Saturday, June 13, 2009
Pro Wrestling Tragedy
As seems so frequent in the past few years, the world of professional wrestling has lost another great performer. The founder of Pro Wrestling NOAH and former Tiger Mask II, Mitsuharu Misawa has died today. He died this morning. What is currently apparent is that Misawa collapsed in a match yesterday after receiving a suplex. The suspected cause of death is a heart attack.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dreamer/WWE
It has recently been reported that Tommy Dremaer, the new ECW Champion as of Sunday night, has resigned with the WWE. The only real information given about the contract itself is that it is a three to five year deal. whether it is a wrestlers contract, managers contract, or whatever is still unknown, except to Dreamer and the WWE.
More from Johnny Devine
CLICK HERE to hear see more of the Johnny Devine shoot on WrestleZone. Johnny talks about Jeff Jarrett, heat, and there's also a breif mention of Sean Waltman as well.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
WWE Extreme Rules 2009 Review
The 2009 edition of WWE’s Extreme Rules Pay Per View (formerly One Night Stand) delivered both good and not so spectacular results. There were multiple title changes that came from each of the three shows. There was also some very boring wrestling, wrestling that certainly did not live up the show’s name.
US Title Match
Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt Hardy
Fatal 4 Way Rules
Winner: Kofi Kingston
7/10
It was not a surprise to me that this match kicked off the Extreme Rules card. It was the least promoted of all the matches. I’m actually not really sure when they even announced this match. I did miss one edition of RAW between Judgment Day and Extreme Rules, but usually they remind you multiple times (whether you want them to or not) of all the matches for the upcoming PPV. That was not the case with this match.
Along with being woefully under promoted, the performance of these men seemed very limited. None of them wrestled badly per se, but the match did not, in my mind, live up to the whole of its potential. Matt Hardy barely made an appearance in the match. His interaction with the other three men seemed to result in him spending most of the match on the outside of the ring. William Regal got in some good shots but nothing that warrants much discussion. MVP delivered his signature maneuvers; overhead belly to belly Suplex, Ballin elbow drop, etc. Beyond that he didn’t do much. The best performance in the match came from Kofi Kingston, who delivered some very athletic maneuvers.
All in all, I wouldn’t say the match was bad, but nothing to write home about.
Intercontinental Title Match
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio
No Holds Barred Rules
Winner: Chris Jericho
8/10
I expected a very good match out of Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio. I mentioned in my preview and predictions article earlier that these two men have a history and have wrestled each other many times in the past. That was definitely a factor in the quality of this match. Jericho and Mysterio were able—no surprise to me—to put together a very good match. There was some great cruiserweight style wrestling, with just enough hardcore action sprinkled in to justify the no hold barred stipulation. Also, as I predicted Rey Mysterio’s mask did become a factor in the outcome of the match. At one point Jericho tried to remove Rey’s mask during a seated chinlock maneuver, and Rey did not have time to tighten the laces back up. Rey later went for a 619 that Jericho was able to block. During that it move Jericho yanked Rey’s mask off and was able to get a quick pin because Rey was trying to cover his face.
The result of this match leads me to believe that there is still more to come for this feud, including a possible hair vs. mask or mask vs. title match. The Mysterio vs. Jericho feud is one of the better things We has going at this point in time, so I’m interested to see what they are going to do with it next.
CM Punk vs. Umaga
Samoan Strap Match Rules
Winner: CM Punk
3/10
With the exception of a few spots in this match, it was pretty damn boring. I’m not really sure how exciting anybody can make a match against Umaga. It is undoubtedly the fact that WWE has an exceeding amount of control over what their wrestlers do in the ring. I have no doubt that Umaga’s moveset is limited, if not by himself, then by WWE. With that being said, the match was still very boring.
Santaina Marella vs. Vickie Guerrero
Hog Pen Match Rules
Winner: Santina Marella
7/10
You may be wondering why this match gets such a high rating for something that is obviously so ridiculous. It is because I knew exactly what to expect form this match going in. It was meant to be ridiculous and it was. The match did not progress much beyond the five-minute mark, everything included. If it had, its quality would have dropped substantially. Vickie Guerrero did get splashed with a bucket of pig slop, which was probably the best part of the match. This occurrence also set up a very funny vignette later on in the show that featured the old Golddust with tourettes gimmick.
As usual, Chavo Guerrero was involved in one of Vickie’s matches. I cannot help but shake my head whenever I see Chavo Guerrero doing this kind of crap. He is a member of one of the greatest wrestling families in the history of the sport, certainly the greatest Mexican wrestling family of all time, and this is what he has to do to get on Pay Per View. Chavo is currently the youngest and most able bodied of the Guerrero family. He should be wrestling at least in US Title matches, but instead he has to deal with the pointless crap that comes with being associated with Vickie Guerrero.
ECW Title Match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Jack Swagger
3 Way Hardcore Rules Match
Winner: Tommy Dreamer
9/10
Yes, that is right, Tommy Dreamer won the ECW Title. I never in my wildest dreams (pun thoroughly intended) thought that this would happen. As a hardcore old school ECW fan, I cannot help but love Tommy Dreamer. He has selflessly given more for the wrestling business that maybe anybody, with very few expectations. Tommy Dreamer is no less than a Hal of Famer.
I was thoroughly prepared to shed a tear at the end of this match. Dreamer had previously released a statement on his WWE Universe page saying he would not be returning as the ECW general manager if he did not win this match. That led me to believe that he would be wrestling his final match at Extreme Rules. I’ll give it to WWE on this one; for once they got one right. Tommy Dreamer is the last remnant of the true ECW spirit flowing in the lifeblood of the current reincarnated ECW. For him to hold this belt maybe doesn’t mean much to some people but to myself and others like me, it means a hell of a lot.
The match itself was not the most hardcore thing I’ve ever seen, but the result is really all that matters her. Swagger put on a good performance, adapting fairly well from a technical style to a hardcore one, and even incorporating some of that technicality into the match. Christian, being the true professional that he is, put one a good performance as well.
All I can say is…EC dub, EC dub, EC dub!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WWE Title Match
Batista vs. Randy Orton]
Steel Cage Rules (Pinfall, submission, or escape)
Winner: Batista
3/10
While the beginning of this match started in exciting fashion, and made it look promising, the end result had a very high snore factor. There was no Ric Flair involvement in this match, and as much as I hate to say it, it was really needed. A small portion of the crowd seemed to share the same thought pattern as I do when they broke out in a short-lived, but very noticeable “you can’t wrestle” chant during this one. The end result was the third title change of the night, but that really doesn’t mean anything to me after the sheer boredom I had to endure to get to the end result.
John Cena vs. Big Show
Submission Match Rules
Winner: John Cena (big surprise right?)
1/10
The best part of this match, as seems to very often be the case with matches featuring John Cena, was the end. Cena and Big show set up a nice spot that involved a rope-assisted STF by Cena that made Big Show tap. However, the match was much the same as any off Cena or Show’s other match. It consisted of mostly punches and the same cliché arsenal of moves from Cena and Show. Beyond the end spot, there’s no reason to dignify the existence of this match with any further comment.
World Heavyweight Title
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
Ladder Match Rules
Winner: Jeff Hardy
10/10
I am not going to say that this match was the best ladder match I’ve ever seen, not by a long shot, but it did contain one of the best ladder spots I’ve ever seen. While Jeff Hardy was on one ladder attempting to reach the belt, Edge went for a spear off a second ladder, and Jeff caught him in mid air with a Twist of Fate. Is the best part of the entire match? There were also multiple other great high spots in this match. Both Jeff and Edge performed to optimum standards. I gave this match a perfect rating because it really shined in contrast to the two boring matches that I had to endure to get to it.
While I’m not going to say that either Jeff or Edge are the faces of hardcore wrestling, not with guys like Dreamer, Raven, Terry Funk, Mick Foley (even as idiotic as he is today), and multiple other around, I will say that they are definitely two of the three most hardcore wrestlers in the WWE today. The other being new ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer. Christian Cage also gets a decent nod in this category. Any time you put one or both of these men in a match under any hardcore stipulation (with the obvious exception of Matt and Jeff’s I Quit match at WM25) they deliver in spades.
World Heavyweight Title Match
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner: CM Punk
10/10
Again, you are reading correctly. After Jeff’s war with Edge, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and beat Jeff for the World Title. I know a lot of fans are going to be pissed about this, but I love it, ad not just because I’m a CM Punk fan. The psychology behind this angle made it the perfect swerve. With the amount of anticipation for this match, almost nobody could have seen this coming, except for the most astute of wrestling junkies. Even fans like myself, fans that stay in touch with the wrestling news and study matches in a way that sometimes defeats their entertainment value didn’t see this one coming. I particularly didn’t see it; because as much as I dislike marks, the reality is that every wrestling fan is a mark in one way or another. I myself mark out for any kind of hardcore stipulation, particularly ladder matches. I love them. I’ll give the WWE a lot of props for pulling the swerve here.
It’s also pretty obvious that this is going to be the beginning of a CM Punk heel run. I think it will be good for him. CM Punk was fairly controversial during his heel period in ROH and think he can do a good job as a heel in WWE as well. Whether or not this will lead to a Punk vs. hardy feud is questionable, and very contingent on Jeff’s contract status. Of course, that status is still uncertain Jeff, WWE, and the fans that follow these things. I would love to see a Punk vs. Hardy feud. It will be a good break from Edge vs. Hardy—even though they do work well together—and good be very mutually beneficial to both men.
All right, I should have more stuff coming up this week. Possibly a RAW review tomorrow, I’ll possibly get another Flair piece out this week as well. If it’s not the Flair piece, it will be a Ken Kennedy piece with a little more rational info than I delivered when I originally addressed the subject. I will be co writing either one or both of these pieces with one of my collaborators in this blog and the possible podcast that might result form it.
Just keep your baby blues peeled for some more opinionated commentary.
US Title Match
Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt Hardy
Fatal 4 Way Rules
Winner: Kofi Kingston
7/10
It was not a surprise to me that this match kicked off the Extreme Rules card. It was the least promoted of all the matches. I’m actually not really sure when they even announced this match. I did miss one edition of RAW between Judgment Day and Extreme Rules, but usually they remind you multiple times (whether you want them to or not) of all the matches for the upcoming PPV. That was not the case with this match.
Along with being woefully under promoted, the performance of these men seemed very limited. None of them wrestled badly per se, but the match did not, in my mind, live up to the whole of its potential. Matt Hardy barely made an appearance in the match. His interaction with the other three men seemed to result in him spending most of the match on the outside of the ring. William Regal got in some good shots but nothing that warrants much discussion. MVP delivered his signature maneuvers; overhead belly to belly Suplex, Ballin elbow drop, etc. Beyond that he didn’t do much. The best performance in the match came from Kofi Kingston, who delivered some very athletic maneuvers.
All in all, I wouldn’t say the match was bad, but nothing to write home about.
Intercontinental Title Match
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio
No Holds Barred Rules
Winner: Chris Jericho
8/10
I expected a very good match out of Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio. I mentioned in my preview and predictions article earlier that these two men have a history and have wrestled each other many times in the past. That was definitely a factor in the quality of this match. Jericho and Mysterio were able—no surprise to me—to put together a very good match. There was some great cruiserweight style wrestling, with just enough hardcore action sprinkled in to justify the no hold barred stipulation. Also, as I predicted Rey Mysterio’s mask did become a factor in the outcome of the match. At one point Jericho tried to remove Rey’s mask during a seated chinlock maneuver, and Rey did not have time to tighten the laces back up. Rey later went for a 619 that Jericho was able to block. During that it move Jericho yanked Rey’s mask off and was able to get a quick pin because Rey was trying to cover his face.
The result of this match leads me to believe that there is still more to come for this feud, including a possible hair vs. mask or mask vs. title match. The Mysterio vs. Jericho feud is one of the better things We has going at this point in time, so I’m interested to see what they are going to do with it next.
CM Punk vs. Umaga
Samoan Strap Match Rules
Winner: CM Punk
3/10
With the exception of a few spots in this match, it was pretty damn boring. I’m not really sure how exciting anybody can make a match against Umaga. It is undoubtedly the fact that WWE has an exceeding amount of control over what their wrestlers do in the ring. I have no doubt that Umaga’s moveset is limited, if not by himself, then by WWE. With that being said, the match was still very boring.
Santaina Marella vs. Vickie Guerrero
Hog Pen Match Rules
Winner: Santina Marella
7/10
You may be wondering why this match gets such a high rating for something that is obviously so ridiculous. It is because I knew exactly what to expect form this match going in. It was meant to be ridiculous and it was. The match did not progress much beyond the five-minute mark, everything included. If it had, its quality would have dropped substantially. Vickie Guerrero did get splashed with a bucket of pig slop, which was probably the best part of the match. This occurrence also set up a very funny vignette later on in the show that featured the old Golddust with tourettes gimmick.
As usual, Chavo Guerrero was involved in one of Vickie’s matches. I cannot help but shake my head whenever I see Chavo Guerrero doing this kind of crap. He is a member of one of the greatest wrestling families in the history of the sport, certainly the greatest Mexican wrestling family of all time, and this is what he has to do to get on Pay Per View. Chavo is currently the youngest and most able bodied of the Guerrero family. He should be wrestling at least in US Title matches, but instead he has to deal with the pointless crap that comes with being associated with Vickie Guerrero.
ECW Title Match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Jack Swagger
3 Way Hardcore Rules Match
Winner: Tommy Dreamer
9/10
Yes, that is right, Tommy Dreamer won the ECW Title. I never in my wildest dreams (pun thoroughly intended) thought that this would happen. As a hardcore old school ECW fan, I cannot help but love Tommy Dreamer. He has selflessly given more for the wrestling business that maybe anybody, with very few expectations. Tommy Dreamer is no less than a Hal of Famer.
I was thoroughly prepared to shed a tear at the end of this match. Dreamer had previously released a statement on his WWE Universe page saying he would not be returning as the ECW general manager if he did not win this match. That led me to believe that he would be wrestling his final match at Extreme Rules. I’ll give it to WWE on this one; for once they got one right. Tommy Dreamer is the last remnant of the true ECW spirit flowing in the lifeblood of the current reincarnated ECW. For him to hold this belt maybe doesn’t mean much to some people but to myself and others like me, it means a hell of a lot.
The match itself was not the most hardcore thing I’ve ever seen, but the result is really all that matters her. Swagger put on a good performance, adapting fairly well from a technical style to a hardcore one, and even incorporating some of that technicality into the match. Christian, being the true professional that he is, put one a good performance as well.
All I can say is…EC dub, EC dub, EC dub!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WWE Title Match
Batista vs. Randy Orton]
Steel Cage Rules (Pinfall, submission, or escape)
Winner: Batista
3/10
While the beginning of this match started in exciting fashion, and made it look promising, the end result had a very high snore factor. There was no Ric Flair involvement in this match, and as much as I hate to say it, it was really needed. A small portion of the crowd seemed to share the same thought pattern as I do when they broke out in a short-lived, but very noticeable “you can’t wrestle” chant during this one. The end result was the third title change of the night, but that really doesn’t mean anything to me after the sheer boredom I had to endure to get to the end result.
John Cena vs. Big Show
Submission Match Rules
Winner: John Cena (big surprise right?)
1/10
The best part of this match, as seems to very often be the case with matches featuring John Cena, was the end. Cena and Big show set up a nice spot that involved a rope-assisted STF by Cena that made Big Show tap. However, the match was much the same as any off Cena or Show’s other match. It consisted of mostly punches and the same cliché arsenal of moves from Cena and Show. Beyond the end spot, there’s no reason to dignify the existence of this match with any further comment.
World Heavyweight Title
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
Ladder Match Rules
Winner: Jeff Hardy
10/10
I am not going to say that this match was the best ladder match I’ve ever seen, not by a long shot, but it did contain one of the best ladder spots I’ve ever seen. While Jeff Hardy was on one ladder attempting to reach the belt, Edge went for a spear off a second ladder, and Jeff caught him in mid air with a Twist of Fate. Is the best part of the entire match? There were also multiple other great high spots in this match. Both Jeff and Edge performed to optimum standards. I gave this match a perfect rating because it really shined in contrast to the two boring matches that I had to endure to get to it.
While I’m not going to say that either Jeff or Edge are the faces of hardcore wrestling, not with guys like Dreamer, Raven, Terry Funk, Mick Foley (even as idiotic as he is today), and multiple other around, I will say that they are definitely two of the three most hardcore wrestlers in the WWE today. The other being new ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer. Christian Cage also gets a decent nod in this category. Any time you put one or both of these men in a match under any hardcore stipulation (with the obvious exception of Matt and Jeff’s I Quit match at WM25) they deliver in spades.
World Heavyweight Title Match
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner: CM Punk
10/10
Again, you are reading correctly. After Jeff’s war with Edge, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and beat Jeff for the World Title. I know a lot of fans are going to be pissed about this, but I love it, ad not just because I’m a CM Punk fan. The psychology behind this angle made it the perfect swerve. With the amount of anticipation for this match, almost nobody could have seen this coming, except for the most astute of wrestling junkies. Even fans like myself, fans that stay in touch with the wrestling news and study matches in a way that sometimes defeats their entertainment value didn’t see this one coming. I particularly didn’t see it; because as much as I dislike marks, the reality is that every wrestling fan is a mark in one way or another. I myself mark out for any kind of hardcore stipulation, particularly ladder matches. I love them. I’ll give the WWE a lot of props for pulling the swerve here.
It’s also pretty obvious that this is going to be the beginning of a CM Punk heel run. I think it will be good for him. CM Punk was fairly controversial during his heel period in ROH and think he can do a good job as a heel in WWE as well. Whether or not this will lead to a Punk vs. hardy feud is questionable, and very contingent on Jeff’s contract status. Of course, that status is still uncertain Jeff, WWE, and the fans that follow these things. I would love to see a Punk vs. Hardy feud. It will be a good break from Edge vs. Hardy—even though they do work well together—and good be very mutually beneficial to both men.
All right, I should have more stuff coming up this week. Possibly a RAW review tomorrow, I’ll possibly get another Flair piece out this week as well. If it’s not the Flair piece, it will be a Ken Kennedy piece with a little more rational info than I delivered when I originally addressed the subject. I will be co writing either one or both of these pieces with one of my collaborators in this blog and the possible podcast that might result form it.
Just keep your baby blues peeled for some more opinionated commentary.
Another WWE Release
It appears that WWE's "spring cleaning" will not be limited to their developmental roster. We have already seen the release of Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy)--which of course had some extenuating circumstances--and now another "big" star has been released. As of some time on Monday, Smackdown star Umaga has officially been released from WWE. There should be more details upcoming in the coming days and weeks.
Devine Talks About "Resentment" in TNA
CLICK HERE to check out another part of the WrestleZone Johnny Devine shoot interview. Devine talks about a "certain level of resentment" that exists in TNA.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Extreme Rules or Extreme Tools? Will Tonight's PPV Live Up to Its Name?
This year’s WWE Extreme Rules PPV (formerly known as One Night Stand) is shaping up to be much like many of their recent PPVs. Some of the matches are impossible to get excited about. Other have great potential, but that potential may or may not be realized.
Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella - Hog Pen Match:
Why not start with the most outrageous of all the matches. This match should be entertaining, if they keep it under fifteen minutes. I don’t know about anybody else out there in Internet Land, but I don’t think I can stand any more of Vickie Guerrero than that, and while Santino (and his alter ego Santina) is a very funny comedy style wrestler, he can’t carry Vickie for any longer than that. Actually I don’t think Big Show could carry her. She is about three hundred pounds. Yep, that was a cheap shot.
Santina should pick up the win.
John Cena vs. Big Show - Submission Match:
This is absolutely the dumbest match they could have made for the Extreme Rules PPV. A table match would have been much better for these two men. Are we really supposed to even remotely believe that Cena--even with his Supermanesk push--can submit Big Show? It’s absurd.
There have been rumors for a while now about a John Cena heel turn. This could be the beginning of that turn. If Cena maybe gets a little more extreme than expected and “makes an example” of the big Show, maybe this could be a descent starting point for a heel push. They could run a “if I can submit the Big Show I can do any damn thing I want to” sort of angle.
Either way, Cena is going to get the win.
Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt hardy - U.S. Championship Fatal Four Way Match:
This is the one match on the RAW side of the card that actually has any real potential in my mind. Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, and MVP are all great technical wrestlers. Kingston also has some flash about him as well. Regal brings the “beat them down” brawler style of wrestling to the match. In his singles matches, and even in tag matches, I don’t find it very entertaining, but with three other guys in the ring for him to play off of it could work well. I tend to find that the more men you throw into a match--up to about six men--the more exciting the match is. Some pretty boring wrestlers (JBL for one) have been involved in some great three way matches and performed very well in them.
I think Kingston is going to retain his title in this match, thus freeing up MVP to join the main event picture, and Regal and Hardy to possibly join the tag team picture (as asinine as the thought may be).
Randy Orton vs. Batista - WWE Championship Steel Cage Match:
Boring, that’s what I’m expecting to be saying about this match when I watch it. Randy Orton was nearly injured earlier in the week by Kennedy. It makes me wonder how much he’s really going to go at it in this match. Granted, he is probably more comfortable working with Dave Batista then Kennedy (as seems t be the case with many guys in the locker room), but their may still be some wariness surrounding a match of this stipulation.
Batista’s work tends to bore me in any case. Unless he’s in the ring with Undertaker, it just doesn’t seem like he puts it all out there. I think his performance will be much less than extreme at Extreme Rules, but I could be wrong.
I think Ric Flair will definitely be involved here, possibly causing Batista to become distracted and lose the match.
Now let’s look at the ECW side of the show, the entire one match on the card.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Jack Swagger - ECW Title 3 Way Hardcore Match:
I am really hoping that these guys will put on a show. It is more than likely to be Tommy’s last match (in WWE at least) and possibly his last WWE appearance, since he has released a statement saying he will not be returning to ECW as the general manager to take over for Tiffany. Dreamer has worlds of experience in hardcore matches. He has teamed with Terry Funk, wrestled against the Sandman, Sabu, RVD, Raven, and a score or more of great hardcore competitors.
Christian also has a great deal of hardcore experience--not as much as Dreamer, but still quite a bit--both in WWE and TNA. He was a member of damn near every TLC tag match back in the late 1990s and early 200s. In TNA he wrestled in ladder matches and in King of the Mountain. I have no doubts that he will put on a good performance.
Swagger is the one question mark in this match. While nobody can deny his technical wrestling skill and his great amateur background (he is the two-time NCAA All American American after all), I’m not sure how hardcore he can get. I’m inclined to think he will put on a good performance. I think that Swagger is very talented. He may be a little slow on the microphone, but he makes very few mistakes during promos. I have been impressed by that fact and by his great skill in the ring. I think he is a future main eventer, or at least he has the potential to be.
I want Tommy Dreamer to win the belt, but I doubt that is how it will play out. Tommy didn’t even want the belt when he got it in the original ECW. He wanted to go down as the greatest ECW underdog of all time, and he undoubtedly will. I think that since I haven’t seen or heard anything different, Christian will be retaining his belt at Extreme Rules.
No onto the Smackdown portion of the card.
CM Punk vs. Umaga - Samoan Strap Match:
I’m not quite sure about this match. I like strap matches. I have seen some great ones before, but I’m not sure if this will make the list.
CM Punk is a great in ring performer. I know there are those that don’t understand why people like him, all I can say is that I like him. He makes it cool to be straight edge--something that most people (including myself) are not dedicated or disciplined to be. Umaga is something else entirely. I have been impressed with him at times in the past, but honestly he feels like just another stock Samoan character most of the time. He is agile for a man his size, that is true, but he’s no Bam Bam Bigalow. He’s no Mike Awesome. I tend to think this match will be just above average.
CM punk still has that Money in the Bank title shot. For this reason, I am inclined to believe he will be the winner of the strap match. Umaga has made a good return, but I haven’t seen any sign that he is going to get pushed. However, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him beat Punk either. They basically squashed Punk during his run as World Heavyweight Champion. He had to do work for JBL of all people. That is a fate worse than death.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho - No Holds Barred Intercontinental Title Match:
This match should be great. Jericho and Mysterio have quite a bit of experience wrestling each other, not as much as Rey and Psicosis, but a lot just the same. They battled in WCW in the 1990s and they have met up before in WWE as well. They put on a descent match at the last PPV, but I think they can do a hell of a lot better at Extreme Rules. There is also no doubt as to the talent of either man.
If there is a winner in this match, which there may not be, I tend to think it will be Mysterio. The only way I can see Jericho winning is if he rips off Rey’s mask and Rey is forced to head backstage. From what has been transpiring on the Smackdown broadcasts for the past several weeks, it is clear that at some point there may be a Mask vs. Title match featuring these two guys.
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge - World Heavyweight Title Ladder Match:
Since RAW has more matches Than Smackdown, this will probably be the second to last match. I feel sorry for Orton and Batista if they have to follow this match. It should be the show stealer. Actually it’s not even really theft. You would expect this match to tear the roof off the joint. Both men have tons of experience, both against each other, and in ladder matches. We know that Jeff hardy is willing to put his body on the line for our entertainment and Edge has shown a serious hardcore streak himself in the past. I will be very surprised if I’m not raving about this match during my upcoming review of the show.
The win is almost certainly going to go to Jeff Hardy, but I could see Edge pulling it out. After all, he is the number two heel in the company right now.
So how does this stack up overall. The three Smackdown matches stand to kick the ass of all the RAW matches. Smackdown is clearly the better show overall. Also, the ECW match should hopefully do Paul E. and all of us hardcore original ECW fanatics--or as Raven put I earlier this week, “wrestling purists”--very proud.
All right, that’s my preview. I’ll have a review of Extreme Rules hitting either Monday or Tuesday. I’ll also have some follow up on the Kennedy story--which will include a retraction of some of my earlier anger fueled statements--and more about the degeneration of Ric Flair later in the week.
Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella - Hog Pen Match:
Why not start with the most outrageous of all the matches. This match should be entertaining, if they keep it under fifteen minutes. I don’t know about anybody else out there in Internet Land, but I don’t think I can stand any more of Vickie Guerrero than that, and while Santino (and his alter ego Santina) is a very funny comedy style wrestler, he can’t carry Vickie for any longer than that. Actually I don’t think Big Show could carry her. She is about three hundred pounds. Yep, that was a cheap shot.
Santina should pick up the win.
John Cena vs. Big Show - Submission Match:
This is absolutely the dumbest match they could have made for the Extreme Rules PPV. A table match would have been much better for these two men. Are we really supposed to even remotely believe that Cena--even with his Supermanesk push--can submit Big Show? It’s absurd.
There have been rumors for a while now about a John Cena heel turn. This could be the beginning of that turn. If Cena maybe gets a little more extreme than expected and “makes an example” of the big Show, maybe this could be a descent starting point for a heel push. They could run a “if I can submit the Big Show I can do any damn thing I want to” sort of angle.
Either way, Cena is going to get the win.
Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt hardy - U.S. Championship Fatal Four Way Match:
This is the one match on the RAW side of the card that actually has any real potential in my mind. Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, and MVP are all great technical wrestlers. Kingston also has some flash about him as well. Regal brings the “beat them down” brawler style of wrestling to the match. In his singles matches, and even in tag matches, I don’t find it very entertaining, but with three other guys in the ring for him to play off of it could work well. I tend to find that the more men you throw into a match--up to about six men--the more exciting the match is. Some pretty boring wrestlers (JBL for one) have been involved in some great three way matches and performed very well in them.
I think Kingston is going to retain his title in this match, thus freeing up MVP to join the main event picture, and Regal and Hardy to possibly join the tag team picture (as asinine as the thought may be).
Randy Orton vs. Batista - WWE Championship Steel Cage Match:
Boring, that’s what I’m expecting to be saying about this match when I watch it. Randy Orton was nearly injured earlier in the week by Kennedy. It makes me wonder how much he’s really going to go at it in this match. Granted, he is probably more comfortable working with Dave Batista then Kennedy (as seems t be the case with many guys in the locker room), but their may still be some wariness surrounding a match of this stipulation.
Batista’s work tends to bore me in any case. Unless he’s in the ring with Undertaker, it just doesn’t seem like he puts it all out there. I think his performance will be much less than extreme at Extreme Rules, but I could be wrong.
I think Ric Flair will definitely be involved here, possibly causing Batista to become distracted and lose the match.
Now let’s look at the ECW side of the show, the entire one match on the card.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Jack Swagger - ECW Title 3 Way Hardcore Match:
I am really hoping that these guys will put on a show. It is more than likely to be Tommy’s last match (in WWE at least) and possibly his last WWE appearance, since he has released a statement saying he will not be returning to ECW as the general manager to take over for Tiffany. Dreamer has worlds of experience in hardcore matches. He has teamed with Terry Funk, wrestled against the Sandman, Sabu, RVD, Raven, and a score or more of great hardcore competitors.
Christian also has a great deal of hardcore experience--not as much as Dreamer, but still quite a bit--both in WWE and TNA. He was a member of damn near every TLC tag match back in the late 1990s and early 200s. In TNA he wrestled in ladder matches and in King of the Mountain. I have no doubts that he will put on a good performance.
Swagger is the one question mark in this match. While nobody can deny his technical wrestling skill and his great amateur background (he is the two-time NCAA All American American after all), I’m not sure how hardcore he can get. I’m inclined to think he will put on a good performance. I think that Swagger is very talented. He may be a little slow on the microphone, but he makes very few mistakes during promos. I have been impressed by that fact and by his great skill in the ring. I think he is a future main eventer, or at least he has the potential to be.
I want Tommy Dreamer to win the belt, but I doubt that is how it will play out. Tommy didn’t even want the belt when he got it in the original ECW. He wanted to go down as the greatest ECW underdog of all time, and he undoubtedly will. I think that since I haven’t seen or heard anything different, Christian will be retaining his belt at Extreme Rules.
No onto the Smackdown portion of the card.
CM Punk vs. Umaga - Samoan Strap Match:
I’m not quite sure about this match. I like strap matches. I have seen some great ones before, but I’m not sure if this will make the list.
CM Punk is a great in ring performer. I know there are those that don’t understand why people like him, all I can say is that I like him. He makes it cool to be straight edge--something that most people (including myself) are not dedicated or disciplined to be. Umaga is something else entirely. I have been impressed with him at times in the past, but honestly he feels like just another stock Samoan character most of the time. He is agile for a man his size, that is true, but he’s no Bam Bam Bigalow. He’s no Mike Awesome. I tend to think this match will be just above average.
CM punk still has that Money in the Bank title shot. For this reason, I am inclined to believe he will be the winner of the strap match. Umaga has made a good return, but I haven’t seen any sign that he is going to get pushed. However, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him beat Punk either. They basically squashed Punk during his run as World Heavyweight Champion. He had to do work for JBL of all people. That is a fate worse than death.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho - No Holds Barred Intercontinental Title Match:
This match should be great. Jericho and Mysterio have quite a bit of experience wrestling each other, not as much as Rey and Psicosis, but a lot just the same. They battled in WCW in the 1990s and they have met up before in WWE as well. They put on a descent match at the last PPV, but I think they can do a hell of a lot better at Extreme Rules. There is also no doubt as to the talent of either man.
If there is a winner in this match, which there may not be, I tend to think it will be Mysterio. The only way I can see Jericho winning is if he rips off Rey’s mask and Rey is forced to head backstage. From what has been transpiring on the Smackdown broadcasts for the past several weeks, it is clear that at some point there may be a Mask vs. Title match featuring these two guys.
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge - World Heavyweight Title Ladder Match:
Since RAW has more matches Than Smackdown, this will probably be the second to last match. I feel sorry for Orton and Batista if they have to follow this match. It should be the show stealer. Actually it’s not even really theft. You would expect this match to tear the roof off the joint. Both men have tons of experience, both against each other, and in ladder matches. We know that Jeff hardy is willing to put his body on the line for our entertainment and Edge has shown a serious hardcore streak himself in the past. I will be very surprised if I’m not raving about this match during my upcoming review of the show.
The win is almost certainly going to go to Jeff Hardy, but I could see Edge pulling it out. After all, he is the number two heel in the company right now.
So how does this stack up overall. The three Smackdown matches stand to kick the ass of all the RAW matches. Smackdown is clearly the better show overall. Also, the ECW match should hopefully do Paul E. and all of us hardcore original ECW fanatics--or as Raven put I earlier this week, “wrestling purists”--very proud.
All right, that’s my preview. I’ll have a review of Extreme Rules hitting either Monday or Tuesday. I’ll also have some follow up on the Kennedy story--which will include a retraction of some of my earlier anger fueled statements--and more about the degeneration of Ric Flair later in the week.
Strikeforce Delivers Again
I know this isn’t about pro wrestling, but it falls into the same vein of sports and entertainment. NO, not sports entertainment, because that phrase is a load of crap!
Last night’s Strikeforce card was excellent. Every fight was wither well contested or had a shocking ending.
The card began with a fight between MMA great and former UFC Heavyweight Kevin Randleman and former Ultimate Fighter contender Mike Whitehead. Randleman may have been favored slightly in this fight as far as experience goes, but he also had a lot going against him. He had previously had some serious health issues in the past few years. Also, Kevin Randleman is a thirty-seven year old man. That in itself is a disadvantage in today’s MMA game. At age thirty-seven, most MMA fighters can be seen heading away from their peak. Those two facts combined with the third fact that the conditioning of younger MMA fighters these days is incredible, even more so than in the early to mid 1990s when MMA broke out, was another disadvantage going for Randleman.
In the beginning of the fight, Randleman looked okay, but expended a lot of energy. Whitehead was able to take him down multiple times, not a good sign for a guy known as one of the best pound for pound wrestlers of all time in the MMA world. In the end it was the fact that Randleman wasn’t throwing many strikes and wasn’t conditioned for the kind of pace this fight ended up having that gave Whitehead the what he needed to win.
At thirty-seven years of age, Kevin Randleman has returned to MMA and vowed to make himself a more complete fighter. I really hope that he can do so, but to be blatantly honest, I’m not holding my breath. We have seen that the legends of the MMA game are all pretty much past their prime these days, and that the sport is reaching an evolutionary plateau with the younger guys. Guys like Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, and even the Gracies just can’t seem to hack it anymore. While there will always be a place for these legends in the MMA game, I’m not so sure it will be in the cage.
The second fight of the night was one that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to. “the New York Badass” (that’s not at all pretentious in a blue collar sort of way) Phil Baroni took on Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Neither of these guys are guys that I find to be very exciting in the cage. I just don’t really like Baroni at all. Reportedly he was on a three match win streak before this fight and was talking a good game of smack, but I didn’t see or hear about any of those fights, so I figure they must not have been that important. I have no problems with Riggs, it’s just that I don’t find him to be a very entertaining fighter. In the end, even if you win a fight, if the fans aren’t entertained, your days may be numbered in the big money world of MMA.
The fight turned out to be much more than I expected. These guys went the distance in what was a pretty entertaining fight. Baroni looked ripped at his new lower weight class. Although according to Riggs, there may be some controversy as to how he got that ripped. Hint, hint, wink, wink, Waxman Probe kind of stuff. I won’t substantiate any of that. I don’t like the B.S. and the smack talking. I just want to see good fights.
There was a lot more wrestling I this fight than I expected. The first two rounds were actually dominated by the ground game. I think that Riggs clearly took the first round and Baroni may have eeked out the second round. The third round was the clear deciding factor. Riggs took it to Baroni pretty mercilessly with the strikes in the third round. At about half way into the round, it looked like only a knockout or a tap out was going to win it for Baroni. In the end, he couldn’t pull it out. Again, a lot of talking by the “New York Badass” and not a whole lot of results. He’s kind of like Frank Trigg and Frank Shamrock in that way.
Next we had a fight that I was very much looking forward to. Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith took on Nick Diaz (who doesn’t need a catchy nickname). I was very uncertain as to whether or not Smith could pull this one out. Coming into the fight, Diaz was clearly the better fighter. Actually, aside form the fact that he can take loads of punishment and sometimes unleash a lucky power punch, I don’t think smith is that great of a fighter. That’s meant as honesty, not to be offensive.
Smith came out hard in the first round, while Diaz didn’t seem to be taking the fight very seriously. Smith hit some huge strikes on Diaz when Diaz dropped his hands--not once, but twice--to taunt Smith. I’m not sure if this was Diaz just being Diaz, if he wasn’t serious about the fight, or if he was doing it to make the fight look better to the audience, but either way, Smith landed some absolute bombs in the first round. However, none of them were able to put Diaz down.
The second round was a whole nether story. Diaz came out like a beast. He peppered--and believe me, that cliché is not a strong enough word--Smith with over two hundred punches in the round. I think the actual count was 125/228 punches landed. That is amazing. Let me also mention that there were a substantial amount of kicks thrown in the by Diaz as well. Smith just couldn’t seem to find a way to defend against the onslaught of Diaz. He got a few strikes--kicks and punches alike--off in the round but definitely lost on points. At one point the went to the floor and looked like he might be done. He was literally saved by the bell as the round ended.
The third round was really no contest at all. Diaz was working on all cylinders and smith was beaten up pretty badly. Diaz continued to throw rapid fire strikes until smith shot for a takedown, missed, and went to the ground, exposing his back to Diaz. What’s the one thing you don’t do in a fight with a practitioner of Gracie Jujitsu ? That’s correct, you do not expose your back. With smith on his knees, back exposed, the rear naked choke was an inevitability. Diaz licked in that bar arm choke and smith had no choice but to tap.
After the fight, in his usual controversial fashion, Nick Diaz had some less than kind things to say about Scott Smith’s camp. He did not go as far as to say anything that anybody other than smith and his camp might find offensive, but the remarks were definitely inflammatory. He did suggest that Smith’s camp might not be as loyal to him as Smith thought and that Smith might be better off joining the Gracie Jujitsu camp with himself, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and a few others.
Let’s be honest, this is what Diaz does. He goes out there, he kicks ass, he talks smack while he’s doing it, and he makes controversial remarks after the fight. Nick Diaz, as controversial as he is, and as negatively as he is often portrayed by the MMA media, it one of the best damn fighter in the entire world. That is not another cliché. It is a concrete reality. Diaz destroyed MMA legend Frank Shamrock in his last fight and he will go on destroying guys for as long as he can. I don’t know about the remarks he made about Smith’s camp. I can’t substantiate or discredit them, nor would I care to. There is some reality in the suggestion that Scott Smith might be better off with the Gracie Jujitsu camp. I think he could improve his fight game a whole lot by joining up with them. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure there’s much that makes him a “good” fighter, other than the fact that he can--as they say--take a licking and keep on ticking.
The next fight was truly a shocker, and a very important fight for Brett “The Grim” Rogers as he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski. Arlovski is a fighting machine, much like many of the Russian fighters in the MMA scene. Another such notable Russian is Fedor Emelianenko, who has blasted onto the American MMA scene with a fury. He has taken the Affliction promotion by storm and it can’t be long before Dana White and UFC convince him to fight for them. To be honest, I would love to see Fedor vs. Lesnar. I think that Fedor may be the only guy in the world right now that can take Lesnar and win the UFC Heavyweight Title from him. Of course, Lesnar still has to get through Frank Mir, but Mir is coming off an injury for one thing, and for another Lesnar beat the living hell out of him the last time they met.
All digressions aside, the fight was short and surprising. It was made well known that Brett Rogers recently quit his day job to join the MMA game full time. It was also made well known that he planned to buy his wife and kids a new home with the money he could get from winning this fight. Rogers was hungry in this one folks, damn hungry. He was a one man pride of lions.
Arlovski on the other hand may not have been as focused on this fight as he needed to be. He has been talking a lot lately about getting into boxing (why anyone would go from MMA to boxing these days is beyond me) and may not have had his head right for this fight. I find it hard to believe that he might have underestimated a man with the size and power of Brett Rogers. But as the saying goes, them’s the breaks.
Arlovski came out very tentatively at the beginning of this fight and it cost him. He was expecting to have the same sort of feeling out process that goes on when two men face each other that have never fought before. Brett Rogers had other things in mind. Arlovksi threw a less than committed leg kick to open up the fight and Brett Rogers went to work on beating in his face. The result was a twenty-two second first round knockout on Arlovski. Afterward, Arlovski’s face conveyed the thoughts that must have been going through his head. Those thoughts were undoubtedly dominated by “what the hell just happened here?”
This win is going to go a long way to establish Brett Rogers as a true contender in the heavyweight divisions of the MMA world. If he takes the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title from Alistair Overeem, a UFC contract may not be far off.
The main event of the night was Gracie Jujitsu practitioner Jake Shields facing off with striking powerhouse “Ruthless” Robby Lawler. This fight was much anticipated by a lot of people, including myself. It was a classic striker vs. grappler match up.
Shields came out in the first round with the idea that he was going to take Lawler down. Shields had moved up a weight class for this fight and I don’t think he knew what to expect form Lawler strengthens. Lawler was able to ward off his initial takedown attempts fairly easily, turning the fight into a striking contest. After enduring a few moments of striking, in which he held his own pretty well, Shields saw his opening and grabbed it by the horns. With Lawler back up and near the cage, the fight went to the ground. As I mentioned before, the ground is Shields domain. He proved it by locking in a guillotine choke in quick fashion. Lawler attempted to stand up the alleviate some of the pressure, but it didn’t do any good. He went back down to the mat and went out. The result, Jake Shields wins by choke out.
It should also be mentioned that this fight maneuvers Shields into a position to take on The Middleweight Champion Kung Lee. Shields, who is a friend of Kung Lee, went as far as to actually call out Kung Lee in his post fight interview. Personally, after seeing this fight, I would love to see Shields take on Kung Lee. Shields is the man who tapped out “Ruthless” Robby Lawler and Kung Lee is the man who broke Ken Shamrock’s arm with one kick. What more can you ask for in a fight?
While Strikeforce is not a large enough promotion to really be a contender against the UFC, nor are they attempting to do so, they do put on some great shows. This was a prime example of one such show. This card had three highly anticipated main events, all of which delivered in one way or another. The undercard as well turned out to be excellent, bucking my expectations, and probably the expectations of many others as well. If there was any weakness in this show it was that there were none of the incredible women’s fights that the smaller promotions--Elite XC and now Strikeforce in particular--have become known for. However, on August 15, we get the see the long awaited match up of Chris Cyborg taking on the face of women‘s MMA, Gina “conviction“ Corono. That will definitely make up for the lack of women fighters o this card.
Also, there is the Affliction Trilogy event coming up. The event will feature Fedor Emelianenko, the baddest man in MMA today. And there are also some great UFC events coming up soon. There is going to be no shortage of great MMA to come in the next few months, so make sure to check it all out.
Last night’s Strikeforce card was excellent. Every fight was wither well contested or had a shocking ending.
The card began with a fight between MMA great and former UFC Heavyweight Kevin Randleman and former Ultimate Fighter contender Mike Whitehead. Randleman may have been favored slightly in this fight as far as experience goes, but he also had a lot going against him. He had previously had some serious health issues in the past few years. Also, Kevin Randleman is a thirty-seven year old man. That in itself is a disadvantage in today’s MMA game. At age thirty-seven, most MMA fighters can be seen heading away from their peak. Those two facts combined with the third fact that the conditioning of younger MMA fighters these days is incredible, even more so than in the early to mid 1990s when MMA broke out, was another disadvantage going for Randleman.
In the beginning of the fight, Randleman looked okay, but expended a lot of energy. Whitehead was able to take him down multiple times, not a good sign for a guy known as one of the best pound for pound wrestlers of all time in the MMA world. In the end it was the fact that Randleman wasn’t throwing many strikes and wasn’t conditioned for the kind of pace this fight ended up having that gave Whitehead the what he needed to win.
At thirty-seven years of age, Kevin Randleman has returned to MMA and vowed to make himself a more complete fighter. I really hope that he can do so, but to be blatantly honest, I’m not holding my breath. We have seen that the legends of the MMA game are all pretty much past their prime these days, and that the sport is reaching an evolutionary plateau with the younger guys. Guys like Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, and even the Gracies just can’t seem to hack it anymore. While there will always be a place for these legends in the MMA game, I’m not so sure it will be in the cage.
The second fight of the night was one that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to. “the New York Badass” (that’s not at all pretentious in a blue collar sort of way) Phil Baroni took on Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Neither of these guys are guys that I find to be very exciting in the cage. I just don’t really like Baroni at all. Reportedly he was on a three match win streak before this fight and was talking a good game of smack, but I didn’t see or hear about any of those fights, so I figure they must not have been that important. I have no problems with Riggs, it’s just that I don’t find him to be a very entertaining fighter. In the end, even if you win a fight, if the fans aren’t entertained, your days may be numbered in the big money world of MMA.
The fight turned out to be much more than I expected. These guys went the distance in what was a pretty entertaining fight. Baroni looked ripped at his new lower weight class. Although according to Riggs, there may be some controversy as to how he got that ripped. Hint, hint, wink, wink, Waxman Probe kind of stuff. I won’t substantiate any of that. I don’t like the B.S. and the smack talking. I just want to see good fights.
There was a lot more wrestling I this fight than I expected. The first two rounds were actually dominated by the ground game. I think that Riggs clearly took the first round and Baroni may have eeked out the second round. The third round was the clear deciding factor. Riggs took it to Baroni pretty mercilessly with the strikes in the third round. At about half way into the round, it looked like only a knockout or a tap out was going to win it for Baroni. In the end, he couldn’t pull it out. Again, a lot of talking by the “New York Badass” and not a whole lot of results. He’s kind of like Frank Trigg and Frank Shamrock in that way.
Next we had a fight that I was very much looking forward to. Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith took on Nick Diaz (who doesn’t need a catchy nickname). I was very uncertain as to whether or not Smith could pull this one out. Coming into the fight, Diaz was clearly the better fighter. Actually, aside form the fact that he can take loads of punishment and sometimes unleash a lucky power punch, I don’t think smith is that great of a fighter. That’s meant as honesty, not to be offensive.
Smith came out hard in the first round, while Diaz didn’t seem to be taking the fight very seriously. Smith hit some huge strikes on Diaz when Diaz dropped his hands--not once, but twice--to taunt Smith. I’m not sure if this was Diaz just being Diaz, if he wasn’t serious about the fight, or if he was doing it to make the fight look better to the audience, but either way, Smith landed some absolute bombs in the first round. However, none of them were able to put Diaz down.
The second round was a whole nether story. Diaz came out like a beast. He peppered--and believe me, that cliché is not a strong enough word--Smith with over two hundred punches in the round. I think the actual count was 125/228 punches landed. That is amazing. Let me also mention that there were a substantial amount of kicks thrown in the by Diaz as well. Smith just couldn’t seem to find a way to defend against the onslaught of Diaz. He got a few strikes--kicks and punches alike--off in the round but definitely lost on points. At one point the went to the floor and looked like he might be done. He was literally saved by the bell as the round ended.
The third round was really no contest at all. Diaz was working on all cylinders and smith was beaten up pretty badly. Diaz continued to throw rapid fire strikes until smith shot for a takedown, missed, and went to the ground, exposing his back to Diaz. What’s the one thing you don’t do in a fight with a practitioner of Gracie Jujitsu ? That’s correct, you do not expose your back. With smith on his knees, back exposed, the rear naked choke was an inevitability. Diaz licked in that bar arm choke and smith had no choice but to tap.
After the fight, in his usual controversial fashion, Nick Diaz had some less than kind things to say about Scott Smith’s camp. He did not go as far as to say anything that anybody other than smith and his camp might find offensive, but the remarks were definitely inflammatory. He did suggest that Smith’s camp might not be as loyal to him as Smith thought and that Smith might be better off joining the Gracie Jujitsu camp with himself, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and a few others.
Let’s be honest, this is what Diaz does. He goes out there, he kicks ass, he talks smack while he’s doing it, and he makes controversial remarks after the fight. Nick Diaz, as controversial as he is, and as negatively as he is often portrayed by the MMA media, it one of the best damn fighter in the entire world. That is not another cliché. It is a concrete reality. Diaz destroyed MMA legend Frank Shamrock in his last fight and he will go on destroying guys for as long as he can. I don’t know about the remarks he made about Smith’s camp. I can’t substantiate or discredit them, nor would I care to. There is some reality in the suggestion that Scott Smith might be better off with the Gracie Jujitsu camp. I think he could improve his fight game a whole lot by joining up with them. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure there’s much that makes him a “good” fighter, other than the fact that he can--as they say--take a licking and keep on ticking.
The next fight was truly a shocker, and a very important fight for Brett “The Grim” Rogers as he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski. Arlovski is a fighting machine, much like many of the Russian fighters in the MMA scene. Another such notable Russian is Fedor Emelianenko, who has blasted onto the American MMA scene with a fury. He has taken the Affliction promotion by storm and it can’t be long before Dana White and UFC convince him to fight for them. To be honest, I would love to see Fedor vs. Lesnar. I think that Fedor may be the only guy in the world right now that can take Lesnar and win the UFC Heavyweight Title from him. Of course, Lesnar still has to get through Frank Mir, but Mir is coming off an injury for one thing, and for another Lesnar beat the living hell out of him the last time they met.
All digressions aside, the fight was short and surprising. It was made well known that Brett Rogers recently quit his day job to join the MMA game full time. It was also made well known that he planned to buy his wife and kids a new home with the money he could get from winning this fight. Rogers was hungry in this one folks, damn hungry. He was a one man pride of lions.
Arlovski on the other hand may not have been as focused on this fight as he needed to be. He has been talking a lot lately about getting into boxing (why anyone would go from MMA to boxing these days is beyond me) and may not have had his head right for this fight. I find it hard to believe that he might have underestimated a man with the size and power of Brett Rogers. But as the saying goes, them’s the breaks.
Arlovski came out very tentatively at the beginning of this fight and it cost him. He was expecting to have the same sort of feeling out process that goes on when two men face each other that have never fought before. Brett Rogers had other things in mind. Arlovksi threw a less than committed leg kick to open up the fight and Brett Rogers went to work on beating in his face. The result was a twenty-two second first round knockout on Arlovski. Afterward, Arlovski’s face conveyed the thoughts that must have been going through his head. Those thoughts were undoubtedly dominated by “what the hell just happened here?”
This win is going to go a long way to establish Brett Rogers as a true contender in the heavyweight divisions of the MMA world. If he takes the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title from Alistair Overeem, a UFC contract may not be far off.
The main event of the night was Gracie Jujitsu practitioner Jake Shields facing off with striking powerhouse “Ruthless” Robby Lawler. This fight was much anticipated by a lot of people, including myself. It was a classic striker vs. grappler match up.
Shields came out in the first round with the idea that he was going to take Lawler down. Shields had moved up a weight class for this fight and I don’t think he knew what to expect form Lawler strengthens. Lawler was able to ward off his initial takedown attempts fairly easily, turning the fight into a striking contest. After enduring a few moments of striking, in which he held his own pretty well, Shields saw his opening and grabbed it by the horns. With Lawler back up and near the cage, the fight went to the ground. As I mentioned before, the ground is Shields domain. He proved it by locking in a guillotine choke in quick fashion. Lawler attempted to stand up the alleviate some of the pressure, but it didn’t do any good. He went back down to the mat and went out. The result, Jake Shields wins by choke out.
It should also be mentioned that this fight maneuvers Shields into a position to take on The Middleweight Champion Kung Lee. Shields, who is a friend of Kung Lee, went as far as to actually call out Kung Lee in his post fight interview. Personally, after seeing this fight, I would love to see Shields take on Kung Lee. Shields is the man who tapped out “Ruthless” Robby Lawler and Kung Lee is the man who broke Ken Shamrock’s arm with one kick. What more can you ask for in a fight?
While Strikeforce is not a large enough promotion to really be a contender against the UFC, nor are they attempting to do so, they do put on some great shows. This was a prime example of one such show. This card had three highly anticipated main events, all of which delivered in one way or another. The undercard as well turned out to be excellent, bucking my expectations, and probably the expectations of many others as well. If there was any weakness in this show it was that there were none of the incredible women’s fights that the smaller promotions--Elite XC and now Strikeforce in particular--have become known for. However, on August 15, we get the see the long awaited match up of Chris Cyborg taking on the face of women‘s MMA, Gina “conviction“ Corono. That will definitely make up for the lack of women fighters o this card.
Also, there is the Affliction Trilogy event coming up. The event will feature Fedor Emelianenko, the baddest man in MMA today. And there are also some great UFC events coming up soon. There is going to be no shortage of great MMA to come in the next few months, so make sure to check it all out.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Huge End of the Week News and Commentary for June 6, 2009
All right, this is going to be a lengthy post. It has been a pretty heavy news week, and in fact this post will cover news that goes back as far as the middle of last week. I’ve been slacking a bit because I recently had a birthday and got Guitar Hero Metallica. Yes, I know it’s a poor excuse, but it’s Guitar Hero, and it’s Metallica, so I think that speaks for itself. Anyway, onto the news and comments
Former ECW/WWE talent Dawn Marie is now working with an organization called Wrestlers Rescue. This is a great organization. They do a lot for people in the wrestling business. Since wrestlers do not have a union, this is a very important organization, it and others like it. The Cauliflower Alley Club in conjunction with Wrestlers Rescue is holding an auction that began last Wednesday, June 3, and will go until June 10th for an autographed T-shirt featuring a great and rare collection of signatures. The auction is to buy a hands free speech assistance device for wrestling legend Dr. Death Steve Williams. I urge everybody out here to at least check the auction out. Number one, this is a great item for any wrestling collector, and more importantly it will help out a man who has given a lot to the wrestling business and entertained a lot of fans, myself included.
The list of signatures includes:
Superstar Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, JJ Dillon, Akio Sato, Bruce Swayze, Mitchell Starr, Richie Rotten, Duke Myers, Robbie Ellis, Buddha Kahn, Tom Drake, Cowboy Bob Kelly, Alex Knight, Betty Nicoli, “Boom Boom” Art Michalk, “Moondog” Ed Maretti, Jake Shannon, Gene LeBell, Rock Riddle, Magic Schwartz, Ken Patera (former NWA Champion), Percival A. Friend, Dr. Ken Rayme.
For more info go to:
www.wrestlersrescue.org Don’t miss your chance to see the son of one of the all time wrestling greats in action. Wahoo McDaniel Jr. will be challenging Shane Chung for the Funking Conservatory World Championship on June 14 on !BANG! TV. Dory funk Jr. will also be making a rare in-ring return to face Blain Rage at the same show. Former XPW World Champion Damien Steel will also be in action in a Dog Collar Match against Johnny Romano. The show will be held at the !BANG! TV Sound Stage in Ocala Florida the show starts at 7 PM, with doors opening at 6. Advanced seating tickets are $10 and tickets at the door are $15. You can get tickets either at Pardee Moving and Self Storage in Ocala or online at www.dory.com.
ROH has signed a huge match in conjunction with Pro Wrestling NOAH. This is a match that ROH fans have been demanding to see for months now. Tyler Black has been on a fan-fueled rise to ROH greatness since his match with Nigel McGuinness at last Years Take No Prisoners PPV. I myself saw the match and was extremely impressed with Black. Therefore I agree that the match that has been signed is going to be awesome. On Saturday June 27th at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago, Tyler Black will take on none other that Japanese star KENTA!
The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title will not be on the line in this match. That being granted, Tyler Black is receiving an incredible opportunity here. This is a chance for him to establish himself on a multinational level. And anyone who saw the match between KENTA and Low Ki at Final Battle 2005 knows what they can expect from KENTA. This will be no less that a barnburner. You can expect great technical wrestling, high flying, and crisp martial arts style wrestling in this match. I live in the Chicago area and am definitely going to do everything in my power to get to this show.
Of course, for more info and tickets, go to:
www.rohwrestling.com
Make sure to check out www.corinowrestling.com. The site has now become a family site. Previously it was just a Steve Corino site, but it now features material about and from his sister Kathy Corino, better known to indy fans as Allison Danger. The site also follows the amateur-wrestling career of Colby Corino. The site features blogs by Steve and Allison Danger, as well as free text messaging updates, merchandise and more.
From Jan 5 to May 29, TNA Impact on Spike TV had an average neilson rating of 1.216. For the same period ECW averaged a 1.242 rating. This makes it seem like ECW is leading Impact for this period. Take into account also that Spike TV (or the Male Stereotyped Crap network as I like to call it) is available in more households than Sci If Network (or the Stereotypical Geek Crap Network if you prefer). Spike gets sent into 97 million homes, while Sci Fi only makes it into 93 million. Also, Neilson ratings are contingent on the Network itself. When you work out all the factors and do the math, which I’m sure you’re not that concerned about, TNA Impact leads ECW in viewers by quite a few thousand.
I previously gave the heads up on the TNA returns of both Raven and Shane Douglas. I also wondered how long they would be around and how it would impact (no pun intended) Douglas’ plans for an ECW reunion show later this year in Philly. It seems now that there are no plans for either Raven of Douglas beyond the Slammiversary PPV. This could change but as of now, that’s how it looks.
In a recent Maxim Magazine interview, Brock Lesnar talked about the WWE lifestyle. He likened it to brainwashing. He also said that a lot of guys just couldn’t let it go. They get too wrapped up in their characters and just lose sight of real life. He says that those who get out of WWE are smart. From this, it doesn’t look like he will ever be returning to WWE. There is still the possibility of a TNA run or more work in Japan, but at this point he looks to be really concentrating on his MMA career.
Also, Lesnar’s statements shed a lot of light on the current Ric Flair situation I have said exactly the same thing before. Though I have never worked for WWE and cannot understand it from that point of view, a fan that is educated enough about the business can see the signs of the things Lesnar talked about. The wrestling business had a profound and not necessarily good impact on the life of Randy Savage, and seems to have done the same to Ric Flair It begs the question of how long is too long to be in the wrestling business and who really is suited for such a life?
There was in incident this past week involving Randy Orton of a Mexico City talk show. Apparently, the host of the said show was joking with Randy about his past injuries, and in jest called Orton fragile. This sparked a seriously uncalled for temper tantrum form Randy. He actually went as far as the knock the host’s glasses off and say, “I’ll head butt your teeth through your skull.”
This leads me to wonder whether this was just more WWE hype or if Randy Orton is really becoming the character he plays on TV. Maybe he’s always been that guy, or maybe it’s just another case of what Brock Lesnar mentioned in his Maxim interview. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. Randy Orton has had a notorious streak of bad behavior in the last few years, and if I were to venture a guess, the steroids that he may or may not (got to cover my ass here) be taking could have something to do with all that. I’m not confirming that Orton is on steroids. I’m merely suggesting it. If you take a look at him then he premiered in WWE, even just three or four years ago during his run with Evolution, he was much more streamlined.
I have to think though that the streak has always been here. The man was dishonorably discharged from the United States Marine for the love of god. It takes some pretty poor conduct to get discharged from the devil dogs. Also, this certainly isn’t the first time Randy Orton has blown up at somebody. I’m sure if you were able to get the honest opinion of anybody in the WWE backstage, they would have at least some negative things to say about Orton. To me, for the WWE to endure this kind of B.S. behavior is completely unnecessary. For the last few months Randy Orton’s performance has been extremely substandard. Yes, it seems like he is over as a heel, but how much longer can that last?
The public battle between Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda continues. The mudslinging and hair pulling has escalated even farther. Linda recently accused Hulk of smoking marijuana with his daughter’s boyfriend. Hulk, outraged and incensed by such an accusation, turned on Linda and demanded she take a voluntary drug screening. There have been rumors of past drug use by both Hulk and Linda, sot this whole thing doesn’t really surprise me. The result was that Linda passed the drug screening. No evidence of any drugs was found.
Let’s break this crap down, folks. First of all, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Hulkster were smoking a few J’s here and there. It wouldn’t bother me either. The man is going through what might just be the messiest divorce of all time. His dirty laundry is right out there for just about everybody in the public to see. I would probably be doing worse in the same situation, and so would a lot of self-righteous people out there that have condemned him for these allegations.
Secondly, Linda is the one who has been seen club hopping and sleeping with nineteen year olds. Hulk may have said some regrettable things in some recent interviews, but from all appearances he is taking care of business and doing his best to keep his image clean. Whether this is because his image is clean or he’s damn good at covering up negative behavior, I can’t say and won’t venture a guess.
It should be noted that for a while now, both A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe have been working with injuries. They are not serious. A.J. sprained his ankle on a dive onto Shane Douglas at a recent TV taping and Joe fractured a couple of fingers at a house show. Neither has yet missed any time, as you can probably tell.
I have heard some and read some things that suggest Samoa Joe may have incurred a more serious injury, one that may keep him off the Slammiversary card. However, I cannot elaborate of substantiate this in any way. You’ll have to check around for yourself.
WWE seems to have started what may be another round of releases. It appears that the majority of the releases are to come from the FCW developmental roster. In fact, both Dakota Darsow and Lupe Viscara have been released from FCW. It is being said that other releases have already been made and that there are more to come.
Most notable in the releases up to this point is the release of Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson). Apparently this seems to have come out of nowhere, and it looks like a pretty hasty move. The deal is that Kennedy’s recent string of injuries was definitely a factor in the release. A couple months ago, I read that Kennedy was set to return to the ring, but then he reinjured himself. Also, he incurred a wrist injury on his first match back on RAW, that ridiculous Lakers vs. Nuggets match.
Apparently there was also an in ring incident with him and Orton during that same match that nearly resulted in the injury of Randy Orton. Randy Orton calmly (there’s a huge surprise) dressed Kennedy down after that match. It didn’t appear to be a huge deal until the news of the release came.
In my humble but outspoken opinion, Kennedy is a better wrestler than Orton anyway. He doesn’t have Orton’s record of bad behavior, and his injuries have numbered less than those of Orton as well. Randy Orton seems to be something akin to Mr. Glass from the movie Unbreakable. Everybody has to pussyfoot around with him in the ring so that he doesn’t get hurt. Frankly, it pisses me off. And to make it worse, Orton doesn’t even seem to be giving much of an effort out there lately.
Jeff Hardy recently spoke about Kennedy’s release on a Washington D.C. talk show. He said that the release was a shock to him. He also said that Kennedy was a good friend, and that he had done a lot of work and traveling with him.
In another interview of B95, Jeff discussed his current contract status with WWE. From what he said, it appears that there is nothing substantial to report right now. He said that he could still be on TV in six months, and if WWE is smart, they will find a way to get him resigned and happy. He is more popular now than ever before. Also, if Jeff is smart, he will milk his current main event run for every damn thing it’s worth.
Finally, it has been rumored that Chris Masters has resigned with WWE. As of now, those rumors are untrue. He released a statement saying he has been in contact with WWE and that there has not yet been any discussion of a contract. He is still appearing at his indy bookings and it appears he will be doing so for some time to come.
Personally, I think now would be a good time to bring Masters back. With HBK, Triple H, and Undertaker all taking time off, WWE needs some “new blood.” Not that Masters is really new, but before he was released for some violations of the WWE Wellness program, he was—again, in my opinion—going some good work. He was looking more impressive than I had ever seen him. I think that right now, RAW could really use Masters.
All right, so that my news and comments for this week. I’ll have a preview and expectations piece about Tomorrow’s Extreme Rules PPV, written with my potential cohost in the potential Low Blow Wrestling podcast up sometime tomorrow. Also, I’ll probably be posting a review of Extreme Rules either Monday or Tuesday depending on what my schedule turns out to look like.
Stay tuned.
Former ECW/WWE talent Dawn Marie is now working with an organization called Wrestlers Rescue. This is a great organization. They do a lot for people in the wrestling business. Since wrestlers do not have a union, this is a very important organization, it and others like it. The Cauliflower Alley Club in conjunction with Wrestlers Rescue is holding an auction that began last Wednesday, June 3, and will go until June 10th for an autographed T-shirt featuring a great and rare collection of signatures. The auction is to buy a hands free speech assistance device for wrestling legend Dr. Death Steve Williams. I urge everybody out here to at least check the auction out. Number one, this is a great item for any wrestling collector, and more importantly it will help out a man who has given a lot to the wrestling business and entertained a lot of fans, myself included.
The list of signatures includes:
Superstar Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, JJ Dillon, Akio Sato, Bruce Swayze, Mitchell Starr, Richie Rotten, Duke Myers, Robbie Ellis, Buddha Kahn, Tom Drake, Cowboy Bob Kelly, Alex Knight, Betty Nicoli, “Boom Boom” Art Michalk, “Moondog” Ed Maretti, Jake Shannon, Gene LeBell, Rock Riddle, Magic Schwartz, Ken Patera (former NWA Champion), Percival A. Friend, Dr. Ken Rayme.
For more info go to:
www.wrestlersrescue.org Don’t miss your chance to see the son of one of the all time wrestling greats in action. Wahoo McDaniel Jr. will be challenging Shane Chung for the Funking Conservatory World Championship on June 14 on !BANG! TV. Dory funk Jr. will also be making a rare in-ring return to face Blain Rage at the same show. Former XPW World Champion Damien Steel will also be in action in a Dog Collar Match against Johnny Romano. The show will be held at the !BANG! TV Sound Stage in Ocala Florida the show starts at 7 PM, with doors opening at 6. Advanced seating tickets are $10 and tickets at the door are $15. You can get tickets either at Pardee Moving and Self Storage in Ocala or online at www.dory.com.
ROH has signed a huge match in conjunction with Pro Wrestling NOAH. This is a match that ROH fans have been demanding to see for months now. Tyler Black has been on a fan-fueled rise to ROH greatness since his match with Nigel McGuinness at last Years Take No Prisoners PPV. I myself saw the match and was extremely impressed with Black. Therefore I agree that the match that has been signed is going to be awesome. On Saturday June 27th at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago, Tyler Black will take on none other that Japanese star KENTA!
The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title will not be on the line in this match. That being granted, Tyler Black is receiving an incredible opportunity here. This is a chance for him to establish himself on a multinational level. And anyone who saw the match between KENTA and Low Ki at Final Battle 2005 knows what they can expect from KENTA. This will be no less that a barnburner. You can expect great technical wrestling, high flying, and crisp martial arts style wrestling in this match. I live in the Chicago area and am definitely going to do everything in my power to get to this show.
Of course, for more info and tickets, go to:
www.rohwrestling.com
Make sure to check out www.corinowrestling.com. The site has now become a family site. Previously it was just a Steve Corino site, but it now features material about and from his sister Kathy Corino, better known to indy fans as Allison Danger. The site also follows the amateur-wrestling career of Colby Corino. The site features blogs by Steve and Allison Danger, as well as free text messaging updates, merchandise and more.
From Jan 5 to May 29, TNA Impact on Spike TV had an average neilson rating of 1.216. For the same period ECW averaged a 1.242 rating. This makes it seem like ECW is leading Impact for this period. Take into account also that Spike TV (or the Male Stereotyped Crap network as I like to call it) is available in more households than Sci If Network (or the Stereotypical Geek Crap Network if you prefer). Spike gets sent into 97 million homes, while Sci Fi only makes it into 93 million. Also, Neilson ratings are contingent on the Network itself. When you work out all the factors and do the math, which I’m sure you’re not that concerned about, TNA Impact leads ECW in viewers by quite a few thousand.
I previously gave the heads up on the TNA returns of both Raven and Shane Douglas. I also wondered how long they would be around and how it would impact (no pun intended) Douglas’ plans for an ECW reunion show later this year in Philly. It seems now that there are no plans for either Raven of Douglas beyond the Slammiversary PPV. This could change but as of now, that’s how it looks.
In a recent Maxim Magazine interview, Brock Lesnar talked about the WWE lifestyle. He likened it to brainwashing. He also said that a lot of guys just couldn’t let it go. They get too wrapped up in their characters and just lose sight of real life. He says that those who get out of WWE are smart. From this, it doesn’t look like he will ever be returning to WWE. There is still the possibility of a TNA run or more work in Japan, but at this point he looks to be really concentrating on his MMA career.
Also, Lesnar’s statements shed a lot of light on the current Ric Flair situation I have said exactly the same thing before. Though I have never worked for WWE and cannot understand it from that point of view, a fan that is educated enough about the business can see the signs of the things Lesnar talked about. The wrestling business had a profound and not necessarily good impact on the life of Randy Savage, and seems to have done the same to Ric Flair It begs the question of how long is too long to be in the wrestling business and who really is suited for such a life?
There was in incident this past week involving Randy Orton of a Mexico City talk show. Apparently, the host of the said show was joking with Randy about his past injuries, and in jest called Orton fragile. This sparked a seriously uncalled for temper tantrum form Randy. He actually went as far as the knock the host’s glasses off and say, “I’ll head butt your teeth through your skull.”
This leads me to wonder whether this was just more WWE hype or if Randy Orton is really becoming the character he plays on TV. Maybe he’s always been that guy, or maybe it’s just another case of what Brock Lesnar mentioned in his Maxim interview. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. Randy Orton has had a notorious streak of bad behavior in the last few years, and if I were to venture a guess, the steroids that he may or may not (got to cover my ass here) be taking could have something to do with all that. I’m not confirming that Orton is on steroids. I’m merely suggesting it. If you take a look at him then he premiered in WWE, even just three or four years ago during his run with Evolution, he was much more streamlined.
I have to think though that the streak has always been here. The man was dishonorably discharged from the United States Marine for the love of god. It takes some pretty poor conduct to get discharged from the devil dogs. Also, this certainly isn’t the first time Randy Orton has blown up at somebody. I’m sure if you were able to get the honest opinion of anybody in the WWE backstage, they would have at least some negative things to say about Orton. To me, for the WWE to endure this kind of B.S. behavior is completely unnecessary. For the last few months Randy Orton’s performance has been extremely substandard. Yes, it seems like he is over as a heel, but how much longer can that last?
The public battle between Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda continues. The mudslinging and hair pulling has escalated even farther. Linda recently accused Hulk of smoking marijuana with his daughter’s boyfriend. Hulk, outraged and incensed by such an accusation, turned on Linda and demanded she take a voluntary drug screening. There have been rumors of past drug use by both Hulk and Linda, sot this whole thing doesn’t really surprise me. The result was that Linda passed the drug screening. No evidence of any drugs was found.
Let’s break this crap down, folks. First of all, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Hulkster were smoking a few J’s here and there. It wouldn’t bother me either. The man is going through what might just be the messiest divorce of all time. His dirty laundry is right out there for just about everybody in the public to see. I would probably be doing worse in the same situation, and so would a lot of self-righteous people out there that have condemned him for these allegations.
Secondly, Linda is the one who has been seen club hopping and sleeping with nineteen year olds. Hulk may have said some regrettable things in some recent interviews, but from all appearances he is taking care of business and doing his best to keep his image clean. Whether this is because his image is clean or he’s damn good at covering up negative behavior, I can’t say and won’t venture a guess.
It should be noted that for a while now, both A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe have been working with injuries. They are not serious. A.J. sprained his ankle on a dive onto Shane Douglas at a recent TV taping and Joe fractured a couple of fingers at a house show. Neither has yet missed any time, as you can probably tell.
I have heard some and read some things that suggest Samoa Joe may have incurred a more serious injury, one that may keep him off the Slammiversary card. However, I cannot elaborate of substantiate this in any way. You’ll have to check around for yourself.
WWE seems to have started what may be another round of releases. It appears that the majority of the releases are to come from the FCW developmental roster. In fact, both Dakota Darsow and Lupe Viscara have been released from FCW. It is being said that other releases have already been made and that there are more to come.
Most notable in the releases up to this point is the release of Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson). Apparently this seems to have come out of nowhere, and it looks like a pretty hasty move. The deal is that Kennedy’s recent string of injuries was definitely a factor in the release. A couple months ago, I read that Kennedy was set to return to the ring, but then he reinjured himself. Also, he incurred a wrist injury on his first match back on RAW, that ridiculous Lakers vs. Nuggets match.
Apparently there was also an in ring incident with him and Orton during that same match that nearly resulted in the injury of Randy Orton. Randy Orton calmly (there’s a huge surprise) dressed Kennedy down after that match. It didn’t appear to be a huge deal until the news of the release came.
In my humble but outspoken opinion, Kennedy is a better wrestler than Orton anyway. He doesn’t have Orton’s record of bad behavior, and his injuries have numbered less than those of Orton as well. Randy Orton seems to be something akin to Mr. Glass from the movie Unbreakable. Everybody has to pussyfoot around with him in the ring so that he doesn’t get hurt. Frankly, it pisses me off. And to make it worse, Orton doesn’t even seem to be giving much of an effort out there lately.
Jeff Hardy recently spoke about Kennedy’s release on a Washington D.C. talk show. He said that the release was a shock to him. He also said that Kennedy was a good friend, and that he had done a lot of work and traveling with him.
In another interview of B95, Jeff discussed his current contract status with WWE. From what he said, it appears that there is nothing substantial to report right now. He said that he could still be on TV in six months, and if WWE is smart, they will find a way to get him resigned and happy. He is more popular now than ever before. Also, if Jeff is smart, he will milk his current main event run for every damn thing it’s worth.
Finally, it has been rumored that Chris Masters has resigned with WWE. As of now, those rumors are untrue. He released a statement saying he has been in contact with WWE and that there has not yet been any discussion of a contract. He is still appearing at his indy bookings and it appears he will be doing so for some time to come.
Personally, I think now would be a good time to bring Masters back. With HBK, Triple H, and Undertaker all taking time off, WWE needs some “new blood.” Not that Masters is really new, but before he was released for some violations of the WWE Wellness program, he was—again, in my opinion—going some good work. He was looking more impressive than I had ever seen him. I think that right now, RAW could really use Masters.
All right, so that my news and comments for this week. I’ll have a preview and expectations piece about Tomorrow’s Extreme Rules PPV, written with my potential cohost in the potential Low Blow Wrestling podcast up sometime tomorrow. Also, I’ll probably be posting a review of Extreme Rules either Monday or Tuesday depending on what my schedule turns out to look like.
Stay tuned.
Johnny Devine Talks More About TNA
CLICK HERE to view the next pat of the WrestleZone Johnny Devine shoot interview. In this piece he talks about Kevin Nash, Seritonin, and Raven.
I'm not sure I feel the same way about Kevin Nash as he does, but he brings up a good point.
I'm not sure I feel the same way about Kevin Nash as he does, but he brings up a good point.
Friday, June 5, 2009
TNA Impact Review - Jun 5, 2009
The show, as is usually does, opened with a very overblown video package about the goings on in TNA of the last few weeks. They tried to put over the Six Sides of Steel match as the most brutal match in TNA history, which we all know isn’t true. But then again, it isn’t any different than WWE promoting the hell out of their overblown main events.
Next came a very short backstage piece featuring Shane Douglas. Douglas asserted that he was going to leave his mark on TNA for a long time to come.
Then of course we had the stars of the X Division in tag team action. Kyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir took on Daniels and Suicide. The match itself was very well wrestled. It ended via chain shot by an interfering Shane Douglas and then the pin by Bashit. However, I do have some objections.
Christopher Daniels is a main event guy. Why bring him back if you’re just going to stick him with Suicide (or Kazarian if you prefer)? The series of matches that Daniels and A.J. Styles wrestled both together and against each other.
My second objection is this. TNA claims that they cross the line. The lyrics of the Impact theme song say, “while everybody’s doing the same thing. I’ll be doing my thing.” Guess what? TNA isn’t doing anything different. TNA really is, more and more each week, a reincarnation of WCW. Putting the British Invasion together with Bashir and Kyoshi is just another anti-American angle.
The upside is that Shane Douglas got to cut a promo after the match, and he can still cut a damn good promo.
Next was yet another crazy backstage Mick Foley vignette in the backstage. Foley talked about the importance of the Heavyweight Title and compared it to both the Super bowl and the World Series in an attempt to push his stupid “I’m only going to defend this belt once a year” gimmick.
Next: enter Kip James to beg Foley for a spot on the roster. How long has it been since we’ve seen Kip in any kind of role in TNA that isn’t idiotic? A long damn time. Kip is a very talented wrestler, but it seems that his time in the spotlight may be over. We’ll see what the bookers decide to do with him and how good or bad it will be.
Next came the same old Kevin Nash crap about, “I won’t wrestle this main event. I’m only in it for the money.” Again, not new, not original. It certainly didn’t cross the line.
Next was a Lethal Consequences/Motor City Machine Guns promo. Chris Sabin, as Jay Lethal pointed out, talks very slowly. It makes for a boring promo. I will say that Creed is getting better on the mic though. He’s still a walking cliché as far as I can tell, but he is getting better. Jay Lethal does an excellent job of spoofing Randy Savage, especially the paranoia that was a part of his life, in ring and out of it.
The match that followed the promo was Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal against Beer Money Inc. I was extremely interested to see how Beer Money would look coming off of what was, in my mind at least, their best wrestled match ever at Sacrifice. The answer is, they looked very good. This was another well wrestled match, on all sides.
Between this and the next match there was an incredibly long salute to Slammiversary video, an interview with A.J. Styles, Daniels, and James Storm about a Tag Team Title match that they took part in a few years back, a strange interview with Daffney, and Mike Tenee interviewing the MEM about Joe’s hit list. While none of this stuff was particularly bad, it was pretty much a waste of time.
Finally, we got to a match that put Taylor Wild up against Daffney. The match wasn’t bad, but it was obviously just another link in the Abyss/Dr. Stevie angle that’s currently running.
Raven cut a great promo after the match. Let’s face it, there’s very few Raven promos that aren’t great. Raven, more so not Jeff Hardy, is the face of the misfits. Raven is the modern day poet of the macabre. Raven is the modern day nihilist and barbarist of pro wrestling. Raven is one of the most underestimated, underutilized, under decorated wrestler in the last fifteen years of professional wrestling. Raven was in WWE and they pissed on him. He could have done incredible work with Triple H, with Shawn Michaels, with anybody. They were just scared that he would show up their big guys. Seeing Raven back in TNA is awesome.
Eric Young’s recent heel turn resulted this week in a segment between himself and Jeff Jarrett. While Eric Young definitely needs some work on the microphone, I’m not sure that what he said was wrong. This angle could be something special, but it’s going to take some great work from both guys involved.
Next up was Jesse Neil vs. Matt Morgan. While I think that Jesse’s story is incredible, I’m not at all sure he can hack it in the wrestling business. He’s trained by Rhino, so that’s a plus, but he’s got a hell of a long way to go. Matt Morgan actually looked pretty good in this match, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was facing a newcomer. You put Morgan in the ring with a veteran, and he looks like crap.
I’ll mention the ODB/Cody Deener vignette only to say that it was incredibly stupid, and a complete waste of time.
Follow up the stupid ODB/Deener vignette with more stupid Mick Foley prattle.
Next up was a promo from Sting. When you think of Sting and promos, it’s hard to get anything less than excellence. This promo was pretty good, but not one of his best. The promo turned sour when that idiot Matt Morgan interrupted Stinger. Matt Morgan cannot and will never be able to cut a promo. He in fact said “enihilate”…the word is “annihilate. There is one E in the word and it’s at the end. If you can’t sound like a main eventer, you’ll never be a main eventer. TNA continues to waste my time, their time, and Matt Morgan’s time by even keeping him under contract.
Scott Steiner cut a pretty good promo when asked how he feels about he and Booker facing Joe next week. The guy isn’t the smartest, and you can’t expect any kind of intelligence to come out during his promos, but he says what he means, and he does it well.
T
he main event Six Sides of Steel match between Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash was descent. But honestly, why would you put Kevin Nash in your main event? Also, is it me or is Joe putting on some unneeded pounds lately. Joe is also having some problems with injury. In fact, he was recently reinsured, possibly during this very match. And later the same week, he incurred a another more severe injury. This puts TNA in a bind for Slammiversary.
While I won’t say this was the worst Impact I’ve ever seen, it wasn’t very good either. They spent way too much time on interviews, promos, and video packages. The actual in ring competition is becoming more limited each week. I could be wrong, but I thought that the wrestling business was about wrestling.
Stay tuned for my New and Commentary for the entire week, coming up tomorrow or Sunday.
Next came a very short backstage piece featuring Shane Douglas. Douglas asserted that he was going to leave his mark on TNA for a long time to come.
Then of course we had the stars of the X Division in tag team action. Kyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir took on Daniels and Suicide. The match itself was very well wrestled. It ended via chain shot by an interfering Shane Douglas and then the pin by Bashit. However, I do have some objections.
Christopher Daniels is a main event guy. Why bring him back if you’re just going to stick him with Suicide (or Kazarian if you prefer)? The series of matches that Daniels and A.J. Styles wrestled both together and against each other.
My second objection is this. TNA claims that they cross the line. The lyrics of the Impact theme song say, “while everybody’s doing the same thing. I’ll be doing my thing.” Guess what? TNA isn’t doing anything different. TNA really is, more and more each week, a reincarnation of WCW. Putting the British Invasion together with Bashir and Kyoshi is just another anti-American angle.
The upside is that Shane Douglas got to cut a promo after the match, and he can still cut a damn good promo.
Next was yet another crazy backstage Mick Foley vignette in the backstage. Foley talked about the importance of the Heavyweight Title and compared it to both the Super bowl and the World Series in an attempt to push his stupid “I’m only going to defend this belt once a year” gimmick.
Next: enter Kip James to beg Foley for a spot on the roster. How long has it been since we’ve seen Kip in any kind of role in TNA that isn’t idiotic? A long damn time. Kip is a very talented wrestler, but it seems that his time in the spotlight may be over. We’ll see what the bookers decide to do with him and how good or bad it will be.
Next came the same old Kevin Nash crap about, “I won’t wrestle this main event. I’m only in it for the money.” Again, not new, not original. It certainly didn’t cross the line.
Next was a Lethal Consequences/Motor City Machine Guns promo. Chris Sabin, as Jay Lethal pointed out, talks very slowly. It makes for a boring promo. I will say that Creed is getting better on the mic though. He’s still a walking cliché as far as I can tell, but he is getting better. Jay Lethal does an excellent job of spoofing Randy Savage, especially the paranoia that was a part of his life, in ring and out of it.
The match that followed the promo was Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal against Beer Money Inc. I was extremely interested to see how Beer Money would look coming off of what was, in my mind at least, their best wrestled match ever at Sacrifice. The answer is, they looked very good. This was another well wrestled match, on all sides.
Between this and the next match there was an incredibly long salute to Slammiversary video, an interview with A.J. Styles, Daniels, and James Storm about a Tag Team Title match that they took part in a few years back, a strange interview with Daffney, and Mike Tenee interviewing the MEM about Joe’s hit list. While none of this stuff was particularly bad, it was pretty much a waste of time.
Finally, we got to a match that put Taylor Wild up against Daffney. The match wasn’t bad, but it was obviously just another link in the Abyss/Dr. Stevie angle that’s currently running.
Raven cut a great promo after the match. Let’s face it, there’s very few Raven promos that aren’t great. Raven, more so not Jeff Hardy, is the face of the misfits. Raven is the modern day poet of the macabre. Raven is the modern day nihilist and barbarist of pro wrestling. Raven is one of the most underestimated, underutilized, under decorated wrestler in the last fifteen years of professional wrestling. Raven was in WWE and they pissed on him. He could have done incredible work with Triple H, with Shawn Michaels, with anybody. They were just scared that he would show up their big guys. Seeing Raven back in TNA is awesome.
Eric Young’s recent heel turn resulted this week in a segment between himself and Jeff Jarrett. While Eric Young definitely needs some work on the microphone, I’m not sure that what he said was wrong. This angle could be something special, but it’s going to take some great work from both guys involved.
Next up was Jesse Neil vs. Matt Morgan. While I think that Jesse’s story is incredible, I’m not at all sure he can hack it in the wrestling business. He’s trained by Rhino, so that’s a plus, but he’s got a hell of a long way to go. Matt Morgan actually looked pretty good in this match, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was facing a newcomer. You put Morgan in the ring with a veteran, and he looks like crap.
I’ll mention the ODB/Cody Deener vignette only to say that it was incredibly stupid, and a complete waste of time.
Follow up the stupid ODB/Deener vignette with more stupid Mick Foley prattle.
Next up was a promo from Sting. When you think of Sting and promos, it’s hard to get anything less than excellence. This promo was pretty good, but not one of his best. The promo turned sour when that idiot Matt Morgan interrupted Stinger. Matt Morgan cannot and will never be able to cut a promo. He in fact said “enihilate”…the word is “annihilate. There is one E in the word and it’s at the end. If you can’t sound like a main eventer, you’ll never be a main eventer. TNA continues to waste my time, their time, and Matt Morgan’s time by even keeping him under contract.
Scott Steiner cut a pretty good promo when asked how he feels about he and Booker facing Joe next week. The guy isn’t the smartest, and you can’t expect any kind of intelligence to come out during his promos, but he says what he means, and he does it well.
T
he main event Six Sides of Steel match between Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash was descent. But honestly, why would you put Kevin Nash in your main event? Also, is it me or is Joe putting on some unneeded pounds lately. Joe is also having some problems with injury. In fact, he was recently reinsured, possibly during this very match. And later the same week, he incurred a another more severe injury. This puts TNA in a bind for Slammiversary.
While I won’t say this was the worst Impact I’ve ever seen, it wasn’t very good either. They spent way too much time on interviews, promos, and video packages. The actual in ring competition is becoming more limited each week. I could be wrong, but I thought that the wrestling business was about wrestling.
Stay tuned for my New and Commentary for the entire week, coming up tomorrow or Sunday.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
More From Johnny Devine
In this clip, JOhnny Talks about his first TNA release and a bar room stabbing.
CLICK HERE to view the video.
CLICK HERE to view the video.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
RAW REcap & Review for June 2, 2009
As seems to be the case quite a bit of the time lately, RAW was extremely sub-par.
The show started out with another of Randy Orton's labored and unequivocally boring promos. Here's the rundown, "Blah blah blah...Batista...blah blah blah...kicked him in the skull...blah blah blah." Are we ever going to hear something different from this guy?
Next Ric Flair (if you were in the same room as me you would be able to hear my teeth grinding right now) came out to--believe it or not--challenge Randy Orton to a fight in the parking lot. I admit that Flair is one of the greatest of all time, but let's face it, he's a jackass. The more I learn about Flair's business politics and his personal life, the less tolerable I find him to be. Ric Flair was given, and I realize I have mentioned this before, one of the greatest sendoffs in the history of the business. Nobody will get the kind of sendoff that Flair did, not even Hulk Hogan. Now because of a large monetary debt that Flair owes to Vince McMahon, not to mention his massive ego, Flair is back just over a year later. For me, it's nothing less than disgusting.
Also, I understand that being a wrestling fan requires the suspension of disbelief. I can do that, but let's be extremely realistic. In a fight, Ric Flair would get beaten senseless by Randy Orton. Why is WWE putting their self-proclaimed Viper, the biggest heel in the company, against a man who passed his prime a few thousand miles back? Granted, Orton seems to be squashing Flair every week, but it still doesn't make sense.
The next segment was a Divas tag match. Have I mentioned before how much I hate random tag matches. If they don't mean something, if they don't advance an established team in a tag division, they don't mean much to me.
Kelly Kelly and Mickie James took on Maryse and Beth Phoenix. My question is this, why put two extremely talented wrestlers--Mickie and Beth--in a match with two marginally talented women like Maryse and Kelly. I cannot say for sure but Maryse and Kelly may be better wrestlers than WWE allows them to be. We've seen that before in many cases before. My overall point is that the quality of the match--which only lasted about four minutes--is reduced by adding two women who are more attractive than they are talented--with the exception of Maryse, who do not find attractive (she looks like she needs a sandwich).
Next we had a tag match featuring William Regal teaming with Matt Hardy against the Colons. This match was effectively a number one contenders match for Hardy and Regal. Who in the name of hell ever thought that Regal and Hardy could be a good team? Why even consider putting the belts on them? This is another example of how degraded tag team wrestling has become.
Now let's turn to the idea of Vicki Guerrero and "Santina" Morella in a Hog Pen Match this Sunday. We haven't seen one of these since the days of Phineas and Henry Godwin. As ridiculous as it is, I think the match is going to have a lot of comedic value. I can't stand Vicki Guerrero but it ought to be enjoyable to see her--where she belongs for pissing on her husbands memory and the Guerrero name--wallowing around in slop.
Next up was a Miz promo. I am actually enjoying these promos--up to a point at least. Miz made yet another excellent point about the popularity of John Cena. He brought up the point that a majority of Cena's audience is the same audience that Hannah Montana has. It's not untrue. Let's put it this way, I know people who were shameless Hogan and Rock marks--both men being essentially the same thing as Cena--and they hate Cena. They push him like he's Superman when in reality, he’s boring and incredibly cliché.
I want to make a point here that I know Cena is a much better wrestler than his gimmick allows him to be. I have seen footage of him from his UPW days. He has wrestled very good matches against Samoa Joe in UPW. when he first premiered in WWE, I liked him, but what he's been transformed into is a clown and a corporate icon.
With all that in mind, I couldn't have cared less about Cena and Chavo vs. Miz and Big Show. How do you get anybody who's over the age of 15 or not a shameless mark to give a crap about this match? You don't.
The show took an upturn at this point. MVP took on Kofi Kingston for the United States Title. These are two guys I want to see more of. Guys like Kingston and MVP are the future of wrestling. They are both excellent at the primary part of the business…WRESTLING. MVP is also very talented on the microphone, and while Kingston doesn’t stand out on the mic at this point, he could in the future.
The match itself was very well wrestled, if not a bit formulaic. The end result was a new Unites Sates Champion, Kofi Kingston.
I’ve already made my view of Ric Flair’s business politics and on his lifestyle very clear. This is the part where I grudgingly admit that the final segment of this week’s RAW was the best part of the entire show, and the best part of the past few weeks of RAW. Flair proved that he can still go. He can still put on a great show. I just hope that Batista and Orton put on a great match Sunday, something that will do this angle some justice.
To recap everything:
1. Randy Orton’s promos are still boring.
2. Flair is still an egomaniac, but a great performer.
3. Vicky Guerrero is still horrible.
4. Matt Hardy and William Regal have no business tagging together.
5. I still don’t care about Cena vs. Big Show, no matter what the match stipulation is.
6. The Hog Pen Match at Extreme Rules should be entertaining.
7. MVP and Kofi Kingston need to get more in-ring time on TV.
8. The Divas are still underestimated and underutilized.
9. Though I’m not a fan of his personal life, Ric Flair is still the man as far as wrestling is concerned.
The show started out with another of Randy Orton's labored and unequivocally boring promos. Here's the rundown, "Blah blah blah...Batista...blah blah blah...kicked him in the skull...blah blah blah." Are we ever going to hear something different from this guy?
Next Ric Flair (if you were in the same room as me you would be able to hear my teeth grinding right now) came out to--believe it or not--challenge Randy Orton to a fight in the parking lot. I admit that Flair is one of the greatest of all time, but let's face it, he's a jackass. The more I learn about Flair's business politics and his personal life, the less tolerable I find him to be. Ric Flair was given, and I realize I have mentioned this before, one of the greatest sendoffs in the history of the business. Nobody will get the kind of sendoff that Flair did, not even Hulk Hogan. Now because of a large monetary debt that Flair owes to Vince McMahon, not to mention his massive ego, Flair is back just over a year later. For me, it's nothing less than disgusting.
Also, I understand that being a wrestling fan requires the suspension of disbelief. I can do that, but let's be extremely realistic. In a fight, Ric Flair would get beaten senseless by Randy Orton. Why is WWE putting their self-proclaimed Viper, the biggest heel in the company, against a man who passed his prime a few thousand miles back? Granted, Orton seems to be squashing Flair every week, but it still doesn't make sense.
The next segment was a Divas tag match. Have I mentioned before how much I hate random tag matches. If they don't mean something, if they don't advance an established team in a tag division, they don't mean much to me.
Kelly Kelly and Mickie James took on Maryse and Beth Phoenix. My question is this, why put two extremely talented wrestlers--Mickie and Beth--in a match with two marginally talented women like Maryse and Kelly. I cannot say for sure but Maryse and Kelly may be better wrestlers than WWE allows them to be. We've seen that before in many cases before. My overall point is that the quality of the match--which only lasted about four minutes--is reduced by adding two women who are more attractive than they are talented--with the exception of Maryse, who do not find attractive (she looks like she needs a sandwich).
Next we had a tag match featuring William Regal teaming with Matt Hardy against the Colons. This match was effectively a number one contenders match for Hardy and Regal. Who in the name of hell ever thought that Regal and Hardy could be a good team? Why even consider putting the belts on them? This is another example of how degraded tag team wrestling has become.
Now let's turn to the idea of Vicki Guerrero and "Santina" Morella in a Hog Pen Match this Sunday. We haven't seen one of these since the days of Phineas and Henry Godwin. As ridiculous as it is, I think the match is going to have a lot of comedic value. I can't stand Vicki Guerrero but it ought to be enjoyable to see her--where she belongs for pissing on her husbands memory and the Guerrero name--wallowing around in slop.
Next up was a Miz promo. I am actually enjoying these promos--up to a point at least. Miz made yet another excellent point about the popularity of John Cena. He brought up the point that a majority of Cena's audience is the same audience that Hannah Montana has. It's not untrue. Let's put it this way, I know people who were shameless Hogan and Rock marks--both men being essentially the same thing as Cena--and they hate Cena. They push him like he's Superman when in reality, he’s boring and incredibly cliché.
I want to make a point here that I know Cena is a much better wrestler than his gimmick allows him to be. I have seen footage of him from his UPW days. He has wrestled very good matches against Samoa Joe in UPW. when he first premiered in WWE, I liked him, but what he's been transformed into is a clown and a corporate icon.
With all that in mind, I couldn't have cared less about Cena and Chavo vs. Miz and Big Show. How do you get anybody who's over the age of 15 or not a shameless mark to give a crap about this match? You don't.
The show took an upturn at this point. MVP took on Kofi Kingston for the United States Title. These are two guys I want to see more of. Guys like Kingston and MVP are the future of wrestling. They are both excellent at the primary part of the business…WRESTLING. MVP is also very talented on the microphone, and while Kingston doesn’t stand out on the mic at this point, he could in the future.
The match itself was very well wrestled, if not a bit formulaic. The end result was a new Unites Sates Champion, Kofi Kingston.
I’ve already made my view of Ric Flair’s business politics and on his lifestyle very clear. This is the part where I grudgingly admit that the final segment of this week’s RAW was the best part of the entire show, and the best part of the past few weeks of RAW. Flair proved that he can still go. He can still put on a great show. I just hope that Batista and Orton put on a great match Sunday, something that will do this angle some justice.
To recap everything:
1. Randy Orton’s promos are still boring.
2. Flair is still an egomaniac, but a great performer.
3. Vicky Guerrero is still horrible.
4. Matt Hardy and William Regal have no business tagging together.
5. I still don’t care about Cena vs. Big Show, no matter what the match stipulation is.
6. The Hog Pen Match at Extreme Rules should be entertaining.
7. MVP and Kofi Kingston need to get more in-ring time on TV.
8. The Divas are still underestimated and underutilized.
9. Though I’m not a fan of his personal life, Ric Flair is still the man as far as wrestling is concerned.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
SPOILER ALERT! Two TNA Returns and an Upcoming Debut
It has been confirmed earlier this week that two former ECW/TNA/WCW stars will be making a return to TNA. Both Shane Douglas and Raven are returning to TNA. The nature of their return is as of yet unknown. Their contract status is also unknown. There is also no further news on Shane Douglas' proposed final ECW reunion show--N2R: The Final Chairshot--or how his and Raven's return to TNA might affect the show.
Also, TNA has apparently decided to bring back wrestling to their Knockout's Division. Recently we have been subject to boring matches featuring Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, Awesome Kong, and ODB. While some of the TNA KNockouts are good wrestlers, they have not been putting on very good matches lately. Hopefully TNA's most recent Knockouts signing will change that. Former WWE Women's Champion Victoria has signed with TNA and should be making her debut within the next few weeks.
Also, TNA has apparently decided to bring back wrestling to their Knockout's Division. Recently we have been subject to boring matches featuring Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, Awesome Kong, and ODB. While some of the TNA KNockouts are good wrestlers, they have not been putting on very good matches lately. Hopefully TNA's most recent Knockouts signing will change that. Former WWE Women's Champion Victoria has signed with TNA and should be making her debut within the next few weeks.
Johnny Devine Talks Dark Matches
CLICK HERE to see another part of the Johnny Devine/WrestleZone shoot interview. In this clip, Devine talks about working dark matches in WWE and ECW (Paul Heyman's ECW, not Vince's) back in 200 and 2001.
Johnny Devine Talks Team Canada and Teddy Hart
CLICK HERE to veiw another part of teh WrestleZone/Johnny Devine shoot interview. In this video, Johnny talks about his feelings on Team Canada in TNA, and also about the extremely talented Teddy Hart.
Monday, May 25, 2009
TNA Sacrifice 2009
1: Bashir & MCMGs vs. Eric Young & Lethal Consequences (8/10)
While this match was very well wrestled, there was no real build-up to the match or reason for it to be on PPV. TNA has spent so much time setting up the 4 way main event of this PPV that the rest of the matches on the card were just not adequately addressed.
The Motor City Machine Guns are very talented in the ring, when they actually slow down a little bit and wrestle. Faster is not necessarily better. As talented as these guys are, the backstage big shots in TNA can’t seem to find anything to do with them. If they are the best tag team in TNA, as many people claim, why not put them into a feud with 3D and Deer Money? Instead they are allied with Shawn Diavari (Sheik Abdul Bashir). It just doesn’t make sense to me. Frankly, I’m kind of sick of these two guys as a tag team. They are incredibly talented as a team, but they are also very talented as singles competitors. Sabin vs. Shelley will eventually happen, and for me, the sooner the better.
2: Daffney vs. Taylor Wild - Monster’s Ball (2/10)
While I was impressed--marginally--with Taylor Wild’s performance in this match, it was still bad. The match barely lasted five minutes. This match was nothing more than another link in the chain of the asinine Abyss/Dr. Stevie storyline. Why don’t they just put Abyss up in a dress and have him ride a unicycle around the Impact Zone. The only good thing about this match was that we did see Abyss deliver the choke slam on Dr. Stevie into the tacks. Hopefully this will mean a return to violence for Abyss, because I’m to sure that he can be repackaged and still be successful.
3: Christopher Daniels vs. Suicide - X Division Title (10/10)
Daniels vs. Suicide is the best wrestled match I’ve seen in all of TNA--including TV, PPV, and web match exclusives--in a long damn time. I don’t like the Suicide character. I think it’s ridiculous to have a videogame character as the X Division Champion. But obviously both Daniels and Franky Kazarian are world class pro wrestlers. That’s right folks, Kaz is Suicide (as if you hadn’t already figured it out). The interference by the MCMGs and the subsequent use of the old 5 more minutes gimmicks was executed perfectly to further push Daniels as a returning baby face. This is the first instance in quite some time that a TNA match has left me saying, “I want more.”
4. Angelina Love vs. Awesome Kong - Knockout’s Title (1/10)
The best word to describe this match is boring. The whole idea of a 118 pound Angelina Love defeating a 280 pound Awesome Kong is ridiculous to begin with, but the cliché heel chicanery that was used by Love to pick up the win was overkill, as was the beat down after the match.
A question that this match, and every Awesome Kong match for that matter, brings up for me is; why is Melissa Anderson (Cheerleader Melissa) acting as Kong’s valet instead of as an in-ring competitor? Melisa Anderson is a very talented wrestler. She is not a talented actress. Her Syrian accent is not in any way passable. This is yet another TNA personnel move that I don’t understand in the least.
5. Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash (6/10)
This match did an okay job of selling the Samoa Joe/Nation of Violence gimmick. I will give it to Nash, he put on as good a match as can really be expected of him these days. Also, I have to give it to him for being willing to sell for Joe. This match was not the best as far as actual wrestling goes, but it served it’s purpose.
6. Beer Money Inc. vs. British Invasion - Team 3D Tag Team Invitational Tournament Finals (10/10)
First off, the build-up for this match was pretty dumb. Seeing Team 3d being pushed as such gracious baby faces after so long as vicious heels doesn’t really work for me. I also don’t find the British Invasion to be that entertaining. Brutus Magnus doesn’t strike me as being an excellent wrestler. I think the exact opposite of Doug Williams. He is great, but I would like to see him get a singles push. The man is 35 years old, and if he doesn’t get a descent singles push now, he may never get it.
With all of the above having been said, this was an excellent match. In fact, I think it may be the best match I have seen either of these teams wrestle. Robert Roode was the most entertaining he has ever been. James Storm’s skin-the-cat-with-beer-in-his-mouth spot was entertaining and the spot with the super kick into the briefcase that ended the match was also good.
While this match was very good, I don’t think it established TNA Wrestling as the best in tag team wrestling. Nor does it change the fact that tag team wrestling is a dying art.
7. Booker T vs. A.J. Styles - TNA Legends Title (6/10)
First off, the idea of the Legends Title is idiotic. I wouldn’t exactly refer to Booker T as a legend. He is a multiple time Tag Team Title holder, a former World Champion, and U.S. Champion, but he has never seemed like a great wrestler to me. I think that the only real legends TNA have are Mick Foley and Sting.
In the history of the I Quit match, there are many memorable matches: Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum T.A., Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk, Rock vs. Mankind, John Zandig vs. Wife beater (from CZW), and more. This I Quit match was more in the vain of Flair vs. Funk, but not quite as good. While the match was well-wrestled, the level of violence was not what it needed to be for a type of match that really is the be-all end-all of specialty matches. Also, the ending (which featured the utterly useless Jenna Morasca) was disgusting.
8. Mick Foley vs. Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle - TNA heavyweight Title (10/10)
This match reads like a Who’s Who of professional wrestling. Sting and Foley are living legends. Angle and Jarrett are both great wrestlers. But coming in, I was not expecting very much out of this match. Foley is--to be blatantly honest--out of shape and beaten from a long career of extreme matches. Stinger is still great in the ring, up until about the twenty-five minute mark of a match, then his age starts to show. Jarrett is a good wrestler, but one of his matches is much like any other. Kurt Angle is without a doubt the best pure wrestler in the match, but his past neck injuries are always there in the background. It makes me wonder exactly how much Kurt is holding back these days.
The reality of it is, the match went far above and beyond my expectations. This was a great match. Jarrett put on a good performance. Angel held nothing back. Sting has still got it. Even Foley looked a bit like his old self. Even the ending, Sting becoming the new leader of the MEM, was not what I expected.
Overall (53/80)
This is the first TNA PPV I have seen in quite a while that I actually enjoyed watching. With the exception of a few bad matches, the card was very good. The Daniels vs. Suicide match took me back to before the “big stars” came to TNA, back to a time when TNA really felt like it was all about the wrestling and not about the star power. Most of the in-ring action was so damn good that I actually found don West’s horrible heel announcer commentary tolerable. Here’s hoping that TNA can put on some good Impact broadcast in the near future and that Slamiversary is as good as this year’s Sacrifice PPV.
While this match was very well wrestled, there was no real build-up to the match or reason for it to be on PPV. TNA has spent so much time setting up the 4 way main event of this PPV that the rest of the matches on the card were just not adequately addressed.
The Motor City Machine Guns are very talented in the ring, when they actually slow down a little bit and wrestle. Faster is not necessarily better. As talented as these guys are, the backstage big shots in TNA can’t seem to find anything to do with them. If they are the best tag team in TNA, as many people claim, why not put them into a feud with 3D and Deer Money? Instead they are allied with Shawn Diavari (Sheik Abdul Bashir). It just doesn’t make sense to me. Frankly, I’m kind of sick of these two guys as a tag team. They are incredibly talented as a team, but they are also very talented as singles competitors. Sabin vs. Shelley will eventually happen, and for me, the sooner the better.
2: Daffney vs. Taylor Wild - Monster’s Ball (2/10)
While I was impressed--marginally--with Taylor Wild’s performance in this match, it was still bad. The match barely lasted five minutes. This match was nothing more than another link in the chain of the asinine Abyss/Dr. Stevie storyline. Why don’t they just put Abyss up in a dress and have him ride a unicycle around the Impact Zone. The only good thing about this match was that we did see Abyss deliver the choke slam on Dr. Stevie into the tacks. Hopefully this will mean a return to violence for Abyss, because I’m to sure that he can be repackaged and still be successful.
3: Christopher Daniels vs. Suicide - X Division Title (10/10)
Daniels vs. Suicide is the best wrestled match I’ve seen in all of TNA--including TV, PPV, and web match exclusives--in a long damn time. I don’t like the Suicide character. I think it’s ridiculous to have a videogame character as the X Division Champion. But obviously both Daniels and Franky Kazarian are world class pro wrestlers. That’s right folks, Kaz is Suicide (as if you hadn’t already figured it out). The interference by the MCMGs and the subsequent use of the old 5 more minutes gimmicks was executed perfectly to further push Daniels as a returning baby face. This is the first instance in quite some time that a TNA match has left me saying, “I want more.”
4. Angelina Love vs. Awesome Kong - Knockout’s Title (1/10)
The best word to describe this match is boring. The whole idea of a 118 pound Angelina Love defeating a 280 pound Awesome Kong is ridiculous to begin with, but the cliché heel chicanery that was used by Love to pick up the win was overkill, as was the beat down after the match.
A question that this match, and every Awesome Kong match for that matter, brings up for me is; why is Melissa Anderson (Cheerleader Melissa) acting as Kong’s valet instead of as an in-ring competitor? Melisa Anderson is a very talented wrestler. She is not a talented actress. Her Syrian accent is not in any way passable. This is yet another TNA personnel move that I don’t understand in the least.
5. Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash (6/10)
This match did an okay job of selling the Samoa Joe/Nation of Violence gimmick. I will give it to Nash, he put on as good a match as can really be expected of him these days. Also, I have to give it to him for being willing to sell for Joe. This match was not the best as far as actual wrestling goes, but it served it’s purpose.
6. Beer Money Inc. vs. British Invasion - Team 3D Tag Team Invitational Tournament Finals (10/10)
First off, the build-up for this match was pretty dumb. Seeing Team 3d being pushed as such gracious baby faces after so long as vicious heels doesn’t really work for me. I also don’t find the British Invasion to be that entertaining. Brutus Magnus doesn’t strike me as being an excellent wrestler. I think the exact opposite of Doug Williams. He is great, but I would like to see him get a singles push. The man is 35 years old, and if he doesn’t get a descent singles push now, he may never get it.
With all of the above having been said, this was an excellent match. In fact, I think it may be the best match I have seen either of these teams wrestle. Robert Roode was the most entertaining he has ever been. James Storm’s skin-the-cat-with-beer-in-his-mouth spot was entertaining and the spot with the super kick into the briefcase that ended the match was also good.
While this match was very good, I don’t think it established TNA Wrestling as the best in tag team wrestling. Nor does it change the fact that tag team wrestling is a dying art.
7. Booker T vs. A.J. Styles - TNA Legends Title (6/10)
First off, the idea of the Legends Title is idiotic. I wouldn’t exactly refer to Booker T as a legend. He is a multiple time Tag Team Title holder, a former World Champion, and U.S. Champion, but he has never seemed like a great wrestler to me. I think that the only real legends TNA have are Mick Foley and Sting.
In the history of the I Quit match, there are many memorable matches: Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum T.A., Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk, Rock vs. Mankind, John Zandig vs. Wife beater (from CZW), and more. This I Quit match was more in the vain of Flair vs. Funk, but not quite as good. While the match was well-wrestled, the level of violence was not what it needed to be for a type of match that really is the be-all end-all of specialty matches. Also, the ending (which featured the utterly useless Jenna Morasca) was disgusting.
8. Mick Foley vs. Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle - TNA heavyweight Title (10/10)
This match reads like a Who’s Who of professional wrestling. Sting and Foley are living legends. Angle and Jarrett are both great wrestlers. But coming in, I was not expecting very much out of this match. Foley is--to be blatantly honest--out of shape and beaten from a long career of extreme matches. Stinger is still great in the ring, up until about the twenty-five minute mark of a match, then his age starts to show. Jarrett is a good wrestler, but one of his matches is much like any other. Kurt Angle is without a doubt the best pure wrestler in the match, but his past neck injuries are always there in the background. It makes me wonder exactly how much Kurt is holding back these days.
The reality of it is, the match went far above and beyond my expectations. This was a great match. Jarrett put on a good performance. Angel held nothing back. Sting has still got it. Even Foley looked a bit like his old self. Even the ending, Sting becoming the new leader of the MEM, was not what I expected.
Overall (53/80)
This is the first TNA PPV I have seen in quite a while that I actually enjoyed watching. With the exception of a few bad matches, the card was very good. The Daniels vs. Suicide match took me back to before the “big stars” came to TNA, back to a time when TNA really felt like it was all about the wrestling and not about the star power. Most of the in-ring action was so damn good that I actually found don West’s horrible heel announcer commentary tolerable. Here’s hoping that TNA can put on some good Impact broadcast in the near future and that Slamiversary is as good as this year’s Sacrifice PPV.
Friday, May 22, 2009
What Happened to the Wrestlign in Wrestling?
Here is a very interesting fact about this week’s ECW show as compared to this week's TNA Impact broadcast.
This week on ECW, there was just under twenty five minutes of in-ring action. By that I mean actual wrestling, not skits or promos that took place in the ring.
This week's TNA Impact broadcast featured--and keep in mind that it is a 2 hours show--just under 18 minutes of in-ring action.
Hence the title of this post. So what the hell has happened to the wrestling in the pro wrestling. WWE, for all it's numerous booking faults as of late still devotes a majority of their programming to actual in-ring action. Whether or not that action is good or not, that's debatable. However, this week's TNA broadcast was dominated by poorly stupid vignettes and unnecessary promos. Let's recap.
I'll recap the things that I saw and deemed as unnecessary. Keep in mind, I didn't see the whole show because I was flipping back and forth between Impact and Ricky Gervais on HBO. I was more entertained by Ricky.
First off, the horrible--and incredibly cliché--contract signing between Awesome Kong and Angelina Love. I'll be very honest, the only thing that kept my attention during this segment was Angelina Love's low cut shirt. The part at then end of the segment when Kong powerbombed Rudy Charles through a table was mildly amusing as well. For the most part, I could have wasted my time on more entertaining things.
Second, the vignette of Kevin Nash and Booker T training for the upcoming I Quit match was useless. In fact, I have objections to the entire match itself. It's more than likely that A.J. Styles--one of the best wrestlers in the world today--will be stuck selling for an aging and an increasingly unentertaining Booker T. If A.J. Styles has to say "I quit" to Booker T, I would recommend he negotiate out of his TNA contract and give Vince's promotion a shot, because he's getting screwed.
Well, Mick Foley promised us the most outrageous segment ever to air on Impact, and he delivered in spades. He should have mentioned that it would also bored, annoy, and disgust all of the long time Foley fans. Mick Foley "wrestled" a cardboard cutout of Rocky Balboa. Why? The worst part of it all was that Foley hinted about Terry Funk all damn night. This has now led to further speculation that Terry Funk could work some shows for TNA. TERRY, DON'T DO IT!!! Not even Terry Funk can help the idiots booking for TNA. Maybe he can beat some damn sense back into Mick Foley, but I doubt it.
While WWE's product as of now is very imperfect, there is still a lot of in-ring action to be seen. Some of that action is very good in fact. You can't help but smile when John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, CM Punk, Charlie Haas, or Evan Borne (Matt Sydel) step into the ring. Unfortunately, I cannot now say--nor have I been able to for quite some time--anything remotely as kind about TNA.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Is a Little Respect Too Much to Ask?
It seems more and more to me that pro wrestling is the Rodney Dangerfield of both the athletic and entertainment worlds. By that I mean that the wrestling business “don’t get no respect.” The recent controversy—if you care enough to call it that—over the double booking of the Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA playoff game and WWE Raw has created a very childish shouting match between the NBA and WWE. While I usually tend not to make a big deal out of these things, it does bring up a persistent point; the professional wrestling business gets no damn respect from the pro sports world or the entertainment world.
Let’s start by looking at the facts. Professional wrestlers work much more than any other professional athletes, especially those in the WWE or TNA. These men work year round, while no other professional athlete can claim that. Not even mixed martial artists hold as grueling a work and travel schedule as professional wrestlers. Professional baseball players (take note that I am a baseball fan) work six months a year, seven if their team gets into the playoffs and makes it to the World Series. Pro basketball players also work six to seven months a year. Pro football players have a schedule of five to six months. Hockey players, soccer players, nobody has as grueling a work and travel schedule as pro wrestlers.
Professional wrestling takes a huge toll on a person’s body. These men are constantly being dropped on theirs backs, heads, arm, legs, and pretty much any other body part you can name, and yet they are not recognized as being “true athletes.” It’s all “just a show.” I think maybe if you asked Terry Taylor about his multiple knee surgeries, he would have a few choice words about those detractions. Then maybe you could go ask Tommy Dreamer about his broken back, multiple dislocated shoulders, multiple broken noses, and—best of all—his ruptured testicle, he would probably have a few things to say as well.
These are incredibly skilled and practiced individuals—men and women. They work for years to hone their craft. They work while they are injured. A few years ago, the marginally talented retards on SportsCenter made a big deal out of the fact that Curt Schilling pitched in the World Series with an injured toe. “You should have seen all the blood on his sock!” Professional wrestlers work through much more than an injured toe. It’s not uncommon for wrestlers to work through cracked ribs, pulled muscles, enflamed tendons, concussions, bone spurs, and any number of injuries that would send the average baseball, football, or basketball player whining to their coach.
Professional wrestler, despite their heavier schedule and the extremely physical nature of their work, don’t get paid even half as much as most other athletes. Alex Rodriguez is making twenty plus millions dollars a year, while the best of the best in the wrestling business are making maybe three million dollars tops. Go out and ask any indy wrestler how much they make. It’s chicken feed.
Not only do professional wrestlers have to go out and put their bodies on the line, they are expected to be competent actors as well. Ask anybody who’s anybody in the wrestling business these days, if you can’t cut a good promo, you’ll never make it big. Professional wrestlers have to put on a good performance not only on TV, but at house shows as well, and they sure as hell aren’t making a million dollars an episode like the cast of Friends (which was a crappy show anyway).
And here’s the big one. There is no union for pro wrestlers. Their employer can screw them at any time. When it happens, they end up paying their own legal bills, their own medical expenses, and a lot more. Chris Candido died from a simple blood clot because he didn’t have the money to stay in the hospital. Raven and several other superstars financed and lost their lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE. They tried to change the status of wrestlers form independent contractors to full time employees, which would have given the wrestlers on the WWE roster more rights and privileges, not to mention setting a huge precedent for the business in the future. Why did they lose? Maybe it was because they had to pay their own legal bills. They couldn’t afford the kind of lawyers that the WWE can.
Taking all these things into consideration, I don’t ask much. All I want is for the business to be taken seriously, and maybe for people to take me seriously as a fan and student of the wrestling business. I’m tired of getting the looks and remarks from people that classify me as some kind of perpetual child. I’m tired of seeing incredible athletes get made fun of. I’m tired of seeing wrestlers die because nobody will take the business seriously enough to implement stronger drug policies. I’m tired of people demonizing the business because of the way that Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit—in their own right, probably the two best wrestlers to ever live—ended up.
I may be getting into risky territory here, but the whole thing is part of a larger social issue. People make fun of what they don’t understand. They don’t care about things that don’t affect them. When a wrestler dies, nobody but fans and people in the business give a damn. It’s just another joke to the media. This is just a suggestion, but maybe people should try a little more acceptance and a little less ignorance.
Let’s start by looking at the facts. Professional wrestlers work much more than any other professional athletes, especially those in the WWE or TNA. These men work year round, while no other professional athlete can claim that. Not even mixed martial artists hold as grueling a work and travel schedule as professional wrestlers. Professional baseball players (take note that I am a baseball fan) work six months a year, seven if their team gets into the playoffs and makes it to the World Series. Pro basketball players also work six to seven months a year. Pro football players have a schedule of five to six months. Hockey players, soccer players, nobody has as grueling a work and travel schedule as pro wrestlers.
Professional wrestling takes a huge toll on a person’s body. These men are constantly being dropped on theirs backs, heads, arm, legs, and pretty much any other body part you can name, and yet they are not recognized as being “true athletes.” It’s all “just a show.” I think maybe if you asked Terry Taylor about his multiple knee surgeries, he would have a few choice words about those detractions. Then maybe you could go ask Tommy Dreamer about his broken back, multiple dislocated shoulders, multiple broken noses, and—best of all—his ruptured testicle, he would probably have a few things to say as well.
These are incredibly skilled and practiced individuals—men and women. They work for years to hone their craft. They work while they are injured. A few years ago, the marginally talented retards on SportsCenter made a big deal out of the fact that Curt Schilling pitched in the World Series with an injured toe. “You should have seen all the blood on his sock!” Professional wrestlers work through much more than an injured toe. It’s not uncommon for wrestlers to work through cracked ribs, pulled muscles, enflamed tendons, concussions, bone spurs, and any number of injuries that would send the average baseball, football, or basketball player whining to their coach.
Professional wrestler, despite their heavier schedule and the extremely physical nature of their work, don’t get paid even half as much as most other athletes. Alex Rodriguez is making twenty plus millions dollars a year, while the best of the best in the wrestling business are making maybe three million dollars tops. Go out and ask any indy wrestler how much they make. It’s chicken feed.
Not only do professional wrestlers have to go out and put their bodies on the line, they are expected to be competent actors as well. Ask anybody who’s anybody in the wrestling business these days, if you can’t cut a good promo, you’ll never make it big. Professional wrestlers have to put on a good performance not only on TV, but at house shows as well, and they sure as hell aren’t making a million dollars an episode like the cast of Friends (which was a crappy show anyway).
And here’s the big one. There is no union for pro wrestlers. Their employer can screw them at any time. When it happens, they end up paying their own legal bills, their own medical expenses, and a lot more. Chris Candido died from a simple blood clot because he didn’t have the money to stay in the hospital. Raven and several other superstars financed and lost their lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE. They tried to change the status of wrestlers form independent contractors to full time employees, which would have given the wrestlers on the WWE roster more rights and privileges, not to mention setting a huge precedent for the business in the future. Why did they lose? Maybe it was because they had to pay their own legal bills. They couldn’t afford the kind of lawyers that the WWE can.
Taking all these things into consideration, I don’t ask much. All I want is for the business to be taken seriously, and maybe for people to take me seriously as a fan and student of the wrestling business. I’m tired of getting the looks and remarks from people that classify me as some kind of perpetual child. I’m tired of seeing incredible athletes get made fun of. I’m tired of seeing wrestlers die because nobody will take the business seriously enough to implement stronger drug policies. I’m tired of people demonizing the business because of the way that Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit—in their own right, probably the two best wrestlers to ever live—ended up.
I may be getting into risky territory here, but the whole thing is part of a larger social issue. People make fun of what they don’t understand. They don’t care about things that don’t affect them. When a wrestler dies, nobody but fans and people in the business give a damn. It’s just another joke to the media. This is just a suggestion, but maybe people should try a little more acceptance and a little less ignorance.
Johnny Devine Shoots About the Wrestling Biz
Click Here to check out a small part of an exclusive WrestleZone.com shoot interview with former TNA wrestler Johnny Devine. Devine talks about the lack of respect that wrestlers recieve for both "athletes" and "entertainers." Alsi, check back on WrestleZone later in the week for more.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Degeneration Next?
Throughout the past forty years, tag team wrestling has been a staple in the professional wrestling business. The 1970s, 80s, and 90s saw some incredible tag teams. Now, after the millennium, tag team wrestling is a dying art. The WWE is focused on selling poorly crafted generic characters and Hollywood tie-ins, and after TNA broke away from it’s NWA ties, TNA is going in the same direction.While WWE has seen some very good teams in the last ten years--teams like MNM and London & Kendrick for example--the number of those teams is a small one. The Hardy Boyz have split and made lucrative singles careers for themselves. Edge and Christian can no longer be the goofy heels that they were during their run as tag team champs, there characters have changed too much. While a rehashing of the Hardys vs. Edge & Christian feud is probably something to be expected with Christians return to WWE, tag team wrestling is still nearly dead in the WWE. With the recent split of Miz & Morrison, the only cohesive team--and really the only team at all--is the Colon brothers.
While TNA has been making a claim lately that they are the only company that still has good tag team wrestling, the claim rings very hollow in my ears. Yes, they have the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) as well as the team of No Limit, Beer Money, LAX, The British Invasion (real original right?), and Lethal Consequences (catchy but corny), they still aren’t any match for the greats of the past. There is nothing to me that says any of these teams--with the possible exception of LAX and the MCMGs--have any kind of truly cohesive feel to them. Plus, with the garbage that I have to wade through to find any good wrestling in TNA, I’m just not that excited about the company in general these days. I could care less about the British Invasion. I’m sick of the dumb Black Machismo character, Consequences Creed is a corny cliché, Beer Money is boring, Team 3D (always the Dudley Boyz to me) seem to have grown complacent, and putting Eric young together with a minimally repackaged Trevor Murdock does nothing for me.
Ring of Honor is doing their best to keep tag team wrestling alive, but even they aren’t hitting on all cylinders. Steen and El Generico are great and the Briscoes are awesome. While The American Wolves are good in the ring, they don’t measure up to the greats of the past. Danielson and Tyler Black are both fan favorites, but I don’t see them making careers out of tagging with each other. The Vulture Squad--arguably the best cruiserweights in the world today--have broken up and there’s nobody stepping up to fill the void.
Tag team wrestling is just not as important--in the eyes of bookers and storyline writers--as it once was. Teams like the Fabulous Freebirds, The Eliminators, the Hart Foundation (the original Hart Foundation, not the one WWE is getting ready to push), RVD & Sabu, Benoit & Malenko, and tons of other teams are just not to be found these days. Wrestling is increasingly focused on getting more singles competition onto the card. The only tag team matches I see on a consistent basis are ones that unite two or more different singles feuds. It’s always something like Cena and Batista to take on their current rivals Orton and Big Show. Not only are these matches boring, they’re also completely predictable and of absolutely no consequence to anybody. They’re just an easy way to maximize TV time and to bring bad angles together.
While TNA has been making a claim lately that they are the only company that still has good tag team wrestling, the claim rings very hollow in my ears. Yes, they have the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) as well as the team of No Limit, Beer Money, LAX, The British Invasion (real original right?), and Lethal Consequences (catchy but corny), they still aren’t any match for the greats of the past. There is nothing to me that says any of these teams--with the possible exception of LAX and the MCMGs--have any kind of truly cohesive feel to them. Plus, with the garbage that I have to wade through to find any good wrestling in TNA, I’m just not that excited about the company in general these days. I could care less about the British Invasion. I’m sick of the dumb Black Machismo character, Consequences Creed is a corny cliché, Beer Money is boring, Team 3D (always the Dudley Boyz to me) seem to have grown complacent, and putting Eric young together with a minimally repackaged Trevor Murdock does nothing for me.
Ring of Honor is doing their best to keep tag team wrestling alive, but even they aren’t hitting on all cylinders. Steen and El Generico are great and the Briscoes are awesome. While The American Wolves are good in the ring, they don’t measure up to the greats of the past. Danielson and Tyler Black are both fan favorites, but I don’t see them making careers out of tagging with each other. The Vulture Squad--arguably the best cruiserweights in the world today--have broken up and there’s nobody stepping up to fill the void.
Tag team wrestling is just not as important--in the eyes of bookers and storyline writers--as it once was. Teams like the Fabulous Freebirds, The Eliminators, the Hart Foundation (the original Hart Foundation, not the one WWE is getting ready to push), RVD & Sabu, Benoit & Malenko, and tons of other teams are just not to be found these days. Wrestling is increasingly focused on getting more singles competition onto the card. The only tag team matches I see on a consistent basis are ones that unite two or more different singles feuds. It’s always something like Cena and Batista to take on their current rivals Orton and Big Show. Not only are these matches boring, they’re also completely predictable and of absolutely no consequence to anybody. They’re just an easy way to maximize TV time and to bring bad angles together.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
What's the Verdict on Judgment Day?
Coming into WWE Judgment Day 2009, my expectations were fairly low. None of the matches on the card really stood out as being blockbuster matches. While Jericho vs. Mysterio, John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin, and Jeff Hardy vs. Edge held the most potential, none of them really screamed “You must see this!” As it turns out, my expectations were pretty reasonable. With the exception of the three matches I just mentioned, most of the PPV was boring.
I have implemented a fairly standard 10 point rating system for each match. I’m not bothering to rate the vignettes, because they usually are just a waste of time.
CM Punk vs. Umaga (4/10):
While I am a huge fan of CM Punk, and have been since his great feud with Raven in 2003, I wasn’t very excited about his match with Umaga. For the most part, I feel like Umaga is just a Samoan version of Yokozuna. Despite that detraction, I was expecting more out of the match than I got. Since coming back from his injury, I have noticed that Umaga looks much more trim and fit than he did before the injury. He has looked good the last few weeks. However, he has only been doing run-ins, and it is hard to tell how good a guy is going to look in an actual match from that kind of limited action.
I didn’t feel that the match was either horrible or spectacular. All in all, it was mediocre at best. The styles of Punk and Umaga didn’t do much to compliment one another. Punk got a predictably large pop from his hometown audience, but other than at the end of the match--when Punk had a descent flurry of action--they didn’t seem all that into the match. In the end, Umaga can up with the win via Samoan Spike and three count.
Vignette 1:
Chavo Guerrero (who has seemingly been neutered of his Guerreroness) entered Vicki Guerrero’s office to inform her that John Cena had been medically cleared to wrestle. First off, why was this necessary? Anybody who bothered to watch SmackDown already knew Cena was medically cleared. From there, we had the privilege of hearing Big Show talk about how he was going to end Cena’s career, and how bad it would be for RAW, particularly since Triple H and HBK are already out of action. After his useless rant, Show left to prepare for his match and Edge entered to speak with Vicki. As I said earlier, these vignettes tend to be a huge waste of time.
ECW Title - Jack Swagger vs. Christian (5/10):
Jack Swagger and Christian had an excellent match at Backlash. In fact, it was one of the only matches that made me feel I was not wasting my time in watching the PPV. I came into the rematch at Judgment Day expecting more of the same. I didn’t get it. The match was wrestled well enough, but did not have the same energy as the match at Backlash. The pace was very methodical, which is not a problem in itself, but when you add the fact that the crowd just didn’t seem to care, it made for a boring match. Christian received a few small pops during the match and a round of cheers upon winning, but other than that, it seemed the fans looked at the match much in the same way I did…as filler.
Vignette 2:
This vignette was yet another waste of time. Edge chastised Chavo Guerrero for not intervening when Santino Morella called Vicki Guerrero a pig on RAW. Chavo, mercifully, had nothing to say. End of vignette.
Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison (6/10):
This match was one of the three I was most looking forward to. Both men are extremely talented athletes. Benjamin seems to be making progress of his mic skills, slowly but surely. Morrison is--at least in my mind--a future Heavyweight Champion. WWE needs more athletes like these two guys. While I am a big fan of both of these men, I will admit that they are not superstars on the microphone. Both men are much better at the in-ring part of the business than the acting part. This is something that seems increasingly true with many young up and comers in professional wrestling. But all of this stuff is material for another piece that I am working on.
The match itself was very good. It started out very methodical, with Benjamin controlling the pace. Benjamin, as always, showed some great technical wrestling skills and was able to ground Morrison for several minutes, effectively neutralizing his offense…and making the match a bit boring. When the pendulum of momentum swung the way of John Morrison, things heated up. Both guys really kicked it into gear and started going all out. Charlie Haas, who was present in Benjamin’s corner, tried to involve himself in the match and was promptly taken out by some innovative J-Mo offense. Morrison picked up the victory with his Starship Pain finisher.
Miz promo:
Dusty Rhodes, head booker on RAW, has apparently taken a shine to Mike Mizanin. Miz has been getting quite a bit of face time on RAW. He also got quite a bit of time on the Judgment Day PPV. The segment featured Miz again challenging John Cena. Cena did not come out to the ring--but something tells me that sooner or later he will--and instead Miz moved his focus onto taunting the Chicago audience. Miz said that the audience sounded like ducks when they started up the ever-present “What?’ chant. Miz then turned his attention onto Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, who was in the front row at ringside. After a few malignant, but not entirely untrue cracks at Soriano (which I found very funny, even as a Cubs fan myself), Santino Morella entered the fray.
In a fairly funny bit, Santino explained how some of the WWE stars looked very much like animals. Vicki Guerrero was described as being a pig, Vladamir Koslov was referred to as having a striking resemblance to Sam the American Eagle, and Miz was referred to as a jackass. While the “You’re a jackass” bit is used very often, it almost always gets a reaction from the crowd. Miz an Santino then proceeded to have the male equivalent of a cat fight, ending with Santino laid out on the may.
Enter Chavo Guerrero, who executed a frog splash on a prone Santion, apparently in retaliation for his unkind words about Vicki.
The segment was not particularly original, but I was entertained. Santino Morella is not much fun to watch in the ring, but he is very good as a comedy wrestler. I am also happy to see Miz getting face time. Three years ago, I hate Mike Mizanin, but he has progressed so much that I actually enjoy watching him now. I think Miz and MVP could have some good matches with the United States Title as the fulcrum of the feud.
Jericho promo:
While Jericho is an excellent wrestler, his promos as of late absolutely bore and annoy the living hell out of me. Jericho’s current gimmick is that of a very generic heel, granted a generic heel with a larger than average vocabulary, but a generic heel nonetheless. While Jericho is great at playing the pretentious jackass, I’m not that entertained by it.
Intercontinental Title - Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (6/10):
This was another match that I expected good things from, and while it wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t great either. As with every match up to this point, the crowd seemed only limitedly interested in the match. Rey got his obligatory pops and Jericho his obligatory boos. In the end there was a 619 and a pin. As a side note, I think Rey really needs a new finisher. I am sick and damn tired of the 619.
WWE Title - Batista vs. Randy Orton (2/10):
There are many words that I could use to describe this match. I think that atrocious is the most apt. WWE wanted us to believe that there was white heat behind this match. There was all the bull about how Batista “loathes” Randy Orton. The match itself certainly did nothing to support that statement. You would think that two guys who “hate” each other so much would have come out of the gates, steaming from the nose like two bulls. Nope, not at all. The match was downright boring. It is yet more proof of the limited talent of Dave Batista. It is also more proof that, while Randy Orton is talented, he is not yet ready to be the “franchise guy” in WWE.
You might ask me what disgusted me most about the match and I’d say to you, “Ric Flair.” Yes, that’s right, Flair still won’t hang it up. The end of the match featured a run-in by Ric “My Ego Is So Big That I Don’t Care How Much I Tarnish My Legacy And Ignore My Son’s Drug Problem” Flair. I’ll save my criticism of Flair for an entirely different, and potentially much longer, rant.
To make the long and boring storing shorter, Orton pulled the same cheap heel garbage he always does. He tried to get himself disqualified and counted out and it worked. Then we got to see Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. sell for a tired old egomaniac.
Big Show vs. John Cena (0/10):
I’m not going to dignify this horrifically bad performance by writing about it at any length. It was bad and boring, the average John Cena match.
World title - Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (7/10):
Again, this was one of the matches I actually wanted to see. For the most part, it did a descent job of living up to potential. There were a couple big spots that added quite a bit to the match. However, after the problems Jeff Hardy has had in his personal life as of the last year or so, I’m not sure his head is completely in the game. It doesn’t show as much as you might expect it to, but it is noticeable. Edge, who I find boring most of the time, did an okay job in this match as well.
The most I can say about this PPV is that it was mediocre. There was very little time to build any kind of heat or real anticipation between Backlash and Judgment Day. I would recommend that WWE go to a 6 PPV (one every two months or so) schedule, but I know that because of the bottom line ($$$) that is very unlikely.
I have implemented a fairly standard 10 point rating system for each match. I’m not bothering to rate the vignettes, because they usually are just a waste of time.
CM Punk vs. Umaga (4/10):
While I am a huge fan of CM Punk, and have been since his great feud with Raven in 2003, I wasn’t very excited about his match with Umaga. For the most part, I feel like Umaga is just a Samoan version of Yokozuna. Despite that detraction, I was expecting more out of the match than I got. Since coming back from his injury, I have noticed that Umaga looks much more trim and fit than he did before the injury. He has looked good the last few weeks. However, he has only been doing run-ins, and it is hard to tell how good a guy is going to look in an actual match from that kind of limited action.
I didn’t feel that the match was either horrible or spectacular. All in all, it was mediocre at best. The styles of Punk and Umaga didn’t do much to compliment one another. Punk got a predictably large pop from his hometown audience, but other than at the end of the match--when Punk had a descent flurry of action--they didn’t seem all that into the match. In the end, Umaga can up with the win via Samoan Spike and three count.
Vignette 1:
Chavo Guerrero (who has seemingly been neutered of his Guerreroness) entered Vicki Guerrero’s office to inform her that John Cena had been medically cleared to wrestle. First off, why was this necessary? Anybody who bothered to watch SmackDown already knew Cena was medically cleared. From there, we had the privilege of hearing Big Show talk about how he was going to end Cena’s career, and how bad it would be for RAW, particularly since Triple H and HBK are already out of action. After his useless rant, Show left to prepare for his match and Edge entered to speak with Vicki. As I said earlier, these vignettes tend to be a huge waste of time.
ECW Title - Jack Swagger vs. Christian (5/10):
Jack Swagger and Christian had an excellent match at Backlash. In fact, it was one of the only matches that made me feel I was not wasting my time in watching the PPV. I came into the rematch at Judgment Day expecting more of the same. I didn’t get it. The match was wrestled well enough, but did not have the same energy as the match at Backlash. The pace was very methodical, which is not a problem in itself, but when you add the fact that the crowd just didn’t seem to care, it made for a boring match. Christian received a few small pops during the match and a round of cheers upon winning, but other than that, it seemed the fans looked at the match much in the same way I did…as filler.
Vignette 2:
This vignette was yet another waste of time. Edge chastised Chavo Guerrero for not intervening when Santino Morella called Vicki Guerrero a pig on RAW. Chavo, mercifully, had nothing to say. End of vignette.
Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison (6/10):
This match was one of the three I was most looking forward to. Both men are extremely talented athletes. Benjamin seems to be making progress of his mic skills, slowly but surely. Morrison is--at least in my mind--a future Heavyweight Champion. WWE needs more athletes like these two guys. While I am a big fan of both of these men, I will admit that they are not superstars on the microphone. Both men are much better at the in-ring part of the business than the acting part. This is something that seems increasingly true with many young up and comers in professional wrestling. But all of this stuff is material for another piece that I am working on.
The match itself was very good. It started out very methodical, with Benjamin controlling the pace. Benjamin, as always, showed some great technical wrestling skills and was able to ground Morrison for several minutes, effectively neutralizing his offense…and making the match a bit boring. When the pendulum of momentum swung the way of John Morrison, things heated up. Both guys really kicked it into gear and started going all out. Charlie Haas, who was present in Benjamin’s corner, tried to involve himself in the match and was promptly taken out by some innovative J-Mo offense. Morrison picked up the victory with his Starship Pain finisher.
Miz promo:
Dusty Rhodes, head booker on RAW, has apparently taken a shine to Mike Mizanin. Miz has been getting quite a bit of face time on RAW. He also got quite a bit of time on the Judgment Day PPV. The segment featured Miz again challenging John Cena. Cena did not come out to the ring--but something tells me that sooner or later he will--and instead Miz moved his focus onto taunting the Chicago audience. Miz said that the audience sounded like ducks when they started up the ever-present “What?’ chant. Miz then turned his attention onto Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, who was in the front row at ringside. After a few malignant, but not entirely untrue cracks at Soriano (which I found very funny, even as a Cubs fan myself), Santino Morella entered the fray.
In a fairly funny bit, Santino explained how some of the WWE stars looked very much like animals. Vicki Guerrero was described as being a pig, Vladamir Koslov was referred to as having a striking resemblance to Sam the American Eagle, and Miz was referred to as a jackass. While the “You’re a jackass” bit is used very often, it almost always gets a reaction from the crowd. Miz an Santino then proceeded to have the male equivalent of a cat fight, ending with Santino laid out on the may.
Enter Chavo Guerrero, who executed a frog splash on a prone Santion, apparently in retaliation for his unkind words about Vicki.
The segment was not particularly original, but I was entertained. Santino Morella is not much fun to watch in the ring, but he is very good as a comedy wrestler. I am also happy to see Miz getting face time. Three years ago, I hate Mike Mizanin, but he has progressed so much that I actually enjoy watching him now. I think Miz and MVP could have some good matches with the United States Title as the fulcrum of the feud.
Jericho promo:
While Jericho is an excellent wrestler, his promos as of late absolutely bore and annoy the living hell out of me. Jericho’s current gimmick is that of a very generic heel, granted a generic heel with a larger than average vocabulary, but a generic heel nonetheless. While Jericho is great at playing the pretentious jackass, I’m not that entertained by it.
Intercontinental Title - Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (6/10):
This was another match that I expected good things from, and while it wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t great either. As with every match up to this point, the crowd seemed only limitedly interested in the match. Rey got his obligatory pops and Jericho his obligatory boos. In the end there was a 619 and a pin. As a side note, I think Rey really needs a new finisher. I am sick and damn tired of the 619.
WWE Title - Batista vs. Randy Orton (2/10):
There are many words that I could use to describe this match. I think that atrocious is the most apt. WWE wanted us to believe that there was white heat behind this match. There was all the bull about how Batista “loathes” Randy Orton. The match itself certainly did nothing to support that statement. You would think that two guys who “hate” each other so much would have come out of the gates, steaming from the nose like two bulls. Nope, not at all. The match was downright boring. It is yet more proof of the limited talent of Dave Batista. It is also more proof that, while Randy Orton is talented, he is not yet ready to be the “franchise guy” in WWE.
You might ask me what disgusted me most about the match and I’d say to you, “Ric Flair.” Yes, that’s right, Flair still won’t hang it up. The end of the match featured a run-in by Ric “My Ego Is So Big That I Don’t Care How Much I Tarnish My Legacy And Ignore My Son’s Drug Problem” Flair. I’ll save my criticism of Flair for an entirely different, and potentially much longer, rant.
To make the long and boring storing shorter, Orton pulled the same cheap heel garbage he always does. He tried to get himself disqualified and counted out and it worked. Then we got to see Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. sell for a tired old egomaniac.
Big Show vs. John Cena (0/10):
I’m not going to dignify this horrifically bad performance by writing about it at any length. It was bad and boring, the average John Cena match.
World title - Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (7/10):
Again, this was one of the matches I actually wanted to see. For the most part, it did a descent job of living up to potential. There were a couple big spots that added quite a bit to the match. However, after the problems Jeff Hardy has had in his personal life as of the last year or so, I’m not sure his head is completely in the game. It doesn’t show as much as you might expect it to, but it is noticeable. Edge, who I find boring most of the time, did an okay job in this match as well.
The most I can say about this PPV is that it was mediocre. There was very little time to build any kind of heat or real anticipation between Backlash and Judgment Day. I would recommend that WWE go to a 6 PPV (one every two months or so) schedule, but I know that because of the bottom line ($$$) that is very unlikely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)