated “Young Guns” Jorgensen over five rounds to retain his gold and for his UFC debut has been placed on the preliminary card which he is none too happy with.

At this point in his career Stone is remembered for being on the forceful end of one a Rampage Jackson style slam from Eddie Wineland but had a pretty successful run on the regional circuit having won nine of his ten fights before his Zuffa debut.

Jorgensen will enter the cage looking to prove that he’s still at the elite of the bantamweight division and should be able to dominate Stone. Scott has great boxing technique coupled with NCAA level wrestling he will be able to pick his shots, soften him up and finish him in the second period.

Next up two prospects from this past season of TUF fight for a contract inside the UFC when Clay Harvison [8-3] meets Justin Edwards [6-0]

Harvison was expected to go a long way in the series before his hopes were derailed by eventual finalist Ramsey Nijem in the semi-finals.

Edwards on the other hand was taken out early by the other half of the finals fight in Tony Ferguson with a vicious up-kick knockout. Edwards is technically still undefeated on his professional record and has never left the first round with five of his six fights ending in a submission.

Harvison has a sad story having lost his brother and father in the span of three years but he will get the opportunity to make them proud with a pretty one sided unanimous decision. Harvison is a superior striker; he can work on the outside picking his shots and utilizing his clinch game to win on the cards.

More TUF prospects come out to play next as Shamar Bailey [11-3] faces Ryan McGillivray [11-4-1].

Bailey was picked to be an odds on favorite to take home the contract at the end of the season walking in however failed to live up to that expectation after he lost a controversial decision to Chris Cope.

McGillivray made it to the semi-finals before being dispatched of by finalist Tony Ferguson with relative ease. In his professional career he was on a four fight unbeaten streak having not suffered a defeat since 2009.

This is Baileys fight to lose here, on paper this fight favors him completely and should be able to take care of the Canadian without too much hassle. He will have to pick his shots early before shooting for a take down and implementing his wrestling game to hopefully ground and pound out a victory later in the bout.

Featherweight’s get the opportunity to impress next as George Roop [11-7-1] faces Josh Grispi [14-2].

When a fighter is asked who they’d like to face next typically we hear the typical cookie cutter response of “I’ll fight anyone they want to put in front of me” but for George Roop that’s exactly his mentality.

Roop has taken fights between bantamweight, lightweight and featherweight en route to building this reputation.

Grispi is one of the UFC’s hottest prospects; at the age of 22 he already has sixteen bouts under his belt with notable wins over Jens Pulver, Mark Hominick and LC Davis.

Both men tasted defeat in their last trips to the cage and without leaving with their hand raised could leave their future in the company in doubt.

On the feet I feel they are pretty evenly matched with Roop throwing more power but Grispi being a more technical boxer but it’s a different dynamic once it hits the floor. I feel that Grispi can get the fight down and use his exceptional jiu-jitsu and top game control to take a decision, if not submitting Roop.

The final preliminary bout features lightweight’s Jeremy Stephens [19-6] squaring off with Danny Downes [8-1].

Stephens has been an inconsistent fighter in recent times having gone 6-4 in his past ten outings but seemed to be back on the right track following his knockout of the night to Marcus Davis at UFC 125.

Downes is a young Duke Roufus product with a relatively well rounded skill set and is currently riding a two fight win streak including a victory over Chinese standout Zhang Tie Quan.

Which Jeremy Stephens shows up to play is going to be a large factor in determining who leaves with a W against the name, if he shows up prepared he should be able to defeat Downes.

Stephens is a large lightweight and should be able to use his superior size to get the fight to the mat, exhaust his opponent before finishing them late in the game.

Unfortunately, unlike the past two UFC pay-per-view telecasts we will not be able to watch these preliminary fights live but follow me on twitter @justinfauxmma for my live reactions to the play-by-play.

Tha O Show Comes This Friday

2011-06-01T16:39:00.006-04:00

Sorry O-sters! Due to unforseen circumstances, the 222nd episode of "Tha O Show" will be delayed by one day. Technical issues in Tha Sick-O Zone are preventing the recording session from taking place tonight.

We can't even blame "Tha Dan-e-o Curse" on this one. He was nowhere near the studio when the problem first occured.

Be sure to check back on Friday for all tha Os you can get on a brand new edition of "Tha O Show"! In the meantime, peep one of Dan-e-o's latest freestyles!