High Road/Low Road 12.22.06: Last Ride Match at Armageddon
Posted by Chad Nevett on 12.22.2006
At Armageddon, the Undertaker and Mr. Kennedy met in a Last Ride Match. Has this been a good feud or a bad feud and did they have a good match or a bad match? You decide in this week's High Road/Low Road.
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column: Uncle Trunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for the Miz:
High Road: 37%
Low Road: 51%
Both Roads: 13%
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
John Bryant Writes:
who? Oh you mean the guy who've they made the Boogeyman's newest bitch? Anyway I would have say Low Road because for a guy who completely pestered me and annoyed me with his "Reality" checks he has done absolutely NOTHING. Sure he has a little talent but come on so does a lot of people but do you see THEM getting on TV every week. No they have to annoy us with this retarded and stupid feud. Anyway. Thanks for answering my questions last week dudes and as always I have a few more.
What do you guys think about this whole attempt to turn AJ Styles heel? Let us face it; AJ is TNA's Rob Van Dam. The guy is so over people would cheer him if he was heel or not so it's damn near impossible to get him off of that honorable Face gimmick he has had. But as anyone who watched TNA when Vinnie Russo first showed up he was VR's golden bitch and was heel until VR left.
Satman this question is aimed for you: if WWE were to do a 3-way Announcer's match so that the winner got their Brand's Main event at WM as the actual Main Event who do you think would win between King/Ross vs. Cole/JBL vs. Tazz/Styles.
Trunxie this is for you: now with Lita & Trish gone is it pretty much the death knell for the women's division since with the exception of Mickie James and Victoria their's not a damn woman wrestler out of all of the divas?
Sat: I think that the Miz has suffered from his feud with The Boogeyman. The Miz was kind of on a roll when I wrote this article (about two months ago), but since that time he has lost his steam.
I like the AJ Styles heel turn because it is something that I have not seen from him. Also, this can easily lead to a feud with Kurt Angle and Sting, so I am all for it. Plus, I think it is going to get him a title run.
Cole/Ross/Styles would cancel each other out, so it down to Tazz, Lawler, and JBL. Lawler is out because he will get distracted by some chick in the crowd, so it is down to Tazz and JBL. So, with those two left, I would go with JBL because he has only been retired from six months. Plus, he can probably beat Cole, Ross, Styles, Tazz, and Lawler in a legitimate fight by himself.
Uncle Trunx: Given the right booking, I think anyone can turn heel; if Hogan and Austin can do it, it should not be a problem for AJ.
As far as the Diva division goes, I think that there is currently a lack of true wrestling talent there, as they insist on getting rid of women who can wrestle and employing Diva Search failures. However I do not think all is lost; with Beth Phoenix and Nikita (or Katie Lee, or whatever she is called now) waiting in the wings, there could be a decent women's title scene again. They do need to hire a few women who can actually wrestle though, as four does not make a long term scene.
Catherine Semerjian Writes:
I took the low road, simply because I find the Miz not to be annoying, instead, he's grating - nails on a chalkboard kind of thing. I am in Korea, desperate to hear English voices on TV, especially for wrestling - and I will still change the channel when he comes on.
But I had to mention one thing: The Where is the Beef? Lady - she has been on WWE programming. More specifically, she was at WrestleMania, no less. I cannot remember which year, but it was covered on wrestlecrap once upon a time. Does that mean she was higher up on the roster than the Miz?
Kudos on the good work
Sat: I would rather see Miz than Vito, but that is probably not saying much. As I said above, I wrote this article two months ago and since that time, the Miz has gotten worse. Hopefully things will start to look up for the Miz after his feud with the Boogeyman.
I have no idea about the "Where's the Beef" lady. I read it last week in Uncle Trunx's reply to one of my High Roads. All, I know is that a lady had a catchphrase. Maybe, Uncle Trunx can fill be in below.
Uncle Trunx: I think it was ‘Mania 2 where she made her appearance. I believe it was a one off appearance, rather than making her an active wrestler, which is what would probably happen today.
Wesley Rice Writes:
I am going low road on The Miz. I cannot stand this guy and every time I hear his entrance music play I change the channel, now I do not think that is the right kind of heel heat the WWE wants him to have. Also I would just like to say that you two put together a very good column that I enjoy reading every week, keep up the good work.
Sat: Again, the Miz has lost his momentum since he entered a feud with the Boogeyman. I am not the biggest reality TV fan, but I have found the Miz okay. I am going to hope that the Miz starts to look better after his feud with the Boogeyman. If the Miz is still awful after that, then I have the fast forward button ready.
Uncle Trunx: Thanks for the compliment. I agree that putting two of the worst workers together isn't going to help either, but at very least Boogeyman has a catchy gimmick and doesn't make me turn off the TV. Perhaps my absolute loathing for reality TV colours my opinion, but I just don't want to see TV "stars" taking up roster spots.
Chris Writes:
I know I'm late on this but I'm going on both roads with the extreme elimination chamber. From what I have read, the match was horrible. However, judging by the booking, there are a few reasons to take a high road. The bait and switch with Sabu just to get another heel in the match was a questionable, but understandable. If Lashley was going to be the new champion, he needed to be getting most of the cheers. By adding Holly to the match, it increased the difficulty for Lashley to win, since they would presumably work together (even if Test got rid of Holly). While taking Sabu out angered the fans, it meant some would be going for Lashley. Also, people are complaining about CM Punk losing first to Rob Van Dam, who was eliminated next. I have read that the reason the two were eliminated first was to force the fans to root for Lashley. That is bull, but then again it left Lashley having to go through Test and Big show. And having RVD beat Punk can set up a heel turn by Punk for eliminating him. Lastly, having Lashley destroy Show was good because Show was on his way out and did not need to look strong. Although the PPV and the actual chamber match was crap, the booking was logical. That is why I am taking both roads
Uncle Trunx: Understandable, but the high road portions need a payoff somewhere down the line which I don't see happening. I still don't understand why they had to award the win to the least popular of the faces, who wasn't good enough for a one on one world title match on a SmackDown PPV a few months back, but perhaps there's something I'm missing in all of this.
Sat: You make some good points about the booking. As I wrote last week, this was the 3rd best chamber match and it could have been a lot worse, but it turned out to be okay.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
Last Ride Match at Armageddon
High Road:
Mr. Kennedy has really benefited from this feud with the Undertaker. Mr. Kennedy has looked good against the Undertaker and Mr. Kennedy has shown some great signs of improvement since the start of the feud. Mr. Kennedy has the potential to be a star for the WWE and they need to find out if he is there or he needs more time. Mr. Kennedy has also not had a notable feud yet, so this feud has also helped in that area.
Low Road:
One person will benefit from this feud and it's not Kennedy. Undertaker feuds all go one way and one way only: Heel gets a win, heel gets to do some damage to ‘Taker (not too much, mind) then ‘Taker gets a specialty match with them and wins. This will not elevate Kennedy. It will keep him down like everyone else who has been treated this way.
High Road:
After the Randy Orton/Undertaker feud from last year, I was skeptical that this could be a good feud and I was also wondering if Kennedy was going to survive this feud. I have been surprised with how this feud turned out because Mr. Kennedy has two wins against the Undertaker. If Kennedy does lose at Armageddon, then he will still come out okay because he has had a good showing against one of the biggest stars in the WWE.
Low Road:
Yes. Not in the big payoff match though. As I said above, this is a textbook Undertaker feud. It distinguishes Kennedy in no way whatsoever.
High Road:
The Last Ride Match was decent, but it will be considered as not that good because of the amazing ladder match. I had the privilege of watching this match first and I thought it was a great match. There was no outside interference, so it came down the actual competitors in the match. Also, a Last Ride Match is not supposed to have any wrestling in it and there was very little of it in this match.
Low Road:
So your high road is that it was an ok match with no wrestling in it? This was supposed to be a huge feud ender, and it paled in comparison to the thrown together, not advertised tag match. The tag match admittedly stole the show, and it also featured shocking (if accidental) violence which dwarfed the supposedly ultra violent Last Ride match, and devalued it further.
High Road:
The match was actually how it should have been. Mr. Kennedy should have had a few moments where he was in control and he should have been given a few moments where he was about to win. The Undertaker had to control most of the match because the Last Ride Match is his type of match. And for the most part, that is how the match went.
Low Road:
Yes. Undertaker dominated the mid-carder and won without looking seriously troubled. All is right with the world.
High Road:
The Undertaker needed to win this match because if the rumors are true, he is going to be facing Batista at WrestleMania. If you are going to be wrestling in the main event at WrestleMania then you need to be on a roll going in. That is why the Undertaker had to win this match.
Low Road:
Undertaker is a genuine legend. His main event status in unquestionable, he remains completely over with the fans and if the rumours are true, a Royal Rumble win would be all the momentum he would need to get him to WrestleMania. The Undertaker could have elevated Kennedy here, gone on to the main event of WrestleMania and kept his star bright while making Kennedy look world class. Instead, Kennedy gets pushed down for no reason, in a predictable match.
High Road:
Mr. Kennedy did lose the match, but Mr. Kennedy has nothing to be ashamed off. He had the Undertaker beat multiple times, but at the last second The Undertaker was able to make it out. It also took a choke slam on the hearse and a tombstone on the hearse for The Undertaker to beat Mr. Kennedy. I know that people say that there is no good loss, but this qualifies as a good loss for Mr. Kennedy.
Low Road:
I would disagree. This is the loss which keeps Kennedy down. It was predictable, uninspiring, overshadowed by the Tag match on the same card. It was supposed to be a big feud ending showdown but it felt more like a feud ending letdown and wasn't even that good a match.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
High Road/Low Road Plugs
We are taking the high road on these articles so you should read them...
There are other articles that we did not list, so check them out as well.
E-mail us your reasons for taking the High Road or the Low Road and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road at satuncletrunx@gmail.com. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
