Wrestling

Team Hurry up the Cakes reacts to WrestleMania

It was Monday afternoon. April 2nd. The day was long. The air was hot. My shoulders were sweaty. But none of that mattered–it was time for WrestleMania.

This was a milestone for me–not only was this the first time I was going to watch WrestleMania with my girlfriend Char (or any girl, for that matter), but THE ROCK WAS GOING TO FIGHT JOHN CENA, YOU GUYS, AND CM PUNK WAS GOING TO WRESTLE CHRIS JERICHO, AND TRIPLE H AND UNDERTAKER WERE GOING TO HAVE AN “END OF AN ERA” HELL IN A CELL MATCH. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MEANT TO ME!!~ NO IDEA~~~!!

*ahem* Sorry about that.

But, yes, this was a big deal.

Much has happened since WrestleMania. And much has been written about WrestleMania since. Some of which are pretty damn good. I have no interest* in adding yet another review or in-depth analysis about the big event–what I am interested it is taking you, dear reader, through the specific roller-coaster of emotions that Team Hurry up the Cakes went through upon watching the biggest wrestling event of the year.

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Wrestling

WWE Programming @ Studio 23 / Fox Asia on schedule? (Updated)

We received reports this week* that the WWE programming in the Philippines airs on the same week as their live American counterparts.

The 3/19 episode of Monday Night Raw (featuring the “End of an Era” main event segment with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and the Undertaker) aired on 3/23 at 9:30PM on Studio 23.

This should alleviate the fears of Filipino WWE fans who speculated that they were back in the “dark ages” of WWE TV airing two-to-three weeks late, as it did in the late 1990s.

The contract between WWE and Solar Entertainment ended February of this year, concluding its series of live airings of monthly wrestling Pay Per View events with WWE Elimination Chamber. Soon after, the ABS-CBN channel Studio 23 announced that they were the new home of Philippine WWE Programming.

Yesterday, via their Facebook page, cable channel Fox Philippines announced that they, too, were going to air WWE Programming.

The new schedules are as follows:

Studio 23
Friday 9:30-10:30PM – WWE Raw (one hour cut)
Saturday 8:30-9:30PM – WWE NXT
Sunday 8:30-9:30PM – WWE Superstars
Tuesday 9:30-10:30PM – WWE Raw (one hour cut) (replay)
Wednesday 9:30-10:30PM – WWE NXT (replay)
Thursday 9:30-10:30PM – WWE Superstars (replay)

Fox Philippines**
April 2 8:55-10:45PM – WWE Smackdown
April 3 12:45-2:30PM – WWE Smackdown
April 4 10:55-11:50AM – WWE Vintage Collection
April 4 3:25-4:20PM – WWE Vintage Collection
April 5 10:55-11:50AM – WWE Bottomline
April 5 3:25-4:20PM – WWE Bottomline
April 6 10:00-11:50AM – WWE Smackdown
April 6 3:25-4:20PM – WWE Afterburn
April 6 10:45-11:40PM – WWE Bottomline
April 7 10:45-11:40PM – WWE Afterburn

We at Hurry up the Cakes are happy about this new development, but until WWE TVshows air on the same day or the day after they air in the States (like they used to two years ago), we’ll keep getting our WWE fix from the internet.

* – from my girlfriend
** – the schedules are only for the week of April 2-7–an official weekly schedule has not been announced as of press time

UPDATE:

On Monday April 2nd, Hurry up the Cakes received reports from frustrated WWE fans that Solar Entertainment channel Jack TV aired commercials advertising WrestleMania 28, and that it would air live that day. It did not air at all.

Today we received reports that WrestleMania XXVIII (which aired 7PM ET April 1st, in the US) aired April 3rd, 8PM on Studio 23, albeit with some matches heavily edited (particularly the gruesome End of an Era match between HHH and Undertaker), and that the channel held an event at TriNoMa mall the night before, reportedly launching their new WWE lineup with a live showing of WrestleMania.

This would indicate that the new deal between WWE and ABSCBN/Fox Asia also includes free Pay-Per-View event telecasts not too long after the live US airing.

Still, many Philippine wrestling fans complained on Twitter about how Studio 23 “butchered” the highly-anticipated wrestling event but editing out the most violent parts. While we at Hurry up the Cakes understand that this might be frustrating, we would like to suggest to our fellow native wrestling fans that they take a chill pill, and remember that they are watching a $59.99 wrestling show for free.

(Special thanks to @TheDerangedWriter)

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Wrestling

❖ Hubris, Focus, and Wrestlemania XXVIII « International Object

K Sawyer Paul on WrestleMania:

The opening contest of the show can rile up a crowd, but is also, in special circumstances, there to set the tone. Daniel Bryan and Sheamus was the second kind. It was there to say, “every match tonight is going to be a variation of this simple equation.”

What’s the equation? Focus vs Hubris. Every match on this card extented and toyed with that idea. It began simply, and quickly. The dominant Sheamus never took his eyes of his opponent, while Danial Bryan—by demanding a kiss from his girlfriend—did. It cost him. End of story.

He makes many more points that resonate with the heart of Hurry up the Cakes. Fantastic read.

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Food, Geekery, Meta, Wrestling

Attention, tributes:

  • The Hunger Games was good, and fun, and exciting, in the same way that wrestling is good, and fun, and exciting. This is a compliment (not a complement). It reminded me of the Royal Rumble, except elimination actually meant death. I can’t wait ’til the next one.
  • I’m talking about the movie, not the book.
  • WrestleMania is five days away. Breathe. Do you smell that? It is in the air. It is WrestleMania season.
  • The new iPad is on its way to Hurry up the Cakes Headquarters–expect my first impressions tomorrow, and, of course, the Hurry up the Cakes review in a few days. If you want to ask anything (anything!) about the 2012 iPad, feel free to drop a line in the comments, the Facebook page, or on Twitter via @mikeyllorin.
  • No food posts in the past few weeks (I know, sorry!), but trust me, it’s not for lack of food. Or eating. Which has been good. So good, in fact, that if I wrote about them, the content might have just consisted of “So good!” and “I’m a happy boy!” again and again and again. And you (the thousands upon thousands of you!) certainly deserve better than that over here on Hurry up the Cakes.

These are the only announcements. Thank you. And may the odds be ever in your favor will you please hurry up the gosh-darned cakes.

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