Calling Out Fans is Committing Career Suicide

Smarkasses Episode 18- 12/14/2013, Christmas Edition

MLB Off-Season Moves as of 12/21/2013

It's been a long cold winter but there has been a lot of major moves going on in the world of baseball. This is my first update and I wanted to wait awhile so all of you out there can get an idea of just how much movement is going on. Remember the only deals you will find on here are one that have been made official. Here we go with all the wheeling and dealing

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

Signed C A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year contract.

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds

Agreed to terms with C Brayan Pena on a two-year contract.

Cleveland Indians

Traded OF Drew Stubbs to Colorado for LHP Josh Outman.

Colorado Rockies

Signed INF Justin Morneau to a two-year contract.

Detroit Tigers

Agreed to terms with RHP Joba Chamberlain on a one-year contract.

Agreed to terms with OF Rajai Davis on a two-year contract.

Agreed to terms with RHP Joe Nathan on a two-year contract.

Acquired LHP Robbie Ray, LHP Ian Krol and INF Steve Lombardozzi from Washington for RHP Doug Fister.

Acquired 2B Ian Kinsler from the Texas Rangers for 1B Prince Fielder and cash considerations.

Named Brad Ausmus manager and agreed to terms with him on a three-year contract.

Houston Astros

Kansas City Royals

Agreed to terms with INF Omar Infante on a four-year contract.

Agreed to terms with LHP Jason Vargas on a four-year contract.,

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Los Angeles Dodgers

Signed RHP Dan Haren to a one-year contract.

Miami Marlins

Agreed to terms with INF Rafael Furcal on a one-year contract.

Acquired OF Dexter Fowler and a player to be named from Colorado for OF Brandon Barnes and RHP Jordan Lyles.

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

Agreed to terms with RHP Ricky Nolasco on a four-year contract.

New York Mets

Agreed to terms with RHP Bartolo Colon on a two-year contract.

Signed OF Curtis Granderson to a four-year contract.

New York Yankees

Agreed to terms with OF Carlos Beltran on a three-year contract

Agreed to terms with RHP Hiroki Kuroda on a one-year contract.

Agreed to terms with OF Jacoby Ellsbury on a seven-year contract.

Agreed to terms with C Brian McCann on a five-year contract.

Oakland Athletics

Signed LHP Scott Kazmir to a two-year contract.

Agreed to terms with INF Nick Punto on a one-year contract.

Philadelphia Phillies

Agreed to terms with OF Marlon Byrd on a two-year contract.

Pittsburgh Pirates

San Diego Padres

Agreed to terms with RHP Josh Johnson on a one-year contract.

San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners

Agreed to terms with OF-1B Corey Hart on a one-year contract. 

Agreed to terms with 2B Robinson Cano on a 10-year contract.

Named Lloyd McClendon manager.

St. Louis Cardinals

Agreed to terms with SS Jhonny Peralta on a four-year contract.

Traded 3B David Freese and RHP Fernando Salas to the L.A. Angels for OFs Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk.

Tampa Bay Rays

Texas Rangers

Agreed to terms with C Geovany Soto on a one-year contract.

Toronto Blue Jays

Signed RHP Roy Halladay to a one-day contract and announced his retirement.

Washington Nationals

Agreed to terms with OF Nate McLouth on a two-year contract.

Named Matt Williams manager.

As you can see there is a lot more wheeling and dealing to be done and some good free agents out there left. Be sure to check back soon for more Major League Baseball Off-Season moves.

Re-ranking the WWE after the WWE Title Unification

As we all know the World Heavyweight Title and WWE Title were unified as the WWE World Heavyweight Title at TLC. This will bring a lot of changes to the meaning of that title as well as the United States Title, and Intercontinental Championship. With that being said 2014 is approaching fast and here are my rankings for who should be competing for each title into next year. 

WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton
1 Daniel Bryan
2 CM Punk
3 John Cena
4 Sheamus
5 Dolph Ziggler

WWE Intercontental Champion: Big E Langston
1 Alberto Del Rio
2 Christian
3 The Miz
4 Roman Reigns
5 Wade Barrett
Other notable stars who could compete: Tyson Kidd, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Big Show, and Damien Sandow

WWE United States Champion: Dean Ambrose
1 Damien Sandow
2 Brodus Clay
3 Sin Cara
4 Fandango
5 Seth Rollins
Other notable stars who could compete: Ryback, Mark Henry, Curtis Axel, Xavier Woods, and Justin Gabriel

WWE Tag Team Champions: Cody Rhodes and Goldust
1 The Uso's
2 The Real Americans
3 Prime time Players
4 Los Matadores
5 The Wyatt Family

WWE Divas Champion: AJ Lee
1 Natalya
2 Kaitlyn
3 Tamina Snuka
4 Naomi
5 Summer Rae

Of course I might have to do one of these ranking sessions again the night after Wrestlemania 30 because a lot is going to happen between now and then.Right now these are my personal rankings and the pecking order that WWE should be in. However who knows what genius ideas WWE will come up from one week to the next. Let me know who you think should be competing for each title.

Review, Recap, and Results of 2013 WWE TLC

Tonight history was made as the WWE Title and World Heavyweight Title were unified for the first time since August of 2002 when Brock Lesnar refused to defend his WWE Championship against Triple H. It would be Triple H to carry the banner of the World Heavyweight Title it's first couple of years. Tonight was a celebration into the past and a glimpse into the future. Here are the results of WWE TLC

Fandango (with Summer Rae) defeated Dolph Ziggler- Preshow

CM Punk defeated The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)
AJ Lee (c) (with Tamina Snuka) defeated Natalya- WWE Divas Title Match
Big E Langston (c) defeated Damien Sandow
Cody Rhodes and Goldust (c) defeated Ryback and Curtis Axel, Big Show and Rey Mysterio and The Real Americans (Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro)- WWE Tag Team Title Match
R-Truth (with Xavier Woods) defeated Brodus Clay (with The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) and Tensai)
Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz
The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) defeated Daniel Bryan
Randy Orton (c – WWE) defeated John Cena (c – World)- TLC Match to Unify both WWE and World Heavyweight Titles

Usually I talk about what I don't like first but there is not much to talk about. The only things I didn't like were that Dolph Ziggler was on pre-show and that AJ Lee did not lose the Divas Title. If the reports are true and she acted unprofessionally at Tribute to the Troops then she should have lost. I also was disappointed that they didn't throw in Mark Henry, or Sin Cara in somewhere with the winning streaks they have been on. The other thing I hate is all night and leading up to this is that the commentators were referring to whoever won this match as the first ever unified champion. I am pretty sure in December 2001 Chris Jericho unified both titles and became the first WWE Undisputed Champion. Lets give Y2J a little bit of credit. 

I really enjoyed the opening match between CM Punk and The Shield. I love the psychology and the story of Roman Reigns behind it. I see The Shield splitting up soon and Roman Reigns being the breakout star of the group. I enjoyed the Fatal Four Way Tag Match. I really felt like the teams of Show/Mysterio and Ryback/Axel shouldn't have been there but I was mistaken. Both teams put on a good showing. However, I truly believe the best tag team in WWE right now is a toss up between The Real Americans and The Uso's. I also think Big E Langston is going to have a solid 2014. He's a combination of Ron Simmons, Bobby Lashley and Mark Henry rolled into one. He definitely has a bright future ahead of him

Speaking of future, I am having a hard time figuring out what they need to do with Daniel Bryan. There is no doubt in my mind that he should be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He lost to the Wyatts but even in the main event and at the beginning of the show he was getting chants. I personally think he needs to shave his beard, get a haircut and go back to his American Dragon persona. I think the beard, and goat have run their course. He needs to go back to he once was in Ring of Honor. That is what brought him to the dance in the first place.

Lastly, I would like to say that I am happy with the outcome of TLC Match. I am so happy that so called internet wrestling community was put in their place. No swerves, no Triple H, and no bullshit. Randy Orton won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship cleanly and fairly, I also liked the fact that Vince McMahon has returned to WWE TV. I think it will be a nice shake up for the next few months headed into Wrestlemania 30

I would rate the show a 7 out of 10 tonight for good quality matches and some decent storytelling. Not a lot of shock value but I think they are keeping the surprises and swerves for TV. In 6 weeks time it will be the Royal Rumble, where the Road to Wrestlemania begins. It's going to be a good long buildup and look forward to whats ahead in 2014

For more of Hollywood Joe's opinions on WWE and all things pro wrestling be sure to check out his podcast, Smarkasses which can be found on SoundCloud. They can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Smarkasses Episode 16- 12/10/2013

Smarkasses Episode 15- 12/3/2013