Instead of doing the blog as a play-by-play with opinions, I'm going to offer strictly my thoughts on the show as it unfolds. Anybody can see the show as it unfolds, but nobody is going to think about the show exactly the same. Plus, it might shorten up the length a little bit.
SmackDown in Review
CM Punk continues to dominate on the microphone, displaying his singing skills tonight while wishing Rey Mysterio's daughter a happy birthday. With the exception of the short Tiffany vs. Michelle McCool bout, all the angles that aired here had WrestleMania implications.
Drew McIntyre has weaseled his way into Money in the Bank, and R-Truth's defeat of the Miz was evened up with The Big Show's dominance of John Morrison. Even Kane's match with Luke Gallows was something of a set-up for Rey Mysterio to come get some of Punk.
And Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel closed when he got the advantage over Edge's spear. This should've happened the first time when the spear got super popular, but whatever.
SmackDown: Shot by Shot
Only wrestling fans would chant, "Hap-py birth-day, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap."
Man, I wish I could grow CM Punk's beard. One of these days...
Punk makes a nice reference to us watching Mysterio's son Dominic grow up before our eyes. I remember Dominic in 2005 about the age his sister probably is now for his dad's feud with Eddie Guerrero.
Seeing R-Truth pass the mic to the white dude with backwards hat and a mustache was hilarious. As was the trashy looking guy with the beard and hat that looked like he just came in from smoking a square and jonesing for some dip.
I like how Truth brought David Otunga out with him, as the Miz was also joined by a reluctant Daniel Bryan. Nice NXT integration into the shows. But what happened after Tuesday when Miz said he didn't want anything to do with Bryan anymore?
R-Truth's "Lie Detector" finisher looks like it hurts Truth way more than Miz.
I can't help but think that WWE kind of blew it with the Miz and John Morrison. They had one match and never really followed up. I just don't think a tag match with interim tag teams is the best way to go about it.
I'm so stoked for Stone Cold Steve Austin to guest host RAW this coming Monday. Without a doubt one of my favorite entertainers.
I love that they are giving more attention to the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels program this year. Between the Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave" and the WWE superstars talking about this match, it definitely has a lot to live up to.
I wonder if this Aaron Bolo dude is going to work for WWE more often. I hope they told him to throw his elbows out before he lost to Drew. If not and he's winning MMA fights, his competition must really suck not to attack those ribs right away.
The pyro that has been added to Morrison's slow-mo intro is a really cool visual.
Is Bret Hart ever going to help give the rub to the Hart Dynasty?
It was at Cryme Tyme was entering when MyNetworkTV cut to a commercial break and reverted back to Big Show's match with John Morrison. They finally came back to promote WrestleMania rewind and Michelle McCool vs. Tiffany.
According to spoilers, the Undertaker spoiled the match by taking out all four individuals.
Tiffany's wearing a white pleated skirt, possibly my least favorite piece of attire on a woman. Actually, I take that back. It's not my least favorite. Ugg boots and sweatpants are. I wonder who the hell started that look in the first place, and why so many college girls settled with it.
I like how Vickie Guerrero ran straight to the back after being nailed by Beth Phoenix. It was different than the usual formula of "heel looks on from the entrance ramp as face stays in the ring."
Luke Gallows looks like he got his idea for ring attire from the Truth Commission.
Matt Striker says, "It's almost like Kane vs. Bizarro Kane." Is he aware that this actually happened a few years ago?
Matt also says Chris Jericho "slithered" out of the Elimination Chamber with the title. Isn't that verb trademarked to Monday Night RAW in reference to Randy Orton? Or at least, to Michael Cole?
I guess one of my main gripes with the WrestleMania title matches is the focus on the heel champions (Chris Jericho and Batista) targeting the injuries the faces (Edge and John Cena) have suffered along the way. Both Jericho and Batista have uttered the phrase, "bad things happen to you" when each is in the ring with their opponent.
Why focus on the spear? I mean honestly. Batista uses it too. It's not like it's exclusive to Edge.
After that title shot, I couldn't help but think - if there's one advantage to the PG rating, it prevents the misuse of blood. I think whenever we see blood on WWE TV again, it'll be that much more impressive. Seeing it every week watered it down. Take note, TNA.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
WWE NXT Review: The Miz hates Daniel Bryan
NXT in Review
I liked this show a lot better than last week's. I think the Miz and Daniel Bryan have an interesting dynamic. In hindsight, not pairing Bryan with William Regal is probably better for him at this point. The Miz is becoming a hot commodity in the WWE and fans just want to see him get his ass kicked by somebody. I'm really digging a match between these two down the road.
This show did a lot better job of profiling the wrestlers. The only one that didn't get much time was Michael Tarver, who cheered on Carlito instead.
Minus the RAW Rebound and WrestleMania push, plus commercials, this show could probably watched in 30-35 minutes.
NXT: Shot by Shot
If I missed anything in the first 3 minutes, I apologize. I had an emergency meeting for class.
Matt Striker tried to explain the NXT competition again, but didn't really add anything, I didn't think.
The first match is David Otunga and R-Truth vs. Daniel Bryan and The Miz.
I'm kind of surprised they don't involve the Big Show much with Daniel Bryan and his tag partner, the Miz. Especially since R-Truth is involved in this match. Yeah, I almost forgot R-Truth and John Morrison have formed an interim tag team to battle ShowMiz at WrestleMania.
Miz cuts a promo on Bryan for going 0-2 and doesn't think he's proven himself to the pros. If they don't win tonight, Miz says, he's kicking Daniel Bryan off NXT.
Josh Matthews says Otunga and Truth have patched things up. They do hit a sweet double-team where they wind up and Truth flips over the top rope onto Miz and Bryan on the outside.
The story of the match was dissension between Miz and Daniel Bryan. Miz ends up losing for their team. Post match, Miz flinches after Bryan feigned a punch and Bryan walks away. Wow, I guess Otunga and Truth are really straight again.
Heath Slater cries about getting spit in the face with an apple by Carlito. The look and content reminded me of some idiot bitching the Real World.
We finally get a look at Justin Gabriel, who also has a martial arts background. Maybe they'll do an MMA bout down the line with Gabriel and Michael Tarver. Matt Hardy pumps him up for his main event shot and says he'll be the first WWE rookie to beat a WWE pro. All right, he's got a point, but that's semantics. John Cena beating Kurt Angle in 2002 was pretty huge for loyal SmackDown viewers.
Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett show up to intimidate Gabriel by putting over Barrett's victory over the Daniel Bryan last week.
I like how during the entrances, they show who the rookies' mentors are, and vice-versa.
Why does Michael Tarver have 1.9 written on all sides of his shirt? Josh Matthews later explains that's how many seconds it takes for Tarver to knock somebody out.
Slater ducks an apple spit from Carlito and gets the upper hand before they cut to commercial. That's a weird spot to break, but whatever. Later on, Carlito hits a big boot and Tarver says Slater's going to need to go to the dentist. I like stuff like that during matches.
The match was a pretty fun back-and-forth match. Christian took Carlito's apple, then told Christian he was going to embarrass his rookie. They do a series of roll-ups and finally Slater gets the pin. I guess Heath Slater was the first to beat a WWE pro, not Justin Gabriel. Oh well, Gabriel can still be the second, right?
Darren Young is profiled and says it's all about entertaining and having fun, likening his favorite wrestlers to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Shawn Michaels.
CM Punk involves Serena and Luke Gallows in reminding Young that he's the pro before telling Young he should adopt a straight-edge lifestyle.
Wait wait, Gabriel's wrestling Wade Barrett? I thought he was wrestling Chris Jericho. Did I watch the promo I thought I watched?
Why is "Be Yourself" a WrestleMania theme song? Didn't it get played enough during one of the Diva Searches?
That RAW Rebound with Vince McMahon vs. John Cena was just as stupid in recap form as it was live.
We find out Wade Barrett's rose colors mean different things every week. A little weird, but okay.
The dumbass crowd chants "USA!" and Josh Matthews doesn't get it either. The only American at ringside, besides the announcers, is Matt Hardy. I would posit a guess that speaking English is the only requirement to get that chance, but every one of them speaks English. Reminds me of a match in Peoria between La Resistance and Chris Benoit and Edge, where our local yokels chanted "USA!" too.
Gabriel defeats Barrett with the 450 Splash and goes 2-0 on NXT.
I liked this show a lot better than last week's. I think the Miz and Daniel Bryan have an interesting dynamic. In hindsight, not pairing Bryan with William Regal is probably better for him at this point. The Miz is becoming a hot commodity in the WWE and fans just want to see him get his ass kicked by somebody. I'm really digging a match between these two down the road.
This show did a lot better job of profiling the wrestlers. The only one that didn't get much time was Michael Tarver, who cheered on Carlito instead.
Minus the RAW Rebound and WrestleMania push, plus commercials, this show could probably watched in 30-35 minutes.
NXT: Shot by Shot
If I missed anything in the first 3 minutes, I apologize. I had an emergency meeting for class.
Matt Striker tried to explain the NXT competition again, but didn't really add anything, I didn't think.
The first match is David Otunga and R-Truth vs. Daniel Bryan and The Miz.
I'm kind of surprised they don't involve the Big Show much with Daniel Bryan and his tag partner, the Miz. Especially since R-Truth is involved in this match. Yeah, I almost forgot R-Truth and John Morrison have formed an interim tag team to battle ShowMiz at WrestleMania.
Miz cuts a promo on Bryan for going 0-2 and doesn't think he's proven himself to the pros. If they don't win tonight, Miz says, he's kicking Daniel Bryan off NXT.
Josh Matthews says Otunga and Truth have patched things up. They do hit a sweet double-team where they wind up and Truth flips over the top rope onto Miz and Bryan on the outside.
The story of the match was dissension between Miz and Daniel Bryan. Miz ends up losing for their team. Post match, Miz flinches after Bryan feigned a punch and Bryan walks away. Wow, I guess Otunga and Truth are really straight again.
Heath Slater cries about getting spit in the face with an apple by Carlito. The look and content reminded me of some idiot bitching the Real World.
We finally get a look at Justin Gabriel, who also has a martial arts background. Maybe they'll do an MMA bout down the line with Gabriel and Michael Tarver. Matt Hardy pumps him up for his main event shot and says he'll be the first WWE rookie to beat a WWE pro. All right, he's got a point, but that's semantics. John Cena beating Kurt Angle in 2002 was pretty huge for loyal SmackDown viewers.
Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett show up to intimidate Gabriel by putting over Barrett's victory over the Daniel Bryan last week.
I like how during the entrances, they show who the rookies' mentors are, and vice-versa.
Why does Michael Tarver have 1.9 written on all sides of his shirt? Josh Matthews later explains that's how many seconds it takes for Tarver to knock somebody out.
Slater ducks an apple spit from Carlito and gets the upper hand before they cut to commercial. That's a weird spot to break, but whatever. Later on, Carlito hits a big boot and Tarver says Slater's going to need to go to the dentist. I like stuff like that during matches.
The match was a pretty fun back-and-forth match. Christian took Carlito's apple, then told Christian he was going to embarrass his rookie. They do a series of roll-ups and finally Slater gets the pin. I guess Heath Slater was the first to beat a WWE pro, not Justin Gabriel. Oh well, Gabriel can still be the second, right?
Darren Young is profiled and says it's all about entertaining and having fun, likening his favorite wrestlers to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Shawn Michaels.
CM Punk involves Serena and Luke Gallows in reminding Young that he's the pro before telling Young he should adopt a straight-edge lifestyle.
Wait wait, Gabriel's wrestling Wade Barrett? I thought he was wrestling Chris Jericho. Did I watch the promo I thought I watched?
Why is "Be Yourself" a WrestleMania theme song? Didn't it get played enough during one of the Diva Searches?
That RAW Rebound with Vince McMahon vs. John Cena was just as stupid in recap form as it was live.
We find out Wade Barrett's rose colors mean different things every week. A little weird, but okay.
The dumbass crowd chants "USA!" and Josh Matthews doesn't get it either. The only American at ringside, besides the announcers, is Matt Hardy. I would posit a guess that speaking English is the only requirement to get that chance, but every one of them speaks English. Reminds me of a match in Peoria between La Resistance and Chris Benoit and Edge, where our local yokels chanted "USA!" too.
Gabriel defeats Barrett with the 450 Splash and goes 2-0 on NXT.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday Night Wars: TNA Impact vs. WWE RAW
The past couple weeks I've been posting reviews on WWE RAW without having looked at TNA Impact. I don't watch Impact because I'm typically in class for the first half.
But tonight, I sat with some friends to watch the official kickoff of the new Monday Night Wars.
Of course, if you recall, January 4 was a record night for TNA, shaped by lots of surprises and the official debut of the Hulk Hogan regime. The night also featured Bret Hart's first live appearance on WWE RAW in twelve years.
The Monday Night Wars in Review
I thought TNA won the night, as far as excitement goes, by a long shot. I felt a lot of the material was must-see stuff, despite the so-so acting. Sting's heel turn, cemented by the return of Rob Van Dam, was a new twist on a character that has stood behind everything that's right in TNA for so long. Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore also showed up for the party, too.
Everything on RAW seemed like it was too much of the same stuff and that we've gotten better shows the last couple of weeks.
Let's see how we watched wrestling as the night unfolded...
The Monday Night War: Shot By Shot
The surprise of the first five minutes of TNA is Impact kicking off with Hulk Hogan and Abyss vs. Ric Flair and AJ Styles. Man, if you'd told me in 2006 that Abyss, James Mitchell's weapon of mass destruction, would become a baby and team with Hulk Hogan I would've laughed so hard. But it's 2010, and here we are. Over on RAW, the crowd is pretty dull for the Underatker compared to the energetic Impact Zone. AJ wearing Flair's robe looks ridiculous, especially one that looks like a Wal-Mart version of Flair's high-class one.
They don't have much of a match, because Sting turns heel to help out Flair and Styles. Sting nails Hogan and Abyss with the bat. This is like TNA's moment when Hogan formed the NWO. As Brooke watched on, I looked at my friend and said she should show her boobs to appease Ric Flair and AJ Styles.
While this was happening, I turned back to see Michaels and Undertaker having a segment on their match at WrestleMania that looked like it would probably have been good if I'd watched the whole thing. Rego also informed me that the Undertaker at one point made a pass at his older sister while she was setting up a WWE live event at the Peoria Civic Center. PWinsider said their match is now No DQ and can only be won by pinfall or submission.
Flair is pissed at Abyss and Hogan and cuts a fired-up promo on 'em backstage. Abyss is SUPER pissed, raking his fingers through his bloody hair and punching the wall. WWE counters this with a 6-Diva tag - Gail, Kelly, and Eve vs. Maryse, Katie Lea Burchill, and Alicia Fox. King says he lived with Kelly Kelly for about four months...until he found out she was there. Haha.
Criss Angel is talking to Hornswoggle and the Bellas want to be his guest assistants. Of course! The Mindfreak took a string from one's cleavage and he string it through his mouth and out his eye. Gross. But Jillian wants to be his assistant, too! She sings, but he puts a spell on her and she loses her voice.
Meanwhile, in Orlando, Christopher Daniels is cutting a promo on Sui...er, Kaz. X Champ Doug Williams comes out. After some promo time, Bischoff makes a match. They did a nice suplex/pin combination and had a pretty exciting match. Miz and Big Show were cutting a promo on Truth and Morrison on RAW, when they came out and had a match too. Not sure how that one ended. Williams wins his match and in comes Shannon Moore! Bischoff announces Moore as the new #1 contender.
Backstage, JB is talking to Dixie Carter, steaming over Sting's return.
RAW comes back from break with a promo on Cena/Batista. TNA wins with The Beautiful People against Sarita and Taylor Wilde, as well as Angelina Love and Tara in a triple-team match. My friends who don't watch are like, "Who are these bitches?!" Daffney hit Tara with the KO title belt for The Beautiful People to win the Knockout Tag Team titles.
Christy Hemme is with D'Angelo Dinero and my friend Jesse goes, "Wait, the [Catholic] Pope wrestles?" He doesn't say much because Desmond Wolfe attacks from behind, takes off Pope's show, and starts beating on his foot.
It's time for Randy Orton. WWE's efforts to make him a household name have failed, because my friend Billy asked who Orton was. As they go to break, Taz and Mike Tenay are talking about the Sting situation. Speak of the devil, here he comes! He comes out to a mixed reaction. His opponent is...ROB VAN DAM! RVD his a spin kick and pins Sting after a Rolling Thunder. Sting hits Rob Van Dam with the bat and leaves him laying. Well, this didn't match my thoughts at all.
I got to thinking: Has Sting ever been a heel? I can't remember a time in TNA where he has been. That mixed reaction he got earlier is now all heat after taking out RVD. Sting lays out some refs and Hulk Hogan comes out. Bubba The Love Sponge tries to hold him back. Thirteen years later...geez. They have to get half a dozen security guards and refs to hold him back. Rego point out how weird it is they're trying to hold back Hogan, yet they're letting the man in the leather jacket repeatedly nail RVD with a baseball bat. Hogan gives up and walks to the back, but Sting plows through security and nails Hogan. This has gone about 5 mintues too long.
Back on RAW, I catch the recap where Orton tried to hit the RKO and Legacy finally got some heat on Orton by winning their handicap match. Josh Matthews interviews Batista, who acts calm and cool.
In Orlando, Kevin Nash is with Eric Young cutting a promo on The Band of Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac as they go to commercial. During the break, Hall and Pac show up. Oddly enough, they are countered on USA with Triple H. It's like some odd Kliq reunion. Hall and Syxx are in the ring with Young and Nash, and a bunch of security. Hall says they say they want into TNA because "it's startin' to get cool." Apparently there's a match between the teams at Destination X for The Band to get a fat contract. But if they lose, they must leave TNA. Bischoff is sick of kicking security out, so he gives Waltman a fight with Eric Young. They have a pretty good brawl when EY hits the piledriver for the 3-count.
Some Army soldiers show up and Tenay says it's a takeover. Okay... In Portland, Triple H and Sheamus are involved in a brawl of their own. From Triple H's music, I suppose he got the best end of that fight.
Santino introduces himself to the Mindfreak Criss Angel and talks about being Italian or something. They do some trick with a knife and I hope the Mindfreak stabs his hand. But he doesn't. Bummer.
Kurt Angle comes out through a throng of soldiers. I don't really understand it. Something about soldiers being the heart and soul of America. "He'll probably explain it, it's like Pokemon," Rego said.
I got bored and they weren't paying attention so I turned it to a Money in the Bank qualifier to see Evan Bourne and William Regal, with Skip Sheffield. For some reason, Christian was on commentary and flanked by Heath Slater. I turn back to TNA and Mr. Anderson is brawling with Angle while the military tries to hold Anderson back. Lots of brawling and pull-apart brawls on Impact tonight. Bourne wins with the Airbourne.
WWE showed a little longer video with Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker set to Johnny Cash. Killer.
Hulk Hogan is talking to Bubba the Love Sponge when Earl Hebner shows up and wants back in TNA. BTLS says he won't get in Hogan's business, and tells Earl to stop something for Hogan.
As Tenay and Taz run down Destination X, WWE does a WrestleMania recall from 20 with Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. They show Austin giving them the Stunner, probably to hype his return next week. Then the WWE announcers hard-sell WrestleMania 26.
Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett is getting his ass handed to him by Mick Foley and Beer Money. Clearly, I missed something. They brawl and Jeff Jarrett winds up with the barbed-wire bat. Referee Slick takes it away from him, and Beer Money hits a sweet spike powerbomb type move. WWE announced a WrestleMania Rewind theme for next week, including John Cena vs. Big Show (WrestleMania 20), Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 19), and Triple H vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 25). Yeah, we haven't seen that one enough. Plus, Stone Cold Steve Austin will supervise the Bret Hart and Vince McMahon contract signing.
Brooke Hogan meets her dad backstage and more terrible acting ensues. Brooke begs him that this be his last time in the ring. So it won't be.
Vince McMahon adds his own rules to his match with John Cena, where Cena has to go through Kozlov, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, and Mark Henry.
Hogan is beating Flair's ass on Spike. Flair is bleeding like crazy (of course). They're redoing the match from earlier, with Hebner as the ref. AJ tells Brooke to sit down and shut up. Ha!
The Monster Abyss comes in and starts kicking ass! This is way more exciting. McMahon's music played so I can safely assume he won. Batista stands victorious over Cena after fending off Kofi Kingston as Hogan begins to Hulk up. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam on AJ and pins him. Desmond Wolfe comes out and nails him with a chair. The Pope D'Angelo Dinero shows up and clears house himself. Chaos ensues when Jeff Hardy shows up! Jeff hits the Twist of Fate on AJ Styles and was going up for a Swanton Bomb when TNA cut.
But tonight, I sat with some friends to watch the official kickoff of the new Monday Night Wars.
Of course, if you recall, January 4 was a record night for TNA, shaped by lots of surprises and the official debut of the Hulk Hogan regime. The night also featured Bret Hart's first live appearance on WWE RAW in twelve years.
The Monday Night Wars in Review
I thought TNA won the night, as far as excitement goes, by a long shot. I felt a lot of the material was must-see stuff, despite the so-so acting. Sting's heel turn, cemented by the return of Rob Van Dam, was a new twist on a character that has stood behind everything that's right in TNA for so long. Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore also showed up for the party, too.
Everything on RAW seemed like it was too much of the same stuff and that we've gotten better shows the last couple of weeks.
Let's see how we watched wrestling as the night unfolded...
The Monday Night War: Shot By Shot
The surprise of the first five minutes of TNA is Impact kicking off with Hulk Hogan and Abyss vs. Ric Flair and AJ Styles. Man, if you'd told me in 2006 that Abyss, James Mitchell's weapon of mass destruction, would become a baby and team with Hulk Hogan I would've laughed so hard. But it's 2010, and here we are. Over on RAW, the crowd is pretty dull for the Underatker compared to the energetic Impact Zone. AJ wearing Flair's robe looks ridiculous, especially one that looks like a Wal-Mart version of Flair's high-class one.
They don't have much of a match, because Sting turns heel to help out Flair and Styles. Sting nails Hogan and Abyss with the bat. This is like TNA's moment when Hogan formed the NWO. As Brooke watched on, I looked at my friend and said she should show her boobs to appease Ric Flair and AJ Styles.
While this was happening, I turned back to see Michaels and Undertaker having a segment on their match at WrestleMania that looked like it would probably have been good if I'd watched the whole thing. Rego also informed me that the Undertaker at one point made a pass at his older sister while she was setting up a WWE live event at the Peoria Civic Center. PWinsider said their match is now No DQ and can only be won by pinfall or submission.
Flair is pissed at Abyss and Hogan and cuts a fired-up promo on 'em backstage. Abyss is SUPER pissed, raking his fingers through his bloody hair and punching the wall. WWE counters this with a 6-Diva tag - Gail, Kelly, and Eve vs. Maryse, Katie Lea Burchill, and Alicia Fox. King says he lived with Kelly Kelly for about four months...until he found out she was there. Haha.
Criss Angel is talking to Hornswoggle and the Bellas want to be his guest assistants. Of course! The Mindfreak took a string from one's cleavage and he string it through his mouth and out his eye. Gross. But Jillian wants to be his assistant, too! She sings, but he puts a spell on her and she loses her voice.
Meanwhile, in Orlando, Christopher Daniels is cutting a promo on Sui...er, Kaz. X Champ Doug Williams comes out. After some promo time, Bischoff makes a match. They did a nice suplex/pin combination and had a pretty exciting match. Miz and Big Show were cutting a promo on Truth and Morrison on RAW, when they came out and had a match too. Not sure how that one ended. Williams wins his match and in comes Shannon Moore! Bischoff announces Moore as the new #1 contender.
Backstage, JB is talking to Dixie Carter, steaming over Sting's return.
RAW comes back from break with a promo on Cena/Batista. TNA wins with The Beautiful People against Sarita and Taylor Wilde, as well as Angelina Love and Tara in a triple-team match. My friends who don't watch are like, "Who are these bitches?!" Daffney hit Tara with the KO title belt for The Beautiful People to win the Knockout Tag Team titles.
Christy Hemme is with D'Angelo Dinero and my friend Jesse goes, "Wait, the [Catholic] Pope wrestles?" He doesn't say much because Desmond Wolfe attacks from behind, takes off Pope's show, and starts beating on his foot.
It's time for Randy Orton. WWE's efforts to make him a household name have failed, because my friend Billy asked who Orton was. As they go to break, Taz and Mike Tenay are talking about the Sting situation. Speak of the devil, here he comes! He comes out to a mixed reaction. His opponent is...ROB VAN DAM! RVD his a spin kick and pins Sting after a Rolling Thunder. Sting hits Rob Van Dam with the bat and leaves him laying. Well, this didn't match my thoughts at all.
I got to thinking: Has Sting ever been a heel? I can't remember a time in TNA where he has been. That mixed reaction he got earlier is now all heat after taking out RVD. Sting lays out some refs and Hulk Hogan comes out. Bubba The Love Sponge tries to hold him back. Thirteen years later...geez. They have to get half a dozen security guards and refs to hold him back. Rego point out how weird it is they're trying to hold back Hogan, yet they're letting the man in the leather jacket repeatedly nail RVD with a baseball bat. Hogan gives up and walks to the back, but Sting plows through security and nails Hogan. This has gone about 5 mintues too long.
Back on RAW, I catch the recap where Orton tried to hit the RKO and Legacy finally got some heat on Orton by winning their handicap match. Josh Matthews interviews Batista, who acts calm and cool.
In Orlando, Kevin Nash is with Eric Young cutting a promo on The Band of Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac as they go to commercial. During the break, Hall and Pac show up. Oddly enough, they are countered on USA with Triple H. It's like some odd Kliq reunion. Hall and Syxx are in the ring with Young and Nash, and a bunch of security. Hall says they say they want into TNA because "it's startin' to get cool." Apparently there's a match between the teams at Destination X for The Band to get a fat contract. But if they lose, they must leave TNA. Bischoff is sick of kicking security out, so he gives Waltman a fight with Eric Young. They have a pretty good brawl when EY hits the piledriver for the 3-count.
Some Army soldiers show up and Tenay says it's a takeover. Okay... In Portland, Triple H and Sheamus are involved in a brawl of their own. From Triple H's music, I suppose he got the best end of that fight.
Santino introduces himself to the Mindfreak Criss Angel and talks about being Italian or something. They do some trick with a knife and I hope the Mindfreak stabs his hand. But he doesn't. Bummer.
Kurt Angle comes out through a throng of soldiers. I don't really understand it. Something about soldiers being the heart and soul of America. "He'll probably explain it, it's like Pokemon," Rego said.
I got bored and they weren't paying attention so I turned it to a Money in the Bank qualifier to see Evan Bourne and William Regal, with Skip Sheffield. For some reason, Christian was on commentary and flanked by Heath Slater. I turn back to TNA and Mr. Anderson is brawling with Angle while the military tries to hold Anderson back. Lots of brawling and pull-apart brawls on Impact tonight. Bourne wins with the Airbourne.
WWE showed a little longer video with Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker set to Johnny Cash. Killer.
Hulk Hogan is talking to Bubba the Love Sponge when Earl Hebner shows up and wants back in TNA. BTLS says he won't get in Hogan's business, and tells Earl to stop something for Hogan.
As Tenay and Taz run down Destination X, WWE does a WrestleMania recall from 20 with Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. They show Austin giving them the Stunner, probably to hype his return next week. Then the WWE announcers hard-sell WrestleMania 26.
Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett is getting his ass handed to him by Mick Foley and Beer Money. Clearly, I missed something. They brawl and Jeff Jarrett winds up with the barbed-wire bat. Referee Slick takes it away from him, and Beer Money hits a sweet spike powerbomb type move. WWE announced a WrestleMania Rewind theme for next week, including John Cena vs. Big Show (WrestleMania 20), Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 19), and Triple H vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 25). Yeah, we haven't seen that one enough. Plus, Stone Cold Steve Austin will supervise the Bret Hart and Vince McMahon contract signing.
Brooke Hogan meets her dad backstage and more terrible acting ensues. Brooke begs him that this be his last time in the ring. So it won't be.
Vince McMahon adds his own rules to his match with John Cena, where Cena has to go through Kozlov, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, and Mark Henry.
Hogan is beating Flair's ass on Spike. Flair is bleeding like crazy (of course). They're redoing the match from earlier, with Hebner as the ref. AJ tells Brooke to sit down and shut up. Ha!
The Monster Abyss comes in and starts kicking ass! This is way more exciting. McMahon's music played so I can safely assume he won. Batista stands victorious over Cena after fending off Kofi Kingston as Hogan begins to Hulk up. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam on AJ and pins him. Desmond Wolfe comes out and nails him with a chair. The Pope D'Angelo Dinero shows up and clears house himself. Chaos ensues when Jeff Hardy shows up! Jeff hits the Twist of Fate on AJ Styles and was going up for a Swanton Bomb when TNA cut.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
WWE NXT Review: Daniel Bryan's ribs hurt
NXT in Review:
We finally got to see the rest of the rookies this week. Justin Gabriel got beat up a lot before hitting a nice 450 splash. Wade Barrett dominated Daniel Bryan, and Skip Sheffield seemed like a mix of fun and ridiculous.
While Daniel Bryan by far had the best showing of anybody to date last week, they didn't follow that up very well this week, I thought. Not only was Bryan defeated by Barrett without much offense, but nobody else really stood out as a star.
Michael Tarver barely got any airtime (it was at the end, and he didn't talk), so he got the worst end of the stick this week. At least Slater got a segment with Christian and an apple to the face.
Matt Striker told us how the competition worked, but neglected to give us too many details. My hunch is that WWE is still working out how they want to do it and are just giving us what they've come up with after a week.
NXT Shot by Shot:
R-Truth kicks the show off. Not only is Truth's gimmick getting stale to me, but it's not giving the rookies any unique character to come out to their pro's music.
Matt Striker ties explaining the competition, saying the 8 WWE pros cast votes, but can't vote for or against their rookie. He doesn't really go into much detail about how votes are cast. These votes will apparently determine success or failure.
Darren Young is out, reluctantly accompanied by the Straight-Edge Society. The fans didn't know who to chant for in this rematch, but Young's taunt before the chinlock made him the heel and Otunga the face. I thought it'd be the opposite for both, for some reason.
The story was that Young wanted revenge for his short debut match last week, and that Punk wanted nothing to do with his rookie. The end saw Gallows and Truth get into an argument, and while the ref was distracted, Punk surprisingly tripped up Otunga. Young hit his finisher, which starts like a full-nelson into a full-frontal slam, and picked up the win. Afterwards, Otunga shoves Truth. Maybe I was right in my thought that Otunga would be a heel.
For as much as Cole hated the Internet last week, he talked a lot about the WWE Universe blogs during this match.
Daniel Bryan is profiled first tonight, talking about his decade in wrestling and being trained by Shawn Michaels.
Cole rips on Twitter, so he must hate anything outside the WWE bubble.
Bryan's highlights from last week are shown, including several shots of that sick table bump with his match against Chris Jericho. Backstage, Bryan's ribs are being checked out when his trainer, the Miz, comes up. Miz's lesson is that Bryan must fight though a "boo-boo" before slapping the sore spot.
A William Regal package? Really?
Backstage, Matt Striker tries to interview David Otunga. Truth comes in and the refs have to split them apart.
Chris Jericho introduces Wade Barrett, portrayed as a European bare-knuckle fighting champion and the largest competitor on NXT.
Barrett takes to Bryan's ribs early on, with Jericho saying on commentary that's what he instructed Barrett to do. Bryan's only real offense was a sweet running knee off the apron, but Barrett pins Bryan pretty soon after, the idea being that Bryan was too injured. The vulture World champion Chris Jericho attacks Daniel Bryan's ribs, locks in the Walls of Jericho, and leaves.
Christian psychs up Heath Slater in the gym. Slater says how great last week's reaction was, but Christian says they're still his peeps and that Slater needs to earn his own.
Justin Gabriel calls Matt Hardy his sensei - wow, is that a reference to the Mattitude Followers?
William Regal and Skip Sheffield enter. So this is the Cornfed Meathead? He's wearing a Steve Austin-style leather jacked with those words emblazoned on it. He seems really charismatic with a southern charm about him, talking about how much he loves to entertain - almost like a beefier Ken Anderson (...Anderson). Regal is disgusted.
Gabriel is described as only being America for a year, coming from South Africa. He doesn't get much offense (or character background) at all. I liked Regal's offense in this match, as they looked like they could be used in a barfight instead of just straight-up wrestling. Matthews calls a splash by Skip Sheffield as "vintage." How can it be vintage if nobody outside of Florida has ever seen the move? Cole is angry with Matthews for that line. Matt Hardy hits a sick-looking Twist of Fate on Regal, allowing Justin Gabriel to get the win with a 450 splash.
All of the rookies (minus the two who were in the match) are in place backstage and Carlito taunts them all with his apple. He spits in Heath Slater's face and says, "that's cool," which pisses Slater off. Slater asks, "that's cool?" Striker's weak response, "that's NXT."
We finally got to see the rest of the rookies this week. Justin Gabriel got beat up a lot before hitting a nice 450 splash. Wade Barrett dominated Daniel Bryan, and Skip Sheffield seemed like a mix of fun and ridiculous.
While Daniel Bryan by far had the best showing of anybody to date last week, they didn't follow that up very well this week, I thought. Not only was Bryan defeated by Barrett without much offense, but nobody else really stood out as a star.
Michael Tarver barely got any airtime (it was at the end, and he didn't talk), so he got the worst end of the stick this week. At least Slater got a segment with Christian and an apple to the face.
Matt Striker told us how the competition worked, but neglected to give us too many details. My hunch is that WWE is still working out how they want to do it and are just giving us what they've come up with after a week.
NXT Shot by Shot:
R-Truth kicks the show off. Not only is Truth's gimmick getting stale to me, but it's not giving the rookies any unique character to come out to their pro's music.
Matt Striker ties explaining the competition, saying the 8 WWE pros cast votes, but can't vote for or against their rookie. He doesn't really go into much detail about how votes are cast. These votes will apparently determine success or failure.
Darren Young is out, reluctantly accompanied by the Straight-Edge Society. The fans didn't know who to chant for in this rematch, but Young's taunt before the chinlock made him the heel and Otunga the face. I thought it'd be the opposite for both, for some reason.
The story was that Young wanted revenge for his short debut match last week, and that Punk wanted nothing to do with his rookie. The end saw Gallows and Truth get into an argument, and while the ref was distracted, Punk surprisingly tripped up Otunga. Young hit his finisher, which starts like a full-nelson into a full-frontal slam, and picked up the win. Afterwards, Otunga shoves Truth. Maybe I was right in my thought that Otunga would be a heel.
For as much as Cole hated the Internet last week, he talked a lot about the WWE Universe blogs during this match.
Daniel Bryan is profiled first tonight, talking about his decade in wrestling and being trained by Shawn Michaels.
Cole rips on Twitter, so he must hate anything outside the WWE bubble.
Bryan's highlights from last week are shown, including several shots of that sick table bump with his match against Chris Jericho. Backstage, Bryan's ribs are being checked out when his trainer, the Miz, comes up. Miz's lesson is that Bryan must fight though a "boo-boo" before slapping the sore spot.
A William Regal package? Really?
Backstage, Matt Striker tries to interview David Otunga. Truth comes in and the refs have to split them apart.
Chris Jericho introduces Wade Barrett, portrayed as a European bare-knuckle fighting champion and the largest competitor on NXT.
Barrett takes to Bryan's ribs early on, with Jericho saying on commentary that's what he instructed Barrett to do. Bryan's only real offense was a sweet running knee off the apron, but Barrett pins Bryan pretty soon after, the idea being that Bryan was too injured. The vulture World champion Chris Jericho attacks Daniel Bryan's ribs, locks in the Walls of Jericho, and leaves.
Christian psychs up Heath Slater in the gym. Slater says how great last week's reaction was, but Christian says they're still his peeps and that Slater needs to earn his own.
Justin Gabriel calls Matt Hardy his sensei - wow, is that a reference to the Mattitude Followers?
William Regal and Skip Sheffield enter. So this is the Cornfed Meathead? He's wearing a Steve Austin-style leather jacked with those words emblazoned on it. He seems really charismatic with a southern charm about him, talking about how much he loves to entertain - almost like a beefier Ken Anderson (...Anderson). Regal is disgusted.
Gabriel is described as only being America for a year, coming from South Africa. He doesn't get much offense (or character background) at all. I liked Regal's offense in this match, as they looked like they could be used in a barfight instead of just straight-up wrestling. Matthews calls a splash by Skip Sheffield as "vintage." How can it be vintage if nobody outside of Florida has ever seen the move? Cole is angry with Matthews for that line. Matt Hardy hits a sick-looking Twist of Fate on Regal, allowing Justin Gabriel to get the win with a 450 splash.
All of the rookies (minus the two who were in the match) are in place backstage and Carlito taunts them all with his apple. He spits in Heath Slater's face and says, "that's cool," which pisses Slater off. Slater asks, "that's cool?" Striker's weak response, "that's NXT."
My Opinion: RVD signs with TNA
Special note: I will be blogging on TNA's live Impact special on Monday, March 8. I will either DVR or probably skip my usual RAW review. I just have the feeling that Impact will have a much bigger feel to it.
Please follow me on Twitter to stay up to date!
Word hit the Internet today that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling in time for their second time pitting TNA Impact head to head with WWE RAW on March 8. While not explicitly saying it, Hulk Hogan told Jimmy Hart that a surprise signing would be "awesome" while doing RVD's signature thumb-pointing gesture.
I am always the first to criticize TNA for its propensity to sign guys that have worked for WWE. Guys like Matt Morgan and Elijah Burke have caught fire in TNA, but I'm worried guys like Orlando Jordan and Sean Morley won't have the same intensity.
But Rob Van Dam! Ever since he came into WWE following the WCW/ECW Invasion, I've liked Van Dam. During his RAW 15th Anniversary showing and Royal Rumble return, Van Dam still had it.
I'd like to think that RVD could feud with a number of TNA talents. Seeing him in the X-Division would be really cool, since RVD's "educated feet" would blend in well.
My initial dream match? Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe. Both of these guys have a martial arts background, so their in-ring exchanges would be intense.
My second? Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson. I like both of these guys in the ring, but I think their verbal exchanges would be fantastic.
These are just one guy's thoughts on Rob Van Dam in TNA. Tell me how you think he should be used!
Please follow me on Twitter to stay up to date!
Word hit the Internet today that Rob Van Dam has signed with TNA Wrestling in time for their second time pitting TNA Impact head to head with WWE RAW on March 8. While not explicitly saying it, Hulk Hogan told Jimmy Hart that a surprise signing would be "awesome" while doing RVD's signature thumb-pointing gesture.
I am always the first to criticize TNA for its propensity to sign guys that have worked for WWE. Guys like Matt Morgan and Elijah Burke have caught fire in TNA, but I'm worried guys like Orlando Jordan and Sean Morley won't have the same intensity.
But Rob Van Dam! Ever since he came into WWE following the WCW/ECW Invasion, I've liked Van Dam. During his RAW 15th Anniversary showing and Royal Rumble return, Van Dam still had it.
I'd like to think that RVD could feud with a number of TNA talents. Seeing him in the X-Division would be really cool, since RVD's "educated feet" would blend in well.
My initial dream match? Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe. Both of these guys have a martial arts background, so their in-ring exchanges would be intense.
My second? Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson. I like both of these guys in the ring, but I think their verbal exchanges would be fantastic.
These are just one guy's thoughts on Rob Van Dam in TNA. Tell me how you think he should be used!
Monday, March 1, 2010
WWE RAW Review: Batista hates Cena, DX reunites (again)
In case you missed it, WWE released some folks over the weekend.
Talents included Paul Burchill, Charlie Haas, referee Scott Armstrong, and two I've met and gotten autographs from: Shane Helms and Maria.
Who knows what will end up happening to these folks? One would think TNA is counting down those 90 days. The wrestlers are all pretty sound in the ring. And Maria is looking to expose herself to new people on the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice.
Fun fact about Maria: She made her on-screen WWE debut in Peoria, Ill., during a live RAW on Nov. 1, 2004. This was her first appearance as a backstage interviewer and not just as a Diva Search contestant.
Now, onto RAW...
RAW in Review
I liked this show tonight. It did a lot to build towards WrestleMania while furthering the storylines. We got to see one confirmed new match in Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon, and we'll likely see Sheamus vs. Triple H.
Batista gave a really good promo on why he wants to wrestle John Cena. Plus, Legacy didn't get destroyed by Randy Orton tonight, but didn't really do anything to help themselves either.
RAW: Shot by Shot
I really liked that RAW kicked off with promoting Bret Hart for tonight, as well as the Orton-DiBiase match. It at least gives me a reason to care about the show.
HBK comes out and they show a video on last week's promo with the Undertaker, interspersing clips from each's WrestleMania highlights. Fans chant for Shawn and he looks surprised; I was surprised, too, since he's challenging the almighty Undertaker. Shawn talks about the WWE locker room not believing he can end the streak, and challenges anybody in the back to tell him he can't win. Surprise, surprise, Triple H shows up.
Triple H ends up giving Shawn a pep talk about ending the Deadman's streak while talking about invoking their rematch clause for the WWE Unified Tag Team titles. HBK accepts the rematch. Interestingly enough, they failed to even mention Big Show and the Miz by name.
RAW is just filled with surprises tonight - that can't be the Bellas hanging out with Cheech and Chong! Hornswoggle gives Chong hallucinogenic Lucky Charms out of a box he cleverly Photoshopped himself on.
I hated Randy Orton's character for the longest time - slow, boring promos and slow, boring matches. But I really like how he hasn't turned fully babyface yet, and I kind of hope he doesn't. This seems to be his schtick right now. Since he hasn't talked that much, it leaves a sort of mystery to him. Finally it's like we're not getting him shoved down our throat, and the fans get to make up their minds.
Man, after watching the Olympics, I really wish I had WWE in HD.
All Orton before the break, all DiBiase after. I didn't pay much attention to how the crowd reacted to DiBiase when they teased the Legacy break-up before, but whatever heat I read about before seems to be gone, it seems. Orton gets that "vintage" stomping in before Rhodes interferes. Orton swings at him and DiBiase tries the roll-up. Orton reverses the roll-up, but spears Rhodes - that was pretty sweet. DiBiase saves Rhodes from that second-rope DDT. Good, it was looking like Orton was going to destroy both again. I still think Legacy needs to get some good heat on Orton.
A mind-altered Cong is petting Eve's hair. To keep it PG, Cheech blames the delusions on sugar, asking why his partner is petting...William Regal! He also confuses Chris Masters for Kelly Kelly in a poorly executed voiceover. Hornswoggle and Chong peer-pressure Cheech into taking some of the Lucky Charms.
Jack Swagger squashes Santino to join Shelton Benjamin, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and Kane in the Money in the Bank ladder match.
Backstage, WWE Champion Batista is walking towards the ring. King asks, "What's up with all that security?" Adam asks, "What's up with that stupid sleeveless leather vest thing?"
HBK-Taker video with a Johnny Cash song. Awesome.
After the break, Cena comes out and gets the "what?" chant. But people chant his name anyway...I don't get it.
Batista shows up with security guards, saying they're there to prevent him from demolishing Cena. Basically, Batista says he is jealous of John Cena's success even though they started in the WWE together, more or less.
Batista says they're the biggest two stars since the Attitude Era, and John shakes his head. Is he being modest or does he agree he doesn't measure up to guys like Stone Cold and the Rock?
Anyway, Batista and Cena have a really good exchange - probably the best Batista promo I've ever seen - and Batista challenges John Cena to say a catchphrase, but intimidates him into silence claiming John Cena knows he can't beat Batista.
MVP makes quick work of Zack Rider to join Money in the Bank. Has anybody else noticed that parts of Ryder's theme sounds like Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," background beat for one of the greatest videos of all time - My New Haircut?
Divas pillowfight. Oh boy. I wonder why the heel Divas participate. Seems like something they wouldn't want to stoop to. Eve wins by pinning Alicia with something reminiscent of a kind-of RVD Rolling Thunder leg drop...thing. Then Hornswoggle starts throwing around Lucky Ludes everywhere, in something of an inappropriate transition to...
the announcement of Mad Dog Vachon into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Vince McMahon invites Bret "The Hitman" Hart out. I see with his injury, Bret has reverted back to wearing some awful-looking jorts. Well, maybe it's not the jorts. But the jorts-leather jacket combination. I dunno, this isn't E!
Bret Hart is pissed about his spoiled farewell two weeks ago. McMahon lies about having Hart give his final farewell, and cuts a promo challenging Hart at WrestleMania, telling him about all the wrongdoings McMahon has caused him.
That line about Bret being a Canadian hero bombed so hard on this Oklahoma City crowd.
McMahon goes on a tirade about Hart being a coward, kicking Hart's crutch out from under him. Hart finally gets so pissed, he accepts Vince's match at WrestleMania.
I'm not looking forward to this unless it's a short brawl. I can't say Bret isn't physically able to wrestle anymore because he knows better than anybody, but I can't imagine how great he can be physically after 10 years away from the ring. So let's hope this match is just an all out ass-kickin.'
Vince wants to show Bret he's 100% next week by wrestling Bret's biggest fan, John Cena. Randy Orton will also face Legacy in a handicap match. And who's going to be the guest host you ask? None other than the Mindfreak himself, Criss Angel.
DX and ShowMiz have a pretty sweet back-and-forth brawl until...surprise again! (Not really). The Undertaker is on the TitanTron, staring a hole through HBK. Distracted due to his tunnel vision, as Cole puts it, Miz rolls up HBK.
Dude, The Miz is having a great 2010. If he's not in some multi-man matches for the WWE title by the end of the year, I'll be surprised.
Michaels is upset in the middle of the ring, and walks away when Triple H tries to console him. Confused, Triple H misses the sneak attack from Sheamus!
I'm diggin' this WrestleMania card:
WWE Championship
Batista vs. John Cena
World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Jericho vs. Edge
The Streak vs. The Career
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kane vs. MVP vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian vs. ??? vs. ???
We'll probably see Triple H vs. Sheamus.
Talents included Paul Burchill, Charlie Haas, referee Scott Armstrong, and two I've met and gotten autographs from: Shane Helms and Maria.
Who knows what will end up happening to these folks? One would think TNA is counting down those 90 days. The wrestlers are all pretty sound in the ring. And Maria is looking to expose herself to new people on the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice.
Fun fact about Maria: She made her on-screen WWE debut in Peoria, Ill., during a live RAW on Nov. 1, 2004. This was her first appearance as a backstage interviewer and not just as a Diva Search contestant.
Now, onto RAW...
RAW in Review
I liked this show tonight. It did a lot to build towards WrestleMania while furthering the storylines. We got to see one confirmed new match in Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon, and we'll likely see Sheamus vs. Triple H.
Batista gave a really good promo on why he wants to wrestle John Cena. Plus, Legacy didn't get destroyed by Randy Orton tonight, but didn't really do anything to help themselves either.
RAW: Shot by Shot
I really liked that RAW kicked off with promoting Bret Hart for tonight, as well as the Orton-DiBiase match. It at least gives me a reason to care about the show.
HBK comes out and they show a video on last week's promo with the Undertaker, interspersing clips from each's WrestleMania highlights. Fans chant for Shawn and he looks surprised; I was surprised, too, since he's challenging the almighty Undertaker. Shawn talks about the WWE locker room not believing he can end the streak, and challenges anybody in the back to tell him he can't win. Surprise, surprise, Triple H shows up.
Triple H ends up giving Shawn a pep talk about ending the Deadman's streak while talking about invoking their rematch clause for the WWE Unified Tag Team titles. HBK accepts the rematch. Interestingly enough, they failed to even mention Big Show and the Miz by name.
RAW is just filled with surprises tonight - that can't be the Bellas hanging out with Cheech and Chong! Hornswoggle gives Chong hallucinogenic Lucky Charms out of a box he cleverly Photoshopped himself on.
I hated Randy Orton's character for the longest time - slow, boring promos and slow, boring matches. But I really like how he hasn't turned fully babyface yet, and I kind of hope he doesn't. This seems to be his schtick right now. Since he hasn't talked that much, it leaves a sort of mystery to him. Finally it's like we're not getting him shoved down our throat, and the fans get to make up their minds.
Man, after watching the Olympics, I really wish I had WWE in HD.
All Orton before the break, all DiBiase after. I didn't pay much attention to how the crowd reacted to DiBiase when they teased the Legacy break-up before, but whatever heat I read about before seems to be gone, it seems. Orton gets that "vintage" stomping in before Rhodes interferes. Orton swings at him and DiBiase tries the roll-up. Orton reverses the roll-up, but spears Rhodes - that was pretty sweet. DiBiase saves Rhodes from that second-rope DDT. Good, it was looking like Orton was going to destroy both again. I still think Legacy needs to get some good heat on Orton.
A mind-altered Cong is petting Eve's hair. To keep it PG, Cheech blames the delusions on sugar, asking why his partner is petting...William Regal! He also confuses Chris Masters for Kelly Kelly in a poorly executed voiceover. Hornswoggle and Chong peer-pressure Cheech into taking some of the Lucky Charms.
Jack Swagger squashes Santino to join Shelton Benjamin, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and Kane in the Money in the Bank ladder match.
Backstage, WWE Champion Batista is walking towards the ring. King asks, "What's up with all that security?" Adam asks, "What's up with that stupid sleeveless leather vest thing?"
HBK-Taker video with a Johnny Cash song. Awesome.
After the break, Cena comes out and gets the "what?" chant. But people chant his name anyway...I don't get it.
Batista shows up with security guards, saying they're there to prevent him from demolishing Cena. Basically, Batista says he is jealous of John Cena's success even though they started in the WWE together, more or less.
Batista says they're the biggest two stars since the Attitude Era, and John shakes his head. Is he being modest or does he agree he doesn't measure up to guys like Stone Cold and the Rock?
Anyway, Batista and Cena have a really good exchange - probably the best Batista promo I've ever seen - and Batista challenges John Cena to say a catchphrase, but intimidates him into silence claiming John Cena knows he can't beat Batista.
MVP makes quick work of Zack Rider to join Money in the Bank. Has anybody else noticed that parts of Ryder's theme sounds like Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," background beat for one of the greatest videos of all time - My New Haircut?
Divas pillowfight. Oh boy. I wonder why the heel Divas participate. Seems like something they wouldn't want to stoop to. Eve wins by pinning Alicia with something reminiscent of a kind-of RVD Rolling Thunder leg drop...thing. Then Hornswoggle starts throwing around Lucky Ludes everywhere, in something of an inappropriate transition to...
the announcement of Mad Dog Vachon into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Vince McMahon invites Bret "The Hitman" Hart out. I see with his injury, Bret has reverted back to wearing some awful-looking jorts. Well, maybe it's not the jorts. But the jorts-leather jacket combination. I dunno, this isn't E!
Bret Hart is pissed about his spoiled farewell two weeks ago. McMahon lies about having Hart give his final farewell, and cuts a promo challenging Hart at WrestleMania, telling him about all the wrongdoings McMahon has caused him.
That line about Bret being a Canadian hero bombed so hard on this Oklahoma City crowd.
McMahon goes on a tirade about Hart being a coward, kicking Hart's crutch out from under him. Hart finally gets so pissed, he accepts Vince's match at WrestleMania.
I'm not looking forward to this unless it's a short brawl. I can't say Bret isn't physically able to wrestle anymore because he knows better than anybody, but I can't imagine how great he can be physically after 10 years away from the ring. So let's hope this match is just an all out ass-kickin.'
Vince wants to show Bret he's 100% next week by wrestling Bret's biggest fan, John Cena. Randy Orton will also face Legacy in a handicap match. And who's going to be the guest host you ask? None other than the Mindfreak himself, Criss Angel.
DX and ShowMiz have a pretty sweet back-and-forth brawl until...surprise again! (Not really). The Undertaker is on the TitanTron, staring a hole through HBK. Distracted due to his tunnel vision, as Cole puts it, Miz rolls up HBK.
Dude, The Miz is having a great 2010. If he's not in some multi-man matches for the WWE title by the end of the year, I'll be surprised.
Michaels is upset in the middle of the ring, and walks away when Triple H tries to console him. Confused, Triple H misses the sneak attack from Sheamus!
I'm diggin' this WrestleMania card:
WWE Championship
Batista vs. John Cena
World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Jericho vs. Edge
The Streak vs. The Career
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kane vs. MVP vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian vs. ??? vs. ???
We'll probably see Triple H vs. Sheamus.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
WWE SmackDown Review: Edge says "spear" a lot; Superstars cash in
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SmackDown Thoughts - 2/26/10
First of all, let's just clear up that I normally don't devote time to watch SmackDown for a variety of reasons - for a long time it was work, and now it's either homework or something else. But I stayed up late tonight since it was pre-empted in my area because the guys at PWinsider say it's been really good lately.
SmackDown tonight was an okay show, setting up more participants in the Money in the Bank match, featuring a no-build-at-all Women's title change, and continuing the Edge/Jericho storyline.
I wasn't blown away by anything, but it kept my attention. It seemed to me to have a lot of matches on it, and most of them were given some decent time. I definitely don't think anything was "must-see TV" so if you missed it, you're okay.
SmackDown: Shot by Shot
After some recaps, Chris Jericho came out to cut a promo on him being the Champion and why he's so awesome. Edge comes out and cuts a neat promo about all of Jericho's accomplishments, but how it took just one Spear to put him down Monday night. He repeats "Spear" a lot and the crowd catches on to ignite a new chant.
Nice Metallica nod by Edge telling Jericho that when he goes to sleep, he dreams about him "all nightmare long."
Jericho told Edge he would never get speared again. But as all promos devolve into physical confrontations (because grown men and women can't solve their problems with words), Jericho winds up getting speared anyway. I thought it would be a little more special if somehow Jericho could avoid it for a few weeks, maybe getting speared on the go-home show before WrestleMania to build the threat to Jericho's reign.
John Morrison gives his sunglasses to a little kid at ringside? I love this throwback to the Hitman. Even though he didn't win the Elimination Chamber, the announcers still make it seem like he played a big role in the match.
I also liked that David Otunga came out with R-Truth. It makes sense to promote NXT by having the rookie watch his pro in a match. I wondered if the other rookies would, but they didn't.
In this triple threat with R-Truth, John Morrison, and Dolph Ziggler, Matt Striker said that Otunga was watching the footwork of the superstars. How could he know that? And why are all three of these guys involved? Personally I'd love to see all three in the Money in the Bank match itself. Morrison hit Starship Pain on R-Truth, but Ziggler pulled Morrison out and got the pin on the Truth himself. So we've got Dolph Ziggler and Christian for Money in the Bank.
The show the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker package again. I cannot say how much I love the way this video was put together. To borrow a Michael Cole trademark, I wonder if they put that old-timey filter on it because their WrestleMania 25 match was had that "vintage" feel to it. I just really hope they keep Undertaker's Streak alive.
Vickie Guerrero is the guest ref for Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool, for the Women's title. How come Vickie hasn't gotten her own theme song yet? Mickie dominated most of the match before getting screwed out of the title by Vickie. Man, with the releases that happened in WWE today with Shane Helms, Paul Burchill, and especially Maria, I'm thinking Mickie might not be around much longer. They haven't helped her career at all.
Another Money in the Bank qualifier...why is Thunderstruck the theme song? I don't get it. But speaking of theme songs, Drew McIntyre's entrance makes him stand out. He cut a promo about being undefeated before their decent match, and Kane picks up the win. So much for Drew's streak.
Miz came out for a promo. Honestly I kind of spaced out until he said he was "AWESOME!" Teddy Long came out and told Miz he'd face Edge tonight. Nice.
Punk comes out with the Straight-Edge Society. He and Shelton Benjamin have a fun match before Rey Mysterio distracts Punk, allowing Benjamin to hit Paydirt for the win. These two are definitely heading towards a WrestleMania match, which could steal the show. I'm not a huge Mysterio fan, but I think that match would stand out from the rest of the pack.
The Miz and Edge met for what was billed as a "first-time ever" encounter. I think it's cool, but I also think about what RVD said about pushing people. Instead of superstar matches all the time, he liked seeing a wrestler squash somebody else. So if you had a bunch of people squashing nobodies, you'd want to see them fight eventually.
Nice to see that Daniel Bryan was watching his mentor backstage. He wasn't at ringside, but at least he's watching.
Edge picked up the victory here. I'm undecided if I like this. On one hand, Edge is the #1 contender going into Wrestle-friggin-Mania. On the other, Miz has been getting a mondo push lately. I was kind of hoping to see Chris Jericho interfere, but nope. I'll give the nod to Edge here since they're heading into the big show, but I'm still disappointed to see Miz not regain some heat.
Maybe Bryan chould've cost Miz the match or something. Or maybe they don't want NXT guys cluttering up the WrestleMania mix, because a Daniel Bryan-Chris Jericho exchange could've been fun, setting up a tag team match between Bryan & Edge and Jericho & Miz.
That's all for this week. Again, these SD recaps probably won't be regular. But since I was home tonight, it's a special bonus.
SmackDown Thoughts - 2/26/10
First of all, let's just clear up that I normally don't devote time to watch SmackDown for a variety of reasons - for a long time it was work, and now it's either homework or something else. But I stayed up late tonight since it was pre-empted in my area because the guys at PWinsider say it's been really good lately.
SmackDown tonight was an okay show, setting up more participants in the Money in the Bank match, featuring a no-build-at-all Women's title change, and continuing the Edge/Jericho storyline.
I wasn't blown away by anything, but it kept my attention. It seemed to me to have a lot of matches on it, and most of them were given some decent time. I definitely don't think anything was "must-see TV" so if you missed it, you're okay.
SmackDown: Shot by Shot
After some recaps, Chris Jericho came out to cut a promo on him being the Champion and why he's so awesome. Edge comes out and cuts a neat promo about all of Jericho's accomplishments, but how it took just one Spear to put him down Monday night. He repeats "Spear" a lot and the crowd catches on to ignite a new chant.
Nice Metallica nod by Edge telling Jericho that when he goes to sleep, he dreams about him "all nightmare long."
Jericho told Edge he would never get speared again. But as all promos devolve into physical confrontations (because grown men and women can't solve their problems with words), Jericho winds up getting speared anyway. I thought it would be a little more special if somehow Jericho could avoid it for a few weeks, maybe getting speared on the go-home show before WrestleMania to build the threat to Jericho's reign.
John Morrison gives his sunglasses to a little kid at ringside? I love this throwback to the Hitman. Even though he didn't win the Elimination Chamber, the announcers still make it seem like he played a big role in the match.
I also liked that David Otunga came out with R-Truth. It makes sense to promote NXT by having the rookie watch his pro in a match. I wondered if the other rookies would, but they didn't.
In this triple threat with R-Truth, John Morrison, and Dolph Ziggler, Matt Striker said that Otunga was watching the footwork of the superstars. How could he know that? And why are all three of these guys involved? Personally I'd love to see all three in the Money in the Bank match itself. Morrison hit Starship Pain on R-Truth, but Ziggler pulled Morrison out and got the pin on the Truth himself. So we've got Dolph Ziggler and Christian for Money in the Bank.
The show the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker package again. I cannot say how much I love the way this video was put together. To borrow a Michael Cole trademark, I wonder if they put that old-timey filter on it because their WrestleMania 25 match was had that "vintage" feel to it. I just really hope they keep Undertaker's Streak alive.
Vickie Guerrero is the guest ref for Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool, for the Women's title. How come Vickie hasn't gotten her own theme song yet? Mickie dominated most of the match before getting screwed out of the title by Vickie. Man, with the releases that happened in WWE today with Shane Helms, Paul Burchill, and especially Maria, I'm thinking Mickie might not be around much longer. They haven't helped her career at all.
Another Money in the Bank qualifier...why is Thunderstruck the theme song? I don't get it. But speaking of theme songs, Drew McIntyre's entrance makes him stand out. He cut a promo about being undefeated before their decent match, and Kane picks up the win. So much for Drew's streak.
Miz came out for a promo. Honestly I kind of spaced out until he said he was "AWESOME!" Teddy Long came out and told Miz he'd face Edge tonight. Nice.
Punk comes out with the Straight-Edge Society. He and Shelton Benjamin have a fun match before Rey Mysterio distracts Punk, allowing Benjamin to hit Paydirt for the win. These two are definitely heading towards a WrestleMania match, which could steal the show. I'm not a huge Mysterio fan, but I think that match would stand out from the rest of the pack.
The Miz and Edge met for what was billed as a "first-time ever" encounter. I think it's cool, but I also think about what RVD said about pushing people. Instead of superstar matches all the time, he liked seeing a wrestler squash somebody else. So if you had a bunch of people squashing nobodies, you'd want to see them fight eventually.
Nice to see that Daniel Bryan was watching his mentor backstage. He wasn't at ringside, but at least he's watching.
Edge picked up the victory here. I'm undecided if I like this. On one hand, Edge is the #1 contender going into Wrestle-friggin-Mania. On the other, Miz has been getting a mondo push lately. I was kind of hoping to see Chris Jericho interfere, but nope. I'll give the nod to Edge here since they're heading into the big show, but I'm still disappointed to see Miz not regain some heat.
Maybe Bryan chould've cost Miz the match or something. Or maybe they don't want NXT guys cluttering up the WrestleMania mix, because a Daniel Bryan-Chris Jericho exchange could've been fun, setting up a tag team match between Bryan & Edge and Jericho & Miz.
That's all for this week. Again, these SD recaps probably won't be regular. But since I was home tonight, it's a special bonus.
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