The John Report: Talking Smack for 12/18/09 (Batista vs. Mysterio)

I don’t have a whole lot of time this week due to being busy with Christmas stuff, so rather than recap it in detailed segments as I normally do I’ll be a lot more brief in my comments.

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Live from Laredo, Texas let’s talk some smack…

Teddy Long started the show, was interrupted by Batista asking for a shot at Undertaker. Mysterio came out, challenged Batista to a match and Long booked a number one contender’s match with Batista vs. Mysterio. It was fine. Like I say every week, I enjoy Batista so much more as a heel.

Retro: WWF Survivor Series 1997 Recap

This was originally posted in July at Rajah.com and The Wrestling Oratory. I’m reposting it because of the news regarding Bret Hart’s WWE return. I’m not sure when I’ll write another review of an older PPV, but I do hope to get back to doing that again at some point because I’m nearly into 1998, which was a good year. Enjoy.

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Backstory
Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels. Vince McMahon. The Montreal Screwjob. Where to begin?

It’s hard to properly cover all the history involved in this show in a few paragraphs, but I guess the starting point would be WrestleMania XII in the spring of 1996. Bret Hart lost the WWF World Title to Shawn Michaels in a very memorable Ironman match. Hart took the next six months off (he was going to film a TV show that was cancelled) to rest his body after years of being on the road while Michaels had a difficult title reign due to WWF business being down during much of 1996. When Hart came back in late 1996, Michaels was still the top babyface in the company. Shawn had the title again in February of 1997 when he suffered a knee injury. He forfeited the title, saying the injury was career threatening and that he had “lost his smile.” In Hart’s view, Michaels didn’t want to put Hart over at WrestleMania 13, as had been rumored. That created a lot of animosity between the two.

NFL Picks for Week 15

This has been a weird season for me. My favorite team, the Rams, are having the worst season in the history of the franchise (and that’s saying something). However, this is by far the greatest fantasy season of my life (and I’ve been at it for about 15 years now) and gambling wise it’s been the best of my last five years without question. I think maybe I’m paying more attention to fantasy and gambling because my team sucks so much. I don’t know what it is, but at least I’ve had something salvageable this season.

Last week: 13-3
Season:137-71 (.659) – If I can make it up to the .667 mark I’ll be very pleased.

All game times are Eastern.

Dallas at New Orleans 8:20 PM (Sat)
I’m not picking against the Saints at home. Maybe in the playoffs I will if they’re home to the Vikes and if Minny looks good the week before, but other than that I think they have the best home field advantage in the NFL. Dallas is still trying to find themselves, which is not a good thing to be doing on the road against an undefeated team like this. Drew Brees continues his MVP march with a dominant performance here. I like the Saints to win and cover the number pretty handily. Saints 37-20