Seasons Beatings ...

Amidst a busy month where I haven't posted as much as I'd have liked, I do hope everyone has still enjoyed their holiday season as much as we have here at In This Very Ring. We will be posting our Year In Review podcast very early in the New Year - call it Jan. 3 or 4 - and be back into a regular schedule after a very busy and unexpected couple of months. Be sure and stay tuned for one or two big announcements as well ... ITVR is in for quite the ride in 2012!!!

Merry Christmas from your friends at ITVR.

Programming Notes

Hi all,

So it has been a busier Holiday Season than anticipated, but this week we will be back in full force. So is the WWE, for that matter! Be sure and tune in tonight for a special 3-hour WWE Raw, featuring this year's Slammy Awards. This airs at 8pm ET in the States on USA Network, and, according to their website, it airs on the Score in Canada at 9pm ET - although you might want to check in at 8pm just to make sure that listing isn't in error - especially as it lists Raw as a 2-hour program where tonight it's 3.

Tomorrow night is a special on the USA Network from 9-11pm ET featuring WWE's annual 'Tribute to the Troops' program; always special. I'm not seeing this listed on the Score's website, and can't find where it might air in Canada, so I'm not sure if we get it here in the Great White North, but it's worth poking around for - let me know if you find anything so I can check it out.

Wednesday or Thursday this week Ari and I will air with a special ITVR episode making TLC pay per view predictions, as well as talking about the WWE (and possibly TNA) news of the week (Amy "Lita" Dumas arrested? Hulk Hogan and Ed "Brutus Beefcake" Leslie suing Hogan's ex-wife Linda?).

Thursday and Friday, as always, are respectively home to Impact! Wrestling (Thursday, 8pm ET, Spike TV) and Smackdown (Friday, 8pm ET, Syfy in the States, the Score in Canada), and Sunday is the TLC pay per view starting at 8pm ET. Next week all is back on its regular schedule; we will air Thursday or Friday with our year-end show featuring awards, reviews, and our thoughts on the roller coaster 'year that was' in the wrestling industry. :) And of course, as news breaks, I will pop back in and out to comment on it.

Be sure to catch all the action!

Sarah (and Ari)

Raw (and other) Thoughts

Hi guys,

Last week was busier than expected - in talking about how quiet the Holiday Season was looking I forgot the massive churchwide potluck I was organizing - but we will be up this week on ITVR either late Thursday or Friday evening, and of course I will post along the way. Meanwhile though last night's Raw was pretty good (minus some weak spots, such as the Diva's match as ever, and I could have done without the Kevin Nash-Santino Marella squash match) and I wanted to quickly share my thoughts on it.

First, I liked the thread through the show that the 4 potential #1 contenders to the WWE Title - Alberto del Rio, John Cena, the Miz and Dolph Ziggler, all had matches which, if they won, would guarantee their entry into the main event at TLC. Del Rio and the Miz did so; Ziggler lost his - I believe thanks to some awry interference by Jack Swagger if I sort of caught their post-match promo right but I was out of the room for those 5-10 minutes or so. But I always like having a consistent theme to tie the show together in that sense.

I also enjoy the dynamic between John Cena and Zack Ryder. I felt Ryder was a *bit* much this time - a bit of 'You wanted him so bad, we're rammin' him down your throats' - but still, it's an interesting dynamic set up with Cena as he gave up his own title shot to ensure Zack Ryder got his shot at Ziggler's US Title. Additionally, you know this is setting up a heal turn for one of them down the road - I'm guessing Cena - so it sets up some anticipation, on something they don't SEEM to be rushing through at this particular moment in time. I can appreciate that.

I also basically enjoyed the contract signing - a different flavour anyway as CM Punk acted as ultimate violence instigator as John Laurenaitis tried to keep the signing peaceful (yeah, right). His character as a useless tool continued to be developed nicely (Laurenaitis', not Punk's) as someone we can genuinely hate - always a good feature. :) Not a bad show all in all, with only a few aggravating moments, and some nice continuity. They still have two more Raws to set up for TLC, and I hope they make use of those - it could be a very good card if some of the players are angled right.

A FEW LAST ITEMS:

One -  I recommend strongly you check out Randy Orton's "Evolution of a Predator" DVD. I belatedly got to catch it this week. VERY good stuff, more interesting than I expected; this man's growth story is absolutely incredible.

Two - to US fans, WWE's annual Tribute to the Troops show is on USA Network next Tuesday night, I believe at 8 or 9pm; I will see if there is Canadian info, if it airs here and when etc. to share next time.

Three - lastly, congratulations to Kharma, who is currently on maternity leave from the WWE, on her engagement, as her fiance (and I'm assuming the proud daddy-to-be) proposed to her with a DIAMOND WRESTLING RING ... well, ring. :) Very ... I don't know. Cute, sweet or tacky. I'm working on that one.

Until next time, be well.