1. Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder match: Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

As expected, the opener was one of the ladder matches. Much like last year’s Smackdown Money in the Bank match, this was given a lot of time and turned out great. Everyone brawls at the start until Barrett, Kane, and Sheamus are left in the ring. Kane double clotheslines the two heels and sends them outside, but Bryan kicks a ladder into Kane’s face. Slater and Gabriel team up to hit Sin Cara with a ladder, but Gabriel kicks Slater and climbs a ladder himself. Bryan missile dropkicks Gabriel off the ladder and Rhodes climbs up. Sheamus tries to powerbomb Rhodes but Rhodes escapes and hits Slater with his rebound kick. Kane clotheslines Sheamus to the floor, sends Barrett into a ladder in the corner, throws a ladder onto Barrett and Sheamus on the outside, and gives Slater a sidewalk slam. Cara hits Kane with an enzuigiri before Bryan hits a suicide dive to the floor, followed by separate dives from Slater and Gabriel as well as a high cross body from Cara off the top to Sheamus on the floor. Cara follows with a missile dropkick to Slater, an enzuigiri to Gabriel, and a Spanish Fly off the top turnbuckle to Bryan. Barrett hits Cara with a ladder and bridges the ladder from the apron to the Spanish announce table. Barrett goes for a clothesline but misses and hits the ring post. Sheamus hits Cara with the Brogue kick and then powerbombs him off the apron through the bridged ladder. Cara was tended to by officials and had to leave the match. Sheamus hits everyone with a ladder before Kane punches him and sends him to the floor before tossing the ladder on top of him.

Bryan and Rhodes align to attack Kane but quickly go at each other with punches. Kane hits both of them with a ladder and goes to climb it, but is attacked by Slater, Gabriel, and Barrett. Rhodes and Bryan separately try to climb but are attacked by the former Corre members. The trio then have a standoff before Slater and Gabriel attack Barrett and both try to climb the ladder. Rhodes shoves the ladder over and hits the Cross Rhodes on Slater and Barrett. Sheamus knocks Rhodes off a ladder and gives him the Irish curse backbreaker before starting to climb. Bryan tries to pull him off by his leg and then climbs over him, but Sheamus steps off the ladder with Bryan in an electric chair position, which allows Kane to come off the top rope with a crazy doomsday device clothesline. Sheamus bridges another ladder from the middle turnbuckle to a lower rung of a standing ladder. Kane chokeslams Rhodes and Gabriel before climbing the ladder, but Bryan goes to stop him. Bryan dives off the ladder onto Kane and is caught, but Bryan turns it around into a DDT. Bryan then fights with Slater atop the ladder and Slater gives him a neckbreaker off the ladder. Slater climbs again but is pulled off by Barrett, who then stomps him in the corner and crotches him on the top rope. Barrett and Sheamus then use a ladder to fling Slater off the top rope onto Kane on the floor.

Sheamus hits Barrett with a Brogue kick before he clotheslines Gabriel and drops him face first on a horizontal ladder in the corner. Sheamus climbs a ladder but ends up trading shots with Kane at the top. Kane eventually chokeslams Sheamus off the ladder onto the bridged ladder set up earlier by Sheamus. Rhodes catches Kane with the rebound kick and Barrett hits Kane with the Wasteland. Gabriel then hits a 450 splash to Kane off a horizontal ladder that was resting on the top rope. Scary spot. Barrett then gives Gabriel a Wasteland over the top rope to the floor and hits Slater with a pumphandle slam. He goes to climb, but Rhodes pulls him down and clotheslines him to the floor. Rhodes and Bryan fight at the top of a ladder as Barrett climbs up the other side, but Bryan is able to knock Rhodes to the mat and prevent Barrett from getting the case. Barrett teases a Wasteland off of the ladder, but Bryan fights out with the ELBOWS OF DEATH which he was known for on the independent scene. Bryan is able to fight off Barrett and send him to the mat, and then he unhooks the case for the win. Very surprising finish that got a huge reaction from the Chicago crowd, as not only was Bryan very over, but no one really expected him to win going in. Absolutely the right call with that finish. The match itself was awesome and had a lot of really nice spots while keeping a consistent theme of everybody constantly going for the win. Everyone really got to shine and this was a tremendous opener. Fun stuff all around. Match Time: 24:33     Match Rating: 8/10

2. Divas Championship match: Kelly Kelly© vs. Brie Bella

This was just here to cool down the crowd after the hot opener. Brie taunts Kelly at the start, but Kelly slaps her, hits a Thesz press with some punches, and a head scissors. Kelly takes out both Bella twins on the floor, but Brie tosses her out when she comes into the ring. Brie hits some punches, hangs up Kelly on the ropes, and presses her knees to her back. Brie then tosses Kelly to the mat and applies a weird head wrench submission with Kelly’s arm behind her head. Kelly fights out with a jawbreaker, slams Brie’s face in the mat, and then hits a clothesline followed by a neckbreaker for 2. Brie attempts a backslide but Kelly hits a bulldog before getting the win shortly after with the K2. Typical Diva fare with some botched spots and a lot of screaming. At least it was short. Match Time: 4:49     Match Rating: 2/10

3. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show

While this was certainly no classic, it was definitely more enjoyable than it had any right to be. Henry opens with punches, but Show fires back and hits a diving shoulder block before they move to the outside. Show clotheslines Henry on the floor and sends him over the steps, but Henry dropkicks the steps into Show’s knee. Back in the ring, Henry hits a kick to the face and slams Show’s knee on the mat before applying a single leg Boston crab. Show gets the ropes and kicks Henry off, but Henry hits a clothesline in the corner. Show hits a kick and a diving shoulder block off the top turnbuckle, but Henry escapes the chokeslam and hits the World’s Strongest Slam for 2. Henry then hits a second WSS and then connects with 2 back to back running splashes for the win. After the match Henry wraps a chair around Show’s leg and hits a Vader Bomb onto it, leading to Show being tended to by trainers and carted off. Injury angle was well done and the match was fine. They kept things short and moved at a pretty solid pace for 2 big guys. They also continued to build up Henry strongly. Match Time: 5:59     Match Rating: 4/10

4. Raw Money in the Bank Ladder match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne vs. R-Truth vs. Alex Riley vs. The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

While not quite as good as its Smackdown predecessor, this was still an extremely good, action-packed match, though it could have used a little more time. All 8 men have ladders in their hands at the opening bell, and they immediately begin the attack on Del Rio, who is sent to the floor and ends up buried under a pile of ladders thrown at him by the other participants. Rey is tossed onto the pile of ladders as well while R-Truth and Miz square off in the ring only for Swagger to hit both men with a ladder. Kofi and Bourne fight on a small ladder before they use it to hit Swagger and R-Truth. Rey hits Swagger with a head scissors to the floor and Del Rio crotches R-Truth on a ladder before kicking him in the face. Riley climbs a small ladder, but steps off and dives onto Swagger and Miz on the floor. R-Truth does a dive over the ropes as well and Rey and Kofi follow with simultaneous dives off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Bourne then climbs a ladder near the entrance ramp and does a crazy shooting star press to everyone on the floor. Bourne climbs a ladder in the ring and fights with Miz at the top, only for Del Rio to shove the ladder over. Miz took a bad fall, landing horribly on his leg, and was helped to the back by trainers (this looked pretty legit). Rey and Del Rio fight and Del Rio goes to climb, but R-Truth pulls him off the ladder. R-Truth and Del Rio then climb on opposite sides, but Rey and Bourne climb over them, knock them off, and hit simultaneous hurricanranas off the ladder to the heels. Kofi climbs, but Swagger pulls him off with the ankle lock.

Riley climbs up and fights with Swagger, but R-Truth pushes the ladder over. R-Truth puts a ladder in the corner horizontally, and then kicks it into Rey’s gut when Rey winds up in the corner. Kofi then hits a Boom Drop off the horizontal ladder to R-Truth and hits Riley with a kick. Rey dives onto Kofi and R-Truth stands on the end of a ladder near the apron to send the other end into Swagger’s face (think like a seesaw). However, while R-Truth is leaning through the ropes, Rey catches him with a 619. Riley and Rey fight at the top of a ladder while Bourne sets up a ladder himself, and soon all seven men end up fighting atop various ladders in a huge brawl. Del Rio gets sent into a ladder in the corner and Bourne is sent all the way to the floor when his ladder is pushed over. Eventually only Swagger and Kofi are left fighting at the top, but the ladder tips over and both crash to the mat. Miz then returns, limping down the entrance ramp, and goes to climb a ladder. After he gets about halfway up, Rey gives him a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder. Rey climbs and tries fend off Del Rio by kicking him and hitting him in the face with the briefcase. Del Rio then unmasks Rey and shoves him onto another ladder. However, Rey uses both hands to cover his face, so his ladder falls over because he wasn’t holding on to it. His ladder also crashes into Del Rio’s and they both fall over, but Del Rio sets his ladder back up and climbs up to get the case for the win. Very frenetic, chaotic match that was definitely the more dangerous of the two MITB matches. Like the first one, everyone continuously was going for the win, which created a lot of suspense. It could have used just a few more minutes but this was extremely enjoyable and featured tons of craziness. Match Time: 15:58     Match Rating: 7.5/10

5. World Heavyweight Championship match: Randy Orton© vs. Christian

The stipulations here were that if Orton got disqualified, or if the referee “makes a bad call”, then Christian will automatically win the title. While not quite up to par with some of their previous matches, this was another strong PPV encounter from these two. Christian slides a chair in the ring at the start to tempt Orton, but Orton tosses it out. Christian shoves him, but Orton unloads on him with punches, attacks him in the corner, and follows with a back body drop and knee drop. Christian slaps Orton, but Orton hits a kick and avoids a Christian dive to the floor. Orton tosses Christian into the steps, but misses a kick and gets his neck snapped over the top rope by Christian. Christian hits a diving twisting uppercut off the top and hits a back elbow. Christian stands on Orton’s back on the ropes before he slides outside and hits him in the face. Christian wrenches Orton’s head, but Orton gets up, avoids a charging Christian in the corner, and rolls him up for 2. Christian hits a spinebuster for 2 and goes for the Killswitch, Orton tries to counter with a back suplex, and Christian backflips out of it only for Orton to clothesline him to the floor. Christian misses a dive and counters the RKO, but Orton counters a dive form Christian with a jackknife cover. Orton hits a Thesz press with some punches, but Christian counters the spike DDT and heads up top, only for Orton to dropkick him in midair. Christian shoves Orton off the top and hits a diving head butt for 2 before both guys counter each other’s finishers. Orton hits some clotheslines, but Christian counters the RKO and hits the Killswitch for a near fall. Orton avoids a spear from Christian and hits a gutwrench neckbreaker for 2, then hits a snap powerslam followed by a spike DDT. Orton readies for the RKO, but Christian crawls to the corner and spits in his face. Orton then unloads on Christian with punches and low blows him right in front of the ref for the DQ, so Christian wins the title. After the match Orton beats the crap out of Christian and RKOs him on the Spanish announce table. The table didn’t break so Orton turned around during his retreat to give him another one, and again the table didn’t break. The match had awesome storytelling with Christian continuously antagonizing Orton before he finally sent him over the edge with the ultimate disrespect, spitting in his face. Although a bit short for a world title match, there was also a lot of very good back and forth action and false finishes. It will be interesting to see how this angle will continue and this PPV was very successful in reviving interest in Smackdown. Match Time: 12:20     Match Rating: 7/10

6. WWE Championship match: John Cena© vs. CM Punk

This was it, after some epic buildup and a ridiculous amount of speculation and anticipation, it was time for the main event. The crowd was more than ready for this thing as they had been chanting Punk’s name all night, long before this match was due to take place. As expected, they were almost universally in favor of Punk and booed the hell out of Cena. It was a One Night Stand 2006-esque atmosphere. Simply put, this was a masterpiece. The opening bell rang at about 10:12 EST, so you knew these guys were getting enough time for an adequate blowoff. They start off with a lot of chain wrestling after a lock up, with Punk applying a headlock and Cena applying a chin lock after a snapmare. Cena catches Punk in a fujiwara armbar and twists Punk’s arm, then hits a shoulder block and they lock up again. Cena hits another shoulder block but Punk comes back with a hip toss, a headlock, and a shoulder block of his own before both guys tease their finishers. Punk kicks Cena in the corner, but Cena hits a one handed bulldog and applies a reverse headlock. Punk hits some punches, but Cena hits a clothesline and applies a side headlock. Punk escapes the hold with a back suplex and gets a near fall after whipping Cena into the corner. Cena hits some punches and a fisherman’s suplex for 2, but Punk counters the Attitude Adjustment and hits a DDT for 2. Punk works over Cena with a head scissors and Cena gets up, only for Punk to toss him outside. Punk picks Cena up, hangs his head over the apron, and hits a diving knee drop off the top rope to the back of Cena’s head. Cena avoids a charging Punk in the corner and pulls his leg, but Punk kicks him off and catches him in a chin lock.

Cena gets up and hits some punches, but Punk kicks him in the corner and hits a cross body that doesn’t look pretty as Cena didn’t quite catch him right. While standing on the apron, Cena suplexes Punk over the ropes all the way to the floor. Cena scores a near fall back in the ring with a snap fisherman’s suplex and tries a slam that Punk escapes, but Cena picks Punk up and powerslams him for 2. Cena hits some more punches, and Punk comes back with some of his own, only for Cena to catch him in an abdominal stretch. Punk breaks the hold by clawing Cena’s face and hits a hip toss before both guys clothesline each other. Cena hits his shoulder blocks, but Punk backflips out of the side slam attempt and rolls Cena up for 2. Punk misses the running knee in the corner and Cena hits the side slam, but Punk kicks Cena in the head when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Punk does a suicide dive through the ropes onto Cena on the floor, but misses a springboard clothesline back in the ring and eats the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena goes for the AA, but Punk lands on his feet and hits a few short kicks for a near fall. Punk goes for the Go to Sleep, but Cena counters and hits a gutwrench suplex for 2. Punk counters the AA again, hangs up Cena in the ropes, hits 2 back to back running knee strikes, and a bulldog. Punk then hits a springboard clothesline for 2 and hits 3 kicks to the chest, but he misses on the 4th attempt and Cena catches him in the STF. Punk is able to get to the ropes and scores a near fall off a roundhouse kick. Punk goes for a cross body off the top, Cena rolls through and goes for the AA, Punk counters and goes for the GTS, but Cena counters and locks in the STF again.

Punk struggles, but is able to counter out of the hold and transition into the Anaconda Vise. Cena is eventually able to get up and give Punk the AA, but Punk kicks out! Cena heads up top and goes for the diving Famouser, but Punk powerbombs him in midair for 2. Punk goes for the GTS again but Cena gets the ropes and snaps Punk’s neck over them. Cena goes back up top and hits the diving Famouser for 2. Cena waits for Punk to get up and hits a second AA, but PUNK KICKS OUT AGAIN. Cena then sets Punk up on the top turnbuckle and teases a top rope AA, but Punk escapes it with the DANIEL BRYAN ELBOWS OF DEATH and hits a top rope Frankensteiner. Punk hits the running knee in the corner and goes for the GTS, but catches Cena in the ribs and Cena falls to the floor. As Punk goes to roll Cena back inside, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis come out on the ramp. Cena catches Punk in the STF back in the ring, and Vince calls for the bell to be rung as he comes down the ramp with Laurinaitis, trying to replicate the Montreal Screwjob. Cena sees what’s happening and immediately breaks the hold, leaves the ring, and decks Laurinaitis before telling Vince that he won’t let it end that way. Just as Cena comes back inside, Punk hits the GTS for the win! Vince then grabs a headset from the announce table and orders for Alberto Del Rio to come down to cash in his briefcase. Punk jaws with Vince as Del Rio comes to the ring, but Punk immediately levels him with a roundhouse kick to the head before Del Rio can cash in. Punk then taunts Vince as he escapes through the crowd with the championship. The PPV closes with Punk making his way through the concourse with the title intact. This was an extraordinary match, the best that John Cena has ever had and an easy match of the year candidate. The storytelling and the drama were at primarily uncharted territories for WWE. The way that they had this red hot crowd hanging on every move was simply magical. This is a match that you can show to everyone you know to explain why you love professional wrestling. The execution of everything involved in the match and post-match was astounding. I can’t wait to see how they follow this up and this match is a MUST SEE. Match Time: 33:44     Match Rating: 10/10

Overall PPV Rating: 9.25/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for three years.

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But no one expected him to not even place.

Now Wolf has his sights set on getting back to respectability at the New York Pro. He has a new trainer in former IFBB pro Patrick Tour and their plan is to use a heavy duty training style, which Wolf likened to the same that Dorian Yates used in his prime. But training and size has never been the issue with the massive German. His nutrition and contest preparation timing became the focus of his failure last year.

In a new video posted on Flex Online, Wolf stated that his nutritionalist decided to not cut his carbs and then he carb-loaded three days out. Wolf immediately felt that something was wrong and it showed on stage. He had no striations and appeared soft and puffy.

With his next show six weeks away, Wolf appeared to be massive on the video clip but is he going to have enough time to cut down? This is as important a contest for him as any other he has competed in. To come on stage in anything but peak condition will be a risky endeavor, indeed. A once-promising career that has been sidetracked can become completely derailed if Wolf has a bad showing in the Big Apple.

DENNIS WOLF CONTEST HISTORY

2006 Europa Super Show – 7th

2006 Mr. Olympia – 16th

2007 New York Pro – 3rd

2007 Keystone Pro Classic – 1st

2007 Mr. Olympia – 5th

2008 Mr. Olympia – 4th

2009 Mr. Olympia – 16th

Seeing the scale go down is a nice feeling when you’re “dieting” but if the weight you are losing is lean muscle it will only pose huge problems for you in the future! Muscle weighs twice as much as fat, so if you are dropping weight quite rapidly and not consuming enough protein in your daily diet you are losing valuable muscle! I have been saying this for years – do not just do cardio exercise, but lift weights too! Stimulating and “tearing” your muscle fibers down during resistance training is only part of the equation. You must ingest amino acids (which are in your proteins) to rebuild and recover from those intense workouts!

Lots of cardio exercise without proper protein intake will only result in one thing – weight loss. That weight loss will be some fat of course, some water weight as well but most importantly lean muscle loss. The goal is to lose as much body fat as possible while retaining lean tissue (muscle). I don’t care who you are, nobody wants to purposely lose muscle from their body. The more muscle you have, the more fat you lose. Having more muscle on your frame allows us to eat more food as well because it takes more energy to sustain that muscle.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the “yo-yo dieting” phenomenon? Losing a lot of weight (muscle included) and then finishing your diet only to start eating like you did before your diet will lead to a rebound of rapid weight gain! The difference is this time it will be ALL fat gain and lots more where that came from. Remember I said losing muscle will only pose huge problems in the future? Losing the muscle during your “weight loss” catches up to you because now you have less muscle to combat the fat you had. Fat cells merely shrink when you “lose” so when they begin to get bigger from eating more, you are not packing around the muscle mass you once had to burn more calories. This in turn will make you even fatter than before you started to lose your weight!

How can you stop this from happening? First thing is to change your thinking. Concentrate on losing “fat” NOT just “weight.” Muscle weight is the most important thing you can try and maintain while dropping down on the scale. Psychologically this will be harder because when you do look at the scale it may not go down much. This is why taking measurements is more important than a weigh scale.

Along with taking measurements and using your mirror image to chart your progress it is crucial to maintain a high protein diet everyday to hold on to muscle. Even if the majority of your exercise is of the cardio type, you must remember to not let your body go too long without protein. You want to stay in what is called an “Anabolic state.” (muscle building/muscle sparing). This will enhance your chances of success. Allowing your body to go into a “Catabolic state” (muscle wasting) is a huge mistake that many make.

This is a rather easy thing to avoid. Simply make sure you are ingesting a protein source every 3-4 hours max throughout the day – everyday. Do not forget about the night time either!  You want to remain in that same anabolic state while you sleep as that is when you recover and/or grow. Drinking a slow release protein containing Casein before bed helps this state to be in effect for up to 8 hours. High protein and very low to no carbohydrates is the key. Breakfast needs a high protein source a well. The word Breakfast means to “break the fast” which makes sense, but what I am saying is DO NOT fast over night!

Any questions regarding this or anything else fitness related please email Darren at askgymjunky@gmail.com Good luck with your training!

About my writing: My writing style is my own and to let my reader’s know ahead of time – I say it like it is! My intention is not to offend, but inform. I welcome any questions or even comments YOU the reader has. If for some reason, I do not know the answer, I will find it for you! Please email your questions to:

askgymjunky@gmail.com

I look forward to working with MuscleSport Online Magazine as it is the best online magazine! – Darren Sorensen

My personalized training programs are: $45 US. Personalized eating plans are: $250 US (for 3 months support, included).