WRESTLING REPORT
The road to Wrestlemania is forming post Royal Rumble
Jan 30, 2019, 5:33 am
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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 and the sister show Ball Control. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows at www.nerdthugradio.com or www.facebook.com/nerdthugradio!
Coming off the heels of Sunday's Royal Rumble, some championships changed hands, some surprisingly didn't and the heat is building for WrestleMania.
Surprisingly Finn Balor didn't beat Brock Lesnar, but Seth Rollins did win the Men's Royal Rumble and at the end of RAW decided to challenge Lesnar for his title in the main event of WrestleMania. Ronda Rousey tried to cut a promo about being in the main even of WrestleMania but the fans weren't having it, further cementing the idea that the fans aren't enjoying a Rousey reign as Women's Champion and were chanting Becky's name long before Becky Lynch made a surprise appearance and cashed in the prize of her victory from the women's Royal Rumble and challenged Ronda to a title match at WrestleMania.
Two of the women's tag team entries into the elimination match for the women's tag team titles were set with both Tamina/Nia Jax and Liv Morgan/Sarah Logan qualifying for the match. Overall this was an average wrap up show with no real movement on anything although it looks like the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins rivalry has come to an end as rumors are now abound that Ambrose won't be renewing his WWE contract and will likely be leaving post WrestleMania for those rumored greener pastures every wrestler's been dreaming about this year, All Elite Wrestling.
Yet again Smackdown launched with Lynch, her feud with Charlotte Flair continuing, but the crowd excited about her impending match with Rousey at WrestleMania also wasn't letting Charlotte talk, so they fought instead. R Truth had a great show as he first beat Shinsuke Nakamora and then Rusev immediately after to both win and defend the US Championship in the span of about twenty minutes.
The Mandy Rose/Naomi story took a slightly more believable turn as Mandy's desire for revenge was at least explained - even if it is paper thin - the tag titles are going to be put on the line against perennial tag team champ threats, The Usos. Smackdown lined up the Elimination Chamber main event with Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. This is great news if it was 10 years ago, because aside from Mustafa Ali this is one of the oldest main events in recent history, reminiscent of the Triple H vs Sting Wrestlemania match of a few years back.
The road to WrestleMania is shaping up and one thing is obvious, the year of Becky Lynch and the rise of the Women of the WWE may be two of the biggest storylines of 2019.
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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.