MTV won’t air it, but we sure will! Enjoy the latest ‘media event’ from Puffy and Bad Boy Records! (Hi, Suge)

www.babygrande.com - $$$$

Honestly, some time we (those who dare call themselves the hip-hop generation) over think the music that’s currently being released to the masses. Either, we live amongst the naysayers with a proverbial grumble that “hip-hop” is dead - banishing the thought of purchasing any and all music from the genre (even from the indie circuit), or we ride the radio waves of POPularity, happily content “snapping” and poppin’ right along with our local blinged-out disc jockey.

Now, regardless of what side of the argument– left or right that you fall upon, (or even those in the middle, ‘doin’ their own thang’) what is often missed in this unsurrendering debate; is the fact that not every album from the lauded Golden-era of hip-hop is an A and B-side front to back, thought-out with no-debate unanimous classic. Sure today’s hip-hop and rap music has great opportunities around lyrical content and song structure, but the real tragedy I see on a daily basis is that we as a Hip-Hop Nation allow past spoils and the present sonic dictatorship of our ears command what we are willing (and wanting) to listen to.

We are a nation divided, and without pointing fingers in too many directions, we’ll just say that the powers-that-be have clearly crafted a glass ceiling that could most certainly use a sledgehammer taken to it. And with their collective sabbatical now over, The Polyrhythmic Addicts set out to do just that with Break Glass…

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Vengeance is this Sunday, and they’re billing it as the night of champions… every match is a title match. Hopefully, they’re fighting over the actual belts and not the cheap foam ones they sell up in the souvenir stand. Sitting around the table this week are me, Birdsong, and Eks. The throw-out question this week was a multi-parter, with which I attached the official WWE draft scorecard:

Here is the official draft scorecard:

To Raw: Mr. Kennedy, King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Sandman, Jillian, Daivari, Brian Kendrick, Paul London, William Regal

To Smackdown: Ric Flair, Chris Masters, Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Bob Holly, Victoria, Eugene

To ECW: Chris Benoit, Boogeyman, Viscera, Johnny Nitro, The Miz

So, now that the WWE draft is over, answer the following multi-part question:

1) Which wrestler(s) benefit the most from moving?
2) Which wrestler(s) benefit the least from moving?
3) Which wrestler(s) should have been moved but wasn’t and where would you send them?

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Results from Gerweck.net.

I was out this weekend with an illness, so not only did you not get a preview last week, but you didn’t get the review yesterday either. Well, have no fear, dear reader, you get two for the price of one today with dual commentary from Birdsong and I. Unfortunately, we weren’t at the same place at the same time to record our commentary (must be a Burt Ward / Adam West kind of thing), so you don’t get the full-on McCartney and Stevie experience, but I’m trying the best I can to make it up to everybody, especially Birdsong, who reliably did his part in getting me his preview on time so his stuff won’t go to waste.

Let me pose the opening question: will Ring of Honor supplant TNA as the #2 wrestling organization in the company now that they have PPV?”

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Why is Kane on the poster for a PPV when he’s not on the card? Anyway, regardless, you know the cast of characters: me, Birdsong who owns Hulk Hogan underoos, Eks the Southerner, and Corey the even more Southerner. How y’all doin’?

Here’s the long, drawn-out opening question: Ken Kennedy lost his Money in the Bank shot due to injury, but after they turned it over to Edge (who subsequently was given the World Championship after Undertaker’s injury), they found out that Kennedy’s injury was not so severe, and even if it was, he would have returned in plenty of time for the build to Wrestlemania 24.

So… did WWE jump the gun by switching the Money in the Bank from Kennedy to Edge or did they do the right thing to get the right guy in there?

The answers were a lot more controversial from our panel than I expected.

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I don’t know if this is any indication to how much interest TNA is generating with wrestling fans in general or if the card is just that weak, but our collective interest in this show on the Shotgun seems to be much lower than it was for Backlash last month. That leads into the opening question you’ll see below. Starring in this prognostication of sports entertainment are myself, Lyrical Lounge editor and lifelong Hulkamaniac Jonathan Birdsong, and reviewer and former booker for World 1 South AWA Steven Ekstrom.

The Russ: Here’s the opening question for this edition of the roundtable. Is TNA heading in the right direction to compete with WWE?

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With the Shotgun relaunch and after just coming off Wrestlemania, we thought it would be a great idea to bring all the wrestling minds on the site together, knock each other’s heads in, and come up with our PPV predictions for this Sunday’s WWE Backlash in Atlanta, GA. Starring in this prognostication of sports entertainment are myself, Lyrical Lounge editor and lifelong Hulkamaniac Jonathan Birdsong, fellow wrestling contributor Corey Henson, and reviewer and former booker for World 1 South AWA Steven Ekstrom.

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How ironic that he’s wearing “prison jumpsuit orange” in that picture… 

Here’s the coverage I promised last week on the Disco Inferno fiasco. Also, check out my WWE News and Notes from last week.

Stay tuned for the Rasslin’ Ring Roundtable PPV Preview later this week. Steven Eks, Jonathan Birdsong, Corey Henson, and I will go for the gusto and preview WWE Backlash this Sunday on pay-per-view. Let’s hope we can work in a joke about Sid Vicious stabbing Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors in there somewhere.

Greetings and welcome to the new ShotgunReviews.com. Since 1999, we’ve done our best to give you worthwhile (and often funny) reviews and columns, and it’s time to shake off the rust and do it a little differently. We’ve kicked around a few ideas regarding how we’d do this new thing, and we hope you like what you see.

The new design comes to us from Barb Hallock, a student of mine with the appropriate attitude for this place (that is, bad). The more bloggish format puts us more on par with the current landscape. After all, we’ve been doing this almost eight full years. It was time for a big change. I think that you’ll agree that the new format, with a huge list of categories and easy searching, is a good one.

As part of that big change, we’ve brought in an influx of new talent from a variety of places. The entirety of our Best Shots team, responsible for the Best Shots column that runs every Monday at Newsarama.com, is now operating here in several capacities. You’ll also meet several talented young writers, including Barb herself, who will be tackling a variety of topics.

However, if you’re one of the rare folks that has read us since 1999, don’t get too worried. Shawn Delaney will still grace us with terrific music reviews, as will Jonathan Birdsong and the Lyrical Lounge crew. The Russ is back on wrestling coverage in full force. L.I. Rapkin’s already kicking in some culture. Eric Barker’s already opened the film vaults. And they aren’t the only familiar faces lurking around.

In the next few days and weeks, you’ll see the roster expand a little more and you’ll see some new recurring columns and features that we hope will become favorites. If you want to check out the old stuff, the old site currently still exists in its full glory under the archive button. If you want to talk about any of the stuff, old or new, visit our newly established forums.

So there’s my big speech. Enjoy yourselves, express yourselves, and invite friends. ShotgunReviews.com never went away, but we are most certainly back. Thanks for your time.