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Wrestling’s 4R’s Tuesday Edition – 11.04.08: TNA Impact, WWE Smackdown Reviewed!
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. On Tuesdays I will discuss TNA Impact and any PPV’s, while my partner in crime Jeremy Thomas discusses WWE Smackdown. The column will run again on Friday’s, covering WWE Raw, with Jeremy Thomas as well as ECW on Sci-Fi by myself. If there is a PPV that weekend, I will also run the RETRO R’s of the show from the year before as well as address some comments when time permits. I will group my feelings on the shows in various 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, my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.
In HD where available…
By: Larry Csonka
iMpact! 10.30.08:
31:30: I’d like to think we all know the drill by now. TNA is supposed to be the alternative, they try to be different, and they claim to be the wrestling promotion. So I am their conscience, their wrestling stopwatch. Each and every week I keep track of the time of wrestling on the show, and discuss it here. While they still delivered the talking segments, the show seemed more focused and yes they delivered more wrestling, over 30-minutes for the first time in a while. I have said that 90% of the time the shows with more wrestling end up being better shows overall and that was the case here. Good work TNA.
Opening Talky Bit: I have to say that while the general concept of the show opening promo annoys me at times, mainly when it is done week, after week after week, I did enjoy this one. The lines had been drawn, Joe was screwed out of the title, Sting, Angle, Booker and Nash all joined forces to create the Main Event Mafia, and Joe and AJ were left with their dicks in their hands last week. They came to the ring to kick off the show, paid respect to Mick Foley but then said that this was their war, and for him to keep out. AJ went onto explain that he had been here since day one and has watched the company grow and grew along with it. He also explained that WCW went out of business and Sting, Nash and Booker all ended up here to steal a paycheck. AJ admitted that they had their asses handed to them last week, but the thing that bothered him is that NO ONE came to their aid when they were trying to defend their company. It was then that AJ asked who had the balls to fight the good fight, which brought out Lethal, Petey, Creed, ODB and Eric Young. Many will mock who came out, but I liked the selection of the young guys, and ODB. I got $50 hat says she can take at least three members of the Main Event Mafia. Anyway, as Joe showed appreciation for them coming to the ring, the Motor City Machine Guns then came out. They didn’t seem too happy about the whole deal, talked some shit and Joe and Shelley got into it a bit, which brought out the Main Event Mafia to talk their shit. Solid promos from them, especially Nash referencing Hall again stating, “Hall didn’t show up that night because Joe wasn’t worth giving the rub too.” They then teased a fifth member as they came off as a solid unit. Good promo work and good time given to the company’s top angle, and overall a good way to kick off the show.
Tanahashi and Volador vs. The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin): When I got the spoilers and was preparing the non-spoiler match listing for the show, this was the match that had me excited. I am a huge fan of the Guns, Volador was fun in the X-Cup and Tanahashi is THE SHIT and has FABU hair. This was a recipe for fun and it delivered. They got 7-minutes, everyone got to look good and in the end we got a great little TV match that accomplished exactly what it should have. And that was to show off the talents of all four guys and get the Guns a win they really needed. Plus, it was another segment that featured Sabin and Shelley on the show, something that has not happened in a LONG time. As far as I am concerned, Volador and Tanahashi can stay in TNA forever with no complaints from me, this was fun stuff.
AJ Styles and Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash and Booker T: To continue with the Main Event Mafia vs. TNA Originals angle, as well as to play off of last week’s main event where the Main Event Mafia left Joe and AJ laying in the ring, we had AJ and Joe teaming up again to face Kevin Nash and Booker T. They got about 8-minutes after the commercial break, the short opening was hot, Nash looked motivated and while I won’t call this a great match, because it was very slow at times, overall it worked and if there had to be a decision, this was the right one. With AJ getting the win it sets up perfectly for the title shot, especially with Joe not allowed to challenge for the title and the fact that he is looking for revenge against Nash. Part of me wishes that they would have done the non-decision finish, as the young guys should either be getting screwed by losing of by being VERY close to winning and then getting screwed. But it does get them revenge for last week, which is a good thing. I did like the young guns coming out to celebrate the first win in the battle of what will surely be a long war as it was a nice sign of unity.
MICK FOLEY and REAL ESTATE STEVE…TOGETHER AGAIN: The big interview segment of the show was between Mick Foley and Sting. I loved how they played up that it had been a LONG time since they had been in the same ring together, playing off of their history. First of all Foley announced the co-main events for the Turning Point PPV; Joe vs. Nash and Sting defending the TNA Title against AJ Styles. Sting then came to the ring, Foley put him over saying that Sting made him back in the day, but questioned why Sting of all people would join the Main Event Mafia. Foley stated that, “TNA is on the verge of something big. All of the pieces are there. They have AJ, Joe, the X-Division and the way he sees it, with Sting as the champion and a man that enjoys respect, he is the glue that holds it all together. But you are not acting like glue; you are a wedge Sting.” Sting simply stated that he wanted to be the glue but was rejected. HE then, like AJ said that this was NOT his (Foley’s) war. Strong mic work from both guys, and I have nothing to complain about here.
Christy Hemme and ODB vs. The Beautiful People (Love and Sky) with Cute Kip/Roxxi, Wilde, Kong and Saeed: We had a ladies tag bout, featuring ODB and Hemme vs. The Beautiful People. This is playing off of the feud with Hemme and the Beautiful People, as well as giving ODB something to do. While Hemme in the ring isn’t something I want to see, I do appreciate them working some secondary angles in the Knockouts Division. The Beautiful People on TV is always a good thing. The match actually wasn’t horrible, thanks to ODB and Love doing the majority of the work. But they cannot continue to job the Beautiful People out as much as they have. The other action in the Knockouts Division involved Roxxi, Taylor Wilde, Kong and Saeed. Roxxi is still pissed about not winning the title, Wilde is pissed about losing the title, and so they took their anger out on Kong and Saeed with a locker room attack. It was fine for what it was, and after some backwards steps, the division is finally getting a bit of momentum back.
Kurt Angle vs. Abyss/Steiner Returns for an Originals beat down!: The main event angle of the show, match and post match was something I ended up very torn on, which is why we are here in purgatory. The match itself got a solid 9-minutes, and they were having a damn fine match here. I have said it before and will say it again; Kurt Angle and Abyss have a chemistry that just works for them. Things click well between them and that is a great thing. I will mention that Abyss’ not selling the leg down the stretch hurt things in my opinion, but it wasn’t horrible by any means. They did the DQ finish and for ONCE TNA followed some simple logic, they went to the floor, Angle got a chair, used it, DQ. SIMPLE! Part of me hates that they did the match here on TV. It was obvious that they were doing Angle vs. Abyss for the PPV as a bridge to get back to Jarrett, but to give it away on TV makes little sense. Couldn’t they have done a tag with Morgan and Abyss vs. Sting and Angle? They still could have worked the DQ and then went to the beat down. The main event beat down was also a mixed bag. The Originals got the advantage until Scott Steiner returned with his pipe and laid them out, all but Petey who he couldn’t bring himself to hit. I liked that bit of continuity. Sting then made his way to the ring, and I was excited because I thought he would get involved. Instead, he went to help AJ up. AJ spit in his face, which THEN led to Sting attacking him. I feel if they are going to turn Sting heel, REALLY turn him heel then he just has to go dick heel and BELIEVE what he is doing. Overall it was effective, but not as good as it could have been.
James Storm w/Robert Roode and Miss Jackie vs. Eric Young: I am all for Eric Young dropping the Super Eric stuff. With Foley on TV now, they don’t need as much comedy as they have had. I think that Young is an underrated worker and he has shown in the past that he can go with anyone in the ring. He faced off with James Storm this week in a match I got excited for. Unfortunately that excitement was killed when the match only got 2-minutes. Don’t get me wrong, Young’s new intensity is great, and for a 2-minue match this was as good as you could expect, but the problem is that it was ONLY 2-minutes, and in the end not worth the time. Storm losing isn’t a big deal to me as he can afford to lose, especially when it is due to slipping on the banana peel.
NONE
By: Jeremy Thomas
WWE SmackDown 10.31.08
THE COLONS vs. MIZ & MORRISON: Following the opening theme, we got to be subjected to what is perhaps the most horrific, terrifying thing ever seen in World Wrestling Entertainment: Jim Ross in a navy outfit. Seriously, Tazz looked okay in his camo gear, but there was just something completely unnatural about the way ol’ JR looked in that seaman’s get-up. I’d rather see the video of Mae Young giving birth to Mark Henry’s hand from Mizark’s full on perspective then that again. Soon after, we were treated to the greatest entrance in professional wrestling today as Miz and Morrison made their way down to the ring to take on the Colons. Extra credit to Morrison for putting bling in his eight-pack, as disturbing of an image as it is, because it totally fits his character, and Primo’s reaction was pretty good. This was non-title, which I didn’t mind so much as there would be no sense in taking the titles off of Primo and Carlito in favor of a team that’s on almost on Raw more than their home ECW, and certainly more than SmackDown. The Colons were just the slightest bit off their game early in the match, particularly Primo who was rushing a bit much, but it settled down quickly into a very watchable tag team match. Primo and Carlito have a great sense of each other and work together greatly, and putting them up against MnM 2.0 is a great way to get them further over as faces. What did irritate me was that JR kept selling how unlikely it was that Miz and Morrison were going to beat Degeneration-X. This works to their favor if they DO win, having beaten the odds. If they fail, though, then it just helps shove them down, which is not what they need. In the end the right team went over, giving them some momentum going to Raw, and the Colons didn’t look weak in the loss. Works for me.
JIMMY WANG YANG vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK: For this special Halloween SmackDown, Jimmy Wang Yang was NOT Jimmy Wang Yang, but John Wayne Yang! Now, I’ll admit to being a Movie Zone guy who’s not really big on John Wayne and haven’t seen a lot of his stuff, but he didn’t look anymore like John Wayne then he ever does. You’d think if it was Halloween that he could dress up like Rooster Cogburn or something. Anyway, out came THE Brian Kendrick afterward, and after some disturbing imagery of Tazz feeling JR’s bicep, we settled into a nice, high-flying and fast-paced match up between two great cruiserweights. The first thing to take away from this is that Yang is obviously out of the Wellness Doghouse by virtue of the amount of offense he got here—he even got the DQ win. Whereas there’s usually some sort of sloppiness when you see a couple high-flyers go at it, there wasn’t a botched move I saw anywhere. Part of why Yang looked good is because of Kendrick’s selling ability; one could almost argue he sold too much for an under card guy like Yang, but while the Wang got the win, Kendrick was standing tall at the end thanks to Zeke and that’s what matters. The slow burn push of Kendrick is a good thing after his Championship Scrabble participation and his subsequent de-push, and if TBK delivers the goods throughout, we could see him solidifying a permanent spot in the upper midcard soon.
SIX-MAN “FUCK THE BRAND EXTENSION” TAG MATCH: In a true brand-crossing event, we had Mark Henry, Kane and MVP teaming up in order to take on their respective rivals in Matt & Jeff Hardy and Rey Rey. Of course, MVP is going through his “he must get a big win but can’t” storyline, which is doing his credibility no favors. Nor does Shane Helms Hurra-Popping in during his entrance to talk shit, but I digress. Rey Rey got the big pop for being from his hometown and wearing Charger colors, while Jeff appeared to be wearing the costume of Patty Smyth from “The Warrior.” Somewhere, some fan of bad 80’s pop got that joke. The match itself was about what you would expect from three pairs who have all had good matches with each other; the crowd was popping nicely for the faces and their high-impact offense that didn’t seem to miss a beat throughout. The match was, like all the SmackDown matches this week, given a pretty good amount of time, and the match benefited as a result as Rey got to play the face-in-peril role he knows so well and the heels were used to their strengths. I will say that Jeff got a little sloppy when he came in off the hot tag and rushed his offense, but it was a very short few moments and while it did hurt the match some, it was for the most part forgivable. MVP of course ate the pin, which I take issue with because if you’re going to put someone on an inane storyline like this it would be more effective to him in order to lose without eating the pin so he can claim the loss wasn’t his fault. The action was enough to push this into the right, even if I do have some issues with the circumstances around it.
THE UNDERTAKER vs. CHAVO GUERRERO: Chavo made his way down to the ring as if he was trying to psyche himself up and convince himself he had a chance in hell. Dream on, little Chavo. One thing that was interesting to note was that we had a pretty major factual misstep from the usually more-or-less accurate JR, who claimed that the Undertaker had been in casket matches with some of the biggest WWE superstars and won them all. So the question is, is JR wrong are we not considering Yokozuna, Goldust, and Randy Orton big superstars? Okay, I can see the point with Goldust, but the other two…I think JR’s been drinking a bit too much of the BBQ sauce. Chavo’s facial expressions as the druids came out and the casket made its way to the ring were pretty classic, I must say, as well as at the fist “BONG” of Taker’s entrance music. I’ve always been a sucker for the Dead Man’s entrance, and they maxed it out this week for Halloween, which is exactly how it should be. They were just getting ready when out came the Big Show, earning ‘Taker’s look of death and Chavo’s great reaction of “Good, now GET IN HERE!” Alas, it was not to be and Chavo got his chance to face off. This wasn’t the great match that ‘H/Taker was from last week, but it was still pretty good and provided a good opportunity to continue the Show/Taker feud. Chavo got squashed of course, but I don’t think anyone could ever expect different and he even got a (very) tiny bit of offense in. It wasn’t much, but it was frankly more than I expected. In the end, the crowd got a great pop moment as Taker busted out the Tombstone, the Show/Taker feud continued, and Chavo got to have a nice, quiet place to take a nap. Even better, they set up next week’s main event as Chipmunk Vickie was shown backstage offering Vlad a title shot against ‘H if he beat Taker next week. This was a good way to end the Halloween SmackDown and did everything it needed to do to cap off a much stronger show then last week.
BIG SHOW IS PISSED, CHAVO’S SCREWED AND VICKIE’S INSANE…WHAT ELSE IS NEW?: After a suitably creepy video promoting the main event casket match, we opened on the Big Show rubbing his throat and staring into the camera. Show looked pissed as all get-out, and wanted to know how the Undertaker called himself a man. Show said he had Taker beat before the Dead Man resorted to resorting to an illegal and banned hold to win. Show promised that if their paths were to meet again, he wouldn’t just beat him…he’d bury him. Gee, foreshadowing the gimmick match much, Show? All jokes about that aside, this was an inspired promo by Show, delivered at just the right speed with the right tone to it, and it’s a great way for Show to go in taking the loss. It was a Last Man Standing match, not a No Holds Barred match, so he’s actually got kind of a point there and looks justified in his anger. The feud has been a lot better than most of us, myself included, have expected, so I have no complaints with it moving along. Once Show left, the camera zoomed out to show Chavo and Vickie Guerrero, the latter of whom is still wheelchair bound of course and was more physically resembling of a chipmunk then I believe I’ve ever seen a human being before. She wanted to wish us all a Happy Halloween, which is her favorite holiday. Insert your own joke here. She said that tonight would be the Undertaker’s final Casket Match, and that he’d end up broken and battered. Apparently somehow, his brains will explode too. While Show’s part of the promo was great, Vickie’s was bizarre. She’s still about the worst actor in the ‘E, and that’s saying a lot…though clearly she’s refined her maniacal cackle to an art from. That’s something, I guess. The end result was that Chavo would be facing Taker, which unnerved the piss out of Chavo, and he gave a pretty good reaction before wandering off. With the greatness of Show contrasted with the “Uh…yeah, sure” factor of Vickie the Chipmunk, this falls squarely in the middle for me.
FESTUS IS NOT A MAGIC FAN: Maria had a treat for her wannabe boyfriend Festus; a magic trick at the hands of the Masked Magician! Now, I’ll admit to being a sucker for a good magic trick, and this wasn’t half-bad. I still feel it was a time-waster, but I’m willing to give it a pass on this one since it fits with the Halloween theme. I’m not really that huge on the whole Maria/Festus thing as a whole because it’s just an obvious attempt to capitalize on the George Steele/Miss Elizabeth dynamic of the two, but I don’t think they can do any better with a character like Festus. This was what I don’t really mind—a time waster that isn’t very long at all and doesn’t take away from the whole show. Khali Kiss-Cam, take notes from this, seriously.
VLAD THE IMPALER FACES OFF WITH HUNTER THE BARBARIAN: Vladimir Kozlov came down to the ring to complain about how soft and lazy Americans were and how if he had been voted in at Cyber Sunday he’d be Dubble-Dubble-E Champion right now. Well, that’s debatable, but okay. He demanded a title shot, which brought the H-Man to the ring. How awesome would it have been if he’d come down in a Conan outfit and Vlad had been Dracula by the way? Maybe that’s just me, but I would have loved it. The Game wanted to tell Vlad—or Boris, as he preferred to say—that his days of jumping people from behind was over, and if he wanted a fight, he was ready. But Vlad didn’t want to just fight, he wanted a title shot. ‘H got a cheap pop with the cheap USA/Russia comparison and then babbled on about how he and Kozlov were just like the plot of Rocky IV. I’m thinking it may not have been the best idea for him to spell out where they got the Kozlov idea from, but then I’m not on creative. ‘H told Kozlov to take it up with Vickie the Chipmunk, which was a weird move for a guy who’s supposed to be the uber-face who hates the GM; that little bit of inconsistency made little sense and bugged me. Kozlov then backed out of the ring and walked away. There wasn’t anything terrible, I guess, about this segment, but compared to some of the ways they could build this match it came off as weak. The ‘H hiding behind the General Manager? Say what? I’m still feeling this feud for now, just not this segment, which fell flat to me.
MORE KHALI KISS-CAM CRAP: What, you thought I was suddenly going to like this? Fat chance. Khali was out with Ranjin Singh to make some lucky lady’s night. Riiiight. Ranjin and Khali wanted to wish us a Happy Halloween and give us a very special Kiss-Cam, one in which the person with the best costume wins the kiss. FYI, Khali is apparently now the “Punjabi Playboy.” Again, I have to give props to Khali for going along with this and having fun, but this was just a bit stupider than normal. Oh look, the witch with the warts is the winner, and those warts are actually real. Oh, and now it’s tongue-time? Pardon me while I retch. This has shades of Mike Awesome, the Fat Chick Thrilla, and we all know how awesome that was. I know there’s going to be an eventual pay-off with this one at least, but I’m hoping it comes sooner rather than later and Khali can move on from this gimmick into being a full-fledged face. And once again, this was a time-waster that wasted far too much time, running a good seven minutes. Now, while both Raw & SmackDown air two hours, SD has less time due to MyNetworkTV selling more commercial time; by comparison this week’s Raw was ten minutes longer then SmackDown. So wasting time on the Friday show is more detrimental then on Raw, and so the shorter they can make this crap, the better.
SIX-DIVA TAG TEAM MATCH: The Divas all came out in their mostly-skankeriffic (or in one case, banana-riffic) Cyber Sunday outfits and attempted to wrestle in them. I think the words “train wreck” would be generous, as Victoria actually had to partially take off the banana outfit to wrestle effectively and outside of Natalya, no one was wrestling worth a damn. It was a short and sloppy affair, and this yet another example of why the Raw Women’s division trumps the SmackDown Diva’s division. We had all the typical spots—Bella crawling under the ring to do the switch-out, Maria being semi-acrobatic as if to say “see, I DON’T suck!” and Victoria inexplicably eating the pin while being the best wrestler in the match. This was pretty much a complete and utter waste in order to give the crowd some eye candy and semi-advance the Maria/Michelle wannabe feud, and didn’t’ have any business being on TV.
NONE
Comment Time With Jeremy!
Jeremy– you’ve usually got decent opinions, but (and this is just a friendly opinion) you should pay more attention to categories: if you can find something good about something, it’s Purgatory, not wrong… no?
I also want to mention your comments about Santino & the IC title:
-The IC title is NOT being devalued. You may think it is, and it may LOOK like it is, but it is not. Why? Because in Santino’s ELEVEN weeks with the belt he defended MORE times than Jericho, Kofi OR Jeff Hardy.
As for the Santino segment itself– am I the ONLY person who wasn’t pissed that Honky wasn’t using a gimmicked guitar like Santino did the week before? Didn’t somebody get badly injured from a non-gimmicked guitar shot before (why do I think it was Jake Roberts? But I’m not sure) Also– Santino DID beat the ever-loving CRAP out of Haas. Now let me ask you this– WHEN was the last time SANTINO beat the CRAP out of somebody? Keep thinking… they are building him AND the title, and when this ends (hopefully not till week 63), both him & the title will be better for it.
Posted By: M:-X (Guest) on October 31, 2008 at 08:02 AM
Thanks for the comment, M:-X, and I appreciate what you’re saying about the categories; if something has absolutely no redeeming value, I consider that a Ridiculous or even a Ri-GOD-DAMN-diculous. Just because there are good things to something doesn’t make it right or even let it break even, as Purgatory is for. Note that in Larry’s explanation that get’s posted each week, PuRgatoRy “shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed.” If it’s not equal between good and bad, then it’s right or wrong; otherwise, almost everything would be in PuRgatoRy, as few things are completely without either some redeeming value or flaws.
I should clarify that I have no complaints about Santino holding the IC strap; I love his angle with the HONK-A-METER, as I’m sure you can tell. My problem is that he’s being booked terribly with it, unable to get a convincing win to save his life. Beating a curtain-jerker like Deuce via a fluke roll-up doesn’t do the title or Marella any favors. I’m certainly hopeful that the HONK-A-METER will result in huge benefits for Santino and the belt, but it should start happening soon. He did look strong against Haas and that’s good, but then he was buried by the old-timers, so…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GKBnFvszAw
Check the video and tell me who the better worker in this match is. Anytime I look at Lita in this match, I think sloppy.
Oh – and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjSIaU1JhG0
Stephanie’s no mat champion, but she holds her own.
Posted By: Interesting thought. (Guest) on October 31, 2008 at 05:36 AM
You just proved my point, Thought. Look at that first match closely; Steph nearly botches the first two moves by not getting enough elevation and essentially half-sandbagging, though she clearly didn’t do it on purpose, she’s simply not athletic enough to look credible in the match. Bottom line is, Steph is and always has been a terrible worker. I have no issues with this–she’s not a wrestler–and I’m probably among the few people on-staff who actually LOVE Steph as an on-screen character. But she was a horrible worker and she’d probably be the first to tell you that.
The Glamahaas is “wRong”?
You REALLY needed to nitpick on something did you?
Posted By: JA Toro (Guest) on October 31, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Note that I didn’t say that Glamahaas (which I like better then “Haas Phoenix” by the way, nicely done) was wRong. The segment’s failure wasn’t Haas’s, or even Santino’s. It just wasn’t as funny as previous stuff and in the end, built up neither Haas nor Glamarella, and instead put over three guys who are well-past their prime and not employed by the ‘E just for a chance to pop the crowd. There are far better ways to do that, and I consider burying Santino & Charlie at their expense to be bullshit. Thanks for reading!
“Not to mention that Hunter and Shawn have shown they’re willing to put over talent they think deserves it.”
OH REALLY ?
When ? and against who ?
They’ve buried ANYONE who has feuded with them as DX
Rated RKO were buried more than anything else…..
And they were seen as bigger threats than both Mizzark and Morrison…..
Posted By: Mike Mizanin (Guest) on October 31, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Well, let’s see. Triple H went to huge lengths to put Shelton Benjamin over in ’04, even losing to him three straight times. That Shelton didn’t get over was his own fault for injuring himself on Cade’s knee brace on an episode of Heat. He’s done amazing things to try and put Jeff Hardy over as a legit main eventer. It’s well documented that it the H-Man believes in someone that he’ll do what he can to help them get over.
For Shawn Michaels’s part, I don’t think anyone can deny that he’s helped put Jericho back on the map in their angle. He tried to help get Kennedy over at the end of last year to the beginning of this year, losing on the big last Raw of the year and getting eliminated by Kennedy during the Royal Rumble.
I could go back further on both men, but those are two great examples for both. The bottom line is that HBK and ‘H are two of the top guys. Yes, Shawn’s past his prime and Hunter’s getting older, and both are perennially at the top of the card and get wins on the younger guys often. But as I stated, they have shown that they will put over talent that they think deserve it. The only question is whether they will put over Miz and Morrison; I’m hoping yes.
Great article as usual, I love reading the R’s and I think you’re doing a great job with covering Raw Mr. Thomas. I’m intrigued with where they plan on going with Orton and seeing what comes of it…Obviously, they won’t ‘fire’ Adamle right now since he’s just taking off with his GM role…Whatever happens, I hope to God they don’t do some sort of last minute swerve and have Orton go to Smackdown or something. Keep up the good work!
Posted By: Ben (Guest) on October 31, 2008 at 06:54 PM
Thanks, Ben. I think a move for Orton to SmackDown would be a terrible idea that the ‘E won’t go with; they have too much for him to do on Raw between Priceless, his feud-to-be with Punk and his history with Shawn, Jericho, Batista and even Rey (though gods forbid they bring up the circumstances around that feud…no thanks). What I’d like to see is Orton using this feud, and Shane/Steph refusing to fire Adamle, as a way to build the new Evolution with Priceless in order to “take over” Raw and make the younger McMahons pay attention. We’ll see where it goes, though…in the meantime, thanks for reading!
By: Larry Csonka
From Cruiserweight Fan: sigh, for the last time Csonka…
BOURNE AND REY DID NOT HAVE A “STRONG SHOWING” AT CYBER SUNDAY, THEY HAD THE BEST MATCH OF THE NIGHT, that easily eclipsed taker and show slowly punching one another for 20 minutes. I AM a fan of taker and show, but their match was 3 stars if your’re feeling generous – Bourne and Hartdy were creative, athletic and produced the sort of cruiserweight breath taking match we don’t see enough of these days. THEY had the four star match – not a “strong showing.”
LARRY: Fucking hell I swear some of you are GIMPS. It is an OPINION, YOU thought it was much better than I did, that’s cool but for you to come in here and act like a condescending asshole is uncalled for. I know you want some kind of an argument and such, but for fun let’s look at some of the ratings for the match you keep bitching about.
Larry: ***¼
JD Dunn (411): ***
Bryan Alvarez (Figure Four): ***½
Dave Meltzer (Observer): ***½
Wade Keller (Torch): **¾
James Caldwell (Torch): ***
So the match has been rated by the main sites anywhere from **¾-***½. My rating falls around the middle, so the overall feeling is that this was a GOOD match. And I will say if you wanted it so be a GREAT match, tell Matt that as the vet and the champion he needs to learn to play subtle heel for Bourne’s underdog character to work that much better. I liked Show vs. Taker A LOT, you didn’t, that’s cool; just don’t be an asshole.
From a few people: Regarding: wrestlers shaved armpits…
LARRY: I thought I’d touch on this one. Usually the rule of thumb is that unless your gimmick is that you’re a hairy man beast, (sup A-Train) then you shave your armpits. The way it was explained to me is that the headlock/side headlock is such a basic move that is used so often, that it is more of a courtesy. Good hygiene and all, plus it is said that is looks better. Seriously, find a buddy with some hairy pits and work out for a few hours and get REAL sweaty. Then, let him apply a side headlock on you. Yeah, nasty.
From Mr. Wishhart: “Good day to you god sir. I SAID GOOD DAY!”
TEN BILLION INTERNET POINTS if that’s a Mighty Boosh Live quote…
LARRY: I do what I can good sir, I do what I can…
From Ryan: National magic day? Goddamn I need to move to that country, wherever it may be.
LARRY: It is actually the good old US of A. National Magic Day is in honor of Houdini, and is one of those wacky Non-Holiday US Holidays.
