Its been a while

Well it certainly has been a while since my last post , a little over 2 months in fact so I thought it was a bout time i got on with a bit of blogging . Part of the reason for my lack of posts is the absolute lack of anything interesting to write about but this previous week has been pretty busy for things I take a interest in.

Lets start with the Royal Rumble last Sunday night as a wwe ppv in the current era i thought it was a very good show the main event match the rumble it self was a step up from last years 40 man boring effort with a nice win for the great white (is that racist) Sheamus which should signal a big push for him this coming year.

It was also the closing of the transfer window on Tuesday evening and Leeds managed to do one deal for young Tottenham right back Adam Smith who came in on loan for the remainder of the season , not thrilling but a position we did need some new additions in .

But the big news coming out of Elland Road this week is the sacking of manager Simon Grayson who after 3 years of working under Ken Bates finally bit the bullet , for me i feel it was about the right time to make a change as long as we get the right man in to follow him but there have been some very disrespectful comment from chairman Ken Bates today regarding the situation and his former employee the following quotes have been taken straight from skysports.com 

Bates claimed 

 "At 30 players, we have one of the largest squads in the Championship and bigger than some in the Premier League.

"We spent over £12m on wages so why are people blaming me for the recent results?

"All the money we have received has gone back into the squad. The manager decides who he wants to buy, we as the board just pay for it. I only said no once."

The last statement is one that has got the ire of Leeds fans up when looking through our team if not squad they are a bunch of free transfer players with the rest made up from loans and very low cost transfers with Ross McCormack being our highest fee paid for a player in recent years at a believed 300k .

And finally i would like to direct you all over to my friends new Wrestling blog he has quite strong opinions about WWE so hit him up here proffits piledriver and be sure to leave a comment

Wrestlemania 27 Rview

So Wrestlemania 27 has been and gone the big winner on the night has to be The Rock although his opening monologue went on a bit his other interactions during the show were worth while and if you haven't seen it yet I won't ruin it for you , but overall I was very impressed with the show the following contains spoilers so look away now if you don't want to know the results.

The first match on the card was surprisingly the World heavyweight title match pitting Edge(c) vs Alberto Del Rio , after getting over the fact that a title match opened the show I became very pleased with the efforts of both competitors in a see saw match Edge came out victorious after blasting Del Rio with a Spear.

Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio were next up , before the night I had predicted this match to steal the show but I was left slightly underwhelmed by it but ultimately happy with the outcome of Cody getting a nice win over Rey after hitting him with Rey's own knee brace.

The 8 man tag match was up next with The Core facing off against a team of Big Show , Kane , Santino and Kofi Kingston . Before the start of this match I said to my friend dave that I hoped the Core would be going over In this match and be made to look like a strong powerful unit , 3 mins later I was made to eat my words after a 8 man melee a cobra strike from Santino and a big right hand from Big Show it was all over The Core well and truly buried never to be taken serious again !

A match I had been really looking forward to that didn't disappoint followed with C.M Punk taking on Randy Orton in for me the match of the night Punk dominated from start to finish but as expected Orton came out with with the W after punk tried a springboard from the outside of the ring straight into a RKO.

Following on from seeing the 2011 hall of fame inductees which by the way featured the biggest cheer of the night for HBK the match Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole began with Cole hiding inside his colemine untill Lawler went in there to get him out , the remainder of the match was fairly ugly to watch brining back horrible images of Bret Hart v Vince McMahon from last year , Jerry Lawler got the W after hitting Cole with punch from the second rope and then applying the ankle lock , then stone cold Steve Austin obviously gave everyone in the ring bar Lawler a stone cold stunner including Booker T and also Josh Matthews after Josh had informed Lawler that the match had been awarded to Cole due to Stone colds interference ( I should point out if you didn't know Austin was the special guest ref and Josh Matthews was relaying the decision from the anonymous Raw GM )

On we moved to what most people thought would be a Wrestlemania classic and in some ways it was I'm of course talking about Undertaker Vs HHH , for HHH to top what Hbk and Taker had done the two previous years he was going to have to pull out his best performance since early 2001 when he had a epic feud with Mick Foley . I can confirm Hunter looked back to his best with a stellar performance hitting Taker with not only 3 pedigrees but also a Tombstone but in the end after taker had taken around 10 steel chair shots to the back he locked Hunter in the Hell's Gate submission hold and after about 2 mins of struggling Hunter tapped out. Great match and there's much less shame in tapping out to that than Cena's awful STFU like HHH did a few years ago.

Speaking of Mr Cena his title match with defending champion The Miz was up next in the main event of the evening , after a fairly boring main event in my view it looked like it was all over after a double count out had ended the match , but the host of the evening The Rock was having none of that so came down to the ring and ordered the match to restart immediately , Rock then proceeded to hit Cena with the rock bottom for The Miz to pick up the win and retain his title . The Rock wasn't done there though after the match during The Miz's celebration Rock re-entered the ring to dominate The Miz and end the show celebrating in the Ring

Over all it was a good mania not up there with WM 17 for me but a very solid show , let down by not having a Money in the bank match but with there now being a MITB PPV i suppose that would be overkill.

THE FREAKING ROCK IS BACK !!!!!

THE FREAKING ROCK IS BACK !!!!! 

Yeah I'm now 27 but this is big big big news the rock is back at least until wrestlemania but hell I'll take that !

Here's the video of his return on raw from feb 14th

WWE Holiday !

So it's now just 3 weeks until a little weekend away at butlins now that may not sound exciting to you but I have neglected to tell you that whilst there we will be seeing wwe wrestling !

Now yes I am 26 and I know it's not real amazingly but I find entertaining and I'm not ashamed that people know that I watch wrestling.

Now if you don't watch it let me update you on a few things yes ric flair and hulk hogan are still wrestling (kind of) but no stone cold and the rock both are no longer involved in wrestling they are both movie stars now !

In short I'm looking forward to a weekend away with my wife two very good friends and 20 + men in baby oil.

Posted from my iPhone 4

Special Interview with the Grandfinale !

This weeks i have a very special interview with the co-creator / co host of Da Sharpshooters wrestling podcast its Mr Grandfinale himself Marcus so lets not waste any more time lets get right to it .


Ross - Before you started the podcast how would you and your brothers get out your wrestling frustrations

Marcus - Well, i  really don't think it's anything different from you hear on the show. Us going back and forth with alternative story lines of our on. Most of the time our conversation would be while we are playing video games or with our action figures. Some how and someway wrestling would enter into a conversation.


Ross - When you were young which was your fav wrestling toy , for me it was the ultimate warrior with the White trunks that did the gorilla press motion .

Marcus - My favorite wrestling toy was my ultimate warrior wrestling buddy. I love that thing. I remember having matches with the wrestling buddy on the patio, doing all sorts of different moves. My favorite part about the wrestling was trying to come up with new moves to make the best match possible rather it be me doing a move on him or him doing a move on me. So much fun.

Ross - As Eric will never reveal his top 5 , what is your top 5 for current and former wrestlers ?

Marcus - My top changes almost every year. They appear in different order so I think I'm just going to list in any order
Ultimate warrior
Bryan Danielson
The macho man randy savage
Stone cold Steve Austin
The rock
Hulk hogan
And mr. Perfect
And Bret hart

Okay that's seven but 5 of those are in the five just can't separate. Maybe a few ties in there


Ross - How did you find it was coming back to do the show after the passing of your mother , was it therapeutic in some ways ?

Marcus - At first it was weird. I can't explain it. Coming back I was wondering if we could care as much,or have as much fun. It turn out to be more fun second time around, because knowing we still had the support of our listeners made it feel even better. All the polite messages, e-mails and the feeling of being appreciated made it very therapeutic. I have always felt that this show was my sanctuary from all the madness in the real world. It's funny how something so fake can be so real.

Ross - Ryan has often been accused of being a hater of certain things about wrestling , what one thing currently makes you angry about the business ?

Marcus - Tna. Easy answer. No, just kidding. I really don't get angry about the business. Frustrated a little but never angry. To me it's all fun. Really even the dumb stuff makes me laugh. It's all entertainment. And without all the problems this show would suck. So to wrestling I love your crap. That's deep.


Ross - What is if like to know that you have so many listeners that want your opinions on things in the listener feedback section ?

Marcus - It's still blows my mind. It's very indescribable. I mean it continues to fuel me every time I do the show. I never in a million years though we would get one listener, let alone listeners who would email the show asking me and Eric what our opinions are. It's quite spectacular. Especially the listeners we have. Each and everyone have there on unique spin on wrestling, and they are all very creative about sharing there emotions about the sport. Very fun stuff.

Ross - Do you enjoy the live shows you do and would you like to do more frequent ones in the future ?

Marcus - Love the live shows. It's nice to know your just not talking to air and someone is paying attention. Wish we could do more of them, but our crazy insane schedules seem to be in the way. Maybe one day we will have another. My dream is to do one in front of a jam pack audience live on some stage. That would be Interesting


Ross - What are your honest opinions on the state of the wrestling business currently ?

Marcus - It is what it is. To me it seems very healthy and strong. Of course not as strong as the attitude but strong. I believe that wwe is heading in a interesting direction. In which they can't cheat by going all out with hardcore blood and guts. PG is a lot more challenging then the edgy programing we are a custom to. It's really testing your audience patients. Tna on the other hand  is still to be determined

Ross - What is you favourite match of all time ?

Marcus - Hogan vs Warrior wrestlemania 6. Just great storytelling. And cheesy to an extent. But still a great match.

Ross - Where do you see the wrestling business in 5/10 years time , will tna still exist what will become of Roh , dragon gate etc ?

Marcus - Tna gone from the map. I think unless they come up with a business model they are screwed. That company needs strong leadership. I could actually see one day when roh or dragon gate becomes wwe number 1 competition, because wwe keeps stealing there talent. But it's all about money, and can they last.

And finally will the best of show ever see the light of day !
Yeah one day. Just gotta get some stuff together. You saw how long it was for me to respond to your email. So the best of show is always around the corner.

I'd like to thank Marcus for participating in this interview with me it has been great to get his insight in to the wrestling business if you want to check out his work for yourself then head on over to dasharpshooters website or search for Da Sharpshooters on itunes that is unless you like to spit in a bottle , once again thank you Marcus much appreciated 


Ross

Very Special Interview With Mr Eric M Smith Co Creator of Da Sharpshooters

Today i have a very special interview with Mr Eric M Smith co creator of  Da Sharpshooters wrestling podcast we recently took some time out to chat here's how it went down

Ross - How did you come to the decision to do a podcast ?

Eric - Depending on who you ask the story may vary. I have always been into computers and technology. The term podcasting was introduce to me by one of the tech gurus I enjoyed listening to, Leo Laporte. He said that all you needed was a computer, microphone, recording software, and an ideal. This sounded extremely cool, however I did not embrace it right away. It took the purchase of my iMac computer that got everything in motion.

The iMac had all of the items Leo mentioned and all we needed was an ideal. So i told my brothers we should do a podcast, Marcus was down and of course Ryan was against it as always. The only thing needed was an ideal, which prove to be a difficult task.

Leo recommended that when thinking of an ideal for a podcast do a topic that you are knowledgeable about and something no one else was doing. We spent weeks or maybe months until we decided to talk about pro-wrestling and the rest is history. Marcus and I sat down recorded the god awful first episode and we have been doing it since.

Ross - How does it feel to know you have people who look forward to your show each week and look for your opinions on there questions ?

Eric - Speaking for myself it's a hard feeling to describe. I feel honored that so many people actually would care about what Marcus and I have to say about pro-wrestling. For us I think we enjoy getting the feedback more than anything and we look forward to reading each e-mail (I usually do not read them until we record).

My view of the show is that we are a digital community and we are all neighbors and once a week we get together to throw a block party, cheesy I know but that's the best way to describe it.

Ross - Did you and your brothers watch wrestling growing up ?

Eric - Yes, it we weren't playing video games or with action figures we were watching wrestling. I don't think we ever missed an episode by choice while growing up. I remember sometimes my grandparents would be mad at each other because of something that happen in wrestling and our mother couldn't believe it. 

Ross - How do you feel about the current state of the wrestling business ?

Eric - I think the wrestling business is the same as it has always been. It's has it's highs and lows. The biggest difference in my opinion are the wrestling fans. With so much information available to us, we tend to not let our imagination run wild.

Wrestling is about having fun, and that is what I try to do when I watch. I do not agree with everything that may happen and all that I ask is that the wrestlers actions on screen stay consistent with the character they are portraying. I feel that if the fans would based their opinions on what they saw instead of what they read wrestling would be more enjoyable.

That fun aspect is what we try to covey to our audience. We take what we read in the news apply it to the character that is played on television and run with it. Wrestling is fun and once we all stop taking it so serious some things about it are enjoyable.   

Ross - if /when you have children will you allow them to watch wrestling / is there any era you would discourage them from watching ?

Eric - Probably not until I am sure that they are able to distinguish what is real and not real. Also it also depends on what my wife has to say about.

The attitude era/hardcore era is what I would discourage them from watching. Young children are so impressionable and that era was for adults. I like the direction WWE is going trying to bring the family back into wrestling. There is a way to make the product enjoyable for adults and children. A company that has mastered this type of entertainment is Pixar, their movies are enjoyable by all ages. I am confident WWE can get there also, I am such a WWE loyalist.

Ross - Who are some of your favorite wrestlers from past eras and also of the current generation who stands out to you ?

Eric - I always enjoyed the confident and technical wrestlers. From the past I would say Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts, The Rock and the list could go on. Current wrestlers are Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Nigel McGuiness, John Cena, AJ Styles and Kurt Angle to name a few.

Ross - Have you and Marcus ever had any  serious disagreements about things said on the show

Eric - One time but I could not remember what it was about and it was in the infancy of the show. Plus, Marcus will never let anything stop him from doing the show because he loves being able to say he has been on every episode of the podcast.

Ross - Can you see Ryan returning to the podcast ?

Eric - Yes, however he has to want to do it. I have offered to record at their house so our grandfather is not alone but he declines.

Ross - How long does it normally to edit and post a show ?

Eric - To edit and post less than ten minutes because we don't edit. Our downfall is recording because as you can tell we suffer from ADD and we get distracted and put off track easily.

Ross - Can you see a time when you don't do the podcast ?

Eric - Yes, when it's not fun anymore or we are unable to do it. When our mother passed it almost ended but we realized she would want us to keep going, in all honestly when we did the show it was like therapy because it allowed us not to dwell in our sorrow and we thank everyone for that.

Ross - Are there any more plans for live shows ?

Eric -No plans, but of course we are not the planning type. We are still learning how to balance our different schedules which make doing live shows difficult.

Ross - And finally is the best of the sharpshooters show ever going to see the light of day?

Eric - Well I wished I had an answer for that one. That is all on Marcus and if it is ever release it will be the first show I listen to in it's entirety. 

Id like to thank Eric very much for agreeing to do this interview it has been a pleasure and if you want to check out Da Sharpshooters wrestling podcast which i highly recommend  you can find it in iTunes just search Da Sharpshooters or you can go to http://dasharpshooters.com/ and get the show from there