Sunday, April 30, 2006

Backlash Preview

Ric Flair vs. Umaga :

Meh. Meh. MEH. Just the wrong thing to use Flair for. Umaga with a chicken-wing submission at 59:49 in an all-time classic. Or 5:03 in a sucky overlong squash. One of those two options, anyways.

Carlito vs. Chris Masters:

Calito grows on me all the time, Masters leaves me cold. So I will go for Carlito winning in an alright match.

Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James (WWE Women's Title):

Sense dictates that Trish gets her win back. However, this has been the best that the Women's Title scene has had for years. Possibly decades. So I will predict Mickie James holds onto the title in a strange manner.

Big Show vs. Kane:

I predict a toilet break. Kane has a movie to promote, Kane for the win.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Van Dam (WWE Intercontinental Title )

Match of the night. Has to be, if it isn't something is very wrong with one of them. RVD to win, me to smile a lot.

Shawn Michaels & God vs. Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon: Let Vince get injured, let Shane do stunts, let Shawn wrestle and be fantastic, and let the God thing be as forgotten as possible. I actually predict I am wrong here, and we have a terrible religious angle overplayed even more.

John Cena vs. Edge vs. Triple H (WWE Title): Should be the second best match. I've actually enjoyed all the handicap matches they have built this up with, made a nice change how it all has been done. HHH for the title. Edge and Cena to end up in their own feud.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Raw as live, 24/4

Opens with your usual for the past few weeks segment of HHH, Edge and Cena arguing. Well no talking from Cena. Oh, and Edge getting in a jibe about HHH's Father in Law, not quite saying that, but saying he was sucking up to the old man to get a title shot.
Anyways, just when you think this is all over, The Spirit Squad show up to tell them all 3 are going to be in a match against the five of them. Did miss the beginning of the segment due to a technical fault though.

Onto a 6 man, Chris Masters, Shelton Benjamin & Matt Stryker vs Carlito, Charlie Hass and RVD. Big somersault senton from RVD. Yay! Really fast-paced, and the London crowd really got into it, cheering every big move like crazy at the end. Hot crowd. RVD gets the pin.

Do you know what? I fell asleep after this. Masses of skits, all of them dull. I drifted off at some point. And to be honest, even though I rewatched the rest of the show from here, meh. This is as live. I'd have slept to the end of the live show, and they didn't keep me awake. Apart from a nice big elbow dropped by Shane McMahon onto a table and Shawn Michaels, this all gets a "it made flotsky sleep" rating.


Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Raw as Live 17/4

Vince, get a blog. Yes we know you are trying to be controversial by saying God every five words. It might actually rile people if you put it in the right hands. However nobody cares about it coming from you. Those boring chants during your opening monologue? They really meant it. Pay attention please. Stick those wonderful stylings of yours online instead, where nobody will read them. Blogging is for you Vince.

After far too long, too many "gags" that you saw set up a mile before, he gets kicked in the face by Shawn out of nowhere. For good measure, Shawn comes back to give the "suckit" sign. All is right once more.

Rob Conway vs Kane? Hmmmm. Could this be a squash match? I think so. Kane is beastly, Big Show teaches him a lesson, ho hum.

Then a complete and utter change of pace. Chavo interviewed by Jim Ross about his retirement. Completely out of the blue, just a deeper, darker, harder interview. Face to face almost in armchairs, recalling the classic Mankind interviews. Why haven't they used this style more? The serious deadpan Jim Ross works perfectly here. Good segment, appearing to answer questions, but leaving more unanswered.

Shelton vs Charlie Haas? Brilliant :) Former partners and World Tag Team champions, and good ones at that. Neat little match, Haas shows off a neat one arm suplex a couple of times (sort of drops a shoulder then throws), RVD disses from Shelton with a Rolling Thunder of his own, surprise rollup for the lose, so RVD gets a shot at Shelton's title.

Shawn vs Umaga, fairly forgettable, but he can move a bit. Is the point of Umaga to remind Samoa Joe what he could have? DQ to keep up his monster push, then Vince almost gets to get his own back, before God or someone stopping him from doing so. Ouch.

Matt Striker and Carlito promo against each other. Really good stuff. Don't know if I want to see them wrestle, but I want to see them talking with each other more, nicely done. Chris Masters runs in to steal some heat he doesn't deserve.

RVD vs all of Spirit Squad. He gets squashed by all five of them, this serves no real purpose. A shame, because there could have been a quality match somewhere here.

Trish and Mickey serve up yet another well-written segment. If they could only wrestle, but hey.

And then, a Raw main event that doesn't suck. Cena & Edge vs HHH. Cena gets the monster boos, HHH gets the DX chop (where is that going I wonder?) and the sledgehammer, Edge plays possum in the classic Bret Hart style, and gets the win. Everyone (and yes I include HHH here) does the job perfectly. HHH throws Cena for one of the best and convincing ref shots I have ever seen. And at the end, Edge gives HHH a wonderful told you so glance that I think he stole straight from the Blues Brothers. Nicely done.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Raw "as live" 10/04

Commenting on this show as I watch it back off my Sky+ box. No results known (for a change). We've started out with a lengthy and fairly pointless long promo between Edge, HHH and John Cena. I could recap, but I was pretty bored. Suffice to say, the main event is HHH tagging with Cena to take on Edge, which at least is an interesting arangement for a change. Oh, and along the way, HHH refers to Mick Foley as the annoying turd you can't flush away. This was memorably the same reference that Shawn Michaels made to Owen Hart back in the day, turning him into The Golden Nugget.

Anyways, onto Rob "I've got copies of those pictures that Mark Henry and JBL have" Conway vs RVD. Shelton comes out to commentate, and challenges RVD to a match over the money in the bank suitcase at Backlash. Which suits me fine. Shelton is fantastic in my opinion, and matching him up with RVD is a gread call. RVD wins in a squash match, frogstar to finish of course. RVD is interviewed on the walkway, and challenges Shelton back over the Intecontinental title. Interesting.

Mickie James does a great psycho interview segment with Maria, and offers her a title shot tonight. Oh and a first look at Kane's horror movie. Woo. I can hardly wait.

I've just seen it. Oh well.

Spirit Squad are out to defend the World Tag Team championship. Dumb gimmick in some ways, but they can clearly wrestle some, and they have also used a trampet a bit in matches, which I've felt for a while could be used to good effect somehow. Kane is huddled in the hallway, being haunted by the release date of his film. Good. Out for a rematch for the titles. Yadda yadda yadda Kane gets disqualified and chokeslams the ref and Bg show etc.

Umaga out to win a squash match. Uses his thumb to make him submit. Fancy.

Then Carlito discussing the dissolution of their partnership with Masters. Carlito grows on me the more I see him, always makes me laugh as a promo. Even pulled out a stunning double rope springboard move a few weeks back. Waffles Masters with a chair there, bit of style to it too. I love it when someone is handed a really dumb empty gimmick, and still make it work.

Mickie James (dressed of course as Trish Stratus) beats Maria easily, then is lauded in her victory by Trish Stratus, dressed as Mickie James, including going brown (or a wig, I'm no expert on this). Kisses her and everything, much to Mickie's confusion.

Finally, we get HHH & Cena vs Edge. The ideal way of using these two, getting Edge to do the bulk of the actual wrestling. HHH tries to steal the win, gets FU'd for his trouble, and Cena picks up the win. Please let us have Edge win this and wrestle other people after Backlash. No hope, I know.

Score this one two wavy hands out of five, and we're out.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Welcome to jerseymonolith, my fellow blogger

Just a short announcement, in that I have invited my fellow Rangers-supporting wrestling fan jerseymonolith to also write blog entries on here. Hopefully we can increase the output here a little, make things a bit more frequent. Glad to have you aboard!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Harry Smith to the WWE?

According to what appears to be his Myspace profile, and several wrestling websites, it looks like Harry Smith is on his way to the WWE. Harry is the 6'6" son of ex-WWE wrestler Davey Boy Smith, the former British Bulldog, and also sadly no longer with us.



I didn't know a lot about him, so I went off to see what I could find:


In New Japan vs Hiroshi Tanahashi



Hiroshi has a lot of the offense here


In Stampede vs TJ Wilson



Now this is more like it. Looks like Harry knows his suplexes and his submission holds. TJ Wilson makes him look a million bucks here


In Stampede vs El Blanco Negro Dragon



Shows how good a wrestler TJ Wilson is, lets put it like that. Worth watching if only for the impassioned plea from a clearly smashed and single canuck female halfway through


I think from these he has promise. He is only 19 as well, so with a few years he could be something very special. If as he says on Myspace, he is going straight onto Smackdown, then he *needs* to have the British Bulldog gimmick. And I would double that up, and have him tag with Paul Birchill. Would help both of them a lot. Of course this is the sensible way to get him over quickly, I suspect what will happen is that he becomes Birchill's lackey, and is named Roger the Cabin boy.


*despairs




Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Wrestlemania Report

Big Show & Kane vs. Carlito & Chris Masters (WWE Tag Team Titles):
Kane and Big Show win, I could have done with this being a little further in for a comfort break. Carlito can look good with the right wrestlers around him. This wasn't such an occasion. Big Show and Kane win.

Bobby Lashley vs. Fit Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin (Ladder Match):
Okay, this was more like it, I would have opened with this. Shelton made some awesome moves here, especially the running senton flip up a ladder. Please put him in a PPV match with Van Dam or Hardy on a ladder, nice easy MOTY candidate there. Flair, RVD, Shelton and Hardy all worked well with what they had here, great spotfest. RVD gets the win and the shot, probably at One Night Stand II.

Chris Benoit vs. John B. Layfield:
A dull Benoit match. Something I don't often say, but this just wasn't the occasion that they would be given the time to do anything of note. As suggested, JBL take the US title.


Mick Foley vs. Edge (Hardcore Match):
If you look at what I wrote as a prediction, I would like to think I was pretty much spot on here. I didn't predict quite how violent it would be (spot of the night for me was the burning table spear by Edge to win). And your lesson in selling was Edge here, especially after the match where he looked like he had been blinded. Stunning work by him.

The Boogeyman vs. Booker T & Sharmell Huffman:
Suckfest. Boogeyman wins

Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James:
There should be some special award for Mickie James costume designer, as I hav e no idea how she stayed in her outfit tonight. This match was also the first sign that the crowd were going to be awkward tonight, as they cheered Mickie all the way through. She played to it beautifully as the psycho heel, acknowledged it in a "Hey, they should cheer me, I'm right" manner. They put on quite a good women's title match, especially considering it looked like Trish's knee gave out somewhere along the line. Bit of a botch finish, due to that injury, but good work here, and interesting to see where it goes from now with Mickie as champion.

Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (Casket Match):
The Undertaker won here, and you all can breathe easy that you don't have to see a picture of my shaved arse.

Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon (No Holds Barred):
They used a whole bunch of run-ins and shortcuts here, to good effect. Spirit Squad and Shane Mac attacked seperately, to help get the old man through. The star, of course, was Shawn, who reverted to "DX Shawn" to win the match, with a massive elbow off the 20ft ladder onto Vince, on a table, inside a dustbin (3 shortcuts in one move there). Better than you'd expect, but no Shane vs Kurt Angle.

Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio (Smackdown World Title):
Good match. Kurt and Rey were part of some great matches a few years back on Smackdown, and this really showed. Awesome double-suplex by Kurt on the other two, Rey flew miles. Orton was good, Rey was really good, Kurt brought his A game I felt. Rey won and the tears flew.

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle :
Biggest suckfest of the night.

John Cena vs. Triple H (WWE Heavyweight Title):
My word, the fans HATED this. Horrendous entrances for both, where HHH dressed as a rubbish Conan, and looked like he was hating every moment of it, and Cena was a Chicago gangster, but looked more like a flasher. No respect for either of the wrestlers, which in my book was fair enought as they put on a very pedestrian match. In their defense, there were so few shortcuts open to them, most having been done up until then. This was almost entirely wrestling, and that isn't really either of their strong points. Cena got the worst boos he has ever had, and every move of HHH was cheered in an ironic manner. Cena got the win, just to make things worse, and finished the evening in tears, possibly at his cruddy reaction.

All in all, more than was expected, a few really enjoyable matched here, where it could have all been bad. Possibly one of the better Wrestlemanias for a while. One to see I say


Sunday, April 02, 2006

Wrestlemania Preview

I think I should just sneak this in before the big PPV. I've got mine booked, and should watch half of it live, and the other half tomorrow.

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle : Wrestling will be the winner. Or not. Errr, Candice probably.

The Boogeyman vs. Booker T & Sharmell Huffman : I think it is likely The Boogeyman goes over here, and that this feud continues. I can't wait.

Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James (WWE Women's Title): Everything bar the wrestling in this feud has been very worthy. Maybe we can change that here. I'm hoping for Mickie James to do something descipable here to win.

Big Show & Kane vs. Carlito & Chris Masters (WWE Tag Team Titles): I reckon Masters and Carlito just need the win more.

Chris Benoit vs. John B. Layfield (United States Title): Benoit would be the logical choice, but it is JBL, a man who brown-noses Vince McMahon so much he went back in time to his very conception, and altered his own DNA whilst in the womb so that he looked more like Vince. JBL to win.

Mick Foley vs. Edge (Hardcore Match): My sleeper match of the night. I think Edge will work his butt off to make this look a million dollars. It could be his big breakout moment if he manages it. Edge to win, having been through hell.

Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (Casket Match): If Mark Henry wins this, I will shave his initials into my hairy arse and post a picture.

Bobby Lashley vs. Fit Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin (Ladder Match): The money in the bank match. Too many people here, should have been 3-way at most. I'm predicting Flair here against most logic.

Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon (No Holds Barred): I'm going to make a really mealy-mouthed prediction here, and suggest that Vince may actually get injured here, some sort of muscle-pull or leg injury. He doesn't have a place in such a match these days, his spot could earily go to someone else doing his bidding. I think Shawn has to win here. And I also predict no Bret Hart. And hope massively I am right.

Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio (Smackdown World Title): Could be an incredible match if we are lucky. Heart says Rey winning for Eddie, which would be wonderful. However the head says Randy Orton, I think she has been set up for this.

John Cena vs. Triple H (WWE Heavyweight Title): I'm almost as sure about this as I am the Undertaker. Cena hasn't set the world alight as champion. Reports from the Hall of Fame yesterday suggest he was booed to an incredible degree. HHH to win. HOWEVER, I am standing by my prediction that Flair uses the money in the bank win right now, and wins the title. Just a little hunch I have.