As an Englishman living in Edinburgh, Scotland, I’m not too concerned whether Scotland becomes independent from England except from the fact I don’t wish for Scotland to become worse off from the split. Personally a free Scotland makes no odds, just don’t want my life being more of a struggle than some age-old pride war.

It is certainly going to be interesting what choices they put on the poll. A straight Yes or No, or Yes, No, Yes but with some caveats to help both countries. I’d hope for the Yes, No, Don’t give a Fuck option.

Then comes the question of who gets to vote. Will it only be Scottish people living in Scotland, anyone living in Scotland wherever they are from, Scottish people in Scotland and Scots all over the World. It wouldn’t be fair to allow only Scots in Scotland to vote, because I have every right as does every Pole, Canadian, American who reside in Scotland.

Going to be an interesting couple of years for sure :D

1. The Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The proudest day of the year to be British by a long way. Celebrations were held up and down the country to commerate the special day, and what a day it was. We can pull off a spectacle watched and adored worldwide so well, it brings hope that we can do well with the Olympics as well. A day that will live long in the memory.

2. Arab Spring. In the early months of the year people in the countries of Egypt and Tunisia rallied and protested as one to shake the dictatorship leaders of their countries and it worked. The leaders had no answer to the passion of freedom that the people wanted. A monumentous series of days.

3. The downfall of evil. With 3 of the worst men on the planet dying, it will be remembered for a year when good fought back against evil and gained some revenge for the attrocities they’d brought upon the world. Firstly it was Bin Laden who died at the beginning of May, followed by Gaddafi as Libya followed the example of Egypt and Tunisia to rise against their leader, and finally the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Il.

4. The Japan Tsunami. March 11th, I remember it clearly as I was down in Bournemouth at College, standing in the reception area and watching the TV in disbelief as walls of water engulfed the islands of Japan. Watching little planes being washed away, cars, buildings, people. A truly horrific event and one that will hopefully not occur again for a long long time.

5. The English Riots. A series of events that will scar England for a long time. It started off with the police shooting, and the mindless, idiotic and violent mob used that as an excuse to bring terror upon London, Birmingham and Manchester. It was the excuse they needed, not the reason for the violence. With shops being burnt down, vehicles torched, stores broken into and looted it was the polar opposite of the royal wedding, a day not to be proud of being British. However, yet again goodness showed afterwards when a group of volunteers entered the streets with rubber gloves, bin bags, shovels, brushes, dustbins and began cleaning the mess of the mindless much to the sheer disbelief yet joy of those affected. Never in a million years did they expect good people to come and do that. Showed that there is still community spirit :)

6. Norway Terror attacks. The world watched on in horror and shock as the capital Oslo was targetted by 2 bomb blasts, and then in the remoters islands, a meeting of youngsters was ripped apart with bullets and a massacre ensued. Horrible scenes and again something that will live long in that country’s memory.

7. 10th Anniversary of 9/11. Is it really 10 years already since the day that changed the world forever? Where has that time gone? Doesn’t seem like yesterday as I ran home from school to sit open-mouthed, crying and shaking in front of the TV. Thankfully the man responsible was brought to death last year but that won’t heal the scar of the 3000 plus people that died. New York has recovered brilliantly and can’t do anything but admire that bullish ” is that all you got?” attitude the inhabitants have. Fantastic to see that the replacements towers are getting under way. Aptly New York is a pillar of light for the world.

8. Death of Steve Jobs. One of the most influencial men in the world and one that has changed the way we all go about our daily lives. Apple’s most prized asset, bringing us iPods, iPhones, iPads, lots of iThings. His ideas and technologies has affected and improved a lot of lives. I for one can’t be without my iPod or iPhone.

9. Last NASA Space Shuttle. I think this major event got somewhat overshadowed by the tragedies in Norway the day after. But it should be remembered as the dream of space travel has kept many a kid awake at night, and the chance to watch a launch in person has been something I’ve always wanted to do, guess that just got a bit harder.

10. M5 crash. Granted it isn’t as earth-shattering, worldwide news as some of the previous 9, but this awful crash on November 4th was one of the worst moments in the UK’s year. With 7 people dying on the road in Somerset and the utter carnage that ensued after it, it is a minor miracle the number was so low because by the wreckages left after the blaze, it could have been far higher.

Well, there’s the top 10 news stories that I recall for 2011, and I’m sure 2012 will give way to some equally amazing, shocking stories. Hopefully there will be more good ones than bad ones.

2012 is going to have a tough time surpassing 2011 personally. 2011 I gained an Audi TT, passed a course, made new friends, saw a friend I hadn’t seen in 8 years, met a good friend for the first time, and met old friends from Tallinn. So 2012, what are you going to give me. Already booked and sorted is a trip to Las Vegas at the end of February. That’ll be amazing so long as I don’t come back married. Then hopefully tie up my Approach Validation some time in the year and whatever else comes my way, bring it on :D

2011 was a year that contained a ridiculous amount of news stories that shook the world over and over again, some times literally in the face of earthquakes ravaging Japan, New Zealand and Turkey. My next post will be my top 10 moments of 2011 and I’m kinda spolit for choice. All that’s left to say today is a belated Happy New Year :)

The problem politicians and the health services see is that supermarkets are offering cheap alcohol for sale at in large amounts. So for under £20 it  is very easy to get hammered. A crate of beer and a bottle of good stuff and you’re well on your way. Compared to going to the pub where prices continue to rise, is it any frickin’ wonder people are getting tipsy before heading off to the pubs/clubs because it’s a damn sight frickin’ cheaper, and only need to buy a few drinks to keep topping it up.

I think if they raise the price of alcohol units, so shops can’t promote alcohol in cheap deals a lot of innocent, responsible, and rightly so annoyed people are going to be affected. I’ll be one, I buy mycrate of beer and have a few beers in the house on days off or after a heck of a day at work to unwind, or with the football and a pizza. I don’t drink the lot in one night with the intention of getting absolutely hammered, killing my liver and for the hell of it. Yet under these proposals I’m going to have to pay a lot more? How it is that fair?

Surely there can be some kind of limit, where alcohol is only served to people over 23 in supermarkets, with the idea being that they are sensible enough, and not 18, 19, 20, getting tanked up before another night out. If they do choose to get tanked up, then if they haven;t learnt by the time they are 23, then so be it, then can spend the night in a police cell or A&E when they kick off later in the night.

It will stop a lot of people drinking, will stop a lot of time wasted for police and medical staff, but people will always find another way of getting drunk. If people stop buying alcohol, the country would bloody stop. As pubs closed as they had to up the price of a pint because locals voted with their feet and stayed at home instead, the economy will sink even lower as people won’t pay more for their alcohol, if they enjoy it responsibly or irresponsibly. It is a stupid idea, and we should boost the employment rate by having more police and nurses specifically to deal with drunken idiots.

Or we can just accept the economy is fucked beyond repair, all go out and get drunk and say “FUCK IT” :D

This video is just too funny not to share :D:D:D
It’s shows a labrador called Fenton, probably the UK’s most well-known dog now as he chases deer through a park. Quite simply brilliant, and a sure-fire Rude Tube winner :D

I’ve just finished listening to the 606 from yesterday evening, with Robbie Savage and Darren Fletcher. First off, kudos to Robbie and Darren for getting through the 60 minutes. It sounded very emotional, very difficult to push on at times, but I know you did Gary proud. Every time the Welsh anthem came on, like Robbie, and many other Welsh folk, it brought the onset of tears. It’s just one of those anthems that stirs the soul and can never tire of listening to it. That is coming from me, an Englishman, puts our anthem to shame in the liveliness, heartfelt emotion that pours into it. Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent.

Throughout the show I found myself with the tears welling, yet at the same time smiling at the stories that were being told about this incredible man the world has lost. I don’t think there is a word that does justice to the scale of the man. I’ve never met him, but just from stories told you can build a picture of a man. With every story being positive, showing that Gary had time for everyone and anyone, never let fame go to his head, stayed professional, it’s easy to see why he’ll be missed. A lot of current footballers should listen to that 606, and take on board all the things that described Gary Speed and base themselves on the model he left behind. Football would be a better place for it, scrap that, the world would be a better place if that were to happen.

At this time, it would be foolish not to point out this. Even though people seem fine on the outside, can be laughing and joking, looking to the future, and generally seeming well, the inside could be taking a pounding. It’s the inside that needs to be looked out for. I’m not saying people around him missed the signs, maybe there were none or he hid them well, but normally when something is so tragically turmultuous inside as it could have been for Gary for him to take his life, there’s signs. Look out for them in people around you who you care about. We don’t need more good people throwing away good things ahead.

I can’t resist putting in the Welsh anthem.

He was only 42 years old and seems to have been taken when Wales were on the verge of a resurgence with some positive results and will be a major setback to them, and is a blow to the world of sport, within which he seemed to be held in high regard.

Thoughts, prayers, condolences go to the family and close friends as they come to terms with this tragic loss :(

Against Spain, England weren’t fantastic but what they were was resolute. They stood firm, defended magnificently as a team with Scott Parker being at the forefront of that effort and more than warranted his ovation 5 minutes from time and the MotM performance. Since he has come back into the squad Parker has shown what idiots previous England managers have been in previous years not to incorporate him into the team. I honestly think if he had been playing the last couple of years, which in fairness he should have been, he was only left out because he was playing excellently in a struggling West Ham team, that would have given the freedom Lampard and Gerrard required to both get forward and do what they have both done superbly for Chelsea and Liverpool respectively for most of the last decade without worrying who was going to stay and defend.

Another player who has been in manager’s good books somehow and gets picked is Gareth Barry. He isn’t international quality as he only has 1 foot and has no pace, and makes clumsy challenges. He came on against Spain and he was very lucky not to give away a penalty for a needless senseless challenge on Fabregas. He then gave away a freekick outside the box with an even clumsier challenge. Then to round off a fine hat-trick of poor play, who was the man who was supposed to be running back with Fabregas when he was alone in the box then shot wide, you guessed it, the tortoise paced Barry. If Scotty Parker had been his marker the ball would have been blocked, but Barry let Fabregas escape him. I’m sure these 3 gaping cracks will be papered over by the fact that England beat the highly favoured Spain.

Then there is the problem with Phil Jones. He is obviously a squad player who can play in a number of positions to good effect. However, the position he played against Spain isn’t one of them. 3 times he received the ball after good passing from Parker and Lampard facing the Spanish defence, with their midfielders behind him. 3 times he picked the wrong ball or dilly-dallied in possession. If it had been Gerrard/Lampard/Rooney who the ball fell to then, then England could have been disappointed not to have won 3 or even 4 to zip. The kid has the creativity of a breeze block. He is good running forward as he showed against Sweden sending the ball a foot wide of the post, but he just put his chest out, ears back and ran, not clever passing or insightful passing.

Granted, it was a good performance and deserves some celebration. However, Spain had lost 4 of their last 19 games. Those 4 were all friendlies. Maybe the defensive-counter attacking method is the way forward for England against the teams possessing better quality, which there are obviously a few, and with the pace of Walcott, directness of Young and Downing, there is no reason why that isn’t a tactic to employ.

Against Sweden it was a more attacking England, Zamora held the ball up well and linked with other players. Walcott terrorised and Downing deserved the MotM over Kyle Walker, but only just. Walker, Jones and Rodwell all performed well, but lets not heap the pressure on these kids like we have done before. And I’m sure we can all too painfully recall the results. The replies to the BBC sports blog about hope for 2012 for England of course meant there were a lot of “my squad would be” replies. Here’s my two penneths worth, providing they are all fit and well.

GK – Hart, Casrson, then pick another to fill the numbers.

DEF – Cole, Baines, Terry, Cahill, Jones, Lescott, Richards, Walker

MID – Parker, Wilshere, Rodwell, Lampard, Young, Walcott, Downing, Gerrard (Milner if not fit)

FOR – Rooney, Bent, Sturridge, Welbeck

Starting XI would be:-

Hart

Cole, Terry, Lescott, Richards,

 Lampard, Parker, Gerrard,

Young, Bent, Walcott

Rodwell/Wilshere to come on for Lampard/Gerrard if necessary, Downing/Milner for Young/Walcott. Welbeck/Sturridge for Bent.

I don’t think we need to force a position for Jones. The kid is good, but not good enough to demand a position to himself. A lot of bloggers left the likes of Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Lescott out completely and decided they’d take Smalling, Cleverly and a few other kids. That’s all well and good, and saying the old Golden generation need to pass onto the new Golden generation. No matter how good these kids are, they haven’t got the experience nor the cool head when it matters. There need to be some older heads around to keep the feet planted on the ground. 2012 is going to come too soon for Rodwell, Jones, Walker, Sturridge, Welbeck, Smalling, Wilshere. But remember these kids are young and when the trip to Rio and Sao Paolo comes around they’ll have another 100 Premier League games, maybe Champions League games under their belts and if they improve on their abilities already, then 2014 is certainly hopeful :)

Here is what it looks like so far…

Please go to the movember website, search out the team Air Tache it Control and give generously :D:D

Thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and comrades and team members of the Red Arrows. Only just coming to terms with the death of one, now ot deal with another. Keep the faith guys, recover and come out with a kick-ass display for the start of next season.

Not the greatest shot, but this was taken at Leuchars Air Show a few weeks after the Bournemouth crash. A fitting touch.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL A FIREWORK DISPLAY!!!!

Unfortunately for the guys in Oban who organised it, it wasn’t quite as they intended it to be as 30 minutes worth of fireworks went up in less than a minute thanks to a malfunction somewhere along the lines. But that is most definitely the best fireworks display ever! Granted it was a mistake, but what an exciting, pretty, amazing, staggering and enjoyable mistake it turned out to be.

I haven’t got much else to go on about for such a monumentous post, can’t believe that when I started back in 2009 I would keep coming back to this, but low and behold I have. Plus nearly 30,000 hits! Wow, just WOW. What a flippin’ amazing amount of people coming through this blog :)))

England will play Spain in a friendly very shortly, and as it is in the month of November, the month that is a time for reflection and remembering England wanted to adorn their shirt with a poppy, as so many English clubs do to their league kits. Blatter in his infinite stupidity has said that would not be allowed in case England happen to play Germany in November in the future. What a cowardly excuse.

The poppy isn’t just a sign of the 2 great wars, it is a sign for every conflict prior, after and ongoing. Whether a man got killed in the trenches in 1914, or shot down over enemy terrority in 1944 or is killed by a roadside bomb in 2011, the poppy is one common element that people of the UK can wear with pride to honour and remember the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces to keep not only our country safe, but to help others. If a little man with far too much power wants to stop that on a national level, then it just shows what a arrogant wanker of a man he is.

I hope that England and the FA flip the Swiss, or give him a flying V, and either stick a poppy onto their shirts, or they wear t-shirts just with a huge big poppy on them. I hope the Germans will understand us standing up for something we believe in. Bygones are bygones, it is a different generation of English and Germans now with fewer and fewer who remmber or took part in the wars. I’m of course not saying it should be forgotten what happened, but hoping enough time has passed for some wounds to heal, and their to be no difficulties should England stand up for ourselves and wear the poppy with pride.

Oh by the way,  if you didn’t know or get the drift during the post, F.O.A.D means Fuck Off And Die!

However, it is the taking-part and enjoyment that counts as it all goes towards a great cause. My team is aptly named, Air Tache it Control. A stroke of genius on my part I’d like to believe with that nice little play on words :D

If you read this regularly and appreciate what I come up with, I’d equally appreciate you heading on over to the Movember website, searching for the Air Tache it Control, and donating a few pennies :)
The picture below will let you know you’ve chosen the right team to donate to.

All that is left to say, is gentlemen, start your moustaches!!!

We live in a time now where even the slightest showing of studs being raised means that you are recklessly going into a challenge. What utter bollocks. It means that you want to win the ball more than the other player. The problem is you can win the ball as clean as a whistle, the player being tackled either bottles it, or goes in half-hearted and gets hurt. As a result an injury occurs or even worse he feigns injury and rolls around as though he has been shot. Tackles do sometimes come a little bit keen, but for crying out loud boys, man the fuck up! It doesn’t go out to every player because there are some still out there who can tackle well, tackling is an art, something learnt, something you can practice and become good at. But with the influx of foreign players, and now home grown players going down too easily, it makes for a poor spectacle for people hoping football would be like it was in the 70′s and 80′s.

Alan Hansen once said that a certain someone would win nothing with kids. 15 years down the line he is still mocked about that comment. He made a rather more poignant comment this weekend on MotD when he said that “that tackle would have got you a new contract”. How true those words are Mr.Hansen. Nowadays it is an undeserved 3 match ban for being aggressive and reckless! Being as so many freekicks are given for what 20 years ago the crowd would have applauded for a superb tackle, we may as well jump ahead in time and make football a non-contact sport so that the players don’t get boo-boos.

This week apparently it is Rock Week. Though until Sophie came onto stage have I heard a rock song, have I fuck! The judges are arguing what constitutes rock song. Between them we have Gary Barlow part of boyband Take That, Tulisa part of the rap brat prat known as N-Dubz, Lois Walsh and Kelly, I think they aren’t rockers either. So we have 4 people who haven’t done a rock song between them! A rock song has to be sung by a rock band, have drums, guitars riffs, loooong vocals. But they have to be sung that way when they are repeated too. If Guns’N'Roses, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Slipknot are sung rap-stlye, ballad-style, slowly, melodramatically then they are no longer rock songs!! They are just song sung by rockers! Dumb fucking judges!

That thankfully changed when Sophie came to the stage and instantly made me want her to win, or if not support her and buy forthcoming albums. Why, because not only was she the first to perform a true rock song, although it was again given a ballad feeling to it, but it was Livin’ On A Prayer, by my all time favourite band Bon Jovi!!! Talk about to win over a guys heart by singing his favourite songs :P

C’mon Sophie Habisis.

It is hard not to see past the obvious, that the BAA are money-grabbing whilst the oppurtunity is there because in terms of which airport is expanding, doing well with passenger numbers and increasing it’s flight-network even during a recession there is only one winner. That being Edinburgh. Compare the percentages and they will all favour Edinburgh. So with ££££ in their eyes it is apparent the BAA believe they will get a better price by selling Edinburgh than they would for selling Glasgow. They should get more money and be able, you’d hope invest it straight into Glasgow or Aberdeen. Whereas receiving probably less money from Glasgow and being less than likely to invest in continuing the growth of Edinburgh.

However, they’ve made their decision now and people at Edinburgh can only hope whoever comes in and buys us has big ideas, big bucks to back it and we can continue to expand and keep ahead of Glasgow. All we need is a long haul flight to the Middle East and the US and we’re laughing. Fingers crossed someone big is interested and putting a package together to come and make Edinburgh a first class international airport!

What a start to the PPV we had with Kendrick and Austin Aries ripping the Philly stadium up! Monstrous support for Double A, and some hard hitting, high flying moves. Aries 3 in 1 combo in the corner that ended with the pendulum elbow drop was beautiful, and his flying dropkick which got counted with boots in the face midair from Kendrick was rocking, the sliced bread Kendrick hit blew Aries out of his boots, but not enough and Aries came back with the brainbuster to seal the win and retain the title.

Then the old rivalry of RVD and Jerry Lynn. Full Metal Mayhem. Some of the crash and burns on the ladder made me shudder, boy will they be black and blue tomorrow. The spinning kick with the chair into the face of Lynn looked like it hurt a lot! Still not enough to get a 3 count. It took a coast to coast from RVD with Lynn behind a ladder and a chair in the hand of RVD as he flew across the ring to pretty muck KO Lynn and pick up a pinfall. Nice to see at the end the respect from Lynn by shaking hands and leaving the ring, I feared he’d blindside RVD and annihilate with the ladder, but cuedos to Lynn!

From one hardcore match to another, Falls Count Anywhere between Douchebag Ray and Miiiissssttteeerrrr Annnddeerrrrrrrson. This was a physical, brutal, punishing match. The piledriver on Mr.A backstage looked to be enough, but nope. They made it back into the ring where Anderson introduce a steel ringside barrier. Bully Ray went over Anderson’s shoulders and buckled the damn thing! Anderson tried a top rope move but crashed and burned, to be quickly picked up and Bubba Bombed through a table, and he kicked out! Frickin’ amazing. Bully Ray’s turn to crash and burn on the steel barricade this time as he tried to squash Anderson but missed, and then went face first into the barricade thanks to a Mic Check but kicked out! It went outside the ring at this stage and ended up with Anderson Mic Checking Bully through a table and picking up a very hard-fought 3 count!

Next up was maybe the biggest in size 3 way ever. Morgan v Crimson v Joe. It started with Morgan and Crimson working on Joe, until Joe managed to get them outside the ring and took it in turns beating them up. Crimson seems to take brunt of punishment when he was thrown over the ropes onto Morgan by Joe, then when he returned to his feet he received the suicide dive off Joe, the next time he returned to his feet he got squashed by a flying giant as Morgan flew off the top rope onto the outside and Crimson, with Joe looking on rather amused! When the action returned to the ring Morgan tried a Carbon Footprint on Joe but got hung up in the ropes and corner, Joe turned believing he missed a bullet only to be speared and pinned by the still undefeated Crimson.

Turn now to let the Knockouts loose in what was the joke of the night, Karen “stuck up whore” Jarrett as the referee. It started out as it was going to go on, Mickie pinning Winter only for Karen not to count. But when Maddisonwas doing the pinning she quickly found her referring ability to do a count. It went on in this stage, with Mickie and Velvet squaring off with Karen not seeming interested in referring fairly, otherwise Mickie would be champ. Mickie got in her face, and things got ugly as all 4 knockouts got involved. Angelina Love on the outside gave Winter some blood to store, and she went to spray in the face of Mickie again, only for Mickie to duck and it to go in the face of Karen. Karma’s a bitch Karen! Tracie Brooks came down to the ring now took over as ref. In doing so Velvet X-Factored Maddison and became the new Knockouts Champion. Well done Velvet. You’ve overcome many odds and improved phenomenally over the last year, one of the fittest Champs ever….Let the Pigeons Loose!!!!

The PPV went up another gear as it was time for AJ and Daniels to sqaure off in an I Quit match. The early goings Daniels had the upper hand and was the dominant one with AJ showing glimpses of how slick and frickin’ brilliant he is with the timing of some of his moves. Then Daniels flipped. He found a toolbox under the ring and threw and missed a wrachet at AJ, then he took a screwdriver into the ring and tried to stab AJ in the head. AJ fought out, and Daniels again missed with the screwdriver leaving it embedded in the top turnbuckle. Daniels introduced a chair and went on with a monologue of what he was going to do, and even told AJ’s wife and kids who were presumably watching back home to turn it off as he was about to “murder” AJ in cold blood. That lit the fuse in AJ. Daniels missed a chair shot and AJ came back with such vicious clotheslines, backbreaker into a gutbuster and then a pumphandle gutbuster! You could see the fire and focus in AJ’s eyes. He was so in the zone. He was going to use the chair until he turned and fetched the screwdriver from the turnbuckle, at which point the coward Daniels squealed I Quit like a little bitch before AJ had chance to do any damage and then ran away like a pussy. AJ looked frustrated with the manner of the win, only to be later blindsided by Daniels at the top of the ramp and Angels Wingsed onto the ramp. This isn’t finished yet.

Next came the match of the night. Well, fight. Sting versus Hogan. Hogan threw a curveball straight off by having Flair come down to the ring, and also having Jackson James as the referee who we discovered earlier in the night was Bischoff’s son! Yeah, you read that bit right. Think back how many dubious matches Jackson James has appeared in! Anyways, on with this fight. It was mainly Hogan beating Sting with assistance from Flair and a worried Dixie Carter looked on from the crowd. Both men got bloodied up and then things took a shocking turn.

Sting came back and got Hogan in the Scorpion DeathLock, Hogan tapped once but Jackson didn’t call for the submission bell, Hogan tapped again with Sting looking at the ref, still no ringing of the bell, Hogan tapped once more and the torn ref did the right thing and called the submission and Sting won the match! This led to Immortal coming down to lay a beat down on Sting as Hogan recovered in the corner. Bully Ray, Steiner, Gunner all laid into him with chair shots. Flair got involved too of course. Bischoff got a chair in hand ready to pummel Sting, lifted it overhead only for his son to snatch it from his hands and say No. This didn’t go down well of course as Bully distracted him, and with his back turned to his father, he got suckered with a cheap shot. The beat down continued on Sting, with him reaching out on the floor asking Hogan who had now returned to his feet leaning in the corner for help.

Sting was dragged back to the opposite corner as Hogan surveyed the situation. In doing so the crowd went ballistic. Hogan looked side to side, all around and the old Hogan came out. To my, the crowd, the millions watching, and especially to Immortals disbelief he HULKED up and right hands were delivered to Flair, to Bully, to Steiner and to Gunner. One man conspicuous by his absence and seen peaking around the corner from backstage was Abyss. I expect him to break away from Immortal and stick with Hogan. Back to the ring though and as Immortal stood dumbfounded in the centre, Hogan was up in one corner and Sting had recovered in the other to Immortals lack of knowlegde, their eyes were on Hogan. Then they realised and a gorilla chest beat came out of both Hogan and Sting simultaneously as they dealt with Immortal. The two legends uniting and getting rid of them from the ring. All that was left was a cowering Bischoff, Hogan duly nailed him with a right hand and it was just Hogan and Sting left standing in the ring. Would love to have known what was said between the pair, but what a moment of not only TNA, but wrestling history as these two embraced, and Jackson James returned to raise the hands of both men. This can only be for the good of TNA as Bischoff was clearly the cancer in the company. With a focused Hogan, united with Sting and Dixie the edge of space is now the new limit, not the sky.

That left only one matter to decide. Who walked out as World Heavyweight Champion. Kurt Angle or Bobby Roode. Angle had just watched his recently joined faction capitulate, and Bobby Roode was on the roll of his life. They said it would be a great match, and they were not wrong. I’d say Match of the Year. The intestinal fortitude shown by both men was amazing as they exchanged holds and moves and it seemed an even match. Never before have I seen Angle walk into the same move by an opponent as Roode got him in the crossface submission surely half a dozen times throughout the match, and Angle came so close to quitting on a few occassions only for him to brilliantly make the ropes or reverse it completely into an Anklelock. You just have to admire that ability. From nearly tapping to reverse the situation completely and have Roode in a tapping situation. Roode threw Angle from the top rope and Angle landed hard, Angle dished out suplex after suplex with plenty of Angle Slams. Yet he couldn’t put Roode away, and he showed his disbelief and frustration. Roode again came close with the spinebuster but not quite. Angle then cheated with a low blow which the ref couldn’t see and followed it up with an Angle Slam. Roode landed near the ropes, his arm broke the plain of the ropes and the count should have been stopped, but it continued as Angle grabbed the second rope for more illegal leverage and luckily held onto his title with one of his most hard-fought wins which was shown as he fell back onto the mat in relief and exhaustion.

So Angle left holding onto the Gold, Roode was left in the corner sitting, knowing he came within an 1/8 of an inch of winning the title. It was too good a showing not to be given another chance. With Sting and a real Hogan back in the game, he should get another chance. That rounds off a breath-taking, physical, unbelievable, shocking, brilliant PPV from TNA. Roll on the next one. Oh yeah, I missed out the impromptu fight between Douchebag Jarrett and JEFF HARDY!!! Jarrett spouted off that no one wanted Jeff in TNA. Well he is dead wrong. If Hardy proves himself changed and focused he is a top level player and challenger for the title. And Hardy had about 5 words for him before he started throwing punches and the two battled for a brief period before it was broken up by security and TNA officials. Should have let them at it and lef Hardy Swantom Bomb Jarrett. But don’t worry Hardy, I have a feeling you’re time to kick Jarrett’s ass is forthcoming.

HARDY TNA HARDY TNA STINGER HOGAN STINGER HOGAN TNA TNA TNA TNA TNA

People have said some stupid things like Americans should leave F1 driving to the Europeans, because an accident on that scale could just as easily happen in F1 no matter how well Button, Alonson, Vettel, Hamilton, Di Resta, Schumacher and the other drivers are driving at the time. It is only millimetres that seperate the cars at time and it is no surprise really that every so often a major crash like this happens and someone loses their life because of their passion for racing.

It is the risk you take going so fast, no matter if you have the reflexes of a gunslinger you can’t react fast enough to avoid the carnage in front of you travelling at speeds over 100mph, never mind the actual speed these guys are travelling at. Of course sympathies and condolences to the families affected by this inevitable crash, be honest, it was going to happen one race or another, it just depends when Lady Fate picks. That doesn’t make it easier for the families, but they are aware of what could happen, no matter how hard they pray for their son/brother/father/niece/cousin to make it through the race unscathed, as seen there it only takes a little thing to cause chaos and a loss of life.

I don’t think it should be banned because then there will be calls for the likes of F1, superbikes, rallying, and other forms of racing to be banned because somebody could die. That’s the risk the drivers take for the thrill. Safety is paramount but driving at those speeds, accidents are always going to happen. Fact. Unless you say overtaking is banned, all drive in a straight line seeing who can do the fastest lap, limited speed, other daft ideas like that, there’s a chance you’ll witness someone plough into a wall as you watch on TV or from the grandstands.