WRestling’s 3R’s Special Edition 07.17.06: WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
Posted by Larry Csonka on 07.17.2006
The Saturday night tradition returns, again, and feels the wrath of all 5-R’s~!
OMG LOS PODCAST RETURNS~!:
To download the special Post-SNME Podcast, featuring myself and Geoff, click here!
Introduction:
Welcome to a special edition of Wrestling's 3R's, this one dedicated to WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. This is the 2nd edition of the 3R's since Friday, and there are two-more coming on Friday. There is a ton of wrestling to cover, which is why I have done this. Stay tuned for Friday, when I offer up a special edition for TNA's Victory Road, as well as the regular edition that will cover Raw, ECW, Impact and Smackdown, by Geoff. Thank you once again for your loyal reading, and enjoy the column!
Building Orton vs. Hogan - I will be the first to admit that I was not the one bit excited about this whole deal heading into the event, and to tell you the truth I still am not all that excited. But, that all being said, I do feel that they did a good job with the angle this evening. They kicked off the show with this, which I feel was a good idea. The first thing I liked is that neither Brooke nor Hulk talked long at all. They kept everything short and then Randall K. Orton made his appearance. This went down very different than almost everyone thought it would. Orton was respectful, called Hogan a legend and then "respectfully" challenged Hogan for Summerslam, which Hogan "respectfully" accepted. But it did not end there. Later in the evening we saw young Mr. Orton talking with Brooke, and Hulk interrupted. He said he would see him at Summerslam and Orton left as Brooke was put in the car. As Hulk was leaving, he ate an RKO on the trunk of the car. There is the heat for the match kids, Orton is a prick! I think that this worked well overall, and hopefully they can follow up on it, because the stuff up until this evening wasn't all that exciting. Some will say that there needed to be a slow build, but I disagree. The fact is no one would buy Orton being a "nice-guy" for weeks. He is a prick. This worked perfectly, and now Orton will swing into super dick mode, while Hogan will be Hogan and it should work. And then Hogan's creative control will takeover and Orton will JIZZOB~!
Continuing Edge vs. Cena - I for one am happy that they are continuing this feud for several reasons. First of all I feel that they work very well together in the ring, and you can't teach chemistry, that's a fact. Secondly, you can't take the title off of Edge on this show. Sure they could have, but that would have been a shitty business move. This feud has miles on it, and those miles have money. People hate Edge, he's a prick and has the chick. Cena is still polarizing, but the fact is a segment will pay to see him lose and a segment will pay to see him win, so it is a win/win for WWE. This was a fun match, but since it was under 10-minutes they couldn't do much. I was totally fine with the finish of the match because Edge shouldn't lose the title, and I understand them not wanting Cena to lose clean. The DQ came off well, because it took a few shots from Lita to finally trigger it, not one lame slap. Edge kept the title and Cena, obviously pissed, ended the show on a great note with the attack and decimation of Edge; including the FU through the announce table. This was a great ending to a mediocre show. I also want to give both guys props for recovering so well from the botched superplex spot. As you saw, Edge's foot slipped and he and Cena almost were no more. I thought Cena landed on his head, but the replay showed they actually got the move off well, even with the slip. They didn't let that phase them, they seemed like they were fine and recovered and went on with the match. Props to those two for battling through that.
The other things: The Set, Commentary - There were some small things that I really enjoyed and added to the show. While they didn't do the "Classic" SNME intros, they did have the cool set yet again, along with the white ring ropes ~! It does give it a very nice look, as well as a big time feel since it is different. While the show may not reflect that, the set does, so that is something.
I must comment on the Diva Bull-Riding segments. I actually think they did this well. The fact that they realized it would take forever and run almost all of it before the live airing. We then got a short recap of it, we got to see the hot chicks in bikini's and other sexy outfits. That is all we needed to see. Then we got the finals, which was only about 2-minutes long. They kept it short, and all was well. If they would have showed the whole thing I would have been furious, but they didn't so I was ok with it.
Now I get to talk about JBL. I have seen some small doses of JBL on commentary, and I liked what I heard. I have heard a ton of reviews on his commentary and aside from week one, I have heard nothing but great things. Tonight he was great on commentary and I really enjoyed it. He worked hard to put over the show, the talent and Smackdown most importantly. JBL's selling of the Punjabi Prison Match was awesome, as he explained that he has wrestled all over the world and has hear of this match, but thought it was a myth. It is just these small attention to detail and kayfabe and it was just tremendous. He did everything he had to do in his job and did it well. I wish I got to see Smackdown, because if this is what he is like all the time, I am missing some good times.
puRgatoRy:
The Confrontation: Khali/The Big Show/The Undertaker - This one finds puRgatoRy for me this week. They needed to hype the Great American Bash since it is next weekend, and they did that. Davari and Khali came out and Davari was cutting his promo and was interrupted by the ECW Champion, the Big Show and Paul E. Show actually put over Khali, and in essence laid out a future challenge for the battle of the giants. At this point the Undertaker came out, and we had MAYHEM! The giant men battled, but in the end Taker ate and double chokeslam. After commercial Show challenged Taker for this Tuesday, which is good to get the main event announced before hand, but I had issues obviously. This all represents a big problem for the ECW brand, and that problem is that they are not creating their own programs or building their own roster. ECW's main event has been an "ECW guy" vs. a top guy from Raw and now Smackdown. How does this build ECW up? Sure Show's win over Flair DID do a lot for Show as the champion, but are you telling me that days before the Great American bash, Taker will go to ECW and do a job for Show? I suppose Khali could show up and they could decimate him like they did tonight, and since it is extreme rules it would work, but that is too predictable.
The wRong:
Match Quality/Times - As has been a complaint recently, I do have to complain a bit about the match quality on tonight's show. While there was nothing horrendous on the show, it still left a lot to be desired. The Smackdown 6-man I thought would be a lot better, but with Batista looking a bit rusty, Henry getting hurt and the ending looking a bit off in a timing sense, it only reached, "This was fun" levels. I won't be too hard on the match, as I said, Big Dave is returning and Henry was injured, you can't help things when that all happens. The little bastard was funny though. The mixed tag match wasn't that good at all in my opinion. First of all, the major problem was time. You just can't do anything of note in under three-minutes. The ladies looked great, outfit wise, but the match was just there. The positive I suppose is that this will mean an IC Title match at Summerslam, and probably Melina vs. Trish. That is all well and good, but they could have saved this for Raw. I will touch on the DX vs. SS match below, but it was shit. The Extreme rules match was an excuse to get "ECW" and Sabu on SNME and was the same old shit they have been doing on ECW with Sabu. It didn't need to be here because it meant nothing. I feel that Saturday Night's Main Event should have a special feeling to it, and these matches did nothing to help that.
The Ridiculous:
Saturday Night's Main Event: We love Raw…oh and maybe we'll throw Smackdown and ECW a bone - Once again I feel that we have to discuss this point. Once again, we get to see Raw treated like the "A-Show" while Smackdown and ECW were treated like the bastard stepchildren. Now I know, Michelle McCool's monumental Bull-Riding win was huge, but not enough to equal things out. Let's break down the show and see how things went, shall we?
All Brands:
Diva Bull-Riding Video #1
Smackdown and ECW:
Khali/Show and Taker Confrontation
Big Show challenges Taker
Smackdown Alone:
The 6-Man Tag
ECW Alone:
Sabu vs. Stevie
Smackdown and Raw:
Diva Bull-Riding Main Event
Raw Alone:
WWE Title Match
DX vs. The Spirit Squad
Carlito and Trish vs. Nitro and Melina
Vince/Spirit Squad/DX Promo
Orton vs. Hogan Part I
Orton vs. Hogan Part II
And there we have it, it is broken down so that everyone can understand! It is ridiculous that they do this so obviously, and yet people don't see it. Now since I don't watch Smackdown, I don't have a better idea what they could have put on to add for Smackdown, and overall, since ECW in only one-hour I don't have many complaints there; but the fact remains that this show is basically a Raw special, with some other stuff tossed in for show. It's not right really, and another reason that Smackdown continues to look like the bitch brand no matter how hard JBL works to put them over huge.
The Ri-GOD-DAMN-diculous:
Handicap matches and The Spirit Squad: Nothing more than Buried Bitches - Damn it to hell, I knew I was expecting too much from this match. I was hoping that WWE would realize that they have booked this feud all one sided, and that DX have to be put don, so that they could get their comeuppance against Vince and Shane. What the hell was I thinking, HBK and HHH will do no jobs. Fuck putting over the kids, they need the wins! Seriously, if I hear anyone defending how this is making the Spirit Squad into "stars" I will punch you in the throat. If you are walking around tomorrow and see some big dude with a beard and ponytail punching bitches in the throat, you just met me and some douche bag trying to tell me that the Spirit Squad are huge stars now. The other problem is that it was ANOTHER HANDICAP MATCH. I am so sick and tired of handicap matches and I will continue to complain about them until the WWE throws away this booking crutch. They keep using them and when they might want to use one again, when there may be call for one no one will give a flying fuck. And then we have the issue that not only did 2-men defeat 5-men, 2-men beat the living shit out of these 5-men. I mean the Spirit Squad got JOBBED THE FUCK OUT! In just under 10-minutes, HHH and HBK defeated these 5-guys, let's remember that these guys ARE your world tag team champions, and have repeatedly been the bitch boys of DX and can't buy a win with food stamps. These guys couldn't get laid in a whorehouse if it depended on them winning! It is piss poor booking, it is helping no one and why am I supposed to want to buy the PPV now? To see DX win yet again? HOW FUCKING INNOVATIVE! No thanks, you got me the first time with that one.
Closing Thoughts:
Overall the show wasn't horrible, but if I have to label it I would say mediocre. Here is the way I look at things, while it was a nice thought and the nostalgia thing can work at times, Saturday Night's Main Event is an outdated and meaningless show for World Wrestling Entertainment. World Wrestling Entertainment puts on three television shows a week, 5-hours of original programming spanning their three brands. World Wrestling Entertainment also puts on upwards of 15-PPV's every year. The fact is that they can't sacrifice huge matches on a show like this, they can't sacrifice long matches here and in the end the show is just another episode of Raw, I say Raw because they get the most spotlight on the show. Back when Saturday Night's Main Event was in its infancy, it was a special event. WWE only has "Superstars" like programs on TV, all syndicated and all aimed on hyping the house shows; usually all squashes and maybe one good tag or IC level match. When they had Saturday Night's Main Event they had BIG main event matches, Hogan appeared, there were title matches that mattered and it all felt special because of how things were structured. No PPV until WrestleMania came, small syndication and eventually the other shows followed but stuck to the same formula. They were still pushing the house shows as the main revenue stream. But today, Saturday Night's Main Event is just another show and it shouldn't be that way. World Wrestling Entertainment doesn't need it and they do nothing special with it due to the 5-hours of TV and 15+ PPV's they run. A company like TNA could use a program like this since they only have one-hour of TV, but that is another story. There was no special feeling, just more of the same to me. I give the show a 4 out of 10.
Reader Feedback on WWE SNME~!
From AMO -
I did happen to waste my time by staying up till 3in the morning to watch another piss poor PPV EVENT
To start off on a light note BROOKE HOGAN looked the biz didn't she I wouldn't mind getting her in the sharpshooter or a bear hug or broncobuster or a reverse camel clutch!! Do you get me??? I like this angle of Hogan vs. Orton cant wait to see it really, if Orton wins at Summerslam he will be the ULTIMATE legend killer. Don't really care about Batista don't really like him or anyone in that boring match BOO him.
AT THIS POINT I WAS GLAD THIS SHOW WAS FREE AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT…PHEW.
What the hell was this match about, where they giving SABU a training session or what very disappointed I like seeing this guy wrestle/fight his a tough guy and I want to see him wrestle some of the top guys but putting him up against STEVIE RICHARDS is just RUBBISH!
THIS WHOLE EVENT WAS A WASTE OF TIME!!
The DX thing now I was around the first time and now that I'm watching it again it isn't the same it isn't even half as good, these two guys have near enough killed each other in the last few years and now there the best of friends again what a load of CROCK. I hate SHAWN MICHAELS for what his done to the "HITMAN." I wish the GREAT KALI would step on him the little runt…anyway DX is not going to last in my opinion this match was about DX looking good as normal. That's it!
And now the BIG title match that was a waste of time as well everyone knew that EDGE would not lose the belt after 2weeks again I mean that would have been good to see but I knew it wasn't going to happen so this match was a waste of time as I've been saying, after CENA hit EDGE with the FU you CAN OBVIOUSLY see the ref position himself for the count AND for LITA the sexy thing to pull him out the whole thing was put together and I know that they are anyway but at least try and make it believable, and did u see the ref I think his name is MIKE KEONA or something like that he took a swing for LITA what a chopstick he is by the time his arm went back to slap/punch her she had already laid him out what a pussy!.
Cena to be new champ at Summerslam.
I feel very let down by this event, the state of the WWE is in a bad way the matches are rubbish the storylines are weak, my sky subscription finishes soon and am thinking shall I renew it or what wrestling's the only reason I have it anyway and that's the worst ever now.
Lets hope the time the GREAT AMAERICAN BASH comes things are a bit better I doubt it but you never know.
From Brian -
The right: having edge retain. Giving the belt back to Cena too quick will only make people hate him more. WrestleMania this year had the biggest heel in triple h (pre DX) fighting him, and trips still made it over with the crowd because people hate Cena, so giving it back too quick would ruin the "future" of the WWE.
The wrong: The Spirit Squad losing the way they did. Now, they have already lost before, so why do they lose in impressive fashion for DX? That does nothing for a young group of talent, and everything for two already proven multi time WWE champions. Foolish booking on behalf of Vince. If anything, the titles should've been on the line, just to hype it up and change the ending.
The Ridiculous: Big Show, Khali and Taker. This would be the worst possible one on one-match ups in the history of wrestling. The Big Show should drop the title to taker, that way the Bash can involve RCW in some way, but come on, you are trying to win this promotion over, so what do you do? You get a stiff who can't wrestle a lick, good booking! Aldo Montoya (Justin Credible) could've wrestled better than Show.
From Rick -
Okay, so the World Tag Team Champions plus three of their buddies and McMahon cannot beat HBK and HHH...or get even close to it. Why don't they just give the titles to DX?
It takes Cena 10 seconds to recover from Edge's special move after the match. I like Edge and he's a good wrestler but one thing continues to kill me: his finisher. A spear. WTF kind of finisher is that for the champion in 2006? And its not really even that good of a spear. For a setup...okay. But I just can't stand seeing championship matches ending after a friggin spear. Hey, here's an idea. Let's get Cena to adopt the sleeper hold as his finisher and that way we can totally move the creativity level back to the 1980's.
Somewhat SNME related: The brand split is what is destroying the ECW and DX story lines. The WWE roster is not as deep in upper level wrestlers as it was in the years before the brand split. Raw and Smack Down were already running low in depth before the ECW angle (Cena and Edge was already old). ECW has no credibility because of the lack of depth. Every show but two, the main event has involved a Raw or Smack Down guy. Smack Down blows. And right now, it looks like we're going to be seeing Cena vs. Edge for the next 10 PPVs. As for the DX angle, they have no credible opponents. DX was built on their feud with the Hart Foundation. Five cheerleaders don't exactly make for a memorable feud. But who else do you see on the Raw roster that DX can feud with? Orton has Hogan. Edge and Cena have each other. There's just nothing left. The DX angle will crash and burn because they have no one to feud with.
From Craig -
All I can really say is...it was lame. Why keep the title on Edge if you're just going to make him Cena's bitch anyway? I do have to admit the FU through the
table was cool, though Edge should've gigged when he got walloped with the monitor. Also, what's the point of Spirit Squad jobbing to DX again?
Thanks for joining me for this special edition of the 3R's, and don't forget to check out the regular edition complete with all of the other shows from the week!
