WRestling’s 3R’s 12.22.06: AMW is Done, Finlay is still Awesome, Saturday ECW, 3-Hour Raw, Tuesday ECW and More!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.22.2006
The final R’s before Christmas, and I have a big R for you…RAGE. Also, TWO special guests help out with ECW!
The 3R's of wRestling!
Introducción~!
Welcome back kids for another edition of Wrestling's 3R's! As always I am Larry Csonka, along with me is my tag team partner "The Whole Geoffin Show" Geoff Eubanks. It has been a hell of a busy week for me kids. I have been working a lot to make some extra cash for Christmas stuff, and this Sunday will hitch a train ride to Charlotte and join the family there. I expect to have a nice week or so then in C-Town and then back home to the grind. I have some good news, not only is 411's wrestling zone working on their year end awards and not only am I doing the staff awards (please vote!) but Steve Cook and I will be finalizing out TNA Awards Spectacular (Our 3rd Year doing that column) and I will have a special 2-Part look at the best and worst PPV of 2006 starting Tuesday! And if that isn't enough, starting January 8th, we will begin presenting the 2007 class of the 411 Wrestling Hall of Fame! More stuff than you can shake a stick at, but why would you, I mean really, who shakes sticks at stuff?
As far as this column goes, this week we have new ECW Reporter Mike Bauer along for the ride, giving the Saturday version of ECW the R's treatment as my recording equipment didn't feel like working. I guess it is time to move on from beta. Show Mike some love and read his ECW recaps, since he was kind enough to take them over for me. Also, since my schedule turned to hell with me taking on a lot of extra shifts at the restaurant, new Smackdown Reporter Brad Borchardt will have a special look at the Tuesday edition of ECW. Show Brad some love and read his Smackdown recaps, since he was kind enough to take them over for me.
With all of that said, let's talk about…
The 411 Wrestling Zone Writers Awards!
I thought since the site, and this zone in particular, was working on the Year-End Awards, it would be fun to have YOU the 411-reader vote on The 411 Wrestling Zone Writers, in a little Year-End Awards deal! It is fun for everyone, and all that matters is YOUR opinion! You drive this site, and you should have some of the fun as well!
We will have you vote for the "BEST" in various categories, so whether you like them or not show them some respect, and then your "FAVORITE" in various categories, so vote for your favorites that you support all the time! Have fun kids and email those votes to me! Voting closes next Tuesday, and I will release the final awards in the January 2nd column!
Best Columnist:
Best "News Report" Columnist:
Best TV Recapper:
Best Video Reviewer:
Best Multi-Person Column:
Best "Pure Writer":
Best "Column":
Favorite "Column":
Favorite Columnist:
Favorite "News Report" Columnist:
Favorite TV Recapper:
Favorite Video Reviewer:
Favorite Multi-Person Column:
Favorite Overall Writer:
Wrestling Zone MVP:
Wrestling Zone Work Horse:
Here is a quick explanation of the 3 R's. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R's all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in 3 categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~!
This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a "mark" column, nor a "smark" column, I cannot speak for Geoff, but my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 4th, 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.
iMpact!:
iMpact 12.14.06:
The Right:
Krazy Kurt~! - I really dug Angle this week on Impact. He was just a crazy bastard looking to dish out some pain and that he did. The show started with his assaulting JB as he searched for Samoa Joe. He then went to the ring, made Robert Roode shit his pants and cut a promo explaining the he could not believe he lost to Joe, and since he gave Joe a rematch he is now wanting one. Joe said no thanks, and the wrath of crazy Angle began. He attacked Don West for having the audacity to remind us that Angle lost and wouldn't get the rematch. Angle slapped on the ankle lock, making his squeal like a pig in a glorious fashion. Wets was then out for the rest of the show, which gave us Jim Cornette on commentary, and if I may I think that they should have Cornette on commentary from now on and West backstage for interviews and hype. They really should. Anyway, we next saw Angle demand Joe's whereabouts when he saw Eric Young, when Young didn't know Angle hauled off and gave Young a TREMENDOUS uppercut, which Young sold in great fashion. Later on we saw him with an ankle lock on Slick Johnson in a random stairwell with security looking like they were asking him politely for him to stop. Angle is awesome when he is crazy. Angle then comes to the ring, snags SoCal Val caveman style and drags her into the ring, and then stands on her hair. He demanded the rematch, which enraged Cornette and he took action. He told Joe that he couldn't force Joe to accept a rematch, but he could make a tag match and maybe Angle could "convince" Joe to accept the rematch. Fun stuff that went through out all the show, and Angle as a psycho was awesome.
Abyss vs. Sting vs. Cage - I still really enjoy the Sting vs. Abyss vs. Cage feud. The story right now is that Cage has Tomko with him, who has a secret about Abyss. Cage wants his 1-on-1 title shot that he never got, and if he doesn't get it Tomko will let out the secret. They had given Abyss till the end of the program to answer them, and when that time came, Abyss ended up charging the ring. Abyss runs then off and then starts whooping refs. Cornette headed to the ring to cool things down, and Abyss goozled him. Sting then appeared and looked to communicate with Abyss again, and then he goozled Mitchell. As that happened, Sting then STOLE…yes, the born again Christian STOLE the NWA Title! It is fun, and as long as Abyss didn't rape a dead cheerleader or anything equally as stupid it should be good to go.
puRgatory:
Abyss vs. Killings - This was a fine little TV match here on Impact. They seemed to work hard and everything went pretty well. But, while he IS a former 2-time NWA champion and former tag team champion, he has basically been booked like a joke, jobber, jabroini, take your choice. That is the issue here. Killings, right now, shouldn't be booked toe to toe with the World Champion. You can't expect people to take the former champ seriously when he is nothing more than a dancing, jobbing assclown.
The PCS - While I am not convinced that this will help the guys, they are showing some more personality. In the end I feel that Nash is just out for himself, so that HE is over, but I hope I am wrong. This week's skit was hilarious with the pushups and "Backlund" method.
The wRong:
Wow…that's a lot of shit - I don't mean lot of things wrong, but a lot of shit happening. While I like that Impact never feels like it is dragging, I still feel that they jam too much shit into the shows, booking like it is 2-hours when it is one. Here is a good example, right after Abyss defeated Ron Killings:
-Abyss poses with the NWA title as Jim Cornette joins Tenay at commentary, which makes me happy.
-It will be LAX vs. AMW for the tag titles, if AMW lose they must break up forever and Konnan will be locked in a mini-cage to prevent interference.
-Christian is with Goldylocks 2.0. He is owed a 1 on 1 title shot, the shot he never got when he lost the title. If not, Tomko will let out the secret.
-Now we see Miss Brooks trying to get Eric Young to sign the contract for Roode Inc.
-Kurt Angle then appears, asks EY where Joe is at and then kills EY.
All of that happened in roughly one minute. So while they do promote themselves as "The 60-Minute Adrenaline Rush" they aren't giving people time to digest anything, and that is not a good thing. If people have no time to become emotionally involved, they won't spend any money.
The Ridiculous:
Nothing of note
THE RUSSO-FN-RIFFIC~~~!:
The End of AMW - Ahhh, it wouldn't be an edition of the R's of Impact without something Russo-FN-Riffic, and here it is. They had teased the break up of AMW a while back, and then it looked to have been forgotten. They then brought back the dissention, which is fine. While I WOULD NOT have broken up AMW, since I am a fan of tag team wrestling and think that over the last four years they have been great, that isn't what this is about. As much as I disagree with the decision, that is not the main problem here.
The main problem is HOW they did it. First of all there was NO BUILD. They had heat from the PPV, and on Impact we get an announcement 10-minutes in that there would be an NWA Tag Title Match, with Konnan in a cage (at least he wasn't on a pole) and that if AMW lost, they would have to break up FOREVER. Once again, it isn't the angle that is the problem. It is the fact that they used 40-minutes of TV to build up the POSSIBLE destruction of TNA's greatest tag team since day one.
And then there is the issue of the match being on Impact. I can accept some title matches on Impact. I can dig the occasional title change on Impact, if the match was built up. But the fact that you are ALREADY doing a match between these two teams after a mere 2-month feud is beyond ridiculous. Now ass to that the fact that they are putting it on FREE TV, with NO ANNOUNCEMENT and NO BUILD and this is one of the STUPIDEST THINGS they have done in the last few months and THAT is saying something. This is a PPV match, this is a match that can intrigue people and make them want to buy a show. The 6-time Tag team champions, staples of TNA since day one could POSSIBLY be forced to break up FOREVER. This is not something you piss away on TV.
And then there is the fact of handling it on TV. First of all they couldn't even get the main event slot. They were the semi-main event for Christian's Promo! They basically said that they weren't important enough to main event the show, a match for the titles and possible break up of AMW wasn't big business enough to main event Impact! That is horrendous. And then there is the match itself. When you take out the commercial time, they got just over three minutes…THREE MINUTES! They broke up, the greatest tag team in TNA's 4-year history in THREE MINUTES! THREE FUCKING MINUTES~! With 40-minutes of BUILD! WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY THINKING! I almost can't believe this, but Russo is at the helm so I can.
Now some people will try to defend the shortness of the match with the Storm turn. BULLSHIT! They could have worked the turn with Harris taking the beat down the entire match, to an insane degree, ala Barry Windham turning on Lex Luger. They could have done that and still had a nice long match, deserving of the magnitude this match carried. But they did nothing, pissed it all away and just in general pissed me off.
In the end they blew an angle that could have gotten them some PPV buys and in the process have broken up the most successful team in TNA's history. Apart they are incomplete. Harris to me is the better worker, while Storm has more of the charisma. But as a unit they thrived. I just don't see the benefit of them as singles performers. But I am SURE Russo does.
I love sarcasm.
SmackDown!: By: "The Whole Geoffin Show" Geoff Eubanks
Smackdown 12.15.06:
The Right:
Helms loses a pair of Lords, THE HOULIGANS get a Wang – Well, nothing revolutionary here tonight. The booking was pretty paint-by-numbers…but stick with me…that doesn't mean bad by any means!
It's become something of a SD! staple to feature the CruiserWeight and Tag Team Title programs in one six-man match leading to a PPV, and I have no problem with that as long everything swims Right along and gathers momentum to Sunday and a we have a good match in the interim, all of which we had here tonight. It made total sense for Dave Taylor and William Regal to throw their hands in the air and say "Fuuuuuuck THIS" when Jimmy Wang yang started revving up his high-octane offense; I mean, they have a WWETTT shot in just a couple of days, why risk taking a spinning heel kick to the jaw if they didn't need to do so? Also, having them walk, a proven heel move in tag wrestling, absolved McMahonagement from having to force either one of them job and thus spare their momentum without costing the WWETTCs the same fate. They also are double-heeled because they left Gregory Helms' cheese hanging in the wind, ultimately falling to the house on fire that was JWY, giving him momentum to dethrone the CWC at the PPV.
I'm going to go further and discuss the outcome of the WWETTT match at the PPV, as well, because I think it's pertinent and relevant to do so at this time. We can all smell the stink of dissolution between Paul London & Brian Kendrick and it appears Ashley will be the catalyst, who will ultimately end up siding with London. Thus, we were all expecting London & Kendrick to drop the belts on Sunday, especially once THE HARDYS and MNM were added, as well as the Ladder match stip was locked in place, as we've been conditioned to believe that tag wrestling just doesn't matter any longer. Well, I'm still not convinced that Vince thinks it does, but what we had on Sunday when Kendrick & London overcame the odds and successfully defended their titles was one of those moments for which we suffer through bullshit like Boogey/Miz. Not only did London & Kendrick walk in and OUT with their belts, defeating the team in Regal & Taylor, who have been terrorizing them for weeks, in MNM, from whom they took the belts months ago, and in THE HARDYS, whose specialty is the ladder match, marked a time of absolute arrival for these two more-than-deserving performers, a rare moment of "stepping up" and proclaiming that they're SERIOUS, something we see all too seldom anymore, and need to see more of!
As I said last week, I have a feeling that, because Ashley, who will be the Playboy cover girl around WM time, will be in the middle of the split, the program between the former friends stands a chance at being fairly hi-pro; well this victory at ARMAGEDDON is certainly helping to send the feud to sub-main event status and could, if told sensitively and intelligently, could be a hell of a show-stealer!
purgatory:
The Champ is HERE! – Uh, yeah, thanks…already got one. Not a whole lot to add this week, cuz I pretty much shot the wad last week. Basically, I like John Cena a lot and always have. He cuts a HELL of a promo and he's certainly not as bad in the ring as many others would have you believe. However, I am staunchly opposed to his being on a SD!-only PPV. Loyal readers know my stance on this brand split bullshit and how absolutely Ridiculous I find this arbitrary co-mingling of the brands. (I'd have ranted on what was done to the WWETTT match, but if you wanna know my thoughts, read Larry's 3R's of ARMAGEDDON and scroll down to the very bottom of the article where he discusses his views; ours are 100% identical…I almost thought I'd written that section!) I fail to see how Cena's presence did SD! any favors, especially as the match was about as pedestrian a "main event" as you're going to see on WWE PPV. Still, as good a match as one would expect here between Cena and Finlay here tonight. Pretty? Uh, NO. Eff-in tough? Aw, HELL yeah. Still, though, I thought the point of the brand split was to prolong meetings such as Cena/Finlay until they found each other on the same brand…?
The wRong:
Udderly lame – First of all, I just don't know how I feel about Chavo Guerrero going over Funaki in under 2:00. I like the notion that Chavo has ascended the ladder of competition so much so that Funaki no longer poses much of a threat, but I have a sinking feeling that this was just a brush-off of a premise to get Chris Benoit in the face of Chavo prior to the PPV. Thing is, Chavo mows through Funaki to make him look tough, then ends up in The Sharpshooter, killing his momentum, and then ultimately taps AGAIN. And this is for the UST!
Here's what I'd rather have seen: Chavo squashes Funaki in a competitive match and, while Chavo and Vickie are celebrating in the ring, Benoit walks the aisle. He climbs inside, procures a mic and glares at Vickie as he says, "Da'iry, I love your taste in clothing…may I please have the wonder tonic now?" Chavo, outraged…aw, hell, I don't care any more, I've just been dying to get that joke in.
Ladder days – Normally, I'd be stoked as hell to see Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury going at it in the ring…but are you kidding me with this?! After they contribute to the only passable match at ECW:D2D and turn up the heat at SURVIVOR SERIES, you're going to tell me that solo Matt can dispatch with solo Mercury in FOUR MINUTES, aside from the fact that this was a PERFect opportunity to have added both teams to the WWETTT match at the PPV so they could have popped their buy rate another 10-20,000 views, but, I'm done with that…it's their cash, not mine. I just want continuity. Four minutes. Gee whiz, in four minutes, I can't even bust a decent…well, never mind. Such talent in such limbo…such a shame. I could talk about ending the brand split so we could have THE HOULIGANS, Regal & Taylor, THE HARDYS, MNM, Dx, RATED RKO and THE WORLD'S GREATEST TAG TEAM all at once, but, really, who am i? Vince and Lafave know best…even if Lafave adamantly refuses to wear jeans. HUH?!
Oh, and GET WELL, Joey!!!
The Ridiculous:
Five to One, baby, One in Five…no one here gets out alive – I hate to say I told you so, but…I TOLD YOU SO! So Kane goes over at the PPV, winning his first Inferno match by lighting up MVP (who was already flaming from the ring gear, but that's beside the point), and Taker sends Kennedy packing in the Last Ride match in the PPV blow-off, a fun match, for the most part, I suppose, but really…this shit needs to STOP. I respect taker as much as the next fan, but why the FUCK is he being so protected?! He's got the WM streak going, one would think that would be enough for anyone, much less adamantly being unwilling to put over the new kids. Hey, Kennedy, wondering where you'll be in two years? Why not ask Randy Orton, it's not like you'd not be allowed over on Raw with the brand split splintering apart.
I think a huge part of the problem is McMahonagement's complete lack of ability to create a star who can credibly match up against one of the old WWF mainstays like The Undertaker. Your Rocks and Austin's and Foleys are all long gone. Only Cena and Batista stand a ghost of a chance, and it sounds as if the Batista wad is gonna be blown in Detroit this April (BAD idea).
New talent climbs the ranks of his respective brand, and, eventually, comes face-to-face with that one cornerstone who will either make or break him, define exactly how low or how high that glass ceiling is going to be placed above his head. On SD!, that buck stops with Taker. Problem is, if Taker refuses to/is protected from putting over a new guy, then there will not be any new guys who ever have a chance to ascend to Taker's level once Taker's in-ring career is a thing of the past, and it WILL be, sooner than later.
And I don't want to hear jack shit about Kennedy getting the rub from having worked with Taker, because he got NOTHING. He got bitched out and made to play the coward, chicken-shit heel the entire time and didn't get SQUAT in return. Okay, he managed some offense, enough to prove that he stood a chance to hold his own against Taker, but not so much that he was allowed to really make a shit of difference in the overall, which is even more frustrating than the MVP/Kane situation; at least you KNOW MVP has no talent, so he deserved to get burned and lose. Kennedy, on the other hand, is billing himself as being The Future, and he's damn Right…or could have been. I'm sorry, but getting in a handful of offense, a DQ win, a shady First Blood victory when it wasn't even Kennedy who opened up Taker's forehead and now this Last Ride burial does nothing but firmly cement Kennedy in his place in the pecking order, and MUCH lower down the ladder than he deserves.
And not to jump over what we had tonight, which was another heaping helping of bullshit. First of all, there was no need to book this match again, because we've already seen it once a month-and-a-half ago, and it SUCKED then, too. And what's with MVP jumping in and helping Kennedy from being pinned? Are they friendsies again now? Did I miss a promo? And, of course, as soon as Kennedy starts to take control of the match by out-fighting Kane, what happens? Lights out, and Taker gets to execute his "powers", so that, even when he's on the ropes, he still has the upper hand and you're FUCKED. Oh, and WTF was Kennedy doing looking to run over Kane wit the hearse? Why would he be eliminating MVP's competition from the PPV and not his own? This is like trying to build a brick house with donkey cum mortar. What…the…FUCK?!
One man's in a dress and the other's jealous – JBL said it all, I couldn't improve on that one. Okay, so I can accept that McMahonagement has the need to have its own characterized jobbers, sort of a step-up from Johnny No name from the local town, fine. Vito and Sylvan weren't going anywhere to begin with (well, Vito's not as long as he's wearing stuff he got from the Laura Ingell's Wilder on-line auction), so it's all good. It actually harkens back to the old days with SD "Special Delivery" Jones, Tony Garea, "Iron" Mike Sharp and Salvatore Bellomo were around. Hell, I'll go so far as to say I think it's a good idea, as there's no need to stuff as many "quality" matches on a TV program anymore as there were during the Monday Night Wars. What kills me, though, is when they have this dark match shit like Vito and Sylvan on the PPV go-home! Are you kidding? These two aren't gonna do shit with the three-and-a-half minutes afforded them, they're not going to be anything more than hi-pro jobbers…why bother at all? Why not give that extra time to a program that matters to the ARMAGEDDON card? AAUUGGHH!!!
Same goes for this bullshit – Yet again, Boogeyman skit #3 in the playbook. Hack this predictable crap and give the time to people who have a future and who matter. Soooooooo tired of this.
Remember people, show Geoff some love by emailing him here: yostankmama@hotmail.com
ECW on Sci-Fi!:
by: Mike Bauer
ECW on Sci-Fi!: 12.15.06:
The Right:
Test vs. RVD – The Hot Opener: This was definitely the right match to open up the show with as it clearly got the crowd into show and kept everyone on their toes. As bad as everyone says Test is, I have to say that he definitely can put on a decent match with the right opponent. And now it is twice that Test has had that right opponent in Rob Van Dam since he started in ECW. The ending was ok, as it did put Test over as the heel who can't win without the cheating. The only thing hat I didn't like about it was that it continues to hold Rob Van damn down. I know about the whole "still being punished" deal, but you have got to thrown the dog a bone once in a while. Overall, it was the best match on the show (not that it means much), was everything hat it should have been, and was placed perfectly.
Matt Striker's Promo: I know that I might catch plenty of heat for calling this a right, but let's look at the full promo. He does comes out and put over Boston for the good points first, as it was the birthplace of democracy as we know it today, the "child" as Striker put it. And then he goes into total heat mode saying the city should have been aborted to finish the first comparison. And then the heat got even better when he started talking about Boston's love of balls. I'll speak from experience, if you are in Boston and you speak one word about 1986, the Red Sox, and Bill Buckner, you are asking to get your ass handed to you. This led into Ball Mahoney coming out and the short fight that happened. But Striker's last line was classic: "What's the matter, feeling a little blue… Balls?" Overall, Striker gave a great promo and it deserves to be here.
puRgatory:
Burke's Promo (with Turkay) : Why is this stuck in here? One simple reason. These two came to ECW not too long ago. Turkay had a good win, Burke had a good night taking over the Tazz on commentary, and oh yeah, they got jobbed worse than the FBI to the Hardy Boyz before the December to Dismember Pay Per View. Yes, they got a win over the said jobbers at that same Pay Per View, but nobody saw it. Now they come out with this promo and we are supposed to believe they are the next big thing in the ECW? Um, I don't buy it for a second. The promo itself was executed fine, but I just feel they can't talk themselves into being over. They need to go into the ring and prove it.
The wRong:
Hardcore Holly loses how?: I first saw that CM Punk was facing Hardcore Holly and I got excited, because I thought that this would be a pretty good match. Boy, was I disappointed. The match itself was fine, but I know it could have been a lot better. And then you have the ending. Do I agree that there is no way CM Punk's streak should end? Yes. Do I think Holly should lose cleanly to CM Punk? Absolutely not. Is there not a much better way to protect both men? You better believe it. I can't remember the last time I have seen a match ended by a DQ for not breaking a five count. I doubt I can even look in history and see the five count not broken for punches in the corner. And then after all that, you have Punk avoid an attack and lock Holly in the Anaconda Vice, which makes Holly tap. Sure, you keep Punk's momentum up, but you sacrifice Holly, who has been building his own credibility, which was just shattered. Bad move here.
Bobby Lashley faces who?: I am still trying to figure this out. Paul Heyman is gone for good. Heyman's team was there last week, which makes sense since he was sent home that day. Fine, no problem with that. But why are they here this week? Heyman is gone and there are Heyman's Personal Enforcers. It really makes zero sense to have them there, especially when they have never competed in an ECW match before. So we Lashley doing nothing this week, not building into a new feud or anything remotely important, and he gets placed into a handicap match which means nothing. This week Lashley got put to waste, only doing what was needed to hopefully write the Enforcers off of our television sets.
The Ridiculous:
Dreamer vs. Daivari Take 3: I shouldn't even need to go into this, but I will. We now have had three straight shows where Daivari faces Tommy Dreamer. Daivari won cheap in round 1. Dreamer won cleanly in round 2 and won despite heel tactics in round 3. And while round 1 might have been slightly worth watching, the last two matches have been big pieces of crap. But yet, in every single instance, Dreamer gets massacred by The "Great" Khali with the exact same move and this time, Khali looked bad in doing it. This has all the makings of sucking big wind in the end, especially when Khali finally does something he would refer to as competing.
RAW!:
Raw 12.18.06:
The Right:
Rated RKO Stands Tall - Fin-a-fucking-ly they got to stand tall and look great. This is what they needed to do. The end of Raw was awesome as they laid waste to DX and left them in a pool of their own blood. The ending, without commentary was just great stuff and got the angle over big time. Hopefully they can build on it and do something good. In the end I will agree with JD, what is sad is that DX finally put them over strong, but I have a feeling that it will be all for not when DX kills them on PPV again but I hope I am wrong.
Cena vs. Edge - This was another damn good effort from these two guys. They went out there and put on a really good TV match, with decent time, something a lot of raw matches don't get. These two men work really well together and I am for them feuding again. The run in stuff worked rather well and played into the main event excellently. They almost fooled me with the awesome RKO towards the end, and then DX ran in to equalize the deal. Good stuff that led to a good match later in the show.
Nitro and TWGTT vs. The Hardyz - First of al praise the lord! We had a handicap match where the team with more people won! HOO FN RAH~! The other thing I loved is that this made perfect sense as well. Nitro and Melina wanted revenge for what happened to Mercury, so they enlist the newly reformed WGTT and go after the Hardyz. This was also a really good and fun match and everyone was working really hard, and it paid off. While the 3-hours drug, we did get some good action and in the end, I was a happy man.
One last thing, fuck the brand extension.
puRgatory:
The 30-Man Battle Royal - I was really torn here. Overall the thing that they were going for was achieved in the end, but I have one question. Why did they have 30-guys? First of all we are one month away from the Royal Rumble, it makes no sense to mess with a money gimmick match like the Rumble. And then there was the fact that there were a bunch of guys in there that didn't need to be in there for a world title shot. Lawler, Sarge, Brawler, Ron Simmons, Johnny from Spirit Squad who was basically nameless, Eugene, Val, Conway…the list just goes on and one. What is wrong with a 20-man battle royal? That way they could have went just as long and it would have been more effective than the cluster that it was.
The good news is that in the end it was a good deal. It got down to HBK vs. Edge, Orton, and Nitro. This is good as it continues the strong showings by Nitro, gives Cade a nice rub and lets HBK do the thing he does best, the baby face comeback. HBK looked great and RKO got the upper hand, which is NICE for once. Great ending to a blah match.
Ric Flair vs. Kenny Dykstra - So these men had a damn fine little battle here. They worked well together, and they need to make young Kenny face Flair on the road for 6-months and he will be awesome. Then send him to Smackdown and make him work Finlay for 6-months and he will rule. Anyway, good stuff here, Kenny getting the roll up win worked and him walking away after the match works and keep his cocky little bastard persona in tact. So yes, good shit here.
But I have to ask, Kenny Dykstra? Dykstra? Who the hell is a Phillies fan on the staff? That is a lame as hell name in my opinion. Hat was wrong with Ken Doane? Oh wait, they have a referee Jack Doane and that would obviously cause some kind of bullshit confusion because they think all wrestling fans have the IQ of a rutabaga. Dumb shits.
Victoria vs. Mickie James - Why is the world did we give away at match with them on free TV when they have a PPV match coming up? They had Victoria burn through all the women and had her all set to go. While her getting a win on Mickie sets things up to a degree, they should have saved it and had her win at the PPV. Then they could have went from there and built to a WrestleMania match. The good news is that this was a damn fine little match and their PPV match could be really good as well. Plus, they both have luscious asses, which is never, ever a bad thing.
The wRong:
K-Fed Kevin Federline - I will keep this short. I was bored by the promo, I don't care about K-Fed and he did nothing to want to make me watch the match. I know other people are jerking it over him and all but I just don't get the love. Hopefully they get a rating out of it, and if they do hooray, but I am not into this at all.
The Ridiculous:
Cryme Tyme and "George-Dubbya" - This was, without doubt, one of the worst sketches I have ever seen on a wrestling show. They took Cryme Tyme, who was hot, and with that segment did a ton of damage to them. Dear god that was bad.
ECW on Sci-Fi!: By: Brad Borchardt
ECW on Sci-Fi!: 12.19.06:
The Right:
Hyping The Main Event and Voting: I liked the hype going into the Triple Threat Match and trying to snag votes for the January 2nd ECW Championship Match. Test cut a pretty good promo. Rob Van Dam's promo was short and to the point. Sabu is not very good on the mic so they showed a video package of some of his extreme moments, which was good.
Mike Knox: Ummm…Wow. Did not think I would ever have him in the Right and it probably won't happen very often. If you want to send me hate mail I'll be ready. I liked the explanation he gave about what he did to Kelly Kelly. He made total sense as to why he dumped Kelly Kelly and it wasn't some generic bad guy scenario.
Triple Threat Match: Sure, it was no classic but it was a nice little free TV main event. Say what you want about WWE/ECW, but they do Six Man Tag Team Matches and Triple Threat Matches better than what they gave credit for. All three men got to look strong and legit challenges for Lashley. But I have something else to say that will get covered in a little bit.
puRgatory:
You Have….3 Minutes!: No, Jamal and Rosie aren't coming. I like the idea of these guys feuding. I like the idea of one of these guys not getting a clean victory right away. I am just not a fan of CM Punk must make Holly tap in three minutes. I'm putting this in puRgatory because I like how it was not a clean victory and I dig this feud. I cannot wait for them to face off in Extreme Rules.
The wRong:
He's No Rock: I cannot stand it when Bobby Lashley gets on the mic. I agree when several writers on the website when they say he needs a manager like Ron Simmons to be his mouth piece. Even though Benoit and Mysterio weren't the best on the mic either, at least Benoit added intensity to his promos and Mysterio could pay tribute to Eddie and talk about fighting all the odds for a man his size.
Lashley vs…Dupree?: So Rene Dupree comes out to interrupt Lashley this week. Why? Actually, who cares? Dupree hasn't been on the show in weeks and to my knowledge, has not won a match in ECW, and we should think that Dupree coming out and challenging Lashley is going to be a test for Lashley?
Balls Mahoney vs. Matt Striker: I am sick of this feud. I want ECW to be able to build feuds, but this is getting nowhere. Why not take time to build up Elijah Burke, the FBI, or Stevie Richards? ECW needs a better mid/under card
The Ridiculous:
It Was Bound To Happen: The Great Khali was bound to have his first ECW match eventually. I was really hoping they were going to leave him as a bodyguard type character and let Daivari be the wrestler. Hopefully once he kills Tommy Dreamer and their feud ends, they will keep him outside the ring.
You Won Test But You Lost: So they let Test get the win in the triple threat match, look strong in the Elimination Chamber, and has made Rob Van Dam his personal bitch but he is not the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship? That is bull. Love him or hate him, he has stepped up his game since coming to ECW. It's clear he should be the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship. Why let the fans choose a #1 Contender? What was the point of having this match when it was on the end of the show where it wouldn't help influence fan votes? This isn't Cyber Taboo Suntuesday.
READER RANT TIME!
From Stephen on last week's Smackdown -
I just thought I would give you a bit of a heads up since when I read your articles we seem to feel the same about how the product has become a joke. Although you are more supportive and find more positives than I do. I actually don't watch much anymore, maybe 10 minutes at a time while channel surfing.
But I wanted to let you know about one of the lamest things I've seen in wrestling in a LONG time and pretty much sums up why wrestling isn't "cool" anymore. On Smackdown, during the segment with Kennedy giving his in-ring promo the Last Ride Mobile drives out to the ring, and smoke rises from the ground and it's suppose to look spooky. But there is a camera INSIDE the car showing the steering wheel turning but no one is driving the car. The Undertaker's haunted car. How lame is that? Wait until you see it. Laughable.
WWE needs to stop being embarrassed to be a wrestling company. I know Stephanie wants to write a soap opera, but this kind of crap is what killed off the wrestling boom in the first place.
"WWE is action, drama, suspense, comedy and mystery all rolled into one show every week" - no, it's a bunch of wrestlers being forced to be actors and hope someone magically morphs into the Rock and it comes across as a corny carnival most of the time. (especially since the people that might have the ability to catch on never get the chance, since it's the HHH/Shawn show)
At least the Rock was smart enough to walk away, and you know it eats away at Triple H every single moment of every day. He can give himself every world title he wants, but in the end the Rock is the biggest star the wrestling industry ever produced, and Triple H is in his late 30s standing in the ring doing crotch chops and running through the same act he was doing 10 years ago.
From Beth on Turning Point -
VKM is definitely ridiculous, but I realized something.
I loved Turning Point because it truly felt like each match had enough time. The only match I was not impressed by was the NWA title match, which as a longtime TNA fan is nothing new. I was impressed by the matches because they all had good length, even the less "important" ones. And I realized it's because VKM didn't have their match (which is always the smoke break match for me anyway) and instead just had five minutes of promo time. They can have their stupid five minutes doing stupid things on the PPV if it means the X Division matches, for example, get a few more minutes, too.
From Johnny K on Smackdown -
I had to give my thoughts on a pretty good Smackdown this past Friday. First off, the main event was great, as Cena did a masterful job of selling the arm (to the point that my finance thought that Cena legit hurt his shoulder) and just having an entertaining match as well. My boy Finlay brought the awesome per usual, and had me believing that he was actually gonna pull off an upset. My favorite part of the match (I'm smiling as I am typing this) was when that damn Lil' Bastard came out! It was bad enough that Cena caught the guy and threw him into JBL, but then JBL tried to chase Lil' Bastard off be swatting at him with his hat! After the midget got a little distance from JBL's hat, Lil' Bastard was all," Oh, swat me with a hat?! Swat this, bitch!!" and then chased everyone, Michael Cole, JBL, the damn referee, from the announce table. Then in the classic Finlay/Lil' Bastard exchange, Finlay lifted up the apron, and kicked the midget back under the ring! Man, that there was some funny shit!
As for the rest of the show, it had its bright spots with only two segments (Miz/Boogeyman and Vito/Sylvain) being the wine stains to the silk blouse that was Smackdown. I have several random thoughts about the matches…
The 6-Man Tag Match: I wonder why they couldn't simply replace JWY's valet Amy whatever-the-hell-her-last-name-is with that French blonde chick, it's not like anyone cared about her to begin with.
Vito: What is the point with this guy? Okay, so he likes to wear a dress and act fruity, big whoop. At least he had the decency to not wear a thong this time.
Boogeyman/Miz: Okay, in every past encounter these two had, Boogeyman won by Miz running away like a pussy. Why would anyone pay $40.00 to see Miz do the same thing that he's been doing for the last two months on free T.V.? One other thing, this feud is even worse than the DX- McMahon feud because it the same shit every single time; the Miz runs his mouth about how the Boogeyman doesn't scare him, Boogeyman in someway or another freaks the Miz out, rinse, lather, repeat another week.
MVP/Kane: Just one question, does MVP has a clause in his contract that states that he will only wrestle Kane for the rest of 2006?
Joey Mercury/Matt Hardy: Tag-Team renaissance? I wish.
And finally from Johnny Bryant -
I mean what better way to establish that London and Kendrick were really on top than to beat 2 of the biggest tag teams in recent memory and not only that. hold their own and in the end win against the Hardyz in their match.
