Bleacher Report - Articles by Martin Bentley

Arsenal News Roundup, Jan. 5: Jack Wilshere, Robin Van Persie, Eduardo da Silva

Martin Bentley — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:47:43 -0500

Jack Wilshere signed a professional contract with Arsenal Monday, just days after his 17th birthday.

Wilshere has already featured for the Gunners in all four competitions, including becoming the youngest player to appear for the club in the Premier League and the Champions League, and scored his first goal against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup.

"We are delighted that Jack has signed a professional contract with us," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "Jack is a player with great potential, with an ability to find the final ball and also score goals.

"Jack is a passionate and committed young player, he is not afraid of tackles and I am convinced he will have tremendous penetrative power in a few years.

"We have already seen Jack's qualities in both his first team performances and in training on a regular basis, and we look forward to Jack being an important part of our first team for years to come."

Robin van Persie has spoken of his dream to play at Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup Final.

The striker, who scored twice in Arsenal's third round victory over Plymouth Argyle last weekend, won the FA Cup in 2005, but the final was played in Cardiff, and the Dutchman wants to repeat the feat at Wembley on May 30.

"In my first year, I scored two goals in the last eight minutes in the [Semi-Final] at the Millennium Stadium," he said. "It was fantastic to be in front of 70,000 people but it is still a dream for me to play at Wembley. I have never played there.

"Of course it was a dream come true for me as well when I scored two goals in the last eight minutes of a Semi-Final of the FA Cup—which of course brings you to the Final—but I still want to do it at Wembley."

Van Persie also spoke about how he did not expect Arsenal to go four years without a trophy since that win over Manchester United in the 2005 final.

"At the time, no [I didn’t think that] because they were winning trophies for fun. I came to the champions so I was expecting something like that but it's not really happened in the last three years.

"But it's not a reason for me to give up—it is a bigger challenge for me to do it. If we can do it now, then it is a big achievement.

"If you want to win a trophy you need to see it game by game. You can’t say 'OK at the end I want to lift a trophy.'

"You need to give absolutely everything game by game. If you look at Man United, they had a great year, but if you look at the Champions League, they were lucky. Terry slipped. If he hadn't, it would have been different.

"It's really hard—the line between winning and losing is really thin.

"I know that everyone at Arsenal will give absolutely everything to win but still I can't guarantee we are going to win."

There was bad news for Eduardo da Silva today, as Arsenal's reserve match away at West Bromwich Albion was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

The Croatian international was expected to get another start in his bid to fully recover from a broken leg, after having played the first half against Portsmouth's reserves last month, but with the game called off, Eduardo will have to wait for the trip to Stoke City's reserves on Jan. 21 for his next potential game.

No date has been given for the rearranged fixture with the Baggies' reserves.

Robin van Persie Puts Arsenal Into the Fourth Round, def. Plymouth Argyle, 3-1

Martin Bentley — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:26:16 -0500

Arsenal progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Championship side Plymouth Argyle at the Emirates Stadium.

Robin van Persie, given the captain's armband in the absence of stand-in captain Manuel Almunia, scored twice for the Gunners, with an own goal from Plymouth's David Gray completing the scoring. Karl Duguid scored the only goal for the Pilgrims.

After a goalless first half which featured an impressive showing from Plymouth goalkeeper Romain Larrieu, Arsenal struck just a minute into the second half when Samir Nasri's corner found Van Persie, who headed the ball into the Argyle net.

Arsenal were 2-0 up three minutes later, when Van Persie crossed in for Nicklas Bendtner, only for Gray, on loan from Manchester United, to turn the ball into his own net.

Three minutes later, Plymouth grabbed a goal back, as Duguid scored after Arsenal failed to clear Argyle's free kick, and the ball fell to Duguid to slot it past Lukasz Fabianski, leading to a nervy 20 minutes for the home side.

However, Van Persie calmed things down on 85 minutes when after his chip was knocked down by Larrieu, he collected the rebound and put the ball into the empty net.

Arsenal had more bad news, however, as Mikael Silvestre limped off near the end of the first half, and he has been ruled out of action for three weeks with a thigh problem. With Kolo Toure also out of action, Arsenal may do well to secure an extra defender during the transfer window.

Arsenal 1-0 Portsmouth: William Gallas Secures Three Points for the Gunners

Martin Bentley — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:32:48 -0500

William Gallas scored the only goal in a largely unmemorable affair, as Arsenal defeated Portsmouth, 1-0, at the Emirates Stadium to temporarily overtake Aston Villa and enter the Champions League places.

Both teams had the odd chance throughout the game, with Peter Crouch hitting the post, and David James saving a shot from Samir Nasri, but Arsenal got the breakthrough on 81 minutes when Gallas headed in a free kick after James failed to collect the ball.

Gallas has now scored five goals this season from the centre of defence, and he is slowly winning back the fans' trust after being stripped of the captaincy a couple of months ago for criticising his teammates publicly. More goals like this one will do Gallas wonders.

Whilst the overall performance may not have been the best Arsenal fans have ever seen, they will be delighted to have picked up three points going into the break for the FA Cup, where Arsenal will host Championship side Plymouth Argyle on Jan. 3. Arsenal's next league game is at home to Bolton Wanderers on Jan. 10.

Portsmouth slip to 12th place on the back of their defeat. They will host Bristol City from the Championship in the FA Cup on Jan. 3, before hosting Manchester City in the league on Jan. 10.

Maryse Wins The Divas Title and Saves SmackDown

Martin Bentley — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:16:35 -0500

Maryse is the new WWE Divas Champion on SmackDown after defeating former champion Michelle McCool in a match that featured Maria as the special guest referee, held in Toronto on Monday night and aired last night (Dec. 26).

At the conclusion of a hard fought match, McCool got a near two count on Maryse, and felt that Maria was slow counting the fall, when Maryse kicked McCool in the back of the head, and pinned her to become only the second champion in the history of the Divas Title.

After the match, McCool blamed the defeat on the referee, and finally completed her long rumoured heel turn by attacking Maria for several minutes, kicking her in the gut, throwing her against the retaining wall, and then slinging her into the ring post, leaving her lying.

All the while, Maryse looked on smiling, knowing she now has the title, and has probably made a lot of "smart mark" fans very happy.

In a previous article, I spoke about how McCool seemed to be ruining the SmackDown Divas division by making her challengers look weak and supposedly holding down talent, including Maryse.

It appears that Maryse has emulated CM Punk in terms of false Internet reporting, and like Punk, her "punishment" for generating heat backstage is being awarded her brand's championship.

Maria and the Bella Twins appear to be Maryse's main challengers now that McCool has turned heel, although Gail Kim could be brought in to challenge the new champion.

It seems to suggest that McCool is out of the picture for the time being if they took the belt off her whilst turning her heel, as they could have accomplished the same long term goal involving Kim with McCool as a heel champion, and probably a bigger name match as well.

Still, Maryse is more popular amongst the Internet wrestling community, and while McCool develops her feud with Maria, Maryse will defend the belt; hopefully proving to be a good opponent for Kim. She's probably better at generating heat at the moment, too.

Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal: Gunners Drop Two More Points at Villa Park

Martin Bentley — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:23:46 -0500

Despite goals from Denilson and Abou Diaby, Arsenal failed to hold on to their lead, and a penalty from Gareth Barry and a last minute equaliser from Zat Knight saw Aston Villa rescue a point at Villa Park.

Villa hit the woodwork three times in the first half and dominated the first 45 minutes, but it was Arsenal who went into the break ahead, after Denilson slotted home on 40 minutes.

Diaby added to Arsenal's lead on 49 minutes with a great link-up with Emmanuel Eboue, but the main talking point came on 66 minutes, as William Gallas was adjudged to have brought down Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty area, despite the linesman giving it when he was blinded from the ball. Regardless of whether it was a penalty, Barry put the spot kick away confidently.

Villa took control of the game from then on, and in stoppage time, Villa outnumbered Arsenal in the visitors' penalty area, and the ball fell to Knight to give Villa a point that keeps them above their opponents in fourth place and the final Champions League place.

On the evidence of today's game, if Arsenal are to claim that spot, they will have to work very hard to get it off Villa. The title is certainly gone, with Liverpool now 10 points clear.

Cesc Fabregas Ruled Out For Four Months

Martin Bentley — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:47:30 -0500

Arsenal were dealt more bad news today after captain Cesc Fabregas was ruled out for four months after rupturing knee ligaments against Liverpool on Sunday.

Fabregas picked up the injury in a 50/50 challenge with Xabi Alonso, and will now miss a good chunk of the rest of Arsenal's season, including the two games in the Champions League with Roma, but he could possibly return for the quarter final should Arsenal progress.

The news may well prompt manager Arsene Wenger to buy new players in the January transfer window. Fabregas has missed a select number of games this season either through injury or through suspension, and Arsenal have not performed well in his absence, so an experienced playmaker in midfield is essential to hold the side together.

No names have come up straight away as possible targets, but Wenger needs to get going from next Thursday (Jan. 1) and bed the new arrivals in before Arsenal's first league game of 2009 against Bolton Wanderers on Jan. 10.

Everton 0-0 Chelsea: John Terry Sent Off as Blues Drop Points

Martin Bentley — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:19:18 -0500

John Terry was sent off for a two footed tackle on Leon Osman, as Chelsea dropped another two points with a goalless draw at Everton. The result means that Liverpool remain top of the Premier League for Christmas.

The turning point of the game came on 35 minutes when Terry went for the ball, but just missed it and caught Osman instead, and that was enough to convince referee Phil Dowd to send the England captain off.

It was Terry's second red card of the season, but his first one against Manchester City was rescinded, so he is set to be banned for three games, starting with Friday's home game with West Bromwich Albion.

The game became hot tempered from that point on with Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, and Michael Ballack all booked for dissent. Everton had the ball in the net late on, but Steven Pienaar was adjudged to be offside, and the goal was correctly ruled out.

Chelsea had goalkeeper Petr Cech to thank for saving them a point, with the Czech keeper producing a string of fine saves to keep Everton at bay. It may have been Chelsea's first dropped points on the road this season, and they may currently be a point behind Liverpool, but this could well prove to be a crucial point somewhere down the road, given the circumstances.

Everton remain in seventh place, five points behind the European places. They have still only won one game at Goodison Park this season—as with Chelsea, they are a stronger team away from home.

WWE Spends Christmas in "Bizarro World"

Martin Bentley — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:45:07 -0500

Blame Canada for Going Off-Script

Later tonight, WWE will hold a double RAW and SmackDown taping at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto - a city the WWE has in the past referred to as "Bizarro World", where the fans traditionally go against-script, such as booing the good guys and cheering the bad guys, and sometimes rejecting big angles in the loudest way possible.

The most famous example of "Bizarro World" was at SummerSlam 2004, where fans turned on Toronto's own Edge (who was then a face), booed the Divas, called a good Undertaker/JBL match "boring" (including one fan jumping up and down on JBL's limousine), and cheered the heel Randy Orton over Canada's own Chris Benoit.

Of course fans should be appreciated for doing something a little different, such as at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago where fans booed the popular Trish Stratus and treated the evil Mickie James like a goddess. Four years ago, however, WWE's announce teams repeatedly commented on how weird Toronto's fans were for going against type, almost as if they wanted to programme their fans on who to cheer and who to boo, and what matches to get excited about.

Recently, Toronto has gotten slightly less "Bizarro," the fans likely satisfied with an excellent Edge/John Cena TLC match at Unforgiven 2006, and Trish Stratus' emotional and successful retirement at the same event. The last couple of editions of RAW held at the Air Canada Centre, as well as an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, largely passed without much controversy as well.

Tonight, however, plenty is likely to go down that may make Toronto bizarre once again. Currently, the only scheduled match for SmackDown, which will tape first, will see Shelton Benjamin defend his United States title against Hurricane Helms, so I'll focus on four huge matches set for RAW.

In order to find a challenger for John Cena's World Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble in five weeks' time, there will be four matches tonight, with the four winners of those matches meeting in a Fatal Four Way elimination match next week in Manchester, NH. The first of those will pit Shawn Michaels against Kane. Don't be surprised to see Kelly Kelly cost Kane the match here. The Big Red Machine held young Kelly hostage last week, and then errantly chokeslammed The Miz, as he believed Miz was Kelly's boyfriend, so look for Kelly to get a bit of payback tonight.

One rumour that has emerged is that Michaels will win the resulting Fatal Four Way, but will then have to give up his spot at the Royal Rumble to JBL. If that is going to happen, then JBL will lose his match to Rey Mysterio tonight. However, with Mike Knox lurking in the shadows to screw with Mysterio again, this theory isn't guaranteed.

The third match is the most intriguing, as CM Punk takes on Chris Jericho. Both men are familiar with each other since the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXIV, which Punk won, but in the two big matches since then, Jericho has come out on top both times. Seeing as Punk has a date with William Regal for the Intercontinental Title on the horizon, look for Regal to cost Punk here, and give Jericho yet another victory over the Straight Edge Superstar.

Finally, we have Batista taking on Randy Orton in a rematch from Armageddon. But following last week's events, where Orton punted Batista in the head, there is doubt that the match will take place. Batista pulled out of an appearance in Toronto yesterday afternoon to sell the injury, although he did appear on television on Friday to talk about this past weekend's Tribute to the Troops show. Many believe that since Ted DiBiase hasn't wrestled in two months since being punted by Orton, that Batista should not be on the show tonight, otherwise it would make DiBiase look weak.

However, CM Punk returned a week after he was punted in the head, and Triple H returned the very next night after Orton kicked him at WrestleMania XXIV. Whilst that clearly establishes DiBiase's lowly ranking in the WWE pecking order, it also means that Batista may well show up tonight, but look for Orton to get his win back all the same, with Batista possibly costing him the Four Way next week.

Finally, there have been rumours for the past couple of weeks about Trish Stratus making a one-off return to the ring at tonight's show. Both Beth Phoenix on RAW and Natalya on SmackDown have been linked to a match with the former seven-time Women's Champion, and whilst I doubt Trish will be lacing up the boots for the first time in two years tonight, she'll more than likely appear before her hometown public in some capacity. It'll be nice to see her back.

All in all, it should be a very entertaining evening in Toronto, but will Ontario's capital become bizarre once again?

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool: Howard Webb Is the Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Martin Bentley — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:58:53 -0500

Referee Howard Webb grabbed all the headlines at the Emirates Stadium tonight as he gave Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor two yellow cards and sent him off in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with league leaders Liverpool.

Webb booked the Arsenal striker on 38 minutes for a foul on Emiliano Insua that seemed innocent enough, and would get away with a telling off in most circumstances. Adebayor was then shown a second yellow on 62 minutes for raising his foot at Alvaro Arbeloa, which was a definite bookable offence, and as a result of the double yellow, Adebayor was sent off, and now misses Arsenal's crucial game at Aston Villa on Boxing Day (Dec. 26).

Despite being a highly charged game, it wasn't a dirty one, and Webb's harsh officiating completely ruined what could have been one of the most important games of the season. Arsenal fans booed Webb non-stop for the rest of the game after the sending off, and then booed every Liverpool touch of the ball.

Robbie Keane was the villain of the day for Arsenal fans, with the former Tottenham Hotspur striker not helping matters by taking out Gael Clichy and earning a booking on 20 minutes, with Arsenal fans convinced he should have been sent off, which would make the Adebayor dismissal all the most heartbreaking later on.

Arsenal took the lead on 24 minutes as the excellent Samir Nasri lobbed the ball from his own half and set up Robin van Persie for another brilliant finish to score his 10th goal of the season.

Liverpool would answer back on 42 minutes, as Keane sliced the Arsenal defense apart and lobbed the ball past Manuel Almunia to score his fifth goal of the season, and one that extended Liverpool's lead over Chelsea to two points.

If there was one failing for Liverpool, it would be their inability to make Arsenal pay for Adebayor's sending off, as Arsenal played better with increased support, but the quality of the game petered out after the red card—and for that, we can only blame Howard Webb, who like Dr. Seuss' creation The Grinch, stole Christmas, or in this case, the prospect of an amazing finish.

Should Other Sports Follow WWE's Lead and Play for the Troops?

Martin Bentley — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:14:25 -0500

This Saturday night, WWE will air its annual Tribute to the Troops special on NBC. Every year, wrestlers head out to either Iraq or Afghanistan and put on a free show for all the troops in the local area, and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has said many times that to him, the show is bigger than WrestleMania, as it's a show of personal fulfillment, and it boosts morale for troops who may well miss their families and loved ones over Christmas.

UFC has also started hosting a show, Fight for the Troops, which they hold at a military base in the United States, with fight purses and bonuses going to charity, as well as pledges from fans. The work both companies do for the US military is astounding, but I'm going to see now if the same idea would work for other sports around the world.

As far as US sports go, at college level, the various departments such as the Army, the Navy and the Air Force put out teams, so the troops actually compete on the field. But how would the professional teams take to playing games, not necessarily in Iraq or Afghanistan, but exclusively for free in front of just troops?

The idea may work better for a short game such as basketball, where the NBA plays 82 games a season, and it would be easy to slot in a special game to entertain the military. Baseball could also slot in an exhibition game in Iraq, where the troops wouldn't care about the result, just that they get to see their heroes and see their national past-time played right in front of them. It might not be such a good idea for the NFL, where fans are debating the games in London and Toronto as it is.

Moving out of the US, I'd like to take a closer look at British troops. They get entertained on occasions as well, but they usually make do with a few Page Three girls and the odd comedian or musical act. What if two English Premier League teams played a friendly for the troops?

There is still fierce debate about the controversial "39th Game", where an additional game for each team would be played abroad, but I don't think there would be much of a problem playing for free where the result doesn't matter. There may be concerns about security, but the EPL could always consult with the likes of WWE on how to look after players.

Rugby Union would also be a very popular sport to be played out in the war zones. A lot of British troops in particular are rugby fans, and rugby players may well be more likely to go out and play for the military.

In Britain, too much focus is placed on the negative side of war, with countless deaths, bad treatment, lack of funding etc. By having sports stars not only go over and visit, but to play in front of troops, it can show the positive side of life at war, boost morale, and maybe even convince a few more people to sign up and fight for their country. The WWE has shown this on many occasions, maybe it's time other sports followed their example.

Eduardo da Silva Makes His Arsenal Return

Martin Bentley — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:28:42 -0500

Eduardo da Silva returned to football tonight, as he lined up for Arsenal's reserves against Portsmouth just 10 months after breaking his leg in a horrific challenge.

The Croatian international, who had his leg broken by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor back in February, put on an Arsenal shirt at Barnet's Underhill ground. He played 45 minutes in a strong looking reserve lineup, which also included the likes of Gavin Hoyte, Aaron Ramsey, and Jack Wilshere.

Eduardo looked to be right where he left off before the terrible injury, getting into good positions, making runs, and having one or two chances. Still, the net eluded him tonight. He was substituted at half time, having completed the first stage of his on-field recovery.

There may be some training ground friendlies arranged for Eduardo to complete his rehabilitation, but Arsenal's next reserve game will be against West Bromwich Albion on Jan. 5, followed by a trip to Stoke City on Jan. 21.

He will most likely have his playing time increased in these games, and could well play the full 90 minutes against Stoke before returning to the first team sometime in late January or early February.

Tonight, the signs looked promising that Eduardo could well return to his best, and this would be a major boost to an Arsenal team that desperately needs him.

Chelsea Drop Two More Points at the Bridge Against West Ham

Martin Bentley — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:09:00 -0500

For the second time this season, all four members of the Big Four failed to win, as Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United.

Craig Bellamy put the Hammers in front with a controversial goal, as Chelsea claimed that Mark Noble handled the ball in the build up to the score. Chelsea equalised in the second half through Nicolas Anelka, and Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty, as Frank Lampard was tripped in the West Ham box, but the Blues' appeal was turned down.

Chelsea have now dropped 14 points at Stamford Bridge this season, drawing four times and losing to both Arsenal and Liverpool, with their perfect away record keeping them in contention for the title, only a point behind Liverpool.

West Ham are now in 16th place, just one place above the relegation zone, and will need to start putting some wins together, beginning with next week's game at home to Aston Villa. However, their performance today will give them some confidence going into the Christmas run.

John Morrison and The Miz Win the World Tag Team Titles

Martin Bentley — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:37:29 -0500

John Morrison and The Miz won their second Tag Team Championship as a team, and their first World Tag Team Championship, after defeating the former champions CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a WWE house show in Hamilton, ON on Saturday night.

The title change came as a shock, as titles usually do not change hands at non-televised events, but the fans at Copps Coliseum were in for a treat...or a nightmare if they were Punk or Kingston fans.

WWE are holding their Armageddon PPV tonight in Buffalo, NY, and Punk is scheduled to face Rey Mysterio to earn No. 1 contender status for the Intercontinental Title, so the decision to take the belts off Punk and Kingston seems to indicate that WWE want Punk to go for the IC Title instead.

Indeed, it was Kingston who took the pin, with The Miz hitting his patented Reality Check on him after Morrison distracted Punk, so whilst the belt is off Punk, he still remains somewhat strong.

As for Miz and Morrison, the 2008 Tag Team of the Year now have World Tag Team gold to go along with their golden Slammys, and it remains to be seen which teams will step up and challenge the golden Dirt Sheet Duo.

Gamba Osaka Next Up for Manchester United

Martin Bentley — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:20:00 -0500

Manchester United found out the identity of their first opponents in the 2008 Club World Cup today as Asian Champions Gamba Osaka defeated Adelaide United 1-0 to progress to the semifinals.

Gamba had beaten Adelaide twice in the AFC Champions League Final to earn a 5-0 aggregate win, but only one goal was required this time round, as Yasuhito Endo scored to put the Japanese side into a dream semifinal with the European Champions, which will be played in Yokohama on Thursday.

The winners, likely to be United, will play the winners of the other semifinal between North American Champions Pachuca and South American Champions LDU Quito next week to determine the new World Champions. AC Milan won the tournament last year, defeating the then-South American Champions Boca Juniors 4-2.

Arsenal Drop More Points at Middlesbrough

Martin Bentley — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:55:38 -0500

Arsenal still have their critics after dropping two points at Middlesbrough, drawing 1-1 at the Riverside Stadium.

Emmanuel Adebayor put the Gunners ahead on 17 minutes after heading in from a corner, but former Arsenal reserve Jeremie Aliadiere drew 'Boro level on the half hour mark with a fine header of his own.

Middlesbrough took control of the rest of the first half, causing Arsenal a few problems, but in the second, it was Arsenal who had more of the play, but poor finishing, in addition to some resolute 'Boro defending, meant that Arsenal only picked up one point when three were essential.

The result could potentially leave Arsenal 10 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool by the end of the weekend, and could even leave them outside the Top Four with an Aston Villa win. Victory against Liverpool at the Emirates next week is vital, but now Arsenal really need the other members of the Big Four, as well as Aston Villa, to slip up throughout the season if they still aspire to win the title.

Finishing in the top three, and getting an automatic Champions League place, is a more realistic goal for Arsenal now. As for Middlesbrough, the result solidifies their mid-table position, and will give them confidence going ahead.

Armageddon Preview: A Look at Cena/Jericho and Edge/HHH/Hardy

Martin Bentley — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:17:47 -0500

To me, Survivor Series seemingly only took place last week, but here we have Armageddon all of a sudden, WWE's final PPV of 2008.

This year, Armageddon is a PPV with surprisingly little build, with efforts focused on last Monday's Slammy Awards and the upcoming Tribute to the Troops on NBC. As of writing, seven matches have been announced, and I'll have a brief look at them now.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
John Cena (c) vs. Chris Jericho

Since Survivor Series, Chris Jericho has provided a couple of interesting moments, such as his Slammy win for Superstar of the Year, and his Liontamer on Cena a couple of weeks ago.

However, the build to this rematch has been dominated by The Champ in all of their one-on-one fights. The night after Survivor Series, Cena destroyed Jericho and put him in the STFU, and the following week, Cena was handily beating Jericho up again before The Legacy interfered, allowing Jericho to get his shots in.

WWE have done nothing here to suggest that Jericho will have any chance of winning his title back on Sunday.

WWE are clearly building to the big Cena/Batista rematch, possibly at WrestleMania. To achieve that, they may need Jericho to get a DQ win here to get a gimmick match at the Royal Rumble, so a lot depends on the placement of this match on the card.

If it's the main event, Cena goes over and the feud ends, if the SmackDown three way is on last, Jericho may well get a DQ win. Either way, Cena hangs onto the title, and we either move away from this, or move on with it for six weeks until the Rumble.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H

There's been a lot of talk this week about Jeff Hardy finally winning the WWE Title here, but I just don't see it. A lot of it had to do with his loss to Chris Jericho on RAW, which some see as a sign that he's winning the title on the PPV. I however just don't see Edge losing the title this soon.

Sure, Edge dropped the WWE Title three weeks after winning it for the first time in January 2006, but those were different circumstances to pop some ratings on RAW. Now Edge is a more developed and seasoned champion, and he's expected to hold onto the title until WrestleMania, where Hardy should win the belt.

Some may say this is giving Hardy the Samoa Joe treatment, where TNA took so long to put their title on Joe, that it became bittersweet when he got it. The way I see it, Mania will be a perfect place for Hardy to become champion. Armageddon is not that place.

As for Triple H, he's there to take the pinfall for me. He has his place in the match for Edge accusing him of attacking Hardy in his hotel, so there's intrigue if HHH will turn heel or not. I doubt it, but he's not winning his title back. Edge retains via dubious means.

Batista vs. Randy Orton

Supposedly this is a "first time meeting" this Sunday between the two former Evolution members, but WWE seem to have forgotten a match on RAW the night after WrestleMania 21, where the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeated Orton.

Dave and Randy haven't forgotten though, hence why they're claiming this match is "three years in the making". It may also be the most interesting match on the show.

This match is important for both men - for Orton, it's to further establish his role as the leader of The Legacy, and to see what role Cody Rhodes, Manu and possibly Ted DiBiase may play in this match.

For Batista, this is to continue momentum heading towards that rumoured rematch with John Cena at WrestleMania, possibly for the World Heavyweight Title. I think Batista's need is greater here, as Orton will remain over despite a defeat, so Big Dave takes this one.

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDERS TOURNAMENT FINAL
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

This will be a very fun match; then again, I thought Mysterio/Kingston would have been last Monday on RAW, but that hardly got any time to get going. This match, however, should get plenty of time, and it will be interesting to see how their styles mesh together.

It is a simple match to call, though. Rey is currently having issues with Mike Knox, whilst Punk has beef with the current Intercontinental Champion William Regal, so look for Knox to possibly cost Mysterio the match, and then see Punk go on to face Regal, with Miz and Morrison probably costing Punk the title.

Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov

This was originally meant to be an ECW Title match, thank goodness it isn't. When you consider that not even Triple H could get a good match out of Kozlov, what makes anyone think that Matt Hardy can?

The only way I see this being non-title is if Kozlov wins, as they don't exactly want to give Kozlov's first TV pinfall loss to Hardy, so Kozlov wins here, and Hardy gets some sort of victory in a title match either on ECW or at the Royal Rumble. I know what my toilet break match will be.

BELFAST BRAWL
Finlay vs. Mark Henry

This match could have just been like the previous one, but for the added gimmick of a Belfast Brawl, which will make this a fun watch. Expect plenty of plunder, wig splitting and Leprechaun hijinks, and probably a Finlaywin too.

EIGHT DIVA "SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS" TAG TEAM MATCH
Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool & Maria vs. Jillian Hall, Maryse, Natalya & Victoria

A last minute addition to the card, and something that will be crowd pleasing to break up what seems to be a very serious card. Plus it's always worth it to see Mickie James not wearing many clothes in the spirit of Christmas.

This match will have a storyline presence though, as Michelle McCool is still seething over Maria beating her a couple of weeks ago, and over Mickie pinning her at Survivor Series. Look for her to cost Maria the match, giving Maryse's team the win.

If it was up to me, I'd suggest sleeping on this show, especially during the credit crunch we're in, and save up for the Rumble. But if you do want to order Armageddon on Sunday, you may be in for a surprisingly good show, but I wouldn't bet the house on it. Then again, with Mickie in a skimpy Santa's outfit, maybe you should buy.

Arsenal Score an Unconvincing but Crucial Win over Wigan

Martin Bentley — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:03:11 -0500

Emmanuel Adebayor scored the only goal as Arsenal claimed a gritty and uninspiring win over Wigan Athletic at the Emirates.

The winning goal came on 16 minutes, as Cesc Fabregas put a ball in, and Alex Song caused confusion in the Wigan defense, allowing Adebayor to sneak in and put a low shot past Chris Kirkland. The goal proved to be enough, despite Arsenal wasting numerous chances and suffering a nervy final 15 minutes as Wigan continued to threaten an equaliser.

The other big story of the game saw Samir Nasri go off injured, replaced by Emmanuel Eboue, who turned in yet another turgid performance and was booed off by the home fans when he was substituted at the end of the game. It will be very surprising if Eboue remains at the Emirates beyond January.

The theory surrounding Arsenal before the start of the season was that they could not win ugly—it was either sexy football in a win or it was a defeat. It may have been 90 minutes of unwatchable football, but Arsenal got three points out of it, and that may prove vital to their title hopes.

Will Toronto Accept The NFL Like London?

Martin Bentley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:38:33 -0500

This weekend, Toronto becomes only the third city outside the United States to host a competitive NFL game, as the Buffalo Bills "host" the Miami Dolphins at the Rogers Centre.

The move was made due to the Bills' large fan base in Toronto, and the Bills will play one home game a season at the Rogers Centre for the next five seasons.

Their opponents on Sunday are no strangers to foreign travel, as the Miami Dolphins played in the first game at Wembley Stadium in London last season, losing to the New York Giants. This particular game won't be so far for them, but having played at Wembley, the Dolphins know how to play in unfamiliar territory.

The Bills have had a bit of Toronto experience, having played a pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Rogers Centre in August, so most of their players will know what to look out for on the field, knowing certain sight lines etc. There's also the difference of having a roof, which may do more to help the Dolphins in this case.

Rogers Centre is expecting about 54,000 fans for this game, their goal is to get that many fans in for the Bills' fifth home game in 2012. The question remains as to what impact these games will have on the Canadian Football League, which is currently enjoying a revival in fortunes.

If the Bills games are a huge success, Toronto may consider applying for an NFL franchise of their own, to go along with being the only Canadian city in Major League Baseball and the NBA, which may well annoy the CFL, and the Toronto Argonauts in particular, who only get up to 31,000 a home game. Why watch a CFL game featuring failed NFL players, when you can watch the real thing there instead?

The NFL has to tread carefully here. Rushed statements were made in London after both the games there, including having the Super Bowl at Wembley Stadium, or having a London franchise. The latter could be more of a reality in Toronto, so there shouldn't be an over-reaction however the Bills/Dolphins game does on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal-Wigan: Gunners' Biggest Game of The Season

Martin Bentley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:29:49 -0500

You can understand all the talk about the big games of the season coming against Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, but for Arsenal, it's different: The biggest game of their season is at home against Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal's current longest winning streak of the season is three games, and that isn't good enough for a team with ideas of winning the title. Far too often this season big victories have been followed up by embarrassing defeats, and that's why Arsenal are being written off by many pundits.

For instance, after the victory over Manchester United in November, Arsenal followed it up with a home defeat against Aston Villa, and then a big 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. Their next win was against Chelsea of all teams, which shows a worrying trend of beating the big teams, and failing miserably against smaller sides, with Arsenal also having lost to Fulham, Hull City and Stoke City this season.

To prove that Arsenal mean business, they have to beat Wigan tomorrow afternoon at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal's youngsters have already done it in the Carling Cup this season, but it remains to be seen if the first team can follow suit.

Steve Bruce knows what damage Arsenal can do when they've got the ball and are running at the defense, so he will come to frustrate the Gunners. Also, as proven against Liverpool, Wigan can score big goals away from home, and Amr Zaki is set to return for the Latics from injury, so Arsenal's defense will have to watch out for him.

The questions will not go away if Arsenal beat Wigan. There will still be massive pressure on Arsenal to beat Middlesbrough the following week, and then Liverpool at home just before Christmas.

If Wigan win at the Emirates, serious questions will be asked as to Arsene Wenger's capability, and Arsenal's chances for the future, especially as they have been knocked out of their most realistic chance of a trophy, the Carling Cup.

If Arsenal fail to win, they will seriously consider putting all their eggs into the FA Cup or the Champions League.

Slammy Awards Predictions: Part Two

Martin Bentley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:31:34 -0500

Since my look back at the first three awards, WWE have announced some more categories for Monday night's Slammy Awards, so let's have a brief look at them...

"OMG" MOMENT OF THE YEAR

John Cena returns at the Royal Rumble
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. breaks The Big Show's nose at No Way Out
CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank and beats Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
The Undertaker sends Edge to Hell at SummerSlam

The first and last of these nominees were touched on in my last column, so here, I will concentrate on the other two. At No Way Out, Mayweather made what seemed like just a local appearance to cheer Rey Mysterio on against Edge for the World Heavyweight Title. That changed when The Big Show made his shocking return to the company, and then attacked Mysterio.

Mayweather then hopped the guardrail, and Big Show begged Mayweather to give him his best shot. "Money" did more than just that, with his best KO punch, he broke the giant Show's nose, before running away, in a clip that ESPN would play to death the following week.

This would lead to a match at WrestleMania XXIV, where by that time, Mayweather had turned heel by continually boasting about his money, turning Big Show back face in the process. Mayweather would win that match by using a steel chain to knock Show out again.

After Night of Champions, RAW was left without a World Champion—in fact, you could argue that either Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston or Women's Champion Mickie James was now the most important champion on the brand.

That changed the following night, when Edge showed up to ruin Jim Ross' farewell to RAW, and proclaiming that he'd never return to RAW again, and therefore RAW would never have a world champion again. Batista then showed up and destroyed the Rated R Superstar, leading to the magic moment where CM Punk would take a trick from Edge's book and use his Money in the Bank shot when the champion was down.

One GTS later, and Punk was the new World Heavyweight Champion in what was probably the best moment on RAW this year.

As for the winner, I'd go with Cena's return at the Rumble. With the other three, you sensed something along those lines would happen. Mayweather's presence in the front row smelt "angle," we know RAW wouldn't be without a world title for long, and you knew something massive would end the Taker/Edge feud.

Nobody saw Cena's return coming, as we all thought he would be out for another eight months, and for me, that qualifies as the most shocking moment of the year.

"DAMN!" MOMENT OF THE YEAR

CM Punk disguises himself as a member of a mariachi band to attack Chavo Guerrero - ECW, January 29th
Jim Ross dresses up in a sailor suit for Hallowe'en - SmackDown, October 31st
The Great Khali hosts the Kiss Cam - SmackDown, every week
Santino Marella attempts Melina's entrance - RAW, December 1st

First up, we had a fun moment as Chavo Guerrero, celebrating his ECW Title win over CM Punk the week before, got attacked by Punk, who was disguised as the leader of Chavo's mariachi band, complete with big sombrero and a false moustache. To see the Straight Edge Superstar looking ridiculous like that was very funny, but he wasn't as ridiculous as Chavo laid out in the ring.

Next, we have Good Ol' JR's homage to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on SmackDown's Hallowe'en special. The show took place in San Diego, and since Teddy Long had first dibs on Ron Burgundy, JR was left with San Diego's other past-time - the navy. Whether he'd have actually passed the test to join is another matter.

In recent weeks, The Great Khali has gone from the Punjabi Nightmare to the Punjabi Playboy, as he's gone all Mike Awesome, and taken a liking to the odd plump girl or two. Since being told he wasn't entertaining by Johnny Knoxville, Khali has tried to prove that he can make a crowd laugh, whilst still destroying opponents at the same time.

A lot of that has to do with Ranjin Singh, whose mic work to "translate" Khali has been quite hilarious. My favourite of Khali's Kiss Cams was in Manchester, when instead of kissing the fat girl himself, he made MVP do it. Amazing.

My winner, however, happened just this past Monday night. Reckoning that Melina wasn't all that impressive, Santino Marella declared that he could do her famous entrance to the ring himself. Seeing as that involves doing the splits on the ring apron, that was enough of a difficult task—for a normal woman.

Santino, like most men, has something else between his legs, and they proved his undoing, as he got both his legs on the apron, pulled his groin, and fell off the apron, clutching his manhood in agony. Poor Beth Phoenix may have to look elsewhere if she wants children.

So I'm going with Santino's busted balls—it's the only award he'll win, and it's one he certainly doesn't want.

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

John Morrison and The Miz
Priceless
Cryme Tyme
Carlito and Primo

This is hardly worth writing War and Peace about—clearly, there is only one winner here, and if the Academy of Wrestling Arts and Sciences (whoever they are) think that Cryme Tyme is winning this, then they are fools—damn hell ass fools.

Even the village idiot can see that John Morrison and The Miz are the winners of this award - heck, you could argue they're the tag team division by themselves! Notice how they're the only team who wrestle on all three shows—they're needed to get the other teams over, because they can't do it by themselves.

And the In Crowd's best matches this year have either been against makeshift teams, or teams that have reunited for one night only, such as the Hardyz or D-Generation X. Plus the duo's Dirt Sheet is the best thing on WWE.com this side of Mickie James pictures.

Priceless have only been together for half the year, and Ted DiBiase's currently out with a kayfabe concussion.

Carlito and Primo, despite being brothers, have only teamed for the past couple of months, and have already jobbed on TV to Miz and Morrison, and Cryme Tyme, whilst being a solid team, only returned to the company in March, and have been near title contention, but have never made that break through.

Plus Miz and Morrison held the WWE Tag Team Titles for the majority of the year, and look destined to win the World Tag Team Titles soon. A total no-brainer.

BEST FINISHING MANEUVER

RKO - Randy Orton
Hell's Gate - The Undertaker
Knockout Punch - The Big Show
Shooting Star Press - Evan Bourne

To start with, the RKO is the one finishing move, despite being performed by a heel, that can wake up a crowd and get them cheering. It's that sudden, Orton can hit it from anywhere, and it's won him countless big matches over the past several years.

For instance, a lot of people talked up Jeff Hardy's chances at the Royal Rumble, yet with the match seemingly only just getting started, Orton hit the RKO out of nowhere and won the match. It is that good.

Having gone through various name changes, including "that lethal chokehold", WWE finally settled on the name "Hell's Gate" for The Undertaker's gogoplata submission, where he traps his opponent's throat between his shin and forearm, causing internal bleeding. It gained fame when he used it to defeat Edge at both WrestleMania XXIV and Backlash, leading SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero to ban the move.

The ban hasn't been repealed yet, despite Taker using it to defeat The Big Show at Cyber Sunday, so if Hell's Gate wins the award, Vickie will not be impressed in the slightest.

With moves such as the FU, the Pedigree and the Swanton Bomb around, it's a bit surprising to see The Big Show's knockout punch listed, but it really does finish matches. Just look at Show's match against Chris Jericho just before WrestleMania XXIV for proof of this.

Recently, Big Show has used the punch to full effect in his feud with The Undertaker, knocking the Deadman out at both Unforgiven and No Mercy. If anyone can take The Undertaker off his feet for the night, then it's a hell of a move, even if it is the most basic.

Basic is definitely not the word to describe the amazing Shooting Star Press as performed by Evan "Air" Bourne. What's more amazing is that the move is allowed to be performed in WWE rings at all, especially after Brock Lesnar almost killed himself doing it at WrestleMania XIX.

The former Matt Sydal assured Vince McMahon that he could do the move safely, and it's allowed him to become WWE's best newcomer of 2008. Since his arrival, Bourne has formed an alliance with Rey Mysterio, and has taken on the likes of Miz and Morrison, Mark Henry and Kane.

At Cyber Sunday, Bourne challenged Matt Hardy for the ECW Title, and if it wasn't for a missed SSP, he would have won the title. Currently sidelined with an injury, hopefully it won't be long before Bourne SSPs his way to greater heights in 2009. He may already have won this award with it, which will annoy Orton no end.

COUPLE OF THE YEAR

Edge and Vickie Guerrero
Finlay and Hornswoggle
Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix
William Regal and Layla

Let's start with SmackDown's power couple. Up until July, Edge and Vickie Guerrero were terrorising SmackDown with their "love"... well, mainly Edge's use of Vickie for his benefits. It all built up to the happy couple's wedding on SmackDown in July, where man and wife would live happily ever after.

Well, until Triple H showed up with a DVD, that is. The DVD contained footage of the Rated R Superstar making out with Vickie's wedding planner Alicia Fox, who has since gone on to be the valet for ECW newcomer DJ Gabriel. Vickie hit the roof, going as far as to reinstate The Undertaker to get revenge on her husband, revenge that would cost Edge three months of his career.

However, during his absence, Edge reconciled with Vickie, and they concocted a plan for his return at the Survivor Series, where he was inserted into the Triple H/Vladimir Kozlov match, and would win the WWE Title. The diabolical duo are back together, and back in power. Will their turbulent marriage result in a Slammy?

The next pairing is quite simply disturbing. Finlay and Hornswoggle are meant to be portrayed as father and son, with the son just so happening to be a midget. The SummerSlam commercial, however, put different thoughts into people's minds, where they're seen dancing hand in hand at a country picnic, with the word "romance" on the screen.

I think the term "fatherly love" may mean something different to Finlay than it does to most people. Poor Horny.

Edge and Vickie are awesome, but not as awesome as our next couple, the one and only Glamarella. In July, Santino Marella laid down a challenge to any wrestler in the back, and The Glamazon Beth Phoenix answered the call, and then beat him. The following week, they had another confrontation, and instead of evolving into a big fight, it evolved into a kiss.

Fighting their feelings for one another, Santino and Beth just had to give in at the end, and it paid off, as at SummerSlam, they would both win gold in the same match, as Santino won the Intercontinental Title from Kofi Kingston, and Beth won the Women's Title from Mickie James. Glamarella have had their ups and downs since then, but they're the funniest part of RAW every week, with Beth playing the straight girl to Santino's general lunacy.

Santino likes to do things to please his girl, none of them ending too well, as his Damn! Moment of the Year nomination proves.

Another moment that didn't end too well for Santino was losing his Intercontinental Title to one half of the final couple on the list. Since coming back from his 60 day suspension, William Regal has spent his time making certain people's lives a living hell, most notably Jamie Noble, who had been courting the lovely Layla for weeks.

Instead of going to the Waffle House in a pick up truck with Noble, Layla decided to go to five star restaurants in a limousine with Regal, and the lovely English couple haven't looked back since. On their trip back to their home country, Regal met Santino, and took the Intercontinental Title from him in 30 seconds.

Since then, Regal and Layla have used their influence (and in Layla's case, her shoe on CM Punk) to control the Intercontinental Title tournament, where Layla has been seen trying to get Rey Mysterio removed from the tournament, and will no doubt try and stop the winner of the tournament beating her man for the title.

My vote goes to Edge and Vickie for this award—Glamarella will continue to be screwed for all the positive awards, with Santino winning the aforementioned negative (on his part) Damn! award.

EXTREME MOMENT OF THE YEAR

Jeff Hardy Swanton Bombs Randy Orton from off the RAW set - RAW, January 14th
The Undertaker falls off a ladder through several tables, as Edge wins the TLC Match - One Night Stand
Chris Jericho smashes Shawn Michaels' head through the Obscenely Expensive Jeritron 6000 HD - RAW, June 9th
JBL throws John Cena off the stage and through a car windshield - The Great American Bash

The first moment was when we all thought Jeff Hardy was groomed for a run with the title. Earlier in the night, Triple H took a sledgehammer to the Titantron, and then with this moment, we all knew that RAW was getting a new set the following week for WWE's move to HD.

Before their match for Orton's WWE Title at the Royal Rumble, they would meet on RAW for Hardy's Intercontinental Title, but the match was thrown out before it properly began. Hardy and Orton continued to fight up the ramp and onto the stage, where Hardy backdropped Orton off the stage.

Hardy would then climb the scaffolding, and would Swanton Bomb Orton from it, resulting in both men being carried off on stretchers. An amazing moment, soured somewhat by Orton winning the resulting match, and Hardy's push being lessened afterwards.

It wasn't just a TLC Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Title at One Night Stand, it was a match that could potentially end The Undertaker's 18 year WWE career. And so it seemed to prove, as after distraction by La Familia, The Undertaker would climb the ladder to grab the World Heavyweight Title, but it allowed enough time for the Rated R Superstar to recover, and push the Deadman off the ladder, sending him crashing through several tables assembled at ringside.

This was too much even for Taker to come back from, as Edge climbed the ladder and won the title, ending Taker's legendary career...until SummerSlam, that was, when Edge's wife Vickie reinstated The Undertaker in revenge for Edge kissing the wedding planner. That comeback may well have cost Taker and Edge this award.

The next moment took WWE's best feud of 2008 in a completely different and awesome direction. For the first couple of months of the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho rivalry, the face Intercontinental Champion Jericho was accusing HBK of lying about injuries and other things, whilst Jericho had conflicting issues about trust and doing the right thing.

On the Highlight Reel, things changed, as Y2J, as he would be known for the very last time, snapped and attacked the Heartbreak Kid for lying and getting cheered, whilst Jericho told the truth and was booed.

At the end of the beatdown, Jericho grabbed the back of Michaels' head, and launched him face first through the Obscenely Expensive Jeritron 6000 HD, damaging HBK's eye. It proved the trigger for Jericho's heel turn, and carried on the feud for many months, eventually leading to two World Title reigns for Jericho.

Finally, we have the New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash. After a long fought, and slightly ludicrous brawl, which involved John "Bradshaw" Layfield setting a car on fire with Cena in it, and Cena piercing a car with a forklift with JBL in it, the extreme moment came when the brawl entered the main arena.

Cena had his way with JBL for almost all of it, and the coup-de-grace would surely come with Cena giving JBL an FU off the stage. However, JBL would wriggle his way out of the move, and would shove Cena off the stage and through the windshield of the car JBL was transported into the arena in. This was more than enough for JBL to pick up the win, as even the man his detractors call "Super Cena" couldn't recover from that fall.

All four of those were indeed Extreme, but my pick goes to the Extreme Enigma, as it takes balls to climb that high and do a move as dangerous as the Swanton Bomb with so little room to work with.

That's it for now. When more nominations come in, I'll take a look at them in Part Three, but until then, that's your lot.

Slammy Awards Predictions: Part One

Martin Bentley — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:31:23 -0500

This coming Monday night on RAW will be the fifth ever Slammy Awards, and the first awards since 1997. Gone are the days of "Best Personal Hygiene," "Most Ignominious," and "Best Bow Tie," this time we're getting slightly more straight forward awards, and the first three categories have had their nominees revealed this week, so let's take a look...

SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR

Batista
Chris Jericho
Edge
Jeff Hardy
John Cena
Triple H

All six of these men have had big years, with five of them winning world championships, and Jeff Hardy being up there in title matches for most of the year. A case could have been made for CM Punk, Randy Orton, and The Undertaker to be nominated for the award, as they too have been world champions this year, with Orton and Taker winning world title matches at WrestleMania.

Shawn Michaels also deserved a nod for epic rivalries against Ric Flair, Batista and most notably Chris Jericho.

But the six we do have do certainly have their merits. Batista has been chasing the World Title all year, despite only actually holding the belt for eight days. Jericho has been a revelation in his new heel role, and has proven his versatility in his feud with Shawn Michaels, as well as his two brief-but-awesome title reigns.

No one was as hot as Edge in the spring and summer, with his psychotic promos in the build up to SummerSlam being particular highlights, and the best example of being a heel in many years.

Jeff Hardy, whilst being the only one of the six not to win a world title in 2008, has nonetheless had a very eventful year, coming close to the WWE Title on many occasions, and also reinventing himself with his new crazy face painted character, not to mention his many out of ring incidents.

Cena made a massive comeback from neck surgery to win the World Heavyweight Title at the Survivor Series, but if this was a legit awards ceremony, his three months off for that neck surgery would count against him.

And finally, Triple H has had a big year, holding the WWE Title for seven months, and he made a big move from RAW to SmackDown without losing a beat.

All six men will have matches against each other on RAW this week, with Cena facing Edge, Hardy taking on Jericho and Batista up against Triple H. As the awards are taking place on RAW, I see a RAW guy winning it, and as he's by far and away WWE's biggest star, Cena completes his comeback by winning Superstar of the Year.

MATCH OF THE YEAR

2008 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble)
Money in the Bank Ladder Match (WrestleMania XXIV)
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XXIV)
The Undertaker vs. Edge - Hell in a Cell Match (SummerSlam)

Four very big matches up for the vote this year, though I'm surprised they've not gone with Batista/Cena at SummerSlam, as that's the sort of match WWE think their fans will like. Instead, we get four very good matches.

First up is this year's Royal Rumble match, which started off with the last two from the 2007 match, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, and ended with a major shock, as John Cena, who many thought would be out until SummerSlam with a torn pectoral injury, made a shock return and eliminated Triple H to earn a shot at the WWE Title.

It was one of the better Rumble matches, my personal highlight being the mid-match performance of John Morrison, who proved his HBK-esque qualities several times, and would showcase some of the skills that have made him one to watch for the main events in the future.

Morrison was also in the next match, this year's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Also in this match was CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Mr. Kennedy, Montel Vontavious Porter, Carlito, and Shelton Benjamin, and it made for a very exciting, high octane and dangerous Ladder Match. Jeff Hardy was meant to be the eighth man in the match, but he was suspended for failing the Wellness Programme, so missed out here.

Lots of great spots in the match, including Morrison's moonsault with the ladder to the outside, Shelton Benjamin being pushed off the ladder with his back breaking through another ladder, and Matt Hardy's run-in to Twist of Fate MVP off the ladder. In the end, it was CM Punk who would grab the briefcase to get a World Title shot, which he cashed in by beating Edge in June for the World Heavyweight Title.

Next is the most emotional match of the year, as Ric Flair ended his legendary career in front of nearly 75,000 fans as he took on Shawn Michaels in a match fitting of the Nature Boy's legacy.

Flair more than held his own as Michaels turned on the style and became Mr. WrestleMania once again, going as far as to do in his own ribs whilst trying to moonsault Flair through a table, with Flair getting out of the way. The ending was poignant, as Flair was helpless, HBK said the famous words "I'm sorry, I love you," and gave Flair Sweet Chin Music to win the match and end Flair's career.

The match admittedly has lost a bit of its luster, as Flair left WWE a few months later under not exactly the best of circumstances, but that shouldn't take away from the sheer moment that happened that night, the night before at the Hall of Fame induction, and the night afterwards on RAW, when Flair made his farewell address.

Finally, we have the Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Edge at SummerSlam. An amazing brawl that explored the entire Cell and beyond, this culminated a massive feud between the two men, most of it over the World Heavyweight Title. Whilst this was not over a title, it was still as intense as hell, with Edge playing his psycho character to perfection, and Taker not taking any crap from him.

Edge brought in his favourite toys—a table, a ladder, and a chair—and made it a TLC Match within Hell in a Cell, which with the bigger Cell, worked a treat. In the end, The Undertaker would prevail, and in an infamous moment, he would chokeslam Edge off the ladder and through the ring, with balls of flame bursting through the hole.

Judging those four together, they were all memorable matches, but I'm going with HBK/Flair for the pure emotion that we may never see again, plus the HBK acceptance might be interesting with him apparently being in JBL's pocket now.

DIVA OF THE YEAR

Beth Phoenix
Kelly Kelly
Michelle McCool
Mickie James

Looking at each of these four girls' years, it would seem pretty clear cut who wins this one, but remember this is WWE, and it's not all that straightforward, so let's have a look...

We start with the current Women's Champion, The Glamazon Beth Phoenix. For all but four months of this year, she's been the dominant champion sweeping all before her, and for the past few months, she's been one half of one of the best reasons to watch RAW, along with Santino Marella in Glamarella.

The first four months were plain sailing for The Glamazon, with every challenge brushed aside, but she hit a roadblock in London, which I'll explain later. Phoenix made amends at SummerSlam by taking the title back from Mickie James, and she hasn't looked back since. A largely dominant year, and you'd think she's a shoe-in for the award.

Kelly Kelly has been one of the most improved wrestlers this year, especially since she's come over from ECW to RAW, largely learning under Mickie James' wing. She's very popular with the fans, and considering she only started two years ago, she can hold her own in a match, and it will be interesting to see how she can go in a longer match. This award may be a little too early for her, though.

I've discussed Michelle McCool before, in particular her backstage reputation, but the first and current Divas Champion has had a big year. She's been involved in the Jamie Noble/Chuck Palumbo storyline, she won the first Divas Title at The Great American Bash, and she's seen off the challenge of both Natalya and Maryse.

Right now, she's in the process of turning heel on both Maria and the Bella Twins, so 2009 will prove the big acid test for McCool, but 2008 has been good to her as well.

And now for the future Mrs. Bentley. It's easy for me to be biased when it comes to talking about Mickie James, but whilst Beth Phoenix may be the dominant force of the Women's Division, Mickie is its backbone.

No Diva in the WWE, not even the Glamazon herself, can connect to a crowd quite like Mickie can—it could be because she's the bridge between the previous generation of Divas including Trish Stratus and Lita to this generation. But regardless, Mickie has had a huge year.

It started quietly, with the focus on the likes of Maria and Candice Michelle, but James exploded after WrestleMania, shocking the world when she defeated Phoenix for the Women's Title on RAW, a show I was privileged to watch live at the O2 Arena in London. Mickie would go on to hold the title for four months, resisting the challenge of Phoenix, Jillian Hall and Katie Lea Burchill amongst other Divas, before finally succumbing to the Glamazon in a mixed tag team match at SummerSlam.

She's remained a solid contender since, and with her win in the Cyber Sunday costume contest, plus her guest appearance on USA Network's Psych, Mickie is proving very popular all over the board.

Yes, you'd think that The Glamazon will dominate this based on her massive year, but given as WWE are booking these awards, they'll probably book her more on comedy, with her and Santino missing out on everything. It may be my bias, but look for Mickie to take this award.

That's it for now. When more nominees come in, that's when it's time for Part Two, so keep your eyes peeled!

WWE Films: Who's Next?

Martin Bentley — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:20:56 -0500

It started with a minor hit, with Kane starring in See No Evil. It continued with a DVD best-seller, with John Cena starring in The Marine. Next was an absolute turkey, as Steve Austin starred in the much-panned The Condemned.

That last movie led WWE to put most of their forthcoming movies straight to DVD, with their next movie, Mr. Kennedy's Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia the first to emerge. Ted DiBiase is set to take over from Cena in The Marine 2, whilst Cena himself manages to at least get his next movie, 12 Rounds, into cinemas.

But which WWE Superstars and Divas are likely to end up either on the silver screen or on your Blu-Ray DVD player in the future? Here's my look at what I'd like to see...

JOHN MORRISON and THE MIZ IN DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? 2

These guys are destined to be in a movie. Heck, if Morrison spends all of it without a shirt on, we could even expect it to break box office records.

Miz as the goofy idiot and Morrison as the philosophical straight man would be screen gold, and a sequel to the Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott movie would be a good model for them to just be silly. There could even be a cameo for Mr. Fuji...

THE GREAT KHALI and HORNSWOGGLE IN TWINS 2

Two brothers...but that's all they have in common. Not much dialogue involved here, but when has a movie featuring a giant and a midget ever failed to entertain? Well...most times, admittedly, but the kids will love it. It'll almost certainly be repeated every year at Christmas.

MICKIE JAMES IN TOMB RAIDER 3

Come on, did you see Cyber Sunday? Even Angelina herself would admit after watching the Divas Halloween Costume Contest that there's a new girl to wear Lara Croft's tiny shorts and tight vest.

WWE were able to get the rights to the Behind Enemy Lines franchise for Kennedy, why not let Mickie loose as Lara? Sure she'd have to learn an English accent, but who cares when you've got her hot body bursting through that iconic outfit?

CHARLIE HAAS IN FACE/OFF 2

Well...maybe not.

TRIPLE H IN SNEEZERMAN

This may not be an original idea (thank you, Miz and Morrison), but this movie just has to be made. There's been talk of The Game doing that Journey of Death movie that's been going on for years, and he's been mentioned a few times to play Thor, but Sneezerman is a franchise people are already marking out for. Plus he doesn't have to play too far away from his WWE character for this one. Kids will love the snot too.

EDGE and MIKE KNOX IN THE HAIR BEAR BUNCH

Two beards that just reek of awesomeness - how can they not put these two in a movie together?

KOFI KINGSTON and MIKE ADAMLE IN JAMAICAN ME CRAZY: THE MUSICAL

[That's enough...Bleacher Report mods]

Tampa Bay and New England Heading to Wembley in 2009

Martin Bentley — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:55:38 -0500

The NFL have officially announced that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 25, 2009. It will be the third consecutive year that the NFL will play a regular season game at the famous stadium.

Earlier this year, the New Orleans Saints defeated the San Diego Chargers at Wembley, and last year the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins en route to winning the Super Bowl. Next year's game is likely to be the most anticipated yet, as the Patriots are considered to be the most popular NFL team in the UK, and the Bucs will be a very difficult opposition for them.

Unlike the previous two games, which were played in Week Eight, this will be played in Week Seven of the 2009 season, so there's an extra week for both teams to shape their season after this game.

Also, the question will be answered by then as to who will be calling the signals for the Patriots. Will Tom Brady make his big return, or will Matt Cassel have kept him out? Either way, the Bucs' secondary will be in for a busy day.

Still, we're under a year away from the game, and this season's still to be decided. What's guaranteed though is that this will be a hard fought game of football, and one that will be worthy of Wembley Stadium.

Swearing and Nudity Turn ITV's FA Cup Coverage Blue

Martin Bentley — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:46:48 -0500

You would normally sit down for an afternoon game of football hoping for some entertainment and some great goals, especially when it's the FA Cup and the potential for a major shock is on. However, ITV had two big shocks of their own, both likely to get them into a bit of trouble.

During today's 2nd Round game between Histon and Leeds United, some Leeds fans reached over the barrier and grabbed ITV's pitchside microphone, and proceeded to call ITV "f***ing s**t", with an audience of millions hearing every word. ITV then cut the sound off from the microphones. It wasn't quite the same as thousands of England fans in Andorra declaring their hate for Setanta, but for Sunday lunchtime, it was pretty funny to hear ITV's commentators squirm.

After the game, which saw Histon produce an FA Cup shock by knocking out former winners Leeds 1-0, ITV went into Histon's dressing room to see the team celebrate their big win... only to find one of their players completely naked and full frontal.

With the current culture of British TV viewers and radio listeners complaining about the most trivial matters, ITV will certainly receive a few letters about this, but I doubt many of them will be from young female viewers, who might be asking ITV who that Histon player was.

Still, both these events appeared to be beyond ITV's control. ITV are in their first year of providing coverage of the FA Cup after several years on the BBC, and with events like these, people are already talking. As it is, the 3rd round features the introduction of the big teams, where security is stricter, and they don't go into dressing rooms, so we won't be getting any more of this sort of stuff this season. It may offend a few people, but it's certainly more fun than the routine.

Arsenal-Chelsea: Robin Van Persie Stuns Chelsea

Martin Bentley — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:11:53 -0500

Robin van Persie scored two goals in three minutes as Arsenal shocked Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to hand the Blues their second home defeat of the season and give Arsenal their second win of the season against the Big Four.

After a Johan Djourou own goal gave Chelsea a first-half lead, the Blues struggled to get their shots on target, and Arsenal took advantage, led by the excellent Cesc Fabregas in midfield.

On 59 minutes, Van Persie looked to be offside, but the flag stayed down, and he slotted the ball past Petr Cech with his weaker right foot.

Three minutes later, Van Persie made it two, working through Chelsea's defense and sliding the ball in to send the travelling fans into delirium. Chelsea struggled to put anything together in the remaining half hour, and Arsenal held on for a season-saving victory, making fans wonder why Arsenal could lose to lesser teams when they've now beaten both Manchester United and Chelsea.

Have the New England Patriots Found a Cure for the Wildcat Offense?

Martin Bentley — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:58:55 -0500

Nine weeks ago in Foxborough, the supposedly woeful Miami Dolphins caused one of the shocks of the season when they demolished the New England Patriots, the very team who had gone the previous regular season unbeaten, by a score of 38-13.

Head coach Tony Sparano and offensive coordinator Dan Henning came up with the secret plan to humiliate the Patriots in their own back yard, and for this plan, they looked to college football.

The Arkansas Razorbacks had become famous for running the Wildcat Offense, where the quarterback lines up as a wide receiver, and the ball is directly snapped to the running back, who will either take off and run or pass the ball.

Against the Patriots that afternoon, the Dolphins used Ronnie Brown to full effect. Of Brown's four touchdowns, three came directly from the Wildcat formation, and Brown threw a TD pass to Anthony Fasano, as the Patriots simply had no answer to these plays.

Since that afternoon, several NFL teams have adopted the Wildcat offense, with varying levels of success. Today, the Patriots will be looking for revenge when they travel to Miami for the return game, and it's almost certain that coach Bill Belichick has drilled his defense in case the Dolphins attempt a repeat performance.

The Patriots are smarting after already having lost four games this season, including two home games—the Dolphins game, and last week's Thursday night game against the New York Jets.

The Patriots and the Dolphins have matching 6-4 records going into today's game, and the Patriots know that it's vital they win, as a defeat will not only leave them a game behind the Dolphins, but the Dolphins will also hold the tiebreaker over the Patriots, effectively putting the Patriots two games behind.

If the Wildcat offense is used today, the Patriots know they have to fill any gaps that develop, bringing the linebackers up to stuff the line, and forcing Brown to throw, which brings the secondary into play.

This may force the Dolphins to play a cautious, conservative game, and they may have to look to pick their spots against the Patriots defense. The Pats may well try too hard though, and that's when the Dolphins should strike.

As for the outcome of the game, the Patriots are considered two point favourites in Vegas, and today's game will certainly be tighter than nine weeks ago. The Patriots have not lost two games in a row for over two years, and the Dolphins have not swept their opponents since 2000, so history favours the Patriots today.

However, I just have the sense that the Dolphins will pull off the sweep—Wildcat Offense or no Wildcat Offense.

WWE: Jeff Hardy "Found Unconscious" at His Hotel

Martin Bentley — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:48:48 -0500

WWE have posted a news item on their website claiming that Jeff Hardy was found unconscious in a stairwell in his hotel in Boston.

According to WWE, Hardy is currently at an undisclosed hospital receiving treatment. However, the posting of the news has led fans to debate whether this really happened, or if this is part of the storyline heading into his title match against Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov at tonight's Survivor Series.

Hardy has failed the Wellness Programme twice before, and a third failure would result in him being fired by the company. This isn't to say that drugs or any other illegal substance would have played a part in falling unconscious, but having a past look at Hardy's history, it seems to be likely.

Going on the theory that this is a work, however, and it would be a very cruel work to play on his fan's emotions, then you'd guess that Hardy might have been attacked in his hotel, possibly by Kozlov, maybe Triple H (though that would go against his character), or maybe even someone else...possibly Edge, though that would be a bit of a stretch, seeing as it was The Undertaker who sent him to hell rather than Hardy.

Still it remains to be seen what Hardy's true status is, and if we don't hear anything before tonight's PPV, it's likely it's all storyline, and we'll be entertained by the outcome. If not, then it remains to be seen where Hardy's future lies, and if it results in the end of his WWE career.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Previewing Survivor Series' Singles Matches

Martin Bentley — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:15:26 -0500

Tomorrow night in Boston, it's the 22nd Annual Survivor Series, and in addition to the three elimination matches I previewed earlier, there are also three regular matches, and all three of them are pretty big. We'll start with the return of the hometown boy.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Chris Jericho (c) vs. John Cena

Since the match was announced three weeks ago, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Cena was wrestling himself this weekend upon his big return.

For the past few weeks, several vignettes have been shown following Cena's career to date, with comments from fellow wrestlers, his family and friends. Not one of them have featured Cena's opinions of the champion, Chris Jericho.

Jericho enters this match in the rare position for a champion, as the underdog. Having regained his title just three weeks ago, Jericho has largely been preoccupied by Batista and Shawn Michaels, and has only really addressed Cena on TV this week.

In the eyes of many fans, WWE will have Cena steamroller in, destroy Jericho, and win his first World Heavyweight Title and fourth world belt overall. I, however, don't quite see it that way.

WWE would still have you think that Cena is a hero in his home town of Boston, and that he'll return to a major reception. Of course he has his fans in Boston, but he also has his critics.

At SummerSlam 2006, the majority of the TD Banknorth Garden crowd favoured Edge over Cena, and Cena was booked to lose, as tends to happen most times wrestlers return home, with Edge regularly losing in Toronto, CM Punk losing in Chicago, Mickie James losing in Richmond, and so on.

Also, it would sort of defy logic for Cena to come back 100 percent and dominate Jericho. The champion has been wrestling regularly in big matches since Cena went down at SummerSlam, and will be far fresher, whilst Cena may well have some ring rust to shake off.

Also, Cena tends to return phenomenally quickly from injuries. He was back from a torn pectoral muscle in four months, when he was projected to miss nearly a full year.

In this instance, Cena has been out for three months with a herniated disk in his neck, which was originally feared to be a broken neck. Cena famously returned backstage to a WWE show the same day he had surgery, which shows his determination to get healthy.

Sometimes, however, you can be too determined, and it remains to be seen how his neck will hold up tomorrow night.

And I just don't see WWE being so eager to give him the title either, so look for Jericho to either get himself disqualified, or get a very dodgy looking win, leading to an extended feud that will allow Cena's title win to mean more somewhere else down the line.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Triple H (c) vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jeff Hardy

Originally a match between HHH and Kozlov, several poor house show matches plus a poor showing on SmackDown against The Undertaker have led WWE to put a bit less focus on Kozlov by adding Jeff Hardy to the match.

Hardy has been phenomenal as of late, especially in the last two weeks, as he has beaten both The Undertaker and Triple H on SmackDown to earn his latest opportunity at the title. Some fear, however, that Hardy is only being brought in so that Kozlov doesn't have to pin HHH to win the title.

The problem with Kozlov, despite his big push and commentators talking him up, is that he's simply not over.

Fans today don't buy the monster heel coming in, dominating jobbers and the midcard, and then suddenly being up there in the main event, but it appears with several injuries and absences on SmackDown, WWE needed to bring him up quicker than planned.

Without Kozlov, Triple H does not have much of a challenge for his title, other than the Big Show, who's currently preoccupied with The Undertaker.

Speaking of Big Show, the result of this three way is intricately linked to the result of the Casket Match. If Triple H retains, you'd think The Big Show should win the Casket Match to make that the next feud. If Kozlov or Hardy go over, Taker wins, which would especially be true if Kozlov wins.

In my opinion, WWE seem really intent on pushing this new Jeff Hardy character, with him off his head over being told time and time again he can't win the big one. The way I see it, he wins the big one tomorrow night, and goes even more mad trying to cope with being the champion at last. That will make for far more exciting television than HHH retaining or Kozlov winning.

CASKET MATCH: The Undertaker vs. The Big Show

Since the Big Show turned heel for the 92nd time at Unforgiven, he and Taker have met twice on PPV, with the series split at 1-1. Both men have won their matches by nefarious means, with Show needing an exposed turnbuckle to win at No Mercy, and Undertaker using the banned Devil's Triangle at Cyber Sunday.

However, the odd Casket Match in the past has ended in controversial circumstances, no less at the 1994 Royal Rumble when it required multiple wrestlers to help Yokozuna defeat Taker, or the 1998 Royal Rumble where Kane helped Shawn Michaels win.

The storyline for this particular Casket Match has seen Big Show promise to bury The Undertaker for good, yet somehow have a certain fear of being placed in a casket.

Last night on SmackDown, when Taker went to put Show in a casket, Show scurried like a little girl at the merest touch, and was only too happy to let Vickie and Chavo Guerrero take the abuse.

It looks certain tomorrow night that Show will let others do the dirty work if necessary, as long as he sneaks in at the end to land the final blow.

As mentioned earlier, the result of the WWE Title match links closely to this one, as if Triple H remains champion, Big Show should well be in line to be his next challenger, due to SmackDown's shortage of top heels.

However, Taker rarely loses Casket Matches when there's no title on the line, and you'd think they'd move him on to a new feud with a final win to close the lid on this one.

Arsenal Carved Apart at Eastlands

Martin Bentley — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:01:40 -0500

Arsenal suffered their fifth defeat of the season with a 3-0 loss to Manchester City at Eastlands. The Gunners, without William Gallas after being stripped of the captaincy, Cesc Fabregas through suspension, and Emmanuel Adebayor through injury, looked a shadow of their usual selves, as City found it way too easy to slice through Arsenal's second choice defense.

Arsenal presented City with their first goal, a collision between Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre leading to Stephen Ireland putting the ball into stand-in captain Manuel Almunia's net just before half time.

In the second half, a sublime goal by Robinho and an injury time penalty from Daniel Sturridge after he had been brought down by Johan Djourou put the finishing touches to Arsenal's doom.

City should have scored two more—Robinho was marginally offside at one point, and Djourou cleared another of his shots off the line.

The only time Arsenal threatened was when Robin van Persie put the ball in the net, but only after he had kicked the ball out of Joe Hart's hands.

After the game, Arsene Wenger claimed that the result flattered City, saying that Arsenal's "spirit" was right, and that City "didn't create a lot." Having watched the game, only one team was ever likely to win and it wasn't the team in red and white.

Next for Arsenal is a home game against Dinamo Kiev in the Champions League, and then a huge game away at Chelsea next Sunday. On the form the Gunners showed this afternoon, Luis Felipe Scolari will be salivating.

Mr. Kennedy Looks to Make Amends

Martin Bentley — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:07:24 -0500

Back in 2007, Mr. Kennedy gave several interviews whilst on a British media tour, one of which featured him claiming that he had not taken steroids in a year amongst other topics.

Two weeks after the tour, the Signature Pharmacy list emerged, and a certain Ken Anderson's name was listed amongst various WWE wrestlers, and in the midst of reportedly being announced as Mr. McMahon's on-screen son, he was suspended for 30 days.

A year later, Kennedy, who is currently out of action with a dislocated shoulder, and has filmed "Behind Enemy Lines 3: Colombia", which is set for DVD release in January, has given another interview to a British newspaper, in this case the Daily Star, to explain why he said what he did.

“Overall, I made a mistake. I’m sorry for it, I’m trying to move on and get past it.

“I would love to sit down with you for two or three hours and explain things.

“I was on a time schedule, so I would omit certain parts that I did not deem necessary. There is a lot more to it than what was said.

“It’s something I feel passionately about. I believe wrestling has changed, and of course it’s still apparent because I hear stories about the past, and how things were in the 80s. They are funny now, but at the time it was horrific, what happened on the road, and all the unethical things people did.”

“I stand by the fact that I stopped taking steroids for cosmetic reasons.

“If you simply look at pictures of me, there’s a huge difference from when I started to now.

“When one partakes in those substances...at the time I thought I was impervious, invincible.

“I ran into some of those situations, and you don’t quit cold turkey; there are health risks.

“What we do is not ballet, it’s an inevitability of our job, and people get hurt.”

If only he had said that last year. People would have been surprised if he hadn't spoken and the Signature list came out, but it was his comments last year that made the whole situation worse.

Kennedy had previously had bad luck when after winning Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 23, he suffered a triceps injury which doctors initially thought would take him months to heal, but would in fact only take weeks.

As a result, Kennedy had his World Title shot taken away. As mentioned before, the Signature list resulted in the angle with McMahon being cancelled, which would surely have propelled Kennedy to main event status.

Kennedy was heading for another United States title reign when he dislocated his shoulder.

Some say Kennedy has had very bad luck since joining WWE, and he's criticised those who have called him injury-prone. However, Kennedy has been prone to putting his foot in his mouth a few times, leading fans to not exactly feel very sorry for him.

It appears WWE may be feeling the same way, and when he returns from his injury, we'll see just how they treat him.