Tonight I was watching UFC 86 with friends at Buffalo Wild Wings and boy it was worth the watch just for the main event. Even though the matches before Rampage vs. Forrest were decision after decision (one of them was a win by submission), they indeed lived up to the hype. All five rounds were great with Forrest dominating the second round and Rampage couldn't really figure anything out for the duration of the fight. Forrest definitely had a gameplan set to take the title with those leg kicks to weaken the legs while Rampage didn't seem like it wasn't his night even though he nailed some good shots to Griffin in the early going and later rounds. Now Forrest Griffin is the new Light Heavyweight Champion and it is hard to not like this guy rising up the ranks to truly become a superstar in the UFC. With the division so stacked, who knows when Rampage would get another title shot with Chuck and now Silva entering the division. All I can say is I would like to watch a rematch between Forrest and Rampage soon.
This week's GameTrailers TV spotlights on Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and I still would buy it because of curiousity and the fact its a fighting game. Ed Boon and the folks revealed two new characters which are Catwoman and Shang Tsung (I didn't see any footage of Shang morphing in this footage). Midway also promised more character reveals at E3 and Comic-Con (still on the fence of going) this month. More stages are also revealed like Metropolis as u can slam someone through a building to another street, which is pretty cool even though it will be the same amination for all characters (the same animations are likely in the freefall and close combat moments). Other trailers shown in this episode are Blitz The League II, SOCOM Confrontation, and part of the Street Fighter IV Anime Trailer I put up earlier. Despite people still hating the MK style of gameplay, I won't mind buying MK vs. DC this November if I'm tired of Gears 2 or something else around that time.
So I watched the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2008 this morning like I do every 4th of July now and this year didn't disappoint as it came down to a dog-off between defending champ Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, the Japanese supereater when they tied at eating 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Chestnut reigned supreme at overtime eating five hot dogs faster than Kobayashi to repeat as champion. Those 10 minutes were intense following the two of them trying to 1up each other. Yeah, it is disgusting seeing these eaters dip hot dogs into water and then eating them or even putting two dogs in the mouth first and then the buns later. For America today, the Hot Dog Eating Title Belt stays home for another year.
This new trailer for Street Fighter IV is pretty awesome which is the first anime one featuring Ryu and Akuma. Capcom hasn't confirmed whether or not Akuma is playable in SF4 or even Gouken, but I'm pretty sure Capcom will make it happen since Akuma has been an institution to the franchise since his first appearance in Super SFII Turbo. Expect this to be on GameTrailers TV tonight on HD as well in which I'll replace that version from this YouTube one later.
No wonder why Nintendo fans are going crazy because Wario Land Shake is actually cool and old-school for a Wii game. The anime is actually impressive and surprising for a Wario game and the 2D platforming looks like the Wario Land games on the Game Boy. At least it is one of those hardcore games Nintendo is promising for us this year on Wii. Here's some videos of Wario Land Shake with the intro and gameplay footage.
I'm going to write this early as the episode just ended here at the West Coast. Let's just say it is another great show tonight with some awesome performances.
A.S.I.I.D. was first tonight and it was okay as u can tell this song wasn't really their element with "Roll" by Flo Rida feat. Sean Kingston. While Shane still praised them, Lil Mama did go off and I have to agree with her that it was sloppy. I wouldn't be surprised if they were bottom 2 next week. but I could be wrong.
So Real Crew delivered another solid performance (one of the best for the night) with R. Kelly's "Snake." Out of all the groups, they probably nailed their song challenge the best tonight implementing as many imaginative snake dances as they could in their routine. This week was definitely better in terms of the routine being clean and creative.
SuperCrew blew me away again this week with their crazy stunts and b-boy moves dancing to Jim Jones's "We Fly High (Ballin!!!)." Da Knock was literally in the sky falling some 30 feet and there were the sky flares along with the "Make It Rain" of money on the floor. They're still my #1 pick for now.
Boogie Bots were next and made me go nuts with the video game references like the Street Fighter Hadoukens and Shoryukens (They did Lil Flip's "Game Over"). Even the Tron outfits and the lights going off for the glow to happen was crazy along with the merging of a robot with fits their name. They definitely climbed up the leaderboards this week for me.
Fanny Pak did Britney's "Toy Soldier" and it was another solid performance with the props and creativity. Of course, it is not their best performance so far on the show, but their originality is still racking votes, which is cool by me.
Supreme Soul is almost reminding me of the Detroit Pistons during the NBA Playoffs this year of turning on or off the switch. They did Flo Rida's "Elevator" and it wasn't their best so far, but better than the first episode. I wouldn't be surprised if they go bottom 2 next week with A.S.I.I.D.
Phresh Select and XDF were the bottom 2 this week with Phresh going first doing T.I.'s "Big Things Poppin." It was a good performance, but not as clean the judges wanted it to be. They could likely be bottom 2 again next week with better crews delivering better performances.
Xtreme Dance Force are eliminated tonight and it is like a victory of those watching because the true competition begins. Their routine wasn't bad, but definitely not good enough to keep them around. Seriously, the dude with the spiky hair needs to stop smiling the whole time when dancing or waiting for results (Lil Mama is so right last week - "Fix the face!!!").
With XDF's elimination, the voting is getting tougher now with the good crews sticking around and the "trash" out. Here's my top 7 after this week's performances.
SuperCrew
So Real Crew
Boogie Bots
Fanny Pak
Supreme Soul
A.S.I.I.D.
Phresh Select
Next week's challenge should be interesting with fast-paced songs headlining the episode.
IGN has exclusively revealed the box art for WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 and it is a little surprising to me that D-Generation X would be in the cover for this year. Triple H and Shawn Michaels are your coverboys and it makes sense considering THQ and Yukes' focus on tag team wrestling this year with hot tags and more double team moves. Yeah, most of us got a little tired of Trips on RAW and that he's in Smackdown, he has new territory to conquer (HHH vs. Edge at is the main event for the Great American Bash PPV). HBK, on the other hand, he's still on RAW with that injured eye feuding with Chris Jericho (a good feud at least). Usually I don't buy the Smackdown games anymore, and this year will continue that, but I would buy TNA Impact! the day it comes out.
UPDATE - Wrestling related... Here's Botchmania 46!!!
