Batson's Blog

It's a big night for WWE. First off, it's Wrestlemania. That's their biggest show of the entire year. Second, it's the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania. A lot of questions will be answered tonight. Who will retain their titles? Who will win their matches? What kind of surprise appearances can we expect? WWE have mended their rocky relationships with Bruno Sammartino, The Warrior and Hulk Hogan in recent years. We know 2/3 of those men will be appearing. WWE has apparently reached out to a variety of other big names to appear. Steve Austin, The Rock and RVD are all in New Orleans. Then there's speculation about Sting. It certainly seems like a lock that he'll be there tonight. I'm a fan of TNA as much as the next guy, but it's about time Sting showed up in WWE! Taker vs. Sting has been too long in the making. The surprise appearances is something that will make Wrestlemania more exciting to watch, but it's not one of the pivot...

Two months ago, just after the Royal Rumble, I made a list of some 'should be' Wrestlemania matches. A lot of wrestling fans have been debating how the current Wrestlemania card stacks up to Wrestlemania events of the past. To be honest, on paper, it looks kind of lame. That being said, it could turn out to be an awesome event. The big matches will likely deliver, if nothing else. Still, after reviewing some of my 'should be' matches, I think Wrestlemania could be better. My match: Tag Team Title match between The Usos, Cesaro and Swagger, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, and The New Age Outlaws Actual match: The Usos vs. Cesaro and Jack Swagger vs. Los Matadores vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel Better booking: They're, more or less, the same, but I'm going with mine. I had The New Age Outlaws walking into the match as Tag Team Champions and The Usos winning the match, giving them a nice Wrestlemania moment. WWE has The New Age Outlaws in an entirely d...

It's been widely speculated for months now that Jeff Jarrett's big announcement (coming in about 48 hours according to his Twitter account ) is that he is partnering with Toby Keith to start a new wrestling promotion. Anytime there's the mention of the slightest bit of competition for WWE I immediately get visions of a new era of the Monday Night Wars. I became a wrestling fan in the middle of that era -- in 1997, when Monday Night Raw was losing the ratings war to Monday Night Nitro . To Dixie Carter's credit, she hasn't killed off TNA . It's a company that's over 10 years old now. It's not a threat to WWE's global empire though. IF Jeff Jarrett is starting a new promotion and IF that's his big announcement, I'll have to remind myself that it's going to take a while before (or, more appropriately "if") it's going to be competition to WWE. Success won't come overnight. I'm optimistic, however, because ...

The day that you can do a good deed by ordering pancakes is right around the corner or, in this case, on the other side of the weekend. National Pancake Day is this Tuesday -- March 4. From 7 am until 10 pm you can stop in at any IHOP location and get a free stack of buttermilk pancakes. Of course anyone who does this is encouraged to make a donation to the Children's Miracle Network Hospital. Outside of Miracle Treat Day , this is my favorite fundraising day of the year. Maple syrup and a stack of pancakes for a good cause. What's better than that?

Seth Rogen as Cookie Monster It's been about a year since I posted part one. I figured it was about time for a follow up. Okay, so technically Cookie Monster isn’t a cartoon character. He’s a puppet – or is it mupppet? Either way, if Sesame Street was to be brought to life on a Broadway stage with the assitance of blue makeup and fake blue fur, Seth Rogen would get the part. I don’t even know if Seth Rogen can sing, but he’d still get the part. Rogen is Cookie Monster’s human look-a-like. There really should be some kind of commercial that pairs the two of them together. Amy Adams as Teela If there’s ever a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (I swear I will write a screenplay if somebody doesn’t finish it soon) Amy Adams would be the perfect candidate to play Teela. Take a look at the cartoon version of Teela and the real life photo of Amy Adams. For those of you who aren’t familiar with He-Man (and why not?), Teela is a red-haired, strong-willed, comb...

It's almost impossible to find Jennifer Nettles without a smile on her face, but on her new album, That Girl , she turns the happiness down a notch. When I first heard that Nettles was coming out with a solo album, I fully expected to hear a bunch of pop-infused country jams. Well that theory was totally off base. There aren’t very many pop songs on this album – not in the way “Like Sugar” was. What That Girl does have is emotion. It’s dripping with emotion. It’s reflective and covers a range of topics, but most songs have roots in love. Songs that may be generic for other singers end up being impressive pieces of work when Nettles gets involved. The writing on That Girl probably isn’t as amazing as some of Sugarland’s best work, but they’re still better than your typical pop song. Falling Jennifer Nettles starts off this album with a light, nice, country sound that features the impressive range of her powerful vocals. Just like some of the greats in the music in...

Another exciting edition of celebrity look-a-likes -- part 4 to be exact. On the left: Wes Scantlin On the right: Edge Edge was in the first two blogs about celebrity look-a-likes, so why not another time? Evidently I think this guy looks like just about everyone on Earth. I previously compared him to Jamie Campbell Bower and Wilson Bethel, but this time I think I got it right: he's the spitting image of Puddle of Mudd member Wes Scantlin! These days Edge doesn't have the shaggy hair , but when he was in his "Rated R Superstar" run in the WWE in 2006, he definitely could've passed for Scantlin. The big, square jaw and toothy grin? Yep -- they must be some kind of family. On the left: Kelly Kelly On the right: Amber Heard From a former WWE superstar to a former WWE Diva. When I heard that Johnny Depp got engaged to Amber Heard, I typed my way over to Google and found a photo. I was looking at Amber Heard, but could've sworn it was K...

The Royal Rumble, disappointing as it may have been (none of my 'should be' surprise entrants made an appearance), is in the books. That means Wrestlemania is right around the corner. Batista seems set to be in the main event at 'Mania. WWE has traditionally put that number one contendership on the line at some point in February, however, so things could still change. C.M. Punk changed the Wrestlemania card the day after the Royal Rumble by essentially handing in his resignation (that's another blog for another day...I don't think it's a work though). WWE has several weeks worth of buildup ahead of them. I'm hoping they end up with an awesome card, but there's been more than one Wrestlemania lineup in recent years that have been lackluster. That's why I'm offering my help. These are the matches I'd like to see at Wrestlemania. Actually, I should amend that statement. These are the matches I'd like to see that have a realisti...

One of the best pay-per-views WWE still produces is the Royal Rumble, largely due to the Royal Rumble match. Pat Patterson did well when he came up with that idea. One of the great things about the Royal Rumble match has always been the surprise entrants. As the Royal Rumble approaches, there are still a few slots left that haven't been announced. Who's going to walk through the curtain in Pittsburgh? Will Christian or Evan Bourne finally make their returns? Your guess is as good as mine. Here are some people I'd like to see show up on Sunday though. DDP and Rikishi were originally on the list, but they just showed up at Old School Raw a couple of weeks ago. I'd rather be surprised by the inclusion of some other superstars. 10. RVD It's been a while since Rob Van Dam has appeared in a WWE ring. The Rumble would be a great chance to bring him back for a nice run through Wrestlemania season. Personally I'd like to see RVD and Antonio Cesaro ha...

A large part of my 2013 was going to 42 different cupcake shops in the greater Charlotte area, sampling over 60 different cupcakes and somehow preventing a sugar overload. The result of all of that (besides a lot of exercise ahead for 2014) is an end to my search for Charlotte's best cupcake. Actually, I got more than I bargained for. 9 different cupcake shops had cupcakes that I gave over 4-and-a-half cupcake star ratings to. Cupcake Delerium’s Aunt Jemima cupcake (complete with bacon on top) was incredible! Big View Diner’s amazingly delicious chocolate cupcake is any chocolate lover’s dream come true. Cupcrazed has a lot of amazing cupcakes, but I enjoyed the maple bacon quite a bit. Maddy’s Fatty’s cannoli cupcake brings a bit of New York City into the Queen City. And then there’s The Polka Dot Bake Shop’s red velvet cupcake (pictured on the right), the cupcake that got my 2013 cupcake obsession going. Of all the cupcakes I sampled, I think Granny Mac's...

Last year I made a list of 10 TV shows and movies that aren't on DVD -- even though they should be. The Nanny (seasons 4-7), Batman , Spellbinder , Ready or Not , Maid To Order , Susie Q , The Elf Who Saved Christmas , Ocean Girl , The Secret World of Alex Mac , The Wonder Years and The Torkelsons / Almost Home were on that list. One year later and none of them are available on DVD yet. What's wrong with the higher ups? Whoever has the rights to those shows should be working their connections, making phone calls and signing deals to get those awesome movies and shows out there, available for purchase at Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers. If not Wal-Mart and Target, at least on Amazon -- please! Here's a list of 10 more gems that really ought to be released as well: 10. The Parent Trap III and IV The original Parent Trap is still one of my favorite movies of all time. It's amazing -- from the writing to the acting to the camera shots. It's...

The other day I ranked the albums I listened to in 2013 . I'm not done with 2013 yet. Today it's time to rank the movies of 2013. From the good to the bad to the horribly, horribly boring -- they're all here: 25. Mud I kind of feel like I should give this one another shot. After all, I was playing Candy Crush when I was watching it. Then I fell asleep. That's how boring it was though. It failed to keep my interest from the start. Mud is a drama about two young boys who find a man named Mud hiding out on a secluded Mississippi island. The two boys -- Ellis and Neckbone -- help Mud in what he says his goal is: trying to win back the woman he loves. In return, Mud will give the boys his boat. Mud ends up tricking the boys into stealing. All the while there's other drama unfolding with Ellis' parents, who are separating. The entire movie seemed pretty disjointed, but maybe Candy Crush is to blame for that (love that app!). Joining McConaughey a...

I was going through some of my holiday photos and videos and finally got around to uploading some of them. First up: Christmas at the Western Mall. This light show is a yearly tradition in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It originally became a local attraction in Crooks, South Dakota -- a small town outside of Sioux Falls.When the show became too big for the residential neighborhood it started in, the show was moved to a mall in Sioux Falls. I did a story on the move when I was still a reporter in South Dakota. It doesn't cost anything to watch the show, but organizers and sponsors ask that people donate to Make-A-Wish. With over 55,000 lights, the show is incredible. I went to watch it twice this year.

2013 ended too quick! I didn't get the chance to finish up my 'best of 2013' lists. Today I'll tackle the best albums of 2013 and tomorrow it'll be the top movies of 2013. I didn't get the chance to listen to every album that was released in their entirety, but I did get the chance to check out the 13 of them that were listed below. 13. BEYONCÉ by Beyonce Sorry Beyonce fans, but BEYONCÉ didn't do it for me. While many praised the album for being groundbreaking, I struggled to maintain any interest in it. Overall it was boring. The theme of almost every song was about sex. There wasn't much variety when it came to the music either. Beyonce has a nice voice, which was showcased on a handful of songs on BEYONCÉ, but most of the songs consisted of her trying (and failing) her hand at rapping, singing breathily the way Britney Spears would or simply speaking. Maybe that's new ground for Beyonce, but it's hardly groundbreaking. ...