Jeff and Randy Living Their Boyhood Dreams

The promos on Raw prior to the Royal Rumble reminded me so much of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels going into their WrestleMania 60-Minute Iron Man Match back in the day. It was the genuineness of those promos that convinced me to order my very first WrestleMania. It was all about Bret and Shawn living their boyhood dreams and the promos were very well done. (Keep in mind that I was still a total mark back then and believed every word of it.)

This time it was Orton, pictured as a little boy, growing up around the business and now living his boyhood dream as the WWE Champ.

Jeff was shown as a little boy, too, who dreamed of professional wrestling as he and brother, Matt, honed their craft and eventually made it to the big show.

Will this be Jeff's turn to see his boyhood dream come true?

I usually don't buy into promos and such anymore, but I was really enjoying this particular feud. I was hoping that it would culminate in a WrestleMania match a la Shawn and Bret. But after Raw this week, it seems more like Jeff has a date with the proverbial glass ceiling.  And that makes me sad.

The Vince and The Donald Meet Again.

It's always nice when zillionaires with TV series invite each other to guest star on their respective shows. That's what Vincent K. McMahon did when he appeared on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" last week. But what about that bad haircut left over from Trump's visit to WrestleMania?  And what about that kayfabe thing? No matter...all's fair (and forgotten) in the world of television.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting look at a much different side of Mister McMahon. Gone was the overbearing McBoss and in his place was his civilized, courteous "board member" persona. It must have been good for his ego to have Marilu Henner say he was cute.

His role on "Celebrity Apprentice" was to keep an eye on the way the teams went about their weekly challenge and then report back to Trump in the board room as The Donald mulled over his weekly firing.

One thing that was obvious, and Trump pointed it out, was that McMahon seemed to be eyeing Tito Ortiz and Lenox Lewis. It wouldn't surprise me to see him try to work them into some future angle. To use a Martha-ism, that could be a good very good thing.

B-R-O-C-K  L-E-S-N-A-R Debuts Saturday in the Octagon

It's time for The Next Big Thing to put his money where his mouth is. This Saturday night on pay-per-view, Brock Lesnar will face the venerable Frank Mir in the main event at UFC 81.

Lesnar was as standout in both amateur and professional wrestling.  But as a football player for the Minnesota Vikings, not so much.  One has to wonder how will he fare in the world of mixed martial arts as he embarks on yet another career move?

Lesnar made short work of his first MMA opponent last summer and he comes into Saturday's fight with a 1-0 record. Although he is short on experience, he is supremely confident. (Well, what else is new.) But that could be a mistake.  As Dana White is fond of saying, UFC is as real as it gets.  There will be no team of writers to assure the outcome of this match.

And I hope Brock brings his respect for Frank Mir. Mir brings a solid UFC history to Saturday night's match. Mir's career was sidelined for two years while he recuperated from a motorcycle accident, but he's b-a-c-k and is in fine form. Mir submitted Antoni Hardonk in 77 seconds his last time out.

And that's the future that awaits The Next Big Thing.

Sorry, Brock. I'm betting on Mir.

 The Bussey Bunch

TLC's new reality series, "The Bussey Bunch," is an interesting combination of "The Brady Bunch" and the Hogan Bunch. The Brady similarity ends with the fact that mom and dad each brought three kids to their blended family.

As far as the Hogan Bunch comparison goes, both are wrestling families. We all know what the Hogans do--there's no getting away from them and their carefully scripted, lavish lifestyle.

The Busseys are a little more down-to-earth, which is one reason I enjoyed the first episode. The whole family works to make their Professional Championship Wrestling promotion in Arlington, Texas, successful. Even Mama Bussey, who admits she doesn't like wrestling, lends a hand.

In fact, in one Hoganesque segment, Mama Bussey wanted some attention from Papa Bussey, demanding a "date night" which coincided with his wrestling night. No way, said he. So Mama headed to the local tattoo parlor for a little discreet ink. She knew would get hubby's attention, and it did. Bottom line, they had a heart-to-heart talk and settled on a "date afternoon."

In a nutshell, it's an interesting look at the wrestling business from a local level. The sons wrestle and seem to enjoy the promoting (and flirting) end of the business. They even get yelled out by their parents, who are in charge of the business end of things.

I'd give it a thumb's up.

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Thanks for reading and see you next week.