Semi-late thoughts on Survivor Series:

Team Legends vs Team Spirit Squad: Great way to start the PPV, with a match I really don't care about. Once again the old guys (well, okay, mainly Flair) beat up the cheerleaders as WWE continues to bury them. With luck this won't negatively affect Kenny or Johnny, I think those are guys who could go off on their own in the singles division.

Benoit vs Chavo: I hate the angle, but both these guys are good workers. Nothing spectacular out of either one (other than Chavo hitting the Guerrero trademark frog-splash--and then Benoit kicking out of the pin!) but it was a solid match overall. Benoit with a nice reversal of a roll-up into the Crossface for the win and he retains the US title.

Mickie vs Lita: Second-best women's match of the year, trailing only Trish's retirement match. Predictably, Mickie wins the title, allowing Lita to throw a tantrum on her way to retirement. As an added bonus we saw Cryme Tyme, who had snuck into her dressing room earlier, selling off some of her more, er, personal items. These guys are great.

Team DX vs Team RKO: We were laughing so hard at the beginning that we had to rewind like three times. Shawn delivering Sweet Chin Music and quickly eliminating the least talented member of either team, Mike Knox, and Shawn's subsequent reactions--we saw him ask the ref if he'd rung the bell to start the match, and then ask his teammates "who is that guy?" and "so we're doing good?"--were absolutely priceless. DX with a clean sweep to continue burying everyone in the company who's not on their side...

Kennedy vs Taker: First Blood Match means lots of gratuitous violence! MVP gets involved and cleans up some of Kennedy's blood before the ref sees him bleeding, then tosses him back into the ring for more punishment from Taker. Later, MVP inadvertently hits Taker with a chair, cutting him open, and winning Kennedy the match--but then throws him back to the wolves (well, wolf) and Taker exacts revenge, Tombstone style. One of my friends says that they're likely to turn Kennedy face and MVP seems an obvious fued. Which is nice, but what will they do with the Brothers of Destruction...?

Team Cena vs Team Big Show: I remember lots of chaos and bodies flying all over the place. of course it helped that the carnage was begun by Umaga, who smacked half of Team Cena with a TV monitor to get himself DQed (and of course not ruin that "never been pinned or submitted" streak). Team Cena eventually picks up the win with Cena giving the FU to Big Show (damn, that boy is strong) after some timely assistance from Lashley, the other surviving member of Cena's team. Wold have been nice to end the PPV here, but...

Batista vs Booker: Not the way to end a show. The match itself was pretty pedestrian even by Batista standards and Booker simply couldn't carry him. But, in the end, Batista scores the pinfall and wins the title, to absolutely no one's surprise--given all the "hints" and various stipulations, it was inevitable--and gets a pop from the crowd.

This weekend is December to Dismember. Unfortunately there's only one match on the card that's cemented (an elimination chamber) and it's likely to be the only one worth watching--we may go out to the place that shows the PPVs at like 10 just to watch that match.

Rowdy Roddy Piper has been diagnosed with Lymphoma (sp?) cancer.

I've always appreiciated his style ... I do hope everything turns out well for him.

That's terrible news, I hope he gets through (85% of cases are curable, so I'm crossing my fingers)



SmackDown has really depreciated recently - I'm fed up of seeing Batista or listening to Booker's rubbish English accent which doesn't sound remotely English, and they are the best two 'wrestlers' on the show. I'd like to see them all fold and just move back to a single show on RAW (current best value brand, but best doesn't mean much):

• We could have a decent tag team division with Cryme Time, Rated RKO, DX (if they stepped down from killing everyone in the locker room), London & Kendrick, The Hardy Boyz, Finlay & Regal, the Brothers of Destruction, Test & Holly, etc.
• Feud Benoit against someone who is worthy of his talent (Cena, Booker, RVD, even Nitro) - he should be going for the higher title instead of being stuck on the middle rung with the continuous Guerrero family.
• Have some more ladder matches - Hardy vs Nitro was great, especially considering it was Nitro's first.
• Feature more Divas for JT.
• Send Rey down to the Cruiserweight where he belongs, but increase the activity of the weight as well - how long has The Hurricane been champ? Since about when Rey went for the 'World Championship'.
• Continue feuds from SS, like Flair vs Kenny.
• Specifically pay us to write storylines as the current ones lack quite a bit.

See, the thing with Booker's accent is that I figure it's all the point--bad man, bad accent. Kind of like how awful the Spirit Squad's cheers were (I have to believe that was intentional, it never got better...)

That'd be kickass, though I think that with all those tag teams, we need to maintain separate shows--you have guys like Carlito and Shelton that can barely get screen time as it is. Maybe have the tag division be exclusive to one show (you know, like one set of tag titles? Seriously, L&K have no competition). I'd keep Test and Holly on ECW since that's where they're needed (warm bodies!). And Regal's not tagging with Finlay, he's got Dave Taylor (as soon as he recovers from his injury)

Agreed, Benoit's too good not to be a main eventer. Maybe turn him heel? That'd be pretty kickass.

I love ladder matches, but you don't want to oversaturate things. Have them be a "special event" type of thing.

Divas that can wrestle, please. the Women's division is currently Mickie, Victoria and a bunch of interchangeable eye candy. Heaven forbid we have actual wrestlers on a wrestling show...

The Cruiserweight division would do well to imitate TNA's X division--don't worry about weight limits, make it a showcase for high-fliers (which is what most cruiserweights are anyway) That way this feud between Matt and Helms actually means something. And given the nature of it, it might be good to put on ECW.

Get Flair off my TV. I want to see Kenny fight someone who's in his age bracket (and start winnig some freaking matches--come on, Vince, don't bury the kid!), maybe Carlito. Or turn him face and fight Shelton.

I can come up with great storylines. Come on, Vince, just hire me and you'll make millions more.

Sadly, I do believe, for the WWE to remain the powerhouse that they are, Vince will have to hand over control to Shane or Stephanie.

Vince has been in it too long and is missing the point as to what is needed, becuase he only knows what has worked before. He has thought of some very innovative things, but too few and far between and plays on his ideas too often and burns them out.

New fresh thinking would quite help the product.

And yes ... the three of us writing for them would help tenfold.

Some thoughts on December to Dismember:

First off, I didn't watch the show. Having already watched (and paid for) Survivor Series and Genesis the previous two weeks, there was no real desire to buy this one. Which brings me to my first complaint--okay, Vince, do you really think you can get away with making folks pay for PPVs in consecutive weeks, particularly after your primary competitor throws a huge match like Joe/Angle in the previous week?

Then again, maybe they didn't care if folks watched it or not. The Elimination Chamber is sweet, but you just pulled six of your top ECW guys for that match, leaving the rest of the card with nothing else. No wonder that and the Hardys/MNM match were the only things that were advertised.

And boy did the rest of the card stink. PW Insider apparently is saying it's the worst PPV ever, comparing it to an episode of Sunday Night Heat. And it only ran until 10:15, well short of the usual time of 10:45 or so.

Giving Lashley a major title at this point is a mistake, he's still too green. (although it may be argued that the ECW title isn't exactly a "major" title) This combined with the absolute apathy displayed by WWE in promoting the PPV, or making it worth watching, makes me wonder if Vince just *wants* the new ECW brand to fail, like he only revived it as a favor to Heyman and is ready to pull the rug out from under it if it wanes in popularity.

WWE released Paul Heyman today.

This is the biggest mistake Vince has made in awhile.

Heyman was the brain of ECW and was the only reason it saw the light of day again. Sadly, he wasn't given full control and the ratings have been dropping quicker than you can say "A". It comes to no surprise that the atmosphere in the locker room stinks. Here you have the head guy that you go to for advise and he thinks he has a good idea to help you out, and then his boss shuts the idea down and changes it altogether to make it a stinker.

Vince controlled ECW and turned it into a second rate Smackdown, which is already a second rate RAW. And let's be honest here ... WWE RAW is a second rate WWF RAW.

But back to my point ... Heyman is gone. A sacrificial lamb of a damn brilliant man that lost his job and passion so an egomaniac could save some face.

E-C-"dub" will be gone by Fall next year, if not way sooner.

'Show is out to rehab nagging injuries. Sabu is crapping out (almost purposefully it seems from the rag reports I've read) and Van Dam's contract expires this Summer. As for Lashley ... I only see his ECW move as a short stint into a jump to RAW. It's all I ever saw it as. Lashley doesn't work on ECW. He doesn't fit the "rules" of ECW. All he is is a replacement legitimate Big Guy to fill in for 'Show while he's recovering.

It's quite sad really. ECW should have been handled totally different ... it woulda been grand.

"Way sooner" would be my bet. I'm not sure what sort of contract they have with the network--depending on how they have things set up with Sci Fi, they may dump them as fast as possible. I'm sure we won't be seeing any more PPVs either.

I forgot to mention in my last post how teribly they booked the Elimination Chamber match. So, you take out one of your most popular guys (I know Sabu has his problems, but you can take him away later), then the first competitior eliminated is your fastest rising star, and then you have another popular old-timer get pinned. So then it's obvious who will win the title...

So basically they should salvage what they can from ECW. Return RVD and Lashley to one of the A-shows, get CM Punk a push, and throw Thorn and Ariel somewhere into the mix. That's pretty much all they have.

I'm actually liking Smackdown more these days. The wrestling is pretty good even if the storylines aren't anything to write home about.

Heyman!? Now whose bald patch are we going to laugh at? No Heyman, no ECW. Who make it the success it was during the late 90's? Perhaps Paul Heyman? Who really knows what ECW is? Paul Heyman. It'll go down quicker than Cif being poured onto a toilet blockage.

I always thought that buying ECW would not be a good idea, mainly as ECW has always been to me an underground and a regional company (Pennsylvania and the Hammerstein, like TNA is always from Studio 24, Orlando, Florida every week) and bringing it on tour around the country just derailed it.

I thought you didn't watch SmackDown Red? I thought I was the only one... :D WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE, WE HAVE COOKIES!

Speaking of Omni, whatever happened to the British Bull Dogs?

Well ... The British Bulldog died a couple years ago ...

That's not a terrible thing--it keeps costs down--but I honestly think they'd do well to tour and have more shows across the country. TNA is trying to establish itself as a national power, not just a Florida thing.

Oh, I've watched it every week--the only problem is there's not much to write about. Note that I have been keeping tabs on the SD pay-per-views, so you figure if I'm paying for it, I might as well get the free version too...

However, the six-sided ring and double entrances might only be possible from a confined studio. Look what Vince did with ECW (taking it away from its roots)


Davey Boy Smith (if I'm thinking correctly, a phrase I use very often when I remember something only vaguely) died a couple of years ago on holiday in Lanzarote, from a heart attack.

MAN ... that's so weird. Last night I originally posted "Davey Boy died a couple years ago" but then looked at it and thought "Davey Boy" sounded really dumb and hick-ish and that doesn't work with British nor Bulldog.

I guess I was right afterall.


As an aside, Big Show was released today. Dunno if it is a gone gone gone release, or just extended-extended time off to heal injuries. Still a big blow (no pun intended) to WWE programming.

As I understand it, Show is taking time off because of chronic back problems. It's sort of an unofficial official retirement, he'll stay out for a while and re-evaluate if he wants to come back. I'm sure WWE will welcome him back if he decides to return.

I would have loved to have seen Show against Khali on ECW, that would have shaked the whole house. [Pun intended]

ECW seems to be falling apart at the seams. [Not intended]

Dear God, Omni, are you trying to kill ECW? Show vs Khali would be *terrible*. I don't have any major issues with Show (although I don't think he works as a main eventer) but Khali has shown me absolutely nothing in the ring. Little wonder that Daivari is now the wrestler and Khali the manager (or enforcer in this case).

On a side note, I love how Daivari has been speaking Farsi all this time in ECW, while being billed from Minnesota. I mean, come on, you can bill him from anywhere you want...

I have never liked ECW under WWE controls. I watch it sometimes for Hardcore Holly and Ariel :wub:

C'mon Red ... ECW is killing itself quite fine. It doesn't need anyone's help.

('Course, by "killing itself", I mean Vince is killing it)

Say what you want about Vince. I'm sure it will really hurt him as he counts his billions made from wrestling.

Armageddon thoughts:

Kane vs MVP: Specialty matches are always a good way to start a PPV, and this Inferno match was no exception. Lots of hard-hitting offense kept this bout interesting even if there wasn't really a whole lot of suspense in the form of someone *almost* getting toasted. In the end, Kane wins one of his specialties and puts the brash MVP in his place. Nice opening.

London and Kendrick vs Regal and Taylor...and MNM? And the Hardys? In a ladder match?: Wow, this was totally unexpected. They ought to do more of this, adding stipulations to matches right before they start--it makes folks anticipate further modifications in subsequent PPVs, making them want to buy them more. As for the match itself, there were tons of great high spots and everything you'd expect from a ladder match. In the end, London and Kendrick retain their titles--surprising since I figured Regal and Taylor would win them. (at least before the match was changed to a four-way ladder match...)

Boogeyman vs the Miz: Wow, I don't care. Let's move on, shall we?

Benoit vs Chavo: Another solid match from these two, they work well together even if I am sick of this angle. Someone get Vickie off my TV and let these two start going after other folks, I think the feud has run its course. But Benoit wins with a nice reversal of a roll-up into the sharpshooter and retains his US title, and gets a pop. Good for him.

Helms vs Yang: Good bout for the Cruiserweight title. Yang has some neat high-flying moves and he runs around the ring like nobody's business. Helms wins after evading a top-rope move by Yang, and covering him--I'm surprised that they had Helms retain since he's had the belt for so long. Nice to see an actual Cruiserweight match though...

Taker vs Kennedy: Another specialty match, and one of Taker's own specialties, a Last Ride match. Absolutely brutal from start to finish, with a fair number of object shots, some battling on the set, and Taker being thrown off that set to the floor about fifteen feet below. They teased kennedy winning a couple times but Taker makes a comeback, chokeslamming Kennedy on the roof of the hearse and then Tombstoning him on it, finally wearing him down enough to put him in and drive off. Great match.

Cena/Batista vs Booker/Finlay: Yet again, ending a PPV with an uninspiring match. Booker and Finlay are good in the ring; Cena's improving a lot; but Batista just doesn't seem to care anymore. He seemed to get most of the screen time in this match, and ended up winning it with his finisher. Good thing the crowd still pops for him or he'd be out of a job...

Overall, a great PPV. The ladder match alone was worth the price of admission--the rest of the card seemed to pale in comparison, so they should have put it later so the crowd wasn't burnt out by the third match. But the rest of the matches (other than Miz and the main event) were good nonetheless.

Dude, I need to watch the free screening of Armageddon this week.

New Year's Revolution thoughts:

Hardy vs Nitro: A steel cage match for the Intercontinental title kicks off the show with a bang. Good match between the two as always, with plenty of high-flying and free-falling spots. A good finish as Nitro gets crotched on the cage door allowing Hardy to escape, and retain his IC title.

Tag Team Turmoil match for a Tag title shot: A surprise "impromptu" match, I'll take each entrant individually...

Highlanders - Always good for a chuckle or two in the ring, they're pretty good workers too. Unfortunately they didn't last too long because they faced...

World's Greatest - Haas and Benjamin need to get a push, they really are that talented. I loved seeing the "Haas of Pain" and their "World's Greatest Double Team" move--first time I saw it, I was floored.

Duggan and Super Crazy - Huh? Who decided this would be a tag team? Nice to see Crazy get a payday--and see him in the ring--but I still don't know why Duggan is getting screen time.

Cade and Murdoch - Uninspiring. I think most of the WWE fans feel indifferent about them, relegating them to hired guns and guys used to fill out a multi-team or battle royal match...

Cryme Tyme - Hey, they finally get to, you know, wrestle! Always a fun time and glad that they're getting their title push. Also love that samoan drop/neckbreaker combo they use as their finisher.

Kenny vs Flair: Well, I like Kenny at least. Still part of the small minority that wants Flair to just go away...you know, it sure is nice to see them actually giving someone a push by having him beat one of the "Legends". Now that he's won three in a row, maybe he can fight someone in his age group. And start using his leg drop finisher again.

Mickie vs Victoria: Another good women's match--amazing how you can get good matches when you actually have decent wrestlers. Glad to see Victoria not lumped in with the other "eye candy" Divas anymmore, though it was nice to watch when the others ran in to try to help each respective wrestler win. Surprisingly, Mickie wins and retains her title, with a nice reversal into a DDT.

Rated RKO vs DX: Well, you knew it was going to be violent--and it was--but when HHH legitimately injured his quad (apparently), it just got insane. After running around for a little bit, Shawn punches out the referee and goes ballistic on Edge and Orton, bloodying them with chairs before he and Hunter smashed them through the announce tables, leaving them an absolute mess. Just shocked the crowd, not only the carnage but the knowledge that HHH was really hurt.

Masters vs Carlito: I've been saying for months that they need to give Carlito mopre of a push, and pitting him against Masters again just doesn't do it for me (especially if he loses). But Carlito did offer some good spots, particularly the double springboard moonsault, even though Masters ended up winning with a roll-up.

Cena vs Umaga: Title vs undefeated streak! I wasn't looking forward to this match, but both of them really stepped up their game for this main event. (technically, Umaga simply got to increase his range by being in a non-squash match, and Cena's been improving a lot). After a long battle where Cena could never hoist Umaga up for an F-U (yeah, right--he's FU'ed the Big Show before...), he finally wins--with yet another roll-up. Seems like very few folks are hitting their finishers anymore, but Cena retains and finally ends Umaga's streak. Crowd pops, good times.

Overall a solid show. Nothing overly spectacular but worth the price of admission.

Questions remaining unanswered:

Nitro had a backstage segment where he talked of "calling Joey" and starting up a vendetta against the Hardys. So, will they be running this program on Raw or SD? I figure there are more than enough tag teams on Raw, so this might strengthen the SD tag division...

When will Cryme Tyme get their title shot? My guess would be Royal Rumble, but would that pull them and Rated RKO out of the Ruble match?

Who will Kenny feud with next? My vote would be with Shawn since DX is pretty much finished.

What will Rated RKO's next move be after being absolutely destroyed in the PPV?

Are they ever going to give Carlito a title push?

Will they continue the Cena/Umaga feud, or is there someone else that Cena will feud with?

Let's get ready to Rumble! Royal Rumble of course! Thoughts:

Hardys vs MNM: So, you know, this was supposed to be "one time only!" as promoted for December to Dismember. But they worked so well togethrr I think Vince would have been stupid not to continue the feud (especially after the injury to Mercury). This time around, it was more of the same, which is to say more of the awesome. I still totally dig Matt's bulldog/lariat combo move and the brothers' high-flying antics never get old. The Hardys win in a nice finish (Matt hits the Twist of Fate on Nitro, Mercury shoves him out of the ring but Jeff gets a blind tag, and hits the Swanton for the pinfall), and claim "it's over"--but I'm sure we'll see more of this in the coming weeks. MNM aren't the type to accept anything being over except on their terms.

Lashley vs Test: Another snore-fest from the ECW world champion and the least interesting heel on the brand. Some good power moves and brawling action, but this match simply didn't hold my interest. My friends thought that having Lashley win by count-out (Test running away) was a poor finish, but I don't think it detracted from the match that much--not that it was really that interesting to begin with, but you know.

Batista vs Kennedy: Another one that didn't really hold my interest. Kennedy is a good worker but can't carry a match, and we all know Batista pretty much doesn't care anymore. After Kennedy became the #1 contender in a "beat the clock" series under dubious circumstances, Taker lost to Kennedy by DQ in a match where Teddy Long stated if Taker had won, he would be added and it'd have been Triple Threat--which would have been a nice addition so that he could carry Batista and Kennedy would be able to carry himself. Anyway, Batista wins to absolutely no one's surprise, as I think it's too early to give Kennedy the belt. But they have to get it off Batista and soon.

Cena vs Umaga: I love carnage! A Last Man Standing match means free and liberal use of weapons and absolute brutality. A couple of interesting spots included Umaga trying to splash Cena through the announce table and missing, and Estrada basically dismantling the ring to be used as a weapon for the Samoan Bulldozer (which, naturally, backfired). Cena retains the title after choking out Umaga with the ring ropes, and just looked scary after the bell rung--he had blood all over his face and this intense look that would make anyone back off. I like Cena as a take-no-crap kind of face!

The ROYAL RUMBLE: Lots to talk about. Here's some thoughts in no particular order:

-As Helms came out, I wondered, will he ever drop that Cruiserweight title? Granted that they've prety much ignored that division for the last six months, but it's high time they put the strap on someone else.

-I like how they're teasing an Orton/Edge breakup. They seem like they're still sort of working together, but there's plenty of seeds of distrust being sown. They may batttle each other at Wrestlemania, which means Cryme Tyme will probably win the titles from them sometime soon.

-Kane eliminates Booker and Booker returns the favor by re-entering illegally and tossing Kane out (of course they counted it, it's important to the story!). So clearly this is a new feud, which is going to be great--Kane is a solid worker and Booker is easily one of the top three heels in WWE. I can't wait to see them go at it.

-The Great Khali needs to get off my TV. As soon as he was in, I knew what was going to happen--lots of overhand chops and punches which would be over-sold by the smaller guys. Yay. Thank God that they saved the best for last, bringing in THE UNDERTAKER to exact some measure of revenge from last year's feud and eliminate the monster. Thank God that Khali won't be headlining WM 23.

-Speculation before the match was that Taker, Michaels, Orton or Edge would be the winner of the Rumble. As luck would have it, those were the last four guys in the ring, and once Edge and Orton were out, the outlook for the match was good--no matter what, I'd leave happy since I like Michaels a lot and I'm a huge Taker fan.

-The winner of the match is...the UNDERTAKER! Yes! I have to admit I totally marked out when he won. Nice to see him win his first (Shawn's won twice, he didn't need to win again) and heb will main event WM, getting a title shot for the first time in God knows how long. Assuming he doesn't switch brands, that means he'll be battling Batista (unless that title changes hands) and, if that's the case, seems likely to keep his WM winning streak intact.

Woo!

You're much better than wwe.com :P

But I think the target audience here isn't very large anymore... :( :cry:

Because Omni asked so nicely, some thoughts on No Way Out. Note that I watched this with the sound off, so I don't know what was said in the interview segments and I'm skipping the lame-ass Diva "Talent Contest":

Benoit and the Hardys vs MNM and MVP: Why MVP and Benoit were in this match was kind of a mystery, but it was a good opener to the show. Benoit provided one of the best spots of the night when he German-suplexed both members of MNM (one was holding on to the other to try to prevent the suplex) and the face team ended up hitting a ton of signature moves in a row before Benoit locks in the crossface for the win. Good push for Benoit who never seems to get any screen time.

Cruiserweight invitational for the title: Nice to actually see some of these guys on TV. Much like Benoit, they've been scarce for the last month or more. Highlights:

-Wow, Scotty pinned someone? And actually hit the Worm? Amazing, though it's too bad that it was Daivari--he could use the push.

-Helms predictably motored through the rest of the cannon fodder until Jimmy Wang Yang. One Yang got in, it got interesting, and when Yang scored the pinfall, I figured it was his to lose. Especially since the next participant was Jamie Noble, who hasn't been on TV in approximately 4.124 years.

-So Yang pins Noble and they were ready to give him the title--and then Chavo came out. I knew at that point they were giving him the title, which may be a setup for when Rey comes back (what, Rey competing in the CW division?). Interesting to see Chavo hit a frog splash on the back of someone, they're usually faceup when frogsplashed.

Finlay and Little Bastard vs Boogeyman and Little Boogey: Better than I was expecting, Finlay's a good brawler who gets the most out of his opponents. Nice comedy moments too, with the midgets and Big Boogey crawling under the ring and generally causing havoc. Finlay smashes Little Boogey with his shillelagh and scores the pinfall, and I don't think I've been so happy to see the heel win in months. I just don't like Boogeyman.

Kane vs Booker: Not quite what I was expecting, seemed like a really slow-paced match. Not much to say about it except for the fact that I love Kane's evil smiles when he wins a match. No real interference from Sharmell, either, which is odd. Hopefully they keep this one going because it can be so much more.

London and Kendrick vs Deuce and Domino: Meh. I like L&K, and I thought they were good as always, but D&D just don't interest me at all. I'm not sure why. Anyway, amazingly, L&K retain their titles after Kendrick ducked out of a Doomsday Device and rolled up whichever one was holding him up. I say amazing because I was sure they'd drop after 1) having the titles for so long and 2) losing to D&D the last few weeks.

Kennedy vs Lashley: Most of this match was pretty good, but the ending was kind of confusing to me. Why do you have a face wrestler get DQ'ed for an object shot and then continue to beat on his opponent? Unless they're trying to turn Lashley or something, there's really no reason for it.

Cena and Michaels vs Undertaker and Batista: Well, this was the match I missed because it really had no bearing on anything. But apparently Batista turned on Taker, costing them the match--so it's pretty obvious which combatant at Wrestlemania will be getting the heel heat. Now, are they going to do the same with Michaels and Cena...?

:congratz:

Thanks! I wouldn't have watched the 'Main Event' either, too boring.

What actually happened to Rey? I heard JBL mention him during last week's SmackDown! but didn't get the jist of where he was coming from.

Rey took some time off to get knee surgery; in the storyline, Chavo injured it in an "I Quit" match a few months ago. (I forget which PPV it was). I believe I saw on the other night's PPV that he'll be on SD this week but I figure it'll just be an "appearance"; he'll likely be wrestling by WM.

That's the one!

Jamie Noble had been main eventing some Velocity shows.

Velocity = Not on TV (at least in the US)

Actually, Wikipedia says that Velocity doesn't exist anymore. Was he on Heat?

Na, SmackDown! Exclusive.

And Wiki doesn't tend to get those things wrong...

Uh, I had no idea... It's been 8 months?

Well, 420's long gone and Omni hasn't been around for a month--but hey, it's Wrestlemania, maybe someone will care!

Spoilers as always.

Money in the Bank ladder match: Surprising to open with this match, but it wasn't a "great" match like the previous two MitB matches. It was solid, with a decent amount of high spots and an obscene number of finishers (I swear Edge hit seven spears in a row and I know I saw at least four RKO's)--and the best spot of the night, Jeff doing a leg drop off one ladder onto Edge, who was laying on another ladder. And they broke it in half. Sweet. But an anticlimatic ending, thought such is the nature of ladder matches. Kennedy wins the match, something I like since he's a solid heel and can use the continued push.

Khali vs Kane: Not the trainwreck I was expecting, I think Khali is improving a lot. And we finally get to see that Khali isn't indestructible--someone put him on his back for the first time ever, albiet briefly. But in the end, Khali wins because God knows they can't push Kane, that makes too much sense.

Benoit vs MVP: Another good match. I hated MVP when he came in, but I really enjoy him now--he's got a lot of potential and he works hard. Of course any match with Benoit in it is going to be good...so Benoit wins by pinfall after a diving headbutt, which is a nice change of pace and totally unexpected. He retains the title, which I think is good since I don't think MVP is ready to have a title run (even with one of he second tier titles)

Undertaker vs Batista: Wow, EVERYONE stepped up their game tonight! Batista looked like he really deserved to have been the champ for the past God-knows-how-many-months, and Taker was his usual badass self. Liked the powerslam onto the table--you MUST destroy a table at a PPV and apparently the ECW table has replaced the Spanish announce table--and just absolute super-heavyweight brawling. Taker finally puts Batista away with a Tombstone and wins the World Heavyweight title for the first time, adding another accomplishment to a laundry list. Yeah, baby!

ECW Originals vs the New Breed: Eight man tag match with a confusing flow, but fun to watch anyway. I note that Sabu looked really uncomfortable coming through the crowd in the Originals' entrance; Striker can totally sell any move put on him; and of course you had to have RVD get the pinfall, since apparently Dreamer, Sabu and Sandman are little more than cannon fodder. But hey, RVD is one of my top two guys (behind Taker), so I have no problem giving it to him.

Lashley vs Umaga: Another bout between two huge guys. I swear, with all the big guys competing in singles action, it seemed like there was a 75% chance that if you were under 250 pounds, you were in the ladder match. Anyway, this was another good brawl--Lashley is improving daily and Umaga looks good when he's not squashing someone--and I loved the chaos and interference courtesy of Vince and Shane. Loved the ending, with Umaga attacking Stone Cold (the guest ref) and making him so mad that, rather than DQing him, just came back in and gave him a stunner, which didn't knock him down but allowed Lashley to finish him off with a spear to get the 1-2-3. Also of note was Shane hitting the Coast to Coast on Lashley while Austin was knocked outside of the ring.

Melina vs Ashley: Okay, this is what's wrong with women's wrestling--you have a Lumberjill match and basically all they do is stand around and look pretty, then get into a mass catfight after the match is over. I mean, come on, have both particpants knocked out of the ring and have the heel lumberjills attack the face and vice versa, that's what lumberpersons are for! Like I've said before, I like eye candy, but I can pretty much get that anywhere--on a wrestling show I want my women to wrestle (shocking concept). Maybe I was just spoiled by the Trish/Mickie feud last year....

Cena vs Michaels: Incredible main event, with lots of twists and turns and both particpants going all out. A marathon of a match (nearly a half hour, if Wikipedia is to be believed) featuring pretty much all of each combatant's signature moves, and a couple surprises--including a spike piledriver onto the ring steps! in the end , Cena wins with the STFU, which is not the ending I wanted--Shawn was tr8ying to turn him over and it would have been nice to see him get Cena flat on his back, to force a break of the hold or a pinfall win for Michaels. They could have even finished it by having Cena re-roll him into a pinning position and win that way, it makes for better drama in my opinion.

So, yeah. Well worth the $50.

Very impressive indeed.

And I thought Vince looked a lot like Bob Backlund after he got his head shaved.
Donald Trump FTW. NOBODY could have believed he would allow his head to be shaved.

It seemed pretty obvious what the outcome would be from the start. First, you don't figure Donald's going to allow anything to happen to his signature hair, and second, I heard that he only agreed to do the program because Vince agreed to donate to one of Trump's favorite charities. So you don't figure that Donald would go even further and take the humiliation for just a donation.

And then it kind of got cemented when Lashley got jumped and beaten down on Raw last week. The typical storyline has the guy who gets beaten down be the one who wins the match at the PPV, getting revenge and such.

Today's post is not just about Backlash but the stupidity of the WWE.

Didn't buy Backlash since there was nothing on the card that interested any of us. So, reading the match recaps in various locales, here's what my impressions are...

Hardys vs Cade and Murdoch: So, you elevate these two guys who have been either jobbing or main eventing "Heat", make them title contenders and have them beat each Hardy in singles matches. Yeah. Was there any doubt that Matt and Jeff would retain?

Melina vs Mickie James: Good to see two good wrestlers vying for the Women's title, that whole mess with Ashley was just awful. Melina retains.

Benoit vs MVP: Again, was there any doubt who was going to win this one? MVP hasn't been pushed as a real "title contender" at this point. Benoit retains (see a pattern?)

Umaga and the McMahons vs Lashley: Great, let's devalue the third-rate World title even more by having the Chairman get the pinfall and win the title. Stupidity.

Undertaker vs Batista: Probably would have been a good match to watch, but a crappy ending. Yeah, let's do the old standard "both guys fall into stage equipment and get knocked out, resulting in a draw". Taker retains. (okay, so I like that part)

Cena vs Edge vs Orton vs Michaels: Probably would have been more suspenseful if Orton wasn't causing so many problems backstage--so you know he's not going to in and the pinfall is likely going to go against him. From what I read, the last couple minutes of this match were insane, so that might have been worth seeing. Of course, we got an hour-long Cena/Michaels match for free on Raw, so why pay $40 for this? Oh, yeah, Cena retains.

So on a show where every match features a title on the line, you have one title change. And most of those retentions were pretty predictable, on top of which the only title that changed hands was the one that made the least sense.

So, I think I'm glad I didn't spend my money or time investing in this...

Heh, I could have watched it for free and opted not to. I find the WWE is getting very old and UFC becomes more and more fun.

Here's what I don't understand. PW Insider was saying that the actual wrestling on the show was good--but how good can it be when most of your matches are predictable? I guess they're just to the point where everything is predictable to them and they don't/can't judge on the merits of suspense or drama. Not much drama with no title changes.

I was here in spirit!

If it was a title card, what on Earth happened to the Intercontinental Title~?
(Self-answered: JHardy, Umaga, some Italian guys with lots of tattoos who hasn't learnt to wrestle yet.)

That Wrestlemania card was probably the best I have heard of (didn't see it :( )

Santino Marella. Even though we've only seen him once, I like the way they brought him in--as a plant who accepted a challenge from Mr McMahon to take on Umaga for the belt. Vince made it a no DQ match and that backfired when Lashley came in to assist Marella and win him the belt. This is probably Creative's best angle in a long time...and there's so many directions they can go with this. There are potentially a lot of guys who can compete for the IC title.

I remember when Val Venis was up there in the titles...
I also remember Jacqueline being joint-champion :rolleyes:



http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/web...hnewbreedxtrem_

^^ Main Event from ECW sometime since Wrestlemania, woah at the winning move ;)