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Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!
If you're looking at a calendar you can't tell but this is actually a really important week in wrestling, we are now living in a post All Elite Wrestling world. They had their event this Sunday and all indications are that it went amazing. The biggest criticism people seem to have so far is that most of the "big names" are former WWE superstars including the big surprise reveal of the event that John Moxley, formerly Dean Ambrose, has come to AEW. That's a fair point but there was plenty of small time made big talent as well such as friend of Nerd Thug Radio Kylie Rae and others. So with All Elite Wrestling landing such a big flag then the expectation is that WWE would come out swinging this week on Raw and Smackdown, right? They have their controversial return to Saudi Arabia coming up and they should be looking for some opportunity to regain ground and try and stop some losses somewhere.
Raw essentially did the opposite though, while it was Memorial Day and they ran a gorgeous video package in honor of those who served and gave all for our freedoms, they didn't get into an actual real match until about an hour and half in and honestly it never picked up from there. There was a Becky Lynch appearance but it was in a tag match, there was a fatal four way but it was hurt by the absence of one of WWE's biggest current stars AJ Styles who is now out with injury, another unfortunate side effect of the new double usage for the top portion of the WWE roster. The Brock Lesnar bit where he didn't know he had an entire year to cash in his money in the bank contract was odd, it doesn't make any sense, hasn't he been on the roster for roughly a decade? He never knew about the Money in the Bank contract before? That doesn't even make sense.
Smackdown didn't get much better, with Kevin Owens cutting a weird promo before he fights Kofi Kingston again that he hopes Dolph Ziggler beats Kofi Kingston so that Dolph then gives Kevin a title shot. What? Why wouldn't Kevin just beat Kofi on Smackdown for the title? Then Shane McMahon does some more anti Roman Reigns stuff, I guess tabling the Miz rivalry for a week. Also another injury, Finn Balor, adding up to WWE needing to start bringing up more guys and giving screen time to more people. The 24/7 title is still a joke and I worry it will never not be, which sort of makes me wonder what's the point?
So with the Saudi Arabia event coming up and several key guys saying they aren't going to be there and with injuries piling up from over usage and AEW putting on an amazing event and announcing a TNT television deal for later this year, this isn't the kind of foot I expected WWE to put forward.
Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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The Houston Astros are looking to avoid an unexpected sweep Wednesday night as they wrap up their three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians at Daikin Park.
Winners of six of their last ten despite back-to-back losses, the Astros (55-37) turn to left-hander Brandon Walter (1-1, 4.15 ERA) to steady the ship and salvage the finale. Walter has been reliable in his recent outings, and he’ll face a Guardians lineup that has struggled to string together hits, batting just .204 over their last 10 games.
Cleveland (42-48) entered the series on a 10-game losing streak, but now has a chance to sweep the AL West leaders and take the season series. Slade Cecconi (3-4, 3.56 ERA) gets the start for the Guardians. The 26-year-old righty has kept his ERA under 4.00 this year and will look to neutralize a Houston offense that leads the American League in batting average at .260 and is hitting .295 over the last 10 games.
All eyes remain on Jose Altuve, who has driven in 16 runs and slugged four homers over his last 10 games. He’s been the heartbeat of the Houston offense, while Isaac Paredes continues to deliver steady power at the top of the lineup. The Astros have scored five or more runs in eight of their last ten games, but the bullpen faltered late in both of the first two games of this series.
Cleveland counters with the steady presence of Carlos Santana and the always-dangerous Jose Ramirez. Though Ramirez is just 6-for-38 in his last 10 games, he’s delivered key home runs in the series and remains the Guardians’ biggest threat.
With the season series now 3-2 in favor of Cleveland, Wednesday’s matchup carries added weight for the Astros as they look to regroup and avoid letting momentum slip further. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -144, Guardians +121; over/under is 8 runs
Astros lineup for the finale
What stands out? First off, Jake Meyers returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a calf issue. With Meyers back in the two-spot, Cam Smith returns to hitting cleanup. Caratini is playing first base again and hitting fifth, followed by Yainer Diaz (C), Cooper Hummel (DH), Taylor Trammell (LF), and Mauricio Dubon (SS).
Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.
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