For those of you that are regular readers of the blog here and AREN’T wrestling fans don’t worry… this is the last wrestling related post for a while.

With that being said, WrestleMania 28 is officially in the books and it’s time for a recap and a look back at the show that was.  As per usual we built our yearly Beeramid which was epic.

First off, I’ll say this was a FAR superior show compared to the last couple of years.  I always enjoy WrestleMania weekend cause we turn it into an event, but I have to say the show itself was a BIG part of my enjoyment this year.  That’s something I’ve not been able to say over the last couple of years.

• Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan for the World Title
  If you blinked, you missed it.  Sheamus hit Bryan with his finisher as soon as he turned around from giving AJ a kiss and just like that it was over.  The WWE has gotten a TON of shit for this one but I have to say this match got one of the loudest pops from us.  While you can’t really call this a “match” and I would have enjoyed watching Sheamus and Bryan go at it, this was a pretty cool way to get the show started.  And when you think about it this is a really nice way to play into the Daniel Bryan story line.
• Kane beat Randy Orton
  I can only imagine how pissed Randy and Kane were when they found out they were going on second.  Guess that’s what happens when you have no time to build a story line and when Orton is hurt all the time.  This was actually a really good wrestling match, but as I watched it I couldn’t help but think we were watching an episode of RAW.  Kane gets the clean win when he choke slams Orton off the top rope.  Good finish and good solid match.
• Big Show beat Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title
  With all the talk of how Big Show chokes at Mania, this was a no brainer for me (though apparently I was in the minority).  Cody Rhodes is clearly an up and comer and quite frankly I think he needed to lose the title so he could move forward in his career.  This was a relatively short match but one that I thought was pretty well done.  Big Show is nearing the end of his career and I for one was happy to see him get a victory on the grandest stage of them all.  He was visibly emotional at the end  which makes me think he’s nearing the end of the road.  Decent match.
• Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve
  Um… yeah.  This match happened.  Was there any doubt that Kelly & Maria were going to win this?  If you doubted it, you should have read this beforehand.  Celebrities don’t lose at WrestleMania… period.  To be fair though, Maria had some broken ribs from her stint on Dancing With The Stars and didn’t totally embarrass herself.  Thankfully this was a short one.  Oh yeah… and Even is smoking hot.  Yum.
• The Undertaker defeated HHH in Hell In A Cell
  I still don’t think Shawn Michaels should have been in this match, but I have to say that all 3 guys brought it and did a HELL of a job.  If you want an example of old school wrestling storytelling you don’t have to go any further than this match.  While Taker, HHH and Shawn are all clearly well beyond their prime these guys far exceeded my expectations and put on an outstanding match.  As big a Taker fan as I am, I had to say that before the match I was VERY worried that the streak would end, but I’m happy to say that he managed to run it to 20-0.  Now I’m just hoping that he’ll retire and not even think about turning back.  If that’s the case I’d like to thank Undertaker for an outstanding career.  Match of the night in my opinion.
• Team Johnny beat Team Teddy
  Honestly I couldn’t have cared less about this match.  To me this was just a way to get a bunch of guys onto the WrestleMania card.  And let’s face it, NO ONE in the locker room wanted to follow HHH/Taker so the placement on the card here makes perfect sense.  It wasn’t nearly the spot fest that I thought it would be and as I sit here just 5 days removed from the event I really can’t pick out anything memorable.  That said, I can’t pick out anything overly terrible either so for a 12 man match this is about as good as we could have expected.
• CM Punk retained his WWE Championhip by making Chris Jericho tap
  Heading into the match there were quite a few folks (myself included) that were hoping this would be the next coming of Savage/Steamboat from WrestleMania III.  And while it didn’t quite live up to that, it was a DAMN good match.  Lots of back and forth action with Jericho doing the clean tap job in the middle of the ring.  With the “your momma’s a whore” build prior to the event the outcome was pretty set in stone, but these guys told a great story and had a superb match.  If I wasn’t such a Taker fan this would have been the match of the night for me.
• The Rock beat John Cena
  I just don’t get it.  The booking here makes absolutely no sense to me.  I stated before where I thought they were going but based on this match and the outcome I’m clearly wrong.  I just don’t see the value of Rock winning here.  The next night on RAW, he did what we all knew he’d do and essentially said goodbye for the foreseeable future.  And for all those John Cena haters out there, PLEASE take a look at this match and watch how he CARRIED The Rock through the whole thing.  Pay special attention to when Rock is in Cena’s submission finisher and damn near falls asleep.  Dear Rock… it’s not a sleeper.  You should be in agony when your leg is touching your head.  I can only hope that there’s some sort of longer term plans here.  The match itself was pretty decent (aside from a couple of examples) but with a year long build which I think was a HUGE mistake this one was bound to fall flat.

So there you have it.  As I said before, overall it was a VERY entertaining show and far superior to the last few year’s offerings.

For those keeping track at home, the final win/losses for the night were:

• Chewie: 5/8
• Pip: 4/8
• Marko: 4/8

Speaking of the WrestleMania 28 Drinking Game.  Here are the final tallies on how often we drank for each rule.  I’m sure we missed a few here and there, but this is the gist.

1 Time

• If a Diva and wrestler make out
• Every time it’s mentioned that Miami is the Rock’s home town
• If Michaels super kicks someone
• Submission victory
• (Uunannounced) legend appearance or surprise return

3 Times

• Small package attempt
• Ref bump

4 Times

• Foreign object

5 Times

• Bloody wrestler
• Reference to the sponsored song
• Footage of a previous WrestleMania
• Something is “trending worldwide”

10 Times

• Missed match outcome

And the CLEAR winner… with a whopping 27 occurrences…

• A finishing move

Once again, it was an absolutely tremendous event and we’re already looking forward to next year.  Got a rule you think we should include in next year’s game?  Post a comment and we’ll get it added!

I have to give HUGE props to my brother Marko for once again joining us for the event.  Not only is the event itself Herculean in nature, but Mark and his wife had just 5 days prior welcomed their first child into the world.  As his wife said, “With a dad and uncle who are so big into wrestling… there’s no chance she won’t be a fan!”  And let’s be honest… what kind of an uncle would I be if I didn’t instill a love for wrestling in my niece?  On another family note, the Wife and kids were out of town this year which was a real bummer cause Pip (aka Mr. Matt) loves to see them and the boys talk about him just about all year… we’ll have to wait till next year for that.

In any case… with our rules of engagement set before us, we awoke Sunday morning ready for action.  I’ve often said that if you’re going to do something stupid you may as well go all the way, so we started with a tremendous pre-WrestleMania breakfast of steak, eggs & Yuengling!

The Breakfast Of Champions

Mark wasn’t going to be doing a ton of drinking as he was running on about 46 minutes of sleep, so Pip and I knew we had our work cut out for us.  Luckily, the first row of the Beeramid flew by with little incident.

1 Row Down... 6 To Go

Row #2 went by pretty easily as well.  Those first two are rough but rows 3, 4 and 5 is when business really starts to pick up.

2 Rows Down - Gaining Confidence

See what I mean?

3rd Row... Foreign Objects

At this point we were about halfway through the show and it was time to kick things into high gear.  Shotgun!

Rise... Above... Beer Bong

Row #4 - Time For An Attitude Adjustment!

Guess Who We're Rooting For?

Chalk this next one up to, “It sounded good at the time.”  Note to self… getting a large man into a Tombstone Piledriver is made to look very easy on television.  But to be fair, I don’t think the Undertaker drinks 15 beers prior to trying it.

Brother's Don't Hug. Brother's Gotta... Tombstone?

Million Dollar Dream & Pip Out = One More Beer!

The Champs... Are HERE!!!

Once again, we made it.  There will come a day when we may have to cut a row out of the glorious structure, but it was not to be this year.  For something as simple as stacking beer cans, the sense of accomplishment that we get is quite exhilarating.

We... Are The Champions... My Friend...

And We'll Keep On Fighting... Till The End

Break It Down!

Once Again... The Structure In All It's Glory

And just like that, Mania weekend was over.  Pip and I tend to build these twice a year weekends up in our mind, but I have to say this one was pretty fucking epic.  The return “match” with the Beeramid will take place at WrestleMania 29 on April 7th, 2013.  Stay tuned!

The Top 10 Posts Of 2011
(Based On Number Of Views)

#10 – Thoughts At 35
No matter how hard I try, I continue to get older.  On this “milestone” birthday I decided to jot down a few musings.

#9 – 100 Facts About Me – Or At Least 50
I really dove into Twitter in the past year.  There was a game/activity going around where you had to tweet out 100 facts about yourself.  I got halfway home before I decided to call it a day.

#8 – WrestleMania VI – The Ultimate Challenge
This was #10 on last year’s list.  It’s part of my WrestleMania Project where I’m reviewing every show since the beginning.  This particular show was outstanding, as the main event pitted Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior against WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan.  Tremendous.

#7 – Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Movies
Another list that I put together way back in the day.  These are flicks that no matter how bad they are, I’ll watch every time they’re on TV.

#6 – Harry Hamlin Made Me Smile (in 2010)
Another repeat from last year’s list.  This is a report of a video game that Pip played with an interesting cameo in it.

#5 – The Overuse Of LOL
There aren’t a lot of things in pop culture that piss me off, but this is of them.  My take (OK… more of a rant) on the use of the term “LOL” in today’s culture.

#4 – Empire Snow Removal – Solon, Ohio & Twinsburg, Ohio
Way back in 2008, I got screwed over by a scam called The Snowplow Guys.  This year, I got a flyer in my mailbox for the same service.  I wasn’t happy, and wrote this post.

#3 – The Best Animated GIF Ever
The title of the post pretty much says it all.  It’s epic.

#2 – The WrestleMania 27 Drinking Game
If you’re a regular reader, you know that a couple of times a year, Pip and I get together and pretend we’re a lot younger than we are.  One of these times is during WrestleMania weekend.  Each year, we build The Beeramid with the help of a drinking game that we develop through the year.

#1 – Top 80?s Action Movies
For the second year in a row, the top spot goes to this post that I made about my favorite 80?s action flicks.  Love it!

Since WWE announced it’s Mania main event the day after last year’s show (Rock vs. John Cena for those not paying attention), I figured we’d better get going and put together rules of engagement for the evening’s festivities.

This year, we’re starting something a bit different.  Moving forward, we’ll have 20 rules for each event.  This first batch of 10 will carry over from year to year and the second batch will be Mania-specific rules.

Year Over Year Rules

1. 1 drink for a missed match outcome / 3 drinks if title match / 5 drinks if main event
2. 1 drink for foreign object
3. 3 drinks for a bloody wrestler / 5 if an announcer references a “crimson mask”
4. 3 drinks for (unannounced) legend appearance or a surprise return
5. 1 drink for a small package attempt / finish beer if it wins the match
6. 1 drink for each reference to the sponsored song
7. 2 drinks for a submission victory
8. 5 drinks for a double count out or double DQ
9. 1 drink for a finisher / 2 if opponent kicks out / 4 if it’s reversed / Finish beer if the reversal directly leads to pin fall or submission
10. 1 drink every time they show footage of a previous WrestleMania

I was working on Friday and Al had the day off, so he was nice enough to give Pip a ride downtown.  After work, I rode the RTA into town to meet up with the boys.  Needless to say, I felt like a sardine riding the RTA to the stadium.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one with that brilliant idea.  We met up at Cadillac Ranch for some awesome pre-game grub.

Opening Day in Cleveland is essentially a holiday… second only to St. Patrick’s Day.  That said, there were a TON of people who were WAY ahead of us in the drinking department – including this guy who was busting a move to Footloose.  I can’t be hyper critical though… Pip and I did the same thing at his wedding.

We made our way to Jacob’s Field which was beautiful as always.  Yes… I know it’s called Progressive Field these days.  I don’t care… it’ll always be “The Jake” to me.  The Indians did a great job during the pregame and honored recently deceased Bob Feller with a very touching video.

After the game, we headed out to celebrate my buddy Brad’s birthday for a while.  Through many protests, we called it a night before going “next door” and headed home.  In retrospect a very good decision.

Saturday we hung out with the boys during the day and then met up with one of Pip’s high school classmates and her husband for dinner and some drinks.  SUPER cool people that I’m so happy to have met.  After meeting up with them, Pip had to make his annual trek to the Annex.  Even if its for one beer (which this year it was) it’s nice to be back “home”.  We continued our rounds of local bars with a stop at Legends to check out some of the scenery… and a very talented band.  Knowing that Sunday was going to be a big day we headed home rather early.

Sunday – WrestleMania day.  Marko got in on this year’s action and came over at around 5:00 for the 7:00 show.  We got ourselves some food and we were ready for the evening’s festivities.  I’m certainly not a “foodie” by the traditional sense of the word, but I have to say we did a pretty damn good job in the food department.

I won’t go into the details of the show here but if you’re interested in my thoughts you can find them here.  The Beeramid as per usual was a tall challenge but I’m thrilled to report that we once again were up to the task.

If you want the blow by blow details of the Beeramid challenge you can find them here.  Suffice to say it was once again A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  Monday morning rolled around rather quickly and just like that the weekend was over.  Miraculously I was at the office right around normal time on Monday morning and Pip was out the door and on the road by 9:00 as well.  We don’t have a date yet for my trip to visit the Pips but it’s typically in the fall.  I absolutely can’t wait (though my liver does need a bit of a rest).  See you soon brother!

Let The Games Begin

At this point I don’t think the first beer had even been popped.  Truly the faces of the optimistic as we knew (but possibly had forgotten) what lay ahead.  Pip took care of our “uniforms” for the evening once again.  He’s rocking the Strike Force t-shirt and I’m pimping the super cool Legion Of Doom (ironically in the year they got inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame).  Marko’s holding up his end by going with the WrestleMania XX shirt which he and I attended!

Row #1 - A Good Start

Row #2 - Getting A Little Cocky

Row #3 - Trouble Brewing...

I don’t know about you, but after a few beers we started to get a bit rowdy… typical brother stuff for sure

Row #4 - Things Getting Ugly

Row #5 - Hell Breaking Loose

Row #6 - Foreign Objects Are Introduced

Row #7 - To The Victors Go The Hangovers

Once again… we stand victorious over the great structure known only as The Beeramid.  She’s a formidable foe and we’ll attempt it once again next year.  I have to say that having Marko along for the ride made it much easier this year.  Also interesting to point out that I was at work at regular time the next day raring to go!

I'm The King Of The World!!!

The Structure In All Its Glory

The Aftermath - Cleanup's A Bitch

406-4-Life

I tried to get a bit artsy with this one here, but in retrospect this one pretty much sums it up.  406 Northlane is more that just a college address.  It’s come to represent a state of mind and a time in my life where I met some of my best friends.  WrestleMania 28 is scheduled for April 1st, 2012 in Miami, Florida.  We won’t be in Miami but I can pretty much guarantee that we’ll give it another go for Beeramid 2012.  Until then!

As in previous years, Pip and I started out early creating our WrestleMania 27 drinking game that will help us along the way to building this year’s Beeramid.  We’ve actually laid off the last couple of weeks creating new rules partially because we already have 15 rules (remember, the list is modified up until game day) and partially because we had really no idea what matches we were going to see.  At this point we’re only a couple of weeks out and there are officially 7 matches on the card.  A card that’s shaping up nicely if I do say so myself.

1. World Heavyweight Championship – Edge (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
   Rumble winner Del Rio goes after his first WWE title.  This should be a good one.  They’ve been building Del Rio up pretty hard over the last couple of weeks.  I’m guessing we’ll see Christian enter into this one somewhere alon the way.  My pick at this point is Del Rio to take the title.
2. WWE Championship – The Miz (c) vs. John Cena
   Miz has been nothing short of AWESOME lately.  Up until Rumble I didn’t think Miz was anything more than a transitional champion.  Now I’m almost sure he’ll walk out of Mania with the title after defeating Cena.
3. Triple H vs. The Undertaker
   Taker and Shawn stole the show for the last two years.  He’s a year older, but I’m guessing he’ll do it again this year with HHH.  The WWE’s toughest job is making it appear that “The Streak” may actually end.  Taker goes 19-0.
4. Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger)
   I’ll put this in the “who gives a shit” category, but I’m guessing it’ll be rather entertaining (especially with special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Jerry Lawler has never been on a Mania card.  I’m guessing he gets a win in his debut event.
5. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
   Not sure what’s happened to Orton’s heat as of late.  Punk is the best heel on the show in my opinion.  This has the makings of a 5 star match in the middle of the card.  Thinking Punk should go over, but with politics backstage Orton will get the win.
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
   I always enjoy watching Rey wrestle.   I can’t stand the Cody Rhodes character so I’m very much looking forward to Rey getting a big win here.
7. Trish Stratus, Snooki and John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler, LayCool
   Um… OK.

Oh yeah… don’t forget about the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment… The Rock will be the guest host of this year’s show.  He and John Cena have been having an epic war of words of late so you can pretty much guarantee that Rocky will be getting involved.

What about Kane, Sheaumus, Big Show, Kevin Nash/Diesel, Wade Barrett, and the rest of the Divas?  Like I said, it’s gonna be a great WrestleMania.  Thanks for stepping it up Vince!

This is simply a shot of my shirtsleeve.  I love this particular shirt, but the sleeves are just REALLY long.  Not really sure if it’s just made incorrectly or not cause the rest of the shirt fits just fine.

There’s an absolutely AMAZING restaurant in the Cleveland area called Melt Bar & Grilled.  They make grilled cheese.  That’s not quite fair… they make the best grilled cheese known to man.  The above pic is a shot of my sandwich from a recent trip with my wife, bro and sister in law: The Parmageddon.  The description from the menu: 2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions, sharp cheddar.  My description: INCREDIBLE.

My boys are getting to that age where their toys come with decals.  As they’re 4 (G) and 2 (C – until next month) guess who gets to do the decaling work… Super Dad.  This particular kit was a tough one as it took me longer to get the stickers on than it did to build it.  However all of my frustration was totally worth it when I saw how happy they were.

Even with my infinite childlike behavior, I think my wife would agree that I’m good for at least one thing: running errands.  Unfortunately, many times I even mess THAT up coming home with the wrong thing.  SO, on a recent trip for additional fettuccine I decided to take a photographic “wish list” of what I was to bring home.  I’m happy to say that with minimal issues, I did in fact return home with the correct item.

For many people, spring means birds, snow thawing, and finally seeing green grass after a long winter.  For me it means WRESTLEMANIA.  And with WrestleMania comes one thing: The Beeramid.  I sent this shot to Pip just the other day letting him know that the pre-Mania stockpiling had begun.

Without further adieu… it’s on.

1. 5 drinks for a People’s Elbow
2. 3 drinks for any unannounced legend that’s in attendance
3. 5 drinks for any match that spills into the audience
4. Finish beer for appearance of the The Ultimate Warrior or Macho Man
5. 10 drinks if a legend wrestles and walks away with a title
6. 1 drink for a missed match outcome
7. 1 drink for every time they pimp the new video game WWE All stars
8. 1 drink for each title change
9. 3 drinks if they reveal who the RAW general manager is
10. 4 drinks if the RAW GM turns out to be Vince McMahon
11. 1 drink for a bloody wrestler (5 if an announcer references a “crimson mask”)
12. 1 drink every time Randy Orton has Tourette’s
13. 3 drinks if The Rock interferes and causes a title change
14. 3 drinks if a finishing move is used – 3 more if opponent kicks out
15. Slam a beer if someone other than the champ/challenger walks out of the show with the title
16. 2 drinks (each) for any OTHER Jersey Shore members that make an appearance
17. 2 drink when Undertaker goes “old school” (4 more if HHH pulls him off the ropes while he’s up there)
18. 2 drinks for a small package attempt (finish beer if it wins the match)
19. 4 drinks if the Rock and Stone Cold start going at it
20. 2 drinks for a submission victory

The Calm Before The Storm

Row #1 - We're On Our Way

Row #2 - In For A Long Haul

At this point, we knew we were in for a fight.  Regardless of what we’d like to think, we can’t “git r done” the same way we used to.

Row #3 - Hitting Our Stride

Row #4 - We... Can... Do... It

Row #5 - Gonnna Make It

Row #6 - The Champs Are HERE!!!

Look at that… no matter how many times we complete the beautiful structure it feels good to have won.  This year, WrestleMania was out west so the show started a little bit earlier in the afternoon.  That being said, even though we were done with our building, we had a long time until the show was done.  It was at that point that we made a decision… one… more… row.  Me being the jackass that I am, figured I’d get things started by shotgunning one.  Bad idea.

Shotgunning... Always A Good Idea

A Tired Champion

Row #7 - A Beeramid Record!!!

WrestleMania XXVII (that’s 27 folks) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 3, 2011.  We’ve got it on our calendar… until next time!