Schmozzes & Screwjobs 07.11.2007: The Double Cross
Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 07.11.2007
Let the bodies hit the... flooooor!
It's not too often that an angle run by World Wrestling Entertainment is frowned upon by just about every single person that has ever called him or herself a wrestling fan. Even storylines that seem to have nearly everyone seething such as the Katie Vick episode has a few fans out there, albeit for the comedy value. Travesties such as ‘Fake' Kane and every push that Test has ever received even have a few people who think that what they are seeing is good television. But for some reason, unknown to me, the InVasion angle that ran in the summer and fall (check out my American language!) of 2001 is hated upon by every single wrestling fan I have ever spoken to about it. When I watched the WCW/ECW alliance take it to WWE, I was enthralled, whereas everybody else hated the entire saga. Today's column will focus on the InVasion angle, and attempt to find out why it is that the program is considered as bad as it is.
Jerkin' The Curtain
-The Great American Bash will be a good show and here's why. Predominantly, it has had a good build for nearly all of the matches, and that's because of the time since the last pay-per-view. As opposed to three or even two weeks to build to a show, there's a five week gap between One Night Stand and The Bash which gives time for the E to develop some fresh new feuds and at the same time keep them looking intriguing. Take for example, John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley. To this point in time, there has been two weeks of build up, but in that time WWE has managed to pack the following into their feud; Lashley beating the clock to get the shot, Lashley spearing Cena (can he be trusted?), Cena putting Lashley over via promo, Lashley dominating Raw (pun intended) in Cena's absence. And we still have another week to go before the Bash. Additionally, all the feuds are fresh. Lashley vs. Cena is a first time match, as is Khali vs. Batista and Dusty vs. Orton. Edge and Kane haven't met one-on-one for nearly two years, while CM Punk and Johnny Nitro will be having their first match with any real build up behind, which, by the way, has been great so far. I give the E a thumbs up for getting me interested in their shows again.
-On a side note, that promo between Randy Orton and The Dream on Raw was fantastic, in my opinion. It's well documented that Dusty is one of the best talkers in the business but he seemed especially well last night and Randy Orton did more than hold his own. The Legend Killer gets a fair amount of criticism for his promo work, often people saying he's always been helped out by the presence of Evolution, Edge or whoever but he showed last night that he is truly talented on the stick, something we haven't really seen from him since his Undertaker feud. Anyway, that segment sold me on a match that before last night I was already willing to criticise, so nice work there guys. Also, there are many positive things that can come from this whole feud. It's already given Cody a rub and he even got a nice chant for him last night, so it's a smart way to establish a new guy in such a high profile feud. This also gives Orton some more heel heat, as if he ever needed any more. I'm greatly interested in Orton' future as some reports state that he could win the WWE title as soon as Summerslam before feuding with Triple H, whereas other reports say he will job to The Game as soon as Trips is back. That being said, if the wrong guy goes over at The Bash I will not be a happy man.
-And now time to give the WWE even more love. It was good to see Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas get a little promo time and personality on Raw last night, even if the circumstances weren't exactly what you'd call ideal. These guys are amazingly talented when they want to be and maybe giving them a chance to prove will stop their occasional sloppiness if you allow them to get their confidence back.
The Screwjob
The Kurt Angle Double Cross
11.18.2001 Survivor Series
Background Information: At the end of last week's Screwjob, Steve Austin turned on the WWE and joined the Alliance and in the process cost Kurt Angle a victory in the massive Inaugural Brawl at InVasion. In retaliation, Vince McMahon had to make a big move to swing the momentum back to the side of the WWE and he did so by lifting the suspension of one of the biggest superstars around at the time, The Brahma Bull The Rock!
By this point each side had its clear leaders. The Alliance was lead by Steve Austin, and to a lesser extent Booker T while The Rock and Kurt Angle were the WWE's main threats. Summerslam 2001 had a double main event featuring these 4 men – Stone Cold Steve Austin would defend the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle while The Rock challenged Booker T for the WCW Championship. Angle and Austin went out and put on a fantastic match of the year candidate that saw the Olympian kick out of 3 Stone Cold Stunners, the first and only time that this has been accomplished in any one match. Austin quickly realised that there was no way he could pin Angle on this night, so resorted to assaulting referees to cost himself the match by disqualification, thus retaining the championship. A pissed off Kurt Angle took his frustrations out on WCW referee Nick Patrick but did not walk out with the title as he had intended. The Rock, on the other hand, was successful and defeated Booker for the WCW despite interference from Test and Shane McMahon among others. Finally… The Rock had come back to the top!
The entire wrestling business was focused on WWE vs. WCW and ECW and things were heating up as the weeks went by. More people were jumping shows, as guys like Test, Christian and Molly Holly joined the Alliance and it seemed WWE could have been in trouble. Kurt Angle got his championship rematch at Unforgiven in September. The show was held in Angle's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and once again Austin and Angle had a great match. But this time Angle locked in the Ankle Lock and Steve Austin had no choice but to submit, relinquishing his grasp on the championship at the same time. On that same night, The Rock retained his title in a handicap match against Booker and Shane, while Rhyno snatched the US title from Tajiri. These weren't the only titles changing hands during the InVasion angle. The Intercontinental gold shifted many times from Lance Storm, to Edge, to Christian and back to Edge. Edge would also win the US Championship during this time, as would Kurt Angle. Both The Dudleyz and Hardys wore WCW Tag Titles, as did Undertaker and Kane, while Kanyon and DDP won the WWE Tag Titles.
The build towards No Mercy was a lot more interesting as there were several matches pitting WWE guys against WWE guys and WCW guys vs. ECW guys. For instance, Chris Jericho had developed a jealously towards The Rock due to Jericho's inability to win ‘the big one' and they settled the score for the title at No Mercy. After a tremendous match-up, Jericho pinned The Rock for the title, though he needed the help of a steel chair to do it. ECW's Rob Van Dam had always been hugely popular during the InVasion and his greed got the better of him when he decided to go for the title in a triple threat match with Kurt Angle and Steve Austin. It was also suggested that Vince McMahon had somehow persuaded Van Dam to join WWE. In the end though, Austin won the match and we were headed to Survivor Series.
Things got desperate for WWE headed to the final encounter, Winner Take All match at Survivor Series. Rock and Jericho's feud intensified as The Rock won the WCW title back from Jericho just a few weeks after No Mercy. It seemed as if those two men would just not be able to get along even though they would be on the same team at Survivor Series. And then WWE's plans were thrown out the window when one of their star men, Kurt Angle, turned on them and joined Team Alliance.
Survivor Series was the climax on the angle, and many matches were made which would determine who would keep their jobs after Survivor Series. All title holders would still be employed after that night, so every match was vital. Edge beat Test in a US vs. IC champion match and was thus guaranteed his job, though Test entered an Immunity Battle Royal later in the night to secure his position. Bubba and D-Von Dudley beat The Hardys in a cage to make sure that they would be safe, while Trish Stratus won her first Women's Championship to ensure that she kept her job. But the big match that night was the 5-on-5 Winner Take All match. WWE vs. WCW/ECW. Only one could survive. Going in, it seemed WWE were on the rocks because of their internal problems, but little did the Alliance know that Vince McMahon had planted the seed that would ensure victory well before the match ever started.
How It Went Down: Report of the match borrowed from furiousrage.com;
Survivor match/Winner Take All – WWF (The Rock/Chris Jericho/Undertaker/Kane/Big Slow) v The Alliance (Steve Austin/Rob Van Dam/Booker T/Kurt Angle/Shane McMahon) ??
Originally Vince was scheduled on the WWF team but he replaced himself with the on form Big Slow. Heyman and JR continue to rag on each other as the wrestlers come out and the aura of huge match tension is very clear. Heyman makes me laugh at least 7 or 8 times during the introductions. The Rock, I note, is also safe because he's the WCW champion. Rock and Austin start in a mirror of Canadian Stampede. Lou Thesz press! FU elbow gets 2. Lou Thesz press from the Rock and an FU elbow gets 2. Shane breaks the first of many covers. Booker comes in. Rock hits a clothesline and Shane breaks that too. Jericho-Booker. Flapjack from Jericho. Jericho-RVD. Crowd gets REAL hot for that tag. Near misses into a Jericho spinning heel kick. Vertical suplex. Jericho misses a dropkick allowing RVD to hit a cartwheel splash for 2. Rana is blocked into the Walls of Jericho. Shane breaks again. Booker-Kane. Angle-Kane as Angle demands Kane. Angle gets overpowered but manages a sweet German suplex. Kane sits up. Side slam and a flying clothesline gets 2. Shane breaks that as well. Undertaker-Booker. Big boot sends Booker down and a legdrop gets 2. Shane breaks that too. He's getting irritating but that's his whole purpose in this match. Old School rope walk from Taker and he goes to work on the arm of Booker. Shane breaks another near fall. Austin-Taker. Austin stomps away in the corner. What? Rope ride misses and Taker hits a clothesline. Old School rope walk on Austin gets 2 and guess who breaks that fall? Taker gets sent into the heel corner and beaten down. Angle-Taker. Swinging neckbreaker from Angle gets 2. Taker blocks a German and hits a DDT. Slow-Angle. 500lb rampage follows. A swat on Shane gets a massive ovation. Crowd is really into this. ANGLE SLAM on Big Slow. SCISSORS KICK from Booker. Spinneroonie. FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH. This is finisher heaven. Shane drops an elbow and Slow, who's taken every finisher bar the Stunner is laid out for 3 at 12.41. ??Shane dances until Rock comes in. Crowd is REALLY excited now. He hammer Shane down. Kane gets a tag – CHOKESLAM. Taker gets the tag – TOMBSTONE. Jericho in – LIONSAULT. Shane is toast at 14.30. Crowd does noticeably quiet after his elimination as it's clear we're into the eliminations and that won't end until Rock-Austin. ??Jericho-Angle. Flying forearm from Jericho and the butterfly backbreaker gets 2. Angle double legs and fires away with rights. Shane is carried out meanwhile. Booker-Jericho. Precision knee from Book and RVD comes in with the kicks. They do a cool corner spot with RVD's shoulder charges into a Brisco corner roll up for 2. Kane-RVD. Big boot and a couple of clotheslines. RVD comes back with kicks. Corner shoulder charges fail again as he gets battered with a lariat. Over the shoulder slam from Kane and he pauses to battle Booker. That costs him. Spin kick. Five Star Frog Splash but Kane grabs him by the throat. Taker and Booker spill in and we have a huge brawl. RVD sidekicks Kane meanwhile for the 3 and Kane is out of here at 18.19. ??RVD-Taker. Austin and Booker come in and get some too. Taker clotheslines everyone. Angle takes a Snake Eyes and a big boot. Last Ride on Angle. Booker comes in with a chair and that gets blocked. Taker has beaten everyone on his own to mostly silence but he can't stop Austin stunnering him to a much better pop. Angle covers and Taker is out at 20.01. Just Jericho and Rock left now and they bitterly, bitterly despise each other. Things are not looking good for Team WWF. ??Rock-Booker. Sidekick from Book. Rock fires back with a DDT for 2. Samoan drop gets 2. Heel collision sends Booker crashing into Angle and he's rolled up by Rock for 3 at 22.32. Booker got treated like a jobber. Nothing new there. ??Rock-RVD. Van Dam climbs and Rock slams him off the buckles for 2. Jericho gets the tag and dropkicks RVD in the back of the head. Flying forearm and a swinging neckbreaker gets 2. Bulldog and a Lionsault misses so RVD hits a spin kick. Split legged moonsault but Jericho gets a knee up and hits the Breakdown to pin RVD at 24.50. ??Jericho-Angle. 2 teams that can't get along now. Austin eliminates Rock out on the floor. Angle works Jericho over on the mat before tagging Austin. Superplex from Austin gets 2. Angle-Jericho. Jericho blocks a German into the anklelock. Angle escapes obviously. Austin comes in and hits a suplex. Austin looks really out of whack here for some reason and screws up the distance and the timing on a couple of moves. Double KO leads to Angle-Rock. Belly to belly from Rock and a leg whip into the Scorpion King Deathlock. Angle taps out at 31.53. I thought this was weird at the time because that left Austin, the heel, 2 on 1. That simply doesn't happen. Except the whole Angle thing was a swerve as he was revealed to be on the WWF's side all along. So he probably tapped out to help the WWF win. ??Jericho-Austin and Austin rolls through a crossbody for 2. Walls of Jericho is blocked. Walls of Jericho from Austin and he's bleeding from the mouth. Jericho powers out. Lionsault gets knees and that's a 2 count. Jericho hits a missile dropkick for 2. Austin counters the Jericho running roll up into a pinfall however and he's gone at 34.30. If they'd wanted to really push Jericho they'd had him go over in this match. Imagine how high that would have pushed him up into the stratosphere? Instead they waited a month and a heel turn later to push him. ??Rock-Austin now with next fall being the finish. Crowd goes nuts while Jericho is clearly pissed and he gives Rock the BREAKDOWN. What a jerk, huh? Austin pins….FOR 2. Jericho comes back down and Taker stops him. I'd like to point out that if Jericho won this match then next month people would have wanted to see Jericho v Rock or Jericho v Austin in the finals instead of getting disappointed when he got there. This isn't being picky or smarkish – it's true. Think about it. Rock gets tossed over the ropes meanwhile. They brawl over the announce table for a bit. Back inside and Austin hits a spinebuster and the sharpshooter is locked on. Heyman sells the fact that it's Survivor Series and it's Hebner. Great stuff. Heyman shouting "ring the bell" is great. The whole thing is lost on the fans but yanno, they're a bit dim. Austin grabs the WWF title but misses with it. Rock hits a spinebuster and puts on the Scorpion King Deathlock. Austin gets the ropes but Rock pulls him out into the middle of the ring and Austin gets the ropes again. Austin distracts the ref Flair style and goes low. Stunner kick is blocked and Rock HITS THE STUNNER. That's only 2 as impartial referee Nick Patrick believes that the cover isn't a good one. Rock takes exception but Austin hits him with the ROCK BOTTOM for 2. Austin is pissed and punks out his own referee. He drags Hebner back in but the Stunner is blocked again. Rock Bottom is countered into the STUNNER!!! Heyman gets excited but there's no ref. He's still bumped. Angle runs out here and punks out Austin with the title belt. ROCK BOTTOM and this match is over at 44.56.
Analysis: OK, what I would really like, is if you, the awesome readers, would send me an email about what you didn't like about the whole InVasion angle (or did like, for that matter). I do have a fair few thoughts on why it was unpopular, but I want as many opinions as I can get before I put a little something together. I want to break down the entire thing after hearing people's views so that I can form an unbiased opinion on wether this whole thing was good, or bad. So send in your thoughts! Next weak I break down the InVasion, and that will be your analysis. Get emailing. Please.
The Schmozz Count…
Will return next week. I think I have four or five weeks worth of TV to count the screwcy finishes, but rest assured we will be back up to date again by next week.
False Finishes and Fan Cams
Making Do With What You've Got
The first half of 2007 was littered with injuries in World Wrestling Entertainment, and more often than not they were long-term injuries to some of the top stars in the company. Triple H went out with a quad injury in January and is only now on his way back. Rey Mysterio has been out all year but is another who is on his way back to TV. King Booker was out for a couple of months just after WrestleMania, leaving a gaping hole in the main event scene on SmackDown. And then shortly after winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 23, The Undertaker went down with a long-term injury that may not see him return until next year. Up-and-comer Mr Kennedy suffered an injury that ultimately cost him his Money in the Bank opportunity, and Shawn Michaels, after one of the most successful spells of his career, is the latest in a long list of WWE casualties. And let's not forget the loss of Chris Benoit who left a huge hole in SmackDown's mid-card.
But to their credit, WWE never pushed the panic button. Instead, they made do with what they had. Edge was shifted to SmackDown to carry that brand. Shawn Michaels was brought up to the Mania main event when Triple H went down injured. Guys like MVP and Matt Hardy have received big pushes and may be on the road to bigger and better things. Eve tag teams got a look in as WWE actually bothered to develop a storyline between Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch and The Hardys. Now many of those injured talents are on their way back; Mr Kennedy and King Booker are already wrestling again while Triple H and Rey Mysterio will be returning to the squared circle within the coming weeks.
That being said, there are considerable holes in all 3 of the WWE rosters, and at the same time a lot of talent who, quite frankly, do not deserve to be on any roster at all. WWE did a great job of keeping things running smoothly with all their big names down, but now that most have returned, it is time to shake things up. I don't mean a Draft Lottery, I mean taking people off TV, bringing people up from OVW and FCW and maybe even raiding TNA for some talent. WWE search for the new Hogan, or Rock or Austin, will not be fulfilled by Santino Marella, Kenny Dykstra, Bobby Lashley or even CM Punk. Who needs to go? Who needs to be brought in? Let's take a look.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out…
Santino Marella: My hate for this man has grown and grown every time that I have seen him on television. I credit McMahonagement for trying something different, but I think that it is safe to say that this particular experiment has failed drastically. The ‘Milan Miracle' has very limited skills, both in the ring and outside of it. This guy has zero charisma, and the most stereotypical of gimmicks was never going to help. Maybe the guy can be repackaged and brought back up again in a year or two but for now, Santino needs to go. He gets no reaction. WWE must have realised this otherwise Umaga wouldn't have won the Intercontinental Championship last week. Bye bye Marella.
Snitsky: Another guy who I cannot stand is Snitsky. Not because he has no talent, which he doesn't, or that he has no look, which he doesn't but because he has absolutely no purpose. The past few years have seen an influx of monsters in the E. Kane is still going strong, as is Mark Henry. Then you have The Great Khali who has only lost a couple of times and it still dominating, and of course you have Umaga who is quickly becoming one of the best big men of all time. Throw in Viscera, a guy who has a much more interesting look and move set, who is supposed to be getting a push soon, and there is no room for a guy like Snitsky on any of the rosters. A guy once said black tights and black boots won't get you anywhere in this business, and on that occasion he was wrong. In this case he would've been dead right.
The Boogeyman: The fact that this guy is still around boggles my mind, it really does. It's not that I think the gimmick is terrible, but once you've seen it once you've seen it a thousand times. Even the little kids don't pop much for this guy anymore. He has very little wrestling ability, and has no purpose in this business. If you lose to this guy, your career means squat. If you beat this guy, so what? You beat the friggin' Boogeyman. I can't for the life of me comprehend why this guy was rehired twice. He brings nothing to the table and just doesn't belong in the E. Get rid of him.
The Highlanders: Bottom line, nobody gives a shit about these guys any more. Sure, they were a decent comedy act when they first arrived, but they have been surpassed by Cryme Tyme and make a Raw appearance once every six months or so, and as was evident last night, nobody cares about these guys. Most people don't even remember who they are and that is during a time when tag team wrestling is on the up in WWE. There is a need to have guys that can constantly do the job, which is what they were, but before you had jobber teams like Too Cool who the fans actually cared about and thus it meant something when they lost. These guys can easily be replaced with better talent so it's time to move them on out.
Eugene: The once lovable retard has been possibly the worst member of the WWE roster for the past two years or so and needs to go. There are plenty of cruiserweights on SmackDown that can do the job to The Great Khali, right Jimmy? More importantly, the guy has lost nearly all the popularity that he once had. Even the kids do not like Eugene enough to cheer him on, let alone expect him to win a damn match.
Chris Masters: Masters has had many chances to improve himself and show management that he means business, but the 27 year old lacks the drive to succeed in this business, I feel. WWE has proven that they have lost all faith in him as he has continually been jobbed out, even on Heat. The guy had a lot of potential, but he failed to live up to it, for one reason or another. And when you consider that he has a history of steroid abuse, in the current climate of the E, getting rid would be a smart move for Vince McMahon right now.
New Blood
Who could be brought in from outside WWE that can have a major impact on the company?
Bubba and D-Von Dudley: This may be an unpopular choice because Team 3D have received a lot of hate during their stint in TNA. However I think that they can be valuable again in WWE now that there are several established tag teams and there are limitless possibilities as to what they could do. Perhaps a stint in ECW and a feud with Burke and Cor Von? A renewal of their feud with Matt and Jeff Hardy would be awesome. And then there are the current champs on both Raw and SmackDown to be put through tables – Dudleyz vs. Cade and Murdoch in particular works for me. Every now and then I hear that The Dudleyz are unhappy in TNA and even though they are the champs, I think they would jump at the opportunity to return to WWE.
Gail Kim: I thought what they did with the women on Raw last night was awesome. Melina, Jillian and Beth Phoenix are all good as far as women's wrestlers go and could form a really intriguing stable, but with just Miss James and Miss Michelle on the other side, things could get stale in a hurry. Step forward, Gail Kim. Kim has proven her worth in TNA and is one of the best women's wrestlers in the world right. She also has a unique but still very attractive look so WWE has all bases covered when it comes to Gail Kim. She can eventually turn and work heel or face, as she has shown good charisma and personality over the last year or so. It'll be hard to replace the awesomeness of Trish and Lita but bringing Gail in would certainly help things.
Christopher Daniels: Daniels is a big fish in a small pond. His talent is phenomenal, but he isn't used as he should in TNA because he is not a big name like Sting, Christian or Angle, so maybe it would be better if he just cut his losses and left. WWE could benefit from a guy like Daniels as he could easily be booked face or heel and keep his mysterious persona that he has now, only without the over-the-top God stuff. If they build him up right and let him show what he can do, he can be having great matches on a regular basis and be a mainstay in the mid-card. Sure, his size will probably stop him from ever progressing past that but Daniels has an experience that not many wrestlers these days have, and that's valuable time on the indy circuit. People can learn from Daniels more if he is in a mid-card role. And can you imagine seeing CM Punk vs. Christopher Daniels in WWE?
Paul Burchill: Burchill has been stuck in OVW for a long time now and should have been brought back up to the main roster a long time ago. Teaming him up with Dave Taylor would be the best way to go as it would give SmackDown a fresh tag team that can actually wrestle unlike our current champions.
And there you have it; out with the old and in with the new is the best thing that WWE can do right now. With the guys that I have brought in, I've managed to support the tag team division and women's division and give a show a new mid-carder. Everyone I've brought in is capable of having great matches, even The Dudleyz.
Reader Feedback
*Checks inbox* Shit, no emails. Come on guys, this should be incentive to write in this week. If you don't I will cut myself like a dirty little emo.
Taking It Home
Lot's to get through next week which is why I went a little short this week. So there'll be the analysis of the InVasion which will hopefully be filled with your thoughts as well as mine (please don't make me have to turn to the forums). I will also look at another Screwjob next week, though I haven't yet decided which one it will be. In addition, there will be the long awaited return (?) of the Schmozz Count and the announcement of the nominees of the Post-Millennium (name change!) Summerslam Awards! So make sure you bring your asses here next week. Oh, and if you were wondering why I'm a day late, it's because I couldn't access 411 to get this posted. Anyway, see y'all next week. Word.
