Magnum

Stoner conspiracy moment: What if the greatest work of all time is Cena actually being WWE's top heel for the past however many years. Everything he does is cleverly designed to make the older fans detest him. From the STF to shit eating grin, we are supposed to boo him all while they make a fortune from the kids. "JBL is poopy? Yeah that will piss off everyone over 12 more than saying their football team is shit."

Would be fine if it was making those older fans keep paying money to see him get beat. Generally, though, those fans have just fucked off, so if it is a work, it's not a very clever one.

You can pretty much track that change in Angle in his physical appearance. He looked like he could be in Saved by the Bell when he first turned up in WWF. Nowadays he looks like the sort of bloke the bouncers would think twice about kicking out of some rough pub after he kicked off at the pool table. I bet the Angle with hair would never have tried to sell people them weird cardboard ready meals he keeps plugging these days.

I dunno. There was the Brian Pillman XXX files stuff, the marriage and claimed date rape of Stephanie, ther bark like a dog thing, there's been loads of properly bad things in WWF/E.

That one, I thought came under the comedy/cartoonish banner. Drugging somebody specifically to fuck them would obviously be rapey and a bit serious for wrestling, but doing it to marry them while doing their voice like Del Boy with the blow-up dolls took it a bit outside the realms of anything realistic enough to be taken seriously. Can't remember the Pillman stuff all that well, though I do remember Vince/Trish being a bit uncomfortable to watch at the time (though not enough to put me off my wank).

Even though I love edgy TV characters like Vic Mackey and Chris Keller and Stringer Bell, I think you can get a kick out of cheering for the bad guys more so in wrestling than in an action film or crime show because you know they'll never do anything properly bad like rape somebody or kill somebody's dog.

You were probably alluding to this anyway, but both of those things have happened in WWE more than once.

I completely forgot about the Bossman's pantomime villain period and Al Snow's pepper steak. Well aye, maybe I used dodgy examples, but when they do do properly bad things in wrestling, they're always done in such a cartoony, comedic way as to make them not believable and somehow not that bad. Like when Trevor poured gravy on Little Mo's head, asking her "ye wan' some more graaaavy, Mo?'...

I don't like the general idea of divvying up fans into 'cool' and 'uncool' based on who they're cheering or booing at shows. Let's face it, trying to pick the cool adults in a wrestling crowd these days is like being a judge at a tallest dwarf competition. Adult Cena fans at a live event are just as likely to look like that mutant who used to apply for Big Brother every year in full 'Chain Gang Soldier' fancy dress as CM Punk fans are to look like sweaty Forbidden Planet types.

I think if people booing him really are jealous of Cena, it's pretty sad. No matter how successful somebody is, I find it hard to be jealous of them if they've worked to be where they're at. I resent the fuck out of talentless fucks like Harry Styles, George Osborne or some cunt from Geordie Shore or TOWIE having millions and being on TV every week, but you can't even look at Cena physically without being aware of the work that's gone into being where he is today. Whether I enjoy his act or not, I'd never begrudge him his success.

For me, it boils down to this: I just like heels better. It's probably the biggest reason I like wrestling. Even though I love edgy TV characters like Vic Mackey and Chris Keller and Stringer Bell, I think you can get a kick out of cheering for the bad guys more so in wrestling than in an action film or crime show because you know they'll never do anything properly bad like rape somebody or kill somebody's dog. Even going back to the Attitude era, although I liked babyface Rock and Austin far more than I like Cena because they still acted a bit more edgy and heelish, I still didn't really like them all that much as babyfaces - I was generally cheering for Vince or Triple H when they were on top. I think plenty of wrestlers feel the same way, and it shows that they seem to have more fun working heel than they do as a face. Ultimately, I never really had a chance to get properly tired of Rock and Austin as babyfaces, and their great heel runs were almost as big a part of their time on top. With Cena, like Jeff Hardy, Sting, and pre-nWo Hogan, he's pretty much a career babyface, and that's ultimately why I don't regard his time on top with much fondness. Wrestling needs good babyfaces, but they're not the reason I watch it.

Been watching the nWo Revolution documentary. Billy Kidman has aged REALLY badly - you only see him as a talking head on it, but he looks fat as fuck. When you see him and David Flair now, it's amazing to think they used to be shagging Torrie Wilson and Stacy Kiebler.

The rise of UKIP concerns me somewhat. Aside from the fact that they're a single-issue party whose stance on that single issue I fundamentally disagree with, everyone I've ever heard of who's associated with that party is a complete loon. What is it with UKIP and politicians you can practically see the oil dripping off whenever they're on screen?

Not sure how to link pictures from that site, but main ones at the minute are these. I generally find the idea of wearing trainers for anything other than the gym repellant, so it's almost always dress shoes for me.

He could have at least blocked their dressing room door with some kind of forklift truck.

Am just downloading the CM Punk documentary at the minute, pretty much entirely as a result of the discussions on here. I have to say I personally still find it laughable that The Miz not only headlined Wrestlemania, but also beat John Cena in a world title match. I don't even necessarily disagree that he was the best heel in the company at the time, but I think that partly shows the lack of foresight in building up to Mania that year because the bloke was never in a million years cut out to headline the biggest show of the year. It obviously didn't necessarily help his cause that he was in there with two legitimate superstars whose stature and presence made him stand out like a sore thumb by comparison, but the same would be true if you put him in there with any other real headliner - Miz vs HHH; Miz vs Undertaker; Miz vs Batista. The difference in star quality and believability is striking.

Speaking as someone who doesn't watch modern WWE save for Wrestlemania and appearances from the old lads and hasn't had the slightest inclination to go to a wrestling show for nearly a decade, I have to say I'd probably try and get tickets to Summerslam in Cardiff.

Inevitably happens every year, but seeing the mention of Starkey is one of my 'I knew there was someone I forgot...' moments.

Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but Stewart Lee was doing a bit in 2010 about how Howard was on a

I'd hate it if The Rock's title match at the Rumble is on last. I know its his first title shot in over 10 years but still, the Rumble should be the last match on the show, unless they have plans on dismantling the ring of course.

Depends if they're having someone good win it, I suppose. The Rumble's still a fun match, but they've killed it a bit the last two years by having Del Rio and Sheamus win it and go on in the opener at Wrestlemania.

Simon Bird and The Inbetweeners!

They're all dreadful in everything else they're in

 

Mangum, fella, if you're including Friday Night Dinner in that, you can fuck right off.

I haven't seen enough of it to form a proper opinion. Having said that, what I have seen of it hasn't motivated me to want to form a proper opinion of it.

Frankie gets it almost bang on. Everyone else- stop doing Girls Aloud drastically wrong!Makes you realise that compared to Girls Aloud and Spice Girls, The Saturdays really are bloody gorgeous aren't they?

Wallander was the one that got me into the European detective shows, though I got on board in the second series so the fact that Virgin Media currently have the whole lot on their TVOD service is most welcome. I've seen that, The Bridge, Those Who Kill, Spiral, and The Killing, but my favourite of the lot has to be Braquo, even though it's probably the daftest one of them all.

So, absolutely my favourite thing right now on tv is Inspector Montalbano on BBC 4.It's a detective series set on Sicily, and it's fucking great. Every episode basically involves the laid-back hero investigating a murder whilst seducing one of a series of incredibly, incredibly beautiful Italian actresses. It's got great characters, good stories, it's got absolutely bags of charm, and each episode is an hour and a half so you sink right into it.Only slight drawback is that I appear to have missed the first 7 series

I'm interested in Magnum's Girls Aloud fitness rankings now. I'd have her fourth, personally.

I read something a couple of weeks ago where he said the name 'Dappy' came from his friends who used to think he was a 'dapper' dresser. He's most famous for wearing tracksuits and wooly hats with bobbles on strings. Frankly, if he said he was called that because it's what his mother christened him, it would be more plausible.

I don't mind Amy McDonald, I think the pronunciation works reasonably well with her folky style of music. As affectations go, it's certainly not as bad as Adele's need to end every word with a vowel. Still trying to work out what a 'Skifoe' and a 'Crumboah' are.

Hebburn's really polarised opinions up here. Was really looking forward to it as one of my mates has been plugging it like mad in the local paper (he knows Jason Cook, and we both know Chris Ramsey). Have to say I found it disappointing though - not terrible, just a bit 'meh'. Very derivative and a bit lazy, although Vic Reeves and the nana provided some rare laughs. I don't like the idea of casting so many stand-up comics. As I say, it paid off somewhat with Vic Reeves, but Ramsey's acting was on a par with Brian Robson in Jossie's Giants. It's ok casting a non-actor in the main role if you're Seinfeld, but not when you're making a broad, unambitious family sitcom where the gags aren't strong enough to sell themselves.

Air Raid is voicing it perfectly for me. I think Corden is a decent comedy actor and writer, but a fucking shit, annoying stand-up/sketch performer/chat show host. And, around the time of the last list, you couldn't get away from the cunt constantly stinking up the telly doing the things he was shittest at. That rotten 'Smithy' sketch at Sport Relief and the 'FUNNIEST THING EVER!!!' hysteria that it was received with, along with that bloody advert for his world cup chat show that was on every ITV ad break, with him gurning like a hippopotamous in the middle of a sweaty dancefloor with Plan B blasting over the top, epitomised everything I hated about him at the time.

FWIW I haven't included him in my list at all this year.

List sent. Surprised myself with a few of my choices.

Adele has my vote. In terms of omnipresence, she's the new Corden, and not just because she's so fucking fat.