wrestling / Video Reviews
Dark Pegasus Video Review: The Ladder Match 3-DVD Set (Disc Two)
June 2, 2007 | Posted by
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| The Ladder Match 3-DVD Set (Disc Two) by J.D. Dunn From WrestleMania X-7. JR says that Lita has been taken out by the “somewhat psychotic” Rhyno. Can you be “somewhat” psychotic? Things Change #1: These tag teams were so over that no one could break through and thus they had to keep facing each other over and over. Think about the tag teams today. Matt rules because Edge and Christian stand on his crotch and then he sells it as he’s climbing the ladder. If the Dudleyz really wanted to go full heel, they should do that slam/D-Von headbutt to the crotch and yell “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!” Bubba powerbombs Jeff through Edge and a table. Three ladders get set up and all six men go up. Christian and Matt go flying. Christian falls completely out of the ring which would be a 12-15 foot drop. CUE THE RUN-INS. “Little” Spike Dudley stops Edge and Christian from winning the titles including an Acid Drop through an outside table. Rhyno comes in next and takes out both Dudleyz and Matt. According to JR, he is now “fully” psychotic. Lita (God how I’ve missed that thong) comes in next and pulls Edge down off the ladder. Rhyno tries to press slam her but Spike hits him in the little horn. LITACANRANA~! Rhyno gets hit with a chair and pushes Edge off the ladder in a contrived-looking spot. Lita takes the opportunity to sneak in and whack little Spike with a pretty good chair shot. She takes her shirt off in a rib on Brandy Chastain. Uh, Brandy had a SPORTS BRA on, not a push-up. The Dudleyz give her a 3D for her fashion faux pas. Jeff Swantons Spike and Rhyno from a 20-foot ladder. No wonder “the next-HBK” lost his smile. Jeff would be okay, he’s a wrestler. He tries to step stones over the ladders to the belts but screws it up. That was too goofy to even try in the first place since it would have been much quicker just to get down and walk over to the spot and then set up the ladder. Bubba pulls the ladder out from under Jeff and EDGE SPEARS HIM OFF. It’s a pretty cool spot even today. Bubba and Matt go up but get pushed off and go through a pyramid of tables in another cool spot. Rhyno helps Christian up the ladder where he takes the belts and wins this brutal war at 15:50. This was another match that was overrated when it first happened and then there was a backlash against it that also went a bit overboard. Not nearly as good as their other matches, and really hasn’t aged well, but it’s still a very good match. **** This is a much sought-after match, not only for its quality, but because it’s part of the derailed push that Benoit and Jericho got in the summer of 2001. This is also the match that put Benoit out for nearly a year. The other three teams brawl with each other, so Edge & Christian sprint up the ladder. The Hardyz hit Poetry in Motion on D-Von, but they try again, and Jeff gets SMACKED with a ladder. The champs whip D-Von into a ladder. E&C toss everyone and go up, but Matt Hardy keeps them from getting to the top. Jericho sets up Matt on a table on the outside, but Benoit misses a dive and knocks himself out! That leaves Jericho to fend for himself. He knocks Edge down on top of the ladders and puts him in the Liontamer on top of the ladders. Christian makes the save, but everyone else comes in and tips the ladders over. Christian spills to the floor, and Edge gets crotched. Everyone is down, and now Benoit returns to a big pop. Edge and Christian intercept him and give him a Con-chair-to to his injured ribs. The Dudleyz hop back in but get taken out with chairshots by Jericho. Jericho turns and gets BLASTED with a chairshot by Christian. Insane! Christian goes up, but the Dudleyz catch up with him and 3D him off the ladder through a table! Matt hits Bubba in the head with a monitor, and Jeff vaults over the big ladder into a legdrop, putting Bubba THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! Meanwhile, D-Von goes up, but Matt catches him with a Twist of Fate off the ladder. Matt goes up, but Jericho tips the ladder over. Jericho sets up the ladder WAY too far away, allowing Edge to spear him from the other ladder. Well, that was just looked stupid. Everyone else is a carcass, so Benoit gingerly scales the ladder and retrieves the belts at 18:33. A step above the TLC match at WMX-7 thanks to the storyline of Benoit’s ribs. It was becoming obvious, though, that the ladder match as spotfest had reached its apex because there’s just nowhere left to go other than actually killing someone in the ring. ****1/4 The ladder match concept was rapidly losing its luster here. This was already the fourth one in 2001 by my count, and that doesn’t even take into account the matches that involved ladders. Christian just decided to join the Alliance one day, which really showed that the WWF was creatively bankrupt at that point because it turned the WWF vs. WCW/ECW feud from company versus company to “good guys vs. bad guys.” It didn’t do anything for Christian either. They brawl on the outside, up through the crowd, and down to ringside. Christian gets crotched on a ladder but see-saws the ladder back into Edge’s face. Christian pins Edge in the corner with the ladder and tries a chairshot from the top turnbuckle, but Edge slams him on the outstretched ladder. Christian whips Edge into a ladder stretched across the ropes and then catapults him into it. Christian goes up, but Edge sets up another ladder and hits the Edge-O-Matic. Now, Edge goes up but takes a reverse DDT off the ladder. Christian slides in a pair of chairs, but Edge avoids the one-man Con-chair-to and sets up a ladder between a pair of chairs. He splashes Christian, which apparently hurts Edge worse because they both recover at the same time. Christian knocks Edge off a ladder but gets speared off himself. They both go up, but their brawl tips the ladder over, and they both fall to the floor. Christian struggles up the ladders with one foot on each, so Edge returns the favor from Unforgiven and hits him in the binky with a chairshot. Edge stretches Christian across the ladders and hits a Con-chair-to to scramble his brains. He shoves his lifeless body to the match and pulls down the IC Title for the win at 22:15. The finish adds a little bit, but this was a case of boredom, boredom, holy shit, boredom, boredom. The fans’ reactions reflected it too. ***1/4 From a memorable post-extension Raw. Eddy ducks under a kick, but gets thrown to the outside. RVD tries a pescado, but Eddy avoids it. Eddy whips him into the ladder and snap suplexes him on the outside. Back inside, Eddy delivers a reverse elbow. Eddy wraps Rob’s leg around the post and destroys his knee with a chairshot. Rob whips him into the corner and monkey flips him. Eddy responds with a powerbomb. Eddy grabs the ladder, but Rob dropkicks it into him. Van Dam moonsault onto Eddy and the ladder as Chris Benoit comes through the crowd with a ticket. Back from commercial, Eddy goes up for the belt as Rob scrambles up the ropes. Van Dam kicks the ladder out from under Guerrero. Van Dam hits ROLLING THUNDER on Guerrero and the ladder. They both head up, and Guerrero sunset flips into a powerbomb off the ladder. Eddy goes up and sentons off onto Rob. Eddy wears Rob out with the chair, but Rob dropkicks it into his face. Rob sets the ladder on Eddy and delivers the split-legged moonsault onto him. He goes up, but Eddy catches him. Eddy sets up the ladder in the corner, but RVD reverses a whip, sending Eddy into it instead. RVD misses a side kick but monkey flips Eddy into the ladder. Ouch! Van Dam hits him with Rolling Thunder on the ladder. Eddy grabs a chair, but Van Dam hits him with the Van Daminator. Rob tries to do the frogsplash off the ladder, but it gives way. Eddy goes up, but Rob knocks him off the ropes to the floor. Rob goes up and grabs the title for the seemingly anti-climactic win at 17:56. ***3/4 Also from Raw. Ah, yes. This match. Jeff screws with Taker’s bike, drawing his wrath, but there is method to his madness. He dropkicks the ladder back into Taker’s face when Taker comes out to check on the bike. Jeff dropkicks Taker into the ladder and then splashes him on it. Taker shrugs it off and boots the ladder into Jeff’s face. Taker goes up but decides he wants to inflict more punishment on Jeff. Jeff hits a flurry of punches to pop the crowd, but Taker knocks him down. Jeff crawls safely in between the ladder. Yeah right. Taker legdrops him on it. Jeff hits the Whisper in the Wind but gets booted to the floor. Therein lies the story of the match, as you have one guy who uses moves like “whisper in the wind” and writes poetry about unicorns facing a psychotic, undead biker. Jeff ranas Taker to the floor and goes up with the crowd ROARING! Taker hits him with a chair and drags him off the ladder. Taker signals for the Last Ride, but Jeff grabs a chair and whacks Taker with it. Taker is staggered, so Jeff BLASTS him with a chairshot and goes up. JR: CLIMB THE LADDER, KID! MAKE YOURSELF FAMOUS! Taker nails him with a ladder, though, and chokeslams Jeff to the mat. That leaves Taker on top to grab the title at 14:04. After the match, Taker gives Jeff a Last Ride and rides up the ramp. Jeff grabs the mic and, with voice cracking like a member of the Panic At the Disco street team, screams that the Undertaker hasn’t beaten him. Taker comes back down the ramp and…raises Jeff’s hand in respect. If nothing else, this match is proof that wrestling matches do not exist in a vacuum, and their quality shouldn’t be judged as if they are. The match is only “pretty good,” but had Jeff gone on to fulfill the promise he showed in the early 00’s, this would have been a watershed moment in his career. As it is, he self-destructed and was released about seven months later. Now, he’s back where he was seven years ago, and this match is just a footnote in history. But give them credit: they had everyone believing for just a split-second that Jeff could win. *** This match was dubiously voted “The Best Match in Raw History” at the 10th Anniversary Show. That’s like saying Godfather III was the best film of all time. It wasn’t even the best Godfather of all time! Hurricane was taken out earlier in the show by Ric Flair and Triple H, so Kane has to go it alone. This was also during the disturbing “Bobby Hill short pants” era for Bubba. I’m not even going to try play-by-play because there are too many guys and too many spots, so it wouldn’t be an interesting read anyway. Highlights include Jeff splashing Kane through a table. He tries to fly on top of him again, but Kane catches him and powerslams him. They do the sequence where one guy hits another with a move, then gets hit, then someone hits him, then someone hits him. Van Dam and Hardy team up for a Van Terminator on Kane. Jeff goes up but gets suplexed off the ladder by Bubba. Jericho goes up, but Spike tips the ladder over, and Jericho falls out near the ring steps. Spike goes for the Dudley Dog on Christian but gets tossed through a table. Christian gets Bubbabombed off the ladder and then has to roll over him to get into position for Van Dam to hit the Five-Star Frogsplash. Van Dam goes up, but Jericho hits him with a chair and goes up. Kane catches Jericho with the CHOKESLAM! Kane gets the belts for the win at 22:08. Wild action, but we’ve seen it all before, and it was all made up of guys who were stuck in neutral bookingwise. ***1/2 From my (apparently quite wordy) Unforgiven 2004 review… Trash-talking to start. Christian slaps Jericho in the face, but takes a beatdown. After over a year, it looks as though “CLB” is starting to get over. Christian fights back and tosses Jericho, but Jericho lands on the apron and backdrops Christian all the way to the floor. Christian dodges Jericho’s ladder swing and stomps him once they get back in the ring. Jericho baits him into charging and Christian gets hung on the ropes. Jericho splashes him, and they go outside. Jericho launches a ladder, but Christian ducks out of the way. They fight into the crowd as dozens of poseurs grabs their cellphones to call home and tell their “posse” to look for them. Back to ringside, Christian delivers a wicked Unprettier on the floor. Christian grabs a ladder and makes the first attempt to get the belt. Jericho makes the save at the last second. Christian slams him face-first into the ladder and sets it up on the ropes. Jericho reverses the whip, though, and Christian goes into it face-first. Jericho goes for a clothesline, but Christian ducks and tosses him into the ladder again. Christian gets inventive and sets the ladder in the corner across the middle ropes and the CATAPULTS JERICHO INTO IT! Sick. Christian goes up, but Jericho stops him. Christian sets Jericho and the ladder up in the corner and charges. Jericho just hits him with the ladder. That spot wouldn’t have made sense anyway. Jericho goes to the top rope and drives the ladder into Christian’s back. Crowd starts a “Y2J” chant. Jericho goes for a bulldog, but Christian tosses him into the ladder. Christian ties Jericho into the tree-of-woe with the ladder (ladder-of-woe). Christian charges and delivers a Foley-ish knee. Jericho is out of it, so Christian goes after the belt. Jericho channels Vince McMahon and desperately flips Christian off. It works too as Christian comes down off the ladder and charges with it. Jericho dropkicks him and bulldogs him onto the ladder. Jericho goes for the Lionsault, but Christian rolls out of the way. Jericho injures his knee on the ladder. Christian tosses him and goes up…very…slowly. Jericho catches him and pulls the ladder out from under him. Christian dangles from the rope until Jericho smashes him with the ladder. Christian falls flat on his face. Ooooh. Jericho traps Christian under the ladder and goes up. Christian squirms out and tips the ladder over sending Jericho rolling to the outside. Jericho catches Christian going up and puts him in the Walls of Jericho on the ladder. That’s kind of a silly spot. Christian falls off but pushes the ladder out from under Jericho. Jericho falls awkwardly and lands on the ladder with his tailbone. They set up two ladders and Jericho bulldogs Christian to the mat. Jericho goes up and unhooks the IC Title at 22:36. The match had some decent spots, but there was nothing in between and there was absolutely no flow. The finish was especially anti-climactic. *** |
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The 411: And we have one disc left!
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| Final Score: 9.0 [ Amazing ] legend |
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