Wrestlemania XXVII (Part II)

Okay show so far. Last year the two title matches and HBK/Taker really delivered, so we'll see if HHH/Taker and the RAW title match can push this thing over the top. HHH's intro starts off with Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" before Motorhead kicks in. Sweet. On the other hand, I'm not really sure what to think of the Undertaker coming out to Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave." Great song, but it doesn't really work as a wrestling entrance theme.

Undertaker vs HHH
Here we go. It's definitely going to be tough for them to top that epic Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler encounter. Brawl to start things off, and it isn't long before they're destroying things at ringside. HHH tackles Taker through the Cole Mine, which probably sounds more impressive than it looked. That would have probably gotten a bigger pop if Cole were actually in it. Interesting spin on last year's HBK/Taker bout, with Hunter taking on the role of, um, hunter, and the aging Undertaker doing everything in his power to survive. HHH brings out the heavy artillery: tables, chairs, Pedigrees (3 of them), the works, but the Undertaker somehow manages to hold on each time. At one point, Taker goes for a goozle, but he's so battered by then that HHH just shrugs him off and Tombstones him. Awesome.



Hunter goes for the sledgehammer when that doesn't get the job done, allowing UT to catch him with the Gogoplata. HHH fights it forever but eventually taps to give Taker win #19 in the streak. Here's the thing: it was a mess and the outcome was never really in doubt, but the drama was nonetheless there and they managed to tell a pretty good story. It can't touch the two HBK matches, but this one was pretty good in its own right. A lot of people will argue that there was no substance with both guys repeatedly throwing their finishers at each other, but the show desperately needed something that would get the fans out of their seats, and this certainly did the trick.

Trish Stratus, Snooki, John Morrison vs Dolph Ziggler, LayCool
We don't get Jersey Shore down here so this would be my first time actually seeing Snooki. Um, I guess she's sort of cute and all, but well...let's just say that I feel like I ordered a medium and ended up with a large instead. Trish is still looking good, though. She and McCool do the bulk of the work here until the the guys get involved (sorta). I guess Morrison was only allowed one move, so he decides to do the most dangerous thing he could possibly think of given the circumstances and Starship Pain himself all the way to the floor. At this point something weird happens, as Snooki turns into this chubby little ninja and starts doing flips all over the arena, pinning McCool in the process. You know, if only Jersey Shore actually featured fat chicks who do too many Grey Goose shots and then proceed to cartwheel all over the club and body splash other women, I might actually be interested in tuning in.

RAW World Title: The Miz vs John Cena
Miz has a pretty cool intro video set to Nas' "Hate Me Now" with old Real World clips and highlights from his wrestling career so far. Not really a big fan of Miz's trench coat + underpants look. Alex Riley is also here in his ring gear for some reason. And maybe I missed something, but why is he still carrying around the briefcase? Just what the hell is in there? Cena's elaborate entrance features gospel singers and an even better video set to DMX's "Prayer III"...never thought we'd see that. Those poor singers must be wondering why they're getting booed. The match itself was...not very good. It ends in a draw after both guys are counted out, thus Miz retains. The Rock doesn't like that, so he restarts the match, Rock Bottoms Cena, and Miz retains anyway. Ok then. The thing is that the match the people really wanted to see was Cena/Rock, and as such, the crowd was completely dead until the Rock got involved.

Overall? Decent. It felt sort of like WM2000 or WMXVIII, with the final match just leaving you with a foul aftertaste. The show wasn't without its high points (Punk/Orton, Cody Rhodes, HHH/Taker), but aside from the Undertaker match, there wasn't particularly much that stood out as a definitive Wrestlemania moment. The main event really should have been the culmination of something, but it was instead used as buildup to next year's WM. Make no mistake, John Cena vs The Rock will be absolutely off the charts, but it did nothing for this year's show.

Wrestlemania XXVII (Part I)

I'll be doing this in two parts because I can't sit still and watch wrestling for...well, you know the drill. Apparently Sheamus/Daniel Bryan got bumped off the main card and was turned into a dark match. Then it got changed to a lumberjack match. Then it got "out of hand" and was changed to a battle royal. Then the Great Khali won. Alrighty. Glad that I didn't put money on that match, because I was thinking "Sheamus over Daniel Bryan via Brogue Kick," not "Great Khali over 70% of the roster via superior size and strange, whimsical booking decisions." Sucks for Sheamus and Daniel Bryan, because there's no question that they deserved to be on the card.

The Rock starts the show off with his usual promo. I wonder what else they could have done with those ten minutes...

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs Alberto Del Rio
So we're starting off with the world title? Wouldn't this spot have been perfect for, say, I dunno...a US championship match maybe? It's pretty funny that Alberto Del Rio makes Brodus Clay walk to the ring. I mean c'mon, Eddie Guerrero would have let the dude ride shotgun. Del Rio probably hops on a private jet after the show while Brodus Clay catches the greyhound. Anyway. Edge must be feeling frisky tonight because he busts out a goofy looking somersault plancha. Del Rio does him one better with that SLICK springboard enzuigiri of his. Love that move. Del Rio eventually gets his rolling armbreaker, but Edge takes the win after wearing Del Rio out with his wacky Sharpshooter thing and hitting the spear. After the match, Edge and Christian destroy Del Rio's car with a crowbar to really drive the point home. Jeez. I remember when they were into playing with kazoos and stuff.

Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes
Rey's special Wrestlemania outfit this year is...PUCK!! YES!!! Oh wait, never mind, I think he's supposed to be Captain America. Cody Rhodes' special Wrestlemania outfit this year is Richard Hamilton. He has a darker, moodier remix to his music to go along with his "disfigured" gimmick. That's actually kind of cool. The match is chugging along just fine until Rhodes pauses to give Rey a nice, sensual shoulder massage midway through. Didn't he learn anything from Randy Orton back when he was a part of the Legacy? Chinlocks are the way to go. Not a bad match, minus some silliness with Rhodes' mask. The right guy eventually goes over as Rhodes hits the Cross Rhodes for the win. Let the Sin Cara era begin.

Snoop Dogg is backstage looking for talent. This leads to Sir William Regal busting a rhyme:

Straight out of Blackpool, I'm William Regal
Everybody knows that I do nothing legal
Mess with my man Snoop and you won't be chillin'
Cuz I'll show you why I'm straight up villain.

Best Wrestlemania ever. Funny that we have William Regal and Hornswoggle rapping, but not a sign of R-Truth.

The Corre vs Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston
Kind of sad that Kane is stuck in an 8-man after having probably the best year of his career. This one goes a whopping 2 minutes before Show punches Slater in the face. Great job making The Corre look like a dangerous up-and-coming force to be reckoned with losers here.

The Rock and Mae Young are backstage being inappropriate. They talk about strudel and Mae Young being as old as Moses until Stone Cold shows up. Austin and the Rock have a stare down for old time's sake. Ok, that was pretty cool.

Randy Orton vs CM Punk
This should be good. Good lord, these guys must really enjoy getting tattoos. I wonder what they're going to look like at Wrestlemania XXXII. Nice match with Punk working Orton's leg throughout to negate the punt. Punk even busts out Bret Hart's old ringpost figure four. This one felt a little slow overall with so much of the match revolving around Orton's injured leg, but the finish was a hot one with Punk managing to escape an initial RKO attempt, only to springboard directly into a second. Would have liked to see CM Punk go over here, but the loss doesn't really hurt him too much. Best match of the night so far.

Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole (w/ Jack Swagger)
Funny bit as Stone Cold comes blazing out on his ATV while Swagger is on the ramp doing push-ups. This would probably be the match with the best buildup, but also the one that needs to be over as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case as we are treated to seeing Michael Cole on offense. Josh Matthews: "Look around the ring, there is anguish on the face of everyone in the WWE universe." Josh Matthews, this is true. Lawler eventually makes the comeback and takes it after a fistdrop and an anklelock. As usual, Austin acts a damn fool after the match. This one went on way too long, but at least Lawler got his feel-good Wrestlemania moment. Or so we think, until the anonymous GM reverses the decision to give Cole the win. Whatever.

Part II: Taker/HHH, Miz/Cena.

SHARP IS03

My trusty old SANYO W63SA started acting erratic the other week, so I decided to retire the poor guy after 30 months of service. I considered joining the iPhone revolution but eventually decided against it since the SoftBank coverage is less than spectacular down here. Since I wasn't too keen on the idea of switching carriers, the decision to pick up KDDI's SHARP IS03 was a no-brainer.





Some specs:

• 3.5-inch screen with 960×640 resolution capacitive touchscreen (rivaling the iPhone 4's Retina display)
• world’s first “combination LCD” combining a main display and a secondary memory LCD (which shows the time and battery life even when the main display is off)
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• 9.6MP camera with CCD sensor and auto focus
• Android 2.1 with Flash Lite 4.0 support
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• ports: microUSB, microSD/microSDHC (32GB max.)
• apps for YouTube and Twitter pre-installed
• battery life: 200 hours standby, 230 minutes talk time

Pretty impressive. Here's a shot of the "memory" LCD in action. Although the main display is off, the secondary display will always show the time and battery life.



The feature certainly won't change your world, but it's nice to be able to glance over at your mobile and check the time without having to pick it up, especially if you've got your hands full with paperwork. I was also somewhat surprised to find that the phone still had a pull-out digital TV antenna.



In a sense, the IS03 does its best to combine the glitz and power of the new wave of smart phones with the more traditional bells and whistles that have come to define Japan's keitai generation. I'm hearing now that the battery life isn't quite up to par with manufacturer claims, but I guess we'll see.

キャサリン！

I was leaning towards waiting on the July NA release, but my girlfriend went ahead and got me a copy. Still playing MvC3, but I'll check back with a few thoughts on this one after I've spent a little time with it.

Air Zoom Rookie LWP Images Leaked

A picture has recently surfaced online that appears to confirm Nike's second Penny hybrid. While the 1/2 Cent was a fusion of the original Foamposite and the Penny I through IV, the Air Zoom Rookie LWP was supposedly going to be a "rookie" fusion of all the sneakers that Penny wore before he got his first true signature. But judging from the leaked image, it appears that the shoe borrows elements primarily from the Foamposite One and the Air Flight One, as well as a little from the Zoom Flight 96.



Not that I'm complaining, since those are three of my all-time favorite sneakers, but it doesn't seem to really fit the concept of this being a "rookie" hybrid when you take into consideration that Hardaway wore some of those shoes after the 93-94 season was over. But I suppose they had to throw Foamposite on the thing so they could charge $190 for it. I'm digging it as far as the design goes, but I have to admit that I don't really get the color. Waiting to see what they look like in an Orlando colorway.

Catherine NA Release

We finally get a release window for those of you stateside:



I might just wait for the American version so I can understand what the hell is going on.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 Impressions

Playing:
Marvel vs Capcom 3
(PS3)

I was a fan of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and owned the game on both the Dreamcast and the PS2, so I had some pretty high expectations for this one. Fun fact: I actually bought a Sega Dreamcast for the sole purpose of playing MvC2, and it would be the only game that I ever purchased for the console before eventually selling it. Kind of odd in hindsight, especially considering how great the DC library was. But I digress...

MvC3's overall roster is nice, though it's tough to not be disappointed by some of the omissions (Venom? Zangief?) as well as puzzled by some of the inclusions (X-23? MODOK?). The comic book nerd in me kept hoping for Havok, or Blink, or Bishop, or Valeria Von Doom, but it's tough to complain after seeing - and hearing - Deadpool in action.

The graphics are nothing short of spectacular, and the controls are a breeze once you condition yourself to stop thinking in terms of punches and kicks and get a hang of the simplified Light, Medium, Hard, Launch setup. Diagonal air dashing and double jumping seem to be less effective in air combos - good news for the more casual players such as myself - and seem to have been toned down in favor of the flashier and easier to use team aerial raves. Yet at its core, MvC3 is still the fast-paced senses overload that the previous installment was, and vets of the series should have no problems jumping right back in.

The game is unfortunately somewhat hurt by its lack of any real additional modes. After spending some time learning the new controls, I was almost immediately able to jump into arcade mode and beat the game on the hardest difficulty. Beyond that, there isn't particularly much more that MvC3 offers in an offline setting. Mission mode is useful for what it is - an extension of training mode that walks players through moves and combos for each character - but it's essentially a carbon copy of the challenge mode found in SFIV.

The real treats of the game are the countless winks and nods to both the Marvel and Capcom universes that the creators have sprinkled throughout the game. You'll get a kick out of Deadpool mocking Magento with his infamous "Welcome to die!" line and declaring his love for Street Fighter when he meets Chun-Li, or Thor proclaiming his showdown with Amaterasu a battle of the gods, or even Ryu getting ready to fight Marvel's Iron Fist in his ending, a subtle little nod to his upcoming foray into the King of Iron Fist world in Street Fighter X Tekken. There's absolutely no semblance of a cohesive story to be found here, but the creators certainly did their homework and got the little nuances of each character right.

In the end, MvC3 is certainly about fan service, and that's the one thing that really pushes the game over the top. As a huge Okami fan, it's a dream to get to use Amaterasu in a fighting game setting and take out Galactus. My only real complaint would be the relatively modest roster size, but as advertised, the game is both incredibly fun to play and amazing to look at. Easy recommendation for those who have yet to check it out.