Posted by James Stewart

On Friday, March 27th John Cena and WWE Films present the movie, 12 Rounds. I had the chance to talk with the former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, about his role in the film and his career as a wrestler.

James Stewart: When I heard the the title of your movie 12 Rounds, I actually thought it was a boxing movie, but that’s not the case…

John Cena: Everyone gets that motet and they are pleasantly surprised when they find out it’s 12 challenges and not 12 rounds of boxing. I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the movie as well. I don’t know what people are expecting but I think this movie will exceed their expectations.

JS: Who is detective Danny Fisher?

JC: He is just a regular B Cop, who makes a bit of a lucky bust and knows it. In the process, the super villain, Miles Jackson, played by Aidan Gillen, his girlfriend Erica is killed and then a year later, Miles Jackson breaks out of prison and realizes that Danny may just be lucky, instead of good and wants to prove his theory. So he puts him through 12 challenges through out the city of New Orleans.

JS: How was it to work with Ashley Scott, who plays Molly Porter in the movie?

JC: Ashley Scott was great, not only is she a beautiful young woman but she’s very fun to be around. The dynamic of the couple is a couple that’s been around for a while, but really, the guy is very gun shy and the girl is very, very independent and fun to be with and she’s just that.

JS: Was she better with The Rock in “Walling Tall” or in this movie with you?

JC: I’d like to say she was better with me.

JS: How was it working with the director of Die Hard 2?

JC: Renny Harlin is a great guy, both personality and professionally. He was so very well prepared that he had the entire movie shot before I got there for pre-production. He had it in his head what he wanted to do with the movie before having even met me. I was fascinated by that, every day, he would come to the set with unbelievable shot lists and people would think that he wouldn’t be able to get it done and he got it done. On a personal level, very, very good guy to know and a very great guy to hang with.

JS: How is Danny Fisher different from the Marine?

JC: The Marine was more like a terminator character, there is even a line in the movie, “this guys like the terminator.” He’s very impervious to bullets, indestructible, a guy who can’t be defeated. Danny Fisher really is a normal dude. There are moments in the movie were he experiences defeat, doubt, he doesn’t have faith in what he can do. It’s a very normal scenario for someone to go through as opposed to the Marine, who is very super human.

JS: After Raw on Monday night, where you won the match but not the championship and then Vicky Guerrero comes out and announces The Big Show as the number 1 contender, where does that leave John Cena in the title picture and for Wrestlemania?

JC: On paper it leaves me out of it. If I’m not the number one contender, I dont have any chance of going to Wrestlemania unless I’m a champion. I do have a little bit of an ace up my sleeve. Anytime you win a match it’s great but the title doesn’t change on a DQ and Edge has done a lot of stuff like that in the past.

JS: Do you see a difference between Raw and Smackdown?

JC: Besides the fact that they are two separate rosters, I think the quality of the programming is second to none. As long as it has the WWE logo on it, you know your going to see a certain stable of superstars on Raw and a different stable of superstars on Smackdown. If it’s Raw, Smackdown or ECW, you know that it’s the WWE style of entertainment and it’s the best value in entertainment.

JS: Having worked on both shows, do you have a preference?

JC: I got my start on Smackdown so I always like going there. As long as there is a match to be had, I’ll show up for it.

JS: What’s your favorite match of all time?

JC: I get asked this all the time, I tell people it’s my next one.

JS: You don’t have a favorite opponent like HBK, Triple H or Edge?

JC: I always look forward to, not only new opponents, but even if it’s an opponent that I’ve been in the ring with, just the challenge of another match keeps me going.

Posted by James Stewart

Super Bowl XLIII is now in the books and what a fun game that was to watch. The Pittsburgh Steelers after having the lead for most of the game had to come back with less than 3 minutes to go in the game to claim their 6th Super Bowl title.

A few items from the game stand out to me:

1. What a read, interception and return by the Steelers Lineman, James Harrison…

2. What a run by Larry Fitzgerald to catch him… (Reminds you of Ben Watson punching the ball out agaisnt Denver.)

3. Kurt Warner in the second half was on fire going 20-27 and throwing for 252 yard, 6 of those passes went to Larry Fitzgerald for 115 yards. It would have been a great debate to see who would have won the MVP if Arizona had won.

4. The break away catch and run by Fitzgerald for the then go ahead touchdown for the Cardinals.

5. The catch by Santonio Homes in the end zone for the game winning touchdown. It was a great way to make people forget about the nice catch he almost made on the last play, of course if the ball didn’t go through his hands.

6. Why was there no reply on the game ending fumble?

Peter King will join Dale and Michael today in the final hour of the show. He’s busy writing for SI and their Super Bowl edition… (Berger edit) you know the know the one that you see the ads for with the football phone.

Most importantly the winner of the Flemings Prime Give-A-Way is…

… going to be announced later today.

Posted by James Stewart

We hope to finally have a resolution to the whole Jason Varitek saga today because quite frankly this story is getting tiresome! Will Jason Varitek accept the contract offer from the Sox or will the team be without their captain in 2009? Yesterday, Michael said that if Thursday was the deadline, there would be no deal between the two parties. We’ll see what today holds. Stay tuned!

Also today we’ll talk about the Arizona-Pittsburgh matchup this Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Super Bowl XLIII. Dale and Michael will give their picks during today’s program. Peter King and Rosevelt Colvin will also join the show and give their opinions of the game and the happenings in Tampa.

My final score prediction for the big game on Sunday: Arizona 31, Pittsburgh 28. Sadly it didn’t make the final cut of the “WEEI-k That Was”.

Today’s final Dale and Holley Trivia Question: Do Dale Arnold and Michael Holley actually like each other?

CLICK HERE to guess. Thanks to all who have entered, the winner will be announced on Monday!

Posted by James Stewart

Would this F’N snow stop already!

Anyways…

Today on the show, Dale will be broadcasting from Foxboro because of said snow and Michael Holley will be in our Brighton Studios. Donny Marshall from Comcast SportsNet will join us and talk about the Celtics game tonight against the Kings. The last time these two teams matched up it was over after the first quarter.  

Last night was a huge win for your Boston Bruins over the Washington Capitals. The game had the drama and the “big fight” atmosphere that you’d expect during the playoffs. Tim Thomas came up big in overtime and the game winning power play goal in overtime by David Krejci was a pass intended for Marc Savard that deflected off a Capital defender.

Jason Varitek will you sign a contract with the Red Sox today? Thank you!

I can’t wait for the Joe Torre book. The Daily News in New York posted some more fun stuff, CLICK HERE.

This past Sunday night the WWE presented the 2009 Royal Rumble live on pay per view from Detroit, Michigan. The wrestling on the show was solid from the top of the card through the Rumble match itself. Matt Hardy turning on his brother Jeff Hardy during Jeff’s title defense was something that I didn’t see coming. Edge defeated Jeff by pinfall in their no-DQ match and in doing so won his 7th Heavyweight championship. Another major story coming out of the event was the match winner himself, Randy Orton. Orton, along with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, worked together throughout the match to ensure that Randy Orton would win the match. 

Dale and Holley Trivia for today: Can you name one of Michael Holley’s past or present TV gigs?

CLICK HERE if you’d like to submit your answer.

The final day of this contest will be on Friday with the winner being announced on Monday.