High Road/Low Road 04.06.07: WrestleMania 23
Posted by Chad Nevett on 04.06.2007
We give you our High Roads and Low Roads of WrestleMania 23 in a special format.
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 New Breed versus the Originals:
High Road: 56%
Low Road: 25%
Both Roads: 18%
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.
freddy Neuwendyke Writes:
I knew on Day one that the new ECW was supposed to do little more than serve as cannon-fodder to WWE's stars. Anything not invented in McMahonland was going to be jobbed to hell and back to salve Vince's ego.
This New Blood versus The Originals storyline is The Invasion allover again only this time on a C show and just continuing the degradation of the original ECW. Such a sin because the new ECW could have been way more than just a place to dump off has beens like Big Show and never will bes like Snitsky and Bob Holly.
Sat: I think we all knew going in that this was not going to be like the old ECW. But, I think the crucial mistake was bringing in the Snitsky's, Holly's and Big Show's. What they should have done was that they should have brought in a bunch of new guys, like the New Breed and done it that way.
Uncle Trunx: Well, it's not often that I'm wrong but I was here. They actually put the Originals over at Wrestlemania, thus keeping the feud alive and, to me, making it far more interesting. I still don't think that the Originals will be around for the long haul (with the possible exception of RVD if he signs a new contract) but it's not the complete burial I assumed it would be. They've turned a disaster angle into something where I'm now actually watching with interest.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
WrestleMania 23
Note: We decided to do something different for WrestleMania. Below, we will give you our High Roads/Low Roads for WrestleMania.
Uncle Trunx's High Roads:
1: My first, and highest high road goes to Undertaker vs Batista. I hoped it would be good, I expected it to be reasonable and it turned out to be an excellent power based match between two guys who brought their "A game". I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and while the result and manner of it happening was fairly obvious (Undertaker wins with a Tombstone) the false finishes kept me entertained and there was always a slight element of doubt – Batista was a far more credible opponent for Undertaker than Mark Henry was last year. The only slight low road I'd have on this is that the Rumble win means this should've closed the show; you aren't in the main event if your match is 4th out of 8.
2: Money in the bank gets a high road from me. I'm not normally a fan of spotfests but this was a sizzling hot opener, they used it to elevate Mr Kennedy and the time they gave it allowed everyone to have their moment in the sun. Seeing Finlay performing a dive from the ringpost to the outside was worth the price of the event on its own for me; I've watched his career since his "World of Sport" days in the UK and I never thought I'd see that from him. Sure, there were long periods with relatively few people involved but that served to highlight those in the ring at any given moment rather than providing a mess of a match. I still wish they'd found more for Edge and Orton to do, but better to have them here than have them missing from the card. I'd also prefer to see Booker T in a match on his own but if the alternative is having him squashed by the Boogeyman like last year, I'd keep him in this.
3: Even though it was severely truncated, I loved MVP vs Benoit. The match told a story, both men gave it their all; it was by far the best outing I've seen from MVP and should cement him as a solid mid card wrestler and potential breakout star in the next few years. The psychology was brilliant, both men ended up looking strong out of it and it got another title match on the Wrestlemania card. This, to me, is what Wrestlemania midcard matches should be. I only wish they'd given it an extra 5 minutes.
4: I'm going to be controversial again and put the Originals vs the New Breed in here. I will admit, it was far from perfect; it was too short for one thing, and seemed to suffer from some crowd apathy. However, given my extremely low expectations for the match, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Seeing the likes of Sandman coming through the crowd, drinking beer and bashing the can against his head at Wrestlemania was a marvelous sight, the match itself was far better than I thought it was going to be and in my "upset of the evening" result, the Originals won! RVD must be in line for another push (or they're close to getting him to agree a new contract) or perhaps it was just a nice way of saying thank you to the guys who probably don't have many summers left in the sun, but whatever the reason, I put this match as a high road. Take it as the closest you'll ever get to me eating humble pie.
Sat's High Roads:
1: I was debating where to put the Battle of the Billionaires and in the end I decided to put it here. The match had his problems, but the positives outweighed the negatives. First, the match wasn't that great, but it was passable. The WWE received a ton of media attention, which will help the product. Lashley and Umaga got some recognition, which will also help their career. Austin did his job as the referee and we even got a surprise appearance from Shane McMahon. And most importantly, Vince McMahon got his head shaved.
2: I was expecting Batista/Undertaker to be the same as the Lesnar/Goldberg match without the fan interaction. Boy was I wrong. These guys showed Lesnar and Goldberg how to have a big man match. This match had the potential to suck and both guys went out there and showed that two big wrestlers can have a good match. This was also one of the Undertaker's better matches. Also, the Undertaker won, which was a good move. Batista should not have been the person to take out the Undertaker's streak. It should be an up and comer that takes out the streak. Plus, this can potentially allow Batista to turn heel which is needed.
3: The John Cena/Shawn Michaels match definitely gets a high road for me. This was 100% High Road because the right guy won with both guys looking great. Shawn Michaels and John Cena both came out of this match looking great. Also, I am excited that they have decided to extend this feud because we now know that they can have a good match and they still have a reason to have another match. And with this match, Shawn Michaels showed why he is Mr. WrestleMania. He has had some amazing matches, even though he has been on the shorthand of most of them.
Uncle Trunx's Low Roads:
1: I'll be controversial and put Cena vs Michaels here. Yes, it was a very well worked match between two great wrestlers. However, to me this felt like last years main event reheated. It started slowly, which is fine, it had an entertaining if contrived middle section, which is also fine although some selling from Cena might've made it better, but then it went overbooked (was there any need to bump the referee?) and the finish was that predictable and formulaic, I called virtually every spot and near fall, including the finish, before it happened. Given the potential to really provide something for the ages, this seemed to come off a little flat. Plus it was at the end, where Undertaker vs Batista should've been by WWE's own internal logic. On any other show this would've been a high road, but I ended up feeling slightly disappointed by it as the supposed high spot of Wrestlemania.
2: The obvious low road is next; the Womens Title match. I'm not in favour of giving people title matches based on whether or not they've done playboy. I'm not in favour of employing women who clearly can't wrestle to work wrestling matches and I'm not in favour of putting such things on the biggest show of the year while a legend like Ric Flair can't even get a match. Milena tried her best to carry the hapless Ashley to something watchable but as the saying goes, "you can't polish a turd". Ashley may look pleasant enough in Playboy (I don't know, not being an avid connoisseur of pornography), but dropping your underwear for a magazine shouldn't be an automatic guarantee of a place at Wrestlemania, let alone a title match.
3 : It is predictable, but Kane vs Khali goes here. How this got on the card when Ric Flair, Carlito, the (SmackDown) tag team champs and the Cruiserweight title get left off is beyond my understanding and beyond a joke. The WWE obsession with big men once again proves detrimental to the quality of the show. Never mind the match, LOOK AT THE GIANTS! Freakshow wrestling at its worst; the slam could've saved it if it had been the end as a tribute to Wrestlemania III but instead, Khali's push continues. Truly horrible.
4: The final low road has to go to the amount of filler they threw in here. I can cope with the backstage legend dance skit; it was worth it just for the Steamboat cameo. I like seeing the hall of fame inductees / relatives; that adds a touch of history and class to the event. What I do object to are the "All Grown Up" vignettes which they insisted on playing throughout; with the time saved from cutting such things, they could probably fit in another match, or at least allow MVP and Benoit to go an extra few minutes. It is the biggest show of the year; more wrestling needed, and less filler!
Sat's Low Roads:
1: I was also debating where to put the Money in the Bank ladder match and I decided to put it here. The match served its purpose because it was a great match, a great opener, it was a spot fest and the right guy won the match. BUT, I had some problems with the match. There were a ton of moments were people were missing from the match for a long period of time. This was really noticeable at the end when CM Punk and Mr. Kennedy were fighting at the end, while they were MIA for the last five to ten minutes. And there were way too many people in this match. There were the eight competitors, Sharmell, & Hornswoggle. I know that I wrote a few weeks back that eight people are good for this match, but after watching this match, it showed me that this match needs to be kept to eight people maximum. This was a great match, but some of the problems that I saw in this match forced me to put it here.
2: What the hell was up with that dance thing backstage. There were too many people backstage to make any sense of the situation. I could swear that I heard a Native American cry, but where did it come from? I could swear that I saw Mean Gene there as well, but I cannot verify it. I understand trying to get people on TV, but what was the point of getting some of these people on TV. There was no point for Dusty Rhodes being there because we were going to see him later. I could go on and on about the problems with this segment. And the sad part about this segment is that only one thing made sense and that was Ron Simmons saying "Damn".
3: I was expecting the Khali/Kane match to be bad, but not this bad. I was not even able to make it all the way through this match and that is enough to warrant a Low Road from me.
4: I had my doubts about this match going on, but I felt that it had the potential to be a decent match. Well, they go out there and have an awful match. I just do not understand why the WWE has to put a playboy cover girl against the women's champion. They could have had Melina face an actual wrestler, but they throw her in there with Ashley. Also, it seems to be that Ashley is getting worse in the ring. You would think that after a year and in a half in the WWE that she would have developed some decent skills in the ring, like Maria and Candice, but that has not been the case.
5: I cannot believe the New Breed lost. Is Vince actually thinking about keeping some of the originals around. Under no circumstances should the Originals have won. The Originals have one guy that has potential, while the New Breed has three guys. This might be a moot point because the New Breed might beat the Originals in an Extreme Rules match, but it wouldn't it make more sense to have the New Breed win at WrestleMania and in an Extreme Rules match.
Tell us what you think is most deserving of a High Road and what is most deserving of being a 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 didn't 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.
