Ok, so here is how this is going to work. Lisa and I sat down, and watched television from 9-1127 this evening. Many things were said, some of which cannot be repeated here, since my boss reads this at times. But either way, this is what went down hour by hour, minute by minute.
9:03- We start off by giving TNA the benefit of the doubt and letting them have at it first. I'm already disappointed, as the first thing I'm seeing is an out of shape Hulk Hogan and a poorly used Abyss. They're cutting a promo, it doesn't matter what about since this is TNA and its all going to change by next week anyways, and they're doing the main event right off the bat. WHY IS THIS BEiNG DONE FOR FREE!?!? The match is god awful from what I see here, and then the lights are out and Sting attacks Hogan, thus I would assume making him the heel. Lisa makes the brilliant observation that, and I'm quoting now, 'This is sad and pathetic. I'm actually embarrassed FOR them. It's like someone is pulling the cork out of the funnell and the Hogan and Flair Legacy is pouring out the bottom and running down the drain.' Hogan is busted open and I'm in flip mode, especially since they just remade the Main Event for later tonight, the exact same match but with no dq. What a f'ing waste...
9:15- I DVR'd RAW, so I'm starting from the beginning, which isnt all that far ahead anyways.Undertaker and Shawn Micheals are cutting a great promo, certainly bringing me more and more into thier feud leading to the big event, just a few weeks away. Man, my beer even tastes better when Monday Night Raw is on. It's going to take a serious amount of commercials to get me back into TNA.
9:35- Well, the promo is over, and with commercials on, I'm heading back to TNA. I really wish I wasn't. Dixie Carter is playing Vagina McMahon, getting in Sting's face, cutting a promo, and Sting puts his hands on her. Isn't there something in the Bible that says no go on that one, Stinger? I feel so bad for Tazz, he is totally being WASTED here, with no real production, he needs direction to move his commentary, and TNA can't provide that direction, especially with Mike Tenay on the stick with him. It looks like AJ Styles is trying to get heel heat Punk Style, since he's growing out his chest hair. WTF is that all about?
9:41- Chris Daniels, Kazarian, and Doug Williams is a pretty good match. I'm only watching this because RAW has a Divas match on that's just faces and heels and doesnt do a thing for the storyline. Shannon Moore does a run in on Doug Williams, and gets a decent pop. I guess he's back to being the Prince of Punk, but I hope that something actually gets done with him this time. He's a decent enough worker, he just needs time to expand his own personal brand. Dixie came on the mic to say Sting is wrestling a mystery man tonight. #$@! she is terrible on the mic.
10:00- RVD just beat Sting. Do I care? Kinda. Am I supposed to? Absolutly. Does the fan base care in TNA? Certainly, it's someone new for them to slowly ruin.
10:03- So because of Sting, I missed Miz Show taking on Morrison and Truth in a Mania Preview. I'm kinda ok with that, since I would rather see what the four of them can bring come the end of March. Lisa doesnt like Miz Show or these 'mashup' tag teams. She feels it should be real teams, like Legacy, Hart Dynasty, or Cryme Tyme.
10:14- Still on RAW. Legacy vs Orton is awesome and is definetly making me give a hoot about DiBiase vs. Orton at Mania. I have to think, and this could be a spoiler alert but, Rhodes is going to turn on DiBiase and act as Randy's underling. But that's just me.
10:17- I accidently flipped to TNA and JESUS, I wish I hadn't. I jsut caught a glimpse of Erik Young, whom I interviewed in Hamilton wayyyyy back when he was Showtime, and he's taking on X-Pac and I dont give a flying !@#*. They look terrible, and I can't get back fast enough.
10:19- Legacy won the match, and from what I saw, it was awesome. Josh interviews Batista backstage and he says he wont run in on Cena's match later. Yeah, RIGHT. We also get a look at Triple H, and he's looking pissed on his way down to the ring.
10:26- I have totally gone thru commercials to keep watching for Triple H. Hunter's promo is great, but I know the real story. He 'faded into obscurity'? I'm certani it had something to do with taking the fall for something that ended kayfabe for some, and took him to the sin bin until he was ready to run with the big dogs. Either way, this is a great build for what should be a very entertaining match at Wrestlemania.
10:38- Still on RAW and Santino Marella is making me piss myself laughing. This is a guy that should be on commentary somewhere.
10:40- Flipped to TNA, but it's Hogan backstage, bitching and complaining.
10:44- MitB Qualifying Match with Evan bourne and William Regal. This is honestly great, some high impact tosses from Regal and a great finish. Christian is on commentary throughout the match, but he's not as entertaining as he has been in the past. I almost miss the old E&C days.
10:47- Hogan is complaining STILL, and says that this is his second chance. Brooke is crying and saying how she doesn't want him to go out there. First off, isnt this like his fourth or fifth chance? If we count his intial run in the WWWF, his run in the AWA, his big run in the 80's, his WCW run, his attempt to run the XWF, then his TWO returns to WWE, we actually clock in at 6. So I wasn't that far off.
10:51- Laura Diakun is pretty.
10:53- Wrestlemania Recall is up, and it's the rehashing of one of the worst Mania Moments ever, the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar debacle, which ended in stupidity, stunners and suds of an alcoholic sort. Stone Cold hosting next week should be solid.
10:57- Am I alone or is anyone else watching this McMahon/Hitman promo and wondering why The Hart Dynasty wasn't involved in the storyline or even saving Bret when he was getting jumped.
11:01- I have flipped to Impact one last time, and I can't watch anymore of it. We all know wrestling is pre scripted, at least most of us do, but we don't need our faces rubbed in it. Hogan fighting Flair fails to create any sort of illusion to the needed effect. I honestly dont understand why Larry Zybysko isnt doing color, and getting yelled at by Tony Schiavone, let alone being allowed on television for FREE! WHY IN GODS NAME WOULD YOU HAVE FLAIR FIGHT HOGAN, WHEN BOTH ARE RETIRED, AND PEOPLE WOULD PAY FOR THIS ON A PAY PER VIEW! This reeks of WCW and the Hogan Goldberg angle at the Georgia Dome.
11:04- Next week looks awesome, and I have ZERO interest in whatever SPIKE Tv is giving us next week for Impact. Austin is going to be on, and no one can trump that unless you can somehow get Bill Alfonso to come in and manage RVD, maybe even start an Extreme Faction. I'll still pop for ECW, I'm a mark for Philly.
11:21- I loved this whole gauntlet thing. Good way to build Cena into a viable threat to Batista, in case it wasn't already there. Batista did hit a very weak spear, but he made up for it with a great Batista Bomb. batista needs to be going in strong to the pay per view, Cena has to be the one chasing him.
Overall, I thought tonight's RAW was incredibly better than what I saw from the 'competition', and I use that term very carefully. TNA didnt come across as doing anything overly new, they didnt have much more than what was already expected and that was all Hogan's fault. The fact that he let RVD coming to his show slip, was a massive mistake. I didnt see Jeff Hardy, but then again, I didnt watch the whole show and his being there may not have even ended up on camera, since again, I didnt watch all of it. I physically couldnt. It was that $%@#ing terrible.
I would tunr into RAW next week if I was you. Austin's coming to town, and you know someones gonna have some 'esplaining to do...
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance writer and a lifelong wrestling fan. His girlfriend loves the Undertaker but HATES The Miz. Guess he's doing his job.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Smackdown for March 5/10
Smackdown is flying off the handle straight for the city where Musical Car Horns are against the law, Wichita, Kansas! Your announcers as always, are Matt Striker and Todd ‘Please Don’t Beat Me Up’ Grisham. The show is led in by a replay of Jericho and Edge last week, what with the spear and all. I would assume we get to see more Edge sooner than later on this episode.
Wait a second, THERE HE IS! Metalingus is in the rafters and the crowd is popping large for him. He’s had a good, hot comeback since the Rumble and they’re really working him into the plans nicely.
Edge goes on to say that Jericho’s been speared by him every week, and he’s trying to get the spear chant over, almost like Austin’s What. It gets going for a bit and then Big Show pops out and has something to add to the conversation.
Apparently, they have a match tonight, and he’s going to destroy Edge like he destroys everyone else. He’s also pulling double duty tonight, working with Miz in a Tag Match later in the evening. This led to some weak comedy for the kids, Edge saying that Big Show was going to eat him, and they did the eat crap for breakfast joke from Happy Gilmore. Show runs to grab Edge, but he sidesteps and sends Show bumbling out to the ringside area. This was a good open, but it sure as hell wasn’t last week.
Backstage, we get Teddy Long and Drew McIntyre, who let us know that by order of Mr. McMahon, his loss to Kane last week was to be stricken from the record, however Kane will still retain his spot in the Ladder Match at Mania. Drew is also entered into another Money in the Bank Qualifier for this week, against Matt Hardy. Drew goes to shake Teddy’s hand but he get’s left in the cold and we get sent to commercial.
A big Wrestlemania promo comes on to mark our return, and out comes Drew McIntyre to his new music. I’m still on the fence about it, but it works for his heel persona at the very least. For a guy that supposedly so connected to Vince McMahon, you think you would see them on screen together more. We see a replay of last weeks match with Kane, and his original ‘loss’, which Todd reminds us was stricken from the record. Make sure you get that over.
Matt Hardy comes down with Justin Gabriel, his NXT student, and they show a package of the kid hitting a 450 splash. Haven’t seen that one in a while, like the VERTEBREAKER! Sorry, I’m a big fan of the Vertebreaker.
Match 1: Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre
The match is decent, and I notice Matt is looking a little soft these days. Maybe he needs an Ab-Chair or something? It runs about 8 minutes, and Matt spends some time on the ground outside, selling his guts. Drew McIntyre hits a beautiful Northern Lights suplex at about mid point, and it could possibly be the nicest one I‘ve ever seen. Matt picks up the win with a great pinning combinations reversal. Drew turns into a bitch, and starts doing his whiney routine. He rips the top of the announce table and flings it aside, then screams at Matt Striker to tell the world, that he’s going to be at Wrestlemania. He even swore to GOD. I mean, man… That’s serious.
So for those of you who are keeping score, the MitB match now consists of MVP, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, and Matt Hardy. I would guess we get two more, and I would assume one of them will be Drew McIntyre. Although, for him being the Intercontinental Title holder, I think he should be defending that title at the Big One. I mean, really? Does the title mean that little to the world now? What happened to the days of the IC title match being the best on the card?
We head backstage and John Morrison is talking about his Parkour workouts with the son of Terry Gordy, Slam Master J. You wouldn’t know he’s his son though, because WWE never let’s us in one cool tidbits like this. While this guy is a package, he’s tiny and you have to think he’s high on the ‘Future Endeavors TNA pickup’ list. He just hasn’t had anything going for him since Jesse and Festus broke up.
Truth comes in with Dave Otunga, who’s a mean looking sumbitch. Truth goes on with talking about he and Otunga are all straightened out, and he and John have a big tag match tonight, against two other teams with a ton of experience. They go through some terrible tag team names, and I have to think they’re trying to recreate the Miz/Morrison connection with Truth, but I just don’t see it. Both of these guys aren’t the best on the stick, and it almost hurts to watch them on screen together.
Commercial break, we see that Rey is going up against Luke Gallows up next. As we come back, we get the replay of Benjamin and Punk from last week, and Rey Mysterio’s involvement that put Benjamin over.
Down to the ring and we got the Gold Standard on his way to the ring. Shelton Benjamin is facing off against Dolph Ziggler and I am EXCITED. Both of these guys are world class wrestlers on a mat, and that tends to translate well to the squared circle.
Match 2: Shelton Benjamin vs. Dolph Ziggler
It’s nice we see a bridging German suplex in here, but it causes yearning for the rolling German’s we used to get from Angle and Benoit in the days Paul Heyman was booking Smackdown. Oh, the times they are a changing. The match ends nicely, with Ziggler going for the Zigzag and Shelton countering it, leading to him hitting Pay dirt for the win. This was a nice little match, it worked well for me, and it makes me want to see them both at the Ladder Match at Wrestlemania. But what it also makes me want is a long term program with Chris Jericho for Shelton Benjamin. The matches those two could pull off would be something only suitable for the Gods themselves.
We get an Edge and Big Show reminder and head into commercial once again, which leads off with a promo for the new HBK DVD. To be honest, I’m not the biggest Shawn Michaels fan, and a lot of that comes from Montreal, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had an incredible career and isn’t worthy of another 3 disc devotion. I almost think I want to see it, but not as badly as the upcoming Hart Legacy set.
As we come back, we find out that later on Cryme Tyme, Hart Dynasty, and the combination of Morrison and Truth will be vying for a shot at Miz Show for the tag belts at Wrestlemania. Should it be Hart Dynasty? Yes! Will it be Hart Dynasty? Most likely not. Will I be upset? Obviously. But for now, we have Jimmy Wang Yang, who we haven’t seen in a while, in the ring and he’s going to get fed to Ezekiel Jackson.
Match 3: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
Big Zeke makes his way to the ring. He flexes, makes Vince moan, literally squashes Jimmy. Remember when this guy was a Jung Dragon and was an actual threat in the ring? Cripes, even his Japanese Mafia gimmick with Tajiri worked better than this. I would think he’s in the same spot as Slam Master J. Big Zeke runs through Yang, in what’s a total SQUASH, hitting the Book of Ezekiel for the win.
Backstage we go, and Rey Mysterio is handing his daughter one of the brand new, not nearly as good looking, Mattel WWE figures. I’ll give Jakks one thing, they had a way with those classic figure collections.
In comes Tiffany, who apparently was downsized to backstage babysitter with the closing of ECW. She’s going to look after Rey’s daughter, Aaliyah, while he goes to work. The promo isn’t bad, but they put over the fact that he’s a dad, that she’s going to watch him at work, and they did a little prayer thing that was touching. I just hope we don’t get a rehash of the Domenic angle that we had with Eddie Guererro. I’m never a fan of angles involving kids and I don’t care if it’s The Sandman, Ric Flair, or any Von Erich. Young kids shouldn’t be involved in angles and storylines.
As we come back from commercial, Punk and his legion of loonies, The Straight Edge Society, come out to a chorus of boo’s. Punk goes on to say that Rey Mysterio is a bad influence on children. Kids wear his merchandise; they tune in week in and week out to watch their superhero. He says children do this, to fill the void left by neglectful parents. As always, Punk delivers the promo of the night. Serena has had her head re-shaved, and it’s obvious that it’s shorter than last week.
Match 4: Rey Mysterio vs. Luke Gallows
Surprisingly, this match got about twelve minutes, which is a lot more than most of the matches I’ve seen on television as of late. I have to say, I enjoy Luke Gallows. His offence is some weak, especially the transition moves like the headbutts to the ribs but because he’s trim, he can move a bit better. He’s almost like a fitter version of the Big Boss Man. They show their Orlando Jones replacement, Darren Young of NXT, watching the match backstage, and I hope this guy goes. I don’t get anything out of him.
This is a great match, because that’s Rey Mysterio’s job. He makes everyone look better, just for having been in the ring with him. Gallows is great at selling moves from smaller superstars. There are a couple of nice spots, Serena blocking the 619 and Punk trying to interfere. Rey gets in his usual high spots. Gallows puts Rey up for what looks to be a powerbomb, but the masked luchador is able to contort, reverse and pull out the win. Punk climbs in and tries to hit the Go to Sleep, but Mysterio is able to slip out and avoid the beat down.
Jericho bumps into Big Show backstage and asks him to watch his kid. Just kidding. He says he needs Big Show to be the Giant Destroyer that he is, and to beat Edge badly. Show says they aren’t partners anymore, so he doesn’t have to follow orders. He doesn’t need to beat Edge for Jericho; he’s going to beat Edge for himself. Jericho rocks that great smile, knowing he’s angered the Giant and hoping he’s sending Edge into the lions den.
As we head to commercial, we get an Undertaker-HBK promo, and Lisa is UPSET. They changed the song from whatever it was a few weeks ago, to something by Johnny Cash. If anyone happens to know the name of the song and band that they were using for the buildup promos, send me an email or shoot me a comment here on the site.
As we return, we find out that, once again, fans from all 50 states and 24 countries have purchased tickets to Wrestlemania. I haven’t heard if it’s sold out or not, but I’m sure they have to be close. The factoids are getting used over and over. It makes me wish they still did ‘On This Day in Wrestling’, with the voice over guy from the NFL.
Raw Rebound and we’re watching the spiraling dive into insanity that Shawn Michaels is taking, with his obsession with the Undertaker. To be honest, I don’t know if I like where they’re taking us with the story, but there’s still a few weeks for them to keep selling me on it. Lisa, being the big Undertaker mark, is totally in no matter what. She’s dying to see his cool entrance this year, and I have to say, I’m interested in seeing the actual stage show itself. The Rebound also covers Sheamus beating down Triple H, so I guess that’s getting tossed onto the card now as well.
Match 5: R-Truth and John Morrison vs. Hart Dynasty vs. Cryme Tyme
Truth and Morrison are out first, with David Otunga. They show what was up on NXT, featuring Otunga and Truth mixing it up. I’m hoping he turns on Truth and beats his ever rapping ass.
The Dynasty comes out next, and brings me the smile I look forward to every week. Arguably, they’re the most cohesive unit in Smackdown, and should already be holding gold, but I guess the brass is more interested in random mash up teams. Cryme Tyme comes down, and one has to wonder why they too, have been left out of the tag team gold.
So I guess we’re all supposed to forget that Morrison ever broke his ankle, and he starts it off with Shad Gaspar. Shad is the biggest guy in the ring right now, dwarfing the competition. A few notable spots here, including a series of rolling belly to belly suplexes from DH Smith, a wicked kick to the face of Tyson Kidd from R-Truth, and phenomenally high springboard dropkick from Tyson Kidd. The whole match lasted about eight minutes and ended with truth pinning Tyson Kidd, which was a big heartbreaker for me, no pun intended. I’m really bothered that the Dynasty is being left off the Wrestlemania card, being that they are the most underused tag team in the company, and every match they have is solid, especially the match with DX at Christmas. They really dropped the ball on a feud there, and not having them involved with Bret on RAW. They should be backing him up. Truth and Morrison against Miz Show should be interesting and entertaining, but I would love to see Tyson working over Miz.
Backstage, LayCool is sucking up to Vickie Guererro, and gives her one of their Simply Flawless shirts. They bail out just as Beth Phoenix comes in and asks Vickie for a title shot. Vickie says Beth will NEVER get one, and that SHE is the most dominant Diva in the WWE. Maybe in a cookie eating contest or something? I guess I won’t be getting a Diva’s title match at Wrestlemania either, unless Mickie is back by then.
Striker and Grisham run down the Wrestlemania card thus far, and pump up the Jericho Edge match, what with the main event on its way. Big Show lumbers down to the ring, and we hit commercial.
Match 6: Big Show vs. Edge
They didn’t go overboard on this as it only went for about six minutes or so. Edge gets over with the spear, as the crowd was losing it and chanting spear as he’s bouncing in the corner. Matt Striker really does his job here explaining how dangerous the move is and the whiplash that’s involved with the person on the receiving end. Striker must understand that while we can see the move with our eyes, the descriptive words embellish the impact of it.
I hear a lot of fans crying over the fact that Edge doesn’t look the same or that he’s too fat now. Steve Carter is one of those guys. But let’s all remember this guy was out for an absurdly LONG time, and he had one of the worst possible injuries a person in this business can have. We should be lucky we have him back at all.
Edge gets the pin and Jericho hits the ring. He tries to cork Edge with the belt, but Edge is aware, ducks it, and spears him again. Jericho needs to get a beat down on him and soon. Otherwise, no one is going to believe him to be any sort of threat to Edge. I would think we get this next week.
Show Overview:
Once again, the better wrestling program of the week. We get a great storyline in Edge and Jericho, the tag title situation has been sorted out for Wrestlemania and Rey Mysterio’s feud with the Society is picking up speed. Sometimes I wish we still had a few months to build these things, like all the work they had to do to build Hogan and Andre or Steamboat and Savage, but I guess in this day and age, the attention span is shorter, and the viewership is more in tune. This week was a solid and definitive seven out of ten.
For those of you who are interested, you can always get a hold of me on my blog, at jeffgoodridge.blogspot.com. I would love to hear from people, and I’m always up for debates. There’s a few blogs up on there as well, including one about the recent release of Awesome Kong and RVD showing up TNA on Monday. Monday should be an interesting night, so I’ll be posting my random thoughts along with time coding, so you can see what’s putting me from show to show, and where I’m flipping. Who knows? It could be in sync with your channel flipping? Don’t deny it, YOU’RE ALL FLIPPERS!!!
So with that, hope you enjoyed the report this week, we’re about two or three away from Wrestlemania (as of press time)!
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance writer and lifelong wrestling fan. His favorite wrestling documentary thus far is Bloodstained Memoirs, which he’ll be reviewing soon. Keep your eyes peeled to this website!
Wait a second, THERE HE IS! Metalingus is in the rafters and the crowd is popping large for him. He’s had a good, hot comeback since the Rumble and they’re really working him into the plans nicely.
Edge goes on to say that Jericho’s been speared by him every week, and he’s trying to get the spear chant over, almost like Austin’s What. It gets going for a bit and then Big Show pops out and has something to add to the conversation.
Apparently, they have a match tonight, and he’s going to destroy Edge like he destroys everyone else. He’s also pulling double duty tonight, working with Miz in a Tag Match later in the evening. This led to some weak comedy for the kids, Edge saying that Big Show was going to eat him, and they did the eat crap for breakfast joke from Happy Gilmore. Show runs to grab Edge, but he sidesteps and sends Show bumbling out to the ringside area. This was a good open, but it sure as hell wasn’t last week.
Backstage, we get Teddy Long and Drew McIntyre, who let us know that by order of Mr. McMahon, his loss to Kane last week was to be stricken from the record, however Kane will still retain his spot in the Ladder Match at Mania. Drew is also entered into another Money in the Bank Qualifier for this week, against Matt Hardy. Drew goes to shake Teddy’s hand but he get’s left in the cold and we get sent to commercial.
A big Wrestlemania promo comes on to mark our return, and out comes Drew McIntyre to his new music. I’m still on the fence about it, but it works for his heel persona at the very least. For a guy that supposedly so connected to Vince McMahon, you think you would see them on screen together more. We see a replay of last weeks match with Kane, and his original ‘loss’, which Todd reminds us was stricken from the record. Make sure you get that over.
Matt Hardy comes down with Justin Gabriel, his NXT student, and they show a package of the kid hitting a 450 splash. Haven’t seen that one in a while, like the VERTEBREAKER! Sorry, I’m a big fan of the Vertebreaker.
Match 1: Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre
The match is decent, and I notice Matt is looking a little soft these days. Maybe he needs an Ab-Chair or something? It runs about 8 minutes, and Matt spends some time on the ground outside, selling his guts. Drew McIntyre hits a beautiful Northern Lights suplex at about mid point, and it could possibly be the nicest one I‘ve ever seen. Matt picks up the win with a great pinning combinations reversal. Drew turns into a bitch, and starts doing his whiney routine. He rips the top of the announce table and flings it aside, then screams at Matt Striker to tell the world, that he’s going to be at Wrestlemania. He even swore to GOD. I mean, man… That’s serious.
So for those of you who are keeping score, the MitB match now consists of MVP, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, and Matt Hardy. I would guess we get two more, and I would assume one of them will be Drew McIntyre. Although, for him being the Intercontinental Title holder, I think he should be defending that title at the Big One. I mean, really? Does the title mean that little to the world now? What happened to the days of the IC title match being the best on the card?
We head backstage and John Morrison is talking about his Parkour workouts with the son of Terry Gordy, Slam Master J. You wouldn’t know he’s his son though, because WWE never let’s us in one cool tidbits like this. While this guy is a package, he’s tiny and you have to think he’s high on the ‘Future Endeavors TNA pickup’ list. He just hasn’t had anything going for him since Jesse and Festus broke up.
Truth comes in with Dave Otunga, who’s a mean looking sumbitch. Truth goes on with talking about he and Otunga are all straightened out, and he and John have a big tag match tonight, against two other teams with a ton of experience. They go through some terrible tag team names, and I have to think they’re trying to recreate the Miz/Morrison connection with Truth, but I just don’t see it. Both of these guys aren’t the best on the stick, and it almost hurts to watch them on screen together.
Commercial break, we see that Rey is going up against Luke Gallows up next. As we come back, we get the replay of Benjamin and Punk from last week, and Rey Mysterio’s involvement that put Benjamin over.
Down to the ring and we got the Gold Standard on his way to the ring. Shelton Benjamin is facing off against Dolph Ziggler and I am EXCITED. Both of these guys are world class wrestlers on a mat, and that tends to translate well to the squared circle.
Match 2: Shelton Benjamin vs. Dolph Ziggler
It’s nice we see a bridging German suplex in here, but it causes yearning for the rolling German’s we used to get from Angle and Benoit in the days Paul Heyman was booking Smackdown. Oh, the times they are a changing. The match ends nicely, with Ziggler going for the Zigzag and Shelton countering it, leading to him hitting Pay dirt for the win. This was a nice little match, it worked well for me, and it makes me want to see them both at the Ladder Match at Wrestlemania. But what it also makes me want is a long term program with Chris Jericho for Shelton Benjamin. The matches those two could pull off would be something only suitable for the Gods themselves.
We get an Edge and Big Show reminder and head into commercial once again, which leads off with a promo for the new HBK DVD. To be honest, I’m not the biggest Shawn Michaels fan, and a lot of that comes from Montreal, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had an incredible career and isn’t worthy of another 3 disc devotion. I almost think I want to see it, but not as badly as the upcoming Hart Legacy set.
As we come back, we find out that later on Cryme Tyme, Hart Dynasty, and the combination of Morrison and Truth will be vying for a shot at Miz Show for the tag belts at Wrestlemania. Should it be Hart Dynasty? Yes! Will it be Hart Dynasty? Most likely not. Will I be upset? Obviously. But for now, we have Jimmy Wang Yang, who we haven’t seen in a while, in the ring and he’s going to get fed to Ezekiel Jackson.
Match 3: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
Big Zeke makes his way to the ring. He flexes, makes Vince moan, literally squashes Jimmy. Remember when this guy was a Jung Dragon and was an actual threat in the ring? Cripes, even his Japanese Mafia gimmick with Tajiri worked better than this. I would think he’s in the same spot as Slam Master J. Big Zeke runs through Yang, in what’s a total SQUASH, hitting the Book of Ezekiel for the win.
Backstage we go, and Rey Mysterio is handing his daughter one of the brand new, not nearly as good looking, Mattel WWE figures. I’ll give Jakks one thing, they had a way with those classic figure collections.
In comes Tiffany, who apparently was downsized to backstage babysitter with the closing of ECW. She’s going to look after Rey’s daughter, Aaliyah, while he goes to work. The promo isn’t bad, but they put over the fact that he’s a dad, that she’s going to watch him at work, and they did a little prayer thing that was touching. I just hope we don’t get a rehash of the Domenic angle that we had with Eddie Guererro. I’m never a fan of angles involving kids and I don’t care if it’s The Sandman, Ric Flair, or any Von Erich. Young kids shouldn’t be involved in angles and storylines.
As we come back from commercial, Punk and his legion of loonies, The Straight Edge Society, come out to a chorus of boo’s. Punk goes on to say that Rey Mysterio is a bad influence on children. Kids wear his merchandise; they tune in week in and week out to watch their superhero. He says children do this, to fill the void left by neglectful parents. As always, Punk delivers the promo of the night. Serena has had her head re-shaved, and it’s obvious that it’s shorter than last week.
Match 4: Rey Mysterio vs. Luke Gallows
Surprisingly, this match got about twelve minutes, which is a lot more than most of the matches I’ve seen on television as of late. I have to say, I enjoy Luke Gallows. His offence is some weak, especially the transition moves like the headbutts to the ribs but because he’s trim, he can move a bit better. He’s almost like a fitter version of the Big Boss Man. They show their Orlando Jones replacement, Darren Young of NXT, watching the match backstage, and I hope this guy goes. I don’t get anything out of him.
This is a great match, because that’s Rey Mysterio’s job. He makes everyone look better, just for having been in the ring with him. Gallows is great at selling moves from smaller superstars. There are a couple of nice spots, Serena blocking the 619 and Punk trying to interfere. Rey gets in his usual high spots. Gallows puts Rey up for what looks to be a powerbomb, but the masked luchador is able to contort, reverse and pull out the win. Punk climbs in and tries to hit the Go to Sleep, but Mysterio is able to slip out and avoid the beat down.
Jericho bumps into Big Show backstage and asks him to watch his kid. Just kidding. He says he needs Big Show to be the Giant Destroyer that he is, and to beat Edge badly. Show says they aren’t partners anymore, so he doesn’t have to follow orders. He doesn’t need to beat Edge for Jericho; he’s going to beat Edge for himself. Jericho rocks that great smile, knowing he’s angered the Giant and hoping he’s sending Edge into the lions den.
As we head to commercial, we get an Undertaker-HBK promo, and Lisa is UPSET. They changed the song from whatever it was a few weeks ago, to something by Johnny Cash. If anyone happens to know the name of the song and band that they were using for the buildup promos, send me an email or shoot me a comment here on the site.
As we return, we find out that, once again, fans from all 50 states and 24 countries have purchased tickets to Wrestlemania. I haven’t heard if it’s sold out or not, but I’m sure they have to be close. The factoids are getting used over and over. It makes me wish they still did ‘On This Day in Wrestling’, with the voice over guy from the NFL.
Raw Rebound and we’re watching the spiraling dive into insanity that Shawn Michaels is taking, with his obsession with the Undertaker. To be honest, I don’t know if I like where they’re taking us with the story, but there’s still a few weeks for them to keep selling me on it. Lisa, being the big Undertaker mark, is totally in no matter what. She’s dying to see his cool entrance this year, and I have to say, I’m interested in seeing the actual stage show itself. The Rebound also covers Sheamus beating down Triple H, so I guess that’s getting tossed onto the card now as well.
Match 5: R-Truth and John Morrison vs. Hart Dynasty vs. Cryme Tyme
Truth and Morrison are out first, with David Otunga. They show what was up on NXT, featuring Otunga and Truth mixing it up. I’m hoping he turns on Truth and beats his ever rapping ass.
The Dynasty comes out next, and brings me the smile I look forward to every week. Arguably, they’re the most cohesive unit in Smackdown, and should already be holding gold, but I guess the brass is more interested in random mash up teams. Cryme Tyme comes down, and one has to wonder why they too, have been left out of the tag team gold.
So I guess we’re all supposed to forget that Morrison ever broke his ankle, and he starts it off with Shad Gaspar. Shad is the biggest guy in the ring right now, dwarfing the competition. A few notable spots here, including a series of rolling belly to belly suplexes from DH Smith, a wicked kick to the face of Tyson Kidd from R-Truth, and phenomenally high springboard dropkick from Tyson Kidd. The whole match lasted about eight minutes and ended with truth pinning Tyson Kidd, which was a big heartbreaker for me, no pun intended. I’m really bothered that the Dynasty is being left off the Wrestlemania card, being that they are the most underused tag team in the company, and every match they have is solid, especially the match with DX at Christmas. They really dropped the ball on a feud there, and not having them involved with Bret on RAW. They should be backing him up. Truth and Morrison against Miz Show should be interesting and entertaining, but I would love to see Tyson working over Miz.
Backstage, LayCool is sucking up to Vickie Guererro, and gives her one of their Simply Flawless shirts. They bail out just as Beth Phoenix comes in and asks Vickie for a title shot. Vickie says Beth will NEVER get one, and that SHE is the most dominant Diva in the WWE. Maybe in a cookie eating contest or something? I guess I won’t be getting a Diva’s title match at Wrestlemania either, unless Mickie is back by then.
Striker and Grisham run down the Wrestlemania card thus far, and pump up the Jericho Edge match, what with the main event on its way. Big Show lumbers down to the ring, and we hit commercial.
Match 6: Big Show vs. Edge
They didn’t go overboard on this as it only went for about six minutes or so. Edge gets over with the spear, as the crowd was losing it and chanting spear as he’s bouncing in the corner. Matt Striker really does his job here explaining how dangerous the move is and the whiplash that’s involved with the person on the receiving end. Striker must understand that while we can see the move with our eyes, the descriptive words embellish the impact of it.
I hear a lot of fans crying over the fact that Edge doesn’t look the same or that he’s too fat now. Steve Carter is one of those guys. But let’s all remember this guy was out for an absurdly LONG time, and he had one of the worst possible injuries a person in this business can have. We should be lucky we have him back at all.
Edge gets the pin and Jericho hits the ring. He tries to cork Edge with the belt, but Edge is aware, ducks it, and spears him again. Jericho needs to get a beat down on him and soon. Otherwise, no one is going to believe him to be any sort of threat to Edge. I would think we get this next week.
Show Overview:
Once again, the better wrestling program of the week. We get a great storyline in Edge and Jericho, the tag title situation has been sorted out for Wrestlemania and Rey Mysterio’s feud with the Society is picking up speed. Sometimes I wish we still had a few months to build these things, like all the work they had to do to build Hogan and Andre or Steamboat and Savage, but I guess in this day and age, the attention span is shorter, and the viewership is more in tune. This week was a solid and definitive seven out of ten.
For those of you who are interested, you can always get a hold of me on my blog, at jeffgoodridge.blogspot.com. I would love to hear from people, and I’m always up for debates. There’s a few blogs up on there as well, including one about the recent release of Awesome Kong and RVD showing up TNA on Monday. Monday should be an interesting night, so I’ll be posting my random thoughts along with time coding, so you can see what’s putting me from show to show, and where I’m flipping. Who knows? It could be in sync with your channel flipping? Don’t deny it, YOU’RE ALL FLIPPERS!!!
So with that, hope you enjoyed the report this week, we’re about two or three away from Wrestlemania (as of press time)!
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance writer and lifelong wrestling fan. His favorite wrestling documentary thus far is Bloodstained Memoirs, which he’ll be reviewing soon. Keep your eyes peeled to this website!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday Night Randomness!
And with that, let's get onto all the greatness of a Thursday Night with Beetlejuice on TV and Lisa sleeping on the couch!
So today was totally different, but I wont be getting into that, instead I will be talking about a few different things that are going on right now...
RVD is reportedly heading to TNA on Monday night, according to The Hulkster. He mentioned this on a wrestling radio show today, and I cant understand what the hell is wrong with him! Why would you spoil possibly the greatest surprise on a Monday night, especially marking him as the real first shot in the Second Monday Night Wars. For those of you who aren't aware, the first MNW took place when Eric Bischoff took Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling and turned Monday Nights into Ratings Races. Will the TNA move make it against the global juggarnaught that is World Wrestling Entertainment? Probably not, I mean, we're talking about a company that is headed by the Devil himself. Vince McMahon has fought everyone and won. The New York Post, The Federal Government, The CRTC and the FCC, and of course, Wal-Mart. Who could forget the Al Snow incident?
Alpha-1 is shaping up to be an incredible show. Not only will they be featuring CHIKARA superstar, Solider Ant, but he's taking on the one and only Motion Picture Ethan Page. What can possibly come from such a clash of two hot, young megastars of the independent circuit! Ethan Page got the win over former ECW/WWE Superstar Colin Delaney at the last show in February, thanks to a foreign object procured by Mr. Melo, manager of The Entourage. Can Soldier Ant defend his hill and colony, or will Ethan Page be the Raid that flips the Ant dead?
Josh Alexander is going to have his rematch with The Hacker, both of which took it to the limit. The time limit, that is. Both guys are extremely talented, and both go back a long ways, to the days of Gym Rats and storage garages. They're both as talented on the mat, as they are in the air, and they both boast a great mic skill as well. Alexander is ready to burst out, and make himself known, and Hacker already has Little Hacksters across Ontario, all wearing his signature goggles! Who's going to come out on top and make themselves known as the better young gun in Alpha 1? Will he allow the friendship to continue past three years, or is this the end? Josh Alexander had this to say:
All that PLUS the Alpha 1 debut of CZW wrestler Sabian, IWS superstar Don Payson, an 8 Man Gauntlet and Bracket 2 in the Alpha Male Tournament! This is the BEST value in local family entertainment at ten dollars, and it's showcasing some of the best talent in independant pro wrestling. You're not seeing Jake the Snake stumble through some local hero, and you're not going to see guys that are dressed like superheroes, like that X-Man vs. Spiderman match I heard about down in the States.
This is a great show for kids, because the guys are accessible, entertaining, and high energy. It's a great show for marks because of the OTHER marks that are there, the chants are ECW style, funny, and sometimes even thought inspiring. Best of all, it's a great show for fans of good old school wrestling. Ther'es lots of mat work, just enough high spots, and a great workrate by everyone going. Even the referees are good, especially the local legend, Dave Dread.
Next show is taking place at Knights Of Columbus Hall on 222 Queenston Road in Hamilton, Ontario on Sunday, April 11, 2010. It's got a great atmosphere, a 6 sided ring, and some great special effects, as the videos and music are much better than any local bar show. This is a COMPLETE indy show, something you might see if you are a Philidelphia fan or out towards Jersey or New York.
Tomorrow night is Smackdown, so I'll be writing for the Fight Network once again. It'll be re-post here as well, and there's some surprises in store for SLAM. Just wait... the best is yet to come!
Now, to finish you all off, here's a song by a man with ridiculous hair.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Awesome Kong could be an Awesome Aquisition
Wow, what a few weeks can do to one of the most talented female workers in the industry!
For those of you that follow the TNA product, and I'll be honest when I say that I ain't one of them, but I'm sure for those of you tht do, you all remember the dominant force that Kong was when she first hit the States, after her successful runs in Japan, and other places across the globe, I was one of many who wondered why she was ni TNA and not in WWE.
Let's think about this seriously for one moment. WWE, and of course Vince, has always been the sort to push the monsters and the freaks. Now, before you female readers smash me, NOT EVEN REMOTELY WHAT I'M SAYING. What I mean is, that the bigger the person, the bnigger the push. Kane is a monster, Viscera is a monster, Nicole Bass was a monster and like it or not, Chyna was and is still a freak and a monster. Not just to herself, mind you, but I digress. Cripes, if you look at it closely, even Beth Phoniex is technically a freak and a monster. She's bigger than most of the women, she wrestles better than most of them as well, and in some cases, much hotter.
Kong is someone that is totally unique, and totally fresh to what WWE has been pushing in the last little while. Maybe this harkens back to the days of Bertha Faye or Bull Nakano, but this is something that WWE could very well capitilize on. They recently did a storyline, that may or may not be over, with Mickie James and Michelle McCool over weight, style, and looks. Who better to bring in than Kong, giving a great sense of options for women, and also adding a ton of muscle to the division.
I know that I may be hyper critical to the women's division as of late, but a lot of that comes from the fact there are SO MANY good workers in the company right now that aren't being used to thier potential. Natalya Neidhardt is one of the best womens wrestlers on the planet right now, along with Mickie James, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, and, in her day, the Fabulous Moolah. Nattie does everything with style, panash, and vigour. In fact, her match with Awesome Kong that materialized on YouTube from Japan was one of the BEST women's matches I think I have ever been lucky enough to see. Why couldn't WWE capitalize on this?
Bringing it back to Beth, theres not a single person in the industry that wouldnt be opposed to seeing Beth and Kong mix it up. If you ever wanted to see the female version of Hogan vs. Andre, there's little option on the contenders. Beth has the size, the style, and the workrate to keep up to Kong and bring a totally new side out of her.
Matches aside, we also have to think about the fact that, like it or not, we are heading into a second coming of the Monday Night Wars. I, along with a lot of other wrestling fans, don't expect too much to come out of this, but with TNA sucking up all these former WWE workers, like Kendrick, Kennedy, Shannon Moore, even Jeff Hardy to some extent, isn't it time for Vince to maybe make a statement to TNA, letting Dixie Carter know that he isn't scared? Bringing in Awesome Kong would not only send that very message all the way to TNA HQ, but it's also going to make waves in the industry. Instead of being on the recieving end of a talent salvo, why not deal a mortar blow to the heart of the Knockouts Division?
I'm not saying this is the answer to Kong's issues, because there are those. Kong and a certain Sponge are going to be talking through lawyers for some time, from whats been coming out in the dirt sheets as of late, but this is certainly going to make her look alot better, and its also showing that shes got the heart to keep going in this buisness, even in the face of severe adversity.
So, Vince? Pick up Awesome Kong. Do yourself a favor, get someone that can work, work safe, work powerfully, and WORK AWESOME. Sign her now, bring her in just after Mania, or even do it the night of. But the long and short is, BRING US AWESOME KONG! You're missing a few Divas right now anyways, whats it going to hurt to bring someone in for a bit to round out the whole situation.
But really? With the way the Women's and Diva's Divisions have been running, what can we expect? Probably just another Diva Search.
For those of you that follow the TNA product, and I'll be honest when I say that I ain't one of them, but I'm sure for those of you tht do, you all remember the dominant force that Kong was when she first hit the States, after her successful runs in Japan, and other places across the globe, I was one of many who wondered why she was ni TNA and not in WWE.
Let's think about this seriously for one moment. WWE, and of course Vince, has always been the sort to push the monsters and the freaks. Now, before you female readers smash me, NOT EVEN REMOTELY WHAT I'M SAYING. What I mean is, that the bigger the person, the bnigger the push. Kane is a monster, Viscera is a monster, Nicole Bass was a monster and like it or not, Chyna was and is still a freak and a monster. Not just to herself, mind you, but I digress. Cripes, if you look at it closely, even Beth Phoniex is technically a freak and a monster. She's bigger than most of the women, she wrestles better than most of them as well, and in some cases, much hotter.
Kong is someone that is totally unique, and totally fresh to what WWE has been pushing in the last little while. Maybe this harkens back to the days of Bertha Faye or Bull Nakano, but this is something that WWE could very well capitilize on. They recently did a storyline, that may or may not be over, with Mickie James and Michelle McCool over weight, style, and looks. Who better to bring in than Kong, giving a great sense of options for women, and also adding a ton of muscle to the division.
I know that I may be hyper critical to the women's division as of late, but a lot of that comes from the fact there are SO MANY good workers in the company right now that aren't being used to thier potential. Natalya Neidhardt is one of the best womens wrestlers on the planet right now, along with Mickie James, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, and, in her day, the Fabulous Moolah. Nattie does everything with style, panash, and vigour. In fact, her match with Awesome Kong that materialized on YouTube from Japan was one of the BEST women's matches I think I have ever been lucky enough to see. Why couldn't WWE capitalize on this?
Bringing it back to Beth, theres not a single person in the industry that wouldnt be opposed to seeing Beth and Kong mix it up. If you ever wanted to see the female version of Hogan vs. Andre, there's little option on the contenders. Beth has the size, the style, and the workrate to keep up to Kong and bring a totally new side out of her.
Matches aside, we also have to think about the fact that, like it or not, we are heading into a second coming of the Monday Night Wars. I, along with a lot of other wrestling fans, don't expect too much to come out of this, but with TNA sucking up all these former WWE workers, like Kendrick, Kennedy, Shannon Moore, even Jeff Hardy to some extent, isn't it time for Vince to maybe make a statement to TNA, letting Dixie Carter know that he isn't scared? Bringing in Awesome Kong would not only send that very message all the way to TNA HQ, but it's also going to make waves in the industry. Instead of being on the recieving end of a talent salvo, why not deal a mortar blow to the heart of the Knockouts Division?
I'm not saying this is the answer to Kong's issues, because there are those. Kong and a certain Sponge are going to be talking through lawyers for some time, from whats been coming out in the dirt sheets as of late, but this is certainly going to make her look alot better, and its also showing that shes got the heart to keep going in this buisness, even in the face of severe adversity.
So, Vince? Pick up Awesome Kong. Do yourself a favor, get someone that can work, work safe, work powerfully, and WORK AWESOME. Sign her now, bring her in just after Mania, or even do it the night of. But the long and short is, BRING US AWESOME KONG! You're missing a few Divas right now anyways, whats it going to hurt to bring someone in for a bit to round out the whole situation.
But really? With the way the Women's and Diva's Divisions have been running, what can we expect? Probably just another Diva Search.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Smackdown 02/26/10
Smackdown 02/26/10
Smackdown from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
First off, let me apologize for not being here last week. I had an intense weekend, filled with a variety of emotions, stories, and an awesome Alpha 1 Wrestling Show that I will be touching on at the end of the report. Things are rapidly changing, so I want some feedback on the new style in the report.
Welcome to another excellent episode of Smackdown. First off, the show starts with a great package showcasing the fallout of The Elimination Chamber PPV, adding to the build for Undertaker’s match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, in less than thirty days.
Tonight, we emanate from the good land of beer and cheese, Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, as usual, are manning the desk, and reminding us all about who the top is and who the bottom is.
Chris Jericho makes his way down to the ring, carrying the ten pounds of gold that is the World Heavyweight title. This promo is really great, as usual. He’s going to do everything he can to be the smart, evil heel. He goes on about how Monday was to be his crowning achievement, but it was stolen from him by Edge. This brings out Edge, who goes on to do a great promo featuring an over usage of the word ‘Spear’. I love how they are putting over the Spear as his main weapon, and it looks great. It’s just as good if not better than Bill Goldberg’s.
This is a going to be such a great match, going like two Canadians fighting over the last beer. Edge says Jericho doesn’t believe that he can beat him. He has doubt in his eyes, and Edge thinks he’s in Jericho’s head all nightmare long. Edge wants Jericho at his best, the best in the world, for Wrestlemania, because if he isn’t, and he comes to the show with doubt in his eyes, one more spear and it’s all over. The crowd is really into this segment at this point. Jericho says Edge will never spear him again, and hooks Edge. He goes to hit the Codebreaker, but misses and lands in Edge’s sights for a big spear. The posturing has begun, and the belt is on the line, come thirty days in Phoenix. With the end of that, we head into the first commercial break of the night.
As we come back from commercial, we get a Mania video package and AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, leading into a three way match for a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with this match and the PPV of the same name, but I’m hoping its just filler until they come up with something better.
Match 1: Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. John Morrison
The match was fast paced and well timed. Truth came down with David Otunga, his protégé from the NXT program. I’ve seen little bits of this guy, and if he can get his in ring stuff together, he could be something down the line. He’s a magnificent specimen, as Stu Hart would say. Ziggler plays a great heel, though out the whole match, and I can really see something coming from this guy down the road. At one point, Truth and Ziggler are outside, by the announce table, and Otunga just sits there while Truth is out on the ground. He should have got up and attempted to help him, if they’re to be the team/mentors that they want from the NXT experiment. Ziggler ends up winning this after Morrison hits Truth with Starship Pain, stealing one, and I like this. He’s heading to the big ladder match, and I hope that it’s good things for him. I don’t see him winning it, necessarily, but I can certainly see him making some good spots in the match.
As we come back from commercial, we see an absolutely STELLAR video package to explain the whole Undertaker-HBK feud. I am totally and completely into this story and I simply cannot wait to see how it all pans out. If it were me, I would retire HBK with the Deadman at Mania, and then have Taker get beat next year by some young punk, giving them the rub of a lifetime.
Match 2: Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James
Vickie Guererro is the guest referee tonight, so that automatically puts this entire thing out the window. At one point, she falls on her fat ass and just makes an overall idiot of herself. She slaps Mickie across the face, which gives McCool time to hit a nice crescent kick to the head, and McCool picks up the pin and the win to become the new Women’s Champion. This whole thing has gone on too long, but I’m assuming that it’s going to lead to Beth Phoenix taking on both of them in a three way for the belt at Mania. I could also see Mickie taking some time off, doing the country music album, and having just Beth and McCool at Mania, and that too, could be something really special.
Match 3: Kane vs. Drew McIntyre
This was a Money in the Bank qualifier as well, and Kane did a number on McIntyre. In about five minutes, Kane hoofed Drew in the skull and pulled out the win. Everyone knows we need at least one big guy in the ladder match, and I guess Kane is back in again this year. I’m sure we’ll get Mark Henry or Finlay in there as well, coming up closer to the event. While I’m all for an IC title defense at Wrestlemania, I thought we would get Drew into the MitB match for sure. With Morrison and Truth losing this week, perhaps one of them will be into something with Drew coming into the end of the month and into Wrestlemania.
Drew does this whole psychotic, pissed off loser after the match, this being his first loss, and I’m hoping we don’t get the whiney pussy loser out of this. He’s much too good for that and I think he’s got more talent to do much more, if given the chance.
Miz comes out to the ring, covered in belts. Now that he’s the tag champ, he can be on any show, at any time. I don’t see Daniel Bryan and I don’t see Big Show, so I guess he’s all by his lonesome tonight. Miz says he wants someone for Wrestlemania, in the tag division. He demands Teddy Long finds him a tag team, because he needs to have his Wrestlemania and because he’s awesome. I gotta tell you, I don’t believe it.
Teddy comes out, and says since Big Show isn’t here, he’s gonna have some singles action for Miz. He sets him up with Edge for later on, and I’m already stoked for it. All I know is, that if Miz and Show are looking for a tag match at Mania, I’m hoping it’s the Hart Dynasty.
Commercials hit, and when we come back, it’s Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin, who avoided the big axe and came to Smackdown from the former ECW. I don’t know if anyone else is on my wavelength here, but I think I could go for seeing the Worlds Greatest Tag Team making a comeback. The matches they could have with The Dynasty, Legacy, or Colt and Barreta would be fantastic.
Match 4: Shelton Benjamin vs. CM Punk
Surprisingly, this match was only about five minutes long, and if they had maybe ten more, it would have been a complete and total wrestling clinic. Shelton has been in almost every Bank Ladder Match, more than any other athlete in the WWE, and I hope that this year’s display is just as good as every other year. He’s the king of the big bump. The match ends up breaking down with Mysterio coming out to distract Punk long enough for Shelton to hit Paydirt and get his one way ticket to the biggest show of the year. I guess that this cements Punk and Mysterio for the show as well, and I can only assume that the match will be off the charts. I just hope the story going in is as compelling as Punk is as the heel.
So to recap, the Ladder match will consist of Christian, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, and Dolph Ziggler. I would think we’ll get maybe two or four more entrants, but as to who that will be; only time will tell. Right now, I’m hoping we see Evan Bourne, Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston, or maybe Zack Ryder. All of those guys could use the elevation and are certainly deserving of a great spot on an awesome show.
I’m surprised, but I didn’t see a Hall of Fame clip for Wendi Richter tonight. That’s going to be some acceptance speech, what with it being the ORIGINAL screw job and all, if shoot interviews on YouTube are to be believed.
Match 5: The Miz vs. Edge
The match got about 12 minutes and it was exactly what I needed to see out of the Miz. This guy is really coming along great, he’s a superb heel, and his mic skills are top notch. Certainly a lot better than what we saw out of Truth and Morrison last week, which was overall ridiculous. The more chances he gets to work with top tier talent, the more he’s going to end up endearing himself to enough fans to build a solid base. He and Edge seemed to compliment one another quite well, and I would be very interested in seeing more out of these two in the coming months. I was really expecting Jericho to make a run in or at least get Edge disqualified or something. Edge getting over clean made sense, but it would have made MORE sense to have Jericho come down for a little action for himself.
The show this week ends with Edge celebrating, the fans letting him know how much he was missed since he’s been gone.
So, we got the beginning of our Wrestlemania lineup, and it looks good thus far. I’m sure we’re going to see Mysterio rocking an awesome Iron Man costume at Wrestlemania, since he tends to do the whole superhero thing on that night. The Ladder Match is always a high point for me, and I’m sure the rest of the show will be padded with some great action.
So, as I mentioned before, I spent last weekend working at the Alpha 1 Wrestling show in Hamilton and MAN OH MAN, what a SHOW! If you don’t get out to the Indy’s very often, or you just don’t have the inclination to see some non television talent, you should give this at least the benefit of the doubt. I saw some of the best young talent in Ontario this past Sunday, from Scotty O’Shea to Ethan Page and from Colin Delaney to 'Big Rig' Brodie Lee. Lee has possibly the BEST big boot in the business right now, very reminiscent of the late Andrew ‘Test’ Martin. Scotty O’Shea’s match with Josh Alexander had to be match of the night, although the entire card was well booked, well organized, and full of action packed entertainment.
I’ll include the link to some of the video from the event, featuring yours truly on the stick, and implore you fans once again, to get out and see your local talent. Sometimes, it’s better than what you see on Thursday night. Wait… IT IS BETTER THAN THURSDAY NIGHT. The next Alpha 1 show will be coming up on April 11th, and the tickets should be available soon, along with the card and lineup.
If you want to contact me, you can always do so through the Fight Network, or on Facebook at Jeff ‘Fat Jack’ Goodridge. Hope to talk to some of you soon! Let me know if you like my old format, or the new style. I’m always looking for new ways to meet the needs of the wrestling faithful online!
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance writer and a lifelong wrestling fan. If it weren’t for people like Mr. Perfect, Ricky Steamboat, Brian Pillman and Bret Hart, he would have fallen out of love with it a long time ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrjBbJ8f2M4
Smackdown from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
First off, let me apologize for not being here last week. I had an intense weekend, filled with a variety of emotions, stories, and an awesome Alpha 1 Wrestling Show that I will be touching on at the end of the report. Things are rapidly changing, so I want some feedback on the new style in the report.
Welcome to another excellent episode of Smackdown. First off, the show starts with a great package showcasing the fallout of The Elimination Chamber PPV, adding to the build for Undertaker’s match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, in less than thirty days.
Tonight, we emanate from the good land of beer and cheese, Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, as usual, are manning the desk, and reminding us all about who the top is and who the bottom is.
Chris Jericho makes his way down to the ring, carrying the ten pounds of gold that is the World Heavyweight title. This promo is really great, as usual. He’s going to do everything he can to be the smart, evil heel. He goes on about how Monday was to be his crowning achievement, but it was stolen from him by Edge. This brings out Edge, who goes on to do a great promo featuring an over usage of the word ‘Spear’. I love how they are putting over the Spear as his main weapon, and it looks great. It’s just as good if not better than Bill Goldberg’s.
This is a going to be such a great match, going like two Canadians fighting over the last beer. Edge says Jericho doesn’t believe that he can beat him. He has doubt in his eyes, and Edge thinks he’s in Jericho’s head all nightmare long. Edge wants Jericho at his best, the best in the world, for Wrestlemania, because if he isn’t, and he comes to the show with doubt in his eyes, one more spear and it’s all over. The crowd is really into this segment at this point. Jericho says Edge will never spear him again, and hooks Edge. He goes to hit the Codebreaker, but misses and lands in Edge’s sights for a big spear. The posturing has begun, and the belt is on the line, come thirty days in Phoenix. With the end of that, we head into the first commercial break of the night.
As we come back from commercial, we get a Mania video package and AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, leading into a three way match for a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with this match and the PPV of the same name, but I’m hoping its just filler until they come up with something better.
Match 1: Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. John Morrison
The match was fast paced and well timed. Truth came down with David Otunga, his protégé from the NXT program. I’ve seen little bits of this guy, and if he can get his in ring stuff together, he could be something down the line. He’s a magnificent specimen, as Stu Hart would say. Ziggler plays a great heel, though out the whole match, and I can really see something coming from this guy down the road. At one point, Truth and Ziggler are outside, by the announce table, and Otunga just sits there while Truth is out on the ground. He should have got up and attempted to help him, if they’re to be the team/mentors that they want from the NXT experiment. Ziggler ends up winning this after Morrison hits Truth with Starship Pain, stealing one, and I like this. He’s heading to the big ladder match, and I hope that it’s good things for him. I don’t see him winning it, necessarily, but I can certainly see him making some good spots in the match.
As we come back from commercial, we see an absolutely STELLAR video package to explain the whole Undertaker-HBK feud. I am totally and completely into this story and I simply cannot wait to see how it all pans out. If it were me, I would retire HBK with the Deadman at Mania, and then have Taker get beat next year by some young punk, giving them the rub of a lifetime.
Match 2: Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James
Vickie Guererro is the guest referee tonight, so that automatically puts this entire thing out the window. At one point, she falls on her fat ass and just makes an overall idiot of herself. She slaps Mickie across the face, which gives McCool time to hit a nice crescent kick to the head, and McCool picks up the pin and the win to become the new Women’s Champion. This whole thing has gone on too long, but I’m assuming that it’s going to lead to Beth Phoenix taking on both of them in a three way for the belt at Mania. I could also see Mickie taking some time off, doing the country music album, and having just Beth and McCool at Mania, and that too, could be something really special.
Match 3: Kane vs. Drew McIntyre
This was a Money in the Bank qualifier as well, and Kane did a number on McIntyre. In about five minutes, Kane hoofed Drew in the skull and pulled out the win. Everyone knows we need at least one big guy in the ladder match, and I guess Kane is back in again this year. I’m sure we’ll get Mark Henry or Finlay in there as well, coming up closer to the event. While I’m all for an IC title defense at Wrestlemania, I thought we would get Drew into the MitB match for sure. With Morrison and Truth losing this week, perhaps one of them will be into something with Drew coming into the end of the month and into Wrestlemania.
Drew does this whole psychotic, pissed off loser after the match, this being his first loss, and I’m hoping we don’t get the whiney pussy loser out of this. He’s much too good for that and I think he’s got more talent to do much more, if given the chance.
Miz comes out to the ring, covered in belts. Now that he’s the tag champ, he can be on any show, at any time. I don’t see Daniel Bryan and I don’t see Big Show, so I guess he’s all by his lonesome tonight. Miz says he wants someone for Wrestlemania, in the tag division. He demands Teddy Long finds him a tag team, because he needs to have his Wrestlemania and because he’s awesome. I gotta tell you, I don’t believe it.
Teddy comes out, and says since Big Show isn’t here, he’s gonna have some singles action for Miz. He sets him up with Edge for later on, and I’m already stoked for it. All I know is, that if Miz and Show are looking for a tag match at Mania, I’m hoping it’s the Hart Dynasty.
Commercials hit, and when we come back, it’s Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin, who avoided the big axe and came to Smackdown from the former ECW. I don’t know if anyone else is on my wavelength here, but I think I could go for seeing the Worlds Greatest Tag Team making a comeback. The matches they could have with The Dynasty, Legacy, or Colt and Barreta would be fantastic.
Match 4: Shelton Benjamin vs. CM Punk
Surprisingly, this match was only about five minutes long, and if they had maybe ten more, it would have been a complete and total wrestling clinic. Shelton has been in almost every Bank Ladder Match, more than any other athlete in the WWE, and I hope that this year’s display is just as good as every other year. He’s the king of the big bump. The match ends up breaking down with Mysterio coming out to distract Punk long enough for Shelton to hit Paydirt and get his one way ticket to the biggest show of the year. I guess that this cements Punk and Mysterio for the show as well, and I can only assume that the match will be off the charts. I just hope the story going in is as compelling as Punk is as the heel.
So to recap, the Ladder match will consist of Christian, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, and Dolph Ziggler. I would think we’ll get maybe two or four more entrants, but as to who that will be; only time will tell. Right now, I’m hoping we see Evan Bourne, Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston, or maybe Zack Ryder. All of those guys could use the elevation and are certainly deserving of a great spot on an awesome show.
I’m surprised, but I didn’t see a Hall of Fame clip for Wendi Richter tonight. That’s going to be some acceptance speech, what with it being the ORIGINAL screw job and all, if shoot interviews on YouTube are to be believed.
Match 5: The Miz vs. Edge
The match got about 12 minutes and it was exactly what I needed to see out of the Miz. This guy is really coming along great, he’s a superb heel, and his mic skills are top notch. Certainly a lot better than what we saw out of Truth and Morrison last week, which was overall ridiculous. The more chances he gets to work with top tier talent, the more he’s going to end up endearing himself to enough fans to build a solid base. He and Edge seemed to compliment one another quite well, and I would be very interested in seeing more out of these two in the coming months. I was really expecting Jericho to make a run in or at least get Edge disqualified or something. Edge getting over clean made sense, but it would have made MORE sense to have Jericho come down for a little action for himself.
The show this week ends with Edge celebrating, the fans letting him know how much he was missed since he’s been gone.
So, we got the beginning of our Wrestlemania lineup, and it looks good thus far. I’m sure we’re going to see Mysterio rocking an awesome Iron Man costume at Wrestlemania, since he tends to do the whole superhero thing on that night. The Ladder Match is always a high point for me, and I’m sure the rest of the show will be padded with some great action.
So, as I mentioned before, I spent last weekend working at the Alpha 1 Wrestling show in Hamilton and MAN OH MAN, what a SHOW! If you don’t get out to the Indy’s very often, or you just don’t have the inclination to see some non television talent, you should give this at least the benefit of the doubt. I saw some of the best young talent in Ontario this past Sunday, from Scotty O’Shea to Ethan Page and from Colin Delaney to 'Big Rig' Brodie Lee. Lee has possibly the BEST big boot in the business right now, very reminiscent of the late Andrew ‘Test’ Martin. Scotty O’Shea’s match with Josh Alexander had to be match of the night, although the entire card was well booked, well organized, and full of action packed entertainment.
I’ll include the link to some of the video from the event, featuring yours truly on the stick, and implore you fans once again, to get out and see your local talent. Sometimes, it’s better than what you see on Thursday night. Wait… IT IS BETTER THAN THURSDAY NIGHT. The next Alpha 1 show will be coming up on April 11th, and the tickets should be available soon, along with the card and lineup.
If you want to contact me, you can always do so through the Fight Network, or on Facebook at Jeff ‘Fat Jack’ Goodridge. Hope to talk to some of you soon! Let me know if you like my old format, or the new style. I’m always looking for new ways to meet the needs of the wrestling faithful online!
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance writer and a lifelong wrestling fan. If it weren’t for people like Mr. Perfect, Ricky Steamboat, Brian Pillman and Bret Hart, he would have fallen out of love with it a long time ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrjBbJ8f2M4
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Alpha 1 Pro Wrestling COMETH!
ALPHA 1
Ladies and gentlemen, I have seen some amazing wrestling in my life. I was there when Randy Orton beat Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Title. I was there when John Cena threw up under the ring at Copps. But what I saw, on Feb. 21 was something extraordinary.
Not only did I get my first real taste of Indy tag Sensations, The Super Smash Brothers, but I also bore witness to possibly one of the best cruiserweight style matches I have ever seen in my life. Josh Alexander and Scotty 'Hacker' O'Shea went the time limit and showed not only could they get the crowd rocking, but also keep them sucked in for the entire match. Some might have said it went too long, but that was the point, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Another standout from the event, was the battle between Ethan Page and former WWE wrestler, Colin Delaney. These two guys went for all of it, going with a few high spots but doing some great mat wrestling as well. I would have to say, that with Melo in his corner and Joey Kings having his back, only Ethan Page will decide how far and how fast he can climb the wrestling ladder into utter and complete stardom.
The next Aplha 1 Wrestling show will be in Hamilton on April 11th, showcasing more of the great indy talent that our continent has to offer and I emplore all my readers to get out, see the show, enjoy what is fastly going to become the coolest thing to do in Hamilton since Roller Gardens went out of buisness!
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