Bleacher Report - Articles by Gaz Judge

Wrestlemania 25: My Thoughts

Gaz Judge — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:21:35 -0400

First of all I want to state that these are my personal opinions of Wrestlemania, I'm not trying to start any debates or anything, please put your thoughts and say whether you agree or disagree but lets keep it simple.

Money In The Bank: Winner = CM Punk

1st of all I was very disappointed when Punk grabbed the briefcase, hell I was so disappointed that I was actually hoping Kane threw him off the ladder and grabbed the briefcase at the end.

Personally I wanted to see MVP or Christian take this one, for me they both deserve a big push and maybe a world title run.

The match however was again very good with death defying stunts and leaps and some good ladder work, Shelton Benjamin's senton creeps to mind, I was pleased to see Mark Henry stay away from the bulk of the action and leave it to Finlay, MVP, and Christian.

Kofi Kingston put in a good showing and will have done his credentials a lot of good. So overall another impressive MITB but poor choice of winner for me.

25 Diva Miss Wrestlemania Battle Royal: Winner = Santia Marella??

Now i must admit wasn't too interested in this match, although i was looking forward to see which divas returned, was good to see Torrie Wilson again and Molly Holly.

As soon as I saw the weirdly dressed "diva" with the tattoos it soon became apparent what was going to happen but it was comical seeing Santino—sorry, I mean Santin—creep around the ring waiting for any possible eliminations.

It seems as though they're laying the seeds to break up Glamerella which is a shame as they are the best couple in WWE for me but guess they got to do what the got to do. As a side note anybody else yawn and get a drink whilst kid rock was on??

Chris Jericho vs The Legends: Winner = Chris Jericho

I enjoyed this match more than I expected although I must admit it was all down to the work between Jericho and Steamboat.

Now having never seen a Steamboat match live I wasn't aware of how good this guy was, it made me want to go back to the '80s and see this guy in his prime for me he was unbelievable considering his age, but credit to him and Jericho for not only holding together what could have been and embarrassment but making it watchable.

The Rourke segment very predictable and I found myself making another drink and thinking Rourke was a little bit of a twat.

Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy Extreme Rules: Winner = Matt Hardy

Undertaker vs HBK aside this was defiantly the match I looked forward to most, and it did not disappoint, lots of high impact moves and lots of good use of the weapons, Jeff's splash through two tables with Matt in between them with a chair on him was excellent.

The offence was shared reasonably well although I think Matt could have a longer spell of dominance to really emphasise his new heel attitude which brings me onto my only moan about this match which was that it wasn't long enough.

They could have spread this out quite a bit longer and allowed a little more wrestling to take place with the extreme moments cutting in every so often to keep the match exciting, but a very good match that lived up to expectation and no doubt Matt winning will have shocked a few people (me being one of them) hope to see this feud continue for a little while yet.

JBL (c) vs Rey Mysterio Intercontinental Championship: Winner = Rey Mysterio, New IC Champion

Now it had become pretty much common knowledge that JBL was retiring after this match so for me it was disappointing to see him go this way.

Despite not being the best wrestler on the roster he had been a great servant to the company for 13 and a half years, I would have liked to see him retain the championship retire as champion and the either declare the IC title vacant or award it to Rey.

Rey was hand picked by JBL for this match as you may have read in his blog, the 1st choice would have been Eddie Guerrero had he been around (R.I.P) but the match itself hardly happened and was over in 20seconds. Would have liked it to be different but I would have thought JBL would have had quite a bit of input into the running of the match.

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels: Winner = Undertaker

Without a doubt the best match of the night and a major contender for match of the year already, I was constantly on the edge of my seat and did not and would not take my eyes of the action. I'm going to highlight this match at all because you had to see it to truly appreciate its wonder.

The match was that good and well fought out that i genuinely thought that HBK was going to end the streak and still found it amazing when he didn't. 10 out of 10 without any hesitation. Rematch anybody??

Edge (c) vs Big Show vs John Cena World Heavyweight Championship: Winner = John Cena, New World Heavyweight Champion

As far as I'm concerned the better of the two world title matches (ill get onto the other after) this match exceeded expectations for me and providing some good solid action as well as some moments that left me a little bit open jawed.

Edge taking the Big Show through the security wall and John Cena fireman carrying both Show and Edge are two of them. Was never in any doubt that Cena would not win and have no issues with that, I'm hoping hes drafted to Smackdown for some fresh feuds.

I was hoping however WWE would throw me a curve ball and have Big Show win, he's really impressed me as of late and is really dominating as the giant should be.

Triple H (c) vs Randy Orton: Winner = Triple H

The biggest let down of the night for me, the match seemed to have no energy and created very little excitement from me. I also feel that WWE missed a big trick by having HHH retain, this rivalry could have really kicked on after Orton wont the title but hey I'm just a fan.

The ending was poor as well I really did not enjoy this match and hopefully the creative team will try and put this right either on Raw or at Backlash.

Well there you have it my thoughts on the 25th anniverary of Wrestlemania, overally not quite the spectical we are used to but still a good show and still money well spent.

Referrals: Out Or Not Out?

Gaz Judge — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:31:32 -0500

The referral system has been brought into the game to try and reduce the amount of wrong decisions and get rid of some of the doubt in the game.

I don't think it has done that, the entire system seems to be confusing the players and leaves the umpires with egg on their face. I was watching Day Three of the 1st Test between Australia and South Africa and to see what ensued with the referrals was a debacle—it is creating unnecessary breaks in the game and is also making the players and umpires look foolish at times.

I saw a stat about three years ago that the ICC elite panel of umpires were getting 95% of the decisions right, now i don't know about anybody else but that's a very good percentage, you will always get the odd bad decision but that's human error and its part of the game.

Do you think a bowler intends to ball a no-ball? Or does a batsmen intend to inside edge the ball onto their stumps? An umpire doesn't intend to get a decision wrong but will do from time to time—it's human!

Get rid of the referrals, allow the game to flow again, use the third umpire as he was used before and you can create the the talking points by using the TV technology for the viewers at home.

My verdict: OUT!!

Should Pietersen Be Reinstated As England Captain?

Gaz Judge — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:41:52 -0500

I watched an interview with Kevin Pietersen today and began thinking after he said he "had unfinished business as captain". I was thinking should KP be reinstated as captain of England?

Knowing this shall spark a big debate I'm sure, I would give KP the job back but only in the limited overs side of the game, he would have to prove that he is really going to take the team in the right direction before I would consider giving him back the Test job.

Plus it would help him learn the ropes of being a captain and hopefully improve his tactics when it comes to crunch situations. I like Strauss as Test captain for the time being (at least until after the Ashes) but for me he shouldn't be considered for the ODI team so you have to pick somebody that is a regular in the team, Collingwood didn't enjoy the job and packed in, Freddie I'll just refer to Ashes 2006/07 and say no more, so who's the only other regulars? Swann (not a captain), Broad (too young but does strike me as an intelligent guy who could prove to be a leader) so that just leaves KP so I would give him the reigns in the summer (remember just limited overs format).

Please feel free to disagree, I'm actually hoping for some too and also some to agree with me.

So what would you do? Reinstate KP or not?

England and ECB: Pure Joke

Gaz Judge — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:32:18 -0500

I got up early this morning (7/1/09 for those reading this later) and switched on Sky Sports News to read about Kevin Pietersen resigning as England captain, immediately I sank back into my bed thinking England are up s*** creak without a paddle.

The dressing room is surely split now and Peter Moores is going to have a job trying to rally the troops that were backing KP, so I got on the phone to a good friend of mine and discussed the matter and came to conclusion that Andrew Strauss should be the man to take over.

Despite my friends initial view that Michael Vaughan will be re-instated, we started to realise that the ashes were going to be far tougher now, with the Aussies getting a win, they must be loving whats going on right now.

To then hear that Peter Moores had resigned as well, I decided that it would be too embarrassing to watch English cricket this summer, the one saving grace for me is that Andy Flower has been offered the head coaches job for the tour of the West Indies, but until anything is definite it makes English cricket and the ECB look like a joke.