Wrestling’s 4R’s Friday Edition 07.03.09: ECW and Raw Reviewed!
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 07.03.2009
Raw was the beginning of a big shake up in the WWE! We got a 15 Superstar trade, HHH, MVP, John Cena and The Miz battled for a shot at the WWE Title and Randy Orton had to run the gauntlet! Meanwhile on ECW, the Talent Initiative is back and there are plenty of new faces to meet! The Friday edition of Wrestling's 4R's breaks down all the action from WWE Raw and ECW on Sci-Fi! Best of all, it’s Csonka free!
If you haven't already, make sure you bookmark 411 or better yet, set us as your homepage! As always, thanks for choosing 411 for all of you pop culture needs!
By: Jeremy Thomas
Raw 06.29.09
The Right:
RATED Y2J vs. THE COLONS: This was Primo and Carlito invoking their rematch clause to get a one-on-one match against the new champions. Jericho came out first with a belt around his waist and one over his shoulder, and Edge followed after. The two champs had mics, and Jericho started off by saying that he was only breaking his vow to never come back to Raw because he had prodigious talent and so on and so forth and yeah, we've heard this before. Jericho busted out even more SAT words than usual before Edge cut him off and explained how everything happened and that they were united because they were so tired of being jerked around, so they took matters into their own hands. Honestly, in this dual promo Edge completely beat out Jericho, who just seemed to be going through the motions on this one. Far better than the promo was the match, which saw Primo starting off incredibly strong against Jericho and Edge. This is one of the reasons why I'm hopeful for Rated Y2J holding the titles, because they can do worlds of good by working with the tag teams and making them feel important and maybe even helping them get over a bit. It's wishful thinking sure, as we all know how much love the Creative team usually has for take teams, but you never know right? Primo ended up on the bad side of Jericho and Edge's offense quickly enough and played the face-in-peril well until Carlito made the tag. One thing that really impressed me here was how well Edge and Jericho are working as a team already. Of course, Rated Y2J picked up the win to no one's surprise, but they made the Colons look VERY good in the process, being competitive against two legitimate main eventers and former World Champions. This match was pretty much a win on all cylinders.
JOHN CENA vs. THE MIZ: Well, here was pretty much EXACTLY what they should have done at THE Bash. Following a remarkably long and typically awesome video package that recapped the Miz/Cena feud, they let Cena and Miz go out there and go at it for almost fourteen minutes. The announcers tried to put over Miz's performance the night before, but they were probably better just leaving it alone. Either way, Miz was booked very well here as he actually looked impressive at times against SuperCena. Did he dominate the man? Of course not, and it makes no sense that he would. Miz is mid-to-upper midcard material, and Cena is as main event as you get. Putting the two of these against each other is obviously going to result in a Cena win; that said, they did a great job of putting Miz over by making him look competitive here and made it obvious to me that they aren't done with the Miz Experiment. I'm actually hoping to see Miz move into a program with Kofi from here over the United States Title now that Cena's back in the title picture, at least until Night of Champions. The in-ring work here was a five-star classic by any stretch, but it was quite good for a television match and would have worked very well even at THE Bash. Maybe I'm just happy they didn't continue to knock Miz down the card, but I dug this.
RANDY ORTON RUNS THE GAUNTLET: All right, so the point here was essentially to put over some of the new talent coming over to Raw from the other shows. Orton came out to some good, solid heel heat, and his first opponent was announced to be none other than ECW's Evan Bourne. You know what, despite a lot of people saying Evan's headed to jobbing status, I can see where they might do some good things with him; he could make for some good midcard feuds, and they did at least avoid completely crushing Bourne on this one. He didn't last all that long to be sure, but he had some good opening moments and I don't think, much like the Cena/Miz match from earlier in the night, anyone would say that Bourne is in Orton's league right now. Add to that the fact that Bourne ate a serious finisher—an RKO off the top turnbuckle—and it's totally okay with me that he lost out here as quickly as he did. Next up was none other than Jack Swagger, also from ECW. This one is an interesting choice, because Swagger doesn't seem to factor in anywhere on Raw unless he becomes a part of Legacy somehow and becomes their midcard title contender guy. They may even be building toward exactly that, as Swagger hit a single double-leg takedown and then stepped outside the ring with that douche-y grin on his face while the ref counted him out and then told Orton that he's always liked and respected him. Legacy could sure as hell do worse than get Swagger on their team. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky on the third spot, as Mark Henry came out and teased pulling a Swagger before he essentially turned face by beating Orton. I will admit to never having been a Mizark fan and this didn't exactly change my opinion, but he does work in certain roles and they booked this really well. Also, Orton's expressions sold this just beautifully. The uncertainty as Swagger pulled his thing and then again with Henry, turning into a major "oh, SHIT" look as he realized what was going on…it was all priceless. I'm okay with Henry beating Orton because for once, Randall looked stronger than H. He was beat to hell just like the Game, but he took on two guys and lost—one of whom turned face in the midst of the situation—while the Game only wrestled one guy. Now, where this lacked was the in-ring work, which was short and choppy. However, this had to be the case by the very nature of the booking and I can give it a pass based on this. I don't know where they're going with this, but I can handle it for now.
puRgatoRy:
LOGIC, THY NAME IS NOT THE RAW CREATIVE TEAM: Raw began with the new (old) owner Vince McMahon coming out in a damn good mood. He started trying to tear down Raw in a way that only endeared him with the crowd, lending further credence to my naked, shivering fear that they're going to keep going with this whole thing. He then announced a fifteen-superstar trade and the institution of weekly guest hosts, both of which orchestrated by Trump and both of which things that he has to live with. Why? Vince is the Chairman of the Company. He can make whatever changes he wants and cancel whatever the hell he wants to, why does he have to live with changes made by a guy that weren't even acted on until the week after he was fired? This makes even less sense than a Uwe Boll film, folks. He then said he was going to shake things up, VKM-style (must not make B.G. James/Cute Kip joke, must not make B.G. James/Cute Kip joke…) and brought out Batista, arm all casted up, as the guest host for the night. The Manimal admittedly got one hell of a pop like he always does as he made his way to the ring and got on the mic. Big Dave for once kept the mic work slowed down and didn't stumble too badly over anything at first, other than calling the Pay-Per-View "The Night of the Champions." It was a very minor flub and I can totally live with that. Apparently Miz was facing Cena—you know, since it was such a competitive match the night before—and M.V.P. versus "his man" the Game. I think we all knew how this was turning out, right? Big Dave didn't get to go on much longer though, as Legacy came down to the stage and Orton started threatening the guest host. Apparently, as we learned, guest hosts can fire talent. Well, this is going to be interesting now, won't it? This is where the Manimal started stumbling a bit, and although he recovered quickly it was still very noticeable. How do you hold a main event level spot for multiple years and not learn how to say a few lines without losing track? The end result here was Orton facing three of the new Raw superstars, and Priceless couldn't interrupt. Well, at least this was a way to build Orton up some—have him face three guys after suffering from his injuries from THE Bash. Ultimately, this squeaks its way into puRgatoRy, because despite the lack of logic in the Trump decrees and Batista losing himself in the latter parts of the segment this set the stage for the show the way it should and gave us a main event that was booked to intrigue us. I expect more than this out of the ‘E, but it wasn't a terrible beginning, just a somewhat flawed one.
The wRong:
MVP vs. ‘H: The first Night of Champions tournament match featured the former US Champion taking on the Game. The H-Man came out first with a leg brace and got his usual big, colored-light entrance while Lawler was all over how injured he must be after THE Bash. After that came M.V.P., and in a very distressing moment he got practically NO crowd reaction…or at least, not enough to be heard significantly over his pyro. This was a terrible choice in terms of booking, as the Game is always the crowd favorite and in face-face matches the crowd has to pick someone to cheer which was, clearly, ‘H. You could even hear the crowd booing occasionally as the former US Champion attacked the leg. This match really bugged me, because they alternated between M.V.P.'s working of the leg, which Cole and Lawler very much oversold, and Hunter's on-again off-again selling of Montel's offense. Sure, they gave him a few pieces of control against the Game, but this was over remarkably quickly as on the third attempt Hunter hit the Pedigree to move on. Listen, I don't care that ‘H beat Montel; that makes sense and I'm okay with it. But this match could have easily been longer and more importantly, they should have booked someone else against ‘H as the face-face dynamic did NOT work here and MVP played to the crowd like a heel. Bad choice, guys.
BUTTERFLY TITLE #1 CONTENDER'S FATAL FOUR-WAY: This was to determine who would be facing Maryse at Night of Champions. Triple K was out first, looking lovely in aqua; Mickie followed, and then Maryse came down in a very unflattering outfit to watch. It was the weird angles in the color design, I think. Beth and Rosa Mendez didn't get their entrances televised I'm afraid. Maryse really didn't do all that well on commentary on this one while the match went on inside the ring. This match just didn't really work for me; it was too awkward and while Mickie worked with Triple K all right, this only got particularly good when Beth and Mickie were facing off and even then there were some awkward spots. They did some fun spots like the submission chain, but the whole point here was to get Mickie the win so they could continue toward the Maryse/Mickie match, which is exactly what happened. It's good to see that they're building a feud in the Butterfly Division, but this match just wasn't particularly good.
BIG SHOW vs. KOFI KINGSTON: Okay, so the question here is this: did Show do something wrong that he's getting pushed down the card, or did Kofi do something right that he's getting a chance to make the United States Championship seem important again? I'll admit that when I saw Kofi coming out to face off against Show I was seriously concerned that he was going to just get flattened here by Show, and that was certainly how it looked it was going to start. However this was actually, when you really look at it, a fairly balanced match in terms of offense. Don't get me wrong it was way too short to really mean much and the style difference didn't do a whole lot to help this match; these two just don't have a lot of chemistry yet. The end saw a double count-out that presumably is leading to a Show/Kofi match at Night of Champions, and hopefully they can put on something a little more substantive once that comes. For now though, this just seemed too short to really work, although I give them props for not making the US Champion look like a joke.
The Ridiculous:
DID YOU KNOW?: Nope. And, as always, I don't care.
The 411
So, this was actually a pretty decent Raw for once. Sure, there were logic problems and of course not everything worked—the Divas match wasn't good at all, ‘H vs. MVP was poor match-making and Show vs. Kofi didn't work either. But the rest was decent and I'm intrigued to see what they're going to do with Henry from here, plus we have Cena/'H next week which hopefully won't suck. With some luck, Raw's going to pull itself out of the major trench it's been stuck in, and tonight was a good step in that direction.
SHOW RATING: 6.5
Comment Time With Jeremy~!
From JUSTIN:
I thought the shows were pretty good this week, but it seems to me, it is more of the usual IWC bitching. If every week, you guys look at the mirro and say 'man that showed sucked...wwe just sucks nowadays', then why are you right back in the same spot next week watching the shows?
Hello Justin, and welcome to the R's. You'll note that all of the shows in this edition did get generally good ratings, especially SmackDown, so I have no clue what you're talking about here. As for why we're back week after week...well, I submit to you it is for two reasons. One, we have a column to write, and without watching the shows it would be kinda hard to write the column. And second, because we have hope each week that despite the bad directions of certain shows *coughRawcough* they're going to make an upward turn like our Monday night wrestling fix has started on. Thanks for reading though!
From Kyle:
Where's the love for Punk and Morrison on your free TV matches of the year? Anyway love the R's. From every report i read it sounds like Rey v. Jericho was MOTN. To me Jericho is top form putting on great matches week after week. His feud with Rey has been excellent. Jericho to me along with edge are the MVP's of wrestling. With them two you can usually count on good things.
The match of the year lists are compiled by Larry, and he may not have loved Punk/Morrison as much as I did. As to the rest, I can absolutely agree. Jericho and Edge absolutely are the MVP's, and it's not too much of a wonder why they've been assigned the tag team titles, since now they can bust their ass on show after show and rock it every time. I just hope they don't burn out; it could easily happen.
From Viper Fontaine: JT. The Jesse thing may have been moronic, but he has used that gimmick before and it may save his job.
From IcehawkDown:
Jeremy "Boring" Thomas.
Seriously, Jesse was awesome. And it may have given the guy a new gimmick, as well as giving Cryme Tyme some face tyme. Half the stuff on a wrestling TV show "serves no purpose".
Suck it up. Awesome segment.
Hey Viper and Icehawk. I don't deny that it may well give him a new gimmick and even save his job, I just said that it made no sense for him. This was a country hick gimmick becoming white urban boy. When they did Cena going to the rap gimmick it at least was done in a way that made some sort of sense. This just bugged me. And Icehawk, if you think half the stuff on a wrestling show serves no purpose, then pardon me for saying so but you're not paying attention. Everything on a wrestling show serves a purpose--or should. It could be angle advancement, feud advancement or simply helping getting someone over, but there's always a reason for why a segment or match is occurring.
From blackwolf79: I honestly have to wonder at this point if Shelton Benjamin is having problems behind the scenes with the WWE. Burying him just seems so foolish.
I've wondered the same thing, blackwolf. I haven't heard anything, but it's just sad at this point.
From regular jake:
Is the newfound focussed cynicism of WWE and utopian view of TNA merely because Mick Foley is reading 411? It sucks. If WWE had done the crap like TNA did on last week's impact, you would have endlessly whined about it. And to put Miz vs Cena is ridiculous is just flat out silly and spiteful. With that parameter, virtually every Abyss, Nash and Foley match should be categorized as friggin absurd. Even the tazer incident just got a "wrong"?? If E' had done it, you would have probably got an aneurysm. Such such biases the Rs have run into.
I used to be a regular reader of this column, but with the recent blatant bias (and it's ok if it doesnt mean squat to you) you have certainly lost a Rs-fan.
From jeremy:
what the fuck have the Rs become, really? Jame Storm vs Booker gets a right?????? Bad selling, cliched spots and like you said, poor booking.
Someone save the Rs
From christy:
"Poor match, poor booking, and all in all a poor segment" deserves a RIDICULOUS tag. I really really wish Foley had never said that he reads 411. The stench of bias has been overwhelming.
tWow...really, guys? Comments like these always amuse me, because in Wrestler of he Week we get CONSTANT crap for having an Anti-TNA bias. Listen, the fact of the matter is this; I don't care if Foley's reading this. Well, let me rephrase I hope he is, but it doesn't change my writing. If you think my thoughts are a sudden change of heart, check any column where I'v e aired thoughts about TNA--the PPV Roundtables, Wrestler of the Week, fill-in R's, Fact or Fiction or whatever. Seriously, take your pick. My thoughts have been consistent throughout. I have opinions, and assuming Mick Foley is reading these I expect him to accept them exactly as they are...opinions that point out both the good and the bad. It's also unfair to put my rating of Abyss vs. Nash against Larry's opinion of Miz vs. Cena, because we are (contrary to popular opinion!) two different people and we view things differently. And christy, "Poor, poor & poor" isn't ridiculous, it's wrong. Had any of them been terrible instead of poor, you'd have a case, but I legitimately didn't think this was quite bad enough to count as Ridiculous. You may disagree, but just because my opinion is not the same as yours doesn't mean I have a TNA Bias. Thanks for reading through you guys!
From KanyonKreist:
I guess this week's major question has got to be: How utterly fucked is ECW after this "trade" thing? I mean, did you see the changes? They lose Bourne, Swagger, Finlay, Henry AND the entire Hart Dynasty, and they get Benjamin, Goldust (hey, those two could be a pretty sweet tag team), Regal and the Bellas? Wow, man... with Dreamer inevitably retiring, the ECW Title scene will consist of, what, just Christian, Benjamin and maybe Regal until next year's draft??? If we're to believe that one Donald Trump orchestrated this trade with ECW's GM, Tiffany, then we must come to the conclusion that she will also become his new trophy wife as part of the deal. To clarify, if I had to guess, I'd say they're shutting down the ECW brand within the next few months. Either that or maybe they'll turn it into a show like Superstars. I dunno, man, but they just gutted that roster like a jack-o-lantern.
I don't really think ECW is fucked honestly...and thank you for commenting on this, I wanted to say something about it in the main column but couldn't fit it in. Okay, here's the deal as far as I see it. If ECW were like SmackDown and Raw in stature, than yes they would have been completely screwed by this "trade." But ECW is not of the same stature as the Monday and Friday Night shows, and it's the place where they develop new stars before moving them to one of the two grander stages. Taking Finlay, Bourne, Swagger, Henry and the Hart Dynasty off the show means they have open roster spots for new guys to be called up via the "New Superstar Initiative." Not all of these guys will succeed, and maybe none of them will. But ECW is a place where they can have a shot, and it completely fits with how the 'E views the show. I'm completely okay with this and I'm hopeful that ECW will do for some of the new guys what it did for CM Punk, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger and the Hart Dynasty--as opposed to what it "did" for Ortiz and the like. Time will tell, but I'm fine with how this turned out for now.
From poffo316:
Is JR wearing a Wrist Strong bracelet? If so, respect!
You know, I somehow doubt it. That would be frickin' awesome if he was, though!
From Shockmaster:
The thumbtacks "match" underscored the problem with this whole show: no time. It's like watching Iron Chef only they have to prepare ten courses per hour and the theme ingredient is always run-ins. I so agree about Daffney, Jeremy. She did nothing for me as "The Governor" but as soon as she went goth again, yummy.
JOHN MORRISON vs. CM PUNK: Great free TV match, and even on PPV this would have gotten high praise. I audibly cheered when Morrison won, something I rarely do. Then I watched Punk for a moment and it hit me. Greasy haired world champ who I see as overrated and love to watch lose. Punk is Bret Hart! Well, Bret circa 1992 anyway.
CHRIS JERICHO & EDGE vs. REY REY & JEFF HARDY: This was the second major Punk related moment for me. I look at the four participants, and see guys who have all had decent or better matches with Punk. What bothers me isn't that he can't be in decent matches, it's that he needs a top level opponent to lead him along, yet is the one with the gold. Still, the booking for his character is the best of anything in wrestling right now. Despite my personal distaste for Punk, every time he's on screen something interesting is happening. As a fan that's really all I can ask.
R-TRUTH vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN: Welcome to jobberville, Shelton. Population: You. No literal or figurative song and dance here changes that Shelton should be in the upper midcard at worst, and losing to Truth clean solidifies his plunge. His promo was interesting but meaningless when he's back to never winning. Sigh.
That's a great analogy with the Iron Chef, Shock. I imagined you probably were happy to see Morrison beat Punk; I do see Punk as a Bret Hart type, but I consider that a good thing. But then, I know you're not a Punk fan, so it works out. We're in agreement that his heel turn is being handled very well, and also about Shelton. Whatever the hell he did (if anything), I feel for him, as he's certainly being punished all to hell. Double sigh.
From 17:
Jeremy, I'm completely with you on the senseless Shelton burying, it's really annoying. Do yourself a favour and don't watch ECW this week. In fact everyone do themselves a favour and don't watch ECW this week.
The Smackdown women's tag belonged in ridiculous and here's why, the ending completely destroyed what little credibility Gail has left. I don't care how many flashy moves you pull off if you lose to a single move your credibility is dead and buried. People are saying Orton put over Bourne this week on RAW but the truth is he completely buried the man by beating him in a single move. In both these cases the loss is to a flashy move but it's still a single move. To bury such talent is ridiculous.
I did see ECW and was speechless at how Shelton was treated. I don't even know what to say anymore about it. I don't agree that being beat with a single move kills your cred in all cases; I can see your point with Gail, but Bourne was another matter because of how severe of a move it was. How many people do you see Orton RKO from the top rope? I don't care who you are, if you take that particular variation on the move you're going to be down for the count.
By: Michael Bauer
ECW 06.30.09:
QUICK RESULTS:
- Yoshi Tatsu defeat Shelton Benjamin via Pin at 1:50 [DUD]
- Sheamus defeats Oliver John via Pin at 2:30 [*1/2]
- Vladimir Kozlov and William Regal defeat Tommy Dreamer and Christian Cage at 13:45 [**1/2]
The Right:
MAIN EVENT TAG TEAM MATCH: This one gets a right from me for several reasons. First off, both promos with both the teams were well done. Regal comes right over and immediately wants to be a chump with Kozlov, who is baldest, most dangerous guy on the ECW roster. Kozlov's lack of English skills worked nicely here. Then Dreamer and Christian don't hide the tension between them. But Dreamer is all business as he thinks about the match, while Christian thinks about the title. Once again, very well done. The match itself was decent, not he greatest, but it got the job done with everything it was supposed to. It established Kozlov as a contender once again, instead of a jobber killer. It also solidified the unusual alliance between Regal and Kozlov, which could be very dangerous in the ECW. Overall, nothing wrong with what they did.
puRgatoRy:
SHEAMUS DEBUTS AND DOMINATES: So we had four debuts this week and of all of them, Sheamus gave me the only reason to be excited about the new superstar imitative. He came out, gave his promo, and had the match against a jobber. His promo wasn't too bad, but when I heard him talk, I almost felt like I was listening to another version of Finlay. Like, this guy was not going to get his chance on ECW if Finlay was still there. But anyway, he gave his promo, planning to call ECW his very own Celtic Fighting Ground and had a decent squash match. But for a guy his size, he didn't dominate as he should of and the crowd really didn't get into him like I thought they should have. Plus, it was kinda hard to tell what side of the fence he was on. Hopefully, most of this can be cleared up in the coming weeks.
The wRong:
TOO MANY DEBUTS AND NOT A LOT OF REASON TO CARE: So, here is my gripe. Of the four people to debut, none of them got special video packages or any sort of leading up into their debut on ECW. Sheamus did have his promo before his match, which was fine. Tyler Reks had his debut by coming up to Zach Ryder and virtually getting run down by his opponent on Superstars. At least with him, they gave him a promo before his debut match, but they did nothing to make me feel like he was anything special. The same can mostly be said about all four guys debuting on ECW. But I only discussed two of them here…
The Ridiculous:
NOTHING, BUT THERE SURE WAS PLENTY OF…
The RRI-GOD-DAMN-DICULOUS:
YOSHI TATSU DEBUTS AND SHELTON GOES ANTI-ASIAN: Ok, Shelton Benjamin is back on ECW and the commentators hyped him up huge about being a former United States, Tag Team, and Intercontinental Champion. They only forgot to mention how he used to be on ECW before and wasn't known as the Gold Standard before his last run there. But that is a minor detail. So out comes Yoshi Tatsu and Shelton seems to not know what the make of the rookie, which is a fair thing to do. Hell, he even struggled against Evan Bourne in his debut. But that is where the fun ended. Shelton went on the microphone and spoke with a fake Japanese accent to try and communicate. Now, I get the point of it, but this is SHELTON BENJAMIN! This is not some random Santino-esque heel who is around as comic relief. This is a guy that you just spent his entire entrance hyping up and making a big deal out of, since he was the only really good talent you got back from the trade, and he proceeds to shit all over it. Then it gets worse. The bells rings and Shelton proceeds to go to every corner and bow. Again, for such a talent as Shelton to do this shit is fucking insane. And then, he goes into a crane stance and proceeds to bow to the face of Yoshi. Well, I was with Yoshi, I had enough of this crap also, as he proceeds to kick Shelton upside the head and get a pinfall. Yeah, the match was 1:50 long with 1:40 of it being Shelton mocking Japan. So Yoshi debuts and wins, but I don't know what to make of this guy. Yeah, he can kick your head off, but what else can he do and why should I care?
ABRHAM WASHINGTON'S DEBUT TALK SHOW: Oh, but nothing in the world could have been worse than this. I swear, this was probably the worst segment for ECW since Vince brought it back. And I have seen pretty much every week of it. So, we get Washington back stage, glad-handing and stuff. He comes out and does the same thing as Striker calls him charismatic. Yeah… that's why he sssoundssss ssslightly like a versssion of Jack Ssswagger. I swear I heard sssomething of a lisssp. Anyway, he proceeds to then talk about The Bash from Sunday and it immediately went downhill from there. First off… this is wrestling, not David Letterman. David can get away with bad jokes from time to time, where as your material has to be good all the time. Comparing the pain of Three Stages of Hell to Paris Hilton in a spelling bee was forced and painful to listen to. Comparing Vince McMahon's financial disaster of selling and buying back Raw to 12 Rounds and then dissing on the Miz was simply pathetic. And then we bring out the Bella Twins and at least my eyes enjoyed the rest of the segment. Mr. Washington though decided to kill my ears a bit more. He first joked and asked if the twins always looked alike. Huh? What? At this point, I had one thing on my mind:
He then did try to turn up the heat by getting a cat fight brewing, but this segment was deader than a cold fish. And this is how his debut went. It was too long, too boring, had no heat, and pretty much kills any shot he has of doing something good while in ECW.
The 411
Well, this sure was a new era of ECW. But I wouldn't exactly call it one that I am looking forward to watching every week. Yes, they started to rebuild the main event scene, but everything else came off looking very weak and this was certainly one of the worst shows of ECW in quite some time. The segments were okay overall, but Washington's debut dragged the whole episode down.
SHOW RATING: 4.0
LARRY'S RANKINGS THUS FAR
2009 PPV Rankings:
-ROH RISING ABOVE {8.0}
-WWE NO WAY OUT {8.0}
-TNA SLAMMIVERSARY {8.0}
-[TAKE NO PRISONERS] – Tyler Black & KENTA vs. Austin Aries & Katsuhiko Nakajima (****¼)
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – I QUIT MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Austin Aries (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Jarrett (****¼)
-[TNA GENESIS] - X-Division Title Match: Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin (****¼)
-[TNA SLAMMIVERSARY] – X-Division King of the Mountain Match: Suicide vs. Lethal vs. Creed vs. Sabin vs. Shelley (****¼)
-[WWE NO WAY OUT] – THE RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER (****¼)
-[WWE EXTREME RULES] – IC TITLE MATCH: Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (****)
-[WWE EXTREME RULES] – WORLD TITLE LADDER MATCH: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (****)
-[TNA SLAMMIVERSARY] – TNA World Title King of the Mountain Match: Foley vs. Angle vs. AJ vs. Joe vs. Jarrett (****)
2009 PPV MVP AWARDS: Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
-[TNA GENESIS] Sabin, Shelley, Angle and Jarrett – Rocking The House
-[ROH RISING ABOVE] – Danielson and McGuinness - Defining the ROH World Title
-[WWE ROYAL RUMBLE] – RVD – The Joke Pays Off
-[WWE NO WAY OUT] – EDGE – The Ultimate Opportunist
-[WWE WRESTLEMANIA] – HBK and The Undertaker – Stealing the Show
-[ROH CAGED COLLISION] – Nigel McGuinness – Better Than You Sugar Nuts
-[TNA LOCKDOWN] - Christopher Daniels – Pulling Double Duty
-[WWE BACKLASH] – Edge and John Cena – Stealing the Show
-[TNA SACRIFICE] – The TNA Roster – Making the Best Out of Shitty Booking
-[WWE EXTREME RULES] – Rey, Jericho, Edge and Hardy – They Are Awesome
-[TAKE NO PRISONERS] – Tyler Black, KENTA, Austin Aries and Katsuhiko Nakajima – Main Event Excellence
-[TNA SLAMMIVERSARY] – Daffney and Taylor Wilde – Two Hardcore Bitches
-[WWE THE BASH] – Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho – Making the Show Worth It
2009 TOP TV Match Rankings:
I will update as often as needed.
-Edge vs. Rey Mysterio - (Smackdown: 06.05.09) {****}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 04.25.09) {****}
-Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison - (ECW: 04.14.09) {****}
-Christian vs. Jack Swagger - (ECW: 02.24.09) {****}
-Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - (Raw: 01.12.09) {****}
-John Morrison vs. CM Punk - (Smackdown: 06.26.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. John Morrison - (Smackdown: 06.12.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - (Raw: 06.08.09) {***¾}
-Edge vs. Jeff Hardy - (Smackdown: 06.12.09) {***¾}
-CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho - (Superstars: 05.21.09) {***¾}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – (ROH on HDNet: 05.09.09) {***¾}
-Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – (ROH on HDNet: 04.04.09) {***¾}
-Beer Money vs. Team Canada – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***¾}
-Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles – (Impact: 01.22.09) {***¾}
-CAGE MATCH: Edge and Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy - (Smackdown: 06.26.09) {***½}
-WWE TITLE LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: Randy Orton vs. HHH - (Raw: 06.22.09) {***½}
-WWE TITLE MATCH: Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. HHH vs. Big Show - (Raw: 06.08.09) {***½}
- Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk- (Smackdown: 06.12.09) {***½}
- Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison - (Superstars: 06.11.09) {***½}
-Jeff Hardy and R-Truth vs. Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler - (Superstars: 06.04.09) {***½}
-Christian vs. Tyson Kidd - (ECW: 06.02.09) {***½}
-Edge vs. Chris Jericho - (Smackdown: 05.15.09) {***½}
-Rey Mysterio vs. Shelton Benjamin - (Superstars: 05.14.09) {***½}
-Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho - (Smackdown: 05.08.09) {***½}
-Edge vs. Kofi Kingston - (Superstars: 04.23.09) {***½}
-John Cena vs. Chris Jericho - (Raw: 04.20.09) {***½}
-Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin - (Smackdown: 04.17.09) {***½}
-Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy - (Smackdown: 04.10.09) {***½}
-Primo vs. The Miz - (ECW: 03.10.09) {***½}
-Edge vs. John Cena - (Raw: 03.02.09) {***½}
-Lethal Consequences vs. Motor City Machine Guns – (Impact: 02.19.09) {***½}
-Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin - (Smackdown: 01.09.09) {***½}
Are we seriously bitching about the Benjamin/Asian thing? The dude came out to face a total unknown who the crowd didn't give two shits about. Shelton, as much as we all like him, just isn't a big enough heat magnet to make some no name an instant face with the crowd.
So Shelton, an ENTERTAINER, came out, and MADE THE CROWD CARE FOR THE NO NAME ROOKIE. You know, something a really good heel can do; they can make a face out of anyone.
So yeah, the match was short, and Shelton looked like a bitch. It wasn't great booking to have so many debuts on one night and not give these two time to have a match proper. But in a two minute match with one move, the crowd actually took notice of the new guy while Shelton drew tons of heat.
AKA: Mission fucking accomplished. Now give them some time to build on a decent start.
Posted By: Weston Smith (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Shelton's so called match was deplorable.It was more than a talented worker like Shelton doing some two-bit painfully unfunny comedy routine. This crap was as racist as it gets. The E would not let one of their wreslers mock another by wearing black face or bringing up a stereotype like chicken and watermelon,why in the hell do they allow this.My asian friends do not bow to everyone and all but one does not know karate or any other martial art.Yet we got to see these stereotypes reinforced on the E. Sorry if I am blowing this up beyond what it actually is,but this crap bothered me.Giving this garbage the Ri-GD-diculous is not nearly enough.
Posted By: fanboi13 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:57 PM
I didn't think Sheamus was comparable to Finlay in any way besides their shared Irish heritage. Sheamus has an outlandish appearance, and is much more of a power-oriented wrestler - whereas Finlay is more of a technician/brawler combination. Also, I thought it was pretty clear that Sheamus was a heel, judging by his mannerisms in his entrance and during his match. Plus, Matt Striker (in kayfabe) explained that Sheamus hadn't introduced himself or "shown respect" to any of his peers backstage. He had a decent run in FCW, and I hope he becomes a full-time member of the ECW roster.
Posted By: Nick M. (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:58 PM
Which will be more annoying: if Triple H beats Cena on Monday, when he could have beaten the Miz after Miz got a victory on Cena, or the other way around, with MVP?
Also, JT, are you convinced that I was right about ECW yet? I know it's only been one week, but DAMN...
ALSO also, Maryse is the best guest-commentator of all time. Okay, she's not, but I sincerely thing she WOULD be if she could follow through on a thought once in a while.
"Who would you like to see win this match, Maurice? OH MY!"
"Kelly's very pretty, non?"
"Are you saying you'd like to face Kelly Kelly?"
"....Yes?"
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Registered) on July 03, 2009 at 12:35 AM
Man, all the whining about Shelton is ridiculous. Shelton has two purposes. To do big spots in ladder matches and put over other people, because he can't get over himself.
Toshi got the biggest reaction of the night, and it was thanks to Shelton doing his job perfectly.
Posted By: August (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:55 AM
Weston has it right here. Bauer, YOU are the idiot.
Shelton did his job. He went out there and made the crowd care about Yoshi Tatsu. The crowd popped HUGE when Shelton got pinned, meaning that people went nuts over a match that they probably thought at the outset was going to be a typical squash to push Shelton toward the main event.
Instead, Yoshi got the win, the pop and the crowd to care. Shelton isn't hurt by this because it's clearly a fluke victory that he can play off as "I wasn't ready. I'll beat you when I'm ready."
Now they can have a re-match, a mini feud with Shelton ultimately going over and moving onto the main event and suddenly you have made a no-name into somebody that can compete week in and week out with some kind of crowd reaction.
Good job WWE creative on this one. It was booked well. Bauer and all of the "Shelton got buried" crowd are idiots.
Shelton got more over as a heel by losing than he ever would have by beating a no-name Asian guy in 2 minutes.
Posted By: Guest#6615 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:00 AM
"The E would not let one of their wrestlers mock another by wearing black face."
But they did almost 20 years ago, Rowdy Roddy Piper VS Bad News Brown at WrestleMania VI in 1990.
Posted By: Nick M. (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:01 AM
Piper's deal at WM6 was "I represent everybody", as signified by the HALF-blackface. Sure he did some vocal mocking of Bad News, but sincerely think that was more geared at Bad News specifically than black people in general. You know, kinda like how the Rock used to "play" the Undertaker and everybody else... I may be wrong, but that's the way I saw it. Still, it was a good rebuttal, Nick M.
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Registered) on July 03, 2009 at 01:35 AM
fair enough mate
Posted By: christy (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:47 AM
i am reading and i hate you jeremy thomas
Posted By: mick foley (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:52 AM
So what if YOSHI TATSU got a great reaction for winning, there are better ways to go about it? The match itself was short and did nothing for either one of them. Shelton Benjamin's whole routine was pointless and offensive. This is a public company a worldwide company this is not the way to go about that sort of thing. Not every Asian person bows and talks about Godzilla. It was horrible and i watched a little longer but could not force myself to watch the rest of this horrible show.
I hope Edge and Jericho don't burn themselves out too Jeremy. Look at what Edge has wrestled since he came back at Survivor series on TV and PPV's not counting house shows. A No DQ match at the Royal Rumble, 2 elimination chambers at no way out, a last man standing match at Backlash, at extreme rules a ladder match, this past Friday a cage match. The guy has been in a lot of different gimmick matches that he is probably feeling the effects of.
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:08 AM
By god, i hope abraham doesnt get fired. he's green and creative probably wasnt give much time to prepare good material as this seemed rather impromptu;vkm probably decided on these debuts when he noticed that tna was doing better than ecw and other reasons.
yoshi won too fast and sheamus was good throughout. vlad has red shorts on!
Posted By: Janell (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:16 AM
and they did build on the shelton issue. He beat Yatsu in a fun little 10-min match during ECW tapings,I hear from the spoilers.
Posted By: alan (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:23 AM
Cena v. Miz on RAW did not deserve to be in the right. Sure, I'm ignoring the fact that Cena made Miz look like a million dollars by selling for him for about 10-11 minutes. Then, Cena comes back...hits his moves and makes Miz tap out after about 30-60 seconds later. That match needed a different finish. Cena could had won by DQ with the Miz getting tired of Cena not staying down and bashing him with a weapon. Cena could had won from Miz making one mistake and getting a pin off a rollup. It's the same old shit that Cena does that devalues the commodity that is the Miz. It is ridiculous seeing Super Cena winning after getting his ass kicked forever...
Posted By: Cena-nuff (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:44 AM
Randy Orton is the worst booked champion in history.
Forget CM Punk last year, forget Rey Mysterio, hell forget fucking Kane's one day reign! This takes the cake:
- He can't win, and when he does the commentators bury the shit out of him like he raped their wives. And yet he somehow, god have mercy, somehow has heat, STILL!
- Triple H constantly looks better, this has been happening for FIVE FUCKING YEARS! Orton can't beat Triple H so why the fuck is the feud still going on!?
Posted By: Brad is a Sad Panda (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:56 AM
For as talented as Shelton Benjamin is in the ring, I'm really shocked more of the IWC hasn't realized that Benjamin just doesn't get over. Maybe part of it is booking/writing/whatever, but still. He has had a multitude of attitudes and gimmicks and other than popping the crowd with some of his offense, nothing.
Posted By: Snabbit (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 03:12 AM
John Morrisson hardly speaks, he gets over by doing great moves and WINNING (i don't think he's lost more than 2 matches since the draft.) I think one was to Edge and another was a Tag Team match.
Evan Bourne never speaks, he gets over by doing great moves and winning matches. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he losings. Which is the way wrestling should be.
Shelton hardly speaks, does great moves and gets great reaction from the moves, but he never wins.
If you're Kobe Bryant, it doesn't matter how great of a player you are, if your team hardly ever wins, nobody is going to care about you.
Posted By: Guest#7315 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 07:27 AM
I agree that the Abraham Washington segment was about the worst thing I've ever seen in wrestling. I'm honestly surprised a smark in the crowd didn't nail him with a tranquilizer dart or something.
Posted By: The Glide (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 08:28 AM
Shelton's so called match was deplorable.It was more than a talented worker like Shelton doing some two-bit painfully unfunny comedy routine. This crap was as racist as it gets. The E would not let one of their wreslers mock another by wearing black face or bringing up a stereotype like chicken and watermelon,why in the hell do they allow this.My asian friends do not bow to everyone and all but one does not know karate or any other martial art.Yet we got to see these stereotypes reinforced on the E. Sorry if I am blowing this up beyond what it actually is,but this crap bothered me.Giving this garbage the Ri-GD-diculous is not nearly enough.
Posted By: fanboi13 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:57 PM
You think the Yoshi BS was the most racist? You forget Cryme Time's debut how they stole things and ponded them off? What about Latino Gangstas on TNA? What about (Chavo Guerrero) Kerwin "If it ain't white, it ain't right." White? The midgets? HHH and Booker T? HHH f###ing a corpse (ok not racist, but sick)? What about from WCW Harlem Heat debuting has black slaves? What about Rico, Billy and Chuck or Eugene? Doesn't sexually orientation and disability count has racism? What about Monty Brown getting screwed out of his TNA World Title run for Christian? Wasn't that a racist move? What about white wrestlers being oppressed? Isn't that racist?
Look I'm sorry if your offended but please get f###ing over it!
Posted By: B. Power/Good, W. Power/Bad. (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 08:39 AM
I'm with Weston Smith on this one...Shelton, for the first time in his CAREER made me actually pay attention to what he was saying...BECAUSE he was being such an ass and insulting his unknown opponent with stereotypical insults. It was great because it made me want to do EXACTLY WHAT YOSHI DID TO HIM. I thought it was executed brilliantly and makes me actually want to see a full-length rematch very soon. The only unknown is Yoshi's actual ability to wrestle, but here's hoping that he can, because i will be tuning in to find out.
And Sheamus should wear something similar to what MVP wears...i'm blinded by his paleness.
And Abraham Washington...GOTS TA GO!!
Posted By: John B Hopkins (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 09:13 AM
Jeremy, great point about the difference between Cena and Miz. Cena's "warm up" to the STFU kind of reminded me of the combos used in the Mortal Kombat games, it's just one move after another to weaken a rival and then it's like he hears the "FINISH HIM!!!" and does either the FU or STFU. It's just a relentless assault and some people (Edge, Y2J, Triple H) are at the level to where they can stop it. Miz just isn't at that level yet. Good call.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Of all the names in the world to pick , they pick :
George Washington + Abraham Lincoln .
Sigh .
This was so bad it made Katie Vick look excellent by comparison .
The worst wrestling thing on TV this year , even TNA did not do something as stupid .
I have only one thing to say to Mr Abraham :
YOU'REEEEEEEEE FIRRRRREEDDDDDD !!!!!
Pick up the Wrestle Crap award on the way out .
Posted By: Lexie (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:24 AM
You know I agree about the Abraham Washington segment being terrible but for the most part I enjoyed ECW....until I came on here and read the bitching.
Christ stop overthinking everything like a smark. Shelton vs Yoshi was amusing and it got Yoshi over enough to make people care. I realised today that I can't enjoy ANY wrestling when I come on here and read all these smarky insights into every move, workrate, promo and booking decision. Sometimes you just have to watch and try and HAVE FUN. You know fun? Rather than sitting and being an armchair critic picking everything apart.
I'm pretty sure the reason the majority of people who loved wrestling can't get into it and whine all the time about it now is because of this. When you're young do you sit there and say "well you know Shelton is really being buried here, man that's wrong this should be a 5 star classic mat wrestling match" or do you just sit and try to enjoy it?
Does everyone here go out for dinner and sit talking about the workrate of the chef and how you could make it better? Shit some people just can't ENJOY anything. Sit back and relax for a change instead of sitting there with your booking hat on winding yourself up about decisions you have no control over anyway. Watch it and enjoy it or don't. Simples.
Posted By: Col (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Didn't DX do the WHOLE nation in Black face? Let me tell you something about that. First those guys are what we black people refer to as coons and/or geechies. They are acting the way they act in a fashion that is an eagerration of black stereotypes. Cool...we know why and for what purpose. When DX did those guys in with that promo I was at ablack college with a room full of black educated people and we FELL OUT LAUGHING!!! Wrestling has always fed into stereotypes rednecks, asians, latinos...the whole enchilada. Let's get a sense of humor aobut being adults watching frown men oil up and wrestle in little to no clothing.
Posted By: Guest#2292 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:32 PM
"ALSO also, Maryse is the best guest-commentator of all time. Okay, she's not, but I sincerely thing she WOULD be if she could follow through on a thought once in a while."
You missed the best part.
Cole: You know, Maryse, we have a new Women's champion, Michelle McCool. She's the first Diva to hold the Divas title and the Women's title.
Maryse: Yes, my #1 fan. She was crying after her win last night. I don't know why. She didn't beat ME.
Posted By: Guest#9381 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:28 PM
I woulndt agree with bourne being burried cuz even though he was taken out with one move and that was a finisher by the way, he was still aelling the beating that he took from mark henry
Posted By: Guest#2017 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 01:55 PM
was it me or did anyone else notice all of the hints maryse was throwing towards kelly, she kept calling her pretty and when asked she said she would love to go against kelly i think the king caught on and started feeding into it, plus the look on her face when talking about kelly was like um yea i would love to be looking up at her, or maybe it was just me.
Posted By: O (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:34 PM
Jeremy, we're going to have to agree to disagree on Orton Runs The Gauntlet. As I said before losing to a single move no matter what the move is a pure burial and Bourne was made to look like a total jobber on arrival. I've heard the argument that Bourne was recovering from a beating from Mark Henry but that was a week ago and most wrestlers don't sell anything one week later because they've had time to heal. It's different sometimes when a superstar/superstars have had a particularly brutal match and/or it's only been 24 hours. On this particular RAW the announcers made sure to point out that two superstars were recovering from a match, even if one of them didn't do a great job of selling it coughTripleHcough, meanwhile they didn't mention anything about Bourne and the man himself wasn't selling any injuries as far as I remember. Bourne will probably be able to make people forget about his credibility destroying loss with his exciting move set but that doesn't stop the fact that he was treated like nothing but a jobber on RAW.
Of course right after Bourne was 'welcomed' to RAW the WWE made the mindboggling decision to push Mark Henry for the 568948573th time. When are they finally going to give up on this guy? He's sucked for over 10 years and that's never going to change. The fans would have cheered just about anyone in the role given to Henry and for someone with something to actually offer could have been a starting point for a push for someone who actually deserved it.
The only thing that saved the segment from being purely ridiculous was the Jack Swagger stuff, although I pray he stays away from Orton and his job squad because the last thing Swagger needs is to start getting squashed by Triple H every week.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 03:47 PM
John Morrisson hardly speaks, he gets over by doing great moves and WINNING (i don't think he's lost more than 2 matches since the draft.) I think one was to Edge and another was a Tag Team match.
then u can at least add two more, jericho has b eaten him on two separate episodes of superstars.
Posted By: nic (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 04:22 PM
Shelton Benjamin is a midcarder/jobber for life. He just doesn't have what it takes to be a main eventer, WWE Champion or World Champion.
Posted By: Dwayne (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 05:09 PM
"was it me or did anyone else notice all of the hints maryse was throwing towards kelly, she kept calling her pretty and when asked she said she would love to go against kelly i think the king caught on and started feeding into it, plus the look on her face when talking about kelly was like um yea i would love to be looking up at her, or maybe it was just me."
I noticed that, too. She was openly praising Kelly.
Posted By: Guest#8652 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 05:45 PM
The problem with Shelton going the racist route is that it accomplished nothing that a understimating angle could have done. Benjamin can run down this nobody that the WWE Universe (their term, not mine) has never heard of. He can run off his list of accomplishments and say he was winning titles while Yoshi was pumping gas. He can claim ECW has his new home and you damn sure don't come into his home and expect to hold up to the Gold Standard. Then, since Yoshi already demonstrated the bow before he entered the ring, Shelton could mock him without coming across as overtly racist, resulting in the same finish we saw. Now the subsequent rematch is about the cocky veteran wanting revenge on the lucky upstart as opposed to the vengeful racist feeling taken advantage of by the foreigner.
Racism in wrestling is fine if it's handled well. Look at HHH/Booker. Yes, the ending to that particular feud was beyond fucked up, but the buildup was a nice bit of storytelling that, had Booker gone over, I would have looked back on fondly.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 06:31 PM
It seems as if there are two camps on this here internet regarding the Yoshi vs. Shelton match. The camp who thought it was the greatest televised match in the history of broadcast entertainment, and the camp who thought it was the worst match that has ever been witnessed inside the squared circle.
Personally, I thought it was deplorable, and in no way entertaining or redeemable.
You can't please 'em all, obviously, but I think they went the route of "if you can't please 'em, offend 'em!".
I know its a trendfad for the internet to like something that is overtly shitty (see tonight's positive reaction to the Morrison/Teddy promo), but I felt that WWE creative crossed a line here, and it ain't even Thursday night!
Thumbs down for the Shelton angle. Make that, two thumbs down.
Posted By: CanadianCrippler (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 03:58 AM
I have no problem with Shelton jobbing, not even to a rookie.
But non-stop for three months...and in one move? ridiculous
Posted By: sean (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 02:07 PM
"This was Primo and Carlito invoking their rematch clause to get a one-on-one match against the new champions"
Fail.
Posted By: Mentalist (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:23 PM
I watched Raw for the first time in ages this week, I can't say I've been missing much.
Posted By: Southy (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:11 PM
"Man, all the whining about Shelton is ridiculous. Shelton has two purposes. To do big spots in ladder matches and put over other people, because he can't get over himself.
Toshi got the biggest reaction of the night, and it was thanks to Shelton doing his job perfectly.
Posted By: August (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:55 AM"
August states the truth!
Posted By: Sorry Shelton (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 11:36 PM
Benjamin vs. Tatsu in a nutshell:
When you people complain about the Benjamin "burial"... you are complaining about the "burial" of a CARNY!!!
A carny can go on and on about how much he "loves" the fans, or how much he "appreciates" the fans, or whether or not hr feels he is "being used properly" in "shoot" interviews from now 'til doomsday. BUT....
A carny in a wrestling ring is no different from a carny operating a bottle-throw or hyping Jojo the Dog-Faced Boy. Now matter how well you think you know the "inside" workings of the game, the carny sees you as much of a mark as Billy-Bob two teeth from the trailerpark.
Shelton Benjamin IS a carny.
Cry from him all you want, but he's happy as long as he's getting a big, fat check from WWE.
Just a little reality check for you.
Posted By: Truth Detector (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 09:54 AM
Anyone who thinks that the Miz should've been put over against a multi-time world champion needs their head testing and to actually watch and understand wrestling
Posted By: Guest#5954 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 11:32 AM
as people are going to swear and be assholes to you about the Yoshi/Shelton "match" (I'm not the only one who thought of a certain well known dinosaur with that name, right?), I think I will explain it a much less angry way.
You see, while I see why you hated it (I thought it was lame now but will start a fun feud later and no one will actually be hurt by the segment ever (unless they continue segments like this, which would be terrible)) I think this is the fault of randomly raping the roster (with little warning to anyone most likely considering how Vince is desperate to kill internet spoilers or some crazy nonsense (that I actually usually like because it has lead to fun PPV swerves)) and thus they thought of the first crazy idea they could think of to get one of the new guys really over, really quickly. Also, like the recent Cryme Tyme segments ("like bedrock cause we rock the bed" made me legit lol), they made me laugh for the silly stupidity of it all.
ECW will probably be much better next week so don't worry. I mean, this is the same brand that two years ago was able to make a feud with the Miz (who was basically a jobber on Smackdown that no one liked, IWC or otherwise) and BALLS MAHONEY over Kelly Kelly worth watching. I still can't figure out how they did that, quite honestly.
Posted By: Big Lantern Ghost (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 08:11 PM
