John Madden An NFL Legend

Passes away suddenly at 85

By Mark Halpern

On Monday, December 28th, John Earl Madden, Legendary Coach of the Oakland Raiders and NFL Analyst, passed away at 85. He passed suddenly and from Natural causes. He was loved by the NFL community, from its fans to its heads in the NFL front office.

    Madden got his start in the NFL in 1959 when he played as a tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 21st round of the draft, mind you. In today’s draft, it didn’t go past 8 rounds. Unfortunately, Madden suffered a horrible knee injury and never played for the Eagles. Madden Knew his chances of playing in the NFL just went out the window, but his love of the sport turned him to coaching, and in 1966 he met Al Davis, which was the beginning of a great relationship. In 1967 Davis promoted Madden to oversee the LineBackers, and just two years later, he was named head coach. After ten years of building a great team, Madden took them to Super Bowl XI in 1977 and won. A Madden Legacy was Born.

     After some health issues, Madden retired from coaching only to find himself in the announcing booth calling games on CBS and FOX. He was put with Pat Summerall, and over the next 21 years, the two of them had some of the best broadcasts aired on national television. The two of them worked so well together there was no time for dead air because when one of them stopped, the other chimed in and kept the conversation going. The final game of their long-time partnership ended with them doing Super Bowl XLIII in Feb 2009. I don’t believe in my generation that we will hear two perfect analysts in a booth again.

     John Madden had his name attached to the most significant selling sports game franchise of all season. In 1991, the Nintendo company released the first Madden game for its Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was one of the most sought-after games of that year. It was the first Football game that made you feel like you were playing the game. Over the next 23 years, we have seen this game evolve, and the graphics in today’s game make you feel like you are paying as your favorite character. Madden gave his advice for the game inserting many plays he used over his tenure in Oakland and his knowledge of Football. Like MLB, The Show is the staple video game for baseball; Madden is the staple game for Football.

In 2006 Madden was elected into the Nfl Hall of Fame as part of the Oakland Raiders. The News of his passing struck me hard as I have admired him from his knowledge of the sport of Football, and his attachment to the NFL game Madden was legendary. I have collected one madden game since its inception. SO from 1991-2022, I have games from SNES, N64, GAME CUBE, THE WII. XBOX 360 AND XBOX 1S. When I heard the announcement of his passing, it was like a little of my childhood/adulthood died, and that is how the old man sees it.

The Dallas Cowboys Win the NFC EAST

Destroy the WFT 56-14

By Mark Halpern

 This game was scheduled because someone in the higher-ups thought this would be a very close game and with serious playoff consequences on the line. Before the game, the Cowboys were on the field doing warmups, and a flash came across the Jumbotron “THE DALLAS COWBOYS HAVE WON THE NFC EAST” with the Tennessee Titians just edging out the 49ers 20-17. With the defeat of San Francisco, the cowboys by conference, and head-to-head wins, the Cowboys won the NFC East. So not only are the Cowboys in the playoffs, they will host a first-round home game. As it stands today, Dallas would face Philadelphia. 

     Even though the Cowboys knew that they were in the playoffs, many people said it was time to rest Zeke, Dak, Cooper, and Zach Martian. That isn’t going to happen cause, as of today, the Cowboys are one game behind the Packers for the top seed and a bye week. The Packers must win out, and they face two formidable division rivals in Detroit and Minnesota. Division games are played with a little more intensity because of bragging rights. 

     The Dallas/Washington game itself was an embarrassment to the fans of the no-name football team. For the first time in the last few weeks, Dak Prescott looked like he did at the beginning of the year. He seemed lighter on his feet, his passes were on target, and he threaded the needle several times. Dak threw for 365yard and 4td in the game. Mind you; this was only in the first half. They could have brought him back in the second half to play and go for the record, but since we are almost at the end of the season, why not rest the big 4 {DAK, Zeke, Cooper, and Martain.} Zeke Elliot had a quiet day, but he was pulled from the game after the first half. Zeke did chip in 45 yards and scored 2 touchdowns on the day. Cooper had  7 rec 5 yards, and 1td. Dalton Schultz has been fire this season and has totaled 8 receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.

      The Defense kept on just getting better. On the first play, Heineken threw a drunken pass that was supposed to be to Terry McLaurin but was picked off by no other than #7 Treyvon Diggs. That gives him his 11th interception tying the great Everson Walls back in 1981. He isn’t worried about records; he wants to go out every weekend and win the game. 

       Demarcus “Tank” Lawrence is back at full strength as he played phenomenally. He had 4 tackles 2 of which were for a loss. Several QB hits/pressures, and he tipped a pass at the line, snagged it out of the air, and took it back for a touchdown. With Lawrence, Parsons, Gregory, Kneal and Vanderesch, and The No-Fly Zone of the Cowboys secondary, I believe it can handle the task of any high-powered passing office.

       The Offense had its best day in the last 5 weeks. Dak looks healthy, and Zeke is getting better; Armani Cooper and Gallup are almost 100%, and the Cowboys will have starting right tackle Tyron Smith back on the line against Cardinals.

       Even with the Cowboys locking up the NFC East and a playoff berth, they still have 2 games left to play, and they are against teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. This weekend Dallas will take on the Arizona “depleted Cardinals” on Sunday at 4pm. This is a massive game for both teams, and since that bye week is still attainable, I expect to see the same Cowboys that were on the field against the WFT. It wont be an easy game but Dallas should keep the winning bus moving to keep pressure of Green Bay

Streaking Fins

By: Mike Rifkin

Monday night the Miami Dolphins defeated the New Orleans Saints 20-3. It was the seventh consecutive win for Miami. The Dolphins are the first team in NFL history to win and lose seven consecutive games in the same season. With this streak the Dolphins now own the last wild card spot in the AFC. 

The major catalyst for the team’s recent performance has been the defense. In six of the seven games during the streak the defense has allowed 17 points or less and held teams to under 300 total yards. The defense which last season feasted on turnovers and having a +9 turnover differential, during this streak they have forced  14 turnovers. After eight sacks of Saints quarterback Ian Book last night, Miami now leads the NFL with 45 sacks. There have been a lot of standouts on defense including All- Pro Cornerback Xavien Howard and linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah. But the young guys on this defense have also been impressive in Safeties Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland and rookie Pass Rusher Jaelan Phillips who is second on the team with eight and a half sacks.

Those are not the only young guys playing well as rookie receiver Jaylen Waddle is five catches away from breaking Anquan Boldin’s record for most catches in a rookie season. Waddle has 96 catches for 941 and five touchdowns on the season. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has also played well during the streak. On the season the second year quarterback has a 70.1 completion percentage with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.  One thing that I believe has also fueled this streak is now the team knows who their quarterback is. Prior to the trade deadline there was a lot of chatter that the Dolphins were going to acquire Deshaun Watson from the Texans. I think a lot of that may have gotten into Tua’s head a little bit and the team’s as well. Now it is hard to judge Tua the offensive line is one of the worst in the league, the team has no run game and outside of Waddle and tight end Mike Gesicki the outside weapons are not great. For context Waddle has 96 catches, Gesicki has 67 catches the next closest player has 46. Now whether the Dolphins continue their pursuit of Watson will have to wait until the offseason.

A lot of people look at the winning streak and the first thing they ask is who were the other quarterbacks that the Dolphins have beaten. That list would be Tyrod Taylor, Lamar Jackson, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Mike Glennon, Zach Wilson, and Ian Book. Outside of Lamar this is not a great list but this is the NFL and winning seven in a row is not easy. The NFL is not college where you can make your own schedule, you play who you have to and nobody is going to apologize for taking advantage of the situation. The only two things standing in the Dolphins way are former quarterback Ryan Tannehill and Bill Bellichick. Whether they make the playoffs or not this team showed a lot of fight coming from 1-7 to 8-7 controlling their own destiny.

Welcome To The Jungle

By: Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens 41-21.  Yes, the Ravens had to start Josh Johnson at quarterback because of Lamar Jackson’s injury and Tyler Huntley being placed on the Covid list and the Ravens have a ton of injuries but this was a statement by the Bengals. The Bengals had not swept the Ravens in a season series since 2015. In the season series the Bengals outscored Baltimore 82-38 in the season series. Quarterback Joe Burrow had a 71.4 completion percentage 941 yards seven touchdowns and an interception in the season series against Baltimore, including 525 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday.  For the first time since 2009 the Bengals have swept both the Ravens and the Steelers.

At 9-6 they sit at the top of the AFC North with two games to play. Those two games will be a test to this team as they play the Chiefs and Browns to end the season. The Bengals have won two in a row after losing two in a row. A year after tearing his ACL quarterback Joe Burrow has a 69.9 completion percentage 4,165 yards, 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 105. Joe Mixon, who is second in the NFL in rushing, Ja’marr Chase, Tee Higgins who both have over 1,000 receiving yards and Tyler Boyd the Bengals have one of the most dynamic offenses in the league.  The Bengals have only been held to under 20 points three times this season, they average 27.3 points per game. 

The Bengals offense will get most of the headlines but the defense has been very good as well. In the offseason the lost pass rusher Carl Lawson to the Jets and replaced him with Trey Hendrickson who signed a four year 60 million dollar contract with the Bengals is fifth in the NFL with 14 sacks. The Bengals as a team have 41 sacks which is sixth in the NFL. Last season they had 17 sacks which was dead last in the NFL. Lou Anarumo, who is in his third season as defensive coordinator, has seen his defense improve. Last season this defense gave up 26.5 points per game, this season they have given up 21.6 points per game. Last season they gave up 148 yards rushing per game and this season they give up 92 yards rushing per game.  

Zac Taylor should be one of the frontrunners for Coach Of The Year because nobody saw this coming from the Bengals.The Bengals have made a lot of progress this season and if they get into the playoffs don’t overlook them because they can be a very dangerous team not just this season but going forward.

Sub-Urban Area

By: Mike Rifkin and Bill Murphy

Urban Meyer is one of the best coaches in the history of College Football. The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Meyer this offseason to lead their franchise. It was a failure from the start. The Jags have fired Meyer after 13 games. Meyer’s firing was the first time since 2007 the first time a non interim head coach was fired before the season was over, the last one being Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Bobby Petrino who was fired at 3-10 .  According to Tom Pellisero of NFL Network tensions are boiling over in Jacksonville. This is just the latest in a troubled 2021 for Meyer.

Chris Doyle was hired by Meyer to be director of sports performance. Doyle was the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Iowa for 20 seasons before a separation agreement was made. The agreement came after former players accused Doyle of racist remarks. Doyle resigned a day or so later. Urban said “Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted. Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.” Urban Meyer also said he and Doyle had “great relationship and he vetted him thoroughly with Trent Balkee and Shad Khan.” He didn’t otherwise he wouldn’t have made the hire in the first place. 

Then there is the Tim Tebow signing. He played quarterback for Meyer at the University of Florida and they won two National Championships together. Tebow had been out of Football for six years and tried to play minor league Baseball. But his old college coach signed him in May but not as a quarterback, as a Tight End, a position Tebow hadn’t played at the NFL level. It got a lot of media scrutiny and rightfully so, Tebow was cut in August but if Urban Meyer wasn’t the coach would Tebow have even gotten this chance? 

After a Week 4 loss to the Bengals Meyer stayed in Ohio to spend time with his family instead of going back with his team. Then a viral video started making the rounds of Meyer getting grinded on by a young woman. Urban later apologized to his team, but why could he not fly back to Jacksonville? It was a Thursday Night game. Just go back and fly back to Ohio on Friday, a coach is supposed to lead and Urban Meyer has not led by example. Jacksonville’s management after the incident said that Meyer needs to regain their trust. Not only did Meyer  lose faith from the front office , there was also lack of faith  from  the players, at the end of one practice when the team broke they yelled “ grinder “ at the end of the huddle.  

Now there is this report from Tom Pellisero that Meyer got into an argument with veteran receiver Marvin Jones, one of the locker room leaders. It got so bad Jones left the facility only to be called back by assistant coaches. Meyer also has reportedly called his assistants losers and has them defend their resumes. HE HIRED HIS ASSISTANTS so why are you challenging, when it is you who should be challenged. Urban is a great college coach but this is a whole different ball game. In a 37-7 loss to the Rams Meyer benched running back James Robinson after a fumble. He had one of his assistants to stop Robinson from coming back in. Rookie Quarterback Trevor Lawrence questioned Meyer on the sideline and eventually Robinson came back in. Lawrence said “ Bottom line James is one of our best players and he’s got to be on the field and we addressed it and I feel like we’re in a good spot and the whole team we’re good.”  No Trevor you aren’t in a good spot because leaks like this don’t come from good teams. The Jaguars aren’t competitive in a lot of games and if they were this stuff wouldn’t happen. 

Meyer was asked on Monday if defensive back Andre Cisco would get more playing time with four games left in the season. Meyer’s response was “Cisco is playing a little bit more, I believe. I don’t have his numbers in front of me, but that’s a conversation.” On Sunday against the Titans Cisco played a grand total of 0 snaps on defense, but did force a fumble on Special Teams. If you don’t know how many snaps a guy played just say that, instead Meyer continues to look clueless.  Then on Wednesday former Jags kicker Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him before a game. Lambo said “ I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back. Urban Meyer while he is in the stretch says “Hey dips-t make your f-ing kicks tonight and kicks me in the leg.”  When Lambo told him to stop kicking him , Meyer responded with “I am the F***king head coach, I’ll Kick you all I F***k want . 

Lambo said Meyer didn’t bother to call the Special Teams Players by their names. It was “ Kicker, Punter, Long Snapper or S-Bag, Dips-t, or whatever the hell it was.”  This is not a way you treat your players. Coaches are supposed to show their players respect and believe in them. 

Urban Meyer is not a leader. Urban Meyer wanted to blame everyone else, but the person who was the ultimate problem. The ultimate problem is Urban Meyer is a greedy, selfish individual who will never get a second chance in the NFL. And if I am being honest I don’t know if he will ever get another major college opportunity. 

Link to Tom Pellisero article:  

https://www.nfl.com/news/tension-boiling-over-between-coach-urban-meyer-jaguars-players-staff

The Buck Starts Here

By: Mike Rifkin and Mark Halpern

Even though baseball is in a lockout the Mets still make news and for this season the news has been all positive. On Saturday the Mets hired Buck Showalter as their new manager. This is the first time the buck will start and end at the same place. Showalter has managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles and has a career record of 1,551-,1,517. Showalter last managed the Baltimore Orioles in 2018.  Showalter has experience in New York, as he managed the Yankees before they went to their four consecutive World Series. Showalter knows what it means to thrive in New York and deal with the cheers and boos.  Steve Cohen has said repeatedly how much he wants to win. Everything that Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler have done this offense signifies that the Mets want to win right now

Buck was the perceived favorite to replace Luis Rojas as the manager. Even the famous Mark “Old Ops Guy” Halpern predicted this at the end of the season last year. The prior two managers the Mets hired were first time managers. Buck Showalter will bring accountability to the organization. He will not put up with nonsense and will have no problem dealing with any pre Madonna’s that could come his way. Showalter said “ There is accountability and responsibility and (New York) isn’t for everybody. We are going to find out who it’s for and who it ain’t.” Luis Rojas was heavy in the analytics, I think Buck’s experience and feel for the game will certainly help. Showalter said about analytics “If you think that I’m going to let somebody beat us by having analytical information or because someone on the staff doesn’t understand it, I’m not going to talk about it. We’ll show you.” Buck is a three time AL Manager of the Year, last winning the award in 2014. The only individual we know that will be on the coaching staff currently is Jeremy Hefner was brought back as the pitching coach. Showalter said about Hefner at his introductory press conference that “ he is very impressed with Hefner and I can’t wait to get back on the phone with him.” Showalter is the latest excellent move from the Mets this offseason after adding Max Scherzer, Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar and Starling Marte to the roster. A roster that is already very talented with guys like Jacob DeGrom, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, etc… Last season the Mets made history by being in first place for 103 days and wind up having a losing record. 

 Do I think the Mets are done making moves? No, I would still like to see them add another arm in the rotation and the bullpen once the lockout ends. A lot of analysts have predicted that even with all the signings that the Mets are one of the teams to sign Kris Bryant.  Buck Showalter said about owner Steve and Alex Cohen “The love and passion that Steve and Alex have for the Mets and the things they are willing to do, that’s exciting.” All of this is music to Mets fans ears because there is a new sheriff in town and the Buck starts with him.

One Giant Question

By Mike Rifkin

The New York Giants announced that they are shutting down quarterback Daniel Jones for the rest of the season due to a neck injury. Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Duke, had a 64.3 completion percentage  with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season, he also ran for 298 yards and two touchdowns. In his career Jones has a 62.8 completion percentage with 45 touchdowns and 29 interceptions, while running for 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. Jones’s career record is 12-25 and the Giants as a team have not made the playoffs since 2016. The Giants have a lot of questions this offseason and one of the biggest ones is if they should exercise the fifth year option on Jones? Jones’s fifth year option would cost the giants 21.3 million dollars. 

Nobody can say the Giants never gave Jones talent around him including signing wide receiver Kenny Golladay to a massive contract this offseason. Jones’s offensive lines have always been a problem and for the Giants that’s been a problem for years. But Giants fans keep waiting for Jones to take that next step or giant leap as a lot of young quarterbacks have. They have seen glimpses of that if you watch the Saints game or the game at Washington earlier in the season, but Jones has not been consistent since coming into the league. Jones said today “ I have spoken to Joe (coach Joe Judge) and we’ve had conversations about being the starter next season. There are things he expects me to improve on and I understand that and take it very seriously. That is my kind of approach.” I thought coming into the season this was a make or break year for Jones but even though at times he showed glimpses there are other times where he still makes rookie mistakes. I like the fact that he understands he has to show improvement but I have a hard time just handing him the starting job once again. 

There are a lot of good quarterbacks who will be on the market this offseason with Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson (legal situation pending), and maybe even Derek Carr. There could be other names like Jimmy Garopolo but I don’t know how much of an upgrade that really is. The Giants also have trade ammunition with two 1st round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft after they acquired the Bears first in this past draft. Right now those picks would be fifth and sixth overall. Now if the Giants are uncomfortable trading both those picks, trade one and their 2023 first round pick to get one of these guys if they want. Or the other route would be to sign Teddy Bridgewater or someone along those lines to at least compete with Jones.

If I was running the show with the Giants I would be more interested in Wilson or Watson (legal situation pending) than Rodgers. Watson is 25 years old and the thing that could entice Houston the most is it would mean trading him out of the conference. Now if Russell Wilson expresses interest in coming to New York that is something to definitely explore. The Giants have a lot of questions to ask themselves this offseason and one of the biggest ones is do they believe in Daniel Jones to give him 21.3 million dollars?

Dallas vs Washington

Boys D too strong for WFT O

Record 9-4

By Mark Halpern

The Dallas Cowboys took on the Washington Football Team for another important divisional battle on Sunday. This was the first meeting this year between the divisional rivals, and Washington has been on a hot streak lately, so Dallas had to come to play, and they did, but they didn’t.

    The Dallas offense was not the game’s story as many analysts thought it would be. The Dallas offense sputtered through this game. Dak Prescot was not looking his best as he passed for 211 yards 1td and 2 int. He seems uncomfortable, and that could be that his calf has not entirely healed yet. Zeke Elliot was showing that his knee is a real problem. He only had 45 yards rushing and chipped in one reception for 15 yards. He was seen hobbling towards the sidelines many times but kept fighting to come back in. Tony Pollard was not available for this game with a foot injury, so Corey Clement was thrown into the mix and did what he was asked to do, and that was to be a change of pace player as he finished with 44 yards on 13 attempts of his own. Cooper had the lone touchdown catch in the game, and Cee Dee Lamb and Gallup had 60 yards each on the day. The offensive line was somewhat shaky, giving up 4 sacks on the day. All in all, the offense looked weak.

     Now on the other side of the ball, the Cowboys showed why they are one of the most feared defenses in football. This was the first game since opening day that Lawrence, Parsons and Gregory, and Gallimore all were on the field together, and they didn’t disappoint. Between the 4, they amassed 8 tackles, 5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, and 7 qb pressures. This was a huge missing piece of the defense for a while. The defense also forced and recovered 3 fumbles, 1 TD, and 1 interception on a beauty of a play by Randy Gregory. The Dallas defense was too much for Taylor Heinicke as he was constantly being pressured and being hit, the run game was nonexistent, and receivers weren’t open. Washington did have one fantastic play, and that was a Cam Simms 43 yard catch with Diggs right there stride for stride. That play lit a fire under the ass of the rest of the WFT team, but by that time, it was much too late as Dallas ended up winning 27-20, moving them to 9-4 on the season.

     A win is a win, whether by a blowout or one point. I have been listening to broadcasters criticizing the Cowboys for not winning by 20 more points. At the end of the game, all that matters is a score. Yes, I think the Dallas offense was weak and tired and didn’t look themselves at all but, in no way do I think they gave up after being up by so much. If the Dallas defense doesn’t have the game they had, it is very possible Dallas could have lost. However, they won, and they travel to New York next weekend to face the 4-9 New York Giants, who are just plain horrible. The big key to this game is that with a win, Dallas will win the NFC East and clinch a playoff berth and still have a good chance at a bye week if they keep winning. This team needs to jump this offense, and with the chances of winning the NFC East next Sunday, this should be the motivation that is needed.

TWIW – This Week In Wrestling VIII

Before I get into wrestling, I’d like to send my condolences to the family and friends of Blackjack Lanza who passed away on December 8th was 86

Blackjack Lanza was a 2006 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee and a 2016 inductee to the Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame

He was a champion during the glory days of the territories in promotions like the AWA, WWA, NWA, GCW and the WWWF

RIP Blackjack

NWA – HARD TIMES 2

NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Hex (c) vs. Kylie Rae & Tootie Lynn vs. Missa Kate & Natalia Markova vs. Jennacide & Paola Blaze w/Taryn Terrell – The Hex plants Lynn with Hex Marks The Spot to pick up the pinfall victory and retain their titles

Homicide won the Battle Royal to qualify for the upcoming NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Qualifying Match: Austin Aries vs Rhett Titus – Aries sends Titus into the ropes then hits a Rolling Elbow, followed by a Corner Dropkick. Finally Aries connects with The BrainBuster to get the 1-2-3

ROH World Tag Team Championship: The OGK (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) (c) vs. Aron Stevens & JR Kratos – Bennett rocks Stevens with a forearm smash followed by Taven rolling Stevens for the pinfall.

Colby Corino w/The Fixers vs. Douglas Williams – Corino sends Williams shoulder first into the steel ring post then he plants Williams with The Sonsetter for the win

IMPACT Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Kiera Hogan – Hogan climbs to the top turnbuckle and attempts a flying crossbody block, but Mickie rolls her over to pick up the victory

NWA Worlds Television Championship: Tyrus (c) w/Austin Idol, BLK Jeez and Jordan Clearwater vs. Cyon (No DQ w/The Pope as Special Guest Referee) – Tyrus lands the Heart Punch and gets the 1-2-3

NWA National Championship: Chris Adonis (c) vs. Judais w/Father James Mitchell – Adonis applies the The Master Lock submission but Judias passes out and the ref calls for the bell

NWA World Tag Team Championship: La Rebellion (c) vs. The End – Wolf connects with a 450 splash on Parrow for the win

Nick Aldis vs. Thomas Latimer (If Either Man Is Disqualified, They Will Be Suspended For 2 Months) – Aldis connects with The Jackknife Hold to get the victory.

NWA World Women’s Championship: Kamille (c) vs. Melina – Kamille connects with The Spear to get the pinfall.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Mike Knox – In the corner Murdoch hits Knox with clubbing headbutts then connects with The Flying Bulldog to get the 1-2-3.

After the match, Matt Cardona appears. Knox then delivers a low blow to Murdoch. The Popes comes out and Knox starts to brawl with The Pope. Cardona attacks Pope from behind. Cardona throws the Pope into the steel ring steps. Finally, Knox kicks Murdoch in the face. Cardona poses with Ten Pounds Of Gold to end the show.

NXT – WAR GAMES

This is Beth Phoenix’s last night on commentary for NXT

WOMEN’S WARGAMES MATCH: Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai, Cora Jade & Kay Lee Ray vs. Dakota Kai, Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne – Early on Cora took a nasty landing off the top onto the tables with Jacy on them and I believed she legit damaged her arm, but she the rest of the team never gave up and hurt arm and all, Cora Jade got the pinfall on Jacy Jayne

NXT Tag-Team Championships: Imperium vs Kyle O’Reilly & Von Wagner – Aichner and Barthel connect with a double-team Imperium bomb for the pinfall on O’Reilly to retain their NXT tag-team titles

After the match Wagner turns on O’Reilly by trying to attack him, but O’Reilly got over on him then said, “This is a brotherhood” while he did the classic Undisputed Era taunt.

Hair vs. Hair Match: Cameron Grimes vs Duke Hudson – In the end Hudson gets Grimes up in the Razor’s Edge position but Grimes escapes and gets a roll up victory for the 1-2-3

Hudson tried to turn the tables on Grimes and shave his head, but Hudson finally gets his head shaved.

NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Roderick Strong (C) vs Joe Gacy – Strong connects with his double knee back breaker for the pinfall victory

Backstage Kyle O’Reilly Challenges Von Wagner To Steel Cage Match on the next episode of NXT

Men’s WarGames Match: Team Black & Gold (Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne & LA Knight) vs. Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Tony D’Angelo) – Bron Breakker Spears Ciampa through a table for the win.

This is going to set up a definite rematch between Ciampa and Breakker for the NXT Championship in the near future I believe

WWE – RAW

Steel Cage Match: Big E vs. Kevin Owens – Big E nails a Big Ending from the top rope and then crawls out of the ring for the victory. 

After the match, while E is celebrating, he gets attacked from behind by Seth Rollins, who then turns his attention to Kevin Owens. As Rollins is leaving Big E connects with a Belly to Belly Suplex on Rollins, then a Big Ending for Kevin Owens. Bobby Lashley then makes his way down to the ring and attacked all three men on his own.

Queen Zelina (w/ Carmella) vs. Nikki A.S.H (w/ Rhea Ripley) – Nikki A.S.H. lands a neckbreaker but misses a flying crossbody. Zelina then counters as she hits Code Red for the three count.

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Tournament Semifinal Match: AJ Styles & Omos vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) – Omos attacks Ford on the outside, but gets counted out as Ford gets back to the ring in time. 

After the match AJ tells Omos he has to listen better and pay attention. Omos just walks away. Will we see one turn on the other in the near future?

United States Championship: Damian Priest vs. Robert Roode (w/ Dolph Ziggler) – Priest attempts a springboard onto Roode who quickly counters with a spinebuster. Priest is the 1st one up, grabs Roode for The Reckoning and the 1-2-3

Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop – Belair gets Doudrop up for the KOD, but Doudrop escapes and leaves the ring. She just keeps going and the ref counts her out

MizTV with Edge. These two verbally go back and forth and Edge brings up how Miz was treated and acted as a rookie in 2006. This will eventually lead to a match as the Day 1 ppv

RK-Bro-Nament: The Mysterios vs. Alpha Academy – The finish saw Chad Gable go up top and attempt a moonsault but Dominik moves and gets the pinfall

With that win, the Street Profits will face The Mysterios next week in the finals of the RK-Bro-Nament and who will become the #1 contenders.

Backstage, Austin Theory is warming-up inside Vince’s office as Mr. McMahon is on the phone. Vince tells him to sit and tells him thatunfortunately he won’t have a match tonight because he wasn’t ready on time. Vince tells him he’ll need to figure out some way to impress him. Vince tells Theory to use his brains to impress him and Theory leaves with a smile on his face.

Finn Balor vs. T-BAR – Balor goes up to the top and lands his Coup de Grace

After the match, Austin Theory jumps him from behind and starts taking a selfie with Finn

RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan – after a great back and forth match, Becky gets the 1-2-3 with assist from the rope that the ref doesn’t see

NXT

Steel Cage Match: Von Wagner vs. Kyle O’Reilly – Wagner nails Kyle with a low blow then follows that up with a powerbomb for the pinfall

After the match Von continues to attack Kyle and hangs him in the tree of woah facing the cage door and then Von smashes his face with the door. This is probably the last time we see Kyle in NXT / WWE. Will he be AEW or Impact bound?

We are informed that Harland will make his in-ring debut next week

Breakker comes out and talks about the respect he has for the black and gold of NXT but he has one fall apiece against Ciampa and will anything to get to him again. This brings out Malcolm Bivens and lets him know that Roderick Strong is “THE” champion of NXT. He says he has his sights set on him. And will face Strong next week

Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs vs. The Creed Brothers – while distracted, Briggs rolls up Creed and gets the pin fall victory.

Duke Hudson and Cameron Grimes go back and forth about their hair vs hair match in which Hudson is wearing a wig. Grimes challenges Hudson to a no holds barred match

Carmelo Hayes vs. Dexter Lumis – Trick Williams interferes from the outside to break up the potential pinfall giving Lumis the win via DQ

MSK (Nash Carter & Wes Lee) continue looking the Shaman, who has been confirmed to be revealed tonight. We see them knock on a door and when it opens, it turns out the Shaman is actually Matt Riddle

Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon vs. Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jane – Jane connects with clothesline to Feroz and then a big kick right under the jaw for the 1-2-3.

Tiffany Stratton coming soon promo

Tony D’Angelo is challenged By Andre Chase for a match next week

Xyon Quinn vs. Santos Escobar – Lopez sneaks a pair of brass knuckles onto his hand of Quinn while he’s down, but both men eventually get up and Quinn realizes he has the knucks. As Quinn prepares to finish the match members of Legado Del Fantasma provides a distraction. Quinn heads over and knocks them off the apron with the knucks but then turns to Escobar, who hits his finisher and scores the pin fall victory.

Johnny Gargano addresses the audience. He’s not sure what the future holds, but right now he’s stepping away to be a father. As he’s finishing up he is attacked by Grayson Waller and put threw a table. Will this be the last time we see Gargano? His baby is due in February, so is anything, he’ll return to the ring hopefully by June or July at the latest. Time will tell

AEW – DYNAMITE

CM Punk starts things off in Long Island cutting a promo on MJF. There were loud boos in the building I’m guessing because MJF is from Long Island and came off as Long Islanders being superior and he’s returning as a hero of sorts. Punk insults the NY Islanders hockey team and puts of the Blackhawks. I’m guessing things will return to mainly cheers once out of Long Island.

Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal – Some of the participants were MJF, Shawn Spears, Wardlow, Lee Moriarty, Jay Lethal, Matt Hardy, Dante Martin, Lio Rush, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Frankie Kazarian. During the match MJF eliminates Wardlow, who did not look happy and Dante Martin eliminated Ricky Starks.  When Dante eliminated Starks that left MJF and Dante Martin as the final two participants in the battle royal and will face each other next week. 

After the match Starks attacks Dante, who is also a member of Team Taz and is joined in by MJF which leads to Punk coming down to get involved

Jurassic Express & Varsity Blonds vs. The Acclaimed & Team 2point0 – During the match Eddie Kingston run down to the ring to attack Daniel Garcia and Team 2point0 who attacked him last week. After Eddie leaves Jungle Boy applies his snare trap submission finisher for the submission.

The Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor – The Bucks connect with a Meltzer Driver on Romero for the 1-2-3

We are informed that next week we will see Ruby Soho, Tay Conti and Anna Jay vs Penelope Ford, The Bunny and Nyla Rose. 

We also find out that next week Sammy Guevara’s Next TNT Title Open Challenge will be against Cody Rhodes, but Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky have something to say about it. Will they get involved?

Jamie Hayter vs. Riho – Riho picks up the pinfall

We go to Taz who announces that Fuego Del Sol will wrestle next week on the Winter is Coming special against Taz’s son, the “secret weapon” of Team Taz, his son, Hook

Main Event: Bryan Danielson vs. John Silver – Danielson wins via submission

After the match Bryan won’t release the hold which prompts Adam Page to come down and runs of Danielson. Page promises to defeat him next week and retain his AEW World Title.

IMPACT

Chris Sabin & Mickie James vs. Matthew Rehwoldt & Deonna Purrazzo – Coming off the top-rope, Mickie hits her double knees splash onto Deonna, but Deonna reverses the pin and uses help from both Rehwoldt and the ropes for leverage behind the referees back for the 1-2-3

Backstage, Gia Miller is with Matt Cardona. She talks to him about being added to the Impact World Championship match at Hard to Kill, which makes now makes it a triple-threat match against                     W. Morrissey and Moose.

Matt talks about that the only thing he has wanted since coming to IMPACT is a world title shot.                    W. Morrissey comes over and says that it’s typical of Mid card -Cardona taking something he didn’t earn. He says that’s why he’s at the spot he’s always been in his career. He says he deserves a one-on-one match at Hard to Kill. Matt has had enough and tells Morrissey that they can go to the ring and have a match, and if Morrissey wins, Cardona is out of the match. 

Rohit Raju vs. Lawrence D – No Contest since Josh Alexander comes to the ring and takes out both men.

After Josh takes out Raju and D, he calls out Jonah. Scott D’Amore comes out and tells him Jonah isn’t here tonight, but they will have a match at Hard to Kill. Josh says it isn’t enough and needs to take out Jonah before refocusing on Moose and the title. D’Amore tries to get through to Alexander, calling him family and saying he needs to get his emotions in check. Alexander heads out of the ring and he grabs Raj Singh and brings him in the ring. He nails Raju with a Falcon Arrow and gets back on the mic and tells D’Amore that this is an example of him keeping his emotions in check

The Learning Tree vs. FinJuice – Finnjuice get the pinfall

Moose offers to help Morrissey take out Cardona and make their match one on one, but he doesn’t trust Moose and will do it himself

Street Fight: Eric Young vs. Rhino – Heath, Swann, Willie Mack, Doering and Deaner all come down and get involved. This distraction allows Eric to his a low blow on Rhino, then a piledriver to the 1-2-3

The IInspiration & The Influence vs. Decay – Spear on Madison Rayne for the victory

Lady Frost is introduced as the newest member of the Impact roster

After that Gail Kim informs everybody that Lady Frost, Rachael Ellering, Jordynne Grace, Chelsea Green and Rosemary will all be in the 1st ever Knockouts Ultimate-X match

Main Event: (Hard To Kill Title Shot On-The-Line For Cardona) W. Morrissey vs. Matt Cardona – This was a real hard fought match but in the end Morrissey takes out the ref causing Matt Cardona to get the DQ win and will stay in the triple threat match.

WWE – SMACKDOWN

The show starts off with Sami Zayn in the ring recapping what happened to him last week. Paul Heyman comes in and talks to Sami, which leads to Brock Lesnar coming out as well. By the end, Lesnar hits another F5 on Sami before he leaves the ring

Los Lotharios (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo) vs. Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura – Nakamura connects with a Kinshasa on Humberto for the pinfall

Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre – McIntyre nails Sheamus with a Claymore kick for the 1-2-3

Naomi vs. Sonya Deville (w/ special guest ring announcer Natalya and special guest ref Shayna Baszler) – Before the match starts Naomi goes after Natalya and Shayna before she gets back in the ring.  Sonya Deville takes off and runs away. Natalya, Shayna & Sonya surround Naomi when Xia Li debuts and helps out Naomi. 

Championship Contender’s Match: SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Toni Storm (If Toni wins, she gets a future shot at the champion) – In the end, Flair slams Storm’s head into the ring post. Storm isn’t moving. Flair stomps Storm against the ring post. The referee counts to five but Flair won’t stop. Which leads to Charlotte being DQed and Toni gets the win and future shot at the title

AEW – RAMPAGE

AEW World Tag-Team Championships: The Lucha Bros (C) vs. FTR – Fenix dives into a rolling cutter onto Harwood, then tries the same on Wheeler, but Wheeler counters with a Gory Bomb. Wheeler heads over to Penta, who hits him with a back-body drop. Penta looks for Fear Factor after that, but Wheeler avoids it. Penta and Fenix hit a double foot stomp off the top into a big finish for the pinfall. Was Cash’s foot under the rope?

Ruby Soho, Anna Jay & Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford, The Bunny & Nyla Rose – Nyla connects with a powerbomb for the 1-2-3

backstage  Darby Allin & Sting are attacked by FTR and Tully BlanchardHook vs. Fuego Del Sol – Hook is making his in ring debut and is the son of Taz. The crowd is fully behind Hook, since this is in Long Island and Taz is an ECW original and from Brooklyn – Hook looked really good and I was very surprised and happy for him. Hook locks in the Kata ha jime aka the Tazmission

Time For A Change

By: Mike Rifkin

On Thursday night the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-28.  The Steelers battled back in the second half and even had an opportunity to tie the game, but Harrison Smith made a tremendous play. But the play people will talk about is that in the final moment Chase Claypool got a fourth down conversion and made a first down signal. Here is the problem: the Steelers were trying to spike the ball and they were out of timeouts. Earlier in the game Claypool was called for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Coach Mike Tomlin said postgame that he benched Claypool because of the penalty. Claypool did lead the team with 8 catches for 93 yards. This wasn’t the first time Claypool and Tomlin saw eye to eye.

In November Claypool suggested that the team should play music during practice to make it more fun. Tomlin’s response was “Claypool plays wide out and I’ll let him do that. I’ll formulate the practice approach and I think that division of labor is appropriate.” You would have thought the Steelers would have learned from the antics of 2020. In 2020 there were viral videos of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster doing TikTok dances pregame. One game Smith Schuster danced on the Bengals logo and that game he had three catches 15 yards and a fumble. Tomlin said after that game he “he was aware and planned to talk to Juju.” Tomlin went on to say “But we’re professionals. I doubt any of those antics and things of that nature are legitimate motivating factors as you step into professional stadiums. But it’s about respect so we will have a conversation. But I understand it’s about the quality of play inside the white lines.” The Steelers had Antonio Brown and that is not the hole we are going down right now, but his antics rubbed off on Smith Schuster whose antics rubbed off on Claypool. 

The Steelers last season started the season 11-0 before losing four of five to end the regular season before getting manhandled by the Cleveland Browns 48-37. It was 28-0 in the first quarter, but after all the ups and downs the Steelers said they were ok with bringing back basically the same group this season and after last night’s loss have a record of 6-6-1 including a sweep at the hands of the Bengals. The Steelers are known for stability, they have had three coaches in 30 years. Maybe it’s time for the Steelers to blow this up. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has already talked about this being his last season according to reports. But maybe Roethlisberger isn’t the only one to blame. I know Mike Tomlin has never had a losing record, this year that can change. The Steelers have been one of the standard setters in the NFL over the last 15 seasons, but maybe it’s time for a rebuild and let Ben walk into the sunset and have a new voice of direction because this is not Bill Cowher or Chuck Noll’s Steelers.