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I had a column posted last week but I posted this unfinished version and then pulled it and then never reposted. I demand high quality! Or at least completed sentences. Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

Wrestling



Raw was a decent show, I watched a bunch of it in between flipping to other Monday night shows.

I’m going to try out a new format to Raw recaps here in my Daily Pulse with 3 Pros and 3 Cons from each show. I’ll call it… The Raw Pulse

Pros .::.

3) Maven shows charisma – even though he clearly had no chance in the main event and seems out of place at the top card, he showed a lot of promise on the mic and carrying himself throughout the show. I hope he eventually does take HHH’s offer.

2 – Snitsky run in to save HHH – Despite the IWC hated of Snitsky, he has been booked in such a way where he is very over as a heel. I think they are almost booking him on par with HHH so far, which is really nuts if you think about it.

1 – Edge and Christian re-team – it was great to see them team again and it was great to continue the ‘all heels aren’t friends’ booking on Raw lately. I think the tension was great and kept that issue alive even though it doesn’t appear to be a primary angle on Raw.

Cons .::.

3) Whole show seems stale – It’s maybe biased, but I still get the feeling watching Raw every week that the show is totally stale. At least on Smackdown they have new guys being filtered in up and down the card, but Raw seems like the same core as forever. Plus I cant have IMAGINED a worse way to destroy Evolution than the way they have done it.

2 – Eugene wins the Tag Titles – Sorry I still hate him

1 – HHH booked as a face – What the hell kind of backwards booking was the main event? Book HHH to be in peril the whole month with 4 face GMs, and the whole match too? I was rooting for HHH! In a sick, sick, way of course.


I’m also pretty excited by TNA still. I enjoyed the PPV, and I posted some of my thoughts on the PPV last week on The Wrestling Blog, but in summary, I thought the show was a great start, highlighted by fantastic production work and great new wrestlings up and down the card. I think that the star power is a nice necessary evil to the early days of these Sunday PPVs, and hopefully these over-the-hill guys will recognize that the industry NEEDS TNA and won’t be total douches. Eh, they probably will be anyway.


As you may or may not know, I am a web designer and developer for a living, both here on the pulse and also at my esteemed job so I always have strong opinions about websites.

WWE.com has relaunched, and you can check it out here:

www.wwe.com

I think it’s a HUGE improvement from the site they had before. For one, all of the sections are now part of the general WWE website instead of being weird subdomains like raw.wwe.com that popup to new windows. I realize WHY they had that (back in the day they sold them as different sites for more ad revenue) but from a usability standpoint, the new way is way better.


In Pulse Wrestling today, we have Smark Raw Rant as well as the always entertaining David Goforth withHeroes and Villains where he talks about Randy Orton’s failure as a megaface.

Television



I watch more primetime TV this season than in recent years, probably because I’m so braindead after a day of work to warp my mind. Anyway, I did watch a bunch of Everwood last night, and I really hate that show. It’s like for every one scene that is positive, there are one hundred bummer scenes, with AIDS or disease or idiotic teen romances. If you want the full recap, check out Romo’s World: Everwood-Episode 8 and Mr. Romanada will have the full scoop for you.


This week I’m going to go with a quick top 6 countdown list of my favorite sitcoms on TV. I realize I am going out on a limb in describing a bunch of shows that aren’t the coolest, but there just aren’t a ton of shows on anymore, and these are still at least a good way to pass a half hour as I’m working on the site!

Widro’s Top 6 Sitcoms on TV .::.

6 – Half and Half – One sister is rich. One is poor. They were separated early on, but they are back together now! I love wacky premises like that, it just breeds comedy gold. Half and Half might be clichÃ?á©, but its still a fun clichÃ?á©.

5 – Reba – What can I say about the WB Friday night lineup – it’s like everything TGIF should be! Great family sitcoms in the old mold, Reba overcomes the HUGE obstacle of being

4 – According to Jim – Part 1 of my 2 part ‘fat guy marries hot chick’ series, this show is basically carried by the cast. I like how the kids are basically non-characters and the adults take center stage, and all 4 of the main characters are funny and appealing.

3 – Still Standing – And here is Part 2 of the fat guy and hot chick series! This one is a little better than Jim to me just because of the parents disdain for their children

2 – What I Like About You – The team of Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth is enough to keep this show in my top few despite a poor season so far. Is it me or is Ben the least likeable guy ever? What does he even do besides sing? Anyway, Kelly Taylor has never looked better, so that alone is a reason to check out this show.

1 – Two and a Half Men – I am a Charlie Sheen mark from back in the day of Sheenman, and this show is no exception. The writing on this comedy is top notch and I laugh every week. Kudos Sheenman!

Like this list? Don’t? email me!


So we’re two episodes into the second season of The O.C. which was my favorite show of last year. And so far it hasn’t been pretty.

I’m not sure where the stories are going, but the bar was raised so high last year that it’s almost impossible

I don’t read them, but Murtz has posted O.C. Spoilers so read them and let me know if I should watch Smackdown instead on Thursday.


It’s awesome to be able to share Tuesday’s with Cheri in TV, and she has a great editionCheri-Vision up now. Of course I would be remiss not to also link Coogan for not only being the MAN in movies, but also pumping out some top notch TV commentary every week as well. Plus there is always the gratuitious celeb link with Ask Nick #10> but do those guys even need the plugs? I think not!

Games



This Sunday will come the release of Nintendo DS, the latest handheld system from The Big N. I have mixed feelings on it and the launch, for a number of reasons.

I first saw and played the DS at E3, and I was really impressed. I liked how the unit tried to introduce many new forms of gameplay with the stylus, double screen and wireless connectivity, but the graphics engine certainly was no where near on the level of PSP.

My fear is that Nintendo and its fans are again underestimating Sony, its marketing, and its product – the PSP.

If Nintendo was intent on promoting the DS as something new, they haven’t really loaded up the launch with killer apps. I will reserve judgment on that until next week when I actually get the console though.

Instead it seems like they are going mainstream, as evidenced by a large % of the launch titles. When gamers see The Urbz, Madden and Tiger Woods on DS and then on PSP, the graphical difference is sure to be noticeable.

I’ve only touched on it, but you can check out the FULL Inside Pulse DS Preview that is on par or better than any other preview you’ll read online or in a magazine


This week there are some great games coming out. I will definitely pick up Metroid Prime 2 for Gamecube and Viewtiful Joe 2. Plus I’ll probably pick up Need for Speed 2 Underground for my new steering wheel controller. Check out all of this week’s releases in Misha’s New Release Roundup


Ben Morse is not only the man behind THE MEAN on the wrestling zone, but he also heads up THE NEXUS, the official comics zone on insidepulse.com. That was… until today! This is a LOSER LEAVES THE PULSE Hot Seat, where if Ben doesn’t get at least 2 correct, he must LEAVE THE SITE!

Let’s get right to the HOT SEAT

1. We always start with geometry: what is the formula for the volume of a sphere?

Morse: In lieu of actually knowing the answer, I’m going to free associate: pterodactyl. For the record, only nerds know geometry, cool kids read comics.

Judges: Unfortunately for you, correct answers on the Hot Seat are awarded scientifically, not to the coolest. 0 out of 1

2.We like to span as many zones as possible each week with the questions in the hot seat, so it’s always a treat to be able to combine so many in one question! Put these Superman-inspired productions in order of enjoyability, from best to worst: a) Smallville b) Superman II c) Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman d) Steel starring Shaq e) Superman: The Animated Series

Morse: Without question, Superman II is the best on that list. Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder really got their characters down pat there and got to the heart of the Superman-Lois relationship, Gene Hackman was at his sleazy best as Lex Luthor and Terrence Stamp kicked more ass than should be legal for a British guy as Zod. You can walk into any airport in the world and yell “Kneel before ZOD!” at the top of your lungs and receive a round of applause or be arrested.

Lois & Clark gets number two for the first season (coming soon on DVD), which was awesome, and we ignore everything that came after. Smallville gets number three because this season has been pretty good, the other seasons were fun because me and Tim Stevens could sit around and watch them Mystery Science Theater 3000 style and because Michael Rosenbaum is cool. Superman: The Animated Series was on while I was in high school and not reading comics or watching cartoons, but I’m reasonably sure it was better than Steel (sorry, Shaq).

Judges: Overall a good answer, no complaints from the judges. 1 out of 2

3. Sometimes we like to go WAY inside on the hot seat, and here’s an opinion question for you: Choosing between you and me, which of us would most likely be “Justin”?

Morse: A very tough question. On the one hand, you definitely look more like Justin, but on the other hand, you’re more of a behind the scenes guy and I could see you being the one who would be yelling “it should be about the music! We’re forgetting our roots!” while I’m passed out from an all out bender after banging the Olsen twins, which would make you JC. I’ll completely turn things inside out and say I’m Brian and you’re Nick.

Judges: You had me until the Olsen twins. Clearly we would each get 1. You are selfish and not worthy of a correct answer here. 1 out of 3

4. As a big Red Sox fan, now that you’ve beaten the Yankees and won the World Series, do you still feel sad when Mets fans like myself reference Buckner or the 86 choke? Am I not allowed to mention it anymore? Give me your thoughts.

Morse: My girlfriend’s Dad is a Mets fan and so are many of my friends, so this is something I have to deal with fairly often. Honestly, I was four in 1986 and didn’t even see the replay of the Buckner thing until this year during the World series, so it doesn’t really bother me much. I think you and your fellow Mets fans are entitled to clinging to whatever makes you happy, especially since most of you are probably also Jets fans and have to deal with us beating you up in football as well.

Judges: Not sure where you’re trying to win points. 1 out of 4

5. And finally we’ll get to wrestling, choosing one of the three TNA fantasy booking scenarios, give me the mark’s opinion, the smart’s opinion and the mean. You need only choose one scenario to discuss: a) Vampiro and the ICP return and reunite with Raven to recreate the Dark Carnival to feud with a returning STING b) X-Pac, Albert and Justin Credible storm the set of Impact to challenge 3 Live Kru and Jarrett/Outsiders to a 9 man three way tag refereed by… Billy Gunn. c) Juventud Guerrera returns with an unlikely partner – GOLDBERG and they run roughshod on their respective division (X Division and Heavyweight division, respectively)

Morse: I’ll go with the X-Factor vs 3LK vs NWO scenario…

The Mark: X-Factor is over huge as heels because every mark in the world hates X-Pac, love to make fun of Albert and don’t really know who Justin Credible is but he isn’t an attractive man. The marks also love 3LK. The Outsiders will give interviews that they find really funny and the marks will laugh because they’ll assume it’s a really funny joke they just don’t get. In the end, Jeff Jarrett will pin all nine men, including his own partners and Billy Gunn only to be beaten himself by Dusty Rhodes after outside interference by Vince Russo who swerved everybody.

The Smart: Scott Keith will go on a killing spree, taking out everybody who was ever a member of the NWO, starting with the guy who used to host Dinner & a Movie on TNT.

The Mean: Go read The Nexus to find out!

Judges: Good choice, but the execution was lacking. We’re not going to be able to give you this one… 1 out of 5

Uh oh, that’s only 1 out of 5 for Ben Morse. As per the stipulations of this Hot Seat, Ben is forced to leave the site.

Thanks to Ben for years of support on Inside Pulse, 411 and the Nexus. Ben has redefinied wrestling commentary with the Mean, and then has led the Comics Nexus to greatness. He will be missed on the site greatly. To send him wellwishes, please send an email to: benmorsegonebutnotforgotten@4sternstaging.com

Road To Wrestlemania 21 Countdown


With the focus on Survivor Series, WWE hasn’t made any new WM matches apparent recently, but that could surely change now that Survivor Series is over. The Survivor Series PPV usually kicks off the slow build to Wrestlemania, and we saw a few inter-promotional encounters at the PPV, but none seemed to produce a match.

Edge and Kurt Angle They had a brief encounter backstage at the PPV. They’ve already had a long feud (Angle shaved his head after losing a hair match to Edge) so building it up as an interpromotional match between them wouldn’t have much impact.

Kurt Angle and Eugene Man do I hate Eugene

Gene Snitsky and Heidenreich By far the weirdest but most interesting Raw/Smackdown encounter at SS. They could have a CLASSIC singles match, or they could even do a cool interpromotional tag match of, say, Snitsky/Heidenreich vs. Undertaker/Kane.

However, none seem like matches, so we’ll just recap what we have so far:

Tentative Wrestlemania 21 card:

Raw World Title
Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton

Shawn Michaels vs. Edge

The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle

Closing Time



That just about wraps up another big Tuesday here on the Pulse. Stay tuned for Eric in the Daily Pulse slot tomorrow, along with all our incredible features.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs