THE WRESTLING REPORT
Shane's perfect rise to top villain continues in WWE
Jul 17, 2019, 12:36 pm
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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. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!
Extreme Rules actually delivered, with a great return of The Undertaker after having been an absolute embarrassment against Goldberg only a few months ago. The Roman Reigns and Undertaker tag match against Shane and Drew McIntyre actually delivered. The Kevin Owens Dolph Ziggler match was a confusing squash match with Kevin Owens stunning Dolph and just finishing the match in about six seconds which was odd since Dolph was in a crazy cage match against Kofi just last month. The New Day won the tag titles, and Ricochet lost his title to AJ Styles. Then Seth and Becky crushed Baron and Lacey but the big finish was the inevitable Brock Lesnar taking Seth's belt with the Money in the Bank contract.
Raw was pretty good but I really can't stand the Street Prophets and I think we need to dial their screen time down to zero. The ladies put on a great four way elimination match and it was awesome to see Bray Wyatt return to the ring but the 24/7 title is seriously a running gag and needs to also go away. Seth Rollins amazing run continues as he wins the 10 man battle royal and is building back up to a great Brock Lesnar rivalry, which basically legitimizes putting the belt back on Brock.
The Smackdown town hall was a great way to set up the "pro Shane" and "anti Shane" people really easily. With Liv Morgan getting destroyed by Charlotte Flair and Apollo Crews just barely getting a surprise win after a brutally one sided match against Andrade, it sets up a great "under dog" dynamic and Kevin Owens gets to run a great hero of the people feud with Shane which is finally winning me over to the idea that maybe he can be worthwhile in limited spots but still not full time. A Bayley and Ember Moon rivalry could be fun, just because it looks like they both can do some impressive stuff so this might be a fun match up for the women's title for a bit. A return of Randy Orton who then immediately wants a title shot is not a surprise but more of a disappointment and a Randy vs Kofi battle won't be fun to watch and poor Kofi will have to do all the work on this one too. It's obvious why he's holding the title as long as he is, but when are they going to give some other new guys a shot at the belt with him?
Overall the trend of better programming started this week with Shane in the role of the villain and Kevin Owens in the Steve Austin role.
Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office email me for details or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.