A Thought and More on NASCAR The Game Inside Line

Ryback- The Real Deal or A Goldberg Wanna Be?

I am always puzzled when a wrestler comes from nowhere and makes it big in his "first" year in the WWE. I have been watching Ryback over the last few weeks and I am impressed with his quality of his wins. But I had mentioned to a friend that I thought that this was Goldberg reborn. 

Ryan Reeves was signed to a developmental deal after being the last to be voted off  Tough Enough, then on Smackdown in 2004. He wrestled for Deep South Wrestling from 2005 to 2007, first teaming with Lash LeRoux and various others before starting a singles career there. Later, he went to Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005-2006) and was sidelined for a month due to a broken thumb.

Later, he was suspended for 30 days for failing a drug test as a part of WWE's Wellness Program. Reeves said that he was taking several over the counter body building supplements which gave a false reading. The supplements were taken off the shelf, but his suspension remained in place. Then, from 2006-2007, having bleached blond hair, he formed a tag team with Jon Bolen calling themselves High Dosage (lol).

In 2008, he returned to OVW as Ryback, and won the OVW title on September 15th after defeating Anthony Bravado, only to lose it back to Bravado two weeks later. WWE re-signed Reeves to a developmental deal, thus was booked to lose a Loser Leaves OVW match to Bravado.

After a stint in Florida and a cowboy gimmick in WWE as a member of Nexus (Skip Sheffield) in 2010, he broke his ankle August of that year. After a layoff and three surgeries he came back this year as the newly reborn Ryback, and the rest is history. 

In my humble opinion, Ryback, with all due respect to him and the WWE, is just a Goldberg wannabe. In a battle between Goldberg in his prime, and Ryback now, Ryback would be next...the next to fall to the Jackhammer!

More on NASCAR The Game Inside Line

I have been reading more reviews on NASCAR The Game Inside Line, and, as I said in my last post, most have been mixed at best. The best review comes from NASCAR Informer. The link to the review is here:

http://nascarinformeronline.com/2012/11/08/nascar-the-game-inside-line/

I started a career on the game earlier today. While I was disappointed that I couldn't use my custom car in Career Mode, I was then more pleased with the outcome. The first thing you do is take a couple of test runs on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then, the game determines what assists you may or may not need. In my case, all assists were turned off except for limited driver assist and ABS assist, which I can live with And it also started the opponents on Hard. Again, I can dig it.

Then, you get your first sponsor, in my case, it was Direct TV. Then you go to the Career Mode which starts you in Daytona with qualifying, then you race in one of the Bud Shootouts. The opponents do not play. I started out in the pack, starting 15th, only to be pushed back to 21st spot. Then the fun began. Having to work your way back up to the front, with the banging and rubbing, because "rubbin' son, is racin.". After the smoke cleared and the metal was crumpled and 60 laps later, I finished 8th in the Bud Shootout. Next will be the Daytona 500. Can't wait!

Check out Fridays edition of MWF This Week where I will recap the tag team tournament and introduce you to the brand new MWF Tag Team Champions, and they are a familiar name team. Ta, ta for now!

And Now For Something A Little Different

MWF Update

I have just ran the MWF Tag Team Tournament, and there are three major news items. Check out MWF This Week, where the results will be posted on Friday.

I want to give a review on a video game I just bought today. I love racing games. My style is mostly that of a driving megalomaniac. However I have played a game which I love now. The game is callled NASCAR The Game Inside Line. Last years game left a lot to be desired so I went to this game with some thought. I have read some of the professional reviews and they are mixed. Now, I bring you a non-professional review.

The first thing I did was go to the paint booth. I loved the EA Sports version of the paint scheme. You could download the blueprints ans use Paint to place your own logos and paint scheme. Much like Teambuilder in EA's NCAA games. In NASCAR TGIL, you have the paint in game. And it is deep, though not where you can upload your own logos. I will give this feature an "A" for what it is.

The graphics are outstanding! The cars look awesome, and the wreck scenes are much better this year than last year. Although the cars in the race I ran looked like some kid took his collection of Hot Wheels and rammed them together. But it is an improvement, and I will give this an "A" as well.

The gameplay is where it counts, and the gameplay is much better than last years. I played on Bristol, and went with the assists on at first. The car drove great. I went back and took the assist off and was able to drive pretty good. The the race. I did 50 laps, and we all wrecked in at least 20 of those laps. By the time I was done, my car looked like a crumpled up piece of paper. I enjoyed it. I give the game play an "A+".

The game is an overall improvement and overall, I will give the game an "A-" because I would like to see a way to upload my own logos. Maybe a little less wrecks, and a career progression. EA had it right when that game had you start with the Craftsmen Truck Series, then move to the Nationwide Series, and the the Sprint Cup Series. I want to see that put into next years game. But kudos to Activision for giving us a Highlights option where we can relive and replay and rewrite NASCAR history. The game will upload telemetry from actual races and you can see if you can come out on top. And this starts in 2013. I recommend that you buy the game. You'll love it!

Wednesday, I will post on wrestling.

Update on MWF Fantasy Fed

UPDATE

The MWF can now be found in a seperate blog called Mark Wrestling Federation. Just click the link and it will take you to it.

Mark Wrestling Federation Update

So I have everything set up early, and I am going to start the federation up early. Instead of a royal rumble type of match, I have decided that I will hold a 32 man, single elimination tournament for the MWF World Championship. The post will be up before midnight Wednesday night. I will also split it up into two post. This  will be a Thanksgiving event and will take place in the fictional MWF Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The roster is some of the best wrestlers of the past and now. Here is the MWF Roster:

Austin Idol.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Abdullah The Butcher......................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Andre the Giant.............................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Animal....................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Arn Anderson................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Assassin #1.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Assassin #2.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Baron Von Raschke............................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Barry Windham................................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Billy Graham................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Bobby Eaton.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Bruno Sammartino............................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Dick Murdoch................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Dusty Rhodes................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Hawk......................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Ivan Koloff.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Jack Brisco.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Jay Youngblood............................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Junk Yard Dog................................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Magnum T.A................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Mongolian Stomper............................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Mr. Wrestling................................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Mr. Wrestling II............................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Nikita Koloff................................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Ric Flair.................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Rick Steamboat............................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Ricky Morton................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

Robert Gibson................................ (52 cards remain on contract).

Stan Lane.................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Tully Blanchard.............................. (52 cards remain on contract).

AJ Styles.................................... (52 cards remain on contract).

Adam Pierce.................................. (52 cards remain on contract).

The next event will start the MWF Tag Team Challenge which will crown the new MWF World Tag Team Championship. The rules of this event will be spelled out next Monday. Also, I will inded start a new blog called MWF This Week where I will do angles, have "interviews" and other wrestling associated things. So check back Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday for the results of the MWF World Championship Tournament.

While It Is On My Mind...........

Classless Acts

In my last post, I said that I would post at least twice a month. I plan to post on the first and last Mondays in each month. However, I felt that I must post this while it is still on my mind. Now I don't want to sound like a prude, but I read about something that made me want to scream. I didn't catch Monday Night Raw on 11/12/12, but I did read about it from Wrestleview.com. I am going to re-print what I read:

Michael introduces a video recap of the happenings with Jerry Lawler's collapse on RAW. 

Cole and JR make their way into the ring and introduce the returning Lawler. He comes out to a royal ovation and thanks everyone for their support. Lawler compares his experience to the film, 'It's a Wonderful Life'. He says it is great to be back.

CM Punk's music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. He takes a moment to gloat about the fact that he is the World Champion. He makes a comment about Jerry Lawler being on life support but says that he is glad that he is back. Lawler responds from ringside that the only thing on life support is Punk's Title run. 

Heyman starts to breathe heavy and falls to the mat. Punk crosses his arm to indicate a 'legit' injury. Punk mockingly gives the crossed arm signal. Punk continues to mock the Lawler situation by screaming for someone to come help. Heyman decides that he is okay and starts to laugh. Punk says that he almost gave him a heart attack. 

Mick Foley's music hits and he comes down to the ring. He tells Punk that he needs to respect Lawler. Punk says that Heyman just had a heart attack and he brought him back to life. 

I am turning 50 on 11/16/12, and I have seen some bazaar things in my 49 years as a wrestling fan. One comes to mind was on a Saturday night watching Birmingham wrestling in the late 71. The area’s hottest feud at this time likely pitted the Masked Interns against Len Rossi & Bearcat Brown after the Interns attempted to paint Brown white. This happened in Birmingham, Alabama while the Civil Rights battles inthe area was still somewhat fresh in the minds of some fans.

The Katie Vick angle managed to top that. Now this. But let's not point fingers quite yet. Anyone who has seen the Jake Roberts video knows that Lawler himself made fun of Robert's alcoholism. I am sure that Punk, Heyman, and Lawler talked about this backstage. But to go through with this is wrong on all levels in my book. But, that is Vince McMahon's WWE I guess.

A Word About MWF

As i said in my last post, I am going to do a fantasy promotion called Mark Wrestling Federation. A few notes about this fantasy promotion:

1. I am going to do this mostly unbooked. I will write out angles according to the results I get.
2. If a wrestler gives his "notice" he will be booked to lose in his last match.
3. There will be a rankings system, and each month the #1 contender will receive the title shots for that month.
4. Results will be posted with a short commentary after.

This will be fun for me to use my brain and have fun with, and I hope that you will be interested as well. Later unless something comes up.

We Have A New Name, And A New Direction.

New Name

I haven't been here for a while, but I decided that I want to do this a little more often now that I am up at 5:30am. Idle hand are the Devil's workshop, so my hands will not be idle. As this is a new start, I will now post bi-monthly. There will be views on the wrestling world and different personalities in pro wrestling. I may cross over into MMA some, and maybe a little boxing along the way. The big difference is the name change. The Pro Wrestling Mark is as it is. I am a pro wrestling mark. 

According to Wikipedia, a "Mark" is one who pays to watch professional wrestling. Also, those who are unaware that it is scripted or are devoted and biased in opinion towards a particular wrestler or promotion. A fan. Now, I am well aware that wrestling is scripted. However, I am a devoted fan. Have been since I was 1 year old. I have seen many of the greats in wrestling through the years, so I feel that I am qualified to comment on the stars of yesterday and today.

I am no wrestling reporter, and I have no insider connections short of a wrestling news site I check out on a regular basis. But, like many other fans, I have my opinions, and will print them here. Since I switched from cable to Direct TV, I have seen other wrestling promotions, well, actually 2. They are exciting and look forward to blabbing about it here.

A Special Bonus For The Followers

Also bi-monthly, I will present a fantasy promotion for your amusement. The name of the promotion will be called MWF-Mark Wrestling Federation. The "promotion" will feature stars from the present and the past. Stars you may know, and some that you may not know. I am using the wrestling sim called TNM 7, The Wrestling Simulator, which can be found by clicking the name. it is a very fine simulator and worth the money. 

Updates for wrestlers are available through various websites. The first card will be presented Monday, November 26th, where we will feature a 32 man Royal Rumble style match, with the winner becoming the very first MWF World Champion. All matches will take place in the Mark Wrestling Arena. Full results with commentary on the major matches of the night will be featured as well. Later I might spin it off as a blog of it's own. So the next post will be Monday, November 26th. See ya then!