While this past weekend back have been a three-day one for some workers, Sunday through Tuesday was a three-day weekend for WWE fans. The past three days have seen the Elimination Chamber PPV, Monday Night Raw and a live Tuesday edition of Smackdown (or Super Smackdown if you want to be super stupid about it). Because of this, the column is a day late.

(Or, at least, I have a legitimate reason for it being a day late instead of my usual reason, which usually consists of me saying “Crap, it’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”)

So, let’s take a look at all three shows:

* When reports came out saying that WWE Creative were going to take into account their Internet fanbase (otherwise known as the Internet Wrestling Community, or IWC, which sounds way, way, way more important than it actually is), apparently it meant that they intended to do the opposite of what they wanted/expected. The show began with the WWE Title cage match which CM Punk won. Jericho found himself kicked out of the cage and knocked out and thus “unable to continue”.

By the way, if you’re wondering why, whenever someone seems to be hurt, a referee will make an “X” symbol with his arms – allow me to explain. Before the Internet came along and everyone knew everything about backstage stuff, referees would make an X with their arms if a wrestler was actually legitimately hurt (like Wade Barrett was during Raw – we’ll get to that in a bit). That way, they knew to send medical personnel down quickly while still keeping the fans in the dark. Of course, now everyone for the most part knows what it means, so now they do it to make the fans think it’s a real injury. Got it now?

Anyway, Beth Phoenix won her Diva’s title match, more or less ending that “let’s make sure everyone knows that Jimmy Snuka is her dad” mini-push they were giving Tamina. I was expecting Kharma to come out and challenge Beth to a match at Wrestlemania afterwards so, of course, it didn’t happen. They shoehorned a US title match between Jack Swagger and Justin Gabriel – who probably got the shot because he was most likely the only wrestler not on the card who decided to go to downtown Milwaukee and get wasted.

The World Heavyweight Championship match got off to kind of a boring start that started to pick up once both The Great Khali and Big Show were eliminated. Santino, replacing an injured Randy Orton, was expected to get demolished and eliminated quickly, wound up in the final two with eventual winner and champ Daniel Bryan. He also got the biggest reaction of the night.

And finally we got that John Cena/Kane ambulance match that Cena predictably won and should have probably gone first.

Moving on to Raw

*As we watch Eve explain to the Bella Twins how she was “using” Zack Ryder, we begin Raw with the clumsiest heel turn in recent history. I once jumped in the air and landed on a rock and sprained my ankle and it wasn’t nearly as clumsy a heel turn as this. Following that and a speech by Cena in which I guess he coined the phrase “hoeski” (seriously, if you don’t get the context, you’re missing nothing), we get two tag team matches (one featuring Divas), an Ezekiel Jackson/David Otunga match (Oh, Zeke. You had such promise. Just kidding, no you didn’t) and Daniel Bryan beating Santino in a match that, apparently, was supposed to punish Santino for being so popular the night before.

We also find out that Ron Simmons (one of my top five favorite wrestlers as a kid) is going into the Hall of Fame (and well deserved) as well as the fact that Triple H will face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania in a Hell in a Cell match. Also, John Cena cut a promo that actually gave some heat to his match with The Rock – more than just “Hey! John Cena and The Rock are wrestling!” Rock will be live on Raw next week.

* And then we wrap up the three days of fun with Smackdown. For the first hour and forty minutes, we had the same stuff that aggravates wrestling fans about Raw – or even WWE product in general. Smackdown, for the most part, has actually been a slightly more entertaining product than Raw. Normally you could attribute that to it being taped and, therefore, editable. Except last night was live.

Outside of a useless Great Khali/Drew MacIntyre match, most of the storytelling and matches during Smackdown were decent. There was also a segment between John Laurinatis and Teddy Long that was kind of embarrassing. But once all the SyFy promos and Triple H/Undertaker recaps were done, we get to Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk. And, once again, these two show why they hold their respective titles. The match was restarted three times (thanks to the two feuding GMs), went for twenty minutes and ended with a double pin-fall. It was so awesome, it even made the Long/Laurinatis feud seem interesting. Let’s hope the main events these two guys are in at Wrestlemania are nearly half as good as this match was.

Next week, I’ll give you a quick recap of Raw as well as my thought on Hell in a Cell as a match in general. See you next week!

Column: Wrestling Is Fake – 2/22/2012 is a post from: TheRugged

Trevor Bayne. 2011 NASCAR Daytona 500 winner.

Youngest guy to do so at 20 years of age. Humble.

When you interview an athlete you always hope that they are someone you would want to hang out with and drink a beer. In this Trevor Bayne isn’t old enough, but he is definitely one cool guy. I got a chance to catch up with the prodigy race car driver check it out…

Mike Arone: Trevor, winning the Daytona 500 is what some people call the Super Bowl of NASCAR—it’s a huge deal! To be only 20 years old and win this is an even bigger deal. When did you actually start burning rubber?

Trevor Bayne: I started when I was about 5 years old with Go-Carts. Racing was in my family and it was in my blood. Eventually I started to move up the latter and began racing cars at 14.

MA: Obviously, there was someone you looked up to in the sport and do you race amongst them now.

TB: Absolutely! Jeff Gordon was always my favorite. I remember having the number ‘24’ on the side of my go cart as a little kid.

MA: Being so young, people are going be expecting a lot from you—how are you taking this all in.

TB: I am so grateful to have all the support I have had and hope that I can continue to have a long career. I keep faith in God and work as hard as I can to be the best.

MA: Spoken like a true Tim Tebow! Being the fitness and nutrition editor at The Rugged and having the opportunity to speak to a few racers you may know—some like, Matt Kenseth, relies more on his driving skills and intuition of the sport where Jimmie Johnson owes a great deal to his physical training in his success. Where do you stand?

TB: Being in physically great shape is so important. Being on the track for so long exhausts you. I actually had some tests done last week to measure my heart rate while I was driving and it averaged at 130 bpm!!! That’s a long time to have your heart rate so high.

MA: Wow that’s as if you’re jogging for 3 hours straight—like a marathon! Trevor, I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with The Rugged, we wish you the best and hope to see more of you in the future!

TB: Thanks might I truly appreciate it!

*** Rugged ALERT: Be sure to tune in to The Great American Race (Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. ET on Fox)

Interview with NASCAR Prodigy: Trevor Bayne is a post from: TheRugged

Thanks to innovation, technology, creativity, and a history of cultural icons to bolster the growing interest in these sexy metal beasts, there were numerous noteworthy models. So many, that 3 articles were needed to give each creation its due respect. This one is the first of three.

Besides companies unveiling their masterpieces, this year’s show seemed to have more exhibits than other years catered toward new riders. Wise move, since motorcycle riding has been increasingly popular, especially in the last 5 years.

Let’s move on to the bikes.

New Motorcycles for 2012

• Honda NC700x

  With the thousands of new riders that will hit the road this year, Honda is striving to meet the demand by introducing this easy-to-ride 700cc adventure-style mid-weight motorcycle due to arrive this Summer. Its low center of gravity is easier for new riders to handle than more top-heavy sport bikes of the same weight. Plus with its comfortable sitting position, it’s also easier on the back.

  The NC700x has an automatic transmission option that comes with an anti-lock braking system. One other really cool feature, and something not seen often except in Vespas, is its 21-liter storage compartment, big enough to stow your helmet when you park, or an extra helmet for a passenger.

Not your normal scooter

• BMW C600 Sport

  Scooters will be a first this coming Fall for BMW. Imagine having the engineering of a legendary company combined with the ease and savoir faire of an Italian personal transporter. Its two-cylinder, 600 cc engine will get you more than around town. With a top speed of over 100 mph, you also get the oomph of German innovation. Plus what cuter way is there to get a girl close to you than giving her a lift.

  Unlike cheaper scooters that exhaust stinky and unhealthy unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides into the air, BMW fitted these babies with catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, and a slick stainless steel muffler. So you can be kind to the environment, while saving on the cost of gasoline to run your errands.

• Triumph Tiger Explorer

  The recent success of their Tiger models inspired Triumph’s next iteration of adventure in this shaft-driven, 1200 cc, 135 horsepower joy machine. Designed especially for long distances, it has an electronic throttle and cruise control, switchable ABS, heated seats, and a 950 Watt generator so that you can charge your iPhone and run pluggable devices. With all its features, it no doubt costs more, at around $16k. That’s more than a low-end Ducati. But with this bike, you can be like Ewan McGregor and have you’re own trek across continents.

The International Motorcycle Show nears the end of its tour this year in North America with two more stops in Charlotte, NC, February 24-26 and Daytona Beach, FL, March 14-17.

Next time: A look at classic motorcycles.

Motorcycle Mania – Part 1 is a post from: TheRugged

THE FP Trailer is a post from: TheRugged

5. The Battle of Hoth

Just when we thought we’d seen the best special FX ever in 1977’s “A New Hope,” along comes this lengthy battle sequence to start “Empire Strikes Back.” Here we’re introduced to the super-cool AT-AT walkers in a fantastic fight against Rebel ships and stronghold. While Luke Skywalker and company manage to down some of the enemy forces, they’re sent packing by the Empire in a glittering display of violence that begins one ass-kicking after another for the good guys. “Empire Strikes Back” is a bleak film. It is also the best in the series, because it dares to take chances not previously taken by swashbuckling good-versus-evil Saturday matinee epics. And this is by far the most memorable set-piece in the most memorable film.

4. Han Shoots First

Long before George Lucas neutered him, Han Solo was a cool guy. Faced with only the possibility of capture or death, he lashes out killing Greedo, who has no idea the rogue has a gun pointed directly at him under the table. It’s a terrific introduction to this character and sets Solo up as the perfect anti-hero, which was a growing trend in the Seventies when the original film premiered. This one scene establishes Solo as a sign of the times and paves the way for more interesting, morally conflicted characters. Han’s a good guy, but he’s not above playing dirty, and we love him for it.

3. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo vs. The Death Star

Solo leaving Luke and company to deal with the Death Star themselves is a great suspense-builder in “A New Hope,” especially since he’s established himself through 75% of the movie as someone, who cares only about his own well-being. When he shows up just in the nick of time to blow away the Empire and clear an open path for Skywalker to do the whole Force thing on the Death Star, it’s a great moment. Terrific music, effects and excitement, all the way around!

2.  Luke, I am Your Father…

Another great moment from “Empire” finds Luke getting thoroughly dismantled and humiliated by his adversary. Then, just when you think the defeat cannot get worse for the young lad, it’s revealed to him that his enemy is also his father. Not sure, but I think this is where the comment, “Who’s Your Daddy?” got its start.

1. Darth Vader’s Turn

While it isn’t found in the best Star Wars movie, it’s the best moment in the series because the other two films did such a magnificent job building the Vader character. First, he’s a boogeyman; next, he’s a wicked corruption of our good guy’s father; and finally, he’s a man, who finds redemption. As Luke gets blitzed by the Emperor, Vader looks on, his face a pallet of blank emotion, yet his body movements slowly give away the change of heart that is going on under the darkness. Even as a young child, I could remember the audience cheering when the turn comes in the climax of “Return of the Jedi,” and to this day, the scene still gets to me. This all leads to the moving admission by Vader at the end of the film. Luke implores him to get on the ship, that he can still save him. The de-masked villain replies simply, “You already have.”

And now I will go wipe my eyes.  

What great Star Wars moments did we leave out? Share your thoughts with us below.

5 Best Moments in Star Wars History is a post from: TheRugged

I was in high school when the first Ultimate Fighting Championships took place (I’m almost 34 now, if that tells you anyway). This was years before Dana White bought it and they added strict rules and respectability that makes MMA in general the phenomenon that it is. Chances are, if you ask any random person on the street, they’d be more likely to be able to tell you who the current UFC heavyweight champion is than be able to tell you who the current heavyweight boxing champion is.

So, while I don’t follow the sport regularly, I’m pretty familiar with it and have been for a while. So I was pretty happy when I finally got a chance to play THQ’s latest UFC title, UFC: Undisputed 3. How much, I thought, would just a casual fan of UFC enjoy this game? Turns out, I enjoyed it quite a bit – but I could have enjoyed it more with some changes.

Undisputed is developed by Yuke’s, the same studio that brings you all of THQ’s WWE games. Don’t think for a minute, however, that if you spent all winter playing WWE ’12, you’re going to be able to jump into this game. The first time you boot up the game and play for the first time, it gives you the option of running through a tutorial that literally takes about an hour to complete. It’s helpful and it makes all the commands easy to understand, thus making the game more enjoyable, but geez.

Like any fighting game, there’s a number of modes to choose from. The Career Mode is just what it sounds like. You can create a fighter or choose an existing fighter and, you know, run through their career. Creating your own fighter is the way to go with this option – choosing a fighter from the roster is basically pointless, as you’ll inevitably end up changing their fighting style as you go along, anyway. You might as well decide what they look like while you’re at it.

The career mode isn’t just a series of fights one after the other (that’s what Title Mode and Title Defense Mode is), however. You’ll train, improving your stats and gaining experience in one area as opposed to another (for instance, you could improve your fighter’s striking ability at the expense of their wrestling ability). For those who want to jump in and fight, it can be pretty tedious and even for the more patient-minded, the constant intro videos and loading times can cause a severe feeling of “get on with it”.

The Event Mode allows you to replay classic UFC and Pride Fighting (they’re in here, too) matches,, while attempting to meet certain goals within certain time limits. It’s a fun feature and a good diversion, but mostly just comes down to fan service – casual fans won’t get anything more out of this than they would any other feature (except for the different elements that are unlockable).

Once you actually get into the matches, though, it’s fluid and a lot of fun. The controls aren’t complicated,despite the impression the ridiculously long tutorial would lead you to believe. Each fighter, though, has a number of different styles they can switch back and forth from and there’s a different set of controls for striking as opposed to fighting on the ground. On top of that, the difficulty levels are flexible – you should have no problem finding one that matches your skill level.

All in all, Undisputed 3 is a fun fighting game that, while offering something for any fighting game fan, is still pretty much made for UFC followers. Which is fine, as that’s who the game was made for in the first place.

UFC: Undisputed 3 is a post from: TheRugged

He’s got two games and a crappy Mark Wahlberg movie under his belt and now Max Payne is returning. Rockstar has this habit of taking stuff that worked in one of their games and using it to improve their other games. For instance, remember the stealth kills you could do in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? Those came from the game they put out before that, Manhunt. If we’re lucky, a lot of the good stuff from Grand Theft Auto IV will make its way into Max Payne 3. The last title Rockstar Vancouver brought us was Bully, which was fun, but we’ll see if they can pull of violent and gritty as well as some of their sister studios can.

Max Payne 3 hits Ps, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 15th.

Latest Trailer For MAX PAYNE 3 Hits is a post from: TheRugged

Go ahead and relax. A Different Kind of Truth is about as close to classic Van Halen as you can get without a time machine. It’s not nearly as good as, say, 1984 (but, then again, what is?) but if the phrase “return to form” was ever appropriate, it would be here.

It’s not a stretch to say that Van Halen were a different band with Sammy Hagar than they were with Roth. The minute the first track on the album, “Tattoo”, starts up, you know this is a Roth-fronted Van Halen. Everything that people loved from those early Van Halen album – Roth’s lyrics and occasional spoken aside (you know – “Have you seen Junior’s grades?”) to Eddie doing those guitar gymnastics that everyone else has been copying for years – is on this new one. Gone are the keyboards and Eddie doesn’t sing lead on a single damn song.

The best part of this whole project is the fact that, as far as the album goes, the band isn’t trying to reinvent themselves to win over new fans. There’s no drum machines or samples or special guest appearances by whatever pop star is hot right now. It’s just the original guys (save for Michael Anthony, who has been replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang on bass) doing what they’ve done best since 1972 – make some kick ass rock and roll. Nothing embarrassing about that.

I reserve the right to change that opinion, however, the minute I see a middle-aged David Lee Roth try to do the jumping splits on stage.

Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth (2012) is a post from: TheRugged

This is known as the ideal for guys. The thick traps that attach to the top of the shoulder. The muscular, round deltoids. The thick lats that taper into the waist. Each of these muscle groups making the waist appear thinner.

We’ve established the body that guys want to have, and women want to have lying next to them. So how do we develop it? And, if so many of us WANT IT, why is it that so few of us HAVE IT?

3 Main Muscle Groups

1. The Lats (back muscles) – This is arguably the key muscle group.

Our lats make our shoulders appear broader and waist appear thinner. Our V begins and ends with our lats.

2. The Shoulders – Create the upper part of the “V”.

This is the area that many of us will focus on. We need broad, round shoulders to build a V.

3. The Traps – Give the shoulders breadth.

The traps give us more of an athletic look/appearance, and contribute to the upper “V” look along with the shoulders.

How to Work These Muscle Groups to Form a V

With these 3 muscle groups, there are also exercises that should be given more attention than others. But don’t we need variation to keep our gains consistent and avoid plateaus?

Yes. But that variation should come in the form of changes in our reps, sets, and even cadence or the tempo of each exercise.

The Lats

When we train lats, a lot of us will automatically use wider grips, because we want to build the outer lat (the part of the muscle that will get us the tops of the V along with the shoulders). But the lower lat – worked by closer grips – is just as important.

We’ll also focus on pulldowns and chin-ups, neglecting other back exercises like rows because pulldowns isolate the lats. However, rows, like bent over rows and the Yates row are some of the best exercises for lat development.

4 super awesome back exercises:

Mid Lat/Traps: Inverted Row

Outer/Upper Lat: Wide-grip chin-up/pulldown

Lat Thickness: Yates Row

Lower Lat: Close grip chin-up/pulldown

How to Build a V Shape Torso is a post from: TheRugged

Twitter is the best social networking platform there is for the web entrepreneur. Facebook never positioned itself properly for this particular function. Oh sure, it does the social media thing well, but there’s a reason I turn to Twitter before Facebook when it comes to getting people interested in my articles and horror novels, and if you’re using it right, you’ll see great effects. But there are so many out there turning the Twitter feeds into a spam fest, and they wonder why they’re not seeing any results. Now The Rugged takes a look at the top reasons why your Twitter marketing efforts are a failure.

5. You’re more concerned with finding followers than with offering content. 

Finding followers is a great thing, if they’re the right kind of followers. When you see an account that consists of 22,000, but they’re following 24,000, however, it’s worthless. There is no way that anyone can cut through all of that social networking noise. The more seasoned Twitterers will know instantly that you’re just in it for the numbers, and the ones, who do agree to follow you, will be of no value because you won’t be able to possibly build any meaningful relationships with them. It’s just too much to keep up with. And say one of the 20,000 does find you interesting—you’ll probably ignore them because of all the noise out there that keeps you from hearing their efforts to connect.

4. You don’t have anything of value to offer in the first place. 

If you’re not regularly making tweets to the community and offering something of value, be it a retweet to an interesting article, an entertaining or informative original post, or a celebration of your fellow Twitterers’ accomplishments, then what are you doing on the network in the first place? Coming up with worthwhile stuff to post is challenging work, but it’s also necessary work. We’re not all perfect when it comes to cultivating our Twitter following, but we’re telling you, this stuff is important.

3. You’re relying too heavily on Twitter automation software. 

Twitter automation software is a beautiful thing. Programs, such as Tweetadder, help you to extract follower IDs for people in your industry, so that you can send follows and increase your network of contacts. It also helps you with the automation of Thank-You messages and the occasional tweet of value that may be of interest to much of your following. However, it can make you very lazy when it comes to building meaningful long-term relationships. See, the only thing that will make you successful on Twitter is the relationships. Ten close relationships are more important than 100,000 followers. If you’re relying on automation to connect one-on-one in a meaningful way, well, you’re going to fall flat on your butt.

2. You’re targeting the wrong types of followers. 

Twitter is not a numbers game. If you have 25,000 followers, who are all interested in knickknacks when all you sell are paddy-whacks, then the doggie that is your business will never get its bone. This lesson was something I had to learn in the beginning stages of my career writing and marketing horror books. My journalism contacts and my writer friends weren’t really of any value to my long-term goals. The horror freaks, on the other hand, are a gold mine.

1. You’re advertising, not marketing. 

Other than the people out there, who unwittingly allow their accounts to get hijacked so their followers start getting spammed with, “This person said something horrible about you, click this link to ruin your life” messages, the most frustrating thing about Twitter is how badly people misuse it when they actually send their tweets to the community. “Buy my book,” is not a message that adds value to your followers. Letting them know your book will be free on Presidents Day weekend, however, is. You should never approach your followers with dollar signs in your eyes. You should approach them with this mentality: “What can I do for this person they would appreciate enough to tell their friends?” Spreading goodwill among the right target market is a sure way of getting your name around. It’ll get your product great reviews. It’ll build friendships that can become long-lasting bonds between you and a potential customer. It won’t make you any substantial money on the front end, nor should it. But then, that’s okay. Money is fleeting. Reputations and relationships don’t have to be. And the better relationships you have, the better your reputation will become. And when you’ve got that going for you, the money falls into place.

Twitter is a slow burn, but an effective one, if you stay at it. What are you doing wrong? What are you doing right? What tips or warnings do you have to share from your own experiences? Share your thoughts below, so we can all learn from each other.

Top 5 Reasons Your Twitter Marketing Fails is a post from: TheRugged